South Africa: Special COVID-19 SRD Grant applications open this week

Applications for the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant will be opened from Friday, with the first payments expected to be made in the last week of August 2021.

Announcing the re-introduction of the special COVID-19 SRD Grant, during a media briefing on Thursday, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said an amount of R26.7 billion has been allocated for the new iteration.

The amount includes the administrative costs borne by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), and it is for a period of eight months with effect from August 2021 until March 2022.

All recipients who may have not received some of their payments during the first iteration of the grant between May 2020 and April 2021 will certainly receive their payments, and this new iteration will not affect those payments.

We have taken note that the majority of the previous applications were paid to males between the ages of 18-35 and in order to address this gender imbalance, the grant has now been opened to include caregivers, the majority of whom are women, Zulu said.

Eligibility criteria for COVID-19 SRD Grant

A Social Relief of Distress Grant of R350 per month, as indicated in the Directions is payable for the period indicated therein to a person who is:

A South African Citizen, permanent resident or refugee registered on the Home Affairs database and persons who are holders of special permits under the Special Angolan Dispensation, the Lesotho Exemption Permit dispensation and the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Dispensation, and asylum seekers whose section 22 permits or visas are valid or were valid on 15 March 2020;

Currently residing within the borders of the Republic of South Africa;

Above the age of 18 and below the age of 60;

Unemployed;

Not receiving any social grant in respect of himself or herself;

Not receiving an unemployment insurance benefit and does not qualify to receive an unemployment insurance benefit;

Not receiving a stipend from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and other financial aid;

Not receiving any other government COVID-19 response support; and

Not a resident in a government funded or subsidised institution.

Zulu said that care givers who are not receiving any grant on their own behalf will also have to apply for the special grant.

She also reiterated that only people who meet the criteria, and have no financial support from any source should apply for the grant.

The Minister also emphasised that the previous SRD grant expired on 30 April 2021, and all people who had previously applied must re-apply again, in order to enable the department to assess their eligibility, and all applications will be treated as new applications every month.

However, each applicant need only apply once  thereafter the application will be considered monthly. The new application will only be effective from August 2021 [and] the applications shall be considered from the month of application and paid up to 31 March 2022, provided the qualifying criteria continue to be met.

This requirement will be confirmed through the monthly validations of every application. It is important to note that there will be no automatic qualification - all applications must satisfy the criteria and will be subjected to the entire validation process, the Minister explained.

All applications will be done electronically, through the website at https://srd.sassa.gov.za; WhatsApp on 082 046 8553; or USSD line *134*7737#

An application should be submitted through only one of the channels, and it is not necessary to submit multiple applications.

Confirmation will be received as soon as the application has been successfully submitted.

SASSA will pay the SRD Grant into a bank account of the beneficiary. With applicants who do not have bank accounts, SASSA will pay through South African Post Office/Post Bank; or a Bank Mobile Money Transfers (cash send).

It is important for applicants to note that the bank account or the cellular phone number provided for payment must be registered in the name of the approved applicant for the grant to ensure that payment goes to the correct recipients.

We also appeal to all applicants to provide information on a bank account through which they can be paid, so that we can reduce the long queues at the post office branches and improve convenience to all our clients. It is also important for every applicant to provide the correct mobile number through which he/she can be contacted, as all communication with applicants will be through sms notifications, Zulu explained.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-08-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa meets with special envoys on investment

This story has been published on: 2021-08-05. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

Acting Health Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has emphasised the need to increase the rate of vaccinations in the Northern Cape, as the province nears the 200 000 milestone. The Minister said she would like to see vaccines reach rural areas and the most vulnerable members of society. The Minister, together with the Northern Cape Health MEC... See more
South Africa: Man nabbed for possession of hijacked cars in Tshwane

Police officers from Wedela, Tshwane, have arrested a 29-year-old man for possession of hijacked motor vehicles and an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

The suspect was spotted by the police during a routine patrol, as he was driving from an open veld near the cemetery in Wedela.

Police stopped the suspect, and found that the vehicle was reported as hijacked in June 2021 in Tshwane.

Police found an unlicensed firearm with ammunition in the suspects possession. The driver was immediately apprehended.

Police then drove inside the veld to establish where the suspect was coming from and found an abandoned, dilapidated building. Upon searching through the building, police found another vehicle, which was also reported as hijacked yesterday on the N12 road in Fochville, SAPS said in a statement.

Police said the recovered firearm will be investigated to establish whether or not it was used in the commission of other crimes.

Both vehicles, a blue GWM sedan and white Datsun Go, were impounded.

The suspect will appear in the Fochville Magistrate Court as soon as a date is set. The suspect will be profiled to determine if he had any links to other crimes, especially hijacking.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: KZN Treasury receives 12th successive clean audit

KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has commended the department for receiving its 12th consecutive clean audit.

The Auditor-Generals Provincial Treasurys Audit Report for 2020/21 revealed that the department has received yet another clean audit with no findings for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Dube-Ncube thanked the Office of the Auditor-General for its continued support to make the department lead by example.

She said audit workshops should be strengthened and supported in order for them to yield fruitful outcomes.

We cannot rest on our laurels. We need to work hard to ensure that things are done properly across all government departments to realise a province free of negative audit findings.

As custodians of the public purse, we cant continue to have other departments get negative findings. We need to support them, using the skills at our disposal, Dube-Ncube said on Thursday.

In its report, the Office of the Auditor-General said that in accordance with the Provincial Audit Act (PAA) and the general notice issued in terms thereof, they have a responsibility to report material findings on the Provincial Treasurys compliance with specific matters in key legislation.

The Auditor-General said it performed procedures to identify findings, but not to gather evidence to express assurance.

[We] did not identify any material findings on compliance with the specific matter in key legislation set out in the general notice issued in terms of the PAA.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Sisulu welcomes SIU probe into tender irregularities

Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has welcomed the announcement by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that it is now ready to investigate alleged tender irregularities at the department dating back to 2012.

This follows the signing of Proclamation R33 of 2021 by President Cyril Ramaphosa giving the green light to the SIU to probe allegations of corruption and maladministration in the department involving officials and IT company, EOH.

At a meeting in 2020, the department requested the SIU to extend the scope of the investigation to investigate the alleged irregular appointment of EOH.

Sisulu said the latest developments, as announced by the SIU, is a result of the departments Forensic Audit Unit, which concluded 42 investigations during the 2019/2020 financial year.

Our resolve is to root out fraud and corruption which has over the years denied our people access to clean water and provision of decent sanitation. As we turn around the department, we need all the necessary support from various institutions, including law enforcement agencies.

Sisulu said the war against fraud and corruption is a collective responsibility, and can only be won if we put all hands on deck.

The Minister has also issued a call that all institutions under the Department of Water and Sanitation should continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies, including the SIU, on various investigations affecting the department.

Sisulu has consistently communicated that the fight against fraud and corruption in the department should be intensified.

She said a number of cases have been referred to law enforcement agencies, including the South African Police Service, for further investigation.

A Ministerial Stabilization Committee, led by former Minister Susan Shabangu, has unearthed a number of irregularities and disciplinary hearings are currently underway, Sisulu said.  SAnews.gov.za

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Hong Kong: Immigration law claims rebutted

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government strongly deplores the misrepresentation made by the Canadian Government concerning the Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 which took effect on August 1.

The Security Bureau made the statement today after the Canadian Government, in the update of its travel advisories for Hong Kong, made accusations that the ordinance's provisions are vaguely defined and might restrict individuals from leaving Hong Kong.

The statement noted that the legal amendment, which empowers the Secretary for Security to make regulations in relation to the provision of passenger information by carriers, is to fulfil the Hong Kong SARs obligation under the Convention on International Civil Aviation to implement the Advance Passenger Information (API) system.

According to the convention, all its members should put in place the API system with legal backing. Based on the relevant requirements, airlines need to provide passenger and crew member information to the Immigration Department before flight departure to Hong Kong.

It will only apply to flights heading to Hong Kong, the statement emphasised, noting that so far over 90 countries have the API system in place, including Canada, the European Union member states, the US and Australia.

Hong Kong residents freedom to travel and right to enter or leave the city are guaranteed under Article 31 of the Basic Law. The Legislative Council has undertaken a detailed review on each provision of the amendment ordinance.

In respect of the background and purpose of the system and provision, the Hong Kong SAR Government has addressed the questions in detail. Time and again it has explained clearly to the public, and written to foreign consulates in Hong Kong that the system is intended to require the provision of passenger information on flights heading to Hong Kong, not the flights departing the city.

In accordance with the standards proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Hong Kong SAR Government is studying, having regard to overseas experience, the overall operational arrangement for the API system in Hong Kong, and will make relevant subsidiary legislation.

It will consult the Legislative Council on the subsidiary legislation and system arrangement in due course. The API system will be rolled out only after the council has scrutinised and passed the subsidiary legislation, and approved the funding for developing the required system.

The statement added that the Canadian Government disregarded the detailed explanation by the Hong Kong SAR Government on the API system in the past, and deliberately misrepresented the legislation's background and purpose, making false and misleading statements.

The bureau expressed strong dissatisfaction and called on the Canadian Government to modify its stance.

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South Africa: Cabinet approves tourism norms and standards

Cabinet has approved the Norms and Standards for the safe operations of the tourism sector in the context of COVID-19 and other related pandemics.

The announcement was made on Thursday by acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, following this weeks Cabinet meeting.

The norms and standards provide common minimum health and safety measures that will ensure uniformity across the tourism sector. They will cover services such as accommodation, food, tour operators, casinos, weddings and other related activities, she said.

South Africa, the Minister said, is now on par with international markets, and this will enable the sector to fully open for international tourist arrivals.

National Conference on Migration and Urbanisation

At its meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet also endorsed the National Conference on Migration and Urbanisation in South Africa, which was held virtually from 26 to 30 July 2021.

Migration and urbanisation have been part of South Africas four population policy priorities since 2015, Ntshavheni said.

The conference took stock of the available data, knowledge and information on migration and urbanisation trends in the country.

Such information serves as an evidence base for policy and programme development, including planning in all three spheres of government, the Minister said.

The conference was organised collaboratively with the relevant government departments, as well as the research community and civil society.

The conference culminated in the setting up of a Forum for Migration and Urbanisation Data and Research to serve as a knowledge resource to support the work of migration and urbanisation.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Cabinet rejects Israels AU observer status

Cabinet has described as unjust and unilateral the decision the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) to grant Israel observer status in the African Union (AU).

The AU is the legitimate representative of all African member States that should be consulted on such decisions, said Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, on Thursday.

The Minister was updating the nation on decisions of the Cabinet meeting held yesterday.

According to Cabinet, the AU embodies the aspirations of all Africans and carries the mark of confidence in its leadership of the African peoples.

Therefore, it should endeavour to take decisions which are not in conflict with the principles of the AU Charter, Ntshavheni said.

The Executive believes that the continued occupation of Palestine by Israel remains totally unjust and shameful, and takes away the human rights of Palestinians.

This unilateral decision follows the recent unjust attacks on innocent Palestinians by the Israelis in East Jerusalem and Gaza, Ntshavheni said.

Israel obtained observer status at the AU last month, which it has been demanding for years and seen as a diplomatic win for the Jewish State.

Israel, which has relations with 46 of the AU member States, enjoyed observer status with the Organisation of African Unity until 2002 when the organisation dissolved itself and became the AU.

Cabinet has since called on the AU to reconsider its unilateral decision to grant Israel observer status in the AU.

Cabinet remains unequivocally committed to efforts aimed at reviving a political process that would lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian State, existing side by side in peace with Israel, said Ntshavheni.

In a statement released by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation last week, it said South Africa firmly believes that as long as Israel is not willing to negotiate a peace plan without preconditions, it should not have observer status in the AU.

The African Union cannot be a party in any way to plans and actions that would see the ideal of Palestinian statehood reduced into balkanised entities devoid of true sovereignty, without territorial contiguity and with no economic viability, the department said at the time.

African Regional Cooperative Agreement

Meanwhile, Cabinet has approved the submission of the revised African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development, and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA) agreement to Parliament for another five years.

AFRA is an intergovernmental agreement established by African Union member States to further strengthen and enlarge the contribution of nuclear science and technology to socio-economic development on the African continent.

South Africa has been an active member of AFRA and it collaborates with other member States to promote the agreements objectives on the African continent, said Ntshavheni.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Over 8 million people vaccinated in SA

Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says Cabinet is pleased with the countrys vaccination rollout programme, which is seeing one million people inoculated every three days in both the public and private health sectors.

Ntshavheni was updating the nation on Thursday on decisions of the Cabinet meeting held yesterday.

To date, the Minister said over eight million South Africans have been vaccinated.

At the current pace, the President should soon announce a revised target date for the country to reach population immunity, she said, emphasising that vaccination remains the countrys most effective weapon in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

People can now go to any vaccination site with their identity documents, even without an appointment, to be registered and vaccinated.

The Executive welcomed the donation of 5.6 million Pfizer shots by the United States, with the first batch having landed on Saturday.

This will ensure an adequate supply of vaccines to intensify our vaccination rollout programme, Ntshavheni said.

The Minister thanked the over 35-year-old age group, who have been visiting inoculation centres to receive their life-saving vaccination.

Were looking forward to reaching 10 million by early next week, she said.

On 1 September, registration for those aged between 18 and 34 will open.

Cabinet has also noted the significant decline in new infections in South Africa after the country officially surpassed the peak of the third wave.

However, four provinces -- the Northern Cape, North West, Free State, and Western Cape (which recently passed the peak of the third wave) -- have been recording increases in daily new infection rates.

Cabinet reiterates its call to all people in South Africa to continue adhering to the prevention protocols of masking up, washing up, maintaining a 1.5-metre social distance, and avoiding large gatherings, Ntshavheni said.

Reopening of schools

Cabinet has welcomed the smooth reopening of schools and the return of all primary pupils to daily classes.

Cabinet urged all schools to continue to work within the established COVID-19 health protocols. The return of all primary pupils is in the best interests of the child, and it will help to recover the learning time that was lost during the hard national lockdown, the Minister said.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Cabinet welcomes completion of Medupi power station

As South Africa commemorates Womens Month, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, has paid tribute to women in sport, who are flying the South African flag high on the global stage. [read more: https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/mthethwa-salutes-women-sport]

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South Africa: Cabinet welcomes R36bn economic relief package

Cabinet has welcomed governments R36 billion economic relief support to sectors reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and the recent public violence, where businesses were looted and damaged.

This package of interventions was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month, with its details given by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last week.

Addressing media in a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday, acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said the economic relief package is aimed at getting the country back on its feet, and softening the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was exacerbated by looting and destruction of business properties in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The bulk of this relief is for the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant to alleviate poverty and hunger among the poorest in society, and [to] support employees and businesses," Ntshavheni said.

The Minister said government continues to seek additional support packages to ensure a speedy economic recovery, in line with the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan of the country, as tabled by the President.

"The task of rebuilding the economy belongs to all South Africans and Cabinet calls on every citizen and the private sector to join our national efforts to rebuild together and to rebuild faster for a prosperous and equal South Africa," she said. - SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Cabinet applauds return of calm in KZN, Gauteng

Cabinet has commended law enforcement agencies for restoring calm to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following incidents of civil unrest last month.

At Wednesday's meeting, Cabinet also commended law enforcement agencies for the progress they are making in bringing those responsible for the incitement of violence to book.

"We would like to reassure South Africans that no stone [will be] left unturned to bring to justice those responsible for the unrest that took place in the provinces," said acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, during a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday.

To date, six suspects have been arrested and have appeared in various courts for incitement of public violence.

"The law enforcement agencies and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will assist with ensuring of successful prosecutions and further arrests, Ntshavheni said.

Cabinet noted that the number of deaths as a result of the violence has remained at 354. The figure of deaths in Gauteng is 79, while 275 fatalities were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal. Of the deaths in KwaZulu-Natal, 122 were recorded in the eThekwini Metro.

"Of these, 36 were reported in Phoenix, with 29 murders and seven inquests," Ntshavheni said.

In this regard, 22 suspects have been arrested and appeared in court.

Cabinet has urged people in affected communities in KwaZulu-Natal to work together to support governments efforts to address racial tensions and undertones that threaten to undermine the countrys values of democracy and non-racialism.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Coega Wellness Centre becomes vaccination service

As government continues to rollout the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) Wellness Centre in Gqeberha is now a COVID-19 public vaccination site.

The CDC Wellness Centre team will utilise trained and qualified staff to receive, store and oversee the dispensation of the vaccines.

Moreover, the team will ensure that the vaccination of staff and local communities is conducted safely and is carefully managed, the CDC said on Thursday.

The centre, which is located in Zone 4 of the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), services CDC employees, tenants and their employees, including contractors, the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park (NMBLP), as well as the surrounding community of Motherwell and Wells Estate.

The Department of Health supplies the vaccines administered at the centre. Approval from the department came into effect on Monday.

The CDC has already commenced the vaccination rollout and therefore invites employees of tenants located within the Coega SEZ, including contractors, NMBLP and surrounding communities of Motherwell and Wells Estate, the CDC said.

Persons aged 35-years and above, who have not yet registered nor had their vaccinations are encouraged to register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) self-registration portal accessible on https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/.

The CDC also encouraged people to include the following address on the portal when registering for vaccination at the centre: R102 Old Coega Road, Markman, Human Capital Solutions.

Upon completion of registration, bookings must be made by calling 041 404 7336 to confirm a slot. Alternatively, walk-ins will be allowed for community residents who do not have access to the internet. The clinics vaccination hours are from 10am  3pm, the CDC said.

The following items should be taken with to the vaccination site:

Identity document;

Medical aid membership card, if applicable;

Pen and water (in case of long queues).



CDC vaccination process



Booking: CDC employees/tenants employees must book a time slot in advance for vaccination.

Screening: Takes place at the gate and at the Coega Human Capital Solutions (HCS) hall for COVID-19. It will be determined at the HCS hall whether an individual has been registered on the EVDS. Persons not registered will be assisted on site to register for vaccination. People are encouraged to register before coming to the CDC Wellness Centre for an efficient service.

Vaccination: Vaccines will be administered inside the CDC Wellness Centre, where there will be three vaccination stations.

Observation: Takes place to monitor and ensure that no complications develop after the vaccine has been administered. This will take at least 15 minutes after an individual has been vaccinated.



The CDC has emphasised the following:

The vaccination site caters for both medical aid cardholders and non-medical aid cardholders.

The CDC security personnel will be available to assist monitoring long queues.

COVID-19 protocols, such as physical distancing, sanitisation of hands and wearing of masks will be observed.

Wheelchair access, seating and ablutions facilities will be provided.

- SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Government tightens grip on state security

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced sweeping changes to his Cabinet on Thursday evening, as well as to the configuration of some government departments and Ministries - key among those, the doing away of the Ministry of State Security, with the political responsibility for the latter, now being placed firmly in the Presidency.

The reason for this new move, the President explained, was to ensure that the countrys domestic and foreign intelligence services more effectively enabled him, as the head of state, to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation.

The President announced several changes to the National Executive, at a time when government is facing several challenges, including working to accelerate its vaccination programme to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the same time, working to ensure peace and stability in the wake of the recent outbreak of violence and destruction in parts of the country.

Heading up the new portfolio will be Zizi Kodwa as Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for state security. Kodwa was the former deputy minister of the department of state security. He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) and a former spokesperson for the party.

Recent weeks saw a spate of violence and unrest, mostly in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

The President on Thursday evening described this as an orchestrated campaign of public violence, destruction and sabotage.

He said that while calm has been restored to the affected areas and law enforcement agencies are working hard to bring those responsible to justice, government has acknowledged that its security services were found wanting in several respects.

Expert panel appointed

To strengthen the countrys security services and to prevent a recurrence of such events, the President announced the appointment of an expert panel to lead a thorough and critical review of governments preparedness and the shortcomings in its response.

The members of the panel are:

Prof Sandy Africa, as chair,

Advocate Mojanku Gumbi

Silumko Sokupa

The panel will examine all aspects of governments security response and make recommendations on strengthening its capabilities.

In addition, the President announced the appointment of Dr Sydney Mufamadi as National Security Adviser, to improve support to the President and the National Security Council in the strategic management of the countrys security. This position has been vacant since Charles Nqakula stepped down earlier this year.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: President Ramaphosa announces changes to his Cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday evening announced a few major changes to his Cabinet, as part of improving the capacity of government.

I am therefore making changes to the National Executive to improve the capacity of government to effectively undertake these tasks, he said referring to the challenges faced by South Africa requiring several tasks to be undertaken at once.

The President announced several changes to the National Executive, at a time when government is facing several challenges, including re-working to accelerate its vaccination programme to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the same time, working to ensure peace and stability in the wake of the recent outbreak of violence and destruction in parts of the country.

The President said, in addiiton, there were also a number of vacancies to be filled.

A further vacancy has arisen following the request I have received from Minister Zwelini Mkhize to allow him to step down as the Minister of Health in order to bring certainty and stability to this important portfolio, the President announced.

Dr Joe Phaahla has been appointed as the new Minister of Health. He served as Deputy Minister of Health from 30 May 2019 to 5 August 2021.

I am grateful to Minister Mkhize for his service, and particularly for the outstanding leadership he has provided in the face of the worst pandemic in over a century.

I have also accepted a long-standing request by Minister Tito Mboweni to be excused from his position as Minister of Finance, the President announced.

Minister Mboweni took up this position following the sudden departure of former Minister Nhlanhla Nene in October 2018.

Since then, he has effectively and ably steered National Treasury through extremely difficult economic times, providing stability and instilling confidence. I am grateful to Minister Mboweni for responding to the call to serve our nation at its time of need.

Enoch Godongwana has been appointed as the new Minister of Finance. Godongowana had previously served as the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises (2009-2010) and as Deputy Minister of Economic Development (1 November to 2012).

New appointments

With respect to Ministers, the President made the following new appointments:

Mondli Gungubele, who served as chair of Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Social Development, has been appointed as Minister in the Presidency. He takes over this portfolio following the passing away of Minister Jackson Mthembu.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who served as acting Minister in the Presidency as well as Minister of Small Business Development, has moved over to become Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.

Thandi Modise, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly, is now the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.

Former Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi has been appointed as the Minister of Human Settlements.

In addition, Ayanda Dlodlo moves over from State Security to Public Service and Administration.

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, has been moved to the Small Business Development Department.

Former Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has been appointed as the Minister of Tourism.

The new Minister of Water and Sanitation is the former Minister of Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu.

With respect to Deputy Ministers, the President made the following appointments:

Pinky Kekana who served as Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies is now the second Deputy Minister in the Presidency.

Zoleka Capa takes over as Deputy Minister of Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform.

Philly Mapulane is the new Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.

The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister is Thembi Nkadimeng.

Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Health.

Mineral Resources and Energy is Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.

Dr Chana Pilane-Majake has been appointed as Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration.

The President has appointed Sdumo Dlamini as Deputy Minister of Small Business Development.

Sindisiwe Chikunga has been appointed as Deputy Minister of Transport.

Dikeledi Magadzi as Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation.

The Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for state security is Zizi Kodwa.



Changes in the configuration of departments

Among the other changes announced by the President is the separation of the Ministry of Human Settlements from the Ministry of Water and Sanitation. The two portfolios were brought together understanding that the provision of water is closely tied to the development of human settlements.

However, the reality is that water is a far broader issue, impacting not only on human settlements, but also on agriculture, industry, mining and environmental management. 

The separation he said, will enable a dedicated focus on ensuring that all South Africans have access to a secure and sustainable supply of water.

President Ramaphosa also announced the decision to do away with the Ministry of State Security and place political responsibility for the State Security Agency within the Presidency.

This is to ensure that the countrys domestic and foreign intelligence services more effectively enable the President to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation, he said. - SAnews.gov.za

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300 workers sent to Binh Duong to support Covid-19 vaccination

Around 300 medical workers from 60 vaccination teams have been sent to the southern province of Binh Duong to help the provinces Covid-19 inoculation campaign.



The staff, who are from Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC), have supported HCM Citys Covid-19 vaccination campaign. They are from HCM City and some other localities.





Binh Duong is speeding up Covid-19 vaccination
Georgia's Talakhadze sets three world records to win weightlifting gold at Tokyo Olympics

Xinhua) 08:54, August 05, 2021

Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia competes during the Weightlifting Men's +109kg competition at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

TOKYO, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lasha Talakhadze won his second Olympic gold medal with dominance in the men's over 109kg weightlifting at Tokyo 2020 here on Wednesday by breaking his own world records in the process.

The 27-year-old Talakhadze has dominated this category since the International Weightlifting Federation made the decision to reshuffle the divisions in 2018. The Rio Olympic champion met no challenge in the snatch as he hoisted 223kg in his third attempt, one kilo more than his own world record.

Talakhadze, collecting 12 European titles and nine world titles, extended his lead as he began his solo in the clean and jerk after all the lifters finished their competition.

He jerked 245kg in his first attempt to nail the gold medal, but he did not stop and pushed himself to hoist a new world 265kg in his last lift. His total lifts of 488kg eclipsed the world record by three kilos.

"I feel very happy about it. It was a long training period during this pandemic. I had a great dream and excitement to win the gold medal again (after Rio 2016). That dream came true again," said Talakhadze.

Talakhadze also became the first Georgian to win multiple Olympic gold medals in any sport, and he determined to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and he was asked by the press whether a 500kg total could be a goal.

"At this stage it would be risky (500kg), but I will try my utmost and do everything to set the nearest limit to that,"Talakhadze said.

Being so far ahead of his competitors, Talakhadze thought he appreciated every competitors and he just wanted to perform his best on the platform.

"Each of my opponents are strong opponents, my achievements look high, but they are all just opponents which are well valued and appreciated by me. My major thought (during competition) is that I want to win myself."

Ali Davoudi of Iran, the Asian champion this year, lifted a total of 441kg to claim the silver while the bronze went to Man Asaad of Syria at 424kg.

"I am very happy. It's been my pursuit since childhood and I've been working hard. I congratulate the Iranian people and I am happy that during this quarantine I can make them happy. I am hoping next time I can get them gold," Davoudi told the press.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China's first building assembling robot rolls off production line

Xinhua) 09:18, August 05, 2021

A train of the Guangzhou Metro Line 18 is under hot-running test in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, March 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's first robot for assembling building components rolled off the production line in east China's Jiangsu Province, Science and Technology Daily reported Wednesday.

Developed by China Railway Science &Industry Group Co., Ltd and China Railway Construction Engineering Group, the robot is planned to be used for the construction of a metro line in Guangzhou.

Equipped with 72 sensors and 50 cameras, the robot is 80 meters long, with a weight of 460 tonnes and an effective span of 69 meters. It can install beams weighing up to 120 tonnes.

A total of eight independently movable legs consisting of 32 tires allow the robot to walk more flexibly and cross obstacles.

Adopting Beidou positioning technology, the robot has a measurement accuracy of 10 millimeters, and has applied for two national invention patents, said one of the researchers.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Interference in China's domestic affairs counterproductive: former U.S. ambassador

Xinhua) 13:05, August 05, 2021

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Foreign countries' interventions in China's domestic affairs will only be counterproductive, former U.S. Ambassador to China Stapleton Roy has said, criticizing the U.S. abuse of power in global issues.

In an interview with the U.S. magazine The Wire China on July 25, Roy said the so-called sanctions imposed by Washington on the use of cotton originating in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region "will not have a substantial impact on China, but will only harm its own interests."

Roy, who helped set up the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and served as the U.S. ambassador to China from 1991 to 1995, said the United States, after becoming the world's only superpower, is expanding day by day and paying the price for the abuse of power both domestically and abroad.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
U.S. strategy towards China requires careful net assessment: Harvard professor

Xinhua) 13:05, August 05, 2021

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Squeezing China into the ideological framework misrepresents the real strategic challenge the United States faces, said Joseph S. Nye, Jr., professor at Harvard University.

China is now the largest trade partner to more countries than the United States is and trying to curtail all trade with China would be too costly for the United States as it also trades heavily with China, said the professor in an article published on the international opinion page of the Project Syndicate.

Addressing many global problems, such as climate change or pandemics, requires the United States to work with China, Nye said, indicating that the U.S. strategy towards China requires careful net assessment.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Former World Bank vice president warns against Australia's rhetoric on China

Xinhua) 13:17, August 05, 2021

SYDNEY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australia needs to tone down its rhetoric on China or risk a new Cold War, which will threaten global economic growth and the handling of global challenges, Ian Goldin, former vice president of the World Bank, said.

Goldin, also professor of globalization and development at the Oxford University, made the remarks on Monday while addressing the Diggers &Dealers mining conference in Kalgoorlie in West Australia, according to local media the Australian.

"Threat of a new Cold War is real. It's my greatest fear at the moment. I believe a Cold War is hugely destabilizing for the world economy; will slow global growth; takes away opportunities and will lead to excuses for protectionism and nationalism which will be the antithesis of global trade," he said.

Australia's "sabre-rattling" is a mistake and will continue to escalate tensions between the two countries, he added.

Goldin also warned that there could be no solutions to major global challenges, including global warming, cyber security threats, or another pandemic, without China's participation, and increasingly hostile relations between the United States and China, and Australia and China, would only delay action on both existing and emerging problems.

"Sabre rattling and talking the tensions up is not the right approach," he said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Chinese FM attends East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting

Xinhua) 14:32, August 05, 2021

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday attended the 11th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting via video link, and called for solidarity and cooperation among summit members to contribute to pandemic response and economic recovery.

Wang said that summit members should uphold the spirit of science and jointly promote new measures for anti-pandemic cooperation.

He said summit members should continue to expand the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, accelerate the progress of vaccination, strengthen cooperation on iterative research and development for vaccine updates, and jointly build regional vaccine production and distribution centers.

China has so far provided more than 750 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, Wang said.

He said it is imperative to carry out virus origin tracing research in the spirit of science, oppose any political manipulation and truly provide a reference for preventing the next pandemic.

Wang called on summit members to promote green development and join hands to address climate change, adding that China will firmly follow the path of green, low-carbon and sustainable development, as well as actively participate in international cooperation in response to climate change.

Wang called for strengthening the central position of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and safeguarding international fairness and justice.

China supports the statement of the ASEAN advocating multilateralism, and is willing to work with all parties to safeguard the international system with the United Nations as the core and the international order based on international laws, Wang said.

China, as a responsible country, is willing to work with all sides to make its new contributions to effectively coping with various global challenges.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
COVID-19 origin-tracing needs to be conducted on science, not nonsense

CGTN) 15:05, August 05, 2021

The World Health Organization recently proposed a plan for the second phase of virus origin-tracing, which includes audits of labs in Wuhan. This contradicts its earlier statement that "a laboratory origin of the pandemic was considered to be extremely unlikely." Why is a scientific body changing its stance so hastily? Unfortunately, it's mired in politics.

Tracing COVID-19 origin shouldn't be politicized /CGTN

After the joint WHO-China report clearly said in March that it was"extremely unlikely"the virus escaped from a lab, the UN agency has been facing the pressures of politics, financing and assaults on its reputation from the U.S., where political interests override all.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
COVID-19 origin tracing should not be politicized: Ethiopian media

Xinhua) 15:17, August 05, 2021

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 origin tracing should be carried out as a serious scientific matter and must not be politicized, an Ethiopian media outlet urged recently.

Constant and long-term origin tracing studies on a global scale in a sound manner should be actively promoted, said an article, published by state-affiliated Walta Information Center on Tuesday.

The article is based on information from an interview with Chen Xufeng, Charge d'Affaires of Mission of China to the African Union (AU), who said China will continue to help African countries overcome the impact of the pandemic.

Nearly 60 countries, including a vast number of African countries, have written to WHO to express approval of the results of the phase-one study and opposition to the plot to politicize COVID-19 origin tracing, the article quoted the Chinese mission as saying.

It also emphasized evidence-based and science-driven methodology and practical scientific international cooperation as a viable COVID-19 origin- tracing method which can possibly enable mankind to prevent similar potential pandemics.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Commentary: Hypocritical Washington and its lies of "standing with Hong Kong"

Xinhua) 15:29, August 05, 2021

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Unsurprisingly, Washington once again chose to stand against righteousness, morality and the general interest of the Hong Kong people.

In the latest move of its China-smearing campaign, the White House attempted to demonize the national security law in Hong Kong and whitewash Tong Ying-kit, a man sentenced to nine years in prison in late July for inciting others to commit secession and engaging in terrorist activities in the city.

For quite some time, those U.S. lawmakers have been colluding with and even abetting rioters in Hong Kong, disregarding all the miseries Hong Kongers suffered during a months-long social unrest.

A 70-year-old cleaner was killed after his head was struck by bricks; a 57-year-old father of two daughters was set on fire with flammable solution as he chased after violent protesters that sabotaged transportation facilities; a group of police officers were hit and seriously injured by a motorbike run by mobsters, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, Washington had done nothing but praise the rioters as "fighters" and "heroes," and slandered Hong Kong police's normal law-enforcement measures. Not even once did it really "stand with the Hong Kong people," as it repeatedly claimed.

Later, when Hong Kong regained social order and stability after the implementation of the national security law and the adoption of a new electoral system, those hypocrites in the White House jumped up again to stigmatize the lawful and righteous efforts of the Chinese central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

With the national security law in force and the fresh electoral system in place, Hong Kong has finally emerged from the shadows of disorder to embrace long-term peace and prosperity.

But Washington refused to acknowledge this. Its lie about supporting Hong Kong has fully exposed its double standards, prejudice and hegemony.

It condemned the Capitol riot with utmost rage, but called similar acts in Hong Kong "a beautiful sight to behold."

It has enacted the world's most thorough national security law at home, and granted its own federal government a leading role in drawing up election rules, but tried to smear China's parallel efforts in Hong Kong.

It touts itself as a defender of international rules, but repeatedly tramples on international law and basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs.

It seems that only a chaotic Hong Kong can meet Washington's political interests. To sow discord in Hong Kong to stifle the city's and China's development, Washington on one hand imposed coercive and unilateral sanctions against Hong Kong and China at large, and on the other ganged up with certain media outlets to stoke tensions in Hong Kong, spread pessimism about the city's outlook, and undermine the "one country, two systems" policy.

President of Senate of Grenada Chester Humphrey once pointed out that some U.S. politicians intended to divert Americans' attention from their domestic problems with such malicious moves.

However, Washington's sinister intention to destabilize Hong Kong and contain China will never succeed.

The United States has deep and direct interests in Hong Kong. As former U.S. diplomat Kurt W. Tong wrote in a Foreign Affairs article published in mid-July, even the Treasury Department knows that sanctions on major Chinese banks will interrupt "the huge volume of financial transactions between the world's two largest economies," which would "in turn harm U.S. financial markets and the perceived reliability of the U.S.-centric global payments system."

Also, the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, including those in Hong Kong, as well as the broader international community, are no fools.

Improving the electoral system has become a consensus in Hong Kong. Over 2.38 million people signed a petition in March to show their support, and a survey showed some 70 percent of respondents believe the improved electoral system will brighten Hong Kong's prospects.

At the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 71 countries jointly stressed that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and should not be interfered with by external forces.

Washington will in no way bend the will of the Chinese to do what it feels is right for Hong Kong and China, nor can it ever delude the international community with smears and lies. It is time for Washington to wake up to that, and learn to be in the right.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
US is guilty of "origin-tracing terrorism"

16:27, August 05, 2021 By Xin Yue ( People's Daily Online

Ignoring the research results on origin-tracing of the novel coronavirus reached by global scientists under the framework of the World Health Organization (WHO), the US has aggressively hyped up the "lab leak" theory, and ordered intelligence agencies to investigate the virus.

These actions have proven once again that the so-called "investigations" have nothing to do with science or the truth, but only serve the US agenda of stigmatizing China.

The US attempts to link the origin of the virus with China and even Asian countries as a group have caused rising anti-Asian sentiment in the US and some other countries in the West. Many people of Asian descent are facing discrimination, oppression and even physical violence.

The US is also playing dirty tricks on the scientific community, stifling the righteous voice of scientists, subjecting many outspoken scientists to verbal abuse and threat of physical assault. Some media have called such behavior "origin-tracing terrorism".

The previous US administration hyped up the ridiculous theories of "man-made virus" and "lab leak". In response, the joint WHO-China study report published on March 30, 2021 stated clearly that "a laboratory origin of the pandemic was considered to be extremely unlikely".

Currently, COVID-19 cases and deaths in the US both top the world, but the COVID-19 vaccination rollout there is slowing precipitously. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the US is at a critical moment in the fight against pandemic as the Delta variant circulates around the country.

A pedestrian walks past a COVID-19 testing billboard in New York, the United States, July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Instead of paying attention to their domestic anti-pandemic situation, certain US politicians have called for a second round of investigations in China, attempting to make the country a scapegoat and divert attention away from the US' obvious failures in tackling the pandemic domestically.

The study of origins is a serious matter of science, and the job should be jointly carried out by scientists. The second phase of origin-tracing should be conducted based on wide consultation by WHO member states, and what has already been conducted during the first phase, especially where conclusive findings were already reached, should not be repeated.

The US' denial of the joint WHO-China study report, as well as its manipulation of the second phase of origin-tracing, both based on presumption of guilt, are in defiance of science and truth, and will not result in any just or objective conclusions.

There is a great deal of evidence to prove that COVID-19 broke out in multiple countries around the world as early as the second half of 2019. People in five US states were infected with COVID-19 well before those states reported their first cases. The US has ignored this, and never investigated any of its bio laboratories, including Fort Detrick and the over 200 overseas labs. The principle of transparency the US often talks about is nothing but lip service.

And it's even more ridiculous of the US to ask its intelligence agencies to trace the origins of the virus. In fact, these agencies have a list of bad records, including murder, overthrowing governments of other countries, promoting "color revolutions" and instigating unrest.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was also the CIA director, once said, "We lied, we cheated, we stole we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

The US' acts of politicizing virus origin-tracing and practicing "origin-tracing terrorism" are a continuation of the CIA actions of lying, cheating and stealing.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Liang Jun)
On August 4, the international container terminal of Hefei Port is busy in outbound transportation. The terminal plans to launch tailored routes from Hefei to Shanghai, open up sources of general cargo and raise revenue of warehousing business. From January to July this year, 213,300 TEUs were handled, up 8.4 percent year-on-year, and 930,100 tons of general freight were completed, up 58.9 percent year-on-year.(By Li Bo/Anhui Daily)

(By Yang Zixuan)
A spokesperson with China's foreign ministry has slammed the United States State Department's approval of arms sale to Taiwan, saying that China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation.

In an online response on Thursday, the spokesperson said the action jeopardized China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

The spokesperson said Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and the US has interfered in China's internal affairs and undermined China's sovereignty and security interests by selling arms to Taiwan region.

"It runs counter to international law and basic principles in international relations, and violates the one-China principle and provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique, the spokesperson said, adding that the action has sent wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

Beijing is firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with the US side, the spokesperson said, adding that China urges the US side to honor its commitment and earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques.

The spokesperson said the US must stop arms sales to and military interactions with Taiwan, and immediately revoke relevant arms sales to Taiwan, "lest it should cause more damage to China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits".
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday welcomed the appointment of Erywan bin Pehin Yusof of Brunei Darussalam as Special Envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chair on Myanmar, said his spokesman.

This appointment is an important step towards the implementation of the consensus adopted at the ASEAN leaders meeting on April 24, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.

The United Nations looks forward to continuing its cooperation with ASEAN on a coherent response to the crisis in Myanmar, noting the complementary roles of the ASEAN special envoy and the UN special envoy, said the statement.
By HE QI

Editor's Note: The People's Liberation Army celebrated the 94th anniversary of its founding on Aug 1. Generations of soldiers have made their contributions to its might over the decades. The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China invited four representatives who are demobilized from the military or serving veterans to share their stories on Monday.

I served in the military for 30 years and resettled as a civil servant in 2018.As a veteran, I've shouldered the responsibility to serve ex-servicemen. Since 2018, I've visited 136 town-level veterans service stations in Liaocheng to learn what my peers really need and what we can do to offer them better lives. Most of the problems I've encountered are helping veterans land jobs. In the past half year, we've organized 21 job fairs for veterans, where 1,200 found jobs. This year, we've also lowered the loan threshold for over 380 demobilized military staff members who plan to open their own businesses.

Li Xiangwen, deputy director of the Liaocheng veterans affairs bureau, Shandong province

I was admitted into the National University of Defense Technology in 1991 as a soldier, and in 2016 I decommissioned from military service and joined Kylinsoft, a company focusing on the development of a Chinese operating system. There are many ex-military service staff members in my team who have the tough spirit to fend off difficulties at work. I believe that we can develop a China-made operating system as long as we remain true to science and strive for the prosperous future of the nation.

Kong Jinzhu, deputy general manager of Kylinsoft

I've worked for veterans since I got my postgraduate degree in 2012 and it's been an honor for me to see the establishment and improvement of a services system for veterans in the past few years. I've met many veterans during my work who have all impressed me with their loyalty, persistence and self-discipline. I remember a veteran who served when he was young. He did not complain a word to the government when his family faced severe difficulties. I was impressed that when we visited his home in 2018, he stood there and solemnly saluted us. The veterans are treasures to our Party and nation. They'd rather bear the hardships themselves than seek help from the government.

Chen Qian, an official at the Hebei Veterans Services Center

I enrolled in the military in 2015, when I was still a college student. Everybody has told me there are only soldiers on the battlefield, regardless of gender, and my peers and I have borne great hardships, becoming true soldiers. In 2017, I decommissioned from military service and started serving as an instructor at Peking University. I've also joined some call-up campaigns to encourage more college students to join the army. I'm pleased that 1.2 million college students enrolled in the military last year, a great increase from 800,000 back in 2015. Though my work has changed in the past six years, I still believe that once I was a soldier, I will be a soldier for the rest of my life.

Song Xi, an instructor at Peking University
Computer giant Microsoft became the latest large employer to require workers to provide proof of a coronavirus vaccination before entering its offices in the United States.

The Seattle Times reported the Redmond, Washington, company sent an email to its employees Tuesday, saying it would have a process to accommodate those employees who have medical conditions or other reasons that might prevent them from getting vaccinated.

The company also said it was pushing back the return of employees to the office by nearly a month, to Oct. 4. It said caregivers of people who are immunosuppressed or parents of children who are too young to receive vaccines could work from home until January. Microsoft has about 100,000 U.S. employees.


"We simply cannot remain indefinitely on standby in an area where we are not authorized to do our job," she said. "But we still hope that the [Cameroonian] authorities will revise this decision for the sake of the population, because thousands of patients benefited from our free emergency services. We are therefore maintaining a liaison office to continue with the dialogue in the region and at the central level."

Laura Martinelli, MSF's coordinator for the northwest region, where thousands of people need health care access, said MSF had seen no signs of the Cameroon government's authorization for the group to resume its activities.

Withdrawing emergency health care services amid a crisis was a difficult decision, but it was one that Doctors without Borders (MSF) had to make after the government suspended its operations for eight months.

 Few Other Options for Care

Martinelli said MSF would be ready to resume activities when Cameroonian authorities lift the suspension. She said the MSF presence was vital because the aid group was one of the few international medical organizations offering free care for people in need, providing 24-hour ambulance services to civilians in the northwest region.

Kennedy Tumenta, coordinator of the Integrated Mental Health Care for Humanity in Babungo, a village in Cameroon's English-speaking northwest, said the center provides psychological care to civilians whom MSF treats. Tumenta said MSF's departure meant that thousands of civilians caught in crossfire would be left without much-needed help.

The withdrawal of Doctors Without Borders, Tumenta said, is a setback "for organizations like ours who provide mental health services to distressed individuals, especially in this region as the crisis has increased the challenges of accessing certain basic health services. We hope that the government and Doctors Without Borders will find ways to solve this problem."

Cameroon's territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, who announced the suspension of MSF in December 2020, declined to comment on MSF's withdrawal when VOA reached out for an interview Tuesday. But in June, Cameroon's health ministry reported that nearly 30 percent of hospitals in the northwest region were no longer functioning because separatist attacks, and that hundreds of health workers had fled to French-speaking towns for safety.

 Government Strategy Criticized

Cyrille Etoga, a health analyst at the University of Yaounde, said Cameroon should know how to distinguish between the activities of a reputable international organization and groups that may be collaborating with separatists. He said Cameroon's government should legally charge people suspected of collaborating with separatists instead of suspending MSF. Etoga said Cameroon needs the assistance of organizations like MSF to meet the growing health needs of its citizens in conflict zones.

In 2020, Cameroon's government accused MSF of having close relations with separatists who are fighting to create an independent English-speaking state. The aid organization strongly denies the accusations and says its only goal is to save lives. MSF says more than 1.4 million people in Cameroon's restive western regions need humanitarian support, where access to health care is extremely limited. The separatist crisis that began in Cameroon's English-speaking regions in 2017 has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced 750,000, both internally and to neighboring Nigeria, according to the UN.
Awards ceremony for 3rd Fujifilm Cup for foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai

By:Fu Yifei | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-08-05 15:13

On August 3, the third Fujifilm Cup photography competition for Shanghai foreign-invested enterprises awards ceremony was held in Shanghai Power Station of Art. The competition was jointly sponsored by Shanghai Foreign Investment Association, Fujifilm (China) Investment Company and other foreign investment enterprise associations in various districts. Guests including Huang Feng, president of Shanghai Foreign Investment Association, Jing Ying, vice president of Shanghai Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SPAFFC), and Kenichi Tanaka, director of Fujifilm (China) Investment Company, attended, along with about 120 winners and representatives from various companies.

The competition entries depict the changes in Shanghai's urban and cultural features through photography, in order to record the important contributions made by foreign-invested enterprises to Shanghai's economic and social development. There were more than 8,600 photography works from 146 foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai and 695 employees in the Shanghai Foreign Investment Association in the competition, among which 15 works were awarded an Excellent Work Prize, 30 works won a Network Popularity Prize and 10 enterprises received a Best Organization Prize.

First prize winner

Second prize winner

Third prize winners

Huang Feng, president of Shanghai Foreign Investment Association, gives a speech

Huang Feng, president of Shanghai Foreign Investment Association, said in his speech that foreign-invested enterprises are important participants, witnesses and beneficiaries of Shanghai's development and opening-up, and the construction of the Five Centers. The excellent photography works of employees from foreign-invested enterprises have shown the glorious history of Shanghai as both the birthplace of the Communist Party of China and its vitality as an international metropolis.

Kenichi Tanaka, director of Fujifilm (China) Investment Company, gives a speech

Kenichi Tanaka, director of Fujifilm (China) Investment Company, said although he just came to work in Shanghai in February this year and hasnt had the opportunity to tour every corner of this city, he was touched by peoples evident love for Shanghai shown through these excellent photography works. Shanghai's development footprint, spirit of openness and innovation, and humanistic style are well conveyed to everyone through the artistic creation of photos and images.
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Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High near 95F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

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On This Page Navigation Sunset view from Bernard Mountain Photo by Emma Forthofer, Friends of Acadia, NPS Visit Mountains, Lakes, and Ponds Just a short drive from the communities of Somesville and Southwest Harbor, visitors can explore various mountains on the west side of Mount Desert Island. Heavily wooded hiking trails through forests, along ridge lines, and up summits offer secluded recreation to Beech Mountain, Acadia Mountain, St. Sauveur Mountain, Valley Peak, and Flying Mountain, as well as Western Mountain (comprised of two major summits, Bernard Mountain and Mansell Mountain). Long Pond, Echo Lake, Hodgdon Pond, and Seal Cove Pond provide recreational opportunities to experience the park on water. Visitors can bring their own boat or rent from local outfitters, and swimming is allowed at Echo Lake Beach. Check boating information for specific regulations and trip-planning. Getting Around All places within Western Mountains are a 25-40 minute drive from Hulls Cove Visitor Center, depending on traffic and time of year. Both private and park roads run through this area. Be aware of speed limit changes and check alerts for road closures due to weather, construction, or delayed openings. By car: Take Maine Route 102 south through Somesville. For Beech Mountain, turn right onto Pretty Marsh Road and follow signs. For Acadia Mountain, Ikes Point, and Echo Lake Beach, continue south on Maine Route 102 towards Southwest Harbor. Look for parking area signs along the road. For Long Pond and Western Mountain, continue south on Maine Route 102. Turn right onto Seal Cove Road, then right onto Long Pond Road. Parking is located at the end of the road. For Seal Cove Pond and Western Mountain Roads, continue on Seal Cove Road.



Explore the West Side Safely Cell service is not reliable in this area of the park. Be aware of unpredictable weather, terrain, and potential road closures. Stay on designated paths and away from marked re-vegetation areas.

Drive carefully along roadside parking areas where pedestrians cross to and from trailheads.

Some roads are unpaved or locked seasonally. Check park alerts for road closures before venturing out.

Exposed granite on trails and cliffs can be slippery when wet. Stay cautious of footing.

Do not feed or approach wildlife. Dispose of all trash properly or pack it out with you.

Dogs (or any pets) must be leashed at all times, and are not allowed at Echo Lake Beach from May 15 to September 15.

Swimming is only allowed in designated areas. Respect posted signs for public water supply.

Visit our safety page for more tips. Explore This Area Sort By: Relevance Recently Updated Title Show 10 40 per page Loading results... west side mountains great ponds western mountains Tags: acadia national park Additional Resources Park Rules & Safety Advisories Are visitors allowed to harvest mushrooms, or fly a drone in Acadia? Check out highlights of the park's important Rules and Regulations. Viewing Wildlife When it comes to wildlife, the best relationship is a long-distance relationship.
Americans are sending a message of their own, despite President Joe Biden's continued push to restrict their Second Amendment rights. They are choosing to protect themselves.

Two key markers demonstrate Americans in 2021 are voting with their wallets and politicians would be wise to take note. Gun sales continue at elevated levels and if elected officials don't take heed, they could find themselves out of elected office and looking for work.

Low Public Safety Marks

President Biden has been pushing a strict gun control agenda since campaigning for the White House. He called the firearm industry, which guarantees the ability for law-abiding Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights, "the enemy." He wants to dismantle it. His executive actions are about limiting the rights of law-abiding Americans, while all but ignoring the criminals perpetrating the crimes.

That's not lost on the American public.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows the president is underwater on crime and safety, according to Newsweek. Only 37 percent of Americans give their approval to President Biden on his handling of crime and gun violence, representing a five-point drop in four months.

Other polling shows Americans' growing disapproval of more gun control as Congress continues pushing it and the U.S. Senate stalls on considering the president's nomination of David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Several outlets have reported on the polling, which even includes a drop among self-described Democrats. .....
Military troops from Oman and the U.S are holding joint exercises codenamed Valley of Fire 2021 aiming at maintaining preparedness and high combat ability, reports say.

The drill involves the sultanates paratroopers, Armored Division and Artillery, the royal Air Force and Signals and Engineering divisions. According to Oman Times, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports, the exercise aims to maintain preparedness and high combat ability and comes within the context of annual training programs carried out in cooperation with friendly countries to exchange expertise in military fields.

The joint drill comes amid heightened tensions in the Gulf. A group of unidentified hijackers raided early this week Panama-flagged asphalt/bitumen tanker Asphalt Princess, 60 nautical miles off Fujairah on the UAEs east coast, in an area of the sea leading to the Strait of Hormuz. The British navy said Wednesday that the attackers have the targeted ship, without further details.
The UAE have extradited Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, former boss the state-run energy giant Sonatrach, wanted in Algeria for corruption in two cases.

The protege of ex-leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika arrived Wednesday at Algiers international airport handcuffed, from Dubai. He was arrested in the Emirati city after a court in Algiers earlier this year issued an international arrest warrant against him, Reuters reports.

The Algerian regime have convicted Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour for corruption in several cases linked to deals signed by Sonatrach, including the purchase of the Augusta refinery in Italy from Exxon Mobil Corp in 2018.

The 69-years-old man led the countrys biggest company from March 2017 until April 2019, the year Bouteflika was forced to step down as a result of street protests and the army request following his plans to seek a fifth term. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has vowed to hunt down former officials and figures in the entourage of the ailing ex-President. Dozens of former ministers, business people, military officials and politicians, have been hauled into prison by the judiciary for various offenses including corruption.
Three Nairobi County askaris have reached an out-of-court settlement with a hawker whose teeth they pulled out last month.

The county officers namely Humphrey Muswangi, Hassan Chege, and Dennis Macharia had a run-in with Anthony Maina on July 2, 2021, in the Nairobi CBD when the incident happened.

It is claimed that the trio demanded a bribe of Ksh100 from the hawker but he said he only had Sh20. They allegedly flogged him with a metal rod while still handcuffed, causing him serious injuries.

Maina consequently lost five teeth and suffered a broken jaw, forcing him to seek justice.

Through his lawyer Harrison Musyoka, the hawker wrote a demand letter to Nairobi County to accept liability for assaulting him within 7 days or face legal action.

The lawyer demanded an immediate written admission of sole and vicarious liability from Nairobi City County for the grievous harm and loss caused to him by the county officers upon which he shall proceed to address the City County on the special and general damages for compensation.

On Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Kanjo askaris agreed to an out-of-court settlement in a bid to avoid prosecution and save their jobs.

Humprey Muswangi, Hassan Chege and Dennis Macharia are the respondents in this matter of assault having accepted their personal liability jointly and severally over their assault on Anthony Maina and have offered to settle this matter out of court, the agreement read in part.

The trio asked for forgiveness and jointly agreed to compensate the claimant Ksh300,000 for loss of 5 teeth @60,000 each, Broken Jaw Connection Ksh 56,000, Fare/transportation Ksh4000, Food @Ksh37800, [email protected] and clinic visits @Ksh14000 all amounting to Ksh 427,200.

The compensation is expected to be paid in tranches, with the first instalment of Sh160,000 expected to be paid in cash to Mr Maina on August 3, 2021.

Another sum of Ksh50,000 was to be wired to the trader through mobile money and the last tranche of Ksh217,200 is set to be paid on or before August 17, 2021.

The said total amount of Ksh427,200 shall be paid directly to Anthony Maina through his mobile number and/or in cash. Failure to adhere to the terms of this agreement will entitle the claimant herein to pursue the necessary legal remedies available to him against the officers, read in part the agreement.
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has commended Elephant Neighbours Centre Executive Director Jim Nyamu for his conservation campaign dubbed ivory belongs to elephants that has helped to sensitize communities on the need to protect the endangered mammals.

In a message delivered by Ms Eva Maina of the Office of the First Lady at the flag-off of a 320-kilometer walk that will see Mr Nyamu trek for 10 days from the Kenya Wildlife Services Headquarters in Langata to Amboseli in Kajiado County, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta applauded the conservationist for his commitment.

She pointed out that Mr Nyamus elephant protection efforts complement the Hands Off Our Elephants initiative, a Kenyan anti-poaching campaign where she is the patron.

On his part, Mr Nyamu thanked the First Lady for her contribution to Kenyas conservation efforts saying her involvement had led to several policy reforms.

The First Lady has been at the forefront in supporting our initiatives in wildlife conservation. It is a mandatory call for humanity to preserve and conserve wildlife because it answers some of our problems that we are experiencing everyday, Mr Nyamu said.

Office of the First Ladys Director of Administration Ms Eva Maina and Communication Director Ms Vivianne Ngugi participated in the first phase of the walk that was flagged off by Kenya Wildlife Research Training Institute Chair Dr Winnie Kiiru.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent messages of condolence to the families of former Nyeri Town MP Peter Gichohi Muriithi, and Major General (Rtd) George Agoi.

Maj-Gen (Rtd) George Agoi died on Monday while Hon PG Muriithi passed away Tuesday.

In his message of comfort to the family of the former Nyeri legislator, the President described the departed Muriithi as a maverick politician and nationalist who championed equity and justice for all Kenyans.

It is very unfortunate that weve lost the Hon PG Muriithi, a charismatic and steadfast leader who always stood for equity and justice for all Kenyans, the President mourned noting that, the Hon Muriithi leaves behind a strong legacy of development in Nyeri Town.

The residents of Nyeri Town will forever remember the Hon Muriithi for his strong development record especially for the many transformational projects he initiated during his tenure as the area legislator, the President noted.

In a separate condolence message to the family of Major General (Rtd) George Nadida Agoi, the President mourned the highly decorated military commander as a true patriot and a heroic public servant.

With the passing away of Major General (Rtd) George Agoi, Kenya has lost a national hero and icon of humanitarian service. As a country, we will forever remember and cherish the sterling work he did when he led the multi-agency response team during the 1998 Nairobi terrorist attack, the President recalled.

The Head of State wished the families of Hon PG Muriithi and Maj-Gen (Rtd) George Agoi, Gods fortitude as they come to terms with the passing away of the two leaders.
The Ministry of Interior Principal Secretary Mr Karanja Kibicho has distanced his docket from Deputy President William Rutos botched trip to Uganda.

Speaking at a presser yesterday, PS Kibicho said regulations demand that every civil servant should have a clearance letter before traveling out of the country.

Kibicho said Ruto must have not met one of the requirements for travel as guided by the Immigration operatives.

Before you travel, you need to have a visa, you need to have a ticket, you need to have a Covid free certificate, and you need to have a letter of clearance if you are a civil servant, Kibicho said.

I dont know if Ruto had all the required documents in his past trips because we are not the ones who clear him, he added.

PS Kibicho explained that the Immigration Department, which is under the Ministry of Interior, has its own protocols.

We are not actually the ones who cleared him. But certainly, if he has passed through an immigration officer, that immigration officer will demand that letter, he said.

I believe. If he ever traveled without them, then the immigration officer failed. Hence, we cannot blame another officer who has chosen not to fail, Kibicho stated.

William Ruto had in an earlier interview at Inooro TV blamed his tribulations on political differences between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He said that he had never been asked for clearance during the nine years that he had traveled around the world.
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University News

For the second year in a row, the University of New Haven is the only school in Connecticut to be recognized by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for its dedication to supporting transfer students. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications The University of New Haven has been recognized by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for its commitment to transfer students.

When Haley Radisic 23 was a high school student and deciding where she wanted to go to college, the University of New Haven was one of her top choices. Although she initially ended up attending a different school, she later decided to transfer to the University as a sophomore.

A national security major, she has been enjoying her time at the University of New Haven, and she says the transition to becoming a Charger was seamless.

The transfer process was extremely easy for me, she said. Colby Vere was my transfer adviser, and she made the process simple and enjoyable. As a student, I have had amazing professors who either worked or still work in the field. The University offers an environment that I loved since I toured the campus my junior year in high school.

The University endeavors to provide a support system and a pathway for transfer students, such as Radisic, to become Chargers. These efforts have again been recognized by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK), a prestigious honor society that includes millions of members and chapters in nearly a dozen nations. PTK included the University in its 2021 Transfer Honor Roll, which recognizes colleges and universities for their commitment to and investment in transfer students, and the dynamic pathways they create to support them.

This recognition highlights the Universitys continuing commitment to providing access to a private undergraduate education for transfer students and community college graduates, said Corinne Merjave, director of transfer enrollment at the University. Transfer students have various backgrounds, and traditional one-size-fits-all practices are not always transfer-friendly. As a student-centered University, we anticipate and acknowledge the differing pathways our transfer students take to arrive at the University.

Proven outcomes for transfer success

The University was recognized among the 151 institutions nationwide named to the Transfer Honor Roll. This is the second year in a row that the University was the only school in Connecticut to be included.

The Transfer Honor Roll reflects the growing importance of recognizing and responding to the needs of transfer students, said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, Phi Theta Kappa president and CEO. This award is given to four-year colleges and universities with proven outcomes for transfer success. They are the best at providing a supportive and smooth transition from community college  equating to increased rates of bachelors degree attainment for transfer students.

Supported by a $100,000 grant from The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Transfer Honor Roll recognizes schools that are evaluated in six areas: transfer data, admissions, cost, campus life, recruitment practices, and peer reviews. Schools were selected based on a Transfer Friendliness Rating, determined by a profile they create in PTK Connect, PTKs online tool that helps students find a college that is right for them.

It was the best choice I made

Merjave says that, despite the challenges the pandemic has presented, the University has continued to support transfer students, providing educational access in a variety of ways.

The University offered financial support in increased merit-based Transfer Scholar Awards this past year, she said. This included free courses during intersessions, the flexibility to defer, as well as continuing to recognize the diligence of Phi Theta Kappa students by awarding more than four times the amount of Phi Theta Kappa scholarships than in previous years.

For Radisic, the national security major, transferring to the University has been a positive next step in her academic career. She encourages other students thinking of transferring to not be afraid to also take that step.

Do what is best for your education and for yourself, she urges. It may be the best decision you make, and as someone whos been there, it was the best choice I made concerning my well-being and my education.
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Russian investigators open case against brigade commander of Ukrainian Armed Forces

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

12:04 05/08/2021

MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI)  The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a case against commander of the 128th separate mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Oleg Goncharuk, and other military personnel of this unit, the press service of the body informs RAPSI.

The aforesaid persons are accused of using prohibited means and methods in an armed conflict, as well as atrocities against civilians.

Investigators allege that on August 2, 2021, Goncharuk, as well as other persons from among the military personnel of this unit, using prepared firing positions in the area of the settlement of Hnutovo of the Mariupol City Council, fired targeted fire from grenade launchers at objects of civil infrastructure on Vatutin Street in the village of Kominternovo, Novoazovsky district of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. As a result of their illegal actions, a 57-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man not participating in the armed conflict were injured, the Committee said in a statement.

The Russian investigative authority is confident that Goncharuk and other military personnel were following the deliberately criminal orders of their commanders and officials of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and also violated the protocol on the cessation of the use of weapons in the south-east of Ukraine and the memorandum to it, the provisions of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and additional Protocol II to it.

As alleged by investigators, the accused persons acted deliberately with the aim of killing or causing grievous harm to the health of civilians because of political and ideological hatred and enmity.
Germany extradites ex-Moscow Region official charged with fraud

 flickr.com/tjuel

17:57 05/08/2021

MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI)  A former official of the administration of the Moscow Regions Chekhov District Igor Gryzhanov, who stands charged with large-scale fraud, on Thursday was extradited from Germany, the press service of the Russian Prosecutor Generals Office reports.

According to investigators, from 2004 to 2016, Gryzhanov and other defendants organized and provided adding false information to the boundary documents in order to illegally acquire title to land plots in the Chekhov District. They also allegedly prepared forged entitling documents on the transfer of lands plots with the area of 5,099, 1,486 and 1,353 hectares to certain organizations and submitted them to the Federal Real Estate Cadastre Agency and the Land Cadastral Chamber.

These plots dropped out of the federal ownership that caused damage worth over 500 million rubles (about $7 million) to the state.

In August 2020, Gryzhanov was arrested in Germany.




The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), in cooperation with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA), has announced an Optional Insurance System for domestic workers.

The Optional Insurance System for Domestic Workers, which will commence on August 4, will protect employers and domestic expatriate employees in the event of leaving work in violation of the conditions of the work permit, unfair dismissal, as well as compensation in cases of injury, disability, or death, a BNA report said.

In the event of death, insured employees legal heirs will receive compensation, and repatriation costs would be covered.

LMRA CEO Jamal Abdulaziz Al Alawi indicated that the LMRA has coordinated with the CBB, the BIA, and insurance companies to develop an integrated plan that guarantees the rights of all parties. He noted that the employer has the option to insure expatriate employees upon their recruitment.

The option to insure domestic expatriate employees will be made available when submitting a new permit application for direct employment or requesting a permit renewal for a period of one or two years, or through intermediary employment (via recruitment agencies). Existing permit holders can also issue insurance policies in line with the expiry date of the current legal permit.

For new arrivals, the insurance policy is activated as soon as the expatriate employee enters the country. The insurance policy is activated for those residing in Bahrain as soon as a work permit is issued.

Three insurance packages have been made available for employers to choose from. Prices range between BD40 ($106.11) and BD120 for 12 months and between BD60 and BD180 for 24 months. Details relating to the packages are posted on the authority's website.

The CEO and the LMRA will regularly review procedures to ensure that the needs of citizens and residents are being met and that no parties rights are infringed upon. Insurance for domestic expatriate employees provides cover against unforeseen problems or circumstances domestic expatriate employees or employers may face.

Al Alawi expressed his thanks and appreciation for the Central Bank of Bahrains work to establish the Optional Insurance System for Domestic Workers and called upon employers to take advantage of the new programme.

We are pleased that the Central Bank has played an active role in establishing the Optional Insurance System for Domestic Workers in cooperation with the LMRA and the Bahrain Insurance Association, CBB Governor Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj said.

This arrangement will serve a large segment of citizens and employers in securing benefits, including covering replacement expenses for the employer, and benefits for the domestic worker in the event of death or serious illness or disability due to accidents, etc. This project will also aid in expanding insurance services provided in the local market.

BIA Chairman Jawad Mohammed complimented the programme, extending his appreciation and gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for his directives.

He also thanked the CBB and the LMRA for their efforts to ensure the projects success and emphasised that the insurance companies are prepared and ready to implement the programme, stressing that this project is an important step in the right direction to regulating domestic helpers in Bahrain.

"This product provides the necessary protection that guarantees the preservation of the interests of all relevant parties, including the employer, the domestic helper, and their heirs, he said.

The Bahrain Insurance Association and the Insurance companies are prepared to implement the programme and look forward to working with government authorities to provide the best possible services to the citizens and residents of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The list of offices presently offering the service will be updated weekly. -- TradeArabia News Service
Bobcat has launched a new version of the companys S450 radius lift path skid-steer loader, introducing the company's new branding scheme in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) market.

The new Bobcat S450 skid-steer loader is designed to strengthen its position in its own class and in the MEA compact loader market overall, where the company has a market share of over 50%, reaching as high as 80% in some MEA countries.

Regional Director Middle East and Africa at Doosan Bobcat EMEA Gaby Rhayem said: The new S450 introduces a fresh look for our loaders in MEA. As well as being the most popular skid-steer loader in the region, the S450 is the most reliable and as a result has the highest resale value on the market.

"A used S450 with 4 years/4000 h on the clock will typically sell for 60% of the original price, representing an unbeatable return on investment for our customers."

The 3D decals that the S450 now carries for the first time in MEA emphasise the Bobcat track record for reliable equipment and maximum uptime, a statement from the company said.

This gives customers in construction, rental, agriculture and general industry in the region the confidence and peace of mind to carry out their work in a timely and productive manner.

It also helps to explain why Bobcat has continued to sell an average of more than a thousand S450 machines every year in the MEA market, since its launch six years ago.

The S450 continues the company's reputation with a range of features to minimise maintenance and to protect the machine such as shutdown protection, self-diagnostics and battery run-down protection.

In addition, the S450, like all Bobcat skid-steer loaders, utilises the industrys maintenance-free chaincase, which further reduces maintenance. This is reflected by the extended Two Year (2000 Hour) Standard Warranty that is available for the S450 and all other Bobcat compact loaders in the MEA market.

Equipped with the latest features, the new S450 provides operators with increased performance and enhanced comfort to maximise job site efficiency.

As well as its compactness, the skid-steer loader can be supplied with a choice of over 70 different product families of approved attachments, offering solutions for a wide range of applications.

It offers customers all the common loader control patterns with a choice between the Bobcat Standard Hand and Foot Controls or the Selectable Joystick Controls (SJC).

Instead of the standard cab, the S450 can be equipped with a deluxe cab. There is also a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) option. The Cloth Suspension Seat option is also now available on the S450, improving the operators comfort  in both cold and hot weather  and providing more comfortable seating on slopes and inclines.-TradeArabia News Service
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Bloomberg, a leading provider of business and market news, have partnered to deliver a financial education programme for university students in Saudi Arabia and eight other countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.



The programme will leverage the Bloomberg Terminal to support the growth of the Islamic finance sector and empower students in leading universities with the financial skills needed to excel in the professional world.

The programme will equip the next generation of leaders in sectors with the foundational principles of financial markets. By delivering practical real-world experiences, training will enable students to build competencies and transferable skills which are highly sought after by employers.



The programme is also designed to support the long-term growth of the Islamic finance industry through specialized training on market infrastructure and areas like transparency, connectivity and compliance across central banks and regulators.



At the programmes core will be IsDB-Bloomberg certification, composed of a series of challenges and modules specially designed for the selected countries and delivered by Bloomberg market specialists. These include the Bloomberg Islamic Finance module to introduce students to the principles of Islamic finance and the relevant tools available on the Bloomberg Terminal. Top performing students will be recommended for internship opportunities at IsDB.



Dr Bandar Hajjar, President, IsDB, said: The launch of the Capacity and Skills Building Program with Bloomberg is important to IsDB Group to prepare young people for the twenty-first-century jobs and the labour market requirements.



We hope this programme will contribute to providing a number of our member countries with a group of young people capable of bringing about a qualitative leap in increasing productivity and enhancing competitiveness in some vital and pioneering productive sectors in these countries.



Through this partnership, the two parties will seek to develop tailored financial literacy and education programmes across the selected IsDB member countries in a manner consistent with the Fourth Industrial Revolution's applications to build a new generation of skilled workers, he added.



Michael R Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies said: "We are excited that Bloombergs collaboration with IsDB will create a bridge between the academic and professional worlds for the next generation of banking and finance leaders in nine fast-growing economies. The Bloomberg Terminal will help the programme offer a valuable learning experience that equips students with skills that are in high demand, helping them succeed in the workforce of the future.



As part of the programme, Bloomberg LP will also offer the Bloomberg Market Concept course (BMC). BMC provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets, with modules covering Economic Indicators, Currencies, Fixed Income, Equities, Portfolio Management, Stock Options, and Commodities. Students will receive the Bloomberg Market Concept Certificate after completing the 7-course modules, supporting their job applications at financial firms.



The objectives of the programme align with IsDBs mandate to put in place infrastructure to enable people fulfil their potential and build collaborative partnerships between communities and nations. The multilateral development finance institution brings together fifty-seven member countries across four continents.



The nine IsDB member countries involved in the programme are Bangladesh, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. IsDB and Bloomberg will announce participating universities over the coming months, a statement said.  TradeArabia News Service
More than 100 doctors from both Zulekha Hospital Dubai and Sharjah have received the UAE Golden Visa.

The Golden Residency service launched by the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) has facilitated issuing 10-year golden visas to doctors and their families in line with the UAE government's vision to enhance its global competitiveness as a preferred destination to reside, work and enhance ones skill while contributing to the nations socio-economic progress.

Acknowledging the dedication of doctors in the fight against pandemic over the last two years the UAE government allows doctors licensed by the UAE health regulatory bodies to apply for the golden visa until September 2022.

Founder and Chairperson of Zulekha Healthcare Group, Dr Zulekha Daud also received the Golden Visa in 2019 in recognition of her contribution to the country over the last 57 years since 1964. She was joined by Managing Director Taher Shams and Co-Chairperson Zanubia Shams who also received the Golden Residency.

Dr Daud and the management team congratulated all the doctors on being honored with the Golden Visa in UAE.

Shams said: This is recognition of the multiple years of service these doctors have put into building the healthcare system in the country. Their expertise is an asset to the UAE and this significant move by the government demonstrates the valued interest of the authorities in ensuring the best of the healthcare facilities and expertise is made available to the residents.

She adds: Time and again we have the support of the health authorities in serving the communities with world class medical services. Towards beating the pandemic, our staffs are fully vaccinated and our hospital in Dubai is also administering the Pfizer vaccines since May this year. We will continue to do our best to further the objectives of the government to ensure safety of their residents in UAE.

Zulekha Healthcare Group includes two multidisciplinary hospitals in Dubai and Sharjah, as well as UAE medical centers and pharmacies providing specialised services and treatments in over 30 disciplines. The Group has a multidisciplinary Hospital named Alexis in Nagpur, India which has stood among the top healthcare facilities treating patients across multiple disciplines since the year 2016.

-- TradeArabia News Service
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Bloomberg LP will work together to deliver a financial education programme for university students in Saudi Arabia and eight other countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The programme will leverage the Bloomberg Terminal to support the growth of the Islamic finance sector and empower students in leading universities with the financial skills needed to excel in the professional world.

The programme will equip the next generation of leaders in sectors with the foundational principles of financial markets. By delivering practical real-world experiences, training will enable students to build competencies and transferable skills which are highly sought after by employers.

The programme is also designed to support the long-term growth of the Islamic finance industry through specialised training on market infrastructure and areas like transparency, connectivity and compliance across central banks and regulators.

At the programmes core will be IsDB-Bloomberg certification, composed of a series of challenges and modules specially designed for the selected countries and delivered by Bloomberg market specialists. These include the Bloomberg Islamic Finance module to introduce students to the principles of Islamic finance and the relevant tools available on the Bloomberg Terminal. Top performing students will be recommended for internship opportunities at IsDB.

Dr Bandar Hajjar, President, IsDB, said: The launch of the Capacity and Skills Building Programme with Bloomberg is important to IsDB Group to prepare young people for the twenty-first-century jobs and the labor market requirements. We hope this programme will contribute to providing a number of our member countries with a group of young people capable of bringing about a qualitative leap in increasing productivity and enhancing competitiveness in some vital and pioneering productive sectors in these countries. Through this partnership, the two parties will seek to develop tailored financial literacy and education programmes across the selected IsDB member countries in a manner consistent with the Fourth Industrial Revolution's applications to build a new generation of skilled workers.

Michael R Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies said: "We are excited that Bloombergs collaboration with IsDB will create a bridge between the academic and professional worlds for the next generation of banking and finance leaders in nine fast-growing economies. The Bloomberg Terminal will help the programme offer a valuable learning experience that equips students with skills that are in high demand, helping them succeed in the workforce of the future.

As part of the programme, Bloomberg LP will also offer the Bloomberg Market Concept course (BMC). BMC provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets, with modules covering Economic Indicators, Currencies, Fixed Income, Equities, Portfolio Management, Stock Options, and Commodities. Students will receive the Bloomberg Market Concept Certificate after completing the 7-course modules, supporting their job applications at financial firms.

The objectives of the programme align with IsDBs mandate to put in place infrastructure to enable people fulfil their potential and build collaborative partnerships between communities and nations. The multilateral development finance institution brings together fifty-seven member countries across four continents.

The nine IsDB member countries involved in the programme are Bangladesh, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. IsDB and Bloomberg will announce participating universities over the coming months.-- TradeArabia News Service
The 23rd World Petroleum Congress will have an Innovation Zone, a captivating new feature on the exhibition floor of the Congress, which will take place in-person in Houston from December 5 to 9, 2021 at the George R. Brown Convention Centre.

The Innovation Zone, presented by ConocoPhillips, will provide startup companies an international platform to showcase cutting-edge practices and solutions to combat the current challenges of the energy industry and bring awareness to progressive energy solutions available on the market today.

For more than a century, innovation has enabled our industry to keep pace with the growing demand for safe and reliable energy, said W. L. (Bill) Bullock, Jr., EVP and CFO, ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips is pleased to be the Innovation Zone presenting sponsor, where companies will showcase innovations that can propel our industrys purposeful journey through the energy transition and into the future.

Thirty-two selected startup companies and individuals will have the opportunity to pitch their innovative energy tools, technologies and practices on stage to Congress delegates and participants, who will then pick one to receive the Energy Innovator Award.

The Innovation Zone is open to all for-profit energy companies, private entities and individuals operating as independent contractors. Proposals will be evaluated on how well they meet seven criteria:

*Innovation;

*Creativity;

*Evidence of potential or achieved technical and/or business success;

*Impact on the environment;

*Impact on stakeholders;

*Scalability; and

*Wider applicability.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is August 20, after which a selection committee composed of professionals from ConocoPhillips and the 23rd WPC will evaluate and choose 32 finalists. Those selected will be notified in early September and will present in person at the 23rd WPC in Houston in December.

Serafina Lalany, Interim Executive Director at Houston Exponential commented: "This is a tremendous, tangible milestone for ConocoPhillips and the 23rd World Petroleum Congress. We are delighted to set an example of the global integrated energy transition right here in Houston. Start-ups with their innovative business models will play a decisive role in shaping a sustainable energy future, and for participating companies, this is a good opportunity to present and forge new links with key-stakeholders and investors."

Jan E. Odegard, Executive Director at The Ion added: The energy landscape is being transformed globally and The Ion is transforming Houston into a technology destination. We are proud to be partnering with the World Petroleum Congress Organising Committee to bring The Innovation Zone to the 23rd WPC.

Jeff Shellebarger, Chairman of the 23rd World Petroleum Congress Organising Committee, concluded: Innovation is at the heart of the 23rd World Petroleum Congress. We are excited to present the Innovation Zone, and give organisations and individuals the stage to bring forward and amplify transformative ideas that will impact the future of energy. -- TradeArabia News Service
This year has turned out to be one of the worst years for ransomware, says Infoblox in its Quarterly Cyberthreat Intelligence Report for Q2 2021.

Approximately 10% of all breaches now involve ransomware. The impact and expense of successful ransomware attacks can be crippling to an organisation.

The recent attacks on JBS and Colonial Pipeline have once again brought focus to the danger of increasingly sophisticated ransomware campaigns.

The estimated payments in 2020 associated with ransomware have been estimated to be about $370 million in cryptocurrency. Ransomware costs are not just about the ransom payouts. The total damage associated with ransomware is estimated to be much higher than the cryptocurrency payoutsperhaps $20 billion.

The report overviews the ransomware-as-a-service process flow and the primary channels of distribution, as well as provide deep coverage of ransomware campaigns where we have previously done original research. The report includes information on the NIST cybersecurity framework profile for ransomware risk management, and the CISA new ransomware readiness assessment, both published by these government agencies in June of this year.

The report reviews the new and recently emerged malware variants and trends, how these differ from other variants we have seen in the past, and defensive tactics and best practices that work. Included in the report is coverage of the companys published research and cyberthreat advisories on the following campaigns:

 Malspam Campaign Spoofing Waybill Delivers Nanocore Rat - June 28, 2021

 Hancitor Downloads Infostealers - June 22, 2021

 Shathak Pushes IcedID Banking Trojan - June 9, 2021

 RemcosRAT Malspam Campaign Spoofs UAE Machinery Company Correspondence - June 2, 2021

 Cyberthreat Advisory - Nobelium Campaigns and Malware - June 2, 2021

 Graftor Adware Still Circulating - May 27, 2021

 Biotech-Themed Malspam Drops BitRAT - May 18, 2021

 Cyberthreat Advisory: DarkSide Ransomware Attack on Colonial Pipeline - May 13, 2021

 Malspam Delivering Agent Tesla Keylogger Spoofs Oil & Gas Co. Messages - May 12, 2021

 Cyberthreat Advisory: FiveHands Ransomware - May 10, 2021

 Polish Language Malspam Campaign Delivers AveMaria Infostealer - May 3, 2021

 Post-Takedown Trickbot Activity - April 28, 2021

 Spoofed Vehicle Purchase Invoice Malspam Drops Formbook Infostealer - April 16, 2021

 Agent Tesla Malspam Campaign Spoofs Bank Correspondence - April 13, 2021

 Italian Economic Support-Themed Malspam Delivers Ursnif Banking Trojan - April 1, 2021

GUIDANCE ON DNS SECURITY

DNS is key to the foundational security stack in the public sector. The NSA and CISA have gone on record in 2021 with guidance recommending that every agency, organisation and enterprise leverage the existing DNS protocol and architecture by using a protective DNS (PDNS) service.

Infoblox foundational security using BloxOne Threat Defence provides very comprehensive DNS security capability. Infoblox received 100% of the performance score based upon the criteria defined by NSA.

Mohammed Al-Moneer, Regional Director, META Region at Infoblox says: The Q2 2021 Cyber Threat Intelligence Report provides detailed analysis on the most pressing risks and cyber threats facing business organisations today. For IT security professionals, the report delivers important news on the evolving methodologies and technologies attackers are using to breach defenses. Just as importantly, it details the measures law enforcement is bringing to bear to combat the ransomware wave thats plagued international businesses and non-profits in recent years. Accurate intelligence about timely, relevant threats enables an organisation to make thoughtful, targeted improvements to its defenses and lower its risk.-- TradeArabia News Service
Power plant staff and flammable materials evacuated from path of flames. For two weeks more than 180 fires have plagued the Turkish coast. At least 8 dead so far.

Ankara (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Fires continue to rage in Turkey. In the south-western province of Mugla yesterday a power plant was evacuated threatened by the flames that have been tormenting the country for two weeks. This morning, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's communications director wrote on Twitter that the fires have not damaged the main units of the power plant, which is located in Kemerkoy and runs on coal and fuel oil.

Efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered by strong winds, so personnel were evacuated on a navy ship and flammable and explosive materials were removed. Earlier, hydrogen tanks used to cool the plant were emptied and filled with water as a precaution.

Environmentalists say they are concerned that the flames could spread to the plant's coal storage unit. Erdogan said 15 helicopters and 20 aircraft are engaged in the firefighting operations.

There have been 187 fires in Turkey in recent weeks that have so far killed at least eight people and destroyed entire forests on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Some 16 fires are still active. Even in Bodrum, a well-known seaside resort, at least 1,000 people have been evacuated in recent days, including many tourists.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

He had fled in 2005 in the wake of the "tulip revolution". Akaev is implicated in the Kumtor scandal, the "Kyrgyz Watergate". A move by the current head of state Zaparov to promote national reconciliation and deal a blow to his political opponents.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The first president of Kyrgyzstan has returned to his homeland after 16 years in exile. Accompanied by his son Ilim, 74-year-old Askar Akaev landed on August 2 at the airport of Biskek: he left from Moscow, after making an agreement with the current head of state Sadyr Zaparov.

After arriving in the capital, law enforcement agencies reported that "Akaev was interrogated by members of the National Security Committee [Gknb]", for the criminal affair related to the gold mining company "Kumtor". Later, as published by Nezavisimaja Gazeta, the former Kyrgyz leader was received at the presidential residence in Ala-Arca for a solemn welcome lunch.

The former president was about to spend a vacation in Switzerland with his family, when he received Zaparov's invitation to travel to his homeland, ensuring his safety and freedom from the still pending charges. Akaev himself told journalists that he "came to help, and tell what I know about the Kumtor affair," thanking President Zaparov for inviting him to return to Kyrgyzstan after years of exile.

Akaev had become the first president of Kyrgyzstan, later renamed Kyrgyzstan, being the president of the local Soviet republic at the time of the collapse of the USSR. He was re-elected several times and remained in office until 2005, when he fled to Russia after the "Tulip Revolution". Since then, the country has experienced continuous turmoil and political upheaval; Zaparov intends to bring it back to normal through deep reforms. The return of the historic president has therefore the clear function of historical reconciliation of the various national souls.

The Kumtor affair dates back to 1992. At the time, the judicial authorities had placed Akaev and other state officials under investigation for corruption. The accusation was that they had falsified contracts for gold mining. The matter dragged on until 2003, with several new charges and revisions.

Kumtor is Kyrgyzstan's leading gold mining company; it provides 10% of the entire national GDP. Akaev had sold it to the Canadian company "Cameco", but Zaparov brought it back under state control. The return of Akaev, also agreed with the Kremlin, has the specific purpose of clarifying once and for all the many obscure aspects of the Kumtor affair, trying to avoid negative consequences for the national economy and politics.

The Kumtor affair is called by journalists "the Kyrgyz Watergate". It is expected that after Akaev's visit many excellent heads of the Kyrgyz nomenklatura will begin to roll, allowing Zaparov to prove to the people his success in the fight against corruption. Many political opponents want to take revenge on the current president, and they curb his actions in various ways, especially with the support of various oligarchs and businessmen.

Kyrgyzstan was one of the first post-Soviet nations to join the World Trade Organization, achieving various international awards for its success in transitioning to a democratic system after totalitarianism. Akaev himself had initiated very important reforms in the market economy, finance and land distribution. He is also credited with having avoided bloodshed even in the 2005 uprising, which forced him to leave power and flee abroad. His return closes the circle of Kyrgyzstan's post-Soviet history. Zaparov now intends to open a new page thanks to the reconciliation with the first "father of the independent nation", which the other successive presidents had not been able to achieve.
by Sumon Corraya

Parishes celebrated a special Holy Mass. For Fr Belisario, PIME missionary, Catholics must follow his ideal life. The saint transformed people's lives with his simplicity. He is a source of inspiration for priests and nuns who take care of the faithful and orphans in Bangladesh.

Naogaon (AsiaNews)  Bangladeshi Catholics, both clergy and laypersons, yesterday marked the feast day of Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of diocesan priests. For the occasion, a special Holy Mass was celebrated in all the parishes of the country.

During the service, the faithful and priests highlighted the saints virtues, said Father Belisario Ciro Montoya, speaking to AsiaNews.

The clergyman, who is associated with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), serves in the parish of Chandpukur, Naogaon (Diocese of Rajshahi).

In his address during the liturgy, the Colombian-born missionary urged Catholics to follow the saints ideal life.

Saint John Vianney (Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney) was born on 8 May 1786 in France. He is famous for his priestly and pastoral work in the parish of Ars.

During his 41 years of service in his community, he helped transform the lives of many people through his holy and simple existence.

Although he was not very talented, his spiritual power profoundly touched the faithful.

In his sermon, Fr Belisario said that Saint John Vianney was a humble priest and that God chose him for his Kingdom: He is the ideal of all priests.

The 36-year-old PIME missionary has served in Bangladesh for the past five years. When he visited his native Colombia for the holidays, his relatives asked him what missionary life is like.

The priest told them that he was happy. We, priests and nuns, take care of our faithful and orphans as if we were their parents. As parish priests, we solve many problems such as disputes over land and family problems.

In addition to Chandpukur, other parishes paid homage to diocesan priests and respectfully highlighted the virtues of Saint John Vianney.

As a priest, the saint visited the homes of the faithful, inspiring them to participate in the Mass. Following his example, we could make all parishes like Ars", said Fr Dilip S. Costa, parish priest in Kalimnagar.
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Igniting Hope conference to tackle racist policies

The conference kickoff event on Aug. 13 will be a two-mile Freedom Walk from the Michigan Street African American Heritage Archway along Michigan Avenue to the Freedom Wall at the corner of East Ferry Street. Photo: Andre Carrotflower Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

BUFFALO, N.Y.  An ongoing battle. Thats how Pastor George F. Nicholas describes the health disparities that African Americans are still trying to overcome.

Its an ongoing battle for our own liberation, says Nicholas, pastor of Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church and convener of the African American Health Equity Task Force. As long as we in the African American community still have these very real health disparities, theres a level of bondage were still in.

Thats why Nicholas and his colleagues on the African American Health Equity Task Force and the Buffalo Center for Health Equity are joining with the University at Buffalo and its Community Health Equity Research Institute for Igniting Hope: Healing Historical Trauma from Racist Research, Policies and Practices. The two-day conference is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and by several community sponsors.

The conference kickoff event on Aug. 13 will be a 2-mile-long Freedom Walk from the Michigan Street African American Heritage Archway along Michigan Avenue to the Freedom Wall at the corner of East Ferry. The walk is open to the community. Alternative transport will be provided for those who are unable to do the walk. Conference sessions on Aug. 14 will take place virtually from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Registration and additional conference information is available online. The tentative agenda has also been posted.

The purpose of the walk is really to symbolize that people are gathering in the community again, said Nicholas, a member of the board of directors of the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute. Theres a level of celebration in terms of the good work weve been doing.

He noted that if it had not been for the collaborations between the task force, the center and UB and all of their partners, he believes that the COVID-19 outcomes in the African American community would have been significantly worse.

But much more needs to be done, and this is the point of the conference, which, the organizers point out, is focused less on health care issues themselves and more on the systems and the infrastructure that create disparities in the first place.

They note that collaborations between UB and all of the community partners have all been solidly based on the idea that it is the root causes of health disparities that exist outside of the health care system that so desperately need to be addressed.

This is the fourth year of the Igniting Hope conference series. Each of the first three years attracted approximately 300 attendees. This conference series is becoming an annual summit that brings together community and university stakeholders to understand health disparities and discuss viable solutions to this systemic problem in our community, says Timothy Murphy, MD, director of the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute.

Weve said we will identify clearly whats driving these disparities, and then we will start to chip away at them, says Nicholas. It takes time. Its not sexy, but its the work that needs to be done, to do the research and get the data on whats really driving these things. Its the work that needs to be done so that our children and grandchildren dont have to be dealing with this stuff.

Keynote speakers are:

Thomas LaViest, PhD, Dean and Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Health Equity, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Health, who will discuss My Journey to Discover Why Disparities Exist and What to Do about It.





Heidi L. Gartland, chief government and community relations officer, University Hospitals, Cleveland, who will discuss The Anchor Mission: Tackling Economic & Racial Disparities to Create Equitable Health Outcomes.





Donald E. Grant, executive director, Mindful Training Solutions, who will discuss Historical Trauma: A Contemporary Conundrum.

Breakout discussions will focus on topics raised by the keynote speeches, as well as the environment, fines and fees, historical trauma and healing, and nutrition.

In addition to Pastor Nicholas, other speakers addressing the conference are:
Research News

UB partner Garwood Medical Devices grows with new Northland facility

In December 2020, Garwood Medical Devices moved into the Red Shed, its new headquarters on Northland Avenue in Buffalo. Photo: Douglas Levere

By CHARLOTTE HSU

It is extremely fulfilling to see this technology evolve from an idea we had 10 years ago to where we are today.  Mark Ehrensberger, associate professor Department of Biomedical Engineering

UB technology licensee Garwood Medical Devices LLC has moved its headquarters to Northland Avenue in Buffalo, where the company is preparing for pilot production of its BioPrax device. The technology behind BioPrax, a cathodic voltage-controlled electrical stimulation, is patented by UB and Syracuse University, and exclusively licensed by Garwood Medical Devices. BioPrax is being developed to treat biofilm infections on prosthetic knee implants during early intervention procedures and used alongside the current standard of care. The device, which is currently undergoing pre-clinical development, provides a low-voltage electrical signal to prosthetics, creating an electrochemical reaction that kills bacteria associated with biofilms. Pilot manufacturing is an important step toward bringing medical devices to market, demonstrating that a product can be made consistently in large quantities. Garwood Medical Devices anticipates producing pilot devices for use in clinical trials, says Wayne Bacon, president and CEO.

Looking into a clean room, part of the Garwood Medical Devices pilot production line that the company is developing for its BioPrax device. Photo: Douglas Levere



When biofilm infections occur, it can be devastating to the patient and family. Over a five-year period, many of these patients do not survive, Bacon says. The cost to society is also very high, with the average course of treatment through traditional methods often costing families, the health care system and society hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is difficult to overstate the devastation that these infections cause. It is extremely fulfilling to see this technology evolve from an idea we had 10 years ago to where we are today, with an exciting commercialization pathway for a product that could provide an effective solution to a very challenging clinical problem, says UB biomedical engineering researcher Mark Ehrensberger, who co-invented the electrical stimulation method that BioPrax uses with UB faculty members Anthony Campagnari and Nicole Luke-Marshall; former UB researcher Esther Takeuchi; and former Syracuse University researcher Jeremy Gilbert. Ehrensberger says the ultimate goal is to save lives and improve the quality of care for patients with infected orthopedic implants, potentially reducing the need for revision surgeries that can have long and painful recovery periods.

Partnerships help company move forward

William Purcell, an engineering technician at Garwood Medical Devices, was recruited to the company through the Northland Workforce Training Center next door, where Purcell is a student in the machine tool technology program. Photo: Douglas Levere

Work toward pilot production is one of several developments that Garwood Medical Devices has reported since moving to Northland Avenue last December  a location that will enable the company to easily meet, recruit and hire students from the Northland Workforce Training Center next door, Bacon says. In June, Garwood Medical Devices announced it had successfully raised $4 million in Series C funding, and that the company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish company Integrum AB, stating an intent to conduct joint research activities on the use of the technology behind BioPrax in relation to Integrums bone-anchored percutaneous prostheses system for amputees. Over the years, Garwood Medical Devices has partnered with UB investigators on research and development, hired UB alumni and leveraged resources including UBs Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics (BIG), UBs New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics, the UB Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences, and the UB Center for Computational Research. The company maintains a wet lab and office in UBs New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, and is part of the START-UP NY program through UB.

Garwood Medical Devices will use injection molding, which injects molten plastic into a cavity, to produce and connect parts for its BioPrax device. In this photo, two halves of a metal mold are shown, with the finished part (a connector) lying to the left. Photo: Douglas Levere

Garwood Medical Devices has partnered with UB on a variety of high-impact projects, say Christina Orsi, UB associate vice president for economic development. The companys growth provides a great example of how entrepreneurs and businesses can tap into UBs resources, including the knowledge of our faculty, to advance the commercialization of products with the potential to improve many peoples lives. Our partnership with Garwood Medical Devices capitalizes on the strengths of both teams to optimize the effectiveness of the treatment and accelerate commercialization, says Ehrensberger, who continues to collaborate with Garwood Medical Devices on research and serves on the companys advisory board.

Garwood Medical Devices Tim Kopera, engineering manager, and Jackson Hobble, biomedical engineer and a UB alumus, demonstrate the BioPrax technology. Photo: Douglas Levere

Inventors of the electrical stimulation method that BioPrax relies on include: Mark Ehrensberger, associate professor in UBs Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and director of the Kenneth A. Krackow, MD, Orthopaedic Research Laboratory in the Department of Orthopaedics in the Jacobs School.

Anthony Campagnari, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and senior associate dean for research and graduate education in the Jacobs School.

Nicole Luke-Marshall, research assistant professor of microbiology and immunology.

Esther Takeuchi, a former UB engineering and chemistry researcher who is now at Stony Brook University.

Jeremy Gilbert, a former Syracuse University biomaterials researcher who is now at Clemson University.
As we continue to closely watch conditions related to COVID-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees in the U.S. and other countries where we had previously anticipated our employees would begin coming in regularly the week of Sept. 7, Amazon human resources chief Beth Galetti wrote in an email to employees. We are now extending this date to Jan. 3, 2022.
Dr. Paul A. Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administrations vaccine advisory committee, said the data presented by Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers so far did not justify rolling out boosters in the next few months. That would not be needed, he said, unless there was evidence that the vaccines are no longer protecting people against severe disease.
The idea behind the clinics is to help patients figure out which doctors to visit and when, and to make it easier for them to see physicians accustomed to treating people following COVID-19. The clinics arent new physical locations, but rather groups of specialists within health care systems whove agreed to work together to see people with long COVID-19 symptoms. Coordinators help patients set up appointments with the right doctors.
My one real critique is that the podcast needs an outside voice who isnt white to offer some necessary context. Salamon talks about filming the hit-and-run scene in the Bronx. The creative team wanted to show the Bronx the way the Hanks and Griffith characters saw it: As ominous and threatening  a goddamn war zone  and to do that they attempted to push the boundaries of caricature. But those depictions go way beyond caricature. They are offensive. And racist. The street was filled with burning cars and actors in bright clothing. Some played drug addicts stumbling around. And one man playing a pimp was bare-chested, decked out in gold chains. The script had been widely criticized for straying from the book. But this time, Salamon says, the moviemakers were very faithful to the book; Tom Wolfe, a white man, had been criticized for stereotyping the people of the Bronx, and those stereotypes were amplified when you could actually see them.
For example, the CBO did not count the $53 billion that is expected to be saved because more than two dozen states cut off expanded unemployment compensation before the benefit was set to expire. The bipartisan negotiators had also claimed $56 billion in savings through economic growth, while the CBO did not take that into account.
The investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department is the third sweeping civil investigation into a law enforcement agency brought by the Justice Department in the Biden administration and comes as the department has worked to shift its priorities to focus on policing and civil rights. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.
Asked about the possibility the company would hire permanent replacement workers, Trumka told The Associated Press, Im saying if you strike a match and you put your finger on it, youre likely to get burned. Trumka insisted he wasnt threatening violence against the replacements. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely not. Do I think it can happen? Yes, I think it can happen, he said.
The 13-year-old was shot in the neck, police said, and the 19-year-old was shot in the hand. A friend drove the teens to Rush University Medical Center, but the 13-year-old later was transferred to Stroger Hospital where he was listed in critical condition, according to authorities.
Officer Armstrong came into another jurisdiction with his own weapon, a weapon of war, an AR-15, he said. We want the ability to take his deposition to find out why this happened. His body camera was pointed downward, and was not working at the time of the shooting. The surveillance video inside UpBeat was pointed in the wrong direction. So the states attorney can make any conclusions it wants, but were entitled to pursue our case.
I have done everything in my power to be a model inmate. To work as hard as I can and have never complained about my conditions here or the pay we receive, Crundwell wrote. There is never a day that goes by, I do not regret my crime.
Mr. Roman refused to comply with verbal commands, he actually was able to get one of the Tasers in his hand, and resisted to such an extent that he bent the hardened steel handcuffs, the statement read in part. He was not going to be placed into custody and he was not going to follow the lawful orders of law enforcement. Mr. Roman alone placed himself and Officer Bogard in a very dangerous and life-threatening situation.
If those hearings do happen  or if Lightfoot does finally address the looming threat of deadly fires  they could start by taking a look at what other cities have done. And this fact-finding could well start with a report this week by the Tribune and the BGA, which worked together this time to assess actions other cities have taken to solve their own fire problems.
They have a distance to go to beat Illinois unenviable parade of four governors into federal prison in recent decades. Otto Kerner, a respected judge at the time of his conviction, led the dismal parade, serving three years in the 1970s for bribery-related charges. Dan Walker served about a year and a half for bank fraud and other charges related to post-governorship business activities. George Ryan finished his 6 1/2-year sentence in home confinement in 2013.
Those efforts now will be expanded into more neighborhoods and be housed under the effort announced Thursday. Lightfoot said she will work with the City Council to find funding for the center, but the actual cost of the new initiative will depend on needs identified through data and on feedback from communities, the mayor said.
Rabine also said the FDA had not approved the vaccines and that the deaths they caused would force them to be removed from the market. But he made no distinction that the FDA had given the vaccines emergency use authorization and The New York Times said formal overall approval was expected in the next few weeks.
Walking back toward the waterfront, you pass the homes of wealthy whale merchants. The blue H-shaped house at 73 Main St. is a rare example of Victorian exuberance on an island of simple saltbox and Cape Cod architecture. It was home to Eliza Starbuck Barney, a self-proclaimed agitator for justice for all. She hosted Frederick Douglass at her previous residence of 100 Main St. when he spoke against slavery at the Atheneum.
Hong Kong's financial system has proven its resilience during the social unrest and the pandemic, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said Wednesday at an online forum.



Hong Kong has unrivaled connectivity with the mainland's financial markets and offers direct two-way access through stock and bond connect programs, as well as the future wealth management connect program, Lam said when speaking at a webinar attended by more than 500 participants from the Singaporean business community.

Lam encouraged Singaporean enterprises to consider listing in Hong Kong and to set up a presence here to tap the opportunities in the financial sector including those in green finance.

With the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong and improvements to the electoral system, stability has been restored in Hong Kong society and the legitimate rights and freedoms of the people and businesses are safeguarded, she said.

The unparalleled strengths of Hong Kong under "one country, two systems" make it an ideal gateway for Singaporean businesses to tap into the opportunities in the mainland markets, Lam said.

The webinar is part of the efforts of the HKSAR government in reaching out directly to overseas business communities and the chief executive has attended such events with the European Union, Japanese and New Zealand communities in recent months.
 Flash

Part 7

In June, Smith said in an interview that the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong had created an "atmosphere of coercion" that threatens both the city's freedoms and its standing as an international business hub.

The disturbance in Hong Kong following the proposed ordinance amendments in June 2019 dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's economy and people's livelihood.

In 2019, Hong Kong's economy posted the first negative growth in 10 years. Official data showed that around half of service industries recorded year-on-year decreases in business revenues, as accommodation services and retail industries dropped 14.3 percent and 11.1 percent respectively, with tourist visits to Hong Kong slumping, and unemployment in retails, hospitality and catering sectors staying high.

Since the national security law in Hong Kong took effect by the end of June 2020, the society has returned to the right track and residents have lived in peace, opening up a new situation in Hong Kong where order replaces chaos.

In the first quarter of 2021, the city's number of crimes dropped about 10 percent year-on-year, while gross domestic product (GDP) saw a 7.9 percent year-on-year increase.

In June, the International Monetary Fund released a report that reaffirmed Hong Kong's position as an international financial center.

According to the World Investment Report 2021 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong remained the world's third largest destination for foreign direct investment in 2020.

The national security law in Hong Kong only targets four types of offences, namely, secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. It is designed to deter and punish a handful of criminals seriously jeopardizing national security, and to protect the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Hong Kong people.

All efforts and law enforcement relating to safeguarding national security will be conducted in strict accordance with legal provisions, mandates and procedures. The legislation will not affect the rights and freedoms, including those of speech, of the press, of publication and of assembly that Hong Kong residents enjoy under the law. It will enable them to better exercise their lawful rights and freedoms in a secure environment.

The legislation, since taking effect, has better ensured the city's high degree of autonomy in accordance with law, and created conditions for resolving deep-rooted problems concerning Hong Kong's economy and people's livelihood. It also contributes to Hong Kong's rule-of-law and business environment, addresses the concerns in the business communities on social turbulences, and creates better conditions for people around the world who are willing to work, invest and live in Hong Kong.

Washington, while chanting the slogan of "stand with Hong Kong people," has in fact engaged in actions against the national security law in Hong Kong and imposing the so-called "sanctions." Such self-contradictory behaviour exposed its hypocrisy and despicableness.

Part 8

On June 25, the White House put out on its website a statement regarding the closing down of Hong Kong's Apple Daily, in which it falsely accused China of suppressing press freedom.

The Apple Daily, under the cloak of a media outlet, had long engaged in illegal acts of harming the country and destabilizing Hong Kong, seriously violating the journalistic ethics and jeopardizing the media environment of Hong Kong.

The newspaper had long been engaged in concocting fake news to mislead the public. During the turbulence over proposed ordinance amendments in Hong Kong in 2019, the newspaper produced a flurry of fake news and peddled wrong values to perplex the public, disseminate "anti-police" and "anti-China" remarks, and instigate "Black Violence."

Hong Kong is a society governed by rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. No one has extra-legal privileges, and no institution is an extra-legal entity. Hong Kong police act against individuals and companies suspected of endangering national security in strict accordance with the law, and their actions are a just move to crack down on crimes and maintain the rule of law and social order.

Those who describe moves on an individual news organization and on those in charge of an individual news organization as acts to crack down on press freedom have ulterior motives and are seeking to talk black into white.

It is the United States which has brutally suppressed the media and restricted press freedom. Analyses by The Guardian and Netherlands-based investigative journalism website Bellingcat showed from May 26, 2020 to June 2, 2020 alone, there were 148 arrests or attacks on journalists covering protests ignited by the killing of George Floyd, among which 34 instances involved officers physically assaulting journalists, and 33 instances involved journalists being arrested or detained. A female photojournalist was left blinded in the left eye by a police projectile during one of the protests. In 2021, the U.S. government forcibly shut down more than 30 foreign news media websites.

German writer Michael Lueders has revealed in his new book "The Hypocritical Superpower" that the U.S. government and its interest groups are apt at influencing and shaping public opinion by selecting information and polarizing public views, so that people are brainwashed without any realization. Washington's repeated provocations in this respect reveal that it is in fact a mastermind of troubles and a public opinion manipulator.

In fact, the press freedom in Hong Kong has not been damaged, but has been consolidated. At present, there are 93 local, 69 overseas and 39 online media organizations registered with the government, respectively, showing increases from a year ago. The press and the general public exercise the right of supervision every day and enjoy the freedom to criticize the administration of the HKSAR government. There is no obstruction for overseas media to interview people with different positions.

Part 9

On July 7, the White House announced the extension of the so-called "national emergency with respect to Hong Kong" and of relevant Hong Kong-related sanctions for one year, and continued with the cancellation of preferential treatment for Hong Kong.

The so-called "national emergency with respect to Hong Kong," a measure announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on July 14, 2020, is a gross interference in China's internal affairs. The extension of the so-called "national emergency" also marked the first time that Joe Biden, since taking office as U.S. president, continued with Trump's thinking on Hong Kong from the perspective of policy implementation, and once again publicly intervened in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. Such an act seriously undermined China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

Hong Kong had always been an excuse for Washington to put pressure on Beijing during the Trump administration. At the end of June 2020, the Law on Safeguarding National Security in HKSAR was promulgated and implemented. Trump then signed an executive order, declaring that the United States immediately entered a "national emergency" on the grounds that the situation in Hong Kong would pose a "threat" to the national security, economy and foreign policy of the United States. At the same time, the country also ended its special treatment for Hong Kong. Previously, Hong Kong enjoyed treatment that many cities in the Chinese mainland did not have, mainly in immigration, import and export control, tourism and economy.

The Biden administration followed the Trump administration's wrong acts on Hong Kong, extending the so-called "national emergency," and continued with its outrageous sanctions against China.

Sanctions on Hong Kong, however, will surely backfire and bite the United States. Official data released by China last year showed that there were around 85,000 U.S. citizens and more than 1,300 U.S. enterprises in Hong Kong, including almost all of America's major financial firms. Over the years, the United States has gained a huge trade surplus from its trade with Hong Kong, and its interests in Hong Kong have been deep and direct. Sanctions will bring "complexities" to U.S. enterprises in Hong Kong, subjecting their normal operations to political risks.

In as early as 2020, there was wide condemnation around the world against the so-called "sanctions" imposed on Hong Kong by countries such as the United States. Chester Humphrey, president of the Senate of Grenada, pointed out that the United States just wanted to divert the attention of the American people from domestic problems, and that its "sanctions" against other countries were illegal. Patricio Giusto, director of the Sino-Argentine Observatory, said that the so-called "sanctions" will not pose a substantial threat and have no legal basis, which once again exposed the "double standards" of U.S. politicians.

"Standing with Hong Kong" on one hand and relentlessly sticking to sanctioning it on the other is the absurd logic of U.S. politicians and a logic that no one, including Hong Kong people, can understand.

Part 10

On July 10, the U.S. Department of State posted a statement issued by 21 members of the so-called "Media Freedom Coalition" on its website, expressing "strong concerns" about the judicial organs of the HKSAR handling the case of Apple Daily according to law, and falsely claiming that "the use of the National Security Law to suppress journalism is a serious and negative step."

Freedom is not laissez-faire. Scientific rationality, legal order and international rules are the foundation of freedom. As Montesquieu said in The Spirit of Law, "liberty is the right to do what the law permits." Any freedom has boundaries. Even the so-called "free countries" have also defined clear forbidden zones and restrictions for freedom, and it is never allowed to break through the bottom line of the legal system. "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic," said U.S. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in a judgement in 1919.

Constitutions of over 100 countries in the world stipulate that the exercise of basic rights and freedoms must not endanger national security. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights clarifies that the rights to freedom of belief, expression, peaceful assembly and public trial must be subject to necessary restrictions on grounds of national security, public order, public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others. The European Convention on Human Rights has similar provisions. The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries have also established strict legal systems to safeguard national security, and have no mercy in cracking down on criminal acts endangering national security.

In the United States, although the First Amendment to the Constitution stipulates that freedom of speech and press should be ensured, the country still set up state agencies that conduct oversight over on the media. The Federal Communications Commission is responsible for issuing licenses to radio and television stations in the United States and imposes basic restrictions on program content. The U.S. Supreme Court has also said that speech that "directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action" is not protected.

In Germany, denial of the Holocaust and other forms of incitement to hatred against certain ethnic groups are punishable by up to five years in prison. In August 2018, the German Federal Constitutional Court said in a ruling that punishing the denial of Nazi genocide is fundamentally in line with the constitutional provisions on freedom of speech. In France, the current Law on the Freedom of the Press clearly stipulates that damaging the basic interests of the country, abetting crimes, slandering and insulting, and spreading false news through the media are all illegal and criminal acts, and must be punished. Penalties include fines, imprisonment, and confiscation of publications.

Hong Kong police arrested and prosecuted Apple Daily and its personnel and froze related properties for colluding with external forces and jeopardizing national security. These actions are a necessary and legitimate move to safeguard the rule of law in Hong Kong, and has nothing to do with protecting freedom of speech and the press. The United States gathered some members of the so-called "Media Freedom Coalition" to beautify and excuse the anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong media outlets and their employees in an attempt to put pressure on China. Its actions seriously desecrated the spirit of law and seriously violated the conscience of the media.

Apple Daily is also a mirror, which not only reflects the ending of the anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong forces, but also clearly reflects the "double standards" of the U.S. side in dealing with the Hong Kong issue. We would like to ask, are Hong Kong people willing to stand with such politicians and governments?

Part 11

On July 16, as a bid to smear Hong Kong's business environment, the U.S. government issued a so-called "business advisory" to caution U.S. businesses about "emerging risks" to their operations and activities in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Washington imposed sanctions on seven officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

The U.S. advisory, which attempts to discredit the national security law in Hong Kong while stating that Hong Kong is still a popular investment and trade location for the United States and that it provides competitive financial, trade and professional services, is self-contradictory and illogical.

Investors' moves are an important indicator of Hong Kong's business environment. More than a year after the implementation of the national security law, the initial public offering funds raised in Hong Kong exceeded 500 billion Hong Kong dollars (64.35 billion U.S. dollars), representing an increase of more than 50 percent year-on-year. Total deposits in Hong Kong banks rose by over 5 percent from a year ago.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said that the city has a crucial role to play as an international business hub, and that it "remains a critical and vibrant facilitator of trade and financial flow between the East and West." Jim Thompson, chairman and founder of logistics company Crown Worldwide Group, said the U.S. administration is making it "harder for American investors to do business in the city, which is like putting handcuffs on them ... This is so sad."

Experts and scholars believe that the so-called "business advisory" from the U.S. government will not affect corporate decisions -- while the United States regularly issues similar warnings, businesses make their own judgements. The enterprises did not withdraw from Hong Kong even when black-clad rioters were running wild in the city, and they are less likely to do so now as Hong Kong's social order has been restored and the city's development has been back on track under the protection of the national security law.

The stepped-up sanctions by the United States have already backfired and bitten the country itself. U.S. trade surplus with Hong Kong totaled 297 billion dollars from 2009 to 2018. When the sanctions were imposed, U.S. trade and finance were the first to take a hit.

In a Foreign Affairs article published mid-July, former U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong Kurt W. Tong wrote that the U.S. Treasury Department knows "sanctions on major Chinese banks could trigger significant instability in the international payment system, by interrupting the huge volume of financial transactions between the world's two largest economies," which would "in turn harm U.S. financial markets and the perceived reliability of the U.S.-centric global payments system."

When even the American people are unwilling to stand with their own government, the lie of U.S. politicians that they "stand with the people of Hong Kong" naturally falls apart.

Conclusion

U.S. politicians have been constantly claiming to defend Hong Kong's human rights and freedom and "stand with the people of Hong Kong." But actions speak louder than words. All their slogans have proved to be nothing but lies.

All Chinese people including people in Hong Kong have already clearly seen what these politicians are defending is not the Hong Kong people's human rights and freedom, but the "freedom" of a handful of rioters to disrupt Hong Kong's stability and endanger China's national security, and the "freedom" of these politicians to continue interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and containing China.

Under the pretext of democracy and human rights, these politicians have been offering real endorsements for the rioters, which fully exposes the double standards of these U.S. politicians. They condemned the Capital riot with utmost rage, but nevertheless called similar acts in Hong Kong "a beautiful sight to behold." They have enacted the world's most thorough national security law at home, but nevertheless tried to smear China's parallel efforts to plug the security hole in Hong Kong.

In the name of "press freedom," they are interfering with and undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong. Amid the closure of Apple Daily, those U.S. politicians fully exposed their tricks to smear others. They tried to turn some media organizations into extra-legal entities for anti-China forces to disrupt Hong Kong and contain China. By making waves on Hong Kong issues, the U.S. side has revealed itself as the "black hand" in stirring up opposition and controlling public opinion. The so-called "press freedom" is nothing but a fig leaf for their self interests.

They twisted facts, deliberately smeared the rule of law in Hong Kong and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. "Patriots administering Hong Kong" is the trend of the times and the aspiration of the Hong Kong people. Improving Hong Kong's electoral system is necessary for the sustained and healthy development of Hong Kong's democratic system. When peace and stability were finally restored in Hong Kong, and the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens were better protected in a secure environment, the United States leveled accusations and attacked Hong Kong's efforts to improve its electoral system, and continued to demonize the national security law in Hong Kong, which fully exposes Washington's hegemonic nature.

While habitually bullying others and wielding the big stick of sanctions, those U.S. politicians have in fact exhausted their tactics. For them, only a chaotic Hong Kong serves their interests. The more stable Hong Kong is, the more anxious they will be. And now, their "agents" were arrested. Their plans for disturbing the city have failed. No matter how much pressure or how many rounds of sanctions the United States can impose, they will be nothing but waste paper.

All in all, some U.S. politicians' concern about Hong Kong's democracy is a sham. Their true intention is to meddle in Hong Kong's politics and China's internal affairs. Their real purpose is to use Hong Kong as a tool to realize their political interests and contain China's development. The so-called "standing with the Hong Kong people" is nothing but a cover to deceive the world and reflects the hypocrisy of the U.S. politicians. What they are doing is to make enemies with the Hong Kong people. Those politicians are advised to stop repeating these cliches.

In 1840, Britain opened the door of China with ships and guns, and Hong Kong was gradually occupied by Britain. For more than 100 years since then, the Chinese people have waged indomitable struggles for national liberation, national independence and social progress. Today, the Chinese nation has made a great leap from standing up, getting prosperous to becoming strong, and their effort to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. China has become an important force in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and its relations with the rest of the world have undergone tremendous changes.

With the implementation of a series of effective measures, including the national security law, Hong Kong's social order has been restored, its development has returned to the right track, and the city has opened a new chapter with good governance. Hong Kong is getting more stable and prosperous with a better implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle. This is the strongest response to those U.S. politicians who slander Beijing's Hong Kong policy.

No one can stop Hong Kong from reclaiming its glorious past. The Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or enslave them, and the cause of "one country, two systems" will never be obstructed or undermined by any external force. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people. History has proved countless times that the final victory will always belong to the indomitable Chinese people.
When California-born Avantika Vandanapu had moved to India in 2015 as a 12-year-old, she got the chance to act in a handful of films as a child artiste, one of which included the 2016-Mahesh-Babu-romanceaction Brahmotsavam.

Even as a child artiste in India, Avantika had worked hard at the sets, sometimes

shooting between 3.00 a.m. and 7.00 a.m. Then, by 2018, when shed accumulated several films and ad commercials in her portfolio as well as deep insights into how the industry works, Avantika decided to go back to the US in 2018.

I was interested in the performing arts but the range of roles for teenage female actresses in India seemed to be limited. Also, I wanted to discover myself more while trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, and so I decided to go back to the US, Avantika explains in fluent Telugu.

Rediscovering acting

After returning to the US, Avantika got into theatre and started taking acting classes, and studying filmmaking techniques to understand what aspect of the art drew her most. To dive deeper into the craft, I studied various acting theories  including the Stanislavski Method, Alexander Breathing and Movement System, and the Meisner Technique.

All of the hard work and studying acting seem to have paid off for Avantika, for she got the kind of break many young actors aspire for  an audition call from Disneys production house. After auditioning for the part in the US, she was chosen to play a significant character in Disneys forthcoming film, Spin, for which she subsequently started shooting last year in Canada.

Its crazy and the project was everything I could have ever dreamed of, Avantika tells us about the Manjari Makijany directorial, which is set to release on 15 August. In the film, I play an effervescent role for the character named Rhea. She is a dreamer, navigating through various things in her life. The film chronicles her journey of how she balances everything in life.

The balancing act

While her experience as a child artiste came in handy for grabbing Spin, Avantika points out the differences between working in India and in the US. In the US, I am more protected when it comes to child labour, she shares.

Of course, managing studies and films have been challenging for the youngster, but Avantika has been working hard at striking the needed balance.

When I was in India, I was home-schooled, but since Ive been back in the US, Ive got great support from my parents and teachers even during my shootings, reveals the actress who was part of several Telugu films.

Avantikas already been a part of a few Hollywood flicks such as Senior Year as well as television series such as The Wilde Bunch, BRAT and Prince Ea. She has also lent her voice in the series Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures.
During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule, the quota of the then HRD Minister and MPs was scrapped but the quota of MPs was restored following opposition to the move. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: The Central government has scrapped the Education Minister's discretionary quota for admissions to Kendriya Vidyalayas and the quota available to MPs will stay, sources said on Tuesday.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) are allowed a maximum of 10 admissions in Kendriya Vidyalayas per academic session from their constituency.

Sources said recommendations by ministers have been done away with.

"All quotas including that of the Education Minister have been scrapped except that of MPs," a source said.

Education Ministry is conveying to MPs including that of Rajya Sabha that they will be entitled to 10 admissions in Kendriya Vidyalayas in every academic year. Many of the recommendations are for children from the poor and economically weaker sections.

During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule, the quota of the then HRD Minister and MPs was scrapped but the quota of MPs was restored following opposition to the move. Later, the quota available to the minister too was restored.

The quota of admission to KVs earlier used to be six seats, which was then increased to 10. Apart from that, the Education Minister too could recommend admissions based on recommendations the ministry received from MPs. "This has been scrapped," the source said.


New Delhi/Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches against former Karnataka minister R Roshan Baig and a Congress MLA in connection with a money laundering investigation into the alleged Rs 4,000 IMA ponzi scam, officials said.

They said multiple premises of Baig and his associates are being raided by the agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Two of his premises in Shivajinagar of Bengaluru and that of Congress MLA from Chamrajpet in Bengaluru, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, and a travel company linked to him are being searched.

Searches were also conducted in some locations in Mumbai.

The Congress MLA is stated to have had a purported property transaction with then MD of IMA Group Mansoor Khan. This transaction was declared by Zameer Ahmed Khan in his election affidavit.

Baig, earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in this case, was suspended from the Congress after the alleged scam came to light.

Baig is out on bail at present.

The Enforcement Directorate action is linked to its probe in the 4000-crore I-Monetary Advisor (IMA) alleged ponzi scam case, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR and a charge sheet.

The CBI, in April, had filed a charge sheet before a special CBI court in Bengaluru and had named Baig, Mansoor Khan, IMA Group and Baig's company Daanish Publications and others.

"It was alleged that the accused former minister received several crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure.

"It was further alleged that the accused was also utilising the said funds for day-to-day expenditure, including salaries of employees of his firm. It was also alleged that the accused has spent the funds for various social and cultural activities in his constituency to increase his popularity," a CBI spokesperson had said in a statement post the filing of the charge sheet.

The alleged IMA scam pertains to over Rs 4,000 crore collected by IMA Group from over a lakh gullible investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investment following Islamic ways.

The CBI has alleged that the money was diverted to Baig, a minister in the erstwhile Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, so that the IMA Group could continue its illegal activities, CBI officials had said.

The CBI had registered four cases in connection with the scam and has filed multiple charge sheets against 33 accused, including Khan, company directors, several revenue and police officials.

"It was alleged that the said Group had raised unauthorised deposits and cheated the public by failing to repay the principal and as well as the promised returns.

"These funds were allegedly diverted for acquiring properties, paying bribe amounts, etc. Several properties, including moveable and immovable, were identified and attached under KPIDFE (Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act, 2004 by the competent authority," the CBI had said.
Thiruvananthapuram: Days after neighbouring Karnataka imposed travel restrictions on persons from the state in view of the COVID situation, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the fresh curbs were against the directive of the Centre in this regard.

As per the order issued by the Union Home Ministry, states should not impose travel curbs closing their borders, he said.

"The Karnataka government has imposed the new restrictions against the Central government's directive," he told the state Assembly.

Replying to a submission by legislator A K M Ashraf (IUML), he said steps have been taken to ensure that the curbs are not causing any difficulty to the people of the state who are travelling to the neighbouring state for various purposes.

The state DGP Anil Kant had already contacted his counterpart in Karnataka who ensured that necessary action would be taken in this regard.

Detailing the restrictions imposed by the neighbouring state, the Chief Minister said an RT-PCR COVID negative certificate, taken within 72 hours, has been made mandatory for commuters from Kerala by the Karnataka government.

The officials of that state had tightened inspection at the border check post in Thalappady in this regard from August 2.

The state police was giving special attention to ensure that the curbs were causing no inconvenience to those going for treatment in hospitals in Karnataka and those belonging to the essential service sector, he said.

Arrangements have been made at the border for conducting the RT-PCR test, giving priority to those who travel to Mangaluru on a daily basis.

If anyone produces a certificate, completing two doses of vaccination, they would also be permitted to meet their requirements for which RT-PCR has been made mandatory, the Chief Minister added.
Hyderabad: The Krishna and Godavari river management boards have stepped up its efforts to gain control of irrigation projects on the two rivers. They have called for an emergency joint meeting of KRMB and GRMB on August 9.

The respective river boards sent a letter on Thursday asking TS and AP governments to send their officials for the meeting.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the TS government boycotting the KRMB meeting on Tuesday. With just about two months left for the gazette notification to come into force and both the states requiring to deposit Rs 200 crore each to KRMB and GRMB respectively to meet operational costs, the boards want to speed up its efforts to stick to the schedules and deadlines.

The joint meeting is aimed at discussing and devising an action plan to implement the recent gazette notification issued by the Centre bringing all irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers under the jurisdiction of the respective river boards.

While the AP government welcomed the gazette notification in general and sought clarifications on some provisions, the TS government is fully opposed to it. It urged the Centre to discuss matters with both the states and resolve all issues before implementing the new order.

The gazette notification comes into force from October 14. From then on, all important projects in both the states would go under the control of respective boards. Both the states have to stop construction works of all unapproved projects that were taken up without obtaining requisite approvals. They have to submit DPRs of these projects and seek approvals within six months to start the works.
Hippopotamus attacks are just as deadly compared to other animals. Despite their soft and chunky appearance, hippos hide a terrifyingly fearsome temper. Lions and tigers are undoubtedly dangerous, but something as ridiculous looking as a hippopotamus is the deadliest of the three.

Hippos are Territorial and Mean

You will not only receive broken bones and lose limbs in an encounter with these animals, but you may as well be eaten alive and whole whenever the hippos are protective of their territory, reported the Sun UK. Male hippos are aggressive and will not hesitate to fight crocodiles that are brave enough to raid their home.

Yearly, hippos would have the highest count of deaths in Africa, having a number of roughly 500 people on their constant death count; more than how many humans die from lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes, and rhinos put all together.

Frederico Genovese, a photographer, captured a deadly assault in the Lake Naivasha of Kenya. Mathew Wanjiuku, the victim, was suddenly attacked by the giant creature and was continuously bitten for ten straight minutes, unable to resist.

Genovese recalled the assault as the hippo appeared to be trying to trample its victim by stamping its feet and swinging its head vigorously. The hippo was chomping on Wanjuiku's arms, shoulder, and torso while he was given no chance to escape the torture, noted the Scottish Sun.

People helped the man by creating noises using blunt objects and bashing them on metal sheets to frighten the giant creature, fortunately stopping yet leaving Wanjuiku covered in his blood.

Read Also: British Woman Seriously Injured After her Twin Fights Off Savage Crocodile in Mexican Lagoon

Other Accounts of Deadly Hippo Attacks

Paul Templer, a wildlife enthusiast, has experienced first-hand what it feels like to be attacked by a tempered hippo in 1996.The attack left him with 39 bites wounds and came out with only a single arm left.

The death-threatening attack happened near Victoria Falls when the animal had knocked one of his friends out of his canoe.Templer stated, "I couldn't move, I was like wedged in this tight place. I knew it was in a hippo or a croc, eithery way it wasn't good".

Templer narrates in BBC that he managed to move his fingers around and feel the bristles on the hippo's snout, which made him realize that he was in the hippo's throat. He did his best to avoid ever drowning in the water while he was being swallowed until the hippopotamus spat him out once again.

Once he was out, he tried swimming towards his friends, but the "monster hippo" had charged towards him, grabbing him using its mouth and pulling him down to the depths of the river.

Templer was eventually saved by a friend who he deems to have shown "incredible bravery" to have gone over and grabbed him away from the hippo.

Another veteran of hippopotamus assault was on two fishermen. Enock Romano, one of the victims, had his legs amputated when everything was taken below his knees while he suffered deep wounds from being crushed by a hippo.

The hippo had assaulted him and a friend of his while they were fishing in Lake Naivasha. Nurse Susan Kamau had stated that the two fishermen were taken to the hospital in severe conditions that there wasn't any treatment to have restored Romano's lower legs, so they had to amputate.

The capabilities of hippos are farfetched. Despite not having an appearance capable of running, it can even run faster than humans. It could run at a speed of 30mph, a faster pace than the fastest human ever recorded.

In Uganda, a gamekeeper had to run for his life after disturbing a hungry hippo from its grass meal. The terrified man was caught on camera running away from the beast as he went down the road at Murchison Falls National Park

Related Article: Zookeeper Fatally Wounded As He Tried to Escape Rogue Siberian Tiger That Leapt From Its Cage

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One of the solutions to the US Navy's dilemma is small submarines over the more expensive ones. Some designer think this is the best solution to consider how to increase the number of subs.

The Navy is planning for a subsequent class submarine class, another high-tech and costly boat to replace the Virginia-class vessels which the Navy is now acquiring.

An expected time for these boats to be made is in the early 2030s, which is different from a mere upgrade of a new submarine.

Are smaller subs better?

According to James Holmes, who is linked to the Naval War College, located in Rhode Island, the Navy's subs might need in the 2030s, and further will not resemble the boats that the fleet needs in 2019, reported the National Interest.

It might be less massive, work with robot vessels, and not need a nuclear engine. This means the USN will finally use diesel-electric submarines instead, which will mean new ways to fight for the Navy and more tactics, cited Yahoo.

The use of standoff weapons and the distance it can attack with robot drones, develop surface and subsurface vehicles, and land forces with new capabilities. It also affects how underwater combat is done too.

The USN is supposed to have 65 subs, which are all nuclear power, in 2021. About 14 of these are Ohio class ICBM submarines, but the new Columbia Class will replace 12, noted War is Boring.

Forbes stated the Navy says the number of boats will be 52 in 2022, less than 12 compared to 2021, but what replaces the two subs left when the Columbia is service has no news yet.

What are these classes?

The naval branch plans to replace these with a new "huge capacity boat" by the 2030s. The Navy might design no small submarines.

Read Also: US Maritime Force Gets Serious, Naval Top Gun School for Submariners Established to Improve Tactics for Undersea Warfare

In the naval inventory are 1980's Los Angeles-class attack submarines, three sub-hunter 1990s the Seawolf, and 13 new Virginia-class boats. In 2017, plans were made to update the Virginia subs to last until the 2040s.

A 30-year shipbuilding plan introduces some change instead of updating an older sub. The sailing section plans to build a brand-new attack submarine designated as the SSN (X).

The new boat would succeed the Seawolves and older Virginias in service in 2034. Through that time, the remaining Los Angeles-class ships will be at the breakers.

A new type would reportedly be more extensive than Virginia, which has an 8,000-ton displacement, closer to the 9,000-ton displacement of the older Seawolf class.

According to a government report, a next-gen sub will be faster, more silent, and has more torpedoes than an older attack sub.

This might be the wrong approach because the planners should develop the right boat for the environment it will operate. United States military doctrine advocates restricting Asia's first island chain to maritime mobility to deter and put pressure on China.

What better vessel to linger across the island chain, depriving PLA ships access, than with a torpedo-and missile-armed submarine?

It might chart a route and decline underwater force by developing strategies and tactics that take full advantage of smaller, conventional submarines.

Small submarines for the US Navy might be the answer to get a more sizable underwater fleet in a shorter time.

Related Article: SSN-21 Sea Wolf-class: American-Made Soviet Typhoon ICBM Hunters

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Former United States President Donald Trump is desperately fighting off attempts to release his tax returns with his legal team urging a federal judge on Wednesday to block the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from giving away his documents to officials.

The Republican's lawyers are asking the judge to not allow the two agencies to hand over the former president's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee. This is despite the committee arguing that Trump's returns will be used to identify how the IRS audits presidents of the country.

Trump's Tax Returns

The lawyers said that the reason given by the committee is simply a facade and are looking to find something embarrassing against Trump. The former president's legal team also added that the legal authority invoked by Congress was never, in history, used against a president, a former president, or any elected official.

In the court filing, lawyers said that while many House Democrats expressed their justifications for getting Trump's tax returns, no one argued the side of how the IRS audits presidents. The legal team argued that the committee chairman's request for Trump's release of his tax returns had very little indication of being about how the IRS audits presidents, NBC News reported.

Trump has asked the federal court to permanently block the Treasury Department from turning over his tax returns and order Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, to stop all investigations of the Republican and his companies. A new filing also showed that his legal team is aiming to recoup their legal expenses.

Read Also: Joe Biden Thinks NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Should Resign Amid Sexual Harassment Findings; Will He Follow The President's Advise?

On Wednesday, Trump's attorneys argued that the committee's request for the Republican's tax returns was to obtain and expose information for the sake of exposure. They said the committee did not aim to study federal legislation but had some other impermissible goal, CNN reported.

President Joe Biden's Justice Department last week reversed course from the Trump administration. The Democrat's team said the Treasury Department is required to hand over the Republican's tax returns when the Ways and Means Committee demands them.

Digging Up Dirt

The filing is the latest attempt by House Democrats in their long-stalled demands for Trump's federal tax records. In 2019, the House sued the Treasury Department to enforce a subpoena for Trump's returns from 2013 to 2018, arguing that the former president was the only one who refused to release his tax returns among other incumbent presidents and major party presidential candidates.

The lawsuit against the former president said that numerous investigative reports revealed that Trump engaged in multiple aggressive tax strategies. The complaint argued that he used complex arrangements of his personal and business finances. The Republican is accused of committing acts to avoid decades worth of taxes.

It added that the committee has been unable to evaluate just how the President was able to take inappropriate advantage of the tax laws. The efforts have met criticism from many of Trump's aides, who argued that it was "presidential harassment" and was only an attempt to dig up dirt on the former president, the Washington Post reported.



Related Article: Missing Arkansas Mom Found Wrapped in Old Newspaper, Hidden at Daughter's Home for Months; Suspect Spends Benefit Money

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Despite legal concerns about acting unilaterally, President Joe Biden's administration imposed a targeted eviction moratorium in places worst impacted by COVID-19 on Tuesday, replacing a countrywide evictions freeze that expired Saturday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s latest eviction embargo, announced Tuesday, might face legal challenges from the Supreme Court, where one justice urged the administration not to proceed further without express legislative permission in late June.

Biden administration's new eviction moratorium

To strengthen its legal ruling, the government counts on discrepancies between the current order, which is set to run until October 3, and the eviction pause that expired over the weekend. At the very least, as Biden himself stated, the new moratorium would buy time for the estimated 3.6 million Americans who are facing eviction.

Some legal experts who doubt the new eviction moratorium will hold up argue that its legal foundations are very similar to the previous one, AP News via Yahoo reported. According to a senior White House source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Biden was warned that a new countrywide moratorium, like the one that recently expired, would most likely be challenged by judges.

Officials created a plan with enough adjustments to make it less vulnerable to judicial challenges, so the administration pushed ahead without Congress' participation. Despite his vocal reservations a day earlier, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed Wednesday that Biden, who has a law degree, would not have backed it if he had been uncomfortable with the legal standing or strategy.

President Joe Biden gave in to the far-left congressional Democrats known as the Squad, reinstating an eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In June, the US Supreme Court decided that the moratorium could not be appropriately prolonged until July 31 without exceeding the CDC's health authority.

Per NY Post, there is no need for a new eviction moratorium as Congress has approved a $47 billion rent relief package with favorable provisions. A family of four in New York City earning up to $95,450 is eligible.

Although there are delays in obtaining the money, any tenant who asks for assistance in California, Massachusetts, New York, and numerous other states are protected from eviction while they wait. This federal rent assistance is in addition to stimulus payments and unemployment benefits with federal add-ons and recently expanded state vouchers for low-income renters in New York.

Read Also: Joe Biden Thinks NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Should Resign Amid Sexual Harassment Findings; Will He Follow The President's Advise?

The new measure aims to help renters hit by Delta variant

The ongoing battle, according to Biden, will probably give some more time for rental assistance funds to flow. The president expressed his expectation that the new targeted measure will reach about 90 percent of renters in the United States. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., commended Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who had camped on the Capitol steps since Friday to call attention to the issue outside the Capitol Tuesday afternoon.

Bush and fellow progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York staged a little dance party as they welcomed the news. The earlier federal moratorium, enacted during the pandemic to assist Americans who were unable to pay their rent, is credited with keeping almost 2 million renters in their houses. During the pandemic, eleven million Americans have fallen behind on their rent.

After the Democrat-controlled House went for a break last week without taking action on a bill that would have prolonged the moratorium, Biden and Democratic leadership faced a rising backlash from progressive Democrats. It occurred as new worries of a resurgent pandemic were sparked by the emergence of the COVID-19 Delta variant, as per USA Today.

Related Article: Biden Administration Digs on Heels of ICE Operations, Releases 50,000 Immigrants Without Court Dates at Southern Border



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A 9-year-old Indian girl's mysterious death has caused people across the country to protest against vile acts of rape as the family of the victim accused a priest of raping and cremating the young girl to hide the evidence of his criminal activity.

The victim's family said the 9-year-old went out to fetch water on Sunday evening from a cooler found at a nearby crematorium in the New Delhi slum and never came home. What happened to the child may either be a tragic accident or the latest incident of the growing cases of brutal gang rapes in the country that have become international news which has led the country to be ranked as the most dangerous place in the world for women.

9-Year-Old Girl Raped and Murdered

Authorities said that a Hindu priest is being accused of perpetrating the young girl's death after forcibly raping her. The religious leader who works at the crematorium told officials that the young girl may have been accidentally electrocuted while trying to get water from his facility's cooler.

However, the victim's parents argue that the priest and three other suspects are responsible for the murder of their daughter. They claim that the group raped the young girl and immediately cremated her body to hide their crime. When questioned, the priest denied any of the allegations, NPR reported.

Protesters gathered in large crowds in the capital of the country after the first news of the child's murder was released. The demonstrators included hundreds of people and involved students, activists, and human rights watchers, who decried the crime near the city's historic Jantar Mantar monument.

Read Also: Joe Biden's New Eviction Moratorium Faces Legality Doubt Amid Pressure as COVID-19 Delta Variant Cases Spike

While outlawed by the country's Constitution, caste prejudice continues to be prevalent in Hindu-majority India. People have once again become outraged by the violence perpetrated against those at the bottom of the hereditary social hierarchy.

Yogita Bhayana, the founder of the women's rights group People Against Rapes in India, said the brutality conducted during the young girl's murder was barbaric. She noted that the worst part of the incident was that it was a very common occurrence in the country. Dalit women are frequently killed, raped, and tortured, with nearly a daily case report, NBC News reported.

Crimes Against the Lowest Class

A 2018 report by the National Crime Records Bureau revealed that there were 42,793 cases of crimes against Dalits last year. The number of citizens in the lowest caste of India number around 200 million out of the country's 1.3 billion population. The numbers constitute to around a Dalit being the target of crime every 15 minutes on average.

But many activists argue that the actual number is much higher as many of the incidents are kept from public knowledge. They said that Dalit women are further marginalized, owing to the social stigma that victims of sexual violence face.

Srishty Ranjan, a 24-year-old Dalit rights activist, said the country was seeing a level of "rape apathy" because the incidents were so common in India. She noted a Dalit is the most frequent victim of the crimes and does not get enough coverage from the media, Yahoo News reported.



Related Article: Missing Arkansas Mom Found Wrapped in Old Newspaper, Hidden at Daughter's Home for Months; Suspect Spends Benefit Money

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Officials say lightning struck a wedding party on a boat in northern Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than a dozen others.

According to police officer Farid Hossain, the boat hit the shore of the Padma river in Shibganj town as the wedding guests made their way to the bride's residence. Fire Service spokesman Meherul Islam confirms fourteen individuals were hurt and brought to the hospital. Among those injured was the groom.

Groom among the people injured during a lightning strike

The event occurred on Wednesday in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj district, in the country's western region. People gather over the remains of victims in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj district, around 245 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, after lightning killed more than a dozen people.

Officials claimed the groom was among the injured, but the bride was not injured as she was not with them at the time of the incident. When they were struck, the group abandoned their boat on the bank of the Padma river to seek shelter during a thunderstorm.

During the monsoon season in Bangladesh, over 200 people are killed, typically by lightning. According to experts, deforestation is partially to blame for the increase in lightning strikes.

During the warm months of March through July, the majority of lightning deaths occur. Experts believe that the increase in deadly lightning strikes is linked to deforestation, which has resulted in the loss of many tall trees that would have drawn lightning strikes previously, as per Reuters.

Read Also: Russia, China Team Up for Military Force Training Against Terror, Pose Daily Threat With Lasers and Missiles in Space

Bangladesh lightning strikes casualties

According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, lightning strikes killed 2,164 individuals in the country between 2011 and 2020. Many deaths aren't officially reported; therefore, the numbers are likely to be higher.

Since 2016, lightning protection has been a feature of Bangladesh's national disaster plan and construction code, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pushing structures with earthing systems to dump energy from lightning strikes to the ground. Local governments have started spreading palm seeds to develop into trees to redirect lightning bolts away from humans in various parts of the country.

Per Newsweek via MSN, the Bangladeshi National Plan for Disaster Management said lightning catastrophes struck the Surma Basin, the northwest Barind tract, and the northern Tertiary hilly area of Bangladesh between 2015 and 2018. Male farmers, most usually in rural regions, are most likely killed in lightning strikes in Bangladesh.

In the recent weeks, Monsoon storms have pounded Bangladesh. A week of severe rains in Cox's Bazar's southeastern area has killed 20 people, including six Rohingya refugees. Each year, hundreds of individuals are killed by lightning in South Asian countries.

According to an official total, more than 200 individuals were killed by lightning in 2016, with 82 people dying on a single day in May. However, many deaths are never officially documented; and at least 349 people have been killed due to lightning strikes, according to one independent monitor.

According to some analysts, deforestation has exacerbated the death toll, with Bangladesh growing hundreds of thousands of palm trees to mitigate the effects of climate change and lower the number of people killed by lightning.

A week of severe rains in Cox's Bazar's southeastern area has killed 20 people, including six Rohingya refugees. Each year, hundreds of individuals are killed by lightning in the South Asian country, Gulf Today reported.

Related Article: Watch: Deadly Floods in China, Germany Upended Lives; Stark Reminders of Climate Vulnerability



@YouTube

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Japan will install anti-aircraft missile units to repel any sorties by the Chinese in Japanese territory. This came as the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) threatened other nations to declare that Taiwan belongs to China.

Long dormant Tokyo has decided to tentatively place missiles to attack planes or ships that violate Japanese territory. In the past, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has probed the defense of Japan.

The location of the missile emplacements is on an island that is 200 miles less close to Taiwan in the East China Sea (ECS). Tells Beijing it will not sit by and allow it to steam roller Japan, said Japanese defense officials.

Tokyo is Taking Proactive Measures

Nobuo Kishi, a Tokyo representative, told the report that Japan is arming up for the defense. There will be an additional 500 to 600 missile defense specialists in Ishigaki, part of Okinawa Prefecture, reported Express UK.

Ishigaki is at the terminal part of the Nansei Islands, only 185 miles from besieged Taiwan. It is near the Senkaku Isles, which China wants to claim sovereignty, noted SCMP. He added that the details are getting done until all the goings-on will be sorted by the end of 2021 and be in place by the following year.

But Kishi said that adding electronic warfare units on the Yonguni, the westernmost inhabited island, will be part of the budget suggested for 2023 defense acquisitions.

Defense Minister @KishiNobuo today met with Lt. Gen. Schneider in advance of his visit to the Japan Air Self Defense Forces Air Defense Command, also at Yokota Air Base.



Find the readout here: https://t.co/ZQlWiW08d6 pic.twitter.com/SH3RnYOdNj  U.S. Forces Japan (@USForcesJapan) October 8, 2020

He recently visited the troops in Yonaguni last April and commented that the coast of Taiwan was almost visible 70 miles away.

Read Also: Japan Defense Chief Told Chinese Military to Back Off From Senkakus

Taiwan's Survival Needs Greater Attention

Such is a response from Tokyo from the belligerence of the CCP in the East and the South China Sea, as its navy expands and threatens with its blue-water navy. The People's Liberation Army Navy has done drills through the Miyako Strait separating Okinawa and Miyako Island.

A Japanese print suggested the new missile unit will have 'surface-to-ship' and 'ground-to-air missiles' and deal with major assaults or disasters.

Experts say that China is establishing anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) capabilities in island chain chokepoints to prevent the US from stopping the PLA in an Indo-Pacific war. It will be Taiwan as the object, which China considers as a part of its territory.

In a conflict, the Chinese will send their carriers and ship to the east of Taiwan in the event of an attack. The PLA will use the A2/AD as a screen to prevent getting attacked by the US Fleet's air wings.

It will be tit for tat as Japan will have its A2/AD to kill Chinese navy ships entering the Pacific Ocean.

According to a white paper published by the Japanese defense, concerns were mentioned on the Chinese Coast Guard in the Senkakus, Diaoyu, which Beijing covets. Critically Taiwan is mentioned in the paper. Japan's national security is linked to keeping Taiwan free.

But, China is angered at the intervention of another nation because the PLA may not be able to fight on several fronts. Beijing uses coercion that works with lesser nations.

Mr. Kishi said that China is trying to claim Taiwan isolated. But he asked members of the international committee to pressure Beijing to stop its aggressive actions in Taiwan Strait, cited FR24 News.

He adds that greater attention should focus on the survival of Taiwan rather than a direct military collision between China and Taiwan.

If Japan installs anti-aircraft missile units in specific locations, that will limit the movement of the PLA in some places in the East China Sea. It displeases the CCP, who wants to have it easier in taking Taiwan.

Related Article: Japan's China Policy Becomes More Confrontational in 2021

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After falling off a platform as a train approached, a Good Samaritan saved a man's life. It's unclear how the passenger who used a wheelchair ended up on the rails, but he didn't have much time.

The event occurred in the early afternoon of August 4 at New York City's Union Square. One individual ran onto the tracks, fully aware that the train was approaching the platform in seconds.

Man on a wheelchair falls from the train platform

In a terrifying video, a guy who slipped out of his wheelchair and fell into the subway tracks was rescued by a Good Samaritan who pulled him to safety just seconds before a train arrived at the station. NY Post reported that other passengers grasped the man's arms and dragged him to safety as the Good Samaritan leaped onto the platform above.

The camera then switched to the location where the train was approaching, and sure enough, it arrived on time and at a rapid pace. A video of the great event has gone viral on social media, and everyone is praising the man for acting so quickly.

The video, which was shot by WCBS journalist Lauren Mennen on Wednesday and shared to Twitter account Subway Creatures, shows a rescuer quickly pulling the guy back onto the Union Square platform as an approaching train speeds near them.

The rescuer can bring the man up just in time with the help of some other citizens on the platform. The train then comes around the corner, as shown in the video.

The unidentified guy was brought to Bellevue Hospital awake and alert, and his condition is stable. According to authorities, the Good Samaritan was not recognized.

HEROIC RESCUE: This afternoon a man in a wheelchair fell off the subway platform onto the subway tracks at Union Station, NYC. As a train approached, a good samaritan jumped in to save his life.

( IG: laurmenn) 



pic.twitter.com/AhPAkmrP3s  GoodNewsCorrespondent (@GoodNewsCorres1) August 4, 2021

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Another Good Samaritan in New York

Another Good Samaritan who came to the rescue of a Kansas motorist who lost control of his vehicle after falling over behind the wheel previously stated that he believes in fate and that God wanted him to be there. Following the event in Wichita on Friday afternoon, Mark Stump, a director of community services at United Way, made the remarks to KSNW.

Witness Jefri Cook told the channel that she saw a black SUV go up and down a curb before slamming into Stump's box truck. Stump then got out of his car, rushed up to the SUV, and reached out through the open window to assist in steering it away from oncoming traffic, she said.

When Stump approached the SUV, the driver seemed gray and slumped over, according to Stump. He then began pounding on the man's chest in an attempt to awaken him.

According to Stump, after hanging to the SUV and going about 100 feet, the car came to a rest. The good Samaritan went on to say that when the guy awoke, he was bewildered and warned him, "you need to stay away from me, I have COVID-19." The unnamed man then fled the area on his own, claiming to reside a few blocks away, as per Fox News via Yahoo.

Related Article: Louisiana Groom Arrested on Wedding Night After Shooting a Friend He Accuses of Having Affair with the Bride

@YouTube

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The "Hall of Presidents" attraction at Walt Disney World Resort reopened on Wednesday with a new addition of animatronic Joe Biden. The 46th President of the United States joined the other figures.

While many guests found the Democrat's animatronic creepy, it had a similar structure to all that came before it. It also moved to a recording of Biden's "Corn Pop" campaign trail story as guests looked on.

Disney World Animatronic

Disney World officials replaced former President Donald Trump's figure with the new Biden animatronic. They put the Republican's figure in the back row of the presentation where some users noticed it was put next to the animatronic of Andrew Jackson. The seventh President of the United States was a highly controversial figure who was the architect of the Trail of Tears.

Some online users found the appropriateness of the decision and took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts. One user said they loved the Trump figure getting the side-eye in his new position in the back row of the presentation, the San Francisco Gate reported.

biden animatronic dropped at the hall of presidents today pic.twitter.com/RGhYFLqXES  Shay Spence (@chezspence) August 4, 2021

Former President Trump has also expressed his admiration of Jackson's populism and combativeness. The Republican also put up a portrait of the seventh president of the United States in the Oval Office during his presidency.

A crowd was invited to watch the "soft opening" of the attraction on Tuesday, which acted as a rehearsal for the actual opening. The schedule of the attraction is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m, Orlando Sentinel reported.

Read Also: Biden Administration Plans to Require Full Vaccination For All Foreign Travelers as Part of Border Reopening Program

A highlight reel was also presented during the attraction's opening which was missing Trump's appearance. The recording was played before the animatronics began to move and be displayed in front of the audience.

Four of the presidents in the history of the United States were not present in the video, including Trump, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush. Some argue that this was due to the Republican not having any memorable moment or speech worthy of being included in the footage.

Recording of Speeches

Democrat Biden recorded the speech that his animatronic spoke out during the attraction in the White House. "I, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States," the animatronic began with.

Every single one of the presidents included in the attraction since Bill Clinton's presidency have recorded speeches for their figures to play. The attraction also reportedly included "decorative spikes" when it reopened after Trump was elected in 2016 to keep the figures of the presidents safe, the New York Daily News reported.

The presentation also included famous speeches in the history of the United States, such as Bill Clinton's Oklahoma City bombing eulogy, Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall," or George W. Bush's speech after the events of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed an estimated 2,977 people when a series of four orchestrated attacks assaulted the World Trade Center towers.



Related Article: Missing Arkansas Mom Found Wrapped in Old Newspaper, Hidden at Daughter's Home for Months; Suspect Spends Benefit Money

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A massive wildfire in Turkey has forced authorities to order an emergency evacuation after the blaze reached a coal-fueled power plant in the nation's southwestern region with sirens from the plant blaring.

Milas Mayor Muhammet Tokat, who is part of the main opposition party of the country, warned residents of the risks that the fire brought in the last two days for the Kemerkoy power plant located in the Mugla province.

Wildfire Reaches Power Plant

Tokat said on Wednesday that the personnel inside the plant were already being evacuated in preparation for the wildfire's arrival. The nearby seaside area of Oren has also begun evacuation procedures as the blaze continues to grow, local reporters said.

Authorities from the Turkish defense ministry said they were ordering residents to evacuate their homes as the fires continued advancing towards the plant. TRT, the state broadcaster, said the flames had "jumped" to the plant as powerful winds made the direction and path of the fires unpredictable, making them even more dangerous, the Associated Press reported.

Turkish officials announced that they have taken safety precautions at the Kemerkoy power plant and have opted to empty the hydrogen tanks stored inside. TRT also said that flammable and explosive substances in the facility have been removed. The privately-run plant wrote on its website that it used lignite to generate electricity.

Read Also: Biden Administration Plans to Require Full Vaccination For All Foreign Travelers as Part of Border Reopening Program

Extreme heat and wildfires continued to ravage many parts of southern Europe on Wednesday, a day after Greece recorded a scorching temperature of 47.1 degrees Celsius. The severe heat was only slightly below the hottest temperature ever recorded in the region. The country remains on high alert as it continues to face its worst set of heatwaves in decades.

Authorities have also issued warnings for Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. The number of wildfires that have burned through Turkey forced authorities to evacuate many areas, including tourist resorts, CNN reported.

Growing Threat of Climate Change

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz previously discussed with President Isaac Herzog spoke with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Wednesday regarding the devastating fires ravaging the latter's country. The officials talked about the extreme loss of life and the risk that global warming has caused worldwide.

Herzog offered his assistance to Greece and the two presidents agreed that it was beneficial to work together to fight against climate change. In a statement, the Israeli president reiterated his country's solidarity with Greece during a time of great strife.

Gantz and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the defense minister of Greece, revealed there have been 80 wildfires in the country in the last few days. He also thanked Gantz for the help offered by Israel in providing the fire-torn country with fire retardants. Gantz also committed to providing other assistance to Greece, including aerial support, and search-and-rescue operations.

Turkey is considered to be the worst-stricken by the wildfire surge in the Mediterranean, which has become a wildfire hotspot. The region experienced intense flames that have topped other fires in its history on record, The Jerusalem Post reported.



Related Article: Missing Arkansas Mom Found Wrapped in Old Newspaper, Hidden at Daughter's Home for Months; Suspect Spends Benefit Money

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Searching for a fourth stimulus check? Some states are already sending money to eligible families registered in their database. Check if your area is eligible for some more stimulus money.

$2000 Stimulus Check Online Petition Update

An official fourth stimulus check from the federal government seems unlikely despite the different petitions requesting it. As seen on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill signed last June, the federal government aims to improve the American lifestyle by upgrading transportation, service lines, pipelines, internet services, and power infrastructure. No budget was provided for a fourth stimulus check.

Moreover, it is important to note that the iconic online petition by Stephanie Bonin, requesting recurring stimulus checks for the duration of the pandemic, has already reached 2,747,256 out of its 3 million goal as of time of writing. This petition is on track to become one of the "top signed on Change.org!" However, the government is not showing any sign of being affected by its progress.

However, a "fourth stimulus check" program might be approved locally, depending on the specific state government. As part of the American Rescue Plan, states have been granted over $200 billion to spend on their own economic recovery. Some states use this money as a "fourth stimulus check," set to be given to eligible families locally.

According to Yahoo! Finance, certain residents from the following states might receive their "fourth stimulus check."

California

It is the only state to send out money referred to as "stimulus checks." Residents who earn between $30,000 to $75,000 might receive approximately $500-600 of financial support.

Colorado

The state is sending out $375 to registered residents who have received at least one unemployment payment between March 15, 2020, to October 24, 2020. Higher-income workers who earned more than $500 per week in base unemployment benefits do not qualify for this program.

Florida

The state is giving $1000 checks to teachers and administrators. Unfortunately, a controversy arose with Governor DeSantis allegedly leaving out some educators. The situation is still developing.

Georgia

Governor Kemp authorized full-time teachers and administrators to get $1,000 checks to appease them in staying on their jobs. Part-time teachers are also receiving $500. A plan is reportedly underway to provide financial aid to pre-K educators as well.

Read Also: Bill Gates Net Worth 2021: How Rich Is the Microsoft Founder After Divorce With Melinda Gates?

Maryland

Unemployment benefits for its residents include $500 stimulus payments to families and $300 for individuals who filed their Earned Income Tax Credit.

Michigan

The state is sending out $500 hazard pay bonuses to its teachers earlier this year.

New Mexico

KRGE reported that the Human Services Department has allocated $5 million for economic relief for its citizens. New Mexicans who were not eligible for the $600 and $1,400 federal stimulus checks from the state can apply. Funds are reportedly distributed to the lowest-income households first.

Tennessee

The state government recently passed a bill to provide a $1,000 hazard pay bonus to its full-time teachers. Part-time teachers can get $500. Eligible individuals should receive their money by the end of this year.

Texas

Certain districts in the state have provided special bonuses for their teachers. Fort Worth and Arlington are also expected to increase the salary of all district employees by 4 percent. Denton and Mansfile teachers will receive a 2 percent raise.

More states might have similar financial aid programs prepared for the coming months. Consider visiting your local government and inquiring about their available services regarding the COVID-19 support.



Related Article: Child Tax Credit Portal, Updates and More: 2 Actions You Must Take If IRS Overpaid You
Actors Yoon Se-ah, from left, Ji Jin-hee and Kim Hye-eun pose for pictures during an online media conference for tvN's series "The Road: Tragedy of One," Wednesday. Courtesy of tvN



By Lee Gyu-lee



Actor Ji Jin-hee has built an extensive portfolio across TV series and films, starring in different genre works, including the JTBC drama "Undercover" that ended in April.



Despite his previous experience, the actor is set on to take another challenge with tvN's new series "The Road: Tragedy of One," which kicked off Wednesday.



"I wanted to take a break (after 'Undercover'), but when I read the script for this series, I was instantly drawn to it  The story was complex but I thought it would be great if we put it together well," the actor said during an online media conference for the series, Wednesday.



"I knew that I would have to portray a character that I've never played before. So it was a challenge for me. I was worried but I was thankful that director Kim Noh-won convinced me and said he wants to capture a different side of me."



Based on the Japanese crime novel of the same name by Rintaro Norizuki, the mystery thriller series revolves around an influential journalist and news presenter Baek Soo-hyun who is married to the heiress and miniature artist Seo Eun-soo (Yoon Se-ah).



Soo-hyun has been investigating corruption inside a conglomerate owned by Eun-soo's father, Seo Ki-tae (Chun Ho-jin), and its political ties with lawmakers. When he is about to break the story, his son gets kidnapped leading to the revelation of an even bigger secret.





A scene from the series / Courtesy of tvN
gettyimagesbank



By Anna J. Park



The number of bank branches in the country is decreasing swiftly due mainly to accelerated digitization of banking services, and consequently the number of bankers voluntarily leaving the country's five major banks during the first half of this year stood at over 2,600  around one third of the entire number of bankers who have left the industry over the past decade.



According to local banks, 2,628 employees of the five major banks  KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH  left their jobs voluntarily in the first half. It is almost double the number of bank employees who left during the entire period of last year.



About 30 percent were from KB Kookmin Bank, with 800 people leaving, followed by Hana Bank's 511, NH Bank's 496, Woori's 468 and Shinhan Bank's 353.



A KB Kookmin Bank official explained that one of the main reasons behind its high number is that the bank has the largest number of employees  16,349 as of March this year  among the major local banks. Other major banks' staffs were smaller than KB Kookmin's number, with Woori Bank at 13,990 followed by NH Nonghyup at 13,669, Shinhan at 13,319 and Hana Bank at 11,485. The official also stressed that the number of employees who left did so of their own volition, without any exterior pressure to leave the firm.



As the official said, they are leaving voluntarily  but there are reasons behind them leaving in droves.



The ever-growing number of voluntarily quitting bankers well reflects the current atmosphere of the industry, in which traditional long-term careers are threatened. The decreasing number of employees shows that traditional bankers, with experience of more than 15 years, are losing their ground and any possibility of a future at the banks.



The banking industry's swift transition towards full-scale digitization has led the five major local banks to turn their recruitment drives toward IT-related positions. Only NH Nonghyup Bank recruited a large number of new employees during the first half, while the other banks only brought in a small number of IT experts, hoping to strengthen their IT platform capacities.



While the banks are centering more and more around digital services, the number of bank branches nationwide is also rapidly decreasing. The aggregate number of branches of the five banks stood at 4,398, a fall of 191 branches or about a 4 percent decrease from the previous year when the number of bank branches was at 4,589. Banks plan to close down more than 100 branches later this year as well.


Financial Services Commission chief nominee Koh Seung-beom, left, and Financial Supervisory Service chief Jeong Eun-bo / Korea Times file



By Kim Yoo-chul



New appointees to run the nation's financial regulators are expected to improve communication and coordination to address outstanding issues and ensure that no pending tasks are left unaddressed, officials said Thursday.



President Moon Jae-in named Koh Seung-beom, a member of the Bank of Korea's monetary policy board, as chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Korea's top financial policy regulator.



And to fill the gap at the top of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the name of Jeong Eun-bo, a former negotiator for South Korea's defense cost-sharing talks with the United States, has been floated by FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo. The FSS is a public agency that inspects and supervises financial services firms under the supervision of the FSC, a government regulatory authority. The FSS chief is nominated by the FSC chief and approved by President Moon.






President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, on his plan to make Korea a global vaccine hub. The President unveiled the government's strategy for Korea to become one of the top five countries in vaccine production by investing 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) over the next five years. Yonhap



Moon pledges support for domestic vaccine development



By Lee Hyo-jin



Korea aims to become one of the top five countries in vaccine production, with President Moon Jae-in vowing full support for establishing a global vaccine hub and domestic development of vaccines, which will thus contribute to a stable global supply of COVID-19 vaccines.



The Moon administration announced Thursday it would invest 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) over the next five years into the vaccine industry, designating it as one of the nation's strategic industries.



"Without a sufficient supply of vaccines for all countries, we will not be able to prevent the spread of the coronavirus amid continuous emergence of new variants. Korea will take the lead in solving this problem by becoming a global vaccine production hub," Moon said during a meeting with government officials and medical experts at Cheong Wa Dae.



It was an inaugural meeting of a joint committee consisting of governmental bodies, pharmaceutical companies and medical experts to develop strategies for making the country into a global vaccine manufacturing hub.



Although the committee will be led by Prime Minster Kim Boo-kyum, the President convened the first meeting, showing the administration's strong will to achieve this goal, according to the presidential office.



The committee consists of officials from related ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, along with 12 representatives of the private sector including the heads of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association and the Korea Biomedicine Industry Association and the director general of the International Vaccine Institute.



Representatives of four domestic pharmaceutical firms  SK Bioscience, Samsung Biologics, ST Pharm and Ecell  also attended the meeting.





Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a press briefing on a plan to turn Korea into a global vaccine hub, at Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap




The Supreme Court said Thursday it has confirmed the appellate court's ruling to dismiss a request to cancel the nuclear watchdog's permit to build nuclear power reactors in the southeastern coastal city of Ulsan.







The cancellation request was filed by Greenpeace Korea and some Ulsan residents in September 2016, who claimed that the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) allowed the construction of Shingori No. 5 and Shingori No. 6 reactors "without considering the unique hazards of (the nuclear plants)."







The NSSC had given a nod to the project three months earlier.







The Seoul Administrative Court rejected the call-off request in 2019, saying that while the nuclear watchdog's permission was partially unlawful, the potential damage from killing the project far outweighed the illegality, considering the project's financial and social costs.







An appellate court also ruled in favor of the nuclear watchdog, citing public welfare and interest.







The government launched a special commission in July 2017 to collect public opinions on the Shingori project in order to determine its fate, after President Moon Jae-in proposed to scrap the project in line with his election campaign pledges earlier that year.







After months of deliberation, the commission recommended the resumption of the construction in October that year.







Construction of Shingori No. 5 and Shingori No. 6 reactors is reportedly planned to be completed next year. (Yonhap)


Newly nominated and appointed high-level government officials. Clockwise from top left are Song Doo-hwan, nominee for the head of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea; Koh Seung-beom, nominee for the head of the Financial Services Commission; Ko Kyu-chang, the new vice minister for interior and safety; Lee Seung-woo, the new vice minister for disaster and safety management; Hong Hyun-ik, the new head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy; Park Moo-ik, the new head of the National Agency for Administrative City Construction; Yeo Han-koo, the new trade minister; and Park Ki-young, the new vice minister for trade, industry and energy. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae



Heads of economy-related organizations replaced



By Kim Rahn



President Moon Jae-in nominated or appointed a number of high-level officials mostly in economy-related government organizations on Thursday, showing his commitment to reviving the pandemic-hit economy in the last stage of his term.



Koh Seung-beom, a member of the Bank of Korea's (BOK) rate-setting monetary policy board, has been nominated to lead the Financial Services Commission (FSC). He has held various posts on the commission before this current position at the central bank.



"An expert in finance, he has a deep understanding of financial policy in general and he is the first person to have a second term as a BOK board member," senior presidential secretary for public communication Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing.



"With his knowledge of the macroeconomy, we hope he will deal with financial issues such as offering financial support for COVID-19-hit people, controlling household debt, reforming the financial industry in the digital era and contributing to the rapid revival of the nation's economy through close cooperation with relevant organizations."



Koh will have to undergo a confirmation hearing by the National Assembly, with the date to be decided later.



Jeong Eun-bo, a former top negotiator for Korea in the defense cost-sharing talks with the U.S., has been named as head of the Financial Supervisory Service.



The position is recommended by the FSC, and the president appoints the nominee. It has been vacant for three months since the former head retired.









Jeong has held various positions in finance-related organizations such as the FSC and the finance ministry, and he has been recognized for his expertise in international finance. He has held the negotiator position at the foreign affairs ministry since 2019 and concluded the defense cost-sharing deal earlier this year, which had been stalled due to former U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a heavy increase in Seoul's share.





Senior presidential secretary for public communication Park Soo-hyun announces the nomination and appointments of several high-ranking government officials during a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, Thursday.
U.S. Forces Korea vehicles are parked in Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. South Korean government is wavering over whether to delay a South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise in August, after North Korea's demand for a "big decision" by the South. Yonhap



Moon government wavering on North's tactic



By Nam Hyun-woo



Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are increasing pressure on the government to postpone a combined military exercise with the U.S., saying it would undermine the chance to improve inter-Korean relations which have shown signs of improvement following the restoration of communication hotlines between the two Koreas.



The Moon Jae-in administration is wavering over the issue after the North warned that the exercise would damage peace efforts engaged in by the leaders of the two countries and demanded a "big decision" by Seoul on the exercise.



More than 60 DPK lawmakers  led by Reps. Sul Hoon and Jin Sung-joon  released a statement Thursday urging the government to postpone the Combined Command Post Training to improve inter-Korean relations.



"We suggest South Korea and the U.S. thoroughly review postponing the combined military exercise scheduled in August, on the condition that North Korea comes forward for talks toward improving inter-Korean relations and a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula," the statement read.



"Though various political claims are emerging over our response to the North's demand, we believe there is a necessity to delay the drill as an active and influential measure that can bring a decisive change in inter-Korean relations."





Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, fifth from left, urges the government to postpone a South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise scheduled for August, during a press conference at the National Assembly, Thursday. Captured from Jin's Facebook
Korea Forest Service Minister Choi Byeong-am / Courtesy of Korea Forest Service



By Nam Hyun-woo



Cutting carbon emissions has become a worldwide obligation, forcing countries to make their own contributions to battle against climate change, whether they are advanced or developing. As one of the most effective means to cut emissions, forestation has garnered keen attention.



This trend is shedding new light on efforts by the Korea Forest Service (KFS) to reach emissions reduction goals partly through emissions reductions achieved overseas. KFS Minister Choi Byeong-am says that the agency will play a pivotal role in helping Korea meet its target of cutting 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions via forestation projects outside the country.



"Last December, the Korean government submitted its nationally determined contribution (NDC) target of cutting its 2030 emissions by 24.4 percent from 2017 levels to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)," Choi said in an interview with The Korea Times.



"Of the total amount  170 million tons of CO2  Korea plans to cut 16 million tons outside of the country through projects such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+). By capitalizing on its experiences so far, the KFS will explore and carry out REDD+ projects."



In 2015, the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement, which is aimed at limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius  preferably to no more than 1.5 degrees  compared to pre-industrial levels. To contribute to the initiative, countries have submitted their respective long-term goals via their NDCs.



For the initiative, both industrial efforts and nature-based solutions are being explored, and REDD+ projects are a focus because of forests' role in retaining carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.



According to the World Wildlife Fund, tropical forests alone hold more than 228 gigatons to 247 gigatons of carbon, which is more than seven times the amount emitted each year by human activity. The Center for International Forestry Research also said that stopping deforestation, along with other natural climate solutions, could provide 37 percent of the emissions reduction needed by 2030.



"REDD+ is gaining global attention because it has a mechanism that encourages cooperation between advanced nations and developing countries," Choi said. "Developing nations can get incentives from international organizations based on emission outcomes, while advanced nations can help via forestation and earn certified emissions reductions, which can be used for meeting their NDCs."



As part of global REDD+ programs, the KFS began its REDD+ projects in Indonesia in 2012, Cambodia in 2015, Myanmar in 2016 and Laos in 2018.



In the Cambodia project, the KFS has been carrying out forestation on a 70,000-hectare site in Kampong Thom Province, with a plan to complete it in 2022. Last September, the project was recognized to have reduced 650,000 tons of CO2, marking the first case of a KFS REDD+ project earning the right to trade this amount for a certified emission reduction. The 650,000 tons of CO2 reduction, which was achieved from 2015 to 2019, is equivalent to absorbing emissions from 340,000 passenger cars per year.



The reduction was officially certified by the Verified Carbon Standard, enabling the KFS to make a profit by selling its emission rights via voluntary carbon markets in the future. The value of the KFS's emission rights is estimated at $3.23 million, far exceeding the total project cost of $1.6 million.



"While carrying out the project in Cambodia, the KFS also came up with a number of income-generating businesses for local residents, such as beekeeping and growing cashew nuts and cassava," Choi said. "Also, the project contributed to preserving two endangered birds and nine mammals."



However, Choi added that the emissions reduction that the KFS has achieved through REDD+ projects can be used for Korea's NDC when there are standards allowing the transfer of emissions reductions between countries.



"Currently, the international community is in talks over detailed rules on the international transfer of emissions reductions, and this issue is expected to be on the table at the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, U.K., in November," he said. "The KFS will continue monitoring major decisions at the UNFCC and changes in domestic climate policies in order to better expand its REDD+ projects."







A Mongolian participant, right, of a reforestation project between the Korea Forest Service and its Mongolian counterpart, demonstrates planting a seedling to local residents, April 2017. Courtesy of Korea Forest Service



Forestation assistance in developing nations



Along with REDD+ projects, the KFS has been organizing a series of official development assistance (ODA) projects in the sector of forestation. Currently, the agency is now running joint forestation projects with seven countries.



Of them, Choi notes a project with the Mongolian government.



Following a 2006 agreement between the two countries' presidents, the KFS teamed up with its Mongolian counterpart and spent 13.8 billion won ($12 million) to plant trees in 3,046 hectares of desert there from 2007 to 2016 as phase 1 of the project.



For phase 2, the two countries began setting up urban forests in Ulaanbaatar in 2017, with the project expected to be completed by the end of this year. This second phase cost 10 billion won.



"During the project, Korea's forestation efforts have had positive impacts on the Mongolian government," Choi said. "In the middle of the project, the Mongolian government in 2010 designated National Tree Planting Day, and enacted laws preventing desertification.



"Also for Korea, the project came with the positive outcome of preventing air pollution stemming from fine dust."



Next year, the project will enter phase 3, which aims to prevent forest fires, restore damaged areas and set up infrastructure to improve Mongolia's resilience against forest fires.



Along with the Mongolia project, the KFS has been pursuing a mangrove reforestation project in Vietnam since last year, a peat land restoration project in Indonesia and other forestation programs in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.





Poster for the 15th World Forestry Congress / Courtesy of Korea Forest Service
By Joseph S. Nye, Jr.





CAMBRIDGE  During the four decades of the Cold War, the United States had a grand strategy focused on containing the power of the Soviet Union. Yet by the 1990s, following the Soviet Union's collapse, America had been deprived of that pole star.



After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush's administration tried to fill the void with a strategy that it called a "global war on terror." But that approach provided nebulous guidance and led to long U.S.-led wars in marginal places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2017, the U.S. has returned to "great-power competition," this time with China.



As a grand U.S. strategy, great-power competition has the advantage of focusing on major threats to America's security, economy, and values. While terrorism is a continuing problem that the U.S. must treat seriously, it poses a lesser threat than rival great powers.



Terrorism is like jujitsu, in which a weak adversary turns the power of a larger player against itself. While the 9/11 attacks killed more than 2,600 Americans, the "endless wars" that the U.S. launched in response to them cost even more lives, as well as trillions of dollars.



While President Barack Obama's administration tried to pivot to Asia  the fastest growing part of the world economy  the legacy of the global war on terror kept the U.S. mired in the Middle East.



A strategy of great-power competition can help America refocus; but it has two problems. First, it lumps together very different types of states. Russia is a declining power and China a rising one.



The U.S. must appreciate the unique nature of the threat that Russia poses. As the world sadly discovered in 1914, on the eve of World War I, a declining power (Austria-Hungary) can sometimes be the most risk-acceptant in a conflict.



Today, Russia is in demographic and economic decline, but retains enormous resources that it can employ as a spoiler in everything from nuclear-arms control and cyber conflict to the Middle East. The U.S. there-fore needs a Russia strategy that does not throw that country into China's arms.



A second problem is that the concept of great-power rivalry provides an insufficient alert to a new type of threat we face. National security and the global political agenda have changed since 1914 and 1945, but U.S. strategy currently underappreciates new threats from ecological globalization.



Global climate change will cost trillions of dollars and can cause damage on the scale of war; the COVID-19 pandemic has already killed more Americans than all the country's wars, combined, since 1945.



Yet, the current U.S. strategy results in a Pentagon budget that is more than 100 times that of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 25 times that of the National Institutes of Health.



Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and other economists recently called for the establishment of a $10 billion annual Global Health Threats Fund, which is "miniscule compared to the $10 trillion that governments have already incurred in the COVID-19 crisis."



Meanwhile, U.S. policymakers are debating how to deal with China. Some politicians and analysts call the current situation a "new Cold War," but squeezing China into this ideological framework misrepresents the real strategic challenge America faces.



The U.S. and the Soviet Union had little bilateral commerce or social contact, whereas America and its allies trade heavily with China and admit several hundred thousand Chinese students to their universities.



Chinese President Xi Jinping is no Stalin, and the Chinese system is not Marxist-Leninist but "market Leninist"  a form of state capitalism based on a hybrid of public and private firms subservient to an authoritarian party elite.



In addition, China is now the largest trade partner to more countries than the U.S. is. America can decouple security risks like Huawei from its 5G telecommunications network, but trying to curtail all trade with China would be too costly. And even if breaking apart economic interdependence were possible, we cannot decouple the ecological interdependence that obeys the laws of biology and physics, not politics.



Since America cannot tackle climate change or pandemics by itself, it has to realize that some forms of power must be exercised with others. Addressing these global problems will require the U.S. to work with China at the same time that it competes with its navy to defend freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. If China links the issues and refuses to cooperate, it will hurt itself.



A good great-power-competition strategy requires careful net assessment. Underestimation breeds complacency, while overestimation creates fear. Either can lead to miscalculation.



China is the world's second-largest economy, and its GDP (at market exchange rates) may surpass that of the U.S. by the 2030s. But even if it does, China's per capita income remains less than a quarter that of the U.S., and the country faces a number of economic, demographic, and political problems.



Its economic growth rate is slowing, the size of its labor force peaked in 2011, and it has few political allies. If the U.S., Japan, and Europe coordinate their policies, they will still represent the largest part of the global economy and will have the capacity to organize a rules-based international order capable of shaping Chinese behavior. That alliance is at the heart of a strategy to manage China's rise.



As former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd argues, the objective for great-power competition with China is not total victory over an existential threat, but rather "managed strategic competition." That will require America and its allies to avoid demonizing China.



They should instead see the relationship as a "cooperative rivalry" that requires equal attention to both sides of the description at the same time. On those terms, we can cope successfully, but only if we realize that this is not the great-power competition of the 20th century.





Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is a professor at Harvard University and author of "Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump" (Oxford University Press, 2020). His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).


By Faisal Ahmed and Alexandre Lambert





Faisal Ahmed Alexandre Lambert
By Christine Flowers





The other day, someone reminded me that I had a public Facebook page entitled "Christine Flowers, Columnist and Radio Host." I rarely post there, which is why I'd almost forgotten about it.



My old editor had suggested I create a public page after stalkers and people who didn't like what I wrote (almost exclusively readers and agitators from the left) had done some very unsavory things. She thought that setting up a "public" space would protect me and my loved ones from the usual abuses of social media.



But then a friend sent me a screen shot of my Facebook page, which included a warning advising possible readers that "This page may share content that violates our community standards. Review this page before you join."



I scratched my head, trying to figure out (1) which of the few posts I'd made violated the community standards and (2) what those community standards were.



Because you see, it is virtually impossible to know what comments or photos or other things that fall into the class of free expression trigger Mark Z. and the woke elves who toil away at that shop of his near the North Pole, or wherever. There is no definitive standard by which thoughts can be considered "dangerous" or "offensive." It's kind of like when Justice Potter Stewart set out the criteria for obscenity, namely, "I know it when I see it."



I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at this new high-tech imprimatur. The same thing is happening on Twitter, except not in such a targeted manner. The other day I tried to reply to a tweet about Nancy Pelosi's belief that abortion is a civil right for poor women, and it immediately triggered this message: "Want to review this before sending? We're asking people to review replies with potentially harmful or offensive language."



I am certain that I used the word "beast" in my reply, since I find Pelosi's devotion to abortion to be quite savage. Still, it's a bit much to start flagging non-threatening comments to a public figure with a finger wagging 21st century Miss Brooks (for those of you who have no idea who that is, Google it).



I suppose a lot of this is in response to the events of Jan. 6, which have completely thrown the country off of its axis. There are those who liken it to a terror attack, those who think it was nothing more than a group of rowdy tourists, and those like me who think it falls somewhere in between the two.



Social media was blamed for allowing conspiracy theories to be foisted upon an innocent public by twisted minds with access to keyboards. That, of course, could describe the internet well before that crazy shaman fellow with the Ride of the Valkyries outfit forced himself into the capitol building.



But the left is using Jan. 6, and some repentant folks on the right, to advance an agenda that has very little to do with the danger and damage on that winter day, and everything to do with silencing dissent.



There is nothing I have ever said, done, or written that could be considered so subversive that it warrants a warning. Being offensive or controversial is common course for a pundit, and those who don't arouse strong emotions aren't doing their collective job.



But offense and controversy are necessary in a free society, and even the most despicable opinions (like, in my case apparently, that the women of the #MeToo movement have become terrorists themselves) have a place. If you do not want to read them, hear them, digest them, that is your prerogative.



But, the social media tycoons and their sycophants on the left should not have the ability to act as guardians at the gate of free expression. They should not, in their own way, exercise a 21st century version of prior restraint, dissuading people from reading things they themselves have decided are "against community standards."



And the larger questions are: whose community are they worried about? And what exactly are the standards that govern that pristine and protected society?



It reminds me of that old movie, "Village of the Damned," where the little children with their platinum blonde page boys and their empty ice-blue eyes could destroy, with a look, those who crossed and challenged them.



I am not afraid that Facebook will stop open minded people from reading my thoughts. And if they do, there are other ways for me to communicate. I'm Italian and Irish, after all. We are born knowing how to express ourselves with absolutely no ambiguity.



But I'm worried for those who actually will take their lead from the Stalins of social media and allow themselves to be diverted from "offensive" content that will trouble the waters of their gentle community.



I have asylum clients from other, similar communities, who could attest to how easy it is to be numbed into a sense of "comfort" by those who want to hide painful truths from them.



And that's a lot scarier than anything Christine Flowers, columnist and radio host, has to say.





Christine Flowers (cflowers1961@gmail.com) is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times. This column was distributed by Cagle Cartoons Inc.


By John L. Micek





Could invoking the Golden Rule be enough to induce vaccine-skeptical people of faith to finally get their COVID-19 jab? According to some new polling data, that may well be the case.



A recent poll of 5,123 adults by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core found that nearly four in 10 vaccine-hesitant Americans (38 percent) who attend religious services at least a few times a year said that one or more faith-based approaches would make them more likely to get vaccinated.



And, as it turns out, when you tell people that getting vaccinated allows them to live out one of the core tenets of Christianity  loving their neighbor as themselves  the message tends to resonate.



And it resonates across all faith and demographic groups.



For instance, four in 10 vaccinated Hispanic Protestants and three in 10 vaccinated Black Protestants were more likely to say that one or more faith-based approaches convinced them to get their jab, the poll found.



And more than three in 10 (31 percent) of vaccine-hesitant white Catholics told pollsters that a faith-based approach could encourage them to get vaccinated, up from 15 percent earlier in the year, the poll found.



Specifically, more than two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics (67 percent) saw getting vaccinated as an example of loving their neighbor, up from 55 percent in a similar March poll. More than six in 10 Hispanic Protestants (61 percent) answered the same way, up from 49 percent in March.



A clear majority of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics (58 percent each, respectively) also answered the same way, according to the poll. Fifty-six percent of Black Protestants also went for the Golden Rule argument.



With the Delta variant of the virus surging across the country, and hospitalizations similarly increasing from West Virginia and Tennessee to Minnesota, reaching that stubborn constituency of Americans who still have not been vaccinated is more urgent than ever.



Support for that Golden Rule argument actually dipped among white evangelical Protestants, going from 46 percent in March to 43 percent in June. That constituency, where there's an intersection of both conservative theology and more worldly Republican opposition to vaccines, has been harder to reach.



In fact, nearly a quarter of that group say they don't want the shot at all, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a new study.



Encouragingly, Hispanic Catholics made the largest gains in vaccine acceptance, rising from 56 percent in March to 80 percent in June. Nearly eight in 10 white Catholics (79 percent) also are acceptors, up from 68 percent in March, the poll found.



"As religious leaders work to build community trust in the COVID-19 vaccine, they should simultaneously provide services that help eliminate barriers so that all willing populations are receiving vaccinations," PRRI CEO and founder Robert P. Jones said in a statement.



Overall, the poll shows that vaccine hesitancy has decreased among all Americans, but substantial barriers to getting the jab, notably, time constraints, access to reliable transportation, and childcare, have posed barriers.



And those obstacles have been the most pronounced among younger Americans and communities of color.



For instance:



 "More than four in ten Hispanic Protestants (44 percent) say that having time to get vaccinated or deal with the possible side effects is a critical reason (22 percent) or one of the reasons (22 percent) they have not gotten vaccinated yet," the poll found.



 Also, "Hispanic Protestants are most likely to report that lack of childcare is an issue (21 percent), but one in five Black Americans (20 percent) struggle with this as well.



 And "Black Protestants are most likely to report that a health condition is a critical reason (18 percent) or one of the reasons (18 percent) they have not gotten vaccinated. About one-third of Hispanic Protestants (34 percent) also report that health is a critical reason or one of the reasons they have not gotten vaccinated," the poll further found.



When he's been out on the stump, President Joe Biden (along with his lieutenants) has pitched getting vaccinated as the selfless, patriotic thing to do.



The new polling data show there's a role for America's religious leaders  regardless of sect or creed  to play from the pulpit as well. Churches, as gathering places, also are sources of childcare and other support systems so critical to their communities.



From the time they're children, most Americans are taught there's no higher good than loving their neighbor. Doing it, especially now, can be a challenge. And it's supposed to be that way. But there's no better time than now to put it into action.





An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek (jmicek@penncapital-star.com) is editor-in-chief of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. His article was distributed by Cagle Cartoons Inc.


By Casey Lartigue Jr.,





Over the years I have worked with numerous North Korean refugees who have become authors, public speakers, and YouTubers. Despite what appear to be golden opportunities to tell their stories, an alleged "cottage industry," many more North Korean refugees turn down opportunities to publish books or to engage in public speaking.



There have certainly been some success stories. Sungju Lee, author of "Every Falling Star," was the winner of my organization's first English speech contest back in 2015. Eunsun Kim, author of "A Thousand Miles to Freedom," was the winner of our third English speech contest in 2016. Yeonmi Park, author of "In Order to Live," and I were podcast co-hosts back in 2014 and I was her mentor for the speech that supposedly has been seen a few hundred million times.



Since 2015, I have worked directly with Cherie Yang and Eunhee Park, both winners of my organization's English speech contest and I arranged TEDx Talks for them. She never joined my organization, but during 2012, I was one of the main mentors for Hyseonseo Lee, author of "The Girl with Seven Names" and the first North Korean refugee to give a TED Talk.



While I have worked with many of the handful of prominent North Korean refugee speakers and authors, I have also known many more who chose NOT to enter the world of public speaking or book publishing. Some of the reasons are already well-known even to 80-year-old grandmothers in Tennessee. The most prominent known deterrence is threats to family members by a vengeful North Korean regime. A North Korean refugee telling their stories is different from a speaker releasing a self-help book with ramifications beyond getting a good Amazon ranking.



I would like to add a few more reasons that I believe are not as widely known but that I have heard over the years.



One, speaking out about North Korea can get "messy" with other North Korean refugees. There's the usual jealousy and scrutiny that comes from an individual refusing to remain hammered down. I have talked with many North Korean refugees who said they feared speaking out because they would get targeted by disgruntled and ideological North Korean refugees. The ones who have gotten attention are regularly get lambasted as profiteers and opportunists. Rumors quickly spread, with facts and logic sometimes catching up later.



Two, many North Korean refugees refrain from speaking out because Western and South Korean audiences can't comprehend what they are hearing about North Korea. Some audience members seem to view North Korea as any other country in the world, instead of a cult with an oppressive surveillance state (plus, nukes and a million-man army to discourage outsiders from intervening).



Inevitably, someone at events will ask what a North Korean refugee missed about a country led by gangsters who would execute her if she returned. Rivaling it in terms of stupid questions was from a South Korean high school student who asked in all seriousness why, if North Koreans were starving, they didn't just call Pizza Hut to have some food delivered. Is it worth it to engage with such people? Many North Korean refugees apparently take a pass.



Three, the pressure to be experts telling dazzling stories deters some North Korean refugees from speaking out. Many North Korean refugees know very little about what happened in areas outside of their hometowns, thanks to controls by the regime. Many will freely admit that they learned about North Korea as they were being interrogated by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) or as they went through the Hanawon re-education center.



North Korean refugees still learning about North Korea are asked to address and answer questions that baffle even seasoned CIA analysts. Audience members get disappointed when a refugee can't definitively explain during Q&A or a YouTube chat what should be done about North Korea. From what I have heard, most North Korean refugees are most comfortable with telling their own stories, not talking about a dictator they escaped.



Four, many North Korean refugees adjusting to life in South Korea don't seem to be ready to sit and write a book as they are still trying to stabilize their lives. It is the dream of many Westerners from young ages to write that great novel, but at which point do North Koreans start thinking about writing a book? Probably not in North Korea or while escaping China.



Getting past adjusting to life out of North Korea and thinking about writing a book then brings refugees back to the first three points: They would be entering a messy process, talking to people who don't really understand the context of North Korea, and wondering if their stories are worthy of spending a year or more writing.





Casey Lartigue Jr., is co-author along with Songmi Han of the forthcoming book, "Greenlight to Freedom." He is co-founder of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and teaches public speaking at Seoul University of Foreign Studies (SUFS).


Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong arrives at a court in Seoul in this file photo. Reuters-Yonhap



Given cash abundance, Samsung doesn't need financial backing



By Kim Yoo-chul



While some civic groups are questioning the logic of possibly releasing Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong from prison on parole on Aug. 15, Korea's National Liberation Day, in other circles, support for his parole is clearly gaining momentum.



Several industry executives are calling for the Samsung vice chairman's release, as all of the group's "key strategic decisions" related to the conglomerate's sustainability have been put on hold in his absence. In the meantime, Samsung has been facing huge challenges maintaining its position at the top of the global mobile and semiconductor industries, amidst competition with rivals in the U.S. and China.



In a call to investors upon announcing the company's second-quarter earnings results, a senior Samsung executive said they've been keeping an eye on chances for acquisitions.



The executive's remarks reflect the fact that the company is looking for opportunities for acquisitions in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), fifth-generation (5G) broadband cellular technology and automotive part industries, and are nothing new. But because Samsung Electronics' core and long-time indisputable strengths lie in semiconductor manufacturing, investors are betting on the possibility of Samsung acquiring U.S.-based automotive semiconductor firms. However, the decisions to do so could only come after Lee's release.



"Samsung Electronics is still interested in acquiring some shares or all of the shares of NXP Semiconductor," a senior industry executive told The Korea Times by telephone, Thursday.



Unlike semiconductors for use in AI devices, smartphones, computers and servers, automotive chips have thinner margins. But with the rapid advent of driverless vehicles  and the timing of their mass availability coming in 2024  automotive chips will be much more profitable.



Compared to its growth potential, Samsung Electronics' presence in that segment is small. Plus, with the market for conventional DRAM and NAND chips becoming saturated as it falls under control of "rational players," Samsung is being asked to make bolder moves as the leader in another semiconductor segment, say sources.



On a related note, NXP said that the demand for automotive chips will be on a growth trajectory in the medium to long term. After releasing its better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, it told investors that this year will be stronger than expected.



"The basic principle of Samsung's M&A strategy is to find targets that will help it gain a further upper hand in businesses it has strengths in, and to figure out how to see steep rises in terms of both market share and profit following an acquisition," the executive added.



Expectations are that Samsung will announce major investments and M&A projects after Lee's release, as bold strategic decisions and massive M&A deals are issues only the group owner can decide. Korea's conglomerates are controlled by owner families, which means their CEOs aren't in a position to make strategic decisions to envision the corporate future, as they play a role closer to chief operating officers.



NXP had been mentioned a few years ago as being "on Samsung's shopping list," but that deal was called off when NXP agreed to be acquired by U.S.-based mobile chipset giant Qualcomm. The $4.4 billion mega deal eventually fell through when China didn't approve it.



"Given Samsung's cash abundance, Samsung has no issues in terms of financing if it wants to acquire or invest in NXP. But the point is that the potential mega deal is subject to receiving approval from antitrust regulators in major countries, which is truly a time-consuming process," another executive familiar with the issue said.



During the call, Samsung Electronics said that, as its business paradigm is changing rapidly and competition is becoming fiercer, strategic M&As are being "executed and required" for corporate sustainability.



Lee Jong-ho, the chief of Seoul National University's semiconductor lab, said, "Samsung is doing well in the memory chip business. However, the logic chip business remains unprofitable."










John Park, director at AlixPartners, poses in front of the company office in Seoul before an interview with The Korea Times, last week. Courtesy of AlixPartners


Financial investors can opt to sell their stakes for profits



By Kim Jae-heun



Market Kurly CEO Kim Seul-ah, also known as Sophie Kim, is facing calls to boost her stake in the grocery-delivery app in order to retain managerial control should a hostile takeover be attempted.



Kim currently holds a 6.67 percent stake in the company  foreign investors from China, Hong Kong, Russia and the United States each hold bigger stakes than the CEO. They are financial investors whose top priority is achieving profits even by selling their stakes. This could happen before Kurly's initial public offering (IPO) here, possibly this or next year. Kurly owns Market Kurly.



Kurly is widely expected to go public as its corporate value has been increasing yearly. Investors have sought potential buyers to sell the retailer and retrieve the money they put into the company.



Last May, Kurly's corporate value was estimated at 900 billion won ($786.71 million) when it attracted 200 billion won ($174.8 million) in investments. Now, the value has increased by 2.6 times to 2.5 trillion won. Local investment banks predict the retailer's value to soar to 5 trillion after going public.



Kim's 6.67 percent stake as of the end of last year is expected to decrease after the retail firm attracted Series F investments in July from Aspex Management, DST Global, Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Capital.



Foreign investor ownership in Market Kurly stands at 58.2 percent  and Chinese money accounts for 33 percent of the total. Local investors including SK Networks and Translink Investment own 3.68 percent and 2.96 percent, respectively. CJ Logistics recently took part in the Series F investment but did not invest a significant amount.



After the completion of Kurly's domestic IPO, industry watchers point out that the founder's position as CEO will be vulnerable.



Kim spoke publicly to alleviate such concerns, saying she will not sell Kurly. Her remarks, however, did not find many believers.



Possible overhang is another risk Kim has to address.



Financial investors could sell their shares to seek profits immediately after Kurly is listed. When a significant amount are sold at once, the company's stock price can fluctuate, leading to losses for Korean consumers.



The most pressing task for Kim is to seek a local strategic investor who will agree with Kurly's plan for mid- to long-term growth by securing a significant stake.



The Korea Exchange (KRX) is also requesting Kurly's major shareholders to exercise joint ownership of the company to restrict them from selling stocks individually. In that case, shares owned by major investors will be kept at the Korea Securities Depository and an individual party will have to ask for overall consent to sell their stake.



Kim had plans to list Kurly in the United States, impressed by the successful IPO of Coupang in March. She selected Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan as partners to study the American market. However, the KRX convinced Kim to list her company in Korea by easing the rules for a local IPO, according to sources.



The top bourse operator revised the system to allow local "unicorns" to go public if their market capitalization exceeded 1 trillion won  even if they were posting deficits or suffering from financial hardship.



Kurly's operating losses have been widening.



Last year, the online retailer suffered a deficit of 116.3 billion won even though sales totaled 953.1 billion won.



Undeterred by this, Kurly remains confident of its continued growth.



As of the end of May this year, the online retailer's membership surpassed 8 million.



"We have been working toward achieving economies of scale rather than striving to reduce deficits like Coupang. We are not in a position where the company is hungry for money. We attracted investments recently. By 2023 and 2024, we expect to swing into the black," a Market Kurly official said.






Position Summary

The Career and Academic Counselor is part of the broad team of professional academic advising staff at the University. The position will be responsible for providing academic advising to students who identify as undecided, or to students in declared majors who are considering other program options. The position will also provide advice regarding academic and career direction for current students and alumni in transition- changing majors, changing careers, preparing for internships, etc. Under the direction of the immediate supervisor and in accordance with university academic strategies, the position will provide essential support and service to students and contribute to the universitys goals of promoting student learning, development, and success, as well as student persistence and retention. Additionally, this staff member will participate and assist with both university and college recruitment and retention efforts, serve on university, college, and community committees, and participate in university and college-specific training and development. Essential Duties, Tasks and Responsibilities Advise current and prospective students within an assigned college/academic program on course planning, major selection, degree requirements, university policies and procedures, and registration processes. Provide assistance with career direction through career counseling.

Design and implement comprehensive career development/ planning programs to infuse career development in curricula and courses. As needed, train faculty and staff on career development and career pathways.

Utilize current and emerging technology and available data to complete essential advising duties, processes, and communication with students to support and foster retention, persistence, and success (e.g. CSS/MyBGSU, EAB/SSC, successNET/early alert, DARS, Schedule Planner, Canvas, Query, Data Warehouse/STARS, etc.).

Review student academic progress and performance and advise students on specific actions regarding academic and career goals.

Refer students to appropriate BGSU and non-BGSU support offices and/or organizations as needed to support student success.

May be responsible for advising a specific population/cohort of students, requiring additional specialized knowledge and skills.

Additional college and/or academic program specific duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Maintain and update student files and records in accordance with federal, state and university regulations. Student Services Maintain/Manage advising caseload and work-lists through the utilization of online/digital and analog administrative programs and processes

Maintain and update student files and records in accordance with federal, state and university regulations

May conduct, complete and report audits related to student academic progress toward degree completion, eligibility, and fulfillment of requirements to achieve graduation clearance (may include NCAA, Financial Aid, ROTC and other scholarship programs)

Create and execute events designed to help students select a major, explore career options, and find a job.

May be responsible for developing programming efforts and intervention strategies for targeted and identified populations of at-risk students.

Participate and/or assist in planning and implementing New Student Orientation, Welcome and other advising activities, as well other events on- and off-campus to advise prospective students of college specific requirements (Events may include Falcon Friday, Preview Day, Presidents Day, regional college events, etc., and other specialized events within a college/department. May include evenings and/or weekends). Other Develop and maintain contact with faculty, staff, and administration as needed to support effective academic advising practice

Represent college and advising office on college and/or university wide committees as well as at least one University Advising Commission

Participate and successfully complete initial and on-going training and professional development at the university and departmental level. Topics may be related to academic advising practice and philosophy; university and college policies, procedures and resources; desktop/web-based software and systems; and other related skills and abilities to enhance professional practice and support student success

May, under the direction of the immediate supervisor and based on the needs of the college or department, be responsible for the preparation, instruction and assessment of 1-2 credit hour introductory and/or academic recovery course per semester which may be designed to introduce students to a specific or variety of academic programs and careers, assist students in their transition to the university, and/or develop strategies and skills for academic success.

Other and additional college and/or academic program specific duties and responsibilities as assigned

Other duties as assigned.



Knowledge, Skills or Abilities Understanding of the functions of an institution of higher education, including academic and student affairs

Comprehensive knowledge of university degree programs, especially those degrees granted by BGSU;

Knowledge of University academic policies and procedures as well as support services;

Knowledge of computer applications including but not limited to: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, People Soft/CSS, an ability to learn and adopt other technologies, and comfort level to use computer database, word processing, spreadsheet programs and web-based applications

Effective written and oral communication skills

Active listening skills

Strong organizational skills

Ability to interact well with students, parents, faculty, administrators and other members of the campus and community

Knowledge of developmental advising strategies

Knowledge of or ability to learn student development theories and career development theory

Compassionate and caring attitude toward working with students

Effective in working with diverse populations

Lifelong learner Diversity Statement In addition to your cover letter and resume, you will be required to upload a written response to the diversity and inclusion question listed below. The Diversity Statement should not exceed 1 page that is double-spaced with 1-inch margins, using 12pt. font. How have you incorporated equity, diversity, and/or inclusion into your current or a previous position? Minimum Qualifications: Masters Degree in Counseling, Communication, College Student Personnel, Student Affairs in Higher Education, or related field. Degree must be conferred at the time of application.



The following experience is required: 1 year of academic/career advising experience. 2 years graduate assistantship in academic advising or career services will be considered.

Salary



Full-time, Administrative staff position available. Administrative Grade Level 354. Salary is commensurate with education and experience. Full benefit package available. Deadline to apply: August 25, 2021 To Apply For a complete job description & to apply for this position visit https://bgsu.hiretouch.com/ or contact the Office of Human Resources at (419) 372-8421. BGSU. AA/EEO/Disabilities/Veterans. In compliance with the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position with Bowling Green State University, please call 419-372-8421.

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Position Objective: Contributes to the provision of high-quality, cost-effective healthcare as a provider of direct and indirect patient care and by effective of the health care team. Functions as a competent member of the health care team. Essential Job Duties: Become an ICU nurse with our Critical Care Fellowship! Anne Arundel Medical Center has a 38 bed ICU serving patients from across the state with a variety of critical illnesses. Diagnoses treated include but are not limited to: post-cardiac arrest, sepsis, myocardial infarction, post-cardiac interventions, and multisystem organ failure. Our six month program combines didactic learning with simulated experiences and hands-on clinical practice: Clinical: Average of 10 weeks of on-unit clinical orientation with an experienced preceptor.

Didactic: Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) modules produced by American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN); completion of ACLS, CRRT training, IABP training and NIHSS certification

Simulation: High fidelity patient simulation experiences in AAMC's Simulation to Advance Innovation and Learning (SAIL) Center.

Support: scheduled meetings with clinical educator and leadership team; ICU mentor to provide support and guidance; ICU boot camp covering advanced physical assessment, critical thinking, hemodynamics, critical care drugs, and more. Applicants will ideally have at least one year's experience in an acute care, non-ICU setting. BSN preferred. 1. Clinical Decision Making/Judgment Demonstrates clinical nursing knowledge and skill in the specialization of the unit.

Demonstrates the ability to apply the nursing process effectively in the care of culturally diverse patients and families. Demonstrates the ability to utilize all applicable laws, policies, standards, guidelines and evidence-based practice in the provision of patient/family care.

Organizes and reprioritizes patient care activities based on subtle and overt and/or environmental changes.

Consistently and thoroughly assesses patients to collect data and identify learning needs according to established standards and policies.

Utilizes a systematic, continuous and complete analysis of assessment data to develop individualized problem lists for assigned patients.

Develops and individualizes a plan of care for each patient in accordance with established standards, appropriate prioritization of problems/needs, and mutually agreed upon goals.

Efficiently implements the patient's plan of care in accordance with applicable standards, policies, procedures and guidelines.

Demonstrates proficiency in medication administration, pain management and other unit or initiative specific skills.

Continuously evaluates the effectiveness of the plan(s) of care, making revisions and recommendations based on analysis of patient responses to interventions. 2. Nurse-Patient Family Relationships Demonstrates the ability to assess the patient's/family's learning needs, readiness to learn, learning style, and presence of barriers to learning.

Demonstrates the ability to develop, implement and evaluate teaching plans for patient populations in unit specialty in accordance with applicable standards.

Demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge of growth and development across the life span to the care of patients.

Provides direct patient care to patients and families in a culturally, developmentally and ethically appropriate manner.

Plans of care address the physical, psychosocial, spiritual and learning needs of the patient/family. 3. Clinical Scholarship Participates in QI, CPI and risk management activities at the unit, department or organizational level.

Demonstrates the ability to effectively perform and improve all processes in order to achieve excellence with regard to AAMC's quality standards and benchmarks.

Supports the use of evidence based guidelines and organizational policies and procedures to promote safe patient care and a safe practice environment. 4. Clinical Leadership Participates in unit shared governance according to departmental standards.

Participates in the education and orientation of new staff.

Delegates patient care activities as appropriate; evaluates delegated activities for expected patient care outcomes.

Employs real time computer documentation when completing patient record. Educational/Experience Requirements: Graduate of an accredited school of nursing

Adherence to the credentialing requirements of AAMC as stated in the nursing bylaws. Required License/Certifications: Current licensure as a registered nurse by the Maryland Board of Nursing.

CPR - American Heart Association Healthcare Provider certification

ACLS - American Heart Association Healthcare Provider Certification required within 1 year of hire Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands: There is a reasonable expectation that employees in this position will be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. Physical Demands - Medium work. Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 30 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. The physical demands and work environment that have been described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The above job description is an overview of the functions and requirements for this position. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of this position; your supervisor may assign other duties as deemed necessary.


Join Sierra Clubs Organizing for Clean Energy in Missouri!

The Sierra Club is hiring an experienced community organizer to build grassroots power with communities to stop dirty, unhealthy energy production and create a just and equitable clean energy economy. The organizer will help to lead our work in Missouri on building partnerships, supporting leadership development, and expanding the grassroots base. Location: St. Louis, MO. Salary: $59,000

Full job description for the Organizing Representative position and application details and can be found at sierraclub.org/careers

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General Information & Responsibilities Provides administrative support for the Human Resources department. Serves as the first line of contact between the department, the employees, and the general public for Human Resources matters. Description of Duties DESCRIPTION OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES : Performs customer service duties for the Human Resources Office including answering telephones, responding to emails (including forwarding emails sent to the HR email account), greeting visitors, arranging appointments, and directing callers to proper parties; coordinates room reservations and related activities; sorts and distributes department mail; date stamps contracts and other important documents as directed; disseminates information as requested. Safeguards confidential oral and written personnel information in compliance with HIPAA, EEOC, ADA, FLSA, FMLA, and other applicable federal and state laws and guidelines; sends confidential information and documents, both paper and electronic, by secure means at all times. Assists with the hiring process, including maintenance of electronic documents in the applicant tracking system. Assists with the recruiting process, performing background checks, advancing adjunct applications to department chairs, assisting with interview scheduling and completion of reference checks as necessary. Assists new hires in the accurate completion of new hire paperwork both online and in-person, including the accurate completion of the I-9 employment eligibility paperwork; prepares orientation materials for new employees; maintains supply of forms, and updates forms as needed; thoroughly examines and accurately records employee documents to avoid College liability for civil and criminal penalties; maintains ongoing training to ensure College compliance with legal statutes. Responsible for the creation and maintenance of employee files; retrieving archived files as necessary; purging and disposal of annual records with adherence to State of Illinois disposal procedures and the Records Retention Act, in coordination with the Director of Risk Management. Responsible for the accurate retention of employee transcripts in compliance with ICCB requirements and Administrative Guideline 3-3.1; maintains transcripts in shared drive and ERP system. Responsible for timely submission of Tuition Waiver requests for employees, as directed; maintains file in shared drive. Performs employment verification and income verification requests in compliance with federal and state laws. Assists with completion and submission of P-card submittal forms to the Finance department as necessary. Performs entry and maintenance of personnel related information into the Colleges ERP system; enters demographic changes in the ERP system and SURS. Responsible for the documentation and filing of submitted Staff Evaluations. Responsible for creating Human Resources related reports as requested. Responsible for ordering office supplies and monitoring budget as necessary.

DESCRIPTION OF OTHER DUTIES : Assists with the development and delivery of training to supervisory staff, hiring committees, and applicants. Performs other job-related duties as assigned. OVERALL ACOUNTABILITIES:

a. Demonstrates BHC core values.

b. Accuracy and efficiency of work.

c. Ability to work cooperatively with co-workers.

d. Ability to communicate in pleasant manner with employees, students, vendors, and the general public.

e. Maintains an ongoing working knowledge of all job-related software, applications, programs, and systems.

f. Maintains confidentiality and security of all employment records.

g. Maintains knowledge on applicable Human Resources related federal and state laws and regulations.



PRINCIPAL WORKING RELATIONSHIPS : Works directly with the Director of Human Resources, and cooperatively with all Human Resources Department staff. Works closely with Payroll. Maintains a good working relationship with all College personnel. Works cooperatively with the general public. Education & Experience EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE : (To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.) High school diploma or equivalent required; Associate degree preferred. Minimum of two years experience in Human Resources, Payroll or related area required. Excellent customer service experience required. A minimum of one year customer service experience required. Minimum of one year experience working with Microsoft Word and Excel required. Ability to work well with people of a diverse background in a friendly, respectful manner. Must be able to maintain confidentiality. Strong verbal and organizational skills and ability to use initiative and judgment.

The above statements reflect the general details necessary to describe the principle functions of the described job; it is not an all-encompassing statement of all the work requirements that may be necessary to perform the job. Supplemental Information 27 hours per week.

Monday - Friday between the hours of 8 am - 5 pm.

Minimum salary is $12.66 per hour.

Black Hawk College does not sponsor employment visas. BENEFITS Core Benefits for Regular, Part-Time Staff Employees (Employed 20 or more hours per week) Tuition Waiver Employee Assistance Program Flexible Spending Account / Dependent Care Account Paid Holidays Free use of fitness center Sick Leave Retirement Pension Plans State University Retirement System of Illinois (SURS): Employees working in a regular and continuous position or one in which services are expected to be rendered on a continuous basis for at least four months or one academic term, whichever is less, may be eligible to enroll in SURS. To learn more about SURS, visit www.SURS.org. Optional 403b Tax-Deferred Investment Program: Employees may set up a 403b plan through Edward Jones Investments / Mass Mutual. BENEFITS

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Employee Type:

Full time

Location:

MN Lakeville

Job Type:

Production Sanitation

Job Posting Title:

Sanitation Specialist

Job Description:

BASIC FUNCTION: The Sanitation Specialist will be responsible for working with the Lakeville manufacturing and quality teams to assure that we are completing all sanitation activities effectively and efficiently. The Sanitation Specialist will work flexible hours to be available to work with the line teams on sanitation improvements, sanitation and MSS procedures and sanitation planning.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Prefer 1 to 3 years of experience with Production Line/Equipment sanitation.

2. Must have knowledge of sanitation chemicals.

3. Experience writing playbooks and procedures.

4. Must have experience and the ability to mentor and train teams on sanitation.

5. Experience with project management.

6. Computer ability and experience.

7. Must be ambitious self-starter and able to work with minimal direction.

8. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

9. Must be flexible to work different hours.

10. Must be able to work well in team environment.

11. Excellent attendance.

Disability Assistance

TreeHouse Foods is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers, including those with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, please contact us by sending an email to disability-accommodations@treehousefoods.com. In your email please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting and a description of the position for which you are applying.

EEO Considerations

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability or protected veteran status.

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Location: Mequon - Wisconsin

Location: Eden Prairie - Minnesota

Job Description Position Summary Rockwell Automation is looking for an exceptional Hardware Engineer to join our new product development team. You will join a diverse engineering team and be responsible for developing the power electronic hardware and technology for our next generation, industrial servo motion control products. You will work on a team comprised of engineers across multiple disciplines (e.g., mechanical, power electronics, embedded software) to bring our product roadmaps to life. Minimum Qualification Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics or equivalent experience required.

2 years' experience in power electronics product development or equivalent graduate level course study. Desired Qualification Demonstrated knowledge of fundamental EE concepts (circuit analysis, control theory, and EM).

Hands-on experience developing power converter designs (three-phase inverters, off-line and DC/DC power supplies, etc...)

Experience with analog design of signal conditioning and filter circuitry.

Demonstrated proficiency in the use of modeling tools, i.e. Matlab/Simulink, Simplorer, LTSpice, Maxwell, etc.. to solve real-world problems.

Understanding of EMI noise reduction techniques, PCB layout, gate drive design, thermal management, voltage and current sensing techniques and protection circuitry.

Demonstrated expertise in laboratory testing and experience with test equipment including oscilloscopes, data acquisition equipment, spectrum analyzers, etc.

Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering focused in power electronics, electric machines, or control systems. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer including disability and veterans. If you are an individual with a disability and you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please contact our services team at +1 (see application details).




Systems Framework Engineer - Media Technologies Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Software and Services Summary

Posted: Aug 4, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200273199 Imagine what you could do here! At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Do you bring passion and dedication to your job? If so, we are looking for individuals like you. The Media Technologies team within the Interactive Media Group (IMG) at Apple is looking for a highly motivated Systems Framework Engineer to design and develop analytics framework for all of Apple's platforms. Working with other system teams across Apple, you will build and improve software that enables efficient runtime performance instrumentation and collection of latency-critical real-time operations, including video playback and conferencing, with a privacy-first approach. Key Qualifications Strong familiarity with a systems-level language (C / C++ / Objective C / Rust)

System programming experience with daemons, frameworks/libraries, and thread-based programming

Performance analysis and tuning experience including memory usage and CPU utilization, especially power and battery impact Description As a Systems Framework Engineer on the Media Technologies team, you will be responsible for crafting internal developer-facing features and implementing the programming interfaces used to instrument performance on all Apple Platforms and devices. You will also help develop and improve framework & daemon used by teams across Apple to collect critical performance metrics. You will play a key role in crafting and maintaining robust, performant APIs, suitable for use in a real-time environment.. Working closely and collaboratively with data scientists, data engineers, privacy and multi-functional teams, you will guide and design instrumentation that safe-guards user privacy while meeting business requirements Education & Experience BS / MS in Computer Science or equivalent degree / experience Additional Requirements Nice to have but not required

Familiarity with Swift programming language

Experience working with networking and HTTP requests

Experience working with JavaScript

Familiarity with data analytics (OLAP/ETL pipeline)






Dramatic Divergence between US and European Stock Markets

This chart shows a "dramatic divergence" between U.S. and European stocks

Cryptocurrencies and so-called meme stocks have certainly received a lot of attention from investors.

Another investment category that has been in favor recently is European equities. No, they may not be quite as "hot" as, say, bitcoin -- but they've been receiving more attention than usual.

Let's start with some recent headlines:

U.S. investors are pouring money into European stock funds (Marketwatch, May 27)

European Stocks Are Coming In From the Cold (Bloomberg, June 17)

It's a Good Time to Invest in Europe (Kiplinger, June 24)

The July Global Market Perspective, an Elliott Wave International monthly publication which provides coverage of 50+ worldwide financial markets, offers more insight:

According to a June survey by Bank of America, more than a third of global fund managers are overweight eurozone equities, their highest exposure to Europe since 2018.

So, is it time to jump on the European equities' bandwagon?

Well, let's return to the July Global Market Perspective for the big picture. Here's a chart and commentary:

[It's] true. The Euro Stoxx 50 has handily beaten the S&P 500 in dollar terms this year. However, take a look at this stunning chart showing the dramatic divergence between the two regions over the past two decades.

The price patterns of the main stock indexes of two of the region's largest economies are also highly revealing.

The July Global Market Perspective provides detailed Elliott wave analysis of Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 which every global investor should review. Both indexes have reached critical junctures.

Also see charts of three European meme stocks -- and, get analysis of cryptocurrencies, forex, bonds, metals, energy and much more -- all in all, coverage of 50+ worldwide financial markets.

It's all inside the July Global Market Perspective, which you can access for free by joining Elliott Wave International's Global Market Perspective Gala FreePass Event, which runs from now through August 6.

Here's another quote from the July Global Market Perspective:

In a broad benchmark of U.S. stocks known as the Russell 3000 Index, there are 726 companies whose earnings don't cover their interest payments, a red flag to pros. These zombies are up an average of 30% in 2021 -- trouncing the 13% return for the whole index -- 41 have doubled since New Year's eve.

Even explicitly dire warnings don't seem to register. A bankruptcy plan under consideration by GTT Communications Inc. would wipe out shareholders, which is typical in Chapter 11 cases. Nevertheless, the company's stock is up about 69% since then.

Defiance of warnings is a trait of retail investors.

Continue to read our global financial analysis so you can prepare for major global financial shifts that will likely take most global investors by surprise.

Just follow this link: Elliott Wave International's Global Market Perspective Gala FreePass Event (now through August 6).

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Why a Global Fund-Manager Favorite May Start to Flounder. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Revisiting The Excess Phase Stock Market Peak Pattern

The setup of the Excess Phase peak pattern consists of an exuberant rally to a peak (Phase #1), followed by a moderate price correction that sets up into a sideways flagging pattern (Phase #2). If the INDU and TRAN continue to move in a sideways flagging formation after recently moving moderately lower, we may start to see a new Excess Phase Peak setup in these two major indexes. This could be a warning of a much bigger breakdown in trends in the near future.

Please take a minute to review our earlier research posts related to the Excess Phase Peak setup (below) and how it related to the current market trend:

November 25, 2020: HOW TO SPOT THE END OF AN EXCESS PHASE  PART I

November 27, 2020: HOW TO SPOT THE END OF AN EXCESS PHASE  PART II

May 20, 2021: BITCOIN COMPLETES PHASE #3 OF EXCESS PHASE TOP PATTERN  WHAT NEXT?

INDU MUST RALLY ABOVE $35,300 TO BREAK AWAY FROM EXCESS PHASE PEAK

The Weekly INDU chart, below, highlights the five phases of the Excess Phase Peak formation and also highlights a GREEN break-away rally trend that could setup to end any potential Excess Phase Peak formation. If the markets resume the rally trend and the INDU rallies above $35,300 soon, we would consider this a new break-away rally trend  potentially ending the Excess Phase Peak pattern setup. If the INDU fails to rally above $35,300 and trades within the Phase #2 sideways flag range, then breaks downward, this type of price action would confirm the Phase #3 breakdown price trend that sets up intermediate support and the eventual Phase #4 sideways consolidation.

Remember, the phases of the Excess Phase Peak pattern are fairly easy to identify.

Phase #1: The rally to the ultimate peak level.

Phase #2: The breakdown of that peak level, setting up the initial support level and prompting a sideways price Flag/Pennant price channel.

Phase #3: The breakdown of the #2 sideways price channel leading to a steep decline to intermediate support  which acts as a temporary sideways bottom.

Phase #4: The breakdown of the intermediate support level which ultimately leads to the strongest price decline targeting the ultimate bottom in price.

Phase #5: Identifying the ultimate bottom/momentum based in price. This trending phase can last many months (possibly more than 12 months at time), or could be in the form of a deep V bottom.

Once the breakdown of the Phase #2 flagging formation is confirmed, we start to look for confirmation of the Phase #3 intermediate support level and the eventual Phase #4 breakdown of that support level.

Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you dont miss our next special report!

If the INDU rallies above the recent all-time highs and breaks-away from the sideways flag ranges, then we would consider that new high as a new bullish price trend  negating the Excess Phase Peak Phase #2 setup completely. Obviously, any new all-time high/rally could eventually setup another Phase #1 peak and Phase #2 sideways flagging channel at any time in the future.

Near the lower area of this chart, weve highlighted the On Balance Volume trend and how it has recently started to trend lower. We would expect any continued upside price trending to support an increasing OBV level as accumulation takes place in the markets. Failure to see the OBV level rising as price rises may suggest a false break-away in trend.

TRAN MIRRORING EXCESS PHASE PEAK FLAGGING SETUP  WHAT NEXT?

This Weekly Transportation Index chart should appear very similar to the INDU chart (above). The unique similarities of these two charts, one addressing the Blue Chip US economy and the other addressing future US transportation expectations related to economic activity, suggests traders may be shifting away from a reflation recovery after the FOMC statements last week. We are starting to see traders/investors reevaluate the capability of the US economy to continue the rally trends as they have since November 2020. Could this shift in investor sentiment prompt a broader market price setup? Is it warning of an Excess Phase Peak setup in the making?

Right now, we only have confirmation of a recent all-time high peak and the start of what appears to be a sideways Flagging price channel. We wont know if the Excess Phase Peak pattern is truly confirmed until we see how the current sideways Flagging price channel concludes.

If it breaks downward, then well have confirmation of a Phase #3 Excess Phase Peak stage that will alert us that a bigger downside price trend is pending. If it breaks higher, and takes out $16,175, then well consider this new rally high an end of the current Phase #2 setup and expect prices to continue rallying to new highs.

As we move past Q2:2021, it is important to understand that market price volatility should begin to increase as earnings and forward expectations continue to flood the news wires. We are only one month into the new quarter and we believe the markets are likely to trend sideways through to the end of the month.

It makes sense to us that the broader markets, and investors, are searching for more clarity and reason to be bullish after such an extended price rally. Time will tell how this plays out, but one thing is certain: Q2:2021 earnings and forward expectations will likely continue to drive trader/investor sentiment over the next several weeks. Expect an increase in volatility and some potential surprises.

Consider this message an early warning if the Excess Phase Peak setup continues and confirms the Phase #3 breakdown of the current sideways Flagging setup.

Want to know how our BAN strategy is identifying and ranking various sectors and ETFs for the best possible opportunities for future profits? Please take a minute to learn about my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service and how it can help you identify and trade better sector setups. My team and I have built this strategy to help us identify the strongest and best trade setups in any market sector. Every day, we deliver these setups to our subscribers along with the BAN Trader Pro system trades. You owe it to yourself to see how simple it is to trade 30% to 40% of the time to generate incredible results.

Have a great day!

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




International

2 soldiers, 36 militants killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, AUG 5 (IANS) | Publish Date: 8/5/2021 11:59:10 AM IST

Two Afghan soldiers and at least 36 Taliban militants were killed after the government forces repelled an attack on Thursday in the countrys eastern province of Nangarhar, a local official confirmed.

The atatck erupted as hundreds of Taliban militants armed with guns and heavy weapons, including rocket propelled grenades, attacked Sherzad district while trying to capture the suburban district in the southeast of Nangarhar, provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogiani told Xinhua news agency.

Four Afghan soldiers and 52 militants were also wounded during the fighting that had lasted for hours, he said.

In neighbouring Laghman province, the militrary retook control of Badpakh district early on Thursday after the Afghan Special Forces launched a cleanup operation late Wednesday night, evicting the militants from the district, according to Fawad Aman, deputy spokesperson of the Defence Ministry.

He wrote on his social media account that details about the liberation of Badpakh will be shared with media soon.

Many Afghan provinces have been the scene of heavy battles in recent months as Taliban militants have reportedly captured about 200 districts since the start of the withdrawal of US-led troops in May this year.
PRESSURE is mounting on law enforcers to bring to book leaders of a church where a 14-year-old girl died during childbirth last week in Bocha, Marange in Manicaland, sparking public outrage.

The pregnant girl was allegedly denied hospital assistance by a members of the apostolic sect, which resorted to prayers and kept her at the shrine until she died due to complications.

Her death has caused an uproar with womens rights organisations and human rights defenders who are baying for the blood of the perpetrators, demanding justice for the girl. No official police report has been made on the matter despite the wide publicity of the incident.

Africa Union (AU) goodwill ambassador for ending child marriage Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda challenged authorities to take a strong stand and bring the criminals who include the church leaders and the man who impregnated her to book.

Can the persons be named, arrested and face justice. The accomplices are known, those who gave away the child, those who took her and stayed with her at the shrine. They are all guilty, Gumbonzvanda said.

This child has a name, family, community, and a government. Her death has created outrage. This child was raped, yet focus is on the pregnancy and not the gross inhumane violation of her body and her person.

Gumbonzvanda said the girl was raped by a known person, the one who made her pregnant, yet he remained unnamed and protected by his religion and patriarchy.

Political will to act is slow or inadequate. Many days later, we are telling the story of her death. When the story became known, I expected the police to take a strong position, together with the relevant ministries working to end child marriages, she said.

The AU goodwill ambassador said while Zimbabwe had many policies, theories of change, results-based frameworks, standard operating procedures, guidelines for such cases, nothing has been done so far.

We are all angry because this is not a single child, thousands of them in the country and millions in Africa are raped, sexually-abused and some die without anyone talking about them, said Gumbonzvanda, whose efforts to end child marriages are recognised regionally and globally.

She said these religious groups were seemingly above the law. They break many laws and nothing happens to them. They are known, their leadership and their structures. Why do they seem untouchable? They render all the systems, policies and structures irrelevant.

Speaking on the legal implications of the matter, Sethulo Ncube from the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association said it was a criminal offence to sleep with a minor.

So whoever impregnated her should be arrested and prosecuted. The Domestic Violence Act looks at child marriages as a form of domestic violence. Then it was also unlawful and should have been reported, Ncube said.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was still to get the full report on the matter.

I want to find out. I have not yet received the full report, Nyathi said. Newsday
SOME medical practitioners in collusion with private health facilities are reportedly reaping off COVID-19 patients by charging extortionate fees for treatment, NewsDay can reveal.

This followed reports that some health institutions in Harare have adopted hefty pricing for COVID-19 treatment with patients alleging that they were paying through the nose to be attended to even for mild conditions.

As admission and treatment for COVID-19 overwhelms public hospitals which are full to capacity, desperate patients were opting for the private practice. But the price range is beyond many peoples wallets.

There was a flurry of accusations with patients saying these facilities were profiteering from the pandemic while owners defended their pricing regime, saying importing medication and equipment was expensive.

In a post that went viral yesterday, a couple visited an upmarket private health facility (name supplied) for treatment after the husband developed COVID-19 symptoms.

At first, the nurse insisted on us making a decision which protocol we will be going for before even seeing the doctor. We asked to see the doctor first and finally we got the consult. After testing positive for antigen, he was told that there were two treatments being offered, protocol two and protocol three, the aggrieved family wrote.

The family was put on protocol two which involved being put on a nebuliser and jet fuel/drip at a cost of US$475 and US$250 shortfall if on medical aid. Also under protocol two, one will need to buy a treatment kit which costs $150.

Thereafter, the patient will need to come in everyday for five days to be put on the nebuliser and drip. This they said cost $475 per day, and medical aid does not cover it.

The couple alleged that the centre refused to give them a prescription for the treatment kit so that they could buy elsewhere and they claimed they could not disclose what was in the kit.

I pleaded with the doctor if she could just write a prescription as hubby has mild symptoms, but apparently they are not allowed to disclose what is in the prescription kit. What makes it worse is you are not allowed to pay using RTGS (Zimdollars) as according to them, the pills are imported, wrote the wife in her post.

However, after payment, they discovered that the pills in the treatment kit that cost US$150 included Ivermectin, Omeprazole Prednisone, Zinc, Aspirin, Colchicine and Doxycycline.

A quick check in local pharmacies revealed that the prescribed drugs cost about US$25. In most pharmacies, Ivermectin was going for between $5 and $8 for five tablets, Omeprazole US$2 for 10 tablets and US$3 for 30 Prednisolone tablets. Zinc costs $3 per 10 tablets, Aspirin $1 for 30 tablets, Colchicine $8 for a box and Doxycycline $7.

One pharmacist said one could sopt for the Azithromycin course which cost $6.

Even where some doctors charge around US$30 as consultation fee, treatment kit cost US$25 while maximum costs for a house visit is US$50, the total costs are not anywhere near the extortionate charges at some private facilities.

But Trauma centres Vivek Solanki trashed the allegations, saying patients were not forced to pay in US dollars as they accept local currency.

He accused some patients of exaggerating. Solanki said US$475 included specialist, medicines, physiotherapy and specially-trained COVID-19 nurses costs, who have to be paid triple wages for risking their lives treating such patients.

The cost, he said, also included full personal protective equipment, IV drips and three rounds of nebulisations with Oxygen and medicines.

This barely covers the cost of US$475, Solanki charged. All medical equipment including oxygen tanks, critical monitors, nebulisations, IV lines, medicines, air purification machines and systems are imported at high cost and we have to pay exorbitant freight costs and taxes and Zimra (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) duties on all the above.

He also said workers had to be paid extra for risking their lives. Another doctor, who refused to be named, said some of charges by private facilities were not consistent with what prevailed on the market.

Some of the charges in private practice are extortionate to say the least. These acts should be exposed. The treatment pack at most cost US$25, while we charge US$30 as consultation fee. The maximum is US$50 house visit, the medical practitioner said.

Healthcare in Zimbabwe remains one of the most expensive in the region and most government officials used to be treated overseas. Newsday
MARRIAGE officer, wedding couple and four service providers were on Saturday arrested for conducting a wedding during Level 4 national lockdown at a church in Churu Farm.

Pastor Brian Macala, 31, of ZAOGA Churu Farm Assembly was found officiating the wedding of Claris Ngwenya, 23, and Onward Chamboko, 42. Claris Ngwenya Onward Chamboko and relative posing for a photograph on the illegal wedding day.

The three were arrested together with the cameraman Blessing Chinhengo, their Bindura based disc jockey Ishmael Karivo, Raston Kadambure, Wayne Madya and Fungai Nyamuradza. The seven were taken to Glen View police station where they were detained and later released.

Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the arrest urging people to adhere to Covid-19 regulations and national lockdown measures set that included the banning of weddings and church gatherings.

Seven people were on Saturday arrested for violating Covid-19 regulations by conducting a wedding ceremony during Level 4 national lockdown, said Insp Mwanza.

Police received a tip off from the members of the public to the effect that the seven accused persons were conducting a wedding ceremony at ZAOGA Assembly in Churu farm, Harare violating section 5(2) of the Statutory Instrument Number 189/21 level 4 Zimbabwe National Lock down(Gathering in lockdown without exemption).

Accused persons were detained in police cells awaiting to be taken to court. Items that included PA system, cameras and photographic accessories were seized and the total is worth US$5 960.

The property seized was held at ZRP Glenview as exhibits, said Insp Mwanza. The couple had already been joined in holy matrimony when police arrived and it could not be established if their wedding is to be registered with the Registrar General. The couple went on to post some of their wedding photographs on social media.

Government banned church gatherings, weddings, and musical shows as a measure to curb the continued spreading of Covid-19. H Metro
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has started investigating cases of fake vaccination cards allegedly issued by some health officials at COVID-19 vaccination centres.

This was revealed by Zacc spokesperson John Makamure, who told NewsDay that the anti-corruption body was seized with such reports. Makamure said Zacc would soon close in on all perpetrators.

Yes, we have received reports of alleged corruption at COVID-19 vaccination centres. Some officials are accused of demanding bribes to obtain fake vaccination cards. Others demand bribes for one to jump the vaccination queue. Zacc is investigating these cases and would like to warn the perpetrators that they will soon be arrested and prosecuted, he said.

Makamure said Zacc last Friday submitted 89 dockets to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution, adding that some cases were not related to COVID-19 corruption.

This year, the anti-corruption body targets to deal with at least 180 cases of corruption, some of them high-profile.

Former Health minister Obadiah Moyo is one of the recent high profile officials who were arrested for COVID-19 corruption. His case is still pending before the courts.

There were also reports that some pharmacies in the country were selling sub-standard COVID-19 test kits which were not approved for use and could put the lives of people at risk after positive cases were recorded as negative.

Health Professions Authority Zimbabwe spokesperson Tariro Manamike said they were concerned about the sale of these unapproved test kits, adding that they were producing wrong results which endangered the public.

What we noted was that there were many pharmacies in Harare that were selling unapproved test kits and this goes against the grain in us trying to fight the spread of COVID-19, Manamike said. Newsday
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - An alarming 80 per cent increase in sexual violence in Somalia, as documented in two recent reports by the Secretary-General, has been described as appalling by two UN Special Representatives
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA)  The African Union Commissions failure to advance justice for the countless victims of atrocities in South Sudan raises concerns about the regional bodys commitment to accountability, 34 South Sudanese, regional, and international rights organisations said in a letter to the Commission released on Thursday
PARLAMENTUL REPUBLICII MOLDOVA

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The Moldovan Parliaments website design was supported by the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova"  an initiative financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Iranian Hospitals Overflow As Number Of Reported COVID-19 Cases Passes 4 Million

08/05/21

Source: RFE/RL

The number of reported coronavirus cases in Iran surpassed 4 million on August 4 amid a vicious wave of infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Iran registered 39,357 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,019,084, the Health Ministry said. It recorded 409 deaths over the same period, bringing the official death toll to 92,194.

The real number of infections and deaths in the country of 83 million people is believed to be significantly higher.



The worst-hit country in the Middle East has struggled to contain the pandemic despite authorities imposing repeated restrictions.



The vaccine campaign has also been slow to get off the ground. More than 11 million people have received a first vaccine dose, but only 2.8 million have received the necessary two jabs, according to the Health Ministry.



Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered that "necessary measures" be taken on August 2 to contain what authorities warn is a "fifth wave" of the country's outbreak after Health Minister Saeed Namaki requested a two-week shutdown.



Iranian Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli said on August 4 that the proposal to shut the country needed more consideration in the coming days and that a decision would soon be made.



Incoming President Ebrahim Raisi chaired a meeting of Iran's COVID-19 task force for the first time on August 4 just a day after his inauguration, his office said.

Reports from multiple cities suggest many hospitals have reached their full capacity while health workers are being pushed to their limits due to the high number of COVID-19 patients, with intensive care stations and emergency rooms overflowing.



Iranian health officials warn that less than 40 percent of the population follows health protocols such as wearing face masks and social distancing.

With reporting by AFP, IRNA and ISNA
( )'s ( ) Christopher Richards talks to Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam about their plans to commence trading on the US OTCQB Venture Market which he says is 'start of something very exciting'.

Richards explains how the US market represents the single largest opportunity for Plant Health Care products.

He also discusses their first-half sales of their lead product as 'encouraging' with revenue for the six months ended June 30 was up 13% at U$3.5mln.
Earlier this month, BT was the largest investor in a funding round by Silicon Valley-based Safe Security

( ) has accelerated its move into cybersecurity with the launch of a managed system that warns UK businesses of suspicious activity and blocks threats and attacks before they happen.

Roughly two-thirds of mid-large businesses reporting a cyber-crime over the last 12 months, said the telecoms giant, with UK businesses hit by an attack every 45 seconds.

Dean Terry, MD of BT Enterprises Corporate and Public Sector unit, said: As weve seen recently, cybercriminals continue to cash in on the pandemic, targeting a number of mid to large businesses with ransomware threats.

Many organisations have had to radically change how they manage operations and data over the past 18 months, so its critical that they adopt cybersecurity solutions which provide visibility and protection across their entire estate.

Earlier this month, BT was the largest investor in a funding round carried out by Silicon Valley-based cyber risk management firm Safe Security.

At the time, Philip Jansen, BTs chief executive said cybersecurity was at the top of the agenda for businesses and governments battling increasing levels of attack.

The cost of global cybercrime reached over US$1trn in 2020, said BT, as criminals targeted individuals and organisations of all sizes.
Zabo provides software to give crypto investors a birds-eye view of their overall portfolio

( ) has agreed to acquire Dallas-based crypto startup Zabo for an undisclosed sum.

In a blog post on Wednesday night, Zabo, which provides software to give crypto investors a birds-eye view of their overall portfolio, said it will work with Coinbase to continue to bring cryptocurrency mainstream and increase economic freedom for billions of people.

The acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks, with Zabo emphasising that it is being formally acquired and not subject to an acqui-hire process where a firm is simply taken over for its staff rather than its product offering.

We are very excited to join Coinbase, which has done more than perhaps any other company in advancing the mission of bringing cryptocurrency mainstream, Zabo co-founders Christopher Brown and Alex Treece said in a statement.

Zabo is the latest in a series of purchases Coinbase has made since going public in April, with the group having previously acquired asset manager Osprey Funds, data provider Skew and prime brokerage Tagomi.

Coinbase shares were down 1.4% at US$241 in pre-market trading on Thursday.
A look at some of today's main headlines from the Proactive newswire

( ) said it has signed an extension to its existing distribution agreement with luxury skincare brand 111SKIN until the end of July 2023.

( , ) gave a positive update on the ongoing exploration drilling programme on the Silver Peak project in British Columbia, Canada.

( , , ) said it has won a record set of accolades at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2021, the worlds largest wine competition.

( ) PLC said its subsidiary, FXPress Payments Services Ltd, received approval yesterday from the Financial Conduct Authority to become an Authorised Electronic Money Institution (AEMI), supporting the group's aim of creating a broad portfolio of technology-enabled cross border payment and foreign currency services.

( , ) said its chief executive Artem Volynets will step down by mutual agreement with immediate effect and will move into a senior adviser role.

( , ) said it will announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021, on 13 September 2021.

( , , ) said it has appointed Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited as its joint corporate broker.
Alahine Project hosts extensive historical and current artisanal gold production which reinforces the exploration potential of the area.

Deeper than anticipated weathering has resulted in softer drilling conditions.

( ) has completed the phase 2 drilling program with 98 drill holes totalling 7,320 metres at its Alahine Project in Guineas Siguiri Basin.

The company is expecting its first gold assay results in mid-August with the second sample shipment delivered to the SGS laboratory in Bamako, Mali.

Receipt of analyses will enable Polymetals to process the results and plan the next steps in its Siguiri Basin exploration strategy.

Highly prospective project

Polymetals CEO Alex Hanly said: We are very encouraged by what we have seen at Alahine during the last month of drilling.

The Polymetals team has successfully completed the extended 7,320m drilling program and we eagerly anticipate the receipt of the results from the targeted testing conducted of Phase 1 drilling best intercepts, the extensive gold anomalism defined through our soil sampling program and, the new priority targets identified on the ground.

From analysis of the results, we will plan further exploration programs at this highly prospective project.

Cost-effective and fast aircore drilling

Polymetals phase 2 drilling program was initially planned to incorporate 5,100 metres of combined reverse circulation (RC) and aircore (AC) drilling.

Notably, deeper than anticipated weathering has resulted in softer drilling conditions, as such significantly reducing the intended use of RC drilling in favour of the more cost-effective and faster AC drilling.

An additional 2,220 metres was completed based on geological interpretations and site geologist recommendations.

Polymetals 7,320-metre drill program was completed by Target Drilling, an Australian-based West African drilling contractor.

Shallow Siguiri-style oxide gold potential

Polymetals program at Alahine North has tested the lateral and vertical extent of the phase 1 Hole 14 gold-mineralised zone and surrounding shallow Siguiri-style oxide gold potential.

In addition, the program at Alahine South continued testing surrounding shallow Siguiri-style oxide gold potential in addition to targeting areas of prolific artisanal small-scale mining activity.

Polymetals has had no safety or environmental incidents and is well funded to accelerate exploration at Alahine.

- Ephrems Joseph
The results so far at Currajong 1 are very encouraging, and we look forward to the production test to confirm the interpretation of the well results to date," says Chairman.

A hydrogen mudgas detection unit was installed on the rig for the Currajong 1 exploration well.

( ) has updated the market on work at its 50%-owned Currajong 1 exploration well in northwest WAs Canning Basin.

Last month, the oil and gas explorer and producer set the first casing on the well  the first in Burus broader Canning Basin exploration campaign  after it spudded on July 1.

So far, a 9-inch, or 244-millimetre, casing string has been installed to a measured depth of 1,950 metres and successfully pressure tested.

The well has been drilled ahead in an 8-inch, or 216-millimetre, hole to a total measured depth of 2,340 metres, and wireline logs have been acquired over the open-hole section.

"Encouraging results"

Buru executive chairman Eric Streitberg said: The results so far at Currajong 1 are very encouraging, and we look forward to the production test to confirm the interpretation of the well results to date.

The detection of natural hydrogen in the well also validates our view that this could represent a valuable future resource.

The next well in the exploration program, Rafael 1, is targeting a geologically distinct formation to Currajong 1 with significantly larger potential resources and we are very much looking forward to drilling that prospect.

Geological results

According to the company, wireline logs indicate porous zones with interpreted oil saturation at the top of the Ungani Dolomite equivalent section and potential oil-bearing zones are also present in a lower dolomite section equivalent to the interval seen in the nearby Praslin 1 well.

Wireline log interpretation needs to be validated by flow testing, and the joint venture has therefore agreed to run 7-inch, or 178-millimetre, casing and perform a cased hole test of the interpreted reservoir sections.

Specialised hydrogen mudgas detection

Besides this, a specialised hydrogen mudgas detection unit was installed on the rig for this well.

This unit detected a zone of up to 6% hydrogen in mudgas over an interval of around 6 metres from 2,014 metres measured depth. Encouragingly, this confirms the presence of natural hydrogen in the Canning Basin.

Forward plan

The Ensign 963 rig will be released from the Currajong 1 well upon the completion of the 7-inch casing installation, which is expected by the end of this week.

The rig will then be mobilised to the Rafael 1 drilling location, with the mobilisation expected to take approximately two weeks to complete.

The joint venture will now plan the scope and timing of the Currajong 1 testing program, to be undertaken as soon as practicable.
Moho holds prospective holdings in proven mining areas, including, in the Yilgarn of Western Australia, what is arguably the worlds premier gold district.

Independent Investment Research (IIR) considers the Burracoppin and Empress Springs properties to be highly prospective for the styles of mineralisation sought.

( ) is expected to see a steady and positive news flow from ongoing exploration activities at its projects in Australia, according to research firm Independent Investment Research (IIR) initiation report.

IIR noted that Moho has a highly prospective gold and nickel exploration and pre-development portfolio with this being confirmed by results of work to date.

With an enterprise value at around $6 million, Moho is highly leveraged to exploration success, according to IIR.

The following is an extract from IIRs initiation report:

SIGNIFICANT VALUE UPSIDE...

Ongoing activities by Moho Resources (Moho or the Company have highlighted the quality and potential of their three properties, which have been the sole focus since listing in November 2018.

The most advanced property is Silver Swan North, located on the eastern flank of the KanownaScotia Dome, and adjacent to Poseidon Nickel Limiteds (ASX: POS, Poseidon) Black and Silver Swan deposits, and the more recent Golden Swan discovery.

Silver Swan North is located just 50 km NE of Kalgoorlie, and within trucking distance of several mills, which is critical for the Companys plans of developing the East Sampson Dam gold deposit as a toll treating operation, to provide funds for ongoing activities. The 21,600 oz East Sampson Dam deposit is shaping up to be a reasonable development asset, with a grade of 2.5 g/t Au at a 0.5 g/t cut in soft, potentially free dig near surface oxide material. Mineralisation is open, with the potential to add ounces, and with aircore drilling on adjacent gold prospects currently underway.

There is also the potential for additional nickel discoveries at Silver Swan North, with the Company applying for tenements along strike from, and adjacent to Poseidons nickel assets.

Burracoppin and Empress Springs are earlier stage properties, located over what is, in our view, high prospective ground in different geological terranes. Areas of both properties are held under a joint venture (JV) with Independence Group (ASX: IGO, IGO).

Burracoppin is located over high grade metamorphics of the South-Western Gneiss Terrane of the Yilgarn, and more particularly the Tampia Shear Zone, which extends to the south to Ramelius Resources (ASX: RMS, Ramelius) Tampia operation, which has resources of 460,000 oz. The terrane is largely underexplored (explorers have preferred the low hanging fruit of the Eastern Goldfields), however work by Moho, including drilling, has returned very positive results, and indicated that there are similar metamorphosed greenstones to those hosting Tampia. Assay results are awaited from a recently completed daimond drilling programme.

South of the historic 1.2 Moz Croydon Goldfield in North Queensland is the Empress Springs property, where the Company is exploring for large mineral systems within the Croydon Volcanic Complex, considered similar to the Gawler Range Volcanics in South Australia, which host world class iron oxide coper gold (IOCG mineralisation. Like Burracoppin, the Empress Springs project is underexplored, with one reason being the presence of up to 75 m of sedimentary cover.

The Company has taken a Mineral Systems approach to exploration at Empress Springs, and has recognised the potential to host significant mineralisation, with the property being located over crustal scale structures, which are commonly foci for large scale mineral systems. Work completed to date has provided very positive results, including hydrogeochemistry, that highlights several prospects, and which the CSIRO has stated are within the top 1% of hydrogeochemical anomalies that they have defined in Australia.

KEY POINTS

Quality exploration and pre-development portfolio: Moho has a highly prospective gold and nickel exploration and pre-development portfolio with this being confirmed by results of work to date.

In a proven mining district with established infrastructure: The Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia is a world class mining destination, with well developed transport and utility infrastructure, and ready access to skilled labour and mining services.

Experienced personnel: Company personnel, consultants and technical advisers have had extensive experience and success in junior companies and exploration overall - the Company has built up a very strong technical advisory team which includes leaders in their respective fields.

Leveraged to exploration success: With an enterprise value (EV) at around A$6 million, Moho is highly leveraged to exploration success.

Steady news flow: We expect to see a steady and positive news flow with ongoing exploration activities.
Prices were lifted between 780% and 1,600% for the epilepsy drug than had previously been charged, with its UK distributor then selling the capsules at prices up to 2,600% higher than had been paid before

The UK competition watchdog has accused US drug giant ( ) Inc ( ) of abusing its dominant positions to overcharge the National Health Service for vital anti-epilepsy drugs, with prices hiked over 2,000%.

Following the price increases by Pfizer and UK distributor Flynn Pharma, spending by the NHS on phenytoin sodium capsules rose to about 50mln in 2013 from around 2mln in 2012, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

The CMA said it found that the companies exploited a loophole by de-branding the drug, which before 2012 had been called Epanutin, which resulted in the drug being freed from price regulation in the way branded drugs are.

As Pfizer and Flynn were the dominant suppliers of the drug in the UK, the NHS had no choice but to pay unfairly high prices for this vital medicine, the CMA said in its statement.

This broke the law as the higher prices were an unlawful abuse of their market dominance.

For over four years, Pfizer's prices were between 780% and 1,600% higher than it had previously charged, the watchdog said, then with Pfizer's distributor Fynn selling the capsules to wholesalers and pharmacies at prices between 2,300% and 2,600% higher they had paid before.

The ruling from the CMA is provisional, it said, after the gathering of further evidence and careful assessment, following an in-depth investigation that was published in 2016, an appeal by the companies that was quashed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in 2018 and a further appeal that was quashed in the Court of Appeal last year.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Flynn's appeal in its entirety and upheld aspects of the appeal brought by the CMA relating to the application of the legal test for unfair pricing, which led to the CMA taking the decision last June to re-investigate certain matters raised by the CAT.

"Thousands of patients depend on this drug to prevent life-threatening seizures as a result of their epilepsy," said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli.

"As the CAT recognised, this is a matter that is important for government, for the public as patients and taxpayers, and for the pharmaceutical industry itself. Protecting these patients, the NHS and the taxpayers who fund it, is our priority."
O3 Mining President and CEO Jose Vizquerra joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with an update on the fully-funded 250,000 metre drilling program at its Marban and Alpha properties in Val-d'Or in Quebec.

Vizquerra telling Proactive that results from the Bulldog deposit give the company confidence in the robustness of the deposit.
The mine, which closed in 1952, produced 101,875 ounces of gold and 9,788 ounces of silver at a gold grade of 0.37 ounces per ton

The agreement will entail the purchase of Cangold Limited, the owner of the mine and a fully-owned subsidiary of Great Panther Mining

( , ) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the past-producing, high-grade Argosy Gold Mine in the Red Lake Mining Division of northwestern Ontario.

The company said the mine is the most significant past-producer in the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt and produced 101,875 ounces of gold and 9,788 ounces of silver at a gold grade of 0.37 ounces per ton (oz/t) or 12.7 grams per ton (g/t).

It closed in 1952 due to high operating costs and a $35/oz gold price. Production came from only four veins, although 12 are now known, and only to a depth of 900 feet (270 meters). The property consists of 43 patented claims and 17 Mining Licences of Occupation comprising 604 hectares.

The acquisition of a past-producing, high-grade mine in an area of active exploration presents a unique opportunity to increase shareholder value, said Newrange CEO Robert Archer in a statement.

The Argosy Mine has seen minimal exploration below the old mine workings and there is excellent potential to extend the mineralization to depth and to discover new veins elsewhere on the property. The Argosy Mine is approximately 10 kilometers northwest of the Springpole Deposit being advanced by ( , , ) and less than a kilometer from our North Birch Project. We look forward to commencing the first exploration on the property since 2004.

Meanwhile, Newrange said the agreement will entail the purchase of ( ), the owner of the mine and a fully-owned subsidiary of Great Panther Mining Limited.

Terms of the acquisition call for Newrange to make a cash payment of C$100,000 and issue C$650,000 in company shares to Great Panther on closing and a further C$250,000 in shares on the first anniversary of closing.

The closing date is expected to occur within 90 days. As there are already underlying net smelter return royalties totaling 2.5%, Great Panther will not retain an additional royalty. The agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
The biometric identity verification company reported total revenue of $0.6 million while its net loss decreased by 12%

The Denver-based company credited its positive quarter to numerous agreements with fintech companies, technology solutions providers and payment processors that are nearing completion

authID.AI Inc revealed its second quarter results that showed a bump in revenue and a slimmer loss.

The biometric identity verification company, formerly known as Ipsidy Inc, reported total revenue for the three-month period to end June 30, 2021 of $0.6 million, an increase from the $0.3 million it reported in the same period a year earlier.

Net loss for the quarter decreased by 12% to $3.1 million or $0.15 per share from the $3.5 million or $0.20 it saw a year ago.

The Denver-based company credited its positive quarter to numerous agreements with fintech companies, technology solutions providers and payment processors that are nearing completion.

During the quarter, the firm completed the integration to Temenos core banking platform, which is set to launch in 3Q 2021 with a North American bank.

It was also selected by CU NextGen to use authIDs biometric identity authentication solution for its credit union clients, and by payment processor On The Fly POS for its clients.

The group also expanded its partner network in the Americas through an extended agreement with Inetum covering the North and Central American regions.

In the last month, we began the process of launching our exciting new authID brand with a vision to help every organization Recognise their Customers without friction or loss of privacy, said Tom Thimot, CEO of authID.ai, who joined the company during the quarter.

To realize our mission to eliminate passwords and become the preferred platform for biometric authentication, our new leadership team will drive success by leveraging channel partnerships as a force multiplier. The authID team will also launch our campaign to service the US market with new self-service capabilities aimed at quickly onboarding thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, who can benefit from our low-friction identity proofing and authentication services.

The authID.ai Identity as a Service (IDaaS) platform delivers a suite of biometric identity proofing and authentication solutions to establish security and trust in the digital world.

authID.ai is aiming to eliminate all passwords and become the preferred global platform for biometric identity authentication.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
( , ) Chairman and CEO Michel Hudson joined Stephen Gunnion from Proactive with news of drill results from a program at the South Palokas prospect on the company's Rajapalot gold-cobalt project in Finland.

Hudson telling Proactive that drilling this year has demonstrated significant growth to the four current resource areas and has also added two further resource areas.
For the first full quarter of gold and silver production at Rodeo, Golden Minerals achieved average throughput levels at over 500 tonnes per day in May and June

For the period ended June 30, 2021, the company had a net operating margin of $2.5 million based on revenue of $5.9 million

( , , , ) sees strong second-quarter results from the first full quarter of gold and silver production at its open-pit Rodeo Mine, located in Durango State, in Mexico.

For the period ended June 30, 2021, the Golden, Colorado-based company had a net operating margin of $2.5 million based on revenue of $5.9 million, against $3.3 million in cost of metals sold related to mining at Rodeo.

This bested the companys $1.2 million revenue and net operating margin of $0.8 million related to a lease of the companys oxide mill at the Velardena Properties to Hecla Mining in the second quarter of 2020. That lease ended on November 30, 2020.

READ: Golden Minerals is well on its way to profitable mining production in 2021

Golden Minerals had $6.9 million in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2021, compared to $9.7 million at the end of 2020.

Exploration expenses were estimated at $1.1 million in 2Q 2021, compared to $0.8 million in the same period in 2020.

Significantly, the company narrowed its net loss to $0.8 million or $0.00 per share in the quarter, compared to a net loss of $2.3 million or $0.02 per share in the 2Q 2020.

Golden Minerals said it produced 3,634 payable gold equivalent ounces (AuEq oz) with total cash costs, net of silver by-product credits, per payable ounce of gold of $915.

The company sold 3,230 AuEq ounce in dore, with 908 AuEq ounce in dore inventory at the end of the quarter. Golden Minerals reported grades processed of 3.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 10 g/t silver during the quarter.

In a statement accompanying the numbers, Golden Minerals CEO Warren Rehn said: We are pleased to report strong results from the first full quarter of gold-silver production at Rodeo. We achieved average throughput levels at over 500 tonnes per day (tpd) in May and June and lowered our cash operating costs to $915 per payable gold oz in the quarter.

We remain on course to achieve 2021 production guidance of 12,000-14,000 ounces gold and 25,000-30,000 ounces silver. We anticipate continuing to operate the mill at greater than 500 tpd through the rest of the year at average grades of approximately 3.3 g/t gold and 9.7 g/t silver.

In April this year, Golden Minerals completed the installation of a new regrind mill circuit at the Velardena oxide plant that processes Rodeo gold and silver-bearing material. The circuit enabled the company to reach and exceed Rodeos targeted 450 tpd throughput, averaging greater than 500 tpd in May and June, said the company.

The company also reported initial results from a 2,000-meter exploration drill program at Rodeo in June aimed at expanding the resource.

Golden Minerals has a strong pipeline of exploration projects that it plans to advance using the cash flow generated from its Rodeo and Velardena operations. The company owns the El Quevar silver property in Argentina and is advancing mining properties in Mexico, Nevada, and Argentina.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
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Prosecutor seeks suspended sentence for Navalnys brother in sanitary code breach case

 Moscow's Tverskoy District Court, Moskva city news agency

10:32 05/08/2021

MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI) - A prosecutor has demanded 1-year suspended sentence for Oleg Navalny, the brother of convicted blogger Alexey Navalny, as part of a case over abetting violation of anti-coronavirus sanitary and epidemiological rules during the illegal rally held in Moscow in January, the press service of the Preobrazhensky District Court has told RAPSI.

The crime Oleg Navalny stands charged with is punishable by jail terms of up to 2 years.

On August 4, the court sentenced one more defendant Lyubov Sobol to 1.5-year supervisory release.

According to police, coronavirus-positive persons ordered to isolation were identified among participants of the Moscow rally. A criminal case over violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules was opened over this fact.




U.S. investor Calvey found guilty of $34 mln embezzlement

 The Moscow City Court's press service

16:00 05/08/2021

MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI) - Moscows Meshchansky District Court on Thursday found U.S. investor Michael Calvey guilty of embezzling over 2.5 billion rubles (over $34 million) from Vostochny Bank, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court also convicted all other defendants in the case including Philippe Delpal, Vagan Abgaryan, Maxim Vladimirov, Ivan Zyuzin, Alexander Tsakunov, and Alexey Kordichev.

Earlier, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Calvey to a six-year suspended jail sentence. The prosecutor's office also requested suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 5.5 years for the rest of the defendants in the case - Philippe Delpal, Vagan Abgaryan, Maxim Vladimirov, Ivan Zyuzin, Alexander Tsakunov, and Alexey Kordichev.

Calvey was accused of large-scale fraud in a deal on the purchase by Vostochny Bank of shares in First Collector Bureau. However, in December of 2020, investigators changed the charges to those of embezzlement.

Investigators allege that the price of the asset was overstated, and the transaction brought losses to the bank, referring to the audit report of PricewaterhouseCoopers on the deal, which valued the sold shares at 600,000 rubles ($8,000), what, investigating authorities believe is an indication of a crime.

At the same time, Delpal explained that expert estimation of the value of the shares in dispute made 254 million rubles (about $3.4 million at the current exchange rate), and stated that the assessment could not be complete without the inclusion of the assets associated with the shares; in Delpals opinion in this case the total value makes 4 billion rubles ($54 million).

Calvey denies allegations insisting that the deal was fair as both companies agreed its terms and stood for it, including a person reporting an alleged crime to law enforcement bodies. He noted that a report has been filed with police by a member of Vostochny bank board of directors Sherzod Yusupov. According to Calvey, the real reason of his prosecution is a wide corporate dispute related to the control of the bank by two groups of shareholders: Baring Vostok and stockholders coming from Uniastrum bank, which was reorganized and joined to Vostochny in early 2017.

Baring Vostok company founded by Calvey in 1994 focuses on private equity investments in the CIS and Russia. The company has invested in shares of Yandex, Vkusvill, Tinkoff Bank and other major projects.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic across the country, Delhi University (DU) has announced this year that it will not hike the admission fee for students seeking entry to various colleges affiliated to it.

Due to Covid-19 infection, the income of many people have shrunk while several people have lost their jobs so the varsity has decided not to increase the admission fees for students. Apart from this, DU has also announced a major relief measure for the students.

"If any student wants to withdraw his/her name after paying the admission fee, DU will refund the complete fee. If a student has got admission in any other course or educational institution and due to this reason he/she does not want to take admission in DU, the student's admission fee will also be refunded."

The DU admission committee says that the students will have to inform the university administration for vacating their college seat before October 31. If those students who have taken admission in DU want to withdraw their name from the varsity before October 31, their complete fee will be refunded. On the other hand, if a student wants to vacate his admission seat after October 31, then a fee of Rs 1,000 will be charged by the university as processing charges.

The admission process in various DU colleges has started from August 2. This year a large number of class 12 students have secured more than 95% marks. According to DU, students seeking admission to various colleges is likely to increase in number. The cut-off lists of many DU colleges is likely to soar even higher as compared to previous years.

The application forms for the undergraduate (UG) programmes can be filled by students till August 31 and the admission process started by DU is completely online this time.

The admission process for seeking admission for undergraduate courses in DU began on August 2 while that for the postgraduate programme have already started from July 26.

DU has decided to maintain the same eligibility criteria as last year for the benefit of the students given the challenges faced by the varsity due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
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Tajikistans President Emomali Rahmon has sought assistance from Moscow and Beijing to help in case his country is overrun by refugees from Afghanistan.

by Vijay Prashad

On July 28, 2021, in the Chinese city of Tianjin, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with a visiting delegation from Afghanistan. The leader of the delegation was Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the co-founder of the Taliban and head of its political commission. The Taliban has been making significant territorial gains as the U.S. military withdraws from Afghanistan. During the meeting, Chinas Wang Yi told Mullah Baradar that the U.S. policy in the Central Asian country has failed, since the United States had not been able to establish a government that is both stable and pro-Western. In fact, Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan also emphasized this point and told PBS in an interview on July 27 that the U.S. had really messed it up in Afghanistan. The government in Kabulled by President Ashraf Ghaniremains locked in an armed struggle with the Taliban, which seems likely to march into Kabul by next summer.

Chinas meetings with the Taliban are practical. China and Afghanistan share a very short76-kilometerborder, which is relatively unpassable. But the real transit point between the two countries is Tajikistan, which has long feared the return of the Taliban to Kabul and the emergence of a free hand to extremism in Central Asia once more. From 1992 to 1997, a terrible civil war took place in Tajikistan between the government and the now-banned Islamic Renaissance Party; tensions over the growth of Taliban-inspired Islamism remain intact in the country.

Tajikistans President Emomali Rahmon has sought assistance from Moscow and Beijing to help in case his country is overrun by refugees from Afghanistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)-Afghanistan Contact Group met in Tajikistans capital of Dushanbe on July 14. Afghanistan is not a member of the SCO, although it made an application to join in 2015. The day before that meeting, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited President Rahmon in Dushanbe to discuss the deteriorating situation and carry out more substantive security cooperation. At the core of their agenda was President Rahmons pledge to prevent his country from becoming a base for extremism.

East Turkestan Islamic Movement

In Tianjin, Mullah Baradar told Wang Yi that the Taliban would not allow any extremist organization to use Afghan territory to undermine the security of any country. In the public statements made by both of them after their meeting on July 28, neither Baradar nor Wang Yi, however, expanded on this pledge. What they have in mind is the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), more accurately known by its Uyghur nameTurkistan Islam Partiyisi (TIP). The ETIM emerged three decades ago and has since carried out a series of attacks in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. It is a shadowy extremist group, one of dozens of such groups that emerged in Central Asia in the orbit of Al Qaeda. Since 2002, the ETIM was featured prominently on the U.S. governments list of terrorist organizations. In a recent report, the U.S. State Department noted, [the] ETIM has received training and financial assistance from al-Qaida.

During the war on Syria, large sections of the ETIMas the TIPmoved to the Syria-Turkey border. The TIP is currently headquartered in Idlib, Syria, where it has joined forces with other Turkish-backed jihadi groups. The TIPs leader Abdul Haq al-Turkistani is an Al Qaeda shura council member. In the fall of 2020, the U.S. government removed the ETIM from its list of terrorist organizations, making no mention of the TIP or Syria. The United Nations, meanwhile, retains the ETIM on its terrorist list.

The meeting between Baradar and Wang Yi was focused on the threat the ETIM posed to Chinas western provinces, particularly to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The ETIM has taken credit for several terrorist attacks on the Chinese province and on Chinese targets elsewhere. Baradars pledge has helped release some of the tension in Beijing regarding the possible return of the Taliban to power in Kabul.

In May 2020, a committee of the United Nations Security Council reported that the ETIM is operating in three provinces of Afghanistan: Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Takhar, all three near the wedge that links China to Afghanistan. There are about 500 hardened ETIM fighters inside Afghanistan. The ETIM has close links to several of the Al Qaeda affiliates in Central and South Asia, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Movement, and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

In mid-July 2021, a bus en route to the Dasu hydropower plant in the Upper Kohistan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, was attacked by a bomb blast. Twelve people died, including nine Chinese engineers. Ten days later, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in Chengdu, China, to meet with Wang Yi. Qureshi said that terrorist acts will not sabotage Pakistan-China cooperation. No group took responsibility for the attack. Arrests have been made, but no clarity has emerged. Informed sources in Islamabad, Pakistan, suggest that the attack was done in concert between the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the ETIM.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Both the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the ETIM have made public statements about targeting Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has four major corridors that run through Xinjiang and into Central and South Asia. The hydropower plant in Dasu is part of the BRIs China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); the three other BRI projects threatened by the ETIM and its partners are the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor, the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, and the New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor.

Peace is not on the horizon for Afghanistan. The country remains caught in the ambitions of regional and global powers, wedged in the new great game that involves a contest between India and Pakistan as well as the United States versus China, Russia, and Iran. The call for a unity government that would include President Ghani and the Taliban does not resonate in any quarter. Both sides believe that they can make gains starting in winter and continuing into next summer. This is myopic, since it carries within it the possibility of an endless civil war that could threaten the region.

A military victory is unlikely. The BRIs vast investment in infrastructure could provide new economic opportunities in a region starved of a future. Even in the heartlands of the most extremist groups, social forces gather for peace and for development. In late July, in a region south of Kabul, in the Pakistani town of Makin, lawmaker Mohsin Dawara leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM)held a massive rally against Pakistans interference in Afghanistan and for peace.

On the last day of July, Chinas Ambassador in Kabul Wang Yu met with Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistans High Council for National Reconciliation, to talk about Chinas support for a peace process. There was no statement about further Chinese investment in Afghanistan, although if the BRI is to proceed, it would require stability in Afghanistan. That is why China has been engaging both the Kabul government and the Taliban, the two key players necessary to ensure stability in the region.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma.
Following excerpts adapted from the author's book, Peace, Poverty and Betrayal : A New History of British India

by Roderick Matthews

Why is there a large, modern political unit called India? And why is it a liberal democracy? To find answers, we must look at what happened in South Asia between 1600 and 1947.





The aim of this book is to lay out a fresh account of the British presence in South Asia across those years. The point is not to ask whether British rule in India was a good or a bad thing; like all governments it can be seen as both. Nor does it matter whether we approve of what happened. For good or ill the British governed in India for nearly two centuries, 1765 1947. That would be a long time for any regime that was irredeemably bad, and the hardy endurance of British rule might suggest that it brought sufficient benefit to enough people to have survived for so long.The thrust of the argument that follows here is that this was indeed the case.

So how did a small island come to rule a large subcontinent? How did British India ever appear?

Whigs and Empire

The key to making sense of all this lies in understanding Britains rise to global prominence through the eighteenth century. That rise was principally because the British managed to solve a perennial problemhow to transfer political power peacefully between individuals and across generations.

After a traumatic period of war and disruption (164089), the elite classes in Britain came to a series of compromises, for the sake of a greater prizea peaceful and productive society, in which people felt secure, and were allowed to express forms of imagination and creativity that benefited the wider group. This was far from an idealistic or utopian system; its supporting philosophyWhiggismwas largely pragmatic.

Eighteenth-century British Whigs were not egalitarians, and neither were the early industrialists who pioneered new technical and commercial activities at that time. Their collective priority was to create and enjoy wealth in an environment of civil peace, not to reform the fundamental rules of society.

The Whig compromise was essentially a balancing act within a class, not an inclusive settlement between classes. Whigs were wary of holding power over each other, but were not unduly concerned about the dangers of wielding authority over anyone outside their circle. Here was an elite that was suspicious of excessive concentrations of power, and possessed a narrow sense of political responsibility; Whigs believed that the government should look after everyones interests, in due proportion to their social importance. This provided a viable foundation for the creation of national liberal institutions, but it could only ever lend a very self- interested style of guidance to the transnational colonial system that grew out of it, because the limitations involved remained invisible to those who worked within them.

The transnational system that grew out of domestic Whig practice was inherently unresponsive, characterized by arrogance among those at the top, who took care to distance themselves from those at the bottom. It had insuperable gradients of power within it, though these were somewhat mitigated by the principles of conditional liberty that Whigs professed to believe in. But with the acquisition of overseas territories, the Whig political model was soon stretched far beyond its natural scale.

The corruption of powersomething that Whigs thought they had addressed among themselveslurked within the restricted degree of vertical dialogue within their system, and while they gradually addressed this at home through political reform, the longer arms of Whig governmentin Ireland,America and eventually Indiaremained tainted with arbitrary power.

Satisfied with their own arrangements, and fiercely proud of parliamentary government, the British came to believe that their form of domestic peace was more than a local cultural achievement, and was increasingly explained by Britons in terms of other thingssuperior national character, Protestantism, whiteness, or even just the bracing climate of a northern island. Self-congratulation disguised the greatest flaws in the nascent empireits defective accountability and its predisposition towards hierarchy. But the beneficial economic aspects of the new imperial structure put Britain ahead of not just contemporary Europe, but the rest of the world.

In 1600, Europe and Asia were broadly equal in technology. It was the next century that saw Europe draw ahead, with rational science and capitalist forms of finance and public credit. All this laid the foundations for both industrialization and colonialism, and helped set up a stereotypical division between an active, vigorous West and an ancient, slothful East.

The great British achievement was to create a culture in which political activity did not involve lethal risk, and which allowed free enquiry, open debate and the reasonable expression of dissent.This produced a range of tangible benefits, which the British took with them to India, where many Indians willingly recognized the attractions of the culture, adopted its attitudes and accepted its institutions. Meanwhile the British began to learn about the various problems that inevitably grew out of government which was not self-government. This education helped to guide the domestic British political system in its own process of reform.

The arrival of consensual, secular politics in Britain released national energies of such dynamism that two subsequent political systems, both on a continental scale, were eventually to arise out of ita decentralized Whig republic in North America and a centralized liberal democracy in India.

The British worked out how to take the violence out of personal politics, and how to generate and transfer political power in an orderly manner. This was done before the development of democracy, and directly paved the way for its arrival. Indians managed a reciprocal discovery how to take the collective violence out of mass politicsusing an analysis that fully appreciated all the causes and effects of political action.This too created a platform upon which democracy could be built.

The Anglo-Indian connection was thus instrumental in creating the first stable liberal democracies in both Europe and Asia.This was not a coincidence; there were evident historical processes at work. The enmeshed quality of the Anglo-Indian relationship goes right back to its earliest days. There was always an indigenous Indian liberal constituency; all the social reforms sponsored by the British had extensive local support.

Here it is also appropriate to emphasize that, across the longer view, the substance of the Anglo-Indian link was not primarily economic.The British made money in India, but they always made more money elsewhere.The substance of the link, its real value to Britain, was not primarily economic: it was geostrategic.

Overemphasis on economics leaves too many questions unanswered, especially in terms of speculation about a massive outflow of wealth from India to Britain.Imperialisma troubling and inexact termwas never an economic doctrine.There was never close agreement among the economists who tried to define it: between 1902 and 1920, Hobson, Kautsky, Hilferding, Rosa Luxemburg, Lenin and Schumpeter all came up with different interpretations.

Imperialism was a jumble of cultural and political attitudes, born of victory and sustained by dominion, fond of hierarchy and uncritical of supremacism. But in its British avatar, it was also tempered with humanitarian concerns and an occasional taste for self-criticism.

Within the disorderly pile of ideas that constituted imperialism, there was always scope for a wide range of governing attitudes to flourish, some of which were inherently contradictory. The aspiration towards fitting Indians for self-government was the most obvious; educating Indians in British law and political theory was another.

There was collusion on many levels from the very start of British rule in India, and the construction of the later imperial system would not have been possible without the collaboration of Indians, many of whose descendants are still enjoying the privileges they earned.

Indiansrich, powerful Indianswere complicit every step of the way, including the original Bengal revolution of 1757, and the infamous famines of 1770 and 1943.This does not mean just dubashes (interpreters) and banians (agents) on the quayside, hoping to do a little business, though they have their place in the story. It means entire classes with social status and economic clout.

There is a determined refusal among many modern Indians to admit this, but it is inconceivable that the British Indian project could have extended so far or lasted so long without serving the interests of powerful elements within Indian society. The deal was that they were allowed to keep their social influence and, crucially, their land.

Almost uniquely in world history, the British conquest of India involved very little change in the ownership of landat least from conquered to conquerors.The British took virtually no land for themselves and, on the whole, did not settle. Even as late as the 1860s, a powerful argument against the sale of waste lands in India was that the availability of cheap land might encourage Europeans to migrate in force and assemble estates.

The major change in landownership brought about by British rule was from small peasants to larger landowners.This provides an important clue as to why the British succeeded politically for so long.

When the British arrived, India had an exploitative hierarchical social system, the centrepiece of which was the rural economy. By their own published standards, the British did too little to change this, and eventually ended up supporting it. They tried to redesign the legal framework of landholding, but not the social structures that surrounded it.This made it easier to run the country without making enemies. It was the very heart of the successful British strategy of oblige and rule.

The demands of domestic British politics required that colonial status had to be seen as beneficial to colonized people, and the tenancy reforms enacted by the British were part of fulfilling this need. But eventually the politics of Indian society forced the British to maintain the status quo, and make alliances with the most powerful sources of support available to them. It was left to the Indian National Congress in the early years of independence to bring about any degree of rural change.

Eighteenth-century India fell under British rule because of two circumstances. One was Indias political disunity, the other was the sophisticated land revenue system which made landholding a profitable business. Most European colonization of that period was of relatively empty lands, which made settlement slow and often only marginally rewarding; the interiors of Canada and Australia offered little to newcomers. But India was populous, wealthy and sophisticatedproviding a self-financing road to conquest.

The French were the first to realize the opportunities this presented, and in the 1740s they based their bid for power in the Carnatic on notional grants of land revenue. But they failed to capitalize. The British learned, and did. The French, largely through circumstance, attempted to turn Hyderabad into a client state, which turned out to be a poor choice.The British, largely through circumstance, chose Bengal, which proved to be a lucrative, sustainable and defensible choice.

The East India Company (1): Greed

The East India Company (EIC) had a long, troubled history. Founded in 1600, it had recurring structural problems with trade in the Eastcompetitors, costs and markets. Its original difficulty was that it could buy in the East but not trade; in India and China, people would sell commodities but they did not want European goods in return.

The EIC had its best trading years from 1714 to 1740, years of international peace, but war with France from the 1740s onwards drew it into power politics. It then played a central role in the British conquest of India as a military and governmental vehicle, though the transition was slow and somewhat confused. The Companys income rose relentlessly after it became a revenue collector in Bengal in 1765, but its expenses also expanded enormously, and it could only find regular profit in the tea trade with China.

This roller-coaster history has been narrated often and well,1 but for current purposes we must understand that after 1757, when the Companys Direction took on governmental responsibilities, the EIC cannot be simply characterized in commercial terms. As a Company of sovereign merchants, it became an anomaly; contemporaries regularly referred to it as such. It became less and less like a commercial company, and to insist that it was is to miss all the subtlety and interest in its status and nature.

It has recently become fashionable to demonize the EIC. In 2012 the main charges were vigorously set out by Nick Robins. His main points were that the EIC single-mindedly pursued personal and corporate gain, and found itself ruling over large swathes of India for a profit.

These accusations are very general, and can only carry weight if they are confined to a period of something like 175772, during which a great deal of malfeasance went on in Bengal. But even then, the charges are misdirected; they could only accurately relate to the large-scale embezzlement perpetrated by the Companys servants, which the Company was unable to control and from which neither it nor its shareholders drew any benefit. On the contrary, during those years the Company was seriously harmed, both financially and politically, by the depredation. It began to lose its autonomy as a result, and never fully regained it.

Any picture that we draw of the EIC must take into account at least the following facts and factors. From 1767 it was under close governmental supervision, and after 1784 its business activities in India steadily declined. In 1813 its commercial accounts were entirely separated from its governmental exchequer, and by 1833 it took no part in trade. By then it was an administrative shell. Investment in its stock was like buying government bonds.

After 1784 the EIC was not in any respect truly like a privately owned company; it was effectively a government. And, like all governments, it was primarily concerned with its own welfare and preservation.

The EIC certainly became an extractive state, setting its tax demands high and collecting them with rigour. But the motivation was not personal greed. After 1767 the British government itself was extracting money from the EIC, at the rate of 400,000 per annum. The Company, in its turn, was naturally keen to raise funds in Bengal to appease the politicians, and thus maintain its chartered privileges. It was also given an additional, unacknowledged responsibility of supplying what politicians called a tribute from India, which meant shipping goods to London which had been paid for with Indian tax revenues, in order to realize cash.This was a neat way of taking wealth out of India without removing bullion, but it was also a process that took no account of commercial concerns, and acted effectively as a cap on profitability.

In reality, the EIC was in a weak position in London; it relied on Parliament for the continuation of its monopoly trading privileges.At the same time it was an insecure institution in India, and had to fight hard for its very existence. In both theatres, it was motivated primarily by selfpreservation.There was little profit in trade with India after 1757, and the largest part of the money that went to individuals was not funnelled through the Company. By the end of the 1760s the Company was Rs 10 million in debt in Calcutta.

The EIC was a hybrid creature which evolved out of necessity. In its mature form it ranks as the third great British institutional compromise, after the creation of the Anglican Church in the sixteenth century and the limited monarchy in the seventeenth.The crucial compromise that the EIC represented was that, after 1765, its continued existence avoided the question of who owned Bengal. It was important that it fell neither to the Crown, which was thus denied the extra patronage and revenue, nor to the Company, so that individuals could not enrich themselves unsupervised.

To confuse the EIC with a private company is to fall into the trap designed by John Robinson, adviser to Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Under Pitts India Act of 1784 the Company retained its outer form as a commercial body but ceded control of its governmental responsibilities to a Board of Control, consisting of politicians. This allowed politicians to take credit when they chose, or to leave any blame with the directors.

Pitts Act was only one of a series of significant developments in both Britain and India, stretching from 1757 to 1793, by which the EIC became a complex, multi-purpose institution held together only by its name.The structure, function and nature of the organization changed dramatically, and any account that fails to understand this risks lapsing into inaccuracy, anachronism and absurdity.

The EIC struggled to make regular profits after 1757. The move into government produced revenue but brought massive expenses too, and the British national treasury was repeatedly obliged to bail out the Company. 1.4 million was advanced to the Company in 1773. Another 4 million was loaned in 181012, largely because of Richard, Marquess Wellesleys expansionist wars. Indeed, so straitened was the Companys mercantile arm by the financial demands of the territorial Company that it was unable to pay the excise on its tea imports on fifteen occasions between 1804 and 1813.

After 1757 the Company moved into government in India; after 1784 it was absorbed into government in Britain. By then it had ceased to be a commercial body in any real sense of the word. Nor was it private. Once a year a government minister presented an India budget which was then voted through Parliament. More specifically, the parts of the Company that drove territorial expansion had little connection with the parts that controlled its dwindling mercantile activities.

The historian CH Philips, who spent a lifetime studying the EIC, wrote: it should be noted that the senior directors of the Company, who managed its political business, were concerned only in a minor degree with its commercial affairs.

By the 1790s the Company did its business through around a dozen separate committees. There were no merchant princes making decisions fuelled by greed. How, might we ask, was greed in play when the directors were paid fixed salaries, and the Companys dividend was capped, by statute, at 8 per cent in 1784, and then at 10.5 per cent in 1793? How could holding land for profit make any sense when in the same year the Company voluntarily fixed its own rental income from Bengal at the permanent figure of Rs 286 lakhs? How could a Company single-mindedly chasing profits contrive to be 40 million in debt by 1828?

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Roderick Matthews is a writer and Indian historian. Born in 1956, he studied Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford, and has written articles and reviews for a number of British and Indian publications. His previous books include The Flaws in the Jewel, Jinnah vs Gandhi, and The Great Indian Rope Trick.
When we as a nation were decaying, other nations struggled to stand up. The people of those countries were revolutionized to give new life and dignity to the lives of the people, not to pursue their selfish narrow goals on the graves of others.

Editorial

Forty-four members of Stalin's gang who took part in the protest yesterday in Colombo were confirmed to be not-infected with the Evil virus that caused a Global health emergency since 2019. But that does not mean there is no risk of spreading this virus due to this unwanted civil disobedience. The complete responsibility for this social unrest lies with those who organized protests and conspired to plunge the country into anarchy.





Joseph Stalin? No one knows when this man was last taught a lesson in a government school.

The consequences of these protests, which take place without any ethics and in blatant violation of health quarantine laws, are deadly. It is no secret that various political parties and interested groups are behind this revolt on the nation, which is being organized by trade union leaders, including Joseph Stalin. The name itself is indicating the brutality against humanity.

History is clear. Some interested parties and nations want to perpetuate the political and social instability in Sri Lanka. For decades, Sri Lanka has been used as a testing ground for armed struggles to achieve the nefarious aims of various powerful countries and interested parties. In other words, Sri Lanka was used as a vassal state to satisfy the desires of various countries and interested parties. This is the tragedy that Sri Lanka has faced throughout history. The very few who worked hard to change this were attacked and eliminated.

When we as a nation were decaying, other nations struggled to stand up. The people of those countries were revolutionized to give new life and dignity to the lives of the people, not to pursue their selfish narrow goals on the graves of others.

But all that was left for us in Sri Lanka was empty rhetoric about our history. Unfortunately, apart from hypocrisy and jealousy, there is no virtue practised by the majority of the country.

What does the teachers' protest that is going on these days prove? It is the children of the poor who go to school in search of the only solution to their poverty with the help of free education. Joseph Stalin? No one knows when this man was last taught a lesson in a government school. No one knows what contribution this person and other unscrupulous rebels who are depending on the tax money of the public have made for the betterment of education in the country. They are ultimately abusing the lives of children studying in government schools in this country. They are destroying the next generation of the country. How can such a nation develop?

What is important at the moment is not the desire to further destabilize the country and achieve rotten political goals. It is time for everyone to come together to recover from the devastation caused by the plague. Let us repeat! As MP Wigneswaran said in Parliament recently, the key to this moment is for all to come together, regardless of political differences, to overcome the dire situation facing the country. Although many people are critical of the MP's political views, the point he is making at the moment is vital and practical. Needless to say, this is the only way out for this Island nation.

When a man drowns, the important thing is to save that man, instead of videotaping the drowning man and advertising it on social media. That is the basic lesson that Stalin and his gang members must learn. If they do not follow this basic humanitarian cause, it is the responsibility of the people to teach it in a language they understand. It is time to put an end to this brainless revolt against our young generation. Otherwise, this country will not have dawn for ordinary folks like us and our young blood who own nothing but hope for a better future!
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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fc00e43d2d8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fc00e36d618)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fc00e43d2d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fc00e36d618)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fc00e468990)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fc00e36d618)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fc00e36d618)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fc00de83210)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fc00ea7fcf8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fc00ea7fcf8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
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We have entered the era of Climate Catastrophe, and our president and Congress must respond appropriately. Instead, they continue to pour billions of dollars every year into war-making that will further compromise the health of the Earth and the survival of its people.

by Koohan Paik-Mander

We are drowning and burning and choking because of climate change.

The world is haunted by images of commuters in China, in a dark, subway car with muddy water up to their necks, standing in order to breathe.

Only days before, Germany and Belgium witnessed deluges of water that swept away centuries-old, half-timbered houses, leaving hundreds dead. A few days before that, Oman, New Zealand, New York, and elsewhere had also been deluged. Meanwhile, out-of-control fires on the west coast are belching so much smoke that New Yorkers cant breathe.

We have entered the era of Climate Catastrophe, and our president and Congress must respond appropriately. Instead, they continue to pour billions of dollars every year into war-making that will further compromise the health of the Earth and the survival of its people.

In June 2021, the U.S. released the FY 2022 defense budget request. The theme was singular: to dominate China. The wish list came to $715 billion. Then, the following month, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to pile on another $25 billion in a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote. (Only Elizabeth Warren demurred.)

The floods, fires, tornadoes, rain bombs and mudslides are, by far, the biggest threat to global security. Not China.

A Hypersonic Arms Race

The specter of the China threat has been effective in justifying endless support for war, expansion of the nuclear arsenal, and developing uber-costly high-tech weapons, like hypersonics, that dont even function yet. Even if they did function, they would open up the chance of miscalculation that could easily tip into nuclear war.

What makes hypersonic weapons so unique is not their speed, but rather, their maneuverability. They can keep their target a secret by taking a surprising pivot just before striking. This makes them impossible to intercept with current technologies. It also makes them prime candidates for a miscalculated retaliatory second strike, and perilous escalation.

By contrast, the Pentagons sales pitches stress how much further ahead China and Russia are in their hypersonics development. This narrative has so far been very successful in garnering Congressional support, so much so, that we now find ourselves in an accelerating hypersonic arms race, in which no one benefits but the weapons industry.

Climate change? Whats that?

The companies which routinely benefit from developing hypersonic weapons and their infrastructure are Lockheed Martin, Dynetics Technical Solutions, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Elon Musks SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, L3Harris, and Raytheon  the company where Lloyd Austin served as a board member until he was appointed Secretary of Defense.

Clearly, Austin and his colleagues in the weapons industry are in the business to stimulate a profitable arms race.

The resulting instability has distracted lawmakers from what we actually need for real security. George Nacouzi, a senior engineer at the conservative RAND Corporation, and co-author of Hypersonic Missile Nonproliferation: Hindering the Spread of a New Class of Weapons, suggests, If you could just start with a trilateral agreement between these three major nations (China, the U.S. and Russia), that would be taking a really effective step in terms of controlling proliferation of these weapons.

Hypersonics 101

Hypersonic speed is defined as traveling at Mach 5 or higher, with Mach 1 being the speed of sound  about 680 mph. Mach 5 would be five times that, so hypersonic weapons are those which travel 57 miles per minute and faster.

There are two types of hypersonic weapons in development: 1) hypersonic cruise missiles, which use an advanced engine called a scramjet, which slows down incoming airflow to maintain steady combustion, and 2) hypersonic glide vehicles, which are launched from a rocket, but which then detach and glide, engine-free, through the low atmosphere, before striking a target.

The development of hypersonics is still in its infancy, especially interception technologies. Existing interception systems are designed to strike incoming ballistic missiles, which may travel just as fast as hypersonics, but because their trajectory is as predictable as a fly balls arc, they can be intercepted. By contrast, the mosquito-like path of hypersonics makes them impossible to intercept.

Satellite Planet

Hypersonic research and development is focused on developing a new kind of interception. Creating an effective interception system would require a matrix of thousands of satellites cocooning our planet, capable of tracking and striking every 3-dimensional coordinate, within the Earths atmosphere, with nanosecond precision. Northrup Grumman was awarded a $155 million contract in January 2021 to develop the prototype for such a satellite network. SpaceX and United Launch Alliance were awarded contracts worth about about $1 billion per year to launch the satellites.

The privacy, health and ecological implications of building such a defense infrastructure are staggering. Not to mention that every satellite launch punches another hole in the Earths fragile ozone.

No Humans, No Humanity

Another unsettling implication of hypersonic interception is that it is being designed so that artificial intelligence will actually do most of the thinking required to pull the trigger. Because the time between launch and strike of an incoming missile could be as brief as 6 minutes, it is believed that humans would be prone to panic within such a short duration of time, whereas machines would not. The rapid, rational thought processing required during such a moment of urgency is thought to be best handled by machines.

As machine decision-making accelerates warfare, it is plain to see how conflict could easily escalate. Compressed time and space creates the incentive for each side to strike first and strike fast in a perceived crisis. This is a recipe for crisis instability. Its sort of like a Twitter war, with WMDs instead of words. Even if neither party initially planned to strike first, the accelerated dynamic inherent in an AI-driven scenario forces the likelihood of mutually assured destruction.

James Johnson, in Strategic Studies Quarterly, elaborates on what parts of the thinking would be turned over to artificial intelligence (AI):

AI technology is expected to accelerate progress for hypersonic weapons and other long-range (conventional and nuclear-armed) precision munitions in all of these critical enabling capabilities: (1) autonomous navigation and advanced vision-based guidance systems, (2) ISR systems for targeting and tracking (especially mobile) targets, (3) missile release and sensor systems, (4) AI machine learning systems to decipher patterns from large data sets to support intelligence analysis for identifying and tracking targets, (5) pattern interpretation to cue decision support systems for enabling fire and forget missiles, and (6) escalation prediction.

In a 2018 Sandia Laboratories report to the U.S. Department of Energy, the company boasts that it is (a)chieving an autonomous hypersonic missile that can intelligently navigate, guide, and control itself and home-in on targets ranging from traditional stationary systems to targets that are themselves hypersonic vehicleswith all the maneuverability that this entails.

What kind of insane logic has led Congress to accept this ghastly scenario? Have we become so disconnected from the Earth, and from our own humanity, that we can so easily hand over the already compromised future of our planet to algorithms? As appalling as it sounds, this is precisely what approval of the defense budget has revealed. When you see a budget line item that reads hypersonic missile, assume that it will be a machine pulling the trigger.

Hypersonic Arms Control

There also is some good news. Because hypersonics are still all experimental, we are in an ideal moment to establish risk-mitigation measures, such as negotiating a new international arms control agreement that would institute a moratorium or ban on hypersonic weapon testing. Such a path would include calls for international transparency and confidence-building measures, such as exchanging weapons data and conducting joint technical studies.

It would be in the highest interest of genuine security to do so.

Richard Speier of RAND Corporation reflects on such a prospect, I am optimistic about the U.S., Russia and China. Its in their interest to do this. And theres time to do it. Not a lot of time. But a few years.

Earth Budget

So, what will it take for our lawmakers to show leadership during this most dire moment in human history? Dont they get that you can pour resources into war, or you can pour resources into reviving life on Earth -- but you cant do both? The activities are mutually exclusive.

Militarism is the most fossil-fuel consuming, carbon-releasing, species-extinguishing activity on Earth.

The $740 billion defense budget should be spent for genuine defense of life, not militarism. It should be redirected to an Earth budget. That money should be used to employ people to build renewable-energy microgrids and functional public transportation, as well as diplomatic relations toward arms control treaties. We need to provide support for our own climate refugees, for regenerative agriculture, and for universal healthcare. We must clean up our waterways and Superfund sites, remove microplastics and other chemicals from the environment, and engage in countless other tasks that await those who love each other and this Earth. Lets cooperate with China on that. It is certainly the only way anything positive will result.

This article was produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

Author Bio: Koohan Paik-Mander, who grew up in postwar Korea and on the U.S. colony of Guam, is a Hawaii-based journalist and media educator. She is a member of the China is Not Our Enemy campaign at CODEPINK. She is also a co-author of The Superferry Chronicles: Hawaiis Uprising Against Militarism, Commercialism and the Desecration of the Earth, and has written on Asia-Pacific militarism for The Nation, Progressive, Foreign Policy in Focus, and other publications.
A historical replica of the Nao Victoria, the first ship to sail around the world, will be docked in Malaga until Sunday, 8 August, to allow visitors to experience life onboard, close-up.

The original Nao Victoria, commanded by Juan Sebastian Elcano, left Seville in 1519 and returned to the same city in 1522, after circumnavigating the globe for the first time in history.

This replica was built in Spain in 1991 after a long process of historical research was carried out.

The historical replica is berthed at Pier 2 (Palmeral de las Sorpresas) in Malaga and the Nao Victoria Foundation, said a visit is perfect for the whole family, since all ages will be able to learn what life aboard this legendary ship was like.

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, health safety measures have been implemented and the use of masks onboard, by members of the public and the crew, is mandatory. There will also be a capacity limit and social distancing controls between family units.

Visiting times are from 10am to 2pm and from 5pm to 10pm. The admission price is five euros for adults and three euros for children between 5 and 10 years old. Families, with two adults and up to three children (aged from 5 to 10) can access the Nao for 13 euros. Tickets are on sale are the boat itself or on the website www.fundacionnaovictoria.org.
Authorities were forced to raise the red flag and ban bathing on the Faro beach, in Marbella, after a wastewater pipe broke early on Wednesday morning, 4 August.

Maria Victoria Martin-Lomena, the town hall representative responsible for the beaches explained that once the problem was discovered, "we immediately stopped the pumping but what was already in the system could not be stopped."

"Two diggers that were working nearby make a sand bank to minimise, as much as possible, the direct discharge into the sea," she said.

Martin-Lomena added, a coupling in the pipe had broken. The area was immediately cordoned off and the beach closed as a precautionary measure.

The bulk of the repair work had to wait until 5pm for the high tide to recede.

Martin-Lomena said, We hope to have the beach in perfect condition this Thursday (5 August) and an analysis of the water will be made to guarantee its safety.

Martin-Lomena recognised that such incidents "are a blow to the environment and also from the tourist point of view as they have more impact at this time of year than at any other.
The Costa del Sol's tourism sector has breathed a huge sigh of relief after learning that Spain will remain at amber in the latest revision of the 'traffic light' list of countries to which the UK will allow travel to fully-jabbed passengers, without the need to quarantine for ten days when returning from holiday.

It is also good news for British people, resident in Spain, who feared that the United Kingdom might move the country onto the red list, which would require a ten-day quarantine at a government-approved hotel if they travelled to UK.

The travel list decision was announced by the British Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, on his Twitter account, and it will next be reviewed in three weeks.

Tourists visiting amber list countries will still have to have a Covid-19 test before returning home, followed up with a further test back in the UK.

The news is a welcome relief for the tourism sector on the coast, which was worried that the travel list update coincided with the high infection rates of the fifth wave of coronavirus. However, the high level of vaccination in Spain helped offset the data.

Wednesdays update, which will come into effect on 8 August at 4am, also saw the United Arab Emirates, India and Bahrain move from red into amber.

Following the announcement, the hoteliers association on the Costa del Sol (Aehcos) said its "occupancy forecasts should not change except for increases caused by last-minute bookings.

The data for the first six months of 2021 confirms the impact that the United Kingdoms original requirement for a ten-day quarantine on return home had on the Costa del Sol. From January to June of this year only 20,874 British tourists arrived at Malaga airport, 97,894 less than 202, a decrease of 82 per cent compared to the year in which the coronavirus crisis broke out.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

August 5, 2021





Abraham Darius Dillon

When Abraham Darius Dillon chose to ride a US$40,000 car as a public official, The Light got dimmed. When ADD admitted that he took money from corrupt Albert Chie to finance his senatorial campaign, "The Light" got dimmer. When he sacrilegiously defended Musa Bilitys loot, The Light got blurred. When ADD lied about not flying business class, The Light became more blurred. The receipt of 30k, without any remorse for competing national priorities and public interest amid COVID-19 pandemic, has placed The Light in the position of Free Fall. ADD alias The Light is indeed in free fall. The fast fall or downward crash of The Light due to legislative gravitational force is a betrayal of public trust and confidence.



The Light is not only dimmed but it has gone off so soon. Capitol Hill is back in total darkness as it used to be before December 2020 Senatorial Elections. Must we remain silent because it is CPP Dillon? No, such politics is not only scandalous but stooping and stupefying. It is not Dillons responsibility to implement Legislative Projects. The Community Empowerment Act pursuant to Chapter 50B Title 12 delegates this responsibility to LACE and not any Lawmaker. ADD is violating this law and even the 2018 Local Government Act. Once more, we owe our utmost allegiance to Liberia and not to any politician.



Before Abraham Darius Dillon could secure a 9-year term as Senator of Montserrado County, he positioned himself as an integrity czar. In fact, he was overwhelmingly elected because he once preached mantras/slogans like integrity, accountability, transparency, openness, and public interest. ADD promised to be different from State criminals. He did not only promise to advocate against public waste and fiscal indiscipline, but to also rebuke exorbitant budgetary appropriations intended for greedy and corrupt lawmakers. This led him to even cut down on his monthly salary from US$15,000 to US$5,000.



When ADD was never a lawmaker, he is on record (Facebook screenshot) for criticizing Representative Acarous Moses Gray and other lawmakers for receiving huge amounts/appropriations (e.g. US$30,000) for Legislative Engagement and Accessibility while civil servants remained unpaid. This same ADD, who is now a Senator, is receiving $30k too while civil servants remain unpaid for several months. Isnt this hypocrisy? This pathetic precedent does not only equate to hypocrisy, but it is also A Promise Betrayed.



Imagine for a moment, ADD rejected 10k out of 15k from his monthly entitlements, but hes now receiving 30k for so-called legislative engagement which is even outside his entitlements. Furthermore, ADD also got 18k for Loan Repayment and an extra 9.5k for Constituency Visit. Why he did not tell the Liberian people about this too? The total amount received is a whopping US$57.5k amid COVID-19 and increased hardship in Liberia. It seems like the economy is no longer in the toilet after 8 months.



Do you know how much we just spent on 103 lawmakers for so-called legislative engagement, loan repayment, and constituency visit? A poor country like Liberia just spent US$5,922,500. Isnt this $5.9 million a public waste especially when we cannot even procure a single vaccine or ventilator of our own during this global health crisis? Of course, it is. But ADD does not think that such exorbitant spending or profligacy is a public waste because he too received his share of this cunning cake. This is indeed a promise betrayed.

Lets move to point #2.

I want to deal with two feeble arguments from ADD and pro-ADD fanatics:

1) The Money is legal

2) It is in the budget.

This is my argument. The money is legally illegal and heres why. Lawmakers often use the National Budget as a cash cow to profiteer and racketeer. They put more money in the budget for themselves at the expense of public interest and later argue that the money is legal and it is in the budget. This self-seeking pursuit is called institutionalized corruption and such parochial precedent is legally illegal. Lawmakers are using the national budget to squander public resources in a smart way. This amounts to public waste and economic sabotage. There is no difference between Legislative Engagement and Constituency Visit. A visit of a lawmaker to his/her constituency is an engagement while an engagement is a visit.



Furthermore, there is a popular legal maxim that says, Non autem omnia quae iuris est which means in English Not everything that is legal is right. During very difficult times of national crisis, the action and inaction of public officials must be purely guided by expediency, morality, and humanity. The action of ADD to receive 30k while thousands of civil servants remain unpaid goes against these global principles and societal norms. The 10k that ADD cut from his salary, is it not in the budget or is it not legal too? But why did he do it? Because he was trying to take a practical stance against public waste. Unfortunately, he has backpedaled or reneged on those values that brought him to power.



It was integrity that brought ADD to power. But pro-ADD fanatics are now arguing legality. This is the real tragedy of Liberia. Why ADD did not announce the second 15k that he received? If a lawmaker begins to implement Government-funded Projects like ADD is doing, then who will play the role of oversight? Who will ask the hard questions in order to ensure the accountability of public resources/funds? Who will ADD fully account to for those monies that are intended for public projects? This is Conflict of Interest. ADD cannot be the referee (Lawmaker) and the player (LACE) at the same time. LACE should report to ADD and not ADD reporting to LACE. So, this is another reason why that money (30k) is legally illegal because ADD is violating the law on who should actually implement government-funded project. Thats not his function. His functions are: Lawmaking, Representation, and Oversight.



My Advice to Abe Darius Dillon:

Senator Dillon should not take advantage of the fact that because he has a 9-year term, so he can just do anything that is contrary to what he promised. History has a way to remind, rebuke, and reprimand. The people did not elect ADD to be like those State criminals. They elected him to be different and to make the difference. In 2009 Senatorial By-Election, ADD of the Liberty Party took 5th place with just 5.7 percent (5,148) of the total votes.



For ADD to have come to power as Senator of Montserrado County, he rode on two things:

1) The mass failure of the CDC-led government (Citizens in Montserrado remain largely disenchanted due to a number of objective factors in the context dialectical materialism);

2) The popularity of the CPP. The CPP has become a normal political good (YED>0) while the CDC has become an inferior political good (YED<0). The income elasticity of demand for CPP during the December 2020 Senatorial Election was greater than 0 and it is still greater than 0. The masses are demanding for CPP more while the demand for CDC has fallen below 0.

Since Popularity is a diminishing commodity in the context of Economics, I encourage ADD to not abuse this opportunity. He must remain The Light. He must stick and stay true to those high standards that he himself set. He cannot and must not neglect his own standards. This is my only interest that has led me to providing this brief critique. But as it stands, The Light is in free fall. And in all fairness, this is a promise betrayed.



When I voted for ADD, I did not promise him that I was going be silent whenever he does wrong. I did not support Dillon to incubate or to nurse his flaws. Count me out. What will Dillon say if George Weah too decides to take US$30 million for "Presidential Project"? Dillon has no moral to criticize Weah and the CDC-led Government because he too took 30k for "Legislative Project".

In the midst of these egregious contradictions, the masses have been left in the state of bewilderment once more.



About The Author: Activist Martin K. N. Kollie is a Liberian activist in exile. He can be reached via email: martinkerkula1989@yahoo.com




MBABANE  It is first-come, first-served for low income earners, elderly, retired and child-headed households to enjoy cheaper electricity tariffs from September 1, 2021.

At least 20 000 customers will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The process shall continue so long as there is room for additional beneficiaries. The good news comes after the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) and Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) launched the lifeline tariff, which is aimed at alleviating poverty and cushioning lower usage customers against high prices. Effectively from Monday (August 9, 2021), application forms for qualifying beneficiaries will be accepted.

Lifeline

Explaining the lifeline tariff, known as inclining block pricing scheme (S10), Acting EEC Managing Director Ernest Mkhonta said qualifying beneficiaries should meet both the criteria set in the application form, which include the economic status where one did not earn above E3 500 per month. To qualify, the beneficiary also has to consume an average level which is not above 75 units (75 kWh). For fairness, beneficiaries under the lifeline tariff are not supposed to consume electricity beyond their limit, he said. This, he said, could attract charges and, therefore, benefitting customers were advised to only purchase electricity units that they would use in the current month. Mkhonta stated that they had introduced three inclining blocks for S10 customers, which included Block 1 who consumed 0-75 units at E1.09 cents a tariff, which was around E81.48 per month. Meanwhile, the prevailing domestic rate fell under Block 2 for clients who were consuming around 76 to 100kWh at E1.80, while those who fell under Block 3 consuming between 100kWh paid E3.94.

According to the acting MD, to prove the household income, a salary advice or payslip accompanied by a valid letter of employment in company letter heads or company stamp was required. An authorised form duly completed by a community authority, including development officers (batfutfukisi), bagcugcuteli and bucopho with a local stamp, was also another requisite. Meanwhile, any other proof which has a backing of a statutory body incorporated in the country including the DPMs Office was acceptable. Mkhonta stated that the applicant had to fill in an application form providing information which shall, among other things, include particulars of the applicant, household socio-economic analysis and local authority recommendations. Upon completion, the application form is taken to umphakatsi, inkhundla or zone leader for vetting where they append their signature and stamp, said the acting MD.

Forms

He said the application forms could be collected from all tinkhundla centres for the initial launch of the new Inclining Block Tariff. They will also be accessible at all EEC service centres. Further, he added that the form with all the necessary attachments was to be submitted to any EEC Service Centre.

The application process

Stage 1  EEC pre-screening to ensure compliance, eligibility and feasibility.

Stage 2  Qualifying applications are referred to the intermediary for viability analysis including site visit.

Stage 3  Viable applications are recommended for subsidy where EEC shall approve inclusion into Including Block Tariff.

Stage 4  Feedback is given to applicants. Those who are not successful shall receive reasons for non-approval and they will be assisted for possible consideration in the next application period.
MBABANE  The State has presented a summary of its evidence against Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and his Ngwempisi counterpart, MP Mthandeni Dube.

The composite summary of evidence has since been annexed to the indictment that has been filed by the Crown in readiness to prosecute the two legislators who are currently incarcerated at Matsapha Correctional Facility, while awaiting the outcome of their bail application. The duo stand accused of having acted jointly with Siphofaneni Member of Parliament Mduduzi Magawugawu Simelane to incite people of Eswatini to revolt against the constitutionally established Government of Eswatini.

Fugitive

The Crown explicitly stated in the charge sheet that Simelane was a fugitive from the law. It is alleged that as a consequence of the alleged incitement by the trio, there were riots in all the regions of the country. According to the prosecution, these riots caused loss of life, bodily injury to people and destruction of private and public properties. Mabuza alone is said to have contravened Regulation 4 of the Disaster Management (COVID-19) Regulations under the Disaster Management Act. It is alleged that he unlawfully and wrongfully failed to keep a register as required by the regulations for any gathering and to sanitise participants in a gathering he had convened. In the summary of evidence, it is alleged that Mabuza and Dube, as well as Simelane held various meetings in different places where they incited members of the public to revolt against government. According to the Crown, the contents of all the meetings were posted on social media platforms for public consumption. In the composite summary of evidence, the State narrated that it was common cause that there had been riots in the whole country. The issue, according to the prosecution, started or about June 5, 2021 at Hosea Inkhundla. It alleged that Mabuza and Simelane were present in the meeting that had been duly called by the former. The Crown went on to highlight that during the meeting at Hosea, there was no registration and there was no sanitisation as required by the COVID-19 regulations.

It was at this meeting where Mabuza addressed the gathering and his address was recorded and posted on social media platforms. Both first accused ( Mabuza) and Simelane told the gathering that the current constitutionally established government should be done away with in the form of electing the prime minister instead of being appointed by the King, reads part of the composite summary of evidence. The State further pointed out that subsequently, the delivering of petitions around the countrys different tinkhundla centres started. The court was informed that due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation at that time, on June 24, 2021, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini announced that the delivering of petitions be suspended as it was a superspreader of the virus.

Petition

However, on June 24, 2021 the three accused persons held a meeting at Summerfields and encouraged the public to defy the government order to suspend the delivery of petition, alleged the State. Further, in or about June 2021, the three accused persons allegedly held another meeting at S&B Restaurant and it was where they reportedly continued to incite the public to defy the government order and encouraged the public to go to different tinkhundla centres to deliver the petitions. According to the prosecution, the content of both meetings were posted on social media platforms for public consumption. In the composite summary of evidence, the State further averred that on June 26, 2021, Simelane specifically encouraged people under his constituency to go to Siphofaneni Inkhundla to deliver a petition as he was going to be present to accept same.

As result of the said Mduduzi Magaugawu Simelanes call on June 26, 2021, the people of Siphofaneni gathered at Siphofaneni Town and waited for the arrival of Mthandeni Dube of Ngwempisi. However, he could not gain access to the gathering as he was ordered by the police officers to go back to Phuzumoya as he was not permitted to go to the gathering which was becoming chaotic, alleged the State. Simelane, as per the summary of evidence, then returned home and the people followed him to his place of abode where he stood on top of his motor vehicle and addressed the gathering. It was during this meeting where it was declared that AKULALWA NAMUHLA. During the night of the same day, there was destruction of properties and looting at Siphofaneni town, averred the State.

The Crown told the court that as a result of the incitement by the three accused persons, different tinkhundla centres were burnt down and these include Timphisini Ndzingeni, Hosea, KuMethula, Mayiwane, Ngwempisi, Somntongo, Ntondozi, Sandleni, Engudzeni, Matsanjeni and Maseyisini (vandalised). Further, as a result of the incitement to the public by all the accused persons, various properties around the country were destroyed and different items looted. These include three OK Supermarkets in Matsapha, Eswatini Breweries, Nhlangano Health Centre, Mbabane Embangweni Complex, Buy Cash Hardwares all over the country, Lewis Stores and different ATMs for various financial institutions around the country, submitted the Crown.

Witnesses

When it comes to its witnesses the Crown stated: The list of witnesses cannot be revealed due to security reasons. On Monday, Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala granted an order allowing that the accused persons be indicted summarily at the High Court.

The filing of the indictment by the Crown and granting of the order by the chief justice means that Mabuza and Dube, will get a speedy trial. This is also an indication that they would soon be called for a pretrial conference. A pretrial conference is a meeting of the parties to a case conducted prior to trial. The conference is held before the trial judge or a magistrate, a judicial officer who possesses fewer judicial powers than a judge.
LOBAMBA - He recently joined the three MPs calling for change and yesterday, Nkilongo Member of Parliament (MP) Timothy Myeni made an allegation that the countrys Constitution was cooked.

This happened at the House of Assembly during a sitting. As if that was not enough, Myeni was called to withdraw a statement where he labelled the Supreme law of the land a disgrace. Making a submission during the debate of a statement issued by the Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, MP Myeni said in 2003, when he was in Parliament, there was a legislator who said he was once a peacock, but had become a feather duster. He identified the legislator as the late Magwagwa Mdluli, who he said was sharing with his colleagues a picture of how life was. He said Mdluli said no one could be a peacock forever as life changed. He then mentioned that people of his constituency, together with those of Hosea, Ngwempisi and Siphofaneni, were in pain.

Arrested

It should be noted that Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube were recently arrested and charged while Siphofaneni MP Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelanes whereabouts are unknown. Myeni submitted that the people of the four constituency had sent him to state that the PM should know that he would be the last one to be appointed. They are praying for an elected PM. The PM should know that as he leads the government to the direction where he is directing it, he should do so in a manner that will make him able to campaign for the same position in the near future, said Myeni. He claimed the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini was a disgrace.

Problems

Please can I substantiate? I was here in 2003. The Constitution came here and had some information that was wrong. No wonder it has so many problems. I was here together with some of my colleagues when concerns were raised and the Constitution was taken out of this House. It was taken to another place and when it returned, it had been cooked. I was here, the MP said. He mentioned that he was in possession of the draft and also the final document. There were clauses that were changed yet this was not a decision of the House. I was here! I am saying this is painful that when emaSwati of this generation demand to have the same Constitution changed, they are not allowed that opportunity, he submitted. He said while he appreciated the announcement of a E500 million fund to cater for the damage caused by the recent protests which culminated in looting, vandalism and torching of property, it pained him that not much was said about civilians who died in the process.

Answers

He said the Nkilongo Constituency wanted answers on how the families of the killed civilians would be compensated. Myeni said the fund should not just cater for damaged buildings, but the affected families as they were more important than structures.

Every person has a right to life. PM talked about arrested MPs. One of them, Magawugawu, is in exile. I want to know how the country is handling this issue, he said. He posed a question whether the State arrested the two MPs having done a thorough investigation or without one. Myeni said had the police thoroughly done their investigations; perhaps the person who ordered that the delivery of petitions be stopped would also be arrested. I say this because that is where people were incited to riot. I want to know why COVID-19 was used as an excuse to halt important operations in the country, the MP submitted. He mentioned that there was no need to halt important operations like debating petitions just because of COVID-19 as it was not known when it would subside.
LOBAMBA - As part of healing, the prime minister (PM) must make this country talk.

Manzini North Member of Parliament (MP) Macford Sibandze yesterday broadly called for the PM, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, to allow a referendum and deal with political issues in the country. The MP said the referendum would allow for a critical engagement on so many issues, including that of choosing a PM. This was during a debate of the PMs speech which he delivered a few days after his appointment. Sibandze mentioned that the PM had come at a time of deep crisis, but that his term could be his glorious moment if he remained a humble student and open to learning. The MP said he had looked at the PMs statement, where he said he would tackle the politics. Sibandze said he gave the PM two marks for that as there was nothing he could achieve economically if he ignored politics, especially at a time when the country was so divided. The MP said he had never seen the country divided like it currently was.

Pleading

There is no economic stimulus that can thrive in a divided country. Thus we are pleading with the PM to be more than a politician, but be one who demonstrates leadership so he can get an opportunity called a session of hostilities in order to deal with the grudges that currently exist, said Sibandze. He said a lot of grudges existed in the country, which could only be addressed through a political economy. Sibandze said he once spoke in jest, saying he loved the Kingdom of Eswatini so much that he could not survive staying in New York. His own New York, he said, was Bremerdorp which is an old name for Manzini Town. The legislator mentioned that there was an audio circulating where a pastor was heard saying he (Sibandze) would die in 2022.

He said there was a need for healing in this country.

I do not want to act like a selfish pilot who wants to crash with all passengers yet I do have the capacity to direct the play. Manzini North is saying as part of healing, the PM must make this country talk just like the nation has said, the MP said. He mentioned that the citizens of the country were already living in fear due to a tendency of avoiding to agree to disagree. He said talking would bring back the confidence that was now lost not only in the economic sphere, but everywhere due to the fact that the prize of uncertainty was too exorbitant. The PM said there was a need to create a conducive environment so that any legislator, once they quit politics, would be free to walk in any community street and not be blamed for being an oppressor. I declare that I am not affiliated anywhere, but I am saying something from the bottom of my heart and what I have received from the people. At first I thought it was the youth, but as I followed up, I discovered that it was no longer the case. The elderly are now involved and so are the learned citizens, he said.

He said he, therefore, believed that the only solution was for a dialogue so that future generations would find the country still intact and peaceful. The MP said it was a challenge for people like him as they had to deal with the electorate in the constituencies and that it was difficult these days due to the power of social media. Sibandze said it was good that the PM was an economist who understood the benefits of engagement. Talk is cheap, literally, but if you do not talk, you are complicating things. We are now scared to talk yet we used to do it freely. I am in Parliament today because of vusela one. Let us not be scared of a referendum so that we can gauge ourselves on how far we score. What we will get from the nation is what will enlighten us, the legislator submitted.

He mentioned that it would help to have the referendum to understand how serious the concerns of the people were and then forge a way forward. Sibandze also said the referendum would allow critical engagements on issues such as the review of the Constitution. The MP said as a student of politics, he believed that such would be a perfect opportunity.

Engaged

I want to be engaged and have people tell me how they think we should elect a prime minister. I have done democratic theory. If we do not engage, it is not good. So we have to address each other before the situation undresses itself. Honourable Speaker, change has come. If we do not manage change, change will manage us. If we do not manage change peacefully, change will manage us painfully, said Sibandze. Elaborating, he said it was important not to be oblivious to the fact that there was now a new and different generation. Such a scenario, he said, was what was described in physics as a metamorphism, where society had shifted in identity. In the current generation, the MP said, tricks could not be solutions. This, he said, was because the current generation was politically aware and talked freely on social media on issues that he, during his days, would be scared to address.

We are getting old and this generation is coming up and growing. There is a generation gap, we need a grand masterpiece of exclusivity so that the generation can feel part of us. They have sat at home like a person waiting at the bus station. They have been sitting at the station waiting and the bus still hasnt arrived. So the pressure falls on us as MPs, it is difficult, he emphasised. He then implored the PM that if he wanted to manage change successfully, he should read a book found in all local libraries themed Obed Mfanyana Dlamini. He said there was so much to learn from that manuscript. Sibandze said as the PM settled into office, he would come across statements that certain people were not in favour of the system while others were and that he (PM) should be careful of such since it spelled nothing, but division.

He said in the current state, everyone in the country needed healing, but what was happening was the opposite of it. Sibandze said there was a need to ask the question of how a person of the system was identified. Is he a card carrying member? In 1990, His Majesty the King, at just 22 years of age, appointed Senator Obed Mfanyana Dlamini to be PM. The senator was not part of the system. In the same year, he appointed Senator Albert Shabangu to the level of DPM. Shabangu was not part of the system. We are in a very difficult era, one that needs negotiation, sacrifice and compromise. An eye for an eye will make all of us blind, said Sibandze. He implored the PM to visit tinkhundla centres to get a feel of what was happening on the ground and what the citizens concerns were.

Communities

If he visits the constituencies, Sibandze said, the PM would discover that there were communities that did not have clean water while others shared the same resource with livestock. Some people, the MP said, went to bed without a meal. There were children, Sibandze said, who went to school on empty stomachs. So PM, please address inequality in Eswatini even if it calls bringing back the poverty reduction fund. There are teachers who to date are sitting at home. Deal with the issue of scholarships. I can tell you today that the best public relations ever is service delivery, he said. The MP then thanked the E500 million announced by His Majesty King Mswati III and said it should be distributed wisely. Sibandze was cut when he was just touching on issues of the youth, saying it was a hot potato. Deputy Speaker and Matsenjeni North MP Phila Buthelezi, who was sitting on the Speakers chair, said Sibandzes time was up.
Tanmiah Food Company has listed on the Saudi Exchange following a successful IPO in which its shares achieved an institutional coverage ratio of 9,534% and a retail coverage ratio of 1,170%.



The shares were offered to institutions and individuals at SR67 ($17.84), at the top of the range previously set at SR59-67.



The sale of 30% of the share capital of Tanmiah, one of the leading food production companies in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, raised a total of SR402million ($107.2 million) and the transition to a listed company will support the next phase of the Companys growth ambitions.



Ahmed Osilan, Spokesperson of Tanmiah Food Company, said: The exceptionally high demand for our shares shown by both institutional and retail investors is a clear vote of confidence in Tanmiahs strength in the marketplace, our integrated and efficient business model, the resilience of the markets in which we operate, and our plans for the future.



The company has demonstrated that it is trusted for its reliability and sustainability in a defensive sector that is highly appealing to investors, with a conservative risk profile together with an appetite for solid growth. Gratitude and appreciation are, as always, extended to the Capital Market Authority and the Saudi Exchange for their invaluable support and guidance through this success story of Tanmiahs IPO.



Tanmiah has increased its local sales of fresh chicken by 23% over the past three years from 66.3 million chickens in 2018to 81.5 million in 2020. Established as the second largest producer of fresh chicken in the retail market in Saudi Arabia, Tanmiah seeks to grow its fresh chicken business in line with the Saudi governments Food Security plans, and the national production target of80% of local poultry demand produced domestically within the next five years.



Ahmed Osilan continued: With strong support for our sector from the Saudi government, together with growing economies of scale as we expand combined with our focus on achieving business efficiencies, we are confident of achieving our aim of becoming a leading producer and distributor of food products, including poultry and meat products in the MENA region.



Our focus on quality and food safety will enable us to expand by targeting customers who place a high value on taste, freshness and consistency. We believe our business will continue to offer a compelling opportunity to both local and international investors seeking a meaningful growth story and a solid platform for expansion.



As well as operating 84 farms, six hatcheries, a feed mill and two slaughterhouses, Tanmiah operates three food processing plants and 13 dry and cold storage facilities. Its integrated business model of production, processing and distribution is asset-light, which enables flexibility in expansion.



Tanmiah sells its products primarily in Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, Jordan, and Kuwait through a network of distributors, wholesalers and retailers. The company serves leading supermarkets including Panda, Othaim and Lulu as well as hotels and restaurants including Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Subway, as well as selling its products directly to consumers online. - TradeArabia News Service
Kuwait is planning to establish logistic cities on the land recently recovered through court rulings across the country, reported Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

This will mainly cater to the needs of small, medium and large companies and comes as part of the government's efforts to support local trade and attract global investments, stated the report, citing a senior port official.

"The projects for these lands spanning over 2 million sq m area have already been submitted to leading global architecture and design offices," said Sheikh Yousef Al Abdullah, Director General of the Ports Corporation.

According to him, plans are afoot to establish the first land port in Kuwait to serve the passage of goods and merchandise that pass through the country's land borders, thus reducing the accumulation of trucks on the borders, in coordination with (Customs) and the Ministry of Interior.

The location of the land port will be near the Shuaiba port, he added.

All these initiatives are aimed at making Kuwait a centre for re-export and shipping to some neighbouring countries, stated Abdullah.

In addition, it will provide ample job opportunities for citizens in the areas of warehousing operations, artificial intelligence and logistical warehouses, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Brinc MENA, a venture capital and startup accelerator, has joined forces with Bahrains chief telecom services provider Batelco and the US-based Digital Media Academy to launch an extensive one-year Batelco Digital Bootcamp for the countrys youth.

The phased programme, which kick started on July 25, will give 20 students aged 17 and 18 hands-on training in five most in-demand skills by top experts in the fields.

It aims to create confident decision-makers with a creative mindset who can adapt and overcome obstacles individually and as a unit.

Students will be given certificates from DMA, internship opportunities, and free mentorship guidance twice a year to prepare a smooth roadmap for them for each stage of their education and career.

According to Shaikh Bader bin Rashid AlKhalifa, General Manager Corporate Communications and CSR at Batelco: We are happy to be collaborating with Brinc on this ambitious programme which is extremely relevant in todays digital ecosystem.

He said: Fast-paced technological advancements are shifting business and market needs for specialty skills and knowhow. Batelco always strives to support educational initiatives in line with its social responsibility commitments that enable todays youth with the necessary capabilities to succeed in a digitally-powered economy.

On her part, Latifa Al-Khalifa, Managing Director, DMA, said: Digital Media Academy - Bahrain is excited to lend its world-renowned banner of creative tech excellence to Brincs digital literacy programmes. This partnership will bolster Brincs core offerings and define its footprint in tech education in Bahrain.

The Batelco Digital Bootcamp is in line with Bahrains 2030 Vision for talent diversification, while also meeting Brinc Menas core pillar of youth empowerment to make Bahrain the hub of talent and innovation in a fast-paced digital world.

Each partnership brings us one step closer to redefining youth empowerment through talent diversification; this year we bring Silicon Valley career opportunities to Bahrain. Our partnership with Batelco and Digital Media Academy is a powerhouse that enables youth to gain an intrapreneurship perspective with 21st-century skills, which will accelerate the digital transformation of the kingdom from within organisations, said Yasin Aboudaoud, CDO & MP of Brinc Mena.

Phase 1 of the three phase programme will allow students to learn technical skills for four weeks. The students will learn Java, Python and AI programming to develop apps and games in addition to animation drawing. They will also be introduced to the latest digital skills trends, such as big data, cloud computing and IoT through professional workshops.

Phase 2 will focus on developing a problem-solving mindset helping students to utilise research methods to solve global dilemmas.

Meanwhile Phase 3 will boost their professional attitude towards establishing their own brand identity and business plan.

Before the finish line, students will sharpen their presentation and team skills through a competitive hackathon to pitch their ideas to win the best tech business idea in the bootcamp. Tradearabia News Service
His Majesty King Hamad issued Decree-Law 16/2021, amending some provisions of Law 36/2012 promulgating the Labour Law in Bahrain's private sector, amending discrimination in the wages between male and female workers in jobs of the same value across Bahrain; a move aimed at strengthening gender equality in work place and boosting women's empowerment.

According to the decree-law, the following clause will be added to Article (39) of Law 36/2012:

Discrimination in the wages between male and female workers in jobs of the same value shall be prohibited.

It also stipulates that Articles (30) and (31) of Law 36/2012 shall be abrogated, reported BNA.

The Prime Minister, and ministers  each in their capacity - shall implement the provisions of this decree-law which takes effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette, it added.
Cebu Pacific (CEB), the Philippines national flag carrier, has announced special commercial flights from Dubai to Manila this August, as well as additional flights to other key Asian destinations as it rebuilds international operations.



The Bayanihan (a Filipino word that best describes uniting as a community) flights or special commercial flights from Dubai to Manilaare scheduled on August 11 and 18, or two consecutive Wednesdays of the month in response to the governments call for assistance to repatriate overseas Filipinos in the Middle East while the travel ban remains in effect.



Other reinstated flights include flights to Singapore, Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo (Narita), Hongkong, Nagoya, Osaka (Kansai) and Taipei.



We remain cautiously optimistic as we gradually rebuild our international network, said Candice Iyog, Vice President for Marketing and Customer Experience of Cebu Pacific. We recognize the need for non-leisure travel to these routes and we assure everyone that we are committed to keep prioritizing safety as we restore trust and confidence in air travel.



Travel regulations issued by the governments of the Philippines, the UAE, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan will be implemented.



CEB has been rated 7/7 stars by airlineratings.com for its Covid-19 compliance as it continues to implement a multi-layered approach to safety, in accordance with global aviation standards. These include daily extensive cleaning and disinfection protocols for all aircraft and facilities, antigen testing before duty for all frontliners and crew members, and contactless flight procedures. These are all in accordance with global best practices and the highest safety standards. Aircraft are equipped with hospital grade HEPA air filters, keeping viruses at bay.



CEB operates the widest domestic network in the Philippines covering 31 destinations, on top of its eight international destinations. Its 74-strong fleet, one of the youngest in the world, includes two dedicated ATR freighters and one A330 freighter.  TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved continuation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts for further two years.

Briefing mediapersons about the Cabinet decision, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said,' the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the continuation of 1023 Fast Track Special Court (FTSCs) including 389 exclusive POCSO Courts as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2023 with an outlay of Rs 1572.86 crore (Rs.971.70 crore as Central Share and Rs 601.16 crore as State share). Central Share is to be funded from Nirbhaya Fund. The Scheme was launched on 02.10.2019.'

The Government has always given paramount importance to the safety and security of women and children. Towards empowering the girl child, the Government has already launched several programmes like 'BetiBachaoBetiPadhao' etc.

Incidents of rape of minor girls below the age of twelve years and women below the age of sixteen years have shaken the conscience of the entire nation. The occurrence of such incidents and prolonged trials of

convicts had necessitated the creating of a dedicated court machinery which could expedite trial and provide immediate relief to the victims of sexual offences.

To bring more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Central Government

enacted "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018" and made provision of stringent punishment including death penalty for perpetrators of rape. This led to the establishment of the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs).

Fast Track Special Courts are dedicated courts expected to ensure swift dispensation of justice. They have a better clearance rate as compared to the regular courts and hold speedy trials. Besides providing quick

justice to the hapless victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.

Currently covering 28 States, it is proposed to be expanded to cover all 31 states which are eligible to join the Scheme. It is supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing time bound justice to hapless

victims of sexual offences in the country including the remote and far - flung areas.

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New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) India said on Thursday it is closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, amid the escalating violence engulfing the war-torn country.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, answering queries at a media briefing here, also said that New Delhi will share its vision and perspectives on Afghanistan during Fridays UN Security Council meeting, being held under the presidency of India, to discuss the situation in that country.

We look forward to productive deliberations on this important issue, he said.

Referring to the August 3 UNSC press statement on the escalating violence in Afghanistan, he said it echoes much of what we have been saying.

On Afghanistan and what support the Indian government was giving, he said India and Afghanistan share a close relationship.

Our relations are broad based, and cover various aspects, including a strong development partnership. We are also strategic partners, and are guided by the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2011.

We have been supporting the government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future, where the interests of all sections of Afghan society, including women and minorities are met.

We are closely monitoring the evolving security situation, and we continue to call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire. We support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process, the spokesperson added.



The announcement of the UNSC session on Afghanistan comes two days after Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to discuss convening of an emergency UN Security Council Session on Afghanistan, in view of the worsening security situation.

Indias Permanent Representative to the UN T.S. Tirumurti tweeted on Thursday: UN #SecurityCouncil will meet on Friday, 6th August, under Indian Presidency to discuss and take stock of the situation in # Afghanistan.

In its August 3 statement, the UNSC had expressed its deep concern at the high levels of violence in Afghanistan following the Talibans military offensive and called for an immediate reduction in the violence.

It also said the Talibans deliberate attacks on civilians and UN personnel may constitute war crimes, and added it does not support restoration of the Islamic Emirate in the country.

The UN body also condemned in the strongest terms the deplorable attack against the UN compound in Herat on July 30, in which one Afghan guard was killed and several others injured.

The UNSC members also expressed their deep concern about the reported serious human rights abuses and violations in communities affected by the ongoing armed conflict across the country.

India is holding the rotating presidency for the month of August of the 15-member council. Its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council began on January 1, 2021. India will again preside over the Council in December next year, the last month of its two-year tenure.

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New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) Massive uproar erupted in Rajya Sabha on Thursday forcing two back-to-back adjournments soon after the House convened for the day.

Minutes after various reports were laid on the table, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh recalled yesterday's incident involving an All India Trinamool Congress(AITC) MP who tried to enter the Rajya Sabha chamber after being suspended for the day.

In all, six AITC Members were suspended for the day for creating a ruckus over the Pegasus snooping row.

Terming the incident 'unfortunate', the Deputy Chairman said that on being stopped by the security personnel, (the member) broke the glass of one of the doors of the inner blocks of the Rajya Sabha chamber.

Further, a lady security officer was hit by the glass piece and got injured. She has lodged a complaint on the matter.

"This is unbecoming conduct of the member of Rajya Sabha and is highly deplorable...," said the Deputy Chairman.

As soon as Mr Singh completed his speech, senior AITC Member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, with a black ribbon tied on his wrist, rose from his seat and stated that the member mentioned in the incident was supposed to come here (into the House) and to take the bag after the adjournment.

"There was no meeting, the House was adjourned for the day. They were not allowed by the security people and in the commotion, glass pane was broken and how come that the responsibility of that lies in today..how come they are suspended today," Roy said.

"What is going on..what is going on...what is going on," he screamed in anger.

Following this, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge remarked that the protest that happened in the House yesterday is not new.

"Kal ka incident koi naya nahi hai ki pradarshan karna, yahan par apni baat rakhne ke liye jo kuch hum log karte hain wo democratic way se hi karte hain..(The incident that happened yesterday is not new. Whatever we do to put across our points are done through democratic means)," Kharge said.

He also quoted Late BJP leader in the House Arun Jaitley who had said, "disruption is a part of democracy."

With yesterday's episode leading to suspension of six TMC MPs, the House was expected to start on a stormy note today. While the Upper house has seen frequent disruptions and adjournments, the suspension of MPs has added fuel to the fire.

The opposition party members have stuck to their demand for a discussion and probe into alleged Pegasus snooping, farm laws, price rise and other issues. While government is agreeable to discuss all the issues other than the Pegasus spyware scandal.

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Mob vandalises Hindu temple in Pakistan

Islamabad, Aug 5 (UNI) A frenzied mob vandalized a Hindu temple and smashed the idols of the gods inside in Bhong city of Rahimyar Khan in Pakistans Punjab.

Videos uploaded on social media showed a crowd of around 50 people entering the temple, smashing its doors and vandalizing the premises of the temple. The mob, armed with heavy wooden beams and iron rods smashed the idols and the glass case around the idols, and also the furniture inside.

Another bad day for #Hindus as Ganesh #Temple in Bhong city of Rahimyar Khan was attacked by miscreants. The beasts daringly live telecast the attack on Facebook, posted rights activist Kapil Dev.
Moscow, Aug 5 (UNI/Sputnik) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will travel to Tehran on Thursday for the inauguration of Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, the TOLOnews broadcaster reported on Wednesday.

Notably, Ghani's visit abroad comes amid the intensifying armed confrontation between the Afghan government sources and the Taliban (terrorist group, banned in Russia). On Tuesday, the militants attacked the residence of the Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi in Kabul.

The situation in Iran is also tense, as the inauguration ceremony will take place against the backdrop of a new wave of criticism targeting Tehran over its alleged role in the recent attack on the Japanese-owned Mercer Street oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that killed two crew members. Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States have stated that Iran was behind the attack, calling for an international response.

Nevertheless, the ceremony is expected to be attended by officials from 73 countries, including 10 heads of state, 20 parliament speakers, and 11 foreign ministers, as well as representatives of 11 international and regional organizations.

Iran held its presidential election on June 18, which resulted in Raisi emerging victorious with roughly 62% of the vote.

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Kabul, Aug 4 (UNI) The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on the house of Afghan acting Defence Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi in downtown Kabul on Tuesday night, terming it a martyrdom operation.

The attack, which took place around 8 pm local time in Shirpoor area of Kabul's heavily fortified Green Zone where most of the high-ranking government officials live, killed eight people, including a woman, and left more than 20 others wounded.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the group targeted the residence on Tuesday night, adding that an important meeting was underway at the time.

According to Tolo News, first a car bomb was detonated close to the house of Mohammadi and then four gunmen entered a nearby house and fired at security guards.

Afghan security forces arrived at the scene shortly after the attack and ambulances were seen leaving the area soon.

Three attackers entered the house of Mohammad Azim Mohseni, an MP from Baghlan, nearby after the blast and opened fire on the guards.

Mohseni confirmed that he was not at home when the attack happened.

There were four to seven attackers, security sources told Tolo.

A security source said that a security guard of Mohammadis house is among those killed, and another was wounded.

Mohammadi and his family were not at home when the attack took place.

The attack marked a major escalation in the Taliban's campaign in Afghanistan, with the militant group making territorial gains across the country.

Meanwhile, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has said the Taliban will be defeated by Afghans and the people will confront them and form an uprising against them if the militant group continues its violence.

If the Taliban continue to oppose that--this would be confronted but I want this confrontation to be political, not military, Karzai said in an interview with Russias RTA. They must agree to that or they will be defeated. The Afghan people will rise against them.

Karzai said the Afghan people are giving the Taliban an opportunity.

This means an opportunity to coexist and to allow the country to progress. If they dont allow that and if they continue to seek their own domination of Afghanistan the way they think of it, that will give rise to a national uprising without a doubt and I will be one of those people, Karzai said.

On Tuesday night, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar called up Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to request convening of an emergency session on Afghanistan at the UN Security Council, with India holding the month-long presidency of the 15-member world body.

Atmar also hosted foreign envoys to brief them on the Talibans continued brutalities, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

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UW Professors Research on Ethical Electronic Monitoring of Employees Receives National Award

Chase Thiel

A University of Wyoming faculty member and four colleagues research that examines the effect of electronically monitoring employees was selected as the top paper for practical impact by the Organizational Behavior (OB) Division of the Academy of Management.

Chase Thiel, an associate professor of management and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program Professor of Business Ethics in UWs College of Business, was the lead author of the paper, titled Stripped of Agency: The Paradoxical Effect of Employee Monitoring on Deviance. The article won the OB Divisions Outstanding Practical Implications for Management Paper Award.

The Academy of Management is the largest organization for management faculty worldwide, and the OB Division is the academys largest with more than 5,000 members.

Established in 1936, the Academy of Management, a professional association for scholars of management and organizations, publishes several academic journals, organizes conferences, and provides other forums for management professors and managers to communicate research and ideas.

Thiel conducted the research with Julena Bonner, from Utah State University; the University of Missouris John Bush; Niharika Garud, from the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia; and David Welsh, from Arizona State University.

The award announcement that my co-authors and I won came as a complete surprise, Thiel says. The Organizational Behavior Division is the academys largest, and it receives so many high-quality papers each year for consideration. It is an honor to be recognized among many excellent scholars.

Drawing upon social cognitive theory, the marketing professors research shows that -- contrary to popular opinion and claims by monitoring software companies -- monitoring actually has the potential to increase deviance levels because it undermines employees sense of agency that creates feelings of responsibility for moral behavior.

The research reaffirms that the best deterrent to employee workplace deviance is the employees own sense of moral responsibility, and employee monitoring is potentially problematic because it has the potential to erode that personal sense of responsibility and replace it with external regulation, Thiel says.

Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated workplace trends -- such as remote work -- that are driving a sharp increase in the already prevalent practice of electronically monitoring employees, the research findings have important implications for business organizations, the researchers say.

More prominently, the management professors caution employers against hasty adoption of monitoring systems, as doing so may result in more of the behavior they would like to prevent through employee monitoring.

As a silver lining, the research also found that when employers treat their employees fairly overall, the implementation of monitoring systems is not as problematic, because employees do not see the monitoring as a tool to undermine their personal agency -- which refers to ones capability to originate and direct actions for given purposes.

A member of the award selection committee noted that the research is necessary, both from an ethical and a practical perspective, and has the largest potential to make a significant impact in the real world.

Thiel agrees with the assessment.

I am so happy that our work was recognized with this award because, above all, I want my work to have practical value and be useful to current organizations, he adds.

Thiel joined the UW College of Business faculty in 2016 and serves as a content expert in the areas of human resource management, organizational behavior and business ethics. His primary research examines unethical behavior in the workplace, with a special emphasis on understanding the causes of unethical behavior through a behavioral lens; expanding current definitions and measures of unethical behavior; identifying practices that encourage ethical behavior; and understanding the role and tactics of ethical leaders in the creation and maintenance of ethical workplaces.

His research has appeared or is forthcoming in leading management journals, such as the Journal of Applied Psychology; Personnel Psychology; Journal of Management; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; The Leadership Quarterly; and the Journal of Business Ethics.
UW Seeks Input, Forms Committees to Advise on Academic Restructuring, Other Changes

The University of Wyoming is moving forward with the process to gather input on proposed reconfigurations and reductions of academic programs that are part of a plan outlined to the UW Board of Trustees last month.

In addition to accepting feedback through an online survey available to campus and off-campus stakeholders, the Office of Academic Affairs has established committees for each of the major recommendations for program discontinuance, reorganization, consolidation or reduction. Those committees, their charges and membership may be found here.

Comprehensive information about UWs academic restructuring plan and program reviews under UW Regulation 2-13 is available at www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/program-review/current/index.html.

Faculty, staff, student and constituent feedback is essential for the university to emerge from this process with the best possible outcomes. Such input helped shape the plans presented to the Board of Trustees in July, and it will inform our work as we refine the details of the final plan to present to the board in November, Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin Carman says. We encourage people to engage in the process by completing the online survey. The work of the review committees will be vital in moving the new organization and academic units forward under a new structure. Additionally, there will be opportunities in the weeks to come to participate in listening sessions or town-hall meetings.

Academic program reorganizations, consolidations, reductions and discontinuances are governed by UW Regulation 2-13, which requires a period of review to seek feedback from stakeholders including the Faculty Senate, the Staff Senate, the Associated Students of UW and other interested parties. This process was initiated last month, with the deadline for feedback Oct. 1. Under that timeline, the finalized academic and administrative reductions and reorganizations are slated to be presented to the trustees in November.

Specifically, the plan presented to the board calls for changing the College of Engineering and Applied Science to the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Currently in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Departments of Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physics and Astronomy would move to the newly named College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The Departments of Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering would be discontinued, but those degrees would continue to be offered under a new academic unit. Likewise, the Department of Chemical Engineering would be discontinued, but its degrees would be maintained under a reorganized unit that includes the current Department of Chemistry. The Department of Geology and Geophysics would be reduced in size, and it would join the Department of Petroleum Engineering in a new unit to include geological sciences and preserve geological, geophysics and geosciences degrees.

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources would become the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Moving to that college from the College of Arts and Sciences would be the Departments of Botany and Zoology and Physiology, and the Life Sciences Program. The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics would be consolidated with the Department of Economics in the College of Business while maintaining degree programs in economics and agricultural and applied economics. The program in agricultural communications would move to the Department of Communications and Journalism. The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences would be reduced, with the nutrition program moving to the College of Health Sciences, and early childhood education moving to the College of Education.

The College of Arts and Sciences would become the College of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts -- bringing UW in line with the way many universities organize those disciplines. The new structure would facilitate greater emphasis on core liberal arts disciplines that are critical to a comprehensive university education. The Creative Writing Program would be consolidated into the Department of English, and the Department of Visual and Literary Arts would be renamed to the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and add the Departments of Music, and Theatre and Dance. The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies would be reduced. The American Studies Program would move into the School of Gender, Culture and Social Justice, with a number of low-enrollment degree programs in that school combined into a single degree with various concentrations.

The School of Counseling, Leadership and Design would be discontinued in the College of Education, and the college would be reorganized.

A number of low-enrollment degree programs have been identified for discontinuation as well.

The proposed academic changes, along with the launching of new initiatives, are part of an overall plan that aims to better serve Wyoming, adjust to economic shifts, respond to a changing higher-education landscape and deal with state budget cuts.

The proposed changes would reduce expenditures by more than $13 million annually, as the university seeks to address budget cuts and restructure to better support its students and the state economy, and to grow new revenue streams. The restructuring and budget reduction would lead to the elimination of as many as 75 faculty and staff positions at the university, including up to 10 department heads. Programs that are not discontinued or reorganized, including UW-Casper, would receive a 3 percent budget reduction.

The proposed changes to academic programs have been informed by an in-depth review considering enrollment and graduation numbers; scholarly output; external grant funding; constitutional and statutory requirements; private support; and relevance to the states economy and goals. Students currently enrolled in programs eyed for discontinuation would be able to complete their degrees.
Richard Jenkins, the founder and CEO of Saildrone, drives a tow boat as he pulls two of his companys drone boats to the mouth of the Saint Johns River on their way to being launched into the Atlantic Ocean on July 23 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Baptist Health Employees Must Get Vaccine

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Baptist Health will require all of its statewide employees to be vaccinated by October 31, in response to the recent rise of COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated.The decision was announced to staff on Monday. It was made in partnership with nearly a dozen other healthcare systems across the commonwealth.Staff members and providers who cannot get vaccinated for medical or religious reasons may apply for an exemption by August 30. Those with an approved exemption will be subject to periodic testing.
Drake Lighting Expanding to Paducah

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Greater Paducah Economic Development has announced the expansion of Drake Lighting to Paducah.Drake Lighting is the American distributor for Canada-based Technostrobe, Inc. They distribute obstruction lighting solutions for structures such as cellular communication towers, broadcast towers, industrial chimney stacks, and wind turbines.The company will be investing approximately $2 million in an existing facility coupled with the construction of a distribution and warehousing facility in the coming months. Drake will be employing 60 full-time employees and generating a recurring community economic impact of $6.8 million annually.Drake has acquired the former ACBL building in the Paducah Commerce Park. Their expansion into Commerce Park represents the second new project in the Commerce Park this year.David Shepeard, President of Drake Lighting, stated, "For the past year, Drake Lighting has been evaluating how to expand our corporate office. When the office building at 2000 McCracken Blvd. became available, we were intrigued with the possibilities it would open for our business. After meeting with GPED and the City Planners, we chose to change our plans and focused on moving to Paducah. We are a small business with large plans, so this move will allow us to work on our growth and expand into new opportunities. We look forward to the move and building a strong relationship with the business community of Paducah."Drake Lighting's announcement represents the fourth project GPED has announced this year, resulting in a total of $72 million of capital investment and over 100 jobs with a cumulative recurring economic impact of over $15 million per year.
Driver Pursued in US 60 Crash Dies

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - The man who reportedly fled from law enforcement Monday and was later involved in a crash has died from injuries he received.That means both drivers in the crash at the intersection of US 60 and Cairo Road have died.Kentucky State Police said 27-year-old Lamont X. Young of De Soto, Illinois, fled from a McCracken County Sheriffs deputy who was trying to arrest him at a motel on Cairo Road. Young didn't stop at the intersection and struck an SUV driven by 60-year-old Deborah K. Burge of Cunningham, and she died at the scene.Police say Young was airlifted to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, but died early Tuesday.On the Net:
Kathy Griffin has revealed her surgery went well following her cancer diagnosis.

The 60-year-old comedian took to Instagram earlier this week to share with fans that she has stage one cancer in her left lung and needs to have half of the organ removed.

And on Tuesday (03.08.21) she shared an update to let her followers know the surgery was a success, and that she is grateful for the love she has received since her announcement.

She wrote on Twitter: Wow! Im so grateful for all the love you guys are sending me. My cancer surgery went well yesterday. Phew. (sic)

In Kathys original post, she revealed she has never smoked, and said doctors are optimistic that she will beat her cancer.

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She said: "I've got to tell you guys something. I have cancer. I'm about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed. Yes, I have lung cancer even though I've never smoked! The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained to my left lung. Hopefully no chemo or radiation after this and I should have normal function with my breathing."

At the time, she also said she was hopeful that she would make a full recovery after surgery and predicted she will be "up and running around as usual" within a month.

She added: "I should be up and running around as usual in a month or less. It's been a helluva 4 years, trying to get back to work, making you guys laugh and entertaining you, but I'm gonna be just fine. (sic)

And Kathy went on to praise the COVID-19 vaccine, saying: "Of course I am fully vaccinated for Covid. The consequences for being unvaccinated would have been even more serious. Please stay up to date on your medical check ups. It'll save your life. XX00, KG. (sic)
(The Center Square)  More than 7,000 COVID-positive migrants have been released into the border town of McAllen, Texas, by Border Patrol since February, with more than 1,500 in the past week, the city reported Wednesday.

As a result, McAllen officials said Wednesday it is building new temporary shelters to deal with a "rapidly escalating" surge of RIMs (refugees, immigrants and migrants) who have entered the U.S. illegally through McAllen and were released by Border Patrol, stretching city resources thin.

"Since mid-February of 2021 there have been over 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 positive immigrants released into the city of McAllen by [Customs and Border Protection], including over 1,500 new cases in the past seven days," the city said.

The sheer number of immigrants being released into the city has become a crisis: a crisis the City of McAllen did not create and has proactively tried to avoid for seven years, it added.

McAllen asked Hidalgo County to place a temporary emergency shelter on property in McAllen on 23rd Street for the overwhelming number of immigrants stranded in McAllen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The surge of illegal immigration began in 2014 under the Obama administration, McAllen officials said Wednesday, and has continued for seven years to the present surge the community is now experiencing.

The city of McAllen issued a disaster declaration, requesting resources from Hidalgo County and the state of Texas, prompting Hidalgo County to also issue a disaster declaration.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said the nursing shortage in the county compounded by the influx of RIMs testing positive for COVID-19 has the city overrun and understaffed. The infection rate among RIMs has increased by 16%.

Both Cortez and McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said they have not heard a single word from anyone in the Biden administration. Cortez, like Democratic Congressman Henry Cueller, has called on the Biden administration to pause its open border policy. Neither have received a response.

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News the Biden administrations policy of releasing COVID-positive immigrants instead of expelling them through Title 42  a Trump-era policy in which infected migrants were sent back to their home countries  is unacceptable and they keep doing it."

"Joe Biden likes to talk about this pandemic, well Ill tell you what, the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was a super spreader event because their open border is endangering not just the people of Texas but people all across the country," Cruze added.

Along the southern border, Border Patrol encountered more than 188,000 people entering the U.S. illegally in June, and more than 210,000 in July, according to preliminary numbers. These exclude more than roughly 50,000 who evade capture every month.

While the Biden administration says it is turning away some entering the U.S. illegally under Title 42, all unaccompanied children and families with young children are being processed and released into the U.S. regardless if they have COVID-19 or not.

In June, of the more than 55,000 family units encountered at the border, less than 9,000 were expelled under Title 42.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order to stop the transportation of RIMs who have COVID on state roads. Abbott was sued by the Justice Department, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for next week.

The Biden administration is reportedly planning on vaccinating those entering the U.S. illegally, Fox News reports, but this has not happened yet, and officials in McAllen havent been told of any such plans.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose Florida law enforcement officers are actively helping Texas DPS at the border, called out Biden on Wednesday saying, "Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.
Russian military members practice manipulating the assault vehicle and wheeled infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) of the Chinese PLA. (Source: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation)

NINGXIA, Aug. 5 -- The China-Russian joint exercise Zapad/Interaction-2021,a strategic military training exercise, will be launched in the Qingtongxia Joint Tactical Training Base in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from August 9 to 13 as scheduled. On August 3, the arriving Russian participating troops tried out the Chinese PLAs armored vehicles for the first time.

Since their arrival, the Russian participating troops have been engaged in equipment run-in and personnel exchange with their Chinese counterparts. At present, they are speeding up familiarization with the site set-up and drill process. They have tried out the Type-11 assault vehicles and Type-08 wheeled IFVs, the first time for the Russian troops to use Chinas weapons and equipment in formed unit.

It is learnt that the Chinese side has compiled an equipment operation manual in Russian, filmed instructional videos, and applied various assistant facilities such as driving simulator, shooting simulator, and analog radio, to help the Russian participating troops familiarize themselves with the weapons and equipment involved as soon as possible.

Taking counter-terrorism and stability maintenance as the mission scenario, the Zapad/Interaction2021 joint exercise will see Chinese and Russian troops jointly carrying out strikes against terrorist forces in mixed groups. The special operations forces of both sides will complete the task of seizing the high ground and trench in accordance with the pre-plan, and then carry out the task of penetrating the enemy in depth.

The participating troops involved mainly come from the Chinese PLA Western Theater Command and Russias Eastern Military District, with a total of more than 10,000 military personnel and multi-types aircraft, artillery and armored equipment.

In recent years, the Chinese and Russian armed forces have tried out each other's equipment in joint exercises with the ever-growing strategic mutual trust of the two militaries. Both sides troops have enhanced friendship, improved tacit understanding and common capabilities to fight side by side during the process of joint training.
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The Never Alone Recovery Hall is a peer support community in Ronan located at 122 Main Street SE in the old tribal health fitness center is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm for peer support. Back row L-R: Steven Morigeau, Krystal Orman, Ashlee Froehlich, Angela Evans, Bernice Devereaux, Dessilynn Brown, Drug Court Coordinator Dana Come At Night, and Todd Smith. Front row L-R: Shay Ashley, Don Roberts, Julie Lamberson-Fisher, and the Scoobie house dog Harold.
Char-Koosta News

RAVALLI  The busy summer at aquatic invasive species (AIS) water-craft inspection stations has had its ups and downs for the Flathead Nation inspectors at Ravalli and Thompson Falls. Thankfully its been mostly positive as the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks public information effort about the damage a zebra and/or quagga mussel infestation would cost the Montana economy and water ecosystem, and water recreationalist responsibility in preventing that has mostly taken hold among Montana and regional boat owners. However, it has been a record setting season of mussel-fouled watercraft.

Another key component of the mussel infestation is the training the FWP provides to its inspection station personnel as well its inspection station contract partners. That training, among other things, focuses on detecting mussels and professionally dealing with the water recreationalist public.

So far this summer, on the detection end the phalanx of inspectors as of July 27, have found 42 fouled watercraft. The 42nd fouled water-craft was discovered at the Ravalli inspection station this past Saturday, July 24, on a boat from Kansas. It is the fourth fouled water-craft discovered at Ravalli. The Ravalli station that is open 24/7 is literally the inspection station last line of defense to Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.

The Columbia River basin that includes the Flathead River Basin is the only river basin in America not infested by mussels. An AIS infestation in the Flathead Basin and other Montana waterways and -bodies would ding the states economy up to the tune of $240 million annually.

The 42 mussel-fouled watercraft is a new record, but will no doubt not be the record at the end of the summer water recreation season. The previous record of 35 mussel-fouled watercraft was set last summer.

To this point, the Ravalli inspection station has conducted 11,000 inspections. The other Flathead Nation inspection station at Thompson Falls has conducted 2,700 inspections.

The total inspections conducted is 73,036; among those inspections were 17,769 watercraft last launched in states with known AIS infestations. The Clearwater Junction station has conducted the most inspections with 19,600 inspections.

On the ground, those numbers add up to a busy hectic season for the inspectors that have to deal with both the ups and downs of dealing with the public. That is where the training and public information are key.

I feel like this year Fish, Wildlife and Parks public communication effort has taken hold with the boating public about their responsibility of cleaning their boats in a timely manner, said Ravalli inspection station team leader Lacey Parker, adding that the in-house chain of command communication among FWP and the inspector station personnel has been awesome. This year our staff has been stable, and they bring a lot of energy and understanding of their responsibilities as inspectors.

Some of the responsibilities are dealing with drive-bys and the boat owners who arent quite in-tune with their responsibilities to stop at every inspection station they encounter en-route to the western Montana waterways and -bodies.

Most drive-by boat owners are very willing to cooperate with the inspections, Parker said. But a few think they dont have to stop because they have an inspection seal.

The Ravalli station has on-site tribal game wardens to chase down drive-bys, and to handle confrontational interactions by some boat owners.

Its one thing to get mad but its a whole other thing to get violent, said Ravalli inspector Isaac Lozeau.

In a recent inspection at Ravalli, a water-craft owner was less than gracious with having to be inspected. He had paddle boards mounted on the top of his vehicle and threw a hard body paddle board down at Lozeau, who had to quickly dodge the paddle board projectile.

Thankfully we had game wardens on site, and they cooled the situation down. Garrett (Fenton) gave him a warning, Lozeau said. Those types of people mess up the good vibe we try to maintain here.

In another recent confrontational incident, a RV owner without a watercraft among a group of boaters pulled into the Ravalli inspection station compound during a busy weekend. The compound was full of water-craft being inspected or in line to be inspected. The folks in the RV were asked to leave to make room for the water-craft that needed to be inspected. They were told there was an area to wait just down the road in Ravalli.

The exchange immediately turned ugly. The female inspectors were called fat b.es and cs.

Parker said, it was somewhat deflating to hear that, but she said the staff handled the incident professionally. But it wasnt the last the inspectors heard from the people in that RV. On their return trip through Ravalli the same folks in that RV slowed down and yelled obscenities at the inspectors.

On the flipside, Parker said the community of Thompson Falls has embraced the inspection station personnel there.

The relationship with the public in Thompson Falls is great, Parker said. Community members have stopped by the station to thank us for what we are doing. Some have brought gifts of snacks and drinks for the staff.

Each year is different. We have a lot more friendly interaction with boat owners this year and that has a positive impact with our inspectors, Parker said. We also have a lot more people saying we are trampling on their rights this year. We listen to them politely and inform them of the law and their responsibilities. We dont lower ourselves to their level. We just dont go there.
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Tribal Nation leaders meeting with Vice-President Harris and Secretary of Interior Haaland promises to be the first of more

Char-Koosta News

Flathead Nation Tribal Councilwoman Shelly Fyant said she felt prior to the meeting that she and five other Tribal Nations political, spiritual and activist leaders had with Vice-President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland would be, for her, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Instead, it turned out to be a first of what promises to be more such meetings with the pair of female trailblazers that occupy in the very top tier of political and administrative seats of power in the federal government.

The Triban Nation leaders with Chairwoman Fyant were Oglala Sioux Tribe President Kevin Killer; Protect the Sacred Dine founder Allie Young; North Dakota Native Caucus co-founder, Prairie Rose Seminole; and, Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka.

Prior to the meeting we talked about the issues we wanted to discuss with about with Vice-President Harris and Secretary Haaland, Fyant said. But Vice-President Harris opening remarks covered them all. This is so different than how its been for the last four years.

Both women are people of color.

Kamala Harris, an African American and Asian American, is the first female vice-president and the highest-ranking female official in the history of the United States.

Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico, is the first American Indian to serve in a cabinet level position as Secretary of Interior.

Chairwoman Fyant, herself, has followed the footsteps of a growing number of female members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes that have served on the 10-member Tribal Council that is presently comprised of five female and five male representatives.

High on the list of topics discussed was the national, state and local attacks on voting rights that are predominantly aimed at establishing hurdles to people of colors access to equitable voting opportunities. In Montana, that means Indian people.

To that point, Fyant discussed redistricting, Get Out the Vote efforts on the Flathead Reservation, the work of the Montana American Indian Caucus as well as the voter suppression efforts that are occurring in the state.

We talked about how hard it is for people in Indian Country to get to voting polls, Fyant said, adding that such things as poverty, long distances to voting polls, and dependable vehicle access are inherent obstacles that have to some extent been remedied by voting activism efforts that, among other things, included the ability collect ballots in the rural areas and deliver them to respective polling places or county election offices. However, those and similar types of voter assistance have now been severely hampered by the recent Republican majority Montana Legislature voter suppression bill that Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law. Its the same in all the other states. But no matter, how they try to hold us down, we will eventually find a solution to this. It will require different tactics in each state but with Injunuity no matter how long we are held down we will find solutions that uplift us.

In a statement released by the tribal leaders that attended the meeting stated: The only way to protect our most fundamental and constitutional right  the right to voteis for Congress to meet its fiduciary trust responsibility to protect the rights of the Native American people by enacting the Native American Voting Rights Act as part of any legislation Congress passes with respect to voting rights, tribal leaders who attended the meeting said in a statement. (Read the statement here).

Fyant said patience and determination is the key. The recent historical settlements of long fought stormy battles the Flathead Nation has fought with dogged head determination like a bison plodding face first into the storm. She was referencing the acquisition of the former Kerr Dam, now officially known as Selis Ksanka QIispe Dam, the settlement of the Flathead Nation Federal Reserved Water Rights Compact, and the restoration of the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

We were so elated that they were so down to earth, and compassionate human beings. They listened to us, our concerns, our issues, and understood them, Fyant said, adding that she knew that Haaland would be well aware of them but was presently surprised that Harris was very well informed. Vice-President Harris said, That this is just the beginning of a long-term relationship. We will speak again. Our meeting was not just a one-off. That is so uplifting. So promising.


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This frame grab image from video, shows a Hindu temple cordoned off by local authorities after it was stormed by a Muslim mob, in Bhong, in Rahim Yar Khan district, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Pakistan on Thursday deployed paramilitary troops in a conservative town in the country's eastern Punjab province to avoid any communal violence after a Muslim mob badly damaged a Hindu temple there. Wednesday's attack happened after a court granted bail to an eight-year-old Hindu boy who allegedly desecrated a madrassa, or religious school, earlier this week.
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church Brian Houston leaves a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearings in Sydney, Australia. Houston has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.
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1. Comedian Amanda Seales (of HBOs Insecure) is about to take you to school. Sick of the stereotypes about African Americans in media and the overall lack of knowledge of black history, Seales mixes humor and her doctorate in African American studies with her love of games and music to cr
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A few times, after seeing that Id be near children who were not masked, I thought twice about whether to put mine on. If their parents are not worried about them getting sick, why should I? But putting my mask on was the proper thing to do.
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Dr. R. Jerome Williams Jr. said one of the most rewarding parts of his career was when he had family members of patients also become patients. Meeting family members motivated me to continue waking up and going back to the practice, he said during the virtual St. Louis Foundations 21st Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards on July 29. Williams was the recipient of the Lifetime Achiever in Health Care Award.
The School Board voted July 28 to extend a requirement that all students, staff and visitors wear masks in the new school year. The district said Monday that it would comply but did an about-face Wednesday and said the mask mandate was still in effect and would be reviewed at a meeting Tuesday. Parents have flooded School Board members with emails, overwhelmingly in support of mask mandates.
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Masks Required When McCracken Schools Start

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - As classes start today, McCracken County Schools will now require masks for everyone in their buildings.Superintendent Steve Carter announced the new policy Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook video, saying this will hopefully allow five days of in-person instruction each week with limited quarantines.Carter said, "In the past eight days alone, there have been over 63 school-age children who have been tested positive for COVID. This is definitely a change we did not want to make, however, we feel it is one that is critical in limiting the number of quarantines and isolations of students and staff."Carter said he hopes this is a temporary adjustment, and he's certain the community will face this challenge and have an outstanding school year.The Facebook post says the decision was made after consulting with local health departments, and the district will review local data weekly.The post also cites state guidelines, which require a person to quarantine for 10 days if theyve had close contact (within three feet in a classroom) with someone whos tested positive for COVID-19. The exposed student does NOT need to quarantine if they are fully vaccinate or both people were properly wearing masks.Since vaccines are not required for students or staff, the district say mask-wearing is their primary tool for preventing quarantines.Here is the video from Facebook:On the Net:
Woman Charged in Paducah Burglary

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A McCracken County woman was charged in association of a reported burglary on Thursday.Police were called at 7:30 am Thursday to a home in the 800 block of South 5th Street where a woman told officers that someone had broken a window out of a door and took tools and a computer monitor. The woman also said a Pulsar generator, valued at $400, was taken from near a storage shed in the back yard.The victim told police that 33-year-old Lauren Howard was allegedly seen at the home the night of the break-in. Police said that while they were taking the report, a friend of the victim called and said they had seen a generator in the back seat of a car driven by Howard and were following the vehicle.The victim's friend followed Howard to a home on Gayle Lane, and McCracken County deputies detained her there. Police officers say they found the stolen generator, the tools and monitor in the back seat of the car Howard had been driving.Howard was arrested on a charge of second-degree burglary and taken to the McCracken County Regional Jail.
Murray Woman Jailed on Meth Charge

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - A traffic stop Wednesday night led to the arrest of a Murray woman on drug and other charges.McCracken County deputies stopped the vehicle on Old Mayfield Road for several alleged traffic violations.Deputies said the driver, 29-year-old Shea Reeves, appeared nervous and could not provide proof of insurance or registration. Paducah Police Department K-9 Joker was brought to the scene and reportedly indicated the presence of illegal narcotics in the vehicle.A search of the vehicle allegedly uncovered used syringes that deputies say tested positive for methamphetamine. Authorities say she then admitted to a deputy that she had four more syringes containing meth on her person.Reeves was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to produce an insurance card, and no registration plates.She was taken to the McCracken County Jail.
WKCTC to Require Masks In Buildings

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - West Kentucky Community and Technical College will require face masks be worn inside campus buildings as students come back for the fall semester.The indoor masking mandate becomes effective on Friday and includes the statewide KCTCS school system and its office in Versailles."We understand the frustration people feel having to return to wearing masks," said WKCTC President Anton Reece. "We're frustrated too, but we are committed to doing everything we possibly can to keep everyone safe so we can have a great new year on our campus."WKCTC has continued heavy cleaning throughout the campus this summer and will provide signage to remind individuals to wear masks while inside buildings.Registration is underway way now for fall classes to begin August 16.
Community Invited to Resiliency Center Celebration

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MARSHALL COUNTY - The Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center will celebrate the Marshall County Resiliency Center's one-year anniversary with an open house on Thursday, August 18.The event will occur from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at 1012 Mani Street, Suite C, in Benton. Guests will be able to participate in mini-events from MCRC partners throughout the night, including yoga, art projects, COVID-19 vaccines, and more.Refreshments will also be served, including the infamous Merryman House cookies. As always, all events and services are free."The Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center is thrilled to mark the anniversary of the Marshall County Resiliency Center being open to the public for an entire year," Executive Director Dr. Mary Foley said. "This open house is aimed to showcase some of our community partners who have made the last year possible. With their help and all of the community's support, we're closer to reaching our goal  to build a resilient community through connection and support."The MCRC was developed by and is a program of the Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center to serve as a comprehensive place of healing to the community at large after the events of January 23, 2018, at Marshall County High School. The center serves as a free and confidential resource that offers support and care to victims of crime residing in the eight-county Purchase Region.For more information, contact Kayla Myers, Director of Community Engagement, at 270-443-6001 or by email at kaylam@merrymanhouse.org. You can also find more information by clicking here.
Under 10 Percent of Marshall Cases Were Vaccinated

By West Kentucky Star Staff

BENTON - In an effort to encourage Marshall County residents to get vaccinated, the Marshall County Health Department shared numbers on "breakthrough" cases in the county.Public Health Director Billy Pitts said Thursday that less than 10 percent of the county's cases are among residents who have received vaccinations.Pitts said that of 194 total cases of COVID-19 in Marshall County in July, just 17 cases, or 8.8 percent, were breakthrough cases. There have been 133 total cases so far in the first few days of August with 10 cases, or 7.5 percent being among vaccinated people.Pitts said, "Breakthrough cases are far below 10%. That is still a great indicator that the vaccine works."
Hospital Systems Require Workers to Get Vaccinated

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FRANKFORT - On Thursday during his weekly Team Kentucky update, Gov. Andy Beshear said hospital executives from 11 health care systems in the commonwealth are pledging to require their health care workforce to be vaccinated for Covid 19.Yesterday the Governor announced 2,583 new cases, the highest since February 3 and a 10.08% test positivity rate which is the highest since January 24."We have an opportunity for more prosperity, more potential than ever before in my lifetime. We can have the Kentucky that we have always dreamed of. We have that potential at our fingertips," said Beshear. "But if we are truly going to realize that opportunity, we must win our war against COVID. If we are going to defeat and not just delay COVID-19, there is one and only one answer. That answer is vaccinations. So each decision that we make has to gauge the impact on getting the unvaccinated to take that shot."The health care systems adding this vaccine requirement for staff include: Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), Baptist Health, CHI Saint Joseph Health, King's Daughters Health System, Med Center Health, Norton Healthcare, Pikeville Medical Center, St. Claire Healthcare, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, UK Healthcare and UofL Health.In a joint statement, the Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky Medical Association and the Kentucky Nurses Association said: "KHA, KMA and KNA support hospitals and health systems amending their existing vaccine policies to require COVID-19 vaccines for their health care employees. Vaccination against COVID-19 is our best tool to prevent spread of the disease, protect our patients and ensure the health and well-being of our hospital workforce and all Kentuckians. We recognize that each hospital and health system is unique and encourage each hospital and health system to determine the appropriate timeline to implement a requirement."
Johnson-Smith, Wanda

Oh, Pretty Woman!

The stars called back one of their brightest lights Tuesday morning, 8/3/2021.

Loved by the entire Western Kentucky community, she was familiar to most as a lifelong educator and role model to all blessed with her acquaintance.

She loved. She lost. She loved again.

With unchallenged strength and passion she strived to live a life worth living.

In spades, in spades indeed

Missing her dearly at this time, she leaves behind her loving and gracious husband,

John; four broken hearted sons: Eddie Johnson(Julie), Daniel Johnson, Jason Johnson (Amy) and Shawn Johnson (Amanda), and one doting stepdaughter, Johnna Brookshire (Darrell). She was Grandmother to 10: Jennifer, Katie, Michaela, Kierstyn, Kara Mae, Emmaline, Rachel, Regan, Jeslee & Jack; and Great-Grandmother to six. All were cherished beyond the moon.

She also touched the lives of countless others throughout her years as a cousin, Teacher, Guidance Counselor, Elementary School Principal, and screaming little league mom! Her inspiration and fond memories will live on in our hearts and our actions. Rest easy Mom.

Sue Johnson-Smith was preceded in death by her parents Bernice & Lorena Drinkard, previous husband Jessie Johnson, and her daughter Dana Kay Johnson.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at Hughes Funeral Home of Paducah with Bro. Jeff Russell. Burial will follow at Trinity Cemetery in Hickory. Visitation will begin at 9:00 AM until service time on Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, donations honoring Sues legacy may be made to Reidland Elementary Family Resource Center, 5741 Benton Road, Paducah, KY 42003.

You may also leave a message of sympathy or light a memorial candle online at www.hughesfuneral.com.

Hughes Funeral Home of Paducah is in charge of arrangements.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-04 17:30:34|Editor: huaxia

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Asim Muhammad, from Pakistan, first traveled to northwest China's Xinjiang in 1993. There he met and fell in love with a Uyghur woman. They settled down in Urumqi and opened a jeweler's shop. Check out their story.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-04 18:49:57|Editor: huaxia

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India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier Vikrant begins its sea trials off the coast of Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, India, Aug. 4, 2021. The aircraft carrier is the largest warship built in the country having a displacement of about 40,000 tonnes. It is 262 meters long, 62 meters at the widest part and a height of 59 meters including the superstructure. (UNI via Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier Vikrant Wednesday began its sea trials off the coast of Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, officials said.

"Proud and historic day for India as the reincarnated Vikrant sails for her maiden sea trials today, in the 50th year of her illustrious predecessor's key role in victory in the 1971 war," reads a brief statement issued by the Indian navy.

The navy also described the carrier as the "largest and most complex warship ever to be designed and built in India."

An official statement said Vikrant's propulsion plants will be put to rigorous testing at the sea in addition to the trials of various navigation, communication and hull equipment.

"The commencement of sea trials of the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) after trials of various equipment at the harbor, especially during these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic is a landmark achievement for the country," the official statement said.

The IAC is the largest warship built in the country having a displacement of about 40,000 tonnes.

The IAC is 262 meters long, 62 meters at the widest part and a height of 59 meters including the superstructure.

India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh took to social media and described it as a "realization of historic milestone." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-04 21:51:08|Editor: huaxia

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Burned trees are seen after a forest fire raged in Varybobi, a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire in Varybobi in the north of Athens has burnt approximately 1,250 hectares of forest and other land, while almost 100 houses, dozens of cars and 27 businesses have been damaged so far, Greek Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing here on Wednesday. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)

ATHENS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The fire in Varybobi in the north of Athens has burnt approximately 1,250 hectares of forest and other land, while almost 100 houses, dozens of cars and 27 businesses have been damaged so far, Greek Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing here on Wednesday.

He also said that the major fire fronts seemed to be in recession. The Fire Service managed to contain the four major fire fronts to one, but there are still many scattered outbreaks.

The fire, which broke out on Tuesday in a dense pine forest area in the northern suburbs of Athens, continued to rage on Wednesday, as thousands of people were evacuated from residential zones.

A total of 442 people were taken to safety by firefighters or police during the evacuation after running into difficulties, Hardalias added.

A large part of the Attica region, including the Athens center, was covered by clouds of thick black smoke, as blazes had swept through the settlements of Adames, Varybobi, Thrakomakedones and were reaching Kryoneri and Tatoi on Wednesday morning.

"We were up against an extremely difficult fire in conditions of extreme hot weather. I hold on to the fact that we have not until now any losses of human life as positive and that the evacuation system operated in an exemplary way," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said as he joined a meeting in the mobile coordination center near the site of the fire earlier Wednesday.

"There are still difficult times ahead. We have some days yet of the heatwave and then the winds will begin, in which case I ask everyone to remain on absolute alert," he added.

Seventy-seven people were hospitalized with breathing problems due to the heavy smoke in the burning area, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said while visiting one of the hospitals treating people who suffered from the fire.

Public Power Corporation units were working to restore power supply in the region after power lines were damaged.

Faced with the biggest challenge among hundreds of wildfires this summer, Greece has requested assistance from European partners.

The European Union has activated its emergency mechanism for disasters. Cyprus and Sweden are sending groups of firefighters and firefighting planes which are expected to start operating on Wednesday, Hardalias noted.

Euthymios Lekkas, professor of environmental disaster management at the University of Athens, told the Greek national broadcaster ERT that the morphology of the area itself, the combination of the high temperatures, and the low humidity levels along with the mix of residential and forest zones, led in a condition of self-ignition and spread the fire so quickly.

"In the near future, phenomena like extreme heat waves, wildfires, floods, will be a normality. Climate crisis is here. We must start planning under new procedures. We have to change our way of thinking", he said.

Greece is experiencing its worst heatwave in decades, with temperatures in some places reaching up to 45 degrees Celsiu. The heatwave is expected to continue until the end of the week.

Greek authorities have warned that emergency measures remain in place throughout the week, while alert messages are sent to residents in areas where there is a high risk of fire, including the islands of Rhodes and Crete. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-04 22:00:35|Editor: huaxia

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Guests pose for a group photo during a ceremony themed on National Security Education Day in south China's Hong Kong, April 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

PART 7

In June, Smith said in an interview that the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong had created an "atmosphere of coercion" that threatens both the city's freedoms and its standing as an international business hub.

The disturbance in Hong Kong following the proposed ordinance amendments in June 2019 dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's economy and people's livelihood.

In 2019, Hong Kong's economy posted the first negative growth in 10 years. Official data showed that around half of service industries recorded year-on-year decreases in business revenues, as accommodation services and retail industries dropped 14.3 percent and 11.1 percent respectively, with tourist visits to Hong Kong slumping, and unemployment in retails, hospitality and catering sectors staying high.

Since the national security law in Hong Kong took effect by the end of June 2020, the society has returned to the right track and residents have lived in peace, opening up a new situation in Hong Kong where order replaces chaos.

In the first quarter of 2021, the city's number of crimes dropped about 10 percent year-on-year, while gross domestic product (GDP) saw a 7.9 percent year-on-year increase.

In June, the International Monetary Fund released a report that reaffirmed Hong Kong's position as an international financial center.

According to the World Investment Report 2021 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong remained the world's third largest destination for foreign direct investment in 2020.

The national security law in Hong Kong only targets four types of offences, namely, secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. It is designed to deter and punish a handful of criminals seriously jeopardizing national security, and to protect the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Hong Kong people.

All efforts and law enforcement relating to safeguarding national security will be conducted in strict accordance with legal provisions, mandates and procedures. The legislation will not affect the rights and freedoms, including those of speech, of the press, of publication and of assembly that Hong Kong residents enjoy under the law. It will enable them to better exercise their lawful rights and freedoms in a secure environment.

The legislation, since taking effect, has better ensured the city's high degree of autonomy in accordance with law, and created conditions for resolving deep-rooted problems concerning Hong Kong's economy and people's livelihood. It also contributes to Hong Kong's rule-of-law and business environment, addresses the concerns in the business communities on social turbulences, and creates better conditions for people around the world who are willing to work, invest and live in Hong Kong.

Washington, while chanting the slogan of "stand with Hong Kong people," has in fact engaged in actions against the national security law in Hong Kong and imposing the so-called "sanctions." Such self-contradictory behaviour exposed its hypocrisy and despicableness.

Photo taken on May 28, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building behind a traffic sign in Washington, D.C., the United States. U.S. Senate Republicans on Friday blocked legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

PART 8

On June 25, the White House put out on its website a statement regarding the closing down of Hong Kong's Apple Daily, in which it falsely accused China of suppressing press freedom.

The Apple Daily, under the cloak of a media outlet, had long engaged in illegal acts of harming the country and destabilizing Hong Kong, seriously violating the journalistic ethics and jeopardizing the media environment of Hong Kong.

The newspaper had long been engaged in concocting fake news to mislead the public. During the turbulence over proposed ordinance amendments in Hong Kong in 2019, the newspaper produced a flurry of fake news and peddled wrong values to perplex the public, disseminate "anti-police" and "anti-China" remarks, and instigate "Black Violence."

Hong Kong is a society governed by rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. No one has extra-legal privileges, and no institution is an extra-legal entity. Hong Kong police act against individuals and companies suspected of endangering national security in strict accordance with the law, and their actions are a just move to crack down on crimes and maintain the rule of law and social order.

Those who describe moves on an individual news organization and on those in charge of an individual news organization as acts to crack down on press freedom have ulterior motives and are seeking to talk black into white.

It is the United States which has brutally suppressed the media and restricted press freedom. Analyses by The Guardian and Netherlands-based investigative journalism website Bellingcat showed from May 26, 2020 to June 2, 2020 alone, there were 148 arrests or attacks on journalists covering protests ignited by the killing of George Floyd, among which 34 instances involved officers physically assaulting journalists, and 33 instances involved journalists being arrested or detained. A female photojournalist was left blinded in the left eye by a police projectile during one of the protests. In 2021, the U.S. government forcibly shut down more than 30 foreign news media websites.

German writer Michael Lueders has revealed in his new book "The Hypocritical Superpower" that the U.S. government and its interest groups are apt at influencing and shaping public opinion by selecting information and polarizing public views, so that people are brainwashed without any realization. Washington's repeated provocations in this respect reveal that it is in fact a mastermind of troubles and a public opinion manipulator.

In fact, the press freedom in Hong Kong has not been damaged, but has been consolidated. At present, there are 93 local, 69 overseas and 39 online media organizations registered with the government, respectively, showing increases from a year ago. The press and the general public exercise the right of supervision every day and enjoy the freedom to criticize the administration of the HKSAR government. There is no obstruction for overseas media to interview people with different positions.





PART 9

On July 7, the White House announced the extension of the so-called "national emergency with respect to Hong Kong" and of relevant Hong Kong-related sanctions for one year, and continued with the cancellation of preferential treatment for Hong Kong.

The so-called "national emergency with respect to Hong Kong," a measure announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on July 14, 2020, is a gross interference in China's internal affairs. The extension of the so-called "national emergency" also marked the first time that Joe Biden, since taking office as U.S. president, continued with Trump's thinking on Hong Kong from the perspective of policy implementation, and once again publicly intervened in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. Such an act seriously undermined China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

Hong Kong residents celebrate the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Causeway Bay of south China's Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

Hong Kong had always been an excuse for Washington to put pressure on Beijing during the Trump administration. At the end of June 2020, the Law on Safeguarding National Security in HKSAR was promulgated and implemented. Trump then signed an executive order, declaring that the United States immediately entered a "national emergency" on the grounds that the situation in Hong Kong would pose a "threat" to the national security, economy and foreign policy of the United States. At the same time, the country also ended its special treatment for Hong Kong. Previously, Hong Kong enjoyed treatment that many cities in the Chinese mainland did not have, mainly in immigration, import and export control, tourism and economy.

The Biden administration followed the Trump administration's wrong acts on Hong Kong, extending the so-called "national emergency," and continued with its outrageous sanctions against China.

Sanctions on Hong Kong, however, will surely backfire and bite the United States. Official data released by China last year showed that there were around 85,000 U.S. citizens and more than 1,300 U.S. enterprises in Hong Kong, including almost all of America's major financial firms. Over the years, the United States has gained a huge trade surplus from its trade with Hong Kong, and its interests in Hong Kong have been deep and direct. Sanctions will bring "complexities" to U.S. enterprises in Hong Kong, subjecting their normal operations to political risks.

In as early as 2020, there was wide condemnation around the world against the so-called "sanctions" imposed on Hong Kong by countries such as the United States. Chester Humphrey, president of the Senate of Grenada, pointed out that the United States just wanted to divert the attention of the American people from domestic problems, and that its "sanctions" against other countries were illegal. Patricio Giusto, director of the Sino-Argentine Observatory, said that the so-called "sanctions" will not pose a substantial threat and have no legal basis, which once again exposed the "double standards" of U.S. politicians.

"Standing with Hong Kong" on one hand and relentlessly sticking to sanctioning it on the other is the absurd logic of U.S. politicians and a logic that no one, including Hong Kong people, can understand.





PART 10

On July 10, the U.S. Department of State posted a statement issued by 21 members of the so-called "Media Freedom Coalition" on its website, expressing "strong concerns" about the judicial organs of the HKSAR handling the case of Apple Daily according to law, and falsely claiming that "the use of the National Security Law to suppress journalism is a serious and negative step."

Freedom is not laissez-faire. Scientific rationality, legal order and international rules are the foundation of freedom. As Montesquieu said in The Spirit of Law, "liberty is the right to do what the law permits." Any freedom has boundaries. Even the so-called "free countries" have also defined clear forbidden zones and restrictions for freedom, and it is never allowed to break through the bottom line of the legal system. "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic," said U.S. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in a judgement in 1919.

Constitutions of over 100 countries in the world stipulate that the exercise of basic rights and freedoms must not endanger national security. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights clarifies that the rights to freedom of belief, expression, peaceful assembly and public trial must be subject to necessary restrictions on grounds of national security, public order, public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others. The European Convention on Human Rights has similar provisions. The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries have also established strict legal systems to safeguard national security, and have no mercy in cracking down on criminal acts endangering national security.

In the United States, although the First Amendment to the Constitution stipulates that freedom of speech and press should be ensured, the country still set up state agencies that conduct oversight over on the media. The Federal Communications Commission is responsible for issuing licenses to radio and television stations in the United States and imposes basic restrictions on program content. The U.S. Supreme Court has also said that speech that "directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action" is not protected.

In Germany, denial of the Holocaust and other forms of incitement to hatred against certain ethnic groups are punishable by up to five years in prison. In August 2018, the German Federal Constitutional Court said in a ruling that punishing the denial of Nazi genocide is fundamentally in line with the constitutional provisions on freedom of speech. In France, the current Law on the Freedom of the Press clearly stipulates that damaging the basic interests of the country, abetting crimes, slandering and insulting, and spreading false news through the media are all illegal and criminal acts, and must be punished. Penalties include fines, imprisonment, and confiscation of publications.

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is taken by the police to the headquarters of Apple Daily for investigation in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

Hong Kong police arrested and prosecuted Apple Daily and its personnel and froze related properties for colluding with external forces and jeopardizing national security. These actions are a necessary and legitimate move to safeguard the rule of law in Hong Kong, and has nothing to do with protecting freedom of speech and the press. The United States gathered some members of the so-called "Media Freedom Coalition" to beautify and excuse the anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong media outlets and their employees in an attempt to put pressure on China. Its actions seriously desecrated the spirit of law and seriously violated the conscience of the media.

Apple Daily is also a mirror, which not only reflects the ending of the anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong forces, but also clearly reflects the "double standards" of the U.S. side in dealing with the Hong Kong issue. We would like to ask, are Hong Kong people willing to stand with such politicians and governments?





PART 11

On July 16, as a bid to smear Hong Kong's business environment, the U.S. government issued a so-called "business advisory" to caution U.S. businesses about "emerging risks" to their operations and activities in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Washington imposed sanctions on seven officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

The U.S. advisory, which attempts to discredit the national security law in Hong Kong while stating that Hong Kong is still a popular investment and trade location for the United States and that it provides competitive financial, trade and professional services, is self-contradictory and illogical.

Investors' moves are an important indicator of Hong Kong's business environment. More than a year after the implementation of the national security law, the initial public offering funds raised in Hong Kong exceeded 500 billion Hong Kong dollars (64.35 billion U.S. dollars), representing an increase of more than 50 percent year-on-year. Total deposits in Hong Kong banks rose by over 5 percent from a year ago.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said that the city has a crucial role to play as an international business hub, and that it "remains a critical and vibrant facilitator of trade and financial flow between the East and West." Jim Thompson, chairman and founder of logistics company Crown Worldwide Group, said the U.S. administration is making it "harder for American investors to do business in the city, which is like putting handcuffs on them ... This is so sad."

Experts and scholars believe that the so-called "business advisory" from the U.S. government will not affect corporate decisions -- while the United States regularly issues similar warnings, businesses make their own judgements. The enterprises did not withdraw from Hong Kong even when black-clad rioters were running wild in the city, and they are less likely to do so now as Hong Kong's social order has been restored and the city's development has been back on track under the protection of the national security law.

The stepped-up sanctions by the United States have already backfired and bitten the country itself. U.S. trade surplus with Hong Kong totaled 297 billion dollars from 2009 to 2018. When the sanctions were imposed, U.S. trade and finance were the first to take a hit.

In a Foreign Affairs article published mid-July, former U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong Kurt W. Tong wrote that the U.S. Treasury Department knows "sanctions on major Chinese banks could trigger significant instability in the international payment system, by interrupting the huge volume of financial transactions between the world's two largest economies," which would "in turn harm U.S. financial markets and the perceived reliability of the U.S.-centric global payments system."

When even the American people are unwilling to stand with their own government, the lie of U.S. politicians that they "stand with the people of Hong Kong" naturally falls apart.





CONCLUSION

U.S. politicians have been constantly claiming to defend Hong Kong's human rights and freedom and "stand with the people of Hong Kong." But actions speak louder than words. All their slogans have proved to be nothing but lies.

All Chinese people including people in Hong Kong have already clearly seen what these politicians are defending is not the Hong Kong people's human rights and freedom, but the "freedom" of a handful of rioters to disrupt Hong Kong's stability and endanger China's national security, and the "freedom" of these politicians to continue interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and containing China.

Radical protesters attack police officers in Tsuen Wan in the western New Territories of south China's Hong Kong, Aug. 25, 2019. (Xinhua)

Under the pretext of democracy and human rights, these politicians have been offering real endorsements for the rioters, which fully exposes the double standards of these U.S. politicians. They condemned the Capitol riot with utmost rage, but nevertheless called similar acts in Hong Kong "a beautiful sight to behold." They have enacted the world's most thorough national security law at home, but nevertheless tried to smear China's parallel efforts to plug the security hole in Hong Kong.

In the name of "press freedom," they are interfering with and undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong. Amid the closure of Apple Daily, those U.S. politicians fully exposed their tricks to smear others. They tried to turn some media organizations into extra-legal entities for anti-China forces to disrupt Hong Kong and contain China. By making waves on Hong Kong issues, the U.S. side has revealed itself as the "black hand" in stirring up opposition and controlling public opinion. The so-called "press freedom" is nothing but a fig leaf for their self interests.

They twisted facts, deliberately smeared the rule of law in Hong Kong and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. "Patriots administering Hong Kong" is the trend of the times and the aspiration of the Hong Kong people. Improving Hong Kong's electoral system is necessary for the sustained and healthy development of Hong Kong's democratic system. When peace and stability were finally restored in Hong Kong, and the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens were better protected in a secure environment, the United States leveled accusations and attacked Hong Kong's efforts to improve its electoral system, and continued to demonize the national security law in Hong Kong, which fully exposes Washington's hegemonic nature.

While habitually bullying others and wielding the big stick of sanctions, those U.S. politicians have in fact exhausted their tactics. For them, only a chaotic Hong Kong serves their interests. The more stable Hong Kong is, the more anxious they will be. And now, their "agents" were arrested. Their plans for disturbing the city have failed. No matter how much pressure or how many rounds of sanctions the United States can impose, they will be nothing but waste paper.

All in all, some U.S. politicians' concern about Hong Kong's democracy is a sham. Their true intention is to meddle in Hong Kong's politics and China's internal affairs. Their real purpose is to use Hong Kong as a tool to realize their political interests and contain China's development. The so-called "standing with the Hong Kong people" is nothing but a cover to deceive the world and reflects the hypocrisy of the U.S. politicians. What they are doing is to make enemies with the Hong Kong people. Those politicians are advised to stop repeating these cliches.

In 1840, Britain opened the door of China with ships and guns, and Hong Kong was gradually occupied by Britain. For more than 100 years since then, the Chinese people have waged indomitable struggles for national liberation, national independence and social progress. Today, the Chinese nation has made a great leap from standing up, getting prosperous to becoming strong, and their effort to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. China has become an important force in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and its relations with the rest of the world have undergone tremendous changes.

With the implementation of a series of effective measures, including the national security law, Hong Kong's social order has been restored, its development has returned to the right track, and the city has opened a new chapter with good governance. Hong Kong is getting more stable and prosperous with a better implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle. This is the strongest response to those U.S. politicians who slander Beijing's Hong Kong policy.

No one can stop Hong Kong from reclaiming its glorious past. The Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or enslave them, and the cause of "one country, two systems" will never be obstructed or undermined by any external force. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people. History has proved countless times that the final victory will always belong to the indomitable Chinese people. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-04 23:09:34|Editor: huaxia

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Xie Siyi claimed his second gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics with victory in the men's 3m springboard event.

Zou Jingyuan topped the men's parallel bars competition.

Guan Chenchen clinched gold medal on the women's balance beam.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 00:09:31|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

WUHAN, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The central Chinese city of Wuhan plans to complete a new round of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing before Friday, local authorities said Wednesday, after a re-emergence of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases.

Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, last year became the world's first megacity to complete a comprehensive nucleic acid testing campaign. It tested nearly 10 million residents in 19 days, an effort hailed as ending the "psychological lockdown" for the once virus-ravaged city.

It launched a new testing drive on Tuesday after new infections emerged among several migrant workers on Monday. Between Monday and Tuesday, Wuhan reported 12 locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 and eight locally transmitted asymptomatic cases, all related to the cluster infections in Jiangsu Province.

The city has set up 2,820 sampling sites and mobilized over 18,000 medical workers and other staff members to work there, said Peng Houpeng, vice director of Wuhan's health commission, at a press conference on Wednesday.

The method of pooled sampling will be adopted in medium- and low-risk areas to boost efficiency, while individual testing will be reserved for areas or groups of people with higher infection risks, according to Peng.

As of Wednesday noon, approximately 2.5 million Wuhan residents had been sampled.

Wuhan has also imposed close-off management on 56 residential complexes that are close to the new infections or home to their close contacts, said Peng Lili, vice director of the city's civil affairs bureau. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 01:44:12|Editor: huaxia

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A woman holds a placard with portraits of the victims of the Beirut blasts during a protest near the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug. 4, 2021. Several mass protests broke out in Lebanon, mainly at the Port of Beirut, calling for justice for the victims on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Beirut blasts, al-Jadeed local TV channel reported. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

BEIRUT, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Several mass protests broke out in Lebanon, mainly at the Port of Beirut, calling for justice for the victims on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Beirut blasts, al-Jadeed local TV channel reported.

According to the report, protesters in downtown Beirut attempted to break into the parliament by throwing stones toward security forces, while the riot police used smoke bombs and water cannons to disperse them.

Meanwhile, families of the victims called for a transparent investigation to reveal the truth behind the explosions.

One year after the deadly explosions rocked the Beirut port on Aug. 4, 2020, which was caused by the unsafe storage of a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate at the Port of Beirut for years and claimed the lives of 214 people and wounded over 6,000 others, no senior official has been held accountable, sparking anger among the Lebanese as their country also suffers from financial collapse. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 02:54:34|Editor: huaxia

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by Zeynep Cermen

ISTANBUL, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The scene that Hakan Dincer encountered on a village farm was shocking. Most of the cattle, sheep, and chickens died in the fire, while the survivors were in extreme pain from severe burns.

Dincer is a veterinary working for the Kadikoy Municipality Veterinary Affairs Directorate in Istanbul. He has been on the field for the last six days, trying to respond to all the help calls.

Massive wildfires that erupted eight days ago in Turkey's southern and southwestern coastal towns destroyed a massive amount of land, killing at least eight people and numerous living creatures.

"We are trying to do all our bests to save the affected animals, no matter what species, by driving hundreds of kilometers, sometimes in the fire, without having a rest," Dincer noted.

The Istanbul Municipality has sent 43 veterinarians to the region to provide medical support to wild and farm animals and stray cats and dogs.

Foods with high nutritional value, oxygen tubes, oxygen masks, disinfectants, antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and vitamins were among the supply materials sent for the animals.

On Wednesday morning, Dincer and his team of three tried to treat a badly injured donkey, which escaped from the fire and took refuge near people on the beach in Bodrum, a resort town of the Mugla province.

"He got temporarily blindness as his eyes were badly harmed by the smoke," Dincer continued.

After the first treatment on the spot, they transferred the donkey to a shelter by an animal ambulance with the support of Bodrum's local officials.

"We have also rescued several iguanas, horses, pheasants, and hundreds of chickens," Dincer noted pleasantly.

"We are grateful to the vets for understanding the plight of animals that cannot tell their problems," a resident of Manavgat told Xinhua.

There are continuous calls on social media asking for urgent help for animals with severe burns.

"A private zoo burned down in Manavgat, and the animals are in urgent need of vet and food," wrote a Twitter user on Wednesday.

Turkan Ceylan, a local veterinary who assists the Istanbul team, told Xinhua that the area needs a proper coordination mechanism to better deal with the wounded animals.

She said citizens should know that the vets are on the scene, available for their animals, and all the treatments are free.

"There is a terrible grief inside of us," she told Xinhua in tears. "We can overcome this feeling only by working continuously. Helping even one animal on the field is very precious for us."

Meanwhile, veterinarians also pointed out that it did not yet known how much the wildlife is affected, as it is not yet possible to enter deep in the burned areas. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 04:56:31|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Aug. 4, 2021 shows the interior of a cutter suction dredger in Ismailia Province, Egypt. Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) held a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the recent arrival of a cutter suction dredger (CSD) named Hussein Tantawy. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

ISMAILIA, Egypt, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) held a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the recent arrival of a cutter suction dredger (CSD) named Hussein Tantawy.

The ceremony was attended by SCA Chairman Osama Rabie and Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who hoisted the national flag of Egypt on the new dredger.

"The dredger is the largest and most advanced in the Middle East and Africa," said Rabie during the ceremony, describing the new dredger as "an unprecedented addition to the SCA fleet."

The inclusion of the dredger to the SCA fleet comes as one of the important steps made as part of an integrated development strategy to develop the canal's waterway and maintain its leading position despite various global challenges, the SCA chief added.

Rabie noted that CSD Hussein Tantawy is characterized by advanced technical specifications and equipped with the latest systems of 3D bottom imaging and scanning as well as control, safety and security systems.

With a long slender shape and high spud towers, the dredger is 147.4 meters long and 23 meters wide and can provide a maximum dredging depth of 35 meters.

The SCA similarly celebrated in April the arrival of another giant dredger, CSD Mohab Mameesh. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 07:25:38|Editor: huaxia

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A local resident performs traditional horse racing during a celebration marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Aug. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 09:01:30|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A threatened species of native animal has been reintroduced into a remote region of the Australian outback after more than a century.

Thirteen western barred bandicoots have been let free in the Sturt National Park in the far-west of the state of New South Wales (NSW) following the eradication of feral animals which had infested the land.

The nocturnal marsupials once ranged across inland Australia before vast swathes of the landscape were ravaged by rabbits brought into Australia from Europe in the late 1850s. The pests quickly reached plague proportions and, in turn, led to the spread of feral cats and foxes which preyed on the rabbits and local wildlife.

The fawn-colored bandicoots, which are about the size of guinea pigs, have been given their new lease of life by the Wild Deserts project, a partnership of University of New South Wales (UNSW) ecologists, and members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of NSW and the Taronga Conservation Society.

The team got rid of every rabbit, cat and fox from two 2,000-hectare feral-proof fenced enclosures within the national park, creating one of Australia's largest feral-free areas.

"We spent about five years getting the land ready for this, including building a 50 km fence," Dr Reece Pedler, the Wild Deserts project coordinator, told Xinhua. "It was very labor-intensive."

Pedler said the timid bandicoots are now making their home in the "exclosure" and are learning to live in the wild without predators. They have joined other native species such as bilbies, which the Wild Deserts team reintroduced into the national park last year.

Pedler and fellow ecologist Dr Rebecca West use radio tracking devices to check in daily on the bandicoots and, so far, they have been delighted by the "amazing little creatures" progress.

The bandicoots dig for food in sandy soil, making foraging pits to find seeds, tubers, insects and fungi. This process also aerates the soil which helps the land's overall health.

"We are already starting to see the beginnings of a transformation occurring in the landscape," said Professor Richard Kingsford, director of the UNSW Center for Ecosystem Science and leader of the Wild Deserts project.

"The soil is starting to turn over, which gives great opportunities for lots of little invertebrates and catches water and nutrients," Kingsford said. "We think that's part of how we can transform these deserts back into what they were." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 10:47:55|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 62 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Thursday.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 40 were reported in Jiangsu, nine in Hunan, three each in Beijing, Shandong, Henan and Yunnan, and one in Hubei, according to the commission.

Also reported were 23 new imported cases, of which nine were reported in Shanghai, eight in Yunnan, three in Fujian, two in Guangdong, and one in Shandong.

Two suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were newly reported in Shanghai on Wednesday.

No deaths related to COVID-19 were newly reported, the commission added.

By the end of Wednesday, a total of 7,552 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 6,847 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 705 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 93,374 by Wednesday, including 1,285 patients still receiving treatment, 26 of whom were in severe condition.

A total of 87,453 patients had been discharged from hospitals following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus.

There were two suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Wednesday.

A total of 54 asymptomatic cases were newly reported. There were a total of 527 asymptomatic cases, of which 377 were imported, under medical observation on Wednesday.

By the end of Wednesday, 11,996 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 212 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 63 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 15,742 cases, including 791 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 11,721 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 54 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 12,957 had been discharged in Taiwan. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 10:54:47|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province reported one locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 case on Wednesday, said the provincial health commission on Thursday.

The newly confirmed COVID-19 patient was registered in Jingmen City and has been transferred to a designated hospital.

Two COVID-19 cases, who arrived at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport from Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 28, were discharged from hospital after recovery on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, there were 32 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei, including 16 locally transmitted ones. There were also 35 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, among whom 11 were locally transmitted. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 14:43:06|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on May 30, 2018 shows a double rainbow in Zhaosu County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Wang Liping/Xinhua)

URUMQI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Wang Liping still remembers the first time she tracked a rainbow.

It was late in the afternoon on June 30, 2018, when she sat alone on a hilltop in Zhaosu County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. She waited two hours until cloud clusters began to gather in the sky and raindrops began to fall.

Later, a partial rainbow appeared after the clouds cleared away.

"At that moment, I knew I had finally gotten what I really wanted. It was not just a rainbow, but a chance to prove the accuracy of my work," said the 33-year-old staffer at Zhaosu's meteorological bureau and a member of a rainbow forecast team of seven.

That day, she made a rainbow forecast report 10 hours in advance. It showed there was an 80 percent chance of rainbow occurrence and that they could be viewed from six locations across the county.

Every morning, either Wang or one of her colleagues spends 30 minutes making the day's rainbow forecast, including the possibility of rainbow occurrence and potential locations, after checking the weather forecast and cloud maps.

Their work is part of a broader effort by the bureau to develop the county's rainbow resources.

Zhaosu, located in a mountainous basin, sees frequent thundershowers during the summer. From June to August, convective clouds grow quickly into afternoon thundershowers, and there is always rain in the eastern sky while the sun sets in the west, creating the perfect conditions for rainbows.

According to Chen Chunyan, chief expert at the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, the requirements for rainbows include sufficient water vapor, clean air and a proper solar altitude. When sunlight encounters droplets, light is refracted, reflected and then refracted again before a rainbow appears.

Rainbows can be seen in Zhaosu almost 160 times from June to August, according to statistics provided by the bureau.

In 2017, photos capturing a double rainbow went viral on China's Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, racking up views and comments. Some netizens said they hoped to see the rare event in person.

Such comments caught the attention of Wang Yuan, now head of the county's meteorological bureau, prompting her to take a new look at rainbows, which were nothing new to her. She wondered what the bureau could do to make full use of its resources.

"Rainbow forecasting could be an effective means of achieving our purpose -- contributing to the development of local tourism, and then to its economic development," she said.

Over the years, Wang Yuan and her colleagues have been promoting the improvement of the rainbow forecast weather service.

They established the rainbow forecast team in March 2017 to include the service in their daily work.

New to rainbow forecasting, the team worked out technicalities from scratch. Every time a rainbow appeared, they took videos and photos, kept notes on details such as when a rainbow began and ended, its location, and cloud and solar orientation, and analyzed data to figure out the laws of rainbows.

Four months later, the team successfully forecast a rainbow two hours in advance. In June 2018, it officially launched the rainbow weather service, providing forecast reports to local authorities like the bureau of tourism and culture.

Its efforts have yielded positive results. The county's natural conditions and the team's work won Zhaosu the title of "Rainbow Capital of China" from the China Meteorological Administration in late 2019.

The team has to date established a "rainbow gene bank" containing data on over 1,000 rainbows, including pictures and related meteorological information. It has made more than 370 rainbow forecast reports.

More organizations and locals have joined the efforts.

This year, the bureau has started collaborating with a subsidiary of the China Meteorological Administration to develop a model that is considered a time saver and a step toward intelligent forecasting.

In recent years, many specialized forecasts have been made in Xinjiang, including rainbow forecasts, according to Chen. "The rainbow forecast model itself is useful, but it will not be easy to improve its accuracy further in the future."

"We will continue to collect data and work with related organizations to improve the model in the hopes of gaining a higher forecasting accuracy rate and contributing to local tourism," said Wang Yuan. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 15:12:43|Editor: huaxia

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ZHENGZHOU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, launched its second citywide nucleic acid testing campaign on Thursday morning, local authorities said.

According to the municipal headquarters for COVID-19 prevention and control, the city began its second round of nucleic acid testing at 9 a.m. Thursday and will complete the sampling process at 5 p.m. Friday. All residents of Zhengzhou City will be tested.

On Wednesday, Zhengzhou registered 3 new locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 21 locally transmitted asymptomatic cases, the provincial health commission said Thursday.

Tightening epidemic prevention and control measures, the city also classified five new areas as medium-risk for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, Zhengzhou had completed its first citywide nucleic acid testing campaign, testing 11.18 million residents and locating 99 confirmed or asymptomatic cases. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 15:24:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Unsurprisingly, Washington once again chose to stand against righteousness, morality and the general interest of the Hong Kong people.

In the latest move of its China-smearing campaign, the White House attempted to demonize the national security law in Hong Kong and whitewash Tong Ying-kit, a man sentenced to nine years in prison in late July for inciting others to commit secession and engaging in terrorist activities in the city.

For quite some time, those U.S. lawmakers have been colluding with and even abetting rioters in Hong Kong, disregarding all the miseries Hong Kongers suffered during a months-long social unrest.

A 70-year-old cleaner was killed after his head was struck by bricks; a 57-year-old father of two daughters was set on fire with flammable solution as he chased after violent protesters that sabotaged transportation facilities; a group of police officers were hit and seriously injured by a motorbike run by mobsters, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, Washington had done nothing but praise the rioters as "fighters" and "heroes," and slandered Hong Kong police's normal law-enforcement measures. Not even once did it really "stand with the Hong Kong people," as it repeatedly claimed.

Later, when Hong Kong regained social order and stability after the implementation of the national security law and the adoption of a new electoral system, those hypocrites in the White House jumped up again to stigmatize the lawful and righteous efforts of the Chinese central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

With the national security law in force and the fresh electoral system in place, Hong Kong has finally emerged from the shadows of disorder to embrace long-term peace and prosperity.

But Washington refused to acknowledge this. Its lie about supporting Hong Kong has fully exposed its double standards, prejudice and hegemony.

It condemned the Capitol riot with utmost rage, but called similar acts in Hong Kong "a beautiful sight to behold."

It has enacted the world's most thorough national security law at home, and granted its own federal government a leading role in drawing up election rules, but tried to smear China's parallel efforts in Hong Kong.

It touts itself as a defender of international rules, but repeatedly tramples on international law and basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs.

It seems that only a chaotic Hong Kong can meet Washington's political interests. To sow discord in Hong Kong to stifle the city's and China's development, Washington on one hand imposed coercive and unilateral sanctions against Hong Kong and China at large, and on the other ganged up with certain media outlets to stoke tensions in Hong Kong, spread pessimism about the city's outlook, and undermine the "one country, two systems" policy.

President of Senate of Grenada Chester Humphrey once pointed out that some U.S. politicians intended to divert Americans' attention from their domestic problems with such malicious moves.

However, Washington's sinister intention to destabilize Hong Kong and contain China will never succeed.

The United States has deep and direct interests in Hong Kong. As former U.S. diplomat Kurt W. Tong wrote in a Foreign Affairs article published in mid-July, even the Treasury Department knows that sanctions on major Chinese banks will interrupt "the huge volume of financial transactions between the world's two largest economies," which would "in turn harm U.S. financial markets and the perceived reliability of the U.S.-centric global payments system."

Also, the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, including those in Hong Kong, as well as the broader international community, are no fools.

Improving the electoral system has become a consensus in Hong Kong. Over 2.38 million people signed a petition in March to show their support, and a survey showed some 70 percent of respondents believe the improved electoral system will brighten Hong Kong's prospects.

At the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 71 countries jointly stressed that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and should not be interfered with by external forces.

Washington will in no way bend the will of the Chinese to do what it feels is right for Hong Kong and China, nor can it ever delude the international community with smears and lies. It is time for Washington to wake up to that, and learn to be in the right. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 16:19:50|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's current COVID-19 containment measures are effective against the Delta variant, a health official said Thursday.

The vaccine doses administered across the country also demonstrate good preventive and protective effects against the COVID-19 Delta variant, He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 16:26:14|Editor: huaxia

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A big hole caused by Israeli airstrike is seen in the Al-Aishiya area, Jezzine district, south Lebanon on Aug. 5, 2021. Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes against south Lebanon early on Thursday. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli war jets struck rocket launch sites in southern Lebanon early on Thursday in response to rockets that were fired earlier from Lebanon into Israel, the Israeli military said.

The launch sites and infrastructure from which the rockets were launched, as well as another target for rockets launch in the past, were struck by Israeli fighters jets, the military said in a statement.

No injuries have been reported on both sides.

Al Manar, a TV channel run by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese armed group and party, reported that Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes after midnight near the Lebanese town of Mahmudiya, about 12 km from the Israeli border. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 16:49:46|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writer Zhao Wencai

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- As global COVID-19 cases crossed the gruesome 200-million mark on Thursday and new variants are fueling fresh surges, Washington is committing crimes against humanity by trying to take the world hostage in the battle to beat the cunning virus.

In recent weeks, the Delta variant has been ravaging Earth like a wildfire. Yet, some U.S. politicians are still seeking to hijack the world's COVID agenda and stage a witch hunt against China.

In their reckless bid to smear China and peddle the so-called "Wuhan lab leak" theory, those Washington politicians have gone increasingly insane.

They appoint intelligence agents instead of scientists to lead a taskforce to search for the origins of the virus; they parrot each other saying there is evidence for their conspiracy theories but always fail to present them simply because there isn't any; and they jump up and down to strong-arm other countries and the World Health Organization into accepting their lies.

Their self-serving calculations are too obvious to miss: to scapegoat China for their immense failure in controlling the outbreak within their own borders, to reject international origin tracing inside the United States, to find another excuse to suppress China and to score cheap personal political points.

The United States should have played a key role in rallying the global community to vanquish the deadly pathogen given the fact that it boasts the world's most advanced medical technologies and facilities as well as top-tier talents. However, under the watch of its political leaders, the world's sole superpower, which has produced the most infections and related deaths so far, has become a major source of infections worldwide, and a disruptor-in-chief of the world's anti-pandemic fight.

Had those politicians shown a little bit of respect for science, facts and, most of all, human lives, the 200-mln milestone could have been delayed or never arrived.

In America, there is a saying that every president is the antidote to the excesses of his predecessor. Many around the world once hoped that the current U.S. administration could shift away from the previous White House that was filled with liars. Yet it seems that Washington is still crowded with hypocrites and doctrinaires.

One case in point is Washington's hollow vaccine promise. While most countries are still struggling to deal with the new virus variants and the unequal distribution of vaccines, the U.S. government has already hoarded vaccine doses enough to cover its total populations several times over. Although the administration has pledged to help other countries with vaccines, its promise has largely stayed on paper.

Without a shadow of doubt, the world as a whole has paid a heavy price for Washington's political manipulation, and is mostly likely to suffer more.

As suspicions and tensions grow among different countries, the hard-won solidarity and consensus of the international community on jointly fighting the deadly pathogen are thrown into real jeopardy.

Meanwhile, with new variants emerging, the spread of this cunning disease is gaining momentum. It took more than one year for the virus to infect 100 million people, and only less than seven months to infect a second 100 million.

"It is a slaughter," William Foege, epidemiologist and former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once said in a letter at the early days of the pandemic, denouncing the U.S. government for politicizing the fight against the deadly pathogen within the United States.

And now, by politicizing the fight against the pandemic on a global scale, the U.S. government is committing crimes against all humanity.

Those Washington politicians should be well aware that their preposterous China lies are dragging the whole world deeper into the abyss of this once-in-a-century pandemic. If they do not take back their manipulative hands fast and call off their viperous political scheme, they will one day be prosecuted for their high crimes against humanity. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:01:06|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from Australia's national science agency have launched a three-year project to suppress mosquitoes that spread the Ross River virus.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) announced on Thursday that it will work with the University of Melbourne, the University of Newcastle and NSW Department of Health on using genomic sequencing to suppress the Aedes vigilax mosquito.

The Aedes vigilax, one of the most widespread mosquitoes in Australia, originates in coastal wetlands and can fly many kilometers in a lifetime, spreading the Ross River virus through bites.

There are more than 4,000 cases of the Ross River virus reported in Australia every year, making it the country's most common mosquito-borne disease.

While not fatal, the virus can be debilitating, causing flu-like symptoms including fever, rashes, muscle and joint pain and headache.

Brendan Trewin, a CSIRO research scientist, said by using genomic sequencing the research team would be able to determine relationships between Aedes vigilax mosquito populations in wetlands around Australia.

"Advances in technology mean we can sequence tiny amounts of DNA to track genetic differences of individual mosquito genomes and find distinct populations, a technique which has not been applied to this species before," he said in a media release.

"This information will provide the foundation for the next phase of the project, which will assess the feasibility of controlling the Hunter Aedes vigilax population with Wolbachia, a natural bacteria which has been successfully used to suppress vector-borne disease in over 13 countries including here in Australia.

"If we're successful, we could use this technique across other regions of Australia struggling with Aedes vigilax nuisance biting." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:16:21|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the total tally to 12,002.

Among the newly reported cases announced, five are imported cases and one is a local case with unknown sources. The last time Hong Kong saw a local case of COVID-19 was on July 11.

The local case with unknown sources involves a 43-year-old man, who is believed to be a re-positive case that previously went undiagnosed.

Hong Kong launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 26, and more than 5.92 million doses have been administered so far. Some 3.36 million people, or about 49.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the vaccine, and more than 2.55 million people have been fully vaccinated. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:29:18|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday expressed firm opposition to the U.S. State Department's approval of an arms sale to Taiwan, and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

China will take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation, said the spokesperson.

That came after the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on August 4 that the U.S. State Department had approved the sale of 40 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems to Taiwan in a deal valued at $750 million.

Noting that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, the spokesperson said that the United States is interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining China's sovereignty and security interests by selling arms to the Taiwan region.

The move runs counter to international law and the basic principles of international relations, and violates the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, particularly the August 17 Communique, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the move sends erroneous signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and severely jeopardizes China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. "China is firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side."

The spokesperson said that China urges the U.S. side to honor its commitments, earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, cease arms sales to and military interactions with Taiwan, and immediately revoke relevant arms sales to Taiwan, lest more damage be dealt to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:35:51|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The claim that House Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States concluded the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan lab was dismissed in a fact-check report by the U.S. news magazine Newsweek on Tuesday.

The report said that the claim came after the addendum of the origins of COVID-19 report had been released, which was the result of a committee minority staff investigation led by Michael McCaul, a ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

However, the addendum was not representative of the views of the entire House Foreign Affairs Committee, but of minority Republican staff led by McCaul, according to the report. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:50:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China can be effectively contained in a short time if response measures are strictly enforced, a health official said Thursday.

"The COVID-19 epidemic in China is controllable now," said He Qinghua, a senior official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

He acknowledged that the current wave of cases is more complicated and has put some strain on response efforts since it has multiple imported sources and has affected a wide range of places and people.

He noted that the governments of all affected places have adopted rigorous anti-epidemic measures, following a national epidemic control scheme and taking into account local situations. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 17:51:45|Editor: huaxia

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-- The global caseload reached 200,053,793 with a total of 4,254,824 deaths worldwide as of 0030 GMT on Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

-- Currently, many parts of the world are mired in severe resurgences of infections mainly fuelled by the more contagious variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said has spread to more than 130 countries.

-- At this critical moment when one in every 39 people on the planet has been infected by the lethal pathogen, calls for global solidarity, vaccine equity and science-based approaches require a rapid response.

by Xinhua writer Dong Yue

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases exceeded 200 million on Thursday, with the death toll surpassing 4.25 million, marking another heartrending milestone in the global pandemic fight that has lasted for more than a year and a half.

During the prolonged war, the coronavirus had shown signs of retreat several times, but managed to stage a comeback each time, with daily cases and deaths rebounding.

People visit an exhibition themed on COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2021.



(Photo by Luciana Whitaker/Xinhua)

A key reason for the resurgences is the virus' cunning ability to evolve. However, some countries' irresponsible approaches to handling the pandemic at home and abroad, the astoundingly-unbalanced vaccine rollout worldwide and people's lowered vigilance amid aspirations for a normal life have played crucial roles in splitting humans' line of defense.

At this critical moment when one in every 39 people on the planet has been infected by the lethal pathogen, calls for global solidarity, vaccine equity and science-based approaches require a rapid response.

A health worker takes a swab sample from a woman for COVID-19 test in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, June 14, 2021.



(Photo by Supriyanto/Xinhua)

GRIM FIGURES

The global caseload reached 200,053,793 with a total of 4,254,824 deaths worldwide as of 0030 GMT on Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

With 35,323,182 cases and 614,793 deaths, the United States has suffered the most from the pandemic, accounting for nearly 18 percent of the global caseload. Though the country's new daily cases in June temporarily dropped to its lowest level in more than a year, its daily new infections jumped to more than 102,000 on Wednesday.

In India, a total of 31,769,132 cases have been recorded, second only to the United States. India's death toll stands at 425,757. Brazil has registered 20,026,533 cases with the world's second largest number of deaths of 559,607.

Countries with more than 5 million cases also include Russia, France, Britain and Turkey, according to the CSSE.

Currently, many parts of the world are mired in severe resurgences of infections mainly fuelled by the more contagious variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said has spread to more than 130 countries.

A family member wearing a protective suit prays in front of the pyre to his relative before cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, May 21, 2021.



(Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)

Canada is at the start of the Delta-driven fourth wave of COVID-19, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Friday.

"The updated longer-range forecast shows how the epidemic trajectory may evolve through early September. It suggests that we are at the start of the Delta-driven fourth wave, but that the trajectory will depend on ongoing increases in fully vaccinated coverage, and the timing, pace and extent of reopening," Tam said at a press conference in Ottawa.

Across Europe, the Delta variant has become the most dominant strain, and it will be the globally dominant strain over the coming months, the WHO Regional Office in Europe and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said in a joint statement on July 23.

"We are seeing a significant rise in cases associated with the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant," Hans Kluge, regional director of WHO Europe, said in the statement.

Simultaneously, in some Asian and African countries, a fourth wave of infections aggravated by the Delta variant is around the corner or has already arrived, while Latin America is also trying to slow down the spread of the variant.

"This pandemic is nowhere near finished. Hard-won gains are in jeopardy or being lost, and health systems in many countries are being overwhelmed," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.

"The Delta variant is causing devastation and more variants -- with the potential to be even more dangerous -- will emerge if we do not control the virus," Jasarevic warned.





IRRESPONSIBLE APPROACHES

The United States' irresponsible ways of handling the pandemic both at home and abroad have turned the world's most developed country into a major source of infections and one of the weakest links in the global fight against the deadly pathogen.

Some U.S. politicians' ignorance of science has given free rein to an anti-science sentiment across the country, which is epitomized by a lasting debate on mask-wearing and a sweeping doubt about vaccines.

Though the United States is hoarding enough COVID-19 vaccines for the U.S. public, it has one of the highest rates of vaccine hesitance or refusal, The New York Times recently reported.

A medical worker prepares to administer a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary vaccination site in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, May 20, 2021.



(Xinhua/Ren Chao)

The reasons why Americans refuse to get inoculated include "a belief that the virus is not that bad, the hope that rural lifestyles make catching COVID-19 less likely and general distrust of government experts," according to a recent report by CNN.

To conceal the government's incompetence and shift the blame, the United States has been scapegoating others from the early stage of the pandemic, and has recently been sparing no effort to politicize the origin-tracing work, which have gravely undermined global cooperation against the virus and encountered strong opposition from the international community.

As some Americans are hesitant about or squarely against getting COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccines are not yet available in many African countries that are well-prepared for their roll-out. WHO data showed that less than 2 percent of all doses administered globally have been in Africa, while just 1.5 percent of the continent's population are fully vaccinated, in stark contrast to the surplus in the United States.

"While hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday.

Refrigerated trailers are seen at a temporary morgue in Brooklyn, New York, the United States, June 15, 2021.



(Xinhua/Wang Ying)

So far, more than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally. More than 80 percent of them have gone to high- and upper-middle income countries, even though they account for less than half of the world population, Tedros said.

In the latest update to its World Economic Outlook released last month, the International Monetary Fund downgraded the growth prospects for emerging market and developing economies amid new outbreaks and shortages of vaccines.

URGENT CALLS

In the face of the sobering alarm sounded by the 200-million mark, experts and officials have warned against a disastrous future for humankind and urged closer global cooperation in seeking a turning point in the world's pandemic fight.

The 200-million mark "means that the world is plunging into the darkest hour of human history and there is a need to support each other," said Muhammad Asif Noor, director of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies in Islamabad, calling on all countries to "act together and act fast beyond our egos."

Noting "no country can stay safe until all countries are safe," said Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank. "All countries should enhance political mutual trust, resort to constructive dialogue and communication, push for concerted efforts against the pandemic and fight against it in a scientific manner."

Photo taken on July 25, 2020 shows ribbons for blessings outside a church in Johannesburg, South Africa.



(Photo by Yeshiel/Xinhua)

Meanwhile, Stephen Winchester, consultant virologist at Britain's Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services, stressed the particular need for closer global cooperation in vaccine development and distribution.

"Working together, having that shared understanding, you know, that it's a global disease," Winchester said. "We will need to work together not just on the vaccine development, but on their deployment as well and getting access for everyone across the globe."

Warning against the politicization of the pandemic, especially the origin-tracing work, experts across the world have refuted baseless accusations and advocated a cooperative and scientific manner in dealing with the virus.

"Accusations and conspiracy theories will solve nothing. Instead, constructive collaborative interactions on an international basis will be needed," said Jonathan Stoye, an expert at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

Photo taken on June 8, 2021 shows packages of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arriving at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.



(Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

The U.S. accusation of China on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is "totally inappropriate," Buthaina Shabaan, Syria's presidential political advisor, said, adding the United States is unable to mislead anyone by such accusations because "the world knows what the origin of these accusations is."

The Syrian official thanked China for providing vaccines and medical equipment to the Syrian people, stressing China sets an example in keeping the pandemic under control.

Shabaan's remarks were echoed by Taweesrifuengfung, who appreciated China's role in boosting global efforts against the pandemic.

"It shared the whole genome sequence of the virus with the world ..., providing a solid basis for global scientists to develop medicines and diagnostics. It also shared its experience and provided as much support as it can to countries in need, including offering vaccines and dispatching medical teams," said Taweesrifuengfung.

"China has made a great contribution to the global battle against COVID-19," said the expert.

On strengthening global cooperation, "we have an example of China, how the pandemic was controlled and how the country has not only fought well the virus but also extended support ... to the countries in need," said Noor, the expert in Islamabad. (Video reporters: Li Jie, Feng Yiwei, Yang Yi, Tang Yang, Liu Meizi, Shui Jinchen, Wang Ping, Shi Xiantao, Liu Chang; video editor: Yang Zhixiang)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:13:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has urged all procuratorial organs and personnel across the country to better fulfill their responsibilities in conducting legal supervision.

At a teleconference, the SPP called for efforts to boost the capability, quality and efficacy of legal supervision, and better safeguard judicial impartiality, as per a new guideline issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee on strengthening legal supervision work of the people's procuratorates.

The SPP stressed efforts to carry out self-supervision and enhance self-discipline, and urged leading officials to lead by example and perform their duties in legal supervision.

Efforts should also be made to improve the efficiency of management and talent training, the SPP said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:17:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's current COVID-19 containment measures are effective against the Delta variant, a health official said Thursday.

COVID-19 vaccines administered across the country - having surpassed 1.72 billion doses as of Wednesday - also demonstrate good preventive and protective effects against the Delta variant, He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing.

Research results and clinical experience at home and abroad showed that the variant had yet led to fundamental changes in the biological characteristics of the COVID-19 virus, and scientists are basically clear about how the virus is transmitted, the official said.

He said that the current vaccines can reduce the risk of transmission, and effectively cut the incidence of severe symptoms and lower fatality rate.

China has earlier successfully stopped the spread of the Delta variant in multiple densely-populated regions with high population mobility in Guangdong Province, which proves measures including vaccination, wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping social distance, and avoiding crowded places are effective, the official said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:40:33|Editor: huaxia

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LAGOS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of cholera in Nigeria's northern state of Jigawa has killed over 100 people since early July, according to a health official in the state.

Salisu Mu'azu, permanent secretary of the Jigawa state ministry of health, told reporters in Dutse, the state capital on Wednesday that the state has recorded over 5,000 cases of Cholera within one month.

"As of Sunday we recorded over 100 deaths in 19 out of 27 local government areas in the state," said Mu'azu.

He attributed the outbreak to widespread use of contaminated water, consumption of poorly washed vegetables, and unwholesome personal hygiene.

He said the state government, with support from UNICEF, have formed a rapid response team to curtail the spread of the disease.

Health authorities in the country had in July reported that cholera killed at least 526 persons with 22,130 suspected cases of the life-threatening and water-borne disease which continues to spread in the most populous African country.

Cholera is a virulent disease marked by a sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea, which can cause deaths due to severe dehydration. Due to a shortage of potable water supply, especially in highly populated areas, the epidemic is commonly reported in Nigeria. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:42:18|Editor: huaxia

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BRASILIA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted Brazilian society and economy, which is certain to dominate the political debate ahead of the general elections in October 2022, said political scientist Paulo Kramer.

"The impact on the economy, as well as health, will be the great subject of the presidential election debate next year," Kramer, retired professor at the University of Brasilia, told Xinhua in a recent interview, noting that COVID-19 came at a time when Brazil "was preparing to resume growth," while the paralysis of many activities caused recession and unemployment.

As infections and deaths increased sharply in the first months of 2021, Brazil's confirmed cases reached 10 million in February, and the deaths exceeded half a million in June, according to the World Health Organization.

With more than 20 million confirmed cases and almost 560,000 deaths as of Wednesday, the South American country has the world's second-highest death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.

Economically, Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 contracted by 4.1 percent due to lockdowns, followed by a strong recovery so far this year.

One of the "positive legacies of the pandemic," Kramer said, is that authorities and politicians will be more aware of increasing the budget of the Unified Health System (SUS).

"Brazil does not spend little on health matters, but it is a significantly smaller slice of GDP than that of developed countries, so there has to be a financial and institutional strengthening of the SUS," he said.

The pandemic's aftermath will dominate not only the presidential debates, but also regional elections, he said. "The campaigns for governors, deputies and senators will address the health issue with concrete proposals."

Kramer also warned of the pandemic's impact on education, citing a recent World Bank study, which showed that the estimated learning losses in Latin America and the Caribbean, a result of the suspension of classes during the pandemic, will directly translate into human capital losses and a less productive labor force, eventually affecting the overall productivity and economic development of countries.

"Educational problems have an impact on children and young people, and in turn this will have a long-term impact on the performance of the economy and productivity. If confirmed, Brazil could see very large productivity losses," he said.

Brazil may be entering a new phase of the pandemic, marked by an intense circulation but lower hospitalization and mortality rates, due to the more transmissible Delta variant and the immunization of part of the most vulnerable population, according to Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil's state-run medical research facility.

As of Monday, Brazil had administered more than 142.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and over 41.5 million people had been fully vaccinated, since the start of the national immunization campaign in January, according to the health ministry.

The government expected all Brazilians to be immunized by the end of 2021, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said in May.

"I think a very focused and consistent debate is going to be necessary on how to overcome the negative educational, economic and social consequences of the pandemic," said Kramer. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:57:47|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen detonated on Thursday 14 power transmission towers in the Salahudin province north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

The attacks took place before dawn when the militants planted bombs in the towers and blew them up in different areas across the province, Colonel Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.

The attacks on the power transmission towers led to an almost complete power outage in the province, al-Bazi said.

Accompanied by the Iraqi security forces, technical teams of the provincial electricity directorate rushed to the scenes to repair the towers, he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said in a statement that unknown gunmen detonated two power transmission towers in the al-Nebai and Tarmiyah areas in the north of Baghdad.

Iraq has been witnessing a chronic power shortage since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

In July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held a meeting to discuss the attacks attempting to sabotage power stations and transmission towers in several provinces of the country, and directed the army to strengthen the protection of power transmission lines. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:07:31|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and visiting European Union (EU) official Enrique Mora held talks on the Iran nuclear agreement, according to a briefing release put on Iran's Foreign Ministry website Thursday.

During their meeting on Wednesday, Zarif said that the problems in the process of deal implementation were created by the U.S. violation of its commitments and unilateral withdrawal from the deal.

He also pointed to the challenges facing the Vienna talks aimed to reviving the 2015 accord, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), criticized the stances held by three European countries involved in the Vienna talks and their "inaction" towards the U.S. breach of its nuclear commitments in recent years.

In a separate meeting in Tehran, Mora, deputy secretary-general and political director of the European External Action Service, held talks with Abbas Araqchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator.

They exchanged views about mutual cooperation and relations between Iran and the EU in different areas, including the JCPOA.

Araqchi stressed the need for the removal of U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran.

Mora is visiting Tehran to attend Iran's newly-elected President Ebrahim Raisi's swearing-in ceremony to be held later on Thursday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:09:05|Editor: huaxia

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LAGOS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has given the approval to commence a multi billion U.S. dollars rail line to link all the country's coastal cities by rail in six years.

The decision was announced by the Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Wednesday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting attended by cabinet ministers in Abuja, the country's capital.

Mohammed revealed that memos regarding boosting of rail projects in Nigeria have been approved in the FEC meeting, including the construction of the Lagos-Calabar standard gauge coastal rail, which links Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, and Calabar, a major port in southeast Nigeria.

"This particular route is very important especially for our coastal economy," the minister said, adding that the project is expected to be completed in six years.

The most populous African country has been vigorously advancing its railway modernization ambitions in recent years, with two segments of its railway modernization initiative -- the Abuja-Kaduna railway and the Lagos-Ibadan railway, having been put into operation in 2016 and 2021, respectively. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:16:02|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities in China have ramped up mass vaccination drives to contain the latest resurgence of COVID-19 attributable to the highly contagious Delta variant.

A total of 17 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland had reported locally transmitted infections linked to this coronavirus strain as of Wednesday.

More than 1.7 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered on the Chinese mainland by Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). It took China less than a week to administer the most recent 100 million vaccine jabs.

The country's mass inoculation campaign has accelerated since multiple places reported local COVID-19 infections related to the Delta variant.

On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported 62 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases -- 40 in Jiangsu, nine in Hunan, three each in Beijing, Shandong, Henan, and Yunnan, and one in Hubei, according to daily updates by the NHC.

In central China's Hunan Province, health authorities have set up over 3,000 vaccination sites to meet the growing demand. Long queues can be seen at several vaccination sites in the provincial capital Changsha.

"The public has been keen to get vaccinated in recent days, so we have launched an online appointment platform and trained our staff to provide better services," said Zhang Sili, a nurse at a vaccination station in Changsha's Tianxin District.

Zhang added that the vaccination station has so far administered about 87,000 vaccine jabs to some 55,000 local residents.

Official data showed that as of Tuesday, Hunan had administered more than 67.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 25.5 million people in the province fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

China is orderly propelling its vaccination program among senior citizens and minors aged between 12 and 17, on the premise of ensuring safety.

By July 28, a total of 150 million people aged 60 and above in the country and 12.48 million minors in the aforementioned age group have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the NHC.

In Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province that has recently reported a cluster of local COVID-19 infections, parents have been keen to get their children inoculated since the megacity extended its vaccination program to minors in early August.

"The Delta variant is very infectious, and I will feel safe after my kid gets vaccinated," said a Chengdu resident surnamed Chen, who took her 12-year-old daughter to a local hospital for inoculation.

As of Tuesday, more than 3.6 million doses had been administered to minors aged between 12 and 17 in Sichuan, according to the provincial health commission.

China's top medical experts have pointed out that COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant.

Shao Yiming, a researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent interview that although no vaccine can provide 100 percent protection against viral infections, various COVID-19 variants can still be controlled with existing vaccines.

Citing evidence-based studies, Shao noted that China's domestic COVID-19 vaccines can effectively reduce rates of hospitalization, severe cases, and deaths.

Preliminary studies on the latest COVID-19 outbreak in south China's Guangdong Province show that China's homegrown vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said Saturday.

The protective effect of China's domestic vaccines is 100 percent effective against severe cases, 76.9 percent against moderate cases, 67.2 percent against mild ones, and 63.2 percent against asymptomatic carriers, respectively, Zhong added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:30:50|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday issued warnings for flash floods in east and south China.

Parts of east China's Fujian Province and south China's Guangdong Province are likely to see flash floods from 8 p.m. Thursday to 8 p.m. Friday, according to a yellow alert issued jointly by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration.

Some of the areas in the two provinces are highly prone to flash floods, the authorities said, issuing an orange alert for these regions.

The authorities also warned of possible flash floods caused by heavy rains in other parts of the country, urging stepped-up efforts for disaster prevention.

Typhoon Lupit made its second landfall in Zhangzhou City, east China's Fujian Province, at around 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, after landing in south China's Shantou city, Guangdong Province, at about 11:20 a.m., packing strong winds.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:41:57|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- After waiting for ten days to get a first gold, Kenya finally got off the mark on Wednesday when Emmanuel Korir won the Tokyo 2020 men's 800m final to give his nation the Olympics lift off that was fast appearing out of reach.

Korir clocked 1:45.06 to take the gold, with compatriot Ferguson Rotich second and Poland's Patryk Dobek winning bronze, to become an instant sensation back home as a country that had starved for the top medal finally burst into celebration.

"I knew everyone was tough. My focus was to run the last 150m in case the pace was slow. No one was ready to take the cross in the first 400m. I said to myself let me try to push the last 100m to see whether I could make it," Korir told Kenyan reporters after his triumph in Japan.

He admitted the pressure was on after the criticism leveled against Team Kenya in Japan ahead of his final as he called on his countrymen to tone down the backlash.

"It's unfortunate that most of our guys back at home only support you when you win. But when you lose, they frustrate you, they start talking negative things, it's not good," he remarked on the stinging condemnation the class of Tokyo 2020 has received from Kenya.

The freshly minted Olympic champion is confident his victory will spark a belated gold rush from Kenya as the Tokyo 2020 Games draw to their conclusion on Sunday.

"I'm urging the Kenyans to be a little bit careful because they never know what will happen. I'm so happy and I hope this gold will inspire others to do their best," Korir added.

Among those who paid glowing complements to the 26-year-old athlete was the giant that he succeeded as Olympic champion - world record holder David Rudisha - who was watching from home having failed to gain fitness in time to defend his title.

"Back to Kenya! We retained Gold in 4 straight Olympic Games in 800m men. Congratulations Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich," the London 2012 and Rio 2016 champion exclaimed on social media.

Korir and Rotich were the toast of Kenya's Internet space as thousands of Kenyan poured tributes after an agonising wait for their national anthem to be played at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

Political leaders and other luminaries joined ordinary Kenyans in the online praise gravy train as a country that had witnessed another chance for gold eluded them in the women's 3,000m steeplechase minutes before lapped glory at last.

"There it is! Team Kenya's first Gold medal! Congratulations to Korir and Rotich for a phenomenal 1-2 finish in the men's 800m at Tokyo 2020. You have made the nation happy," the country's Deputy President, William Ruto, cheered on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"Yes. What a tactical run and strong finish, congratulations to Korir on winning the 800m Olympic gold medal and Rotich taking the silver medal. The entire nation is proud of you both. Well in!" former Prime Minister Raila Odinga added as scores of posts made Korir a trending topic moments after his victory. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:47:13|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic is making a fierce comeback to the United States with its Delta variant, Americans and the country's local and federal governments have reacted in palpable desynchronization.

Some treat it seriously by wearing masks and getting vaccinated as soon as they can, while some others behave much differently or even in an opposite direction, showcasing both sides of a coin whenever a major decision is to be made in this motley nation of democracy.

On Tuesday, the country reported 92,005 new COVID-19 cases, whose 14-day change was a 139-percent increase, and 371 related deaths, whose 14-day change was a 4-percent fall, according to the figures updated on The New York Time's website.

The Delta variant accounts for an estimated 93.4 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States during the last two weeks of July, according to figures published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday.

THOSE WHO ACT

Except for his recommendation that New York City residents, even if vaccinated, wear masks when indoors, Mayor Bill de Blasio is also initiating a "Key to NYC Pass," which is like the COVID-19 passport talked about a few months ago.

"It's a carrot-and-stick approach," as reported by Forbes, for people will be required to show that they are vaccinated if they want to go to restaurants, gyms and other places.

No vaccinations, no entrance. "If you want to participate in society fully, you've got to get vaccinated," de Blasio said. "If we're going to stop the Delta variant, the time is now. This is going to make clear, you want to enjoy everything great in this summer of New York City? Go get vaccinated."

More of human interest in positive reaction to the pandemic, former U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to significantly scale back a celebrity-studded 60th birthday bash planned for Saturday on Martha's Vineyard.

"The outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public guidelines and COVID-19 safeguards in place," Hannah Hankins, spokeswoman for the former president, said in a statement on Wednesday. Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the former president and Mrs. Obama "have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends."

Also on Wednesday, the most financially exhilarating counter-pandemic news is that Vanguard -- one of the world's largest asset managers -- is offering employees 1,000 U.S. dollars to get vaccinated. "The incentive shows how aggressively some companies are moving to encourage workers to get vaccinated as concerns about the Delta variant mount," said CNN.

All of Vanguard's approximately 16,500 U.S. employees are eligible and must show proof of vaccination by Oct. 1. "Vanguard recognizes vaccines are the best way to stop the spread of this virus and strongly encourages crew to be vaccinated," said Vanguard spokesperson Charles Kurtz in a statement. "As such, we are offering a vaccine incentive for crew who provide COVID-19 vaccination proof."

Encouraging decision also emerged in San Francisco, California, where J&J recipients can make a special request to get a "supplemental dose" of an mRNA vaccine, city health officials said in a statement, while declining to call the second shots "boosters."

Nationwide, facing mounting pressure from progressive Democratic lawmakers and a spike of COVID-19 cases, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday issued a new 60-day eviction moratorium to prevent millions of American renters from being forced to leave their homes.

The "temporary" moratorium, issued by the CDC, will expire on Oct. 3. Targeting areas with high or substantial COVID-19 transmission, it covers 80 percent of U.S. counties and 90 percent of the U.S. population.

THE NON-ACTS

Florida has been in focus these days for Governor Ron DeSantis has turned a cold shoulder to the surging cases of coronavirus, saying that there wasn't any new data showing the Delta variant was more severe.

On Tuesday, he said that his state will not shut down again despite a record-breaking influx of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, which has made the Sunshine State the nation's new virus epicenter.

When asked about the COVID-19 policies of DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Biden said that "I believe the results of their decisions are not good for their constituents and it's clear to me and to most of the medical experts that the decisions being made, like not allowing mask mandates in school, are bad health policy."

The most recent guidance from the CDC urging even fully-vaccinated Americans to mask up indoors in areas where coronavirus transmission is high still won't persuade nearly one-fourth of American adults to regularly wear a mask, new polling suggests, and "unvaccinated Americans are particularly unlikely to wear a face covering despite the delta variant's rapid spread," Forbes reported on Wednesday.

Another survey published on Wednesday has found that most unvaccinated American adults don't believe the COVID-19 vaccines are very effective and see the vaccines as a greater health risk than the virus itself.

The most worrisome thing for the United States in this unprecedented pandemic is that "nearly 18 months into the pandemic, there's no consensus on how to keep students and staff safe," said news portal Politico on Wednesday.

"School boards are at war with governors over masks. Superintendents are developing contingency plans on the fly. And schools that only just opened have had to shut down," it said, adding that the U.S. schools' opening days are almost there, but "the Delta variant, which few had heard of when classes ended in the spring, is upending reopening plans across the country, threatening President Joe Biden's promise of a more normal school year and sustained economic recovery." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:51:14|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday condemned the Israeli air raids that targeted Lebanon's southern villages earlier in the day, saying they constitute a flagrant and serious violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, according to a statement by Lebanon's Presidency.

"These attacks are a direct threat to security and stability in the south," Aoun said.

This is the first time that Israel has used its military jets against Lebanon since 2006, he noted.

"This indicates an aggressive intention by Israel against Lebanon amid its continuous threats against our country and sovereignty," the president concluded.

Israeli war jets struck rocket launch sites in southern Lebanon on Thursday in response to earlier rockets' attack from Lebanon. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:54:14|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's newly-elected President Ebrahim Raisi takes the oath before parliament on Thursday, with the new government's domestic and international agendas under spotlight.

Before his official swearing-in, Raisi called for cooperation against U.S. oppression and promotion of relations with neighbors in his meetings with envoys from other countries dispatched to Iran's capital Tehran to attend his inauguration ceremony.

These meetings echoed Raisi's previous remarks. He has set the enhancement of ties with neighboring countries, Asian, Latin American, and non-Western countries as a priority of his foreign policy agenda.

U.S. PRESSURE

"There is no doubt that independent and freedom-seeking countries in the world can develop relations and cooperation to overcome U.S. sanctions and oppressive pressures," Raisi told his Venezuelan guest on Wednesday night, as quoted by the Iranian Presidency's official website.

"Iran and Venezuela have common interests as well as common enemies, and we have always shown that with perseverance and tact we can thwart the conspiracies of the United States and global imperialism," he added.

The United States, Raisi said, "cannot stop independent nations from progressing and excelling."

Referring to the strong will to strengthen bilateral relations to move rapidly towards comprehensive development, Raisi stated, "We are determined to eliminate the problems facing our people by establishing comprehensive relations with friendly and brotherly countries."

Similarly, Raisi stressed the value of cooperation between Iran and Latin American countries as a means to counter the influence of the United States and other "arrogant" powers in a meeting on Tuesday night with Sacha Llorenti, visiting secretary-general of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

For his part, Llorenti pointed to the will to defend the independence and sovereignty of nations and stand up to "excessive U.S. demands" as values shared by Iran and the ALBA.

TIES WITH NEIGHBORS

Meanwhile, the new Iranian president on Wednesday said establishing extensive interaction with neighboring countries constitutes one of his government's main foreign policy principles.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Nurdinjon Ismailov, speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan.

"There are countless potentials for the development of relations between the two countries in different fields, especially economy," Raisi said.

Ismailov said that Uzbekistan seeks to develop and strengthen comprehensive relations with Iran, especially in the trade and economic sectors.

During his meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad al-Busaidi, Raisi said that Iran aims to develop relations with Oman "in all political, economic, social and cultural fields."

For his part, al-Busaidi congratulated Raisi on his election, saying the "historical and deep-rooted relationship" between Oman and Iran has become "a model between countries in the region."

During another meeting with Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda, chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of Tajikistan, Raisi called for the development of ties between Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan as three Persian-speaking countries.

REGIONAL CONFLICTS

In a meeting with Chairman of Pakistan's Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, while hailing relations between Tehran and Islamabad as "beyond the neighborly relationship," Raisi expressed concerns over tensions and insecurity in Afghanistan, and stressed the importance of cooperation between Iran and Pakistan to help establish lasting peace and security in the country.

"The situation of the Afghan people is worrying," Raisi said, emphasizing that the U.S. presence anywhere in the world not only does not resolve problems, but also becomes a problem itself.

"The fate of Afghanistan must be determined peacefully without the interference of outsiders and by the Afghans themselves and through dialogue," he added.

Similarly, referring to the U.S. inability to provide security in Afghanistan, Sanjrani said, "The United States is a major cause of insecurity in various regions."

In his meeting with Syrian Parliament Speaker Hammouda Sabbagh on Wednesday, Raisi said the Syrian people and government have "heroically resisted Western terrorism."

Regarding the reconstruction of Syria, he said "the remaining foreign forces must leave the Syrian territory as soon as possible so that the nation can begin the process of reconstruction powerfully and fast."

Also, Raisi told his guests from Yemen that the future of Yemen must be decided by the Yemenis themselves, adding that "no one outside Yemen can decide for this country." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 20:06:25|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's current COVID-19 containment measures are effective against the Delta variant, a health official said Thursday.

COVID-19 vaccines administered across the country -- having surpassed 1.72 billion doses as of Wednesday -- also demonstrate good preventive and protective effects against the Delta variant, He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press conference in Beijing.

Research results and clinical experience at home and abroad showed that the variant had yet led to fundamental changes in the biological characteristics of the COVID-19 virus, and scientists are basically clear about how the virus is transmitted, the official said.

He said that the current vaccines can reduce the risk of transmission, and effectively cut the incidence of severe symptoms and lower fatality rate.

China has earlier successfully stopped the spread of the Delta variant in multiple densely-populated regions with high population mobility in Guangdong Province, which proves measures including vaccination, wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping social distance, and avoiding crowded places are effective, the official said.

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 62 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases, the NHC said in its daily report Thursday.

The capital Beijing, which recently classified two residential compounds as COVID-19 medium-risk areas, imposed strict entry and exit controls, asking residents to minimize travel and avoid gatherings.

Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, has launched citywide nucleic acid testing, requiring people leaving the city to show proof of negative nucleic acid tests taken within 48 hours.

Other cities like Wuhan and Nanjing have also launched mass COVID-19 testing campaigns. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 20:52:48|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese and Russian military personnel communicate on a joint military drill at a training ground on Aug. 5, 2021. A joint military exercise by the Chinese and Russian armies will be held from Aug. 9 to 13 at a training base of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Liu Fang)

YINCHUAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A joint military exercise by the Chinese and Russian armies will be held from Aug. 9 to 13 at a training base of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The exercise, named ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021, is the first joint military exercise held inside China since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the exercise's leading group.

The participating troops will mainly be from China's PLA Western Theater Command and Russia's Eastern Military District. A total of over 10,000 members will be involved.

The exercise aims to further demonstrate the determination and ability of both sides to combat terrorist forces and jointly safeguard regional peace and security, said Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference last week.

All the Russian officers and soldiers participating in the drill have entered the exercise area after completing quarantine and medical observation according to China's epidemic-prevention regulations. All the preparatory work for the exercise has been completed. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:10:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The recent spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus in many parts of China has highlighted the resilience of the country's epidemic-control system.

Based on the previous effective epidemic-control measures against COVID-19, China is prepared, cautiously and confidently, to bring the new spread under control.

Massive testing, targeted lockdowns, extensive contact tracing and quarantine are the tried and tested formula that has helped China contain the COVID-19 epidemic and sporadic resurgences. Now these measures are in full swing once again, as the country strives to flatten the curve of daily locally-transmitted cases caused by the Delta variant.

All 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland have urged residents not to go to medium- and high-risk areas for COVID-19 or leave the provinces where they live unless it is necessary. Within 10 days, three rounds of citywide mass testing were conducted in east China's Nanjing City, where the latest outbreak started when nine airport staff were infected with the Delta strain.

The Chinese people have shown strong solidarity and cooperation in combating the new outbreak, as they did in 2020. Nobody is safe from the virus until everybody is safe, and the best way out is to act as one.

Putting people's lives and health first, the Chinese leadership has shown strong mobilization power to tackle the Delta variant, employing more experience and resources than it had in early 2020.

The authorities follow the epidemic situation closely, maintaining a subtle balance between strict anti-virus measures and the normal social and economic life. The decision-making demonstrates respect for precision, stringency and flexibility.

China's tool kit also includes a large-scale vaccination program. As of Wednesday, more than 1.72 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China, according to the National Health Commission.

A preliminary study of 153 patients in Guangzhou's recent resurgence of cases, which was also triggered by the highly contagious Delta variant in May, shows that China's domestic vaccines are effective against the virus strain, said Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan.

Some encouraging news is emerging. The Chinese mainland reported 62 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, down from 71 on Tuesday. However, the Chinese government knows well that the development of the various clusters remains uncertain, and any laxity of mind should be set aside in the bid to curb the spread of the virus. Cool-headiness, composure and strong enforcement capabilities are more than welcome.

An anti-virus system centering on the people and supported by the people is the fundamental reason for China's confidence in its "Great Wall" against the Delta or any other variant. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:21:52|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security has voiced strong dissatisfaction with and resolute opposition to a Xinjiang-related bill recently passed by the U.S. Senate.

The passage of the so-called Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a further move by the United States to contain China by disrupting Xinjiang, the ministry said in a statement.

The claims such as "mass arbitrary detention," "torture" and "high-technology surveillance" are pure fabrications, it said, adding that these are meant to smear China, hold down relevant Chinese individuals and entities, interfere in China's internal affairs, and undermine Xinjiang's stability and development.

The statement pointed out that Xinjiang now enjoys economic prosperity, ethnic unity and harmony, social stability, and freedom of religious belief. People of various ethnic groups are living safe and happy lives in the region.

China's public security departments are committed to law-based crackdowns on all law violations and crimes, including terrorist and separatist activities. They will make utmost efforts to safeguard the basic rights of the people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including their rights to subsistence and development, the statement said.

The United States slanders China by maliciously accusing it of "violating human rights" for what are usual measures to prevent and contain crimes, it said.

By doing so, the United States' real intention is to bolster the terrorist and separatist forces of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and instigate separatism and unrest in Xinjiang, it added.

"We reiterate that we will resolutely fight all sorts of illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law and resolutely safeguard Xinjiang's security and development interests," it said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:24:07|Editor: huaxia

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SANAA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Heavy fighting between the Yemeni government army and Houthi rebels raged in the central province of al-Bayda on Thursday as the government forces recaptured another strategic mountain, a government military source said.

The fighting took place in two mountainous areas of Hisn al-Nasir and Akabat al-Kontho in the northeastern district of Nati, which is under the control of the Houthi rebels. Both mountainous areas overlook the adjacent strategic district of Bayhan in the neighboring eastern province of Shabwa.

"The Houthi militia is trying to advance to Bayhan district to lay siege to the south of Marib Province," the military source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

However, during the fighting, the government forces recaptured Barbara mountain, a strategic height overlooking the Houthi rebels' positions in Nati district, the source said.

The Houthi rebels have made no comment yet on the fighting.

Yemen's civil war flared up in late 2014 when the Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:32:25|Editor: huaxia

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China on Thursday expressed firm opposition to the U.S. State Department's approval of an arms sale to Taiwan, and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

China will take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation, said the spokesperson.

That came after the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on August 4 that the U.S. State Department had approved the sale of 40 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems to Taiwan in a deal valued at $750 million.

Noting that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, the spokesperson said that the United States is interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining China's sovereignty and security interests by selling arms to the Taiwan region.

The move runs counter to international law and the basic principles of international relations, and violates the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, particularly the August 17 Communique, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the move sends erroneous signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and severely jeopardizes China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. "China is firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side."

The spokesperson said that China urges the U.S. side to honor its commitments, earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, cease arms sales to and military interactions with Taiwan, and immediately revoke relevant arms sales to Taiwan, lest more damage be dealt to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:36:04|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's film watchdog on Thursday released a circular requiring cinemas across the country to guard against the resurgence of COVID-19 based on local conditions.

Movie theaters in medium- and high-risk areas should be closed, said the China Film Administration in the circular, adding that attendance rates for those in low-risk areas should remain under 75 percent.

While keeping well-ventilated, cinemas should make sure that screening rooms, the lobby, rest rooms, seats and 3D glasses are fully disinfected, the administration said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:57:44|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi urged on Thursday cooperation among regional states for peace and security, according to Iran's presidential website.

Raisi made the remarks during meetings with heads of foreign delegations who arrived in the capital Tehran ahead of his swearing-in ceremony.

Iran and Turkey have more than neighborly relations. Common beliefs and understandings have brought the people of the two countries very close to each other, said Raisi in a meeting with Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop.

"Tehran and Ankara have good potentials to develop relations in all fields," he said, adding promotion of cooperation between the two countries can help improve regional and international cooperation.

For his part, Sentop congratulated Raisi on his win of Iran's presidential election and wished him success on behalf of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The relations between Iran and Turkey ... are very important for the realization of peace at the international stage," Sentop said.

In a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tehran, Raisi said the security of region should be ensured by the regional countries themselves, and "Iran is ready to use its potentials to establish lasting peace and prevent bloodshed in Afghanistan."

"Iran wants security, welfare and dignity of the Afghan people and has not and will not fail to help achieve this goal," he said.

The foreign interference is the root cause of insecurity and tension in Afghanistan, the new Iranian president noted.

Ghani also congratulated Raisi on his election and expressed hope for a new chapter in Iran-Afghanistan relations.

"Afghanistan wants to develop its political and economic relations with Iran in all fields," he said.

On Thursday, Raisi also called for enhancement of the level of relations between Iran and Iraq during his tenure in the office.

"As stated by the (Iranian) Supreme Leader, the Islamic Republic of Iran wants a strong and powerful Iraq," he said in a meeting with visiting Iraqi President Barham Salih.

"A powerful sovereign Iraq can also play a very constructive role in the security arrangements of the region," Salih said.

Raisi further called for immediate departure of foreign forces from Syria.

"The remnants of foreign forces must get out of Syria as soon as possible, so that the (Syrian) nation would be able to start the process of reconstruction strongly and rapidly," Raisi said in a meeting with visiting Syrian Parliament Speaker Hamoudeh al-Sabbagh.

Raisi vowed further boost of political and economic relations between Iran and Syria during his presidency.

"We will keep up the existing partnership and cooperation between the two countries vigorously, as there is no limitation to the expansion of the brotherly ties between the two states," he said.

For his part, al-Sabbagh thanked Iran for its support for the Arab state in its fight against terrorism.

Moreover, Raisi described the level of the Iran-Russia relations as "good but insufficient."

"Tehran-Moscow relations should enter a new era, and major steps need to be taken for their development," he said in a meeting with Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, or the lower parliament house.

There is no obstacle to the comprehensive development of relations between the two countries, Raisi said.

"We (Russia and Iran) are determined to implement the policies of Economy of Resistance to promote resilience to economic shocks, especially against the oppressive sanctions of the United States and Europe," he added.

Volodin also congratulated Raisi on his election, emphasizing the need to improve cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

Raisi was elected as Iran's new president on June 18, and entered the office after the supreme leader's decree and swearing-in ceremony in the parliament on Thursday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 22:11:31|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League on Thursday warned that the ongoing border tension between Lebanon and Israel could get out of control.

"The Arab League voices concerns regarding the rising escalations at the Israeli-Lebanese borders," the pan-Arab body said in a statement.

Lebanon has been passing through a difficult time and couldn't endure more tensions, it added, noting that the practices of the Israeli new government in southern Lebanon are meant to display its forces.

The Arab League called on the parties concerned in Lebanon to exercise self-restraint to prevent chaos, calling on the international community to help Lebanon tackle its political stalemate and unprecedented economic problems.

Israeli war jets struck rocket launch sites in southern Lebanon on Thursday in response to an earlier rockets' attack from Lebanon. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 22:24:47|Editor: huaxia

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Ebrahim Raisi attends a swearing-in ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 5, 2021. Raisi was elected as Iran's new president on June 18, and formally assumed office after the supreme leader's decree on Tuesday and swearing-in ceremony in the parliament on Thursday. (Photo by Javad Salarheyli/Xinhua)

TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in on Thursday as the new president of Iran in the parliament.

"I swear ... to be the guardian of the official religion and the Islamic Republic establishment and the constitution of the country, and to use all my capacity and competencies to fulfill the responsibilities I have undertaken," Raisi took the oath during his swearing-in ceremony.

"I swear to dedicate myself to serve the people, elevate the country, promote religion and morality, support the right and spread justice, refrain from any dictatorship, support freedom and dignity of individuals and the rights that the constitution has recognized for the nation," he added.

In the ceremony broadcast live on the state TV, Raisi also vowed to protect the borders and political, economic and cultural independence of Iran.

Iranian lawmakers and guests from more than 70 countries attended Raisi's inauguration ceremony in the parliament, local media reported.

According to the regulations, the president has two weeks after the inauguration ceremony to introduce the cabinet and the ministerial plan to the parliament for one-week evaluation.

The reports said Raisi will probably introduce his cabinet to the parliament by Sunday.

Raisi was elected as Iran's new president on June 18, and formally assumed office after the supreme leader's decree on Tuesday and swearing-in ceremony in the parliament on Thursday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 22:31:43|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage in Thailand, medical workers have been working tirelessly on the frontlines, saving lives and delivering hope in the grave situation.

Thana Khumyong, 42 years old, is one of the hundreds of thousands of medical workers fighting on the frontline of Thailand's COVID-19 battle. Many of them have made difficult decisions and stopped seeing their partners and families for fear of contaminating them with coronavirus.

As an emergency room (ER) doctor, Thana has not been back home for more than a year. "Most of my colleagues, whether they are nurses or ambulance staff, have made the same decision like me. It is tough. But we don't want to put our families at risk as many of them have not been vaccinated," he said.

Although Thana tried to spare some time to meet with his mother and other family members online everyday, he felt bad that he could not hug them and support them during hard times.

The Pra Nang Klao hospital where Thana works is located in Nonthaburi province, 23 km north of the Thai capital Bangkok. From Aug. 3, the province and 28 other worst-hit provincial regions by the pandemic had been put under partial lockdown to contain the fast spread of the viral disease.

On Thursday, a record 20,920 new COVID-19 cases brought the total number of infections in the Southeast Asian country to 693,305, with the cumulative fatalities rising to 5,663.

The months-long surge in infections has been overwhelming the country's medical system.

"Honestly, we are all so tired and stressed. We are overloaded with work as some doctors and nurses are undergoing self-quarantine after showing COVID-19 symptoms," Thana said. But he tried his best to support his colleagues and help his patients feel better.

He said doctors and nurses at the emergency department are at high risk of infection because of surging COVID-19 patients and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).

As the hospital is facing a shortage of beds, Thana said the emergency department had to set up two temporary isolation rooms where there were no toilets, leading to an embarrassing situation -- some patients have to wear adult diapers.

"We are running out of stock (of adult diapers)," Thana said, adding that he launched a fund-raising drive online to collect adult diapers, which had received positive feedback.

Darunee Sasanakun, a 56-year-old ER head nurse, said the pressure is starting to wear her down, but she tried to gather her strength to be a role model for young nurses.

"We don't see the end of the pandemic, and we have to try harder to keep everyone in the ER motivated. We have to protect ourselves from falling sick or getting infected, then we can take care of the patients," Darunee said.

"We are tired, but we will not give up, because there's always hope beckoning you from ahead," she said calmly with a smile.

The number of people being hospitalized remained high at 87,150 in Thailand, with hundreds of thousands receiving treatment in field hospitals, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health.

"I hope everyone takes the best care of themselves and strictly observe all measures to halt the spread of COVID-19," Thana said. Although the pandemic is still far from over, he said, if everyone is responsible and cooperative, he could be more optimistic about the future. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:27:46|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN -- Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in on Thursday as the new president of Iran in the parliament.

"I swear ... to be the guardian of the official religion and the Islamic Republic establishment and the constitution of the country, and to use all my capacity and competencies to fulfill the responsibilities I have undertaken," Raisi took the oath during his swearing-in ceremony. (Iran-Raisi-Inauguration)

- - - -

YAOUNDE -- At least 16 people have been killed Thursday morning in an accident on a highway in Awae, a locality of Cameroon's Centre region where the capital Yaounde is located, according to the police.

The accident occurred when a 70-seater passenger bus collided with a truck loaded with logs on the Yaounde-Bertoua highway, said the same source. (Cameroon-Road accident)

- - - -

N'DJAMENA -- At least 24 Chadian army soldiers were killed on the night of August 4 to 5 during an attack by the Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad region, several Chadian media reported Thursday, citing local sources.

The attack on a Chadian army position in Tchoukoutalia, Lac province, was confirmed by the army spokesman, General Azem Bermandoa Agouna, who was contacted by Xinhua. (Chad-Boko Haram)

- - - -

BEIRUT -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday condemned the Israeli air raids that targeted Lebanon's southern villages earlier in the day, saying they constitute a flagrant and serious violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, according to a statement by Lebanon's Presidency.

"These attacks are a direct threat to security and stability in the south," Aoun said.

This is the first time that Israel has used its military jets against Lebanon since 2006, he noted. (Lebanon-Israeli Air Raids-Condemnation) Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:28:59|Editor: huaxia

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by Olatunji Saliu

ABUJA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Jet Motors, a Nigerian startup electric vans assembler, has said it is aspiring to deepen cooperation with Chinese partners to tap into the African automotive space and bring about a revolution in the automotive industry in Nigeria.

With a view to accelerating Africa's advancement in the mobility space by producing affordable electric vehicles for mass transportation while helping to reduce carbon emission on African roads, the Nigerian automobile manufacturer said it aims to achieve its goals with technical support from China and other international partners.

"China has advanced so much in terms of technological know-how, in terms of the EV (electric vehicle) space. Sixty percent of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in the world are coming from China. It is a no-brainer to have this relationship with Chinese partners," Chidi Ajaere, the chief executive officer of Jet Motors, told Xinhua in a recent interview through video link.

The firm is currently in talks with a number of Chinese partners, with an aim to deepen cooperation toward making electric vehicles, which are rare in most parts of Africa, Ajaere said.

Speaking further on aspirations and the proposed partnership with Chinese firms, he explained that Jet Motors, which started operation in 2018, is having a long-term plan to develop such battery-powered vehicles as the mainstay in Nigeria and the African continent by making the EV market cheap for Africans.

"Even in the West, many of the EV manufacturers have their base in China. It was a no-brainer for us to work with the best part assemblers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in China to be able to assemble an electric vehicle that is qualified for the African roads," he said, noting that China has been able to rapidly develop its EV market.

"We don't need Nigerians or Africans having to necessarily leave Africa to go to China. We can bring many of those OEM parts and build high-quality batteries that are situated in China. We can have it in Nigeria in partnership with the Chinese but producing locally for Nigeria and for the rest of Africa," he said.

POTENTIAL OF EVs IN AFRICA

In Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, electric vehicles currently have "a very small niche market," Ajaere noted. However, there is hope for a brighter future, as electric vehicles or artificial intelligence-powered vehicles are, according to him, "the inevitable future."

The automobile manufacturer says there is a target market in mind for fleet operators, cargoes, ambulances, security vans, and cases like that for now.

The first electric van, produced by Jet Motors, got on the Nigerian road a little over a month ago, Ajaere said, while acknowledging the urgent need to work with the right partners to build charging stations across the board.

"Around Nigeria, we have built the first five charging points, mostly in Lagos city. That is where we have our first use case. Our partnerships both with the government and investors will continue to expand those numbers," he said.

"The easiest way to get mass adoption for EVs will be by giving people access to be able to charge these vehicles. We can build solar-powered charging stations across the continent," Ajaere said, noting that Nigeria, as well as other countries in Africa, boast of abundance in sunshine for solar power.

With the evolution of this technology, Jet Motors says it aspires that the mass production of electric vehicles will be a catalyst to boost the economy in African countries.

"Through Nigeria, we want to create for Africa, and we want to situate it in such a way that the kind of product that we are aspiring to produce and supply to everyone across the African continent is such that it will be a global product. It will be a major boost for the economy," said Sanjay Rupani, the firm's marketing and sales director.

The EVs, Rupani noted, will create opportunities for more skilled people to get jobs and get more knowledgeable; people's lifestyles will also evolve positively as they get acclimatized to that positive aspect of technical knowledge that the charging stations will reshape.

COOPERATING WITH CHINA TO CUT CARBON EMISSION IN AFRICA

As the potential for electric vehicles continues to grow in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has been calling for investment in renewables.

With fuel combustion causing a lot of pollution and damage to the environment, Jet Motors also eyes cooperation that will be geared toward Africa's 32 percent reduction of carbon emission by 2030 under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The Nigerian government also pledged to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent under the same agreement.

Africa is currently developing a strategy for greenhouse gas emissions to be presented to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, coming up in November.

"I believe that China is making one of the major significant moves in terms of aligning with the climate and innovating in the space of renewable energy. I know that China is leading that space," Ajaere said.

The ambition of reducing carbon emission will be met across Africa and the deficient levels of life expectancy as a result of the damage caused by fumes and smog will be greatly addressed, he said.

"I think it is essential that Africa is also at the forefront of something that is so important to the existence of humanity. People need to move from one place to the other, cleanly, easily, and efficiently," Ajaere added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:48:21|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker takes a swab sample for a COVID-19 test at a testing site in Laishan District of Yantai, east China's Shandong Province, Aug. 5, 2021. Yantai has started the second round of nucleic acid testing citywide for possible COVID-19 cases or asymptomatic infections. (Photo by Tang Ke/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China, caused mainly by the Delta variant, is more complicated but the epidemic is generally controllable, Chinese officials said Thursday.

In the latest wave, 15 provincial-level regions -- out of 31 -- on the Chinese mainland have reported COVID-19 infections, said He Qinghua, a senior official with the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference organized by the State Council inter-agency task force.

"CONTROLLABLE"

"As long as local authorities strictly implement various prevention and control measures, I think the epidemic will be largely under control within two to three incubation periods," he said.

He acknowledged that the current wave is more complicated and has put some strain on response efforts since it has multiple imported sources and has affected a wide range of people and places.

An NHC spokesperson said at the press conference that there is an increasing risk of the epidemic spreading as sporadic outbreaks took place in multiple places during the peak of summer travel. Whenever there is an outbreak, the most stringent measures must be taken to bring the epidemic under control as swiftly as possible, said Mi Feng, the spokesperson.

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 62 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases, the NHC said in its daily report Thursday.

Of the locally-transmitted cases, 40 were reported from Jiangsu, nine from Hunan, three each from Beijing, Shandong, Henan and Yunnan, and one from Hubei, according to the commission.

The latest outbreak mainly originated from a flight that departed from Russia and landed in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. Further viral genome sequencing has found that all the strains in the recent resurgence of COVID-19 were the highly infectious Delta variant.

He Qinghua said China's current COVID-19 containment measures are effective against the variant. Vaccines administered across the country -- having surpassed 1.72 billion doses as of Wednesday -- also demonstrate good preventive and protective effects against the variant, he said.

China had earlier successfully stopped the spread of the variant in multiple densely-populated regions with high population mobility in Guangdong Province, which proves measures including vaccination, wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping social distance, and avoiding crowded places are effective, the official said.

SWIFT ACTIONS

Mi, the spokesperson, also said the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response has sent 20 working groups to key port cities across the country to aid anti-virus efforts.

The working groups will supervise and guide the port cities in plugging loopholes in measures to prevent imported infections and respond to possible outbreaks, Mi added.

An education official told the press conference that schools in China's areas classified as having medium or high risks of COVID-19 outbreaks may delay the start of the upcoming autumn semester.

Liu Peijun, an official with the Ministry of Education, said that should there exist medium or high-risk areas right before the start of the new semester, schools in the areas will accordingly postpone the beginning of the session.

COVID-19 prevention and control is the top priority for the new semester, Liu said.

China is also stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the tourism and culture sectors, said Yu Changguo, an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The ministry has urged all travel agencies and online platforms to avoid high and medium-risk areas in their offers, pay close attention to the COVID-19 situation in tourist destinations, and adjust or cancel ongoing tours accordingly, Yu added.

As of Wednesday, 1,152 tourist attractions with A ratings, the country's highest rating for scenic spots, had been temporarily closed to visitors as requested, according to Yu.

Tourist spots and cultural venues were also asked to fully implement epidemic-prevention measures, including limiting tourist numbers, adopting staggered visiting hours, taking visitors' temperature before allowing them in, and sterilizing public facilities regularly, Yu added.

China's film watchdog on Thursday asked cinemas across the country to guard against COVID-19 resurgence based on local conditions.

Movie theaters in medium and high-risk areas should be closed, said the China Film Administration in the circular, adding that the attendance rate for those in low-risk areas should remain under 75 percent. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:48:42|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia-Djibouti railway has resumed operation, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Dina Mufti, a spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the rail line as well as road links between Ethiopia and Djibouti is working smoothly.

Mufti said the Ethiopian government is working to solve resource-based tribal conflicts that sometimes take political turn and disrupt economic activity in the east African country. For several days last month, the 752.7-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway was disrupted.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway which connects landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti port only resumed operations in recent months after it had previously been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ethiopia conducts about 95 percent of its import-export trade through ports in Djibouti. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:55:05|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of the Joint Statement of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation issued on Thursday.

Joint Statement of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation

Jointly launched by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan at the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation on August 5, 2021.

1. We recognize that solidarity and cooperation are key to fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, a challenge confronting all countries in the world. We must champion the vision of building a global community of health for all, put people and their lives first and make concerted and coordinated efforts to address the challenge.

2. We recognize the importance of COVID-19 vaccination as a global public good, and call upon all parties to step up efforts to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries, including making utmost efforts to provide vaccines for developing countries, LDCs in particular.

3. We call upon all countries, in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders, to increase national, regional and global capacities, carry out vaccine research and development as well as production in line with strict standards according to the World Health Organization (WHO) regulations, and provide safe, effective and high-quality COVID-19 vaccines.

4. We support the WHO in promoting access to COVID-19 vaccines through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, encourage capable vaccine-producing countries to provide more vaccines to COVAX, and call upon multilateral financial institutions and other international organizations to provide inclusive financial support for vaccine procurement and for strengthening production capabilities in developing countries.

5. We underline the importance of vaccine multilateralism and call upon countries to enhance international cooperation mechanisms and collaboration, reject vaccine nationalism, lift export restrictions on relevant vaccines and raw materials, support enhanced cooperation on vaccine research and development, production, equitable distribution and ensure cross-border flows of vaccines.

6. We call upon countries to encourage the ongoing consideration on possible waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization, stressing the need for flexibility, pragmatism and a sense of urgency. We encourage countries to further strengthen international cooperation on vaccine production capacity by conducting joint research and development, authorized production and technology transfers, and continue to adopt concrete measures to raise the vaccine production capacity of developing countries.

7. We emphasize the scientific nature and importance of World Health Organization Emergency Use List, and call on governments, while conducting study on easing national entry regulations for the vaccinated, to follow the principle of fairness, equity, science and non-discrimination, respect the suggestions proposed by the WHO based on this principle, and strengthen communication and coordination on vaccine certification and regulation policies.

8. We hear the report by the representatives of the vaccine companies and welcome their cooperation outcomes achieved. We are determined to take further joint actions to engage companies and all stakeholders and support their participation in international cooperation efforts on increasing vaccine production and distribution, jointly promote fair, affordable, timely, universal and equitable distribution and strengthen local production of vaccines around the world, and welcome more partners to come aboard, including through transfer of technology. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 00:42:36|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nepal on Thursday recorded 3,007 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in the past one and a half months which experts attributed to the relaxation in restrictive measures.

The Ministry of Health and Population reported 3,007 new infections and 37 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 708,079 and the death toll to 9,994.

The South Asian country last reported more than 3,000 cases on June 22, when the daily figure stood at 3,703.

"The recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases could well be the continuation of the second wave," Dr. Krishna Prasad Paudel, spokesman at the Ministry of Health and Population, told Xinhua.

And he blamed the relaxation in restrictive measures in the Kathmandu Valley and other parts of the country in recent weeks for the rising cases.

As new cases started to come down from early June and as low as 1,174 cases were reported on June 26, the restrictive measures enforced since late April were eased in parallel with the lockdown being extended time and again.

Nepal logged a record high of 9,317 cases on May 11 when the country was hit hard by the second wave of the coronavirus and the health system was strained to its limit.

A lack of medical oxygen and hospital beds forced many hospitals to turn away patients in May and the death toll more than doubled than during the first wave of the pandemic.

In recent days, hospitals in Kathmandu are seeing more inflow of new COVID-19 patients, and the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital on Thursday responded by adding 18 general beds and ten intensive care unit beds.

"Now, 36 of 40 ICU beds are occupied while around 100 beds of 133 general beds have been occupied," Dr. Shanta Kumar Das, coordinator of the COVID-19 Management Committee under the teaching hospital, told Xinhua.

Das believes that the cases are increasing because of the growing movement of people after the restrictive measures were eased.

Dr. Nabin Pokharel, deputy director at the Unified COVID-19 Hospital in Kathmandu, also observed a rising inflow of patients at hospitals in recent days. "The demand for ICU beds for coronavirus patients has also been growing," he said.

Besides, hospitals outside the Kathmandu Valley have been adding new ICU beds to accommodate more coronavirus patients, added Pokharel. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 01:04:44|Editor: huaxia

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JUBA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 30,000 civilians displaced by heavy flooding in Ayod County of Jonglei state in South Sudan are in dire need of assistance as they are surviving on grass after crops were washed away by water, a UN relief official said Thursday.

Arafat Jamal, acting humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan who visited Ayod Wednesday, said persisting rains have washed away crops forcing women and children to eat grass to stay alive.

"One of the most moving and shocking things for me is when someone threw pieces of grass on the ground and said this is what we have to eat," Jamal told journalists after his return to Juba, capital of South Sudan.

He disclosed that some homes in both Unity and Jonglei states have been submerged in addition to crops being destroyed.

"They said we have this (grass) and when we eat it we get upset and fall sick but this is all we have to eat, and to me when I see these people suffering I see human dignity that is affected," said Jamal, who blamed climate change for severe floods in South Sudan.

"Floods are nothing new but what is different is that we are truly in the age of climate change and climate catastrophe and what we are seeing now is that floods are coming in regularly and at a higher intensity than before," he said.

Jamal disclosed that these displaced people also lack clean drinking water. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 01:12:26|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait registered on Thursday 718 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 401,697, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said.

The ministry also announced five more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 2,356, while the tally of recoveries rose by 918 to 389,798.

A total of 9,543 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment, including 271 in the intensive care units, it said.

At an extraordinary government meeting on Wednesday evening, Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah said that there is a continued decline in coronavirus-related deaths, infections and hospitalization, adding that the ministry is speeding up the vaccination drive.

Meanwhile, the government at the meeting announced that all government bodies will return to pre-coronavirus regular working hours as of Aug. 15. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 01:17:39|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China will strive to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world throughout this year and offer 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX, Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Thursday, marking a further step by China in honoring its commitment to making vaccines a "global public good."

"China will do its best to help developing countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic," Xi said in a written message to the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation.

To fight with the world in solidarity against the common health crisis, China is making all-out efforts to promote the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, champion global cooperation, and reject vaccine nationalism, to build the global immunity barrier soon.

PROMOTING EQUITABLE ACCESS TO VACCINES

"I hope this forum will promote the accessibility and fair distribution of vaccines around the world, strengthen solidarity and cooperation in developing countries, and make new contributions for an early victory against the pandemic," Xi said in the written message.

In May this year, President Xi announced China's five measures to further support global solidarity against COVID-19 at the Global Health Summit. They include setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies, and other stakeholders.

The forum on Thursday marked a further practical step by China to explore ways of promoting the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. The forum is themed "strengthening international cooperation on vaccines, and promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world."

Ruan added that China shouldered more than its due responsibility, and China's donation of COVID-19 vaccines will certainly help countries in need to move a step closer to achieving herd immunity.

Since September 2020, China has provided vaccines to countries in urgent need and has been donating vaccines to more than 100 countries. Meanwhile, China is exporting vaccines to more than 60 countries, with the total amount exceeding 770 million doses, ranking the first globally, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said while chairing Thursday's meeting.

China is committed to building a global community of health for all and has provided vaccines to the world, especially developing countries. The country also actively carried out joint production, Xi said, adding that it illustrates the concept of vaccines as global public goods.

The Philippines has been tortured by the pandemic, with 60 percent of its population below the poverty line. The country is hugely concerned about the affordability of COVID-19 vaccines, said Enrique Gonzalez, CEO of IP Biotech company in the Philippines.

"It's China that helped the Philippines, and thanks to the Chinese government and China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd., 15 million people in the Philippines have completed one or two doses of the vaccination within a short time," Gonzalez said. He added that this reflects the friendship between the two countries in the face of the pandemic and demonstrates that China is always acting as a major responsible country.

CHAMPIONING GLOBAL COOPERATION

As of Wednesday, nearly 200 million people globally have contracted the virus, with the global death toll reaching 4.2 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Amid a surging COVID-19 caseload, largely driven by the Delta variant, China has made its call for strengthening international cooperation on vaccines.

"We are willing to work with the international community to promote international vaccine cooperation and build a community with a shared future for humanity," Xi said.

The important decision by China demonstrates the responsibility and vision of a major country, said Ruan Zongze, adding that China is using practical actions to build a global community of health for all and ensure the availability and affordability of vaccines.

"China lends a helping hand to developing countries in response to their genuine needs and makes up for shortcomings in international vaccine cooperation. It will help enhance the confidence of the international community in overcoming the pandemic," said Ruan, noting that China's deeds are in sharp contrast with the selfish and hypocritical attitudes of some other countries.

From vaccine development and production to vaccine distribution, China always adopts an open and cooperative attitude, actively responds to countries' requests for vaccine cooperation, and launches cooperation with them.

China is also the first to cooperate with developing countries on vaccine production. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Indonesia, and Brazil have become the first ones in the region to have the production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines, which charted a new chapter of unity and self-reliance among developing countries, Wang Yi said.

Participants at the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation issued a joint statement, in which they underline the importance of vaccine multilateralism and call upon countries to enhance international cooperation mechanisms and collaboration. They also urge rejecting vaccine nationalism, lifting export restrictions on relevant vaccines and raw materials, and supporting enhanced cooperation on vaccine research and development, production, equitable distribution and ensuring cross-border flows of vaccines.

The need for global cooperation around vaccines and public health is essential and urgent, said Anthony Zwi, a professor of Global Health and Development at the University of New South Wales. He added that the pandemic will only be defeated if the international community works together -- collaboratively and in solidarity with the peoples of the world.

"International politicization of the availability and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has been and will continue to be counter-productive and unhelpful to achieving the global public-health good of pandemic control," said Zwi. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 01:37:11|Editor: huaxia

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A Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying the Zhongxing-2E satellite blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 6, 2021. The satellite has entered its preset orbit. Friday's launch was the 383rd mission of the Long March rocket series. (Photo by Guo Wenbin/Xinhua)

XICHANG, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- China sent the Zhongxing-2E satellite into space on a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:30 a.m. Friday.

The satellite has entered its preset orbit.

Friday's launch was the 383rd mission of the Long March rocket series. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 01:55:58|Editor: huaxia

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OUAGADOUGOU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Thirty people, including civilians, army soldiers and pro-government militiamen, were killed on Wednesday in double attacks by armed terrorist groups near the border with Niger, the defence ministry said on Thursday in a statement.

The unidentified attackers struck villages near the town of Markoye in the province of Oudalan near the border with Niger around midday on Wednesday, killing eleven civilians, according to the statement.

A unit of the military detachment of Markoye, with members of the Defense of the Motherland (VDP), was immediately deployed, according to the same source which specifies that during the operations, the unit was attacked around 4 p.m.

The victims of the second attack included 15 soldiers and four VDP members. More than 10 attackers were also killed, the statement said, adding that the area is currently under the control of military and the counter-offensive to find the attackers is ongoing.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing a worsening security situation with terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people and displaced over 1 million others. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 02:48:00|Editor: huaxia

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SANAA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Every day, many Yemenis visit the Sanaa Zoo to see the Arabian leopards, the top predators on the Arabian Peninsula and one of the rarest leopards in the world.

The Arabian leopard has been listed as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 1996. Biologists estimated fewer than 200 individuals in the wilderness, and the population is continuously decreasing.

Fouad al-Hersh, the manager of the Sanaa Zoo, told Xinhua on Thursday that two male Arabian leopards in the zoo have been living without female companions for a long time. The lineage of the big cats will stop if the zoo could not find females for them soon.

"We hope the authority can find a solution and manage to import some females," said al-Hersh.

Yemen has been mired in the civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels seized control of several northern cities and forced the internationally recognized government out of the capital Sanaa.

The coalition led by Saudi Arabia has imposed a strict blockade on the Houthi-controlled areas, which largely restricted import and export.

The crippled economy has also caused many difficulties for the zoo, where more than 1,600 animals inhabit. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 02:55:08|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba, and the special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, said Thursday that they were appalled by the alarming increase in the scale and severity of sexual violence in Somalia.

In 2020, 400 civilians, primarily girls, were victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by all parties to the conflict in Somalia. This represents a staggering increase of almost 80 percent compared with 2019, said the two UN envoys in a joint press release.

In the first quarter of 2021, over 100 cases of sexual violence against girls were verified by the United Nations. Often, perpetrators exploited the vulnerability of displaced girls, targeting them when they left camps to perform domestic chores, they said.

Sexual violence was closely linked with the prevailing insecurity in Somalia, marked by political tensions in the run-up to national elections, intercommunal clashes related to land-based disputes, and a surge in Al-Shabaab's activities, which intensified during the climate of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they said.

"The heightened levels of conflict-related sexual violence in Somalia demand urgent attention and action. We urge all parties to the conflict in Somalia to immediately cease these violations and comply with their obligations and responsibilities under international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as their commitments with the United Nations pursuant to relevant Security Council resolutions," said the two special representatives.

Gamba and Patten were alarmed by the significant increase in the number of cases of sexual violence attributed to Al-Shabaab, which continues to use sexual violence and forced marriage as tactics of domination in areas under their de facto control, forcing many families to flee their land.

The two officials also noted with concern the high number of violations perpetrated by clan militia, which has almost tripled over the past year, and are linked to a proliferation of small arms and light weapons. In the vast majority of cases, the perpetrators remain unidentified, which perpetuates the vicious cycle of impunity and impedes access to redress and reparations for survivors.

They also expressed serious concern that over 15 percent of all cases of sexual violence verified were attributed to the government security forces.

They urged the federal government of Somalia to take concrete measures to end and prevent the recurrence of sexual violence against women and children, while expediting the implementation of protection commitments, including at the federal member state level.

They called on Somali lawmakers to strengthen its legislative framework to better protect the rights of women and children, highlighting that sexual violence thrives in environments where legislation is weak and allow perpetrators to walk free, and survivors receive little or no support.

"The Somali authorities must send a strong and clear signal of hope to survivors and deterrence to perpetrators and potential perpetrators. They should fast-track the endorsement and enactment of the 2017 Child Rights Bill as well as the re-introduction and enactment of the 2018 Sexual Offences Bill to ensure that its legislation to address all forms of sexual violence is comprehensive and in line with Somalia's international and regional human rights commitments," said the two envoys. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 03:18:25|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Up to 175 aid trucks have arrived in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's conflict-torn Tigray region, the majority of them in the past few days, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, 175 trucks with humanitarian supplies, including food, non-food items and fuel, have arrived in Mekelle. These include 50 trucks that crossed into Tigray over the past month with the remaining trucks crossing only in recent days, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The 175 trucks were among at least 223 trucks with humanitarian supplies for the United Nations and international nongovernmental organizations that left Semera, the capital city of neighboring Afar region, toward Mekelle, he told a daily press briefing.

Most of the remaining trucks are being scanned at a checkpoint and a few trucks are in Abala, the last entry point into Tigray from Afar, he said.

Two trucks were reportedly blocked by civilians and looted at a checkpoint in Afar, 97 km from Semera, on July 28, he said.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the current aid is not sufficient, with an estimated 100 trucks needed every day to assist 5.2 million people in need, said the spokesman.

He called for a political solution to the conflict in Tigray as fighting has spilled into Afar.

"I think this (spillover) would just hopefully increase the resolve of the parties to solve this situation through political means," the spokesman said. "Any conflict often starts out as small and, if it is not tended to, has a tendency to spill over and to get larger. And in the meantime, the people who are paying the price are the civilians."

"Trucks are going in, but we see trucks are looted. Trucks are also delayed. And we need 100 trucks per day, if not more, to get in there," he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 03:25:02|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in on Thursday and pledged his utmost for domestic economic development amid U.S. sanctions, as well as peace and friendship with regional states.

"I swear ... to be the guardian of the official religion and the Islamic Republic establishment and the constitution of the country, and to use all my capacity and competencies to fulfill the responsibilities I have undertaken," Raisi took the oath during his swearing-in ceremony.

In the ceremony, Raisi vowed to protect the borders and political, economic and cultural independence of Iran.

People want the new government to live up to its promises of spreading justice, fighting corruption and discrimination, he said, adding that people's demand from their elected government is to protect human beings in the face of oppression, injustice and discrimination.

Raisi said that his government will try to improve the livelihood of people by removing the economic hardship, and to expand the national vitality and social enthusiasm.

The Iranian president dismissed the policy of pressure and sanctions, saying that the anti-Iran pressures will not cause the Iranian people to give up their legal rights.

He said that the recent election in Iran was a reaction to the hostility of Iran's "enemies," their economic sanctions and their psychological warfare against the establishment.

Iran supports and welcomes any diplomatic proposal for the lift of sanctions, he noted.

"We will use all the tools of national power, including diplomacy and smart interaction with the world, to secure the interests of the Islamic Republic," said Raisi.

As for the foreign policy of the country, he stated that Iran will "stand by the oppressed," adding that "constructive and extensive interaction with the whole world" would be on his agenda.

The most important and main priority of his foreign policy is to "improve relations with neighboring countries," said Raisi.

"I extend my hand of friendship and brotherhood to all the countries of the region, particularly to the neighbors," he said.

He said regional crises should be resolved through inter-regional dialogue and on the basis of ensuring the rights of nations, and foreign intervention in the region will only further the problems.

The president rejected concerns about the country's nuclear program, calling it "peaceful."

According to the decree by the Iranian supreme leader, Iran forbids nuclear weapons and this weapon has no place in Iran's defense strategy, said Raisi.

According to the regulations, the president has two weeks after the inauguration ceremony to introduce the cabinet and the ministerial plan to the parliament for one-week evaluation.

Raisi was elected as Iran's new president on June 18 and formally assumed office after the supreme leader's decree on Tuesday and the swearing-in ceremony in the parliament on Thursday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 03:25:13|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Aug. 5, 2021 shows the interior of the new Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola, Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Zambia on Thursday commissioned a new international airport financed by China, with President Edgar Lungu expressing gratitude to the Chinese side for financing the construction of the airport. (Xinhua/Zhao Yupeng)

NDOLA, Zambia, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Thursday commissioned a new international airport financed by China, with President Edgar Lungu expressing gratitude to the Chinese side for financing the construction of the airport.

The Zambian leader said that the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, financed by the Exim Bank of China and designed and built by the AVIC International Holding Corporation, will be pivotal in facilitating the country's tourism and industrialization agenda as well as key in elevating the development agenda to another level. The project, he said, is a fulfillment of his government's agenda to transform the country through infrastructure development and reposition it as a major aviation hub in Africa.

"My government is fully committed to driving the country's development agenda and harnessing the country's economic potential. Today marks a key milestone in the transportation sector and the aviation sub-sector, in particular, as we continue on our journey to repositioning Zambia as a major aviation hub in Africa," he said during a ceremony for the commissioning of the airport.

According to him, apart from creating jobs during the construction stage, the airport will present various business opportunities for local businesses once it becomes fully operational.

Lei Yingqi, AVIC senior consultant, thanked the Zambian government for the support rendered to the company in the construction.

He said the company worked in partnership with various government agencies and fulfilled the government policy of having 20 percent sub-contracting to local contractors by engaging 60 local sub-contractors.

He further said local businesses benefited from the project through the supply of materials while about 2,700 people were employed during the construction period.

The skills which the local employees and subcontractors learned from the project will support them for their lifetime, he added.

According to him, the company has been able to do its work despite challenges faced such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Construction of the airport started in 2017. Once fully operational, the airport will have a 3.5-kilometer runway, taxiways and apron, a terminal to handle over one million passengers per year, a cargo terminal as well as a commercial complex and hotel, among other amenities. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 03:48:07|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Thursday reiterated its demand to replace the Ethiopian forces within the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

During a meeting held at the Presidential Palace in the capital Khartoum, Sudan's Security and Defense Council discussed the UNISFA's situation and its future.

The council reaffirmed Sudan's firm position regarding the necessity of continuing the mission with multinational forces, without Ethiopia being part of it, said Sudan's Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim Yassin in a statement.

The council expressed concern over "the security violations of military nature and the growing phenomenon of exploitation and use of military uniforms in conducting crimes that threaten social security and peace," the minister said.

He added that the council stressed the need to form a joint force under a unified command, with an appropriate mandate to deal with the violations.

Sudan believes that Ethiopia has failed to help establish peace at the disputed area of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan.

The UNISFA was established in 2011 by the UN Security Council to monitor the Abyei border. It is mainly composed of Ethiopian forces of around 4,200 troops and 50 police personnel. Later, the size of the forces was increased 5,326, all of whom are from Ethiopia.

The Sudan-Ethiopia relations have been strained by the rising tensions, including deadly skirmishes, along the border between the two countries since September 2020.

Sudan accuses Ethiopian farmers, backed by Ethiopian armed forces, of seizing Sudanese lands in the Fashaga area along the border and cultivating them since 1995. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 03:59:19|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will host conciliation talks between the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the political opposition, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday.

The initiative was originally proposed by Norway, the Mexican president said during his daily press conference.

"What we are looking for is that there will be dialogue and agreements between ... the government of Venezuela and the opposition," Lopez Obrador told journalists at the National Palace in Mexico City.

"Hopefully an agreement will be reached," Lopez Obrador added, without offering further details.

At the beginning of July, the Venezuelan president agreed to enter into political dialogue in Mexico with the Venezuelan opposition on three conditions, including that all the participating political sectors renounce violent plans, all U.S.-led sanctions against Venezuela cease immediately, and the radical right-wing opposition recognize the authority of all Venezuelan state institutions. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 04:35:59|Editor: huaxia

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HELSINKI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government on Thursday decided to tighten restaurant restrictions in four areas that are in COVID-19 community spreading stage, including the capital area.

It also decided that COVID-19 vaccinations for young people aged 12 to 15 would start next week. Currently, vaccinations have been given only to those who are at risk in the age group.

The cabinet decisions were taken as the weekly infections in the country rose almost 60 percent.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the number of new cases has increased to 4,574 during the week July 26-Aug. 1 from 2,925 reported in the previous week, up 56 percent.

On this Wednesday alone, Finland reported 872 new cases, the highest since March.

Starting from Sunday, the restaurant restrictions will be applied in the provinces of Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso, and the cities of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Restaurants must stop sales of alcohol at 10 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. Seating capacity restrictions will be tightened as well. The ban on indoor dancing and karaoke will come into force again.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin told the media on Thursday that the government's COVID-19 strategy will place particular emphasis on vaccination coverage in the future.

"We do not want to close society in the same way as we had in spring. Of course, we still have to be careful and we can't get to normal life in a moment."

The vaccination coverage goal for people over the age of 16 is more than 90 percent, and for the entire population, more than 70 percent, said Marin.

To date, 66 percent of Finnish people have received one vaccine dose while 36 percent had both.

A public debate on the possible introduction of a COVID-19 pass has prevailed in the Finnish media in recent days. It's reported that the pass could be used in restaurants and events, but not in public services.

At this point, it is still impossible to promise that the pass will come or when it will come. The government gave the green light to the fact that preparatory work is being done, reported local media, quoting the prime minister. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 04:59:16|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday denied his government's lawsuit against U.S. arms manufacturers constituted "intervention" in U.S. domestic affairs.

In his usual morning press conference, the president made it clear the suit was against arms makers and their lax sales practices, not against the U.S. government or Americans' right to bear arms.

"It is not an interventionist act, it is not against the United States government, it is a civil procedure because we are affected by the lack of control over the sale of weapons," Lopez Obrador told reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City.

Mexico's government on Wednesday filed a civil suit in a U.S. federal court in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, seeking damages from a dozen arms manufacturers for "actively facilitating the illicit trafficking of their weapons to the cartels and other criminals in Mexico."

Lopez Obrador said U.S. companies were making weapons "tailored" to organized crime and selling them indiscriminately.

"There is no restriction, no control, they even buy online," said Lopez Obrador, acknowledging the lawsuit will not be resolved soon.

Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday the lawsuit aimed to have the companies compensate the Mexican government "for damages caused by their negligent practices."

The amount would be determined at trial, he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 07:25:18|Editor: huaxia

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Firefighters battle a wildfire in Marmaris, Mugla province, southwestern Turkey, on Aug. 5, 2021. Turkey has been battling massive wildfires that had erupted in southern and southwestern coastal resort towns for over one week. The blazes have claimed eight lives. (Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 00:57:20|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The East African Business Council (EABC), a regional trade lobby, on Wednesday urged the East African Community (EAC) partner states to liberalize the air transport services to spur intra-regional trade.

The EABC is the regional apex body of the private sector in the EAC member states of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.

John Bosco Kalisa, CEO of EABC said that the domestic air transport sector remains protected, reducing accessibility and increasing air transport cost at the expense of potential users.

"Liberalization of air services in the region is set to increase traffic volumes, improve connectivity and lower air transport fares. This will in turn increase trade and tourism, inward investment and productivity growth," Kalisa said in a statement.

According to findings from the latest policy paper by EABC, Costs and Benefits of 'Open Skies' in the EAC region, air-transport liberalization is set to lower flight costs by nine percent and result in a 41 percent increase in flight frequencies.

The policy paper recommends for the EAC partner states to provide subsidies for the aviation industry in the form of direct financial support, loan guarantees, corporate bonds and tax reliefs.

"By removing foreign restrictions, EAC partner states will be able to attract private sector investment. This will open up access to capital and avail investment in infrastructure upgrades and capacity expansion for regional airports," Kalisa added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 18:15:12|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Wang Xuefeng (R) and Botswana's Minister of Health and Wellness Edwin Dikoloti attend a handover ceremony in Gaborone, Botswana, Aug. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Teng Junwei)

by Xinhua writers Teng Junwei, Zhu Shaobin

GABORONE, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The origin tracing of the COVID-19 pandemic should be led by science and not be politicized, Edwin Dikoloti, Botswana's Minister of Health and Wellness has said.

"We should let science lead, let science guide. Our position hasn't changed on that one," the minister told Xinhua on the occasion of a handover ceremony held on Wednesday when the Chinese Embassy in Gaborone donated oxygen generators and ventilators to Botswana.

"We don't want this disease to be politicized ... that is why our approach has been a science-led team within the Presidential Task Force to help us in terms of the control and management of this disease," Dikoloti said.

The remarks by the minister echoed those of many scientists, who express concerns that science is being sidelined by politics amid global anti-pandemic efforts.

Currently, the Delta variant is causing a surge in COVID-19 caseloads in countries across the world, including Botswana. The priority for African countries including Botswana, said the minister, is to cry out loud for the availability of vaccines.

Dikoloti noted that the rate at which the virus is mutating is worrying and a vast majority of people still have not even got the first shot. "We really long for a situation where there is proper equitable distribution of vaccines."

"No one is safe until we are all safe. So let's allow science to lead in terms of origin-tracing. Let's make sure that no one is left out in terms of the distribution of vaccines," Dikoloti said, adding that countries should not lose focus in their pandemic fight.

Dikoloti appreciated the support Botswana has been receiving from China, including the delivery in April of a batch of COVID-19 vaccines provided by China's Sinovac, and expected closer win-win cooperation with China. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 20:35:56|Editor: huaxia

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N'DJAMENA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 Chadian army soldiers were killed on the night of August 4 to 5 during an attack by the Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad region, several Chadian media reported Thursday, citing local sources.

The attack on a Chadian army position in Tchoukoutalia, Lac province, was confirmed by the army spokesman, General Azem Bermandoa Agouna, who was contacted by Xinhua.

The counter-offensive is underway, the army spokesman said.

Lac province is regularly the target of attacks by Boko Haram. The last attack took place on April 27. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 20:40:38|Editor: huaxia

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YAOUNDE, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 people have been killed Thursday morning in an accident on a highway in Awae, a locality of Cameroon's Centre region where the capital Yaounde is located, according to the police.

The accident occurred when a 70-seater passenger bus collided with a truck loaded with logs on the Yaounde-Bertoua highway, said the same source.

Witnesses told Xinhua, children and women were among the dead.

At least 30 people who were injured in the accident have been rushed to a local hospital, local authorities said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 15:00:18|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Five Pakistani movies will be screened at the ongoing Pakistan Film Festival that kicked off Wednesday in Beijing, a move aimed to help Chinese audience further understand Pakistani culture.

Sponsored by the China Film Administration, Pakistan Embassy and China Film Archive, the event is being held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan.

"The movie exchanges between China and Pakistan have been playing an important role in enhancing the mutual trust and friendship between the two countries and peoples," said Zhang Xiaoguang, deputy director of the China Film Archive, adding that Chinese audiences expect to watch more Pakistani movies, and the event will further deepen the friendship between the two sides.

The five movies selected to be shown during the film festival cover a wide range of genres, such as biographies and musicals, reflecting the social reality in Pakistan.

"Last year, China introduced the Pakistani movie 'Parwaaz Hai Junoon,' which tells the story of a Pakistani pilot, manifesting the friendship between China and Pakistan," said Ahmed Farooq, deputy chief of The Mission, Embassy of Pakistan.

Farooq added that he welcomes more Chinese movies to be introduced to Pakistan to strengthen the cultural exchanges, and hopes Chinese people can have more opportunities to watch Pakistani films.

"I am really interested in Pakistani dance, and there are three song and dance movies being shown during the film festival. I want to figure out the different understanding and presentation of romance between Chinese and Pakistani movies," said Tang Zhengming, who watched an opening film on Wednesday evening.

"I really love this activity and hope that more Chinese people will love Pakistani culture. In this way, the two countries can enhance cultural exchanges," said Saira Raza from Pakistan who attended the event. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 15:15:19|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sanima Bank, a commercial bank in Nepal, has been providing financial aid to socially and economically disadvantaged children in grades 11 and 12, with each branch outside the Kathmandu Valley helping four kids.

"We have been contributing to the education of students from the disadvantaged groups for the last 10 years," Bhuvan Dahal, chief executive officer of the bank, told Xinhua.

The bank has a total of 86 branches, and over 60 of them are based outside the Kathmandu Valley. The move is part of the bank's efforts to fulfil voluntarily its social responsibilities as a corporate.

For its part, the country's central bank Nepal Rastra Bank made it mandatory in January 2017 for banks and other financial institutions licensed by it to contribute 1 percent of their net profits to social causes as part of the corporate social responsibilities.

A new study conducted by the central bank found that the banks and other financial institutions have been contributing well above its threshold.

According to the study titled "Corporate Social Responsibility in Nepal's Banking Industry" unveiled Tuesday on the central bank's website, the financial institutions in the South Asian country granted 1.58 percent of their profits on average in the 2019-20 fiscal year that ended in mid-July 2020, or a total of 1.28 billion Nepali rupees (10.74 million U.S. dollars).

The study covering three fiscal years till 2019-20 reviewed the annual reports of the banks and other financial institutions. Nepal has 138 licensed banks and other financial institutions.

The central bank said the size of the corporate social responsibility fund had been increasing over the years and seems to be growing further. "The systematic use of CSR fund by avoiding misuse can have a significant impact on socio-economic development of the Nepalese society," according to the study report.

Dev Kumar Dhakal, spokesman of the central bank, told Xinhua that the financial contributions by the banking sector to social causes have increased after the central bank issued the directive four years ago.

As per the directive, the funds contributed by the banking sector should be spent on education, health, disaster mitigation and relief, environmental protection, direct donation to the extremely poor, orphanages and nursing homes, and projects related to achieving sustainable development goals, among others.

Since the 2019-20 fiscal year, most of the funds have been funneled to the COVID-19 fund as the pandemic hit the country in the second half of the fiscal year. The central bank asked the banks and other financial institutions to divert the unspent funds under the corporate social responsibility fund to the COVID-19 fund set up by the Nepali government to tackle the epidemic, according to the report. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 16:15:52|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia recorded 1,178 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 169,851, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

The latest confirmed cases were all locally transmitted, the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, three more fatalities were reported in the past day, taking the national total to 863.

Of the deaths, 836 were directly related to COVID-19, and the remaining ones were related to the combination of the virus and other underlying medical conditions, according to the ministry.

The Asian country launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its population of 3.3 million.

So far, 61.3 percent of the country's total population have been fully vaccinated. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 19:26:08|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- More than 360 people, mostly militants, have been killed and many others wounded in clashes across Afghanistan since early Wednesday, multiple sources confirmed on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, 14 Taliban militants were killed after Afghan air force targeted a militants' command center and extortion point in an area between Chimtal and Dihdadi suburban districts of northern Balkh province, the army's 209th Shaheen Corps said.

In neighboring Jawzjan province, 10 militants and a divisional commander of pro-government local Public Uprising Forces were killed after Afghan security forces and uprising fighters repelled a Taliban's pre-dawn attack on provincial capital Shiberghan city, provincial Police Chief Ghulam Jilani Abubaker told Xinhua.

"A total of 303 Taliban terrorists were killed and 125 Taliban wounded during clashes and security forces' counter attacks in Nangarhar, Laghman, Ghazni, Paktia, Kandahar, Zabul, Herat, Jawzjan, Fraybab, Sari Pul, Helmand, Nimroz, Kunduz, Baghlan and Kapisa provinces during the past 24 hours," Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement earlier in the day.

The security forces discovered and defused 11 roadside bombs and landmines, the statement added.

Fightings intensified since the start of withdrawal of U.S.-led troops in May, as Taliban militants have been mounting pressures on major cities.

Details about possible casualties on the side of the security forces within the past 24 hours were unclear. However, unofficial sources said at least 30 security forces, including three district police chiefs, lost their lives during the cited period.

In Kang district of western Nimroz province, two dozens security forces, including Matiullah Barakzai, the district police chief, were killed after Taliban captured Kang district following heavy clashes on Wednesday night.

Waheed Kohistani, police chief of Police District 10 of Herat city, the capital of western Herat province, Noor Mohammad, police chief of Baharak district of northern Takhar province also died during intense fightings, according to sources.

In southern Uruzgan province, armed militants shot and killed a poet and historian after breaking into his house on Wednesday night in Chora district, provincial governor Mohammad Omar Sherzad told Xinhua.

A policewoman was shot and killed by armed militants in Jabalusaraj district in eastern Parwan province on Wednesday, a provincial source confirmed.

On early Thursday, Afghan army commandos launched a clearance operation in embattled Lashkar Gah city, the capital of southern Helmand province to evict Taliban militants from the besieged city as clashes entered its eighth day in the key city.

Helmand and neighboring Kandahar province have been the scene of heavy clashes in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed deep concerns about the safety of civilians in Helmand and Kandahar for fear that tens of thousands were trapped by fighting.

Since the start of the year, nearly 360,000 people have been forcibly displaced by the conflict, and about 5 million people have been displaced since 2012, according to figures provided by the OCHA. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 20:02:54|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) marks the beginning of a new era for ties between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a Thai official has said.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, chairman of Thai prime minister's Security Advisory Committee, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the interaction between China and ASEAN started in 1991, when China was invited to the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Bilateral relations have since gone smoothly, with continued progresses in cooperation in such areas as trade, investment, security, education, culture, and tourism, he said.

Bilateral trade has skyrocketed by 85 times during the past three decades, according to China's official data. In 2020, ASEAN became China's largest trading partner, while China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.

On the investment front, ASEAN has become one of China's major outbound investment destinations and sources of foreign direct investment.

In November 2020, the RCEP agreement was signed by its 15 participating countries including China and the 10 ASEAN members, creating a massive free trade zone covering roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product, trade and population.

The RCEP marks "the beginning of a new era for China-ASEAN ties" and is a boon to trade and investment in not only Southeast Asia, but also the world, Panitan said.

He called on the RCEP participating countries to work together for the early entry into force and implementation of the agreement.

"We are hoping that this unprecedented multilateral cooperation will get a goal next year," said the official.

Pointing to the rapid economic growth of ASEAN and China, the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and many other new advancement between the two partners, Panitan said that bilateral ties are not only important for the region like in the past, but going to be significant for the international community.

"The future is quite bright ahead for China and ASEAN," he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 23:26:23|Editor: huaxia

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MUMBAI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- India's Panacea Biotec will manufacture 25 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19, the company said in a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

As per the licensing agreement, Panacea Biotec shall produce Sputnik V vaccine using the ready to fill drug substance manufactured by Generium in Russia, and then supply the entire quantity thereof to another Indian private drug company Dr Reddy's Laboratories for distribution in India.

In July, Panacea Biotec has received the manufacturing license to produce the vaccine after Russian Direct Investment Fund -- the sovereign wealth fund, granted the Indian company the license to manufacture the vaccine.

Earlier in May, the batches of vaccine were produced at Panacea Biotec's facilities in India and were shipped to the Gamaleya Center in Russia for quality control and they have successfully cleared all quality parameters both in Russia and India.

Sputnik V, the vaccine developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, is the third vaccine to be approved in India after Astrazeneca's Covishield and Indian company Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

So far, India has completed over 489 million vaccinations, with 411,076 active cases of COVID-19 and 426,290 deaths reported till date. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 04:05:21|Editor: huaxia

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RIGA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A vast majority of Latvians who were hospitalized with COVID-19 this June had not been vaccinated against the disease, the Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) said on Wednesday.

Citing data from the Latvian National Health Service, the CDC said that of the COVID-19 patients who were treated in hospital in June, 99.1 percent, or 729 people, were unvaccinated or had only received their first shot. Only six hospitalized patients, or 0.9 percent, were fully vaccinated.

Data on COVID-19 deaths showed a similar trend, according to the CDC.

Of the 118 people who died of COVID-19 in June, 117 patients, or 99.2 percent, had not been vaccinated. Only one COVID-19 victim, an elderly person with several underlying conditions, had been fully vaccinated.

Out of the 4,230 people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in June, 4,142 or 98 percent, had not been vaccinated or had only received the first of the two shots. Two percent, or 88 people who tested positive for the coronavirus in June, had been fully vaccinated.

In July, the number of COVID-19 cases in Latvia dropped to 1,434. Of these, 1,293 cases, or 90 percent, involved unvaccinated individuals or people who had not received both injections. Fully-vaccinated persons who tested positive for COVID-19 made up 10 percent of all cases recorded in July.

So far, only around 36 percent of the Latvian population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:31:22|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- New car registration in Britain has seen the weakest July since 1998, declining by 29.5 percent year-on-year amid continuing shortages of semiconductors and staff, the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said in a report released Thursday.

In July, 123,296 new cars were registered, some 29.5 percent lower than the same month 2020 and also down 22.3 percent on the average July level recorded over the past decade (from 2010 to 2019), said the SMMT.

"The automotive sector continues to battle against shortages of semiconductors and staff, which is throttling our ability to translate a strengthening economic outlook into a full recovery," said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT.

Despite a fall in the total car registrations, the bumper growth in plug-in vehicles continued, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for 9.0 percent of registrations and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) reaching 8.0 percent, said the SMMT.

The latest SMMT outlook has been revised downward and now forecasts registrations to reach around 1.82 million units in 2021, said the SMMT.

"This is still some 11.7 percent up on 2020, but down from the 1.86 million forecast in April, and down around 21.8 percent on the average new car market recorded over the past decade," said the SMMT.

"The next few weeks will see changes to self-isolation policies which will hopefully help those companies across the industry dealing with staff absences, but the semiconductor shortage is likely to remain an issue until at least the rest of the year," said Hawes.

Hawes said the bright side of the industry in the country "remains the increasing demand for electrified vehicles as consumers respond in ever greater numbers to these new technologies, driven by increased product choice, fiscal and financial incentives and an enjoyable driving experience."

Britain has reported another 29,312 coronavirus cases and another 119 coronavirus-related deaths, according to official figures released Wednesday.

More than 88 percent of adults in Britain have received the first jab of COVID-19 vaccine and more than 73 percent have received two doses, according to the latest figures.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 21:46:48|Editor: huaxia

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VALLETTA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Malta's Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Thursday the lifting of more COVID-19 restrictions, since the rate of fully-vaccinated adults in the country has now reached 86 percent.

Addressing a news conference, Fearne said that from Aug. 16, the capacity for outdoor, seated events would increase from 200 to 300, as long as mask-wearing and social distancing is maintained. From Aug. 30, the capacity will further increase to 500, but all those who attend will have to be vaccinated.

However, he emphasised that standing events remain off-limits, and the number of guests permitted at weddings has been capped at 100 guests indoors and 300 outdoors.

Fearne also announced that from Aug. 16, vaccinated people who have had contact with a COVID-19 case will only have to quarantine for seven days instead of 14. However, this only applies to those with a vaccination certificate, and anyone who tests positive will still have to quarantine for the full period.

The health minister outlined plans for a booster vaccine shot to be given to the elderly from next month onwards. A single booster shot will be given to people who are immuno-compromised as a result of a medical condition, and to residents in care homes for the elderly.

Regarding the COVID-19 situation in Malta, Fearne said that the country currently has 1,206 active cases and that 95 percent of cases last week could be traced to the Delta variant, which originated in India, with the remainder being the Gamma variant which originated in Brazil.

The health authorities on Thursday reported 78 new cases of COVID-19, as an 88-year-old woman died from COVID-19, bring the total deaths from the disease in Malta to 424.

Meanwhile, Fearne said that pregnant women who are in their second and third trimester are now encouraged to have the vaccine unless advised otherwise by their doctor. Pregnant women were previously warned not to take the vaccine.

Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci told the same news conference that 60 percent of cases reported in July were related to travel. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-06 05:47:22|Editor: huaxia

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An aircraft tries to extinguish a wildfire in the north of Evia island, Greece, on Aug. 5, 2021. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday evening that Greece is facing an extremely critical situation with multiple forest fires at the same time, while saving human lives is the government's top priority. Wildfires in the north of Athens leapt back to life on Thursday as Greece also faces flare-ups on the island of Evia, in Ancient Olympia in the northwestern Peloponnese and in other parts of the country. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)

ATHENS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday evening that Greece is facing an extremely critical situation with multiple forest fires at the same time, while saving human lives is the government's top priority.

"The difficulties are still ahead of us. We have unprecedented conditions as we had ten days of extreme heatwave that turned the country into a powder keg," he said in an address broadcast live on public broadcaster ERT.

Firefighting forces are battling relentlessly to contain the fires that sprung up across the country.

Wildfires in the north of Athens leapt back to life on Thursday as Greece also faces flare-ups on the island of Evia, in Ancient Olympia in the northwestern Peloponnese and in other parts of the country.

Despite the efforts of the firefighters to contain the previous fire that burnt 1,250 hectares of forest and other land on Wednesday, the fire-stricken area of Varybobi in the north of Athens flared up on Thursday noon, with a new major fire front in the foothills of Parnitha Mount, leading to the evacuation of five settlements nearby.

At least four volunteers who were assisting in the fronts and one firefighter were transferred to hospitals, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The power supplier warned later of possible scheduled power interruptions in the Attica Region, depending on developments of the fire burning in the area.

Similar scenes were unfolding in the northwestern part of Evia island where the blaze continued to rage since Tuesday. More than 20 villages have been evacuated.

Earlier on Thursday, Mitsotakis visited the fire-stricken regions in Ilia prefecture, including Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics, where firefighters fought all night to save the well-known archaeological sites. The fire burning in the area for a second day has led to the evacuation of 32 communities.

"A total of 99 new flare-ups were recorded in Greece today, while authorities had to manage 145 fires in the last 24 hours," Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing.

To back up the firefighting efforts, Greece deployed in the battle the armed forces with helicopters, aircraft, drones and soldiers.

Apart from Sweden and Cyprus, France, Romania and Switzerland also responded to the activation of EU's emergency mechanism for disasters, sending ground and aerial aid to help Greece put out the blazes. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-08-05 12:26:12|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Squeezing China into the ideological framework misrepresents the real strategic challenge the United States faces, said Joseph S. Nye, Jr., professor at Harvard University.

China is now the largest trade partner to more countries than the United States is and trying to curtail all trade with China would be too costly for the United States as it also trades heavily with China, said the professor in an article published on the international opinion page of the Project Syndicate.

Addressing many global problems, such as climate change or pandemics, requires the United States to work with China, Nye said, indicating that the U.S. strategy towards China requires careful net assessment. Enditem
For two years now, August 2, remains tormenting to the family and relatives of a popular social media critic and lecturer, Abubakar Idris popularly known as Dadiyata, who disappeared in 2019.

Dadiyata's wife, Khadija Ahmad Lame, and two daughters, Hanifa and Fatima, continue to harbour hope that someday he will return to them. His aged parents, Malam Danjuma Yero and Malama Fatima, as well as his siblings, still bear the pain of uncertainty that has trailed the disappearance of someone they say was kind and generous to a fault.

Dadiyata's oldest child, Hanifa (7), has learned the art of patience. Her mother tells her to dwell more on prayers for the safe return of their father, but Fatima, who was eight months old at the time her father was abducted has become inconsolable.

Khadija said, "I don't know if it is because she is now in school and sees other children with their father, but most times, she becomes inconsolable and says she wants her abba (father).

"It's like the abduction is happening all over again. There is nothing more to say other than to seek solace in Allah. He has been our comforter in these last two years and we believe in His will."

Two years after, security agents in Kaduna State say the case is under investigation.

In the early hours of August 2, 2019, Dadiyata was bundled into his BMW car by some men shortly after he arrived his home in Barnawa area of Kaduna.

Dadiyata, who could have been 36 this year had arrived home around 1.am, and according to his wife, he was on the phone when his assailants grabbed him, forced him back into his car and drove away.

The initial insinuation was that security agents, probably the State Security Service (SSS), were the ones who abducted Dadiyata, but that theory was rebuffed when the SSS denied having him in their custody.

The Kaduna State Government, last year, also said it had no knowledge of the whereabouts of Dadiyata, who was also a lecturer in the Department of English and Linguistics, Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State.

The state government, in a statement by the Ministry of Justice and signed by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Aisha Dikko, explained that government had no idea of the whereabouts of Dadiyata and had no involvement whatsoever in his abduction.

On the second anniversary of his abduction, Kaduna State police spokesman, ASP Mohammed Jalige, told Daily Trust that there had not been any breakthrough in the case, but that the case was open and investigation was ongoing.

However, Dadiyata's younger brother, Aminu Idris, said, "It is almost like we have given up on the ability of security agents to investigate this case. The police always claim they are on it but nothing tangible has come out; there is no sign that they will do anything since the abduction."

Aminu further said that at the beginning of their misfortune, there were rumours that many Nigerians were being secretly incarcerated, adding that even though there was no certainty, such rumour had given the family some hope that Dadiyata might be alive.

He added that, "Those kinds of information kind of calmed our senses, but in the last one year, there has been nothing; even those whispers that he may be somewhere have seized. There is nothing now, everything seems to have stopped."

Aminu Idris, Dadiyata's younger brother says it's been difficult not knowing where his brother is, but the family has lost faith in the ability of security agents to get to the bottom of the case

In the face of uncertainty and lack of faith in the Nigerian system, the family say they have now resorted to prayers and ask Nigerians to join them in prayers for the safe return of their son.

Malam Danjuma Yero, Dadiyata's father, said the pain was fresh but that they had put their trust in Allah (SWA) and prayed that their son turned out someday.

He said, "He has a wife and two children, my son is a kind man, he loves to help others, but today we are all in distress because no one seems to know where he is and what happened to him. We have written all the letters that need to be written to all the security agencies, yet we have been left to nurture our pain alone."

Dadiyata's wife had in the first year after his abduction consistently dialed his number or sent text messages and the text messages always returned unsent. Of recent, she can no longer do that as his SIM card has been recycled by the network provider and now assigned to a new owner.

The brother, Aminu, explained that, "The line has been sold to another customer, any time I call the number, a woman answers. The number was inactive for a while and so the service provider had to disconnect it, recycle and sell to another person."

Dadiyata's wife, Khadija Ahmad Lame, says she still harbors hope that her husband will return someday

Apart from friends and families, social media influencers and international human rights organisations have continued to ask: "Where is Dadiyata?" Amnesty International Nigeria wrote on its Twitter handle: "It is now two years since Abubakar Idris' abduction by gunmen in Kaduna. His family, his friends and all Nigerians have been asking; where is Dadiyata?"

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Aminu said, "I see people posting about him on social media and we are grateful for those who remember him and pray for his safe return, our hearts are heavy."

Aminu described as heart-breaking whenever Dadiyata's children demand to see or speak with their father.

He said they tried to console one another as a family but that it was difficult to see the pain in the eyes of the children who were yet to understand why someone would simply abduct their father for two years.

He explained that, "We see the pain in the eyes of our parents, his wife and children. His youngest daughter keeps asking for her abba, and one gets emotional seeing that, especially since she was barely a year old when he was abducted.

"There was a day the mother called me and said the youngest daughter was insisting that she wanted to speak to her abba and I told the mum to put her on the phone. I pretended to be her abba, but after the conversation she said to her mother, 'This is not my abba, I want to talk to abba.'"
The Kaduna State Resident Doctors in Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital shunned the strike action embarked by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over an unfulfilled promise by the federal government.

Dr Sayyid Egbunu Muhammed, a Senior Registrar and President of Resident Doctors in the hospital, said that at the state level they are not joining the strike yet but if it lingers, they will show solidarity with their national body.

According to him, the strike was embarked on over some demands of the doctors which the federal government failed to fulfil.

" At the state level we have not joined the strike, but that doesn't mean we are not in solidarity with other resident doctors. If its lingers we will join," he said.

He appealled to the federal government to look into their demands.

One of the doctors, Muhammad Auwal Musa, who spoke with Daily Trust said he was not aware of any strike action because his patient was earlier attended to by another doctor.

At the children ward, doctors were also seen at their duty post. A group of trainees were being lectured by one consultant, which indicated the strike action was not happening in the hospital.
Despite the tough legal stance of the Jigawa State government on the rising cases of rape, the offence ranks among those at the top of the crime chart in the second quarter of the year in the state.

According to data released yesterday by the state police command, 55 cases of rape were recorded between January and July 2021, coming after fatal accidents, which topped the data with 138.

Fifty cases of culpable homicide were recorded in the period under review followed by 39 cases of armed robbery; sudden unnatural death, (SUD), 36; kidnapping 19 cases reported to the police while unnatural offences are at the bottom of the crime chart.

Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar had in February signed into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill. The law prescribes life jail or death sentence for a rape convict and one who infects his victim with HIV.

It will be recalled that the immediate past commissioner of police of the command, now Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 6, Calabar, Usman Sule Gonna, had at a media parley in May, blamed the rising rape cases in Jigawa on parents' negligence.
By the second week of August, when the president is due back, he would have spent about 200 days in London on official medical trips.

Less than 15 weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari returned from London where he had gone to receive medical attention, he has returned to the UK for "a summit and scheduled medical follow-up."

As usual, Mr Buhari's publicists did not disclose what the medical follow-up is for, only noting that the president will be in the UK until the second week of August.

The latest medical trip to the UK is Mr Buhari's seventh since he was first sworn into office on May 29, 2015.

By the second week of August, when the president is due back, he would have spent about 200 days in London on official medical trips.

In effect, therefore, for every ten days Mr Buhari has been in office as Nigeria's president, he has spent one day in London for health treatment.

Last week, Mr Buhari's spokesperson, Femi Adesina, was asked on Channels TV if the well-funded Aso Rock clinic could not cater for the medical needs of the president, his response was that "President Buhari has used the same medical team for about 40 years."

He added that: "Once you can afford it, it's advisable you stay with the team that has your medical history."

TIMELINE: Buhari, a medical tourist?

The Nigerian leader, who coasted to a historic victory in 2015, took his first vacation only eight months after coming to office. He spent six days in London between February 5 and 10 in 2016.

His second medical trip came on June 6, 2016. He travelled for 10 days to England, seeking further treatment for an ear infection. The president extended his trip by three days before coming back on June 19, 2016.

By January 19, 2017, Mr Buhari wrote to the Nigerian Senate, one he had a frosty relationship with at the time, disclosing his intention to travel abroad on a 10-day vacation and that he would hand over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

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Although the letter said he would commence the vacation on January 23, 2017, Mr Buhari departed Nigeria on the same day he wrote the lawmakers.

On March 10 of that year, exactly 50 days after his departure, Mr Buhari returned but was not able to resume work immediately.

Less than two months after, the president embarked on another trip to London for another medical checkup. Although his aides would not confirm what he was treated for, they urged Nigerians to pray for him.

Mr Buhari returned after 104 days, amidst misinformation about the true state of his health.

A year after his longest trip yet, Mr Buhari travelled to London in May 2018 for a "four day medical review."

Towards the end of March, this year, the president flew to London to take "a short rest" - one that lasted for 15 days and which the presidency had earlier described as "routine medical check-up."

While in the UK in April, resident doctors in Nigeria, commenced an indefinite strike due to the nonpayment of some allowances.

Nigeria's resident doctors are also on strike at present, while the president is in the UK on a medical trip.

READ FULL STORY HERE: TIMELINE: Buhari has spent 10% of his time in office in UK for treatment
"My appeal is that they return to the negotiating table so that whatever outstanding issues can be sorted out."

The Minister of State for Health, Olurunnimbe Mamora, has appealed to the leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to return to the negotiating table to address outstanding issues.

The minister appealed to NARD at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), FCT chapter, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The appeal followed NARD's nationwide indefinite strike which started on August 2 to press home the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding it entered into with Federal Government in March 2021 on welfare and other issues that affect members.

Mr Mamora said discussing with the association and negotiating on ways to address the issues raised by the association would give an opportunity for industrial peace and enable citizens to access healthcare.

He said: "I encourage you to ensure industrial peace in the health sector so that citizens can reap maximum benefits from your efforts.

"In saying this, there cannot be a better time and opportunity for me to appeal to doctors who are currently on strike.

"My appeal is that they return to the negotiating table so that whatever outstanding issues can be sorted out. That is my passionate appeal to all our colleagues.

"Even in times of war, the combatants at the end of the day come to the roundtable for amicable resolution of issues. That is my appeal to our colleagues all over the country who are currently engaged in the strike for the benefit of our people."

Mr Mamora also reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to address emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including efforts to expand healthcare coverage in the country.

He said "President Muhammadu Buhari is taking all necessary steps to strengthen Nigeria's preparedness and response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases through the provision of medical infrastructure.

"One of these efforts is making medical oxygen available in tertiary institutions.

"Furthermore, medical practice in Nigeria needs to align with the new normal way of life. Telemedicine allows long-distance patients and physicians to interact and obtain care, advice, monitoring, education, and remote admission.

"The Federal Ministry of Health is currently developing telemedicine and intends to maximise its use to expand healthcare coverage."

The minister noted that primary healthcare facilities which were the closest to communities had become the weakest links in the healthcare delivery system due to their ineffectiveness to provide services needed.

He said "government is, therefore, making efforts toward changing this undesirable narrative. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, in collaboration with stakeholders, has developed simple messages to aid infectious disease detection.

"This will be done at the community level and the primary healthcare workers have been trained on clinical case detection. This capacity building is an ongoing and continuous process.

"We as a country cannot afford to be complacent because the cost of complacency in infectious disease control can be enormous."

Earlier, Enema Amodu, the NMA Chairman, FCT chapter, said political will, poor funding and infrastructure, and paucity of specialised personnel were the major problems hindering development in primary healthcare.

Mr Amodu said that the meeting was, therefore, held to critically look into these challenges and how to address them.

He said "if you go through the act establishing Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), they are also saddled with the responsibility of immunisation and we know that we are still within the COVID-19 pandemic era.

"If we had adhered to what needed to be done to ensure the functioning of the system in immunisation, maybe the effect of the virus may not have been much.

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"Strengthening the PHCs will also take a lot of load off the secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions.

"We also know that primary healthcare is where a teeming population of our indigent underprivileged people access; strengthening it will by extension improve and change the narrative of the health sector for the better."

Some stakeholders at the event included Tanko Sununu, the Chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services, represented by Fatima Mairami, a Chief Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecologist.

Others were the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, represented by Mohammed Kawu, the acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCTA, medical doctors and chief medical directors.

The theme of the 2021 conference is "Improving the Quality of Healthcare Services in the FCT in the Midst of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases."

(NAN)
Emirates' flights to and from Nigeria will remain suspended until 15 August 2021, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier, has said.

This negates the earlier announcement by the UAE authorities, which announced a lift of the ban on Nigerian effect with effect from Thursday.

In a travel update posted on its website, Emirates said the suspension is "in line with government directives that restrict the entry of travellers originating from Nigeria into the UAE."

"Customers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days will not be permitted on any Emirates flights bound for Dubai," the airline further said.

Daily Trust reports that the UAE authorities had said effective 5 August 2021, eligible travellers from Nigeria and 10 other countries will be allowed to travel to/through the UAE.

The countries are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Daily Trust reports that since March this year, scheduled flights between Nigeria and the UAE have been stopped following diplomatic row over Covid-19 protocols.

While the Federal Government stipulates negative PCR test as a requirement for travellers to Dubai, the UAE further imposed rapid antigen test as another condition for visitors to Dubai; the development which the Nigerian government rejected and on the basis of which banned the UAE flag carrier, Emirates, from coming to Nigeria.

On Saturday June 19, Emirates announced resumption of flights by June 23 following the lifting of travel ban on Nigeria and other countries by the Dubai's Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management which also removed the rapid antigen test and said passengers from Nigeria would only be required to possess negative PCR test.

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But 48 hours after the UAE authorities made a u-turn and reinstated the flight ban.

In response to the allegation by the Federal Government that the UAE protocols were discriminatory against Nigeria, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) denied targeting Nigeria or any particular airline in the measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it was committed to upholding the highest standards of public health and safety.

Following Tuesday's announcement by Emirates, travel agents have vowed to stay action on Dubai tickets until they get clear communication from the airline.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mrs. Susan Akporiaye said, "We are waiting for further directive because we are tired of all this. This has happened over and over again. For us in the travel community, until we get a communication from the airline, we will not take any action because this has happened more than once and our members went ahead to issue ticket and did so many things and before you know it, they brought up another one.

"So we have decided, going forward, until we get a communication from the airline, we will not take any further action."
The UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, left, meets a couple whose house was destroyed in Hawzen, Tigray.

The new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator ended a six-day mission to Ethiopia with a fresh push to get badly needed food and other supplies into the embattled Tigray region.

"We need to change the circumstances that have led to the slow movement of aid - we need the conflict to stop", Martin Griffiths, who also heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Tuesday evening.

More than 5.2 million people across Tigray, amounting to more than 90 per cent of the region's population, now require life-saving assistance, according to OCHA.

This includes nearly 400,000 people already facing famine-like conditions.

Regionals spillover

The nine-month conflict that erupted in Tigray between federal troops and forces loyal to the northern region's rulers has spilled into neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, where humanitarian needs are also surging.

Amhara is experiencing ongoing regional and ethnic conflicts, flash floods and food insecurity, which is increasing the number of internally displaced persons in the Central Gondar and Awi zones.

And across the Amhara-Tigray regional border there are an estimated 100,000 internally displaced people in various pockets.

'Dire humanitarian situation'

On the final day of his visit, Mr. Griffiths met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, with the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen as well as agency heads, non-governmental organizations and OCHA staff to discuss the country's downward spiraling situation.

As part of his first official mission since assuming office in mid-July, the Emergency Relief Coordinator also spent two days in Tigray, where he saw the dire situation first-hand.

"I met with people in Tigray who lost everything they had after they had to flee their villages or towns, leaving behind their houses and farms", he said.

In Hawzen, he visited a family whose house was burned and crops were looted.

"It was heart-breaking to see the scale of devastation and families who, to this day, do not have a place to live or food to put on their table," said the humanitarian chief.

In Mekelle and Freweyni, he spoke with women who had endured "unimaginable violence", including some who reported weeks of rape.

Although these women need comprehensive and holistic services, Mr. Griffiths lamented that this is unavailable as most health centres are not functional.

During his visit to a hospital in Hawzen, he said, "almost nothing but the walls were left untouched; all equipment and medicines have to be replaced".

And the disruption of essential services, including access to communication, fuel and the banking system is compounding the desperate situation.

'Dangerous' accusations

According to news reports, the humanitarian chief denounced accusations by Ethiopian Government officials saying that aid workers were biased in favour of the rebels in Tigray.

"Blanket accusations of humanitarian aid workers need to stop, they need to be backed up by evidence if there is any and, frankly, it's dangerous," he said.

As hundreds of thousands suffer from famine, Mr. Griffiths also called for desperately needed aid to be allowed into the mountainous region .

"We need 100 trucks a day going into Tigray to meet humanitarian needs", he said, adding that the number was a "calculated need" and not "over-estimated".

He also reported that in recent days, 122 trucks made it into the fragile region.

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Beyond Tigray

Meanwhile as they scale up response efforts in Amhara and Afar, humanitarian organizations are also assisting million facing conflict, displacement and drought throughout Ethiopia.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator upheld as his "highest priority" that every Ethiopian who needs assistance receives it.

At the same time, UN agencies are supporting OCHA partners and Government counterparts throughout Amhara.

But OCHA warned that the limited humanitarian presence in the region has rendered the response insufficient and that emergency shelter, food and non-food items remain key priorities along with the pre-positioning of health, nutrition, shelter, and supplies.

Last week the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that more than 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, a 10-fold increase over normal numbers.
The terrorists that surrendered were those who hitherto hibernated around the fringes of Sambisa forest, their stronghold.

Some members of the Boko Haram and elements of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and their families have laid down their arms and surrendered to troops of the Nigerian military.

According to a statement by Onyema Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, on Wednesday, the terrorists that surrendered were those who hitherto hibernated around the fringes of Sambisa forest, their stronghold.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how a former student who was kidnapped at the Government Secondary School, Chibok, turned In herself together with her terrorist husband.

It is, however, not clear if the Chibok girl's family was part of those who surrendered as the army did not identify them.

Mr Nwachukwu said in the statement that the fighters and their families which consist of 19 male fighters, 19 adult females and 49 children had to surrender due to unbearable conditions in their trenches.

The statement also added that many assorted rifles and ammunition were recovered.

Read the full statement below:

OPERATION HADIN KAI: MORE BHTs/ISWAP FIGHTERS SURRENDER AS TROOPS INTENSIFY OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS

... Several Assorted Weapons Recovered

In continuation of the ongoing intensive clearance operations across the theatre of Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), more Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) and elements of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and their families, who have hitherto hibernated around the fringes of Sambisa forest have yielded to troops' heavy artillery and air bombardments and surrendered to troops at Forward Operational Base (FOB) Banki Junction/BOCOBS in Bama, Borno State on 2 August 2021.

The terrorists who also surrendered several assorted weapons and incendiaries, comprised 19 male fighters, 19 adult females and 49 children from Njimia village and environs.

The terrorists lamented that the ground and condition in the forest have become untenable, hence their surrendering.

The fire arms and incendiaries recovered from the terrorists include, 8 AK 47 rifles, 1General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), 2 Fabrique Nationale (FN) Rifles, 1 Dane Gun, 1Makarov Pistol, 89 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, 89 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, 66 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition, 5 x 9mm rounds of ammunition, 2 Hand Grenades, 27 AK 47 Rifle magazines and 2 FN Rifle magazines.

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Others are 1 pistol magazine, 1 x 60mm Mortar Bomb, 10 x14.5mm empty cases, 2 primed suicide vests, 72 trigger switches, 10 primed Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), 5 Electric Detonating Chords, 6 packs of Water Gel Explosives, 6 Mobile Phones, 1 Camel Pack, 1 Cammoulage bag, 2 Hard drives, 1 Plier, 2 Unserviceable Hand held Radios, 2 Scissors, and needles, 2 Match boxes and the sum of Fifty Five Thousand Naira (N55,000:00) only.

The terrorists and their families are currently undergoing comprehensive security profiling and preliminary investigations, while the children have been administered with oral polio vaccines.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya has commended the troops for the sustained offensive and clearance operations conducted in the theatre. He charged them to maintain the momentum of the operations.

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU

Brigadier General

Director Army Public Relations

4 August 2021
"The issue is currently under control. It was a minor struggle that had snowballed into a serious crisis."

At least 11 trucks belonging to Dangote Cement were set ablaze Tuesday after irate youth descended on vehicles parked outside the company's factory in Ibese, Yewa North local government of Ogun State.

Trouble started when commercial motorcyclists and transport unionists clashed over an alleged increase in riders' tickets, from N600 to N800.

Witnesses said the crisis quickly degenerated into an ethnic conflict between the motorcyclists, who are mostly from the northern part of the country, and their southwestern colleagues at Dangote Junction in the community.

As of Tuesday, about seven people lay dead from the crisis, witnesses said.

'Okada riders vs union'

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the scene of the incident in Ibese community on Wednesday, the carcasses of the burnt trucks littered the area as well as vandalised shops and other properties.

Hamzat Ibrahim, an indigene of the community, said the conflict began on Monday after a disagreement between a motorcyclist and a union representative trying to sell him a ticket.

"Hausas beat the union representative to a pulp and in retaliation, it became a full-blown clash between the Yorubas and the Hausas and many things were destroyed.

"The Hausas were shooting. Only God knows where they got guns from.

"After the whole fight, men in military uniform came to our town and started shooting. Our investigation showed that those soldiers are unknown.

"But an ID card fell off from one of those putting on the military uniform and the ID card showed that the bearer is a Dangote staff in the transport department, but we are still investigating."

Adeyanju Awoso, a member of the House of Assembly representing Yewa North 1 State Constituency, said both the government and Dangote Cement are to blame for the incident.

"So many problems are confronting our people in Ibese, the way they are treating our people is very bad. Can you imagine that as big as that plant is, the largest in Africa, it doesn't have a trailer park? Assuming it had a trailer park, their trucks that were burnt would not have been burnt.

"Our governor and Dangote himself need to address this issue urgently.

"Meanwhile, from the report I had, the youths in the community got angry after the military, who visited the community later yesterday (Tuesday) started shooting anyhow. Specifically, they killed an innocent man sitting in front of his house."

Mr Awoso said he had informed the secretary to the state government as well as the governor's chief of staff about the incident.

"I am also on my way to Eleweran now for us to have a round table discussion with the Commissioner of Police on the way forward and from there, we shall go straight to the scene of this horrible incident.

"Another reason why issues like this have continued to degenerate is because there is no traditional ruler in Ibese and this issue had been before the government for the past one year. Ibese needs a monarch and that should be installed as early as possible, so that little issues will stop degenerating."

'Under control'

PREMIUM TIMES was unable to get the reaction of the state Secretary of the Riders and Owners of Motorcycles Organisation (ROMO), Olalekan Sonaola. When contacted, he promised to respond later. He did not do so as of the time of publishing.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the incident. He, however, declined to speak on the number of casualties.

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"The issue is currently under control. It was a minor struggle that had snowballed into a serious crisis," Mr Oyeyemi, a deputy superintendent of police, said.

"They said the unions increased their tickets fee from N600 to N800 and that was how the crisis started. But how it then turned into Hausa and Yoruba crisis is what I don't know.

"But, we are on top of the matter. The situation has been brought under control. Our men are still there as we speak."

On Wednesday evening, Mr Oyeyemi reiterated that the situation in the community has been brought under control.

"We are monitoring the situation, our men are still on the ground there. In fact, the commissioner of police, Director DSS, commander of Amotekun, among others, have all visited the scene today and more peace has returned to the area," he said.
Abuja-based popular lawyer, Mr. Kayode Ajulo writes that while the distress being experienced by embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari who has been indicted by intercepted communication between him and alleged wire crime fraudster, Mr. Abass Ramon, better known as, Hushpuppi, is not about to disappear, the United States of America which is seeking Ramon's extradition must be held to strict adherence to principles of rule of law and due process

Introduction

There is no doubt that the recent pronouncement of the Central District Court of the Central District of California on the July 26, 2021 where the court ordered the extradition and detention of the Commander, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Department of the Nigeria Police Force, Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari has generated hues and cries from different quarters and strata. The air is thick with rage, reactions, reprimand; all kinds of anathema and diatribe from political pundits, lackeys and legal minds.

In order not to throw out the baby with the bath water, it is important to pensively consider the issues at hand viz-a-viz international legal principles and protocols.

Corruption as a bane to the Nigerian Society and the United States' Intervention

At present, Nigeria's reputation in the international scene goes for a little less than a penny. The country has gathered notoriety as a den of 419ers (advance fee fraudsters); a tribe of diabolically sophisticated con-men who have made fraudulent activities their preoccupation from which they live big and high on fortunes illicitly obtained from other people.

Sadly, this evil trend has found its place in our political cycle. The cankerworm/pandemic has eaten too deep into the fabric of existence of our great nation. It is imperative to state pronto that corruption is an endemic sin against humanity and it is the root of man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

Undoubtedly, traditional, moral and modern antidotes and measures to fight against this phenomenon called corruption, have not been able to eradicate corrupt practices in human society.

It is without gainsay as it has been established that President Muhammadu Buhari has pointed the direction of Nigerians to the fight against corruption. However, the startling events in recent times have only shown that the mantra 'fight against corruption' has become ad nauseam with little to show for it.

There is no doubt that the United States of America's assistance to Nigeria has sought to bolster peacekeeping capacity, enhance security, combat transnational crime, support civilian law enforcement and strengthen anti - fraud and cybercrime efforts particularly through the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) and such efforts must be commended.

As a corollary, the District Court must also be commended for ensuring that the course of justice is best served. However, one should not allow sentiments becloud the clear and unambiguous position of both international and municipal laws.

The Doctrine of Presumption of Innocence and the Imperative for Discreet Investigation

Without prejudice to the intrigues trailing the instant saga, one must not forget the doctrine of presumption of innocence which is the bedrock of our criminal jurisprudence enshrined in Section 36 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and apparently applicable in most jurisdiction, the world all over.

For whatever it is worth, the allegations against the "Super Cop" are at best, ipse dixit without any concrete evidence. We speculate a lot and it is no surprise the spectators/observers are mostly excited. A prima facie case must first be made against him before the process of extradition can be initiated.

Legal Mechanisms for Extradition in Nigeria

It is unequivocal that Nigeria is a sovereign state and a citizen of Nigeria cannot be expelled/extradited from the country without strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution and international protocols. What is more, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the United States of America are bound by the provisions of the Extradition Treaty signed with the United States of America on December 22, 1931 (entered into force on June 24, 1935) including the Extradition Act of 1966, (Extradition Modification) Order, 2014, Extradition Act (Proceedings) Rules, 2015 and other International Protocols.

For a starter, by the provision of Section 6 of the Extradition Act, a request for the surrender of a fugitive criminal of any country shall be made in writing to the Attorney-General by a diplomatic representative or consular officer of that country and shall be accompanied by a duly authenticated warrant of arrest or certificate of conviction issued in that country.

Thereafter, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation would have to conduct a discreet and thorough investigation into the said allegations and upon the conclusion of same, if there is any prima facie case against DCP Abba Kyari, commence extradition processes against him in a Court of competent of jurisdiction within the Nigerian Territory and obtain an Order of Court before he can be extradited to the United States of America.

Other perdurable posers to answer are:

a. Was the said alleged offences against DCP Abba Kyari committed outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

b. Is the offence for which DCP Abba Kyari is being charged in the United States an extraditable offence under the Extradition Act?

c. Is the offence for which DCP Abba Kyari is being charged recognized as an offence punishable under the Nigerian Penal Laws?

d. Whether from the aggregate of facts and evidence presented to the Court by the US Special Prosecutor against DCP Abba Kyari, there is any nexus between him and the offence of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to engage in money laundering?

e. Whether from the aggregate of facts and evidence presented to the Court by the US Special Prosecutor, the probable offence for which DCP Abba Kyari might be charged is abuse of office which was an act done within the territory of Nigeria and within the exclusive imprimatur of the Nigerian government, the Police Service Commission and under the territorial jurisdiction of a Nigerian court?

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Conclusion

While this article is not intended as a cannon fodder for the "Super Cop," truth be told, the supposed ordeal of DCP Abba Kyari (if there is any) is not a tale of unrelieved woe; the present cloud though thick and intimidating, does have a silver lining!

It is interesting to note for the purpose of this discourse that the import of this deliberation is that the United State of America's polity is engraved on the rock of adherence to principles of rule of law and due process.

The United States of America as the modern patriarch and beacon of democracy and popular sovereignty is therefore called upon at this crucial time to ensure that strict adherence to both international and municipal legal mechanisms are observed.

While we keep our fingers crossed in the interim, we should allow the law to take its course.

QUOTE

The office of the Attorney General of the Federation would have to conduct a discreet and thorough investigation into the said allegations and upon the conclusion of same, if there is any prima facie case against DCP Abba Kyari, commence extradition processes against him in a Court of competent of jurisdiction within the Nigerian Territory and obtain an Order of Court before he can be extradited to the United States of America




"Our principal focus is the creation of employment, as well as better economic opportunities and living conditions for all Peruvians. At this juncture, this mainly means that we have to provide a boost to private and public investment," he said.





According to the high-ranking official, this implies the handling and management of two fundamental tools of macroeconomic policy to safeguard the macroeconomic stability, the monetary policy, and the fiscal policy





Monetary policy









"In the case of the monetary policy, this is administered by the Central Reserve Bank an autonomous institution with which MEF must have a good coordination. In this framework, we held a meeting with BCR Governor Julio Velarde two days ago," he explained.





"We have established the mechanisms to have a close coordination between both institutions," the head of MEF pointed out.





Francke stated that the BCR governor is considering favorably the possibility to continue in his post , and that the dialogue with him will continue in the coming weeks.









The event featured Prime Minister Bellido, as well as Ministers Pedro Francke (Economy-Finance) and Hernando Cevallos (Health).





(END) MDV/RMB/MVB

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El ministro @RoberthoSanchez sostuvo una reunion con el embajador de Israel,Asaf Ichilevich.

Acordaron elaborar un plan que impulsara el desarrollo agroexportador y el turismo en el Peru, en base a las experiencias exitosas del pais de Oriente Medio.

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"This is a very top issue," the representative of the Executive Branch remarked.





"As soon as we have enough vaccines , the vaccination drive will operate for 24 hours," he assured in statements to Exitosa radio station.





Torres mentioned that, in other countries, "the primary concern is their children's return to face-to-face classes," and such concern also extends to the Peruvian Government.





In this sense, the high-ranking official said that the vaccination against COVID-19 "is what interests us the most to reopen the market and send children back to classes."





Pay cut in ministers' salaries





On the other hand, Torres affirmed that a rule to reduce the salaries of State ministers will be created soon. "We will voluntarily accept a 50% cut of our salaries," he indicated.





"Every change, every transformation in the State has to be made in accordance with a regulation. We are going to define this soon, and so will be provided," the Cabinet member pointed out.





The minister also argued that this would not involve technical advisors who due to their qualifications have a higher salary.





"The ministers' decision of cutting their salaries is personal and cannot affect the rights of third parties," he explained.









(END) FGM/CVC/RMB/MVB

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The vaccination against COVID-19 "is the Government's top concern," Justice and Human Rights Minister Anibal Torres affirmed on Thursday, noting that this process must continue so that face-to-face school classes can resume and the market can recover.Publicado: 5/8/2021
"We are not against anyone; we are here to support everyone, the 33 million Peruvians, so that everyone has better conditions and opportunities; in that process, we are going to guarantee a Government for everyone, a Government that emerged from minorities and which is for everyone," he told BIZ Republic.





The high-ranking official argued that citizens gave this administration the responsibility of meeting their needs.





Thus, cohesion and reconciliation is required because "for more than 200 years there has been an official and an unofficial Peru, a Peru that has everything and another one that has nothing, a forgotten and discriminated Peru, while another had all the authority."





Likewise, the Cabinet chief indicated that although this Government comes from the minorities it is open to dialogue and has capacities to face the country's needs.





"We are going to lead a very dialoguing Government, a broad-based Government," he stressed.





"The work will benefit the country; we do not look back to see if there are discordant voices; we take those voices as a mechanism to reflect on whether the things we do are correct and in accordance with the people; there is no reason to fear, we must go on and on," he added.





Furthermore, Bellido said that private initiative is welcome, as long as it is not a channel for corruption to the detriment of the public treasury or the progress that the country should make, adding that they will support the entire business sector, including micro and small entrepreneurs.





Moreover, the Ministerial Cabinet head assured that the Government respects the rule of law and institutionality, saying that if this administration proposes a new Constitution, it is to have a Magna Carta in accordance with current times one that guarantees the development of the economy.





"Nobody will oppose that, the 130 members of Congress and Peruvians will agree; I have said that there will be no conflict or clashes; I have opened a round of dialogue with Congress members, which is going well," he remarked.





Bellido also affirmed that the Government rejects any act of terrorism, no matter where it comes from.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the newly-elected President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi held a meeting in Tehran on August 5, the Prime Ministers Office said. PM Pashinyan arrived in the Iranian capital to attend President Raisis inauguration.

During the meeting the Iranian president thanked Prime Minister Pashinyan for accepting the invitation and arriving in Iran on a working visit, adding that Iran attaches importance to the continuous development of relations in the political, economic and humanitarian sectors with friendly Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan thanked Ebrahim Raisi for the warm reception and once again congratulated him on his election as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. PM Pashinyan emphasized that multilateral cooperation with Iran is of primary importance for Armenia, which is anchored on mutual respect and understanding.

Centuries of friendship between our two nations, the close historical and cultural relations serve as a foundation for further developing bilateral partnership. We are ready to continue our dialogue and further enhance our bilateral cooperation agenda through joint efforts. The fact that I am here today proves our commitment on the highest level for deepening the relations and strengthening cooperation between Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, PM Pashinyan said.

In the context of strengthening bilateral ties, the prime minister prioritized the role of the Armenian community of Iran and thanked the Iranian government for ensuring all necessary opportunities in the direction of preserving national identity among the community.

The leaders of Armenia and Iran also discussed a broad circle of issues related to strengthening trade-economic ties. In particular, PM Pashinyan and President Raisi found the active operations of the Meghri Free Ezonomic Zone and the possibility of applying Free Trade Regime between Iran and the EEU as stimulus for developing partnership in this sector. They also found the development of regional connection routes as a priority, where the development of transportation connection from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea and the development of cable connection will have key significance.

Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the Iranian sides interest around the North-South highway construction project and added that the Armenian government is ready to discuss the participation of Iranian construction companies in an upcoming tender for the Sisian-Meghri section of the project.

Pashinyan and Raisi also addressed the possibilities of developing cooperation in the energy sector. In particular, they discussed the course of actions in the direction of launching the construction of the Iran-Armenia 400 kW electricity line, attached importance to the extension of the timeframes of the gas-electric energy exchange program and increase of volumes of the gas-electric energy exchange after the commissioning of the 3rd high-voltage power line.

The PM attached importance to Irans consistent efforts in the direction of establishing peace and stability in the region.

President Raisi noted that Iran prioritizes the maintenance of peace in the region, and added that Iran finds it necessary that all issues should be resolved through dialogue.

Pashinyan and Raisi then discussed issues related to new joint projects in the fields of healthcare, modern technologies, education, science and culture.

Raisi wished strength and vigor to Pashinyan in realizing the goals and development of Armenia. Pashinyan thanked Raisi and invited the Iranian president to visit Armenia, which Raisi accepted. PM Pashinyan and President Raisi tasked the heads of relevant government agencies to work closely to advance the various issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Iranian cooperation.

Later in the evening of August 5 PM Pashinyan will participate in the inauguration ceremony of President Raisi.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian held a meeting with Japans Ambassador to Armenia Fukushima Masanori, the presidency said in a news release.

Ambassador Masanori expressed his gratitude for President Sarkissians recent visit to Japan and noted that the trip once again symbolizes the friendship between the two countries. The Japanese ambassador expressed certainty that the Armenian presidents visit will have big contribution in the further development of bilateral relations. In turn, the president thanked for the high level reception.

Speaking about the meetings and discussions he had in Japan, as well as prospects of cooperation, the president noted that there is great potential for mutually-beneficial cooperation especially in the energy sector, including in nuclear energy and nuclear safety, high technologies, education, science and culture.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Iran is the only country from the neighbors whose national security interests coincide with Armenia, and in this context it should be expected that the new Iranian president, conservative Ebrahim Raisi will continue this political line, Iranologist Emma Begijanyan told ARMENPRESS. But what concrete positions, she continued, the president has in foreign policy and regional processes, including regarding the development of trade-economic projects and transportation links will be known after the formation of his government. Expert on Iran Emma Begijanyan emphasized that Irans red line in regional processes is Armenias territorial integrity.

Besides, Iran, together with India and the EU, is greatly interested in the realization of its Persian Gulf-Black Sea Trade-Economic Project, and in this context Tehran attaches importance to Armenias role as an alternative to Azerbaijan and Turkey  which have become a single state.

Iran needs an alternative road  Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Black Sea-Europe. Otherwise they have a road leading to Europe through Turkey, a road leading to Russia through Azerbaijan. In other words, if Azerbaijan and Turkey  who today have become a single state, were to suddenly close their roads Iran wouldnt have an alternative. That is why Iran needs an alternative, and we are that alternative. That is why they are strictly against the so-called corridor statements coming from Turkey and Azerbaijan.

According to Begijanyan, the new president Ebrahim Raisi, who describes himself as a bearer of the values of the Islamic Revolution, has announced that he has a plan on how to solve Irans pressing economic issues and the serious water problem. But Raisi did not address foreign policy, including regional issues and Iran-Armenia relations during his campaigning for the presidency.

The only thing he did announce was that first of all we have to improve relations, deepen friendly ties with all our neighbors. If some step had been done, it will continue with greater momentum. I cant certainly claim now but the conservatives attach high importance to the countrys security. We can speak more specifically in a week, when he will form the new government, Begijanyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Russia is seriously concerned over the frequent armed incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where the tensions do not ease despite the measures aimed at it, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia Aleksandr Bikantov said in a briefing.

I can say that the Russian side is seriously concerned over the armed incidents in some particular sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border that have become quite frequent in the recent period. It is particularly alarming given the fact that those incidents are accompanied by human casualties from both sides, he said.

Aleksandr Bikantov noted that despite the all the measures, border tensions do not ease.

In this regard we call on all the sides to refrain from further actions that can aggravate the situation, the Russian diplomat said.

Bikantov stressed that all issues should be resolved exclusively through peaceful political-diplomatic means, and that Russia is ready to make an active contribution to the settlement of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, including through de-escalation of the tensions, joint border demarcation and delimitation works.

These efforts, together with the unblocking of economic and transport communications in the region, as well as the promotion of inter-society dialogue, will contribute to making the South Caucasus a zone of stability, security and prosperity, according to the statements of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, Bikantov concluded.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan attended the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, the event took place in the Majles of Iran. The Iranian President welcomed the heads of delegations and accompanied them to the hall after the joint photo shooting.

At the beginning of the inauguration ceremony, Speaker of the Majles Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf addressed the present.

Afterwards, the newly elected President of Iran thanked the heads of the delegations for participating in the inauguration ceremony and delivered a speech.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the newly-elected President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi held a meeting in Tehran on August 5, the Prime Ministers Office said. PM Pashinyan arrived in the Iranian capital to attend President Raisis inauguration.

August 5, 2021, 12:15 President Raisi to visit Armenia as Yerevan and Tehran discuss enhancing ties

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 5, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: During the meeting the Iranian president thanked Prime Minister Pashinyan for accepting the invitation and arriving in Iran on a working visit, adding that Iran attaches importance to the continuous development of relations in the political, economic and humanitarian sectors with friendly Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan thanked Ebrahim Raisi for the warm reception and once again congratulated him on his election as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. PM Pashinyan emphasized that multilateral cooperation with Iran is of primary importance for Armenia, which is anchored on mutual respect and understanding.

Centuries of friendship between our two nations, the close historical and cultural relations serve as a foundation for further developing bilateral partnership. We are ready to continue our dialogue and further enhance our bilateral cooperation agenda through joint efforts. The fact that I am here today proves our commitment on the highest level for deepening the relations and strengthening cooperation between Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, PM Pashinyan said.

In the context of strengthening bilateral ties, the prime minister prioritized the role of the Armenian community of Iran and thanked the Iranian government for ensuring all necessary opportunities in the direction of preserving national identity among the community.

The leaders of Armenia and Iran also discussed a broad circle of issues related to strengthening trade-economic ties. In particular, PM Pashinyan and President Raisi found the active operations of the Meghri Free Ezonomic Zone and the possibility of applying Free Trade Regime between Iran and the EEU as stimulus for developing partnership in this sector. They also found the development of regional connection routes as a priority, where the development of transportation connection from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea and the development of cable connection will have key significance.

Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the Iranian sides interest around the North-South highway construction project and added that the Armenian government is ready to discuss the participation of Iranian construction companies in an upcoming tender for the Sisian-Meghri section of the project.

Pashinyan and Raisi also addressed the possibilities of developing cooperation in the energy sector. In particular, they discussed the course of actions in the direction of launching the construction of the Iran-Armenia 400 kW electricity line, attached importance to the extension of the timeframes of the gas-electric energy exchange program and increase of volumes of the gas-electric energy exchange after the commissioning of the 3rd high-voltage power line.

The PM attached importance to Irans consistent efforts in the direction of establishing peace and stability in the region.

President Raisi noted that Iran prioritizes the maintenance of peace in the region, and added that Iran finds it necessary that all issues should be resolved through dialogue.

Pashinyan and Raisi then discussed issues related to new joint projects in the fields of healthcare, modern technologies, education, science and culture.

Raisi wished strength and vigor to Pashinyan in realizing the goals and development of Armenia. Pashinyan thanked Raisi and invited the Iranian president to visit Armenia, which Raisi accepted. PM Pashinyan and President Raisi tasked the heads of relevant government agencies to work closely to advance the various issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Iranian cooperation.

Later in the evening of August 5 PM Pashinyan will participate in the inauguration ceremony of President Raisi.
Israeli artillery forces attacked targets in southern Lebanon in response to rockets fired from the country, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, according to TASS.

August 5, 2021, 12:45 Israel launches airstrikes on Lebanon in response to rocket attacks

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 5, ARTSAKHPRESS: "In response to the rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel today, IDF artillery forces are currently striking targets along the Lebanese border," the statement reads.

"Not only is rocket fire from Lebanon at Israeli civilians an act of terrorism, it also is indicative of the Lebanese government's lack of governance of terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon. The Lebanese government is responsible for all attacks from Lebanon," the Israel Defense Forces added.

The Israeli Defense military said earlier that the countrys artillery forces had attacked targets along the Lebanese border three times in response to three rockets fired at Israel.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that it is a big mistake to remain in Donbass for those citizens who consider themselves Russian and advised them to go to Russia. He made this statement in an interview with the Dom TV channel a fragment of which was published on Thursday on the channels website, Tass informs.

August 5, 2021, 17:40 Zelensky urges Donbass residents who consider themselves Russian to leave for Russia

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 5, ARTSAKHPRESS: "I think that if you live on the Donbass territory today, which is temporarily occupied, and you think that our cause is right, we need to be with Russia, we are Russian, then it is a big mistake to remain living in Donbass, it will never become Russian territory. Never. It doesnt matter for how long it has been occupied, its like that wall that used to be in Germany," he said. In relation to that, the head of state asserted that "for the sake of your children and grandchildren it is already time to go find a place for yourself in the Russian Federation." According to him, "there wont be a civilization without Ukraine" on the Donbass territory.

At the same time, the Ukrainian president addressed Ukrainians in Donbass and expressed confidence that the region will return as part of Ukraine. "If you feel that youre Ukrainian and you respect the Ukrainian flag, the Ukrainian language, even if they didnt teach you at school. Read books on your own. If you feel that youre Ukrainian, be there. This land will be de-occupied," he asserted.
A wildfire that reached the compound of a coal-fuelled power plant in southwest Turkey and forced nearby residents to flee in boats and cars has been contained after raging for 11 hours, officials and media reports say.

Strong winds drove the fire towards the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province late on Wednesday, prompting evacuations from the nearby seaside resort of Oren.

Navy vessels helped ferry away residents on Thursday, while cars formed long convoys on roads leading away from the area, Haberturk television reported.

Turkey's worst wildfires in decades have raged for nine days amid scorching heat, low humidity and constantly shifting strong winds. Eight people have died.

In coastal Mugla province, where tourist hot spot Bodrum is located, fires continued to burn in five areas on Thursday, officials said.

Fires also raged in five districts of Antalya province, another tourism destination, where two neighbourhoods were evacuated on Wednesday.

However, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the situation in Antalya was improving.

"We stopped the fire from spreading further," he said, adding authorities hoped wind speeds would be lower on Friday.

In Mugla, authorities evacuated three neighbourhoods near the town of Milas on Thursday evening as the fires neared.

Precautions were taken before the flames reached the Kemerkoy power plant. The plant's hydrogen tanks were emptied and workers were evacuated.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has come under intense criticism over an allegedly slow response to the blazes and inadequate preparedness for large-scale wildfires.

The government acknowledged the country did not have a usable fleet of water-dropping planes.

Firefighting aircraft from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Spain and Croatia came to Turkey to back the ground operation.

A heatwave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has contributed to wildfires breaking out across the Mediterranean, and is forecast to continue in Turkey and Greece until the end of the week.
More than 16 million Australians will once again be plunged into lockdown as extra coronavirus vaccine doses are pumped into outbreak hot spots.

Victoria will on Thursday night enter a sixth lockdown, joining Sydney, parts of regional NSW and southeast Queensland under heavy restrictions.

The NSW Hunter region was also placed into a seven-day lockdown after the virus escaped Sydney where the already-dire situation worsened.

NSW recorded 262 local COVID-19 cases and five deaths of people over 60 who are now among the 932 people in Australia to lose their lives to the disease.

Four of them had not received any vaccine and the other had a single AstraZeneca dose in late May.

NSW will receive 183,690 accelerated Pfizer doses in the next two weeks with the vast majority being sent to the epicentre of Sydney's outbreak in the southwestern suburbs.

Queensland will be sent an extra 112,000 doses over the next two weeks, bringing forward its allocation.

Health authorities are increasingly confident lockdown in the state's southeast may ease on Sunday after all 16 new local cases were linked to the existing outbreak.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said pumping more vaccines into NSW and Queensland would not come at other states' expense.

"That would be dangerous, because the whole program needs to go forward," he told reporters in Canberra.

Mr Morrison insists lockdowns will be the main tool to conquer outbreaks until vaccination rates meet nationally agreed targets of 70 and 80 per cent.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pushed vaccination rates as a factor in whether restrictions will be lifted at the end of this month.

The prime minister is now praising state governments that lock down fast and hard despite senior members of his government lashing Victoria last year.

"The primary tool to end the lockdown in Sydney is the success of the lockdown in Sydney," Mr Morrison said.

Australia has vaccinated almost 21 per cent of its population 16 and over but continues to lag behind most of the world.

Story continues

A record 221,859 doses were administered in the past 24 hours taking the total past 13 million.

Mr Morrison labelled Labor's plan for all fully vaccinated people to receive one-off $300 payments a bad idea but flagged greater freedoms as incentives.

He will discuss potential options with state and territory leaders at a national cabinet meeting on Friday.

"The best incentive is this - you're less likely to get the virus," the prime minister said.

"You're less likely to transmit the virus. You're less likely to get seriously ill. You're less likely to die."

The NSW government has issued a desperate plea for residents to get any coronavirus jab available and is considering its own incentive scheme.

"They involve getting vaccinated to be able to do the things all of us want to be able to do," Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

A NSW traveller tested positive to COVID-19 while quarantining in Tasmania but has since returned to the mainland.
The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit will come to Cayuga Community College from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9.

The 1,400-square-foot mobile museum provides information about the service of veterans and appreciation for their sacrifice. It includes interactive exhibits, short films, shared stories and family activities. Veterans will also be honored with a pinning ceremony at 6 p.m., and Wreaths Across America representatives will be available for tours of the exhibit and to answer questions.

Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter No. 704, of Cayuga County, partnered with the college and the Cayuga County Community College Foundation to bring the free exhibit to the area. The chapter and the college's Criminal Justice Club, led by Theresa Misiaszek, as well as Port Byron students led by Dr. Linda Townsend, have hosted the Wreaths Across America ceremony in Cayuga County for 14 years.

"The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember, honor and teach about our veterans and their stories of service to our nation," Townsend said in a news release. "Each year, a new theme is chosen to help volunteers and supporters focus their messaging and outreach in their own. This year the theme is 'Live Up to Their Legacy.'"
Minutes from the Feb. 18 meeting do not include references to discussion of the cotton candy machine. When the council voted to approve those minutes at its March 18 meeting, Young was the lone no vote, but according to the March 18 minutes, her objection was with the description of remarks she had made regarding conflicts of interest in town appointments or jobs.

In the notice of claim, Young states that she's been a target of "ongoing harassment" by Ridley because she has disagreed with some of his decisions. Ridley was first elected as town supervisor two years ago, defeating long-time incumbent William Tarby. Young, first elected in 2013, is not on the ballot for reelection this year.

Young's notice claims that Ridley put out "misinformation" that she had a received a free driveway when the town was doing roadwork on her street. She also said he warned her in May 2020 to not have more than 10 people in the cemetery for a service for her deceased mother-in-law even though her family owns more than 10 plots (Ridley said he was reminding her of COVID-19 gathering restrictions that were in place). And she claims that Ridley said she would not receive a variance for an accessory structure on her property, though the town zoning board of appeals later granted it.
In May, Cuomo lifted the state's mask mandate for vaccinated people. The recommendation was for unvaccinated residents to continue masking up when they went out in public, but there has been no enforcement of that recommendation.

The summer months in 2020 were the calm before the storm. The number of confirmed cases began to rise in September (42), then spiked in October (228). The Cayuga County Health Department reported more than 4,000 cases in December and January. Hospitalizations soared  nearly half of the beds at Auburn hospital were occupied by COVID patients  and the death toll rose. There have been 90 virus-related fatalities, the last of which occurred in early March.

Local health officials are concerned that there could be a repeat of what happened last year  an increased number of cases as cooler weather settles in and more people gather indoors. That's why they have been encouraging more residents to take advantage of something that wasn't available at this time last year: The COVID-19 vaccines.

Less than half of Cayuga County residents (48.4% of nearly 77,000 people) are fully vaccinated. A majority of residents  about 52%  and 60% of adults age 18 and older have received at least one dose.
Schools should follow guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials for their in-person instructional plans for this fall, said New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.

"With the end of the state disaster emergency on June 25, 2021, school districts are reestablished as the controlling entity for schools," Zucker said in a statement Thursday. "Schools and school districts should develop plans to open in-person in the fall as safely as possible, and I recommend following guidance from the CDC and local health departments."

School leaders across New York were expecting guidance from the state, and State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said last week the department was waiting for the state Health Department guidelines. Rosa recommended schools use CDC guidance in planning for opening schools.

Rosa chided the Health Department Thursday, sending a letter to Zucker asking him to consider the department's "statutory responsibilities as the state agency devoted to protecting the public health." She said there is an urgent need for timely advice and supervision from the Health Department to local officials.
New cars will be required to have technology to detect drunk drivers and a system to keep children from being accidentally left in vehicles on hot days under a series of long-sought safety measures included in the infrastructure bill awaiting a vote in the US Senate.

Other provisions included in the 2,702-page bill are a mandate for automatic emergency braking and crash avoidance systems for new cars, and rear guards for semitrailer trucks to keep the passenger compartments of cars from being crushed in rear-impact collisions.

Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, which lobbies for more stringent auto safety rules, applauded the inclusion of the measures but said more needs to be done and he hopes the House will beef up the provisions.

There is little question our nation is long overdue for critical updates to our infrastructure especially when it comes to vehicle safety and the rising tide of preventable car crash deaths," he said.

Although people in the US drove less in 2020 because of the pandemic, an estimated 38,680 people died in traffic crashes, which is the highest number of annual deaths since 2007, according to a release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June. The number of US traffic deaths rose by 7.2% from the previous year, despite the 13.2% decrease in vehicle miles traveled.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which lobbies for major automakers, said in a statement the auto industry has long been committed to supporting public and private efforts" to address road safety.

We appreciate the efforts of congressional leaders and other stakeholders to advance a legislative approach that provides NHTSA the ability to review all potential technologies as options for federal regulation and, consistent with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, to make a well-informed decision as to whether any specific technologies meet the standard for consumer vehicles," he said.

Backers say the anti-drunk driving provisions in the measure would drastically reduce the number of deaths that occur on US roads.

This is the most significant rulemaking in NHTSAs history," Stephanie Manning, chief government affairs officer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said. Every year we wait, thousands of people will die."

The provision mirrors legislation that Representative Debbie Dingell has championed for several years. It orders NHTSA to study the feasibility of various technologies and establish a final rule within three years mandating some form of anti-drunk driving technology.

Drunk Drivers

Among the systems that have been studied are ones that monitor a driver for signs of distracted, impaired or fatigued driving. One uses sensors that scan drivers eyes for signs that are similar to ones that police officers look for when they suspect impairment during traffic stops.

We cant wait any longer to make our roads safer from drunk driving accidents," Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement. The inclusion of my bill in the bipartisan infrastructure package will help incentivize the development and implementation of technology to stop drunk driving once and for all and save lives."

A measure to combat deaths of children inadvertently left in a car on hot days calls for a door logic" alert that reminds a driver that a rear door had been opened and closed prior to the engine starting. The alert tells the driver when the engine is turned off to check the back seat.

Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Car Safety, said she wished the bill had gone further to prevent the accidental deaths of children. Since 1990, she said, more than 1,000 children had died in hot cars.

The Senate version is only requesting a reminder system that does not detect anything," Fennell said. It does not let you know if there is an actual child in the back seat."

More Needed

Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been advocating for more auto safety legislation, said that variations of bills he has introduced are included in the package, including ones related to seat-back failure, distracted driving and recalls, but he will still be pushing for more.

We must still fight to improve this bill before it becomes law," Markey said. Thats why I will be offering several amendments to strengthen my existing safety provisions and remove dangerous proposals that could undermine some of the rules we already have on the books."

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said the safety provisions in the infrastructure bill will help end dangerous and deadly carbon monoxide poisonings, and make important strides to address tragic hot car deaths and dangerous rollaway incidents."

The measure will also help bolster car seatback standards, and improve auto recalls and driver-assistance systems," Blumenthal said. He promised to fight to strengthen these measures during the amendment process, and push to remove harmful teen truck driver and hours-of-service exemption provisions that would make trucking more dangerous to boost safety on our roads."

Any changes to the bill will be difficult and require broad agreement. Amendments will need 60 votes to pass.

Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said it is important for Congress to address auto safety, but she said she wishes the bipartisan infrastructure measure would have gone even further.

The past year-and-a-half has been exceptionally deadly for motorists and other road users," Chase said in a statement. This alarming fatal upward trend must be met with the advancement of available, game-changing safety technologies and other upgrades."

Levine, the Center for Auto Safety director, agreed lawmakers should do more in addition to passing the safety provisions that are included in the Senates infrastructure bill.

We are looking forward to a robust legislative process, that includes the House of Representatives, which provides as much safety as possible for every driver, passenger, and pedestrian in America," he said.

Levine and Chase were among representatives of 14 safety organizations, ranging from the National Coalition for Safer Roads to Parents Against Tired Truckers, that released a statement saying the Senates bill fails to address the mounting physical, emotional and economic toll of motor vehicle crashes occurring every year."
Xiaomi builds new tech subsidiary qualifying for NEV sale

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi recently established a subsidiary whose business scope covers sale of new energy vehicles (NEVs).

Photo credit: Xiaomi



Founded on August 2, 2021 and located in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, the new company, dubbed Guangdong Hengqin Xiaomi Technology Development Co.,Ltd. (called Zhuhai Xiaomi for short), involves a registered capital of 1 million yuan ($154.7 million) and is wholly owned by Xiaomi Technology Co.,Ltd. It has a line of business covering sale of NEVs, import & export of technologies and goods, information system integration service, software development, and manufacturing of communications facilities.

Xiaomi announced its foray into electric vehicle (EV) sphere on March 30, 2021, planning to invest about $10 billion over the next decade in manufacturing EVs. Lei Jun, Xiaomi's founder, chairman, and CEO, revealed on Tuesday the company's automobile business is at a very early stage and will let the public know if any important progress was made.

It was reported in late July that the Anhui Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) was in contact with Xiaomi and intended to introduce Xiaomi's EV business to Hefei, according to multiple independent sources.

The rumor was afterwards denied by official sources from the SASAC, who said there was no contact with Xiaomi.
Chinese automaker BYD said to offer Tesla Blade Battery

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese automaker BYD will supply Tesla with its ultra-safe Blade Battery from the second quarter of 2022, according to a local media outlet, citing sources familiar with the matter. It is also reported that the Tesla-branded model carrying the Blade Battery has gone into the phase of C sample testing.

BYD declined to comment.

BYD Blade Battery; photo credit: BYD

On March 29, 2020, BYD officially announced the launch of the Blade Battery, which is designed to mitigate concerns about battery safety in electric vehicles. The new product is essentially a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, but in a new approach to significantly increase safety and volumetric energy density as well as reduce costs.

Due to the specially designed structurethe singular cells are arranged together in an array and then inserted into a battery pack, the space utilization of the battery pack is increased by over 50% compared to conventional LFP block batteries, the company said.

The launch of 'Blade Battery' demonstrates BYD's resolution to thoroughly solve the pain points of NEV safety and our better capability in guiding global battery industry back on track, so as to put an end to spontaneous combustions in EVs, Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, said at the launch event.

The Han EV, BYD's flagship sedan model hitting the market in mid-July of last year, was the first model to be equipped with the Blade Battery.

BYD's entire all-electric vehicle series have already carried the Blade Battery, according to a document exposed by BYD last month.


Honda Motor sees China deliveries dip 20.9% in July

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In July 2021, Honda Motor Co., (Honda) saw its China deliveries tumble 20.9% year on year to 108,139 units due to the chip supply constraint, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.



Civic; photo credit: Dongfeng Honda



Among the new vehicles delivered last month, 18,866 units were armed with the hybrid powertrain system Sport Hybrid, rising 5.9% compared to the same period of 2020.

Both GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda posted two-digit decrease in July deliveries. The joint venture with GAC Group delivered 62,030 new vehicles, representing a 10.3% decline from a year earlier. Meanwhile, 46,109 consumers took delivery of the vehicles from Dongfeng Honda, a 31.6% drop year-over-year.

In spite of the decrease in July deliveries, Honda's China business still recorded a 19.5% jump for the Jan.-Jul. period with 894,672 vehicles delivered. The year-to-date deliveries of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) surged 50.3% to 135,670 units.

For the first seven months, GAC Honda's deliveries grew 11% to 426,654 units, while Dongfeng Honda also boasted a 28.4% year-on-year rise with 468,018 vehicles handed over to consumers.
Gasgoo Daily: Chinas automobile sales in July likely to drop 13.8% YoY

With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer at least 10 pieces of daily news about China's automotive industry. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

Chinas automobile sales in July likely to drop 13.8% YoY

Chinas automobile sales in July are expected to reach 1.82 million vehicles, down 13.8% year on year and 9.7% month on month, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Monthly passenger vehicle sales may decline 11.2% from a year ago while commercial vehicle sales may drop 27.1% year on year.

Nissan China July sales drop 20.8% YoY

Nissan China, including passenger vehicle segment and light commercial vehicle segment, sold 95,783 vehicles in China in July, representing a year-on-year decrease of 20.8%. For the first seven months of this year, the Japanese automaker sold a total of 802,133 vehicles in China, up 11.8% from a year ago.

Xiaomis vehicle business at a very early stage

Yesterday, Lei Jun, Xiaomis founder, revealed that the companys automobile business is at a very early stage and will let the public know if they have any important progress.

Teslas Northwest Supercharging Route have 8 charging stations

Teslas Northwest Supercharging Route, which covers 2,229 kilometers, starts to operate. There are 8 supercharging stations and 3 destination charging stations along the route.

Photo credit: Tesla

Jidu executives visit CATL

Executives from Jidu, EV joint venture between Baidu and Geely, paid a visit to CATL, a local media outlet reported. Discussion between the two parties were not limited to power battery business.

Arcfox delivers 525 vehicles in July

Arcfox, BAIC Groups EV brand, delivered 525 vehicles in July, representing an increase of 90% versus the previous month, according to the brand. The brand also said that its monthly deliveries have realized month-on-month growth for four consecutive months.

Photo credit: Arcfox

Chery Holdings July sales shoot up 49.6% YoY

Chery Holding announced on Wednesday its new vehicle sales amounted to 83,678 units in July 2021, soaring 49.6% from a year ago. For the first seven months, the group sold 508,415 vehicles, a 74.6% hike year-on-year.

Honda Motor sees China deliveries dip 20.9% in July

In July 2021, Honda Motor Co., (Honda) saw its China deliveries tumble 20.9% year on year to 108,139 units due to the chip supply constraint, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.

Hefei BYD finishes registration for NEV component project

Hefei BYD Automobile Co.,Ltd. (Hefei BYD) completed earlier this month the registration for the project of new energy vehicle (NEV)-related core components, according to the information posted on the website of Changfeng County government.

Chinas Ministry of Commerce suggests larger NEV exports to Russia

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) advises Chinese automakers to expand their shares in Russian new energy vehicle (NEV) market by lifting NEV exports to the country and stepping up marketing deployment and sales promotion, according to a research report the MOFCOM issued on Tuesday.




SAIC Motors mobility service platform Xiangdao Chuxing launches fund to raise 500 million yuan

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Xiangdao Chuxing, the mobility service brand of SAIC Motor, announced on August 4 the launch a special asset-backed project dubbed Xiaodao No.1, which is intended for raising 500 million yuan ($77.346 million).



Photo credit: Xiangdao Chuxing



At the same time, the mobility service provider said the shares of Xiangdao No.1 have been oversubscribed by such well-known capital institutes as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China CITIC Bank with the multiples of preferred subscription amounting to 3.05.

The proceeds from the financing will be used to expand the market size of enterprise-dedicated mobility service business, upgrade industrial researches, and launch projects for business innovations, said Xiaodao Chuxing.

On December 18, 2018, SAIC Motor formally launched Xiangdao Chuxing to explore the online car-hailing market as a strategic move in pursuing the auto-sharing trend and advancing its innovation and transformation. At the end of 2020, it closed a Series A round with over 300 million yuan ($46.41 million) raised from Alibaba Group and CATL. In June of this year, Xiangdao Chuxing began the strategic cooperation with Alibaba.

The mobility service provider said it has begun the process of its Series B funding round and plans to go public in China within the next three years, aiming to become the first publicly-listed carmaker-backed mobility service platform in the country.
MONTREALGay banner Masqulin has two new titles out on DVD, Milk 4 Free and The Cum Dump, both now available through Pulse Distribution.

In Milk 4 Free, according to a company synopsis, "Soon-to-be-married stud JP Dubois spends his last weekend of freedom questioning his decision. He gets serviced by his tailor Ken Summers, his cock massaged by masseur Vitaliy Sens, and even his best man Gabriel Phoenix doesn't hesitate to help his buddy out. A New Year's swipe turns into a memorable night for Pierce Paris as he has his first sexual experience with a man (Bruno Max). A visit to barber Brock Banks turns into more than a close shave for Ian Greene."

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One of the public safety partners that operated a booth throughout the evening was Coconino County Victim Witness Services, an organization that offers support to individuals that have experienced trauma.

The organizations outreach and education coordinator Maria Olto said the event was a success, especially on the heels of a year where community events were sparse.

We havent had a break from talking all night,  Olto said. It's been such a long time since weve had community events. I know that I have personally been itching to get out. Its been so great to see all of the community resources come together; I havent seen something like this in a long time."

For Vitalant Arizona, a local blood bank, the festivities were an opportunity to collect blood donations. Midway through the evening, more than 10 people had already given blood through the mobile blood draw service that was present.

The NAUPD said Night Out allowed the agency to connect with members of the community it might not regularly interact with.

Some people dont get to see us and we dont always have that same level of exposure as the other agencies, NAUPD spokesperson Eric Greenwald said. We like to remind people who we are and what we do.
"The one thing I can be is be consistent," she said. "But consistency has been lacking in our leadership. If you're going to mandate masks, you better wear a mask the entire damn time."

Her consistently hard mask stance is a recipe for daily clashes, angry customers and a flurry of bad reviews  again, we're in Orange County. But I've seen her social experiment play out from Alta Baja's counter, where I sometimes moonlight as a cashier, because that's what good spouses do.

Those snippy posters at the entrance are more bark than bite. If someone comes in without a mask, Delilah and her workers immediately direct them to a basket full of them near the entrance with a smile, clasped hands, a "Sorry!" and a quick thank you.

If people question Delilah's policy, her rejoinder is usually, "This is my first pandemic  how about you?" with a side of her loud, infectious laugh.

Almost every customer who comes in without a mask puts one on, and even offers an embarrassed "Sorry!" And those few who walk into the store, see a sea of masked people, get an annoyed look on their face and storm out? Have fun at Taco Bell.
In doing so we accepted that many kids would plummet into loneliness, anxiety and depression; that they would spend a sizable part of their young lives without social contacts; and that they would fall far behind in their learning  so far that they may never be able to make up the loss.

Starting in this next academic year, therefore, we must collectively return the favor: Now we adults must circle the wagons around the young, so they can resume their much needed learning and socializing.

As mentioned above, the easiest way we can do that is by getting vaccinated, if we havent done so already. But we can also help by foregoing some of our other relics of adult normality, which seem trivial compared to the needs of children. In a pinch, is it really more important to open cinemas and bars, or to keep kids in their classrooms? Next time  if there has to be a next time  let everything else go into lockdown before even looking at schools.

Even as we open schools again, of course, we must take many precautions, which may become quasi-permanent  and why not? The kids should generally wear masks, unless common sense suggests a situation is safe (as when gathering outdoors, say). Windows should stay open as long as the weather allows it. And schools should install air filters, which we as taxpayers should fund generously and without whining.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's Tencent Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday it would curb minors' access to its flagship video game, hours after its shares were battered by a state media article that described online games as "spiritual opium."

Economic Information Daily cited Tencent's "Honor of Kings" in an article in which it said minors were addicted to online games and called for more curbs on the industry. The outlet is affiliated with China's biggest state-run news agency, Xinhua.



In the article, the newspaper singled out "Honor of Kings" as the most popular online game among students who, it said, played for up to eight hours a day.

"No industry, no sport, can be allowed to develop in a way that will destroy a generation," the newspaper said, likening online video games to "electronic drugs".








(Global Times) The US has begun two "large-scale" military exercises. The first is a joint Indo-Pacific military exercise led by the US Indo-Pacific Command with the participation of Japan, Australia and the UK. The other is the "Large-Scale Exercise 2021" held by US Navy around the world and is reportedly the largest naval exercise since 1981. A US military scholar told media that it is intended to demonstrate to China and Russia that US naval forces can simultaneously meet challenges in the Black Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, South China Sea and East China Sea.

The US wants to awe China and Russia by flexing its muscles in a miscalculated move. China will hold military exercises from Friday to Tuesday in a vast area in the South China Sea between Hainan and Xisha Islands, as a response to the joint Indo-Pacific military exercise. Neither China nor Russia has the intention to compete for the command of the seas with the US, but both have the ability and determination to despise US coercion in areas that concern their core interests.

With current modern technologies, major powers have enough capability to destroy all targets within certain distances. The US Navy has built a global capability that helps sustain the loyalty of its allies. But if the US engages in a real war with China and Russia, its naval strength will not be able to survive. For big powers, navies are more of a showcase of strength and resolve. A gamble-like test is needed to see their real effect in modern wars. We hope such a test would never come.

From time to time, the US tries to show China and Russia that it is good at fighting wars and does not fear fighting a war with both. As for China, we must prove to the US and its allies that we love peace but we are not afraid of a war with the US in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea. We are determined and capable to fight until the end and defeat it if these areas are attacked by the US.

The US is showing off its military power around the world but China will not be swayed by this. If the US deploys its military forces to the South China Sea, no matter how many warships they send, they will only be like a group of rabbits partying obliviously while China's guns aim at them.

The South China Sea is an international waterway where countries enjoy freedom of navigation. However, it is located next to Chinese islands and reefs that are part of China's core interests. China will not tolerate for a long time the US playing a geopolitical card to showcase its hegemony.

If China's aircraft carrier strike groups constantly go in and out of the Caribbean Sea, encouraging countries there to fight against the US, would Washington tolerate it? It is time for the US to put itself in others' shoes and understand and respect the feelings of the Chinese people. China is no longer the country it was a century ago. Since the US views China as its top strategic competitor, it needs to follow the rules of the great powers game and keep a distance from China's strength.

We must also let the US' major allies in the Asia-Pacific region, especially Japan and Australia, know about such declaration. Their alliance with the US is formed historically but it has never targeted China before until recently. Japan and Australia in particular must be warned that they need to keep their distance and that it is dangerous for them to provoke China by following the steps of the US.

From now on, the greatest danger for Tokyo and Canberra is their own ambition and restlessness. If they are not convinced by China's rise and feel the need to help the US suppress China's growth, then they are turning themselves into enemies of Beijing and becoming a strategic front for the US to contain China. They need to take full responsibility for the consequences of such choice.

Let the US spend large amounts of money on its exercises in the Indo-Pacific region. Through its clumsy performance on epidemic prevention and disaster relief, we can see that the US is far less capable of mobilizing resources in extreme situations than most believed. China should intensively build new warships, upgrade fighter jets, produce more long range missiles that can strike naval targets, and establish the capacity to expand production of these weapons before and during real battles. These are China's strengths as an industrial power.

China also needs to further enhance its nuclear force and consolidate its ultimate deterrence against the US. This deterrence will strengthen the expectation that the US can only engage in a war of attrition with China that it can never win.




(Global Times) The hashtag Australian athletes disgraceful exit from Tokyo began trending on Chinese social media on Wednesday after news hit that some Australian athletes at the Olympic Games damaged beds at the athletes village, stole mascots, put holes through a wall and caused chaos on a flight back home.

Australian team chef de mission Ian Chesterman said no disciplinary action would be taken after they apologized for damaging the room, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

This not only reflects the quality of the athletes, but also reflects the quality and attitude of the country. Regardless of the conditions provided by the Olympic Village, the athletes should take care of themselves. This is not the behavior that athletes should have, one netizen wrote on Sina Weibo.

These are the people from a so-called free and democratic country, another netizen mocked on Sina Weibo.

Not only Chinese netizens but many net users abroad criticized the athletes behavior on Twitter.



Where are their manners? They got to their accommodation in clean condition and the least they can do is not make it into a pig sty, one netizen wrote on Twitter.

Make them pay for the replacement of damage and cleaning fees, and charge them when they arrive home, another netizen commented on Twitter.
A 26-year-old protester who identified herself only as Charlotte said she distrusts the COVID-19 vaccine and resents it being forced on her. The health pass wont change my decision, Ill never get the vaccine," she said.

The Constitutional Council which examined the law is a special court which, among other things, reviews the constitutionality of legislation.

The health pass has been in effect since July 21 for cultural and recreational venues, including cinemas, concert halls and theme parks with capacity for more than 50 people. But the new law vastly extends its application.

Many restaurant owners say it is not their job to enforce the law, checking each client for a pass. Some health professionals have voiced fears that patients in need of non-urgent treatment could suffer.

Quite a few people have told us they wouldnt be coming back once the health pass is implemented, said Vanessa Shi, co-owner of a noodle restaurant near the Champs-Elysees Avenue.

Weve been insulted on several occasions, with people calling us sell-outs and worse for saying we would implement the measure, she said. But with the bills weve racked up during the pandemic ... its a matter of survival for us."
After more than a year of changes and challenges due to COVID-19, ArtWalk Billings returns to its regular schedule  for August at least.

ArtWalk is Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. at participating downtown businesses and galleries. ArtWalk Director Virginia Bryan consulted with membership about hosting the popular event, which would be the first since December, when instead of a one-day event, galleries hosted a month-long dispersed event. Subsequent ArtWalks were cancelled as the organization reevaluated the success of this shift.

"I always check with the health department," said Bryan, acknowledging that participating locations didn't see as much traffic as they had hoped. As well, because of their small size, some struggled to adequately social distance patrons during the height of the pandemic.

ArtWalk is a long-standing tradition for the downtown arts community, and in its 27th year the organization hung onto a majority of its membership and continued to encourage arts organizations, galleries, and businesses to showcase regional art through 2020.

"People have really missed it," said Bryan. "People will call me and ask when the next ArtWalk is taking place. We are moving forward and just going to have to see what happens."
Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, a 12-year veteran of the force, and US Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, a 16-year Capitol Police veteran, also responded to the insurrection and later died by suicide. A recent Senate report into the security failures of the day lists both Smith and Liebengood among those who "ultimately lost their lives" following the attack.

Another Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, suffered strokes and died of natural causes one day after responding to the attack, Washington DC's chief medical examiner determined in April.

The Justice Department has charged more than 550 people in connection with the insurrection, according to CNN's latest tally, and the attack is at the center of a high-profile House select committee investigation.

During a hearing before the panel last month, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn delivered an emotional plea to officers who defended the Capitol to seek out professional help if they need it.
State Rep. Andrea Olsen and former state Rep. Tom Steenberg have announced intentions to fill the remainder of state Sen. Bryce Bennett's term.

Olsen posted on Facebook that she was applying, while Steenberg sent out a news release Wednesday.

Bennett, who resigned to take a job with a national group that works to get people to vote, represented Senate District 50. The resignation was effective Aug. 2.

Olsen represents House District 100.

"Dear Friends, Family, Neighbors, Constituents, and all of our dear Missoula County, I am writing to let you know I am running to represent Montana SD50 in 2022, and I am applying to fulfill the rest of the term of our dear Senator Bryce Bennett, who has resigned his seat," Olsen posted.

"I am a constituent of SD50, and have represented HD100, which is part of SD50 for the last 7 years. I know there will be many great people who want to represent SD 50, and I thank them all for their interest and commitment to public service."

Olsen said she has 40 years of active public service and asked for support for her "transfer to the Senate."

Steenberg served two terms representing House District 99. He was Missoula's fire chief prior to his political career.
A University of Wyoming study from December shows more than half of residents support legalizing it for recreational use, and 85% are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.

During the 2020 legislative session, two bills  one that would have authorized a study on medical marijuana and another aimed at full legalization  died without a hearing in the House. Both passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 6-3 vote.

Until organizers are successful, Wyoming will remain one of six states where marijuana use and possession are still entirely illegal.
CHICAGO (AP)  A Chicago police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back as he tried to escape capture by running up an escalator in a busy subway station has been charged with felony aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, prosecutors said Thursday.

The Cook County State's Attorney's office said in a news release that Melvina Bogard, 32, turned herself in to investigators on Thursday morning and at an afternoon bond hearing, Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz ordered that she be released on her written promise to appear in court. Her next court hearing was scheduled for Aug. 18.

The shooting happened in February 2020 at a downtown station. Bogard and another officer were pursuing Ariel Roman, a short-order cook who was suspected of violating a city ordinance by walking from one train car to another.

Cellphone video shot by a bystander that was made public almost immediately received national attention, as did footage from police body cameras and Chicago Transit Authority surveillance cameras released two months later. The footage shows officers chasing Roman and Bogard shooting him at the foot of the escalator and then shooting him the back from about 10 feet away.
The pipeline manufacturer recommended that one of its representatives be on-site for installations, but several parts of the Summit line were installed without one, including the part of the line where the spill happened, according to court documents. After the line was installed, Summit conducted pressure tests on it in 2014 but not at a high enough pressure as indicated by Fiberspar specifications.

Pressure tests are intended to ensure that the material has not been damaged in installation and to otherwise confirm the pipes integrity, the civil complaint says.

Inspection reports identified leaks and blowouts in the line and its fittings that required repair. The reports attributed the issues to faulty pipe or faults in the pipe, as well as to rocks pushing up against the pipe that had damaged it during the installation process, according to the complaint.

It "cannot be known with certainty" that the pipe's weakness was the result of negligent installation, but that "had the potential to be a cause or contributing cause to the blow out," the joint factual statement says.
Early thinkers didnt have it easy, but they were famous and still are.

Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. He said it during his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was sentenced to death. There are lots of folks today practicing their own forms of piety and they too think examining belief systems is frightfully wrong. I understand belief systems can be used for economic advantage. I spent a summer selling Bibles. I sold a lot of Bibles by making people feel guilty for not reading it more and not getting their children to read it. I had the product for the whole family for $29.95.

I still read the Bible, most Fridays with a group that previously met at 6:30 a.m., but as our members aged and retired, we now meet at 8:30 a.m. in person or by Zoom (you are welcome to join). Our group has wonderful theological diversity and I feel fortunate to be a part of it. Recently, expressing an opinion resulted in a colleague calling me a heretic. He was smiling when he said it, and I took it as a compliment. Can you imagine? I didnt believe it was God who killed the Egyptian children so that Pharaoh would let the Hebrew slaves go free. As I examined my own beliefs, I realized I liked the New Testament God, (loving) and didnt like the Old Testament God who was mean. I chose to believe in the new God.
The Chinese Communist Party will not and cannot tolerate any opposition, verbal or otherwise, in order to maintain control of their citizens. The latest protestor trial opens the door to a more broad application of NSL on any phrase or word that poses a threat to the CCPs absolute control of China. []

Leon Tong Ying-Kit became the first person to be sentenced under Hong Kongs National Security Law, or NSL, on July 30, when a Hong Kong court sentenced the protester to nine years in prison under charges of inciting secession and terrorism.

His sentence is portioned out between six-and-a-half years for inciting secession and eight years for terrorism. Two-and-a-half years will run consecutively, resulting in a total nine year sentence.

Tong was arrested on July 1 after crashing his motorcycle into a group of Hong Kong police officers while flying a flag reading Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times. He was the first to be charged under the NSL in Hong Kong on July 27.

Regarding the charge of terrorism, Tongs defense lawyers acknowledged his recklessness in crashing into Hong Kong authorities, but they stressed that Tong had tried avoiding the group of police officers and that his actions did not constitute terrorism.

The charge of secession was the primary focus by most everyone involved in the trial. A key aspect was the slogan on the flag itself. Judges, prosecutors, and Tongs lawyers spent most of their time determining the interpretation of the slogan, and if it suggested the promotion of Hong Kongs secession from China, deemed illegal under the NSL.

However, the slogan was ubiquitous back in Hong Kongs 2019 protests.

Tong was not allowed a fair trial by jury and the judges of his case  who were handpicked by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam  were Esther Toh, Anthea Pang, and Wilson Chan. The judges ruled that they were sure that the defendant fully understood the slogan to bear the meaning of Hong Kong independence which were the grounds of Tongs sentencing.

Tong did not testify during the trial and plead not guilty to both convictions.

Leon Tong Ying-Kit, 24, was an advocate for freedom in Hong Kong and provided first aid to protesters involved in the pro-democracy marches in 2019. He was his familys breadwinner, working as a cook in a Japanese restaurant to help provide financial assistance for his younger sisters education.

NSL has changed Hong Kongs judicial landscape. Experts say the new legislation, passed in June 2020, gives more room to courts to interpret any civilians action and apply any piece of the National Security legislation they deem fit.

Recently, the U.S. government has even warned businesses operating in Hong Kong that they too are at risk from the NSLs.

Since the NSL has been enacted, more than 60 pro-democracy advocates have been arrested. Among them is longtime Acton friend, Jimmy Lai.

The objective of NSL is not merely to punish but to deter others Surya Deva, an associate professor of law at City University of Hong Kong said. Swift and serious penalties should be expected.

The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, will not and cannot tolerate any opposition, verbal or otherwise, in order to maintain control of their citizens. Especially in Tongs case, his trial opens the door to a more broad application of NSL on any phrase or word that poses a threat to the CCPs absolute control of China.
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The killers public defenders, Mark D. Grossman and Kevin D. Canali, declined to comment on the plea.

Farewell died in Eastern Niagara Hospital minutes after being shot, shortly after midnight Oct. 17.

The wounded victims were a 21-year-old female, an 18-year-old male, a 16-year-old male, a 16-year-old female and a 15-year-old male. Two of the wounded were from Lockport, two from Medina and one from Corfu.

This was a completely senseless crime, District Attorney Brian D. Seaman said in a news release. How little value these offenders placed on the lives of these young people is truly appalling.

The motivation for the crime remains unclear.

The mother of one of the wounded said in an interview after the court session that none of the victims knew the defendants. First Assistant District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann confirmed that.

But then-District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek said when the arrests were announced that a grudge may have been part of the reason for the mass shooting.

Law enforcement sources have said the party was crowded, with as many as 100 people in the garage at 43 S. Niagara St., where the shooting occurred.
Rosa chided the Health Department Thursday, sending a letter to Zucker asking him to consider the department's "statutory responsibilities as the state agency devoted to protecting the public health." She said there is an urgent need for timely advice and supervision from the Health Department to local officials.

"The circumstances enveloping the executive chamber this week should not prevent the Department of Health from the execution of its responsibilities to the public, as has been promised by the governors office for months," Rosa said in a statement, referring to the state attorney general's report accusing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of sexual harassment.

The Erie County Health Department told school leaders Thursday it would issue guidance as soon as possible.

"Our office of epidemiology and school team are reviewing existing school guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with lessons that our department has learned throughout this pandemic," the county Health Department said in a message to superintendents and school leaders. "We understand the extreme time constraints under which you and your colleagues are working, and we will share our next steps with this group as soon as we can."
A former Clarence resident led a multimillion-dollar conspiracy that fraudulently convinced health insurance companies to cover the cost of medically unnecessary but wildly expensive prescriptions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo.

Michael W. Luehrsen, 38, who now lives in Miami, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, money laundering and corruptly destroying evidence in the scheme.

Between early 2014 and the end of 2016, Luehrsen, a former pharmaceutical sales representative, and other members of the conspiracy marketed "compounded medications" such as creams and patches that are intended as non-narcotic treatments for scars, wounds and pain, according to the indictment. Luehrsen in 2014 founded a company, MedHype Typ, which traces to the Clarence address where he previously lived, to promote the medications.

Compounded medications typically are formed by adding together or adjusting drug ingredients to produce a medication that targets the needs of a specific patient. However, prosecutors said, Luehrsen and other participants in the scheme instead tailored the medications "to contain ingredients that carried high reimbursement rates from health insurers."
Representative Image

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): The Sputnik V team on Wednesday confirmed that the temporary delay in delivery due to production scale-up will be fully resolved in August.

"Sputnik V team confirms that owing to a major scale-up in vaccine production capacity temporary second component delivery delays that occurred due to this production scale-up will be fully resolved in August," a press release read.

Mentioning the doubling of the capacity of Sputnik V in September, the release stated, "Sputnik V has built production partnership with producers in 14 countries and will additionally double its capacity in September thanks to our partnership with top producers including Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer."

Further, the release added that a study by the Gamaleya Center published in Vaccines international medical journal showed that Sputnik V is one of the most efficient vaccines against coronavirus variants including Delta.

"Demand for Sputnik V worldwide remains very high due to its exceptional efficacy and safety as well as the absence of any serious side effects, which have been linked to the use of some other vaccines. In countries where Sputnik V is used as part of national vaccination campaigns, notably in Argentina and Mexico, a steady decline in COVID-19 cases is observed," it read.

Further, the release mentioned the role of Sputnik V in vaccine combinations (mix and match approach), and said, "Sputnik V, which pioneered the heterogeneous boosting ("vaccine cocktail") approach by using two different adenoviral vectors (Ad5 and Ad26) for two different shots, was first to offer a joint mix and match trial to another producer when it made an offer to AstraZeneca on November 23, 2020."

Joint Sputnik V and AstraZeneca trials have been ongoing in the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, and Argentina since February 2021. The early positive results were announced on July 30. More positive results on immunogenicity are expected this week.

"Sputnik V will accelerate work with other vaccine producers on the mix and match approach, which triggers a strong and longer-lasting immune response. The first component of Sputnik V (Sputnik Light) which demonstrated over 80% efficacy on its own, higher than many two-shot vaccines, will be offered to other vaccine producers as part of our mix and match strategy," the release mentioned.

Team Sputnik V also refuted media reports and said that not a single country has cancelled a contract for the delivery. "On the opposite, the demand for Sputnik V continues to significantly increase due to its exceptional safety and efficacy as demonstrated through," they said. (ANI)
Swami Chakrapani Maharaj (file pic/ ANI)

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha on Thursday has condemned the recent vandalism of a Hindu temple in Pakistan's Punjab province and said that such incidents proved that the Imran Khan-led government was actively promoting terrorism by discriminating against Hindus and other minorities and destroying their religious places.

The organisation has also called for a boycott of the Pakistan High Commission in India and also for a social and economic boycott of Pakistan.

The National President of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha Swami Chakrapani Maharaj said that discrimination against the Hindus minorities started just after Partition as Islamic fundamentalists want to eliminate the entire Hindu population from Pakistan and wipe out the existence of Sanatan Dharma while on the contrary in India, the population of minority Muslims have flourished

The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha leader also said that in Pakistan "sisters and daughters of Hindus are being kidnapped openly, temples are demolished, ashrams have been demolished in the past."

"We have written many letters to the United Nations but it is sad that the United Nations is silent over these issues of atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan," said Chakrapani.

Chakrapani while speaking to ANI further said that countries around the world should unite against Pakistan and boycott it socially and economically as the Pakistan government is supporting terrorist organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammad, ISIS, Taliban and others. The countries should raise their voices against the persecution of minorities including Hindus and Christians in Pakistan, Chakrapani said.

A recent report by a minorities' rights commission in Pakistan has revealed a "dismal" picture of the most revered Hindu sites in the country. The report submitted to the country's Supreme Court in April presents a "general picture of decay and obliteration" of two of the four most revered evacuee sites in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

Story continues

The 2020 report International Religious Freedom released by the United States earlier this year highlighted a downward spiral of religious expression in Pakistan, most notably in the form of blasphemy laws, punishment for which ranges up to the death penalty.

Meanwhile, India has summoned Pakistan charge d'affaires and lodged a strong protest on the attack on the Hindu temple in Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district in Pakistan's Punjab province.

In widely circulated video clips on social media, attackers were seen carrying sticks, stones, and bricks. They damaged the deities while raising religious slogans.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said today that Pakistani charge d'affaires was summoned and a firm protest was lodged "expressing our grave concerns at this reprehensible incident and the continued attacks on the freedom of religion of the minority community and their places of religious worship".

India has called upon Pakistan to ensure the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities. Bagchi said incidents of violence, discrimination and persecution against the minority communities including attacks on places of worship have continued unabated in Pakistan.

"Within the last year itself, various temples and Gurudwaras have been attacked including the Mata Rani Bhatiyani Mandir in Sindh in January 2020, Gurudwara Sri Janam Sthan in January 2020, a Hindu temple in Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December 2020," he said.

"These incidents are occurring at an alarming rate while the state and security institutions in Pakistan have stood by idly and completely failed in preventing these attacks on the minority communities and their places of worship," the spokesperson added. (ANI)
KYIV, Ukraine, August 05, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On July 29, 2021, UAVita Systems made history with a world aviation industry first  autonomous drone delivery of commercial packages between two major cities.

The Nova poshta commercial flight of UAVitas DISCOVERY D-80 drone between Kyiv and Kharkiv, two major cities in Ukraine, was 480 km between takeoff and landing and carried a load of five parcels for delivery. The flight was fully autonomous from takeoff to waypoint navigation to landing and crossed several rivers, highways, avoiding populated areas, infrastructure objects and restricted airspace.

Airspace for the flight was reserved with local air traffic control, state air services, and several military authorities. The flight was operated by UAVitas local Ukraine company, Aerodrone.

"The flight went exactly as planned," said Yuri Pederiy, CTO of UAVita. "Nova poshta was very pleased with the results."

DISCOVERYs average air speed was 100 kph, with an altitude of 300 meters and total flight time was 4:45 hours a full hour ahead of schedule due to a tail wind.

"Commercial UAV with packages over the distance of 480 km is first in the world," said Oleksandr Bulba, CEO of Nova poshta. "Beside Nova poshta there is no other logistic company that has completed this flight. Our plans are to shorten the flight time to 3 hours to cover the same distance and scale up package drone delivery and make it more affordable to our customers."

Nova poshtas and UAVitas next autonomous parcel delivery test flight will take place in late August between the cities of Kyiv and Lviv. The target is to eventually reduce the flight time even further by deploying UAVitas next generation drones.

"Most conventional drone deliveries are focused on last mile delivery within few kilometers. UAVita took the leap and developed intercity package delivery. This capability adds more flexibility to shipping urgent and high value packages especially to remote locations that are difficult to reach by ground transportation. Combining last mile and intercity delivery can further automate the logistic chain and optimize the operating costs for the courier companies," explained Pederiy.

Story continues

Nova poshta is a private Ukrainian postal and courier company and the leader of the logistics in the Ukraine market that provides express delivery of documents, freight and parcels for individuals and businesses. The company delivers shipments through more than 8500 branches, 6700 lockers, and to the customers physical address. In 2020 Nova poshta delivered over 318 million shipments throughout Ukraine.

UAVita is a designer, manufacturer and integrator of purpose-built fixed wing high payload autonomous drones. UAVitas DISCOVERY D-80 drone was recently awarded top place in the Krypto Labs Drone X Challenge 2020. The DISCOVERY is an industry leading drone with a maximum payload of 80 kg and non-stop flight time of 10 hours or 1000 km. UAVita is set to launch their next generation fixed wing drone that has a maximum payload of 340 kg and non-stop flight time of 30 hours or 4500 km.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006107/en/

Contacts

For more information: Yuri Pederiy, UAVita

info@UAVita.com

UAVita.com
PROVO, Utah, August 05, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vivint Smart Home, Inc. (NYSE: VVNT), a leading smart home company, today announced that it will host virtual one-on-one and group meetings with investors at the Wells Fargo 6th Annual FinTech & Technology Services Forum. Details for the event can be found as follows:

Wells Fargo 6th Annual FinTech & Technology Services Forum

Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Time: 1x1 and Group Meetings Throughout the Day

About Vivint Smart Home

Vivint is a leading smart home company in North America. Vivint delivers an integrated smart home system with in-home consultation, professional installation and support delivered by its Smart Home Pros, as well as 24-7 customer care and monitoring. Dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services, Vivint serves over 1.7 million customers. For more information, visit https://www.vivint.com.

Source: Vivint Smart Home, Inc.

VVNT-E

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005120/en/

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact:

Nate Stubbs

VP, Investor Relations

ir@vivint.com
As part of the investigation, the inspector general's office asked the FBI to determine which agents, if any, may have been in touch with Giuliani. The FBI identified four employees, but each employee told the watchdog office during interviews they had not had any contact with Giuliani, according to the report.

The FBI said that the four employees had used their FBI devices to call telephone numbers associated with Giuliani, but the inspector general's office said that information was either outdated or meaningless.

The inspector general said it had concluded that the phone numbers used by the FBI were for the general line of the New York office of the law firm where Giuliani had worked and that two other telephone lines were for businesses at which Giuliani had not been affiliated since at least 2007."

The telephone numbers attributed by the FBI to Giuliani were not, therefore, specific to Giuliani, the report said. Accordingly, the purported investigative leads provided by the FBI based on alleged FBI employee contacts with Giuliani were inaccurate.



Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Al-Alami said he turned the car around. Moments later, his white Renault was struck by gunfire from the rear, including at least three bullets that he said hit Mohammed. The boy was rushed to hospital and operated on for four hours before he died.

The Israeli military has said soldiers in the area called on the van to stop, and that the forces fired warning shots and only aimed at the vehicle's tires. Al-Alami said he never heard any warnings. Over 10 bullet holes riddled the vehicle.

The army also said that al-Alami's car resembled a vehicle driven by a group of men who were seen burying what turned out to be a dead baby earlier that day.

Al-Alami's brother  who witnessed the entire event from the balcony -- said the two events were not related and that earlier, another family had been burying a stillborn baby in a cemetery.

The three people who arrived earlier had come to bury a baby that had died in the womb, Ashraf Al-Alami said.

After the three people had left, he said he began to worry when he saw soldiers arrive. He feared they would mistake the burial site as a crime scene and grow suspicious. That was when his brother's car approached.
UnityPoint Health on Thursday joined other health care systems in Madison and around Wisconsin in announcing a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employees.

The move came as Wisconsin reported 1,573 new cases of COVID-19, the most since late January, for a daily average of 1,000, the highest since early February. Most of the recent wave stems from the contagious delta variant of the coronavirus and inadequate vaccination levels, health officials say.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association said 388 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, up from 74 on July 6.

Iowa-based UnityPoint Health, which owns Meriter Hospital in Madison, said its 33,000 workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. Employees can request an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Pregnant workers are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated but can get a temporary deferral.
I dont think zero tolerance can be sustained, said Chen. Even if you can lock down all the regions in China, people might still die, and more might die due to hunger or loss of jobs.

But Beijing has shown no sign of abandoning its tactics.

Disease controls must "be even faster, more firm, stricter, more expansive and ready, He Qinghua, an official of the National Health Commissions Disease Control Bureau, said at a news conference Saturday.

The year's biggest outbreak has tentatively been traced to airport employees who cleaned a Russian airliner on July 10 in Nanjing, northwest of Shanghai in Jiangsu province, according to health officials.

Some travelers flew through Nanjing to Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist spot southwest of Shanghai in Hunan province, turning that city into a center for the viruss spread. The disease was carried to Beijing and other cities in more than 10 provinces.

On Tuesday, the government of Zhangjiajie announced no one was allowed to leave the city, imitating controls imposed on Wuhan, where the first virus cases were identified, and other cities last year.
As some of the restrictions were eased, India enforced another harsh lockdown to combat the coronavirus, deepening the economic crisis in the region.

Separatist groups who challenge Indias sovereignty in Kashmir called for Thursdays strike to mark what they call black day.

Some viral videos on social media Thursday showed police officers asking shopkeepers to open their shops in Srinagar. In one video, a police official carrying an assault rifle was seen breaking a lock on a shuttered shop.

Some shopkeepers told of similar incidents at least in three other towns in the Kashmir valley.

Meanwhile, suspected rebels fired bullets in the air in Srinagars old neighborhood shortly after a small explosion occurred there, police and witnesses said. No one was reported injured.

Also, in northwestern Sopore town, suspected rebels fired at a police party who were asking shopkeepers to open their businesses in the main market, witnesses said. No one was injured. Police later said there was no shooting in the area.

The Modi government has maintained that the changes to Kashmirs autonomy are for the public good and national security to stop threats from Pakistan and anti-national elements.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. gained from the reopening of more industries in the second quarter, lifting its first-half figures with consolidated core net income jumping 13% to 6 billion against the previous 5.3 billion.

The Pangilinan-led infrastructure giant said the stronger figures posted in the first semester were "driven largely by improved traffic on its toll roads and higher volume of electricity sold."

MPIC said the contribution from operations climbed 11% to 8.5 billion, with its power and toll roads businesses leading the pack generating 5.4 billion and 1.9 billion, respectively.

Its water business contributed 1.4 billion in the first semester, it added.

"This acceleration of growth reflects an improvement in performance notwithstanding the continued imposition of varying levels of quarantine across the country, and was partially augmented by the impact of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives (CREATE) Law which lowered income tax rates from 30% to 25%," it said.

Manila Electric Company, for instance, saw its earnings in the first half increased to 9.9 billion as total energy sales grew 7% driven by strong demand from residential, industrial, and commercial sectors.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., meanwhile, booked 1.9 billion in net income buoyed by improved vehicular traffic in toll roads both locally and in Vietnam, and Indonesia.

"Other businesses, mainly Light Rail and Logistics  [had an] overall loss of 294 million, owing to the continuing impact of the pandemic on the ridership of LRT1 (Light Rail Transit Line 1) and the ongoing recalibration of warehousing operations; partially offset by the hospital groups contribution of 142 million," MPIC said.

MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan expressed confidence the group could hit its core net income guidance of at least 12 billion for 2021 despite the reimposition of stricter coronavirus restrictions.

"We are seeing that people are no longer letting the virus run their lives and are able to bounce back more quickly than we did during the start of the pandemic," he said.

"As such, we expect that the volumes of our core businesses will continue to recover towards the end of the year with continuous inoculation efforts for the rest of the population," the tycoon added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Following numerous reports of long queues in vaccination sites a day before Metro Manila shifts to the strictest quarantine, officials urged local governments to ensure order in their vaccine drive to control infections.

Deputy Chief Vince Dizon of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Thursday called on LGUs to ensure proper coordination among people who are risking their safety by flocking to their vaccine sites.

"Its happening everywhere, pati na rin sa Antipolo, Cavite, Laguna. Dumadagsa po talaga ang mga tao and in fact dumadagsa sila kahit di sila taga-doon dala na rin 'to ng kagusutuhan nila ng mapgabakuna at dala na rin ng takot sa Delta variant," Dizon told CNN Philippines' The Source.

[Translation: It's happening everywhere, even in Antipolo, Cavite, Laguna. People are really flocking to the sites and in fact, those who are not residents would go there because they want to get vaccinated and because of their fear of the Delta variant.]

Dizon said he already talked to Metro Manila LGUs and called on them to ensure order while ramping up their vaccine drive in their respective localities  a point which Eleazar also stressed.

Eleazar said it is up to LGUs whether they would allow walk-ins, but it would be better if potential vaccinees would be given proof of their inoculation schedule since they will also be considered as authorized persons outside of residence or APORs.

He also said vaccine sites must ensure that their facility is "conducive for the observance of the minimum health protocols."

On Thursday, thousands of people flocked to malls in Manila and in Las Pinas, hoping to get vaccinated before the lockdown.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Benhur Abalos denied rumors that unvaccinated people will not be allowed to go out for essential trips or receive cash assistance during the enhanced community quarantine period.

Metro Manila will be placed under ECQ on Aug.6 to 20.

READ: Fake news drives mob to vaccination sites in NCR on eve of lockdown
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Business owners from Calabarzon were shocked with the news of varying degrees of lockdown announced just hours before the tighter rules take effect.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said Thursday night that the province of Laguna, which is home to many commercial plants, will return to enhanced community quarantine on the same day as Metro Manila to curb infections caused by the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.

Calabarzon is second to Metro Manila in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks. Cavite, Rizal, and Lucena City were placed under modified enhanced community quarantine, while Batangas and Quezon Province will stay under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions from Aug. 6 to 15.

This is bad news for businesses in the country's manufacturing hub, where even big factories are barely recovering from last year's shutdowns.

Car production

First vice president Atty. Rommel Gutierrez of Toyota Motors Philippines, which operates a car plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, said a lockdown would mean a production loss of up to 200 vehicles per day and send about 1,000 employees temporarily out of work.

We are still waiting for the announcement of ECQ but if ECQ is again imposed in Laguna, we have no choice but to stop plant operations, he told CNN Philippines in a phone interview.

This is again a step backward. That will really put us into recovery mode again in the coming months to recover lost production during ECQ, added Gutierrez, who is also president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines.

RELATED: Recovery of job losses due to pandemic may take until 2022  ADB

Prior to the surprise ECQ decision, which was made just hours before the first day of the week-long lockdown, Gutierrez made an appeal: Wag yung biglaan [Dont do it hastily]. We also have to plan, especially our production side. There are certain preparations to be made.

The official said production has risen by 40% from 2020, but this would slump again should lockdowns be enforced. Employees would likely have to render overtime work once restrictions are relaxed to catch up on the monthly and yearly vehicle production targets, Gutierrez added.

Food sector

Meanwhile, food manufacturer Monde Nissin said it does not foresee any major disruption in its Laguna plant as they are allowed to keep operating even under the tightest restrictions.

Although we have been forced to make significant changes to our operations over the past 16 months, we are fortunate that a good portion of our business has proven resilient to the challenges brought about by the pandemic, it said in a statement, adding that the government has ensured the unimpeded movement of goods and workers in the sector.

Transport shuttles are provided to on-site workers, the company added, while adjustments will be implemented in the face of the Delta variant by way of improved ventilation, air filtration, and movement of workers.

More restrictions spoiled the sweet run of startups like Auro Chocolate, which operates a factory in Calamba, Laguna. New product offerings and expansion plans have been shelved to focus on survival.

We do cater to hospitality, airline, resorts and casinos as well as food service sector and both domestic and exports. With their closure, a huge chunk of our demand then disappears pretty much overnight, said Kelly Go, co-founder of Auro Chocolate.

Of course, we understand the Delta variant and it is a grave global concern, but at the same time we have a responsibility also to our employees to continue to give them livelihood considering all the struggles that they've already gone through, she added.

Go added that the chocolate brand has been close to reviving pre-pandemic sales volumes, only to be disrupted again. She called for clearer policies for public transport, border checkpoints, and limits on movement for the looming ECQ.

The more lead time the better  but lead time also with clear details is what would be most appreciated, she said. We also want to have a lot of clarity on important services.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  SM Investments Corporation will be adding a new brand in its roster: Goldilocks.

In a letter to the local bourse Wednesday, SMIC confirmed the approval of its acquisition of majority of the bakeshop chains common shares.

This acquisition will increase SMICs current shareholding in Goldilocks to approximately 74% of the outstanding voting capital stock, making Goldilocks a subsidiary of SMIC, said the listed firm.

Prior to the announcement, SMIC only owned 34% of Goldilocks stocks. It also comes months after the Sy family-led corporation completed its buyout of fellow listed firm Chelsea Logisticss shares in 2GO.

The SM Group recently reported a consolidated net income of 20.1 billion for the first semester of 2021, surpassing the 7.1 billion it logged during the same period last year in what it calls a continued resilient performance from its businesses.

Our banking and residential businesses performed well as we also continued to invest in long term expansion with new stores, bank branches, residential project launches and investments in malls, as well as taking a majority stake in 2GO in our equity investment portfolio, said SMIC president and chief executive officer Frederic DyBuncio.

Like other companies, DyBuncio is counting on more vaccinations to help sustain the momentum of their recovery.
In the last few years, there have been numerous instances of communal interest in houseplants. The most recent is the pandemic-induced urge to collect plants as quarantine companions. And before that, Pantone already announced 2017s color of the year to be greenery. At the time, media websites pondered why individuals, millennials in particular, were obsessed with houseplants. But whether were discussing the trend in the context of the pandemic or the struggles of millennials, itd both lead to the consensus that plants give us a sense of responsibility and control in difficult times.

Artist JJ Jarin agrees with that. In 2014, he observed his girlfriend Ara, whom he fondly calls A, take care of a cactus. Experiencing a creative rut at that time, Jarin found inspiration in plants. He incorporated the spiny creature in his earlier works and eventually ventured into lush tropical plants like palms and ficus.

These plants have become visual staples in Jarins works, from gallery shows, his collaboration with Uniqlo in 2019, and now to the piece hes presenting at Delphian Gallery in London this August.

"Hello, Goodnight" by JJ Jarin. This work was selected by Delphian Gallery for their Annual Open Call competition for discovering the most captivating and challenging work by emerging and early-career artists. Photo courtesy of GALERIE STEPHANIE

Most of the flora found in his paintings are plants they had at home. But at the height of the quarantine, while everyone else was growing their plant collections, Jarin decided to purely imagine their lives on canvas. When they moved into their apartment, they placed their plants in front of their unit. They thought the space would be suitable for the plants, but whenever they went out to water them, they observed broken branches and trash in the pots.

Eventually, our five-year-old palmera died, Jarin says. It was the last straw so we just accepted na plants are not suitable for our current living situation and unfortunately agreed to not adopt anymore plants while were here. I regret not being observant enough before officially moving in. Anyway, that experience pushed me na ipinta na lang muna sila for now. Pero paglipat namin ulit, it will be a new beginning; we promised to start again then and do a better job.

But for him, the lessons plants can teach us do not only come from moments of cultivation. In the paintings Jarin makes, the plants are situated in structures of raw concrete without any trace of human care yet they thrive or, if not, at least survive.

In this interview, Jarin talks about the evolution of his art, coping with anxiety, and practicing empathy in art making.

Congratulations for being one of the artists selected by Delphian Gallery for their upcoming exhibit. Could you tell us about the work you submitted?

Thank you so much!

The work Delphian Gallery chose is titled Hello, Goodnight. Its actually one of the four-part series I did last year about how dealing with anxiety can cause a person to have a severely broken body clock. The series was originally intended to be shown at the Art Fair Tokyo 2020, but due to the pandemic, it was cancelled.

Hello, Goodnight tells a familiar story of having an interchanged schedule of sleeping and waking up. I wanted to convey how hard a struggle it is to be in that repetitive state, so particularly for this piece, I translated it by painting rows of similar-looking balconies.

As a Filipino artist, how important is it for you to gain recognition in the international art scene?

I think having a larger platform is very important because you get larger chances of getting your message across and having your voice heard by a larger audience. While international recognition is a great opportunity, I feel that local recognition is as important because I am here and my practice is here. You get a certain fulfillment when you meet and talk with local audiences about how they resonate deeply with your works.

JJ Jarin is a painter, graphic designer, instructor, and street artist. His works have been exhibited in numerous galleries around the country. Photo courtesy of the artist

Di ba you were inclined to street art earlier in your career? Could you discuss that period? And how has that affected your perspective in art and the works you do now?

Yes, I was. I started doing street art in Cavite ten years ago.

Way back in high school, nakilala ko si Blic through Friendster kasi nakita ko yung T-shirt business nya. Nung una minime-message ko lang tapos eventually pumupunta-punta na ako sa kanila and then dun ko na din nakilala si Triskaideka. Actually, silang dalawa din yung nag-inspire sakin na i-pursue ko yung Fine Arts sa college. Fast-forward to college, first year ako around 2009, naaalala ko every Sunday, niyayaya nila ako na mag-mural sa isang bar sa Molino, Cavite  doon ko na-meet si Tyang [Karyel]. By 2010, nag-decide kami na i-form yung Cavity Collective.

One of my fondest memories was how challenging it was to adapt to unfamiliar places and be resourceful with my materials. Youd have to understand that it was a very different time back then, I didnt have a stable source for everything and my only driving force as an artist was to simply showcase my work and get myself out there.

JJ Jarin's "Bambi" in Malugay St., Makati. Photo courtesy of the artist

I had a character that Id always paint, an anglerfish named Bambi. Its name was inspired by a song by Tokyo Police Club that seemed to be the story of my life when I was younger. Anglerfishes are known to have a modified luminescent fin ray that acts as a lure for other fishes, which Ive always viewed as a guide towards new opportunities.

Ive always considered Bambi as my escape and my stepping stone. The strong angst I felt before fueled Bambis next journey, and its journey fed my hunger to hunt for new opportunities. I feel that period pushed me out of my comfort zone altogether, it guided me to this journey of self-discovery as a person and an artist. To this day, Im still thankful that it helped me understand what I want for my practice and it gave me profound awareness and observation for my surroundings.

"There's Also Beauty Behind It" by JJ Jarin. Photo courtesy of the artist

But before that, ano 'yung exposure mo sa art?

Ang pinaka-distinct memory ko nung bata ako, yung daddy ko lagi kaming tinatanong ng kapatid ko kung ano ang gusto naming ipa-drawing sa kanya, just for fun.

One time, pinag-drawing ko siya ng likod ng kotse na naka-open yung trunk. Sobrang na-amaze ako kasi ang galing nung pagkaka-illustrate niya kasi kuhang-kuha niya yung perspective. Nung grade three naman ako, pinagawa kami ng drawing project para sa Filipino subject, gumawa si daddy ng komiks. Ni-recreate niya yung usong komiks sa dyaryo dati, si Mang Tacio. Feeling ko nung time na yun bidang-bida ako sa classroom namin kasi tuwang-tuwa yung mga classmates ko sa project ko. Yung tita ko din, binilhan ako ng alam mo yung nauso na art set dati na sobrang pangit ng quality? Yung may markers, crayons, at watercolor na kasama? Ang saya ko, ginagamit ko yun pag nagdo-drawing ako ng Ghost Fighter, Dragonball at Pokemon. I think kahit wala sa family namin ang may formal art background, yung mga moments na yun ang nagbigay ng sobrang laking contribution para sa exposure ko sa art.

Paano yung transition mo from street art to gallery-bound works?

Bago kasi talaga ako mag-switch from street art to canvas paintings, one year akong hindi nag-art at all. Na-burn out kasi ako kay Bambi, parang na-cage ako sa idea na dapat siya lang yung ginagawa ko. Kasabay nung pagka-burnout ko kay Bambi, kumuha ako ng full-time job as a graphic designer. By this time, nakilala ko si A. Siya yung nag-introduce sakin sa halaman. Naaalala ko may alaga siyang cactus. Na-appreciate ko yung dinidiligan niya yun, na may inaalagaan siya. I think isa sa mga reason yun kung bakit ako na-fascinate sa mga halaman. Ultimately, nag-decide ako na tanggalin na si Bambi completely at mag-start from scratch. Una in-explore ko muna yung hilig ko sa mga patterns tapos gumawa ako ng mga collage-like na drawings.

Anong pakiramdam nung pagtigil mo sa art?

Gusto ko kasi talagang maging visual artist, so not being able to practice it, sobrang nakakalungkot at nakaka-frustrate. Nakakalungkot siya to think na bakit hindi ako makagawa ng art organically. Pero kinailangan ko i-remind yung self ko na kailangan ko yung break na yun. Eventually, nag unfold din naman nung nakilala ko nga si A. Niregaluhan nya ako ng Lil Hands Markers on a whim at binigyan niya ako ng extra sheets of watercolor paper. Ang naaalala ko nun, nag-Indian sit lang ako sa lapag, tapos nag-start lang ulit ako mag-drawing na para bang bumalik ako sa pagkabata. Hindi ko in-expect na sa moment pala na yun magsisimula ulit yung career ko as an artist.

Your works now revolve around houseplants dwelling in concrete spaces. These plants are not in their natural environment but they thrive. What attracted you to this visual theme?

I guess it stems from a childhood instinct of mine. Ive faced circumstances that made me feel like an outsider. It took me a long time to understand and accept it. Perhaps, my yearning for balance and harmony inspired me to paint strong-willed plants that thrive even in the most unusual and harshest places.

Was it a conscious decision to stick to that visual theme?

Yes. Its important to document our struggles as we go through them. Grit is a wonderful trait and I believe people and plants have this in common. Im sure this concept in general will lead me to other things as life unfolds, but for now, it feels right to stay and explore it more.

"Body Clock" by JJ Jarin. Photo courtesy of the artist

What kind of plants do you include in your work? Has the recent surge of interest in plants affected your choices?

I like to do a mixture of both voluminous and symmetrical plants. I think both types bring out the balance in the spaces I do. Evidently, Areca Palm is a classic favorite. Naturally, Im inclined to it not only for its personality but also for being the first ever plant my girlfriend and I adopted.

Back in 2014, plants didnt have much traction as they do now. Id always base them on a concept but over the years I think the surge contributed in many ways too. I consider the popularity to be a blessing because it lets me meet people whod introduce me to new plants.

At the moment, Ficus Lyrata, Monstera deliciosa and Strelitzia are a few of my go-tos. In addition to their lavish nature I just like that sense of uncertainty of how theyd turn out when I paint them. I am also fascinated with Yucca and Dracaena plants because they convey a distinct boldness that ties up nicely to the lushness of the aforementioned.

Ive also started to research and get to know our endemic plants as I plan to inject them in my future works. I think they deserve the same, if not more, highlight and representation.

Aside from plants, yung natatanging semblance ng living creatures sa works mo ay yung mga elements na parang organisms. Could you tell me more about that?

I think I see organisms as a representation of us. They are curious creatures, madalas makikita sila na nag-wa-wander sa mga spaces na ginagawa ko, spaces na unknown sa kanila. Kinikilala muna nila yung lugar, tapos if they deem a place favorable, suitable, and beneficial for their growth, they make it their habitat. Minsan kahit batuhan mo sila ng unfavorable circumstances, kaya nila mag-adapt just like us.

The installation view of JJ Jarin's "Fake Happy" exhibit at Blanc Gallery in 2020. Photo courtesy of BLANC GALLERY

Loneliness is also a theme that you deal with in your work. I think your works in general somewhat echo our experiences of isolation and uncertainty last year. And you also continued working on your art during the ongoing pandemic. Could you discuss how the current situation has affected your process and your projects? And how did you adapt?

Honestly speaking, the only certain thing for me last year was my decision to share how it really was for most of us. I really had a strong urge to be truthful given that my works revolve around visual narrations of life.

It felt very important to have documentation and physical memory of our experiences so I think those drove me to continue working despite these trying times. I think grit comes with great struggle, so having a reminder of what was is integral to our transition to what is and what will be.

Adapting was tough and continues to be tough. Ive had pandemic-induced anxiety on top of my existing anxiety, so you could only imagine how record-breaking it was. There were times Id literally freeze up just thinking about the future. I believe Im not alone when I say that this experience has been physically, mentally, emotionally and financially taxing. Not to mention, the general fear and the heightened restrictions hindered me from going out to look for physical inspiration from my neighborhood. I just try to adapt by revisiting my past references and revisualize places from my memory. There have been a few cancellations here and there, too. Fortunately, the art scene and the galleries here share the same grit so we strive through it and make it work. Although cheesy, I guess its true when they say one door closes, another one opens  if it werent for AFT 2020 being cancelled, there wouldnt be Delphian Gallery for me.

My friends, my girlfriend, and our pets played a big part in my transition too. Music and films also contributed. Surprisingly, despite the uncertainties, this situation gave me the privilege to ponder and discover new perspectives in life. It actually allowed me to relieve myself from burning out by having the time to explore new approaches for my practice. Today, when I get too overwhelmed by my anxieties, I either shift my focus to my sketchbook or just accept that Im already done for the day  I learned to listen more closely to what my body needs.

Since we're discussing 'yung anxiety, how do you cope with it?

Usap. Nagpapa-psychotherapy din ako. Pero pag unable, usap talaga with A. Ang galing lang kasi over the years natutunan namin i-develop yung sense namin pag nag-o-overthink yung isa. May time na kapag sobrang overwhelming, buong araw kaming mag-uusap, tina-try lang i-figure out yung solutions to a certain problem.

Ang nakakatawa sa amin, may point kami na kapag nanonood kami, sasabihin ko bigla, "A, wait lang. Pause mo saglit." I-sh-share ko sa kanya 'yung idea ko sa specific na eksena na 'yun. Priority talaga namin is communication. Somehow, naging effective talaga yun to help me cope with my anxiety and with her depression.

If hindi naman nag-work yung usap, lumalabas ako para maglakad. Mas mahirap ngayon kasi may pandemic. Kaya ginagawa ko na ring refuge yung errands ko. Sinusulit ko siya kahit ironically hindi safe lumabas. Saka, although di ko sya frequently na-pa-practice, nagsusulat din ako sa journal.

"Here's When to Use It and When to Avoid It" by JJ Jarin. Photo courtesy of BLANC GALLERY

Sa work mo nag-pre-present ka ng safe space, how do you make sure na as a male artist na the work you do is welcoming or it doesn't offend anyone?

Personally, growing up na-hone yung sensitivity ko kasi lumaki ako sa paalala ng magulang ko na dapat matuto akong rumespeto. Saka hindi naman siya imposible kung may respeto ka sa kapwa tao mo, to begin with. Sobrang laking tulong din yung engagement mo sa ibang artists, matututo ka talaga kung marunong ka makinig. Acknowledging your privilege and choosing to be empathetic towards others help you make conscious decisions about the works you put out.

Lastly, whats the last great artwork you saw? And why is it great?

Thats a hard question, Ive seen great ones recently.

Locally, I think its Poets Hour by Paolo Icasas is very fascinating. I think its beautifully done, I feel like its pulling me in when I look at it, as if I want to go inside it. Internationally, a work from Benjamin Moravec titled Jenseits Der Vierten Wand (roughly translated, Beyond the Fourth Wall) takes the spot. I really admire his technique and process. I find it amusing that he uses SketchUp first before he proceeds to canvas. Its also the chiaroscuro of his works for me, I find it to be always impeccably done.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  The Department of Health on Thursday confirmed the detection of 116 new cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, raising the country's total to 331.

The DOH said all the newly reported infections have been tagged as recovered.

It noted 95 are local cases, one is a returning overseas Filipino (ROF), and the remaining 20 are still being verified.

The majority, or 83, of the local cases had an indicated address in Metro Manila, according to the department.

Meanwhile, four are from Central Visayas, three from Calabarzon, two from Davao Region, and one each from Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan Valley, and Ilocos Region.

The DOH also amended its July 29 report, correcting that days overall Delta variant case count from 216 to 215. It explained there was a duplicate entry, as one case was found to have been tested in two different laboratories.

The department earlier said it "assumes" there is already community transmission of the highly contagious variant in the country, adding it may be behind the spike in COVID-19 infections.

"While community transmission of the Delta variant is being studied, the national government together with LGUs should act aggressively as if there is already community transmission," it said.

More cases of other variants detected

The latest batch of whole genome sequencing also found 113 new cases of the Alpha variant, the DOH reported.

Two of these succumbed to COVID-19, while 111 have been classified as survivors.

The agency further detailed that 104 are locally acquired, one is an ROF, while the eight others are under verification. There are now a total of 1,968 confirmed Alpha variant cases nationwide.

Those hit with the Beta variant, on the other hand, climbed to 2,268 with 122 more detected -- 104 are local cases, four are ROFs, and 14 are still being verified.

Meanwhile, 10 new P.3 variant cases have been recorded, nine of which are locally acquired, while one is an ROF.

The DOH said all newly announced cases of the Beta and P.3 variants have already recovered.

To date, over 1.6 million people across the country have tested positive for COVID-19, of whom 66,895 or 4.1% are currently ill.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5) The province of Laguna and the cities of Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro will be placed under enhanced community quarantine from Aug. 6 to 15, Malacanang said on Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to place the areas under the strictest lockdown measure, his spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Parts of Calabarzon will also be placed under tighter quarantine protocols for the same period.

Cavite, Lucena City, and Rizal will be under modified ECQ, while Batangas and Quezon will be placed under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions.

Roque also announced that Iloilo province will be classified under MECQ until Aug. 15.

IATF officials earlier this week said they would review and evaluate whether to put Calabarzon or some areas in the region under ECQ amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Metro Manila will also be placed under hard lockdown until Aug. 20 to contain the spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Thousands of people hoping to get vaccinated against COVID-19 rushed to various inoculation sites on Thursday ahead of the hard lockdown, after rumors spread that there would be more restrictions for unvaccinated persons.

Malls used as vaccination sites in Manila City saw an alarming number of people lining up early Thursday and eventually crowding despite the threat of the more transmissible Delta variant.

Police officials said the number of people lining up in four malls designated as vaccination sites initially hovered at around 1,000 to 2,000 per location. The number, however, went up to 3,000 and soared to as high as 10,000 the day before the imposition of the strictest enhanced community quarantine on Friday.

Local officials canceled the vaccination in one mall in Manila due to health and safety concerns when the crowd swelled to more than 10,000, according to the city police.

Authorities said even residents from Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal arrived in the mall in vans to get the shots.

Jhay Basa went to the mall in Manila with his eight family members to get vaccinated after hearing unverified stories that they will not be allowed to go out without proof of vaccination.

What greeted him and his family was complete chaos, he related.

"Ang daming nagsusuntukan doon sa may pila tapos ang daming sumingit sa may pila," he told CNN Philippines. "Dapat di ka pagod, dapat busog ka kapag magbabakuna. 'Yung iba po talaga 6 p.m. pa lang nakapila na."

[Translation: People in line were hitting each other, many were also cutting the line. You should be well rested before your vaccination. Some of those in line were there since 6 p.m. the day before.]

Robert Villanueva, who lined up in a different mall, also described the havoc that ensued outside the vaccination site.

"Parang magkaka-stampede kasi tulakan, siksikan kahit may mga pulis. Sobrang dami talaga," he said.

[Translation: It felt like there will be a stampede. People were pushing and crowding even if there were many police personnel deployed.]

The police said over 100 personnel  around the same number sent out during protests  were deployed at a mall in Santa Cruz, Manila to pacify the swelling crowd.

People also flocked to a hospital and mall in Las Pinas City hoping to get vaccinated. Once the sites opened, they rushed inside to get a slot.

The incidents were triggered by rumors that unvaccinated people cannot go out for essential trips or receive cash assistance from the government during the ECQ period in Metro Manila. This was quickly denied by government officials.

"Huwag kayong maniwala sa fake news. Walang katotohanan [There is no truth to this. Don't believe in fake news]," MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos said.

The MMDA has asked the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the spread of the misinformation.

To set the record straight, the distribution of ayuda and/or benefits or privileges is not anchored on whether an individual has been inoculated or not, Abalos added.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara and Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire have assured the public that there will be no distinction between the vaccinated and unvaccinated during the lockdown period. It means restrictions will be the same regardless of a person's vaccination status.

President Rodrigo Duterte on July 29 warned unvaccinated persons to avoid going out, directing local authorities to escort the "spreaders" back to their homes. The country's vaccine supply, however, remains unstable, leaving millions of people outside of the priority sectors unvaccinated.

Vaccination centers, whether located in a mall or a separate site, are under the jurisdiction of the local government unit. CNN Philippines has requested comment from the management of the malls.

CNN Philippines' Lara Tan and Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Some cities in Metro Manila are requiring residents to present quarantine passes to limit non-essential trips during the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period beginning Friday.

During the lockdown, only Authorized Persons Outside Residence or APORs are allowed outside. APORs are divided into three categories: Essential workers, vaccinees, and consumers.

The following local government units will require consumer APORs  one designated person per household  to present their quarantine passes when they go out to buy food and other essential goods from Aug. 6 to 20:

Quezon City

Barangays in Quezon City issued new quarantine passes. It said one person designated to go out to buy essential goods should ideally have completed their vaccination.

Manila City

Local authorities will accept old and new quarantine passes.

Caloocan City

Residents buying essential goods need to present the old passes. If it was misplaced, the city government can replace it with a new one.

Valenzuela City

Valenzuela City issued new passes. Residents doing essential errands need to present their pass and ValTrace QR Code in establishments.

San Juan City

The city issued new quarantine passes. APORs do not need to present a quarantine pass.

Navotas City

They need to bring their pass and a valid ID if they will buy essential goods. They are only allowed outside from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Markets and groceries in the city will be closed on Mondays for disinfection.

Pasig and Muntinlupa said they will not require quarantine passes.

This story will be updated.
(CNN)  The Biden administration has informed Congress of a proposed $750 million weapons sale to Taiwan in a move likely to further inflame tensions with Beijing.

The administration gave notice about the intended sale on Wednesday, according to a State Department spokesperson, two congressional sources, and a notification from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The deal includes 40 M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer Systems and related equipment.

"If concluded, this proposed sale will contribute to the modernization of Taiwan's howitzer fleet, strengthening its self-defense capabilities to meet current and future threats," the spokesperson said.

One of the congressional sources told CNN that Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez had already cleared the sale as part of the informal review process -- a common practice in which the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees get a heads-up on planned sales, allowing committee leadership to raise concerns, give their input or place holds.

This source said Menendez sees it "as yet another statement of the Biden administration's serious intent to get strategy in the Indo-Pacific right, and its commitment to stand with our ally Taiwan."

The United States has long provided arms to the island under the terms of the decades-old Taiwan Relations Act, and there is bipartisan support for supplying Taiwan with weapons. Last October, the Trump administration notified Congress of a proposed $1.8 billion in advanced weapons systems sales to Taiwan, and the administration had previously approved several major arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $13 billion, including dozens of F-16 fighter jets, M1A2T Abrams tanks, portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and MK-48 Mod6 torpedoes.

Beijing has lambasted those sales, calling them a violation of China's sovereignty. The country's communist government views Taiwan as part of its territory, though the two have been governed separately since the end of a bloody civil war in 1949.

New guidelines

In April, President Joe Biden dispatched an unofficial delegation to Taiwan in a show of support for the island, according to a senior administration official and a State Department spokesperson.

The State Department also announced in April that the agency had "issued new guidelines for U.S. government interaction with Taiwan counterparts to encourage U.S. government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship."

At the time, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, "The guidance underscores Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and an important security and economic partner that is also a force for good in the international community.

"These new guidelines liberalize guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations, and provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our 'one China' policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances," Price said.

Shortly before leaving office in January, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the United States was lifting decades-old restrictions on interactions between American and Taiwanese officials.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Biden administration proposes $750 million arms sale to Taiwan in a move likely to anger Beijing'
(CNN)  The Biden administration is developing a plan to mandate vaccinations for almost all foreign visitors to the US, a White House official confirmed to CNN on Wednesday, though some exceptions are expected.

Officials are still in the early phases of developing the plan and an announcement is not imminent. There is no imminent change to the current travel restrictions in place because of the highly contagious Delta variant currently circulating around the world, an official cautioned.

But officials from multiple agencies across the federal government have been constantly evaluating the current travel restrictions and are developing a plan for lifting them when the time eventually comes. According to the White House official, this includes requiring all foreign nationals traveling to the US from all countries to be fully vaccinated, with limited exceptions, though a final plan has not been determined.

News of the plan under consideration was first reported by Reuters.

The White House was facing growing pressure last month from the travel industry and US allies to lift restrictions on who can travel into the US. But ultimately, the Biden administration decided to keep existing travel restrictions in place.

Multiple officials said the administration came close to lifting some travel restrictions to the US earlier this year, but reversed course after the Delta variant gained a strong foothold in the US.

The Delta variant now accounts for more than 90% of coronavirus circulating in the US, according to data published the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tourism from abroad has essentially halted under the US Covid-19 travel rules. The restrictions also bar migrants from seeking asylum and prevent foreigners from visiting family in the US.

The Biden administration recently extended non-essential travel restrictions for the US northern and southern borders until August 21, despite Canada saying that fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents currently residing in the US will be allowed into Canada beginning on August 9. The US has been limiting non-essential travel along both borders since the start of the pandemic and extending those restrictions on a monthly basis.

More of Europe has been opening up to American travelers. And some three weeks ago, Biden said answers about easing restrictions on Europe would coming in "the next several days." But the ban remains in place, with officials putting any change on hold due to the Delta variant's spread.

The travel restrictions were put in place in March 2020, when many countries were shutting down their borders to slow the spread of coronavirus. The restrictions included the United Kingdom and the "Schengen" group of 26 mostly European Union countries that lie within an area stretching from Iceland to Greece.

The administration launched interagency working groups with the EU, Britain, Canada and Mexico to examine how and when travel restrictions will be lifted.

The groups are overseen by the White House Covid-19 response team and the National Security Council, and include representatives from the CDC along with officials from the Departments of State, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Transportation.
(CNN)  Germany, France, Israel, and the UK are all forging ahead with plans to begin administering COVID-19 booster shots starting in, or before, September, despite calls from the World Health Organization on Wednesday to ensure poorer countries have enough shots to vaccinate their populations first.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for wealthy countries to impose a moratorium on boosters until "at least the end of September, to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated."

"We need to focus on those people who are most vulnerable, most at risk of severe disease and death, to get their first and second doses," Katherine O'Brien, director, immunization vaccines and biologicals at the WHO said, echoing Tedros call.

However on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that France would forge ahead with its booster program starting from September.

We are preparing ourselves like other European countries, to carry out a third dose for people who are the oldest and most fragile. And we will do it from the beginning of September," Macron said in a video message on Instagram.

Some background: Israel, Germany and the UK have all announced booster programs for their most vulnerable populations to slow down the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, all of which are due to commence either before, or by the start of September.

The WHO has spoken out against booster programs throughout 2021. Calling on wealthy nations and pharmaceutical companies to instead prioritize vaccinating more of the worlds population, to prevent the emergence of more contagious Covid-19 variants.

Africa currently has the slowest vaccine rollout, with less than 2% of people fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, coronavirus deaths across the continent have surged by 80% in the last month, according to the WHO.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday that the Biden administration would also be willing to offer boosters shots if needed, once the Food and Drug Administration updated its guidance on the issue, calling the WHOs call a false choice.

Wealthy nations continue to sign deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure additional doses. In July, the US signed a deal with Pfizer to buy 200 million more vaccines, to help with both pediatric immunization and booster shots.

Read more here.
(CNN)  Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine showed 93% efficacy against symptomatic disease through six months, and the company expects to complete its application for full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration this month, the company said Thursday.

The efficacy data came from a final analysis of the vaccine's Phase 3 study, which enrolled thousands of participants who received both doses last year, before it was made available to the wider public.

"In final analysis" of the study, "the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine showed 93% efficacy, with the efficacy remaining durable through six months after administration of the second dose," Moderna said in a news release.

The data reflecting 93% efficacy was from trial participants who had been fully vaccinated by November 25 and evaluated for the following six months, before the highly contagious Delta variant became dominant in the United States and spurred the current surge in cases.

"We are pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine is showing durable efficacy of 93% through six months, but recognize that the Delta variant is a significant new threat so we must remain vigilant," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in the news release.

Last month, the makers of the other mRNA vaccine authorized in the United States, Pfizer/BioNTech, released efficacy data showing an overall six-month efficacy of 91% -- with possible waning toward the end of that time. Like the Moderna data, the Pfizer follow-up data was collected prior to the Delta-related surge.

Pfizer's pre-print paper showed its vaccine's efficacy -- in a trial involving 44,000 volunteers around the world -- peaked at more than 96% from a week to around two months after a second dose, and then appeared to gradually decline to 83.7% four to six months later, according to the paper, which had not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal.

Moderna says boosters may be needed before winter

Moderna believes the Delta variant will lead to more breakthrough infections, and that boosters may be needed before winter, according to slides published ahead of the company's earnings call on Thursday.

"We believe that increased force of infection resulting from Delta, non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) fatigue, and seasonal effects (moving indoors) will lead to an increase of breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals," one of the slides says.

Moderna also said that while it sees durable efficacy of the vaccine, it expects neutralizing titers will continue to wane and eventually impact the efficacy of the vaccine.

"Given this intersection, we believe dose 3 booster will likely be necessary prior to the winter season," a slide says.

Moderna is waiting for dosage data before filing for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a booster shot, Moderna president Dr. Stephen Hoge said in Thursday's investor call.

Moderna's first two doses are 100 micrograms each. The company says it is exploring whether a booster -- a third shot of the same vaccine -- should be 50 micrograms or 100 micrograms.

"Our clinical data right now, we think, supports a 50-microgram ... booster," Hoge said. "But, we're going to wait for 100-microgram data in the coming weeks to confirm the dose selection of 50 micrograms as the booster before filing."

In Thursday's call, Hoge presented early data, yet to be peer reviewed, showing the vaccine's neutralizing antibodies waning six months after the second dose -- including against the Delta variant.

Hoge said the yet-to-be-peer-reviewed data showed that 14 days after a 50-microgram booster was administered, antibody titers increased significantly.

Hoge called this "very encouraging," adding that the company believes this confirms its selection of the booster as likely to be protective against circulating variants of concern, particularly Delta.

Experts have said it is unclear how these antibody levels correlate with real-world immunity, and to what extent other parts of the immune system -- such as T cells -- could factor into protection.

Pfizer said in an investor call last week that it intends to submit a booster for EUA consideration as early as August.

The FDA and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at the time Americans don't need third doses quite yet, and that it was not up to companies alone to decide when an additional dose might be needed.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNN on Tuesday, "At the present time ... the data in the United States does not indicate that (a booster is) necessary."

In July, the maker of the third Covid-19 vaccine authorized in the United States -- Johnson & Johnson -- said its one-dose product provides immunity that lasts at least eight months, and it appears to provide protection against the Delta variant.

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Department of Public Health announced it would provide people who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a supplemental dose of an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer or Moderna. It would give these supplemental doses to those who have consulted with their doctor beforehand.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said Tuesday the "FDA does not recommend taking things into your own hands" regarding Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.

"You can see all from looking at the news that there are people and the jurisdictions that are actually taking things into their own hands. ... FDA does not recommend taking things into your own hands," said Marks in a discussion hosted by the Covid-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project briefing.

The San Francisco health department maintains that it aligns with the CDC and FDA. "We are not recommending; we are accommodating requests," Dr. Naveena Bobba, deputy director of health for SFDPH, said at a media briefing Tuesday. "We have gotten a few requests based on patients talking to their physicians and that's why we are allowing for the accommodation."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine shows 93% efficacy through 6 months, as company expects to finish application for approval this month."
The Genoa Indian School Recognition and Remembrance Celebration will held on Aug. 14 at the Genoa Indian School Museum & Interpretive Center, 209 E. Webster in Genoa.

This is the 31st year of this celebration, which aims to honor and celebrate the students that attended the Genoa School, the 46 tribal nations that had students attend have sent their tribal nations flag and/or tribal seal. Great meaning and tribal identity is associated with their flag and the gift of a flag is one of the highest honors a tribal nation can bestow. These beautiful and colorful flags and seals are on display in the Genoa Indian School Interpretive Center.

The days activities start in the air-conditioned St. Rose of Lima Community Center, next door to the Indian School. At 10 a.m. the research center will open and be available until 4 p.m. with researchers Linda Sass and Michelle Tiedje. At the research center, descendants are invited to look up family members, view photos and old school newspapers. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be Native American jewelry and crafts to purchase and tours of the Indian School Interpretive Center. All native crafters are encouraged to bring items for sale. There is no charge for a table; call 402-993-6055 to reserve a table.

10:30  11 a.m., presentation on Simon Redbird, a former teacher at the Genoa School, by Nickie Drozd.
The $50,000 winners all were vaccinated after the MI Shot to Win Sweepstakes was launched. They include three women and three men  a hospital cook from Port Huron, a West Bloomfield realtor, the manager of a welding and fabrication company in Kincheloe, a Grand Rapids resident who works in the construction and supply industry, a Ford Motor Co. machinist from South Lyon and a respiratory therapist from Grand Rapids.

The latter, Brianna Hrejsa, said she was hesitant because the vaccines have emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration but not full approval. Pfizer and Moderna have applied for full approval, and a Pfizer decision is expected soon.

She said she did more research because she has contact with patients and her partner is immunocompromised.

I want to do my part in ... helping keep myself but my partner, my patients and my community safe, said Hrejsa, who plans to save most of the money, potentially for a down payment on a house, and to use some to pursue another degree. I'm tired about being anxious about getting sick.

Registration for the monthlong vaccine lottery ended Tuesday.
In 2003, Lamm gave his most widely known speech, I Have a Plan to Destroy America. At the time of Lamms speech, Congress had passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Immigration Act of 1990. Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had signed the two legislative acts that opened the borders to more illegal immigration, and created more employment-based visas that, over the last three decades, helped displace millions of American low- and high-skilled workers.

Presciently, Lamm foresaw immigrations growing, detrimental effect on the U.S., as well as the amassed power that its advocates had on Congress and the media. Lamms eight-point program, which he subtitled and many parts of it are underway, include making America a bilingual, bicultural country and encouraging immigrants to maintain their own language and culture instead of, as previous immigrant waves did, assimilating.

Lamms most compelling point noted that all his observations must be treated as off limitstaboo. Make sure that opposition is squelched on unfounded xenophobe and racist charges that end debate. Because immigration was once good, Lamm predicted that its advocates would insist that it must always be good. Lamm anticipated that the immigration-related problems he identified in 2003 would grow worse over the years to come.
Source: Adobe/tawatchai1990

The ruling South Korean Democratic Partys crypto task force is discussing a plan to institutionalize corporate transactions on crypto exchange platforms with the nations nine leading exchanges  a further sign, perhaps of an impending regulatory climbdown.

More details of a key meeting held last month between the exchange chiefs and the task force have revealed that the party may be ready to make a number of concessions to the sector.

Per Herald Kyungjae, the exchanges CEOs, present at the meeting strongly criticized the governments regulatory measures, which have imposed a set of banking, information management, and anti-money laundering regulations on trading platforms.

The CEOs accused the government and the party of effectively driving them to the brink of closure  with none of the exchanges yet fully compliant with all of the regulations.

Regardless, the task force has pledged to do all in its power to help bolster the industry  painfully aware that many of its key supporters are crypto investors rapidly losing faith in the party ahead of next years general elections.

Exchanges agreed that the government and the industry needed to come to a consensus on how to deal with corporate clients and their transactions, as well as foreign (non-Korean) trading platform clients.

Currently, all major exchanges have their own policies on how to deal with corporations and non-citizens, but all parties agreed that there was a need for regulatory clarity on how to proceed if the process were to be institutionalized.

The task force also said it would consider requests from exchanges to pay their tax bills in crypto  rather than fiat. Exchanges typically have large crypto holdings, and from January 1 next year, will be liable to declare and pay tax on their holdings in KRW, a process that will involve incurring exchange and transaction fees. Instead, the platforms CEOs asked for the right to hand the government cryptoassets such as bitcoin (BTC).

Meanwhile, a new private members bill is to be put before parliament will propose granting exchanges six more months of grace period to implement a long list of compliance requirements that would allow them to continue operating.

The bills architect is the MP Yoon Chang-hyeon of the main opposition Peoples Power Party. TV Chosun quoted Chang as stating that he would unveil the bill before the end of the week.

Opposition leaders say the government must move fast to avoid a shutdown crisis with firms that fail to meet the September 24 compliance deadlines forced to close  or risk fines or imprisonment.

____

Learn more:

- Smaller South Korean Crypto Exchanges Begin to Shutdown, Suspend Services

- Crypto Exchange Self-Regulation Kicks In as Regulators Start to Kick

- Regulators Take Notice as Bragging Crypto Derivatives Traders Get Caught

- Binance Winds Down Derivatives In Europe While Malaysia Takes Action
State Police at Carlisle said a Carlisle man was arrested and charged in connection with the bank robbery and later police search in Upper Frankford Township Wednesday.

Zachary Andrew Heckman, 30, was charged with felony robbery of financial institution, theft by unlawful taking, flight to avoid apprehension and agricultural vandalism, as well as misdemeanor unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Police did not provide many details about the bank robbery itself, only noting that it occurred at Belco Bank on Carlisle Road at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Eventually, Heckman fled police on foot, and by about 11:30 a.m., police were asking residents near Potato Road and Frytown Road to shelter in place while they searched for him. By 1:45 p.m., Heckman was in custody, according to police.

Heckman remains in Cumberland County Prison on $300,000 cash bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

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State Police at Carlisle announced about 1:45 p.m. that a suspect in a bank robbery in Upper Frankford Township is in custody.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Columbus police on Wednesday announced the results of a crackdown on illegal off-road vehicle driving, a phenomenon seen across the country recently and often attributed to frustration with coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Police impounded 11 all-terrain vehicles, including two that were stolen, and found six guns on individuals, including a gun possessed by a 14-year-old boy, said Columbus Deputy Chief Jennifer Knight.

Police have fielded hundreds of complaints about packs of off-road vehicles driving and drag racing on both sides of Columbus streets, driving on sidewalks, weaving in and out of traffic, and speeding through neighborhoods, she said.

On July 30, a group of 40-50 riders clipped a motorcyclist going the opposite direction on a city street and not part of the group, sending the rider to the hospital with serious injuries, Knight said.

We're addressing the ridiculous behavior, the lawlessness, the way they take over the roadways, the way they put people at risk, she said.

Columbus City Council last month approved an ordinance outlawing reckless operation of off-road vehicles and includes fines of up to $1,000.
Our hearts go out to this patients family. This was a tragic situation, WellSpan said in a written statement.

The suit blamed Odoms death on understaffing. WellSpan knew for at least a year that its emergency department was dangerously understaffed, but failed to do anything about it, according to court documents.

As shocking as that video is, it was predictable based on the depths of the staffing shortage that was known about and not remedied for a long time before he arrived there that day, Casey, who is based in Philadelphia, said in a phone interview.

Pennsylvania health regulators who conducted an investigation after Odoms death flagged multiple violations, including that WellSpan York failed to properly monitor and treat him, and that a key nurse was working multiple roles on the day he arrived via ambulance. The hospital agreed to bring on extra staff and take other remedial steps.

The suit said the hospital gave a misleading account of Odoms care when officials got in touch with his family after his death in August 2019.
New students will have registration that day as well, said West County High School Principal Levi Rawson, but we would prefer they call and set up an appointment to get registered if at all possible with our counseling department.

Rawson said he is excited to see all of the staff and students return to school.

I look forward to making each new year the best year yet at West County, he said. We are hoping to finally get back to some normalcy for both students and staff as we enter the 2021-22 school year.

He said the custodial/maintenance staff have done a tremendous job in getting the building prepared for the upcoming school year.

We have a wonderful staff here at West County High School, and we are excited to welcome our new faculty members as they start their careers as West County Bulldogs.

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West County Middle School students will also receive beginning-of-the-year paperwork in the mail. Parents are urged to complete these forms and return them at open house. Special incentives are being offered for middle school students who return all of their paperwork.

New WCMS Principal Lindsay Jackson is excited to see all of the students and staff this year.
After the matter was tabled earlier in July at the regular council meeting, Hulsey worked with Community Development Director Rachel St. Pierre to draft some examples of ordinances and agreements for the funding and construction of the stage, as well as ideas for how to manage its use. The council reviewed the sample documents, which included example bid packets.

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The council concluded that the next step would be to go through a bidding process for the stage construction. Soon, the city will send bid packages out to at least three subcontractors, giving five days to allow for bids on the work to be submitted. The council would then approve one of the subcontractors bids.

The next step in the process would be the approval of the subcontractor agreement and redevelopment plan. Once those are complete, St. Pierre said the funding could be transferred from the TIF allocation fund to the citys general fund. Then, a check would have to be made from the general fund to the subcontractor.

The council moved on to talk about a possible change to the citys fireworks ordinance after some citizens complained that the noises were upsetting to residents who have PTSD, as well as house pets.
Ours really relates to trying to keep up with community growth, he said. As the community continues to grow, our call volume continues to grow. We are just trying to keep staff and apparatus to keep up with that call volume.

"Right now we are running two trucks on duty during the week and one truck on the weekends. Its not because the weekends are slower  theyre just as busy on the weekdays. Its strictly related to we just dont have enough staff to make that happen. So, when that one truck is busy and another call comes in, we are depending on people to come from home.

A lot of things have changed for us. We have qualifications that people have to meet to be hired. We used to be able to find those people locally  they lived in our community. Over the past five to 10 years, weve had to continue to relax that standard on residency to find qualified people to work. Now we dont have a residency requirement other than living in the state of Missouri. Weve seen our staff continue to expand further and further out, which takes them longer to get here if we have to recall them.

Because the fire department is composed of full-time employees, Mecey has certain standards he must maintain to comply with state and federal regulations.
Moore is biracial and grew up in the only majority Asian American and Pacific Islander state in the United States. Her white father, of Irish and German ancestry, taught her how to surf. Her mother is ethnically Native Hawaiian and Filipino and was adopted and raised in a Chinese-American family.

Im proud to be representing the USA, but specifically the islands of Hawaii because there are just so many different kinds of people there, and I feel like such a connection to all of them," Moore said. And I wouldnt be where I am today without the community of people that have really raised me.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii this week honored both Moore and Kahanamoku on the Senate floor.

Theres a saying that the best surfer is the person having the most fun and thats unquestionably the case with Carissa, Schatz said. Shes an intense competitor who wants to win every event she enters, but also one who wants to see her opponents  and more importantly the sport of surfing itself  succeed.
Consolvo said its clear that people sought out where Chandler was staying at a hotel in Henrico and videotaped her arrest. Chandler interrupted the proceedings, loudly saying Im famous on the internet, before Heilberg told her not to speak until spoken to by the court.

Chandler was sworn in to summarize a plan she had for bond, but didnt appear to address that and instead asked the court to allow her to go pick up personal possessions and said she would be willing to proceed with everything if I can get that done.

Barredo told Chandler that there are two things to consider when deciding bond: whether a defendant is likely to appear at trial and if the defendant constitutes an unreasonable danger to himself, his family or his community. Chandler again interrupted the judge saying she. The judge said he was reading from the state statute itself.
If a locality currently covered by the order no longer experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission for 14 consecutive days, the order will no longer apply in that locality.

The extension buys more time for some of those behind on rent but President Joe Biden and his administration have cautioned that the latest extension is likely to face legal challenges.

Locally, groups such as the Legal Aid Justice Center are working to assist as many renters as possible with applying for rental relief assistance. The group has a dedicated phone line, (434) 326-4305, and the programs email address is rentrelief@justice4all.org.

LAJC attorney Victoria Horrock said they were encouraged to see the extension granted, which she believes will help offset a tsunami of evictions that were anticipated locally. This extension will operate much like previous ones, she said, but still requires some paperwork from tenants.

For tenants, the biggest thing they need to know about this is that its not automatic, Horrock said. Much like the old order from the CDC, in order to be protected, tenants have to be eligible for protection and fill out a declaration that says theyre eligible because of their income requirements, although most tenants at risk of eviction are below them.
As noted in recent Daily Progress editorials, gaps in state funding for community-based mental health services and supports are causing an over-reliance on Virginias public mental health hospitals. This has contributed to the closing of some state hospitals to new admissions.

The admissions freeze was not unanticipated. State hospital censuses exceeded 100% even prior to pandemic. This pressure, coupled with COVID-exacerbated workforce shortages, made accepting new patients untenable. The best way forward is for Virginia to re-imagine and adequately fund community-based mental health care and supports proven to reduce the need for hospitalization.

One such intervention is establishing Crisis Receiving Centers, which are open 24/7 and accept anyone experiencing distress caused by mental illness. Individuals accessing CRCs receive immediate interventions from interdisciplinary teams to begin addressing their clinical needs and social determinants of health.

CRCs dramatically decrease police involvement in behavioral health crises and emergency department use. Research shows that after that CRC stays of less than 24 hours, 75% or participants no longer meet criteria for involuntary inpatient treatment. CRC availability would reduce the need for inpatient care and promote the decriminalization of mental illness.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Wednesday for Southern, Central and Northeastern Oregon due to smoke from fires in Oregon and Northern California.

Areas under advisory include Linn County.

The DEQ expects the air quality advisory to last until Friday morning; some areas many see improvement on Thursday. The DEQ and partner agencies will continue to monitor smoke in these areas.

Health officials advise people to refill inhalers and air out homes and businesses when smoke levels improve to moderate or healthy (yellow or green on the Air Quality Index).

Smoke levels can change rapidly depending on weather. Check current conditions on the Oregon Smoke Information Blog, DEQs Air Quality Index, or by downloading the free OregonAIR app on your smartphone.

Smoke can irritate the eyes and lungs and worsen some medical conditions. People most at risk include infants and young children, people with heart or lung disease, older adults and pregnant women.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Several House Democrats have called on House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to apologize to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or resign after audio surfaced of him saying at a weekend fundraiser that it would be "hard not to hit her" with a gavel if he's sworn in as speaker after the 2022 midterm elections.

The comment is emblematic of the rising tension between the two leaders since the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which a violent mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters broke into the Capitol and some hunted for Pelosi by name. After initially condemning the rioters and blaming Trump for inciting them, McCarthy and his leadership team have recently tried to lay blame on Pelosi, falsely claiming that she was responsible for a delay in military assistance. And McCarthy has remained close to Trump, who often insulted his political rivals in personal terms.

Democrats responded quickly, noting the threats on Pelosi's life on Jan. 6, when the insurrectionists broke into her office, stole some of her belongings and called out for her.

"Threatening violence against the Speaker of the House is no joke," tweeted New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. "This is the kind of reckless language that led to a violent insurrection."
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  The future ownership of an Israeli spyware company whose product has been used to hack into the cellphones of journalists, human rights workers and possibly even heads of state is up in the air.

Major investors in a private equity firm that has majority ownership of NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware, are in discussions about what action to take. The Oregon state employee pension fund is one of the largest investors, if not the largest, having committed $233 million to Novalpina Capital, the private equity firm, in 2017.

Novalpina Capital has been saddled with both an internal dispute among its founding partners and an explosive report showing NSO Group's spyware has been widely misused around the globe.

Oregon State Treasury spokeswoman Rachel Wray told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday the department is getting involved. State officials previously said investors have limited say in private equity investments once they are completed.

I can confirm that, consistent with our fiduciary duties to Oregon beneficiaries, and along with other limited partners, (Oregon State) Treasury is involved in discussions related to our investment in Novalpina, Wray said Wednesday.
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Is troubled Indian operator Vodafone Idea (recently renamed Vi) really on the point of collapse, as Kumar Mangalam Birla has suggested?

The comments from the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group conglomerate in a letter to cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba have been widely reported in the Indian press, along with his statement that Vi needs help from the countrys government.

The company is undoubtedly heavily indebted, not least due to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues set at well over $7 billion dollars (of which about a billion has been paid). Attempts to ask the Supreme Court to permit a recalculation of the debt (Vi has suggested that Department of Telecommunications' calculations are inaccurate) have, so far, failed.

Another possible solution to the problem came in the form of a Deutsche Bank report a few weeks ago suggested that the Indian government should consider converting Vis debt into equity and merge it with state-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Something almost certainly needs to be done, not least to protect lenders, many of them public sector banks, which need Vi to remain operational and retain customers in order to recover their debt. Theres also the question of Indian jobs, along with the business applications that run on Vis networks. And of course theres the small matter of 5G spectrum auctions and how Vi will pay for enough 5G spectrum to compete in the market.

Widely reported comments by Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read that his company wont be injecting equity into Vi have done little for confidence, while the sale of assets such as Vis data centre in Navi Mumbai and around 160,000km of fibre optics, even if they attracted interest, would still leave it in a difficult position.

Upcoming payments are said to include AGR dues instalments, spectrum payments and interest costs. However, that is only a small part of VIL's gross debt, excluding lease liabilities, which is, according to some news reports, an eye-watering $24.3 billion as of 31 March this year.

The only bright sign at the moment is news that the government is preparing a relief package for the telecoms industry, though we may not know what it contains until late August.
Brazilian investment fund The Bordeaux Participacoes fund transferred BRL 2.5 billion (US$ 4480 million) in the account of the government of Parana and took the last step towards the purchase of Copel Telecom.

Last month, Brazils antitrust regulator CADE gave its unconditional approval for the acquisition of Copel Telecom. The payment concludes the sale of Copel Telecomunicacoes, which was auctioned on November 9, 2020.

According to the local media, the amount agreed at the time was BRL 2.395 billion, or a premium of 70.94% concerning the minimum auction price (BRL 1.401 billion). The transaction value (updated by the Selic rate) totaled the BRL 2.506 billion transferred to Copel.

Incidentally, the fund also bought Sercomtel, also established in the Parana market and which also had Copel as a partner.

Copel Telecom has a backbone of 34.2 thousand km in 399 municipalities in Parana, in addition to its customer base. The operation's towers and data centers are not involved in the transaction and remain under the control of the state-owned energy company Copel.
Mobile data is least affordable in African countries. Thats a major finding of a recent blog on the Top Dollar Financial Insights Hub, offered by US debt relief options and savings company Accredited Debt Relief.

Top Dollar gathered the cost and speed of mobile data in every country, comparing price to megabits per second (Mbps) to find the best value around the world and comparing price per 1GB to average local income to see where mobile data is most affordable.

The results dont look good for Africa, which heads the least affordable ratings overall, though only two countries (Namibia and Cote dIvoire) were in the top ten for worst value. They appeared alongside Syria, Panama, Cuba, Tajikistan, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Paraguay and Afghanistan.

The key findings of the research were, firstly, that Israel has the best value mobile data in the world: $0.01 for 10GB data per 1Mbps download speed. Mobile data is also most affordable in Israel, where 10GB costs the equivalent of 0.02 percent of the average monthly pay cheque.

Other countries offering the best value  and that also appear in Developing Telecoms coverage  include China, Kyrgystan, Kuwait, Fiji and Moldova.

Namibia has the worst-value mobile data in the world: $11.36 for 10GB data per 1Mbps download speed. However, Malawi gets the prize for the least affordable mobile data in the world, with 10GB costing 841.78 percent of the average monthly pay cheque.

The overall finding? You dont have to live in a high-income country to have affordable mobile data  but it helps.

For further details  and methodology  you can check out the blog here.
For more than a year, our country longed for the economy to restart. But now that businesses are once again open, employers find themselves wondering where all the workers have gone.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Qatar Airways said Thursday it grounded 13 Airbus A350s over what it described as fuselages degrading at an accelerated rate in the long-range aircraft, further escalating a monthslong dispute with the European airplane maker over the issue.

While Airbus declined to specifically discuss the announcement, Qatar Airways' decision to ground the aircraft raised questions about the A350s' carbon composite fuselage, designed to make the twin-aisle aircraft lighter and cheaper to operate by burning less jet fuel. Qatar Airways also is one of the world's top operators of the aircraft.

In its statement, Qatar Airways said it had been monitoring the degradation beneath the paint on the fuselage of the aircraft for some time. It described the issue as a significant condition, without elaborating.

Following the explicit written instruction of its regulator, 13 aircraft have now been grounded, effectively removing them from service until such time as the root cause can be established and a satisfactory solution made available to permanently correct the underlying condition, the airline said in its statement.
I know this is a highly contested subject for a lot of people, and I know probably whatever decision we make, some people will be very pleased with it, some people probably will not be, Superintendent Dr. Dennis Coe said Wednesday. But, ultimately, we will take the position here that we will be strongly encouraging the use of masks. We certainly recognize that the most effective strategy that exists today are for individuals 12 and above to get vaccinated. We want to encourage and support families who would encourage their children to receive the vaccination as well as our adult population to receive the vaccination.
Thursday, Aug. 05 Kanye West hosts another album listening party in Atlanta - Kanye West hosts another public listening party for his 10th studio album, 'DONDA', in Atlanta on the day before the album is expected to be released. The rapper held a listening party at the same venue last month, and was initially expected to launch the album the following day but delayed the release at the last minute. He has reportedly been staying at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium ever since to work on the album. The album follows 2019's 'Jesus Is King', and is named after the rapper's late mother, Donda West
MONTGOMERY  Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks is asking a federal judge to grant him immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of helping to incite violence at the U.S. Capitol, arguing he was performing his job duties when he spoke at a rally on Jan. 6.

In a Wednesday court filing, Brooks argued his speech was about the upcoming congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results and thus related to his job as a congressman.

Brooks Ellipse Speech quite clearly related to, and was in the context of, votes in Congress later on January 6, 2021 concerning whether Congress should accept or reject state electoral college vote submittals, Brooks wrote. The court filing was a rebuttal to Department of Justices view that the event was a campaign event on behalf of then-President Donald Trump.

Brooks, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, has come under fire for telling the pro-Trump crowd, today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass. Brooks has maintained his words were intended to fire up the crowd for the next election cycle and were not advocating violence.

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The congressman, who wore a Fire Pelosi hat in part of the speech, wrote Wednesday that the speech wasnt advocating for any political party or candidate.
Workers of a garment company in Tan Do Industrial Park of southern Long An Province in February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Vietnam, the world's second biggest garment exporter, is facing the risk of losing orders to competitors amid the complicated Covid-19 situation in August.

Gia Dinh Group JSC in the southern province of Binh Duong has secured orders till the end of December, but face higher material prices plus late shipments, along with higher logistics costs. The companys management board said if the pandemic prolongs, it would fail to fulfill its orders.

Over 80 percent of garment and textile enterprises in the southern region have had to either lower labor productivity or suspend operations to combat the disease.

Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said production in August is "extremely difficult", especially for firms in southern localities imposing social distancing. Up to 90 percent of production chains in the south have been broken.

Meanwhile, only 70-80 percent of garment and textile companies in the northern region are still operating.

Delivery pressure amid outbreaks is a big challenge for garment and textile enterprises now, he said, stating that if they fail to meet delivery deadlines, their customers would cancel orders, which will affect production both this year and the next.

"If the Vietnamese market is not stable, partners will shift orders (to other countries). Garments are seasonal. Nobody wants to buy outdated clothes though they are on sale," the VITAS chairman said.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also stated garment and textile enterprises in Vietnam are facing the risk of international clients postponing or cancelling orders, and shifting their focus to other countries. "When the pandemic is controlled, it will be very difficult to resume business relations, and that will take time," the ministry said.

The VITAS chairman also mentioned the risk of labor shortages. Many workers have left Ho Chi Mih City for their hometowns to avoid being infected with the coronavirus, and only 60-65 percent may return to the city when the Covid-19 outbreak is pushed back, according to Giang. "There will be rather severe labor shortages in the coming time," he predicted.

Vietnam exported $18.6 billion worth of textitle and garment products in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 14.1 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.
A U.S. food association has urged the Vietnamese government to prioritize cashew workers for vaccination as the industry plays a major role in trade.

The U.S. Association of Food Industries (AFI) has requested that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh prioritize the distribution of vaccines to agricultural and food production workers in Vietnam, particularly the cashews sector, which is an important item for many of its members.

Vaccination would help Vietnam "retain its leadership within the sector, a position that if lost, may never be regained," it said in a letter.

AFI has around 1,000 member companies, including several Vietnamese. Many AFI U.S. members import products from Vietnam.

Pham Van Cong, president of Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), said the supply chain to the U.S. and other markets might be disrupted if vaccination for cashew workers is delayed.

Vietnam has been the largest cashew exporter in the world in the last 16 years. The U.S. market accounts for nearly one-third of the $3.5 billion value of annual Vietnamese cashew kernel exports.

Last week, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) also requested the U.S. and Vietnam governments to speed up distribution of vaccines to major suppliers.

More than 7.55 million Vietnamese have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus but only 778,986 have received two doses.
A Covid-19 resuscitation center set up at a field hospital in HCMC's District 12 is open on August 1, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

New coronavirus infections in HCMC have been "plateauing" over the past few days, indicating a gradual reduction, officials said.

The highest number of new cases recorded within a day was on July 27 with 6,318. Earlier, daily cases in the southern city averaged around 5,000, and from July 28 onward, around 4,000, deputy city chairman Duong Anh Duc said Tuesday.

The Covid-19 situation in Ho Chi Minh City has begun to show positive signs in recent days, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control (CDC). Most newly detected cases have already been contained within quarantine zones or other locked down areas, it added.

Le Quoc Hung, head of the Tropical Disease Department in HCMC's Cho Ray Hospital, said whether the southern city had passed the peak of its current coronavirus wave cannot yet be determined. Multiple factors may contribute to the "plateauing" of new coronavirus cases in HCMC, including the fact that large numbers of detected cases had been isolated daily, at around 4,000 a day, which helped slow down infection rates, he said.

Additionally, more people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 throughout the past week, which also helped reduce infection risks. People had also departed from the city for their hometowns, which drove down the number of cases in HCMC, but introduced more in other localities, he added.

"All these factors have contributed to the decreasing numbers of new coronavirus cases in HCMC. But whether it would continue will be determined over the next one to two weeks," Hung said.

Daily new cases in HCMC in the fourth wave. Graphics by VnExpress.

The highly transmissible Delta variant has rendered ordinary methods of contact tracing and isolation ineffective to completely contain outbreaks, which only serve to slow down infections, he added.

"The most important thing for now is to speed up vaccination and continue coronavirus control measures. Preventative measures must also go hand in hand with treatment."

Daily numbers of new Covid-19 infections remain high in HCMC at around 4,000 per day, filling up hospitals quickly. As severe coronavirus cases require over two weeks in hospitals before discharge, the number of newly constructed hospitals could not keep up with new infections, he said.

While HCMC has set up several ICUs to treat severe cases and prevent deaths, what's more important is preventing mild cases from turning severe and helping them recover quickly. High numbers of patients would eventually impact the quality of the healthcare system as a whole, which could impact people's health, Hung said.

New coronavirus patients must be treated vigorously before symptoms become severe, while drugs and other treatment methods might be used to achieve this goal, he said.

Phan Van Mai, deputy secretary of the HCMC Standing Party Committee, said the city is ramping up its Covid-19 treatment capabilities to prevent scenarios where patients are admitted to hospitals too late and die as a result.

"Treating severe coronavirus cases and preventing deaths is the city's current issue," Mai said at a Tuesday press meet.

Vietnam has so far recorded over 2,200 Covid-19 deaths in the new wave, with HCMC accounting for over 1,600.

As of Monday, hospitals in the southern city held 33,474 patients, including 1,026 severe cases that need ventilator support and 15 who require ECMOs.
A Wednesday press release by the German Embassy in Vietnam said the Bayern frigate and its 230-people crew would carry out multiple missions during their six-month deployment, with a focus on strengthening security policy cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We want to help shape it and to take on responsibility for upholding the rulesbased international order," said German minister of foreign affairs Heiko Maas, adding that his country would like to expand its partnerships and involvement in the region, including through the EUs Strategic Partnership with ASEAN and consultations on security policy with Japan and Australia.

"And this is why the frigate Bayern is setting sail for Asia today. Its mission is to support us in upholding international law and improving security in the Indo-Pacific together with our partners," the release quoted Maas as saying.

During the journey, the frigate would visit multiple ports in partner countries, including Vietnam at the end of this year, the release said.

The Bayern is a Brandenburg-class frigate of the German Navy. It weighs 3,600 tons and spans 138.8 meters. It is equipped with several radar and weapon systems, including naval guns and missiles.
Two teenagers who posed as militia members and extorted money from people during Hanoi's Covid-19 social distancing period are detained at a local police station, August 4, 2021. Photo courtesy of Hanoi police.

Hanoi's Hoan Kiem District detained six teenage boys Wednesday for posing as militia members and extorting money from people for violating social distancing measures.

The arrested are 17-year old Nguyen Duc Anh, Pham Viet Duc and Nguyen Dac Thang; and 15-year-old Nguyen Duc Quan, Tran Minh Sang and Nguyen Van Tuong Huy.

The teenagers allegedly targeted those who were not wearing masks or helmets, or violating other social distancing rules. Posing as militia members, they asked people to get off their vehicles and threatened to take them to police stations if they did not pay the money demanded.

At around 8 p.m. on August 2, they gathered at a house on Van Chuong Street, before "patrolling" streets in Dong Da, Hai Ba Trung, Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem and Tay Ho districts.

At around 1:30 a.m. on August 3, they found a man in Hoan Kiem District riding a motorbike with a friend under the Long Bien Bridge, and chased him. They asked the man why he was out on the street and demanded money. The frightened resident gave them VND341,000 ($14.84), but Hoan Kiem District police reached the scene and caught the teens red handed.

Several batons, walkie-talkies and other items were seized from the teens.

The group confessed they had successfully extorted around VND2.8 million in total during similar attempts.

Hanoi has imposed a two-week social distancing order starting July 24, requiring people to stay home unless for essential purposes like purchasing food, medications and emergencies. Anyone going out has to provide appropriate documents proving they have a legitimate reason to do so.

In Vietnam, the militia is a force supporting the police in performing various duties including maintaining public order.
The pedestrian riverside area of Ebisu Bridge crossing Dotonbori River in Chuo Ward of Osaka City. Photo by Flickr/Wally Gobetz.

Japan's Osaka Prefecture Police have detained a foreign man in his 20s for the killing of a 22-year-old Vietnamese citizen.

According to Japanese media, Osaka Prefectural Police arrested the suspect Monday night after the incident was discovered the same night near the pedestrian riverside area of Ebisu Bridge crossing Dotonbori River in Chuo Ward of Osaka City.

Investigators said the suspect and victim had been drinking near the scene before their conversation escalated into a quarrel, resulting in the scuffle.

The victim was then beaten and kicked into Dotonbori River.

Rescuers had rushed him to hospital shortly after they were informed by locals, though he died later the same night.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death was suffocation due to drowning, with many bruises recorded to the victim's head and neck.

The suspect had left the scene immediately after committing the crime. He was found later in Nishirari Ward of Osaka City.

Osaka Police had on Tuesday confirmed the victim as a 22-year-old Vietnamese citizen in their statement sent to the Consulate General of Vietnam in Japan.

His family in Hanoi said he had studied in Japan from 2019.

*Update: Japanese television MBS News revealed images of the suspect on August 7, identifying him as 26-year-old Dominican Cruz Cabrera Brian Alberto.
Park said what Vietnam has done in urgently establishing intensive care units (ICU) in Ho Chi Minh City and other southern localities to treat severe Covid-19 patients was necessary to reduce mortality.

"There are many difficulties," as the infection rate and the transmissibility of the Delta variant is very high, he said during a meeting with Vietnam's Ministry of Health.

Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the Delta variant has made the current wave very different from previous ones, causing it to last longer and making it more difficult to control.

The ongoing wave has lasted for 100 days and more than 177,000 community infections have been recorded in 62 of Vietnam's 63 cities and provinces.

HCMC, the epicenter with 108,379 cases, is now equipped with five ICU centers that provide 2,700 beds in total.

Vietnam has applied stronger measures than it did in previous waves, with localities banning people from going out at night and only allowing outdoor venturing for specific, essential purposes.

Yet the rapid increase in infections in a short period of time as well as in the number of critical patients has put great pressure on the health system, Long said.

"We have mobilized the total strength of the health sector for intensive care treatment in HCMC," he said, adding that related agencies are now rushing to build an ICU center and prepare a number of emergency beds for Hanoi, which has recorded 1,668 cases so far and detected more clusters in recent days.

Along with the efforts to save serious patients and limit deaths, the Ministry of Health is approaching all possible sources of vaccine supply urgently, trying to vaccinate all adults as soon as possible.

However, vaccine supply remains a big challenge, especially for the months of August and September.

While continuing to source vaccine supplies from abroad, the ministry has been supporting domestic vaccine production, focusing on simplifying administrative procedures so that made-in-Vietnam vaccines can be approved as soon as they are proved to be completely safe and in compliance with all health regulations and procedures.

Park said "Vietnam's response has been on the right track," adding that the WHO was willing to support the ministry with professional training and infection prevention measures for health workers.

He said the WHO is also committed to supporting Vietnam in testing, evaluating, and licensing homemade Covid-19 vaccines via the national management system for vaccines.

Currently, Vietnam is one of 39 countries certified by WHO as meeting standards for domestic development and production of vaccines.
An altar is put up with remains of Vietnamese soldiers found in Quang Tri Province in March, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/My Hanh.

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has launched a project to search for the remains of Vietnamese soldiers in response to Vietnamese assistance.

The launch took place during an online conference themed "Overcoming the consequences of the Vietnam War: The Way Ahead" that was organized Tuesday by the USIP and joined by Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Ha Kim Ngoc, Vietnams Deputy Defense Minister Hoang Xuan Chien, and Senior Senator Patrick Leahy.

The event celebrates the 26th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam-U.S. relations that took place after the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Vietnams Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in searching, gathering and identifying the remains of Vietnamese soldiers from the Vietnam War (1955-1975).

The MOU was signed when Austin visited Vietnam from July 28 to 29.

Senator Leahy affirmed the project shows the U.S.'s desire to respond to Vietnam's goodwill in helping find American soldiers missing for over 40 years.

The senator praised the cooperation between the two countries in overcoming the consequences of war.

Besides, he shared Vietnam's difficulties and losses in the ongoing Covid-19 wave and said although the U.S. has supported vaccines for Vietnam, it is still not enough.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasized the importance of Vietnam-U.S. cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war, especially in searching for missing Vietnamese soldiers.

He suggested the U.S. reaffirms its commitment and continue to cooperate closely and effectively with Vietnam in removing all unexploded ordnance and clearing dioxin from Vietnamese soil, especially promoting the progress of the dioxin decontamination project at Bien Hoa Airbase, a former U.S. facility in Dong Nai Province that borders Ho Chi Minh City

Dealing with the consequences of toxic chemical dioxin, in the immediate future, will include mobilizing resources to accelerate decontamination treatment of the entire Bien Hoa base.

Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc hoped the U.S., veterans' organizations, press and American people would continue to pay attention to, support and cooperate in dealing with the consequences of the war in Vietnam in general and searching for Vietnamese soldiers in particular.

The ambassador also suggested that relevant U.S. agencies, especially the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), spend more resources building a high-tech center to support the identification of missing Vietnamese soldiers.

He also thanked the U.S. for its vaccine aid to Vietnam and affirmed the U.S.'s continued support of vaccines, medical equipment and medicines to fight Covid-19 clearly shows the spirit of friendship and comprehensive partnership between the two countries.
Resorts lie along Kem beach on Phu Quoc Island in southern Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Anh.

Hong Kong authorities have expressed their interest in piloting a travel bubble with Phu Quoc Island to help international tourism soon recover.

At a meeting with Vietnamese Consul General Pham Binh Dam in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Jason Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, said the resort island of Phu Quoc in the southern province of Kien Giang is an ideal place to deploy the travel bubble if the two sides reach an agreement on isolation exemption and specific implementation mechanisms.

With no end in sight to the pandemic, border closures are causing businesses and economies to collapse while failing to keep countries absolutely safe, Dam said as quoted by World&Vietnam Report news site.

"Therefore, border reopening would be necessary but should be piloted on a small scale before being expanded."

Dam said the Consulate General of Vietnam in Hong Kong would closely coordinate with the council and relevant agencies of both sides to speed up the travel bubble pilot.

Wong said Vietnam is an increasingly attractive destination for people in Hong Kong. The council will work with the Vietnamese side to promote the tourism markets of both sides in the near future.

Phu Quoc, a famous tourist hotspot in Vietnam, is planning to trial a six-month vaccine passport program starting October, welcoming 40,000 foreign tourists to the island.

Some of Vietnam's major tourism markets with high Covid-19 vaccine coverage that could be considered for international reopening include mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., Germany, Russia, the U.K. and France.

Vietnam closed its borders and canceled all international flights in March last year, and allows in only certain categories of visitors with Covid-19 quarantine requirements.

Hong Kong currently lists Vietnam among high-risk Covid areas from which visitors need to undergo 21-day hotel quarantine on arrival.
A regional connectivity conference was held in Tashkent on July 15 and 16 to aimed at promoting security, prosperity, and regional connectivity in and between Central and South Asia.Delegations from the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran, among others, were in attendance. Delegations from the United States and the five Central Asian countries met in the C5+1 format to affirm their commitment to strengthen regional connectivity via trade, transport, and energy links.

Assistant to President Joe Biden for Homeland Security, Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall delivered opening remarks recognizing 30 years of partnership between the United States and the countries of Central Asia. She reaffirmed the U.S. governments commitment to realizing the regions potential as a transit, trade, and energy hub. Dr. Sherwood-Randall also emphasized the importance of infrastructure development that safeguards the environment and meets the highest international standards.

Dr. Sherwood-Randall met with Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and also held bilateral meetings with senior officials from across the region, including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and India to identify concrete opportunities to enhance security in the region, address humanitarian concerns, and increase vaccinations to stem the spread of Covid-19. She was joined by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum.

The delegation also met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar to discuss the evolving security situation in Afghanistan, U.S. support for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, and U.S. diplomatic support for a negotiated political settlement to the conflict. On the margins, the foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan announced with Ambassador Khalilzad a new diplomatic platform to help strengthen economic connectivity across the region.

On the success of the Conference, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price affirmed that the United States stand(s) with our Central Asian partners in support of increased economic ties for greater regional prosperity and stability.
In the face of serious backsliding and rising authoritarianism, said U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power, we must clearly and unequivocally demonstrate that democracies can govern competently and deliver real results for real people.

Autocracies are disseminating powerful disinformation to advance a claim that they get the job done in a way that democracies do not. But that narrative is patently false, said Administrator Power. Indeed, the V-Dem Institute cites several democracy researchers who have shown that in the 25 years following democratization, democratic countries increase their GDP per capita by 20 percent more than autocracies.

Corruption is one of the challenges facing these regimes economies. Economic elites and corrupt politicians can corrode democracies from within, using transnational networks to advance their interests.

USAID has established an Anti-Corruption Task Force (ACTF) to elevate, strengthen, and integrate anti-corruption work throughout the whole Agency and partner with the robust on-going efforts by Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury.

This task force will establish a rapid response mechanism so that USAID can apply its broad range of cross-sectoral programming to quickly seize on crucial windows of opportunity for democratic and anti-corruption reform and will complement the efforts of the State Department. President Joe Biden's new budget commits $50 million for this rapid response effort. USAID will continue to redirect funds away from government institutions and toward civil society organizations whenever that money is being misspent or harms the progress of democracy in a country.

Beyond anti-corruption, Administrator Power said, were helping countries strengthen their cybersecurity and counter disinformation, while supporting democratic actors to defend themselves against digital surveillance, censorship, and repression.

USAID, along with its partners at the State Department and US Agency for Global Media, is partnering with countries to promote a free and open internet, and to infuse democratic values and human rights principles into the adoption of major new technologies. At the same time, the United States is focused on supporting independent media around the world as journalists face severe challenges from both repressive governments and changing economic realities.

Despite rising authoritarianism in recent years, the data still show that democracy is still the most popular and desired form of government globally, said Administrator Power. The United States is committed to help people across every region who aspire to govern themselves and exercise fundamental freedoms.
Aug. 4

Monica D. Blauer, 25, of Elko was arrested at VFW Drive and Idaho Street on a warrant for four counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $2,925

Devin P. Davis, 23, of Carlin was arrested at Elko County Jail for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and aiming a gun at a person. Bail: $7,500

Marth N. Dixon, 62, of Spring Creek was arrested on the Jiggs Highway for driving under the influence and failure to maintain lane. Bail: $1,255

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Jonnathon G. Martinez, 20, of Spring Creek was arrested at a Twin Bridges ranch for trespassing. Bail: $195

Torrance C. McKnight, 30, of Spring Creek was arrested at 3021 Idaho St. on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $1,995

Joshua W. Melton, 51, of Elko was arrested at the Elko Police Station for open murder. No bail

Logan C. Naud, 20, of Spring Creek was arrested at a Twin Bridges ranch for trespassing. Bail: $195
July 23Jesus Manuel Bernal Montes, 34, of Sinaloa, Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit battery by a prisoner who is in lawful custody or confinement and was sentenced to one year in jail.

Department 3  Judge Mason SimonsJuly 19Todd Shawn Cook, 46, of Columbia, South Carolina, pleaded no contest to burglary of a structure was given a suspended sentence of 19 to 48 months in prison and was placed on probation for two years.

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Christina Irene Godat, 31, of Nevada pleaded guilty to child neglect or endangerment was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail and was placed on probation for one year.

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Breydon Cash Sherman, 21, of Winnemucca pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a false or altered prescription, was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail and was placed on probation for one year.

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***

BUT WILL CUOMO BE CHARGED?

State Attorney General Letitia James, who oversaw the probe, said there would be no criminal referral but local police and prosecutors can use the evidence and findings to build their own cases. The district attorney in New York's capital, Albany, said Tuesday he was requesting James' investigative materials and encouraged victims to come forward.

***

CUOMO TOLD THE PUBLIC TO WAIT TO JUDGE HIM UNTIL THE INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETE. WHAT DOES HE SAY NOW?

Cuomo is more defiant than ever, disputing allegations in a taped response and saying "the facts are much different than what has been portrayed" and that he "never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances." He also alleged that the investigation itself was fueled by "politics and bias."

***

HOW IS CUOMO EXPLAINING HIS BEHAVIOR?
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman on Wednesday disclosed that she tested positive for COVID-19 last month despite being vaccinated earlier in the year.

Goodman said her symptoms were mild and that she had quarantined for 10 days.

Goodman, 82, disclosed her illness during a City Council meeting as she explained why she missed the July 21 meeting.

I have no idea because Im out there all the time  probably inappropriately  hugging and touching people all the time, and thats how I choose to operate, she said.

Goodman was not wearing a mask during the meeting, KTNV-TV reported. Nevada instituted an indoor mask mandate last week because of growing spread of the virus.

A vocal opponent of shutdowns that she said harmed businesses, Goodman on Wednesday asked people to get vaccinated.

In April 2020, just over a month after the pandemic let to widescale shutdowns in Nevada, Goodman drew condemnation from local officials for publicly pleading for casinos and nonessential businesses to be allowed to reopen and to let her city serve as a test case for COVID-19.
Massachusetts regulators said they were troubled by the systemic failures and pervasive culture of non-disclosure at Wynn Resorts.

The company agreed in November 2019 to accept $20 million in damages from Steve Wynn and $21 million more from insurance carriers on behalf of current and former employees of Wynn Resorts to settle shareholder lawsuits accusing company directors of failing to disclose misconduct allegations.

The agreements made no admission of wrongdoing.

In another ongoing legal case, the Nevada Supreme Court is considering Steve Wynns appeal of a decision last December by the Nevada Gaming Commission to consider fining him up to $500,000 and declare him unsuitable to renew his gambling ties to the state.

Steve Wynn also has a pending defamation lawsuit against The Associated Press and an AP reporter based on a story about accounts to Las Vegas police from two women who alleged sexual misconduct by Wynn.

Wynn owned, built and operated notable Las Vegas properties including the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio before building the Wynn and Encore resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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BOISE (AP)  Searchers have scoured miles of land in rural western Idaho, drained canals and combed over security footage for the past week, but authorities said a 5-year-old boy who was last seen July 27 is still missing.

The Fruitland Police Department is using every possible resource in the search for Michael Joseph Vaughn, including scent-tracking dogs, drones, helicopters, a dive team and even paragliders, Chief JD Huff said Wednesday.

Despite the exhaustive search, authorities dont yet know what became of the child, and no possibility has been ruled out of the investigation, Huff said during a news conference Wednesday.

The boy who answers to the nickname, Monkey, was last seen in the evening outside his home, wearing a blue Minecraft t-shirt, dark blue boxer briefs and flip flops, authorities said.

You know 5-year-olds can get into almost anything, so weve looked through nearly 200 garbage cans, drained canals and irrigation ditches and pumped a septic tank in the area that had a makeshift 2-by-6 wooden plank lid, Huff said.

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No vaccine offers 100% protection against an illness and the covid-19 vaccines are no different. Vaccinations give you that extra protection you wouldnt normally have, Dr. Erin Bromage from the University of Massachusetts said, but when you hit a big challenge, like getting near an unvaccinated person who has a high viral load, that wall is not always going to hold.

Another way people can keep safe is the continued use of masks. The CDC advises people to wear masks if they live in an orange or red zone of their covid-19 map, now encompassing about 80 percent of the counties in the United States. Some areas have started reimposing indoor mask mandates or rolling back bans on masks, like in Arkansas.

Despite being vaccinated it is possible to catch the virus again, although the risk of serious illness is very low. This is called a 'breakthrough case,' where people who have been vaccinated are starting to catch a disease again. This can happen if the vaccines are not efficient enough, a disease becames resistant to vaccines or the vaccine has begun to wear off. That is why some of the pharmaceutical companies are now recommending that the CDC allows a second or third jab in the autumn. The wearing of masks ensures that those whose vaccines have lost their efficacy are still protected. Those most at risk, due to the timing of vaccines, will be the oldest and the most vulnerable who were prioritised for vaccines when they first became available.

Different types of masks

Below are some of the most common types of face masks, in descending safety order.

N95/KN95/FFP2

These are the safest masks to wear but potentially the most uncomfortable. They filter out airborne particles larger than 0.3 microns, or one-millionth of a metre. Due to their shape, they fit most faces very well to prevent particles coming into the mask through the cheek area. However, due to their rigidity they can be the most uncomfortable yo wear for long periods of time.

Surgical Masks

While offering more protection compared to cloth masks, problems can arise due to the fit on the face. The square shape means they are likely to leave gaps near the cheeks which let particles in. They are not likely to keep out covid-19 if they don't fit perfectly. There are some good videos online to demonstrate how to fit the masks properly.

Cloth masks

Cloth maks can be the most beneficial for many people as they tend to be the most comfortable, meaning they can be worn for longer periods of time compared to the two others. However, they only provide protection of 20% to 50% of a N95 mask. The more tightly woven the material then the better the protection offered. These masks can be washed and reused as well, both being essential for keeping up hygiene and keeping away any illness from breathing in unclean bacteria.

Do facemasks protect against the Delta variant?

Anthony Fauci told CNBC, If you want to go the extra mile of safety, even though youre vaccinated, when youre indoors, particularly in crowded places, you might want to consider wearing a mask."

For the unvaccinated the CDC recommends wearing face masks in all places. For those vaccinated it also recommended due to the high viral load of the Delta variant. Many people who get covid-19 while vaccinated may not even realise as the symptoms will be very slight but there is still a risk of transmission. A facemask reduces this risk, especially as full indoor shopping and dining is reopening as well as large, crowded music festivals.
Tokyo Olympic organisers have apologised after Ukraine's artistic swimming medallists were misidentified as being Russian by a venue announcer.

A fatal mistake

The Ukraine pair of Marta Fiedina and Anastasiya Savchuk won bronze in their duet free routine event on Wednesday, finishing behind pairs from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and China.

However, Fiedina and Savchuk were named as ROC competitors by a French-language announcer, causing embarrassment for Tokyo 2020 chiefs.

It was a particularly unfortunate mistake given the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Masa Takaya sorry to Ukraine

Tokyo 2020 organising committee spokesperson Masa Takaya said: "I would like to apologise to the team Ukraine.

"During the victory ceremony yesterday for the artistic swimming duet, there was mistakenly announced a different country and region's name for the team Ukraine who claimed the bronze medal.

"It was purely an operational mistake, so we would like to apologise for that."

Takaya did not immediately clarify that the mistake was to confuse the Ukrainians as belonging to the Russian team.

Asked for more detail, Takaya said: "French, English and Japanese, these three languages are used. The French language [should] have said team Ukraine; however, it said the ROC instead.

"Of course, people noticed that and the person in charge of the announcement apologised and there was an announcement of apology at the same time, so this was a purely operational mistake."
PJSC Farmak pharmaceutical company has won an international tender and is preparing another supply of medicines to Mexico.

As Interfax-Ukraine was informed, Farmak began its expansion in Latin America from Mexico. In this country, the company was the first to register and commercialize a drug from the list of essential drugs, which refers to medicines used intravenously for general anesthesia.

In addition to deliveries to Mexico, the company is also building up cooperation with other markets in the region, in particular, Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, Chile, Panama, Bolivia and other countries.

"The main strategy of Farmak in Latin America is to increase the product portfolio in the markets where the company already commercializes its products, as well as to open new markets in the region. Export always requires companies to have a relevant business model, impeccable quality products, in-depth knowledge of regulatory analysis of the market situation. Our experience and the compliance of medicines with high international standards allow us to ensure the recognition of the Ukrainian manufacturer far beyond the borders of Ukraine," Executive Director of Farmak Volodymyr Kostiuk said.

The company stressed that entering new markets is strategically important for it. According to the open data of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, the share of Farmak in the export of pharmaceutical products among all Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers in the first half of 2021 reached 30.5%.

Farmak is the leader of the pharmaceutical market in Ukraine. The company's product portfolio includes about 200 brands. Among the main directions are endocrinological, gastroenterological, cardiological, neurological, anti-cold and other drugs.

Farmak is one of the top 25 most innovative companies, recognized as the largest taxpayer among pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ukraine and the best employer.
The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) has applied a measure of restraint for Mykola Chaus in the form of round-the-clock house arrest with wearing an electronic bracelet, the court told the agency on Wednesday.

"The court applied a measure of restraint for Chaus in the form of round-the-clock house arrest with wearing an electronic bracelet," the HACC said.

Earlier it was reported that on Wednesday the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine started a hearing to apply a measure of restraint for former judge Chaus, the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is asking the court for a closed hearing. At the same time, during the meeting, the HACC refused to challenge the judge Volodymyr Voronko, who is considering a petition to choose a measure of restraint for former judge Chaus.
Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington, according to a statement released on the presidential website.

"The parties discussed the preparation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the United States and his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on August 30. Ukrainian and the U.S. representatives also discussed the current situation in the east [of Ukraine] and joint efforts of Ukraine and the United States in the peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," the office said.

Additionally, they discussed steps to further broaden the strategic partnership between the two countries and the latest achievements made by Ukraine in implementing its judicial and other key reforms.

During their visit to the United States, Yermak and Kuleba are also expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and representatives of the Senate and leading analytical centers.
The temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Donbas will never be Russian, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"People in the occupied territory of Donbas and Crimea must understand, this is not about someone throwing someone out somewhere. I just want me to be understood. Once again, your homeland or are you a guest? I think that, if you live in the territory of Donbas today, temporarily occupied, and you think that this is a right thing for us to go to Russia, we are Russians, it is a big mistake to stay in Donbas. It will never be Russian territory. Just never," Zelensky said in interview on the Dom television channel.

He called on all people who want to live in Russia and consider the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to be Russian, to finally move to Russia.

"For the future of your children and grandchildren, if you think that you love Russia and have stayed on the territory of Ukraine all your life, feeling that this is Russia. If you feel that way, then I believe that this person must understand: in the name of his children and grandchildren already need to go and look for a place in Russia. That is right. Since without Ukraine, there will be no civilization on this territory," he said.

According to Zelensky, "Ukraine will grow up, and Donbas, in an occupied and cut off form, will not grow anywhere."

"Therefore, there will be no happiness for these people here. But if you feel that Donbas is Ukrainian, if you respect this flag, respect the Ukrainian language, if you feel that you are Ukrainian, be there, hold on. This land will still be deoccupied in any case," the head of state said.

"It does not matter how much it is occupied. It is like a wall once in Germany. It does not matter. In any case, people, history will take advantage of the moment, and the wall will collapse. If they do not agree, people will still take advantage of the moment," Zelensky said.
Khortytsia island in Zaporizhia, which is currently undergoing reconstruction, will become the first fully inclusive tourist site in Ukraine; First Lady Olena Zelenska is the initiator of the implementation of the island's complete barrier-free nature.

As deputy head of the President's Office, coordinator of the Big Construction presidential program Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Facebook, last year Zelenska launched the Without Barriers initiative, which is being joined by cities and regions. And it is Khortytsia that will become the first barrier-free tourist destination in Ukraine.

"The Unity Mound, the highest point of the island, which overlooks the Dnipro River and Zaporizhia, will be opened by the Independence Day. And for the first time in history, everyone will be able to climb the 16-meter mound," he said.

According to him, the paths are laid at an angle of 5%, and recreation areas are equipped for every 800 m.

"The Cossacks History Museum, which has been closed for years due to an emergency condition, will also become fully inclusive. It is already being reconstructed according to the best standards of world museums as part of the Big Restoration program. The Cossack Circle public space will also be inclusive  concerts, festivals and forums will be held here," Tymoshenko said.

The reconstruction project of Khortytsia island also provides convenient transport links thanks to new bridges in Zaporizhia, which are being built under the Big Construction program.

"Soon Khortytsia will become one of the most powerful tourist attractions in Ukraine. With a unique history, nature, culture and ultra-modern infrastructure," the President's Office deputy head said.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova notes that the Prosecutor's Office is taking steps to ensure a sufficient level of publicity and openness of the results of the investigation into Ilovaisk tragedy, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) said on its website on Thursday.

"We have made a decision on the need to declassify materials of criminal proceedings in relation to the organization and conduct of hostilities in the area of the city of Ilovaisk. The Ukrainian Security Service [SBU] has already sent appropriate requests for declassification of documents to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other bodies," Venediktova said.

According to her, work is now underway to improve the PGO official website, where a separate section has appeared on the events near Ilovaisk. "Everyone will be able to receive information about the progress and results of the investigation at any time, as well as to get acquainted with photocopies of declassified materials. Society must know the truth," Venediktova said.

As reported, at the end of August 2014, near Ilovaisk, Donetsk region, Russian mercenaries and subdivisions of the Russian Armed Forces that invaded Donbas surrounded Ukrainian volunteer battalions, units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then shot the Ukrainian military leaving the encirclement, who, after representatives of the armies of the two countries reached an appropriate agreement was leaving the surrounded city through the so-called "green corridor."

During these events, according to the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, 366 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, 429 received wounds of varying severity, 300 were captured, and about eight dozen more are considered missing. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered losses in weapons and military equipment in the amount of almost UAH 300 million.

In the summer of 2019, The Guardian newspaper informed on a report by the British research group Forensic Architecture on the participation of the Russian Federation in the battles near Ilovaisk in Ukraine in 2014. The researchers said they collected and cataloged numerous satellite imagery of Russian armed convoys in Ukraine, as well as photographs of the T-72B3 tank. Researchers note that at that time such tanks were in service only with the Russian army.
KYIV. Aug 5 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Almost half of Ukrainians (49%) consider the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to be the agency that most abuses power, according to the sociological survey titled "How do Ukrainians understand, evaluate power system," conducted by the Info Sapiens research agency commissioned by the Joint Action Center in April and May 2021.

"The first question we asked was which of the listed authorities abuses the power the most. Every second respondent is convinced this is the Verkhovna Rada. Further, almost the same number of citizens are convinced of the abuses of the President or the Cabinet of Ministers (17% each)," head of the analytical team of the Center for Joint Action Maria Levonova said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

In this issue, the researchers dismiss the dependence on the size of the settlements in which the respondents live. Thus, 56% of the villagers agree with the thesis of the parliament's abuses, while 45% of the respondents in large cities think so. At the same time, 12% of citizens in villages and 21% in big cities spoke about abuses of power by the president.

The sample of the conducted research is 2,000 respondents and is representative of the population of Ukraine aged 16 and over by gender, age, size of the settlement and region according to the State Statistics Service as of January 1, 2019. The ceiling theoretical margin is 2.2%.

The survey was conducted in two waves: the CATI method (telephone interviews with calls to mobile phone numbers, computer-assisted telephone interviews) on April 19 to April 27, 2021 and the CAPI method (personal interviews at home with a respondent using a tablet, computer-assisted personal interviews) May 7 to May 27, 2021.
Almost half of Ukrainians consider decisions contrary to Constitution to be main threat in authorities work in next three years  poll

KYIV. Aug 5 (Interfax-Ukraine)  48% of the polled citizens of Ukraine are sure that the main threat in the work of the authorities in the next three years is decisions that contradict the Constitution of Ukraine, according to the data of a sociological study conducted by the Info Sapiens research agency commissioned by the Center for Joint Action in April-May 2021.

According to the results of the study, presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday, the second biggest threat, according to Ukrainians, is a potential parliamentary crisis. According to the survey, 41% of respondents think so. At the same time, every fourth (24% of respondents) fears an excessive concentration of power in the hands of the president.

The majority of Ukrainians surveyed (45%) named the Verkhovna Rada the agency of power that poses the greatest threat to democracy. At the same time, some 15% of citizens consider the president the greatest threat, some 12% named the Cabinet of Ministers, and 23% of respondents could not answer the question.

Researchers also draw attention to a certain correlation between which threats citizens consider priority and, for example, their education. Thus, survey participants with higher education (53%) are still more inclined to consider unconstitutional acts of the authorities as dangerous for the development of democracy in Ukraine compared to respondents with basic education (35%). At the same time, Ukrainians with higher education are afraid of the growing influence of the security forces.

"The dynamics regarding the greatest threats to Ukraine's democracy in settlements is interesting. In villages, where the probability of meeting law enforcement officers is much lower than in other settlements, they are much less afraid of the growth of the influence of power structures (26%) compared with residents of large cities (36%). Residents of cities with a population of more than 500,000 are more afraid of the excessive concentration of power in the hands of the president (31%) compared to residents of villages (from 20%)," head of the analytical team of the Center for Joint Action Maria Levonova said.

The survey was conducted in two waves: the CATI method (telephone interviews with calls to mobile phone numbers, computer-assisted telephone interviews) on April 19 to April 27, 2021 and the CAPI method (personal interviews at home with a respondent using a tablet, computer-assisted personal interviews) May 7 to May 27, 2021.

The sample of the conducted research is 2,000 respondents and is representative of the population of Ukraine aged 16 and over by gender, age, size of the settlement and region according to the State Statistics Service as of January 1, 2019. The maximum theoretical margin is 2.2%.
KYIV. Aug 5 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Some 36% of Ukrainians are ready to strengthen the powers of the president by switching to a presidential form of government, according to a sociological study conducted by the Info Sapiens research agency commissioned by the Centre of United Actions in April-May 2021 and presented at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"We asked Ukrainians what changes in the distribution of powers of the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers they would like to see in ten years. Only 22% of citizens are ready to strengthen the Rada and the Cabinet and reduce the influence of the President. Another 27.5% of citizens are sure that the powers of institutions should remain the same as they are now. But most (36%) are in favor of strengthening the powers of the president and reducing the influence of the Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers," head of the analytical team of the Centre of United Actions Maria Levonova said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday.

At the same time, according to the poll, 25% of respondents are ready to strengthen the president by switching to a presidential form of government, 19% of those surveyed are supporters of a parliamentary form of government, and another 15% would like to weaken the powers of the president, but in the current form of government.

According to the research, Kyiv (27%) and the Central Region (23%) are supporters of the transition to a parliamentary republic. Older citizens (27%) and those with higher education (22%) are more inclined to move towards collegial decisions, that is, towards parliamentarism. At the same time, villagers are more inclined to the idea of a presidential republic (28%), in contrast to large cities, where only one in five supports this form of government.

In addition, according to the results of focus groups, citizens are convinced that the main problem is not in the distribution of powers, but in the failure to fulfill existing functions and insufficient responsibility of politicians and officials. At the same time, a significant part of the respondents are aware of the risk of excessive concentration of power in one hand and are mainly opponents of the purely presidential model.

The survey was conducted in two waves: the CATI method (telephone interviews with calls to mobile phone numbers, computer-assisted telephone interviews) on April 19-27, 2021 and the CAPI method (personal interviews at home with a respondent using a tablet, computer-assisted personal interviews) on May 7-27, 2021.

The sample of the conducted research is 2,000 respondents and is representative of the population of Ukraine aged 16 and over by gender, age, size of the settlement and region according to the State Statistics Service as of January 1, 2019. The maximum theoretical margin is 2.2%.
Athens covered in smoke from a wildfire burning at Varympompi suburb in suburb north of Athens, Greece, (Photo : Giannis Panagopoulos/Eurokinissi via REUTERS)

Wildfires north of Athens leapt back to life on Thursday as searing conditions persisted and emergency crews battled blazes across Greece for a third day running.



A wall of dark smoke rose high above the Greek capital, residents fled suburbs, asylum seekers were evacuated and authorities warned of more blazes on Friday as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) and gale winds were expected.



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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said emergency services faced a difficult night ahead with westerly winds set to strengthen and he urged people to comply with evacuation orders and avoid unnecessary travel.



"We are dealing with unprecedented conditions as many days of heatwave have turned the whole country into a powder keg," he said in a special televised address.



With swathes of neighbouring Turkey also aflame, the smoke-filled skies have added to apocalyptic images of floods and fire seen across Europe this summer.



Mitsotakis said defences against the reality of climate change had to be strengthened. He said there would be time for "criticism and self-criticism" of the government's handling of the crisis but for the moment urged citizens to remain united.



Earlier, he visited an area in the western Peloponnese near the site of the ancient Olympic Games where firefighters fought all night to save one of Greece's best known archaeological sites.



Firefighters, backed by waterbombing fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, had managed to control some of the blazes near Athens earlier in the day.



But the heat fanned them back into life, with flames crossing the motorway connecting Athens to northern Greece and threatening more built-up areas.



On Thursday afternoon, authorities ordered the evacuation of the suburbs of Afidnes, Kryoneri, Kokkinovrahos, Ippokrateios Politeia and Drosopigi north of Athens, as well as asylum seekers from the nearby Malakasa migrant reception centre.



More than 150 wildfires have broken out across Greece since Tuesday, destroying houses, forcing the evacuation of dozens of towns and villages and burning thousands of acres of forest land.



The Civil Protection Authority issued an "extreme fire warning" for half the country on Friday amid the heatwave.



The finance ministry announced emergency payments of up to 6,000 euros ($7,100) for people who had lost possessions and said more measures would follow.



Local utilities said there could be rolling power cuts in some parts of the Attica region around the capital due to the fire.



Access to parks and forests will be forbidden in the coming days, Deputy Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said. Additional firefighters and aircraft were expected to arrive from France, Sweden and Romania.



On the island of Evia, church bells rang on Thursday to warn residents of the fires that were still burning strongly there. More than a dozen villages on the island have already been evacuated.



($1 = 0.85 euro)


Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had a phone call with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias on Wednesday to check on the situation in Greece where wildfires have been raging through several parts the country.

Shoukry stressed Egypt's solidarity with the friendly people of Greece during these trying times, voicing confidence in the Greek authorities' ongoing efforts to contain the blazes, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said.

He also praised the deeply-rooted ties between the peoples of both countries.



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The risk of the spread of the coronavirus and its impact in Egypt are moderate as per the recently updated map of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said in a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

In its four-level guidance, the CDC, which assesses the situation of super-spreader viruses around the world, ranked Egypt in the second level along with 23 other countries.

Based on the number of detected cases, the CDC classifies the countries into four categories in terms of COVID-19 risk rates, advising people to be fully vaccinated before travelling to destinations that fall into "low" and "moderate" risk categories and recommends against travelling to destinations that fall into "very high" and "high" risk categories.

Countries that fall into the "moderate" risk category, in which Egypt is placed, have had 50-99 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, according to the CDC.

Egypt's single-day tolls of infections and deaths have been on a downward curve since early June as the country has passed the peak of the third wave.

However, the country is seeking to widen the rollout of the inoculation process before the anticipated rise in the cases in September, which is correlated to the fourth wave that is hitting many countries currently.

Up to five million citizens have been vaccinated out of 10 million people who have registered on the country's vaccination programme, according to health ministry officials.

Egypt has received millions of shots of Sinopharm, Sinovac, Sputnik, Astrazenca vaccines, and is locally producing Sinovac vaccine by the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA). It is also in talks to manufacture Astrazenca as it seeks to become a regional hub for coronavirus vaccines.

However, some people said their second shots have been postponed for 10 days. The health ministry has not commented on the issue so far.

Zayed said at the meeting that the country is expected to receive in August new shipments of Sinopharm, Sinovac, Sputnik, AstraZeneca and the first shipment of single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The stock of oxygen, which is prescribed for virus-related patients who suffer from shortness of breath, stands at 3.3 million litres, Zayed noted.

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Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed on Thursday the signing of an accord regarding hosting the permanent headquarters of the African Organisation for Housing Cooperatives in Cairo, according to a statement issued by Egypts General Authority for Construction and Housing Cooperatives (GACHC).

In July, The GACHC announced that Egypt has secured the majority of votes of both the International Cooperative Alliance and the African Cooperative Alliance to host the permanent headquarters of the African Organisation for Housing Cooperatives.

The accord also includes hosting the International Cooperative Alliances regional office for North Africa, according to the statement.

Prior to the pandemic, the GACHC organised the third round of the international conference for cooperative housing in December 2019 under the theme Sustainable Cooperatives, discussing the alignment of international and national cooperative development frameworks with the 2030 global sustainable development goals (SDGs).

As the voice of the cooperatives, the GACHC is committed to educating its stakeholders about its efforts and how they fit within the SDGs, helping cooperative companies respond to the UNs call to action, and collecting information about their contributions to the 2030 agenda in order to better position cooperatives as partners throughout the implementation process.

According to the International Cooperative Alliance, the cooperative movement in Egypt currently consists of five sectors, including consumer goods, agriculture, fishing, housing, and production. It covers 18,000 democratic cooperative organisations, with 25 million citizens benefiting from its services.

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Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly instructed the government on Thursday to study a prepared plan by the end of the month to promote yacht tourism.

The strategy was prepared in line with directives from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Madbouly in order to leverage the countrys long coasts and beaches along the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, a statement released following a cabinet meeting earlier today said.

The Egyptian government was ordered to start implementing this strategy once the study is completed, according to the statement.

Tourism Minister Khaled El-Anani said that Egypt has 2,400 kilometres of coasts and beaches, which feature numerous tourist resorts.

He stressed the economic importance of yacht tourism, which brings in substantial revenues through transit and docking fees, taxes, fuel sales and maintenance fees.

El-Anani said the average spending of yacht tourists could be 94% higher than other travelers. He put the value of yacht tourism in the Mediterranean region at about 300 billion dollars annually.

Yacht tourism also helps create jobs, directly and indirectly, in the travel and service sectors, especially for youth.

Meanwhile, Transport minister Kamel El-Wazir said the governments strategy should include a unified pricing policy and discounts to attract ships and yachts. He also stressed the importance of upgrading the efficiency of tourist ports and establishing a yacht marina.

A marketing plan is also needed to promote yacht tourism in Egypt, El-Wazir told the cabinet.

El-Wazir also announced that an electronic portal would be launched to make procedures and the issuance of permits and unified bills easier for bodies concerned with yacht tourism.

On Sunday, Head of Maritime Transport Sector Major General Reda Ismail said Egypt is launching a digital platform to promote yacht tourism in the country, in a move aimed at facilitating procedures and the obtaining of security permits through a single website.

Egypts geographical position makes it advantageous for yacht tourism as it overlooks the Mediterranean Sea with a coastline of 995 kilometres and the Red Sea with a coastline of 1,941 kilometres, as well as the Nile River, which runs the length of the country.

A national plan has been implemented to raise the efficiency of ports and marinas in Egypt as well as to ensure the construction of new ports.

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Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Thursday called on countries to refrain from applying discriminatory measures on international travel, based on unverified assumptions about the effectiveness of some coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.

Shoukrys remarks came in a speech during the first virtual meeting of the International Forum on Vaccine Cooperation organised and chaired by China.

Shoukry warned against these unverified assumptions, especially in terms of the vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation, a statement by the foreign ministry read.

The top Egyptian diplomat in his speech urged mobilising further resources required to support the national health systems in Africa, as it continues to be among the most afflicted areas given the structural challenges it faces in providing medical services to citizens and dealing with other pandemics and diseases.

Shoukry called for the countries manufacturing coronavirus vaccines to enhance their support to the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT).

The FM affirmed that Egypt will continue to effectively participate in all international efforts to enhance the international health system in a way that ensures that countries most vulnerable to diseases are prepared to deal with international health challenges.

During the speech, Shoukry underlined the importance of securing sufficient and sustainable financial support to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX).

This support is required to accelerate coronavirus vaccination rates in developing countries and support the local manufacturing capabilities of these states so that they expand local vaccine production and ease the burden the international manufacturers shoulder due to the growing international demand for vaccines, Shoukry explained.

He also called for waiving the intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines to achieve this goal.

Shoukry highlighted the deep socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, especially on middle and low-income countries, warning that the current situation threatens to undermine the development gains achieved by these countries during the past decade.

The Egyptian FM warned that the gap of vaccination rates between developing and developed countries is still widening.

Egypt has repeatedly called on the international community to ensure the just distribution of coronavirus vaccine doses worldwide and secure the African states chance to obtain doses in a fair way.

Participating via video conference in an African Union (AU) summit in February, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for securing the funding and logistical support for African nations to tackle the pandemics economic, social, and health repercussions.

Egypt has also started the local production of vaccine doses, starting with Chinese Sinovacs vaccine, to cover the countrys local demands and also export doses to Africa.

The Egyptian national campain to vaccinate the population against the coronavirus so far uses the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines as well as the British AstraZeneca and Russian Sputnik V vaccines.

Early in July, WHO urged countries to recognize any COVID-19 vaccines it has authorized for emergency use, a move that could challenge Western countries to accept the two Chinese vaccines.

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In a statement on Thursday, the Arab Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives said the Egyptian parliament supports the measures recently taken by Tunisian president Kais Saied to stabilise the country and secure the aspirations of the Tunisian people.

The committee said Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry's visit to Tunisia on Tuesday demonstrates that Egypt completely supports President Saied's historic measures and that Egypt's security and stability are closely tied to those of Tunisia.

"The Egyptian parliament declares complete confidence in President Kais Saied's measures and in his capacity as a leader of Tunisia to help the country get out of its current critical conditions and take all the measures necessary to help Tunisia solve it political, economic and health problems," said the statement.

The committee also called on the international community to support Tunisia in their confrontation with terrorist organisations, which pose a threat to its internal stability.

"Tunisia under its current leadership is quite capable of restoring stability and getting rid of the terrorist organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist forces," said the statement.

Ahmed Abaza, deputy chairman of the Arab Affairs Committee, said Tunisia is fighting a ferocious battle against the forces of political Islam led by the Muslim Brotherhood, who are trying to hijack the country and implement their radical agenda. However, he continued, President Saied's measures are saving the country from this agenda. "The Muslim Brotherhood is the group which has caused internal strife and instability in recent years in many parts of the Arab world, including Tunisia," said Abaza.

In the meantime, Karim Darwish, the chair of Egyptian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, met on Thursday with Lotfi El-Talbi, the charge d'affaires at the Tunisian embassy in Cairo. A statement said both Karim and Talbi discussed the mutual relations between Egypt and Tunisia at all levels, particularly in political, economic and security terms, in order to be able to face the challenges.

The meeting comes after Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry visited Tunisia on Tuesday and met with President Kais Saied. Shoukry declared Cairo's full support for what he described as the historic measures taken by President Saied.

The Tunisian president announced a number of drastic decisions on 26 July, suspending the parliament  dominated by the Islamist party Ennahdha  and dismissing his prime minister.

Shoukry said Saied's measures "aim to fulfill the will of his people and guarantee the stability of his country and its best interests, and that Egypt is confident in the wisdom of president Said and his ability to lead this constitutional path steadfastly."

The Tunisian president underscored his country's keenness on "permanently" boosting its ties and coordination with Egypt.

"Egypt's stability and security are closely tied to those of Tunisia," President Saied emphasised.

He also underscored his appreciation to Egypt for its solidarity with Tunisia in countering the spread of the coronavirus, referring to the medical equipment and drugs Egypt has sent recently

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Russian Ambassador in Cairo Georgiy Borisenko asserted that his country was ready to exert all possible efforts to reach a solution to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue, noting that Moscow fully understands the deep concern of "its Egyptian friends".

In a statement posted on the Russian Embassy Facebook page, Borisenko said Egypt's water security is an existential matter as the River Nile was and still be the first source of water for over 100 million people.

He asserted that Russia is calling for a just solution to the dispute over the dam, putting into consideration the interests of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Russian diplomat also voiced belief that "neighbours" should seek consensus solutions that provide a chance for the implementation of national programs for development in an atmosphere of good neighborhood, peace and stability.

Borisenko affirmed that Egypt has a big influence on the international arena as it is a pioneering country in the Middle East and Africa and a cornerstone for stability in the restive region.

Ethiopia unilaterally implemented the second phase of filling the GERD in July, a step that Egypt and Sudan has warned against due to the absence of a legally-binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

Egypt and Sudan have warned against consequences of the unilateral filling of the dam, citing concerns against their water rights and peoples lives.

Borisenko, according to the embassy statement, also praised the launching of the"New Republic" during Egypt's celebrations of the 69th anniversary of the July 1952 Revolution.

Borisenko said Egypt is going on with steady steps towards achieving sustainable development and democracy, praising the huge achievements reached in the various sectors including economy, social care, science, education and culture.

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Twenty-four Chadian soldiers were killed in an attack by jihadist fighters in the troubled Lake Chad region, a senior local official said Thursday.

"Troops from a returning patrol were resting when they were attacked by Boko Haram" on Wednesday, the region's deputy prefect, Haki Djiddi, told AFP.

"Twenty-four troops were killed, several were wounded and others have scattered into the countryside."

Army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna confirmed that an attack had taken place at Tchoukou Telia, an island 190 kilometres (118 miles) northwest of the capital N'Djamena, but refused to give any toll.

Troops from "three army sectors have joined the soldiers who came under attack yesterday," Mahamat Fodoul Makay, the governor of Lake province, told AFP.

Lake Chad is a vast area of water and marshland bordered by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon as well as Chad.

Jihadists from Boko Haram and a rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have been using the region for years as a haven from which to attack troops and civilians.

The Chadian authorities tend to call the jihadists "Boko Haram" regardless of their affiliation.

In March 2020, around 100 Chadian troops were killed in an overnight attack on the lake's Bohoma peninsula, prompting an offensive the following month led by Chad's then president, Idriss Deby Itno.

After pursing the militants deep into Niger and Nigeria, Deby said there was "not a single jihadist anywhere" on the Chadian side of the lake region.

Attacks have continued, however.

In July, 11 Cameroonian troops and a civilian were killed in two attacks in Cameroon's Far North region, the tongue of land that lies between Chad to the east and Nigeria to the west.

Deby was killed in April 2021 during fighting against rebels in northern Chad and was succeeded by his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, at the head of a military junta.

Boko Haram launched a revolt in northern Nigeria in 2009 before extending its campaign into neighbouring countries.

According to UN figures, more than 36,000 people, most of them in Nigeria, have died and three million have fled their homes.

In 2016, Boko Haram split over its indiscriminate targeting of Muslim civilians and use of women suicide bombers.

Boko Haram said in June that its leader, Abubakar Shekau, had died in fighting with ISWAP, which claims allegiance to the Islamic State group.

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Rebels from Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region on Thursday seized Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the neighbouring Amhara region famed for its 12th-century rock-hewn churches, residents told AFP.

"They came in the afternoon, and there was not any fighting. There were no security forces around. The TPLF forces are in the town now," said one resident, referring to the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Tigray has been wracked by fighting since last November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the TPLF, the regional ruling party which dominated national politics before Abiy took office in 2018.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, said the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps.

But while Abiy promised victory would be swift, the war took a stunning turn in June when pro-TPLF forces retook the Tigray capital Mekele and the Ethiopian army largely withdrew.

Since then the TPLF has pressed east into neighbouring Afar and south into neighbouring Amhara, where Lalibela is located.

Soldiers and militia fighters have mobilised en masse in parts of Amhara to head off the rebels' advance, but multiple residents of Lalibela told AFP Thursday that the town fell without a fight.

"The TPLF just arrived in the afternoon. They were dancing and playing in the square of the city," one resident said.

"Most of the people are leaving the town to the remote areas," a third resident said, adding that he was hiding in his home with his family.

The TPLF's push into the neighbouring regions has drawn global criticism, and both the UN and the US this week reiterated calls for all parties to end hostilities.

Billene Seyoum, Abiy's spokeswoman, told a press conference Thursday that more than 300,000 people had been displaced by recent fighting in Amhara and Afar.

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Talks on forming a new Lebanese government are progressing slowly, premier-designate Najib Mikati said Thursday, a day after police cracked down on protesters during the grim first anniversary of a deadly port blast.

"We made progress today, and even if the progress was slow, we are determined to form a government," Mikati said after meeting with President Michel Aoun.

The meeting was a "positive step forward", Mikati told reporters, but refused to set himself a deadline to present a finalised cabinet line-up.

Lebanon is facing one of the world's worst economic crises in modern history.

But its deeply divided politicians have for more than 11 months failed to agree on a new government to launch reforms, a key condition to unlock billions of dollars in international financial aid.

The government of Hassan Diab, who is still caretaker prime minister, resigned en masse last summer after a huge explosion of fertiliser at the Beirut port killed at least 214 people.

Mikati, who has been prime minister twice before and is also the country's richest man, was designated on July 26 to form a government after his two predecessors threw in the towel.

Thousands gathered near the Beirut port on Wednesday as Lebanon marked one year since hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded on the dockside.

All paid tribute to the victims, but many expressed anger that officials who had known about the hazardous materials stored unsafely at the port for years had still not been held to account.

Dozens were hurt when Lebanese police clashed with protesters demanding accountability over the disaster.

A donor conference on Wednesday collected $370 million in pledges for urgent humanitarian aid for the Lebanese people, but the international community has held back on any financial aid to the cash-strapped state.

Last month's designation of 65-year-old Mikati, seen by many as a symbol of Lebanon's beleagured oligarchy, was met with scepticism both at home and abroad.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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More than 200 million cases of Covid-19 cases have now been registered worldwide since the novel coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 0700 GMT on Thursday.

At least 200,065,905 cases have been officially recorded, but the actual number is believed to be even higher, since a large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.

The number of infections is currently rising sharply, driven primarily by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, but the number of deaths is increasing at a slower rate, the data showed.

The global average daily number of new infections over the past seven days stands at more than 600,000, an increase of 68 percent over the seven-day average in mid-June.

At the same time, the average number of daily deaths stands at 9,350, an increase of 20 percent compared with the beginning of July.

The gap between the number of infections and the number of deaths is most noticeable in the countries currently hardest hit by the pandemic.

In the United States, for example, the number of new cases has exploded by more than 820 percent, now standing at an average of 94,000 per day compared to 11,000 at the end of June.

But the rise in the daily number of deaths in the US is much slower, climbing 105 percent to 430 over the same period.

In Britain, where as many as 47,000 new cases have been recorded every day for the past few weeks -- a 30-fold increase compared with May -- the number of deaths has increased more than ten-fold from six to over 80.

Nevertheless, that is far below record levels seen in January, when Britain's daily number of deaths shot to 1,250.

By contrast, the average daily number of infections in hard-hit Indonesia has fallen by 19 percent over the past week to 35,000, but the daily number of deaths is up eight percent at 1,700.

The current wave in Indonesia is the worst since the outbreak of the pandemic and the country is now recording by far the most daily deaths worldwide.

The difference reflects the inequality in access to vaccines -- 58 percent of Americans and 69 percent of Britons have received at least one jab, but only 18 percent of Indonesians.

The US health authorities estimate that people who are vaccinated are 25 times less likely to be hospitalised or die from Covid-19 than those who are not.

The novel coronavirus has killed more than 4.25 million people worldwide since the start of the pandemic, but the World Health Organization estimates that the overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.

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Transforming to clean energy will reflect positively on Egypt's energy sector, experts said at a panel organised by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

The discussion, entitled Energy prospects in Egypt: Opportunities and challenges, was held as part of a research project conducted between Al-Ahram centre and the German Fredrich Ebert Foundation on energy transformation in Egypt.

The transformation is expected to generate cooperation opportunities between Egypt and the US, the European Union (EU), and China in energy projects, the experts said.

Egypt has abundant renewable energy sources, financial and legal systems as well as the human resources that qualify the country to expand in green investment, the energy experts added.

However, energy transformation is likely to face more obstacles globally in the near future regarding the fossil fuel export opportunities and the likely decline in global fossil fuel imports due to their negative impact on the climate, they added.

The risks also include the possibility of imposing carbon tax from the EU on imports amid the accelerated actions to deal with climate change and its repercussions, which could hinder Egypts export opportunities to access European countries, according to the experts.

Moreover, international financial institutions (IFIs), global sovereign funds, and banks could refuse, going forward, to finance the oil sectors projects, the experts stated.

They affirmed that these challenges require Egypt to accelerate its transformation to renewable energy and empathised the importance of creating a corporate entity to be responsible for planning energy transformation in Egypt.

Moreover, they called for increasing solar energy and wind energy projects as well as the green hydrogen industry in line with Egypt's strategy to become a regional energy hub.

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The Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) in Cairo held the preliminary competition for the 2021 K-POP World Festival on Friday 30 July at the Cairo Opera Houses Open-Air theatre.

Out of the eight groups competing that day, the Glitch Gang Girls won 1st place, Black Eagle won 2nd, Yara Mahgoub claimed the 3rd spot, and Adelpha got 4th place.

The four teams have been selected by a panel of judges to participate in the online Changwon K-POP World Festival scheduled in October in South Korea.

The panel of judges included two Korean judges: Cho Chan Ho, the chairman of the Korean Association; and Kim Dong Gun, the head of the Public Diplomacy Sector at the Korean embassy; together with Director of the Cairo Opera House Magdy Saber; former director of the Academy of Arts Ahlam Younis; and Riham Abu-Sreaa, a professor at the Institute of Ballet.

In honour of BTS being one of the most popular bands in the world, charting multiple No.1 hits on global billboards, all participants performed a dance to one of BTS songs.

BTS, as well as other K-POP teams, are fueling interest in Korean culture, including language, films, drama, fashion and food, Oh Sung-Ho, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre explained.

He expressed his appreciation for the K-POP fans in Egypt, noting that the KCC will continue supporting their activities to promote broader mutual understanding between Egypt and South Korea.

The audience enjoyed the splendid dance performances carried out by all the groups, with the panel of judges expressing admiration for the talent each group displayed. At the venue, coronavirus preventive measures were strictly implemented for the safety of the participants and the audience.

Co-hosted by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and the Korean Broadcasting System, the K-POP World Festival is an annual worldwide music and dance competition hosted by Changwon World Dance Festival for K-pop lovers worldwide in which contestants show off K-pop content in a dance format.

In Egypt, the preliminary competition is seeking to provide an opportunity for K-pop fans to demonstrate their talents in dance shows.

The festival has been developed in a way to unite K-POP fans and enhance the popularity of Hallyu (The Korean cultural wave sweeping the globe).

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In an effort to revive Egypts tourism business, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in collaboration with the Egyptian Hotels Association, have launched Enjoy Winter in Egypt, an initiative which combines flight and resort price reductions in touristic cities.

From 15 January to 28 February, according to the plan, the cost of domestic flights will be cut almost in half in touristic cities in Egypt by organising trips from Cairo to Luxor, Aswan, Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba, Hurghada and Marsa Alam, and from Alexandria to Luxor and Aswan.

Airline tickets, including taxes, from Cairo and Alexandria will be available to Luxor at a flat rate of LE1,500, to Aswan, Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba for LE1,800 and to Marsa Alam for LE2,000. The flights are run by the flagship airline EgyptAir and Air Cairo.

A total of 114 hotels, three, four and five stars, in the six cities will provide special accommodations ranging from between LE300 to LE750 per person in a double room including meals, taxes and services. The names of the hotels are published on the website of the Egyptian Hotels Association.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities is providing a 50 per cent discount on tickets for Egyptians in museums and archaeological sites in Qena, Luxor and Aswan.

All Covid-19 precautionary measures and hygiene safety guidelines in airports, museums and archaeological sites and hotels, cafeterias and tourist buses will be implemented.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 21 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker visited Moscow this week to discuss progress in building Egypts Dabaa nuclear power plant (DNPP) with Russian officials.



Shaker, heading a high-level technical delegation, met with Alexey Likhachev, director-general of Rosatom, the Russian company which is building the DNPP west of Alexandria.



The delegation included Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) Amgad Al-Wakil, chairman of the Egyptian Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Regulation Sami Attallah, and a number of nuclear specialists and technicians.



Shaker, who left Cairo on 28 July, attended a joint ceremony on Saturday to celebrate the manufacturing of the first long-term equipment for the DNPP.



Together with his accompanying delegation, Shaker visited Volgodonsk and Samara, Russian cities where the Atommach and Tyazhmash companies in charge of manufacturing the first core components of Egypts nuclear power plant are located.



An official statement said that Shaker and the delegation reviewed the manufacturing of the Egyptian nuclear power plants main components and took note of the other products manufactured by the two companies.



Atommach said in a statement that the Egyptian delegations tour had also covered the Atomenergomash plant, responsible for manufacturing the reactors compressor vessel, and the Tagmash plant, responsible for manufacturing the reactors core. During the visit, the Egyptian specialists also reviewed the welding of the reactor parts, hydraulic tests, and various other operations, the statement added.



Al-Wakil said the reactors core catcher was distinctive for its advanced third-generation technology, to which the Dabaa project belongs. All the technical stages of the core catchers manufacture are carried out within the Russian Federation, and logistical measures will then be taken to transfer it to the Dabaa site, Al-Wakil said.



The manufacture of the reactors core catcher is a major milestone in the implementation of the Dabaa project and comes as part of a series of achievements and concerted efforts by the Egyptian and Russian technical teams.



Shaker said the delegations visit reflected Egypts friendly relations with Russia. Egypts friendship with Russia goes back to the 1950s and 1960s when a decision was made by late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser to build the Aswan High Dam in partnership with the former Soviet Union.



Choosing Russia to construct Egypts first nuclear power plant was a natural development of this partnership, Shaker said.



He said that Egypt was planning to build a number of other nuclear power reactors on the North Coast as part of a strategy to diversify its sources of electricity, particularly by building nuclear reactors.



We visited the factories in charge of producing the equipment and saw that everything is proceeding according to schedule and that Egypts nuclear dream is moving forward with the full support of the political leadership in Egypt, Shaker said, indicating that the plants first unit will be built next year and is scheduled to enter into service in 2026.



The minister said there had been much positive progress in the implementation of the Dabaa plant, as the Egyptian-Russian team had been able to deliver the documents necessary for the construction permit for the first and second units of the plant to the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority at the end of June.



Alexander Voronkov, director of Rosatom Middle East and Africa, said Egypts first nuclear power plant at Dabaa was one of the most important Rosatom projects in the Middle East and Africa. The company was proud to be responsible for implementing the project, he said.



Shakers visit to Russia came just days after Egyptian and Russian officials paid a working visit to the construction site at Dabaa. The delegation was led by Shaker and Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachov. It followed Rosatoms announcement on 1 July that it was happy that the relevant permits for the construction of the plant had been delivered, since full-scale construction could now start.



Likhachov said that Egyptian and Russian teams were working closely together and that such coordinated work has culminated in perhaps the most important event in the current stage of the Dabaa project with the handover to the regulator at the end of June of the entire package of documentation necessary to obtain the permits for the construction of the first two units.



As well as visiting the construction site, the Rosatom delegation also inspected the port facilities that are planned to be used to transport heavy equipment from Russia to the reactor units at Dabaa. The Rosatom officials also assessed the social infrastructure necessary to support the project.



The Dabaa project is based on contracts between Egypt and Russia that entered into force on 11 December 2017. These stipulate that Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of the plants operation.



Rosatom is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel.



Grigory Sosnin, vice-president and director of the Dabaa project at Rosatom, said the DNPP would be the first project of its kind in Egypt. It will consist of four 4,800 Megawatt-capacity power units, each equipped with a generation three plus 1,200 MW reactor  the latest nuclear technology  which has already been successfully implemented in two other countries and is in line with requirements stipulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).



Hossameddin Saleh, chair of parliaments Energy Committee, said in a statement this week that the visit of Shaker to Russia signalled the growing strategic relations between Egypt and Russia.



There had also been an Egyptian delegation visiting Moscow and signing a preliminary agreement to expand the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Zone, Saleh said, also indicating that direct charter flights between Russian cities and the two Egyptian Red Sea resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada would resume this week after a suspension of six years.



All these developments show that the future is promising for Egyptian-Russian relations and that Egypt will be the main strategic partner for Russia in Africa and the Middle East for years to come, Saleh concluded.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, Egypts famous Red Sea resorts, are preparing for the return of direct flights from Russia next week after a six-year hiatus since the 2015 Russian plane crash in Sinai.



Russian flights between Moscow and the two coastal cities will resume starting from 9 August after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the lifting of a Russian flight ban on the Egyptian Red Sea resorts.



Direct flights to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada will now be operated after the Russian airline Rossiya obtained the necessary permits to carry out five flights per week on each route.



The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) announced that it had approved landing licences for the Russian airline to fly to the Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports from 9 August to 20 October after the Russian decision to resume the flights.



The Russian flights are to land at the airports on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Preventive measures stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to combat the Covid-19 pandemic will be in place.



Russian citizens coming to Egyptian resorts who have received two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 will be allowed to enter Egypt without a PCR test before their trip, the ECAA said.



Those who have not received the vaccine are required to present a negative PCR test done 72 hours before their trip or take a PCR test upon arrival.



The Egyptian health authorities have finished vaccinating workers in the tourism sector and at airports. Egyptian airports have obtained a certificate of health accreditation for safe travel from the International Airports Council.



An inter-agency delegation from Russia visited Egypt last week and completed an evaluation of the epidemiological situation, preventive measures at hotels, and capabilities at labs and medical facilities.



The Russian Anti-Coronavirus Crisis Office said in a statement that future decisions about the number of flights to Egypt would be based on the results of the Russian delegations visit last week, which included officials from the tourism and health sectors.



The announcement of the resumption of Russian flights to Egyptian resorts is a good sign for the sector to recover quickly, said Hisham Al-Shaer, a member of the Chamber of Hotel Establishments.



Russian tourism has long been important for Egypt, he added, with more than three million Russian tourists visiting Egypt in 2014 before the 2015 plane crash and representing about one third of the total number of tourists in Egypt that year.



Flights between the two countries were suspended following the plane crash in late 2015 that killed all 224 people on board, most of them Russian tourists.



Flights between Russia and Egypt were resumed in April 2018, while direct flights to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada remained suspended until the decision to resume them starting on 9 August.



In a report issued in April 2021, the US investment bank Goldman Sachs said that the resumption of Russian direct flights to the Red Sea resorts represented a significant push towards the reflation of the countrys tourism sector, with revenues of about US$3 billion expected as a result.



Al-Shaer said that the announcement of the return of Russian tourists to Egypt confirmed confidence in Egyptian tourist destinations, especially after the precautionary measures taken by the Egyptian government to ensure the safety of visitors and residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.



Egypts hotels are ready to host the Russian tourists, but occupation rates and reservation figures will only be accurate after they start to visit the resorts over the next few weeks, he added.



Nasr Al-Fouli, a tourism expert, believes that the return of Russian tourism to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh is a breakthrough for the industry as the two coastal cities are considered to be top destinations by many Russians who used to represent the majority of visitors to both.



Al-Fouli said that Russian tourists are very important to the Red Sea resorts as they visit throughout the year and not only in the winter season.



The return of the Russian flights will prompt more countries to resume direct flights to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, he added.



He said that with further control of the coronavirus pandemic, higher vaccination rates, and better promotion for tourism in Egypt, the sector might witness a boom in 2022.



Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, only 3.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2020, most of them in the first quarter of the year, a far cry from the around 13 million in 2019. Tourism revenues came in at $4 billion in 2020, compared to $12.6 billion in 2019.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Egypts tourism industry has been dealt a series of heavy blows in recent years. The latest was the Covid-19 outbreak, which resulted in the country freezing its inbound and outbound commercial flights between March and July.

Tourism receipts dropped 11.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 followed by a painful 90 per cent decline in the second quarter.

While the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) offered Egypt its Safe Travel Stamp designed to enable travellers to identify destinations and businesses that adopt the WTTCs hygiene and safe travel protocols, the sector is still suffering from a host of challenges.

Bassem Halaqa, chairman of the Tourism Syndicate, spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly about the problems facing workers in Egypts tourism sector.

Who are the members of the Tourism Syndicate?

The syndicate accepts the membership of workers in hotels, tourism companies, authorities, and restaurants. Graduates and undergraduates of tourism and hotel schools, institutes, and faculties, even those who have graduated and have not found a job, are still affiliated to the syndicate. When they land a job, they move up in the ranks in the syndicate. Tour guides, however, belong to the Tourist Guide Syndicate.

Does the syndicate take part in drafting relevant laws?

The syndicate participates in hearings in the House of Representatives to offer its opinions regarding projects and laws concerning the tourism sector, just as was the case in parliaments Manpower Committee when discussions were held about the Syndicate Law 213/2017.

It continuously communicates with its members in order to remain active. We also try as much as we can to communicate with the government through the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Manpower to support sector workers who have lost their jobs.

What are the problems facing syndicate members?

The main problem is that tourism workers lose their jobs at times of crises. The sector has been dealt several blows since 2011 and up until the recent coronavirus outbreak. The syndicate contacts businessmen and tourism chambers nationwide to try to find other jobs for workers, even at half their previous salaries, should they lose their jobs so that they are able to support their families.

Another major problem is that the banks have stopped giving loans to workers in the tourism industry. Syndicate members need these loans to pay their childrens school fees, for example. Some members have not been able to pay loan instalments, and the syndicate is negotiating with the banks to reschedule the debts or put off instalments in order to avoid the banks taking legal measures against members.

One recent problem is that according to the law, a 12 per cent tax is added to customers bills in return for the service they receive. The syndicate has signed an agreement for the redistribution of this 12 per cent tax in hotels and restaurants. The percentage is currently divided into five per cent to cover waste or broken materials, five per cent deposited in a crisis response fund, and 90 per cent distributed among workers, whether they come in direct contact with customers or work in administrative offices.

While some hotels have adhered to the agreement, others have not under the pretext of the successive crises that have hit the sector. Some hotels pay the tax to workers in the form of salaries, which is against the law and the agreement. The syndicate will contact hotel and tourist facilities once more in the near future to solve this problem.

What are the solutions the syndicate has proposed for the post-coronavirus period?

Tourism workers in Egypt are not covered by health insurance, putting themselves at risk when the family breadwinner loses his job. We hope that tourism workers will be covered by the governments new health insurance system by, for example, deducting a part of their salaries. This will be a much-needed development, especially because the tourism sector is fragile and is easily affected by world developments and sector workers are prone to salary deductions at any time.

The syndicate has also proposed the establishment of a fellowship fund for workers in the sector, for which its decision 4/2020 was issued. The fund will collect monthly amounts from syndicate members to be disbursed back at times of crises. Syndicate members proposed that the monthly contribution be deducted as a percentage from their salaries, while I suggested that they pay LE100 or LE200 on a monthly basis. We are waiting for the next General Assembly to convene to come up with a final decision regarding the fund.

Do you think tourism officials fairly estimate the value of tourism workers in Egypt?

Many syndicate members are highly qualified and experienced. However, they may abandon the sector at times of crises to try to support their families by other means because they cant find adequate support from the tourism sector. This results in huge losses for the industry. Tourism is one of the main sources of foreign currency for Egypt, and it contributes to the appreciation of the pound against other currencies.

This is why it is crucial for tourism workers to have representatives who participate with decision-makers in meetings at the Tourism Ministry. The fact of the matter is that the ministry invites representatives of tourism chambers to meetings and ignores the workers. I believe decisions made regarding the tourism sector ought to be discussed with businessmen in the sector, representatives of workers, and representatives of tourism chambers. After all, it is the workers who implement those decisions.

What are the courses the syndicate offers?

There are training courses for tour operators on organising itineraries, travel programmes, and pricing tours. There is also training on booking flights and hotel rooms, ticketing, receiving groups at airports, and everything related to the hajj and omra pilgrimages.

Each syndicate member receives a training course and an accredited certificate. The syndicate has signed a protocol with a number of faculties and institutes for their professors of tourism and hotels to give these courses.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 3 December, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Egypts Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) signed a Covid-19 tourism recovery technical assistance cooperation package last week to promote resilience, sustainability, and inclusive growth of the sector in Egypt.The package comes at a crucial time, as it supports the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and its affiliated agencies as well as the private sector to embark on the ongoing changes, Khaled El-Enany, minister of tourism and antiquities, said.Egypts tourism sector has been hard hit by Covid-19, with revenues diving by nearly 70 per cent to $4 billion in 2020. The number of tourists visiting Egypt sank to 3.5 million last year from 13.1 million in 2019, El-Enany told Reuters. Foreign occupancy rates in Egyptian hotels dropped to just 10 to 15 per cent of 2019 levels.The agreement is an example of deepening collaborations to advance sectoral support and accelerate progress to meet Egypts priorities going forward, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said, adding that the package aims to formulate recommendations to stimulate the sector and retain jobs, protect the most vulnerable, strengthen supply chains in the tourism sector, and support the transition to the circular economy as well as support institutions operating in the sector such as small and medium-sized enterprises.The package includes areas of intervention structured around three main pillars: economic recovery, marketing and promotion, and institutional strengthening and resilience.Five tasks will be looked at: training inspectors and officials in the tourism sector on impact analysis and protocols; the development of tourism recovery incentive programmes to stimulate tourism through benchmarking with other tourism-dependent countries; a review of the institutional re-structuring of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities; a review of the effectiveness of operational protocols on safety, hygiene and security; and the building of the resilience of tourism enterprises to adapt to Covid-19, including on safety and hygiene.The package builds on measures already taken by the EBRD under its crisis solidarity package to support existing clients in their handling of losses caused by Covid-19 lockdowns. The aim is to expand on that client-level support package with country-level technical assistance to facilitate the fast and sustainable recovery of tourism.Since March 2020, the world as a whole has been struggling with the impacts of the new coronavirus, considered to be an unprecedented global health crisis, the repercussions of which are being felt in all sectors of society and the economy.In May 2020, the WTO forecast that the impacts of Covid-19 will result in international tourist arrivals dropping by 60 to 80 per cent compared with 2019 figures. It said that in 2009 international tourist arrivals had declined by four per cent in the wake of the world financial crisis, while the SARS outbreak had led to a decline of just 0.4 per cent in 2003.The Egyptian government has implemented various containment measures against the pandemic, including a lockdown.This has included a ban on travel, tourist activities, and major sporting events. The containment managed to limit the scale of infections in Egypt, and the government also took various decisions to support tourism and investors and employees in the sector as well as issuing health guideline to resume inbound tourism.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 21 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The interest of Egyptian companies and international firms headquartered in Egypt in the African market has been growing, with many of them now wanting either to venture into the African market or to increase the volume of their operations across the continent.



Prime among them are firms working in the food industry and manifested in particular through their participation in the Africa Food Manufacturing Exhibition held this week in Cairo.



CEO of Cleopatra Group Mohamed Abul-Enein said last month that Cleopatra Developments, a brand focused on real estate, had held talks in several African countries to mull over the possibility of investing in housing and infrastructure projects.



Jumia, an online marketplace for electronics and fashion, announced it had pumped $600 million into several African markets, including Egypt, earlier this year.



Misr Capital Investments, the investment arm of Banque Misr, said in April it had launched a $380 million healthcare investment platform called Nile Misr Healthcare along with Elevate Private Equity in Egypt and a number of African countries.



Abeer Saleh, managing director of Al-Wafa Life Insurance Egypt, said investors were searching for markets that could garner profits. European markets were mature, rendering profit margins very narrow, she added.



The expected rapid growth of African markets is the reason why many international companies are targeting the continent, she said, adding that Al-Wafa, which operates in six countries, is considering venturing into five English-speaking African markets.



Many Egyptian companies have been operating in African markets for years, including Al-Sewedi, which owns seven factories in Africa for the production of cables, transformers, electrical supplies, and accessories.



It works in electrical interconnection, infrastructure, water delivery, and the electrical cable industry in a number of countries. One project is in South Sudan, where it is setting up electricity linkages able to carry up to 20 Megawatts. The project is slated to open in December, nine months later than earlier scheduled.



Al-Sewedi is also building a factory making large cables in Tanzania that is planned to open in the near term. The company targets expanding such factories in the majority of African states.



Qalaa Holdings is also operating in several African countries. CEO Ahmed Heikal said last year that the company was working with its partners to build a factory to extract and manufacture gold products in Ethiopia that is scheduled to start operations in two years.



In 2010, the company acquired shares from the main investor in the Rift Valley Railways, which has a 25-year exclusive right to manage the 2,000 km railways between Kenya and Uganda.



Ahmed Khalifa, deputy chairman and CEO of the Evergrow Group, owner of Evergrow for Specialty Fertilisers, said that Egypts strategic location gave its products a competitive edge due to the rising cost of transportation and delays in releasing cargos, especially with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.



The pandemic had opened doors for Egyptian companies to venture into African markets, he added.



Evergrow had been planning to make products for the European market, but after studying Africa it had changed its plans and started making products compatible with African soils, he said.



The company is setting up distribution centres across Africa and a collection centre in Kenya to serve East and Central Africa.



Khalifa said that the states logistical support had helped Egyptian investors look to African markets. The Gosour Company was established by the Ministry of Public Enterprises to bring together a number of transport and shipping companies and shopping centres in Central Africa, for example.



The sector grabbing the attention of many companies is food manufacturing. At the Africa Food Manufacturing Exhibition, which ended on Wednesday, 70 per cent of the 150 exhibiting companies came from Egypt, with the remaining coming from 19 European and Arab countries.



The exhibition covered the four main sectors of food manufacturing, namely ingredients, manufacturing, packaging, and logistics.



Egyptian companies are careful to attend this event in order to get to know the needs of African markets, said Ashraf Al-Gazairi, head of the Chamber of Food Industries, which took part.



The African market is very promising. The coronavirus and the resulting halt in the movement of goods and raw materials from China, the primary supplier for Africa, created new opportunities for Egyptian companies, lA-Gazairi said.



He added that African markets had realised that depending on one supplier could result in problems and that it was better to work with Egyptian companies that are closer to the African countries. There are also many trade agreements between Egypt and the African countries that facilitate the import and export of goods.



Egypt has the opportunity to export finished products to the African market, which is in desperate need of these goods, he said, adding that Egypt also has good opportunities to buy raw materials from Africa at reasonable prices.



Egypt is part of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and in 2019 it signed a tripartite cooperation agreement that gathers the COMESA, the South African Development Community (SADC), and the countries of the East African Community in one bloc.



In 2020, trade between Egypt and the COMESA countries came to $3 billion.



Inexpensive goods cater for the African market, which is why Egyptian products are more suitable for African than European products, said Alaa Al-Saqti, head of the Egyptian industrial zone in Ethiopia.



Delayed shipping from China as a result of the coronavirus gave Egyptian products easier access to African markets, he stated, stressing that they had a competitive edge because they are good quality and cheaper than European products.



The agreements Egypt has signed with the African states allow Egyptian investors to benefit from working on the continent, including by establishing small industrial complexes that benefit from cheap materials, low custom tariffs, low prices of land, and easy bank facilities.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Parliament has recently approved a new Unified Financial Law that grants state agencies shares from the general budget based on their performance during the fiscal year and through programmes submitted to the Ministry of Finance determining their fiscal needs.



The law guarantees that state bodies are held accountable for their spending at the end of each fiscal year.



It puts an end to attempts by some agencies to use any remaining money in their annual budgets for routine refurbishment work and other activities, since it allows the Ministry of Finance to withhold outstanding sums.



When drafting the new law, the ministry sought advice from experts such as Hassan Ouda, a professor of accounting at the German University in Cairo who has participated in drafting laws in other countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.



The new law will effect radical changes in the management of public finances in Egypt, Ouda said.



For the first time in Egypt, a budgetary framework is being prepared for a period of three years to reflect the strategic goals of the state. This is translated into detailed budgets that take into account the time to achieve these goals. These are an indication of the allocations each government unit needs over a period of three years, allowing them to accurately assess their priorities, he said.



The new law contains an article that helps to prevent any burning of remaining allocations in the state budget at the end of the fiscal year by carrying over unused appropriations to the next fiscal year. This helps to achieve any deferred strategic goals not achieved in the year before, he added.



Ouda said that the new law allocates credits based on the strategic goals to be achieved using a top-down approach, which allows total public spending to be determined in the light of strategic goals and resources available.



Previously, a bottom-up approach had been adopted that looked at each ministrys request for financial resources without specifying spending goals and therefore not tying appropriations to results.



The new law defines ministers responsibilities in managing assets and the responsibility of each ministry in achieving its strategic goals. It thus emphasises the managerial role of each minister as well as their political role.



It helps to link actual state revenues with the cost of the services that government offices offer to the public. It also makes it possible to measure the financial performance of the government and to identify the value of state assets, fixed or current, and the value of state obligations.



For the first time, we will be able to determine Egypts net wealth, the rights of each generation, and whether each is carrying out their responsibilities or carrying them over. We will also be able to tell whether different governments have added to the countrys wealth or reduced it, Ouda said.



The law introduces performance budgeting and the linking of financing to targeted results and goals, Ouda explained, adding that this would help the Central Auditing Agency to review the performance of government units instead of focusing only on monitoring expenditure.



The new law will help to address the budget deficit and keep abreast of international developments and recommendations issued by government institutions, he said.



It aims to provide the financial and accounting information necessary to take appropriate decisions and to ensure efficiency in the use of state resources. It will help to combat administrative and financial corruption by allocating state resources to determined goals, outlining the responsibility of each governmental agency towards achieving them.



Mustafa Salem, a member of the Planning and Budget Committee in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Egypts parliament, said that the new law helps to hold government agencies to account and contributes to determining spending priorities.



Much of the current state budget is spent on salaries, he said, and these do not always help to serve development goals.



We need to set goals on the basis of what spending will be made. Countries all over the world adopt this approach and achieve positive results. It is expected that within a few years of the new laws implementation, the shape and goals of government agencies will change, Salem concluded.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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It has been a year since Nassif Hitti, a prominent Lebanese diplomat, resigned from his job as the countrys foreign minister.

On 3 August 2020, almost 24 hours before Beirut was hit by devastating blasts in its port where a poorly stored shipment was stored, Hitti announced his resignation as Lebanese minister of foreign and expatriate affairs.

It was in January of the same year that Hitti had joined the first government to take office after the October Revolution in Lebanon that made firm calls for an end to economic and political corruption.

Upon his resignation, Hitti said that the government had not acted promptly and according to a clear and consensual work plan to live up to the expectations of the people.

Things were not going in the right direction, and we should have been acting to save our country, Hitti said upon his resignation. At the time, critics said that Hitti was jumping off a sinking ship. With the blasts that came just one day later, Hitti had no regrets about his decision.

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview, Hitti was as convinced as ever that his resignation was justified.

There is no point for anyone to be in government if that government has no political will to act to end the worsening hardships that the Lebanese people are living with today and not just in Beirut that suffered huge damage as a result of blasts that are still being investigated a year later, he commented.

What happened [on 4 August 2020] was a crime and a tragedy. We need to know what happened. There must be a serious investigation, he said.

Pushing the investigation forward and making sure it is on the right tracks should be happening in parallel with helping new Lebanese prime minister Naguib Mikati put together a new government.

Mikati was appointed late last week after the nomination of five former Lebanese prime ministers, including Saad Al-Hariri who failed after over nine months to put together a government that could be approved by Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

On Monday, Mikati said things were moving much more slowly than he had hoped.

Lebanon has been run by Aoun, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri and acting Prime Minister Hassan Diab for almost a year while the economic crisis has been moving from bad to worse, causing severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines and long electricity cuts.

For Hitti, the question is not when Mikati will be able to announce a new government that can be approved by Aoun. The question is whether Mikati will have to succumb to sectarian-based quotas.

If it is called a government of technocrats but is based on the same old concept of sectarian-based quotas, then I am afraid that the chances of delivering are not high, if there are any at all, Hitti said.

With legislative and presidential elections due in Lebanon in the spring of 2022, the politics of the country seem to be obsessed with this date, and all the countrys political actors are eyeing the day of the elections.

Critics of the Lebanese political elite who have spoken over the past few days in Lebanese civil society have said the priority for most politicians is to keep their seats in parliament and their immunity rather than to act promptly to solve the problems the Lebanese people are suffering from.

I think we need to be clear about what we really want today: what we want is to resolve the problems as soon as possible. This is the priority, Hitti said. The wider issue relating to overhauling the political system as a whole will need more time and a wider consensus, he added.

For the time being, we want a decisive and agreed-upon reform programme that will take effect as soon as possible, so that we will be able to get the countries that wish to support Lebanon to pitch in to help without hesitation, he said.

The longer time goes by without any movement on fixing the economic situation and addressing the countrys acute social problems, the higher the risk there is of a social explosion.

We have to look reality in the eye. We have to admit that today the Lebanese people are being insulted as they try to get on with their everyday lives. They are insulted as they try to get food and fuel and medicine and even as they try to get their own money from their own bank accounts. This is the fact of the matter, Hitti said.

But no matter the sad reality of the political system, it would be unrealistic to talk of overhauling it while the economic situation is in an impasse, he said.

SUFFERING

Hitti referred to UN statistics that indicate that the poverty level across Lebanon has gone from 55 per cent of the overall population in 2000 to over 65 per cent this year, with people suffering from acute poverty rising sharply from 23 to 33 per cent.

We are talking about a situation in which some 30 per cent of the children of Lebanon go to bed at the end of the day without having had dinner, some without even having a filling meal at all, he said.

Without a fast and efficient economic-reform programme, it will be very hard to keep the local currency from its apparently unstoppable deterioration.

Political stability, Hitti said, is essential to getting the economic-reform programme moving. But it is difficult to attain when the countrys political leaders seem to be a lot more concerned about their electoral prospects in the spring of next year than the current problems.

The trouble is that the political players are more concerned with the dynamics of their regional allies than with the situation in Lebanon. This camp and that camp are keeping a close watch on the political gains and failures of their regional allies in order to decide the political choices on the home front in Lebanon.

This is disastrous, and it keeps putting the country in harms way, he said.

The trouble is that if the ship sinks, there will be no losers and no winners. We are all going to suffer tremendously, Hitti stated.

He added that the sooner all the countrys political leaders get to see this basic fact, the better it will be for everyone. Without coming to terms with this fact, the sectarian-based bras de fer will just continue, and things will keep getting worse  with the impact of the pandemic, the devaluation of the currency and the shocking brain drain that is hitting us with all the top professionals leaving the country to try to make a decent living, he said.

Prior to his resignation in the eleventh hour before Beirut was hit by the shocking blasts, perceived by many in Lebanon as a sign of corruption, mismanagement and even the betrayal of national affiliations, Hitti had proposed a roundtable discussion among all the political groups to agree on a work programme to spare the country from what he warned was an inevitable crisis.

Today, while Lebanon is waking up to independent reports that indicate possible deliberate wrong-doing behind the devastating blasts of 4 August 2020, and with Mikati already talking about the slow process of composing a new government, and with Beirut-based diplomats already worrying that he might not be able to put one together, Hitti is even more convinced that there needs to be direct and honest discussion about a work plan that all the political group can agree on.

I dont think it is too much to ask for everyone to take a break from sectarian-based politics and to worry more about saving our country. It is not too much at all to ask, he said.

If for the sake of argument we have a government tomorrow and then all the members of the government are taken hostage by the political agendas of their sectarian constituencies or leaders, then things will go nowhere, Hitti said.

I was in the government myself, and I know how it is simply impossible for cabinet members to act forcefully if they need to worry every step of the way about what their political leaders will say about this or that, he added.

He declined to discuss a possible need to revisit the Taif Agreement that ended the 15-year civil war in 1990 with a sectarian-shared based formula. This is not the time to get into that  the country is suffering too many splits. It cannot get into working on Taif again now, he said.

Hitti would not say whether he thought that at some point down the road the Taif Agreement will have to be revisited, given the many political changes the region has gone through. I think it would be an act of political suicide to get into this debate now. We are just trying to overcome the terms of this sectarian federation that we are living under, in order to get things moving, he said.

According to Hitti, it is absurd for the leaders of the countrys political groups to think they are in a situation in which they can stick to their sectarian demands as part of plans for election campaigns next spring. He is not even sure how things will go between August 2021 and April 2022 when the elections are due.

I cannot tell what will happen, but I can tell that every day there is a new challenge  every hour of every day there is a new reason to worry, he said.

Anticipation is high in Beirut over what could happen on 4 August when the families of the close to 250 people who died in the explosions are likely to protest against the failure of the investigation to take the right path and to question all the possible culprits, much less to reveal the truth about who was responsible for the blasts.

I cannot predict what will happen on 4 August  I just dont know, Hitti said. But it was important to put things in context, because the dismay, not just of the families of the victims but of every citizen angered about what has happened to Beirut, is not isolated from the wider and perhaps more pressing dismay of people who cannot put dinner on the table for their children.

I cannot tell what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow, but I can tell that it is impossible for this country to keep standing on its own two feet if things continue to be the way they are, Hitti said.

There is a 50 per cent chance that people will come to their senses and embark on a rescue mission, and a 50 per cent chance that things will slip, he said.

RESCUE

What would consolidate the chances of a rescue mission, Hitti said, would be for the countrys political leaders to find a way to allow for the creation and operation of a functioning government with a consensual work plan  if only to pursue some damage control.

On the other hand, persisting with political intransigence would be for the political leaders to keep doing what they are doing.

Hitti said he was hoping that regional and international players who know the importance of keeping Lebanon from slipping will do whatever they can to encourage the political players to move beyond limited sectarian agendas.

Obviously, some of these countries have been trying for the past year  and even before the blasts  to offer a helping hand because clearly everybody knows what it means to let Lebanon slip. This is not a scene that anyone in this region would want to see, he said. But all the helping hands have thus far failed to give the necessary push forward.

Beirut-based diplomats speak about the efforts that leading capitals, including Cairo and Paris, have invested in trying to get Aoun to come to an agreement with former Lebanese prime minister Saad Al-Hariri on a government to take over from Hassan Diab, sworn in as prime minister fewer than eight months before the blasts and then having to resign.

But Hitti is convinced that the international and regional players will just have to try harder, simply because the risks today are much higher, he said.

During the past year, most international donors have gone through civil-society groups to bring aid to Lebanon, helping people cover some of their basic needs. However, things have not been working well.

The situation is not sustainable. There has to be a government that has the confidence of the Lebanese people and that of the international community, so that we can have a reform programme and encourage donors to come forward, Hitti said.

He said that while it was important for the political leaders to get their act together, it was also important for regional players who had got used to making Lebanon the scene for their squabbles to keep their hands off before the situation takes a very sad curve.

Lebanon cannot take another bit of sectarianism or another bit of proxy squabbles, he said.

Hitti spoke hours before tensions rose in Beirut following a bloody confrontation between a Shia and a Sunni family in the village of Khalde south of the capital. While the confrontation was contained, it raised the level of worry about additional confusion in Lebanon.

Hitti said that he believed that all the countrys political leaders would have to refuse to be dragged into any incidental confrontation of that nature. The Arab capitals, he argued, have an important role to play in Lebanon.

Lebanon needs an Arab support-system that can help it move in the right direction. I know that it has been a busy time for many Arab countries, but reaching out to Lebanon should be a priority, he said.

Helping Lebanon stand on its own two feet, he argued, would dissuade any irresponsible Israeli acts, would spare Lebanon from any spillover from nearby crises, and would push back any non-Arab regional players.

In short, if the current situation persists, Lebanon runs the risk of being a failed state. This is certainly not in the interest of any Arab country, and the sooner everybody acts to avoid this scenario, the more chances there are to avoid hitting it, Hitti told the Weekly.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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While the Gulf media  Saudi outlets in particular  have focused on Tehran protests calling for the downfall of the regime, the Iranian media is talking about an imminent breakthrough in Saudi-Iranian relations.

An invitation was extended to Saudi Arabia to attend the inauguration of the new, hard-line President Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi on 5 August. If a Saudi representative does show up, that will be seen as a diplomatic gesture highlighting a detente in relations between the two arch foes. Since April this year, reports of low-level talks between the Saudis and the Iranians in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and now the Omani capital Muscat coincided with the resumption of American-Iranian dialogue in Vienna to revive Irans nuclear deal with world powers.

A Saudi source, who insisted that he was not expressing an official viewpoint, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Iranian hype about a breakthrough might be an exaggerated PR stunt coinciding with a new president taking the reins in Tehran. He did not deny or confirm backchannel talks, whether in Iraq or Oman. However, he did reiterate the Saudi position that restoring relations with Iran is preconditioned by Tehran ending its meddling in its neighbours internal affairs and its support to proxy militias in the region.

Even if a representative attended the inauguration it will not mean relations are restored and nobody should make much of it. Such cordial gestures are common between even the fiercest rivals. Contacts on a security level might be needed to keep the minimum level of stability in the region. For example, relations between Washington and Moscow are a constant struggle, but minimum security level contact is maintained to guarantee world peace, the Saudi source said.

In his first press conference since he was elected president, Raisi hinted at his upcoming governments readiness for dialogue: As for Saudi Arabia, I say that there is no obstacle to having a dialogue with Saudi Arabia and relations with all countries. We are ready to reopen embassies. Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016 after mobs attacked its Iranian diplomatic mission buildings in Tehran and Mashhad. Though the government of President Hassan Rouhani arrested around 40 culprits and put them on trial, Riyadh was not sufficiently satisfied to resume diplomatic relations.

Saudi defences are intercepting Iranian-made missiles and drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen almost daily. Gulf countries are wary of activities by other Iran-backed militias in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Attempts to include Gulf concerns in the Vienna talks with the Americans and Europeans seem to be bearing little fruit. Though the Americans are facing what they describe as Iranian far-fetched demands to rewrite the JCOPA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with provisions to limit Irans missile programme and its support for terrorist organisations in the region.

Last week the English-language Iranian newspaper Tehran Times published a report citing sources talking about an imminent breakthrough in Saudi-Iranian relations that could include resuming diplomatic relations. In his weekly press conference last week, Iranian government Spokesman Ali Rabiei answered a question about Tehran-Riyadh talks underlining the importance of regional dialogue from Irans perspective. Regional negotiations are a perennial imperative and so far, we have underlined regional dialogue and talks between the regions various countries Iran-Saudi bilateral talks have been ongoing through proper channels. We are committed to moving ahead with the talks to address all disagreements between the two countries and if there is an agreement and a need for elevating the level of talks, we have no limits for that, Rabiei said.

A British ex-diplomat with extensive knowledge of Middle East politics feels that sooner or later the Gulf countries and Iran will have to sort out their differences with the help of outside partners like the US and EU as a catalyst. He seemed optimistic about a possible positive development in Saudi-Iranian relations against all odds. In the course of the Israeli-Arab struggle it was always the left, the Labour Party talking about peace but at the end of the day it was the right, the Likud Party that made the peace and signed agreements with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians. Even lately, the right executed the Abraham Accords, normalising Israeli relations with Gulf countries and Morocco. So it might be the so-called hardliners in Iran who will eventually settle relations with Gulf countries, he added, making an interesting analogy. He emphasised the notion that an American return to the nuclear deal and Saudi-Iranian open dialogue would definitely change the situation in the region.

Yet the backchannel talks between Riyadh and Tehran are mainly focused on Yemen and Iranian support for Houthi militias which makes it difficult for the Saudis to implement a political solution. Although the Omanis are tight-lipped about reported talks in their country, some hint that talks in Muscat might be wider than previous rounds in Baghdad. But Yemen is still the focus.

Optimism about a breakthrough still looks like wishful thinking, all things considered. The new Iranian administration might need time in office before it can offer any compromises. Saudi and the Gulf countries have their baseline demands: a change in the Iranian policy of interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries, ending support for terrorist groups, and guarantees of peace and security in the region by refraining from developing ballistic or nuclear weapons. Unless Tehran makes a genuine effort towards meeting those goals, Saudi Arabia will not budge.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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What happened to Mennas face? Mennas face has been intentionally damaged throughout the tomb. The ancient Egyptians believed the soul of a person inhabited a painting of them and that destroying the face would deactivate the image. Why did someone want to destroy the memory of Menna?

The caption above is taken from a description of a scene showing the ancient Egyptian king Menna standing between a child and a woman with a destroyed face and is one of the captions used in a virtual tour of the kings tomb.

When virtual visitors click on the link for the virtual tour and enter the tomb, a long aisle covered with depictions on both sides appears. Each side has two white circles indicating clickable descriptions. Clicking on the ceiling of the virtual tomb produces the caption, much of the elaborately patterned ceiling has been preserved, and the colours are still remarkably bright, for example.

Clicking on the floor towards the left leads to a room full of more depictions and information about the tomb.

Virtual tours have been on the rise worldwide as one way of trying to rescue the tourism industry in the wake of the travel restrictions intended to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Egypt has jumped on virtual tours for the same reason, also using them to encourage people to visit the country in person when the pandemic is over.

About 100 million tourists visited Egypt between 2010 and the first quarter of 2020, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). According to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Egypt is among the worlds fastest-growing tourist destinations, as the tourism sector witnessed 21 per cent growth in 2019, welcoming 13.6 million visitors.

Whereas experts expected that the number of tourists would reach more than 14 million in 2020, the pandemic has severely hindered Egypts tourism. After the lockdowns end, people will be hungry to travel again and to begin to cross borders. People feel as if they are in prison. When the airports reopen and tourism is back, were expecting huge flows of tourists to come to Egypt, Assistant to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Enas Ehab told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Until tourism thrives again, the ministry is taking steps towards sustaining Egypts tourism, however, including the organisation of virtual tours. The advisor to the minister of tourism and antiquities, Soha Bahgat, told Sky News Arabia TV channel that the supportive measures included institutions, investors, and entrepreneurs.

On 23 March 2020, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities shut down all archaeological sites across Egypt as part of preventive measures to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the Health Ministry carried out sanitisation measures, and workers at the sites received special training on protecting themselves, it was still too dangerous to allow visits.

Consequently, the authorities resorted to creative and practical solutions to cope with the lockdown.

On 3 April last year, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities cooperated with scientific and archaeological institutes to launch a series of free virtual tours around Egyptian museums and archeological sites.

A virtual tour is a sequence of photographs or video accompanied by text, sound effects, narration, or music to simulate a specific location. In 1994, UK Queen Elizabeth II opened an exhibition at the countrys Dudley Castle showing a simulation of it in 1550 CE, for example, in one of the first ever virtual tours.

I believe that there is no more appropriate time than today in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic to offer virtual tours of museums, archaeological sites, and safaris, Salah Marashi, a virtual tour creator and photographer, told the Weekly.

Today, tours whether 3D photographs or guidance videos, are shared on the ministrys website and social-media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The slogan says Experience Egypt from home. Stay home. Stay safe.

Descriptions are available in Arabic and English, but a spokesman from the media office of the ministry told the website Al-Monitor that there are plans to include material in all UN official languages, in other words English, Arabic, French, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian.

THE VIRTUAL TOURS: Organised in collaboration with the American Research Centre in Cairo, the first virtual tour explores the Menna Tomb in the Theban Necropolis. This is one of Luxors most prominent tombs dating back to the 18th Dynasty.

A series of other video tours with narrated information on 20 pieces in the Egyptian Museum in Cairos Tahrir Square was then made, including of such objects as the statue of king Akhenaten, the bust of queen Nefertiti, the gold collar of Psusennes I, and many more.

The Akhenaten statue, made of sandstone, was originally displayed in front of the temple of the god Aten in Karnak. It depicts the king with exaggerated features represented by narrow shoulders, a bulging belly, and full thighs and arms. He holds a wand and a flute. The statue also highlights the kings facial features, showing a long face and nose, narrow sloping eyes, and thick lips.

Similarly, the Nefertiti bust, made of quartz, shows the queens elegant features.

The gold collar of Psusennes I was found around the neck of the mummy of king Psusennes I dating back to the 21st Dynasty. It is one of three necklaces belonging to the king made of 14-branched gold chains and ending in lotus flowers.

The virtual tour of the Egyptian Museum is of a building that now contains some 120,000 pieces, most of which are on display while the rest are in storerooms. Another highlighted museum of the virtual tours is the Museum of Islamic Art in Bab Al-Khalq in Cairo. This virtual tour was made to celebrate the 117th anniversary of its inauguration on 28 December last year.

The museum contains nearly 400 exhibits and a miscellaneous collection of Islamic artifacts dating back 12 centuries from countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India.

The virtual tours also cover some of Old Cairos heritage as well as archaeological sites from all over Egypt, including the Red Monastery, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barqouq, and the Kom Al-Shuqafa Catacombs.

The Red Monastery in Sohag in Upper Egypt is one of the most important monasteries in Egypt and was built in early Christian times. It was established by a saint called Bishoy in the early fourth century CE and is called the Red Monastery as red brick was used as primary material in its construction.

The monastery was exposed to fire twice, leaving only the church, fortress and architectural remnants behind. The fortress, dating back to the era of the Byzantine empress Helena, is an almost square building. It contains a group of units that the monks would occasionally hide in from attackers, as well as a church, warehouses, and water sources.

The Ben Ezra Synagogue is located on Mar Girgis Street in Old Cairo. It was originally a church before the Coptic Orthodox Church sold it in 882 CE to the Jewish community in Cairo. Some believe that it marks the site where the Prophet Moses prayed to God to lift the plague then afflicting the ancient Egyptians.

The synagogue is built in the basilica style. On its northern side, there is the geniza, or storehouse, which was discovered in 1896. This is a room closed on all sides where books and papers were once stored. They were transferred to Cambridge University in the UK shortly after their rediscovery.

The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barqouq, one of the UK newspaper The Guardians top 10 virtual tours of spectacular buildings around the world, was inaugurated in 1386 CE in Al-Muizz Street in Islamic Cairo. It is an architectural masterpiece with distinctive decorative elements including the use of colourful marble cladding and inscriptions of Quranic verses, indicating the name of the builder and the date of creation in Islamic naskhi script.

The Kom Al-Shuqafa Catacombs in Alexandria are among the best-preserved monuments from the Roman era in Egypt. They bring together a mixture of ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek cultures.

Thus, the ministrys virtual tours are not limited to one type of site, but extend to Pharaonic, Coptic, Islamic, and Jewish landmarks in Egypt. The virtual tours target both international tourists and Egyptians. They serve the double purpose of promoting Egyptian tourism nationwide and increasing Egyptians awareness of their own civilisation, a spokesman from the media office of the ministry told Al-Monitor.

The virtual tours can also help to raise awareness even when present circumstances change. Feedback has been very positive from both Egyptian and international tourists, the spokesman declared.

Virtual tours are a great opportunity, and they can let the world see our awesome treasures as an invitation to people all over the world to visit Egypts heritage sites, Angelina Gamal, a tourist guide, told the Weekly.

THE GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM: The lockdown has also affected the Grand Egyptian Museums (GEM) inauguration, which has been postponed to mid-2021, as announced by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi this year.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Tourism has cooperated with the Ministry of Information to produce a new tour of the GEM and its Restoration Laboratory. The museum is the largest in the world and is dedicated to Egyptian civilisation from prehistoric until Greek and Roman times.

Overlooking the Pyramids on the Giza Plateau, the GEM will house an educational centre, a handicrafts centre, classrooms, a childrens museum, and an area dedicated to solar boats. Covering an area of 18,000 square metres, 12 exhibition halls will display the ancient Egyptian civilisation.

The GEM will display more than 49,000 artifacts, including the complete collection of objects from the golden boy-king Tutankhamens tomb for the first time. This includes more than 5,000 pieces, all exhibited in two halls of the GEM.

Other halls will show archaeological discoveries from the last two years. One hall, dedicated to the Asasif cache, will exhibit artifacts found by an Egyptian archaeological mission in the Luxor governorate in 2019.

Thirty-two closed sealed coffins found in December 2020 and belonging to priestesses and priests of the 22nd Dynasty will also be displayed. This discovery is one of the most significant ever made in Saqqara, and it includes 100 wooden coffins, gold masks, 42 wooden statues, and the coffins of senior statesmen and priests in addition to mummies of cats, lions, and crocodiles dating back to 2500 BCE.

All the coffins are decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions and masks on the mummies faces. The items were found in good condition, untouched by tomb robbers.

A virtual tour of the GEM shows parts of the museums architecture and displays in order to promote the institution during the pandemic and before its grand opening.

While such virtual tours would not have existed had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak, they have been playing a very significant role in promoting Egypts tourism abroad. Mohamed Al-Masoud, a member of Egypts parliamentary committee on tourism and civil aviation, told Al-Monitor that virtual tours were one of the positive changes that have emerged from the crisis.

The tourism sector is usually the hardest hit by crises and turbulence. But modern technology has now offered alternatives, [as] the virtual tours were launched during the coronavirus crisis, but they will last even after this crisis. They are one of the ministrys vehicles to promote tourism to Egypt, Al-Masoud said.

In addition to the virtual tours, there are also other campaigns to meet the demands of the tourism market. We used to depend on Europe, which is closed now, so we have to find alternatives, especially as were approaching the summer season, Ehab said.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities intends to keep its virtual tours free of charge. But were studying different solutions and visions. [For example], we have got many offers to use archaeological sites to showcase products in a virtual reality theme, like [showcasing] paintings in the Citadel, it said.

WORLD MUSEUMS: Virtual tours are also taking off in other countries, opening the door to evaluations of the Egyptian versions.

Ministry officials are trying their best to be as advanced in terms of technology as other countries. We see this from the virtual tours of Luxor tombs and other museum virtual tours, Gamal said.

Even so, there are still famous museums worldwide that do not offer virtual tours.

But this technology has become one of the basics for any Website concerned with providing archaeological information in a different way from regular photographs with descriptions, Marashi said.

Meanwhile, the Google Arts and Culture Museum collection provides street views and virtual tours of cultural heritage sites worldwide. Founded in 2007 and part of the technology used for Google Maps and Google Earth, Google Street View now offers interactive panoramic views of streets and archaeological sites.

Google Arts and Culture offers virtual tours of 2,500 museums and galleries around the world. Virtual tours are available for the British Museum, which features thousands of artifacts, including the famous Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. The Musee dOrsay in Paris, also available as a virtual tour, features artworks from French artists Monet, Cezanne, and Gauguin.

Germanys biggest museum, the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, offers a virtual tour of the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and other items. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam offers a virtual tour of 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters by artist Vincent van Gogh.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is included, featuring western artworks from the impressionist, post-impressionist, modern and contemporary periods. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam features the works of Vermeer and Rembrandt. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles features paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs. The Louvre in Paris also offers virtual tours on its website.

No one has a clear idea of how tourism will look after Covid-19. Some people claim virtual tours could be the future of tourism, while others disagree. Part of the experience is to deal with the people of the country, and find out more about the culture, the food, the languages, even walk in the streets. Ehab said. These things cannot be had on a virtual tour.

Whether they will be the future of tourism or just a part of it, virtual tours are not just a port in a storm. They are very much needed at the current time, especially for Egypt.

We have very good potential. Our position is better than that of competitors. This is our chance to attract as many tourists as we can, Ehab said. The purpose is to maintain our connection with tourists and to let them know were still there.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 1 April, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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KYODO NEWS - Aug 5, 2021 - 23:53 | World, All

Ebrahim Raisi took office as Iran's president on Thursday, vowing to pursue a "fully peaceful" nuclear program and calling for international sanctions to be lifted.

Raisi said in his speech after being sworn-in that the policies of sanctions and pressure against Iran have not succeeded, and that his government would support diplomatic initiatives to end them.

Regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, he said in his remarks in parliament, which were broadcast over state-run Press TV, with English translation, that nuclear weapons "have no place in our defense doctrine" and are "religiously forbidden" by Islam.

Raisi vowed to proceed in a "tireless manner" to realize the people's calls for development and justice, stabilize the currency and revive the economy, while "resisting the expansionist policies by the arrogant, aggressive powers."

He said he would lead an "administration of national unity," adding, "I am here to serve the population of more than 80 million Iranians."

The former judiciary chief and conservative hard-liner was on Tuesday endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the new president of the country, which has had tense relations with the international community including the United States over issues such as nuclear development.

Leaders and senior officials from overseas attended his inauguration ceremony in Tehran.

Among them was High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union Enrique Mora, according to a report by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

Mora has mediated indirect talks between Iran and the United States on Washington's returning to a 2015 deal with six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- agreeing to limit Iran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.

The 60-year-old anti-U.S. Muslim cleric, who won his landslide victory in the presidential election in June, is the first conservative hard-liner to come into power in eight years.

He replaced relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani who had advocated constructive cooperation with the international community.

The Rouhani administration struck the 2015 deal, which initially had a positive impact on the economy. But in 2018, after then President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement, subsequent U.S. sanctions caused rising prices, a plunging currency and high unemployment in Iran.

Raisi has promised to continue indirect talks with the United States on reviving the nuclear deal, though his unwillingness to compromise may intensify the confrontation between the two countries.

In addition to sanctions that have damaged Iran's economy, the country has been struggling with a surge in coronavirus infections and other problems such as water shortage amid drought, which have exacerbated public dissatisfaction with the government.

Raisi himself was placed under U.S. sanctions for allegedly being involved in executions of political prisoners in 1988 when he was a Tehran deputy prosecutor.

After being sworn in, Raisi will form his Cabinet within two weeks.

Current Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led Iran's talks with the six major powers when they struck the 2015 deal, is likely to be replaced by a conservative hard-liner, according to sources close to the matter.

Related coverage:

Hard-liner Raisi endorsed as Iran's new president by supreme leader

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Iran elects conservative hard-liner Raisi as new president
By Reito Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Aug 5, 2021 - 21:24 | All, Japan

Japan's Defense Ministry said Thursday it has scrapped a plan to obtain U.S.-made long-range anti-ship missiles with standoff capabilities for the Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighter jets due to ballooning costs.

The acquisition of the Lockheed Martin missiles, known as LRASM, was aimed at arming the ASDF with anti-ship missiles that can be launched by planes without them being exposed to enemy counter fire.

The ministry made the decision before the deadline later this month of initial requests for a state budget for the next fiscal year from April 2022.

The LRASM is one of two U.S.-made cruise missiles that the ASDF planned to mount on its around 70 F-15s. The other is the firm's air-to-surface standoff missile, called JASSM.

For the upgrade, including enabling the F-15 jets to carry the two kinds of missiles, the U.S. side presented an initial cost of about 98 billion yen ($894 million) but later increased it to 218 billion yen, citing supply shortages of necessary electrical components and the need to update software.

By dropping the plan to mount the LRASM on the fighter jets, the ministry said it can save around 60 billion yen of its budget.

But the total cost to upgrade the F-15 jets was still expected to reach 398 billion yen, up 74 billion yen from its initial estimate.

At a time of increasing Chinese military assertiveness, the ministry has said the missiles, which are said to have a range of 900 kilometers, are necessary to boost the country's defense capabilities around the Nansei Islands, a chain stretching southwest toward Taiwan.

The ministry said it will continue the upgrade program for the 70 F-15s, aiming to complete the improvement of around 20 jets by March 2028.

The ministry's initial budget request for fiscal 2022 is unlikely to cover any of the costs related to the JASSM system and it will negotiate with the United States about the procurement until the end of this year.

As an alternative plan for the LRASM, the ministry said it is considering installing Japan-made standoff missiles on F-2 fighter jets.

Japan started developing its own standoff missiles from this fiscal year after securing a budget of 33.5 billion yen. The ministry plans to extend the firing range of surface-to-ship missiles that it had been developing to about 900 km.

The standoff missiles are being domestically developed to be launched from various platforms, not only from land but also from ships and aircraft.

Related coverage:

Japan scrambles jets less against China, others in FY 2020

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Tura (Meghalaya):

A member of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was killed in an encounter with police on Friday morning in Meghalayas East Garo Hills district, a senior officer said.

Around 6 am, a team of police officers raided Tarasin village in Songsak police station area of the district, having received information about the movement of militants in the region, Superintendent of Police Ringrang TG Momin said.

Based on the tip-off that some NDFB members and local miscreants have gathered at Tarasin village, an operation was launched early today to arrest them. On seeing a police team approaching, the militants opened fire, leading to gun battle between the two sides, Momin said.

Also Read | Assam: NDFB militant killed in encounter with security forces

While most of them managed to flee, one militant, identified as Koma Boro, was killed in the exchange, the SP said, adding that a rifle and a magazine were seized from the possession of the deceased.

The blood trails at the site of encounter also suggest that more militants might have suffered injuries in the firing, Momin added.
New Delhi:

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who is on a desperate attempt to consolidate opposition unity ahead of 2019 elections, on Wednesday said that she was not vying for the post of prime minister and the candidate for the top post will be decided collectively by all opposition parties.

"I am not for any post. I am interested in seeing that all parties should work together. All political parties will sit together and decide," Banerjee told PTI.

The Bengal chief minister, who is on a two-day visit to the national capital, on Wednesday met leaders of various parties including the Congress, TDP, YSR (Congress), DMK, RJD, SP and JD-S and invited them to her January 19 rally in Kolkata.

Read | Kolkata police grants permission for BJP president Amit Shah's August 11 rally

The TMC office in Parliament was abuzz after Banerjee arrived at the Central Hall to meet other opposition leaders.

Interestingly, Banerjee also met veteran BJP leader LK Advani and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and extended an invitation for her rally.

Banerjee also paid a visit to JD-S leader HD Deve Gowda and requested him to attend the rally.

The TMC chief also stressed on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue in Assam and requested all the opposition leaders to send a delegation to Assam and create pressure on the government.

Read | BJYM files police case after Mamata Banerjee's 'Civil War, Bloodbath' statement

Banerjee also went to Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10 Janpath and discussed several political issues and the possibility of contesting elections together in future. Apart from the UPA chairperson, Mamata also met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and invite both of them to her rally.

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Nagpur:

Rajya Sabha MP and Dhangar community leader Vikas Mahatme on Friday warned of an agitation by his community members if they are not granted the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in Maharashtra.

The Dhangar (shepherd) community has been for long demanding the ST status which will allow them to avail reservation in government jobs and education.

The community is currently classified as a Nomadic Tribe (NT) in the state and Mahatme's comments come in the backdrop of the ongoing protests by the Marathas over their demand for reservation in government jobs and education.

Mahatme said he raised the ST status issue in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Also Read | Rights of SC/ST, minorities 'absolutely safe' under Modi government, says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Talking to PTI over the phone, Mahatme said, "The issue of granting ST status to the Dhangar community has been pending since the last 70 years. The BJP, in its election manifesto, had promised ST status to the Dhangar community."

The state government should recommend to the Centre to include the Dhangars in the list of STs, said Mahatme.

"This is necessary otherwise the Dhangar community may hit the roads and start aggressive protests as being done by the Marathas," said Mahatme.

Last year, the Maharashtra government had said in the legislature that it is committed to include the Dhangar community in the ST category.

Read More | Dalit protests: 5,000 booked, 32 arrested for rioting in Ghaziabad

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Mumbai:

Five MLAs have so far resigned over the Maratha quota demand. Bharat Bhalke (Congress), Rahul Aher (BJP) and Dattatraya Bharne (NCP) resigned as legislators on Thursday, Maharashtra Assembly sources said.

Bhalke, who represents Pandharpur in Solapur district, said he was resigning to express solidarity with quota protests.

Talking to PTI, Bhalke said he had visited the family of Maratha activist Kakasaheb Shinde, who committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari in Aurangabad district on July 23.

"The sentiments of the Maratha youth are intense. There is lot of unrest over the lack of (job) opportunities. Promises made to them have not been fulfilled. I have decided to resign to express my solidarity with the Maratha quota protesters as well as in support of the demand for quota by the Dhangars and other deprived communities," Bhalke said.

Also Read | Maratha Reservation should go up from 50 pc to 75 pc, says Union Minister Ramdas Athawale

"I am quitting membership of the assembly to highlight the unrest among the Marathas, Dhangars, Muslims and Mahadeo Koli communities," he said.

Bhalke said the Maharashtra government has stayed the previous Congress government's decision to allot quota for Muslims even though the (Bombay) high court had not passed any adverse comment on the Muslim reservation.

The high court in 2014 stayed implementation of the Congress-NCP government's decision to provide reservation to Marathas. It also stayed the decision to provide five per cent reservation to the Muslims in government service, but allowed quotas for them in educational institutions.

Aher, who represents Chandwad in Nashik district, announced in Nashik city that he was resigning as MLA.

He handed over his resignation letter to Maratha Kranti Morcha activists who were fasting in protest outside the district collector's office on Thursday afternoon.

"Please treat this letter as my resignation. Whenever required, the Maratha community members could hand it over to Assembly Speaker," he stated.

Read More | Maratha Reservation Protest: Maratha Kranti Morcha calls off Mumbai bandh

On Wednesday, Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar (NCP) from Aurangabad district had offered to resign in support of the quota demand.

Jadhav, who represents Kannad assembly constituency, submitted his resignation letter to the office of the Assembly Speaker on Thursday morning.

Chikatgaonkar (Vaijapur constituency) said he had e-mailed his resignation to the Speaker.

Later on Thursday, Dattatraya Bharne, the NCP legislator from Indapur, also sent his resignation to the Speaker as well as to party leader Ajit Pawar.

"Despite oral as well as written promises by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, no concrete decision on the reservation was taken to date which is a serious matter," Bharne said.

A Vidhan Bhavan official said an MLA who wished to resign was not required to specify the reason, but some of the MLAs who have quit have stated the reason -- that they were quitting in support of the agitation.

The resignation letter, which should be in a prescribed format, needs to be addressed to the Speaker, the official said.

Read More | Maratha reservation: 10 reasons Maratha Kranti Morcha stir turned violent

The agitation of the Maratha community for reservation in jobs and education turned violent on Wednesday as Maratha outfits called for a bandh in Mumbai and surrounding areas.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the government was ready for talks with the agitators.

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Singapore:

A Bangladeshi national disguised as a Sikh to rob a pawn shop here has been arrested, Singapore police said on Thursday.



Sheikh Md Razan, 29, who was working as a construction worker previously and had overstayed since last December, was arrested on Wednesday evening.



Razan, wearing a pink turban, entered a ValueMax pawn shop outside Boon Lay Mass Rapid Transit station at about 4.30pm on July 28 armed with a knife and a replica of a gun, which later turned out to be made of plastic.



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Pawn shop is a shop or business common for exchanging jewellery for cash here. On barging in the shop, he demanded that the shops employee hand over to him all the cash and jewellery.



When the employee refused, the man allegedly said he would blow up the shop, claiming he had an explosive device. He then allegedly threw the object onto the counter and fled without taking any items.



The workers immediately threw the object out of the shop and called the police. No one was injured in the incident. The object contained electrical components.



After the foiled robbery attempt, the suspect allegedly went to an apartment block in the industrial district of Jurong West, within the vicinity of the train station left his backpack, discarded his clothing and turban behind the potted plants outside a residence.



The items, along with a chopper, were found in the backpack behind the plants. A few hours later, when a resident noticed the backpack, the police was alerted.



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This gave a clearer picture of what Razan looked like, the police said during a press conference. Deputy Commissioner of Police and Director of the Criminal Investigation Department Florence Chua said the suspect was quite surprised when he was caught. He didnt think we had caught on to his disguise, she said. The suspect is expected to be charged in court on Thursday.

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New Delhi:

Over 500 licensed water trolleys were seized in north Delhi after samples taken from them were found unfit for consumption, the NDMC said on Thursday.



There are 1,623 such trolleys which have been issued licence by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and they charge Rs 2 for a glass of water.



Generally parked on pavements or other public places, these facilities cater to people, especially the lower-income group in quenching their thirst.



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The information was provided by the civic body in response to questions asked by standing committee member and senior Congress leader Mukesh Goel on Wednesday during a special meeting of the committee called to discuss preparations for tackling water-borne diseases in the monsoon season.



Civic body officials check the chlorine content of water during inspection of the trollies. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), maximum amount of chlorine allowed in drinking water is 5 mg/l.



These water samples were tested this year starting January 1 and the trolleys were seized by the authorities after they were found in violation of norms, the NDMC said.



The Health Department has tested samples from 572 trolleys so far and the water has been found unfit for consumption, Goel said.



No strict actions have been taken against the owners of these trolleys and just let off after slapping a fine. They have not even ensured that in future these trollies serve clean drinking water, he alleged.



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Goel also sought to link the findings to cases of water-borne diseases in the capital. Areas under the north corporation have reported 378 cases of diarrhoea and 89 of cholera this year till July. And, 3,293 cases of diarrhoea and 717 cases of cholera have been reported since 2015.



Goel also demanded that beds in Hindu Rao Hospital earmarked for patients of dengue, malaria and chikungunya, be increased, and provisions be made for life-saving drugs, anti-rabies vaccines and Yellow Fever injection.
Lahore:

Pakistans first Sikh police officer has been sacked from service for being absent from office for over three months, a traffic police spokesperson said on Friday.

Gulab Singh, 35, has been dismissed from work for staying absent from office for over three months, traffic police spokesperson Ali Nawaz told PTI on Friday.

Superintendent Police Traffic Asif Sadiq after an inquiry against Gulab Singh for staying absent from office over three months has dismissed him from service. He could not defend himself before an inquiry committee, Nawaz said.

He said Singh can file an appeal in the office of the deputy inspector general traffic police against his dismissal.

Last month, Singh had claimed that he was forcibly evicted by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), the parent body of Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) from his house in a village near Lahore along with his children and wife.

Talking to PTI, Singh alleged that the traffic police SP had taken action against him on the request of the ETPB.

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The board had approached the traffic police and asked SP Sadiq to pressure me to withdraw a case against the board officials for illegally evicting me and my family members from our house at Gurdwara Janaesthan Bebey Nankay, Dera Chahal Lahore, he said.

He said he had an accident and presented a medical certificate along with his leave application to the department.

Since the department had no other legal point to initiate action it chose to proceed against me on the leave issue, he said, adding he was confident that the DIG traffic would listen to him and restore him during the course of appeal.

Singh said he would not withdraw his case in the court against his and his family members illegal eviction by the ETPB.

Even the Supreme Court has taken notice of our illegal eviction and the board is worried about that, he said.

The Lahores Sessions Court had also issued a contempt of court notice to the ETPB that looks after the holy places of minorities in Pakistan and police Inspector Imtiaz Ahmed for evicting Gulab Singh and his family members from their house.

The next date of hearing is August 7.

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Singh said despite the case was pending in the session court the officials of the ETPB and police raided his house on July 10 and forcibly evicted his family, declaring that it is its (ETPB) property. He alleged the board officials and the inspector tortured him and broke his arm.

Singh says he has been living at his residence since 1996.

The ETBP is now justifying its action on the basis that this land is part of the Gurudwara's Langar Hall. My grandfather had been living here since 1947 and the board had no right to seal my house despite the case pending in the court of law, he said and added that the ETPB took the help of a notorious police official to get the house vacated as it had no order of the court or magistrate in this respect.

Singh is the only Sikh warden in the Punjab Traffic Police who joined the service in 2006.

ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi denied any torture of Singh or his family members or forcibly evicting his family.

The board officials sealed Gulab Singhs residence after issuing at least three notices to him. This place is a Langar Hall of Gurdwara Bebey Nankey and Singh had illegally occupied it, he said.

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Barasat (West Bengal):

A religious organisation put up road blockades in North 24 Parganas district in protest against the alleged manhandling of a Trinamool Congress MP, who belongs to the organisation, at Silchar airport, police said.

The All India Matua Mahasangha, a religious reformation organisation mainly representing the backward classes, blocked the Habra-Bashirhat Road at two places Pairagachhi and Kashipur.

The police intervened and the agitators left the two places after around half-an-hour, police said.

They were protesting against the alleged manhandling of Mamatabala Thakur, the Trinamool Congress MP from Bangaon, at Silchar airport in Assam where she had gone as part of a party delegation to assess the post-NRC situation in Assam.

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However, after they landed at the airport on Thursday afternoon, the Cachar district authorities stopped them and took under preventive detention saying their visit might create trouble.

The TMC leaders alleged that they had been manhandled by the police and even women MPs were not spared. The Assam Police, however, denied the charge.

Mamatabala Thakur belongs to the Matua community.

The Matuas had squatted on rail tracks at many stations of the district on Wednesday protesting the exclusion of 40 lakh people from Assams complete draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Bengaluru:

The naval version of the indigenously built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft on Thursday underwent a series of successful tests to check its capability to land on an aircraft carrier, officials said.

India has joined a select club of countries including US, Europe, Russia and China to have the capability to produce aircraft which can operate from an aircraft carrier, an official said.

The official said a series of tests including taxi-ins of the jet was carried out on a naval platform in Goa, in a significant milestone for development of the naval version of the jet. A series of further tests to check landing and refuelling of the aircraft will be carried out in the next few months.

Tejas is a four-and-half generation light combat aircraft developed by state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Initially, the Indian Air Force placed an order with the HAL for 40 Tejas aircraft. In December last year, the IAF began the process to procure another batch of 83 Tejas aircraft at a cost of over Rs 50,000 crore.

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About the tests on Thursday, the official said the LCA naval prototype 2 (NP2), piloted by Capt Shivnath Dahiya safely executed the first contact of the arrestor hook system at moderate taxi-in speeds at a shore-based test facility in Goa.

This is the first of a series of engagement planned at proving the arrestor hook capability, said Chief Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd T Suvarna Raju.

The exercise was monitored closely by the Landing Signal Officer commodre J A Maolankar and Test director Group Capt A Kabadwal (Retd), the Bengaluru-based HAL, said in a release.

HAL said its design wing, Aircraft Research and Design Centre, has designed and developed the arrestor hooksystem for ship deck operations of LCAs Naval version.

The aircraft had been operating at INS Hansa Goa since July 28 after verification of the in-air operation of the system here earlier this month, the release said.

Teams of HAL, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC), Regional Director Aeronautical Quality Assurance (RDAQA), Navy and National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) have worked synergistically to achieve this flawless result, the release added

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Another official said detailed carrier compatibility trials (CCT) of naval aircraft are slated to be carried out at shore-based test facility soon.

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Bhabhua (Bihar):

A block development officer (BDO) was caught red-handed by vigilance department sleuths while accepting bribe of Rs 1.15 lakh in Bihars Kaimur district, a senior officer said on Thursday.

Varsha Tarve, a BDO at Rampur block of Kaimur district, had demanded five per cent commission for approving a piped drinking water project worth Rs 23 lakh under the state governments Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal scheme, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Akshay Kumar Mishra said.

When the bureau came to know about the demand from Satyendra Kumar Singh, the village head of Kurari gram panchayat at Rampur block of the district, a 12-member team was constituted to net BDO Tarve, Mishra said.

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As per the plan, Singh approached the BDO with notes laced with a chemical powder. The bureau team then raided the BDOs official residence and asked her to dip her hands in water, the colour of which changed after coming in contact with the chemical powder on her fingers, Mishra stated

Apart from the bribe money, the team also seized Rs 1.70 lakh from the BDOs possession, the Dy SP said, adding that Tarve could not give satisfactory replies to the officers when inquired about the cash.
Kota (Rajasthan):

The blood-stained body of a 52-year-old man, with his skull crushed, was found in the forest near the Andheri Bridge in Kota on Thursday morning, police said.

The body was found in the R K Puram police station area. The victims mobile phone and spectacles were scattered nearby, they said.

A case of murder was lodged against unidentified accused and an investigation initiated in this connection, officials said.

The victim was identified as Ayub Khan, a resident of Bundi district, R K Puram police station Circle In-charge Rajendra Meena said, adding that the skull was crushed with a heavy stone.

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Police have lodged a case under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC and efforts were on to trace the killer, he said.

The deceased used to work as a labour in the Dabi mining area and was living with his sister in Vigyan Nagar in Kota, Meena said.

A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory also visited the site to collect samples.
New Delhi:

A next-generation fabric that cleans itself was among three innovative ideas selected for long-term incubation under the Nexus programme hosted at the American Center in New Delhi.

The fourth cohort of entrepreneurs (11 teams) chosen from 130-odd applications also graduated on Thursday after undergoing an intense 10-week training programme that featured workshops conducted by experts and industry leaders from the two countries.

Nexus is an entrepreneurial platform to encourage Indian start-ups and help them grow in the industry. It is funded primarily by the US State Department and executed by University of Texas at Austins IC2 institutean interdisciplinary research unit of the university, with support from TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), FICCI, Indian School of Business, the department of science and technology, USAID among other partners.

The first batch of Nexus graduated in July last year, which had 10 start-ups chosen from over 113 applications from all over India.

Among the 11 innovations which were shortlisted for the fourth edition of the programme, three were chosen for long-term incubation, Nexus director Erik Azulay, who moved to Delhi from Austin to set up and run the centre, said.

The three ideas/innovations we have selected for long-term incubation which would run for about eight months, include a smart fabric (Ubifab) that cleans itself from stains and a mobile app (Ringlerr) that lets a user send personalised message while calling.

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And a technology (Palta Engineering) for sorting-cum-composting which can segregate waste resulting in reduction of waste quantity at the source of generation, he said.

The fourth cohort to come out of the Nexus business incubator since its inception just over a year ago, joins 30 other start-ups already making an impact in India, the US Embassy said in a statement.

The ceremony was also notable for being the first to include leaders and entrepreneurs from the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

These 30 individuals are the first selectees of South Asia Connect, a Nexus expansion that aims to spread entrepreneurial know-how, share best practices, and build regional cooperation in the Indian sub-continent to boost intra-regional trade and investments, the statement said.

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Azulay said, during the long-term incubation period, the selected groups will be guided and mentored to fine-tune and further shape their innovations to take them to the next level.

It serves as an innovation hub and business incubator for start-ups who get unparalleled access to industry and government networks, training from top commercialisation experts around the world, and an extensive mentor network. Nexus is now recognized as one of the premier business incubators in India, the embassy said.
New Delhi:

Mumbai-based Indian airline Jet Airways has reportedly informed its employees that it will not be able to operate beyond 60 days unless cost-cutting measures, including salary cuts, are put in place.

Despite several rounds of cost-cutting measures, the company continued to bleed cash and needed drastic measures to cut costs.

With the countdown underway, the full-service airline company was believed to be in discussions with certain sections of employees on the salary cut proposal, which has been mooted amid efforts to save costs and avoid grounding of its planes.

Pilots and engineers who had refused a proposed 15 per cent pay-check cut for two years had been informed that the airline was running out of time to slash costs and raise revenue, according to reports.

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We have been informed that the airline cannot run beyond two months and the management needs to cut cost through pay cuts and other means to ensure that it stays afloat beyond that. The airline did not inform us about all this all these years which has dented trust of employees in the management, The Economic Times quoted a Jet Airways senior executive as saying.

Indias oldest private sector airline was looking for working capital loans but banks wanted it to show a turnaround commitment, the source said.

Apart from the salary-cut, which is expected to last up to 24 months, the airline company has also waived the notice period requirements of its pilots and laid-off most of its engineering staff.

Jet Airways slumps 6% in morning trade on bourses

Shares of the company on Friday opened on a weak note at Rs 324.80, then fell 5.72 per cent to a low of Rs 312.25 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after reports surfaced that the companys financials are in bad shape and drastic measures need to be taken to cut costs.

Similar movement was seen on the National Stock Exchange as well, where the stock of the company opened at Rs 323.90, then fell to a low of Rs 312.15, down 5.73 per cent over its previous closing price.

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Jet Airways, which completed 25 years of operations earlier this year, had 16,558 permanent employees as on March 31, 2018.

Besides, there were a total of 6,306 temporary/casual employees, as per the airlines annual report for 2017-18.



(With inputs from agencies)









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On Thursday afternoon in Afghanistan's Balkh province, one civilian was killed and six others were injured in a blast, sources reported. The blast occurred at Mazar-e-Sharif, the city of Balkh province this afternoon. The Balkh police confirmed the blast. "At least one civilian was killed and six others were wounded in a blast this afternoon in Mazar-e-Sharif, capital of Balkh province, a security source said. Balkh police confirmed the blast but said four civilians were wounded," sources reported.

Let us tell you the incident took place at around 3 pm on the western side of Hazrat Ali shrine, Balkh police. Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its attack against Afghan forces and civilians with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.

Over the last few weeks, the Taliban have occupied several districts in Afghanistan including Takhar, the country's northeastern province. Nationwide, the Taliban controls 223 districts, with 116 contested and the government holding 68, according to the Long War Journal, whose calculations tally with CNN's estimates. It says 17 of 34 provincial capitals are directly threatened by the Taliban.

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At least 30 corpses have washed up on the Sudanese banks of a river that abuts Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray, according to two Ethiopian refugees and four Sudanese witnesses who told Reuters on Monday they had retrieved the bodies. The bodies were found in the Setit River, known in Ethiopia as the Tekeze, which is the current de facto borderline between territory controlled by Tigrayan forces and those controlled by Amhara forces allied with Ethiopia's federal government.

At a different point, the river also separates Sudan from Ethiopia. Dr. Tewodros Tefera, a surgeon who escaped from the Ethiopian border town of Humera, told Reuters he buried 10 bodies over the past six days in Sudan and was told by local fishermen and refugees another 28 had been recovered, including seven on Monday.

"They were shot in their chest, abdomen, legs... and also had their hands tied," he said adding that he had been able to identify three bodies belonging to Tigrayans from Humera, with the help of refugees. Many Tigrayans from Humera fled into Sudan when the fighting began. Some of the bodies had been shot, others were tied up by their hands but without other visible injuries, the four told Reuters. The village is about 42 kilometers (26 miles) from Hamdayet camp in Sudan, where the Ethiopian refugees found the bodies.

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A gang on Wednesday vandalized a Hindu temple in Pakistan's Punjab province after a nine-year-old Hindu boy, who allegedly urinated at a local seminary, received bail, a media report said on Thursday. The Pakistan Rangers have been deployed in the area to check the situation.

Besides the vandalization, the mob also blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5), the report added. As per international media reports a case was registered against the minor on July 24 based on a complaint filed by a cleric, Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim, of the Darul Uloom Arabia Taleemul Quran. The sources added that "some Hindu elders did tender an apology to the seminary administration saying the accused was a minor and mentally challenged". A video clip showing people wielding clubs and rods storming the temple and destroying its glass doors, windows, lights and damaging the ceiling fans have gone viral on social media.

The media reports quoted, Hundreds of people descended on the temple in Bhong city, some 590 kilometres from Lahore, after a local court granted bail to a 9-year-old Hindu boy who allegedly urinated at a library of the seminary last week.

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A large blaze outside the capital, Athens, had receded on Wednesday morning after thousands of people were forced to flee their homes the previous day, Greek firefighters said in a statement. Following the wildfire, a state of emergency has been declared in Greece's Varybobi area and the wider municipality of Acharnes in the north of Athens.

As per media reports, the biggest of these blazes were on the island of Evia, in ancient Olympia, although though wildfires have also ripped through Messinia in the Peloponnese, and in Chalkidiki on the northern side of Greece. Thousands of people were evacuated from more than 10 villages on the island of Evia, as the wildfire was spreading on four major fronts in the north part of the island, burning houses and forest land since Tuesday evening.

"We give a titanic battle in multiple fire fronts," Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing on Wednesday evening, as wildfires raged across the country. Coast guard vessels along with private boats assisted to transfer 90 residents and tourists of the coastal town of Rovies, in Evia, who were sent to the beach for safety in the port of Edipsos, as per Greek national news reports.

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A governor (province chief) in Nepal, like the countrys president, is a ceremonial post. The position was envisioned when Nepal adopted federalism in 2017 as per the 2015 constitution. The governors role, according to the constitution, is similar to that of the president but limited to their respective provinces.

They are supposed to accept or reject the recommendation made by the provincial councils of ministers, read out policy and programme, enact bills or ask provincial assemblies to reconsider these bills for amendment and work within the rules mentioned in the constitution.

The governor has not been given an executive role in the government even though they play a major role in how their respective province is run including the formation and running of the provincial government and enactment of laws.

But, in the past three years, the role of the governor has come into question due to the manner in which they have been appointed and removed; they have been changed by the central government freely. Further, there have been questions of their integrity as the central government has been using the governors as a weapon to alter provincial politics in their favour. Over the past year, there have also been examples of the political parties appointing an incapable leader as the governor to ensure that whatever they want happens in the province.

A governor changing with the change in the central government is not an uncommon affair. But in Nepal, governors are being replaced as soon as the prime minister changes. The position of the governor has been misused by the federal ruling party to make provincial governments in its own favour. Meanwhile, some governors also delayed the process of handing over power even if the opposition parties garner majority support.

There have also been examples of governors sending back the bills already passed by the provincial assemblies for discussions and asking healthy provincial assembly members to call in sick to alter the voting process to manipulate decision making. All these have seriously affected the nascent republicanism in Nepal, view experts.

A wrong start

The first batch of Nepals provincial governors, 2018-19

When governors were appointed first in 2018, all parties have got their fair share. The person who suggested this was current Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. But, experts say that this should never have been the case.

Dipendra Jha, the chief attorney of Province 2, says the governors role should have been given to a person who is impartial, trusted and honest. A person who has given his/her all to the country should have been given this role, he says.

But, when Deuba, before his fourth term as prime minister ended, ensured that all parties would get their at least one person among the seven governors.

He had consulted with erstwhile Rastriya Janata Party and erstwhile Socialist Forum and appointed governors for all seven provinces. RJP and Forum got one each while the remaining five belonged to Nepali Congress. All seven appointees were active political leaders.

The first seven governors were Govindna Subba (Province 1), Ratneshwar Lal Kayastha (Province 2), Anuradha Koirala (Bagmati), Baburam Kunwar (Gandaki), Uma Kanta Jha (Lumbini), Durga Keshar Khanal (Karnali) and Mohan Raj Malla (Sudurpachim Province).

Subba was a local NC leader while Kayashta was the Forums cadre. Celebrated social worker Koirala had recently joined the NC before her appointment whereas Kunwar was a close aide to Shushil Koirala. Jha was a minister, Khanal a senior NC leader and Malla had only joined the NC a few days before being appointed.

Deuba  Oli  Deuba

Newly appointed governors (province chiefs) take the oath of office from President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

The trend that started with Deuba continued when KP Sharma Oli became prime minister as he changed everyone appointed by Deuba, which Deuba has changed again after taking office.

The first lot of governors appointed by Deuba were in office from January 17, 2018, to November 3, 2019. All of them were removed from office by Oli once he took office.

Like Deuba, Oli also chose to appoint yes-men (and one woman) to the position of governors. As it was a coalition, Oli did, however, consult with Pushpa Kamal Dahal before appointing governors as four were from the CPN-UML whereas three were from the CPN-Maoist Centre.

Somnath Adhikari Pyasi (Province 1), Tilak Pariyar (Province 2), Bishnu Prasad Prasai (Bagmati), Amik Sherchan (Gandaki), Dharmanath Yadav (Lumbini), Govinda Prasad Kalauni (Karnali) and Sharmila Kumari Panta Tripathi (Sudurpachim) were appointed by Oli on November 2019.

All seven appointees were active in politics for either the UML or the Maoists. Sherchan and Adhikari were invitees to the standing committee of the party formed after the unification of the UML and the Maoists while Pariyar was the partys central committee member. Prasai had even lost his Jhapa mayoral elections. Yadav was the partys central member and Siraha district co-in-charge whereas Kulaini, on the other hand, had been a UML leader for a long time. Tripati was a member of the conflict-affected family.

Adhikari, Prasai, Yadav and Kalauni all were Oli supporters, that is why Madhav Kumar Nepal was upset as there was no consultation within the party before the appointment. Nepal had even filed a note of dissent after this.

According to a source close to the party, Nepal wanted Biswakant Mainali, Pradeep Nepal, Raghuji Panta, Beduram Bhusal and Shree Maya Thakali to be appointed governors. Apart from Mainali, all others were also active in politics.

During Olis time, he was often criticised for being too authoritarian. But, much of it was justified as after his tensions with Dahal, he removed all governors associated with the Maoists.

By March 4, Oli removed Pariyar, Sherchan, and Panta and replaced them with Rajesh Jha (Province 2), Sita Paudel (Gandaki) and Ganga Prasad Yadav (Sudurpachin).

Now that Deuba is at the helm, he has already started removing the governors appointed by Oli. He has already removed Paudel and Dharma Nath Yadav and replaced them with Prithvi Man Singh Gurung (Gandakri) and Amik Sherchan (Lumbini). Sherchan has already severed as the governor of Gandaki.

There was a chance for Deuba to not repeat the same mistakes, but he has done the same thing again.

Serving the party interests

Due to party partisanship, disrespecting such a post has been a common affair in the past few years. An example is an issue in Lumbini and the role Governor Dharma Nath Yadav played in the removal of its chief minister.

On April 22, the Lumbini Provincial Assembly meeting was called to discuss the no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel. But before the discussion could begin, Pokhrel resigned from his post.

The opposition parties, stating they had a majority of 42 lawmakers, put forward Kul Prasad KC to replace Pokhrel as the CM. But, soon, Pokhrel also staked his claim to be the CM, claiming he had 41 lawmakers in his favour.

To tackle this, Governor Yadav did two things. Firstly, he did not check who actually had a majority. Secondly, he appointed Pokhrel the CM. Puzzled by all this, the opposition, with signatures of 42 lawmakers, wrote to the governor asking him to revoke his decision. But, Yadav turned a blind eye to all this and avoided the issue altogether.

This resulted in a stand-off at the Provincial Assembly as the opposition was hell-bent on stopping Pokhrel from taking the oath. But, disregarding all this, Governor Yadav facilitated the oath at the chief ministers office and made Pokhrel the provinces CM again.

Sita Paudel also had a hard time after being the Gandaki governor on May 5. As soon as she took office, she said it was time the provinces speaker resigned. When she took office, the Gandaki Provincial Assembly had been prorogued indefinitely. There was confusion among everyone on how to take the assembly forward. To start things, she asked the speaker to resign as she felt that the speaker was the person responsible for the assembly to function properly.

This statement was criticised heavily by peoples representatives as they felt a person who sits in a ceremonial post could not make such statements. The speaker might have been wrong, but he is elected by the people, not like the governor who is appointed based on political connection, says a member of the Provincial Assembly.

Paudels partition behaviour got exposed during the appointment of the next chief minister after incumbent Prithvi Subba Gurung lost the vote of confidence in the assembly. Then, the opposition parties gave the name of Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel for the next CM, stating they had 31 votes, which in Gandaki is a clear majority. But, Paudel stalled the appointment for several hours.

Province 2 Governor Rajesh Jha also has his fair share of challenges. He was heavily criticised when he rejected two bills forwarded by the Provincial Assembly.

Jha said the Health Bill did not have a provision for protecting motherhood and the Provincial Medal Bill did not have a provision for honouring farmers and wanted them changed to add these provisions. The provincial government added these things and sent them to Jha. But, Jha returned the bills again to the Provincial Assembly. On the Health Bill, he added 13 more points and on the Provincial Medal Bill, he added 11 points and asked the lawmakers to change it.

Former Governor Baburam Kunwar says that a governor can suggest changes to a bill, but in Province 2s case, there has been a lot of changes.

I think he tried to be too active and became too authoritative and said he would not pass the bill, says Kunwar. That is wrong.

The Province 2 Chief Attorney Dipendra Jha says Rajesh Jha was a bit out of hand and his actions went against the constitution.

He sent back two bills and asked for inclusiveness, which is good. But, this isnt what a governor should be doing according to the constitution anyway, says the attorney. But, hes not been able to answer on what basis he returned these bills.
Kathmandu, August 5

A probe committee has found out that some Nepal Police staffers leaked test papers prepared for a qualification test for various peace missions.

One of such tests was held at the police headquarters in Kathmandu on Saturday. Before the test, it was revealed that some of the examinees had already got the question papers in advance.

Following that, a new question set was prepared immediately whereas Inspector General Shailesh Thapa Kshetri had formed a team to look into the issue.

The investigation team led by DIG Basanta Lama has found that some staffers of the UN Section of the headquarters stole the papers and circulated them among the examinees.

Meanwhile, Suresh Bam of the section and Kumar Shah of the Cyber Bureau have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the case. Further investigation is underway.
Kathmandu, August 5

Japan confirms around 800,000 dozes of the AstraZeneca vaccines made in the country will arrive in Nepal this Saturday and Sunday as a grant assistance from the Tokyo government to Kathmandu.

Whereas Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu has announced that Japan will provide 1.6 million doses of the Japan-made to Nepal to fight the pandemic, approximately half will be delivered in Kathmandu by Sunday, the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu informs in a statement.

The latter half of the Japanese-donated vaccines for Nepal will be shipped to Kathmandu in due course, under the arrangements with the relevant organisations, the embassy assures.

As Covishield was also an AstraZeneca type, the vaccine to be provided by Japan could be administered to the people aged 65 and above who are waiting for the second dose of the Covishield Covid-19 vaccine for the past few months.
A single plate of cultured cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, stained red and viewed under magnification. The white spots are plaques that have formed where the cells have been destroyed by the virus. These cultures are part of a project that seeks to identify targets for COVID-19 drug discovery. (Image courtesy of Andrew P. Bluhm, biological scientist.)

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Florida is making progress in their search for targets that could be used for developing treatments for infections with COVID-19. The team recently posted a paper to bioRxiv reporting the identification of 53 novel genes and pathways that could become druggable targets for antiviral therapies for COVID-19 plus a broad array of coronavirus types.

Their work also identified existing compounds that target many of these same genes and pathways and that function as inhibitors to reduce viral growth. These antivirals are candidates for further testing as possible pan-coronavirus inhibitors, the team says, which could be effective at reducing the severity of infection across multiple types of coronaviruses.

The UF investigators used CRISPR gene editing techniques to search for genes and molecular pathways that aid in the replication of human coronaviruses. Team members include Stephanie Karst of the UF College of Medicine, Chris Vulpe of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Michael Norris of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Principal investigator Norris, a UF molecular biologist and bioengineer, says that identifying new or repurposed therapeutics is critical due to the increasing impact of new genetic variants in the pandemic.

We need every possible weapon against this virus, says Norris, who is a member of UFs Emerging Pathogens Institute.

UF molecular biologist and bioengineer Mike Norris works in a biosafety-level 3 laboratory while wearing full personal protective equipment. (Image courtesy of Mike Norris.)

The importance of antiviral therapies

The discovery of broad-spectrum antiviral targets would be a useful tool in the fight against newly emerging genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. While most of the world focuses on vaccine campaigns to end the COVID-19 pandemic, less attention has been paid to the parallel role of developing antiviral therapies.

Antivirals work by blocking or slowing a viruss ability to replicate inside a host. These therapies typically target proteins produced by either the virus itself, or its host, and interfere with the pathogens ability to make more of itself.

Several factors underscore the need to develop antiviral therapies for COVID-19. First, future variants could potentially erode vaccine efficiency by evading detection by the immune system, which means it is important to keep searching for antiviral therapies that could help to lessen the severity of COVID-19 infections and symptoms.

Second, some people cant receive vaccines, such as those with compromised immune systems, and a COVID-19 antiviral would provide a potent tool for mitigating the severity or length of infections.

Third, antivirals would help to relieve the burden of disease and slow transmission in regions or countries with little or no access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Screening cell cultures with CRISPR techniques

The research team used cultured cells that were experimentally infected with two different types of coronaviruses: SARS-CoV-2 and OC43. The first produces COVID-19 while the second produces a relatively mild and seasonally circulating common cold.

They included OC43 to zero in on targets that span both coronaviruses, which indicates that these could be broad-spectrum druggable targets, capable of being effective against a variety of coronaviruses known to infect humans. The appeal of a broad-spectrum antiviral target is that it could also prove effective against future coronaviruses that have not yet emerged but could be even more devastating than SARS-CoV-2.

The team used a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR to rapidly screen through all host genes to identify the few key genes that promote coronavirus infections in mammals. This approach helped the team pinpoint novel cellular pathways that the virus can use to replicate inside human cells. Inhibiting or silencing specific genes of interest allowed the team to confirm the role played by these pathways in the replication of the virus that causes COVID-19 and common colds.

Identification of these pathways is key to designing new drugs or identifying existing inhibitors for the treatment or prevention of coronaviral infections, Norris says. Our work demonstrates that existing drugs can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and the production of infectious particles in human lung cells.

This panel of images shows cultured cell plates that are not infected with SARS-CoV-2 (top row) and that are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (bottom row). Each plate was exposed to a particular compound to test its inhibitory effects on viral growth; a control group that received no interventions is pictured in the far left column labeled "no treatment." (Image courtesy of Mike Norris.)

Genes and antiviral compounds of interest

The research team found that several host genes are important for both SARS-CoV-2 and OC43 infections, which means that these genes are considered candidates for broad-spectrum therapies against coronaviruses that infect humans.

Three genesCDK4, EDC4 and XRN1were found to play important roles in promoting replication pathways for the two coronaviruses. These genes could be important targets for developing antiviral therapies, the researchers say. If drugs could safely target them and inhibit their role, it would limit the coronaviruss ability to replicate and spread within a host; in essence, controlling the infection and the symptoms it produces.

Three additional genes were identified as possibly supporting viral propagation from the host cell. GNPTAB, GNPTG and NAGPA were found to be involved in encoding for lysosomal proteins which the researchers speculate may promote the release of virions  the replicated progeny of a virus  from an infected cell.

Targeting these factors could lead to the development of a drug that prevents infected cells from releasing replicated virus. This effect might buy the immune system time to mount a more effective defense, while shortening the length and severity of an infection.

The study also identified 21 other genes that have been previously reported in other CRISPR screening studies, which validates the technique and the strength of the findings.

The team also screened multiple existing antiviral compounds which target the identified host genes to search for candidate anti-viral agents. Several compounds diminished coronavirus replication in cell culture experiments, including a cell cycle inhibitor, known as ABE, which targets CDK4.

This compound and other candidate drugs which target the host capacity to support coronavirus replication hold great promise as a novel class of antiviral agents, says principal investigator Vulpe. Of course, additional work to validate these findings and demonstrate efficacy in more complex models, such as a mouse model, and ultimately in people, are necessary.

Next steps

Norris says that the work to date has focused on virus-host interactions in cell cultures and that the team will next plans to test their findings in living organisms. With Karst as the principal investigator, the team received a 2021 UF Research Opportunity Seed Fund award to examine host RNA-processing dependencies of coronavirus infection first identified in the CRISPR experiments.

Proving that these factors of interest prevent COVID-19 in an in vivo animal model is an essential step in the development of our potential therapeutics, Norris says.

Vulpe notes that UFs EPI is uniquely poised to support this work.

The EPI, luckily, is one of the few institutions in the world that has the capability to carry out these critical studies with viral containment animal facilities, Vulpe says.

Acknowledgments

The investigators acknowledge the exceptional efforts of the researchers who made this work possible. They are Andrew Bluhm, Michael Norris' lab; Marco Grodski, Stephanie Karst's lab; Mani Tagmount, Christopher Vulpe's lab. They also acknowledge the computational analysis of colleague Dr. Moritz Schafer at ETH Zurich.

Written by DeLene Beeland

Read More

Harnessing genome editing for COVID-19 drug discovery covers the initial stages of this research project.
Workforce

Biden puts his stamp on FLRA, Thrift Board

President Joe Biden tapped Susan Tsui Grundmann to serve on the Federal Labor Relations Authority and Kurt Rumsfeld as general counsel of the agency on Wednesday.

Both are key positions in the agency that oversees union-agency relations. Both posts require Senate confirmation.

Biden has already made some changes to the board by nominating Ernest DuBester to be its chairman, a change made effective without Senate confirmation, days after taking office.

During the Trump administration, DuBester, originally appointed by former President Barack Obama and again by former President Donald Trump, was the only member of the three-member panel appointed by a Democrat, as unions have jockeyed with the panel over its decisions and the legality of the makeup of FLRA's Federal Services Impasses Panel.

The second member of the three-person panel is Colleen Kiko, a Trump-nominee who previously served as the chair and whose term expires in 2022, and James Abbott, a Trump appointee whose term has expired.

Grundmann currently works as the executive director and chief operating officer of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. She's also previously served as the general counsel for the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union representing 100,000 feds.

The general counsel for the FLRA is an important position because of its role in investigating alleged unfair labor practices and prosecuting them.

Biden's nominee for the position currently works as board Chairman Dubester's chief counsel and previously worked as the assistant general counsel for operations and legal policy in the FLRA's Office of the General Counsel.

The National Treasury Employees Union national president Tony Reardon released a statement on the news.

"The FLRA has been without a permanent General Counsel for more than three years which has caused a backlog of unfair labor practice complaints where an FLRA Regional Office has determined a UPL charge has merit," he said. "We urge the Senate to move swiftly to confirm these two highly qualified nominees."

Thrift Board nominees

Biden also announced his nomination of Javier Saade for chair of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the independent agency that administers the Thrift Savings Plan  the largest of its kind in the world with more than $700 billion under management.

Saade previously has served as the associate administrator of investment and innovation at the Small Business Administration. Currently, he's a managing partner at Fenway Summer.

Biden also renominated Dana Bilyeu to a third term on the board and added two board members: Leona Bridges, a commissioner for the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, and Stacey Olivares, an investment manager who serves on several prominent boards and was chief investment officer of Lendistry, a loan company focused on underserved small businesses.
Workforce

Feds who lie about vaccination status or avoid testing could face discipline

Federal agencies will be in charge setting up systems to test unvaccinated feds and onsite contractors either weekly or twice weekly, as well as covering the cost of testing under a recently announced policy for the federal workforce, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday.

Tests will be paid for with existing agency funds, Psaki said.

Different agencies are going to be accounting for it different ways, but I certainly think it's going to be covered by existing funds and existing budgets of each agency. But it's not one federal pot, Psaki told reporters when asked for a cost estimate for this testing.

White House COVID-19 Response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters at an Aug. 2 COVID-19 briefing that more stringent requirements could be coming for more feds.

The timeline for the rollout of the new policies still is not clear. An Office and Management and Budget official speaking on background told FCW that more guidance more guidance will be out from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force soon.

Additionally, the official confirmed reporting in Politico's Pulse newsletter that federal employees who don't comply with the new protocols for vaccination and testing released by the White House last week will be subject to discipline.

The new requirements instruct federal employees to sign an attestation confirming their vaccination status. Anyone who isnt vaccinated, or doesnt provide their status, will have to follow protocols for masking and regular testing.

Lying about their status or not following testing requirements can result in discipline for feds, the OMB official said and noted that putting false statements on the form could cause a fed to lose their position.

"It's a federal crime to provide false information to the government in this manner," the official said.

Unions have been pushing to be involved in the policys implementation since it was announced.

In a July 29 statement, American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley said that the union expects that the the particulars of any changes to working conditions, including those related to COVID-19 vaccines and associated protocols, be properly negotiated with our bargaining units prior to implementation.

Legal experts have also already raised questions about how the new requirements could complicate labor-management relations by violating existing collective bargaining agreements.

The OMB official didnt rule out post-implementation bargaining.

"Bargaining on a post-implementation basis may be necessary to protect the health and safety of employees currently required to report to federal workplaces," the official said. "Timely implementation of the model safety principles and CDC guidelines is essential."

However, agencies should communicate with their unions "as soon as possible" and comply with any collective bargaining obligations while implementing their workplace safety plans consistent with President Bidens policy to support collective bargaining, the official said.

Rollout of the new policies, and how unions are involved, could also differ depending on the agency.

"Given varied circumstances, agencies will make determinations regarding how best to meet its collective bargaining obligations, the official said.

Already, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a vaccination mandate for all Title 38 employees involved in patient care days before the White House rolled out the governmentwide policy. That policy differs from the White Houses in that it mandates vaccines within eight weeks of its announcement.

About the Author Natalie Alms is a staff writer at FCW covering the federal workforce. She is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.



"We will be looking across the federal government in other areas that could require these types of mandates, if you will, for vaccination," Zients said. "We will continue to look across the federal government at other areas where requiring vaccines, everyone be vaccinated, may make sense, particularly in the healthcare setting."
FCW Insider: Aug. 5, 2021

Kiran Ahuja, the recently installed director of the Office of Personnel Management, has a host of long-standing agency issues to deal with, along with helping implement governmentwide workforce policy to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The former CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs offers some ideas for course correction in the agency's flagging $20 billionplus Electronic Health Records Modernization program.

The updated document aims to provide a clearer map for the Coast Guard's cyber priorities, including mitigating vulnerabilities in the maritime supply chain.

Labor Department CISO Paul Blahusch detailed how his agency ramped up its implementation efforts around zero trust in recent months, from establishing an entirely new team to proposing a project for the Technology Modernization Fund.

Quick Hits

*** The Biden administration announced the nomination of Biniam Gebre to serve as administrator for federal procurement policy in the Office of Management and Budget. Gebre is currently a senior executive at Accenture Federal Services and previously served in the Obama administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

*** David Honey, a special assistant to the director at the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, is the Biden administration's pick to serve as deputy undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense. Honey previously served in senior roles at DOD and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

*** Mimi Geerges, a longtime broadcaster and producer, was named as the host of Government Matters, a public affairs program produced at WJLA-TV in the Washington, D.C. area that is focused on government operations, technology and public sector contracting.

*** Raymond Karrenbauer, a former insurance industry CIO, will be new chief financial officer and executive vice president for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Body, which governs the Defense Department's unified cybersecurity program for contractors.
GREEN BAY, Wis., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) ("Associated") today announced that it is calling for redemption on September 15, 2021 (the "Redemption Date") of all of its outstanding Depositary Shares (NYSE: ASB PR D) representing a 1/40th interest in a share of Associated's 5.375% Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D (the "Depositary Shares"). As of today, there are 3,978,320 Depositary Shares outstanding. The Depositary Shares will be redeemed at a redemption price of $25 per Depositary Share, plus an amount equal to any declared and unpaid dividends to the Redemption Date.

A notice of redemption and related materials will be transmitted to holders of record of the Depositary Shares on August 5, 2021. The Depositary Shares are held through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC") and will be redeemed in accordance with the procedures of DTC. Payment to DTC will be made by Equiniti Trust Company, in accordance with the Deposit Agreement among Associated, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (now known as Equiniti Trust Company) and the Holders from Time to Time of the Depositary Receipts Described Therein, dated as of September 15, 2016. Questions related to the notice of redemption and related materials should be directed to Equiniti Trust Company, as Associated's redemption agent (the "Redemption Agent"), at 1-800-468-9716. The Redemption Agent's address is Equiniti Trust Company, Attn: Corporate Actions Department, 1110 Centre Pointe Curve Suite 101, Mendota Heights, MN 55120.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $34 billion and is Wisconsin's largest bank holding company. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 220 banking locations serving more than 120 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact:

Ben McCarville, Vice President, Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059

Media Contact:

Jennifer Kaminski, Vice President, Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576

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SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
BEIJING, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berry Oncology Corporation, a member company of China's leading early cancer screening firm Berry Genomics, yesterday on its 4th anniversary, announced the completion of a US$99.15 million Series B1 financing round. This brings the total capital raised by the company to the highest level in China's early cancer screening industry.

In less than a year, Berry Oncology has raised about US$154.4 million and nearly US$309 million since its establishment, the highest in its industry. The new proceeds will enable the company to meet the growing demand for early cancer screening and diagnosis and boost its expansion in the growing market.

This B1 financing round was led by China Merchants Capital Management Co., Ltd. Existing investors Qiming Venture Partners and Legend Capital, along with new investors including Zhongjin Qichen Industry Equity Investment Fund, E Fund, Fujian Venture Investment Management Co., Ltd., Xiamen C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment Co., Ltd. and other prominent investors also participated in the funding round.

Berry Oncology Completes Series B1 Funding

Berry Oncology's technology R&D is recognized by investors

Berry Oncology was established in August 2017, and its predecessor was the oncology division of Berry Genomics, a leader in genetics research. By leveraging its advantages in technology, business channels and capital, Berry Oncology has established a complete genetic testing product service system for high-risk populations and patients of cancers. Up till now, it has been working with over 700 hospitals in China and has provided genetic testing of cancers for hundreds of thousands of cancer patients.

In recognition of Berry Oncology's potential, in November 2017, well-known investors including Legend Capital, Boyu Capital Advisory Company Limited, Qiming Venture Partners, Hongling Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd. among others agreed to invest US$123.6 million in the company to fund its early cancer diagnosis R&D and other operational activities, marking the largest single financing round in cancer-related genetic testing in China in 2017. Almost four years later, the company completed another US$108 million financing round, affirming the company's growth strategy.

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Zhu Zhengwei, Senior Managing Director of China Merchants Capital Management Co., Ltd., said: "Berry Oncology's product 'Lai Si Ning' has achieved the world's first breakthrough in early liver cancer screening. The company's management has a forward-looking strategic vision and upholds rigorous scientific professionalism and social responsibility. We hope that Berry Oncology can promote the vigorous development of China's early cancer screening industry and help realize the dreams of a healthy China."

Nisa Leung, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said: "As early investor in Berry Oncology and continued support through Series A, A+ and B rounds, we believe in the potential of early cancer screening and the firm's management team. In the past four years, the company continues to achieve significant milestones and we look forward to working with Berry Oncology as it delivers breakthrough early detection for cancer patients both in China and globally."

Zhou Quan, Managing Director of Legend Capital, said that, as an existing shareholder of Berry Oncology, he was very happy to participate in this round of financing to help the company make faster progress in product registration, technology R&D, and market expansion.

In 2020, 16 companies in the sector completed 17 financing rounds worthy of US$972.6 million in total, demonstrating the market's high expectation for the industry. According to projections from Guoyuan Securities Co., China's early liver cancer screening market will reach US$1.64 billion in 2030, while China's potential market for early colorectal cancer screening might reach US$1.48 billion. Because of the relatively high industry barriers and first movers' advantages, the industry's leading early entrants will enjoy significant, long-term competitive advantages.

Zhou Jun, CEO of Berry Oncology, said: "I want to thank shareholders for their trust and support for the firm. Adhering to its mission of 'Diagnose all cancers early, treat all patients precisely', the company will create more valuable genetic testing services for immunotherapy, personal health management, and precision treatment of cancers. Berry Oncology will work with our business partners to develop China's early screening solutions and become a bellwether in the sector in China and globally."

About Berry Oncology

Berry Oncology, founded in 2017 as a member company of Berry Genomics, focuses on genomic testing of cancers. Driven by the mission of "Diagnose all cancers early, treat all patients precisely", we have established for cancer patients and high-risk population a complete system of genomic testing products and services, including cancer genetic susceptibility analysis, early screening, as well as as companion diagnostics, response monitoring and prognosis prediction of both targeted and immune therapies. For cancer early detection, we have launched a series of clinical research projects for early screening and early diagnosis, covering liver cancer, lung cancer, gynecologic cancer, and etc. Berry Oncology has three centers (manufacture, supercomputing, R&D) located in Fuzhou and Beijing. We serve and cooperate with more than 600 Class 3A tertiary hospitals across the country, and have provided valuable genomic testing services for hundreds of thousands of patients.

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SOURCE Berry Oncology
BRASILIA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is drawing up a constitutional amendment to create a fund from privatizations and state asset sales to pay down debt, meet court-ordered payment obligations and help the country's poorest people, a government source said on Wednesday.

Crucially, from a fiscal perspective, the fund will not be subject to the 'spending cap', the government's most important fiscal rule which limits growth in public spending to the previous year's rate of inflation.

According to the source, the Economy Ministry has already drawn up the amendment, and could submit it to Congress as early as this Wednesday.

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres Writing by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
The collaboration will make the well-known Dominican coffee brand available to millions of homes, starting in the northeast of the U.S.

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dominican company Industrias Banilejas (Induban) signed an agreement with Goya Foods for the exclusive distribution of Cafe Santo Domingo brand products in the northeastern region of the United States. Cafe Santo Domingo is one of the island's most important coffee brands and is considered its most emblematic inside and outside the Dominican Republic.

Joseph Perez, Senior Vice President of Goya Foods and Manuel Pozo Perello, Executive President of Induban

Although the brand already had a good presence in the region, the agreement signed by Joseph Perez, Senior Vice President of Goya Foods and Manuel Pozo Perello, Executive President of Induban, will expand its distribution, which will give access to millions of people living in the Northeast of the United States, many who will be introduced to the Dominican brand and its products for the first time.

Also present at the signing of the agreement were Eddie Pacheco, Goya Foods Sales Execution Manager and Nelson de los Santos, Induban's International Market Sales Manager.

In recent years, Goya Foods has expanded its offering by adding leading food brands from Latin America to its roster. These brands, which now include Cafe Santo Domingo, will reach thousands of points of sale, such as independent supermarkets, regional supermarket chains and national chains.

Cafe Santo Domingo is considered a Caribbean coffee brand and combines the best coffees beans roasted to perfection, with a complex aroma combining hazelnuts, caramel, and vanilla. Its taste strikes the perfect balance between the natural sweetness, soft acidity, and the subtle characteristic bitterness of coffee.

"This agreement places Cafe Santo Domingo in a privileged position, being one of the first distinctly Dominican brands capable of reaching the vast United States market through a leading distribution company in this country," said Pozo Perello, who also highlighted the significant milestone that this agreement means for both the company and for the Dominican Republic.

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Similarly, Pozo Perello indicated that the size of the coffee consumption market in the United States and the possibility of having an exceptional distribution chain, are a unique opportunity. He also stressed that this effort is part of an aggressive expansion strategy in the United States, which includes direct sales through Amazon, the leader in e-commerce sales.

About INDUBAN

Industrias Banilejas S.A.S., (INDUBAN) is the leading coffee producing company in the Dominican Republic. Established in 1945 for the purchase, elaboration, and sales of coffee, it later became an exporter of Dominican gold coffee, highly sought after in the United States and Europe. For more than 75 years, Induban has served Dominicans the aroma and flavor of Cafe Santo Domingo, the leading and most emblematic brand in the country. Its brands transcend borders, being enjoyed around the world, including The United States, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Aruba, St. Martin, and Virgin Islands, among others.

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SOURCE Industrias Banilejas S.A.S. (Induban)
OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 4, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, issued the following statement:

"Today, the Government of Canada is welcoming the first of a number of flights carrying Afghan refugees who provided crucial support to Canada's mission in Afghanistan. This first group is now beginning their new life in Canada, and we welcome them with open arms. More flights will be arriving in the coming days and weeks. We committed to do right by the Afghans who supported Canada's mission in Afghanistan. With the arrival of the first resettled Afghan refugees in Canada, we are making good on that promise.

"The Government has been seized with the urgency on the ground and is working as quickly as possible to resettle Afghan nationals who put themselves at great risk to support Canada's work in Afghanistan. We have been working around the clock to identify individuals eligible to come to Canada under this special immigration program. This work is well underway, and a team has been on the ground in Afghanistan, including support staff who are assisting clients in submitting their applications and requested documentation. We are doing everything we can to get every Afghan refugee out as swiftly and safely as possible, but we recognize that the security situation can change rapidly.

"All those arriving under this special immigration program have met Canada's requirements concerning eligibility, admissibility and security screenings. The Afghan refugees were tested for COVID-19 on arrival and will follow all quarantine and testing requirements to protect the health and safety of those in Canada.

"These refugees are coming to Canada as government-assisted refugees. To help the Afghans adjust to life in Canada, service provider organizations in communities across Canada are preparing to welcome them. Settlement organizations will help them to find permanent housing, language training, a job and connections with established immigrants and Canadians and provide them with the information that they need about life in Canada, and the community in which they will settle. All of these services will help Afghans settle into their new home.

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"To protect the safety of those being evacuated and the security of this operation, further operational details will not be released, including information on where Afghans will be resettled in Canada.

"We would like to thank those working at Global Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency who have been working tirelessly to facilitate this process. We would also like to thank all of the advocacy groups across the country who have worked so hard to make this possible."

Associated links

SOURCE Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

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BeInCrypto 

A French fund management company received the green light from the EU for the creation of a Bitcoin Stock ETF.

Melanion Capital, based out of Paris, France, is now on track to create an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to monitor the price of Bitcoin. This is a major development for a European business, as the proposed Bitcoin ETF meets the stringent European Union rules.

The standard the EU operates by is referred to as the UCITS standard. Formerly known as the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive (UCITS), it sets the criterion for institutional investors.

This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto
The Biden administration will soon force all foreign visitors to be fully vaccinated, even as it simultaneously waves hundreds of thousands of COVID-positive migrants into the United States.

An administration official told Reuters the White House is working on a new system for when travel resumes. The plan will include a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States (from all countries) need to be fully vaccinated.

On its face, the requirement could be justified as a prudent public health measure. But critics would be wise to point out similar measures are not enforced on our porous southern border, so it is of limited utility.

McAllen, Texas, has been described as ground zero for the border crisis. Reporting by Anna Giaritelli found that of the 7,000 migrants released into the city last week, at least 1,500 tested positive for COVID-19. These migrants are not held in sanitary conditions.

Giaritelli also reported that, after being tested for COVID-19, migrants would be walked to the Catholic Charities humanitarian respite center. The centers facilities have been strained so much they have a half-dozen portable toilets in its back alley.

Other migrants have been less fortunate. Photos provided to the Washington Examiners Paul Bedard by former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan show migrants crammed together in a Weslaco, Texas, border facility. Morgan also said 4,000 migrants were held under a bridge near McAllen.

Allowing migrants to come into the country without being tested or vaccinated for COVID-19 is not sound public health policy. And holding them in close quarters while they await processing is inhumane and fosters the spread of the virus. If anything, as I wrote earlier this week, the lack of public health measures at the border proves the administrations immigration strategy is not fair and humane.

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As a candidate, President Joe Biden promised to preserve the dignity of immigrant families, refugees, and asylum-seekers. On July 4, as president, he said, Were closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.

If Biden wants to achieve both goals, he should curtail the spread of COVID-19 on our southern border, not just at our major airports.

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: Joe Biden, Coronavirus, Vaccination, airlines, Immigration, Border Crisis, Texas, Migrants, Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection

Original Author: Samuel Kim

Original Location: Even as infected migrants pour in, foreign tourists must get vaxxed
WINNIPEG, MB, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Climate change is the greatest long-term threat that we face as a global community, yet it also represents an enormous economic opportunity.

The Forks Renewal Corp. is cutting the use of natural gas in its buildings in downtown Winnipeg with a geothermal energy system funded in part by the Low Carbon Economy Fund. (CNW Group/Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Communities across the country want and deserve access to clean air, clean water and a healthy environment, as they increasingly experience the effects of climate change. Together, we are working relentlessly to improve our resilience and understanding in order to better address climate change and adapt to its impacts.

Today, the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Forks Renewal Corporation is receiving approximately $1.8 million to build a district geothermal system that will provide heating and cooling to its buildings in downtown Winnipeg. The Forks Renewal Corporation is also contributing close to $2.7 million to this project.

The new system will eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by replacing gas consumption as a heating and cooling fuel source for the Forks Renewal Corporation buildings. The district geothermal system is also designed to allow future expansion to service other buildings and planned new developments on the Forks site. Over the lifetime of this project, the Forks Renewal Corporation will see a cumulative reduction of approximately 26,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)equivalent to saving about 11 million litres of gasoline.

The federal funding comes from the Partnerships stream of the Government of Canada's Low Carbon Economy Challenge, which invests in projects that reduce carbon pollution and supports industries to put in place clean technologies that will help them be more efficient and innovative.

Investments in climate action initiatives like this reaffirm the Government of Canada's commitment to fight climate change, create good jobs, and grow a clean economy.

Quotes

"The Government of Canada supports innovative projects that reduce emissions, lead to tangible action on climate change, and create good jobs. Today's announcement highlights some of the important work led by Canadian businesses such as the Forks Renewal Corporation to build a cleaner and healthier future. Leadership on strategic projects like the one announced today will make sure Canada exceeds its target and achieves net-zero emissions by 2050."

 The Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs

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"Railside at The Forks is an important project full of big ideas and amazing public spaces. It will also create employment opportunities, add a variety of additional housing, provide economic return, celebrate culture and more. The district geothermal system was key to the vision for Railside as a green development and as part of our overall Target Zero goals. The financial support from the federal government through the Low Carbon Economy Fund is instrumental in making this possible. We thank Minister Vandal for his support and his government's ongoing commitment to the environment."

 Sara Stasiuk, VP, Finance and Operations, The Forks North Portage

Quick facts



The district geothermal system, once complete, will replace natural gas consumption in the 248,000 sq ft buildings, thereby eliminating all directly related GHG emissions.

The Low Carbon Economy Fund, which includes the Partnerships stream, is an important part of Canada's climate action plan, helping to put Canada on a path to exceed the emissions target for 2030.

The Partnerships stream provides up to $50 million in funding to Indigenous communities and organizations, small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and small municipalities.

The Low Carbon Economy Fund supports energy-efficient projects in provinces and territories across Canada, which will help communities save money by lowering energy costs.

Associated links

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page

SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

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According to blockchain forensics platform Chainalysis, criminal cryptocurrency activities on the Chinese darknet have fallen.

However, due to geopolitical turmoil, Hong Kongs crypto crime rate has risen alarmingly.

The Chainalysis report shows that, in the period from April 2019 and June 2021, Chinese crypto addresses sent more than $2.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies to addresses connected with scams and darknet markets, with more than two billion moving in the opposite direction.

That volume, say Chainalysis, has since dropped significantly.

Illicit transaction volume

While China remains one of the top-ranked countries for illicit transaction volume, it used to beat all others by a wide margin, suggesting that cryptocurrency-related crime in the country has fallen, said a Chainalysis spokesperson.

The report also noted that the largest numbers of these illegal actions were associated with scams where sellers vanish with a victims money.

Global Public Sector Chief Technology Officer at Chainalysis, Gurvais Grigg, believes the decrease was mostly the result of the absence of big Ponzi schemes such as the 2019 Plustoken scam, the proceeds from which were mostly laundered through Chinese platforms.

This is most likely because of both the awareness raised by PlusToken, as well as the crackdowns in the area, he said.

Other illegal movements were related to money laundering, often involving the OTC desks of mainstream digital asset exchanges, as well as trafficking drugs such as Fentanyl.

Chinese police recently arrested more than 1,100 people suspected of using cryptocurrencies to launder illegal proceeds from telephone and Internet scams.

Crypto crimes surge to record levels in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, however, criminal activity involving cryptocurrency looks to be reaching record levels this year. According to police, there are three main categories of crypto-related crime: money laundering, investment scams and face-to-face transaction theft.

A report by the crypto news outlet Forkast says that around 500 crypto-crime cases have been registered in the first half of 2021, while the years losses amounted to 214 million Hong Kong dollars ($27.5 million)  almost double the total from last year.

The Hong Kong government attributed the rise to the growing popularity of crypto investing in this special administrative region. Also, it clams, the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to spend more time online, allowing more opportunities to lure individuals into illicit actions.
TipRanks

Moving into late summer, the only certainty in the markets is uncertainty. The July jobs report was solid, but businesses continue to deal with a stubborn labor shortage. The Biden Administration looks like it will get what it wants from Congress, in the form of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion budget package, but inflation is rising and the massive infusion of government spending will likely make that worse. It seems for every market argument, theres a counter-argument.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Kanzhun Limited ('Kanzhun' or 'the Company') (NASDAQ:BZ) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors who purchased the Company's securities between June 11, 2021 and July 2, 2021, inclusive (the ''Class Period''), are encouraged to contact the firm before September 10, 2021.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com.

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Kanzhun was facing a review from the Cyberspace Administration of China (the 'CAC'). The Chinese government would require the Company to suspend adding new users to its BOSS Zhipin app. The Company was instructed 'to conduct a comprehensive examination of cybersecurity risks,' and 'enhance its cybersecurity awareness and technology capabilities.' Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Kanzhun, investors suffered damages.

Join the case to recover your losses.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

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This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

info@schallfirm.com

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Co-founder and President, Ed Kirby, announces retirement, transitions to Chairman of the Board

OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc., a leading distributor of heavy equipment and cranes in the central United States, has announced that John Arapidis has been named President and CEO. Ed Kirby, the company's co-founder, President and CEO of nearly 40 years will step back from his current position and will serve as Chairman of the Board.

Ed Kirby and John Arapidis, new President and CEO of Kirby-Smith Machinery.

Arapidis joined Kirby-Smith Machinery in 2017, serving as Vice President of Major Accounts. Prior to joining Kirby-Smith, Arapidis spent nearly 30 years at Komatsu, a leading developer and supplier of technologies, equipment and services for the construction, mining, forklift, industrial and forestry markets. Arapidis held various roles at Komatsu, including National Accounts Manager and Vice President of the rental and used equipment division.

"Making the decision to step back from my role was not an easy one, but I know that with the appointment of John to President and CEO, Kirby-Smith Machinery will continue to remain a leader in the industry in John's extremely capable hands," said Ed Kirby. "During the past four years, John's experience, leadership style and vision for the company have proven to be the right fit for this role, and will benefit the entire KSM organization, as well as our partners and clients."

During the remainder of 2021, Kirby will work closely with Arapidis and the management team to transition day-to-day responsibilities while assuming the role of Chairman of the Board, where he will act in an advisory role and continue to liaise with partners and customers.

"I am honored and humbled at the opportunity to take on this position with KSM and help grow the company into the future," says Arapidis. "My motto is to never stop learning, and I am excited to work alongside the leadership team to continue to learn and build upon the legacy that Ed has built."

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Arapidis currently lives in Dallas and will relocate to Oklahoma City with his wife. He holds an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Loyola University.

About Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc.

Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc. was established in 1983 and is recognized as one of the premier new and used heavy construction equipment and crane dealers in the country. Kirby-Smith Machinery and its hundreds of dedicated professional employees are committed to providing reliable new and used equipment for sale and equipment rentals, as well as responsive service and equipment parts for multiple makes and models. Kirby-Smith Machinery has 12 branch locations in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. For more information about Kirby-Smith Machinery, call 888-861-0219 or visit kirby-smith.com.

Media Contact:

Jill Petersen

GroundFloor Media for Kirby-Smith Machinery

M: 206-683-5225

jpetersen@groundfloormedia.com

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SOURCE Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc.
LIMERICK, Ireland, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - kneat.com, inc. (TSXV: KSI) ("Kneat"), announces that the Company will release its Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, after TSX market close on Tuesday, 10 August 2021.

Eddie Ryan, Chief Executive Officer and Hugh Kavanagh, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call and Q&A for sell side analysts via webcast on Wednesday 11 August at 09:00 EDT (14:00 GMT+1).



Interested parties can register for the live webcast via the following link: https://bit.ly/3fskLSL

Or, attend via teleconference



Ireland +353 16 572 652

Canada +1 (647) 497-9385

United States +1 (951) 384-3421

United Kingdom +44 330 221 9922



The Second Quarter Financial Results will be available from the Financial Information section of the Investors page on the Kneat Solutions website, at: https://kneat.com/investors/



About Kneat

Kneat, a Canadian company with operational headquarters in Limerick, Ireland, develops and markets the next generation Kneat Gx software platform ("Kneat Gx"). Multiple business processes can be configured on Kneat Gx from equipment to computer system validation, through to quality document management. Kneat Gx allows users to author, review, approve, execute testing online, manage any exceptions and post approve final deliverables in a controlled FDA 21 CFR Part 11/ Eudralex Annex 11 compliant platform. Macro and micro report dashboards enable powerful oversight into all systems, projects, and processes world-wide. Customer case studies are reporting productivity improvements in excess of 100% and a higher data integrity and compliance standard. For more information visit www.kneat.com.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, certain information presented constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information, includes, but is not limited to, the relationship between Kneat and the customer, Kneat's business development activities, the use and implementation timelines of Kneat's software within the customer's validation processes, the ability and intent of the customer to scale the use of Kneat's software within the customer's organization and the compliance of Kneat's platform under regulatory audit and inspection. While such forward-looking statements are expressed by Kneat, as stated in this release, in good faith and believed by Kneat to have a reasonable basis, they are subject to important risks and uncertainties. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, given that they involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking information in this press release does not include a full assessment or reflection of the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic occurring since the first quarter of 2020 and the ongoing and developing resulting indirect global and regional economic impacts. This has resulted in significant economic uncertainty and even though the company has to date experienced no significant impact to its operations, any potential impact on our future is difficult to understand or measure at this time. Kneat does not undertake any obligation to release publicly revisions to any forward-looking statement, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued forward-looking statement constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on forward-looking statements is at an investors' own risk.

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Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE kneat.com, inc.

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By Aaron Saldanha and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Aug 5 (Reuters) - The market impact of China's recent regulatory crackdown on companies is priced in, making stocks there relatively attractive compared to European and U.S. peers, a portfolio manager at Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) said.

"We haven't changed our China overall view," said Justin Onuekwusi, LGIM's head of retail multi-asset funds, even as the recent government crackdown on property, technology and education sectors left his firm "surprised".

LGIM continues to hold Chinese stocks, believing them to represent better value at current levels than European and U.S. alternatives.

"Our overall view is that given the Chinese equities are already at depressed level, the froth in the market is in U.S. equities and European equities," Onuekwusi told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Wednesday.

A possible pullback in Chinese growth would hit German and U.S. stocks more than their Chinese peers, said Onuekwusi, whose firm oversees 1.3 trillion pounds ($1.8 trillion) in assets.

AIA Group CIO Mark Konyn also expressed a positive outlook on China to the Forum, due to long-term structural growth and a commitment to opening up its financial markets to foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Onuekwusi said Australian, New Zealand and South Korean bonds were attractive due to steeper yield curves, adding that vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 variants was a key risk for markets globally.

He expected the Australian dollar to make a return as a carry trade favourite in the medium-term, although it faced short-term risks from a slowing Chinese economy and its repercussions on Australia's exports.

Nearer term, "all eyes on Jackson Hole" said Onuekwusi, whose base case is Fed Chair Jerome Powell striking a "very strongly" dovish tone at the annual gathering of central bankers. (This interview was conducted in the Reuters Global Markets Forum chat room on Refinitiv Messenger. Join GMF: https://refini.tv/33uoFoQ) ($1 = 0.7199 pounds)

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru Additional reporting by Supriya Rangarajan Editing by Divya Chowdhury and Mark Potter)
Reuters

The Federal Reserve will announce a plan to taper its asset purchases in September, according to a solid majority of economists polled by Reuters who also said the U.S. jobless rate would remain above its pre-pandemic level for at least a year. Since the release last week of a strong U.S. jobs report, which showed an unexpectedly sharp drop in the unemployment rate to 5.4% in July, a flurry of Fed officials have suggested the U.S. central bank might start reducing its $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) sooner rather than later. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 28 of 43, said the Fed is likely to announce a taper of its asset purchases - currently set at $80 billion of Treasuries and $40 billion of MBS per month - at its September meeting.
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Norden Crown Metals Corp. ("Norden Crown" or the "Company") (TSXV: NOCR) (OTC: NOCRF) (Frankfurt; 03E) is pleased to announce the commencement of a field exploration program, including mapping, prospecting, sampling, airborne geophysics and a ~2,500 metre diamond drill program, at its 100% owned Burfjord Project ("Burfjord" or the "Project") in northern Norway. Norden Crown, in partnership with Boliden Mineral AB ("Boliden"), will continue to advance the numerous geological, geochemical, and geophysical target anomalies identified during the successful 2020 exploration programs. The objective of the 2021 Burfjord exploration program is to continue to test the copper-gold grades and continuity of new targets, historical mines, and prospects. Previous drilling by Norden Crown (see March 20, 2019 News Release) returned compelling drill results from Burfjord, including an intercept of 32 metres averaging 0.56% copper and 0.26 g/t gold (including 3.46 metres of 4.31% copper and 2.22 g/t gold) at shallow depths below a group of historic mine workings1, 2. Historical drilling on the Project was reported to have returned 7.0 metres averaging 3.6% copper3.

Patricio Varas, Chairman and CEO of Norden Crown stated, "The joint Norden-Boliden team is working closely with newly collected structural, lithological, geochemical and initial TEM geophysical data which suggest the large and intense IOCG alteration footprint at Burfjord, with its numerous copper mineralized outcrops and large EM conductors, has excellent potential to discover a copper deposit of significance". "It's partnership with Boliden has significantly reduced Norden Crown's financial risk inherent in exploring a large land position. With Boliden funding the Project, Norden Crown can conduct systematic exploration programs that optimize the potential to identify economic mineral deposits. We believe this provides value to our shareholders."

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1. Intercept reported as seen in drill core. The true width is estimated at 85-100% of the reported interval. 2. See Norden Crown's March 20, 2019 News Release for discussion of analytical methods, QA/QC and core handling protocols. 3. Source: NGU Deposit Factsheet, Deposit Area 1943-010, 1997. Norden Crown's property reviews have confirmed the geologic setting and occurrence of mineralization on the Project and considers the historic exploration data to be relevant as reported in public disclosures and government reports





2021 Exploration Program

The 2021 Burfjord exploration program consists of diamond drilling, mapping, prospecting, outcrop sampling, airborne magnetic and ground electromagnetic geophysical surveys (see below). Norden Crown has engaged and deployed the necessary field crews as well as the drilling and geophysical service providers to execute the fully funded and permitted exploration program.

Surface Geological Mapping and Sampling

Norden Crown has deployed field teams to conduct mapping, sampling and prospecting of the Burfjord claims in order to enhance geological targets identified in 2020. This work is expected to take approximately one month to complete. Results from the geological and alteration mapping and sampling of these targets will be used to contextualize ground and airborne geophysical data that will be collected in the 2021 Burfjord exploration program (see below) with the ultimate aim of defining drill targets.

UAV Magnetic Geophysics

Norden Crown has engaged GRM Geophysics (Finland) to conduct a UAV airborne magnetic survey covering the entire Burfjord land position. The survey includes approximately 857 line kilometres of magnetic geophysics. Survey lines have been laid out at 100 metre line spacing with tie lines at 1000 metre spacing. The work will be completed over a period of approximately 3-4 weeks depending on weather conditions. The survey will be flown with a quadcopter carrying a GEM-GSMP35 potassium magnetometer. A GEM GSM19 Overhauser magnetometer will be used as a basestation.

Fixed Loop Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) Geophysics

Norden Crown has also engaged GRM Geophysics (Finland) to conduct approximately 30 line kilometres of TEM Geophysics on prioritized targets on Burfjord. The survey includes 5 loops and builds upon the TEM data collected in 2020 (1 survey loop), which identified a high-priority conductor measuring 1,900 metres between high grade copper targets at Gamlegruvan and A-Gruva (Figure 1). TEM loops at Burfjord are strategically positioned along the axis of the Burfjord Anticline to identify conductive copper targets across all the high-priority prospects (Figure 1). The results from TEM resistivity-conductivity data will enhance Norden Crown's geological interpretations and will be used to track copper and gold associated sulphide mineralization at depth and to increase confidence in the planned exploration drilling targets.

Figure 1. Location of planned exploration activities at the Burfjord Project, northern Norway. (CNW Group/Norden Crown Metals Corp.)

Diamond Drilling

Norden Crown has engaged Arctic Drilling NOR (Norway) to complete ~2,500 metres of diamond drilling (expected to commence early August, 2021) with the objective of expanding the footprint of mineralization identified in 2019 (see March 20, 2019 News Release) and to test additional geological, geochemical and geophysical targets identified in the 2020 field programs. Previous drilling at Burfjord by Norden Crown intercepted 32 metres averaging 0.56% copper and 0.26 g/t gold (including 3.46 metres of 4.31% copper and 2.22 g/t gold) at shallow depths below a group of historic mine workings2. Historical drilling on the Project is reported to have returned 7.0 metres averaging 3.6% copper3. The summer 2021 diamond drilling program is designed to follow up on 3 holes (970.5 metres) drilled in the Peninsula and Gamle Gruva target areas that were terminated due to logistical complications caused by inclement winter weather conditions and restrictions imposed by Covid-19 safety measures.

Burfjord Joint Venture Terms

Norden Crown entered into an option agreement (the "Agreement") with Boliden in respect to Burfjord (see June 10, 2020 News Release). In order to earn its 51% interest in the Project, Boliden must fund 100% of the exploration programs by spending US$6 Million over the next four years.

Overview of the Burfjord Project

The Project, located in the Kafjord Copper Belt near Alta, Norway is highly prospective for Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) and Sediment Hosted Copper mineral deposits. High-grade copper-gold veins at Burfjord that were historically mined (pre 20th century) at reported cutoff grades of 3-5% Cu are surrounded by envelopes of stockwork veins or disseminations of copper mineralization extending tens to hundreds of metres laterally into the host rocks. Norden Crown and Boliden believe this mineralization has economic potential and represents an attractive bulk tonnage exploration drilling target.

Copper bearing veins in the project area are dominated by ferroan carbonate, sodium-rich minerals, and iron-oxide minerals (magnetite and hematite), but also contain the economically important minerals chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite in addition to cobalt-rich pyrite as generally coarse grained (often 0.5 centimetre to multi-centimetre scale) disseminations in the veins.

Burfjord is comprised of six exploration licenses totaling 5,500 hectares in the Kafjord Copper Belt near Alta in Norway. During the nineteenth century, copper mineralization was mined from over 30 historic mines and prospects developed along the flanks of a prominent 4 x 6-kilometre fold (anticline) consisting of interbedded sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Many of the rocks in the anticline are intensely hydrothermally altered and contain sulphide mineralization.

About Norden Crown

Norden Crown is a mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of silver, zinc, copper, and gold deposits in exceptional, historical mining project areas spanning Sweden and Norway. The Company aims to discover new economic mineral deposits in historical mining districts that have seen little or no modern exploration techniques. The Company is led by an experienced management team and an accomplished technical team, with successful track records in mineral discovery, mining development and financing.

Qualified Person

Daniel MacNeil, P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has read and approved all technical and scientific information contained in this news release. Mr. MacNeil is Vice President Exploration for Norden Crown.

On behalf of Norden Crown Metals Corp.

Patricio Varas, Chairman and CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forwardlooking statements". Forwardlooking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating to future outlook and anticipated events, such as the successful completion of the exploration program (consisting of diamond drilling, mapping, prospecting, outcrop sampling, airborne magnetic and ground electromagnetic geophysical surveys) as discussed herein, the dates the various segments of the exploration program will commence, the duration of various segments of the exploration program, and the planned uses of the resulting data. Although Norden Crown believes the expectations expressed in such forwardlooking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forwardlooking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, [NTD: the exploration program is characterized as fully-funded] the ability of the various contracted entities to complete their duties within the time expected by the Company, inclement weather conditions that may impede, delay or stop all or part of the exploration program, the effects of the Covid 19 epidemic or other epidemics or pandemics, mechanical breakdowns of equipment used in the exploration programs, changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the ability of Norden Crown to obtain the necessary consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if obtained, to obtain such consents in a timely fashion relative to Norden Crown plans and business objectives for the projects; the general ability of Norden Crown to drill test its projects and find mineral resources; if any mineral resources are discovered or acquired, the Company's ability to monetize any such mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations. Forwardlooking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of Norden Crown management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Norden Crown undertakes no obligation to update these forwardlooking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

SOURCE Norden Crown Metals Corp.

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President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it's a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US "outcompete" a Chinese car industry that's quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.

In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration's rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the "momentum" from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA's proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA's would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.

The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a "shared aspiration" to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden's vehicle electrification policies.

It's a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.

However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis' Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 /The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Stable Road Acquisition Corp. ('Stable Road' or 'the Company') (NASDAQ:SRAC) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors who purchased the Company's securities between October 7, 2020 and July 13, 2021, inclusive (the ''Class Period''), are encouraged to contact the firm before September 13, 2021.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com.

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. Stable Road's merger target, Momentus, held a test of its key technology in 2019 that failed to meet its criteria for success. The government of the United States considered Momentus CEO Mikhail Kokorich to be a national security threat, jeopardizing the Company's potential commercial success. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Stable Road, investors suffered damages.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market.

Join the case to recover your losses.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

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This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

info@schallfirm.com

SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm





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FILE PHOTO: The Tesla logo is seen on a car in Los Angeles

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc chair Robyn Denholm sold more than $22 million worth of shares in the electric-car maker after exercising stock options, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Denholm sold 31,250 shares at weighted average prices ranging from $703 to $726.200 in transactions that took place on Aug. 2, according to the filing from Wednesday.

Denholm, who joined Tesla's board as an independent director in 2014, replaced Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk as the chair in 2018, fulfilling a demand by the SEC to strip the job from Musk.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
The new remede EL-X model delivers extended longevity, reduced size, and an enhanced suite of diagnostics

CHELMSFORD, Mass., August 05, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei company that manufactures medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the remede EL-X System to treat moderate to severe Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) in adult patients.1 CSA is a serious condition that is often associated with heart failure, coronary artery disease, and certain cardiac arrhythmias.

The next-generation remede EL-X System combines enhanced functionality with a patient-friendly design, simplifying the implant procedure and providing greater device longevity for patients with Central Sleep Apnea. Features of the new device include:1

Extended longevity: 40% longer average battery life versus previous version 2

Reduced size: Approximately 25% smaller than the previous version

Simplified implant: Single lead, single-port system that provides both stimulation and sensing from a single lead

Data-driven clinical insights with DReAM View: Enhancements include full-night, comprehensive diagnostic capabilities.

"The next-generation remede System is built on the proven success of the current platform, with the needs of both patients and clinicians in mind," said Pete Sommerness, President of ZOLL Respicardia. "The increased longevity, smaller size, enhanced diagnostics, and simplified implant procedure will substantially benefit patients."

"We are very excited to offer DReAM View, a full-night diagnostic report that will allow clinicians deeper insight into how the patient is responding to remede therapy," added Todd Goblish, Vice President of Research and Development at ZOLL Respicardia. "DReAM View diagnostics will enable clinicians to better tailor therapy settings for each individual patient."

Story continues

A phased launch of the remede EL-X System will commence immediately in implanting centers in the United States.

The remede System and Central Sleep Apnea

The first-generation remede System was approved by the FDA in 2017. The remede System is an implantable device that activates automatically each night to stimulate a nerve in the chest (phrenic nerve) that sends signals to the breathing muscles (diaphragm) to help restore a normal breathing pattern.3 The Post Approval Study followed patients from the pivotal trial through five years post implant.

Central sleep apnea (CSA) is a serious breathing disorder that disrupts the normal breathing pattern during sleep and negatively affects sleep quality, quality of life, and is associated with poor outcomes. CSA results from the brain's inability to send appropriate signals to the respiratory muscles to stimulate breathing. Many patients with CSA also have heart disease, especially heart failure.4 Patients with CSA and heart failure are at increased risk for hospitalizations and even death.5,6

About ZOLL Medical Corporation

ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation, and therapeutic temperature management, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber business, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 40,000 employees around the world, the company contributes to sustainable society by providing solutions to the worlds challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. Its health care operations include devices and systems for acute critical care, dialysis, therapeutic apheresis, transfusion, and manufacture of biotherapeutics, as well as pharmaceuticals and diagnostic reagents. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.

Copyright  2021 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. ZOLL, Respicardia, and remede are registered or unregistered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Indications for Use

The remede System is an implantable phrenic nerve stimulator indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe central sleep apnea (CSA) in adult patients.

Contraindications

The remede System is contraindicated for the following:

Patients with an active infection

Patients known to require magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Warnings

Diathermy  Do not use shortwave diathermy, microwave diathermy, or therapeutic ultrasound diathermy (collectively referred to as diathermy) on patients implanted with the rem ede System.

Electric Shock  When operating under AC power, the rem ede System Programmer must be connected to a grounded power source to avoid risk of electric shock.

Concomitant Active Implantable Devices  Use the rem ede System with caution in patients with an active implantable device that may be susceptible to unintended interaction with the rem ede System. Consult Respicardia to assess the possibility of interaction.

Patients with Evidence of Phrenic Nerve Palsy  Therapy with the rem ede System may be ineffective in patients who have evidence of phrenic nerve palsy.

Pediatric Use  The safety and effectiveness of the remede System has not been established for pediatric use.

Precautions

It is recommended that testing for oversensing of remede stimulation therapy by the concomitant cardiac device occur at the time of implant and prior to initiating remede System therapy in patients with a concomitantly implanted cardiac device. Use remede System therapy with caution in pacemaker-dependent patients without a physiologic escape rhythm. Device interaction may lead to over or undersensing resulting in a loss of pacing. The safety and effectiveness of the remede System during pregnancy has not been established. See the Device Manual for detailed information regarding the implant procedure, indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and potential complications/adverse events.

Adverse Effects

Possible adverse events which may be associated with the implantation and use of the remede System include, but are not limited to, the following: adverse contrast dye reaction such as allergic reaction, pulmonary edema, or worsening renal function, adverse reaction to radiation exposure, thromboembolism, air embolism, bleeding, cardiac perforation including tamponade, hematoma, seroma, local bruising or swelling, hypotension, local wound healing issues at device implant site including wound dehiscence, pocket erosion, extrusion, movement of implanted device, keloid formation, pneumothorax, hemothorax, vascular damage, e.g., venous dissection, perforation, adverse biocompatibility reaction to the implanted system, infection, lead breakage, lead dislodgement, lead not connected or secured appropriately in device header, implantable device malfunction, requirement for more energy to stimulate the nerve or ineffective stimulation, venous occlusion, crosstalk with another implanted device, disrupted sleep, muscle fatigue or discomfort in diaphragm, chest or abdomen from appropriate stimulation, nerve dysfunction, perturbation of blood gases causing hypoxia, hypercapnea and/or hypocapnea, inappropriate sensations, worsening heart failure, respiratory status or overall health, anxiety, arrhythmia, including ventricular fibrillation, death, depression, hypotension, pain, skin irritation or local allergic reaction, thrombus or embolism, potentially leading to pulmonary embolism or stroke.

CAUTION: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. Rx only. Prior to use, please see the complete "Directions for Use" for more information on Indications, Contraindications, Warnings, Precautions, Adverse Events, and Operators Instructions.

__________________

1 FDA PMA P160039, Supplement 006, Physician Manual.

2 Under normal use settings

3 Costanzo M.R., et al. The Lancet. 2016;388:97482.

4 Bekfani T, Abraham WT. Europace. 2016;18(8):112334. Epub 2016 May 26.

5 Khayat R, et al. J Card Fail. 2012;18:53440.

6 Khayat, R et al. European Heart J. 2015;36 146369.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005151/en/

Contacts

Media:

Matt Hogan

ZOLL Medical Corporation

978-805-6561

media@zoll.com
(Bloomberg) -- Zymergen Inc. rallied 75% after one of Cathie Woods Ark Investment Management LLC funds scooped up its shares.

The buying occurred amid Wednesdays 76% retreat, a record slide that took the synthetic biology company to the lowest since its April debut, after the firm pulled its forecast for 2021 sales and announced the departure of its chief executive officer. Despite the rebound, the stock is down more than 50% since going public at $31 a share.

Zymergen said its working to restore investor trust after customers were running into trouble getting its bioprocessed film meant for use in items like foldable smartphones implemented into their manufacturing processes. But skepticism has grown among Wall Street analysts. William Blairs Matt Larew, who downgraded the stock to the equivalent of neutral, said its credibility was destroyed.

The stock triggered a trading halt at the market open after word that the retail-trading gurus ARK Genomic Revolution fund, which trades as ARKG, had snapped up 2.47 million shares. Thursdays gains meant the Emeryville, California-based company had followed up its worst day of market losses with its biggest one-day gain.

The ARKG ETF has peeled off 4.6% so far this year with some of the funds biggest bets like Teladoc Health Inc., Exact Sciences Corp. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. posting double-digit declines.

Other high profile Zymergen backers include the SoftBank Vision Fund LP with about a 27% stake as of April 26, according to Bloomberg data, as well as Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd and U.K. fund behemoth Baillie Gifford & Co.

Ark didnt immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Zymergen has four hold ratings and two sell recommendations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nobody currently rates it a buy, compared with six such calls last week.

(Updates with closing prices.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Mac was the grand prize winner of Comedy Centrals Laugh Riots, a finalist in the San Francisco International Comedy Competition and has appeared on national shows such as Last Comic Standing and NBCs Late Friday.

Together, the pair will perform at 7 p.m. and then at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. The second show will be a fundraising event for Law Enforcement Unitedproceeds will benefit the nonprofit and its mission to help the families of officers who have died in the line of duty.

My friends at the Fredericksburg Police Department wanted to do another show and I am always up for it, he said. Weve done several fundraisers together in the past, so Ill be your host, and were all ready to have a good time for a good cause.

As with so many entertainers in the creative realm, its been a slow roll to get back to the point of live shows. After 2020 brought everything to a halt, Mostafavi has, since April, rolled out comedy events as Zoom shows, rooftop showcases and other regulation-compliant formats.

From a comedy perspective, its been a really difficult time ... any time an artist is suppressed, you start to feel sad, he said. Your artform and your expression is part of your identity. So, to be able to feel some sort of normalcy with these shows is nice. As we creep back into the real world, we are so grateful, appreciative and happy to feel a crowds energy once again.
The news is looking pretty grim these days, with the exception of the pandemic-delayed Olympics (go, USA!), but the theater is a place we can go to escape for a few hours.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts continues its run of nostalgia-heavy shows, following the recent Marvelous Wonderettes that was overflowing with crowd-pleasing songs from the 1950s and 60s. For its latest production, however, the theater isnt going that far back.

Grumpy Old Men is a sweet surprise for another movie-turned-musical. Based on the 1993 classic starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the story follows two neighbors feuding over the towns foxy newcomer as they also grapple with changing times, financial troubles andfor one of thema ridiculously persistent tax collector.

Directed and choreographed by Penny Ayn Maas, the musical brings the small town of Wabasha, Minn., to life, which is demonstrated by the cast in the exuberant opening number. Theres the accident-prone mailman Harry, the friendly shopkeeper Chuck and his dimwitted cousin Punky, the town gossip Fran and her husband Stan, and an assortment of other townsfolk. Not to mention a dirty-minded grandfather with flatulence issues (easy laughs here).
Stewart recalled meeting Perez with her husband, drummer Slam Stewart, shortly after Perez first moved to the area.

That night, I was playing with UnMundo, a locally popular salsa band, said Stewart. Inez excitedly discovered while standing near Slam and I in a crowd outside during a break that we were the Becky and Slam she had been searching for. Limon walked up to Slam and said You are my brother. I came from Cuba to find you. 

Cotton first performed with Perez back in 2012 with her bandmate from Gaye [Adegbolola] And The Wild Rutz, Gloria Jackson. They used the name of a group Cotton had formed in California that played world music: Nubii. That group recently started playing again and plans to release an album featuring Perez.

Our music was reggae, funk, African and R&B, said Cotton. We have always had musicians from West Africa, Latin America and the Carribean in the group. Gaye said she knew a percussionist from Cuba and introduced us to Limon, and we were thrilled. He was a masterful Cuban percussionist, and he sang.

Perez had not been vocal about his illness, and both Stewart and Cotton learned about it after seeing the GoFundMe page set up by his wife.
On the verge of a new school year, as districts across the state are adopting policies in the midst of a resurgence of COVID-19, the Virginia Department of Health has reported another virus-related death of a young person between the ages of 10 and 19.

No other information was given in Thursdays announcement, except that the person lived in Virginias Eastern region, a sprawling area that begins at Westmoreland County and runs south through Williamsburg and the Hampton Roads area, all the way to the North Carolina border. It also includes the two counties on the Eastern Shore.

We extend our condolences to the family and friends of this child at this time of great loss, said Dr. Norman Oliver, state health commissioner. COVID-19 has taken thousands of lives from us, and every death is a tragedy. We have made progress in these past months against this virus, but a tragic event like the death of this young child is a stark reminder that our work is not done.

As of Thursday, eight Virginians age 19 and younger have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Two of them were age 9 or younger, including a Stafford County child of Hispanic heritage whose death was reported by the state on July 8.
Weeks before students are slated to return to in-person learning, the Virginia Department of Health announced that another child under the age of 20 has died from the coronavirus. The death is the first in the Eastern region among children.

The VDH said the agency will not disclose further information out of respect for the patient's family.

Thursday's data shows there were two deaths reported in the Eastern region in Accomack and Norfolk. Both were classified as "female" but specifics on age group - and whether they were vaccine eligible - hadn't been updated by time of publication.

Eight people under the age of 20 in Virginia have died since the start of the pandemic, which is less than 1% of total deaths. Six were in the 10-to-19 age group. Two of those six resided in Henrico and Chesterfield.
On Thursday, however, nearly every city and county in Virginia fell under this category.

Localities such as Fairfax County, Richmond and Henrico County have asked residents to wear masks regardless of the transmission levels to make the guidance easy to follow. But local health districts are unable to mandate masks without a change in law or requirement from the governor.

Yarmosky said another reason Northam has stopped short of requiring masks is that while masking, social distancing and economic restrictions are effective and they do work to slow the spread, the most important thing that we can do is get people vaccinated.

So if the governor is going to have a conversation about mandates, he wants to make sure that were talking about the thing that is going to work to put this pandemic behind us once and for all, Yarmosky continued. And thats vaccines.

On Thursday, VDH data showed that after weeks of plateauing at fewer than 12,000 shots administered per day, vaccinations have risen to more than 13,000. But figures remain far lower than the states all-time high of 86,000.

With 54% of the population fully vaccinated, theres also a long way to go before reaching the point where community spread is nearly nonexistent.
ONE OF THE reasons CNBC named Virginia the top state for business in 2021 is its right-to-work status. Although that certainly wasnt the only reason, as all the commonwealths closest competitors are right-to-work states as well, it was a factor.

Thats why Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffes recent pledge to repeal the law if hes elected governor again is so worrisome.

A lot of Virginians still do not understand what the commonwealths right-to-work law, adopted in 1947, does and doesnt do. It doesnt prevent workers from joining labor unions, or unions from representing them in collective bargaining. It does prohibit those same unions from forcing workers who do not want to join the union to pay mandatory union dues to keep their jobs.

The right to work without a union grabbing a chunk of your paycheck is not a minority position. Twenty-nine states, including Virginia, have right-to-work laws on the books, compared to 23 that make paying union dues compulsory, even for employees who dont want to belong to a union. But those 23 states are bleeding workers.
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With the Tears of Moon being such a powerful destination, its not a shock that Lily, MacGregor and Frank arent the only ones in search of it on the Amazon. Their adversary is the menacing, yet strangely funny, Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), who has grave plans to capture the Tears of Moon for himself and win the war for the Germans.

Lily, MacGregor and Frank have their work cut out for them. Not only must Lily and Frank deal with their contrasting personalities, but they must also battle nature, Prince Joachim and an army of zombie conquistadors (long story) in their hopes to reach the Tears of Moon in one piece.

The parallels between Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean are so obvious and more often than not, completely embraced by the film. One could argue the comparisons to Pirates of the Caribbean are a bit too similar, particularly when the zombie conquistadors come into play, but Jungle Cruise does enough to separate itself. In large part, due to Blunt and Johnson.

Blunt shines (when does she not?) as the daring Lily, and Johnson brings his muscles to match his heart and charisma as the reluctantly likable Frank. The two actors feed off of each other well, even when the jokes dont completely land and the plot borders on being unforgivingly corny.
Cody Fry was in a free fall when boyfriend Greg Hladik floated close, grabbed his hand and attempted to put a ring on his finger.

When youre a passionate skydiver like Hladik, nothing says I love you like a mid-air proposal, perfectly timed for the short time he had before his parachute deployed. Even if the cheap ring wouldnt stay put.

Fry said he was in shock.

When you are falling 120 miles an hour, its a little intense, Fry said. I was like, What is happening?

It was actually just a hint of what was to come when they hit the ground. Friends were waiting with champagne as Hladik pulled out the real engagement ring, dropped to a knee and asked Fry to marry him.

Of course Fry said yes.

It was beautiful, he said. He did good.

That wasnt the end of the high-flying shenanigans.

Hladik, who has made more than 2,000 jumps, dropped in on their wedding photo session, too.

Fry said that made quite the hit with his family. They were taking pictures and cheering. Then guests got to take an airplane ride, too.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be an ongoing situation for Three Rivers Public Health Department.

Within the last seven days, a COVID-19 related death, an individual in their 50s, and a total of 51 new cases have been reported, the district said in a press release. The total number of COVID-19 related deaths within the district is now 136.

The 51 cases of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is larger compared to weekly reports from the beginning of July when the department reported an average of five to 10 cases per week.

Executive Director of the Three Rivers Public Health Department, Terra Uhing, encourages people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

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We know vaccination isnt the only tool to fight COVID-19. However, the vaccine lowers the risk of contracting COVID-19 and acts to prevent severe illness and hospitalizations if infection were to occur, she said. Please also remember to stay home when you are feeling ill, wash your hands, and socially distance when needed. These tools, collectively, can help keep our communities safe.

Three Rivers PHD has identified four new lab-confirmed variants of concern within the district, two of the B.1.617 Delta variant (India) in both Dodge and Washington counties.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered the Legislature to reconvene for a third time to try to pass a Republican-backed voting restrictions bill that Democratic members blocked by leaving the state nearly a month ago.

The announcement, which had been expected, puts new pressure on the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left Texas for Washington, D.C., on July 12 and have remained there since. They had been preparing to celebrate running out the clock on the current 30-day special session that ends Friday, which would torpedo the sweeping elections overhaul for the second time since May.

But their holdout may not be over. Some Democrats said this week that they had no intention of returning to the state Capitol, even after they return to Texas and face possible arrest to compel their attendance.

State Rep. Chris Turner, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, would not say following Abbott's announcement whether they would return before the new session begins Saturday. But asked about members who say they will keep refusing to show up, Turner told The Associated Press: It's very much under discussion. I'll just leave it at that."
Bennett herself called Cuomo's apology meaningless.

If he were sorry, he would step down. Thats how accountability works, she told the AP immediately following the remarks.

Elaborating Wednesday on ABCs Good Morning America, Bennett said: He insinuated that survivors of trauma and sexual assault cant tell the difference between mentorship and leadership and sexual harassment itself, which is not only insulting to me but to every survivor who listened to him yesterday.

Marissa Hoechstetter was one of those survivors. She said she was saddened by Cuomos reference to his relatives assault because I do not want to diminish those experiences. But, added the advocate for reform in New York state, two things can be true. You can have someone in his family who experienced sexual harm, and he could also have caused this harm.

You feel so gutted when you see peoples trauma trotted out to try to explain away another persons rightful voice, Hoechstetter said.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a Northwestern University law professor who specializes in sexual misconduct, saw Cuomos remarks as part of a larger strategy to discredit his accusers and save his political career.
In late June, Unity quietly updated its licensing policy requirements for developers working on closed platforms like Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.

Unity developers starting new projects will now need either a Unity Pro license or a Preferred Platform License Key to develop for these platforms.

The news was delivered internally to Unity game developers on the Unity GameCore forum, and went into effect on June 30th.

A Unity spokesperson confirmed to Gamasutra that the change took place, explaining that developing for consoles is a complex undertaking for any studio and Unity has always recommended Unity Pro for development on these platforms.

The spokesperson also stressed that the change is for new developers working on new platform-approved projects that update to the 2021.2 tech stream. If your game is currently in development on an older version of Unity, you dont need Unity Pro at this time.

A handful of developers reached out to Gamasutra with concerns about this change because while Sony and Nintendo both make Preferred Platform License Keys available to developers, Microsoft does not. Previously if a developer had XDX (the Xbox Development SDK) on their computer, it apparently unlocked all Unity features for use on Xbox.

Junes policy change renders that moot, and means a new developer working on an approved game for Xbox will need to pay for a Unity Pro license, which currently costs $1,800 per year per seat.

Unity previously required developers to use Unity Pro (or Enterprise) if their funding or revenue was greater than $200K in the last 12 months. For smaller developers with less than $200K in revenue or funding, Unity Plus and Unity Personal were options for development.

A spokesperson for Microsoft told Gamasutra that it the company is aware of the changes, but didnt indicate if the company would be creating its own Preferred Platform License Key program for developers. We will continue to work with our development partners and engine providers, including Unity, to determine how to best support creators on Xbox, the spokesperson said.

They added that Microsoft is deeply committed to independent developers and with our prioritization of the community accelerating, ensuring they have a clear path to success on Xbox and Windows.

Unitys changes here arent exactly sweeping, since many developers working on the platform already pay for Unity Pro or have access to Preferred Platform License Keys. Some developers Gamasutra spoke with didnt even notice the change took place, or expressed indifference about how it would affect their future projects.

Those who are most impacted are developers whose projects arent approved yet who are interested in shipping their game on Xbox or any other platform that doesnt provide the partnered license keys, and who dont quite have the cash for Unity Pro.

Developers reaching out to Gamasutra also expressed concern over the decision to announce this change by way of an internal forum that requires you to sign a non-disclosure agreement to accessnew developers most impacted by the policy change might not know about the shift in economics for publishing on these specific platforms.

Its concern worth highlighting. Hopefully Microsoft is in the process of restoring the same level of access for Unity developers that was previously available with XDX.

Updated to include an expanded quote from Microsoft's spokesperson.

Update 08/06 - 16:00BST: A Unity spokesperson has clarified the company's decision to make Unity Pro a requirement when publishing on consoles, and said the choice was made so Unity could "continue providing the best-in-class tools."

In a statement posted on the Unity3D subreddit (in response to this very article), the engine maker said Unity Pro offers "the best solution" to supporting developers with platform-specific build modules, features, and learning resources. It also reiterated that those developers working on already-approved won't need to purchase Unity Pro to finish up.

"We are making these changes in order to continue providing the best-in-class tools and supporting our Unity Creators need to successfully develop on these platforms, and for us to continue investing in new technology, features, and services that provide value and benefit all Unity Creators. Targeting a console platform is a major undertaking, and Unity Pro is the best solution to support developers with platform-specific build modules, features, learning resources and support to help power success," said the company.

"In the past, closed platform partners like Sony (for PlayStation), Nintendo (for Switch), Microsoft (for Xbox), and Google (for Stadia) have all provided a preferred platform license key for approved games and developers on their respective platforms. Today, this is still true for Sony, Nintendo, and Google. If you are working on an already-approved project for Xbox (prior to June 30, 2021), you will not have to purchase Unity Pro to finish and publish your project to the platform."
The Afghan Air Force on August 5 resumed air strikes against Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan as militants made additional gains in the country's north.

A Defense Ministry statement said air strikes were carried out across the country, including in the southern Helmand Province where government forces are battling for control of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Taliban commanders quoted by Reuters said on August 5 that the militants' "priority" was to overrun airports in Kandahar and Herat but that soon other major cities could be targeted, too.

"The operations in Kandahar and Herat are very much important to us and our priority is to capture the two crucial airports or airbases in Kandahar and Herat, the commander said.

Residents in Lashkar Gah reported heavy bombing near the government radio and television station, which is under Taliban control.

Nine of that city's 10 districts have fallen into the militants' hands.

Before launching the counterattack in Lashkar Gah on August 5, the army urged the city's 200,000 residents to evacuate but it was unclear if routes out of the city were safe.

In northern Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of most of the provincial capital of Sar-e Pol, according to provincial council leader Mohammad Noor Rahmani.

Fierce fighting also has occurred around Herat, near the western border with Iran, and Kandahar in the south.

The Taliban have been conducting an all-out offensive since early May, when U.S.-led international forces stepped up a final withdrawal that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.

Afghan security forces have been increasingly using air strikes, raising concerns about civilian casualties across the country.

Three Taliban commanders who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity cited their goals of overtaking Herat, Kandahar, and Lashkar Gah and suggested their offensives were a response to the United States' delaying withdrawal plans first agreed under then-President Donald Trump.

"Mullah Yaqoob argued that when U.S. didn't fulfil their commitment why should Taliban be made to follow the accord?" the Kandahar-based commander said in a reference to the Taliban's top military commander.

He suggested that more big cities could be targeted for siege and said Yaqoob's arguments had outweighed the Taliban political office's arguments.

"Mullah Yaqoob has decided to capture Kandahar and Herat and now Helmand and then it could be Kunduz, Khost or any other province."

Taliban fighters have also carried out revenge killings and indiscriminate violence in areas they capture, and the group warned after several attacks in Kabul that it would also be targeting government officials in "retaliatory operations."

The United Nations said on August 4 it had received reports of mounting civilian deaths and damage to critical infrastructure in Helmand and Kandahar.

"Hospitals and health workers are becoming overwhelmed by the number of wounded people," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a press briefing.

We can tell you that we are deeply concerned about the safety and protection of people in Lashkar Gah, in the south, where tens of thousands of people could be trapped by fighting, Dujarric said.

The UN also urged donors to fund the Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan, which Dujarric said had received less than half of the needed $1.3 billion to date.

We, along with our humanitarian partners in Afghanistan, are assessing needs and responding in the south, as access allows, he said.

The European Union on August 5 urged "an urgent, comprehensive and permanent cease-fire" and condemned Taliban militants' attacks.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and its commissioner for aid and crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, accused the Taliban of abandoning its stated commitment to seeking a negotiated peace.

While stepping up its offensive across Afghanistan, the Taliban also targeted institutions and officials in the capital in an attempt to disable the decision-making centers of the government.

On August 3 and 4, Taliban suicide bombers and armed attackers struck at the residence of acting Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security building, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens.



Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned on August 4 of more attacks targeting top Afghan government officials.

He said that the attack on Mohammadi is the beginning of the retaliatory operations against the circles and leaders of the Kabul administration who are ordering attacks and the bombing of different parts of the country."



The Taliban said the Kabul raid was in response to stepped-up air strikes against the insurgents by Afghan and U.S. military forces.

Recently, hundreds of Afghan security troops fled into neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the face of the Taliban offensive.

Even as it has stepped up its diplomatic efforts including through direct meetings with the Taliban, Russia has expressed concern about Taliban advances in connection with the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan were expected to begin a major military exercise near Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan on August 5, with Moscow announcing it will deploy four Tu-22M3 supersonic strategic bombers during the drills.

More than 2,500 soldiers are set to take part in the joint exercise, in the Tajik region of Khatlon until August 10.

Up to 1,800 of the soldiers will be from Russia, which has its largest foreign base in the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan.

Moscow also recently announced an expansion of its Central Asian bases.

With reporting by AP, dpa, Reuters, and AFP
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Construction is underway on an anticipated and contentious trail network in one of Colorado Springs' most popular parks.

The city expects to close Daniels Pass Trail this month while a replacement is being finished on the slopes of North Cheyenne Canon Park, starting from a new parking lot and trailhead along the preserve's main road. The closure will mark the end of what has been a long-cherished downhill ride for mountain bikers.

In crafting the park's 2018 master plan, officials found the steep, rugged track "highly unsustainable," pointing to erosion and incised "scars" along the hillside.

The city's recent Facebook post announcing the upcoming closure reignited old debate over the decision.

Some commented about the city "ignoring" support of maintaining Daniels Pass. Based on other modifications and additions at open spaces in recent years, critics also questioned the city's promise for a "singletrack" trail. One feared "another stroller highway."

These have all been concerns heard by Cory Sutela. Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates' executive director has served as riders' voice in negotiations with land managers.

The current Daniels Pass "is clearly not sustainable according to parks' standards," Sutela said. "Now, could you invest a bunch of resources and still keep that downhill nature? You could argue about that, and we did argue about that.

"The ultimate determination was that this isn't the best place for such a downhill trail, and it would take so many resources to make it sustainable, and then it would only be a single-direction bike trail."

Instead, the new Daniels Pass is expected to switchback about 2 miles up to its current ridge in a way that designers say will appeal to visitors on foot and bike, ascending and descending. From the top, travelers can drop the opposite side to what will be the Sweetwater Canyon network  a series of loops in wooded acreage the city received in a 2016 land exchange with The Broadmoor. Also from the ridge, a new hiking-only trail to the top of Mount Muscoco will be built, an alternate route to go with the current route from the Mount Cutler trailhead.

About 6 1/2 miles of trail are blueprinted, funded largely by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife grant. The city contracted with FlowRide Concepts on the project, which is expected to be finished late this fall.

"I'm not happy (the current Daniels Pass) is going away," Sutela said. "But I accept it as a compromise."

In talks leading up to North Cheyenne Canon's 2018 master plan, Sutela said he and Medicine Wheel board members agreed on the change considering other promises in the plan, namely the Chutes being established as city parks' first downhill-only, bike-only trail and a similar designation posed for the trail known as Captain Morgan's. The plan calls for two "downhill-oriented, very challenging, sustainable" lines in that trail's area.

Sutela said he's been in talks with the city about a new technical route at Pulpit Rock as well. Still, he's answering to fellow riders who mourn the loss of rugged rides and so-called "sanitation" of singletrack.

"This is what happens for these parks that are heavily used and very close to town," Sutela said. "The city is looking at it from a systemwide perspective. It means that some trails that are really only used by a small number, those are the ones that are most at-risk."
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Maryland moves to secure states data

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is taking steps to protect the states critical infrastructure and strengthen its cyber ecosystem. The initiatives were announced at a recent cybersecurity summit in Annapolis that brought together representatives from the White House, Congress, the National Security Agency, academic leaders and private-sector experts.

Hogan announced a new partnership with NSA that would see a senior-level data analyst advise the state on enterprise data practices and policies. The NSA liaison will also coordinate with the states CIO and other government, university and private-sector organizations on a comprehensive data architecture that protects data throughout its life cycle.

The governor also signed three tech-related executive orders. The first is designed to expand the scope of the Maryland Total Human-services Information Network or MD THINK, a cloud-based data repository that enables various state agencies to share and manage data. Another order creates a state chief data officer tasked with managing and facilitating the sharing and use of interagency data. Under this order, state agencies are directed to appoint their own data officers.

The third executive order codifies a statewide privacy framework and designates a new state chief privacy officer to oversee and maintain the privacy of personally identifiable information. Much like the last order, this requires the principal executive units to appoint an agency privacy official to work with the CPO to secure citizens personal data.

In addition, Hogan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, to create the Maryland Institute for Innovative Computing. This organization will connect institute members with key figures at state and local agencies to tackle Marylands crucial cyber challenges in data science and artificial intelligence.

Public officials have no higher responsibility than keeping the American people safe, and there is no greater threat to their safety than the cyber vulnerabilities of the systems that support our daily lives, Hogan said. Now, the time has come for leaders at all levels of government, along with stakeholders in the private sector and academia, to take immediate and decisive actions.
They just called up and said, 'We got one of (Charles Citys) rides,' Osage Police Chief Brian Wright said.

Wright said the equipment was dumped in the yard overnight and was picked up by the overnight officer in the morning. The citizen told Osage officers he believed that it belonged to Charles City.

I was grateful that (the equipment) showed back up and it could be returned to Charles City, said Wright.

Anderson said the case of the missing spring animals is closed since they were returned and the city has no leads on who took them.

The playground equipment was returned to Charles City Parks and Recreation to reinstall them.

"It was pretty exciting that they came back so quick," said Charles City Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Mitchell.

Mitchell said that they have not installed the equipment yet and are currently looking for someone to paint them. If they are unable to find a painter by Friday, Mitchell said the equipment will be reinstalled.

"We want someone who has done painting before in their life," said Mitchell.
Republicans will conduct a 2-day rally in Lynchburg this weekend. That would be completely unremarkable in an election year except for one thing: This is being billed as an election integrity rally.

Sadly, all the Republicans who are taking part in this event are lending their names to a conspiracy theory that somehow the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent  something that not a single court in the land has found.

This is more than some talking point for a feverish fringe; it was an actionable point for all those people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Criminals might be one word for them; courts are already starting to apply that status.

Why are decent Republicans lending any legitimacy to these claims at all? Lets be as clear as we possibly can: They are playing with a kind of fire, one that threatens to do something that once would have been unthinkable  undermine Americas commitment to democracy.

Weve already seen an awful lot of Republicans who were willing to set aside some election results they simply didnt like. They have helped set the country on a dangerous path to a dark and terrible place.
WENTWORTH  The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that a juvenile has been charged in connection with the May 24 shooting deaths of two motorcyclists on the U.S. 29 Bypass in Reidsville.

The juvenile, who was not named because of laws that protect the privacy of underage offenders, was charged via juvenile petition with two counts of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and one count of accessory after the fact to attempted first degree murder, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The suspect was taken into custody by the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice, according to the release.

Browns Summit resident Martin Cox Jr., 41, was previously charged in the shootings.

Virginia residents Kwandre Marcell Carey, 24, of Montross, Va., and Haneefa Fitzgerald, 42, of Fredericksburg, Va., were shot and killed around 4:45 p.m. May 24 as they rode on the U.S. 29 Bypass. The riders, traveling on two motorcycles, were headed northbound along the bypass between Barnes Street and N.C. 14, officials said.

Carey was pronounced dead at the scene and Fitzgerald died at an area hospital, authorities reported.

Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Marines for 15 years before her retirement in 2015.
In contrast, low-income students typically see learning loss. Families often struggle to find slots in affordable summer enrichment programs, where demand can readily outpace the number of available seats.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools typically does not host a summer session, but offered more than 30,000 slots this year to any student interested and saw an average daily attendance of around 15,000. While any student could sign up and get a seat, the district targeted those with low grades in core classes, had unstable housing or who were chronically absent. About 65,000 students were identified under those criteria, and nearly 20,000 of those children signed up for a summer slot.

Tangela Williams, who is overseeing summer programming, said that because attendance was not mandatory, some students came only on certain days of the week or started during the middle of the 24-day program. While some parents said they were simply no longer interested, staff members contacted each family if a student missed three consecutive days to provide any support needed in case the student wanted to return.

Williams said that while there were limits to what could be done, she hoped the experience would go beyond teaching content and help students make the transition back to in-person learning.
If Italy was determined to be the owner in a court case, then the Safani Gallery would be entitled to just compensation under international conventions, Schoen said.

According to a court filing, the marble antiquity was unearthed at the Roman Forum during a state-sponsored excavation and moved to the Antiquarium Forense museum before being listed as lost in 1960.

At issue in the case is the date of excavation  whether it was before Italy's patrimony law protecting cultural heritage was enacted and applied, or after.

The gallerys suit argued, in part, that the district attorneys office in seizing the statue was acting as Italys agent, which would have forfeited Italy's immunity as it acted without proof the statue was stolen. But the court said there was no evidence Italy controlled the actions of the DAs office.

Indeed, Italys relationship to the DAs office is analogous to someone who reports a crime, or that something was stolen from them, the judge wrote.
Such an effort, then, isnt just about the precise wording of laws or the detailed analysis of regulations. Its about public attitudes.

Do people other than buyers and sellers have a legitimate interest in the amount and type of housing stock erected in the community? To a limited extent, yes, regarding public services such as roads or water and sewer. That interest need not result in excessive regulation, however. Localities can and do charge developers directly, and thus prospective newcomers indirectly, for the cost of adding infrastructure capacity to accommodate them. Such a practice is not about saying no. Its about saying yes  at the right price.

Lets be honest, though: when the neighborhood resists new construction or higher density, its not just about traffic or stormwater runoff. Preexisting residents want to keep things the way they were when they moved in. More trees. Fewer people driving or walking by. Structures and landscapes that existing residents admire when they drive or walk by.

Heres a principle we should all take to heart: When we buy or rent a place to live, we dont purchase a right to oversee how many neighbors well have  or how they choose to live their lives.

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member and author of the forthcoming novel Mountain Folk, a historical fantasy set during the American Revolution (MountainFolkBook.com).
U.S. Marines with Task Force Koa Moana 21, I Marine Expeditionary Force, set up a modified Emergency Integrated Life-Saving Lanyard during a training exercise on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, June 30, 2021. Marines used the training to familiarize themselves with the robotic platforms, which were modified to detect underwater unexploded ordnance.
Each gay circus poster contains Hiltners summary of the science of a different Superfund site.

Most of the data comes from the EPA.gov website, she said. Everyone has a Superfund site in their backyard. Its kind of crazy to think about. I picked ones that are particularly egregious or outrageous.

The title and inspiration, Superfun(d), came from a public talk Hiltner gave at the Holter museum several years ago, about her work, Vantage Point.

She tends to talk fast, she said, and some members of the audience thought she was saying superfun'' instead of Superfund.

Thus, the spark for a new artwork was born.

I think humor is a way to talk about a very serious subject. I feel thats the way to weave through some very heavy and dire subjects. You might have to introduce them in an unconventional way.

From a distance, It all looks happy, she said. But we know thats not true.

The more research she did, the more she learned about Montanas history of extractive industry.

Its kind of shocking how close we are living to things that arent good for us.
Public safety reform is an ongoing process in Phoenix, and now, with the help of the USDOJ, this robust program will continue, Gallego said in a statement.

The city also plans to start a new program this year to respond to mental health calls by placing behavioral health professionals in the field. The city also has a new office of police accountability that is charged with independently investigating allegations of wrongdoing by officers.

That office may be hamstrung, however, by a new state law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that limits civilian review boards like the one Phoenix has set up.

City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, a frequent defender of Phoenix police, said the department has been under extreme attack by activists bent on defunding the police.

I welcome another set of eyes to see what we already know: that we have a department staffed by dedicated individuals who go to great lengths to protect our community, and do so honorably and fairly, he said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which has sued Phoenix police in the past for actions against protesters, said the investigation was needed to force the department to change.
Kimberly Dudik also wasnt shocked to hear about the lawsuit based on the hurdles women in Montana experience when pursuing careers. She is a Missoula-based lawyer with Dudik & Associates, a firm that specializes in protecting citizens rights and advocating for policy reform.

Women in Montana are paid 73.2 cents for every dollar a man makes, Dudik said. She also noted that many women face an uphill battle when it comes to networking and making headway in their jobs.

I wasnt really surprised that there may be issues at UM and if there are issues ... Im glad to see that women are empowered enough to take a stand against what they see as institutional problems that are based in outdated gender norms, Dudik said.

Dudik is also an alumna of the university who graduated with her law degree in 2003. Bodnar was not yet the president when Dudik was enrolled.

While in school, she never experienced discrimination, but she did have an experience where a professor taught something that some of us felt was a little bit of furthering the rape culture and how women are objectified, she said.

Once it was brought to the professors attention, he quickly remedied the situation and apologized, she said.
Montanas mental health agencies including our only free-standing child psychiatric hospital, Shodair Childrens Hospital, are begging DPHHS to help them shore up unprecedented losses and staffing shortages. I have worked as a psychiatrist in Montana for over 16 years and have never witnessed such a strain on our mental health system.

Montana historically has underfunded community mental health, which in turn, leads to higher intensity treatments such as residential facility placements, group home placements, and acute psychiatric hospitalizations. Now, these very providers who are serving our most vulnerable citizens  our children and individuals with developmental disabilities who have the highest needs  are at the breaking point.

Montanas mental health fail-safes are failing. Montana has had one of the highest suicide rates in the nation for decades. We need Montana state leaders to lead. Montana has more than enough ARPA federal funding to remedy this crisis.

Will Montanas governor and DPHHS director take action or let our struggling mental health system completely collapse?

Leonard Lantz, MD

Helena

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  The queen's representative in New Zealand said Prince Harry and Meghan discussed moving to the South Pacific country during their 2018 visit, more than a year before the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the United States.

Governor-General Patsy Reddy also told The Associated Press in an interview she believes the British monarch should remain New Zealand's head of state and described the hand-typed letters she sends to Queen Elizabeth II.

Reddy, 67, will leave her largely ceremonial role representing the queen in New Zealand in October after a 5-year term. A lawyer who was given the honorific Dame for her services to arts and business, Reddy officially signs bills into law, presides over many public ceremonies and tours the country, meeting with various groups including Indigenous Maori.

Harry and Meghan visited New Zealand at the end of a hectic 16-day royal tour of the South Pacific, and Reddy recalled the couple as being tired.

"I remember theyd just been down to the Abel Tasman National Park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand.

Of course, we said Sure. It would be fine. There are lots of opportunities to live in New Zealand, but that would be something that theyd have to explore,'" Reddy said. They were looking at how they might raise their family. And, obviously, theyve made some decisions since."

Reddy said she didn't view it as a formal request for assistance but more of an informal discussion about the couple's hopes for the future. She said the pair seemed impressed with the access to the outdoors and their interactions with New Zealanders.

Still, the discussion shows the couple were considering options outside of Britain less than six months after they married and well before their eventual move to the U.S.

During a widely watched interview with Oprah Winfrey near the couples California home earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, mentioned they'd offered to the royal family to take a step back from royal life in a Commonwealth country such as South Africa or New Zealand.

Reddy said she watched the interview but didn't want to comment on internal royal family business.

I thought they were a lovely couple and I hope theyve got a great future where they are, Reddy said.

She said she regularly expresses her confidential views of what's happening in New Zealand to the queen, such as the nation's response to the pandemic. She said the communication "is quite touchingly old-fashioned, by letter.

She has told me on the times that Ive seen her that she finds it interesting to have a personal perspective on whats happening, Reddy said. As she says, I like to know whats happening between the lines."

Many people in New Zealand believe the country should become an independent republic but Reddy said she believed the queen should remain the head of state because the arrangement works and has strong historical links.

She said New Zealand has a special connection to the monarchy because its founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed by Maori and the representative of Queen Victoria.

Asked about a future scenario in which a monarch might turn out to be dictatorial or autocratic, Reddy said the same scenario with an elected president would likely be worse.

Weve seen how that doesnt work in other countries in the world," she said. "But actually, because the monarch is much more of a theoretical construct, a figurehead rather than an actual ruler, I think it gives us a measure of safety, constitutional safety.

Reddy said she agreed with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's assessment that there was currently little appetite among New Zealanders for a constitutional change, and that people were concerned about more pressing issues like climate change, inequality and the pandemic.

She said she thought the royal family had been great role models during the pandemic, using the internet and social media to great effect and abiding fastidiously to the rules imposed by the British government.

So we saw tragically the funeral of Prince Philip, where they could only have 30 mourners," Reddy said. But there was no question that thered be any kind of dispensation, even from the requirements for isolation, when, for example, Prince Harry came back to that funeral.

Reddy said she'd watched the Netflix series The Crown.

I've enjoyed it as a historical drama, she said. Its production values and some great characterizations, I think. But, you know, it's not real life is it?"

She pushed back at the negative portrayal of Prince Charles, saying she thought he would be a good monarch.

Ive been enormously impressed with the breadth of his knowledge, the depth of his well-considered perceptions on a range of subjects," she said. "From urban planning to the environment, to the impact of religions on the world.

Children's advocate Cindy Kiro has been named by Ardern to succeed Reddy. Kiro, who is also a Dame, is the first Indigenous woman appointed to the role.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Val, a deeply personal and intimate documentary about the actor Val Kilmer, arrives on Amazon Prime Friday after bowing at the Cannes Film Festival in July and playing theatrical engagements for the past two weeks. A cinematic memoir of sorts, Val is a film that Kilmer has wanted to make for a long time, and since losing his voice to throat cancer, it became even more urgent for the actor, who has not been able to work in the same capacity on screen.

The film is directed by Ting Poo and Leo Scott, but it truly feels like a collaboration between the directors, Kilmer, and his children (who are producers). Kilmers son Jack provides the voice-over work, reading his fathers words over archival footage that Kilmer shot on home video throughout his career. A rough-hewn and beautifully devastating film, it calls to mind the home movies that Kilmer made with his brothers, growing up in Chatsworth, California.

Though Kilmer says he wanted to make a movie about acting, about truth and illusion and what it means to live in the illusion for as long as he did, its truly a film about Kilmer himself: his upbringing, family, dreams and many personal challenges. But its also a unique look at his career, with audition tapes and behind-the-scenes footage he shot himself. The film walks us through many of his most memorable movie roles, which will undoubtedly inspire viewers to revisit these films.

Start with Kilmers film debut, starring in the Zucker Brothers supremely silly and absolutely hilarious 1984 spy spoof Top Secret! streaming on Amazon Prime and Paramount+. After that, dont miss a rewatch of Tony Scotts 1986 action classic Top Gun in which Kilmer played Mavericks antagonist Iceman, and uttered the indelible phrase, you can be my wingman anytime. Stream it on Starz or rent it on digital platforms for $2.99.

In the high fantasy 1988 Ron Howard/George Lucas collab Willow, Kilmer played the hunky Madmartigan and met and fell in love with his future wife, Joanne Whalley, who co-starred as Sorsha. Watch it on Disney+ or rent it for $3.99 elsewhere. Kilmer threw himself into a yearlong preparation to play Jim Morrison for Oliver Stone in 1991s The Doors, and his performance has melded itself with the memory of Morrison himself in the collective imagination. Stream it on HBO Max.

Kilmer co-starred as Doc Holliday opposite Kurt Russells Wyatt Earp in 1993s Tombstone (streaming on Amazon Prime) and fulfilled a boyhood dream of playing Batman in Joel Schumachers 1995 Batman Forever (streaming on HBO Max). But the challenges of the rubber suit meant Kilmer was one and done with the Caped Crusader, and he moved on to a supporting role in Michael Manns epic heist classic Heat (streaming on Starz or a $2.99 rental), and later starred in the British spy reboot The Saint (streaming on Showtime, or a $2.99 rental). The disastrous The Island of Doctor Moreau was a chance to work with his idol Marlon Brando, but the challenges of the shoot were too much for Kilmer to bear. This fascinating train wreck must be seen to be believed, so rent it for $1.99 on digital platforms.

While many other films followed, these made up the bulk of the filmography for which Kilmer is best known, an eclectic group of films across all genres, some where Kilmer was pigeonholed into leading man roles when hes actually a character actor and clown at heart.

Val lets us in a bit into the wild, magical, strange and challenging life of the actor; a sensitive soul who was often labeled difficult to work with. But theres no denying that hes one of the greats, and his screen presence is sorely missed. Val helps to restore it, and to establish his humanity and grace as, simply, Val.

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DECATUR  Get a shot and support a local business in the process.

Thanks to a donation from an anonymous donor, Colees Corner Drugs family of pharmacies will be offering gift cards as an incentive to those who get fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The first 50 people 18 years and older to get fully vaccinated at one of three sites on Fridays in August will receive $50 gift cards redeemable at Dale's Southlake Pharmacy in Decatur, Colee's Corner Drugs in Forsyth, and Colee's Community Pharmacy on the Crossing Healthcare campus.

"Our goal with this program is to help motivate Macon County residents and encourage more individuals to get vaccinated to help curb the spread of COVID in our community, said Dale Colee, owner of Dales Southlake Pharmacy. The Illinois Department of Public Health reports 39.4 percent of Macon County's residents are fully vaccinated.

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Customers can choose from the single dose Johnson & Johnson or the two dose Moderna vaccine option, and must be 18 or older to receive a vaccine and gift card.

Vaccines will be administered on:

Aug. 6 at Colee's Corner Drugs, 9 a.m.  5:30 p.m.

Aug. 13 at Colees Community Pharmacy/Crossing Healthcare, 9 a.m.12 p.m.

Aug. 20 at Colees Corner Drugs, 9 a.m.  5:30 p.m.

Aug. 27 at Colee's Community Pharmacy/Crossing Healthcare, 9 a.m.12 p.m.

Appointments are required for those attending clinics at Crossing Healthcare. Go to crossinghealthcare.org/COVID19. Call 217-429-5165 for assistance scheduling an appointment at either location.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday ordered face coverings for all school children from preschool through 12th grade to thwart the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The Democratic governor also said he will require all state employees who work in highly populated facilities, such as prisons, to be vaccinated. Decatur, Vandalia, Lincoln and Taylorville are homes to prisons in Central Illinois.

Masks also will be required at all Illinois long-term care facilities, day cares

With the potentially deadly virus continuing to spread, worsened by the more virulent delta variant, Pritzker urged residents who have not been vaccinated to get the shots necessary to prevent the illness and its spread.

Every time we think we know where this virus is headed, it changes, and it shifts...," Pritzker said in Chicago. I want to say this, specifically to young adults: Please do not think that the worst-case scenario can't happen to you. It can happen. It is happening. Get vaccinated."

I think COVID and the masks is a huge topic, said superintendent of Central A&M DeAnn Heck. And hopefully well be in schools for five days (a week).

The school district is hoping this year they will be able to address issues that difficulties caused by the pandemic have caused for children, said Heck. The changing regulations and recommendations also impacts these efforts, extracurricular activities, and more.

Its just so tentative, Heck said.

Heck made the comments while attending a gathering of area school leaders with Regional Office of Education 11 at Lake Charleston.

Most Macon County school districts, except for Decatur, had not yet made firm decisions about masks prior to Pritzker's mandate, citing the fact that advice from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control has changed rapidly in recent days.

Several had board meetings scheduled in the next few days to discuss the issue prior to schools' opening, which for most districts is the week of Aug. 16.

"We are excited to have the chance to be back in our classrooms with our kids," said Chrissy Petitt, president of the Decatur Education Association. "While we all hope to put this pandemic behind us sooner rather than later, we respect the need to do all we can to look out for the health and safety of our community."

The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans' homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled. Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.

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Employers both private and public have begun requiring shots against the deadly virus  President Joe Biden is considering such a requirement for all federal employees  and the law appears to be on the side of the boss. Employers can make vaccination a condition of employment, experts say.

Roberta Lynch, executive director of Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most of those affected by the vaccination order, said those workers have been reporting to work since the beginning of the pandemic putting their own health and safety at risk to assure public safety and provide essential care."

Lynch said the union is prepared to discuss parameters with the Pritzker administration to ensure fairness for employees while safeguarding the health of staff and all those who reside in these facilities.

While the debate over vaccines has caused deep divisions nationally, face coverings have lit an even shorter fuse.

The state's largest teachers' union, the Illinois Education Association, issued a statement indicating its agreement with the governor's action.

Lets pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up. We owe it to our students and we owe it to each other, said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. Were so thankful to have leadership in this state that wont let the virus fester and grow. But, it us up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees.

Pritzker, whos made his handling of the pandemic central to his reelection bid next year, is stopping short of requiring all state workers to get vaccinated. The first-term Democrat has faced fierce criticism over the deaths of dozens on veterans in COVID-19 outbreaks at state run homes.

Vaccine uptake has been sluggish among employees at some homes run by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, with 63% of employees at five homes  including a brand-new one in Chicago that hasnt opened to residents  fully vaccinated as of July 23, according to the department. Thats compared with 98% of residents of those facilities.

Statewide, a little less than 59% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.

Illinois follows states such as New York, California and North Carolina in requiring vaccinations for all or some employees.

Dan Petrella of the Chicago Tribune and staff writers Valerie Wells and Athena Pajer contributed to this report.
CHICAGO  A Black family is suing the Chicago police department, saying officers broke down their door and pointed guns at two small children while searching the place and then tried to cover up that they had no evidence to justify the raid.

The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest to accuse the city's police department of wrongfully raiding the homes of people of color. It comes months after a Black woman sued after officers barged into her apartment and forced her to stand naked and handcuffed while they conducted a search. In that raid, officers handcuffed her while she was naked while they conducted a search. In that case, police got the address wrong.

The police department didn't immediately reply to a request for comment about the case.

According to the latest lawsuit, 4-year-old Reshyla Winters and her 9-year-old sister, Sevayla Winters, were in bed on the evening of Aug. 7, 2019, when officers broke down the door of the family's home, stormed in without a warrant and pointed their guns at the girls' father, Steven Winters. While one officer knelt on Steven Winters' back with a gun to his head, another went into the girls' bedroom, where he shined a flashlight and pointed a shotgun at them. A third officer entered the bedroom of the girls' grandfather and pointed a gun at him as he was sleeping in bed.

The girls were so frightened that they cried and wet their beds, the lawsuit contends. The raid caused lasting trauma... in the form of nightmares, bed-wetting, trouble sleeping, decreased appetite, crying fits and fear and distrust of police, according to a news release announcing the lawsuit, which names the city and the officers involved as defendants.

The lawsuit argues that the officers not only used excessive force, but that they entered the wrong home based on a vague description of a suspect with a gun at a nearby gas station. It contends that footage from their body cameras shows they were mistaken, and that no gun was ever found in the family's apartment and no suspects were arrested.

The lawsuit asserts that the officers tried to cover up their mistake by claiming in their reports that they heard and saw the suspect they were chasing run into the apartment and then out the back  statements that were proven false by the bodycam footage, which the family's attorney, Al Hofeld Jr., obtained through an open records request.

They do not show anyone entering or exiting plaintiffs building or plaintiffs apartment, the lawsuit says. Officers did not find any sign that any suspect had entered. Officers did not arrest anyone. The terror and stress to this innocent family was all for naught. 

The lawsuit also says the city has yet to turn over all of the bodycam footage.

Hofeld said the lawsuit is the 11th involving 32 children of color who have been similarly traumatized. One of those was a three-year-old girl who was in her home in August 2013 when officers executing a search warrant put a gun to her chest. The city ultimately settled that case for $2.5 million and two officers involved in the incident were stripped of their police powers, according to published reports.

The city and department are being sued over a 2019 police raid in which officers stormed into the home of an innocent Black woman, Anjanette Young, and forced her to stand naked and handcuffed for more than a half hour while they searched the place, which turned out to be the wrong address. Mayor Lori Lightfoot was harshly criticized after emails revealed that she learned of the raid in 2019, and not late 2020, as she initially told reporters when a local television station first aired police bodycam footage of the raid.

Chicago has paid hundreds of millions of dollars out on police misconduct cases. In 2016, an Associated Press analysis found that the city had paid $662 million for judgments, settlements and outside legal fees. And although the citys legal department on Wednesday could not immediately provide statistics about the cost since then, news reports reveal that the total has climbed by tens of millions of dollars per year.

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CHICAGO  Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to what authorities then called the largest municipal fraud in the countrys history, was released from prison Wednesday  with about eight years left on her 19-year sentence.

Crundwell, 68, was originally scheduled to be released Oct. 20, 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. But she was released early from the Federal Corrections Institution in Pekin, Illinois, to a Chicago residential reentry management field office, also known as a halfway house.

Crundwell pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, 2012, admitting that she stole $53 million from the city since 1990 and used the money to finance her quarter horse business and lavish lifestyle, according to the FBI. In February 2013, a federal judge ordered her to immediately begin serving the sentence of 19 years and 7 months.

The town released a statement that Crundwell was to serve 85% of the sentence. But after hearing rumors of an early release, the City Manager Danny Langloss contacted the Federal Correctional Institution. A prison official confirmed to him that Crundwell had been released but did not know why.

In April 22, 2020, Crundwell had petitioned a federal judge for early compassionate release based on her poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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I have done everything in my power to be a model inmate. To work as hard as I can and have never complained about my conditions here or the pay we receive, Crundwell wrote. There is never a day that goes by, I do not regret my crime.

In response, on May 10, 2020, Langloss issued a letter on behalf of the City Council strongly opposing an early release, according to the citys statement. Crundwell then withdrew her request.

According to the motion to withdraw filed by Crundwells attorneys, Crundwell decided to pursue administrative appeal procedures through the Bureau of Prisons instead of continuing the process for a compassionate release through the courts.

It is incredibly frustrating that Dixon was given no victim notification of Rita Crundwells release, Mayor Liandro Arellano Jr. said in the statement. Dixonites are still dealing with the social and financial aftermath of the damage she did, and our community deserved notice of and reasoning for this decision.

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SPRINGFIELD  The University of Illinois Springfield Department of Campus Recreation will host a 9/11 memorial stair climb at Crowne Plaza Springfield, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway, from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 11 to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Springfield firefighters and other local first responders will take part in the stair climb, along with community members.

Participants will have the opportunity to climb 110 flights of stairs  or any lesser amount they choose  to honor those who climbed 110 flights of stairs attempting to rescue victims in the World Trade Center.

A total of 2,977 people were killed in the attacks, including 2,753 at the WTC.

Registration for the climb is now open at go.uis.edu/911StairClimb. The deadline to register is Sept. 1.

The $25 registration fee includes a T-shirt, Mission BBQ lunch and a raffle ticket for Knight's Action Park tickets and other prizes.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit organization that builds mortgage-free smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.

For more information, contact event coordinator Amber Pye at 217-206-8400 or apye3@uis.edu.

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.  Ballad Health is bracing to treat a potential flood of COVID-19 inpatients in the coming weeks due to the current surge in cases sparked by the delta variant.

Each of this regions major health indicators is rising much more rapidly than originally forecast, and somber health system leaders Wednesday described what could be the most taxing surge yet  surpassing last winter when they were treating over 300 inpatients per day.

On Wednesday, Ballad was treating 125 inpatients plus another 60 at home  a 171% increase over last Wednesday with 33 in intensive care units. Additionally, the regions seven-day testing positivity has skyrocketed to 15%  the highest rate since February  and is substantially higher in some individual Northeast Tennessee counties. Tennessees statewide rate is 13%

More than 1,300 new cases were reported regionwide last week. That level of cases is comparable to April when the region was in the grips of the UK variant.

We are three times worse off than we were last week. Not only has there been a significant increase in hospitalizations, but we are seeing more pediatric patients with COVID-19, said Jamie Swift, Ballads chief infection prevention officer. We are facing a situation that is worse than our worst-case predictions from last year.
This is the best, most practical idea Ive seen since Ive been in Richmond this week, declared Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George.

But Democratic leaders warned that requiring DMV offices to reopen for walk-in service before the COVID-19 pandemic is fully under control could endanger the health of state employees and the customers they serve.

Weve got an unknown situation thats heading our way, and the numbers dont look good, said Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, who noted that COVID-19 cases had jumped above 1,700 a day with the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus.

Petersen withdrew an amendment he had proposed to require all state employees to return to work in their offices within 30 days of the budgets passage, but he succeeded in requiring the Department of Human Resource Management to submit a detailed report on how many employees are working remotely or in their offices.

We have over 100,000 state employees and we need to know where they are, he said.
FRANKFORT, Ky.: The Kentucky attorney general who investigated the Breonna Taylor case responded to months of blistering criticism by saying the decision not to charge any police officers in her death was ultimately in the grand jurys hands, though some jurors have complained they were limited in what crimes they could consider.

Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, speaking to The Associated Press on Thursday, said he hopes people recognize that his role was to look at the facts as they are, and not how a particular narrative is being driven by particular people.

Reflecting on a case that thrust him into the national spotlight, Cameron said: Ive said this until Im blue in the face that what happened to Miss Taylor was a tragedy, unequivocally a tragedy.

Cameron, Kentuckys first Black attorney general, said he was proud of the work by his team, which spent months poring over evidence and presented the case to the grand jury. The outcome, though, was in the hands of the grand jury, he said.

The prosecutors made a recommendation to the grand jury and those members ultimately decided to pursue that particular recommendation and indict one of the officers, Cameron said in a sit-down interview with The AP.

Cameron said in his September announcement of the grand jurys findings that the panel agreed

Three members of the 12-member grand jury later came forward to say Camerons team limited their scope and misled them about what charges they could consider against the officers. Cameron on Thursday didnt criticize the three grand jurors saying they can speak for themselves as he attempted to deflect their stinging review of how the case was presented.

No one is ever going to be 100% in agreement with the decisions or recommendations that are made, he said. But from our point of view, our responsibility was to the facts and to the law.

Taylor was fatally shot by police in her apartment on March 13, 2020. Her death and the killing of George Floyd sparked massive nationwide racial justice protests in the spring and summer of that year. The 26-year-old Black woman was an emergency medical worker who had settled in for the night when police busted through her door with a narcotics warrant.

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One of the Louisville police officers was charged for wantonly shooting into the apartment of Taylors neighbor. None of the officers who fired their guns were charged directly in her death. The fallout was swift and furious, with Cameron at the center of criticism from protesters and Taylors family.

Cameron spoke at a widely viewed press conference when the charges were announced in September. He said at the time the grand jury agreed that homicide charges were not warranted against the officers. That prompted some grand jury members to come forward to dispute his accounting of the closed-door proceedings.

Asked why the grand jury review didnt lead to more serious charges for a trial jury to decide, Cameron said prosecutors have ethical obligations to bring forward recommendations on which they think they can prove in front of a jury in a trial. That was what our prosecutors believed was appropriate.

The officers attempted to enter the home, they were fired upon and returned fire, he said. Again, it was a tragedy that in the return fire, Miss Taylor was hit and died. That is a tragedy. But again, our team had to look at the facts and apply that to the law as it exists.

The grand jury charged one officer, Brett Hankison, with wanton endangerment. Hankison and another officer, Myles Cosgrove, who shot 16 times into Taylors apartment, were later fired by the department. The third officer, Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Taylors boyfriend, retired in June.

Jurors spoke out, with one saying the officers got a slap on the wrist. They each said they wanted Taylors family to know they did not agree with the lack of charges against the officers.

Camerons investigation did not look into the procurement of the warrant that the officers used to enter the home. Federal investigators with the Department of Justice are reviewing the warrant.

Cameron, a conservative Republican, spoke in personal terms about the criticism he received from the Black community about his role in the Taylor case.

Sadly, those arent new to me, he said. Ive been called an Uncle Tom. Ive been called a race traitor. Ive been called all assortment of names. When you are a Black person, male or female, and you identify as Republican, watch out. Because those are the sorts of things that are going to come your way, regardless of whether you make a significant decision or not.

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India's Permanent Representative to United Nations, TS Tirumurti.

New York [US], August 5 (ANI): The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will be meeting on Friday, August 6, under Indian Presidency to discuss the surge in violence by the Taliban in Afghanistan post US drawdown.

"UN Security Council will meet on Friday, 6th August, under Indian Presidency to discuss and take stock of the situation in Afghanistan," tweeted India's Permanent Representative to United Nations, TS Tirumurti on Thursday.

India on Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC.

Earlier on Tuesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar spoke to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar about convening an emergency UN Security Council session on the current Afghanistan situation.

The Afghan foreign ministry said Atmar talked about the escalating violence by the Taliban and foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan and called for a meeting of the UNSC to discuss the situation.

"Called Indian FM HE @DrSJaishankar to discuss convening an emergency UN Security Council Session on AFG. UN & int'l community must play a greater role to stop the unfolding tragedy due to Taliban violence & atrocities. Appreciate the lead role of as current UNSC President," Atmar said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the members of the UNSC condemned the attack against a United Nations compound in Herat, Afghanistan, which claimed the life of Afghan security forces guard and injured other officers.

This comes amid the Taliban's heavy offensives in Afghanistan. Moreover, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday that they will continue their attacks on Afghan officials, after a car bomb attack on the country's acting defence minister General Bismillah Mohammadi's house.

In the past few weeks, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified their offensive against civilians and Afghan security forces with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away. (ANI)
CONCORD  The Salvation Army of Cabarrus and Stanly counties, the Salvation Army advisory board, womens auxiliary, and the Picture Hope campaign steering committee invite the community to a groundbreaking celebration for the new Center of Hope Emergency Shelter on Friday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m., at the corner of 216 Patterson Ave. SE and Ashlyn Drive.

This groundbreaking is a victory for residents of Cabarrus and Stanly counties, and we invite the community to come and celebrate, said Tana Hartsell, co-chair for the Picture Hope shelter fundraising campaign. This new shelter brings hope to families who have nowhere else to turn. It brings hope for a bright future for men and women trying to get off the streets. It means that we can lead people in crisis with hope and replace the No Vacancy sign with a welcome mat!

In 2018, the Salvation Army of Cabarrus and Stanly counties recognized the need to address the crisis of growing family homelessness and the significant social challenges for people in need and developed a plan to build a new Center of Hope emergency shelter.
Free movie in Lytle Park

MATTOON  This summer's Free Movies in Lytle Park program concludes at dusk on Friday, Aug. 6 , with a screening of "Raya and the Last Dragon". This is a free family-friendly event. Be sure to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Battle Creek to perform in Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE  Battle Creek will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at this week's Gathering at Linn Park in Martinsville.

Battle Creek has been entertaining folks in Central Illinois since 1985. Their family-friendly performances contain elements of Branson Theater, The Grand Ole Opry and a Texas Dance Hall.

Linn Park is located one block east of downtown Martinsville. Food from Linn Park Concessions and Sadies Restaurant will be available for sale at 6 p.m.

For more information contact Brenda Littlejohn 217-232-3232.

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Bluegrass Jam at Lincoln Log Cabin

LERNA  The annual bluegrass jam will be held at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug 8.

If you play an instrument, youre welcome to bring it with you and join in the jam session, or, just come and enjoy the music. Food and drinks will be available for purchase with proceeds going to the historical and interpretive programs at the site.

Take and Make project at Charleston Library

CHARLESTON  Kids ages 3-12 can commemorate the new school year with the Handprint Hedgehog Take and Make craft at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library.

Craft supplies will be available for pick up at the KidSpace desk from Monday, Aug. 16, to Sunday, Aug. 29, while supplies last. As always, parental supervision is advised. You will need colored pencils/crayons, glue, and safety scissors to complete this craft.

This is a free childrens program, open to the public. A library card is not needed to participate. For further information, please call 217-345-1514.

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Any article you read about Section 230 reminds you that it contains the most important 26 words in tech and that it is the law that made the modern internet. This is all true, but Section 230 is also the most significant obstacle to stopping misinformation online.

Section 230 is part of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law passed while the internet was still embryonic and downright terrifying to some lawmakers for what it could unleash, particularly with regard to pornography.

Section 230 states that internet platforms  dubbed "interactive computer services" in the statute  cannot be treated as publishers or speakers of content provided by their users. This means that just about anything a user posts on a platform's website will not create legal liability for the platform, even if the post is defamatory, dangerous, abhorrent or otherwise unlawful. This includes encouraging terrorism, promoting dangerous medical misinformation and engaging in revenge porn.

Platforms, including today's social media giants Facebook, Twitter and Google, therefore have complete control over what information Americans see.

The Communications Decency Act was the brainchild of Sen. James Exon, Democrat of Nebraska, who wanted to remove and prevent "filth" on the internet. Because of its overreaching nature, much of the law was struck down on First Amendment grounds shortly after the act's passage. Ironically, what remains is the provision that allowed filth and other truly damaging content to metastasize on the internet.

Section 230's inclusion in the CDA was a last-ditch effort by then Rep. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Rep. Chris Cox, Republican of California, to save the nascent internet and its economic potential. They were deeply concerned by a 1995 case that found Prodigy, an online bulletin board operator, liable for a defamatory post by one of its users because Prodigy lightly moderated user content. Wyden and Cox wanted to preempt the court's decision with Section 230. Without it, platforms would face a Hobson's choice: If they did anything to moderate user content, they would be held liable for that content, and if they did nothing, who knew what unchecked horrors would be released.

When Section 230 was enacted, less than 8% of Americans had access to the internet, and those who did went online for an average of just 30 minutes a month. The law's anachronistic nature and brevity left it wide open for interpretation. Case by case, courts have used its words to give platforms broad rather than narrow immunity.

As a result, Section 230 is disliked on both sides of the aisle. Democrats argue that Section 230 allows platforms to get away with too much, particularly with regard to misinformation that threatens public health and democracy. Republicans, by contrast, argue that platforms censor user content to Republicans' political disadvantage. Former President Donald Trump even attempted to pressure Congress into repealing Section 230 completely by threatening to veto the unrelated annual defense spending bill.

As criticisms of Section 230 and technology platforms mount, it is possible Congress could reform Section 230 in the near future. Already, Democrats and Republicans have proposed over 20 reforms  from piecemeal changes to complete repeal. However, free speech and innovation advocates are worried that any of the proposed changes could be harmful.

Facebook has suggested changes, and Google similarly advocates for some Section 230 reform. It remains to be seen how much influence the tech giants will be able to exert on the reform process. It also remains to be seen what if any reform can emerge from a sharply divided Congress.

Abbey Stemler is an associate professor of business law and ethics at Indiana University.

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Of that amount, regular state benefits are at just more than $2 billion, while federal and state extended benefits are at $10.85 billion.

By far the biggest factor in UI benefit payments is the federal pandemic unemployment compensation (FPUC) program at $7.06 billion. That represents about 55% of all UI benefit payments.

When the FPUC programs weekly benefit was worth up to $600, unemployed and furloughed North Carolinians received just under $4.88 billion from late March 2020 through July 26, 2020.

Since the resumption, and with the benefit worth up to $300 a week, FPUC has paid about $2.18 billion in benefits to North Carolinians.

UI benefit claims

Daily initial state and federal unemployment insurance claims remained on their ebb and flow pattern during the week, the N.C. Division of Employment Security reported Friday.

There were 1,816 claims on Tuesday, 1,551 on Wednesday and 1,472 on Thursday.

DES spokesperson Kerry McComber has said it generally has lower claims and call volume on Saturdays. Its the weekend, and the new benefit week begins on Sunday.
Hes also shown chanting with a crowd, Whos House? Our House and Stop the Steal! repeatedly. At one point, the video shows Spencer entering the corridor where House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office is located and can be heard asking where her office is. He never went to Pelosis office but went with the crowd into Statuary Hall.

Virginia Spencer, according to a criminal complaint, is alleged to have told investigators that she and her husband decided to go to Washington, D.C., as part of a caravan organized by ENoCh, a Twitter personality. The Spencers met up with a caravan but ended up driving by themselves to Washington, where they parked and walked to a rally in support of former president Donald Trump.

Virginia Spencer said that when Trump talked about marching to the Capitol, she and her husband made their way to the building. She said she and her husband were forced into the building by the force of the crowd. They said they left within 15 minutes. Investigators said video footage does not show the Spencers actively looking for a way out. They also said video shows Virginia Spencer using her phone inside the building in what appeared to be an effort to record the events.
With COVID-19 continuing its tragic trek, expectant mother Carly White had a difficult decision to make back in March. Should she take a vaccine that had only been approved for emergency use months earlier?

After talking with her obstetrician and hearing stories about unvaccinated pregnant women getting the disease and ending up in the hospital, White decided to get the vaccine. She got her first dose when she was 26 weeks into her pregnancy.

That was a good option for me, to add even more protection and safety for my baby, White, of High Point, said at a news conference Wednesday.

A lot of the moms that were getting sick with (COVID-19) had some bad, bad side effects that could be potentially harmful, the 34-year-old mother of three said. As more information came out, it just seemed like the right decision for me to  go ahead and get the vaccine.

White gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Raleigh, on June 3 at The Birth Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Last week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recommended that anyone who is pregnant get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In the first week of July, we were averaging six to eight new cases a day, so its been a dramatic increase, Swift said. We could see daily case counts back into the range that we saw in January and February, though it may not be that high in Forsyth.

More than 94% of those currently infected are unvaccinated when the vaccine has been readily available for most people since April and May, so thats very frustrating, he said.

On the vaccination front, the Forsyth Department of Public Health said Wednesday it had temporarily run out of the $25 gift cards being offered for individuals getting their first vaccine dose.

North Carolina is offering a set of four $25 gift cards as an added incentive through Aug. 31, or until the gift cards run out.

Though Swift said the department is not offering rainchecks, the expectations is getting several thousand more gift cards as early as Friday, but likely by Monday.

The department has 10 vaccination events scheduled for the rest of August where the gift cards are scheduled to be available, including at Bowman Gray Stadium from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The first 100 individuals who get their first dose at Bowman Gray will get free admission, which is worth $12 for adults.
"Richard Trumka dedicated his life to the labor movement and the right to organize," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "Richard's leadership transcended a single movement, as he fought with principle and persistence to defend the dignity of every person."

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he was "heartbroken" to learn of the death of his friend.

"Rich's story is the American story  he was the son and grandson of Italian and Polish immigrants and began his career mining coal. He never forgot where he came from. He dedicated the rest of his career to fighting for America's working men and women," Manchin said in a statement.

A burly man with thick eyebrows and a bushy mustache, Trumka was the son and grandson of coal miners. He grew up in the small southeast Pennsylvania town of Nemacolin, where he worked as a coal miner while attending Penn State University.

He was elected in 1982 at age 33 as the youngest president of the United Mine Workers of America. There, he led a successful strike against the Pittston Coal Company, which tried to avoid paying into an industrywide health and pension fund, the union's website said.

At age 43, Trumka led a nationwide strike against Peabody Coal in 1993. During the walk-off, he stirred controversy.
FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The hijackers who captured a vessel off the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman left the ship Wednesday, the British navy reported, as radio traffic appeared to reveal a crew member onboard saying Iranian gunmen had stormed the asphalt tanker.

The incident  described by the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations the night before as a potential hijack"  revived fears of an escalation in Mideast waters and ended with as much mystery as it began.

Hints of what unfolded on the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess emerged with a maritime radio recording obtained by commodities pricing firm Argus Media and shared with The Associated Press. In the audio, a crew member can be heard telling the Emirati coast guard that five or six armed Iranians had boarded the tanker.

Iranian people are onboard with ammunition, the crew member says. We are  now, drifting. We cannot tell you exact our ETA to (get to) Sohar, the port in Oman listed on the vessels tracker as its destination. It was not clear whether the crew members, whom he identified as Indian and Indonesian, were in danger at the time of the recording.
What about the rights of American citizens and their property along the border? Texas rancher Brent Smith, who is also an attorney for Kinney County, told Fox News he sustained thousands of dollars in damages to his property from trespassing migrants. The administration has money to help the migrants. Who will help Smith and other property owners who suffer damages?

Abbott has ordered state police to arrest migrants as trespassers, but they are likely to have only minimal success due to the overwhelming numbers. He also has ordered a chain-link fence to be erected along some of the most porous sections of the border, but experience shows those can be easily traversed.

The problem as well as the solution begins at the top with the Biden administration. Despite Bidens claims that entire families who seek to cross the border illegally are being turned back, most are not.

Its no accident. By now it can only be called administration policy. The Biden administration appears to want to flood America with people from other places  Central America, Mexico even Africa. Isnt Vice President Kamala Harris supposed to be in charge of resolving the problem? Where is she?
Cuomo must resign

After the New York Attorney Generals office spoke to almost 180 people and reviewed more than 74,000 pieces of evidence, the office concluded that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, sexually harassed at least 11 women during his time as governor. This conclusion demands nothing less than his resignation.

To their credit, several Democratic legislators immediately called for his resignation, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Whatever these people are, theyre not hypocrites.

Cuomo is very charismatic and I enjoyed watching his reports on COVID last year. He made me feel hopeful that wed get through the pandemic.

But no one is above the law and no one should be excused for the kind of behavior Cuomo exhibited. For the good of the state and the country, he must resign.

Teresa Nance

Winston-Salem

Who has opted out
I felt so vulnerable and helpless, but I had to just let them take care of me, LaCroix said. I was quiet and grateful. Im so grateful because they saved my life in more ways than one.

LaCroixs OB-GYN, Dr. Christine Vo, visited her off duty because of how worried she was over the traumatic birth experience.

(Dr. LaCroix) went through it so beautifully, Vo said. Im sure she was scared, but she didnt voice it. She had a lot of trust in us.

LaCroixs symptoms continued after she went home from the hospital. And because Vo knew the extent of everything LaCroix had gone through, she called her at home to check in  something that has continued to resonate with LaCroix. During this conversation, she talked about having flashbacks. She also talked with Vo about her struggle with building her milk supply, which normally takes a few days but LaCroix was struggling with two weeks postpartum.

I was feeling defeated with my delivery, and now its affecting the way I could feed my baby, LaCroix recalled. I was obsessed with what I believed was my failure as a mom, but its more than that. You went through something traumatic.

Additionally, with the pandemic, family wasnt able to visit, making her feel isolated and alone.
Lancaster County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 41-year-old man Wednesday after twice purchasing stolen windmill blades from him that he had posted on Craigslist.

Sheriff Terry Wagner said 15 blades worth a total of $5,000 were reported stolen from a windmill near 68th Street and Bennet Road on Monday. Later that day, Wagner said deputies saw similar blades posted on Craigslist and purchased them from Spencer Lile.

After returning the blades to the property owner south of Lincoln, who confirmed they were the same blades stolen, Wagner said deputies noticed the online ad hadn't been removed.

A different undercover deputy inquired about buying more blades Tuesday, and Wednesday morning, galvanized windmill blades were stolen off a windmill on 98th Street near Salt Creek.

Deputies made arrangements to purchase the second set of blades from Lile in a parking lot southwest of Lincoln, where he was arrested on suspicion of two counts of felony theft.

"I had no idea that fan blades were a big deal," Wagner said.

Lile was taken to the Lancaster County jail.

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Two men who called Lincoln police Wednesday night to report a shooting were later arrested on suspicion of terroristic threats after chasing a car they believed to be involved.

Lincoln Police Officer Erin Spilker said the two men called at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, telling police they were targeted in a shooting as they drove through an alley near 27th and Potter streets.

Spilker said officers found several spent shell casings. As they spoke with police, Charles Pate V, 26, and Michael Nunn, 46, told officers they owned guns and would handle the situation themselves, Spilker said.

About three hours later, Nunn called police and said he was chasing a vehicle he believed was responsible, according to police. Nunn and Pate said they thought the occupants in the Buick they were chasing shot at them again, Spilker said.

Officers contacted Nunn and Pate near Seventh and Benton streets, where Spilker said police saw a loaded handgun in the Cadillac Escalade the men were in.

The occupants of the Buick told police they heard gunfire as Nunn and Pate chased them. Police didn't find a gun in the Buick, Spilker said, and there were no spent shell casings in either car.
"This is a difficult decision," LPS Superintendent Steve Joel said. "Its one of those things; everybody is tired of the pandemic. We want this to go away and get back to normal and, unfortunately, were not there, so we have to take this step. And I think that this will help us get there, at least thats our hope of being able to do that."

Joel, who was joined by Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez at a Thursday news conference, said LPS relied on guidance from the Health Department in making the masking changes. That guidance was sent as a letter to all public and private schools in the county.

Just last week, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its back-to-school guidance as well, calling for masks for all students. The American Academy of Pediatrics made the same recommendation two weeks ago.

LPS originally unveiled its pandemic playbook in July as required of all school systems receiving federal COVID relief dollars. In that guidance  which came at a time when the pandemic seemed to be in retreat  masks were optional for all students, but strongly recommended for unvaccinated students.

After fielding feedback, LPS released a second draft of the plans, which left the student mask guidelines unchanged.
A 7-year-old boy was missing and presumed to have fallen into the Missouri River at N.P. Dodge Park on Tuesday evening, emergency officials said.

Rescue teams searched for about three hours before stopping due to nightfall. The search will resume Wednesday morning.

At 5:54 p.m. Tuesday, Omaha police were called to the park with the report of the missing child, Lt. Shane Myers said.

Police said the boy was at the park for a family outing and was last seen playing in the river. Family members told police that they lost track of him and were unsure whether he had run off or was in the water.

Three boats belonging to the Douglas County Sheriffs Office, Eppley Fire and Rescue and the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office were searching for the boy in the water.

ABLE-1, the police helicopter, searched by air, while officers on foot searched the dense woods around the park but found no sign of the boy. For that reason, Myers said, the search will continue to focus on the water.

Were pretty confident that he didnt run off into the trees, and that hes in the water somewhere, he said.

A dive team was also called in to search the river. The park is on the northern edge of Omaha.

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A Ravenna sheep farmer faces the possibility of decades in prison after being indicted on six federal counts of bank fraud.

Brooks Duester, 43, was charged last week in a six-count indictment for actions hes accused of taking between February 2017 and September 2018.

Federal prosecutors say Duester obtained lines of credit, promissory notes and loans from Ashton State Bank for purchasing livestock by falsely reporting the number of livestock he already had and failing to report his income from the sale of livestock and wool to the bank.

Prosecutors say Duester wouldn't allow bank inspectors or the Farm Services Agency to access his pastures to verify the number of livestock.

If convicted, Duester faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count.

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MORATORIUM REINSTATED

Update: Racine County Sheriffs Office says it will carry out evictions if ordered, despite CDC moratorium

RACINE  The moratorium on evictions was lifted for three days. But Tuesday evening, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put its own eviction moratorium in place, effective in areas where COVID-19 transmission rates are high. That would include Racine County, according to city officials and government data.

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However, citing how the CDC is led by unelected government officials, the Racine County Sheriffs Office says that it will carry out evictions if called upon, despite the federal order.

Since Saturday, the Sheriffs Office says it has received zero orders to carry out evictions.

Sheriffs Office

A statement from the RCSO noted that President Joe Biden himself had questioned whether an extension of the eviction moratorium would be constitutional without congressional action. The statement also noted that there remains billions in available assistance for tenants behind on their rent.

If our Civil Process Unit receives a Writ of Restitution from a Racine County Judge to commence an eviction, the deputies will follow the appropriate procedures and conduct the eviction, Sgt. Michael Luell, public information officer for the RCSO, said in an email.

The order sets up a procedure for a tenant to be categorized as a Covered person. The order stated that there is $46 billion available for renters assistance, and three-quarters of that money is still available to help pay rent and rental arrears,  Luells email continued.

Criminal penalties ordered by the CDC for landlords disobeying the order include:

A fine of $100,000 or one year in jail, or both, if a violation of the order does not result in death

A fine of no more than $250,000 or one year in jail, or both if the violation results in a death.

An organization violating the order may be fined no more than $200,000 per event if the violation does not result in a death or $500,000 per event if the violation results in a death.

Walensky

Luell continued: This order, which can place United States citizens in jail and/or take away their property was bestowed upon the American people by the unelected director of the CDC, Rochelle P. Walensky, after the duly elected United States Congress decided not to extend the moratorium.

Schmaling

This isnt the first time RCSO has stated it will resist executive orders amid the pandemic. In April 2020, Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said that his deputies would not be enforcing the Safer at Home order from Gov. Tony Evers administration. Three months later, Schmaling said again that his deputies would not enforce Evers statewide mask mandate.

Local numbers

Racine County falls under the new CDC order that aims to halt most evictions, according to City of Racine Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox and City Administrator Paul Vornholt. Racine Countys COVID-19 case activity is both high and growing with 111.2 active cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Thus, Racine Countys rate is above the CDC metric defining high transmission levels as having at least 50.99 new cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days.

If the CDC order is followed, landlords in Racine County (and anywhere else across the U.S. where COVID-19 transmission rates are high) temporarily cannot evict tenants for inability to pay because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are exceptions, such as if criminal activity occurs on the premises, theres property damage, or other contractual obligations are broken.

Almost half of Racine County residents are renters, as the local homeownership rate is 51%, according to census data.

How To Get Rent Help Contact the Racine County Rental Assistance program by calling 262-638-6400 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday, or emailing HereToHelp@racinecounty.com any time. Visit racinecounty.com/departments/human-services/here-to-help/eviction-prevention-information for more information. To get access to Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance, call 833-900-9372, email support@wera.help, or learn more at RKCAA.org/wera. Contact the Racine Kenosha Community Action Agency at 262-637-8377 (Racine) or at 262-657-0840 (Kenosha).

Back-and-forth week

The nationwide ban on certain evictions had expired Saturday night. Since the expiration, pressure  led by progressive Democratic congresswomen Cori Bush of Missouri and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York  mounted on the Biden administration to extend it.

Early Tuesday evening, it was announced that the CDC would be issuing a new order temporarily halting evictions in counties with heightened levels of community transmission ... it is intended to target specific areas of the country where cases are rapidly increasing, which likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions.

The CDC stated that it was taking action specifically to respond to recent, unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant.

While COVID-19 rates of transmission have been steadily dropping since last fall, they have been rising in recent weeks. From a yearlong low of below 15,000 new cases per day in mid-June nationwide, daily new total cases have spiked to more than 100,000 cases in one day at least twice in the last week.

Wisconsins rate has risen, too. Several times in June, zero new cases were reported on single days. On Monday, 76 new cases were reported, the highest total since April 27.

According to the CDC, the number of American deaths related to COVID-19 per day has nearly doubled since reaching a record low in early July. Weekly U.S. COVID-19 deaths had dipped below 180 for the first time in since March 2020 last month. Now, the weekly average is above 350 and climbing.
A group of anti-mask mandate parents are walking the hallways of Burlington High School, hunting for the school board that had just abruptly adjourned a meeting, when the crowd is stopped by police.

Two hours prior, Burlington citizens and parents filled the schools auditorium for a school board meeting Monday night to speak out about what they believe the districts mask policy should be for the upcoming school year amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
CALEDONIA  A Wednesday meeting at the Caledonia Village Hall drew a crowd of about 150 people, all interested in hearing about, asking questions about or expressing opinions about one topic: The countys planned Youth Development and Care Center, a juvenile detention facility, that could be built in the village.

The purpose of this meeting tonight is to hear your opinions, hear your concerns, and, of course, answer questions, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said at the opening of the meeting.

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Racine County has proposed two locations for the $43 million Racine County Youth, Development and Care Center. The first location is a 2-acre spot in the City of Racine, at the former Brannum Lumber property on Taylor Avenue across from the countys Dennis Kornwolf Service Center. The Racine City Council strongly opposes that locations.

The second location proposed is the northeast corner of Batten International Airport, along Three Mile Road in the Village of Caledonia. The facility would rest within a nearly 29-acre parcel with a large pond and wooded area, but that spot has not been well received by nearby residents.

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The proposed mental health-focused center would replace the existing facility on the fourth floor of the Kornwolf Center and would serve a maximum of 48 youths from Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha, Manitowoc and Washington counties.

Caledonia officials, including trustees, the village president, county officials, including county supervisors, the county executive and Caledonia Police leaders were present alongside residents Wednesday. The meeting lasted approximately 3 1/2 hours and became heated at times.

This, I feel, is a jewel of Racine County, along the lakefront here, said Patricia Hurley, who said she has lived in Caledonia for 18 years. And now you want to put a prison 5 minutes from my house?  My vote is no, not in my neighborhood.

Michael Lanzdorf, Racine County corporation counsel, said the well-being of the youths that would be placed in the facility should be placed at the forefront of the discussion, as they are vitally important.

Thats the children of Racine County, its families in crisis, youth in crisis ... too often, the juvenile justice system looks at getting rid of a problem as opposed to truly solving it.

District 10 Supervisor Kelly Kruse, who was at the meeting and whose district includes the land proposed as a site for the facility, said she firmly believes that as a supervisor, she must listen to her constituents.

I am truly grateful for the robust community engagement, comments and questions on Wednesday night, and I will take them all into consideration when I cast my vote.

Following are some of the questions asked or addressed at the meeting, and the officials responses.

Has building on the Caledonia location already been decided?

Lanzdorf: The answer is no. While the County Board has authorized the construction of this facility, has authorized the acceptance of the state grant dollars  we cant just, as a group of us, decide that and move forward because the County Board, the legislative body, needs to weigh in on it. This has not been a few weeks process. This has not been a few months process. This has been a multi-year process where we have left no stone unturned of potential locations throughout every corner of the county, and no site is perfect.

Will this facility affect my property values?

Caledonia Village President Jim Dobbs: I do not envision this $40 million building, which no one will really see, affecting any property values in Caledonia.

How much would it cost the county to update its current facility?

Delagrave: Thats something we did look at, and that $40 million wouldnt be close, though. Were on the Human Services building, its 120 beds, steel, cinderblock facility. Theres no outdoor area, as well, and theres no outdoor space, so wed have to put that outdoor area on the roof of our facility. Its needing elevators. We looked at that, and it wouldnt be close to being able to cover that cost.

How secure is this facility going to be?

Lanzdorf: A lot of us here, when you think of a secure facility, you may think of barbed wire, tall fences, shards of glass, guard towers. None of that will be part of this facility. The outdoor recreational space is located within, so that the exterior walls, that serves as the secure perimeter. Thats what weve seen in some of the other facilities in the Kansas City area, and that we can successfully do here.

Will this facility put my safety at risk?

Dobbs: I do not see safety being an issue with this. For our facility we have, have you ever had any issues of any of the people escaping, doing anything wrong, in the immediate area?

How many children in the facility are going to be from Caledonia?

Delagrave: Most of the children are from the City of Racine, but there are also kids from the Village of Waterford, there are also kids from Mount Pleasant. There are also kids from Caledonia that have utilized our current facility as well.

Quote "My vote is no, not in my neighborhood." Patricia Hurley, who has lived in Caledonia 18 years

Why is the City of Racine against having the facility in the city?

Delagrave: Ive learned a long time ago not to put words in the citys mouth  but one of the biggest issues we have with that project is the environmental cleanup that needs to happen there. Its about a $5 million environmental cleanup. We want to try to use our allotment of funds into the building, not infrastructure, not cost of the land and not environmentally cleaning up a site.

Lanzdorf: When we did the soil borings and the geotechnical testing (in Racine), we learned more about whats underneath that soil. Weve learned that its basically old building rubble that they ground up, left there and covered up. And so it cannot support a facility like this, even just a single story in most areas, or two stories in other areas, it simply would not support that  Weve asked to see if the state would provide additional monies to the county to cover those costs. And the answer is no, $40 million is the maximum amount that the county could recover through this grant program.

Michael Lanzdorf speaks Michael Lanzdorf, Racine County corporation counsel, speaks at the Public Information Meeting at the Caledonia Village Hall Wednesday. To the 

Does the Village of Caledonia or Racine County decide a final say in the project? What is the process?

Lanzdorf: This is the first step, hearing questions and concerns that will inform what steps, if any, follow. We would anticipate that at (a County Board meeting scheduled for Aug. 24) we would go before our Executive Committee and present this option. Then, at that date, a resolution would be introduced, but no final action would be taken. That at the next County Board, at the very earliest (on Sept. 14), thats the earliest date at which a resolution could be put to a vote for final authorization by the County Board.

Dobbs: If this does come further from the county to us, we would go before the Planning Commission, there would be a public hearing, and everybody would get a chance to speak their opinion about the possible result. Then it would go before the board and the board members would then have a chance to weigh in.

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At about 3:40 p.m. Monday, a deputy was leaving the Law Enforcement Center at the end of his shift when he was confronted by a victim of domestic violence that had just occurred near the corner of 7th and Main streets. The deputy escorted the victim to the jail entrance on 8th Street, where she could stay while squads responded. A deputy, working in the jail, came out to assist. Just as the assisting deputies entered the lobby, the victim identified a loud, disorderly, boisterous male outside the lobby door as the person who had assaulted her. The suspect later identified as Tavarez Williams, 40, of Racine then attempted to enter the lobby. Deputies confronted Williams, who turned and ran from them. Deputies pursued, ultimately deploying a taser and taking the suspect into custody.
RACINE  An ATM robbery that occurred Wednesday afternoon at Chase Bank, 5815 21st St., resulted in a vehicle pursuit that ended Thursday morning with two arrests in Ford County, Illinois.

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The Racine Police Department responded to a robbery complaint at Chase Bank at about 1 p.m. Wednesday. According to a news release from the police, while an ATM technician was working on a machine, two male suspects quickly approached wearing masks.

The technician put his hands up and the two suspects pulled an undisclosed amount of cash from the ATM. Then, they fled the area in a vehicle.

RPD investigators broadcast descriptions of the suspects and vehicle. The Illinois State Police located the suspect vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop, which led to a vehicle pursuit that ended in Ford County, Illinois, near the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area. The northern tip of Ford County is more than 100 miles south of the Wisconsin-Illinois border, and about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

The suspects fled on foot; air units, officers on foot and K-9 units pursued in a search that was conducted into Wednesday night.

Both suspects were taken into custody by 11 a.m. Thursday.
RACINE  Racine celebrated National Night Out again on Tuesday, after skipping last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The yearly event, organized by Neighborhood Watch, aims to build community and law enforcement relationships.

Linda Rattle, NNO event coordinator for the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, was excited to have the kickoff at her church for the first time. Rattle also emphasized the importance of knowing your neighbors.

This to me is very important, bringing people, our neighbors, out, so they can enjoy and listen to music and just have a good time, Rattle said.

While families enjoyed food and festivities, including bubble pits and pinatas, law enforcement officers also worked to bridge the gap from their day-to-day roles to positive experiences with the community.

Racine County Deputy Crystal Venegas, who patrols and makes extra time to serve as Deputy Friendly, said that a challenging piece of National Night Out is when some kids are unsure of law enforcement and might not want to interact due to past experiences, where police officers became involved in their lives during an emergency or other specific reason.

So some of the more challenging (moments are) when the kids, theyre reluctant, they dont want to talk to you, Venegas said. They dont want any kind of coloring books or anything like that and they dont really understand why youre there, what youre trying to do; they have kind of that mentality of fearing law enforcement.

A large part of bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community are the Community Oriented Policing houses in Racine and Mount Pleasant, which also hosted NNO events.

For Mount Pleasant Community Policing Officer Rachel Gardinier, along with Officer Officer Matt Kwapil, National Night Out is just one of many events at their COP House, 2237 Mead St.

While avoiding kids swings at a pinata and spinning blindfolded kids around before their turn, Gardinier spoke to them, calling many of them by name with ease.

Every day, Im interacting with all the kids from the area, they come stop by the COP house multiple times within a day, Gardinier said. To a lot of the neighborhood kids, this is a second home to them.

Gardinier and Venegas both said they were happy to see how much the community wanted to interact with them and hope for continued engagement with the community beyond NNO.

For Venegas, that means hoping for more invites to schools and events as Deputy Friendly. Gardinier, meanwhile, said that the Lakeside COP house hosts events often for area families and kids.

We do want to engage the public, we do want to listen to what they need, and what they want to see changed and what they need help with, so we can help them get to that point, Gardinier said.

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That gap has only widened over the course of the pandemic, due in part to how coronavirus relief money has been distributed, Edari added. A recent report from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. found the greatest economic burden of the pandemic has fallen on those in the state who also face the most economic uncertainty, including people of color and women.

Time is of the essence, and sitting and waiting for the government to help us is no longer an option, Edari said. Its time to look to those in our industry to lift us up. We all come up when we bring each other up.

Joshua Berkson, president of Rule No. 1 Hospitality Group, said the hope is that additional businesses that were not initially intended to be prioritized under SBAs original equity guidelines but received funds will join the effort to donate and right what has been wronged. Cook It Forward was founded a little over a year ago and focuses on addressing inequities in the communitys food systems.
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1. FDA action. If the FDA gives final approval to the vaccines, it will reduce hesitancy.

2. Offer money. Offering a cash stipend has worked in some areas. Expand the effort.

3. Employer mandates. If workers are required to get the shot, the rate will increase.

4. Better messaging. An advertising blitz by respected officials might pay off.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say, since some are adamantly opposed to getting vaccinated.

Vote

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KEARNEY  The challenge of getting broadband internet to rural and urban Nebraskans can be summed up in three words: time, quality, cost.

Theres great pressure to build the network immediately, but that requires a mountain of money, and, if the service isnt good enough for major employers or for young Nebraskans, what then?

Those were among the concerns aired by panelists who shared their thoughts and experiences with the new frontier of high speed internet during a crowded breakout session at Wednesdays Ag and Economic Development Summit in Kearney.

About 90 participants attended the broadband discussion. More than 500 agricultural, business and civic leaders from across Nebraska and around the globe gathered for the summit at the Younes Conference Center. They discussed topics that included revitalizing North Omaha, fostering tech startup companies, protecting private property, attracting foreign investment and doing business with communist China.

Growing and maintaining Nebraskas strong economy was the centerpiece of the summit, and it was at the heart of the broadband discussion.
KEARNEY  At 2.9%, Nebraska has the United States lowest unemployment rate, and, in spite of the COVID pandemic, state revenues are almost $1 billion better than budget, giving Nebraska proof the state is on a roll.

Gov. Pete Ricketts referred to employment statistics, state revenue forecasts and other factors as he welcomed a crowd of more than 500 people to Wednesdays Ag and Economic Development Summit.

Held at the Younes Conference Center, the summit brought together Nebraskas farm and business leaders, along with international participants from around the globe.

Rolando Luna came from Peru to expand the exchange of organic Peruvian fruits and Nebraska beef, pork and chicken.

He said the people of Peru are interested in meat from Nebraska, and so are other countries, including China.

Peru has a lot of agriculture that we can bring to the United States, such as potatoes, onions and a lot of organic fruit that grows in the Peruvian jungle, and that would be very good for Nebraska, Luna said. I have a lot of orders to bring meat from Nebraska, like beef, pork and poultry. I have a lot of requests from China, and Ive been in contact with Chinese entrepreneurs. In my country we also are interested in Nebraskas wheat and grain.

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OMAHA  Big Boy No. 4014, the famed Union Pacific steam locomotive built in the 1940s to conquer mountains while carrying equipment during World War II, has embarked on a 10-state tour with stops planned Sunday in five Nebraska communities, including Kearney.

Big Boy will leave its home base at the Union Pacific Steam Shop at Cheyenne, Wyoming, today and is traveling east toward North Platte, where it will spend two nights. On Sunday, the locomotive will continue its southeast journey, passing through central and southeastern Nebraska en route to Kansas City, Missouri.

The four whistle-stops planned on Sunday, with estimated times, include:

9:30 a.m.  Cozad, Highway 30 and Meridian Avenue

11:45 a.m.  Kearney, Central Avenue Crossing

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1:30 p.m.  Hastings, 12th Street Crossing

3:45 p.m.  Belvidere, C Street Crossing

Big Boy is expected to arrive in Fairbury at about 5 p.m. and spend the night there, where it can be viewed by the public.
Organizers of the Monroe County National Night Out could not have asked for a better turnout as more than 500 people attended the event in Tomahs Winnebago Park Aug.3.

I think there were as many if not more different public safety entities, health care and others who attended. I dont think theyve missed a beat, Monroe County sheriff Wes Revels said of the turnout.

Last years event was canceled due to crowd concerns because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revels said this years event was an important one for law enforcement.

Quite frankly this year is even more important, Revels said. Theres a certain narrative going on around the nation in regards to law enforcement, but we know first of all thats not the case in western Wisconsin and state of Wisconsin. Theres a lot of very good law enforcement and very good first responders and others who support all of those in the state of Wisconsin. We enjoy the opportunity to interact with the people that we serve.

Revels described the partnership between emergency agencies throughout Monroe County as strong and very good.
With the support of donors who are inspired to leave a lasting legacy in the community, the Hillsboro Excellence in Education Fund serves as an endowment to enrich the educational experience in the School District of Hillsboro. Annually, a portion of the funds earnings are awarded to a variety of projects and activities that support innovative and creative ideas, inspiring both students and faculty/staff to achieve educational excellence. Since 2013, Hillsboro Excellence in Education Fund has awarded almost $40,878 in grants to the School District of Hillsboro.
Per DHS data, Wisconsin has seen steady increase in recent weeks, going from 37,402 doses the week of July 4  the lowest rate since since mid-December, shortly after vaccine approval  to 45,574 shots the week of July 25.

As of Wednesday, 49.5% of Wisconsin residents were fully vaccinated, as were 55.7% of La Crosse County residents.

We are starting to see some uptick even in the last week and it looks as if it may hold true for this week given where we are with the numbers, Kowalski says of Gundersens shots administered. We seen an uptick for a couple weeks from where we were and I think thats similar to around the nation, where some places are being hard hit with the delta variant, and it looks like thats carrying over and were starting to see that too.

Mayo Clinic Health System, which has given a total of 53,556 single doses across its locations as of Aug. 4, said it had not seen a rise in vaccination as of Wednesday. Gundersen as of Aug. 4 had provided at least one dose to 45,379 individuals.

While delta has spurred some of those who have held off to get their shots, how many will still abstain is unknown. Kowalski has hope the rates of vaccination will continue to climb.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The superintendent of Iowas largest school district said hes pleased about the resolution of complaints against him over the district's refusal to return students to in-person classes last year during a surge in coronavirus cases.

Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart said hes eager to focus on issues facing the district rather than defending himself against complaints affirmed by the state Board of Educational Examiners. The panel found that the district violated the law by not immediately complying with Gov. Kim Reynolds order for all schools to offer in-class options for students.

On Wednesday, the board approved an administrative law judges decision in June that Ahart should have a letter of public reprimand placed in his permanent licensure file. The judge denied the state's request that Ahart be required to complete 15 hours of ethics training.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  Florida hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and a cafeteria. As of midweek, Mississippi had just six open intensive care beds in the entire state.

Georgia medical centers are turning people away. And in Louisiana, an organ transplant had to be postponed along with other procedures.

We are seeing a surge like weve not seen before in terms of the patients coming, Dr. Marc Napp, chief medical officer for Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida, said Wednesday. Its the sheer number coming in at the same time. There are only so many beds, so many doctors, only so many nurses.

Coronavirus hospitalizations are surging again as the more contagious delta variant rages across the country, forcing medical centers to return to a crisis footing just weeks after many closed their COVID-19 wards and field hospitals and dropped other emergency measures.

The number of people now in the hospital in the U.S. with COVID-19 has almost quadrupled over the past month to nearly 45,000, turning the clock back to early March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  Florida hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and a cafeteria. As of midweek, Mississippi had just six open intensive care beds in the entire state.
A similar warning was issued Thursday as flames pushed toward the southeast in the direction of another tiny mountain community, Taylorsville, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Greenville.

To the northwest, crews were protecting homes in the town of Chester. Residents there were among thousands under evacuation orders or warnings in several counties.

No injuries or deaths were immediately reported.

Margaret Elysia Garcia, an artist and writer who has been in Southern California waiting out the fire, watched video of her Greenville office in flames. It's where she kept every journal shes written in since second grade and a hand edit of a novel on top of her grandfathers roll-top desk.

Were in shock. Its not that we didnt think this could happen to us, she said. At the same time, it took our whole town.

Firefighters had to deal with people reluctant to leave on Wednesday. Their refusals meant that firefighters spent precious time loading people into cars to ferry them out, said Jake Cagle, an incident management operations section chief.

We have firefighters that are getting guns pulled out on them, because people dont want to evacuate, he said.
Now youre vaccinated, your boss wants you back in the office at least part-time and youd like to travel. What happens to your faithful companion, the one who enjoyed the pandemic routine?
Wisconsin would take in $5.2 billion in federal highway repair funds, along with millions for bridges, transportation systems, electric vehicles and high-speed internet projects, under the bipartisan infrastructure bill before Congress, according to the White House.

The infrastructure bill, which could come to a vote in the U.S. Senate as soon as this weekend, represents a major component of President Joe Bidens campaign platform and would pump $550 billion in new federal funding over five years into infrastructure projects across the country.

According to a state-by-state breakdown of the proposal, Wisconsin is expected to receive $5.2 billion for highway programs and another $225 million for bridge replacement and repair projects. The state would also be able to apply for $12.5 billion in federal funds targeted for economically significant bridges.

The bill also would provide the state with $595 million over a five-year period to improve public transportation across Wisconsin. Another portion of the bill includes $79 million over the next five years to support the expansion of Wisconsins electric vehicle charging network.
In March 2020, three actors were fresh off a successful Florida run of a show based on a hit 1990s comedy film.

Rob Summers, Luther Chakurian and Miranda Jane had also presented two weeks of performances of the musical Grumpy Old Men at Lancasters Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre after a run at the venues Sunshine State sister theater, the Broadway Palm.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, closing down theaters across the country.

A year and a half later, the trio is back in town, reprising their roles as a pair of long-feuding widowers and a woman who warms their hearts and those of the other residents of Wabasha, Minnesota.

Grumpy Old Men, a 2018 musical based on the 1993 comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret, reopened at the Dutch Apple on Thursday.

I remember, it was St. Patricks Day (2020) when I was driving away from here, to return home to Little Rock, Arkansas, says Jane, who plays Ariel Truax in the show.

Coming back has been ... very precious and special for me, because this is my first time back in a theater since I left this theater, Jane says. So it was a bit surreal; when I was leaving (in 2020), I was driving away from this theater and this show, and my first show back is to drive back to this theater and this show.

I walked into that rehearsal room that first day with a different mindset, she adds. It definitely renewed for me that, holy smokes, this thing we get to do is so special. This is such a gift.

We actually get closure, says Summers, who plays Max Goldman. Because we started this run. And its like life interrupted. And now we get to come back and get closure and feel weve accomplished (this).

Since March 2020, Summers has performed in two shows at the Broadway Palm. He also contracted a mild case of COVID-19 that temporarily took away his sense of taste and smell.

It kind of punctuates what was taken away from us because of the pandemic, says Chakurian, who plays John Gustafson in the musical and hasnt performed on a theater stage since March 2020.

The show really does teach us to live in the moment and to appreciate whats in front of you and to not take for granted the people and the things in your life, Chakurian says.

The show

While the stage version of Grumpy Old Men has a similar plot to that of the movie, We are not the movie, Jane says. People will recognize the set-up and the story line immediately. ... People who love the movie will love the show.

But the material has been adapted for the medium in which its being presented, she adds. There are a lot of differences.

The grumpy old men of the shows title, Gustafson and Goldman grew up together and were best friends until 50 years ago, when one married the woman the other loved. Theyve been feuding ever since  regularly calling each other putz and moron.

Gustafson is a retired high school history teacher, and Goldman a retired TV repairman.

Chakurian and Summers say that, despite their feud, the men both seem to be subconsciously missing each others friendship, and secretly hoping Gustafsons son and Goldmans daughter will become a couple.

Ariel, an artist whos come to Wabasha to teach literature, basically blows into town and injects this sleepy, snowy, cold Minnesota town with life and color and vivaciousness that this communitys not used to, Jane says, and kind of takes them by surprise.

The entire town is really a family, Jane says, caring for each other, but also squabbling like a family sometimes does.

And so Ariel comes into town with a completely different perspective and viewpoint and seize-the-day sort of mentality that in their entrenched community theyve lost sight of. ... She gets everybody looking at things a little bit differently.

Her love for literature, art and music appeals to Gustafson, Chakurian says.

And Max has a profound sense of loneliness, and when (Ariel) walks into town, hes kind of going, wow, and the feud and all the old feelings come up again, Summers says.

While the show will appeal to an older audience that will identify with the senior life experiences it presents, Chakurian says younger audience members will connect with the show through the comedy.

This show will make you laugh, he says. We have a good time.

Jane notes theres a wide range of ages and personalities among the other residents of Wabasha  from the high schoolers to a 94-year-old Grandpa, from athletes to the mailman, and from local gossips to the town dingbat.

Theres not anyone in this show that you havent met in your own life, Jane says.

And I think the love the whole town has for each other will appeal to audiences of all ages, Summers says, because, to me, thats the throughline of this entire show.

IF YOU GO  What: The musical Grumpy Old Men.  Where: Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, 510 Centerville Road.  When: Opens Thursday, Aug. 5; runs through Sept. 4. Tuesdays to Sundays at various times, evenings and matinees.  Cost: Dinner and show $60-$69 for adults, $30 ages 13-18, $25 for children 3-12. Show only: $45 adults, $22 for 18 and under.  Information and tickets: 717-898-1900; dutchapple.com.  Safety information: The Dutch Apple recommends all audience members wear masks while in the theater except when eating and drinking, and practice social distancing. For the theaters COVID-19 safety information, visit: dutchapple.com/covid-19-safety-measures.
The mother of a Lancaster man who was shocked with a Taser by a Lancaster city officer three years ago can proceed on behalf of his estate in an excessive force suit.

Sean Williams, 29, died last September while his case against the officer who used the Taser on him was proceeding in federal court.

Williams was found lying in a Philadelphia street shortly after 2 a.m. on Sept. 14; he was unresponsive and bleeding from his head when found. He died four days later at Temple University Hospital.

Philadelphia police are investigating his death as a homicide; police have not disclosed any developments in the case and it is listed as unsolved.

Earlier this year, Williams attorney indicated that they wanted to substitute Williams child as the plaintiff, but they decided on Williams mother, Dana York.

Attorney Matthew Weisberg said Tuesday that Williams mother was the more proper substitute.

Attorneys for the city, which is defending now-retired Sgt. Philip Bernot, did not oppose the substitution, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin approved Tuesday. Bernot held the rank of officer when he shocked Williams.

The citys lead attorney is out of the office for the week. A message left for another attorney was not immediately returned.

Case history

Bernot used the Taser on Williams on June 28, 2018, after Williams failed to follow directions from police who were responding to a disturbance on South Prince Street near West King Street. Williams, who was unarmed and sitting on a curb, said at the time that he was confused by conflicting commands being given by two officers.

A video of the encounter went viral in the days afterward. A week after the encounter, Williams sued the city and Bernot.

Williams suit claimed excessive force, failure to provide adequate medical care and racial profiling  Williams was Black.

After agreements and court rulings, the only claim that remains is that Bernot used excessive force. Bernot is being sued individually; Williams was seeking more than $75,000 from him. The city is covering Bernots legal costs under its labor contract with police.

The county prosecutor at the time, Craig Stedman, criticized Bernots use of the Taser, but Bernot didnt face charges because he was following department policy in place at the time. And after the video went viral, city leadership began evaluating community-police relations and ultimately revamped the departments use-of-force policy. Bernot, a member of the department for 20 years, retired in July 2020.

If Williams estate wins, it will have to forfeit $10,000 of whatever damages are awarded because of delays Williams was responsible for causing in the case before his death.

Those delays include Williams failing to show for the start of his trial in Philadelphia in February 2020. He wasnt able to attend because hed been arrested after Lancaster police found him high on PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, on North Queen Street.
Pennsylvanias expanded fireworks law is being called into question by a Lancaster County state senator who says his constituents are rightfully frustrated by the disruptive explosives.

While not calling directly for repealing the law, State Senator Ryan Aument (R-36) said Wednesday that he had sent a letter to Sen. Elder Vogel (R-47), who chairs the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee, requesting a hearing to review the 2017 expansion of the sale of fireworks and potential ways to address the issues created by it.

My constituents are rightfully frustrated that their local police departments do not have the manpower, resources, or statutory flexibility to investigate their complaints or prevent the misuse of these fireworks in the first place, Aument said in a press release. And I agree with them  we should not continue to expect our law enforcement and firefighters to fix and clean up the issues created through this law while simultaneously providing them no support to protect their communities. A legislative change is necessary.

How the law changed

The 2017 fireworks expansion enabled Pennsylvania residents to buy a new class of fireworks they previously did not have access to, including mortars, which are launched into the air to explode.

In calling for new changes to the law, Aument cited recent incidents in Wilkes-Barre, where a family of eight was left homeless after a firework landed on their porch, and in York, where an 8-year-old boy was killed and his family injured in a fireworks-related house fire.

These most recent examples of the loss of life and property were absolutely avoidable, Aument said in the press release. Enough time has passed to allow for any initial issues stemming from the new law to work themselves out  unfortunately, we have only seen things get worse, not better. That is why I am respectfully requesting that the Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee hold a hearing on how we can improve this law and prevent any further tragedies.

Growing complaints, injuries

As previously reported by LNP, fireworks-related complaints have been on the rise in recent years since the amendment. So have fireworks-related injuries, according to the Allentown-based Burn Prevention Network.

And law enforcement has noted that enforcement of the rules, which bans setting off fireworks within 150 feet of an occupied structure, is difficult because it requires catching the person who set it off to issue them a citation.

Aument pointed to a 2018 state Senate report on recommendations to revamp Pennsylvanias Fire & EMS systems. The report recommended completely repealing the fireworks law expansion or implementing tougher penalties for violations and allowing municipalities greater flexibility in adopting their own fireworks ordinances.

Other state legislators have started to come around to the idea that the law needs to be changed. State Sen. Gene Yaw, who authored the 2017 expansion, is circulating a co-sponsorship memo looking for support to amend the act.

After initially resisting change to the legislation, he wrote in the memo that complaints could be addressed by amending the law to offer guidance to local governments on controls for the use of fireworks, implementing limits on when fireworks can be set off, and increasing criminal penalties for violating the act.

Matt Osenbach, legislative director for Yaw, said the senator is still meeting with stakeholders, including law enforcement groups, to draft the legislation but there is currently no timetable for its introduction.
THE ISSUE

Franklin & Marshall College is the only major college in Lancaster County that is requiring its students to be vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lancaster County is now considered to be at substantial level of community transmission of COVID-19. Per the latest CDC guidance, people in areas reporting substantial or high transmission rates are urged to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status. (The CDC determines transmission rate by studying new cases per 100,000 residents and the rate of new positive tests in the last seven days.) As LNP | LancasterOnline reported Wednesday, Lancaster County saw an 86.5% increase in cases in the previous seven days, and a 1.84% increase in positivity rates, according to CDC data. New hospital admissions related to COVID-19 saw a 100% increase in that time frame.

We continue to be perplexed by the very smart people who seem to be getting it wrong on COVID-19 prevention in local institutions of learning.

F&M wisely announced in May that students on campus would be required to get vaccinated and to provide proof of it by Aug. 1. As LNP | LancasterOnlines Alex Geli reported, The decision to require vaccines is in line with guidance from the American College Health Association.

The Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, which is affiliated with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, also requires students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to seek an exemption.

Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology initially planned to require vaccination  a decision the college said was informed by science  but backtracked after the state Legislature passed a bill prohibiting state-funded colleges from using so-called vaccine passports.

Stevens sadly declined to return to its original stance after that bill was vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf. (Republicans someday may be glad the governor vetoed it. Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday that he now regrets signing a law banning mask mandates.)

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Penn State University isnt mandating vaccination, but will require unvaccinated students and staff members to be regularly tested for the virus or face penalties and to wear masks indoors.

Millersville University has decided to go with a half-measure, announcing earlier this week that students moving into on-campus housing who do not provide proof of vaccination will be required to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arriving on campus. This is better than nothing, we suppose, but not much.

We also remain puzzled by the insistence of county school district superintendents that they likely will proceed with mask-optional policies when their K-12 schools open later this month.

We suggest they consider the experience of Eastern Lancaster County School District Superintendent Bob Hollister, whose family vacation in Florida was disrupted when he had a rare breakthrough COVID-19 infection.

Its frustrating for the family, but I think really the biggest takeaway we all have is thank God for the vaccine, Hollister told LNP | LancasterOnline.

He said he cant imagine how ill he might have gotten if he hadnt been vaccinated.

Hollister acknowledged that if COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise in Lancaster County, it doesnt bode well for school operations deep into winter I would think.

His wife, Jenn, noted her surprise that the Florida theme parks were still open with people so close together and unmasked. (Disney World reinstituted its mask requirement last Friday.)

Said Jenn Hollister: I dont see how life can return to normal in the fall.

Neither do we.

Wed urge her husband to heed his wifes words. Other school superintendents should, too, and require masks for students and staff, as both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend.

And we hope college administrators across the county mandate COVID-19 vaccination. Because the delta variant of the novel coronavirus has changed the equation.

According to an internal CDC document, the variant appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox. Indeed, that document indicated, the delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause the common cold, seasonal flu, smallpox, severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.

The war has changed, that document stated.

The New York Times reported Tuesday on the situation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where young adults with none of the usual risk factors for severe forms of the disease  such as obesity or diabetes  are ... arriving in E.R.s, desperately ill.

Doctors working in COVID-19 hot spots across the U.S. told the Times that the patients in their hospitals these days  unlike earlier in the pandemic  tend to be younger, many in their 20s or 30s. And they seem sicker than younger patients were last year, deteriorating more rapidly. Physicians have coined an unsettling new phrase to describe them, the Times reported: younger, sicker, quicker.

This makes sense, of course: 80% of Americans ages 65 and older are fully vaccinated, so theyre generally protected from the worst of what the delta variant can deliver. What we cannot understand is why so many younger Americans are not seizing the opportunity to get vaccinated.

A study by University of California San Francisco researchers found that about one in four unvaccinated people ages 18 to 25 said that they probably will not or definitely will not get the COVID-19 vaccination, a university news release stated.

The studys lead author, registered nurse Sally Adams of the universitys National Adolescent and Young Adult Health Information Center, said this: Young adults who have had COVID, regardless of symptoms, may be vulnerable to long-term complications and debilitating symptoms ... often referred to as long COVID. Estimates range from 10 to 50 percent for long COVID symptoms, which is a serious concern for young adults given their high infection rates and low vaccination rates.

She added: Prompt vaccinations could help limit the further development of virulent variants and infection rates among the vulnerable and unvaccinated.

That is, the more viruses are allowed to circulate, the greater the chances they mutate and develop other strains. This is why we keep advocating for vaccination and for the use of masks.

Corporations  such as Walmart, Tyson Foods, Microsoft, Disney and Facebook  are mandating COVID-19 vaccination for some or all of their employees. They have grasped the seriousness of what were facing.

As CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky explained Monday, if you get sick with the alpha (U.K.) variant, you could infect about two other unvaccinated people. If you get sick with the delta variant, we estimate that you could infect about five other unvaccinated people.

One doesnt need to major in math to understand how this highly transmissible variant could spell trouble for schools. We hope school administrators at all levels figure it out  and soon.
This transcript appears in the August 6, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this transcript]

Augustinus Guus Berkhout

Stop Blaming Climate Change for Your Failures

Professor Augustinus Guus Berkhout, is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, an officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau (2008), and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Geophysics at Delft University of Technology. He is co-founder and President of the Climate Intelligence Group (CLINTEL), and is a Senior Member of the Dutch Academy of Engineering (AcTI). This is an edited transcript of remarks he delivered to the first panel, The Economic Effects of Green MADMutually Assured Destruction, of the July 24, 2021 Schiller Institute conference, There Is No Climate EmergencyApply the Science and Economics of Development to Stop Blackouts and Death.

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Schiller Institute Augustinus Guus Berkhout

I am Guus Berkhout, and it is a great pleasure for me to tell you what we have learned from the recent flood disaster in Europe, and in my country, the Netherlands.

This is the message of Frans Timmermans.

We are already seeing the effects of climate change across Europe. Prolonged droughts and declining harvests, extreme heat waves, increasing diseases among livestock and crops, 400,000 deaths a year from pollution, and more. We urgently need to increase the investments in climate mitigation by CO 2 reduction.

He is the Vice President of the European Union and is responsible for the climate policy in Europe. As you see, he blames all misery [on] climate change, and he concludes, We urgently need to increase the investments in climate mitigation by CO 2 -reduction. Timmermans and his allies tell us that by simply turning the global CO 2 -knob, we can control the temperature of our planet, and they repeat that, over and over again.

Now the question is: Is this thermostat-knob narrative far-going ignorance, or excessive arrogance, or is it part of an ideological master plan? Let us have a look.

Flooding in Europe

Europes modern water management infrastructure is still inadequate. The serious July-2021 floods were a very painful reminder. But this is not new. We already found that out during the major floods in the early 1990s. Just like then, today the green politicians blamed CO 2 -emissions. However, instead of blaming themselves, the Greens blame the headstrong citizens and entrepreneurs who just do not want to be climate neutered. They are just trying to cover up for their own failures, and I will show you that. This message was extensively explained in a one-page article in the largest Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Now, an important question is: Are Europes July-2021 floods unique? Let me give you a short historical review, and then make use of my German neighbors, because they were always very grundlich (thorough) in registering the flood levels.

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1770

In Picture 1 you see the very notorious picture of the Christmas flood in Germany and the Netherlands, as early as 1770. It was a very famous flood with a lot of casualties.

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1784

And when we go to 1784, you see the picture of high water in Wurzberg (Picture 2); it looks like a very big disaster.

[In] 1888, [there were] the Darchau Hochwasser (Darchau high water marks). A very nice overview [in] a timeline of the Town Hall of Passau. [There was a] high flood level in 1500 and 450 years later, 1954, and also very large variability in flood levels in the past 500 years.

And here is another small town in Germany (Picture 3). Again, history shows that high water levels and flooding have occurred many times over the centuries; look again at the big differences! Now, to attribute past and current flooding to CO 2 -emissions is most questionable. Ill come back to that.

Keep in mind that all this historical information is known by authorities. So, they are not ignorant at all! However, instead of acting, they are just concerned with investing in CO 2 -reduction.

Lets go to France: [There was] the Paris Flood in early 1900. Whats interesting is that around the same time there were big [droughts] in the western part of the United States. So, at the same time in the world, you have big floods in Europe, and you have big droughts in the United States; and we have seen that over and over again.

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1954

Heres a picture of the 1954-flood in the Netherlands (Picture 4), with a lot of casualties. It initiated the well-known Dutch Delta Works, [a massive chain of flood protection structuresed]; they were particularly for the Dutch coast.

Now, Ill show you the situation in Southeast Netherlands a couple of weeks ago:

The situation along the Dutch coast and major rivers is in order, because of the Delta Works. However, a lot of work is still to be done on the canals, tributaries and local streams (a plan is already available for many years.) So, why do green politicians pour billions of tax revenues into biomass plants and wind turbines, instead of investing in badly needed locks, pumping stations, and inland dikes? I can tell you, the Dutch are so shocked about the floods, because they know how to prevent them!

Now, keep in mind, there were many different causes of all these flood disasters Ive shown you, but it is very unlikely that even one of them was caused by CO 2 . Keep also in mind that the periods of flood alternated with periods of drought (weve shown that already during the Paris flood in the early 1900s.)

[There is a stone called] the Hunger Stein; its in Germany. It says, Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine (When you see me, then cry), because it means that the water level is very low, and we are in the midst of a drought; and at that time, a drought meant hunger.

Global Death Risk from Climate and Non-Climate Catastrophes, 1920-2018 View full size

Atmospheric CO 2 at Mauna Loa Observatory View full size



Adaption, not Mitigation, Saves Lives

Let us look at two pictures: The first shows that the climate-related deaths decreased dramatically during the past 100 years, and that was due to adaptation. Many facts show that it is not climate mitigation (CO 2 -reduction), but climate adaptation (timely adaptation) that has resulted in a spectacular decline of climate casualties in recent decades.

Now, it is shown that CO 2 levels are increasing, increasing and increasing. And you see, also, that many conferences were arranged by the United Nations to try to stop this increasing CO 2 level; but you can also see, after 25 of these extensive, extensive conferences, nothing happened.

But, we also know that all these extensive and expensive measures against increasing CO 2 have never saved one life. So, why have political leaders not learned anything from this knowledge? All they seem to be doing now is holding meetings about reducing CO 2 and forgetting to take the measures we are sure will work.

Now, of course we cannot say: The more CO 2 , the less climate-related deaths; because more CO 2 has a completely different cause than the decreasing climate-related deaths. So, you cannot just say that more CO 2 causes less climate-related deaths, only [the] other way around! Its actually ridiculous. But, keep in mind, a similar fundamental cause-effect mistake initiated the founding of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)!

Conclusion

Lets go to our conclusion: Climate adaptation provides high benefits at low cost. That is a fact. So, why is this not done? Why are green politicians still talking and talking about high-cost CO 2 -mitigation projects? Why do they still pour billions of tax revenues into biomass plants and wind turbines, instead of investing in badly needed locks, pumping stations, and inland dikes?

Dear Citizens, please wake up! We understand the problem. We know the solution. We have the technology. We also have the money. So, what are we waiting for? And keep in mind, when I say problem, its not only a fight against flooding, but its also our fight for a safer living environment in general, and a better education, and more independent scientific research, etc., etc.

So, what is the next logical step? My urgent advice is: Dont allow green politicians to spend our money on ideological CO 2 projects; they actually have the least priority. And, be aware, if we do nothing, the flooding in Europe is a harbinger of the future for the entire world if the Great Reset comes into force.

Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that the July flood in Europe will open up the eyes of the Green politicians and will have a major effect on their priorities and]on our future, because, we talk about not their future, but our future.

Thank you very much for listening to me.
This article appears in the August 6, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

U.S. Dialogue with Both China and Russia Gives Hope for Sanity

[Print version of this article]

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CGTN

July 30U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held high-level meetings this month with the Chinese and Russian governments respectively, marking a hopeful move towards sanity in a world being driven toward confrontation between the leading nuclear powers. The mass of lies and slanders thrown at both Russia and China during the Mike Pompeo years at the State Department under the Trump Administration, with military provocations literally on the Russian and Chinese borders becoming a daily reality, have unfortunately been continued under the Biden Administration, bringing the world ever closer to war.

The Sherman meetingsJuly 26 in Tianjin, and July 28 in Geneva, come at a critical moment in history, as the U.S. is finally withdrawing its military forces from Afghanistan, ending the longest, and perhaps the most pointless, war in its history. As EIR has documented in a Special Report, Will Afghanistan Trigger A Paradigm Change? meetings between all of the nations of the region, and including the U.S., took place during the past weeks, to address the future of Afghanistan. The meetings demonstrated that there is a unique opportunity for the U.S., Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and the other nations in the region, to overcome geopolitical divisions, joining forces to address the true universal interest of mankind to end the role of Afghanistan as a center for terrorism and drug production, through a peace through development policy, to restore Afghanistans role in antiquity as the crossroad for the Silk Road, connecting the Asian and European sides of the Eurasian continent. As a model, such a development could end the era of regime change wars internationally.

The meetings of U.S. Deputy Secretary Sherman in Tianjin with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 26, while only finalized at the last minute, could become the beginning of a thaw in U.S.-China relations, although it is likely to be a rather long, drawn-out affair. Scholars on both sides had been looking forward to this meeting as the first glimmer of hope that at least some members of the Biden Administration really do want a constructive relationship with China. That this is only a potential shift was demonstrated when, just days before the expected meeting, the United States imposed new sanctions on Chinese officials who were held responsible for the crackdown in Hong Kong against those who were part of the attempted color revolution by outside forces, including the United States, in the mass riots of 2019.

A further provocation came from State Department Spokesman Ned Price, who said that the Sherman meeting would be another example of the United States approaching dialogue with China from a position of strength, the mantra that nearly disrupted the first encounter with Biden representatives in Anchorage in March.

Also, Sherman visited all the allied countries in East Asia before arriving in ChinaJapan, South Korea, Mongoliawhere statements about Chinese aggression were bantered about.

But in Tianjin, China was the host, and the Chinese had the opportunity to first air their criticisms of U.S. policyand Vice Minister Xie Feng, who is responsible for the U.S.-China relationship at the Foreign Ministry, did not mince his words. Minister Xie said that the stalemate in U.S.-China relations was solely due to the policies of the U.S. government, which manifested a whole-of-society campaign to bring China down. He lambasted the U.S. notion that they would proceed in their negotiations from a position of strength as arrogant and demeaning. Such an attitude did not succeed in Anchorage, he told Sherman, and it will not succeed in Tianjin.

Debunking U.S. Claims

The U.S. talks about setting up guard rails in its relations with China, Xie said, but any such code of conduct must be negotiated by both parties. The U.S. rules-based international order, he added, simply means that certain countries wish to turn their own family assistance programs into international rules that regulate and suppress other countries. China has never bet on the U.S. being a loser, much less making this its grand strategy, Xie said, relegating the entire idea to the realm of conspiracy theory. He castigated the U.S. for its claims about the Wuhan Virology Institute, and its claims of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang. In the past 40 years, the Uyghur population in Xinjiang has doubled, life expectancy has doubled, life is becoming richer, and the level of education is continually increasing, he said. How can this be genocide? he asked. He also said that the U.S. is playing with fire in regressing on the issue of Taiwan. Xie gave Sherman a list of 16 points on which China felt the U.S. should correct its policies, and a list of 10 issues which were of importance to China.

At the same time, Xie said that the world needs most to unite, cooperate and help each other, as we are all in the same boat. The Chinese people love peace, he said, and actively promote the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. The U.S. should change course and choose to meet China halfway, respect each other, compete fairly, and coexist peacefully, he said.

Sounding a Different Tone

Although Deputy Secretary Sherman did present the usual laundry list of U.S. concerns, reiterating privately what the U.S. has said publicly, as the State Department readout put it, she also made significant steps to address China with respect, and to address real issues. She expressed condolences to the people affected by the flooding in Henan, and praised Chinas great achievements in economic growth and poverty reduction, stating clearly that the United States does not seek to contain Chinas development. She reiterated U.S. adherence to the one-China policy, saying that the U.S. does not support Taiwan independence. She also said that the United States and China, as permanent members of the Security Council, are responsible for maintaining world peace and security, and that they therefore have a great responsibility.

The meeting lasted for more than four hours, which itself indicates the seriousness of the dialogue. Both sides said they believed that the talks were frank and in-depth and that they are willing to continue to maintain such open and honest communication. They also discussed issues of mutual interest, including the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean peninsula, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and drug control.

A New Gospel for the World?

Sherman then went on to meet with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang Yi said that the Biden Administration had generally continued the wrong policies of the previous administration toward China, and that the sharp conflicts that have arisen are due to the U.S. having a problem with its perception of China. He underlined that it was folly to try to prevent Chinas modernization, which would continue under any circumstances. He also scored U.S. attacks against the Communist Party of China and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: The Chinese people have entered an irreversible historical process, and no force or country can stop it, he said. But he added, Chinas development is to seek happiness for all Chinese people, not to challenge or replace the United States.

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U.S. Mission Geneva handout

Wang laid out three criteria that the U.S. must observe in order to have a good working relationship with China. First, the United States must not challenge or attempt to subvert Chinas socialist road or system. They are the choice of the people and the choice of history, Wang said. Second, the U.S. must not try to obstruct Chinas development. And third, the U.S. must not infringe upon Chinas national sovereignty or territorial integrity.

Our opinion is very clear, said Minister Wang. That is, through dialogue, we can find a path of peaceful coexistence on this planet for two big countries with different systems, different cultures, and at different stages of development. This would be great for the two countries, and would be a new gospel for the world, he said.

Sherman told Wang that the U.S. has no intention of restricting Chinas development, nor does it want to contain China, and that the U.S. is willing to continue its contacts with China. The two sides can develop healthy competition, cooperate on climate change, drug control, and international and hotspot issues, strengthen crisis management and control capabilities, and avoid conflicts. She reiterated U.S. support for the one-China policy and U.S. opposition to Taiwan independence. They then discussed regional issues, including Afghanistan.

Now the question remains, will the Biden Administration follow through on the opening this meeting has created, and try to meet China halfway, or will it continue the steady diatribe which makes of China an enemy to be combatted, rather than a partner to be embraced? The ball is now in the U.S. court.

U.S.-Russia Engagement

Just a few days after her meeting in Tianjin, Sherman chaired a meeting on Strategic Stability with her Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in Geneva. These talks are a result of the meeting of the two presidents, Biden and Putin, in Geneva in June, and the nearly four-hour phone call between the presidents on July 9. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the meeting.

The U.S. delegation was high-powered, including representatives of the National Security Council, the Defense Department, the military Joint Staff, and the Energy Department. The readout from the State Department after the meeting described the meeting as professional and substantive, and asserted that the U.S. remains committed, even in times of tension, to ensuring predictability and reducing the risk of armed conflict and threat of nuclear war. A subsequent meeting was scheduled for the end of September, with discussions by working groups to be established in the meantime.

Deputy Minister Ryabkov described the meeting as very down to earth, very businesslike, very focused, conscious and rational. He told TASS: They are ready. This is a good thing. They sent an impressive delegation representing all departments, and worked through its agenda 100%. He noted that we also heard critical comments from the American side, which is very normal, we also heard their opinion about the way we need to continue working. In general, we are very content about this first opening meeting at our level in Geneva.

The core discussion was on arms control, which Ryabkov described as very difficult, primarily because the issue has been long stripped of attention and we are now only in the beginning of the process of exchanging opinions about what exactly to do and how to continue our work.

The Danger Persists

Nonetheless the attacks on Russia (as also on China) in the Congress, in the media, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, and from within the Biden Administration continue. Worse, Bidens own often arbitrary and misguided comments undermine the positive diplomacy. Following the meeting in Geneva, Biden referred to the (unsubstantiated) accusation that Russia was responsible for cyber attacks within the U.S., adding: I think its more likely were going to end upwe end up in a war. A real shooting war with a major power. Its gonna be as a consequence of a cyber break of great consequence.

As if this were not provocative enough, he added that Putin has a real problemhe ishes sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else. Nothing else. Their economy iswhat?the eighth smallest in the world nowlargest in the world? He knowshe knows hes in real trouble, which makes him even more dangerous, in my view.

The reality is known to the world140 nations have joined with China and Russia in the Belt and Road Initiative. Both China and Russia are engaged in building crucial infrastructure around the world, while the U.S. continues to deny any infrastructure to developing nations, only demanding Green New Deal agreements not to develop in exchange for promises of dollar handouts. Russia and China have provided millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, and have helped build vaccine production facilities in several nations, while the U.S. hoarded its vaccines for many months, and are releasing them now very slowly.

The Afghanistan situation offers a unique and crucial moment in history to bring the major nations together, especially Russia, China, India and the U.S. Lyndon LaRouche referred to these nations as the Four Powers, the minimum combination necessary to change the direction of history, to establish a new global financial system, to end the regime change wars and the threat of nuclear war, and to combat terrorism, drugs and the health emergency around the world. The opening of U.S. diplomatic dialogue with Russia and China this month is a small but extremely important step in that direction. They should be encouraged to cooperate in Afghanistan as an example of peace through development.
This editorial appears in the August 6, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

EDITORIAL

Schiller Institute Afghanistan Conference:

Toward a Higher-Level Solution

[Print version of this editorial]

Aug. 1It has been a hallmark of the half-dozen international conferences organized by the Schiller Institute over the last 18 months, that at the end of each of them many of the participants have thanked Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche for presenting creative, new policy ideas for solving the worlds pressing crises, for thinking outside the box and for helping them to do the same. In a few cases, this was stated begrudgingly; in most cases, it was animated and appreciative. This thoughtful recognition has come from policy leaders and scholars in numerous fields from China and Russia, Germany and Italy, Syria and Yemen, India and Mexico. And, conspicuously, from the United States as well.

The July 31 five-hour dialogue on Afghanistan: A Turning Point in History After the Failed Regime-Change Era, continued and enriched that process. Zepp-LaRouche convoked the conference on short notice because of the grave danger and unique opportunity, which the American and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan has opened up for global strategic cooperation among otherwise contending powers. She made a concrete proposal for Russia, China, the United States, India, and regional partners such as Iran and Pakistan, to present a concrete development program for Afghanistan within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and to use that to help organize a stable power-sharing agreement among the contending parties inside Afghanistan. She stressed that a required starting point would be the building of a modern healthcare system in that country, as in all countries around the world, to fully address the COVID-19 pandemic. Peace through development has to be the operant approach, she emphasized.

The discussion period reflected the impact of such a visionnot universal agreement, but thoughtful consideration. Exemplary were the comments during the discussion period from Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva, Russias Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who stated:

The Afghanistan issue [is] one of the problems we are working on really hardrelatively, I must say that, effectivelywith all these rivals previously mentioned. Russia, U.S., China, Pakistan, [and others]. So, this can be a turning point, and a very good forum for cooperation, because our goals are the same. Its important also to have a common strategy, and to build on trust, and work together to reach a stable Afghanistan.

Upcoming LaRouche Legacy Foundation Seminar

The process of these international Schiller Institute conferences was initiated by Helga Zepp-LaRouche shortly after the February 2019 passing of her husband, Lyndon LaRouche, to ensure the continuity of his thinking and strategic approach. Two weeks from now, on Saturday August 14, the LaRouche Legacy Foundation will hold its first international on-line seminar, So, Are You Finally Willing to Learn Economics? which will explore in depth Lyndon LaRouches fundamental discoveries and breakthroughs in the field of the science of physical economy.

In an article that he wrote on November 6, 2000, Politics as Art, Lyndon LaRouche was prescient about the breakdown crisis that was upon us, and about the concepts needed to solve it:

Tomorrow, U.S. election-day, November 7, 2000, we shall witness an awful real-life tragedy on the world stage, the threat, if not yet the actuality, of a new Dark Age. That threat is todays outgrowth of a long-standing, widespread violation of those Classical principles of statecraft which every citizen should have been given the right to know, something that any citizen should have known by no later than the time he or she had completed a secondary education.

My lifes professional work, during more than fifty years to date, has been focused on precisely that subject-matter so urgently needed under todays conditions of global crisis: the interdependency of the history of politics and economics with those Classical methods which underlie competence in both art and science.

Lately, I had been prompted by a number of developments, especially because of the increasingly acute quality of the onrushing world crisis, to place much heavier emphasis on my students and co-workers rigorous mastery of that function of Classical art. Here, I consolidate and recapitulate what I have said in the content of unpublished manuscripts which were recently written for those collaborators private use. I do this here, in as popular a form as competent exposition permits. I do this for the benefit of you as a member of an, unfortunately, still largely unwitting population, a population which the aftermath of this election would tend to overwhelm with despair, unless you are informed of those certain means of remedial action which I outline for you here.

I offer you thus a method for action, which contains the much-needed Classical alternative to todays real-life tragedy of our nation. I present that to you here, with the intent to afford you a guide to the means by which we may escape from the awful consequences, into which the immediate aftermath of a brutish electoral farce, now threatens to plunge our nation, and also the world at large.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021

Triple Whammy About To Slam the United States

Aug. 4, 2021 (EIRNS)The U.S. is careening towards a perfect storm of major social and economic crises over the next couple of monthsjust as we hit the 50th anniversary of Lyndon LaRouches stunning forecast of August 15, 1971, when Nixon pulled the plug on the Bretton Woods financial system, and set the country on a downward physical economic plunge which now threatens our very existence, precisely as LaRouche had warned would occur.

With the COVID crisis exploding again in the U.S. and internationally, and the global financial system hanging by a thread, the U.S. is looking at: 1) mass evictions of millions of renters in early October (postponed two months by last-minute action yesterday by the Biden administration); 2) a wave of millions of mortgage defaults and foreclosures in the same time frame; and 3) the end of unemployment help for millions of Americans.

And all of this is bearing down on the U.S. as the green-Malthusian energy and industrial blackout plan of the British Empire is scheduled to enter its operational phase internationally, with the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in early November.

On the eviction crisis, the can was successfully kicked down the road by exactly two months, to Oct. 3. The CDC announced yesterdayafter days of buck-passing among Congress, the Supreme Court and the Administrationthat counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of COVID-19 would have the current eviction ban extended to Oct. 3. That reportedly covers 80% of the counties and 90% of the population in the country.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky stated on Aug. 3:

The emergence of the Delta variant has led to a rapid acceleration of community transmission in the United States, putting more Americans at increased risk, especially if they are unvaccinated.... This moratorium [on evictions] is the right thing to do to keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings where COVID-19 spreads.

In terms of renters, more than 15 million people live in households that owe as much as $20 billion to their landlords, according to the Aspen Institute. As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey.

As for mortgages, at the beginning of August at least 1.75 million homeowners remain in forbearance, or 3.5% of all homes in the U.S., according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. About 1.5 million of the 1.75 million in forbearance are at least 90 days behinda number roughly equivalent to that reported in March 2021and at least 20% of them wont be able to forestall foreclosure past September, according to the Washington Post.

But the eviction moratorium doesnt even begin to touch the underlying problem. Even Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) stated yesterday: This is a short-term, long-term strategy. When in fact the moratorium ends, we absolutely cannot be in the same place we are in now. ... We need to have some legislation passed in Congress, in the House, especially. But there is no indication that she or anyone else in Congress is thinking at this point of anything other than more bailout funds, which will of course do nothing to solve the underlying problem.

The proper approach is LaRouches Homeowners and Bank Protection Act, or HBPA, which provides the required policywhich emphatically includes the bankruptcy reorganization of the entire international speculative bubble, and kick-starting the U.S. physical economy with massive investments in physical infrastructure projects at home and abroad, along with other nations such as China, Russia and India.

It is clearly time to study the wise words of Lyndon LaRouche. And that will be the central theme of the LaRouche Legacy Foundations upcoming Aug. 14 conference: So, Are You Finally Willing To Learn Economics?
August Insights: Everywhere A Battleline; Every Day A Call To Struggle

It is from the immeasurable depth, breadth and length of the sacred library of our history that Haji Malcolm X teaches and reminds us we are richly rewarded for all our research. And it is in this, the most ancient of human histories, Nana Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune teaches and advises us that we must discover the dawn, this awesome legacy left by our ancestors, and bring it forth not only to enlighten our own people, but also to lift up a light valuable to the world. And that light is our ethically grounded learning, knowledge and teaching and always our sharing it with the world.

Also, Nana Bethune and Nana Malcolm teach us that the light of knowledge is not to be approached as knowledge for knowledge sake, but knowledge for human sake, beginning with, but never ending with ourselves. We must, both of them teach, share this good with our youth and the masses of our people. The shared interest of this great woman and man is that freedom, justice and other sacred goods be enjoyed as a common good and right of our people and other peoples of the world. And they and all other ancestors posed struggle on every level as the way forward and upward on the awesome journey to achieve and secure these common goods.

It is in this context of memory and reflection that we of Us raise the battlecry, Everywhere a battleline, every day a call to struggle. Now clearly, we conceived and put forth this battlecry; but it is surely based on the living lessons and legacy of those great and ordinary men and women whose teachings, lived experiences, and the heroic and historic deeds and practices are models and mirrors for us. Indeed, it is Haji Malcolm who taught us that wherever Black people are is a battleline. It is Nana Paul Robeson who taught us that the battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear. It is Nana Nannie Burroughs that taught that the struggle and battle to overcome and absolutely defeat every force designed against us is the only way to achieve.

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Moreover, it is Nana Fannie Lou Hamer that taught us that to achieve and secure freedom and justice, weve got to fight every step of the way. Likewise, Nana Frederick Douglass taught that without struggle theres no progress. And Nana Ella Baker taught us, we who want freedom cannot rest until we achieve it. So, the moral imperative and social centrality of struggle is clear and compelling. And one of the months most representative and reflective of the lessons and legacy of struggle is the month of August.

We are again at the beginning of August, opening up a special month of remembrance, reflection and recommitment, practices central to our traditions of commemoration and celebration of those moments, models and mirrors essential to our self-understanding and self-assertion in the world. August is rightly marked and remembered as a month of revolution, revolt and resistance. Indeed, we speak here also of righteous and relentless resistance before, during and after August. For our people in this country have from the beginning shaped and formed themselves in struggle, on the battlelines and battlefronts for freedom, justice and other goods.

Our arrival in oppression and resistance in what is now the U.S. occurs in the month of August 1619. It is the beginning of a savage and radically evil oppression, first in the crushing crucible of the Holocaust of enslavement. And it has persisted in all its raw and open, disguised and denied racist forms. But, of course, so has our resistance remained a central part of our lives and hope, our history and current will, and ways of defining, defending and advancing our lives in the pursuit of an ever-expanding realm of freedom and justice in the world.

We remember and raise up also the historic world-changing Haitian Revolution beginning in August 1791. And we share the sacred narrative of Nana Hougan Dutty Boukman and Nana Mambo Cecile Fatiman, spiritually grounding the people, assuring them of the rightfulness and victory of their struggle, and calling them to listen to the voice of freedom which is in all our hearts. We speak too of their world historical victory, achieving what no other enslaved people had done or has done after, freed themselves, built a republic, and expanded the realm of African and human freedom in the world. And today, they struggle and fight every day against the evil assembly of those, internal and external, who have, since their victory, worked, invaded, undermined and slaughtered to reverse this historic achievement. Here we raise up and relate the Declaration of Independence and accompanying oath given by the leader of the Revolution, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. He called on the people to swear an oath of independence or death, saying, we have dared to free ourselves. Therefore, let us be by ourselves and for ourselves.

Lets too remember and raise up the sacred narratives of righteous and relentless struggle and revolts of Gabriel and Nana Prosser, August 1800 and of Nat Turner, August 1830, and their defiance of death, outnumbered, outgunned and yet outrageously contemptuous of the small-minded immoral monsters that arrogantly dared to deny them the inalienable rights of life and freedom. We speak here of martyrs for freedom who audaciously wrote their names on the unerasable and irremovable rocks of human history and are worthy of the highest honor.

As we speak today of the abolitionism movement, let us remember and raise up the founding of the Underground Railroad, August 1850, involving Nana Harriet Tubman, Nana Frederick Douglass and others dedicated to abolishing enslavement as a system and accompanying psychology. Nana Harriet taught us that people must develop the mindset of we must go free or die and realize that freedom is not free or cheap and its not bought with dust, but with dedication, discipline and awesome sacrifice. And Nana Frederick taught us the realization of freedom lies in breaking chains, not hugging them, physically or psychologically.

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Then, in this sacred history, we must always remember, raise up and reflect on the legacy of the Hon. Marcus Garvey (August 1887), prophet and promiser of the whirlwind, builder, founder of the UNIA, August 1914, organizer, a blessing of Blackness in the world, teacher of possibility saying, Up you might race, you can accomplish what you will. And his will was that we willed, worked and struggled for a free Africa as a liberating, uplifting, and powerful presence in the world. The 60s brought us the August Watts Revolt of 1965, inspiring and bringing into being a flourishing of organizational, philosophical, ideological and institutional initiatives, including the organization Us, Kawaida philosophy, Kwanzaa and the Black Power Conferences for which we served as vice-chair of the Planning Committee and the principal theorist. And in 1978, the Black August commemoration was declared and held in San Quentin to raise up and remember and honor martyrs, political prisoners and freedom fighters.

Finally, in August 2014, following the murder of Mike Brown, Black people rose up in righteous resistance and carried on a 400-day plus series of action initiatives against police violence and the systemic violence of which police violence is a defining expression. The Ferguson Revolt was not only a major point of rising for the Black Lives Matter Movement, it was also the historical spark that ignited a forest fire of resistance around the country, expanding and intensifying the overall struggle for racial and social justice. Ours is a beautiful though dangerous, difficult and demanding life and history. We struggle constantly to be ourselves and free ourselves. Indeed, we are an unfinished struggle ourselves, struggling not only to free ourselves externally, but also internally from all that restrains and restricts us from flourishing and coming into the fullness of ourselves.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, www.AfricanAmericanCulturalCenter-LA.org; www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org; www.MaulanaKarenga.org.
Black-Owned Businesses Look to the FDA to Protect Them

What many of us have dreamed about for the past year may be turning into reality. Almost half of the nation has been fully vaccinated, the CDC has announced businesses can reopen along with lifted mask guidance, and the glimmer of hope is shining brighter each day.

However, as we cling onto this hope and adjust to what many are calling the new normal, we must not forget what we have learned and what practices we must bring into this next chapter with us. The reality for many Black communities, especially Black-owned businesses, is that they must continue to rely on lawmakers and regulators to protect them from virus spread and outbreak.

A year ago, in a quick fix reaction to the pandemic, the FDA released emergency guidance that lowered the standards for germ-fighting products like hand sanitizer in order to get more on the market. This led to an ongoing wave of hand sanitizers that both smell horrible and seem to do virtually nothing. Now, a year later, city streets are refilling, businesses are starting to operate at full capacity, and we have a more reliable supply of hand sanitizer. Yet, businesses are still providing questionable products, and we are even seeing reports of products with toxic carcinogens steadily pop up.

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With this in mind, I look to lawmakers and regulators to resolve this issue. As we come out of this emergency, its time for the FDA to withdraw the temporary guidance, and for Congress to use its power of oversight to ensure these toxic products are off the market for good.

We want to provide our patrons and employees with a safe experience; however, we are not public health officials. Clear and consistent guidance from those in power is vital to deciphering what hand sanitizer products are safe and effective, where they should be positioned in our stores/offices/etc.

Because as is the case with many issues in this country, it is no surprise that the Black community has been hit the hardest by the ripple effects of COVID-19. As the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce, it is my responsibility to advocate for the 310,000 U.S. Black-owned businesses we represent. With reports of hand sanitizer products containing high levels of methanol, benzene and other toxins, how can these employees, customers and business owners feel safe?

Not only are Black people more likely to contract and die from COVID-19, but because of systemic inequities, Black-owned businesses more likely to lack sufficient resources needed to stay afloat and protect their customers.

This shows that while safer, more effective products may be available again, without clear guidance and access, there is a barrier to entry for them to arrive at small, often Black-owned, businesses. The latest census shows that 28 percent of U.S. businesses are Black-owned. The U.S. economy relies on their success and health, and we will not see them flourish if they continue to be ignored.

The FDA fought to get more hand sanitizers on the market when we needed it most, but now we must deal with the unintended consequences that came along with it and rescind the emergency guidelines. I hope that along with the FDA, lawmakers, especially those on the Congressional Black Caucus, are as concerned about this as I am and will use their power to stop it.

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Black business owners have enough on their shoulders. They do not need to worry about the toxicity of hand sanitizer products they put out to protect their patrons, but instead should feel confident that they have the support of regulatory bodies to keep them safe.

Ron Busby, President & CEO, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc
Celebration Set in Honor of Biddy Masons Legacy

The Biddy Mason Global Network, California Black Womens Health Project and the Beloved Community Coalition will host Black Excellence  Our Passion, Our Mission, Our Legacy on Saturday, August 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Biddy Mason Memorial Park, 333 S. Spring St., in downtown Los Angeles.

Former slave Bridget Biddy Mason was an activist, who was also a nurse, philanthropist and real estate entrepreneur. She opened a travelers center, operated an elementary school for Black children and donated the land to establish First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest church founded by Blacks in L.A.

Reflecting on Masons legacy, Diane Mitchell Henry, event organizer, said, Her testimony echoes the resilience of perseverance, tenacity, and empowerment. She kept a-steppin despite the deliberate and evil denial of her inalienable rights.

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This years Celebrations theme acknowledges the tenacity, perseverance, and faith of Black activist leaders and how they have kept a-steppin. They unrelentingly and unstoppably stayed focused. We recognize the challenges of the oppressive injustices encountered by the unsung sheroes and good brothers, she said.

The honorees are Dr. Marie Augusta Adam, Marie Blair Jacqueline Castillo, Felicia Francis Edward, BeNeca Griffin, Melitta Johnson, Carol McGruder, Carla Norman, Dr. Alisa Orduna, and Dr. Sally Ann Payton, Dawn Sutherland, Juanita Tillman West, Pastor Stephan Cue Jn Marie and Tyree Boyd Pates.

The presenters are former Councilmember and city general manager Jan Perry, the Rev. Kelvin Sauls and Alvetia Smith of the U.S. Postal Service. Wes Hall will be the emcee. Other participants are DJ Xavier Henderson of SoundfulofNoise, actor Candice Lenoir, dancer Samara Williams, and the Rev. C.E. Washington.

Through continuous oppression, Miss Biddy stood the test of time. She embraced the empowerment of Gods grace and mercy despite the disenfranchisement of her human rights. Unapologetically, under-grided with the encouragement of her support team of Black men and white allies, she embraced her power and kept a-steppin, Henry said.

As we pay homage, the other intent of the celebration is to inspire the masses to emulate Ms. Biddy Masons community services to the under-represented communities. Ms. Biddy Mason did not talk the talk, but walked the walk.

To step up my game for self-care in honor of Miss Biddy Mason, I started calculating the number of steps taken daily. I made it my goal to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps daily, equivalent to approximately five miles. Based on studies, a walking routine can reduce health concerns such as for overweight, high blood pressure, irregular sleeping patterns, and depression and anxiety.

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I encourage all of us to stay in excellent physical, mental, and spiritual shape, so we work toward social and economic justice. Not being in shape can be a deterrent, keeping one in bondage, distracting one from the business of empowerment, and contributing effective humanitarian solutions to social and economic justice.

According to Ephesians 2:10, For we are His creation, created in the Spirit of God for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them, to fight the good fight, so that our testimonies declare we kept a steppin, said Henry.
Co-Founder of The Gathering Spot, Ryan Wilson Talks the Arrival of a New Space Curated for the Black Community in Los Angeles

Los Angeles and West Adams specifically will soon be welcoming a new institution made for us, by us! The Gathering Spot, an intentional private membership club focused on the people and the community will be coming this fall to unite and stimulate the Black community.

Founded by Ryan Wilson and TK Peterson, The Gathering Spot (TGS) was born in D.C. during a time of unrest and longing amongst the founders. While in their apartment they shared during college, the two conceptualized the idea of creating a space for Black and Brown people to gather in a space that celebrated their existence. We spoke to co-founder Ryan Wilson to discuss TGS, an idea turned reality, that forever changed his life.

Growing up was to always be an attorney. I wanted to be a lawyer because to me that was the best way to have an impact in our community, he shared. The Georgetown alum shared that he followed that path, however, it took until law school for the moment of change. I was working at a law firm in Buckhead in Atlanta and I got an email from some friends after George Zimmerman was acquitted of Trayvon Martins murder, and the email simply said, What are we going to do?

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I responded back to the email with two different parts. The first part, I think weve got to use this moment to figure out how we can really work to empower ourselves. Then the second, I think we need to build a physical place and create a community where we can tackle this issue and anything else that we want to do, he detailed. From the minute that I wrote that paragraph, I felt like the place that was in my head really needed to exist.

From there, Wilson reached out to his now business partner Peterson and the format began to build. For two years, the two spoke daily, coming up with plans and goals for TGS until it officially opened its first location in Atlanta. Whats happened since then is really a celebration of a tremendous number of people. What started as a small idea is now the largest city club in Atlanta with a growing presence amongst its new Washington D.C. location and an experience in bloom in Los Angeles.

The grassroots efforts that have taken place in LA since the top of the year prove time-and-time again how much emphasis Wilson and the entire team put on its community. Without a finished location, members can experience whats to come, understanding the value of being a part of a community designed for you to connect, build and grow. Wilson continued to tell TGSs goal is to honor the most ignored demographics in private clubs: Black people as a whole and specifically Black women in a space that not only tolerates but celebrates our contributions. Unlike other private clubs, TGS offers uniqueness in that the culture is the focal point, yet members and the community effortlessly drive that force as creators of said culture.

Wilson speaks to choosing West Adams as the location. The building which sits near the corner of Redondo and Adams will feature two restaurants including a bar and lounge, a co-working space, and will be fully equipped for large and small events. Not only was the location about access, but a place that held TGSs core values close.

This business at its best is connected to the [community]. Were not creating a private club with a goal of putting up tall gates and not connecting with the community. We have to be in places where were able to still connect to real people and real community issues. I think West Adams provides that opportunity through and through, he explained.

As mentioned, TGS will be a private club that includes fees per month or yearly, however, theyve been very intentional in their prices and that it fits the surroundings and is affordable for all interested. Wilson stated, Were building a community at TGS but that community has to also reflect the broader community that the club is in. While private, the internal aspect is that of inclusion. Without a tier system amongst members, TGS is a place for everyone to find common ground and a place that supports them.

Wilson, who spent years of his childhood in Los Angeles will soon be returning full-time to oversee and lend a hand in the final steps of the new location. One thing that I really want everybody to know about this just in general, we see ourselves as integrating into what is already special in LA, he said of the arrival of the space. Mentioning the already amazing creatives, business owners, and executives in the city, he continued, What we hope to do is to celebrate those folks, and to connect them to maybe other people that they havent met, and to do it in a way that feels like LA. We want to build on what was already happening in the city.

Thats one thing I could promise to LA, Im not about to do anything in LA thats not intentional.

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To find more information on The Gathering Spot Los Angeles or learn how to become a member, visit https://thegatheringspot.club/la-gathers/.
Community Demands Answers at Second LAPD African American Forum

LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore faced hard questions at the second African American Forum with community and faith leaders sponsored by the agency on Wednesday, July 28.

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Specifically, the audience sought an explanation about the lack of discipline of the police officer who distributed a tasteless meme mocking the death of George Floyd, said Pastor Shep Crawford of Experience Christian Ministries, who moderated the gathering.

Responding to the inquiry, Moore stressed that he recommended the firing of the responsible officer, however, the officer appealed that discipline to the Board of Rights, an administrative group traditionally comprised of two captains or above and a civilian.

An ordinance passed two years ago by the City Council allows an officer to select three civilians instead to hear the appeal. The officer is given the ability to defend him-or-herself and can have an attorney, Moore said. Essentially, its a trial where the Department presents its case and the defense presents its case.

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After the presentation, the panel deliberates and announce their decision and provide the rationale for the verdict. According to the charter, the chief cannot increase the penalty if the person is found guilty or take any further action against the officer if he or she is deemed not guilty. Also, state law prohibits Moore from identifying the officer because personnel records are considered confidential.

In the case of the meme, the Board of Rights found the officer not guilty, Moore said. Their rationale was they took his statements at face value that he did not mean to insult or defame, but was sending the meme to a command staff to report potential misconduct. So, they found him not guilty  not innocent, but not guilty.

Clearly dissatisfied, Crawford insisted, Were not done with this. We understand that you can only do so much, but the community is not done with that one.

We want it to be clear that were here representing the community and at the end of the day, that is our main goal  making sure that the community is heard and making sure I fight for them in every way possible.

Pastor James Thomas of Living Word Community Church commented about Moores leadership, noting, Your tenure is based upon a mayor whose own record is disgraceful. With the critiques you are receiving, do you really think anyone running for mayor will support you?

You must either be the leader that the city needs or step aside. I hope its not too late. Its not about you personally, but what this city needs. You have an opportunity to exercise leadership and go with the people, Thomas said.

I argue with your position that I have not shown leadership, retorted Moore. I strive everyday to demonstrate the qualities, experience, knowledge and commitment toward the mission of this organization by encouraging, building, and equipping our people with the resources they need to do a difficult job. I do so with the commitment to changing the culture of our organization and improve it and identify those in our ranks who dont deserve to wear this badge.

What I dont do is change my style or values to placate an elected official. If this mayor or the next mayor finds that I am not the person for this position, I respect that. Whats critical to me is that this organization continues to move forward, build on past reforms, recognizing that the most critical aspect of its relationship with the community is its trust. How it goes about policing is a major component of how that trust is built. I welcome the opportunity to answer questions and response to concerns. Im grateful for our continued dialogue moving forward, said Moore.

The Rev. Dr. D. Najuma Smith-Pollard, pastor of Word of Encouragement Community Church and program manager of USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, asked Moore for the procedure for civilians to serve on boards, commissions and panels that are connected to LAPD.

We would like to get that information, so we can understand how decisions are made and the best way to understand is to be part of the process, noted Smith-Pollard. Its really about access  how do we access serving in this position?

Moore along with Police Commissioner Dale Bonner committed to get details and materials outlining the process to forum members.

Smith-Pollard also requested a commitment from Moore to work with the group as well as gang interventionists and prevention organizations to address this issue of violence, which is not always gang-related, yet is occurring with increased frequency in the community. Moore replied that he and his staff will schedule a follow-up meeting on the topic with forum members.

The chief also said that he welcomes future meetings of the forum to improve the relationship between the African American community and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Compton Community College District to Host Virtual Back to School Town Hall August 11

The Compton Community College District (CCCD) will hold a Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. via the Zoom conferencing app.

CCCD Board of Trustees Member Dr. Deborah Sims Leblanc will host the meeting. New and returning students, parents, and community members will have an opportunity to learn more about what Compton College has to offer and participate in a discussion with the Board of Trustees member.

Topics to be covered during the virtual Town Hall Meeting include Compton Colleges Oliver W. Conner Promise Program which provides two years of free college for eligible students; the Early College High School program through Compton Colleges partnership with the Compton Unified School District; job training classes in 11 occupational programs that enable students to be job ready in as little as 18 months for certain trades; and three types of free Dual Enrollment courses for local high school students.

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Compton College is open and ready to serve our community! said Dr. LeBlanc. The colleges guided pathways support student success by providing continual guidance and a clear plan to complete required classes to ensure they reach their career and higher education goals in a timely manner.

How to Access the CCCD Board Meeting Online:

Zoom Meeting ID: 996 7342 1846

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android*: https://compton-edu.zoom.us/j/99673421846

*NOTE: You do not need to download the Zoom app to access the meeting, click the link above to join the meeting from your browser.

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About the Compton Community College District

Board meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of each month and are open to the public. The District is located at 1111 E. Artesia Boulevard, Compton, CA 90221.
Goosby Reveals the Beauty Possessed by Children of God

Author Denise Goosby redefines self-image in Scarred Like Him: Seeing the Beauty in the Life You Live

No matter how you look on the outside, its your identity as a child of God that defines you and will set you on a path for success in life. Thats the premise of the new book by Denise Goosby, Scarred Like Him: Seeing the Beauty in the Life You Live.

The Compton native penned the tome to encourage people  especially those with low self-esteem  that God supplies believers with undeniable beauty within, no matter how blemished their outside might be.

I want the readers to see themselves the way God sees them. I want them  I want myself  to be our unique, beautiful selves and to see the beauty in the life God has given us. I want to help people see that their wounds, inner and outer, do not define them, explains Goosby, who drew on her personal experience with flawed skin to guide her in writing.

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The title refers to my own scars that I carry from my 40-year journey with severe keloid scarring. And it refers to the scars of Jesus, she says. Our Savior bears His scars, so the reader and I can bear ours and learn how to value ourselves and live life for God.

Scarred Like Him contains eight sections with titles such as Who Am I? Where Do I Belong?, and How Do I Make a Life? Within each chapter, she explores a range of topics including identity, grief and life transitions. She also discusses the effects of pain and confusion on afflictions, which can lead to feelings of being ugly and unworthy.

People have hurts and these hurts cause them to lash out at others and to seek personal fulfillment in things, status, and everything but God. I want the reader to know that they matter, that they are loved and valued for who they are. I want to bring encouragement to them, insists Goosby. And by them, she says that she means, People who have experienced trauma  an illness or disability, a broken heart, a loss, an addiction or abuse. People whose past hurts may have made them a little disillusioned with people and even God. I want to come alongside them and give them hope.

Throughout her life, Goosby has been guided by the love of God and the hope she obtained through her relationship with Him. Her father was a minister, so she was always acquainted with the Lord, but it wasnt until she became an adult that she truly accepted Christ and dedicated her time and talents, like writing and singing, to several ministries in the church.

In fact, her love of writing inspired her to earn a Bachelors degree in English at Mount St. Marys University and a Masters degree in print journalism at USC. Those skills led to positions as a reporter for the Paramount News Tribune Newspaper and as an educator for 20 years at several public and private schools. In 2018, Goosby established Healing Song Ministry, she says, to serve seniors, veterans, and the hurting in South Los Angeles County. It is music therapy for the heart and soul.

Two years later, God directed her to write Scarred Like Him where she uses her story to tell His story. An excerpt reads: To God, we would see our scars as something to celebrate. Our scars are living metaphors of our lives.

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They tell the world that we are warriors. They tell the world that we have fought battles. They tell the world that we are stronger than we look. That we may suffer long but we also endure. We do not give up because the God who lives through us wont let us.

Beloved ones do not be ashamed of your scars. Do not be ashamed of your life. It is beautiful. You are beautiful. Your God  the perfection of beauty  says so. And He does not lie. You need to receive this. God is not ashamed of you (Hebrews 2:11). We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. He has done that for me. He will do that for you. (Romans 8:28)

Goosby also writes and sings on her blog, Denises Healing Journey, which can be found at denisegoosby.com. To others interested in writing, she advises, You have a story inside of you. Whether its written or spoken or sung, God has put something in you. Hes put the desire to write in you. Seek His purpose. Pray and ask Him what to do. Write what you know and write what moves you  its what God put in you.

And Goosby is quick to acknowledge her reliance on God to chart her future. My life verse is Psalm 138:8 (ESV)  The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Whatever happens in my life, I can be sure that Gods will for me will be done, she says.

That comforts me. The whole Psalm 138 is a psalm of thanksgiving to God  the God who will be with us in trouble and defeat our enemies. Through it all, He will make us bold and strong!

Scarred Like Him: Seeing the Beauty in the Life You Live is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNobles.com, and Redemption Press. Visit https://denisegoosby.com/ for updated information about presales, events and special offers.
THE NEW FACES OF PUBLIC EDUCATION & THE DEMAND FOR RACIAL EQUALITY WITHIN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

The Los Angeles Sentinel goes one on one with educations 3 top labor leaders to discuss the state of public education and how having Black leadership can reshape and rethink public Education.

For the first time in history the leaders of the National Education Association (NEA), The California Teachers Association (CTA) and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) are all Black. These educators sit down to discuss how education is the skeleton that frames the worlds social behavior and racial awareness, in an exclusive interview with national and local academic leadership, The Los Angeles Sentinel learned of their devotion to guide the country to a more balanced racial lens.

Becky Pringle is the president of the National Education Association (NEA), she joined California Teachers Association (CTA) President Toby Boyd and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President Cecily Myart-Cruz in a round table discussion about the values that guide their hands in leadership, influencing the nations ever-changing circuit of education.

Pringle highlighted the transformation set in place at the NEA, she acknowledged the students of color that depend on her due diligence to keep their needs in mind. Pringle stated, Its our time, for us  Referring to the rarity of all three national and local academic presidents being of color and aligned to see social and racial equality delegated throughout various academic programs across the U.S.

President Pringle sits at the helm of the largest labor union in the country, and she sees an opportunity to do a better job. Our students are depending on us for nothing lessso when I started my presidency in September, I articulated a vision for the NEA that I believed to be our calling at this moment. Pringle went on to explain the mission is to unite the three million members of the NEA and create a pulse of inspiration to circulate through the entire nation.

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She is looking to spark a movement within public education, calling for a racially and socially just platform in all stages of development. Pringle described her process as peeling back the layers to get the core mission and unify with President Boyd and President Myart-Cruz, Pringle learned of the mandatory assurance that all students, all educators, all schools are excelling. The President of NEA shared details of the delicate surgery performed to find the main vessels that would carry this goal out within her department and beyond.

The objective is for every school to reflect the community, the NEA has publicly legitimized the partnership with the CTA and UTLA to forge the greatest opportunity for balanced resources and academic support.

President Boyd added to the excitement of being aligned with the other present organizations, In this present time, you see the three of uswhen I was elected, I was the first Black man elected to the California Teacher Association in the 150th year of their existence. 

Boyd continued, I had the opportunity to see and be seen by children who look like me. When I went to education, that was one of my goals I wanted to do  The President of CTA touched on the community build and his participation in guiding the future generation. As a Kindergarten teacher, Boyd embodied the significance in laying a strong foundation for youth, because it sets their mind to think about the limitless possibilities that are available to them.

President Boyd stated, Its all about making sure that our children, especially the ones that look like us, have opportunities and they know those opportunities are limitless  the CTA president elaborated on the vehicle that reinforces that platform within the state budget. Boyd stated in his 26-year experience, he has never seen this much money go towards education.

Sitting at the core of this national and local unity, are the concerns of students and faculty through a racial and social lens. All academic presidents agree that there is a need for special attention surrounding the resources available to students of color in all regions.

President of UTLA, Myart-Cruz reinforced the significant points that were made by her colleagues. Myart-Cruz shared that she is the first Black-Biracial woman to lead the UTLA organization in its 52-year existence.

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Myart-Cruz reflected on the topic of equity and stated, It is a pleasure to work with such fantastic individuals that are putting racial equity and social justice on the forefront and also speaking truth to power to our educatorsnot being comfortable with the status quo, but looking at what it means to be antiracist educators and what it means to use an equitable lens to lead, not only with love but lead with hope 

The presidents shared that community schools are the saviors of the communities, highlighting their effect in historically Black neighborhoods such as Crenshaw, Leimert Park, and Dorcey found in Los Angeles. Myart-Cruz called on the federal government and the state assistance to trickle on through and permeate through every single hall of these local schools. President Myart-Cruz brought attention to the opportunities for improvement found within the current community educational institutions, that can use immediate support.

Community schools are tended to as the last frontier to save public education and it has been realized by the present consensus, local needs deserve to be at the forefront. The first step in the right direction starts with transparency and accountability. The national and local organizations representing the countrys educational system are looking for the answers on how to push the needle forward collectively.

Physical evidence of their work will first arrive in the representation of Black teachers coming back to the state of California, handling the concern of the imbalance found in the population of Black male teachers on a national scale. The NEA, CTA, and UTLA have unified under the mission to change the overall narrative of public education, honing into the sense of racial equity that needs to take place first.

Early in his educational career, President Boyd held on to the support he received from his family to become an educator. The President of CTA depicted the early stage of this journey to be strenuous for him financially, which will trigger second thoughts in following the path of being an educator.

Boyd shared an experience of being a part of a staff of 50-60 members and being the only Black Male. Boyd added his thoughts for consideration by stating, One of the things that we do need to do is that we make sure that we change the vision and scope of what education looks like.
New Partnership Brings Black History to Life Through Google Assistant

Hey, Google, what happened on this day in Black History? is a term that might become a daily ritual for many people across the country. Thanks to a new partnership between Google and Dr. Carl Mack, Publisher of the Black Heritage Day Calendar  a comprehensive flip calendar that highlights 366 notable African Americans and African American accomplishments, more than 500 million people can get a daily dose of Black History utilizing Google Assistant.

Just prior to Juneteenth, the Google Assistant team unveiled the new feature that allows users to receive information on Black History by date. By saying Hey Google, what happened on this day in Black History?, you are met with a unique verbal response, which is powered by the information contained in Dr. Macks calendar, that will provide you with a brief narrative of Black History that occurred on that day.

There are two ways that you can utilize the feature. The first option is by asking what happen today, and the second is by asking what happen on a specific date in Black History. For example, asking what happened on October 8th in Black History will solicit a response about Powhatan Beaty, who was born into slavery on this day in 1837, but later gained his freedom and moved to Ohio, where he proved his talent as an actor.

The feature is accessible on more than 1 billion Google Assistant-enabled devices, including smart speakers, phones, TVs from LG and Samsung, Chromecast, watches and many popular soundbars.

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According to Mack, the inspiration for the calendar stemmed from a conversation that he had with a White co-worker back in the 80s, who was asking Mack about a historic Black figure that he never heard of.

One day [my co-worker] came to work and he was talking to me about this guy, Henry Blippar, who was the first Black to graduate from the West Point Military Academy. And [hes] looking at me like I know who this guy is, and I had no idea who [he] was talking about, recalled Mack. I literally felt ashamed and embarrassed that this White man knew more about my culture than I did.

The interaction led Mack to learn more about Black History and over time become a Black Historian in his own right. The discoveries that he made gave Mack an enhanced sense of self-pride and fueled his passion to teach, learn and serve others. After some years of doing research, Mack decided to share his knowledge more broadly, so he produced the original version of the Black Heritage calendar in 1992.

Fast forward to today and people are still fascinated with the information contained in the calendar, which is now in its fourth edition. Some of the information like Martin Luther Kings Birthday is commonly known, but there are other lesser-known entries that have a common connection to our everyday lives like Elijah McCoy, an African American inventor, whose high-quality inventions gained so much notoriety the phrase the Real McCoy was coined to distinguish his inventions from cheap imitations.

I shared [the Today In Black History feature] with close to a hundred people and their level of excitement is insane, says Mack. It is off the charts, but they come back to me and every one of them, my mama included said, If you didnt tell me this, how would I ever know it existed?

While Macks initial intent was to share his information with the world, he had no idea that he literally would be sharing it on a platform that reaches hundreds of millions of people on a daily basis.

Did I think that 30 years later, the research that I did on Black history would now be on the Google assistant, and that 500 million people around the world could access it? says Mack in awe of the achievement. That is just where God says big, God means BIG.

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The connection with Google came from one of Macks mentees, Justin Steele, who works for Google. Mack sent a copy of his calendar to Steele looking for feedback. Unbeknownst to Mack at the time, Google was in the process of looking for content that they could feature every day that was in line with their efforts towards diversity and inclusion.

According to Beth Tsai, Policy Director for Google Search and Assistant, Macks calendar was a perfect fit for what they were trying to do.

We felt like it was very important to raise awareness about the Black community and about important figures in the Black community that often dont get attention, said Tsai.

The beautiful thing about Dr. Macks calendar is it looks at the parts of the story that like most people arent aware of, it tells us about important moments in Black culture and Black history, added Tsai. It tells us about contributors who are not your big names. [It] helps people understand that bigger picture. And for us, that was the compelling moment here. Heres a chance for your average Google user who doesnt know anything about these things to really jump in, learn more and learn in depth.

For Mack, who previously served as president of the Seattle King County NAACP and was the former executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the opportunity for people to learn about and appreciate Black History is a tremendous step towards self-knowledge and pride for African Americans, and a chance for others to see and understand African Americans in a way that is not readily found in traditional American history books.

I mean, you look at Google. Google is arguably one of the greatest search engines on this planet. The fact that they have the content from the calendar and every day, all you have to say is, Hey, Google, what happened on this day in Black History? And just like that, with just your voice, you could be exposed to 366 days of African-American History with just your voice, says Mack about the ease that people can access the information through Google Assistant. You just learn something beautiful about our history and you know, the reason why its important to me, [is] because I know what knowledge of self-did for me.

As it relates to the Today in Black History initiative, this is Googles first partnership that was specifically designed to educate and raise awareness about equity and inclusion on the Google Assistant.

Tsai says that the Google Assistant, from the beginning, has been about inclusivity, and being an assistant for everyone to connect to.

Everyone, regardless of who you are, regardless of your race, regardless of your gender, regardless of your ethnicity, your religion, we wanted the system to recognize you, says Tsai.

I hope our Black users listen to our calendar, and I hope that they feel like the Google Assistant is theirs, she continued. I hope that they see themselves in the Google system. [I hope it feels] like the Google assistant recognizes them and sees them as an ally. Because that, fundamentally, is the most important thing for us.
Sec. of State Shirley Weber Urges All Californians to Vote in Upcoming Recall Election

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber says all registered Californians should vote in the special election to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. It is scheduled for Sept. 14.

This is an extremely important election, said Weber, who said she comes from a family of sharecroppers in Arkansas. Her family migrated to California when she was three years old.

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My grandparents on my fathers side never had a chance to vote because they died before 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed, she said. We understand why its important to vote but we also understand what happens to communities when they dont vote. We have to understand the positives of voting and also the negative impacts of not voting.

Weber is Californias first African American Secretary of State and the fifth Black person to serve as a constitutional officer in the states 170-year history. She said working as president of the San Diego Board of Education and serving four terms in the state Assembly after that showed her how elected officials can dismiss communities when they know that they dont vote.

Weber was speaking at a news briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services last week. During the virtual news conference, Weber shared details of how her office has been planning for the special elections, including making sure that every Californian will be mailed a ballot. Counties across the state will start sending them out in mid-August.

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On the day of the special election, Weber said, polls will open at 7 pm and close at 8 pm.

Voters will also be able to track their ballots via email or text messages by registering at wheresmyballot.sos.cagov.

Weber said the recall election ballot will ask two questions: Do the voters want to recall Newsom, and if so, who do they want to replace the governor. If 50% or more of voters cast no votes on the first question, Newsom stays on as governor. If 50% or more say yes, then he will be recalled and replaced by one of 46 candidates on the ballot who has the most votes.

Weber said planning the special election has been challenging, but her team has been effective and thorough.

What I inherited in the Secretary of States office is a group of people who really know elections, Weber told California Black Media.

Ive just been in awe of what they do. They have a system and they have it down pact. The last election was a good training ground for them to deal with absentee ballots, ballot boxes, and things that weve known would work but could never implement because people were hesitant about it. That is one thing that I know for sure that takes place in the Secretary of State Office: We know elections.

Along with its elections duties and to safeguard the states official documents, including the constitution and Great Seal, and the state archives, the Secretary of State office also registers businesses, commissions notaries public, and manages state ballot initiatives.

Each of Californias 58 counties oversees its own elections but Webers office sets the stage and regulations to ensure the counties have the tools to function properly and efficiently.

Weber meets with each county Voter Registration and Elections office each month. She learned when she took office in January that local election officials have been ahead of the process. Weber said, this whole reality of elections is their life and not something is done one time each year.

They were prepared for the recall before the recall was called, Weber said during the virtual news conference.

They are not the type to sit around and wait until July 1 and jump up and say we have to have an election. They have been preparing all along in terms of staffing, what they would do, and their plans to implement the election, she added. They are in the process of setting up voting centers, polls and mailing out the ballots. They know its (recall election) is coming fast and that it has been an extremely unusual year of election after election.

Weber also provided details to media outlets needed to inform voters: from when to expect mail-in ballots, to the number of candidates, to when the polls will open and close, and the impact of voter turnout.

The budget for the Office of Secretary of State in the 2020-2021 fiscal year was $252,722,000. But the recall election has a hefty price tag.

We are not really sure the total amount, Weber said. In the end, it could be close to 400 million and some people say $500 million. Yes, it is an expensive enterprise. Its a serious one not only in terms of financing.

Whatever the recall election outcome is in September, Weber said that Californians will have a chance to elect another governor in two years.

No question. The regular elections move on, Weber said. Well have the primary election in June (2022) and the general election in November (2022).

For more voter information about polling places, language preference for election materials and status about mail-in ballots, California voters should visit voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Study Reinforces a Brighter Economic Outlook When America leads World in Energy Production

According to a new study, Americas natural gas and oil industry will need to serve as a vital driver of the nations post-pandemic economic recovery.

The industry counts as critical to every sector of the U.S. economy and supports millions of jobs across all 50 states, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers that compiles the latest available government data.

The 134-page study, which explores the economic impact of the oil and natural gas industry, revealed that the business supported 11.3 million jobs and contributed nearly $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2019.

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The study authors reported that the impacts are the result of three channels:

 Direct impacts from the employment and production within the oil and natural gas industry.

 Indirect impacts through the industrys purchases of intermediate and capital goods from a variety of other U.S. industries.

 Induced impacts from the personal purchases of employees and business owners both within the oil and natural gas industry and its supply chain, as well as from the personal spending by shareholders out of the dividends received from oil and natural gas companies.

In addition to supporting well-paying jobs, the natural gas and oil industry, directly and indirectly, contributed an estimated $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2019, representing 7.9 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

Researchers found through wages, taxes, capital investments, and support to other industries, the economic impact extends beyond traditional natural gas and oil-producing states.

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Every state in the nation has a stake in continued access to U.S. natural gas and oil reserves, which are critical for the nations economic recovery, the study authors wrote.

In short, as the nation continues to recover from the pandemic and the economic downturn that resulted, the natural gas and oil industry will serve as an engine for long-term growth.

The industry continues to create good-paying jobs and deliver reliable American energy to enterprises, including healthcare, retail, manufacturing, education, and more, in communities across the nation, researchers concluded.

According to the findings, in 2019, the natural gas and oil sector directly and indirectly:

 Supported more than 11.3 million total jobs or 5.6 percent of total U.S. employment.

 Generated an additional 3.5 jobs elsewhere in the U.S. economy for each direct job in the U.S. natural gas and oil industry.

 Produced $892.7 billion in labor income, or 6.8 percent of the U.S. national labor income.

 Supported nearly $1.7 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product, accounting for 7.9 percent of the national total.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration noted that global oil and liquid fuels consumption is expected to surpass 2019 levels in 2022, as economic activity and travel patterns normalize.

This represents an opportunity for the U.S. to meet the worlds rising demand for affordable, reliable fuels with homegrown natural gas and oil, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers wrote in an email.

That said, Americas economic outlook depends on federal and state policy proposals that incentivize resource development, modernize energy infrastructure and streamline burdensome regulations, Sommers maintained.

The nations hard-fought energy security and GDP growth are at stake, even as the natural gas and oil industry continues to drive the nations post-pandemic recovery.

Sommers continued:

As Americas economy comes back, the natural gas and oil industry will serve as the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity.

Every state across the country  both blue states and red states  rely on American energy to fuel each sector of the economy and support millions of U.S. jobs.

This study reinforces that Americas economic outlook is brighter when we are leading the world in energy production, and it serves as a reminder of whats at stake if policymakers restrict access to affordable, reliable energy and make us more dependent on foreign sources.

Click here to view the full report.

@StacyBrownMedia @NNPA_BlackPress @APIenergy @mj_sommers @DrBenChavis
The Movement for Justice Will Not Be Deterred OUR VOICES

The right-wing majority on the Supreme Court just undercut the Voting Rights Act again. Having gutted the section that required pre-approval of state voting laws to protect the rights of minorities to vote in Shelby v. Holder, Republican-appointed justices now have castrated the backup clause  Section 2  which bans racial discrimination in election practices in Brnovich v. DNC. The result will open the floodgates even further to the wave of partisan laws that Republicans are pushing in states across the country to suppress the votes of African Americans and other people of color. The right-wing justices continue their assault on the meaning and power of the Voting Rights Act, a triumph of the civil rights movement that Justice Elena Kagan, writing in dissent, noted represents the best in America. The reaction against the civil rights movement continues.

Every movement for equal justice under the law in this country has been met with a brutal reaction. When reformers tried to limit the spread of slavery into new states coming into the republic, the slave states seceded, launching the Civil War, the deadliest war in American history. After losing the war, when the federal government began reconstruction to free the slaves and guarantee equal political and economic rights to all, the reaction was brutal, with lynching and terrorism  led by the Ku Klux Klan and others  spreading to suppress the newly freed slaves. In the end, segregation  Americas version of apartheid  spread through the South and the hope of the civil rights amendments was crushed. Now, after the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act and the election of Barack Obama, the reaction has been fierce.

Across the country, Republican legislators have sought to make it harder for African Americans and other people of color to vote. The long lines that mark inner-city voting sites are a graphic demonstration of the success of those efforts, for many people cant take the hours off from work to cast a ballot. In each era, the lawless reaction  and blatant violations of the Constitution  have been ratified by disgraceful decisions in the Supreme Court. The court ratified segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, inventing the doctrine of separate but equal  a concept that existed only in the judges imaginations, not in the realities of any of the former slave states. Voter suppression following the civil rights movement was ratified in Shelby v. Holder and now in Brnovich vs. the DNC, that have essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act, the crown jewel of the civil rights movement.

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The so-called conservative justices on the Supreme Court are rewriting the laws passed by Congress to serve their own partisan purposes. Now the excuse is to limit voter fraud, even though there is no evidence of such fraud other than in the ravings of partisan politicians. This struggle will continue. Clearly, Republicans across the country have decided that rather than seeking to win the votes of African Americans and other peoples of color, they would rather pass measures to suppress their vote  from discriminatory changes in voting practices, to gerrymandering of districts, to (most dangerously) empowering Republican legislatures to overturn the results of an election. Once more people of conscience must stand up and organize to protect the right to vote and to counter those who would suppress it.

Once more, right-wing justices have written another shameful chapter of judicial ignominy that must simply be overturned. Once more Congress must act to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to counter the brazen efforts of the courts right wing to neuter it. Once more, those standing in the way of equality under the law will find that the movement for justice will not be deterred.
Words of the Week  Speak the Truth in Love

As people of God, we are to speak the truth in love. This is not always easy.

In 2 Samuel 12: 1-7, after King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and thought he had concealed the matter, Gods prophet, Nathan, approached King David and helped him to see that he had sinned and that God knew it.

Approaching a king in those days with an accusation was a delicate matter. One could be relieved of his head!

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Nathan approached King David with a parable. He said to the king, There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.

Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! Though he still had to pay for his transgression, King David repented.

While we may not use parables so much today, we cant say too much about tact and diplomacy. When we find individuals in the church who need to be corrected, often leaders let it go or sweep the situation under the rug for various reasons, hoping and praying that the problem will go away or correct itself.

Sadly, this seldom or never happens. Ignoring problems simply leads to bigger problems later. The proverbial molehill does become a mountain and causes many to stumble.

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Church leaders must address such situations and individuals; we must speak the truth in love. Too many of us speak the truth, but we forget about the love part. How often has this run a less seasoned Christian or newcomer away or for that matter torn churches apart. As my mother used to say, Its not what you say, but how you say it. So true.

As Christians, we must focus more on this old reliable principle and say it in love, with an eye toward correcting the situation, not embarrassing or hurting the individual(s).

While I said earlier, church leaders need to pay attention to this, it is equally important for the laity to hold pastors and church leaders accountable for their actions, too  in love.

Jesus said, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  John 13:35

My brothers and sisters let us show that we are, indeed, disciples of Christ and speak the truth in love.

I wish you peace, blessings, and love.

The Rev. Larry Dozier is the pastor of The New Earth Christian Church, an online ministry based in Gardena.
Youth Orchestra Los Angeles Finds Permanent Home in Inglewood

Newly imagined space looks to provide musical development programs to local youth

Los Angeles Philharmonics reach has recently expanded throughout Inglewood where Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) has turned a former bank into a portal of musical transformation for the citys adolescence.

This building looks to provide intensive music training, coupled with academic support for students between the ages of 5-18. The Judith and Thomas L. Beckman Center is the first space in the YOLA program nestled in the heart of Inglewood; a center dedicated to elite musical training of local youth, channeling the musical excellence of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

During an exclusive tour, the Los Angeles Sentinel learned the key designs that frame the new center, located at 105 S. La Brea Ave, in Inglewood, California. The vision of the building was captured through the hands of commissioned architect, Frank Gehry and Gehry Partners. What used to be a Security First National Bank, has been reimagined into a beacon of innovation for over 500 students yearning to develop their love for the arts.

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Gehry masterminded the reconstruction of the roof, entitled the light house, which created a pristine acoustic range. The 18,000-square foot building was made over into a 25,000-squarefoot charter of beginnings. Starting with the touch of transparency and devotion, represented in the glass facade and the extended basement that is now the core of the building, where music pulsates through the halls.

Los Angeles Philharmonic YOLA ordains the marriage of music education and public service; the first physical remnant of this union was on unveiled on August 1.

The establishment is headed by Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel. Over 1,000 students will share in his experience of creating music and channeling unified dreams. This type of engagement has proven to elevate the consciousness and quality of life for youth on an international level, and now this program is available locally in Los Angeles. The only requirement is passion to the arts.

Dudamel shared a statement, As a young child in Venezuela, I joined El Sistema and learned firsthand that music has the power to change peoples lives. Now, the LA Phil is doing just that through YOLA. We know that our engagement with young people in our classes in the Rampart District or East L.A. is every bit as important as our involvement with the audiences in Walt Disney Concert Hall. In fact, one side of what we do is incomplete without the other. Thats why its so important to build this permanent home for YOLA, and why Im so grateful to Frank Gehry for understanding the LA Phils hopes and the dreams of our student, he said.

The $14.5 million project plans to be a cultural resource, pulling directly from the community it serves. Former YOLA students are now collaborating at the new center as mentors and administrative staff. The diversity found within Inglewood is also reflective in the leadership as well. Camille Delaney-McNeil is Director of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen Center and Renae Williams has been named chief Content and Engagement officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

When full dressed for its monthly performances, the building will have retractable seats that can house an audience of 190 persons, with additional seating lining the balcony. The stage envelopes a custom design by Yasuhisa Toyota, founder and president of Nagata Acoustics America, and Frank Gehry. The finishes include a glass roof naturally lighting this new community attraction on La Brea Avenue.

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YOLA has seen astronomical results when introducing this method on a global scale, ages 5-18 are invited to see a different perspective of their raw potential and the organization creates a space for them to shape their destiny.

As an after-school program, local youth should expect an opportunity to widen their confidence. YOLA provides a unique expedition to finding their passion. Free instruments, intensive music training, and academic support are included in the YOLA program.

Before settling in, YOLA kept their hand on the local pulse; working with several different public and private sectors that thrive in L.A. Heavily influenced by their partners, YOLA reached out to community leaders and fastened their ideals with what the public needed from their initiative.

The site has been acknowledged by the City of Inglewood, supported by Mayor James T. Butts and the city council. One of the biggest local advocates for community improvement, Los Angeles Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas encouraged the growth of this dwelling.

During the development of the building, Mayor James T. Butts released a quote, Today marks another amazing accomplishment for the City of Inglewood. Id like to welcome the internationally renowned Youth Orchestra Los AngelesYOLAto your new home in the heart of downtown Inglewood.

The mayor continued, World-class cities attract world-class donors and talent. We are especially grateful to Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen for their generosity, and to Gustavo Dudamel and Frank Gehry for bringing their incredible legacies to this great city. And, on behalf of the entire City of Inglewood, we are excited to welcome the LA Phil family as the newest member of our extraordinary community. We look forward to the involvement of Inglewood youth with YOLA.

Councilmember Ridley-Thomas shared, For over a decade, YOLA has provided thousands of our underserved youth with a world-class education in music that might otherwise have been out of reach, while also teaching them about citizenship, leadership, and social engagement. I am thrilled that the legendary Frank Gehry has designed a new home for YOLA in Inglewood, where young musicians can prepare to take center stage in our vibrant, creative economy and use the power of the arts to tackle challenging social problems.

updated by Author 8/5/21
Zola  it started as a Twitter rant and now, its poised to take the award season

Zola by director Janicza Bravo should serve as inspiration for adventurous storytellers who are not afraid to let it all hang out, judgment be damned. What started as a Twitter rant about the erotic underworld caught the heat and went viral because its a true story, and because the truth is always more exciting than fiction, audiences pushed into the world filled with violence and sex. Mind you. This is not made up, its an uncomfortable picture of women who work in the sex industry and much like the personality types that work in this trade, the filmmaking is pure bravura.

Zola screened in 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by a distributor, A24 and opened, in theaters, June 30.

Although its not been talked about yet for the award season that could change with choosing the right public relations team who would naturally return to the story origin. The movie is centered around a tweetstorm, a chain of 148 messages by AZiah Zola Wells (now, King) that appeared on Twitter (Oct. 27, 2015) in which King shared the story of what was happening to her like she was in a confessional, often screaming her frustration in all-caps with the truth of her life, filled with her desperation and fury.

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The film version preserves and pushed the crazed reality of a life that most of us will never encounter, pushing into Kings life as an exotic dancer carrying the viewer along her nail-biting life working around very sleazy folks.

One of the films secret weapons is actress Taylour Paige, who wants to leave her boyfriend, just for a couple of days, go down to Tampa, to make some money dancing. But the plan unravels, and her drive for finances moves to a drive to survive. The films director and co-writer, Janicza Bravo (Lemon) infuse Zola with the kind of psychotic excitement thats associated with vintage Martin Scorsese but with a modern, feminist touch.

Zola is enticed into making the trip by Stefani (Riley Keough) and the first time we see this duo, they are applying their makeup, staring into paneled mirrors, with harp music swelling around them. Naturally, the calm before the storm is perfectly set, a nod to Bravos understanding of how to build characters and tension. These women/girls know how to perform for their clientele, and each other but somewhere they all have missed the wolves in their world, thinking that they were harmless puppies or loyal dogs.

Their bodies are beautiful and displayed for optimum impact but there is something dead in their eyes like theyve locked their souls away for safekeeping, with no one knowing the combination to unlock that precious object.

Much like their lives, everything goes fast. Zola and Stefani go for that ride down to Florida in a Jeep Cherokee driven by X (Colman Domingo), their journey begins full of braggadocio but it is shaded (if you know where to look) with bad vibrations. In a hotel room Stefani is ordered to turn tricks, and Zola  who refuses  realizes an opportunity. No spoiler alerts here but as a suggestion to look close at the showdown inside Dions (Jason Mitchell) apartment.

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The acting is pitch-perfect and Riley Keough as Stefani, whose childish fascination with her version of street life, keeps the film moving at an interesting, never dull, pace.

Taylour Paige, as Zola, is that modern warrior, tired but still resourceful, understanding how to use everything she has, as a weapon. As an African American woman, shes been schooled in a very different way than the White girl, who could never really be close to her. Nicholas Braun (Stefanis boyfriend) plays stupid with surprising grace and, Colman Domingo (X), dripping with hate and perpetually manipulative gives a chilling performance as a modern pimp.

Since Zola is based on a true story, the look inside the sex industry is rare. Here we are, witness, to the fragility of being human, with characters who have found ways to be ok with their life choices. The power dynamic explored is interesting, and its fascinating how numbness becomes a necessary coping technique.

Now, to the central theme of Zola  what is this dynamic, pulsating film really about? Is it that sex is bad? Is it about how money destroys all friendships? Or is it about all of those things hawking back to one of the Bibles biggest times, that the wages of sin is death?

Or, is it an understanding that for many people, maybe the people close to you, hidden and unaware, this is the only way, financially, that they can stay afloat? Or maybe, Zola is you or me? The film runs barely 82 minutes thats enough time for you to ponder this, inside your head.

Director: Janicza Bravo. Screenplay: Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris, based on the tweets by AZiah-Monae Zola King and the article Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted. Starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nelcie Souffrant, Nasir Rahim , Amelia Rose Monteagudo, Ariel Stac.

Zola now playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24KbaKlCDDI


A robotic police dog is being used to look for high body temperatures in homeless people at a temporary shelter in Hawaiis capital, Honolulu.

The effort is one way public safety agencies are starting to use the commercial robot Spot. Spot can move like an animal and can walk over almost anything a person can.

A small group of police officials are experimenting with the four-legged machines. They say they are just another tool to keep emergency responders safe. But people concerned about privacy warn that police are quickly buying the robots without safeguards against misuse.

In Honolulu, the police department spent about $150,000 in federal pandemic aid money to buy their Spot. It was purchased from Boston Dynamics for use at a government homeless shelter near the airport.

Jongwook Kim is the legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii. He said, Because these people are houseless its considered OK to do that. Kim added: At some point it will come out again for some different use after the pandemic is over.

Supervisor Joseph ONeal of the Honolulu Police Departments community outreach division defended the robots use earlier this year.

He said it has protected officers, shelter workers, and the homeless. The robot can do this by examining body temperatures between mealtimes. As a result, the homeless people could get tested for COVID-19 and quarantined if needed. The robot is also used to communicate with people who have the virus.

ONeal said, We have not had a single person out there that said, Thats scary He said they do not test people without a reason.

Police use of robots is still rare and untested. It also has not always gone over well with the public. Honolulu officials faced criticism when a local news organization, Honolulu Civil Beat, found that Spot was paid for with federal COVID-19 aid money.

The New York Police Department started using Spot after painting it blue and renaming it Digidog. However, Spot received attention and criticism that led the police department to return Digidog to its maker.

Boston Dynamics has said it is learning from the New York event on how to explain to the public what Spot can and cannot do. This has become increasingly important as Boston Dynamics becomes part of South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company. In June, Hyundai reached an $880 million deal to take a controlling share in the robotics company.

Michael Perry is the vice president of Boston Dynamics. He said the companys usage guidelines bar the robots use as a weapon. It is also not supposed to be used for anything that would violate privacy or civil rights laws.

Boston Dynamics depended on military research money for many years. But, it wants its robots to seem friendlier to local governments and businesses.

Another robot manufacturer, Philadelphia-based Ghost Robotics, approves of using its robots as weapons. It supplies its dog-like robots to several U.S. military services and their allies.

Its just plug and play, anything you want, said Ghost Robotics CEO Jiren Parikh. He was critical of Boston Dynamics selective morality because of the companys past involvement with the military.

There are about 500 Spot robots in use. Perry said they are used by companies to inspect areas with dangerous levels of electricity. Spot is also used in building sites, mines and factories.

Spot is still mostly controlled by humans. All the operators have to do is tell Spot which direction to go in and it can deal with a difficult path, like steps. It can also operate on its own, but only if it has memorized a path and there are not any surprises.

Kim said that there might be some good uses for such machines. But opening the door for police robots to work with the public is probably not a good idea. He pointed to how Dallas police in 2016 put explosives on a wheeled robot and used it to kill a gunman. The incident started an ongoing debate about killer robots in policing and in war.

Kim said there is a possibility that these robots will increase the militarization of police departments and use it in ways that are unacceptable. He said, Maybe its not something we even want to let law enforcement have.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Matt OBrien and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

Quiz - Are Robotic Police Dogs Useful Tools or Threatening Machines? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

commercial adj. concerned with earning money; related to the buying and selling of goods

responder  n. a person, such as a police officer, who is among those responsible for going to the scene of an accident or emergency to help

quarantine v. to keep a person away from others to prevent the spread of disease

scary  adj. causing fear

plug  v. to put (information, such as a word or number) in something

selective  adj. the chose one thing over the other; careful to choose only the best people or things
Many countries around the world are currently experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 infections caused by the Delta variant.

As a result, disease experts are working quickly to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people - mainly the unvaccinated - sicker than the earlier version.

The Delta variant was first identified in India. Now, it is the main type of SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the Delta variant is "likely more severe" than earlier versions of the virus. This CDC report was made public on July 30.

In this report, the U.S. health agency used research in Canada, Singapore, and Scotland. This research showed that people infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients earlier in the pandemic.

In addition, it is likely that the Delta variant spreads more easily. This is also adding to a greater number of severe cases arriving at hospitals, the experts said.

In interviews with Reuters, disease experts said the research suggests a greater risk from the Delta variant. However, the study populations were limited. And the findings have yet to be reviewed by outside experts.

Doctors treating patients infected with Delta said COVID-19 symptoms appeared more quickly. And in many areas, there was an overall increase in serious cases. But experts said more work is needed to compare outcomes among larger numbers of individuals.



Shane Crotty is a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, California. Crotty said the clearest sign that the Delta variant may cause more severe disease comes from the Scotland study. That study found that Delta roughly doubled the risk of hospitalization compared to an earlier version of the virus.

The majority of hospitalizations and deaths from coronavirus in the United States are happening to people who have not been vaccinated. There is also evidence, however, that the vaccines do not work as well for people with poor immune systems, including the elderly.

Healthy, vaccinated individuals who contract COVID-19 will most likely experience a weak form of the disease, said Dr. Gregory Poland. He is an infectious disease expert at the Mayo Clinic, a not-for-profit healthcare provider and research center in the U.S. Or, he added, they might be asymptomatic. "But, Poland warned, they can pass it on to family members and others who may not be so lucky."

He said people will "have to be vaccinated and masked or we will, for the fourth time now, have to suffer through another wave of the virus.

Poland said that out of that will come worse variants. That is because the virus mutates as it spreads, producing new variants.

Other doctors said patients infected with Delta appear to become ill more quickly. They added that, in some cases, the symptoms are more severe than earlier in the pandemic.

"We are seeing more patients requiring oxygen sooner," said Dr. Benjamin Barlow. He is chief medical officer at American Family Care, a collection of urgent healthcare facilities in the U.S.

Dr. Michelle Barron is a senior medical director of infection prevention and control at Colorado's UCHealth. She compares the Delta variant to a dangerous wildfire that is spreading quickly.

Research from China suggests that the Delta variant copies itself much faster and makes 1,000 times more virus in the body compared to the original strain. This, Barron said, is the biggest danger of this new wave.

David Montefiori is director of the Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development at Duke University Medical Center in the U.S. He said the Delta variant is more infectious and symptoms appear faster, especially for the unvaccinated.

Montefiori said on a webcast last week, "It (is) not just easier to transmit, it makes you sicker."

Im Anna Matteo.

This story was reported for Reuters by the following: Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Josephine Mason in London; and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

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Words in This Story

variant  n. one that exhibits variation from a type, norm, or wild type : mutation

symptom  n. a noticeable change in the body or its functions that indicates the presence of a disease or other disorder : asymptomatic  medical adj. having or showing no symptoms of disease

contagious  adj. able to be passed from one individual to another through contact

immune system  n. the system that protects your body from diseases and infections

mutate  v. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal : to cause mutation in (a gene)

original  adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning

strain  n. a group of closely related living things that look similar but possess one or more unique characteristics

transmit  v. to give or pass (information, values, etc.) from one person to another


New research shows that factory activity across Southeast Asia fell sharply in July because of increasing cases of the coronaviruss Delta variant.

The results were based on a series of business surveys completed this week. The economic difficulties were also linked to slow progress in coronavirus vaccinations in many Southeast Asian nations.

Economic experts say the big drop in factory production threatens growth in some of the worlds most resilient markets. Southeast Asia has survived several major economic crises in the past, partly because its nations have enacted economic reforms and the area is close to China.

But the continuing coronavirus pandemic - driven by a recent rise in infections of the Delta variant - is creating new problems.

Economists with British-based banking group HSBC told Reuters news agency that low vaccination rates in several countries are threatening these economies. They pointed to low vaccination rates in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

"Populations in these countries could remain vulnerable not only to the current outbreak, but any future mutations that may develop," HSBC said in a statement. Virus-related restrictions are likely to continue, the bank said, leaving many factories without workers.

Thailand is Asia's fourth-largest auto exporter and a production base for major world car brands. But Toyota suspended production in July at three of its factories in the country because of parts shortages caused by the pandemic.

Siam Agro-Food Industry, a Thai processed fruit exporter, depends heavily on migrant labor. But it has only been able to fill 400 of 550 positions as workers return to their home countries and are not able to come back to work because of closed borders.

The companys president, Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, spoke to Reuters news agency. She said: "There are 350 tonnes of fruit per day, but now we can take only 250 tonnes because of not enough workers to process."

In Vietnam, several big international companies including Samsung, Foxconn and Nike, have production operations in the country. In the south, pandemic restrictions have forced some businesses to keep workers isolated at their production centers at night.

Vietnams government said last week that industrial production fell sharply in several southern cities facing restrictions since July.

Malaysia supplies about 67 percent of the worldwide rubber glove market. But pandemic restrictions forced much of those operations to halt production in June and July.

An appeal by the country's glove-making association led to eased restrictions that permitted 60 percent of the workers to return. The association is now calling for a full return.

Factory slowdowns in Southeast Asia have already caused problems in other countries, including in Germany. German electronics maker Infineon Technologies said it is expecting losses of millions of dollars from shutdowns at its Malaysia factory. The production problems will also affect Infineon's automotive customers, the company said.

Daniel Bernbeck is head of the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said Malaysia's current quarantine rules have made it difficult for manufacturers of costly products like computer chips to provide the needed technical knowledge.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

variant  n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

survey  n. an examination of peoples opinions or behavior made by asking people questions

resilient  adj. strong enough to recover quickly after a crisis

vulnerable  adj. able to be easily hurt, influenced or attacked

mutation  n. a permanent change in the genes of an organism

isolate  v. to put or keep (someone or something) in a place or situation that is separate from others

glove  n. a piece of clothing that covers the hand

customer n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

quarantine  n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading


The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden issued a renewed ban on evictions that will last until October 3. The order will temporarily stop evictions in counties with "substantial and high levels" of coronavirus spread.

Eviction is the process of forcing people or businesses to leave property that they do not own.

The order was given by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and covers areas where an estimated 90 percent of the U.S. population lives.

Personal connection

The eviction ban was an especially important issue to one lawmaker. About 20 years before she was elected to Congress, Representative Cori Bush of Missouri lived in a car with her husband at the time and two young children. The family had been evicted from their rental home.

Bush is a first-term Democrat from the city of St. Louis. To her, the debate over whether to continue the ban on evictions during the coronavirus crisis has been personal.

In a show of support for the measure, she started to sleep outside the Capitol last Friday. She wanted to call attention to the issue as part of the effort to pressure Biden and Congress to act.

Bush's experience sets her apart from members of the different political parties in the capital. She has a direct connection to an urgent problem affecting many Americans.

"I know what it's like to be evicted and have to live out of my car with my two babies," Bush told reporters Saturday. "As long as I am a sitting U.S. congressperson, I will not keep my mouth shut about it."

Bush was a part of a larger push among some lawmakers to stop evictions. Her decision to sleep outside the Capitol got attention. Top congressional leaders and administration officials invited her to meet with them. Reporters asked to speak with her.

She met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and had a short talk with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday. Bushs career in politics has developed quickly. She has gone from leading protests against police in Ferguson, Missouri, to Congress in little more than five years.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday gave a salute to Bush "for her powerful action to keep people in their homes."

Not going home

At first, the Biden administration argued it does not have the legal power to continue the ban. A Supreme Court opinion in June said that Congress must pass a bill to do that. But Congress did not and lawmakers left town for their August break.

On Tuesday, before the administration's announcement, Bush said: "Am I supposed to just go home? No, I'm an organizer. I am an activist. So I fell back into what I know how to do."

She has had experiences that led her to become an activist. In 2001, Bush became sick while pregnant with her second child. She had to quit her job at a preschool. The lost income led to their eviction.

For about three months, she and her husband at the time lived out of their car. She said that she was not earning a lot of money at the time. Later, her family, already struggling themselves, was able to help her find a home.

"I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I went through, ever," Bush said tearfully.

Later she legally separated from her husband and Bush went back to school, earning a nursing degree. She also became a religious leader.

Activist in Ferguson

Her life changed in 2014. A white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, a Black man, in the St. Louis area of Ferguson, Missouri. Bush joined thousands of activists in the protests following the shooting. She quickly became a leader of the movement calling for police and criminal justice reform in the St. Louis area. She was back on the streets again three years later after a white St. Louis police officer was found innocent in the shooting death of a Black suspect.

Her activism fueled an interest in politics. She ran unsuccessfully in a 2016 election for the Senate and in 2018 as a Representative for St. Louis. But after George Floyd's death, she gained support from the progressive group Justice Democrats. She won election last November.



Arguing with her own party leaders

Some questioned Bushs decision to go against congressional leadership and the president from her own party. Administration and congressional officials also noted that much of the money Congress had set aside to provide housing assistance has not been given out by the states.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he was "sensitive" to Bush's goal, but suggested she may be fighting the wrong battle.

"It's not the federal government that's doing it," Clyburn said. "If you've appropriated $46 billion for the country, and only $3 billion has been used, then that's not Congress...It's on whoever has got the money tied up."

After the administration made its announcement, Bush tweeted out a photo of herself sitting with others on the Capitol steps. It said: Grateful.

Im Jill Robbins.

Brian Slodysko and Jim Salter reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

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Words in This Story

county n. an area of a state or country that is larger than a city and has its own government to deal with local matters

rental adj. related to renting; paying money to be able to use someone elses property especially to live in an apartment or house that belongs to someone else

evict  n. to force a person or business to leave a place that they do not own

salute  n. to give a sign of respect to (a military officer, flag, or the like) by moving your right hand to your forehead

appropriate  v. to get or save (money) for a specific use or purpose

What do you think of the action Representative Bush took to stop evictions? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
He said the administration believes "this provision will strengthen tax compliance in this emerging area of finance and ensure that high income taxpayers are contributing what they owe under the law.

The Senate came to a standstill for nearly two hours as senators privately debated next steps.

The bill's top Democratic negotiator, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, said, While we were unable to agree on additional amendments today, I do also look forward to us reconvening together on Saturday and proceeding under regular order to finish what will be a historic piece of legislation  both in its bipartisan nature and the impact it will have in our country.

Overall, the infrastructure bill calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels for a nearly $1 trillion package, what could be one of the more substantial investments in the nations roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years.

A much anticipated analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the legislation would increase deficits by about $256 billion over the next decade.
COZAD  The worlds largest and most powerful steam locomotive will pass through the area and stop in Cozad on Sunday, Aug. 8.

According to the Union Pacific schedule, the Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive will depart North Platte at 8 a.m. and arrive in Cozad at 9:30 a.m. and will leave at 10 a.m. for its next stop in Kearney at 11:45 a.m.

The stop in Cozad will be at Meridian St. and Highway 30.

Train enthusiasts of all ages will get a chance to hear, smell and see the train when it passes through their town. Depending on the schedule, Big Boy will be in town for about 45 minutes for each whistle-stop. This will give participants plenty of time to see or talk to the steam team, as well as take a selfie with the worlds largest steam locomotive, one of 25 of its kind built and the only one operating today, according to the Union Pacific.

Big Boy departed Cheyenne, Wyo., on Aug. 5 and will tour through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Little Rock, Missouri and Colorado before returning to Cheyenne on Sept. 7.

The last time Big Boy stopped in the area was July 2019 in Lexington.
Lewiston, ID (83501)

Today

Partly cloudy skies. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. High 104F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Hundreds of volunteers and dozens of cars could be seen throughout Santa Maria on Wednesday morning raising cancer awareness during the eighth annual Day of Hope fundraiser for Mission Hope Cancer Center.

Newspaper street sales returned this year after fundraising was limited to digital sales in 2020, with volunteers clad in bright orange vests offering special editions of the Santa Maria Times for $1 apiece at 27 team locations spread across the city.

Between newspaper sales and online donations, the goal is to raise $235,000 for services, programs and equipment that will benefit cancer patients at Mission Hope, although organizers expect to greatly exceed that goal. Over $217,000 and counting had been raised as of Wednesday afternoon.

"Its so amazing, just the outpouring of support all over the city," Marian Regional Medical Center President and CEO Sue Andersen said. "With all the survivors that were in the parade and all, I think to see people overcoming cancer  it's a tremendous boost."

This year's Day of Hope car parade, which was first held in 2020 as a way to honor individuals and families impacted by cancer, began at 11 a.m. at Santa Maria Way and Miller Street, traveling up Broadway and Main Street before ending its route at Mission Hope.

The line of decorated vehicles and classic cars arrived to cheers from volunteers stationed outside the center on Church Street, led by cancer survivor and former Mission Hope patient Karissa Sanchez, who arrived parade-float style in a '48 Chevy.

Other vehicles featured messages of support and testaments to family members who had died of cancer, and one group of passengers brought along their canine cancer survivor Julian, who had a tumor removed from his face, as a mascot.

Many of the parade participants were part of Cruzin For Life, an annual event started by Clifford Labastida that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer care, among other causes.

Nipomo resident Paul Stevens, who participated in the caravan for his second time Wednesday in a red classic Studebaker, said the prominence of cancer in his own family has compelled him to participate.

"It's a good cause," he said. "[Cancer] has hit my family pretty hard."

Both patients and staff at Mission Hope were greatly touched by the parade and the outpouring of support.

Jasime Uribe, who works in the radiation department at Mission Hope, said the event is especially important to her after losing her father to cancer in 2018. She hopes the show of support from the community can also comfort those undergoing treatment.

"Showing all of our love to them shows thats theres hope, just like it says in the name. We try to do our best to make them feel really warm and comforted," Uribe said.

On her way out the door from an appointment at the center, patient Matau Sua was surprised to see the procession taking place, but said that it raised her spirits.

"Its emotional. To see that was really nice, how much support the center gets," said Sua, who was diagnosed with cancer in January. "I was feeling a little down, so it was something I needed to see."

Of the teams that participated in Day of Hope, team Passion for Color led by Angelica Gutierrez was the clear winner, with $12,765 raised as of Wednesday.

Community members can continue to make online donations at supportmarianmedical.org/dayofhope, and will be provided with a link to the e-edition of the Santa Maria Times' special section sold on the street.
Santa Barbara County residents both vaccinated and unvaccinated, will be required to wear face coverings in all public indoor areas under a new health officer order that goes into effect Friday.

Beginning 5 p.m., all residents age 2 and older will be required to wear a face covering indoors, with very limited exceptions, said Santa Barbara County Public Health spokeswoman Jackie Ruiz.

In a stakeholder meeting Tuesday, public health officials announced that the county's mask recommendation would be upgraded to a mandate amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases, particularly among the unvaccinated population.

Over the past two weeks, the countys active COVID-19 cases have increased significantly with a case rate of 12.4 per 100,000 and a test [positivity] of 6.8%, which would have placed Santa Barbara County in the purple tier if the tier system were still active, county Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said.

Hospitalizations connected to the virus have increased along with cases, with 31 individuals currently hospitalized, including five in the intensive care unit, according to county public health data as of Tuesday.

Various outbreaks are also being tracked throughout the county, with several confirmed among staff and residents in locations like long-term care facilities and homeless shelters, according to public health officials.

Santa Barbara, SLO counties both confirm 2 new COVID-19 deaths Two new deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties since Monday, according to public health d

While indoor masking has been required for all unvaccinated residents in public areas for several months, enforcement of the guidance has been tricky, with the majority of businesses asking residents to self-attest to their vaccination status.

Although it is more rare, recent research indicates that vaccinated residents can contract and spread COVID-19, particularly the highly transmissible delta variant, which is why all residents are included in the health order.

Unvaccinated residents make up the overwhelming majority of new COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County, but cases among the vaccinated population are also increasing, Ruiz said.

County Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said the mandate is the best way to keep all residents safe from the virus and prevent future closures.

This Health Officer Order is intended to protect everyone to the greatest extent possible, from the substantial spread of the virus being seen now in our community. In addition, the order is intended to support the continued operations of local businesses, activities and schools, Ansorg said.

The full health officer order is available online at publichealthsbc.org/health-officer-orders.

All residents over the age of 12 who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to do so. Residents can visit publichealthsbc.org/vaccine to find nearby vaccine locations or myturn.ca.gov to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Those in need of assistance with making an appointment can contact the county hotline at 211 and select option 8 for multilingual services.

The vaccine is free and available to all residents 12 and older regardless of documentation status.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
And The Bur Oak said it will require concertgoers to provide either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of the show.

This week, Frank Productions required all full- and part-time employees and vendors to be vaccinated, and are evaluating advanced screening requirements for its shows. Officials plan on releasing a vaccination policy in the near future for its venues.

We all know that vaccines are the surest path to reduce the likelihood of transmission and avoid serious illness from COVID, Frank Productions, which owns The Sylvee, the Orpheum Theater, the Majestic Theatre and the High Noon Saloon, said in a statement Wednesday. We have been championing vaccines since the pandemic began, and the only reason indoor concerts are able to be held today is because vaccines are widely available.

At the Barrymore Theatre, owner Steve Sperling said the east side theater only has four shows booked for the next month, so it has some time to craft an overall response. For now, the venue will work with the individual promoters of those few August shows, such as Tab Benoit on Aug. 11.
Mount Horeb School District: Students in grades 4K-6 are required to wear masks indoors. Vaccinated staff for these grades must model as appropriate inside classrooms and wear masks in common spaces, while unvaccinated staff must wear a mask at all times. For grades 7-12, vaccinated students and staff are encouraged to wear masks in the classroom and must wear them in common spaces, while unvaccinated staff and students shall wear a mask at all times. All students and staff are required to wear a mask while on buses.
Supporters of the waiver assert the patent protection freezes will be narrow and end when the pandemic does. But different governments have different ideas about when the public is safe from infectious disease. There is legitimate concern that removing intellectual property safeguards will open the door to patent protection erosions in other industries. Given the importance of the biohealth industry in our state from an economic, business and innovation standpoint, Wisconsin is sounding the alarm on this possibility, and so are other states.

The United States has and can continue to take steps to help vastly expand access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. But tearing down long-established principles and protections is not the way to do it. The COVID-19 TRIPS waiver will put innovation and medical miracles in peril, and ultimately hurt people in need of life-saving drugs. Wisconsin congressional leaders need to hear from all of us right away that this misguided policy maneuver has too much of a downside for everyone, from consumers to our states robust biohealth industry.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to preside over one of the largest labor organizations in the world, died Thursday. He was 72.

The federation confirmed Trumkas death in a statement. He had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organizations secretary-treasurer for 14 years. From his perch, he oversaw a federation with more than 12.5 million members and ushered in a more aggressive style of leadership.

The labor movement, the AFL-CIO and the nation lost a legend today," the AFL-CIO said. Rich Trumka devoted his life to working people, from his early days as president of the United Mine Workers of America to his unparalleled leadership as the voice of Americas labor movement.

President Joe Biden eulogized Trumka from the White House and said the labor leader had died of a heart attack while on a camping trip with his son and grandkids. He said he spoke with Trumkas widow and son earlier in the day.

He wasnt just a great labor leader. He was a friend, Biden told reporters Thursday. He was someone I could confide in, and you knew, whatever he said he would do, he would do.
Id like people to realize there are locally owned businesses trying to make a go of it, said Sullivan, former owner of the Puzzlebox shop on the 200 block of State Street.

Sullivan said she originally hoped to hold Jazz on State on Thursday evenings rather than on Wednesdays, traditionally the day of the week that Concerts on the Square and Jazz at Five concerts take place. However, Madisons popular Downtown Night Market announced a return and relocation to State Street in late summer that prevented Jazz on State to set up there on Thursdays.

Stanbery said the sudden arrival of Jazz on State took him by surprise, because he had talked extensively with the city about Jazz at Fives temporary relocation plans, and the possibility of the event returning to Madison.

Our move is because of COVID, he said, and the intention was to allow the audience to spread out in a park with more space.

At the same time, Stanbery said, Im glad that theyre bringing jazz to State Street. Obviously theres a demand for it.
Employees arent required to be vaccinated, Suemnicht said, but the vast majority are. She said she was unable to share numbers.

She said with so many employees vaccinated, the company doesnt feel the need to mandate it for the remaining few, at least at this time.

New York City will require proof of vaccination to enter all restaurants, fitness centers and indoor entertainment venues, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. The policy will take effect over the next few weeks.

If youre unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things, de Blasio said. If you want to participate in our society fully, youve got to get vaccinated.

Suemnicht said Food Fight is starting with masks again and seeing how things go. She said she didnt want to comment about the possibility of requiring customers to provide proof of vaccination.

In spring 2021, Suemnicht said Food Fight hosted COVID-19 vaccination clinics for its employees, as well as a flu vaccination clinic in fall 2020. We plan to keep offering these annually, she said.

The post said that free masks will be available at the restaurants.
Moss was unarmed during the shooting and the physical fight that led up to his death. But Jawebb Matthews, one of Moss friends, fired a weapon at members of Taylors family and Moss as the fight broke out but didnt hit anyone, Madison police detective Lisa Fahrenbruch said. Matthews was about 70 to 100 feet away from the fight.

Witnesses have had conflicting accounts of who fired the first shot, and the video surveillance that captured Moss killing does not have sound.

The physical altercation started with a fist fight between Moss and Paris Parker, who is Taylors brother and was 16 at the time. Several of Taylors family members  including Thomas, his mother and his sister  were a few feet away from the fight.

Seconds after the start of the fist fight, the first shots were fired and Taylor ran up to the group with the shotgun in hand, according to the video and witnesses. At a few points after that, Taylor is seen in the video pointing the shotgun at Moss.

The dispute revolves around Moss relationship with Markeria Thomas, Taylors cousin. She shares a son with Moss. Moss had previously punched Markeria Thomas and had also punched Taylor in the face one day before the shooting.
The university plans to erect a plaque in Chamberlin Hall to honor the former university president, UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone said. There were no additional details on the timing of the installation.

The university estimated this winter that removal would cost between $30,000 and $75,000  an amount that officials said at the time would be covered with private or gift funds. McGlone said a more recent cost estimate will be available Friday.

The Black Student Union led the call to remove the rock last summer. Nalah McWhorter, the groups president and a UW-Madison senior, said in an interview this summer that the demands to remove the boulder had been around even before she arrived on campus three years ago.

Im grateful that we have had the opportunity to do this and that the rock will be removed, she said. It was our demand, and it was something that we put all the work in for.
While the Wisconsin Democratic Party clobbered its Republican counterpart in fundraising over the first half of the year by raking in four times as much money, Republicans at the legislative level appear to be doing just fine.

Driven by corporate contributions, both the Assembly and Senate Republican legislative campaign committees, which raise money to assist candidates for legislative office, outraised their Democratic counterparts during the first half of 2021.

The GOP fundraising haul comes as Republican lawmakers gear up to draw the political lines that will influence races for the state Senate, Assembly and Congress for the next decade. Republicans currently enjoy favorable political maps they drew under unified GOP control in 2011, in addition to some natural geographic advantages that together have helped Republicans command legislative majorities over almost all of the last 10 years.

This time around, however, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has veto authority over the maps Republicans will draw, which could lessen the chances that the maps are as favorable as the current 2011 maps. With potentially tighter races on the horizon, fundraising  just one part of a successful campaign operation  can play a crucial role.
Wisconsin elections officials said Wednesday they have removed more than 205,000 voters from the rolls as part of routine work to keep the states registration lists up to date.

Wisconsin Elections Commission officials said they deactivated 174,307 voter registrations because the voters hadnt cast a ballot in four years and didnt respond to a mailing. They said they are required by law every two years to identify registered voters who havent voted in the previous four years and deactivate them unless they wish to remain registered.

The commission also deactivated 31,854 registrations of voters who may have moved and didnt respond to a mailing.

The commission mailed postcards during the summer of 2019 to more than 230,000 voters identified by the Electronic Registration Information Center as having possibly moved.

The commission voted that summer not to deactivate them until after the April 2021 election to give them several chances to affirm they hadnt moved. That stance prompted a lawsuit from the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty demanding the commission remove those voters within 30 days if they didnt respond to the mailing. The state Supreme Court ultimately ruled the commission wasnt required to remove voters within that window.
When we got back to the parking lot, the skies had been clear for about an hour and a half, so Kelly decided he was going to sleep in his car, wake up early and make a decision on the conditions, adding that if he hiked in and had to turn around again, so be it, Harings said in an email to The Aspen Times. I felt like it was completely normal and reasonable to wait out the night and assess in the morning, and I trust that he made the call to attempt it based on the weather being clear, being alone having nothing to do with his decision.
Planning for the Gaetz-Luckey wedding might be difficult, as the future sister-in-law of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has taken to social media to slam his weird and creepy behavior with women in the wake of allegations of sex crimes. Gaetzs fiancee has clapped back, My estranged sister is mentally unwell.

What once might have been kept behind closed doors is now being aired out for all to see, perhaps even in the hopes that public shaming will have some kind of behavior-changing effect.

But more tragic than these public figures public spats are the stories of average American families devastated by politics, conspiracy theories and extremism. Theyre not hard to find.

One NPR report recounts a sub-Reddit group called Q Casualties, made up of users who could no longer communicate with their QAnon family members  people like Tyler, who was despondent when he learned his dad had gone to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with loaded guns in his camper.
Were about to find out if Democrats believe what they say about having no tolerance for sexual harassment. If they do, then they have little choice other than to move to impeach Andrew Cuomo as governor of New York.

Cuomo asked Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the many accusations women have made against the governor, and on Tuesday the outside lawyers the AG appointed issued their 165-page report.

The report recounts the facts as related by 11 women who worked for Cuomo or came to his attention as part of their work in government or private business. A couple of the accounts dont seem to rise to the level of harassment. But many do, at least by the contemporary standards set and episodically enforced by the political and cultural left.

No corporate CEO, or even a junior executive, would survive in the job amid the trail of bullying, groping, leering, unwanted kissing and suggestive come-ons recorded in the report by six lawyers at two law firms. In one instance, the report says, Cuomo noticed a female state trooper he fancied at a public event, had her transferred to his personal protective detail though she lacked the necessary minimum tenure, then sexually harassed her on a number of occasions.
BOISE  Debbie Critchfield, a candidate for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, says she has fixed a campaign finance issue that was the subject of a complaint filed earlier this week with the Secretary of States office.

On Tuesday, website Idaho Dispatch wrote about a complaint to the Idaho Secretary of States Office alleging that Critchfield had violated campaign finance laws by accepting more than the allowable limit of campaign contributions from Magic Valley businessman Ryan Phipps and his companies.

Critchfield said she spoke with the Idaho Secretary of States office on Wednesday morning and has remedied the issue by diverting one of Phipps contributions from funding her primary campaign, to a fund for the general election. The Secretary of States office confirmed the correction was made.

As far as illegally taking money, that hasnt happened. We made the correction with one of the donations, Critchfield said. I worked with the Secretary of States Office to make that correction, to be fully compliant.

The complaint was filed by Eagle resident Tony Prudente, and also included former Idaho Rep. Bryan Zollinger and Maria Nate  wife of current Idaho Rep. Ron Nate (R-Rexburg)  as witnesses.
Editors note: This column ran July 21, 2016, in the Times-News and at Magicvalley.com.

Armed combat between the United States and American Indians was considered over by the turn of the 20th century. But 15 years later, the so-called Bluff War deep in Ute country in San Juan County, Utah, and Montezuma County, Colorado, stirred up emotions on both sides.

The March 9, 1915, edition of the Twin Falls Times posted the headline Indian Hunters Score on a story about the capture of Tse-ne-gat  the son of Ute Chief Old Polk  who allegedly murdered a Mexican sheepherder named Juan Chacon the previous year on the Ute Mountain Reservation in Colorado.

A posse of 26 cowboys, led by Marshal Aquila Nebeker, found Tse-ne-gat and Old Poke with Paiute Chief Posey near Blanding, Utah. Then known as Grayson, the area was at the center of the Utes last hunting grounds.

One White man, one Indian brave and an Indian maiden were killed in the battle, the newspaper said. The Indian maiden was believed to have been shot by the (stray) bullet of an Indian. Two other Indians and a Colorado sheriff were also said to have been killed.
BOISE  Public health officials have been urging Idahoans for months to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Their pleas went mostly unheeded this summer.

That is, until now.

With a highly infectious Delta variant circulating in Idaho, and with cases and hospitalizations climbing, more Idahoans are choosing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

An Idaho Capital Sun analysis of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare data shows the number of people getting their first dose of the vaccine is on a steady rise.

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The incline corresponds with a few events: the arrival of the Delta variant and more outbreaks, the warnings from public health and hospital officials about another surge, and the lead-up to students returning to school.

It mirrors a trend across the U.S. that is a response to the growing threat of infection, according to national reports.

Idaho has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the U.S., with just 41.3% of the total population immunized, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection.
The move followed protests from Democratic lawmakers over the swift end to the moratorium as the delta variant of the coronavirus surges.

Historic amounts of rental assistance allocated by Congress had been expected to avert a crisis. But the distribution has been painfully slow: Only about $3 billion of the first tranche of $25 billion had been distributed through June by states and localities. A second amount of $21.5 billion will go to the states.

More than 15 million people live in households that owe as much as $20 billion to their landlords, according to the Aspen Institute. As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey.

In Columbus, Ohio, Chelsea Rivera showed up Monday at a Franklin County court after receiving an eviction notice last month. A single mom, shes behind $2,988 in rent and late fees for the one- bedroom apartment she rents for herself and three young sons.

The 27-year-old said she started to struggle after her hours were cut in May at the Walmart warehouse where she worked. Shes applied to numerous agencies for help but theyre either out of money, have a waiting list, or not able to help until clients end up in court with an eviction notice.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Searchers have scoured miles of land in rural western Idaho, drained canals and combed over security footage for the past week, but authorities said a 5-year-old boy who was last seen July 27 is still missing.

The Fruitland Police Department is using every possible resource in the search for Michael Joseph Vaughn, including scent-tracking dogs, drones, helicopters, a dive team and even paragliders, Chief JD Huff said Wednesday.

Despite the exhaustive search, authorities dont yet know what became of the child, and no possibility has been ruled out of the investigation, Huff said during a news conference Wednesday.

The boy who answers to the nickname, Monkey, was last seen in the evening outside his home, wearing a blue Minecraft t-shirt, dark blue boxer briefs and flip flops, authorities said.

You know 5-year-olds can get into almost anything, so we've looked through nearly 200 garbage cans, drained canals and irrigation ditches and pumped a septic tank in the area that had a makeshift 2-by-6 wooden plank lid, Huff said.
School board members once again are placed in the unenviable position of having to make difficult decisions regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest is the question of whether to require everyone to wear masks when Idaho schools return in the next couple of weeks.

The Boise School District already announced its decision last week, requiring students and staff to wear masks while indoors when they head back to their buildings next week.

Boise State University, the University of Idaho and Idaho State University all announced mask mandates this week.

We understand and appreciate the principles of individual choice and the desire of parents to make health decisions for themselves and their families, whether its wearing a mask or getting a vaccine.

However, when it comes to COVID-19 and the emergence of the delta variant of the novel coronavirus, these become more than personal decisions.

Because the coronavirus can spread so easily and quickly  and especially because it can happen without symptoms being present  the decision to not wear a mask affects the health of those around you.
Idaho Mountain Festival 2021

The eight annual Idaho Mountain Festival is coming to Castle Rocks State Park and City of Rocks National Preserve at 5 p.m. Aug. 19 to noon Aug. 22, 2021. Here is a list of things to know:

Registration is $95 per person and tickets can be purchased at www.eventbrite.com/e/idaho-mountain-festival-2021-an-all-inclusive-climbing-festival-tickets-83575724241.

Festival activities include gear demos, fun run, sponsored meals, large raffle of swag, off-the-rock workshops and clinics and bouldering and climbing.

Dogs are welcome as long as they are leashed and messes picked up after.

Tent camping only for the festival.

Alcohol is legal but all state regulations must be followed with its consumption.

The festival will be held at Castle Rocks State Park, 748 E Castle Rock Rd., Almo, ID 83312
The data are not subdivided by locality, but Henry County residents have accounted for more than a third of the 12,105 infections. There were 1,165 between the ages of 10 and 19. The district has seen 11 hospitalizations but no deaths among those 19 and younger, 4 who were 9 and younger.

The school system has had six or eight vaccination clinics since May, Vestal said, and also partnered with the city, and I do want to have another clinic, one at each high school, but right now, my first priority is getting immunization clinics for the required immunizations all students get. Those are the ones required before entering kindergarten, seventh grade and 12th grade.

Said board member Cherie Whitlow: I think it speaks loud enough that weve offered clinics. You can go anywhere now basically and get the vaccine, and I think people have spoke on whether or not they want to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

At this point I dont know when is it going to be the parent choice on whats happening within the school, Whitlow said.

Jennifer Jones of Sanville, parent of a high school senior, said after the meeting that she came to the meeting as soon as she learned about it  which was near the end, and too late to sign up to speak.
Further north, DWR is still recommending people discontinue bird feeding in affected areas.

When we use bird feeders it can actually have a negative impact by not allowing certain birds to learn to forage for food naturally, Leonard said. That being said, the best way to care for and feed our local birds is to plant native perennials.

Now is an opportunity for transitioning to native plants as bird food sources, Leonard said. Native plants provide more habitat and nutrition for birds, especially babies, and are not as likely to transfer disease from bird to bird, better supporting bird populations for the long-term.

If you do elect to keep them up, please clean them frequently  at least once a week  to ensure bird health, Leonard said. Hopefully cases will continue to decline, we will get definitive answers, and by autumn we can use feeders without worry.

Its uncertain how long it might take for scientists to definitively determine what illness caused the bird deaths. There are countless tests to conduct, as researchers seek causes that could be pesticide-inflicted, herbicidal, viral, bacterial, parasitic, or perhaps something else entirely.
First dose vaccine appointments can be booked online by visiting http://www.myspot.nc.gov or by calling the Vaccine Call Center at 828-803-4552. The next Public Health COVID-19 vaccination clinic is to be held Wednesday, Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to noon at the McDowell County Health Department. This clinic is open for anyone 12 years old and older. Walk-ins are welcome and no appointment is needed. Homebound residents who want the vaccine but are unable to reach a vaccination site are encouraged to contact the Vaccine Call Center (828-803-4552) for further assistance. In partnership with the Community Paramedic Program, homebound residents can have the vaccine delivered and administered at their home, according to the news release.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, left, and Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weima speak to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Australia's second-most populous city Melbourne will end its fifth lockdown on Tuesday with the Victoria state government declaring it had beaten an outbreak of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant for a second time. Credit: Luis Ascui/AAP Image via AP

Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nation's slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Melbourne joins Sydney and Brisbane, Australia's most populous and third-most populous cities respectively, in locking down due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will lock down for seven days after eight new infections were detected in the city, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Andrews gave less than four hours' notice that the state would lock down from 8 p.m. He said his government had no other choice because only 20% of Australian adults had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday.

"To be really frank, we don't have enough people that have been vaccinated and, therefore, this is the only option available to us," Andrews said. "The time will come when we have many more options. But that isn't now."

Andrews has accused neighboring New South Wales state of taking too long to lock down Sydney after a limousine driver who became infected while transporting a U.S. aircrew from Sydney Airport tested positive to the delta variant on June 16.

New South Wales on Thursday reported its worst day since the Sydney lockdown began on June 26 with a record 262 new local infections and five deaths.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the dead had not been vaccinated. One had a single dose of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine in late May.

Australian authorities have urged people in Sydney not to wait for the optimal 12 weeks before getting their second AstraZeneca dose.

"No one who has died has had both doses of vaccine. I cannot stress enough how it's so important for everybody of all ages to come forward and get the vaccine," Berejiklian said.

AstraZeneca and Pfizer are the only vaccines available in Australia.

There have been 21 COVID-19 deaths reported in Sydney since the latest outbreak began. There have been 78 deaths confirmed in New South Wales since the pandemic began.

The government reported 262 locally acquired infections in the latest 24-hour period. Another six cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine and are not considered threats to the community.

When Victoria ended its fifth lockdown last week, Andrews said he believed the state was the only jurisdiction in the world that had beaten a delta outbreak twice.

Melbourne was the Australian center of the pandemic last year, when new infections peaked at 725 in a day in August. Of Australia's 925 COVID-19 reported deaths since the pandemic began, 820 have occurred in Victoria.

Authorities were gaining confidence on Thursday that Brisbane and surrounding cities in Queensland state will end an eight-day lockdown as planned on Sunday.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said efforts to suppress the spread had surpassed expectations.

All 16 new locally acquired cases reported on Thursday have been directly linked to known exposure sites.

But doubts are growing that Sydney's lockdown will end as planned on Aug. 28 as case numbers continue to grow.

Explore further Australian city Melbourne ends 5th COVID-19 lockdown

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(HealthDay)In a first, researchers have used genetically tweaked immune system cells to send a woman's severe lupus into remission.

The treatmentcalled CAR T-cell therapyis already approved in the United States for fighting certain cases of blood cancer. It involves removing a patient's own immune system T-cells, genetically altering them to target the cancer, then infusing them back into the patient.

Here, researchers tested the cell therapy in a 20-year-old woman with severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease that can cause organ damage throughout the body.

They found the approach quickly sent her disease into remission, with no significant side effects at the six-week mark.

The woman is the first lupus patient in the world to be treated with CAR T-cells, said researcher Dr. Georg Schett of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.

That means much more research lies ahead before the therapy could become widely available.

But based on this initial report, it's a promising avenue to study, according to U.S. lupus experts who were not involved in the case.

"Although this is a case report, the treatment makes theoretical sense," said Dr. Donald Thomas, a rheumatologist with Arthritis and Pain Associates of PG County in Greenbelt, Md., and author of "The Lupus Encyclopedia."

"With such a rapid, complete and safe response, this therapy should be tried in other patients with severe disease," Thomas said.

At this point, Schett noted, the patient in this report is "completely healthy," and has not needed lupus treatment for more than four months. He said his team is now treating two additional lupus patients with CAR T-cells.

The researchers detailed the new findings in the Aug. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

To perform CAR T-cell therapy, doctors take a sample of a patient's T-cellskey players in marshaling the body's immune response. Those cells are then genetically altered in the lab to be armed with chimeric antigen receptors, or CARs.

Those CARs allow the T-cells to recognize certain markers, or antigens, on the surface of specific cells that are no goodlike cancer cells. Once the newly armed T-cells are infused back into the patient, they can launch a targeted attack on the enemy cells.

In lupus, the enemy is not a tumor, but the body's own immune system: It mistakenly creates "auto-antibodies" that attack the body's tissue. The most common form of lupus is SLE, which can damage an array of organs.

The 20-year-old in this case report had arthritis, kidney damage and inflammation of the lungs and heart. None of the standard drugs for SLE had worked for her.

So Schett and his team turned to CAR T-cells. They armed the patient's T-cells to recognize CD19, a protein on B-cells, which are another component of the immune system. Normally, those cells generate antibodies to help battle infections; but in SLE, dysfunctional B-cells churn out auto-antibodies.

Certain existing lupus drugs work by depleting B-cells, but they had not helped this patient.

Yet, Schett's team found, within 44 days of receiving the CAR T-cells, the patient's auto-antibodies disappeared and her disease went into remission.

The results are "very thought-provoking," according to Drs. Jean Lin and Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, both rheumatologists at Northwestern University Medicine in Chicago.

Among the major remaining questions, they said, is whether this could be a "definitive/curative therapy," or would need to be repeated.

And if the therapy does move forward, Lin and Ramsey-Goldman said, it will be "critical" to know how to choose the patients most likely to do well. CAR T-cell therapy costs more than $200,000 for the infusion, they noted, not counting the cost of hospitalization.

Thomas said that with existing therapies, most SLE patients are unable to achieve and maintain remissionso the need for new approaches is great.

A central challenge, he explained, is that the disease is "heterogeneous," meaning its characteristics are diverse.

"A key to a better treatment for our SLE patients," Thomas said, "would be to find an immune system abnormality that is universal in them, and then direct a safe, effective treatment at that shared abnormality."

Whether CAR T-cells could be a broadly effective therapy remains to be seen.

Explore further Experimental treatment offers new hope against lupus

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The number of COVID-19 infections recorded worldwide passed 200 million on Thursday, an AFP count showed, as China pledged to provide two billion vaccine doses this year to combat surging infections caused by the Delta variant.

The more infectious strain is driving a resurgence in the pandemic, especially in the Asia-Pacific region where Thailand, Indonesia and Japan continued to see new records and the city of Melbourne entered yet another lockdown.

The number of daily new cases globally has jumped 68 percent since mid-June, AFP's tally shows.

But as more of the world gets vaccinatedparticularly in wealthy countriesdeaths have risen at a slower rate, up 20 percent since July, the data show.

China "will strive to deliver two billion doses of vaccines to the world" this year and pledges $100 million (85 million euros) to the Covax system for distributing jabs to the poorest countries, President Xi Jinping said in remarks reported by state broadcaster CCTV.

Records fall

After months in which Beijing could boast of its success in containing infections, authorities there are again battling a rise in casesincluding in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the first mass COVID-19 outbreak occurred.

In Thailand, new cases hit 20,000 for the first time on Wednesdayand then again on Thursday.

Overwhelmed mortuaries are renting refrigerated containers to store bodies, while medical and other frontline workers are exhausted.

"We're almost at our limits," forensic scientist Thanitchet Khetkham told AFP.

"I've seen our personnel faint quite a few times lately so fatigue is definitely starting to set in."

Indonesia's total COVID death toll passed 100,000 on Wednesday after it recorded 1,739 of the 10,245 fatalities registered worldwidetaking the global toll past 4.25 million.

Tokyo on Thursday reported a new record number of cases at 5,042, just three days before the end of the Olympics, forcing the Japanese government to extend anti-virus restrictions to eight more departments.

Not happy to be here

In Australia, almost two-thirds of the 25 million population were in lockdown on Thursday.

A little more than a week after Melbourne's last lockdown ended, Victoria premier Daniel Andrews said he had "no choice" but to once again lock down the city and the rest of the state.

"None of us are happy to be here, none of us," he said, citing the danger posed by eight new "mystery" cases, the origins of which had yet to be traced.

Around 2,000 protesters took to the streets chanting "no more lockdown", with police making arrests and using pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Protesters were out again in Paris too, as the country's top constitutional body approved President Emmanuel Macron's controversial health pass that will restrict access to bars, eateries and inter-city trains to those who have been jabbed or tested.

"All this undermines fundamental freedoms... Freedom is, first of all, the choice to be vaccinated or not," said Marie Jose Libeiro, 48.

"We are falling into an authoritarian state."

But the Constitutional Court said the restrictions, as well as compulsory vaccination for health workers, represented a "balanced trade-off" between public health concerns and personal freedom.

And in French-speaking Quebec, the government said it too will introduce a vaccine passport, the first in Canada, to counter the Delta variant.

"People who have made the effort to get their two doses should be able to live a semi-normal life," provincial premier Francois Legault told a press conference.

Staying alive

Living a life at all was at the heart of the message from the head of the African Union's health watchdog.

John Nkengasong revealed on Thursday that he was battling COVID-19 but had survived the worst thanks to his jabs, as he urged the continent to fight vaccine hesitancy.

Experts worry that reluctance to take the vaccine, stemming from public scepticism over foreign-procured jabs and fear of side effects, may prolong the pandemic among Africa's 1.3 billion people.

Africa also posted a new record with 6,400 deaths in the week to August 1, the continent's most in the pandemic, the World Health Organization said.

Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, said he had contracted the infection last week despite being fully vaccinated.

"The severity of the attack is so unbearable. The headaches, fever," the Cameroonian virologist told an online press briefing.

But he added that without his jabs, "I wouldn't be here".

Explore further More than 200 million coronavirus cases worldwide

 2021 AFP
RN Zoe Zinis puts on fresh protective layers before entering the room of an infected patient in the COVID-19 ward at UF Health's downtown in Jacksonville, Fla., campus Friday, July 30, 2021. The second surge of COVID-19 infections in Jacksonville is stretching the capacity of area medical facilities to care for patients. Credit: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Florida hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and a cafeteria. As of midweek, Mississippi had just six open intensive care beds in the entire state.

Georgia medical centers are turning people away. And in Louisiana, an organ transplant had to be postponed along with other procedures.

"We are seeing a surge like we've not seen before in terms of the patients coming," Dr. Marc Napp, chief medical officer for Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida, said Wednesday. "It's the sheer number coming in at the same time. There are only so many beds, so many doctors, only so many nurses."

Coronavirus hospitalizations are surging again as the more contagious delta variant rages across the country, forcing medical centers to return to a crisis footing just weeks after many closed their COVID-19 wards and field hospitals and dropped other emergency measures.

The number of people now in the hospital in the U.S. with COVID-19 has almost quadrupled over the past month to nearly 45,000, turning the clock back to early March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's still nowhere close to the nearly 124,000 people who were in the hospital at the very peak of the winter surge in January. But health experts say this wave is perhaps more worrying because it has risen more swiftly than prior ones. Also, a disturbingly large share of patients this time are young adults.

Carlos Anacleto closes his eyes as he receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Jorge Tase, as others wait their turn, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Miami Beach, Fla. On Tuesday, the CDC added more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases in the state over the previous three days, pushing the seven-day average to one the highest counts since the pandemic began, an eightfold increase since July 4. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

And to the frustration of public health experts and front-line medical workers, the vast majority of those now hospitalized are unvaccinated.

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi alone account for more than 40% of all hospitalizations in the country.

Mississippi has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with less than 35% of its population fully inoculated, and Louisiana and Georgia aren't much better, at around 38%. Florida is closer to the national rate at 49%, but none of the four Southern states comes close to the New England region, where most states are well over 60%.

The variant has sent new U.S. cases surging to 94,000 a day on average, a level not seen since mid-February. Deaths per day have soared 75% in the past two weeks, climbing from an average of 244 to 426. The overall U.S. death toll stands at more than 614,000.

Francesca Anacleto, 12, receives her first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot from nurse Jorge Tase, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Miami Beach, Fla. On Tuesday, the CDC added more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases in the state over the previous three days, pushing the seven-day average to one the highest counts since the pandemic began, an eightfold increase since July 4. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Across Florida, more than 12,500 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, over 2,500 of them in intensive care. The state is averaging nearly 18,000 newly confirmed infections per day, up from fewer than 2,000 a month ago. In all, Florida has recorded more than 39,100 coronavirus deaths.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a hard line against mask rules and other compulsory measures, saying it is important to keep Florida's economy moving.

"Florida is a free state, and we will empower our people. We will not allow Joe Biden and his bureaucratic flunkies to come in and commandeer the rights and freedoms of Floridians," DeSantis, who has been exploring a possible bid for president in 2024, said in a fundraising email Wednesday.

The reversal in fortune at some hospitals has been stark.

Will Hartley, 10, Lila Hartley, 12, and Gabby Waxman hold their signs in support of masking in schools at a rally before Tuesday evening's school board building Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 in Jacksonville, Fla.. Around 50 people gathered outside the Duval County School Board building in support of having mandatory masking of teachers and students ahead of the school board taking up the issue in their Tuesday evening meeting. Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis has forbidden mandating masks in Florida's public schools despite CDC recommendations to wear masks due to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections which are particularly high in Northeast Florida. Credit: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

In central Florida, AdventHealth hospitals had 1,350 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, the most ever. The health care system has postponed non-emergency surgery and limited visitors to concentrate on treating coronavirus patients.

Less than two months ago, Miami's Baptist Hospital had fewer than 20 COVID-19 patients and was closing down coronavirus units. By Monday, hospital officials were reopening some of those units to handle an influx of more than 200 new virus patients.

"As fast as we are opening up units, they're being filled with COVID patients," said Dr. Sergio Segarra, the hospital's chief medical officer.

In Georgia, more than two dozen hospitals said this week that they have had to turn away patients as the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 has risen to 2,600 statewide.

Lori Eisenberg-Castro and her daughter, Eyla, 8, participate in a pro-mask rally outside the school board building Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Jacksonville, Fla. Around 50 people gathered outside the Duval County School Board building in support of having mandatory masking of teachers and students ahead of the school board taking up the issue in their Tuesday evening meeting. Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis has forbidden mandating masks in Florida's public schools despite CDC recommendations to wear masks due to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections which are particularly high in Northeast Florida. Credit: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Mississippi reported that its hospitals were overwhelmed with nearly 1,200 COVID-19 patients as of Thursday. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the delta variant is "sweeping across Mississippi like a tsunami" with no end in sight.

In Louisiana, with roughly 2,350 coronavirus patients in hospitals, any non-emergency surgery that might require an overnight stay is being delayed at the state's largest hospital system. Dr. Robert Hart, chief medical officer at Ochsner Health, said an organ transplant involving a live donor was postponed.

"You can imagine the expectations both the recipient and the donor had leading up to the surgery, and then to have to put that off," he said, declining to disclose the type of transplant.

The swift turn of events has been disheartening for health care workers who just weeks ago thought the battle was in its final stages. The crisis is also making it harder for hospitals to provide other crucial types of medical care.

People line up to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Miami Beach, Fla. On Tuesday, the CDC added more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases in the state over the previous three days, pushing the seven-day average to one the highest counts since the pandemic began, an eightfold increase since July 4. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Signs on all the patient doors remind staff and visitors of precautions to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the COVID-19 ward at UF Health's downtown in Jacksonville, Fla., campus Friday, July 30, 2021. The second surge of COVID-19 infections in Jacksonville is stretching the capacity of area medical facilities to care for patients. Credit: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Wearing layers of protective gear, RN Taylor Perri prepares her equipment tray for the next patient as she works in the COVID-19 ward at UF Health's downtown in Jacksonville, Fla., campus Friday, July 30, 2021. The second surge of COVID-19 infections in Jacksonville is stretching the capacity of area medical facilities to care for patients. Credit: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

In this undated photo provided by Memorial Healthcare System, a conference area is shown that has been turned into a COVID-19 unit at Memorial Hospital Miramar., in Miramar, Fla. With the much more contagious delta variant now spreading exponentially, Florida hit 11,515 hospitalized patients Tuesday, breaking last year's record for the third straight day and up from just 1,000 in mid-June. Credit: Memorial Healthcare System via AP

An individual wearing a face mask exits the Ouachita Parish Courthouse in Monroe, La., Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Signage at this and other parish offices emphasizes the necessity of wearing a face mask as Louisiana is reinstating a statewide mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in all indoor locations, including schools and colleges as the state experiences the highest per capita COVID-19 growth in the nation, driven by the Delta variant and one of the country's lowest vaccination rates. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

"If you don't get vaccinated, you are taking resources from people who have diseases or injuries or illnesses," said Dr. Vincent Shaw, a family physician in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "COVID doesn't call people who have had strokes, who have had heart attacks, who have had other horrific or traumatic things happen and say, 'Y'all take the week off. I am going to take over the ER and the ICU.'"

In Florida, Judi Custer said she and her husband did everything they were told to do to ward off the virus. The Fort Lauderdale retirees got vaccinated and wore masks, even when the rules were lifted. Still, they fell ill with COVID-19 a few weeks ago, and 80-year-old Doug Custer was hospitalized for five days.

Judy Custer said she still believes more people need to get vaccinated.

"We've had it long enough to know it is helping people, even if they get sick with it," she said. "You're less likely to be put on a ventilator. You're less likely to be hospitalized."

Explore further Florida breaks record for COVID-19 hospitalizations

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The Respiratory Strategies in COVID-19; CPAP, High-flow, and Standard Care (RECOVERY-RS) trial has demonstrated that treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients who have acute respiratory failure with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) reduces the need for invasive mechanical ventilation.

Preliminary data from the trial also suggests that the routine use of high flow nasal oxygenation (HFNO), which can consume large amounts of oxygen, should be reconsidered as it did not improve outcomes for COVID-19 patients compared with conventional oxygen therapy.

RECOVERY-RS, led by the University of Warwick and Queen's University Belfast, is the world's largest non-invasive respiratory support trial for COVID-19with over 1200 participants taking part across 48 UK hospitals. The multi-center, adaptive, randomized controlled trial compared the use of CPAP (oxygen and positive pressure delivered via a tightly fitting mask), with HFNO (high pressure oxygen delivered up the nose), against standard care (standard oxygen therapy).

All three interventions are commonly used to treat COVID-19 patients before they are moved onto invasive ventilation in a critical care bed, but it was not known which, if any, resulted in better outcomes.

Results

Over 13 months, between April 2020 and May 2021, a total of 1,272 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure, aged over the age of 18, were recruited to the study and randomly allocated to receive one of three respiratory support interventions as part of their hospital care.

380 (29.9%) participants received CPAP; 417 (32.8%) participants received HFNO; and 475 (37.3%) received conventional oxygen therapy.

The primary outcomes assessed through the trial were whether the patient went on to require tracheal intubation (invasive mechanical ventilation) or died within 30-days of beginning treatment through the trial.

In the comparison of CPAP and conventional oxygen therapy, the likelihood of patients going on to require invasive mechanical ventilation or die within 30-days of treatment was significantly lower in those who were treated with CPAP, than those who received standard care. In the CPAP group, 137 of 377 participants (36.3%) either needed mechanical ventilation or died within 30 days, compared with 158 of 356 participants (44.4%) in the conventional oxygen therapy group.

There was no difference in primary outcomes between patients in the HFNO and conventional oxygen therapy groups. In the HFNO group, 184 of 414 participants (44.4%) went on to require mechanical ventilation or die, compared with 166 of 368 participants (45.1%) in the conventional oxygen therapy group.

Based on these results, one person would avoid needing invasive ventilation within intensive care units (ICU) for every 12 people treated with CPAP instead of standard oxygen therapy.

Professor Gavin Perkins, Chief Investigator and Professor in Critical Care Medicine at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick said: "The RECOVERY-RS trial showed that CPAP was effective at reducing the need for invasive ventilation, thus reducing pressures on critical care beds. The routine use of high flow nasal oxygenation, which can consume large amounts of oxygen, should be reconsidered as it did not improve outcomes. By giving patients the most effective treatment to begin with, we can help prevent resource shortages in our NHS and make sure the right type of ventilation is available to patients when it is required.

"This is the first large trial of different types of ventilation in COVID-19. While it is encouraging that these results can help reduce the number of people who require invasive ventilation, it is important to stress that, where it is needed, invasive ventilation can be lifesaving."

Professor Danny McAuley, Chief Investigator and Professor and Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Queen's University Belfast said:"Over the COVID pandemic, we've seen a large number of patients requiring high levels of oxygen and admission to ICU for invasive ventilation, causing a huge strain on staff and beds.

"The results of this trial are really encouraging as they have shown that by using CPAP, invasive ventilation may not be needed for many patients with COVID-19 requiring high oxygen levels. Avoiding invasive ventilation is not only better for the patients, but it also has important resource implications as it frees up ICU capacity. This research should help healthcare professionals in the UK and beyond manage patients with COVID-19, to improve patient outcomes while helping to lessen the burden on resources."

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said: "COVID-19 has placed huge pressure on our hospitals and intensive care units, and our doctors, nurses and all NHS staff have stepped up to meet that challenge. A key part of tackling COVID has been the improvements that staff have identified and then implemented in terms of how to best care for COVID patients.

"This study, funded by the NIHR, provides valuable evidence around how non-invasive respiratory support can be used to improve patient outcomes. Reducing invasive mechanical ventilation is better for patients and reduces pressures on mechanical ventilator capacity across the NHS.

"I want to thank the team of doctors, researchers and patient volunteers involved in today's excellent resultshospitals across the country can now use these data to further improve care for patients and reduce the demand for mechanical ventilation as we get closer to what might still be a challenging winter period."

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) for the DHSC and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Chief Executive Officer, said: "Research such as this has been a huge asset to the COVID-19 response, allowing us to fine-tune our approach and improve care for patients in hospital.

"I am hugely grateful to the teams at the University of Warwick and Queen's University Belfast for their contribution to our understanding of the virus through this NIHR-funded study, and particularly how to treat it.

"This data will help ensure hospitalized patients with COVID-19 get the best possible care, making a difference to patients and intensive care units across the country."

Professor Nick Lemoine, Medical Director at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network said: "Preliminary results from this NIHR-supported trial provide important evidence which will help shape clinical practice worldwide around respiratory support interventions for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The study will undoubtedly help improve outcomes for patientswhile potentially alleviating pressure on hospital beds and critical care services.

"We sincerely want to thank everybody involvedthe patients who took part in their darkest hour, and the NHS doctors and nurses who helped deliver the study right across the UK."

Professor Simon Ball, Executive Medical Officer at University Hospitals Birmingham said: "This is an important study that will significantly influence treatment decisions. It is an example of how well NHS hospitals can deliver studies to improve clinical practice. This includes the definition of treatments that are beneficial, in this case CPAP, but just as importantly those with no apparent benefit, in this case high flow nasal oxygen. The best possible care we deliver is that focused by evidence."

About RECOVERY-RS

Both CPAP and HFNO have been widely used worldwide in the management of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic for patients who need high levels of additional oxygen. If these treatments are not successful, patients need to be sedated and treated with a ventilator in intensive care. Although both CPAP and HFNO are commonly used in other lung conditions, prior to the RECOVERY-RS study, it was unknown how safe and effective they were for people with breathing difficulties arising from COVID-19.

The trial is led by Joint Chief Investigators Professor Gavin Perkins at the University of Warwick, and Professor Danny McAuley at Queen's University Belfast.

It was funded and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) as a prioritized urgent public health COVID-19 study.

RECOVERY-RS was one of the first COVID-19 studies to be classed as urgent public health research by the UK's Chief Medical Officers in order to urgently identify strategies to reduce the need for invasive mechanical ventilation. Launched in April 2020 as COVID-19 hospitalization began to soar, the NIHR Clinical Research Network provided prioritized support to rapidly set the study up at hospital sites across the UK and enroll participants. The NIHR's research infrastructure, expertise and delivery support has been critical to the trial's success.

Explore further National clinical trial to treat hospitalised patients with COVID-19
Jesse Demings, with the UCSF Black Health Initiative, invites local residents to get vaccinated. Credit: Barbara Ries.

Breakthrough infections. Increased transmission. New mask recommendations and mandates. The Delta variant is fueling COVID-19 cases across the U.S., and raising questions about what this all means for the course of the pandemic.

The highly infectious Delta variant was first detected in India in March, and it now accounts for more than 93 percent of sequenced coronavirus cases nationwide.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated people in areas of high transmission return to masking in public indoor spaces, citing evidence that the Delta variant can produce high viral loads in the noses and throats of even the fully vaccinated.

While experts agree that the vaccines still offer strong protection against infection by the Delta variant, and especially against severe illness and death, questions remain. We are only beginning to understand how the new variant spreads so efficiently, whether it causes more serious illness, and why there are more breakthrough infections as Delta spreads.

We spoke to virologist Nadia Roan, Ph.D., associate professor at UC San Francisco and associate investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, about the latest developments in our knowledge of the Delta variant.

How much more infectious is the Delta variant? How is it able to do that?

According to an internal CDC document, the Delta variantone of four "variants of concern" that have evolved from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19is more than twice as infectious as the original virus and as infectious as chickenpox.

Its high infectiousness could be due to its ability to replicate rapidly in the body. A study from China reported that people infected with the Delta variant can carry 1,000 times the viral load as those infected with the original virus. "To me, that's shocking," said Roan. That study also found that people infected with the Delta variant carry detectable virus earlier than with the original virus (four days versus six days after exposure) and another study found that they remain infectious longer (18 days versus 13 days).

"Not only is it replicating more, it's replicating faster, and that's probably why it's able to spread so much more efficiently," said Roan.

That efficiency comes down to the molecular details. We know that the Delta variant carries multiple mutations, including within the spike protein which it uses to latch onto and enter cells. Of particular note, said Roan, is a spike protein mutation at what's known as the furin cleavage site. This site is important for "priming" or activating newly replicated viruses to begin infecting cells. Unpublished studies suggest that the original virus primes about 50 percent of its viruses, whereas the Delta variant primes more than 75 percent.

"That might potentially explain why it's able to transmit much more efficiently and why the viral loads are so much higher, although other mutations that Delta accumulated could very well contribute also," said Roan.

Denise Barchas, RN, works in the ICU respiratory isolation room at UCSF Mount Zion Medical Center. Credit: Susan Merrell

Does the Delta variant cause more serious disease?

There's not yet consensus on whether the Delta variant makes people sicker. The internal CDC document cited studies from Canada and Singapore (not yet peer-reviewed) that found higher odds of hospitalization and death, and a study from Scotland that found double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant, which had been the dominant variant in the U.S. before Delta's rise.

This is concerning as the Alpha variant was already demonstrated to cause more severe COVID-19 than the original virus, said Roan.

What are breakthrough infections and are they more common with the Delta variant?

A breakthrough infection is an infection in a fully vaccinated person. They can occur if the body fails to mount a strong enough immune response to prevent an infection.

Overall, all the vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe illness and death from the Delta variant. For example, various studies have reported the Pfizer vaccine to be 93 to 100 percent effective against hospitalization and death, with somewhat lower effectiveness, 64 to 88 percent, against all symptomatic disease.

A recent analysis of breakthrough cases among UCSF employees and staff since Delta's rise showed that unvaccinated people remain five times more likely to become infected than people who are vaccinated, and 25 times more likely to be hospitalized.

While it's not entirely clear why there are more breakthrough infections with the Delta variant, "I would guess the high viral load is a big part of the equation," said Roan.

"When you're essentially just exposed to so much more virus, there's a higher chance that you can get infected, whether you're vaccinated or not," she said. "Of course, vaccination is one of the best barriers, but it's not a 100 percent barrier against getting infected."

Though still uncommon, breakthrough infections with the Delta variant may impact public health. In an analysis of a recent outbreak in Provincetown, MA, that caused over 450 infections in the state, the CDC reported that the viral load was indistinguishable between breakthrough infections and cases in unvaccinated individuals.

"This was of course what sparked the CDC's recommendation that everyone, including vaccinated people, mask up indoors, since the data would suggest that breakthrough infections can potentially transmit the virus," said Roan.

Do the breakthrough infections mean the Delta variant is better at evading the vaccines? How does it do that?

Compared to the original virus, all the variants thus far are somewhat better at evading the immune system's antibody response, some better than others, said Roan. That's because so-called neutralizing antibodies recognize and bind to the spike proteins on the surface of the virus, preventing the virus from infecting cells. But if the virus mutates its spike protein, then the antibodies may not bind as well, and the virus gains an advantage.

Yoshiko Stowell receives her first dose of vaccine at a drive-through pop-up community vaccination site in Oakland. Credit: Mike Kai Chan

Fortunately, the antibody response is only part of the story, said Roan, whose lab studies another part of our immune response known as the T cell response. She and others have found evidence that our T cell response is less affected by variants.

"T cells work differently," she explains. T cells don't target the virus directly, but instead recognize infected cells and destroy them, stopping the virus from replicating inside them. The recognition can also activate "helper" T cells which aid the responses of other immune cells. An infected cell signals to a T cell by presenting little pieces of viral protein on its surface.

"The reason the T cells are more resistant to the mutational effect is because each person generally presents a different little piece of the virus to their T cells," said Roan. So a mutation would for the most part only affect someone whose cells present that particular piece of the virus. "When the virus is transmitted to another person, that mutational advantage is lost, unlike the antibody case where neutralizing antibodies from different individuals often target the same locations in the spike protein."

"In other words, when the virus mutates, the antibodies are less able to do what they're supposed to do, but T cells are more resistant to the mutation effects," said Roan.

How important is our T cell response to fighting the Delta variant?

Roan's lab is currently preparing to study the Delta variant, and she is optimistic that the T cell response will hold up. They have already shown that the T cell response is just as strong against the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma variants as it is against the original virus.

Roan's team has also found that T cells may be particularly important in preventing severe COVID-19 infections. In a study of patients who were in the ICU for COVID-19, those who recovered showed a massive increase in T cell response right before they were discharged from the hospital, while those who died never developed a robust T cell response.

"T cells are probably less important for preventing that initial infectionthat's where the neutralizing antibodies come in," said Roan. "But then the T cells play an important role in making sure a person who has already been infected recovers."

What does the Delta variant mean for people who are unvaccinated? For people who are fully vaccinated?

For the unvaccinated, the Delta variant presents a serious threat, and now more than ever it is crucial to get vaccinated. "It's definitely going to be a lot riskier," said Roan. "Right now, as many folks have said, this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated in this country." More than 97 percent of those currently hospitalized with severe COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

The faster we can get more people vaccinated, the faster we can recover from the current surges, minimize deaths, and avoid straining the medical system, said Roan.

While breakthrough infections are more of a concern with the Delta variant, those infections are generally mild or asymptomatic. "The good news is that the vaccines were designed to protect against severe COVID, and they're still doing their job," said Roan.

For people who are fully vaccinated, Roan sees two main purposes to returning to masking indoors. First, because fully vaccinated people can still carry high viral loads and transmit the virus, masking protects those who are not vaccinated, including children under 12, and vaccinated individuals who may mount weaker responses to the vaccine, such as immunocompromised individuals. The second reason is that we still don't know the risk of long-haul COVID-19 following breakthrough infections. "That's all unknown right now," said Roan, "So I think it's smart to put on a mask."

Explore further New data shows the power of COVID vaccines
A woman receive a throat swab during mass testing for COVID-19 in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach.Credit: Chinatopix via AP

The delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the coronavirus out of the country need a less disruptive approach.

As the highly contagious variant pushes leaders in the United States, Australia and elsewhere to renew restrictions, President Xi Jinping's government is fighting the most serious outbreak since last year's peak in Wuhan. The ruling Communist Party is reviving tactics that shut down China: Access to a city of 1.5 million people has been cut off, flights canceled and mass testing ordered in some areas.

That "zero tolerance" strategy of quarantining every case and trying to block new infections from abroad helped to contain last year's outbreak and has kept China largely virus-free. But its impact on work and life for millions of people is prompting warnings that China needs to learn to control the virus without repeatedly shutting down the economy and society.

Zhang Wenhong, a Shanghai doctor who became prominent during the Wuhan outbreak, suggested in a social media post that China's strategy could change. "We will definitely learn more" from the ongoing outbreak, he said, calling it a stress test for the nation.

A child reacts to a throat swab during mass testing for COVID-19 in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: Chinatopix via AP

"The world needs to learn how to coexist with this virus," wrote Zhang, who has 3 million followers on the widely used Sina Weibo platform.

China's controls will be tested when thousands of athletes, reporters and others arrive for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. And the ruling party faces a politically sensitive change of leadership in late 2022, for which leaders want upbeat economic conditions.

Last year, China shut down much of the world's second-biggest economy and cut off almost all access to cities with a total of 60 million peopletactics imitated on a smaller scale by governments from Asia to the Americas. That caused China's most painful economic contraction in five decades, but Beijing was able to allow business and domestic travel to resume in March 2020.

The new infections, many in people who have already been vaccinated, have jolted global financial markets, which worry Beijing's response might disrupt manufacturing and supply chains. The main stock indexes in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong sank Tuesday but were rising again Thursday.

A woman receive a throat swab during mass testing for COVID-19 in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: Chinatopix via AP

China needs to shift to creating barriers to infection within communities by stepping up vaccinations and quickly treating infected people while allowing business and travel to go ahead, said Xi Chen, a health economist at the Yale School of Public Health. He said country needs access to the full range of vaccines, including allowing in the shot developed by Germany's BioNTech.

"I don't think 'zero tolerance' can be sustained," said Chen. "Even if you can lock down all the regions in China, people might still die, and more might die due to hunger or loss of jobs."

But Beijing has shown no sign of abandoning its tactics.

Disease controls must "be even faster, more firm, stricter, more expansive and ready," He Qinghua, an official of the National Health Commission's Disease Control Bureau, said at a news conference Saturday.

Residents line up to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Aug. 03, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: Chinatopix via AP

The year's biggest outbreak has tentatively been traced to airport employees who cleaned a Russian airliner on July 10 in Nanjing, northwest of Shanghai in Jiangsu province, according to health officials.

Some travelers flew through Nanjing to Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist spot southwest of Shanghai in Hunan province, turning that city into a center for the virus's spread. The disease was carried to Beijing and other cities in more than 10 provinces.

On Tuesday, the government of Zhangjiajie announced no one was allowed to leave the city, imitating controls imposed on Wuhan, where the first virus cases were identified, and other cities last year.

Flights to Nanjing and Yangzhou, a nearby city with 94 cases, were suspended. Trains from those cities and 21 others to Beijing were canceled. Jiangsu province set up highway checkpoints to test drivers. The government called on people in Beijing and the southern province of Guangdong not to leave those areas if possible.

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 ride bicycles across an intersection during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

In Yangzhou, children at two tutoring centers were quarantined after a classmate tested positive, according to Zhou Xiaoxiao, a university student there. She said some parts of the city were sealed.

Eggs and some other food was scarce after shoppers cleared out supermarkets in anticipation of a lockdown, Zhou said. She said the government was delivering rice to households.

"The price of vegetables has risen. That's nothing to me. But to the kind of family whose life isn't very good and who have no income, it's very troublesome," said Zhou, 20.

The 1,142 infections reported since mid-July, many linked to Nanjing, are modest compared with tens of thousands of new daily infections in India or the United States. But they jolted leaders in China, which hasn't recorded a fatality since early February.

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 ride on a bus during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of imposing near-total isolation on any budding hotspots, prompting warnings from health experts that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus at bay need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The outbreak poses "serious challenges to the country's hard-won victory in the epidemic battle," said the newspaper The Global Times, which is published by the ruling party's People's Daily.

China has reported 4,636 deaths out of about 93,000 confirmed cases.

So far, most of the people infected in Nanjing had been vaccinated, and few cases are severe, the head of the critical care unit at the hospital of the city's Southeastern University, Yang Yi, told the Shanghai news outlet The Paper.

She said that means "vaccines are protective"though concerns remain that Chinese-made vaccines offer less protection than some others.

Authorities have blamed Nanjing airport managers and local officials for failing to enforce safety rules and to detect infections for 10 days until July 20, after the virus spread.

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 ride on a subway train during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 walk through a subway station during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Visitors to Chongli, one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, pass by the Olympics logo in Chongli in northern China's Hebei Province on Aug. 13, 2020. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. China's controls will be tested when thousands of athletes, reporters and others arrive for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

A child puts a wreath over the head of a man wearing a mask in Beijing Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Children with masks lift up a barrier in Beijing Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 walk up stairs in a subway station during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 walk down a staircase on a pedestrian bridge in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The coronavirus's delta variant is challenging China's costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

A 64-year-old woman who is believed to have carried the virus from Nanjing to Yangzhou was arrested Tuesday on charges of hindering disease prevention, police announced.

Cleaning staff at Nanjing's new international terminal mingled with co-workers in the domestic wing, when they should have been separated, according to news reports. The Russian flight was diverted due to bad weather from Shanghai, where airports are better equipped to handle foreign travelers.

Still, the city of 9.3 million people is the second-biggest in eastern China after Shanghai and has more resources than many smaller cities.

China needs to learn how to "allow the virus to exist" in areas with high vaccination rates and stronger health care, said Chen, the economist. He noted some areas have vaccinated at least 80% of adults.

"I don't think they are blind to this," said Chen. "They should already be thinking about it."

Explore further China orders mass testing in Wuhan as COVID outbreak spreads

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Travelers at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Credit: IMF Photo/Cory Hancock

As infections from the delta variant surge, the percentage of Americans who support vaccine mandates has risen to 64% from 58% in April.

According to the latest poll by the COVID States Project, majorities of respondents from nearly all states approve of an overall vaccine mandate as well as specific mandates for plane travel and in-person schooling.

The poll was conducted by a university consortium that includes Northwestern, Northeastern, Harvard and Rutgers University.

"The support for mandates is higher than many realize and increasing, likely due to the spread of the delta variant and anxiety about school starting this fall," said political scientist James Druckman, one of the project researchers.

Druckman is the Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and associate director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.

Between June 9 and July 7, Druckman and colleagues surveyed 20,669 individuals across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Respondents were asked whether they approved or disapproved of four types of federal, state and local government vaccination mandates:

an overall mandate requiring everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine;

required vaccinations to get on an airplane;

required vaccinations for childrento be allowed in school; and

required vaccinations for college students to return to school

While the May report also showed strong public support for vaccine mandates, the number of Americans supporting an overall vaccine mandate has increased during each wave of the survey, from 54% in February, to 58% in April, to 64% in June. Support is also higher for specific mandates around vaccinations for flying (70%) and returning to university (66%) or school (61%).

The August report also shows a narrowing gap across nearly all partisan and demographic subgroups. But while 70% of the eligible U.S. population is now vaccinated, there remains a persistent 20% to 30% of Americans who are uncertain or unwilling to be vaccinated. Major differences were seen in terms of party affiliation and where respondents lived: Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to approve of such mandates (84% to 45%), and rural residents were 20 percentage points less supportive of mandates than urban dwellers (73% to 53%).

"The spike from delta may be finally closing some of the partisan vaccine divide, but there is still a ways to go. Increased messaging from Republican leaders will continue to be vital," said Druckman.

Explore further US survey shows public support for mandatory vaccinations grows, but holdouts remain skeptical

More information: Matthew Baum et al, The COVID States Project #58: High public support for mandating vaccines, OSF Preprints (2021). Matthew Baum et al, The COVID States Project #58: High public support for mandating vaccines,(2021). DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/6wcn9
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Public health scientist Naresh Kumar found that clinical visits by multiple sclerosis patients to Veterans Affairs medical centers increased during months associated with warmer weather and high humidity.

With sweltering temperatures still enveloping much of the nation, a University of Miami public health scientist has released the results of a new study that shows patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may experience a worsening of their symptoms when exposed to extreme heat.

"We've known for quite some time that neurological symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be exacerbated as a result of exercise that increases core body temperature and metabolism," said Naresh Kumar, a professor of environmental health at the Miller School of Medicine "But what we don't have a lot of data on is the relationship between ambient meteorological conditions and symptoms of the disease," he said.

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease in which the body's own immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves. The disease affects the brain and spinal cord, and symptoms can include weakness, tingling, numbness, and blurred vision.

In his recent study, "Heat Exposure and Multiple SclerosisA Regional and Temporal Analysis," Kumar and colleagues found that between January 2010 and December 2013, the number of clinical visits by multiple sclerosis patients to the nation's Veterans Affairs medical centers increased substantially during months associated with warmer weather, soaring humidity rates, and huge temperature swings, with visit rates varying across different regions of the country.

For example, the highest frequency of MS clinic visits occurred in March (an 8.9 percent increase), followed by August (8.8 percent). Winter months, on the other hand, saw relatively low rates of MS clinic visits, with December (7.7 percent) recording the lowest.

Across geographic regions, the Pacific Northwest saw the highest MS clinic visit rate (67.6 per 10,000 patient visits), followed by the Northeast (64 per 10,000) and the subtropical U.S. (46.8 per 10,000 patients). The lowest MS clinic visit rates, Kumar noted, were observed in the Lower Midwest (15.1 MS clinic visits per 10,000 patients), followed by the Upper Midwest (24.6 per 10,000).

Temperature variability, or the rate at which temperature changes day to day or month to month within a single year, most likely had an effect on increased rates of clinical MS visits, Kumar said. "For example, we observed a significant change in temperature in the month of March, a transition month between a long winter and spring season, which corresponded with the highest frequency of MS clinic visits," he explained.

"Miami is subtropical, so we are used to the high humidity and high temperatures," Kumar continued. "In other areas of the country that undergo massive swings in temperatures in a short time, some patients might not be used to it. In our analyses, temperature variation was the strongest predictor of visit risk among all variables, both at the national and regional level."

For the study, Kumar and his colleagues relied on Veterans Affairs medical data, reviewing the clinical visits of a total of 27,290 patients with multiple sclerosis, many of whom had multiple doctor appointments at VA health care facilities during the study period. Most of the subjects were white, non-Hispanic males (75.2 percent), followed by Black males (18.3 percent).

Kumar and his group also used meteorological data from the National Climactic Data Center for the period 2009 to 2014.

Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Kumar's findings could guide region-specific strategies to manage multiple sclerosis and its associated comorbidities, such as providing heat advisories and critical information on sudden changes in local weather to MS patients and health care providers.

"Managing individuals with chronic diseases requires a multimodal approach. In addition to medical therapy, it is important to understand how environmental conditions impact specific diseases so that individuals may make appropriate lifestyle modifications," said Anat Galor, a professor of ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the UHealthUniversity of Miami Health System, who is co-author of the study. "In this paper, we demonstrate that change in temperature, measured as standard deviation of temperature, correlated with multiple sclerosis hospital visit risk."

Galor, who is one of the lead investigators on an upcoming study that examines the relationship between temperature variation and allergic conjunctivitis, said patients with MS should consider regulating their indoor temperature and avoiding exposure to unstable outdoor weather conditions when possible.

Kumar stressed that his study focused on the clinical visits of a specific group of patientsveteransand that further investigation into the link between weather-related heat and worsening symptoms of multiple sclerosis and other diseases should be pursued. "With global warming leading to more intense heat waves, the need for more research in this area becomes even more paramount," he said.

Explore further Could rising temperatures send more people with multiple sclerosis to the hospital?

More information: Gill Chacko et al, Heat Exposure and Multiple SclerosisA Regional and Temporal Analysis, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2021). Journal information: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Gill Chacko et al, Heat Exposure and Multiple SclerosisA Regional and Temporal Analysis,(2021). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115962
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

France will offer COVID booster shots to the elderly and vulnerable from September, joining a growing list of countries offering third vaccine shots to fight new virus variants, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.

"Yes, we will probably need a third dose, not for everyone straight away but at any rate for the elderly and the most vulnerable," Macron said in the latest in his series of explanatory videos on the government's vaccination strategy.

He confirmed that the booster shots would be available from September.

Last month he had already revealed plans for a booster campaign, saying it would target those who had been the first to get a jab earlier this yearmostly people over 80 or with serious health conditions.

Currently, third vaccine shots are only available to people with weakened immune systems.

Macron's statement comes a day after the World Health Organization called on all nations to halt booster shots until at least the end of September to help ease the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.

Israel has already begun administering booster shots to over-60s and Germany last week said it too would start offering top-up jabs from September.

France's health ministry said on Tuesday that the exact list of those who would be eligible for a booster shot would be decided next week.

Explore further CDC advisers to discuss third COVID-19 vaccine dose for immunocompromised

 2021 AFP
(HealthDay)The United States' largest operator of nursing homes said Wednesday that its workers must get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they want to keep their jobs.

The announcement from Pennsylvania-based Genesis Healthcarewhich has 70,000 employees at nearly 400 nursing homes and senior communitiessuggests the nursing home industry's reluctance to force employees to get vaccinated due to fears about losing too many workers may be shifting, the Associated Press reported.

Understaffing is a major problem in the sector, but concerns about the surging Delta variant may convince nursing home owners they need to take action to quickly vaccinate the 40% of employees who still haven't received shots.

Voluntary vaccination was appropriate earlier in the pandemic, but only 65% of Genesis staff have received shots, according to the company. Employees have until Aug. 23 to get their first shot.

"To succeed against the Delta variant is going to require much higher vaccination rates," Genesis Chief Medical Officer Richard Feifer told the AP. "Our tactics in the fight have to change."

Unvaccinated staff members endanger residents, warn experts who are calling for mandatory vaccinations at nursing homes. Some workers have avoided the vaccine because they think it was rushed into development and is unsafe, or they feel protected because they already had a bout of COVID-19, the AP reported.

About 80% of nursing home residents have been vaccinated, but even vaccinated residents are at risk because many are frail and have weak immune systems, the AP reported.

More than 130,000 U.S. nursing home residents have died from COVID-19, according to the AP.

Jennifer Moore, of Hollywood, Fla., has a husband living at a nursing home where only 35% of the staff is vaccinated.

"Whenever I see a story about somebody being anti-vax, I just want to scream," said Moore, whose husband, Thomas, has Parkinson's disease. "I understand people have concerns about the vaccine, but these people are working with the most vulnerable population. They have a duty to their patients."

Explore further Study probes COVID among vaccinated at US nursing home

More information: Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on COVID vaccines

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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The majority of individuals who experience mild or moderate COVID-19 infection also experience long COVID, or persistent symptoms more than 30 days after they test positive, according to research data from the longitudinal CoVHORT study at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

"We showed that an estimated 67% of people with mild or moderate COVID have long COVID, in other words they still have symptoms more than 30 days after their positive test," said lead researcher Melanie Bell, Ph.D., MS, a biostatistics professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "This is a real wake-up call for anyone who has not been vaccinated. If you get COVID, the chances that you'll experience long-term symptoms are surprisingly high."

Existing research on long COVID has focused on hospitalized groups who experience severe infection. The UArizona Health Sciences research team aimed to fill the gap in research on long COVID by analyzing data from non-hospitalized individuals.

The paper, "Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 in a non-hospitalized cohort: results from the Arizona CoVHORT," which published today in the journal PLOS ONE, analyzed data from CoVHORT participants at three-month intervals. Since May 2020, the CoVHORT study has followed Arizona residents who had COVID-19, as well as those who have not been infected, through online surveys that record infection status, symptoms and any positive tests.

Among participants who tested positive for COVID-19, 68.7% experienced at least one symptom after 30 days, marking the distinction for long COVID. This prevalence increased to 77% after 60 days of follow-up. Researchers also found that individuals who experienced long COVID were more likely to be less educated, have seasonal allergies and pre-existing health conditions, and self-report greater symptom severity than people without long COVID.

Individuals with long COVID who were surveyed 30 days after a positive test reported (in order of prevalence): fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, stress/anxiety, altered taste/smell, body aches and muscle pain, insomnia, headaches, joint pain, and congestionthe 10 most common long COVID symptoms.

The number and severity of symptoms, as well as duration of infection, vary widely between individuals infected with COVID-19. The median number of symptoms was three, but was as high as 20 among participants. Experiencing symptoms of COVID infection that last 30 days or more has been scientifically defined by researchers as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, or PASC.

For this study, the estimated prevalence of PASC is only slightly less than prevalence estimates reported for hospitalized individuals. This suggests that non-hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 infection may experienced long COVID symptoms almost as often as hospitalized individuals.

The CoVHORT research study continues to provide crucial data that help to understand which individuals are most susceptible to severe infection and the long-term health consequences of COVID-19.

"I study reproductive health, and the data from the CoVHORT longitudinal study is already providing new insights," says Leslie V. Farland, ScD, assistant professor in the Zuckerman College of Public Health. "We have unique partnerships with many local health departments to support this research study, and many of our students are working on it, so they gain the real-world experience of public health research in action. Five of our doctoral students are working on dissertations that come out of the CoVHORT study data. It's valuable in so many ways."

More information: Melanie L. Bell et al, Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 in a non-hospitalized cohort: Results from the Arizona CoVHORT, PLOS ONE (2021). Journal information: PLoS ONE Melanie L. Bell et al, Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 in a non-hospitalized cohort: Results from the Arizona CoVHORT,(2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254347
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More than 200 million cases of COVID-19 cases have now been registered worldwide since the novel coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 0700 GMT on Thursday.

At least 200,065,905 cases have been officially recorded, but the actual number is believed to be even higher, since a large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.

The number of infections is currently rising sharply, driven primarily by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, but the number of deaths is increasing at a slower rate, the data showed.

The global average daily number of new infections over the past seven days stands at more than 600,000, an increase of 68 percent over the seven-day average in mid-June.

At the same time, the average number of daily deaths stands at 9,350, an increase of 20 percent compared with the beginning of July.

The gap between the number of infections and the number of deaths is most noticeable in the countries currently hardest hit by the pandemic.

In the United States, for example, the number of new cases has exploded by more than 820 percent, now standing at an average of 94,000 per day compared to 11,000 at the end of June.

But the rise in the daily number of deaths in the US is much slower, climbing 105 percent to 430 over the same period.

In Britain, where as many as 47,000 new cases have been recorded every day for the past few weeksa 30-fold increase compared with Maythe number of deaths has increased more than ten-fold from six to over 80.

Nevertheless, that is far below record levels seen in January, when Britain's daily number of deaths shot to 1,250.

By contrast, the average daily number of infections in hard-hit Indonesia has fallen by 19 percent over the past week to 35,000, but the daily number of deaths is up eight percent at 1,700.

The current wave in Indonesia is the worst since the outbreak of the pandemic and the country is now recording by far the most daily deaths worldwide.

The difference reflects the inequality in access to vaccines58 percent of Americans and 69 percent of Britons have received at least one jab, but only 18 percent of Indonesians.

The US health authorities estimate that people who are vaccinated are 25 times less likely to be hospitalised or die from COVID-19 than those who are not.

The novel coronavirus has killed more than 4.25 million people worldwide since the start of the pandemic, but the World Health Organization estimates that the overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to COVID-19.

Explore further COVID infections on the rise worldwide

 2021 AFP
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A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Liverpool found that the number of adults living with more than two diagnosed long-term conditions increased by around 70% between 2004 and 2019. This increase was even greater among individuals from the most deprived areas of England.

Living with multiple conditions, also known as multimorbidity, can lead to worse health and difficulties in working or living independently, particularly at older ages. In addition, it may require numerous medications and many appointments with different doctors and nurses, which is also a problem for the health and social care systems.

Researchers studied anonymised GP records of 1 million adults from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to see how many were living with multiple conditions between 2004 to 2019. They looked for 211 diseases that affect people's health and quality of life over the long term, such as diabetes, cancer, asthma, and dementia.

Exploring the characteristics of people with more than one condition, the researchers found that women were more likely than men to live with at least two conditions (48% in women, 39% in men). Multimorbidity was also more common in older ages, affecting more than 85% of people over age 80. However, over the 16 years, the average age of multimorbidity onset decreased by 10 years, from 56 in 2004 to 46 in 2019.

The most disadvantaged areas in England had greater proportions of adults living with multiple conditions (47%) than the most affluent areas (42%). People from disadvantaged areas were also more likely to have at least two diagnosed conditions from younger ages. London and the South of England had lower levels of multimorbidity than the North of England, with the North East and Yorkshire regions having the highest rates.

The researchers also looked at people with more complex combinations of conditions, where at least three different systems in the body are affected, for example, asthma, breast cancer and dementia. Whilst these complex combinations were less common, the increase over time was more rapid, particularly among the least affluent areas.

Anna Head, a Ph.D. student at the University of Liverpool's Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems and the lead author, says that "younger and younger people are living with multiple long-term conditions. Because these conditions can have long-lasting impacts on health, this is concerning both for individuals' daily lives as well as for the potential future burden on the health and social care."

Professor Martin O'Flaherty, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, says that their "results support previous research that multimorbidity is a growing problem not solely due to aging populations. Our results suggest that we can prevent its impact on people. It is not an unavoidable situation for our society."

Explore further One in five people in south London live with multiple long-term conditions

More information: Anna Head et al, Inequalities in incident and prevalent multimorbidity in England, 200419: a population-based, descriptive study, The Lancet Healthy Longevity (2021). Anna Head et al, Inequalities in incident and prevalent multimorbidity in England, 200419: a population-based, descriptive study,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/S2666-7568(21)00146-X
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In a Brief Communication, published July 29, 2021 in the journal Transplant Infectious Disease, a team of physician-scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that solid organ transplant recipients who were vaccinated experienced an almost 80 percent reduction in the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated counterparts during the same time.

"Persons who have received an organ transplant are considered to be at increased risk for COVID-19 and for a severe outcome because their immune systems are necessarily suppressed to ensure their transplants are successful and lasting," said Saima Aslam, MD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and medical director of the Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Disease Service at UC San Diego Health. "These findings offer strong evidence that getting vaccinated provides significant protection."

The researchers examined clinical data from the UC San Diego Health transplant registry from January 1, 2021 through June 2, 2021, encompassing 2,151 solid organ transplant recipients, including kidney, liver, lung and heart. Of this total number, 912 patients were fully vaccinated and 1,239 were controls (1,151 were unvaccinated and 88 partially vaccinated). Nearly 70 percent of the vaccinated patients received the mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna).

During the study period, there were 65 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 among the organ recipients: Four among fully vaccinated individuals and 61 among the controls (two involving partially vaccinated individuals). There were no deaths among the breakthrough COVID-19 cases, but two among the 61 control cases.

"These findings are encouraging for a couple of reasons," said co-author Kristin Mekeel, MD, chief of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery at UC San Diego Health. "First, it demonstrates real world clinical effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in a vulnerable population. Second, the effectiveness is better than expected, given that studies have found that only about half of solid organ transplant recipients develop detectable anti-spike antibodies after vaccination."

Aslam said the results underscore the importance for transplant patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to not focus on antibody levels alone. "However, vaccine protection is not perfect and so it's important to continue to mask and socially isolate as well, and to encourage household members to get vaccinated, especially given the current COVID-19 surge in San Diego."

The authors noted several limitations of the study: It involved retrospective data collection, was a single center report and there was potential for under-reporting by some patients of their vaccination status. They also noted that almost half of the study population was not vaccinated during the study period, underscoring the need for improved outreach to the transplant community regarding the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.

More information: Saima Aslam et al, Clinical effectiveness of COVID19 vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients, Transplant Infectious Disease (2021). Saima Aslam et al, Clinical effectiveness of COVID19 vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/tid.13705
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A team of researchers from the CMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis and the ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, both in India, has found evidence suggesting that an old vaccine used to reduce the threat of tuberculosis may give older people some protection against COVID-19. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their study of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine as a possible preventive measure for older people. Valerie Koeken with Radboud University Medical Center has published a Focus piece in the same journal issue explaining why inflammation is more of a concern with older people and outlining the work by the team in India.

As Koeken notes, as people grow older, they tend to develop low-grade, chronic inflammation, which makes them more susceptible to many types of diseasesit can also increase symptoms from diseases such as COVID-19, which explains in part why older people are much more likely to die from such infections. In this new effort, the researchers took a new look at an old vaccine to find out if it might prove useful for unvaccinated older people.

The study involved vaccinating 82 volunteers between the ages of 60 and 80 with the BCG vaccine and then studying blood samples taken a month later. In analyzing the samples, the researchers found decreases in several cytokines that have been associated with promoting inflammation: IL-6, type 1 interferons, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and TNF-alpha GM-CSF. The levels of the same cytokines were also found to be lower than those for a control group of unvaccinated volunteers. The researchers found that the BCG-vaccinated volunteers also had lower levels of some chemokines, such as matrix metalloproteinases and phase proteins, both of which have also been associated with promoting inflammation.

The researchers note that many of the cytokines that were reduced in the BCG volunteers have been identified as drivers of more severe COVID-19, which they also note suggests that the BCG vaccine might prove useful as a stop-gap measure for older people awaiting vaccinationif it could reduce inflammation in infected patients, it might save lives.

Explore further Study links vaccine immune response to age

More information: Nathella Pavan Kumar et al, Effect of BCG vaccination on proinflammatory responses in elderly individuals, Science Advances (2021). Journal information: Science Advances Nathella Pavan Kumar et al, Effect of BCG vaccination on proinflammatory responses in elderly individuals,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg7181

 2021 Science X Network
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The use of e-cigarettes ("vaping") during pregnancy poses a significant health risk for the offspring, impairing blood vessel function even into adulthood, according to a new study by researchers at West Virginia University's (WVU) School of Medicine. Diminished blood vessel capacity increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. The research article is published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and has been chosen as an APSselect article for August.

This study was conducted using a rat model. Female rats were exposed to e-cigarette aerosol one hour a day for five days a week during pregnancy. The offspring were examined at one month, three months and seven months (adulthood), at which time the adverse effects of vaping were discovered.

Study findings show the function of a major blood vessel in the brain (cerebrovascular function) was reduced by 50% at one-month-old and lasted all the way into adulthood. Physiologists conducting this study also learned the impaired brain blood vessel responses occurred regardless of whether vaping included nicotine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has labeled vaping as a "public health concern." A 2018 survey by the CDC found an estimated 8.1 million adults used e-cigarettes.

"We know that there are many negative outcomes with smoking during pregnancy," said lead researcher I. Mark Olfert, Ph.D., FAPS, an associate professor at WVU. "These data are essentially showing that we have a very similar outcome from vaping."

These findings contradict the idea that e-cigarettes are "safe" or "safer" than cigarettes. The team of Olfert and Paul Chantler, Ph.D., hope this paper will lead to a closer evaluation of the effects of e-cigarettes on multiple organs and tissues before being recommended as an alternative to smoking by health care providers, especially during pregnancy.

Credit: American Physiological Society

Explore further Vaping marijuana associated with more symptoms of lung damage than vaping or smoking nicotine

More information: E. N. Burrage et al, Long-term cerebrovascular dysfunction in the offspring from maternal electronic cigarette use during pregnancy, American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2021). E. N. Burrage et al, Long-term cerebrovascular dysfunction in the offspring from maternal electronic cigarette use during pregnancy,(2021). DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00206.2021
I have never seen anything like the conditions were seeing right now with a sub-1% vacancy margin, and neither have my colleagues, he said. Missoula historically had low vacancy margins. Its the nature of our market, but right now is just a unique moment and unique challenge.

Gingerelli and other property managers have not noticed a huge swarm of eviction demands from the property owners they work for, he said.

Among market-rate property managers, we are not seeing a higher level than normal rate of non-payment or evictions, he said. We really have not seen a substantial change in non-payments and late payments. Theres been a very low instance of evictions. Its essentially nonexistent. Its been rather surprising to all of us.

When asked by a city council member how they determine when to raise rents, Gingerelli said its almost always at the discretion of the property owner.

We try to take the best reasonable and ethical considerations we can with our clients (the property owners) and try to convince them to not dramatically increase rents, he said. Weve had good success with bringing them to the ground when they want to see a big increase.
Engen was the only mayoral candidate to seek the nod from the Democrats. He is running for his fifth term.

"This campaign, for me, is about addressing the issues that I think have been critical for some time and remain critical to our community," Engen said. "Those issues today I think, are three in particular. Housing and its companion, homelessness. The other I think is the way we preserve the nature of the community, our built and natural environment, and work on growth and development as our city continues to expand."

City council candidates were given three minutes for an opening statement, one of which could be used by a person endorsing them. Following that, candidates were then asked two questions and given one minute to answer each.

In her opening statement, Savage spoke at length about her nonprofit experience and said she was inspired by many other women running for political office for the first time.

"I want to be a strong voice for my neighbors in the community and I feel like I can be a good connector," Savage said.
Ault has numerous issues with tax increment financing and how the Missoula Redevelopment Agency has spent those funds, he said. If elected, he would seek to reduce the MRA's power and scale back or get rid of TIF funding.

He would also push council to conduct a forensic audit of city spending, he said, adding that increased transparency is a goal and city council has little control over how TIF money is spent.

It is not the city's duty to provide affordable housing, he said.

"The duties of the city are to provide the wherewithal for developers, homeowners and agencies to provide homes at a reasonable cost to its citizenry," Ault said. "We have so many levels of bureaucracy for these developers (that) just prohibits them getting their work done and it really slows things down and the cost of everything goes up."

It is also not the city's responsibility to provide homeless people with shelter, he said. He did not support the city's purchase of the Sleepy Inn, which has been used to house homeless people who are either at risk or are quarantined due to COVID-19.
As a result, Barbara Peck, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee state court system, said Wednesday that lawyers for courts in her state had advised that it is not applicable in Tennessee.

Some housing advocates said the new system would be complicated but would prevent some evictions. Their clients were grateful for the reprieve.

Antoinette Eleby, 42, of Miami, said she had been worried as she expected an eviction order within two to three weeks after she said her landlord twice refused to take federal rental assistance. She had sent five of nine children to live with her mother in another county.

But after hearing about the new CDC order, Eleby said she was hopeful the additional time would persuade her landlord to take the federal funds and she could remain her home. She has been told by her lawyer that the order means she cannot be evicted by sheriffs officers.

Now that this happened, Im kind of at ease. I am just seeing what are the next steps. I just have to continue hoping for the best, said Eleby, who couldnt work for part of the pandemic after her family contracted COVID-19.



Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville in Washington and Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The State Department said Wednesday it's looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whisky given more than two years ago to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan. Pompeo knows nothing about the gift or an inquiry, a representative said.

In a notice filed in the Federal Register, the department said that it could find no trace of the bottle's whereabouts and that there is an "ongoing inquiry" into what happened to the booze. The department reported the investigation in its annual accounting of gifts given to senior U.S. officials by foreign governments and leaders.

The department's Office of Protocol is required to record gifts given to U.S. officials and keep track of their disposition. Recipients have the option of turning gifts of a certain value over to the National Archives or another government entity or purchasing them for personal use by reimbursing the Treasury Department for their value.

The Japanese whisky was valued at $5,800 and was presented to Pompeo in June 2019, presumably when he visited the country that month for a Group of 20 summit that was also attended by President Donald Trump. But unlike other gifts, the department said there was no record of what had become of the bottle.
River discharge that drained into the Gulf of Mexico was above normal for the three weeks before the weeklong survey started on July 25. It was conducted by scientists from Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

The distribution of the low dissolved oxygen was unusual this summer, Nancy Rabalais, the lead investigator, said. The low oxygen conditions were very close to shore with many observations showing an almost complete lack of oxygen.

Human activities in urban and agricultural areas throughout the Mississippi River watershed primarily cause the annual dead zone. Excess nutrients flow into the Gulf of Mexico and stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which die and decompose. The algae deplete oxygen as they sink to the bottom.

NOAA highlighted efforts to reduce fertilizer runoff and other pollution from contributing to the hypoxic area. Radhika Fox, the Environmental Protection Agencys assistant administrator for water, said climate change also needs to be considered to make progress.

This year, we have seen again and again the profound effect that climate change has on our communities  from historic drought in the west to flooding events, Fox said. Climate is directly linked to water, including the flow of nutrient pollution into the Gulf of Mexico.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Holmes likely wont make her ruling until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.

In past hearings, Mengs lawyers have argued her extraction should be halted because Canadian Border Security Agency officers detained and questioned her without a lawyer, asked questions that benefited U.S. authorities, seized her electronic devices and put them in special bags to prevent wiping, and compelled her to give up the passcodes before her official arrest.

They have also argued that comments by then-President Donald Trump showed he hoped to use Mengs arrest as part of a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China.

Soon after Mengs arrest, China arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in apparent retaliation and charged them with spying. Both have remained in custody with limited access to Canadian consular officials.

Canadian consular officials had online visits with Kovrig on July 29 and Spavor on Tuesday, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said.

It said officials continue to provide consular services" to the men and their families but Canadian law prevented the release of further information.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday ordered face coverings for all school children from preschool through 12th grade to thwart the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Democratic governor also said he will require all state employees who work in highly populated facilities such as prisons to be vaccinated.

With the potentially deadly virus continuing to spread, worsened by the more virulent delta variant, Pritzker urged residents who have not been vaccinated to get the shots necessary to prevent the illness and its spread.

Every time we think we know where this virus is headed, it changes, and it shifts...," Pritzker said in Chicago. I want to say this, specifically to young adults: Please do not think that the worst-case scenario can't happen to you. It can happen. It is happening. Get vaccinated."

The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans' homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled. Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.
It just felt it was the right time to share, that God was calling on me to do it," Samsel said during the interview. I just hope this brings light to the mental health battles, that a lot of us are struggling.

Samsel's attorney, Christopher Scott, did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday seeking comment. County Attorney Brandon Jones, the local prosecutor, is out of the office until next week, his office said, and he did not immediately return a telephone message.

Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area Republican, said Samsel's situation shows the importance of mental health services.

"Im pleased to see those services are being used and hope they will continue to be used by any Kansan feeling the weight that often comes with stress and anxiety, he said.

Videos shot by students on April 28 and provided by a parent showed Samsel talking about suicide, God and sex in a noisy classroom. According to the deputy's affidavit, Samsel said he only demonstrated a kick for one boy who had disrupted class but did not kick him. The deputy also wrote that Samsel said God told him to do what he did.

Samsel said Wednesday that he was trying to make a point about mental health issues and the need for people to be kinder to one another.
Moving forward, the administration will continue to evaluate school participation in the program and the potential need to seek recommendation from the Commission to spend remaining grant funds, a spokesperson for the governor said.

Schools must spend at least 85% of the money theyre awarded directly on testing materials like kits, personal protective equipment or services such as staffing, courier contracts and more. Public and private K-12 schools are eligible, as are school-affiliated summer programs.

Of the 31 schools that responded to a state health department survey, 25 expressed interest in testing programs to varying degrees.

Fifty-four schools in the state have already received rapid COVID-19 antigen tests, and most of those schools have begun testing and reporting for their staff and students.

In other funding announcements, over $1.6 million will go toward an employment and training program that assists people supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program gain skills and workforce experience.

Gianforte said the funds will help SNAP recipients become self-sufficient.

Currently, the program is only available in three Montana counties: Yellowstone, Missoula and Lewis and Clark.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Dock workers who launched a strike that prevented thousands of shipping containers with items including food and medicine from reaching Puerto Rico in recent weeks have reached a tentative agreement with their employer, officials said Wednesday.

Many in the U.S. territory were relieved at the announcement, given the islands huge dependence on imports. However, concerns remain since the deal between Puerto Ricos Union of Dock Workers and stowage company Luis Ayala Colon Sucres, Inc. is in place for only 45 days.

The strike had prevented some 4,500 shipping containers and 13 boats from reaching Puerto Rico and another 5,000 containers from leaving the island. It also prompted the U.S. territory's government to file a lawsuit on Monday against union workers and the company known as LAC, which handles 80% of all international cargo entering the Port of San Juan.

The situation has reached a breaking point, Puerto Ricos Ports Authority said in the lawsuit.

It is seeking a permanent injunction ordering that those sued meet their responsibilities, noting that it has been unable to collect more than $400,000 in fees and tariffs.
Yes, Chipman supports sensible, proven restrictions regarding firearms to improve public safety, as do I, and many of my fellow Montanans and fellow gun owners. Does this violate our constitutional rights? No. There have and always will be restrictions on Second Amendment rights. I would have to meet stringent requirements to own an M60 machine gun. I am not allowed to have an M203 grenade launcher, an M1 Abrams tank, a LAAW (Light Anti-Tank Assault Weapon), Stinger anti-aircraft missile or a nuclear warhead. Those all seem like reasonable restrictions to me. We all draw the line somewhere.

Recent polls show that anywhere from 65-77% of Americans support further, sensible restrictions on firearms. Presidents as diverse in views and policies as Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton all supported stricter background checks to purchase guns and bans on certain types of weapons. Its time to drop the divisive, inflammatory, erroneous rhetoric and collectively work together to act.

David Chipman is exactly the kind of leader who can help unite us as a nation to rationally, reasonably and collectively decide where to draw the line and enact reasonable and effective restrictions to enhance the safety of us all. He is the most qualified person to lead ATF and the law-enforcement agents working every day to keep the public safe from violent crime.

The Senate should confirm David Chipman, and I urge all my fellow Montanans to express support for the most qualified leader this embattled agency would have.

A past president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, David Stalling is a gun owner, former Force Recon Marine and avid hunter who lives in Missoula.

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In an interview last Sunday, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester was asked what his constituents want in relation to climate change and whether it was an urgent threat. He said he doesnt hear much from his constituents on climate  theyre worried about other issues, like affordable housing and broadband access. His response included, In the area of climate change, I can tell you that not a lot of people, myself included, by the way, know what we can do today that's going to make a significant difference in the near future.

He acknowledged the impacts of climate change are real, citing his own farm, where drought led to his worst harvest in 44 years. Sadly, he offered few solutions beyond more R&D and electric vehicle charging stations.

We are experiencing another record-breaking fire season throughout the West, along with the smoke it generates and the resulting health issues. Low stream flows are negatively affecting fishing, irrigation, municipal water sources and more.

These effects dont care about politics. Scientists say we need to reduce our CO2 emissions by 7-8% per year for the next 10 years to stay below a change of 1.5 degrees C.
I recently listened in on U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendales telephone town hall meeting. If participants wanted to ask a question, they were connected to a staff member and put in a queue.

I was connected and told the staffer I wanted to ask Rosendale what he was doing to promote the COVID vaccinations in Montana. After some discussion, the staffer stated that, Everyone I know who received the vaccine ended up in the hospital with blood clots. Seriously? I told him I knew dozens of vaccinated people and not one of them had any serious side effects.

After hanging up, I found that blood clot hospitalizations have occurred in a few cases: 2-3 per 1 million for Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 2 per 328 million for Moderna and similar findings for Pfizer. I was shocked that the staffer and his acquaintances could have such bad luck in light of the statistics! I called the D.C. office to report this obvious falsehood by the staffer and was told that someone would contact me soon. I am still waiting.

I am concerned that Rosendales office is spreading dangerous information about the vaccines. These blatant deceptions need to be stopped.

Amy McAllister,

Missoula

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On Jan. 6, violent rioters attacked the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., under the guise that voter fraud was the reason the former president lost the 2020 election. Although numerous government agencies and courts investigated the rumors of fraud and found no evidence of any improprieties, the rioters stormed the Capitol with the intention of doing harm to lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence.

While trying to achieve their goal, the rioters were filmed attacking security personnel with numerous types of weapons including guns, clubs, pepper spray and large rocks. During the confrontation the rioters were recorded yelling their intent to kill the police, the lawmakers and to hang the vice president. Unfortunately, even with all the evidence showing this was an out-of-control violent mob, our Congressman Matt Rosendale and a few other politicians put the blame for the violence on the brave personnel assigned to protect the Capitol and the people inside.

Rosendales statement that it was a breach of security, not an armed mob that caused the violence, clearly shows that hes delusional and should be voted out of office.

If you want to save Montana from politicians like Rosendale, please vote in 2022.

Keith Blount,

Butte

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Cuthbertson said he has been encouraged by the prayers he has seen answered over the past 16 months.

There is a young man in his 20s whose lungs had collapsed, he said. His family called me to the hospital, and I prayed with him because he wanted to be sure about his faith. They sent him up to Mission Hospital, and he stayed in the ICU for a week or two. We kept praying for him, and he is now out of the hospital. Hes up and walking, and he is staying close to the Lord.

Cuthbertson added that he also has been inspired by the faithful witness of many of the groups members.

There is one sister named Estelle, he said. She is amazing to the prayer line because of her steadfast faith. She had a stroke several years ago and only has use of one side of her body, but she makes breakfast for her brother, who also had a stroke, every morning. She carries it up the hill to his house, carrying her bag and singing her song. I find it simply amazing that she needs someone helping her, but shes helping others. Its a testament to her faith in what prayer can do.

Cuthbertson plans to continue the prayer line indefinitely and invites anyone interested to join by calling 712-775-7061 and entering the code 812359. The Word of God Telephone Prayer Line meets seven days a week at noon and Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. The 500-day celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Paddys Creek Access to Lake James State Park.
We were almost there.

Thats the most frustrating thing about the most recent announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that even those who are fully vaccinated against the disease should return to wearing masks indoors in cities that are COVID-19 hot spots. It was only two months ago the CDC said we could put our masks away.

We were this close to getting this thing under control, to seeing one another smile, to cookouts, to visiting grandpa, to signing off Zoom, to normal. Now we see it all slipping away as inexorably as the tide going out. We return to masking up, hiding our faces like bank robbers.

Some of us are vexed with the CDC over its shifting guidelines, but you wont get an amen from this corner. Scientists have to follow science, and if this is where the science leads, so be it. No, if youre looking to apportion blame, blame the delta variant. And blame, too, those people who refused to wear masks or be vaccinated, and the public officials who seconded them. Blame the ones who said these were matters of personal choice. As if personal choice supersedes public interest.

And how often have we seen news stories about those same people, newly repentant and freshly contrite, their minds changed after coming nose to nose with their own mortality, courtesy of COVID?
Butte-Silver Bow commissioners will wait until at least next week to discuss requested limits to the 12-day span around the Fourth of July when fireworks can be legally sold and set off in Butte.

That was the suggested plan going into Wednesday nights meeting because it will allow commissioners to have an open dialogue with proponents and opponents of any changes and call on police and fire officials to weigh in.

But six residents still spoke up during a public comment period at Wednesday nights meeting, all saying Buttes fireworks season has gotten out of hand and commissioners should consider changes to when and where they can be set off.

Alanna Zrimsek said she was taking care of a person with dementia last year and they had to endure fireworks going off for five straight days. Under local law, they can be sold and set off from June 24 to July 5 and from Dec. 29 to Dec. 31.

And its not just at 10 oclock at night  its like three in the morning, Zrimsek said. It was horribly stressful. My neighbor behind my house had to leave because her dogs cant take that much excitement. She went to Billings for a week and had to take a week off of vacation.
Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher is also encouraged to see residents getting more involved.

Its going to take a community effort, said Gallagher, from local government, to our police and the community to deal with the problems we have.

Allison Andersen belongs to one such newly formed neighborhood watch. She has lived in her home on West Iron Street for 23 years and is fed up with all the crime in her neighborhood. She says its gotten far worse the past few years.

I am so angry that I now have to raise my 12-year-old son in this kind of environment, she said.

One of her neighbors confided to her, saying, Sometimes it feels like being a prisoner in your own home. I work night shift so I hate going out in the dark. Another said, You get out of your vehicle in front of your house and we find syringes all over.

As crime has increased in Butte, so has public frustration.

In the past three weeks, residents have gathered at least twice in two sections of town to air frustrations and seek answers and action from police and county officials. One was held near Texas Avenue and the other, spearheaded by Andersen, was held at Bennys Power Toys on West Iron Street.
"You're doing your own thing in the 'Live Free or Die' state, so there's a lot of sympathy to you for that," he said. "But there's a lot of weight on the other side of the balance sheet, and not just about what the (landowner) wants to do with the land, but the weight I feel to uphold the judgment of the court and the rule of law."

Gedeon and other supporters came out to a town selectboard meeting on Monday. Board members said the town currently has no standing in the property dispute.

But even if there were a way to allow Lidstone to stay, it would be an uphill battle. His home is in violation of local and state zoning and environmental regulations, and there is no access to a road.

"You guys are in a quandary. So are we," selectman Robert Steenson said.

The woodlot Lidstone calls home is just a few miles away from Interstate 93. But it's hidden by the trees; it's on 73 acres that's been used for timber harvests. The property has been owned by the same family since 1963. There are no plans at this time to develop it.

Lidstone has claimed that years ago, the owner gave his word  but nothing in writing  allowing him to live there. But in the eyes of the current owner, he's a squatter and needs to go.
With this house, the connection with the prison build and the ability to improve recidivism rates for the prisoners is an exciting opportunity, Schafer said. Its a really great project, and it really is like a win-win for our community.

The home the Community Foundation has ordered is a 1,200-square-foot ranch style, with three bedrooms and two baths. After being built and shipped to Muscatine, the home will be placed at 704 Spring St. sometime in September.

Before the move, however, the severely dilapidated house currently at that location will be demolished. The Community Foundation is working with Hackett Construction to prepare and clear the lot for the new house. Hackett Construction will also be handling the homes electrical and plumbing connections, as well as other things that are needed for its completion.

The home will then be sold to a family, with the Community Foundation targeting those of low to middle income  the demographic that is currently struggling the most with finding affordable housing within Muscatine.
H.W. Lochner is the Chicago-based firm that supplies planning, environmental, design, construction engineering and inspection services for all means of transportation across the U.S.

The company has assigned a former chief engineer and director of highway project implementation for the Illinois DOT to work with the Bison Bridge Foundation.

Our firm brings decades of inspection experience that will help ensure a safe and structurally sound design for the new Bison Bridge," said Lochner's Paul Loete.

He inspected the I-80 bridge in March and December of 2010, so he has knowledge of the bridges history and its current structural conditions, Pregracke said.

Lochner also has experience designing long-span river crossings, as well as ground/landscape covered bridges.

Thank you to Lochner Engineering for believing in this project and bringing their expertise to what I hope will become a national treasure for our community and people from all over the world to enjoy, Pregracke said this week. We are proud of the worldwide support that this unique way of repurposing the I-80 bridge has gained and look forward to sharing more about the many benefits this project will bring to the region."
BROOKLYN, Ill. (AP)  An Illinois police officer died early Wednesday while trying to stop a car fleeing police into Missouri, authorities said.

The officer from Brooklyn was struck around 3 a.m. on the McKinley Bridge, which connects the two states. He was setting up stop sticks, which flatten tires, when he was struck by a red Dodge Charger, according to Illinois State Police.

The officer was identified as Brian Pierce, who was new to the department and in his 20s, Brooklyn Police Captain Antonio White told KMOV-TV.

Officer Pierce was a very fine young man. Very energetic," White told the station. When he came to work, he put a smile on your face. Hes an officer that youd love to have on your team, your unit, hes there all the time. If he was off work hed show up, he just loved doing his job and this is what he loved to do as a police officer.

Police didnt offer details on what prompted the police chase, which began at a Brooklyn nightclub where officers were working to obtain video.

Brooklyn is a community of about 450 people roughly six miles from St. Louis.
Filipinos waiting to be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease gather outside a mall, a day before stricter lockdown measures are implemented, in Manila on Aug. 5, 2021.
Editor

Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the Best Editorial Writer Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the CNMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His three books are available on amazon.com
OPINION | Lets get vaccinated so we can get our schools reopened safely
Amazon has been on a recruitment drive in South Africa, hiring thousands of people in customer support and various technical roles.

MyBroadband previously spoke to three people who gave different perspectives about their experiences applying for jobs at Amazon.

The first was someone who had applied when Amazon was on a drive to hire 3,000 new customer service agents from South Africa last year to serve the North American and European markets.

While he did not end up taking the job, he was complimentary of Amazons efficient systems. He also commented that Amazon was a company that demanded a high level of self-discipline from workers.

The second and third were former Amazon Web Services (AWS) employees who gave a detailed account of Amazons hiring process for technical support staff.

These two former Amazon staff members have now provided an insiders perspective of what it was like to work for the tech giant in South Africa.

Both were part of Amazons support teams at the AWS offices in Cape Town and said that Amazon is obsessed with customer satisfaction.

They also said that the work environment is more intense than many South Africans would be accustomed to and that while it may not be for everyone, it can also be immensely rewarding.

One source said that your experience working for AWS is highly dependent on the manager of the team you are assigned to.

Before joining a team, however, employees go through the AWS onboarding process, which one source described as the best he had ever seen in any company.

If you do not live in Cape Town, Amazon will facilitate your relocation. Once your move is done, you begin with the companys 30-day onboarding process.

These thirty days consist of seminars and workshops, familiarising new employees with the companys culture and the different internal products and systems they will be working with.

At the core of the AWS culture are their leadership principles, which one source described as the bible of Amazon. Throughout an employees time at AWS, they will be constantly required to use these principles as a reference point for their work.

Its worth noting that our sources worked at AWS while Jeff Bezos was the CEO of Amazon and when there were 14 leadership principles.

Before he left, Bezos added two more leadership principles:

Strive to be Earths best employer

Success and scale bring broad responsibility

After onboarding, new employees join their teams and are assigned mentors to guide them as they grow accustomed to the company.

From the first moment, however, new employees are expected to reach their targets.

Work hours

At AWS South Africa, teams are assigned to three different shifts and three different shift times per day. The allocations are as follows:

Sunday to Thursday

Monday to Friday

Tuesday to Saturday

On each day, the shift hours are:

06h00 to 15h00

09h00 to 18h00

10h00 to 19h00

Amazon expects you to resolve as many cases as possible during these hours.

Customer obsession and metrics

AWS proudly states that it is customer-obsessed, which means that, at all costs, employees need to ensure customers satisfaction.

This is reflected in the results Amazon expects from their employees, which managers closely monitor.

These metrics are the overall measurement of an employees performance, from case resolves to customer ratings and hours worked, as well as the minutes spent on break and the number of minutes taken to accept support cases.

Both our sources admitted that its obsession with customer experience is so relentless that employees can suffer under it.

You are only as good as your last three months performance at any given time, one source explained.

For support teams, a primary benchmark for employee performance is the number of case resolves.

This is not the only performance measurement, though.

Another major factor is the star ratings customers give to employees, with a 5-star rating being expected by the company and a 1-star rating being inexcusable.

Both our sources reported that receiving a 1-star rating is a disaster as an Amazon employee. The moment a 1-star review shows up on your profile, your line manager and, at times, even higher management will storm to your desk within minutes.

Even a 4-star customer rating is questionable, according to one source.

Customers can abuse the star system, a source said, 1-star ratings can be given to get the attention of the team, especially [from] some clients who know how to manoeuvre the system.

In an extremely intense period, our source said, two of their colleagues were hospitalised due to the mental exhaustion caused by the severe pressure and scrutiny of the company.

And this is where managers can make a crucial difference.

Both our sources said an employees AWS experience is significantly impacted by their individual manager.

One source explained that the managers are there to manage the exceptions, and if your manager is not willing to defend you, you are in for a difficult time at the company.

Of course, managers are expected to manage teams so they achieve their results, and, regardless of the manager, employees are always under pressure to reach the companys expected metrics and are closely monitored.

If you can handle it, Amazon will change your life

When you work at Amazon, you work with some of the most brilliant people in the world.

The company is a cultural melting pot, and youll be working with people ranging from the US to Brazil, India, Israel, Kenya, and, of course, South Africa.

Even though you are placed in a stressful environment, AWS provides a valuable opportunity for skills development.

When you maintain metrics, the company allows you to choose roles that best suit you and allows you considerable mobility within the company, including taking positions in other countries.

Of course, this all depends on your metrics.

According to one source, the biggest factor to consider when going to Amazon from a South African company is the culture shift.

Amazon expects you to do R10,000 worth of work if they pay you R10,000, and they will monitor your every step.

That level of scrutiny is foreign to many South African work environments.

Ultimately, if you work at AWS for one week, our source said, it is bound to change your life.

Now read: Amazon is looking for South Africans to work from home
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is tightening tax collection on cryptocurrency transactions, Joon Chong and Lumen Moolman from Webber Wentzel have warned.

According to Chong and Moolman, this makes it important to distinguish between events that will trigger income tax rates or capital gains tax rates.

They said that SARS is increasingly auditing taxpayers crypto holdings and trading activities.

SARS has also requested information from certain South African crypto exchanges, including Luno, about users on the platform and their transactions.

Crypto is defined as a financial instrument in the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (ITA), as opposed to currency which would have excluded crypto gains from the ambit of capital gains tax, said Chong and Moolman.

This means that the intention of the taxpayer, supported by objective factors such as length of holding and frequency of trades, would determine how cryptocurrency gains are taxes, they explained.

They said that a taxpayers intentions and these objective factors could mean the difference between a maximum tax rate of 45% (income tax) and a maximum tax rate of 18% (capital gains).

Chong and Moolmans views align with those of tax consultant Andre Bothma, who previously warned about the tax implications on cryptocurrency transactions.

SARS has not issued an interpretation note on the tax implications of crypto assets, Chong and Moolman stated.

The two Webber Wentzel attorneys provided the following list of cryptocurrency transactions you should remember when doing your taxes:

Selling cryptocurrencies

Exchanging one crypto for another

Purchasing goods and services using crypto

Crypto mining

Receiving crypto due to a blockchain fork

Receiving and selling crypto staking rewards

Receiving crypto airdrops

Using crypto as collateral for loans

The disposal of crypto as a financial instrument is a taxable event, they said.

It may, however, be hard for taxpayers to prove that their crypto investment gains fall within the [capital gains] net, as there are no capital deeming rules in the [Income Tax Act] for crypto, such as the three-year rule for equity shares.

In determining the intention of the disposal, SARS may be guided by cases involving the disposal of Krugerrands.

In two separate cases  one where a taxpayer held Krugerrands for 12 years and another who held for eight months to nine years  the Tax Court held that the Krugerrands were held on revenue account and subject to income tax rates.

Chong and Moolman advised that it may be practical to use different wallets for trading cryptos and holding cryptos for long-term gains.

The gain when one crypto (say, bitcoin) is exchanged for another (say, ether) is the difference between the market value of the ether and the acquisition cost of the bitcoin.

If the bitcoin was held or acquired on a revenue account, the difference would be taxed as income (45% maximum).

Otherwise, if held on a capital account, the difference will be subject to capital gains tax (18% maximum).

It can be difficult to determine the market value and acquisition cost of crypto in ZAR, the lawyers stated.

We suggest that the spot rate should be used for the transactions. Schedules of rates and transactions should be compiled on the calculated gains or losses on the tax return.

The same principles would apply where the taxpayer has purchased goods or services with crypto.

Assessed losses from trading in crypto may be ring-fenced, they said.

It might not be possible to offset these losses against any other income of the taxpayer if the taxable income and losses of that taxpayer  adding back assessed losses from the current and prior year  are more than R1,577,300 for the 2021 tax year.

However, they noted that there are exceptions to this rule in Section 20A (2)(b)(ix) of the Act.

Staking, mining, forks, and airdrops

If you acquired cryptocurrency from mining or a blockchain fork, your intentions determine how it will be taxed.

If you intended to conduct a trade, the gains would be taxed at your income tax rate.

However, if you intended to hold the crypto as a long-term investment, they will be subject to capital gains.

Staking rewards are also taxed at income tax rates, and are, for now, unlikely to meet the definition of interest in the Income Tax Act, Chong and Moolman stated.

This means that the annual interest exemption for individuals cannot be set off against staking rewards.

Further complexities arise when staking rewards are sold.

For example, assume a taxpayer received staking rewards with a market value of R100 at the time of receipt. That R100 would be subject to income tax as it is akin to interest, without the annual interest exemption.

Assume next that the staking reward is sold for R450 after five years. The difference between R450 and R100 is the gain on the disposal.

This gain may be taxed at capital gains rates, not income tax rates, again depending on the taxpayers intention at disposal.

If you receive new crypto through airdrops on existing holdings, this is akin to distributing new financial instruments based on existing financial instruments held.

Once again, SARS would take the taxpayers intention in holding the existing crypto, frequency of trading, and how long they held the crypto into account.

It is irrelevant that the value of the crypto airdropped was not converted to ZAR, stated Chong and Moolman.

Income is subject to tax when received or accrued, and there is accrual when there is an unconditional entitlement to the crypto/income.

Crypto used as collateral

In our view, when crypto is used as collateral for a loan, there is no disposal of the crypto and no taxing event, said Chong and Moolman.

Where the taxpayer is the lender and receives interest in crypto, then the market value of the crypto would be subject to income tax.

In this situation, Chong and Moolman said that they would argue the annual interest exemption should apply.

We recommend that taxpayers seek advice to ensure that their crypto gains are reported correctly in their tax returns, they said.

The volatility and high-risk nature of this asset class should not be compounded by an unexpected tax bill!
South Africa experienced 650 hours of load-shedding during the first half of 2021, and Eskoms data shows a worrying increase in unplanned outages.

This is according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which has released a half-year update of its periodic annual statistics on utility-scale power generation.

Statistics for the first half of 2021 showed that system demand increased by 5% relative to the same period last year but was still 2.2% lower than the first half of 2019.

In other words, electricity demand in South Africa has not yet returned to similar levels seen before the onset of the Covid19 pandemic.

An estimated 963 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy was shed, mainly through stage 2 load-shedding. Expressed as a percentage, South Africans experienced load-shedding 15% of the time.

The extent of load-shedding experienced was largely driven by a declining Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of the existing coal fleet, the CSIRs Joanne Calitz and Jarrad Wright stated.

Overall the EAF was 61.3% for the first half of 2021, relative to 65% in 2020 and 66.9% in 2019.

A concerning shift of the unplanned outage component of the EAF has also been highlighted where unplanned outages of up to 15,300 megawatt (MW) were experienced and were greater than 10,000MW for more than 80% of H12021.

The CSIR noted that coal continues to dominate the South African energy mix, contributing 83.5% in the first half of 2021 as an additional coal unit at the Kusile power station entered into commercial operation.

The contribution from renewable energy sources was almost 11% and included solar photovoltaics, wind, hydro, and concentrated solar power.

South Africas total zero-carbon energy sources were 14.3% of its energy mix when factoring in nuclear power station Koeberg.

The statistics showed that South Africas energy mix breaks down as follows:

Coal energy  94TWh (83.5%)

Nuclear energy  4.3TWh (3.7%)

Renewable energy  12.4TWh (11%)

Variable renewable energy  6.8TWh (6%)

Diesel  1.9 TWh (1.7%)

The CSIR said that during the first half of 2021, South Africa had 52.6GW of nominal public wholesale capacity:

Coal  38.7GW

Nuclear  1.9GW

Diesel (open cycle gas turbines)  3.4GW

Hydro nominal capacity  0.6GW

Hydro and pumped storage combined  2.7GW

Wind  2.6 GW

Solar PV  2.2 GW

Concentrated solar power  0.5GW

725MW of coal, 118MW of wind, and 54 MW of utility-scale solar PV became operational in the first half of 2021.
The situation is a little different for vineyards, many of which operate with their own wells.

We all need to do our share, but the reality is were not all drinking out of the same glass, Wolf said. Im not sure a vineyard owner in Oakville, for example, is having much impact on somebody using municipal water in Calistoga.

Perhaps not vineyards, but to produce a gallon of wine it takes five or six gallons of potable water from municipal supplies. Unlike vineyards, the wineries are competing with residents for that water, Manfree said.

There is also timing. Almost all of that water use happens at the driest time of year, from August through the end of October.

But pointing the finger at individual water users and saying "you need to conserve" is not productive, Manfree said. There are also hotels and resorts and it takes a lot of water to wash all those sheets and towels, and keep the pool full."

I think we could benefit from a more holistic approach where we look at all of the water resources and figure out what all of the allocations look like, because the amount of water thats allocated to agriculture is enormous in Napa County, Manfree said.

If the well runs dry
PLEASANTON, Calif. (AP)  Human remains found under a tree in a rugged Northern California park likely belong to a man who went missing last month after going for a run, police said.

A volunteer searcher found the body Tuesday about a quarter of a mile from the trail that Philip Kreycik had charted on a fitness app for his run at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, said Capt. Lance Breed of East Bay Regional Park District police.

Kreycik, 37, left his Berkeley home the morning of July 10 and drove to the park for an hourlong run. When he didnt return by the afternoon, his wife called authorities.

Hundreds of volunteers and officials used drones, aircraft and off-road vehicles to look for weeks for the father of two young children.

We wanted to bring him home alive and safe, so to deliver this news today is hard for all of us, said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriffs Department.

Kelly said the remains had on running clothes and Kreyciks distinctive running shoes. He said there were no immediate signs of foul play.

The day Kreycik went missing, temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 Celsius).
Climate change, and the rising temperatures and erratic weather that it generates, have already limited the accuracy of winegrowing regions as classified by the index, according to UC Davis scientists. Napa Valley was considered a Region II in the original Winkler Index. Now, most parts are a Region III or IV.

The Carneros region, which borders Napa and Sonoma, became a prime region for growing grapes that thrive in cooler climates, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Now, it's beginning to warm, Winiarski said.

Because we are in a period of climate change, we need more refined and comprehensive ways of measuring the effect of heat on plant physiology and grape maturity, he said.

The development of new methods of measurement would be extraordinarily helpful," he added. "With better knowledge of changes in the compositional elements in the grapes in the vineyard, well have better guidance on how to respond in the winery and create the wines we want to make.

New technology, more accuracy
Six years ago, I was hospitalized for several days, during which time two physicians assigned to me tried to persuade me to give up all wine permanently. Both pointed to evidence of harm. But there are health benefits of moderate consumption, I said. Both ignored that remark.

(At the end of this column I offer completely non-scientific evidence they were wrong.)

Not coincidentally, I later learned, both physicians had attended the same college, an institution that has, as a guiding principle, a viewpoint so neo-Prohibitionist youd think it had been lifted out of the Womens Christian Temperance Union hymnal.

Despite the doctors medical degrees, I politely explained that their medical opinions were somewhat Swiss cheesy and that science has already proved it.

The recent London study, above, stated that scientists had determined that a small to moderate amount of alcohol taken daily was directly linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. The study did not address the consumption of a quart of rotgut.

The Telegraph in London, in a story on the report, said that people who had suffered a stroke, heart attack, or angina and were moderate wine imbibers were 27% less likely to die of a heart attack than teetotallers.
It was pretty amazing  old stone walls and a cellar  really good bones, Kirk said.

Kirk was involved with the entire process of renovation, believing that one day the reimagined structure would be where he would make wine as an adult. However, when his parents divorced in 2008 the winery was sold to the William Foley group. Kirk was left adrift and pondering how he might ever afford his own winery.

An angel

I always wanted to be a winery owner  even when I was just 6 years old, Kirk said. I looked up to my dad, and I thought that working in the vineyards, driving tractors, traveling and being around interesting people seemed like such a great life.

But purchasing a vineyard and constructing a winery are exceptionally expensive, and with the familys winery sold, it appeared he might never own his own operation. Thats when his mother and sister stepped in.

My mother was my first angel investor, he said. She and my sister loaned me money to get me started. They both provided me the support and resources to purchase the vineyard and build a small winery. Without them, this would never have happened.
Microsoft says employees must be fully vaccinated to enter the company's U.S. offices.

The tech giant told employees it would require proof of vaccination from all employees, suppliers, and guests entering Microsoft buildings in the United States. The company is also postponing its return to the office until October 4th.

Caregivers of immunocompromised people or parents of children who are too young to be vaccinated can work from home until January, the company said.

Microsoft's new vaccine policy echoes similar steps taken last week by other employers, including Google and Facebook, as well as Disney and Walmart.
Armenia 3rd President visits Amaras Monastery

Iran President picks Hossein Amirabdollahian as new FM

21-year-old by the name of "Potorik" stabbed in Armenia's Etchmiadzin

Turkish defense minister says Kabul International Airport should remain open

30-year-old resident of Armenia's Khachpar stabs fellow villager, is detained

Commander of Armenia Armed Forces' first army corps dismissed

Armenia defense minister visits Yerablur Military Pantheon, meets with relatives of deceased servicemen (PHOTO)

Armenia acting first deputy finance minister sacked

Armenia PM appoints Chief Protocol Officer

Armenia finance minister receives IMF Resident Representative

Elections to be held in Armenia's Goris, Meghri, Tatev and Tegh on Oct. 17

Armenia parliament to convene special session on Aug. 17

Armenia premier meets with outgoing Ambassador of Georgia

Uruguay FM to pay official visit to Armenia

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Fire contained at former Yerevan leather factory (PHOTOS)

Democratic Party leader explains which option of unblocking communications is beneficial for Armenia

Death toll from floods in Turkeys Black Sea region rises to 27

Lavrov says Russia will continue its foreign policy after State Duma elections

British envoy responds to Iran MFA's allegation about published photo

Germany's Merkel to meet with Putin in Moscow

Armenia party leader: Russia is now bearer of principle of not an inch of land in Artsakh

Armenia police conducting internal investigation in connection with NEWS.am report

Monument to fallen soldiers of 44-day war unveiled at Yerevan school yard (PHOTOS)

Armenia revenue committee: 1,571 grams of gold jewelry hidden from customs control is found

Firefighters trying to contain fire for over 3 hours at former Yerevan leather factory

About 3 million people instructed to evacuate in Japan due to heavy rains

Russia not considering evacuating its embassy in Kabul

Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh

Artsakh army dismisses statement that its units opened fire on Azerbaijan positions

Young man dies, there are injured after road accident on Armenia motorway

Six people killed in mass shooting in England

Zvartnots International Airport: Lufthansa launches new flight between Yerevan, Frankfurt (PHOTOS)

Unrest in Turkey capital, dozens detained in attack on Syrians

26 people apply to hospital due to drinking water poisoning in Armenias Armavir Province

Torrential rains kill 21 people in China

Blinken discusses Afghanistan with Canada, Germany FMs, NATO Secretary General

397 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh donate about 40 liters of blood to patients

Taliban take control of Afghanistans Lashkar Gah city

Pham Minh Chinh: Vietnam has always underscored traditional friendship with Armenia

9 residents of Armenias Armavir Province poisoned by drinking water, criminal case opened

One dead, 2 injured after car catches fire on Armenia motorway

Three US brothers die after getting stuck in manure pit

Newspaper: Armenia National Security Service to call Criminal Court of Appeal judges for questioning

Newspaper: What will new Armenia government look like?

Banak.info coordinator: Azerbaijan deliberately fires at Armenias Yeraskh village

Israel and Morocco agree to open their embassies in the near future

Mysterious video of UFO sparks heated discussions

UK researchers warn of new coronavirus outbreak in fall

Nine Armenia village residents with same complaints hospitalized at infectious diseases department

Armenian soldier who lost eyesight during 44-day Karabakh war and his fiance tie the knot (PHOTO)

Armenia defense minister introduces new commander of 2nd military formation to administration and units

Russia bans entry of ex-Ambassador of Azerbaijan into country for 50 years

Russia Defense Ministry reports ceasefire violation committed by Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Karabakh

Armenian court rules to arrest Spain citizen who cruelly murdered a man and injured 2 citizens of Armenia's Etchmiadzin

Attorney says Yerevan travel agency plundered millions from hundreds of citizens through fraud

Israel FM opens country's diplomatic representation in Morocco

Russia MOD arrives in China to follow active stage of Russian-Chinese military exercises

Armlur.am: Armenia PM is in parliament where "Civil Contract" faction is holding a closed session

Karabakh emergency situations service: Searches for servicemen's remains in Mataghis-Talish direction were fruitless

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani troops open fire at Armenian military posts in Yeraskh section starting from 5:20 p.m.

Floods that hit Turkey leave 9 dead, 1 missing

Ukrainian businessman's  company selling its coal mines to Armenia citizen Yelena Hovhannisyan

Pavel Manukyan charged for statement about eliminating Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan

Names of chairpersons of Armenia Parliament's 12 standing committees announced after vote

Ebrahim Raisi: Cooperation between Iran and Turkey is necessary for establishment of peace in the region

Armenia Parliament Speaker meets with representative of Assyrian community

Erdogan not ruling out meeting with the Taliban

Hermitage shop of perfumes and cosmetics is now also open at Erebuni Mall (PHOTOS)

Strong winds severely damage Armenias Zvartnots museum-reserve roof (PHOTOS)

Armenians Forward Together forum kicks off in Yerevan (PHOTOS)

Shoygu on current situation in Afghanistan

Dollar goes up in Armenia

Iran FM slams Russian, British envoys over inappropriate photo

Armenia parliament holding vote for chairpersons of 12 standing committees

Authorities of Afghanistan's Farah surrender to Taliban

Artsakh Defense Army: Azerbaijan tried to break line of contact, attempt was prevented

Lufthansa entering Armenia civil aviation market

Armenia parliament ruling faction nominates candidate for European integration committee chair

Two of the injured in Artsakh cluster bomb explosion still in critical, moderate condition

Russian peacekeepers ensure security during construction of water pipeline in Nagorno-Karabakh

Water poisoning in Armenias Armavir, 9 people hospitalized

Armenia official: Railway will pass through Nakhichevan, Meghri if it is decided to be operated

No fallen soldiers remains found during Wednesday's search in Artsakh

Armenia ambassador to Israel is recalled

Opposition Armenia Faction MP: Authorities are exerting unprecedented pressure on media

Armenia government to recompense Constitutional Court ex-judge

Economy minister, Lufthansa representatives underscore intensification of Armenia-Germany business relations

Armenia PM: We have no intention to conquer territories

Ardshinbank wins Domestic Retail Bank of the Year  Armenia award at ABF Retail Banking Awards 2021

399 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia territorial administration minister, TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission chief discuss collaboration

Armenia government holding Cabinet meeting

Eight people killed after helicopter crashes into lake in Russia

Azerbaijan fired shots near Artsakhs Arav village about 10 days ago, says rural community head

US ready to hold consultations with OPEC on increasing oil production

Armenia new legislature still debating on election of standing committees chairpersons

Newspaper: Armenia government preparing for counterattack

Newspaper: Armenia National Security Service questions judge who released ex-President Kocharyan from custody
Activists of radical organizations disrupted a rally in the center of Beirut on the day of mourning for those killed in the explosion a year ago in the seaport.

As the representative of the Lebanese Red Cross Society, George Quettane, told reporters, on the approaches to the parliament building from the Place de Martyr square, clashes occurred between police forces and demonstrators. 84 people were injured or suffered from the use of tear gas on both sides.

The riot police used water cannons against activists, who threw stones and Molotov cocktails at them. Clashes between groups of aggressive protesters and gendarmes, who came to the aid of the military, continued for at least three hours. Towards midnight, the city center was cleared of demonstrators who retreated to the Jumeizi and Saifi districts.

President Michel Aoun promised in his speech at an international sponsorship conference in support of the people of Lebanon, which took place online on Wednesday, that the ongoing investigation of the tragic incident at the seaport will be completed and justice will prevail.

According to the head of state, everyone who has shown negligence will appear before the court.

On August 4, 2020, an explosion occurred in the seaport of Beirut, the capacity of which was 1,500 tons of TNT. The blast wave destroyed and damaged thousands of houses inside and outside the city, 218 people died, 6,500 were injured, more than 300,000 citizens were left homeless. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Internal Affairs, the explosion was caused by the ignition of over 2.7 thousand tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse during welding.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Iran on a working visit. After the official welcoming ceremony at Tehran's Mehrabad airport, the latter went to the presidential residence, where he was met by the newly elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi.

During the meeting, Pashinyan thanked Raisi for the warm welcome and once again congratulated him on his election to the post of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He stressed that multilateral cooperation with Iran, based on mutual respect and understanding, is of paramount importance for Armenia.

"We are ready to jointly continue our dialogue and further enrich the agenda of bilateral cooperation. The fact that I am here today testifies to our commitment to deepening relations and strengthening cooperation between Armenia and Iran at the highest level," Pashinyan said.

The leaders of Armenia and Iran discussed a wide range of issues related to the strengthening of trade and economic ties. In particular, the interlocutors considered the process of ensuring the vigorous activity of the free economic zone Meghri and the possibility of using the free trade regime of Iran with the EAEU as an incentive for the development of interaction in this area. The parties called the development of regional communications a priority, where the development of transport and cable communications from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea will be of key importance.

Pashinyan welcomed the Iranian side's interest in the North-South highway construction program, adding that the Armenian Government is ready to discuss the participation of Iranian construction companies in the international tender for the Sisian-Meghri section of the above program.

The leaders of the Republic of Armenia and Iran also touched upon the possibilities of developing cooperation in the energy sector. In particular, the parties discussed the steps taken to start construction of the Iran-Armenia 400 kV power transmission line, noted the importance of extending the gas-electricity exchange program, increasing the volume of gas-electricity exchange after the commissioning of the third high-voltage line.

The Prime Minister of Armenia stressed the importance of Iran's consistent efforts to establish peace and stability in the region. In turn, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran noted that maintaining peace in the region is of key importance for Tehran, adding that the Iranian side also considers it necessary to resolve all issues through dialogue.

The sides instructed the heads of the relevant departments to closely cooperate to advance various issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Iranian cooperation.

In the evening, Nikol Pashinyan will take part in the official inauguration ceremony of the president of Iran.
Russia has always paid special attention to the issues of cultural and historical heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions, and everyone knows that. This is what Deputy Director of the Department of Press and Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Bikantov said today in response to a question how the Russian Federation would assess the actions of the Azerbaijani side which has been prohibiting Armenian clergymen from entering Dadivank Monastery for the past few months now.

Russia is certain that this is a major humanitarian issue, and it regularly raises the issue during contacts with the officials of both Baku and Yerevan. Russian peacekeepers escort groups of pilgrims who visit Dadivank Monastery, Amaras Monastery and Gandzasar Monastery. We resolutely support the organizing of the mission of UNESCO to the region soon since it can help assess the state of affairs on the spot. The issue is in the viewing field of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, he said.

As already reported, Azerbaijan has been prohibiting Armenian clergymen from entering Dadivank Monastery (12th-13th century Armenian monastery that the Azerbaijani authorities would present as an Albanian cathedral for purposes of propaganda and without any historical justification-ed.) for the past three months. The Armenian clergymen are even prohibited from entering the premises of the monastic complex. Pilgrims also cant enter the premises. Since May, Azerbaijan has been prohibiting pilgrims from entering the premises of the monastery, and again, without any reasoning.
A suspect in the murder of a Kurdish family has been arrested in Turkey. Videos show how Mehmet Altun shoots the victims.

According to Mezopotamya agency, Altun was hiding in the countryside of Bozkyr district of Konya.

On July 30, Altun drove up in a leased car to the Dedeoglu familys house in Meram district. The video shows how he talks to the head of the family Yasar Dedeoglu and then opens fire at the whole family.

Altun also set fire to the house before leaving. The fire was put out shortly after, but seven family members were killed.



Immediately after that, the Prosecutor Generals Office of Konya arrested 14 suspects, while Altun stayed in liberty. On Wednesday, 10 of the 14 suspects were arrested.

The victims lawyer Abdurrahman Karabulut said Altun hadnt planned the massacre on his own. It turned out that the aggressors family had created a WhatsApp group to organize and plan the massacre after the attack on the family on May 12, Karabulut wrote.

In May, a large group of 60 people attacked Dedeoglus house, breaking windows and seriously injuring one family member. The family continued to receive death threats from individuals presenting themselves as members of Ulku Ocaklar, an organization of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party.

Another Kurd was killed in the village of Konya during a racist attack on July 21.
Hong Kong should 'learn to live' with Covid: expert

HKU academic Benjamin Cowling says Hong Kong residents will have to live with the coronavirus sooner or later. File photo: RTHK

Epidemiologist Benjamin Cowling said on Tuesday that a more sustainable Covid strategy for Hong Kong would be to learn to live with the virus.



The University of Hong Kong academic was speaking after the UK lifted pandemic restrictions on Monday.



"I think if we can get a high vaccination coverage, then learning to live with the virus, like they're doing in the UK, might be a better, longer-term strategy," he said. We'll have to do that sooner or later anyway."



The British government on Monday lifted pandemic restrictions on daily life in England, scrapping all social distancing in a step slammed by scientists and opposition parties as a dangerous leap into the unknown.



UK authorities defended the move despite a sharp rise in infections with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the country's vaccine programme had severely weakened the link between infection, serious illness, and death.



The UK recorded just under 40,000 new Covid cases yesterday and 19 deaths.



Cowling also said a mainland travel bubble with Hong Kong could easily break down, as hopes of reopening borders after over 18 months of disruptions are buoyed by projected vaccination figures in the territory.



"I think that's going to be a fragile bubble. I think there will be times when it's open and there'll also be times when it has to close again.



Personally, I don't think that's a very good strategy or a very good target for Hong Kong to aim for."



Officials had said the inoculation rate in the SAR could reach 70 percent by September.
Hong Kong reaches 50pc vaccination rate for first jab

An elderly man receives his vaccination. File photo: AFP

The government on Thursday said Hong Kong had reached a 50 percent inoculation rate for the first Covid jab, while 38 percent had had both shots.



Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip, who's responsible for the vaccination drive, said more than 3.4 million people had now had their first dose.



On his Facebook page, he said that a 70 percent vaccination rate was now the basic goal. But he also said he hoped 90, or even 100 percent, would get inoculated, so social-distancing restrictions could be relaxed.



Daily vaccination rates have been picking up. Over 67,000 people got a jab on Thursday, that's 1,100 more than the seven-day moving average.



According to government figures, roughly 40 percent have opted for the traditional inactivated-virus Sinovac jab, and 60 percent for the BioNTech shot, which uses new mRNA technology.



An mRNA Covid vaccine produces a harmless spike protein, found on the surface of the virus, to create an immune response.



With regard to the highly-infectious delta variant of Covid, a recent Public Health England analysis, which is yet to be peer reviewed, shows BioNTech to be 88 percent effective against developing symptoms and 96 percent effective against hospitalisation
President Joe Biden is expected to set an ambitious new target for half of all new auto sales in the U.S. to be low- or zero-emission by 2030, a plan that has received tentative support from the Big Three automakers pending what they say will require hefty government support.

General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) issued a joint statement Thursday that they had shared aspiration[s] to achieve a 40% to 50% share of electric in new vehicle sales by the end of the decade, with the caveat that such a target can be achieved only with the timely deployment of the full suite of electrification policies committed to by the Administration in the Build Back Better Plan.

Some of the investments they list include consumer incentives, a national EV charging network of sufficient density, funding for R&D and manufacturing and supply chain incentives.

Bidens target, which will come in the form of an executive order on Thursday, will be nonbinding and entirely voluntary. The target includes vehicles powered by batteries, hydrogen fuel cells or plug-in hybrids.

Executives from the three OEMs, as well as representatives from the United Automobile Workers union, are expected to attend an event on the new target at the White House Thursday. Tesla, it seems, was not invited, according to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk.

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Biden will also be calling for new fuel economy standards for passenger and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles through model year 2026, which were rolled back under President Trumps tenure, according to a White House factsheet released Thursday. The new standards, which will be crafted under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, should come as no surprise to automakers: They were included in Bidens so-called Day One Agenda and mark a cornerstone of his strategy to combat climate change.

The new standards will likely borrow from those passed by California last year, which were finalized in concert with a coalition of five automakers: BMW AG, Ford, Honda Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, and Volvo AB. Those automakers, in a separate statement Thursday, said they supported the White Houses plan to reduce emissions. However, like the Big Three, they said that bold action from the federal government will be needed to achieve emission reductions targets.

Story continues

The road to 2030

While Bidens nonbinding order is more of a symbolic one, the targets are likely achievable, Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of insights said in a statement. She added that automotive industry leaders have seen the writing on the wall for some time now regarding electrification, regardless of who has been in the White House.

Thanks to the relatively long product development lead time, many of the major automakers have already announced multibillion-dollar investments in EVs and AVs at least through the middle of the decade. That includes a $35 billion investment through 2025 from GM and $30 billion through the same year from Ford -- not to mention similar announcements from Stellantis and many billions earmarked for battery R&D from Volkswagen, and even Volvo Cars shift to all-electric by 2030.

These massive numbers follow the automakers own sales targets, which are for the most part in line with Bidens goal.

Fuel economy rules, however, have historically garnered slightly more mixed reactions from automakers. GM, Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis) and Toyota had previously supported a Trump-era lawsuit that sought to strip Californias authority to set its own emissions standards -- but each company eventually made an about-face, leaving the road open for Biden to introduce his own standards this year.

In a very real sense, Bidens announcement is as much about geopolitics as it is about climate change. He, too, has seen the writing on the wall regarding EVs. His administration notes in the factsheet that China is increasingly cornering the global supply chain for EVs and EV battery materials. By setting clear targets for electric vehicle sale trajectories, these countries are becoming magnets for private investment into their manufacturing sectors -- from parts and materials to final assembly.

While three times as many EVs were registered in the U.S. in 2020 versus 2016, America still lags behind both Europe and China in terms of EV market share, according to the International Energy Agency.

The news has garnered a slew of mixed reactions, with some environmental groups urging more decisive action on the part of the administration. Carol Lee Rawn, senior director of transportation at Ceres, said in a statement that future standards should target a 60% reduction in emissions and a clear trajectory to 100% vehicle sales by 2035.

Although the UAW will be joining Biden at the White House on Thursday, President Ray Curry said in a statement that the group is not focused on hard deadlines or percentages, but on preserving the wages and benefits that have been the heart and soul of the American middle class.
WASHINGTON(Reuters) - The Biden administration is committing more than $3 billion in new funding for local governments to increase their resilience to climate change, the White House said on Thursday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the funding would allow states to "safeguard our communities for the future" and "reduce the impacts of climate change" as people grapple with prolonged droughts, wildfires, extreme heat, lost power and hurricanes due to the effects of climate change.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
A prominent Boston reverend has come out against the "defund the police" movement and challenged mayoral candidates to release comprehensive plans to combat gun violence.

Calls for defunding police and the elimination of school police are absurd," said Rev. Eugene Rivers just days after more than three dozen gunshots were fired, hitting vehicles and buildings on Monday night, according to the Boston Herald.

Rivers, who will host a press conference in Dorchester on Thursday, issued a moral challenge to the mayoral candidates to address "violence in our black neighborhoods.

ALBANY DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO CONDUCT CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO CUOMO

The reverend called the shooting an unbelievable display of violence in the poorest and blackest neighborhoods in this city and decried the lack of substantial response from the mayoral candidates.

Any mayoral candidate that fails to present a systematic, evidence-based policy prescription and program to reduce the violence, which is plaguing Bostons poorest neighborhoods, should not be elected to the office of leading executive of the city," he said.

Although there were no people shot and no injuries reported in Monday's shooting, law enforcement officials said six vehicles and two buildings were hit.

Terror is rising in the neighborhoods where this explosion of gun violence is occurring, Rivers said. Every one of the candidates seeking the office of mayor must be publicly challenged regarding their indifference to the well-being of the most vulnerable residents of the city whose principal offense is that they are poor and black.

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In addition to his most recent call against gun violence, Rivers helped raise $10,000 as a reward for anyone who can provide information leading to an arrest in connection to the fatal shooting of 73-year-old grandmother Delois Brown. Brown was killed on April 10 while sitting on her porch, but no arrests have been made in connection to her death.

Story continues

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: News, Boston, Massachusetts, shooting, Gun Violence, Gun Control

Original Author: Mike Brest

Original Location: Boston reverend calls defunding police 'absurd'
By Tatiana Bautzer and Lisandra Paraguassu

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) -Hundreds of business leaders representing large Brazilian banks and other companies on Thursday published a letter titled "Elections will be respected," in an apparent rebuke of President Jair Bolsonaro's recent threats against the 2022 elections.

"The principle of a healthy democracy is that elections are held and all involved accept its results," the letter said. Bolsonaro has repeatedly said if a printed-ballot system is not adopted, the 2022 elections would not be held. On Wednesday, he threatened to react to a Supreme Court probe into his conduct "beyond the constitution."

Without citing the president, the letter said: "Brazilian society is guarantor of the constitution and will not accept authoritarian adventures."

The letter's signatories included Roberto Setubal and Pedro Moreira Salles, large shareholders and co-chairmen in Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Luiza and Frederico Trajano, controlling shareholders in Magazine Luiza, Pedro Passos and Guilherme Leal, shareholders in Natura & Co Holding, Carlos Jereissati, shareholder in mall operator Iguatemi, and bankers such as Credit Suisse CEO in Brazil Jose Olympio Pereira and Lazard Chairman Jean Pierre Zarouk. Walter Schalka, CEO of pulpmaker Suzano, also signed the letter.

The letter was also signed by economists, diplomats and representatives of civil society.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro raged against a Supreme Court investigation into the unfounded accusations that Brazil's electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. Critics say Bolsonaro, like former U.S. President Donald Trump, is sowing doubts in case he loses in 2022. He has already threatened not to accept the result if the system is not changed.

In an interview with an evangelical radio station, Bolsonaro said he wants to emulate the elections in neighboring Paraguay, where electronic voting and printed ballots coexist.

Story continues

He said Supreme Court judges Alexandre Moraes and Luis Roberto Barroso are making "unreasonable" decisions and repeated that electronic voting is vulnerable to fraud.

Bolsonaro also said Moraes' decision to investigate him in a fake news probe is "absurd." During the interview, Bolsonaro cited a federal police probe that investigated a hacking of the Supreme Electoral court in 2018.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Image via Getty/JOSH EDELSON

A wildfire is burning through northern California, with it almost taking out the 800-person mountain town of Greenville, NBC News reports.

Whats being called the Dixie Fire set downtown Greenville ablaze on Wednesday, burning down businesses, gas stations, and homes. Thankfully no injuries have yet been reported.

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Earlier that day, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office cautioned residents against staying in the area. If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now! the warning said.

Despite the alert, many residents didnt evacuate the town, forcing firefighters to rescue them instead of preventing the fire from overtaking the towns structures, according to Jake Cagle, who is an incident management team operations section chief.

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The Dixie Fire has been burning since July 14, engulfing over 278,000 acres in flames and consuming 45 structures, including homes.

This is a big problem that were havingthese are not the normal fires anymore, Cagle said. Its just intense fire behavior, and its not what were used to. He also stressed the fact that people need to listen to evacuation orders.

The Dixie Fire is currently Californias biggest wildfire and the states eighth-largest wildfire ever. As of Wednesday night, it has been 35 percent contained.

Fires ripped through California last year, with 2020 seeing four of the five biggest wildfires in California history.

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Quebec announced Thursday it will introduce a vaccine passport, the first in Canada, to counter a fourth wave of the coronavirus and the spread of the Delta variant.

"The principle behind the vaccine passport is that people who have made the effort to get their two doses should be able to live a semi-normal life," provincial prime minister Francois Legault told a press conference.

He added that the specific terms of the passport will be revealed in the coming days, but mentioned access to non-essential activities such as going to a restaurant.

Legault did not specify what date the pass will go into force in the province, where 83 percent of people over age 12 have received at least one vaccine shot, and 67 percent both.

New York on Tuesday became the first US city to announce it would require proof of vaccination for people attending indoor venues such as restaurants, gyms and shows.

"We will give certain privileges to those who have agreed to make the effort to get their two shots," Legault said.

As of Wednesday, Quebec had recorded 305 new cases in 24 hours, up from about 100 per day in recent days.

This increase is "still much lower than what we see in the United States, in most of the countries in Europe, but it remains that we can already talk about the beginning of a fourth wave," Legault warned.

He ruled out the possibility of another lockdown in the province, however.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed the move, saying: "I fully support the initiative of Mr Legault and the Quebec government."

Trudeau also said he was considering the possibility of making vaccination mandatory for all federal employees.

ast/tib/to/dw
By Lisa Marie David and Jay Ereno

MANILA (Reuters) -Chaos overtook several COVID-19 vaccination sites in Manila on Thursday as thousands showed up hoping to receive a shot before the Philippines capital heads back into lockdown for two weeks.

Movement restrictions will be reimposed across greater Manila, an urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to 13 million people, from midnight on Thursday to try slow the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

The nearby province of Laguna, and the cities of Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro in the central and southern Philippines, respectively, will also be placed on lockdown, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement, as health facilities are overwhelmed.

Maricel Bacay, a 59-year-old homemaker, was queueing outside a mall in Antipolo city in Rizal, one of those neighbouring provinces, at 3 a.m. to try beat anticipated crowds.

"There was news that you can't get inside the malls or supermarket if you're not vaccinated," Bacay told Reuters.

Photos on social media showed people jostling each other to be the first in line at vaccination centres, prompting police intervention to enforce social distancing rules.

Ofelia Gonzales, 36, a Manila food vendor, missed the cut-off for a vaccine despite queuing since Wednesday night.

"If they keep extending the lockdown, who will provide meals if we can't get out," she said.

With around 1.6 million COVID-19 cases and more than 28,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second-worst coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

Just 10.3 million people, or 9.3% of the Philippines' 110 million population, have been fully vaccinated. The government target is to immunise up to 70 million people this year.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest people who do not get a vaccine. Last month, he ordered village chiefs to prevent those in their communities who refuse to be vaccinated from leaving home.

Story continues

Roque said authorised people, including those buying essential goods, travelling for medical reasons and frontline workers, would be allowed unrestricted movement under the lockdown, even if unvaccinated.

"Let us not make vaccination a superspreader," Roque told a media briefing. "It should save lives, not endanger lives."

(Reporting by Lisa Marie David, Jay Ereno and Neil Jerome Morales, writing by Karen Lema; editing by James Pearson, Jane Wardell and Kevin Liffey)
Prague has been named one of the cheapest cities in the world to buy a pint (Stock, Getty)

Two cities in the UK have been named among the the most expensive places in the world to buy a pint of beer.

But an upside to this is that when we go on a city break we can usually be guaranteed a cheaper tipple.

From Prague to the Grand Rapids in the US, new research from money.co.uk has revealed the cheapest (and most expensive) destinations around the world for a pint of beer.

Both London and Edinburgh appear on the most expensive list, while the cheapest city in the world to buy beer was discovered to be Buenos Aires, where a pint costs on average just 1.17.

Read more: We do like to be beside...the UK's prettiest Victorian seaside towns

Friends enjoy a beer in Bueona Aires, the city is one of the cheapest places in the world to buy a pint (Stock, Getty)

Coming in second, (and currently on the amber list) is Prague in the Czech Republic, with the average cost of a pint of beer at 1.34.

The third cheapest pint around the world is in Mexico City, with the average cost at 1.41.

Read more: 6 of the best beer and cider delivery services in the UK

There are just three cities in the world where the average price of a pint is more expensive than in London.

San Francisco has the most expensive pints of beer in the world, with the average price 5.73.

Melbourne, Australia, comes in second place with the average pint costing 5.21.

Read more: Where to head for the UK's cheapest pint... and the priciest one

In third place, is Boston in the US, where a pint of beer will set you back on average 5.01, (just 1p more expensive than in London).

With COVID restrictions ever changing, before you book any travel, it is wise to check whether the destination is on the government's red, amber or green travel list, as well as the entry requirements for your chosen destination.

Watch: The most expensive and cheapest cities in the world

The top 10 cheapest cities for beer (average price per pint)

1. Buenos Aires, Argentina  1.17

2. Prague, Czech Republic  1.34

3. Mexico City, Mexico  1.41

4. Wroclaw, Poland  1.70

5. Krakow, Poland  1.89

6. Warsaw, Poland  1.89

Story continues

7. Moscow, Russia  2.06

8. Fort Collins, US  2.87

9. Austen, US  2.87

10. Grand Rapids, US  2.87

Top 10 most expensive cities for beer (average price per pint)

1. San Francisco, US  5.73

2. Melbourne, Australia  5.21

3. Boston, US  5.01

4. London, UK  5

5. Dublin, Ireland  4.70

6. Seattle, US  4.66

7. Wellington, New Zealand  4.55

8. Edinburgh, UK  4.48

9. San Diego, US  4.39

10. Portland, Oregon, US  4.30

Watch: 5 cocktails that are perfect for beer lovers
A Chicago police officer faces criminal charges for a 2020 shooting. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

A Chicago police officer faces criminal charges stemming from a 2020 shooting on a train platform.

Melvina Bogard is accused of tasing and shooting an unarmed man after approaching him for violating an ordinance.

Ariel Roman survived the shooting and has filed a federal lawsuit against Bogard and another cop.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Chicago police officer has been charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct for shooting a man twice last year on a train platform, a spokesperson for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office confirmed to Insider.

Officer Melvina Bogard, 32, who is accused of shooting Ariel Roman at a train station in downtown Chicago on February 28, 2020, surrendered to the state's attorney's office on Thursday morning.

Roman alleged in a federal lawsuit filed last year that he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he encountered Bogard and another officer, Bernard Butler, who also was named as a defendant. Both officers face department discipline and possible termination, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Roman alleges in the lawsuit, which was viewed by Insider, that he was "was harassed, chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered, and shot twice" by the officers, both of whom had less than three years experience on the force.

The officers first approached Roman when he entered their train car while it was in operation, which is a violation of a city ordinance, according to the lawsuit. Roman told the officers he crossed the cars because he "felt threatened."

The shooting was captured on cellphone video and transit surveillance video.

The footage shows the officers removing Roman from a train. On a platform outside, Bogard attempts to hold Roman to the ground, tases him, and then fires her gun. He was shot again when he attempted to flee. Roman was critically injured, but survived.

Bogard was hired by the Chicago Police Department in 2017, two years after she was arrested and charged with assaulting a McDonald's restaurant worker, according to the federal lawsuit.

Story continues

At a bond hearing on Thursday, her attorney, Tim Grace, and prosecutors told the judge that Bogard had "no publishable criminal record."

Grace argued that the shooting followed a more than eight minute-long struggle with Roman, who refused to cooperate with officers. Roman was intoxicated at the time, Grace said, and officers later found drugs in his backpack.

Bogard, whose mother was a 25-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, had attempted to radio for backup 10 times before she fired her weapon, but the radio wasn't working, her lawyer said.

Bogard was released without bond Thursday on the condition that she surrender her firearm, which she had already done.

Read the original article on Insider
CNN president Jeff Zucker told staff Thursday that the network fired three staff members who came to work without getting vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a memo first obtained by the New York Times.

Driving the news: Zucker said in the memo also shared with Axios that CNN had a "zero-tolerance policy" on coronavirus vaccinations and noted that employees showing proof of having had the vaccine may soon become part of the process of entering network buildings.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

"You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not," said Zucker, who did not state where the fired employees worked.

The memo also stated that, effective Thursday, CNN workers in the Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta offices were required to wear face masks, with few exceptions.

This doesn't apply to the network's New York offices because masks haven't been mandated in the state, according to the memo.

The big picture: The federal government said in May that it is legal for companies to require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.

117 Houston Methodist Hospital staff filed a lawsuit against the hospital earlier this year over its vaccine mandate, but it was tossed out of court, and 153 health care workers subsequently resigned or were fired.

CNN declined to comment beyond sharing Zucker's memo.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details from the memo, including the mask mandate and to reflect CNN's response to Axios.

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CNN fired three employees who were not vaccinated against the coronavirus and came in to the office regularly, company president Jeff Zucker said in a memo on Thursday.

Thus far, we have left proof of vaccination to an honor system. . . . It has not been mandatory to produce a vaccine card, Zucker said. However, in the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated.

Zucker added, Let me be clear  we have a zero-tolerance policy on this. You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period.

CNN began requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 earlier this year. The network did not publicize where the terminated employees worked or what their positions were.

Zucker said the network would likely begin requiring proof of vaccination for employees in the weeks ahead.

The firing is one of the first examples of a major U.S. company expelling workers for ignoring a coronavirus-vaccine mandate. A Houston hospital network fired or accepted the resignation of 153 workers in June after they did not get vaccinated. While a group of employees sued to block the mandate for what they termed an experimental vaccine, a federal judge sided with the hospital.

Companies including Facebook and Google have mandated coronavirus vaccinations for all employees, while Walmart has mandated vaccinations for all employees working at its headquarters as well as managers who travel throughout the U.S.

More from National Review
The body of a missing swimmer who had been missing for almost 24 hours was recovered by authorities in Ocean City Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for the United States Coast Guard said.

Petty Officer Steve Lehmann said the boy was 17 years old.

He was from Annapolis, the Ocean City Fire Department said in a Facebook post Thursday.

Authorities have not yet released the boys name.

Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, the Ocean City Fire Department sent firefighters to the area of 112th Street on the beach for a missing swimmer.

Minutes earlier, lifeguards with the Ocean City Beach Patrol noticed a group who were struggling to swim, the fire department said in its Facebook post.

As three swimmers struggled onto the shore, lifeguards attempted to save another swimmer who was being swept away by a rip current, the fire department said. A call came in to 911 operators around the same time reporting the swimmer being swept away.

The Coast Guard deployed search assets shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, Lehmann said. Eventually it sent a helicopter, a cargo plane, an 47-foot life boat and an 87-foot coastal patrol vessel joined in the search.

Some 50 Surf Rescue Technicians from the beach patrol entered the water to look for the missing swimmer, the fire department said. Maryland Natural Resources Police also contributed to the search.

The beach patrol deferred comment to a town spokesperson. Jessica Waters, the spokeswoman, did not immediately return a voicemail message Thursday afternoon.

Crews searched for two hours but could not find the boy.

Now that his body has been recovered, Lehmann said, the Coast Guard will focus on helping the boys family.

Its not a good day when a search ends like this, he said. In moments like this, our priority shifts to the family and whatever we can do for them.
The Telegraph

Debra Winger, the Oscar-nominated actress who famously quit Hollywood, has a reputation for forthrightness  and she doesnt disappoint. Did she really call Richard Gere, her co-star in An Officer and a Gentleman, a brick wall? I probably could have come up with something nicer, Winger chuckles. [When] I run into him he says, Are you still saying those things about me? It was just the once, she protests, but its lived on in infamy.
Several members of a search and rescue team in Colorado suffered injuries in an "avalanche of rocks" on Wednesday while navigating dangerous terrain to recover the body of a missing hiker from a mountain, authorities said.

Kelly McDermott of Madison, Wisc., was overdue in returning from a climb on Capitol Peak, a mountain with an elevation of 14,130 feet located about 14 miles west of Aspen, Colo., when a friend alerted authorities on Sunday, the Pitkin County Sheriffs Office said.

MASSACHUSETT'S WOMAN DIES AFTER SWELTERING ARIZONA HIKE WITH MAN SHE'D JUST MET

A deputy located McDermotts car near the Capitol Lake Trailhead Sunday night and a search began the following morning with members of Mountain Rescue Aspen, an all-volunteer group.

The search for McDermott continued for days until Wednesday, when rescuers aboard a Blackhawk helicopter from the Colorado Army National Guard spotted McDermotts body about 500 feet below a ridge known as "Knifes Edge" near the summit of Capitol Peak, the sheriffs office said.

Officials said it appeared the hiker had fallen and sustained fatal injuries at some point before rescuers arrived. Capitol Peak is considered a treacherous mountain, according to the sheriffs office, and "is known for its numerous exposures and loose, crumbling rock."

As rescuers began climbing toward McDermotts location, they heard someone from a group of recreational climbers above their location yell "Rocks!"

Four rescuers were caught in the massive slide that one rescuer described as "an avalanche of rocks."

One rescuer escaped injury while two others suffered minor injuries to an extremity and moderate injuries to their lower body, respectively. A fourth rescuer suffered major injuries after a rock struck them, sending them about 20 feet through the air like a "rag doll," authorities said.

Team members provided medical care until the injured could be rushed to a hospital. Two injured members were treated and released while the third underwent emergency surgery. No further information about the injuries to the rescuers was immediately provided.

While rescuers are formulating a plan to recover the body of McDermott, officials said the dangerous conditions on the mountain may delay the extrication for days or weeks.
Amtrak is being tasked with reviewing cross-border services. AJ Packer / Shutterstock.com and Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty

The bipartisan infrastructure bill targets Amtrak's cross-border services to Canada.

Amtrak would be required to review ways of improving the service, including by reducing customs delays.

Opening border pre-clearance facilities in the US and Canada could improve journey times.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Congress' $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill wants to make it easier for Americans and Canadian to cross the border by rail.

Amtrak is being tasked with reviewing and improving cross-border rail services by reducing delays at the US-Canada border. Both US and Canada-bound trains often waste hours at border stations while passengers undergo customs screenings.

The bill requires that the report identify "challenges to Amtrak operations in Canada, including delays associated with custom and immigration inspections in both the United States and Canada."

One requirement that the bill includes is studying the feasibility of expanding the US's border pre-clearance capabilities to rail service. Pre-clearance facilities are most commonly found in Canadian airports and allow travelers to clear US Customs and Border Protection upon their departure from Canada instead of upon arrival into the US.

The scheme could be implemented in major Canadian train stations to reduce journey times. US arrivals are currently cleared at the border in cities like Blaine, Washington; Niagara Falls, New York; and Rouses Point, New York.

US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has also called for the Canadian government to open a preclearance facility at the Niagara Falls Train Station on the New York side of the border.

"The ability to pass through customs before they board the train and enter Canada would be a remarkable convenience for anyone seeking to travel between our two countries by rail," Schumer wrote in a letter to Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair.

"Instead, passengers must board a train in Niagara Falls, New York, then disembark in a less secure space in Ontario for a customs check, before re-boarding the train and continuing on," he wrote.

Story continues

Both countries have established the legal framework for preclearance but Schumer blamed the Canadian government for not moving forward with the program.

Amtrak's services north of the border remain suspended due to the pandemic as non-essential travel is currently barred between the two countries. Vaccinated Americans will be permitted to enter Canada as of August 9; though, Canadians will only be allowed into the US if they arrive by air.

Amtrak doesn't currently have a date on when Canadian services will resume. Trains on the Adirondack line between New York and Montreal currently run as far north as Albany, New York while Maple Leaf line trains stop at Niagara Falls and Cascades line trains only go as far as Seattle.

"Amtrak is working closely with Canadian officials to solidify a specific process for passengers entering Canada following its closure," Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams told Insider. "As soon as details are determined, we will share information on resuming train service to Canada."

Additional service to Canada is also a staple of the "Amtrak Connects US" plan unveiled in March. Expanded routes to Canada were recommended including extending the Wolverine line from Detroit to Toronto and the Vermonter line from St Albans, Vermont to Montreal.

If the infrastructure bill is made into law, Amtrak has one year to submit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on how it can enhance its passenger services between the two countries.

Read More: Boom Supersonic just sold 15 faster-than-sound jets to United. Its CEO explains how fuel efficiency and better economics will help him succeed where the Concorde failed.

Read the original article on Business Insider
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces Sept. 14 recall election. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A Sacramento judge refused Thursday to block Gov. Gavin Newsom from telling voters that the Sept. 14 recall election was organized by "Republicans and Trump supporters."

In a final ruling, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl said Newsom's proposed statement for the voter information handbook did not violate election law. She came to the same conclusion in an earlier, tentative decision before a hearing.

"The Court finds there is nothing false or misleading about describing the recall effort's leaders as Trump supporters," Earl wrote.

Recall leaders charged in a lawsuit that Newsom was lying in his ballot statement because not all recall supporters and candidates vying to replace Newsom were Republicans.

During a hearing Thursday, the recall backers also claimed Newsom lied when he said they were "abusing our recall laws."

Earl disagreed, saying there was "an argument that this recall is an abuse of a perfectly legal process."

"The recall is being held less than three years after a sizable majority of California voters elected Newsom Governor," she noted.

Reasonable minds may disagree on the propriety of the recall, she said, but Newsom's statement fell within the realm of legitimate political debate.

Opponents of Newsom gathered enough signatures to force the recall vote. A poll last month found that voters were almost evenly divided over whether to remove Newsom. Turnout is expected to be key.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
As the Delta variant continues to soar worldwide, there are concerns of unvaccinated Americans crossing the border starting Monday who may present fake vaccine documentation as many travel measures will be reduced.

There is an upward trend in fake COVID-19 documentation since the pandemic from people who want to be exempt from quarantine requirements or simply do not want to get the vaccine.

Last week, two American travellers were fined $16,000 USD each after presenting fake COVID-19 vaccine cards and proof of testing at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

In Ontario, people receive a paper or emailed receipt as proof of vaccination with no security features such as a QR code, unlike Manitoba which has one. This increases the chances of people creating fake documents in Canada and cross-border.

E-commerce websites such as Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are selling packs of blank vaccination cards and covers.

A pack of 10 blank vaccination record cards with protectors is available for $22 on Amazon.

A fake mask "exemption" card is also on the list of fraudulent documents people are creating to evade important COVID-19 measures in place.

Individuals have also openly communicated with journalists who covered the increasing fake vaccine cards trend to enquire about receiving them for themselves and their families.

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Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is aware that some travellers may attempt to use fraudulent documentation when seeking entry to Canada.

CBSA confirmed that someone who submits false information on vaccination status could be liable to a fine of up to $750,000 or 6-months imprisonment or both under the Quarantine Act, or prosecution under the Criminal Code for forgery.

Furthermore, foreign nationals who provide false information may also be denied entry and/or banned from returning to Canada.

The border agency said they are working closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and other domestic and international partners to ensure only valid proof of vaccine documents are accepted.

Story continues

The CBSA is specialized in the detection of fraudulent documents with a well-developed global intelligence network that helps to identify and interdict suspected fraud, said Rebecca Purdy, Senior Spokesperson for Canada Border Services Agency.

Canada has a multi-step approach and advanced technology to determine if documents submitted are legitimate.

"What we can tell you is that every vaccination document is reviewed and verified by a BSO [border services officer] and any document that is suspect is referred for further investigations by PHAC," added Purdy.

Canada has made it clear that submitting fraudulent information or documentation is a serious offence and may result in penalties and/or criminal charges.
As New York state Attorney General Letitia James said on Tuesday, her offices independent investigation that substantiated sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo has wrapped up its work. But that ending has led to several beginnings.

Since the release of the bombshell 165-page report, four district attorney offices in the state have announced they will investigate incidents that the report stated happened in their jurisdictions.

We are reviewing the deeply disturbing findings of the Attorney Generals report regarding the Governors alleged conduct, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith said in a statement Wednesday. We have requested the Attorney Generals records related to any incidents that occurred in Nassau County and will thoroughly and expeditiously investigate any potential crimes.

Also on Wednesday, Danny Frost, the director of communications for Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., said a similar request was put in for incidents that took place in the New York City borough. As did Westchester County prosecutor Mimi Rocah.

They join the Albany County District Attorney, which issued statements on social media Tuesday.

We will be providing a comprehensive list of victim services referral agencies in the coming days, and we encourage anyone with additional information to contact our office, the Albany DAs statement on Facebook said.

Those investigations now pile on top of the other investigations into the Cuomo administration. That includes federal inquiries into how the administration handled nursing home policies and data during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state Assembly Judiciary Committees impeachment review.

Cuomo said Tuesday that the facts are much different than what has been portrayed in the report. However, the governor who was already facing slipping poll numbers and eroding support only got more calls for his resignation or impeachment in the aftermath.

Story continues

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that more than half of the 150 state Assembly members support impeaching Cuomo should he choose not to resign. That would be enough to send the matter to the Senate for an impeachment trial that could result in the governors ouster.

The loss of political support doesnt end in the Legislature, either. Several union organizations have issued statements in the past day that indicate its time for a change.

New York State United Teachers issued a statement Tuesday saying it found Cuomos response equally troubling as the attorney generals report.

Another large labor organization joined with the teachers on Wednesday.

The first job of any elected official is keeping safe the people they serve; it is clear from the appalling findings of the attorney generals report, Gov. Cuomo failed to do that, New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said in a statement. We fought for and won the very worker protections that were violated; there must be accountability without exception. Gov. Cuomo can no longer lead the state.

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: States, News, Andrew Cuomo, Labor, New York

Original Author: Steve Bittenbender, The Center Square

Original Location: As criminal probes into Cuomo emerge, labor groups call for him to step down
Democratic fundraising website ActBlue dropped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from the platform as the governor faces intense scrutiny over alleged sexual harassment.

Fundraising pages for Cuomo's campaign became unavailable Thursday afternoon, no longer allowing donations through ActBlue. The platform confirmed to Axios in an email that Cuomo's campaign was cut off.

NEW YORK ASSEMBLY 'NEARING COMPLETION' OF CUOMO IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION

Critics across the aisle have demanded that Cuomo resign from his office after the results of a sexual harassment investigation by state Attorney General Letitia James into his administration were made public showing the governor sexually harassed and intimidated 11 women.

Cuomo, 63, denies he ever touched anyone inappropriately or made improper advances. He issued a video statement disputing James's report and called her investigation biased.

Democratic leadership, including President Joe Biden, has stated that Cuomo must resign over the allegations.

I think he should resign," Biden commented Tuesday to reporters. "I think he'll probably end up being prosecuted, too."

No elected official is above the law. The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governors office. We continue to believe that the governor should resign, said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer in a statement with fellow New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Conservatives have aggressively pushed for the Democrats to hold Cuomo accountable, including pressuring ActBlue to end its relationship with the governor.

"The clock is ticking for @actblue to cut ties with #CorruptCuomo. How much longer will the Far-Left fundraising platform enable a confirmed criminal sex predator??" tweeted New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Cuomo faces an impeachment investigation by the New York State Assembly, and at least four district attorneys offices in New York have requested from the state inquiry into the sexual misconduct claims.

Story continues

ActBlue has taken similar actions against disgraced Democratic politicians in the past. The site removed House candidate Aaron Coleman of Texas from the platform after the 20-year-old admitted to sharing revenge pornography while a middle school student.

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: News, Sexual Harassment, New York, Andrew Cuomo, Act Blue, Democratic Party

Original Author: Timothy Nerozzi

Original Location: Democratic fundraising site drops Andrew Cuomo after sexual harassment report
Disney Reopens Hall of Presidents, Unveils Animatronic Joe Biden

Disney Parks Joe Biden in the Hall of Presidents

Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents has reopened to the public after months of refurbishment, offering park-goers a firsthand look at the animatronic version of President Joe Biden.

Disney Imagineers spent the past several months putting the final touches on the animatronic Biden, who debuted at the park on Wednesday and is paired with a delivery of the presidential oath of office, "recorded at the White House by President Biden himself just for the attraction," according to the park's official blog.

The animatronic Biden wears a blue suit, red and blue striped tie, white pocket square, and flag pin. And as Disney's blog explains, the Hall of Presidents' version of Biden, 78, is displayed with a few props on a nearby table, as well  "including peach blossoms to represent his home state of Delaware and a pair of aviators as a nod to his proclivity for the sunglasses."

Aviator sunglasses are a mainstay in the president's wardrobe, becoming almost shorthand for Biden himself. (As he told the Skimm in 2016, "My lord, I've been wearing aviators since I was a freshman in college as a lifeguard.")

RELATED: Joe Biden Is Taking His Place Among Presidents Past  at Disney World

Each time a new president assumes office, a new animatronic figure is added to the Disney attraction, which has been at the company's Florida park since it opened in 1971.

The attraction, located in the Liberty Square area of the Magic Kingdom, was closed for nearly a year before the addition of the Donald Trump audio-animatronic figure. After closing three days before Trump's January inauguration, the attraction was scheduled to reopen in late June, in time for the Fourth of July.

Disney was at the time forced to push back the updated version of the Hall of Presidents, however, due to Trump not recording the script dialogue for his robot. The Trump figure was ultimately unveiled to the public in December 2017 (and mocked mercilessly by Twitter).

After their term has ended, the figures of former presidents remain on stage near those who have previously served, meaning Trump (who did not attend his successor's inauguration in real life) will appear alongside Biden at the most magical place on Earth.
As more people dust off their luggage and passports after stowing them away during the global pandemic, Elude aims to show travelers a new way to take spontaneous trips.

The Los Angeles-based startup launched its travel discovery mobile app Thursday, a budget-first search engine that shows people how far their money will take them. The platforms personalized onboarding experience customizes trip packages and offers future travel suggestions based on those preferences.

The idea for the company came three years ago from Alex Simon, CEO, and Frankie Scerbo, CMO, who met in college and bonded over their love of traveling and would do so together any time they had a long weekend. One New Years they tried planning a trip, but everything was too expensive. Not being able to find something on their budget, they came up with the idea for Elude.

Rather than searching by destination, Elude gathers information like budget, time frame and trip preferences (think beach versus mountains), then presents users with flight and hotel results for destinations they may never have thought existed or could be traveled to on their budgets.

The company taps into the same flight and hotel databases that all online travel companies use that store hundreds of thousands of flights and hotels and only suggests hotels with 3.5 stars and above.

Elude app

The co-founders have now raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by a group of investors including Mucker Capital, Unicorn Ventures, Upfront Scout Fund, StartupO, Grayson Capital and Flight VC.

When Erik Rannala, co-founder and managing partner at Mucker Capital, initially invested in Elude, it was before the global pandemic. However, he sees travel getting back to normal, though with flights now more expensive than before, more people are looking for travel deals, something that wasnt being addressed until Elude came along.

Travel is a massive category, with most people in either look mode or book mode, with the money only being made in book mode, Rannala said. By taking a budget-first approach, Elude is bridging people from look mode to book mode more quickly.

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The way they have done it is to help people discover something new based on their budget that is available to book right now, he added. Its a unique way to solve the problem and to give people a good deal.

With millenials spending over $200 billion annually on travel, Eludes goal is to reduce the hours of scrolling in search of a trip and more time actively booking vacations. Whereas competitors may show flights only or hotels only, Elude produces flight and hotel packages.

In just a few clicks, we can show you, for example, that you could go to Barcelona for the same price as Miami, Scerbo told TechCrunch. If you knew that kind of information, you would take a better trip. This opens doors to taking a trip every few months instead of the one or two trips a year most people take.

Prior to today, Elude was in private beta mode where the company had amassed some 40,000 people on the waitlist. Simon said.

Elude plans to use the funding to advance technology, marketing function, operations and customer support.
Erika Jayne said Tom Girardi's personality "completely changed" after his car crash in 2017. Steve Eichner/NameFace/SIPA USA

Erika Jayne revealed new details about the car crash that left Tom Girardi unconscious for 12 hours.

Jayne told her "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" costars that his personality "completely changed."

Girardi and Jayne are accused of embezzling millions from the widows of plane-crash victims.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Erika Jayne is sharing even more details about her estranged husband Tom Girardi's serious car crash in 2017.

On Wednesday's episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Jayne said Girardi's personality "completely changed" after the crash.

"Three years ago, he had a terrible, terrible head injury, and there was a significant shift in his personality, his decision-making, and who he is," Jayne told her costars Garcelle Beauvais and Crystal Kung Minkoff.

Jayne, 50, said in a previous episode that she'd found Girardi, 82, after he drove off a cliff. She told her costar Kyle Richards that he was unconscious for 12 hours and suffered a head injury, snapped his ankle, and broke his shoulder and clavicle.

Jayne and Girardi. Backgrid

Beauvais asked Jayne if she filed for a divorce in November because she knew she and Girardi would be facing a wave of lawsuits, including one accusing the personal-injury attorney and the reality-TV star of embezzling millions from the widows and orphans of plane-crash victims to fund their lavish lifestyle.

"No, I did not," Jayne said. "This was a long time coming."

Jayne told her costars that after the crash, Girardi lost the ability to even hold a conversation.

"The conversations that I used to have with him - the back-and-forth was no longer," she said. "The repetitive phrases, the forgetting what we were talking about; I would hear the same stories 10 times in one day."

Jayne said she believed that Girardi, who was recently put under a conservatorship because of what a court deemed a "major neurocognitive disorder," never tried to hurt anyone.

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Girardi at a press conference with two of his clients in 2009. MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

"Part of true brain trauma is making decisions that you wouldn't normally make," she said. "It's hard to watch someone go through this, and there's nothing I can do to help. I tried. He didn't listen. He's resisting everything."

A lawsuit in December alleged that the divorce was a "sham" and that the two were using their split to hide money meant for Girardi's clients.

In July, a judge ruled that Jayne was liable to pay three of her husband's former clients amid his bankruptcy case and accusations that he embezzled settlement money from them. Those clients are owed $11 million.

The motion came after a bankruptcy trustee found that Girardi had transferred $20 million in loans from his law firm, Girardi Keese, to Jayne's company, EJ Global.

Jayne on Wednesday's episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." Bravo

Jayne told Beauvais and Minkoff that Girardi still called her every day but that she hadn't spoken to him since she filed for divorce and moved out of their $15 million mansion in Pasadena, California.

"I have not talked to him, and I cannot talk to him. Even though he calls me every day," Jayne said. "That's another hard part of it. I had to ask my attorney to call his attorney to say, 'Please stop calling Erika.'

"You know, it's just horrible. 'I love you, I miss you, come home, are you sure?' I'm like, stop. You've got to stop. You have to stop, honey. You need help. And I can't give it."

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Bravo.

Read the original article on Insider
TAMPA  Former Rays manager Joe Maddon is selling his iconic Bayshore Boulevard home and relocating to Arizona to be closer to work and family.

Maddon and his wife, Jaye, moved to Tampa after he got hired by the Rays for the 2006 season and continued to live there in the offseason after he left, taking jobs managing the Cubs in 2015 and Angels in 2020.

He has remained active in the Tampa Bay charity community, and his Respect 90 Foundation will remain based here. Maddon, 67, is also a partner, with Michael Stewart, in the South Tampa restaurant Ava, which will remain open.

With the Angels having spring training in Arizona and both of Maddons adult children  plus five grandchildren  living there, the family felt it was time to relocate and will move after the season to Mesa, Ariz.

Tampa Bay will always feel like another home to Jaye and I, Maddon said via text message. This decision was based on the opportunity to spend more time with family. Through our Respect 90 Foundation, we will remain closely tied to the Tampa Bay area community which has been so great to us over the years. We cherished our time spent there and are so grateful for the many friendships we will continue to maintain.

The Maddons bought the historic 5,403-square foot home, which was built in 1917 and whose past owners include former Bucs coach John McKay, in 2012 for $1.76 million. They did extensive renovations and updating and are now listing it for $3.9 million.

The main house, in a Dutch Colonial style, has four bedrooms and 3 baths, with hardwood floors and updated kitchen and bathrooms, with an expansive view of Hillsborough Bay and the wide sidewalk promenade. Guest quarters over the detached three-car garage include two bedrooms and one bath, plus a room that was Maddons man cave, with five televisions.

There also is a salt-filtration pool with private outdoor living space, including a covered bar and fire pit. The realtor listing the home, at 1001 Bayshore Blvd., is Susan Vaughn of Coastal Properties Group/Christies International Real Estate.

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, buffeted by sexual harassment allegations, is increasingly looking like he could be impeached and removed from office  something that hasn't happened to the state's governor in nearly 108 years.

A majority of members of the state Assembly, the legislative body that has the power to start impeachment proceedings, have already said they favor removing Cuomo if he won't resign. Pressure has built since a team of independent investigators hired by the state attorney general concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.

Cuomo, a Democrat, has vowed to stay in office, rejecting the allegations against him as either fabricated or a misunderstanding of gestures and comments meant to convey warmth.

If the Legislature goes ahead with an impeachment, it will follow procedures that have some parallels  and some important differences  to the process the U.S. Congress uses for impeaching presidents.

Heres a look at how impeachment might work:

THE PROCESS

Like at the federal level, New York impeachments start in the lower house of the legislature  in this case, the Assembly.

The states constitution says the Assembly can impeach officials with a simple majority vote for misconduct or malversation.

If a majority of members vote to impeach, a trial on Cuomo's removal from office would be held in whats known as the Impeachment Court.

The court consists not only of members of the state Senate, but also judges of the states highest court, the Court of Appeals, who would also cast votes.

There are seven appeals court judges and 63 senators, though not all would serve on the impeachment court. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (HOH-kull) and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins would also typically be members, but they are excluded when a governor is on trial.

At least two-thirds of the jurors must vote to convict in order to remove Cuomo.

HISTORICAL PRECEDENT

New York has only impeached a governor once, in 1913, when Gov. William Sulzer was bounced after just 289 days in office in what he claimed was retribution for turning his back on the powerful Tammany Hall Democratic machine.

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Sulzer was accused of failing to report thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and commingling campaign funds with personal funds. He blasted the courts secret deliberations, complaining: A horse thief in frontier days would have received a squarer deal.

SIDELINING CUOMO

If Cuomo were impeached by the Assembly, the state constitution forces him to step aside immediately, according to some legal experts, and remain on the sidelines until his trial is complete.

Thats a dramatic difference from what happens when the U.S. president is impeached.

When Sulzer was impeached, Lt. Gov. Martin Glynn was appointed acting governor. Sulzer, however, didnt accept his suspension, arguing that the state constitution allowed him to continue performing his duties until he was convicted.

The dispute was never decided by a court, but Gerald Benjamin  an expert on the New York Constitution and a political scientist at SUNY New Paltz  said he believed the rules governing impeachment are clear: Cuomo would have to temporarily relinquish power to Hochul.

The constitution is clear. He remains governor until he is impeached, Benjamin said. Once they impeach him, she (Hochul) acts as governor."

If Cuomo were to be acquitted by the Impeachment Court, he would return to office. If he's convicted, Hochul would serve out the remainder of Cuomos term  through the end of 2022. The court could also opt to disqualify him from holding office in the future.

THE TIMELINE

How quickly could this all happen? It's not clear.

The Assembly's judiciary committee has scheduled its next meeting for Aug. 9. A law firm representing the committee has given Cuomo until Aug. 13 to turn over evidence to bolster his defense.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has said he wants to wrap up the investigation as quickly as possible."

But drafting articles of impeachment could take time.

One issue is that the Assembly, when it first began contemplating impeachment, asked investigators to look into a range of issues beyond sexual harassment. Theres a discussion among lawmakers now about how to handle other parts of the inquiry, including an examination of Cuomos handling of data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, his use of state employees to help him with a $5 million book deal and even potential safety issues on a newly built bridge.

As far as Im concerned, there are a lot of things that are on table, and what would happen is wed have to see what the committee thinks the articles of impeachment should include, said Judiciary Committee member Phil Steck, a Democrat. It gets complicated and I dont see how were going to do this in a couple of hours.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on key questions, like whether there will be public hearings.

Are the witnesses willing to testify? Judiciary Committee member Tom Abinanti, also a Democrat, said. Do the written documents support what were going to allege? Were almost in the role of a grand jury and the prosecutor. Weve got to decide: is the evidence sufficient and does it in fact constitute an impeachable offense? Its not so easy.

In the meantime, many elected officials in New York are hoping that Cuomo will save the legislature the trouble and resign.

So far, Cuomo has insisted he isn't going anywhere, saying Tuesday he would focus on doing more for New Yorkers, even as other leaders called for his ouster.

I will not be distracted from that job. We have a lot to do, Cuomo said.
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Aviation Administration has asked U.S. airports to assist in the government's effort to crack down on disruptive and violent air passengers, according to a letter made public Thursday.

The United States has seen a significant jump in reported cases of passengers causing disturbances on airplanes, including many for refusing to wear face masks. Several have drawn wide public attention on social media.

On Saturday, a Frontier Airlines passenger accused of groping two flight attendants and punching a third on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami was taped to his seat for the duration of the flight and arrested on landing, the latest in a string of high-profile incidents.

In March, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson indefinitely extended a zero tolerance policy on unruly air passengers imposed in January.

"We are taking the strongest possible action within our legal authority. But we need your help," Dickson told airport officials in a letter dated Wednesday. "Every week, we see situations in which law enforcement was asked to meet an aircraft at the gate following an unruly passenger incident. In some cases, flight attendants have reported being physically assaulted. Nevertheless, many of these passengers were interviewed by local police and released without criminal charges of any kind."

Through Aug. 1, the FAA has received 3,715 reports of unruly passengers this year, including 2,729 involving passengers not wearing masks. The FAA has initiated 628 investigations, more than three times the number last year.

Dickson noted that alcohol often contributes to unsafe passenger behavior and asked airports to prevent passengers from taking alcoholic drinks on planes.

"We have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol 'to go,' and passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated during the boarding process," Dickson said.

In June, a group representing major U.S. airlines and aviation unions wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking the Justice Department to crack down on unruly passengers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Travelers board a flight at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

Responding to a continued surge in unruly and hostile behavior on planes, the Federal Aviation Administration is urging airport concessionaires to stop selling liquor in to-go containers to passengers and calling on police to prosecute more fliers who cause onboard trouble.

In one of the most high-profile onboard incidents to date, a 22-year-old man flying from Philadelphia to Miami on Frontier Airlines was duct-taped to his seat by flight attendants Saturday after he allegedly groped two flight attendants and punched another in the head.

Miami-Dade police charged the man, identified as Maxwell Wilkinson Berry, with three misdemeanor counts of battery, according to news reports. The Miami Herald reported that Berry had been drinking.

Berry purchased his alcohol on the plane, according to the Associated Press. But there are also other ways travelers can get alcohol.

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"We have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol 'to go' and passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated during the boarding process," according to a letter Tuesday from FAA chief Steve Dickson to airport administrators across the country.

He suggested airports show FAA videos in passenger lounges that remind fliers about the rules against unruly behavior and flying while drunk.

The surge in unruly and violent behavior has been attributed by flight attendants union leaders primarily to frustration over the passenger mask mandate and excessive alcohol consumption, despite the nation's two largest carriers, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, temporarily halting all alcohol sales.

So far this year, airlines have reported 3,715 incidents of unruly passenger behavior, with 2,729 of those cases attributed to the mask mandate, according to the FAA. Of those cases, 628 have been investigated by the FAA for possible civil penalties against the violators. In 2019, only 146 cases were investigated by the FAA.

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The rising trend prompted Dickson to issue a zero-tolerance order in January against unruly behavior. Instead of receiving warnings or being required to seek counseling, violators now face criminal prosecution or fines of as much as $35,000.

But in his letter to airport officials, Dickson urged local police agencies to prosecute violent or hostile passengers who are turned over by flight crews when the flights land.

"In some cases, flight attendants have reported being physically assaulted," he said in the letter. "Nevertheless, many of these passengers were interviewed by local police and released without criminal charges of any kind."

A survey of flight attendants released last month found that a vast majority of attendants said they had dealt with unruly passengers, and nearly 1 in 5 experienced a physical incident, including shoving, kicking of seats and harassment of flight crews at airports.

The Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA conducted the survey of nearly 5,000 flight attendants at 30 airlines to pressure airlines and government officials to take stronger measures against passengers who verbally or physically abuse flight crews.

Airlines for America, a trade group for the nations air carriers, wrote a letter to the U.S. attorney general in July, expressing concern over the rising numbers of incidents and urging federal authorities to crack down on passengers who misbehave on planes.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
No, we don't yet have a decision yet on whether Act 1002, which bans public entities from requiring masks, will be amended so that schools may require masks.

What happened: After more than three hours of discussion and hearing public input Wednesday, the Arkansas House of Representatives will revisit House Bill 1003, giving state Rep. Julie Mayberry (R-Hensley) a chance to make changes.

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Context: Mayberry filed the bill Wednesday morning. It would amend the law to allow school districts to require masks in areas (think: classrooms, school buses) where there are kids under 12 if the district has a 14-day COVID-19 infection rate of at least 50 new known infections per 10,000 residents.

Flashback: Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Act 1002 into law in April, which he has since said he regrets. He asked the legislature to hold a special session to amend the act because kids under 12 can't get vaccinated.

What they're saying: Marion school district has 43 active cases and more than 700 people have had to quarantine since starting school July 26, superintendent Glen Fenter told legislators.

He stressed that kids constantly being in and out of quarantine hurts the school's ability to properly educate them and pointed out the situation is more severe now than last year because of the Delta variant.

"I've got some young students who I can't look their parents in the eye and tell them I'm doing everything that we believe scientifically possible to take care of their kids ..."

Glen Fenter, superintendent at Marion school district

The big picture: More kids are getting COVID-19, and more of them are getting critically ill.

Reality check: Some misinformation was spread during the meeting that we will not repeat here. But reminder that masks are effective at preventing the spread of viruses.

Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville) questioned whether it would be better for kids to naturally catch the virus to build immunity, and to have been unmasked last school year. Heather Young, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, explained that vaccination provides better protection.

What's next: It's unclear what exactly will change in Mayberry's bill  legislators discussed limiting school mask mandates to 30 days instead of 60, addressing day care facilities and kids older than 12, and the inconsistency of requiring masks but allowing some extracurricular activities where masks are not required to continue.

Several other bills were filed late Wednesday that would simply allow school districts and publicly owned child care facilities to require masks without parameters.

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An ultra low emission zone sign in London, against a mural wall's bright colours

Google Maps will now warn drivers in London and other cities if they are going to enter a low-emission zone with fees or fines.

Several major cities have such schemes to keep polluting traffic out of their busiest areas.

But where such zones begin is often unclear - and can catch out tourists and occasional local drivers alike.

To begin with, Google will alert drivers entering zones in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Paris.

London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) covers an area with most of the city's tourist hotspots and historical landmarks, from:

Mayfair, in the west, to Whitechapel, in the east

Clerkenwell, in the north, to Lambeth in the south

Drivers of older cars below modern emission standards have to pay 12.50 in the zone.

And, until it expands, in October, it applies in the same area as the separate 15 congestion charge.

The Ulez appears in blue - with a warning the planned route crosses it

In the Paris zone, drivers without a windscreen sticker certifying their emissions can be fined:

68 (58) for cars

135 for bigger vehicles

And Berlin has a similar system.

"The alerts will appear when planning a trip that goes through a low-emission zone and when nearing a zone while already en route to the destination," Google said.

They also linked to official local information, it said, adding: "Based on this info, impacted users can choose an alternative mode of transportation or take another route."

Other apps, such as Waze - also owned by Google - already have features to avoid restricted zones in some cities.

But Google Maps is the most widely used navigation app, with estimates of its market share ranging from just under 70% to about 80%.

The company says it supports efforts to cut traffic pollution in the most built-up areas.

And it announced the move, in March, alongside other planned changes, including making the "eco-friendly" option the default route.
Jack Grealish has reportedly completed his medical at Manchester City as the Aston Villa midfielder moves closer to joining the Premier League champions in a British record 100 million ($139 million) transfer.

Grealish was pictured being driven out of City's Etihad training headquarters in a black van following his medical on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old will become the most expensive English player of all-time when City officially finalise the blockbuster swoop.

The fee will shatter the British record of 89 million paid by Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016.

City are reported to have activated a clause in Grealish's contract that compelled Villa to accept their offer when it reached 100 million.

Grealish returned from holiday in Dubrovnik at the start of this week and resumed training while City hammered out the deal.

Having graduated from Villa's youth academy, Grealish has spent his entire career at the club he supported as a boy, apart from a loan spell at Notts County in the 2013-14 season.

He has made 213 appearances for Villa since his debut in 2014, scoring 32 goals and laying on 43 assists.

Grealish, who has four years remaining on his Villa contract, scored six times in the league last season and provided 10 assists.

Grealish has never played in the Champions League and joining City will give him a chance to showcase his talents at the highest level.

The Villa captain's four appearances for England during their run to the Euro 2020 final last month gave a glimpse of the quality that convinced City manager Pep Guardiola to make his move.

The deal will be a major statement of intent by City ahead of the new season.

Grealish's ability to prise open defences will give Guardiola another weapon as City look to defend the title.

Guardiola already has Grealish's England team-mates Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling in creative attacking roles, with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez giving the City manager an embarrassment of riches in the final third.

City face Leicester in the Community Shield at Wembley on Saturday before starting their Premier League campaign against Tottenham on August 15.

smg/dj
Gun rights organizations and three Mecklenburg County residents filed a lawsuit Thursday against Sheriff Garry McFadden and his office for failing to issue pistol purchase and concealed handgun permits in a timely manner.

Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Grass Roots North Carolina, Rights Watch International and the three residents filed the lawsuit in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.

The lawsuit claims that McFaddens failure to timely issue permits violates Article I, Section 30 of the North Carolina Constitution, which says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The Sheriffs actions infringe on the right of the people, according to the lawsuit. Rights that shall not be infringed. 

North Carolina law requires sheriffs to issue pistol permits within 14 days of the date of the application, and concealed handgun permits within 45 days.

McFaddens office said in a statement that it couldnt comment on a lawsuit it hasnt yet received. But the office added that it has been transparent and forthcoming about our inability to meet certain statutory timelines in processing a surge of applications during the COVID-19 pandemic while also coping with staffing shortages.

The Sheriffs Office is currently processing a backlog of 5,902 purchase permit applications and is working on those received the week of March 19-26, according to its website. The office is processing 5,901 concealed handgun applications and is now reviewing those received the week of Jan. 25-29.

Theyre around seven months behind on concealed handgun permits, attorney Ronald Shook, who is representing the gun rights groups, told the Observer.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order McFaddens office to comply with the statutory requirements of state law and immediately issue both permits to qualified applicants.

The suing organizations have heard from members and supporters in Mecklenburg County about their inability to schedule appointments with McFaddens office for the past seven months, with the earliest available times being in late December, the lawsuit said.

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Grass Roots North Carolina will file as many lawsuits as necessary to make sure that permits are issued on a timely basis, Paul Valone, the state gun rights groups president, said at a news conference Thursday.

Unprecedented increase

The Sheriffs Office said in its statement that it has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of applications coinciding with the challenges of staff shortages since early in the pandemic.

Between March and June 2020, it said, the monthly average of pistol permit applications climbed to 4,698, which included an all-time high of approximately 6,425 in June. In comparison, the monthly average pistol permit applications in March and June 2019 was 1,389.

Last November 20, the number of outstanding pistol permit applications peaked at 13,434. The number of outstanding permits on the same date in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, was 192.

The timeline for concealed handgun permits the suing groups outlined in the lawsuit is wrong, according to the Sheriffs Office. Instead of permits being issued within 45 days of the application, McFaddens office said permits are required to be issued within 45 days from the date the approved application is received from other facilities.

Sheriff McFadden has personally responded to dozens of emails and taken calls from citizens regarding permit applications and understands the frustration during this process, his office said.

Similar lawsuit in Wake County

A similar lawsuit was filed in Wake County in March 2020 against Sheriff Gerald Baker for temporarily suspending gun permitting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attorneys for Wake resident Kelly Stafford, Grass Roots North Carolina, and national organizations Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The week the lawsuit was filed, Baker announced that his office was suspending pistol purchase permit applications until April 30, 2020 because they were backlogged. Gun sales surged around this time because it was at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit asked a judge to compel Bakers office to resume accepting the applications. The lawsuit was settled about a month and a half ago and the Sheriffs Office paid for $25,000 in legal fees and awarded $1,300 to Stafford, Valone said Thursday.

We hope what takes place is exactly whats taking place in Wake County, Valone said. I get dozens of complaints every week from Mecklenburg County, but the complaints in Wake County have dried to next to nothing. At this point, by all accounts, Sheriff Gerald Baker is issuing permits on a timely basis.
As the COVID-19 delta variant rips through the nation, we will need more energy in the private sector to beat this pandemic. Thats why leaders across party and sector have come together to rally American businesses to maximize vaccinations and take other steps to ensure a safe workplace.

We are at a crossroads in our efforts to address the delta wave and move beyond COVID-19. Roughly 165 million Americans  representing 58% of the eligible population  have been fully vaccinated, providing substantial protection against illness and death, while reducing missed workdays, closures and burdens on hospitals. Increasing vaccination rates is the countrys most immediate and best hope of reaching population immunity and restoring our national vitality and way of life.

It's a particularly critical time for the private sector, which employs 124 million and is the engine of American productivity and economic growth. Vaccinated people, while generally protected against the delta variant, especially from severe disease, can become infected and spread the virus to co-workers, families and communities. But its ease of transmission among unvaccinated individuals poses a more dangerous threat to workplace health and safety, business continuity, consumer confidence and the ability to serve clients.

America needs private sector help

Low vaccination levels propagate delta-driven outbreaks. This is an emerging competitive disadvantage for the United States compared with a growing number of industrialized nations with higher vaccination rates.

Those who remain unvaccinated are diverse, including people under 25, people living in rural and Southern communities, women of childbearing age, young Black and Latino men, and people who think they have immunity from prior infection. Many have legitimate questions and concerns about getting vaccinated that need to be respected and addressed. Most are employees, customers and suppliers of Americas businesses.

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USA TODAY editorial: We tried asking nicely. It's time to mandate COVID vaccines for some.

Because of the impact of business actions at this critical time, we have come together with public health and science experts and former officials from both political parties to ask American businesses to create #COVIDSafeZones  commonsense, achievable and temporary measures for any private sector enterprise with minimal disruption and major benefits for workplaces and the country.

First, because maximizing vaccination is so critical to the protection of the nations workforce, a growing number of employers now require vaccination with medical and religious exceptions. This is the best way to protect workers and customers where there is frequent close contact with many individuals who may be infected. In health care settings, we urge vaccination for anyone who comes in contact with patients. High vaccination rates also provide a greater assurance of safety in other high-risk settings, where distancing or reduced contact is not possible.

Showing a COVID-19 vaccination card in Los Angeles on July 26, 2021.

If a vaccination requirement is not an option, we recommend these clear steps:

Infection screening protocol. Require a protocol for employees and regular visitors (not retail customers) to be routinely screened with a rapid test, typically twice weekly. Repeated negative tests provide a high degree of certainty that the individual is not infectious. More frequent testing should be done in higher-risk settings where appropriate and practical. States have used COVID-19 funds to help cover screening costs for small businesses and nonprofits.

Proof of vaccination. Allow anyone who provides proof of full vaccination (accounting for the appropriate time period after the final vaccine) to bypass the routine testing requirement.

Incentives for vaccination. Offer cash incentives to employees, including cash payments and paid leave to get vaccinated. Offer easy access to vaccination where possible.

Mask use. Follow the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises face coverings in public indoor settings in substantial or high prevalence zones. Where masks are needed, N95s or their equivalents offer the highest level of protection. The steps we have described can reduce the need for masks in controlled environments.

Public safety and personal liberty

These recommendations are not a broad vaccination mandate. We believe they are consistent with established precedent and any state laws that prohibit broad vaccination requirements in places of business.

They are also temporary measures until we are reliably back to low COVID-19 rates and the public health threat is behind us. They can be combined with other steps, such as improved ventilation and distancing.

Memo to unvaccinated states: Surging COVID-19 isn't a magnet for jobs and investment

We recognize any protocols create some burden and cost for businesses and their employees. Still, these will be relatively modest compared with the significant cost of ongoing disruption and uncertainty in business productivity and peoples lives. A growing number of businesses and governments at all levels have already taken these steps. More are moving forward now, including Baptist Health and Kaiser Permanente, building momentum for more businesses to join.

Beating this pandemic wont happen through actions by federal, state and local governments alone. Private sector leaders have a critical role to play now to move our country forward together, support their workers and communities, and respect both public safety and individual liberty.

Dr. Mark McClellan, a professor and founding director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University, headed the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for President George W. Bush. Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt), the author of "Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response," was President Joe Biden's White House senior adviser for COVID response until June and ran the Affordable Care Act and CMS from 2015 to 2017 for President Barack Obama. John Bridgeland (@JohnMBridgeland), co-founder and CEO of the COVID Collaborative, was director of the Bush White House Domestic Policy Council.

Public health experts, scientists and former elected officials of both parties who have signed an open letter urging America's private sector leaders to implement #COVIDSafeZones:

Jerome M. Adams, former U.S. Surgeon General

Barbara D. Alexander, President, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and

Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Duke University

Melody Barnes, former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council

Georges C. Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association

David Brailer, former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

John Bridgeland, Co-Founder and CEO, COVID Collaborative, and former director, White House Domestic Policy Council

Robert M. Califf, Professor of Cardiology, Duke School of Medicine and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner

Raymond G. Chambers, Co-Founder, COVID Collaborative, and WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy

Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University

Tom Daschle, former U.S. senator (D-S.D.) and former Senate Majority Leader

Carlos del Rio, Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, and International Secretary, National Academy of Medicine

Mark Dybul, Co-Director, Georgetown Center for Global Health and Impact; former executive director, Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria, TB; and former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

Gary Edson, President, COVID Collaborative, and former Deputy National Security

Adviser

Julio Frenk, President, University of Miami and former Minister of Health, Mexico

Tom Frieden, President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives, and former director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

William H. Frist, former U.S. senator (R-Tenn.) and former Senate Majority Leader

Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg, former FDA commissioner and former Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine

Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former governor and U.S. senator (R-Utah)

Stephen Massey, Managing Director, Health Action Alliance

Mark McClellan, director, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, former FDA commissioner and former CMS administrator

Lauren Ancel Meyers, Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Deval Patrick, former governor (D-Mass.)

Caitlin Rivers, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Kathleen Sebelius, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former governor (D-Kan.)

Andy Slavitt, former senior adviser to COVID-19 Response Coordinator and former acting CMS administrator

Robert M. Wachter, Chairman, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Michelle Williams, Co-Founder, COVID Collaborative and Dean, Harvard T.H. Chan

School of Public Health

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID Safe Zones at American businesses can help us end the pandemic
Israeli military chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz attends a news conference in Tel Aviv Reuters

Israel's defense minister said his country is prepared to attack Iran.

"We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran," Gantz said Thursday.

This came after a deadly drone strike on an Israeli-managed tanker that Israel, the US, and UK blamed on Iran.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday said Israel was prepared to attack Iran following a deadly drone strike on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman that has raised tensions in the region.

"We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran," Gantz told the news website Ynet, per the Associated Press. "The world needs to take action against Iran now."

The US, UK, and Israel blamed Iran for the drone strike, which targeted a tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire, though none of the countries have brought forward evidence to substantiate the allegation. Two crewmembers - a British national and a Romanian citizen - were killed. Iran denied any involvement in the fatal drone attack.

Iran has been linked to or accused of a number of attacks on oil tankers in the region since 2019 amid growing tensions with Israel and the West, largely a product of President Donald Trump's controversial decision to withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear deal. Iranian oil tankers have also been attacked.

In a tweet on Thursday responding to Gantz, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, "In another brazen violation of Int'l law, Israeli regime now blatantly threatens #Iran with military action. Such malign behavior stems from blind Western support. We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response. Don't test us."

Gantz's warning to Tehran on Thursday came as Iran swore in a new president, Ebrahim Raisi. It also came with talks aimed at reviving the 2015 deal - which the Israeli government opposes - still up in the air, and with the US increasingly warning that time is running out to save the agreement.

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Raisi is a hardliner and protege of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has made it clear he's not especially interested in diplomacy with the US or its allies - though he's endorsed the talks aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement.

After being sworn-in, Raisi reiterated the Iranian government's call for the US to lift economic sanctions.

"The Iranian people expect the new government to improve their livelihoods," Raisi said, per Reuters "All illegal U.S. sanctions against the Iranian nation must be lifted."

The 2015 nuclear deal sought to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. After abandoning the deal, Trump imposed harsh sanctions on Iran as part of a "maximum pressure" strategy that aimed to push Tehran into negotiating a more stringent version of the 2015 pact. Trump's approach did not work, and largely served to increase tensions between the US and Iran while sparking fears of a new conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran gradually took steps away from the limitations placed on its nuclear program under the deal.

President Joe Biden made reviving the 2015 deal a top foreign policy priority, and US and Iranian negotiators have engaged in six rounds of indirect talks in Vienna aimed at bringing it back to life. But Iran in July moved to stall the talks as it prepared to inaugurate Raisi.

Iran has maintained it will not return to compliance with the 2015 pact until the US lifts sanctions, while the Biden administration has insisted that Tehran show it's behaving in accordance with the deal before providing sanctions relief.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Ami Miyazaki and Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan decided on Thursday to expand its COVID-19 emergency curbs to cover more than 70% of the population, as a record surge in cases strained hospitals in the Olympics host city Tokyo and other parts of the country.

Japan had avoided the explosive outbreaks seen elsewhere. But infections are rising fast as new cases hit record highs in Tokyo, overshadowing the July 23-Aug. 8 Olympics and fuelling doubts over Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pandemic response.

Suga announced the new steps - which are mostly voluntary, unlike strict lockdowns overseas - as new daily cases in Tokyo hit a record 5,042. Nationwide new cases topped 15,000 for the first time, while medical advisors to the capital said the Tokyo figure could double in two weeks, NHK public TV reported.

"The situation on the ground (at hospitals) is extremely severe," Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a panel of experts before Suga's formal announcement. He said serious cases had doubled in the past two weeks.

The panel signed off on the proposal to declare "quasi-emergencies" in eight more of Japan's 47 prefectures. But Nishimura told a news conference some members had said the situation was severe enough to require a nationwide emergency.

Suga told reporters the government was "not considering that now" and would focus on hot-spot areas.

Six prefectures including Tokyo are already under full states of emergency to last through Aug. 31 and another five are under less strict directives, meaning just over half the population is covered by some restrictions.

Both types of curbs have recently focused on asking restaurants to close early and stop serving alcohol while urging people to stay at home as much as possible. Suga on Thursday also asked people to refrain from travel during summer holidays.

The latest steps, to take effect from Sunday, mean that more than 70% of the population will be under some form of restriction. Criticism of Suga, his ratings already at record lows, is growing over his handling of the pandemic.

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BACKLASH OVER HOSPITAL POLICY

The government says the Olympics has not caused the latest surge but experts say holding the Games now has sent a mixed message to an already weary public about the need to stay at home.

Games organisers on Thursday reported 31 new Games-related COVID-19 cases, bringing the total since July 1 to 353.

It remains to be seen whether the latest COVID-19 restrictions, which are mostly voluntary, will have much impact as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads.

"I do not think that more (quasi-emergency steps) will make much difference - (it's) simply a political statement," said Kenji Shibuya, former director of the Institute for Population Health at King's College London.

The latest expansion follows a backlash against Suga's plan to limit hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients to those who are seriously ill and those at risk of becoming so. Others are told to isolate at home.

The shift is intended to address a hospital bed crunch, but critics say it will lead to an increase in deaths since the condition of patients can worsen rapidly.

In response to criticism from within and outside his ruling coalition, Suga said on Wednesday the change was aimed at regions suffering a surge in COVID-19 cases, such as Tokyo, and was not nationally uniform.

On Thursday, he appeared to back-pedal further, saying moderately ill patients in need of oxygen treatment would be admitted to hospital and doctors would make final decisions.

The backlash is another blow to Suga before a ruling party leadership race and parliamentary election this year.

Just under 31% of residents of Japan are fully vaccinated. With 15,221 deaths recorded as of Wednesday, the COVID-19 mortality rate was about 1.6%, in line with the United States.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg, Ami Miyazaki, Tim Kellly, Kiyoshi Takenaka ,Takashi Umekawa and Ritsuko Ando; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Stephen Coates, Gerry Doyle, Kevin Liffey and Timothy Heritage)
Matt James, the first Black man to be the lead on ABC's popular reality show, "The Bachelor," pictured with the contestants on his season. (Craig Sjodin / ABC via Getty Images)

After a racism scandal on "The Bachelor's" first season with a Black male lead led longtime host Chris Harrison to exit the franchise earlier this year, ABC's popular reality franchise reportedly has its first Black executive producer: Jodi Baskerville. Neither the network nor Warner Horizon, which produces the reality series, responded to a request for comment. Variety first reported the news.

Baskerville, a "Bachelor" stalwart who has also worked on such high-profile reality series as "America's Next Top Model" and "Pit Boss," will step into the role at a crucial time for the franchise. According to Variety, she'll assume the new title with Season 18 of "The Bachelorette," featuring the franchise's next Black lead, 28-year-old Michelle Young. The series is set to premiere in October.

That means a Black woman executive producer will play a leadership role in a season with a a Black woman lead for the first time, alongside a Black woman cohost (former Bachelorette Tayshia Adams, who took over from Harrison alongside another former lead, Kaitlyn Bristowe, this season). Both Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., ABC's parent company, had pledged support for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and in the midst of worldwide protests of police violence against Black people.

As one Twitter user said in praise of the decision, "steps toward change in #BachelorNation ... cant wait to see how this plays out in Michelles season!"

Young was the runner-up in Season 25 of "The Bachelor" after its lead, Matt James, selected Rachael Kirkconnell, who'd been photographed at an antebellum South-themed college party in 2018.

Harrison came under fire for defending Kirkconnell during an "Extra" interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first Black lead in franchise history. "This judge-jury-executioner thing is tearing this girls life apart," Harrison said of the criticism Kirkconnell faced after the racist picture surfaced.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A federal judge sentencing a Michigan man in D.C. Wednesday over his role in the U.S. Capitol riot dismissed any notion that he's a political prisoner.

Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that she wasn't sentencing Karl Dresch, of Calumet, "because he is a supporter" of former President Trump, noting that "millions of people" had voted for him "and did not heed his call to descend on the nation's Capitol," per the Detroit News.

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"He is not a political prisoner. ... He was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert the electoral process."

Excerpt from Jackson's remarks via WUSA9

"You called yourself and everyone else patriots, but that's not patriotism," Judge Amy Berman Jackson said to Dresch, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering the Capitol, according to CNN.

"Patriotism is loyalty to country, loyalty to the Constitution, not loyalty to a head of state. That is the tyranny we rejected on July 4."

The big picture: The Obama-appointed Jackson is the latest federal judge to condemn claims that the riot was due to some form of patriotism  with judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents speaking out on the grave threat the deadly insurrection posed, the Washington Post notes.

The Reagan-appointed U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, who sentenced Northern Virginia couple Joshua Bustle and Jessica Bustle to home confinement Wednesday said her "inaccurate" description of Capitol rioters as "patriots" led to him seriously consider jailing her, per WashPost.

"Patriots are not the ones who attack the operations of Congress," he said, noting the fatalities during the insurrection. "That is revolution, not patriotism."

Of note: Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell last Thursday questioned whether it was appropriate for prosecutors to offer defendants misdemeanor plea deals in cases that saw insurrectionists "terrorizing members of Congress," CNN notes.

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For the record: Jackson sentenced Dresch to six months in prison. With time served since he was incarcerated in January while awaiting trial, he is set to be released Wednesday or Thursday, per his attorney.

He was fined $500 in restitution for participating in the insurrection.

Joshua Bustle was sentenced to 30 of conditional home confinement, and Jessica Bustle to 60 days conditional home confinement.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Hogan and Howell.

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The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department to determine whether police in the city have a pattern or practice of violating residents' Constitutional rights.

The probe will assess whether officers engage in discriminatory policing, use excessive force, retaliate against people engaged in First Amendment-protected activity and unlawfully seize or dispose of items belonging to people experiencing homelessness. It will also examine the city and the department's practices for responding to people with disabilities to determine whether their federal rights are being violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city's police department has faced criticism over its handling of protests and over police shootings, including in 2018 when a report found the city had the most officer-involved shootings in the country (44), which was more than double the city's numbers in 2017.

An analysis by The Arizona Republic documented a drop to 15 police shootings in 2019, but another increase to 26 police shootings in 2020. The paper's analysis found people of color were shot at higher rates than White people, and that officers most often used deadly force while in mostly Black and Hispanic communities last year.

Kristen Clarke and Merrick Garland on August 5, 2021. / Credit: Andrew Harnik / AP

The Justice Department will also determine whether "sweeps" targeting people experiencing homelessness and seizing their belongings violate 4th and 14th amendment rights. Federal officials say they will work with the city, the department and the community to determine whether there's reasonable cause to believe Constitutional violations are happening, said Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general. If they do, the Justice Department will issue a report describing its findings and then work with local authorities on solutions. The department would be authorized to seek remedies to any Constitutional violations through litigation.

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Federal officials say the investigation is the 73rd it's conducted under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which authorizes federal officials to use civil litigation to remedy patterns and practices of Constitutional violations by state or local governments. Similar investigations have been recently launched in Minneapolis and Louisville.

"When we conduct pattern or practice investigations to determine whether the Constitution or federal law has been violated, our aim is to promote transparency and accountability," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "This increases public trust, which in turn increases public safety. We know that law enforcement shares these goals."

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Phoenix police Chief Jeri Williams are supportive of the probe, Clarke said. DOJ officials will meet with command staff as well as community members to determine their experiences with officers and review training, policies, body-worn cameras, incident reports and other documentation, Clarke said. The investigators will review systems of accountability, how complaints are investigated and how discipline is imposed, Clarke said.

"One of the highest priorities of the Civil Rights Division is to ensure that every person in this country benefits from policing that is lawful, effective, transparent, and free from discrimination," Clarke said. "Police officers across the country must use their authority in a manner that adheres to the Constitution, complies with federal civil rights laws and respects human dignity."

Speaking later Thursday, Phoenix city manager Ed Zuercher and Police Chief Jeri Williams said they embrace the review. Both pointed to reforms already underway in the city, such as outside use of force and training assessments and the rollout of bodyworn cameras, but said they are open to another opportunity to improve. Zuercher also pointed to $15 million in new city funding that will allow for specialists, rather than police, to respond to people experiencing behavioral health crises.

"I know good officers do not want to work in a system that allows for bad practices, and our community expects and deserves a high-quality police department with officers committed to justice, fairness and respect," Zuercher said.

Jeff Pegues contributed reporting.

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The Justice Department opened a "pattern or practice" investigation into the city of Phoenix and its police department, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.

The Civil Rights Division investigation will take a look at the police department's use of force policies and examine whether it engages in discriminatory policing, as well as whether its officers engage in retaliatory activity against protesters or unlawfully seize and dispose of the property of homeless people, Garland said.

"The investigation will determine whether the Phoenix Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of violations of the Constitution or federal law," Garland said in a news conference, adding that its aim is to "promote transparency and accountability."

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Neither Garland nor Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who also spoke at the press conference, identified specific incidents that sparked the inquiry. but both said the impetus for the investigation was a "review of publicly available information." Clarke specified that the information reviewed included court filings, media reports, and citizen complaints alleging misconduct.

"We found that the evidence warrants a full investigation, but we approach this process with no predispositions or pre-drawn conclusions," Clarke said.

The inquiry is at least the third of its kind to be undertaken by the department under Garland, who on April 21 announced an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd.

Five days later, Garland announced an investigation into both the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and the Louisville Metro Police Department following the death of Breonna Taylor during a police raid on her home in March 2020.

In those announcements, Garland expressed similar motivations about determining whether those departments maintain a pattern of unconstitutional policing practices.

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Clarke on Wednesday hailed the department's past investigations into police departments, saying they have revealed systemic misconduct and its "root causes."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Phoenix investigation will include interviews with officers, department leadership, and community members, as well as reviews of body camera footage and incident reports.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the city of Phoenix for comment on the investigation.

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Tags: News, Phoenix, Arizona, Police, Justice Department, Investigation, Civil Rights

Original Author: Jeremy Beaman

Original Location: Justice Department opens civil rights investigation into Phoenix Police Department
At a children's hospital in Santiago there is a flurry of excitement over a delegation of special visitors: a four-legged quartet has arrived to offer some reprieve from sickness and pain with their wagging tails and soulful eyes.

Pipa, Morron, Pepe and Chimu are regular visitors to the Exequiel Gonzalez Pediatrics Hospital in the Chilean capital, where they bring as much joy to children awaiting surgery as to their caregivers, many emotionally and physically drained by months battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sporting hospital visitor's tags with their names and mugshots, the motley crew -- two big dogs and two small -- make their way from bed to bed, sharing cuddles and sitting patiently through the often inept attempts of small hands at brushing their coats.

For a moment, the little ones forget their pain, their bandages, and the incessant beeping of hospital electronics.

In one bed, a girl - her face bandaged but beaming with joy - brushes then hugs Morron, a black Labrador.

In the corridor a girl in a bright pink tracksuit gleefully walks two of the dogs on leashes -- or rather, they walk her.

"To see how a child's face lights up is what gives this meaning," said canine therapist Fernanda Romero of the Tregua Foundation, the group that organizes the visits.

"It is a near-magical experience," she told AFP.

- 'Helps reduce anxiety' -

The foundation organizes hospital visits to calm young patients before and after surgery.

"We have noticed in more than 90 percent of the children that canine therapy helps to reduce anxiety," pediatric surgeon Yolanda Poulin told AFP.

"A child who is crying, fearful and hungry because they have had to fast for several hours -- the therapy helps them."

The dogs -- mainly Labradors and Golden Retrievers, animals known for their calm demeanor -- are trained from an early age to handle the stressful hospital environment with its bright lights and constant machine noises.

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During the pandemic the dogs have also been brought in to calm the hospital's doctors, nurses and technicians, exhausted after months of coronavirus duty.

The dogs have been shown to relieve stress among the adults as well as kids, said Nicole Faust, one of the canine therapists.

"Many say: 'How nice that the dog was here, I needed it, I was so stressed, I just had a super complicated patient, I just went through a hard experience'," she said.

"It has helped them a lot to forget work for a while," said Faust, concerned for the mental health of medical personnel in the frontline of the battle against a pandemic that has claimed some 35,000 lives in Chile.

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Aug. 5While the number of lifeguards who were certified this year jumped significantly compared to 2020, it fell short of those who were certified by the American Red Cross in 2019.

From January-April 2019, the American Red Cross certified 98,570 lifeguards nationally, according to Marita Salkowski, a spokeswoman. She said the number dropped to 51,811 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and jumped to 83,685 this year.

The lack of licensed lifeguards, the early start to the school year and the competitive job market are impacting how swimming pools operate this summer.

Brown's Run Country Club, located in Madison Twp., was inspected by the Butler County General Health District on Monday after it received an anonymous complaint the swimming pool was operating without any certified lifeguards.

The main pool is closed to all ages, said Brandy Hellard, general manager. Although the club has members signed waivers and posted signs, this didn't meet the requirements issued by the health department, she said.

The kiddie pool will remain open for age appropriate kids/families, according to Hellard.

The main pool will only be open if a lifeguard is on duty on a day-to-day basis.

"We have to provide the best possible service to our customers," she said. "But our lifeguards are going back to school and we can't compete with what restaurants are paying. You can make more flipping hamburgers than you can as a lifeguard. We are upside down in this world."

Plus, Hellard said, lifeguards must be certified and those classes cost between $200 to $240. The club raised the hourly pay for lifeguards from $10 to $18 and all shifts are available.

Heather Shooner, aquatic safety director for SwimSafe Pool Management, said pools across the United States are struggling to hire and retain lifeguards. There are more job openings than there are candidates willing to work, she said.

"There is no magic wand," said Shooner, whose company provides lifeguards at the Fairfield Aquatic Center and pools throughout the region. "It makes it tough for sure."

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Jordan Lawson, general manager at Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown, had to adjust his swimming pool hours due to the shortage of lifeguards, especially as high school students prepare for the fall sports season and college students return to campus.

He has reduced the hours the pool is open and is closing it Thursday, then adjusting the hours this weekend.

Lawson said his family recently went to the Kings Island water park and about half of the slides were closed due to not enough lifeguards, he said.

"Is this the new normal?" he asked.
DENVER (AP)  A Black man who was pistol-whipped and choked by a suburban Denver police officer said Wednesday that he feared for his life during the violent confrontation that led to assault charges against the officer and later his resignation.

In an interview, Kyle Vinson said he was afraid of dying when Officer John Haubert of the embattled Aurora Police Department held a gun to the back of his head and pointed it at his chest while arresting him on July 23 for a probation violation. The run-in was captured on Haubert's body-worn camera.

The arrest July 23 stirred new anger over a Police Department plagued by allegations of misconduct in recent years, including the 2019 death of Elijah McClain and incidents involving other people of color.

Vinson is a homeless Army veteran who said he was trying to take a break from the midday heat when police approached. When the arrest turned violent, he said he thought about never being able to see his brother or his friends, ride his bicycle or eat again.

Just little things like that, youre just thinking, Oh, this is it. This is my time to go, right now,'" he said.

Vinson said he tried to comply with the officers' orders as best he could and control his emotions so he would not be killed, noting the deaths of George Floyd and McClain, a Black man stopped on the street by Aurora police in 2019 and put into a neckhold.

If someone was even not compliant just a little bit, they could have lost their life," he said.

Hauberts lawyer has vowed to zealously defend him but did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.

A week and a half after the arrest, Vinson said he still is in pain from his injuries, the worst of which is in his chest from being poked with the gun's barrel. He said he also suffers headaches and back pain and got six stitches for a cut on his head.

Haubert and another officer had been sent to investigate a trespassing report when they encountered Vinson and two other people who had outstanding felony warrants, according to court documents. The two others ran away.

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Haubert is accused of grabbing the back of the Vinsons neck, pressing a gun against his head, then striking his head with the pistol at least seven times while ordering him to lie on his stomach, according to an arrest affidavit.

Youre killing me, Vinson cried as Haubert held him down and struck him, according to the video released by Police Chief Vanessa Wilson following the officers' arrests. She called it a very despicable act and apologized, saying it was an anomaly.

The second officer is accused of not intervening as required under a police accountability law passed last summer amid nationwide racial injustice protests.

The law also makes it easier to file lawsuits against police officers over misconduct allegations. One of Vinson's lawyers, Qusair Mohamedbhai, who represents McClain's mother in a lawsuit against Aurora, said a lawsuit was being considered in Vinson's case.
U.S. Senate candidate Mark McCloskey wants his guns returned to him now that Gov. Mike Parson has pardoned the St. Louis lawyer, who had pleaded guilty to assault after waving a firearm at Black Lives Matter demonstrators last year.

McCloskey sued Wednesday in St. Louis City Circuit Court, citing the pardon in demanding Missouri give back a Colt AR-15 rifle and Bryco pistol.

In his petition, McCloskey writes that the pardon absolved him of all wrongdoing and nullifies all judgments and orders in the case. He is also seeking to have fines against him repaid.

The politically-motivated charges that were used to seize our guns were dropped and now the Governor has granted both Patty and me pardons, Mark McCloskey said in a statement. I filed a lawsuit today to demand that the Circuit Attorney return our guns immediately.

According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, a full pardon removes any punitive collateral consequence stemming from the conviction without conditions or restrictions.

Parson made McCloskeys pardon public on Tuesday. His office gave no explanation and hasnt responded to requests for comment about the decision.

McCloskey pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and acknowledged to a judge his actions had endangered others. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to second-degree misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000.

Parson had promised soon after the June 2020 incident that he would pardon the couple if they were prosecuted. His action was among a batch of pardons and commutations the governors office issued Tuesday. Parson has issued pardons and commutations about once a month.

The decision generated outrage among Democrats and criminal justice reform advocates, who noted that Parson hasnt pardoned Kevin Strickland, a Kansas City man who has been serving four decades in prison for a 1978 triple homicide that Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said he did not commit.
Maryland will require state employees who care for people in prisons, hospitals, veterans centers and juvenile facilities to get COVID-19 vaccinations, or submit to regular testing and mask-wearing restrictions starting Sept. 1, Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday.

Hogans order applies to 48 state-run congregate care facilities. Those who do not get at least one dose of the vaccine by September will have to be tested multiple times a week, Hogan said.

Hogan also encouraged private operators of nursing homes and other similar institutions to require vaccination among employees.

During a news conference in Annapolis Thursday, the Republican governor cited the delta variant of COVID-19 as a reason for the new rules, saying nearly all of the cases sequenced by the state were examples of delta.

The delta variant is spreading like wildfire in areas with low vaccination rates, Hogan said. Vaccines are helping Maryland contain this fire, he said.

Implementing a vaccine requirement at state facilities with vulnerable people is an example of the state leading by example, Hogan said.

The largest union for state workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, previously signed an agreement that the state could impose requirements on unvaccinated employees, such as wearing personal protective equipment and frequent testing for the virus.

We welcome proactive steps to keep people safe. Weve been the ones pushing for increased health and safety measures around the state, said Stuart Katzenberg, director of bargaining for AFSCME Maryland Council 3.

Katzenberg said workers in the union want to meet with the Hogan administration on comprehensive measures to protect workers and clients from getting sick. Its all the more urgent, he said, given the contagiousness of the delta variant.

Vaccination is one component of a plan. As variants are breaking through, there must be a holistic approach, Katzenberg said. We look forward to sitting down and talking about everything.

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Hogans announcement is limited to the agencies that have direct care responsibilities, and not to the state government as a whole  though many agencies have workers that are working in person and interacting with the public.

The governor said that there havent been serious outbreaks in other agencies.

We just didnt feel it was necessary and appropriate at this time to have a vaccine requirement across all state agencies, Hogan said.

The state has already offered $100 bonuses to employees who got their vaccination, and lots of people took advantage of the deal, Hogan said. Now the state is opting for the carrot and stick method, Hogan said.

Hogans announcement came on the same day that Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott reinstated a mask mandate for the city, also citing the variant.

Maryland remains one of the most vaccinated states in the nation, with 77.9% of adults having received at least one dose of a vaccine.

But cases have risen of late. The state reported more than 700 new cases Thursday  a level not seen since May. Hospitalizations have risen for 11 straight days, and Hogan said Thursday the vast majority were unvaccinated. The states positivity rate has climbed to 3.64% after falling below 1%.

Since January, 96% of Marylands cases have been among unvaccinated people, said Dr. Jinlene Chan, deputy health secretary for public health services. So far, the state has recorded 3,800 so-called breakthrough infections among 3.2 million fully vaccinated Marylanders. Some 454 fully vaccinated Marylanders have been hospitalized, and 53 have died, Chan said.

Hogan said Thursday he wouldnt be instituting new mask requirements or other restrictions.

There is nothing more effective at saving lives and keeping people out of the hospital than the vaccines, Hogan said.

Just get the damn vaccine, he said.
Two of the co-founders of Times Up, an anti-harassment group created in response to the #MeToo Movement, helped New York governor Andrew Cuomos office draft a letter to discredit a woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to a report by the state attorney general.

State attorney general Letitia James issued a 165- page report on Tuesday, the culmination of a months-long investigation into sexual-harassment allegations against the governor. James found that Cuomo sexually harassed eleven women, including current and former state employees, in violation of state and federal law.

The report details how Cuomo and a group of advisers drafted a letter in December 2020 to attack the credibility of Lindsey Boylan, the governors former aide who was the first to come forward with an accusation. Boylan said Cuomo sexually harassed her and created a toxic work environment.

The letter denied the legitimacy of Ms. Boylans allegations, impugned her credibility, and attacked her claims as politically motivated (including with theories about connections with supporters of President Trump and a politician with an alleged interest in running for Governor), James said.

Melissa DeRosa, the governors top aide, said that he initially drafted the letter by hand, according to the report, though Cuomo said he did not write it and only worked alongside others in the drafting process.

The report reveals that DeRosa said that she had concerns about the letter and was worried it might backfire. Cuomo then directed her to seek out input from attorney Roberta Kaplan, co-founder of the Times Up legal defense fund with CEO Tina Tchen.

Kaplan works as legal counsel for DeRosa.

According to Ms. DeRosa, Ms. Kaplan read the letter to the head of the advocacy group Times Up [Tchen], and both of them allegedly suggested that, without the statements about Ms. Boylans interactions with male colleagues, the letter was fine, James wrote.

Ms. DeRosa reported back to the Governor that Ms. Kaplan and the head of Times Up thought the letter was okay with some changes, as did [Cuomo ally Steve] Cohen, but everyone else thought it was a bad idea, James adds.

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A spokesperson for Times Up responded to the report in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

Before any allegations were made against Governor Cuomo, in 2019, Times Up worked with his administration to pass the Times Up/NY Safety Agenda. In December 2020, Tina was asked to give her perspective on a public response to Ms. Boylans allegations, a spokesperson said.

Although Tina made no recommendations as to what he should do, she shared the stance Times Up has always taken in these matters, the spokesperson added. She was clear that any response coming from the Governors office addressing the allegations would be insufficient and unacceptable if it did not acknowledge the experiences of the women who came forward, and that it should in no way shame or discredit the women.

The letter to discredit Boylan was ultimately not shared publicly after Cuomos team struggled to find anyone willing to sign it, according to James.

Several people whom the Governors advisors asked to sign the letter were uncomfortable with what it said about Ms. Boylan, the report said, adding that some said it was an example of victim-shaming and retaliation.

Meanwhile, Cuomo compared the process of drafting the letter to a habit that former President Abraham Lincoln had of writing a response to an article that he disliked and then throwing it out.

Cuomo testified that like Lincoln, the writing process was cathartic for him, according to the report.

More from National Review
Mike Pompeo Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. government officials are generally banned from receiving gifts from foreign governments under the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, and any large or costly gift becomes the property of the U.S. government. The State Department said Thursday that it has "an ongoing inquiry" into a missing bottle of whiskey the government of Japan gave then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in June 2019. The bottle of whiskey, valued at $5,800, is marked "disposition unknown" in an annual report on foreign gifts in the Federal Register, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Pompeo, through his lawyer, suggested he didn't drink it  or, if you want to misread the statement another way, he drank too much of it. Pompeo has "no recollection of receiving the bottle of whiskey and does not have any knowledge of what happened to it," said his lawyer, William Burck.

Pompeo faced criticism as secretary of state for hosting regular lavish taxpayer-funded parties and allegedly making government employees run personal errands for him and his wife. But other official foreign gifts to Pompeo, including a silver falcon statue from Saudi Arabia, "are marked as being transferred to the State Department's National Museum of American Diplomacy or elsewhere in the government," the Journal reports.

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April 14, 2017 landed on a Friday that year. At around four in the afternoon, Charmaine Lawson, 47, left work and headed to a doctors appointment in Perris, California. Between raising her two kids at home and working full time at Kaiser Permanente, Charmaine had to find time between errands to call her son Josiah, who was attending college over 700 miles away.

Charmaine Lawson sits in her living room in Perris, California. (Photo by Terrell Tangonan)

Oh, man. If I am ever in jail, I am not calling you, cause I only get one call, she remembered saying as she left a voicemail in her Jamaican accent. Call me back."

Charmaine parked her car at the doctors office and walked inside. Upon entering the building, she got a call from Josiah.

I will call you right back, son, she said.

For sure, he replied, not knowing those would be the last words he ever said to his mother.

She never got around to calling. She got caught up in the day-to-day tasks of being a mother. She picked up her other son Anthony from school and started filling out a college scholarship application for Josiah and dozed off around 10 p.m.

At around three in the morning of April 15, Charmaine was jolted awake. Her phone was ringing incessantly.

Whats wrong? she asked the caller.

On the other end was Annalicia Johnson, Josiahs roommate. Josiah had been stabbed.

Charmaine first came to the United States when she was 14 years old. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, she spent her childhood in Trelawny Parish just outside of Montego Bay. Like most mothers, Charmaine wanted the best for her kids and worked hard to give it to them. Josiah, her oldest, was always there to help out.

Being a single mom, he was my helper, Charmaine told Dateline. He saw how hard I worked. I bought my first home and we had dinners together, movie nights and game nights.

In 2015, Charmaine and Josiah attended a college fair at a local high school. Charmaine remembered that Josiah called her over to the booth for Humboldt State University, a school with about 6,300 students nestled among giant redwoods in the town of Arcata, 90 miles south of the Oregon border. Growing up in Southern California, Josiah was more accustomed to city life, but the natural beauty of Humboldt County intrigued him.

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Scenic Drive in Trinidad, Calif. A popular hangout spot for Humboldt State students 15 minutes north of Arcata. (Photo by Freddy Brewster)

Josiah was accepted to Humboldt State and moved to Arcata in August 2015. He selected criminal justice as his major; he wanted to be a lawyer, Charmaine said. He joined Brothers United, a cultural group at Humboldt State whose membership included predominantly Black male students. His first year was marked with new friendships, trips to the beach, skateboarding and living life like any other college freshman.

When Josiah returned for his second year at Humboldt State in August 2016, he moved in with a couple of girls he was friends with in a house a short walk from campus. That same month, Josiah met Renalyn Bobadilla, a biology major, and the two began dating.

Renalyn later testified in court that on April 15, 2017 at around 2 a.m., she, Josiah, Annalicia and two brothers named Kyle and Kristoff Castillo, went to a party at 1120 Spear Avenue. They stayed for about an hour and just before 3 a.m., the group of five began to leave.

When they stepped out of the front door, Renalyn testified, they encountered a young woman named Lila Ortega, her boyfriend Kyle Zoellner and their three friends. According to witnesses, Zoellner told the group that Ortega had misplaced her phone, a rose gold iPhone 7. Renalyn and Kyle Castillo testified that they remembered Ortega accusing them of stealing the phone and that Ortega demanded they turn out their pockets.

I don't say anything to her, I say something to [Zoellner], though, Kyle Castillo testified. I told him, Yo, can you just, like, tell her to relax? Because she doesn't really know me like that, and for her to accuse me of something like that, thats pretty deep.

Right after that, Kyle Castillo said a fight broke out between Renalyn and Ortega which caused Josiah and Kyle Zoellner to fight. After a few minutes, the fighting ended and the two groups parted ways. Josiah, Renalyn and the Castillo brothers walked away from the house toward Spear Avenue as the other group stayed near the front of the house.

Once they reached the street, Renalyn testified, she realized she had been pepper sprayed. She said that her face was burning and turned back towards the house where she confronted Ortega and one of her friends.

Around this time, a man named Paris Wright walked out of the house and toward the end of the 109-foot-long driveway where he saw Josiah standing on Spear Avenue, Wright was friends with Josiah and testified that he told Josiah that Renalyn was arguing with the two young women and it wasnt that serious.

Wright later testified in court that he remembered Josiah saying, OK, cool. Im just going to go get her and were gonna leave.

Wright then walked toward his roommates car, but turned around when he heard screams coming from the house. As he walked closer, he saw Josiah and Kyle Zoellner wrestling in the grass behind a red 1990s-era Ford Mustang.

He saw Josiah laying on his back with Kyle Zoellners back on his chest. Josiah had one arm around Zoellners neck and the other around Zoellners arms, Wright testified.

I tried to separate him, because it was my impression that Josiah might have just snapped and decided he wanted to choke him, and I didn't want to let him do something stupid, Wright said during the preliminary hearing. So I was just trying to diffuse the situation.

Once he separated the two, he reached a hand down to Josiah, but all he got back was a blank stare.

Josiah had said something, but I didn't hear it, because at that point, I saw blood, Wright testified.

He lifted up Josiahs shirt and saw a wound on his left side close to his hip. Wright later testified that he asked Zoellner if hed stabbed his friend, but got angry and punched Zoellner before he could answer.

Renalyn found Josiah laying on the ground in the bushes. Another friend was applying pressure to Josiahs wounds as police arrived on the scene and arrested Kyle Zoellner. After about 15 minutes, an ambulance transported Josiah to the hospital.

Down in Perris, Charmaine was trying to understand what Annalicia had just told her. Annalicia was screaming that Josiah had been stabbed and that he was on his way to the hospital.

Charmaine and Josiah. (Charmaine Lawson)

Its OK. Its OK. He is going to be fine, Charmaine remembered telling her.

Charmaine thought Josiah had just been nicked by a knife. But he wasnt just nicked, he was stabbed multiple times, including once to the heart. Charmaine called the hospital at around 3:30 in the morning. She left a message and began figuring out how she was going to make it to Arcata. At around 4:00 a.m., her phone rang. It was the Arcata Police.

Im so sorry, maam. We did everything, she remembered hearing. Josiah died at 4:07 a.m. on April 15, 2017.

Kyle Zoellners preliminary hearing started on May 1, 2017, just two weeks after the stabbing. During a preliminary hearing, a judge acts as a neutral arbiter to determine if there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial.

According to court transcripts, a witness named Jason Martinez testified that he saw Josiah and someone he couldnt identify in a confrontation outside the party house.

As soon as I hear, "Oh, shit, he has a knife," I look up, and the person that was talking to Josiah just takes his right hand and I see him go one on the lower part, left lower part of his stomach, and another one on his chest, Martinez said.

A 10-inch kitchen knife was found under a red Ford Mustang parked near the area where the fight between Zoellner and Josiah happened.

Casey Gleaton, a friend of Kyle Zoellner who was at the party, testified that the next day she was at the apartment Zoellner shared with Lila Ortega. Gleaton remembers Ortega went outside to the car Zoellner had driven to the party the night before and came back in with a bag of chefs knives. Gleaton testified that she remembered Ortega saying there should be four knives but there were only three in the bag.

On May 5, 2017, after five days of testimony, Judge Dale Reinholtsen dismissed the charges against Zoellner. He said there was insufficient evidence for the case to advance to a jury trial. Reinholtsen said witnesses contradicted each other, that a bulk of the evidence provided was still being analyzed, that no one directly saw the stabbing, and there was no proof the knife was Zoellners.

We know [Josiah] was killed, we know he was killed by a knife and we know somebody at the party did it, but I dont think at this point we have sufficient reason to think the defendant did it, Reinholtsen said at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing.

In February 2019, Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming reviewed the evidence and commissioned a criminal grand jury. The 19-member jury heard from 25 witnesses and forensic analysts. They learned about the fight, the foggy memories of the witnesses and that Kyle Zoellners DNA was found on the weapon that killed Josiah. Twelve of the jurors needed to vote for charges for the case to proceed, but the jury ultimately declined to indict Zoellner.

But the way the grand jury hearing unfolded didnt sit right with one grand juror. The grand juror alleged that the decision not to indict hinged on the possibility of self-defense, a statement Zoellner apparently never made when questioned at the police station after the incident by then Detective Sergeant Todd Dokweiler.

He said he would rather take a beating than stab somebody, Dokweiler testified during the preliminary hearing.

In an email to Dateline, District Attorney Fleming said that giving grand juries information about the possibility of self-defense is required by law.

In the Lawson case in particular, given that testimony from the preliminary hearing indicated that the initial physical altercation was an assault on the person initially charged in the homicide, there is no question that self-defense would be raised during the presentation of evidence at any trial, not just during jury instructions, Fleming said in an email to Dateline.

Kyle Zoellner maintains his innocence and has a civil suit pending against the City of Arcata. It alleges that his arrest, detention and prosecution were unlawful; that his constitutional rights were violated and that he was defamed by officers within the Arcata Police Department. The City and Police Department dispute these claims and are contesting the lawsuit.

A February 2020 review of Josiahs case by the National Police Foundation, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C. that works to advance police techniques and accountability, found shortcomings in the Arcata Police Departments initial investigation.

The report found that the commanding officer on the night of the stabbing had no specialized training in crime scene management; the lead investigator had no prior experience with homicides; the site of the stabbing was only partially cordoned off; the suspects car was allowed to be driven home; one witness changed her story on what she saw three times; and [k]ey witnesses and potential suspects were allowed to leave the scene or communicate with one another, the report states.

The report also says that the main suspect, Kyle Zoellner, was only interviewed for 15 minutes by Detective Sergeant Dokweiler.

The interview could have yielded significant information but it lasted only approximately 15 minutes and was curt instead of exploratory, the report alleges. The arrested suspect did not refuse to answer additional questions.

Dokweiler was the detective sergeant in charge of the case and questioned Zoellner hours after the stabbing. He told Dateline that he kept the interview brief in part because of short staffing in the police department.

Ideally, that interview would go longer, as long as he was willing to talk to me, Dokweiler said. In this case, we just didnt have the luxury of having other investigators to do other perishable tasks that needed to be done.

The Arcata Police Department has since increased its staffing and implemented 34 out of the 36 recommendations from the National Police Foundation report, according to Brian Ahearn, Arcatas current chief of police. Ahearn joined APD in November 2018. He and Charmaine speak often about where the case is at and where it is headed. Charmaine and Ahearn put out a public service announcement asking for those who were at the party to come forward and talk about what they saw with a reward of $55,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Ahearn also said Zoellner has not been reinterviewed, but he is confident he knows who killed Josiah.

I believe that we arrested the right person initially, and the evidence shows that, he told Dateline. I have to make my decisions based on facts and the facts are there are two DNA profiles on the murder weapon. Those two profiles are the victim and the person we arrested that night. Until there is other evidence to suggest differently, we arrested the right person.

Elizabeth Zareh, attorney for Kyle Zoellner, said that her client went through two court proceedings and both found a lack of evidence to bring the case forward.

Yet, the chief of police continues to say the opposite only because they are facing a civil lawsuit from my client, Zareh told Dateline in an email. His comment shows incompetence and is only intended to put pressure on my client to dismiss the civil case.

Charmaine tried to get former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to take up the case, but his office declined to prosecute. With the help of U.S. Representative Mark Takano, Charmaine is trying to schedule a meeting with the new Attorney General Rob Bonta. She says the love and support she receives every time she is in Humboldt has kept her fighting on.

Charmaine Lawson with her daughter Chloe, left, and son Anthony, right, beneath a mural of Josiah in their home in Perris, California. (Photo by Terrell Tangonan)

I know [Josiah] would have done the same thing, stand in solidarity, she said. It is a great feeling to know that the support is still there and they are not going to let this rest until we get justice.

District Attorney Fleming said she needs more evidence in order to bring charges.

I am furious and disappointed that people continue to withhold evidence in the Lawson case, she told Dateline. Years after the fact, not everyone at the party where Josiah Lawson was killed have come forward to share what they know.

Charmaine sued the city of Arcata and its police department, alleging they violated her Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law, arguing that APDs investigation was inadequate, inept and racially biased. The city recently settled for $200,000, without admitting wrongdoing. They also agreed to create a mural of Josiah and donated $25,000 to a scholarship fund made in her sons honor. Although the suit is settled, Charmaine has no plans to cash the $200,000 check.

I think it is blood money and I will continue to say that, she told Dateline.

Charmaine tries her best to keep the memory of her son alive in Humboldt County. There are monthly vigils for Josiah on the 15th of every month in Arcata and with the help of Humboldt County activists, Charmaine set up a winter coat drive for the homeless community.

The community gives me the strength to keep going back, Charmaine said. Without them this wouldnt be possible. I do it for the community, because I know that I am not the only hurting mom. There are a lot of parents out there that are hurting.

With the help of the local NAACP chapter, she set up the David Josiah Lawson Scholarship that gives $500 each to three students who reside in either Humboldt County or attend the Val Verde Unified School District where Josiah went to high school. She also plans on building Josiahs House in Arcata -- a place where students attending Humboldt State can find help with housing, financial difficulties or finding friends.

I just want to make sure my sons name is never forgotten in Humboldt County -- never, never, Charmaine said. That is the legacy I am going to strive to make sure is upheld.
North Carolinas state budget is inching closer to completion, as lawmakers in the N.C. House of Representatives began rolling out their spending proposals Thursday morning.

Some of the details that might be of the widest public interest  like proposals for tax cuts, or raises for teachers and other state employees  arent expected to be announced until next week, however.

But lawmakers are now discussing some of the other details of the budget. Those include debates on how much the state should be spending on everything from criminal justice reform to road construction, education needs, COVID-19 relief and more.

The N.C. Senate has already passed its own spending plan, so the House needs to pass its plan in order for the two chambers to formally get together and hammer out a compromise that they can then send to Gov. Roy Cooper.

The stakes are higher this year than normal since North Carolina has not had an official budget since 2018. Cooper vetoed the 2019-20 budget, and the Republican-led legislature couldnt convince enough Democrats to override his veto  nor were they willing to negotiate with Cooper and try to reach a compromise.

This year, however, the two sides have seemed less antagonistic. The 2020 elections saw voters once again elect a Democratic governor and a Republican majority at the General Assembly. And in May, the News & Observer reported, relations seemed less frosty between Cooper, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger.

While not exactly best friends now, the political rivals are getting along a lot better, The N&O reported of the leadup to budget discussions this spring.

Now, several months later, the finish line is in sight at the legislature with the Senate passing their plan and the House now on the verge of passing theirs, too.

Whats in the new House budget plan?

Details trickled out in bits and pieces Thursday for the House budget plan.

Not all of it is public yet, though, and the parts that are now known were announced in a way that made it difficult for the public to follow along. Lawmakers held a series of topic-themed budget meetings Thursday morning, all in different rooms but at the same time.

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The meetings took a break around lunchtime but are expected to continue in the afternoon.

If youre interested in the budget documents or watching the livestream of the various meetings, you can find them at www.ncleg.gov.

The budget writers plan to spend this weekend hammering out the final details of some big-dollar items like raises and tax cuts, said Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Winston-Salem Republican whos one of the lead budget writers.

They then plan to post the full budget online Monday for people to read, then will spend all day Tuesday debating it and possibly making last-minute changes. The vote is then expected later in the week.

The fact that the House proposals for taxes and raises arent finalized yet likely indicates that the House plans to propose different numbers on each than what the Senate already passed.

Much of the rest of the budget, however, is already starting to come together. Some details are the same as the Senate proposed, but not everything.

What did the Senate pass?

The Senate tax cut proposal calls for completely eliminating corporate income taxes in North Carolina, plus reducing the personal income tax rate from 5.25% to 3.99% and increasing the standard deduction as well.

The Associated Press reported that the Senates tax cut plan would cost the state over $2 billion in revenue over the next two years. State lawmakers plan to spend around $26 billion per year for the next two years, The News & Observer has reported.

For state government pay raises, the Senate proposed giving nearly all state employees, including teachers, a 1.5% raise each of the next two years  for a total of a 3% raise over both years. The only exception was corrections officers in state prisons, who would get a 7% raise this year.

Cooper has proposed spending more on raises  10% for teachers over both years, and between 5% and 7.5% for other state workers.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.

Under the Dome

On The News & Observer's Under the Dome podcast, were unpacking legislation and issues that matter, keeping you updated on whats happening in North Carolina politics twice a week on Monday and Friday mornings. Check us out here and sign up for our weekly Under the Dome newsletter for more political news.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Nivea maker Beiersdorf's sales rose above pre-pandemic levels as demand for adhesives and its dermatological brands roared back, pushing the shares up by more than 5% in early trade on Thursday.

Organic sales jumped 28.3% in the second quarter to deliver growth for the first half of 16.2%, achieving 3.87 billion euros revenue, a tad above the consensus estimate of 3.82 billion according to Refinitiv IBES data and the 2019 first-half figure of 3.84 billion euros.

Analysts at Jefferies said those figures "handsomely" beat their forecasts, driven by growth in the Nivea, La Prairie and Derma brands.

Beiersdorf's shares were up 5.5% at 0735 GMT, having earlier hit their highest level since early 2020.

The Hamburg-based firm said it expects its 2021 group sales to rise by a high single-digit percentage, having previously said that it saw positive sales growth for 2021.

"This is the momentum we want to use going forward," Beiersdorf's new Chief Executive Vincent Warnery said in a statement.

Under his predecessor Stefan de Loecker, Beiersdorf invested more in its consumer business to revive slowing sales growth and bought U.S. sun care brand Coppertone from Bayer for $550 million to strengthen its position in North America.

Beiersdorf's first-half margin on EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) widened to 15.3% from 13.7%. For the full year, however, it expects the margin to remain flat around 2020's level of 12.9% due to rising material prices and investments in digitisation and innovation.

Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne warned that Beiersdorf's guidance implied a slowdown in the recovery in the second half of the year along with an "almighty reduction" in profitability.

(Reporting by Maria SheahanEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Elaine Hardcastle)
LOUISVILLE, Ky.  An off-duty Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputy who was shot early Thursday at a car lot in Shively, Kentucky has died, the sheriff announced.

The deputy, identified as Brandon Shirley, was 26 years old and assigned to the office's court security division. At the time of the shooting, he was working off-duty at a car lot where he was in uniform in an unmarked vehicle, officials said.

He radioed in his own shooting, telling dispatchers, "I'm hit, I'm hit" and requesting EMS.

Shirley had been with the sheriff's department for two years, officials said, and had recently earned a medal of valor for his work.

Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey and Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Erika Shields offered their condolences at a press conference Thursday, with Shields pledging there would be an arrest and calling a conviction the department's "highest priority."

Brandon Shirley, 26, a deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, was killed Thursday after being shot in a car lot where he was working off-duty.

LMPD is taking lead on the investigation. Shields said the department "may" have a "couple of potential suspects."

"We can say with a feeling of confidence that he was targeted, and that he was ambushed," Shields said. "It is just sickening. We will make an arrest."

Shields did not provide additional details on why LMPD is confident Shirley was targeted, but said "for police, if someone is really determined to kill you, they're going to kill you. And that was the case here."

LMPD previously said the report of the shooting came in about 2:30 a.m. Thursday. The department said the deputy was sitting in an unmarked vehicle when "someone came up and shot him," a spokeswoman said.

The deputy called the incident in on his radio, LMPD said. Shirley received life support assistance from responding officers and EMS, before being taken to University of Louisville Hospital for treatment.

"Sadly, his wounds provided to be too extensive, and he did not survive," Aubrey said.

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No suspect has been named or arrested.

Earlier Thursday, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, Carl Yates, described Shirley as a young deputy who was "very active, very proactive, and courageous."

Matt Salsman, the president of FOP Lodge 25 representing deputy sheriffs, said the lodge's main concern is supporting Shirley's family and his fellow deputies and union members.

Lt. Col. Carl Yates, spokesman for Jefferson County Sheriff's office, speaks at a press conference where it was announced that deputy Brandon Shirley was shot and killed Thursday at a car lot in Shively.

Everyone is "very, very, very much in shock," Salsman said.

"He was a kid," Salsman said. "I mean, 26 years old. It's heartbreaking."

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent his condolences to Shirley's family on Thursday morning, writing in a tweet that he and his wife "extend our thoughts and prayers" to the family and the "brave members of the Jefferson Co. Sheriff's Department."

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"We are forever grateful for Deputy Shirley's bravery, selflessness and dedication to the people of the commonwealth."

Louisville Metro Council President David James, too, issued a statement, describing Shirley as someone who "answered the call to keep all of us safe and uphold the law." He called on anyone who has information about the shooting to help LMPD and the sheriff's office "bring this person to justice."

"He leaves us at an age too young," James added. "This is a reminder of all the dangers faced by those who decide to wear a badge."

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Reach Billy Kobin on Twitter: @Billy_Kobin

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky sheriff's deputy killed; police believe attack was 'targeted'
Henry Doorly Zoo has welcomed its newest addition!

Officials at the zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, revealed Tuesday that a baby giraffe was born over the weekend. He stands about 6 feet tall and weighs around 140 pounds.

The calf is the 10th to be born at the zoo and the first to be born since April 2019.

He's also the first baby for his 10-year-old mom, Betty Francis. Zookeepers told reporters on Tuesday that Betty is doing great adjusting to life as a new mom.

She's "very attentive" and makes sure her baby has what he needs. Meanwhile, the unnamed calf "has a mind of its own," zoo officials said.

Baby Giraffe

KMTV 3 News Now

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He stood on his own about an hour after birth and has been checking out his surroundings ever since. The baby is currently being housed separately from the rest of the herd, so zoogoers won't be able to spot him outside just yet.

The zoo plans to hold a naming contest for the calf at the Zoofari fundraiser on September 10. The highest bidder will get to decide what the baby is called.

While he'll stay in Omaha for the time being, it's not likely the calf will end up with a permanent home at the Henry Doorly Zoo, officials added.

Baby Giraffe

KMTV 3 News Now

Since he's a male, the baby giraffe will probably end up going to another zoo where he can breed.

The new giraffe is a reticulated giraffe, a subspecies of the animal typically found in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya. There are only about 11,000 - 16,000 reticulated giraffe left in Africa, according to the zoo.

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In addition to breeding reticulated giraffe, the zoo also works with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, "the only non-governmental organization in the world that concentrates solely on wild giraffe conservation across Africa."
A coalition that represents some 1,500 Orthodox Jewish rabbis condemned President Biden's move to nominate Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, a leader of the LGBTQ-focused Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, to the U.S. Coalition on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), saying it sends a "counter-productive" message amid threats to religious freedom.

Kleinbaum is the spouse of American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten.

"A person's sexual preferences should be a private matter, and certainly irrelevant to prayer. Kleinbaum, by contrast, leads a congregation that insists LGBTQ is a matter of identity," Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the managing director at the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), told Fox News on Thursday, ahead of Biden's Friday announcement. "At a time when religious people are persecuted worldwide for their personal, sincere beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman, and gender is permanent, biological, and determined at conception, placing Kleinbaum on a commission devoted to ensuring religious freedom sends precisely the wrong message and could hardly be more counter-productive."

Critics have said Biden's championing of LGBTQ issues has come at the expense of religious freedom concerns. Under Biden, the Department of Health and Human Services fought to resurrect a federal mandate forcing Roman Catholic hospitals and doctors to perform transgender surgery after a court ruled in favor of the Catholic health providers.

HOUSE PASSES EQUALITY ACT EXPANDING LGBTQ RIGHTS AMID GOP CONCERNS, INCLUDING EFFECT ON GIRLS' SPORTS

"It is troubling that this administration is going after religious doctors, hospitals, and nuns. We saw it with the Little Sisters of the Poor, when the government tried to force them to provide contraceptives and abortifacients, and now this administration is trying to do the same thing with controversial gender transition procedures," Luke Goodrich, a vice president and senior counsel at the religious law firm Becket, said after HHS appealed the decision in April.

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Biden has long championed the Equality Act, which critics say weakens religious freedom protections in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a landmark bill for which Biden himself voted as a senator.

"The misleadingly named Equality Act is an anti-freedom bill that empowers federal government to enforce conformity by punishing disagreement on [sexual orientation and gender identity]," Emilie Kao, then the director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation, warned in 2019.

In his announcement on Kleinbaum, Biden praised the rabbi as "a powerful voice in the movement for equality and justice for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions." He also noted that Kleinbaum has served on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Faith-Based Advisory Council.
Federal officials say theyve shut down a pipeline of illegal firearms that ran from Georgia to New York.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday it has charged nine people accused of being involved in the trafficking operation  during which guns were bought in Georgia and illegally transported for resale in New York City between August 2020 and April.

Those involved used a straw purchaser in Georgia to buy at least 87 guns from six people licensed to sell firearms in the state, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The straw purchaser bought the guns through 30 transactions and said he was buying them for himself, feds say.

But federal officials say others involved in the pipeline placed orders with him for specific weapons and paid for them using cash, mobile banking or wire payments.

When communicating about the firearms, the defendants used coded language, referring to the weapons as tvs, knocks, and situations, feds say. In some instances, the defendants referred to the caliber or model of a firearm by referencing the jersey numbers of famous athletes.

The guns were then given to others involved in the operation, who either resold them in Georgia or carried them to New York City to be resold, feds say.

Law enforcement officers in some cases intercepted the guns as the defendants were headed for New York.

For example, in November 2020, law enforcement in South Carolina stopped a bus in Wellford, South Carolina, from which they seized five firearms, four pistol magazines, a high capacity .40 caliber magazine, and a nine-millimeter drum magazine  all of which were being transported by the defendants in a single backpack, feds say.

Many of the guns that made it to New York were given to members of a gang in Brooklyn thats composed primarily of aspiring rappers, feds say. Some of the guns were shown in music videos filmed by the members.

Other trafficked guns were seized in the wake of violent crimes, feds say. Police seized one after a fleeing suspect discharged it at responding officers and seized another after a shooting in the Bronx.

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Feds say law enforcement officers have recovered 18 firearms that were bought by the straw purchaser in Georgia.

All nine defendants have been charged with gun trafficking and conspiracy to commit gun trafficking and illegal transportation or receipt in state of residency of firearm purchased or acquired outside of state of residency.

Three are also charged with interstate travel with intent to engage in gun trafficking.

Six of the people accused of being involved have been arrested, are in custody or were previously charged, feds say. Three remain at large.

Todays arrests shut down the alleged gun pipeline of these nine defendants, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said Wednesday. These arrests should also send a message to anyone who is thinking about illegally selling guns to New Yorkers or illegally bringing guns to New York: We and our law enforcement partners are watching. And we will prosecute gun traffickers to the fullest extent of the law.
DC Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone is sworn in before testifying to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol on July 27, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Time magazine reported that Playgirl asked DC police officer Michael Fanone to pose nude.

But the erotic feminist magazine told Insider it never asked Fanone to pose.

The Time reporter declined to comment and Fanone was unreachable.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone has been inundated with letters, calls, messages, and requests since he responded to the attack at the Capitol on January 6 - some of them thankful, others threatening.

A new Time magazine report said one of those requests was to pose nude in Playgirl magazine and that he said no.

But Playgirl publisher Jack Lindley Kuhns told Insider on Thursday: "I can confirm that Playgirl Magazine never sent any request for Michael Fanone to pose in the publication."

Fanone was mercilessly attacked by pro-Trump rioters trying to stop Congress from certifying the presidential election. He was thrown to the ground, beaten with a pole, Tasered, and had a heart attack at the scene.

He told CNN and Time he has post-traumatic stress disorder from that day. Fanone testified before the House committee that's investigating the insurrection, lambasting Republican lawmakers who have downplayed or dismissed the attack.

Pro-Trump protesters surround and assault D.C. police officer Michael Fanone during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

While Playboy magazine skyrocketed in popularity for its lustful images of naked women, Playgirl emerged in 1973 as a sort of counter. The magazine invited feminist writers like Maya Angelou and Gloria Steinem to contribute while instead featuring images of naked and semi-nude men. Playgirl folded in 2015, but Kuhns and editor-in-chief Skye Parrott recently resurrected it.

Rather than focusing on the male body, the new Playgirl showcases bodies of all types, ethnicities, and gender, plus personal essays and art. Kuhns told Out Magazine that his goal for the new iteration is "a mixture between a political magazine and an art magazine."

Time magazine political correspondent Molly Ball, who published the cover story on Fanone, declined Insider's request for comment on Thursday, and Fanone was unreachable.

Read the original article on Insider
Michael Fanone arrives at the US Capitol (EPA)

Washington DC police officer Michael Fanone wont be stripping out of his riot gear any time soon.

Claims he turned down a nude photoshoot from Playgirl were denied by its publisher after Time magazine buried the lede in its in-depth profile of the "hero cop".

Following the 6 January attack at the US Capitol, Mr Fanon went on something of a media blitz with the major TV networks and newspapers like CNN and The Washington Post to dispute criticisms that police hadnt used sufficient force to repel the rioters. He became a public face of the police response to the riot.

"The response was overwhelming. Thousands of letters, tens of thousands of emails, poured into the Metropolitan Police Department. Men wanted to thank him. Children said they looked up to him. Women swooned. (Fanone turned down a request to pose nude in Playgirl.)," wrote journalist Molly Ball.

Hungry for heroes, Ms Ball wrote, adoring liberals posted worshipful memes, made oil paintings of his face, and random people hugged him at gas stations.

What didnt happen, however, was an offer to bare more than just his heart and soul in the pages of the recently relaunched adult magazine.

"I can confirm that Playgirl Magazine never sent any request for Michael Fanone to pose in the publication, Jack Lindley Kuhn told Insider.

The Independent reached out to Ms Ball for comment on whether the Playgirl denial could be demonstrably disputed.

Mr Fanone has been one of the most high-profile officers to have responded to the riot, recently giving testimony to the House commission into the events of 6 January. Video footage from his body camera has become the visual low point of the violence.

During the riot, Mr Fanone had a heart attack after being swarmed by the mob of Donald Trump supporters who beat him with a pole, tased him and threw him to the ground.

He told Time that in addition to his life-threatening physical injuries, the attack led to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Theres people on both sides of the political aisle that are like, Listen, Jan. 6 happened, it was bad, we need to move on as a country, he told Time.

What an arrogant f****** thing for someone to say that wasnt there that day, he says. What needs to happen is there needs to be a reckoning.
Update: Keyonna Brown was found and returned home Wednesday night, police said.

Kansas City, Kansas police are asking the public for help finding a 34-year-old woman missing since Wednesday morning or afternoon.

Keyonna Brown was last seen sometime between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of North 73rd Terrace, Officer Marshee London, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, said in a statement. Brown has a developmental disability and a condition that requires medication, London said.

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Police were not sure what she was wearing when she went missing. But Brown had a red backpack at the time, according to police.

The department is asking anyone with any knowledge of Browns whereabouts to call 913-596-3000 or dial 911.
On Tuesday, the President of the United States stood before the nation and announced that he intended to break the law.

Up until that point, Joe Biden had confirmed repeatedly that he did not possess the constitutional authority to extend the eviction moratorium that the Center for Disease Control promulgated last year under President Trump, and that the CDC had renewed back in June. Asked on Monday whether the White House could restore the policy, Gene Sperling told reporters that the President has not only kicked the tires, he has double, triple, quadruple checked, and he has found each time that he cannot. Moreover, Sperling confirmed, Biden had asked the CDC to look at whether you could even do targeted eviction moratorium  that just went to the counties that have higher rates  and they, as well, have been unable to find the legal authority... Speaking at his press conference Tuesday, Biden reiterated these findings. The bulk of the constitutional scholarship, Biden conceded, says its not likely to pass constitutional muster, as, he noted, did the Supreme Court, which ruled in June that the scheme exceeded its existing statutory authority and could not be extended without explicit congressional approval. But, Biden said, he had decided he was going to do it anyway  if just to exploit the time it would take before the judicial branch struck it down.

Presidents abuse executive power

Thus did the president who was elected to restore norms to Washington, D.C. engage in the most egregious act of executive usurpation in decades  perhaps longer.

Most modern presidents push the limits of their office. But none have done so quite as brazenly as this. George W. Bush signed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law while suspecting (correctly, it turned out) that large parts of it were unconstitutional. Barack Obama emphatically told Americans that he couldnt unilaterally implement the DREAM Act because he wasnt a king or an emperor, and then did it anyway. And, having been rebuffed in his repeated requests to Congress, Donald Trump stole emergency funds to pay for his border wall.

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None of them, however, saw fit to defy the Supreme Court. By signing McCain-Feingold, George W. Bush was putting his own views aside and deferring to existing Supreme Court precedent and to the will of Congress. By issuing DACA, Barack Obama was contradicting himself, but in an area that had not yet been litigated. And, though he ignored Congresss will, Donald Trump had insisted from the start that he had the power to use emergency funds for his wall, and was able to point to vagueness of the underlying statute and to the courts typical unwillingness to determine whether a declared emergency is legitimate.

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House on July 30, 2021.

Biden has no such excuses. He knows hes violating his oath -- and he doesnt care.

Explaining away Bidens decision at CNN, Stephen Collinson suggested that the president had merely improvised with executive power to shield constituencies from consequences of a malfunctioning political system.

This is unforgivable sophistry. Unless Collinson believes that it is a crisis when he does not get his own way, nothing that has happened in this long saga suggests that there is anything wrong with our political system whatsoever. Having been asked for a ruling, the Supreme Court explained the limits and handed the broader question to Congress. And, in response, Congress decided to do nothing -- a decision, it bears repeating, that it is entirely within its power to make.

All too often, political obsessives cast congressional inaction as a warrant for presidential overreach. If Congress wont act, Barack Obama famously said, I will.

The Editorial Board: Biden issues targeted eviction moratoriums, but money to pay the rent is just sitting there

But, of course, this is not how the American system of government works. A decade ago, Congress declined to pass the DREAM Act. And that was fine. Two years ago, Congress declined to appropriate money for Donald Trumps border wall.

And that was fine. In July, Congress declined to extend the eviction moratorium. That was fine, too. If, every time Congress declined to do something the president was deemed empowered to do it anyway, we wouldnt need a Congress at all.

Constitutionally, those decisions should have been the end of the matter. Article I -- note that its the first article in the series, because Congress is the most powerful branch -- reads, All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. It does not contain a subsequent Cares Too Much Clause, permitting the executive branch to override it when it thinks that the issue at hand is simply too important, nor does it feature an Obstruction Clause that can be appealed to if a given president believes that lawmakers within the other party are acting unfairly towards him. American presidents are entirely within their rights to make demands of Congress, and Congress is entirely with its rights to say No. The alternative is not compassion; it is dictatorship.

Limiting executive branch overreach

In the coming years, lawmakers who have grown alarmed by the imperialism of the executive branch should make it their business to search each and every law on the books with a view to removing any ambiguities or overbroad grants of power. As a result of the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Cold War, the attacks of September 11th, and COVID-19, the U.S. Code is riddled with emergency-specific statutes that contain capacious references to The secretary shall or In the judgement of the Director and that farm out roles that were traditionally played by lawmakers to agencies or to the president himself.

While usually well-intentioned, this trend has led to a situation in which the executive branch can almost always find an obscure power buried somewhere for use when Congress refuses to play ball. If Congress is to be restored to its rightful position, its first step must be to close off those paths forever.

The Editorial Board: Biden infrastructure bill a rare sighting of senators working for Americans? Say it's so.

Writing in Federalist 47, the author of the Constitution, James Madison, submitted that the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. On Tuesday, President Biden embraced that tyranny. It will fall to the other branches  and to the People  to correct course.

Charles C.W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) is a senior writer for National Review.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eviction moratorium: Biden's tyranny should alarm lawmakers
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 28, 2018 in Washington, DC.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit - Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

From his seventh-floor office, Richard Trumka could look out the window and down at the White House just across Lafayette Park. The AFL-CIO chief often made the quick walk across the manicured square and up to the iron security gate on Pennsylvania Avenue. Most of the Secret Service officers there knew him, and Trumka certainly knew his way past them and up the driveway to the West Wing.

Trumka wont be making those walks any longer. The longtime fixture in union politics died Thursday from an apparent heart attack. He was 72.

When it came to organized labor and its political heft, few could question Trumkas appetite for a fight or his ability to deliver for his more than 12 million members spread across 50 distinct unions, regardless of which party happened to hold the Oval Office. After all, he showed no reluctance to tell a President he was wrong, whether it was a fellow Democrat or Donald Trump.

In a sign of the clout Trumka wielded and the respect he earned, President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi each gave tributes to the labor legend whose death shocked Washington. A third-generation coal miner who wore his western Pennsylvania roots proudly, Trumka was a crucial sounding board for Presidents from both parties on trade deals, labor disputes and worker safety, but he never fell for the trappings of Washington. In a city that treats office prestige as a proxy for power, he often invited rank-and-file workersand journaliststo his sun-filled office as though it were just another break room in a mining town.

Trumka rose to the top job at the AFL-CIO in 2009, just as President Barack Obama was coming to power, but he had been the unions number-two leader dating to 1995, when Bill Clinton was in his second term. Before that, Trumka led the United Mine Workers, starting in 1982 when Ronald Reagan was just getting his sea legs in Washington. For every major labor victoryand lossfor the last 40 years, Trumka was probably at the table and offering some of the loudest protests against any limits on unions rights.

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When necessary, Trumka could be brutally effective at managing his members and politicians alike. He knew a lot of his members voted for Trump and thus couldnt stiff-arm that White House. But he also knew a lot of them liked Bidenand that Biden was ready to give them what they wanted. Its why Trumka was seen as such a good advocate for the upcoming infrastructure bills that would put a lot of union members to work building roads, bridges and tunnels. Now, Democrats will have to find other surrogates. Few have the credibility and power that Trumka enjoyed.

Inside labors sometimes messy family, Trumka was one of the voices that could unify. In 2008, Trumka put his reputation on the line and confronted United Steelworker members at their national convention in Las Vegas. Some were reluctant to support Obama. Theres only one really, really bad reason to vote against Barack Obama, and thats because hes not white. And I want to talk about that issue, he said. You want to tell me you wont vote for him because of the color of his skin? Are you out of your ever-loving mind?

Thats not to say Trumka spared Obama criticism. Ahead of the 2012 election, he sparred with Obama, whom his union endorsed a second time, for certifying a trade deal with Colombia.

Nor did he spare Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2016. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) decision that went into effect in 1994 on Bill Clintons watch remains irredeemable in many union members minds, which is in part why Trumka could put it bluntly 22 years later: either she changed her position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or she risked the AFL-CIO sitting out the election. Clinton, who as Secretary of State backed TPP, wound up saying she didnt support this version of the deal despite stolen transcripts of her previous speech voicing support. Trumka knew he had leverage and he had no qualms about using it. One way or another, hed be walking across the street from his offices to meet with White House staff in 2017, no matter what color jersey they wore.

Those jerseys ended up being red, not blue. During the Trump years, Trumka had an uneasy relationship with the White House. Early in the first year, Trumka publicly quit a Trump-organized business council that drew few other Democrats and eventually dissolved after Trump defended the pro-Confederate statues protest in Charlottesville, Va.

With Trump hellbent on renegotiating NAFTA, though, Trumka saw a chance to rewrite a measure he and many in organized labor blame for massive job losses. After Trumka helped tweak it to have tougher enforcement of labor rules, Democrats reluctantly agreed to Trumps proposals and voted for them.

Now, with Biden in power, organized labor has one of its strongest champions in the White House in decades. Whereas Obama and Bill Clinton both said what was necessary, its hard to point to big structural wins for labor during their presidencies. Obama prioritized health care over a big labor-rights package in 2009, frustrating union leadership. (Nonetheless, the AFL-CIO in 2010 launched what at the time it billed as an unprecedented political campaign for Democrats.) With NAFTA, Clinton sent millions of manufacturing jobs overseas in the name of free trade, in labors telling of this history.

Organized labors numbers have been shrinking in recent decades, but their political clout hasnt seemed to take a corresponding dip. In the last cycle, labor funneled more than $6 million to outside political groups, which mainly supported Democrats, and almost $9 million four years earlier. Theyre good for about $5 million a year on lobbying to boost workers protections and defend their rights already in place.

But money and power are not always the same thing. Sure, Trumka controlled a ton of union cash to give to politiciansor to use against them. But his credibility came from his narrative as a third-generation miner who legitimately spoke for working-class Americans from his famously mustachioed mouth. The AFL-CIO will continue to be a dominant force in American politics, especially on the left. But theres no guarantee that the person who moves into Trumkas prime office will carry the same heft he did, at least not at first. After all, 40 years in the labor movement is a tough qualification to find these days.
This right here is exactly what the facepalm emoji was made for: Its looking ever more likely that Republicans and Democrats are headed for a September showdown over raising the debt ceiling.



A two-year suspension of the borrowing limit expired at the end of July and the Treasury Department has started employing extraordinary measures to enable the government to keep paying its bills and avoid breaching the ceiling. Those extraordinary measures may be exhausted shortly after Congress returns from recess in September, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned. Other estimates suggest lawmakers could have several weeks longer.



Republicans have insisted that they wont vote to raise the borrowing limit if Democrats push ahead on a partisan basis with their $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. Theyve also demanded that a debt limit hike be accompanied by structural budgeting reforms along the lines of the spending caps imposed after a similar showdown in 2011. Some Republicans have also called for a bipartisan commission on entitlement reform.



You cant keep increasing the debt limit over and over again without some kind of reform that starts to address the fundamental issue, and that is deficit spending that goes out as far as we can see, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) told Punchbowl News. So the most responsible thing that can be done is to attach some kind of [budget] reform that we can get agreement as a condition of raising the debt ceiling.



Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reiterated the GOP position on Thursday. If our colleagues want to ram through yet another reckless taxing and spending spree without our input, if they want all this spending and debt to be their signature legacy, they should leap at the chance to own every bit of it, he said. Let me make something perfectly clear: if they dont need or want our input, they wont get our help. They wont get our help with the debt limit increase that these reckless plans will require.



McConnell has suggested that Democrats include a provision to raise or suspend the debt limit in their budget package, which could pass with only Democratic votes. But some moderate Democrats are concerned about the political optics of going that route, preferring to raise the debt ceiling as part of bipartisan legislation to fund the government. Democrats also point out that they didnt play debt ceiling politics when Donald Trump was president and Republicans added nearly $2 trillion to the debt with their 2017 tax cuts, so they dont want to reward GOP brinksmanship now.



The rules that existed under Donald Trump, that we werent going to mess with the full faith and credit of the United States of America, was the appropriate and prudent thing, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said, according to Punchbowl. To create a fake crisis at this moment, with this much going on in the world, with this much going on in this country, coming out of Covid and dealing with the variant, would be the epitome of irresponsibility.



That sets up a high-stakes game of chicken, with most Republicans opposed to extending the debt limit as part of a stop-gap spending bill called a continuing resolution.



The bottom line: Whether we see a debt limit showdown this fall should become clear within days as Democrats decide if theyll include a provision to address the issue in the budget resolution they expect to take up next week.

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Unemployed workers in Louisiana and South Carolina joined a growing movement challenging governors for ending federal unemployment programs early. Workers in eight other states have filed similar lawsuits, so far with mixed success.

In Louisiana, jobless residents claimed that Gov. John Bel Edwards decision to opt out of the program caused financial uncertainty and distress and that the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases makes the benefits even more crucial.

"Louisiana currently has the fastest-growing covid cases in the country at the time of this filing," the complaint states, according to the Louisiana Record. "Louisiana is also the second poorest state in the country. Of all the states in the country, Louisiana is the last state that should be walking away from $220 million in federal benefits right now."

Similarly, out-of-work South Carolinians claimed Gov. Henry McMasters decision to terminate the programs early caused hardship and goes against the states statutory obligation to pay benefits.

"Defendants actions are plainly contrary to this statutory obligation," the lawsuit said. "As a result of Defendants premature termination of these benefits, Plaintiffs have each suffered and will continue to suffer hardships related to the loss or reduction of their Unemployment Insurance benefits."

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In all, 26 states cut off the extra $300 in weekly benefits before the federal expiration on September 6, while 22 of them also canceled the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for workers who dont normally qualify for regular unemployment insurance and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program that provides extra weeks of benefits.

More than 4 million workers are affected by the cuts in those states, losing a total of $22.5 billion in potential benefits, according to estimates by the Century Foundation. Nearly 3 in 5 workers affected by the early expirations have been left with no benefits at all.

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Unemployment programs: The State is ordered to re-engage

Three of the 10 lawsuits so far have been successful, but a recent one faced challenges. In Ohio, a state judge rejected the attempt to reinstate the additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits, saying Gov. Mike DeWine has the authority to cut the benefits.

"The Court is aware of, and sympathetic to, the thousands of Ohioans without work and in desperate need of any assistance available," Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook wrote in his decision. "The Court simply cannot legislate from the bench and overlook the clear terms of [state law]."

People walk by a Help Wanted sign in New York City on June 04, 2021 as the U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs in May, bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.8% from 6.1%. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Last week, an Arkansas judge granted a preliminary injunction ordering Gov. Hutchinson to reinstate the pandemic unemployment benefits.

"The Court has serious doubts that the Governor and the Director of Workforce Services were acting within the scope of their duties, as these decisions would normally be the subject of legislation from the General Assembly," the order said. "The State is ordered to re-engage these terminated programs if the United States Government will agree to permit the State to do so.

Read more: Top 10 tax mistakes  and how to avoid them

In Indiana, benefits have been restarted, while a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge granted a preliminary injunction against the governor earlier this month, reinstating the benefits at least temporarily in Maryland.

"The lawsuits that were filed by what I might call unemployment experts  people that were attorneys for the poor  those lawsuits have generally prevailed," Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation, told Yahoo Money. "Whereas the ones so far that were filed by attorneys that were just general attorneys or general employment lawyers and private practice, those have not prevailed."

Yahoo Money sister site Cashay has a weekly newsletter.

Denitsa is a writer for Yahoo Finance and Cashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @denitsa_tsekova

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Tanzanian riot police detained a number of protesting supporters of arrested opposition leader Freedom Mbowe on Thursday, as a terrorism case against him was postponed.

Mbowe and other officials from the main opposition party Chadema were arrested last month ahead of a planned conference to demand constitutional reform.

The 59-year-old has been charged with terrorism financing and conspiracy in a case that has triggered concern among rights groups and some Western nations about rights and freedoms under Tanzania's new leader.

Mbowe had been due to appear in court in the financial capital Dar es Salaam on Thursday via a video link from his prison but the case was postponed to Friday because of connection problems, his defence lawyer Peter Kibatala said.

Chadema supporters waving placards saying "Mbowe is not a terrorist" and "Free Freeman Mbowe" gathered outside the court.

Police responded by arresting protesters, the party said on Twitter. Images from the scene showed helmeted police bundling people into a pickup truck and taking them away.

It was not immediately clear how many were detained.

Chadema also said police had raided its regional office in the capital Dodoma on Wednesday night and assaulted a guard before making off with documents.

The party's secretary general John Mnyika urged supporters to turn up at the court again on Friday. "Going to court is not a criminal offence," he said on Twitter.

Mbowe's arrest came four months after Tanzania's first female president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, took office following the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli.

There had been hopes that Hassan would usher in change from the autocratic rule of her predecessor, nicknamed the "Bulldozer" for his uncompromising style.

Prosecutors say the terrorism charges against Mbowe do not relate to the constitional reform forum Chadema had planned to hold in the northwestern city of Mwanza last month, but to alleged offences last year in another part of Tanzania.

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Amnesty International has joined the calls for his release, saying the government must substantiate the charges against him.

"Since President Samia Suluhu Hassan's inauguration, the Tanzanian government has taken some encouraging steps towards allowing greater freedom of expression and association in the country," Amnesty said in a statement on Wednesday.

"This case is a concerning development that casts doubt on whether that progress will continue or whether repression will once again be the order of the day."

str-ho-txw/ri
Appointment Highlights the Agencys Increased Commitment to Data at the Center of Its Integrated Model

Prachi Priya Appointed Chief Data Officer

Prachi Priya joins Team Ones executive leadership team and highlights the agencys commitment to data.

Prachi Priya joins Team Ones executive leadership team and highlights the agencys commitment to data.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Team One , Publicis Groupes fully integrated media, digital and communications agency for premium brands, today announced the appointment of its first Chief Data Officer, Prachi Priya. The Wunderman Thompson veteran joins Team Ones executive leadership ranks to lead a consolidated team of data scientists and analysts across all offices. In her new role, Priya will oversee the agencys media, CRM, digital, social analytics and business outcomes teams, while also helping clients better manage their first-party data, navigating ongoing changes in data governance and privacy matters.



As one of the few creative agencies in the United States with a fully integrated model, Team One has increasingly put data at the center of its business over the last few years by investing in talent and building out its in-house capabilities. Priyas hire further solidifies the agencys commitment to a full-service, data-driven offering, from media, public relations, digital and social to creative, design, CRM and events.

As we looked for the right person to fill this role, it was important for us to hire a data leader with both agency and client-side experience, someone that aligned with our core values of collaboration, optimism and being results-driven. Prachi is the perfect match. She brings more than 18 years of forward-thinking, inclusive leadership, agile data innovation, and data-driven intelligence to Team One, as well as a demonstrated commitment to developing people, differentiating business strategies, and sustaining customer growth, said Julie Michael, Team One CEO. Now, she has two objectives in front of her: ensure our clients keep data at the center of their business transformation models and inspire our teams and work through data intelligence and insights.

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Priya joins Team One after a nearly five-year stint leading Wunderman Thompsons data practice across three offices in California, as VP, Data and Analytics. Prior to that, she worked in Market Strategy and Analytics at Lifetime Fitness (now Life Time, Inc.) and UnitedHealthcare. An Advisory Board Member at I-COM global and a member of the private network of women leaders, Chief, Priya is also a frequent speaker at industry events alongside fellow and future data leaders.

Data is the single biggest differentiator for how companies innovate, serve their customers and gain insight into their markets. Today, the strategic use of data is mission critical for businesses, especially with the accelerated rate of digital transformation in our industry, commented Priya. Team One has such a strong creative pedigree and legacy of success, the chance to build on that is truly thrilling. I am honored to be a part of Team One and help drive continued success and growth for our clients.

Priyas arrival to Team One comes on the heels of several executive appointments this year including the elevation of Jon Ruppel last month to Executive Director, Delivery and Technology, and the hiring of Jessica Sinn at the start of the year as Management Director of Growth.

ABOUT TEAM ONE

Team One is Publicis Groupes fully integrated media, digital and communications agency dedicated to helping premium brands thrive in the modern media landscape. With 450 employees, Team One has six North American offices, including its Los Angeles headquarters, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Boise. Team One clients include Lexus and the Lexus Dealer Association, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, W Hotels, Expedia, Marriott International, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Harman International, Make-a-Wish, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Sparklight and Cathay Pacific. Visit TeamOne-USA.com.

Media Contact:

DiGennaro Communications

christine@digennaro-usa.com

212.966.9525

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2a74e723-b2e1-437a-b3dc-574cfa507d55




FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp on Thursday said it agreed to sell its infrastructure unit to German investment firm FMC Beteiligungs KG for an undisclosed sum, the second deal in as many weeks as the German conglomerate implements its reorganisation plan.

The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, comes a week after Thyssenkrupp sold its mining equipment business to Denmark's FLSmidth.

Both units are part of Thyssenkrupp's Multi Tracks division, which consists of businesses the steel-to-submarines group want to sell, restructure or close in a bid to focus on its most profitable divisions.

"With the successful sale of the Infrastructure business we are taking the next step in sharpening the portfolio of Multi Tracks and making a further contribution to the transformation of Thyssenkrupp," said Volkmar Dinstuhl, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Multi Tracks.

"The high purchase interest underlines Infrastructure's leading product and service portfolio as well as the capabilities and expertise of its employees."

Thyssenkrupp Infrastructure employs around 480 people and made 140 million euros ($166 million) in revenues in the 2019/2020 fiscal year, with products including flood protection and pile driving equipment as well as drilling and scaffolding systems.

The sale of infrastructure leaves Thyssenkrupp's Italian stainless steel unit AST as the only current disposal candidate within Multi Tracks. Thyssenkrupp last week said it was in discussions with several potential buyers for the unit.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Rebels from Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region on Thursday seized Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the neighbouring Amhara region famed for its 12th-century rock-hewn churches, residents told AFP.

The development came as a senior Amhara official told AFP the rebels, known as the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), were pushing "deep" into Amhara territory and hinted at possible retaliation.

"I believe now, enough is enough. Because the TPLF is no more in Tigray. TPLF is moving deep into Amhara territories," said Amhara deputy president Fanta Mandefro.

"We need to defend our people," he added.

The TPLF's weeks-long push beyond Tigray has drawn criticism from world leaders and, according to Ethiopian officials, displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Tigray has been wracked by fighting since last November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the TPLF, the regional ruling party which dominated national politics before Abiy took office in 2018.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, said the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps.

But while Abiy promised victory would be swift, the war took a stunning turn in June when pro-TPLF forces retook the Tigray capital Mekele and the Ethiopian army largely withdrew.

Since then the TPLF has pressed east into neighbouring Afar and south into neighbouring Amhara, where Lalibela is located.

Soldiers and militia fighters have mobilised en masse in parts of Amhara to head off the rebels' advance, but multiple residents of Lalibela told AFP Thursday that the town fell without a fight.

"They came in the afternoon, and there was not any fighting. There were no security forces around. The TPLF forces are in the town now," one resident said.

"The TPLF just arrived in the afternoon. They were dancing and playing in the square of the city," another resident said.

"Most of the people are leaving the town to the remote areas," a third resident said, adding that he was hiding in his home with his family.

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The United States urged the rebels to protect the heritage site with State Department spokesman Ned Price also renewing calls for an end to the violence.

- 'Terrorist' group -

The TPLF's push into the neighbouring regions has elicited global criticism, with the UN additionally reiterating calls for all parties to end hostilities.

Billene Seyoum, Abiy's spokeswoman, told a press conference Thursday that more than 300,000 people had been displaced by recent fighting in Amhara and Afar.

Abiy's government has long accused foreign, especially Western leaders of overlooking crimes committed by the TPLF, and Billene said Thursday the TPLF "continues to play" some foreign observers "like a ventriloquist."

"I hope that the international community at this juncture will begin to wake up and see this organisation for what it is: a terrorist organisation that has hijacked the wellbeing of the people of Tigray as a means for its vicious goals," she said.

Officials did not immediately confirm Thursday that Lalibela was under TPLF control.

Fanta, the Amhara deputy president, said late Thursday he did not have information on the latest troop movements.

He said the region was struggling to accommodate more than 200,000 newly displaced civilians, some of whom have been forced to move multiple times to avoid combat.

"The situation is very sad, pregnant women are delivering in the rain. Babies are born in the rain showers," he said.

"It's beyond imagination to describe the current situation the displaced people are living in. It's the rainy season, the conflict is continuing, it's nonstop... The government is trying to defend and to stop TPLF but it is very difficult."

Regional spokesman Gizachew Muluneh said some civilians had been killed, though he did not give a figure.

- Heavy fighting -

The Amhara town of Kobo, located roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Lalibela, is also under TPLF control after days of heavy fighting, an Amhara militia fighter told AFP this week.

"The war was accompanied by heavy artillery. We were armed with Kalashnikovs but they were launching mortars and using snipers," said the militia fighter, Eskindir Molla, who has since retreated south to the town of Woldiya.

"The TPLF opened fire on four fronts, and we fought for five days," he added.

"The people who are still there [in Kobo] are begging us to go back to save them. They are currently in a desperate condition."

The TPLF has said it does not intend to expand territorial gains beyond Tigray and is instead trying to "degrade" the soldiers and militia fighters deploying north.

However it has vowed to "liberate" southern and western Tigray, parts of the region that were occupied by Amhara forces and officials in the early stages of the war.

World leaders, meanwhile, are urging the TPLF to commit to a ceasefire to facilitate aid delivery in Tigray, where the UN estimates fighting has pushed 400,000 people into famine-like conditions.

rcb/np-sct/bfm
A woman says she got to a Croatia airport to find she'd booked her flight to Italy for the wrong year.

In a now-viral TikTok, she said she accidentally rescheduled her canceled EasyJet flight for 2022.

TikTok users left advice in the comments, but the traveler later said that she found another route.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A TikTok user said in a video that she arrived at an airport only to learn that she accidentally rebooked her canceled flight for next year.

Lex, who goes by @simp4beanz on the app, said in the comments of her video from Wednesday that she was "stuck" in Croatia and trying to get to Italy.

"As if I've just got to the airport at 6 a.m. and my flight turns out to be booked for next year," the on-screen text of the video reads.

The video shows a pan of an empty patio and Lex covering her mouth in shock. At the time of writing, the video has 1.9 million views.

Lex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but she replied to a few users in the comments section of her video to elaborate on what she said happened.

According to Lex's comments, EasyJet canceled her flight twice and when she rebooked the canceled flight she missed the print that stated the year. Since then, she said elsewhere in the comments, she learned that EasyJet has canceled many flights from Croatia to Italy, with routes restarting in the summer of 2022.

Replying to another TikToker in the comments, Lex wrote that she "spent the last of my money on the taxi to the airport."

A few commenters shared advice for Lex and suggested that she start a GoFundMe to raise enough money for another flight to Italy, but it looks like Lex may have found a way to get to her destination after all.

"I think I have it sorted now though," she replied to one TikTok commenter.

"My dad finally answered, and I think he is going to get me two connecting flights that get me nowhere I need to be, but at least somewhere in Italy," she added.

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According to a statement from EasyJet, the airline has contacted Lex to help and issued a refund.

"We are sorry to hear that Ms. Portman Andrews incorrectly booked her flight for next year," a representative for EasyJet said in the statement, referring to Lex (whose full name Insider has not yet been able to verify). "Our team has been in touch to offer assistance with transferring the flight, and as she had already made alternative arrangements, we are refunding her incorrectly booked flight as a gesture of goodwill."

Lex isn't the first TikToker to say they've experienced travel issues lately. One woman said a flight attendant shamed her for her outfit as she was boarding a recent Alaska Airlines flight. And another said American Airlines couldn't track down her cats after her flight had landed; she has since been reunited with her pets, a representative for the airline told Insider.

Read the original article on Insider
Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters.

Related: A Trump bombshell quietly dropped last week. And it should shock us all | Robert Reich

Some House and Senate Republican leaders stated in the charged moments immediately following the attack that Trump was squarely to blame, and amid blood and shattered glass at the US Capitol, some even considered his removal.

The president bears responsibility, the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, said of Trump at the time, demanding that he accept his share of responsibility.



But after nearly 200 House Republicans voted to clear Trump in his unprecedented second impeachment and Senate Republicans scuttled a 9/11-style commission to investigate the events of 6 January, the Republican party made a call to shift all blame away from Trump.

The move to protect Trump from the fallout of the Capitol attack, at any cost, reflects the party leaders loyalty to a defeated former president, as well as the political self-interest of Republicans desperate to distance themselves from an insurrection they helped stoke with lies of a stolen election.



The Republicans journey into a universe of alternate facts became virtually complete last week after House Republican leadership, days after the harrowing testimony of police officers deployed to tackle the rioters shocked Congress once more, spun a new lie about the deadly attack.



No longer satisfied to simply pardon Trump for inciting his supporters to unlawfully stop the certification of Joe Bidens election win, the No 3 House Republican, Elise Stefanik, blamed Pelosi  a target of the mob  for the violence on 6 January.



The American people deserve to know the truth: that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility, as speaker of the House, for the tragedy that occurred on January 6, Stefanik said falsely from the steps of the Capitol.

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Elise Stefanik on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Pelosi is not responsible for security  a duty that lies with US Capitol police  but the baseless claim promulgated by Stefanik amounted to the party leaderships latest disinformation campaign they hope will give them political cover as the 2022 midterm elections near.

There remains a deep fear among Republicans that any scrutiny into 6 January could expose their role in amplifying Trumps lies about fraud in the 2020 election  the root cause of the insurrection  which could be used as a cudgel by Democrats at the ballot box.

Some congressional Republicans privately acknowledge the fallacious logic of blaming Pelosi for the Capitol attack, but not the Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell, her then opposite number in the Senate.

But in a sign of the ambition and self-preservation guiding Republican revisionism over the Capitol attack, they also suggest that they are willing for McCarthy to indulge Trumps claims should it help Republicans capture the House. And with Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, vowing to subpoena anyone who spoke with Trump on 6 January, they note a counter-narrative takes on the added effect of undercutting the politically bruising inquiry.

The revisionism over the Capitol attack heralds what some experts see as a dangerous new era in American politics: even with Trump out of the White House, Republicans advancing demonstrably false narratives to safeguard their political survival.

The GOP is thinking enough time has passed to somehow rewrite the history of events, said Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former top White House Russia expert who testified at Trumps first impeachment inquiry.

Theyre hoping that it gets into the record, even if its pointed out that it doesnt correlate with the facts, because once their version is out there in the media, then thats sufficient for it to become the raw material for shaping how history recounts things later on, Hill said.

In the days after the attack, McCarthy, joined Democrats in condemning Trump and urging Congress to establish a fact-finding commission, having already called the former president and demanded he call off his rioters.

McCarthy at one stage even fact-checked the former president. Some say the riots were caused by Antifa. There is absolutely no evidence of that, he said on the House floor. Conservatives should be the first to say so.

But that initial resolve was quickly replaced with a renewed fealty to Trump, who demanded that Pelosi investigate herself, as he again falsely suggested that it was Antifa, rather than his own supporters, who perpetrated the Capitol attack.

Republicans have seized on that messaging, but none more so than McCarthy, who has repeated Trumps debunked claims and taken trips to Mar-a-Lago to ingratiate himself with Trump, whose support he considers essential for his ambitions to become Speaker in 2022.

Such endeavors to placate Trump took on heightened significance last week for McCarthy, after he pulled all five of his picks for the House select committee in a moment of frustration and inadvertently left Trump without defenders on the panel.

And as two US Capitol police and two DC Metropolitan police officers for hours testified to the select committee how Trump, described as a hit man, sent his supporters to attack the Capitol, an alarmed McCarthy moved to shift the pressure from Trump to Pelosi.

If there is a responsibility for this Capitol, on this side, it rests with the Speaker, McCarthy said.

Stefanik, who replaced Liz Cheney as Republican conference chair after her ouster in May for taking aim at Trumps conduct and rhetoric once too often, went further, and proclaimed that the House speaker was in fact to blame for the insurrection.

The political calculus of the House Republican leadership extended for the first time last week to McConnell  once fiercely critical of Trump for his role in inciting the insurrection, but now content to avoid the topic he considers a political loser.

Hill told the Guardian that Republican revisionism revisionism mirrors the playbook adopted by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and an array of other autocratic leaders needing to sanitize their roles in politically embarrassing events.

Its a con job, a scam, purely focused on trying to keep their own power Fiona Hill

You can see this over and over again in pretty much every authoritarian setting, Hill said. Its fundamentally not about politics. Its nothing more than a massive con job, a scam, concocted to keep their own personal and collective power. Theres no end other than that.

It is a disinformation effort also co-opted by rank and file Republicans, who have increasingly tried to rewrite the reality of what transpired on 6 January, from claiming no rioter was armed (at least one was), to comparing the attack to a normal tourist visit.

Standing outside the justice department last week, a group of Trumps most vociferous defenders on Capitol Hill denounced the indictments brought against nearly 600 Capitol rioters and accused prosecutors of holding them as political prisoners.

Urged on by Trump, the lawmakers falsely characterized Ashli Babbitt, an insurrectionist who was shot and killed as she tried to breach a secure area of the Capitol adjacent to the House chamber, as a patriotic martyr whose death was planned by Democrats.

The fiction pushed by Stefanik drew a rebuke from at least one Republican. All Donald Trump needs to see is that youre making a defense, no matter how nonsensical that defense is, Congressman Adam Kinzinger said on ABC, but not before members of his own party called for his expulsion.
WASHINGTON  An inspector general found that data management problems hampered the Federal Emergency Management Agency's distribution of personal protective equipment during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a draft of the soon-to-be-released report obtained by NBC News.

The report from Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, places blame on the nation's primary disaster response agency, rather than at the feet of the White House Coronavirus Task Force officials who ultimately had authority for the acquisition and distribution of the resources.

"The magnitude of the global event exposed weaknesses in FEMAs resource request system and allocation processes. Specifically, WebEOC  the system FEMA used to process PPE and ventilator resource requests  contained unreliable data to inform allocation decisions and ensure requests were accurately adjudicated," Cuffari's report states. "In addition, although FEMA developed a process to allocate the limited supply of ventilators, it did not have a similar process for PPE."

But as NBC News reported in a series of stories last year, top coronavirus task force officials, often working at the direction of then-White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and then-Vice President Mike Pence, routinely circumvented FEMA's decision-making process to award ventilators, PPE and government contracts to favored states and companies.

The inspector general has purview over FEMA but not the White House. Still, the report hints at the difficulty career agency officials had in explaining decisions made by the president's political appointees in the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA. Those officials worked through a Unified Coordination Group that could upend the recommendations of the agency.

"UCG officials considered various factors such as number of cases, number of vulnerable populations, and knowledge of a locations medical infrastructure," according to the report. "FEMA officials could not provide further information about how each factor was evaluated nor the weight given to each factor when rendering a final decision."

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The report is silent on political factors  such as Trump's efforts to reward allies and punish adversaries  that sources familiar with the process have said were prominent in the decision-making.

"There's a lot of politics involved," a person familiar with the decisions said in April 2020. "Senior leadership from [Capitol] Hill can call up and say 'ship 500 ventilators' and 500 ventilators go out."

At the time, a White House spokesman called claims of political interference "outrageous."

The report notes that states and private entities requesting aid from FEMA were often left in the dark about how decisions were made and that the agency was unable to accurately track requests.

"FEMA can improve its current and future pandemic response operations by documenting and communicating its decision-making process for the allocation of critical medical supplies and resources," the report says. "Without such documentation, FEMA will continue to face stakeholder allegations that PPE allocation decisions are inconsistent and lack transparency."

Specifically, the inspector general makes three recommendations.

First, that FEMA officials enhance the reliability of their data by "developing internal controls for WebEOC to prevent incomplete, inaccurate, and duplicate information from being entered into the system" and to make sure that users get better training.

Second, the inspector general writes that FEMA should formally document how decisions are made for resource allocation of "critical lifesaving supplies and equipment."

Finally, FEMA should do a better job of defining its role, and that of the Department of Health and Human Services, when the agencies are forced to respond to a pandemic, the report says.

The version of the report obtained by NBC News, watermarked with the word "draft" on each page and deemed "for official use only," does not include FEMA's response to the inspector general's findings.
Alexander Vindman leaves Capitol Hill after testifying. (AP)

A former National Security Council official whose testimony about former President Donald Trumps contacts with Ukraines government led to the presidents first impeachment trial unloaded about the continued threat he believes Mr Trump poses to the republic.

Speaking with The Washington Post for a discussion coinciding with the launch of his book, Here, Right Matters, retired Lt Col Alexander Vindman excoriated Mr Trump over the events of 6 January and explained that he believes the president has done more damage to the US than just about anyone else in recent history.

Hes an enormous threat, said Mr Vindman. I can make cold, hard calculations about the threat...former president of the United States Donald Trump poses. He continues to pose a keen threat based on propagating this lie that the election was stolen, in fact, he was the one trying to steal the election.

Mr Vindman added: Hes a vile man that has done more damage to the United States than any other leader in recent U.S. history.

The Independent has reached out to the office of Mr Trump for comment.

Mr Vindman left the NSC in July 2020 following his testimony to congress about Mr Trumps activities, citing bullying and retaliation from members of the Trump administration. He previously served as director for European affairs.

Mr Trump claimed to have never met Mr Vindman in a February 2020 tweet that simultaneously accused the military officer of being very insubordinate, causing his superior to file a horrendous report about him. The former president famously demonized members of his administration and the broader White House and military spheres who criticised him in any way following their respective exits from his administration.

The 45th president survived both impeachment efforts launched by Democrats over the Ukraine scandal as well as the attack on the US Capitol earlier this year, though his second impeachment trial ended in the most bipartisan support for a presidential impeachment in US history.
Member of the U.S. Coast Guards Cutter James crew and the Royal Canadian Navy offloaded a record haul of confiscated drugs Thursday morning at Port Everglades.

The seized drugs are worth more than $1.4 billion  note the b  and sagged the docks under the weight of about 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana, according to the Coast Guards Vice Adm. Steven Poulin.

Yesterday was the U.S. Coast Guards 231st birthday  since Aug. 4, 1790  and we cant think of a better way to commemorate that birthday today with the Cutter James crew and to thank the crew the [Canadian ship] Shawinigan, Poulin said as he shared dock space with the haul and local media in Fort Lauderdale.

The biggest in Coast Guard history, he said, also sharing credit with agencies including Homeland Security, the DEA, FBI and the United States Attorneys Office.

The amount of seized drugs? Double the Fall of 2020s patrol, said Cutter James Commanding Officer, Capt. Todd Vance.

A pallet of seized drugs is taken from the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 5, 2021. The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian military held a drug offload with about 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana from multiple Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea interdictions.

According to the Coast Guard, the drugs were interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea. Contraband was seized during 27 interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by 10 American, Dutch and Canadian ships. About 150 sailors from the U.S. and Canada were involved in these efforts.

Central, South America and the Caribbean, we refer to this as our neighborhood, said Lt. Gen. Andrew Croft, military deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command. Of the 31 nations in that neighborhood, the No. 1 threat to their security is the transnational criminal organizations that generate over $60 billion a year in illicit activities  of which 89% comes from what you see in front of you.

South Florida and other cities across the U.S. face the threat of the evils of the drug trade, Vance and Croft added.

We lost 92,000 Americans to drug overdoses last year, Croft said. This is an effort we will continue to focus on and get after.

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Members of the crew of the Canadian vessel HMCS Shawinigan at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. The crew and U.S. Coast Guard crews offloaded about 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana from multiple Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea interdictions.

Also at the media event: Canadian Defense Attache, Maj. Paul Ormsby, and Cmdr. Bill Sanson, the commanding officer for the Canadian Navys HMCS Shawinigan.

Interdicting these drugs helps bring hope and stability to out western hemisphere and other nations who are committed to the rule of law, Poulin said.

Canada and America are committed to expanding cooperation on defending North America against illicit trafficking and transnational crime and working together within our alliances, said Ormsby. We know that no nation can do it alone, and we know that we are stronger together. The kind of cooperation that we see on the pier today is one of the thousands of impressive examples of cooperation every day.

The confiscated drugs will be turned over to inter-agency teams. The U.S. Attorneys Office will handle the prosecution of those apprehended and charged.

The gathered group at Port Everglades would not provide details on the 27 separate events, citing ongoing investigations.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States may deny visas to current or former Guatemalan, Honduran or Salvadoran government officials believed to be responsible for undermining democracy or the rule of law, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

"With these restrictions, we are sending a clear message that those undermining democracy or the rule of law in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are not welcome in the United States," Blinken said in a statement.

He said a person could be designated under the policy for "acts of corruption or obstruction of democratic processes or institutions, such as subverting the integrity and independence of the judicial sector and anti-corruption prosecutors."

President Joe Biden's administration has cited corruption in the so-called Northern Triangle countries as one of the root causes, along with gang violence and poverty, of the increased flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Aug. 4Vaccinated American travelers anxious to pay a visit to Canada could see lengthy delays at border crossings, as Canadian border officials are set to strike beginning on Friday, Aug. 6.

The impending strike is referred to as a "job action" by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union that, along with the Customs and Immigration Union, represents more than 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency employees. The strike comes just three days before the country is set to allow American leisure travelers across the border for the first time in nearly a year and a half. BSA and CIU workers are striking after talks stalled on hammering out a new contract.

"We truly hoped we wouldn't be forced to take strike action, but we've exhausted every other avenue to reach a fair contract with the government," said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. "Treasury Board and CBSA have been clear they aren't prepared to address critical workplace issues at CBSA at the bargaining table."

Canadian border workers are seeking a new contract that includes better protections against what they claim is a toxic workplace culture at CBSA, and greater parity with other law enforcement agencies across Canada, among other demands.

The Canadian border has been closed to nonessential traffic since March 2020, and is set to open at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 9.

A strike doesn't necessarily mean that border traffic will come to a complete stop. According to an Aug. 3 CTV report, many people who staff border crossings could be deemed essential workers, which means border operations may slow without stopping entirely. The report indicates border workers are aware they may need to continue working, though one official said they would only do their jobs to the "letter of the law."

The situation remains the same for those wishing to fly to Canada. According to an Aug. 3 PSAC release, strike activity will take place at all Canadian airports, land borders, commercial shipping ports, postal facilities and headquarters locations. The slowdown in work and clearing shipments, PSAC said, could have a dramatic impact on Canada's supply chain and the government's plans to reopen the border to U.S. travelers.

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"We've continued to serve Canadians throughout the pandemic, keeping our borders safe, screening travelers for COVID-19 and clearing vital vaccine shipments," said Mark Weber, CIU national president. "Now it's time for the government to step up for CBSA employees."

The unions declared an impasse in talks in December, and then applied for a Public Interest Commission hearing after CBSA and Canada's Treasury Board did not address core contract issues. The two parties were set to return to the negotiating table on Aug. 4, but unless a deal can be reached, the strike, also called a "work-to-rule action," will begin at 5 a.m. on Aug. 6.

In addition to strike concerns and lengthy border waits, American travelers need to provide border officials with a negative molecular COVID-19 test, taken within three days of arrival. Travelers also need to provide proof of being vaccinated against the coronavirus, and must upload their information into the ArriveCAN smartphone application or website, prior to arrival.
Students and staff in the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, whether vaccinated or not, will wear masks to guard against COVID-19 in the upcoming school year until Labor Day, the superintendent of schools announced Wednesday.

All students and staff, whether they are vaccinated or not, are to be masked indoors from the start of school until Labor Day,  Superintendent Tom Brown told families and staff in a letter.

Brown said Diocese officials were committed to beginning the 2021-2022 school year on time and in person. The Diocese includes more than a dozen schools in Lexington and Central and Eastern Kentucky.

We share the concerns of state of Kentucky officials, health care professionals and parents concerning the rising transmission rates of this virus and its variants in our Diocese, Brown said in the letter to families and staff members. He said the decision about mask wearing was made by Bishop John Stowe who had consulted with health officials and school leaders.

The Delta variant appears to be more contagious and is infecting younger populations, Brown said.

Gov. Andy Beshear has said everyone inside a K-12 Kentucky school should be wearing a mask this fall, regardless of vaccination status. But he did not make that recommendation a mandate.

As a result, various schools districts in Kentucky have taken different paths. Jessamine, Madison, Mercer and Franklin are among the school districts that are letting parents decide whether students wear masks inside schools.

Fayette County Public Schools is requiring all students and staff to wear masks inside buildings when school starts Aug. 11.

Brown said if conditions improve after Labor Day, Diocese officials want all schools to be empowered to evaluate conditions in their individual communities and determine the best course of action regarding masks.

It is unclear what other private schools in Lexington will do in regard to masking this school year.

Lexington Christian Academy and The Lexington School did not respond to questions about their mask policies.

Barb Milosch, a spokeswoman for Sayre School, said she probably would not have an announcement until the first of next week.
Cori Bush (Getty Images)

Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush says she spent nearly $70,000 on private security after facing attempts on her life.

The Missouri representative, who has repeatedly called on her party to defund the police, spent just under $30,000 a month between mid-April and the end of June, according to Federal Electoral Commission filings.

Rep Bush, 45, hit back at critics who said she was hypocritical to retain private security officers while calling for cuts to police funding.

"They would rather I die?" she asked when asked about the spending by CBS News .

"You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? You know because that could be the alternative," she said.

A defiant Rep Bush said she would continue to hire security personnel because she has too much work to do.

"So suck it up, and defunding the police has to happen.

We need to defund police and put that money into social safety nets.

Republican critics took to social media to accuse the so-called member of the Squad, a group of progressive Democratic representatives, of rank hypocrisy.

Bush says shes important enough to have her own private security, but the police that protect the rest of America need to be defunded, Georgia Congressman Jody Hice wrote.

The arrogance is outmatched only by the insanity.

Calls to defund the police emerged from the 2020 civil rights protests over the death of George Floyd.

Rep Bush is one of several left-leaning Democrats who have called for police forces to be stripped of some of their resources and for it to be redirected into social services such as mental health crisis facilities.

Defund the police also became a rallying cry for Republicans to taunt their Democratic opponents during the 2020 election, but was never considered a viable policy platform within the party.

On Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden did not support defunding the police during a press briefing.

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He has said that throughout his campaign for office. His record over the last several decades has made that clear, Ms Psaki told reporters.

There may be some in the Democratic Party, including Congresswoman Bush, who disagree with him  thats OK.

But I would say the majority of Democrats, weve seen this in polling, and the majority of members also agree that we should not defund the police.

Rep Bush spoke to CBS News from the steps of the Capitol where she camped out for several nights this week to protest the end of the rent eviction moratorium.

In an 11th hour decision, the Biden administration extended the eviction moratorium in areas with high rates of coronavirus transmission.

Ms Bush was supported by fellow Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
President Joe Biden was right to claim critics were "lying" for tying Democrats to the "defund the police" movement, despite Missouri Rep. Cori Bush reiterating her call for defunding this week, according to the White House.

The majority of Democratic lawmakers and voters sided with Biden on police funding, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

CORONAVIRUS RESURGENCE CATCHES BIDEN OFF GUARD

"There may be some in the Democratic Party, including congresswoman Bush, who disagree with him, that's OK," she told reporters Thursday. "It does not appear to be becoming a Democratic message, even though there might be a desire for that on the other side."

Psaki also pointed to Biden's proposals for more resources to be invested in "community policing" in excess of policies put forward by former President Donald Trump.

For Psaki, it is "disturbing" that Bush is so concerned about her personal safety amid death threats that she requires private security.

Bush irked centrist Democrats Thursday with her response to questions about spending $70,000 on private security while repeating the "defund the police" mantra.

Im going to make sure I have security, Bush said in an interview. I get to be here to do the work, so suck it up  and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police.

Two days earlier, Bush was lauded by liberal Democrats for successfully pressuring Biden into reversing his decision to extend the federal eviction moratorium for renters financially struggling during the pandemic. She forced Biden to order the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to prolong the national ban by staging a high-profile five-night sleep-in on steps of the Capitol.

The CDC issued a new 60-day moratorium this week for areas of the country most affected by COVID-19. The extension is already being legally challenged after the Supreme Court ruled in June Congress had to approve such a measure.

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Biden was adamant last month that criticisms regarding Democrats being "anti-police" are unfounded, insisting proponents of the attack are "lying."

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"I don't know any community, particularly the communities that are in the most need and the poorest and the most at risk, that don't want police. They want police, though, to look at them as equals. They want police to treat them in that way," the president said.

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Tags: News, Biden, Biden Administration, Joe Biden, White House, Jen Psaki, Cori Bush, Law Enforcement, Police

Original Author: Naomi Lim

Original Location: White House: 'Defund the police' is not 'becoming a Democratic message'
WASHINGTON  White House officials met Thursday with attorneys general from seven states and the District of Columbia to discuss steps they can take to "hold accountable" gun manufacturers and dealers whose firearms wind up in shootings.

The virtual meeting, which lasted an hour, reflected a push by President Joe Biden to enlist states in his strategy to combat soaring gun violence as the Justice Department ramps up efforts at the federal level. Gun-related deaths are up 14% this year over 2020, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a research nonprofit.

A key part of the discussion was expected to center on the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which gives gun manufacturers and dealers blanket immunity for being liable when their products are used to commit crimes. Biden has pushed for Congress to repeal the law, but that's unlikely in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes.

More: New York poised to make it easier to sue gun makers. What would change

White House officials stressed that PLCAA provides a "predicate exception" for states that have their own laws that allow plaintiffs to seek claims against gun manufacturers and dealers for some culpability.

In June, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the nation's first law that seeks to get around the federal gun liability shield. States like Connecticut have used consumer protection or nuisance laws to hold gun manufacturers and dealers accountable for gun violence.

"That doesn't mean that PLCAA still isn't a significant barrier," an administration official told USA TODAY. "One of the key things we need to do is repeal it, and we're still fighting every day for that. But in the meantime, we're going to be creative about talking to states about how they can use existing law to make policy change."

President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus pandemic in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) ORG XMIT: DCSW107

Attorneys general who took part are Karl Racine of the District of Columbia, Letitia James of New York, Andrew Bruck of New Jersey, Rob Bonta of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Bob Ferguson of Washington, Maura Healey of Massachusetts and William Tong of Connecticut. All are Democrats.

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They met with Susan Rice, director of Biden's Domestic Policy Council, White House counsel Dana Remus and Julie Rodriguez, White House director for intergovernmental affairs.

Biden's strategy to combat gun violence so far

In April, Biden took executive action to close a regulatory loophole that allowed so-called ghost guns, which lack serial numbers, to be purchased without a background check.

As part of a crime prevention strategy Biden kicked off in June, the Justice Department launched five firearms strike forces to target the illegal flow of weapons across state lines into New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Washington, D.C.

More: 'It has to end': Biden targets illegal gun sales, rogue dealers in strategy to combat rising crime

The Justice Department also created a zero-tolerance policy allowing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to revoke federal licenses of gun dealers the first time they violate federal law. Biden encouraged states and cities to use their share of COVID-19 rescue funds on publicly safety efforts and local law enforcement.

Biden has been unable to gain Republican support in Congress to pass sweeping gun control legislation. He has called for Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban and pass legislation to close loopholes in gun background checks. But like the repeal of PLCAA, the legislative proposals face resistance from Republicans in the evenly divided Senate.

Even though Biden has said he supports more funding for police, Republicans plan to seize on the crime surge  and the "defund the police" mantra of some liberals  to attack Democrats in a bid to take back control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gun violence: White House, state AGs huddle on accountability
A woman was seen holding an AK-47 while leaning out of the passengers side window of a moving car in San Francisco, according to a stunning photo released Thursday by the citys police department.

The passenger, whose name and possible charges have not been released, was photographed brandishing the weapon from the window of a speeding Cadillac on July 11, authorities said on Twitter.

On 7/11/2021, During an illegal exhibition of speed event at Barneveld & McKinnon, a passenger leaned out of a Cadi holding an AK47, the police departments traffic safety unit tweeted.

Officers investigated the photo and eventually identified the gray Cadillac. Police did not release any details about the case, but they said they seized the vehicle Thursday. It was not clear if the weapon was found or whether the gun-toting woman would face any charges.

The photo quick went viral on social media, triggering a series of questions  but mostly jokes.

Shes taking riding shotgun too literally, a Twitter user wrote.

Proving, once and for all, that not everyone who hangs out the passenger side of their best friends ride is a scrub, wrote another.

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately return a request for more information Thursday.
Police revealed that a woman leaned out of a Cadi holding an AK47 in a statement on Thursday (San Francisco Police Department)

A woman in San Francisco has been captured on camera leaning out of a window while brandishing an AK47, police have revealed.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) revealed in a press release on Friday that the shocking image was taken during an illegal exhibition of speed event on 11 July.

According to the department, a passenger was seen leaning out of a Cadillac holding an AK47. The incident in question took place on Barneveld and McKinnon.

A photograph shared to their social media shows what appears to be a woman with long brown hair wearing a black hoodie while holding the intimidating firearm.

Another photograph shared by the department showed the vehicle being towed away by police officers.

Traffic Company personnel worked up a case, and seized this particular vehicle today, police said in the statement.

The post did not specify whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the incident. The identity of the person in the photograph has not been released.

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KRON reports that an exhibition of speed is a crime related to speed contests under the California Vehicle Code 23109.

According to Shouse California Law Group, an exhibition of speed is the acceleration of a motor vehicle to a dangerously high rate of speed, often done for amusement or to draw the attention of bystanders.

In June, a federal appeals court delayed a judges controversial move to overturn Californias decades old assault weapons ban.

The Independent has contacted SFPD for further comment.
(Reuters) - Review website Yelp Inc added new features on Thursday through which businesses can ask for proof of vaccination when customers visit, a measure it has taken as the Delta variant of the coronavirus rapidly spreads in the United States.

Users will be able to filter businesses by two new attributes - "proof of vaccination required" and "all staff fully vaccinated" - when searching for local businesses and restaurants.

For businesses that activate these attributes on their Yelp page, the company will add protective measures to safeguard them from reviews that criticize the enforcement of COVID-19 health and safety measures.

The fast-spreading and highly-contagious Delta variant has led to several retailers reinstating their mask mandates and companies extending their work-from-home policies, just months after they lifted previous restrictions.

As guidelines have evolved, Yelp said businesses could also activate "masks required" and "staff wears masks" attributes on their pages.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
The White House announced Thursday that the review and recommendation site Yelp is debuting a new feature to let users search for businesses by their vaccination requirements.

Businesses know vaccinations are a way to keep their workers and customers safe and to keep their doors open, Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said at a news conference.

The new feature will allow users to search on Yelps website and mobile app for businesses with fully vaccinated workers and for those that require proof of vaccination to enter.

We support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country, Zients said.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

A Yelp spokeswoman told HuffPost that the company will be proactively monitoring Yelp pages of businesses that activate these attributes in order to help protect businesses that may experience backlash for their vaccination policies.

The past year and a half has been like no other, Yelp Vice President of User Operations Noorie Malik said in a statement. Both business owners and consumers have expressed interest in Yelp releasing vaccine-related attributes. For many months weve seen businesses implement vaccine requirements for both their customers and staff. As a result, weve also seen a rise in reviews primarily focused on peoples stance on COVID vaccinations rather than their actual experience with the business.

At Thursdays news conference, the White Houses coronavirus response team highlighted increasing vaccination rates, particularly in those regions of the country where COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are spiking.

The picture of the rise of coronavirus cases is particularly grim for the American South. Over the past seven days, Florida and Texas have accounted for about one-third of new cases and more than one-third of new hospitalizations across the country. Seven states that make up just a quarter of the U.S. population  Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi  account for more than half of new cases and hospitalizations over the past week.

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The U.S. saw about 864,000 coronavirus vaccinations go into arms over the past 24 hours, according to Zients, who said that figure was the highest single-day total since July 3. The bulk of them  or around 585,000  were first shots.

A bartender makes cocktails at Oasis in San Francisco on July 29. The San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance is encouraging members to require bar customers to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of a bar visit. (Photo: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters that, despite the increased transmissibility of the delta variant, it still appears the overwhelming majority of severe illness is occurring in unvaccinated people.

In response to rising case counts, businesses, hospitals and educational institutions around the country have been announcing vaccination requirements for their staff, students and others. More than 100 hospital systems around the country are requiring employees to be vaccinated, and nearly 650 colleges and universities are requiring the same of on-campus staff and students, Zients said. Many leaders at the local, state and federal levels  including President Joe Biden  have said government workers under their purview will need to be vaccinated or regularly tested, as well.

The American legal system has a history of protecting the right of localities and employers to mandate vaccinations, and the courts have so far upheld such requirements in the COVID-19 era.

Exceptions are generally expected to be made for health or religious concerns.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
DeJarnett, originally from Spokane, Washington, began in April 2019 after watching some eating videos and realizing she could do it too. The pair began dating and now are on tour together.

Jordan Anderson, owner of Rolled or Bowled, reached out to Santel over Facebook to see if he could inaugurate a food challenge for them.

Ive been watching Randys videos since I was a teenager and I thought it would be cool if he came out to my trailer to create a challenge, Anderson said.

A first for The BackYard and Anderson, the event drew a large crowd and created business for the other food trucks there as well.

Its really fun, especially with them saying that they like the food and they enjoy it, Anderson said. Like to hear someone thats a professional eater say that my food is good makes me feel good.

Anderson said they now are offering the food challenge to the public. Once per month on a set Wednesday, customers who think they are up to the task can vie for their spot on the wall of fame inside the Rolled or Bowled truck.
Former President Barack Obama has dramatically scaled back his planned 60th birthday party on Martha's Vineyard this weekend due to concerns about the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19, according to a spokeswoman.

The birthday bash for the former President was previously planned to be held outside and follow all US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health protocols, with testing for guests and a Covid safety coordinator on site, a source had told CNN earlier this week.

Keep scrolling to see 60 pics of the former president through the years

More than 400 guests, including celebrities and former Obama administration officials, were reportedly expected to attend the affair, along with nearly 200 hired staff working the party.

But now, the celebration for Obama, who turns 60 on Wednesday, will be only be for family and close friends.
It is conservative, reasonable and compassionate to allow local school districts to protect those students who are under 12 and not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine," he said in a statement.

The schools' lawsuit argues that the ban violates Arkansas' constitution. It seeks a temporary order blocking the prohibition while the lawsuit is considered. Another lawsuit by two parents challenging the ban is going before a state judge Friday morning.

No rational reason exists for denying public school students, teachers and staff, and the school boards which are obligated to keep them safe, the ability to ensure that all who work and learn in our public schools are as safe as possible," the schools' lawsuit said.

The Marion School District on Thursday said 839 students and 10 staff have quarantined since classes began last week because of its outbreak. The district said in a Facebook post that 46 students and 10 staff have tested positive for the virus.

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott's order would only apply to city-owned parks and facilities, but Scott also urged private businesses to require masks. The rule takes effect on Friday and will be in effect through the end of the month.
Last year marked the centennial of women getting the right to vote, but this year marks another centennial  the first year in which women could run for office in Virginia. And some did.

They all lost, but that does not diminish the historic nature of what they did and it shines some light  not always a favorable light  on our politics today.

By the time the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, the party slates for president, Senate and the House of Representatives were already set.

But 1921 was a different matter. That year, like this year, Virginia elected statewide officers and members of the House of Delegates.

One woman dared run for governor. Lillie Davis Custis of Accomack County got into the race late  she didnt declare until October  and polled either 227 or 251 votes, 0.11% of the total (accounts vary).

Still, she goes down into Virginia history as the first woman to run for governor. She was also a Socialist.
Leaving your baby in the care of other people can be a daunting task at first, but an infant care program ultimately offers practical assistance to new parents who are based in Singapore.

Here, its common practice for mothers to go back to work after 12 to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, while fathers are given 2 weeks of paid paternity leave after the birth of the child. Once their parental leaves have all been used up, many parents in Singapore seek the services of infant care organizations that provide full-day and half-day programs for infants and toddlers aged between 2 to 18 months. These programs enable working parents to pursue their careers while providing their very young children with a safe and healthy environment during the day.

The good news is that there are plenty of organizations that offer excellent childcare in Singapore. Parents would be happy to know that both the government and private institutions are highly invested in the continued training of their staff members, and this ensures that the educators in these programs are able to provide top-notch early childhood care and holistic learning experiences. Still, working parents would do well to look for an infant care program near their area that checks all the boxes. Here are some of the signs that you are looking at an excellent infant care program and facility:

A Well-Designed Environment

One of the first signs that a childcare program in Singapore offers quality services to families is that it has the facilities and spaces needed to fulfill all the needs of the infants and toddlers in their care. The environment where the children will be staying should be safe, comfortable, and appropriately -sized, and the area should encourage movement, play, and interaction.

In addition to maintaining a generally pleasant atmosphere for children, an excellent childcare facility should also have separate areas for the following activities: rest and napping, feeding and food preparation, toilet and washing up, and arriving and departing from the center. There should also be dedicated spaces for skill development, playing with peers, and storing items. The furniture and equipment used in these types of establishments should exhibit good ergonomics and sturdy construction, and they must be designed with the infants well-being and safety in mind.

A Support Structure for Families

The families that depend on childcare facilities in Singapore are not just entrusting their infants to childcare professionals; they are partnering with experts who can help them fulfill the needs of their children during their absence. As such, there should be enough staff members to assist and supervise the infants and toddlers at all times. Ideally, the ratio of staff to infants up to 18 months of age should be 1:5, which is 1 teacher for every 5 kids. Aside from the teaching staff, the childcare program should have supervisors, main caregivers, assistant caregivers, and nurses within easy reach. These professionals can coordinate with the family in order to provide infants and toddlers with proper support, adequate attention, and if necessary, swift intervention to address specific challenges.

Interaction with Staff Members

The staff members of a credible and highly attentive childcare facility should interact with the children under their care. Physical contact and paying attention are crucial to a childs development, so throughout the day, the caregivers should be able to hold, talk, sing, and listen to the kids in their program. The infants would also benefit from being rocked and from being taken on short walks within and outside the childcare center.

The parents, likewise, should be able to maintain a clear line of communication with their childrens caregivers. They should be able to get in touch with the teachers and supervisors in the center through email, group messages, calls, and video conferences, among others. Some parents specifically choose to be briefed regarding their childs progress throughout the day.

Scheduled Routine and Rituals

Scheduled activities also play a crucial role in the development of very young children. Following a routine can help infants establish a sense of balance and stability. Take note, though, that these patterns of activities should consider the culture and beliefs of the family where the child belongs to. The child can then start establishing routines, and the staff members of the childcare facility should take care to follow each childs feeding, toilet, and napping patterns without disturbing the said child or distracting the other children in the facility. Any changes in these habits should be coordinated with the parents so that they can also follow the childs schedule at home.

Health and Safety Policies

Putting many infants in one room together can be a recipe for disaster if the staff in charge of the facility are not well-trained in keeping a childcare environment safe. The facility should maintain procedures and policies that will allow them to make the right decisions and get in touch with the right people in case a child in their care falls ill or gets injured. Aside from this, they should also have the right equipment needed to sterilize milk bottles and toys, prepare formulas, and follow through with sanitation routines.

Should you need the services of an excellent childcare facility in Singapore, make sure to check for these policies, facilities, and other qualities. This way, you can ensure that youre entrusting the youngest member of your family to a team of people who have what it takes to provide the standard of care that you expect.
A roundup of campaign news items of interest:

UNION ENDORSEMENT: Sami Scheetz has secured the endorsement of Teamsters Local 238 in his bid for the Democratic nomination in Iowa House District 65 on Cedar Rapids southeast side.

Teamsters 238 is the largest local union in Iowa, with more than 5,000 members working in industries ranging from transportation and warehousing to manufacturing and public service.

House 65 will be an open seat as incumbent Rep. Liz Bennett, also a Democrat, is seeking the nomination in Senate District 65 where Sen. Rob Hogg is not seeking re-election. Democrat Breanna Oxley also is running for the Senate District 33 nomination.

INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT: A political action committee that engages Republican lawmakers has launched a $1.5 million broadcast and digital advertising campaign asking Iowans to encourage U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst to support the Senates $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.

The investment is needed to improve Americas roads and bridges, strengthen the nations competitiveness, and secure the power grid from foreign cyberattacks, according to Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.
We must ask ourselves: Is this the world we want to live in? We need immediate actions for nature before its too late.

The EU bolstered assistance from member states and partners to Greece, sending firefighters, water-dropping planes and helicopters from Cyprus, France, Sweden, Romania and Switzerland. Help from the Netherlands and other EU members was also heading to fire-stricken countries in the region.

In an emergency measure, public access to Greek forests at risk of fire will be limited through Aug. 9.

Greeces Civil Protection Agency said the fire threat across southern Greece would increase further Friday, with windy weather forecast for parts of the country despite an expected slight dip in temperatures that reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) earlier this week. The heat wave was described as Greeces worst since 1987.

Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said the armed forces would expand their role in fire prevention, with ground patrols, drones, and aircraft over areas vulnerable to wildfires.

Outside Athens, a forest fire that broke out on the northern fringes of the capital Tuesday and damaged or destroyed scores of homes rekindled, triggering fresh evacuations, threatening homes and sending thick smoke over the capital.
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Cornelius said his major duties were repairing airplanes.

I learned how to fly during the war as a mechanic because I had to know something about flying to be a mechanic, Cornelius said. I did not carry a rifle because my duty was to keep the airplanes flying.

He was a staff sergeant by the time the war was over and he was sent home.

I did not boat back, he said. That boat trip took six days. I flew back.

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When he was discharged, Cornelius said. I flew home on a B-17 with no hearing protection and nothing to lay down on.

It took 52 hours of flying to get back to the United States, Cornelius said. Most said Cornelius flew to France, then to Africa, then to South America and came back up to the United States.

When I came home, I went back into farming, Cornelius said. I took over the family farm. We grew some alfalfa, corn and wheat.

Cornelius got his pilots license through the GI Bill.

I built an airstrip on the farm, Cornelius said. It was a sod airstrip that went two ways  it went north and south and northeast and southwest. It was a prairie strip.
Ricketts rebuked the CDC on Tuesday, saying the guidance flies in the face of the public health goals that should guide the agencys decision-making and that it would add to public distrust of the CDC.

The State of Nebraska will not be adopting their mask guidance, Ricketts said in the statement. He also reiterated his expectation that schools and universities will reopen this fall without mask or vaccine requirements.

Asked whether the governor was concerned that by encouraging business owners, schools and others to not follow CDC guidance that he could expose them to lawsuits, a spokesperson said Friday that Ricketts statement pertained to the State of Nebraska.

Earlier this week, Taylor Gage, the governors spokesman, did not respond to questions regarding whether theres something the governor can do to prevent schools, universities or local governments from having mask requirements and whether there would be consequences if they put requirements in place.
Photo: George Etheredge

There is almost no one left in Democratic politics in New York or across the country  not from the president of the United States to the lowest local ward heeler  who is on the record saying that Andrew Cuomo should remain as governor of New York. His longtime backers in the states business community have abandoned him, as have the labor unions that kept his Democratic challengers at bay over these past dozen years.

But more than a half-dozen allies, advisers, and others close to Andrew Cuomo say that the governor is in no hurry to step aside, and is determined to tell his side of the story in the wake of a report from Attorney General Letitia James that detailed 11 separate allegations of sexual harassment. Cuomos desire to push back comes after the governors initial response  a 14-minute direct-to-camera video, in which he challenged one accuser to take him to court so he could defend himself, and said another former underling had misunderstood his inquiries into her previous sexual assault as flirtation, when they were actually about concern  was widely panned in the press.

He is not resigning, said one person who has been in regular contact with the governor. It is just not in his nature to ever do that. That perspective was underlined by a comment released late Thursday by Cuomos director of communications Rich Azzopardi: The Assembly has said it is doing a full and thorough review of the complaints and has offered the Governor and his team an opportunity to present facts and their perspective. The Governor appreciates the opportunity. We will be cooperating.

There remains a belief in Cuomo-world that Jamess report was political, the product of someone eyeing the governors office herself, and largely put together by Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor who led the case against Joe Percoco, a top Cuomo aide convicted on corruption charges. As one supporter of the governors said, Kim has been trying to get to the governor for the past decade.

While even the closest of Cuomos aides were shocked and surprised at the allegations in the attorney generals report that the governor had sexually harassed a state trooper assigned to his protective detail, there was a feeling among many that much of what the investigators detailed had been publicly aired before, only this time it was given the weight of an official government report. They generally feel that the governor has been unable to give his side of the story, and while some of the behavior was admittedly boorish, none of it rises to the level of impeachment.

This is the first sex scandal in history in which there wasnt any sex, said one Cuomo adviser. I am sorry that all of these women felt awkward, and felt like something was going to happen, but nothing actually did. So lets talk about what we are actually talking about here.

People who have spoken with the governor say that he recognizes that the chances of him surviving this are very slim. Its like the building collapsed on top of him and there is a tiny ray of light you can still see through, said one. Its fading, but it is there.

Time is Cuomos best asset. If the Assembly moves slowly on impeachment, it will give Cuomo time to make the case that he is being railroaded. Back in March, when allegations of wrongdoing first surfaced, Cuomos team were buoyed by the fact that his poll numbers, especially among older Democrats, remained strong. The more time that elapses after Jamess press conference on Tuesday, the more his numbers will have time to recover, as new political stories and scandals fill the news cycle and the state battles a new resurgence of the coronavirus.

The speed of the Assemblys inquiry will be a matter decided by Carl Heastie, the bodys Democratic leader and a longtime Cuomo ally. Cuomos camp is certainly hoping that Heastie moves the process along at a deliberate pace. Heastie, however, is in charge of a body that has overwhelmingly signaled that it would like to move on impeachment as soon as possible.

As much as Cuomo wants to fight it out now, he is not likely to fight an impeachment in the Assembly and a trial in the Senate, which puts further pressure on him to tell his side of the story now. If an impeachment referral was sent to the Senate, Cuomo would have to temporarily step down from his perch and vacate the governors mansion.

Can you imagine the humiliation?, said one longtime friend of Cuomos. What is he going to do, move into a hotel in Albany while the Senate sorts this out?

Back in 2002, Cuomo embarked on an ill-advised primary run for governor against State Comptroller Carl McCall, who had the bulk of the states party Establishment behind him. Facing certain defeat, Cuomo dropped out just one week before Election Day, claiming that he was taking the high road, after attempting to negotiate concessions in exchange for his withdrawal from the McCall camp, who summarily rebuffed the underdogs entreaties.

The episode was brought up a few times by Cuomo advisers, as they face another unwinnable situation and look for a way out. Cuomo is going to fight, they say, but only as long as it makes sense, and will try to engineer the situation to make it at least seem like he is leaving on his terms.

This is a guy who is always looking to fight, said one longtime adviser. But he is not going to get into something that he doesnt think he can win.
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla., August 05, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) ("St. Joe") announces the commencement of development of a new 554-acre master planned community in Mexico Beach, Florida. Site work has started on the first phase of the community which is planned for 42 townhomes. Future phases of the community are being planned to include additional townhomes, single-family homes, rental apartments and a walkable commercial village. The planned community is under development on the west end of Mexico Beach near U.S. Highway 98 and the towns public boat ramp.

The planned community is located approximately 12 miles from the main gate of Tyndall Air Force Base. Following Hurricane Michael in 2018, Congress appropriated an initial $4.3 billion to start the redevelopment of what the United States Air Force is calling "the base of the future." The redevelopment is expected to generate significant housing demand in the immediate area and this community is being planned to provide a wide range of housing options to meet that demand.

"The redevelopment of Tyndall Air Force Base is critical to our national security and will be the lynchpin to the long-term success of Floridas Second Congressional District. It is exciting to see the progress that is being made on and around the base," said Congressman Neal Dunn, whose district includes Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base. "This new community will provide a much-needed housing option for military families and civilians working on base. As the redevelopment of the base continues, this community will be able to grow and evolve along with it for many years to come."

The start of this project comes at a time at which demand for housing in Mexico Beach and the surrounding area is very high. "Mexico Beach is a beautiful community with its own unique charm along the white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico," said Jorge Gonzalez, President and CEO of St. Joe. "The area is still seeing a housing shortage as a result of the damage caused by Hurricane Michael. That, combined with the future demand for housing that we anticipate as a result of the ongoing redevelopment of Tyndall Air Force Base, makes this the right time to initiate this project and fill a need in the area in a manner that will respect the unique charm of Mexico Beach."

Story continues

"We are approaching this master planned community one step at a time, and the first phase of the townhome community is a logical first step," explained Bridget Precise, Senior Vice President of Residential Real Estate for St. Joe. "This community is intended to cater to permanent residents living in the area which we anticipate will include military families, long-time residents and people moving to Mexico Beach to enjoy its unique gulf coast lifestyle."

"In the nearly three years since Hurricane Michael, our community has been making progress towards rebuilding our town while maintaining and preserving the charm and character that makes it such a special place," said, Al Cathey, Mayor of Mexico Beach. "The start of work on the first phase of this project is a welcomed addition and represents a great milestone in our rebuilding process."

Site work on the townhome community began earlier in 2021.

Important Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of Section 21E of the Exchange Act, including statements regarding the proposed master planned community in Mexico Beach, Florida. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by cautionary statements and risk factors set forth in St. Joes filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent filings, as well as the following: (1) expectations regarding the redevelopment of Tyndall Air Force Base and the corresponding increase in residential demand, (2) the ability of St. Joe to complete the purposed community and (3) the interest of prospective residents and commercial tenants in Mexico Beach, Florida.

About The St. Joe Company

The St. Joe Company is a real estate development, asset management and operating company with real estate assets and operations in Northwest Florida. The Company intends to use existing assets for residential, hospitality and commercial ventures. St. Joe has significant residential and commercial land-use entitlements. The Company actively seeks higher and better uses for its real estate assets through a range of development activities. More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.joe.com. On a regular basis, the Company releases a video showing progress on projects in development or under construction. See https://www.joe.com/video-gallery for more information.

The St Joe Company 2021. "St. Joe", "JOE", the "Taking Flight" Design, "St. Joe (and Taking Flight Design) " are registered service marks of The St. Joe Company or its affiliates.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006151/en/

Contacts

St. Joe Investor Relations Contact:

Marek Bakun

Chief Financial Officer

1-866-417-7132

marek.bakun@joe.com

St. Joe Media Relations Contact:

Mike Kerrigan

Corporate Director of Marketing

1-850-231-6426

mike.kerrigan@joe.com
Small town Ephraim, Utah Gets New Tech, Housing, & Retail Development

Site plan and phases of Ephraim Crossing. PC: http://ephraimcrossing.com/vision/

Site plan and phases of Ephraim Crossing. PC: http://ephraimcrossing.com/vision/

Ephraim, Utah, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While real estate investors and developers take on the purchase of a property or land, they then team with strategic partners like Mountain West Commercial Real Estate to help fulfill a vision of the property or land with tenants that best serves the community.

As big cities continue to see exponential growth, tech groups are looking outside of high-density urban areas and seeking affordable rural areas to expand in. This is advantageous for both sides as rural towns offer affordable housing and lower lease rates, while these developments offer opportunities for economic growth for rural communities.

Ephraim, located 1 hour south of Provo welcomed its newest development Ephraim Crossing. At nearly 15 acres it will be a mixed-use campus featuring business, retail, and residential living to accommodate the growing demand for tech space. Ephraim is most known for its small-town two-year institution Snow College.

Years in the making, Garrett Blomquist Agent for Mountain West Commercial, was approached by developer Camino Verde Group LLC regarding Ephraim Crossing and the process began with a thorough analysis of the land, a survey of retail opportunities needed within the community and its future, and finally a broker opinion of value for its potential.

The first construction planned is for the business sector of the development, a three-story, 32,000 square foot tech office, and co-working facility. As businesses enter Ephraim so will the need for housing which is currently underway with 50 affordable single-family homes and townhomes featuring 86 spacious two-story homes. At full buildout, Ephraim Crossing will have 400 residences in the community.

This vision is also fulfilled further as Snow College recently created a four-year software engineering degree, and the city seeks to keep its best and brightest in the local area. Ephraim Crossing is designed to meet the needs and bring a new technology hub to Sanpete County.

Story continues

Blomquist and Scott Brady are providing support and vision by developing the retail side of the property by filling the retail space with grocery, restaurants, and community amenities.

Weve helped support many developers over the years build out their vision to grow a community by fulfilling the space with strategic retail spaces that make sense for the community. Mountain West Commercial has the best experience for these developments and Brady and myself are excited to be a part of the future growth in rural communities, said Garrett Blomquist Agent for Mountain West Commercial.

We know that rural communities are small for a reason, we want to respect the small-town feel with the opportunity of economic growth that will sustain a rural community for decades to come, said Scott Brady Agent for Mountain West Commercial Real Estate.

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CONTACT: Kendra Van Horssen Mountain West Commercial Real Estate 3855012928 kvanhorssen@mtnwest.com




COVID-19 hospitalizations at East Alabama Health, including EAMC in Opelika and EAMC-Lanier in Valley, rose from 26 to 29 on Wednesday, with the total number of hospitalizations continuing to fluctuate between 26 and 24 over the past 10 days.

Meanwhile around the state, Alabama had the highest positivity rate in the nation and continued to have the lowest vaccination rate. There were 1,802 confirmed admitted patients in Alabama hospitals on Wednesday, compared to 179 a month ago.

Of the 29 local COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, 24 had not been vaccinated. Fifteen of them were under the age of 60, and six were under the age of 50.

We remain in somewhat of a bubble right now as hospitals in other parts of the state are seeing a significant increase, John Atkinson, East Alabama Health spokesman, said on Wednesday.

He said the peak for Alabama was 3,084 back in January, so we are over halfway there already.

The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators at EAMC has held steady at three over the past week.
The cities of Opelika and Auburn each floated out big numbers on Monday.

In Auburn, it was $120 million.

That was the cost of the new 40,000-square-foot data center being constructed on Samford Avenue by AUBix LLC and designed to provide communities across the state with enhanced access to high-speed internet.

Andrew Albrecht, an Auburn University alumnus and the companys co-founder, likened the data center to a railroad station.

A minimum of seven fiber optic networks run through Auburn, and none of them have a place to stop and meet, like a railroad station, he said. ... Were like a railroad, but were digital. Were digital infrastructure.

In Opelika, it was $130 million.

That was the cost of a new manufacturing facility in the Northeast Opelika Industrial Park for Hanwha Cimarron. CEO David Jeon said the South Korean companys facility will help continue its growth in the Carbon Overwrap Pressure Vessel industry.

Thats not a term many folks around here understand, but heres something we can all get on board with: the creation of over 260 jobs in Opelika.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Traffic congestion in Beijing has declined by 30 percent over the past week, and is falling in other parts of the country as well, as the spread of a new coronavirus variant gains traction, threatening the outlook for oil demand, Bloomberg reports.

There have been multiple outbreaks across the country, and the situation remains uncertain, Vice-premier Sun Chunlan said earlier this week, as quoted by state news agency Xinhua.

As with the previous outbreak, which China stifled with a complete lockdown, the rise in infections is affecting movement and, consequently, fuel use.

For those provinces and regions with severe cases, such as Jiangsu, we will see a hit in gasoline and diesel demand, Bloomberg quoted one ICIS analyst as saying.

Jet fuel demand will also suffer as the authorities suspend flights to stem the spread of the new coronavirus variant. Some bus, taxi, and ride-hailing services are also being suspended in some Chinese regions, adding to the negative effect on demand.

This round of infection could potentially wipe out 5% of short-term oil demand, a researcher from CNPCs Economics and Technology Research Institute told Bloomberg.

A five-percent decline in oil demand will have a fast and sizeable effect on prices, especially as it couples with resurgence of the coronavirus in other key markets, notably the United States.

Oil has already retreated from highs hit earlier this year on the strong demand rebound and supply constraints. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at a little above $70 per barrel, down by some $6 since the end of July. West Texas Intermediate was trading at some $68 per barrel, down by about $5 since the start of the month.

Chinas fast action on curbing the spread of the virus would affect oil demand, but the effect is likely to be short-lived if the curb is successful. In fact, according to one analyst cited by Bloomberg, demand for fuels could rebound as soon as September.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The European Union seeking to impose a carbon tax on imports would be detrimental to Australias export industry, its Australian energy and emissions reduction minister has warned.

The minister, Angus Taylor, urged against a new wave of European protectionism that would significantly bruise Australias export industry  on which a large portion of its economy hangs.

Australia pulls in some $284bn from its export products, while its service exports bring in around $75.6bn, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

At a time when liberal democracies are working together to rebuild confidence in the benefits of free and open trade, a new wave of protectionism now threatens to sweep across the world, he said.

The European Union (EU) is looking to introduce a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which would see EU importers buy carbon certificates for the carbon price that would have been paid if the goods had been produced within the bloc.

Once a non-EU producer can evidence they have already paid the price for the carbon used in the production of the goods, the cost can then be deducted for the EU importer.

It forms part of the EUs plan to meet the commitments of the 2015 Paris Agreement, with carbon the key culprit in global warming and emissions.

However, Taylor  although being a minister of emissions reduction  has condemned the mechanism, saying it discriminates against countries like Australia.

Iron ore, oil, gas and coal

Australias exports are dominated by carbon-heavy products from the mining industry, with its iron ore exports forecast to hit $123.1bn this year, according to industry analysts IBISWorld  due in part to a pandemic-induced surge in prices.

In 2019, the country was the worlds biggest exporter of iron ore, the OEC recorded.

Oil and gas exports are expected to reach $39.8bn by the years end, after steadily increasing over the past five years despite the industrys volatility.

Australian natural gas production, which makes up most of the industry, is expected to increase at an annualised 12.4 percent over the five years through 2020-21, IBISWorld said.

Meanwhile, its coal mining industry lags just behind, exporting some $37.6bn by the end of this year, with steelmaking showing no signs of slowing down.

The EU is Australias third-largest trade partner, behind China and Japan, meaning the new rules could cut down the countrys export profits when it relies on such carbon-heavy trading.

Fossil fuel dependent regions

Taylor added that CBAM, which has been designed in compliance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, will punish developing countries which often rely on energy from fossil fuels.

It will punish developing countries relying on energy-intensive industries to generate the economic growth and jobs that will lift their citizens out of poverty, he said.

It will punish sectors like aluminum, cement, and steel that will be covered in the first phase of this new European protectionism.

Not yet fully imposed, the EU will inevitably encounter some hang-ups that need ironing out before the tax begins to impact exporters like Australia.

Taylor highlighted that the CBAM tax fails to consider the progress countries are making to slash emissions and tackle climate change.

Australia leads the world in household solar per person and has the most wind and solar per person of any country outside of Europe. Growth in renewable energy has been so rapid that by 2030 it will supply more than half of our electricity, Taylor explained.

But to Australias, or Taylors, dismay, both Canada and Japan  two more crucial trade partners for the country  are planning their own initiatives to tackle the harmful impacts of carbon.

Which means eventually, Australia may have to lead its exports on products and industries that are less carbon exhaustive.

By City AM

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The threat of peak oil demand arriving sooner than predicted and the aggressive push to decarbonize the world economy in a post-Paris Agreement world is creating considerable uncertainty for the global oil industry. Big oil after considerable pressure from environmental groups, investors, and governments with many global energy supermajors is committing to become net carbon neutral. Aside from the push to reduce carbon emissions, the sulfur content of fuels is under intense scrutiny. That has seen governments, as well as various regulatory bodies across the world, clamp down on the sulfur content of fuels to reduce environmentally harmful emissions.

The most recent measure was the January 2020 introduction of IMO 2020 which substantially reduced the sulfur content of maritime fuels. For these reasons, big oil is avoiding developing or operating petroleum projects that are carbon-intensive and produce low-quality crude oil grades with the potential for being processed into high emissions fuels.

As a result, European oil supermajors TotalEnergies and Equinor divested their 30.32% and 9.67% respective interests in Petrocedeno, which operates a carbon-intensive extra-heavy oil project in Venezuelas Orinoco Belt. Both companies elected to hand in their stake to Venezuelas national oil company PDVSA and take a loss on the investment rather than continue operating in the near-failed petrostate.

TotalEnergies reasoning centered on its aims at focusing new oil investments on low carbon intensity projects, which does not correspond to extra-heavy oil development projects in the Orinoco Belt. This indicates that there is a significant headwind emerging for many countries, such as Venezuela and Canada, where most of their oil reserves are sour heavy and extra-heavy crude oil varieties.

Considerable energy is required to extract extra-heavy and heavy crude oil compared to conventional and shale oil. Studies show that Canadas oil sands produce nearly double the greenhouse emissions of conventional oil operations. It has been estimated that extracting one barrel of extra-heavy crude oil from Venezuelas Orinoco Belt creates four times, or possibly more, the carbon emissions of producing a single barrel of conventional crude oil. That extra-heavy crude oil, aside from needing to be blended with light oil or condensate so it can be transported and processed, is also more complex and hence energy-intensive to refine.

Venezuelas principal crude oil grade, known as Merey, is particularly sour and heavy with an API gravity of 16 degrees and 2.45% sulfur content. As a result, it is heavy in contaminants and sulfur making it particularly difficult and energy-intensive to refine. If not processed appropriately, the refined products produced will be high emission low-grade fuels. That makes Merey an unattractive crude oil to exploit in a post-Paris Agreement world focused on substantially reducing carbon and sulfur emissions. Other nations in South America are facing a similar dilemma, although not as dire as Venezuelas. Colombias flagship crude oil grades Castilla and Vasconia are sour and heavy with API gravities of 18.8 and 24.3 degrees as well as sulfur contents of 1.97% and 0.83% respectively.

Ecuador which shares the Putumayo-Oriente basin, a major source of heavy crude oil for both Andean nations, is facing a similar problem. Ecuadors Napo crude oil variety has an API gravity of 19 degrees and 2% sulfur content meaning it is heavy and particularly sour. Even the lighter Oriente grade, which has an API gravity of 24 degrees, is still particularly sour with 1.4% sulfur. That along with Ecuadors dilapidated refineries is responsible for the Andean country being incapable of producing IMO 2020 compliant 0.5% sulfur content fuel oil without importing lighter sweeter crude oil varieties to blend with locally extracted petroleum.

Related: Has The Oil Market Learned To Live With Covid?

Nonetheless, it is not all bad news for South America. Brazil is undergoing an epic offshore oil boom which sees it pumping over 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent daily making it the largest oil producer in Latin America. Even the COVID-19 pandemic has done little to diminish the booming oil industry in Latin Americas largest economy. French supermajor TotalEnergies announced it has approved investment in developing phase four of the Mero project in which owns a 20% interest. Mero is in offshore Brazils prolific pre-salt Libra oilfield in the Santos basin. This project operated by Petrobras, which holds a 40% interest with partners Shell at 20%, CNOOC 10%, and CNPC 10%, will pump 180,000 barrels of sweet medium grade crude oil with an API gravity of 28.8 degrees and 0.32% sulfur content.



Meros characteristics are like those of other oil varieties extracted from the Santos basin which have become especially popular among Asian refiners. A key reason for that are low breakeven prices, estimated to be on average as low as $35 per barrel, and the strong demand for the sweet medium crude oil grades extracted. It is Brazils Lula and Buzios crude oil varieties, both of which are sourced from pre-salt oil basins, which have experienced a sharp spike in demand from Asia, notably China. This is because Asia is a major shipping hub and demand for 0.5% sulfur content fuel oil has spiked since the introduction of IMO2020. For the first sixth months of 2021 Brazil was the sixth-largest supplier of crude oil to China.

Lula is an especially sweet medium crude oil with a sulfur content of a low 0.27% and API gravity of 29 degrees, with a high diesel yield making it particularly popular among China and Indias refiners. As a result, Lula trades at a $1 per barrel premium to the international Brent benchmark. Buzios possesses similar characteristics with an API gravity of 28 degrees and 0.31% sulfur content, triggering strong demand from Asian markets which has also seen cargoes sell at a premium to Brent. For these reasons it is anticipated that Brazil will become the worlds fifth-largest oil exporter by the end of this decade.

It is not only Brazil that has emerged as a key petroleum player in Latin America, neighboring Guyana and Suriname are also on track to benefit from gargantuan oil booms. The deeply impoverished former British and Dutch colonies share the Guyana-Suriname basin which has become one of the most exciting offshore drilling locations globally. Oil supermajor ExxonMobil along with partners Hess and CNOOC have enjoyed outstanding success in offshore Guyanas 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, making 21 high-quality discoveries since 2015. Those have given the consortium around nine billion barrels of recoverable oil resources with further discoveries tipped to occur as Exxon executes an ambitious 2021 drilling campaign. In fact, it was only late last month when Exxon made its 21st discovery in the Stabroek block with the Whiptail-1 well.

The appeal of investing in offshore Guyana, aside from the favorable agreements secured by Exxon and the countrys low royalty rate of 2% is the high-quality oil being discovered. Exxons Liza phase one operation, which reached full capacity in December 2020 producing 120,000 barrels daily, is pumping light sweet low contaminant crude oil. Liza crude oil has an API gravity of 32 degrees and sulfur content of 0.58% which along with its low breakeven price of $35 makes it especially attractive to exploit. Those characteristics also mean it is less carbon-intensive to produce and refine than many onshore crude oil grades found in South America. The other half of the Guyana-Suriname basin in offshore Suriname has also been the location of significant high-quality oil discoveries.

TotalEnergies and Apache have made five quality oil discoveries in offshore Suriname block 58, the latest being the Sapakara South-1 well at the end of July 2021. The crude oil found, according to Apache, has API gravities of between 27 to 43 degrees indicating that it is medium to light. The notable volume of quality conventional medium to light oil discoveries, coupled with a projected breakeven price of $40 per barrel, makes offshore Suriname an attractive proposition for energy companies seeking to boost their reserves and crude oil output.

Despite developed nations seeking to rapidly decarbonize the global economy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, crude oil will remain an important part of the worlds energy mix for the foreseeable future. Petroleum rich low-cost jurisdictions such as Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname which are capable of pumping low carbon sweet medium and light crude oil grades are fast becoming the preferred investment destinations for big oil. For these reasons, offshore South America will become the worlds leading offshore oil boom.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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The surprise resistance of the United Arab Emirates during the OPEC+ negotiations last month caught the oil market off guard, but the UAE-Saudi rift wasnt much of a surprise to experts who have been following Middle East politics for years.

For two weeks in early July, allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE held the oil marketand oil priceshanging on their spat over how much oil Abu Dhabi and other members of OPEC+ could pump as the alliance starts unwinding the remaining 5.8 million barrels per day (bpd) cuts.

While the disagreement took many market participants by surprise, for the analysts and experts who follow Middle East developments, it wasnt so surprising that the growing economic and geopolitical competition between the two allies found an outlet in a seemingly minor issue such as whether the UAE could pump some more oil in the coming months.

Divergence Started Long Before OPEC+ Talks

The competition between the Saudis and the Emiratis has been there for years, analysts say, despite what has always looked like a bromance between the de facto rulers of the two countries, MBS and MBZ, that is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

The Saudis and the UAE are allies when it comes to countering Irans influence in the region, but they have diverging views on other geopolitical issues.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE also compete economically for foreign investment as they try to diversify their economies from too much oil dependence. At the same time, they are both looking to raise their respective oil production capacities in order to maximize oil sales before the energy transition eventually deprives them of some of their oil revenues.

In the OPEC+ talks last month, the UAE insisted on a higher baseline because it thought its 2018 baseline was inadequately low, especially in light of its ambition to raise oil production capacity to 5 million bpd by 2030 from around 4 million bpd now.

The two-week stalematewhich had some observers fear an implosion of the OPEC+ alliance as in March 2020resulted in a compromise agreement.

Differences Are Here To Stay

However, the differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain, and they have economic and geopolitical nuances.

The underlying tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not gone away, Amrita Sen, founder and director of research at Energy Aspects, told CNBC the day after the OPEC+ deal was announced.

The rift was the result of broader issues, not just a baseline production level in the OPEC+ agreement. The UAE has been seeking to come out of the Saudi shadow in regional economic and geopolitical affairs, Sen told CNBC.

Competition between the two biggest Arab economies is, I think, just starting, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political science professor in the UAE, told CNBC earlier this month. And it is bound to intensify in the days to come.

We are still in the first five minutes of the competition. We dont know how it is going to evolve  and it might have some impact on the political issues that bind the two countries together, some political spillover, Abdulla added.

Its Not Just About Oil Quotas

What the world saw as a spat over several hundred thousand oil barrels per day was actually a rift years in the making, experts on the Middle East say.

Widespread surprise at the seemingly sudden disagreement between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh is rooted in misapprehension about the relationship between the two countries in recent decades. It has been a common assumption that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have effectively indistinguishable worldviews and interests  that the UAE is sort of an appendage or dependency of Saudi Arabia. That has never been the case, Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, wrote in July while the OPEC+ spat was still on. Related: Exxons Falling Production Is Highly Bullish For Oil Prices

According to the expert, long-standing but underappreciated differences between the UAE and Saudi Arabia have become more obvious, but their continuing shared interests remain decisive.

Some geopolitical differences are blatantly obvious. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the UAE has largely wound down its military activities in Yemen and it also recognized Israel last year.

On the economic front, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are competing for foreign investments, not only in oil.

Saudi Arabia moved earlier this year to challenge Dubai and Abu Dhabis long-standing leadership in the Middle East in attracting foreign capital and companies by announcing that as of January 2024 it would not sign contracts with foreign firms which dont have their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

The divisions between the UAE and Saudi Arabia are real and significant, and they have the potential over time to grow into deeper rifts, Ibish from the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington wrote.

However, the two countries have compatible broader regional goals, including the fact they are pro-US and share the major concern in the Middle East about Iran and its proxies in the region, Ibish noted.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have increasingly become rival allies, David Ottaway, Middle East Fellow at the Wilson Center, wrote last month.

The UAE is charting its own course on more and more issues, its demand to produce more oil than Saudi Arabia wanted is only the latest example of their sharpening contest for Arab and global prominence, Ottaway says.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Drug Enforcement Administration is encouraging parents to talk to their children before the start of the school year about the dangers of drugs, especially counterfeit pills.

Students can face an enormous amount of peer pressure to try or experiment with substances they are told are safe, DEA Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Justin King said in a statement. ...The choice they make when asked to experiment could have long-lasting effects and potentially deadly consequences.

Between 2019 and 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a nearly 30% increase in drug overdose deaths. Last year, nearly 61% of those deaths involved synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.

The DEA has seen a surge in counterfeit pills, with 26% of the pills examined in 2019 containing a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. Thats up from 10% in 2017.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin, the agency said, and a lethal dose is equal in size to a few grains of salt. Inconsistencies and lack of quality control during production make the counterfeit pills extremely dangerous, they added.

DEA officials said the pills, marketed as M30s, Perc30s, Blues and Mexican Oxys, are sold on the street and Dark Web.
Another priority for those responding to the survey was improved air quality in schools.

The district also held 13 in-person sessions. People who attended those sessions also prioritized mental health services, tutoring for students and health and wellness.

John Crowe, director of enterprise strategy and innovation for OPS, said the most mentioned item at the in-person sessions was tutoring because students have lost learning because of the pandemic. He said tutoring also was suggested as a way to help students socially because it would give students a closer connection to the school community.

It was suggested that the tutoring take place during the school day so there would be no barriers to students getting academic help if they cant attend sessions before or after school.

Attendees also said they wanted to see counseling services for students. The physical health of staff and students also was a concern, with suggested health screenings at school.

The sessions allowed people to share their individual thoughts and to work with groups to make decisions about how to spend the money.
These are serious allegations, Canadian Justice Department lawyer Monika Rahman said. Such allegations require cogent evidence to be proven, evidence of a quality that is not before this court.

Rahman said the U.S. has acted honorably, fairly and reasonably throughout the proceedings She added that the U.S. has a very high standard and discretion on what evidence to put forth when making its case for extradition.

Rahman also took issue with defense allegations the U.S has changed its theory of the case.

There has not been a shift in theory, she said. There is the same theory.

She also disagreed with defenses suggestion the conduct of the U.S. warranted halting the extradition proceedings.

Meng, who attended court wearing a pink facemask and an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, followed the proceedings through a translator.

The judge likely wont make her ruling until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.
BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts voters next year could be asked to weigh in on more than two dozen proposed ballot questions submitted to the state attorney general's office Wednesday, although if history is any guide only a handful will likely make it through the laborious signature-gathering process needed to secure a spot on the ballot.

The proposals range from questions related to protecting whales and bringing back happy hours to a measure that would require voters to produce IDs at polling locations.

Among the proposed questions are ones that would pave the way for the legal sale of consumer fireworks in Massachusetts, mandate all voting in the state be hand-counted, and require that if a child is born alive all reasonable medical steps must be taken to preserve its life.

Other proposed questions would ban smoking in multi-family housing units, make it a felony to target an individual's ability to make a living due to postings on social media, and limit the number of licenses to sell alcohol that any one company or individual can be granted.

Three proposed questions have been filed by Massachusetts Nurses Association Executive Director Julie Pinkham including one that would ban hospital CEOs from working with medical device or pharmaceutical companies.
At the end of day, were detainees, not inmates, said Jean Claude Wright, a 38-year-old native of Trinidad and former U.S. Air Force officer named in the complaint. But this is worse than prison.

ICE detainees at the Plymouth County House of Corrections in Massachusetts similarly sent a letter to supporters in June, detailing issues like restrictions on visits.

Allison Cullen says she hasnt been able to visit her husband, a Brazilian national, since before the pandemic.

The couples youngest child was only a few months old when Flavio Andrade Prado was detained, and he hasn't seen his now-2-year-old daughter in person in months, she said.

Were in this never-ending limbo, said Cullen, a U.S. citizen from Brockton, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Boston. There is no easy way to talk to my kids about whats going on and when Dad is coming home.

Back in Louisiana, Martinez says hes asked to be placed in solitary confinement, fearing for his safety.

Two detainees who harassed him for being gay were moved, but ICE officials later sent him to a higher-security unit where he said many gang-affiliated detainees are housed.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The next test for Republican candidates who hope to oust Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a September recall election comes this weekend with a fight over a coveted endorsement by the California Republican Party.

The competition for the partys prized imprimatur already has set off infighting and finger-pointing within the state GOP, and there is no clear favorite among four candidates who qualified to compete for the nod. The voting Saturday follows a kickoff debate Wednesday that appeared to do little to reorder the Republican contest.

Parrying over the endorsement comes as Newsom's once-steady hold on his job appears to be slipping. Recent polling points to a tightening race as coronavirus cases climb, mandatory masking orders return in many parts of the state and gas prices keep rising.

The urgency can be witnessed in a fundraising pitch from Newsoms campaign, which is working to energize Democrats who either are tuned out from politics or shrugging at the unusual late-summer election.

This recall is close  close enough to start thinking about what it (would) be like if we had a Republican governor in California, the Newsom campaign appeal said, seeking small-dollar donations. Sorry to put the thought in your head, but its true.
LINCOLN  Signature gathering began Thursday on a petition aimed at requiring Nebraskans to show photo identification before voting.

Citizens for Voter ID made the announcement while unveiling the text of their proposed constitutional amendment.

If passed, the measure would require that qualified voters present valid photographic identification before casting a ballot in any election to ensure the preservation of an individuals rights under this Constitution and the Constitution of the United States.

The proposal leaves specifics to be developed by the Legislature, including what would be considered a valid identification. Lawmakers also would have to determine how the requirement could be fulfilled for people voting by mail and how to provide free IDs for those who do not have them, as required by past court decisions.

State Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling, one of the petition sponsors, said the petition drive seeks to give Nebraskans the opportunity to decide directly about voter ID at the next general election.
DES MOINES  A teenager who was critically injured in an Iowa amusement ride accident that killed his younger brother has been released from the hospital.

David Jaramillo, 16, walked out of Blank Childrens Hospital on Tuesday, attorney Ryan Best said.

Jaramillo was placed on life-support after the July 3 accident on the Raging River raft ride at Adventureland Park in Altoona, a suburb or Des Moines. His 11-year-old brother, Michael Jaramillo, died the day after the accident.

Best said David Jaramillo has been talking, texting, making phone calls and even running at the hospital. But he still faces rehabilitation to address balance issues and to improve his fine motor skills, among other concerns, Best said.

I think that the family would refer to it as a miracle, he said. When I first went down there after the accident, I didnt know if he was going to make it. His prognosis is certainly remarkable.
It took a lot of elbow grease by volunteers like Dennis and Norma Kathman of Bellevue, who put in more hours than they can count on restoration work. They told their story last month in a podcast for the museum.

It was a labor of love, Norma Kathman said in an interview. It was wonderful to watch it evolve. It turned out even better than we expected.

Dennis grew up in Superior, Nebraska, while Norma is from Pittsburgh. Both served as missile systems launch officers aboard the Looking Glass from 1979-82 while assigned to SAC at Offutt. The couple had met while attending a training school in Mississippi soon after they were commissioned as Air Force officers in 1971.

The Kathmans job was as critical as it got in the Cold War Air Force: before taking off, they uploaded nuclear launch codes to the planes onboard computer.

If an order to launch the missiles had ever gone out during their alert shift, Dennis or Norma  Air Force captains at the time  would have been the ones to carry it out. Because they held the same job, they never flew together.
Providing youth with comprehensive, medically accurate sex education was never a priority in my small town school district. I am now a high school senior, and the only sex education requirement we had was a course that lasted half of a quarter in eighth grade that was part of our family and consumer science class.

During that half of a quarter, I learned that when you are on a date and walking down the sidewalk, the man should always walk on the outside to keep the woman safe. I knew how to plan wholesome activities for dates to stay occupied and avoid the temptation to have sex. It was an abstinence-based curriculum called Why Am I Tempted (or WAIT). I dont think they ever did answer that question.

What I didnt learn was about puberty and my reproductive health system. I didnt learn how a person becomes pregnant, let alone about contraception. Consent and healthy relationships were never discussed. And they didnt cover anything about sexual orientation or gender identity.

It was all very heteronormative and cisgendered, which didnt help me during a time when I was struggling with why I wasnt sexually attracted to others and what that meant. While all of my peers were talking about their crushes, I was wondering what was wrong with me. I didnt care what side the man walked on.
Omaha Public Schools named Picotte Elementary in her honor, in recognition of her inspiration for future generations.

Picotte pursued these achievements despite the daunting obstacles of her time. She earned her medical degree in an era when male-dominated society dismissed professional ambition for women and offered scarce resources for it. She championed recognition of and respect for Native peoples at the time of the Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota that took the lives of tribal men, women and children. She worked to provide appropriate health services for the Omaha tribe in the face of major financial limitations.

A high point for her came in 1913, when she achieved a lifelong dream: She opened a 33-room hospital on the Omaha Indian Reservation in northeast Nebraska. After decades of serving the area via horse and buggy, she could now help at a central location.

The facility continued as a medical facility until the 1940s. In recent years, Nebraskans have come together to restore the building for use as a community center, to include a medical/mental health/substance abuse clinic for the tribe, as well as programs for youths, Native American arts and culture, and a historical exhibit of Picottes life and work.
Civic innovation

I noticed an important perspective missing from the recent article Would a pedestrian-only zone in the Old Market be a ghost town or boomtown?  patrons of the Old Market. As a frequent visitor myself, Id like to hear from other Omaha residents and tourists who visit the Old Market. The mayors comment: We cant find anybody who supports making the whole Old Market pedestrian-only is simply a lazy excuse. The Old Market is the jewel of Omahas downtown district, and its potential as a world-class public space would be enhanced by closing off vehicle traffic even temporarily.

It really helps

I am disappointed (but not surprised) at the July 30 Pulse letter by Mr. Mike Weaver Sr. He states that because he is 82 years old and fully vaccinated, he does not need to wear masks. Allow me point out that (a) you may still get the COVID infection, especially the aggressive delta variant, in spite of full vaccination and the result can be serious at your advanced age and reduced immunity; (b) even if you dont get the disease, you may carry the virus to other unvaccinated, vulnerable people  your grandchildren, immune-compromised friends and relatives, which includes aged spouse, siblings and any cancer patient undergoing treatment. The infection in these people can be fatal or end in serious late effects.
The Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) over the weekend emerged winner of the maiden edition of the Sci-Tech Innovation Challenge which forms part of this years National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) organised by Primetime Limited.



Following Obuasi SHTS were the Aggrey Memorial Senior High School, which came second, while Prempeh College took the third position.



Competition



After two days of competition, where the schools had to build their projects from the scratch, Obuasi SHTS impressed the panel of judges with their Automated Sanitising Station to be declared winners.



Their winning innovation was a complex system that utilised an ultrasonic sensor, an immersion water pump, an electromagnetic switch and an Arduino to ensure minimal physical contact during sanitising.





At the end of the challenge, Obuasi SHTS accrued 307 points and walked away with a whooping GH20,000 for the team (students and teacher), as well as GH10,000 worth of science equipment to the school.



For placing second with 293 points, Aggrey Memorial SHS earned GH17,000 for the team and GH8,000 worth of science equipment to the school. Aggrey Memorial SHSs innovation was a Health Assistant Robot designed to help deliver drugs and food to COVID-19 patients.



Prempeh College, who were the second runners-up with 290 points, were also awarded GH15,000 for the team and GH5,000 worth of science equipment to the school. COVSAM: COVID-19 Safety Protocols Station, was the innovation that earned them their slot.



Sci-Tech



The Sci-Tech Innovation Challenge is a new programme designed to showcase and challenge SHS students to apply the practical aspects of their STEM education. The competition featured 10 schools from across the country. It was on the theme: Fighting COVID-19 with Innovative Tech Solutions.



With a berth of innovative ideas, the remaining seven schools each received a consolation prize of GH5,000 with GH4,000 going to the teams while the schools received GH1,000 worth of science equipment.



Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) placed fourth with 289 points for their Smart Sanitising Station, using ultrasonic sensors and robotics to automate handwashing and sanitising. In fifth place, Sunyani-based Don Bosco Technical Institute accrued 267 points for their Hand Washing Machine that utilised audio prompts to ensure that COVID protocols were properly ensured.



The only all-girls school to participate, Archbishop Porter Girls SHS, placed sixth with 262 points for Archumidifier, a steam humidifier designed to introduce moisture into the atmosphere which prevents the thickening of mucus and helps the cilia to trap the COVID-19 virus.



The team from Wa-based Louis Rutten SHS designed the COVID Protocols Assistant (CPA), another automated comprehensive sanitising station, to earn 255 points and place seventh. Mfantsipim School placed eighth with 251 points for their e-learning platform named COVINFO. Coming in ninth, Sekyedumase SHS managed to accrue 240 points for their Temperature Sensor / Automated Door. In the 10th place with 231 points was St. Thomas Aquinas SHS which designed Cashbot, an automated money exchange system to reduce physical contact during transactions.



Speaking on behalf of the organisers, the Managing Director of Primetime Limited, Mrs Nana Akua Ankomah-Asare thanked the sponsors, schools and teachers for helping to make the programme such a success. In her speech, she stated that the organisers expressed the hope that more institutions will come on board to support the Sci-Tech Fair in the coming years".



Exhibition



The Sci-Tech Innovation Challenge was introduced after three editions of the Sci-Tech Fair had been held annually as mainly an exhibition platform for scientific and technological innovations from across the country. The Challenge was designed to introduce a competitive element and increase the practical impact of the Sci-Tech Fair. This year, the Sci-Tech Fair was decoupled from the National Science & Maths Quiz and merged with the Mentorship Sessions to birth the maiden edition of the STEM Festival, a month-long celebration of innovation and science.



The STEM Festival 2021 is proudly sponsored by Absa Bank Ghana Limited, with support from Academic City University College, Junior Camp Ghana, Joy News, Joy Learning and YFM.







Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Charles Owusu has replied critics opposing the construction of the National Cathedral, particularly regarding the contributions of GHC 100 monthly by Ghanaians to the project.



Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, delivering this year's mid-year Budget review at Parliament, revealed an initiative dubbed 100-cedis-a-month club will be launched on August 12 to enable Ghanaians contribute towards the construction of the National Cathedral.



An initiative  the 100-Cedis-a-Month Club, also dubbed Ketewa biara nsua  would be launched by the Trustees of the National Cathedral on 12th August 2021, to give as many Ghanaians as possible the opportunity to be part of the history to build the National Cathedral, he said.



The Minister noted Ghanaians could support the noble cause by dialing the short code *979#.



But social media users and a section of the Ghanaian populace which include celebrities have kicked against the initiative.



They argue the government should rather look at raising revenue to improve the health and education sectors as well as provide good roads and social amenities to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.



Replying the opponents, Charles Owusu says emphatically that whether they like it or not, "as for the National Cathedral, it will be built in this country . . . We will build it . . . If you like blindfold yourself when walking past the National Cathedral but it will be built. I'm telling you; we will build it in this country".



Mr. Owusu applauded President Nana Akufo-Addo for not backing down on his promise to establish the Cathedral.



"May you live long. I believe God brought you for a lot of reasons but the main thing why God brought you to this earth is to rule this nation and build God's church. The scripture will be fulfilled," he stated.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ministry of Information has presented a public address system to the Gbewaa Palace to support the Palace in disseminating information to members of the public.



The public address system comprised two speakers (internal digital mixer), a wireless combo system, control devices amongst other vital equipment for high quality sound dissemination.



Madam Patricia Dovi Sampson, Director, Finance, and Administration at the Ministry of Information, who presented the items on behalf of the Minister for Information to the Ya-Na Abukari (II), Overlord of Dagbon, at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi on Wednesday, said it was to redeem the Minister's pledge to Ya-Na.



It would be recalled that on November 16, 2020, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister for Information visited the Ya-Na at the Gbewaa Palace where he pledged to support the Palace with a public address system to facilitate work at the Palace.



Madam Sampson was hopeful that the equipment would help to disseminate information to community members and far and wide for the development of the area.



Ya-Na Abukari (II), who spoke through the Public Relations Officer at the Gbewaa Palace, expressed gratitude to the Minister for Information for fulfilling his promise to the Palace.



He said the equipment would help the Palace to disseminate Information in a very easy way to all its subjects.

Source: GNA









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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, 5th August 2021, swore into office the second occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, at a brief event at Jubilee House, the seat of the nations presidency.



Citing the new Special Prosecutors extensive educational and professional legal background, President Akufo-Addo stated that, it is clear that Mr. Kissi Agyebeng is eminently qualified to occupy the Office of Special Prosecutor. He has the capacity, the experience, the requisite values and intellectual strength to succeed in this vital position.



Congratulating Mr. Kissi Agyebeng on his appointment, the President stated that the, wide acceptance of his nomination by the Ghanaian people, and the nature of his performance during Parliaments approval process are, for me, indications that the confidence I reposed in him, to discharge one of the most critical functions of State, was not misplaced.



Addressing the gathering, which included Chief of Staff, Hon. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare; Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame; and MP for Mpraeso, Hon. Davis Opoku Ansah, the President reiterated that the creation of the Office of Special Prosecutor was borne out of the commitment to fashion an additional instrument to fight the canker of corruption.



The genuineness of that commitment to create an independent, non-partisan body with the relevant professional capability, to lead the fight, and hold public officials, past and present, accountable for their stewardship of public finances, was made manifest in the appointment of a very senior figure from the opposite side of the political divide to establish and head this very significant Office. This appointment, as you would all recall, was met with stiff opposition by some members from both sides of the aisle, he said.



President Akufo-Addo continued, In spite of the unfortunate events that led to the departure of the first occupant of the Office, I do not regret making that appointment. On my part as President of the Republic, I ensured that the Office was adequately resourced to enable it carry out its mandate. I am, however, consoled by the oft-cited statement that there is no use crying over spilt milk.



Thus, when the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on 16th April 2021, moved to nominate Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, under section 13(3) of Act 959, for consideration as the second occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor, the President indicated that he had little hesitation in accepting the nomination.



He, therefore, urged Mr. Kissi Agyebeng to bear in mind at all times that the Office carries an extraordinary responsibility to fight corruption independently and impartially, describing the remit of the Office as broad and challenging.



I want to assure Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, like I did his predecessor, that not only will the Executive, including the Attorney General, respect scrupulously the independence of his Office, but will also provide him with whatever assistance is required to enable him discharge his high duties effectively, in the interest of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, all institutions of state will work and co-operate with him in the same spirit, which he articulated at his approval proceedings in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo assured.



Whilst acknowledging that the activities of the Office of Special Prosecutor, no matter how vigorous, cannot provide the entire panacea to the problem of corruption, the President urged other institutions of State to co-operate with the new Special Prosecutor.



Government will continue to give stronger budgetary assistance to the other constitutionally mandated institutions that hold government accountable, and help fight corruption, i.e., the Auditor General, Parliament, Judiciary, the Police Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), he added.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The youth constitute the most important human resource potential that can contribute significantly to the overall development of a nation. The total population of children in Ghana under the age of 15 is 37.44% according to Ghana Demographics Profile for July 2020.



The idea of children on the streets violates the children's activities which states that under no circumstance should a person below the age of fifteen (15) be allowed to work or fend for himself or herself [2]. Therefore, the increasing phenomenon of streetism, which is used to describe children who live and work on the streets due to lack of family ties or worse still, stuck in manipulative relationships where their guardians use them to support the household financially through various activities on the street is a menace.



Streetism has been caused largely by increased urbanization and the difficult socio-economic circumstances rural families are experiencing. There are many root causes for the increasing number of street children in Accra and these are highly related.



Some children are on the streets because they were subjected to a certain level of abuse at home, and they believe that the street will be a place of refuge. Others are underprivileged and take to the streets in search of money. Most of these underprivileged children are homeless because of the impact of divorce, the death of a parent(s), or parent(s) not being able to fend for their children. Therefore, streetism in Ghana can be attributed to parental neglect or death, truancy, rural-urban migration, second generational street children, mental health issues, and sexual, physical or emotional abuse.



A majority of street children in Accra can be found in Central Accra, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Madina, Abeka-Lapaz and Kaneshie.



According to research conducted in 2018 by Henrietta Afful [4], over sixty-one thousand four hundred and ninety-two children (61,492) are on the streets of Accra struggling to make ends meet. In 2010, a headcount of street children was done in Accra. The result obtained showed that 43% of the total population were male and 57% were female. The largest number of street children came from the Savannah and Northern Regions of Ghana forming 28.53% of the children found in the streets of Accra. The smallest number of children found in the streets of Accra were from the Bono and Ahafo Regions contributing 2.38% to the total population of street children in Accra [5]. Street children are subjected to very harsh conditions. Hunger is one that cannot be over-emphasized.



Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people going hungry and suffering from food insecurity worldwide had been gradually rising since 2014. Unfortunately, the pandemic has intensified the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems, which could add hundreds of millions of people to the chronically undernourished, making the goal of ending hunger a more distant one. Ghana is not left out of these statistics.



Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation, as part of its 3rd-year anniversary celebration and in line with its core mandate in attending to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2), Zero Hunger coupled with the need to fulfill scripture in Matthew 25:35 (For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in) consented to embark on a food and drinks distribution to street kids in some parts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana.



This took place on the 31st of July 2021 and the theme: Feed a child, save a life was adopted to mark the occasion. Food distribution started from Opeibea Bus Stop to Madina Zongo-Junction and back to the Accra Retail Centre. Five hundred (500) bags containing packs of assorted food, assorted drinks, water and pastries were distributed. Approximately forty (40) members of the organization converged at the Accra retail centre at 7am. Prayer and a word of exhortation was shared by Mrs Love Acheampong followed by a brief address by the CEO and the Founder of the Foundation in the person of Mr. Nicholas Cofie. The members present then hit the road for the food distribution.



The hitherto sombre expressions on the faces of these kids metamorphosed. Their faces lit up with impish glee as they received the packages. The remarks from the recipients were so heartwarming.







About MyHelp-Your Help Foundation



Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation is a group of working-class professionals (doctors, nurses, lecturers, security officers, engineers, entrepreneurs etc.) who have come together to pool resources aimed at helping to alleviate the plight of the poor, needy and less privileged in society. They do this by mobilizing funds both internally by contribution from members and externally by getting sponsorship from organizations and benevolent individuals and philanthropists. The NGO focuses on inspiring and empowering orphans, street children and the vulnerable with the aim of improving their socio-economic status. Hence the slogan "Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation!!! Caring for the Needy and Less Privileged in Society"

The foundation, prior to the project held over the weekend, had successfully embarked on 13 projects since inception.

These projects include;

 Free Health screening at Junction Mall on December 7, 2019.

 Covid-19 donation in the Slums around East Legon, Accra on April 12, 2020  a partnership with Axis Pension Trust.

 Free Face Mask Distribution at Chorkor and Jamestown on August 8, 2020  a partnership with Give-Me-Hope Foundation.

 Feeding of street kids from 37 Teaching Hospital to Shiashie on September 11, 2020  a partnership with Reggie Rockstone.

 Love Feast and Presentation of a two unit classroom and a Borehole Project at Takyikrom on December 19, 2020  Eastern Region.

 Easter project on Easter Saturday 3rd April 2021- Donation of assorted items to Osamkrom Camp Prison in Agona Swedru.



The 7 Orphanage Projects are:



 The Eye of the Lord Orphanage at Nsawam on March 31, 2018  Eastern Region.

 City of Refuge Orphanage at Shai Hills on December 22, 2018  Eastern Region.

 Potters Village Orphanage at Dodowa on April 19, 2019  Eastern Region.

 Royal Seed Orphanage at Bawjiase in Central Region on December 21, 2019.

 Nectar Foundation at Lower Manya Krobo on May 1, 2020  Eastern Region.

 Nyamedua Orphanage (Foundations Adopted Orphanage) at Ashaley Botwe, Greater Accra Region on March 14, 2021.  In partnership with Educom World.

 Mother Care Orphanage at Agona Swedru, Central Region on April 3, 2021.



According to the CEO and Founder of the NGO, Mr. Nicholas Cofie, growing up as an orphan, motivated and encouraged him to establish the foundation to assist others, especially orphans, widows and street children. He indicated that the foundation would have loved to do much more than it has done, but is constrained by funds as it relies mostly on the contributions of its members to undertake its projects. But he believes in a quote by Hudson Taylor  "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply".

He applauded the following sponsors.

1. Liberty Industry Ventures

2. Identity Richman

3. Cake Haven Gh

4. Esis Kitchen

5. Ahomka Kitchen

6. Randa Cakes & More

7. Healthy Way

8. Take Go Courier

9. Dee Mendy Snack & Bar

10. Happy Trails - Dealers in Cars

and all others who supported this mission in cash or kind.



The founder, on behalf of the entire leadership of the foundation, further expressed his profound gratitude to all members of the foundation for their maximum support towards the street kids program, especially to persons who gave their valued time to plan the program, those who sought for sponsorship, people who gave their substance (money and items), the caterers and drivers for the day, and all members who were present (individuals who came from far and near; Kumasi, Nkawkaw, Mamfe, Akropong, Winneba, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Somanya etc) to assist in the distribution. He also thanked all who stood in the gap to pray toward the success of the program.









Source: peacefmonline.com









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NIGERIA: The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has reportedly arrested a young woman who allegedly killed her boyfriend.



According to Media and PR expert, Vincent Aluu, the suspect identified as Lauretta, allegedly escaped with the deceased's N7m, Mercedes Benz 4matic and the car papers after killing him.



The victim identified simply as Chukwuemeka is said to be the only son of his parents and was an importer.



It was gathered that Chukwuemeka was found in a pool of blood inside his bedroom after all efforts made by his friends to come and clear his consignments proved abortive.



"Using the vehicle tracker, the daughter of Jezebel was traced to a nearby hotel enjoying. Currently, she is singing like a parrot at Ewet Housing Police Station." Mr Aluu said.



He further disclosed that the suspect is the daughter of a police officer from Ogoja, Cross River State. "So Chukwuemeka even promised to marry her. Her name is Lauretta from Ogoja. Her Dad is a Police officer. She used to reside along four lanes. She killed him in cold blood, took his 7 million naira, 4matic Mercedes Benz. Went to procure a driver's license for herself. Requested some Road Safety officers to escort her to Ogoja. What must have instigated her action? Is she alone or there are others." he added.















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A post shared by Mr UbiFranklin Ofem (@ubifranklintriplemg)





Source: LIB









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Ghanas land borders are likely to be opened in the coming weeks depending on the effectiveness of a new testing regime.



The land borders had been closed for more than a year due to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.



Speaking on Asaase Radio Tuesday (3 August), Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, a former deputy minister of health, said: So, as we speak officially our land borders are closed, but cargo is allowed, and you know cargo comes with the driver and one or two loaders.



So, what is happening now is that the COVID test board chaired by the President has approved the use of other antigen technology at some of these borders so that at least the drivers of these cargoes can be subjected to test.



He added: Now based on the experiment, how the testing goes, we might consider opening the borders with that technology or with that testing in place.



Meanwhile, Dr Frank Ankobea, president of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed worry over the detection of the deadly Delta variant of Coronavirus in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.



The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Sunday 4 July announced that it has recorded 34 active cases of the deadly Delta variant of the Coronavirus disease in Ghanaian communities including some students of the Achimota School who tested positive.



Health experts say the Delta variant which originated from India, has higher transmission rate and spreads faster than other COVID-19 strains.



Speaking in an interview on Asaase Radio, Dr Ankobea called on government to strengthen surveillance at the countrys land borders.



You see, what you should know is that yes, people will be vigilant, [but] try and prevent it from getting into the system. But one way or the other, some may slip through, we dont even know where these ones came from.



It could be through our land borders and not necessarily the airports and its a cause for us to strengthen our land borders and all those things with surveillance, Dr Ankobea said.

Source: asaaseradio.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr, Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has taken shots at the #FixtheCountry demonstrators who hit the streets of Accra yesterday over some national issues.



Many Ghanaians have been on the ''#FixtheCountry'' campaign with the aim of putting the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on his toes to improve the living conditions of the citizenry.



Hundreds of protesters, on Wednesday, August 4, which also marked Founder's Day, marched through some streets in the Capital City wielding placards with inscriptions like '#FixOurEducation System now', 'Justice for Kaaka', If Ghana was your personal property, would you run it like this?, 'Ghana is the most religious yet most corrupt' among others.



Discussing the protest on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Dr. Otchere-Ankrah blasted the conveners of the demonstration saying ''they neglected the COVID-19 protocols''.



He dreaded the demonstrators may have been exposed to the deadly virus that has over the weeks increased rapidly across the country.



He also feared the infected demonstrators may infect others with the disease.



Dr. Otchere-Ankrah also pointed out some bad habits that the demonstrators exhibited during the protest.



"Fix yourselves," he advised Ghanaians as he expressed disappointment in the citizenry regarding not just the protest but some habits of the populace that negatively affect Ghana's development.



"How do we fix such behaviour and our character in the society . . .The person who should be punished must be punished and the one who must be given advice should be advised. We should also advise ourselves because we are quick at pointing fingers," he stated.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne, has expressed disgust over the behaviour of the ''#FixtheCountry'' protesters who stormed the streets of Accra on Wednesday.



Wednesday, August 4 marked ''Founders' Day'' which was declared a statutory holiday but also marked a day that many Ghanaians thronged the streets to register their displeasure with the government.



The protesters brandished placards with inscriptions like '#FixOurEducation System now', 'Justice for Kaaka', If Ghana was your personal property, would you run it like this?, 'Ghana is the most religious yet most corrupt' among others.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' on Thursday morning, Sam Pyne scolded the demonstrators for not observing the COVID-19 protocols and also littering the streets of the Capital City.



According to him, the protesters threw over 3 million bottles of water on the streets.



"The water they drank, both bottled water and sachet water, that they littered around were more than 3 million. Those who urinated outside have made Tudu and its environs stink so bad today that it is difficult to walk around the area without holding your nose to avoid the smell," he said and advised them to fix themselves too.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he has no regrets appointing Martin Amidu as Ghanas first special prosecutor.



Speaking at the swearing in ceremony of Kissi Agyebeng as the new special prosecutor, Akufo-Addo reiterated that the creation of the Office of Special Prosecutor was borne out of the commitment to fashion an additional instrument to fight the canker of corruption.



The genuineness of that commitment to create an independent, non-partisan body with the relevant professional capability, to lead the fight, and hold public officials, past and present, accountable for their stewardship of public finances, was made manifest in the appointment of a very senior figure from the opposite side of the political divide to establish and head this very significant Office. This appointment, as you would all recall, was met with stiff opposition by some members from both sides of the aisle.



In spite of the unfortunate events that led to the departure of the first occupant of the Office, I do not regret making that appointment. On my part as President of the Republic, I ensured that the Office was adequately resourced to enable it carry out its mandate. I am, however, consoled by the oft-cited statement that there is no use crying over spilt milk, Akufo-Addo said.



Agyebeng will succeed

Citing the new Special Prosecutors extensive educational and professional legal background, President Akufo-Addo stated that, it is clear that Kissi Agyebeng is eminently qualified to occupy the Office of Special Prosecutor. He has the capacity, the experience, the requisite values and intellectual strength to succeed in this vital position.



Congratulating Agyebeng on his appointment, the President stated that the wide acceptance of his nomination by the Ghanaian people, and the nature of his performance during Parliaments approval process are, for me, indications that the confidence I reposed in him, to discharge one of the most critical functions of State, was not misplaced.



Kissi Agyebeng and Nana Akufo-Addo

Thus, when the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on 16 April 2021, moved to nominate Agyebeng, under section 13(3) of Act 959, for consideration as the second occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor, the President indicated that he had little hesitation in accepting the nomination.



He, therefore, urged Agyebeng to bear in mind at all times that the Office carries an extraordinary responsibility to fight corruption independently and impartially, describing the remit of the Office as broad and challenging.



Independence

I want to assure Kissi Agyebeng, like I did his predecessor, that not only will the Executive, including the Attorney General, respect scrupulously the independence of his Office, but will also provide him with whatever assistance is required to enable him discharge his high duties effectively, in the interest of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, all institutions of state will work and co-operate with him in the same spirit, which he articulated at his approval proceedings in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo assured.



Whilst acknowledging that the activities of the Office of Special Prosecutor, no matter how vigorous, cannot provide the entire panacea to the problem of corruption, the President urged other institutions of State to co-operate with the new Special Prosecutor.



Government will continue to give stronger budgetary assistance to the other constitutionally mandated institutions that hold government accountable, and help fight corruption, i.e., the Auditor General, Parliament, Judiciary, the Police Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), he added.

Source: asaaseradio.com









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AT LEAST 17 wedding guests were killed after being struck by lightning on their way to the nuptials.



Fourteen others - including the groom - were injured after the group was caught in a thunderstorm as they headed to the bride's house on a boat in the riverside town of Shibganj, Bangladesh.The bride was not with the party when the lightning struck on Wednesday, according to Sakib Al-Rabby, a local government official.



The guests had disembarked from the boat to take refuge during the storm when they were struck, as Bangladesh's annual monsoon season continues.



It hit the wedding-goers as the boat arrived at the bank of the Padma river in Shibganj town, police official Farid Hossain said.



Other locals have died in landslides and floods as the extreme weather grips the country.



Read Full Story .... thesun.co.uk >>> :

















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The General Overseer and Founder of Gods Crown Chapel, Rev Reindolph Oduro Gyebi, also known as Eagle Prophet has in a recent interview disclosed that he saw social media star, Akuapim Poloo gang-raped in a vision.



According to Eagle Prophet, a group of twelve guys who are currently hatching the plan carried it out and had their way with the controversial entertainer.



Eagle Prophet also mentioned that in this vision he had, he saw Akuapem Poloo laying in a pool of her own blood after the twelve guys had raped her mercilessly.



He called on Ghanaians to pray for Akuapem Poloo as he talked about the sort of demonic spirits which are currently hanging in the spiritual realm.



Watch the video of Eagle Prophet making his revelation below:









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Credit: Brown University

The Code of Hammurabi. The Magna Carta. The Declaration of Independence. Throughout recorded human history, written records such as these have proclaimed that people deserve freedom, security and dignity.

Why, despite huge cultural differences across continents and sweeping societal changes across centuries, have the underlying concepts in these declarations of rights remained largely unchanged?

According to a pair of scientists at Brown University, it's because all humans share the same nervous system.

In a new scientific paper, the scholars introduce a new concept called "dignity neuroscience"the idea that universal rights are rooted in human brain science. The authors argue that numerous studies in disciplines such as developmental psychology and neuroscience bolster long-held notions that people thrive when they enjoy basic rights such as agency, self-determination, freedom from want or fear, and freedom of expression. And they say science also supports the idea that when societies fail to offer their citizens such rights, allowing them to fall into poverty, privation, violence and war, there can be lasting neurological and psychological consequences.

The paper was published on Wednesday, Aug. 4, in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Tara White, the paper's lead author and an assistant professor (research) of behavioral and social sciences at Brown, said she believes grounding universal human rights in science could help people see themselves in the sweeping statements of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Credit: Brown University

"I think the average person on the street sees universal human rights as an international law concept that has more to do with trade than about individual lives," White said. "But this stuff is not pie-in-the-sky, and it affects us all. We want to show people that ensuring universal human rights is a crucial foundation for a society that is healthynot only socially and physically, but also psychologically and neurologically."

Whitewho is affiliated with Brown's Carney Institute for Brain Scienceand co-author Meghan Gonsalves, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at Brown, outlined five core concepts that underlie most universal rights declarations: agency, autonomy and self-determination; freedom from want; freedom from fear; uniqueness; and unconditionality. All five, they argue, reflect fundamental features of human brain structure, function and development.

For instance, multiple studies on learning and emotion have shown that gray matter in multiple regions of the brain helps people draw on their own memories to assess whether goals are worth pursuing or whether risks are worth taking. Those studies demonstrate that agencythe ability to shape one's own choices and actions in the worldis intrinsic to the brain. In addition, studies have shown that observers, victims and combatants of war experience long-term brain trauma in the form of heightened stress levels, negative emotions and fears of physical danger, even after threats of violence have passedadding scientific weight to declarations that all people deserve to be shielded from war when possible.

"With this paper, we had an opportunity to show that the idea of universal human rights as a foundation for a healthy society isn't just a social phenomenon but also a deeply empirical and scientific one," Gonsalves said. "Applying scientific studies and hard evidence to universal human rights can help demonstrate why these rights need to be defended and respected across the world."

The idea of "dignity neuroscience" first emerged for White three years ago, when she was invited to a human rights conference in London while serving as a visiting international fellow at the British Academy and the University of Cambridge. White was the only behavioral neuroscientist in a room full of United Nations officials and international law experts, and at first, she considered herself an outside observer rather than a participant. As many in the room lamented an apparent global shift away from allegiance to universal rightsan increasing number of leaders, they noted, were sanctioning the free press, stripping away voting rights and modifying democratic laws with impunityWhite felt she had no advice to offer.

"Then the lightning bolt hit: Every single part of my training was relevant to these ideas," White said. "All of the very complex international laws they were discussing fell into five categories, and all of them had a basis in psychology and developmental neuroscience. I stood up at the end of the conference and essentially outlined my idea for this paper and asked, 'Would this be helpful for your work?' And the speakers said, 'Yes, we've never considered these ideas, we think they might help.'"

Credit: Brown University

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged all seven continents and Americans were locked in bitter division over politics, racism and police violence, White felt that exploring the intersection of neuroscience and universal rights had taken on added urgency. Gonsalves agreed.

"I felt a certain fire in my belly to somehow respond to the pandemonium surrounding the election, inequalities that the pandemic was exacerbating, and increased violence against Black Americans," Gonsalves said. "I wanted to help others and build a better society, and I think these ideas can do that. I believe the more we can use science to communicate our commonalities and differences, the more successful we will be in encouraging compassion."

White said that while the paper provides a comprehensive set of connections between universal rights law and brain science, she hopes the work inspires more connection between people in vastly different fields of study. Crossing traditionally siloed scientific aisles could lead to breakthroughs for brain scientists, social scientists and law experts alike.

Understanding and considering 'dignity neuroscience' could also, White said, help lawmakers and voters appreciate the simultaneous importance of providing each person with the same basic rights while also giving them room to live as they please. It's true, she said, that all human brains work in broadly similar ways; for example, responding positively to others' affirmations and negatively to trauma. But brains are also plastic: They develop in response to the experiences they endure and the surroundings they observe, adapting with each new experience and change of scenery. Therefore, no two brains, and by extension no two humans, are exactly alike.

"If I had one takeaway, it would be this: People are worthy of respect because of who they are, because they are the same as you and because they are different than you," White said. "We all have common needs, and when those needs are fulfilled, it helps us flourish. But at the same time, each of us deserves space for agency, because we are all unique."

Explore further The debate over transgender athletes' rights is testing the current limits of science and the law

More information: Tara L. White et al, Dignity neuroscience: universal rights are rooted in human brain science, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2021). Tara L. White et al, Dignity neuroscience: universal rights are rooted in human brain science,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14670
Cathodoluminescence image from the Stonehenge sarsen, showing quartz grains cemented together by multiple layers of quartz cement. Credit: Nash et al, 2021, PLOS ONE (CC-BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in the U.K. and one from South Africa and another from Belgium has discovered why the famed stone structure Stonehenge has survived for so long. They have written a paper describing their analysis of a core sample taken from one of the ancient pillars a half-century ago, now published on the open access site PLOS ONE.

Stonehenge is a megalithic monument located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire England. Due to its protected status, it cannot be drilled, cut or subjected to chemical analysis, making study of its composition difficult. The monument was not always so well protected, howeverback in 1958, workers hired to restore the monument drilled into one of the stones and extracted core samples. Parts of one of the cores were discovered in a museum in 2019; another was held as a souvenir by a worker who immigrated to the United States; and the third has never been found. Three years ago, the souvenir sample was returned to England and is being studied in this new effort.

The work involved slicing a part of the core sample into very thin wafers, which allowed for a wide variety of geochemical studies. Researchers also subjected the samples to CT scans, X-rays and microscopy.

They found that the stone was 99.7% quartz and that there were different grain sizes. One of them, which they describe as medium in size, formed "an interlocking mosaic of crystals," which the researchers noted served as a sort of cement and explained how the stones that make up Stonehenge have managed to survive for so long. The researchers suggest the Neolithic people who erected the monument may have known of the stones' durability and chose them for their longevity.

The researchers also found that the sediments from which the stones formed dated to approximately 66 to 23 million years ago. Some of the grains could be dated as far back as 66 to 252 million years ago, and a few were formed as far back as 1 billion years ago.

Explore further Stonehenge likely made with stones from older monument: study

More information: David J. Nash et al, Petrological and geochemical characterisation of the sarsen stones at Stonehenge, PLOS ONE (2021). Journal information: PLoS ONE David J. Nash et al, Petrological and geochemical characterisation of the sarsen stones at Stonehenge,(2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254760

 2021 Science X Network
The numbers of African savanna elephants have plunged by at least 60 percent during the last half-century, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The flimsy planes tethered to metal drums to prevent them from accidentally becoming airborne are unlikely weapons in Kenya's fight to protect threatened species as it conducts its first national wildlife census.

Decades of unbridled poaching, expanding human settlements and climate change have taken a heavy toll on the global wildlife populationand central Kenya is no exception.

African savanna elephants have been particularly hard-hit, with their numbers plunging by at least 60 percent during the last half-century, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

So the pilots preparing their aircraft at the tiny airport at Isiolo know they are on the frontlines of a battle with far-reaching consequences.

"Elephants are the key animals, but when you are able to locate (any) endangered species, you feel like the census is on the right track," pilot Chris Cheruiyot tells AFP as he fastens the safety belt of his passenger, Julius Kabete.

A camera and audio recorder dangling from his neck, Kabete will spend the next few hours counting Somali giraffes, Grevy's zebras, oryxes and other animals as the pair cruise the windy skies and refuel their two-seater Aviat Husky aircraft at specially set up stations in the forest.

The Kenya Wildlife Service conducts an aerial wildlife count near the town of Isiolo.

The ambitious exercise, which kicked off in May, covers major species in more than 50 of Kenya's national parks and reserves as well as private and community conservancies, and includes marine life.

Much of the existing data on the country's wildlife population are gathered individually by local advocacy groups or international conservationists, contributing to a scattershot approach to animal protection.

Furthermore, training spotters is often both time-consuming and expensive.

The result is that many scientists prefer to use models to map wildlife instead of tracking animals in the flesh, says zoologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants.

"They publish modelled results (rather) than raw data," he told AFP.

That makes this maiden census especially important. Its information will help the East African nation map a long-term strategy to save a cherished asset that is also a major tourist draw.

A female black rhino known as Sonia is pictured with her calf in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

'Very worrying'

But numbers tell only half the story. For the rest, the spotters need to track the animals' habitswhere they eat, drink and rest.

At a hotel in Isiolo, a team listens to audio files chronicling a day's work.

The preliminary data are already "very worrying," says Fred Omengo, a scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), explaining that many of the animals were spotted around watering holes close to people's homes, a sign of extensive human encroachment into wildlife territory.

"The little (food) that is available is basically a competition between domestic and wild animals," he tells AFP.

"In most cases, domestic animals will have an upper hand."

And, as humans attempt to fence out wildlife, both are paying a deadly price.

Nearly 500 people were mauled or crushed to death by wild animals between 2014 and 2017, the KWS said in a report published in December 2019. More recent figures were not available.

A male Grevy's zebra strolls in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy's savanna in northern Kenya.

And the threat to humanity and to wildlife is only set to intensify, conservationists warn.

"All wildlife routes have been closed by humans and now elephants want water, know where it is but can't get there. This is a worry," Robert Obrein of KWS says.

"We have encroached into areas we have never been (in) before, and the numbers are growing. That means in another 10 years, we might not be having wildlife outside protected areas."

Wind and dust

It is a fear not lost on the census takers, whose patient, painstaking efforts are often cut short by poor weather.

As sharp gusts sent clouds of dust flying into the atmosphere, diminishing visibility to less than half a kilometre (a quarter of a mile), the three pilots circled back for home after a four-hour mission, accepting defeat for now.

The aircraft are "inherently unstable" and too light to tackle high winds, explained Kennedy Shamala.

African buffalos rest in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

Experts from the Kenya Wildlife Service and the government analyse data collected during aerial wildlife aerial counts.

A female African bush elephant munches on an acacia tree in Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

"You are flying below 500 feet (150 metres) above ground level, so you have minimum altitude to play with," the soft-spoken pilot told AFP.

"You are working throughout, both your legs and hands and observing."

Explore further Severe drought forces Zimbabwe to sell off wildlife

 2021 AFP
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Federal and state mandates to conserve 30% of the nation's lands and waters by 2030 are intended to protect biodiversity. But do protected areas actually work?

A new study from scientists at Point Blue Conservation Science shows that out of 14 bird species analyzed, 9 had better population trends in protected areas compared to average population trends in California. Three species had about the same population trends both within protected areas and outside of them, and two species fared worse within the protected areas.

"As we began the research project, the first thing that surprised me was how few existing studies there were comparing bird populations within protected areas to populations outside of them," said Mark Dettling, Senior Avian Ecologist at Point Blue and lead author of the paper.

"And given the widespread declining population trends that were highlighted in the recent paper showing a loss of 3 billion birds since 1970, we thought it would be incredibly valuable to try and document what conservation measures in use are really making a difference," he added.

To stop and reverse population declines of bird species across North America, we need to know whether our assumptions about conservation actions are correct. While there are many reasons for these declines, habitat loss has been identified as one of the primary causes. Protected areas have long been assumed to be an effective conservation practice, but little research existed to confirm this assumption.

Scientists used two long-term datasets to investigate whether protected areas in coastal California effectively safeguard bird populations from population decline. In collaboration with the National Park Service, researchers at the Palomarin Field Station conducted surveys for 25 years in Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and Marin County Parks. They analyzed population trends from these protected areas and compared them to population trends from Breeding Bird Survey data collected throughout coastal California by expert volunteers.

"It's always a real privilege to work with such long-running datasets like these," said Dettling, "because you just can't draw the same conclusions from datasets that are only two or five years old. Additionally, it was gratifying to know that some of the data we were analyzing was data that we've collected ourselves over the years through individual bird counts at locations across Marin County. Putting that data to good use is one of the most satisfying parts of my job."

The scientists found evidence of benefits to both resident species, which spend their entire life cycle in these protected areas, such as Spotted Towhee and Wrentit, and migratory species, which spend at least half of the year outside these protected areas, such as Swainson's Thrush and Orange-crowned Warbler.

The areas the researchers studied, which were protected from land conversion and heavily extractive industry, and have a mandate to conserve biodiversity, effectively conserved populations of many bird species.

"If our results had shown that protected areas helped even one or two species, it would have been encouraging," Dettling said. "The fact that we saw nine species that did better in protected areas is a pretty clear signal to us that protecting intact habitats as a conservation tool really works."

"Our work provides support for the state and federal 30 x 30 initiatives, which aim to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030," said Tom Gardali, Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group Director at Point Blue. "This research shows the value of protected areas and points to the need for collaborative landscape conservation efforts."

The article, "Protected areas safeguard landbird populations in central coastal California: evidence from long-term population trends." was published on August 4th in the peer-reviewed journal Ornithological Applications

Explore further Protected areas cover a sixth of Earth's land and freshwater

More information: Mark D Dettling et al, Protected areas safeguard landbird populations in central coastal California: Evidence from long-term population trends, Ornithological Applications (2021). Mark D Dettling et al, Protected areas safeguard landbird populations in central coastal California: Evidence from long-term population trends,(2021). DOI: 10.1093/ornithapp/duab035
Uprooted almond trees, destroyed for lack of water, lie in a field in Huron, California, in July 2021.

Crushed by a devastating drought and new water restrictions, Daniel Hartwig had no choice but to pull thousands of precious, fragrant almond trees from his California farm.

"It breaks your heart," he sighed as he surveyed the once vibrant landscape before himcurled, yellowed leaves covering the shrunken husks that would have been this year's crop of almonds, had the water arrived.

Their exposed roots are already starting to turn powdery with rot, and the temperature of almost 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on this summer morning speeds their decomposition.

Moving among them are huge machines that will turn Hartwig's "beautiful prime almond trees" into large piles of woodchips.

'Brutal Shock'

"It's a sudden brutal shock," the farmer said.

Hartwig is in charge of water management for the mega-property of Woolf Farms, an estate of over 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) around the small market town of Huron.

This is the first time that the farm has had to uproot so many trees before they reach the end of their life.

From drip irrigation systems to cutting-edge sensors installed throughout the property, everything has been designed to optimize the use of water.

But almond trees are very thirsty, and this is a valley that is sorely lacking in water.

Dried and shrivelled almond husks on uprooted trees are all that remain of what would have been this year's crop - had water been available.

After several years of very low rainfall and a particularly dry winter, California authorities turned off the tap to agricultural producers. In April, after a series of calculations, the farm had to face the hard facts.

"There is not enough water on the market" to keep the almond trees alive, Hartwig said. "It's surely painful to make those changes."

And for good reason: The California almond market is worth nearly $6 billion a year.

'Bad Guys'

California produces 80 percent of the almonds consumed worldwide, a market that has doubled in 15 years driven by demand for substitutes for animal products, such as almond milk.

Woolf Farms almonds travel as far as India or Australia. But is that era now over?

"There is a perception that farmers are here to waste water," said Hartwig, his hands tucked into his jean pockets. "It makes us sound like we are the bad guys."

'There is not enough water on the market' to keep the almond trees alive, said Daniel Hartwig, in charge of water management for the mega-property of Woolf Farms.

This is the first time that Woolf Farms has had to uproot so many trees before they reach the end of their life.

The California almond industry is worth $6 billion a year, providing 80 percent of the nuts consumed worldwide - but the trees are thirsty, and water is scarce in parts of the western state.

To irrigate the crops they have managed to preserve, Woolf Farms pumps water found deep underground.

"I'm very proud that we can feed the world from here," he said.

"If we don't have the tools to be able to do that, where is that food going to come from?" he asked.

Driving through the estate, which stretches as far as the eye can see, Hartwig pointed to a series of fallow fields.

"Almost all of this would've been farm," he said. "Now it's just a patchwork of crops."

He sighed. "We've done as much as we can."

Explore further Spanish farmers go nuts for almonds as global demand booms

 2021 AFP
By focusing on skill sets, rather than occupations, this new approach helps workers switch careers quickly. Credit: Unsplash

Car manufacturing workers, long haul airline pilots, coal workers, shop assistantsmany employees are forced to undertake the difficult and sometimes distressing challenge of finding a new occupation quickly due to technological and economic change, or crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

To make the job transition process easier, and increase the chances of success, researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and UNSW Sydney have developed a machine learning-based method that can identify and recommend jobs with similar underlying skill sets to someone's current occupation.

The system can also respond in real-time to changes in job demand and provide recommendations of the precise skills needed to transition to a new occupation.

Developed by Dr. Nikolas Dawson and Dr. Marian-Andrei Rizoiu from the UTS Data Science Institute and Professor Mary-Anne Williams, the Michael J Crouch Chair in Innovation at UNSW Business School, the system is based on findings from their new study, Skill-driven Recommendations for Job Transition Pathways, published in the international journal PLOS ONE.

What are the benefits of using AI to find a job?

Dr. Dawson says while workplace change is inevitable, if we can make the job transition process easier and more efficient, there are significant productivity and equity benefits not only for individuals, but also for businesses and government.

"It can be a daunting proposition to switch to a new career, particularly for those who have been in the same job for a long time. Successful transitions typically involve workers leveraging their existing skills, and acquiring new skills, to meet the demands of the new occupation," he said.

Professor Williams says the new recommender system can help to reduce the inevitable stress during times of job loss by lowering the costs of job transitions and providing evidenced-based recommendations that better met the needs of individuals with specific skill sets that often transcend their occupation.

"By focusing on skill sets, rather than occupations, this new approach helps workers, organisations and businesses like retraining advisory services discover the new skills a person would need to acquire to obtain a new in-demand job and assess the associated training investment required," she said.

"In addition, organisations can use our skill similarity measure to design completely new or hybrid occupations that increase the likelihood of finding people with the necessary skill set.

"In the current rapidly changing job market the need to continuously upskill is a challenge for individuals and organisations. Our recommender system can help individuals embrace change by proactively designing their lifelong learning journey and to react to new more exciting job opportunities as they arise by determining the next best skill to acquire."

Dr. Rizoiu added: "If we can move towards skills-based hiring, rather than defining an occupation by its job title, then we can help people identify the specific skills they have, or need to develop, in order to find productive and meaningful work."

How was the job-search method created?

The researchers used valuable data from Burning Glass Technologies, an analytics software company that provides real-time information on jobs and labour market trends, to examine and parse the underlying skill sets of more than 8 million jobs advertised in Australia between 2012 and 2020.

They then compared the job transition predictions with data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, which tracks participants over the course of their lives, to validate these predictions with nearly 3000 real-life examples.

The jobs recommender system accurately predicted job transition probabilities and was also able to show whether it is easier to move in one direction than another.

The methods developed in the study can be leveraged by educators, government and business, potentially with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, to support industries and sectors undergoing significant upheaval to transition workers at scale.

As part of the study, the researchers also built an early warning indicator of emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence) that have the potential to disrupt labour markets. This information could allow policymakers and businesses to better prepare for future structural shifts.

Dr. Dawson undertook the study as part of his Ph.D. in computational economics at UTS with Professor Williams and Dr. Rizoiu. He now works as a senior data scientist at FutureFit AI, a company that partners with industry and government to provide an AI-powered tool to help workers navigate career transitions.

"If you look back in history, it's almost never the case that there are fewer jobs due to automation, but rather new jobs are created at the same time old ones disappear. So it is fundamental that people have the ability to build the requisite skills and transition smoothly into these new jobs," Dr. Dawson said.

"The ability to undertake micro-credentials in specific skill areas, customised for the individual, will likely be a key part of this future."

Explore further How AI can help choose your next career and stay ahead of automation

More information: Nikolas Dawson et al, Skill-driven recommendations for job transition pathways, PLOS ONE (2021). Journal information: PLoS ONE Nikolas Dawson et al, Skill-driven recommendations for job transition pathways,(2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254722
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Climate change will increase the burden of crop diseases in some parts of the world and reduce it in others, new research suggests.

As the planet warms, the impact of crop diseases is likely to fall in tropical areas including Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa, India and Southeast Asia.

At higher latitudes (further from the equator), disease risk will growwith Europe and China "particularly vulnerable".

The University of Exeter study, published in Nature Climate Change, says these changes will "closely track" variations in crop productivity expected under global warming.

Models suggest that rising temperatures will boost yields of most crops at high latitudes, while the tropics will see little or no gains.

The study also finds that the U.S., Europe and China are likely to see major changes in the mix of pathogens (diseases) affecting their crops.

"Plant pathogens already cause devastating production losses globally," said Professor Daniel Bebber, of Exeter's Department of Biosciences and the Global Systems Institute.

"Our previous research has shown that crop pests and pathogens are moving away from the equator, and this new study estimates risks from pathogens in the coming decades.

"Our results show that climate-driven yield gains in temperate regions will be tempered by the increased burden of crop protection.

"Rapid global dissemination by international trade and transport means pathogens are likely to reach all areas in which conditions are suitable for them."

Infection rates by plant pathogens are strongly determined by conditions including temperature.

The study used existing information on minimum, optimum and maximum infection temperatures for 80 fungal and oomycete crop pathogens.

The authors compared current yields and future (2061-80) yield projections for 12 major crops, using three crop models and four global climate models under the RCP6.0 climate pathway.

Professor Sarah Gurr, a co-author on the study, said the changing pathogen mix in each area could have a major impact.

"Plant-breeding and agrochemical companies focus on particular diseases," she said.

"In the UK, for example, wheat breeders focus on resistance to Septoria tritici blotch, yellow rust and brown rustbut those threats could change."

"Agriculture has to plan and prepare for the futureand that future is almost here," said co-author Thomas Chaloner, a Ph.D. student funded by the South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP).

"We have only got a few decades, and crop breeding can take a long time, so we need to think about resistance to pathogens that haven't arrived yet.

"A lot of pathogensespecially those currently found in tropical areasare seriously under-researched.

"We need to invest in understanding these diseases, which could become increasingly prevalent in the key crop-growing areas of the world."

The study was supported by SWBio DTP, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), CIFAR and Utrecht University.

The paper is entitled: "Plant infection risk tracks crop yields under climate change."

More information: Plant pathogen infection risk tracks global crop yields under climate change, Nature Climate Change (2021). www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01104-8 Journal information: Nature Climate Change Plant pathogen infection risk tracks global crop yields under climate change,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01104-8
The research study calculated the percent change from the 80s and 90s to the 2010s in the nighttime vapor pressure deficit, a measure of the drying power of the air, during summer months. Nighttime conditions were much more conducive to drying in recent years, especially in Californias central valley and the Bitterroot-Blue Mountain region of Idaho and surrounding states. Credit: Chiodi et al.

Firefighters have reported that Western wildfires are starting earlier in the morning and dying down later at night, hampering their ability to recover and regroup before the next day's flareup.

A study by University of Washington and U.S. Forest Service scientists shows why: The drying power of nighttime air over much of the Western U.S. has increased dramatically in the past 40 years. The paper was published online in July in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

"Nighttime is an important time in fire management. When fires die down at night it gives firefighters a chance to rest, move equipment and strategize. The problem firefighters are reporting is an unexpected increase in nighttime fire activity," said lead author Andy Chiodi, a UW research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean & Ecosystem Studies, a joint center with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Our findings support that this has been going on over the last 40 years over much, but not all, of the Western U.S."

Earth's atmosphere is warming due to climate change, and warming in many places has been greater at night. Warmer night air had been suspected as the culprit altering the daily pattern of wildfire activity, with burns continuing later into the night.

The new study, however, shows it's not just that the night air is warmer, but also a dramatic shift from 1980 to 2019 in its drying powerhow much moisture the nighttime air can carry away from the fuelsover much of the Western U.S. This shift is not captured in climate models, and the authors say it could be related to natural long-term cycles rather than to climate change.

"We paid special attention to the change in recent years compared to the conditions seen in the '80s and '90s, which is when many of the current firefighters started their careers, and presumably formed their ideas about what normal fire behavior should look like," Chiodi said. "We tried to quantify the changes that we were hearing about from firefighters."

The study looks at the "vapor pressure deficit," or the difference between the moisture in the air and the saturation moisture level at that air temperature. This difference is a measure of the air's drying power.

"In the southern Sierra Nevada, the average summer nighttime vapor pressure deficit for the recent decade was 50% higher than the average in the '80s and '90s," Chiodi said. "I was surprisedit's unusual to see geophysical data change that dramatically."

Some of this shift in vapor pressure deficit is happening because warmer nighttime air, caused by climate change, produce higher saturation values. But part of the drying power is happening because the nighttime air in some regions has less moisture, and that effect is not predicted by climate change models, at least this much or in this pattern. The authors find a possible connection to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a long-term cycle that can influence inland weather.

The increased drying power of nighttime air is especially pronounced in California's San Fernando Valley and in the Bitterroot-Blue Mountain Regionincluding parts of the Idaho Panhandle, southeast Washington, northeast Oregon and western Montana.

"Firefighters had been saying for several years that they feel some fires burn later into the evening than they used to," said co-author Brian Potter at the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory. "We found that in some areas, the amount of water in the air is decreasing, sort of doubling up on the warmer nights. These areas, including where the Snake River Complex and Lick Creek fires are burning right now, are much more likely to have fires burn late into the night."

The analysis used hourly weather outputs from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The recently released hourly reconstructions of historical weather allowed investigation of daily cycles.

The next step, Chiodi said, is to further explore the causes of these changes in nighttime vapor pressure deficit. After that, he hopes to connect the atmospheric conditions more directly to fuel moisture and fire behavior.

Explore further California fire cancels bike ride, prompts evacuations

More information: Andrew M. Chiodi et al, MultiDecadal Change in Western US Nighttime Vapor Pressure Deficit, Geophysical Research Letters (2021). Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters Andrew M. Chiodi et al, MultiDecadal Change in Western US Nighttime Vapor Pressure Deficit,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2021GL092830
It is hard to exaggerate how urgent and politically charged the feasibility of the 1.5C climate target has become.

Can humanity drag down greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to prevent Earth's surface from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above mid-19th century levels?

That question looms larger than all others as 195 nations tussle over the UN's first comprehensive scientific assessment of climate change since 2014, to be released Monday.

And if we can, will we?

It is hard to exaggerate how urgent and politically charged these questions have become.

"We need to make sure that we keep 1.5C within reach," UK minister and president of the critical COP26 climate summit in November, Alok Sharma, told AFP earlier this year, leaving no doubt that success at Glasgow would be measured against that yardstick.

No one has sounded the alarm more loudly than nature itself.

An unbroken cascade of deadly, unprecedented weather disastersbulked up by global warminghas swept across three continents since mid-June.

Asphalt-melting North American heatwaves in regions considered too temperate for air conditioning; diluvial rainfall tearing apart German towns and drowning big-city commuters trapped on the underground in central China; untamable wildfires fuelled by droughtdecades of dire climate predictions are suddenly a here-and-now reality.

And that's with average global warming of only 1.1C so far.

A burned classic car sits among the smoldering remains of a home during the Dixie fire in the Indian Falls neighborhood of unincorporated Plumas County, California on July 26, 2021. The Dixie fire has now burned more than 190,000 acres and continues to edge closer to more residential communities. The Dixie Fire in the northern part of the California has been raging since mid-July, part of a climate crisis that has brought sweltering heat and an alarming drought.

So has humanity dithered too long to keep the 1.5C dream alive?

There is little doubt that the planet will reach that markerand sooner than previously thought, according to sources who have seen the penultimate draft of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) text under negotiation at a plenary this week.

A table under review projects the increase in global surface temperature for five emissions scenarios, ranging from wildly optimistic to unimaginably reckless.

In the draft, the IPCC identifies best estimates for twenty-year periods with mid-points of 2030, 2050 and 2090.

Earth's temperature is projected to hit 1.5C or 1.6C around 2030 in all five scenariosa full decade earlier than a similar prediction the IPCC made less than three years ago.

The news gets worse.

By mid-century, the 1.5C threshold has been breached across the boardby a tenth of a degree along the most ambitious pathway, and by nearly a full degree at the opposite extreme.

The glimmer of hope for 1.5C is that by century's end Earth's surface will have cooled a notch to 1.4C under the most optimistic "if-we-do-everything-right" storyline.

A brief overshoot does not mean the target has been missed, scientists caution.

Workers walk amid debris in Kreuzberg, district of Altenahr, Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, on July 20, 2021.

But long-term trajectories do not look promising in the other four scenarios.

Temperature increases by 2090 forecast range from a hugely challenging 1.8C to a catastrophic 4.4C.

The findings are beyond dispute, and all IPCC diplomats reviewing them can do at this point is decide whether and how to present them to the world.

'Aspirational'

By signing on to the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations pledged to collectively cap warming at "well below" 2C.

With dramatic climate impacts already at hand, however, the focus has shifted to the more ambitious but non-binding target of 1.5C, reluctantly allowed into the 2015 treaty by some countries that probably assumed it could be safely ignored.

"1.5C was aspirational," Maynooth University professor and climatologist Peter Thorne told AFP. "But then parties turned around and asked the IPCC to do a special report on it."

The resulting 2018 analysis starkly showed how much more devastating an extra half-degree of warming would be, for humanity and the planet.

It also showed the power of the IPCC.

A wildfire approaches the Olympic Academy in ancient Olympia in western Greece on August 4, 2021.

"1.5C became the de facto target," said Thorne, a lead author of the all-important IPCC Summary for Policymakers on physical science, currently under discussion. "And it has changed the framing entirely."

The climate science communitygenerally on the same page when it comes to key global warming issuesremains sharply divided on 1.5C.

"There is definitely a difference of opinion among scientists about whether the 1.5C target is reachable," Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter and an authority on climate tipping points, told AFP.

Some experts who think 1.5C is mission impossible simply avoid the subject to avoid casting a pall over efforts to ramp up climate action, he added. "They don't discuss it."

Degrees of difference

That porous wall of silence collapsed earlier this year when the prestigious Australian Academy of Science released a 100-page white paper on climate risk.

"Limiting climate change to 1.5C is now virtually impossible," top scientistsincluding many IPCC authorswrote, adding that even "well under 2C" would require a Herculean effort.

The reaction was fast and furious.

"Scientifically speaking, humanity can still limit global warming to 1.5C this century," a quartet of A-list atmospheric physicists and modellers pushed back in a commentary.

Rescuers evacuating residents at a flooded area in Weihui, Xinxiang city, in China's central Henan province.

"Political action will determine whether it actually does. Conflating the two questions amounts to misplaced punditry, and is dangerous."

Even optimists agree that 1.5C would be a heavy lift. It would mean, for starters, slashing emissions in half by 2030a mind-boggling eight percent per yearand to zero by 2050.

And yet, things are still moving in the wrong direction: the International Energy Agency reported recently that post-Covid stimulus packages will generate record levels of carbon pollution by 2023.

Some scientists, NGOs and policy experts are already preparing to navigate a world in which the milestone has slipped into the rearview mirror.

"The pathway to a stable 1.5C is clearly very, very narrow and very challenging," Alden Meyer, senior associate at think tank E3G and a climate politics and policy veteran, told AFP.

"But that doesn't mean you stop fighting for it. Even if you fall short, every tenth of a degree matters in terms of impacts."

Explore further Key UN climate science talks open amid floods, fires

 2021 AFP
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Individuals are likely to prioritize food over sex after being deprived of both, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham, who studied this behavioral conflict in fruit flies.

A new study, published in Current Biology, pinpointed the precise neuronal impulses triggered in flies' brains when faced with the critical choices of feeding or mating.

Fruit flies, or Drosophila, are commonly used in neuroscience research that can be used to give insights into how more complex brains behave. This is because Drosophila exhibit complex behaviors such as memory and learning, but these are controlled by a comparatively simpler brain, with just around 100,000 neurons. The human brain, in comparison, has around 86 billion neurons.

Dr. Carolina Rezaval, the research team leader at the University of Birmingham explains: "We are often exposed to conflicting situations where we must prioritize one goal over others. For an animal in nature this could mean having to choose between feeding, mating or fighting for resources. How does the animal know what to do? The fruit fly Drosophila is a great experimental system to understand how crucial behavioral decisions are made in the brain. We can identify neural elements that direct behaviors with great resolution and decipher the underlying mechanisms."

Sherry Cheriyamkunnel, Dr. Rezaval's former Masters student and one of the main contributors to the study added: "The knowledge researchers gain in the lab may reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying decision-making that might be common to many species, but are difficult to study in mammalian experimental systems."

In the study, male flies were kept away from both food and females, and then offered a choice of both. The team discovered that mating was consistently overridden by hunger in flies that were starved, with the behavioral tipping point occurring after about 15 hours of starvation. Once fed, the researchers found the male flies turned their attention to courtshipsometimes within just a few seconds.

The team then used genetic tools to label neurons in the brain with fluorescent markers. They further switched on or off small number of neurons and tested the effects on behavior. With these tools, they asked how the fly brain responds when there are conflicting options available, and how it chooses amongst them.

In collaboration with the laboratory of Professor Scott Waddell at Oxford University, the researchers used a technique called two-photon calcium imaging to monitor the neurons in the brain of live flies. This enabled them to pinpoint activated neurons in the flies' brains as they made decisions about what to prioritize.

"The neurons that tell the fly to go and eat, or to go and mate, are essentially competing with each other," explains Dr. Rezaval. "If the need to eat is most urgent, the feeding neurons will take over, if the threat of starvation is less, then the urge to reproduce will win."

The researchers also found that the behavioral choice was not absolutely fixed, and is affected by context. For example, although feeding was prioritized when the fly was low on energy, this decision could also be affected by the quality of the food, with flies rejecting bad food and choosing to mate, even when hungry.

Saloni Rose, a Ph.D. student and one of the main contributors to the study added: "We have so much more still to learn from the fruit fly, for example what happens when other threats are introducedhow would the fly decide whether to feed or escape from a predator, or what would happen if a female fruit fly were confronted with similar choices? All these insights help us to build up a picture of complex decision-making in the brain."

By learning about general brain mechanisms, researchers will eventually be better able to understand how more complex brains work and what happens when they go wrong in conditions such as addiction, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's Disease which are known to affect decision-making processes in the brain.

Explore further Choosy female fruit flies reproduce anyway

More information: Rezaval et al (2021). "A neuronal mechanism controlling the choice between feeding and sexual behaviors in Drosophila." Current Biology. Journal information: Current Biology Rezaval et al (2021). "A neuronal mechanism controlling the choice between feeding and sexual behaviors in Drosophila."
Giant sea bass are listed as a critically endangered species. Credit: Maru Brito, CC BY-ND

I was looking at the seafloor, focused on identifying fish species as I normally did when diving off of the California coast, when suddenly I felt something large above me. When I turned my head I saw a giant fishmore than 6 feet (2 meters) longcalmly interested in the air bubbles coming from my SCUBA regulator. This was 2016 and was my first encounter with a giant sea bass.

I am a marine ecologist, and I study how international borders pose challenges for conservation and management efforts in the marine environment. Although there are no walls or fences in the ocean, borders still act as stark barriers for a variety of things.

Giant sea bass live off the west coast of North America in both Mexican and U.S. waters. I have found that large differences in regulation and research effort between the two countries has led to a significant misunderstanding of giant sea bass population health.

Different countries, different science

The giant sea bass is the largest coastal bony fish in the Northeastern Pacific. It can grow up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh up to 700 pounds (315 kg). It lives in coastal waters from northern California to the tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, including the entire Gulf of California.

In California, commercial fishing for the species began in the late 1880s. Large fish used to be very abundant across the entire range, but the fishery collapsed in the early 1970s. As a response, in 1981 the U.S. banned both commercial and recreational fishing for giant sea bass, and there are many ongoing research and population recovery efforts today.

The collapse and subsequent protection and flurry of research in the U.S. stand in stark contrast to Mexico. In Mexico, there are minimal regulations on fishing for the species, and there is almost a complete lack of data and research on itthere are only three studies on giant sea bass with any data from Mexico.

Giant sea bass live in coastal waters from northern California all the way south to the Sea of Cortez. Credit: Arturo Ramirez-Valdez, CC BY-ND

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers giant sea bass to be a critically endangered species due to the population being "severely fragmented, leading to a continuing decline of mature individuals." But this decision was based on a report that had no data whatsoever from Mexico. This lack of data is concerning, considering 73% of the species' range is in Mexican waters.

This knowledge gap made me wonder if ecologists had the wrong idea about the health of giant sea bass populations.

Healthy fish in Mexico

In 2017, I led an effort to document the giant sea bass population in Mexico and look for clues to what it was in the past. At the beginning of the project, my colleagues and I feared that the records in Mexico would confirm the precarious situation of the fish in the U.S. But the reality turned out to be the opposite.

To our surprise, we found giant sea bass everywhere in the fish markets and fishing grounds from our very first assessments. The fishmongers were never out of the fish; instead, they would ask us, "How many kilos do you need?" It was clear that for fishers in Mexico, the species is still common in the sea, and therefore, in their nets. It is still possible to find big fish up to 450 pounds 200 kilograms, and the average catch was around 26 pounds (12 kilograms).

It was fantastic to see an abundance of these fish in markets, but I also wanted to understand the fishery trends through history and how current fishing levels compared to previous years. I looked at historical and contemporary fishing records and found that the Mexican commercial fleet has caught an average of 55 tons per year over the past 60 years, and the fishery has been relatively stable over the past 20 years, with a peak in 2015 at 112 tons.

According to U.S. and Mexican records, the largest yearly catch ever recorded for giant sea bass in Mexico was 386 tons in 1933. Biologists consider a fishery to have collapsed when total catches, under the same effort, are less than 10% of the largest catches on record. So a steady trend of 55 tons per year shows that the fishery in Mexico has not collapsed. It is clear that giant sea bass populations have faced severe declines throughout their range; however, the health of the species is not as dire as thought.

Giant sea bass are a common sight at fish markets throughout Baja. Credit: Proyecto Mero Gigante, CC BY-ND

Another interesting finding from my research is that the apparent collapse of the giant sea bass fishery documented in the 1970s actually began as early as 1932.

Over the first half of the 20th century, as the U.S. commercial fleet overfished U.S. waters, they began fishing in Mexican waters toobut they continued to count all catches as from the U.S. This changed in 1968 when the two governments signed the MexicoU.S. Fisheries Agreement, limiting how much fish each country's fleet could take from the other country's waters. The collapse of the U.S. fishery in the 1970s was not due to a drastic reduction in fish numbers in Mexican waters, but driven by changes in fishing regulation between the U.S. and Mexico. The California fish populations had been depressed for decades, but this was hidden by fish from Mexico.

Better data, better management

Based on my research, I believe that the giant sea bass may not qualify as a critically endangered species. My analysis of modern catch data suggests that the population of this iconic fish is likely much larger than biologists previously thought, especially in Mexico.

I am leading the next assessment for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and now that we have accumulated better data, we can make a more informed decision that balances responsible management of the species with human needs.

I hope that our study inspires policymakers in the U.S. and Baja to start a conversation about how to manage this incredible fish in a collaborative way. But I feel our work also has larger implications. It shows how asymmetry in research and data can create significant barriers to understanding the past and present status of a species like the giant sea bass and make it harder to implement sustainable practices for the future.

Explore further Giant sea bass have more value as living, breathing undersea wonders than as commercial catch

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A re-usable sanitary towel that could potentially kill up to 99.9% of bacteria when exposed to sunlight is being developed by scientists at Cardiff University.

The team is developing a special type of fabric that is infused with non-toxic metals acting as a catalyst, harnessing energy from the Sun and producing compounds capable of killing bacteria, removing stains and neutralizing odors.

The material could be used in reusable sanitary towels or discreet period pants, which would be rinsed with water and then left to dry in the sun to kickstart the bacteria-killing process.

It is believed the product, estimated to cost between $0.03 and $0.05, would be of huge benefit to people living in low- and middle-income countries, where access to single-use sanitary products is both costly and limited.

Reusable sanitary towels and period pants are an eco-friendly and low-cost alternative to single-use plastic products; however, safe use requires an elaborate disinfection and laundering regime.

Access to disinfectants and clean water is at a premium in many countries around the world, meaning existing reusable products can drastically increase the risk of infections.

"The use of unsanitary reusable products has been found to contribute to an alarmingly high incidence of vaginal infections in low- and middle-income countries. This creates chronic discomfort and doubles the risk of miscarriage, which can prove deadly in communities with poor medical provision," said project lead Dr Jennifer Edwards from Cardiff University's School of Chemistry.

"In Nepal, for example, almost half of female agricultural workers there have such an infection at any one time."

The team have already provided clear preliminary evidence showing that the non-toxic Photo Active Catalysts (PAC) can harness energy from sunlight to produce chemical energy, in the form of bacteria-killing particles called reactive oxygen species (ROS).

The ROS can be created in significant amounts using the catalysts and have been shown to be effective at killing 99.9% of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans in just 15 minutes when exposed to UV light.

Importantly, the team have shown that antibacterial activity only occurs under UV light and is ineffective in the dark, meaning the materials are benign and less likely to cause possible irritation when worn under clothes.

Thanks to new funding through the Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the team are now exploring how this technology can be implemented into a suitable material inside a sanitary towel.

At the same time, they are aiming to optimize PACs so that they can be used against a broad spectrum of pathogens as well as reduce organic blood products and color.

"Our overall goal is to create a catalyst-infused self-cleaning material that can provide a cheap and easy-to-use solution for use in reusable period products to improve the health of women in communities all over the world," Dr Edwards continued.

"Our initial results show the technology is already highly effective at rapidly killing bacteria in the presence of sunlight, so it is up to us now over the next 12 months to optimize our process and create a product that is effective at reducing the likelihood of deadly infections."
Credit: Fabio Grandis, Pixabay

An invasive weed could escalate the spread of malaria in East Africa after scientists found new evidence that it creates a favorable breeding ground for female mosquitoes, which transmit malaria.

In a study published in Scientific Reports last month, researchers found that the plant popularly known as "famine weed" releases chemicals called terpene from its roots that have a "distinct blend of mosquito-attractive fragrances."

"This weed which is generally known to be toxic to both humans and livestock is readily ingested by malaria mosquitoes for sugars as a source of energy and it also tolerates its key toxin called parthenin," says Baldwyn Torto, a co-author of the study and head of the behavioral and chemical ecology unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya.

He adds that as adult female mosquitoes feed on the weed known scientifically as Parthenium hysterophorus, they acquire sugars, a vital energy resource for flight to find a mate for reproduction, and seek humans to bite for a blood meal required for developing their eggs.

Torto tells SciDev.Net that female adult mosquitoes emerging from breeding sites contaminated with famine weed chemicals live a week longer than normal, increasing their likelihood to transmit the malaria parasite.

Researchers assessed whether gravid (pregnant) female mosquitoes would prefer to lay their eggs in distilled water or water treated with a blend of terpenes extracted from famine weed roots. The weed that thrives in warmer climates is a native of north-east Mexico and is endemic in America.

"Gravid females were more attracted to lay eggs in the root exudate-treated water than in the distilled water control," the study says.

Eunice Anyango Owino, a medical entomologist at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya, says that this weed could be considered as "the most destructive" globally.

"The findings that it favors the breeding of malaria-transmitting mosquito has only exacerbated the already bad situation considering that malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in children below five years old and pregnant women," she explains.

Owino says that the weed with its roots could be removed physically from water bodies besides using herbicides but she cautions that increased use of chemicals could be dangerous to the environment, costly to purchase and apply them.

Torto adds that the fragrance produced by famine weed can be exploited to develop trapping tools to target egg laying females as part of disease surveillance and control.

Torto explains that natural enemies such as stem-boring weevil (Listronotus setosipennis) and the leaf-feeding beetle (Zygogramma bicolorata), which targets the vegetative and reproductive parts of the weed under different environmental conditions and habitats, could help curb its spread.

According to a report published in May by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences, the Kenyan government has imported these two insects for biological control of the weed that has now invaded at least 48 countries globally including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

But Owino cautioned that the control of the invasive weed could be problematic as the plant's rapid growth rate and numerous but small seeds make it very hard to control.

"The seeds can easily be transported to new areas by even the wind, animals and water, are resistant to adverse weather, and remain viable for germination over a long time," she tells SciDev.Net.

Explore further Scientists report new biological control for noxious parthenium weed in Pakistan

More information: Trizah K. Milugo et al, Root exudate chemical cues of an invasive plant modulate oviposition behavior and survivorship of a malaria mosquito vector, Scientific Reports (2021). Journal information: Scientific Reports Trizah K. Milugo et al, Root exudate chemical cues of an invasive plant modulate oviposition behavior and survivorship of a malaria mosquito vector,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94043-5

Provided by SciDev.Net
Micro-pulse lidar installed on Westerns main campus. Credit: Robert Sica

Residents of London are more than a thousand kilometers from raging wildfires in northwestern Ontario and Manitobabut the fires' impact on air quality was evident.

Detecting these potential health hazards is part of the objective of a network of micro-pulse lidarsone of which is installed on Western's main campusthat track air particulates such as forest-fire smoke and other pollutants.

"Being able to track what's coming into our air quality is really important for everyone living in that area," explained Victoria Pinnegar, a graduate student in the department of physics and astronomy.

The layer of smoke over London was detected on July 29 at an altitude of three kilometers. The smoke persisted for about six hours before rain prevented the lidar from seeing through the clouds, Pinnegar noted in her one-page report, Northern Ont Smoke Over London

"With smoke from the Northern Ontario fire, what it's been doing in southern Ontario and central Ontario is it's been sitting on all our cities and causing air quality index to increase. It becomes slightly more dangerous to breathe the air because you're unknowingly exposing yourself to smoke inhalation which, over a long term, can become an issue," Pinnegar said.

The micro-pulse lidar installed at Western is part of the new Canadian micro-pulse lidar network (MPLCAN), consisting of four instruments installed, or to be installed, across eastern and northern Canada, including in Sherbrooke, Que., Halifax, and in Eureka, Nunavut. A fifth one, from the University of Toronto, recently joined the network as well. Together, they join a global network, the NASA micro-pulse lidar network (MPLNET).

MPLCAN does not typically send out smoke alerts, Pinnegar said, but its data is openly accessible on the NASA MPLNET website. The network is also working in partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"Right now, we are building up our data collection so that in the future, we may be a better resource for (stakeholder) groups," she said.

Pinnegar's team, headed by Western physics professor Robert Sica, also detected smoke over London in June from wildfires in British Columbia, which stayed in the atmosphere above London for hours at an altitude of about 15 kilometers.

"But it's not only the northern Ontario fires and B.C. fires that will affect us; it will be across all North America," Pinnegar noted. Wildfires that burned through California and Oregon last year, for example, were also detected on lidars in London and Sherbrooke.

Lidarshort for 'light detection and ranging'  provides a different way to measure atmospheric aerosols, which are suspended solid, liquid or mixed particles in the air, explained Sica, who is also chair of the department of physics and astronomy. Measuring and studying aerosols is important for research into weather and climate change.

Lidar measurements offer 'profiling', which means providing a picture of particulate presence in both time and altitude.

"The part that I'm excited about is I think these kinds of technologymeaning lidarshave a great potential for tracking forest fire smoke, and we will be pushing to get denser networks of these lidars in regions where there are forest fires often," said Sica. He added this would allow tracking of smoke from wildfire events "much like you can track thunderstorms," providing important information about potential health risks for affected residents.

"We don't always see forest fire smoke, but we quite often see events that are related to pollution, and pollution, a lot of times is not all local; you're getting pollution from somewhere else," Sica said.

The physics professor said he hopes in the future the lidar network will be expanded to Western Canada, where many forest fires take place each year. "Because the real strength in these kinds of measurements we're doing is having networks, not just one or two sites; the more sites you have, the more interesting science you can do."
Former PhD student Sophie Norris led an international team of researchers who used sedimentary evidence from the Fort McMurray region of Alberta to estimate the force of water that would have flowed from Glacial Lake Agassiz. Credit: University of Alberta

A flood of epic proportions drained at a rate of more than 800 Olympic swimming pools per second from a glacial lake that spanned the Prairie provinces more than 12,000 years ago, according to a University of Alberta-led study.

The finding bolsters a theory that the event may have propelled the warming Earth back into an ice age.

Geologists have long known of an ancient lake, Glacial Lake Agassiz, that occupied as many as 1.5 million square kilometers of what is now southern Manitoba and central Saskatchewan, up to the Alberta border. The lake formed as the three-kilometer-thick Laurentide Ice Shield atop the northern half of North America began to melt about 16,000 years ago, creating a dam that prevented would-be meltwaters from making their way to Hudson Bay.

Geomorphological evidence from northern Alberta also suggests that at some point that lake suddenly spilled out to the northwest along a major channel referred to as the Clearwater-Athabasca Spillway, through what is now Fort McMurray, Alta., into the Mackenzie River basin en route to the Arctic Ocean.

The international study led by Sophie Norris, a former U of A Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Science, looked at how much water was discharged through the meltwater channel.

"We know that a large discharge has gone through the area but the rate of the discharge or the magnitude was pretty much unknown," said Norris, who is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Dalhousie University.

The first part of the study used sedimentary evidence to estimate the force of the water, as well as more than 100 valley cross-sections to estimate the size of the flows. The team also created a model of gradual dam failure using the erodibility of bedrock in the region and the size of the lake needed for a spillway through the upper portion of the Clearwater River.

The team came up with an estimated discharge rate of two million cubic meters of water every second, at its height. That volume is about 10 times the Amazon River's average discharge every second and one of the largest floods known on Earth. All told, the flood drained about 21,000 cubic kilometers of waterabout the equivalent to what's in the Great Lakesin less than nine months.

"What I find deeply satisfying is that modern hydraulic modeling, when applied to the evidence preserved in the landscape, shows how a phenomenal flood propagated 12,000 years ago," said Paul Carling, study co-author from the University of Southampton, UK. "When all the uncertainties are considered, the outcome remains pretty solid."

Another co-author on the paper, Daniel Garcia-Castellanos from Geosciences Barcelona in Spain, added that the study's results suggest the event was the largest terrestrial flood ever recorded from the overtopping of a lake. "It also suggests that we are getting close to quantitatively understanding these rapid erosional-flooding events and linking them with the long-term erosion of landscapes."

What's more, the period in which this great flood occurred corresponds to an event known as the Younger Dryas, when just as the northern hemisphere was emerging from the ice age, it suddenly returned to near-glacial conditions.

"During the Late Pleistocene, temperatures were returning to normal, when the Earth slipped back into an ice age," said Duane Froese, Norris's Ph.D. supervisor and Canada Research Chair in Northern Environmental Change in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

"We don't know for sure that the flood caused the Earth to slip back into the ice age, but certainly if you put that much water into the Arctic Ocean, the models show you get cooling of the northern hemisphere climate."

Norris said the next steps are to better understand whether this catastrophic discharge happened at the start of the cold reversal, in which case it may have been the cause, or simply played a part in a more complex series of events.

Norris said Alberta might owe part of its resource wealth to that great flood.

"The oilsands region is essentially within the channel that this flood formed," she said. "There would have been a huge amount of Quaternary material on top of that, as there is in the surrounding area, but it has been exposed in Fort McMurray by this huge event."

The paper, "Catastrophic Drainage From the Northwestern Outlet of Glacial Lake Agassiz During the Younger Dryas," was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

More information: S. L. Norris et al, Catastrophic Drainage From the Northwestern Outlet of Glacial Lake Agassiz During the Younger Dryas, Geophysical Research Letters (2021). Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters S. L. Norris et al, Catastrophic Drainage From the Northwestern Outlet of Glacial Lake Agassiz During the Younger Dryas,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2021GL093919
Credit: Jinning Li/Shutterstock

A doctor will always ask if you are on any other medication before they write you a prescription. This is because pharmaceuticals can interact with each other and potentially disrupt the treatment, or even harm the patient. But when agrochemicals, such as pesticides, are licensed for use on farms, little attention is paid to how they interact with one another, and so their environmental impact is underestimated.

Bees are important pollinators of both crops and wildflowers. It's estimated that 35% of crops are dependent on pollination, but the environments bees find themselves in today are increasingly hostile. In the UK, it's estimated that 97% of semi-natural grasslands, habitat filled with the nectar-rich wildflowers bees visit for food, have been lost. Meanwhile, the commercial trade in honeybees for their pollination services has increased the prevalence of harmful parasites and, as if this was not already enough, bees are also routinely exposed to numerous different agrochemicals.

We analysed data gathered in scientific studies from the last two decades and found that when bees are exposed to a combination of pesticides, parasites and poor nutrition, the negative impact of each is exacerbated. We say that the cumulative effect of all these things is synergistic, meaning that the number of bees that are killed is more than we would predict if the negative effects were merely added together.

When bees were exposed to multiple agrochemicals, the effects were worse. When we consider the prevalence of these substances in the environment, the picture begins to look very worrying.

Pesticide regulation and pollinators

Crops are rarely ever treated with just one chemical. Insecticides control insect pests, such as aphids. Herbicides, such as glyphosate, kill unwanted weeds, and fungicides are used to control moulds such as mildew. Crops will often be treated with different agrochemical combinations repeatedly throughout the year.

Pre-licensing tests for pesticides tend to focus on honeybees, neglecting wild pollinators. Credit: D.Kvasnetskyy/Shutterstock

Many agrochemicals, such as neonicotinoids, are systemic, meaning they accumulate in the environment over several months, and in some cases years. It is perhaps not surprising then that honeybee colonies across the US have on average six different agrochemicals present in their wax, with one hive contaminated with 39. It's not just honeybees which are at risk, though: wild bees such as bumblebees are also routinely exposed.

For pollinating insects, exposure to multiple agrochemicals is the norm, not the exception. But when new agrochemicals are licensed for use by regulatory bodies, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), how they interact is seldom considered.

In some ways this is understandable. Thousands of different agrochemicals have been licensed for use globally and assessing how each one interacts with each other would be difficult. But commercial pesticide formulas, sold en-masse to farmers, regularly contain many different chemicals. Assessing how each of them interacts before they are licensed for use should be mandatory.

And once an agrochemical is licensed for use, regulators should continually monitor its potential harm in case pre-licensing assessments failed to detect something important. These post-licensing observations could be akin to those carried out with pharmaceuticals in humans, which would offer better protection for both wildlife and food security.

The EFSA recently announced a programme that will use mathematical models to monitor the effects of multiple potential threats, including agrochemicals, on honeybee colonies. This is encouraging, but fails to consider other wild bee species.

Understanding how the environmental impacts of human activity interact is a messy business, but it's clearly important. A post-licensing monitoring programme for agrochemicals is laudable, but pre-licensing experiments that consider how these substance interact once in the environment must become a requirement for the environmental risk assessments of all new products. And the agrochemical companies, who profit so much from selling these products, should pick up the bill.

Explore further Pesticide threat to bees likely 'underestimated': study

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This artists impression shows L 98-59b, one of the planets in the L 98-59 system 35 light-years away. The system contains four confirmed rocky planets with a potential fifth, the furthest from the star, being unconfirmed. In 2021, astronomers used data from the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) instrument on ESOs VLT to measure the mass of L 98-59b, finding it to be half that of Venus. This makes it the lightest planet measured to date using the radial velocity technique. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

A team of astronomers have used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) in Chile to shed new light on planets around a nearby star, L 98-59, that resemble those in the inner Solar System. Amongst the findings are a planet with half the mass of Venusthe lightest exoplanet ever to be measured using the radial velocity techniquean ocean world, and a possible planet in the habitable zone.

"The planet in the habitable zone may have an atmosphere that could protect and support life," says Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio, an astronomer at the Centre for Astrobiology in Madrid, Spain, and one of the authors of the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The results are an important step in the quest to find life on Earth-sized planets outside the Solar System. The detection of biosignatures on an exoplanet depends on the ability to study its atmosphere, but current telescopes are not large enough to achieve the resolution needed to do this for small, rocky planets. The newly studied planetary system, called L 98-59 after its star, is an attractive target for future observations of exoplanet atmospheres. Its orbits a star only 35 light-years away and has now been found to host rocky planets, like Earth or Venus, which are close enough to the star to be warm.

With the contribution of ESO's VLT, the team was able to infer that three of the planets may contain water in their interiors or atmospheres. The two planets closest to the star in the L 98-59 system are probably dry, but might have small amounts of water, while up to 30% of the third planet's mass could be water, making it an ocean world.

Furthermore, the team found "hidden" exoplanets that had not previously been spotted in this planetary system. They discovered a fourth planet and suspect there is a fifth, in a zone at the right distance from the star for liquid water to exist on its surface. "We have hints of the presence of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of this system," explains Olivier Demangeon, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco, University of Porto in Portugal and lead author of the new study.

This artists animation shows L 98-59b, the closest planet to the star in the L 98-59 planetary system. The system is 35 light-years away from our Solar System and contains four confirmed rocky planets with a potential fifth, furthest from the star. In 2021, astronomers used data from the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) instrument on ESOs VLT to measure the mass of L 98-59b, finding it to be half that of Venus. This makes it the lightest planet measured to date using the radial velocity technique. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The study represents a technical breakthrough, as astronomers were able to determine, using the radial velocity method, that the innermost planet in the system has just half the mass of Venus. This makes it the lightest exoplanet ever measured using this technique, which calculates the wobble of the star caused by the tiny gravitational tug of its orbiting planets.

The team used the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) instrument on ESO's VLT to study L 98-59. "Without the precision and stability provided by ESPRESSO this measurement would have not been possible," says Zapatero Osorio. "This is a step forward in our ability to measure the masses of the smallest planets beyond the Solar System."

The astronomers first spotted three of L 98-59's planets in 2019, using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This satellite relies on a technique called the transit methodwhere the dip in the light coming from the star caused by a planet passing in front of it is used to infer the properties of the planetto find the planets and measure their sizes. However, it was only with the addition of radial velocity measurements made with ESPRESSO and its predecessor, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the ESO La Silla 3.6-metre telescope, that Demangeon and his team were able to find extra planets and measure the masses and radii of the first three. "If we want to know what a planet is made of, the minimum that we need is its mass and its radius," Demangeon explains.

The team hopes to continue to study the system with the forthcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) , while ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), under construction in the Chilean Atacama Desert and set to start observations in 2027, will also be ideal for studying these planets. "The HIRES instrument on the ELT may have the power to study the atmospheres of some of the planets in the L 98-59 system, thus complementing the JWST from the ground," says Zapatero Osorio.

"This system announces what is to come," adds Demangeon. "We, as a society, have been chasing terrestrial planets since the birth of astronomy and now we are finally getting closer and closer to the detection of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone of its star, of which we could study the atmosphere."

This research was presented in a paper entitled "Warm terrestrial planet with half the mass of Venus transiting a nearby star" to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Explore further Unique exoplanet photobombs Cheops satellite study of nearby star system

More information: O. D. S. Demangeon et al, Warm terrestrial planet with half the mass of Venus transiting a nearby star, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2021). Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics O. D. S. Demangeon et al, Warm terrestrial planet with half the mass of Venus transiting a nearby star,(2021). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202140728
A photo of a mouse produced from sperm mailed by envelope. Credit: Daiyu Ito, University of Yamanashi

Scientists no longer have to worry about their bottles of mouse sperm breaking in transit. Researchers in Japan have developed a way to freeze dry sperm on a plastic sheet in weighing paper so that samples can withstand being mailed via postcard. This method allows for mouse sperm to be transported easily, inexpensively, and without the risk of glass cases breaking. The paper appears August 5th in the journal iScience.

"When I developed this method for preserving mouse sperm by freeze-drying it on a sheet, I thought that it should be able to be mailed on a postcard, and so when offspring were actually born after being mailed, I was very impressed," says first author Daiyu Ito of the University of Yamanashi in Japan. "The postcard strategy was easier and cheaper compared to any other method. We think the sperm never expected that the day would come when they would be in the mailbox."

Ito is part of Teruhiko Wakayama's lab, which had previously been the first team to succeed in freeze-drying and preserving mammalian sperm, which they sent to the space station to study the effects of space radiation on baby mice. The sperm was originally preserved in a glass ampule, which is a bottle made of glass; although these bottles were small, they were quite bulky and broke easily, rendering the sperm they carried unusable. The team needed large volumes of mouse sperm for their research in space, but because cushions had to be used to prevent breakage during the rocket launch, they could only carry a small amount.

This photo shows how a sperm sheet of hundred or thousand of mouse strains can be preserve only one card-holder or sperm book. It is very easy to handle. This method also reduces the risk of failure to preserve, preservation costs, and space requirements. Credit: Daiyu Ito, University of Yamanashi

Thus, with these setbacks in mind, the lab began its search for a new preservation methodone that didn't break or require much preservation space. Plastic sheets were the best fit because they were compact and wouldn't break. But the sheets were toxic for the sperm, so the team tried and failed as they tested various materials to go inside the plastic sheets. Finally, the researchers discovered that weighing paper was the easiest to handle and had the highest offspring rate.

With the new method of preservation, thousands of mouse strain's sperm could be stored in a single book, dubbed the "sperm book" by the scientists. The book was stored in a freezer at -30C until further use for experiments.

Ito, Wakayama, and team wanted to figure out if the sperm would still be potent after being mailed tens of miles and, to their delight, it was. The scientists were able to mail the mouse sperm from the "sperm book" as postcards by attaching the plastic sheet to the postcard with no protection. One scientist even sent another a "Happy New Year" card with mouse sperm attached as a gift.

This photo shows a Happy New Year card in Japan attached with mouse freeze dried sperm. Credit: Daiyu Ito, University of Yamanashi

This photo shows how sperm sheets were put in the envelope. The sheet and envelop were posted in the mailbox without any protection. Credit: Daiyu Ito, University of Yamanashi.

This photo shows mouse offspring derived from freeze-dried sperm grew to adulthood and they demonstrated their normal fertility. Credit: Daiyu Ito, University of Yamanashi.

The scientists believe that the "sperm book" and mailing method, once perfected, will have a strong impact in their field worldwide. Their next goal is to be able to store them for at least one month at room temperature. In the future, they also hope to develop a method that will allow the freeze-dried sperm to come back to life and fertilize on their own when they are rehydrated.

"It is now recognized that genetic resources are an asset to humanity's future. Even though many genetic traits are not needed for survival, depending on the environmental context, it is necessary to preserve them." says senior author Teruhiko Wakayama, also of the University of Yamanashi in Japan. "The plastic sheet preservation method in this study will be the most suitable method for the safe preservation of a large amount of valuable genetic resources because of the resistance to breakage and less space required for storage."
Hervey clouds formed during storm from north-west to south-east, at monsoon, over Salt Lake, Calcutta. Credit: Biswarup Ganguly/Wikipedia

Prof. Zhou Xin from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and collaborators have reconstructed a high-resolution model of monsoon precipitation in the Jiang-Huai region, and proposed the possible driving mechanism behind it by studying the sediments of Lake Nvshan. The results were published in Geology.

Variations in East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) have great impacts on economic development. However, there has been scant research on this subject due to a lack of meteorological observation data.

The researchers cast their eyes on sediments from Lake Nvshan in Jiang-Huai (JH) region, which are less disturbed by human activities. They characterized the samples in terms of the color, chronology, grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), and other features.

The researchers found that when there is abundant precipitation, which leads to higher lake levels, sediments are apt to possess more reduced conditions and display blue-gray color, and deficient precipitation leads to lower lake levels with sediments more oxidized and thus redder.

Through the analysis, researchers realized the 1,800-year multiproxy reconstruction of monsoon precipitation. They detected large fluctuations of sediment redness during the past 1,800 years, during which redness value is higher during Little Ice Age (LIA, 1000 to 1300 CE), while during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP, 1400 to 1850 CE), indicating a wetter LIA compared to a dryer MWP.

However, these results contradicted previous studies, which showed that changes in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) should have caused a dryer LIA and a wetter MWP. The researchers believed that this contrast is caused by the fact that the rainfall in the JH region was modulated by the mean state of the tropical Pacific Ocean on centennial time scales.

They explained that the dominating influence factor of precipitation in the JH region is the anomaly of Pacific Ocean sea-surface temperature, similar to the known La Nina and ElNino phenomena. These hydroclimate changes of the ocean may have been a response to the effective radiative forcing change during the past 1,800 years.

Explore further Researchers reconstruct precipitation seasonality in central China over last century

More information: Shiwei Jiang et al, Central eastern China hydrological changes and ENSO-like variability over the past 1800 yr, Geology (2021). Journal information: Geology Shiwei Jiang et al, Central eastern China hydrological changes and ENSO-like variability over the past 1800 yr,(2021). DOI: 10.1130/G48894.1
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

With the U.S. Senate evenly split between the Republican and Democratic caucusessomething that's only happened three other timestwo political science scholars at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences were inspired to study one of those periods. Their research regarding the Senate during the 195354 session of Congress, published in the American Political Science Review, examines a period of time when nine senators died and one resigned, flipping party control twice.

USC Dornsife's Christian Grose, associate professor of political science and public policy, and Nicholas Napolio, a Ph.D. candidate in political science, share insight on their research and what it might tell us about today's Senate.

The period you studied was particularly tumultuous for the U.S. Senate. What from your research surprised you the most?

Grose: A couple of things stand out. First, conventional wisdom is that because the U.S. Senate is very individualistic, party control of the Senate isn't that important to advancing a policy agenda. Older research also supports that belief, particularly compared to the U.S. House, where the controlling party rules almost everything. Our research from this period upends that notion by showing that even a one-vote margin of control changed not just the Senate's policy agenda, but the outcomes. We find this to be true not just for the unusual period we studied, but all the way through the present day.

I was also surprised by the suddenness of the changes in the Senate and that so many titans of the upper house unexpectedly and sadly died in such a short time period. It's a reminder that history is shaped by who lives, and who does not.

Napolio: It's also true that the 1950s, unlike today, were a time of relatively little party polarization. With low polarization, you would think changes in control of the Senate would have little impact on policy outcomes. But even with that low polarization, we found that changes in party majorities actually resulted in big changes in policy outcomes.

For example, Republicans were poised to pass a significant antilabor law, but Democratsas the result of a senator's sudden deathwere handed the majority they needed to defeat the bill. Since the parties are now so highly polarized, the effects of a sudden change in party control today would have even bigger implications for policy.

We're not even a year into the current session of Congress. How likely do you think it is that the 50/50 party balance in today's Senate will change before the 2022 election?

Grose: The current Senate has a lot of people of advanced age, and sadly, some have health problems. During the two-year session of Congress we examined for our article, nine senators died. Of course, death isn't the only factor that could shift control: In the past, pivotal senators have resigned from office or switched parties.

Napolio: There's no doubt that the Democratic Party's hold on the Senate is tenuous. Since 1960, an average of one-and-a-half senators has died each two-year session. The past can only tell us so much, but with five senators over 80, 23 senators over 70, and only one under 40, the current U.S. Senate is the oldest in the history of the country. What's more, the average life expectancy in the United States is currently about 78.

Considering how often the filibuster is used today, requiring 60 senators to pass any type of nonbudgetary legislation, how much of a practical difference would it really make if party control of the Senate shifts before the next election?

Napolio: There are a lot of Democratic priorities that can't be filibustered and don't require 60 senators. For example, since 2013, nominees to fill positions in the bureaucracy and the courts cannot be filibustered and only require simple majorities for confirmation.

If Democrats lose their one-vote majority, Republicans could block Biden's federal judicial nominees or force him to nominate more conservative judges. Since federal judges serve for life, that could have a generation-long impact on the federal judiciary.

Grose: I completely agree. But just in case some folks don't know, let's define a "filibuster." A filibuster is when a U.S. Senator effectively threatens to talk indefinitely on the Senate floor to delay or kill a policy proposal. Today it takes 60 senators to stop a filibuster and move legislation forward.

Our research explainscontrary to other research specifically about the filibusterhow a party with just a one-vote majority still has meaningful power and advantages. For instance, a Senate majority leader has procedural tools, within the constraints of the filibuster, to kill or table items they don't want to bring forward.

Right now, there is growing pressure on the Democratic majority to end the filibuster in order to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and related bills. For that to happen, all 50 Democratic Senators and the vice president would have to agree to change the rules, illustrating the importance of a cohesive majority party.

What's your prediction if Democrats gain a Senate seat before the 2022 election?

Napolio: The Democratic senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has been in the news a lot because he has outsized influence over the party. He's among the most conservative Senate Democrats and won't automatically vote with his party.

If the Democrats gain a seat, Manchin's influence would be diminished, but to advance the party's policy priorities, they'd still need the support of the next most conservative Democrat, Arizona's Krysten Sinema. Since she has expressed similar views to Manchin, a one-seat gain probably wouldn't make much difference for decision-making on the floor of the Senate. There could be some changes in committee compositions though.

Our research shows that slight changes in numbers without changes in party control didn't really have much of an impact.

Grose: Yes, whether you're looking at the 1950s or the modern era, our research finds that changes in party control of the Senate are much more consequential than a marginal one-gain seat by the party already in control.

So how about if Republicans gain a Senate seat? Considering there will still be a Democratic president and a House controlled by Democrats, how much of a difference would that make?

Grose: Party control of the Senate would still make a big difference. With control of the Senate, the G.O.P. leader would use procedural tools to advance the Republican party's agenda, just like the Democrats are doing now.

Though elections matter, it's also interestingand at the same time frighteninghow unexpected events like the deaths of senators can shape policy and remake history. In the 1950s, a senator died and so did Republican hopes of reshaping labor law. The Republicans had a proposal to curtail the power of unions, but when Democrats took control of the Senate, that Republican priority was sidelined for the remainder of that Congress (and the G.O.P. didn't return to it once they took control as new issues emerged on the agenda).

Napolio: I'd expect more gridlock and an even less productive Congress if the G.O.P. gets a one-seat advantage. The federal budget bill might not even pass if Republicans control the Senate. Under Sen. Mitch McConnell's leadership, the G.O.P. is likely to block any judicial or executive nominee who's perceived as too liberal for the party. That would probably include all of Biden's first picks for judges and other appointees, hamstringing other Democratic policy priorities.

Explore further US Senate vote set for next week on Obamacare repeal

More information: Nicholas G. Napolio et al, Crossing Over: Majority Party Control Affects Legislator Behavior and the Agenda, American Political Science Review (2021). Journal information: American Political Science Review Nicholas G. Napolio et al, Crossing Over: Majority Party Control Affects Legislator Behavior and the Agenda,(2021). DOI: 10.1017/S0003055421000721
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A growing gulf between the haves and have-nots in Britain means that parental wealth today matters more than at any point in the past when it comes to explaining differences in offspring wealth.

The analysis from social policy experts at the University of Bath suggests that around 35% of wealth differences in the parent generation pass onto their offspring and this relationship is only getting stronger in Britain.

The research used the Wealth and Assets Survey to estimate the intergenerational wealth elasticity (IWE)a metric which quantifies the association between parent and offspring wealth. Analyzing the data between 2010 and 2018, the authors found the IWE is growing by over 6 percentage points every decade.

The findings imply that individuals in their late 20s and early 30s will exhibit far higher levels of wealth inequality at retirement age, compared to those observed today. Younger cohorts born from 1968 onwards have higher levels of 'cross-generational persistence' in wealth than those aged in their 60s (born before 1952). Put another way, this means parental background matters more for explaining differences in wealth today than it ever has before.

The magnitude of this change is 'simply staggering' say the researchers and it has profound implications for inequalities in living standards now and in the future. The estimates imply the scale of intergenerational wealth persistence between parents and their offspring will double in roughly six decades if the current rate at which the IWE is changing is maintained.

The research also shows that the rapid pace at which wealth inequalities are widening means there is higher wealth persistence for identical individuals except for the fact they are born latereven if they share the same family background. For example, the impacts of disparity in parental wealth are greater for young people born today, measured in terms of wealth differences, than they were just 10 years ago.

Author Dr. Ricky Kanabar from the University's Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy and Department of Social & Policy Sciences explained that "wealth inequalities are rapidly widening for successively younger cohorts, and this has significant implications for living standards. Our research shows the rapid pace at which this is taking place and the increasingly important role of family background in explaining widening wealth inequalities. This issue is not presently well understood and discussedpolicymakers need to take notice."

"If we are serious about addressing wealth inequalities and their impact on social mobility then understanding the extent of intergenerational wealth transmission is fundamental to this. Family background can affect individual's life chances, in particular the age and location of their first home purchase which has long-term ramifications for wealth accumulation."

"Inequalities in wealth are highly persistent throughout people's lives and this will bring challenges in the years ahead when today's younger cohort reach retirement age. At that point, there will be clear distinctions between the haves and have nots which will be further exacerbated by the effects of inheritance receipt and how this also varies by family background."

"The issue for policymakers then is to focus efforts on policies which enable wealth mobility, especially among individuals from less privileged backgrounds. Such policies should be targeted at young ages to give individuals the best chance to improve their living standards in later life. Simply put, we must address the mechanisms which have led to increasing wealth inequality in Britain."

More information: Ricky Kanabar et al, "Intergenerational wealth transmission in Great Britain," CEPEO Working Paper Series 21-06, Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities (2021). Ricky Kanabar et al, "Intergenerational wealth transmission in Great Britain,"(2021). ideas.repec.org/p/ucl/cepeow/21-06.html
Fox squirrel, apparatus, and experimenters on UC Berkeley campus. Credit: Gregory Cowley (Left to right, Nate Hunt, Judy Jinn, Lucia Jacobs and Aaron Teixeira)

Videos of squirrels leaping from bendy branches across impossibly large gaps, parkouring off walls, scrambling to recover from tricky landings.

Just more YouTube content documenting the crazy antics of squirrels hell-bent on reaching peanuts?

No, these videos are part of a research study to understand the split-second decisions squirrels make routinely as they race through the tree canopy, jumping from branch to branch, using skills honed to elude deadly predators.

The payoff to understanding how squirrels learn the limits of their agility could be robots with better control to nimbly move through varied landscapes, such as the rubble of a collapsed building in search of survivors or to quickly access an environmental threat.

Biologists like Robert Full at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown over the last few decades how animals like geckos, cockroaches and squirrels physically move and how their bodies and limbs help them in sticky situationsall of which have been applied to making more agile robots. But now they are tackling a harder problem: How do animals decide whether or not to take a leap? How do they assess their biomechanical abilities to know whether they can stick the landing?

High-speed video of squirrels executing amazing leaps in pursuit of peanuts captures the animals' innovative solutions to reaching their goal. UC Berkeley researchers studied the leaps and landings of squirrels to understand how they make decisions when and when not to jump, but the findings also provide ideas for engineers who are building robots to match the agility of squirrels. Credit: UC Berkeley video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Jeremy Snowden

"I see this as the next frontier: How are the decisions of movement shaped by our body? This is made far more challenging, because you also must assess your environment," said Full, a professor of integrative biology. "That's an important fundamental biology question. Fortunately, now we can understand how to embody control and explain innovation by creating physical models, like the most agile smart robots ever built."

In a paper appearing this week in the journal Science, Full and former UC Berkeley doctoral student Nathaniel Hunt, now an assistant professor of biomechanics at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, report on their most recent experiments on free-ranging squirrels, quantifying how they learn to leap from different types of launching padssome bendy, some notin just a few attempts, how they change their body orientation in midair based on the quality of their launch, and how they alter their landing maneuvers in real-time, depending on the stability of the final perch.

"As a model organism to understand the biological limits of balance and agility, I would argue that squirrels are second to none," Hunt said. "If we try to understand how squirrels do this, then we may discover general principles of high performance locomotion in the canopy and other complex terrains that apply to the movements of other animals and robots."

The experiments were conducted in a eucalyptus grove on the UC Berkeley campus, where Hunt enticed fox squirrels that roam the campus into sketchy situations where they had to decide whether to leap for a peanut or let it go.

Credit: Science (2021). 10.1126/science.abe5753

Hunt and Full found that, as expected, the flimsier or more compliant the branch from which squirrels have to leap, the more cautious they are. But it took squirrels just a few attempts to adjust to different compliances.

"When they leap across a gap, they decide where to take off based on a tradeoff between branch flexibility and the size of the gap they must leap," Hunt said. "And when they encounter a branch with novel mechanical properties, they learn to adjust their launching mechanics in just a few jumps. This behavioral flexibility that adapts to the mechanics and geometry of leaping and landing structures is important to accurately leaping across a gap to land on a small target."

But they don't balance the bendiness of the launching branch and the gap distance equally. In fact, the compliance of the branch was six times more critical than the gap distance in deciding whether to jump.

This may be because squirrels know that their sharp claws will save them if they miscalculate. Their claws are so failproof, Hunt said, that none of the squirrels ever fell, despite wobbly leaps and over- or undershot landings.

Slow motion video of Fox squirrel leaping from a simulated branch, parkouring off the wall, and recovering using their hind feet. Credit: Nate Hunt, UC Berkeley

"They're not always going to have their best performancethey just have to be good enough," he said. "They have redundancy. So, if they miss, they don't hit their center of mass right on the landing perch, they're amazing at being able to grab onto it. They'll swing underneath, they'll swing over the top. They just don't fall."

That's where exploration and innovation come into play as squirrels search for the best leaping strategy.

"If they leap into the air with too much speed or too little speed, they can use a variety of landing maneuvers to compensate," Hunt said. "If they jump too far, they roll forward around the branch. If they jump short, they will land with their front legs and swing underneath before pulling themselves up on top of the perch. This combination of adaptive planning behaviors, learning control and reactive stabilizing maneuvers helps them move quickly through the branches without falling."

One unsuspected innovation was that during tricky jumps, squirrels would often reorient their bodies to push off a vertical surface, like in human parkour, to adjust their speed and insure a better landing. Parkour is a sport in which people leap, vault, swing or use other movements to quickly traverse obstacles without the use of equipment.

Fox squirrel jumps over a one meter gap. Credit: Nate Hunt, UC Berkeley

Full and Hunt continue to explore the interaction between biomechanical abilities and cognition as squirrels learn new gap-leaping strategies.

Co-authors of the paper are former UC Berkeley psychology graduate student Judy Jinn and Lucia Jacobs, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and an expert on animal cognition. Full and Jacobs, who operates a Squirrel School at UC Berkeley, are part of a multi-university consortium funded by the Army Research Office (ARO) to model the cognition and decision processes in squirrels to one day create the world's first robot with squirrel capabilities.

Explore further Scottish forests protective forts for red squirrels

More information: Acrobatic squirrels learn to leap and land on tree branches without falling, Science (2021). Journal information: Science Acrobatic squirrels learn to leap and land on tree branches without falling,(2021). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/  1126/science.abe5753
Phyllobates terribilis. Credit: Wilfried Berns Tierdoku.com / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 2.0 de

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Stanford University, and the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) has uncovered new clues as to how poisonous frogs and birds avoid intoxicating themselves. Their study, which will be published August 5 in the Journal of General Physiology (JGP), suggests that, rather than evolving resistant versions of the toxin's target protein, the animals produce "toxin sponges" that can mop up the poison and prevent it from exerting its deadly effects.

Many poisonous animals protect themselves from predators with toxins that cause paralysis and cardiac arrest by binding to voltage-gated sodium channels, crucial proteins that mediate electrical impulses in neurons, muscle, and the heart. Batrachotoxin, for example, is an extremely potent sodium channel toxin found in poisonous Pitohui birds in New Guinea as well as several poison frog species in Colombia. The golden poison frog Phyllobates terribilis is estimated to carry 1 milligram of batrachotoxin in its skin glands, enough to kill between 10 and 20 humans.

But despite their having voltage-gated sodium channels of their own, Pitohui birds and poison frogs obtain batrachotoxin from the insects they eat and store the poison for long periods. How, then, do these animals avoid poisoning themselves?

One possibility is that the animals have evolved batrachotoxin-resistant sodium channels. "However, there haven't been any functional studies of poison frog or Pitohui sodium channels, so whether batrachotoxin-bearing animals rely on changes within their sodium channels or alternative resistance mechanisms remains unclear," says UCSF Professor Daniel L. Minor, Jr.

In the new study, Minor, postdoctoral fellow Fayal Abderemane-Ali, Justin Du Bois (Stanford University), Lauren O'Connell (Stanford University), Jack Dumbacher (CAS), and colleagues demonstrate that Pitohui birds and P. terribilis frogs do not have batrachotoxin-resistant sodium channels. By comparing the effects of batrachotoxin with saxitoxin, a well-known paralytic shellfish toxin, Minor and colleagues suggest that these poisonous bird and frog species may instead rely on "sponge" proteins that mop up toxins and prevent their binding to sodium channels.

For the study, the team isolated sodium channels from both Pitohui birds and P. terribilis. They determined that they were highly sensitive to batrachotoxin. Frog sodium channels were, for example, sensitive to batrachotoxin levels more than 10 times below those found in P. terribilis in the wild.

A previous study reported that a mutation found in some poison frogs near the batrachotoxin-binding site can make rat sodium channels resistant to the toxin. Minor and colleagues introduced this mutation into the Pitohui and P. terribilis sodium channels and found that it failed to make the channels resistant to batrachotoxin. In fact, the mutation impaired the channels' function even in the absence of batrachotoxin. "Taken together, our observations challenge the idea that sodium channel mutation is the batrachotoxin autoresistance strategy for poisonous birds and poison frogs such as P. terribilis," Minor says.

Abderemane-Ali et al. propose that an alternative autoresistance mechanism is at play: the animals produce sponge proteins that mop up toxins and stop them from binding to sodium channels. Indeed, they found that, although batrachotoxin binds to isolated frog sodium channels, it doesn't seem to engage the channels when injected into living poison frogs.

Researchers have yet to identify any proteins capable of mopping up batrachotoxin. However, bullfrogs produce a protein called saxiphilin that can tightly bind to the related poison saxitoxin. Minor and colleagues found that sodium channels isolated from P. terribilis are highly sensitive to saxitoxin, but this is reversed in the presence of saxiphilin.

"This demonstrates that high-affinity toxin-sponge proteins are able to prevent the actions of small molecule toxins that target sodium channels and lends support to the idea that toxin sequestration mechanisms may act to protect poisonous animals from autointoxication," Abderemane-Ali says.

Minor adds, "These sequestration strategies might not only offer a general means of toxin protection, but could also act in pathways involved in safely transporting and concentrating toxins in key defensive organs such as the skin. Understanding these pathways may lead to the discovery of antidotes against various toxic agents."

Explore further Why poison dart frogs don't poison themselves

More information: Fayal Abderemane-Ali et al, Evidence that toxin resistance in poison birds and frogs is not rooted in sodium channel mutations and may rely on "toxin sponge" proteins, Journal information: Journal of General Physiology Fayal Abderemane-Ali et al, Evidence that toxin resistance in poison birds and frogs is not rooted in sodium channel mutations and may rely on "toxin sponge" proteins, rupress.org/jgp/article-lookup  0.1085/jgp.202112872
Illustration of red giant stars near and far sweeping across the sky. Credit: NASA

An unprecedented collection of pulsating giant red stars has been identified by astronomers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA). Using observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the researchers detected the stars, whose rhythms arise from internal sound waves and provide the opening chords of a symphonic exploration of our galactic neighborhood.

Since its launch in 2018, TESS has primarily hunted for exoplanetsworlds beyond our solar system. But its sensitive measurements of changing stellar brightness make the telescope ideal for observing stellar oscillations or material within the internal structure of stars. It's an area of research called asteroseismology.

"Our initial result, using only a month of stellar measurements from TESS's first two years, shows that we can determine the masses and sizes of these oscillating giants with high precision that will only improve as TESS goes on," said Marc Hon, a NASA Hubble Fellow at IfA. "What's really unparalleled is that TESS's broad coverage allows us to make these measurements uniformly across almost the entire sky."

This large bounty of oscillating red giants will be used for unprecedented detailed studies using the ground-based telescopes on Maunakea.

"We have already started follow-up observations of some of the most intriguing oddballs we have uncovered in our large TESS dataset, which will tell us more about their origin," said Hon. "We have just scratched the surface of the treasure trove of data enabled by TESS."

Hon presented the research on Wednesday during the TESS Science Conference, an event held virtually, August 26 and supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where scientists discuss the latest results of the mission. He is the lead author of the study that is accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, with co-authors including fellow IfA colleagues Jamie Tayar and Daniel Huber.

Widening opportunities

Oscillations in the sun were first observed in the 1960s. But solar-like oscillations in thousands of stars weren't detected until the French-led Convection, Rotation and Planetary Transits space telescope, which operated from 2006 to 2013. NASA's Kepler and K2 missions, which surveyed from 2009 to 2018, found tens of thousands of oscillating giants. TESS is expanding access to these oscillations through its observations in space.

"With a sample this large, giants that might occur only one percent of the time become pretty numerous," said Tayar, a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at IfA. "Now we can start thinking about finding even rarer stars."

TESS monitors large swaths of the sky for about a month at a time using its four cameras, covering about 75% of the sky during its two-year primary mission. Each camera captures a full image 24-by-24 degrees (48 times the size of the Moon in our sky) across, every 30 minutes. Since late summer 2020, the cameras have been collecting these images at an even faster rate.

The images are used to generate light curvesgraphs of changing brightnessfor nearly 24 million stars, each spanning 27 days, the length of time TESS stares at one patch of the sky. To sift through this immense accumulation of measurements, Hon and his colleagues taught a computer how to recognize pulsating giants. The team used machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence that trains computers to make decisions based on general patterns without explicitly programming them.

To train the system, the team used Kepler light curves for more than 150,000 stars, of which about 20,000 were oscillating red giants. When the neural network finished processing all of the TESS data, it had identified 158,505 pulsating giants.

The team determined colors and distances for each giant using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, and plotted the masses of these stars across the sky. A fundamental prediction in galactic astronomy is that younger, higher-mass stars should lie closer to the plane of the galaxy, marked by the high density of stars that create the glow of the Milky Way in the night sky.

"Our map demonstrates for the first time that this is indeed the case across nearly the whole sky," said Huber. "With the help of Gaia, TESS has now given us tickets to a red giant concert in the sky."

Explore further NASA's planet Hunter completes its primary mission

More information: Marc Hon et al, A 'Quick Look' at All-Sky Galactic Archeology with TESS: 158,000 Oscillating Red Giants from the MIT Quick-Look Pipeline, arXiv:2108.01241v1 [astro-ph.SR] Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Marc Hon et al, A 'Quick Look' at All-Sky Galactic Archeology with TESS: 158,000 Oscillating Red Giants from the MIT Quick-Look Pipeline, arXiv:2108.01241v1 [astro-ph.SR] arxiv.org/abs/2108.01241
Editor:

Hearing Capitol Police Officers describe their experiences on Jan. 6, I was touched by their emotional honesty, their caring and courage in defending the Capitol, elected representatives, their comrades, and our democracy  against overwhelming odds.

Terrorists/insurrectionists beat them with sticks, flagpoles, furniture, using Tasers, yelling obscenities, racist slurs. They spoke of physical and mental trauma but even more about the pain at the denial and indifference of Republican legislators they were defending, many of whom proclaim support of the blue, many too busy to even listen to the hearings, calling it partisan play-acting, the insurrection Pelosis fault.

They were scoffing, ridiculing, dismissive  like arrogant teenagers. Had they, and those who still support Trump despite recorded tapes showing his attempt to change election results, his threats, corruption  been living in Germany during Hitlers rise, I can see them cheering Hitler, refusing to hear the Nuremberg trials, scoffing at survivors, calling the Holocaust a hoax.
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Murphy blasts vaccine protesters before signing bills for tenant relief, utility assistance

Bill Barlow, Staff Writer Murphy

UNION CITY  Gov. Phil Murphy said home has given many a sense of security amid the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the governor signed two bills into law to help renters maintain that security.

Joined by community leaders and state and local officials in Union City, Hudson County, Murphy committed $500 million to tenant relief and $250 million in utility assistance.

During his opening remarks, however, Murphy was heckled after continuing to urge residents to get vaccinated. Those opposing the governor's words couldn't be heard or seen on a video stream of the news conference, but he quickly responded before getting back on track.

"You've lost your minds," he said to them from the podium. "You are the ultimate knuckleheads, and because of what you are saying and standing for, people are losing their life. People are losing their life, and you have to know that. Look in the mirror."

Atlantic County applicants needed for $8.9M in rental assistance NORTHFIELD  The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners accepted an $8.9 million grant for emergency rental assistance at its meeting Tuesday, bringing to $15 million the total the county has available to help prevent evictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chants of "Murphy" then began in the crowd, and the governor pumped his fist in the air.

Under the law Murphy signed, the main purpose for the news conference, unpaid rent cannot be used as grounds for eviction. Instead, it will be considered a civil debt that still must be paid at some point. Landlords seeking assistance will have to waive all late fees tied to unpaid rent during the pandemic.

The second law makes confidential any court records regarding unpaid rent between March 9, 2020, and Aug. 3, 2021. It also prohibits landlords from taking this information into consideration when evaluating prospective tenants.

"We are at an inflection point," Murphy said during the news conference. "Our economy continues to recover; jobs continue to come back; hundreds of thousands of families are once again finding their footings. The last thing we want for them is to be punished anew by these past 17 months of uncertainty and struggle."

Under the new legislation, any tenant living under 120% of their county's median income will be protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent from March 1, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2021. In Hudson County, for example, a family with an income under $83,400 would qualify. This protection has no end date.

Evictions looming, Biden fails to get Congress to extend ban WASHINGTON  A nationwide eviction moratorium is set to expire Saturday after President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress worked furiously but ultimately failed to align on a long-shot strategy to prevent millions of Americans from being forced from their homes during a COVID-19 surge.

Those living under 80% of the median income will also be protected from eviction for nonpayment from Aug. 31 to Dec. 31, but they must certify their income, their inability to pay rent due to circumstances arising from the pandemic and their attempts to apply for rental assistance programs.

Accompanying the legislation will be the gradual winding down of the state's eviction moratorium "in a uniform way while protecting both the rights of good tenants and honest landlords," Murphy said. It will end for all foreclosures Nov. 15.

The new funding now puts the state's total funding toward the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Eviction Prevention Program to more than $1.2 billion.

The bill providing relief received unanimous, bipartisan support from the Senate and Assembly, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack said following Murphy's remarks.

"Which is not easy," Stack said. "The governor can tell you that. Just the Senate alone is tough."

EXPLAINER: Are New Jersey's eviction protections enough? TRENTON  A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year was scheduled to expire Saturday, after President Joe Bidens administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.

After the conference, New Jersey Utilities Association President Tom Churchelow thanked the governor for the relief package.

"This new law provides sorely needed assistance to help pay down the well over $700 million in utility arrearages that exist in New Jersey," Churchelow said.

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Pull quote "You've lost your minds. You are the ultimate knuckleheads, and because of what you are saying and standing for, people are losing their life. People are losing their life, and you have to know that. Look in the mirror." Gov. Phil Murphy
Polistina is also at a bit of a disadvantage because he wont be able to campaign with his predecessor, Brown.

Certainly any time you could campaign with someone of Sen. Browns stature, without doubt that would be helpful, Polistina said. I agree the role hes in, he has to work with the Democratic city administration and the Republican administration in the county. He has to work with both sides.

After announcing in February that he wouldnt run for re-election this year, Brown endorsed Polistina for the state Senate seat. Brown said this week he was not asked to stay out of politics by Murphy, but that he and people on both sides of the aisle agreed it would be best to stay on the sidelines.

All necessary paperwork on Polistinas selection by the GOP was delivered to Trenton Thursday, he said, and once the Secretary of State signs off on it and gives him a certificate of selection he can be signed in.

He would prefer the Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, to sign him in, as has been the usual practice, but if necessary he will take another route.

Our attorney believes a judge can swear me in, Polistina said.
For those of you who say the people that show up at the gun buyback program are not the people we are looking to turn in guns, understand any weapon we take off the street wont be sold, and it can really save a life, Small said. So Im encouraging all of the people of Atlantic City to spread the word, so that way we can continue doing the great work we are doing to get the guns off the street.

The state-and locally sponsored events will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Atlantic Citys location will be at Fire Station No. 1 at 900 Atlantic Ave. Free parking will be available in the Showboat hotel flat lot, Sarkos said, across the street between Atlantic and Pacific avenues and Delaware and Maryland avenues.

Paterson, East Orange and Newark also will participate.

Residents can turn in firearms with no questions asked and receive as much as $250 per weapon. Up to three weapons per individual may be exchanged, Sarkos said.

+10 Atlantic City pastor celebrates 30 years of service ATLANTIC CITY  Bishop James Washington always took his commitment to his faith and his comm

We dont ask your name, we dont ask you anything. You turn in the weapon, we inspect the weapon and we pay you for it, Sarkos said.

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The governor has not made himself available to reporters since the report's release Tuesday and hasn't appeared in public. Photos published by the New York Post showed him working Thursday from a lounge chair by the pool at the Executive Mansion in Albany.

His office continued to churn out press releases about various administration initiatives, as if to project a sense that Cuomo was continuing to govern as usual, but his political isolation was clear.

At least 97 of the Assemblys 150 members said they would impeach Cuomo if he doesnt resign, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on interviews and public statements. Only a simple majority is needed to begin an impeachment trial.

Asked whether Cuomo could try to horse-trade his way out of impeachment or call in favors, Sen. Brad Hoylman, a New York City Democrat, said there wasnt a pathway for that.

I know the political animal he is. Im sure if he could do that, he would, but I dont think anybodys even talking to him, he said. "This is someone whos cornered politically with nowhere to go but out the door. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better.
A New Jersey man facing a 12-count indictment for his role in the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol is set to plead guilty.

An attorney representing Scott Fairlamb said Wednesday his client plans to plead guilty to assaulting an officer and obstructing an official proceeding in a hearing scheduled for Friday in Washington, D.C.

Hes anxious to assume responsibility for what hes done and continue forward with his life, attorney Harley Breite told The Associated Press.

Fairlamb has been in jail in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., since his arrest in January. A federal judge in New Jersey initially ordered him released on bond with electronic monitoring but reversed course after prosecutors filed an objection.

An affidavit filed in the case earlier this year shows a photo of someone authorities identified as Fairlamb allegedly punching a police officer in the head.

Authorities also alleged the former mixed martial arts fighter, who has owned a gym in Pompton Lakes in Passaic County, picked up a collapsible baton and is heard in a video saying patriots would disarm them and storm the Capitol.
It has been absolutely necessary and appropriate to undertake this investigation at a time when the use of force, and circumstances under which force is deployed, is a topic of extensive public discussion and concern, Hoffman said in the statement. The patience of our local communities and stakeholders has been of great benefit as weve been conducting our investigation.

The Gloucester County chapter of the NAACP said it welcomed the charges. The group argued they were warranted because of the use of force captured on video that went viral.

We strongly condemn the egregious and unnecessary course of action the guard took against Mr. Khalif Hunter, NAACP President Loretta Winters said. The injuries suffered by this young man are disconcerting.

Officers cleared in 2019 stop that led to motorist's death TRENTON  A state grand jury has declined to file charges against Morris County police offic

According to Hunter, the guard issued the dog an order  Live bite!  several times as Hunter was already prone and not moving. That was not captured on the video. Hunter said he was bitten three times on the lower right calf and once on the inner right thigh.

Adelphia regrets any instance where anyone is injured on its premises, said Grimes, the restaurants lawyer, in a statement issued Wednesday evening. He said a new security firm is in place which does not plan to include canine protection in its security plan.
In 1998, while living in Upper Southampton, he admitted to spray-painting three Bucks County synagogues with the words intifada  a reference to Palestinian uprisings against Israel  and a German phrase that translates to "Remember Your Past."

Lichtfuss, then 26, turned himself in two days after the attack, telling police he defaced the building because he wanted to go back to jail, where he had previously served an eight-to-23-month statutory-rape sentence for an incident in which he, three other men and a boy took turns assaulting a 13-year-old girl after inviting her to a house party in Warrington in 1993.

"He wanted to be arrested (in the vandalism case) because he had problems living and wanted to be in a more controlled environment," Warrington Township Detective Richard Bradbury testified at the preliminary hearing in that case.

County prosecutors had previously encountered Lichtfuss a decade earlier as he distributed handprinted fliers in Sellersville celebrating "the Fuhrers," then-District Attorney Alan Rubenstein said at the time.

But by the time of his sentencing for defacing the synagogues, Lichtfuss professed to have renounced white supremacy and converted to Judaism, in part because he had been engaged to a Jewish woman.
Kornya noted other Iowa communities, including Des Moines and Sioux City, use rental certification revocation as additional incentive for landlords to follow city health and safety directives.

"It stops the right to evict for nonpayment until violations are fixed" and landlords can no longer collect rent until violations are addressed, cutting off their income stream from the rental properties, Konya said.

"It works well in other communities and doesnt cost the city anything extra," he said.

Under city code, Davenport officials may revoke a propertys rental license for "frequent and recurrent" violations of city code; serious life-safety violations that require the property to be vacated; failure to correct code violations upon a third reinspection; failure of the property owner or manager to appear for three scheduled inspections or reinspections in a row; or for submitting false information to the city.

Spiegel, the Davenport city administrator, said threatening to revoke Crestwood owners' rental license worked in theory.
Changes have also been made to Hong Kongs election laws to reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers and give a largely pro-Beijing committee the leeway to nominate lawmakers aligned with the mainland government.

Despite widespread demonstrations, which brought millions together to call for greater freedom, Hong Kongs promise of democracy has dimmed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as the measure granting safe haven was announced.

China bristles at the criticism, saying it is merely restoring order to the city and instituting national security protections found in other countries. It has denounced U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong officials as interference in its domestic affairs.

Pro-democracy activists in exile pleaded with Congress last month to pass legislation to provide both temporary refuge and permanent refugee status in the U.S. after Hong Kong police confirmed they had a list of more than 50 people who would be arrested if they attempted to leave.

With nearly every prominent pro-democracy voice in Hong Kong in jail, awaiting trial, or overseas in exile, it is clear that there is an increased need for the United States to do more, particularly now that Beijing is closing travel routes with the suspension of direct flights between Hong Kong and the UK, they wrote in a letter to members.
CHICAGO  Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to what authorities then called the largest municipal fraud in the countrys history, was released from prison Wednesday  with about eight years left on her 19-year sentence.

Crundwell, 68, was originally scheduled to be released Oct. 20, 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. But she was released early from the Federal Corrections Institution in Pekin, Illinois, to a Chicago residential reentry management field office, also known as a halfway house.

Crundwell pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, 2012, admitting that she stole $53 million from the city since 1990 and used the money to finance her quarter horse business and lavish lifestyle, according to the FBI. In February 2013, a federal judge ordered her to immediately begin serving the sentence of 19 years and 7 months.

The town released a statement that Crundwell was to serve 85% of the sentence. But after hearing rumors of an early release, the City Manager Danny Langloss contacted the Federal Correctional Institution. A prison official confirmed to him that Crundwell had been released but did not know why.

In April 22, 2020, Crundwell had petitioned a federal judge for early compassionate release based on her poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
VILLA PARK, Ill. (AP)  A suburban Chicago school board adjourned without voting on a mask mandate for students and staff after the proposal sparked a heated debate and scuffle in the latest show of anger over coronavirus-related restrictions at schools.

District 45s Tuesday evening school board meeting in Villa Park included yelling, heated words and an initial warning that the board would adjourn early after some attendees refused to comply with the meetings mask requirement to control the spread of COVID-19.

After a 45-minute delay, the meeting continued without mask enforcement, with parents who spoke divided on whether the mask mandate was necessary. Board President Judy Degnan adjourned the meeting without a vote following an altercation in a hallway.

Witnesses said an argument led to pushing and one person was led away after appearing to suffer a panic attack, WLS-TV reported.

Out of concern for the public safety and for our own safety, we are going to adjourn this board meeting, Degnan said.
And there is the rub. In the American caste system, the homeless have become our untouchables.

They are the ones many folks want out of sight and out of mind.

Ive fallen into that trap myself. Last winter, I was in the Springfield public library researching used car prices. (Im too cheap to buy a Kelly Blue Book.) A man wearing a bathrobe kept coming over to the reference desk and asking questions while I stood there. The reference librarian was patient and humane.

But I became a bit annoyed and thought: Why is he getting more attention from this librarian than I am?

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I knew I needed to check my middle-class privilege at the door. After all, I dont have any more right to use a public amenity  whether its a public library, a sidewalk or a street  than the fellow wandering about the bookshelves in his bathrobe.

And, hey, Ive devoted my life to free speech and free expression. Every week I get letters from those who like what I write  and those who dont. If all speech were popular, it wouldnt need to be protected.
Every day we are bombarded with the "news" regarding the "Covid Crisis", usually only what the administration and media want us to hear. As devastating as this pandemic could be, it is being guided. The "Covid Panel" of Moe, Larry and Curly (Fauci, Pelosi and Schumer) only let out the information that will help them keep control of the thought process of the public. The science they refer to is never explained or identified.
BLOOMINGTON  A Virginia man is in McLean County jail custody after police arrested him Tuesday on a warrant for his connection to a June shooting in Norfolk, Virginia.

Bloomington police responded at 3:55 p.m. Tuesday to the 800 block of West Washington Street for a fireworks complaint, where officers found a suspect who had given them a false name.

Travarish D. Carpenter, 29, of Portsmouth, Virginia, was eventually identified and arrested after Bloomington police learned of a warrant for his arrest in Virginia.

Carpenter is charged in Virginia with aggravated malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding, reckless handling of a firearm, discharge of a firearm in a public place and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

He is accused of being connected to a June 12 shooting in Norfolk that hospitalized one man with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said Carpenter was with a relative, Catherine D. Lewis, 64, of Bloomington, who helped Carpenter hide his identity.
A Davenport man was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly assaulting a man, stealing his car and fleeing from police.

Hunter Robert Jones IV, 25, was charged with four felonies  first-degree robbery, first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree eluding and second-degree theft, and three misdemeanors  disobeyed traffic device, driving under suspension and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to court documents, Jones assaulted the owner of an SUV and drove away in the car. The victim told Davenport Police that Jones got into the SUV in the Walmart parking lot off West Kimberly Road and demanded money. Jones told the victim he had a gun and ordered him to drive toward West Kimberly Road and Wyoming Avenue.

Jones allegedly punched the victim several times in the face, told the victim to get out of the SUV, then continued punching him until the victim ran away. When police arrived, at about 1:15 a.m. Thursday, the victim had a visible laceration, swelling and fresh blood dripping from his left eyebrow area. He was taken to Genesis Medical Center East, Davenport, and doctors said he needed several stitches and would have a permanent scar near his eye. He also had a possible broken nose.
State education officials have given the go-ahead to an updated action plan aimed at restoring the Davenport School District's lost accreditation.

Iowa's State Board of Education Thursday approved Davenport's revised corrective-action plan, which lays out specific efforts to improve leadership, finances, special education and state-directed education practices.

The next formal consideration of Davenport's accreditation, which was placed on conditional status in May of 2019, is to be at the November meeting of the State Board of Education.

Also at Thursday's meeting, Davenport Superintendent TJ Schneckloth introduced new members of his leadership cabinet, who were appointed in July. After introductions, a board member asked Schneckloth, "How are teachers feeling?" referring to the leadership changes.

"I would say there's some anxiety around it right now," he replied. "We have been very unstable."

He said he is confident, as the school year begins, teachers will embrace the changes and the administrators.

Asked about community feedback to district changes, Schneckloth replied, "I would say it's too soon for that."

Adapting to pandemic-related policies has been the out-front focus, he said.
Armstrong considered COVID-19 and its effect on his life.

"I got out the joint this last time and I got a job at XPac, you know, packing," he said. "Then the bug hits and I've got a problem because they don't need workers every day because all the shipping is falling off.

"That's one problem. The other problem is I have no car. So I was paying for a ride to work. The way it's set up is you show up at work to find out if you got work. Well, I'm paying for my ride every day and getting, maybe, one or two days of work."

Armstrong shrugged his shoulders, shuffled his Pumas on the courthouse's black-and-white tiled floor and announced his decision.

"I'm going down to the clerk to see if I have to see the magistrate first, then I'll come back here and see about this," Armstrong announced.

He returned 20 minutes later with a nine-day extension on his eviction.

"I don't know about this," he said, squinting as he watched Iowa Legal Aid's attorneys interview people. "Those are lawyers? I don't know about lawyers."

Armstrong shook his head.
Scott County and Davenport have invested $25,000 in hopes to increase the number of veterans living in and relocating to the Quad-Cities.

The county has partnered with Home Base Iowa, a program that connects military-friendly companies with veterans, transitioning service members and their families who are looking for careers. The program in Scott County is designed to attract veterans to the community by reimbursing them for the costs of relocating, according to a news release from the Quad Cities Chamber.

I am extremely proud that Davenport and Scott County have been able to partner together to become a Home Base Iowa community, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said in the release. As a veteran, I understand the unique contributions that veterans bring to the area, and we hope that through this program, more veterans will choose to make Davenport a place they call home.

The money will be used to reimburse veterans who previously lived outside of Scott County up to $1,500 in closing costs when buying a home in Scott County, and veterans who previously lived outside of Davenport can receive up to $1,500 reimbursement for the closing costs of buying a home in Davenport.
One of the most important components to a healthy community is access to nutritious foods and opportunities for exercise. Quad-City Health Initiative Executive Director Nicole Carkner says farmers' markets can provide both.

Markets provide citizens with local food, much of it nutritious fruits and vegetables. As many farmers' markets are outdoors, they also provide the chance to get outside and walking.

Besides the physical benefits, farmers' markets also bring communities to a common space. People can find friends at the market whether they already know them or are strangers, in vendors, performers, or other customers.

"You're able to connect with others in that same environment," Carkner said.

Aug. 1-7 is National Farmers Market Week, but Quad-Cities farmers markets are open all summer, and some all year round. Check out local food and vendors at these markets:

Freight House Farmers' Market: The Freight House Farmers' Market hosts vendors both inside and outside the historic Freight House at 421 W River Dr., Davenport Saturdays 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and Wednesdays 4-8 p.m. throughout the summer. There is also an indoor market during the winter.
UnityPoint Health and Genesis Health System will require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. UnityPoint Health employees must be vaccinated by Nov. 1, while Genesis has not yet announced a date.

Both health systems made the announcements Thursday and urged communities to follow suit with vaccinations in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

For UnityPoint Health, the decision affects more than 32,000 employees in three states, regardless of whether they provide direct patient care or not.

"We remain incredibly grateful to our health care providers, who have seen the devastation of COVID-19 up close and personal over the past 18 months, Clay Holderman, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health, said in a press release. "After thoughtful consideration, we believe this vaccination requirement will help keep our team members, patients and communities as healthy as possible, so we can focus on what we do best  delivering exceptional care to those we serve."
Illinois recreational weed sales hit a record $128 million in July, helped by a late-month boost from the Lollapalooza festival.

The blowout sales month  up 10% from the previous high of $116.4 million in May  included four days of booming business at Chicago-area cannabis dispensaries during the annual music festival, which returned to Grant Park last Thursday after a one-year pandemic hiatus.

Recreational weed was legal in Illinois for the first time in Lollapaloozas 30-year history, with large crowds of festivalgoers boosting sales by as much as 50% at nearby dispensaries in River North and the West Loop, according to operators.

We saw thousands of festivalgoers over the weekend at our River North store, making it our biggest weekend to date, said Jason Erkes, spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, whose Sunnyside Dispensary in River North was the closest to the Grant Park festivities.

The $127.8 million in recreational marijuana sales statewide is up more than $12 million from June, according to a monthly report by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Through July, the state has generated $753 million in recreational cannabis sales  more than all of last year.
Lehmann said the two committee meetings will be structured the same way as they were before.

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Five members of the council made up one committee while the other five made up the other. One council member from each ward sat on each committee. During meetings, the committee would discuss items on the agenda and vote on a recommendation for the entire council to consider at a Monday meeting.

Lehmann said he hopes the chairs of each committee will allow staff the floor a bit more than previously allowed.

Interim Community Development Director Vicki Fisher said Wednesday that department directors are working with the council to make sure an open dialogue is retained.

We have a good working relationship with this council, she said. They certainly respected the wishes of staff and tried the working session.

Fisher said the working sessions showed staff that the council wants to work with them and appreciates what they bring to the table.

I dont think well lose that going into committee meetings, she said.
As frameworks for these centers operation must be in place on every campus by January 1, 2022, schools will report their progress in implementation at the Boards October meeting.

The action plan also targets curriculums, directing institutions to add or improve American government programming, increase students civic engagement and promote civility and dispute resolution among students with diverse backgrounds. The Regents charge institutions with implementing some level of training or programming in the spring 2022 semester to accomplish this.

This is the latest in a series of moves the state has taken to ensure intellectual diversity in South Dakota schools. In May, Gov. Noem asked the Regents to investigate whether Critical Race Theory is taught at any state universities, and in July the Legislatures Joint Committee on Appropriations asked the Regents CEO and Executive Director Brian Maher to wait until after the 2022 legislative session to apply for any federal grants dealing with American history or civics education. The Legislature plans to introduce bills that directly target history and civics lessons.
He said they had enough experts to give one-on-one training.

That is darn difficult to get, he said. I want to give a special thanks to Post 91 members Vern and Stacy Cortes for organizing the details that led to a big team success.

He called the training event great and said safe gun handling skills, shooting and accuracy improved significantly.

Female members got to interact with other members and get to know each other, make new friends, see that we are all veterans together and hopefully have they now have new shooting buddies to go practice with in the future, Kurinec said. Our sponsors were HSM Hunting Shack Munitions in Stevensville, SFA 28 Devils Brigade, American Legion Post #91 and Jim McCormic and his Whittecar Range staff.

Kurinec noted that American Legion members and their spouses can shoot at the Whitaker range for free by presenting their current American Legion card.

The effort was also used as a recruiting tool.
A homeless man clocked at driving over 100 mph near Hamilton was charged with felony criminal endangerment Wednesday.

Darrion Michael Lemmon, 26, appeared in Ravalli County Justice Court on the felony charge and misdemeanor counts of second offense DUI, fleeing from a peace officer, reckless driving, failure to have liability insurance, driving while license suspended or revoked and unlawful possession of an open alcoholic beverage.

A Montana Highway Patrol trooper was traveling northbound on Highway 93 about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday when she observed a passenger car approaching her at what appeared to be excessive speed, according to the charging affidavit. Her radar confirmed the vehicle was traveling at 107 mph as it passed her.

The trooper turned around and attempted to follow the vehicle, but despite the fact she was traveling up to 118 mph, she was unable to catch up. A second trooper began following with his siren and lights activated.

Lemmon continued driving toward Hamilton at excessive speed before turning right onto Dutch Hill Road, the affidavit said. Both troopers then lost sight of the vehicle.
She said community members realized that often sufficiency sometimes comes with partnerships.

Our foodscape is a fabric; it is interwoven, OByrne said. One grower's crop failure can be compensated through anothers success. Not only do we need to work together for food security, we also have to recognize that our local food producers build local economy, they preserve agricultural lands and are the foundation for healthy communities.

In his proclamation, Hamilton Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf said expanding agriculture opportunities is important to assist end encourage the next generation.

Hamilton farmers and ranchers provide citizens with access to healthful, locally and regionally produced foods through farmers markets, which are expanding and evolving to accommodate the demand for a diverse array of agriculture products, Farrenkopf said. [Farmers markets] stimulate business development and job creation, build community connections and provide an important social and cultural meeting space for our community.

OByrne said that with having a small lawn the Wednesday market focuses on food producers or value-added products but that the Hamilton Farmers Market has more space for diverse offerings.
The U.S. Department of Education approved Montanas plan for use of a final package of COVID education relief funding on Thursday, releasing a remaining $127 million to the states K-12 schools.

The money comes from the third round of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program. The U.S. distributed ESSER III in two batches. First, all states were given two-thirds of their allotted ESSER III funding in late March of this year. To receive the remaining third, states had to submit proposals detailing current needs and a plan for use of funds.

I am excited to announce approval of Montanas plan, said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a press release Thursday. It is heartening to see, reflected in these state plans, the ways in which states are thinking deeply about how to use American Rescue Plan funds to continue to provide critical support to schools and communities, particularly as we move into the summer and look ahead to the upcoming academic year.

Montana has received over $613 million in ESSER funding.
A federal judge on Thursday set an Oct. 1 status hearing for two East Helena brothers accused of participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., after a prosecutor said a plea offer had been made and that officials had gathered more materials and surveillance evidence against the defendants.

U.S. Prosecutor Hava Arin Levenson Mirell told U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly that defendants Jerod and Joshua Hughes had an early September deadline to decide on the offers.

On Jan. 6, a violent mob of former President Donald Trumps supporters broke into the Capitol to contest the Electoral College vote being certified that would name Democrat Joe Biden as president instead of Trump. At least nine people who were there died during and after the rioting. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for a historic second time for inciting the rioters. A House panel is looking into the attack.

Mirell said prosecutors had received more materials and surveillance footage and had made defense attorneys aware of the new information. She did not say what the plea offers were or what was included in the new information.

Kelly, a judge for the federal court in the District of Columbia, then set an Oct. 1 status hearing.
Students and employees at Virginias community colleges will be required to wear masks while indoors, said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System.

The VCCS will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DuBois said in a letter to college presidents on Wednesday. That includes layered prevention strategies at colleges and for vaccinated people to wear masks in settings with substantial levels of transmission.

All of the states 23 community colleges serve localities that have shown substantial or high transmission rates in recent days, the chancellor said. There have been more than 20,000 COVID-19 cases at Virginias four-year universities since the pandemic began, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch survey of college figures.

Colleges have the flexibility to decide when to implement the rule. The VCCS will allow them to apply the mandate in a manner that best suits each college. For example, professors can remove their masks when standing at a safe distance or behind a plexiglass barrier.
About $1.5 million will fund fire department and emergency medical service enhancements, including a permanent mobile integrated health system that provides home wellness checks as well as setting up a mobile ambulance company in harder hit areas, meaning it will be directed to areas of great medical need, Harris said. The county did not name the areas that will receive the service.

Three small businesses in the wedding industry spoke at a public hearing last week, asking for the county to provide financial help. The companies said they have not be able to receive any federal funding relief throughout the entire pandemic.

We did not receive any specialty funding for our industry ... and we were essentially out of work for 14 months, Emmett Hickam, owner of Richmond Bridal Consulting, said during the public hearing. We are in desperate need of your help.

The wedding industry has struggled during the pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place for most of 2020 and part of 2021  such as limits on indoor and outdoor gathering capacity  many weddings were postponed or canceled. All capacity restrictions were lifted in May.

APRA, at least from our perspective, from the local government [perspective] is not really geared to that [assisting small businesses], Harris said.
FALLS CHURCH  A federal appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a Maryland beach towns right to ban women from topless sunbathing.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled unanimously that Ocean Citys law, which allows men to be topless but not women, is constitutional.

Ocean City passed its law in 2017 after one of the plaintiffs in the case, Chelsea Eline, contacted Ocean City police and asserted a right to go topless.

The panels ruling notes that courts across the country have upheld laws banning women from topless sunbathing on public beaches. While the law imposes a restriction on women that is not imposed on men, Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. wrote that Ocean Citys elected leaders are within their rights to enact laws that protect public sensibilities.

The judicial legacy of justifying laws on the basis of the perceived moral sensibilities of the public is far from spotless. Some government action that we now rightly view as unconstitutional, if not immoral, has been justified on that basis. Even so, in this situation, protecting public sensibilities serves an important basis for government action, he wrote.
If were about representing our community, this is something that is sorely missing, he recalled saying for a Times-Dispatch story after winning the Pulitzer. I told them, I know I can do this job, you know I can do this job, and Ive earned at least a shot at doing this job. But if you dont let me do this job, you need to find someone who will because we need a commentator of color at this newspaper.

He got the job and began writing columns. He has written more than 2,700, noted the House resolution, while contributing to the evolution of the paper over the past half-century.

Williams accompanied the legislators to the Senate, where Clerk Susan Schaar read a resolution adopted in his honor.

McClellan extolled his work in a personal way, saying she and Williams are two people of color with a long history of struggle against racial injustice.

Over the years, Michael and I have had several conversations  in the wake of the Unite the Right rally, in the wake of the scandals of 2019, in the wake of George Floyds murder, she said. And he was always able to articulate the raging emotions many of us felt much better than we ever could  very eloquently. And sometimes, wed have to give each other hope.
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RADFORD  A former instructional aide at Radford High School is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old  and taking pictures of it.

Ishmale-Isaiah N. Davis, 23, of Danville faces 30 charges tied to sexual acts with a minor and child pornography. Davis was arrested by U.S. marshals last month in Georgia and extradited to Virginia. He was to be in Radford Circuit Court on Monday to work out whether he had an attorney, but the hearing was continued.

He is not scheduled to be back in court until Sept. 10 for a hearing to set dates for resolving his case.

Davis is charged with four counts of committing indecent acts with children, seven counts of possessing child pornography, six counts of producing child pornography, six counts of soliciting someone to appear in child pornography, six counts of filming child pornography, and one count of having consensual sex with a minor.

According to indictments issued in June but sealed until Davis was brought back to Radford, the indecent acts include Davis twice exposing his genitals to a minor, proposing intercourse, and sexually abusing a minor.
Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea said Thursday he favors mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for city employees.

Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday required proof of vaccination for most state employees effective Sept. 1  or weekly testing for those who dont. Richmond has mandated proof of vaccination for a sizable amount of its municipal employees effective Oct. 1.

The numbers are rising. Id personally like to see us take some strong action, Lea said Thursday.

The city council will likely take up the matter of a possible employee vaccine mandate when it meets Aug. 16, the mayor said.

Roanoke employs about 1,700 people, but its not yet clear whether every single one would be fall under any future mandate.

The city of Richmondwith 3,600 workers  was the first locality in the state to mandate an employee vaccine, as Mayor Levar Stoney announced the details of the requirement on Wednesday.

Richmonds mandate includes employees such as police officers, firefighters and staff. As of Wednesday, it did not include Richmonds public school employees.
Moore identified Jeffreys email address through NNEO personnel and documents obtained during the investigation, according to the warrant. In his role as a councilman  which took effect Jan. 1, according to the city  Jeffrey received an iPad. The iPad was seized during the embezzlement investigation on an unspecified date but, afterwards, it was remotely wiped, according to the warrant.

A city technology department worker told police Jeffrey was the machines sole administrator and the sole person with the capacity to wipe it, according to the warrant.

When a computer is wiped, it basically means that the contents are made unreadable. You cannot access the content and it is as if the files have been erased, said Sonal Jha, a graduate student and researcher in electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech. She is not involved in the case.

Mayor Sherman Lea said Wednesday that he hadnt received any information about the matter. All council members have tablets and theyre useful for Zoom calls, email messaging and document review and can display a speech with a teleprompter-like scrolling, he said.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  The future ownership of an Israeli spyware company whose product has been used to hack into the cellphones of journalists, human rights workers and possibly even heads of state is up in the air.

Major investors in a private equity firm that has majority ownership of NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware, are in discussions about what action to take. The Oregon state employee pension fund is one of the largest investors, if not the largest, having sunk $233 million into Novalpina Capital, the private equity firm, in 2017.

Novalpina Capital has been saddled with both an internal dispute among its founding partners and an explosive report showing NSO Group's spyware has been widely misused around the globe.

Oregon State Treasury spokeswoman Rachel Wray told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday the department is getting involved. State officials previously said investors have limited say in private equity investments once they are completed.

I can confirm that, consistent with our fiduciary duties to Oregon beneficiaries, and along with other limited partners, (Oregon State) Treasury is involved in discussions related to our investment in Novalpina, Wray said Wednesday.
While the average for daily new cases in Virginia fell below 200 in June, Avula said the state is averaging around four to five times as many cases now. He said hospitalizations and deaths from the virus in Virginia have also increased at rate similar to that at the national level, which has increased 25% in the past seven days.

Avula said nearly all deaths and hospitalizations are happening to people who were unvaccinated.

"Because of that, we are more and more convinced that the only path out of this is vaccination," he said. "We will get to high rates of immunity ... by the time this is all said and done. But we want as much of that immunity to come through vaccination and not through infection because there's clearly a significant toll that takes place when it happens through infection."

Richmond's employee mandate comes a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance on mask wearing, strongly urging those who have been vaccinated to wear masks indoors in areas with high levels of virus transmission.
Four Republicans are heading into their first debate as they campaign for California's Sept. 14 recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's lawyers say he should be allowed to brand the recall against him as a Republican effort in the state's official voter guide
The Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40 mph (64 kph) gusts, raged through the northern Sierra Nevada community of Greenville on Wednesday evening. A gas station, hotel and bar were among many fixtures gutted in the town, which dates to California's Gold Rush era and has some structures more than a century old. Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote Thursday on Facebook that the fire burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our childrens schools are completely lost.

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People buy groceries at a stall in Singapore's Little India on 20 July, 2021. (PHOTO: Xinhua via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (4 August) reported 95 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, taking the country's total case count to 65,410.

It also announced Singapore's 39th COVID-19 related fatality, a 58-year-old Singaporean woman. It is the second such death here in less than a week.

There are 92 new locally transmitted infections, of whom 30 are unlinked. The ministry did not provide a breakdown of how many of them are in the community or are dormitory residents.

Among the local cases is one patient above the age of 70 who is unvaccinated and is at risk of serious illness.

Also detected were three imported infections, of whom one was detected upon arrival here, while two developed the illness during their stay-home notice or isolation period.

Twelve new clusters were announced on Wednesday, bringing the total number of active COVID-19 clusters in Singapore to 112. All of them are named after case numbers and are altogether linked to 44 cases. The MOH did not provide any details on the cases the clusters are named after.

On Wednesday, nine new cases were added to Singapore's largest cluster at the Jurong Fishery Port, now linked to 1,115 cases. One new infection was added to the second-largest cluster, linked to various KTVs, which has 252 cases.

Of those linked to the port, the MOH said seven cases are those who worked in or visited Yuhua Hawker Centre at 347 Jurong East Avenue 1, where COVID-19 transmission is likely ongoing.

To break the chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, the hawker centre will be closed to all members of the public from Thursday to 19 August. All individuals who work in the hawker centre have been placed on quarantine.

Free COVID-19 testing will be extended to members of the public who had visited the place between 21 July and 4 August.

The MOH also noted that the number of new cases in the community has decreased from 915 in the week before to 758 in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has increased from 202 in the week before to 235 in the past week.

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It added that the seven-day moving average number of all linked community cases and all unlinked community cases are 74.7 and 33.6 respectively.

The ministry separately announced that visitors to all hospitals wards in Singapore will be barred from Thursday through to 18 August following the detection of more COVID-19 cases in the community.

This comes a day after the ministry announced eight new COVID-19 clusters, including one at Changi General Hospital (CGH). The latest cluster is not linked to an older one at the hospital that was closed on 31 July.

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42 require oxygen supplementation; 7 in ICU

At least 63,357 cases in Singapore, or over 99 per cent of the overall total, have fully recovered from their infection and have been discharged from the hospital.

As of Wednesday, 555 cases are currently warded, most of whom are well and under observation.

There are currently 42 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation and seven in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Eight among the 49 cases are fully vaccinated  six require oxygen supplementation while two require ICU care as they have underlying medical conditions, said the MOH.

Among them are also 37 patients above the age of 60, of whom 31 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, who have fallen very ill, it added.

Apart from the 39 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Over the last 28 days, 77 local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to the ICU, or died. Of them, 45 are unvaccinated, 24 are partially vaccinated and eight are fully vaccinated.

As of Tuesday, about 7.77 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme. Some 4.33 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with some 3.56 million having completed the full vaccination regimen.

This means that 64 per cent of the population have completed their full regimen, or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme, and 77 per cent have received at least one dose.

Those who have received the Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine locally are not included in Singapore's national vaccination numbers. As of Tuesday, 113,767 doses of the China-made vaccine have been administered to 76,571 individuals.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

More Singapore stories:

Fully vaccinated Delta-COVID patients face much lower odds of severe outcomes: study

Tokyo Olympics: Singapore paddlers keep finding China insurmountable

Unvaccinated Singapore residents 18 and above can walk in to get Moderna COVID jabs
Former President Barack Obama addresses voters one day before the election, in Atlanta, Georgia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama has scaled back plans to celebrate his 60th birthday this weekend, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, citing the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.

The outdoor event has been in the works for months, planned in line with public health guidelines and COVID safeguards, Obama spokeswoman Hannah Hankins said.

"Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends," Hankins said in a statement.

"President Obama is appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon."

Obama, who turned 60 on Wednesday, had planned to mark his milestone birthday at his Marthas Vineyard home on Saturday with hundreds of former Obama administration officials, Democratic donors and celebrities, according to reports.

Stars including George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey as well as White House chief of staff Ron Klain had been among the expected attendees, the New York Post and the New York Times reported. Klain, now President Joe Bidens top aide, changed his mind and decided not to attend, the Times said.

Hawkins did not provide details on the scaled down plans.

Obama's planned gathering drew media attention as the United States once again grapples with rising COVID-19 cases that have pushed hospitals to capacity and caused some local officials to re-impose some restrictions.

On Tuesday, Biden called on governors to step up efforts to contain the rapid spread of the Delta variant and backed efforts by businesses, universities and other entities that are imposing mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other measures.

Biden served as vice president under Obama, who left office after two terms in January 2017.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiaacu and Steve Orlofsky)
By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Caroline Copley

PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany, France and Israel will go ahead with plans to administer COVID-19 vaccine boosters, disregarding an appeal by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people are vaccinated around the world.

The decision to press ahead with booster shots despite the WHO's strongest statement yet highlights the huge inequities in responses to the pandemic as richer nations ramp up programmes to protect citizens from the more infectious Delta variant.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France was working on rolling out third doses to the elderly and vulnerable from September.

Germany intends to give boosters to immunocompromised patients, the very elderly and nursing home residents from September, the health ministry said.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a statement urged older citizens to get a third shot after the government last month kicked off a campaign to give booster doses.

"Whoever is over the age of 60, and has yet to receive the third dose of the vaccine, is six times more susceptible to severe illness and - heaven forbid - death," Bennett said.

In an online discussion with the public and journalists, Bennett said Israel's drive to give third doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to people over 60 would provide vital information to the world on combating the Delta variant.

Israel, with a population of 9.3 million, was a small country whose vaccine use "doesn't really affect the world supply significantly", he added.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Wednesday for a halt to boosters until at least the end of September, saying it was unacceptable for rich countries to use more of the global vaccine supply.

INEQUALITIES MOUNT

High-income countries administered around 50 doses for every 100 people in May, and that number has since doubled, according to WHO. Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people, due to lack of supplies.

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"I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it," Tedros said.

Germany rejected those accusations, saying it would also donate at least 30 million vaccine doses to poorer countries.

"We want to provide the vulnerable groups in Germany with a precautionary third vaccination and at the same time support the vaccination of as many people in the world as possible," the health ministry said.

Following Tedros' comments, the White House said on Wednesday it was prepared to provide booster shots if needed, suggesting it would not heed the WHO's call either.

Pfizer has said boosters are most likely needed due to waning antibody responses, particularly after six months.

U.S. health regulators have said that more scientific evidence is needed to be certain boosters are needed, but have indicated they believe a third shot may be needed for people with compromised immune systems.

Macron's government is trying to step up France's vaccination programme as the country faces a fourth wave of the virus and street demonstrations in protest against the government's COVID policies.

France and Germany have so far given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 64.5% and 62% of their respective populations, with 49% of the French and 53% of Germans fully vaccinated.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nicolas Delame in Paris, Alexander Ratz and Caroline Copley in Berlin, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Nick Macfie, Josephine Mason, Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean)
SIOUX CITY -- A third and final suspect in a fatal Jan. 1 shooting at a Morningside house party is expected to plead guilty and avoid facing a possible lifetime prison sentence.

Carlos Morales is scheduled to enter his plea Friday pursuant to a plea agreement reached with prosecutors. He is one of three young men charged with firing several shots into a house, killing 18-year-old Mia Kritis and injuring three others.

Morales, 18, of Sioux City, is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 24 in Woodbury County District Court on charges of first-degree murder, going armed with intent and three counts of reckless use of a firearm.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, he would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. If his plea agreement is similar to those Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings reached with his two-co-defendants, Morales will have the opportunity to someday get out of prison.

His brother Christopher Morales and Anthony Bauer, both of Sioux City, each pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and three counts of reckless use of a firearm. Morales, 20, was sentenced to 55 years in prison, Bauer, 19, to 50 years. Both must serve 35 years before they're eligible for parole.
SIOUX CITY -- Northwest Area Education Agency has purchased a new office building in Sioux City that officials say offers more efficient and modern space than the aging former school the agency currently occupies.

The AEA has finalized a deal for an office at 5800 Discovery Blvd., a call center owned by MCI near Sioux City Gateway Airport, Northwest AEA chief administrator Dan Cox said.

As part of the $2.76 million deal, the owner will take possession of Northwest AEA's current building, the former East Junior High School at 1520 Morningside Ave.

MCI has up to 12 months to relocate its business, and Cox said it could be up to 18 months before Northwest AEA into its new offices.

Cox said he's excited to relocate to a facility that projects the image of a more modern, cutting-edge organization. Northwest AEA provides services to students, teachers and administrators to 34 public school districts and 32 non-public schools in a 10-county area of Northwest Iowa.

The former junior high is no longer conducive to the type of work AEA does, Cox said. There also is a lot of unused space in the multi-story, 104,000-square-foot building.
WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP)  A rental housing project proposed by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellisons company for the Hawaiian island of Lanai has the support of residents who say it will help ease a shortage that leads to crowded living conditions.

Ellison's Pulama Lanai plans to develop 150 rental units, with about half of the units to be rented at affordable rates. It is being considered under Hawaii's fast-track approval progress for affordable housing.

It has been more than three decades since a large housing project has been built on Lanai, The Maui News reported Wednesday.

Some Lanai residents told the Maui County Council's Affordable Housing Committee about a housing shortage that forces many to leave the island.

This leaves the working youth two options: to continue living with their family having crowded, stressful, small homes or to move elsewhere," Kainalu Morimoto testified.

The vast majority of the people who testified live on Lanai and support the project.

But resident Pat Riley said he opposes it because some of the units should be for sale.
The league said it stood behind its original criticism of the investigation of the incident but that individuals named in the subsequent comments by others had nothing to do with the crime. Later, others jumped on board and were demanding that horrible things happen to whoever shot the bear (we call that terrorism), the BEAR League wrote.

It added in its latest post that began, Dear Bear People, that all of us fully support and honor our sheriff and police departments.

A Washoe County judge in Reno issued a protective order in 2018 requiring a bear protection advocate to stay away from a longtime state wildlife biologist after he filed a defamation suit against the BEAR League and others accusing them of harassing and inciting violence against wildlife officials.

The Nevada Supreme Court later ruled in a related appeal that social media comments posted on the leagues site that referred to the biologist as a murderer were protected as free speech.

The sheriffs office said in Tuesdays statement the man shot the bear on June 24 after he returned to the home at about 10:30 p.m. He heard someone or something in the upstairs level and went to retrieve his firearm, which he lawfully possessed and had appropriately registered, it said.
This executive assistant also told investigators that Cuomo had reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast in November last year. She is still an employee of the governor's office.

STATE ENTITY EMPLOYEE NO. 1

At an event in September 2019, this employee and her boss went to meet Cuomo and took a photo with him. She told investigators Cuomo touched her butt while the photo was being taken.

I felt deflated and I felt disrespected and I felt much like smaller and almost younger than I actually am because kind of the funny part of it all is I was making this project happen. So we were there because, you know, the work that I had been doing and have continued to do... so it was just very, yeah, a moment of like, disempowerment.

In an email written after the event that she sent to herself to document Cuomo's action, she wrote, I then felt a lot of emotions around Cuomos inappropriate touching of my body, mostly shock and anger.

VIRGINIA LIMMIATIS

An energy company employee, Virginia Limmiatis extended her hand to the governor while at an event in 2017. Instead of taking her hand, Cuomo slid his fingers across her chest, over letters printed on her shirt, and leaned in so their cheeks touched.
Like President Joe Biden, Sen. Chuck Grassley has doubts that a new federal eviction moratorium could withstand a legal challenge, but Im not going to fuss as long theres an end date.

Grassley was kind of surprised by the Biden administration issuing a new eviction moratorium after the previous one expired July 31.

In a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed the moratorium to stand, the justices indicated it would take congressional action to extend it.

I've also heard (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi say that it can't be done except by Congress passing laws, and Congress hasn't passed laws, the Iowa Republican said Wednesday. I read yesterday that CDC itself said that they didn't have the legal authority to do it.

However, if the moratorium is going to end Oct. 3, I'm not going to squabble about it, Grassley told reporters.

The eviction moratorium, like the add-on federal unemployment benefits and other measures, were written to help Americans through the pandemic and were meant to last only as long as there is a national emergency.

Its got to end, Grassley said, but now wouldn't be the time for me to expect this to happen.
But he has not attempted to stop school districts from requiring masks and his office did not directly criticize Tyson Foods for its announcement Tuesday that it will require vaccination for all workers, vendors and visitors at its plants. The company has meatpacking plants in Dakota City, Lexington, Madison and Omaha.

While private businesses have the ability to institute such requirements right now, Gov. Ricketts strongly opposes vaccine mandates, especially while the vaccine remains under emergency use authorization, Gage said.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized three COVID-19 vaccines under a process called emergency use authorization. Thus far, Pfizer and Moderna have applied for final approval through the FDA. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Pfizers vaccine could receive final approval as soon as October.

Debate about mask use and vaccine mandates has increased along with the number of COVID-19 cases across the nation. Cases in Nebraska have gone up for six straight weeks and escalated at a faster rate last week than they did nationally. The states per-capita case rate, however, remained well below the national average and ranks 30th nationally.
The spring K-3 early literacy screening and the assessment for grades 3-11 can be found on the Iowa Department of Education website.

HISTORICAL TOUR: To commemorate this years 175th anniversary of Iowas statehood, Iowa State Fair visitors can take a self-guided historical walking tour.

The tour will show where Iowa soldiers trained for World War I, where lumber from a roller coaster was repurposed to build several local houses and where its likely a young Amelia Earhart first saw a plane take flight.

The self-guided tour will kick off the fair with a rally at 8 a.m. Aug. 12 in front of the Department of Natural Resources Building on East Grand Avenue.

Visitors with smartphones can learn about the fairs history by scanning QR-coded sidewalk decals placed at 14 sites throughout the fairgrounds, where they will remain throughout the 11-day fair.

The shortest route to all 14 sites is just over 1 mile, or about 2,000 steps for an average walker. The tour is free with the price of fair admission.

The tour is presented by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the Healthiest State Initiative.
More significant on the bill will be the band Gallivant, who played at Saturday in the Park a few weeks ago, as well as Lucas Parker, who is considered a rock guitarist with a style reminiscent of Tommy Bolin.

"Tommy had a very distinctive way of playing," Johnnie Bolin explained. "There are generations of musicians who continue to listen to Tommy's music as a way to capture that sound."

Right now, Tommy Bolin fans will be able to purchase "Energy II" and "Shake the Devil," two reissued works that are being released as vinyl albums. Both offer a treasure trove of unreleased tracks, demos and outtakes.

"Ever since we began re-releasing Tommy's music, his cult has continued to grow," Johnnie Bolin said. "Tommy may be gone but his legacy remains strong."

In fact, Bolin Fest has been known to attract Bolin fanatics from around the world.

"Tommy died just as his star was on the rise," Johnnie explained. "Here was this good-looking guy from a Midwestern town who died too young and right when he was on the cusp of greatness."

"To some extent, Tommy's bigger today than he was in his lifetime."
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. In addition to our traditional advice, every Thursday we feature an assortment of teachers from across the country answering your education questions. Have a question for our teachers? Email askateacher@slate.com or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

I have a son who just started middle school this last year. He was remote all year, while most of his classmates are not in-person. He loves remote and would like to do it full time if he could, but he has no option next year. He is a quiet kid with only a few friends. One now goes to a different middle school and his other close friend is at the same school, but their schedules dont align. I am concerned that he will struggle socially next year. Do you have any tips for a child to integrate into middle school social life?

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At Sea

Dear At Sea,

One very effective way to make new friends at school is to join a club. It doesnt have to be an extracurricular that requires an intense commitment, either. Some clubs meet up once a week during lunch at school just for fun. Many schools have a list of their clubs and activities on their website; read through it with him and encourage him to choose one to try this year.

There are also workbooks that can help kids learn strategies for making friends or overcoming shyness. If you dont think hes amenable to reading a book on the topic, Understood has some helpful tips for talking to your middle schooler about making friends (this website is for parents of children with learning difficulties, so not all of the advice will be applicable, but several of the tips are generally helpful for all kids). When you discuss returning to school in the fall, be careful not to project your worries onto him. Its possible hes content having a few close friendsnot all kids have the same friendship needs. Make sure youre listening to what he wants and needs.

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Best of luck! Im wishing you and your son a happy return to school.

 Ms. Holbrook (high school teacher, Texas)

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Im a disabled rising senior student and am currently looking at colleges and universities to apply to. I go to a charter school known for its rigorous curriculum and managed to stay afloat through my middle school years before being diagnosed with ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder in my freshman year of high school (I also have a lot of chronic health conditions, as well as depression and anxiety). I was able to get accommodations, such as extra time for assessments and am allowed to wear noise-cancelling headphones in class. These have been quite helpful, however it hasnt been enough to keep the noise levels in the classrooms from causing me to have meltdowns or prevent my classmates from mocking me and spreading rumors of my special treatment, among other things. So you can imagine Im not looking forward to going back to school too much.

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Ideally Id like to go somewhere with small class sizes and a flexible curriculum to suit my brain, like a liberal arts college. I was researching schools when I realized that there are colleges for the neurodivergent. I know there are schools for the blind and deaf, but I hadnt heard of a place like Landmark College or Beacon College until very recently. Since I was diagnosed late in life (and due to a bunch of other stuff), I havent gotten a lot of treatment or training to help me to do well in a mainstream learning environment. I get decent grades in school currently, but I know I have to work a lot harder and under a lot more distress than my classmates to get half as far as them. The lack of tolerance and awareness (particularly of SPD) of others has also made me think that my best bet for college might be a place made specifically for people like me, where I can be surrounded by others whove had similar experiences.

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Only problem is, there dont seem to be a lot of these schools. There are the two Ive already mentioned, and Adelphi University in New York has the only program specifically for individuals with sensory needs in the country. Furthermore, a lot of people believe that only autistic individuals have sensory issues, and so if theres a program thats for people on the spectrum that also provides sensory relief, obviously I cant qualify for it. Are there more colleges for ADHD kids that Im missing? A college with a program for neurodivergent students would be fine, but a college for neurodiverse students would be easier. It took a while to find the ones that I did, so Im curious about any and all others, even if theyre not in the U.S. where I live.

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Invisibly Disabled

Dear Invisibly Disabled,

Let me get the bad news out of the way first: other than the ones youve listed (Beacon, Landmark, and Adelphi), there arent really any schools Ive been able to find that are specifically designed for neurodivergent students. Im not going to surprise you with a list of secret schools that have been there the whole time.

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Now, onto the better news. I have a few things you can do. First, if its an option for you, request (or have your parents request) an IEP/504 meeting (whichever one you are already using) to address the SPD. Sensory Processing Disorder can be debilitating in that it prevents you from doing activities that you want to do. While SPD is not a diagnosis in the DSM, you can receive therapies to help you cope with it, mainly occupational therapy. An occupational therapist can help you learn how to ground yourself so that you have more spoons or emotional stores to handle challenging sensory input when it comes up. That person can also teach you strategies for how to cope in the moment that challenging sensory input occurs. This doesnt directly address the college problem, but life is full of sensory input and having strategies in place to handle it will help across settings.

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Next, while there arent many other dedicated colleges, there are programs for neurodivergent students within other schools that could really help you. Its true that most programs that address SPD are typically aimed at autistic students, but not all of them require a diagnosis. One of the big differences between high school and college is that, even if you dont go to a college that is all one minority group or another, its easier to cultivate a social circle in college. For example, I went to the University of Chicago, and while it doesnt have any special programs for neurodivergent students, a large population of kids with neurodivergent needs were able to find one another and form support groups, both formal and informal.

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There are two avenues for finding these programs. Some college counselors specialize in this sort of work, and if your family can afford them, they may be a big help, not just with picking a program, but with the application process. ADHD often manifests as executive functioning difficulties, so having someone walk you through this process could be enormously helpful. If you go to this website and search for the LD College sub-specialty, there are people all over the country who have the expertise to help you find the right school. The other avenue is more informal: With your parents approval, go to Twitter or Facebook or whatever your social media of choice is and find adults with ADHD or SPD who can offer you advice. You can, for example, tag something #AskingAutistic on twitter and get responses from Autistic people about their experiences in college. Likewise ask #AskADHD and get responses from people with ADHD about their experiences in one school or another. Getting information from the community can help you both with picking a school and with finding resources to help you be happier and more comfortable in the world.

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Choosing a college is hard and scary, but something I think we forget is that its not permanent. The secret is that, while transferring is a hassle, its ultimately doable, so if you find a school and it isnt working for you, you can always look again. You arent going to ruin your life by picking the wrong programbut hopefully, if you can find a supportive community of people who arent jerks to you, you will be more comfortable and able to learn.

Ms. Sarnell (early childhood special education teacher, New York)

Children where I live start kindergarten if theyre 5 before December 31. All of the towns around us have a kindergarten cutoff date of being 5 by September 15. Our daughter has a Dec. 20 birthday, and were torn about whether to send her to kindergarten at 4.5 or not. We have the (obviously more expensive) option of keeping her at our beloved daycare, which goes through kindergarten because of the neighboring town cutoff. I worry about sending her to kindergarten so young, because much of our school curriculum seems to be test-driven. What are good questions I can ask of our public school district to better understand what their goals are for the kindergarten curriculum? What are questions I should ask to better understand their expectations of kindergarten students?

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Too Little for Kinder?

Dear Too Little,

Im really glad that your approach is to discuss this with the school and its teachers. I think parents often turn to other parents for advice about when to enroll their child in kindergarten, but to me, those conversations are often less than productive. I think you end up being offered a whole bunch of personal anecdotes about the unique temperament and experiences of other peoples kids that dont help you make an informed decision about your individual kid. Talking to the staff will guide you more effectively in understanding how your daughter will fit into their kindergarten program.

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In that conversation, here are some of the things Id ask: What skills help a student begin kindergarten successfully? (That doesnt mean academic skills, necessarilysome letter and number recognition is helpful, but you really want to hear more about expected behavioral and social-emotional skills like following directions independently, playing collaboratively with peers, accepting correction, and so on.) How long will students be expected to sit and attend to a task at the beginning of the year, and how much will that change as the year goes on? How much time are kindergarteners offered for play or free choice, physical movement, and time outdoors? How is academic instruction deliveredin small groups? With manipulatives and experiments? With the aid of screens or tech? You can compare their answers to what you know about your daughter and her strengths and current challenges to start getting an idea of whether shes currently prepared to have a positive transition. I would also ask directly about the teachers experiences with children who fall at the very end of the age cutoff. What are the advantages and disadvantages of enrolling your daughter this year? What have they observed as indicators that a student would benefit from waiting a year? You can even simply ask: after theyve heard more about your daughter, do they have a recommendation?

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Finally, I know I just expressed the limited usefulness of trying to apply other peoples individual circumstances to your own, so take this with some grain of salt, but: as a teacher who is also the parent of a July baby who just finished her kindergarten year, my general opinion is that concerns over the demands of modern kindergarten are somewhat overblown, and concerns over summer birthdays being too young for it quite so. But a child not turning the standard entry age until almost halfway through the school year is a different story. I found kindergarten expectations quite reasonable for my recently-turned five-year-old, but four and a half strikes me as pretty early to make the leap (six months makes a big difference for kids growing and developing this rapidly!). I dont know your daughter or your school, so I wont advise you firmly either way, but I would listen carefully to the teachers advice and err on the side of caution.

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Ms. Bauer (middle and high school teacher, New York)

Is opting out of homework at younger grade levels actually a thing? Id like to respectfully have my rising first grader not participate in homework or assignments over school breaks and weekends. How do I ask for this while not burning a bridge with my childs teacher but also helping my kid balance school and life at this young age?

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Home Over Homework

Dear Home,

In general, Im not a fan of homework especially in lower grades, but Ive never heard of a family or student opting out of homework if it is the educators expectation that it be completed, unless its supported by district policy. Id begin by asking your kids teacher a few clarifying questions about homework, like how do the homework assignments support the curriculum?

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Some teachers use homework as a time for independent practice, preferring to save class time for instruction or small group work. If this is the case, homework may be the only time your student has to practice key skills. Other districts like mine, allow homework to be assigned but restrict it from being counted toward a students final grade. Your kids teacher may be assigning the work as practice but so that they can have an opportunity to provide feedback to your child. I dont believe asking questions will burn a bridge with your teacher, and I think doing so can allow you to make a more informed decision. Im sure theyd be more open to you forgoing homework if you go into things asking for information and clarification, as opposed to just skipping the assignments all together. See what they say, and you can make your decision accordingly.

Mr. Hersey (second grade teacher, Washington)

More Advice From Slate

I feel like a social outcast among a group of parents in my community. I cant tell if its my social anxiety and overthinking, or if I have indeed done something to make myself a pariah. Im very sensitive to negative social cues and tend to miss positive ones, and I dont know how to get to the bottom of this problem. Can you help?
As COVID-19 ravages Florida, its Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to have honed in on a strategy: blame President Joe Biden. A day after Biden publicly expressed frustration with Republican governors who are preventing businesses and schools from implementing mask and vaccine mandates, DeSantis fired back. Some governors arent willing to do the right things to make this happen, Biden had told reporters Tuesday. I say to these governors, please help. If you arent going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives. DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have both issued executive orders banning mask mandates.

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DeSantis insisted he is ready to object to any COVID-19 restrictions that would prevent business from operating normally. And he pointed the finger at Biden, saying he is the one who is helping facilitate the spread of COVID-19 by not securing the countrys Southern border with Mexico. You have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month, DeSantis said. Not only are they letting them through, theyre farming them out all across the country, putting them on planes, putting them on buses. Do you think theyre worrying about COVID for that? Of course not. As might be expected, DeSantis didnt provide any evidence to support his allegations that whatever variants there are around the world, theyre coming across that Southern border. The governor had earlier blamed media hysteria for concerns over hospital capacity.

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The lashing out at Biden was the latest bit of evidence of how much DeSantis, widely seen as a possible presidential contender, is relishing his time on the national spotlight and is turning his opposition to COVID-19-related mandates into a rallying cry. As if there was any doubt the Florida governor is using the war of words to raise his national profile, he included criticism of Biden in a fundraising email on Wednesday. Joe Biden has the nerve to tell me to get out of the way on COVID while he lets COVID-infected migrants pour over our southern border by the hundreds of thousands, reads the email. He later went on Fox News and repeated the same talking points.

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DeSantis is focusing on his confrontation with Biden at a time when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging while deaths are also increasing in his state. Hospitals in Florida are also seeing a new kind of patient as more children are being hospitalized with COVID-19. Kids under 12 are the group that has seen the sharpest increase in cases over the past month, according to a Miami Herald analysis. Overall, the states hospitals are now seeing more COVID-19 patients than at any time during the pandemic, according to a Financial Times analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data. Models predict occupancy at the states intensive care units could reach a record high by this weekend.
If you had to pick the most broken institution in Washington, which one would you choose? Would you pick Congress, where lawmakers show up and grind out legislation even when it has zero chance of passing? Maybe youd pick the courts, which, after years of conservative activism, have gotten philosophically warped. If I had to pick, Id go way smaller. Id pick the Federal Election Commission. Its a place thats been described as notoriously dysfunctional.

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Ellen Weintraub is a commissioner at the FECpart of a six-person leadership team that is purposely split down the middle: three Republicans, three Democrats. (Weintraub is a Democrat.) The idea here is that, by keeping the commission in a 33 splitand requiring four votes to get anything donenonpartisan decision-making will follow.

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Instead, all of the bickering youve gotten used to in Washington? It plays out in miniature at the FEC. During his term, President Donald Trump simply refused to appoint commissioners. That meant cases couldnt be closed. Fines werent imposed. And that was in 2020, the most expensive election cycle ever. The American people deserve better from the only government agency with civil enforcement authority over the campaign finance laws, Weintraub says.

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Now, the commission is once again fully staffed. But that hasnt necessarily made things work better. Because, according to Weintraub, her Republican colleagues share a philosophical approach to their work. Their philosophy is that the FEC should not exist. You can look at cases that involve allegations against Democrats. You can look at allegations against Republicans. And regardless of whos being complained about, its always the Democrats who are trying to enforce the law and the Republicans who are trying to block enforcement of the law, she said. I regret that that has happened. That didnt used to be the case for most of the agencys history.

But Weintraub has an unconventional scheme to try to fix that. On Thursdays episode of What Next, I spoke with the FEC commissioner about how shes trying to spur her notoriously dysfunctional agency into actionby leaning in to its gridlock. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Ellen Weintraub: I think when this agency was first established back in the 1970s, people were concerned that it would just be Democrats protecting Democrats and Republicans protected Republicans. And thats why the agency wouldnt work. And thats where the gridlock would come from.

But that isnt actually what has happened. Its not the way it has played out. And unfortunately, campaign finance, like a lot of other topics in Washington, has become partisan, where one party has one philosophy on campaign finance regulation and the other party has a different philosophy.

The Republicans are pro money, and the Democrats are pro regulation, is my understanding.

Well, the Republicans believe that there should be very few, if any, limits on money in politics. And unfortunately, theyre not even too wild about disclosure anymore. That used to be the part that everybody would agree on, that at least it ought to be out in the open. And Democrats believe that excessive funds in politics has the potential to corrupt the system and that some kind of reasonable regulation is necessary.

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This ends up benefitting the side that doesnt want to take action: the Republicans. And even when the commission can agree to hold someone accountable, these partisan rifts open up.

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A good example of this is the Karen McDougal case. McDougal was a Playboy model who claimed shed slept with Donald Trump. Back in 2016, she agreed to sell her story to American Media Inc., which owned a number of supermarket tabloids. But it turned out AMI was buying her silence to protect presidential candidate Trump. And that is a violation of campaign finance law.

AMI was ultimately held accountable. They entered into a nonprosecution agreement with the federal government in which they explained what happened under oath. And we were able to use that, which basically was an admission on their part that they had coordinated these payments with the Trump campaign, and they had made these payments to Karen McDougal in whats known as a catch and kill. And in that case, because somebody admitted that they violated the law, even my Republican colleagues were willing to go after the National Enquirer for that.

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And yet, when it came to the FEC, we were able to get the votes to go forward against AMI, but we were not able to get any votes to go forward against Trump or his campaign. Its beginning to look like unless somebody comes in and actually confesses and admits that they broke the law, as AMI basically did, that its very hard to get four votes to move forward on anything.

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That seems like a real problem.

Yes, I would agree with you. I believe it is a very serious problem. The standard for triggering an investigation is that there has to be reason to believe that the law has been violated or is about to be violated. And the Republican commissioners over the last number of years have been steadily raising the threshold on what it means to have reason to believe. A number of years ago, there was a bipartisan agreement on the commission that what that standard really meant was that there has to be reason to investigate, that you didnt have to have conclusive proof that the law had already been violated in order to start an investigation, because otherwise the entire structure doesnt make any sense. Congress gave us subpoena authority. Congress gave us resources to hire investigators and lawyers. And none of that would make any sense if we were never going to do any investigations and we were only going to try and negotiate penalties after somebody else had done the investigation and we were presented with conclusive proof. But in case after case, I have seen my Republican colleagues say, Well, I just dont believe it. I dont have conclusive evidence that the law was violated. And if I dont have that evidence in front of me already, how can I vote to start the investigation?

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Its very frustrating. And its a clever legal trick that they use to avoid starting investigations. It sometimes has felt like Im on a commission with hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil because they just dont want to find the facts.

But heres the thing: Since it takes four votes to close a case, even if all the Republicans want to shut things down, they need at least one Democrat to go along with them.

If you look at the case of Karen McDougal, you can see how a Democratic commissioner has some reason to play along with their Republican counterparts. They were fining the National Enquirer $187,000. Thats real money!

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But there are other cases where Weintraub and her colleagues have got less to lose, and thats opened up a brand new strategy for her. As long as she can convince her Democratic colleagues to hang together, as a bloc, they can keep the commission deadlocked, which comes with a benefit.

There is a second way for the law to get enforced that is built into the statute. If somebody files a complaint and they are not satisfied with what the commission has or hasnt doneif we dismiss a case and they think that it was an arbitrary and capricious decision, or if we just fail to actthen the complainant can file a suit in federal court against the agency. And under the statute, it requires four votes to defend that suit and explain what the agency did or didnt do and why. And Ive just started not voting to defend that kind of litigation.

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My understanding is that youre keeping cases open like that, too. So theyre sort of on a simmer, but no one really knows whats happening and theres no decision.

That is another decision point. At some point, there has to be four votes to close the file before it can be made public. We have to agree to dismiss the case. And that requires people like me to say, OK, I thought we should have gone forward, but if you guys dont want to go forward, Im just going to agree with you that we should just dismiss this case.

It sounds like you are sick of doing that.

I am sick of doing that. I am tired of voting to dismiss cases that I think we should pursue. And this strategy gives me a little bit of leverage. It makes my colleagues have to think, at least. If we dont work across the aisle and try and find some resolution that might get four votes, then we could run into a situation where we cant close the file. They cant count on me, and sometimes my colleagues, to agree with them. OK, you dont want to go forward. Were just going to dismiss this case. And then if we get sued over it, either because we have delayed it too long or because we have dismissed it and people think that we shouldnt have, we will not necessarily agree to defend their position. Its not my position that that ends up getting defended in court. Its their decision. And it always works that way. I never get the benefit of this. Its not like, well, sometimes you agree to defend their decision and then other times they agree to defend your decision. My decisions arent the subject of the lawsuits ever, because they are always the ones who are blocking enforcement of the law. Really, whats my motivation to do that?

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So when we chatted back in 2019, you told me the story of how the FEC got here. You talked about this moment in 2008 when a bunch of new commissioners were appointed all at once and the Republicans decided they were going to vote as a bloc and prevent a lot of things from being accomplished. One of those commissioners was Don McGahn, who later served as Trumps attorney. What youre doing here, it seems like exactly the same thing that really frustrated you when the Republicans did it a few years back. Do you see it that way?

I dont really. But at a certain point, you have to fight fire with fire if nothing else works. If I cannot get people on the other side to say, Youre right, we really ought to try and find four votes. I have to use the small amount of leverage that Ive got, the tools that are available to me to try and get people to work across the aisle to try and find that kind of consensus that I think the agency was designed for. The agency was designed for compromise. Some people say we were designed to fail because of the 33 split in commissioners. I think it was set up to compromise, but it was also set up with an acknowledgment by Congress that it might not work.

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Your fellow commissioner Trey Trainor said in an interview that the Democrats were poisoning the well at the agency.

Im poisoning the well?

He called the tactic an abuse of the process. What would you say to that?

Its kind of like the person who kills his parents pleading sympathy for being an orphan with the court.

Thats harsh.

Well, Ive been told Im abusing the process. I think thats also harsh. Everything that Im doing is completely consistent with the statute. The commission does not have to defend the litigation. It could, for example, reexamine the decision that it made and say, You know what, maybe we need to go back to the drawing board and see if theres a better way forward here to avoid this litigation rather than blindly defending every single time we get sued.

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So you see that as a failsafe. He sees it as an abuse.

How can it be an abuse of the statute if its written into the statute? If they want four votes to defend the litigation, then maybe they should work harder to make sure that the original decisions that we are subject to suit on have the backing of four commissioners.

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One former Republican commissioner wrote an op-ed talking about this new strategy you have, complaining about it. And one of his comments, which I thought was kind of interesting, was basically, why arent you, Ellen Weintraub, giving these new guys on the commission a chance? Youre complaining that theres Republican obstruction. But, two-thirds of the GOP commissioners have served less than six months. The thirds barely been there a year. So, you barely know these guys. Why are you taking such a firm stance when they just got there?

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Well, this only happens when theres a 33 split. Its not like this is happening in every case. I am happy to work with my colleagues on as many cases as we can get the votes to work together on. And there are cases that we are pursuing.

At each decision point, I have the evidence in front of me that demonstrates that at least in this case, they are not willing to work across the aisle. We are once again falling back into these same partisan split votes. And as I said, its not partisan because they are defending Republicans and were defending Democrats. Theyre blocking enforcement of law against Democrats and Republicans. And I am trying to get the law enforced against Democrats and Republicans if they are alleged to have violated the law.

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Do you think that an institution built on the idea that there are three Republicans, three Democrats can work in the same way that it worked 20 years ago, 40 years ago, or has something shifted there?

Theres no question that everything has become more partisan in Washington, right? Its not just us, but if youre going to see partisanship and polarization play out anywhere, it is absolutely going to be in an agency where you are evenly divided. And that has led to proposals that the entire structure of the agency needs to change because we cant get our job done in this 33 system.

At this point, do you want to, like, burn it all down and start over?

I certainly have a lot of sympathy with the people who want to do that. I understand their frustrations. Believe me, no one is more frustrated than I am about the inability of the FEC to be a real cop on the beat and to seriously enforce the law. But what Im trying here is something short of burning the place down. What Im trying is to use the leverage that I have available to me to try and reel it all back a little bit, to impose some costs on the other side. And Im sure that they are frustrated to discover that they dont get to win every single time.

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An almost $6,000 bottle of whisky has gone missing. The State Department is trying to figure out the location of a bottle of whisky valued at $5,800 that the Japanese government gave former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In a notice in the federal register, the State Department says theres an ongoing inquiry into the whereabouts of the booze. The investigation was detailed as part of the annual listing of the gifts that foreign governments and their leaders gave to U.S. officials.

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Theres no evidence Pompeo actually ever touched the whisky. He was traveling in Saudi Arabia when Japanese officials gave the bottle to the State Department on June 24, 2019. But Pompeo also traveled to Japan that same month for a Group of 20 summit. Pompeos lawyer said the former secretary of state has no clue about the whiskys whereabouts. The former secretary of state has no recollection of receiving the bottle of whiskey and does not have any knowledge of what happened to it. He is also unaware of any inquiry into its whereabouts, William Burck said. He has no idea what the disposition was of this bottle of whiskey.

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U.S. officials are allowed to keep any gifts valued at less than $390 but must pay the government for anything over that price. Sources tell the New York Times the government was never paid for the bottle and thats why the State Departments inspector general is looking into the matter. The missing gift is an extremely rare instance in which there appear to be legitimate questions about the whereabouts of a gift form a foreign country. Stanley M. Brand, a criminal defense lawyer and ethics expert, told the Times he couldnt recall another instance over the past four decades. Like a lot of what occurred in the Trump era, this arises from a mix of rules and regulations that were previously obscure and rarely invoked, Brand said. I have been doing ethics stuff for 40 years and this has never been on the top of the list or on the list of problems.

Pompeo has been embroiled in a series of ethics scandals that could come back to haunt him if he decides to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. An inspector general report earlier this year said Pompeo violated ethics rules when he and his wife asked government employees to do personal tasks for them.
On Wednesday, four of the leading Republican candidates to be the next governor of California held a debate in which anti-vaccine and anti-mask rhetoric featured prominently, showing what might be in store for one of the most progressive states in the country if Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled when the state votes on Sept. 14.

You might be asking yourself a few questions right now such as: Republican next governor of California? Debate? Recall? Though much of the countryand even state!have seemingly not noticed, the Democratic governor of California is at high risk of losing his job. The Trump-backed recall effort in, yes, the bluest of blue states, will succeed if just over 50 percent of voters agree to replace Newsom with someone else (voters will also be asked who should replace him, and a much smaller plurality would be needed to claim victory than that 50 percent threshold for the recall itselfits bizarre). The candidates vying to take Newsoms place have, to varying degrees, promised to bring COVID denialism to the Golden State. In short: We could easily become the next Florida.

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The debate featured four of the most-serious GOP candidates (though all are trailing behind conservative talk show host Larry Elder, who did not attend). Each promised to emulate the COVID-19 response of much more conservative states, should they take office.

Conservative businessman John Coxwho lost handily to Newsom in the governors race three years ago but according to recent polls has a shot at the gig nowsaid during that debate that Florida would be his model.

This disease is an awful one, I had it very early on and its not something you want to have but its 99.9 percent survivable by people who are in decent health who arent elderly, Cox said, writing off whole swaths of the population to die, as well as downplaying the severity and potential long-term consequences of the disease even among young people. What we need to do is look at what other states have done. I mean I compare California to Florida. (Florida currently has one of the worst delta COVID outbreaks in the country, with the state making up roughly one-fifth of the cases and hospitalizations in all of the United States.)

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Cox also said he would end vaccine mandates for health care workers and state employees and went so far as to encourage Californians to not get the vaccine.

First of all, theres a lot of people that have had COVID and have antibodies, they dont need the vaccine, they shouldnt get the vaccine, he said.

The other three Republicans on the stage were similarly opposed to issuing orders to protect California residents from COVID-19, even as case counts continue to surge across the nation.

I do not favor mandates; I favor educate: Youre not going to mandate your way out of the coronavirus, said former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. One of the moderators asked if he would attempt to ban mask mandates in schools by local authorities, as has happened in red states such as Texas and Florida. I do not support a mask mandate in schools, Faulconer said.

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Another candidate tried to argue the public out of public health. I think the government has engaged in a significant overreach of its authority in terms of imposing these things, said former Republican Rep. Doug Ose. I happen to have great faith in the ability of people to make decisions of their own, to assess the risk that they face, whether it be for their child in school, or their workplace, or where they shop. If you go to a store that says please wear a mask, you have a decision to make, you can put on a mask and go in or you have to respect the store owners rights to control their own environment. I just think that government overreach has to stop. Ose also said he opposed the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions current guidance on masks.

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Like Cox, State Assembly member Kevin Kiley, who seemed to be one of the more moderate GOP candidates on the stage, also said he thinks California should have been following the lead of other, redder states. We certainly would have done a lot more good than the hoopla with these vaccine lotteries and these steps were taking towards mandates and passports, Kiley said. It is a perfect case study for the perversity of California politics.

Again, any one of these figures could quite conceivably become the next governor of one of the bluest states in the country. According to a recent poll from Emerson College, 46 percent of California voters surveyed were in favor of recalling Newsom, with 48 percent opposed. According to another recent poll from the UCBerkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times, 47 percent supported the recall and 50 percent opposed it. According to that poll, Faulconer and Cox were in second and third place respectively on the next question in that ballot if the recall of Newsom succeeds, with 10 percent each. (Kiley had 5 percent in that poll.)

And what about that poll leader, Elder, who was not on the debate stage on Wednesday but had a leading 18 percent support according to the Los Angeles Times poll? Last week, he said definitively on Instagram: No mask and vaccination mandates when I become Governor.

If California Democrats dont turn things around very quickly, that could be happening sooner than later.
President Biden surprised Democratic leaders last May when he proposed spending slightly more money on the military than the Trump administration had spent the previous year. Now both houses of Congressincluding many Democrats who not long ago had called for cutting defense spendingare getting ready to pass a defense budget that boosts Bidens proposal by $25 billion.

The measure, which is almost certain to pass both houses by large majorities, would lift the military budget for fiscal year 2022 to a record-busting $777.9 billiona 5 percent increase over Trumps final budget of $741 billion.

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This was the sum approved, in a stunningly bipartisan 23-3 vote, by the Senate Armed Services Committee. In the coming weeks, the House committee and the two chambers appropriations and budget committees are all but certain to follow suit. (The amount included $740 billion for the Defense Department, with most of the rest funneled to the Energy Department for nuclear weapons.)

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Rep. Adam Smith, who called for cutting the defense budget by $100 billion when he became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee after the Democrats regained control of the chamber in 2018, now admits the winds are blowing in the opposite direction. He told Defense News this week, The people who want to spend more than the Biden number have built a lot of support, and yes, I think that [$25 billion increase] is a potential bipartisan pathway. I dont support it, I dont think thats where we should go, but at the end of the day, I have one vote.

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There are a few reasons for this overwhelming endorsement of such a massive increase in defense spending. First, many Democrats believe that its necessary to retain supportamong moderate Democrats and a few Republicansfor Bidens massive spending on domestic programs. (This was one reason Biden decided not to cut the defense budget back in May.) Second, in an era when Congress is spending trillions of dollars on COVID relief, infrastructure, child care, and enhanced unemployment benefits, $25 billion doesnt seem like a whole lot of money. Finally, amid heightened concerns about Chinas military expansion, the idea of spending moreeven a lot moreon defense is harder to resist.

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However, these concernssome real, some exaggeratedarent being tethered to any analysis. If progressive Democrats were equally lavish when it came to social programs, conservatives and moderates would assail them for throwing money at the problem. In fact, they did say that when presented with a $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan. As a result, Biden and key legislators took a close look at the details, narrowed the definition of infrastructure, and wound up with a compromise bill that sliced the amount to $500 billion.

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The congressional committees have done no such analysis of whats really needed for national defense. For the most part, they have merely taken what the Biden administration gave them and said, More!

This is not an exaggeration. Every year, the military servicesArmy, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and now Space Forcesubmit a list of unfunded requirements. These are items that the service chiefs say they need but that cant be squeezed into the budget limits set by the White House. Smith recently observed (as many others have observed in the past), No matter how large the budget, theres always this list of unfunded requirements, and it strikes me as simply a forcing mechanism to, no matter what, force money into the system. Usually Congress takes this game in stride. A few legislators, usually those with less-than-fully-funded weapons manufactured in their districts, fight for amendments to add more money; a few succeed, most dont.

But this year, theyre almost all poised to win. Nearly the entire $25 billion add-on is devoted to filling those unfunded gaps.

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A full list of congressional add-on wont be made public until all the committees complete the mark-ups of the defense bill, but the Senate Armed Services Committee released an executive summary of the list. It includes $610 million for six more F-35 fighter jets (in addition to $12 billion that Biden requested for 85 of the planes), $571 million for more F-15EX planes (in addition to Bidens $1.3 billion for 12 of planes), $746 million for Army combat vehicles (beyond the $1 billion Biden funded for M1 tank upgrades), $1.75 billion for a new destroyer ship (beyond Bidens $2.4 billion), and $700 million extra for the Indo-Pacific Command (in addition to Bidens $5.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which is shaping up to be a slush fund for less-than-compelling programs that can be rationalized as required to contain China).

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At a recent House hearing, Smith asked Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whether any of the items on the unfunded-requirements list were critical for the militarys success in countering China, terrorism, or other threats. Milley replied, The answer is no, in my professional opinion. If they were critical, then they [would have been] higher on the priority listin the base budget.

The precise phrasing of Milleys responsein my professional opinionwas significant. In hearings, legislators sometimes ask a general or an admiral for his professional opinion or military judgment, as a way of giving the officer an opening to veer from administration policy. The fact that Milley invoked the phrase, without prompting, signaled that he was speaking from conviction, not political obligation.

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It is telling that the Senate mark-up, at least as revealed so far, places limits on just three weapons systems. It bars the Missile Defense Agency from developing a particular system in Guam without first providing a detailed plan. It kills funding for a new aerial refueling tanker, and for an armed reconnaissance plane desired by U.S. Special Operations Command. (However, SOCOM does get an extra $200 million for whatever else its commander thinks is necessary.) It is worth noting that none of these weapons currently exist.

Another telling detail (though this may not survive once the bill goes through all the committee and floor votes): the Senate mark-up repeals language in previous bills expressing a preference for fixed-cost contracts. This is a lavish gift to defense manufacturers that could wind up boosting taxpayers bills and corporate profits by billions of dollars.

Regardless of anybodys estimates of how much we should spend on defense, this sort of uncritical largesse is bad for national security. It discourages discipline and innovation (no need to come up with tighter efficiencies or new ideas for coping with new threats when were going to get all the money we want anyway); it sustains bureaucratic support for old weapons that might be unsuitable for tomorrows battlefield; it promotes sluggishness and bloat.

Congress is supposed to provide oversight. This is the opposite of oversight.
In recent weeks, weve gotten an even greater glimpse into Donald Trumps efforts to discredit and overturn the results of the 2020 election. From the clownish ongoing audit in Arizona to the revelation of Jeffrey Clarks insane and rejected December plan for the Department of Justice to cajole legislatures in states Biden won into overturning those results to the attorneys being sanctioned for their frivolous Trump election lawsuits, the 2020 election subversion attempt is being shown every day to have been a Keystone Cops Coup.

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The crude and failed nature of Donald Trumps attempt to destroy the 2020 election has made it easy to dismiss as overblown concerns about the integrity of the 2024 election too. After all, court after court rejected attempts by Trump and his allies in the aftermath of the November 2020 count to prove that fraud affected the election results. Despite Trumps attempts to pressure state election officials, governors, state legislators, and officials at the U.S. Department of Justice like Clark to get state legislatures to meet and declare new electoral college votes for him after the presidential vote was certified for Biden in each challenged state, the system (barely) held, and Trump was removed from office on January 20, 2021.

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But there has been a subtle shift in how Trump and his allies have talked about the supposed rigging of the 2020 election in a way that will make such claims more appealing to the conservative judges and politicians that held the line last time around. Come 2024, crass and boorish unsubstantiated claims of stealing are likely to give way to arcane legal arguments about the awesome power of state legislatures to run elections as they see fit. Forget bonkers accusations about Italy using lasers to manipulate American vote totals and expect white-shoe lawyers with Federalist Society bona fides to argue next time about application of the independent state legislature doctrine in an attempt to turn any Republican presidential defeat into victory.

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Trump signaled as much in his March 2021 interview with the Washington Posts Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker for their book, I Alone Can Fix It, and key conservative operatives have sent the same signals according to Jane Mayers recent blockbuster reporting in the New Yorker about the big money behind the Big Lie.

Trumps interview with Leonnig and Rucker got attention for Trump saying that he spoke to a loving crowd on Jan. 6 before some of them violently stormed the Capitol to try to stop Congresss electoral college vote count. But what caught my ear was Trumps explanation of why he said the election was rigged. Even putting supposed massive fraud aside, he said in posted audio of the interview,

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the legislatures of the states did not approve all of the things that were done for those elections. And under the Constitution of the United States, they have to do that. And the Supreme Court, they didnt find factdont forget, they didnt say they disagreedthey said we are not going to hear the case. Im very disappointed in the Supreme Court. Had Mike Pence had the courage to send it back to the legislatures, you would have had a different outcome, in my opinion. Before you even start about the individual corruptions  when you are handed these votes, and you know that the legislature of any one of those states did not approve those vast changeshours, days, when to voteit was all done, local politicians and local judgesright there you should have sent them back to the legislatures. And I can show you letters from legislatures. They wanted them back Had they gotten them, it would have been a much different story.

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It wasnt just Trump advancing this argument to try to overturn the election. It also was a cadre of conservative activists like Leonard Leo, co-Chairman of the Federalist Society, whose Orwellian-named Honest Elections Project pushed the same argument before the Supreme Court. As leading election law scholar Nate Persily told Jane Mayer for the New Yorker, the Independent State Legislature doctrine is giving intellectual respectability to an otherwise insane, anti-democratic argument.

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So how does this argument work? Article II of the Constitution of the United States provides that state legislatures get to set the manner for choosing presidential electors. Similarly, Article I, section 4 gives the state legislature the power to set the time, place, and manner for conducting congressional elections, subject to congressional override. In practice, these clauses have been understood as allowing the legislature to set the ground rules for conducting the election, which are then subject to normal state processes: election administrators fix the details for administering the vote, state courts interpret the meaning of state election rules, and sometimes judges and officials decide when state rules violate state constitutional rights to vote.

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For example, in the run-up to the 2020 election, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that a state law requiring that mail-in ballots must arrive by Election Day to count violated the state constitutions provisions protecting voting rights in light of the election being conducted during the pandemic. It extended the receipt of ballots by three days.

Republicans challenged that extension, arguing that the U.S. Constitution makes the legislature supreme, even if the state legislature would otherwise be violating the state constitution as determined by the state supreme court. This is the independent state legislature doctrine because it proposes that the legislature is supreme against all other actors that might run elections. This is a wacky theory of legislative power, but it is one that four Supreme Court justices (Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas) expressed support for in various opinions during the 2020 elections, and it echoes an alternative argument that former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, joined by Justice Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia, made in the Bush v. Gore case ending the 2000 election and handing victory to Republican George W. Bush.

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Justice Alito thought enough of the argument in the 2020 Pennsylvania case to order ballots arriving in Pennsylvania in the three days after Election Day to be set aside for possible exclusion from the count. Fortunately, there were only about 10,000 such ballots, and they did not determine the outcome of the presidential race (Biden won there by about 80,000 votes.)

The 2020 fight over the independent state legislature doctrine was a close call. It would not be at all surprising to see at least five or perhaps all six conservative justices embrace the argument next time it comes before the court in a timely way.

Its easy to picture how this might play out in the next presidential election. Imagine that a state legislature sets forth general rules for conducting the 2024 election, but it does not provide every detail about how the election is run. Republican legislatures in states won by the Democratic candidate could seize on some normal election administration rule created by a state or local election administrator or some ruling from a state court, and argue that implementation of the rule renders the presidential election unconstitutional, leaving it to the state legislature to pick a different slate of electors.

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Now maybe the courts wont bite on this theoryin 2020, Justice Kavanaugh seemed wary of the argument because it came very late in the process. But it might not take court involvement to create chaos and try to flip election results. A state legislature dominated by Republicans in a state won by Democrats could simply meet and declare that local administrators or courts have deviated from the legislatures own rules, and therefore the legislature will take matters into its own hands and choose its own slate of electors.

Should Republicans control Congress in early 2025, they could well accept these arguments as they count Electoral College votes, even as such arguments were rejected by a Democratic-led Congress (over the objections of well over 100 Republican members of Congress) in 2020. They might try to count the votes from the state legislature rather than votes reflecting the peoples will. The independent state legislature argumentwhich would essentially overturn U.S. elections to make the loser the winnerwould have an air of respectability that would not depend upon a claim that the election was rife with fraud or stolen, but that the actions of the states governor, or courts, or election administrators violated the Constitution by usurping the legislatures rights. Again, all of this is scarily plausible.

The Jan. 6 insurrection, and Trumps actions trying to change the electoral college votes in five states, was an attempted coup built on the Big Lie of voter fraud. But the potential coup next time will come in neatly filed legal briefs and arguments quoting Thomas Jefferson and wrapped in ancient precedents and purported constitutional textualism. It will be no less pernicious.
We know we are not anonymous online. Our every move in the digital sphere is tracked, collected, analyzed. Its all fascinating to our spies, who know our identity at every step. They can pinpoint us by the way we write our emails, use the mouse on our computer screenseven how we hold and swipe our cellphones.

Soon we may not be anonymous in public either. Increasingly ubiquitous facial recognition technology, used not just by law enforcement but by companies and even individuals, will enable us to identify one another as we walk down the street or mingle in the crowd.

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This is the world that Clearview AI, among others, will make possible. Clearview has famously and controversially assembled a vast database, scraped from the web, that lets it identify millions of peopleperhaps including you.

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Law enforcement is enthusiastic about the capabilities afforded by Clearview. The technology can help track possible offenders from the mere snippet of a photograph. In one notable case, police sought to determine the identity of a man from a picture in a Syrian users account documenting child sex abuse. When they ran the image through Clearviews database, they found a curious matchan Instagram photo featuring bodybuilders at an expo in Las Vegas. None of the people in the foreground matched the suspect; lurking far in the background, however, at the edge of the photos frame, they found the man, and Clearview supplied his identity. In this picture, the mans image was tinyhalf as big as your fingernail. Thats all it took for Clearview to pinpoint the suspect across its database of 3 billion images.

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Unsurprisingly, there are several legal challenges against Clearview. The company is subject to complaints from European privacy and digital rights groups. Authorities in the U.K. and Australia are exploring taking action against the company. And Canadas privacy commissioners have already determined that Clearviews face scraping is illegal and creates a system that inflicts broad-based harm on all members of society, who find themselves continually in a police lineup presumably because the database runs through every persons face in a given search.

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The U.S. has been notably slower to challenge Clearview. The exception is Illinois, where the ACLU is suing the company for violating that states biometric privacy act. There is reason to doubt that said challenges will get very far on these shores, given the relative power of tech lobbies, which have thus far blocked federal privacy regulations, and police unions, which demand the help of such technology, especially in the current upsurge in crime. As the saying goes, it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle. In that case, we may have little choice but to contend with the possibility that Clearview could significantly alter daily lifefor the rest of usin strange and surprising ways.

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Armed with a strangers identity, supplied by Clearview, you could do a search and uncover intimate, alarming information about themon the spot. Especially if they have been forthcoming on social media (as many of us are) and Facebook lists their affiliations, proclivities, and tastes. You could draw conclusions on their finances, based on their alma mater, ZIP code, and profession. Or their bankruptcy records. Whether they are divorced or have been arrested. Until recently, search results for a childhood friend of minenow CEO of a local companyfeatured his adoption records.

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This technology raises a host of important questions: What is the value of anonymity? How might I benefit from being able to walk around in public without anyone knowing who I am? If or when people can learn about me at first glancemy education, my job, my wealth status, whether I am adoptedhow will it influence how or if they will approach me? I start to think of all the conversations that will not be had.

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Consider how Clearview might change the singles scene. You could stand at the threshold of the bar and immediately quantify the faces before you. This could be a welcome aid, helping you cut through the chaff and decide whom to spend your precious time and energy on. Who has the right job and degree? Who is Catholic, Jewish, Muslim? Democrat or Republican? Who makes a lot of money and lives in the right ZIP code?

Retailers will likely appreciate Clearviews service too. Store attendants could use it to size you up as you walk through the door. What do your affiliations suggest about the kind of consumer you are? Are you worth their attention and effort? You might be quickly ignored when the Harvard-trained lawyer saunters in behind you.

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On a more serious note, parents could use Clearview to determine if there are sex offenders in their midstat the park, in the grocery store, on the street. Its worth noting that the sex offender list is quite flawed and misleading. It lumps together child abusers with people who have committed much lesser crimes and are quite harmless. Parents will not care about the unpublished distinction, however, and steer clear of anyone on the list.

Some, even many, will object to the privacy violations of this technology. I wager such hesitation will be brief and we will overcome our squeamishness about invasive media once again. If youre over a certain age, when you first got a smartphone you might have been squeamish about constant GPS tracking, which revealed your location at any moment. Most of us quickly forgot our concerns when Waze guided us through the nearest shortcut, or Yelp identified the best local restaurant and ushered us directly to its door.

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Similarly, Clearviews promise to let you peel back peoples facades with little effort is just too tantalizing, particularly if you dont think about how your own facade can be peeled back as well.

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Clearview will spare me face-to-face, in-depth research where I must engage in careful conversation with strangers to figure them out and pose sensitive, probing questions. I can cut to the chase and decide instantaneously if the person before me is worth my timeor if its someone I might, or should, avoid.

Of course, this technology will also allow us to cast judgment on people more easilyand possibly arrive at judgments that are unfair. Empathy and civility demand that we be open, that we refrain from leaping to conclusions about peoplethat we give them time to show their true colors, despite appearances. We must give people the benefit of the doubt. Because they deserve a modicum of respect, in this regard. Wouldnt we hope for the same?

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Clearview could exacerbate class consciousness. Our CVs, public affiliations, and accomplishments will precede usquite literallyas we walk down the street. In general, we will be measured according to superficial markers.

I understand we are already liable to this kind of judgment, to some degree. When I enter a party, people make assumptions about me on the basis of several visible cluesmy hairstyle, my clothes, my weight, my skin color; how I hold myself and walk or gesture; whether I betray confidence, hesitation, or insecurity. We know all this is conjecture, however. But Clearview offers an air of authority and certitude to our judgments. It relieves us of guesswork, after all, and provides data, which, by its nature, seems definitive.

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Imagine the freedom that will be lost. There is freedom in anonymity, after all. There is freedom in not being known or recognized. There is freedom in being ignored, even, and allowed to do what I wantwithin reason, of course. It is liberating when I step off the train in New York City and mix with the crowd. People care not a whit about me, where I go, or what I do. The possibilities seem endless.

More importantly, Clearviews technology threatens personal autonomy. It deprives me of the ability to define or introduce myself to others, on my terms. It denies me the opportunity to tell my story in the order of titles and accomplishments I think is important.

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Charm, wit, humor, gracethese will all be endangered in Clearviews world, if I am denied the chance to greet others organically, timidly, or step by step, or to reach out in subtle and surprising ways. And of course, Clearview would relieve us of the possibility of encountering and negotiating otherness. I can strictly discover my own kindas on social media, now in the public realmand gravitate toward them. I can strictly avoid anyone unlike me.

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How you are advertised or branded publiclythat will be out of your control. Clearview will make it harder to escape legacies or affiliations you are less than proud of and would rather shed. What if you are trying to overcome an ignominious past? What if you are trying to straighten out your life and rehabilitate, or simply move on, improvetransform? Will Clearview reveal as much?

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Better yet, will people care? If they spy a red flag on your record, will this overwhelm or cloud their judgment? In the name of convenience, people will look for excuses to not engage and move on.

Philosophers have long argued that the more we know about others, the more empathetic we are. Superficial data will not do. Intimate, sensitive, comprehensive information is in order. In the absence of technology, the ancient Stoics recommended we use our imagination: If someone offends you, fill in a likely backstoryimagine the circumstances shaping their behavior. What is going on in the life of this person that makes him so rude, angry, or unhappy? Listen patiently and take the time to find out what is driving him. Research, reflect, and pay attention. Learn about him, engage, open up to him, and he will open up in turn.

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Clearview does not offer the requisite insight for compassion. Paradoxically, it offers too little information and too much all at once. It provides just enough for you to judge people quickly, and it provides too little to properly, fairlycharitablyassess them. The technology does not help us see peoples deepest motivations, their earnest intent, their trials and tribulations.

Can technology ever do so? It seems at odds with the practice of empathy. Our digital economy moves at light speed and prioritizes convenience at every turnoften needlessly. Empathy, by contrast, demands time, energy, personal investment and attention. It requires that we do not take shortcuts in understanding people, that we engage in hard work that is sometimes tedious and uncomfortable, but always rewarding. The insistent, pervasive demand for convenience, which Clearview offers, is a poor foundation for a moral society and a culture of compassion.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Spain recommends Covid vaccination for pregnant women



In Catalunya only 20 per cent of mothers-to-be have received the first vaccine dose

After a long delay while evidence was gathered and analysed Spains Ministry of Health issued an official recommendation on Wednesday to the effect that pregnant women should be vaccinated against coronavirus, preferably receiving both doses of the vaccines before reaching the final term of their pregnancies.

The Public Health Committee and the Federation of Spanish Scientific Medical Associations specify that immunization prevents complications during pregnancy, especially in mothers-to-be who present risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, pre-eclampsia or being aged over 35.

In addition, it is recommended that the Pfizer and Moderna RNA vaccines be used, whatever the age of the woman, and that all of those in close and constant contact with the pregnant woman should also be vaccinated. At the same time, safety precautions such as facemasks, hand-washing and ventilating indoor spaces should be borne in mind at all times.

In conclusion, the report recommends that couples planning to have a baby should wait until the mother has been fully vaccinated before doing so!

This is the first time that the national government has made an official announcement on the matter, but last week the regional Health minister in Andalucia urged pregnant women to receive their jabs and other regional health services have made similar statements.

In the region of Catalunya alone as many as 549 pregnant women have been admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 so far this year, 52 of them requiring intensive care although fortunately all survived. At the same time, the region reports that of the 22,252 women who are known to be pregnant only 20 per cent have received the first vaccine dose and just 11.75 per cent are fully vaccinated, and all over Spain it will now be a priority to ensure that this sector of the population is protected.

Image: archive
Lottery for vaccinated people is not a good idea, most people in Slovakia believe

New data from the How are You, Slovakia? survey suggest that the lottery may push thousands who are now hesitant to take a Covid shot.

Only 6.8 percent of the respondents who arent planning to take the vaccine stated that the possibility of winning in the lottery would change their minds. (Source: SITA)

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Most people in Slovakia do not approve of the lottery with prizes for those vaccinated against Covid-19, launched earlier this month by the Finance Ministry.

While 64.1 percent of the respondents in the How are You, Slovakia? survey dont approve of the lottery, 24.3 percent consider it a good idea. 11.6 percent stated that they have no opinion.

The survey was conducted between July 15 and 20 for the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) along with the MNFORCE and Seesame agencies. The details of the lottery were revealed afterwards, on August 1, 2021.

How to register

How to register Registration for vaccination lottery is open Read more

Not-yet-vaccinated more enthusiastic

The lottery has the most supporters among those who have not been vaccinated but intend to do so (57.9 percent said they approved).

The lottery and referral programme are not very popular among the general population; it is the people still planning to take the vaccine who appreciate these ideas. It may be a key decision factor for people who until now have delayed their vaccination, explained Robert Klobucky of the Sociological Institute at SAV.

Meanwhile, only 6.8 percent of the respondents who arent planning to take the vaccine stated that the possibility of winning in the lottery would change their minds.

The Dennik E daily calculated that given the adult population of Slovakia, the 48 percent who are hesitant or outright reject the vaccine consist of some 2.4 million people. If nearly 7 percent say that they may get the jab because of the lottery, we are talking about approximately 146,000 people.

The Value for Money unit running under the Finance Ministry recently estimated that the state investment into the lottery will pay off, if at least 6,000 people get their jabs because of the scheme. Analysts, however, admitted that there is not enough evidence from abroad to determine the effectiveness of a lottery in supporting vaccination uptake.

Referral programme just as unpopular

Only 22.4 percent of respondents gave an affirmative reply to the following prompt: The government has decided that it will reward those who convince others to get vaccinated. Do you approve of this idea?

As many as 69.4 percent of respondents disapproved of the proposal, and 8.2 percent didnt present a stance.

Slovakia is among the least-vaccinated EU countries, ranking fifth from the bottom. While the EU average uptake of the first dose exceeded 70 percent in the adult population (over 18), Slovakia has yet to reach half of its adult population in order to at least be partly vaccinated. If teenagers (over 12) are included, the vaccination rate in Slovakia consists of 41 percent of people with at least one vaccine dose. The lottery and the referral programme, designed by the Finance Ministry, are meant to speed up the vaccination rate and motivate more people to get the jabs.

5. Aug 2021 at 17:58 | Compiled by Spectator staff
A lifelong love of horses led to Chrislin Nother caring for a number of Canadian harness racing heroes in a behind-the-scenes capacity, but she's hopeful that a gelding who is just coming into his own as a four-year-old can propel her into the next chapter of her career in harness racing.

On July 23, Nother earned her first win as a trainer, harnessing Delightful Magic before his 1:57.4 maiden-breaking score at Grand River Raceway. After some early stumbling blocks precluded his ability to compete at two and three, Nother bought the Bettors Delight gelding outright, and  as the adage goes  patience is paying off.

"I worked for Billy Budd a couple years ago, and he bought this horse at the (London Selected) yearling sale," Nother told Trot Insider. "I bought a third, another guy bought a third, and Billy owned a third. The horse never raced any good at two; he raced, but he was sore and had issues. We shut him down and then we tried him again at three, and he was no good his first start out so Billy wanted out of him. I bought Billy out and I started training him just myself, but he was sick and he needed some more time, so I had to wait until he was healthy. And then, the racing shut down just when I got him ready to race, and so then I had to wait. Now, finally I get to race him and he's going good, but he was a tricky horse to get here."

After finishing eighth in his lone Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots start as a rookie and missing the board in all four of his sophomore starts, Delightful Magic seems to have turned a corner this summer. After registering a pair of second-place finishes in his first two starts of July, everything seemed to go right on July 23 as he  and Nother  tasted victory for the first time.

Delightful Magic landed in fifth along the pegs before latching onto second-over cover nearing the half. After being towed into contention up the backstretch through a :29 third quarter, Brett MacDonald switched him off cover through the far turn, and he surged clear before holding off a late challenge from Bettors Authority by a length.

While he's still admittedly a work in progress  Nother indicated she made a shoeing change to keep him from hitting his knee  he's developing confidence while also honing his ability and working out the last remaining kinks.

"The horse is confident," Nother said. "I've got him comfortable going in the race bike now  I had to get this horse so he was comfortable in the bike and teach him. He wears an ear hood to race because he still gets too hot in the race, and he wears a mini bit. Eventually I'll be able to take some of the equipment off, but for now, I'll just leave it on until he learns more."

For now, Nother plans on keeping Delightful Magic at Grand River for at least a couple more starts, owing to the kind, wide turns at the Elora, Ont., racetrack, and that MacDonald "gets along well with" the horse. In fact, he's slated to race again this coming Friday (Aug. 6) at Grand River, but with MacDonald committed to drive Atlantic invader Reggies Game for his dad, Ron, Nother has tabbed another product of the Atlantic  Austin Sorrie  to handle the driving duties.

As far as what the future holds for Chrislin Nother?

At 26, the Flamborough, Ont., resident has practically her entire life ahead of her. And with the experience she gained working for Budd, George Plyley, Dave Menary, Dean Nixon and Wayne Preszcator while taking care of the likes of Boadicea, Sintra and Nirvana Seelster, she certainly has the foundation to strike out on her own successfully.

"I've got support; I've got people behind me," said Nother, who maintains her one-horse stable at Stephenson's Training Centre, which her boyfriend, Mark Stephenson, owns. Before long, she hopes to expand the scope of her stable  but she understands the inherent challenges that come with it.

"It's difficult, but I figure that when I get my horse winning, people will start to notice," she said. "But still, you've got to be racing at Mohawk for more people to notice, but I'll get there eventually. I've tried claiming a couple of horses, but it's tough, and any horse that shows it's any good, there's a whole bunch of people trying to claim it. It's very tough trying to start your stable up."

The claiming game could certainly enable Nother to expand her stable more immediately if the shakes pan out in her favour, but she maintains that her ambition is to invest in yearlings  much as she did with Delightful Magic, but putting everything she's learned to this point all together on her own:

"I would like to get a couple yearlings this fall, like one trotter and one pacer. I'm going to get at least one yearling this fall and give that a try. Sometimes you get lucky. It's tough to get a good horse, so if you take a chance on a yearling, you never know  it might turn out to be a good one."
Its hard to imagine that it was 20 years ago that Eric Cherry and Maurice Chodash started a brand-new concept in selling Standardbreds called OnGait.com.

OnGait.com was the first online selling and auction website dedicated to the Standardbred industry, providing both harness racing sellers and buyers an online venue to sell and purchase racehorses.

It has since grown to include selling racing equipment, stallion breedings, shares and also providing a venue to charity organizations throughout the industry a place to raise money for their groups.

OnGait.com is currently coming off a record-breaking year according to Zoominfo, with more than $15 million in sales of racehorses and breeding stock.

The website was developed by Maurice Chodash, who has been in the Standardbred business for more than 40 years as an owner and breeder. He runs the day-to-day operations at OnGait.com.

Co-owner Eric Cherry began racing and breeding harness horses in the late 70's. Among the top performers he has campaigned are World Champions Southwind Tempo and Mister Goal, Breeders Crown winners Call Me Queen Be and Pick Me Up, millionairess Tug River Princess and Drop The Ball. He was also the former owner of the South Florida Trotting Center in Lake Worth, Florida and developer of the National Raceline.

How did it all begin?

In August of 2001, Cherry explained. Maurice came up with the concept for the website and the name for it. He registered the name and then came to me and asked if I wanted to be partners with him. At the time, we were running National Raceline and I told him it was a great idea.

We started with just listings of horses for sale," said Cherry. And once the technology got better in six or seven years is when we started doing the live auctions online.

Once we got into it, we knew this was a new idea. And once people got into it, we knew it would take off.

When you google OnGait.com, you see a lot of charity events that take place on the website.

When a charity comes to us at OnGait, we will help them set up their online auction, depending on the items they are wanting to sell," explained Cherry. "We work closely with charity groups to make it a very efficient and viable fundraiser for them. Ever since we started doing charity auctions for them, the groups have told us that the revenue they get is so much more than what they received doing it the old way.

We have thousands of people who have signed up and view OnGait that most groups do not have access to," said Cherry. "And we really enjoy helping charities in our industry. Its easy for them and much more profitable.

Just last year, we did the London (Ontario) sale online due to Covid-19," he noted. "And the average consignor earned more than the prior year and they have come back to do it again and they said they already have 50 more horses consigned than last year.

OnGait had their greatest online auction ever in 2019 with the sale of the Hambletonian winner, Atlanta. Due to the partnership of the award-winning trotting filly breaking up, they came to OnGait.com to auction off Atlanta in 2018.

The owners were in agreement to place her on OnGait, explained Cherry. And the bidding was much better than anyone expected. There were multiple groups bidding on Atlanta, more than 26,000 views of the website during the auction and she sold for a record $1.55 million.

Now fully established as the leading online auction house in the industry, what does the future hold for OnGait.com?

I think the future is really bright for us, said Cherry. Most of the obstacles that people had about us originally are now a thing of the past. People now realize that it is very inexpensive to buy or sell horses with Ongait then going through a live auction at a designated sale. Both Maurice and I spend a good part of everyday answering calls from both prospective sellers and buyers.

OnGait is no different than any other business, added Cherry. You give your customers excellent service at a reasonable price and they will come back repeatedly. Maurice and I love the harness racing business and our customers know we are working hard at their best interests.

Over the past years a number of other online auction websites have come about, but in the end, it has been OnGait that continues to grow and prosper.

Of course, once people saw how successful OnGait became, they have tried to emulate it and most of them end up crashing and burning," said Cherry. "We were the first to market, have added every bit of technology we can find and work day and night to make the website the best we can and it shows. We call what we do a full-time obsession.

We are always looking to update new technology on the website. We are never static, Maurice and I are always looking for new features for the website to make it better for our customers.

You will get a text when you are outbid on a horse, explained Cherry. On Ebay, when an auction ends at noon, the auction is over. You cant get that last bid in. I never understood that. That was something that a programmer came up with. Who ever heard of an auction where they say times up, the auction is over and no one gets a last bid?

We then set up just like a live horse auction where the auction does not end until the last bid is made, Cherry interjected. We used to add five minutes for any last bids because some people had poor dial-up connections and would miss their last chance to bid. Now with faster internet connections we allow two minutes after the last bid is made before the close off the auction. And that is plenty of time for someone to make a final bid. If they do, then two more minutes are added for a counter bid. We have had some auctions go 15 to 20 minutes past as last-minute bids continue to come in.

Now, we are adding a new feature, Cherry explained. That staggers when sellers want their auction to end. This way we do not have two horses closing out at the same time on top of each other. We also added a split screen feature so that a buyer who happens to have interest in two different horses selling at the same time can watch both auctions and make bids at the same time.

OnGait.com most certainly dominates the online auctions in North America, but how about Europe, Australia and New Zealand, where harness racing is very strong?

We have a lot of customers from Europe and some from down under, said Cherry. We have the platform and are looking to get set-up in both locations and setting up regional area additions to OnGait. We are seeking expert partners in those locations to set up shop, but they have to be as dedicated as we are to make it work. But we will not start anything that is not totally professional and done properly.

How about the live horse sales? How have they fared having to go against OnGait?

If you look at the pure numbers of the established horse sales, they have dwindled dramatically," said Cherry. "At one point, they have to look and see if it pays for them to continue the way they are going.

The showcase yearling sales -- Lexington, Harrisburg, etc. -- will always be popular because it is an experience, not just a sale, plus at Lexington they have the great race cards that week. Its an event, most everyone in the industry wants to be there and that will keep those sales continuing to do well.

The mixed horse sales will be under continued pressure because of OnGait, continued Cherry. With OnGait, you can sell your horse on Wednesday and have your money on Friday. And you can sell your horse when it is best for them and not just when the live sale is taking place.

You also can save a lot of money selling with OnGait than the live auction sales, added Cherry. Our costs are a lot less and when you are dealing with thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, it adds up big time in savings.

While Eric Cherry is the spokesman for OnGait, he makes sure that everyone understands that it was his longtime partner Maurice Chodash who came up with the concept, name and design for OnGait.com and oversees the website daily.

Over the past 20 years, the website has continued to grow and prosper, proving not just horsepeople with an avenue to easily buy and sell horses, equipment, stallions and breeding shares, but also helps out all charity groups that contact them.

Both Cherry and Chodash were honoured this past year by the Florida Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association with a Presidents Award for their outstanding service to the industry.

Cherry did not know yet when the champagne celebration for OnGaits 20th anniversary would be taking place.

(With files from Steven Wolf Consulting)
All students enrolled in Stafford and Spotsylvania county public schools will receive free breakfast and lunch this school year.

Families are not required to submit an application for free or reduced-price meals in order to receive the free service. However, divisions are still encouraging families to submit the application because school funding and eligibility for other programs, such as Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transferor P-EBTare dependent on completed meal applications.

Stafford and Spotsylvania schools participated in the Seamless Summer Option, a federal- and state-funded program that encourages schools participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school lunch and breakfast programs to provide free meals to low-income areas during summer break.

For the 2021-22 school year, the USDA has established a waiver permitting the Seamless Summer Option to operate during the regular school year, through June 30, 2022.

Fredericksburg City Public Schools has provided free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled elementary students since 2017, and to all students in the division since last year under the Community Eligibility Provision, a national program authorized as part of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
The day use fee for Toadstool is $3. Camping is $15 per night with the sites available on a first-come first-serve basis.

Many of our campgrounds on the weekends have been full, especially at Toadstool, she said. If people really want to get out there, come out on a Wednesday or Thursday to get your spot.

People can camp for up to 14 days.

Toadstool is not the only attraction within the 94,000 acres of mixed grass prairies that make up the Oglala National Grasslands. The Hudson-Meng Bone Bed site offers visitors an opportunity to learn about the history of the area. The Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center remains closed, so visitors are encouraged to call 308-432-0300 ahead of their arrival.

Right now, the gate is open, so you can go and park, Considine said. The pond is there, which has a few interpretative signs about the area and some of the flora and fauna, but unfortunately right now, thats about it.

The only other attraction is the hiking trail that connects Hudson-Meng to Toadstool.
In Omaha, quality broadband is the difference between retaining major employers or losing them, said Anthony Goins of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. He said Omaha faced the potential loss of Blue Cross Blue Shield after the pandemic when the health insurance company discovered employees could work from home and still perform many necessary functions.

Panelist state Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson said the federal CARES Act contains seed money for local broadband systems, but he said pooling resources with city-county partnerships could stretch local dollars. Friesen said its estimated that building an effective broadband network in Nebraska could cost $4 billion to $5 billion.

The lawmaker said that nationally, $65 billion in federal money is allocated to build networks. That sum doesnt include operating costs.

The Nebraska Legislature has allocated $20 million per year to expand broadband.

Panelist Todd Foje of Great Plains Communication said his broadband business is hamstrung by the same labor shortages that are hobbling other industries. Hes planning two years in advance to install new systems, but the tight labor market means he has just a handful of crews when theress work enough for twice or three times that volume.
Its been a nightmare, she said. My blood sugars are up, and my doctor had to increase my insulin. I dont want to go to the hospital, and Ive just been very depressed, sitting here, worrying, wondering when Im going to get the nutrition in the house that I need.

The July 10 storm left 188,000 homes and businesses without power, the most in Omaha Public Power Districts history. Nebraska DHHS received 8,505 requests for replacement benefits due to food lost in the power outages that had been purchased with SNAP benefits, according to spokesperson Garret Swanson.

Swanson said the department could not discuss individual cases. But, as of Monday he said eligibility had been determined for 6,336 households  just under three-quarters of the requests.

Im not only worried about myself, I worry about other people in my situation, Ochoa said. Im just praying for everyone who lost them. But what are we supposed to do in situations like this?
Mesquite resident Marvin Huddleston was honored by the International Astronomical Union by having an asteroid named after him.
More than one council member noted observations of the dangers in that area.

This is a serious issue, and weve been having it for a long time, Councilwoman Doris Allison said. The safety of the people is the No. 1 factor, and whatever it takes to keep them safe is what we should be concentrating on right now.

C.O. Jap Johnson said Ace Locksmithing would be hurt by the change. He also questioned if the one fatality was indicative of potential future accidents and said he wished that there had been more information on the specifics of the 31 accidents.

However, Addison said that the danger for more incidents was there regardless.

With 31 accidents, its bound to happen; it was eventually was going to happen, Addison said.

The city said in an email on Wednesday that the staff explained that the curve on Water St. and the intersecting streets of Meeting and Debow Streets, as well as the location of the parking lot entrance, create multiple points of conflict.
Over the last few weeks, I believe that I have discovered a solution to secure funding for the entire project by further utilizing public-private coal synergy partnerships paired with a federal program. I will be working with our legislative counsel over the next few weeks to determine if my proposal is viable before making any official announcement, Morefield said. I cannot stress to our federal and state officials to please make funding for this entire project a priority. The men and women of the coalfields mined the coal that built America, and it is my hope that Democrats and Republicans will unite to help ensure that our region will have a future that we can all be proud of.
Ballad hospitals are again filling with COVID-19 patients. They were treating 46 COVID inpatients last Wednesday and that number grew over several days, dramatically outpacing Ballads initial case modeling.

During last weeks briefing, Chief Physician Executive Dr. Clay Runnels thanked the Ballad team members who have been vaccinated.

Our medical staff, on the acute care side in particular, has an extremely high rate of vaccination. They have led in vaccinations, and I think that speaks volumes to people within the health care community that the people with the best access and the best understanding of the research thats out there has a very high rate. I think thats going to be critical as we move into this next phase of the pandemic; as we look at resources to take care of patients that our physician medical staff has chosen to get vaccinated at a high rate.

Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine said management is trying to balance the rights of its workers with the responsibility of taking care of the regions patients  both those who do and dont have COVID-19.
SEATTLE (AP)  Amazon has pushed back its return-to-office date for tech and corporate workers until January as COVID-19 cases surge nationally due to the more contagious delta variant.

Unlike its Seattle-area rival Microsoft and other tech giants, Amazon will not mandate employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine before they return to the office. Instead, the company said Thursday that unvaccinated employees will be required to wear masks in the office.

The surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus has upended many companies plans to bring office workers back this fall, a drive already complicated by efforts to accommodate widespread employee preference for flexible remote work policies, and debates over how to handle vaccine and masking policies.

Other companies that have postponed reopening plans include Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Lyft.
After Apple launched the Apple Card as a virtual payment card that is linked to Apple Pay, several other Android brands also jumped on the bandwagon by announcing or launching their own. Now, it looks like vivo will also join the forces after Chinese trademark filings for "VivoCard" being spotted.

Before vivo, brands including Google, Samsung, HUAWEI, and OPPO have shown their interests in making their own payment cards. Among these mentioned brands, some already rolled out their offers in specific regions and are in operation. Samsung and HUAWEI are the two brands that have Samsung Pay Card and HUAWEI Card respectively.

As almost everyone owns a smartphone nowadays and digital payment services are getting more and more popular, it's a no-brainer for the brands to introduce a card for their users to link to their own payment services. Not only do the users get to pay when their smartphones are not in reach, several features such as spending tracking, purchase notifications, and more can also come in handy.

What do you think about the news? Share your thoughts with us on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more tech news.
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To meet the development needs of a growing population, Africa's electricity sector requires a major transformation.

Despite important changes over the past decade, efforts to expand and modernize the sector need to be redoubled. Indeed, current electrification rates, generation-capacity levels, and security-of-supply indicators underscore that much is yet to be accomplished.

New research, published today in Science, identifies five sets of complementary actions to put Africa's electricity sector on track to sharply increase electrification rates and secure long-term access to affordable and cleaner energy.

"Africa's development needs are as diverse as the countries in the continent. Yet, none of those needs will be met unless a reliable supply of affordable electricity, generated through clean fuels, is available to all. In this article, we describe five no-regrets actions to transform Africa's electricity sector" says lead-author Daniel Puig, who works for the Technical University of Denmark's Department of Technology, Management and Economics. He is a senior advisor at UNEP DTU Partnership.

These are the five recommendations made in the article:

Introduction of a combination of supply-side incentives and demand-side subsidies, to help expand electricity markets

Digitalization of energy sector planning and management tools, to help deliver energy at the right time, in the right place, at the lowest cost

Integration of local-content requirements in renewable-energy policies, to capture employment benefits and ensure that state-of-the-art technologies are fully adopted by African countries

Strengthening and expansion of regional power pools through African-led international partnerships, to expand electricity access and reduce electricity bills

Expansion of investments in off-grid and interconnected clean-energy mini-grids, to account for the different socio-economic realities across urban, peri-urban and rural areas

"All countries struggle to meet three goals: Security of reliable and affordable energy supplies, universal access to modern forms of energy, and reduction of polluting emissions. Africa's development challenges magnify the task of achieving these goals. What's important to remember, for African and all other countries alike, is that these three goals cannot be achieved in isolation from one another," says Magda Moner-Girona, of the European Commission Joint Research Centre, one of the co-authors of the article.

An essential Sustainable Development Goal

Achieving universal access to clean and affordable energy, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, is a pre-condition for reaching most of the other 16 SDGs. Access to energy positively affects everything from health to the fight against poverty and pollution to opportunities for education and climate action.

"Investment in, and integration of, clean energy across Africa can enable the full suite of SDGs and make the energy future of the continent one that facilitates equity and climate justice. But there is a need for international support and partnerships to ensure funding and investment in the information systems required to make this happen," says Daniel M. Kammen, James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Professor of Sustainability, and Chair of the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the eight authors of the article.

Even though rural electrification has seen significant progress, at least 250 million people in Africa still live without electricity. Because of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, an additional 80 million people on the continent have fallen into extreme poverty.

"Africa's electricity sector has to undergo a profound transformation, with the twin objective of addressing electricity access and security of supply in ways that are compatible with a healthy climate. In this paper, we offer some concrete suggestions for policies that can get us there," says co-author Yacob Mulugetta, professor of Energy and Development Policy at University College London, who co-authored the article.

An independent champion

The article notes the difficulties associated with achieving an endeavor of such magnitude. Power, agency and politics play out in ways that are not necessarily conducive to meeting key societal goals related to environmental quality, employment, and equity. Specifically, the article lists incumbents in the energy sector resisting change, information asymmetries among different stakeholders invariably punishing prospective new entrants in the energy sector, and priorities and procedures on the part of bilateral and multilateral lenders that are unduly rigid.

The authors conclude that an independent entity is needed to champion a transformative expansion and modernization process for the Africa electricity sectora process that is not captured by short-term agendas or the interests of any stakeholder group. An international partnership such as the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative is well placed to be that champion.

"The time is right. Earlier this year, the African Single Electricity Market was launched. We need to capitalize on the opportunities it offers to leapfrog to an electricity sector for the future. Africa has the energy endowment to do so, and the technologies are there. Therefore, as we write in the article, leadership has to be up to the mark," says Dr. Yohannes Hailu, a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa's Energy Policy Expert and Economic Affairs Officer, and one of the co-authors of the manuscript.

The stakes are high, because electricity has spillover effects on the entire economyfrom a macro-economic point of view, but also, and especially, from the point of view of the livelihoods of the poorest communities in the continent.

"Energy, and especially electricity, is central to human development. The tragic COVID-19 global health pandemic, which is pushing many in Africa into extreme poverty, is magnifying the impact that electricity access has on livelihoods. The paper puts forward an urgent action agenda for Africa's electricity sector, to accelerate access to electricity using cleaner fuels," says Professor Nebojsa Nakicenovic, who co-authored the article. Professor Nakicenovic is a former Deputy Director General of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and a former Professor of Energy Economics at the Technical University of Vienna. Currently, he acts as Director of the "The World in 2050" initiative.

More information: An action agenda for Africa's electricity sector, Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6555/616 Journal information: Science An action agenda for Africa's electricity sector,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abh1975
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

President Joe Biden is expected to unveil plans Thursday to strengthen car pollution standards through 2026, putting the United States on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsthough not as quickly as many environmentalists say is needed.

The proposed standards, written by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department, would replace significantly weaker Trump-era rules that essentially undid the nation's biggest climate change initiative. In their place, the Biden administration will offer a compromise that it hopes progressives can live with and automakers can follow.

The president is also expected to sign an executive order encouraging automakers to produce more zero-emissions vehicles and setting a new goal of having half of all new cars and trucks be emissions-free by 2030.

Although senior administration officials declined to share details of the proposal before the announcement, the Associated Press has previously reported that the plan would gradually tighten pollution standards over a four-year period, beginning with cars coming off the production line in the fall of 2022.

The emissions reductions are not expected to be as significant as those put in place by the Obama administration nearly a decade ago, which were rolled back under Trump, but they would exceed the Trump-era rules, and would likely extend through model year 2026.

The administration isn't expected to look further into the future than that, postponing battles over how much to restrict car pollution in 2027 and beyond. But in an executive order, Biden is expected to order agencies to begin work on the next set of fuel efficiency and emissions standards.

Environmental advocates cheered the Biden administration's promise to toss out the Trump regulations, which lowered annual emissions targets to 1.5%, a goal so easy to meet that automakers had already shown they could achieve it without regulation. But those same activists are not happy with the administration's proposed replacement.

In a letter to the president last month, they called for a 60% cut to vehicle emissions by 2030, a goal that would be extremely difficult to meet under the administration's new pollution rules.

"Global warming is burning forests, roasting the West and worsening storms," said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign. "Now is not the time to propose weak standards and promise strong ones later."

Activists maintain that Biden needs to make up for years of environmental rollbacks and weak enforcement under the Trump administration by quickly returning to the Obama-era standards, which are considered the strongest policy ever imposed by the federal government to fight climate change. Giving the auto industry a two-year window to adjust to tougher standards might make it easier to win car makers' cooperation, environmentalists say, but it's more time the country can't afford to lose.

Becker and others say that auto companies already have the technology to meet tougher standards than those being proposed by the Biden administration, but that they rarely use it in the United States. Automakers have pushed back, arguing that they're unable to meet the Obama-era standards because of American consumers' preference for less-efficient SUVs and trucks.

In recent years, some automakers have been able to meet federal standards not by producing fleets of cleaner cars, but by cashing in credits earned by manufacturing a much smaller number of electric vehicles.

It remains unclear whether the auto industry will support the newly proposed standards.

John Bozzella, chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry lobby group, said in a statement that automakers would work with the administration to evaluate its new plan and called on Congress and state legislatures to invest in the infrastructure needed for the adoption of electric vehicles.

"With the right complementary policies in place, the auto industry is poised to accept the challenge of driving EV purchases to between 40% and 50% of new vehicle sales by the end of the decade," he said.

Senior administration officials said the new rules could save drivers money at the pump and would decrease consumption of gasoline by about 200 billion gallons over the four years. They estimated the standards would prevent an additional 2 billion metric tons of climate-warming carbon pollution from being released into the atmosphere.

The proposed regulations, which have been developed quickly by federal government standards, are a piece of the administration's broader efforts to push Americans to buy more electric vehicles. Biden has asked Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars to make EVs more affordable through tax credits, to electrify 20% of the nation's school busses and to build half a million chargers by 2030.

Yet the bipartisan infrastructure bill making its way through Congress accomplishes very little of that. The current deal includes $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations, enough to build just half the number Biden called for.

At stake is the president's ability to deliver on his promise of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Calculating backward, most environmentalists say the only way to meet that goal is to mandate all new cars be emissions-free by 2035.

Explore further Biden to set target of half of US car sales to be zero-emission by 2030

2021 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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The dreamand the hypeof hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions aviation will prepare for takeoff from Moses Lake in Central Washington.

An ambitious new project aims to modify small regional turboprop aircraft there to fly on hydrogen fuel, test and certify them to carry passengers, and potentially offer a long-term solution to aviation's carbon emissions by demonstrating that hydrogen aviation is economically viable.

Los Angeles-based startup Universal Hydrogen, led by Paul Eremenko, former chief technology officer and leading clean energy visionary at both Airbus and United Technologies, is developing the technology to retrofit mid-sized turboprop aircraft to run on hydrogen.

Partnering with Universal Hydrogen are aerospace engineering and certification firm AeroTEC of Seattle, electric motor company MagniX of Everett and New York-based Plug Power, which has a hydrogen fuel cell facility in Spokane.

"Our goal is to have butts in seats on commercial, revenue-generating flights as quickly as possible, said Eremenko in an interview, adding that he anticipates achieving Federal Aviation Administration certification in 2025.

Challenging technology

First up for retrofit is the De Havilland Canada DHC-8 turboprop, commonly known as the Dash 8.

The version that will be converted is not the larger model flown locally by Alaska Airlines but a smaller one that typically seats about 50 passengers.

The company plans to tear out 10 seats to accommodate the large capsules full of hydrogen that will be the plane's fuel, reducing the capacity to about 40 passengers.

Later, the project will do the same modification for the ATR 72 turboprop, with seating reduced to about 58 passengers post-conversion.

The technology that must be developed is complex and will require innovation.

Universal Hydrogen proposes to set up an extensive logistics infrastructure to deliver to airports twin packs of 7-foot-long, 3-foot-diameter capsules of hydrogen that can be loaded and unloaded quickly.

Plug Power, which currently builds ground-based hydrogen fuel cells that generate electricity from hydrogen, will have to develop much lighter fuel cells that are certifiable to airplane safety standards.

MagniX will build the motors that use the electricity to turn the propellers. It has already built similar motors for battery-powered electric airplane prototypes.

Linking all this together, Universal Hydrogen must integrate all the ancillary equipment wrapped around the fuel cell and the electric motor, including the electronic control algorithms for the entire system as well as compressors, humidifiers and the cooling systems for the fuel cell and the motor.

Batteries will be added for reserve power.

AeroTEC's engineers, meanwhile, will have to modify the airframedesigning a new cargo door through which to load the hydrogen capsules and holding fixtures for all the equipmentand then shepherd the complete aircraft through the FAA certification process.

Roei Ganzarski, CEO of MagniX, which employs about 60 people in Everett, said this work represents the future of aerospace. Having it all here in Washington, he said, "puts the state in a position of leadership for all things electric aviation."

Eremenko attributed his choice of Moses Lake to the "tremendous aerospace and cleantech workforce" in the region.

Emily Wittman, CEO of the state trade group the Aerospace Futures Alliance, said "the possibilities for our state's aviation sector are enormous."

Lee Human, president of AeroTEC, which has a total workforce of about 250, said he expects about 30 people to work on the hydrogen project initially, expanding if it's successful and turns into a full modification line in Moses Lake for retrofitting multiple aircraft.

He said he expects to begin modifying an actual aircraft early next year. Testing will begin with one engine using hydrogen and the other conventional gas before both are converted. Certification will take several years.

Human sees a large market for zero-emissions aircraft, both passenger and cargo, that can fly out of small, underserved airports at very low cost.

"There are a lot of candidate aircraft that could be modified," he said. "Amazon just bought a bunch of ATR 72s."

Silicon Valley backing

Eremenko, a Ukrainian-American prodigy who worked at Google and Motorola and led the U.S. government's drone research unit at DARPA before joining Airbus, founded Universal Hydrogen last year, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The startup secured $20 million in initial funding earlier this year, led by Silicon Valley venture fund Playground Global, with backers including Plug Power, Airbus, JetBlue, Toyota and New York-based hedge fund Coatue.

Its advisory board includes former Airbus CEO Tom Enders and the European giant's former head of sales, John Leahy.

Eremenko estimates it will take about $300 million to achieve certification of the regional planes.

The company was "born out of my frustration ... with the pace of decarbonization in aviation," Eremenko said. "Biofuels, synthetic fuels, batteries and various other options out there just aren't going to work on the timeframe that you need to make the Paris Agreement targets."

"The industry is too slow," he said. "We need to create an external sort of disrupter to get the industry to move."

Eremenko's brash plan is to demonstrate this decade that hydrogen aviation can work on the scale of small regional passenger planes so that Boeing and Airbus will also choose hydrogen in the 2030s when they design their next all-new single-aisle jets to replace the 737 MAX and the A320neo.

"I founded this company to create irrefutable proof of the fact that you can get affordable hydrogen, you can get it to airports, you can certify it, it can be safe and passengers will fly on hydrogen airplanes," he said.

Green hydrogen?

One issue is that although hydrogen-fueled planes will emit only water vapor, most hydrogen production currently comes from natural gas and is highly energy intensive.

For this technology to be truly sustainable, the world needs to produce so-called "green hydrogen" via water electrolysis. Today that's just 1% of the total hydrogen produced and most projections say green hydrogen may not be available on a large scale until the 2030s.

Eremenko believes in a kind of a Moore's Law for hydrogen technology, certain that it will accelerate as demand grows.

"Green hydrogen production is on an exponential trajectory," he said, projecting a decrease in cost and a rapid growth in capacity.

But both Airbus or Boeing envisage a much longer timeline for this hydrogen revolution.

"I just don't believe that is going to deliver anything for us between now and 2050," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told Aviation Week in June.

And though rival Airbus is actively pursuing hydrogen technology, in a leaked briefing to the European Commission in February it conceded that while it expects hydrogen may power regional and shorter range aircraft from 2035, traditional gas turbine engines will still be required for larger A320-size planes until close to 2050.

Eremenko is scornful of those conservative projections.

"That's why this company exists, to persuade and move the industry in a different direction," he said. "I didn't go into the aerospace business to be the laggard. ... I expect us to lead in this space as an industry, and make bold bets."

In doing so, Universal Hydrogen is a David stepping out to confront Goliath.

So far three regional airlines have signed letters of intent to buy its planes: Icelandair; Anchorage-based Ravn; and Valencia, Spain-based Air Nostrum.

In late June, Universal Hydrogen had only about 20 employees, though Eremenko said "we're scaling up to 40."

Explore further Airbus aims for hydrogen-powered plane by 2035

2021 The Seattle Times.

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Lufthansa is beginning to patch up its losses.

German airline Lufthansa said Thursday it halved its losses in the second quarter compared to a year ago, as travel restrictions eased over the coronavirus pandemic and passengers returned.

Europe's largest airline group said its net loss between April and June came in at 756 million euros ($890 million) compared with 1.5 billion euros last year, when travel worldwide was halted by Covid-19.

Increased bookings saw the company record a positive cash flow in the second quarter for the first time since the start of the health crisis.

"We have been able to stop the outflow of funds in the current phase of reviving our business and generate a positive cash flow for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic," said chief executive Carsten Spohr.

"In June alone, the number of bookings was more than twice as high as at the beginning of the quarter," the company said.

Lufthansa said it still expected to operate at 40 percent of its pre-crisis capacity this year, leaving its projection unchanged.

Flight capacity will increase to 50 percent in the third quarter, on the back of continued recovery in demand in Europe, increased business travel and the opening up of further markets, such as North America.

Following an announcement from the United States that the country would begin to allow vaccinated foreigners to travel to the country at some point, Spohr said in a conference call that Lufthansa was planning on the change to be implemented at the "end of September".

In terms of the risk posed to the business by the spread of the more-infectious Delta variant, Spohr said that the progress of the vaccination campaign was "more important" for the sector.

As a result, Lufthansa expects to book positive operating, or underlying, profit later this year on its path back into the black.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), a yardstick closely watched by analysts, was still severely negative in the second quarter, with the company registering a loss of about 400 million euros in the second quarter.

Lufthansa, which also includes Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, was saved from bankruptcy last June by a German government bailout.

Lufthansa's chief financial officer Remco Steenbergen said the company was discussing with investors about how to raise the capital needed to pay down the state aid the group received, and said the final figure would be "significantly less" than the 3 to 4 billion euros previously mooted.

The company is in the throes of a painful restructuring to slash costs that will include thousands of job cuts, with 30,000 already axed since the start of the pandemic.

As part of the recovery plan, the airline will slash its current fleet of 800 aircraft to 650 by 2023.

Explore further Lufthansa flies into another quarterly loss on virus woes

 2021 AFP
Jaimi Lard, who is blind and deaf, feels the TATUM robotic hand to try to determine what letter it is spelling during a validation study at the Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex. Credit: Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Jaimi Lard gets into position. She cups her left hand over the device, spreading her fingers across the top of it, and raises her right hand. When Lard is ready, Samantha Johnson presses a few keys on a laptop wired to the robot and then, with a mechanical buzzing sound filling the air, the device begins to move.

When the whirring stops, three of the fingers of the robotic hand are pointing directly upward, while the tips of the thumb and pointer finger are touching, forming a circle. Lard uses her left hand to feel what position the robotic hand is in, then moves her right hand to make the same sign.

"F, perfect!" Johnson exclaims.

The robotic arm, built by Johnson, a bioengineering graduate student at Northeastern, is designed to produce tactile sign language in order to enable more independence for people who, like Lard, are both deaf and blind. Lard is one of the members of the deaf-blind community that is helping Johnson test the robot and giving her feedback on how it could be improved.

"I'm very excited for this new opportunity to help improve this robot," Lard says, through an interpreter.

Johnson came up with the idea for a tactile sign language robot, which she has named TATUM, Tactile ASL Translational User Mechanism, as an undergraduate student at Northeastern. She took a course in sign language as a sophomore and through that class, Johnson interacted with people from the Deaf-Blind Contact Center in Allston, Massachusetts, to work on her skills.

Jason Wells, who is blind and deaf, feels the American Sign Language (ASL), robotic hand to try to determine what letter it is spelling during a validation study on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at the Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex. Credit: Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

People who are deaf can communicate with their hearing friends and family through visually signed language, but for people who are both deaf and blind, language must be something they can touch. So that means that people who are both deaf and blind often need an interpreter to be present with them in-person for interactions with others who do not know American Sign Language, so they can feel what shape their hands are making.

"When I was watching the interpreter sign, I asked, 'How do you communicate without the interpreter?'" and the answer was simply, "'We don't,'" Johnson recalls.

The goal of developing a tactile sign language robot, Johnson says, is to create something that can be used for someone who relies on American Sign Language as their primary communication language to be able to communicate independently, without relying on another person to interpret. She sees the robot as potentially helpful at home, at a doctor's office, or in other settings where someone might want to have private communication or an interpreter might not be readily available.

Johnson is still in the early stages of developing the robot, working on it as her thesis with Chiara Bellini, assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern, as her advisor. Right now, Johnson is focusing on the letters of the American Manual Alphabet, and training the robot to finger-spell some basic words.

The ultimate goal is for the robot to be fluent in American Sign Language, so that the device can connect to text-based communication systems such as email, text messages, social media, or books. The idea is that the robot would be able to sign those messages or texts to the user. Johnson would also like to make the robot customizable, as, just like in any other language, there are unique signs, words, or phrases used in different regions and some signs that mean different things depending on the cultural context.

Explore further A 3D-printed robotic arm solution designed to assist the deaf
This July 2, 2021 photo shows a sign stating face coverings are required is displayed at O'Hare airport in Chicago. The nations top aviation regulator is asking local officials to consider filing criminal charges more often against people who act up during airline flights, Thursday, Aug. 5. Federal Aviation Administration chief Stephen Dickson says airline crews often ask police to meet their plane when it lands because of unruly passengers.
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Faculty and staff members who dont comply could also face stiff consequences  at minimum, they will receive a written reprimand that could impact their eligibility for merit increases. The announcement says they could also be subject to more severe disciplinary action as appropriate.

As part of the schools effort to encourage vaccinations, students will be able to submit proof of vaccination to enter an Oct. 15 drawing in which a winner will receive a prize equivalent to one year of undergraduate or graduate resident tuition and fees. The rules for the drawing will be announced at a later date, along with the details about an incentive program for employees.

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Anyone who wants to enter the vaccine incentive drawing will have to be an enrolled student for fall 2021 at any A&M campus aside from the Qatar campus. Students can fill out information at the TAMU Voluntary Vaccination Reporting Form portal to enter.

Free vaccines are available at Student Health Services on campus and throughout the community.
Across the state, 8,130 people were being treated in hospitals for virus-related symptoms on Thursday, according to DSHS.

Health officials said 288,566 tests for COVID-19 had been administered by Brazos County health care providers since the pandemic began.

There were three new probable COVID-19 cases reported in Brazos County on Wednesday. To date, health officials have reported 4,246 total probable cases. A probable COVID-19 case is determined by a positive antigen, or rapid, test. Confirmed COVID-19 cases are determined by a positive PCR test.

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To date, 265 Brazos County residents have died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to health department figures.

Brazos Valley

The DSHS reported 2,114 cases in Burleson County on Thursday, an increase of nine from the day before. Of those, 72 were active; 48 Burleson County residents have died since the pandemic began, according to state figures.

Grimes County on Thursday was reporting 3,749 cases, according to the DSHS website, 19 more than the day before. There have been 74 Grimes County residents who have died from the virus, and 309 cases were reported as active Thursday.
I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve, Abbott said.

The cross-country exodus last month marked the second time that Democratic lawmakers staged a walkout on the voting overhaul, which they say would make it harder for young people, people of color and people with disabilities to vote. But like the first effort in May, there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the voting measures or the other contentious GOP-backed proposals up for debate.

But Democratic state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said Wednesday that there was enough will to keep trying.

A vast majority, enough to break quorum, have committed to each other to not be in the Capitol when the second called session happens, Rodriguez said.

Abbott last month vowed to arrest Democrats once they return to Texas.

I dont think arresting Democrats and forcing them to the Statehouse, most of us being Hispanic or African American, or Asian American for that matter, thats not a good look, Rodriguez said. I would hope they would take that into account. But thats up to them. Again, we dont have a lot in our control.
Earlier Thursday, the administration announced there would be new mileage and anti-pollution standards from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department, part of Biden's goal to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. It said the auto industry had agreed to a target that 40% to 50% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.

Both the regulatory standards and the automakers' voluntary target were included in an executive order that Biden signed as a gathering of auto industry leaders and lawmakers applauded.

The standards, which must go through the regulatory process, would reverse fuel economy and anti-pollution rollbacks done under President Donald Trump. At that time, the mileage increases were reduced to 1.5% annually through model year 2026.

The new standards would cut greenhouse gas emissions and raise fuel economy by 10% over the Trump rules in car model year 2023. They would get 5% stronger in each model year through 2026, according to an EPA statement. Thats about a 25% increase over four years.

The EPA said that by 2026, the proposed standards would be the toughest greenhouse emissions rules in U.S. history.
Rice paid $100 for a 1949 Allis-Chalmers Model B that had been in a fire. Doug Fousek, a friend of the group, restored the tractor so well that it now purrs like a kitten, Rice said.

Fousek never went to school to learn to be a mechanic.

Hes self-trained. And hes very, very meticulous, Dugger said. Hell sit there and look at something for 20 minutes and then figure it out.

Many of the collectors grew up with the tractors they now proudly own.

Rice points to a photo taken in about 1956. He was 7, and hed already been doing field work for a couple of years. He would plow while holding on to his little sister.

In the July 9 drive, Duggers son, Chris, piloted a tractor that Diedrichs father purchased new in 1954 in Palmer.

It got out of the family but I found it and got it back in, he said.

Barth has a Ferguson that his uncle bought new in 1952. His father sold it in 1972. Barth found it 15 years ago, and eventually got it back.

When theyre driving in the country, people like Barth keep on the lookout for old tractors.

Constantly, he said.
Schooff said without a vaccine and other measures, the risk of catching the disease is more significant than it was with the earlier variants.

We would like to see folks choose to be vaccinated, he said. We know that time is important now. The curve is going up again. We are having more people in the hospital. Wed like to protect you and your health now. Wed also like to help you and the rest of us in the future.

Tuesday was the first day of the hotline operation. He said they had received about 115 phone calls, with a number of callers asking where they can get the vaccine. There were also a number of questions about whether people who have received the vaccine need a booster shot or if they come down with the virus after receiving the shot, do they need another shot. Callers also had questions about children under 12 receiving the vaccine now that school is about to resume for the fall semester.

We may not have answers to all of those questions, but we can help them understand their concerns and give them the answers that are available now, Schooff said.

Ward said CHI hospitals have the equipment needed to handle the virus, such as ventilators and the necessary medications, but staffing is a concern, as it is in many communities.
The initiative petition drive to propose a constitutional amendment that would require photo identification in order to cast ballots in Nebraska elections began to gather signatures Thursday.

The proposal, long sought by the Nebraska Republican Party, would be placed on the 2022 general election ballot as a constitutional amendment if supporters acquire a currently estimated 124,000 signatures that include the names of at least 5% of the registered voters in 38 of the state's 93 counties.

"The people of Nebraska are often referred to as the second house (in a state with a unicameral legislature) and our committee is making sure that their voice is heard over those of the special interests with influence in the Capitol," Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling said.

Voter ID legislative proposals have been unable to clear filibusters by opponents in the Legislature.

Democrats argue that a voter ID requirement is politically designed by Republicans to suppress the Democratic vote because those without photo IDs are disproportionately low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Petitioners need to submit signatures to the secretary of state by July 8, 2022.
Greenwald added, When I looked at the curriculum that the State Board of Education wanted to insert into our schools, it looked like grooming.

NDEs first draft under Human Growth and Development included teaching elementary and middle-school age children about anal and oral sex (Section HE.7.7.1), gender identity (HE.8.7.2) and nontraditional family structures (HE.K.7.2).

The majority of this content was removed before the second draft was issued.

Greenwald noted the new draft still includes such topics as discuss how social determinants and health disparities can impact health and analyze various lifestyles and habits, and how they impact the multiple dimensions of health.

The problem with draft two is they just moved these things around, she said. Theres eight chapters and they had these things under Human Growth and Development. Those examples I just read to you are from chapters one and six.

Greenwald also spoke against critical race theory.

The academic movement is based on Marxism, she said.

The three stools to collectivize a society is to take away morality, instill ideology and revise history, Greenwald said.
Big Boy No. 4014, the famed Union Pacific steam locomotive built in the 1940s to conquer mountains while carrying equipment during World War II, has embarked on a 10-state tour with stops planned Sunday in five Nebraska communities, including Hastings.

Big Boy will leave its home base at the Union Pacific Steam Shop at Cheyenne, Wyo., today and is traveling east toward North Platte, where it will spend two nights. On Sunday, the locomotive will continue its southeast journey, passing through central and southeastern Nebraska en route to Kansas City, Mo.

The four whistle-stops planned on Sunday, with estimated times, include:

n 9:30 a.m.  Cozad, Highway 30 and Meridian Avenue

n 11:45 a.m.  Kearney, Central Avenue Crossing

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n 1:30 p.m.  Hastings, 12th Street Crossing

n 3:45 p.m.  Belvidere, C Street Crossing

Big Boy is expected to arrive in Fairbury at about 5 p.m. and spend the night there, where it can be viewed by the public.
HONOLULU (AP)  A San Francisco investment banker recently sold his Maui mansion to a retired hedge fund CEO and a Hollywood actress for $45 million.

The cash sale of the oceanfront house in Kihei reflects a hot Hawaii real estate market fueled by a pandemic that has made the islands a desirable place to isolate and work remotely. According to property records, it has eight bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and two half bathrooms and features a pool and jacuzzi.

The median price of a Maui home topped $1.1 million in June. The price of the home  purchased by Adam Weiss and Barret Swatek on July 30  is the second-highest sale in Hawaii history, said their agent, Anne Hogan Perry of real estate company Compass. The most expensive single-family residence was for $46.1 million on Kauai in 2018.

Perry noted that home is on 15.3 acres, while the Maui property is less than an acre.

The pandemic wasn't the main reason the Malibu, California, couple chose the home, Perry said. But a shift toward virtual meetings will allow them to spend more time in Hawaii.

They were not set on a particular island, she said. They wanted to understand the culture and what made each island different.
COVID-19 Education Policy

CDC Updates Return-to-School Guidance: Let Kids Come  with Masks

Today, the Centers for Disease Control issued new guidance for K12 schools, calling for indoor masking and physical distancing for everybody, whether or not they've been vaccinated.

The guidance is in response to the highly contagious Delta variant, which is hitting people aged 50 and under with greater virulence than earlier variants. According to CDC numbers, while those who are 18 to 29 years old have the highest incidence of cases per 100,000 people (122), infection among younger age groups exceeds the per-capita rates of people older than 65. In the age 5 to 11 grouping, the per-capita rate is 65; for 12 to 15, it's 73; and for 16-17, it's 91; for those 65 to 74 year, it's 44.

The CDC update stated that a return to in-person instruction for fall 2021 was "a priority." But since those under age 12 aren't yet eligible for vaccinations, schools are advised to take a "layered" approach:

Indoor masking for all;

Maintaining three feet of physical distance between students in the classroom;

Following handwashing and respiratory etiquette;

Having proper ventilation; and

Encouraging families to keep sick children at home and to get them tested;

Earlier this week, the CDC also recommended that those who are vaccinated get tested for COVID-19 within three to five days after a known exposure to anybody else who has or is suspected of having COVID-19.

At least two states  Florida and Texas  have issued executive orders banning mask mandates, including in schools. Florida has seen an increase of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state, with the Miami-Herald reporting that "more Florida children were hospitalized with COVID-19...than in any other state." According to an analysis by the newspaper, the most dramatic increase over the last month has been among kids under 12. On June 29, 2021, the weekly average for new cases in Florida for children under 12 was 205; by the end of July it was 1,544. Texas exceeded Florida's youngest COVID-19 hospitalized patients, with 142 children hospitalized compared to Florida's 135.

As of August 4, 2021, nationwide, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 51% of 16- to 17-year-olds and 40% of 12- to 15-year-olds had received at least a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 41% of the 16- to 17-year-olds and 29% of 12- to 15-year-olds had been fully vaccinated.
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 96F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
This is so much better, just having them in school. The remote learning did not work well for us last year, Newman said.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced Wednesday that it was expanding access to free saliva-based COVID-19 testing to all elementary schools outside of Chicago. The Chicago school district received federal funding for testing.

In-person learning is a priority and we want to make sure students, teachers, and staff are able to return to the classroom as safely as possible, said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. With the surge in COVID-19 cases and Delta variant, the sooner we know if someone has been infected, the quicker we can take action to prevent the spread of the virus to others. Not only is testing the best way to identify these cases, it can also help keep kids in school with a new Test-to-Stay protocol. We encourage all school districts to take advantage of this free resource.

Test-to-Stay is an alternative to quarantine. Students and teachers who have been identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case now have the option of a Test-to-Stay protocol. Close contacts must be tested on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after exposure. As long as close contacts remain negative, they are not required to quarantine.
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Fort Payne, AL (35967)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this morning. Skies will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 89F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Were glad to see anti-energy groups like the authors of this study confirm that oil and gas production on federal lands has played a significant role in Wyomings economic development even though the report purposely undercounts oil and gas related employment, Ryan McConnaughey, the Petroleum Associations communications director, wrote in an email to the Star-Tribune.

President Joe Bidens Jan. 27 executive order suspending new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal land came as part of a broader effort by his administration to address the causes of climate change.

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A federal judge ruled in June that the order was an overreach of executive power and required the government to resume quarterly lease sales  but, to the industrys dismay, did not dictate how many leases must be offered at those auctions.

The Biden administration is expected to publish a review of federal leasing that introduces program reforms by the end of the summer. The next federal lease sale will likely be held in September.

Federal lands make up a significant share of oil and gas leases in all five of the Intermountain West states  Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming  analyzed in the report.
Health

breaking top story

'We need to change our course.' COVID hospitalizations reach January levels

Cayla Nimmo, Star-Tribune Ramona Garcia holds signs with the word "pray" written on at Conwell Park across from Wyoming Medical Center, WMC, in Casper Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Attorney Dallas Laird and Minister Fred Bruner organized the Community Healing Project protesting the coronavirus which brought together members of the community in a prayer circle. Garcia joined to pray for her mother, sister and pastor all currently infected with the virus. "Momma I don't know where you are but I know you're looking," says Garcia addressing her mother currently receiving treatment at WMC.

Wyoming hospitals are treating as many COVID-19 patients now as they were in early January, which experts say is a concerning trend as a more contagious and likely more dangerous variant of the virus circulates through the state.

It very much feels like it did in early fall, Dr. Andy Dunn said. Dunn is chief of primary care at Wyoming Medical Center, the states largest hospital, and has overseen a variety of pandemic programs at the facility.

At one point last November, Dunn had spent three weeks straight at the hospital treating dozens of virus patients with no end in sight. When the pandemic peaked here, just under 250 people were hospitalized statewide. Conditions have not deteriorated to that level, and Dunn said he feels hospital staff are ready and bracing for another surge. Still, he called the current trend terrifying.

Eighty-seven people Tuesday were being treated at Wyoming hospitals for COVID-19. Of those, nearly 20% were at Wyoming Medical Center.

Dunn has often lamented Wyoming and Natrona Countys low vaccination rates and said its a major driver of the current increase. Just 37% of the state is fully inoculated, despite vaccines being available to the general public since late March.

With the delta variant now considered the dominant strain in Wyoming and nationwide, and with the unvaccinated driving new cases, Dunn said hes worried about what could come this fall, particularly when school resumes.

Delta now dominant virus strain in Wyoming; cases surge as vaccines plateau The reality that the pandemic is not over in Wyoming is growing clearer each day, with the metrics that guide public health decisions ticking back toward concerning levels. Heres a look at some of the numbers.

Not only is the delta variant more contagious, but evidence suggests it can cause more severe illness. Dunn said that tracks with what hes been seeing both at the hospital and at regular doctors appointments.

We still see some people complain of loss of taste or smell, but were seeing more of the constellation of respiratory symptoms upfront, Dunn said. Theyre definitely sicker, and theyre also getting worse (faster) in my opinion or their deterioration seems to be a little bit quicker than the previous variants.

He added those hospitalized are more frequently in their 20s, 30s and 40s, whereas older residents were the bulk of hospitalizations before the vaccines became available. Vaccination rates are higher for residents 65 years and older, which Dunn partly attributes to the shift.

Despite deltas dominance, State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist is stressing vaccines are still the best tool to thwart the virus.

We are deeply concerned. The Delta variant has really changed the COVID fight we have on our hands. Unfortunately, Wyomings low vaccination rate makes our state more vulnerable to this highly contagious variant, she said in a Wednesday statement.

The health department has not been publishing raw data on the vaccination status of newly infected and hospitalized individuals, but in a release Wednesday gave an overview of those figures.

Roughly 95% of more than 5,000 confirmed and probable new cases between May 1 and July 28 were among unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated residents, according to the health department.

Just under 94% of the roughly 300 people hospitalized with the virus during that time did not report being fully vaccinated.

Health officials worry low vaccine use, more contagious COVID variant could mean another virus surge As a more contagious and potentially more dangerous variant of the virus spreads in the state, officials worry not enough Wyomingites will be protected.

However, no vaccine can prevent all infections and thats why we see a small percentage of what we call breakthrough cases, Harrist said. The overwhelming majority of breakthrough cases that are identified do not involve serious illness. In other words, vaccines certainly help keep you from getting COVID-19 in the first place, but if you do get it you are far less likely to get severely ill.

She added, The Delta variant must be taken seriously because it spreads much more easily between people than the COVID-19 weve become familiar with. There are also concerns from experts that as the Delta variant spreads the number of breakthrough cases will increase  because the Delta variant is essentially like COVID-19 upping its game against us, we have to fight back a little harder for now.

Harrist told the Star-Tribune last week she recommends people in areas with moderate to high transmission rates don face masks again regardless of vaccination status.

Eight counties including Natrona are excluded from that condition based on state-specific metrics. No counties are excluded when referencing the CDC guidance, which calculates transmission using a shorter timeframe.

Dunn said he recommends residents in Natrona County wear face masks regardless of their vaccination status, and added that those with questions about vaccines should call their doctor.

We need to change our course, and we need to do it quickly, he said.
Vaccine maker Novavax announced Thursday it has asked regulators in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine -- offering its shot to some low-income countries before rich ones with ample supplies.

U.S.-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine program.

Novavax CEO Stanley Erck called the submissions an important step toward access to millions of doses of a safe and effective vaccine for countries with an urgent need to control the pandemic.

The company announced it also plans to submit applications in Britain soon, followed by Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, but not in the U.S. until later in the year.

The Novavax two-dose shot is made with lab-grown copies of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. Thats very different than other widely used vaccines that deliver genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.

The Novavax shots are easier to store and transport than some other options, and have long been expected to play an important role in increasing supplies in poor countries desperate for more vaccine.
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Other nations are not waiting while the United States considers different approaches, he told the committee, adding that if the legislation is passed, he hopes provisions meant to ensure rural states can compete for federal dollars remain in the final version.

That legislation passed the Senate 68-32 in May, and now awaits a vote in the House.

Not only are various federal agencies and national labs poised to move quickly to roll out programs with such funding, but universities across the nation are also hungry, ready, and further positioning themselves for such funding and to become stronger engines of innovation for their regions and for the nation, he added in a written statement.

The work hes done in his first year as president of Wyomings sole public four-year university mirrors the testimony he offered Thursday.

Seidel is leading efforts to reimagine the school as future-facing and ahead of the technological curve. Hes stressed the need to prepare students for jobs that dont exist yet, as well as ways the university can bolster the states faltering economy.
The health department has not been publishing raw data on the vaccination status of newly infected and hospitalized individuals, but in a release Wednesday gave an overview of those figures.

Roughly 95% of more than 5,000 confirmed and probable new cases between May 1 and July 28 were among unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated residents, according to the health department.

Just under 94% of the roughly 300 people hospitalized with the virus during that time did not report being fully vaccinated.

However, no vaccine can prevent all infections and thats why we see a small percentage of what we call breakthrough cases, Harrist said. The overwhelming majority of breakthrough cases that are identified do not involve serious illness. In other words, vaccines certainly help keep you from getting COVID-19 in the first place, but if you do get it you are far less likely to get severely ill.

She added, The Delta variant must be taken seriously because it spreads much more easily between people than the COVID-19 weve become familiar with. There are also concerns from experts that as the Delta variant spreads the number of breakthrough cases will increase  because the Delta variant is essentially like COVID-19 upping its game against us, we have to fight back a little harder for now.
On appeal, Dennis Klingbeil contended that it was inappropriate for the Park County Attorneys Office to have the doctor offer that opinion.

However, the Supreme Court held that there was little indication that remark changed the verdict.

Justice Gray noted the testimony about the couples disintegrating relationship  including a reported comment from Klingbeil earlier in the day that he was going to put an end to this tonight  and Klingbeils own conflicting statements after the killing.

In later conversations with various people, he never alleged the shooting was accidental, Gray wrote. Instead, his versions of events were inconsistent and contradictory, ranging from a claim of temporary insanity to I dont remember.

Further, the court noted Bennetts finding that Klingbeil had shot his wife at point blank range, firing straight into her head. Even without the challenged testimony from the pathologist and the accounts of the 2011 argument, Justice Gray said the evidence was sufficient to secure the jurys verdict.

Justice Keith Kautz went further in a concurring opinion, saying there was nothing to indicate that the Park County Attorneys Office acted improperly in asking Bennett about the manner of death.
Pinnacle West invites interested parties to listen to the live webcast of managements conference call to discuss 2021 second-quarter results, as well as recent developments, at noon ET (9 a.m. Arizona time) today, Aug. 5. The webcast can be accessed at pinnaclewest.com/presentations and will be available for replay on the website for 30 days. To access the live conference call by telephone, dial (877) 407-8035 or (201) 689-8035 for international callers. A replay of the call also will be available at pinnaclewest.com/presentations or by telephone until 11:59 p.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021, by calling (877) 481-4010 in the U.S. and Canada or (919) 882-2331 internationally and entering passcode 41816.
Our child is supposed to be here with us, Williamson said. I had to go to her grave site.

Turners family is suing the city, saying a lack of leadership and protective action led to the little girl's death.

Secoriea was fatally shot in an SUV with her mother and another adult near the Wendys restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was killed by a white police officer on June 12.

Makeshift barricades had been set up in the area after Brooks was killed, and armed men had been blocking roads in the area and turning some drivers away. The SUV Secoriea was in was trying to make a U-turn at one of the barricades when shots were fired into the vehicle, police said. Investigators have said as many as four people opened fire, but until Wednesday, just one person had been charged in the case.

Authorities have not said how they linked McKinney to Turner's shooting or if theyre searching for any more suspects.

Both McKinney and Conley remained held at the Fulton County Jail without bond. McKinney is scheduled for a first appearance hearing in Fulton County Magistrate Court on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could comment.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
TOWSON, Md. (AP)  A $3 million settlement has been reached in the 2016 death of a Black woman shot by Baltimore County police after a standoff, a county official and attorneys for the womans family confirmed to a newspaper Wednesday.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the settlement comes five years after Korryn Gaines' death and resolves claims brought by her parents, daughter and estate, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by the newspaper.

A county police officer shot the 23-year-old Gaines during a standoff at her Randallstown apartment in 2016, killing her and injuring her then-5-year-old son, Kodi.

Left unsettled are the legal claims brought by attorneys for Kodi, who was shot in the elbow and face and underwent surgeries for his injuries.
FirstEnergy made the payments to Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio Inc., of which Randazzo was the owner and sole employee.

The $4.3 million payment paid in January 2019 was for years 2019 through 2024 listed in the consulting contract. The consulting contract showed Randazzo was to be paid nearly $7 million from 2013 through 2018. It's unclear when and why the remaining $11 million was paid.

Randazzo resigned as utilities commission chair in November after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy made public the $4.3 million payment in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Randazzo met with FirstEnergy Executive 1 and Executive 2 on Dec. 18, 2018, at his Columbus townhome, the day after he emailed Executive 2 and others an announcement that the utilities commission was seeking applications for an open seat.

It has not been disputed that Executive 1 is Chuck Jones, who was fired in October as CEO for violating company policies and its code of conduct. Executive 2 is one of two senior vice presidents who was fired with Jones, according to the statement of facts.
An overloaded van carrying 29 migrants crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 10 people, including the driver, and injuring 20 others, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of McAllen. Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety says the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was speeding as the driver tried to veer off the highway onto Business Route 281. He lost control of the top-heavy van, which slammed into a metal utility pole and a stop sign.

The van was not being pursued, said Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez.

The sheriff said he believed all of the passengers were migrants. Brandley said the death toll was initially announced as 11 but was later revised. He also said the 20 who survived the initial crash all have serious to critical injuries.

The identities of the 30 in the van were being withheld until relatives can be notified, Brandley said. No information about the van, including where it was registered or who owned it, was immediately released.

Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The question of whether lawsuits blaming big oil companies for loss of vulnerable Louisiana coastal wetlands will be tried in state courts, as local parish governments want, or in federal courts, as the oil companies want, has been revived by a federal appeals panel.

Thursday's ruling at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was a partial victory for the oil companies and a partial reversal of a decision the same court made a year ago. But a lead attorney for parishes suing the oil companies claimed victory, too, saying the decision effectively means at least 15 of the 42 lawsuits still face state trials  and the remainder could, too, pending more federal court review.

The decision is in our favor, lawyer John Carmouche said.

In August 2020, a panel of three 5th Circuit judges upheld federal district judges' rulings keeping the issue in state court, where coastal parishes' attorneys want them tried. But the oil companies pressed for reconsideration. Arguments were heard in October, and Judge James Ho, author of the 2020 opinion, wrote Thursday that the district courts should take another look.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP)  A former online celebrity who became known for allegedly using a hatchet to fend off an attack on a highway worker failed in his attempt to have his conviction in a 2013 murder overturned.

Caleb McGillvary was convicted two years ago of the 2013 murder of attorney Joseph Galfy at Galfys New Jersey home. The two had met in New Yorks Times Square, and McGillvary claimed he killed the older man while fending off a sexual assault. He is serving a 57-year sentence.

Among many arguments in his appeal, the Alberta, Canada, native claimed the jurys verdict wasnt justified by the evidence presented and that prosecutors committed misconduct by mischaracterizing the evidence and McGillvary's defense. He also accused the trial judge of improperly allowing highly prejudicial expert testimony.

In rejecting all of McGillvary's arguments in its opinion Wednesday, the appeals court noted that the medical examiner's testimony showed Galfy's injuries were so severe that they were the result of far more than than just an effort to thwart a sexual advance," in the opinion of the trial judge.

The record does not suggest a miscarriage of justice occurred, the two-judge panel wrote.
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP)  An educator who taught the children of U.S. military personnel at an Army base in Germany is accused of sexually assaulting two young students, court records show.

Stefan Eberhard Zappey has been a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, assigned to an elementary school at an Army base near Stuttgart, Germany, prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Georgia, charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child committed by a person employed by the Armed Forces outside of the United States.

This March, one student told a teacher that shed been abused in 2007 and 2008, when she was less than 9 years old, according to a recently unsealed complaint in U.S. District Court in Georgia. She said she didn't report the abuse back then because she didnt know it was wrong, the complaint states.

Her report led military investigators to interview other former students and faculty members, some of whom shared stories of inappropriate touching by Zappey. Another girl also said that when she was under 9 years old, Zappey would call her to his desk during class and put his hand inside her shirts and pants, court records state.

A federal public defender representing Zappey did not respond to a request for comment.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  A justice on the Vermont Supreme Court who played a role in the state's passage of the first-in-the-nation civil unions law has been nominated to a seat on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Thursday.

The announcement about the nomination of Beth Robinson was part of President Joe Bidens sixth round of judicial nominations.

Robinson would be the first and only LGBTQ woman to serve on any federal circuit court. Robinson helped argue the case that led to Vermonts 2000 first-in-the-nation civil unions law, a forerunner of gay marriage.

Vermonts Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said in a statement that Robinson has been a champion of equal rights in the mold of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I know that, if confirmed, Justice Robinson would serve on the Second Circuit with integrity, humility, and a deep reverence for the rule of law," Leahy said.

Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott also praised the nomination of Robinson.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A lawsuit filed by the state of West Virginia accusing several drug manufacturers of misrepresenting the risks of their painkilling drugs will go to trial next April, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday.

The Mass Litigation Panel, a group of state judges in Kanawha County, granted a motion by the state to expedite the trial, Morrisey said in a news release. The lawsuits were previously filed separately in Boone County in August 2019.

Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Endo Health Solutions Inc. are accused of violating the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act and causing a public nuisance.

Morrisey says the companies engaged in strategic campaigns to deceive prescribers. The lawsuits allege the manufacturers conduct led to opioids becoming a common treatment for chronic pain and fueled substance abuse in West Virginia.

According to Morrisey, Teva is accused of telling doctors that patients could take increasingly strong opioids without disclosing the rising risk of addiction, and disguising its marketing efforts through third-party advocates and professional associations.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The president of Belarus on Thursday ordered the country's security forces to tighten control over the border with Lithuania, which earlier this week started turning away immigrants attempting to cross in from Belarus.

Lithuania, a member of the European Union, has faced a surge of mostly Iraqi migrants in the past few months. It says thats due to retaliation by Belarus authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after the EU put sanctions on his country over diverting a plane to the capital of Minsk and arresting a dissident aboard.

The surge of Iraqis and others is emerging as another source of tension between autocratic Belarus and its European neighbors to the west. On Tuesday, Lithuania said it reserved the right to use force to stop such illegal immigration and turned away 180 people attempting to enter the country.

Lukashenko on Thursday ordered defense and security agencies to close every meter of the border" in order not to let immigrants Lithuania turns away back into Belarus.
The SunLink streetcar is offering free rides through the end of the year. Make the most of this deal by ditching the car for a hassle-free night out at one of these Tucson restaurants or bars.
TUG 2021 online  Program

Open/Close all abstracts

| Sue DeMeritt & Cheryl Ponchin Introduction to LaTeX

Sue and Cheryl will be giving their classic introduction to LaTeX workshop, in English.

| Emilio Kavamura Graphics with PGFPlots  in Portuguese

The workshop intends to briefly present the features of PGFPlots for LaTeX users. The topics covered start from the environment description, present the graphics types and their components, and possible customizations. The presentation ends with the use of the animate package to provide animations from a set of in line text graphics. The codes of the examples presented are available for you to try and evaluate the capabilities of the graphic environment in LaTeX.

O workshop pretende apresentar de forma breve os recursos do PGFPlots para usuarios de LaTeX. Os topicos abordados partem da descricao do ambiente, apresentam os tipos de graficos e seus componentes, e algumas das customizacoes possiveis. A apresentacao e encerrada com o uso do pacote animate que produz animacoes a partir de graficos . Os codigos dos exemplos apresentados estao disponibilizados para que possam experimentar e avaliar as capacidades do ambiente grafico em LaTeX.

| Alexander Borbon Introduction to LaTeX  in Spanish

Break, 18 hours

| Simon Porter Data-driven documents using Jupyter Notebooks and Overleaf

We will show how Digital Science combines Jupyter Notebooks and Overleaf projects for automated creation of professionally-looking documents, and team collaboration.

| Amelia Hugill-Fontanel Cary Graphic Arts Collection Pressroom Tour

Visit and work with a Letter Press printer.

| Paulo Ney de Souza Producing a book for Amazon KDP

Learn about the details of producing a book in LaTeX for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Break, 2 hours

| David Crossland Variable fonts

| Matheus Rocha How to make a logo/symbol for a font

Learn how to create a new symbol and make an OpenType font for your logo to be used in TeX and elsewhere.

| Oliver Austin Plane and Simple: Exploration of Machine Interaction with Text Type for Visual Based Navigation Systems

Air travel provided the zoom for society before we had to Zoom. However, at the most critical stage of flight when the pilot and plane are coming to land, readability of a runway marker is of utmost importance. While the methods of marking have traditionally been white paint on blacktop written in the official font used by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), with the industry turning towards the commercialization of autonomous drones, it raises the question of whether the current font is suitable for visual-based navigational systems. This project consequently examines the ability of machine learning software to read, learn, and recognize digits 0-9 and letters L, C, and R across a variety of fonts.

Break, 45 minutes

| Vafa Khalighi Persian Typesetting in TeX: Past, Present, and Future

This talk is based primarily on my last 15 years of TeX development in the area of Persian typesetting. I will look at the current state of Persian typesetting in TeX, discuss the issues I have faced, the current challenges, and what needs to be done. I will also discuss how the xepersian package is used for typesetting mainly Persian documents and show few sample documents (books, theses, and other types of documents) produced by the xepersian package. Some capabilities of the xepersian package will be demonstrated live.

| Norbert Preining Interview

Norbert will be interviewed by Paulo Ney de Souza.

Break, 5 hours

| Aravind Rajendran, Rishi T, Apu V, Rahul Krishnan S How a LaTeX Based Company Lived through a modern day Pandemic?

Now we all know what a pandemic is and how dreadful it is for all mankind. Most generations who are alive today would have not known one, never seen one, never felt one. Surviving these trying times have made us all adapt to change and we are no stranger. As a typesetter for the leading Scientific, Technical and Medical publishers around the world, we have helped typeset thousands of pages of research articles on Covid-19. Somewhere through our business of typesetting  directly or indirectly we feel we have helped. Our main objective during this challenging period, was to keep the business rolling safely, making sure our employees and customers were not let down. Through this journey we have helped our staff work safely ensuring they had no job loss. And for the scientific community we have worked tirelessly, helping publishers continue publishing research articles quickly without losing a single committed due date. This is how we assured Business Continuity and Certainty for our employees, customers and business. Looking back, with gratitude we can now confidently shout out, YES, we have achieved what we had set out for  making LaTeX work for a business, ensuring no job losses, standardising our workflows, making data driven analytical decisions within LaTeX workflows and to sum it all, keep delivering aesthetically pleasing documents to our customers and delighting them always. It was indeed not a cake walk, times were superbly challenging and we have persevered. Finding the Goldilocks between aesthetics and efficiency has always been a challenge for large production houses. But in this pandemic time we have achieved just that the right balance Our Goldilocks for LaTeX based typesetting. This is our journey, this is our story, the story still continues...

| Martin Ruckert The WEB to cweb Conversion of TeX

This paper describes several aspects of the conversion of TeXs source code from WEB, based on Pascal, to cweb based on CEE with web2w. It emphasizes those aspects that are relevant for obtaining a translation that can truly be regarded as source code and lends itself to modifications.

| Vit Novotny Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX

Celebrating its fifth birthday, the Markdown package has received five new features: user-defined LaTeX themes & setup snippets, two syntax extensions for comments, and support for the LuaMetaTeX engine. In this talk, I will introduce each of these features and show how they can be used in practice.

| Rohit Goswami Continuous Integration and TeX with Org-Mode

In this talk I would like to introduce the usage of TeX and templates along with generating ad-hoc class and style files for working with orgmode. In particular, I will highlight also the process by which literate programming practices can be implemented with babel. This allows for a more native and flexible alternative to vendor locked in systems like Jupyterlab which rely on JS based inelegant approaches towards TeX typesetting. Finally, I would like to go into how to leverage CI methods for TeX workflows augmented with git.

Break, 45 minutes

| Andreas Papasalouros & Antonis Tsolomitis latex2nemeth: A direct LaTeX-to-Braille Transcribing Tool

The Braille system allows the tactile representation of characters in various alphabets, giving access to reading texts to visually impared persons. The Nemeth code for Mathematics allows the representation of Mathematics symbols and expressions into the Braille system. We have developed a tool, named latex2nemeth, for the reliable transcription of LaTeX documents to Nemeth Braille, thus facilitating the access of visually impared students to studing Science. In order to support the extensive set of Mathematics symbols covered by TeX, we have proposed some new symbols based on the extension mechanisms of the Nemeth code. With the aim of latex2nemeth, we have created a repository of learning material in Braille/Nemeth code aiming to support studies in Mathematics for visually impared students. While most of the material available in the repository is in the Greek language, the tool supports other languages as well. latex2nemeth is currently available in both texlive and MiKTeX distributions.

| Ulrike Fischer On the road to tagged PDF: about StructElem, Marked Content, PDF/A and squeezed Bars

In this talk I will present two packages as part of the LaTeX Project Tagged PDF: tagpdf which contains the core code to create a tagged PDF and is used by the LaTeX team to test new code.

pdfmanagement-testphase which contains a large number of PDF-related commands and tools and installs a new management command for central PDF dictionaries.

I will show how to use these packages, which benefits they will bring for the normal user, but also speak about incompabilities and required changes in document. I will show how to use these packages, which benefits they will bring for the normal user, but also speak about incompabilities and required changes in document.

| Frank Mittelbach Taming the beast  Advances in paragraph tagging with pdfTeX and XeTeX

In this talk I will demonstrate and describe our solution for automatically tagging paragraphs when using engines such as pdfTeX or XeTeX. The situation with LuaTeX is different and simpler and therefore not subject of this talk. I briefly touch on the problems one encounters and explain the approacheswe used to overcome them. This will be done with a number of demonstrations intermixed with theoretical explanations. This work is part of our multi-year journey to gradually modernize LaTeX so that it can automatically produce high-quality tagged and accessible PDF without the need to post-process the result of the LaTeX run.

| Jonathan Fine Code and math in the dark

Its said: Easy reading is hard writing. Certainly both reader and writer need to make extra effort, when the reader is visually impaired, and the material is technical. This talk is about improving the accessibility of TeX and its outputs. This is not a typesetting talk. It is a user experience and social interaction talk.

For sighted readers the printed page assists short-term memory, as does typography. They reduce the cognitive load. The eye can pick up subtle hints. Clarity of organisation and writing will reduce the cognitive load for both visually impaired and sighted readers, provided they have sufficient verbal skills.

This year Ive had regular online discussions about accessibility with blind and visually impaired persons, and listened in on their forum conversations with each other. Ive learnt a lot from this.

The introduction of computers and networks has been, with some exceptions, an enabling technology for the visually impaired. A screen reader allows the user to hear what is written, without needing a sighted assistant. And video calls by mobile phone means that the sighted assistant need not be physically present.

Louis Braille, who became blind as a young child, developed the tactile code for reading and writing that we now know simply as Braille. Screen readers allow the visually impaired to write computer software. The major screen readers are JAWS, Orca and NVDA. It should be no surprise that their leading developers Glen Gordon, Mark Mulcahy, Michael Curran and James Teh are all blind.

To summarize, my talk will share what Ive learned from my interactions with blind and visually impaired users, and how it relates to the accessibility of TeX and its outputs.

Break, 1 hour

| Paulo Cereda 2020: a year in review, living on an island

In this talk, Paulo recalls 2020 at the Island of TeX: an eventful year with a new backend for the online TeX and LaTeX documentation lookup system, the release of a tool for finding fonts that contain a given Unicode glyph, a major update for arara and other actions and initiatives as a means to enrich the TeX ecosystem. Yet, a new adventure is about to unfold, for the Island has bold and exciting plans for the future.

| Joseph Wright Any colo(u)r you like

TeX itself has no built-in support for colour, which is therefore handled by specials or engine-specific extensions. For LaTeX2e, the different interfaces are abstracted out by the color package. However, there is a lot that the color package does not do, for example handling colour model interconversion, mixing colours or device-specific colour spaces. Packages such as xcolor and colorspace fill that gap, whilst the luacolor package addresses a separate issue: avoiding the need to use whatsits for colour at all.

As part of wider efforts to enhance the LaTeX kernel via expl3 additions, recent work on the l3color package has brought many of these concepts into a single set of interfaces. That means not only copying existing ideas but also ensuring maximal functionality. In my talk, I will explore the work on l3color, highlighting where it can go beyond the predecessor packages in ease of use and functionality.

| samcarter News from the TikZ zoo: A short introduction to the TikZlings package

The TikZlings package provides a selection of cute little animals (and other beings) which can be used in TikZ. Cats, teddy bears, penguins, snowmen and many more are included in the package.

After a short introduction on how to use the package, I will give an overview of the available options and show some examples of how one can customise TikZlings.

| Marcel Kruger Reviving Type 3 fonts for modern LuaLaTeX documents

For a long time, Type 3 fonts in LaTeX generated PDF files were known for (undesirable) bitmap fonts, but that's only a small aspect of what this font format can do. With OpenType color fonts the idea behind Type 3 fonts has seen a revival, and LuaTeX recently added supported for adding such fonts for non-bitmap use cases too.

In this talk I want to look at how this format can be used to create smaller and simpler PDF files involving color fonts and user generated glyphs and consider advantages and disadvantages in contrast to traditional alternatives like virtual fonts or macro based solutions.

| Frank Mittelbach Interview

Frank will be interviewed by Paulo Ney de Souza.

Break, 45 minutes

Annual General Meeting

Annual General Meeting of the TeX Users Group

| Keiran Harcombe & Boris Veytsman Creating TeXLive VPAT statement

Governments around the world are enforcing accessibility standards. Vendors of software used by government agencies are required to file formal statements of accessibility for their products. This presents a special challenge of open source products, if they are not sponsored by a corporation.

In this talk we discuss our experience in creation of such a formal statement for TeXLive. While command line tools are usually more accessible than GUI interfaces, the work turned out to be more difficult than we thought in the beginnning.



| Alexei Kolesnikov, Al Maneki, Michael Cantino, Rob Beezer, Volker Sorge Tactile mathematics: Enabling Sighted and Blind People to Share Mathematical Experience

High quality automated transcription of mathematical texts, including graphics, into tactile form is an open problem. In this talk, we describe the reasons for producing tactile forms of mathematical texts. We will describe common challenges involved in transcription, and progress made to date. We make the case that semantically rich source files are needed to produce adequate tactile and audio-tactile forms of scientific materials.

| Michael Nolan, Dr. Todd Pagano, Suhas Chikkanaravangala Vijayakumar, Rahul Jaiswal Publishing for all: Using LaTeX to help improve the accessibility of an open-access journal

A screen reader is a vital tool that helps individuals who are blind or low-vision read digital text. Unfortunately, not all file formats receive the same level of support from screen readers. For example, while PDF files have accessibility features that can be used, they are often not the preferred file format for screen reader users. Between line breaks, multiple columns, symbols, and images, screen readers often struggle with academic journal articles in certain file formats. We will discuss the collaboration of the Open at RIT project with an open access journal and their combined goal of improving accessibility and readership for all. We will explore the difficulties that journals face on their journey towards accessibility, why this journey is worth making, and show how using LaTeX to publish both to our traditional PDF format as well as a more accessible HTML format allowed us to make a big leap towards becoming a more accessible journal.

Break, 1 hour 15 minutes

| Ross Moore & Tom Price Accessible research reports; case study, including acronyms and glossaries

US government agencies have a need for properly Accessible PDFs. The practice of `remediation (adjusting and augmenting the PDF after the typesetting phase) is both expensive and produces generally poor results.

In this talk we show how a much better product can be created directly using LaTeX, adapted for constructing documents that fully conform to PDF/UA-1 and PDF/A-3a. LaTeX sources are handled at 3 levels: (i) initial data capture by research scientists, (ii) heavy editorial work to enable accessibility aspects, (iii) production-level processing to produce feature-rich tagging and full Accessibility.

The two speakers will discuss different aspects of these 3 levels, according to their own involvement in this generalised workflow.

Of particular interest is the use of acronyms and glossaries to enrich the PDF with features that associate technical terms and abbreviations with a fully expanded description of the meanings of those terms, accessible both visually and to Assistive Technology for non-visual readers.

| Jennifer Claudio Word Search Puzzles in Arabic, Cyrillic, and English using babels multilingual support for LaTeX

Word search puzzles are a fun pastime and can be a helpful learning tool for spelling and letter recognition. I present an exploration of the babel language package for LaTeX with the production of puzzles in Cyrillic, Arabic, and English.

| Antoine Bossard On typesetting an EnglishJapanese book

Improving the English skills of non-native undergraduate students has important implications and can often be directly linked to students future, particularly in the IT field. The edition of a bilingual lecture textbook is thus arguably meaningful, notably by considering English as the major book language and students mother tongue the minor, supporting one. Yet, from a TeXnical point of view, this is far from being trivial. Hereinafter, LaTeX methods are given together with guidelines to support the realisation of a bilingual textbook. The especially technically demanding EnglishJapanese scenario is considered.

| Vafa Khalighi Bidirectional Typesetting in TeX: Past, Present, and Future

This talk is based primarily on my last 15 years of TeX development in the area of bidirectional typesetting. I will look at the current state of bidirectional typesetting in TeX, discuss the issues I have faced, the current challenges, and what needs to be done. I will also discuss how the bidi package is used for typesetting bidirectional documents and show few sample documents (books, theses, and other types of documents) produced by the bidi package. Some capabilities of the bidi package will be demonstrated live.

Break, 5 hours

| Mathias Magdowski How to Generate Personalized Tasks and Sample Solutions for Anonymous Peer Review in Electrical Engineering using LaTeX, PGFPlots and Circuitikz

In order to dissuade our students from bulimic learning and to motivate them to deal with electrical engineering already during the semester, we have developed a concept of personalized tasks with anonymous peer review. All students receive their own assignment by e-mail, can solve it and submit their solution as an explanatory video via a learning management system for correction. The video submission was chosen because not only the result but also the process of solving the problem can be documented much better and can be corrected or evaluated. In order to reduce the correction effort for the teachers, the students assess each other using a sample solution that is also personalized. The process runs automatically and is therefore easily scalable. Compared to simple multiple-choice or numerical value-and-unit tasks, the calculation method and approach as well as sketches, circuit diagrams and charts can also be evaluated well. This contribution describes how the tasks and sample solutions can be automatically generated in LaTeX with the help of the packages PGFPlots and Circuitikz.

| Vic van Dijk R and LaTeX: typesetting graphs in a reproducible way

Knitr ties LaTeX and R together in a very powerful combination. TikZ typesets visually appealing graphs from R code. Data is processed upon typesetting a report. All calculations can be made available to the reader as R code. This simplifies reproducible research. R offers a whole ecosystem of statistic procedures, graph packages, and even connections to other systems such as Python and MATLAB. In this talk I will show the applications of R & LaTeX that I came across. My aim is to typeset beautiful graphs in a widely accessible manner.

| Jonathan Fine Towards 21st century digital typography

This abstract is a short essay giving the framework for my talk. I take a long view. In my talk Ill provide some details and examples. My talk is about digital typography in 2050 and 2070, and the conditions for its emergence that are already present.

A few billion years ago life in the oceans began oxygenating the atmosphere. By 350 million years ago life on land was creating what we now call fossil fuel (coal, crude oil and natural gas). A few million years ago the genus homo (man) emerged.

Birds have song and dance. The tool-making Neanderthals (250,000 to 40,000 years ago) probably had language. Human art and music arose at least 40,000 years ago. Around 14,000 years ago agriculture and settlement started to replace nomadic hunt and gather. Writing (on tablets) followed about 5,000 years ago.

Ancient history (3000BC to AD500) includes about 80 civilizations worldwide with written records. This is a very rich period which still influences contemporary thought in art, religion, society, culture and politics.

Along with the rise of the European Renaissance in the 1400s, printing with moveable type emerged, to replace hand copying of books. This is typography, born out of calligraphy (writing with pen or brush).

By the 20th century there were massive printing presses, producing a million copies or more of each issue of a newspaper, which were then distributed on a national basis. (In 1950 the News of the World sold over 8 million copies each week.)

Also in the 20th century there was electrification, wireless stations and receivers, and studios. This distributed spoken voice news, and music, to millions. Cinema and then television provided moving images to accompany the sound.

By 2020 vast torrents of information were being created and transmitted using computers and networks (mobile phones, wi-fi and 4G). Computers are everywhere, even in electric light bulbs. The present context is very different from the 1970s, when Don Knuth started his foundational work on digital typography, and the creation of TeX and Metafont.

Gutenberg and others replaced hand copying of books by the printing press. Knuth and others replaced mechanical typography by computer (or digital) typography. Both produce only static visual images.

If humanity avoids destroying its culture and civilization, then the digital typography of 2050 will be different again. It is already emerging. One major component is the (world wide) web and its servers and browsers. This was pioneered by Tim Berners-Lee. Another is the smart mobile phone (now dominated by Apple and Android). A third is the large high-resolution flat screen television. A fourth is the ubiquity of computers.

I am now in my late 60s. I hope to be alive to see the digital typography of 2050, and if so I expect some surprises. Maxwells unification of electricity and magnetism (1865) lives on as the theoretical basis for electrification, wireless and much more. I hope the work of Knuth and others in digital typography can similarly be transmitted as useful living tools and skills to those who follow us.

I do not expect to be alive in 2070, yet alone the 100th birthday of TeX (2078 to 2082). I hope my contribution adds to the cause for celebration.

| Ondrej & Petr Sojka Czechoslovak Hyphenation Patterns, Word Lists, and Workflow  Why Hyphenate Czecho-Slovak Simply Syllabically?

Space- and time-effective segmentation and hyphenation of natural languages stay at the core of every document preparation system, web browser, or mobile rendering system.

Recently, the unreasonable effectiveness of pattern generation has been shown  it is possible to use hyphenation patterns to solve the dictionary problem for a single language without compromise.

In this article, we will show how we applied the marvelous effectiveness of patgen for the generation of the new Czechoslovak hyphenation patterns that cover two languages.

We show that the development of more universal hyphenation patterns is feasible, allows for significant quality improvements and space savings. We evaluate the new approach and the new Czechoslovak hyphenation patterns.

Break, 1 hour

| Jean-Michel Hufflen Programming Bibliographies

We are interested in situations such that using the full expressive power of a programming language is needed when References sections are generated for a source text suitable for LaTeX. The data model used by BibTeX is inadequate from this point of view, the biblatex package is based on a more efficient data model, but workarounds may be needed in some circumstances.

| Nicola Talbot bib2gls: symbols

Symbols (which may be letter-like mathematical constants or functions or may be pictographs with no intuitive ordering) can be problematic to sort. With MakeIndex and Xindy, it's necessary to explicitly set the sort key to the most appropriate alphanumeric value. With bib2gls, it's better not to explicitly set the sort field but instead use bib2gls's field fallback system to select the most appropriate field for the given entry type.

| Heinrich Stamerjohanns Texmlbus, a build system to convert documents to XML and other formats

Here I present an automatic open source build system that supports the conversion process of a collection of documents written in LaTeX or other TeX formats. With texmlbus, the Tex to XML BUild System, documents can not only be converted to PDF, but also to other output formats  such as markup languages like HTML. In particular, conversion to XML, HTML and MathML is supported via latexml. Texmlbus can schedule jobs among several workers (possibly on different hosts), extracts and analyzes the the outcome of the conversion process of each document and stores results in its own database. Result documents as well as statistics about the results of the build process can be easily retrieved using a web browser.

| Michal Hoftich LaTeX to HTML conversion with TeX4ht

TeX4ht is a converter from LaTeX to HTML and several other output formats. Recent work focuses keeping current with package updates, and supporting new packages. In this talk, I will discuss its current status and recent development. I will show how to how to change the look of the generated document, how to select the right way to produce math (including MathJax and MathML), and how to fix some common issues caused by clashes with unsupported packages or commands.

Break, 1 hour

| Andy Black & Hugh Paterson XLingPapers use of TeX Technologies

XLingPaper is a plugin to XMLMind, an XML editor designed for publishers. XLingPaper does three things: 1) controls the user interface of a powerful tool only allowing valid document sections to be inserted into a document  reducing user friction in the document production process. 2) it provides a constrained number of document sections which are relevant in the production of linguistically oriented publications, e.g., grammars, dissertations, thesis, journal articles, edited volumes, etc. 3) it exports documents to a variety of formats, e.g, PDFs, ePUB, Open Office Writer, HTML. We describe XLingPapers development history and its dependencies on TeX packages for PDF creation.

| Nicolas Vaughan TEI-XML to LaTeX Workflow: Issues and Lessons

In this presentation I discuss some of the issues surrounding the workflow used in the production of the annotated Spanish translation of the medieval work, Salomon et Marcolfus. I explain the decisions taken regarding the XSLT transformation of the TEI-XML document, in order to produce a final LuaLaTeX text.

| Nicolas Jimenez The Best of Both World: Bridging the Gap Between LaTeX And Markdown

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| John Hammersley Interview

John Hammersley, co-founder and CEO of Overleaf, will be interviewed by Paulo Ney de Souza.

Conference ends
A passerby found Jacobs in the ditch with his face bloodied and slashes across his chest and stomach, according to the ruling.

Jacobs genitals had been severed and his throat slit. It was estimated that he bled to death in four to 12 minutes.

Murphy challenged his conviction on several fronts, including claims that the state of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction because he was American Indian and the crime occurred within the historic boundaries of the Muscogee Nation reservation.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled in 2017 that the state of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction to try Murphy because he was Native American and the death occurred within Indian Country.

The court noted that only Congress can diminish or disestablish a tribal reservation boundary and that it hadnt done so with the Muscogee Nation since the 1860s.

The U.S. Supreme Court later affirmed that decision in 2020 along with issuing its now famously similar ruling involving the appeal of child sex abuser Jimcy McGirt.

Federal prosecutors were able to secure a conviction of Murphy despite the loss of some evidence and difficulty tracking down witnesses from more than 20 years ago.
Two more Tulsa area school districts released their 2021-22 reentry plans Wednesday.

A draft version released Wednesday afternoon says masks will be highly recommended at Union Public Schools but will not be required.

Under the proposal, Union officials will notify the Tulsa Health Department if more than two cases of COVID-19 from different households are identified within the same classroom or on-campus group, such as a team or club. The plan does not call for grouping elementary students into cohorts as a preventative measure, but it does leave individual sites the option of doing so when it is practical.

Although contact tracing will still be in place, the district will not be forcing students or staff to quarantine in the event of a close contact exposure. Instead, it will simply be recommended.

The district is seeking community feedback on its plan before it is formally adopted by its school board. The board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Monday.
Winters grew up in Enid and said he had little knowledge of what happened in Tulsa or Black history in general until he was an adult.

I guess Im disappointed, being a student of history, that the state of Oklahoma simply failed me as a student growing up in the 60s and 70s, he said.

The museum exhibits acquaint visitors with the entire history of the historic Greenwood neighborhood, from its origins in the early 1900s to the present day.

Jim Pickett, who recently moved to Tulsa from Wheeling, West Virginia, said hes trying to learn more about the city and the state.

Im just really interested in the process of reconciliation and what we can do to establish justice, he said.

Im finding that Oklahoma as a state might be more oppressive and conservative than West Virginia, but Im encouraged that Tulsa is making an effort to counter some of that, he said.

Janae Thompson of Tulsa came to the museum with her husband, John Thompson, and stepdaughter Jacqueline Pruitt, who was visiting from Louisville, Kentucky.

Janae Thompson said she enjoyed the exhibits but would have liked a more detailed description of the massacre and its background.
Oklahoma Democrats continued on Thursday to berate Gov. Kevin Stitt for alleged inaction during a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, while Stitts office remained equally adamant that no new measures are required.

The new Delta variant surge in our state should be an eye-opener and requires immediate action. Yet, Stitt stands by idly refusing to issue an emergency for schools to protect, Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairwoman Alicia Andrews said in a news release.

Democrats want Stitt to declare a public health emergency so local school districts that wish to do so can impose mask mandates as classes resume this month.

That authority was taken away from districts by a new law signed by Stitt this spring. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he regrets signing a similar law this year and has asked his states Legislature to repeal it.

Stitt, however, says an emergency declaration is not necessary.

Based on our states current data there is no need to declare a state of emergency in Oklahoma, he said in an email. We have an effective vaccine that is free and widely available to all eligible Oklahomans and we are well-prepared to manage COVID without a state of emergency.
Update (noon Thursday): Oklahoma has reached early-November levels of hospitalizations, with 954 patients requiring COVID-19 treatment at hospitals across the state. It represents a 29% increase over four days.

The peak for hospitalizations in Oklahoma was Dec. 28 with 1,995 patients in ICUs and other hospital beds.

Tulsa County patients account for 351 hospitalizations, up 20% since Monday. The peak for Tulsa County hospitalizations was Jan. 11 with 468.

The story below published in the Thursday edition of Tulsa World:

Two months ago, Oklahoma had about 1,000 active documented cases of COVID-19. Nearly 15,000 were active Wednesday, when a new report showed that breakthrough infections killed three more Oklahomans in the past week.

In the most recent federal data available, the state on Monday bumped up to the federal governments dark-red zone for new cases per capita and remained in the dark-red zone for test positivity rate.

Oklahoma has the second-highest test positivity rate in the nation  20.9%  and ranks eighth for new cases per capita, with about 213 cases per 100,000 residents.
The Peoples Committee of Hai Phong City is seeking approval from Ho Chi Minh City to borrow 500,000 doses of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) to facilitate the vaccination drive in the northern Vietnamese city.

A request signed by Hai Phong chairman Nguyen Van Tung on Thursday was sent to both the Ministry of Health and the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

The document emphasized that it is an urgent task for Hai Phong authorities to vaccinate its residents against COVID-19 in the face of the complicated developments of the pandemic in several Vietnamese localities.

About 1.6 million out of Hai Phongs population of over two million people are subject to the vaccination, while the health ministry has just allocated the city nearly 165,000 vaccine doses.

City authorities have been waiting for the health ministry to distribute two million Sinopharm vaccine doses and 1.2 million shots of other brands to inoculate their people.

In the meantime, the Peoples Committee of Hai Phong suggested Ho Chi Minh City leaders lend 500,000 out of one million doses of the Vero Cell vaccine in the latters storage to the northern city.

On Wednesday, Hai Phong authorities also announced three COVID-19 vaccination priority groups, including long-distance drivers and their driving assistants, workers at Chinese enterprises and in industrial zones, and people volunteering to be immunized.

Vietnams Ministry of Health authorized the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on June 3.

To date, Vietnam has received some 19 million doses of various vaccines, with more than 7.55 million shots administered and about 779,000 people fully inoculated.

As of Thursday morning, the Southeast Asian country had documented 181,756 coronavirus cases, with 54,332 recoveries and 2,327 deaths, according to the health ministry.

Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City have accounted for 26 and 108,379 infections, respectively, in the countrys total of 177,855 local cases since the fourth wave emerged in Vietnam on April 27.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
At the exceptional age of 102, Ho Chi Minh City resident Nguyen Thi Ton has received her first COVID-19 jab to protect herself amid the ongoing outbreak in the city.

After arriving at the Traditional Medicine Institute on Wednesday morning, Ton successfully took her inoculation.

She did not exhibit any major adverse reaction in the first hours after the jab, practitioners at the institute revealed.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Ton said she was a bit anxious after the neighborhood leaders invited her to get the COVID-19 jab.

I dont know if I can take the COVID-19 vaccine at this age," she said.

However, that concern is not bigger than the fear of getting infected, then spreading it to my family and the community.

Ton said she was moved to see the people in this country once again uniting in fighting against the epidemic.

She extended her thanks to local authorities, as well as the medical practitioners who took care of senior citizens like her.

Seeing his mother getting her jab, Tons son Nguyen Dinh Nghiem said he was convinced enough to sign his whole family up for the next vaccination campaigns.

Our family was worried about post-vaccination reactions, but seeing my mother staying safe and healthy after taking the jab, the younger generations and I feel that we have nothing to be afraid of, he confessed.

The vaccination site did a great job as well as greeting senior citizens with a warm welcome, Nghiem said about the vaccination event at the Traditional Medicine Institute.

As my mom has pre-existing conditions of high blood pressure and ischemic heart disease, the doctors were very diligent in screening her health.

A doctor at the Ho Chi Minh City Traditional Medicine Institute gives Nguyen Thi Ton, 102, her certificate of vaccination against COVID-19, August 8, 2021. Photo: Dinh Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Ho Chi Minh City has administered over 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine shots since the first nationwide vaccination campaign started in March, according to the local Department of Health.

The campaign targets all residents from 18 years old, with priorities given to people over 65 years old, those with underlying health conditions, and frontline workers.

As of Wednesday, over 150,000 senior citizens and vulnerable individuals in the citys priority list had received at least one dose, the municipal health authority reported.

The city has emerged as Vietnams gravest outbreak site, recording 108,379 cases out of the countrys total of 177,855 domestic infections since the fourth wave began on April 27.

The situation prompted authorities to put the city under a tightened social distancing mandate that forbids public gatherings of over two, bans non-essential businesses and services, and requires people to stay home.

Vietnam reported on Thursday morning 3,943 new cases of COVID-19, including two imported and 3,941 local transmissions, bringing the nationwide tally to 181,756, according to the Ministry of Health.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A man has been detained for investigation after a video capturing his cruel abuse of a child spread on social media in Vietnam.

Police in Binh Duong Province on Thursday said they have arrested 29-year-old Le Hoai Nam, a temporary resident in the provinces Thuan An City, for a probe into his child abuse.

The arrest was made on Wednesday night after a four-minute video clip showed Nam continuously beating, slapping and kicking the boy, and even lifting the child up and slamming him down on a mattress, in front of a woman who witnessed the brutalization.

In the footage captured in a house in the citys Binh Chuan Ward, the boy, unclothed, constantly called Nam 'dad' but the man did not stop, even hitting the boy stronger and expelling him from home.

Meanwhile, the woman the five-year-old boy called 'mom' did not prevent the man from beating him.

It was not until the man threw the boy to the mattress that she rushed to the scene to hold the child in her arms and beg the man to stop his cruelty.

The abuser, however, attacked both the mother and the boy, and said he would leave the house if the child was not sent to his grandparents.

Police officers are making verification to handle the case after Nam admitted to his brutal actions.

Thousands of people who viewed the clip on Facebook have expressed their indignation against Nam and demanded strict punishment for him.

Previously, a woman and her partner in the same province were imprisoned for brutalizing a four-year-old girl, the womans own daughter.

The little girl was later left in the care of her blood father who had divorced her mother.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The Ministry of Health logged over 7,200 domestic COVID-19 cases in Vietnam on Thursday, along with more than 3,700 recoveries and 390 deaths.

Forty-four provinces and cities documented 7,239 locally-infected patients, down by 379 infections from Wednesday, while five separate cases were imported from abroad, the health ministry said.

A total of 1,562 transmissions were found in the community whereas the remainder were detected in isolated areas or centralized quarantine facilities.

Ho Chi Minh City recorded 3,886 of the latest local infections, up by 586 patients from yesterday, Binh Duong Province 822, Long An Province 715, Dong Nai Province 358, Tay Ninh Province 235, Tien Giang Province 169, Dong Thap Province 114, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 112.

Since the fourth COVID-19 wave began in Vietnam on April 27, the country has reported 181,153 community transmissions in 62 out of its 63 provinces and cities.

Ho Chi Minh City is taking the lead with 109,916 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 22,378, Long An Province with 8,165, Dong Nai Province with 6,042, Bac Ninh Province with 5,739, Dong Thap Province with 3,675, Khanh Hoa Province with 2,729, and Tien Giang Province 2,468.

By comparison, Vietnam confirmed 106 community cases in the first wave from January 23 to April 16, 2020, 554 in the second from July 25 to December 1, 2020, and 910 in the third from January 28 to March 25, 2021.

The health ministry announced 3,708 recoveries on Thursday, bringing the total to 58,040 recovered patients.

The death toll has jumped to 2,720 after the ministry recorded 393 fatalities the same day, including 214 registered in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday and today.

The Southeast Asian country has overall logged 182,723 domestic and 2,334 imported cases since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it on January 23, 2020.

Health workers gave a record 263,272 vaccine doses today.

Over 7.55 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered in Vietnam since the country rolled out vaccination on March 8, with nearly 779,000 people having been fully vaccinated.

The Vietnamese government expects to obtain 175 million shots of various vaccines, including 51 million Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, by early 2022.

It set a target of immunizing two-thirds of a population of nearly 98 million people against COVID-19 by the first quarter of next year.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long asked Mission Director for USAID Vietnam Ann Marie Yastishock for help in speeding up the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech to Vietnam at a meeting late on Tuesday.

During the talks, Long thanked the U.S. government for their support, especially for the donation of five million doses of Moderna vaccine via the COVAX Facility.

However, Vietnam is suffering from a severe wave of infections and a serious shortage of vaccines, given the highly contagious Delta variant.

Meanwhile, a majority of 31 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses Vietnam purchased and 20 million more shots it is preparing to finalize a deal for will only arrive in the last quarter of this year.

The health minister thus asked the U.S. representative to work with Pfizer Inc. to accelerate the vaccine delivery in order to help Vietnam expedite vaccination.

Yastishock said that the U.S. government had struck a deal with Pfizer Inc. to provide 500 million doses of vaccine to various developing countries between 2021 and 2022, and that USAID in Vietnam is working with Washington to secure donations of the vaccine.

The USAID director added that the U.S. government has also agreed to provide Vietnam with US$4.5 million to support vaccination and improve the capacity of the Southeast Asian countrys health system in the fight against COVID-19.

While appreciating the support, Minister Long insisted that if possible, the vaccine donations should come between August and September.

The health minister also expected that the U.S. will help with high-flow ventilators to treat critical COVID-19 patients and ultra-cold storage equipment to keep mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna at the correct temperature.

According to USAID, 77 ultra-cold storage freezers are expected to arrive in Vietnam in early September.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had already announced the delivery during his July visit to Vietnam.

During a meeting with U.S. CDC representatives in Vietnam on Tuesday, Minister Long reiterated his calls for the U.S. to give priority of vaccine access to his country.

Noting that Vietnams vaccination rate has increased rapidly, the U.S. side said that this is an important basis for the agency to mobilize other organizations to bring more vaccines to Vietnam.

The U.S. CDC believed that the additional vaccines delivered to Vietnam will be administered quickly and effectively.

The agency also affirmed that it is ready to coordinate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in technical exchange and sharing information and experience in the pandemic prevention.

To date, Vietnam has received some 19 million doses of various vaccines, with more than 7.55 million doses administered and about 779,000 people fully inoculated.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
ABC is on the hunt of a newly created ABC iviewer to create social media content which it is sourcing via an online competition.

The winner will be paid ABC Award rates and will need to comply with normal ABC employee requirements.

Love watching TV? Able to pull together entertaining videos? Do you know the ins-and-outs of social media? If you answered Yes to any of the above, apply now to be the ABC iviewer, a contest notice announces.

Were looking for an official #ABCiviewer who can create content to help audiences decide what to watch. In any given week theres more than 4,000 hours of content on ABC iview, and our ABC iviewer will help people find the shows that appeal to them.

Over the three-month paid contract, the winner will:

Watch a range of current and upcoming shows on ABC iview.

Create entertaining, engaging short-form video content for ABC social channels  across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.

Receive mentoring from industry experts, as part of the ABCs support for emerging Australian creatives.

Applicants must watch something on ABC iview and create a video up to a minute long, posting to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube with the hashtag #ABCiviewer.

News Corp owned Binge recently held a competition for reviewers but the prize was a free subscription, which drew some criticism for not paying its winners.

You can apply here.
Local

Smith County judge, Sen. Hughes criticize lawsuit that takes aim at law banning abortion after 6 weeks

ZAK WELLERMAN/ Tyler Morning Telegraph Judge Austin Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court on Aug. 4 speaks about a lawsuit that he is named in and that challenges Senate Bill 8, also known as the heartbeat bill, at the Axia Center in Tyler. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, authored the bill that prohibits abortions after six weeks into a womans pregnancy. SB 8 is set to go into effect on Sept. 1. ZAK WELLERMAN/ Tyler Morning Telegraph Shane McGuire, 114th District Judge Austin Reeve Jacksons attorney, on Wednesday speaks about a lawsuit that Jackson is named in and that challenges Senate Bill 8, also known as the heartbeat bill, at the Axia Center in Tyler. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, authored the bill that prohibits abortions after six weeks into a womans pregnancy. SB 8 is set to go into effect on Sept. 1. ZAK WELLERMAN/ Tyler Morning Telegraph State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, author of Senate Bill 8, speaks about the legislation and the lawsuit that targets the bill on Wednesday at the Axia Center in Tyler. The lawsuit names 114th District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson and challenges SB 8, also known as the heartbeat bill. SB 8 prohibits abortions after six weeks into a womans pregnancy and its set to go into effect on Sept. 1. ZAK WELLERMAN/ Tyler Morning Telegraph State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, author of Senate Bill 8, speaks about the legislation and the lawsuit that targets the bill on Wednesday at the Axia Center in Tyler. The lawsuit names 114th District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson and challenges SB 8, also known as the heartbeat bill. SB 8 prohibits abortions after six weeks into a womans pregnancy and its set to go into effect on Sept. 1.

A Smith County district judge on Wednesday called a lawsuit in which he is named  and that takes aim at a recently passed bill that would allow private citizens to sue abortion providers  an attempt to silence judges in East Texas and a direct attack on the rule of law.

District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson, of the 114th District Court, is among several officials named as defendants in the lawsuit from Whole Womans Health, a womens reproductive health clinic that provides abortions, in an effort to invalidate the states Senate Bill 8.

The law, authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, will prohibit abortions after six weeks into a womans pregnancy. The law, which is set to go into effect on Sept. 1, allows people to sue a physician who performs an abortion. The winner of this type of lawsuit could be awarded no less than $10,000 in statutory damages, according to the text of the bill.

In addition to Jackson, the lawsuit was also filed against Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston and Mark Lee Dickson, the director of Right to Life East Texas, among others.

The class-action suit filed July 13 in an Austin-based federal court seeks to stop officials like Jackson and Clarkston from processing potential abortion-related lawsuits against providers. The lawsuit also seeks to declare that the bill violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

During a news conference at the Axia Center in Tyler, Jackson said he was selected by Whole Womans Health because of his commitment to the rule of law and biblical values. He said the lawsuit comes from out-of-county, out-of-state, out-of-touch groups.

The left is so used to the idea of having an activist judge that they believe any judge can be bought, bullied or beaten into submission or resignation, Jackson said. Make no mistake this lawsuit is a direct attack by far-left groups on the rule of law and the right of pro-life communities to elect people who share their values. This is cancel culture at its finest.

He said hes committed to seeing this frivolous lawsuit dismissed, and seeing attempts to throw elected Christians out of office defeated (and) the vote of pro-life Texans defended.

Shane McGuire, Jacksons attorney, said at the news conference a request to dismiss the lawsuit would soon be filed.

Its already been drafted. I was editing it as late as 11 oclock last night, McGuire said. Im sure ultimately the case against Judge Jackson is going to be dismissed if the rules of law are followed.

A sitting judge cannot be sued in the state of Texas, McGuire said.

This is open season on judges in Texas if this lawsuit is allowed to go forward, McGuire said. They could have sued anybody. I said, Reeve, Ive known you a long time, I know exactly why they picked you. They picked you because they know that youre a man of character and integrity and a man of God. They picked you because they knew that you would engage in the fight.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include clergy, physicians and clinics. In addition to Whole Womans Health, they are represented by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, among others, who say the law could saddle abortion providers with lawsuits that consume their time and resources and ultimately force them to shut down.

Texas has put a bounty on the head of anyone who so much as gives a patient money for an abortion after six weeks, Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement at the time the lawsuit was filed.

Opponents of the law also say its enforcement scheme makes it particularly difficult to challenge in court. In other states, six-week abortion bans are enforced by government officials, allowing plaintiffs to sue state officials responsible for enforcing the law.

Hughes said during the conference that the lawsuit targeting his bill is radical and that hes honored to be its author.

It shows how desperate that some of these groups are to continue doing illegal abortions, Hughes said. Suing Judge Jackson, suing every judge in Texas  thats a radical move. We believe the law is clear on this, and the judicial process is going to run its course. We believe that this law will be upheld.

Hughes said his bill gives citizens the ability to sue abortion providers because many district attorneys in the state said publicly they would not enforce a heartbeat bill if passed.

We have a strong constitutional district attorney (in Smith County), Hughes said. These are district attorneys who are sworn to enforce the law saying we will not enforce a heartbeat bill. Senate Bill 8 does not require any action by the state, district attorney or government advocate. Its driven by private individuals who want to stand up for the right to life. The mother is not affected by the heartbeat law. This is about doctors performing illegal abortions.

Jackson said every Texan should be concerned about this litigation.

If the judge in Austin files the rule of law and does what the law requires of him, he will dismiss this case in its entirety against all defendants, Jackson said. This lawsuit should terrify every Texan regardless of their political persuasion because what it is saying is that outside groups have targeted us and targeted our way of life. If they cant win in the legislature, theyre going to try to win via lawsuit. The right to speech is on the line (and) the right to elect their officials and choose what they value is on the line.

Jackson added hes grateful for the support hes received regarding the lawsuit from Hughes along with East Texans as a whole.

With the support of my community, I am here to say that I will not be scared by the vicious attacks and implicit threats of radical organizations, he said. As for me and my house, we will continue to serve the Lord.

Having to deal with this lawsuit has interrupted the time he could be spending having hearings and on other court matters, Jackson said.

Every minute that I have to spend giving attention to this suit is a minute I take away from doing the business of East Texas, he said. That is a threat to the citizens. It is an affront to the citizens of this community. They ought to be furious that a judge down in Austin has told them that their time and their cases are not as valuable as a frivolous suit down in Austin.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Up to 6,000 British tourists on holiday in Mexico are rushing to get home this weekend to avoid hotel quarantine.

Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte will join the red list from 4am on Sunday as part of the latest update to the Uks Covid travel system.

Frustration is mounting about the decision to turn Mexico red with just three days notice, with not enough seats for holidaymakers to return home ahead of the change.

To make matters worse, quarantine hotel costs are rising to better reflect the increased costs involved, according to the government.

From August 12 the rate for solo travellers will rise from 1,750 to 2,285 and additional adults sharing a room will see their bill hiked from 650 to 1,430.

Some passengers were mid-air on a British Airways flight to Cancun when the latest travel announcement was made.

Many families were onboard the flight that left London Gatwick at 11.25am on Wednesday.

Watch: COVID-19 travel: Full list of updated green, amber and red countries - and the rules when you go abroad

James Dean, 38, from Bournemouth, said he was shocked after spending 8,000 on a two-week holiday to Cancun with wife Rebecca and their four children.

Im gutted to be honest, he told the Mirror.

The kids have all been looking forward to it and theres no way Im going straight back but this just messes everything up.

Dont get me wrong, you know theres a risk, but Mexico was never mentioned. They could have given us a weeks notice.

Im going have to pay for us all to go in to quarantine as well. Im still digesting it. Im just gobsmacked.

Meanwhile others yet to begin their holidays are rushing to change their plans.

Worked hard all year for my holiday to Mexico next month, for it to be put on the red list today, one person tweeted.

Venting their frustration, another person said: Moves holiday to Mexico, Mexico goes on red list. Moved it from Dominican to Mexico that went on the red list. Whats the point?

Story continues

Seven nations will be added to the quarantine-free green list on August 8, including Germany, Austria and Norway.

Fully-vaccinated travellers will be exempt from quarantine when returning from France, which has been removed from the amber plus list.

Spain has kept its place on the amber list, and India is among four countries being removed from the red list.

Watch: Airline refunds: What are your rights as a consumer?'

Read More

Covid travel: France removed from amber plus list in major overhaul

UK Covid travel news: Which countries are on the red, amber and green list?

Rules for Britons travelling to Spain as country remains on amber list but government advises PCR test
We must have your completed application by the application deadline. All supporting documents are due within 2 weeks of the application deadline. Note that it is very likely we will meet capacity BEFORE the deadline and will immediately stop accepting students. Completing your application earlier is better. Applications and documents received after the posted deadline may still be considered if capacity has not yet been met. All deadlines are at close of business.

Please Note! Do not sign a lease for off-campus housing until you have been admitted, confirmed your acceptance and registered for new student orientation. It is strongly recommended that you wait to sign a lease until after you have registered for classes.
Another plane with a staff of ten people and 150 firefighters with 40 fire engines will arrive in Turkey from Azerbaijan on Thursday morning, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu said.

The minister noted that the first group of firefighters from Azerbaijan continues to work to extinguish fires in Mugla. According to him, four aircraft leased from a private Ukrainian company have landed at Isparta airport, and two more aircraft leased from Israel will arrive in the country tomorrow.

Cavushoglu also announced offers of assistance from Pakistan, Poland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the US, Canada and Japan.
Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in as the president of Iran at the Iranian parliament today, according to Iranian media outlets.

The inauguration ceremony, which began at 17:00 local time (GMT+3:30), was attended by 115 officials from 73 countries, including 10 presidents, 20 parliamentary speakers, 11 foreign ministers and other officials, IRNA reported.

From Azerbaijan, the visiting delegation at the inauguration ceremony, was led by Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova attended the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian President.

As reported, Ebrahim Raisi was won the 13th presidential election on June 18, 2021 with 17.9 million (61.9%) votes.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan reported record new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, standing at 7,792 and 951 respectively, authorities in the two biggest Central Asian countries said.

Uzbekistan has a population of 34 million compared with Kazakhstan's 19 million but the latter does more tests while Uzbek daily figures are more indicative of cases requiring hospitalisation.

Kazakhstan also reported a record 158 deaths from COVID-19 and pneumonia on Thursday. The figure refers to deaths registered on Aug. 3.

Kazakhstan has administered a first COVID-19 vaccine dose to 5.6 million people and 4.1 million have been fully inoculated.

In Uzbekistan, 5.2 million people have received the first dose, with about 1.3 million fully vaccinated, Reuters reported.
The Lebanese authorities expressed gratitude to Russia and President Vladimir Putin for assistance in combating the COVID-19 pandemic as well as dealing with the aftermath of the disaster in the port of Beirut, the republics Health Minister Hamad Hasan said at an online conference on Thursday, TASS reports.

"It is also necessary to express thanks for the official assistance that Russia and Vladimir Putin personally provided to our country both in terms of the explosion and COVID-19. The hospital that was built with Russias help also has been damaged during the blast," the Lebanese health minister noted. "Now, we are highly concerned that the number of [coronavirus] patients in our hospitals should not increase."

The Lebanese government delegation is currently on an official visit to Russia. The Health Minister emphasized that the trip took place in a very challenging and serious period that Lebanon was going through. Hasan thanked the staff of the Russian embassy in Beirut, including Ambassador Alexander Rudakov, Lebanons diplomatic mission in Russia and all those who took part in organizing the current Lebanese delegations visit.

On February 5, 2021, the Lebanese Health Ministry approved the emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V jab. At the end of the same month, some 20 private firms were granted the right to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies that manufacture COVID-19 drugs. The first batch of the Russian jab was delivered to Beirut from the United Arab Emirates on March 25. Lebanon launched mass vaccination with Sputnik V on March 30.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that the current Ukrainian authorities' policy is based on confrontation, which poses an additional threat to Belarus.

"It is a close, kindred people. But the Ukrainian leadership by conducting its anti-popular policy has set course towards confrontation. We do not care where they are moving - to the West, to the East, or to the South. It does not matter. It is up to them to make up their mind. But the basis of their policy is confrontation," Lukashenko said on Thursday at a conference concerning the situation on the western and southern borders of Belarus. The chiefs all key law enforcement agencies were invited to the meeting.

"This is an extra threat to us that we did not see before," BelTA cited him as saying.

"In this context it is very important to hear your point of view on the position of fraternal Ukraine," Lukashenko told those present. Also, he remarked that current developments around Belarus, above all, NATO's policies, were high on the agenda.
Presidents of France and Azerbaijan Emmanuel Macron and Ilham Aliyev held phone talks today, News.am reports.

As reported Azerbaijani presses, citing Elysee Palace, the leaders of the two countries discussed regional security issues.

Presidents of Azerbaijan and France Ilham Aliyev and Emmanuel Macron agreed on cooperation for strengthening of stability in the region, relying on the support of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, USA), TASS reports, citing the Elysee Palaces press release on the two leaders phone talks.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a way to help ensure that doses are available in countries where few people have received their first shots.

Ghebreyesus made the appeal mostly to wealthier countries that have far outpaced the developing world in numbers of vaccinations. He said richer countries have administered about 100 doses of coronavirus vaccines for every 100 people on average, while low-income countries  hampered by short supplies  have provided only about 1.5 doses per 100 people.

WHO officials say the science is unproven about whether giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

The U.N. health agency has repeatedly called for rich countries to do more to help improve access to vaccines in the developing world. It has argued that no one is safe until everyone is safe because the longer and more widely the coronavirus circulates, the greater the chance that new variants could emerge  and prolong a global crisis in fighting the pandemic.

Tedros pointed to a WHO target he had announced in May seeking to ensure that 10% of the populations in all countries receive vaccines against the coronavirus.

Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated, he told a news conference.

Israel, France, Germany and many Middle Eastern countries have already started administering boosters, and other nations, including the United States and Britain, are considering plans to do so in the wake of the emergence of the highly transmissible delta variant.
A coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and nearby residential areas were being evacuated Wednesday evening as flames from a wildfire reached the plant, a mayor and local reporters said as sirens from the plant could be heard blaring.

Milas Mayor Muhammet Tokat, from Turkeys main opposition party, has been warning of the fire risks for the past two days for the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province. He said late Wednesday that the plant was being evacuated. Local reporters said the wildfires had also prompted the evacuation of the nearby seaside area of Oren.

Turkeys defense ministry said it was evacuating people by sea as the fires neared the plant. The state broadcaster TRT said the flames had jumped to the plant. Strong winds were making the fires unpredictable.

Authorities have said safety precautions had been taken at the Kemerkoy power plant and its hydrogen tanks were emptied. TRT said flammable and explosive substances had been removed. The privately run plant uses lignite to generate electricity, according to its website.

As the mayor announced the evacuation on Twitter, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking live on A Hbr and said the power plant was at risk of burning. Three ministers were there to oversee developments, he said, and added planes and helicopters had been there all day to fight the fires.

But the mayor said air support came infrequently and only focused on the closer flames around the plant rather than addressing the wider fires in the area that were being fanned by shifting winds. At night, air support was not possible at all and videos showed flames in the plants vicinity.

Firefighters have been trying to protect the power plant for the past two days. Along with police water cannons, they fought back the flames Tuesday night while other rescuers dug ditches around the Kemerkoy plant. Videos from an adjacent neighborhood in Milas showed charred, decimated trees.
Vietnams ideas and proposals at the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting and Related Meetings have been supported by ASEAN member states and partners thanks to their appropriateness, activeness and practicality,

Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang told the ministrys online press briefing on August 5.

Delegates attend the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Regarding the ASEAN Community building, Hang said that Vietnam highlighted solidarity and unity as the foundation of ASEANs strength, and suggested the bloc promote its internal resources and hold responsibility for the common development of the region.

In implementing the results achieved in 2020, the countries agreed with Vietnam's opinion on speeding up the assessment of the performance of the ASEAN Charter, the development of the ASEAN Community Post-2025 Vision as well as the combination of sub-regional development cooperation with the ASEAN Community building process.

Regarding the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam proposed ASEAN take advantage of cooperation opportunities with partners, especially in procurement and technology transfer for vaccine production, and soon complete the ASEAN Travel Corridor Arrangement Framework this year to ensure connectivity and promote recovery of the region, Hang stated.

For external relations, the countries also shared Vietnam's views on the need for ASEAN to continue promoting the role of ASEAN-led mechanisms, uphold solidarity, promote internal resources, ensure a common voice and fair approach in relations with partners, and maintain the bloc's central role in the regional structure, she said.

She went on to say that the nations also assessed that Vietnam had well fulfilled its role as a coordinator of ASEAN-Japan relations, thus contributing to exploiting cooperation potential, taking advantage of opportunities and overcoming many challenges, especially in COVID-19 response, and expanding and deepening collaboration between the two sides.

The countries contributed and pledged to contribute a total of 20.8 million USD to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund, in which the bloc has agreed to use more than 10 million USD for the purchase of vaccines through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In addition, the partners also affirmed that they will maintain support for ASEAN's initiatives on COVID-19 prevention and control, and made specific commitments and initiatives to support the bloc in improving the capacity of preventive medicine as well as research, development and access to COVID-19 vaccines in a safe, effective and equal manner, Hang said./.

Source: VNA
The police agency of the central province of Nghe An on August 4 discovered 17 tigers illegally raised by two households.

Fourteen adult tigers were found in cages of a family in Nam Vuc village in Do Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District.

Nguyen Van Hien, born in 1982 and Ho Thi Thanh, born in 1990, confessed to buying baby tigers from Laos to raise in an 80sq.m cage. The tigers currently weigh nearly 200kg each.

Three other adult tigers were raised by a woman named Nguyen Thi Dinh, born 1971, in Phu Xuan village of the same commune.

Dinh built a system of basements for tiger farming on an area of 120m2. Each individual tiger weighs from 225kg to 265kg.

This is the largest case of this kind in Nghe An.

The police sent vehicles to transport the 17 tigers to a local animal rescue center for daily care and investigation. To remove the tigers from cages, veterinarians injected them with anesthetic.

According to the latest news, up to eight out of the 17 tigers have suddenly died.

The information was given by Senior Lieutenant Tran Phuc Thinh, head of the provincial Environmental Board.

The dead tigers were frozen in order to help with the investigation into their cause of death.

A tiger raised by Nguyen Van Hien and Ho Thi Thanh.



Tigers in cage.

The police and forest rangers transfered the tigers to a local animal rescue center for daily care and investigation.

To remove the tigers from cages, veterinarians injected them with anesthetic.

Each tiger weighs from 200 to 265kg.

Many local residents witness the case.

Quoc Huy
Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that all the vaccines used in Vietnam have been licensed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and are being used in other countries.

Long, at an online meeting reviewing the fight against Covid-19 on August 2, showed his impatience about the slow vaccination pace.

Localities need to accelerate vaccination. The process is going too slowly. Some provinces have not gone to the central vaccine warehouses to get vaccines and haven't vaccinated their people. Other provinces are too cautious and only organize vaccinations at hospitals, Long said.

The Minister has signed a document requesting all localities to speed up vaccinations, with no limitation on vaccination points and number of shots each day. In the localities which lack houses to organize vaccinations, they can set up tents, provided that the regulation on distancing between people is observed.

The amount of time that people have to stay after getting injections will be determined by localities.

We need to vaccinate people as quickly as possible. We will have 47-50 million more Pfizer doses to come in October-December. And we will also have other vaccines as well. This really worries us, he said.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has organized many training courses about vaccinations. All the needles and accessories are ready. However, the vaccination progress is still going slowly.

In order to speed up vaccinations, its necessary to mobilize all resources to organize the screening of people before injections, use the vaccines available, and not wait for other vaccines. The lockdown areas need to speed up vaccinations.

MOH has released instructions about the mixing of Covid-19 vaccines for the first and second shots. Those who get AstraZeneca for the first shot can get Pfizer vaccine for the second shot, and vice versa. However, the Moderna supplier hasn't agreed to mix vaccines. There has been no guidance on this yet for Sinopharm and Sputnik V vaccines.

Long asked localities leaders to check their cold storage system to protect vaccines at the temperatures of 2-8oC.

Many localities dont have enough cold cabinets to contain vaccines. We have planned the amount of vaccine doses to be provided from now to the end of the year, so provinces should prepare cold storage and upgrade warehouses if necessary, Long said.

Central hospitals will soon only give second shots of vaccines to focus on Covid-19 treatment in the south.

To date, more than 6.4 million doses of out of 16 million available doses (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sputnik V) have been given.

More than 22 percent of HCMC population have received the first shot. The figure is 19 percent in Hanoi.

Thuy Hanh
Former Falls County Sheriff Ricky Scaman, indicted last year on charges he sexually abused two women, remains free on bond after his most recent arrest on new charges that include allegations of sexual assault and official oppression from another woman who worked for him.

Scamans arrest last week was based on a new indictment issued July 19 by a Falls County grand jury in an investigation by Texas Rangers and the Texas Attorney Generals Office Public Integrity Unit.

Scaman, 49, was named in a five-count indictment in September 2020 that involves two alleged victims  a Falls County employee and a city of Marlin employee. He has since been defeated for re-election to a second term by Sheriff Joe Lopez while vowing to fight the charges and appeal being stripped of his law enforcement credentials.

The new seven-count indictment involves three alleged victims and includes two counts of sexual assault, second-degree felonies; two counts of assault of a public servant, third-degree felonies; and three counts of official oppression, Class A misdemeanors.
After 15 years of helping Waco residents navigate the inner workings of city government, Waco City Secretary Esmeralda Hudson plans to retire at the end of February.

Hudson was appointed to the position in 2014 after eight years as assistant city secretary.

Waco City Council members, who all had to file to run for their positions through Hudsons office, thanked and congratulated her during their meeting Tuesday. Hudson will stay on until the city hires a replacement and will assist with the transition.

Whether its through your volunteer work throughout the city or your professional work, your kindness always shines through, Mayor Dillon Meek said. Whether its that someone has lost a family member, someone is sick in the hospital or going through a hard time, you make sure that person receives compassion.

Recently, Hudson served on the citys census committee, a position she held twice as long as she expected after the census effort was extended because of COVID-19s interference.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A judge indicated Wednesday she is likely to allow California Gov. Gavin Newsom to refer to the recall against him as a Republican effort in the states official voter guide.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl said she will issue a final ruling in the lawsuit brought by recall supporters by Thursday. It seeks to block Newsom, a Democrat, from calling the effort a Republican recall" a Republican power grab" or an abuse of the state's recall laws in the voter guide, which all registered voters will receive this month. Earl sided with Newsom in her tentative ruling but heard from both sides Wednesday afternoon.

If her tentative ruling stands, it will mark a win for Newsom, who has sought to brand the recall as a power grab driven by Republican extremists in an effort to motivate Democrats to vote. In television ads, he has linked the recall to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 and efforts in Republican-led states to overturn results from the 2020 presidential election. The recall was placed on the ballot through a legal process.

Newsom and Orrin Heatlie, one of the activists who filed the suit, were each allowed to write 500- word arguments in support of and against the recall for the guide. Voters will start receiving ballots in the mail in mid-August; the last day to vote is Sept. 14.
The three are among more than 500 people charged in the riot that sent lawmakers into hiding and disrupted the certification of President Joe Bidens election win. About thirty defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor charges. The first defendant sentenced for a felony - a Florida man who breached the Senate chamber while carrying a Trump campaign flag - received eight months behind bars.

Dresch posted pictures and videos on social media that were taken inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, which he described in one message as the best day ever, according to court documents. The day after the riot, he wrote of the then-vice president: Mike Pence gave our country to the communist hordes, traitor scum like the rest of them, we have your back give the word and we will be back even stronger.

Jackson slammed Dreschs views as misguided, noting that judge after judge smacked down the former presidents claims of election fraud. She also took a swipe at Republicans whove tried to downplay the violence on Jan. 6  including one lawmaker who suggested that video of the rioters looked like a tourist visit  calling Dresch not your typical tourist.
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's Green party has come under fire on social media for tweeting a photograph of its election candidates cropped in such a way as to remove all the men.

The party's local branch in Berlin's Mitte district posted the all-women picture Wednesday on Twitter with a caption that poked fun at photos of the rival center-right Union bloc which it said showed only old men.

It later emerged that three of the Greens' male candidates had been cropped from the image to show only the six women. All of the men are members of ethnic minority groups.

Taylan Kurt, one of the male candidates cropped from the picture, dismissed the criticism of his party.

Im a man and precisely because of that I want Germany to continue to be governed by a woman in future. Because (Baerbock) is better than the two other guys and because it should be natural that half the power belongs to women.

Ario Mirzaie, a Mitte district party spokesperson, said he was surprised by the controversy the picture had generated. He said the cropping, which also removed him from the photo, was completely unproblematic in his view.
PEOPLE

Altamira appoints new business development leader

Altamira Technologies Corp. said Tuesday it has hired nearly two-decade Raytheon veteran Richard Campos as senior vice president of business development.

Campos started at Raytheon as a senior software engineer and technical lead, from which he progressed to become the company's director for a multibillion-dollar national cyber program.

His tenure at Raytheon also included leadership over an ISR campaign, a half-billion-dollar infrastructure and application services portfolio, and the business development and capture of geospatial intelligence processing pursuits.

He joins Altamira nearly six months after the company hired a new CEO in Jane Chappell, also a former executive of Raytheon.
COMPANIES

PAE sees growth through acquisitions as it navigates the drawdown in Afghanistan

One aspect of PAEs work in Afghanistan is over but a second piece will continue amid the drawdown of U.S. forces there as the company continues on its strategy of further diversifying its business.

During PAEs second quarter earnings call with investors, interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer Charles Peiffer said the companys contract for vehicle maintenance and other logistics support to Afghanistans military ended in June.

That contract represented approximately 7 percent of this years revenue and was factored into its outlook for calendar 2021, Peiffer said.

Separately, PAEs work for the State Department in Afghanistan accounts for 4 percent of revenue. Peiffer said the companys current understanding is that business will not see any disruptions given diplomacy efforts will continue there.

Falls Church, Virginia-headquartered PAE held its financial guidance for this year at $3.05 billion-to-$3.15 billion in revenue and $205 million-$215 million in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Second quarter revenue of $747.2 million was 16.2-percent higher over the prior year period on contributions from last years acquisitions of Centra Technology and Metis Solutions. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter of $53.3 million represented a year-over-year increase of approximately 10.1 percent.

The deals for Centra and Metis help show the direction PAE both has taken in recent years and is taking with respect to some of these white space markets that Peiffer highlighted: intelligence and analysis, training and logistics.

Couple that short list with examples of PAEs historical core markets such as international development, foreign diplomacy, immigration services and supporting infrastructure outside the continental U.S.

Peiffer said PAE has thus undertaken a front-end loading of our bid-and-proposal spending because of how opportunities are accelerating in the first list of markets along with continued efforts on the second.

Some pandemic-related award delays across the intelligence community remain including one recompete for PAE, but Peiffer indicated the company sees promising signs that its push into that market is showing signs of fruition.

We have some near-term opportunities that certainly line up with the core business, Peiffer said. Theres a good solid pipeline of intell work that has come about. In some cases, our competitors are reaching out to us (and) asking us to team with them, so I think thats a sign that people see that PAE with the acquisitions is a much stronger competitor and someone to reckon with in the future.

Along with maintaining the overall operational rhythm, PAEs board of directors remains at work on the process to hire the companys next permanent CEO in the wake of John Hellers resignation in March. PAEs global mission services segment also needs a new leader after its former president Charles Anderson then left the company in early July.

Peiffer said the company had planned for the CEO search-and-hire process to take between four and six months and believes it is on schedule.

Appointing the next CEO is priority number one before moving on to finding a new president for global mission services, one of two reportable PAE segments alongside national security solutions.

Id rather wait to ensure the CEO has an opportunity to put his or her thumbprint on the organization, Peiffer said. We have started to pull together slates to understand whats possible both internally and externally, and so were working through that so well be well-positioned to move out and start that process once its clear where were going with the CEO search and who winds up in that position.
PLYMOUTH, Pa. (AP)  A book checked out a half-century ago has been anonymously returned to a library in northeastern Pennsylvania, officials said.

The Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice reports that the 1967 copy of Coins You Can Collect" by Burton Hobson arrived last month at the Plymouth Public Library in Luzerne County along with a $20 bill.

An accompanying unsigned letter, written as if by the book itself, said Fifty years ago (yes 50!), a little girl checked me out of this library in 1971. At this time, she didn't know they were going to move from Plymouth. Back then, kids weren't told things like that.

As you can see, she took very good care of me," the letter continued, explaining that it was packed away often for frequent moves but was always with many other books."

The writer, speaking in her own voice rather than as the book, then says she often intended to send the book back but somehow never got around to it.

This became a running joke in my family. Each time we moved, they always asked me if I packed the Plymouth Book, she wrote.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that governors who are against mask mandates should get out of the way. DeSantis sharply criticized Biden on Wednesday, repeating his stance that the decision on masks in schools should be left to parents.

If youre coming after parents rights in Florida, Im standing in your way. You wont get away with it, he said. Instead, DeSantis said, the president should do more to secure the border: Until you do that, I dont want to hear a blip about COVID from you.

In Florida's capital, the superintendent of the Leon County school district sent a heartfelt letter to DeSantis asking him to allow a temporary mask requirement.

I have stood firm in my belief that a mask mandate was the wrong course of action. With that said, I believe that new data and information as well as student instructional models compels us to rethink mask protocols," said Superintendent Rocky Hanna, who, like DeSantis, said he was concerned about how mask-wearing was impacting children emotionally.
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 3-week-old wildfire engulfed a tiny Northern California mountain town, leveling most of its historic downtown and leaving blocks of homes in ashes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday amid dangerous weather.
Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

In TV's ever-expanding passion for nostalgic series reboots, it's high time that Fantasy Island, that iconic late 70s/early 80s Saturday night series, is making a kitschy comeback. In the brand-new version (premiering Aug. 10, 9 p.m. ET on Fox), Puerto Rican-born Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace) is host Eleana Roarke (the descendant of Ricardo Montalban's Mr. Roarke), still guiding guests through fantasies that prove you'd better be careful what you wish for.

Like the era's other Saturday night hit The Love Boat, Fantasy Island's storylines relied on a diverse group of guest stars. Some appeared at the apex of fame, while others were yet to make their mark. And of course, others popped up on the downhill side of their careers. It was all part of the who's-on-this-week? fun.

And so as the guest-star-making machinery revs back into gear on a new Fantasy Island, let's look back at some of the stars who stepped off the plane, the plane!, back in the day.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan is targeting misinformation on social media platforms with a recent bill introduced in the Senate, and a series of letters sent to top executives at the companies.

Last month, the New Mexico Democrat teamed up with 25 other lawmakers to write the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Nextdoor about Spanish-language misinformation that is circulating on those platforms. He also cosponsored a bill with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that would prohibit social media companies from using algorithms or other technology to target people with misinformation, even if it aligns with their search history.

The bill, which would strip those platforms of immunity from lawsuits based on content created by their users, would only apply to misinformation during a public health emergency.

As COVID-19 cases rise among the unvaccinated, so has the amount of misinformation surrounding vaccines on social media, Lujan said in an interview. Ive been clear,  this must stop because lives are at stake here.

Klobuchar called the legislation a long-term solution.

These are some of the biggest, richest companies in the world and they must do more to prevent the spread of deadly vaccine misinformation, she said in a statement.

Lujan said the bill wont curtail free speech.

Our legislation does not limit or censor free speech, he said. It makes social media companies accountable in the same way as anyone else if they would contribute to harmful and deadly content.

Klobuchar and Lujan also led the effort to gather lawmakers to call out social media executives for not doing enough to stop Spanish-language disinformation.

In the letter, the roughly two-dozen lawmakers said there is significant evidence that your Spanish-language moderation efforts are not keeping pace, with widespread accounts of viral content aiming to sow political division, promote vaccine hoaxes, and spread election misinformation.

The lawmakers asked the companies to release information about their efforts combatting misinformation, such as how many employees or contractors they have moderating content in each language.

This is just something thats not getting the attention of the social media companies and thats why I am coming forward, to bring attention, Lujan said.

Facebook said on its website that they have removed over a billion fake accounts and have a team of fact-checkers to try to remove or flag misinformation.
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Our criminal justice system is a multi-faceted machine involving law enforcement response and investigation, followed by prosecution in the court system, and culminating with a final judicial order that can lead to a defendants placement in the corrections system. All these parts must function efficiently and effectively in order for the system to work properly and meet the end goal of dispensing reasonable justice.

It is frustrating to the Roswell Police Department when its detectives, officers and technicians pour themselves into collecting evidence, finding witnesses, conducting interviews and applying various other investigatory techniques to build solid cases against defendants accused of significant crimes such as homicide only to watch as the District Attorneys Office resolves some of these cases with plea agreements that seem to fall seriously short of doling out the needed justice.

A 2019 murder case recently ended with such a plea deal. Eleuterio Andres Juana was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence following the RPD investigation of the New Years Eve shooting of Jaime Ramirez inside a home where the two men had been talking in the kitchen.

District Attorney Dianna Luce and Juanas defense attorney came up with a plea agreement, which was approved by District Judge Thomas Lilley, that puts the convicted murderer, who also happens to be in the United States illegally, in prison for possibly as little as just over five years. Juanas murder charge was reduced to second-degree and he was officially sentenced to the legal maximum of 15 years on the murder charge plus one year extra for use of a firearm in the crime, but 10 of those years were suspended, leaving six years. With good behavior in prison, he could be released after serving five years and about five weeks. He was also sentenced to three years for the tampering charge, but the plea agreement specified, and the judge approved, that the three years run concurrently, or at the same time, as Juana serves his murder sentence.

Regardless of whether the murder charge ended up as first-degree or second-degree, the sentencing was not reasonable. Even with the second-degree murder conviction, when paired with the tampering charge, this murderer could have been put in prison for as much as 19 years. He got six and could be out in less than that.

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This is just the latest example of a prosecution practice about which RPD detectives have long expressed concern to the District Attorneys Office. No reasonable explanation has been offered for why the criminals RPD arrests are later allowed to escape proper justice because of weak plea deals and lax sentencing. 

Why are we funding a judicial system that fails to protect and preserve our civil rights and freedoms guaranteed under our Constitution? This failure comes in the form of releasing criminals to re-offend in our communities. These unabated miscreants violate our community and our individual rights but are afforded, in excess, due process of law, the presumption of innocence, and the right to a jury trial.

This issue is about each entity in the criminal justice system serving our community well by holding criminals accountable. Soft punishment for serious crimes gives the criminals the green light to continue their deviant behavior by committing more crimes that harm other people. Homicides and other cases that RPD works hard to put together for prosecution in court must result in strong consequences in order to deter criminals from running amok in our community. Roswell residents deserve the best from its police, prosecutors and judges.
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TUCSON, Ariz.  Authorities have released the name of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was killed in a head-on crash in southern Arizona last weekend.

Border Patrol officials said agent Daniel P. Cox died after he was involved in a two-vehicle collision around 12:30 a.m. Saturday on State Route 86 near Sells which is 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of Tucson.

Coxs age wasnt immediately available. But John R. Modlin, Interim Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrols Tucson Sector, said in a statement that Cox was a BORSTAR Supervisory Border Patrol agent who had been on the force for 24 years.

The Border Patrol initially reported that Cox and the driver of the other vehicle were pronounced dead shortly after the collision.

Details about the crash havent been released and neither has the name of the other driver, who was said to be a U.S. citizen.

Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Thursday in honor of Cox.

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You have questions. I have some answers.

Q: I enjoy Vera on PBS. Is David Leon being replaced?

A: You may be seeing older episodes of the British mystery series starring Brenda Blethyn as police detective Vera Stanhope. David Leon left the show in 2014 after four seasons as Joe Ashworth, with Kenny Doughty replacing him as a new character, Aiden Healy. Blethyn reportedly said that Leons leaving was a low point for her during the show. Still, she praised Doughtys work, saying theres a great camaraderie among the whole cast and crew, but especially between Kenny and me. David Leon, who is also a director, did return to helm an episode in 2018.

Q: What has happened to Frank on American Pickers?

A: The History series announced Frank Fritzs departure in late July after he spent more than a decade on the show, although he had reportedly not been in a new episode since early 2020. Fritz in a recent interview with the U.S. edition of Britains Sun publication, discussed his battle with Crohns disease, a back problem that required surgery, and a drinking problem he blamed on his breakup with a girlfriend (adding that he now has not had a drink in almost a year). He also underscored a feud with Pickers star Mike Wolfe, saying he had not talked with Wolfe in almost two years. Fritz has speculated that Wolfe disliked Fritzs stardom being on a par with his own. But in a statement Wolfe reportedly said, I will miss Frank, just like all of you, and I pray for the very best and all good things for him on the next part of his journey.

Q: Midnight, Texas, was a show I enjoyed. Any news about a possible revival?

A: No. After NBC canceled the series in 2018, the studio was said to be shopping it to other programmers. But so far no one has decided to bring back the drama, based on the books by Charlaine Harris.

Q: What happened to So You Think You Can Dance for this summer? Also, Jennifer Lopezs dance show.

A: A profile of SYTYCDs Nigel Lythgoe in Variety earlier this summer said the shows highly anticipated return is still to be determined; (but) the last season wrapped up with a live finale in September 2019, almost two years ago. While that long delay could be blamed on the pandemic, which scuttled a 17th season originally planned for 2020, I have not seen anything from Fox about the show coming back. World of Dance, NBCs competition series with Lopez, did manage a COVID-protected fourth season in 2020, but the network decided not to order a fifth run.

Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The state government is planning to earmark up to $5 million in federal funds to temporarily boost the pay levels of workers in New Mexicos chile fields in an attempt to avert a widespread die-off of the states most iconic crop.

While details about the wage supplement were still being completed Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said he met with chile industry officials this week in Las Cruces to discuss solutions to a chronic worker shortage that farmers say has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and expanded unemployment benefits approved as part of a federal relief package.

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While the supplemental pay boost could help salvage this years crop, Morales said there are still other vexing long-term challenges such as immigration laws and agriculture technology issues.

We dont ever want a chile season to be wasted and crops to be lost, Morales told the Journal.

New Mexico produced more than 68,000 tons of chile in 2020  about 90% was green chile  with most of the crop sold for processing in salsa and other products, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

And the total value of New Mexico chile production hit nearly $52 million last year, up slightly from the previous year.

However, many chile farmers have found it difficult to find enough workers to pick their fields, either among local residents or immigrants who work seasonally.

New Mexico Chile Association Executive Director Joram Robbs said the current worker shortage is about 2,500 employees  or roughly half of whats needed.

He also said chile farmers in some parts of the state are already starting to harvest their crop, while others farther north  around Socorro and Lemitar  are not far behind.

If we keep on going down the path were on now, a lot of the chile will go to waste, Robbs said in a Wednesday interview.

If that were to happen, Robbs said, it would either cause the cost of chile to spike or imports of chile from Mexico to increase, or perhaps both.

Its hard work, he added, referring to chile picking. There are a lot of easier ways to make money now.

Several lawmakers have voiced concern about the looming chile crisis, with three Republican lawmakers from southern New Mexico saying the expanded unemployment benefits are largely to blame for the worker shortage.

In a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the GOP legislators urged the governor not to hang these family farmers out to dry and leave our chile to rot on the vine.

Last year, we had long lines to purchase food, and this year our farmers are struggling with workforce reentry, said Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor next year. She was joined in signing the letter by Rep. Luis Terrazas of Silver City and Sen. Crystal Diamond of Elephant Butte.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman George Munoz, D-Gallup, has also expressed alarm about the situation, urging the Lujan Grisham administration this week to use federal funds to supplement worker pay.

Specifically, Munoz said raising the pay levels for seasonal farm workers by $7 per hour  to about $20 per hour  could help chile farmers secure the help they need to avert a widespread chile die-off.

Meanwhile, the Lujan Grisham administration is also considering other ideas to support the states signature crop, said the governors spokeswoman, Nora Meyers Sackett.

The labor market all across the United States is in the process of undergoing structural changes, particularly with respect to wages  that has manifested itself across various industries, including agriculture, in many states, Sackett said Wednesday.

The states Democratic governor has said she does not plan to reject expanded $300-per-week federal unemployment benefits, as many Republican governors have done out of concern the expanded benefits are discouraging employees from returning to work.

Lujan Grisham has also pointed out that the expanded benefits are scheduled to expire next month and cited national studies showing little or no benefit in terms of job growth by ending them prematurely.

Morales, who is from Silver City, said the worker shortage in the chile fields cant be attributed to just one cause. He also said the wage supplement for workers will be administered by the Department of Agriculture and will likely amount to about $17 per hour for those who qualify.

We take a lot of pride in our crop, Morales said. We know New Mexicans will have green chile on their tables this year, as will people around the world.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

University of New Mexico Regent Sandra Begay did not need to hear statistics about surging cases of COVID-19 to understand the continuing threat of the pandemic and the need to take vigorous measures to fight it.

Begay is a member of the Navajo Nation, which has been pummeled by the pandemic. She cited a list of her relatives who have lost their lives to COVID-19 or have been stricken by it.

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I take this very personally, Begay said during a special board of regents meeting early Thursday morning. The pandemic has hit my family hard.

Begay and fellow regents voted unanimously to support UNM President Garnett Stokes policy seeking the mandatory vaccination of all students, faculty and staff against COVID-19 by the end of September.

Stokes announced the vaccination policy this week, and the board of regents meeting, which was livestreamed for public viewing, was called solely to discuss and vote on the matter.

Board President Douglas M. Brown, noting that COVID-19 cases were up 48% this week in the United States, said a swift assessment of Stokes policy and action on it was imperative.

The unvaccinated are eight times as likely to get the disease and have a 25% chance to have severe reactions to it, he said. Our hospitals are getting overcrowded. Brown said regents will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as necessary.

UNMs vaccination mandate would apply to all university personnel and students who have access to the facilities, housing, programs, services and activities located on the Main Campus and Academic Health Sciences Campus in Albuquerque, and the branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos and Valencia. This population would be required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30. Fall classes start on Aug. 23.

Persons who are not vaccinated could be restricted from accessing some UNM facilities and events. The policy does permit students and staff to request exemptions for religious or medical reasons, but these individuals may be required to adopt additional safety measures, including more frequent and regular asymptomatic surveillance testing and symptomatic testing.

UNM had previously put into effect a policy requiring the wearing of masks by faculty, students and staff. But the regents agreed the vaccination mandate is necessary not only to safeguard persons at UNM facilities but to curb the spread of the disease elsewhere.

We are about to put 20,000 people in a blender and some of them are not going to be vaccinated without this policy, Regent William H. Payne said. We need not only to protect this campus but the entire state.

The delta variant of COVID-1 is spreading worldwide and igniting new outbreaks of the disease in the United States, especially among the unvaccinated.

Ninety-seven percent of the hospitalized are unvaccinated, Regent Jack Fortner said. The delta variant is real and we need to protect people.

Regent Robert L. Schwartz said the vaccination policy is vital if UNM does not want to go back to online education within weeks after the fall term starts.

This is the only way we are going to have an in-person semester, he said.

Public comment during the meeting from representatives of UNM faculty and students was also solidly in support of mandatory vaccination.

The pandemic is nowhere near gone, said Greg Romero, president of the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico. This decision is not only good for the university but for our greater community.
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CATCHES OF THE WEEK

Adrian Toscano of Los Lunas caught a 40-inch tiger muskie at Bluewater Lake using a spoon July 25.

At Elephant Butte Lake, Zoe Anderson-Amaro, 8, of Silver City caught a 2-pound largemouth bass using a topwater lure Aug. 2.  Logan Reed, 11, of Silver City caught a 13-inch white bass using a topwater lure Aug. 1.  Keith Rogers of Silver City caught a 5-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass using a Whopper Plopper on July 28.  Zander Brandt, 14, of Rio Rancho caught and released a 3.5-pound smallmouth bass using a crankbait July 27.  Gavin Connell and Justin Trussell of Albuquerque caught a 44-pound blue catfish using cut bait July 25.

Ben Jones, 17, of Albuquerque caught a 22-inch rainbow trout at Hopewell Lake using a 3-inch green-pumpkin Senko worm July 24.

Cielo DeVargas, 6, of Albuquerque caught her first fish, a 12-inch rainbow trout at the Jemez Waters using worms near San Antonio Campgrounds on July 27.

Mia Martinez of Rio Rancho caught a 15.5-inch rainbow trout at Lake Maloya using salmon peach PowerBait on July 24.

Sam Richardson of Red River caught and released a 14-inch cutbow at Latir Creek, near Questa, using a gold and brown nymph fly July 28.

At Navajo Lake, Charlie Korczynski, 6, of Uvalde, Texas caught a 14-inch kokanee salmon using a pink squid with a pink dodger July 28.  Andre Makarski of Rio Rancho caught a 16-inch smallmouth bass using a crankbait July 25.

Jerome Buenviaje of Santa Fe caught a 17-inch brown trout on the Pecos River using a Blue Fox spinner near the Dalton Canyon area July 27.

Seth Hardy of Red River caught and released a 17-inch brown trout on the Rio Grande near the Wild Rivers Recreation Area using a black and white Barely Legal fly July 30.

At the Seven Springs Brood Pond, Temperance and Romie Perez, 7 and 8, of Rio Rancho each caught their first fish, a 17.5-inch rainbow trout and a 12-inch rainbow trout, using yellow PowerBait on July 27.  Exander Garcia, 3, of Albuquerque caught a 21-inch rainbow trout using salmon eggs July 27.

Liam Yardman, 9, of Santa Fe caught a 17-inch rainbow trout at Shuree Ponds using Berkley Power Worms on July 28.

If you have a catch of the week story, send it to funfishingnm@gmail.com.

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NOTES from GAME & FISH

Northeast fishing report

Cabresto Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Charette Lakes was fair to good using salmon peach PowerBait.

Streamflow on the Cimarron River, near Cimarron, on Monday morning was 26.6 cubic feet per second. Fishing for trout was fair using beadhead nymphs and worms.

Fishing for trout at Clayton Lake was fair to good using PowerBait. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using chicken liver.

Conchas Lake State Park has closed access to all boat ramps due to dropping water levels. The boat ramps on the south side of the lake managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are open. Fishing for smallmouth bass was fair when using curly tail grubs.

At Costilla Creek, fishing for trout was good using caddis dry flies. The department has implemented the final phase of a project to expand Rio Grande cutthroat trout in 120 miles of the Costilla watershed in northern New Mexico. The final phase involved removal of fish within a designated area (Rio Costilla from Costilla Dam downstream to the Valle Vidal Boundary including all tributaries and Comanche Creek from the road culvert crossing on Forest Road 1950 downstream to its confluence with Rio Costilla and all tributaries) with a tentative restocking of Rio Grande cutthroat in spring 2022. Places to fish nearby include Costilla Creek below the fish barrier, Upper Comanche Creek, Shuree Ponds, Middle Ponil Creek, Upper Powderhouse Creek, Little Costilla Creek, Vidal Creek and McCrystal Creek. The department anticipates completion of this final phase in the fall of 2021. Please check the department website for additional information on the project and to identify alternative angling opportunities in the interim.

Fishing for trout at Cowles Ponds was good using PowerBait.

Coyote Creek had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Eagle Nest Lake was slow to fair when using spinners. Fishing for pike was fair using streamers and perch swim baits.

Fishing for trout at Eagle Rock Lake was fair to good using salmon eggs and PowerBait.

Fawn Lakes had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout on the Gallinas River was good using dry flies with dropper nymph rigs.

Fishing for trout at Hopewell Lake was fair to good using 3-inch green-pumpkin Senko worms.

Lake Alice had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Lake Maloya was good using dry and nymph flies, Pistol Pete spinner flies and salmon peach PowerBait.

Fishing for trout was slow on the Los Pinos River .

Maxwell Lake 13 had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Monastery Lake was good using spoons and Parachute Adam dry flies.

Fishing for trout at Morphy Lake was good using garlic PowerBait and salmon peach PowerBait.

Streamflow on the Pecos River, near the town of Pecos, on Monday morning was 245 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using flies, worms and white grubs.

Streamflow on the Red River, below the hatchery, on Monday morning was 78.0 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using stimulator dry flies with a beadhead Hares Ear nymph dropper fly.

Streamflow on the Rio Grande at the Taos Junction Bridge on Monday morning was 359 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good using black and white Barely Legal flies and Rooster Tail spinners.

Streamflow on the Rio Hondo on Monday morning near Valdez was 38.0 cfs. Fishing for trout was good using attractor dry flies.

Streamflow on the Rio Mora Monday morning near Tererro was 121 cfs.

Streamflow on the Rio Pueblo, near Penasco, on Monday morning was 51.7 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair using attractor flies and bead-head nymphs.

Fishing for trout was slow at Santa Cruz Reservoir using PowerBait.

Fishing for trout was good at Shuree Ponds using Berkley Power Worms.

Fishing for catfish at Springer Lake was fair to good using chicken hotdogs and liver.

Fishing for catfish at Storrie Lake was good using chicken liver.

Fishing for catfish at Stubblefield Lake was good using chicken liver.

Fishing for white bass was fair at Ute Lake using topwater lures and vertical jigging with blades and slabs. Fishing for walleye was slow using nightcrawler harness rigs, bottom bouncing in 20 to 25 feet of water. Fishing for bass was slow using drop-shot rigs and Texas rigged Senko worms. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using punch bait and cut bait. Fishing for crappie was slow. The water surface temperature was in the upper 70s and the main lake color was stained.

Northwest fishing report

Abiquiu Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Waterflow on the Animas River, below Aztec, on Monday morning was 675 cfs.

Albuquerque Area Drains had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for tiger muskie at Bluewater Lake was good using spoons, Whopper Ploppers, gray shad Rapala lures and swimbaits.

Fishing for trout on the Brazos River was fair to good using black and gold Panther Martin spinners.

Fishing for trout at Canjilon Lakes was good using dry flies and Pistol Pete spinner flies.

o n the Chama River, Monday-morning flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 99.4 cfs and 396 cfs, respectively. Fishing for trout below El Vado Lake was fair to good using nightcrawlers and PowerBait. Please remember, from the river-crossing bridge on U.S. Highway 84 at Abiquiu upstream 7 miles to the base of Abiquiu Dam is special trout waters with a bag limit of two trout only.

Fishing for catfish at Cochiti Lake was fair to good using worms, cut bait and chicken liver. Fishing for crappie was fair using small jigs. Fishing for pike was fair using green pumpkin Senko worms. Fishing for smallmouth bass was fair using Ned Rigs and crankbaits.

Fishing for bass, perch and trout at El Vado Lake was fair to good using spinners, worms and PowerBait. El Vado Lake Dam Day Use area is open. The main lake area, boat launch and campground opened April 1. Camping by reservation only.

Fishing for trout at Fenton Lake was slow to fair using nightcrawler worms. Please remember, only two cutthroat trout are allowed to be harvested per day within the regular five-fish limit.

Fishing from a boat for rainbow trout, lake trout and kokanee salmon at Heron Lake was fair to good using Panther Martin spinners, Rooster Tail spinners and Kokanee Killers trolled 20 to 30 feet deep. Fishing from shore for rainbow trout was fair to good using garlic PowerBait, salmon peach PowerBait and homemade cheese baits. Sierra Vista and La Laja boat ramps are both open due to rising water levels.

A t the Jemez Waters, streamflow on the Jemez near the village of Jemez Springs on Monday morning was 26.9 cfs. Fishing for trout was fair to good when using worms and flashback nymph flies.

Laguna del Campo had no reports from anglers this week.

Lagunitas Lakes had no reports from anglers this week.

Lake Farmington had no reports from anglers this week.

Due to extremely low water levels and unstable ground conditions, stocking efforts have been suspended at McGaffey Lake . Lake conditions will be monitored and stockings will resume once conditions improve.

Fishing for bass at Navajo Lake was good when using crankbaits, Ned Rigs and topwater poppers. Fishing for pike was good when using crankbaits and jerkbaits. Fishing for kokanee salmon was good when using pink squid with a pink dodger.

Fishing for catfish on the Rio Grande was good when using worms and chicken liver near Albuquerque.

San Gregorio Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Streamflow on the San Juan River on Monday morning was 387 cfs. Fishing for trout in the quality waters was good using PMD flies, annelid flies, RS2s, leech pattern flies and midge pattern flies. Fishing for trout in the bait waters was good using worms and spinners.

Fishing for trout at Seven Springs Brood Pond was good using salmon eggs, worms and garlic PowerBait.

Fishing for catfish at Tingley Beach was fair using nightcrawler worms and hotdogs.

Trout Lakes had no reports from anglers this week.

Southwest fishing report

Alumni Pond had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for crappie at Bear Canyon Lake was good using X-Caddis flies.

Fishing for all species at Bill Evans Lake was slow.

Fishing for largemouth bass at Caballo Lake was good when using peppered lime green artificial grubs, lizard imitation lures, shallow diving crankbaits and crawdad imitation lures. Fishing for white bass was fair using live shad and white swimbaits. Fishing for catfish was fair to good using cut carp bait, beef liver and live shad. Fishing for freshwater drum was good using live shad.

Fishing for white bass at Elephant Butte Lake was good using topwater lures, white and chartreuse swim baits, Kastmaster lures and clear and cream colored 3-inch grubs with black specs. Fishing for largemouth bass was fair to good using 6-inch shad imitation lures, Whopper Ploppers and wacky rigged green Senko worms. Fishing for walleye was fair using bottom bouncers with nightcrawler harness rigs. Fishing for crappie was fair to good using live minnows. Fishing for catfish was good using beef liver, cut-carp, homemade dough bait, cheese bait and shad.

Fishing for catfish at Escondida Lake was fair to good using nightcrawler worms.

Streamflow on the Gila River on Monday morning was 117 cfs.

Glenwood Pond had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Lake Roberts was slow to fair using silver spinners. Fishing for catfish was slow to fair using nightcrawlers.

Percha Dam had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for trout at Quemado Lake was fair to good using worms and floating minnow lures.

Rancho Grande Ponds had no reports from anglers this week.

Streamflow on the Rio Grande, below Elephant Butte, on Monday morning was 1,030 cfs. Fishing for catfish was good using cut bait and night crawlers. Fishing for catfish near Hatch was fair to good using worms.

Snow Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for catfish at Trees Lake was good using live worms.

Young Pond had no reports from anglers this week.

Southeast fishing report

Fishing for trout at Alto Lake was good using orange PowerBait and sherbet PowerBait. Fishing for bass was fair using minnow imitation lures. Fishing for catfish was fair using nightcrawlers.

Bataan Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Streamflow on the Black River at Malaga on Monday morning was 213 cfs.

Blue Hole Park Pond had no reports from anglers this week.

Bonito Lake is closed until further notice by the city of Alamogordo due to fire damage. It appears that the lake will be out of commission until 2022.

Bosque Redondo Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Bottomless Lakes had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for carp at Brantley Lake was fair to good using hotdogs.

Fishing for catfish at Carlsbad Municipal Lake was fair to good using nightcrawler worms and hotdogs.

Chaparral Park Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for catfish at Corona Pond was fair using nightcrawlers and stink bait.

Eunice Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for largemouth bass at Green Meadow Lake was good when using shad swimbaits. Fishing for crappie was fair using shad swimbaits.

Fishing for catfish at Greene Acres Lake was fair to good using PowerBait and shrimp.

Fishing for trout at Grindstone Reservoir was good using garlic PowerBait, green PowerBait, Pistol Pete spinner flies and ant imitation flies.

Jal Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Fishing for catfish at Lake Van was fair using nightcrawlers and stink bait.

Oasis Park Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Streamflow on the Pecos River, below Sumner Lake, on Monday morning was 94.7 cfs. Fishing for catfish was fair using nightcrawler worms.

Perch Lake had no reports from anglers this week.

Streamflow on the Ruidoso River on Monday morning at Hollywood was 7.31 cfs.

Fishing for catfish at Santa Rosa Lake, below the dam, was fair to good using nightcrawlers.

Fishing for carp at Sumner Lake was good when using corn.
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Amy Owen was following an entirely different career path at New Mexico State University when she got her first taste of what would eventually become a full-time passion.

I went to school for social work at NMSU and in getting my degree, they said we had to take a class outside of our major. Ive always loved bugs, so I was like, Taking an entomology class would be fun,  Owen said. I did and they had this whole section on social insects, which includes bees, of course.

I was so fascinated, but at the same time I dont even know what people do with that.

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Owen ended up earning her masters degree in social work and got a job as a therapist before stepping away from that field after having kids. In 2015, she circled back to that interest when she learned about the New Mexico Beekeepers Association (NMBKA) certification program.

Ever since then Ive been completely obsessed with bees, she said.

Indeed, after a stint leading the Albuquerque-based beekeeping group ABQ Beeks, Owen now serves as the vice president of NMBKA and owns her own beekeeping business, Desert Hives. Though obviously not everyone is as fully immersed in the culture as Owen, she says beekeeping has been gaining popularity in the Land of Enchantment.

Having your own honey from your own backyard just seems amazing. But I hear a lot of people getting into beekeeping because they want to help bees, Owen said. Theres a lot more to it than just getting a hive if you want to help bees.

In a very general sense, beekeeping or just bees are important for pollinating a third of the food we eat. Its super important that we have bees, especially in agricultural areas. If you get into it, you need to have some mentors on your side and some resources available.

Thats where the NMBKA certification program comes in handy. In New Mexico, a permit is not required  New Mexico is kind of the Wild West when it comes to beekeeping, Owen says  but a rookie hive owner is much better off venturing into the endeavor equipped with the proper type of knowledge.

The NMBKA certification is a two-year program that begins with classes and hands-on instruction from beekeepers before transitioning to hive ownership the second year. During that second year, which Owen calls more of an independent study, the burgeoning beekeeper will receive mentorship, do multiple readings and produce a report on the experience.

Of course, not everyone has the time to invest in such a program. In that case, Owen recommends the aforementioned ABQ Beeks (abqbeeks.ning.com), which includes a forum for questions and interaction with other local beekeepers.

I think one of the big misconceptions is that (beekeeping is) easy, that you can just get a hive and put it in your yard and expect it to produce a lot of honey and survive through the winter, Owen said. In reality, it takes a lot of skill and knowledge to keep them healthy and get them through the winter. In a lot of areas of New Mexico, you just arent gonna get a good honey crop. You have to be by a good source of water to get a steady nectar flow to get a lot of honey.

Outside of the initial components of the hive, aspiring beekeepers will need only a minimum amount of equipment: a veil or a full bee suit; a smoker and a hive tool, a multipurpose instrument used for inspecting and removing unwanted elements from the hive. The bees themselves usually tend to come from the Land of Enchantment, though others order different species from out of state such as Italian bees, Carniolan bees or Russian black bees.

I think what people dont realize in North America we have over 2,000 native species of bees, Owen says. New Mexico has many of those, because desert areas have a higher diversity of bees that we also need to support because they pollinate all the native plants and keep them going.

While beekeeping might appear to be a dangerous pursuit, Owen claims that unless one has allergies, its quite safe with the proper knowledge. In fact, the bees themselves might be more at risk than the owners, which is why proper care is critical.

The ironic thing is if you get into beekeeping and you dont do it properly, you can actually harm bees more than help with the population decline, she says. If youre not testing for mites or treating or getting good genetics in your hives, you can actually cause harm.
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The former president was supposed to hold a massive party on Martha's Vineyard which would have been attended by celebrities and his former administration officials.

Aug 5, 2021

AceShowbiz - Barack Obama was forced to scale back his planned 60th birthday bash. The former president, who was supposed to hold a massive party on Martha's Vineyard, decided to limit the event to close ones amid the Delta variant surge.

Revealing the news was the former president's spokesperson, Hanna Hankins. In a statement released on Wednesday, August 4, Hankins first said, "This outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public health guidelines and with covid safeguards in place."

"Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends," the message continued. "He's appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon."

Obama was supposed to host the party on Wednesday. He reportedly invited more than 400 guests, including celebrities and his former administration officials. Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney were also expected to attend.

Obama's decision was met with positive feedback from his former administration official Andy Slavitt. "As people do look to other public figures, and if you were going to decide what to do with your own wedding or your own event, (Obama's) providing a sense of caution," Slavitt told CNN.

"A small gathering is OK, but gathering in large crowds is something he doesn't want to send people the wrong message for," Slavitt went on. "And a lot of people do follow what President Obama does."

Despite having to cut a huge guest list for his party, Obama received so much love from many on his latest milestone. One in particular was from his wife Michelle Obama who sent out a loving tribute to him via Instagram.

Sharing a family picture, the former First Lady raved, "Of all of your accomplishments, I know that being a present, loving father to our girls tops them all." She added, "Thank you for never letting the weight of the world get in the way of being a wonderful husband and father. Happy 60th birthday, @BarackObama!"



Not stopping there, Michelle followed it up with a photo of Obama from a magazine cover. In the accompaniment of the post, she gushed, "Still turning my head after all these years. Love you, Barack!"





Also honoring Obama on his special day was President Joe Biden. "Happy birthday, @BarackObama. I'm proud to call you a brother and a friend - and I'm grateful for your selfless service to this nation," Biden noted alongside a picture of the two.
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During his appearance on the 'Happy. Sad. Confused.' podcast, the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' director is asked to address the Hollywood legend's comments on MCU movies back in 2019.

Aug 5, 2021

AceShowbiz - James Gunn has weighed in on fellow director Martin Scorsese's criticism towards Marvel movies. During his appearance on the "Happy. Sad. Confused." podcast, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" director is asked to comment on Martin's comments back in 2019.

"I just think it seems awful cynical that he would keep coming out against Marvel and then that is the only thing that would get him press for his movie," James said as reported by The Playlist. "He's creating his movie in the shadow of the Marvel films, and so he uses that to get attention for something he wasn't getting as much attention as he wanted for it."

However, James didn't entirely disagree with Scorsese either as he noted, "There are a lot of things that are true about what he said." He continued, "There are a lot of heartless, soulless, spectacle films out there that don't reflect what should be happening."

James also said that he has had plenty of encounters where he approached film directors ro ask them to elevate the blockbuster. However, these directors "cater to every single studio whim" and it grossed him out.

James further shared his thoughts on Martin a tweet on Wednesday, August 5. Of the Hollywood legend, James said, "Also for the record, Martin Scorsese is probably the world's greatest living American filmmaker. I love & study his films & will continue to love & study his films. I disagree with him solely on one point: That films based on comic books are innately not cinema, that's all."

James Gunn gushed over Martin Scorsese.

Back in November 2019, Martin sparked debate when he said that he didn't consider MCU movies a cinema. When asked if he ever watch any of them, the "The Wolf of Wall Street" director replied, "I tried, you know? But that's not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn't the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

Some Marvel stars reacted to the remarks as Scarlett Johansson said, "At first I thought that seems kind of old-fashioned, and somebody had to explain to me, because it seemed so disappointing and sad in a way. They said, 'I think what these people are saying is that at the actual theater, there's not a lot of room for different kinds of movies, or smaller movies, because the theater is taken up by huge blockbusters.' "

As for Chris Evans, he commented, "I think original content inspires creative content. I think new stuff is what keeps the creative wheel rolling. I just believe there's room at the table for all of it. It's like saying a certain type of music isnt music. Who are you to say that?"
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Going back to the Emerald Isle to shoot her new mini-movie for the Amazon Prime series, the 'Circle of Friends' actress claims she even loved her quarantine period in the Wicklow Mountains.

Aug 5, 2021

AceShowbiz - Minnie Driver felt she was "home" while filming her latest project in Ireland. The English actress, who played Irishwoman Bernadette Hogan in the 1995 film "Circle of Friends", returned to the Emerald Isle to shoot her new mini-movie for Amazon Prime's "Modern Love" series.

In the first episode of the series' second season, Driver portrays a remarried widow who conjures up her late husband during trips in his vintage Triumph sportscar.

"I love Ireland. I think it must be that there's something there for me," she tells Press Association. "That it is a cornerstone of my life because it has been that way every single time I set foot there. I feel it's a sense of coming home, but it's really just a sense of connection."

And Minnie even loved her quarantine period in the Wicklow Mountains before filming began, calling it "one of the happiest times."

"I mean it's so evocative of a time that I was so happy, and that's never changed," she added.

Driver previously revealed the "Modern Love" episode, "On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down", will always be very special to her, because it features her late mum, who passed away in March.

"She'd [mum] read the script and she loved it and I do all my driving in this show and I FaceTimed her from the car," Minnie told "Live With Kelly & Ryan". "There's a scene at the very beginning of the show, where it looks like, just I'm talking to myself... and she was on FaceTime on the seat next to me, so she's in the episode with me, which I will forever be grateful for."

The second season of the real-life love story anthology series, based on a New York Times column, also features episodes starring Emma Roberts, Kit Harington, and Anna Paquin. It debuts on Amazon Prime next week (August 13).
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In a new interview, the Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper also plays down his recent legal woe in Amsterdam, saying that 'it's no big deal' and that it 'ends well.'

Aug 5, 2021

AceShowbiz - T.I. blames his recent legal woe in Amsterdam on language barrier. In a new interview, the Atlanta rapper said that he was arrested because he couldn't understand the cops which later resulted in the "lost in translation."

During an interview with TMZ on Wednesday, August 5 as he and his wife Tiny (Tameka Cottle) returned to the States, Tip believed that the whole thing was a slight miscommunication. "Just a slight kerfuffle, no big deal," he told the news outlet upon arriving at LAX.

"Slight miscommunication -- I didn't understand his dialect because he was speaking Dutch mixed with English and I didn't recognize he was the police," so he continued. Further dismissing the brush with the law, the rapper added, "It was really nothing. I don't have any details to recall, I just know that all's well that ends well."

T.I. opened up about getting arrested following a bike incident that involved a police officer in Amsterdam in an Instagram Live session on Tuesday, August 3. "So, I'm locked up now," the 40-year-old musician said. "I'm obviously not supposed to have my phone as I'm biking, and because the policeman ran into me and broke his rear view [mirror], and because I didn't have my passport on me."

"I don't know, it'll be fine," the rapper, who was born Cliford Harris Jr., went on to divulge. "But [the cop] was extremely upset." Staying optimist, the "Ant Man" actor claimed, "I myself, I was having a great time. Still, I'm still not upset. I'm having a phenomenal time."

Calling it "a phenomenal time," T.I. shared, "They arrested me, they didn't even put me in handcuffs. They just opened the door and invited me to the backseat. I obliged."

The Grammy winner also said that the police officers didn't let him post a bond. As a result, the rapper had to call someone to bail him out. "We're working on the buddy system out hereand I like," he explained before ending the Instagram live session.
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According to a new report, HBO Max has passed on 'Overlook' from Abrams' Bad Robots Prods which chronicles the most famous haunted hotel in American fiction.

Aug 5, 2021

AceShowbiz - "The Shining" spin-off "Overlook" from J.J. Abrams is reportedly being shopped by Abrams' Bad Robots Prods. and producers of Warner Bros. Television. According to a new report, HBO Max has passed on the new project which chronicles the most famous haunted hotel in American fiction.

Deadline states that the planned show is closing in on a new home after being passed on by HBO Max. Sources claim that the horror series will most likely will be heading to Netflix. Meanwhile, representatives for Bad Robot, WBTV and Netflix have yet to comment on the report.

Penned by Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown, horror-thriller "Overlook" is inspired by and featuring iconic characters from Stephen King's "The Shining". It will exploring the haunted property, which featured in the 1977 novel by Stephen King and subsequent 1980 movie from Stanley Kubric.

The project is originally one of the first three shows Abrams and his Bad Robot banner set up at HBO Max following the production company's $250 million overall deal with parent WarnerMedia. At the time, the network allegedly announced all three had received "production commitments."

It was said that while HBO Max brass liked "Overlook", they didn't think it was a fit for them. They allegedly wanted to focus Abrams and Bad Robots energy on IP/franchises for HBO Max, such as "Justice League Dark" and other collaborations, including HBO's "Demimonde and Max's "Subject to Change".

Other shows which were greenlit by former HBO Max content chief Kevin Reilly in April 2020 are "Duster" and "Justice League Dark". The latter of them led to the development "Constantine" and "Madame X" shows. The two projects are in the works in the steamer even though they have not been officially confirmed. Meanwhile, "Duster" received a formal series pickup with Josh Holloway starring on the original series.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - A man who is charged with killing his mother with a 10-pound dumbbell was sentenced to life in prison, according to the Butte County District Attorneys Office.

Last month, 46-year-old Aaron Connors pleaded no contest to a charge of first-degree premeditated and deliberate murder, the district attorney said.

On March 5, 2020, Connors went to visit his mother, 68-year-old Susan Robb, at her home in Chico.

Robb invited Connors inside and they visited for a few hours before Connors went outside and grabbed a 10-pound dumbbell from his can.

Robb was sitting on the couch when her son hit her on the head and continued to hit her multiple times with the dumbbell, District Attorney Mike Ramsey said.

Robbs roommate returned home after work and found her body.

The office said Connors went to the Gold Country Casino in Oroville where he was arrested by deputies.

Connors told detectives he was thinking about killing his mother for decades. The District Attorneys Office said Connors said he just became homeless and was living out of his van before the murder.

Connors was an elementary school teacher at one point but faced hard times like divorce, alcoholism loss of his job and a failure in a relationship, the District Attorneys Office said.

The office said Connors added he felt relieved after he killed his mother because he knew California would provide a safe place to stay, food and a place to lay his head.

He could face parole in 16 years as he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif.- Members from the NorCal Community Recovery Team, Salvation Army and Community Foundation of the North State toured three homes Wednesday being provided to families that lost their homes during the Carr Fire.

Over 1,000 homes were lost in the Carr Fire in 2018 that burned 97% of Whiskeytown.

The NorCal CRT and its various partners donated time, money and resources to fund and build 27 houses for 27 families who were either uninsured or underinsured after the Carr Fire.

Other Carr Fire survivors were given funding to help make up the difference in rebuilding if they could not afford it. They were also given help to place new septic systems or power poles on their property.

There are still a few homes planned to be rebuilt for Carr Fire survivors by NorCal CRT.
Speaking about the her relationship with social media in an interview with a leading magazine, Ananya shared, Currently, my relationship with social media is like that of a couple who has taken a long break and then gotten back together so its pretty good right now. When it comes to social media, I think its important to set boundaries with yourself."

She further adds, "You need to recognize when its getting too much, or when its affecting your mental health, and Im not very good with that. I tend to indulge once I start scrolling, I just keep scrolling and dont know where to stop. So Im really trying to monitor that.

Ananya then talked about her initiative, a series titled Social Media For Social Good to spread positivity on social media. Recently, I launched this initiative on social media, where we feature the stories of social media heroes, and how theyve helped their followers. Thats something that really shows the positive side of social media, she said.

On the work front, Ananya is on a roll with different projects from multiple genres. She has Shakun Batra's next and Pan-India film 'Liger' in the pipeline.
Bumble is teaming up with Bloom in an industry-first partnership to provide complimentary online trauma support to members of its global community who experience sexual assault or relationship abuse.

Through this program, members of the Bumble community will have the opportunity to receive up to six therapy sessions as well as one-to-one chat support with the Bloom team, in addition to Blooms readily available library of resources created by survivors and trauma-informed therapists. If someone within the Bumble community reports sexual assault or relationship abuse to Bumbles feedback team, they will receive a code for free access to a version of Bloom customized for Bumble users.

Bloom is run by Chayn, a survivor-led nonprofit addressing gender-based violence by creating intersectional resources online. Chayn has championed a design with, not for approach - their services are made for survivors by survivors. Since 2020, Chayn has built a team of qualified and trauma-informed staff in addition to their global volunteer network to deepen their outreach and services.

The trauma caused by sexual violence can devastate survivors, but with the right support, survivors can heal and reclaim their lives, said Hera Hussain, founder of Chayn. Feedback from Bloom participants has been phenomenal. Survivors told us that it allowed them to access support for the first time, made them understand their trauma better and feel less alone, and gave them the tools and space they needed to support their healing.

Bumble and Bloom are working together on a custom curriculum that will initially be available in English and Spanish followed by French, Hindi, Arabic, and Urdu in 2022. Survivors within the Bumble community can assist in the programming of this offering through an anonymous survey that will help shape the course content.

Safety has been central to Bumble's mission from day one. We have always been guided by clear principles: empowering women and using Bumble's platform and technology to create a safe and equitable environment for our community, said Rachel Haas, Vice President of Member Safety at Bumble. As someone who has dedicated their life to supporting survivors, I know the enormous impact we can have on a person's healing by providing them with access to the support they need and deserve. Were proud to partner with Bloom to be the first in the industry to pioneer a trauma-informed and expert-led Survivor Resources Program."

Bumble will begin offering the customized therapy via Blooms full-time staff to an initial pool of users later this year with plans to expand. The company also plans to roll out these services on Badoo next year.
The District Investigation Unit of Delhi Police busted a major anti-piracy racket in which they seized 50 unauthorised set-top boxes from Old Lajpat Rai Market in Chandni Chowk on 23rd July, 2021, as per media reports.

Old Lajpat Rai Market is one of Asia's largest wholesale electronics markets in the country. They are also capable of offering TV as well as OTT content illegally.

The raid was conducted after receiving complaints from the broadcasters like Star India, Viacom18 and ZEEL among others. The broadcasters filed the FIR under the Copyright Act 1957 against shops and establishments that were selling these illegal STBs, according to the media reports.

Netrika Consulting India, a Delhi-based management company which works closely with broadcasters like Star India, Viacom18 and ZEEL, also helped the broadcasters and the police in conducting the raids.

The agency also reached out to its clients to get the details of channels that were available on these unauthorised STBs after which a case of copyright violation got registered against the guilty parties, which resulted in a raid by Delhi Police.
ESR Cayman Limited (ESR; SEHK Stock Code: 1821) and ARA Asset Management (ARA) today announced that the two companies have entered into an acquisition agreement pursuant to which ESR will acquire 100% of the share capital of ARA for US$5.2 billion (the Transaction). ESRs founders along with OMERS and JD.com (which in total represent all the shareholders who have representatives on the ESR board) with an aggregate shareholding of 46% have provided irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the Transaction.

Founded in 2002 and listed on the SGX between 2007-2017, ARA is the largest real asset manager in APAC with a captive and fast growing New Economy real estate platform via its subsidiary, LOGOS. With US$95 billion in gross AUM3, ARA operates a diversified multi-product platform across assets, strategies and geographies in both the public and private markets, covering real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private funds in real estate, infrastructure / renewables and credit. ARA executes its market leading platform under its Raise, Invest, Manage and Build strategy. Group-wide, it has raised over US$16 billion in equity capital since 2016, which has supported a gross transaction volume of acquisitions, divestments and development activity of almost US$20 billion during the same period. Utilising an investor-operator model to manage its investments and to add value at every stage of an assets life cycle, ARA has built a demonstrable track record over time in growing its business and ultimately delivering value for all its stakeholders.

As a key part of its growth engine, ARA currently owns a controlling stake in LOGOS, a leading logistics and data centre real estate developer and fund manager with a strong presence across Australia, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Korea and New Zealand. On the back of its continued expansion across APAC, LOGOS total AUM has nearly doubled over the past two years to US$17 billion, comprising over 8.9 million sqm of property either owned or under development across 26 ventures, including the Singapore listed ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust (SGX: K2LU). Similar to ESR, LOGOS is a fully integrated developer and fund manager and manages all aspects of logistics and data centre real estate, including land sourcing, design and development, leasing, operations and asset management

1 Reported AUM of US$29.9 billion for ESR as of 31 December 2020 adjusted for AUM announced in 1H2021 (Milestone Portfolio US$2.8 billion, RJLF3 US$675 million, Korea Income JV US$500 million). Gross asset under management by ARA and its associates, inclusive of ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust as of 30 June 2021; adjusted for LOGOS acquisition of Moorebank Logistics Park announced on 5 July 2021.

2 Logistics and data centres

3 Gross asset under management by ARA and its associates, inclusive of ARA LOGOS Logistics Trust as of 30 June 2021; adjusted for LOGOS acquisition of Moorebank Logistics Park announced on 5 July 2021.

1. On behalf of some of the worlds largest investors. On the fund management side, LOGOS has built a very strong following with 22 institutional capital partners, 14 of which are new to the enlarged ESR Group.

Following the completion of the Transaction, ARAs business will be combined with ESRs platform. The enlarged ESR Group will become APACs largest real estate and real asset manager powered by New Economy, and the worlds third largest listed real estate asset manager. The combined AUM will reach US$129 billion, of which over US$50 billion is in New Economy real estate, making it the largest such platform in APAC. Based on the financial results for 2020, over 80% of the enlarged ESR Groups EBITDA4 will come from New Economy real estate, while more than 50% of its AUM will come from perpetual and core capital vehicles (including 14 listed REITs).

Jeffrey Perlman, Chairman of ESR, said: Our vision has always been to build a leading fund manager focused on technology enabled real estate, especially logistics and more recently data centres, on the back of major secular trends including the rapid rise of e-commerce, digital transformation and the financialisation of real estate in Asia Pacific. With the acquisition of ARA, we are very excited to bring two best-in-class businesses together to form Asia Pacifics #1 real asset fund manager powered by the leading New Economy platform. We are currently witnessing a once in a generation change in real estate where leading global investors are seeking to rebalance their portfolios by divesting institutional quality assets in order to redeploy that capital back into New Economy real estate where they have been meaningfully underweight. By creating a one-of-a-kind closed loop solutions ecosystem for capital partners with the addition of ARA, we can leverage our perpetual capital vehicles to help them divest these assets and captively redeploy back into New Economy real estate via ESR and LOGOS, the largest New Economy real estate platform in Asia Pacific with over US$50 billion of AUM. As we usher in this new era of real estate, the enlarged ESR Group is even better positioned to capture this outsized market opportunity.

Today, global investors are increasingly consolidating relationships towards a limited number of large scale and professional managers, allocating more capital to a smaller roster of managers. The increasing average fund size  80% of funds closed in 2020 are over US$1 billion in size  underscores the trend of larger managers gaining greater share of fund commitments. The enlarged ESR Group, as one of the largest listed real estate investment managers globally, is poised to capitalise on this trend.

Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson, ESR Co-founders and Co-CEOs, said: First, we want to welcome the ARA and LOGOS teams as well as our new strategic shareholders to the ESR family. This is an exciting time for ESR as we look forward to the promising future the combined platform is set to bring about. Post transaction, the enlarged ESR Group will witness immediate growth in size, scale and offerings  as global investors seek to give more capital to increasingly fewer managers, we are uniquely positioned to capture an outsized share of that capital. Additionally, we have always believed in the growth of logistics and data centre real estate and this transaction accelerates our vision considerably as our geographic reach will now extend across over 95% of GDP in Asia Pacific, total New Economy AUM will rise by 49% to over US$50 billion, portfolio GFA will increase by 44.3% to 29 million sqm and we will have dry powder of US$7 billion to deploy into new logistics and data centre projects.

Furthermore, we have always been impressed by ARAs and LOGOS commitment to ESG and we are very excited about the broader impact the enlarged Group can have across our business and our local communities. We firmly believe that the enlarged Group will build immensely on our long-standing reputation as a robust, resilient and purpose-led organisation dedicated to creating sustainable value for our shareholders, capital partners, customers and most importantly our valued employees.

4 Based on 2020A segment EBITDA, before unallocated corporate costs.

2 : John Lim, ARA Co-founder and Deputy Chairman, said: For close to two decades, ARA has established itself as a leading real asset manager with a successful track record across geographies, asset classes and strategies through multiple market cycles. We look forward to partnering with the ESR team, whose expertise, dedication and vision have led to building the regions leading logistics real estate platform, and we can now together provide investors with a full suite of products with an outsized contribution from New Economy real estate.

Mr. Lim, together with a representative from each of CK Asset Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), will be appointed to ESRs board of directors. SMBC will also subscribe to a US$250 million placement of new ESR shares to reinforce its commitment to the enlarged ESR Group. The senior management of ARA and LOGOS will join the enlarged ESR Group to drive its next phase of growth.

Also integral to ARAs growth strategy is a strong focus on sustainability where it adopts a holistic approach in incorporating ESG considerations into its business operations. ARAs initiatives on the sustainability front include joining as a signatory for the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment under the World Green Building Council and adopting the United Nation Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). In addition, ARA Group has secured green loans exceeding S$1 billion to date and intends to expand its green financing initiatives. ARA is also an active participant in GRESB, and many of its publicly listed REITs and private real estate funds have obtained 5-Star Ratings. ARAs sustainability efforts have been recognised by industry peers with numerous awards and accolades, including Best Sustainable REIT Fund Manager in Asia Pacific, ESG Real Estate Investor of the Year in Asia, among others.

John Marsh and Trent Iliffe, the Co-founders and Managing Directors & Co-CEOs of LOGOS, also commented: We are excited to partner with ESR in our next phase of growth. Our focus has always been to create a leading logistics and data centre specialist that can deliver strong and sustainable returns for all our stakeholders. The power of the combined platform will be unmatched and we look forward to leveraging our complementary capabilities, expertise, commitment to ESG, capital and customer relationships to deliver a best-in-class offering going forward.

The Transaction brings together two of the regions fastest growing platforms, ESR and LOGOS, to form a leading New Economy real estate platform, doubling down on this rapidly expanding segment with two leading growth engines. The enlarged Groups New Economy AUM and development pipeline will be the largest in APAC with top 1 or 2 positions in every market across the region.

Pursuant to the acquisition agreement, ESR will acquire 100% share capital of ARA via a 90/10 stock/cash transaction, which comprises:

Stock (90%) 5,6 : US$4.7 billion in new ESR shares (Consideration Shares) and Vendor Loan Notes 7 (VLN); and

Cash (10%): US$519 million in cash funded by US$250 million share placement 8 to SMBC and US$269 million debt / internal resources

5 ESR has option to fund up to an additional US$1,038 million with cash.

6 Consideration Shares and VLN to be issued at price of HK$27.00 per share representing a premium / (discount) of (2.5%), 1.9% and 5.7% to last close, average closing price since 5 July 2021 and average closing price since 5 February 2021, respectively.

7 VLN are non-voting, perpetual, zero-coupon, convertible to new ESR shares upon satisfaction of certain conditions, including the condition that no mandatory general offer is triggered for ESR.

8 Strategic partner, SMBC, to subscribe to a US$250 million placement at an issue price of HK$25.35 per share to reinforce commitment to the Enlarged ESR Group.

3 : All ARA shareholders will rollover their ownership interest into ESR and have agreed to lock-up of six months. Furthermore, it is contemplated at the close of the transaction ESRs founders and ARAs co founder, John Lim, would have committed to a lock-up of up to 36 months on a staggered basis.

The Transaction is subject to ESR shareholders approval at an EGM to be convened in due course. The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including, amongst others, regulatory approvals. Closing is expected by the end of 2021 or first quarter 2022.

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited is acting as financial advisor, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is serving as legal counsel to ESR. In addition, United Overseas Bank Limited is providing certain debt and financing related advice to ESR on the Transaction.

Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd. is acting as lead financial advisor to ARA, and DBS and OCBC Bank have also been appointed as financial advisors, and Latham & Watkins is serving as legal counsel to ARA.
FinTech platform Angel Broking has unveiled its new identity Angel One, a Digital First brand that will serve all financial needs of its clients, including stockbroking services. In its new avatar, the umbrella brand will encompass every existing and future business unit of the entity.

Speaking on the unveiling of Angel One, Mr. Prabhakar Tiwari, Chief Growth Officer, Angel Broking Ltd said, Our goal is to position Angel One as a leading FinTech entity and present ourselves in a contemporary, dynamic, tech avatar to build a strong connect with the new-age GenZ and Millennial Indian investors.

Angel One is an innovative, and empowering platform that easily resonates with the Gen-Z and millennials, including those from tier 2 and 3 cities. The transformation is a fusion of the companys brand legacy and ambitions, as the company transcends from a broking house to a one-solution platform for every financial need  ranging from mutual funds to insurance, loans and others.

Even though the corporate entity name will remain Angel Broking Limited, the consumer-facing masterbrand will now be called Angel One. The changes will be seen across all Angel Broking platforms and touchpoints, both external and internal. To fully live up to the ambition of being a digital-firstbrand, its platforms across the web and app are constantly being updated.

Incorporated in 1996 as a traditional broker, Angel Broking shifted focus to extensively using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning as it transitioned into a fully digital platform by 2019. It added state-of-the-art solutions like ARQ Prime, Angel BEE, Smart Store, Smart Money, etc. It introduced a simplified pricing structure of zero brokerage on delivery trades and a nominal Rs. 20 per order for intraday, futures & options, currency and commodity under its iTrade Prime Plan. As Angel Broking has evolved the digital experience it offers, its open-architecture approach led to several third-party tie-ups, including Vested, smallcase, Sensibull, and Streak.

Mr. Narayan Gangadhar, Chief Executive Officer, Angel Broking Ltd, said, We have witnessed a growth in revenues after digital transition with our tech-led platforms. We are also in the process of building more products and services, using our deep technology skills, that will widen the scope of offerings to our clients. To effectively communicate this to our clients, we are repositioning ourselves as Angel One.

Angel Broking is confident about the success of its new positioning, based on the successful transitions done in the past. At present, the company has more than 5 million clients spread across 98% of Indias pin codes, i.e. 18,874 locations. In Q1 FY22, it recorded the highest gross revenue in a quarter at Rs 4,745 million.
Honda Cars India has rolled out a fresh teaser - announcing the commencement of the bookings of the New Amaze, on its social media handles. Conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu, the creative agency from the house of dentsu India, the full-fledged campaign will go live with the launch of the car on August 18, 2021.

Honda Amaze has always been a symbol of status for the upwardly moving aspirational Indian consumers. The car signifies the big move that the consumer makes as s/he moves up in life. And with the New Honda Amaze becoming even more premium, stylish and sophisticated, the brand decided to celebrate it with a whole new attitude.

The teaser video opens with a smashing track that shows a little girl curiously watching something. A glimpse of the new car travelling on a bridge across scenic vistas is shown. Further, a preview of a young woman twirling her hair with a big diamond ring on her finger is showcased. Following this, we see delicious shots of the 'Shaandaar' New Amaze. The visuals are complemented by a track with a heady concoction of melody and lyrics that shout out the announcement of a big arrival. The song Chaa gaya, dekho chaa gaya is followed by a voice-over that says, Waqt Aagaya hai Shaan se Chalne ka. The Teaser ends with the message: New Honda Amaze, Bookings Open.
To commemorate its glorious 25 years in Jodhpur  the Blue City of India, Dainik Bhaskar, in continuation with its mega-editions spree, published a 120-Page Foundation Day Issue in Jodhpur. Over the years, Jodhpur has been a popular resort with many palaces, fortifications and sanctuaries, this edition featured the Glory of Courageous Kings and the Great Indian Desert of Thar, whilst admiring the Remarkable Blue City of Jodhpur.

With this special edition, Dainik Bhaskar attempted to give a different dimension to the City and presented it as the next tourism destination of the Country. This edition was created with the aim of apprising readers of the future prospects of the City and the status of the ongoing schemes in the city along with the changing dynamics across industries like handicraft, medical, education, industry, and infrastructure, amongst others. This unique edition was a visual delight, brimming with picturesque images, making it a collectible edition for its readers.

Commenting on this achievement during challenging operating environment, the COO of Rajasthan, Vareesh Tiwari, said, "Dainik Bhaskar Group always believes in doing something extraordinary and interesting for its Readers, Clients & Agencies and in keeping with this tradition, we created this Mega Edition on the 25th anniversary of our Jodhpur Edition. Amid concerns over the market situation, this is a great step towards building confidence in the business community as well as the public. This commendable feat demonstrates that print media is still the most trusted medium for readers & advertisers."

Mr Suchit Bhandari  Zonal Head, Dainik Bhaskar Rajasthan, added, The mammoth edition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Jodhpur edition reiterates Dainik Bhaskars resolve to cater to its readers nothing but the best. It wouldn't have been possible without our readers' and trade associates' trust and support, which consistently lead and inspire us to rise to the

challenge and set new milestones. All advertiser categories fired and whole heartedly participated in this special edition like real estate, education, consumer durables, FMCG, auto, health, life style, Government, telcom, NGOs, social media etc 

Mr. Surendra Jangid, Unit Head of the Jodhpur Unit, expressed his gratitude to all the Readers and Advertisers for their support in this historical edition.

Mr. Arvind Chotiya, Unit Editor- Jodhpur said, This issue is spectacular from the readers perspective, as it provides a well-researched edition with compelling editorial content. In keeping with Dainik Bhaskar's ethos of "Kendra Mein Pathak," we strive to provide news and information that leads to insights that readers may apply in their daily lives.
Lakme Salon, Indias leading salon chain, has tied up with mens grooming solutions brand, Bombay Shaving Company. Through this strategic alliance, Bombay Shaving Company is setting up mens grooming sections across more than 200 Lakme Salons in the country, by training salon staff, creating salon-specific product ranges and building new revenue streams for the company.

The partnership has been formed in response to customers desire to return to the salon. The mens grooming market in India is still at a nascent stage, but customers are ready for quality, effective, result-oriented services. Capitalising on this demand is the exclusive association between Bombay Shaving Company and Lakme Salon, which will offer male customers a plethora of signature beard grooming and spa services, using ingredients like charcoal, coffee, turmeric and neem to suit different skin and beard types.

With a complete menu on offer and 55+ safety measures implemented across all touch points at Lakme Salon, the two brands are ready to welcome customers, old and new, who are as eager to visit. Lakme Salon is hearing from their customers, 96.7% of whom have voted the salon chain SAFER THAN HOME, that they are keen to return to their favourite salon and expert, and have been quickly filling up the priority pre-booking slots.

Additionally, in a recent survey conducted by Red Quanta, 59% of the respondents stated that the activity they missed the most during the pandemic lockdowns was visiting spas and salons. The survey also found that 79% of men have been unhappy with at-home haircuts and are already back at salons. The research was conducted across 15 cities in India with a sample size of 1,516 salon-going consumers.

Pushkaraj Shenai, CEO, Lakme Lever, said of the association, Though the pandemic introduced many new ways of working and living, were thrilled to see that our customers are just as excited to return to our salons as we are to serve them. We have implemented 55+ safety measures across various touchpoints in the salon, which have earned us our customers vote of being SAFER THAN HOME. We now want to go one step higher and elevate our offerings for our clients, and this exclusive partnership with Bombay Shaving Company does just that. Joining hands with Bombay Shaving Company enables us to fastrack expansion into the mens grooming space. We are creating mens zones in across 200 Lakme Salons; the services will be provided by our experts who have been trained by the grooming and product experts at Bombay Shaving Company. We have found an agile, premium and trustworthy partner in the brand, and are super excited about beautifying the future together.

Shantanu Deshpande, CEO and Founder, Bombay Shaving Company, speaking of the exclusive partnership, said, It is not every day that a formidable brand like Lakme Salon gives you the opportunity to build something iconic with them. They are a symbol of trust and reliability for discerning customers across India, who seek the best experience possible. Bombay Shaving Company has built a product portfolio to address the complete grooming needs of a man. We have also built tremendous in-house expertise in training and deploying world-class stylists and care-experts at scale. Going to a salon is a sensorially indulgent experience with high emotional involvement. We are working with the Lakme Salon team to create a playbook that can be deployed with consistent quality outcomes across their touchpoints. We are extremely proud, humbled and privileged to be on this journey with Lakme Salon.
Nippon Paint (India), Asias leading paint manufacturer, has signed an MoU with Rotary Club of Madras East (RCME) for nshakti its CSR initiative. RCME will support Nippon Paints endeavour to skill women as professional wall painters in Chennai. In the next one year, Nippon Paint and RCME aim to train 1000 unskilled, underprivileged women and equip them to become professional painters.

Nippon Paints nshakti training program is an initiative to train rural women in professional wall painting. Its sole objective is to make rural women employable and provide them a sustainable livelihood. The women trainees are trained by expert trainers from Nippon Paints PROceed training academy to qualify themselves to become professional wall painters. The nshakti professional training is conducted over a 12-day period where the women trainees undergo a comprehensive curriculum to meet the present industry demands. Upon the successful completion of the program, the women painters are awarded a professional certificate which qualifies them as professional wall painters. To further support their footing in the profession, the women painters are introduced to Nippon Paints dealers and other decision-makers like Interior designers and architects who can provide painting jobs for them. These women painters continue to work together on different projects, supported by Nippon Paints CSR team.

So far, the nshakti initiative has benefitted more than 500 women in Tamil Nadu. These women belong to rural districts/ towns from Tamil Nadu including Ocheri, Ramasamypatti and Anaimalai. These women painters have gone on to paint homes, schools, offices, and even temples in their respective villages and neighbouring areas.

Speaking about the partnership with Rotary Club of Madras East, Mahesh Anand, President, Nippon Paint India (Decorative Division) said, We are happy to collaborate with Rotary Club of Madras East for this very special initiative. Three years ago, for the first time in India, Nippon Paint launched the nshakti initiative to train and certify rural women in becoming professional wall painters, thereby empowering rural women to have a sustainable livelihood, and become financially independent. A profession like wall painting is still largely dominated by men but Nippon Paint recognized it as a potential employment opportunity for rural women. Though one might think of wall painting as a profession that is primarily male-dominated, women are known to have a keen sense of aesthetics, an eye for colour, and the patience thats required for being an expert in the profession. Through nshakti, we want to level the playing field for women by providing the necessary training and tools. We hope to train 1000 women painters in Chennai by 2022.

Rotary Club of Madras East (RCME) President Rtn. M. Srinivasa Rao added, We are elated to partner with Nippon Paint team to enable underprivileged women to earn a livelihood through the nshakti initiative. We are aligned with Nippon team in our belief that wall painting would be a great employment avenue for women who are seeking employment opportunities. The training would empower them to acquire a skill and earn a sustainable livelihood.
PhonePe, Indias largest digital payments platform today announced the launch of its TV campaign for the Gold category. PhonePes campaign showcases how easy, convenient and safe it is to buy gold on the PhonePe app. The campaign is on air for 6 weeks with multiple 25-30 second ad films for TV & digital platforms.

PhonePe has tailored its latest campaign to appeal to a diverse set of audiences by customising the storylines and actors. It has brought back the much-loved duo of Inspector Desai & Shinde (Aamir Khan as Inspector Desai) for the audiences in the Northern, Western and Eastern parts of the country. Additionally, PhonePe has used popular songs in Telugu , Kannada , Tamil and Malayalam to appeal to the audiences in the five Southern states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala).

Commenting on the launch, Terence Lucien, Head of Mutual Funds & Gold, PhonePe said, Our aim is to help people from across India fulfil their aspirations of building their Gold investments. We provide easy and secure access to the highest quality 24K Gold coins and bars at the best prices that are safely delivered right to the customers doorstep by our Gold partners.

PhonePe launched the Gold category over 3 years ago in association with MMTC-PAMP & SafeGold. Since then, millions of customers from over 99% of Indias pin codes have bought gold on PhonePe. Over 60% of the Gold customers reside in tier 2, 3, 4 cities and beyond. PhonePes goal is to become a one-stop destination for gold coins and bars across the country and this campaign will help strengthen the value proposition.

Customers can just click on 'Buy 24K Gold' under the My Money section of the PhonePe app and order gold coins and bars starting from 0.5 gram. In addition to the best prices, customers also benefit from insured delivery and tamper-proof packaging.
It has happened again. Brands are riding the euphoria over Indian athletes winning medals in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and not all of them have sponsorship deals with the sportspersons. Such instances were pointed out in the aftermath of weightlifter Mirabai Chanus Silver win and now after shuttler PV Sindhu winning her second Olympic media  a Bronze.

One would recall Dominos Pizza jumping into the opportunity when Mirabai talked about her craving for pizza after her Olympic win. The pizza brand, in what was dubbed a moment marketing coup, quickly announced on social media that it would offer free pizzas to the weightlifter for lifetime, and also delivered pizzas to her home in Manipur.

But soon there were also voices raised over Mirabais rights as an athlete to secure deals with brands. Dominos has now entered into a digital activation partnership with Mirabai.

In Sindhus case, too, a plethora of brands like Amul, Happydent, Vicks, Aditya Birla Group, among others, took to social media to congratulate the player and create communication around themselves. Amul was one of the first brands to congratulate the player with a copy that stated: PV Windhu, Amul for brains and bronze. In fact, Amul has been the king of moment marketing for decades, with its ads capturing every important event, victory, obituary, personality through the presence of its polka-dot dress wearing mascot.

If brands are using the face and name of an athlete in their communication, shouldnt the athlete also get a share of the returns. A valid sponsorship deal is a win-win for both brands and sportspersons. But when brands piggyback on an athletes success and seek to gain from the moment for free  thats when issues are raised. Such instances have been dubbed as Newsjacking, when brands move to leverage a current hot news topic and hijack the moment to own it by inserting their brand message without spending any money.

As pointed out by Charu Raizada, Communication Consultant, This extension of moment marketing is not a new phenomenon, brands like Amul and Oreo have been acing this game long before others even acknowledged its potential.

While approaching newsjacking, it is crucial for brands to tread slowly into unknown waters and not jump on the bandwagon just because they dont want to miss out. According to Raizada, it all depended on the brands appetite to take calculated risks. If done hastily, newsjacking can end up tarnishing the brands image for incorrect research and taking misinformed stances on issues, she cautioned.

Brands and businesses are now waking up to the power of listening. Now, combining that with the ability to spot an opportunity  literally on the go  and creative thinking, brands can have a winning formula. At the same time, Raizada warned, A word of caution here  its important to pause and assess if the news item is positive or appealing, and not likely to stir a controversy.

On the other hand, Chandramouli Nilakantan, CEO, TRA Research and Blue Lotus Communications, highlighted the unstated rules in newsjacking, where one must only newsjack the news which is relevant to their brand and ensure that the message fits into their overall brand strategy. He added, Much like moment marketing, newsjacking can also backfire, so one must err on the side of caution.

Raizada was of the opinion that there was nothing wrong in piggybacking off popular trends. Its an art, which if not done with honest intentions, it could lead to a hall of shame. Especially with a limited time window to make their mark, brands have dedicated teams who are cognizant of this fact and ensure they dont lose out on any opportunities.

For Chandramouli, good newsjacking is a gut feel thing. It can only happen after years of communication expertise, when it feels in the gut that this is the right circumstance to newsjack. He added, Rarely can a research be done due to the paucity of time. This is where the importance of a good, experienced, empathetic and sensitive communication partner shows through.

With the users on the Internet constantly battling whether newsjacking merits quick-minded research or gut feel, industry experts have their own take as well. They stick to the fact that as long as the brands copy is relevant and credible there is very little that can go wrong. Brands should understand that there is merit in pre-empting possible questions which could be raised and adapting accordingly. In simple words, stay away from religion, disaster, and destruction.

On whether brands can gain leverage without being at the receiving end of trolls, Chandramouli was of the opinion that every possible brand communication will have its naysayers, and a brand could find itself at the crossroads without ever having imagined it. Quoting Machiavelli from The Prince, Chandramouli said: Principalities that are acquired with ease, are also lost with ease. It holds true for newsjacking as well.

As per media reports, Sindhu might take legal recourse against brands that have used her name and photos in their brand communications without authorisation. Interestingly, Amuls campaigns have always leveraged the moment, but no one has taken any legal action against the brand, nor has the brand ever been accused of newsjacking.

(Edited and Additional Inputs by Shanta Saikia.)
The Moms Co., Indias leading toxin-free & natural mom & baby care D2C brand has launched a new nationwide cross-platform digital campaign, #MakeBreastfeedingEasier to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. With this campaign, The Moms Co. aims at creating dialogues with experts in raising awareness about breastfeeding, help address the concerns that breastfeeding moms have and make their breastfeeding journey easier.

For a week-long campaign, The Moms Co. has partnered with Rosewalk Healthcare - a Delhi-based luxury hospital for women to create informative videos wherein doctors from Rosewalk will be addressing various issues faced by women during breastfeeding on a regular basis such as the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, the correct technique for pumping milk, taking care of breasts during pregnancy and more. These videos will be available for public consumption across The Moms Co.s social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. When it comes to breastfeeding, new moms often have concerns such as how to perfect the latch, how to ensure there is a steady supply of breastmilk and more. However, there arent any reliable sources of information to which news moms can turn to for advice & consultation. The Moms Co. aims to help make breastfeeding easier for moms by bringing together experts who can give the right guidance and information.

An award-winning entrepreneur, Malika Sadani launched The Moms Co. in 2017 when she realised that there was a gap in the Indian market for products that mothers could trust. Commenting on the launch of the new campaign, Malika Sadani, Founder & CEO, The Moms Co. said, Ive spent several years interacting with moms and understanding their concerns. Being a mom of two, I empathise with a moms journey, her problems and the reluctance to make any compromise when it comes to the safety of her child, especially during the early stages of being a new mom and the implications that come with it. Breastfeeding, though being a natural process that benefits both the mom and the baby, is still a closed door conversation even in todays day and age. Breastfeeding can be hard for new moms and we want to help make the journey easier by getting experts to address their concerns, put their doubts to rest and empower them with knowledge to make the right decisions.

On August 6, 2021, as part of the #MakeBreastfeedingEasier campaign, The Moms Co. will be hosting a live interactive session on their Instagram handle with Dr. Reubina Singh, Senior Fertility Specialist, Obstetrician & Gynecologist at Grace Fertility. She will be in conversation with renowned professional dancer and founder of Banjara School of Dance, Meher Malik to discuss struggles that breastfeeding moms face and how they can solve it with expert guidance.

The Moms Co. will also be hosting a social media giveaway with Momzjoy on 6-7 August on their Instagram handle to help make the breastfeeding journey easier for moms with a curated set of products.

In a matter of only four years, this Made In India D2C start-up has crossed over one million loyalists. The brand has also diversified its offerings across categories of face care, hair care, baby care and others, with over 35 products that help solve for the concerns they face.
WARC , the global authority on marketing effectiveness, has today released a report identifying trends and themes common to the award-winning campaigns of this year's Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions, which celebrate the measurable impact of creativity.

Commenting on the "Insights from the 2021 Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions winners" report, Chiara Manco, Commissioning Editor, Case Studies, WARC, says: "To unearth insights into what makes a campaign both creative and effective, we've interviewed both jurors and winners and analysed the metadata from all entries.

"Our findings, together with the award-winning case studies included in this report, will help agencies and advertisers alike use the power of creativity for greater effectiveness."

The four key themes highlighted in the report are:

1. Tech is creativity's invisible enabler

Tech's role in communications is evolving from protagonist to support act, working behind the scenes to enrich creative ideas. From Burger King's geofencing to German Rail's programmatic targeting, winners used tech as a spark-plug and force multiplier in their activities. Work by Pernod Ricard and Huggies also highlighted how science, data and technology can all work in service of emotional storytelling.

Jury member Jean-Paul Burge, Chairman and CEO, BBDO Asia, says: "There's a nuanced but important differentiation between developing a new piece of tech that we argue is 'the great idea' and using tech to amplify, enable or catalyse our idea, which is where the genius really lies."

2. Amplified experiences drive cultural impact

Several winners looked beyond the visual and the verbal to create culturally-relevant experiences which relied on influencers and PR for amplification. Often making use of unconventional touchpoints - from O.N.E.'s sleeping bags to KMSZ's DNA-testing lollipop - such work showed how unexpected creativity drives media coverage as well as cultural and business impact.

Judge Neil Dawson, Chief Global Strategy Of Wunderman Thompson, comments: "It's important to showcase that creativity is not just the visual and the verbal: it can be a product, an experience, the changing of a word. There's no singular definition of creativity."

3. Agile creativity benefits the whole funnel

Among this year's winners were brands that tackled apparently mundane briefs through agile, short-term initiatives. Applying creativity and challenger thinking to lower-funnel activities, winners Huggies, Burger King and German Rail proved how such an approach can work alongside long-term efforts to strengthen brands in the face of competitors.

Jury president Ann Mukherjee, Chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard North America, says: "In today's world of performance marketing, creativity has to go from the top to the bottom of the funnel. You may get briefs that are not the sexiest, but there is opportunity for exciting creativity in mundane tasks too."

4. Belief-led bravery leads to commercial impact

Grand Prix winner Nike showed how brands can reap the commercial benefits of standing up for issues that matter to their consumers and are true to their business.

As Jury President Ann Mukherjee,said: "It's a virtuous cycle that we wish to see more brands embracing: touching lives is what makes people come to your brand."

Included in the report are:
Alton, IL (62002)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
There are just so many effects of autism on the parents. Theres a large burden that is borne by the parents.

Theres lost productivity. Its more often women than men, but there are subtle effects. Peoples lives change, and they have fewer children.

Weve all felt that. Autism and fighting for your autistic child is not a good career move.

Right now most of the autistic population is children, and so what that means is parents pay. Either they pay directly out of their pocket or they lose the ability to work. So there is lost parental productivity.

Mark: The question of who pays is going to be a big one, and what we know is that we will see a massive shift in who pays.

Question 4: Where will we see the biggest drain on resources and funding: federal, state, or local levels?

Incredibly all this seems to be happening with no questions being asked. Somehow its insensitive to talk about where all these kids are coming from.

And as this population of autistic children ages out of school and into the adult population, many more adjustments will have to be made, and well all be paying for them. Autism awareness will be everywhere.

Weve made other adjustments like sensitive Santas in stores at Christmas, autism-friendly movie showings, sensory/calming rooms in schools, to name only a few.

Meanwhile there are endless stories from across the country over the last two decades about training people to deal with autistic children : fire fighters, ER personnel, police, teachers, airport staff, librarians, doctors and lots of other groups.

The fact that were desperately short of services for these disabled young adults is more proof of lie weve been told.

My often repeated question has never been talked about: Why cant young autistic adults go where autistic adults have always gone? We must have done something with them, even if we didnt call them autistic.

The one thing no official has ever called for is a study on the autism rate among adults. Telling us something but never having to show proof is pretty much the history of the federal government when it comes to autism.

Thats a delusion, yet its still going strong, no matter how bad the numbers get.

One of the convenient results of the lie that autism is nothing new in the human population is that it seems weve somehow been able to handle things. If autistic people have always been around, weve provided for them, even if we didnt call their disability autism.

N OTE: This is part 4 of a 5 part series running all week. Parts 1, 2 and 3 are below. At the end of the series, we'll reorganize to run it in order. Thank you. By Anne Dachel

And to the extent that there are additional burdens is going to be the special education program in the local school system. Theyre largely paid for out of local taxes, to some extent state funds.

There will be early intervention programs which can be very expensive, which are often funded by Medicaid or private insurance sometime.

So theres a mix of funding, but the large majority is local, either the parents or the school system. Theres no single constituency standing up and shouting, weve got to do something.

One thing that has happened is that the schools have by and large soaked it up. Its been a huge burden. Its been a drain on school budgets, but whether its through rationing of service or taking funds from other programs or raising taxes or whatever it is, school systems have largely absorbed the autism childhood population.

Its become politically incorrect to complain about that. So that has happened.

As children age out, parents are going to have to findand I just know my own experience. My daughter has now entered the state services funding program.

Theyve just set up an autistic division to deal with their new constituency of autistic adults.

My daughter now has a day program that is funded by the state. Its not funded by the school system. Shes in a residential program because her aggression became tough for her mother to handle, and that is also paid for by the state.

Her mothers involvement, my involvement, were active, were taking care of the services, and the state still has money. They havent seen the tsunami yet. Theyre seeing a meaningful increase in 20 somethings.

We can look at that. Its in the paper, Anne. I dont know if youve read every word, but the Social Security Administration audits the number of adults that receive funding by diagnostic category. They added a number for people with autistic disorder in 2010, and that number has exploded in just seven or eight years. Fifteen percent a year increase. Of course thats mostly going to be young adults.

We will see some federal funding, social security and social security disability payments.

The states are going to start asking for money. Were going to see this shift from a highly distributed and responsive network of payers, parents and schools, and its going to go to state and federal governments without parents as advocates.

When my daughter is fifty, I wont be here. Shes 25 now, so whenever I leave and her mother leaves, all of a sudden theres a binary shift and shes a ward of the state.

The state is not generally a great caretaker. Theyll try, but things fall through the cracks. People arent observed well. Theres turnover in the service providers. People dont remember what happened 10 years ago. They start making mistakes. They compound. Theres negligence. Theres boredom.

This is a difficult population to handle. Most of them are men, and most of them can get violent on occasion. Theyll be restrained, and they may even be mistreated and abused.

So its a very, very bleak future that were looking at with big government taking care of troubled autistic adults without the parents to support them, and I worry about that shift.



Part 3



By Anne Dachel



For years Ive written about something I call the really big lie about autism. That is the continual and baseless claim that all the autism everywhere among our children is merely the result of better diagnosing/greater awareness/expanded definition of a disorder thats always been around.

Each and every time an official increase in the autism has been announced, there was always some federal official assuring the public that they werent sure IF THIS INCREASE represented a true increase in the number of children with autism.

Their real meaning was FROM THE LAST OFFICIAL INCREASE, but they knew that the media lackeys would spin the message to read, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A REAL INCREASE IN AUTISM.



As long as that lie works, they can all relax. Autism only requires recognition and services. Allocate more funds and life goes on.

Back in 2006 I was in Washington with two doctors visiting congressional offices. We had an appointment with the chief of staff of my representative, Dave Obey of Wisconsin. During our meeting we laid out the evidence on the increases in autism and the cost predictions.

Obeys chief of states response was this: So whats the solution? Congressmen dont like problems without solutions.

The three of responded together, We have to stop it.

That pretty much ended our conversation. She wasnt interested in what that would involve.

Mark Blaxill autism tsunami Part 3

Question 3: Why arent health officials focused on this? Why do they continue to tell us with each new rate increase that they are still not sure if more children actually have autism?

Mark: Thats a really interesting question. I think there are multiple answers.

At one level, most of the people in these jobs have relatively short career time horizons, so theyre looking for their next job. Theyre in for not very long.

If they can defer dealing with tough questions for two, five, 10 years, they dont have to worry about it anymore.

Autism parents have a much longer time horizon. Our time horizon is longer than our own lives. Our time horizon goes decades long

Were worried about the lives of our children when were gone, so we are the ones carrying the message.

At some level its just short term, long term thinking. .

Its a tough question to answer.

Another reason they dont answer is they dont have a good answer that they like. If these increases are real, its an enormous problem. Its an enormous cost to society, its an enormous drain on families and services.

If youre a public health official or bureaucrat, you like to get on top of problems that create opportunities, that serve your interests, that allow you to mount a program and to be a hero and say, look at all were doing.

If they knew what was going on in a way that led them to a solution that they liked, theyd have it for us.

They dont.

And because of the size of the problem, the only possible response for an official like that is to say, Well, Im not sure. I dont know.

Plead ignorance because as soon as you acknowledge that its real and its serious, that its monumental even in terms of the social costs, youre obligated to address it. And they dont have an answer that they like.

The obvious answers must be environmental causes, and there s no one in the scientific community that wants to take on the plausible culprits because they involve corporations, they involve the medical institution, the failures of medical policies and practices.

I try to avoid, Anne, the vaccine question because that becomes a red flag.

I have my own beliefs, but for this purpose, scientifically, I put those beliefs aside.

I think the most important thing is that we focus on the cost and the problem. This problem could have many causes, multiple causes.

All we have to do is to acknowledge that these are environmental causes and we must address them.

We must, almost urgently, immediately figure out whats going on so we can pause it, so we can reverse it, so we can change the trend.

The act of saying we think this is a crisis and the numbers are real, and the costs are real requires you, obligates you, mandates that a leading public health official takes on that policy question.

You know, theyre all cowards or worse, and they have not chosen to stand.

Part 2



By Anne Dachel



A few years ago, the parent of a daughter with severe autism talked with me about the last IEP meeting he attended during her final year in high school.

The father asked the staff about what was next for his child. What adult programs would there be for her?

Her teachers had to admit that they didnt know of any specific programs in the area at the same time they assured him that they were sure there would be something.

It was no big surprise for him to learn that no one is prepare for young adults with autism. His daughter was moved from one program for developmentally disabled adults to another, with none of them equipped to deal with her behavioral needs. Today social services pays a relative to babysit her all day.

This is but one tiny example of the future that Mark Blaxill talks about here.

Mark Blaxill Autism Tsunami Part 2

Question 2: How bad will things get if the autism rate increases continue at the rate they have in the past?

Mark: Itll get really bad. We know that. I like to say that before 1930, the rate of autism in the world was effectively zero.

Then Leo Kanner discovered it in a handful of children who were born in the 1930s. He wrote his paper in 1943 after seeing a bunch of children who were unlike any other group hed ever seen before.

He was the worlds leading expert in child psychiatry. For many years thereafter, in the U.S. at least, the rates were really low, one in 10,000.

Then they began to tick up a little bit in the 70s and 80s, but in the late 90s they went vertical. We havent seen the plateau in that curve.

The latest numbers we have are something like three percent in American children. There are numbers that are even higher than that in some places.

What that means is, if you were born in 1930, youd be 90 today.  So there are people who are alive today who were around when there was no autism. The first cases of autism, some of them are still alive. I have met a couple of them, but they are vanishingly rare.

So we have no system for elderly adults with autism whose parents are no longer with us.

We have been struggling all over the world in special education programs to deal with the onslaught of children.

What we have not dealt with is the tsunami of autistic adults who are now starting to age out of the school system, who will flood into an unprepared services infrastructure.

There is no infrastructure for autistic adults without parents. Theyll require residential services; theyll require day programming services. We will lose their productivity in the population. In some cases, a few of the higher functioning adults will do productive work, so I dont want to minimize that, but in large measure, these will be unemployed human beings who will be a weight on the economy.

Those costs have not yet ever been seen, theyve not ever been paid for, and we are nowhere close to equipped to deal with it.

We are just now dealing with autistic young people in their 20s. My daughter is 25 years old. She was born in 1995 just as the rates were being to increase, and there are no services for her. There are no programs for young autistic adults.

Im involved in an autism center. We have just started. Im the chief financial officer. Weve just initiated a program for autistic adults, because there are none.

There are programs for intellectually disabled people, but not [for] the unique problems of people with autism. Were not prepared.

Even then, most of the young people, if theyre young adults, their parents are in their 60s, 70s. Theyre still going. Theyre still taking care of their children.

One of my working titles for this paper was Autism Will Cost a Trillion Dollars When I Die. Were looking at numbers in the hundreds of billions. Theyre not small.

Were going to see this tsunami hit. Most of the cost will be in young adults, and there will be no safety net because the parents are by and large, the safety net.

Well be gone. There may be siblings, there may be relatives, but this is going to be a bleak scenario when we have literally millions of adults who are not for whom were not currently prepared to provide services. They will be increasing in large numbers.

PART 1





Mark Blaxill Autism Tsunami Part 1



Question 1: Tell us about your study, Autism Tsunami: the Impact of Rising Prevalence on the Societal Cost of Autism in the United States. What motivated you and the other authors to look into the future impact of autism?



Mark: My motivation has been 20 years long. (Inaudible)and it was pretty obvious for too long, the numbers were exploding.

California and everywhere you looked, the numbers were going up, and that invalidated the orthodox story line.

(Inaudible) Mark dismissed the official claims of better diagnosing/diagnostic substitution.

And weve known that for a long time, Anne.

I first started writing about that in 2001, 2003, in that area. I started writing in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders when they started trying to blame it on diagnostic substitution.

It was obvious that the work that they were doing (inaudible)

I wrote to them. I got some colleagues to write. 

The authors that argued that it was diagnostic substitution had to retract their findings because it was obvious that they were arithmetically wrong.

The rate of autism was going up, and the rate of intellectual disability was not declining.

Then I wrote a paper that was published in 2004, Whats going on? The question of time trends in autism.

I argued that the rates were going up and it was real, all over the world, particularly in the United States and the UK.

I know you focus very heavily on the United States and the UK both of which have rates that are going up.

And then I kept writing about it.

I wrote a book called The Age of Autism.

I wrote another book called Denial, both with Dan Olmsted.

One in 2010 and another in 2017.

Youre kind of screaming at the universe, please pay attention. This is a crisis.

Anne, you do this every day. I do this in longer cycle projects. Were doing much of the same work.

One thing that happened is that Cindy Nevison, whom Ive gotten to know pretty well, and shes doing very good work. on the environmental causes of autism.

She and I got together with a guy named Walter Zahorodny, who is the CDCs man in New Jersey. And New Jersey has been reporting some of the highest rates of autism.

Walter, in his own way, is saying the same thing.

So we started writing a paper that was published in 2018. The three of us were co-authors.

I had been looking at the California numbers way back since 2001, some of the early days. Cindy had started looking at more recent numbers. We compiled our databases.

We got this article published that said, you know these rates are exploding and theyre real.

By the time were doing that in 2018, thats 20 years after I first started looking. The numbers are scarily higher, and to your point, the increases have not slowed, if anything they look like theyre growing more rapidly. 

Cynthia and I wrote another paper called Diagnostic Substitution, again showing that theres no case that the increases are due to substitutes of intellectual disability.

When they published the California paper in 2018, which surprised me honestly, I was surprised because it goes against the orthodox narrative.

Good for the journal. Theyve been a pleasure to deal with because theyre interested in good evidence and good science, and weve tried to write it very rigorously.

As soon as that paper in 2018, I wrote the idea to Cindy and some othershey, lets do a cost of disease paper, because there is a literature on the cost of disease.

Most and almost all of it, until very recently, almost all it has assumed that the rates of autism prevalence are constant, which is a spectacular error.

First of all, they tend the latest numbers so they underestimate the cost of autism in children, and then they assume that whatever rates were observing in children, were observing in the elderly. So they will assign all those costs, and theyll put a model together thatll say, this is the cost of autism in elderly.

And theyll add all that up, and theyll come up with a number thats too high for the total cost, but that underestimates the cost in children and dramatically overstatesmakes up fansome numbers for cost in the elderly that dont exist.

So thats an error, foundational error in most cost of disease study, and we sought to correct that. That was the idea.



Part 2 follows tomorrow.


Paul Lasley retired June 30 as a professor and Extension sociologist at Iowa State University.

Lasley, 69, grew up on a farm near Queen City, Missouri, and came to ISU in 1981 after receiving his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Missouri. Lasley chaired both the sociology and anthropology departments at ISU, and is widely known for helping to develop the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll in 1982.

IFT: How did choose your career path?

LASLEY: I wasnt entirely sure what I wanted to do, but when I was in school, I found courses on sociology very interesting. My bachelors degree is in animal husbandry, but because of my interest in sociology, a couple professors thought they needed to get me into grad school.

IFT: You started working at ISU in 1981. Describe that experience.

LASLEY: I was very fortunate to come into a good department with a lot of support, and a department that had a real concern for the well-being of rural America.

IFT: Not long after you started at ISU, the farm crisis of the mid-1980s bared its teeth. It had to be overwhelming for you and your colleagues. How rough was it for not only rural America, but those who were trying to help farmers through it?

LASLEY: It was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We were doing our best to provide information to the various entities, to let people outside of the rural community know what was happening. We were able to document the extent of the financial hardship these people were going through, and hopefully we were able to inform folks about the plight of rural America.
Speaking on a Zoom event sponsored by Zoetis July 30, Kevin Good says cattle producers might have some reasons to be optimistic going forward.

Good, vice president of industry relations and analysis for CattleFax, says he first looks at the cattle supply situation, which is seeing decreased numbers.

We are in the midst of the third year of liquidation, he says.

This comes after a half-decade of building up the national cattle herd.

With the five years of expansion, we still have plenty of cattle in the system, Good says.

The long-term, 30-year trend has been gradually increasing beef production, although that fluctuates over time based on a variety of factors, he says, such as drought and market conditions.

After a period of decline leading up to the 90s, beef demand began increasing, and it is currently at its strongest level in 30 years. Good credits improving meat and carcass quality for some of this demand increase.

A much higher percentage of the cattle grade Choice and Select than they ever have, he says.

Good is continuing to watch the drought conditions out West and in the upper Midwest. He says La Nina conditions are ongoing but seem to be improving, which could help the weather situation. He says the drought is causing some liquidation, although it has not been at a dramatic pace. Still, beef cow slaughter is up 10%. He expects continued liquidation and stronger calf values as the calf crop gets smaller. Tighter supplies support higher prices, he says.
Noah Ervin is the first to admit being the younger sibling to two athletes comes with challenges.
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Dougherty area COVID hospitalizations reach highest level since February 2020

Alan Mauldin / Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin Albany Fire Department Chief Cedric Scott, left, who also serves as Dougherty Countys emergency management director, speaks with Doughery County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas prior to a Wednesday morning COVID-19 news conference. Alan Mauldin / Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin Albany Mayor Bo Dorough said that the 14-day infection rate of 154 per 100,000 people means that the citys face mask ordinance is back in effect.

ALBANY  Prior to reporting that COVID-19 is at its worst since the pandemic first struck, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospitals director of emergency medicine related a story of a close friend and her daughter who delayed getting vaccinated.

A couple of weeks ago the daughter got COVID, said an obviously emotional Dr. James Black. My friend got COVID two weeks ago. She was hospitalized. She was intubated.

I got a call 15 minutes ago, and she died.

The 53-year-old friend and her daughter wanted to wait and see and kept finding excuses not to get the shot, the physician said.

During a Wednesday news conference with community leaders, Black said there were 89 patients hospitalized in Albany and Americus with the disease, with 18 being admitted on Monday.

Eighty-nine is the highest number of patients weve had since February 2020, Black said. (These are) really numbers we have not seen since the earliest days of the pandemic.

While tests performed on COVID-positive patients do not screen for the delta variant, it is almost certainly behind the current surge.

Of those admitted to the hospital since April 1, a little more than 10 percent had at least one dose of the vaccine, and some were fully immunized with the two-dose regimen, Black said.

However, those illnesses are generally less severe than cases for those who are not vaccinated.

This is currently a pandemic of the unvaccinated for the most part, Dougherty County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said. Here in our community, we are seeing an increase in the rate of infection because we are behind on vaccinations.

During weekly task force calls, Cohilas said, medical officials relate that people who are vaccinated are much less likely to get sick, and vaccinated individuals who get COVID-19 tend to have milder cases.

In Georgia, 46.46 percent of residents have had at least one of the two-shot vaccine, and 40.77 percent were fully vaccinated, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. In Dougherty County 38.23 percent have had at least one dose and almost 34 percent are fully vaccinated. For Lee County the numbers are 43.72 percent who have had at least one dose and 39.12 percent fully vaccinated.

I cant make anybody do anything, Cohilas said. I cant tell you what to do with your own health care. What I can tell you is the objective information, the stories, what we are seeing every day.

The way we fix this is by getting people educated, giving them information, honest information (including) about the people who have not been vaccinated and what their health outcomes are. Those are the facts.

Because of the rate of transmission, the city of Albanys mask ordinance is back in effect, Mayor Bo Dorough said. The ordinance, which requires wearing a mask in public settings, kicks in when the 14-day rolling average hits the 100 per 100,000 population threshold.

In Albany, the most recent 14-day average was 154 cases per 100,000 in population, the mayor said. The infection rate of about 4 percent also has risen dramatically. It had been averaging about 4 percent but was at 10 percent last week and expected to increase.

One thing we need to understand, its clear people who have been fully vaccinated have a significant resistance to the virus, Dorough said.

Vaccines are available at the Dougherty County Health Department from 8 a.m.-noon Monday and Thursday and from 1-5 p.m. on Thursday. To set up an appointment, call (229) 638-6424, (229) 352-6567 or visit swgapublichealth.org.

Coronavirus testing is available from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and may be expanded due to the high number of cases in the community.

To schedule an appointment through Phoebe in Albany or Americus, call (229) 312-MYMD (6963) and for Sylvester call (229) 776-2965.
Courtesy of JTA; Photo credit: Courtesy of We Were Never Lost.

From left: Edouard David Benaym, Rudy Rochman and Andrew Leibman pose with the Torah scroll before their trip to Nigeria.
Courtesy of JTA; Photo credit: Kestenbaum & Company.

Kestenbaum & Company, a Brooklyn firm that has specialized in Judaica, pulled off its catalogue what the Jewish Community of Cluj says is a 19th-century ledger from its Jewish burial society.
The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks for the purpose of protecting America against terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. It was not intended to spy on ordinary Americans or track their political affiliations. But now DHS seems to be spending as much time tracking and prosecuting "domestic terrorism" as it does foreign terrorists and actual criminals, including those gang members who are crossing our southern border every day. That's the same border that Kamala Harris is in charge of.

An official at DHS stated in May 2021 that "domestic violent extremism poses the most lethal, persistent terrorism-related threat to our homeland today"  that in connection with a new program of monitoring extremism on public social media. DHS is going to be collecting and analyzing social media data in an effort to identify possible threats. That seems straightforward enough, except that one often discovers what one is looking for, and recent history suggests that government is tracking conservatives more closely than radical groups like Antifa.

On July 1, in one of many such actions, DHS predicted "increased activity" by what it calls "rightwing groups." It is mystifying how the department could make this prediction, especially since no such highly public prediction was made in regard to those terrorist groups that actually have stated their intention to harm us. Those groups, like Iran's Revolutionary Guards, seem to get a pass, but ordinary Americans become targets for bureaucrats who believe that the "biggest terrorism threat" comes from "individuals and small groups in the U.S."

Contrary to those, like the ACLU, who question the right of DHS to collect information on American citizens, I believe that government agencies do have the right to collect whatever information they need to avert violence. But unlike many in these agencies, I also believe that these efforts must be even-handed. Conservatives who are actually conspiring to commit illegal actions should be prosecuted, but so should those on the left who plot violence.

None of that seems to be happening. As Charles Marino writes, during summer 2020, "protests by Black Lives Matter ... became associated with the destruction of cities, attacks on law enforcement and other forms of violence." Yet how many of those responsible for this violence were ever prosecuted and jailed? One has to question whether the same standards are applied to BLM, Antifa, and other groups on the left. In my view, all who engage in violence or conspire to commit it should be prosecuted equally.

Americans must never relinquish their rights to free speech, but there are limits to expression. In our democracy, one has the right to speak freely, to criticize the government and its leaders, and even to express radical views so long as one does not advocate violence. Government does not have the right to track speech that is legal and within bounds. The danger is that government, with its power to judge what constitutes "extreme" expression, may be monitoring the wrong groups.

DHS needs to be extremely careful to avoid gathering information on lawful citizens. There is not, as some at DHS believe, a "close proximity between constitutionally protected speech ... and the threat of violence." Constitutionally protected speech is entirely different from speech that incites violence, and one would expect high-level DHS officials to know this. DHS was created in order to protect Americans from those who do not recognize this difference, but now it appears that some of those may be working at DHS itself.

DHS may be confused as to what its mission is. At the center of current DHS policy is Alejandro Mayorkas, a person who has worked in government or government-related jobs, mostly located in Washington, D.C., for his entire life. Are his ideas concerning "rightwing groups" connected with the fact that he grew up in Beverly Hills, attended Beverly Hills High School, and graduated from U.C. Berkeley? True, one can hardly expect a person who has lived only in Beverly Hills, Berkeley, and Washington to have a very sophisticated understanding of heartland values. Perhaps that is why DHS is so quick to accuse conservatives of extremism.

Part of this bias is the notion that left-wing violence is committed by "decentralized" groups like Antifa, while right-wing actions like the Jan. 6 protests were "coordinated" and "insurrectionary." In fact, thousands of protesters do not show up without some sort of coordination: in the era of social media, Antifa and the Proud Boys are equally "coordinated." The idea that left-wing violence is decentralized and thus less of a threat is extremely dubious.

Ironically, Mayorkas was in charge of DHS's Citizenship and Immigration Services unit under President Obama from 2009 to 2013, a period that saw a surge in illegal immigration and in criminals such as MS-13 gang members crossing our border. Unrestricted immigration always brings with it an increase in violent crime, terrorism, and drug importation  just the sort of activities that DHS ought to be investigating and blocking. Failure to secure the border simply abets crime and terrorism.

Shouldn't DHS spend more time securing our borders than tracking legal citizens who may entertain what it considers extreme views? According to ICE, the total number of criminal illegal aliens stands at 1.9 million, about 16 percent of the officially recognized illegal alien population. (Of course, all illegal aliens are criminals by virtue of their having crossed the border illegally, but ICE tabulates those who have committed other crimes.) Surely these criminal illegal aliens pose a greater threat than the swaggering of native extremists, some of which may be simply letting off steam. After all, one motto heard among MS-13 members is "kill, rape, control." Why isn't Homeland Security more effective in protecting Americans against these and other gang members instead of letting them in?

A percentage of the 30 million illegals who may be here are members of criminal gangs, and the numbers may be much larger than government wants us to believe. In many places, Americans live every day in fear of these gangs, and for good reason. In the midst of crime waves in many cities, senior citizens are afraid to venture outside their homes, and even at home they do not feel safe. Meanwhile, Biden minimizes the numbers and denies that a "crime wave" exists  this despite a near doubling of violent crime in many large cities this year.

There are an estimated 10,000 MS-13 gang members in the US, but this is only a fraction of the number of illegal alien gang members in our country. It is difficult to obtain accurate numbers because search results are buried beneath articles claiming that "nondocumented" criminal activity is less prevalent than "native" criminal activity. (The same apparent manipulation of search results takes place when one googles "crime wave.") Progressives are going to great lengths to obscure the truth that illegals do commit violent crimes, that the borders are in fact wide open, and that a crime wave is sweeping across America.

Instead, progressives including Joe Biden focus on "right-wing groups." DHS officials have stated that domestic extremism is more of a threat than foreign terrorism or even than gangs such as MS-13. DHS was created for the purpose of combatting foreign terrorism, but somehow under Biden it is evolving into an agency that tracks conservatives on social media and focuses on domestic extremism. That mistake needs to be corrected while we still have the freedom to do so.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).

Image: DonkeyHotey via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
If you think you are being kind, compassionate, or polite as a mask-wearer, please take note of this column. After the CDC and the Biden administration again ignored science and recommended or re-imposed foolish mask mandates and the like, numerous municipalities and organizations eager to bow to  or afraid to ignore  left-wing dictates, went along with the latest round of Wuhan Virus absurdities. Walmart, Target, Publix, Chick-fil-A, and the like have again forced the unsanitary and unhealthy face diapers upon their employees.

Apple has gone a step farther and is requiring customers in half of its stores  the ones in so-called "COVID hotspots" (apparently about half of Apple's stores)  to wear the useless face masks again. Some schools  especially those in Democrat-run hell-holes, I mean large U.S. cities  are again forcing kids into masks.

The school leadership making such decisions, along with the teacher unions, is the most foolish of all here. They are ignoring science and data on multiple fronts as the mask mandates, and perhaps even shutdowns, are re-imposed. Not only has science revealed the masks as largely useless to prevent the spread of the Wuhan Virus, but the data have long revealed children to be at very little to no risk from the Wuhan Virus. In addition, schools the world over have long proven to be insignificant spreaders of the Wuhan Virus.

The mask mandates are foolish and dangerous not only because of their ineffective and unhealthy outcomes but also because of the social and financial devastation that results. If widespread masking were really a necessary and effective means of stopping, or even slowing, the spread of the Wuhan Virus, there are countless human activities  as much of the past 18 months has well demonstrated  that simply cannot take place.

If we really need to wear masks, restaurants cannot be allowed to operate fully with indoor dining. Likewise with indoor gyms, bars, concerts, sporting events, movie theaters, churches, and the like. Thus, mask-wearing means that widespread lockdowns and shutdowns must occur. In other words, as ineffective as masks and lockdowns have been at stopping or slowing the spread of the Wuhan Virus, they have been just as effective at destroying lives and livelihoods.

At the end of 2020, we already knew that hundreds of thousands of U.S. small businesses were permanently shut down due to the lockdowns. More recent numbers indicate that this continued only into 2021. As the New York Post reported early last month:

The Biden administration recently projected that more than 400,000 small businesses have closed permanently, but that's likely a massive underestimate: Already by June 2020, the Hamilton Project had counted 400,000 closures. Opportunity Insights data, meanwhile, show that by the end of May 2021, there were 38.9 percent fewer small businesses open nationwide than at the outset of 2020. Small business forms the US economy's backbone, accounting for more than 99 percent of all business entities, and before 2020, around half of growth domestic product and jobs. And these businesses bore the brunt of lockdowns. The Alignable report found that 37 percent of small businesses couldn't pay their rent in full and on time.

There are many reasons to hate the masks, but this is perhaps the most important. For far too many of us, life simply can't go on as it's supposed to under mask mandates, and the results are devastating, particularly financially. Actress Scarlett Johansson provides a great example here. When she is political, Ms. Johansson is usually reliably left-wing  supporting the evil abortion industry and the perverse LGBT agenda. However, it seems she draws the line at leftist politics when it impacts her financial bottom line.

Ms. Johansson's recent hit film, Black Widow, will likely soon be the top-grossing U.S. film of the year so far, and at year's end, it will almost certainly be one of the highest-grossing films of 2021. However, it would have been even more of a financial hit if Disney had limited release of the film to theaters. It sounds as though Ms. Johansson thinks this was the agreement she had with Disney when she signed on to do the film.

Instead of a theatrical release only, Disney also made Black Widow available for streaming through Disney+ (for a $30 fee). Ms. Johansson is alleging breach of contract, and last week, she and her legal team filed a lawsuit. Allowing viewers to stream the movie significantly reduces film revenues and thus also reduces Ms. Johansson's overall compensation for starring in the film.

As is often the case with blockbuster films, the big-name stars who lend their talents to such films receive a portion of the revenues. According to Fox Business, Disney's move to simultaneously release Black Widow in theaters and on its streaming platform "reportedly has cost Johansson more than $50 million."

Fox Business also reports that "Disney released the movie on Disney+ because of the pandemic which caused theaters to limit in-person capacity." In response to Johansson's lawsuit, a Disney spokesman declared:

The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract and furthermore, the release of 'Black Widow' on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.

In other words, because many theaters across the U.S. remain in lockdown mode, Disney decided to allow streaming of the film, and it is "callous" for one to question such decisions. Lots of us who've questioned the lockdowns, the mask mandates, and the like have been called "callous" and worse. Yet, as the data well prove, the masks and lockdowns aren't saving lives as much as they are destroying them.

Whatever the outcome of her lawsuit, Ms. Johansson will (or should) be just fine financially and professionally. However, that is not the case for countless Americans. This is why masks and lockdowns must be opposed at every opportunity. Like Ms. Johansson, parents in Gwinnett County, Georgia are suing (and protesting) to stop the largest school district in Georgia from imposing a newly announced mask mandate. This needs to happen throughout America.

Wearing a mask isn't merely a polite, precautionary activity that is simply a slight inconvenience. The masks and corresponding lockdowns have wrought widespread devastation and should be opposed at most every turn. Good for you, Ms. Johansson! I hope more Americans follow your lead!

Trevor Grant Thomas: At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

www.trevorgrantthomas.com

Trevor is the author of The Miracle and Magnificence of America.

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Image via Pxfuel.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Given Santayana's warning to those who forget the past, there yet remains the problem of what to remember. Events during the summer of 1932 have frequently been remembered to promote some political cause. What follows is an outline of the incontrovertible facts that create their own perspective.

The context for these events begins with the demobilization of the WWI veterans and the problems of their re-integration into civilian society. In 1924, Congress overrode the veto of President Coolidge to enact the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, which included an insurance policy that could be redeemed for cash in 1945. President Coolidge had argued that existing programs were adequate to help the dependents of killed or disabled veterans and that the act would inevitably lead to a balloon payment in 1945, the effects of which could not be predicted in 1924. When the Depression hit, demands grew to pay the veterans immediately.

In May of 1932, about 300 veterans, led by Walter W. Waters, entered the yard of the Union Pacific Railroad in Portland, Oregon; refused to leave until they were allowed to ride in empty boxcars; and started on their way to Washington, D.C. to "lobby" for the immediate payment of their "bonuses." The news media began to follow their journey. This attention prompted local authorities and veterans' groups to help with their transportation, and by the end of May, they were on the outskirts of Washington. News coverage also inspired other veterans to join their march. Waters estimated that over 20,000 veterans, some with their wives and children, appeared within the next two weeks. Pelham Glassford, the district's chief of police, and President Hoover co-operated in accommodating the veterans by raising charitable contributions to set up their camps and kitchens. The Veterans Administration, recently organized by President Hoover, set up a field hospital for this "Bonus Army." Although some squatted in unoccupied buildings, the largest group lived on the Anacostia Flats in two camps. A large camp formed on wetlands reclaimed by the Army Corps of Engineers as a public park and was called Camp Marks after the police officer who patrolled it. A smaller one, Camp Bartlett, was on higher ground and named after the owner of the land who allowed the veterans to use it. Anacostia Park now includes both sites.

In 1932, Leon Trotsky still had eight years to live. The Workers' Ex-Servicemen League, a communist front, infiltrated the protesters, and the N.Y. Times (6/7/1932, p. 3) reported that the veterans purged those communists they could identify. The communists set up a rival camp at 14th and D streets in southwest Washington.

Initially, fortune favored the veterans. They organized a well-received parade and successfully lobbied the House to pass a bill for immediate payment of the bonus. On June 17, 1932, about 8,000 members of the Bonus Army gathered outside the Capitol as the Senate debated. The Capitol Police came armed with rifles. When Waters told the veterans that the Senate had rejected the bill, they sang "America" and returned to their camps. There was no violence.

Congress authorized the V.A. to pay travel expenses and a daily subsistence to veterans who chose to go home, and thousands did. But thousands also remained in camps scattered across Washington. Waters said he would stay until 1945 if necessary. On the morning of July 28, 1932, the Capitol Police, six days after giving notice, attempted to remove the veterans squatting in condemned buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue. Some left quietly, but others hurled bricks and rocks, hitting Glassford in the chest. In the ensuing violence, two veterans were killed, and several police officers were seriously injured. By late afternoon, the Army, led by Gen. MacArthur and his aide Maj. Eisenhower, mobilized infantry and cavalry on the Ellipse; the latter unit, commanded by Maj. Patton, included five tanks. As the Army rolled through the camps, some fleeing veterans set fires, and the troops completed the eradication as they went. The Army crossed the Anacostia River around 9:00 P.M. to disperse the veterans and their families from Camp Marks; Camp Bartlett, on private property, was untouched. Many evacuees followed the government's plan and trekked to the Maryland line, where National Guard trucks carried them into Pennsylvania.

There were no serious injuries after the Army was called in. Immediately after Camp Marks was cleared, MacArthur held a press conference. The New York Times (7/29/1932, p.3) reported MacArthur's comments as follows: "At the first point of attack, on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the foot of the Capitol, the mob was a bad-looking one. It was one marked by signs of revolution." Later in the article, the veterans are referred to as "insurrectionists."

The aftermath generated many conflicting versions of events. President Hoover said he had ordered MacArthur not to cross the bridge to the Anacostia Flats. MacArthur denied receiving any such order.

Maj. Eisenhower defended MacArthur, but President Eisenhower repudiated him. After the violence, Waters dissociated himself from any further protest and returned to Oregon.

But 1932 was an election year, and as the Washington Post wrote in 2017:

Newsreels showed the military with tanks, routing unarmed veterans. To many, the action confirmed a view of Hoover as coldhearted and detached from reality. Reading a New York Times account, Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt told his aide, future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, "Well, Felix, this will elect me."

Together with the Great Depression, it did. The new Congress eventually passed the bill to pay the veterans their bonuses forthwith, and President Roosevelt vetoed it. He reasoned that the bill was no longer needed because the recently created Civilian Conservation Corps would give jobs to all these veterans. Congress overrode Roosevelt's veto, and by June 30, 1937, the V.A. had certified 3.5 million WWI veterans as eligible.

The most bizarre contribution to this saga came from Hollywood. The genesis of Gabriel over the White House, loosely based on the Bonus Army, is amazing. A novel by that name was written during the summer of 1932 by T.F. Tweed, a close adviser of the British politician David Lloyd George, prime minister during WWI. The novel was published in February 1933 and immediately made into a movie through a production company within MGM by Willam Randolph Hearst with the intent of having its premiere coincide with Roosevelt's inauguration in March 1933. Its message is simple: a president who loves the American people should be given complete control of the United States. Hearst and George were old friends, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they collaborated for a political end; certainly, all Americans would feel that Roosevelt loved them, and the rest follows by syllogism.

The media remember the Bonus Army when they want Americans to associate a sitting president with President Hoover, whom they have placed as only slightly less vilified than Hitler. Thus, the Washington Post wrote an article in 2017 (republished in 2020), and PBS released a documentary in August 2006 in time for the midterm elections. But the facts suggest that the themes of Russian interference and British meddling approach a tradition in American politics.

Frank A. Greco is a physician practicing medicine in Massachusetts.

Image via Pexels.

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"Terrorism from White Supremacy is the most lethal threat to the Homeland today, not ISIS, not al-Qaeda." On June 1, 2021, President Biden personally told the world about the danger these white terrorists pose to America.

However, putting Biden's fear-mongering in historical context reveals a very different future for this alleged white insurgency. Between the colonization of Hispaniola in 1492 and Kuwait in 1899, "white people" conquered nearly 90 percent of Earth's land area, some 52 million square miles (excluding Antarctica). The subsequent displacement and decimation of native peoples, as well as a mortal competition for power between the various "white" nations, shook the whole world. The endless global conflicts, oppression, and extermination must have provoked cries of "white terror" in countless languages.

In 1914, "whites" began their final struggle to acquire new turf. By 1945, 28 million young whites had fallen on the battlefield. In addition, 40 million more died in holocausts, gulags, bombings, expulsions, and nuclear fallout.

The ten million whites who fell in the First World War were, demographically speaking, petty cash. This "war to end all wars" was especially devastating to France, where low birth rates resulted in countless families dying out in the paternal line as only their sons perished in the trenches.

As late as 1914, out of 1,000 men of prime fighting age (1529), at least 360 were "white." Of the world's population, they represented only 32 percent. But, beginning in the 15th century, the elimination of birth control in Europe created extreme fertility that greatly inflated the "white" share of the world's youth.

Therefore, "whites" had nothing to fear except other "whites." In their wars with each other, they used the best weapons, which came from corporations that had to constantly supply more lethal material in order to survive the competition. All this was about to change, however. Japan's sinking of the Russian fleet in 1905 signaled that quite different talents were striving to enter the scene. A good century later, in 2020, eight of the ten companies with most PCT patents would be located in East Asia.

What does the future hold for the once all-powerful whites? Between 2021 and 2035, for every 1,000 young men (ages 1529), there will no longer be 360, but only 90 living in "white" territories. Their share of global population has fallen to only 13 percent, but their low birth rates are pushing the youthful segments of their population far below that. However, when racial and ethnic minorities are deducted from the census of "white nations," only 60 of their 90 young men remain. For example, among 31 million U.S. boys under 15, there are only 16 million "whites." Against their 80 million peers in the Caribbean and Latin America, along with 15 million Hispanics and Blacks at home, they trail by 1:6.

In Europe, with migrant shares of up to 40 percent (Germany), "whites" are found in only slightly larger numbers than in North America. In 2020, the European Union has  in addition to 10 million newcomers resulting from immigration  only 25 million indigenous sons under the age of 15. Africa and the Arab world, on the opposite coast, are thirteen times stronger in the same demographic segment, with 325 million.

"Whites" thus now account for only 60 of a global 1,000 offspring  one sixth their 1914 share. As their sons grow up as only boys or children, pacifism becomes the norm. Their U.S. component  71 percent of whom are unfit for the military  belongs to the oldest ethnic group with an average age of 44.

It is this aging, shrinking, increasingly passive segment of America's and the world's population that an ill-advised Joe Biden now warns us is actually a terrible danger to the nation and the globe.

Gunnar Heinsohn (*1943, heinsohn-gunnar.eu) headed Europe's first institute for genocide research at the University of Bremen from 1993 to 2009. At the NATO Defense College (NDC) in Rome, he launched war demography in 2011 and taught it until 2020.

Image: stevepb via Pixabay, Pixabay license.

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An alarmist philippic in USA Today against nonexistent armed white militias in Vermont exhibits the hallmark hypocrisy  and toxicity  of social justice warriors who sow division using dehumanizing and alarmist stereotypes. Rather than resolve conflict, such dishonesty and poor character serve a narcissistic self-righteousness that perpetually searches out others' victimhood to weaponize for personal advancement.

Author Michael Shank claims his "Masters and PhD degrees studied how societies not only thrive but peacefully coexist (a study needed more than ever)" and that he "believe[s] in building partnerships irrespective of political labels." Mr. Shank graciously "love[s] a good conversation with the other side of any debate, especially if it's well-reasoned."

Instead, the fulminating doctor rails about gun-toting "white" neighbors and the suffering of black people and asserts that right-wing extremism is rampant in the Green Mountain State. Shank then gives the shaft to his neighbors:

I'm selling my farm this summer, in fact, because the assault-weaponed bullies are winning on my road[.] ... Armed militias do well here. Not only does Vermont's Department of Public Safety fail to crack down on armed white extremists, due in part to lax local laws, the State Police discriminate against the people of color running from those very extremists. I'm not making this up.

Yes, he is. As I have detailed here, the statistics upon which he slanders Vermont's police are a scandalous fraud, recklessly increasing crime and demoralizing good officers.

Dr. Shank's claims in USA Today were simply false and absurd. He elsewhere touts his academic degrees as "focused on climate conflict." This may explain his ability to brew a vituperative tempest of condemnation against the wonderful (mostly liberal) people of Vermont, based on a single New Yorker who relocated to Vermont and opened a shooting range.

The melodramatic doctor dishonestly claims that the so-called "armed white extremists" won and have taken over. In another unneighborly rant in which he demanded that government arrest his neighbors ("Neighborly Talk Useless"), he claimed:

I'm sharing this not because I need to be right or have the record show anything. I'm leaving Brandon, as I've already announced. The assault weapons and explosives  and their users  already won this debate.

Yet the landowners against whom he has complained have been shut down, fined $46,603, forced to tear down all buildings and face additional fines for contempt.

Dr. Shank plays the victim (even invoking black victimhood) to attack an entire state and culture:

I'm on a short leash with this state and give it a few more years to restrain its armed white extremists or I'm gone[.] ... America's armed extremists are that armed, they're that mobilized, and they're in need of rehabilitation and reintegration back into society[.] ... This is war, and we are refugees fleeing violent, extreme and often racist non-state actors. It's time we take this fight seriously and draw the line because they are winning.

Perhaps the "climate conflict" training shaped the doctor's volcanic drama, but Vermont is the second-safest place in America and the bluest. Doctor "Conflict Resolution" wants to "reintegrate and rehabilitate" white people who own guns in blue Vermont after closing down one of its few public shooting ranges. Oh, the victimhood!

The irony of Dr. Shank demanding increased police protection in safe, rural Vermont is magnified by his previous call to prohibit police from having

surplus military grade weaponry, which ... is flowing from battlefields to our local police forces[.] ... Mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, tanks, drones, grenades and assault weapons should not replace the community policing of our Main Streets[.] ... Aggressive military-type action is quickly turning Americans against fellow citizens who they are ostensibly there to serve and protect.

But then his neighbor had a shooting range, so now all of Vermont is "armed militias," and actorly Shank the victim  of police inaction!

Similar inconsistency is found in Shank's call for white men not to run for Vermont U.S. Senate:

To all the older white men potentially queuing for the 2022 election for U.S. Senate to represent Vermont, please step aside. Speaking as a white man to the handful of you who might run, I urge you to make space[.] ... And as we work to dismantle pervasive systemic racism in this state, what a powerful message it'd serve to send a person of color to Congress, given that Vermont has never that done that either[.] ... Contrast that with what message could be sent by sending a woman, a transgender or gender nonconforming person, and/or person of color to the U.S. Senate.

Shank might drool venom if a conservative black woman ran for U.S. Senate in Vermont  perhaps then genitalia would not constitute his highest qualification for public office (if he were consistent in his inconsistency). But Dr. Kumbaya had no problem with enlightened white men (himself) running for office, claiming:

My work in more than 30 countries has primarily focused on preventing and reducing conflict and violence. When tackling societal issues, I think creatively about how can we all work together to problem solve them. That's my training.

That's right  inclusivity. Only the ideology of social justice warriors like Shank (who is flipping his massive 2,317-sq.ft.house for a hefty $450,000 while decrying inequality) is anything but inclusive. No surprise he only got 2.8% of the vote.

Attacking Vermonters as deplorables using alarmist falsehoods is exactly why the peace warrior Dr. Shank must relocate  his actions belie his rhetoric. His true "conflict" appears almost internal  like a form of delusional political schizophrenia of the id. Perhaps the conflicted doctor will find peace in his relocation...until Mr. Hyde again vents vitriol on his neighbors for being white, or being male, or owning guns, or having money, or...

That's the problem with social justice warriors: there is no end to the injustices they conjure with which to inflict exponentially more injustices. It becomes difficult for them to be rehabilitated or reintegrated into society.

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The Disney company is no longer an America-friendly company. It is, instead, a leftist agendafriendly company. It made this clear once again when it installed Biden's animatronic figure in its famed Hall of Presidents in Disney World. Installing Biden's figure is unexceptional because Disney has done this for every president since 1971. What shows Disney's politics is the fact that it moved Trump's animatronic figure to a back corner with early 19th-century presidents. And, just as it's done with other "disfavored" Republican presidents, it's excluded him from its video highlight reel.

Here's one Democrat gloating about the righteousness of Trump's displacement:

Disney moved tfg to the very back and dark row at the Hall of Presidents.  pic.twitter.com/xGV8YT97C9  JillianResists  (@Jillian1008) August 3, 2021

Additionally, the Disney highlight reel of modern American presidents not only conspicuously stopped with Obama but also managed to exclude a few other Republicans:

Perhaps more glaring in Disney's presentation is Trump's conspicuous absence in a highlight reel of recent presidents that plays before the animatronic figures are displayed for the audience. The video features video clips of every president since Dwight Eisenhower, except for Trump, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. One could argue Trump's presidency did not have a memorable moment or speech worthy of inclusion, but the montage pulled a quick line from Bill Clinton's Oklahoma City bombing eulogy, which isn't quite on the level of notoriety of Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" line or George W. Bush's speech in the aftermath of 9/11.

It says something about the quality of journalism today  or the reporter's deep hatred for Reagan  that he used the word "notoriety" to describe Reagan's "tear down this wall" line. Dictionary.com accurately defines "notoriety" as the state of being "notorious," with the latter word meaning "unfavorably" known. Considering that Reagan's "notorious" line helped bring freedom to millions the world over, only an ignoramus or a leftist would describe it that way.

When it comes to Joe Biden's animatronic figure, I am reminded of Dorothy Parker's famously cutting question when she heard that Calvin Coolidge (one of America's greatest presidents but hated by America's 1920's progressives) had died. "How can they tell?" she asked.

Watching the video of Joe Biden's Disney animatron in motion, it definitely captures Biden's creepy vibe. Really, the only thing that distinguishes it from the original is that it has a touch more dignity, perhaps. Still, it certainly provided fodder for Twitter wits, who found a few inspiring words to put in Animatron Joe Biden's mouth:

I must say, the new Biden animatronic at the Disney Hall of Presidents incredibly realistic... #biden #disney #roaches pic.twitter.com/gNMkGx0L7x  D.C. Baker (@dcbakerstudios) August 4, 2021

Disney has raked in money for decades because it appealed to everybody. Certainly, under the aegis of both Walt and Roy Disney, its management truly loved America and American values.

Of late, though, Disney's management's hard leftism means that it's forgotten Michael Jordan's wise words in 1990 when he was asked to make public statements about a North Carolina Senate race. Although Jordan later said he had donated to the Democrat candidate, when it came to publicly choosing sides, he remarked, "Republicans buy sneakers, too." Apparently said in jest, those were nonetheless wise words for anyone who hopes to maximize market opportunities in America.

I've looked at Disney's actions over the past few years, everything from pushing the LGBT agenda onto children to playing kissy-face with the brutal Chinese Communist Party, and I've concluded that I never again want anything to do with the company, including visiting the theme parks I once so enjoyed.

Image: Animatronic Joe Biden. YouTube screen grab.

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The chaos at the border has risen to "disaster" levels in McAllen, Texas, where COVID-infected migrants are pouring in and the city can't stop them. So much for Kamala Harris's migration "root cause" solution, with her visits to showcase schools in Guatemala. And so much for Joe Biden doing his job as president, as Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis noted yesterday.

According to Border Report:

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report)  The South Texas border city of McAllen this week put up several tents to house an overflow of migrants with COVID-19 who have been released by federal authorities and have nowhere else to go. But the new tents drew such outcry from residents that late Wednesday city officials announced the facility was being moved. Overnight Wednesday, six tents had been put up with a capacity to hold 260 migrants, McAllen City Manager Roel Roy Rodriguez told Border Report.

How many? According to Fox News:

According to the city of McAllen, since mid-February of 2021, there have been over 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 positive immigrants released into the City of McAllen by CBP, including over 1,500 new cases in the past seven days.

And according to Breitbart News:

On Fridays broadcast of the Fox News Channels Americas Newsroom, McAllen, TX Mayor Javier Villalobos (R) stated that the migrant situation is getting horrible, hotels are filling up, and migrants cant be held in one place unless they want to be. Villalobos said the situation is getting horrible, and we do need some help.

There's more, according to Texas news outlet Valley Central:

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez told ValleyCentral in a previous interview that there is a nursing shortage and keeping up with COVID-19 hospitalization of residents has not been easy. In addition, the influx in asylum seekers testing positive for COVID-19 is also tipping the scale. But now were seeing that theyre coming in with a high infection for COVID, and theres no room for them anymore, said Cortez. Cortez also told ValleyCentral the infection rate for migrants rose to a shocking 16%, doubling the numbers from last time.

It looks like this:

On Monday, we watched Border Patrol drop off bus loads of migrants in downtown McAllen all day long. Every 30 minutes. Hundreds released in front of us. https://t.co/G4ENHuX7sJ  Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 4, 2021

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley says it cannot keep up with the intake and has had to turn people away. They've asked the Border Patrol to stop sending them migrants yet the buses are still coming. Sister Norma Pimentel, who runs the place, says her Humanitarian Respite Center has already taken in 1,100 uninfected migrants, and are housing another 1,000 infected migrants in hotels around the Rio Grande Valley:

Pimentel told Border Report that on Monday afternoon there were 1,100 migrants at the Respite Center when it closed its doors to new arrivals. She said there are about 1,000 migrants who are currently isolated in eight to 10 area hotels within a 40-mile distance in the Rio Grande Valley and include locations in Weslaco, Edinburg, Mission and La Joya.MM

Which is quite an emergency, and quite newsworthy, given that maskless COVID-infected illegals have been caught walking around McAllen, coughing and sneezing on locals in at least one restaurant despite having NGO-provided food at their hotel. Pimentel, without apology to the community, says that the situation "has been corrected." While that's probably true that there's a security guard around, assuming they could find one to hire, it's also unknown if that's now the case, given the lack of news followups.

As to whether this is an efficient operation, with infected migrants neatly separated from uninfected ones, in these triage "disaster" conditions, that's an open question, too, and there have been scattered reports of infected illegals fanning out around the country to spread COVID.

As for Biden himself, he ought to recognize the disaster, if for nothing else his party's political prospects, but he doesn't. The McAllen citizens for the first time in decades elected a Republican mayor. They went 58-40 for Biden in the 2020 election. And yes, they are virtually all Latino.

Four very bad responses to the matter are evident from the Biden administration instead:

One, they've refused to shut the border, despite the COVID surging on in along with the illegal aliens. They're not even heeding the still-in-place Title 42, which permits the feds to send back illegal border crossers on COVID concerns.

Two, they've refused to declare an emergency, so that federal disaster funds can be released. The McAllen 'disaster' declaration, complete with FEMA-style tents, is local.

Three, they've covered up the migrant surge itself, as I wrote here, literally lying about how bad it is to people on the outside.

Four, they've refused to give information to communities, not just in McAllen, but all across the country where migrants are secretly being bused and flown in.

Five, they've ignored even Democrat leaders who've asked for "a pause," such as is seen in this report from Independent News:

Both [Hidalgo County Judge Richard] Cortez and McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos said they have not heard a single word from anyone in the Biden administration. Cortez, like Democratic Congressman Henry Cueller, has called on the Biden administration to pause its open border policy. Neither have received a response.

If that's not an impeachable dereliction of duty of the president of the United States, to protect the country, and faithfully uphold its laws -- what is? He doesn't even respect Democrats on this, let alone the country. He's hellbent on having an open border and that's a crime against U.S. sovereignty.

Image: Twitter screen shot

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The Texas legislators on a mission in Washington are once again in the news for something that has nothing to do with voting rights. This is from Texas Scoreboard and was also on the metro section of the Dallas Morning News. The two legislators are Reps. Julie Johnson (Carrollton) and Jessica Gonzalez (Dallas):

Requests for comment to both the offices of Johnson and Gonzales thus far received no response. If some Democrat House members have indeed fled for Europe, it would be the latest in a series of high-profile missteps since they left for D.C. on July 12. Since departing for the trip with a case of Miller Lite in tow, several members have contracted COVID-19, and Dallas Democrats solicited care packages of soda and candy to send to their runaway House members. In all of their time in D.C., the lawmakers have still failed to secure a meeting with President Joe Biden, let alone influence the U.S. Senate to take up and consider legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives called the For the People Act -- reforming elections at the federal level. Though Democrats have not signaled an imminent plan for return, Speaker Phelan and the House have for weeks failed to take any meaningful action to compel their attendance -- including stripping committee chairmanships from Democrats and fining them for their absence.

Again, Portugal is such a nice place to visit any time of the year, not just April, like the famous tune. And "Lisboa Antigua" was one of my mother's favorite songs. Walking in Lisbon and enjoying a sidewalk cafe is just what a legislator on a mission to save our voting rights should be doing.

Last, but not least, did the ladies tell the immigration authorities in Portugal that they were hanging around with a group of people infected with COVID?

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: Deensl.

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The U.S. Navy's leadership has drawn a lot of criticism for its wokester focus as its mission goes fallow.

Now we're seeing this report:

Just before a fire started on a warship that burned for nearly five days in San Diego last summer, a witness told investigators he saw a fellow sailor  known to his leadership for showing disdain toward the Navy  walking to the spot where the blaze first ignited. Ryan Sawyer Mays, a 20-year-old from Kentucky, carried a metal bucket into the vessels lower storage area, according to new court documents identifying him as the person accused of destroying the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard. Navy officials announced last week that a sailor had been charged with aggravated arson and willful hazarding of a vessel in connection to the July 2020 fire, but they did not publicly identify the suspect. Mays is not only accused of intentionally setting the blaze, but also of tampering with fire-safety equipment on the ship and crime-scene evidence in an attempt to hinder the federal investigation, according to documents filed in the Southern California U.S. District Court and unsealed Tuesday.

The 2020 destruction of the Bonhomme Richard, if you can recall it, was a monster loss for the Navy. I'm here in San Diego and have relatives who were stationed on that ship, and they said it was bad. It happened at a particularly vulnerable time, during a holiday where there were few people around. Once it got started, it was impossible to put out, and the whole ship had to be taken out of service and possibly scrapped, leaving a huge hole in U.S. naval capabilities, which can't be replaced for at least three years. And it will cost $3 billion to restore the ship.

Two things spring to mind, aside from the fact that they didn't have adequate security over a long holiday:

One, why they weren't able to get rid of this guy, or at least get him off the ship? Based on the news reports, he was an angry loser who failed his SEAL tryouts who responded not by being better and trying again, but by hating the Navy. Who needs the Red Chinese when the Navy harbors people like this?

Two, whether the wokester culture at the top of the Navy's leadership has prompted this kind of disrespect for authority. I can't tell whether this low-level sailor was a leftist or not, but it's possible it doesn't matter. The disrespect for the command structure, the flag, U.S. history, and the constant focus on race seems to be a ready-made formula for rebellion and mutiny.

It's very early and these are just my initial thoughts. New issues or different facts may emerge, as the story is very fresh.

It's shocking to think that a strategic loss of this magnitude could be achieved by a little creep unhappy at his assignment in the Navy. If this is the case, though, and he is found guilty of this awful deed, then it's obvious there needs to be a shakeup at the top and its entire wokester culture that could make this person think his private wants allow him to take down the Navy. Wokesterism doesn't take long to morph into full-blown disrespect for authority.

Image: U.S. Navy, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0

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Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aggressively rejected the call of the World Health Organization (WHO) for a fresh investigation into the deadly global virus. But a closer look raises more questions and serious problems for the CCP.

Anyone who watches the television series Forensic Files knows that the criminal hides his crimes in order to escape punishment. Such actions as hammering phones, destroying emails, scrubbing the online archives, and forcing medical experts to change or delete publications all make cover-ups possible. But, as in TV, the criminal leaves a trail, and any determined reporter can uncover the tailings.

Unfortunately, too many reporters are lazy or are just following the hand-fed press releases, repeating the narrative dictated to them. Here is a disturbing case in point. It is a story of international intrigue and a global plot to divide the forces of freedom versus the overlords of captive peoples.

Brazil

A little footnote in a press account of a spat between two political rivals in Brazil raises a twofold flag. Joao Doria, the Brazilian governor of the state of Sao Paulo, is a potential opponent of the populist Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

The governor wanted to embarrass the president and appear as if he were taking action to defend his state from the Wuhan Virus. On the other hand, the president did not want to blindly risk the health of his nation's citizens to the circumspect and dubious actions of the Chinese communists.

In this fight, the Chinese communists saw an opening to divide support for the popular president. After all, President Bolsonaro is no fan of the communists in China. In an attempt to add fuel to the fire, China offered its vaccine to Governor Doria.

This offer reveals two things. It raises the question of how China had a COVID vaccine in a timeframe all pundits said was impossible, but it also shows China's use of the virus and vaccine to ingrain their influence in other nations  something to which the U.S. should not turn a blind eye.

What might a sleuth pull from all these actions by China?

Upon further investigation, it turns out that CNN reported in the summer of 2020 that the Chinese were constructing a massive building to produce the vaccine. In the same general timeframe, the Chinese were giving the vaccine to their own citizens. The timing here pulls apart much of the drummed-up narrative hoisted upon the world by communist China. Hard evidence of timing is not fudgeable.

America

Most of us Americans lived through the tortuous election of 2020 and can remember the calls and mockery by renowned medical experts denouncing as lies President Trump's claims that the vaccine would be developed by the end of the year.

But President Trump tore apart the rule book. He cut red tape and lavished billions of dollars on free enterprise. He called for a new way to make vaccines. The political class and the "science experts" saw his efforts as laughable and outrageously ignorant.

The bellicose critics continued their loud opposition. Indeed, in 2020, candidate Biden promised that he would not take the vaccine because of its association with Donald Trump. And "expert" Dr. Fauci said there was no way we'd have a vaccine in 2020  that, at the earliest, it wouldn't be developed until 2021.

China

As Biden's spokesman says, "let us circle back" to China and do simple calculations. A reporter can ask any scientist or medical expert if the vaccine could be made in weeks or days. Still, to this day  it's clear.

The world did not have the skills or the knowledge to speed the development of the vaccine. Even with President Trump's Warp Speed initiative, it would take the better part of a year, billions of dollars, and a network of global scientists to make the vaccines. Everyone said it was an impossible task to do quickly. The task was like the Manhattan Project. More importantly, the Chinese chose to use the longer traditional method of making the vaccine.

That brings us to the timing and math. How did China possibly research, develop, and produce a vaccine in less than 23 months?

The sale to Brazil was in July 2020, just 1020 weeks after the CCP said the virus was found. China was administering the vaccine to its citizens in the summer of 2020, just a few months after the CCP's declaration that they had the virus.

This timing presents a conundrum raising many disturbing questions. Who made the Chinese vaccine? When exactly was it developed? And, most importantly, why? But there are no reporters investigating this miracle.

Given most experts' estimates, the Chinese vaccine would have had to be under development by 2019, 2018, or even earlier.

It appears that the vaccine was made months before the virus was set loose on the world, calling into question the Chinese narrative and pointing directly at a deliberate release of the virus  a weaponization  germ warfare.

This also exonerates the much-maligned and courageous whistleblower, Chinese virologist Li-Meng Yan, who all along said it was the Chinese military who developed, released, and spread the virus. Most reporters, let alone the World Health Organization, will not ask the hard questions, including, how did the communist Chinese have the vaccine before the virus was released?

Any claim that the vaccine was made in days or weeks is absolutely impossible according to the experts, who in 2020 said vaccine development would take 210 years. Thus, leftists are left with the dilemma: do they continue embracing "experts" who say a lengthy development time is required, or do they acknowledge that China was developing the virus and vaccine at the same time long before the virus was ever released?

This timing points directly to the weaponization of the virus by the CCP.

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The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. But while many Americans once fought bravely to eliminate discrimination, today many Americans are fighting to reinstitute the vile, immoral practice  only this time against the unvaccinated.

The unvaxxed are the new blacks. As a matter of fact, many of the unvaxxed also happen to be blacks. The Kansas City mayor, Quinton Lucas, recently admitted as much in an interview with Face the Nation on CBS. Lucas, a black man, said, "Young men of color is a place where we have incredible weakness right now."

Prior to 1964, blacks were prohibited from dining in white-only establishments. Beginning the week of Sept. 13, unvaccinated blacks will be prohibited once again from dining in any establishment in New York City. NYC mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement on Tuesday morning. "If you're unvaccinated," de Blasio said, "unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things."

Blacks were largely excluded from society before 1964. If they don't get vaccinated, they'll be excluded once again. De Blasio said, "If you want to participate in our society fully, you've got to get vaccinated. It's time."

This isn't a surprise to me. I predicted this back in June on my podcast, which I titled "Unvaccinated Americans and the Civil Rights Movement of Our Time." But in 2021, the immoral practice of discrimination and segregation isn't exclusive to blacks but extends to every American who refuses to get the jab.

Whether the discrimination is race-based or vaccination-based is irrelevant  it is discrimination nonetheless and just as outrageous. Unfortunately, many Americans  both Republican and Democrat  are all too eager to defend the legal reinstatement of discrimination in America.

Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, recently came out in defense of vaccine-based discrimination. She said, "Workers whose employers are mandating a vaccine for continued employment have the power to say no. Our robust economy and job market gives them the option to find a new employer that values personal choice and responsibility, and doesn't force mandates on their employees."

Sure, Kristi. And blacks pre-1964 had the option to drink from black-only water fountains. It's not a choice when you are forced to do something, Kristi. Blacks didn't have a choice prior to 1964, and the unvaccinated don't have a choice in 2021 when they're prohibited from working or prohibited from dining because they choose not to get vaccinated.

Kristi Noem sounds like John Kerry, who defended the Biden administration's assault on our oil and gas industry. Kerry suggested that if Americans lose their jobs as a consequence of the Biden administration's environmental policies, those men and women can simply find new jobs. Kerry said, "What President Biden wants to do is make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, that they can be the people to go to work to make the solar panels." John, it's not an alternative if there's no choice.

Like Kerry, Noem offers no sympathy for the afflicted and affected by vaccine-based discrimination. Instead, she suggests these Americans simply adapt to their new reality. Kerry says get a new job making solar panels as a consequence of the government eliminating your job. Noem says to find a new employer as a consequence of the government encouraging employers to stop hiring the unvaccinated.

The counter-argument is that individuals can choose to get vaccinated, while they can't choose the color of their skin. The other counter-argument is that getting vaccinated is about protecting other people.

But this is simply another anti-American argument that presupposes that the citizen is guilty until proven innocent; the unvaccinated is sick until proven healthy. It's not only irrational  and rejects the increasingly common occurrence of breakthrough cases among the already vaccinated  but shifts the burden of guilt from the virus to the individual.

It's the role of neither the government nor the business owner to coerce the American citizen into making personal health decisions to protect either the employee or the patron from potential illness. Per the CDC, 45 million Americans got sick from the flu in 20172018, and 61,000 Americans died. We didn't mandate flu shots to protect every American. We accepted the known risk. So too must we accept the existence and risk of COVID-19.

Nor do we prohibit transportation  whether by plane, train, or automobile on the basis that the journey could result in injury. The individual accepts the risk  both when he chooses to travel and when he chooses to congregate with other people.

Mandating vaccination to enjoy the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is not only unconstitutional but immoral. Making it lawful doesn't make it moral. We could reinstitute slavery and race-based discrimination tomorrow by way of the law, but it too would be immoral.

Those who are fearful of getting sick are free to hide at home, just as those who wish to sleep in their face diapers are free to do so. But anyone compelled to get vaccinated is not free. Those who demand vaccination are tyrants and cowards. And many of those being coerced into getting vaccinated happen to be black.

Drew Allen is the host of the Drew Allen Show podcast. He is a Texas-bred, California-based and Millennial author, columnist, and political analyst. His work can be read and seen and heard at drewthomasallen.com.

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As the Biden administration continues to peel away the accomplishments of his predecessor, what I hear most from family, friends, and social media posters is a fear that Democrats have become power-mad with their recent ascendancy to a majority position in the House and Senate. They wonder if the current crop of radical officials is hell-bent on weakening, and ultimately destroying, the country that gave them those positions. Beginning with reversing President Trump's southern border policies, which has led to an invasion of illegal aliens unprecedented in our history, to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline, taking away our energy independence, and several other policy changes that adversely affect our safety and our economy, one has to suspect the motives of those in charge.

The wisdom of Occam's Razor seems to apply in this context. Watching our country being led by folks who appear to be more concerned with getting revenge on Trump than with solving the problems facing this great republic meets the requirement of O.R.  that the simplest explanation is usually the best one. How can Americans come to any other conclusion when almost daily we hear another swipe at the former chief executive by one of Biden's Cabinet members, or someone on his staff, each time an additional Trump achievement is overturned? Moreover, as we watch in horror as potentially millions of migrants from all over the world walk casually into our country, Democrats will look us in the face and say things are getting better.

It reminds me of the comment by Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan as sections of her city were being looted and burned. When asked by a CNN anchor how long she thinks the mayhem will continue, the left-wing troglodyte smirked and said, "I don't know. We could have a summer of love." This is an example of the perverted mentality that has no concern for the innocent residents of a city under siege by criminals who have no fear of local authorities. While people are being beaten and killed on city streets, the people elected to protect them were calling for the defunding of police and the hiring of social workers to enforce the law.

Every time we think the delusional left can't get any crazier, these people come up with more abysmal notions that defy common sense and imperil more lives. How about telling us how imperative it is for us to get vaccinated, wear masks, and engage in social distancing while they invite hundreds of thousands of untested migrants into our country and transport them to cities from coast to coast? Does it take a conspiracy theorist to suggest that Democrats are distributing the virus throughout our country in order to keep us infected and locked down? How else can the Biden administration explain why they are suing Texas to block Governor Abbott's executive order that allows state troopers to stop vehicles suspected of carrying illegal aliens because they may be spreading COVID-19?

Keep in mind that Texas is among the reddest states in the union, and Abbott is one of the most severe critics of Biden's handling of the southern invasion. Biden wasted no time in stopping the construction of the border wall, another attempt to destroy a Trump campaign pledge. It's become evident that Democrats have hatched a plot to create a constitutional crisis between the federal and state governments, but only against those states that didn't vote for Biden. Has vengeance become the driving force behind every tactic employed by Democrats? Has political rivalry reached a stage in which the winning parties are hell-bent on destroying their opponents?

In the middle of all this political hostility, the American people are captively watching a vindictive ping-pong match among the power elite who seem to have relegated us to insignificant victims of collateral damage. Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas, 21st District) said it best on the floor of the House a few days ago: "The speaker says we must wear masks in the people's house, while we've got thousands of people pouring across our border, many of them heavily infected with COVID, and Democrats don't do a damn thing about it! Mexican cartels are raping, pillaging, and transporting infected migrants into our country, and what does this institution do? Tell us to wear masks in this chamber."

The congressman is expressing more than outrage. He, like millions of other Americans, is wondering out loud what the heck is going on in this country. It's clear that we're not being governed according to constitutional principles; we're being ruled by a despotic gang of venal socialist thugs who plan to hold onto their power in perpetuity, even if it means using the increasingly left-wing-indoctrinated military to accomplish their nefarious goals.

Image: Chris Dodds via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Before the discovery of the diamond mines in Brazil and South Africa in the early 18th century, India was the sole supplier of the worlds diamonds, and much of its diamonds were mined in a small geographic area called Golconda in the present-day states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Located not far from Hyderabad, Golconda with its elaborate fort was the early capital city of the Qutb Shahi dynasty established in the early 16th century. Because of the presence of diamonds in the area, Golconda established itself as a diamond trading center and until the end of the 19th century, the Golconda market was the primary source of the finest and largest diamonds in the world. Golconda came to be synonymous with great wealth, and the name is still spoken with reverence among diamond traders and collectors.

Queen Victoria wearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond in a brooch, by German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

Golcondas diamonds were known to Europeans since the time of Marco Polo. The French gem merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, was one of the few foreigners who travelled extensively across the land, visiting gem mines and their kings. In an account of his voyages, he explained how Indias diamond deposits were extensive, with stones found in present-day Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bengal, Bundelkhand to name a few.

On his journey, Tavernier was permitted to examine the Great Mogul Diamond, a colossal gem shaped like half of an egg and named after Shah Akbar, the third of Indias Mogul emperors. The stone vanished soon after. Some believe that the stone was cut by thieves into smaller sizes to disguise their identity. Most modern scholars are now convinced that the 189 carat Orlov diamond originally worn by Russian Empress Catherine the Great and now displayed in Moscow's Kremlin Armoury is one of the pieces.

The Orlov diamond. Photo: Elkan Wijnberg/Wikimedia Commons

Tavernier also claimed to have seen a flat diamond called the Great Table diamond kept in a dungeon in Golconda. The diamond was plundered by Nader Shah during his invasion of India in 1739 and disappeared after his assassination.

One of the most famous diamonds that Golconda produced was the Tavernier Blue, which Tavernier purchased in 1666 and sold to King Louis XIV. The 67-carat triangular-shaped stone with a hint of blue was set on a golden cravat pin supported by a ribbon for the neck which was worn by the king during ceremonies. Louis XIV's great-grandson, Louis XV, had the diamond set into a more elaborate jeweled pendant with a red spinel and hundreds of additional diamonds.

Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington DC. Photo: Mbalotia/Wikimedia Commons

During the French Revolution, after Louis XVI and his family were imprisoned, rioters broke into the Royal Storehouse and stole most of the crown jewel, including the Tavernier Blue, now renamed French Blue. Two decades later, the diamond reappeared in England, this time recut into a 45-carat piece, where it acquired the name of Hope. After going through numerous owners, it was purchased in 1949 by New York gem merchant Harry Winston, who toured it for a number of years before donating it to the National Museum of Natural History of the United States in 1958, where it has since remained on permanent exhibition.

Another famous Golconda diamond that has lead to much ownership dispute is the Koh-i-Noor. Mined in Kollur Mine, Koh-i-Noor probably weighed close to 200 carat and originally was part of the Mughal Peacock Throne, a famous jeweled throne commissioned in the early 17th century by emperor Shah Jahan. Koh-i-Noor changed hands between various factions in south and west Asia, until being ceded to Queen Victoria after the British annexation of Punjab in 1849. For more than a century, females of the Royal Family wore the stone in their crown.

On old map Hyderabad from Harmsworths Universal Encyclopaedia, circa 1920s. Photo: Michelle Bridges | Dreamstime.com

After India gained independence in 1947, it demanded that the Koh-i-Noor be return to its rightful owner, but the British refused insisting that the gem was obtained legally. Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

Few Golconda diamonds are in the hands of India. The Daria-i-Noor, the worlds largest pink diamond, currently in the Iranian Crown Jewels collection of the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran, was also mined in Kollur. It was originally owned by the Kakatiya dynasty, and later, like the Koh-i-Noor, it became part of Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne. In 1739, when Nader Shah of Iran invaded Northern India and occupied Delhi, it ransacked the entire treasury of the Mughals and took with him the Daria-i-Noor, in addition to the Koh-i-Noor and the Peacock Throne.

The Daria-e Noor. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Researchers believe that Daria-i-Noor may have been part of the Great Table diamond that Tavernier described back in the 17th century. This diamond may have been cut into two pieces. The larger part is the Daria-i-Noor, while the smaller part is believed to be the 60-carat Noor-ul-Ain diamond, presently studded in a tiara also in the Iranian Imperial collection.

Possibly the only significant Golconda diamond that is in possession of India is Jacob Diamond, a 185 carat colorless piece of stone and the fifth-biggest polished diamond in the world.

Jacob diamond was acquired by the famous gems and antique dealer Alexander Malcolm Jacob (after whom the diamond is named), who offered it for sale to Mahbub Ali Khan, the sixth nizam of Hyderabad and one of the richest men in the world. The nizam was asked to make a good faith deposit of 2.2 million rupees so that the diamond could be transported from London to India. The nizam agreed, but when the diamond was presented before him Mahboob Ali Khan took a few glances at the stone and decided that he did not like it. The nizam demanded that Jacob return the advance that was paid to him. Jacob refused. This led to a long-drawn and bitter court battle that created a sensation across India and in the international press as well.

The Jacob Diamond. Photo: Barun Ghosh/Wikimedia Commons

Even though the court awarded the nizam the diamond for his troubles without having to pay the balance payment, for a prince to appear before a British court became a matter of great shame. Mahboob Ali Khan regarded the diamond unlucky and wanted nothing to do with a stone that dragged him to humiliation. He wrapped it in a piece of cloth and stuck it inside an old shoe.

Mahboob Ali Khan died in 1911, and several years after his death, the nizams son and successor Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, found the diamond in his fathers shoe. Believing the stone to be of little value, the nizam used it as a paperweight for a long time until the diamond's true value was realized. Decades later, the diamond was purchased by the Government of India from the nizam's trust and is currently held at the Reserve Bank of India vaults in Mumbai.

References:

# Richa Goyal Sikri, The Diamond Capital of the Ancient World  Golconda, Natural Diamonds

# Victoria Gomelsky, The Market for Golconda Diamonds Has Mushroomed, NY Times

# Diamond in a Shoe: The Jacob Diamond, Live History India




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Israel strikes Lebanon after cross-border rocket attacks UNIFIL calls Israel-Lebanon talks and urges 'moderation'

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, AUG 5 - Following rocket attacks on Wednesday targeting the Upper Galilee, the Israeli air force over the night hit areas in Lebanon from which the attacks had originated as well as "infrastructure used by the terrorists", the Israeli military spokesman said Thursday.



He added that Israeli aircraft had hit another location from which rocket attacks on its territory had previously originated.



Military radio said that it was the first Israeli air attack against targets in Lebanon in several years.



"This incident," he added, "like many others of this type, strengthens the need to actively enforce Security Council Resolution 1701", which in 2006 put an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.



"Israeli considers the Lebanese state responsabile for all actions coming from its territory and warns against further attempts to target Israeli civilians or our sovereignty".



UNIFIL, the UN contingent stationed in southern Lebanon and which includes about a 1,000 Italian soldiers, called a three-way meeting on Thursday with representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli militaries after the escalation.



Reports were from the UNIFIL command under Italian general Stefano Del Col, who chairs three-way meetings held on the UNIFIL base of Cape Naqura along the Blue Line of demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.



This meeting was called to discuss security and stability conditions in the area, according to a statement issued.



On Wednesday, for the fifth time in only a few weeks, rockets were shot from southern Lebanon at Israeli territory.



The statement added that Del Col is in constant contact with the Lebanese and Israeli militaries and has urged both parties to exercise "moderation" to avoid escalation and to restore stability to southern Lebanon. (ANSAmed).




Armed opposition and govt troops clash in southern Syria Tension rekindled in Deraa region along border with Jordan

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, AUG 5 - Tension has risen significantly in southern Syria along the border with Jordan between government forces and armed opposition groups, three years after a Russian-mediated ceasefire was reached.



Local sources in Deraa and Damascus say that armed conflict has worsened considerably inside of and outside of the city of Deraa, the capital of a region of the same name known for being where the 2011 Syrian popular uprising began.



The uprising later degenerated into internecine armed conflict.



Since 2018, the zone has been under the control of several different armed groups, some of which are affiliated with the central government in Damascus and other close to Russia.



Moscow, despite being an ally of the Syrian government, has backed several local groups that until 2018 had been part of the armed opposition but later agreed to be integrated into the ranks of loyalist forces.



These groups however, call for autonomy in controlling the resources and territory of Deraa, a city which for ten years has been divided into two parts: one zone under full government control and another still under former opposition groups that were coopted by Russia.



Since late July, tension between the various parties rose after government forces tried to force local former opposition militias to had over their small weapons in line with the 2018 agreement.



Local factions have thus far refused and tension has risen.



On Thursday, more artillery shelling and armed clashes occurred.



Russia military envoys are in Deraa to try to mediate between the parties. Attempts at negotiation have thus far failed.



(ANSAmed).




Fires in Greece and Turkey, hundreds evacuated via sea Spanish PM urges collaboration against climate change

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUG 5 - Dozens of people had to be evacuated via sea on Wednesday from the Greek island of Evia near Athens due to a vast fire that destroyed almost 150 homes.



The news was reported Thursday by the Guardian, while the BBC published a video of the fire showing a long stretch of a hill behind the coast engulfed in flames.



"Around 85 people gathered on a beach were evacuated on five boats. Some 100 firefighters backed by seven helicopters and water-bombing planes were fighting the blaze," the UK daily reported.



- Hundreds of residents from the province of Mugla in southeastern Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea were evacuated on Thursday by the country's Coast Guard through the Oren port due to forest fires that over the night had arrived at the edges of the nearby thermoelectric station in Kemerkoy, in the Turkevleri district.



Local authorities noted that "all explosive chemical substances" and other dangerous materials had been removed but that "there is the risk that the fire may spread to the thousands of tons of coal" stored at the site.



Eight people have died and dozens of others have been hospitalised since the southern coast of Turkey began to burn last week.



Some elderly residents of Oren refused to leave their homes.



"Where do you expect us to go at our age?" asked the 79-yar-old Hulusi Kinic. "We live here. This is our home. Our ultimate solution had been to throw ourselves into the sea (if an explosion had occurred), but thank God this did not happen." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said through his office that the flames over the night "did not cause significant damage to the main units" of the thermoelectric station.



- "A historic heatwave is hitting southeastern Europe, setting off hundreds of fires that are leaving destruction in thier wake. This is climate change and only by working together and with ambition can we stop it .My solidarity to the countries affected. Spain will continue to provide the necessary support," Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez wrote in Spanish on his Twitter account on Thursday. (ANSAmed).




Hugo Hammond has left Love Island during a quadruple dumping.

Clarisse Juliette, Amy Day and Sam Jackson also exited the ITV 2 dating programme on Thursday night.

The public had voted for their favourite couples, with the three least popular put at risk of leaving the show.

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The fellow islanders were then given the opportunity to save one girl and one boy during the dumping and opted for Mary Bedford and Tyler Cruickshank.

The girls opted to save Tyler to see if he could rekindle his relationship with Kaz Kamwi.

After Tyler was saved, Matthew MacNabb moved quickly to end his relationship with Kaz, who he was coupled up with.

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Following his exit, Hugo said: My search for love in there, tragic is probably the word for it.

But I walk away with my head held high.

I stayed true to myself and I look forward to the next chapter.

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Millie Court also let Liam Reardon sleep next to her again after their falling out after Casa Amor.

Millie said: Now we need to sort of go forward together. You obviously still need to prove a lot to me.

She added: Ive also made the decision that you can sleep in my bed tonight. But theres boundaries!

The islanders also attended a film night with a difference.

The girls and boys were separated into teams and asked quiz questions, with the winning team then being able to choose a clip to be shown.

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They were shown a video of Jake Cornish expressing doubts about his pairing with Liberty Poole.

A video of Faye Winter was also played in which she said her partner Teddy Soares might not be funny.

Do I sit there and belly laugh with him? No, she added.

The episode ended by teasing an argument between the pair in the next programme.

 Love Island continues on ITV2 and ITV Hub at 9pm.
Drugs firms Pfizer and Flynn have been accused by the UKs competition watchdog of abusing their dominant positions to overcharge the NHS for anti-epilepsy medication in sky-high overnight price hikes.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has provisionally found that Flynn and Covid-19 vaccine maker Pfizer broke competition law by charging unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium capsules  sending the cost of the treatment soaring by up to 2,600%.

The moves saw NHS spending on the capsules rise from around 2 million a year in 2012 to about 50 million in 2013, according to the CMA.

It comes after the CMA reassessed the case following appeals by the two firms over an earlier decision in December 2016, which saw them slapped with a record 90 million fine.

In 2018, the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) upheld much of the original findings, but referred the matter of unlawful abuse of dominance back to the CMA for further investigation.

The CMA and Flynn then took it further to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the pharmaceutical firms appeal but upheld aspects of the CMAs case, prompting it to re-investigate, launching its current probe in June 2020.

CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said: Thousands of patients depend on this drug to prevent life-threatening seizures as a result of their epilepsy.

As the CAT recognised, this is a matter that is important for Government, for the public as patients and taxpayers, and for the pharmaceutical industry itself.

Protecting these patients, the NHS and the taxpayers who fund it is our priority.

The CMA has alleged the firms exploited a loophole by de-branding the drug  previously known as Epanutin  meaning the treatment was regulated over prices in the way branded drugs are.

As Pfizer and Flynn were the dominant suppliers of the drug in the UK, the NHS had no choice but to pay unfairly high prices for this vital medicine, the CMA said.

Pfizers prices rocketed by between 780% and 1,600% over four years.

Pfizer then supplied the drug to Flynn, which sold it to wholesalers and pharmacies at prices between 2,300% and 2,600% higher than those they had paid previously, according to the CMA.

The CMA said Pfizer and Flynn now have an opportunity to respond to its provisional findings before a final decision is made.

It comes amid a crackdown by the regulator on illegal behaviour by drugs firms, with the CMA recently fining several drug makers more than 260 million after they overcharged the NHS for hydrocortisone tablets.
The UKs builders are struggling to keep up with a recent spike in demand and have been left low on supplies, according to an influential survey.

The pressures have helped push the countrys construction sector off the 24-year highs it saw earlier this year.

According to the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction purchasing managers index (PMI), a monthly survey, the sector hit a score of 58.7 in July.

The score still represents growth  anything above 50 is considered positive  but is a big step down from Junes 66.3  the highest in more than a generation.

It is also the slowest growth in any month since February.

More than eight in 10 businesses said that they had seen prices for raw materials and other costs rise over the period. Only one in 100 said costs fell in July.

Not only have prices gone up, some companies are even struggling to find the materials they need, which has slowed down the sector.

Two thirds of businesses said they had to wait longer for deliveries, putting this down to Brexit friction, congestion at ports and a shortage of transport.

July data marked the first real slowdown in the construction recovery since the lockdown at the start of this year, said Tim Moore, economics director at IHS Markit.

It was unsurprising that UK construction companies were unable to maintain output growth at the 24-year high seen in June, especially with widespread supply shortages and constrained capacity to take on additional orders.

The loss of momentum spanned all major categories of construction work and was most pronounced in the house building sector.

Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said that suppliers did better to meet orders in July than in June. But this was in part because companies were not ordering products that they knew would not arrive on time.

Faced with transport disruptions, shortages of essentials and Brexit delays, the initial spurt of activity this year is fast hitting the rocks, he said.

Building optimism was dampened to the lowest since January as it is difficult to foresee when all these challenges are likely to subside.
Boris Johnson faced criticism from opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer and a union boss as he visited an offshore wind farm on the final day of his Scotland trip.

The Prime Minister and business minister Kwasi Kwarteng boarded the Esvagt Alba in Fraserburgh Harbour, Aberdeenshire, on Thursday morning before heading several miles out into the Moray Firth to the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm.

As the Esvagt Alba travelled towards the windfarm, the Prime Minister was given a tour by operations manager Gary McGougan and spoke to technicians on board.

As he visited the bridge, which he said was like the Enterprise, captain John Christiansen showed him the controls of the ship.

The 100-turbine development is under construction but began exporting its first power to the National Grid in June.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson waves as he boards the vessel (Jane Barlow/PA)

The development sparked controversy when BiFab fabrication yards in Scotland were overlooked for manufacturing contracts, with jobs going overseas.

GMB General Secretary Gary Smith said: Boris Johnson will see first-hand what political failure looks like  a massive offshore wind farm worth billions, subsidised by the bill payer, but manufactured and delivered almost exclusively in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Moray East is a monument to the broken promises of the political leaders who promised us a Saudi Arabia of renewables and it should serve as an important lesson to this Prime Minister.

If he wants a genuine green jobs revolution across the nations and regions of the UK, then he must stop the mass export of the jobs we need to deliver it.

Lets build the future here instead.

Sir Keir, also on the second day of a two-day visit to Scotland, called for action not soundbites from the Prime Minister on climate change.

He said: Weve got a UK Prime Minister who bundles around with a cabaret of soundbites, with targets about climate change but doesnt put in place the action.

We all know that hydrogen and wind are part of the future, we havent got an industrial strategy, we havent got a hydrogen strategy.

Get your head out of the sand, stop the soundbites, lets have some action.

Speaking on a visit to the UKs largest on-shore windfarm, Whitelee just outside of Glasgow, Sir Keir also criticised the Scottish Government claiming it had delivered just one in 20 of the jobs expected from offshore renewables.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Whitelee windfarm, Eaglesham (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He urged both governments to take their heads of out the sand and make the necessary investment and commitment in next generation energy.

His comments come as preparations continue for the UK hosting the international climate change summit Cop26 which is being held in Glasgow in autumn.

Earlier, Mr Johnson met with fishing industry leaders in Fraserburgh where he was urged to stem the haemorrhage of foreign workers in the fishing industry following Brexit.

He was also told the Brexit deal for the industry had fallen far short of expectations.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister visited Police Scotlands training college at Tulliallan, Fife, and promised all the money that is needed will be given to fund the thousands of officers required to police Cop26.

He declined an invitation to meet Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during his trip to discuss coronavirus recovery, which she said was a missed opportunity.
Boris Johnson has been criticised by Nicola Sturgeon and Sir Keir Starmer after he said Margaret Thatcher gave the UK a big early start in the fight against climate change when she closed coal mines across the UK.

Scotlands First Minister said the remarks were crass and deeply insensitive while Sir Keir said they showed the Prime Minister was out of touch with working people.

Mr Johnson made the comments towards the end of a two-day trip north of the border.

He was pressed on whether he would set a deadline for ending fossil fuel extraction as he visited a giant wind farm off the coast of Scotland.

Margaret Thatcher closed so many coal mines across the country in her period in office, the PM said (PA)

The Prime Minister hailed existing action to move to greener forms of power, stating when he was a child 70% to 80% of all electricity had been coal-generated  with this falling to 40% by the time he became London mayor.

Since then, its gone right down to 1%, or sometimes less, he stated.

Mr Johnson said: Look at what weve done already. Weve transitioned away from coal in my lifetime.

Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and were now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Sturgeon condemned the comments.

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She said: Lives & communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatchers destruction of the coal industry (which had zero to do with any concern she had for the planet).

To treat that as something to laugh about is crass & deeply insensitive to that reality.

Sir Keir tweeted: Boris Johnsons shameful praising of Margaret Thatchers closure of the coal mines, brushing off the devastating impact on those communities with a laugh, shows just how out of touch he is with working people.

Labours leader in Scotland Anas Sarwar said the remarks were just another example of why the Tories are a disaster and the biggest threat to the union.

The partys energy spokeswoman at Holyrood, Monica Lennon, criticised the PM for laughing about Thatchers pit closures that decimated our mining communities.

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Fellow Labour MSP Neil Bibby said: To attempt to turn one of the most divisive and destructive periods in British history into a retrospective victory for the environment is deeply offensive to the people and communities who faced considerable hardship and misery.

The SNP MP for Midlothian, Owen Thompson, also condemned the Prime Minister.

He said: The Thatcher years might have been a spiffing time for Johnson, who was busy partying in the elite Bullingdon Club, but in the real world Thatcher devastated communities across Scotland.

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Scottish Greens Central Scotland MSP Gillian Mackay said: Thatchers decimation of the coal industry had absolutely nothing to do with environmentalism and everything to do with her despicable anti-trade union ideology.

Communities across Scotland were decimated by these cruel and vindictive policies which destroyed industry and left workers high and dry.

Its no surprise that Boris Johnson eulogises Thatcher, but we must ensure his government dont repeat her actions as Scotland begins to transition from oil and gas to our renewables future.

The Scottish Greens wont allow the Tories to repeat the mistakes of the past. We will fight for a fair transition for workers that sees their jobs guaranteed in the sustainable industries of the future.
Embattled engine-maker Rolls-Royce returned to profit in the first half of 2021, but warned that the pandemic-hit international aviation industry is taking longer than expected to recover.

The Derby-based group posted bottom-line profits of 393 million for the first six months of the year in a marked improvement from mammoth losses of 5.4 billion a year ago, helped by swingeing cost-cutting.

On an underlying basis, it reported pre-tax profits of 133 million compared with losses of 3.2 billion a year earlier, while its preferred adjusted earnings measure showed profits

Shares lifted 3% on the better-than-expected result.

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Rolls said international travel will bounce back once border restrictions are lifted, but warned that slower recovery will mean it takes longer to achieve a free-cash flow target of 750 million.

It said: We are confident that, when border restrictions are lifted, the recovery of international travel will accelerate.

Free-cash flow targets are still achievable, but it added that based on current industry forecasts for the pace of recovery in international travel, this is likely to occur beyond the initial expected timeframe of 2022.

It said cash outflow is improving from over 4 billion at one stage to 2 billion in 2021, with guidance that it will turn positive in the second half of 2021.

The engineering groups civil aerospace arm  its largest division  has suffered as the coronavirus crisis hammered the global aviation industry.

While domestic and business travel markets are recovering, international travel is still lagging behind, according to the group.

It said large-engine flying hours were still less than half of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, at 43%, but this is up from the 34% seen in the second half of 2020.

Chief executive Warren East said the expansion of the UKs travel list is a very encouraging sign.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Were concentrating on what we can control.

Clearly we cant control how fast markets open up, but anything that governments around the world can do to open up air travel is good news for our business.

He has sought to take swift action to cut costs and raise extra capital to strengthen the companys battered balance sheet in the face of the crisis, last year ramping up savings targets to 1.3 billion by the end of 2022.

This includes swinging the axe on at least 9,000 jobs worldwide  two-thirds of which will affect the UK  and Rolls confirmed around 8,000 employees have already gone under the programme.

It has also told staff to take two weeks unpaid leave this summer as a further cost-saving measure.

The firm said its goal to raise at least 2 billion from selling off some parts of the business is progressing well, having announced a deal on Wednesday to offload Norwegian maritime engine maker Bergen to British group Langley Holdings.

It added that the sale of its Spanish unit, ITP Aero, is moving forwards and that it expects to complete the sale of the civil nuclear instrumentation and control business later in 2021.

Rolls confirmed late on Wednesday that it is in exclusive talks to sell ITP to investment group Bain Capital over a reported 1.6 billion euro (1.5 billion) deal.

Mr East declined to comment on the price, except to say the group is holding live discussions.

Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets, said: There is no question that Rolls-Royce continues to face significant challenges due to the slow summer for aviation given its recent decision to ask its 19,000 staff to take unpaid leave for two weeks as it strives to preserve cash.
Passengers line up outside the Spirit Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Aug. 3, 2021. Spirit Airlines has canceled more than 1,300 flights over five days as it grapples with a series of issues, including tech outages and staffing shortages.

As Spirit Airlines and American Airlines canceled and delayed flights in staggering numbers this week, stranded passengers across the country blasted the airlines for lousy customer service.

Beyond snaking lines at the airport and hard-to-reach call centers, a hallmark of summer travel in 2021, complaints on social media centered on what some travelers saw as major injustices: lack of meal vouchers or hotel accommodations, a runaround for refunds and no compensation for expenses caused by a lost vacation or workday.

Airlines are assailed with complaints every time there is a spike in flight cancellations and delays, and every time, too many passengers are left bewildered, unsatisfied or even fuming at airlines' responses.

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Porn star Stormy Daniels even weighed in on Twitter on behalf of her brother, whose American Airlines flight to Dallas was diverted to Oklahoma City due to severe storms on Sunday.

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There is a disconnect between what passengers think they are owed and what airlines owe them when flights plans go haywire thanks to a patchwork of federal regulations and airline policies.

Some rules, like those covering refunds for cancellations and significant flight delays by the airline, are dictated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Others, like hotel and meal vouchers and expense reimbursement, are up to individual airline policies spelled out in dozens of pages of legalese known as a contract of carriage. Spirit's is 54 pages.

"In Europe it's uniform. In Canada it's uniform. In the United States, you are at the mercy of the contract of carriage,'' said William McGee, an aviation adviser to Consumer Reports who has been pushing for an air passenger bill of rights for years and last week joined other consumer advocates in taking their case to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "In the past 20 years, those contracts have gotten much harder to read, they've gotten lengthier, and they've gotten much weaker from a consumer standpoint.''

What's a stranded traveler to do? Know your rights and persistently pursue them, including taking airlines to task on social media.

"Like a lot of issues with the airlines, consumers are at a disadvantage, and it's going to take perseverance,'' McGee said. "Its sort of like you have to play a little (game of ) chicken with the airline.''

Airline passenger rights: Things to know when flights are canceled, delayed

Can I get a refund if my flight is canceled?

This one is crystal clear. Airlines are required by the DOT to offer a refund when they cancel a flight. It doesn't matter if the reason for the cancellation was outside their control, like weather, or within their control, like maintenance issues or flight crew shortages. And it doesn't matter what kind of ticket you bought, including nonrefundable tickets or basic economy tickets.

Airlines prefer, of course, to automatically rebook you on their next available flight, but you are under no obligation to take it. Keep in mind, though, that a refund a) might not be instant and b) probably won't cover the cost of a new last-minute ticket unless your original ticket was pricey, so the next-available flight might be the least-expensive option for getting to your destination or back home when things go awry last minute.

If you opt for a refund, you are eligible to get your money back, not just a travel credit or voucher. Airlines are quickest to offer those, so travelers who want their money back instead often have to take some extra steps. Southwest and Delta, for example, automatically issue travel credit, so travelers who want their money back have to request it.

"When someone says to you, would like X amount of dollars in a voucher, most people figure if they say no, they get nothing,'' McGee said.

25,000 passenger complaints later: DOT warns airlines  again  to issue refunds for canceled flights

I snagged an airline refund during the pandemic: Here's how to get one if you're eligible

Spirit passenger Eddie Gordon waited in line for a refund in Orlando, Florida, earlier this week and was shocked to get a confirmation email with vouchers instead so is pressing the case with Spirit.

Spirit's contract of carriage, last updated in June, says guests entitled to refunds should call 855-728-3555 or send an email or letter to the company. In the midst of its operational meltdown this week, Spirit added a chat option to its website and said that's the best way to resolve issues, including refunds.

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My flight delay is too long. Can I get a refund?

The same DOT rules apply to significant delays, meaning passengers are eligible for a refund regardless of the cause of the airline's delay. The only wrinkle here is that airlines' definitions of "significant delay" vary. American offers refunds for delays exceeding 90 minutes, Delta, Spirit and Alaska two hours, for example.

The airline can't get me on another flight until tomorrow (or later). Do they pay for a hotel?

Here's where things get trickier and involve those contracts of carriage. Airline policies generally state that they only pay for a hotel if the flight cancellation or overnight delay is their fault, and then only if you don't live in the city you're stranded in. The earlier you request one, the better, as airport hotels sell out quickly when there's flight cancellation mayhem.

Weather, of course, and air traffic control issues are outside of airlines' control, so passengers whose flights are scrubbed for those reasons generally aren't given free hotel stays. (Many airlines do offer discounted hotel rates for those impacted by weather cancellations, so be sure to ask.)

How do you know the reason for your cancellation? Airlines don't always announce a reason or keep changing their story as the situation unfolds.

"I think passengers, quite frankly, have a right to be suspicious,'' McGee said. "Airlines are not forthcoming on a lot of issues like this.''

At the same time, the former airline flight dispatcher says passengers often don't understand how weather across the country can have a ripple effect on an airline.

"They say, 'Well, look, the weather is 80 degrees and clear and you're saying it's weather, and I just called my mother in San Francisco and it's clear there, too,'' he said. "Well, the weather may be in Colorado.''

So airlines have the upper hand if they say weather or other factors out of their control are to blame. But savvy travelers should jot down gate announcements or conversations with employees about the reasons for the delay as well as screenshot any alerts sent about the delay via text or the airline's mobile app to plead their case for reimbursement if the airline denies hotel accommodations due to weather.

I can't wait two days for another flight. Can I fly a different airline?

Stranded passengers are free to check options on other airlines, but whether the airline that canceled the original flight picks up the tab is another question.

Most major airlines, with the notable exception of Southwest, have so-called interline agreements with competitors so they can easily transfer passengers over when they don't have room. But airlines prefer to keep travelers on their flights, so the option isn't usually offered upfront unless you have elite status in their frequent flyer program and press the matter.

Spirit and other budget carriers don't have interline agreements. Spirit's contract of carriage states: "With limited exceptions, Spirit will not reimburse guests for flights that they book on other carriers.''

Southwest flight canceled?Here's why the airline won't put you on another carrier

Good luck on American: American Airlines reduces options for passengers with delayed, canceled flights

I'm hungry and airport food is expensive. Will the airline reimburse me for meals?

As with hotel stays, meal vouchers also are generally only doled out when cancellations and long delays are caused by the airline but it never hurts to ask in any situation. Some airlines, though, including Delta and Southwest, have been known to roll in snack carts or order pizza during extreme weather and other situations outside their control.

Don't expect the airline's money to go far at the airport, airport hotel, or area restaurants, if you can find one open. The going rate is $12 per passenger at American and Alaska, for example. Delta says meal money varies by city. Some airlines, including American, say the vouchers can be used for food delivery services like UberEats.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American, Spirit Airlines flights canceled: What travelers can do
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YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan transportation system is expected to undergo significant changes with the expected arrival of 211 buses in October set to replenish the Armenian capitals bus fleet.

The city of Yerevan will then have 16-17 new public transportation bus routes, Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyans spokesperson Hakob Karapetyan told ARMENPRESS. The buses were bought from the Zhongtong manufacturing company based in Liaocheng, China.

The buses will be commissioned in the coming weeks after arriving to Yerevan. According to legislative regulations, 1 out of 8 vehicles of the transportation fleet must be in reserve, meaning 30 of the 211 will be in reserve. Around 180 buses will serve the city network. Given the fact that 8-12 buses operate each route, we will have around 16-17 new routes, he said.

Speaking about the payment system, Karapetyan said they expect a single e-system to be in place at the time of commissioning the new vehicles.

The system will enable to pay with cards, which one should acquire beforehand, or by bank cards. Similar systems are in place in a number of European cities, and there is no option of a passenger paying cash to the driver, he added.

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. On August 4, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh David Babayan met in Goris with a group of journalists and representatives of youth organizations from Armenia, the Diaspora, and foreign countries participating in the trainings initiated by the Armenian General Benevolent Union and the Ronak Press organization.

Issues related to the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabagh conflict, Artsakhs foreign policy, regional trends, and intra-Armenian relations were touched upon during the meeting. In a warm and friendly atmosphere, the Minister answered the questions of the participants, got acquainted with their views and opinions. On the same day, the Foreign Minister met with the staff and students of the Goris State University to discuss issues related to foreign and domestic policy and the state-building process. The sides noted the important role and significance of Artsakh and Syunik for the Armenian statehood and in regional geopolitical processes, the Artsakh foreign ministry said in a news release.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed solidarity with Greece as the country is battling ravaging wildfires.

Deeply saddened by news of the devastating wildfires that broke out across Greece. We express solidarity & deep sympathies w/brotherly people of Greece in these troubling times, the foreign ministry tweeted.

According to AFP, over 100 blazes are burning across Greece as of 02.40 BST August 5.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian prosecution says the reports of several NGOs claiming that the prosecution of a Yazidi activist is unlawful are ungrounded.

The investigation conducted by law enforcement gathered sufficient evidence that Sashik Sultanyan, the head of Yazidi Human Rights Center, violated the penal code Article 226, paragraph 2, clause 1 with his statements in an interview to yezidinews.com.

Article 226 of the Criminal Code: Inciting national, racial or religious hatred.

Actions aimed at the incitement of national, racial or religious hatred, at racial superiority or humiliation of national dignity, are punished with a fine in the amount of 200 to 500 minimal salaries, or with correctional labor for up to 2 years, or with imprisonment for the term of 2-4 years. The actions envisaged in part 1 of this Article committed:

1) publicly or by mass media, with violence or threat of violence;

Sultanyans statements in the interview, such as Armenians mock Yazidis and display discrimination against them, or there isnt a single village in Armenia to have Yazidis and Armenians live side by side, Yazidis dont see a future in Armenia, dont consider Armenia to be theirs and are leaving Armenia, only elderly Yazidis are left in villages, and 50 years from now there wont be any Yazidis left in Armenia are false, the prosecution said.

Meaning, Sashik Sultanyan has falsely presented the Republic of Armenia through a foreign news outlet as a state displaying national discrimination in the political, economic, social, cultural and public life and other sectors, the prosecution added, noting that the criminal proceedings against Sultanyan can in no way be interpreted as a restriction of freedom of speech or interference in his human rights activities.

The claims on Sultanyans right to due process, fair trial and means of effective judicial defense being violated are unfounded. The case is in court and the public and all stakeholder circles have the opportunity to form a complete opinion on the substantiation of the charges and circumstances of the criminal case through open and public trial, the prosecution said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, 5 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 5 August, USD exchange rate up by 1.05 drams to 493.35 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 583.78 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 6.75 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.62 drams to 686.64 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 28,611.41 drams to 29012.4 drams. Silver price down by 28,283.11 drams to 407.17 drams. Platinum price down by 12.61 drams to 16733.96 drams.
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6 TMC MPs suspended for the day in Rajya Sabha for placards' protest

New Delhi: Fourteen Opposition parties issued a joint statement on Wednesday demanding a discussion in Parliament on the Pegasus snooping issue, to be followed by a reply from the Union home minister. Accusing the government of being arrogant and obdurate in its refusal to allow a discussion, their joint statement said the government alone was responsible for the continuing logjam in parliament. It is unfortunate that the government has unleashed a misleading campaign to malign the combined Opposition and blame it for the continued disruption in Parliament, the statement said.

The Opposition also unequivocally said that a discussion on the farmers issues and agitations arising from the three anti-farmer agricultural laws should follow the discussion on Pegasus. The Opposition said it urges the government to respect parliamentary democracy and accept the discussions. It added: The responsibility for the deadlock lies squarely at the doorsteps of the government, which remains arrogant and obdurate and refuses to accept the Oppositions demand for an informed debate in both Houses.

Meanwhile, six Trinamul Congress members who ignored the requests of Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu not to display placards in the Upper House and go back to their seats, and who were also sloganeering in the Well of the House, were suspended for the day on Wednesday for disobeying the Chair. Later, these MPs, protesting outside the Upper House lobby, allegedly tried to forcibly enter the Rajya Sabha chamber but were prevented by the security staff. In the melee, a glass door got broken, leading to a woman security officer getting injured.

Soon after Mr Jawhar Sircar took the oath as a new TMC member and official documents were laid and notices under Rule 256 were rejected, the TMC members trooped into the Well shouting slogans and holding placards against the government on the Pegasus snooping issue and demanding a discussion. Mr Naidu said there had been an agreement to discuss the farmers agitation, price rise and the economic situation and the House should proceed with discussing the farmers issues.

Taking strong exception to the placards with anti-government slogans, Mr Naidu first asked them to go back to their seats and then threatened to invoke Rule 255 against those holding placards. Some Congress MPs also entered the Well later but were not carrying placards.

As the TMC members were unrelenting despite the Chairs requests, Mr Nadu ordered that those disobeying the Chair and raising placards shall leave the House under Rule 255. He, however, did not name anyone and said the Rajya Sabha secretariat will give the list.

Later a parliamentary bulletin identified the six MPs suspended for the day as Dola Sen, Md Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor.

Before adjourning the House, Mr Naidu said: All the members who are in the Well of the House with placards... all of them are named under Rule 255. I direct these members who are in the Well of the House to go back to their seats otherwise, you are named and are suspended for the day, he said. But the MPs refused to budge.

Even after the House proceedings were adjourned, the TMC and other Opposition MPs did not leave the House. After the six TMC MPs were suspended, they protested outside the Upper House lobby during which a glass door was broken, resulting in injury to a woman security officer, sources said. Minutes after the Rajya Sabha secretariat asked the six MPs to withdraw, they tried to enter the Rajya Sabha gallery but were stopped by security officials, the sources said. Thereafter, they started protesting and singing songs outside the entrance of the gallery adjacent to Central Hall. The security officials are drafting a report on the entire incident, which will be submitted to the Rajya Sabha secretary-general.

The statement comes amid a stalemate in the Monsoon Session, with both Houses paralysed due to the Oppositions uproar over their demand for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping issue. The Pegasus issue has also reached the Supreme Court, which will hear a bunch of petitions on Thursday, most of which are seeking a court-monitored independent investigation into the matter.

In the past two weeks, the Opposition parties have held several meetings in a bid to corner the government in Parliament. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has urged the Opposition leaders to unite and jointly take on the Central government over the Pegasus controversy. The government says IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaws statement has cleared the governments stand on the Pegasus issue.
The only difference between them and NSO is that the Israeli company is a white-black operation

Hello! Big Brother is Listening.

Parliament has come to a halt because of the Pegasus affair. The winged horse is a malware designed to enter your smartphone when you open a message from an unknown source. Once installed in a phone, Pegasus can intercept and steal more or less any information on it, including SMSes, contacts, call history, calendars, emails and browsing histories. It can use the phones microphone to record calls and other conversations, secretly film with its camera, or track movements with GPS. All this is reported to the Pegasus licencee who would have paid at least $650,000 to make up to 10 smartphones to report to it. A typical buyer of Pegasus would be a secretive government agency, a private corporation or even a criminal organisation.

But the owner of Pegasus, the NSO Group of Israel, claims it only sells to kosher outfits and our government wants us to believe it. Government intelligence and investigative agencies routinely tap telephones as its their job to keep their masters well informed, particularly when the masters have a taste for low level gossip grade information. But let me tell you this, Pegasus is not such a big deal. There are dozens of hackers operating out of Russia, Israel, the United States and even the likes of North Korea who take control of smartphones and information technology networks for blackmail and extortion. The only difference between them and NSO is that the Israeli company is a white-black operation!

It is very apparent Pegasus was bought by an off the book intelligence operation from within the government. An official intelligence agency like the IB, RAW, DGMI and a few others can get official sanction to tap all manner of telephones. All they need is an authorisation from the Union home secretary to do so. It does not require much to persuade any home secretary to affix his signature to one. An agency that can do this will not expend so much money on Pegasus to track a few individuals, with a system that cant do much more than what is already within their reach. To get a good idea of who bought Pegasus one needs to just track new expenditures by government offices like the PMO. For instance, in 2017, though the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) was allotted Rs 33 crores, it ended up spending Rs 81 crores more. In 2018, the allocation had shot up to Rs 333 crores. What was the PMO splurging on, when the NSCS is just a talking shop and occasionally turns out position papers and advisory papers?

There are 3.2 billion smartphones working connecting people with huge reservoirs of information and content. As of June 30, 2021, there were 4.86 billion Internet users worldwide. Of these, 44.8 per cent were in Asia, 21.5 per cent in Europe and 11.4 per cent in all of North America. This has led to new forms of business and new forms of doing business. With that small gizmo in your hand, that often nowadays packs more power than a bank of personal computers a dozen years ago, you can buy an airline ticket in another continent or send flowers to a special friend in yet another one. There can be other less benign uses also. A terrorist can detonate a secreted bomb in a distant country with a mobile phone call.

Since data exchanged on cellular and Internet networks fly through the ether and not as pulses racing through copper wires, they are easier to net by electronic interception. But these nets catch them in huge numbers. Unlike before when the signals to be intercepted and deciphered were a few, now you had millions to sort out and analyse for content and patterns. This is where the supercomputers come in. The messages that are netted every moment are run through sieves of sophisticated and complex computer programs that can simultaneously decode, detect and unravel, and by further analysing the incoming and outgoing patterns of calls and data transfers for the sending and receiving terminals or phones, can with a fair probability of accuracy tell the agency seeking information about what is going on and who is up to what?

Non-government parties can access this information by other means. A few years ago we had the case of the infamous Amar Singh CDs, which titillated so many with its graphic content and lowbrow conversations featuring the likes of Anil Ambani, Jayaprada, Bipasha Basu and some others. Then we had the episode of the Niira Radia tapes where we were privy to the machinations of the Tatas corporate lobbyist in the national capital fixing policy, positioning ministers and string-pulling media stars.

In 2002, interrogators heard a top Al Qaeda courier with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti from Mohammed al-Qahtani, a detainee interrogated in a secret rendition camp in Poland. In 2004, another prisoner named Hassan Gul claimed that al-Kuwaiti was close to Osama bin Laden as well as to Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Mohammeds successor Abu Faraj al-Libbi. The CIA began to look for al-Kuwaiti and in 2007, officials learned that al-Kuwaitis real name was Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed, and he was a Pathan from Pakistans Swat Valley. The CIA had a clutch of phone numbers that were used sometime or the other by Al Qaeda couriers. For most of the time these numbers would remain shut. They would come to life very briefly to pass very terse messages or have very short conversations. In one of these conversations, al-Kuwaiti told his friend that he is now working with the people he was with before. This was enough of a break for the CIA to put him under full-time physical surveillance. A satellite picked him up in Karachi and tracked him. This led to him and his brother Abrar with their families to that now very famous house in Abbottabad. The tracking down of Osama bin Laden to his hideout was probably one of the great detective stories of the age.

But Pegasus is not being used for detecting where Dawood Ibrahim or Masood Azhar are holed up. Our D Company is more interested in low-level political gossip and for stalking. Remember that lady whose movements were tracked by the Gujarat police and reported to a jealous lonely heart. These things were possible even without Pegasus.
A cracked roadway is visible near the intersection of Highway 82 and Willits Lane on Wednesday. Local officials are hoping the infrastructure bill being debated in Washington, D.C., will bring about more money for road repairs and other projects.
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You see, airplanes are generally made to operate in a wide range of conditions, but their deployment to this or that base does end up influencing some of the airplanes performances, not to mention those of the crew.This is why, from time to time, airplanes and personnel are taken out of their comfort zones and sent to places that are the exact opposite of the ones they like to call home. Thats what happened to this transport plane, which traveled from the Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi all the way to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska The plane, belonging to the 815th Airlift Squadron, took part in the Arctic SWAT training exercise that was held there in mid-July. Among other things, the top brass wanted to see the performance of the plane and pilots in a new environment, opposite of their home station.We are not informed how the exercise went, of course, but we are left with the image that is the main pic of this piece (click photo to enlarge), and it is one for the ages, with the grayish monstrous flying machine imprinted over the surrealistic blue of the Alaska skies and waters.The C- 130J Super Hercules is one of the newer transport airplanes made by Lockheed Martin, having arrived onto the scene 25 years ago. Since that time, 11 variants of it came to be, and the over 400 planes made since are deployed in the service of about 18 countries.The monster can be used in a variety of roles (about 17 by Lockheeds count), from airdrops and firefighting to gunship and combat delivery. Powered by four Rolls-Royce engines, it has a maximum take-off weight of 164,000 lb (74,389 kg) and can fly for as much as 2,500 miles (4,000 km).
I would put some weight on this rumor as it comes from a pretty reliable source (?????). He brought several leaks to surface before, which later turned out to be true. However, like anything else, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Take it w/ a grain of salt  Ray4Tesla???????????? (@ray4tesla) July 30, 2021

Although BYD has a separate battery business called Fudi, it is still a company that also makes cars. Would Tesla buy LFP cells from a direct competitor when it already buys them from CATL, the biggest cell manufacturer in the world? This question also has another side: would BYD  which is willing to sell more electric vehicles with the Han, Dolphin, and future e-platform 3.0  help a direct competitor do the same?The part that makes sense is that Tesla wants to produce a $25,000 car in China. To achieve that goal, it will have to buy the cheapest possible cells for that car, and it may happen that Fudi has the most competitive pricing for that.On BYDs side, it created Fudi precisely to make that a separate business, able to sell batteries for other carmakers. If Tesla is willing to buy LFP cells from it, why wouldnt it produce them for the American company?According to CLS.cn sources, the deal would be already well advanced. The Tesla vehicles that will get the Blade Battery would be undergoing C-sample tests. Here, this rumor could join with another one.Ray4Tesla recently said on Twitter that Tesla would already have a running prototype for its entry-level vehicle. Despite allegedly being a reliable source that already saw some of the rumors be confirmed, the Tesla advocate recommends that people take this with a grain of salt.If the rumor is correct, Tesla may have contacted BYD to increase its availability of LFP batteries . CATL may have already committed all the LFP cells it could deliver for the Model 3 and Model Y and could not have more room for anything, especially a vehicle that should have much larger sales volumes than these other two.In the end, it may be a good deal both for Tesla and BYD , and this is all the sense that it has to make. BYD still talks to the press: to CLS.cn, it said it would comment on the rumor. When it is not right, companies just deny them. Where there is smoke...Source: CLS.cn
The latest move in keeping the very large fleet of such drones in the air for as long as possible is the introduction of a standardized modular payload interface kit for the Puma AE RQ-20B. This new piece of hardware, which comprises all the mechanical and electrical interfaces needed for integration with the drone, will allow it to be fitted with a larger range of payloads, regardless of whether they were made with the RQ-20B in mind or not.As is, the Puma comes with a gimbaled payload that contains an infrared camera and illuminator, capable of 360 degrees continuous pan and +10 to -90 degrees tilt. Neither of the parties involved in the arrival of the new payload kit (AeroVironment and the U.S. Special Operations Command) said anything about what new payloads could be used on the drone.The Puma AE RQ-20B is one of those small spying machines the enemy is not expecting and almost never sees coming. AE stands for All Environment, and it is the perfect description for this winged machine that is fully waterproof, and can land in the water or on the ground.After being launched by hand or from a special rail, the drone can travel for as much as 20 km (12.4 miles) on a single outing, or for in excess of three hours. Its speed is rated at anywhere between 47 and 83 kph (29 to 51 mph), depending on conditions.AeroVironment said this week it should begin delivering the new payload kits for the existing AE drones in November this year.
EV

SUV

ICE

AMG

Naturally, when youre under a multi-million-dollar contract, the company usually expects even a seven-time Formula One champion (tied with the great Michael Schumacher) to chip in for the common effort. That happened on many occasions if we are to be correct. But late last year the marketing ideas sparked ancontroversy.Back in September 2020, Lewis Hamilton showed off his new Mercedes-Benz EQS and  long story short  was kind of branded as a hypocrite . You know, on account of his garage hiding a private jet and stuff like a Pagani Zonda 760, a McLaren P1, a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, a Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, a Ferrari LaFerrari, and a 599 Aperta, among (many) others.He quickly made amends, revealing that he sold the biggest gas-guzzler (that would be the jet) and those cool supercars would be turned into collectible garage queens. Hamilton also said he was intent on driving the EQS or the more practical EQC crossover. But it seems the EV-only days are already gone.Just recently, the good folks over at the ExoticCarspotters channel on YouTube caught the automotive superstar in Monaco after a yacht encounter with other great humans , such as the one and only Samuel L. Jackson. The harbor crowd gathered to send him off as he made his way to the parked ride.Surprise, no battery-operated vehicle was in sight. Instead, he went off into the sunset (of the premises and into a Monaco tunnel) with his custom Pagani Zonda 760 LH. Thats a loud Mercedes-Benz V12 engine hes got there, though its not one running on electrons. Frankly, we really cant hold it too much against Lewis for switching back tomode since thats anproducing 760 horsepower and sounding like a riot even on idle...
Yogi Vindum told The Washington Post that he was an early Tesla customer. He bought his first Model S in 2013 and liked it so much he got a second one. Both were sitting in his garage charging overnight on December 30, 2020, when the alarm in one of them set off. His house was filled up with fumes, and he and his wife left it. Thankfully, none of them got hurt.The firefighters arrived soon and managed to kill the fire on the house quickly, but the cars inside the garage kept on reigniting. Only when the firefighters managed to drag them out could they prevent that from happening again. Anyway, both Teslas were destroyed beyond repair. Vindum had more than $1 million in damages, and his insurance company took care of everything, apparently.According to the fire inspection report about his case, the problem started in one of the EVs. It could have been a thermal runaway or something in the cars electric system while it was charging. Vindum tried to contact Tesla multiple times. When he managed to get in touch, the company said it would investigate the fire. The charred remains stayed in front of the garage for months waiting for the company to appear. It didnt.Vindums vehicle probably was among the ones affected by the 2019.16.1 or 2019.16.2 software updates that capped the voltage of the cells in 1,743 vehicles in the U.S., according to Teslas settlement proposition. Owners in other countries also got the restrictive updates, but we have no idea about how many they are.In China, one of these vehicles caught fire in a Shanghai garage in April 2019. In Norway, 30 owners sued Tesla and should receive 136,000 Norwegian kroner  equivalent to $15,500. The company is appealing the decision.The Model S that caused the fire in Vindums garage made the one nearby also catch fire. The firefighters involved with helping Vindum said they could feel how intense the blaze was from the sidewalk. That said, how strong and prolonged would a fire have to be to provoke a thermal runaway?When a Tesla Model 3 caught fire in San Diego last August 3, witnesses said they heard an explosion. The fire video shows that the battery pack was on fire and that some blasts threw cells in the air. With a ballistic grade aluminum armor plate to protect the battery pack, how could an arsonist cause enough heat to affect it?In arson cases affecting EVs, it normally burns some components in the car, such as the interior, but the battery pack remains intact. Thats what happened to a Model S in Norway in August 2019, as Tom Moloughney reported for InsideEVs The police will investigate that Model 3 fire and determine the causes. As some dust bins around that neighborhood were also on fire, they suspect arson. Could that have been caused by bits of the Model 3 that flew away with the explosions?Wed ask this and more questions to engineers and experts if they were not afraid of ruining their chances of working for Tesla or other automakers. So far, we havent found a single one willing to talk, so our only option now is to wait. And to hope that other customers do not go through the same issues that destroyed Vindums house.
If overheating happens, the system will disconnect the rear axle, which will lead to the car working in two-wheel drive mode, which means it will just send power to the front wheels. According to YouTuber Xthilox, a Toyota GR Yaris owner, the disconnect works in two steps.Owners of the GR Yaris who complained about overheating issues with their all-wheel-drive systems on the dedicated forum believe that the issue appears when the clutch packs in the center differential overheats, which is when the car's systems tell its computers to disconnect the rear axle. The GR Yaris comes with three transmission temperature sensors, which means it is easy to determine which of the components gets too hot for its good.When the situation occurs, the driver will be informed through a message on the screen between the gauges. It is worth noting that Toyota recommends that GR Yaris users change their oil at half the specified distance or after track use if the vehicles are subjected to continuous high speed or track use. Along with the engine oil and filter, Toyota recommends a fluid change for the transmission, transfer case and differential fluids.Toyota is testing another GR Yaris-based model at the Nurburgring for a few weeks now, and the Japanese automaker may be preparing an improved version of the model. Likely, the engineers have already seen the overheating issues during their tests, and maybe the development team has figured out a solution.Owners of GR Yaris models are pondering whether to get a transmission cooler or a larger differential cover. The latter is a costly upgrade, while the former may delay the issue if not stopping it entirely. Both solutions would void the warranty of the car unless the Japanese automaker decides to issue a technical service bulletin that would allow dealers to install such items in customer's cars to prevent further problems.Invariably, the GR Yaris is not the first, nor the last car to suffer from overheating issues at the track. That is why many time attack events go on for just a few laps when street-going cars are concerned, and a cooldown lap or two is included in most of these events for this purpose.In the video below, you can see YouTuber Xthilox drive his GR Yaris with and without all-wheel drive as the car disconnects its system upon overheating. He manages to keep the car under control even after the system disconnects, which means that the engineers did a good job in the first place and managed to create a smooth transition between all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive without unsettling the car.
Posted on Behance , KDesign AG's render shows the T-Roc Cabriolet with a modified front end. Its headlights have been extended to the front fenders, while the ornaments in the bumper have been enlarged, and now feature even bigger LED strips. The two black ornaments are mated by a large black band in the front bumper.The profile of the T-Roc Cabriolet facelift does not show any relevant changes, but the back brings large exhaust ornaments, which are too big to be real, along with different taillights. The latter is extended all the way to the center of the trunk lid. The rear bumper also integrates a larger diffuser, while the trunk lid features a more pronounced aerodynamic element with the third stoplight.While the facelifted Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet may not look precisely like this render, now you have a better idea of what the Germans are planning for one of the few convertible crossovers on the market today. Volkswagen surprised the world with its entry into the segment, but it was a rational decision since the automaker is known for sticking to pragmatical decisions when new models are concerned.On the inside, the T-Roc Cabriolet is expected to come with the company's latest driver assistance systems, the Ready2Discover multimedia unit, and new possibilities for ordering colors and fabrics to enhance personalization opportunities. The facelift of the Volkswagen T-Roc is expected to hit the market in 2022, while its Cabriolet sibling might reach dealers up to a year later as a 2024 model-year vehicle.The T-Roc is also available in an R version , which means it gets a 2.0-liter TSI engine that provides 400 Nm (295 lb. ft.) of torque and 295 hp. All the resources available are channeled to its four wheels with the 4Motion all-wheel-drive system and its seven-speed DSG gearbox. It proves to be a quick crossover, as the T-Roc R can go from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.8 seconds, while its electronic speed limiter is set at 250 km/h (155 mph).
When it comes to commercial aviation, a decades-old ban is still preventing supersonic travel over land, mainly because of the associated "boom". NASA wants to change the status quo and, in order to do so, it needs to get official regulators to overturn the ban and, instead, establish a reasonable noise level.To get to this point, NASA started developing a supersonic research jet that drastically reduced the sonic boom. When ready, it will operate in designated areas, in order to collect community response data, which will then be used to reevaluate acceptable noise standards.This innovative jet, which could pioneer a new era of supersonic commercial flight, has an interesting build , to say the least. The 30-foot-long (9-meter) nose and total absence of windows are required for scattering shock waves, instead of allowing them to accumulate (which is what causes the sonic boom). Flying at double the speed of current commercial airplanes, it would reduce the sonic boom to only 60 db.Such an advanced aircraft naturally required the latest manufacturing technologies. Lockheed Martin used its robotic drilling system for the first time, to finish the X-59s lower wing skin. Called COBRA (Combined Operation: Bolting and Robotic AutoDrill), this system combines robotics technology and automation, for unprecedented levels of speed and accuracy.Another innovation is the Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machine, also based on robotics technology, which takes the precision of large composite skins fabrication to a whole new level.There are just some of the highly-advanced technologies used to bring the X-59 to life. The manufacturer recently shared a video showing how the single-piece wing, center fuselage and empennage have been coming together, over the past few months.The final assembly of the experimental supersonic jet will be completed later this year, when the first flight is also scheduled to take place.
If America's current COVID-19 surge continues unabated into the fall and winter, the country will likely face an even more deadly strain of the virus that could evade the current coronavirus vaccines, NIAID director Anthony Fauci told McClatchy Wednesday.

Why it matters: Fauci's comments underscore the importance of acting quickly to vaccinate the tens of millions of Americans who have not been inoculated against the virus.

The current surge in coronavirus cases nationwide is being driven by the Delta variant, which is already more contagious than the original strain of the virus.

The big picture: As the virus continues to spread due to insufficient vaccination rates, it is being given "ample" time to mutate into a more dangerous new variant in the fall and winter, Fauci said.

"[Q]uite frankly, were very lucky that the vaccines that we have now do very well against the variants  particularly against severe illness," Fauci said, emphasizing that this might not be the case with a new variant.

If another one comes along that has an equally high capability of transmitting but also is much more severe, then we could really be in trouble, he said.

People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think its only about them. But it isnt. Its about everybody else, also.

State of play: Other variants are already cropping up.
A group of the Democratic Party's most influential women met for dinner at a home in the nations capital last month to game out how to defend Vice President Kamala Harris and her chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, against a torrent of bad press.

Why it matters: It's telling that so early in the Biden-Harris administration, such powerful operatives felt compelled to try to right the vice president's ship.

Details: The host was Kiki McLean, a Democratic public affairs expert and former adviser to both Clintons.

Her guests included Harris confidant Minyon Moore; two former DNC officials, Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry; Biden adviser and leader of his outside group, Stephanie Cutter; former Hillary Clinton spokeswomen and Democratic strategists Adrienne Elrod and Karen Finney; and former Obama White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri.

included Harris confidant Minyon Moore; two former DNC officials, Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry; Biden adviser and leader of his outside group, Stephanie Cutter; former Hillary Clinton spokeswomen and Democratic strategists Adrienne Elrod and Karen Finney; and former Obama White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri. Nobody from the vice president's office was at the dinner, but Harris is attuned to her outside network of supporters. Harris' office declined to comment on the dinner.

Behind the scenes: These were old friends getting together for the first time since the pandemic began, and celebrating a Democratic president after the Trump years. But the dinner had an urgent purpose.

Harris had been hit with a series of damaging press accounts, with leaks from administration officials questioning her political judgment and describing rampant dysfunction in her office.

with a series of damaging press accounts, with leaks from administration officials questioning her political judgment and describing rampant dysfunction in her office. The operatives spent the dinner discussing how to fight back against negative perceptions, and how to help Harris boost her national media footing.

What they're saying: "The point of it was how can this group be supportive from the outside," said one person familiar with the dinner.

"It was less about how do you sort out the infrastructure [of Harris' operation], and it was more how can this group contribute to make sure that not only is her team making the most of this moment  as the first woman of color in the White House  but how can we help from the outside?"

The women discussed how they could leverage Harris' record as a prosecutor, California attorney general and U.S. senator to blunt criticisms of her performance as vice president, including her answers to questions about the border crisis.

Another source familiar with the dinner said attendees saw sexist overtones to the Harris coverage, and discussed how they could "make sure the press knows this."

familiar with the dinner said attendees saw sexist overtones to the Harris coverage, and discussed how they could "make sure the press knows this." "Many of us lived through the Clinton campaign, and want to help curb some of the gendered dynamics in press coverage that impacted HRC," this source said. "It was like: 'Weve seen this before.' Its subtle. But when things aren't going well for a male politician, we ask very different questions, and theyre not held to account the way a woman leader is.

Flashback: The stories about Harris had gotten so bad by early July that White House chief of staff Ron Klain and others forcefully defended Harris, and declared full confidence in her abilities in statements to Axios.
New Zealand's Human Rights Commission launched a national inquiry into the country's housing crisis.

Why it matters: While New Zealand is one of the world's wealthiest nations, it's an expensive place to live. Human Rights Commission chief Paul Hunt noted in a statement: "Successive governments have failed New Zealanders," resulting in a "massive human rights failure."

Driving the news: The number of homes available for sale is at a 14-year low, according to a July market report from Realestate.co.nz.

"There are now only 12,684 homes available to purchase across the country, down -34.8% compared to July 2020," the report stated.

The national average asking price "reached an all-time high at $893,794," the report notes.

What they're saying: "For many people, especially young people, the goal of an affordable, healthy, accessible home has actually become more remote. These serial governments bear a heavy responsibility for this massive human rights failure which is blighting lives and communities," Hunt said.

"The present government has made a promising start on housing, but it remains to be seen if it will do better than its predecessors and address New Zealands housing and human rights emergency.

"Based on the Guidelines, the inquiry will help ensure the government keeps its promises to everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand," he added, referring to the country's duel name in Maori and English.

The big picture: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's ruling Labour Party was re-elected in a landslide last October on the strength of her government's pandemic response and pledge to fix the housing crisis, among other policies.
The two governments are determined to develop bilateral and regional relations and cooperation, and we will move in this direction through cooperation, Raisi was quoted by his office as saying during the talks.

He also said Tehran will spare no effort to promote peace and stability in the region.

Pashinian was among foreign leaders who arrived in Tehran to attend Raisis swearing-in ceremony which was due take place in the Iranian parliament on Thursday evening.

My presence here today testifies to our commitment to deepen relations and step up cooperation between Armenia and Iran at the highest level, he told Raisi, according to an Armenian government statement. He reiterated his desire to enrich the agenda of that cooperation.

The statement said the two leaders discussed a broad range of issues relating to bilateral commercial ties. In particular, Pashinian reaffirmed his governments readiness to have Iranian companies participate in its plans to refurbish Armenian highways leading to the Islamic Republic.

The two governments set up in May a working group tasked with looking into practical aspects of such participation. The group held its first meeting in Tehran in early July and is due to meet in Yerevan later this month.

Armenian-Iranian energy projects, notably the protracted construction of a third power transmission line connecting the two countries, were also on the agenda of the talks.

We are determined to complete joint plans and projects as soon as possible, Raisi was reported to say.

The 60-year-old president is a former judge loyal to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and subject to U.S. sanctions imposed for alleged human rights abuses. He has pledged to take measures to rid the Islamic Republic of the tyrannical sanctions.

Pashinian said in May that relations with Iran are of strategic importance to Armenia. He said the Armenian-Iranian border has been vital for his countrys national security.
YSUs last rector, Aram Simonian, resigned in May 2019 under government pressure. Pashinian and his associates accused him of placing YSU under the strong influence of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia.

Critics say the post of YSU rector remains vacant because of the current governments failure to replace Simonian with a figure loyal to it.

Under Armenian law, the rectors of this and other state universities are appointed by their boards of trustees. Most board members are chosen by university faculties as well as student councils.

The YSU board was disbanded this spring due to the resignations of half of its members which were reportedly engineered by the government. That allowed the Armenian Ministry of Justice to form an ad hoc panel of three officials who named Hovannes Hovannisian the universitys caretaker rector.

Hovannisian, 41, has taught theology at YSU since 2003. Until this week he was also a senior member of Armenias former parliament affiliated with Pashinians My Step alliance.

Hovannisian insisted that he is now an apolitical and non-partisan figure as he was presented to senior YSU professors by Education Minister Vahram Dumanian on Thursday.

The university must become a real educational establishment that is free from political, partisan or any other influence, he said.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Dumanian declined to explain the choice of YSUs new acting head. What is it that you dont like?  What is your problem? the minister said.

This is a political decision that runs counter to democratic principles, said Menua Soghomonian, one of the YSU professors who have challenged the government in recent months.

Soghomonian argued that Hovannisian was one of the authors of a controversial government bill passed by the National Assembly in March.

The bill strongly opposed by the YSU faculty would empower the government to appoint most members of the university boards.

In a ruling handed down on Monday, the Constitutional Court declared the bill unconstitutional. The court cited an article of the Armenian constitution which entitles state-funded colleges to a high degree of autonomy.

Pashinian and his associates, among them young scholars, pledged to give universities more freedom from the government after they swept to power in 2018.
A statement released by the ministry said that Russian border guards have been deployed in and around Voskepar, a border village in Armenias northern Tavush province. It said barracks and other facilities are now being constructed for them.

The process is carried out within the framework of Russian-Armenian cooperation, added the statement.

Earlier in the day Hetq.am posted a short video of a Russian flag flying on a two-story building in the area refurbished by construction workers. The news service described the building as a Russian border guard post.

Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, already deployed army soldiers and border guards in southeastern Syunik province late last year to defend it against possible Azerbaijani attacks. Syunik borders districts southwest of Karabakh which were retaken by Azerbaijan during last years war.

Tensions rose late last month at border sections separating another Armenian province, Gegharkunik, from the Kelbajar district handed back to Azerbaijan after the six-week war. Three Armenian soldiers were killed and four others wounded there on July 28 in fighting with Azerbaijani forces.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian proposed on July 29 that Russian border guards be deployed along the entire Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Russian officials responded coolly to the idea.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Bikantov, said on Thursday that further Russian deployments are complicated by the fact that the frontier is not demarcated.

We believe that only the immediate start of work on delimiting and subsequently demarcating the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan can ensure a steady de-escalation on the border, Bikantov told a briefing in Moscow.

Moscow drafted in May an agreement on the creation of an Armenian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission on border demarcation. The move sparked Armenian opposition allegations that Pashinian has secretly agreed to major chunks of Armenian territory to Azerbaijan. The prime minister categorically denied that.

Voskepar is adjacent to one of several small enclaves inside Armenia which were controlled by Azerbaijan in Soviet times. Baku reportedly wants to regain control over them.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- The Arizona Biltmore Resort recently underwent a $70 million renovation, but was keen on keeping its history intact and even built upon it. Among the renovations, resort leaders decided to pay homage to legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who had a profound impact on a multitude of developments across the country and around Phoenix.

At the heart and center is The Spire Bar, the new focal point of the resort. Much of the resort and its renovations were designed to showcase Wright's iconic style and innovation. The 36-foot spire at the center of the bar stands to honor Wright, highlighting his affinity for spires. Wright's spire design for the Arizona State Capitol building was even rejected for being too elaborate back in the day.

The Spire Bar will be open daily from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. and its menu features quite a few snack-ables, flatbreads, sweet treats, desert-infused cocktails and more! The Arizona Biltmore Resort is also home to Renata's Hearth, a restaurant utilizing smoke and fire to serve up Latin-inspired dishes, and Frank & Albert's, a classic American gastropub.

IF YOU GO:

2400 E. Missouri Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85016

Good Morning Arizona checks out The Spire Bar
TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - Caseworker Linda Zuniga does her best to help every renter that calls into the Tempe Community Action Agency, but the number of tenants in need continues to grow. "They're very scared. They don't want to face eviction because they have nowhere to go," said Zuniga. "Some tell us if we get evicted - we are going to be living in our car."

Arizona tenants are a bit confused right now after the federal government lifted its ban on evictions Saturday. On Tuesday, the eviction moratorium was extended another 60 days for anyone behind on their rent and living in a COVID-19 hot spot. All of Arizona qualifies for the extension.

Juliet Armstrong-Starkey is senior director of operations with the Tempe Community Action Agency. She said extending the moratorium on evictions will give tenants more time to apply and receive federal rental assistance as landlords look for creative ways to kick non-paying tenants out. "Some landlords will find ways to move people along and evict even though it may not be rent-related," said Armstrong-Starkey. "It may be because they left their trash out too long."

Courtney Gilstrap-LeVinus is president of the Arizona Multi-Housing Association, which represents hundreds of property owners around the state. She said one of the biggest problems is how slowly financial aid for renters is being rolled out. This year alone, state and local agencies have received $920 million in emergency rental assistance from the federal government, yet, only $87 million has been distributed.

That's also having a significant impact on landlords struggling to pay their bills, as well. "They're also paying their mortgage. They're paying insurance. They are in many cases paying for property management and maintenance and A/C repair, property taxes, you name it," said Gilstrap-LeVinus. "They are paying for all of these expenses, yet they don't have any income and don't have any federal assistance."

In Arizona, landlords have lost roughly $500 million in unpaid rent since the pandemic started, according to the AMA. Landlord advocates believe extending the ban on evictions another two months will do more harm than good. "Rental property owners feel like the latest extension is unacceptable and unconstitutional," said Gilstrap-LeVinus.

For more information on rental assistance, visit https://www.maricopa.gov/5691/Emergency-Rental-Assistance or www.tempeaction.org.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a civil rights investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark says the investigation will see if the department engages in discriminatory policing, if it engages in retaliation for First Amendment acts and if it illegally disposes of homeless people's belongings. It will also examine all use of forces by officers, including deadly force.

State of policing: Phoenix-area departments face recruiting challenges The hope is to recruit the very people who want to change the system from all different fields and walks of life, to join them in being the change to answer the call to serve.

DOJ officials informed Mayor Kate Gallego, Police Chief Jeri Williams and other city officials before the announcement was made, according to a news release. The probe is expected to also look into the City of Phoenix's and Phoenix police's system for responding to people with disabilities. A comprehensive review of Phoenix police's policies, training, supervision and force investigations is also anticipated.

When we conduct pattern or practice investigations to determine whether the Constitution or federal law has been violated, our aim is to promote transparency and accountability, said Garland. This increases public trust, which in turn increases public safety. We know that law enforcement shares these goals."

In a statement, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association says it will fully cooperate with federal investigators, saying that it works to maintain a high standard of community policing while promoting ethical policies. "We are confident in the work of the Phoenix Police Department and our officers on the street," said the union's president, Michael Britt London.

Mayor Gallego said in a statement that she welcomed the investigation, say in part that her administration values public safety reform and is working to improve community services for those undergoing homelessness. "The recommendations that will result from this review will assist us in our ongoing efforts to become an even safer, stronger, more equitable city," she said in part.

Vice Mayor Carlos Garcia echoed the mayor's sentiment, adding the federal government's investigation demonstrates a "clear message" that the Phoenix Police Department is "unfit to serve our community and further validates the violence and mistrust that our community has been experiencing." He is an outspoken advocate of police reform and said for as long as the department has been active, theyve investigated themselves.

There is this culture of impunity officers feel like they can do things and get away with it, because either their union PLEA is backing them up, said Garcia.

But he said a need for a deeper dive into what goes on behind the scenes has been something past City Council members and city leaders have pushed for since the early 1990s. Weve seen rape charges, weve seen people beat up and so its not been one isolated incident but a compilation thats lead us to this point, said Garcia.

Meanwhile, retired police commander Dr. Jeff Hynes, who was with Phoenix police for 32 years, said the probe will finally show a need for more resources. This is something as a community not to be afraid of but to embrace. We are going to be one of the leading agencies to see how are we doing with in the area mental health, homelessness dealing with protests, said Dr. Hynes.

In May, Vice Mayor Garcia helped form the Office of Accountability and Transparency-- investigating claims of police misconduct and officer-involved shootings. Dr. Hynes believes the probe will only push the department ahead of the curve when it comes to social issues. Its going to put Phoenix on the platform for examination and we welcome it, said Dr. Hynes.

The ACLU of Arizona responded to today's announcement by stating that there is a need for fundamental change in the department and citing its legal actions evidence for a complete overhaul of the department. "This is not a case of a few bad apples," the nonprofit said. "Phoenix PD has deep-rooted, systemic problems with the way it treats community members. Its time for this to change."

In 2020, Arizona's Family analyzed nearly ten thousands incidents where Phoenix police officers used force during an encounter with a suspect or subject. The analysis revealed that African Americans account for a disproportionately higher number of violent encounters with police. Watch the full story from Morgan Lowe here.

Chief Williams: "Wearing a badge is a privilege, not a right"

Chief Williams said she has embraced the investigation with open arms, saying it will allow the department to demonstrate its commitment to transparency. "Our police department, like any entity on the face of this planet, has room for improvement. We welcome that," Williams said. During a news conference held Thursday afternoon, the police chief said she was informed ahead of the time of the DOJ's announcement.

Watch the full press conference held by City of Phoenix officials and the Phoenix Police Department in the video player below:

After nationwide protests were sparked following the murder of George Floyd, several reforms were made by Arizona police agencies, including the Phoenix Police Department. Among them, curriculum approved by Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board adds 10 hours of firearms training dedicated to de-escalation. The Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, approved by the Phoenix City Council earlier this year would allow for independent reviews of the Phoenix police's actions.

Other adjustments made by the department include:

Carotid control technique is no longer authorized

Adjusted mandate for shooting at moving vehicles

Added duty to intervene

Added duty to render aid

All line officers wear body cameras

Department tracks how often officers draw weapons

New city website for data on officer-involved shootings

Building Office of Accountability and Transparency

Releasing critical incident videos to public

Several of those changes were made after more than a dozen unarmed protesters were accused of being part of a street gang as Black Lives Matter demonstrations descended upon the city following Floyd's death. However, a grand jury testimony had compared the group to violent Southern California gangs. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office later dropped the charges.

In 2017, the department was widely criticized after reports surfaced about a "challenge coin" that was allegedly issued during a round of protests during the summer. At the time, some members of the police department were believed to have circulated the coin, which was also believed to contain hate speech.

The probe is expected to last about a year, according to Williams. Neither Phoenix police nor the city revealed if any of the department's specific actions prompted an investigation.
Should wealthy nations forgo boosters until COVID-19 vaccination improves worldwide? WHO says yes
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Bluefield, WV (24701)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 85F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Meteor Showers and Bright Planets for Washington / Oregon Coast

Published 08/01/21 at 1:15 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Manzanita, Oregon)  Two major astronomical sights will be visible along the Washington and Oregon coast in August  albeit dependent on cloud conditions.

One happens in a week and a half, but one may or may not be visible from the coastlines tonight, August 1.

The added bonus to all this is if you head out onto the beaches at night this summer, you may get to also glimpse glowing sand or glowing waves.

According to Jim Todd of Portland's OMSI, right about now is perfect to look low in the southeast an hour or two after sunset. The planet Saturn will reach opposition from us and thus will be fully illuminated by the sun. However, it may be more visible from inland places: coastal hills or mountains often block views to the east.

Then 18 days later, Jupiter will reach opposition on Thursday, August 19.

In either case, both planets remain visible throughout the summer.

The biggest news for the skies of the Washington and Oregon coastlines is the Perseid meteor shower, however. They've already started back on July 17, but they peak on August 11, 12 and 13 this year. It goes all the way through August 26.

Luckily, the moon will be waxing at that point, Todd said, at a 13 percent crescent. However, it won't set until late evening hours.

Still might see up to 40 to 50 meteors per hour at the shower's peak, Todd said. The Perseids are one of the brighter meteor showers of the year.

Even in the early days of August they'll be visible, slowly picking up steam.

Made of tiny space debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus, Todd said. This is because the direction, or radiant, from which the shower seems to come in the sky lies in the same direction as Perseus.

Todd said you could possibly be able to see 60 to 100 meteors per hour if you're in a dark enough place.

Todd said August 12 will be your best chance to spot more of them, but of course that means skies must be clear. On August 11 past midnight into the 12th, the Earth will be closest to the core of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. However, the peak is over three nights, so your chances are still sizable throughout those evenings. Most of the flying sparkles will appear to be coming from within 50 degrees of the radiant, which is between Perseus and Cassiopeia.

The further you watch from August 12, the weaker the display will be, Todd said. Start watching on the evening of the 12th as soon as it darkens and the radiant near the Double Cluster in Perseus clears the horizon after midnight.

Every year, our planet passes through debris left by comets in our solar system. The result is a flurry of shooting stars: small chunks of interplanetary rock and debris called meteoroids that crash and burn up high in earth's upper atmosphere. They rocket through at thousands of miles per hour and catch fire because of friction with the atmosphere, usually about 30 to 80 miles above the ground.

Most are destroyed during entry; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites, Todd said.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is the most well-known of them.

Depending on where earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky known as the radiant, Todd said.

Dark places will be prime, of course. The remote beaches of the Olympic peninsula and northern Washington coast will be especially devoid of light, as well as any spot outside of a town along the southern Oregon coast, such as Ariya's Beach or the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor. On the north Oregon coast, high vantage points away from lights will be exceptional, such as Cape Foulweather near Depoe Bay or the Neakhanie overlooks at Manzanita.

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From Wartime to Playtime: Two Wildly Different Historic Spots on Oregon Coast

Published 07/30/21 at 5:55 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Warrenton, Oregon)  History echoes down the ages with all sorts of interesting tales along the Oregon coast, but not always in ways that you can still walk upon in the present. Much has been erased by time. Buildings get lost to the past and the bulldozer. (Above: one of the guns at Battery Russell in the early part of the century)

Yet two Oregon coast hotspots still resonate with the last century or so: one sits on the north coast and the other on the central coast.

The Astoria / Warrenton area is one of those where the past completely surrounds, even in parts of Warrenton. Such as at Fort Stevens State Park, which is a serious exercise in time travel if there ever was one.

Here, enormous gunneries once guarded the mouth of the Columbia River, lodged in huge turrets which rested in sprawling concrete fortresses - all empty and abandoned now, with gaping holes like sad, hollow eyes, where guns, officers' quarters and other war machinery once sat.

At the center of this is Battery Russell and its enormous concrete bunkers. Built around the turn of the last century, the gunnery eventually watched for invaders during World War II. There are other gunneries as well - all perfect for rainy days when you don't mind getting a little wet while darting in and out of these castle ruin-like structures.

The park also features that sprawling jetty that reaches out into the mouth of the Columbia River. It has a back story: it and the other jetty to the north so drastically altered the sand distribution of the region that it created about an extra mile of shoreline to Fort Stevens and turned Seaside from a slightly rocky beach into that 1000-foot chunk of sand.

Then there's the wreck of the Peter Iredale, one of the world's most photographed shipwrecks.

Another fascinating bit of history: this was just about the only place in the continental U.S. to get fired upon by a foreign power during World War II, when a Japanese sub lobbed shells at the area in the middle of the night. It knocked out a power line and nearly hit the old shipwreck, but aside from that nothing came of the almost-battle.



Nye Beach's Promenade area in the '30s - photo courtesy Lincoln County Historical Society

On the central Oregon coast, Nye Beach is a tiny section of Newport that is more than a quaint place: it's mesmerizing with its beauty and its architecture of old town America mixed with old Europe. It is a fusion of time periods. While some of the old buildings by the Turnaround are still there from 100 years ago or so, it was a massive refurbishing of the district around 2000 that gave it the lanterns and brick streets, catapulting the vibe into high gear.

In turn, many newer buildings were constructed with a historic, vintage look, though they're actually quite recent.

There was once a whole promenade at the Turnaround as well, like Seaside's, but much smaller. Nothing is left of that, however.

Once known as the Honeymoon Capital of the World in the early part of the last century, Newport boasted a hot salt water bath known as a natatorium  a popular feature along the Oregon coast at that time. Back then, it was a separate community from Newport connected only by a muddy road with wooden planks to assist driving.

Down on the beach, after parking at the charming turnaround, you'll find a long, sandy stretch in either direction that's highlighted by nooks and crannies in the cliffs, as well as the interesting remnant of Jump-Off Joe to the north. Above the structure sit the crusty remnants of a condo once naively built on this shaky sandstone foundation back in the early 80s. It faltered and began crumbling just weeks before its completion.

History has been repeating itself, with more and more of Jump-Off Joe disappearing over the decades, until finally this past year the entire condo area became unstable and unusafe.

To the south, there's the Vietnam vet memorial, which features a walkway meandering up into the cliff. It's lit up at night by a host of lights embedded near the floor, with various benches along the way, perfect for that midnight smooch session as the huge, Yaquina Head Lighthouse blinks in the distance, another bit of history looming over the beach.

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Congratulations are in order for two Houston TV journalists who just got engaged.

Steven Romo, a news anchor and reporter for ABC13, recently came out and announced his engagement to Fox 26 weatherman Stephen Morgan in an Instagram post.

"I grew up with secrets. My family fought together to hide that we lived in a house full of garbage with a horde of dogs," Romo wrote. The anchor previously wrote about his difficult childhood for HuffPost. "But what they didnt know, and was arguably even more difficult, was that I had a secret to carry all on my own: I was gay and trying with all my heart not to be.

"Before I met Stephen Morgan, I thought maybe this kind of love just wasnt in the cards for me. That it was a journey Id never take," Romo wrote. "But now Im the happiest Ive ever been. In my whole life. And Ill soon be moving to New York City with the person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Morgan posted the same photo on his Instagram account on the same day, also discussing his experience growing up knowing he was gay.

"I often think about one specific prayer I said as a 10-year-old, asking God to keep a secret between the two of us," Morgan wrote. "Obviously, God knows everything, so it wasnt like I could hide it from Him. But I could hide it from [most] of my friendsfrom my family."

How relieving, though, that the truth eventually comes out. I never dreamed of uttering the words Im engaged, but I also never dreamed of being so happy. Yet here we are. Im engaged. Im going to marry Steven Romo."

Morgan recently announced that he was leaving Fox 26 to work with Fox Weather in New York City.
MILAN (AP)  Italy has won a legal victory in its bid to reclaim an ancient marble statue it asserted was stolen after it turned up in the possession of a New York antiquities dealer.

A U.S. district court in New York on Monday threw out a suit seeking to lift Italy's immunity brought by the Safani Gallery, which paid $152,625 in 2017 for the sculpture depicting the head of Alexander the Great dating Augustan Age of 300 B.C.

The judge rebuffed several attempts by the gallery to argue that Italys behavior had forfeited its protection under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

The case pits Italy's patrimony law, designed to protect its considerable cultural heritage, against Safani's claims of being a just and bona fide buyer of a statue that had long been on the art market.

The statue remains in the possession of the Manhattan district attorney's office, which seized it in February 2018 after an Italian cultural official spotted the gallery's listing and Italy claimed it had been stolen.

Italys art squad, a section of the paramilitary carabinieri dedicated to protecting Italys cultural heritage, declined to comment on the case. The Culture Ministry also did not respond to requests for comment.

Leila Amineddoleh, who represented Italy, said the ruling sends a strong message to auction houses and dealers who want to weaken sovereign countries' attempts to reclaim cultural patrimony that finds its way onto the art market.

She said it was the third case in recent years that involved dealers attempting to sue foreign governments for communicating about suspicious items. "All three have been dismissed,'' she said.

In its suit, the Safani Gallery claimed to have investigated the heads provenance, and came to believe that the head was neither stolen property nor otherwise subject to anothers claim of rightful ownership.

David Schoen, who represents the Safani Gallery, said that his client is a bona fide, good-faith purchaser" and that the district attorney's office had said in a court document that the gallery's due diligence serves as a model.

Schoen said Italy previously had never made any claim that the piece had been stolen, noting that the statue had been widely advertised and displayed for decades at fairs and auctions attended by Italian authorities.

The lawyer said he will submit an amended complaint, and if necessary appeal.

Schoen said that Italy, by claiming the statue had been stolen and seeking its return through U.S. law enforcement, was avoiding going to court to determine who owns lawful title to the piece.

That should trouble every honest American citizen  dealer or collector  based on the facts of this case, he said.

If Italy was determined to be the owner in a court case, then the Safani Gallery would be entitled to just compensation under international conventions, Schoen said.

According to a court filing, the marble antiquity was unearthed at the Roman Forum during a state-sponsored excavation and moved to the Antiquarium Forense museum before being listed as lost in 1960.

At issue in the case is the date of excavation  whether it was before Italy's patrimony law protecting cultural heritage was enacted and applied, or after.

The gallerys suit argued, in part, that the district attorneys office in seizing the statue was acting as Italys agent, which would have forfeited Italy's immunity as it acted without proof the statue was stolen. But the court said there was no evidence Italy controlled the actions of the DAs office.

Indeed, Italys relationship to the DAs office is analogous to someone who reports a crime, or that something was stolen from them, the judge wrote.

In a similar suit, Amineddoleh also represented Greece, which was sued by Sothebys after it asked the auction house to withdraw an 8th century Corinthian bronze horse from an auction where it was valued at up to $250,000. Sothebys claimed Greece was acting as a commercial entity by trying to stop the sale and thus not protected from lawsuits.

Greece lost in 2019, but won on appeal.

An appeals court said no, Greece was acting in furtherance of its patrimony law, Amineddoleh said, referring to a law to protect its antiquities from being stolen and trafficked.
When Doris Duke, a fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heiress, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, Rhode Island, mansion in 1966, police took her at her word that it was an accident.

But the story of the killing at Dukes Rough Point estate, which has resonated in the seaside tourist mecca, is being challenged by a witness  the paperboy.

Bob Walker, a Marine Corps veteran, says he was there the day Duke killed 42-year-old Eduardo Tirella, driving into him twice with a 2-ton station wagon as he screamed below it.

Peter Lance, an author and journalist whose meticulously researched book, Homicide at Rough Point, investigated the killing and recently interviewed Walker, who was 13 years old in 1966.

This is one of those stories that is still talked about in Newport, said Lance, a city native who got his first reporting job at The Newport Daily News several months after Tirellas death. I read a Facebook page for Newport residents and every three or four months someone brings this up.

Walker, now 68, says in a video interview with Lance released Thursday by Vanity Fair that he never went to police to tell them what he saw that day on the advice of his father, who feared for his sons life. The older man warned his son that Duke was a rotten person who had some people on her payroll who were very unscrupulous.

Duke inherited her money from her father, James Duke, president of the American Tobacco Co. and co-founder of the company known today as Duke Energy. Duke University in North Carolina is named for her family.

After reading Lances book, Walker last month went to police to give investigators his account of events, which he had only previously shared with a small circle of family and friends, and in response, local police are reexamining the case even though Duke died in 1993.

The Newport Police Department would like to look further into this (due to the new information weve been given), and rectify any possible misinformation concluded in the past, if any, for Eduardo and his family," Detective Jacque Wuest, who has been assigned to reopen the case, said in an email Thursday.

Walker, who was on his bike delivering The Newport Daily News, told Lance he first heard two people obviously arguing and screaming at each other.

And the next thing I heard was the roar of a motor, the crash, the screaming of a man, ever so slight skidding sound and deacceleration of the motor, a pause in the screaming, a man beginning to scream again, the roar of the motor again, the mans scream turning to horror of Nooooooo! and then another crash, he said.

When he came on the scene, he said he saw Duke get out of a car and move her body to block his view. He asked her if she wanted any help and if she wanted him to call police, and he said she screamed at him to leave.

Tirella had worked as a designer for Duke for several years. On the day of the death, the pair were taking the station wagon to look at an artifact, according to Lances book. But Duke was allegedly furious at Tirella for telling her that he was leaving her to become a set designer in Hollywood.

Police conducted a brief interview with Duke several days later at which point investigators took her at her word.

She said Tirella was driving but had gotten out of the car to open the estates massive wrought-iron gates, so she got behind the steering wheel to drive through the gates. She told police the car suddenly leaped forward. The police report said Tirella was crushed against the gates.

But thats not what Walker heard. He said he distinctly heard two impacts. And his recollection of events matched a police investigator who concluded that Duke struck Tirella once, sending him onto the hood of the car, then when he fell off, accelerated again and ran him over. The car ended up careening across the street where it struck a fence and tree.

Walker, in a telephone interview, said he never bought the official account of the death and went to police as a civic duty.

The narrative that was accepted by the cops was not the narrative that I remembered, he said.
A family dog will return back to Canada after getting lost in a fiery crash near Percival, Iowa.

Ray Kornelsen said he was driving a semi-truck from Canada to Texas when he made a stop in Iowa on Aug. 2. He said he collided with another semi-truck on Highway 2, and the truck caught fire. While trying to escape, Ray said he tossed his beloved dog, Dobby, out of the cab. In the chaos, he couldn't find Dobby and had to go back to Canada alone.

"Just to be happy to be alive," Ray Kornelsen said. "{I am} appreciative for that."

But his wife, Sacha, and his kids were stilled worried about Dobby.



"And in the meantime, my sister is putting out all the stuff for Dobby, and we're making phone calls to the rescues," Sacha Kornelsen said.



Over the course of two days, communities from Nebraska and Iowa searched high and low to find Dobby. Tessa Schoville and her mom were among dozens who searched for Dobby near Percival.

"My mom calls me at 5:55 in the morning, and we started driving down here and we see Dobby in the Sapp Brothers," Schoville said. "So we stop and we were like saying her name."



Tessa spotted Dobby near a storage unit, frightened and covered with ticks.

"I told her to stay, and when I got in there she started to run away from me," Tessa said. "I said, 'Dobby, here' and she came to me and I told her to sit and I got the leash around her."



Tessa said she and her mom jumped for joy.

"It felt like a weight was lifted from our chests, because it was scary not knowing that she wasn't home with her family," Tessa said.

An emergency medical technician is taking care of Dobby for now, and Ray plans to bring her home. Ray and Sacha said they're grateful for everyone's help.

"If I could've cross the border you know from Canada I would be out there, but we couldn't and so we depended on you guys as a community," Sacha Kornelsen said.


Criminal court jury trials are being postponed in Jefferson County due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judge Raquel West on Wednesday confirmed that the 252nd District Court, the Criminal District Court presided over by John Stevens, two misdemeanor courts and drug court have suspended jury trials for the month of August.

We are still doing everything that we were, other than having juries come, West said.

The criminal court will still have regular and virtual dockets. Cases that are on bond, as of now, are still going to the court house and court room. West said those cases are scheduled throughout the day to allow more social distancing and cleaning

Information about civil courts was not immediately available due to press time. The courts still have juries set for the rest of the year.

We have them coming in September and we will just reevaluate when it gets maybe a week or two out from those at the end of the month and see where we are here in Jefferson County, West said.

At that time, West said the court officials would reach out to county health officials for a recommendation and go from there.

Since courts returned to having jury trials in March, she has had at least six jury trials and has not had attendance issues.

We really were having a really good turn out, she said. We had some no shows, but nothing substantial that caused us to where we couldnt go forward. We were really pleasantly surprised that people were showing up and I think part of that was because we were picking juries in a different location, down in the big room, so that everybody socially distanced and making accommodations.

We really were not having those issues, but I think with the spike now we were concerned that we would, and we dont want to put anybody in a bad position where they are not comfortable or safe, West said.

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Bedford, PA (15522)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 93F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Rohingya men who were intercepted as they tried to leave refugee camps in Coxs Bazar are detained at a government building in Ramu, Bangladesh, July 26, 2021

Rohingya refugees are increasingly slipping through barbed wire-topped fences that surround their camps in southeastern Bangladesh in search of work, domestically or abroad, officials said Thursday.

Police said 437 Rohingya had been detained since July 7 after leaving their camps in Coxs Bazar, while some told BenarNews that they needed to find work because humanitarian relief was barely enough to live on. Bangladeshi authorities prohibit the refugees from seeking employment outside their camps and settlements in the district.

In a bid to enforce strict lockdown, we set up checkpoints at different places of Ramu upazila [sub-district]. Almost every day, Rohingya people are intercepted, Pranay Chakma, chief of Ramu, an upazila or sub-district in Coxs Bazar, told BenarNews on Thursday. They are residents of the camps in Ukhia and Teknaf.

About 1 million Rohingya are sheltering in Coxs Bazar, including more than 740,000 who fled from Myanmars Rakhine state following a military crackdown there nearly four years ago.

Coxs Bazar district police records show officers arrested and intercepted nearly 59,000 Rohingya attempting to flee the camps between August 2017, when the mass exodus from Myanmar began, and December 2020.

More recently, district police reported that security personnel intercepted 33 Rohingya on Wednesday and 64 on Thursday.

They very often flee. Now, we can catch them because of the checkpoints. The interception hints that possibly the Rohingya trend of deserting camps has increased, Chakma said.

The Rohingya escapees do not move in a group; rather they cross the checkpoints individually, he said.

Md. Hasanuzzaman, superintendent of police for Coxs Bazar district, said officers set up five checkpoints around the area.

When we catch Rohingya we send them back to the camps after interception, he told BenarNews.

Bored with eating the same food

A BenarNews correspondent who lives in the southeastern border region spoke to Rohingya who were caught trying to leave their camps.

Mahmudur Rahman, 35, a resident of Kutupalong Camp 2 in Ukhia, said he wanted to help his family.

The World Food Program provides us rice, lentils, edible oil, salt and other foodstuffs. We are bored with eating the same food, he told BenarNews.

The children often ask for fish and meat, but we do not have money. So we go outside the camp for work for cash to buy that.

Another refugee Nur Mohammad, 30, told BenarNews that he was heading to a nearby sub-district to find work.

Many Rohingya get out of the camps for menial work at farms and brick kilns there. We also work as day laborers, he said.

Detained Rohingya are under supervision at Ramu in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, as they wait to be returned to their refugee camps, Aug. 5, 2021. [BenarNews]

Locals, meanwhile, accused the Rohingya of taking jobs meant for Bangladeshis.

We have given them shelter on humanitarian ground. But within years, the refugees have become a threat to the local people. Many local people were killed by the Rohingya, said Mahmudul Haque Chowdhury, the founder of Rohingya Repatriation and Prevention Committee, a local group demanding immediate repatriation of the Rohingya.

The government erected barbed wire fencing around the camps to stop their movement but they have been fleeing the camps. This is a big threat for the host community, he told BenarNews.

An official with another anti-Rohingya group made similar complaints about the refugees.

Not only they have been exploiting the local job opportunities, they have been venturing to go to Malaysia by sea, Ayachhur Rahman, general secretary of Save Coxs Bazar Movement, told BenarNews.

With the connivance of some local elected representatives and public servants, they have been collecting fake national identity cards and Bangladeshi passports to go to the Middle Eastern countries, he said.

Md. Alam, president of the Ramu unit of the Citizens for Good Governance, called on authorities to stop Rohingya from leaving their camps.

In response, an additional superintendent in charge of policing at 11 camps, said efforts to control Rohingya movements were difficult.

[M]any Rohingya cut the barbed wire fence and create new passages to get out of the camps, Khandakar Ashfaquzzaman told BenarNews. We immediately seal the passages whenever we trace them.

Unless the job opportunities in local areas are stopped, the Rohingya will continue to get leave the camps, he said.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) listens as Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi talks to reporters after their meeting at the State Department in Washington, Aug. 3, 2021.

Indonesias top diplomat on Thursday signaled the start of a new era in ties between Southeast Asias largest country and the United States, as she wrapped up a visit to Washington.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi welcomed Washingtons increased engagement in Southeast Asia during a meeting earlier this week with her counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The two met at the State Department as the American diplomat engaged foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during various meetings over the course of five days this week. The United States is looking to the ASEAN member-states for support toward a free and open Indo-Pacific amid Chinas increasing expansionism in the contested South China Sea.

Indonesia and the U.S. are entering a new era of bilateral relations.  Indonesias hope is this  engagement will contribute to the creation of peace, stability and prosperity in the [Southeast Asian] region, Retno said in a videotaped statement issued by her ministry and posted on its YouTube channel.

Blinken and Retno also emphasized the growing importance of the Indonesia-U.S. partnership and its contribution to a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Tuesday.

The leaders committed to working together in the fight against the global pandemic, fighting the climate crisis, boosting bilateral trade and economic ties, [and] defending freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Price said.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesias EEZ as well.

Jakarta has intensified sea patrols in recent years after Chinese fishing boats, escorted by China Coast Guard ships, sailed into Jakartas EEZ off the Natuna Islands, Indonesias name for its waters at the southern end of the South China Sea.

Retno and Blinken met as their countries were holding the largest-ever joint-training between their armies, as more than 4,500 soldiers converged on Indonesian islands for the first live Garuda Shield exercise since 2019.

Garuda Shield focuses on strengthening bilateral relationships and demonstrating U.S. resolve to support the security interests of friends and allies in the region, the Pentagon had said late last month.

Dont see anything new

In addition to helping with military training, Washington is assisting Indonesia  and the wider Southeast Asian region  with pandemic aid.

Earlier, this week, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan informed Retno that Washington would provide Jakarta an additional $30 million in COVID-19 assistance, bringing the total U.S. assistance to Indonesia since the start of the pandemic to more than $65 million.

The U.S. has also given Indonesia 8 million doses of coronavirus vaccines so far.

Still, Indonesia is unlikely to enter an alliance with the U.S. because of its non-aligned foreign policy doctrine, said Yohanes Sulaiman, an international relations lecturer at Jenderal Achmad Yani University in Cimahi.

The U.S. wants to court Indonesia especially in the face of Chinas growing aggressiveness, but Indonesia balks at this, because of its free and active foreign policy and domestic pressure, he told BenarNews.

Indonesia doesnt want the situation [in the South China Sea] to escalate, but doesnt want to get too involved either because it has little power. On the other hand, we cant take a tough stance on China because we need their money.

While not the largest investor in Indonesia, Chinas spending in the Southeast Asian country has consistently grown, nearly doubling to U.S. $4.8 billion in 2020 from $2.4 billion in 2017.

Despite the strategic dialogue, ties between Indonesia and the United States would remain business as usual, Yohanes said.

Other than a reaffirmation of strong Indonesia-U.S. relations, theres not much in it, he said. Unless Indonesia suddenly upgrades military ties with the U.S. to become a semi-ally, I wont consider it a new era. I dont see anything new.
Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam (seated) and her father, Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab, read comments posted about her online, at their home in Selangor, Malaysia, May 9, 2021.

Malaysian police have summoned a teenage girl who made international headlines in April for complaining on TikTok about a teacher who allegedly made a rape joke in class, after the teacher filed a police report against the student, her father said on Thursday.

The teacher is also suing Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, 17, for defamation, and demanding 1 million ringgit (U.S. $237,000) in compensation, her father said. Although Ain had never publicly named the teacher, she had filed a police report about him.

The prosecutor in charge of the teachers case had concluded it required no further action, Shafaaton Abu Bakar, the police chief of Sungai Buloh district in Selangor, told BenarNews earlier on Thursday but declined to give information on what was in the police report lodged against the teenager.

Theres a report lodged against me and Ain by the Physical Education teacher. We will go there tomorrow at 5 p.m., Saiful Nizam told BenarNews.

Ain and her father, Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab, will be accompanied by their lawyer, and Members of Parliament Maria Chin and Teresa Kok, who are supporting the family in the case.

Pray that all matters are eased, Saiful Nizam said.

He said he could not comment on details of the report filed against them on the matter because police had not informed them about it.

Officials at the Ministry of Education and the headmistress of the school, where the rape joke was allegedly made, did not immediately return calls from BenarNews.

Tashny Sukumaran, a gender equality expert and analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia, said that when a prosecutor says no further action on a case, it is not a sign that an offense did not take place.

I myself have filed a sexual harassment report previously and it too was declared as NFA due to insufficient evidence. Therefore, it should not be taken as a declaration of innocence, Tashny told BenarNews.

Parliamentarian Chin said police action was not the way to deal with the issue. Instead, the matter should be resolved by the Ministry of Education and the school, who should take action against the teacher, she said.

The school and the ministry have to be taken to task  Stop harassing Ain and her family, the whole family is suffering from this, Chin told BenarNews.

You cannot have a teacher saying things like that in school. What kind of message are we giving the children?

BenarNews video interview with Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam [April 2021]

Will not submit to their demands

Meanwhile, Ain and her father said that they had received a notice of claim from the teachers lawyer on Wednesday demanding a response within a week.

They named Ain, me and wife as respondents, Saiful Nizam said. I am still discussing with my lawyer. For sure, we will not submit to their demands and we will proceed with court action after seven days.

On April 24, Ain, who is a senior in high school, became a household name after she posted a video on TikTok alleging that a teacher made sexually charged jokes in a physical education class.

In the TikTok video Ain quoted her teacher as saying: If you want to rape someone, do not rape those below 18 years old, rape those above 18 years old.

The teacher, a man, made the comment as a class on health education was discussing laws protecting minors from sexual harassment, Ain alleged.

Ains video went viral, igniting a nationwide debate on sex education and institutional misogyny, with many girls raising their voices over similar incidents. But many people criticized her, too.

Many told Ain they feared being shut out by their schoolmates if they complained, she said. Some said they did report sexist incidents but no action was taken, Ain said.

Then Ain, too, began to be ostracized by her schoolmates after she filed a police report about her teacher.

Her parents decided to move her to a new school.

The teacher was reassigned to a state education department while his case was being investigated, local media had reported, but where he is currently is not known.

Gender equality expert Tashny called the teachers civil and criminal legal action against Ain a form of intimidation against sexual harassment whistleblowers.

Criminal defamation as a response to sexual harassment complaints should not be permitted given the lacunae of laws protecting sexual harassment complaints. We need provisions in law to protect complainants, she said.

If not, it will always be a situation where a survivors report is declared as no further action by prosecutors and the perpetrator is able to unfairly retaliate.
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The 1966 death of a longtime employee of wealthy tobacco and power company heiress Doris Duke is coming under renewed scrutiny because of an eyewitness account that has never before been made public
A justice on the Vermont Supreme Court has been nominated to a seat on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Two men have sued a Rhode Island mayor they allege violated their First Amendment Rights by deleting critical posts they made on her Facebook page and then banning them entirely
During a White House briefing on Thursday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said we are seeing increases in cases and hospitalizations in all age groups.
The Lee Select Board on Tuesday discusses the next steps for hiring a new town administrator to succeed Lee/Lenox Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Ketchen, whose last day working for Lee is Sept. 26.
It has to be known what was done to us: Couple who met in Berkshires harassed by eBay tell their story for the first time
A Housatonic residents tap water ranges from shades of light to dark yellow. Water quality issues in the Housatonic Water Works system have been a concern for years. The town is reviewing engineering reports for what to do next.
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Lisa Mitchell is an editor for Berks-Mont Newspapers, covering news and events in the Northeast Berks County area.
Angela Bassett is poised to make history as the highest paid actress of color on television.

According to Deadline, Bassett is renegotiating her contract for Foxs flagship series 9-1-1. The 62-year-old will earn north of $450,000 an episode. This could possibly be the highest salary for any current network television actor. Additionally, $450,000 could be the highest ever salary for an actress of color on a broadcast drama series.

RELATED: 10 Absolutely Epic Monologues From Black Women In Film

Harlem-born Angela Bassett began her career acting in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilsons regional theater productions. She is best known for her strong matriarchal roles in Boyz N The Hood (1991), Malcolm X and the TV movie The Jacksons: An American Dream (both 1992). In 1993, she starred as Tina Turner in the biopic Whats Love Got To Do With It, and became the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Golden Globe Award in a Musical or Comedy.

In 2011, Bassett returned to the small screen in ABCs One Police Plaza and has also starred on Ryans Murphy American Horror Story: Coven. Ryan Murphy also created 9-1-1 and Bassett helped to develop.

Bassett serves as an executive producer for 9-1-1, which returns for season five September 20 at 8 p.m. EST.
On Tuesday (August 3), Missouri Governor Mike Parson granted pardons to Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the dubbed Ken and Karen couple who went viral for pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters last year.

On June 15, a judge approved a plea deal from the couple while they were in court for a scheduled hearing.

Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a count of fourth-degree assault and is a Class C misdemeanor. He was originally charged with unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence  both felony charges.

RELATED: 'Karen And Ken' Couple Who Aimed AR-15 At BLM Protesters Indicted By Grand Jury

Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, which is a Class A misdemeanor charge that was filed in May when a count of tampering with physical evidence was removed. She also was originally charged with unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

According to Reuters, the Republican governor also pardoned 10 other people on Friday (July 30).

Parson had previously said he would most certainly would pardon the McCloskeys last October  a decision the editorial board at The Kansas City Star slammed, writing Thats a stunning statement from a governor who has been unwilling to act on a crushing backlog of petitions for clemency and pardons and has kept thousands of people behind bars and in legal limbo.

The outlet also added, Regardless of Parsons views, he should not put his thumb on the scale before the case goes to trial. By signaling now that he plans to pardon the McCloskeys, hes short-circuiting the legal process, sending the message to attorneys, jurors, the judge and anyone else involved that their work  and any new facts that emerge  wont matter because hes decided to undo any outcome he doesnt like.
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There have been numerous messiah figures throughout history, but only Jesus was the Son of God who came to seek and save the lost and provide the way to eternal life with His Father in Heaven.

Its important to understand what the word Messiah means, and how Jesus fits the biblical narrative and predictions for the promised Messiah.

What Does Messiah Mean?

The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew/Aramaic word mashiach, meaning anointed one or chosen one. According to T.D. Alexander of the Gospel Coalition, the English word for Messiah comes from the Greek messias. John explains the meaning of the word (John 1:41 and 4:25) by translating it as christosthe Greek term for one who has been anointed. Since messias would have been meaningless to non-Aramaic speakers, Alexander said, the word messias is rarely used in the Greek New Testament; but in marked contrast, christos comes almost 530 times, with most of these uses referring directly to Jesus of Nazareth.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth wrote that the word Christos comes from a verb that means to anoint, and its related to a Latin term, Caesar. Like the words Kaiser or Czar, the concept is an appointed or anointed leader. Our human hearts crave a Messiah, a Christ, an appointed leader, Wolgemuth says.

Oil was used in biblical times to anoint priests, prophets, and kings for Gods purposes. People were said to be consecrated or set apart for a specific role in Gods plan. For example: Aaron was anointed as high priest; Elisha was anointed to succeed the prophet Elijah; and Saul and David were anointed kings.

The earliest prophecy about the Messiah is Genesis 3:15. It is believed that the one who will crush the serpents (Satans) head is the Messiah. The Jews knew God would bring a Deliverer to His people, chosen to redeem Israel. He was expected to deliver Israel by overthrowing Roman rule and restore the kingdom to Israel.

Photo credit: Getty Images/pcess609
Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. High 104F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny. Hot. High around 105F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Over 3,000 units of transnasal High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygen Therapy Device (HFNC) were delivered

Micomme has associated with Polish and Peruvian partners to accomplish the government centralized purchase of 1,600 and 1,500 units of HFNC respectively. Both purchases are strategic material reserves of the local governments. Both purchases were delivered in June 2021.

The leading non-invasive respiratory therapy company in China, Micomme Medical launched its first transnasal High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygen Therapy Device (HFNC) OH-70C in 2017. In 2020, Micomme achieved more than 10,000 HFNC installations worldwide (China not included), and helped countries around the world fight against COVID-19 with a production capacity of 500 units per day.

The transnasal High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygen Therapy Device is the machine recommended by WHO and related international guidelines for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. It aims to quickly increase the patient's oxygen saturation (SpO2) and improve the symptoms of hypoxia in patients by providing a high-flow air-oxygen mixed gas to patients with a constant temperature, humidity and a constant oxygen concentration.
Techade REDEFINING FUTURE OF life sciences industry

Digital transformation is the topmost priority for global corporations and in a highly connected world that will remain largely contactless for an extended period, there are shifts in business models, customer experience, operations, and employee experience. With technology adoption accelerating across sectors, 2021 is likely to put the spotlight on the emergence of growth verticals in the life sciences sector namely healthcare, pharma, medical devices, diagnostics etc. India is now standing at the cusp of a re-imagined decade of technology, commonly being referred to as Techade. While we anticipate a significantly better global economic growth this year as compared to 2020, we are also very much looking forward to the enhancement being brought to the Indian life sciences industry as it continues its transformation journey in this redefined techade.
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Lehlogonolo Machaba recently made history as one of the first transgender women to openly enter and be selected as a Miss South Africa contestant.

Photo Credit: Neville Dikhomo

Congrats on being selected as one of the top 30 contestants in Miss SA 2021! It must feel quite amazing to know you are one of the first trans women to openly compete in Miss SA. What was your response when you heard you were one of the top 30?

How do you feel acts like this are contributing to the acceptance of the transgender and LGBTQIA+ community and their rights?

I am proud to announce that I have OFFICIALLY made it to the #Top30 of #MissSA2021 thanks to all of you. This journey has been nothing but a great one and all of you have made this worthwhile. I am the first ever TRANSWOMAN to make it to top 30 and promise to advocate. pic.twitter.com/wehzid3wuK  IG: @Lehlogonolo.Machaba (@De_Lehlogonolo) July 6, 2021

What would you hope to achieve if you won Miss SA?

WATCH: Miss South Africa 2021 top 30 contestants announced The top 30 contestants for Miss South Africa 2021 have been announced...

How do you feel beauty pageants have evolved over the years? Vastly, being the first trans woman to make it this far on the Miss SA contest proves how pageants are also trying to be inclusive and, hopefully, through this win other small pageants can include women of every shape and expression. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lehlogonolo Machaba (@lehlogonolo.machaba)

What would you say still needs to happen when it comes to the acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa?

What would be your advice for young people who identify as the opposite sex and may be thinking about transitioning?

Photo Credit: Neville Dikhomo

Are there any female figures who have had a particularly positive influence on your life?

Whats your hidden talent?

The 26-year-old fashion graduate hails from Oskraal, Letlhabile in the North West and works as a model booker at Invade Models and is the founder and owner of the DeMollies fashion brand. In her spare time, she volunteers at a local LGBTQIA+ centre, helping young people complete university and job applications.We got in touch with the inspiring Machaba to chat making history, beauty pageants and championing LGBTQIA+ rights.It was so surreal, it truly felt like a dream. Im still getting used to it and the response from the public has made it even more exciting as I never thought anyone would respond to my being part of the top 30 like they did. And being the first trans woman to have made it this far in the contest ever gives me hope that we're moving in the right direction as a nation.We have a very long way to go as a nation to a point where everyone can be fully themselves without fear of being judged. This is a great leap by the Miss SA organisation and it truly does contribute to some level of acceptance and the idea of people knowing that we do exist and that we are all beautiful and are as many women as any other type of woman. And that the LGBTQIA+ community also deserves to live without fear of being murdered or discriminated against just live everyone.I would hope to use this platform to continue advocating for my community. To raise awareness on the ongoing murders of people in the LGBTQIA+ community and ostracisation we live with on a daily basis. My hope for this country is for the killings to stop and I believe that by educating, advocating and having people like me at the forefront as a form of representation, regular folk will get used to the fact that we exist and hopefully start treating us with the respect we all deserve.There should be bills that advocate strongly against anti-LGBTQIA+ murders and hate crimes. There should be more representation in the media rather than cis-gay men.Take your time, get help, find organisations like OUT and get as much information as possible.My mother is a great inspiration to me. She has been through a lot and always found a way to rise up and provide for us as a single parent. Also transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox  who continues to break the glass ceiling, having been the first transgender woman of colour to achieve many accolades and has stood her ground through all the hate.Im very good at cooking; the kitchen is my happy place.
Sabine Lehmann has worked in the tourism and attractions industry for the past 25 years. Founder and CEO of African Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AAVEA) and founder of consultancy agency, Curiositas, Lehmann has established herself as both a futurist and maven in the art and science of visitor attractions management.

With an interest in trends and foresight of tourism in Africa, Lehmann has led and supported a wide range of tourism projects, been a keynote speaker, and served as a thought-leader on several boards within the industry.

Sabine Lehmann

Tell us a bit about yourself - your background?

Describe your role at AAVEA - what does a typical workday look like for you?

Do you have any role models? If so, who?

What are your thoughts on the impact of Covid on the industry? How has AAVEA dealt with this challenge?

Do you think its important to have a month dedicated to women? And why.

What advice would you give to women wanting to enter your industry?

What is the best advice anyone has given you?

As a woman, have there been any significant challenges in the workplace that stand out for you?

Do you have any pearls of wisdom to share this Women's Month or words of encouragement?

This Womens Month, we chat with Lehmann to find out more about her journey, industry challenges her organisation and others have faced and what Women's Month should otherwise represent within its power and strength.Although I am a Capetonian born and bred, I have had the privilege of living and working in Germany, the UK, Holland and New Zealand  somehow, however, I always find my way back home.I have been in the visitor attractions industry for more than 25 years now. Although I started out as a speech therapist, I have since got an MBA and Masters in Futures Studies. I was the CEO of Table Mountain Cableway for nine years, the opening COO for the Zeitz MOCAA for two years and started my own attractions and futures consultancy business, Curiositas, three years ago. I am also the founder and chair of the African Association of Visitor Attractions and Experiences (AAVEA).I am curious about the future of leisure and how we will spend our leisure time  especially out of the home. How will megatrends influence how we spend our leisure time? How will attraction and experiences providers meet these needs? And how do we ensure more people have safe access to healthy leisure spaces and activities that are good for the mind, body and soul?My role at AAVEA is to immerse myself in all things attractions, to connect colleagues with information and each other, to source and track leisure trends and to play an advocacy role for the attractions industry in South Africa.The role of visitor experiences and attractions has been underrated in South Africa. The pandemic has changed this as we see how important healthy social spaces are and as we finally understand the power of the domestic tourism economy.There is no such thing as a typical work day  which is just how I like it.I dont have role models as such, but I do have thought leaders that I have been following for some time. Faith Popcorn is a futurist that I have been following for almost 20 years. Joe Pine, who wrote the seminal bookis also someone that I have been following for 20 years.And of course, my colleagues; strong, curious and creative women in and outside of the industry is where I draw ideas and inspiration from.In the field of futures; almost every major future scenario thinker had highlighted the outbreak of a pandemic as a global risk. I had read Hans Roslings (another thought leader that I follow closely) bookin 2017 and he clearly stated that one of the five global risks is the outbreak of a global pandemic.The impact has been profound. The impact of climate change and accelerated poverty will also be profound. If only we can all see this too.I looked back at some futures work I had done pre-pandemic for Curiositas clients and was pleased to see that the mega- social trends I spoke about in 2017 were all still relevant and had in fact become accelerated during this period. The concern is  how do we not just gloss over these curious signals; but engage with them and try to understand what this means for our business. Future scenarios are intended to help us think of a range of possible futures and help us plan for them by being less surprised and more prepared.AAVEA has led the way in advocating for staggered school holidays as a post-lockdown recovery tool that can boost domestic tourism and give attraction operators an extended high season. This has now been proposed by the Department of Basic Education. AAVEA has also just completed its first-ever attractions benchmark study which will be released at our virtual conference on Thursday, 19 August 2021.For the first time, we will have some hard data to share with tourism stakeholders, highlighting the role attractions and experiences play in tourism and job creation.I dont refer to a "post-Covid era", but rather to a "post-lockdown era". We know that what we have missed the most is connections with strangers and friends. Attractions and experiences will have an important role to play in encouraging people out of their homes to connect with themselves and others in a safe and healthy way.I really dont like the way Womens Month has been made into a version of Valentines Day to women. Its not about flowers and chocolates for women. Its not about cute gifts. Womens Month is about the enormous power and strength that can be found in diversity of thought and experience and viewpoints. Across genders, races and generations.We need to remember that Womans Day honours the incredible courage that the women of 1956 showed when they marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the carrying of pass books.If Womens Month can draw the spotlight towards voices that are not usually amplified then it has a role to play. If its a way of selling more roses and chocolates then scrap it.Arm yourself with curiosity and knowledge. Surround yourself with voices that will tell you the truth  about yourself and your industry,Stay true to yourself. No one can be you but you.Many. Funnily enough, I came across an old notebook that I kept from 2006. I had forgotten this incident but in it, I noted that my boss at the time had said, during a performance review, that he could see I was a hard worker and that I should channel my extra energy into some hobbies or raising kids. Seems quite unbelievable now that that can be said.Fifteen years later, I dont have kids nor hobbies"The future belongs to the curious"  Anonymous
At first glance, it seems an unlikely jump. How would a proofreader, originally from Klerksdorp in the north of the country wind up making wine for one of the Cape's most decorated cellars?

We chat to Zinaschke Steyn, who's just been appointed Nederburg's new red-winemaker, to find out more.

Zinaschke Steyn

Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you go from proofreader to winemaker?

Describe your role at Nederburg - what does a typical workday look like for you?

Do you have any role models? If so, who?

What advice can you share for females wanting to get into the wine industry

What are your thoughts on the impact of Covid on the industry? How has Nederburg dealt with this challenge?

Do you think its important to have a month dedicated to women? And why.

What is the best advice anyone has given you?

As a woman, have there been any significant challenges in the workplace that stand out for you?

Do you have any pearls of wisdom to share this Women's Month or words of encouragement?

I grew up in Klerkdorp in the North West Province, but my working life began as a proofreader for a printing works in Worcester. That was just after matriculating in 2005.I had already planned to move south, setting my heart on a BSc in Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University because I wanted to be a brandy-maker. But then, as it tends to do, life intervened.After close to two years in the Cape, it seemed to me that winemaking would be better suited to my personality. I like to get my hands dirty and be physically involved from the get-go, as opposed to starting with wine that is to be distilled.Id be working more closely with the elements and have to tackle each vintage as an entirely new project. Its the anticipation of new challenges, new parameters and new responses every year - that state of flux - that appeals to me. So, in 2007 I met up with oom Willie van Zijl at Elsenburg, and the rest is history.After graduating in 2010 with a BAgric degree in winemaking and viticulture from Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute in Stellenbosch, I went to make wine for Overhex Private Cellar, then the KWV and GlenWood Vineyards.In 2018, I was offered the job as assistant red-winemaker at Nederburg, catapulting me into the role of this award-winning Paarl winerys fully-fletched red-winemaker.In a nutshell, I look after all the red wines made at the Nederburg cellar in Paarl.A typical workday? It really depends on the time of year. Right now, were in the planning phase of our wine blending season, so for the next two weeks my days will pretty much look as follows:7am: Morning meeting with my cellar team7045am: Coffee and checking/responding to e-mails9.30am: Daily cellar management meeting10am-2pm: Tasting of blend components and blend planning2pm-4pm: Checking chemical analyses, writing job cards and fact sheets, and other cellar-related admin work.Definitely my mom, Michele! She has taught me that I can literally do anything I set my mind to, and to not let anything or anyone break my spirit. She taught me that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". I find her observant nature and quiet strength so inspiring.I also admire Alicia Moore, also known as P!nk. What a totally independent woman! I love her tough girl image, but ability to show her softer side too.Shes an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community and for the better treatment of animals, putting her celebrity influence behind campaigns sponsored by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).She also supports organisations including the Human Rights Campaign, UNICEF, and Save the Children. She is typically known as a rebel  she loves challenging the status quo and doing crazy stuff like dyeing her daughters hair or shaving her own head.I wish I could be as confident and outspoken as she is! And to top it all she has her own winery in Santa Barbara in the US (wink-wink, does it get any better than this?)!Back to local shores. I also look up to Ntsiki Biyela, known as the first female black winemaker in South Africa. She comes from such humble beginnings, growing up in a village in KwaZulu-Natal and working as a domestic worker for some time.She was awarded an SAA bursary to study winemaking in 1999. This means she had to exchange her rural village for a university in the Western Cape.Before then, she hadnt even tasted wine before in her life! In 2003, she graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BSc in Oenology and shortly after, joined Stellekaya Wines where she spent 13 years as winemaker and ambassador.She started her own wine brand, Aslina Wines (named after her grandmother) in 2014 and has enjoyed immense success. Just goes to show, that if you put your mind to it, you are capable of doing almost anything!Wine has long been a male-dominated business. This paradigm is slowly but surely changing with more and more women enrolling for winemaking courses and degree programmes, entering the industry and making a real impact.As a female winemaker, you should be adaptable and innovative. Its important to start from the bottom and to not be scared to get your hands dirty - you need to understand the process and build strong relationships with your team members.There isnt even a doubt that Covid-19 and the resulting alcohol bans have had a crippling effect on our wine industry. It has created a chain reaction felt right through the supply chain, from growers and producers to distributors, retailers and even industry suppliers. But as always, the South African wine industry has shown remarkable resourcefulness and fortitude in combatting challenges and adjusting to new realities.Since the start of the pandemic, Nederburg has implemented strict protocols to protect all staff members and its worked well for us. We are kept on our toes constantly, having to adapt and change our planning on short notice to still make wine and service orders on time.Yes, I feel its important to have a platform where we can highlight and celebrate achievements by women in our communities and industries, and also be able to spotlight issues like gender equality, gender-based violence, discrimination, harassment in the workplace and more.Keep your head low, work hard and stay humble.The most daunting experience was starting to work in a traditionally male-dominated industry, with a team of men (mostly older than me) after my studies.Gaining their trust and respect was quite a challenge, hence my words of advice above. It is important to maintain good relationships in the workplace  I may be the winemaker, but blending and putting that award-winning wine into a bottle is ultimately a team effort. Every single person in my team plays an important part in getting the job done.I have learnt a lot during my career to date, and the most important thing is that you should be happy in your work. Also, keep things simple and stay true to who you are. Always trust your gut!
Digital Solutions Consultant - Social

Remuneration: market-related Location: Cape Town Job level: Senior Type: Permanent Company: Incubeta

Job description

Data Layers

Tracking and Measurement Strategies

Audience Segmentation

Campaign Management and Optimisation,

Media Strategy, Content & Communication Advice

Conversion Optimisation

Advanced Research & Analysis.

Reports to the Lead Consultant.

Closely interacts with SSA and MENA MDs, other Solution Consultants, Client Services and Global Implementation & Delivery Teams.

Works closely with Platform Partners ie. Facebook / Smartly / Pinterest / Twitter / LinkedIn etc to stay ahead of tech, gain access to betas & conferences etc.

Ability to understand the customer's key business & marketing challenges and translate this as a proposal on how our tech & consulting services can help achieve these goals

External Consultancy towards clients:

Technical and strategic audits, including data-privacy compliance



Map organisational goals to marketing initiatives and design a measurement framework to track the performance of marketing initiatives



Propose technical solution and roadmap for client's to improve their business goals and process by combining deep tech, product & strategic knowledge.



Act as technical and strategic support during the onboarding phase, as needed



Assist clients to understand and know how to read and interpret their data



Attend client meetings remotely.



Be responsible for the training and enablement of client's and their stakeholders, formulating a development plan that will support the client's transformation to digital maturity.



Drive innovation and spot opportunities to enhance or expand service offerings to clients

Internal Consultancy towards Incubeta (internal teams):

Working closely with MEA commercial teams to support business development



Mentor and guide junior team members on tech implementations and Paid Social best practices.



Quality controls/audits and able to spot where clients accounts have room for improvement and growth

Fluent in spoken and written English

Facebook Blueprint Certified

Experience as a Performance Social Media Buyer for a minimum of 5+ years working within social platforms eg Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin & Pinterest etc. (International exposure is an advantage, but not necessary)

Experience with performance media management, yielding results for client's investments

Experience as a social media strategist, planning and executing on x-channel marketing strategies.

Comfortable presenting and pitching for business with strong presentation skills

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Strategic Thinking - Be able to relate to the client's needs and translate them into workable and innovative solutions.

Google Analytics and advanced data analysis, including attribution reporting

Advanced knowledge of Excel / Google Sheets

Project Management

Experience building & optimising feeds for data-driven projects / and or DPLs

Experience working with Facebook Marketing Partners, Example: Smartly or Nannigans to increase investment yield

Experience working with Basic to intermediate knowledge of Javascript and HTML

Knowledge of Digital transformation

3rd Party tracking solutions

Data Studio and dash-building experience

Data Management with some experience with Google Cloud (BQ & ADH)

SEO & Website optimisation

API integrations

Train-the-trainer facilitation

Strong mobile and app experience, including Firebase and AppsFlyer

Exceptional communication skills both written and verbal

Display professional and example behaviour at all times

at all times Specialised knowledge - have worked in a serious, thoughtful and sustained way to master the specialized knowledge needed to succeed in their fields; and that they keep this knowledge up-to-date so that they can continue to deliver the best work possible.

- have worked in a serious, thoughtful and sustained way to master the specialized knowledge needed to succeed in their fields; and that they keep this knowledge up-to-date so that they can continue to deliver the best work possible. Competency - Professionals get the job done. They're reliable, and they keep their promises. If circumstances arise that prevent them from delivering on their promises, they manage expectations up front, and they do their best to make the situation right. Professionals don't make excuses but focus on finding solutions.

- Professionals get the job done. They're reliable, and they keep their promises. If circumstances arise that prevent them from delivering on their promises, they manage expectations up front, and they do their best to make the situation right. Professionals don't make excuses but focus on finding solutions. Solutions-oriented with a growth mindset

with a growth mindset Displays honesty and integrity at all times

at all times Be accountable for their actions even when making mistakes

for their actions even when making mistakes Show respect for the people around them, no matter what their role or situation.

for the people around them, no matter what their role or situation. They exhibit a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI) by considering the emotions and needs of others, and they don't let a bad day impact how they interact with colleagues or clients.

(EI) by considering the emotions and needs of others, and they don't let a bad day impact how they interact with colleagues or clients. Project a positive attitude at all times towards clients team members and motivate team members when they are less positive.

at all times towards clients team members and motivate team members when they are less positive. Display strong interpersonal skills. Ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues; display a strong team spirit.

skills. Ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues; display a strong team spirit. Maintain the highest standards of delivery, productivity and effectiveness at all times

of delivery, productivity and effectiveness at all times Organised and detail-oriented

Display focus and dedication at all times

Be approachable and open to constructive criticism

Exceptional time management skills and ability to prioritise a high volume of projects simultaneously in a fast-paced unpredictable environment.

Ability to remain calm and thrive under pressure

Strong problem-solving skills

Display a high level of independence.

This includes but is not limited to taking decisions independently while staying within the company guidelines; Proactive attitude; staying self-motivated; being self-reliant; continuous self-development without expecting to be taken by the hand.

Display a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to learn for any situation

Respect, appreciation and contribution towards decision making.

Requirements

Incubeta is a growth partner for our clients, offering solutions across media, technology, creative and data that address their challenges and move the needle on their businesses. Our mantra is "We don't sell products/services, we solve business problems". Deepening relationships with existing clients is a key driver for Incubetas growth so it is vital that we are consistently looking for opportunities to deliver further value to clients (in the form of additional services of course) that will bolster their digital marketing activities, ultimately leading to improved business performance. To support this growth strategy, Incubeta MEA is looking for Digital Solutions Consultants who will work alongside the client service team in this region to craft & deliver solutions that will drive business value for our clients.A Digital Solutions Consultant (DSC) is responsible for delivering cutting-edge client solutions for his/her/their respective client portfolios. The DSC is required to apply their extensive media expertise to implement strategic, creative and innovative strategies, aimed at solving complex client business challenges by offering and executing full-stack Google Marketing Platform (GMP), Social Media and Proprietary Technology. The DSC will work in close cooperation with the Lead Consultant, Client Services, Media, Data and Analytics implementation teams, and other stakeholders.The DSC role will form part of the product specialist & consultancy layer within the MEA Market and as a DSC specialising in Paid Performance Social, you will be primarily responsible for determining the technical scope of new and existing business opportunities and providing digital strategies, marketing, and technology consulting services across Paid Social in order to transform and increase the success of our existing and future customers, primarily leveraging Facebook Business Manager, Smartly, Twitter Ads, Linkedin etc strategies and how they integrate into the Google Marketing Stack (GMP).You will assist our customers in improving their business processes by combining your knowledge to create best-in-class solutions. You will collaborate closely with paired Subject-Matter Experts (SME's) and with cross-functional teams, such as Sales, Implementation and Client Services to drive customer communications, feature priority, and technical issue resolution, resulting in the best possible customer experience, while scaling our clients growth and digital maturity.At its core, a Digital Solutions Consultant requires knowledge of:While remaining current on global market trends, data privacy, product updates and innovative media strategies.The Solutions consultant will also assist (when required) the sales team with the commercial structures, product consultancy and technical advice. They will be responsible for delivering frameworks and strategies that will enhance client network, workflows and business results.If you believe that you are the ideal candidate for this position, please send through your cover letter and current CV to Natasha at moc.atebucni@astnelat Please take note that if you do not receive a response from us within two weeks of submitting your application, consider your application as unsuccessful. Posted on 05 Aug 14:05
Freelance Sales Executives

Remuneration: commission only Benefits: Monthly Bonus Location: Johannesburg Education level: Matric Job level: Junior/Mid Reference: #SE82021 Company: Edu Empower SA

Job description

Source new customers and build relationships

Promote and sell our services and sponsorships,

Generate sales growth and grow market share

Gather market intelligence and potential as well as generate leads.

Requirements

Company Description

Edu Empower SA is seeking a freelance Sales and Business Development Executives to promote our range of services and grow the brand nationally. Experience in sales/ Sponsorships/ Government sales is preferred, but not essential. Other relevant experience will be considered.Candidate must be a self-motivated and self driven individual who can work without supervision. Remuneration is based purely on a generous uncapped commission structure of 25%.Send us your CV and a 1-page motivation letter why you should be selected, to: az.oc.ruenerpertneputrats@rh Use your province area and your name and surname as email subject. Only Shortlisted candidates will be informed by 30 August 2021. A minimum Matric qualification is required At least 2-3 years sales or other relevant experience Preferably you must have your own transport and valid driver's license and laptop/ android phone Must be able to operate independently and communicate well/ present at board level to decision makers/ senior Management.Edu-Empower SA is a social enterprise, that specialises in inculcating and accelerating entrepreneurship amongst youth, so as to assist them to be part of the main stream economy. Our mission is to offer turnkey start-up entrepreneur skills, services and guidance at every step of their entrepreneurial journey, so that they can start, commercialise and grow their businesses. We also assist corporates to strategically deploy their Enterprise Development Funds in a way that creates real sustainable impact. Posted on 05 Aug 12:31
Former Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security under President Obama Juliette Kayyem called Tuesday for the Biden administration to restrict the unvaccinated from flying by placing them on a no-fly list.

Kayyem claimed in the Atlantic that a no-fly list for unvaccinated adults is an obvious step that the federal government should take due to TSA PreCheck, which divide[s] passengers into categories according to how much of a threat the government thinks they pose.

At the time of publication, the headline for the piece echoed this line, stating bluntly: Unvaccinated People Belong on the No-Fly List. The headline has since been changed to a more ambiguous sentence: Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden.

The original headline still appears on social media shares of the article from The Atlantics own account.

If you submit to heightened scrutiny in advance, Kayyem said, TSA PreCheck lets you go through security without taking off your shoes; a no-fly list keeps certain people off the plane entirely.

The author continues:

Flying is not a right, and the case for restricting it to vaccinated people is straightforward: The federal government is the sole entity that can regulate the terms and conditions of airline safety. And although air-filtration systems and mask requirements make transmission of the coronavirus unlikely during any given passenger flight, infected people can spread it when they leave the airport and take off their mask. The whole point of international-travel bans is to curb infections in the destination country; to protect itself, the United States still has many such restrictions in place. Beyond limiting the viruss flow from hot spots to the rest of the country, allowing only vaccinated people on domestic flights will change minds, too.

Kayyem also suggests the holdouts with a variety of motivations include 41 percent of the unvaccinated that said a prohibition on airline travel would get them closer to their shots.

Kayyem champions shaming the unvaccinated, who should face scorn among their peer group and may even be happy to have an excuse to protect themselves, along with celebrating Broadway, Disney, and Walmart for forcing the unvaccinated to give up certain societal benefits to practice their their individuality and freedom of choice.
"This is not a drill," writes Jake Chervinsky, an influential crypto lawyer and a sober voices in a hype-prone industry. In a must-read Twitter thread, Chervinsky explains how the $550 billion bill - which is primarily about roads and bridges - could shiv American crypto companies.

The pain comes in the part of the bill that explains how the U.S. will help pay for those roads and bridge. Namely, the bill states that Uncle Sam plans to cover $28 billion of the costs by squeezing crypto brokers.

The trouble is that the bill defines "broker" - a term normally used to describe the likes of Coinbase and Robinhood - as basically any business that touches crypto.

The uproar in the crypto industry (and likely their freshly minted lobbyists) sparked a bipartisan amendment which would de-fang the cryptocurrency provision.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Pat Toomey (R-PA) have introduced an amendment that would exempt Bitcoin miners and validators on other blockchain networks from a provision aimed at raising $28 billion in tax revenue to help pay for the bill.

Im thrilled to say that @RonWyden @CynthiaMLummis and @SenToomey have introduced an amendment to explicitly exclude validators, hardware and software wallet makers, and protocol devs from the tax reporting provisions. Bravo! Now we have to get this thing passed. pic.twitter.com/0mpyNzxXee  Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 4, 2021

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong joined the debate yesterday, urging crypto market participants to reach out to their representatives over the over-reaching surveillance and disclosure requirements of the hastily put-together and ill-conceived new infrastructure bill's crypto-based pay-fors.

1/ If youve been following threads on the Infrastructure bill, you know that there is a hastily conceived provision related to digital assets. This provision could have a profound negative impact on crypto in the US and unintentionally push more innovation offshore.  Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 4, 2021

Armstrong went to to note that Coinbase is happy to help customers fulfill tax obligations just like the rest of the financial services industry. We've been doing this for years, and issuing more 1099s is a great idea: Coinbase and the IRS

But the bill defines brokers to include anyone who effectuates transfers of digital assets.

This means almost anyone in the crypto ecosystem (miners, validators, smart contracts, open source developers etc) could be treated as a broker with massive reporting obligations.

This makes no sense.

Smart contracts, for instance, are not companies, and cannot be modified to collect KYC info or issue 1099s. They are simply software running on the blockchain that anyone can use.

Fortunately senators @RonWyden, @SenToomey, @SenLummis have an amendment that narrows the definition to intermediaries like @coinbase, who actually have the capacity to report, just like in the traditional financial system.

Full Amendment here:

The infrastructure bill also imposes sweeping and unprecedented reporting requirements that will force exchanges like Coinbase and others to surveil its customers transactions in a way that is more intrusive than the rest of traditional finance...

The Cryptocurrency Surveillance Provision Buried in the Infrastructure Bill is a Disaster for Digital Privacy

All we ask for is an even playing field with traditional finance that doesn't penalize cryptocurrency unfairly.

Policymakers play a critical role in ensuring that tech innovation can flourish in the United States. I hope that they keep this in mind and dont impose draconian burdens on an industry that will play a major role in the innovative future of our country.

This will not happen without your elected reps hearing from you.

Please contact your senators and ask them to support the amendment to the infrastructure bill proposed by @RonWyden, @SenToomey and @SenLummis (which gets us part way there by narrowing the definition of broker).

We also need to ask all senators to remove the language requiring sweeping surveillance of crypto holders.

You can use this tool to contact your senators (click image for link).

Thank you!
A tight-knit cast of characters has sought to destabilize the Syrian government by convincing Syrians, Western citizens, foreign states, and international bodies that the CIA-backed Free Syrian Army is a legitimate, moderate alternative, while flooding news across the globe with opposition propaganda.

Its key actors have also played a central part in high-profile chemical weapon deceptions, participating in the attacks staging, generating media coverage, orchestrating official investigations and even legal actions, all with the clear goal of cultivating Western support for regime change.

Despite facing official investigation into corrupt practices and being exposed for serious credibility issues, these figures have been treated with adulation by a Western mainstream media that appears just as committed to destabilizing Syria as they have been.

One of the most prominent among this group of self-proclaimed experts is supposed chemical weapons specialist Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. Previously Commanding Officer of the UK CBRN Regiment and NATOs Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion, his past deployments have included spells in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cyprus, Kosovo, and Iraq.

Once upon a time, de Bretton Gordons Twitter profile identified him as a member of 77th Brigade, the British Armys shadowy psychological warfare division, which maintains a vast militia of real, fake and automated social media accounts that it deploys to disseminate propaganda in support of UK Foreign Office objectives, and discredit government critics.

Chillingly, official Army doctrine states the Brigade is notably key to the purported grey zone between peace and war that informs UK military thinking in the 21st century. The designation was removed from de Bretton-Gordons Twitter account after this journalist drew attention to it.

In British media, de Bretton-Gordon is portrayed as a gallant human rights hero who is responsible for training local doctors how to treat gas attacks and risking his life on battlefields, to convincing world leaders to take threats seriously.

A glowing Times of London profile features a photo of de Bretton- Gordon posing beside a hunting trophy and a well-stocked bar in his elegant country home, clad in a desert camo-colored smoking jacket. The article opens with the following passage: Beneath the smoke-hazed starlight of the desert night, a young tank captain waited for his moment of war. He was a romantic man and it was his first conflict.

Behind the legendary aura spun out by UK media, questions linger about de Bretton-Gordons field work. He is often referred to as the founder or director of Doctors Under Fire, an NGO or humanitarian group. However, no operation of that name is registered as a commercial or charitable entity in the UK, or seemingly anywhere else in the world  clearly, no mainstream reporter has ever checked. He has also been lauded for his collection of soil samples in Syria, conducted through another suspicious organization he founded in Aleppo called CBRN Taskforce.

The vital question of how and why de Bretton-Gordon came to be involved in such a hazardous, sensitive activity has been left unexplored. This is an extraordinary failing on the part of the media, given that the work would necessarily require him to operate in areas occupied by Salafi-jihadist insurgents. He would also have potentially collaborated with or at least been in extremely close quarters with these elements, which have every reason to falsely accuse the Syrian government of chemical weapons use.

Further, there are strong indications that de Bretton Gordons activities were conducted in explicit support of regime change, and on behalf of at least one belligerent state participant in the Syrian conflict.

Signs of Heavy Editing

In an April 2015 Guardian op-ed, de Bretton-Gordon disclosed that his sample-gathering activities began two years earlier. Contemporary media reports refer to UK foreign intelligence service MI6 conducting operations to covertly smuggle soil samples out of Syria for analysis at Porton Down at precisely this time, strongly suggesting his involvement in the scheme.

A 2016 article also characterizes him as a former spy, a unique designation that doesnt appear in any online biographies of de Bretton Gordon or other news pieces mentioning him.

One report on the MI6 program quoted an anonymous senior Western source, who suggested that an objective of these operations was to encourage US intervention.

MI6 played the leading role but the American military wants more evidence before it agrees Assad has crossed the line in the use of chemical weapons. The question is what is the West going to do now? If nobody reacts, there was not much point in conducting the tests, they said.

Accordingly, some of these samples were delivered directly to Washington. In April 2015, evidence de Bretton-Gordon collected from an alleged chlorine attack in Sarmin, Syria was presented to the UN Security Council by Samantha Power, then-US Ambassador to the body and one of most notorious interventionists in government.

In September 2016, de Bretton-Gordon addressed the UK parliaments now-defunct All-Party Friends of Syria Group. In his remarks, he boasted of how documentation relating to an alleged April 21st, 2014 barrel bomb attack in the Syrian town of Talmenes that CBRN Taskforce supplied to an OPCW/UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) probe resulted in the pair announcing they possessed conclusive evidence that government forces were behind the strike.

The JIM report on the Talmenes incident did indeed make that charge. However, it also indicated that the material submitted by CBRN Taskforce showed unambiguous signs of falsification. In all, a nameless witness connected to the organization provided testimony, 42 videos of supposed impact sites, and soil samples to the JIM. The results, the report noted, were published by the conservative Daily Telegraph in an article painting de Bretton Gordon as a valiant investigator.

While the JIM did not ultimately depend on the CBRN-supplied samples, the videos became a key source of evidence. However, clips related to the first site, location #1, failed to pass muster.

Two videos depicted an individual measuring a three-meter-wide and one-meter-deep crater in a backyard, with no remnants of the bomb visible. The JIMs examination concluded they didnt show the aftermath of a barrel bomb strike, finding instead that the pit featured was probably caused by a small explosive (TNT equivalent) buried in the ground.

Another clip of the same crater, said to have been broadcast by local media, portrayed the damaged outer jacket of a barrel bomb lying next to the aforementioned crater, animal carcasses strewn nearby. Expert scrutiny of the clip reinforced the JIMs ruling that no barrel bomb attack had occurred. Indeed, the bodies of the animals were said to be clean and intact, making it highly unlikely they were in close vicinity to whatever actually caused the crater when it exploded. Moreover, analysis of the videos metadata found it was created one day before the alleged incident  and yet another clip depicting the same courtyard was disregarded due to signs of heavy editing.

As a result of these inconsistencies, location #1 was excluded entirely from the JIMs investigation. Why all other CBRN Taskforce submissions were not automatically discounted remains unclear.

Further, how an individual or organization that supplied provably fraudulent material has been permitted to play any role whatsoever in multiple inquiries into alleged chemical weapon attacks in Syria by international bodies ever since remains a highly disquieting riddle.

Citizen journalism and civil rescuers, made by the UK Foreign Office

The reports reference to local  or opposition  media having broadcast one of the bogus videos supplied by de Bretton Gordons Taskforce is also conspicuous when considering that British intelligence may well have created the outlet, in addition to helping mock up the clips.

Internal UK Foreign Office files released by a self-proclaimed hacktivist collective Anonymous in September 2020 reveal that ARK, a shadowy conflict transformation and stabilization consultancy headed by probable MI6 operative Alistair Harris, trained and equipped hundreds of citizen journalists in Syria over many years.

Activists were tutored in camera handling, lighting, sound, interviewing, filming a story, post-production techniques including video and sound editing and software, voice-over, scriptwriting, and graphics and 2D and 3D animation design and software.

ARKs students were even instructed in practical propaganda theory  namely target audience identification, qualitative and quantitative techniques, media and media narrative analysis and monitoring, behavioral identification/understanding, campaign planning, behavior, behavioral change, and how communications can influence it [emphasis added], and more.

Content these stringers created was disseminated via TV, FM radio, social media [platforms] and print material [including] posters, magazines and comics established by ARK, in order to promote the moderate opposition within and without the country.

The company stated that it frequently directs and connects international journalists  working for the BBC, CNN, Guardian, New York Times and Reuters, among others  to appropriate opposition figures. In turn, ARK was regularly approached by the opposition Syrian National Council for media handling advice, including in the wake of the highly suspicious August 2013 chemical strike in Ghouta.

ARKs most well-known creation was the supposed rescue group known as the White Helmets. The contractor spearheaded an internationally-focused communications campaign designed to raise global awareness of the supposed first responders and keep Syria in the news for several years.

This was before management of the endeavor was handed over to Mayday Rescue, the brainchild of the late British mercenary James Le Mesurier, a former ARK employee who apparently committed suicide in 2019 amidst a corruption investigation by state donors into the White Helmets bookkeeping.

Le Mesuriers third wife, Emma Winberg, was also heavily involved in Whitehalls information warfare operations in Syria through a company called Innovative Communications and Strategy (Incostrat). She founded the outfit in 2014 alongside military intelligence veteran Paul Tilley, the former UK Ministry of Defence strategic communications director for the Middle East and North Africa, who, like Le Mesurier, had attended the elite Sandhurst Military Academy.

In the same vein as ARK, the company produced slick propaganda promoting extremist groups as credible alternatives to the Syrian government, while whitewashing the barbarous deeds that became their calling card in areas they occupied. One such jihadist entity may have been the fundamentalist, Saudi-backed Jaysh Al-Islam (the Army of Islam), which worked closely with the White Helmets in the areas it occupied, including Douma at the time of the now-notorious April 2018 chemical weapons deception.

It is no coincidence that ARK, the White Helmets, Le Mesurier, Mayday Rescue, and de Bretton-Gordon would each play a fundamental role in the propaganda operation that sold the Douma incident to the world  and the subsequent sabotage of the OPCW probe into what happened.

An irreconcilable contradiction

In March 2019, the OPCW issued a final report on Douma, which concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe a chemical weapons attack had occurred, and the toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine. Leaked files have revealed that these findings were explicitly contrary to the evidence collected by investigators who actually visited the city, which pointed strongly to a false flag incident.

A consortium of UK-based scholars called the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media has meticulously documented how the investigation was nobbled. According to the Working Group, the OPCW dispatched two teams; one to Syria, one to Turkey, with the latter collecting samples from and interviewing witnesses supplied by the White Helmets, all of which was suggestive of a chemical weapon attack. The final report relied almost exclusively on this fudged evidence.

There were also strong indications that Len Phillips, a former OPCW inspection team leader who turned freelance in April 2018, and is reported to have met frequently with Le Mesurier, was integral to influencing the probe.

Before leaving the OPCW, Phillips oversaw four other investigations into alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria between 2015 and 2017, all heavily dependent on evidence provided by the White Helmets. The Working Group found at least three of the probes excluded or ignored unambiguous signs the events had been staged.

In April 2019, Phillips registered a company in the UK, PHBG Consultants Ltd. Though listed as the sole director and shareholder, the companys name implies others are involved.

If the PH is Phillips, is the BG de Bretton-Gordon?

The companys stated nature of business is risk and damage evaluation relating to engineering related scientific and technical consulting activities.

The OPCWs final report on Douma refers to consultations with engineering experts, which is surely how the problem of its on-site investigators finding there was a higher probability that cylinders alleged to have been dropped from Syrian Air Force helicopters were manually placedrather than being delivered from aircraft was resolved.

The final report also depended on external consultations with toxicology experts to reach its finding that a chemical weapon was used. However, those specialists were unable to reconcile the problem of White Helmets-disseminated photos and videos of dead bodies, including children, lying in piles in a housing complex, foaming from the mouth  clear signs of exposure to a nerve agent, when none was found either in Syria or Turkey.

A suppressed draft interim report on the incident contained a lengthy section outlining in detail why it was inconceivable that the victims could have been afflicted by chlorine, and how no other alternative chemical culprit could be identified. This contradiction was considered so noteworthy, in fact, that it was referenced repeatedly in the 116-page documents opening summary, described as an inconsistency that cannot be rationalised.

The appraisal reflected the views of four chemical weapons specialists expressed to OPCW investigators in June 2018. The final report makes no reference to these findings, or the meeting, limply concluding it was not currently possible to precisely link the symptoms with a specific chemical, while slyly conflating the highly divergent properties and indicators of sarin and chlorine.

Regime change enthusiasts have offered a panoply of peculiar explanations for the grave incongruity at the very heart of the Douma incident.

Yet mainstream media reports published in the immediate aftermath of the event and prior to the arrival of OPCW investigators in the city show chemical weapons specialists were at first unanimous in declaring the victims had been afflicted by a nerve agent.

They Couldve Escaped

On April 10th, long-time chemical weapons researcher Alastair Hay, then-member of the OPCWs Education and Outreach board, and recipient of the organizations Hague Award in 2015, forcefully dismissed the notion that corpses featured in the White Helmets-supplied footage could have been afflicted by chlorine, as their symptoms were much, much more consistent with nerve-agent-type exposure.

Its just bodies piled upTheres a young child with foam at the nose and a boy with foam on its [sic] mouth. Chlorine victims usually manage to get out to somewhere they can get treatment, he said. Nerve agent kills pretty instantlyPeople have pretty much died where they were when they inhaled the agent. Theyve just dropped dead.

A consequent Washington Post article reinforced Hays analysis, reporting that outside experts had concluded the speed with which the victims died suggested that a nerve agent was used, as chlorine usually takes longer to work. That same day though, de Bretton-Gordon appeared in the Financial Times peddling a novel theory.

The big question is whether it was chlorine or sarin. I am favoring a mix of the two, he hypothesized. De Bretton-Gordon then argued that if Washington subsequently launched airstrikes on Damascus  which happened three days later  it would be an indication of irrefutable evidence of Syrian government culpability for the attack.

On April 16th, he reiterated this view to the Daily Mail. The same article also quoted a White Helmet operatives firm dismissal of chlorine as the agent responsible.

Sarin you breathe and it kills you. There were many who died on the stairs. If it was chlorine, they couldve escaped. But they died after just taking a few steps, they said.

Chemically, a combination of chlorine and sarin makes no sense as a weapon, as chlorine compounds would simply decompose the nerve agent outright in the event they were successfully stored in the same container.

Of course, de Bretton-Gordon may have spoken out of pure ignorance. He has an extensive history of issuing headline-grabbing, unscientific claims, including warning of the potential threat of jihadists returning to the UK from Syria using components from household fridges to construct IEDs. There was also the time he claimed the Russian military could employ novichok hand grenades on battlefields.

Another interpretation may be that de Bretton-Gordon was attempting to explain away the looming, irresolvable disconnect between symptoms exhibited by victims of the alleged strike and the FFMs actual chemical findings. Given the inevitable paradox created by that massive discrepancy, resolving this quandary was surely of supreme concern to all invested in the events staging.

Alternatively, theres the question of whether de Bretton-Gordon himself had been concocting samples containing chlorine and sarin. The findings of an OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) probe into an alleged chemical attack in the Syrian city of Saraqib in February 2018 made clear someone was cooking up evidence in this manner.

The inquiry, which ruled the Syrian government had dropped at least one cylinder containing chlorine on the city, depended entirely on a May 2018 OPCW FFM investigation of the incident, which arrived at the same conclusion.

FFM staffers didnt actually visit the site of the purported strike, and all samples reviewed were provided by the White Helmets. The IIT report claims that they contained both chlorine- and sarin-related chemicals.

Strikingly, the IIT recorded that it would be difficult to fill a cylinder with both chemicals, so it explored the question of whether cross-contamination may have occurred during the sampling process, or at a later stage in the handling of the samples themselves.

Its findings left open the possibility that contamination occurred before sampling or after the samples were taken, but before they were secured by the OPCW in sealed packaging. Still, since the FFM did not make findings related to the use of sarin in Saraqibthe IIT refrained from pursuing this aspect of the incident further [emphasis added].

By any objective measure, the IITs failure to explore that tantalizing lead was an absolutely staggering dereliction of its investigative duties, amounting to willful blindness in legal terms.

Other areas of the report similarly underline the inspectors determination to hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. One of the cylinders reportedly involved in the strike was excluded from the IITs consideration, despite consistent witness accounts indicating both were dropped by a single Syrian Arab Army helicopter, due to a lack of certainty over whether it was moved to a location further away from the crater it supposedly created with no clear explanation.

Nonetheless, the IIT contended this glaring incongruity in no way implied the incident was staged, reasoning that if it had been orchestrated by opposition actors, it was hard to comprehend why the cylinder was placed and video-recorded so far away from its accompanying crater, thus creating uncertainties as to its significance for this incident.

In other words, if this was a false flag, those choreographing it would surely have done a better job. Inspectors reliance on evidence gathered by the White Helmets is all the more questionable given longstanding OPCW protocol stating that a chain of custody for all physical evidence is 100% critical.

The OPCW would never get involved in testing samples that our own inspectors dont gather in the field, because we need to maintain chain of custody of samples from the field to the lab to ensure their integrity, an OPCW spokesperson said in April 2013.

Ready for Trial: UK information warriors move from warfare to lawfare

The clear role of British intelligence in forging material has greatly influenced global media coverage. As a result, it has driven public support for regime change across the West, corrupted official investigations by international bodies, and helped trigger destructive military interventions.

The same bogus findings cooked up by the UKs information warriors may be used in future kangaroo prosecutions of Syrian officials for war crimes, thus reinforcing the perception that the Wests long-running dirty war on Damascus was a righteous mission.

The shift in objective from warfare to lawfare was made clear by Emma Winberg in June 2018, at an event on the subject of archiving atrocities hosted by NATOs unofficial think tank in Washington, The Atlantic Council.

Were in a phase of the conflict where were having to look ahead and plan for the next phase, where its less about advocacy to act on Syria, and instead how we best preserve what we do have, how we capture that in the most meaningful and effective way, that helps with future documentation and processes, she said.

However, these efforts date back to the very beginning of the crisis. Leaked documents reveal that in 2011, the UK intelligence contractor, ARK, collaborated with a shadowy consultancy firm called Tsamota to extract contemporaneous documentation from the conflict zone, thus [ensuring] that when the conflict ends, the raw material of a post-conflict war crimes process is ready for trial, in turn providing a key contribution to truth telling, reconciliation and the future of Syria.

To this end, an endeavor created by Tsamota and called Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) has collected thousands of kilos of documentation from abandoned government buildings in opposition-occupied areas of the country. As documented by Grayzone in 2019, these operations necessitated CIJA securing protection and assistance from numerous Islamist militias active in these areas, including the al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra.

While the organization has received tens of millions in funding from the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, UK, and US for its efforts, few indictments have followed. A rare exception was the April 2020 Koblenz trial in Germany, in which two former Syrian security service officers who defected in 2012, were prosecuted for torture. One willingly provided their Western counterparts with sensitive information, while the other became a member of the opposition delegation.

A defendant has since been found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity, and received a somewhat paltry four-and-a-half years in prison. His conviction was heavily dependent on documents recording the meetings and directives of the Central Crisis Management Cell, established by the Syrian government in late March 2011 in response to the uprising.

Notably, the files record that lethal attacks on Syrian security forces began almost immediately after the allegedly peaceful protests began. However, soldiers were under clear orders from the inception to counter with weapons only those who carry weapons against the state, while guaranteeing civilians are not harmed.

Ensure that no drop of blood is shed when confronting and dispersing peaceful demonstrations, an August 2011 directive unequivocally stated.

The question of where the vast sums CIJA received ultimately ended up is a particularly urgent one given that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has formally accused it of fraud and submission of false documents, irregular invoicing, and profiteering.

OLAF made the allegation in relation to a project delivered by CIJA under the EUs Rule of Law project in Syria, and recommended that authorities in the UK, Netherlands, and Belgium prosecute the group.

Seated on the board of CIJA is Toby Cadman, a lawyer who [advises] clients how best to identify, approach and influence the key decision makers of Westminster, Washington DC, Brussels and further afield. In 2016, he founded international justice chambers Guernica 37, which counts UK information warrior Emma Winberg among its staff.

That same year, Cadman authored an op-ed for the Huffington Post announcing that he had joined a non-profit group that brings together doctors, military and humanitarian specialists and lawyers, Medics Under Fire  the original name of de Bretton-Gordons fictional Doctors Under Fire.

Prosecutions in absentia for staged chemical weapons attacks could be in the offing in future.

In October 2020, The Grayzones Aaron Mate caught US and UK-government funded propaganda platform Bellingcat publishing a bogus draft letter to an OPCW whistleblower that was never sent.

In the aftermath of the debacle, Chris York, a former Huffington Post journalist with a history of fanatically smearing the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda, and Media, attempted to defend the letters authenticity in private communications with this journalist.

In the process, he made an intriguing disclosure.

Theres a whole bunch of stuff about Douma that isnt public yet because it would put any future investigations and possible criminal trials in jeopardy, York claimed.

He may have been bluffing, attempting to legitimize an obvious con job he himself had fallen for good and proper months earlier, and been on the verge of publishing. But theres also the chance York knows something the rest of us do not.
Undercover detectives in central Florida have arrested 17 peopleamong whom were three employees of Walt Disney Worldover charges related to the targeting of children online for unlawful sexual activity, the Polk County Sheriffs Office announced on Aug. 3.

The six-day-long undercover operation, dubbed Operation Child Protector, took place from July 27 through Aug. 1, during which law enforcement officers posed as children on social media platforms, mobile apps, and online dating sites to investigate potential predators who prey upon children for unlawful sexual activity.

A total of 17 people were arrested, representing 49 felony charges and two misdemeanor charges in all. The suspects ages ranged from 26 to 47. They were mostly from the central Florida area, with the exception of one who was visiting from California.

At an Aug. 3 press conference, Grady Judd, the sheriff of Polk County, described the suspects as incredible deviants, dangerous, and nasty, nasty, nasty people.

According to a statement from the Polk County Sheriffs Office, the suspects showed up to an undercover location in the county at separate times to meet who they thought would be children. Six of the suspects brought condoms, and nine of them have criminal histories that amounted to 27 previous felonies and 22 previous misdemeanors in total.

Some of [the suspects] transmitted pornographic images while grooming and soliciting the children online, and they were appropriately charged for that as well, according to the statement.

Three of the suspects were employees at Walt Disney World.

Judd told reporters that two suspects, Savannah Lawrence, 29, and Jonathan McGrew, 34, worked as custodians at Walt Disney Worlds Hollywood Studios. They spoke to an undercover detective posing as a 13-year-old girl online and told the girl that they wanted to engage in sexual activity together. McGrew went even further and described to the girl various role-playing scenarios they could enact, Judd told reporters.

Another Disney employee, 26-year-old Kenneth Aquino, was arrested at the undercover location when he went there in his work clothes, Judd said. Aquino worked as a lifeguard at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge and had left his pregnant girlfriend to engage in sexual activity with what he thought was a 13-year-old child, the sheriff said.

Aquino was working toward a dive team or a SEAL team or some kind of special ops job, Judd said. They did a background check on him and found he had friends or affiliates that were gang members, and they tossed him.

Walt Disney World did not immediately respond to The Epoch Timess request for comment.

Judd noted that one of the male suspects was HIV-positive, but due to the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), he couldnt identify the person.

Did you hear what Im telling you? Hes HIV positive. He showed up to have unprotected sex with what he thought was a child  with a little girl. Fortunately, our detectives were there instead of a 13-year-old child, Judd said.

The Auburndale, Orlando, and Winter Haven police departments and the Orange County Sheriffs Office participated in the operation. Judd praised the officers involved in the operation as the very best.

Theyre skilled in talking as if theyre 13- and 14-year-old children, and they worked around the clock for a week in order to arrest 17 people, he said.

Judd told reporters that in relaying news of the arrests, he and other officers cant even use the words [the suspects] used.  We obviously cant show you the pictures and the video clips that they sent to what they thought were 13-year-old little girls and little boys.

The charges dealt to the suspects include traveling to meet a minor for sex, attempted lewd battery, use of a computer to seduce a child, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and transmission of material harmful to a child.

The details of each individual and their charges are listed on the Polk County Sheriffs Office website.
Twitter is collaborating with Reuters, a CIA-linked media outlet that also participates in a covert UK information warfare program, to censor misinformation on social media.

Social media giant Twitter has announced that it will work with Reuters and the Associated Press to censor supposed misinformation on the platform, while actively promoting news stories that they deem to be credible.

Both of these media outlets are reliable mouthpieces of Western governments, but Reuters takes the cozy relationship a step further.

During the first cold war, Reuters was funded by the British government to spread anti-Soviet propaganda and to disseminate misinformation that served UK foreign-policy interests in the Middle East and Latin America.

Today, Reuters still works closely with the British government. Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal revealed how the media company has participated in a covert UK Foreign Office information warfare program aimed at creating attitudinal change in Russian journalists, weakening Russia, and advancing NATO geopolitical goals.

It was, in fact, the publication of that factual report that led Twitter to place an unprecedented warning label on all tweets that linked to Blumenthals article, warning users that the materials proving Reuters collaboration with the British government may have been obtained through hacking.

Remember the time Twitter slapped a warning label on my factual article exposing Reuters as a British intelligence contractor conducting information warfare ops against Russia? https://t.co/ZFvPIrnPE5 https://t.co/C1wkuuIyMX  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 3, 2021

Reuters shady activities dont stop there. A top former official who was tasked with the responsibility of advancing Thomson Reuters ability to meet the disparate needs of the U.S. Government, Government Global Business Director Dawn Scalici, had previously served as a CIA agent for at least 33 years.

The AP is also close to Western governments, boasting a long history of echoing their dubious talking points. The newswire published numerous articles in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq falsely claiming that leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). A decade before, it similarly ran fake news stories on supposed Kuwaiti babies being removed from incubators by Iraqi soldiers.

This May, the AP fired its reporter Emily Wilder over her tweets criticizing Israel and her past student activism in support of Palestinian rights.

Twitter announced it is going to work with Reuters to censor so-called "disinformation." What it of course didn't mention is Reuters is a propaganda outlet that has historically been funded by the British government, and still works with a secret UK information warfare program. https://t.co/hAXUPzdmMz pic.twitter.com/2cJr7YDQst  Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) August 3, 2021

US government uses disinformation excuse to censor independent media

Twitters partnership with these thoroughly compromised institutions is part of a wider trend in which Silicon Valley tech companies align with Western governments to crack down on independent media and alternative sources of information.

Twitters top executive responsible for curating Middle East-related content on the platform simultaneously works with the British Armys psychological warfare unit, the 77th Brigade, which specializes in information warfare, as Middle East Eye first revealed.

The supposed threat of disinformation or misinformation has become a key pretext for censoring independent news outlets. Hawkish, government-funded think tanks in Washington have seized the talking point to justify de-platforming and silencing voices that challenge Western corporate and foreign-policy interests.

Top US government officials and their de facto spokesmen in these think tanks have endlessly reiterated that disinformation poses a national security threat.

Under FBI orders, social media corporations have removed pages run by alternative media outlets that the US Department of Justice accused, without any evidence, of being foreign state-backed disinformation. The US government has even gone as far as unilaterally seizing their web domain names.

As The Grayzone reported, Twitter partnered with right-wing lobby groups funded by the US and European governments to censor foreign media outlets. US government propaganda organs like CIA-created Voice of America also pay Twitter to spread disinformation against Washingtons adversaries.

Google (which owns YouTube), Facebook (which owns Instagram), and Twitter have collaborated with Western governments to censor accounts run by citizen journalists in Venezuela, Iran, Syria, Russia, China, and other countries targeted by Washington for regime change and destabilization.

The transparent hypocrisy of Silicon Valley corporations teaming up with compromised media outlets to censor independent voices was clearly demonstrated when Facebook brought on the neoconservative website The Weekly Standard to serve as a fact-checker.

Founded by pro-war lobbyist Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard was branded the neocon bible for publishing fake news to sell the Iraq War and advance maximalist US foreign-policy goals. (Another unaccountable Big Tech conglomerate, Wikipedia and its corporate-backed Wikimedia Foundation, lists The Weekly Standard as a reliable source on par with top newspapers, while allowing a coterie of politically motivated editors to blacklist The Grayzone.)

With the backing of increasingly authoritarian Western governments, these Big Tech institutions have waged a systematic war on freedom of press and speech, censoring alternative viewpoints  especially when they challenge Washingtons bipartisan foreign-policy consensus.

Were excited to announce a new collaboration with @AP and @Reuters! Conversations move fast on Twitter and we need to be able to surface credible context just as quickly. Learn more about where youll see these updates: https://t.co/ptp5PWiFxq  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 2, 2021

UK government funded Reuters to spread cold war propaganda

On August 2, Twitter announced that it is collaborating with The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters to expand our efforts to identify and elevate credible information.

The Silicon Valley corporation explained that it has a Curation team that sources and elevates relevant context from reliable sources to add reliable context to conversations and debunk misinformation.

The Big Tech giant admitted that it works with large corporate media conglomerates to tweak its algorithm to prevent certain talking points from going viral.

What Twitter did not mention in its press release is that Reuters has a history of receiving direct funding from the United Kingdom to spread propaganda. Reuters itself admitted this fact.

In January 2020, the media outlet published a report acknowledging, The British government secretly funded Reuters in the 1960s and 1970s at the behest of an anti-Soviet propaganda unit linked to British intelligence and concealed the funding by using the BBC to make the payments, declassified government documents show.

The money was used to expand Reuters coverage of the Middle East and Latin America and hidden by increased news subscription payments to Reuters from the BBC, the company wrote.

Reuters received money from the Information Research Department (IRD), which it described as a British anti-Soviet propaganda unit with close ties to British intelligence.

An internal document shows London knew it was getting its moneys worth: HMGs [Her Majestys Governments] interests should be well served by the new arrangement, it said, adding that Reuters could and would provide what London wanted.

And this is not Reuters only link to Western spy agencies. Reuters also has close ties to the CIA.

Senior @Reuters director Dawn Scalici was a CIA officer for 33 years. Her job now is "advancing Thomson Reuters ability to meet the disparate needs of the U.S. Government". Fair and balanced! https://t.co/SbkoPpNxJm pic.twitter.com/01y78RCAL3  Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) December 21, 2020

From 2015 to 2018, Reuters employed longtime CIA agent Dawn Scalici as the companys first Government Global Business Director.

Reuters said Scalici was charged with the responsibility of advancing Thomson Reuters ability to meet the disparate needs of the U.S. Government, adding that she develops strategic relationships with government sector constituents and key decision-makers, develops campaigns to promote Thomson Reuters business growth, and works with the companys senior executives to determine relevant strategic goals and plans.

The media outlet continued: Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Ms. Scalici served 33 years with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In her last federal assignment, she served as the National Intelligence Manager for the Western Hemisphere within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In this role, she was responsible for overseeing national intelligence for an area of responsibility spanning from the Arctic to the tip of South America, including the US Homeland.

In 2019, Scalici moved on to CIA contractor McKinsey & Company, where she currently serves as Head of Diligence.

Reuters helps run secret UK Foreign Office information warfare operation

When it announced its formal partnership with Reuters and the AP, Twitter listed a series of tools that it has in its information curation arsenal. One of these is the use of labels to tag content it dubs misinformation or claims needs informative context.

Ironically, the world saw exactly how this new form of soft-censorship-by-label works when The Grayzone reported on Reuters secret work with the British government.

In February 2021, The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal published an investigation titled Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat participated in covert UK Foreign Office-funded programs to weaken Russia, leaked docs reveal.

Leaked files show Reuters' & the BBCs role in covert British Foreign Office programs to effect attitudinal change & weaken the Russian states influence" They were joined by intel contractors and outlets like Bellingcat.@MaxBlumenthal investigates https://t.co/EguVEHA3xV  The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) February 20, 2021

Leaked internal documents from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, published by a group calling itself Anonymous, showed how Reuters and the other media outlets are instruments in a British information warfare operation explicitly aimed to weaken the Russian States influence.

The documents revealed that the Thomson Reuters Foundation was in constant communication with the British Embassy in Moscow, to assess levels of risk, including reputational risk to the embassy.

As part of its agreement with London, Reuters helped to create and manage a network of anti-government reporters and media activists inside Russia. The program sought to create attitudinal change in the participants, while also promoting a positive impact on their perception of the UK.

In response to The Grayzones factual reporting, Twitter decided for the first time ever to put a warning label on all tweets that link to Blumenthals article, claiming These materials may have been obtained through hacking.

The censorial warning label triggered a mini-scandal on Twitter, and inadvertently transformed into a meme. Hundreds of users have posted the article with unrelated images, comically labeling them potentially hacked materials.

Twitters burgeoning relationship with the subjects of the Grayzone investigation it soft censored, however, is no laughing matter.
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The Brandon Police Service is asking residents and businesses to register their security cameras to help fight crime.

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The Brandon Police Service is asking residents and businesses to register their security cameras to help fight crime.

The Safer Neighbourhoods and Policing (SNAP) initiative allows people to register the location of their security cameras, which can then be used by police to find footage during an investigation.

Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said the goal is to reduce the time it takes officers to search for cameras in an area when investigating a crime.

"If there is a crime that is committed and there is an active threat  and time is of the essence, we might not have the luxury of taking our time, going door to door to see on the off chance someone may or may not have cameras," she said.

"If we have this information at our fingertips, it will be able to expedite that very time-sensitive investigation and shorten it."

People are often willing to provide police with footage during investigations, Sararas said, and the initiative is meant to speed the process up. Rather than information being in individual files, police will now have access to camera locations in one place.

Once a camera is registered, police will see the owners contact information, the location and number of cameras. Officers can then contact them to request the footage if needed.

If the owner has useful footage, police will provide a storage device to retrieve the video.

The program is not mandatory and participating in it doesnt mean individuals are obligated to give police footage.

Police agencies in other cities, such as Red Deer, Alta., Sarnia, Ont., and Barrie, Ont., have similar programs active, she said.

Brandon police Chief Wayne Balcaen said the program is another way for Brandonites to contribute to the safety of their city.

"As the number of private security camera networks continue to increase, registering where your cameras are located will help build another investigational avenue for our police service. I look forward to the development of this police/community partnership initiative," he said.

While police dont know how many security cameras are active in the city or how many could be registered, Sararas said they are common at both residences and businesses. Many people have them installed to help combat property crime and concerns about methamphetamine use.

"The sky is the limit for the amount of time we could save," she said.

The SNAP initiative was created entirely in-house by the police service, Sararas said.

"I believe the potential to save lives if something of that nature happens, I believe that could be a factor."

For more information and to sign up, go to snap.brandon.ca.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Prairie Mountain Health spent approximately $24 million to hire nurses from private agencies to fill staffing vacancies at health-care facilities in the region from January 2019 to May 2021.

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Prairie Mountain Health spent approximately $24 million to hire nurses from private agencies to fill staffing vacancies at health-care facilities in the region from January 2019 to May 2021.

Thats according to documents obtained by the Manitoba NDP through a freedom of information request and presented by NDP Leader Wab Kinew at a media conference at the Brandon Regional Health Centre on Wednesday.

Flanked by four nurses he said had expressed their concerns over the situation, Kinew said the documents show the financial cost of the provincial governments handling of health care and the lack of professional nurses in the health region.

"Its nurses who are bearing the brunt in the form of mandated overtime, stress on the job (and) just the overall work-life balance falling out of whack," Kinew said. "But we know its the patients in Prairie Mountain at the end of the day who are going to be left with the impacts if they dont have nurses at the bedside or even nurses who are familiar with them and their health-care needs."

The documents show how much money each hospital, health centre and personal care home in the health region spent on private nurses during each month of that time span.

By far the biggest spender on agency nurses was the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, which spent $515,044.19 on them in March 2021 alone and $5,212,193.71 in total from January 2019 to May 2021.

In comparison, the Brandon Regional Health Centre spent just $301,446.79 on private nurses during the same time. There were 14 months where nothing was spent at private nurses at all at the facility.

"When we look through this list, we see that there are big numbers in places like Dauphin, big numbers in places like Swan River, and that shouldnt be a surprise to anybody who has been banging the drum and saying we need to invest more in health care in rural centres across Manitoba," Kinew said.

"When we come here to Brandon and the hospital that were standing outside today, we know the impacts are many. Its going to impact the hospital here, because serving as the hub for the region, if there are staffing shortages in all the other hospitals and health centres across Prairie Mountain, its Brandons hospital thats going to be left to make up the difference."

On top of the money being spent on private nursing, Kinew said there was another economic impact. He said many of the private nurses come from communities outside the health region, meaning the money they make is being taken home elsewhere and isnt going back into the local economy.

"Its time to talk about solutions: we need to make up for the cuts to training programs like the college nursing seats that we lost under the Conservatives," he said. "We need to reset the relationship with nurses. That means having a collective agreement and ending the practice of mandating overtime. Once we explore those solutions, we need to make sure we retain nurses and create a good working environment for them so the patients can get what they need."

Kinew was asked what makes the current nursing shortage so bad when the problem has existed since the NDP was last in power.

"What makes it so bad now is that the PC government has undertaken a deliberate strategy of trying to reduce the head count in the health-care system, which has put a greater stress on the nurses who remain. That weakened our health-care system as of the end of 2019, the start of 2020. Then COVID hit."

To solve the problem, Kinew said more nurses need to be trained at Manitobas post-secondary institutions like Assiniboine Community College. He doesnt believe the plan announced earlier this year by the provincial government to increases seats at nursing schools will be successful because of previous cuts it has made.

"If we can use an ACC to train people locally here in Brandon, to use ACCs Parkland Campus to maybe partner with (University College of the North) and some other locations across the region, to me thats going to be the best long-term solution," he said.

Speaking to the Sun Wednesday afternoon, Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert said the practice of hiring agency nurses isnt new. Furthermore, he said that only one-quarter of that $24 million in spending on agency nurses represents an increase over what the health region would be paying permanent, full-time nurses.

Those extra costs come mostly from travel costs as well as for accommodation. For a community like Brandon, travel costs are relatively low. For more rural destinations, the prices go up.

"In 2019, our incremental costs for travel and accommodation for all agencies ... that was over two and a half million," he said. "This isnt a new thing, its been going on for years and years and years. I can say in the pandemic, its been worse. Weve had to have additional staff on. There arent as many staff to pick up shifts. Id have to say its gone up, not significantly, but weve had to use agency nurses more."

He said for nurses and health-care aides, they first go to part-time employees to pick up shifts and then ask for employees to work overtime before going to agencies. The ideal is to have as many local, permanent employees as possible.

As of the end of June, there were 165 full-time equivalent positions for registered nurses available, 120 licensed practical nurse positions and 158 health-care aide vacancies. Schoonbaert said those figures represent about a 20 per cent vacancy rate for those positions.

Asked about the hiring of private nurses, a spokesperson from Health Minister Heather Stefansons office had this to say about the topic: "The nursing vacancy rate is a long-standing challenge that is not specific to Manitoba. It is being felt all across the country, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to the false assertions made by the Opposition, our government is committed to hiring more nurses.

"In July, we announced plans to add close to 400 new nursing education seats across the province  a 50 (per cent) increase over existing levels. Additionally, our government launched a new initiative that will provide financial and process support for internationally educated nurses (IENs) looking to become licensed in Manitoba. In the first week alone, over 1,200 online applications were received.

"In May, we announced an additional 60 EFT critical care nursing positions, which are in various stages of the hiring process."

Addressing the new public health orders announced by Premier Brian Pallister and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin on Tuesday, Kinew said it seemed like the governments plan to handle the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the imminent return to schools was to cross its fingers and hope for the best.

"Thats what we did last year, and it didnt work too well for Manitobans," Kinew said.

Kinew also said he "could pretty much guarantee there was political interference" in the new public health orders.

A spokesperson from the premiers office denied the allegation in an email.

"This is a baseless accusation which is not only inaccurate, but does a tremendous disservice to Dr. Roussin and our team of dedicated Public Health officials," the spokesperson wrote. "Manitobas COVID-19 response has always been  and will continue to be  guided by science and at the direction of our Chief Provincial Public Health Officer."

Another spokesperson, this time from Manitoba Health, pointed out that Roussin told The Canadian Press in an interview last month that while politicians have the final say, public healths advice is being followed.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said Thursday.

In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church Brian Houston leaves a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearings in Sydney, Australia. Houston has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said Thursday.

Detectives served Houstons lawyers on Thursday with a notice for him to appear in a Sydney court on Oct. 5 for allegedly concealing a serious indictable offense, police said.

Police will allege in court the man (Houston) knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police, police said.

Houston, 67, suggested the charges related to allegations that his preacher father, Frank Houston, had abused a boy over several years in the 1970s.

These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter, Houston said. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

Hillsong said in a statement the church was disappointed that Houston had been charged and asked that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process.

A government inquiry into institutional responses to allegations of child sex abuse found in 2015 that Houston did not tell police that his father was a child sex abuser.

The inquiry found that Houston became aware of allegations against his father in 1999 and allowed him to retire quietly rather report him to police. His father confessed to the abuse before he died in 2004 at age 82.

There was media speculation that the inquirys findings and the ensuing police investigation were reasons why the White House rejected a request by Australias Pentecostal prime minister, Scott Morrison, that Houston be invited to a 2019 state dinner hosted by then-President Donald Trump.

Morrison confirmed that he had wanted Houston, whom hed known for a long time, included on the invitation list. Morrison said he didn't know why Houston wasnt invited.

Houston has been based in the United States in recent months, preached at a service in Mexico last month and delivered a livestreamed sermon from California on Sunday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Crown investors have two months before they place their final bets on whether Victorian gaming royal commissioner Ray Finkelstein will ask for the companys Melbourne licence to be ripped up when he delivers his recommendations in October.

That is no longer an outside chance, its a very real possibility.

For the last 18 months investors have been underestimating the potential of Crowns past behaviour finally catching up with it and posing serious financial consequences for the company.

Commissioner Ray Finkelstein puts the nuclear option for Crown on the table. Credit:AAP

Those investors without the benefit of long corporate memories should acquaint themselves with Finkelsteins 2005 Federal Court decision in which he ignored a settlement agreed between former Telstra director, Steve Vizard and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that he be banned for five years as a director.
Papua New Guineas Prime Minister has warned Australian energy giants Santos and Oil Search he expects them to maintain a significant local presence of senior management in the country if their $22 billion merger proceeds.

We do not wish for the largest oil and gas company operating in our country to simply be a branch office of a foreign company, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said.

Oil Search owns oil and gas interests in Papua New Guinea and Alaska Credit:

It is important that the merged entity ensures significant local influence on decisions affecting Papua New Guinea assets, jobs and the broader community.

Australia-listed Oil Search is an $8 billion oil and gas company whose activities are centred in PNG, comprising a large percentage of the countrys gross domestic product and providing direct and indirect jobs for thousands of PNG residents.
As Australias longest-serving and most trusted newsreader, Brian Henderson was a welcome visitor in our homes, on our television screens, for generations. Every night at 6pm, for half an hour, we were invited to see the world through his eyes.

Hendo, as he was affectionately known, took a curious route to the newsroom, via the pop music program Bandstand, but once there established a credential in television journalism which has never been equalled. Others have come and gone, but none have matched Henderson, 89, who passed away on Thursday after a battle with cancer.

Newsreading legend Brian Henderson, or Hendo as he was affectionately known, has died at 89. Credit:Tim Wimborne

It is testament to Hendersons personality and the peculiar nature of his fame that he somehow became a national icon, while still only the presenter of Nines news in Sydney. Melbourne had Brian Naylor. Brisbane had Bruce Paige. Adelaide had Rob Kelvin. But there was only one Hendo.

Peculiar too that he came to the newsroom from a career hosting the variety series The BP Supershow, the documentary The Beatles in Australia and, finally, the nations most popular pop music show of the day, Bandstand.
Chief executive Robert Giles said the Delta variant had rewritten the rules and his company had a responsibility to respond. After aged care, healthcare and frontline workers, were the next area that should be vaccinated  not only to protect our staff, but to protect the food supply for the country, Mr Giles told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. SPC is the first Australian company to mandate staff get vaccinated against COVID-19. Credit:The Age SPC operates a canning factory in the northern Victorian city of Shepparton where there have been just 53 cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. Mr Giles said he had already been contacted by a number of other large food manufacturers on Thursday morning to discuss SPCs decision.

Its prompting a discussion, which is what we wanted, he said. If other companies come in and support us that would be fantastic, thats definitely what were encouraging. Employees will receive paid vaccination leave to recover if they suffer any side effects from their inoculation. All staff, including casuals, must have their first dose booked by September 15 and all visitors to SPCs site must also be vaccinated. Employees with pre-existing health conditions who are unable to receive the vaccine will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Many companies contacted by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, including Sunrice, Inghams, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, Coca Cola Amatil, Hungry Jacks and Goodstart Early Learning said they had no plans to make vaccinations mandatory. But others, who did not want to speak publicly, said they were closely monitoring the outcome of SPCs decision. Matt Journeaux, the acting federal secretary of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union, said meat retailers and processors would be monitoring SPCs decision to see how workers and consumers responded. Mr Journeaux said while he was pro-vaccination and encouraged members to get the COVID-19 jab, vaccinations were a personal choice and SPC had taken matters a step too far.

The government hasnt come out and mandated it and I think it is a pretty big call for a company to say it is mandatory, he said. I dont know how you mandate a vaccination in an environment where it is not critical. In aged care or health care there is an argument for it. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, which represents many SPC staff, said the company had failed to consult with workers and its November deadline was unrealistic. Some working people are still not eligible or otherwise able to access the vaccine, the unions national president Andrew Dettmer said. He said barring unvaccinated workers from worksites discriminated against those with health concerns that prevented them from being vaccinated. Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, said the federal government should be deciding which high-risk workplaces mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for employees.

Employees at the SPC Ardmona factory in Shepparton at the change of shift. Credit:Justin McManus The conversation needs to be based on the evidence, the risks and be driven as much as possible through public health orders, not left to individual employers, she said. According to Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Jenny Lambert, its understandable that businesses are reassessing the safest course of action due to the highly contagious Delta variant. But she said it would be premature for most businesses to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine because it was not yet accessible to everyone. We expect most businesses to continue to strongly encourage employees to be vaccinated within an overall policy that COVID-19 vaccinations remain voluntary.

Australian Lawyers Alliance national president Graham Droppert said it was reasonable, in the current environment, for employers to require workers who work in close proximity with others to be vaccinated. COVID-19 does cause illness and it does cause death, he said. People are entitled to go to work in the safest environment possible. He said high-risk workplaces could potentially expose themselves to legal risks if they did not mandate vaccinations. At some point, someone will say, it was no longer reasonable for you to allow me to to be exposed to the virus in the workplace, he said. Slater and Gordon head of employment law Andrew Rich said employers can usually ask their workers to get vaccinated if it is to protect people they are servicing, such as aged care workers or front-line medical staff.

Whether the order is reasonable hinges on a number of factors, he said, such as the level of coronavirus circulating in the community, the medical condition of the worker challenging the directive, the condition of the customers being served by the business and whether the business can operate safely through measures such as social distancing. Federal Nationals MP Damian Drum, whose seat takes in Shepparton, applauded SPCs decision, saying it was fair and reasonable. It is a courageous decision and one that sets the tone for corporate Australia, particularly in light of the threat the Delta variant poses to families, communities and business, he said. In my opinion, people who can receive the vaccination but choose not to are being selfish and holding Australia back. Major retailers such as Coles, Woolworths and Wesfarmers have so far only strongly encouraged staff to get vaccinated.

However, employers overseas arent as hesitant, with some of Americas largest employers feeling compelled to act now as Delta infections surge in the worlds largest economy. Last week, Google said it would require employees who returned to the companys offices to be vaccinated, while Disney announced a mandate for all salaried and non-union hourly workers who work on-site. On Wednesday, tech giant Microsoft said it would also require proof of vaccination to enter its sites in the US. Shepparton locals had mixed feelings about SPCs announcement. Shepparton local Herb Wright is not in favour of vaccinations. Credit:Justin McManus Lexi Morrow, 21, said employees should be able to decide whether or not they got vaccinated against COVID-19.

As a disability support worker, shed decided to get the jab for the sake of her clients safety, but thought it was unfair workers were made to feel they were doing something wrong if they didnt. Loading Herb Wright, who works at another factory, stressed that he was in favour of vaccinations, but thought it was ethically wrong for SPC to mandate COVID vaccinations for workers. If I choose not to, thats my choice, he said. I shouldnt have Big Brother telling me that I must do this and that  they already do enough of that I know, and its getting worse.
Brian Houston, founder of evangelical megachurch Hillsong, says he will return to Australia and fight to clear his name after being charged for allegedly concealing child sexual abuse by his late father Frank Houston.

Mr Houston, who has been living in the US and recently travelled to preach in Mexico, was charged following a two-year investigation into allegations he failed to report the alleged abuse of a boy in the 1970s.

Hillsong pastor Brian Houston has been charged by NSW Police. Credit:Getty

Detectives on Thursday afternoon served his lawyer with a court attendance notice requiring Mr Houston, 67, to appear at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on October 5.

Police will allege in court that the man knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police, NSW police said in a statement.
An Australian man has faced court accused of financially aiding an overseas fighter to flee his country and join Syrian terrorist groups fighting against the countrys government forces.

Omar Saghir, 39, was arrested by Australian Federal Police officers in New South Wales when he landed at Sydney Airport on Friday, July 16, from Saudi Arabia, where he had been since 2019.

A photo released in December 2018 showing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters in northern Syria. Credit:AP

The accused was put in mandatory quarantine, before being extradited to Queensland on Tuesday and facing the Brisbane Arrests Court on Thursday, where he made an application for bail.

He has been charged with one count of making preparations for incursions into foreign states for purpose of engaging in hostile activities. The maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment.
Despite a more optimistic tone set by Queensland Health authorities on Thursday, experts predicted the state would need to extend its lockdown beyond Sunday to keep a lid on the Brisbane COVID-19 outbreak.

Queensland recorded 16 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, all of them with links to the Indooroopilly cluster.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young was more upbeat about the cluster numbers on Thursday. Credit:Matt Dennien

That follows 16 cases being linked to the cluster on Wednesday and Tuesday, indicating the virus was still spreading within the cluster, but not spreading to other parts of the community.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles took a positive tone, saying the news was encouraging, and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young was also upbeat about the figures.
Queensland will receive thousands of doses of Pfizer from the federal government ahead of schedule, as vaccination efforts ramp up across the board to combat the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Health Minister Yvette DAth confirmed on Thursday that 112,320 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which were scheduled for September, will now be delivered from next week.

Thousands of extra Pfizer doses will arrive in Queensland from next week. Credit:Getty

We have been advised that half of those vaccines will arrive next week with the following half in the following weeks, Ms DAth said.

So we will immediately start planning for those extra doses and where we will focus the delivery of those extra vaccines.
Shanae Edwards had travelled and worked all over the world: volunteering in South America, skiing in Canada, exploring temples in Thailand.

But most recently it was Georgia, where Europe meets Asia, which had captured her imagination. She told friends how much she loved the charming old homes dotted in small villages, nearby waterfalls and serene spots for hiking and rock climbing.

Georgian police suspect Shanae Edwards was murdered.

She loved Georgia and [its capital] Tbilisi a lot, friend Lina Khamatova said. She didnt plan to move soon, she was hoping to spend at least a few more years [in Georgia].

Her friends  dotted all over of the world after her extensive travels  and family back in Victoria are now in mourning after the 31-year-old was found dead near a hiking track on the slopes of Mount Mtatsminda on Saturday.
A man who sexually assaulted two vulnerable women while pretending to be a ride-share driver fears his family will be split up if he is deported after completing his jail term.

Twice in 2019 Sharjeel Mirza preyed on two young women who were drunk by sexually assaulting them while each sat in the passenger seat next to him as he drove. He had an Uber sticker on his blue Toyota Corolla but was not registered to drive for the company.

Mirza, a 39-year-old father of two, has spent two years in jail since his arrest and has pleaded guilty to rape and two charges of sexual assault.

Mirza claimed he was an Uber driver and studying to be a paramedic when he drove a 19-year-old home from outside a Melbourne nightclub on March 10, 2019. Having insisted to the womans boyfriend the fare would be higher for two passengers and that the woman would be safe by herself, Mirza moved the womans hand onto his crotch and digitally raped her, a pre-sentence hearing at the County Court heard on Thursday. The boyfriend was not in the car.

At the womans home Mirza spoke to her mother while the teenager was on the ground near the car, prosecutor Shivani Pillai said. As the woman was helped inside the house she told her family: Hes very bad, hes a very bad person and he did very bad things.
The head of the countrys 50 most influential Indigenous organisations has demanded Stolen Generations survivors in Western Australia and Queensland be compensated for the suffering they endured.

WA and Queensland will soon be the only two jurisdictions in which survivors have never received reparations for being forcibly removed from their families under government policies the landmark 1997 Bringing Them Home report found amounted to genocide.

Lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Pat Turner, says time is up for governments to compensate Stolen Generations survivors. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

I am quite happy to say to the WA government and the Queensland government: times up, Coalition of Peaks lead convener Pat Turner said. You have to follow the other jurisdictions around Australia, the last ones to come on board, and its high time that you did the right thing in a human rights context.

After years of resistance, the federal government announced on Thursday the living survivors in the Northern Territory and ACT will be eligible for at least $75,000 each in compensation from next year under a $378.6 million scheme. The Commonwealth is responsible for those jurisdictions because the Stolen Generations primarily occurred before either was granted self-government.
The World Health Organisation called for a halt on booster shots of coronavirus vaccines through at least September, as poorer countries struggle to access doses, even for high-risk populations such as healthcare workers and the elderly.

We cannot and we should not accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it while the worlds most vulnerable people remain unprotected, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) at a news conference.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the poorer countries need the vaccine now. Credit:AP

Tedros said the focus for now should be meeting the UN health agencys goal of 10 per cent vaccination coverage in every country by the end of September. So far, more than 80 per cent of vaccine doses globally have gone to high and upper-middle income countries that represent less than half of the worlds population.

The remarks come as the United States and other wealthy nations weigh if and when booster shots are necessary and consider how to balance domestic calls for additional doses against growing evidence of an alarming vaccine gap around the world.
Beijing: The Delta variant is challenging Chinas costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the coronavirus out of the country need a less disruptive approach.

As the highly contagious variant pushes leaders in the United States, Australia and elsewhere to renew restrictions, President Xi Jinpings government is fighting the most serious outbreak since last years peak in Wuhan. The ruling Communist Party is reviving tactics that shut down China: access to a city of 11.5 million people has been cut off, flights cancelled and mass testing ordered in some areas.

A medical worker takes samples during a mass COVID-19 test in a residential block in Wuhan. Credit:Getty

That zero tolerance strategy of quarantining every case and trying to block new infections from abroad helped to contain last years outbreak and has kept China largely virus-free. But its impact on work and life for millions of people is prompting warnings that China needs to learn to control the virus without repeatedly shutting down the economy and society.

Zhang Wenhong, a Shanghai doctor who became prominent during the Wuhan outbreak, suggested in a social media post that Chinas strategy could change. We will definitely learn more from the ongoing outbreak, he said, calling it a stress test for the nation.
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felt the impact of a Chinese boycott of Western brands on its second-quarter results on Thursday and is also suffering from the closure of factories in major supplier due to rising COVID-19 infections.

The German sportswear company still raised its outlook for full-year sales and profitability as it said it has seen demand recover in China since calls for a boycott in late March, and said it hopes to restore production in soon.

But shares were down 4.1% by 0950 GMT as analysts noted that its growth was lagging rivals Nike and Puma, which both reported that sales nearly doubled in recent earnings releases.

Second-quarter sales at rose 52% to 5.077 billion euros ($6 billion), while operating profit came in at 543 million euros, ahead of analysts' average forecasts.

Adidas raised its 2021 outlook to predict sales will grow up to 20%, and net income from continuing operations will reach 1.4-1.5 billion euros. That compared to Puma's forecast for sales to rise at least 20% for 2021.

The new Adidas outlook assumes that the sourcing network will be back to normal by the end of September and that the company will continue to see a steady recovery in Greater China, where sales fell 16% in the second quarter.

Western brands including Adidas faced online attacks in China in late March over past statements saying they would not source cotton from Xinjiang after reports of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. Beijing denies any such abuses.

Adidas already saw online sales return to growth in China in June, Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted told journalists, adding he expects the country to record strong growth for the full year and he welcomed a government drive to promote youth sport.

The company hopes to be able to restart production in after the scheduled end of a coronavirus lockdown on Aug. 15 and is working on reallocating production to other centres in the meantime.

Vietnam usually accounts for 28% of Adidas sourcing and its factories mostly make shoes for the company, with a lag of three to four months before products hit the shelves.

The combined impact of supply chain problems, new COVID-19 lockdowns in Asia and tensions with China could amount to more than 500 million euros in lost sales in the second half, said finance chief Harm Ohlmeyer.

Ohlmeyer added he expects Adidas to seal a deal to divest the underperforming Reebok brand by the end of the summer.

($1 = 0.8450 euros)

(Reporting by Emma ThomassonEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Keith Weir)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Drug major is looking to commercialise a COVID-19 vaccine, build a portfolio of biosimilar products, expand API production as part of its growth plans going ahead, as per company's annual report for 2020-21.

The Hyderabad-based drug major is looking to develop products with higher complexity, focus on injectables business and expand business in high growth markets like China.

"We are channelising our efforts to develop capabilities to commercialise COVID-19 vaccine. We have already entered into an exclusive license agreement with Vaxxinity, a US-based company to develop, commercialise and manufacture UB612, a multitope peptide-based vaccine for COVID-19," Vice Chairman K Nithyananda Reddy informed company's shareholders.

Vaxxinity's phase II trials are ongoing in Taiwan which is expected to be completed by second quarter of FY22, he noted.

"Moreover, Vaxxinity has applied for phase II/III clinical trials in India. Our viral vaccine facility will be ready for commercial production by the end of July 2021," Reddy stated.

He noted that the company is also making steady progress in building its biosimilars portfolio with a product portfolio targeting a market opportunity of over USD 50 billion.

The company's focus remains on oncology, ophthalmology and immunology, he added.

"Another area we are initiating work on is immuno-oncology, which ensures a strategic continuity of our products portfolio in a critical therapeutic segment with anti-PD1s. We are developing 15 biosimilars, which reflects our commitment to build a sustainable biosimilars business over the medium term," Reddy said.

He noted that the company is now targeting products with higher complexity, making inroads into the specialty segment in the US and have firm plans to expand in the second largest pharma market (China).

The company is also reinforcing its prominence in the EU market and other key growth markets (Canada and South Africa) and Brazil, he added.

Reddy noted that the company is looking at its injectables business as a key growth lever going ahead.

The drug maker has already built a strong presence in injectables across delivery systems such as liquid and lyophilised vials, bags, ampoules, and prefilled syringes and have robust manufacturing and execution capabilities as well, he stated.

"We completed the construction of an injectable facility in the US, which will be a dedicated unit to manufacture high-value and low-volume products. We are also setting up another injectables facility in Visakhapatnam for Europe and growth markets, which is expected to be ready for commercial production in the next 15-18 months," Reddy noted.

The company is optimistic about the growth trajectory of this business and looking forward to executing the extensive pipeline through its commercial reach, he added.

is also looking to expand production capacity of APIs in order to increase supplies to external parties.

Moreover, the drug maker is also strengthening its capabilities to develop and commercialise more complex APIs, Reddy said.

"Collectively, a strong new product pipeline, focus on injectables business and a gradual strengthening of complex generics portfolio will be the key growth drivers for our business over the medium term," Aurobindo Pharma Managing Director N Govindarajan noted.

In FY21, the company's revenue from operations grew by 7 per cent to Rs 24,775 crore from Rs 23,098 crore in FY20.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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A Delhi court on Thursday extended by ten days the custodial interrogation of promoter Gautam Thapar, arrested by Enforcement Directorate in connection with a Rs 500 crore

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal extended Thapar's ED custody till Aug 15 after he was produced before the court on expiry of his one-day custodial interrogation granted on Wednesday.

Thapar was arrested on Tuesday night after the agency carried out raids against him and his linked businesses in Delhi and Mumbai.

The agency told the court that investigation revealed that around Rs 500 crore worth proceeds of crime were laundered through Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd (OBPL), Jhabua Power Limited (JPL), Jhabua Power Investment Ltd. (JPIL), Avantha Power & Infrastructure Ltd (APIL), Avantha Realty Ltd. (ARL) etc. which were being controlled and beneficially owned directly or indirectly by

The probe revealed that sham agreements were made by these entities to fraudulently obtain huge amount running into more than 500 crore from Yes Bank and further by different modes of layering the tainted amount was laundered and the loan account thus turned NPA causing a loss of huge public money, it said.

While seeking his 14-day custody, the ED told the court that there were material evidence and reasons to believe that Thapar was guilty of offence of money laundering, and that he was involved in the laundering of proceeds of crime and had been involved in projecting the proceeds of crime as untainted.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for the accused, opposed ED's remand application and said that his client was in fact the victim in the matter and that the entire transaction had taken place in view of the intention of Yes Bank to have evergreening of loans.

Advocates Sandeep Kapur and Niharika Karanjawala of Karanjawala & Co, also appeared for the accused.

In its remand application, the agency said that the accused did not cooperate with the investigation and deliberately failed to divulge the crucial facts regarding his involvement in the instant loan, his coordination and involvement with earlier Yes Bank management, the details of overseas companies/ trusts/ bank accounts/ properties owned by him and his family which are actually required for further investigation.

The case is having international ramifications involving proceeds of crime stashed outside the country in form of immovable properties and bank accounts which is to be unearthed, it said.

The custodial interrogation of the is essential to further determine the role of various other persons who facilitated the offence of money laundering and how/ by whom the funds were placed, layered and integrated into the system, to determine the entire modus operandi, the ED said.

The agency further said that Thapar's custodial interrogation was essential to establish the money trail or end-use of the initially taken loan which was re-paid through the instant fraudulently obtained loan from Yes Bank.

It said that Thapar was to be confronted with the material/evidence on record as it would enable the investigating agency to ascertain and identify the funds laundered and parked in various entities.

The ED has been probing an alleged transaction between his company Avantha Realty, Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor and his wife, who are already being investigated under the PMLA by the agency.

The case of money laundering was filed by the ED after taking cognisance of an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The (CBI) FIR alleges that Rana Kapoor, then MD and CEO of Yes Bank Limited, obtained illegal gratification in the form of a property in a prime location in Delhi at much less than the realisable market value belonging to Avantha Reality Ltd for sanction of a loan to ARL and for extending concessions, relaxations and waivers in the already existing credit facilities provided to and for advancing new and additional loans to them by Yes Bank Ltd," the ED had said earlier.

CBI had last year booked Kapoor and his wife Bindu for allegedly obtaining a bribe of Rs 307 crore through the purchase of a bungalow in a tony Delhi area from a realty firm at half the market price and facilitating around Rs 1,900 crore bank loans to it in return, the agency said.

The CBI suspected that the discounted transaction for the 1.2 acre-bungalow on Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi was a gratification to Kapoor through the company Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd in return for non-realisation of over Rs 1,900 crore in loans from Yes Bank to Gautam Thapar-promoted Avantha Realty and group companies, it said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Healthy snack brand, Eat Better said it has raised an undisclosed amount in growth funding from e-commerce investment marketplace GetVantage. The funds will be invested to fuel expansion by focusing on marketing and new product launches in the coming months.

Launched in August 2020 The Eat Better Company said it has registered strong growth and developed a customer base of over 15,000 people.

Over the last 11 months, weve gotten an overwhelming response and have clocked in double-digit growth rates month on month, said Mridula Kanoria, Founder, Eat Better. This validates my belief that given a choice people will choose healthy, 100 per cent natural snacks for their families.

Kanoria said having realized the importance of making healthier choices, people are looking to buy from brands that are using the best of ingredients and making snacks without the addition of any harmful preservatives or artificial flavors. The packaged food industry is ripe for disruption and the additional capital infusion from GetVantage will enable us to supercharge growth and help our customers make healthier choices, said Kanoria.

Besides selling its products through its website and various marketplaces, the company also has a strong gifting portfolio and counts Visa, Razorpay, Pine Labs, and Godrej Housing Finance among its customers.

As the leading revenue-based financing fintech platform in India, GetVantage has invested in over 70 digital-first brands across sectors. The firm said it is committed to driving growth for local, home-grown brands like The Eat Better Company, which are the future of e-commerce in India. The company is on track to fund over 250 brands in the next 12 months.

We are excited to support more women founders like Mridula who are fueling entrepreneurship in India, said Bhavik Vasa, founder, and CEO, GetVantage. As a founders platform, we look to empower Indias most exciting entrepreneurs and e-commerce businesses like Eat Better with revenue-based financing to catalyse growth.
(India) has reported a significant increase in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of financial year 2021-22. Consolidated net profit during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,157.15 crore, or 235 per cent higher than the Rs 642.97-crore profit reported by the company in the comparable quarter of the previous financial year.

Consolidated total stood at Rs 17,702.43 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2021, up from Rs 12,339.12 crore in the same months of financial year 2020-21.

The increase in the profits is mainly attributable to better physical performance in natural gas marketing and transmission, improved margins in gas marketing due to favourable market conditions and better price realisation in petrochemicals and liquid hydrocarbons, a company statement said.

According to GAIL, the natural gas transmission volume increased by 19 per cent and marketing volume was up 18 per cent over the corresponding quarter in the previous year. The volume growth is due to normalcy of the business activities as against nationwide lockdown during the first quarter of financial year 2020-21, said.

Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of said that the company is focussed on development of National Gas Grid and currently GAIL, along with its JVs, is executing Pipeline Projects of around 8,000 kilometres with an investment of around Rs 38,000 crores.

GAIL said that it is also expanding its Polypropylene production capacity by setting up a 500,000-tonne-per-annum (KTA) propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and polypropylene (PP) Unit at Usar (Maharashtra) and 60 KTA PP unit at Pata (Uttar Pradesh) with an approximate investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

During current financial year, GAIL said it has a capital expenditure plan of Rs 6,600 crore.
Mortgage financier on Thursday reported a marginal 3.3 per cent growth in its profit after tax at Rs 282 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, helped by a lower cost of funds.

The lender had reported a profit after tax of Rs 273 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Despite loan book coming down, our profitability has remained same, which tells that the company has increased its spread as the cost of funding has come down, its deputy managing director Ashwini Kumar Hooda said.

The lender, in a release, said quarterly earnings have grown for the first time since the September 2018 IL&FS default and the ensuing NBFC liquidity crisis.

The cost of funds has come down by 20 basis points to 8.4 per cent as of June 30, 2021, from 8.6 per cent, Hooda said.

The spread on the book stood at 2.6 per cent.

The net interest income improved to Rs 765 crore from Rs 731 crore in the year-ago period.

The company said its collection efficiency has normalised in June and July and is at around 98 per cent.

Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) increased to 2.86 per cent from 2.20 per cent in Q1 FY2021.

GNPA has trend upwards as most of the stress is coming from the wholesale book. A few slippages were also there in the retail book in the quarter because of COVID, Hooda said.

Net NPAs reduced to 1.55 per cent from 1.63 per cent.

The total provisions rose to Rs 3,600 crore (5.5 per cent of loan book), which is 3.9 times the regulatory requirement.

High provision cushion places the portfolio in a strong position to negotiate any macroeconomic uncertainties, stemming from the second wave and expected the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.

The loan book shrunk by 10.52 per cent to Rs 65,438 crore from Rs 73,129 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

The strategy is to keep paring down builder loan or large ticket LAP (loan against property) loans that are there. We will continue to originate more and more home loans or granular LAP, Hooda said.

Capital adequacy stood at 30.9 per cent and tier-1 at 24.3 per cent.

For prudent ALM (asset-liability management), the company has voluntarily created a reserve fund for repayment of its USD 350 million dollar bonds maturing in May 2022.

It will transfer a sum equivalent to 75 per cent of the total maturity proceeds of these bonds, in multiple stages, to a debt repayment trust, which will be managed by IDBI Trustee, the release said.

The first tranche of Rs 682.6 crore, representing 25 per cent of the total dollar bond repayment has already been paid to the trust, it added.

The lender has entered into co-lending partnerships with Central Bank of India for offering housing loans and secured MSME loans, and with Yes Bank to offer housing loans to home buyers at competitive rates.

Talking about fundraising, Hooda said the company is looking to raise USD 200-300 million through equity route before September.

There are large funds that are looking to buy a stake. We are in touch with a lot of investors and you should see an equity raise in the current quarter, he said.

The fundraise could entail a dilution of around a 10-15 per cent stake in the company, he added.

The company's scrip closed at Rs 270.30 apiece, down 0.33 per cent on BSE.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kia India on Thursday said it has become the quickest brand in the country to cross three lakh cumulative sales mark in the country.

The brand, which sells models like Seltos and Sonet, crossed one lakh sales milestone in July 2020, the next one lakh in January 2021, and the third lakh in August 2021.

It took the automaker less than two years to achieve the milestones.

The brand achieved the first one lakh unit sales in one year and clocked the latter two lakh in the same amount of time, signifying the high adoption rate of Kia cars among Indian customers, Kia India said in a statement.

The flagship product of the automaker, Seltos, remains the highest contributor with 66 per cent share while Sonet added 32 per cent to the sales. Besides, the brand sold 7,310 units of its premium offering, the Carnival during the period.

"Three lakh sales for Kia India is a strong affirmation of customer acceptance and their confidence in the brand and its offerings. Despite testing times, the Indian market has shown a strong rebound in demand," Kia India Managing Director and CEO Kookhyun Shim noted.

The company's extensive sales, after-sales service network, and pre-emptive measures like an end-to-end digitised sales process helped it minimise business risks and perform against all odds, he added.

"Over the last years, we have carefully identified the unmet needs of Indian customers and catered to them with premium, well-designed products equipped with segment-first features. We are confident that our best in class products and ownership experience will continue to exhilarate our customers," Shim said.

Since its entry in India, Kia focussed on narrowing the gap between affordability and luxury, with a wide choice of variants per model at an optimal price range, giving the brand vast market acceptance, the automaker noted.

In order to expand its reach, the brand aims to expand its footprint from the current 300 to 360 touchpoints, covering 90 per cent of the Indian market, including Tier-III, IV, and upcountry markets, it noted.

The Seltos became the 3,00,000th car to roll out from the company's manufacturing facility in Anantapur, which employs over 13,000 employees.

Over the past two years, Kia has invested over USD 2 billion, inclusive of the vendor park created near the plant.

In April 2017, Kia India signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government to build a new manufacturing facility at the Anantapur district. The South Korean automaker commenced mass production in August 2019 and has an annual production capacity of about three lakh units.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the current Covid times, the Indian government has been introducing major reforms on the taxation front with a view to create a positive investment environment. Few reforms have been intended to simplify some of the old and archaic taxation structure while others to incentivise businesses and enhance investments.

Given the efforts of the government for quicker recovery of economy reeling under the effect of Covid-19, the Bill introduced in the Parliament on Thursday to do away with the infamous amendment on taxation of indirect transfers, brings in much needed certainty and comfort for the foreign investors on doing business in India.

In January 2012, in a landmark judgment in Vodafones case, the Indian headed by the then Chief Justice, ruled that transfer of shares of a company incorporated outside India would not be taxable in India due to absence of situs of shares in India and more importantly, absence of charging provisions to such transfers. However subsequently, the UPA government in its Budget of 2012 introduced an amendment making indirect transfers taxable in India purportedly clarifying the legislative intent which in effect nullified the ruling of the Apex Court.



This in essence meant that capital gains arising from transfer of shares of a foreign entity deriving substantial value from assets located in India were chargeable to capital gains in India. The threshold for computing substantial value from India was later defined to be fifty percent of the value of the shares of the overseas entity sought to be transferred. This led to tax demands being raised in seventeen cases including Cairn Energy Plc and Group and more importantly, affecting sentiments of foreign investors for lack of certainty due to government making changes retrospectively in tax laws.



ALSO READ: Govt to amend Income Tax Act to nullify retrospective tax demands

In line with its commitment to make India an investor friendly destination, the Honble Finance Minister has now taken a major step by proposing to do away with the draconian retrospective applicability of indirect transfer law.

The Bill now introduced in the Parliament proposes to provide that no tax demand shall be raised on indirect transfers effected prior to 28th May 2012. Further, in cases where demands have been raised applying the retrospective amendment, the same shall be nullified on fulfilment of specified conditions.

The prescribed conditions include furnishing of undertaking for withdrawal of pending litigation including international arbitrations, waiver of costs, damages, interest, etc. against the government.





ALSO READ: Investors breathe easy, no more retrospective taxation

It has also been clarified that no interest shall be paid to the taxpayers while refunding the moneys paid under protest during the pendency of indirect transfer disputes before any forum. Having said so, the Bill does not deal with situations relating to taxpayers who may have settled their disputes under the income tax amnesty scheme.

It is worth noting that the International Arbitration Tribunal ruled in favour of Cairn and holding that India did not fulfil its obligations under the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements. While award is not in public domain, Cairn succeeded in being awarded $ 1.2 bn which included refund of taxes recovered during the pendency of the dispute. Also, recent confirms that Cairn has successfully enforced part recovery of its award by seizing Indian governments assets in foreign jurisdictions. Though the Indian governments appeal against Cairn and Vodafone arbitration award is pending before foreign Courts, the same may not be pursued further if these parties decide to comply with the conditions prescribed under the proposed Bill.

Over the next few days, much will be debated on whether this move will enhance Indias position as an investment hub in global stage. Nonetheless, this Bill does bring about much needed confidence to the foreign investors and assist India on its path to economic recovery post Covid.



(Arvind Rajan, senior tax professional with EY India has also contributed to this article. Views expressed are personal.)
The government will hold a meeting with IT executives to review the pending projects in the state, IT and Industry minister said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters here, Chatterjee said the proposed tea meet, to be held on August 11, will also review the Silicon Valley project in New Town where nearly 40 have taken land.

"As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said, our job is to create job opportunities by setting up industries. We will be reviewing the IT projects which are pending, including the Silicon Valley", he said.

The meeting will be attended by him, the industry secretary, and WBIDC chairman, Chatterjee added.

Regarding the Silicon Valley project, he said, "we want to know whether the which have taken land are facing any problems or not. We want to solve them ".

Chatterjee is also the secretary-general of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

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Allegations of Pegasus related snooping are "serious in nature" if reports on them are correct, the said on Thursday and asked the petitioners seeking probe into the Israeli spyware matter whether they have made any efforts to file criminal complaint on this.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant stopped short of issuing notice on the pleas and took exception that one of the petitions has made individuals (Prime Minister and Union Home Minister) as parties.

The apex court, which asked the petitioners to serve the copies of the pleas to the Centre so that somebody from the government is present before it on August 10 to accept notice, also questioned why the matter has suddenly cropped up now when it had come to light way back in 2019.

The bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, that petitioners in the matter are educated and knowledgeable persons and they should have made efforts to put more material together.

"Before going into all that, we want to ask certain questions. No doubt the allegations are serious in nature if the reports in the newspapers are correct," the bench observed.

The bench said it has read from these writ petitions that the matter came into light two years ago in May 2019.

They should have done more focused efforts or hard work to put more materials. At the same time, we cannot say that there is absolutely no material, the bench observed, adding, it do not want to say that these reports are not believable.

The top court said some of the petitioners have claimed that their phones were hacked or intercepted.

"You know there are provisions under the Telegraph Act or the Information Technology Act to file criminal complaints," it said. "It appears, I do not know, nowhere it is stated whether they have made any efforts to file criminal complaints against any of them".

Sibal told the bench that petitioners had no access to the information earlier and Pegasus spyware is sold only to the government and its agencies.

He said as per reports, journalists, public figures, constitutional functionaries, court registrars and others were targeted and the government should be asked about it.

When he said that report about number of a former member of judiciary being also there in the list, the bench said, Truth has to come out, we don't know whose names are there.

Sibal said Pegasus is a rouge technology and is entirely illegal as it infiltrates into our life without our knowing.

I can explain. We do not have the access to many materials. The petitions have information about 10 cases of direct infiltration into phones, he said, adding that this is an assault on privacy and also on human dignity.

Sibal asked why the government has not taken any action on the issue as this is a matter concerning security and privacy of citizens.

Senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for some petitioners, said though the matter came to light in 2019, the names of persons targeted were not known till now.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for one of the petitioners, said governments of USA and France have taken action on the basis of these reports and informed the Israeli government about it.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for some of the petitioners, said this is a matter of wide and huge dimension and the Government of India itself should have taken it up.

The whole country must be assured that their phones and computers will not be compromised like this, Dwivedi said.

Senior advocates Arvind Datar and Meenakshi Arora, who also represented some of the petitioners, told the bench that investigation into the matter was required as it involves aspect of right to privacy of citizens.

Advocate M L Sharma, who is one of the petitioners in the matter, also advanced arguments in the matter.

The top court allowed Sharma, who has arrayed Prime Minister and Home Minister as parties individually, to amend the memo of parties.

After hearing the counsel appearing for the petitioners, the bench asked them to serve copies of their pleas to the Centre.

Let them serve copies of the petition to the government. Somebody should appear for the government to take notice, the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on August 10.

We do not know in which matter we will issue notice. Let them come before us to accept the notices and then we will see, the bench said.

The top court was hearing nine petitions, including those filed by the of India and senior the journalists seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.

They are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO's spyware Pegasus.

An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for using Pegasus spyware.

of India has sought in its plea that a special investigation team be set up to conduct probe into the reported of journalists and others.

The guild's plea, in which veteran journalist Mrinal Pande is also one of the petitioner, has said that its members and all scribes have the duty of holding all branches of government accountable by seeking information, explanations and constitutionally valid justifications for state action and inaction.

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The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), which was launched by Prime Minister in 2019, has 25 countries and seven international organisations as members now with Bangladesh being the latest entrant, the (MEA) said on Thursday.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the objective of the CDRI is to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development.

Noting that the prime minister launched the CDRI during his speech at the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23, 2019, Bagchi said since then, the coalition has grown in membership and has 25 countries and seven international organisations as members now.

Bangladesh is the latest entrant to the CDRI, he said at an online media briefing.

To a query on whether COVID-19 would be treated as a disaster in term of the CDRI's mandate, Bagchi said he is not in a position to comment on it.

On queries as to whether Bangladesh has agreed to India's request to allow clinical trials of Covaxin in that country, he said, "I think the questions refer to a proposal made last year, so I would refer you to the manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, if they have any details on this."



Asked if India is planning to open flight services to some countries, Bagchi said due to Covid, regular international flights remain suspended and the civil aviation ministry should be contacted on when the suspension would be lifted.

To a question on media reports claiming that India is transforming Mauritius into a military hub, he said the government of Mauritius has made detailed statements on the project there, including in its Parliament, and all this information is available in the public domain.

Asked about former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement that Iran's relationship with India has far more potential than its ties with China, the MEA spokesperson said, "I would not like to comment on such media reports that were mentioned."



"Let me emphasise that India and Iran enjoy historical and cultural ties. We have been moving ahead with various new initiatives, including on connectivity," he added.

Bagchi also said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in Tehran, representing India at the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

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By Fidelma Fitzpatrick, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences Dublin, Aug 5 (The Conversation) Hygiene was a significant part of the health measures to control the at the start of the pandemic. But as evidence began to emerge of airborne spread, the focus switched to masks and, more recently, ventilation. Indeed, for some the focus has switched so sharply from surface transmission to airborne transmission that they now view hygiene measures such as hand gelling and deep cleaning handrails as pointless. Derek Thomson, a writer for The Atlantic, coined the term hygiene theatre to describe these sorts of rituals that make us feel safer but don't actually do much to reduce risk. So are these hygiene measures really giving us a false sense of security? Are they a waste of time and money? And why do we even bother with hygiene when COVID mainly spreads through the air? Since the days of Florence Nightingale, hygiene, and specifically hand hygiene, has been recognised as an effective measure to stop the spread of infectious disease. Over the last year, public health advice has recommended hand hygiene to break the cycle of COVID transmission along with other measures, such as distancing and mask wearing. There has been less focus on explaining how hands can act as an intermediary for infection transmission. SARS-CoV-2 is one of the more resistant coronaviruses and can survive on glass, steel and both polymer and paper banknotes for up to 28 days, according to a recent review. We aren't certain what the minimum infectious dose of SARS-CoV-2 is, but recent reports suggest that only a few hundred virus particles (called virions) are enough to infect a susceptible person. And our face is a handy portal for these viruses to enter our body. Many infections begin when we touch our mouth, nose or eyes. Scientists researching this behaviour find that people are constantly touching their faces. Respiratory viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2, while spread primarily by respiratory droplets can also be spread by contaminated hands touching the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and eyes. The risk of this happening depends on several factors including the degree of hand contamination, the rate of hand contact with our nose, eyes and mouth, and the infectivity of the virus strain. This is particularly relevant at present as new variants, such as delta, with greater infectivity and transmissibility, continue to emerge. The consequences of face touching as a potential for self-infection with respiratory viruses is not a new concept. Most recently, researchers observed 100 YouTube videos of random people and reported that the average facial contact was 22 contacts an hour higher in men and increasing with fatigue and distraction. The researchers argued that changing personal behaviour is a simple and cost-effective way to reduce the risk of catching an infectious disease. Swiss cheese model COVID control needs a multi-layered prevention approach comprising personal and shared interventions as outlined in the so-called Swiss cheese model of risk. No measure is perfect (it has holes, like a slice of Swiss cheese) but combining different measures has a much greater chance of stopping the virus from spreading. The eyes, nose and mouth provide an easy route of entry to the body for a virus such as SARS-CoV-2. While respiratory droplet and airborne spread have been demonstrated to be the main mechanism of COVID spread, researchers continue to investigate the relative contribution of surfaces and hands to the COVID infection cycle. And the World Health Organization has not ruled out surface spread of COVID. Even if it only accounts for a small percentage of transmission, a small percentage of a big number (about half a million new cases per day) is still a big number. Importantly, researchers need to understand if the newer variants of concern behave differently. Hygiene is not theatre, it's one component of infectious disease prevention and control, and a component people have control over. And, despite the takeover by COVID in all our communications, other infectious diseases still circulate and cause infection. (The Conversation) AMS 08050941 NNNN

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India on Thursday reported a net addition of 723 in active cases to take its count to 411,076. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 2.61 per cent (one in 38). The country is eighth among the most affected countries by active cases. On Wednesday, it added 42,982 cases to take its total caseload to 31,812,114 from 31,769,132  an increase of 0.1%. And, with 533 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 426,290, or 1.34 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 3,755,115 more Covid-19 vaccine doses being administered on Wednesday, Indias total count of vaccine shots so far reached 489,342,295. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 30,974,748  or 97.37 per cent of total caseload  with 41,726 new cured cases being reported on Thursday.

Now the eighth-most-affected country by active cases, third by deaths, second by total cases, and first by recoveries, India has added 284,000 cases in the past 7 days.

India now accounts for 2.61% of all active cases globally (one in every 38 active cases), and 9.97% of all deaths (one in every 10 deaths).

India has so far administered 489,342,295 vaccine doses. That is 1538.22 per cent of its total caseload, and 35.05 per cent of its population.

Among Indian states, the top 5 in terms of number of vaccine shots administered are Uttar Pradesh (56996910), Maharashtra (50169845), Rajasthan (38723139), Gujarat (38399483), and Madhya Pradesh (36387733).

Among states with more than 10 million population, the top 5 in number of vaccine shots per one million population are Kerala (664102), Delhi (610108), Uttarakhand (607969), Gujarat (601191), and J&K (524980).

Backwards from here, the last 1 million cases for India have come in 26 days.

The count of active cases across India on Thursday saw a net addition of 723, compared with 5,395 on Wednesday. States and UTs hat have seen the biggest daily net increase in active cases are Kerala (2828), Mizoram (402), Himachal Pradesh (94), Nagaland (60), and Telangana (26).

With 41,726 new daily recoveries, Indias recovery rate stands at 97.37%, while fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.34%.

The Indian states and UTs with the worst case fatality rates at present are Punjab (2.72%), Uttarakhand (2.15%), and Maharashtra (2.11%). The rate in as many as 14 is higher than the national average.

Indias new daily closed cases stand at 42,259  533 deaths and 41,726 recoveries. The share of deaths in total closed cases stands at 1.26%.

Indias 5-day moving average of daily rate of addition to total cases stands at 0.1%.

Indias doubling time for total cases stands at 512.7 days, and for deaths at 554 days.

Overall, five states with the biggest 24-hour jump in total cases are Kerala (22414), Maharashtra (6126), Andhra Pradesh (2442), Tamil Nadu (1949), and Karnataka (1769).

Among states with more than 100,000 cases, the five with worst recovery rates at present are Kerala (94.42%).

India on Tuesday conducted 1,664,030 to take the total count of tests conducted so far in the country to 474,893,363. The test positivity rate recorded was 2.6%.

Five states with the highest test positivity rate (TPR)  percentage of tested people turning out to be positive for Covid-19 infection (by cumulative data for tests and cases  are Goa (15.98%), Dadra & Nagar Haveli-Daman & Diu (14.71%), Sikkim (12.99%), Maharashtra (12.97%), and Kerala (12.47%).

Five states with the highest TPR by daily numbers for tests and cases added  are, Sikkim (15.06%), Manipur (14.45%), Mizoram (11.85%), Kerala (11.37%), and Meghalaya (9.21%).

Among states and UTs with more than 10 million population, five that have carried out the highest number of tests (per million population) are Delhi (1278578), J&K (878101), Kerala (779947), Karnataka (580611), and Telangana (569528).

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (6327194), Kerala (3471563), Karnataka (2911727), Tamil Nadu (2567401), and Andhra Pradesh (1973996).

Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has reported 6126 new cases to take its tally to 6327194.

Kerala, the second-most-affected state by total tally, has added 22414 cases to take its tally to 3471563.

Karnataka, the third-most-affected state, has reported 1769 cases to take its tally to 2911727.

Tamil Nadu has added 1949 cases to take its tally to 2567401.

Andhra Pradesh has seen its tally going up by 2442 to 1973996.

Uttar Pradesh has added 61 cases to take its tally to 1708623.

Delhi has added 67 cases to take its tally to 1436518.
The (ED) on Thursday conducted searches against former minister R Roshan Baig and a MLA in connection with a money laundering investigation into the alleged Rs 4,000 IMA ponzi scam, officials said.

They said multiple premises of Baig and his associates are being raided by the agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Two of his premises in Shivajinagar of Bengaluru and that of MLA from Chamrajpet in Bengaluru, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, and a travel company linked to him are being searched.

Searches were also conducted in some locations in Mumbai.

The MLA is stated to have had a purported property transaction with then MD of IMA Group Mansoor Khan. This transaction was declared by Zameer Ahmed Khan in his election affidavit.

Baig, earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in this case, was suspended from the Congress after the alleged scam came to light.

Baig is out on bail at present.

The action is linked to its probe in the 4000-crore I-Monetary Advisor (IMA) alleged ponzi scam case, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR and a charge sheet.

The CBI, in April, had filed a charge sheet before a special CBI court in Bengaluru and had named Baig, Mansoor Khan, IMA Group and Baig's company Daanish Publications and others.

"It was alleged that the accused former minister received several crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure.

"It was further alleged that the accused was also utilising the said funds for day-to-day expenditure, including salaries of employees of his firm. It was also alleged that the accused has spent the funds for various social and cultural activities in his constituency to increase his popularity," a CBI spokesperson had said in a statement post the filing of the charge sheet.

The alleged IMA scam pertains to over Rs 4,000 crore collected by IMA Group from over a lakh gullible investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investment following Islamic ways.

The CBI has alleged that the money was diverted to Baig, a minister in the erstwhile Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, so that the IMA Group could continue its illegal activities, CBI officials had said.

The CBI had registered four cases in connection with the scam and has filed multiple charge sheets against 33 accused, including Khan, company directors, several revenue and police officials.

"It was alleged that the said Group had raised unauthorised deposits and cheated the public by failing to repay the principal and as well as the promised returns.

"These funds were allegedly diverted for acquiring properties, paying bribe amounts, etc. Several properties, including moveable and immovable, were identified and attached under KPIDFE ( Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act, 2004 by the competent authority," the CBI had said.

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Chief Minister on Thursday said that he has sought an appointment with Prime Minister to discuss the tricky issue of caste-based census which the Centre has proposed to hold only for SCs and STs, triggering protests in the state.

The Union government had informed the Parliament last month that a headcount of only the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was proposed. This has led to renewed demands that the population of all castes be ascertained afresh in course of the census.

"My letter to the PM has been dispatched. Once he gives an appointment we will take the matter forward", the chief minister told reporters here.

Notably, the state legislature has on two occasions passed unanimous resolutions favouring a caste-based census.

Moreover, leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav had met the chief minister last week with the suggestion that since unanimity prevailed among all political parties in over the issue of caste-based census, Kumar consider meeting the PM heading an all-party delegation.

The chief minister has also said that in the event of the Centre not agreeing to the request for covering all castes in the census, his government will "keep the option open" of conducting a state-specific exercise.

Kumar is the de facto leader of the JD(U), which has been alliance partner of the BJP for close to three decades. He holds the view that a caste-based census will help better formulation and implementation of schemes aimed at targeted welfare of different social groups.

The last time a caste-based headcount was taken up in the country was in 1931.

The CM, who had recently caused a flutter by advocating an investigation into the Pegasus controversy, expressed satisfaction over the fact that the Supreme Court was seized of the matter and making needful intervention.

"Nobody should have a problem with this. If some people feel their privacy has been violated, what better thing than to have the Apex Court looking into the matter", said Kumar when asked about the phone-tapping with the help of Pegasus spyware.

The chief minister, who was talking to journalists upon returning to the city after conducting aerial survey for flood of four districts, laughed off a query about his arch rival Lalu Prasad, who is away in Delhi, becoming "politically active".

"Let us not talk about these things. Everybody has a right to act as per his wishes", said the JD(U) leader as a parting remark.

Prasad has been recuperating in the capital following his release from a Ranchi jail where he had been lodged upon conviction in a number of fodder scam cases.

One of the most flamboyant and colourful political personalities of his generation, Prasad has been making headlines following his recent meetings with veteran socialists like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav and his advocacy of a "third front".

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Nearly 43,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 42,982 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 3.18 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 533 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 426,290. The active caseload is at 411,076, while the total recoveries have surged to 30.9 million. As many as 489 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 3.7 million were given on Wednesday. Read more

Rise in cases, R number in some states worrying, but too soon to declare third wave: scientists

Experts say the rise in fresh cases and the R value in many states are worrying but people should not panic, PTI reported. The R value is a key measure of how quickly the virus is spreading. In simple terms, it is the average number of people who become infected by an infected individual. The experts stressed that it is too early to declare the beginning of a new wave. In fact, it could be that the second wave is not over, said several scientists who have been closely monitoring Indias Covid graph and have noted the surge in a few pockets. Read more

Poor contact-tracing, containment behind Kerala surge: Central team

According to a team sent to Kerala by the Centre, the main reasons behind the current surge of Covid cases in Kerala are poor contact tracing, lack of adequate containment measures and less than effective monitoring of home isolation patients, a report in ThePrint said. The report noted that less than two contacts are being traced in the state as opposed to a recommended 20. It further noted that while every death in the state is being audited, there is a lag in reporting as they are attributed to Covid only after the audit exercise has been completed. Read more

Consider local curbs during upcoming festivals: Centre to states

The central government has advised the states to actively consider imposing local curbs for upcoming festivals like Muharram, Onam, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, PTI reported. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have expressed concern regarding the potential of festival-driven mass gatherings turning into super spreaders, the report said. Read more

Only Bihar, K'taka acknowledge rise in all-cause deaths during April-May

For eight states, the cumulative all-cause deaths during April and May 2021 was 1.87 times the April-May 2019 all-cause deaths, a report in The Indian Express said. The eight states are Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Jharkhand. of these, only and seem to have acknowledged this unusual rise. Factoring in their official Covid death toll for these two months in 2021, their multiplier works out to 2.03 times in and 1.37 times in Both states have decided to widen the definition of Covid deaths, especially for purposes of providing ex gratia to affected families, the report said. Read more
India is in talks with various nations for a mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certifications, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan also said there is no plan currently to introduce vaccine passports.

He said normal international travel remains suspended due to the pandemic.

There is no multilateral protocol on travel currently for those vaccinated against COVID-19, Muraleedharan said.

"Most countries require a negative COVID-19 report, along with compliance with country-specific Covid protocols," he said.

"Since some countries have specified their position in regard to vaccines that would exempt travellers from quarantine, India is engaging various nations for the mutual recognition of vaccination certifications," the minister added.

He said though there have been multilateral discussions, including under the aegis of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), on COVID-19 vaccination certificates, no arrangements have been concluded to date.

"India has been part of the ongoing discussions," Muraleedharan said.

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India has taken up with Chinese authorities the issue of not being able to return to China, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who also said the authorities have repeatedly conveyed that foreign students should be advised that their studies are likely to continue through online means even for the next semester.

In a letter to Rajya Sabha member M V Shreyams Kumar, Jaishankar also said the ministry and the Embassy in Beijing have taken up the issue of return of with the concerned Chinese authorities on several occasions.

Last month, Kumar had written to the minister flagging concerns about thousands of Indian medical students pursuing studies in not being able to go back to complete their studies due to travel restrictions. He had also urged the minister to take up the issue at the diplomatic level.

"The Chinese side has maintained that the restrictions have been introduced in view of the pandemic and they would adjust the same based on the global pandemic scenario. Unfortunately, there has been no positive evolution of this situation so far.

"In fact, with reports of resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some parts of China, the concerned authorities have further reinforced epidemic controls and restrictions on travel and entry into China," Jaishankar said in the letter dated July 30.

He also said the Chinese authorities have repeatedly conveyed that foreign students should be advised that their studies are likely to continue only through online means even for the next semester.

With regard to the issue of non-recognition of degrees of students who have completed their medical education online, Jaishankar said the ministry has conveyed the concerns to the Medical Commission (NMC) which looks after this particular issue. Students may be advised to pursue with NMC for a resolution of this matter, he added.

"I would like to assure you that Ministry of External Affairs and our Embassy in Beijing will continue to follow up on the matter so that students wanting to return to to complete their education can do so as soon as the Government of People's Republic of eases its restrictions," the minister said.

According to Kumar, there are around 20,000 Indian students, including 3,000 from Kerala, enrolled in Chinese universities for studying MBBS. The students returned in January 2020 at the peak of COVID-19 and have been attending online classes since then without having practical and clinical training.

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The judge-population ratio in India stood at 21.03 per million people in 2020, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

The judge-population ratio in 2018 stood at 19.78 per million people and 20.39 in 2019, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Upper House in a written reply.

In order to calculate the judge-population ratio for per million population in a particular year, the Department of Justice in the Ministry of Law, uses the population count as per 2011 census and available information regarding sanctioned strength of in Supreme Court, high courts, district and subordinate courts, in the particular year, he said.

India has 25 high courts.

"Using the above criterion, the judge-population ratio works out to be 21.03 judges per million population for the year 2020," the minister noted.

The sanctioned strength of judges in Supreme Court increased from 31 in 2014 to 34 in the year 2020.

The sanctioned strength of judges of high courts increased from 906 judges in June 2014 to 1,079 judges in December, 2020.

The sanctioned strength of judges of district and subordinate courts increased from 19,518 in the year 2014 to 24,225 in 2020, Rijiju added.

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Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said he has held a meeting with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Chairman Satish Reddy regarding the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

Dr Reddy's, which has tied up with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for Sputnik V in India, soft launched the vaccine in India in May 2021, after receiving Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in April 2021.

In September 2020, the company partnered with RDIF to conduct the clinical trials of Sputnik V and distribute the vaccine in India.

The Hyderabad-based drug major has already stated that the locally manufactured Sputnik V will be available from September-October period.

"Held a meeting with Dr Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy's Lab. Had a discussion on the production of the Sputnik V #COVID19 vaccine and its supply," Mandaviya tweeted.

RDIF has tied up with six Indian drug makers, including Dr Reddy's, to manufacture Sputnik V.

Dr Reddy's is in a pact with RDIF to sell 250 million vials of Sputnik V in India.

The first consignment of imported doses of Sputnik V landed in India on May 1, and received regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, on May 13.

Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination. Its efficacy was determined to be 91.6 per cent as per an article published in the medical journal Lancet.

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Representatives of and held talks here on Thursday and agreed to resolve the inter-state amicably, officials said.

The government also decided to revoke an advisory issued earlier against travel to Mizoram, they said.

"Both the state governments agreed to maintain peace in the inter-state border areas and welcomed the deployment of neutral force by Government of India in this regard.

"For this purpose, both the states shall not send their respective forest and police forces for patrolling, domination, enforcement or for fresh deployment to any of the areas where confrontation had taken place between the police forces of the two states during recent times. This would include all such areas along the Assam- border in the districts of Karimganj, Hailakandi, and Cachar in Assam, and Mizoram's Mamit and Kolasib districts," a joint statement issued by the two states said.

The joint statement was signed by Assam's Minister for Border Protection and Development Atul Bora and the department's commissioner and secretary G D Tripathi, and Mizoram's Home Minister Lalchamliana and Home Secretary Vanlalngathsaka.

"Representatives of Governments of and agree to take all necessary measures to promote, preserve and maintain peace and harmony amongst people living in Assam and Mizoram, particularly in border areas," the statement, shared on Twitter by Assam minister Ashok Singhal, said.

Six Assam Police personnel were killed and over 50 people, including the Cachar SP, were injured in an inter-state border clash between the two northeastern neighbours on July 26.

Both the states also condoled the deaths of those killed in the incident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured persons.

"Govt. of Assam & Govt. of Mizoram successfully signed a Joint Statement today after deliberations at Aizawl. Both governments agree to take forward Ministry of Home Affairs' initiatives to remove prevailing tensions and to find lasting solutions through discussions," the Mizoram CMO tweeted.

Assam minister Ashok Singhal said in a Twitter post, "With great optimism from both sides, we held our discussion with the Home Minister of Mizoram @Lalchamliana12 Ji & other officials on resolving the #AssamMizoramBorder issue. This is in continuation of the discussion initiated by HCM @himantabiswa Ji & HCM @ZoramthangaCM Ji."



Both states have differing interpretations of their territorial border. While Mizoram believes that its border lies along an inner line' drawn up in 1875 to protect tribals from outside influence, Assam goes by a district demarcation done in the 1930s.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her government is weighing options for reopening and colleges on alternate days after the Durga Puja vacation in November.

Educational institutions have been closed in the state since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year.

"However, nothing has been finalised just yet," Banerjee told reporters following a meeting of the Global Advisory Board (GAB), headed by Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, at the state secretariat.

The economist is in West Bengal to discuss Covid strategies.

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on Thursday said all batches of their Covid-19 vaccine till date have been manufactured and released only from the Genome Valley in Hyderabad, which are fully audited and approved by regulatory authorities.

We wish to put to rest any concerns on the quality of Covaxin, the company said, adding each batch of the vaccine was subjected to more than 200 quality control tests at its facilities, followed by submission samples to Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL). Only based on approval or release by CDL are batches released commercially.

Since early June, manufacturing of Covaxin has commenced at our sites at Malur in Karnataka, and Ankleshwar in Gujarat, prior to which engineering batches were also executed to study equipment functionality. Products manufactured from these facilities will be available for supplies during September. This is based on our 120-day timeline for manufacturing, testing, release, regulatory approvals, and distribution, it clarified.

Some media reports had earlier suggested that the batches from the Bengaluru plant have had quality issues. So far, 70 million doses of Covaxin have been supplied. On Tuesday, the company also claimed that Covaxin received a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices compliance from Hungarian authorities.
Panacea Biotec on Thursday said it has entered into a pact to produce up to 25 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine using the drug substance manufactured by pharma firm Generium in Russia.

The company has entered into a "licensing and manufacturing agreement with Human Vaccine Limited Liability Company, a subsidiary of Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia, Generium Joint Stock Company,Russia, and Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd," Panacea Biotec said in a filing to BSE.

As per the terms of this agreement, Panacea Biotec shall produce the Sputnik V vaccine using the ready-to-fill drug substance manufactured by Generium in Russia, and then supply the entire quantity to Dr Reddy's for distribution in India, it added.

"The agreement is for manufacture (fill and finish) of upto 25 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine," Panacea Biotec added.

Shares of Panacea Biotec ended at Rs 356.40 per scrip on BSE, up 2.77 per cent from its previous close.

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on Thursday approved a bill that seeks to set up a commission for management in the National Capital Region and its adjoining areas.

The Commission for Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021, was passed in Rajya Sabha with a voice of vote amid din as opposition parties continued their protest against the Pegasus snooping matter, farm laws and other issues.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying on the bill, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said,"We will be accountable to through this bill (on the issue of air pollution). It is the responsibility of central government to deal with air pollution."



"We have made efforts to decriminalise Section 14 (which provides penalty for causing pollution) and it shall not apply to farmers burning stubble," he said while addressing members concerned.

On the protests by members of the opposition, Yadav said,"The bill was on air pollution, but there was noise pollution in the House."



The House also negated a resolution: "That this House disapproves the Commission for Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2021 (No.4 of 2021) promulgated by the President of India on 13th April, 2021."Following passage in Rajya Sabha, the bill will replace the ordinance.

The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021 was introduced last week in Lok Sabha.

The bill was moved for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha by Yadav amid protests by opposition members over the Pegasus and farm law issues.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill, piloted by Yadav, states that it was noticed there is lack of a permanent, dedicated and participative mechanism adopting a collaborative and participatory approach involving relevant central ministries, state governments, local bodies and other stakeholders to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas.

"It is observed that sources of air pollution, particularly in the National Capital Region, consist of a variety of factors which are beyond the local limits of the National Capital Region. Special focus is required on all sources of air pollution which are associated with different economic sectors, including power, agriculture, transport, industry, residential and construction," it read.

Since air pollution is not a localised phenomenon, the effect is felt in areas even far away from the source, creating the need for regional-level initiatives through inter-state and inter-city coordination in addition to multi-sectorial synchronisation, the statement of objects said.

For a permanent solution and to establish a self-regulated, democratically-monitored mechanism for tackling air pollution in NCR, it was deemed necessary to take up immediate legislative measures to set up a commission for air quality management in NCR and adjoining areas, it noted.

This will replace old panels to streamline public participation, inter-state cooperation, expert involvement and persistent research and innovation, the statement of objects noted.

As was not in session and there was an immediate need for legislation in this regard, the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020, was promulgated on October 28, 2020.

But a bill to replace the ordinance could not be introduced in Parliament.

Consequently, the ordinance lapsed on March 12, 2021. Thereafter, the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2021 was promulgated on April 13, 2021.

Earlier, the House also passed a motion to concur Lok Sabha recommendation to appoint four members to the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.

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The (SC) on Thursday noted that the allegations of snooping through the use of Pegasus spyware were serious if the reports were indeed correct, even as former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that the surveillance and snooping allegations were baseless.

In a virtual press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Partys headquarters in New Delhi, the senior party leader said: There is no prima facie evidence. Just before the onset of the parliamentary session, a campaign orchestrated by many of the elements hostile to the present government comes out.

Meanwhile, the SC Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant asked the lawyers of the nine petitioners seeking a probe into the alleged snooping to serve copies of their petitions on the Government of India, legal news portal LiveLaw reported.

No doubt, the allegations are serious, if the reports are true, said the CJI.

According to the LiveLaw reports, the CJI continued to raise two issues; first, why the petitions were being filed now, when the reports about the use of Pegasus spyware had first surfaced in 2019. Two, why the FIRs were not filed by the people who were allegedly snooped upon, given that most of them are prominent politicians and journalists.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal also told the Bench that Pegasus cannot be used unless it is purchased by the government or its agencies and the Centre has to answer why they have not taken any action or lodged FIR in the matter of alleged snooping. Sibal, appearing for veteran journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, said that it is a matter of privacy and dignity and the government should answer why they have kept quiet.

LiveLaw reported that senior advocate Arvind Datar, who appeared for journalists Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shataski, who were on the Pegasus target list, said the provisions under the current law do not allow for filing of an FIR, and the court should treat this matter like a class action lawsuit.





ALSO READ: Pegasus focus might let BJP run away with UP polls

On the issue of why the petitions were filed now, Sibal said the extent of spying has become clear only after recent allegations. He further said individuals have no means to access material since Pegasus reportedly sells its services only to governments.

Meanwhile, Prasad said the Opposition has not presented any proof that the Pegasus spyware was used to tap phones that were alleged to have been targeted by recent revelations. We are ready for a discussion in Parliament. When the minister made a statement on the issue, these people tore it in front of him. These people are not serious, added Prasad.

The government has previously denied claims it had used spyware Pegasus to compromise the phone data of some persons.

The list includes senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor, and even the new information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The entire Opposition walked out last month after the ministers statement, and both Houses of Parliament were adjourned. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the report was by disruptors for obstructers.

Vaishnaw, in his statement in Parliament earlier, said such levels of snooping by the government weren't possible. He added that the snooping allegation report appearing a day before the monsoon session was no coincidence. It had appeared earlier as well and had been refuted. India, he reiterated, had robust systems to prevent illegal surveillance.

In October 2019, WhatsApp had sued NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli technology firm that had developed and sold the Pegasus software that enables remote surveillance of smartphones. This software misused the Facebook-owned messaging platform to spy on 1,400 people globally, of which 121 were Indians, according to WhatsApp.

NSO Group has always maintained it sells its software only to governments. However, in July this year, fresh revelations came to light when hundreds of people in India and globally were reported to be on the list of targets of surveillance by Pegasus.
Production of both Covishield and Covaxin  Covid-19 vaccines from (SII) and  is set to rise from next month. The target of 1.35 bn vaccine doses between August and December, however, looks like a long haul.

According to a response given in the Rajya Sabha, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said recently that the monthly production capacity of Covishield is projected to increase from 110 mn doses to more than 120 mn doses a month, whereas the production capacity of Covaxin is projected to increase from 25 mn doses a month to around 58 mn doses a month.

Mandaviya added that apart from this, the Centre has also facilitated further capacity augmentation of Covaxin at central public sector enterprises including Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, Mumbai; Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), Hyderabad and Bharat Immunologicals Biologicals Limited (BIBCOL), Bulandshahr. In addition, technology transfer of Covaxin production to Gujarat Covid Vaccine Consortium (GCVC), including Hester Biosciences and OmniBRx Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd, led by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of Gujarat has also been facilitated, he said.

At 58 mn doses a month, Covaxin production would roughly be around 232 mn doses between September and December. At 120 mn doses a month, Covishield production would roughly be around 480 mn doses a month.

According to an affidavit in the Supreme Court in June, the Union government had said that 1.35 bn doses would be needed to vaccinate the adult population between August and December. This was a downward revision of the earlier estimate of 2.1 bn doses that the Centre had indicated it expects between August and December.

In the affidavit, the Centre had noted that 1.86 to 1.88 billion doses are required to vaccinate the adult population of 930-940 million. Of this, 516 million doses will be made available by July 31, leaving a requirement of approximately 1.35 billion doses to complete the to the eligible population.

Of the 1.35 billion doses, 500 million will be of Covishield and 400 million of Covaxin. The government expects 100 million doses of Russian made Sputnik-V. Another 300 million will come from Biological E subunit vaccine and 50 mn from Zydus Cadila.

According to Mandaviyas statement in the Rajya Sabha, Covishield supplies would meet the target of 500 mn doses between August and December. However, it looks like Covaxin would miss the target of 400 mn unless the partner sites of ramp up very rapidly.

Earlier this week, VK Paul, member (health) NITI Aayog said that the quantum jump in Covaxin supplies will come from Bharat Biotechs Bengaluru facility. This has a large reactor and system established by them and the contribution of supplies have started coming, Paul had indicated.

Meanwhile, the Centre has also indicated that Indian Immunologicals Limited is likely to start supply of an additional 2 million doses of Covaxin from August-September. Also, Bharat Biotechs Ankleshwar facility is likely to add 6 million doses over the next few months.





The details of projected availability of Covid -19 vaccines from August 2021 to December 2021 are as follows Vaccine Quantity that may be available through all sources May 13 estimates Covishield 500 mn 750 mn Covaxin 400 mn 550 mn Biological E subunit vaccine 300 mn 300 mn Sputnik V 100 mn 156 mn Zydus Cadila DNA vaccine 50 mn 50 mn SII-Novavax 0 200 mn BB Nasal vaccine 0 100 mn Gennova mRNA vaccine 0 60 mn Total 1.35 bn 2.16 bn

Source: Affidavit filed by Union of India in Supreme Court. MoHFW said in Rajya Sabha in August - Covishield production  120 mn doses per month; Covaxin production  58 mn doses per month

Bharat Biotechs Covaxin production faced a slowdown after its newly re-purposed manufacturing facility at Bengaluru (which has a large-scale fermentation plant) faced initial glitches during standardization of the first few batches in June and July. The company was supplying around 20 mn doses of Covaxin a month and that is projected to increase to 25 mn doses this month.

For the 1.35 bn doses roadmap, supplies of Russias Sputnik V, Biological Es vaccine as well Zydus Cadilas DNA-plasmid vaccine too are expected. Dr Reddys Laboratories, the distributor of Sputnik V in India has said it has so far received 3.15 mn doses of component 1 and 450,000 doses of component 2 of the Sputnik V vaccine in India. Supplies from Indian sites including SII are expected from September-October. Meanwhile, Zydus Cadila is awaiting the approval from Indias drug regulator, and Biological E is conducting clinical trials.

As of May 13, the Union health ministry had estimated 750 million doses of Covishield, 550 million of Covaxin, 156 million of Sputnik V, apart from 200 million of Novavax vaccine (made here by Serum Institute), 100 million of the nasal vaccine from Bharat Biotech, 60 mn of Gennovas mRNA vaccine, and 50 mn of DNA-plasmid vaccine of Zydus.

Later in June, Novavax, Gennova mRNA and Bharat Biotechs nasal vaccines were scrapped off the list.
on Thursday



reported 582 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,47,811, while the death toll rose to 3,817 with three more fatalities.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 83, followed by Karimnagar and Warangal Urban (61 each), a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM on Thursday.

With 638 people recuperating from the infectious disease today, the cumulative number of recoveries rose to 6,35,250.

Active cases now stood at 8,744.

The bulletin said 1,07,329 samples were tested on Thursday and the total number tested till date was 2,25,26,496.

The samples tested per million population were 6,05,225.

The case fatality and recovery rates were at 0.58 per cent and 98.06, respectively.

Meanwhile, state Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao and other officials visited Karimnagar on Thursday and held a meeting with medical officers of primary health centres on checking the spread of COVID-19 and various seasonal ailments.

Observing that Karimnagar district has been witnessing a high number of COVID-19 cases, he said concrete measures should be taken to check the spread.

Precautionary measures should be taken to prevent the occurrence of a third wave of the pandemic in the district, the official said.

He stressed on following the 'tracing, testing and treating' method to check the spread of COVID-19, according to an official release.

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Finance Minister on Thursday invited Australian investors to tap opportunities in India's sector which needs funding to the tune of Rs 111 lakh crore over five years.

is an important partner of India as a strong liberal democracy with shared diaspora and bilateral trade and investment.

The bilateral trade has been growing steadily since past decade and there exists immense potential for the two countries to enhance it further in light of the wide spectrum of complementarities and strengths in the post-COVID period, Sitharaman said during a meeting with Tony Abbott, Special Envoy of Australian Prime Minister.

Abbott complimented India for undertaking comprehensive and sustained reforms programme and said the country has continued to demonstrate robust growth despite the disruptive impact of the pandemic, a finance ministry statement said.

Sitharaman further highlighted recent economic reforms and easing of FDI norms in India, which provide opportunities for Australian investors.

The Australian superannuation funds have invested in the National Investment and Fund (NIIF) and have been invited to look at various opportunities to invest in Indian infrastructure, she said.

The finance minister said a team from could engage with the Indian side to better explore the avenues for investment in the National Pipeline projects.

National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for 2020-2025 has projected total investment of Rs 111 lakh crore in about 7,000 infra projects.

Sitharaman also noted the credible progress observed in economic and commercial relations between the two countries over the past decade, including elevation of the India- bilateral relationship into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

She also emphasised that the complementarities between both countries provide immense scope for augmenting the economic relationships.

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Putting an end to the contentious law that hit the confidence of foreign investors, including Vodafone and Cairn, for years, Finance Minister on Thursday introduced a Bill in Parliament to nullify the provision in the Income Tax Act.

The government has also proposed to refund the amount paid in litigation by companies without any interest thereon. Finance Secretary T V Somanathan told Business Standard that the total amount involved for all cases is about Rs 8,100 crore, of which about Rs 7,900 crore is related to the Cairn dispute.

The Bill would withdraw the retrospective amendments to the Income Tax Act that had raised demands on Vodafone, Cairn and some others, indicating a move to attract foreign investments.

This comes soon after Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla offered to transfer the groups ownership in Vodafone Idea to the government in a last-ditch effort to keep the cash-strapped telco from collapsing. Vodafone plc has maintained it would not throw good money after bad.

Sitharaman said the country was at a juncture when quick recovery of the economy was the need of the hour. Foreign investment would play an important role in promoting faster economic growth and employment, she added.

It is argued that such retrospective amendments militate against the principle of tax certainty and damage India's reputation as an attractive destination, the statement on the objects and reasons of the Bill reads.

There is Vodafone, which is Rs 45 crore, there is WNS Capital, which is about Rs 48 crore. There is also some collection from another company, but that company has already come under Vivad se Vishwas scheme," he said. In the case of Vodafone, while the total tax demand (including interest and penalty) was Rs 22,000 crore, the government is accounting for Rs 45 crore spent by the telco towards legal fee etc. Vodafone had won the case in the international arbitration tribunal last year, against which the Indian government appealed. The appeal is likely to be withdrawn now.





ALSO READ: The chequered past of retrospective tax: All you need to know

LOSING BATTLE Indias imposition of a tax liability on Vodafone breached an investment treaty between India and the Netherlands, ruled an international arbitration tribunal last year

Cairn was awarded damages of more than $1.2 billion in December by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in retro tax case

A French tribunal last month ordered a freeze on some 20 properties belonging to Indian government as part of a guarantee of the amount owed to Cairn

"Reversing the 2012 retrospective law on indirect transfers of downstream assets in India is a welcome development. Honouring the arbitration award is a step in the right direction and a clear signal to foreign investors that tax certainty will be the order of the day going forward," said Fereshte Sethna, counsel for Vodafone Group Plc

The bill proposes to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961 so as to provide that no tax demand would be raised in future on the basis of the said retrospective amendment for any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012, the date on which the Finance Bill, 2012, received the assent of the President, says the statement of objects and reasons of the legislation.

"It is further proposed to provide that the demand raised for indirect transfer of Indian assets made before May 28, 2012, shall be nullified on fulfilment of specified conditions such as withdrawal or furnishing of undertaking for withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing of an undertaking to the effect that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc., shall be filed," it said.

Somanathan said the government had been seeking a methodology , which preserves the principle of Indias right to tax, but it has no interest in pursuing something, which we do not consider to be a good policy since 2014."

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read in a July 23 analyst call, said that Vi was navigating through difficult times and although the group was providing "practical support", it will not invest fresh equity.

The Vodafone case relates dates back to the telco acquiring Indian assets of Hutchison Essar in 2007. The demand amounted to Rs 22,100 crore. The government had filed an appeal against the verdict in Singapore. Similarly, India had lost a case in international arbitral tribunal at The Hague last year against taxing Cairn Energy Plc and Cairn UK holdings Ltd on alleged capital gains the company made when in 2006 it reorganised its business in the country before listing of the local unit.

The tribunal had asked India to pay Cairn an award amount of $1232.8 million plus interest and $22.38 million towards arbitration and legal costs. The government had filed an appeal earlier this year to set aside the award.



ALSO READ: Investors breathe easy, no more retrospective taxation

Somnathan said Cairn will have to follow the procedure under the new law. "I think it makes imminent sense now to all parties concerned in all these disputes to withdraw cases as we have reached a very reasonable termination of this problem. But reached it through Indian sovereign action," he said.

Experts lauded the government's move. "This will put a lot of uncertainty to rest. However, it should not have taken nine years," Amit Maheshwari, tax partner of Ashok Maheshwari & Associates, said.

Somnathan said the bill was in the works for a long time. It has taken time to draft, he pointed out. Pranav Sayta, tax partner, EY, said the development recognises the importance of certainty in tax laws which is key factor in ensuring confidence in India as an attractive investment destination.

Mukesh Butani, managing partner, BMR Legal said that it is a comprehensive amendment which covers Vodafone, Cairn form of situations which have been or are being litigated. The issue of taxability of gains arising from the transfer of assets located in India through the transfer of the shares of a foreign company was a subject matter of protracted litigation. Finally, the Supreme Court in 2012 had given a verdict that gains arising from indirect transfer of Indian assets are not taxable under the extant provisions of the Income Tax Act.

The then UPA government amended provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961, through the Finance Act, 2012, with retrospective effect, to clarify that gains arising from sale of share of a foreign company is taxable in India if such share, directly or indirectly, derives its value substantially from the assets located in India.
Prime Minister met former Australian premier Tony on Thursday with the two leaders emphasising that enhanced economic cooperation between India and Australia would help the two countries in realising their shared vision of a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

Modi and Abott, who is visiting India from August 2-6 in his capacity as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Special Trade Envoy for India, discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation to realise the full potential of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here.

They emphasized that enhanced economic cooperation between India and Australia would help both countries better address the economic challenges emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and would also help them in realising their shared vision of a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, the statement said.

Prime Minister Modi expressed his satisfaction at the stellar growth of India-Australia ties in recent times and admired the important contributions of Prime Minister Morrison and former prime minister in this journey.

"Delighted to meet @HonTonyAbbott, Special Envoy of PM @ScottMorrisonMP. Had a good conversation on ways to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Also discussed the steps needed to energise our trade and economic relationship and boost people-to-people ties," Modi tweeted.

During the meeting, Modi also recalled his virtual summit last year with Prime Minister Morrison and reiterated his desire to be able to host the Australian PM in India as soon as conditions permit, the statement said.

At the virtual summit held between Modi and Morrison on June 4, 2020, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, under which India and Australia committed to encourage expanded trade and investment flows for mutual benefit and decided to re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

The present visit by Tony is reflective of this shared ambition, the statement said.

At an online media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Abbott will also visit Gujarat to explore opportunities for expanding trade and investment.

"Naturally, he will also meet officials and other interlocutors both here and in Gujarat," Bagchi said.

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Prime Minister on Friday will launch a national effort to achieve the target of $400 billion worth in the current fiscal. India has met nearly a third of its annual target in the first four months of 2021-22.

Modi will virtual interact with heads of Indian Missions abroad, along with various other stakeholders in the trade and commerce within the country .

Over the last nine years, from India have hovered around $260-330 billion, with the highest ever being $330 billion in 2018-19. Robust exports can boost economic growth at a time when other factors such as private consumption as well as investment have been tepid due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

July saw the highest ever at $35.17 billion, with the cumulative exports in the first 4 months at $130 billion. The government has set up a target of $1 trillion in 2027-28 for merchandise exports and $500 billion exports in the next two years.

The department of commerce has worked out a detailed strategy to reach the $400 billion target this fiscal. This will include focus on existing and new markets, existing and new products and also on lost market shares in the past few years, both in countries and in products.

The targets have been disaggregated via regions and countries, commodity groups, and promotion councils. Ambassadors and high commissioners have also been given the targets for their territory, breaking it up into various commodity groups. The government is also working out detailed strategies for trade deals, promoting districts as hubs, import monitoring and using market intelligence for exporters.
The removal of retrospective taxation for deals reckoned prior to 2012 is a very progressive step taken by the government. This, ostensibly, comes on the back of the litigation that is on in the International Arbitration Tribunal relating to Cairn Energy. But this has been a legacy issue with successive Indian governments where retrospective taxation was an effective way of garnering revenue. The indication given by the government alongside is that there could be refunds given to the companies without interest.

Retrospective actions are always retrogressive, and this is a correction required in the Indian tax system. While Cairn and Vodafone are lingering issues involving large amounts of money of around Rs 20,000 crore-Rs 30,000 crore put together. The fact that the Cairn deal was in 2006 just reveals how anachronistic are these laws. In case of Vodafone, the Supreme Court had also ruled in favour of the company, but the retro rule, pushed it back. Withdrawing such a measure is a good signal for companies looking to invest in India. Around a dozen companies have been impacted by such measures. This is a big regulatory risk that the players face when investing in any country where laws change. This cannot be avoided but making them effective retrospectively is never a good idea even though it does look tempting for governments.

India has been trying to reach out to foreign investors by providing a better enabling environment to do business. The recent discussion on IBC is also timely as that has also been a sticky issue with investors. Tax laws are probably even more important as they affect companies directly. Companies always run the risk of tax laws changing in any domain, and that is acceptable. However, making any new tax law effective from an earlier date is not acceptable as the regulatory cost increases and sends a wrong signal.

From the point of view of the government it can be argued that there is a potential loss of income. However, often such cases can go into litigation as has been the Cairn case, where the cost in terms of time and money also increases besides sending conflicting signals. Such amounts are not normally buffered in the Budgets on account of the time taken to recover the amount even when imposed. Therefore, such a law will be fiscally neutral and would have a positive impact only when it is received.

This should also give the government an idea to also follow the same path whenever tax exemptions are withdrawn, or rules changed for any savings instruments in the domestic economy. It may be recollected that when equity capital gains were introduced there was grandfathering introduced. However, when the debt mutual funds were to be taxed on capital gains for a period of 3 years rather than 1 year, it was done retrospectively. Therefore, it is essential to ensure this also holds in the domestic context so that domestic investment is also sure.

One of the guiding principles of investment is certainty in environment. This is provided by a regulatory structure at the time of investing. Changing laws during the course of time may be inescapable. However, when it comes to taxation doing so with retro effect sends wrong signals and it is good that the government has withdrawn this rule. This change in retro tax law will reflect well on the governments efforts to improve the ease of doing business environment for sure.

The author is Chief Economist, CARE Ratings and author of "Hits & Misses: The Indian Banking Story". Views are personal.
"Retrospective Taxation", these two words have roiled foreign investors looking at India over the years, and led to multiple disputes between the Indian government and global majors like and Cairn. The government on Thursday moved a Bill in Lok Sabha to scrap the controversial tax law.

But why did India bring such a law in the first place?

In May 2007, bought majority stake in Hutchison Whampoa for $11 billion. The Indian government has raised a demand of Rs 7,990 crore in capital gains and withholding tax from Vodafone, saying the company should have deducted the tax at source before making a payment to Hutchison.

After losing the challenge in Bombay High Court, won the case in Supreme Court, which in 2012 ruled that the Groups interpretation of the Income Tax Act of 1961 was correct and that it did not have to pay any taxes for the stake purchase.

The then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, circumvented the top courts ruling by proposing an amendment to the Finance Act, thereby giving the IT Dept the power to retrospectively tax, giving the IT dept, powers to go after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals all the way back to 1962 if the underlying asset was in India.

Vodafone had invoked Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) signed between India and the Netherlands in 1995 and in 2014, initiated arbitration against India at the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that India had breached the terms of the agreement and that it must stop efforts to recover the said taxes.

Similarly, in 2007, Cairn UK transferred shares of Cairn India Holdings to Cairn India on which Income Tax authorities slapped a tax demand of Rs 24,500 crore as it contended that Cairn UK had made capital gains. Cairn refused to pay taxes and challenged India's stand at at an arbitration court.

The court ruled in favour of the UK-listed company and ordered Indian government to pay $1.23 billion in damages to Cairn, plus costs and interest. The company, which previously said the ruling was binding and enforceable under international treaty law, has been since then courting Indian government officials to get the money paid. But the government has not agreed to pay.

Cairn has identified high-value assets of the Indian government in the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Mauritius, France, and the Netherlands for enforcing the arbitration award. Recently it won a favourable judicial order for seizing 20 properties of the Indian State in UK. The government, on its part, maintained that it will contest the French court order and will look to fight the arbitration vigourously.

The government has now proposed to refund principal amount in full to the litigants, with certain conditions. The companies will need to withdraw the cases and furnish undertakings that they won't claim cost damages or interest.

"In the past few years, major reforms have been initiated in the financial and infrastructure sector which has created a positive environment for investment in the country. However, this retrospective clarificatory amendment and consequent demand created in a few cases continues to be a sore point with potential investors. The country today stands at a juncture when quick recovery of the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic is the need of the hour and foreign investment has an important role to play in promoting faster economic growth and employment," the government said.

"This decision helps to clarify our position with the investors," Tarun Bajaj, revenue secretary at the finance ministry told a channel.

Experts say the current move to repeal the retro tax will undo pending litigations and restore India's credibility as an investment friendly decision.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday promised to provide two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world this year and offered a USD 100 million donation to COVAX, the WHO-backed vaccine alliance, amidst a surge in cases of the Delta variant in the country.

The number of active cases in China has crossed over 1,800, including 62 new locally-transmitted ones and 527 asymptomatic cases, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in a report, adding that 1,285 patients are undergoing treatment.

Several Chinese cities, including the central Wuhan where the first emerged in December 2019, began mass testing following the emergence of fresh cases, a year after the city brought the contagion under control.

President Xi, in a written speech delivered at the first Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation, said that China will provide a total of two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world within the year to ensure accessibility and affordability of vaccines.

China will also donate USD 100 million to the COVAX global vaccine programme for the distribution of vaccines in developing countries, Xi said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently said that China has so far provided 750 million vaccine doses to different countries, including 10 million to COVAX.

China has so far administered 1.72 billion vaccines to its people, according to the official media reports.

Xi's promise of two billion vaccines to the world came after US President Joe Biden said on August 3 that America has delivered 110 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 65 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia.

The US donations prove that "democracies can deliver," Biden was quoted as saying by the US National Public Radio (NPR).

He also said that the US has acquired another 500 million Pfizer vaccines that will be donated to low- and middle-income countries by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, a Chinese health official downplayed the current surge in COVID-19 cases, saying that China's current virus containment measures are effective against the Delta variant.

Research results and clinical experience at home and abroad showed that the Delta variant had not yet led to fundamental changes in the biological characteristics of the COVID-19 virus, and scientists are basically clear about how the virus is transmitted, He Qinghua, an official with the NHC, told reporters here.

He said that the currently available vaccines can reduce the risk of transmission, and effectively cut the incidence of severe symptoms and lower fatality rate.

The official said that China earlier stopped the spread of the Delta variant successfully in multiple densely-populated regions with high population mobility in Guangdong province, which proves measures including vaccination, wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping social distance and avoiding crowded places are effective.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran's newly-elected President Ebrahim Raisi has said establishing extensive interaction with the neighbouring countries constitutes one of his government's main foreign policy principles.

He made the remarks on Wednesday in a meeting with Nurdinjon Ismailov, speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan.

"There are countless potentials for the development of relations between the two countries in different fields, especially economy," Raisi was quoted as saying by the Iranian Presidency's official website, Xinhua news agency reported.

For his part, Ismailov said that Uzbekistan seeks to develop and strengthen comprehensive relations with Iran, especially in the trade and economic sectors.

In the same day, Raisi also held meetings with envoys from other countries dispatched to Iran's capital Tehran to attend Raisi's inauguration ceremony on Thursday.

During his meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad al-Busaidi, Raisi said that aims to develop relations with Oman "in all political, economic, social and cultural fields."

For his part, al-Busaidi greeted Raisi's election, saying the "historical and deep-rooted relationship" between Oman and has become "a model between countries in the region." The Omani envoy also expressed hope to have Raisi as a guest in Muscat "as soon as possible."

During another meeting with Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda, chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of Tajikistan, Raisi called for the development of ties between Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan as three Persian-speaking countries.

"The insecurity in Afghanistan today, which is rooted in foreign interference in the country, is not in anyone's interest. and Tajikistan should have closer bilateral and cooperation with each other to eliminate this common concern," Raisi noted.

For his part, Zokirzoda greeted Raisi on his election, and praised the potential for the development of Iran-Tajikistan ties, which he described as based on "common language, culture, history and civilisation."

The Iranian newly-elected president has set the enhancement of ties with neighbouring, Asian, Latin American, and non-Western countries as a priority of his foreign policy agenda.

--IANS

int/pgh

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Jonathan Stempel

A U.S. judge said Corp's must face a lawsuit claiming it inflated the number of people who watched video ads on the networking platform, allowing it to overcharge hundreds of thousands of advertisers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen, however, on Tuesday dismissed fraud-based claims and an unfair competition claim, saying the plaintiff advertisers did not show that made specific misrepresentations or that its conduct hurt the public at large.

But the San Jose, California-based judge let the advertisers pursue claims based on the theory that bot traffic, errant clicks and fraudulent clicks inflated the metrics they relied on when buying ads.

Led by TopDevz Inc and Noirefy Inc, the advertisers said LinkedIn had been counting video ad "views" from users' LinkedIn apps, even when the videos were playing only off-screen because users had scrolled past them.

LinkedIn said in an email on Wednesday it looked forward to showing the claims lacked merit and said it was "committed to the transparency and integrity of our ads products."

Warren Postman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email he was pleased with the decision and looked forward to proving that LinkedIn broke the law.

Van Keulen said the plaintiffs could try to pursue their dismissed claims again.

The advertisers sued after LinkedIn https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/linkedin-news/2020/how-we-re-working-to-improve said on Nov. 12 that its engineers had three months earlier found and then fixed software bugs that may have led to more than 418,000 overcharges.

LinkedIn said more than 90% of the overcharges were less than $25, and that it provided credits to virtually all affected advertisers.

In their lawsuit, the advertisers said the overcharges left them with less money to spend elsewhere, including on ads. They are seeking unspecified damages and restitution.

The case is In re LinkedIn Advertising Metrics Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-08324.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Dan Grebler)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Moderna's COVID-19 brought in more than USD 4 billion in second-quarter sales, helping to push the developer into a profit.

The company also said Thursday an analysis showed that its remains 93 per cent effective as much as six months after the second dose.

Moderna's announcement comes after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. said its COVID-19 vaccine remained effective months after the second dose and had become a top seller. It brought in nearly half the company's revenue USD 7.84 billion from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germany's BioNTech.

The COVID-19 vaccine is Moderna's only commercially approved product. It also is developing several vaccines that aim to guard against the flu, Zika and HIV among other viruses. Those are all in early stages of clinical testing, according to its website.

The company also is testing a potential booster shot for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Overall, Moderna earned USD 2.78 billion in the second quarter, compared to a loss of USD 117,000 last year, before its vaccine received emergency use authorization in the US and other countries to fight the global pandemic.

The company brought in USD 4.35 billion in total revenue, thanks to the vaccine and some grants. Earnings per share totaled USD 6.46.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected, on average, earnings of USD 6.01 per share on USD 4.29 billion in revenue.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine has received emergency authorization for use in more than 50 countries.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. also said Thursday that it completed enrollment in an early-stage study of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, which could be easier to store and distribute.

The company also said it will explore a combination vaccine that aims to offer protection against the flu, COVID-19 and other viruses.

Company shares fell 4% to USD 402 in premarket trading Thursday. The stock price has quadrupled since the end of 2020.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Concerns over Vodafone Idea's existence and worries that the telecom services provider may go belly up in the absence of any support from the government hit shares of State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday. The stock skidded 3 per cent to Rs 443 on the BSE in the intra-day trade.

Analysts worry that Voda Idea's precarious position may hit the lender's asset quality going ahead. That said, most brokerages have not revised down their target price on the stock just yet, in a hope that the precarious situation that the telco has landed itself in may get resolved soon.

"As per reports, SBIs exposure to Vodafone is Rs 11,000 crore (funded and non-funded exposure), which is largely not provided for, as it is a standard asset. The management did say that the outlook remains uncertain there and they are 'hopeful' of a resolution," noted analysts at Macquarie.

- rebranded Vi last year - has been under stress, losing market share, while its mammoth Rs 1.8-trillion debt liability has raised concerns about its survival. The companys efforts to raise Rs 25,000 crore from investors have not yielded result, in the absence of any relief measures from the government. The Supreme Court, too, has ruled against its application for recomputation of AGR dues, dealing a blow to its revival. READ HERE

The recent Vi development overshadowed SBI's strong Q1 performance, reported on Wednesday, where the Mumbai-based state-owned lender reported its highest ever quarterly profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 6,504 crore for Q1FY22, which was 55 per cent higher year-on-year. READ ABOUT IT HERE

Overall, most analysts have revised their target price on the stock post the stellar earnings show and see up to 31 per cent upside from current levels.

Here're the revised target prices on SBI:

Macquarie

Reco: Outperform | TP: Rs 580

While SBIs earnings were in line with our estimates, we are pleasantly surprised by its slippages, which have been lower than most peers'. While most peers reported numbers well above 3 per cent, SBI's slippages at 2.8 per cent was a good outcome in a tough quarter. Almost ~30 per cent has already been recovered in July. Outstanding restructuring has also been normal and around ~1 per cent, in line with peers. We reduce credit costs and increase our sustainable ROE, raising our target price sharply by 23 per cent to Rs 580.

Jefferies

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 550

Despite building in additional buffer provision, credit costs dipped to 1.6 per cent (1.8 per cent in 4Q). Overall buffer provision is limited at around 0.6 per cent of loans. We have raised our credit cost estimates marginally to factor the Covid 2.0 impact, but expect trends from 2Q onwards to move towards normalised levels.

We trim our FY22-23 EPS by 4 per cent as we incorporate marginally lower NII and provision estimates. is a preferred recovery play in India and we reiterate our Buy rating with a rolled-forward target price of Rs 550 based on 1.3x June-23 adjusted PB.

HSBC

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 530

has several earnings levers that should take its RoA to 0.9 per cent by FY24 from 0.6 per cent in 1QFY22. An expansion in margins and a contraction in credit costs would drive RoA in the medium term. However, the core bank trades at ~0.86x FY23e BVPS. Incrementally, a gradual rerating should continue to drive upside in the stock price. We value the core business at 1.1x FY23e BVPS. We raise our target price to Rs 530. However, downside risks to our target are elevated asset quality risk and inability to improve margin profile.

Edelweiss Securities

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 530

A lower SMA pool with controlled restructuring (90bps) is notableasset quality performance outshone even private peers. But softer business traction and lower NIM cannot detract from that. Uncertainty over subsequent covid waves and a relatively low provisioning buffer (sub-40bps) still temper our enthusiasm on credit cost for FY22.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 600

Asset quality remains broadly on track despite elevated slippage, led by Retail/SME. However, restructuring and the SMA pool remain in check. We expect slippage to subside going ahead, assuming there is no third COVID wave or no severe impact from it. Overall, PCR remains healthy at ~68%, and it also holds unutilized Covid provisions of ~INR91b. The bank is well on track to keep credit costs in check.

ICICI Securities

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 571

It has created additional covid provisions of Rs 2,700 crore taking cumulative covid provisioning to Rs90.65bn (40bps of advances). It has accelerated provisioning on non-fund based exposure (to the extent of Rs 2,800 crore). It built additional standard assets provisions towards some identified stressed sectors and made additional 5% provisioning over regulatory requirements on restructured pool. It recovered Rs10.9bn from one chunky account (reflected in miscellaneous income).

In FY22, it is targeting recoveries of Rs140bn from written off accounts. Specific provision coverage of 68%, covid provisions at 40bps, standard assets provisions of Rs 15,700 crore (60bps) and other provisions of Rs5,050 crore (~20bps of advances) suggest adequacy of provisioning. This will lower the burden on credit cost in coming quarters. We are building-in slippages of 1.7 per cent/1.4 per cent and credit cost of 1.3 per cent/1.1 per cent for FY22E/FY23E, respectively.

Emkay Global

Reco: Buy | TP: Rs 600

We trim our earnings estimates for FY22-23 by 5-3 per cent but expect SBI to deliver 13-15 per cent RoE over FY22-24E (seen before AQR). We like SBI among PSBs for its strong liability profile, high retail orientation, reasonable capital position, and sharply improving RoA/RoRWA/RoE, given renewed focus on profitability while maintaining market dominance and portfolio quality.

Risks on the downside are macro-slowdown and delay in corporate/retail credit demand; sharp rise in G-sec yields hurting treasury; and delay in corporate resolutions.
Shares of hit an over six-month high of Rs 614 as they rallied 7 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, in an otherwise range-bound market, as analysts believe the favourable industry structure of two players is a good enough kicker for an eventual hike in tariff as well as superior digital play in the medium to long term. The stock of the telecom services provider was trading at its highest level since February 11, 2021. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 623 on February 4, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.05 per cent at 54,396 points at 12:10 pm.

In the past three weeks, the stock has surged 17 per cent, as compared to a 2.3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Last month, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the application of telecom companies that sought recomputation Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues demanded by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).

is Indias second-largest telecom operator, with a revenue market share of 35 per cent as of Q4FY21. The company has 321 million wireless customers in India and 121 million subscribers across operations in 14 African countries. It enjoys industry-leading ARPU (average revenue per user) and margins in the wireless business.

 continues to report resilient numbers, especially on the Indian wireless business front. The strong margins traction and decent 4G net adds is a key positive. The non-wireless business momentum along with Africa performance continues to be robust. We see a favourable industry structure of three players (two being strong), a good enough kicker for an eventual hike in tariff as well as superior digital play in medium to long term, an analyst at ICICI Securities said in Q1FY22 result update.

Further, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said: We see a potential re-rating upside in both the India and Africa businesses on the back of steady earnings growth. We value Bharti on FY23E, assigning EV/EBITDA of 11x to the India Mobile business and 5x to the Africa business, arriving at SOTP-based target price of Rs 720. Our estimates do not factor in any upside from tariff hikes or sharp market share gains, potentially due to VILs eventual outcome of financial stress.

Meanwhile, Kumar Mangalam Birla has stepped down as non-executive director and non-executive chairman of Vodafone Idea, the company said on Wednesday. Himanshu Kapania, a nominee of the Aditya Birla Group, has been appointed as the non-executive chairman, Vodafone Idea Ltd (Vi) said. The changes come at a time when Vi is struggling to stay afloat.

In another development, Vodafone Plc, which owns 45 per cent stake in Vi, is ready to offer its stake for free to Indian banks/financial institutions or to the government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), provided they take over the wireless telephony company, banking sources told Business Standard. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT
The benchmark rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday, extending week-to-date gains to 3.5 per cent. The over 1,847-point jump this week has come on the aggressive buying for overseas and hopes of economic revival following improvement in key high-frequency indicators. The weakening of the US dollar and drop in the US bond yields also are seen as the driving factor behind the surge in risk appetite among investors,

The ended the session at 54,493, up 209 points, or 0.4 per cent. The Nifty rose 36 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 16,295. These are fresh all-time highs for both the indices. The on a year to date basis is up 14 per cent, while the Nifty has gained 16 per cent.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were the key gainers on Thursday, while financial stocks saw profit-booking.

Some profit booking at higher levels is not ruled out near 16,350-16,375 resistance levels. Trade setup suggests that the ideal strategy would be to add long positions near crucial supports. For the swing traders, 16,200 and 16,160 would be the key support level to watch out for, and below the same, the index would be vulnerable at 16,160 levels, said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities.
At meeting held on 04 August 2021

The Board of Greaves Cotton at its meeting held on 04 August 2021 has approved the proposal for sale of Company's land bearing CTS Nos. 4663, 4664 and 4667 along with the structures standing thereon admeasuring approximately 107728.27 sq. mtrs. located at Village Akurdi, Old Mumbai Pune Highway, Anna Sahib Nagar, Pimpri - Chinchwad - 411019, Pune, Maharashtra to Runal Developers LLP for a total consideration of Rs 320 crores to be received in three tranches.

Accordingly, the Company has signed a MOU with Runal Developers LLP recording the commercial understanding, which shall be subject to signing of definitive agreements on or before 31 March 2022 between the parties and necessary regulatory and statutory approvals.

Runal Developers LLP is not related to promoter or promoter group companies and the said transaction does not fall within related party transactions. The MOU does not entail granting any right related to shares or directorship to either party.

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Borosil Renewables hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 316.95 after the company reported a net profit of Rs 39.62 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a net loss of Rs 1.87 crore in Q1 FY21.

Net sales during the quarter increased by 151.8% YoY to Rs 136.13 crore. As compared with Q4 FY21, however, the company's net profit and net sales have declined by 40.8% and 29.8%, respectively.

The company recorded a pre-tax profit of Rs 55.86 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 2.44 crore in Q1 FY21. Current tax outgo was Rs 9.77 crore during the period under review.

The board of Borosil Renewables has approved a proposal to increase the production capacity of the company's third furnace (SG-3), which is being installed at its manufacturing facility at Bharuch, Gujarat, from 500 MT per day to 550 MT per day. The furnace is expected to be commissioned by July 2022.

Consequently, the cost of the project has gone up to Rs 600 crore from Rs 518 crore earlier. The project will be financed by using a mix of equity, debt and/ or internal accruals. The increase in capex will be financed by internal accruals.

The capex is being undertake for raising the production capacity of the furnace and also that of the processing facilities.

Borosil Renewables is engaged in the business of manufacturing of extra clear patterned glass and low iron solar glass for application in photovoltaic panels, flat plate collectors and green houses.

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Britannia Industries Ltd is quoting at Rs 3601.05, up 0.64% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 6.65% in last one year as compared to a 45.6% jump in NIFTY and a 16.64% jump in the Nifty FMCG.

Britannia Industries Ltd is up for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 3601.05, up 0.64% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.3% on the day, quoting at 16307.25. The Sensex is at 54558.37, up 0.35%. Britannia Industries Ltd has gained around 2.33% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG index of which Britannia Industries Ltd is a constituent, has gained around 0.71% in last one month and is currently quoting at 36482.45, up 0.03% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 2.83 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 5 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 3602.5, up 0.65% on the day. Britannia Industries Ltd is down 6.65% in last one year as compared to a 45.6% jump in NIFTY and a 16.64% jump in the Nifty FMCG index.

The PE of the stock is 50.34 based on TTM earnings ending June 21.

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Prince Pipes & Fittings today announced the launch of Prince OneFit with Corzan CPVC Technology in association with Lubrizol - inventors, and largest manufacturers of CPVC compounds worldwide, headquartered in the United States.

Corzan CPVC Technology has been globally adopted as the preferred high-performance piping technology across the world's industrial applications. Backed by Lubrizol Advanced Materials' 60 years of experience with chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), Corzan CPVC Technology transports harsh chemicals at high temperatures without corrosion concerns, found in the toughest processing applications.

Where internal and external corrosion, heat, UV resistance, flame & smoke, pressure, and impact are important and where metals are not economical due to their life span, Prince OneFit with Corzan CPVC Technology can now be an economically viable piping alternative.

Prince will offer world standard CPVC Industrial piping systems & technology to a wide range of Indian industries across Chemical, Power generation, Metal treatment, Paper and pulp, Mineral processing industry & Water Treatment plants. Several global chemical processors around the world have adopted Corzan CPVC Technology in their facilities.

In August 2020, Prince Pipes had announced the launch of Prince FlowGuard Plus, in association with Lubrizol - and it is today, fast making in-roads as one of the safest, most reliable, and cost-effective plumbing solutions of Indian residential and commercial buildings.

With this alliance, Prince Pipes is now India's first manufacturer to offer 3 polymer solutions for Industrial applications through Easyfit IN PVC, Greenfit PPR and now Onefit CPVC piping systems.

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The offer received bids for 4.29 crore shares as against 61.36 lakh shares on offer.

The initial public offer of Windlas Biotech received bids for 4.29 crore shares as against 61.36 lakh shares on offer on Thursday (5 August 2021), according to stock exchange data at 16:55 IST. The issue was subscribed 6.99 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday (4 August 2021) and it will close on Friday (6 August 2021). The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 448-460 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 30 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

The IPO comprised of fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 165 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 51,42,067 equity shares by existing shareholders Vimla Windlass and Tano India Private Equity Fund II.

Ashok Kumar Windlass, Hitesh Windlass, Manoj Kumar Windlass, and the Promoter Trust are the promoters of the company.

Promoters and promoter group holds an aggregate of 14,201,352 equity shares, aggregating to 78% of the pre-offer issued and paid-up equity share capital. The post IPO shareholding for the same is expected to be around 65.16%.

While the company will not get any proceeds from the OFS, Rs 50 crore out of the proceeds from fresh issue will be used for purchase of equipment required for capacity expansion of existing facility at Dehradun Plant - IV and addition of injectables dosage capability at existing facility at Dehradun Plant - II; Rs 47.5 crore will be spent on funding incremental working capital requirements; Rs 20 crore will be spent on repayment/prepayment of certain borrowings; and remaining amount will be spent on general corporate purposes.

Ahead of the IPO, Windlas Biotech on 3 August 2021 finalized allocation of 26,18,706 equity shares to anchor investors, at Rs 460 per equity share, aggregating to Rs 120.46 crore.

Windlas Biotech is amongst the top five players in the domestic pharmaceutical formulations, contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) industry in India, in terms of revenues. The company operates three distinct strategic business verticals (SBVs): CDMO Services and Products (contributing 84.66% of total FY2021 revenues), domestic trade generics and over the counter (OTC) brands (10.22 % of total) and, lastly, exports (5.12 % of total).

The company provides comprehensive range of CDMO services ranging from product discovery, product development, licensing, and commercial manufacturing of generic products (including complex generics) with a focus on improved safety, efficacy and cost.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 15.83 crore and sales of Rs 427.60 crore in the twelve months ended on 31 March 2021.

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The opposition in has come out strongly against the failure of the DMK government to defend the law against online games with stakes in the

The court had on Tuesday struck down a recent amendment to the Gaming Act passed in 1930, which imposed a ban on online games with stakes like rummy and poker.

leader and former state law minister, C.Ve Shanmugham told IANS, "The DMK government seems not to be serious in defending the law against online games with stakes. The new government has not engaged senior lawyers in the court to defend the law."

He also called upon the DMK government to immediately move the Supreme Court against the order of the The leader said, "The government should have put forth proper reasons for the ban before the Court."

The AIADMK is planning to conduct state-level protests against the callous attitude of the DMK government in presenting the facts regarding the law banning online games with stakes including rummy.

Party spokesman, R. Vaithalingam told IANS, "The DMK government should have properly defended the case in the court. They should have done this for the youths of our state who will fall prey to the online games with stakes."

The AIADMK leadership has already communicated to all the districts to chalk out programmes against the DMK's failure to present the matter properly in the as also the failure to engage senior lawyers.

The party is trying to send out a message that the DMK government was not serious in fighting the case implying that the party was in favour of the online games with stakes being played in the state.

The first bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had declared as unconstitutional, Part II of the TN Gaming and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 which banned betting of wagering in cyberspace and also games of skill if played for a wager, bet, money or other stakes.

The bench however, granted the liberty to the state to pass another legislation without lacunae adding that nothing in the judgment would prevent state government from introducing appropriate legislation confirming the Constitutional principles of propriety.

With the rural local body polls to the nine new districts of coming up and the urban local body polls also to be scheduled soon, the AIADMK feels that this could be developed as a political issue over the failure of the DMK to prevent the law being struck down, rather to implicitly state that the DMK was in support of online gaming with stakes.

AIADMK leader C.Ve Shanmugham said, "Teenagers and adults were losing their entire savings and earnings in these online betting games. The Government had to be a little more serious when a case is being heard in the court."

--IANS

aal/skp/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Criticising for stalling Parliament over the Pegasus spyware controversy and other issues, Prime Minister on Thursday asserted that they cannot stop the country from marching forward.

These parties are trying to stop the transaction of business in Parliament, he said in a no-holds-barred attack on the Opposition.

The sole intention of the is to create roadblocks on the path of development, the prime minister said, as he termed their action "anti national".

"Bharat chall padha hain (India is on the move)," the PM said as he listed the achievements of his government on various fronts.

Mocking his political rivals, Modi said that on one hand, the country was scoring goal after goal, an apparent reference to Olympic medals, while on the other, some were trying to score self-goals to meet their political agenda.

Since the start of the Monsoon session on July 19, parliamentary proceedings have been witnessing disruptions due to protests by The session is likely to conclude next week.

Modi's remarks came when he was interacting with beneficiaries of the Centre's food security scheme in Uttar Pradesh through video-conferencing as the state observed the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana Day.

The prime minister launched an awareness programme throughout the state on the scheme.

"During previous regimes, foodgrains meant for the poor were looted," he said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath joined him from Ayodhya.

The PM interacted with beneficiaries present at select fair price shops in Varanasi, Sultanpur, Kushinagar and Jhansi.

Almost 15 crore beneficiaries in the state have been getting free rations under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, an official statement said here.

Nearly 80,000 fair price shops in UP have been distributing the foodgrains to the beneficiaries, it said.

District supply and marketing officers ensure availability of foodgrains at every fair price shop, the statement added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP leader on Thursday claimed the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra has no intention to give reservation to Marathas after the 2018 quota law for the community was struck down by the Supreme Court.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly targeted PWD minister Ashok Chavan, who heads a state cabinet sub-committee on Maratha quota, for his recent comments on the reservation issue. Speaking to reporters here, Fadnavis said, I have learned from reports that the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to give rights of declaring a community as backward to states. However, I am making it very clear that state minister Ashok Chavan and the MVA government have no intention to give reservation to the Maratha community. Reacting to the Union Cabinet decision, Chavan on Wednesday said giving the power to states and UTs to make their own OBC lists will not pave the way for restoring the Maratha quota. The Congress minister had said the Centre should relax the 50 per cent limit on quotas, which was one of the reasons cited by the Supreme Court while striking down the 2018 Maharashtra law providing reservation to Marathas in education and government jobs. However, Fadnavis claimed the Uddhav Thackeray government is not serious about the issue. This government is coming up with new excuses because they do not want to give reservation to the Maratha community, said the BJP leader, who was the chief minister when the quota law was enacted. He said, A state government has to firs declare a community as backward. The reservation part comes much later. Nobody has stopped the state from declaring (Marathas as socially backward). The state has not taken a single step in that direction. Why is the state not taking any action? Fadnavis asked. The BJP leader said Chavan, as head of the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha quota, is not fulfilling his responsibility. It will be a mistake on part of Ashok Chavan if he thinks experts or people protesting for are fools or lack in wisdom. Everyone knows how he is trying to shrug off his responsibility, Fadnavis said, targeting the Congress minister.

"Ashok Chavan should not run away from his responsibility... (if he is not serious on the issue) he should declare clearly they do not wish to give reservation benefits to the Maratha community," he said. Fadnavis said the Congress should seek support from non-BJP parties like the Trinamool Congress, the SP and the RJD for Maratha quota and write to the Centre. Chavan should obtain letters from Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav or his son among others. The Congress has tied up with 22 parities, so it should ask them to wrote letters to the Union government regarding the reservation and its impact on the Constitution, Fadnavis said. Not just the Congress, even the regional parties are well aware that the Union government can not go against the basic framework of the Constitution and make changes, he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries on Thursday pitched for adoption of technologies to reduce the impact of climate crisis on fisheries and acquaculture, and sought regional cooperation for cross-learning.

A consultative meeting of scientists representing India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan held by Agriculture Centre (SAC) has felt the urgent need for implementing strategies such as introduction of climate-friendly technologies in fisheries and aquaculture as well as measures for sustainable utilisation of the resources.

In the meeting, India stressed the need for applying artificial intelligence, bio-informatics, genetic and biotechnological tools, etc, in frontier areas of research to improve aquaculture and fisheries sector.

"The member countries have demanded for regional cooperation among the nations and a platform for cross-learning and knowledge sharing to check the fallouts in the best possible way in the time of climate change," Md. Baktear Hossain, Director of the SAC said in a statement.

In marine fisheries, the need for capacity building for exploitation of deep sea resources was raised by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, scarcity of quality seeds and shortage of other input materials were the major gaps faced by the member countries in inland aquaculture, he said.

"Based on the discussions in the meeting, the SAC has come up with a set of recommendations to address such issues. Technical collaboration for knowledge sharing and capacity building among the countries and setting up of regional networks for seed bank and germplasm transfer are some of the suggestions, he added.

In the meeting, the experts voiced concern over dwindling marine catch and aquaculture production, environmental disruption in aquatic ecosystems and its rippling effect on livelihood of the stakeholders owing to and associated developments.

They suggested that technologies of seaweed farming and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), including cage fish farming could be adopted to reduce the impacts of the crisis to a certain extent, it added.

The sector could use 'green fishing vessels' with built-in design features for energy saving and fuel saving technologies to reduce carbon emission, they added.

Grinson George, Senior Programme Specialist with the SAC said: There are scientific gaps inhibiting the implementation of rules and regulations for sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture.

"Some possible solutions can be looked upon in satellite remote sensing, numerical modelling, stakeholder perception, prioritisation of spatial sensitivity to ecosystems and many more with right interference from the stakeholders," he added.

Referring to the existing disparity in socio-economic standards of the stakeholders, the body recommended for promoting discussions and cross-learning on strengthening 'social-safety-nets' with emphasis on ensuring socio-economic security of the stakeholders, and policies, laws and regulations harmonising between environment conservation and livelihood development.

Establishment of referral laboratories for aquatic animal health management, a centre of excellence in aquaculture and fisheries in the region and e-repository for information sharing were also listed in the recommendations.

Marine pollution, increased fuel prices, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, increasing length of value chain, resource crunch and lack of adequate infrastructure are some of the other major issues raised in the meeting by representatives of member countries.

SAARC Agriculture Centre is the first regional Centre established by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South Korea's antitrust regulator said in Thursday it will hold its final review of whether LLC abused its market dominance in the mobile operating system and app markets.

Since 2016, the regulator has been looking into over allegations that it obstructed local smartphone makers from using operating systems run by other rivals.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it will hold its third and final plenary meeting over the case on September 1 before it decides whether to take punitive actions against the US tech giant, reports Yonhap news agency.

Related review sessions were also held in May and July.

Separately, the regulator is investigating whether allegedly forced mobile game applications to be only released on its Play store.

The KFTC has been also probing into whether Google's new billing policy has harmed market competition.

Google earlier announced a plan to charge a 30 percent fee to all app developers over in-app digital content purchases in

Last month, a parliamentary committee endorsed a revised act that seeks to ban app market operators from forcing certain payment systems on developers by unfairly using their market status.

--IANS

na/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gachibowli (Telangana) [India], August 5 (ANI/NewsVoir): Over 80 young changemakers of Indian origin from across the globe have received the 2021 Diana Award.

Established in the memory of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, the Diana Award is given to youngsters aged 9-25 for their humanitarian and social work. In Telangana, 10 out of 13 students who have received the 2021 Diana Award featured from Oakridge International School, Gachibowli.

Oakridgers Adit Nikhil Upadhaye, 14, Aryan Bodla, 17, Ashug Gurijala, 16, Eshika Madal, 16, Himanshu Rao Kalvakuntla, 15, Neysa Agarwal, 15, Royan Bhupatiraju, Shayan Menon, Shourya Kadam, 15, Tejaswi Polimetla, 18, have made a mark with the award for understanding and taking the collective responsibility towards others and helping make the world a better place.

Adit has channelled his fundraising and volunteer efforts to support children based in the local orphanage who can have a health check-up and access the medicines they needed. On the other hand, Oakridger Aryan had created the project 'Anandam' to raise awareness amongst juvenile offenders and give them a platform to enrol in tutorials and activities and empower young people with life skills.

"Regardless of who you are or where you come from, do your bit. Even the smallest act of service counts," says Ashug, who raised over 2.5 lakh rupees ($3,500) and helped over 1,000 rural children to get academically aligned science and math kits, geo puzzles, brainteasers, and educational board games.

Eshika campaigns for tackling breast cancer and distributed 500 informational pamphlets in local newspapers, showing how to perform self-examinations and encouraging women over 25 to have mammograms. She impacted 3,000 people by helping organise the two-kilometer 'Pink Ribbon Walk' and has used her increasingly developed communication skills to give educational talks and set up an Instagram account and website to spread her message further.

Himanshu is a solution-driven activist, committed to making villages across Telangana self-sustainable. He does this through his initiative 'Shoma', which aims to support communities through the installation of food processing units that can produce unadulterated food. While Oakridger Tejaswi campaigns for environmental conservation as well as tutoring students to build the leadership skills she has nurtured from an early age.

Neysa raised over Rs. 80000 to help educate underprivileged children. She also campaigns for improving access to sanitary napkins for underprivileged women in India and distributed 200-period kits each containing four reusable pads and two cotton facemasks. While Oakridger Royan is helping an entire village to access disease-free water and hygienic toilets. He constructed toilets for 200 families of the village, leading to a reduction in diseases like diarrhea and typhoid. Fundraised to provide the village with a water-purifying tank, so that residents no longer need to travel long distances to access clean drinking water.

Shayan contributed towards building the future of education through fundraising. Built a computer for underprivileged kids to support virtual learning during the lockdown.

"Cognizance is the first step towards understanding, taking responsibility, and acting for a cause greater than our individualities," says Shourya who had started a project titled 'The Causation to Cognizance'. He sought to both understand and promote climate awareness and activism, conducting extensive interviews, discussions, and surveys in his community while creating blogs, original visual art, and music pieces.

He donated the revenue from these to a climate change NGO. Soon after, he joined 'Friday's for Future' and founded his own student-led organisation called 'OCEAN Environmentals', working towards wildlife and resource conservation in a changing world.

"I always tell my students - You are never too young to change the world. Take one step at a time. Start small and be consistent and there will be no turning back. It is little wonder that as many as 10 students have clinched the most coveted Diana Award," says Shalini Samuel of the Community Action Services (CAS) Department at Oakridge Gachibowli.

"Volunteering and service learning helps provide an opportunity for students to learn, grow into valuable members of the society and become well-rounded individuals. Starting young plays major role in their personal growth. At Oakridge, community service is very dear to their hearts.

Volunteering is part of every student's life through which they build patience, self-confidence, a natural sense of responsibility and wonderful feeling of the impact they can make to the society. Being recognized by Diana award, volunteers not only feel appreciated and important, it encourages them to keep continuing their great work. We are proud of our students who set out to make a difference in the world besides these unprecedented times," said Hema Chennupaty, Principal, Oakridge Gachibowli.

To know more about Oakridge International School Gachibowli (Hyderabad), please visit,(https://www.oakridge.in/gachibowli/) www.oakridge.in/gachibowli.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 5 (ANI/NewsVoir): Kidney transplant generally requires matching of certain medical parameters between the donor and patient, and blood group comes high up on that list.

Often, the donor and the patient belong to the same blood group, or the donor could belong to O blood group (Universal Donor). However, with recent advancements in the transplant realm, ABO incompatible transplants are offered in some experienced centers, to prevent longer wait time for patient on dialysis.

Kauvery Hospital Chennai, a unit of Kauvery Specialty Hospitals, a leading healthcare chain in Tamil Nadu, performed a successful ABO incompatible kidney transplant on a 29-year-old man.

Speaking on this patient, Dr. R Balasubramaniyam, Chief Nephrologist, Kauvery Hospital Chennai says, "A kidney transplant predominantly involves a donor and patient who belong to compatible blood groups. If the transplant is performed with different blood groups, the antibodies present in the patient's blood would react to the donor blood group antigens that are present not only on the red blood cells but also on the surface of all other cells including those in the kidneys. The antibodies that are provoked may lead to rejection of the organ at the time of transplant leading to immediate failure (called Hyper acute rejection). In this innovation of ABO incompatible transplant, the antibodies present in the blood are reduced through treatments given before and after transplant."

The patient had recently recovered from COVID-19 and hence the antibodies against the infection were naturally present in his blood. "We started the treatments of lowering the antibodies, two weeks prior to the transplant, but the challenge here was that we had to ensure the COVID antibodies were not lowered significantly making him vulnerable to infection.

Therefore, we worked on providing treatments that lowered the blood group antibody and some medications to protect the new organ from antibodies. The existing antibodies in blood stream were lowered through plasmapheresis and medications were injected through intra venous route (Intravenous Immunoglobulin and Anti Thymocyte Globulins) to suppress the cells from producing more antibodies," he adds.

Upon regular monitoring and tests, we found both the donor and patient to be physically fit, and the antibody count in the patient was ideal for the transplant. "The transplant was successful and donor was discharged within 3 days. The patient was kept under observation to monitor any abnormalities in Kidney functions and detecting infections. After a week the patient was back home, and he is now leading a better quality of life," added Dr. Balasubramaniyam.

An ABO incompatible kidney transplant is a more advanced and complex procedure that requires the right expertise and treatment methods. In this scenario, the team of experts will help the patient to prepare his body much prior to the transplant, depending on the antibody count in his blood. Post-transplant care is also crucial, as the patient has to be monitored for smooth function of the Kidney and also it has to be ensured that the patient is free from infections.

Speaking on the successful transplant, Dr. Aravindan Selvaraj, Co-founder and Executive Director, Kauvery Hospital Chennai says, "ABO incompatible Kidney transplant accounts to & lt;1% of overall kidney transplants in India. However, there are still significant number of patients with kidney failure on dialysis who do not find the blood group compatible donor on time. This technique of ABO incompatible transplant helps such patients to get the transplant done at the right time, thus avoiding longer wait time and poor quality of life. Our department of Nephrology-Urology work hand in hand to offer a comprehensive treatment for patients with end stage renal failure. I congratulate Dr. R Balasubramaniyam and team for helping the patient to lead better quality of life."

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], August 5 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Nsight, Inc., the leading global technology consulting firm that helps organizations orchestrate their Digital Transformation around business solutions in Customer Experience, CPQ, ERP, Robotic Process Automation, Big Data & Analytics, announced that this morning in Gurugram, India, they went live with their 7th business operations office globally and their 2nd in India.

The office was inaugurated by (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit-bhatia-a526bb88/)Sumit Bhatia, Executive Director and Board Member at Nsight, Inc.

Through this expansion, Nsight is focused on the growth of its offshore development centers, and the new office will enable broader coverage and more robust business continuity capabilities. As a fast-growing technology consulting and implementation services provider, Nsight's global delivery team constitutes the industry's best technology professionals, working towards a common cause, focused on digital Transformation and modernization for their customers.

At the launch event, Sumit said, "I'm thrilled and delighted to be here today, with my colleagues from Nsight, to launch our seventh company office here in Gurgaon - this is truly a world-class facility, in a world-class location - and bears witness to Nsight's formidable extension strategy."

Gurugram is a well-known global corporate hub in Northern India; with world-class infrastructure and an excellent talent pool, this city ranks among the top five preferred destinations in the APAC to set up offices. "We are proud to add our presence here in Gurugram with a new state-of-the-art office in a great location," said (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anudeep-bhatia-3484506/) Anudeep Bhatia, CEO Nsight, Inc. "The office's open workstations and collaborative workspaces make the work environment friendly and approachable making it ideal for fostering innovation," added Bhatia.

The Gurugram office is envisaged to play a vital role in serving an increasing client base by promoting and ensuring more comprehensive access to diverse business settings. "The new office will spearhead initiatives that will support the Nsight team to leverage new business opportunities catering to the rise in demand for digital transformation in pandemic times," commented Jayesh Rane, VP of Innovation & Digital Transformation.

Vice President of Delivery Dheeraj, speaking on occasion, said, "Opening our office in Gurugram is driven by our success in the country. We are supporting the desire to expand into new geographies so that we can recruit a fresh talent pool for our Delivery, Operations, Sales and Marketing activities."

"I am very excited with the Gurugram office set-up in the prime location of Cyber city, which is also the location of choice for other global giants and fortune 500 companies. It demonstrates Nsight's growth and global expansion in India," commented Rakesh Jangid, VP of Sales. "We are sure about the new opportunities Gurugram office in NCR brings in terms of business and recruitment," added Jangid.

Nsight, Inc. has built an extensive presence globally with key offices in Santa Clara, New Jersey, Texas, Waterloo, Costa Rica, Hyderabad, Gurugram. With this new office, the company is set to traverse further development avenues in business opportunities, people, and potential.

To know more about Nsight, log on to (https://www.nsight-inc.com/) or contact Marketing@Nsight-Inc.com. Follow them on (https://www.linkedin.com/company/nsight-inc/)LinkedIn to stay tuned with their latest updates.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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China has launched its long-awaited national carbon trading market, marking a major step by the worlds largest greenhouse gas emitter to realize ambitious climate goals.

With more than 2,000 power generation companies initially participating in the national emissions trading scheme (ETS), the market aims to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions to create pressure to reduce the amount produced.

These companies total annual carbon emissions are expected to reach 4.5 billion tons (link in Chinese), making the national ETS the largest in the world. On July 16, the ETS made its debut in Shanghai with an opening price of 48 yuan ($7.40) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalents. Its first transaction was sealed at 52.78 yuan per ton right after the market opened, higher than expected. Since then, the closing price has been hovering above 50 yuan, though well below the levels in many other countries.

Government officials have shown confidence in the ETSs prospects. However, experts said the scheme still has a long way to go before reaching maturity.

In the ETSs hasty launch, the government has yet to fully clarify the responsibilities of different regulators supervising the market. And as financial institutions and businesses outside of the electricity sector havent been allowed to directly trade on the market, many have questioned whether its liquid enough.





Pressure to cut emissions

An ETS is a tool that many countries and regions have adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EU launched the EU ETS, the worlds first international ETS, in 2005. Later, countries including South Korea, New Zealand and Switzerland, as well as some parts of the U.S., followed suit.

China had already established regional ETSs in eight provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Seven of the ETSs started trading in 2013, while the one in the eastern province of Fujian kicked off three years later. In 2015, China pledged to roll out a national ETS (link in Chinese) in a bid to unify the scattered regional markets.

Under an ETS, the government sets quotas for the amount of greenhouse gases that companies can emit during a certain period. Those that spew less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than permitted to can sell their remaining quotas via the system in the form of carbon credits, while buyers are those who emit more than their allotments and want to avoid paying fines.

In China, an initial cohort of 2,162 power generation companies (link in Chinese) participate in the national ETS. Under the total quota limit, the companies in aggregate are expected to be allowed to emit more than 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases (link in Chinese) in 2021. They are required to (link in Chinese) report this years actual amount of emissions to regulators by the end of next March.

Industry insiders said the quota limit is generous, indicating the governments soft stance on reducing emissions in the early days of the ETS. Similarly, the annual quotas (link in Chinese) for Chinas major power generation companies in 2019 and 2020 both reached more than 95% of their actual emissions, the insiders estimated. Many expected the government to gradually tighten the quota in the coming years, and auction an increasing proportion of it, shifting away from the current approach of giving it away for free.

Chinas plan is to establish the carbon market first and then gradually improve it, said Zhang Xiliang, a Tsinghua University professor specializing in energy and climate issues.

Even so, the power firms have felt the heat from the ETS. Before the schemes launch, the China Electricity Council, an industry group, held several meetings with its members to discuss what price is proper for carbon credits trading on the ETS, a knowledgeable source at a major electricity group told Caixin. The companies proposed setting the initial price at 25 yuan per ton, but the Ministry of Ecology and Environment disagreed and set a higher price at 48 yuan per ton, the person said.

Even at a lower price of 30 yuan per ton, the cost of reducing carbon emissions would make up an estimated 5% to 25% of companys total power generation expenses, a huge burden, a carbon asset manager at a state-owned power company said.

Energy-intensive power-generating facilities are expected to take an especially hard hit from the national ETS. Some facilities emit 1 million tons of greenhouse gases more than their annual quota limits, meaning additional costs of about 50 million yuan, based on a price of 50 yuan per ton for carbon credits on the ETS, said Xiao Yonghui, general manager of a carbon asset management firm under State Power Investment Corp. Ltd., one of Chinas five major electricity generators.

In the face of soaring carbon costs, several power generation companies trading on the ETS have pledged to accelerate a strategic pivot to new energy, including China Huaneng Group Co. Ltd. and China Huadian Corp. Ltd., another two of the Big Five power firms.

Read more

Caixin Explains: How Chinas New Carbon Market Will Work

An underdeveloped market

Although the ETS has begun to put pressure on emissions-intensive firms, analysts believe theres a lot of room for improvement.

One point is that the market is not liquid enough. On the ETSs first day of trading, carbon quotas equivalent to about 410,000 tons of emissions changed hands, but trading volume slumped the following day and has remained below 120,000 tons for most of the trading days by far, with Wednesday recording only 20,000 tons.





Analysts said the problem is that currently only one type of company is trading on the ETS, and that the trading volume will probably not jump until the end of the year, when some firms have no choice but to buy carbon credits to offset their emissions. Meanwhile, some companies are reluctant to sell quotas for now as they hope higher prices in the future to bring them juicier profits.

The government has plans to gradually include companies from seven other industries: petrochemicals, chemicals, construction materials, steel, nonferrous metals, papermaking and aviation. But this is likely to take some time.

The absence of financial institutions on the ETS also contributes to the markets liquidity problem. Unlike many other carbon markets, such as the EU ETS, where financial institutions are major participants, China has not yet allowed them to directly participate, which some interpret as an effort to ensure market stability and keep financial risks in check. Chinas idea is to build the carbon market first, and gradually introduce financial institutions after it sets up solid regulations, said Zhang of Tsinghua University.

A source close to the central bank said that allowing financial institutions to participate could have delayed the carbon markets launch because regulators would need time to establish relevant rules. Considering that the launch of the national carbon market has been delayed, it was more important to launch the market first, the source said.

Some expect that the government will eventually allow financial institutions to trade on the carbon market. In addition, Chinas newly built Guangzhou Futures Exchange is accelerating its efforts to launch a carbon futures market.

It may take seven to eight years for the national ETS to mature, given the time needed to introduce an auction mechanism for carbon quotas and to allow the trading of relevant financial derivatives, said Mei Dewen, general manager of the China Beijing Green Exchange, the operator of the regional ETS in the capital.

Read more

In Depth: China Wants Its Next Futures Exchange to Run a Lot More Like a Company

In addition, analysts called for the government to further improve laws and regulations to better oversee the national carbon market. Currently, the market is regulated by the environmental ministrys Measures for the Administration of Carbon Emissions Trading (Trial) (link in Chinese), which took effect Feb. 1. However, given the limited power of the ministry, the measures did not specify the responsibilities of other government departments. The State Council, the countrys cabinet, is now designing higher-level carbon market regulations (link in Chinese) to supplement whats missing.

The government also needs to strengthen the legal punishments for fabricating emissions data, said Qian Guoqiang, a deputy general manager at SinoCarbon Innovation & Investment Co. Ltd., an investment firm focused on energy and the environment. There have been cases on regional ETSs in which some third-party verification agencies faked the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by their clients at a figure lower than the actual level. Qian suggested the government appoint several reliable third-party testing agencies to verify the emissions reported by companies, or require authorities to conduct random inspections.

Meanwhile, longer-term policies are required to give carbon market participants stable expectations. We hope authorities can clearly specify (policies) as soon as possible after the launch of the national carbon market, Qian said.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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FROM OLD HOSPITAL: Dave Schapman, left, son of Mr. and Mrs. Al Schapman, Carroll, and Jeff Hamers, right, son of Mrs. Delores Hamers, Carroll, help move another load of furnishings from the old St. Anthony Hospital. The furnishings are being taken to the former McNabb building to await an auction.
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KHARTOUM (Aug. 5, 2021)  The Carter Center today released Sudans Youth and the Transition: Priorities, Perception, and Attitudes, a report that presents the experiences, expectations, and hopes of Sudanese youth regarding the countrys transition from Omar al-Bashirs regime to democracy.

The report is based on extensive survey research conducted in March and April 2021 with representatives of youth-led organizations and resistance committees across Sudan. The groundbreaking research found that youth are optimistic about the future and keen to support the countrys transition. However, there are gaps in meeting youths expectations about both the governments progress and opportunities for youth involvement that, if not managed properly, could create significant obstacles to the Transition.

Sudans revolution was led by youth, and it is important that they have a voice in their countrys future, said Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander. As we pass the halfway mark of the transition timetable, this report offers insight into how youth view what has happened so far and makes suggestions for how policymakers can benefit from and empower youth in the months and years to come.

The research consisted of a survey of more than 1,000 representatives of youth-led organizations and resistance committees in all 18 states as well as more than 120 focus groups and one-on-one interviews with additional activists. It was conducted on the basis of a memorandum of understanding between The Carter Center and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Seventy-four percent of surveyed youth say they are optimistic about the future. They are eager to be involved in the decisions of the transitional government. A majority of youth report being satisfied with the performance of the transitional government.

But at the same time, only 4% said that the goals of the revolution had been achieved to a great extent, and over 40% said they had little to no influence on the course of the transition. Activists in focus groups expressed frustration that while their opinions are heard, they are often not valued or acted upon by policymakers.

Nationwide, youth interlocutors expressed a strong wish to play a more significant part in government decision-making and to engage more directly with government officials. Youth particularly requested training in accessing information about the transition and peace negotiations, as well as training in public communication and social media to bolster their advocacy efforts.

In surveys as well as in focus groups and one-on-one interviews, youth named the rising cost of living, unemployment, and the lack of basic services as their top priorities. They said improving the economy and ensuring an equitable distribution of resources will help reduce crime as well as racial and ethnic conflict.

Respondents were split evenly on whether they believed the timeline of the transition, including the conduct of free elections, would be respected. Focus group participants cited concerns about the delay in forming the Transitional Legislative Council and other institutions mandated by the Constitutional Charter. Over 80% view the governments peacemaking efforts as successful and support an acceleration of peace negotiations.

One highlight from the report is that nearly all respondents support advancing transitional justice. While no single body enjoys high trust among youth, civil society and independent commissions were cited as the most trusted institutions to implement transitional justice measures.

The report concludes by offering recommendations for ways in which national and international actors can support youth voices and enhance their capacities as local peacebuilders and promoters of civic spaces within a peaceful, democratic transition.

You can find the full report here.

Translation

        

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Contact:

In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org

In Khartoum, Anas Abuelgasim, anas.abuelgasim@cartercenter.org +249 (0) 912374709

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Photo: The Canadian Press A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is seen with injection supplies at a clinic in Winnipeg, Friday, March 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

The federal government has announced it will send more than 82,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Trinidad and Tobago.

International Development Minister Karina Gould said in a release Wednesday that Trinidad and Tobago was selected to receive the excess doses that had already arrived in Canada based on need and the countrys capacity to deploy them immediately.

Gould said the doses will be delivered in the coming days and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will manage the administration of the vaccines in accordance with manufacturing guidelines and public health best practices.

Last month, the federal government said it would donate nearly 18 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to poorer countries.

At the time, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said after talking to the provinces, the federal government determined these vaccine doses were excess supply, as demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine had been met.

She said Canada would donate 17.7 million doses that were supposed to flow into Canada from the United States through an advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca and that they would be made available to lower-income countries through the global vaccine-sharing alliance COVAX.

In her statement Wednesday, Gould said vaccinating the world against COVID-19 continues to be the best strategy to end the pandemic.

"By redirecting excess doses we do not need here in Canada, we are supporting global efforts to fight this virus, and ensuring vaccines get to those in need," she said. "Canadians know that no one is safe until everyone is safe."

At the G7 meeting in June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged that Canada would give back at least 13 million doses it was set to receive through a contract with COVAX, on top of millions of dollars already set aside for the global vaccine effort.

Global Affairs Canada said Trinidad and Tobago is a key partner for Canada, with more than 100,000 Canadians with connections to the country, and many thousands of Trinbagonians with connections to Canada.
Photo: The Canadian Press

If you follow the rumours out of Ottawa, it has been reported, as early as Aug. 8, the prime minister will request our new governor general, Mary Simon, dissolve Parliament and call an election.

If that were the case this would be my final weekly MP report to you as it would be inappropriate to distribute weekly reports as a political candidate as opposed to being an elected official.

Will there be an election?

From my perspective I believe public safety must come first.

As many regions of Canada are reporting an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks related to the Delta variant, an election call would carry serious risk for a sitting prime minister, even in a minority Parliament.

The leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, wrote to the governor general to ask that a request to grant an election from the prime minister not be granted.

The leader of the NDP has further pointed out that the minority Liberal government has never once failed a confidence vote in the House of Commons that would trigger an election.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has argued that both the Conservative and NDP opposition parties have routinely obstructed passage of his government's priority bills whenever asked by media if he will ask for an election.

From a factual point of view, it should be noted when the prime minister prorogued Parliament last summer, he did far more damage in delaying his government bills than any opposition party could possibly do.

It should also be noted that the NDP opposition has made offers to fast track and prioritize certain Liberal Government bills and the prime minister refused these gestures.

In short, the prime ministers argument is factually incorrect and unfair to the NDP.

It is true that the Conservative opposition has fought strongly against some of the Liberal government priority bills.

One example of a Liberal government priority bill is Bill C-10, which has been panned by many critics as an internet censorship bill under the guise of a broadcast modernization.

Canadas foremost law professor, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has said Bill C-10 is a shocking and likely unconstitutional speech regulation.

Experts like Prof. Michael Geist, as well as industry and civil liberties experts and stakeholders, have continued to strongly advocate against this bill being passed, arguing it is also an assault on long-standing Canadian internet policy, such as violating net neutrality.

In the House of Commons, only the Conservative Opposition as well as Independent MP Jody-Wilson Raybould have fought against this bill being passed.

So, will there be an election?

Certainly, if the prime minister believes an election campaign suits his best interests and the interests of the Liberal Party of Canada, I suspect we will see an election in the near future.

However, the purpose of what could be my last report to you of this 43rd Parliament is not to communicate what the prime minister wants, but rather to ask what you want.

Do you want to see an election called in the immediate future?

I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is considering making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for some federally regulated workplaces such as airlines.

It is the first time Trudeau has openly supported any form of compulsory vaccinations.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week introduced measures requiring federal employees and contractors to show proof of vaccination or be subjected to new rules including mandatory masking and weekly testing for COVID-19.

Trudeau says he fully supports that plan and that the government is in discussions with the federal public service about whether there are some categories where vaccination should be made mandatory.

Trudeau is in Quebec today, where he announced a child care funding agreement with Premier Francois Legault.

But Legault also chose the moment to announce he will be introducing vaccine passports to receive non-essential services in his province.
Photo: The Canadian Press A Thomson Reuters office sign is shown in Boston, Thursday August 6, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eric J. Shelton

Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. rose to a record high after the company raised its full-year outlook and reported a big growth in net income in the second quarter due to an increase in the value of its London Stock Exchange Group investment.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters shares peaked at $141.16 and were up $7.21 or 5.4 per cent at $139.95 in later trading.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit surged to US$1.07 billion or US$2.15 per diluted share, up from US$126 million or 25 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, excluding the LSEG investment, it earned US$240 million or 48 cents per share, compared with US$221 million or 44 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020.

However, operating profit decreased 14 per cent to US$316 million as the prior-year period included a significant benefit from the revaluation of warrants held in financial data firm Refinitiv that was sold to the London Stock Exchange Group in January.

Revenues for the three months ended June 30 grew nine per cent to US$1.53 billion from US$1.41 billion in the prior year quarter with organic revenues rising seven per cent.

Thomson Reuters was expected to report 43 cents per share in adjusted profits on US$1.5 billion in revenues, according to Refinitiv.

"The strong results that we achieved in the first quarter accelerated in the second quarter. Our performance was consistent across the company, above our expectations, and positions us well for the rest of the year and 2022," stated CEO Steve Hasker.

Thomson Reuters announced in February a two-year transition to an operating company from a holding company and to a content-driven technology firm from a content provider that will require an investment of US$500 million to US$600 million.
Photo: Fernando Lesser

Conservation scientists are calling for the removal of 1,200 barriers in Canadas most productive salmon-bearing river after a landmark study found historical habitat has declined by up to 85 per cent.

The study, Quantifying lost and inaccessible habitat for Pacific salmon in Canadas Lower Fraser River, was published by researchers from UBC and the Rainforest Conservation Foundation last month in the journal Ecosphere.

Researchers mapped hundreds of barriers in streams and along dikes across the southern end of B.C.s largest river. By analyzing vegetation records surveyed to give away land to settlers in the 1850s, the team was able to create digital elevation models spanning 20,203 square kilometres from Hope to Delta. From there, the team used a series of data sets to overlay a network of culverts, dams, dikes and flood gates that prevent salmon migration.

Of an estimated 659 square kilometres of historical floodplains, only 101 square kilometres remain accessible to salmon, says lead author Riley Finn.

Another roughly 1,700 kilometres have been completely lost, and Finn says urbanization or reclaiming land for agriculture (i.e. draining floodplains of water) are to blame.

"I live in Vancouver. Its easy to forget there were lots of salmon streams in the city," says the research associate with the Conservation Decisions Lab in the faculty of forestry at UBC.

All told, 1,200 barriers prevent salmon from reaching about 2,224 kilometres of streams.

The study acts as a counterpoint to research pointing to ocean mortality as a major cause of declining salmon populations.

The magnitude of habitat loss in the Fraser cannot be ignored and suggests it is a major driver of observed salmon declines, write the authors.

UBC forest and conservation science professor Tara Martin, who runs the Conservation Decisions Lab, says salmon are facing multiple threats both at sea and in rivers like the Fraser.

If salmon do not have sufficient habitat to breed and complete their life cycle, then none of the other conservation management actions we take will matter, she says in a written statement.

OTTAWA'S BIG BET

In June, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan released details of a five-year Pacific salmon strategy, saying it would include the building of two new hatcheries, increased conservation measures, habitat enhancement and a change in the way harvesting is carried out.

A $647-million federal investment to restore wild Pacific salmon stocks signals a transformative change, according to Aaron Hill, head of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, but fails to lay out recovery plans for critically endangered species, like wild chinook, coho and sockeye salmon.

Finn says his teams research raised similar questions.

This loss is particularly critical for populations of coho and chinook, which rely more heavily on these habitats for rearing, compared to other types of salmon, says the researcher.

KNOCKING DOWN BARRIERS

Part of the reason the research team set out to map such a huge span of rivers and streams was to offer a long-count perspective often missing in humanity's view of the natural world.

These processes of habitat loss happen over time. If we shift our perspective of what that looks like, we can understand these shifting baselines, Finn tells Glacier Media.

Without a signpost beyond a single persons lived experience, its impossible to understand just how far nature has fallen. At the same time, mapping barriers for salmon migration also creates a path for restoration.

Now, we can kind of look at it and say, 'Where can we get the most habitat back?' says Finn.

For example, last month, the group Resilient Waters began work on a fish-friendly flood gate to improve water flow and fish passage through 7.5 kilometres of salmon habitat along the Agassiz Slough. Nearby, work has begun to replace an aging floodbox that drains eight kilometres of land, including most of the stormwater from the town of Agassiz. The 1970s piece of infrastructure included a culvert with a hinged flap gate that blocked migrating fish.

With money from Emergency Management BC and the provinces BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, the high-priority project is meant to both help fish and prevent flooding.

Theres lots of good work going on to start removing these barriers, says Finn.

In other cases, existing culverts are too small to handle huge flows of water. The water pressure erodes the downstream ends of the culverts, leaving them overhung and inaccessible to fish.

Sometimes, the solution means knocking down dikes, a tricky proposition in a province where many communities face growing risk due to climate-induced flooding.

Historically, there wasnt really a discussion of balance. Having that now, when we need to update this infrastructure for climate change, is a good thing, says Finn.

I hope this sparks that discussion: What are our ambitions?
Photo: Shuswap Emergency Program

Motorists travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway are asked to not slow down or stop near the Three Valley Lake wildfire.

Doing so could cause a traffic incident that could impact fire operations, the BC Wildfire Service advises.

The fire is very visible from Highway 1 and the Three Valley Gap tourist area.

The wildfire service is working towards securing the southwest corner of the fire along the highway, to minimize impact on traffic.

Sixteen firefighters are working on the fire, which was last mapped at 500 hectares and remains out of control.

The fire has been showing Rank 1 and 2 behaviour to the south and slightly more aggressive to the north, on top of the ridge, where falling rock has created a safety hazard.

It is burning in very steep terrain that is unsafe for crews to access.

An evacuation alert remains in place for the Three Valley Lake Lodge.

Properties west of the lake on the north side of the highway are under evacuation order.
Sumitomo Osaka Cement posts 14% rise in profit

05 August 2021

Japans Sumitomo Osaka Cement has posted a 16.4 per cent YoY decline in profit to JPY43.78bn (US$399.57m) for the quarter ending 30 June 2021, compared to JPY52.35bn in the year-ago period.



However, operating profit climbed 13.6 per cent YoY to JPY2.92bn from JPY2.57bn.

Published under
Buena Vista, CO (81211)

Today

Sunny early then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. High 78F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 51F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Chatham, VA (24531)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Chatham, VA (24531)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.
During the pandemic, many businesses and organizations found themselves questioning how to serve their community. With Executive Director Julie Ladd at its helm, Full Circle Medical Center for Women continued to be a resource in the Athens area. Ms. Ladd has been chosen as the honoree for Non-Profit Leadership for the 2021 Community First Awards because of her countless efforts in supplying her community with medical resources through the toughest times of the virus.

From the first moment we realized our world was in crisis, she responded with courage, determination, hope, and in doing so planted seeds of courage, determination, and hope in our community, stated Stephanie Munoz, employee of Ms. Ladd. Without her resolve and commitment to serve those in need, things could have been so much worse for so many.

Ms. Ladd took action against the pandemic as soon as it started. Full Circle kept their doors open to give medical access to women in unplanned pregnancy situations; many of whom were scared or unable to access medical care elsewhere. When the world started to see businesses closing and product shortages, Ms. Ladd organized Diaper Drive-By events. She and her team distributed thousands of free diapers and wipes to families in the area.

Ms. Ladd created more opportunities for women in need by opening up the clinics blessing closet where women can get formula, baby food, and other items for their families. Even through all her helpful work, it wasnt easy combating the virus. Ms. Ladd also faced difficulties in her job, juggling the safety of the workers and patients, in addition to funding the organization.

The role of executive director is challenging because the ED wears so many hats, management and fundraising being the two main ones, said Ms. Ladd. COVID affected the management part of my job because I had to keep in mind the safety of our staff, develop and implement new policies, and allow some staff to work from home who were immunocompromised. It was tricky, but our Board of Directors helped tremendously, and our staff had some great constructive conversations.

Full Circle has provided a peace of hope to women in difficult situations, and Ms. Ladd strives to make sure that hope is not taken away. In turn, the community shares that service back to Full Circle. During the pandemic, people donated items for distribution to help ease the burden of families facing loss of work or lack of access to basic necessities. She doesnt take all the credit for the work. She believes her team is the strong force that kept the clinic open and running successfully.

I have to say that I share this award with my amazing staff, said Ms. Ladd. The pandemic multiplied the reasons that our work is important, and every single one of them pitched in to help us serve a record number of patients last year. We all did what we could, in the office and from home. We not only got through it together, but we grew through it together.

Ms. Ladd will be honored at the Community First Awards Gala hosted by Cleveland State Community College in September at the Barn at Faith Farms in Athens.

To purchase a ticket or for more information, contact Cindy Dawson at 614-8703. Tickets for the gala are currently on sale online at mycs.cc/communityfirst. All proceeds from the event will go to the CSCC Foundation Annual Campaign.




Jurors on Thursday afternoon at Winchester found Robert Joe Whittenburg, 47, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2017 killings of his girlfriend Dedra Lawrence and her mother Deanna Lawrence. Whittenburg was found to have hacked the two women to death with an axe.

Whittenburg was sentenced to life in prison.



To the members of the family, theres no way anybody can replace your loss, Judge Thomas Graham said. But I believe the jury has done all they can do as far as putting importance upon their lives. Thats what the system is here for. 



On Nov. 30 in 2017, Pikeville police found Whittenburg covered in blood and unconscious, while Deanna Lawrence and her daughter Dedra were both found deceased because of multiple axe wounds. Throughout the three-day trial, Whittenburg was heard saying he was the only person who could have done the act, but did not admit to killing the two women.



Earlier on Thursday, a prosecutor told the jury that Whittenburg "had to make a conscious decision" to kill his girlfriend and her mother at a Pikeville residence in 2017.



Prosecutor David Shinn said during closing arguments, This man had to go into the kitchen and pick up the axe. You dont do that without making a choice.

The prosecutor also drew the jurys attention to several statements Whittenburg made during both a recorded 2017 interview and in his statement on the witness stand on Wednesday. Whittenburg concluded, It must have had to be me but did not say that he knew he did it.



Shes running for that kitchen door and trying to get out, and shes hacked from behind, prosecutor Shinn told the jury, calling the attack obviously premeditated.



Defense attorney Sam Hudson cited previous testimony that framed Dedra and Whittenburgs relationship as troubled. He pitched the idea that the night the murders occurred, Whittenburg was possibly provoked into killing both women after they began to fight. He asked for the jury to find him guilty of voluntary manslaughter if they did not acquit, calling his actions an act of passion.



If you think he did that, it is evidence of someone who has lost his mind, attorney Hudson said.



Prosecutor Strain said this is not a who-done-it and that the evidence pointed to Whittenburg murdering both women, and there was no justification for his actions. The prosecutor was also skeptical of Whittenburgs statements claiming to not remember anything that happened during the murders.



What provocation could justify or provoke him to pick up the axe and hack them? There is nothing he can say to justify hacking those women to death, prosecutor Strain said. Thats why he claims to not remember it, because he remembers everything else.



There is no way to spin it, the prosecutor said before asking the jury to find Whittenburg guilty of both counts of first-degree murder.



After closing arguments, the jury received their instructions and began to deliberate at 11:30 a.m.

The trial was moved from Bledsoe County to Franklin County after a change of venue motion was filed.

The trial started on Tuesday morning and there were a total of 10 witnesses, which included Deana Lawrences boyfriend, TBI agents, and others.
Southern Adventist University has expanded the academic options offered in digital fields such as web design and cyber security. Two new degrees and several additional concentrations will be available beginning this fall. These options were developed in response to high demand by prospective students and employers and are included in Southerns academic master plan.

The new programs will add breadth to Southerns academic portfolio, allowing us to better meet the needs of our constituents, said Robert Young, PhD, senior vice president for Academic Administration.

The School of Visual Art and Design will give students the opportunity to develop skills in user experience and web design through a new Bachelor of Fine Art in Web and New Media Design.

This new program is exciting because it builds on our strong graphic design program and combines it with more technical skills needed in this field, said Randy Craven, MFA, dean of the School of Visual Art and Design. We anticipate that this combination will be highly desirable.

Additionally, the School of Computing has added a new masters degree, the Master of Science in Applied Computer Science, which includes a choice of four certificates: Data Analytics, Computer Science, Cyber Security, and Web Development. At the undergraduate level, two new concentrationsSecurity and Web Developmentare available as part of several different degrees, including the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

Skills in cyber security and web development are highly valuable in todays market, said Rick Halterman, PhD, dean of the School of Computing. Southerns computing graduates have always been desirable to employers, but these options will provide students with skills that are immediately needed by companies for their success.






BlueSky Tennessee Institute, a partnership between BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University, is now accepting applications for its inaugural class. Accepted students will begin working toward a bachelors degree at BlueCross headquarters next summer and can complete the program in just over two years.

The program offers eligible high school graduates the opportunity to:

Earn a Bachelor of Science in Computing, Concentration in Information Systems from ETSU in just over two years;

Gain real-world experience by learning and working as an intern at BlueCross  a mission-driven company focused on improving the health of 3.4 million members in Tennessee and beyond; and

Potentially earn a rewarding job offer from BlueCross after successfully completing the program.

This program is designed for self-motivated learners who work hard at their studies and have a passion for computer science and cybersecurity, BlueSky Institute Executive Director Bradley Leon said. Its a challenging, fun opportunity and we are pleased to take this next step toward welcoming our first students for this one-of-a-kind educational experience.

The intensive program pairs an accelerated version of ETSUs ABET-accredited Computing curriculum with an innovative job training model. ABET is the leading international accreditor for computing programs, and ETSUs program offers instruction in high-demand fields such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, wireless computing, data analytics, health care information systems, and more. ETSUs curriculum has been named Best Bachelor of Science in Computing for Information Systems by CollegeFactual.com and Universities.com.

The BlueSky Tennessee Institute offers a unique job training model that will further the impact of higher education, Dr. Tony Pittarese, interim dean of the College of Business and Technology at ETSU, said. Our professors look forward to working with BlueCross to deliver a first-class computing education to students in Chattanooga.

During their time at the BlueCross Cameron Hill headquarters in Chattanooga, BlueSky Tennessee Institute students will have access to activities and events designed to welcome them into the organizations inclusive, diverse workplace culture. The program offers employee mentoring as well as assistance from Melissa Graham, student success manager.

Student supports are key to ensuring all of our BlueSky Tennessee Institute students have the opportunity to succeed while navigating lifes challenges, Ms. Graham said. As part of this accelerated degree program, we will provide extensive support services and opportunities beyond those available to typical college students.

In addition to providing a new entry point for one of the countrys fastest-growing career fields, the BlueSky Tennessee Institute will help develop technology talent for BlueCross and help the company meet the needs of its members, said officials.

To learn more about eligibility requirements for the BlueSky Tennessee Institute, or to begin an application, visit https://www.etsu.edu/admissions/bluesky.php.




Owners of No Hard Feelings, a new bar in Chattanooga, have renovated a space of about 2,000 square feet at 806 Broad St., across the street from the Read House hotel. This will be the third location in Tennessee; the other two are in Nashville and Franklin.

Along with craft beer, hand-made empanadas, nuts and breads, will be available. Hours are from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. The bar was approved by the City Beer Board for both a consumer and carry-out license.



Joes Kwik Mart has opened at 7420 Bonny Oaks Dr., formerly a Speedway.

The convenience store was approved for a carry-out beer permit at the beer board meeting on Thursday.The Kentucky / Tennessee section of AWWA (American Water Works Association) and Clean Water Professionals will be holding a conference in Chattanooga from Aug. 15-18. They will be sponsoring a public event at 150 River St. at Coolidge Park on Aug. 15 from 1-4 p.m. aimed at educating the public about the importance of and ways to keep water clean. A beer license was approved for the event where beer trucks will be on site. Off-duty officers from the CPD will be present to ensure no sales are made to minors.On Aug. 17 from 6 until 10 p.m. the group will also hold a private event for the Kentucky / Tennessee Water Professionals Conference Member Celebration. It will be at 1804 Chestnut St., near Finley Stadium. With Chattanooga Brewing providing beer. It is expected that around 1,500 will attend the conference.
Josh Duggar broke Duggar news with his arrest in April 2021. And Duggar family fans and critics alike are wondering whats next for Anna Duggar, his loyal and faithful wife. Anna and Josh have six children with a seventh on the way. And a recent report claims Annas staying with Josh in Joshs guardians home. Heres whats going on, and where Josh and Annas six children are allegedly staying.

Are Josh and Anna Duggar still together? It seems Anna is standing by Josh ahead of his trial

Josh and Anna Duggar in 2015 | Kris Connor/Getty Images

Josh Duggars arrest in April 2021 shocked fans, critics, and Counting On viewers. The Duggar news explained Josh was arrested on suspicion of obtaining child sexual abuse material years prior. The material was allegedly on a computer at his workplace. Now, everyone keeping up with the case awaits the trial date, which was pushed to November 2021.

Prior to the arrest, Anna happily announced via Instagram she and Josh are expecting a seventh child. Unfortunately for her, Josh cannot currently see any of their six children without her present. And many wonder if Anna will continue to stick by Joshs side or if shell call it quits on their marriage once and for all.

Fox News reports a source close to the Duggar family said divorce is an absolute last resort for Anna, as she doesnt generally believe in giving up on marriage. Divorce is never going to be a first option [for Anna], the source stated. Its going to be a last, last resort.

Duggar news: Anna is reportedly staying with Josh at his guardians home

Anna Duggar is Leaving Her Kids Behind to Stay With Josh as He Awaits Trial https://t.co/XWyCrJUOxZ  CafeMom (@cafemom) August 4, 2021

Josh no longer lives with Anna and the six children post-arrest. Previous Duggar news noted Josh currently stays with Lacount and Maria Reber, Duggar family friends who agreed to take him in. The Rebers live in a mansion in Elkins, Arkansas, and Anna reportedly visited Josh there quite frequently.

Now, it looks like Annas visits are becoming more and more frequent. Anna is spending most of her time with Josh at the Rebers, and her family has stepped in to help raise all their kids, a source told The Sun. She takes them to visit him or they are looked after while shes there alone. Despite what hes been charged with, she refuses to believe hes guilty.

The source then noted Anna doesnt get along with Maria Reber. Anna has pretty much moved in, but shes still not on good terms with Mrs. Reber, they continued. Shes disappointed she said in his bail hearing she didnt feel safe around Josh alone. Mrs. Reber doesnt really want her there because they dont get along.

Duggar family critics imagine how difficult the situation is for the couples kids

Josh Duggars 2021 mugshot | Washington County Sheriffs Office/Getty Images

Duggar family critics imagine the latest Duggar news surrounding Josh is incredibly hard on the couples six children. A few of the oldest kids are at an age where they can start to understand whats happening around them.

I often think of what Mackynzie thinks of all this, a critic on Reddit noted. Eleven (12? 11.5?) is definitely old enough to pick up on things and be somewhat aware of adult situations. I wonder what shes been told about their dads absence.

Theres no way these kids will have a healthy relationship with their parents once they discover the whole story, another Reddit user guessed.

Well have to wait and see what happens with Joshs trial.

TLC did not return a request for comment regarding Anna Duggar staying with Josh Duggar by the time of publication.

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RELATED: Duggar News: Counting On Viewers Theorize What Will Happen to Anna Duggar if Josh Duggar Goes to Prison
Former 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar could face substantial prison time if hes found guilty of the charges against him. In April 2021, Josh was arrested and charged with two counts of child pornography; he is currently awaiting trial.

TLC canceled Counting On in June 2021 due to Joshs charges. Now, though, those who follow the family theorize what might happen to Anna if her husband is found guilty.

Josh and Anna Duggar in 2015 | Kris Connor/Getty Images

Josh Duggar was arrested on child pornography charges in April 2021

In 2019, rumors swirled that Homeland Security had investigated Josh Duggars used car lot. The rumors became so hard to ignore that Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar released a statement saying that nobody in their family was facing any kind of investigation as far as they knew.

Fast forward to April 2021, and the Duggar familys quiet Arkansas life gets upended when authorities arrest Josh Duggar on two counts of child pornography. According to USA Today, Josh allegedly knowingly received pornographic images to his computer of children under 12 back in 2019. Josh has pled not guilty to the charges, and his trial was rescheduled from July to November.

Josh Duggars 2021 mugshot | Washington County Sheriffs Office/Getty Images

RELATED: Duggar News: Critics Dont Think the Josh Duggar Scandal Is the Real Reason the Show Was Canceled

Counting On viewers theorize what might happen to Anna Duggar if Josh Duggar goes to prison

Though Josh is at the center of the investigation, his wife, Anna Duggar, might be even more affected by the scandal than Josh. Only days before Joshs arrest, Anna revealed on her Instagram that the two were expecting their seventh child. Since Joshs arrest, Anna has gone completely radio silent on social media. And Reddit users recently theorized that Anna might end up moving in with Joshs parents if he goes to prison.

If [Josh] goes to jail  I do think Anna will be moved into the house to take care of the kids in exchange for room and board in Joshs absence, one person wrote.

Anna will move into [Michelle and Jim Bobs house] with her kids  Hopefully theyll give Anna the guest room downstairs that used to be Grandma Duggars instead of making her stay in the girls room, another person commented.

Right now, Anna lives on the Duggars property with her six kids. Its unclear what would happen to her home if she did move into Michelle and Jim Bobs house.

Josh Duggar and Mackynzie | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Counting On viewers think Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar will keep Joshs family out of the spotlight

Anna is expecting her seventh child, who will likely be born before Josh Duggar goes to trial. But ever since Joshs arrest, Anna has remained entirely out of the spotlight. And some think that Michelle and Jim Bob will do their best to keep Anna and the kids out of the limelight for good. Viewers even theorized that Michelle and Jim Bob might not announce the new baby when Anna gives birth.

I sort of think it would be in their best interest at this point to just pretend that Josh and his whole family dont exist, one Reddit user wrote.

Another person suggested Michelle and Jim Bob might announce the new baby in an Instagram post but turn off commenting.
Former Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton is literally selling the clothes off her own back.

Shes opened her personal closet and putting her own clothes up for sale to benefit a very worthy cause. Heres more on the statement the actor hopes to make.

Actor Patricia Heaton | Jim Spellman/WireImage

Heaton is selling her clothes to benefit World Vision

Recently on Instagram, the former The Middle actor posted about her decision to sell her own personal wardrobe items to raise money and awareness for World Vision, the international humanitarian and advocacy group.

Shop selected looks from my personal collection on @therealreal. Cant wait to hear where their new owners will wear them! All of my proceeds from these sales will benefit @worldvisionusa  Link in bio!

The items Heaton is selling through luxury consignment website The RealReal are a combination of her casual and more elegant attire from her wardrobe, with a great deal already sold out.

Former Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey replied, Great idea, and Heatons former Middle co-star Chris Kattan, who played her Ehlert Motors colleague Bob jokingly chimed in saying, Ill take one of those and.. two of those please.

An Instagram follower of Heatons said, The clothes are beautiful, just like your heart. It is so kind of you to raise funds for such a worthy cause, while another added, Youre amazing! Love that all the proceeds go to World Vision.

Heatons support for World Vision is part of her second act

As the actor wrote in her recent book Your Second Act, her interest in the organizations work around the world helping children in need has gone from writing checks to visiting countries where children are most vulnerable.

For the past six years, Ive served as a Celebrity Ambassador for World Vision, bringing awareness of the organization to Hollywood and beyond, and raising money for all of their very worthy programsespecially providing clean water to all one hundred countries in which World Vision works, Heaton wrote. Being an ambassador for World Vision is very much a second act in my life. My first trip with World Vision was to Zambia, and initially, I found it all to be a bit overwhelming, particularly because of all the information they sent me about the country, its people and history, and the many problems that World Vision was tackling, not to mention the sheer magnitude of need.

The actors traveled overseas for World Vision

As the former Carols Second Act star noted, she is a celebrity ambassador for the organization and has taken numerous trips to communities receiving aid, including a Syrian refugee camp, and also sponsors several children.

Of the organizations work, Heaton told EW, I love that 85 percent of donations go directly to helping people, she said. We want to know that our dollars are really making a difference and not just going to run an office. These funds are actually going to help build schools and clean-water pumps.

Because they go into these areas for 12-15 years, when a crisis happens, they are most likely already there on the ground able to immediately start impacting and affecting any crisis that comes along.

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TLCs Little People, Big World premiered on the network in 2006. At the time, the Roloffs youngest son, Jacob, was just 8 years old. While Little People, Big World is still going strong today, Jacob decided to leave the show in 2016. While the 24-year-old hasnt filmed for Little People, Big World in five years, hes been plenty busy. After exiting the show, Jacob married his long-time girlfriend, Isabel Rock, and the couple is now expecting their first child. Read on to discover what the youngest Roloff has been up to as of late  including the fact that he and Isabel are expecting their first baby and why he ultimately decided to distance himself from his familys reality show.

When did Jacob and Isabel get married?

Jacob and Isabel Roloff | Nicki Swift/YouTube

With Little People, Big World premiering when he was just 8 years old, Jacob Roloff was forced to grow up under the spotlight. But, as it turns out, the spotlight wasnt something Jacob ever really wanted. Nearly as soon as he turned 18, the youngest of the four Roloff siblings began to distance himself from the familys reality show. Luckily for Jacob, he had his girlfriend, Isabel Rock, as he entered this new phase of life.

Isabel and Jacob have a sweet love story. According to Your Tango, Jacob and Isabel met when they were just kids. The pair grew up in homes just a few miles apart and began dating as teenagers in 2014. After three years together, Jacob popped the question during a romantic trip to Iceland in 2017. The couple shared a two-year engagement before tying the knot in September 2019. Jacob and Isabel married during an elopement to the Oregon coast. Then days later, the couple held a beautiful autumn wedding ceremony at the Roloff family farm with all their family and friends in attendance. Now, with nearly two years of marriage under their belts, the happy couple is getting ready for the next phase of their life: parenthood.

Jacob and Isabel Roloff are expecting their first baby

Jacob Roloff, Wife Isabel Expecting the 'Baby Boy We Have Been Dreaming of': 'We Are Elated' https://t.co/s4btx8aSA7  People (@people) July 21, 2021

While the youngest Roloff is no longer filming for his familys reality show, he recently took to Instagram to share some big news with his 331,000 followers. The former reality star shared that he and his wife are expecting their first child together, a little boy set to be born in December 2021. Jacob revealed the happy news on Instagram, sharing two photos of his hand resting on his wifes baby bump. His caption simply read, Not for you but us: Im very happy to say were having a son. Isabel Roloff also took to Instagram to share the happy news with her 109,000 followers. Sharing the same pictures as her husband, Isabels caption read, We are elated to share that the baby boy we have been dreaming of is coming this December.

This is an exciting time for the young couple, and the entire Roloff family as well. Jacob and Isabels son will be the sixth Roloff grandchild. Jacobs brother and sister-in-law, Zach and Tori Roloff are the parents of Jackson and Lilah Roloff. His other older brother, Jeremy, also shares two children, Ember and Bode, with his wife, Audrey. Like Jacob and Isabel, Jeremy and Audrey are also expecting a baby before the end of the year. Jeremy and Audreys third child is set to arrive in November 2021, just a month before Jacob and Isabel welcome their first child. With the addition of two new grandchildren, the Roloff family has a lot to look forward to in the remaining months of 2021.

Why did Jacob Roloff leave Little People, Big World?

While Jacob Roloff has a lot to still look forward to in 2021 and the upcoming years as well, hes had to overcome some serious hardships through the years. Just last year, Jacob Roloff revealed the tragic reason he walked away from Little People, Big World in 2016. According to People, the youngest Roloff took to Instagram in December 2020 to share a lengthy statement about why he left his familys reality show.

Sadly, Jacobs reason for leaving the show was due to alleged sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a former TLC producer. In his Instagram statement, Roloff revealed that a former producer of Little People, Big World, had allegedly sexually abused him when he was just a boy. While his experience is truly tragic, hopefully sharing his experience promotes healing for himself and gives other sexual assault survivors the courage to come forward with their stories too.

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.

RELATED: LPBW: Matt Roloff Said Jacob Roloff Told Him About Abuse 2 Days Before Instagram Post
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex couldve had a New Zealand address. Before relocating to California in 2020 the couple considered getting a home in the Commonwealth country.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent time in Canada leading up to their royal exit announcement

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a break from royal duties in late 2019. They spent the holidays not at Sandringham with Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of the royal family but in Canada.

They spent some quality time with their now-2-year-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, and were spotted hiking and biking. Music producer David Foster helped Meghan and Harry find a place to stay on Vancouver Island. Their vacation home? A $14.1 million mansion sitting on 4.1 acres with access to two beaches.

That happened in November and December of 2019. Then in 2020 came Meghan and Harrys bombshell announcement theyd be stepping back from their roles as working royals. They carried out the last of their official engagements before officially stepping back in March 2020.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry talked about the possibility of getting a home in New Zealand during a 2018 royal tour

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Kirsty Wigglesworth  Pool/Getty Images

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As their 16-day royal tour of the South Pacific came to an end in the fall of 2018, Meghan and Harry spoke with New Zealands Governor-General Patsy Reddy. According to her, the now-parents of two mentioned the idea of living there someday.

I remember theyd just been down to the Abel Tasman National Park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible  even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand, Reddy told the Associated Press in August 2021.

She continued, saying that she told them that it was certainly a possibility.

Of course, we said, Sure. It would be fine. There are lots of opportunities to live in New Zealand, but that would be something that theyd have to explore, Reddy said. They were looking at how they might raise their family. And, obviously, theyve made some decisions since.

Reddy added that she saw their comments not as a formal request for help in getting a home in New Zealand but rather a more casual conversation about their future. She also noted Meghan and Harry took a particular interest in the countrys outdoor lifestyle and were impressed with the interactions theyd had with New Zealanders.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to California in 2020

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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After announcing theyd be giving up their senior royal roles Meghan and Harry left Canada for California by way of Tyler Perrys private jet. As the Duke of Sussex later told Oprah Winfrey, safety and security were the reasons for the move.

Harry and Meghan stayed in Perrys home in Beverly Hills before ultimately buying a home in the wealthy Santa Barbara enclave of Montecito. They bought a 19,000 square-foot mansion for $14.7 million complete with nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms.

Their celebrity neighbors include Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Lowe, and others.
Were finally getting some more details about 1883, the prequel to Paramounts hit Western drama Yellowstone. The upcoming Paramount+ series about the origins of the Dutton family was announced back in February. Now, three key cast members have been revealed, including the real-life country music couple who will play a pair of Dutton family ancestors.

What will the Yellowstone prequel be about?

1883 will go back more than 100 years to look at the history of the complicated family at the center of Yellowstone.

The show follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in Americas promised land  Montana, according to a description from Paramount+.

1883 is created by Taylor Sheridan. Sheridan also co-created Yellowstone, which stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton, the patriarch of a powerful Montana ranching family.

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw join 1883 cast

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill | John Shearer/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum

So far, three big names have signed on to 1883, including country music power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and Oscar-nominee Sam Elliott.

McGraw and Hill will play James and Margaret Dutton, the Dutton family patriarch and matriarch. Elliott will play a character named Shea Brennan. Brennan is a tough as nails, handsome cowboy with immense sadness in his past. He has the herculean task of guiding a group from Texas to Montana, and he does not suffer fools.

Tim McGraw calls 1883 role a dream job

So excited I can finally share this.I'm joining the Dutton family in the @Yellowstone prequel, 1883, coming to @paramountplus! And my incredible wife @FaithHill will be playing Margaret Dutton!! #yellowstone pic.twitter.com/nxhKimWbZI  Tim McGraw (@TheTimMcGraw) August 4, 2021

In a statement, McGraw called his 1883 role his dream job and said he and Hill couldnt wait to bring James and Margaret Dutton to life. He also expressed excitement about working with both Sheridan and Elliott.

Faith and I get to star alongside Sam Elliott, I mean goodness gracious, for the new Yellowstone prequel 1883, he said in a video he shared on Twitter. Its going to be a fantastic family saga about the original Duttons and their journey to Montana and how they founded the ranch up there. Written by Taylor Sheridan of course . whos just one of the most special writers Ive ever had the pleasure of reading material from. We couldnt be more excited.

Hill called the chance to play a role in 1882 the opportunity of a lifetime.

It is an absolute dream to bring such a strong female character like Margaret Dutton to life, she said in a statement.

Elliott described Sheridan as a brilliant writer.

I think the western genre speaks clearly to both of us, he said. The classic struggles of man against man, man against nature and man against himself. Its all there, in 1883, and Im honored to be a part of it.

Paramount+ has not yet announced a premiere date for 1883. Yellowstone Season 4 will likely premiere in November 2021, according to Deadline.

Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!

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Brandon Goad, center, a physical activities specialist at the Cherokee Nation Male Seminary Recreation Center, oversees an outdoor fitness class on July 23. The rec center is closing Aug. 9 until further notice due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Michael Paul Corder says he cut his teeth praying in public by going around to grocery stores and striking up conversations, asking folks if they wanted to pray. But even in the Bible Belt of East Tennessee, he found people were often hesitant or embarrassed.

Not so, he said, on TikTok.

Corder does a livestream open prayer every day, in which he prays for the hundreds of people who hop into the virtual chatroom without embarrassment. Many of his nearly 165,000 followers who join express feeling relief or calm when he prays for them. Their pain or healing is not something that can be verified, Corder admits, but still, he believes their presence testifies to something missing from their churches.

At those churches, theyre not praying for the sick, or if they are, theyre not seeing results. At mainstream churches, you get more of a philosophical lecture, Corder told Religion News Service.

Sometimes on his livestreams, Corder will pray in tonguesa practice popular among charismatic and Pentecostal Christians who say the unknown language is a gift from the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts 2.

I think words are not the greatest at describing the sensation, Corder said. Its being filled, its being baptized.

Its a little mysterious, he added, saying he speaks in tongues when the Holy Spirit moves him.

Pentecostal or charismatic TikTok is a thriving community of diverse Christians. Its multilingual and multicultural and spans generations. Its hashtags have millions of views. Here, Christians who identify as charismatic, nondenominational, Assemblies of God, or Pentecostal all gather to share encouragement and witness for their on the internet.

Many of the videos on charismatic TikTok are dedicated to prayertalking about prayer, encouraging others in prayer or praying on camera. In the charismatic tradition, this can often include praying in tongues, also known as glossolalia, and the hashtag for speaking in tongues has more than 4 million views.

Heidi Campbell, author of the recent book Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority, says new media has long been a ripe platform for evangelization and religious discussionfrom the printing press to TikTok.

Before the internet became widely available to the public, Campbell described participating in charismatic email-based communities on internet relay chats, forerunners of popular messenger platforms like AOL Instant Messenger.

If you were speaking in tongues, you would just kind of let your fingers go over random keyslike gobbly goop, said Campbell, but that was the symbolism of speaking in tongues.

In nearly 30 years of research on faith practices in the digital world, Campbell believes that Pentecostal theology provides a warrant for enthusiastic embrace of new technology.

Pentecostal theology is all about being led by the Holy Spirit, said Campbell, so the idea of the Holy Spirit moving through the computer or having a spiritual experience through the computer is very acceptable.

But not all believers on charismatic TikTok agree.

Taylor Cuthbertson, 27, has 27,000 followers on TikTok who watch her videos about living as a Pentecostal Christian. For Cuthbertson, there are some things that are a big no on TikTok and one of them is praying.

Im a very private person, she said.

Michael Grattan, pastor of Manhattan Pentecostal Church, believes prayer belongs in public, but hes not sure it belongs on TikTok.

Grattan explains the tradition of speaking in tongues as a sign of Gods spirit dwelling with baptized believers. The apostles were able to speak in many languages, to be understood as they addressed a crowd of people from different nations gathered in Jerusalem.

In a monolingual community, Grattan said, that sort of diversity of language becomes unnecessary, so the often unintelligible prayer language of speaking in tongues becomes a way of expressing the deepest parts of your spirit, Grattan said.

Its perfectly appropriate for a public setting, Grattan said. But he cited Pauls first letter to the Corinthians, which reads, Let everything be done decently and in order. On the internet, Grattan sees disorderliness and chaos.

Grattan does have an account on TikTok. Its a good way to get the pulse of the people, he said. But he doesnt post on it. Hes not sure its the ripest ground for prayer or evangelization, saying he thinks the internets constant stimulation drowns out the message of the gospel.

When you have so many choices, its hard to see the real value and its hard to communicate value, he said, The vistas of knowledge available on the internet are unimaginable. But the flip side of that is that meaning is lost in the midst of it.

TikTok to me is the ultimate noise, Grattan said.

Montana Cooley sees her mission on TikTok as breaking through the noise. I want to spread the love of God, she said.

At the end of 2020, Cooley, 19, said she was in a dark place. And then she started getting more involved again at the Assemblies of God church at which her great-grandfather was a preacher.

I fell back in love, I guess, she said.

She wouldnt show video of herself praying in tongues, however. First, she said, because its not premeditated but rather prompted by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes Ill do it out in public when the spirit comes my way, Cooley said. But mostly because it usually happens in church.

Cooley does however talk about her experiences praying in the spirit to her 15,000 followers because she wants them to know that talking in tongues is a part of the Christian life.

Some people think that talking in tongues is demonic, she said, but its evidence, showing other people that the Holy Spirit is there in your presence.
43K Nigerian Christians killed, 18K disappeared in last 12 years: NGO report

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A Nigerian civil society organization estimates around 43,000 Christians have been killed by Nigerian Islamic radicals in the last 12 years, while 18,500 have permanently disappeared and 17,500 churches have been attacked.

The Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) published a new report this week, estimating that about 10 million people have been uprooted in northern Nigeria, where extremist violence is most severe, from July 2009 to July 2021.

During that time, the report states, about 2,000 Christian schools were attacked.

The atrocities include massacres, killings, mutilations, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers," Intersociety reports.

Intersociety said the mass violence has resulted from the propagation of radical Islamism."

Intersociety is an organization headed by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi and relies on what it deems to be credible media reports, government accounts, reports from international rights groups and eyewitness accounts to compile statistical data.

However, a lack of adequate government record-keeping means that death tolls reported by media outlets or the government are estimates that can often be skewed.

"The total number of direct Christian deaths since 2009 or from July 2009 to July 2021; a period of twelve years, is independently put at no fewer than 43,000," the report reads. "The figure arises from total jihadist killing of not less than 72,000 defenseless citizens."

"The total number of moderate Muslims killed by the Jihadists since same July 2009 is independently put at 29,000," the report continued. "Of the no fewer than 43,000 Christian deaths, 20% or over 8,600 deaths are members of the Church of Brethren in Nigeria or EYN."

The deaths, the report explains, are a result of "systematic and coordinated attacks" carried about by Islamic extremists and their collaborators.

The report comes as international human rights advocates have long voiced concern over the increasing violence in Nigeria.

In the northeast, groups like Islamic State and Boko Haram have attacked civilian communities, killing and abducting thousands. In the farm-rich center of the country, attacks have been carried out against predominantly Christian farming communities by suspected radicalized Fulani herders, many of which are Muslim. However, advocates for the herders claim that youths from the farming communities have also attacked their communities in reprisal attacks.

In another report released in July, Intersociety reported that 3,400 Christians had been killed by extremists since January, which nearly surpasses the number of Christian deaths estimated in Nigeria for all of 2020.

It is deeply saddening that till date those responsible for the anti Christian butcheries in the country have continued to evade justice and remained unchecked, untracked, uninvestigated and untried; leading to impunity and repeat-atrocities, Intersociety said in the July report.

The surviving victims and families of the dead victims are also totally abandoned by the Government of Nigeria.

Critics accuse the Nigerian government of failing to protect civilians adequately from radical attacks and failing to hold perpetrators accountable.

Kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative industry in Nigeria, though the government denies paying ransom to terrorists.

People in Nigerian government and terrorists and jihadists [want] to inflict pain by forcing people to believe what they believe or act the way they want them to act, Hafsat Maina Muhammed, a Nigerian woman and founder of Choice for Peace, Gender and Development, shared during a recent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom panel discussion.

More Christians are killed in Nigeria than anywhere else globally, Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors USA reports.

Nigeria is Africas most populous country and ranks No. 9 on Open Doors 2021 World Watch List for Christian persecution due to an extreme level of Islamic oppression.

The Global Terrorism Index ranks Nigeria as the third country most affected by terrorism in the world and reports over 22,000 people killed by acts of terror from 2001 to 2019.

Nigeria is the first democratic nation to be added to the U.S. State Department's list of "countries of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act.

Human rights activists have warned Nigeria is headed toward Christian "genocide" if global action is not taken quickly.

Frank Wolf, former U.S. congressman, religious freedom advocate and author of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, shared during a June panel discussion how the U.S. and the international community must intervene in Nigeria.

When the world and the U.S. ignored  genocide in Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of people died, Wolf said. History is repeating itself. Because of the atrocities in Rwanda that we had ignored, President Bill Clinton flew to Rwanda and apologized to the Rwandan people near the end of his term.

If what is happening in Nigeria were happening to nearly any country in Europe, the world would be enraged and engaged," Wolf continued. "But in Nigeria, there is no action."

The population split between Christians and Muslims is roughly even in Nigeria. Around half of Nigeria's population identifies as Christian, and there are over an estimated 95 million believers in the country of over 200 million people.

The Nigerian presidency released a statement last year stating that organizations and groups that claim a religious genocide is taking place in Nigeria are receiving funds from separatist groups. However, some activists have refuted that claim.

Intersociety, which is based in an Igbo-dominated area that seceded from Nigeria as part of an independent Biafra in 1967, told CP that it has received support in the form of free professional resource donations, expert advice, technical assistance and individual cash donations or cash sums that are periodically and voluntarily donated by some concerned citizens who are usually less politically exposed persons.

CP was told that Intersociety has never received sponsorship from a foreign body or international grant sponsorships and its advocacy campaigns on the killing of Christians have been done free of charge "without group sponsorship."
Church petitions Supreme Court after denial of ministers' parsonage tax exemption

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Religious liberty legal organizations petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court this week to reverse a Virginia courts decision denying a parsonage exemption to unordained college ministers based on the citys interpretation of Presbyterian doctrine.

The City of Fredericksburg denied a tax exemption for New Life in Christ Churchs parsonage housing for its college ministers, a married couple who serve students at the University of Mary Washington through hosting Bible studies and worship.

Parsonages are homes provided by a church for pastors or ministers. They are subject to the church's tax exemption status.

City officials deemed, however, that the couple does not quality as ministers even though they act in the capacity of ministers since they are not officially ordained, based on the citys interpretation of the Presbyterian Book of Church Order.

The University of Mary Washington is a public university located about an hour's drive outside of Washington, D.C. and has around 4,400 undergraduate students.

Religious liberty legal firms First Liberty Institute, Christian Legal Society and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLC filed the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday on behalf of New Life in Christ Church. The petition comes after the Virginia Supreme Court refused to review the citys decision to deny the tax exemption for the parsonage.

Attorneys for New Life in Christ Church argue that the Supreme Court should review the judgment of the city's circuit court, calling the court's ruling in favor of the city an erroneous application of federal law.

For over 150 years, the Court has confirmed that civil authorities may not second-guess religious organizations on questions of discipline, or of faith, or ecclesiastical rule, custom, or law, the petition reads.

It is a foundational premise of our constitutional system that religious organizations enjoy power to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine."

Jeremy Dys, special counsel for litigation and communications at First Liberty Institute, told The Christian Post in an interview that the New Life in Christ Church is being denied the freedoms that come with being a church.

On top of that, and I think this should scare most Americans even more, you have a city and a court unilaterally deciding on their own, evaluating religious doctrine and coming to the conclusion that these are in fact not ministers according to the Presbyterian tradition, Dys said.

Well, thats just ludicrous that you would have government officials examine whether or not a church is following their own doctrine or questioning whether or not this church will call ministers."

Dys reiterated that state and elected officials should not determine what constitutes a minister since this infringes on the constitutional rights of a religious institution to decide.

The state of Virginia and its elected officials have no business determining who is and who is not a minister for religious reasons, Dys said. If they can say these college ministers are not necessarily ministerial, then what is the limiting principle from saying any minister or rabbi or iman or other religious leader merits the protections that are offered to ministers or religious leaders in this country?

Thats the type of independence [in the] Constitution ... that the religious ministries get to determine who are their religious leaders who will teach their doctrine, he continued.

Dys said the churches should ultimately decide what constitutes a minister, not elected officials.

Government officials have no right to substitute their theology for that of the church, Kelly Shackelford, CEO and chief counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in a statement.

New Life in Christ Church considers its college campus ministers actions to be essential functions of the ministry of the church, and the city should abide by that decision."

Shackelford said the citys interpretation of church doctrine on what constitutes a minister requires the government to unnecessarily violate the Constitution's First Amendment by delving into issues of faith and doctrine.

Kim Colby, director of the Christian Legal Societys Center for Law and Religious Freedom, said in the petition that New Life in Christ Church simply seeks the respect that the Constitution guarantees.

In the Supreme Court appeal, the lawyers argued that the nation's high court has long "recognized" that "the Religion Clauses protect the right of churches and other religious institutions to decide matters of faith and doctrine without government intrusion.

They cited the 2020 Supreme Court case of Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. Morrissey-Berru, where the court held 7-2 that a ministerial exception prevents civil courts from adjudicating discrimination claims brought by former employees against the religious schools.

The appeal also cites the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. v. Mary Elizabeth

Blue Hull Meml Presbyterian Church, a 1969 ruling stating that civil courts can't interpret church doctrine to decide church property disputes.

"While 'there are neutral principles of law, developed for use in all [civil] disputes, which can be applied without' running afoul of the Religion Clauses, 'First Amendment values are plainly jeopardized when church [civil] litigation is made to turn on the resolution by civil courts of controversies over religious doctrine and practice,'" the petition states.
Indiana law requiring clinics to report abortion complications upheld by 7th Circuit

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Pro-life groups and conservative politicians are cheering after a federal court of appeals upholding part of an Indiana law requiring abortion facilities to report any complications from abortions taking place at their clinics to the state.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago, ruled in favor of the state of Indiana Monday, rejecting Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentuckys argument that the Complications Statute of Senate Enrolled Act No. 340, signed into law in 2018, was unconstitutionally vague.

Judge Amy St. Eve, appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, crafted the majority opinion while a Democrat-appointed judge authored a dissent. Indianas pro-life community quickly rejoiced.

Were thrilled to see the Seventh Circuit rule in favor of this common-sense abortion Complications Statute and against abortion-rights extremists, said Indiana Right to Life President Mike Fletcher in a statement. Abortionists and hospitals should have to report complications related to abortion, as women have a right to know the serious harm an abortion could do to them, both physically and mentally.

Indianas Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita said on Twitter that decision is a huge win for the safety of women. According to Rokita, Complications from abortion have been notoriously difficult to track, resulting in a skewed understanding of the danger abortion poses to women.

After characterizing the enforcement of this reporting law as a big step in the direction of collecting accurate data on the harms abortion causes, he vowed to continue to fight tirelessly for the rights of the unborn.

This decision by the Seventh Circuit is a huge win for the safety of women. Complications from abortion have been notoriously difficult to track, resulting in a skewed understanding of the danger abortion poses to women. https://t.co/FPLPNDUo4Q  Todd Rokita (@AGToddRokita) August 5, 2021

Following Mondays decision, the case will head back to the district court level, where a judge will address other concerns about the law that the three-judge appellate court panel did not weigh.

The local affiliate of Planned Parenthood first filed a lawsuit against the law in 2018, about a month after it was signed by Indianas Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb. The abortion provider took issue with both the complications statute and the inspection statute of the law.

The complications statute mandated that physicians report any adverse physical or psychological condition arising from the induction or performance of an abortion." The inspection statute required abortion facilities to submit to annual inspections conducted by the state.

A lower court judge rejected Planned Parenthoods request to nullify the inspection statute but agreed with the organization that the complications statute was unconstitutionally vague.

The complications statute outlined a list of adverse events that necessitated reporting, including uterine perforation, infection, cardiac arrest, renal failure, coma, an allergic reaction to abortion-inducing drugs and death. Failure to report adverse events constituted a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and $1,000 in fines.

Initially, the list of adverse events was painted as illustrative, meaning it did not include a list of every possible complication that could constitute an adverse effect. However, in 2019, the statute was revised so that the list of adverse events became exhaustive, meaning that only the complications highlighted on the list would qualify as adverse events.

While Mondays ruling reversed the lower court decision finding the complications statute unconstitutionally vague, it left some of Planned Parenthoods other complaints about the law for the lower court to decide. Specifically, the abortion provider alleged that the Complications Statute is both irrational and violates due process.

Noting that the lower court did not take up those arguments after finding that the Statute was unconstitutionally vague, the appeals court judges took no position on those arguments and remanded them to the district court.

Mondays decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, billed as a significant opportunity to chip away at the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. That case centers around Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, and a decision is expected next spring.
Pastor warns Church is being 'lulled to sleep,' must replace destructive patterns with 'good habits'

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Pastor Steve Poe believes that the destructive patterns currently visible in the Church  from pastors falling due to sexual impropriety to a widespread lack of discipleship  are the result of bad habits. Thus, for the Body of Christ to thrive, it must identify and break free from these patterns and replace them with God-honoring habits.

The Church has been lulled to sleep, Poe told The Christian Post. Probably at the fault of the clergy, weve been hearing a feel-good gospel. Everyone has become apathetic and indifferent, and we dont want to do the work it takes to take on the nature of Christ.

He added: As pastors, weve got to be willing to call people out and say, Look, if youre serious about wanting the life Christ has for you, youve got to do the work. Youve got to take these bad habits and replace them with good ones. Its a discipleship issue that the Church must address.

For over three decades, Poe has pastored large, growing churches and counseled hundreds of people. Today, he serves as the lead pastor of Northview Church in central Indiana. Under his leadership, the church has grown in attendance from 500 to over 11,000.

Over the years, Poe began noticing a trend in the Church: Peoples poor choices frequently turned into bad habits that eventually caused collateral damage in their personal, social and spiritual lives.

When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, it breaks sins hold on you. It gives us the power to say no to sin, he explained. But oftentimes, years after embracing Christianity, I would hear Christians coming back and saying, I don't get it. I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, and yet I still feel stuck. The reason they're stuck is that they have these habits that they've developed over several years and they can't just walk away from them.

In his latest book,Creatures of Habit: Breaking the Habits Holding You Back from God's Best, Poe helps Christians identify and break free from unhealthy patterns and find the life-giving freedom only Christ can offer.

We underestimate the power of habits in our life, Poe said. Habits have a bigger impact on people's spiritual life than just about anything we could talk about, especially when it comes to discipleship.

In his book, the pastor identifies several common bad habits  from anger and lust to cynicism and pride  and how to break them. It begins with owning a habit before making it invisible, he said.

If you struggle with anger, youve got to figure out what is making you angry all the time and then make it invisible. What is at the root of your anger?"

He added: "Another thing we can do is find the right community. If there are people that are always complaining, and youre trying to break the habit of complaining, you need to step away from that community.

In his book, Poe outlines tangible steps readers can take to break bad habits, such as calming down before reacting and taking a walk. He also shares mental and emotional tools, like how to let go of anger correctly, practicing forgiveness, giving anger an expiration date, and finally, the importance of relying on Gods help for true freedom.

A lot of the things that we consider emotions are really habits, like pride, for example, he posited. You think of pride as a character trait  and it is  but it really doesn't become a problem until pride becomes a habit and defines the way we respond to people. Everything we say is out of pride and arrogance. In the same way, if I begin to respond to people with humility, that can also become a habit.

We can't break any of these bad habits in our life on our own. We need God's help to break these habits, he stressed. You didn't develop these habits overnight, and you're not going to get rid of them overnight.

Nearly half of everything a person does during the day is a habit, according to research by Duke University scientists. And theres a reason the New Testament is full of Scripture passages that deal with the topic of habits, Poe said, citing Romans 12:2, which speaks of renewing your mind.

The pastor clarified that emotions like anger, for example, are not inherently negative  in fact, even Jesus exhibited righteous indignation.

Its when you create a habit out of it that it becomes a problem. In other words, it becomes the way you respond to almost everything, he explained. It's not like I need to totally get complaining out of my life. I just need to break the habit of it in my life. The habit is what brings us down.

As a pastor, Poe said hes concerned by the negative patterns spurred by COVID-19, specifically citing the decline in church attendance.

People have just gotten in the habit of watching church online, and so they're not returning to church, he said. And yet, Hebrews warns us against creating the bad habit of not coming together in fellowship. Its dangerous to our spiritual walk."

Church leaders and pastors who exhibit moral failures, Poe added, have failed to develop spiritual disciplines and instead lean into negative habits like pride and lust.

When we do that, we open the door for the enemy to have his way in our life and we open the door for so much sin, he cautioned. When we take on the nature of Christ, it becomes second nature to us. Then, theres not even an opportunity for sin to enter in.

The pastor challenged Christians to ask themselves: Is this habit going to help form me into the image of Christ? Or is this habit going to destroy my image in Christ?

I don't think we can underestimate the power of habits, he emphasized. Our habits become a part of who we are and our identity. Were supposed to emulate Christ and grow in the fullness of Christ. We want good habits in our life, and those are basically spiritual disciplines that help us grow.

Bad habits destroy our Christ-like identity and take us away from Christs image, he added. Those can become spiritual strongholds and idolatry in our lives. They are tombstones that keep us from God's best in our life.
Supreme Court shown 4D ultrasound images, urged to uphold Mississippi 15-week abortion ban

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A nonprofit organization has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court featuring ultrasound imagery over time to demonstrate how scientific advancements justify overturning the long-standing precedent in American abortion jurisprudence.

As the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear a major challenge to Roe v. Wade, a lawyer writing on behalf of the Catholic Association Foundation and three medical doctors filed the brief in support of the state of Mississippi in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization last month.

In this case, billed by pro-life advocates as a landmark opportunity to chip away at the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the state of Mississippi is asking the justices to reverse a lower court decision finding that its 15-week abortion ban is unconstitutional.

The Catholic Association Foundation was granted special permission from the Supreme Court to include ultrasound imagery as part of its amicus brief, according to information obtained by The Christian Post.

The brief noted that when striking down Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks gestation, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals cited the 1992 Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which determined that [n]o state interest is constitutionally adequate to ban abortions before viability.

The term viability refers to a fetus ability to survive outside the womb. In 1973, when Roe was decided, 28 weeks was seen as the point of viability. By 1992, the term viable applied to babies born at 23 or 24 weeks gestation.

Roe and Caseys viability standard is incomplete and outdated according to current science, the brief declared.

The counsel for the amici explained that babies born at 21 weeks gestation are now capable of surviving outside the womb.

Additionally, the brief lamented that the human form of the child, regardless of its viability, is unaccounted for by Casey. It pointed to ultrasound technology as a source of a clear window into the womb to witness the humanity of the unborn child.

The brief included ultrasound images from the 1970s and the 1980s and modern ultrasound images incorporating the use of three-dimensional and four-dimensional technology.

Sonograms in the 1970s were rudimentary, the document argued.

While sonograms in the late 1980s were still blurry and indefinite, the technology has since improved substantially. A caption accompanying one set of modern ultrasound images detailed how 3D and 4D images, surface rendered, reveal the human face of the fetus: plump cheeks, delicately formed lips, and tiny noses.

In 4D renderings, we can observe movement. The baby can be seen yawning, sucking her thumb, and kicking," the brief continued. "4D technology also shows fleeting expressions: the grimace of a cry, a frown wrinkling the forehead, a curve of the lips into a smile. The babys mouth opens, and we can even see the tongue moving. These detailed images have opened a window into the womb, allowing us to witness the human form of the child."

The brief contends that unborn babies at 15 weeks gestation look unmistakably human, and the state has an interest in protecting them.

"At 15 weeks gestation, all major organs are formed and functioning, including the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and brain, the brief reads.

Although the child receives nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord, the digestive, urinary, and respiratory systems are practicing for extra-uterine life. At 15 weeks, the fetus swallows and urinates; she even breathes, filling her lungs with amniotic fluid and expelling it. The cardiovascular system is fully formed. Not only is the babys heartbeat detectable, as it has been for nine weeks, but the four chambers of the fetal heart are visible."

In addition to highlighting a clear fetal profile consisting of a gently sloping nose ... distinct upper and lower lips and chin, one ultrasound image featured in the brief is credited with making external genitalia visible. This enables sonographers to inform families whether their baby is a son or daughter. Although ultrasound images account for most of the pictures in the brief, the document also includes photographs of fetal surgeries to emphasize that modern medicine now views the fetus as a patient in her own right.

The brief concluded that the Court should relinquish its role as nationwide abortion regulator and return the job to the States and elected officials where it belongs. The court is expected to hear oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization in its upcoming October term. A decision is expected by next spring.
NY archdiocese says priests cant grant religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccine

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The leadership of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has issued a memorandum saying that priests cannot grant religious exemptions to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

In a memorandum dated July 30 and recently circulated on social media, Archdiocese Chancellor John P. Cahill informed all clergy and staff that there was no basis for a priest to issue a religious exemption to the vaccine.

Pope Francis has made it very clear that it is morally acceptable to take any of the vaccines and said we have the moral responsibility to get vaccinated, read the memo, in part.

By doing so [a priest] is acting in contradiction to the directives of the Pope and is participating in an act that could have serious consequences to others.

Cahill wrote with concern about the possibility of a hypothetical student receiving a religious exemption, only to contract the coronavirus and then spread it to others at a school.

Clearly this would be an embarrassment to the archdiocese, continued the memo. Some even argue that it might impose personal liability on the priest.

The memo concluded that while a person is free to exercise discretion on getting the vaccine based on his or her own beliefs, the archdioceses clergy should not be active participants to such actions.

There has been some controversy over the COVID-19 vaccines in some Catholic and pro-life circles due to the research being tied to the practice of abortion.

For example, the AstraZeneca vaccine was partly developed via growing a modified virus in cells taken from embryonic kidney tissue derived from an abortion performed decades ago.

However, researchers tied to the AstraZeneca vaccine have stressed that the aborted tissue was only used for testing it and was not part of the vaccine itself.

Also, the Moderna vaccine was developed from the HEK-293T cell line, which was indirectly derived from aborted fetal cells taken from a baby aborted in the Netherlands in the 1970s.

Last December, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church issued a statement expressing support for the COVID-19 vaccine despite its research history.

It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process, stated the CDF, as reported by Vatican News.

The CDF clarified that the morally licit use of these types of vaccines, in the particular conditions that make it so, does not in itself constitute a legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion, and necessarily assumes the opposition to this practice by those who make use of these vaccines.

In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed, the statement continued.
Evangelicals voice support after Biden nominates first Muslim to top religious freedom post

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The public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention and an evangelical leader have expressed their support for President Joe Bidens nomination to fill the State Department's top international religious freedom post.

Last week, the White House announced the nomination of diplomat and former law professor Rashad Hussain to serve as the next ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a post previously held by former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. Hussain is the first Muslim ever to be nominated for the position since it was created in 1998 by the International Religious Freedom Act.

Hussain, 41, presently serves as director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council. He served in the Obama administration as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the U.S. Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications.

Brent Leatherwood, vice president of external affairs and chief of Staff for SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said in a statement that he has long called for America to be a bold voice for liberty against these oppressive regimes.

Similarly, naming a U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom helps us to consistently use that voice, stated Leatherwood, as reported by Baptist Press on Tuesday.

We appreciate the Biden administration prioritizing this appointment, and we stand ready to work with Mr. Hussain upon his confirmation to advance the fundamental human right of religious freedom internationally.

Biden also nominated people to fill other critical human rights posts.

Deborah Lipstadt, a scholar of the Holocaust, was nominated to serve as the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. Meanwhile, Khizr Khan, a lawyer and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Project, was nominated to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Sharon Kleinbaum, a lesbian rabbi of the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) in New York City, was nominated as a commissioner for USCIRF, a bipartisan, congressionally mandated panel tasked with advising the federal government on religious freedom issues.

Johnnie Moore, the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders who informally engaged with the Trump White House, praised the nominations. Moore is a former USCIRF commissioner.

"I congratulate President Biden's appointees and I'll look forward to collaborating with each of them in order to advance the freedom of religion and belief around the world," Moore said in a statement.

"There will, as always, be divergent points of view on certain ideas, policies and strategies, but international religious freedom continues to be  and must remain  almost entirely bipartisan."

"In fact, it must be nonpartisan," he added. "I intend on doing my part to keep it so and beginning with continuing to build a diverse, great wall of collaboration to confront the unconscionable, genocidal efforts undertaken by the Communist Party of China to crush religious freedom within China while exporting similar tactics and ideas abroad."

Biden's nomination of Hussain also received praise from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Kingdom-based persecution watchdog group.

"The announcement is an encouraging indicator of the importance the Biden administration places on the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief," CSW Chief Executive Kori Porter said in a statement. "We hope that Mr. Hussain will build on the excellent work of his predecessors, and look forward to working closely with him in pursuit of the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief around the world.

Michael Wear, a strategist who advised former President Barack Obama on how to engage evangelical voters, called Hussain a "wonderful pick."

"Perennial complaint from IRF community that administrations delay making an appointment to this position, and so it's [important] Biden Admin receives credit for relatively speedy action here," Wear argued on Twitter. "I mean, they just announced Amb. to the EU, and the IRF announcement comes just days after."

Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., that a nominee for the ambassador-at-large position was forthcoming.

The position had been vacant since Biden took office. Brownback, who left his job as sitting Kansas governor to assume the ambassador-at-large position in 2018 and is credited with elevating the prestige of ambassador role, previously told CP that he wasn't asked to stay on when the Biden administration took office.

Under Ambassador Brownback, the IRF movement took a more prominent place in U.S. foreign policy than ever before, Ben Harbaugh, who formerly worked on international religious freedom for the State Department, wrote in a recent piece published by ERLC.

The IRF office held the inaugural 2019 Ministerial to Advance International Religious Freedom  the largest civil society event ever held by the state department  created an IRF alliance with 32 other countries, and played a pivotal role in declaring Chinas persecution of the Uyghur Muslims as a genocide in the final days of the Trump administration.

The ERLC has been critical of past actions by the Biden administration on the issue of religious freedom, releasing a statement in March denouncing the presidents decision to remove the general counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Sharon Gustafson was appointed to the general counsel position by former President Donald Trump in 2018 and refused to resign and was fired instead.

Bidens decision to fire Gustafson may have significant implications for religious liberty protections, which would be deeply concerning for Christians, stated the ERLC in response.

 this action violates the EEOCs autonomy and may portend further hostility toward Americans who dissent from the radical sexual orthodoxy of the progressive movement. The effort to replace Gustafson sends troubling signs about the future on these issues.
Google Play will remove sugar dating apps fostering prostitution and sex trafficking

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Google Play will no longer carry sugar dating apps widely known for promoting compensated sexual acts that have led to many cases of sex trafficking and sexual assault among young women and underage girls.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) had been pressuring Google for over a year to change its Google Play app store policies by removing exploitative sugar dating apps like SeekingArrangement. The app was listed is on NCOSEs 2021 Dirty Dozen List  an annual campaign list calling out 12 mainstream entities for facilitating or profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation.

Starting on Sept. 1, the app will no longer be carried on Google Play.

As a platform we are always excited to support our developer partners, but we also work hard to provide a safe experience for users, a Google spokesperson said in a statement shared with news outlets. We have updated our inappropriate content policy to prohibit apps that facilitate sexual acts in exchange for compensation following feedback we received from NGOs, governments, and other user advocacy groups concerned with user safety. This aligns our policies with other Google policies and industry norms.

Lina Nealon, the director of corporate and strategic initiatives for NCOSE, warns that sugar dating is a form of prostitution and that more businesses today are capitalizing on demand for wealthy daddies for younger, financially insecure women called babies.

Using sex as a weapon for profit is the most egregious form of abuse to humankind, Nealon told The Christian Post. Social media tries to normalize the sexual exploitation industry by making it seem like women and girls will be empowered and in control of what they choose to do sexually. However, Google Plays decision to end these apps shines a light on how wrong this is by sending a cultural message.

NCOSE, a leading activist group that seeks to expose links between forms for sexual abuse and exploitation, reports that SeekingArrangement is the largest hub of sugar dating in which survivors of prostitution make clear is part of the commercial sex industry. They contend that sexual favors are expected in return for gifts and valuable benefits.

Nealon said that SeekingArrangment markets the babies as college students, aspiring actors or actresses, single parents, or someone just starting out."

The activist group claims SeekingArrangement most aggressively targets college students struggling with student debt through advertisements and free premium accounts.

With over 20 million users, Nealon said that there are four babies for every one daddy on the app. She warned that creates a power dynamic because the babies have to compete to get "daddied.

According to Nealon, sugaring or prostitution happens too frequently on the apps, and it's too difficult to tell how many people are being affected globally.

In many cases, she said, women and underaged girls are manipulated, coerced and forced into sexual acts. She said many women and girls initially thought the app was an opportunity to innocently make money and decrease debt.

But some of the women, Nealon said, know they will be exposed to prostitution when they begin using the apps.

Nealon said these young women who choose to use the apps for prostitution often think its not a big deal to use the apps and sell sex.

Nealon said she has heard from multiple survivors that becoming involved in prostitution frequently results in rape, sex trafficking, control and forceful manipulation from the daddies.

She added the women often fear for their lives if they dont comply with what the daddies" tell them to do.

Many young women dont realize the reality of being sold into the sex industry, and the media sells sex as power by sending messages that selling sex will bring you power and financial stability and control, Nealon told CP. These young women, particularly, college students are risking the chance of economic dependence and sex trafficking. They hear that using the apps is going to be empowering and they will be in control of the sex. But they dont understand the full ramifications of the emotional, psychological and physical trauma and harm caused by selling themselves.

In the aftermath of several cases with women who used sugar dating apps for prostituition, Nealon said, most often, those who survive frequently struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder that is no different from the post-traumatic stress disorder that combat war veterans have experienced.

These women are traditionally financially vulnerable individuals who see a promise of economic freedom and if you look at the power dynamic, its not a relationship on their own terms, Nealon said. My hope is that no mainstream entity would support sexual exploitation, porn and prostitution and that these egregious acts would cease to exist and everyones dignity would be recognized as valuable. I hope that corporations recognize the power they have and make moves to put an end to this.

By no longer providing sugar dating sites with a platform, Nealon believes Google is curbing the harmful effects of sugaring directly and also sending a strong message to counter the cultural normalization of these exploitative practices.

Google Play has rightfully recognized the bitter truth about sugar dating, Nealon said in a statement. We are grateful to Google for hearing our concerns and commend them for making a principled move to no longer enable this form of exploitation.
Court orders Save James boy to stay with mother who says hes a girl, gives father limited visitation

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A court in Texas has ruled that a boy at the center of a custody battle will temporarily live with his mother, who wants to have him undergo a gender transition to look more like a girl, while the father, who opposes it, will only be allowed limited visitation.

For the past couple of years, Jeff Younger and his ex-wife, Anne Georgulas  a pediatrician in Coppell, Texas, and non-biological mother of James and his twin brother, Jude  have fought over who has custody over their son, James, whom Georgulas calls Luna and wants to see transitioned into a girl.

In a memorandum ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Mary Brown ruled against Younger, citing his purported unwillingness or inability to follow the order designed to serve the best interests of the children.

The court gave Georgulas various exclusive rights on a temporary basis, including the right to establish the children's primary residence, the right to consent to various medical decisions, the right to determine their education, and a host of other privileges.

Brown did, however, stop short of giving Georgulas the exclusive right to have James undergo experimental trans procedures such as prescribing puberty blockers or hormonal suppression without the consent of the parents or court order.

In addition, the court required that Younger's possession periods shall be continuously supervised by Forensic Counseling Services  at Mr. Younger's sole cost and expense.

The Facebook page Save James denounced the court order, saying in a statement Wednesday that it ruled against the safety and protection of James and Jude.

In October 2019, a Dallas jury ruled 11-1 to not give Younger sole conservatorship of his twin sons, opening to the possibility that James might undergo gender transition at the insistence of Georgulas.

Georgulas filed a court petition requiring Younger to accept James as Luna, with her claiming that James himself has affirmed a preference to identify as female.

When James is with me, he shows no signs of wanting to be a girl when given the choice. Even when in female company, away from me, James rejects a female gender expression, stated Younger in an entry on the Save James website.

During court proceedings, Younger has argued that his son prefers to identify as a boy and reportedly threw out a bunch of dresses that his mother had bought him.

The highly publicized custody battle prompted some Texas state lawmakers to sponsor a bill that would ban the medicalized gender-transitioning of children; however, the measure died when it failed to be scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Judge removed from 7-year-old James Younger case, new judge to be appointed

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The Texas judge who rejected a jury's decision granting conservatorship to a mother intent on medically gender-transitioning her 7-year-old boy into a girl and instead awarded joint conservatorship to both parents has been removed from the case.

A regional administrative judge, a conservative Republican, will soon be appointing a new judge to oversee the ongoing dispute.

In late October, Judge Kim Cooks of the 255th district ruled that parents Jeff Younger and Anne Georgulas would share conservatorship and have equal decision-making regarding the medical and psychological treatment of the boy, and Jude, his twin brother.

Georgulas believes James is a transgender girl and is already socially transitioning him, calling him "Luna," and plans to pursue hormonal interventions like puberty blockers in the next six months to a year.

Two days prior to Cooks' ruling, however, a jury had awarded Georgulas sole conservatorship in an 11-1 decision that elicited a massive public outcry, heightened media scrutiny, an investigation from Governor Greg Abbott, and promises from state lawmakers to outlaw the medical transitioning of minors during the next legislative session.

Georgulas' attorneys filed to have Cooks recused from the case because of a Facebook post the judge shared on her personal page, a Dallas Morning News article about her ruling where she added a statement of her own, neither [the] Governor nor any legislature had any influence on the Courts Decision.

Georgulas' attorneys maintained that by Cooks commenting on the case her impartiality had been compromised, and that "nothing the judge posted was in the best interest of the children in the case or to advance justice, but to simply advance her own political aims," according to The Texan last week.

Logan Odeneal, Jeff Youngers attorney, argued Cooks actions did not meet the statutory requirement for recusal because her comments were made after the final verdict was issued.

An amicus attorney on the case  appointed by the court to be a third party, neutral voice  agreed with Odeneal, and asked for the motion to be scrapped.

Last week, Georgulas' team's request was granted.

Judge Tena Callahan, a retired district court judge, recused Cooks from the case. Thus, Cooks will not hear another motion from Georgulas, that the jurys original decision in her favor, be upheld.

The fate of James Younger now rests in the hands of Ray Wheless, a regional administrative judge who is a conservative Republican from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Wheless will be assigning a new judge to oversee the contested case.

Jeff Younger, the boy's father, has called the administration of puberty-blocking drugs and hormones "chemical castration."

James Younger's parents are both presently forbidden from speaking to the media because of a gag order that was issued in October at the time of the ruling.

Per the terms of the order, Jeff Younger's website, SaveJames, had to be shut down. Yet a Facebook page of the same name and a blog called SJSaveThousands is being run by friends of the family with the goal of rescuing both James and thousands of other children facing medical gender transitioning in similar situations but whose stories are not widely known.
Praise God': Billy Graham's grandson released from hospital after battle with COVID, pneumonia

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A grandson of the late evangelist Billy Graham has been released from the hospital after battling what is reported to be the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Jonathan Lotz, son of Anne Graham Lotz, was admitted to the intensive care unit last month in critical condition as he battled COVID-19 and pneumonia, according to his mother.

In an announcement Sunday evening, Graham Lotz posted to Facebook that her son was discharged from the hospital and home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Praise God! she declared in her update. By Monday morning, the post had around 28,000 "likes" and 25,000 "loves."

God has heard and answered your prayers for my son! she added.

Please, please continue to pray for his swift recovery and restoration to full health with no setbacks or complications. And that I can take good care of him. Blessing upon blessing to each of you who have helped carry him in prayer.

On July 24, Graham Lotz posted to social media that her son was admitted to the hospital in critical condition as he suffered from COVID-19.

Fifty years ago I could hold my son in my arms. Now I have placed him in the arms of Jesus, she stated at the time. I am asking you to please pray for Jonathans swift healing and recovery. For the glory of Gods great name. Thank you.

Last Wednesday, Graham Lotz shared that her son had been moved out of the ICU and was undergoing rehab for COVID-19, giving praise to our prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God!

As she thanked everyone for carrying Jonathan on your knees, the 73-year-old evangelist and author shared lines from a poem that her mother, Jonathans grandmother, Ruth, had told her growing up.

Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee, Trust Him when they strength is small. Trust Him when to simply trust Him is the hardest thing of all. Trust Him He is ever faithful. Trust Him for His will is best," wrote Graham Lotz last week.

"Trust Him for the heart of Jesus is the only place to rest. Trust Him then through tears and sunshine, All thy cares upon Him cast. Till the storms of life are over and the trusting days are past.

Jonathan Lotz continues his grandfathers legacy by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide through Jonathan Lotz Ministries.
New Mexico late-term abortion clinic accused of experimenting on over 500 women without consent: report

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Keisha Atkins died while undergoing a late-term abortion in 2017. During a multi-day abortion procedure at Southwestern Womens Options in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she was heavily drugged for three days before going into respiratory distress and subsequently dying from a septic infection, according to a report.

Documents released by Abortion on Trial detail some of the events that led to Atkins' death, including information about an experiment carried out by abortionists Carmen Landau and Shelley Sella involving 501 women who did not content to participate in the experiment.

The Albuquerque clinic is known for performing late-term abortions up to 32 weeks and later in some cases. Since the clinic is renowned for performing late-term abortions on viable babies in a state that has no limits on abortion, the city is frequently referred to by pro-life activists as the "abortion capital."

According to documents released by Abortion on Trial, an organization that helps post-abortive women who've suffered injuries from the procedure, Landau, Sella and staff of UCSF discussed testing the effectiveness of adding Mifepristone on late-term induction abortions.

Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, blocks the effects of the natural pregnancy hormone progesterone.

In the experiment, some 250 women, all of whom were at least 24 weeks into their pregnancy, including Atkins, were given Mifepristone. Forty-eight of the patients were minors at the time.

During the experiment that was conducted from 2016-2017, the abortionists tested whether " ... Mifepristone would make the induction abortion occur quicker and after a year of 'no perceived benefit,'" they ceased using the drug, documents show.

Some of the women who were part of the experiment suffered such things as Hemorrhage, cervical laceration, retained placenta, and extramural delivery, and at least seven patients were admitted to the hospital, according to the report.

Atkins, who was six months pregnant when she underwent the multiday late-term abortion procedure, was not only part of that experiment, but was also given Oxycodone, Fentanyl and Versed several times over three days. Each day she went back and forth from the clinic to a hotel room where she stayed during the evenings and wasn't monitored by medical staff during those hours.

An induction abortion takes several days and the process begins with the abortionist injecting the babys heart with digoxin, causing cardiac arrest. The abortionist then begins the process of cervical dilation over a period of days, and the woman leaves the clinic to stay off-site and returns days later to deliver the dead baby, according to LiveAction.

On the third day of the procedure, she returned to the clinic and was again prescribed Fentanyl, Versed, and Oxycodone. She reportedly began to suffer from labored breathing and was transported by paramedics to a nearby hospital due to respiratory distress. Atkins died at the hospital from a septic infection.

Fentanyl, one of the medications prescribed to Atkins, is a narcotic painkiller the CDC describes as "50-100 times more powerful than Morphine. It's highly addictive and an overdose can be fatal. Versed is a medication that prevents a patient from having any memory of a traumatic procedure.

Induction abortions are performed in the third trimester of pregnancy when the baby is fully developed and viable. Sometimes women go into labor early and deliver at home or in their hotel rooms.

During a 2019 deposition in the case of Atkins' death, Landau said that during an emergency, the abortion clinic advises patients not to go to the hospital in an emergency, but to contact the abortion clinic staff. She insisted that emergency room doctors are "not the best qualified" to treat patients undergoing an abortion.

Jamie Jeffries, executive director of Abortion On Trial, told CP in an interview that she believes women are often manipulated by abortionists into having a late-term abortion or are coerced to believe that it's the safest medical choice for them.

So ... we see how the women are really heavily manipulated, coerced, made to fear and the results of that is a high profit for the abortionist, Jeffries said.

Even though the women know they are pregnant, they are still being extremely manipulated by the person in power, she continued. The abortionist is the powerful one and the woman is the underdog in the situation and the abortionist really abuses their power over women who are in a position of fear and crisis.

She further contended that abortion providers give women high levels of narcotics and will often lie to patients and tell them abortion is medically necessary for the life of the mother.

So physically, theres a high level of danger in these procedures, but also emotionally and spiritually the wounds that come out of late-term abortion are even greater than that of the early-stage abortion, she said.

These babies are survivable, and they could just as easily have been born alive. ... We have some women that were told by SWO and Dr. Landau and Dr. Boyd that if you dont get this abortion, youre going to die. It broke their heart, and they ultimately decided to save their own life, so they thought, she continued.

Jeffries said the experimentation done on women having abortion procedures is for profit and medical recognition for the provider, which leads to physical, emotional and spiritual wounds for the women.

Atkins sister, Nicole Atkins, also suffered from a botched abortion at SWO that led to cervical lacerations, causing her to require a hysterectomy. Documents indicate that her babys organs, aborted at 17 weeks, were donated for research at the University of New Mexico without her consent, LiveAction reported.

Its really, really damaging for these girls, Jeffries said. Of course a baby dies and thats awful, but these women are also dying. Keisha Atkins died. They experimented on her that week  and she died.

Jeffries said the public doesn't realize how damaging a late-term abortion is since the women still undergo vaginal labor and delivery to a still-born child.

The women really are being emotionally damaged from allowing themselves to make that choice, Jeffries added. The feelings that we hear from them a lot is, 'Why didnt I stop them from convincing me to do that?' It was never, Why did I want that? Why did I choose that? It was, Why didnt I realize what I was letting happen? And so thats an important mentality, I think, for people to understand.

Dr. Christina Francis, chair of the Board of American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told CP in an emailed statement that the abortion industry often places profits over the value of patients lives.

"AAPLOG believes that all women deserve the best available healthcare, and the best possible information about their care, Francis wrote in the statement. Unfortunately, we have repeatedly seen cases of the abortion industry putting its profit and political goals ahead of our patients' lives.

The evidence is clear  abortions always end the life of an innocent preborn human being and they lead to significant health risks for the mother, especially when done in the second and third trimesters, she continued. Using Mifepristone in the second trimester has been associated with a nearly 40% rate of surgical intervention required due to the severe hemorrhage or retained tissue.

Women who need this type of surgical intervention are at a much higher risk of complications such as uterine perforation, cervical lacerations, and preterm births in future pregnancies. Women and their children deserve better than this. They deserve fully informed consent, compassionate support in caring for their children, and to receive the best healthcare possible from qualified physicians."
Ex-Planned Parenthood head claims abortion giant wanted to exploit her miscarriage in new book

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Former Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen claims in a new book that the abortion giant tried to exploit her miscarriage as a public relations stunt, adding that pro-choice critics blasted her public grief for stigmatizing abortion.

Wen, an emergency physician and former Baltimore health commissioner, only served as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund president for eight months from late 2018 into 2019 and cited philosophical differences with the organization after the board voted her out of the top position.

In her new book released last week, Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health, she explains how the nation's largest abortion provider urged her to blame her departure from the organization on her miscarriage that she suffered during the end of her tenure at the organization.

She said her loss from miscarriage was devastating in a way that I couldnt have anticipated, Business Insider reported.

Planned Parenthood reportedly encouraged Wen to use her miscarriage to explain her departure as president of the organization even though the actual reason was her difference in opinion on the organization's future.

"This was offensive and hurtful on so many levels," she wrote.

She detailed the heartbreak of her miscarriage in a Washington Post op-ed published in July 2019.

When the test results confirmed [pregnancy loss], I felt numb, Wen wrote in the article intended to break the silence and shame that often come with pregnancy loss.

Wen, who has two children, said she could not fathom the additional trauma if the news of her miscarriage was made public by those wishing to use it to promote their purpose. She said that her miscarriage made her commitment to womens healthcare even stronger, criticizing state laws that allow investigations into mothers who've miscarried.

"What cruelty would that be, to compound the trauma of my miscarriage with the indignity of a government investigation into my personal medical records?" she wrote in the op-ed.

When she spoke of the heartbreak from her miscarriage openly, Wen claimed Planned Parenthood activists criticized her, arguing that the discussion of the grief of pregnancy loss stigmatized abortion, according to Business Insider.

An estimated one in four women has experienced a miscarriage, and the cause is often unknown. Women often experience grief and emotional lows after losing a baby to a miscarriage.

Wen shared in July 2019 a New York Times op-ed regarding her departure from the organization that she sought to focus more on womens healthcare during her tenure as president. But Planned Parenthood sought a more abortion-centric political mission.

When Planned Parenthoods board finally voted her out of her position, she learned of the news from a New York Times news alert on her phone.

Wen said she attempted to depoliticize Planned Parenthood and turn it from a progressive political entity into a mainstream health care organization." However, she and her team faced opposition from within.

"But the team that I brought in, experts in public health and health policy, faced daily internal opposition from those who saw my goals as mission creep," she wrote. "There was even more criticism as we worked to change the perception that Planned Parenthood was just a progressive political entity and show that it was first and foremost a mainstream health care organization. "

In her farewell message to colleagues, Wen cited "philosophical differences over the best way to protect reproductive health."

While the traditional approach has been through prioritizing advocating for abortion rights, I have long believed that the most effective way to advance reproductive health is to be clear that it is not a political issue but a health care one," she wrote.

Though she said she was passionate about protecting abortion access, she did not see it as a stand-alone issue."

"Ultimately, my departure is not about me or the organization I continue to care deeply about," she wrote. "It goes beyond the movement for reproductive rights to the very ethos of our country. Can we put aside partisan differences to do what is best for the people we serve? Will the conversation continue to be dominated by a vocal minority from both ends of the spectrum, or can there be space for those of us in the middle to come together around shared values?"

Alexis McGill Johnson, a social justice advocate, replaced Wen and now serves as the Planned Parenthood president.

Cassy Fiano-Chesser of the pro-life activist organization Live Action argued Sunday that Planned Parenthood tried to "exploit her miscarriage."

"Planned Parenthood wants Americans to believe it is a health care organization, but as soon as a medical doctor arrived on the scene who wanted to refocus its mission to health care, Planned Parenthood removed her, replacing her with another political organizer focused on abortion," Fiano-Chesser wrote. "Rather than admit its true goal of expanding abortion and its motivation behind firing Wen (she wasnt pro-abortion enough), Planned Parenthood tried to use her tragic miscarriage to hide the truth and silence her."
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Many Indian citizens across all religious and social lines are shocked that Father Stan Swamy died while in police custody in prison. The United Nations, the European Union and a host of other forums have stated that he was arrested under false charges. His death under the most inhumane conditions is a blot against Indian society.

Looking at this tragedy, this much is clear: Father Stan Swamy is a martyr and the Catholic church should proclaim him a saint.

The 84-year-old Jesuit Priest, Stan Swamy, was born in Tamil Nadu on April 26, 1937. For nearly a half century, he struggled for the basic rights of tribal communities, especially in the tribal belt of Jharkhand. Since Indias independence, the abuse of tribal rights in the name of development, big business and government policies has displaced millions of Indias 180 million tribals from their lands and livelihood. Following the example of Jesus, Fr. Swamy took up the struggle for the communitys rights to its land, forest and water.

Many view tribals as Indias original inhabitants. Nations like Canada, the U.S., and Australia struggle with the rights of peoples called first nations. Reports of new discoveries of tribal children buried in Canada horrify us. Yet India and the world have ignored the abuse of tribals rights, even in past centuries under British rule.

A judgment by Indias Supreme Court declared these native Indians as the purest and sincere of Indians, especially compared to those in societys upper sections. Yet, the corporates of the world turn a greedy eye on ancient tribal lands rich in water, forests and minerals, and influence government agencies to encroach on those lands.

Over the decades, violent extremist groups have emerged among the tribals, influenced by Marxist ideology. Even the young have learned to fight and kill police. Yet, armed struggle for rights against a mighty State power was present even during Jesus time when militant Jews rose against Roman power.

Jesus took a non-negotiable stand against violence. Violence was not His answer for the assertion of ones basic rights over State power. Instead, His call to non-violence showed that non-violent movements can change the world. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., prove the power of non-violent protests. Father Swamys name belongs in this non-violent legacy.

Two years ago, violence erupted at the Bhim Koregaon celebration of the victory of Dalits and the British Army over the upper-caste Peshwa rulers. The Indian State of Maharastras government characterized it as Maoist violence.

A thousand miles away, in the state of Jharkhand, the elderly, ailing Fr. Swamy was arrested because of his history with Dalit and tribal rights. This was a man who had committed himself to a life of poverty, chastity, charity and non-violence. He stood with tribals in their peaceful demonstrations, exhibiting boundless compassion for the injustice they faced. To date, the State has not produced any legal evidence demonstrating this saints involvement in any armed insurrection.

The callousness of our authorities, in the worlds largest democratic country, against an ailing man is unconscionable. As Father Swamys health deteriorated in prison, he was unable to hold a glass, and was not even allowed a straw to sip liquid. Although he pleaded for bail on grounds of his health, he was kept in prison throughout the pandemic and contracted COVID-19. In its final stages, the court allowed him to enter a private hospital, where he died of cardiac arrest.

Now, condolence messages are pouring in. Former Supreme Court Justice Lokur holds both the police and judiciary accountable for Swamys death. Hes right to do so. The Indian judiciary, the police and the investigating agencies face a severe moral crisis. They must review and discard the provision of the Unlawful Activities Prevent Act (an Indian anti-terrorism law) which allows imprisonment without trial and bail. Overturning Indias basic judicial right to bail before conviction contravenes its Constitution.

Will Indias Supreme Court review these provisions suo moto and undo some of the moral damage to the judiciary? What will the Vatican do? Will this finally awaken Indian officials as to how delicate our Democracy is with an encroaching China, aligned with Pakistan?

By following his Master, Jesus, Swamy is the latest Church martyr.

The Vatican has been perceived as compromising toward the persecution of Catholics in China and Hong Kong; but they must not be silent about this modern saint who, like Jesus, stood for the rights of the poor and oppressed. Sainthood must not be conferred only on priests and nuns who show piety and compassion, but also on those who speak up for justice and work on behalf of the oppressed.

There is far too much evil left unchecked in our world today. We need more heroes like Fr. Stan Swamy who gave their lives for the oppressed and exploited. May his death cause ten thousand to follow him.
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Freedom of speech is under assault in America. As noted by the New York Post, the repressive "phenomenon of 'cancel culture' promotes the 'canceling' of people, brands, and even shows and movies due to what some consider to be offensive or problematic remarks or ideologies."

Nikki Haley once said, "Our society is built on the values of free speech and mutual respect, but cancel culture rejects both. In place of free speech, it demands conformity. Instead of mutual respect, it tears people down."

In the midst of these domineering developments, tremendous peace and strength continues to flow to those who "hope in the Lord" (Isaiah 40:31) and "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). God places a spiritual kingdom within people who receive the King of Kings as their Lord and Savior (John 1:12).

The Apostle Paul summed up the Christian life this way: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). God's kingdom is all about Jesus Christ reigning supreme in the hearts, minds, and lives of His followers (Colossians 3:12-17). The Messiah declared, "The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). And the Apostle Paul wrote, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

The greatest obstacle to the Kingdom of God flourishing in the hearts of believers is not cancel culture, but rather, our sinful nature. I refer to this nature as the "basement room of our soul."

Paul wrote, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature" (Romans 7:18). Unfortunately, our old nature didn't get the memo about the change in management that occurred on the day we came to faith in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Our old nature fights to hang on to power and control even though it no longer sits on the throne of our heart.

The New Testament identifies a number of danger zones for Christians, such as: Are believers loving and caring for one another, or being selfish, harsh and judgmental? (1 Cor. 16:14; Romans 2:1-4). What thoughts are God's people entertaining on a daily basis? (Colossians 3:1,2; Romans 8:5-8). How are believers using their bodies? (1 Cor. 6:18-20). These issues remain critical for Christians today, and present a much larger threat to spiritual health and effective discipleship than the cancel culture climate in America.

Do you find yourself so fixated on our nation's troubles that you are neglecting to address specific sins in your attitudes and actions? Meditating on God's Word every day is a powerful weapon in this conflict with our sinful nature (Psalm 119:97-112). Scripture is a tremendous chaperone as we seek to steer clear of various land mines. We can get so overwhelmed with cultural dilemmas that we fail to guard our heart from the toxic sludge in the basement of our soul.

Christians do not have to live in the basement by indulging impure thoughts and bad behavior. Instead, believers "have been set free from sin" (Romans 6:18) in order to obey God and enjoy fellowship with the Lord on the upper levels of our soul. The "grace of God that brings salvation ... teaches us to say 'no' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age" (Titus 2:12). In other words, God's grace teaches us to stay upstairs with Christ, rather than to venture down into the realm of dark desires.

The basement of our soul oozes with a spirit of self-importance, which produces this kind of attitude: "I sit on the throne of my heart. I am the lord of my destiny. I am the lord of my thought life. I am the lord of my behavior. I am the lord of my decisions. I am the lord of my body and my sexuality. I have the final say about right and wrong. I am the lord of my life."

Whenever you face the temptation to go to the basement of your soul, just remember: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

In other words, you are free as a Christian to say "no" to any urges to go back down to the basement (Romans 6:22). The Lord has "called you out of darkness into His wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). And "everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness" (2 Timothy 2:19).

The sinful nature celebrates the self. Whereas, Christianity celebrates Christ. And there is not enough room on the throne of your heart for both of them to be your king. You can either live on the upper floors of your soul with Christ as your King, or in the basement with self as your dictator.

The Bible states: "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you" (Romans 7:8-9).

In spite of this ongoing struggle with our sinful nature, God's Kingdom presses on and will exist forever in a place of perfection (John 14:1-4). Imagine living in a place that has no sin, disease, death, demons, corruption, hatred, temptation or pollution of any kind. Imagine a world where no one has a sinful nature.

Thankfully, God's Kingdom is never in jeopardy. After all, did Lucifer's rebellion in Heaven cancel God's eternal plan of redemption? Did Judas' betrayal of Jesus cancel the Savior's path to the cross where He atoned for our sins? Do those who hate Christ cancel God's grace in the lives of believers? Has the persecution of Christians in China canceled the spiritual and numerical growth of God's Kingdom in that country? Of course not.

Satan, Judas, and oppressive government officials are unable to cancel the Kingdom of God in the hearts of those who are saved, redeemed, born again, justified, and forgiven through faith in Christ. God's eternal Kingdom marches forward in the hearts and minds of believers all around the world. It is a victorious march because "the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13).

Cultures in every generation have experienced rampant sin and total separation from God. Our culture in America is no exception. Nevertheless, God has established a glorious Kingdom in the hearts of His people. Rejoice and be glad today if you are in the Kingdom of God! "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). The same cannot be said of any other ruler or king.

And if you find yourself today outside of God's Kingdom looking in, pay close attention to this command from the King of Kings: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17). Likewise, Paul's message in Athens was one of repentance: "God commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

The Savior's executioners were completely unable to prevent Christ's resurrection from the dead. And the oppressive dark forces at work in our world today have absolutely no ability to cancel God's Kingdom. "So do not fear" (Isaiah 41:10). "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10).
Bangladesh church attacked twice by Buddhist radicals after weeks of threats: report

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A small Christian church in southeastern Bangladesh was attacked and destroyed twice amid weeks of threats from radical Buddhists against Christians who refused to re-convert to Buddhism. Many believers in the community are reportedly displaced from their homes.

Local reports say two attacks on the church in the village of Suandrapara in the hilly district of Rangamati came after weeks of threats.

Buddhist radicals reportedly told the Christians they would destroy the church if the church members did not tear it down themselves. The converted believers, however, refused to renounce their faith in Jesus.

The radicals told us to destroy the church, but we will not, Tubel Chakma Poran Adetion, the church's assistant pastor, told Asia News, the official press agency of the Roman Catholic Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.

If we have to sacrifice our lives, we will. They threatened us to return to our old religion, but we will not return. Jesus Christ is our savior. We will die for him.

The pastor told the news outlet that believers at the church were previously Buddhists who met Jesus Christ in 2005.

The Christian residents of Suandrapara built the small brick-and-tin church in January through funding provided by the Bangladesh Bawm Tribal Baptist Church.

The pastor said they gathered and prayed daily despite threats and opposition from the Buddhist majority. The Christians were given a seven-day deadline to stop all church activities and re-convert to Buddhism.

The believers refused to comply.

Buddhist radicals led by Joan Chakma, the leader of the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), a local political group, are accused of attacking the church on July 15. In doing so, the perpetrators broke the church gate, the cross and other parts of the church, Asia News reported.

The Buddhist radicals attacked the church again on July 22, damaging a wall, the door and the tin roof.

The attackers threatened more consequences if the Christians reported the indecent to the media or the police.

Adetion said the church did not report the destruction to the police station for security reasons and the Christians desire to live in peace.

We are a minority and Buddhists can do anything to us. We want peace by talking to them, he told Asia News.

Rev. Leor P. Sarker, general secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship (BBCF), a Protestant church organization in Bangladesh, explained to the press agency how church leaders are worried for the church in Ranfamati.

We are concerned about our members, Sarker was quoted as saying. There are about 50 of them. They live in fear. Most of them are staying away from their homes to protect their life after the attack.

We are praying for the attackers, that they may change their way of thinking and let our people live there in peace, he continued.

Persecuted church watchdog organization Open Doors USA ranks Bangladesh at No. 31 on its 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the greatest persecution.

In Bangladesh, many believers must gather to worship in secret house churches for fear of attack.

Christians primarily face persecution from Islamic extremism, as the majority of the country is Muslim. However, Open Doors warns that Bangladeshi Christians also face persecution from the Buddhist minority.

Christians also faced discrimination from the government during the pandemic when many Christians suffered starvation or severe health issues after being left out of government relief, Open Doors reported.

Bangladeshs population is nearly 170 million, and less than 1% identifies as Christian.

Bangladesh also has the eighth-largest population in the world and is one of the most densely populated countries.

Bangladesh is also home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The country struggles to care for them despite help from the international community.
Chinese communist officials forcibly remove crosses from Christian fishermens boats

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Communist officials in Chinas Zhejiang province forcibly removed crosses and other Christian symbols from Christians' fishing boats and threatened to cancel their fishing permits, according to a report.

Officials from Qushan County, an island, did not show any legal documents when they forced Christian fishermen to remove crosses and Emmanuel slogans painted on their boats last Wednesday, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog China Aid reported.

The officials, who appeared to target only Christians, and not individuals from other beliefs, threatened the fishermen that if they refused to allow them to remove the Christian symbols, they would not grant them fishing permits and nor would they allow them to purchase gasoline or drive their boats.

The government is completely unreasonable, a fisherman wrote online, according to China Aid. Fishing boats are our personal property. We have the right to put crosses on our boats. Religious freedom is written in the Constitution. However, it is just empty talk. The government never enforces the Constitution.

Another fisherman wrote: The county government is destroying personal property when they forcibly remove crosses, isnt it? Why do they only remove crosses, but not signs and slogans from other religions? Why do crosses bother them? If they dont like a cross, why cant they simply regard it as the logo of The Red Cross?

About a third of the 70,000 residents in Qushan island are Christians. People in Qushan first heard the Gospel more than 100 years ago and Christianity is a vital part of the life and culture there, according to China Aid.

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, estimates that there are about 97 million Christians in China, a large percentage of whom worship in what China considers to be illegal and unregistered underground house churches.

According to recently-released reports, religious persecution in China intensified in 2020, with thousands of Christians affected by church closures and other human rights abuses.

Under the direction of President Xi Jinping, CCP officials are enforcing strict controls on religion, according to a report released in March by China Aid.

Christians in both official, state-run churches and house churches were ordered to fly the Chinese flag and sing patriotic songs in services.

Authorities in China are also cracking down on Christianity by removing Bible apps and Christian WeChat public accounts as new highly restrictive administrative measures on religious staff went into effect this year.

Last October, internet censorship targeting Christians in China became so severe that even official government-sanctioned Christian groups started using the Chinese Pinyin initials JD to replace Chinese characters for Christ, China Aid reported at the time.

China is ranked on Open Doors USAs World Watch List as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians.

The U.S. State Department has also labeled China as a country of particular concern for continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
Merit Coffee

Merit Coffee is brewing up some big plans for its future  beginning with a bigger space for its headquarters.

The local roaster has plans to transform 8,446 square feet of space at 2323 Northwest Loop 410 into a headquarters building, according to a recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
DALLAS (AP)  The increasing rates of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Texas are showing steeper jumps than past surges, state health officials said Wednesday as they stressed the need to be fully vaccinated to slow the state's third wave brought on by the delta variant.

In a video conference, Chris Van Deusen, the Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman, said the rolling seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has soared by 92% from last week, while hospitalizations rose by 49% and fatalities grew by 15%.

COVID NEWS: Houston pediatrician: 'What I'm seeing in our hospitals scares me'

The increase was blamed on the highly contagious delta variant, which can even be spread by those fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, said Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the state epidemiologist.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 80% of all new COVID-19 cases involve the delta variant. And our preliminary data suggests that over 75% of COVID-19 cases in Texas are now due to the delta variant," Shuford said.

She added that the rise in new cases is similar to what we've seen in previous waves and might even be steeper. And that really shows how contagious the delta variant is. It's spreading much more rapidly among unvaccinated people than the viruses that we saw last year.

In the face of such grim statistics, Van Deusen said the rolling seven-day average of vaccinations has also climbed about 75% in the past month, from about 44,000 a day on July 4 to about 75,000 per day as of Tuesday.

"It really seems that people are getting the message that this is a serious situation. If they have been putting off getting vaccinated, now's the time to stop. Don't put it off any longer, he said.

However, CDC data show just 44% of the states population was fully vaccinated, meaning both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Breakthrough cases among those who have been fully vaccinated are inevitable, especially among those without strong immune responses, Shuford said. We know that no vaccine is perfect. They never will be."



RELATED: Houston mask mandate might violate Texas governor's order

But those vaccinated people who do get sick with COVID-19 are likely to have a shorter, milder illness. And fully vaccinated people are very well protected from severe illness and death from COVID-19, even from the delta variant, Shuford said.

She also emphasized the importance of following recently updated CDC guidelines on masking and social distancing in indoor public settings, especially children aged 2-12 who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.
Houston-raised flautist and rapper Lizzo took the TED Monterey stage on Tuesday, August 3, along with five other movers and shakers to deliver a talk on twerking. The artist discussed how the act is unique to the Black experience, and how understanding where it came from is critical to prevent cultural erasure and appropriation.

Standing before the TED audience, Lizzo conducted a history lesson by tracing the dance move from a traditional West African dance called mapouka to Blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith to Beyonce in her music video for "Crazy in Love."

Twerking is good for humanity, Lizzo said during her talk.

The Texas artist is known to expertly twerk  sometimes while playing the flute  during stage performances. Currently, the clip is unavailable to stream, however there is a fun teaser on TikTok.

An interview with local musician and Lonesome Rose owner Garrett T. Capps

Garrett T. Capps is an alternative country musician and owner of the beloved Lonesome Rose. Ahead of the release of his new honky-tonk album, we asked the local legend some questions about musical heroes, his work, and San Antonio. Catch his upcoming album, out August 20.

In your latest single, I like Austin but I love San Antone, you list some of the reasons why San Antonio is the superior city. As someone who is from here, why do you think San Antonio is special?

San Antonio has a small-town vibe and I like to think that everybody here is lookin' out for one another. There is a friendly energy in this wonderful "underdog" city. Viva San Antone!

Whats your favorite song about San Antonio that you didnt write?

Los #3 Dinners "Down in SA"

What does being a cowboy mean to you? Do you identify with the title?

I think a cowboy is some guy that rides around on a horse and herds cattle. I am not that guy.



Who are a couple of your musical heroes ( locally and otherwise) ?

Doug Kershaw, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Robert Earl Keen.

Would there be a Garrett T. Capps without a black cowboy hat and round sunglasses?

Yes. The hat and glasses are strictly show biz. It's all about the biz, baby.

What can your fans expect from your upcoming album release as well as your newest music video out this Friday? Where can people listen to you play music?

The album is a rippin' San Antonio honky-tonk album. It wouldnt exist if I didnt have a buncha downtime during the pandemic. I recruited a badass rockabilly band and got a buncha friends involved. Its my best effort at making honky-tonk music. They can listen to me play my music at the Lonesome Rose on Friday, August 20, for the album release party with Kathryn Legendre and Mitch Webb Y Los Swindles. For more tour dates check out my website at garretttcapps.com



This may be controversial, but in your opinion, whats the best country bar in town and why?

The Lonesome Rose. The bar I own in San Antone.

More news in music

JUST ANNOUNCED: 2010s surf-punk band WAVVES is crashing into the Paper Tiger

Catch the beachy band at the St. Mary's Strip establishment on October 9. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m.

THIS WEEK: "The First Lady of Modern Funk" at Friends of Sound

On Thursday, August 5, at 6 p.m tune into listen to the stylings of modern funk icon Moniquea as she grooves and talks shop about the Boogie Funk industry. Listen to the livestream on the Friends of Sound Instagram.
The diffusion of chorioactis geaster, more commonly known as the "Texas star" tends to puzzle scientists. The fungus is entirely unique to Texas, with the exception of the odd sighting around Kyushu, Japan, making it one of the rarest mushrooms in the world.

To the delight of the local mushroom enthusiasts, on June 22, Gov. Greg Abbott finally signed legislation declaring the mushroom as Texas' first official state fungi.

For the regionally minded, the Texas Star mushroom is a bit of local flora that Texans can claim proudly (while tipping their hats toward the Western Pacific Ocean). The Central Texas Mycological Society, who seek to "strengthen fungal understanding" is even working to raise enough money to slap its likeness on a license plate.

I'm not in the business of trend forecasting, but you heard it here first: the Texas Star is shooting toward Texas bluebonnet status. Whether or not ritualistic family photos will ensue near damp mushroom enclaves is too soon to tell.

The fungi approaching fame is appropriately named for its leathery, star-like characteristics, visible only once it blooms. While otherwise absent across the world, the fungi is not entirely uncommon in Texas when the conditions are ripe. If you see a cluster of them pre-bloom, the bunch might cloak itself as the smokey, rolled offerings resting inside of your humidor. This deception has earned it the seductive nickname, "the devil's cigar."

It is said that when the devil's cigar unfurls, it releases a strange hissing noise and hazy cloud of spores.

If you take a mushroom walk through the Austin Nature Center on a damp December day, like Angel Schatz, a member of the Austin-based mycological organization often does, you might find yourself having a fungus run-in.

"It's rare in that its only found in very geographic specific spaces, but in the correct season it can be found fairly easily," Schatz tells MySA.

Angel Schatz

Having a childhood fertilized with experience scavenging for morel mushrooms with her grandad in Mississippi, the Austinite rediscovered a passion for fungi before joining the leadership team at the Central Texas Mycological Society during the pandemic.

"There's so many wonderful things about mushrooms, something for everyone, too," Schatz says, continuing on to discuss the appeal, from the culinary aspect, to the environmental benefits and medicinal properties many mushrooms can possess.

Since 2019, the educational, volunteer-run organization has grown to 400 members across Texas, with some living across state lines. Boasting a variety of online workshops and nature walk opportunities, certain members of the network were also pivotal in organizing toward getting the star mushroom its due.

Throughout the process, one member  who chooses to remain anonymous  documented the progression of the legislation until its victorious end through a Facebook page. In a livestream, you can view the moment the devil's cigar was elevated to its current status, with help from Republican Senator Dr. Donna Campbell. Across the country, only Oregon (Pacific Northern chanterelle) and Minnesota (common morel) have made the motion to designate an official state mushroom. This summer, Texas became the third. It's an exciting journey for the Texas fungi, which was first documented in Austin in 1893.

Like all things worth waiting for, you'll have to catch it at the right time and in the right place if you wish to witness this homegrown jewel in bloom. From a narrow corridor spanning as far south as San Antonio to as far north as the Oklahoma border, you can find the creature colonizing decomposing cedar elm trees. In Japan, the mushroom targets oak trees.

"We don't know if there's something very specific about these two species, or if there's something in the soil that makes it specific to the liking of this mushroom," explains Schatz.

Angel Schatz

The mushroom hobbyist credits the lack of knowledge to shortcomings in funding, and states that one of Central Texas Mycology Society's long term goals is to be able to provide research money to scientists looking to explore the great mushroom mysteries of our day.

Until then, Texans can celebrate the state's new official 'shroom, which Schatz tells me isn't poisonous, but not entirely edible. Instead, mushroom fans might be better satisfied with a portobello-based dinner.
WAD EL HILU, Sudan (AP)  From time to time, a body floating down the river separating Ethiopias troubled Tigray region from Sudan was a silent reminder of a war conducted in the shadows. But in recent days, the corpses became a flow.

Bloated, drained of color from their journey, the bodies were often mutilated: genitals severed, eyes gouged, a missing limb. The Sudanese fishermen who spotted them, and the refugees from Tigray who helped pull them to shore, found many corpses hands bound. Some of them had been shot.

The Associated Press reported dozens of bodies floating down the Tekeze River earlier this week and saw six of the graves on Wednesday, marking the first time any reporters could reach the scene. Doctors who saw the bodies said one was tattooed with a common name in the Tigrinya language and others had the facial markings common among Tigrayans, raising fresh alarm about atrocities in the least-known area of the Tigray war.

They are from Tigray, said Garey Youhanis, a Tigrayan who helped bury several bodies found on Sunday. With a piece of red cord, he demonstrated how their hands were tied behind their backs. He squatted on the rock-strewn shore, crossed himself and prayed.

The deaths are the latest massacre in a nine-month war that has killed thousands of civilians and is now spilling into other regions of Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous country and the anchor of the often-volatile Horn of Africa. Though Tigray forces in June reclaimed much of the region as Ethiopian and allied forces retreated, western Tigray is still controlled by authorities from Ethiopias neighboring Amhara region, who have cleared out many ethnic Tigrayans while saying the land is historically theirs. Witnesses have told the AP of watching mass expulsions.

More than 60,000 Tigrayans fled to Sudan, where thousands remain in makeshift camps a short walk from the river in the hope of hearing news from those who still arrive. Some scrutinized the bodies in the river for clues, and they have asked Sudanese police and the United Nations to exhume them for autopsies.

In the last one week, 43 bodies were buried around this river, the surgeon from the nearby Tigray town of Humera, Tewodros Tefera, told the AP. He and other refugees believe the bodies were dumped into the river at Humera, which has seen some of the worst violence since the war began in November.

Some had amputated limbs and legs, Tewodros said. There was a man which we buried yesterday, his genital area was completely severed. ... So this is the kind of trauma that were seeing of western Tigray.

He told the AP on Friday that two more bodies had been found, the first since the discovery of seven on Tuesday. But he believes an active search along the river could reveal many, many more, perhaps hundreds.

Ethiopias government has accused the rival Tigray forces of dumping the bodies themselves for propaganda purposes. A "fake massacre, the spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, told reporters on Thursday.

But the discovery has increased international pressure on the prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, at a time when his government is already accused by the U.N., the United States and the European Union of besieging Tigray and blocking food and other aid to millions of people. Hundreds of thousands face famine conditions in the worlds worst hunger crisis in a decade.

Ethiopias prime minister in recent days referred to the Tigray forces as weeds and a cancer, bringing a warning from the U.N. special envoy on genocide prevention that such dehumanizing language is of utmost concern. Ethiopias government has said such talk is not meant to describe ordinary Tigrayans.

But the bodies in the river brought new fears of ethnic cleansing, or the forcing of a population from a region through expulsions and other violence.

We are deeply concerned by the latest developments, the U.N. refugee agency in Sudan said on Thursday. It confirmed seeing one of the bodies pulled from the river along with what appear to be several fresh graves. It said it was unable to confirm the identifies of the dead or how they died.

Like other international aid organizations, the U.N. agency said it has no access on the Ethiopian side of the border region. Underlining that absence, the U.N. humanitarian agency on Wednesday tweeted a map showing no foreign aid group active in western Tigray. One that had worked there, the Dutch section of Doctors Without Borders, had its operations suspended by Ethiopia on July 30, accused by the government of spreading misinformation and illegally using satellite radio equipment.

Ethiopias government has alleged that aid groups are arming and supporting the Tigray forces, without evidence.

Those who want corridors for weapons and non-humanitarian goods to be brought into them continue to try to manipulate the realities on the ground in an attempt to convince the world that unfettered access is not happening in Tigray, the prime ministers spokeswoman said. She called the Tigray forces, who dominated Ethiopias repressive government for years but were sidelined when Abiy took office, a terrorist organization that has hijacked the well-being of the people of Tigray.

Phone, internet and banking services remain down across the Tigray region of some 6 million people, and the U.N. says more than 5 million need help now. The Tigray forces, who have pushed into the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions and displaced more than 200,000 people, have said restoring basic services is a precondition to negotiations to end the war.

Tigray forces on Thursday entered the Amhara town of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site for its rock-hewn churches, a resident told the AP. While they entered peacefully, yeah, we're scared, he said, worried about damage to what residents call the new Jerusalem. He estimated thousands of fighters were there and many people are running away. He spoke on condition of anonymity for his safety.

With the Tigray forces pushing south after threatening to go as far as the capital if needed, the U.N. humanitarian chief and the USAID administrator in visits to Ethiopia this week urged a cease-fire and talks. Sudan has offered to play a role in mediation. Sudan also could be a direct aid corridor to Tigray.

But the prime ministers spokeswoman called Ethiopias relationship with Sudan a bit tricky, pointing to a border dispute. That element needs to be thoroughly addressed before Sudan can be entertained as a credible party in negotiations, she said.

For the refugees in Sudan, each body found in the river is a reminder of loved ones trapped in the fighting.

Horrified, refugees in the Sudanese border community of Hamdayet spotted one body that looked familiar. Like most of the Tigrayans killed in the war, it was a young man.

How can I not feel the death of my brother and friend? said one of the Tigrayans who buried him, Awet, who gave only his first name. I'm very sorry."

The dead man's name was Robel, the surgeon Tewodros said. By the waters edge, his fingers tapping his graying temple in anxiety, he checked his phone for news of other bodies found.

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Anna reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  Florida hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and a cafeteria. As of midweek, Mississippi had just six open intensive care beds in the entire state.

Georgia medical centers are turning people away. And in Louisiana, an organ transplant had to be postponed along with other procedures.

We are seeing a surge like weve not seen before in terms of the patients coming, Dr. Marc Napp, chief medical officer for Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida, said Wednesday. Its the sheer number coming in at the same time. There are only so many beds, so many doctors, only so many nurses.

Coronavirus hospitalizations are surging again as the more contagious delta variant rages across the country, forcing medical centers to return to a crisis footing just weeks after many closed their COVID-19 wards and field hospitals and dropped other emergency measures.

The number of people now in the hospital in the U.S. with COVID-19 has almost quadrupled over the past month to nearly 45,000, turning the clock back to early March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's still nowhere close to the nearly 124,000 people who were in the hospital at the very peak of the winter surge in January. But health experts say this wave is perhaps more worrying because it has risen more swiftly than prior ones. Also, a disturbingly large share of patients this time are young adults.

And to the frustration of public health experts and front-line medical workers, the vast majority of those now hospitalized are unvaccinated.

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi alone account for more than 40% of all hospitalizations in the country.

Mississippi has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with less than 35% of its population fully inoculated, and Louisiana and Georgia aren't much better, at around 38%. Florida is closer to the national rate at 49%, but none of the four Southern states comes close to the New England region, where most states are well over 60%.

The variant has sent new U.S. cases surging to 94,000 a day on average, a level not seen since mid-February. Deaths per day have soared 75% in the past two weeks, climbing from an average of 244 to 426. The overall U.S. death toll stands at more than 614,000.

Across Florida, more than 12,500 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, over 2,500 of them in intensive care. The state is averaging nearly 18,000 newly confirmed infections per day, up from fewer than 2,000 a month ago. In all, Florida has recorded more than 39,100 coronavirus deaths.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a hard line against mask rules and other compulsory measures, saying it is important to keep Floridas economy moving.

Florida is a free state, and we will empower our people. We will not allow Joe Biden and his bureaucratic flunkies to come in and commandeer the rights and freedoms of Floridians, DeSantis, who has been exploring a possible bid for president in 2024, said in a fundraising email Wednesday.

The reversal in fortune at some hospitals has been stark.

In central Florida, AdventHealth hospitals had 1,350 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, the most ever. The health care system has postponed non-emergency surgery and limited visitors to concentrate on treating coronavirus patients.

Less than two months ago, Miami's Baptist Hospital had fewer than 20 COVID-19 patients and was closing down coronavirus units. By Monday, hospital officials were reopening some of those units to handle an influx of more than 200 new virus patients.

As fast as we are opening up units, theyre being filled with COVID patients, said Dr. Sergio Segarra, the hospitals chief medical officer.

In Georgia, more than two dozen hospitals said this week that they have had to turn away patients as the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 has risen to 2,600 statewide.

Mississippi reported that its hospitals were overwhelmed with nearly 1,200 COVID-19 patients as of Thursday. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the delta variant is sweeping across Mississippi like a tsunami" with no end in sight.

In Louisiana, with roughly 2,350 coronavirus patients in hospitals, any non-emergency surgery that might require an overnight stay is being delayed at the states largest hospital system. Dr. Robert Hart, chief medical officer at Ochsner Health, said an organ transplant involving a live donor was postponed.

You can imagine the expectations both the recipient and the donor had leading up to the surgery, and then to have to put that off, he said, declining to disclose the type of transplant.

The swift turn of events has been disheartening for health care workers who just weeks ago thought the battle was in its final stages. The crisis is also making it harder for hospitals to provide other crucial types of medical care.

If you dont get vaccinated, you are taking resources from people who have diseases or injuries or illnesses, said Dr. Vincent Shaw, a family physician in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. COVID doesnt call people who have had strokes, who have had heart attacks, who have had other horrific or traumatic things happen and say, Yall take the week off. I am going to take over the ER and the ICU.'

In Florida, Judi Custer said she and her husband did everything they were told to do to ward off the virus. The Fort Lauderdale retirees got vaccinated and wore masks, even when the rules were lifted. Still, they fell ill with COVID-19 a few weeks ago, and 80-year-old Doug Custer was hospitalized for five days.

Judy Custer said she still believes more people need to get vaccinated.

Weve had it long enough to know it is helping people, even if they get sick with it, she said. Youre less likely to be put on a ventilator. Youre less likely to be hospitalized.

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Marcelo reported from Boston. Associated Press reporters Leah Willingham in Jackson, Mississippi; Kevin McGill and Melinda Deslatte in Louisiana; Adriana Gomez Licon and Frieda Frisaro in Miami; and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this story.
BOSTON (AP)  Two professional dancers have filed a lawsuit alleging that the husband of a former principal dancer with the Boston Ballet sexually assaulted young dancers he was instructing, and that his wife aided in the abuse.

Boston Ballets Sage Humphries and another dancer, Gina Menichino, allege in the suit filed in federal court in Nevada that Mitchell Taylor Button and his wife, Dusty Button, used their standing in the dance community to gain the trust of young dancers, then exploit those relationships to coerce sexual acts by means of force and fraud, The Boston Globe reported.

The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual assault unless they publicly identify themselves.

The lawsuit also alleges that Mitchell Button sexually abused at least five students while working as a dance instructor in Florida, one beginning when she was 13. It alleges the abuse started a decade ago.

Dusty Button is not named as a defendant but the suit accuses her of engaging in sexual abuses against Humphries, including holding Humphries down during an assault by her husband.

A lawyer for the Buttons said her clients deny the allegations.

Taylor and Dusty Button categorically deny these baseless claims, and they look forward to the opportunity to disprove all of the plaintiffs allegations through court proceedings, Ken Swartz said in a statement.

An attorney for the dancers said her clients are trying to protect other young dancers.

This is a pair of perpetrators who are highly sophisticated, highly manipulative, and are continuing, which is exactly what my clients were concerned about, Sigrid McCawley said.

The Boston Ballet in a statement said it supported Humphries.

Boston Ballet supports Sage Humphries who is bravely coming forward, sharing her experience to protect others, and seeking accountability and justice, the statement said. The Ballet will continue to do everything in its power to create and promote a safe and supportive culture for its students, dancers, staff, and community.

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This story has been corrected to show that the husband of a former principal dancer with the Boston Ballet, not the dancer, is accused of sexual assault. The dancer is accused of aiding the assault.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP)  A lawyer for a former Nevada inmate accused of killing three members of a suburban Denver family with a hammer nearly 40 years ago told jurors Thursday that police did a shoddy job investigating the murders, leaving key evidence untested for DNA evidence.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Stephen McCrohan said Alex Ewing was not guilty in the killings of Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa in Aurora in January 1984. The Bennetts 3-year-old daughter, Vanessa, was severely injured but survived. Melissa was also sexually assaulted, prosecutors said.

While prosecutors said DNA evidence from the sexual assault found on the carpet and a comforter was linked to Ewing in 2018, some evidence that was likely touched by the perpetrator, including a knife and purse found in the front lawn was never tested for DNA, McCrohan said, Sentinel Colorado reported. At the beginning of the trial, he also pointed out that no DNA evidence was found on the carpet when it was first examined.

Simple is what the government needs you to believe, he said, before jurors began deliberations.

Ewing was identified as the suspect in the killings of the Bennetts as well as the death of another person in suburban Denver about a week before  Patricia Smith, who was also beaten with a hammer and sexually assaulted  after DNA profiles developed from both scenes as the science improved was matched with Ewings in a national database.

Ewing was required to give a DNA sample while in prison under a 2013 Nevada law requiring one from anyone arrested in the state on a felony charge that was applied retroactively to inmates starting in 2016. He was convicted there of attacking a couple with an ax handle in their bedroom in Henderson in August 1984, eight months after the Bennetts and Smith was killed.

In their closing arguments, District Attorney John Kellner and Chief Deputy District Attorney Garrik Storgaard stressed how unlikely it would be for the DNA found not to belong to Ewing.

Citing statistics from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation regarding the sperm found on the comforter, Kellner said the chance of it not belonging to Ewing was one in 13 nonillion  13 followed by 30 zeros.

Prosecutors also stressed the similarities in the killings of the Bennetts and Smith, who was found covered in a blanket in her home in Lakewood.

Everything lines up, Kellner said. And theres a reason for that. Its because hes guilty.
DIXON, Ill. (AP)  A former Dixon comptroller convicted of stealing nearly $54 million from the northern Illinois city has won an early release from federal prison.

Rita Crundwell, 68, was sentenced to serve 19 years and seven months in prison. She had been scheduled to be released Oct. 20, 2029, U.S. Bureau of Prisons said. However, with about eight years left on her 19-year sentence, she was released Wednesday from the Federal Correctional Institute in Pekin to a Chicago halfway house.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Four accused members of the violent MS-13 gang have been indicted in Las Vegas on racketeering conspiracy charges stemming from 10 killings and abductions that police and the FBI identified in 2018, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou issued a statement crediting the filing of multiple charges against Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, David Arturo Perez-Manchame, Joel Vargas-Escobar and Alexander De Jesus Figueroa-Torres with significantly undermining the ability of the El Salvador-based gang to engage in violence in Las Vegas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite called the violence alleged in the case truly shocking.

The statement said crimes occurred from March 2017 to March 2018, attributed one non-fatal shooting in February 2018 to the defendants, and said five slain victims were also kidnapped.

The indictment, filed Wednesday, updated a previous murder-racketeering and weapons case filed against the four men in April 2019, said Trisha Young, the U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman in Las Vegas.

The names the 10 victims in the 55-page indictment match a list that Las Vegas police provided in March 2018, when Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo held a news conference to say 10 slaying cases had been solved with the arrests of four adults and a teenager. The names of the suspects were not made public at that time.

Kidnapping and murder in aid of racketeering are among the 38 counts in the indictment that alleges a conspiracy with ties to Los Angeles and the central California town of Mendota.

It alleges the criminal enterprise was involved in the theft of jewelry, cash, firearms and other valuables from multiple homes; identity theft and fraud; transporting guns and weapons across state lines; and illegal distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine.

Reyes-Castillo, 27, Perez-Manchame, 22, were scheduled for court appearances Tuesday. Vargas-Escobar, 25, and Figueroa-Torres, 25, were sought as fugitives, Young said.

Defense attorneys representing Reyes-Castillo and Perez-Menchame did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. Records did not say Vargas-Escobar and Figueroa-Torres had attorneys.

Across the country, federal authorities have brought multiple racketeering conspiracy charges against MS-13 members in recent years, including the sentencing last month of the last of 23 members of a gang group or clique based in Columbus, Ohio.

Authorities in Tennessee recently announced that nine MS-13 members face charges in a case involving killings, kidnappings, assaults, robberies and drug distribution in and around Nashville. An MS-13 member in Maryland was sentenced July 20 to 30 years in federal prison for his role in the mutilation killing and burning of a 16-year-old boy.

Authorities have also prosecuted MS-13 members for a series of killings on Long Island, New York.

The Las Vegas case identified the four defendants as members of the Parkview clique and said the FBI and Las Vegas police investigated.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the three congressional Republicans suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for not wearing masks during a vote on the U.S. House floor, has contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19, the second member of South Carolina's delegation to do so.

Norman, who has said he has been fully vaccinated since February, tweeted that he began experiencing minor symptoms of COVID-19 on Thursday, tested positive for the virus that day and would quarantine for 10 days.

Representing South Carolina's 5th District since 2017, Norman is part of a federal lawsuit against Pelosi over a mandate earlier this year that members wear masks while on the House floor.

Last week, Norman and U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky sued Pelosi, seeking a determination that their $500 fines  issued because they went maskless during a May vote  are unconstitutional and should be rescinded.

The masking requirement was an attempt to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, medicine, and science, despite a deep divide over these issues of opinion, lawyers for the members wrote, arguing that masks were required in televised areas only" in the chamber.

It has been used to force Plaintiffs and other members of the minority party to be instruments for fostering public adherence to this ideological point of view that Plaintiffs find unacceptable, they added.

The trio had challenged the fines in June, arguing that the mandate was out of sync with recent federal guidance on face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their appeal failed.

The May vote in question happened a week after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance noting that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing.

Even after that updated CDC guidance, Dr. Brian Monahan, Congress attending physician, wrote that mask requirement and other guidelines remain unchanged until all Members and floor staff are fully vaccinated.

The mask requirement was lifted June 11 but has since been revived because of a resurgence of the coronavirus. As cases of the virus increase, the CDC has updated its recommendations to include a return to masking indoors, even for fully vaccinated individuals.

Recent analysis has shown that breakthrough cases of COVID-19, with mild or no symptoms, still remain rare, but Norman is the second South Carolina Republican this week to report one.

On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham told The Associated Press that he was improving after a handful of pretty tough days, suffering he said he was sure would have been worse had he not been vaccinated. He also told AP he has urged former President Donald Trump to speak up and urge his supporters to get the vaccine.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
SEATTLE (AP)  King County has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a young pregnant Muckleshoot mother of three fatally shot by sheriffs deputies.

Renee Davis death, which happened while deputies were supposed to be checking on her well-being in 2016, has been a focal point of public and tribal outrage over police violence and accountability, The Seattle Times reported.

The shooting spawned protests, marches and new legislation, as well as a rare reversal in the Washington Court of Appeals.

The county and Davis family settled the claim last week following mediation.

The Davis family is eternally grateful to the King County community for supporting their quest for truth and justice, Seattle lawyer Gabe Galanda said Wednesday.

Rose Davis, Renees sister, said the tragedy has actually blossomed into an incredible journey, where I have seen and realized a lot of support and sincerity. She said she and Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht, who was involved in the mediation, shared a heartfelt moment, despite the circumstances.

A message from the newspaper seeking comment from the King County Sheriffs Office on Wednesday afternoon wasn't immediate returned.

This is the third seven-figure settlement King County has reached in lawsuits filed over shootings by county deputies in the past two years. In March, the county paid $5 million to the family of Tommy Le, shot by deputies in 2017. In 2020, the county paid the parents of MiChance Dunlap-Gittens $2.25 million over his killing during a misguided King County sting operation.

Renee Davis was in crisis, making suicidal statements to her boyfriend in her home on the Muckleshoot reservation on Oct. 21, 2016, according to court documents. He sought out King County Sheriffs Deputy Nicholas Pritchett, who was parked nearby.

Pritchett called for backup and he and Deputy Timothy Lewis responded to Lewis home.

According to the complaint and evidence produced at a King County coroners inquest, the officers pounded on the door, entered and kicked down the door to Davis bedroom while her children, ages 2 and 3, stood in the hallway. The deputies said Davis pointed a handgun at them while lying in bed, but the lawsuit alleged there was no evidence for that outside of the deputies self-serving statements.

The two officers fired eight rounds, striking Davis three times.

Statements by the deputies and evidence introduced at an inquest said they recovered a handgun, but that it was not loaded. The lawsuit alleges another officer arrived just after the shooting, and he found Pritchett and Lewis standing around while Davis lay bleeding on the floor. The third deputy said he saw a handgun in the womans hand, which contradicted statements by Pritchett that Davis dropped the gun which fell to the floor after the gunfire.

The lawsuit alleges that one of the deputies placed the pistol in Renees hand on the floor before the third officer arrived. The deputies denied moving the gun.

A six-member inquest jury in May found the deputies had reason to fear for their lives, though the panel was divided on whether the deputies showed concern for Davis welfare when they acted.

Ted Buck, a Seattle attorney who represented the two officers, said the decision to settle the lawsuit was made by the county and that his clients would have liked to see the case to go trial.

However, it was the countys decision, and the deputies respect that, Buck said. Both will be dismissed as defendants when the settlement is finalized, he said.

The Davis shooting is one of several used as examples by a group De-Escalate Washington when it submitted signatures for a state initiative, I-940, that changed the states deadly force law as it applied to law enforcement and made significant changes to police training and accountability laws.

It was also the impetus for the passage of a state Senate bill sponsored by Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, that changed a state law that bars people who were engaged in the commission of a felony from filing state personal injury claims. The deputies claimed Davis intended to assault them with the gun when they killed her. The new law, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee in May, requires additional proof for officers to meet that defense.

That issue was at the heart of a decision by a King County Supreme Court judge to dismiss the case, and an initial decision by Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals to uphold that ruling. However, the appeals court reversed itself and reinstated the lawsuit, saying the jury should decide whether Davis actually intended to assault the deputies, given her mental state and the fact that her gun was unloaded.

Were extremely pleased with this outcome, given that this case was on life support just a year ago, said Galanda, the plaintiffs lawyer.
WASHINGTON - In July 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had a particularly derisive dismissal of the impact that four young Democratic rookie lawmakers were having on the institution.

"They're four people and that's how many votes they got," Pelosi told the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd of the liberal "squad," which had just failed to block a compromise border bill.

Two years later, the quartet has found reinforcements, growing in number because of several successful primary victories last year. And now - with Pelosi's majority so narrow that a loss of four votes would sink her legislative agenda - the far-left flank of the Democratic caucus has a chance to flex its muscle much more powerfully, as shown by its victory this week in forcing the Biden administration to extend a moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

This creates a different calculation for Pelosi from what she has had in years past, one that could produce ripple effects across President Joe Biden's agenda in the months ahead. Although most attention has focused on a few centrist Democrats in the Senate, where a single defection could prove fatal to some initiatives, Pelosi's tougher balancing act will involve her caucus's liberal wing - a place she called home when she was just a rank-and-file Democrat.

Her leadership team has never faced the quandaries of past Republican speakers such as John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., both of whom clashed for years with their far-right wing.

The key difference between those two wings - embodied by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on the left and the House Freedom Caucus on the right - is that the GOP group has been willing to use tactics that will hurt government functions and entirely blow up deals that it does not consider perfect. But the Democratic faction has resisted going too far because, deep down, it wants government to function.

In legislative parlance, the Freedom Caucus has always been willing to shoot any political hostage that it took, helping in the past decade to fuel several long government shutdowns and a near default on the U.S. Treasury's debt.

But the Progressive Caucus won't go that far, demonstrating an almost implicit trust in Pelosi's decision-making, even when she had to craft unpopular compromises with the Bush and Trump administrations.

For Pelosi's almost 19 years leading House Democrats, liberals have always known her as the grass-roots activist before she arrived in Congress in 1987, sharing their legislative goals and ambitions even if she sometimes asked them to eat half a loaf of legislative bread.

But this new generation of Democrats has adopted a more aggressive approach to congressional showdowns, epitomized by Rep. Cori Bush's protest of Democratic inaction on the expiration last weekend of the federal eviction moratorium.

Bush, D-Mo., who defeated a 20-year veteran in a primary last summer, set up on the steps of the House for four nights and galvanized other liberals to join her demand for action either in Congress or by Biden.

"Activists are in Congress. So expect things to be different than what maybe people are used to," Bush said at a news conference Tuesday after Biden reversed course and announced his administration would extend the moratorium.

A blueprint for a more productive Senate, or an exception that proves dysfunction and division still rule?

The original decision last week was a classic House maneuver: As the deadline approached, Democrats tried to cobble together support for a bill to extend the deadline, despite knowing that in the Senate, there was nowhere near the 60 votes needed to cut off a filibuster and pass the legislation.

But such a vote would have at least given liberals symbolic cover to say they tried to do something, as they headed home for a summer break that does not have the House back in session until Sept. 20.

That approach fell through as some moderate Democrats declined to support a bill that had no chance of becoming law and would only anger their local real estate industries.

As everyone else headed home, Bush, 40, took over the Capitol steps and drove the message for almost five days, forcing Washington veterans like Biden, 78, and Pelosi, 81, to respond to her actions.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who defeated a 20-year incumbent in a 2018 primary and was the original "squad" leader, joined Bush most days outside the Capitol and turned up the media attention on the issue.

Ocasio-Cortez, 31, spent most of her first year in office clashing with Pelosi over legislative strategy, but the veteran almost always got her way over the newcomer. That's how a compromise border bill played out in June 2019, as Ocasio-Cortez joined fellow Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in loudly opposing Pelosi.

The legislation passed, and, in an interview with Dowd a few days later, Pelosi dismissed the younger quartet as social media stars who did not know how to play the inside game of legislating.

"All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi said then. "But they didn't have any following."

Now these young liberals are considering how far to push their side of the agenda when the House begins to consider the Senate's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a proposed $3.5 trillion budget filled with liberal agenda items.

After Tuesday's valedictory news conference with Bush, Ocasio-Cortez signaled that her camp would consider using such tough tactics again.

"When you have to play hardball, you have to play hardball. And we're not afraid to do that," she told Punchbowl News.

Day-to-day, Biden's agenda looks rocky. But congressional Democrats say things are far rosier if you take the long view.

With three House seats vacant, Pelosi has 220 Democrats in the House vs. 212 Republicans.

If the GOP holds together, that leaves Pelosi just three votes to spare to try to pass these Biden initiatives.

Bush, Ocasio-Cortez and a few others have leverage now that they didn't have two years ago, when Pelosi's caucus had more than 230 members and Donald Trump's presidency was considered such an existential threat to Democrats that they had to stay unified to defeat him in 2020.

But Pelosi has faced these battles before, and almost always come out on top. Back in 2009, leaders of the Progressive Caucus declared that they would not support the Affordable Care Act if it did not include a public health option.

By March 2010, Pelosi had knitted together 219 votes for the ACA - without any defections from the Progressive Caucus.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico will host a new round of talks between Venezuelas government and opposition with Norway mediating, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday.

Without providing more details, Lopez Obrador said Mexico offered to be the site of talks expected to begin Aug. 13 between representatives of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition.

We accept because we are looking for dialogue and agreement between the parties, Lopez Obrador said.

Previous attempts at dialogue in 2019 in Oslo and Barbados failed to bring the sides to agreement.

In 2017 and 2018, representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition held talks in the Dominican Republic that were mediated by the international community, but they were also unsuccessful.

But the U.S. and its allies appeared ready to give the latest talks a chance. Among the delegates at the talks will be Carlos Vecchio. Vecchio is the U.S. representative of Juan Guaido, the opposition leader recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

Guaido wrote in his Twitter account that Venezuela's situation  marked by economic collapse and the coronavirus pandemic  is unsustainable.

We should make efforts so that the negotiation that is about to start reaches an agreement, Venezuela needs it, he wrote. The goal of the talks is free and fair elections and guarantees for everyone.

A State Department spokesman, speaking on background, said creating the necessary conditions to enable free and fair elections to take place in Venezuela requires Maduro regime representatives to engage in sincere discussions with the opposition, led by interim President Juan Guaido, that result in a comprehensive negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis."

These negotiations, which must be led by the Venezuelans themselves, should include participation from all Venezuelan stakeholders, allow for the unconditional release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, be time-bound, and permit Venezuelans to express themselves politically through free and fair local, parliamentary, and presidential elections.
Modernas COVID-19 vaccine brought in more than $4 billion in second-quarter sales, helping to push the vaccine developer into a profit.

The company also said Thursday an analysis showed that its vaccine remains 93% effective as much as six months after the second dose.

Modernas announcement comes after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. said its COVID-19 vaccine remained effective months after the second dose and had become a top seller. It brought in nearly half the companys revenue  $7.84 billion from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germanys BioNTech.

The COVID-19 vaccine is Modernas only commercially approved product. It also is developing several vaccines that aim to guard against the flu, Zika and HIV among other viruses. Those are all in early stages of clinical testing, according to its website.

The company also is testing a potential booster shot for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Overall, Moderna earned $2.78 billion in the second quarter, compared to a loss of $117,000 last year, before its vaccine received emergency use authorization in the U.S. and other countries to fight the global pandemic.

The company brought in $4.35 billion in total revenue, thanks to the vaccine and some grants. Earnings per share totaled $6.46.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected, on average, earnings of $6.01 per share on $4.29 billion in revenue.

Modernas COVID-19 vaccine has received emergency authorization for use in more than 50 countries.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. also said Thursday that it completed enrollment in an early-stage study of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, which could be easier to store and distribute. The company also said it will explore a combination vaccine that aims to offer protection against the flu, COVID-19 and other viruses.

Company shares fell 4% to $402 in premarket trading Thursday. The stock price has quadrupled since the end of 2020.

_____

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MRNA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MRNA
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  North Dakotas Department of Human Services has launched a new division that focuses on early childhood.

The Early Childhood Division will align programs and resources dealing with early childhood experience and child care, officials said.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said Thursday.

Detectives served Houstons lawyers on Thursday with a notice for him to appear in a Sydney court on Oct. 5 for allegedly concealing a serious indictable offense, police said.

Police will allege in court the man (Houston) knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police, police said.

Houston, 67, suggested the charges related to allegations that his preacher father, Frank Houston, had abused a boy over several years in the 1970s.

These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter, Houston said. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

Hillsong said in a statement the church was disappointed that Houston had been charged and asked that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process.

A government inquiry into institutional responses to allegations of child sex abuse found in 2015 that Houston did not tell police that his father was a child sex abuser.

The inquiry found that Houston became aware of allegations against his father in 1999 and allowed him to retire quietly rather report him to police. His father confessed to the abuse before he died in 2004 at age 82.

There was media speculation that the inquirys findings and the ensuing police investigation were reasons why the White House rejected a request by Australias Pentecostal prime minister, Scott Morrison, that Houston be invited to a 2019 state dinner hosted by then-President Donald Trump.

Morrison confirmed that he had wanted Houston, whom hed known for a long time, included on the invitation list. Morrison said he didn't know why Houston wasnt invited.

Houston has been based in the United States in recent months, preached at a service in Mexico last month and delivered a livestreamed sermon from California on Sunday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
KITTERY, Maine (AP)  State police in Maine are investigating a fatal highway crash that appeared to involve a wrong-way driver.

Police said the crash happened in the early morning hours of Thursday in Kittery when a passenger car and tractor-trailer truck collided on the Maine Turnpike. The crash killed Caleb Ewing, 29, of Caribou, who was the driver of the car, police said.

Police said the driver of the tractor-trailer was uninjured. They said an initial investigation showed Ewing entered the turnpike in Kittery and traveled in the wrong direction, going northbound in the southbound lane.

Police said the driver of the tractor-trailer couldn't avoid the collision. They said the investigation was still going on Thursday and it was unclear what factors caused the crash.
Carlos Giusti/AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Puerto Ricos governor announced Thursday that vaccinations will be required of government contractors, hotel guests and employees and all health facility workers to control a spike in COVID-19 cases blamed largely on the Delta variant.

The order goes into effect Aug. 16; those who refuse to get inoculated will be required to submit a weekly negative COVID-19 test. Violators will face up to a $5,000 fine or six months in jail, with few exceptions allowed.
AP

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP)  New York real estate heir Robert Durst is expected to take the stand at his Los Angeles County murder trial on Thursday.

The 78-year-old was expected to make the rare move for a defendant in a murder case and begin testimony on Wednesday, but the prosecution was still cross-examining another defense witness, memory expert Elizabeth Loftus, when court ended for the day.
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP)  An Omaha, Nebraska, man drowned after rescuing his son from a weed-infested section of East Lake Okoboji in northwestern Iowa, officials there said.

The incident happened late Wednesday morning, the Sioux City Journal reported, when Brandon Urban, 41, swam into the lake to rescue his son, who had fallen off a paddle board and become entangled in the weeds. Urban was able to free the boy from the weeds, but became entangled himself and was unable to get his head above water, the Dickinson County Sheriffs Office said.
Some of Florida's largest school districts have announced they will either keep or issue new mask mandates in light of the coronavirus outbreak that is ravaging the state, challenging an order by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis threatening to withhold funds from school districts if they mandate that students wear face coverings.

At least four school districts in the state are pushing back against the governor's staunch opposition to new virus restrictions or mask mandates after he issued an executive order Friday saying that recent guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that students wear masks "lacks" scientific justification and warning that the government could withhold state funds from "noncompliant" schools.

The state schools' resistance comes as the nation grapples with a surge of infections and hospitalizations linked to the delta variant. It has prompted a nationwide debate on what measures should be implemented for children, particularly those under 12 who are not eligible for vaccination in the United States, as schools return to in-person learning in August, with several Republican governors opposing or blocking mask mandates.

Broward County Public Schools, the second-largest district in Florida and the sixth-largest in the country, announced Wednesday it will keep its mask mandate, and await "further guidance before rendering a decision on the mask mandate for the upcoming school year."

"At this time, the District's face covering policy, which requires the use of masks in District schools and facilities, remains in place," the district said in a statement. The announcement came after the school district reversed its mask requirement Monday, saying it wanted to comply with the governor's order.

"The Broward County School board has chosen to pause," board chairwoman Rosalind Osgood said in a video statement Wednesday. "We want to do our due diligence to make sure that whatever the decision we make going forward will be decision that will allow us to keep our students, our staff and our community safe."

As part of the schools' reopening plans for the 2021-2022 school year, Broward schools announced last week that face coverings would be mandatory for students, staffers and visitors inside all schools, after the CDC issued new guidance that students and staffers in K-12 schools wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.

The school board will discuss next steps at a special meeting on Tuesday, the statement said. The first day of classes for Broward schools is Aug. 18.

On Tuesday, Leon County Schools superintendent Rocky Hanna urged DeSantis to allow the district "the flexibility and the autonomy to make the decisions for our schools that best fit our local data and information," asking the governor to implement a temporary mask requirement for kindergarten through eight-grade students.

In a letter sent to DeSantis, Hanna expressed concerns over the high transmissibility of the delta variant and said in the past 10 days, four school-aged children in Leon County have been admitted to local hospitals, and two prekindergarten teachers are currently in intensive care.

"It is the challenge of every leader to not allow pride or politics to cloud our better judgment, and to be guided by community input, science and experts in the field," Hanna added.

Leon County Schools will wait until Friday for a response from the governor's office or for any new guidance from the Florida Department of Education, a spokesperson for the superintendent's office told The Washington Post.

The Duval County school board also voted Tuesday to mandate masks in the classroom with an opt-out option for parents.

The vote came after parents and health officials spoke for during an hours-long public comment period, where board members questioned how much money they could lose, whether they could require masks without interfering with the governor's order, or oppose DeSantis in court.

Jon Phillips from the county general counsel's office said during the meeting that a possible challenge of the governor's order would entail a "fairly lengthy discussion," without ruling it out.

Before the school board meeting, about 100 people gathered outside the Duval County Public Schools headquarters to rally for a mandate, chanting "Masks for all in the fall!" CBS affiliate, WJAX-TV reported.

On the same day, a smaller school district in Alachua County, where the University of Florida is located, also decided to mandate masks of children for the first two weeks of school after Superintendent Carlee Simon raised concerns about the spreading virus. She said two custodians had died from covid-19 over the weekend.

"For us to be able to do the business of running a school district, we need people masked," she said during the meeting. Simon added that unmasked students exposed to the virus would need to quarantine, hindering their school attendance.

School district spokeswoman Jackie Johnson told The Post it isn't known yet what portion, if any, of the $141 million in state funds the district receives could be withheld. "We are certainly hoping that the governor and other state leaders recognize that their goal is our goal: to keep schools open," she said.

At the meeting, Kristen Thompson held up a photo of her grinning 7-year-old daughter Payton, who wouldn't be able to attend school if other students don't wear masks. Payton has Trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality that causes developmental delays, Thompson said.

Thompson told The Post that she wanted officials to remember special needs children like her daughter, who are endangered when school districts are forced to prioritize their budgets over the health of those students.

"We're asking everyone to work together to protect the people who can't wear masks," she said. "It's just a mask, it's not complicated. It's just a piece of cloth."

DeSantis's order establishes that the state Board of Education can withhold the transfer of state funds, discretionary grant funds, discretionary lottery funds or any other funds until a school district complies with the governor's directive.

The board also can declare a school district ineligible for competitive grants, the order said.

Broward County Mayor Steve Geller on Wednesday questioned the legality of DeSantis's threat to withhold funding and criticized the governor for limiting local public health workers, but said a legal brawl wouldn't be worth the trouble while the county seeks state assistance and funding on other priorities.

"The governor and legislature have immense influence over Broward County and every county in the state, and I'm not going to poke either of them in the eye," Geller said in an interview.

The CDC's revised guidance on mask use for children is based on information that shows the delta variant is more transmissible, and experts have argued that the measure will protect the unvaccinated - including children younger than 12 who are not yet eligible.

More than 19,000 children had been hospitalized with the virus in 24 states as of July 22, according to a database of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

The school districts' stance comes as Florida becomes the new center of the delta variant outbreak; the state accounts for 1 in 5 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection nationwide. Over the weekend, the Sunshine State reported its largest ever single-day increase in new coronavirus cases and a record for hospitalizations, with more than 10,000 patients.

On Wednesday the state reported more than 12,400 hospitalizations, a record high, according to data collected by The Washington Post.

DeSantis's ban on mask mandates in schools is the latest step taken by the governor defying or criticizing federal guidance, adding to clashes and tensions between the governor and the White House.

DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw told The Washington Post that the governor has "consistently encouraged" Floridians to get vaccinated and that children are allowed to wear masks "if they and their parents make that choice."

As the outbreak continues, a fraught discussion over masks in schools has played out in several states around the country. In Texas, Republican Gov. Abbott has signed an executive order that prohibits mask mandates in schools.

In Missouri, where Republican Gov. Mike Parson has also opposed mask mandates in schools, at least two school districts so far have signaled a return to universal masking.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas has asked lawmakers to reconsider a bill he signed months ago that barred local officials from requiring face coverings, so that school districts can require children to wear masks when they return to classes this fall.

Illinois's Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday all students and staff at Pre-K through 12th-grade schools will be required to wear masks.

President Joe Biden condemned DeSantis and other governors for opposing mask mandates Tuesday, telling them to "get out of the way."

"Why don't you do your job?" the Florida Republican blasted the president during a news conference Wednesday. "Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don't wanna hear a blip about covid from you, thank you."

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Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.
MADRID (AP)  Spains Guardia Civil said Thursday it has arrested an Algerian man suspected of leading a gang that trafficked people from North Africa to Europe and sent fighters to jihadist groups in Libya.

The Guardia Civils intelligence service detained the man on the night of July 31 on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. He faces terror charges, a Guardia Civil statement said. It did not identify him by name.
WASHINGTON - Spirit Airlines canceled 60% of its flights Wednesday and apologized to customers for severe disruptions in recent days, the latest in ongoing issues for air travelers seeking normalcy as airlines struggle to bounce back from pandemic lows.

The union representing Spirit's flight attendants said the Florida-based company was addressing the meltdown by using procedures developed to recover from hurricanes.

Aviation industry experts said the busy summer travel season, combined with lingering impacts from the pandemic, has complicated airline scheduling and added to logistical problems. Spirit's woes this week are the latest for an industry strained by rising demand on the heels of a pandemic-induced slump in travel.

Experts say some carriers are facing difficulties in finding pilots, flight attendants and ground crew to service flights as they recover from historic declines in air travel, leaving them vulnerable when more routine problems occur.

Jon Jager, an analyst at aviation data firm Cirium and a former schedule planner for a major U.S. carrier, said airlines are used to planning for events such as cyclical weather patterns. But staffing constraints - as travel demand outpaces airline employees returning after the worst of the pandemic - are creating difficulties in planning as the end of summer approaches.

"This is the last best chance for airlines to make revenue - and the demand is there," Jager said. "People are wanting to travel. This causes pressure on the airline to maximize their schedule with fewer employees available to work due to pandemic staffing levels."

Southwest Airlines, the nation's fourth-largest air carrier, faced disruptions in late June and around the July Fourth holiday, spurring a surge in cancellations and delays.

It came after the airline notched steep growth in recent months, with passenger volumes rising 45% between March and June, Southwest Chief Operating Officer Michael Van de Ven told investors last month. He cited technology issues in June that led to "extreme delays" as the company also works through staffing challenges.

Van de Ven said the carrier has searched for flight instructors to support training for pilots returning after an extended time away from the cockpit.

"It feels really good to finally be in a position where we can add flights and pick up our operating momentum," he said. "It was a bit messy as we throttled down our activity and it doesn't surprise me that it's a bit messy as we're accelerating it."

Most recently, Spirit is facing its own far-reaching problems.

The airline canceled more than 800 flights over two days this week, including 61% of its Tuesday flights, according to aviation firm FlightAware. The airline said many of those cancellations were part of a "thorough reboot of the network, allowing us to reassign our crews more efficiently and restore the network faster."

The company blamed "overlapping operational challenges" for the problems. It said a combination of bad weather, computer problems and staffing shortages caused "widespread irregularities" - issues exacerbated by high levels of summer travel and fuller flights industry-wide.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines, including those at Spirit, said the airline had an IT outage Tuesday that prevented employees from using the crew scheduling system for more than an hour, compounding other challenges and stymieing efforts to rearrange flight plans for flight attendants.

"In an operational breakdown like this, the airline needs to 'reset' in order to recover quicker and prevent further disruptions that could last weeks," the union said in a statement. "The reset will see significant cancellations in the short term, but avoid long term disruptions."

That means canceling more trips and nearly rebuilding the flight attendants' schedules from scratch, said union spokeswoman Taylor Garland.

American Airlines faced significant cancellations earlier this week from storms at its Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport hub.

"It was sustained wind, hail and rain. It was not a great situation for the operation," said American spokesman Curtis Blessing. "The result of that has been weather recovery for the last couple days."

Scores of diverted planes Sunday left crews out of position, he said, leaving lingering effects. "We're coming out of it," Blessing said.

FlightAware data indicates American canceled 377 flights, or 12% of its total, on Tuesday. It canceled more than 100 flights Wednesday.

Southwest also faced weather-related delays Tuesday, with 1,215 of its flights - about one-third of them - coming in late.

"Mother Nature provided challenges yesterday with convective thunderstorms around the Denver area and across a large stretch of the Gulf Coast, southeast, and Florida," the airline said in a statement. But it added, "we're happy to report that we're not, currently, experiencing the same operational disruptions" the airline faced in June and July.

Spirit said it is working through "proactive cancellations" that will enable a quicker reassignment of crew members.

"As a result, cancellation numbers will progressively drop in the days to come," the airline said in a statement. "The last three days were extremely difficult for our Guests and Team Members, and for that we sincerely apologize. We continue to work around-the-clock to get our Guests where they need to be."

The delays are coming as the Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1,797,120 people Tuesday, compared with 543,601 on the same day last year and 2,387,115 in 2019. Tuesday's total was the lowest checkpoint volume at the nation's airports since June 22.

Tuesday's dip in screenings came two days after a pandemic-era high on Sunday, when more than 2.2 million passengers moved through airport checkpoints.

The TSA has battled its own staffing struggles in recent months, alongside those of airlines.

The acting head of the agency issued a memo earlier this summer warning that the nation's largest airports would face shortages and asked office workers to volunteer to assist with checkpoints, such as managing queues and aiding with administrative tasks.

The agency has promised recurring monthly bonuses, allowed part-time workers to become full-time, adjusted shifts and increased the use of overtime.
CHICAGO (AP)  Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx won't file criminal charges against a suburban Chicago police officer who accidentally shot a teenager during a shootout with a suspected bank robber, she said Wednesday.

Des Plaines Officer James Armstrong was justified in using deadly force against the bank robber, Christopher Willis, and acted responsibly, Foxx said. Willis died in the shootout.
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. (AP)  A California company that makes surgical robots will invest $500 million in an Atlanta-area expansion, hiring 1,200 new workers by 2024.

Intuitive Surgical, based in Sunnyvale, California, announced its plans Wednesday. It's one of the largest announcements in terms of jobs and investments in Georgia this year.

Intuitive said it already has about 180 employees at an office in Peachtree Corners, northeast of Atlanta. The company said it would build out a larger campus in the Gwinnett County suburb in phases by 2024. The company says it will create 750,000 square feet (70,000 square meters) of space for manufacturing, engineering, medical worker training and administration.

One of the robot systems can cost $2 million or more. Surgeons worldwide used the company's robots to perform more than 1.2 million procedures in 2020, Intuitive said. Its best-known product is the da Vinci Surgical System.

Marie Hodge Gordon, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said she couldn't say how much incentives would be worth to Intuitive because the state has not yet signed a final agreement.

Intuitive could claim various tax breaks, including an income tax credit allowing it to annually deduct $1,250 per job from state income taxes, up to $7.5 million over five years, as long as workers make at least $28,000 per year.

Intuitive faces rising competition but told investors last month that it wants to continue to build out its offerings as a way of fighting new entrants to the market.

We still think this is a great opportunity to continue to invest in ecosystem of products and capabilities at this point in time before a competition really gets any kind of toehold, Chief Financial Officer Marshall Mohr said on a conference call. And so were going to continue to invest.

Intuitive needs a highly educated, committed, and diverse workforce; quality infrastructure; and the right geography to meet the rising demand for minimally invasive surgical technologies, Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart said in a statement Wednesday.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP)  A Tacoma couple has been sentenced to five and seven years in prison after authorities found large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA in their home, according to federal prosecutors.

Jaymes Arthur Gallagher, 34, was sentenced to seven years in prison and Brittany Nicole Chipman, 28, got a five-and-a-half year sentence on Wednesday, said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  Police in Delaware say theyve arrested a teen wanted on a murder charge in New York.

The U.S. Marshals Service and Dover police arrested the 16-year-old suspect at a home in the Village of Westover neighborhood in Dover on Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release. The teen was wanted by the Westchester County police department on second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a firearm, police said.
BANGKOK (AP)  An investigation is underway in Thailand after the body of a Swiss woman was found Thursday at a secluded spot on the southern island of Phuket.

Thai media reported that the womans partially clothed body was lying face down in a rock crevice near a waterfall and appeared to have been concealed by a sheet. Personal documents nearby showed she was 57 years old.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Lee M. Pierce, State University of New York, College at Geneseo

(THE CONVERSATION) National Good Samaritan Day fell on March 13 and commemorates those who have helped a person in need. This year, March 13 also marked one year since Louisville police officers killed Breonna Taylor during a botched raid on her apartment.

And in 2020 former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on Memorial Day, when we honor Americans who died while serving in the U.S. military.

As an aspiring opinion writer, Ive been taught to track such anniversaries because they are news pegs, an event that can be used as a reason to do a story that capitalizes on public attention.

But as a scholar of rhetoric and race, I have a competing perspective.

If the way people write and speak about the world creates a sense of good and bad, right and wrong, then the concept of tracking these tragedies is already complicit with what the writer and educator Simone Brown calls the surveillance of Blackness  the disproportionate monitoring and punishing of Black Americans.

Those stories routinize systemic violence through their repetition. Its what the political philosopher Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil.

Systemic violence made ordinary

If someone is writing about the best gifts for Mothers Day, I see no problem with tracking news pegs.

But if theyre writing about the deaths of people at the hands of police, perhaps a different approach is needed.

The pressure is understandable for writers to capitalize on the public attention that swells on the anniversaries of the deaths of Taylor, Floyd and hundreds of others.

One alternative to the news hook approach is just to take the word new more seriously. Instead of news hooks, writers could aim for what rapper Kid Cudi calls dat new new, something fresh and unanticipated. In the wake of Taylors killing, for example, a pro-gun control opinion piece might be reinvented as the idea that gun reform is a double-edged sword for Black America.

Find a dock

I admit to perpetuating the news hook, not only in my own attempts at public writing but in my teaching as well.

I was just following the advice that I had received.

Your story is a ship, Ive been told, and news pegs are potential ports for that ship. Keep sailing your ship until you find a dock. Translation: Keep pegging your story to an anniversary until you get published.

The ship metaphor operates on the assumption that an idea precedes the occasion that it describes and, therefore, that ideas exist apart from the concrete events that they are supposed to explain.

By that logic, the idea of police reform as a story focus exists before and outside of Taylors death. Taylor is the hook, just another example of why police reform is important.

When the specific hook that is Taylors death doesnt have a chance to prompt a story on its own, Taylor is objectified on the anniversary of her death just as she was on the day of her death.

Imagining otherwise

The language of ships also calls to mind the Middle Passage, the leg of the Atlantic voyage through which ships trafficked stolen Africans for enslavement in America. During the trip, countless slaves were thrown overboard into the ships wake or chose to jump to escape torture.

In In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, literary scholar Christina Sharpe uses the slave ship as a metaphor for the present-day condition that is being Black in America.

Sharpe describes that condition as wake work. Wake work means looking backward to keep vigil for the death lying in the wake and looking forward to the ships destination with hope and despair. Hope because the ship might be headed somewhere better, and despair because it almost certainly is not.

Wake work, Sharpe writes, is not only about the hard emotional, physical and mental work of vigilantly tracking and defending the dead. It is also about the equally exhausting work of imagining otherwise from what we know now in the wake of slavery.

Imagining otherwise is that new new. Its a different interpretation about what tragedy means.

So what does imagining otherwise look like in the journalistic context?

There are stories that refused to use a news peg  that produced a new idea about the tragedies befalling Black Americans.

Consider a 2015 story about Monroe Bird, a Black man shot in Oklahoma by a white security guard, Ricky Stone, while sitting in a car with a white woman.

To justify the shooting, Stone claimed that Bird had a gun and was having sex in public, and that Bird tried to run him over with his car. No evidence was found to support those claims.

Bird did not become a news peg because he did not die during the incident. But life as Bird knew it did end. He was paralyzed from the waist down and racked with medical debt that health insurance didnt cover.

A few months later, Bird died from a blood clot because he was not being moved frequently enough, a simple preventative measure for paralyzed patients that Bird didnt have access to.

The title of a news report on Bird? If Trayvon Martin had lived: Meet Monroe Bird.

The story is one way to imagine otherwise.

The story took the familiar idea of Black Americans who have survived anti-Black violence and turned it on its head. The story shows that to not die is not to live. Then that idea morphs into a different idea: health care inequality.

Another version of imagining otherwise appeared in a self-published op-ed column written by an anonymous Minneapolis public defender. In the piece, the writer considers what would have happened to George Floyd if he had lived.

The answer is an imagined litany of underfunded and failed legal battles, the continued authorization of excessive force in police training manuals and another rotation of the cycle of violence in the American criminal justice system.

Tracking anniversaries is not wake work, it is not keeping vigilant watch, unless every time the next anniversary arrives it becomes an occasion to not only comment on the past but attempt to imagine otherwise, even if that otherwise is still without a happy ending.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/tracking-anniversaries-of-black-deaths-isnt-memorializing-victims-its-objectifying-them-156084.
The ticket window is open again for space flights at Virgin Galactic, with prices starting at $450,000 a seat.

The space-tourism company said Thursday it is making progress toward beginning revenue flights next year. It will sell single seats, package deals and entire flights.

Virgin Galactic announced the offerings as it reported Thursday that it lost $94 million in the second quarter on soaring costs for overhead and sales. The company posted revenue of $571,000, barely enough to cover one seat on a future flight.

The companys most noteworthy recent achievement came last month, after the quarter ended, when founder Richard Branson and five crewmates soared to 53.5 miles (86 kilometers) above the New Mexico desert.

CEO Michael Colglazier said the company resumed sales on Thursday to take advantage of a surge in consumer interest after the flight by Branson, who beat rival billionaire Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin ship into space by nine days.

The company based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, won regulatory approval in June to fly people into space.

Virgin Galactic said early hand-raisers will get first priority to book seats, and another list will be created for new customers.

The companys next spaceflight is scheduled for late September in New Mexico with the Italian air force.

Virgin Galactic said it ended the quarter with cash and equivalents totaling $552 million.

The results were released after the stock market closed. The company's shares were up nearly 5% in after-hours trading.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Searchers have scoured miles of land in rural western Idaho, drained canals and combed over security footage for the past week, but authorities said a 5-year-old boy who was last seen July 27 is still missing.

The Fruitland Police Department is using every possible resource in the search for Michael Joseph Vaughn, including scent-tracking dogs, drones, helicopters, a dive team and even paragliders, Chief JD Huff said Wednesday.

Despite the exhaustive search, authorities dont yet know what became of the child, and no possibility has been ruled out of the investigation, Huff said during a news conference Wednesday.

The boy who answers to the nickname, Monkey, was last seen in the evening outside his home, wearing a blue Minecraft t-shirt, dark blue boxer briefs and flip flops, authorities said.

You know 5-year-olds can get into almost anything, so we've looked through nearly 200 garbage cans, drained canals and irrigation ditches and pumped a septic tank in the area that had a makeshift 2-by-6 wooden plank lid, Huff said.

The agency has also gathered 60 videos from residential and business security cameras, cleared many of the 163 tips they have received and used drones, aircraft, kayaks, paragliders and search dogs to comb miles of farmland and the Snake River banks.

We take care of one another and we're all in this together," Huff said. "We're committed to finding Michael and we're not going to leave any stones unturned.

The boy's family has been fully cooperating with law enforcement, he said, urging the community to respect their privacy.

The police chief also asked people who live in the largely agricultural area to search their own properties by walking fence lines, checking vehicles and any place a child could get into.

Children move around and they wander. They may have traveled back into your yard without your knowledge, Huff said, encouraging anyone with information to come forward.

He added: Maybe you are even afraid to reach out to us. We are here, we want to listen to what you have to say.
Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News

Though a forecast earlier in the week predicted wet weather conditions would only last through Wednesday, San Antonians should be aware of a flood advisory for Thursday morning.

Areas southwest of the Alamo City along the Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande Plains are expected to see more frequent and stronger rains, but shower and thunderstorm activity in parts of the San Antonio area may impact driving conditions. Bexar County remains under a flood advisory until 11 a.m. Thursday.
Despite COVID-19 levels increasing in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, Gov. Greg Abbott isn't budging on his COVID-19 response in Texas.

On Wednesday, the governor reaffirmed his stance on local or state government mandating any coronavirus protocols during his speech at Asian-American Hotel Owners Association's National Convention and Trade Show in Dallas.

"One thing we've learned along the way is lockdowns are wrong during the course of the pandemic," he says. "...In Texas, there will not be any government-imposed shutdowns or mask mandates. Everyone already knows what to do. Everyone can voluntarily implement the mandates that are safest for them, their families, and their businesses."

MORE POLITICS: Left wing complicates Pelosi's calculus

Screengrab courtesy of Twitter/@BlueTX2022

Abbott says the state will encourage everyone to implement the safest strategies to help slow the spread of COVID-19, including making sure everyone who wants the vaccine can get one. He says that's the surest way to "end the pandemic."

The governor's remarks come a day after President Joe Biden criticized how Texas and Florida have handled the COVID-19 spike. The two states accounted for one-third of all new cases in the U.S. last week, according to White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients.

On July 29, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting schools, governments, and other jurisdictions from instituting mask mandates. The order also doesn't allow any of those agencies to require proof of vaccination.

RELATED: Ted Cruz is trying to fast track a highway that could rival I-10

In the speech, Abbott says the Texas economy is booming due to keeping businesses open during the pandemic. By comparison, he says Texas has a larger economy than Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Russia. Abbott joked (hopefully) shortly after that the economic boost makes him more powerful than Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

Funny.
WASHINGTON - A federal judge rejected claims that detained defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach are "political prisoners" or that riot participants acted out of patriotism before sentencing a Michigan man to six months in prison Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington said Karl Dresch, 41, of Calumet, Mich., was held because of his actions, not his political views, and that others who joined the attack on Congress as it met to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election could face prison time.

MORE POLITICS: Abbott still insisting he won't impose shutdowns or mask mandates

"He was not a political prisoner," Jackson said. "We are not here today because he supported former president Trump . . . He was arrested because he was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert and undo the electoral process."

In a deal with prosecutors, Dresch pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of parading, picketing or demonstrating in the Capitol after four other charges were dropped, including a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress.

Dresch has been jailed since his arrest Jan. 19, so the sentence is effectively one of time-served, and he will be released.

Jackson's sentencing came days after four right-wing Republican members of Congress - Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Louis Gohmert, R-Texas,, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. - showed up at the District of Columbia jail demanding to inspect the treatment of those detained in connection with Jan. 6, whom some Trump supporters have cast as martyrs.

By contrast, in a string of plea and sentencing hearingsin the riot cases, federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties condemned such claims. Some have gone further to challenge U.S. prosecutors' acceptance of misdemeanor plea deals for individuals involved in "terrorizing members of Congress," forcing the evacuation of lawmakers and violence that authorities have led to several deaths and assaults on nearly 140 police officers.

"Does the government, in agreeing to the petty offense in this case, have any concern about deterrence?" Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington asked in accepting such a plea last Thursday.

In Dresch's case, Jackson said he has the right to vote for whomever he wants, "but so does everyone else. Your vote doesn't count any more than anyone else's. You don't get to cancel them out and call for a war because you don't like the results of the election."

The judge continued, "You called yourself and the others patriots, but that's not patriotism. Patriotism is loyalty to country, loyalty to the Constitution, not loyalty to a single head of state. That's the tyranny we rejected on July 4th of 1776."

Dresch declined to address the court, and his defense's sentencing request was not immediately unsealed.

Judges at sentencings have been delivering a cold splash of reality to defendants, including some who say they were lied to by Trump or led astray by right-wing commentators or social media. So far, about 30 of more than 550 defendants charged have pleaded guilty, and six have been sentenced. Five of the latter admitted to single misdemeanors involving no violent conduct, and three received probation, including a Northern Virginia couple, Joshua Bustle, 35, and Jessica Bustle, 36, ordered Wednesday to 30 and 60 days of conditional home confinement, respectively.

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The two others - Dresch and Michael Curzio, 35, of central Florida - have been sentenced to the statutory maximum of six months in prison or time served. Neither was accused of violence on Jan. 6, but each had a criminal record and other factors that U.S. magistrate judges said posed a risk of flight, obstruction or dangerousness warranting pretrial detention.

Curzio was the only misdemeanor defendant held pretrial, but had a prior conviction for attempted murder. Dresch had a 2013 felony conviction for eluding police in a 145-mph vehicle chase that spanned two states. And despite a ban on felon possession of weapons, law enforcement searches of his Upper Peninsula home on Jan. 19 turned up a Russian SKS rifle, two shotguns, a Glock pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammunition,prosecutors said.

Unlike Curzio, Dresch was also charged with "corruptly . . . obstruct[ing]" Congress, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors said in Facebook posts Dresch likened events on Jan. 6 beforehand to this country's declaration of independence from British rule in 1776.

Afterward, he posted, "We the people took back our house . . . now those traitors Know who's really in charge."

In sentencing papers, prosecutors said in a footnote without further explanation that they dropped the felony charge "in an effort to achieve consistency" with other riot cases. Prosecutors maintained that "he knew why he was there - to interfere with the democratic process - and what he sought to achieve - the disruption of the counting of electoral votes," but noted he was not accused of violence or destruction.

Jackson called the misdemeanor plea and sentence just and sufficient, adding that pandemic-related lockdown restrictions made his jail time harsher than it would have been otherwise.

Comments by Jackson, Dresch's judge and a 2011 Barack Obama appointee, were seconded Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, a 1983 Ronald Reagan appointee, who sentenced the Bustles.

Hogan said he seriously considered jailing Jessica Bustle because her social media posts calling Jan. 6 participants "patriots" were "so inaccurate, so misguided."

"Patriots are not the ones who attack the operations of Congress" or attempt to stop elected lawmakers in both parties from performing their constitutional duties, Hogan said. "That is revolution, not patriotism."

Hogan noted authorities attributed several deaths to the riot, including responding police officers who have died by suicide.

"If you listened to the testimony on the Hill the other day, you understand the tragedy that has occurred in their lives," Hogan said, adding that holding those responsible may require jail time for most charged defendants.

PUBLIC DEBATE: Bill Gates regrets relationship with Jeffery Epstein; 'It was a huge mistake.'

But Hogan noted neither Joshua Bustle, a real estate agent, nor Jessica Bustle, a vaccine critic and stay-at-home mother, acted violently and spent only a few minutes in the Capitol. He also acknowledged defense arguments that the couple has been punished in the court of public opinion, in Joshua Bustle's business affairs and in their family life. The couple is relocating to South Carolina for a fresh start, their lawyers said. Both Bustles apologized, and a lawyer asserted they had purged social media from their lives.

"I'm sorry for my actions. I love our country," Jessica Bustle said. "I [don't] condone and do not agree with anybody who is ever violent toward anybody in life."
The Texas House Democratic Caucus could not account Tuesday for two of the members who broke quorum and fled for Washington, D.C. over Republicans' priority elections bill, while a Texas Monthly reporter said the members were on vacation in Portugal.

State Reps. Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch and Jessica Gonzalez of Dallas were not with other House Democrats on Tuesday in the nation's capital, according to a person familiar with the situation. On Tuesday evening, Texas Monthly reporter Jonathan Tilove tweeted that he "can confirm [Johnson] and her wife & [Gonzalez] and her fiance are in Portugal for a vacation they had been planning, with non-refundable tickets, for a year-and-a-half." [SIC]

MORE POLITICS: Ted Cruz is trying to fast track a highway that will rival I-10

Both Johnson and Gonzalez, as well as their staff, did not respond to requests for comment from The Texas Tribune throughout Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Their absence from Washington does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin to pass the elections bill. But it is at odds with House Democrats insistence that they would use their time away from the state Legislature, which they left in July, to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in the nations capital.

Gonzalez is an especially prominent player in the voting rights fight as the vice chair of the Texas House Elections Committee. 

While it was reported that Johnson and Gonzalez were "still participating in caucus meetings via ZOOM," the news of their absence came the same day that over 100 state legislators from across the country came to Washington for a rally to support the Texas Democrats. This is the last week of the special session in Austin.

The news of the Democrats' vacation brought a wave of House condemnation from their Republican colleagues who have been stuck in Austin waiting for them to return.

"Wow, just wow. Had to cancel my familys vacation last week to Grand Teton [National Park] because of a special session they helped create back in May," tweeted state Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress, referring to the House Democratic walkout that killed the elections bill during the regular session. "Texas deserves better than this."

Hours before word got out that Johnson and Gonzalez were missing from Washington, three of their Democratic colleagues held a news conference where they continued to express optimism about the federal elections push.

RELATED: Houston mask mandate might violate Abbott's orders

We are squarely focused on getting those pieces moving, state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso said. I think were gonna have a lot of success this week.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
WASHINGTON - In July 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had a particularly derisive dismissal of the impact that four young Democratic rookie lawmakers were having on the institution.

"They're four people and that's how many votes they got," Pelosi told the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd of the liberal "squad," which had just failed to block a compromise border bill.

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Two years later, the quartet has found reinforcements, growing in number because of several successful primary victories last year. And now - with Pelosi's majority so narrow that a loss of four votes would sink her legislative agenda - the far-left flank of the Democratic caucus has a chance to flex its muscle much more powerfully, as shown by its victory this week in forcing the Biden administration to extend a moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

This creates a different calculation for Pelosi from what she has had in years past, one that could produce ripple effects across President Joe Biden's agenda in the months ahead. Although most attention has focused on a few centrist Democrats in the Senate, where a single defection could prove fatal to some initiatives, Pelosi's tougher balancing act will involve her caucus's liberal wing - a place she called home when she was just a rank-and-file Democrat.

Her leadership team has never faced the quandaries of past Republican speakers such as John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., both of whom clashed for years with their far-right wing.

The key difference between those two wings - embodied by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on the left and the House Freedom Caucus on the right - is that the GOP group has been willing to use tactics that will hurt government functions and entirely blow up deals that it does not consider perfect. But the Democratic faction has resisted going too far because, deep down, it wants government to function.

In legislative parlance, the Freedom Caucus has always been willing to shoot any political hostage that it took, helping in the past decade to fuel several long government shutdowns and a near default on the U.S. Treasury's debt.

But the Progressive Caucus won't go that far, demonstrating an almost implicit trust in Pelosi's decision-making, even when she had to craft unpopular compromises with the Bush and Trump administrations.

For Pelosi's almost 19 years leading House Democrats, liberals have always known her as the grass-roots activist before she arrived in Congress in 1987, sharing their legislative goals and ambitions even if she sometimes asked them to eat half a loaf of legislative bread.

But this new generation of Democrats has adopted a more aggressive approach to congressional showdowns, epitomized by Rep. Cori Bush's protest of Democratic inaction on the expiration last weekend of the federal eviction moratorium.

Bush, D-Mo., who defeated a 20-year veteran in a primary last summer, set up on the steps of the House for four nights and galvanized other liberals to join her demand for action either in Congress or by Biden.

"Activists are in Congress. So expect things to be different than what maybe people are used to," Bush said at a news conference Tuesday after Biden reversed course and announced his administration would extend the moratorium.

A blueprint for a more productive Senate, or an exception that proves dysfunction and division still rule?

The original decision last week was a classic House maneuver: As the deadline approached, Democrats tried to cobble together support for a bill to extend the deadline, despite knowing that in the Senate, there was nowhere near the 60 votes needed to cut off a filibuster and pass the legislation.

But such a vote would have at least given liberals symbolic cover to say they tried to do something, as they headed home for a summer break that does not have the House back in session until Sept. 20.

RELATED: Biden seeks to boost fuel economy to thwart Trump rollback

That approach fell through as some moderate Democrats declined to support a bill that had no chance of becoming law and would only anger their local real estate industries.

As everyone else headed home, Bush, 40, took over the Capitol steps and drove the message for almost five days, forcing Washington veterans like Biden, 78, and Pelosi, 81, to respond to her actions.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who defeated a 20-year incumbent in a 2018 primary and was the original "squad" leader, joined Bush most days outside the Capitol and turned up the media attention on the issue.

Ocasio-Cortez, 31, spent most of her first year in office clashing with Pelosi over legislative strategy, but the veteran almost always got her way over the newcomer. That's how a compromise border bill played out in June 2019, as Ocasio-Cortez joined fellow Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in loudly opposing Pelosi.

The legislation passed, and, in an interview with Dowd a few days later, Pelosi dismissed the younger quartet as social media stars who did not know how to play the inside game of legislating.

"All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi said then. "But they didn't have any following."

Now these young liberals are considering how far to push their side of the agenda when the House begins to consider the Senate's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a proposed $3.5 trillion budget filled with liberal agenda items.

After Tuesday's valedictory news conference with Bush, Ocasio-Cortez signaled that her camp would consider using such tough tactics again.

"When you have to play hardball, you have to play hardball. And we're not afraid to do that," she told Punchbowl News.

Day-to-day, Biden's agenda looks rocky. But congressional Democrats say things are far rosier if you take the long view.

With three House seats vacant, Pelosi has 220 Democrats in the House vs. 212 Republicans.

If the GOP holds together, that leaves Pelosi just three votes to spare to try to pass these Biden initiatives.

Bush, Ocasio-Cortez and a few others have leverage now that they didn't have two years ago, when Pelosi's caucus had more than 230 members and Donald Trump's presidency was considered such an existential threat to Democrats that they had to stay unified to defeat him in 2020.

MORE POLITICS: With eviction victory in hand, Democrats look to student loans

But Pelosi has faced these battles before, and almost always come out on top. Back in 2009, leaders of the Progressive Caucus declared that they would not support the Affordable Care Act if it did not include a public health option.

By March 2010, Pelosi had knitted together 219 votes for the ACA - without any defections from the Progressive Caucus.
The countdown has begunless than one week until area elementary-to-high school students return to school. And right about now, you realize theyve outgrown, well, everythingfrom clothes to electronics. No worries, all of your favorite stores are hosting back-to-school sales so you can refresh their wardrobe and load up on school supplies with hoard-worthy discounts.

We've arranged all the best deals on back-to-school essentials by category, so scroll through everything from school supplies to uniforms to shoes for head-to-toe savings!

School Supplies on Sale

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Grab school supplies starting at $.25, backpacks as low as $10, and tech from $15 at Walmart's back to school sale. Plus, find your child's school supply list online with their classroom finder tool.

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Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

Jennifer Miko is a Local Deals Curator for Hearst Newspapers. Email her at Jennifer.Miko@hearst.com.
Florida, FL (34429)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 72F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
National and local governments as well as NGOs such as the World Bank, IMF and World Health Organization offer web portals to access their datasets. In the US, the data.gov service offers access to 320,000 datasets, the UK's data.gov.uk has 51,000 and the EU's portal comprises 1.36 million. These allow the free download of data on consumer spending, weather, mapping, company financials, public procurement contracts and much more.

On top of this are private data resources from companies such as Google and Yelp. Google offers rich data on search behavior from around the world while Yelp offers an open dataset of its 8.6 million reviews on 161,000 US businesses.

The economic value of this data is difficult to calculate but McKinsey has estimated that efficient use of this data could unlock $3 trillion of value across the global economy while the EU believes open data was worth 76 billion to the trading block in 2020.

Here are 6 ways you can put this data to work in your organization to accelerate innovation, cut costs and improve competitive advantage.

Improve understanding of new and potential markets
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping the globe, many local school districts were struggling with the decision on how schools should open for the 2020-2021 academic year. Was it safe to bring students back to the classroom? Should learning take place remotely? Should schools offer a hybrid educational experience, with time split between classroom and remote learning? For educational leaders wrestling with these questions, local data to inform decisions for their school district was hard to come by.

It was concerns like these that prompted the rise of an ambitious project based at The Ohio State University to provide educational administrators with the timely local information they need to help ensure a safe learning experience for students, staff and teachers. This initiative, known as the COVID-19 Analytics and Targeted Surveillance System, or CATS, puts data analytics and visualization tools to work to allow school superintendents and local public health departments in Central Ohio to make critical health and safety decisions with the confidence that comes with timely local data. CATS served the school-based monitoring needs of 21 local school districts in Central Ohio, serving approximately 1.4 million residents and 238,000 school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CATS project was spearheaded by Dr. Ayaz Hyder, an assistant professor in the College of Public Health at The Ohio State University and a core faculty member at the Translational Data Analytics Institute. The initial impetus came when he learned there was no clear strategy to help local school districts make decisions about when to switch between different learning modalities.

Dr. Hyder reached out to a local school district, where three of his children are enrolled, and proposed a pilot project using the COVID-19 monitoring methods he had developed for agencies throughout the state. The district agreed, and the local public health departments were brought on board to provide expertise in contact tracing, outbreak investigation and data interpretation. In the weeks and months that followed, additional schools and stakeholders joined the effort, as did a contingent of University student workers who assisted in programming, managing and visualizing the CATS data.

The school districts were getting pressure from parents to use local data, because county-level trends dont always represent whats happening in the individual community, Dr. Hyder says. We were able to take that pressure off of the superintendents and school administrators by providing local data, in partnership with the local health departments and their epidemiologists and nursing staff. We could then make a strong case to parents and staff that local data was being used for local decision-making.

How it works

The CATS application considers multiple data flows to help school leaders and public health officials make informed decisions on the most appropriate learning modalities  virtual, in-person or hybrid  to help prevent and control the spread of disease. These include the monitoring and epidemiological review of school nurse visits among students and absences among students and staff due to COVID-19-like illness. The team also considers temporal and spatial patterns in county-level and school district attendance area-level data for COVID-19 case rates.

The information from these diverse data flows is entered CATS. Using password-protected CATS dashboards, school district staff and the local public health department monitor the system, watching for signs of coronavirus outbreaks. The general public is also able to access CATS dashboards that contain aggregated information specific to each school district. By closely tracking possible indicators of COVID-19 infection, the CATS system allows for real-time analyses of factors that can help predict localized outbreaks.

In addition, CATS includes web-based applications, automated alerts, and weekly reports for the general public and decision makers, including school administrators, school boards and local health departments. The result is essentially an early-warning system for case clusters  and a safer educational experience for students and their teachers.

Drawing on the expertise of the Ohio Supercomputer Center

The CATS project was a computationally-intensive undertaking that brought its own set of technical challenges. To overcome these challenges, the CATS team turned to the Ohio Supercomputer Center in Columbus, Ohio. OSC is dedicated to making high performance computing resources and expertise readily available to university and industrial researchers in Ohio and points beyond.

In these efforts, the CATS project benefited from the computational power of the HPC systems at OSC made accessible via Open OnDemand. This portal, developed at OSC, gives users access to HPC systems through a web browser. That made it easy for the CATS team, including its software developers, to run HPC workloads.

The systems that are accessible via the Open OnDemand portal include OSCs two main clusters, Owens and Pitzer. Collectively, these clusters built by Dell Technologies deliver the power of more than 50,000 Intel Xeon compute cores, along with hundreds of GPUs.

With the resources of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, we were able to set up 16 different dashboards that were going to be accessible by hundreds and thousands of people at the same time, Dr. Hyder says. We were really fortunate to have that kind of support from the Ohio Supercomputer Center.

For the full story, see the Dell Technologies case study Innovating with data for the

safety of children and the video Schools work with Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) for safety.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought dramatic changes to the financial services industry. Already under pressure from nimble young fintechs to modernize, established banks and insurers were undergoing incremental digital transformation. But in 2020, they hit the gas pedal. Branches closed and remote work became the norm. Almost overnight, employees needed secure remote access to corporate systems, and customers expected to be able to complete even complex transactions whenever they wanted, on whatever device. Even as things return to normal, many of these shifts are likely to be permanent. According to Forrester Research, nearly 90% of global financial services CIOs and SVPs believe that improving their application portfolio is key to improving customer experience and driving revenue.1 The problem? Replacing legacy systems with cloud-based SaaS enterprise software is a massive, time- and resource-intensive process.

IDGs recently completed white paper, Financial Services Spotlight: Elevating agility and security in the cloud, highlights an alternative to the all-or-nothing approach to replatforming: lifting and shifting on-premises applications and workloads to the cloud without rewriting them. In this way, you keep your organizations familiar architecture, but give it the scalability and cutting-edge technology of a modern cloud environment. Thats the promise of Google Cloud VMware Engine brings to the financial services industry.

Heres a quick overview of the insights that the IDG study uncovers. Download the complete white paper.

Simpler migration, rich rewards

Google Cloud VMware Engine helps financial services companies seamlessly migrate and run

VMware workloads natively on Google Cloud. Once in the cloud, firms can take advantage of Google Cloud services, access a robust third-party cloud ecosystem, and use the same VMware tools, processes, and policies their teams already know. The IDG study found that migrating to Google Cloud with Google Cloud VMware Engine offers multiple benefits:

Create new customer experiences. Migrating to Google Cloud puts modern, cloud-native architectures and technologies  such as containers and microservices  easily within reach. These make it possible for financial institutions to quickly and securely launch new applications and update them on a continuous basis using DevOps pipelines. They also allow firms to craft more personalized customer experiences across channels using Google Clouds native AI and data analytics. Deliver new services. After migrating, financial services organizations can connect to multiple third-party service providers via cloud-based APIs to bring new, diverse services to their customers  without having to build from scratch. Make the best use of IT resources. When your data and applications reside in Google Cloud, youre no longer constrained by the physical storage and compute limits of on-premises infrastructure. This means your company can match capacity to demand  even during unexpected peaks. You also gain more visibility into your hybrid cloud environment with Google Clouds operations suite, which offers intelligent analysis and easier troubleshooting for your platform and applications. Gain fresh insights. The key to understanding what customers need and when they need it resides within your data, and data analytics in the cloud help you uncover those insights. Your company can connect to Google Clouds serverless data warehouse, BigQuery, which leverages data to deliver valuable insights for personalized customer experiences, rich compliance reporting, new product development, intelligent fraud detection, and more. Choose what to move. Data governance regulations and requirements specific to the financial services industry mean that some data must remain on premises. Google Cloud VMware Engine lets you easily manage a hybrid cloud/on-premises environment to keep sensitive data fully under your control. Become more resilient. Google Cloud VMware Engine gives financial services firms a distributed architecture and centralized control for their applications to support vital business continuity functions, such as backup and disaster recovery. This is on top of the performance and availability of Google Clouds global infrastructure. Improve security. Using cloud-native application frameworks, administrators can issue patches and software updates centrally and automatically across their organizations. This reduces the risk of errors and security vulnerabilities. Firms also tap into the security features and capabilities of Google Cloud, including always-on encryption and AI-powered threat detection. Redirect IT resources. Migrating virtualized workloads to the cloud can free up talent and budget to develop new products and services  time that was previously spent on maintaining complex on-premises infrastructure. That means less effort spent keeping the lights on, and more resources directed toward creating innovative and differentiating customer experiences.

IDG research concluded that migrating business applications to Google Cloud with Google Cloud VMware Engine can help financial services companies stay ahead of change without incurring further technical debt from their legacy IT systems. Working with cloud-based systems can give your financial services company much of the scale, speed, and agility of a startup while still enjoying the benefits of being an established organization.

Read the complete white paper to learn more about the ways in which Google and VMware work together to accelerate digital transformation for financial services firms.

Next 21 registration is open, join us October 1214, 2021, for our digital flagship event

1.Vmware-forrester-financial-services-modern-app-report.pdf, A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VMware, 2020
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Last October, Facebook warned a group of social scientists from New York University that their researchknown as the Ad Observatory, part of the Cybersecurity for Democracy Projectwas in breach of the social networks terms of service. It said the group used software to scrape information from Facebook without the consent of users. The company said that unless the researchers stopped using the browser extension they developed, or changed the way that it acquired information, they would be subject to additional enforcement action. Late Tuesday night, Facebook followed through on this threat by blocking the group from accessing any of the platforms data, and also shutting down the researchers personal accounts and pages. In a blog post, the company said it did so because the browser extension violated users privacy. While the Ad Observatory project may be well-intentioned, the ongoing and continued violations of protections against scraping cannot be ignored, Facebook said.

The NYU researchers responded that they have taken precautions to avoid pulling in personally identifiable information from usersincluding names, user ID numbers, and Facebook friend listsand also pointed out that the thousands of users who signed up installed the browser extension willingly, to help the scientists research the impact of the social networks ad-targeting algorithms. Facebook is silencing us because our work often calls attention to problems on its platform, Laura Edelson, one of the NYU researchers, told Bloomberg News in an email. Worst of all, Facebook is using user privacy, a core belief that we have always put first in our work, as a pretext for doing this. Edelson also said on Twitter that the Facebook shutdown has effectively cut off more than two dozen other researchers and journalists who got access to Facebook advertising data through the NYU project.

Unauthorized access to private user data is a sensitive topic for Facebook. In the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, a political consulting firm acquired personally identifiable information on more than 80 million people from a researcher who gained access to it through a seemingly harmless Facebook app. The resulting furor eventually led to a $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for breaches of privacy, and the company promised it would never share the personal information of its users with third parties without stringent controls. The ripple effects of the FTC ordercombined with the subsequent passing of the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation or GDPRled to severe restrictions on the social networks API (application programming interface), which other web services and software use to exchange data with the social network. And those restrictions also affected researchers like those at NYU.

ICYMI: The eviction moratorium, the child tax credit, and the episodic poverty news cycle

In its Tuesday blog post and other statements on the same topic, Facebook points out that it has made efforts to share more data with researchers, including its own Ad Library (which also has an API), and a research partnership it created with several prominent sociologists, called Social Science One. But even some defenders of this project admit that it took almost three years for Facebook to even start sharing data with researchers under this program, and that the kinds of data it shares, and the restrictions placed on it, make it significantly less useful for research. Edelson told Protocol before the ban that Facebook offered the group and other researchers some advertising data, but refused to provide any information about how those ads were targeted to specific users, which made it impossible to come to any useful conclusions about the impact of its political advertising tactics.

Protocol has also pointed out that, according to Facebook itself, the majority of users whose information was being shared without their consent were advertisers, not run-of-the-mill users. And some experts have argued that one of the main planks in Facebooks defense for shutting down the NYU researchersthat the company was forced to do so because of the FTC orderis a legal smokescreen. Jonathan Mayer, a professor at Princeton who studies computer science and the law and is a former advisor to Senator Kamala Harris, said on Twitter that the FTC order only restricted Facebook itself, not individual users, from sharing data with third parties. Facebooks legal argument is bogus, Mayer said. The order restricts how *Facebook* shares user information. It doesnt preclude *users* from volunteering information about their experiences on the platform, including through a browser extension. Facebook told Wired magazine that the consent decree required it to develop a comprehensive program to protect user privacy, and that is what the NYU researchers breached.

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Heres more on Facebook and data:

Citizen browser : The NYUs Ad Observatory isnt the only research project using software to pull in data from Facebook: The Markup, a data-driven journalism startup run by former ProPublica reporter Julia Angwin, has a piece of software it calls the Citizen Browser, which  when installed voluntarily by Facebook users  pulls in data from their Facebook feeds, allowing The Markup to see what kinds of news and information are being targeted at them. The tool has led to a number of stories, including one about how Facebook has continued to push users to join partisan political groups despite promising Congress it would stop. Angwin told CJR The Markup plans to continue doing this research despite Facebooks shutdown of the NYU project, and that it has been open about its methodology.

: The NYUs Ad Observatory isnt the only research project using software to pull in data from Facebook: The Markup, a data-driven journalism startup run by former ProPublica reporter Julia Angwin, has a piece of software it calls the Citizen Browser, which when installed voluntarily by Facebook users pulls in data from their Facebook feeds, allowing The Markup to see what kinds of news and information are being targeted at them. The tool has led to a number of stories, including one about how Facebook has continued to push users to join partisan political groups despite promising Congress it would stop. Angwin told CJR The Markup plans to continue doing this research despite Facebooks shutdown of the NYU project, and that it has been open about its methodology. CrowdTangle : Facebook executives have also clashed with each other internally over how much of the social networks data should be shared. According to a report from the New York Times, the founder of the software service CrowdTanglewhich Facebook acquired in 2016recently announced that he was stepping down from running it and that the unit was being restructured, as a result of a dispute within Facebooks senior ranks over how much the service should be revealing about the popularity of certain types of content. Some senior executives were unhappy, the Times said, that journalists were using CrowdTangle in ways that embarrassed the company, such as showing how widespread right-wing content is.

: Facebook executives have also clashed with each other internally over how much of the social networks data should be shared. According to a report from the New York Times, the founder of the software service CrowdTanglewhich Facebook acquired in 2016recently announced that he was stepping down from running it and that the unit was being restructured, as a result of a dispute within Facebooks senior ranks over how much the service should be revealing about the popularity of certain types of content. Some senior executives were unhappy, the Times said, that journalists were using CrowdTangle in ways that embarrassed the company, such as showing how widespread right-wing content is. The lawyers : Rebekah Tromble, the director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University, wrote a research paper earlier this year about the challenges of getting data from platforms like Facebook and Twitter  both of which she has dealt with, as an advisor with the Social Science One group, and as the lead researcher on a project that is being done in partnership with Twitter. While certain executives wish to share data with academicsto truly shed light on the good, the bad, and the ugly, she writes, others are much more cynical. But the big problem, she says, is risk-averse corporate lawyers who tend to win these debates, placing limitations on data sharing not because they see academic research as threatening, but because they fear liability.

: Rebekah Tromble, the director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University, wrote a research paper earlier this year about the challenges of getting data from platforms like Facebook and Twitter both of which she has dealt with, as an advisor with the Social Science One group, and as the lead researcher on a project that is being done in partnership with Twitter. While certain executives wish to share data with academicsto truly shed light on the good, the bad, and the ugly, she writes, others are much more cynical. But the big problem, she says, is risk-averse corporate lawyers who tend to win these debates, placing limitations on data sharing not because they see academic research as threatening, but because they fear liability. Discussion : CJR is planning to host a series of interviews and roundtable conversations next week using its Galley discussion platform, about the challenges of doing research that involves social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. If you would like to be part of this series of discussions, or you know someone who might, please contact me at mathew.ingram@cjr.org .

Other notable stories:

A group of senior journalists from the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, the Hollywood Reporter, CNN, and NBC News have launched a subscription news outlet called Puck that describes itself as a new media company covering power, money, & ego. The roster of participating writers at the outlet  which was founded by former Vanity Fair editor Jon Kelly and is backed by funding from investment firms TPG and 40 North  includes Matt Belloni, former editor of the Hollywood Reporter; former Atlantic and New Yorker writer Julia Ioffe; author and podcaster Baratunde Thurston; former Politico correspondent Tina Nguyen; and former CNN reporter Peter Hamby, who hosts a show on Snapchat.

which was founded by former Vanity Fair editor Jon Kelly and is backed by funding from investment firms TPG and 40 North includes Matt Belloni, former editor of the Hollywood Reporter; former Atlantic and New Yorker writer Julia Ioffe; author and podcaster Baratunde Thurston; former Politico correspondent Tina Nguyen; and former CNN reporter Peter Hamby, who hosts a show on Snapchat. Journalists at Politico, one of the largest non-unionized newsrooms, are actively working on plans to unionize with the NewsGuild, Axios reports. A spokesperson for the company told Axios that Politico publisher Robert Allbritton understands that the decision to form a union is the choice of the newsroom employees who would be impacted by it, and Politico would respect the process and the majority decision of those employees.

The New York Times reported modest growth in the most recent quarter, adding 142,000 new digital subscribers in total  77,000 for its News app and 65,000 for Cooking and Games. At the end of June, the paper says it had almost 8 million total subscribers, with 7 million paying for one or more of its digital products, 5.3 million of whom subscribed to its News app. The company reported $93 million in adjusted operating profit on $499 million in revenue, beating consensus estimates, and said it has $1 billion in cash.

Punchbowl News, a company run by reporters Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer that publishes subscription political newsletters, reports that Axios is planning to launch a series of subscription products aimed at various policy sectors, similar to Politicos PoliticoPro. Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwarz, the founders of Axios, helped create the PoliticoPro newsletter model when they worked for Politico. Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer both used to work with VandeHei and Schwarz at Politico.

The Canadian government is considering two potential options for making digital platforms like Facebook and Google pay media companies for their journalism, the Toronto Star reports. A discussion paper from the government, published online Tuesday, says the first round of consultations with stakeholders  including media companies and digital platforms  was inconclusive, so it is moving to a second round. The first option is the Australian model, where the platforms are required to negotiate deals with publishers or are forced into arbitration; the second would be to set up a fund for media companies and require the platforms to contribute a percentage of their Canadian revenue.

including media companies and digital platforms was inconclusive, so it is moving to a second round. The first option is the Australian model, where the platforms are required to negotiate deals with publishers or are forced into arbitration; the second would be to set up a fund for media companies and require the platforms to contribute a percentage of their Canadian revenue. The Membership Puzzle Project, a research partnership between NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen and the crowdfunded Dutch news outlet De Correspondent that started in 2017, is coming to an end next month, Rosen announced at a summit in New York, the Nieman Journalism Lab reported. Were not sad about it, and we didnt run out of money, either. We planned it this way. Now is the right time to end, he said. The key part of the puzzle is the implied contract between the site and its members. What do the members give? What do they get? What do journalists give? And what do journalists get? he added. The puzzle turned out to be more complicated than we thought.

Ottawa Life magazine says it is standing by an unflattering portrait of the citys police service it published in March, despite a defamation lawsuit from Chief Peter Sloly. The magazine said it plans to file a motion to dismiss the suit as nothing more than an attempt to muzzle free speech about a troubled police force with lousy leadership, according to a report by the Ottawa Citizen. Mark Bourrie, the lawyer representing the magazine, says he plans to file a motion to dismiss the suit as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). Sloly filed the lawsuit in June after Ottawa Life published an article describing what it called cancerous misconduct involving the forces treatment of sexual abuse allegations.

ICYMI: How major media outlets screwed up the vaccine breakthrough story

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Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.
MARMARIS, Turkey (AP)  Wildfires burned for an eighth day in Turkeys Mediterranean region Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of at least one more neighborhood and mounting criticism of the governments inability to subdue the blazes.

Scorching heat, low humidity and strong winds have fed the fires, which so far have killed eight people and countless animals and destroyed forests. Villagers have had to evacuate their homes and livestock, while tourists have fled in boats and cars.

Observers worry that fires in the seaside province of Mugla could jump to two thermal power plants. Flames came within a kilometer of the Kemerkoy thermal power in the district of Milas late Tuesday before the wind changed direction, helping avert a crisis there for the moment.

Firefighters and police water cannons, usually used during political protests, fought back the flames at night as other rescue officials dug ditches around the plant, according to reporters at the scene.

Milas Mayor Muhammet Tokat said Wednesday that the fire was under partial control and efforts to put out the flames in the thermal plant area continued. Tokat added that much-needed air support had finally arrived and said he hoped their assistance would continue to bring the fire under full control.

Videos from an adjacent neighborhood in Milas showed charred, decimated trees while firefighters continued dousing the area with water hoping to prevent another spark from reigniting the fire.

The defense ministry said it had sent two ships to the area to be used for sea evacuations, if needed.

Fires continued in six locations in Mugla, local forestry officials said. Another neighborhood in Antalya province was evacuated as of Wednesday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government is under criticism for its inability to put down the fires, but the minister of agriculture and forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli tweeted that 160 fires in 34 provinces had been brought under control while 14 continued to rage in five provinces.

Thousands of firefighters and civilians are trying to douse the flames. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said late Tuesday that Turkey had hired four new helicopters that would be able to firefight after dark. They would be arriving from Ukraine. Planes sent from Spain and Croatia joined aircraft from Russia, Iran, Ukraine and Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

Authorities have launched investigations into the cause of the fires, including possible sabotage by Kurdish militants. Experts, however, mostly point to climate change as the culprit, along with accidents caused by people.

A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including in Italy and Greece. Temperatures in Marmaris, in Mugla, reached an all-time high of 45.5 C (114 F) on Tuesday.

The Turkish meteorology authority warned that temperatures would rise between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius above seasonal norms around the countrys Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.

Across the sea, in neighboring Greece, firefighting planes resumed operations at first light to tackle a major forest fire on the northern outskirts of Athens that forced thousands to flee their homes the previous day amid the countrys worst heat wave in decades.

The fire in two suburbs of the Greek capital was the worst of 81 wildfires that broke out around the country in 24 hours from late Monday to late Tuesday. There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. The fire burned homes, businesses and vehicles, and sent a large cloud of smoke over Athens on Tuesday night.

Two more major forest fires were still burning on the Greek island of Evia and one in the southwestern Peloponnese.

The heatwave is forecast to continue in Turkey and Greece until the end of the week.

Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The hijackers who captured a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman left the targeted ship on Wednesday, the British navy reported, ending a ship seizure that revived fears of an escalation in Mideast waters.

The incident, described by the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations the night before as a potential hijack, ended with as much mystery as it began.

While the details of who briefly impounded the asphalt tanker and why remain unclear, the seizure once again reveals a region on edge as Iran and the United States seek to broker a resolution to their standoff over Tehrans tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Over the past years, the rising tensions have played out in the waters of the Persian Gulf, where just last week a drone attack on an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman killed two crew members. The West blamed Iran for the raid, which marked the first known fatal assault in the yearslong shadow war targeting vessels in Mideast waters. Iran denied involvement.

Late on Tuesday, intruders boarded a Panama-flagged asphalt tanker called Asphalt Princess sailing off the coast of Fujairah, authorities said. The official news agency of Omans military said it received reports that the Asphalt Princess had been hijacked and dispatched Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft and naval vessels to contribute to securing international waters.

Possible signs of trouble began to emerge that evening when six oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were not under command, according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer.

Satellite-tracking data for the Asphalt Princess had showed it gradually heading toward Iranian waters off the port of Jask early Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic.com. Hours later, however, it stopped and changed course toward Oman, just before the British navy group declared the hijackers had departed and the vessel was now safe.

The owner of the Asphalt Princess, listed as Emirati free zone-based Glory International, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The U.S. militarys Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry also did not respond to requests for comment. The Emirati government did not immediately acknowledge the incident.

Apparently responding to Tuesdays ship seizure, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh came out and denied that Iran played any role. He described the recent maritime attacks in the Persian Gulf as completely suspicious.

The Gulf of Oman sits near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil passes. Fujairah, on the UAEs eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

For the past two years, after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Irans nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed crushing sanctions, the waters off Fujairah have witnessed a series of explosions and hijackings. The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.

In the summer of 2019, Irans Revolutionary Guard troops detained a British-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz. Last year, an oil tanker sought by the U.S. for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the Emirati coast and later ended up in Iran, though Tehran never acknowledged the incident.

And in January, armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran. While Iran claimed it detained the ship over pollution concerns, it appeared to link the seizure to negotiations over billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korean banks.

DeBre reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

About the photo: The oil tanker Mercer Street, which came under attack last week off Oman, is seen moored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The British navy warned of a potential hijack of another ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, though the circumstances remain unclear. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ARIBOBI, Greece (AP)  The European Union promised assistance Wednesday to Greece and other countries in southeast Europe grappling with huge wildfires after a blaze gutted or damaged more than 100 homes and businesses near Athens.

Fire crews in Greece raced to contain the wildfire on the outskirts of the capital that forced thousands to flee, and threatened a former royal palace.

Greece is enduring its worst heat wave in decades, with temperatures in parts of the country expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Neighboring countries are facing similar conditions.

A European Union disaster response mechanism said assistance, including firefighters and water-dropping planes, were being sent from other EU members to Italy, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia.

The EU Atmosphere Monitoring Service said smoke plumes from fires were clearly visible in satellite images of the region. It said satellite data also showed that the intensity of the wildfires in Turkey was at the highest level since records started in 2003.

The Fire Service took advantage of cooler morning hours to send low-flying helicopters and planes to dump water on charred forest land around Tatoi, 20 kilometers (12 1/2 miles) north of Athens, where more than 500 firefighters had battled through the night to contain the blaze. At least 80 cars were burned.

The ground crews did vital work, (fighting) nightmarish fires in suburban forests, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, visiting a mobile control center in the area. We had no loss of human life.  Homes will be rebuilt, and over time the forest will grow back.

Firefighters pumped water from a swimming pool to douse the flames, and water-dropping buckets were attached to helicopters provided by the military. Authorities said more than 100 homes and businesses had been seriously damaged or destroyed, and more than 500 people had spent the night in hotels used as shelters.

Extreme weather also has fueled deadly wildfires in Turkey and blazes in Italy, and across the Mediterranean region. Government officials in Albania said one person had died of smoke inhalation outside the southern city of Gjirokaster, where wildfires forced evacuations.

The fire outside Athens sent clouds of smoke over the Greek capital, obscuring visibility and prompting health authorities to issue warnings to people with breathing difficulties to remain indoors. The grounds of a summer palace once owned by Greeces former royal family were damaged, but none of the buildings.

Sporadic power outages were reported in areas of the city near the fire, after the flames toppled electricity transmission towers, adding strain to the overloaded national grid.

Evacuations continued Wednesday on the island of Evia, while a fire threatened homes, and wildfires were also ongoing in the southern Peloponnese region.

Authorities said 81 wildfires had been reported around the country in 24 hours from late Monday to late Tuesday.

It was another exceptionally difficult night, Civil Protection chief Nikos Hardalias said said while visiting a fire department mobile coordination center in the area of the fire in the Varibobi and Tatoi suburbs of the Greek capital. He said fire fighters had succeeded in reducing four active fire fronts to one overnight.

There is still a lot of work to be done, he said.

The leafy suburbs of Varibobi and Tatoi lie at the foot of Mount Parnitha, next to large forests of mainly pine trees. The fire, which began on Tuesday afternoon inside the forest, quickly raced through the flammable pine and reached the main square of Varibobi.

Some nearby residents took to social media to offer shelter for animals affected by the fire.

The heat wave is forecast to continue in Greece until the end of the week. Emergency measures remain in place all week, including changes to working hours and services, and heightened fire monitoring.

The government provided hotel rooms for local residents for as long as they are unable to return to their homes. ___ Gatopoulos reported from Athens and Becatoros from Argostoli, Greece.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A federal appellate court ruled Wednesday that the Texas Workers Compensation Division may not enforce a law that regulates fees charged by air ambulance companies that transport injured workers from accident scenes.

The panel decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals joined the 4th and 10th circuits in ruling that the Airline Deregulation Act, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, prevents the states from imposing price regulations on interstate air carriers.

The decision contradicts a 2020 decision by the Texas Supreme Court that the McCarranFerguson Act, which leaves it to the states to regulate the business of insurance, pre-empts the ADA.

But the price regulations at issue here do not govern the business of insurance,' the 3-0 opinion written by Circuit Judge James C. Ho says. The McCarranFerguson Act concerns state efforts to regulate the relationship between insurers and insuredsnot between insurers and providers.

The decision affirms an Aug. 2., 2018 ruling by Senior US District Judge Sam Sparks, who issued an order that permanently enjoined the Texas workers compensation commissioner from enforcing the state law and regulations that established a fee schedule for air ambulance services.

Air Evac EMS in January 2016 filed a lawsuit seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, after the Texas legislature passed a law that allowed the state Division of Workers Compensation to adopt regulations that establish a fair and reasonable reimbursement amount for air ambulance services. The law also prohibited balance billing by air ambulance services, meaning billing injured workers for any portion of their fees not paid by workers compensation carriers.

Air Evac said in its complaint that the State Office of Administrative Hearings ruled that a fair and reasonable rate was 149% of the maximum amount allowed under Medicares fee schedule. The company said that decision allowed it to collect from workers compensation carriers only a fraction of the usual amount invoiced.

Air Evac said it and its affiliates operate customized helicopters from 40 bases in Texas and must hire four pilots for each aircraft, along with a team of trained paramedics. The company said the fee caps endanger the existence of life-saving air ambulance services.

Eight insurance carriers intervened in the lawsuit, including Texas Mutual, Liberty Mutual and the Hartford. They argued that the ADA prohibition against regulations on the price of services applies only to competitive markets, which does not exist for air ambulances.

Mary Nichols, general counsel for Texas Mutual, wrote in an editorial posted by the Claims Journal that air carriers regularly charge 500 to 700 percent of their costs and common sense regulations are needed to prevent unreasonable fees.

The 5th Circuit did not agree.

A law relate[s] to price under the ADA so long as it has a connection with or reference to price or presents a significant effect on the price of air services, the opinion says, quoting a 2014 US Supreme Court decision that concerned the ADA.

The 5th Circuit was also not persuaded by the Texas Supreme Courts 7-2 decision in a separate case that was tried in state court. The opinion noted that only four of the justices opined that the McCarran-Ferguson Act pre-pre-empted the ADA; the other justices who joined the majority expressed a different rationale.

We hold that the TWCA regulations concerning the reimbursement of air ambulance providers like Air Evac are preempted by the ADA, and are not saved by the McCarranFerguson Act, the 5th Circuit panel concluded.
Claremore, OK (74018)

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Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Israel already began giving boosters to people over 60 years old. Pfizer says it will apply for emergency use authorization with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the end of August
CORALVILLE [mdash] Anthony W. "Tony" Geltz, age 28 of Coralville, formerly of Clinton, passed away Saturday, August 7, 2021. A gathering of family and friends will take place from 2pm to 3pm Saturday, August 14, 2021 at Pape Funeral Home. A memorial service will follow at 3pm. Burial will be
Shelly Batterfield sits in the chair as Kailei Hacker draws her blood at the Boots & Badges Blood Drive.
Cherokee Nation student doctors who recently received their white coats from the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation include (L-R) Alex Cosby, Breanna Sharp, Megan Tramel, Katherine Cox, and Chet Rotton.

OSU Medical Students receive white coats. July 30, 2021.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Vaccination is not mandatory for people authorized to go out of their homes, along with those set to receive financial assistance during the hard lockdown in Metro Manila, Malacanang clarified Thursday.

"Wala pong mga katotohanan 'yung sinasabi na kapag walang bakuna, hindi makakakuha ng ayuda at hindi makakalabas ng bahay," Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said during his regular briefing.

[Translation: There is no truth to what's being said that the unvaccinated won't receive cash aid and won't be allowed to go outside.]

However, Roque stressed people shouldn't be outdoors to begin with, unless they are authorized persons outside residence (APORs).

RELATED: LIST: Prohibited activities, other restrictions in Metro Manila under ECQ

He also clarified that no proof of vaccination will be asked from cash aid recipients.

Roque's remarks came after thousands of Metro Manila residents crowded vaccination sites after rumors spread there would be more restrictions for the unvaccinated.

Exactly a week ago, President Rodrigo Duterte told unvaccinated persons not to go out, and ordered local authorities to escort "spreaders" back to their homes.

Over 10 million Filipinos have already completed their vaccination, National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon told CNN Philippines.

However, millions more are still awaiting their coronavirus shots.

Justice and Health officials have assured the public that restrictions remain the same regardless of an individual's vaccination status.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5) A faction within the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has endorsed Senator Bong Go as the ruling party's standard bearer in the 2022 elections.

PDP-Laban elected president Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi confirmed to CNN Philippines on Thursday that his group wants Go to run in next year's presidential polls, with party chairman President Rodrigo Duterte as his running mate.

"In our PDP national council meeting yesterday, it was agreed to present to the forthcoming national convention the Go-Duterte tandem," Cusi said in a text message.

But the party's secretary-general Melvin Matibag clarified the pair is not yet PDP-Laban's official candidates, adding it will still be tackled in another national assembly on September 8.

"Not yet final but they [are] the logical and popular choice of the huge majority members of PDP-Laban," Matibag said.

Go, also PDP-Laban's auditor general, said he should be the last choice for president, while there is no final word from Duterte if he will heed the call for him to run for vice president.

He added he leaves his fate to the President, as well as presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, who's also pondering on a presidential bid.

It can be recalled that last month, the chief executive told the public in a speech to "consider" him a candidate for the vice presidential post.

New set of officers

The Cusi-led faction also submitted to the Commission on Elections a list of the ruling party's newly elected officers.

The list indicated the officials appointed during PDP-Laban's July 17 national assembly, which the faction headed by Senators Manny Pacquiao and Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III does not recognize.

The required document, called the Sworn Information Update Statement, was sent to the poll body on Wednesday. It was signed by both Cusi and Duterte.

READ: Cusi named as new PDP-Laban president in Duterte-led assembly; Pacquiao faction questions legality

Pacquiao's camp said they will also submit their own set of officers to the Comelec. When that happens, the poll body will have to decide which one is legitimate, based on which group followed the party constitution and bylaws.

In a statement, Pimentel hit the Cusi wing for making the move amid the surge in COVID-19 cases. He said "politics should take a back seat" in order for the government to focus on the pandemic response.

Pacquiao 'strongest' senatorial bet?

The elected national officers of the ruling party may not want Pacquiao as standard bearer, but they believe the boxer-turned-lawmaker would make a formidable senatorial candidate.

"We are considering Senator Manny Pacquiao as the strongest candidate for our senatorial lineup," Matibag said in a separate media forum on Friday.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Eimor Santos contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  The Department of Labor and Employment said employees cannot be terminated from their jobs just because they are unvaccinated.

"Any employee who chooses not to get vaccinated or fails to get vaccinated shall not be discriminated against in terms of employment," DOLE said in a statement released Thursday on social media.

The statement added that vaccine cards should not be considered an additional requirement for employment.

DOLE assistant secretary Dominique Tutay said in a briefing that employers can encourage workers to get vaccinated because it would give them added protection, but stressed they cannot be fired for being unvaccinated.

"Pero hindi ito magiging dahilan para sila ay tanggalin sa mga kumpanya na pinapasukan o pinagtatrabahuhan," she stressed.

[Translation: But this is not a reason for them to be terminated from their jobs.]

"Ngayon pong ECQ, maaaring dahil merong restriction, ibig sabihin magbabawas...may reported job rotation o pagbabawas ng araw ng trabaho o temporary restriction...so ang maaaring naging desisyon ng kumpanya ay kung sino yung bakunado, sila muna yung papapasukin."

[Translation: During the ECQ, because there are restrictions, there could be job rotation or fewer days of work or a temporary restriction...so, the company could decide that only those who have been vaccinated can go to work.]

Tutay said they have received reports of workers being fired because they have not been inoculated, though he did not give details on where the information came from.

In a separate statement, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte condemned such practices as discriminatory against workers.

"The employers have to understand that the delay in the vaccination of their employees had been due to the insufficient vaccine supply and sporadic delivery to LGUs thereby making it impossible to accommodate everyone. They should be lenient considering their employees remain unvaccinated not out of choice or refusal," she said.

Belmonte's statement came after people rushed to several vaccination sites after some employers allegedly issued statements that unvaccinated employees can no longer report to work.

RELATED: Fake news drives mob to vaccination sites in NCR on eve of lockdown

She added such orders put an unnecessary burden on workers who are already stressed due to the pandemic.

Belmonte said more workers would be inoculated as soon as vaccines become available.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday, Deputy Chief of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Secretary Vince Dizon said 10 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Testing czar Vince Dizon on Thursday said the government will intensify coronavirus testing amid the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant, but stressed this alone cannot end worsening pandemic woes.

"Paiigtingin natin, pati antigen tests ay gagamitin natin. Pero, uulitin ko, hindi iisang bagay ang makakapag-solve ng problema natin sa Delta variant," Dizon, who is also the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer, said during a Palace briefing.

[Translation: We will intensify, we will also use antigen tests. But, I reiterate, this alone cannot solve our problem with the Delta variant.]

Dizon said the country was averaging 56,000 tests a day the past week.

The official stressed that while the number increases, the government will continue to use a risk-based approach due to limited resources.

"Ibig sabihin kung sino pinaka nangangailangan, yun ang ite-test," he added.

[Translation: This means we will only test those who need it the most.]

Calls for expanded mass testing resurfaced anew amid the presence of the Delta coronavirus variant.

Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said the government must boost testing, on top of the vaccination efforts, to make the enhanced community quarantine imposed in Metro Manila as the "last lockdown".

READ: Robredo to gov't.: Increase testing, vaccination during ECQ to achieve 'last lockdown'

On Thursday, the Philippines detected 116 new Delta variant cases, pushing the total to 331.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  After weeks of rains, residents in Metro Manila can look forward to clear skies and hot weather  at least for the next three days, a forecaster said Thursday.

"Nakikita po natin na improving weather tayo simula po bukas hanggang weekend dito sa Metro Manila," weather specialist Ana Claren of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration told CNN Philippines' New Day.

[Translation: Metro Manila residents are expected to see improving weather starting tomorrow until the weekend.]

"Generally, mainit at may pagka-maalinsangan po ulit iyong ating panahon in the next three days," Clauren added.

[Translation: Generally, the weather will be hot and humid in the next three days.]

But for Thursday, monsoon rains will continue to drench Metro Manila and several other areas in Luzon, she said.

Light to heavy rain is expected in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Abra, Batanes, and the Babuyan Islands, Clauren said.

Meanwhile, the National Capital Region, the rest of Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Cagayan, as well as Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, and Occidental Mindoro will have cloudy skies with scattered showers and thunderstorms, she added.

Incessant monsoon rains earlier triggered flooding in many areas including NCR, and landslides in parts of Luzon.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  Nas Academy on Thursday maintained Filipino tattooist Apo Whang-Od consented to teaching the site's tattoo online course, which a relative of the artist called a scam.

In a statement, the digital learning platform founded by Arab Israeli vlogger Nas Daily said the 104-year-old mambabatok herself affixed her thumbprint in the contract, signifying her full consent to the Whang-Od Academy.

Her formal approval came after her niece Estella Palangdao translated the contents of the document, according to the company.

This is the clearest evidence that it is not a scam and achieved the consent of her and her immediate family, it said.

Nas Academy added the artist and her family loved the idea and have been their partner in building the project. It also noted everybody was compensated for their time.

The world-famous tattooist from Kalinga was advertised to teach the masterclass priced at 750, but her grandniece Gracia Palicas on Wednesday said Whang-Od never agreed to do the course.

In a Facebook post, Palicas asked for help "to stop this disrespect to the legacy of Apo Whang Od and the Butbot Tribe," saying her grandmother never signed a contract.

After the warning, Nas Daily came under fire, with netizens accusing him of exploiting Filipino culture. However, his company refuted these allegations, saying it only wanted to share [Whang-Ods] culture for future generations to appreciate and respect.

(Forty percent) of Nas Academy is made up of Filipinos. So for us, this is personal," it said. We care deeply about the Philippines and respect the many cultures and traditions that exist across the country.

The online platform took down the class on Wednesday following the backlash. However, it said this is just temporary and was done out of respect for Whang-Ods family while it resolves any issues that have arisen from these falsehoods.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples - Cordillera Administrative Region (NCIP-CAR) said it has already initiated "appropriate intervention" regarding the matter.

NCIP-CAR regional director Marlon Bosantog in a statement said while they welcome initiatives to promote their cultures, attempts to make profit out of indigenous people's practices without their consent "will be dealt with harshly" through appropriate laws.

"We are thankful for the immediate response and concern from the public," he added. "It shows that the exploitation of our Indigenous Peoples is a public matter deserving of moral outrage."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5)  With the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force set to decide on whether to place Calabarzon under tighter quarantine measures, Malacanang assures the public the government will not run out of funds for financial aid for affected households.

"Siguro sabihin na lang natin na it's not an issue of meron bang pondo kundi maghahanap ng pondo," Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday, when asked whether the government is avoiding putting areas under hard lockdowns due to lack of cash aid funding.

[Translation: Let's just say it's not an issue of whether there are funds, but where will we look for them.]

Roque reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte's directive that no area can be placed under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) if cash aid cannot be provided to affected residents.

Citing Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Roque said the financial assistance can be sourced from dividends of Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).

"Kung 'di pa 'yun po sapat, nandiyan din ang savings. Kung 'di pa sapat, edi kukuha po tayo ng supplemental budget galing sa Kongreso," he added.

[Translation: If those aren't enough, [government] savings are there. If those aren't enough either, then we'll request a supplemental budget from Congress.]

Roque earlier announced that savings of all government agencies will be used for the financial assistance for residents of Metro Manila, when the region reverts to ECQ from August 6 to 20.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who also chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, earlier said officials are evaluating whether to place the entire Calabarzon under ECQ, or just some of its areas with rising COVID-19 cases.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 4)  The country logged 7,342 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, pushing the nationwide total to 1,619,824, the Department of Health said.

The DOH daily case bulletin showed out of the total number of infections, 3.9% or 63,171 are active cases or currently sick patients. It is the second day in a row this week that active cases remained above 63,100.

At least 94.1% of active cases have mild symptoms, 2% have severe symptoms, 1.42% are in moderate condition, 1.3% are asymptomatic and 1.2% are in critical condition.

The death toll climbed to 28,231 or 1.74% of the case total after 90 more people died of the disease. Meanwhile, 7,285 others got better, bringing the recovery count to 1,528,422, which is 94.4% of the COVID-19 tally.

The DOH said it reclassified 74 survivors  23 into active cases and 51 into fatalities  after validation. It also deleted 59 duplicate cases including 52 recoveries.

The total excludes data from seven laboratories  one was not operational on August 2 while six failed to submit their reports on time  the DOH added. These laboratories contributed an average of 1.7% of samples tested and 2.4% of positive individuals in the last 14 days.

The positivity rate or percentage of people that tested positive dipped from over 17% on Aug. 1 to 16.4% based on 41,257 tests reported on August 2. The rate remains in the "high" risk classification set by US nonprofit Covid Act Now which is used by OCTA researchers as basis for their recommendations. Covid Act Now's criteria states that an area has inadequate testing when its positivity rate is above 20% while the benchmark for adequate testing is below 3%.

As for the World Health Organization, a positivity rate of below 5% indicates that the infection is under control.

Health officials and advocates continue to push for precautions against the highly contagious Delta variant. DOH Director Beverly Ho earlier proposed home vaccination for senior citizens to boost immunization rates since only 32% of the elderly have been inoculated.

Dr. John Wong, an epidemiology and data analytics expert working with the government's Inter-Agency Task Force, also suggested prioritizing those 50 years and above, explaining that doing so will decrease deaths related to COVID-19 by 80%.

In Metro Manila, Las Pinas City has the most Delta cases with 14 out of 47 infections, followed by Manila with 11 and Pasig with six. The Las Pinas local government recently announced that queueing for vaccination will not be permitted during curfew hours.

There are nine regions with local Delta cases namely: Metro Manila (47), Central Visayas (32), Calabarzon (28), Central Luzon (20), Northern Mindanao (14), Eastern Visayas (10), Ilocos Region (5), Western Visayas (5) and Davao Region (4).
The coronavirus pandemic has heavily impacted public health by restricting in-person opportunities to live, learn, work and play over the last year, but State College is hoping to ensure public health is never as disrupted again by possibly creating its own health department.

The borough is in the process of conducting a feasibility study to create its own Act 315 health department with local and county representatives. Act 315 authorizes local municipalities and counties in Pennsylvania to create and maintain their own single or joint-run health departments.

The possible health department would be created either on the county level or the borough level and would become the main health authority in its respective area, likely having authority over other community health services such as Penn State Health at University Park and Mount Nittany Health, according to Katherine Yeaple, a member of State Colleges Borough Council.

Mayor Ron Filippelli said the boroughs decision was largely influenced by the pandemic.

It was a kind of wake-up call for the borough and for the region, really, he said. We had never seen anything like this before, and we were pretty much caught off guard.

Douglas Shontz, assistant to the manager and communications specialist at the borough, said another reason State College decided to pursue the feasibility study was to better manage environmental health  such as air and water quality  within the community.

Throughout the pandemic, we heard from many community members it would be nice to have our own health department here to set up our own testing sites [and] set up our own vaccination clinics, Shontz said. But, you want to make sure youre not just creating something for the next pandemic.

The new health department would instead be about engaging the community and improving overall community health and well-being, Shontz said.

Yeaple said she has been communicating the idea of an Act 315 health department to various housing and mental health groups, as well as local businesses, around State College. The borough has been in contact with Mount Nittany Health about the plan too, Yeaple said.

MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE

State College Police charge Woodward man for indecent exposure at Spring Creek Park The State College Police Department arrested and charged a Woodward man on several counts fo

Id say a lot of people dont know [what to think about it], Yeaple said. When I say a health office would have the authority to tell Penn State that it would be a good idea to get people vaccinated then people kind of stand up and listen.

The feasibility study portion of the plan intends to ascertain the costs and benefits of a health department, according to Shontz. The borough has already begun this process and has devoted staff to look into other health departments across the commonwealth to understand how they operate, Shontz said.

State College is also receiving assistance from a member of the International City/County Management Association, an organization dedicated to working with local governments and providing assistance with community services, according to Shontz.

Lisa Davis, director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health and an outreach associate professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, said she was part of a similar effort with the borough 20 years ago.

Davis said while the primary activities of public health occur out of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Act 315 can designate local or county health departments to carry out all public health functions for their jurisdictions simultaneously with the state. In order to do that, Davis said, the borough must submit an application for Act 315 status.

That application is pretty in-depth, Davis said. [Applicants] need to demonstrate all of the data that are normally provided... population, age, economic indicators, per capita income. They also need to demonstrate why that municipality should become its own public health department.

Davis said bringing public health services under local control allows broader management over what services it can provide and increases the possible depth and breadth of those services for the benefit of the community.

Other cities that have done so, she said, found many advantages being part of a statewide network of public health that simultaneously acts as its own autonomous entity capable of receiving funding from the state as well as the federal government.

While there are benefits, Davis said an Act 315 designation also means the borough would be eliminated from consideration of other state and federal funds typically designated to non-Act 315 health services.

Residents may not have to wait long to learn whether the borough will move ahead with its plans to submit an Act 315 application.

According to Yeaple, State Colleges feasibility study results for the possible new health department will be out this fall.

MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE
In a year of stern attention on Republican election bills in conservative states, the Democratic Senate Bill 250 slid onto the Colorado General Assembly's agenda quietly when it was introduced three-quarters of the way through the legislative session and had its first hearing on May 4.
Columbia, MO (65201)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
TILTON - Johnnie Miller Jr. age 74, of Tilton passed away on August 12, 2021 at the Danville Illinois Veterans Affairs Medical Center. John was preceded in death by his mother Pauline Miller, father Johnnie Miller, a brother, and sister Cindy Musson. He leaves behind a sister Judy Calvert of
Google announced that its new system on a chip, called Tensor, will power the upcoming the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones. Google says Tensor will improve the Pixel's camera system and its speech recognition abilities, among other things. The company's shift away from Qualcomm to Tensor follows Apple's path of making its own silicon. Macworld executive editor Michael Simon and Computerworld executive editor Ken Mingis join Juliet to discuss what this shift means for Google, and how the Pixel 6 will compare to the iPhone 13. Then, Computerworld managing editor for features Val Potter and writer Charlotte Trueman will join the show to explain how to intentionally create a successful hybrid work environment. As companies in some parts of the world craft plans to return to the office, the majority say they will permit hybrid work in some capacity. While companies are now used to employees working remotely, fostering an intentionally hybrid-first work is another strategy entirely. Val, Charlotte and Juliet will discuss how to successfully implement a hybrid-first policy and the consequences of waiting too long to do so.
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(Photo : Healthcare Workers: In need of Mental Health Support)

There are over 140 research studies taking place, around the world, regarding the effects of COVID-19 on people's mental health. One of them showed that half of the healthcare workers in Spain, suffered from symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder back in the Spring of 2020, when the coronavirus arrived for the first time. When you are part of the first line of defense, how can you protect yourself? Here are some solutions.

A Global Issue

Mental health has been one of the victims of COVID-19. To understand how deep the anguish was, when the pandemic arrived, you have to look at stats and facts. One that says a lot about the world's state of mind, is that back in March 2020, 3.4 million people went on Google and searched: "Am I having a panic attack?" Normally, this anxiety should have disappeared by now, but it has remained much more stable than anyone could have predicted; or so the studies show.

Those facing directly this pandemic have suffered the most, right from the start. Today, symptoms of exhaustions and profound distress, are common with healthcare workers. When you work as much as they do, continuously, the energy leaves you and it is difficult to get it back. With the lack of time, it is important for these men and women to count on food supplements, that will help them to boost naturally the energy created by the body itself. Elevant supplement capsules have the capacity to do so. This super nutrient comes in to activate the NAD+ inside the body, providing inner energy, that lasts throughout the day.

Not over yet

Psychologists, around the world, warn that the vaccine will not solve health problems, that these workers are suffering from. They look back at the 2008 financial crash, when the psychological effects of the crisis were fully felt, only one year later, as the suicide rate rose by more than 4 % (in Europe only).

Therefore, healthcare institutions have got to raise their level of awareness, about their employee's mental health status. More has got to be done internally, to make sure that they have the necessary means to externalize their feelings and get the help they require.

Plans have got to be put in place, to provide space and time, for these workers to move away from the tension and stress of the situation, so that they can recuperate. This will enable them to continue providing their services to the population, who still needs them, more than ever. Only by offering them a chance to breathe, will we save these workers from exhaustion and other mental health problems.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Sometimes it feels like the world is going to hell before our eyes. Luckily, some enterprising individuals are thinking outside the box to help fix these issues. Actually, thinking outside the box is an understatement. These innovators have ripped the box open, taken a wide-stance squat, and deposited a corn-studded steamer inside it 

5 Painting Eyespots On Cows

Farmers in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana often lose their free-ranging cattle to lions and leopards. In retaliation, the farmers sometimes hunt down the big cats responsible. So how do you save both cats and cows? Maybe introduce an even larger predator to scare away the lions like some kind of bear or the student loan industry? We're no conservatologists. But Neil Jordan, who is, and a damn fine one at that, concocted a much simpler solution.

Jordan took inspiration from the natural world. He noted that butterflies, birds, fish, and other animals with eye-like designs unknowingly (but effectively) trick predators into thinking they'd been spotted. Jordan figured the same strategy might work with mammals, deterring the big hungry cats who often rely on ambush.

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And Jordan was right. After proving the efficacy of "anti-predator eyespots" in a small pilot study, Jordan's conservation team collaborated with farmers and the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust on the "eye-cow" (or "i-cows") project.

It involved 14 herds and 2,061 total cattle, split into three groups. Conservationists stenciled eyespots on the backside of 683 cattle, painted crosses on the rumps of 543 others, and left the remaining 835 unpainted.

At the end of the four-year study, none of the eye-painted cattle had been killed, only four of the cross-painted ones had been killed, while 15 of the unpainted specimens fell to predation. Not bad for a few cents of paint and other minor materials:
On July 20, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc., one of the biggest video game studios around. The lawsuit alleges that the company fostered a culture that encouraged sexual harassment, discrimination, and unequal pay for women. With a constant tempest of trash continuing to build, here's what you need to know about the lead-up to the lawsuit, what it alleges, and how the company has reacted publicly since the lawsuit was filed 

5 Activision Blizzard, And Sexism In Gaming

If you think you don't know who Activision Blizzard is, you're probably wrong. Activision Blizzard has been in operation since the 1970s, creating hits that define several genres. From Starcraft to Call of Duty and, of course, World of Warcraft, Activision Blizzard has made their games household names for decades. They're also the company who, when asked to try adding some less hypersexualized women in their games, found the question laughable:

Sexism in games and gaming culture has a long history. For the majority of gaming's history, sexism was publicly accepted as the norm by large companies and privately celebrated by many fans and developers alike. From the early '90s, discussions of women's bodies in games were focused almost exclusively on the sexualization of women to appeal to a straight male fantasy. This attitude was so pervasive that it launched many a franchise, from Dead or Alive to Tomb Raider to Bayonetta.

The high watermark for this open hostility towards women appears to have been the 2014 controversy Gamergate. Gamergate was an extended harassment campaign against notable women in gaming overwhelmingly perpetrated by male fans hiding behind anonymity and flimsy excuses that aren't even worth dredging back up. Although the controversy revealed the depth of the vitriol against women in gaming, it also signaled a change in how major companies talk about diversity, inclusion, and sexualization in video games. Large gaming companies went on to talk the talk of gender equalitywith mixed results.

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Move over, raw cookie dough snackers and bathtub hair dryers  it seems we have a new contender for the highly-coveted Darwin award  the death-wish-bearing ruffian(s) who decided a high-voltage tower in the northern Utah city of Pleasant View, was the perfect place to hang their hammock time and time again.

There are 75,000 kilovolts that run through those power lines. Its an extreme danger  not only the fall risk but also the electricity," Lt. Cortney Ryan explained to local CBS News affiliate, KUTV of the recurring problem. 'The power can actually jump from the lines and strike somebody,

As such, Ryan says that local law enforcement will begin enforcing laws regarding trespassing near the structure. The last thing we want it is somebody to get hurt, but also damage the infrastructure," he continued. That sends power to hundreds of thousands of people. You interrupt that power, then we look at the risk of people not having power.

So, folks, please don't be dumb. We already have enough of that out there.

For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ on TikTok as @HuntressThompson_, and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
Earlier this week, the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint document entitled Kubernetes Hardening Guidance. Kubernetes is an open-source orchestration system that relies on containers to automate the deployment, scaling and management of applications, usually in a cloud environment. According to the most recent State of Kubernetes Security report by RedHat, more than half the security professionals surveyed said they delayed deploying Kubernetes applications into production due to security.

In addition, almost all the security respondents said they had one security incident in their Kubernetes environment during the past year. Underscoring the depth of security concerns surrounding Kubernetes, 59% of respondents said they are most worried about unaddressed security and compliance needs or threats to containers.

The rapid shift to cloud environments, particularly since the advent of the pandemic, undoubtedly heightens these security concerns. Its little surprise, then, that NSA and CISA felt the need to help organizations deal with security in a containerized environment, which is more complex than traditional, monolithic software platforms. Although the agencies tailored their guidance to system administrators of national security systems (systems containing classified or intelligence information) and critical infrastructure, they encourage administrators of federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government networks to also implement the recommendations.

Within the Kubernetes architecture are clusters composed of control planes and one or more physical or virtual machines called worker nodes, which host pods that comprise one or more containers. The containers house software packages and all their dependencies.

The joint guidance says that while Kubernetes has always been a target for malicious actors to steal data, threat actors are increasingly drawn to Kubernetes systems to steal computation power, often for cryptocurrency mining.

Three main threats pose dangers for Kubernetes

The document spells out the following three most likely threats for a Kubernetes cluster:

Supply chain risk, which poses dangers at multiple levels, including at the container or application level and the underlying infrastructure

which poses dangers at multiple levels, including at the container or application level and the underlying infrastructure Malicious threat actors who can exploit several APIs exposed by the architecture, including the control plane, worker nodes, and containerized applications

who can exploit several APIs exposed by the architecture, including the control plane, worker nodes, and containerized applications Insider threats from actors that have elevated privileges or special knowledge, including administrators, users, and cloud service or infrastructure providers

The 59-page document spells out how Kubernetes is structured, from the smallest unit called pods, which consist of one or more containers, all the way through cluster networking. In addition, it contains hardening strategies to avoid common misconfigurations and guide system administrators and developers on how to deploy Kubernetes. The joint guidance also offers example configurations for the recommended hardening measures and mitigations.

Seven broad Kubernetes hardening recommendations

The joint guidance recommends that administrators:

Scan containers and pods for vulnerabilities or misconfigurations.

Run containers and pods with the least privileges possible.

Use network separation to control the amount of damage a compromise can cause.

Use firewalls to limit unneeded network connectivity and encryption to protect confidentiality.

Use strong authentication and authorization to limit user and administrator access and limit the attack surface.

Use log auditing so that administrators can monitor activity and be alerted to potential malicious activity.

Periodically review all Kubernetes settings and use vulnerability scans to help ensure risks are appropriately accounted for, and security patches are applied.

Dr. Trevor Morgan, product manager at German data protection and compliance company Comforte AG, tells CSO that the joint guidance document is a very good report. Its bringing something to the forefront: data security and its relationship to the cloud. Thats where Kubernetes ultimately comes into play.

Cloud provides false sense of security

We all think of the cloud as our OneDrive or our Dropbox or whatever. Businesses are pushing a lot of data either into their own private cloud, a public cloud, or Amazon, so a lot of information is going offsite. It is no longer within the quote-unquote protected environment of the organization, says Morgan. The real problem with that is for some reason, when we give something away, we just think, Oh well, somebody else is going to take care of that. Theres almost this false sense of security as organizations leverage cloud-based services where security is concerned.

It is this false sense of security that the Kubernetes guidance seeks to dismantle by offering detailed explanations of the various components of Kubernetes architecture and explain how security can be tightened with each component. This report is really critical because they point to the fact that when data goes out into a cloud environment, often powered by Kubernetes containers, threat actors are after the data that youre pushing out there, Morgan says.

NSA-CISA guidance follows Colonial Pipeline, Saudi Aramco attacks

Regarding why the NSA and CISA might be releasing this report now, Morgan thinks theyre putting out helpful information in the wake of a string of high-profile and destructive cybersecurity incidents such as the ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and Saudi Aramco. This report is like a public service announcement. Its a little bit of a forward-thinking education.

The Kubernetes guidance also comes out almost a month after NSA, CISA and the FBI issued a joint advisory warning about Russian threat actor using Kubernetes clusters to launch attacks, although there is no clear connection between this event and the new guidance. According to this advisory, from at least mid-2019 to early 2021, Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS), military unit 26165, otherwise known as APT28 or Fancy Bear, used a Kubernetes cluster to conduct widespread, distributed, and anonymized brute force access attempts against hundreds of government and private-sector targets worldwide. The agencies further warned that these attacks are likely ongoing.

The organizations targeted in the campaign cover a wide swath of government and political organizations, defense contractors, energy companies, logistics companies, think tanks, universities, law firms, and media companies. The brute-force capability allowed the Russian actors to access protected data, including email, and identify valid account credentials they s could use to gain initial access, persistence, privilege escalation, and defense evasion.

At the time of the advisory, the three agencies asked organizations to adopt a series of cyber hygiene measures such as two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a zero trust security regime. The agencies also suggested organizations deny all inbound activity from known anonymization services, such as commercial virtual private networks and The Onion Router (TOR).
WASHINGTON (AP)  Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to preside over one of the largest labor organizations in the world, died Thursday. He was 72.

The federation confirmed Trumkas death in a statement. He had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organizations secretary-treasurer for 14 years. From his perch, he oversaw a federation with more than 12.5 million members and ushered in a more aggressive style of leadership.

The labor movement, the AFL-CIO and the nation lost a legend today," the AFL-CIO said. Rich Trumka devoted his life to working people, from his early days as president of the United Mine Workers of America to his unparalleled leadership as the voice of Americas labor movement.

President Joe Biden eulogized Trumka from the White House and said the labor leader had died of a heart attack while on a camping trip with his son and grandkids. He said he spoke with Trumkas widow and son earlier in the day.

He wasnt just a great labor leader. He was a friend, Biden told reporters Thursday. He was someone I could confide in, and you knew, whatever he said he would do, he would do.

A burly man with thick eyebrows and a bushy mustache, Trumka was the son and grandson of coal miners. He was born in 1949 in the small southwest Pennsylvania town of Nemacolin and worked for seven years in the mines before earning an accounting degree from Penn State and then a law degree from Villanova University.

Trumka was tough and combative, a throwback to an old guard of union leaders from the labor movements heyday. But he rose in a distinctly different era, as union membership declined and labor struggled to retain political power. He often focused on making the case for unions to the white, blue-collar workers who had turned away from Democrats  and speaking bluntly to them.

Trumka met with President Donald Trump on trade and health care issues, but their relationship remained contentious. He called Trump a fraud who had deceived the working class. Trump criticized Trumka as ineffectual. No wonder unions are losing so much, Trump tweeted in 2019.

At times, Trumka challenged blue-collar workers to confront their own prejudices, including a forceful denunciation of racism in the union ranks during Barack Obama's first campaign for the White House.

We cant tap dance around the fact that theres a lot of white folks out there ... and a lot of them are good union people, they just cant get past this idea that theres something wrong with voting for a Black man, he said during an impassioned 2008 speech.

Until his death, he used his power to push for health care legislation, expanded workers rights and infrastructure spending.

Trumka was focused on the future, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said, in the form of the proposed $1 trillion infrastructure bill that he believed would propel organized labor forward.

He saw that if we were using the breadth and power of the labor movement and training it on a single goal that no one could stop us, Shuler said.

Larry Cohen, a longtime labor activist and former president of the Communications Workers of America, said Trumka's death was a devastating loss for labor, in part because of his long-standing relationship with Biden.

His ability to talk to the president of the United States will be very hard to replace. Its a long history, based on personal trust. Its remarkable, said Cohen, who had known Trumka since the early 1980s.

Trumka burst into national union politics as a youthful 33-year-old lawyer when he became the United Mine Workers of Americas president in 1982. Pledging the economically troubled union shall rise again, Trumka beat sitting president Sam Church by a 2-to-1 margin and would serve in the role until he became the AFL-CIOs secretary-treasurer in 1995.

There, he led a successful strike against the Pittston Coal Company, which tried to avoid paying into an industrywide health and pension fund.

Id like to retire at this job, Trumka said in 1987. If I could write my job description for the rest of my life, this would be it.

At age 43, Trumka led a nationwide strike against Peabody Coal in 1993. During the walk-off, he stirred controversy.

Asked about the possibility the company would hire permanent replacement workers, Trumka told The Associated Press, Im saying if you strike a match and you put your finger on it, youre likely to get burned. Trumka insisted he wasnt threatening violence against the replacements. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely not. Do I think it can happen? Yes, I think it can happen, he said.

As AFL-CIO president, he vowed to revive unions sagging membership rolls and pledged to make the labor movement appeal to a new generation of workers who perceive unions as only a grainy, faded picture from another time.

We need a unionism that makes sense to the next generation of young women and men who either dont have the money to go to college or are almost penniless by the time they come out, Trumka told hundreds of cheering delegates in a speech at the federation's annual convention in 2009.

That year, he was also a leading proponent during the health care debate for including a public, government-run insurance option, and he threatened Democrats who opposed one.

We need to be a labor movement that stands by our friends, punishes its enemies and challenges those who, well, cant seem to decide which side theyre on, he said.

During the 2011 debate over public employee union rights in GOP-controlled statehouses, Trumka said the angry protests it sparked were overdue.

Trumka said he hoped then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkers bill to strip public employee unions of their bargaining power could renew support for unions after decades of decline. The move drew thousands of protesters to the Capitol in Madison.

Whether he meant to or not, Trumka said, Walker started a national debate about collective bargaining that this country sorely needed to have.

Remembrances poured in Thursday from Trumka's Democratic allies in Washington.

The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in announcing Trumka's death from the Senate floor.

Richard Trumka dedicated his life to the labor movement and the right to organize, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, perhaps Trumkas closest ally during Obamas presidency, remembered Trumka as the son and grandson of a miner, who brought that family history to the halls of power in Washington.

You know, Rich had a view of the White House from his office, Perez said, recalling that Trumka displayed one of fathers mining helmets in his office. His father and grandfather never could have imagined their son and grandson ascending to such a high level. But what theyd be even more proud of is that he didnt allow it to go to his head. He never forgot his roots.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Atlanta.

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This story has been corrected to show that Nemacolin is in southwest Pennsylvania, not southeast.
HADDAM  A group of anti-mask demonstrators disrupted a Regional School District 17 Board of Education meeting Tuesday night with bullhorns and signs.

Chairwoman Suzanne Sack began the meeting by calling for a moment of silence for 14-year-old Gianna Vincelett, a student who was killed in a hit-and-run last week.

Gianna Vincelett was a wonderful student, lives in Higganum, very well-liked by her friends, very avid athlete, and will be missed by family, friends and the entire school district, Sack said.

According to the video recording of the meeting, Sack was interrupted by someone speaking on a bullhorn outside the meeting room.

Sack excused herself from the meeting and disappeared from the cameras view. When she returned, she apologized for the interruption.

Clearly, my indication to the folks outside that we are pausing for a moment of silence is not having an impact, but, nonetheless, I dont want that to take away from the fact that this tragic accident has left us with one less precious student and the tragic loss of someone at this age is overwhelming, Sack said.

Once Sack began speaking again about counselors available for students, the bullhorn noise resumed. The noise from outside the room became so loud that the meeting was halted for five minutes after one board member said she could not hear Sack speaking.

In the background, signs reading lock up Lamont and unmask our kids, as well as American and dont tread on me flags were visible.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Sack got up again, but she did not stop the meeting. Board Secretary Jennifer Favalora tried to read the letters sent from residents to the board, speaking louder as the noise from outside the room persisted, according to the video.

Protesters also moved their signs into the frame of the livestream camera, and at times, activated sirens from their bullhorns.

A representative for Unmask Our Kids CT told Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday they had no idea if the demonstrators were part of their group.

Sack and Interim Superintendent JeanAnn Paddyfote did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.

christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Michael Meakem, the former chief executive of a Connecticut nonprofit, to two years in prison for siphoning off more than $680,000 from the organizations accounts over eight years.

The Norwich resident used the funds for his personal expenses, including alimony payments, meals, cruises, other vacations, and gambling at Connecticuts casinos, the U.S. attorneys office said through a press release.
NEW LONDON  The Connecticut Port Authority on Tuesday received one of the final two permits it needs to complete the planned $235 million redevelopment of the State Pier into a hub for offshore wind projects.

The environmental permit, from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, authorizes the Port Authority to place several cubic acres of fill between two existing piers on the site, creating enough room for the heavy-lift equipment that will be used to assemble the massive wind turbines.

Additionally, the authority will be allowed to dredge the riverbed around the site and lay gravel to support a jack-up vessel that uses powerful legs to lift itself out of the water.

The decision to award the permit was made by DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes, who dismissed objections to the project that were filed by a road salt business that was forced off the pier as a result of the renovations.

The business, DRVN Enterprises, had argued its dependence on the piers waterfront location be considered in the permitting process. Dykes found the argument unpersuasive, however, noting the offshore wind projects slated to use the site also rely on access to the water.

In her ruling, Dykes wrote that DRVNs frustration with the cessation of its business activity at the State Pier is apparent, but by itself does not support the findings it seeks.

Keith Anthony, an attorney representing DRVN, said Wednesday he would talk to the company's owners about their options following the ruling and declined to comment further.

Work on the pier redevelopment began earlier this year, but has largely been limited to remediation, demolition of existing buildings and re-grading portions of the project site while officials wait to complete the permitting process.

Officials are still awaiting the projects final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could come in the next few weeks, according to a statement released Tuesday by a Port Authority spokesman.

Once the renovation is completed, the site will become a staging area for wind energy projects being built off the coast of Rhode Island and New York as part of a joint venture between Eversource Energy and rsted. The two companies released a joint statement Wednesday praising the approval of the environmental permit.

Commissioner Dykes' decision brings Connecticut one step closer to realizing the significant benefits that a revitalized State Pier in New London will deliver to the region while helping the state achieve its ambitious clean energy and climate goals, the statement read. We congratulate the CPA on this significant milestone

As part of an agreement between the state and the energy companies, Eversource and rsted have contributed $75 million toward the redevelopment of the pier. The overall cost of the project  including $160.5 million from the state  has rankled some conservative lawmakers, who point to much lower earlier estimates.

The project is expected to create 400 temporary jobs during the construction phase, according to the energy companies, who say they will also employ around 100 people at the pier once work on the wind projects is underway.

Connecticut is also slated to receive 304 megawatts of energy from one of the offshore wind sites, enough to power $350,000 homes.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  A resurgent wildfire burned homes north of Athens and blazes across southern Greece forced more evacuations Thursday as weather conditions worsened and firefighters in a round-the-clock battle strove to save a former royal palace and the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

In a dramatic scene as flames approached, fire crews went house to house to escort residents out of homes some 20 kilometers (12 1/2 miles) north of the capital. The fire threatened the power supply to parts of the capital after damaging the transmission network, officials said, adding that fire crews with more than 700 people were working through the night.

Greek and European Union officials described the huge fires as a consequence of climate change.

Fueled by the worst heat wave in decades, the blazes drew closer to a summer palace at Tatoi outside Athens once used by the former Greek royal family, as well as a major archaeological site in southern Greece that was the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

Late Thursday, officials said both sites appeared to be in no immediate danger.

Our priority is always the protection of human life, followed by the protection of property, the natural environment and critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, achieving all these aims at the same time is simply impossible, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an evening televised address. The wildfires, he said, display the reality of climate change."

Earlier, he visited Tatoi as well as Ancient Olympia, where flame lighting ceremonies for the modern summer and winter Olympics are held every two years. Earth movers were being used to create big fire breaks around the ancient site.

As additional support arrived from Greeces military and EU countries, water-dropping planes and helicopters swooped over blazes near the capital, in central Greece, on the island of Evia, and near Ancient Olympia to the south.

Ninety-nine new fires were reported while more than 50 villages and settlements were evacuated, including a beachside campsite and hotels on Evia, where boats were used to transport stranded vacationers to safety.

A heat wave baking southeast Europe for a second week has also triggered deadly fires in Turkey and Albania and blazes across the region.

North Macedonias government on Thursday declared the country in a state of crisis for the next 30 days due to wildfires.

The EU Commissioner for the environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, said the fires and extreme weather globally over the summer were a clear signal for the need to address climate change.

We are fighting some of the worst wildfires weve seen in decades. But this summers floods, heatwaves and forest fires can become our new normality, he wrote in a tweet.

We must ask ourselves: Is this the world we want to live in? We need immediate actions for nature before its too late.

The EU bolstered assistance from member states and partners to Greece, sending firefighters, water-dropping planes and helicopters from Cyprus, France, Sweden, Romania and Switzerland. Help from the Netherlands and other EU members was also heading to fire-stricken countries in the region.

In an emergency measure, public access to Greek forests at risk of fire will be limited through Aug. 9.

Greeces Civil Protection Agency said the fire threat across southern Greece would increase further Friday, with windy weather forecast for parts of the country despite an expected slight dip in temperatures that reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) earlier this week. The heat wave was described as Greeces worst since 1987.

Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said the armed forces would expand their role in fire prevention, with ground patrols, drones, and aircraft over areas vulnerable to wildfires.

Outside Athens, a forest fire that broke out on the northern fringes of the capital Tuesday and damaged or destroyed scores of homes rekindled, triggering fresh evacuations, threatening homes and sending thick smoke over the capital.

The EU Atmosphere Monitoring Service said smoke plumes from the regions wildfires were clearly visible in satellite images, adding that the estimated intensity of the wildfires in Turkey was at the highest level since records started in 2003.

The fires in Greece have not caused any deaths or serious injuries. But Greek scientists said the total destruction in just three days this month exceeded 50% of the average area burned in the country in previous years. An Athens Observatory report said an estimated 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) went up in smoke between Sunday and Wednesday, compared to 10,400 hectares in the whole of last year.

The causes of the Greek wildfires were unclear, but authorities say human error and carelessness are most frequently to blame.

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Becatoros reported from Argostoli, Greece. Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, contributed.
FLINT, Mich. (AP)  Three young Michigan men who were teens when they were part of a rock-throwing incident that killed a motorist on Interstate 75 were put on probation after spending more than three years in custody while their case was stuck in court.

The court hearing Tuesday ended a saga that began in 2017 when Ken White was struck by a rock thrown from an overpass in Genesee County. He was a passenger in a van.
BRIDGEPORT  City officials want a judge to overturn an arbiters order to reinstate a police officer who was fired for using excessive force.

Public confidence is the bedrock foundation of effective law enforcement. No police department can lose the support of the community and be expected to maintain the ordered liberty so essential to our understanding of democratic freedom, the city stated in its lawsuit filed in Superior Court.

In October 2020, the citys police commission voted 5 to 2 to fire officer Michael Stanitis for using excessive force while responding to a loud party complaint at a Colorado Avenue home on Oct. 21, 2017.

The city subsequently agreed to pay $342,000 to a party-goer, Carmelo Mendez, who claimed he was beaten in the face and head by Stanitis with a flashlight as other officers held Mendez on the ground.

Officer Stanitis is seen on video taking what appears to be an object from his duty belt, then keeling near the head of (a party-goer) and strike him several times with what appeared to be downward strikes, the report said. Officer Stanitis was observed on video utilizing this behavior on two occasions during the arrest of (the party-goer), according to a report of the citys Office of Internal Affairs.

The citys police union appealed Stanitis firing and the grievance was moved to arbitration before American Arbitration Association arbitrator Michael Ricci.

On March 17, 2021, Ricci ruled the evidence presented before the citys Police Commission had been neither clear nor convincing that Stanitis had used excessive force on Mendez. He ordered Stanitis returned to duty with back pay.

The city filed its appeal last month.

The lack of clarity in the video hinders the citys ability to convince the arbitrator that their narrative is probable, the arbitrator stated in his report. In other words, the video does not clearly prove that the grievant (Stanitis) struck Mr. Mendez or used excessive force and thus, it does not sufficiently serve as a basis for discipline.

Mendez, who suffered large welts on his head and needed medical attention, also identified Stanitis as his attacker before the Police Commission. However, Ricci stated that both Mendez and Stanitis had described the situation at the scene as chaos.

The arbitrator has no reason to doubt Mr. Mendezs veracity however, there is evidence to question his perception of the definitive facts due to the chaos. Ricci stated.

Attorney Robert Berke, who represented Mendez, said he was surprised that Officer Stanitis was reinstated.

I represented Carmelo Mendez in his civil rights claims against Officer Stanitis alleging excessive force. I had provided the videos of the incident to Internal Affairs, was present during Mr. Mendezs testimony before the Police Commission and had reviewed Officer Stanitis statements and report, Berke said. In my opinion, there were numerous false statements made by the officer which were contradicted by witness accounts and video evidence. The Police Commission reached its decision after an exhaustive and lengthy review.

In a document supporting reversal of the arbitrators decision, the citys lawyer, Raymond Rigat, stated that Stanitis had been afforded ample due process by the Police Commission.

His use of excessive force was captured on videotape. Officer Stanitis was specifically identified by his victim as the officer who pushed a blunt object multiple times to the temple area of his head. Officer Stanitis was caught in a lie that he did not carry his flashlight on his utility belt, when a video capture of his utility belt (as he was escorting his victim to an awaiting patrol car) shows with apodictic clarity that he was in fact carrying a flashlight on his belt, Rigat stated. It is beyond peradventure that public confidence and respect in local law enforcement will be greatly compromised if the findings and decision of the Board of Police Commissioners is allowed to be reversed by a single arbitrator under these circumstances.

Police Union President Sgt. Brad Seely said the union maintained from the start that Stanitis was terminated without cause.

A neutral arbitrator agreed with us. It's unfortunate the city has chosen to appeal that decision and we hope the judge will validate our position and return Officer Stanitis to work," Seely said.

In its reply documents filed in court, the unions lawyer, E. Gregory Cerritelli stated Mere disagreement with an arbitrators conclusions does not transform an award into one corrupted by partiality. In this case the arbitrator set forth in a well-reasoned decision the bases for his conclusion that the city did not have just cause to terminate the grieving police officer. Mere disagreement with the arbitrators decision cannot lead this court to conclude that the award was corrupted by partiality.

City officials did not immediately comment on the pending lawsuit.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  The United States Coast Guard offloaded drugs worth more than $1.4 billion at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.

The agency announced that the crew of the Cutter James offloaded about 59,700 pounds (27,079 kilograms) of cocaine and approximately 1,430 pounds (548 kilograms) of marijuana.
Michel Euler/AP

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will likely miss the band's upcoming U.S. tour to allow him to recover from an unspecified medical procedure.

A spokesperson for the musician said the procedure was completely successful but that Watts needs time to recuperate. The Stones are set to resume their No Filter tour with a stadium show on Sept. 26 in St. Louis.
WINNFIELD, La. (AP)  Alexander Martinez says he fled from homophobia, government persecution and the notorious MS-13 gang in El Salvador only to run into abuse and harassment in Americas immigration detention system.

Since crossing the border illegally in April, the 28-year-old has bounced between six different facilities in three states. He said he contracted COVID-19, faced racist taunts and abuse from guards and was harassed by fellow detainees for being gay.

I find myself emotionally unstable because I have suffered a lot in detention, Martinez said last week at Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. I never imagined or expected to receive this inhumane treatment."

He's among a growing number of people in immigration detention centers nationwide, many of whom, like Martinez, have cleared their initial screening to seek asylum in the U.S.

The number of detainees has more than doubled since the end of February, to nearly 27,000 as of July 22, according to the most recent data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thats above the roughly 22,000 detained last July under then-President Donald Trump, though its nowhere close to the record in August 2019, when the number of detainees exceeded 55,000, ICE data shows.

The rising detentions is a sore point for President Joe Bidens pro-immigration allies, who hoped he would reverse his predecessors hardline approach. Biden campaigned on ending prolonged detention and use of private prisons for immigration detention, which house the majority of those in ICE custody.

Were at this really strange moment with him, said Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, which advocates for ending immigration detention outright. Theres still time to turn things around, but his policies so far havent matched his campaign rhetoric.

In May, the Biden administration terminated contracts with two controversial ICE detention centers  one in Georgia and another in Massachusetts  getting praise from advocates who hoped it would be the start of a broader rollback.

But no other facilities have lost their ICE contracts, and Biden has proposed funding for 32,500 immigrant detention beds in his budget, a modest decrease from 34,000 funded by Trump.

A White House spokesman said Biden's budget reduces the number of ICE detention beds and shifts some of their use to processing immigrants for parole and other alternatives.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a recent congressional hearing that he's concerned about the overuse of detention and pledged to continue to review problematic facilities.

The rising number of asylum-seekers detained for prolonged periods is among the most concerning developments, said Heidi Altman, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

The number of detainees who have passed their initial asylum screening has leapt from around 1,700 in April to 3,400 in late July, making up about 13% of all detainees, according to the most recent ICE data.

By ICEs own policy, these are people that shouldnt be in detention any longer, Altman said, citing ICE's process for paroling asylum-seekers until a judge decides their case.

ICE officials declined to comment.

Martinez, the Salvadoran national, cleared his initial screening in May, which determines whether an asylum-seeker has a credible fear of persecution in their homeland.

But his lawyers say ICE is keeping him detained because it wrongly believes hes a member of the MS-13 gang.

Martinez says he fled El Salvador after he and his family received death threats because he testified against the gang in the killing of one of his friends. He says investigators tried to get him to testify in other gang-related murders but he was reluctant because he had not witnessed those crimes.

I was very scared," Martinez said. "I told the investigators that I was going to leave the case. I didnt want to go through the process anymore because I dont want them to hurt my family, let alone me.

ICE officials in New Orleans declined to comment on Martinezs case and specific concerns about treatment at the Winn prison, citing federal confidentiality rules for cases dealing with victims of violence and other crimes.

Winn, one of the nation's largest ICE detention centers, has long angered civil rights groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center in June called on the Biden administration to cancel its government contract, citing abuse, medical neglect, racism and other mistreatment at the facility, which is tucked in a dense forest in rural Louisiana and ringed by barbed wire.

An agency spokesperson said ICE generally is committed to ensuring detainees are in a safe, secure and clean environment, are provided comprehensive medical care and have their concerns and complaints addressed by staff in writing.

Immigration opponents argue that a more troubling trend than the rise in detentions is an apparent drop-off in ICE enforcement in cities and towns.

As of last month, more than 80% of detainees had been apprehended by Border Patrol officials, and less than 20% by ICE agents, the ICE data shows. Last July under Trump, 40% of detainees were picked up by the Border Patrol, and 60% by ICE.

That means most of those in detention were apprehended trying to enter the country illegally, not from local immigration enforcement, said Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration.

Were simply not enforcing immigration law in the interior of the country, he said.

Meanwhile, detainees and advocates call for closing detention facilities in favor of monitoring paroled immigrants with GPS devices and other measures.

ICE detainees at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey filed an administrative complaint last month with Homeland Securitys civil rights office seeking an investigation into allegations including poor sanitary conditions and medical neglect during the pandemic.

At the end of day, were detainees, not inmates, said Jean Claude Wright, a 38-year-old native of Trinidad and former U.S. Air Force officer named in the complaint. But this is worse than prison.

ICE detainees at the Plymouth County House of Corrections in Massachusetts similarly sent a letter to supporters in June, detailing issues like restrictions on visits.

Allison Cullen says she hasnt been able to visit her husband, a Brazilian national, since before the pandemic.

The couples youngest child was only a few months old when Flavio Andrade Prado was detained, and he hasn't seen his now-2-year-old daughter in person in months, she said.

Were in this never-ending limbo, said Cullen, a U.S. citizen from Brockton, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Boston. There is no easy way to talk to my kids about whats going on and when Dad is coming home.

Back in Louisiana, Martinez says hes asked to be placed in solitary confinement, fearing for his safety.

Two detainees who harassed him for being gay were moved, but ICE officials later sent him to a higher-security unit where he said many gang-affiliated detainees are housed.

He says he spends most of his days in his cell, with limited access to communications and recreation.

Its really difficult and miserable, and Im all alone all the time, Martinez said. Im a good person. This treatment is inhuman.

He wants to settle in San Jose, California, where a friend promised to help him find work. He wants to send money back to El Salvador  his mother has cancer and his younger sister is in college.

I just want what everyone wants," Martinez said, to get out, be free and help support my family.

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Marcelo reported from Boston.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  State lawmakers told Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday that their ongoing investigation of his conduct in office is almost done and gave him a deadline of Aug. 13 to provide additional evidence as they moved toward what seemed like an increasingly inevitable impeachment battle.

Since March, the Assembly's judiciary committee has been investigating whether there are grounds to impeach the Democratic governor over sexual harassment allegations, misleading the public about COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and using state resources and staff for his $5 million book deal.

In a letter sent Thursday, the law firm leading the investigation, Davis Polk & Wardwell, reminded Cuomo's legal team that it has subpoenaed certain documents and expects full compliance from the governor," but that his time to respond was almost up.

We write to inform you that the Committees investigation is nearing completion and the Assembly will soon consider potential articles of impeachment against your client," they wrote. Accordingly, we invite you to provide any additional evidence or written submissions that you would like the Committee to consider before its work concludes.

The letter was released publicly by Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat.

Cuomo's spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, said in a statement that the governor would cooperate.

The Assembly has said it is doing a full and thorough review of the complaints and has offered the Governor and his team an opportunity to present facts and their perspective," he wrote. "The Governor appreciates the opportunity."

The Judiciary Committee has scheduled its next meeting on the matter for Monday.

Findings from an independent investigation overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James released earlier this week said Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women, and that his administration retaliated against at least one of them for going public with her allegations.

Cuomo has denied making any inappropriate sexual advances and insists the findings dont reflect the facts. He's resisted numerous calls for his resignation from most of New York's top Democrats and from national figures like President Joe Biden.

The governor has not made himself available to reporters since the report's release Tuesday and hasn't appeared in public. Photos published by the New York Post showed him working Thursday from a lounge chair by the pool at the Executive Mansion in Albany.

His office continued to churn out press releases about various administration initiatives, as if to project a sense that Cuomo was continuing to govern as usual, but his political isolation was clear.

At least 97 of the Assemblys 150 members said they would impeach Cuomo if he doesnt resign, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on interviews and public statements. Only a simple majority is needed to begin an impeachment trial.

Asked whether Cuomo could try to horse-trade his way out of impeachment or call in favors, Sen. Brad Hoylman, a New York City Democrat, said there wasnt a pathway for that.

I know the political animal he is. Im sure if he could do that, he would, but I dont think anybodys even talking to him, he said. "This is someone whos cornered politically with nowhere to go but out the door. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better.

Dozens of lawmakers told The Associated Press in recent days that theyre worried that Cuomo is too distracted to lead.

Thursday afternoon, the state's education commissioner, Betty Rosa, sent a letter to the state health commissioner suggesting the administration had let the scandal get in the way of important policy decisions about reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Commissioner Howard Zucker had announced earlier in the day that the state would not release long-promised reopening guidance and would instead leave the matter to local school districts. Rosa asked him to reconsider.

The circumstances enveloping the Executive Chamber this week should not prevent the Department of Health from the execution of its responsibilities to the public, as has been promised by the Governors office for months," her department said in a press release.

District attorneys in Manhattan, suburban Westchester, and Nassau counties and the state capital of Albany said they asked for investigative materials from the inquiry to see if any of the allegations could result in criminal charges.

Oswego County District Attorney Greg Oakes added himself to the list of interested prosecutors Thursday, telling WSYR-TV that he will begin investigating an incident involving a woman who testified that Cuomo ran two fingers across her chest and grazed the area between her shoulder and breasts at an upstate conservation event in May 2017.

One of Cuomos accusers said he groped her breast. Others have said he gave them unwanted kisses or touched parts of their bodies in ways that made them uncomfortable.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the Assembly's judiciary committee will first wrap up its probe as quickly as possible before the chamber votes on articles of impeachment.

But its far from clear how long that will take: Several judiciary committee members estimate weeks or even a month.

Clark has asked legislative leaders whether the Assembly could submit articles of impeachment on harassment first and add more findings later. But committee member Tom Abinanti, a Democrat, said he supports waiting to end the probe and drawing up comprehensive articles that could hold up to legal scrutiny.

Cuomo also faces scrutiny from the state ethics commission, which can impose civil penalties for violations of state ethics law or refer criminal matters to prosecutors.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics is looking into sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, his administrations handling of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing home, his use of state resources and staff for his $5 million pandemic book deal and his administrations efforts to rush COVID-19 tests for members of Cuomos circle during spring 2020 when testing was scarce, according to agency spokesperson Walt McClure.

McClure couldnt confirm whether JCOPE has opened a formal investigation, but said that investigative matters concerning the governor are pending before the agency.

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Associated Press writers David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island, and Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  An off-duty sheriff's deputy working security at a car lot in Kentucky was fatally shot early Thursday while sitting in his unmarked vehicle, police said.

Someone came up to the vehicle's window and shot the Jefferson County sheriff's deputy around 2:30 a.m., according to Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson Alicia Smiley told news outlets.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  After the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station recently announced mosquitoes with West Nile virus were detected in five more areas, officials have confirmed the virus was found in insects at the Beardsley Zoo.

In a statement on Wednesday, the citys Department of Public Health said West Nile virus was uncovered among a sample of mosquitoes collected by the station at the Beardsley Zoo.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The next test for Republican candidates who hope to oust Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a September recall election comes this weekend with a fight over a coveted endorsement by the California Republican Party.

The competition for the partys prized imprimatur already has set off infighting and finger-pointing within the state GOP, and there is no clear favorite among four candidates who qualified to compete for the nod. The voting Saturday follows a kickoff debate Wednesday that appeared to do little to reorder the Republican contest.

Parrying over the endorsement comes as Newsom's once-steady hold on his job appears to be slipping. Recent polling points to a tightening race as coronavirus cases climb, mandatory masking orders return in many parts of the state and gas prices keep rising.

The urgency can be witnessed in a fundraising pitch from Newsoms campaign, which is working to energize Democrats who either are tuned out from politics or shrugging at the unusual late-summer election.

This recall is close  close enough to start thinking about what it (would) be like if we had a Republican governor in California, the Newsom campaign appeal said, seeking small-dollar donations. Sorry to put the thought in your head, but its true.

The televised debate at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Orange County on Wednesday gave four candidates a chance to introduce themselves to voters statewide who might know little, if anything about them.

But the 90-minute showdown was absent of scintillating drama or major gaffes by businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley or former congressman Doug Ose. They mostly avoided turning on each other, instead railing against Newsom and the state's progressive drift.

The debate was not a game changer, Menlo College political scientist Melissa Michelson said.

Any gains in exposure for the candidates would have been incremental.

Now we know one of them is a rice farmer (Ose), one of them is in the state Assembly (Kiley), one of them is a former San Diego mayor (Faulconer), Michelson said. I didnt come away thinking, That guy blew it out of the water. 

In the end, the match-up might end up providing material for Newsom to create critical ads aimed at left-leaning voters in the heavily Democratic state, which could feature Cox appearing to endorse eliminating the states minimum wage law, or when Faulconer didn't give a clear answer on whether he would prohibit schools from requiring masks.

There will be 46 replacement candidates on the Sept. 14 ballot, including 24 Republicans.

Another notable point on the debate: The two best-known candidates, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who has been leading in polls, and former Olympian and reality TV personality Caitlyn Jenner, didnt participate.

Without Elder on stage, that probably limits its impact, Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney said.

The party endorsement will be in play at a virtual meeting of delegates Saturday, though only four candidates qualified to compete, Elder, Faulconer, Kiley and Ose.

For the winning candidate, the endorsement would come with campaign cash and other party resources for the final weeks of the race. But a candidate must hit a 60% threshold of votes to capture the partys stamp, a high bar that makes it possible the prize goes to no one.

Some party members worry the looming endorsement scrum could drive down turnout among supporters of candidates who get snubbed, or distract from the overall goal of ousting Newsom. The conservative Cox has accused party insiders of trying to steer the endorsement to Faulconer, a centrist, and declined to participate.

Party chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson earlier advocated for an endorsement but now says she wants delegates to make the call.

In other developments Thursday, a Sacramento judge finalized a ruling that will allow Newsom to label the recall a Republican-driven effort in the states official voter guide. Democrats have sought to link the recall effort to far-right extremists and supporters of former President Donald Trump.

In her ruling, Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl rejected a lawsuit filed by recall organizers who objected to the use of such terms in the informational guide, which is distributed to voters.

Cox, meanwhile, proposed a sweeping tax cut that he said would return $30 billion annually to families and small businesses. Its anchored to a 25% reduction in income taxes.

The race is unfolding in a rapidly vanishing window of time. Mail-in ballots start going out to the state's 22 million voters in less than two weeks.

The election is being watched nationally as a barometer of the public mood heading toward the 2022 elections, when a closely divided Congress again will be in play. A Republican upset in the heavily Democratic state would be a stunning rebuke, and Newsom has warned that his ouster would have national implications in politics and policy-making.

The recall grew out of widespread frustration during the pandemic over whipsaw stay-at-home orders, crushing job losses from business closures and long-running school closures that together disrupted life for millions.

In the election, voters will be asked two questions: First, should Newsom be removed, yes or no? The second question will be a list of replacement candidates from which to choose. If a majority votes for Newsoms removal, the candidate who gets the most votes on the second question becomes governor.

For Newsom, the resurgent virus has punctured a lot of the optimism that was prevalent when cases started to retreat earlier this year, Pitney noted. In addition, wildfires burning around the state and the potential for power blackouts represent risks on his side, he said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  A statue of a Native American woman has been stolen from a Kansas City park, The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday.

A Kansas City parks spokeswoman told the newspaper that officials are searching for more details about the $80,000 statues disappearance from Northland Park.
BRIDGEPORT  Members of Gov. Ned Lamonts cabinet and other high-level state and local officials met with representatives of M&T Bank this week to try to reduce the number of layoffs from the latters pending acquisition of financial institution Peoples United Bank.

Lamont Chief-of-Staff Paul Mounds and others in attendance confirmed Wednesday mornings gathering to Hearst Connecticut Media and said it was productive, though none offered details about whether M&T was reconsidering terminating 747 employees, 661 of those in Bridgeport.

Mounds said the goal was to have a better understanding of the approach to this merger and also a focus on maintaining as many jobs as possible.

Overall it was an opportunity for all of us to get into the room to talk about the joint expectations and goals of the governor, the city and the (Bridgeport legislative) delegation, Mounds said.

The meeting went very well and we should have more details to share soon, M&T said in a statement for this story.

On Thursday afternoon, Peoples United Bank President Jeff Tengel announced the bank had reached an agreement to keep 27 of the 84 branches located inside Stop & Shop stores open. Tengel said M&T strongly supported the agreement.

Peoples United had announced the branch closings in January, about a month before the merger was announced. It is not clear how many people are employed at the 27 branches or if those jobs will partially offset the 747 announced layoffs.

Besides Mounds, Connecticuts Economic Development and Banking commissioners David Lehman and Jorge Perez were present at Wednesdays meeting, along with a staffer from Attorney General William Tongs office, state Reps. Antonio Felipe, Chris Rosario and Steven Stafstrom, and Tom Gill, Mayor Joe Ganims economic development chief.

We did make it clear that the biggest thing to us is the retention of a lot of those jobs, said Felipe, who represents the downtown neighborhood where Peoples has for decades had its headquarters tower, which hosted the meeting. These arent only jobs to us. They are members of our community, important to us and important to the fabric of what that downtown economy looks like.

Announced in late July, the layoffs were viewed in particular as a huge blow to downtown Bridgeport businesses and restaurants still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and relying in part on patronage from area office workers to recover.

An array of elected officials put pressure on M&T to reverse course, from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal threatening federal regulary action (both M&T and Peoples are federally regulated banks), to Ganim threatening to pull as much as $50 million in municipal deposits from Peoples United (the citys main bank is Webster), to state Sen. Marilyn Moore calling for legislative hearings, to Tong writing the banks executives for more information about their plans.

Felipe and Rosario on Thursday said with any corporate mergers some job losses are expected.

They obviously have to trim some payroll, Rosario said Thursday. Were trying to offset the blow. (M&T) came in here and said, We want to be community partners (and) committed to Bridgeport. And then they laid the hammer down  the ax  and it was devastating.

Ganim, who was not present at the meeting, issued a brief statement Thursday afternoon expressing his appreciation to the state officials for their attention to review and help find a positive and impactful solution for all parties.

Rosario thanked Lamont for getting involved.

The governor has been very, very instrumental, stepping in and saying, We need to keep these jobs not only in Connecticut, but in Bridgeport, Rosario said.
NEW YORK (AP)  He said his actions had been misconstrued, his words misunderstood. He said it was cultural: He hugs, he kisses, he says Ciao, bella. He said it was generational: Sometimes he lapses into honey or sweetheart or tells bad jokes.

But of all New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos responses to investigative findings that he sexually harassed 11 women, one that most disturbed many women  particularly sexual assault survivors and their advocates  was his use of a family members sexual assault to explain his own behavior with an accuser.

We will not be moved by Governor Cuomos attempts to use the stories of survivors, including those he harassed, as a shield for his own misconduct and abuse of power all while claiming the harassment was a misunderstanding, said an open letter to be released Thursday by the National Womens Law Center and several gender and survivor groups, demanding the Democratic governors resignation or removal.

Tarana Burke, the survivor and advocate who gave the #MeToo movement its name, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that abusers, no matter their own personal histories, do not get to center themselves in cases of abuse.

In these moments, survivors stories are the ones that should be elevated, Burke said. There are 11 women, whose stories were corroborated, who experienced harassment at the hands of the governor. His familys story does not exonerate him, and he does not get to use someone elses trauma as his own shield.

The allegations that investigators said they corroborated ranged from inappropriate comments to forced kisses and groping.

In a taped statement Tuesday, Cuomo denied ever touching anyone inappropriately but apologized to two accusers, including former staffer Charlotte Bennett. He said he asked Bennett about her love life in a misunderstood bid to help her cope with trauma from a past sexual assault. He spoke of a family member, about the same age, who'd been sexually assaulted in high school.

I thought I could help her work through a difficult time, the governor said of Bennett.

Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the NWLC, said Cuomo was suggesting that he is a hero for survivors of sexual assault, which is an especially disturbing move given all that this report found.

In some ways it reminds me of the father of daughters comments that we hear from so many men in power, Martin said, that we should take them at their word that they care about these issues based on their personal family relationships.

Bennett herself called Cuomo's apology meaningless.

If he were sorry, he would step down. Thats how accountability works, she told the AP immediately following the remarks.

Elaborating Wednesday on ABCs Good Morning America, Bennett said: He insinuated that survivors of trauma and sexual assault cant tell the difference between mentorship and leadership and sexual harassment itself, which is not only insulting to me but to every survivor who listened to him yesterday.

Marissa Hoechstetter was one of those survivors. She said she was saddened by Cuomos reference to his relatives assault because I do not want to diminish those experiences. But, added the advocate for reform in New York state, two things can be true. You can have someone in his family who experienced sexual harm, and he could also have caused this harm.

You feel so gutted when you see peoples trauma trotted out to try to explain away another persons rightful voice, Hoechstetter said.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a Northwestern University law professor who specializes in sexual misconduct, saw Cuomos remarks as part of a larger strategy to discredit his accusers and save his political career.

We often draw on a set of longstanding misconceptions about abusers as monsters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever," Tuerkheimer said. Whenever an accused man looks different from this imagined monster, were more inclined to doubt the allegations against him. And accused men often strategically tap into this cultural bias by highlighting, as evidence of innocence, their best qualities  including, perhaps, empathy for victims of sexual assault.

For Indira Henard, director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the case against Cuomos statement was simple: You cant support survivors in one sentence and discredit them in another.

If you stand and believe survivors, then you believe survivors," Henard said. You dont get to take apart their story.

Many also questioned the effectiveness of other parts of Cuomos taped statement, which was accompanied by a slideshow of him hugging and kissing people in benign settings.

I do kiss people on the forehead, he said. I do kiss people on the cheek. I do kiss people on the hand. I do embrace people. I do on occasion say, Ciao, bella."

Evan Nierman, CEO and president of Red Banyan, a crisis public relations firm based in Florida and Washington, D.C., called it a bold move by Cuomo to assert that hes some sort of a serial hugger and therefore none of the allegations could be true because he hugs and kisses everybody.

Theres a big difference between appropriate physical contact and types of allegations that were levied against the governor," said Nierman, "and so I dont think most people are going to conflate the two.

Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown University linguistics professor who studies cross-cultural communication, noted Cuomo's reference to his heritage. She acknowledged that Italian Americans tend toward casual touches in conversation, but thats not touching sexual places.

That is friendly kissing, she said. So I think that, too, is not really relevant to the most serious allegations.

From crisis communication experts to survivors, many agreed that Cuomos political future seems unsalvageable. For New York and his accusers to move forward, they said, the governor needs to be held accountable.

Simply put, he needs to resign, Henard said, adding that if he doesn't, he should be removed. "Theres no coming back from this.

___

Follow Noveck on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP and Sen at https://twitter.com/mallikavsen.
Susan Walsh/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said.

The requirement would come as part of the administrations phased approach to easing travel restrictions for foreign citizens to the country. No timeline has yet been determined, as interagency working groups study how and when to safely move toward resuming normal travel. Eventually all foreign citizens entering the country, with some limited exceptions, are expected to need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the U.S.
Nearly all of the world's emperor penguin colonies may be pushed to the brink of extinction by 2100, a new study has found, as the United States moves to list them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

If climate change continues at its current rate, more than 98% of emperor penguin colonies are expected to become quasi-extinct by the turn of the century, a group of global researchers wrote in the journal Global Change Biology Tuesday. The scientists' near-term predictions were equally grim: they estimated at least two-thirds of colonies would be quasi-extinct by 2050.

(Quasi-extinction refers to a population being doomed for extinction even if some members of the species remain alive.)

Emperor penguins are the world's largest penguin species. A study published in 2020 estimated that there are about 280,000 breeding pairs worldwide, nearly all of which are in Antarctica. The species is especially vulnerable to climate change because, like polar bears in the Arctic, they depend on sea ice for vital activities including breeding, feeding, and molting, the researchers say.

The penguins breed on stable sea ice locked to the coast, on ice shelves, or on islands around the Antarctic during the winter. Sea ice floes also offer a place for adult emperor penguins to rest or seek refuge from predators.

"There is a sea ice 'Goldilocks' zone," said Stephanie Jenouvrier, a seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a lead author of the study, in a statement. "If there is too little sea ice, chicks can drown when sea ice breaks up early; if there is too much sea ice, foraging trips become too long and more arduous, and the chicks may starve."

In parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the researchers, sea ice cover has shrank by over 60% in three decades and one emperor penguin colony has already "virtually disappeared."

An emperor penguin colony in the Antarctic's Weddell Sea was effectively wiped out in 2016 because of record-low sea ice and early ice breakup, Jenouvrier said. More than 10,000 chicks are thought to have drowned when the sea ice broke up before they were ready to swim. A British Antarctic Survey base in the area has been mothballed in recent years, partly because of fears the nearby ice could soon calve one or more giant icebergs into the ocean, the BBC reported.

Building off information from the new study, as well as other scientific and commercial information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will list the proposal to protect emperor penguins as a threatened species on the federal register Wednesday. The Endangered Species Act has been called the world's strongest law for preventing extinction of imperiled species, and it is increasingly being applied to animals that are threatened by climate change, scientists say.

For species outside of U.S. jurisdiction, certain protections like the mandated use of evidence-based tools to reduce climate threats don't necessarily apply. But a U.S. mandate can still promote research and conservation actions, scientists say.

The polar bear was the first species listed for protection under the act because of climate change in 2008. Researchers say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that the emperor penguin did not warrant listing nearly 15 years ago, in part because of uncertainty in future predictions of sea ice conditions and a lack of significant population decline.

The emperor penguins are a vital part of the Antarctic food chain, preying on krill, squid, and small fish and providing a source of food for leopard seals and killer whales.

"Although they are found in Antarctica, far from human civilization, they live in a delicate balance with their environment, which today is rapidly changing - they have become modern-day canaries," for the effects of climate change, Jenouvrier said.
Seventy-eight graduates of CUNA Management School, held July 12-21, 2021, earned their Certified Credit Union Executive (CCUE) designation. The CCUE designation demonstrates the highest level of aptitude in credit union leadership. It is awarded after completing three years of executive education including exams, projects and an oral presentation.

78 leaders are ready to keep their credit unions thriving through leadership and collaboration, said James Carrick, vice president of learning events at CUNA. These new CCUE designees learned advanced credit union management and operations techniques, preparing them to advance into higher executive roles and provide leadership that engages and motivates their entire staff. I congratulate these newest CCUEs and look forward to watching them drive lasting change in the industry.

CUNA Management School has prepared more than 5,000 professionals to lead change within the credit union industry. It blends academic training with hands-on activities and projects to provide real-world applications to enhance their leadership.
Cullman, AL (35055)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds light and variable..

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Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
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...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Heat index values up to 107. * WHERE...Portions of central, eastern, south central and southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina. * WHEN...Until 7 PM EDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Cecil Howard Hafley Jr., "CJ" to those who knew and loved him best, was embraced by the arms of our Lord on Tuesday, August the 10th, 2021. Arrangements by independently owned and operated Dalton Funeral Home.
Ashland, KY (41101)

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Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Ashland, KY (41101)

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Some sunshine with a thunderstorm or two possible this afternoon. High 91F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

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Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
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Letter to the editor

McCune not fit to serve as West Chester school board president
A 'prison matchmaker' who fell for an inmate she met through a pen pal program is helping other unlucky in love singles find their soulmates behind bars  including her son's best friend.

Chelsea Holmes is the star of the new Discovery+ reality series Prisoner of Love, which premiers on Monday, August 30. The show documents five couples as they navigate the ups and downs of dating someone who is locked up.

'Theres a stigma most people have about those in prison, but most of them are trying to better their lives  not to mention, a lot of these guys are smoking hot,' she said. 'We all make mistakes and we all deserve a second chance at finding love. If this can work for me it can work for anyone.'

That's a first! Chelsea Holmes, a self-proclaimed prison matchmaker, is the star of the new Discovery+ reality series Prisoner of Love, which premiers on Monday, August 30

Dedicated: Chelsea fell for an inmate she met through a pen pal program and is now helping other unlucky in love singles find their soulmates behind bars

Honest: 'There is something about the bad boy in prison that I am attracted to,' Chelsea says of her boyfriend Manuel (pictured)

The self-proclaimed prison matchmaker happens to be her own best client. She has been connecting with inmates through the pen pal writing program for years, but she never let herself cross the line until she met her beau Manuel.

Chelsea was drawn to the felon's rugged good looks and charming personality, and she quickly fell head over heels in love.

'There is something about the bad boy in prison that I am attracted to,' the hopeless romantic confesses in the trailer for the new show.

Chelsea puts off telling her mother that she is dating a man in prison until just two weeks before his release. Unsurprisingly, her mom thinks this relationship is 'a horrible decision.'

While she is an advocate for dating prisoners, there are a number of red flags about her relationship with Manuel that she appears to be ignoring.

Does not approve: Chelsea's mom thinks the relationship is 'a horrible decision'

First date The new trailer for the upcoming reality series shows Chelsea meeting Manuel after he is released from prison

Red flags: While she is head over heels, her friend Jonathan notes that Manuel has a 'rap sheet as long as a CVS receip'

Watch out girl: Jonathan is stunned when Chelsea confesses that Manuel told her he wants to be 'celibate for a while' following his release

Committed: The trailer even shows her and her beau getting tattoos of each other's names

'The fact that he has this rap sheet as long as a CVS receipt is concerning,' her friend Jonathan explains in his testimonial.

When he asks if her relationship with Manuel is serious, Chelsea says they're in 'pretty deep.' The trailer even shows her and her beau getting tattoos of each other's names.

However, Manuel may not be as interested in Chelsea as she is him  at least not sexually.

'He wants to remain celibate for a while,' she tells Jonathan while out shopping.

'What?' he replies. 'You're gonna have to take the reigns and rock his world.'

Why not? Chelsea has convinced both her son's best friend Brey to connect with attractive female inmates

Hard to handle: Brey's father Dexter is initially stunned when he finds out his son is considering dating an inmate and doesn't understand why he doesn't look for a traditional relationship

Sold: However, after sitting in on Brey's first matchmaking session with Chelsea, he is fully on board

Another client! The twice-divorced dad even asks Chelsea to connect him with an inmate

Chelsea doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks about her relationship, and she is dedicated to helping others meet the prisoner of their dreams.

She convinces her adult son's best friend Brey to let her match him with a felon after showing him some of the female inmates who are looking for love.

Brey, who is quiet and creative, decides to give it a shot and falls for Arlette after failing to meet the right woman at bars or on dating apps.

Chelsea doesn't just sell Brey on inmate love; she also convinces his father Dexter to give someone behind bars a chance.

Dexter is initially stunned when he finds out his son is considering dating an inmate and doesn't understand why he doesn't look for a traditional relationship the old-fashioned way.

Thoughts: 'Theres a stigma most people have about those in prison, but most of them are trying to better their lives  not to mention, a lot of these guys are smoking hot,' Chelsea says

In deep: Isa, a college student who is studying education in New York, has fallen for an inmate named Devin

Complicated: Isa feels like she is trapped between two worlds because of her relationship

Backlash: Her friends don't approve of her relationship, which she is hiding from her conservative parents

Trust issues: Isa wonders if she can trust Devin after he sends her an email asking for 'more money'

However, after sitting in on Brey's first matchmaking session with Chelsea, he is fully on board. The twice-divorced dad even asks Chelsea to connect him with an inmate, which is how he gets involved with Yolanda.

Prisoner of Love touches upon the difficulties of dating  and trusting  someone who is locked up.

Isa, a college student who is studying education in New York, has fallen for an inmate named Devin, and while she can't deny her feelings for him, she feels like she is trapped between two worlds.

Her friends don't approve of the relationship, and she can never let her conservative parents find out that she is involved with a ward of the state.

Sharing her story: The show also features Aluntra, who plans on marrying the inmate she fell for, though she's not actually one of Chelsea's clients

Road block: Aluntra has been with her fiance Bryce for over four years, but he has been locked up the entire time

Big moment: The first time Aluntra sees Bryce outside of prison following his release is featured on the show

Reunited: The two share a passionate kiss to commemorate the momentous occasion

Scary thought: Isa wants to marry Bryce and start a new life together, but she is worried he will end up back in prison

Isa is also struggling to figure out how her relationship with Devin fits into her long-term plans, especially because a part of her is concerned she is being played for a fool.

'It takes a lot to really trust him, she confesses in the trailer, revealing that he sent her an email asking for 'more money.'

The show also features Aluntra who plans on marrying the inmate she fell for, though she's not actually one of Chelsea's clients.

'I have a fiance. His name is Bryce, and we've been together for almost four years,' she says in the trailer. 'The only thing is he's been in prison our entire relationship.'

With Bryce just weeks away from being released from prison, she is ready to get married, start a family, and embark on their life together in a new city. The only thing that is holding them back is Bryce's family and his past.

'My whole future pretty much depends on him staying out of prison,' she admits.
The Queen felt she had been 'saved' by then Prime Minister Tony Blair - after she had gravely misjudged the public mood following the death of Princess Diana, a new documentary suggests.

The claim is made in a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary The Queen and Her Prime Ministers, which looks at how the Queen's relationship with her Prime Ministers over the course of her 69-year reign.

Historian Dominic Sandbrook discusses the events involving Buckingham Palace and Downing Street following the death of the Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris in 1997, just four months after Blair swept to power.

In the first days after the death of Diana the Queen had been determined to stick to traditional 'stiff upper lip' protocols and not to be seen showing emotion.

But as public grief grew Mr Blair intervened to persuade her she was appearing hard-hearted and needed to change her approach.

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The Queen felt she had been 'saved' by then Prime Minister Tony Blair - after she had gravely misjudged the public mood following the death of Princess Diana, a new documentary suggests. Her Majesty and the former Prime Minister are pictured at the funeral of the Princess of Wales in 1997

Historian Dominic Sandbrook discussed the events involving Buckingham Palace and Downing Street following the death of the Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris in 1997, just four months after Blair swept to power. The late royal is pictured weeks before her death in 1997

Blair later claimed credit for persuading the Queen to return to London and pay a public tribute to the princess to satisfy the public demand.

The events were depicted in the 2006 film The Queen, written by Peter Morgan - who went on to create the phenomenally successful The Crown about the whole history of the royals since the Queen came to power.

Mr Sandbrook, a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, said of Blair's intervention: 'He understood this, the new sentimentalism that this wasn't a sort of stiff upper lip 1950's country anymore.

'That the sort of ritual display of empathy, which he was very good at, and the Queen wasn't very good at, that was, he could see, an important part of our political culture that's becoming.

In the first days after the death of Diana the Queen had been determined to stick to traditional 'stiff upper lip' protocols and not to be seen showing emotion. Her Majesty is pictured with the Princess of Wales attending the Opening of Parliament in London, November 1982

'Nobody likes to be in somebody else's debt. And I think the Queen probably did feel simultaneously he had saved her, but at the same time, she didn't like the fact that he'd done it or like him for it.'

But, Sandbrook claimed, the Monarch had the last laugh retaining her popularity long after Blair had compromised his, largely through his support for a war in Iraq.

'She's not the person you can't show their face in the street because people who call her a war criminal,' he adds.

The programme also reveals how in their first audience, a world-weary the Queen left Blair in no doubt, who was the boss, saying: 'You are my 10th Prime Minister, Mr Blair. Winston was my first.'

And the programme begins by depicting that relationship, focusing on her relationship with her first Prime Minister as Queen, Churchill, who was unexpectedly returned to power on October 25, 1951.

Blair later claimed credit for persuading the Queen to return to London and pay a public tribute to the princess to satisfy the public demand. Pictured, Her Majesty receiving Blair at Buckingham Palace in 2005

In a recently declassified letter, written to his wife Clementine in 1928 before the abdication of her uncle Edward VIII, he speculated about her destiny saying: 'She has an air of authority & reflectiveness astonishing in an infant.'

And, once she became Queen, they had a warm relationship, which survived up until his retirement on April 11, 1955, after suffering a stroke, when the Queen said: 'For whose wise guidance during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly grateful.'

Her Private Secretary Tommy Lascelles later wrote: 'When Winston had his weekly audience in the Bow Room - I could not hear what they talked about. But it was, more often than not, punctuated by peals of laughter, and Winston generally came out wiping his eyes.'

The programme glosses over the Monarch's next three Conservative Prime Ministers Sir Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, and Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who were all 'members of an aristocratic elite'.

Instead, it focuses on the arrival of Labour MP Harold Wilson in 1964 and their clash of cultures as the monochrome 1950s gave way to the colourful swinging sixties.

A recently discovered document, found in the National Archives, revealed she was dubious about sending a message for a disc carried by the astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission.

The documentary explores her relationship with Churchill, with whom she had a warm relationship, which survived up until his retirement on April 11, 1955. The pair are pictured at the opening of the International Youth Centre in Chigwell, 1951

In the end, she wrote: 'On behalf of the British people I salute the skill and courage which have brought man to the moon. May this endeavour increase the knowledge and well-bring of mankind.'

But the memo from Michael Adeane, dated June 26, 1969, said: 'I write to confirm our telephone conversation and to thank you for your letter of 26th June.

'The Queen has approved the text which you suggested for her message to the moon and would be glad if you would telegraph it to Washington.

'Her Majesty agrees that this idea is a gimmick and it is not the sort of thing she much enjoys doing but she certainly would not wish to appear churlish by refusing an invitation which is so obviously well intentioned.'

Finally it covers her often fraught relationship with Margaret Thatcher - depicted in episodes of season four of The Crown.

Former Labour Foreign Secretary David Owen criticises Baroness Thatcher over her dealings with the monarch in several episodes.

In the first he accuses her of for stealing the Queen's thunder when she took the salute from British troops returning from the Falklands War.

Former Labour Foreign Secretary David Owen criticises Baroness Thatcher over her dealings with the monarch in several episodes. She is pictured in London celebrating British troops returning from the Falklands War

Lord Owen, 83, who sits as an independent social democrat in the House of Lords, describes the former Prime Minister's behaviour as 'disgusting' and 'shabby'.

'I think the Queen would have raised more than an eyebrow,' he added. 'I doubt she ever said anything about it. But she would have thought the less of Margaret Thatcher. It was outrageous.'

The veteran politician also accused the late Prime Minister of having a run-in with the Monarch after failing to understand the importance of the Commonwealth.

The pair fell out over whether the Queen, who was a personal friend of Zambia's President Kaunda, should attend the 1979 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Lusaka.

A recently-declassified lobby briefing dated July 3, 1979, states: 'The Prime Minister stands by what she said in Australia namely that the Queen's safety is of paramount concern.

'British security experts have been in touch with their Zambian counterparts: we are not relying solely on reports  we have had representatives in Zambia to assess the situation, as we are looking at arrangements for the conference generally.

The monarch is pictured with then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attending a ball to celebrate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting hosted by President Kenneth Kaunda in Lusaka, Zambia

'There has not yet been a final report on which a final decision can be based and there is nothing at present to suggest that the Prime Minister will advise the Queen not to travel to Lusaka. We hope that a decision will be taken by the time left for Africa.

'The situation could, of course, change while she was in Tanzania, Botswana and Malawi. We repeat: there is at present no negative advice to tender. The Queen has let it be known that she intends to go.'

However, the Queen, announced independently in the press that she would be going to the conference and Thatcher had to make an embarrassing U-turn.

Another briefing document, dating July 17, stated: 'Lobby could safely assume that Mrs Thatcher would not be advising the Queen not to undertake her tour. The Prime Minister would of course keep herself up to date on the situation in Zambia.'

Lord Owen added: 'I don't think she had any understanding that the Queen had known Kenneth Kaunda for years  and she'd known him even before they became head of government.

'She didn't understand it. She saw the Commonwealth as a weak, insipid organisation and no power.'

The Queen and Her Prime Ministers is on Channel 4 on Saturday (August 7) at 9.30pm
A video of a picturesque spot to watch the sun go down has been viewed by thousands on TikTok - with sunset chasers left in awe at the vivid eruption of colours.

Bare Island is connected to La Perouse by a bridge in Sydney's south east and has recently become one of the most popular places in the city to head at dusk.

A recent visitor filmed the dramatic change from daylight to dusk and said 'colours suddenly emerged from nowhere' as they watched the sun dip into the sea.

Bare Island, off La Perouse in Sydney's south- east, has been described as the best spot in the city to watch the sun set

The island looked just like any other in Sydney by day but by 5.30pm it had completely transformed.

The bright pink, purple, yellow and orange streaks across the sky were reflected in the water surrounding the island.

The video was captured from the bridge which stretched from the mainland to Bare Island.

The bright colours are reflected in the water as the sun goes down

Many agreed the spot is known for its 'crazy good sunsets', with many claiming that 'everyone is Sydney' is already aware of the beautiful spot.

Others had no idea the hidden gem existed despite living nearby.

'I come here all the time, but have never been for sunset, how have I managed to miss this,' one woman wrote.

The spot is known as one of the most magical to catch the sunset in Sydney

Others warned heading to the popular spot to watch the sun go down came with risks.

'You are all getting fined by the time you finish this recording. No parking after sunset, gates closed, the end,' one man warned.

The video which was uploaded by viewswithdav quickly went viral and been seen more than 622k times with more than 82k people liking the post.

The area is protected by NSW National Parks with gates to the carpark closing between 7pm and 5am daily

Bare Island is very popular with locals and with Instagram users with hundreds heading to the bay every year to take photos for their feed

Bare Island is popular with locals and with Instagrammers with hundreds heading to the bay every year to take photos for their feed.

A fort was built on the island in 1885, to protect Port Botany.

The area is protected by NSW National Parks with gates to the carpark closing between 7pm and 5am daily.
A secondary school teacher has shared her simple recipe for mixed berry French toast bake, and she promises it's the perfect alternative to your regular boring breakfast.

Katie Lolas, from Sydney, said this delicious treat is perfect for when you're 'sick of the same old breakfast'.

'Moist on the inside and crunchy on top, this mixed berry French toast bake will have you savouring each bite,' Katie posted on Instagram.

'It's topped with loads of fresh berries, a sprinkling of icing sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup - you can make it ahead and pop it in the oven when you're ready to enjoy.'

A secondary school teacher has shared her simple recipe for mixed berry French toast bake, and said it's the perfect alternative to a boring breakfast (Katie Lolas pictured)

Katie Lolas, from Sydney, said the dish is 'moist on the inside and crispy on the outside' (the mixed berry French toast bake pictured)

To make the mixed berry French toast bake, Katie said you'll need bread sticks, eggs, milk, vanilla essence, cinnamon, brown sugar, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

You'll also need toppings including icing sugar, maple syrup, mixed berries and yoghurt.

The dish is ready inside 60 minutes and serves four people. It can be stored in the fridge so it's ready to enjoy when you are.

To make the mixed berry French toast bake, Katie (pictured) said you'll need bread sticks, eggs, milk, vanilla essence, cinnamon, brown sugar, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries

How to make Katie Lolas' mixed berry French toast bake Ready in 60 minutes Serves four She shared the simple recipe (pictured) on her Instagram page INGREDIENTS One French break stick, cut into small cubes Four eggs One cup of milk of your choice (Katie used oat) One teaspoon of vanilla essence One teaspoon of cinnamon One third of a cup of brown sugar One cup of strawberries, sliced Half a cup of blueberries (Katie used frozen) Half a cup of raspberries For the toppings One to two tablespoons of icing sugar Natural maple syrup, as desired Mixed berries Yoghurt METHOD 1. Pre-heat oven to 180C and lightly spray the baking dish with olive oil. 2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar and mix well. Pour mixture into the baking dish and mix around to ensure the bread is well coated. 3. Top baking dish with mixed berries, leaving a small handful aside to use later. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight. 4. Bake for 35-40 minutes. 5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar and extra berries. Drizzle with natural maple syrup and serve with a side of mixed berry yoghurt. Source: Katie Lolas Advertisement

The teacher (pictured) added that you can use other breads, like regular white bread and brioche

'To make it, start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees Celsius,' Katie explained.

'Then, lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil and combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a big bowl and mix well.'

Once this is done, the teacher said you should pour the mixture into your baking dish and mix around to ensure the bread is well coated.

'Top the baking dish with mixed berries, leaving a small handful aside to use later. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight,' Katie said.

Then, just bake it for 35-40 minutes, remove it from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar and extra berries.

Drizzle some natural maple syrup and serve with a side of mixed berry yoghurt.

If you want to make the dish cheaper, you can also substitute fresh berries with frozen, and it can be stored in the refrigerator or an airtight container (finished result pictured)

The teacher added that you can use other breads, like regular white bread and brioche.

If you want to make the dish cheaper, you can also substitute fresh berries with frozen.

'Keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days,' Katie said.

'Store the maple syrup separately, and when it's ready to serve, heat it in the microwave and serve with maple syrup.'

Hundreds who saw the delicious dish (pictured) said they couldn't wait to try it and it looks 'fabulous'

Hundreds who saw the delicious dish said they couldn't wait to try it and it looks 'fabulous'.

'I am drooling, need to make this,' one commenter posted.

'Yummo! I make one very similar but with apples and pecans on top. Just dice up apple and stew it slightly with a bit of water, corn flour and cinnamon until soft,' another commenter added.

A third posted: 'Wow, sounds delicious. I'm definitely making this'.
Queen Letizia of Spain looked effortlessly chic today as she joined her family out an outing in Mallorca.

Keeping it cool in a light blue shade, the royal, 48, sported a V-neck wrap dress with an A-line skirt and cinched waist.

She was joined by her husband King Felipe VI, 53, who coordinated in a navy suit trouser and relaxed summer shirt with delicate grey and blue polka dots.

Their daughters, Princess Leonor, 15, and Infanta Sofia, 14, also joined them on the day out to a pilgrimage site in Escorca during their summer holidays in the Balearic Islands.

Queen Letizia of Spain (second right) looked effortlessly chic today as she joined her family out an outing in Mallorca. She was joined by her husband King Felipe VI (second left) and daughters Princess Leonor, 15, (left) and Infanta Sofia, 14 (right)

Keeping it cool in a light blue shade, the royal, 48, sported a V-neck wrap dress with an A-line skirt and cinched waist. She is pictured visit the Interpretation Center of the Natural Landscape of the Sierra de Tramontana and the Lluc Sanctuary

Princess Leonor, 15, (left) and Infanta Sofia, 14, (right) also joined them on the day out to a pilgrimage site in Escorca during their summer holidays in the Balearic Islands

Future monarch Leonor (second right) a student United World College of the Atlantic in Wales,, matched her mother in a powder blue dress with short capped sleeves and cinched in waist. She sported the same shoes as her sister Sofia (left) - a grey and fawn sandal with a small wedge and white lace up detail.

Future monarch Leonor, a student United World College of the Atlantic in Wales,, matched her mother in a powder blue dress with short capped sleeves and cinched in waist.

She sported the same shoes as her sister Sofia - a grey and fawn espadrille sandal with a small wedge and white lace up detail.

Sofia opted for a sleeveless white shirt dress and matched her family with blue masks.

The family were visiting the Interpretation Center of 'Sierra De Tramuntana' and the Lluc Sanctuary in Escorca.

The family were visiting the Interpretation Center of 'Sierra De Tramuntana' and the Lluc Sanctuary in Escorca. Letizia (left) is pictured with Sofia (centre) and Leonor

Looking effortlessly cool, Letizia opted for a patterned blue and white bag and white Espadrilles

Escorca is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Serra de Tramuntana, which has the highest mountains on the island of Mallorca. The family are pictured

Known for her effortless style, Letizia kept her look simple, keeping her brunette tresses long and loose.

She opted for minimal make-up, with just a lick of mascara on her face, while her daughters also sported natural looks.

Escorca is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Serra de Tramuntana, which has the highest mountains on the island of Mallorca.

The family enjoyed views of the whole island from the mountain top today.

King Felipe VI (second left ), his wife Queen Letizia (second right) and their daughters Spanish Crown Princess Leonor (left) and Princess Sofia arrive for a visit to the Santuari de Lluc monastery and pilgrimage site in Escorca during their summer holidays in the Balearic Islands

Letizia (left) met Felipe VI at a dinner party in 2002, and the pair enjoyed an instant connection, leading to their royal wedding in May 2004

The former newsreader is the granddaughter of a taxi driver and the eldest daughter of Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez, a journalist, and first wife Maria de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodriguez, a nurse and hospital union representative

Letizia met Felipe VI at a dinner party in 2002, and the pair enjoyed an instant connection, leading to their royal wedding in May 2004.

The former newsreader is the granddaughter of a taxi driver and the eldest daughter of Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez, a journalist, and first wife Maria de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodriguez, a nurse and hospital union representative.

She attended public high school and did a degree at the Complutense University of Madrid. She later gained an MA in Audiovisual Journalism at the Institute for Studies in Audiovisual Journalism.

King Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 in favour of his son, now King Felipe VI.
Sophie Morgan says that people find it hard to understand her disability hasn't 'ruined her life' after she was paralysed in a car accident at 18.

The presenter, 36, was left wheelchair bound after suffering a T6 spinal cord injury in 2003, resulting in paralysis from the chest down, and says she had 'a lot to learn' about her disability.

The London-based campaigner has since undergone a host of impressive projects including presenting Channel 4's TV coverage of the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, with plans to head to Tokyo again this year.

Appearing on Lorraine today, Sophie said that while many people are 'frightened of change', she believes that her disability 'made her life' and has encouraged her to 'live properly'.

Sophie Morgan, 36, was left wheelchair bound after suffering a T6 spinal cord injury in 2003 resulting in paralysis from the chest down at the age of 18, and says she had 'a lot to learn' about her disability

Appearing on Lorraine today, Sophie said that while many people are 'frightened of change', she believes that her disability 'made her life' and has encouraged her to 'live her life properly'

'I think people are frightened of change, they don't want it, there's a fear around it, said Sophie. 'But for me, because my change ended up giving so many positives, I sort of lean into it, I seek it out. I want life to be different and to be full of variety and excitement.

'I suppose I learned the hard way that the worst things that happen to you can lead to the best of life. It's hard for people to relate, they see my disability and think it ruins a life - but I found it to be the opposite, I think it made my life.

Sophie, whose successful television career began in 2009, says that while it was difficult adapting to her injury, it has become 'part of who she is'.

'When I had my injury there was obviously the initial adapting to it and becoming paralysed and wheelchair user at such a young age. There was so much to work out and figure out about my identity, who I was going to be and how I was going to make it happen', she said.

The London-based campaigner has since undergone a host of impressive projects including presenting Channel 4's TV coverage of the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. She is pictured with her fellow hosts in 2016

'I really didn't have much experience with disability, I was the first disabled person I had ever met, I had so much to learn and unlearn.

'But over the years it's become part of who I am and that drives me to think about how to live life properly, because I nearly lost my life, so it matters so much to me.'

She recently starred in Channel 4 series Living Wild: How to Change Your Life, where the presenter meets people across the UK creating new lives around the things they love, from raising rare sheep to farming crops in Wales.

'All the people we met, every single one of them left a mark, they inspire me,' said Sophie. 'They've done this thing where they say, "Life is too short, don't let any barriers get in the way". Everyone we met was so inspiring, so good to be around.'

Sophie, whose successful television career began in 2009, says that while it was difficult adapting to her injury, it has become 'part of who she is'

During the show Sophie was able to ride a specially-adapted three-wheel motorbike and says the experience was 'impossible to put into words'

During the show Sophie was able to ride a specially-adapted three-wheel motorbike and says the experience was 'impossible to put into words'.

'I think anyone can understand the freedom of a motorbike, for me as someone who is paralysed, that feeling is almost impossible to put into words. It's just the most wonderful experience, the thing I love the most is people's reactions going "What is that?".

Speaking of her upcoming memoir, she added: 'My mum jokes often even though I'm paralyzed I never sit still, I don't know how to really stop. Lockdown happened and I wrote a book, it's going to be published next year .'
Two sisters who were torn apart in early childhood have revealed the moment they were reunited, after 25 years apart.

A heartwarming video clip shows Brittanny Bigley, 31, from Saratoga Springs, Utah, embracing Amanda Stiles, 29, from Santa Rosa, California, during an emotional reunion in 2017 - after Brittanny managed to track her sister down on Facebook.

Mother-of-one Brittanny said she feared she'd never hug her younger sister again after their lives forked in different directions in 1993 when family difficulties split them up.

While Amanda was adopted by the foster parents who had been caring for the sisters, her older sibling went to live with her father, who was a different man to Amanda's.

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Separated sisters Brittanny Bigley, 31, from Utah, left, and her younger sister Amanda Stiles, 29, from California, after being reunited - the siblings were separated at the age of six and four

The sisters' lives were forked in different directions after Amanda, right, was adopted following family problems; her name was changed and she grew up in California

After giving birth to a daughter, Brittanny became more curious about the sister she'd lost and made a video explaining why she wanted to find her - the pair were reunited after Brittanny tracked down Amanda's new name and found her on Facebook

While both women had made attempts to find each other over the years, it was only after Brittanny tracked down her sister on Facebook and sent a message that the two made contact, with both left shocked by how similar they looked to each other.

Brittanny, who works in management, said: 'When I was a baby my Mom took me to California and she met my sister Amanda's dad.

'When I was about two-and-a-half and Amanda was one, we got taken away from our Mom and her dad and placed into foster care.

'My Dad got custody of me, and the foster parents we were staying with adopted Amanda. It was a closed adoption, so they changed her name.'

She continued: 'Growing up, my Dad always told me I had a sister and I had some pictures with her and some vague memories.

'My Dad passed away when I was 10 which lead me back into the foster care system.

'When I was about 17 I started thinking about her a lot more, but had no idea how to go about finding her.

'When I was 23 my Aunt brought me some paperwork and it had court files and information about me and Amanda, which helped my search. Then after I had my daughter, I got more of a push for wanting to make it happen.'

Similar: The siblings finally got to meet up in March 2017 in Laguna Beach, California

When difficult family circumstances hit in early childhood, Brittanny's dad got custody of her, while Amanda was adopted by the foster parents the siblings had been staying with

Likeness: With help, Brittanny tracked down Amanda's new name and looked her up on Facebook, saying she was shocked at how similar the family resemblance was. Right: the two girls embracing during childhood

After making a video on social media about her story, Brittanny received a message from her late father's ex-girlfriend who helped with her search.

With new information, Brittanny - who was living in Oceanside, California, at the time before moving to Utah in September 2018 - was able to track down her long lost sister on Facebook.

She said: 'I made a video talking about my story, and my Dad's ex-girlfriend reached out to me.

'She works in the foster care system and was able to help me with a lot of information that I needed.

'I found out that my sister's name had changed when she was adopted, which was a huge fact.

'I looked her up on Facebook with her new name, and when I saw the first photo that popped up my heart stopped.'

Brittanny says she was stunned by their similar features, saying: 'She had the same big fake eyelashes, little button nose, lots of makeup. We looked so much alike.'

After posting a video on social media talking about her desire to be reunited with her sister, Brittanny was contacted by her late father's ex-girlfriend who helped with her search for Amanda

The similarities were remarkable, says Brittanny: 'She had the same big fake eyelashes, little button nose, lots of makeup. We looked so much alike.

'I recognised a picture of her dad. I screen-shotted it and sent it to my Dad's ex- girlfriend, and she confirmed it was her.

'I messaged her on both Facebook and Instagram, and she couldn't believe I'd found her. She said she did have a sister named Brittanny.

It really does feel like a big part of me that was missing for so many years is now finally whole again - that's an indescribable feeling... Amanda Stiles on being reunited with sister Brittanny

'I started crying because we had finally found each other.'

The sisters began talking almost every day and excitedly set a plan in place to meet.

But due to financial and life restraints, the two women did not get the chance to meet up until March 2017 in Laguna Beach, California.

She said: 'Finances weren't the best at the time, I had just had a baby and she was just graduating from college.

'We finally met in person one year to the day that I messaged her. The rest is history.

'We've been in each other's lives ever since. It almost feels like there was no time lost between us. The connection between us was instant. I am so happy to have found her.'

The girls have spent 25 years apart but say they're making up for lost time now and feel like 'best friends'

Amanda said she had nearly given up all hope of ever finding her older sister and now feels 'whole again' after being reunited with her.

She added that being able to wrap her arms around her sister again was 'magical'.

Amanda said: 'From as early as I can remember I knew I was both adopted and had siblings.

'My adoptive parents actually wanted to adopt the both of us together but Brittanny's father ended up getting full custody.

'That first hug was something I never wanted to let go of and the tears were just endless...' Amanda on hugging her older sister

'I had always wanted to meet her. My adoptive Mom and I would at least a few times a year try to find her via the internet but we never found anything.

'I'll admit I felt defeated. I thought there was no chance I was ever going to see her again, but clearly life had other amazing plans.

'When I got her message, there were a million emotions running through my body all at once.

'But the biggest thing I felt was just an overwhelming sense of love and that the empty space in my heart was finally being filled. It was one of the most exciting days of my life.

'That first hug was something I never wanted to let go of and the tears were just endless.'

Both women say they tried hard to find each other during the last decade, but only Brittanny managed to get the key breakthrough of discovering her sister's new name

Back together: 'When I got her message, there were a million emotions running through my body all at once', says Brittanny

Both sisters say their lives have never been the same since they have found each other and both feel that a space in their heart has been filled.

Amanda added: 'We are best friends and talk all the time. It's nice that she's met all the important people in my life and I, in hers.

'We can tell stories and update each other and know exactly who each other is talking about.

'It really does feel like a big part of me that was missing for so many years is now finally whole again and that's an indescribable feeling.

'We have already gotten to make so many fun memories together as adults and I cannot wait to make more.'
As Hollywood welcomes the return of movie premieres and award shows, we can't help but wonder what the role of the red carpet will be post pandemic.

Many experts predict it will be much like that of the roaring 20s when Americans started to loosen up after enduring the devastation of WWI, a fatal pandemic and economic depression.

While we haven't seen the flapper look just yet, we are seeing the glitz and the glamour of the Jazz Age. FEMAIL rounds up red carpet trends worth noting and embracing in your personal style.

French actress Tina Kunakey dropped jaws in a black floor-length gown with a large cutout that exposed her washboard stomach and a thigh-high slit that showed off her toned legs

At the LuisaViaRoma for Unicef event at La Certosa di San Giacomo on July 31, 2021, many stars hit the red carpet in gowns that bared not one, not two, but multiple body parts

SKIN IS IN

At the LuisaViaRoma for Unicef event at La Certosa di San Giacomo on July 31, 2021, many stars hit the red carpet in gowns that bared not one, not two, but multiple body parts.

French actress Tina Kunakey dropped jaws in a black floor-length gown with a large cutout that exposed her washboard stomach and a thigh-high slit that showed off her toned legs.

Emily Ratajkowski and Melissa Satta were a sight for sore eyes opting for billowy gowns that revealed unexpected flashes of flesh, proving that the power of suggestion is much sexier than a garment that is skin-tight.

The alluring trend is all about baring body parts in a variety of tasteful ways, a la Hana Cross and Olivia Culpo

A silver beaded one-shoulder dress with a thigh-high slit made for a chic look on supermodel Heidi Klum

The alluring trend is all about baring body parts in a variety of tasteful ways, a la Hana Cross and Olivia Culpo.

A silver beaded one-shoulder dress with a thigh-high slit made for a chic look on supermodel Heidi Klum.

To rock the trend, opt for dresses, blouses or skirts with cutout details that will take you from desk-to-dinner.

The idea is to expose a tasteful amount if skin while leaving the rest to the imagination. Ditch flashy add-ons and let the flirty windows be the focal point.

Blake Lively attended the "Free Guy" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 03 and made sure all eyes were on her pink gown with a ponytail

PONYTAILS ARE ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA

Blake Lively attended the "Free Guy" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 03 and made sure all eyes were on her.

The "A Simple Favor" actress offset her floor-length pink sequin gown with a casual ponytail, styled in a wispy braid.

Want to rock a long pony like Blake but don't have the locks? Whether you're going for an everyday look or nighttime glam, try a clip in.

Insert Name Here has a plethora of ponytail clip-ins that provide instant fullness and length. They are easy to apply and come in a wide range of hair colors, textures and styles.

Cindy Bruna slayed the LuisaViaRoma for Unicef event at La Certosa di San Giacomo in a black swimsuit

BATHING SUIT'S ARE NOT JUST FOR THE BEACH

She wasn't in a traditional red carpet look but that doesn't take Cindy Bruna out of the running for best dressed. In fact, we think she won.

The French fashion model slayed the LuisaViaRoma for Unicef event at La Certosa di San Giacomo in a black swimsuit.

Cindy completed accessorized her sexy suit with sheer polka dot tights, a wide-brim hat, multiple rings and Christian Louboutin pumps.

For a touch of modesty, the statuesque beauty wore a calf-length coat worn over only one shoulder.

Note to self: don't put away your bathing suit once summer is over.

Cindy completed accessorized her sexy suit with sheer polka dot tights, a wide-brim hat, multiple rings and Christian Louboutin pumps

Karolina Kurkova spent her night in Capri feeling comfy cozy. The model chose to forgo traditional cocktail attire and opted for a fun printed jumpsuit made of luxurious silk.

SILK FOR THE WIN

Karolina Kurkova spent her night in Capri feeling comfy cozy in pants.

The model chose to forgo traditional cocktail attire and opted for a colorful printed jumpsuit made of a luxurious silk.

To make the fuss-free garment appear red carpet ready, the Czech star styled her pretty blonde hair in a sleek low bun showing off her trendy center part.

Statement earrings and high heel sandals turned her jumpsuit from blah to bellissima.

To pull off the look, turn to designers like Camilla or Sleeper that specialize in luxe loungewear.

Laetitia Casta attended a photocall during the Locarno Film Festival on August 04 looking like a modern day boss babe in a tee and wide pants

WEAR THE PANTS, LOOK LIKE A BOSS

There's nothing sexier than a modern day boss babe.

Despite wearing a t-shirt, Laetitia Casta attended a photocall during the Locarno Film Festival on August 04 looking like a total professional.

The model-turned-actress made a graphic tee appear more formal by playing with proportions and pairing the casual cotton garment with a long tailored blazer and wide-leg pants.

Unlike skinnies, the exaggerated silhouette of her bottoms gave her look a high-fashion feel.

Hoping to wear a pair of jeans to your next formal function? Two words: supersize them!

DL1961 and 3X1 offer an array of styles that look sharp and sophisticated.

SHOP THE TRENDS:
A transgender student who spent two years waiting for her first NHS gender identity clinic appointment has revealed she now takes unregulated hormone drugs sourced from an online black market.

Jess, 18, from Brighton, said she refuses to 'put her life on hold' but can't afford to go private - where waiting lists are shorter - to seek the treatment she wants.

Some patients spend as long as three years on a waiting list before they finally see a specialist at a gender identity clinic, according to a BBC investigation last year.

Jess admitted she would 'rather disappear off the Earth' than not transition, and has spent hundreds of pounds on the unlicensed hormone tablets for the past 10 months.

Jess, 18, from Brighton, said she refuses to 'put her life on hold' but can't afford to go private - where waiting lists are shorter - to seek the treatment she wants

Speaking to trans activist and author Charlie Craggs in a new BBC Three documentary Transitioning Teens, she said all she wants to be able to do is to 'look in the mirror and see reflected back what I see inside'.

'I was originally planning to wait until I got into a clinic to start hormones, but then I kept seeing the waiting list go up and up and up and I just thought, it's never going to end,' she explained.

'When I was first referred it was a one year waiting list, now it's gone up to a three year waiting list. You can't just put your life on hold for three years.

'If I can't transition then I would rather just disappear off the Earth. I can't go private, I can't afford to do that, so my only option is to go online and find whatever I can.'

There are over 13,500 adults and over 4,500 under 17s on waiting lists for NHS gender identity clinics in England, according to a BBC News and Care Quality Commission report.

Speaking to trans activist and author Charlie Craggs (pictured) in a new BBC Three documentary Transitioning Teens, Jess said all she wants to be able to do is to 'look in the mirror and see reflected back what I see inside'

Desperate to start transitioning to the opposite sex, patients admitted they are turning to unregulated sources to find testosterone and oestrogen pills, meaning they may be putting their health at serious risk by taking untested drugs often from outside the UK.

Jess confessed she's often left strapped for cash after paying out for the drugs online to self-medicate.

'Some months... I've gone to buy a textbook or something like that and I've been like no, I can't actually get that because I have to save a certain amount of money for hormones,' she said.

'It just adds up and adds up, last year I spent hundreds of pounds on these medications.'

Jess claimed there are thousands of people in a similar situation to her, who have turned to the DIY approach and head to the online black market to start their transitions.

Jess confessed she's often left strapped for cash after paying out for the drugs online to self-medicate

She said she began looking at forums - where people share their experiences with different drug suppliers and hormone doses - when she was 17.

'I just started looking online, I did so much research and there are forums which have thousands of members. There are loads of people in the same position,' she explained, adding that one forum has 18,000 members.

'These kind of things that you see on here are things that you should really be bringing up with doctors - abnormal bleeding, stuff like that. You should be able to go to a specialist, you shouldn't be on here asking for advice.'

Charlie, who started her transition from male to female seven years ago, said she never considered the idea of self-medicating because it's impossible to know what you're taking and she'd heard stories of girls having strokes and heart attacks.

Asked how she goes about finding a safe supplier, Jess admitted: 'You just have to go off word of mouth, yeah of course [I worry about what's in them].'

Jess claimed there are thousands of people in a similar situation to her, who have turned to the DIY approach and head to the online black market to start their transitions

'There's no one overseeing this, it's all black market. You send the money and hope what you get is hormones. I don't know who to turn to when something goes wrong.'

NHS England, which has a target waiting time of 18 weeks for a first appointment, said demand for gender identity services is rising and there are not enough suitably qualified doctors.

Many of the websites selling the hormones are not based in the UK  meaning they may be produced away from Britain's strict regulations  and demand payment by Bitcoin or bank transfer.

It is illegal to sell testosterone drugs, but it is not illegal to buy or possess them for personal use.

And many patients may turn to oestrogen hormones which are intended for menopausal women in order to get their dose.

There are huge health risks of taking hormones without doctor supervision, experts stress.

During the documentary presenter Charlie spoke to suspended doctor Helen Webberley, who in 2018 was convicted and fined for failing to register her online clinic, from which she dispensed transgender drugs

Those who take oestrogen could experience a pulmonary embolism, whereby a blood clot travels to the lungs and blocks an artery. Liver damage could also occur if patients are not being monitored.

They may also feel disheartened if the drugs do not give the desired effect, because they are actually fake.

During the documentary presenter Charlie spoke to suspended doctor Helen Webberley, who in 2018 was convicted and fined for failing to register her online clinic, from which she dispensed transgender drugs.

She is co-founder of a thriving international business called GenderGP, which sells sex hormones from its website for up to 100 a month to British children. It's the only private clinic in England and Wales that prescribes hormones to under 16s.

She was criticised for prescribing medication faster than the NHS and is currently being investigated by the GMC after complaints by other doctors were lodged against her. She hasn't worked as a doctor since April 2017.

Dr Webberley appeared to suggest part of the problem with waiting times is the lengthy assessment period doctors are required to carry out to establish whether a person is indeed transgender.

'This isn't about filling in a form and getting a prescription the next day, but what this isn't about is six months to a year worth of assessments for me to say OK I believe you now, you're trans,' she told Charlie.

Charlie, who started her transition from male to female seven years ago, said she never considered the idea of self-medicating because it's impossible to know what you're taking and she'd heard stories of girls having strokes and heart attacks

'Why do we need big long assessment periods to prove, why should I prove that anybody else is or isn't transgender? I don't think it's our job to validate anybody's gender and that's really important.

'And if ever there is an alarm bell, we need a bit more support there. We provide counselling if the person wants counselling.'

Last year an investigation by the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme showed the differences in wait times across the UK.

The longest wait from referral to a gender identity clinic was in Belfast, where patients waited a maximum of three years (166 weeks), treble the target time of one year (52 weeks).

Second worst was Nottinghamshire, where waits stretched up to two years and nine months (145 weeks) just for an appointment.

This was followed by Northumberland, where people could face up to two years and five months (127 weeks). The NHS in England has a target time of 18 weeks.

In Wales, where there is no waiting time target, patients may have to wait up to two years (104 weeks).

Transgender patients wait up to three years to get an appointment at a gender identity clinic after referral (Belfast). A Freedom of Information request by the Victoria Derbyshire programme shows patients in Nottinghamshire wait a maximum of two years and nine months (145 weeks). NHS Highland's gender identity clinic, in Scotland, has the shortest maximum wait of 32 weeks. Some countries have target times - NHS England's is 18 weeks

The NHS Highland gender identity clinic, in Scotland, has the shortest maximum wait of 32 weeks.

The Royal College of General Practitioners, which represents GPs, raised concerns about the consequences of rapidly increasing referrals in 2019.

It reported gender identity clinics in England have seen a 240 per cent overall increase in referrals over five years.

In a statement, the RCGP said: 'There is an urgent need to increase the capacity of gender identity specialists and clinics and expand the understanding of gender variance issues across the entire health system.'

It is understood that wait times are part due to a lack of medical professionals wanting to specialise in trans healthcare. A new Royal College of Physicians pathway had been established for this reason.

NHS England told the BBC in a statement: 'As more people feel able to seek support and treatment, the demand for gender identity services has greatly increased.

'In recent years we've increased investment to respond to the rising demand, with staff working hard to support patients to get the right care as quickly as possible.

'From the spring a new service will be piloted in London that will increase capacity in gender identity services.'

A spokesman for the Scottish government, of which NHS Health Scotland is a branch, said long waiting times for patients were 'unacceptable'.

He said: 'Gender identity clinics are a very specialised resource, and while people are waiting to be assessed they still have access to a full range of community mental health and well-being services appropriate to their situation and needs.'

Transitioning Teens is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Hoda Kotb has reunited with her daughters Haley and Hope after returning home from Tokyo, and the family celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and plenty of fanfare.

The Today co-anchor arrived in New York on Wednesday after spending a week and a half covering the Olympics, a whirlwind trip that ended with her coming home on the same 14-hour flight from Japan as star gymnast Simone Biles.

Fresh off her flight, Hoda, 56, opened up about her experience during a behind-the-scenes special that aired on Today AllDay Thursday. The mom told Al Roker all about the heartwarming welcome she received from her daughters Haley, four, and Hope, two, when she returned to their Long Island home.

Special dinner: Hoda Kotb, pictured with her two-year-old daughter Hope, had a heartwarming reunion with her children on Wednesday after returning home from Tokyo

Aww! The mom, pictured with her four-year-old daughter Haley, shared spaghetti with her kids Lady and the Tramp-style while dining al fresco at restaurant near their Long Island home

'I had a ticker-tape parade. It was like a mini ticker-tape parade with these two kids,' she said. 'It was amazing to come home.'

The journalist's daughters were so excited to see her that they made signs and sat by the front door while awaiting her arrival.

'They had two chairs out, pulled up to the front door, they were waiting when I got there,' Hoda explained. 'It was the cutest, sweetest  I just hung on last night. I just hung on tight last night.'

The mother of two shared photos of their sweet reunion on Instagram on Thursday, including snapshots of Haley making her a sign and waiting by the door with her little sister.

Ready for mom's arrival! Hoda shared photos from the reunion, including a snapshot of Haley making her a sign

Too cute! Haley and Hope pulled chairs to the front door and waited for their mom to come home

After a welcome home that likely included plenty of hugs and kisses, the family enjoyed an al fresco dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Hoda shared photos of herself sharing spaghetti noodles Lady and the Tramp-style with each of her daughters

Although Hoda's fiance Joel Schiffman didn't appear in any of the photos, he was likely the one behind the camera documenting the reunion.

Haley actually helped her mom pack before she left for Tokyo, and the little girl sweetly added her own dress into the mix.

Time to leave: Hoda, who spent about a week and half covering the Olympics, waved goodbye to Tokyo before flying home

What luck! The gymnastics fan was thrilled Simone Biles was on her 14-hour flight to New York and snapped a selfie with the Olympian

Candid: Hoda opened up about her reunion with her daughters during a behind-the-scenes special that aired on Today AllDay on Thursday, saying it was 'a mini ticker-tape parade'

'When ur daughter packs one of her dresses in your bag! Xoxo,' captioned a photo of herself holding the surprise addition up to her face.

Hoda considered Haley's star dress to be a good luck charm, and she carried it around with her while cheering on Team USA.

The Today star waved around the dress in excitement while watching U.S. gymnasts Simone, 24, and Sunisa Lee, 18, compete in the women's gymnastics balance beam finals on Tuesday.

Simone ended up winning the bronze in the competition, while Suni placed fifth. During an interview with the team after the competition, Hoda showed them what she had been waving in the stadium.

'So this is what I was waving. This is my daughter's dress,' the mom explained. 'She put it in my luggage for good luck, so I took it to the meet and I just started twirling it around and it gave me good luck for all of you.'

So sweet: Haley actually helped her mom pack before she left for Tokyo, and the little girl sweetly added her own dress into the mix

Doting mom: Hoda considered Haley's star dress to be a good luck charm, and she carried it around with her while cheering on Team USA

Precious: Hoda showed the dress to the U.S. gymnastics team on Tuesday, explaining that was what she was waving around at the balance beam finals that day

The gymnasts were touched by the story and let out a collective, 'Aww.'

Hoda told Al on Thursday's special that Haley would see the dress when she was watching her on TV.

'I took it everywhere with me,' she said. 'Haley kept seeing the dress, and she was like, "Thats my dress! Thats my dress!" And she was asking about if Simone [Biles] got to see it, did Simone see her dress, and yes, she did.'

And that wasn't the only surprise Haley had in store for her. The little girl also took to Hoda's Instagram account ahead of her trip to Tokyo to post a video of herself saying, 'Congratulations USA.'

'She goes, "I may have posted on Insta." Well, she don't know Insta. She's four, so I was like ha ha ha,' Hoda explained on the Today show at the time.

Best mom ever: Hoda said Haley kept asking her if Simone saw her star dress, and she confirmed that the gymnast did

Tech savvy: Haley also surprised her mom by taking to Hoda's Instagram account ahead of her trip to Tokyo to post a video of herself saying, 'Congratulations USA'

Support system: Hoda was one of Team USA's biggest cheerleaders in Tokyo, and she yelled support to Simone when she withdrew from the women's gymnastics team final last week

It was Hoda's colleague who alerted her to the adorable post when she arrived at the airport before their departure.

'I look, she figured out to, boop, post it, so now Mama's going to have to crack down on the phone usage,' she said, laughing.

Hoda's incredible trip to Tokyo came to a special end when she arrived at Tokyo International Airport for her return trip to New York and realized she was flying home with Simone and the rest of the U.S. gymnastics team.

'As I am getting my bag and getting on there, I see Simone. Simone Biles was on my flight,' she said on Thursday's special, as the crowd at the plaza cheered. 'I see Grace [McCallum]. I see Suni. I see Jade [Carey]. I see Jordan [Chiles].

Back together: Hoda and her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie reunited the the U.S. gymnastics team in Studio 1A on Thursday morning

Emotional: Hoda's eyes welled up with tears as she watched Sunisa Lee hug her father after seeing her family for the first time since she won gold in the all-around final

'Like the whole crew was on our flight. They were adorable. They were like little girls with huge bags getting on the flight. It was amazing. It was really fun.'

Hoda took a selfie with Simone on the flight, writing on Instagram: 'Looky looky who is on my flight... lucky me! Welcome home @simonebiles.'

The Today star also saw the team on Thursday's show in Studio 1A, where Suni had an emotional reunion with her family for the first time since she won the gold in the all-around final at the Olympics.

Hoda's eyes welled up with tears as Suni hugged her parents after weeks apart.

'I haven't seen them in so long,' Suni said. 'To see them here with me in New York is absolutely amazing. I feel so proud. I'm so happy to see them.'
Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt have opened up about the paranormal encounters they've had inside the Playboy Mansion, saying they've both seen female ghosts in Hugh Hefner's Gothic-Tudor home.

The former Girls Next Door stars, who lived in the mansion as the Hefner's girlfriends in the early 2000s, have not only remained friends over the years, but they also share a passion for ghost hunting.

'The mansion is a home thats very intriguing for so many reasons,' Madison, 41, told Nylon. 'People talk about it being haunted. Theres all these weird urban legends like trafficking tunnels. It takes on a life of its own.'

Paranormal activity: Holly Madison (right) and Bridget Marquardt (left) have claimed to have seen modern-day female ghosts wandering the Playboy Mansion while they were living there

Is it true? Various people have claimed the mansion is haunted over the years, with reports of scantily-clad female ghosts and the spirit of an older man haunting its hallways

Built in 1927 and located in the Holmby Hills, the Playboy Mansion features 29 rooms, a wine cellar, and a grand hall, as well as a swimming pool with its own grotto.

Hefner, the founder of the Playboy publishing empire, lived there for 43 years before his death in September 2017.

Various people have claimed the mansion is haunted over the years, with reports of scantily-clad female ghosts and the spirit of an older man haunting its hallways.

Madison explained that neighbors would call it 'the haunted house' in the early 1970s because the creepy estate looked like something straight out of Scooby-Doo.

Throwback: The former Girls Next Door stars lived in the mansion as Hefner's girlfriends in the early 2000s, and they both moved out when the reality show ended in 2009

Property: Built in 1927 and located in the Holmby Hills, the Playboy Mansion features 29 rooms, a wine cellar, and a grand hall, as well as a swimming pool with its own grotto

Legacy: Hefner, the founder of the Playboy publishing empire, lived there for 43 years before his death in September 2017

The Down the Rabbit Hole said the Playboy Mansion was just one of the haunted houses she has lived in over the years, though she was a reluctant believer at first.

Marquardt, 47, has had a similar connection to the supernatural over the course of her life, and she told Nylon that she feels she was 'born spooky.'

She started taking classes in paranormal investigation and research while living in the mansion, and her interest played out on the show. In the first season of The Girls Next Door, she hired a paranormal investigator and a medium to host a seance at the supposedly haunted mansion.

Marquardt turned the hobby into a career after getting certified in paranormal investigation and in parapsychology, which she continues to study.

She launched her spirit-focused podcast Ghost Magnet in 2019, with Madison joining her as a guest on the show to talk about the haunted Playboy Mansion in an episode cheekily titled 'Holly Madison and the Ghosts Next Door.'

Say what? Madison told Nylon that she saw a woman with highlighted blonde hair and workout clothes in the mansion's basement gym before she vanished

Scary! Marquardt, who is now a celebrity paranormal investigator, said that she saw a woman with 'long, black stringy hair' standing in her room and then disappear

On the show, Madison detailed how she was working out on the treadmill in the basement gym when a 'very contemporary looking' woman walked out of the tanning room.

She said the stranger had highlighted blonde hair in a ponytail and was wearing a hot pink workout top and black pants. While she didn't look like the typical Playmate at the time, she resembled someone who would hang around the mansion.

'She didn't look at me or acknowledge me at all,' Madison recalled. 'She just was looking straight forward and walked toward where the weights were, which were around the corner from where I was standing. So I was like, okay weird.'

After finishing her workout, she decided to introduce herself. That's when she realized the woman had disappeared.

'I go around the corner and she's not there. I was like where did she go?' she explained, noting that she was facing the door to the gym the entire time and would have seen if the woman had walked out.

Believer: In the first season of The Girls Next Door, Marquardt hired a paranormal investigator and a medium to host a seance at the supposedly haunted mansion

Old friends: In 2019, Madison detailed her paranormal encounters in the Playboy mansion on Marquardt's podcast Ghost Magnet

Madison, who lived in the mansion as Hefner's girlfriend from 2001 to 2008, told Nylon: 'I never saw that woman again in my life.'

In late June, she recounted the story of the ghost at the gym in a viral TikTok video, which has been viewed more than 4.2 million times. The clip was in response to a viewer who asked if the Playboy mansion was haunted. Madison confirmed that it is.

'Not long after I moved in, I was working out in the gym and I full-on saw a woman come out of the bathroom and just walk across the room and disappear,' she said. 'And that was the first thing.'

Madison was initially skeptical about her brushes with the otherworld and would try to rationalize what had happened, but she soon changed her tune.

On another occasion, she was scrapbooking in Marquardt's room when she wished for a sign that ghosts are real. She told Nylon that the moment the words left her mouth, the 'TV turned on by itself and the volume went all the way up.'

Marquardt has had similar experiences in which TV channels or the volume would change without any explanation, and like Madison, she has also claimed to have seen a female apparition.

Questions: Madison recounted seeing the ghost in the gym after confirming the Playboy Mansion is 'haunted' in a TikTok video that went viral in June

She recalled how her sister and friend were in her room helping her with her new puppy when they saw a woman standing in the doorway of her closet looking into her room. Her terrified sister burst into tears.

'She had long, black stringy hair, very pale, very thin. She was wearing a white T-shirt that was too big on her and black acid wash-y jeans,' Marquardt told the digital magazine. 'She was more modern-day and I feel like I recognized who she was.'

She believes the ghost was a woman named Joanie, whom she had met when she first started spending a couple of nights a week at the mansion. Joanie used to help the women at the house and take care of the pets.

After Marquardt moved in full-time, she learned that Joanie had died of cancer. While it was 'scary' to see the ghost, she feels the woman probably just wanted to see the new pet that was in the house.

The celebrity paranormal investigator said there is also speculation that the mansion is haunted by the wife of its original owner, Arthur Letts Jr.

It's rumored that she either jumped, fell, or was pushed from the balcony and died after landing on the marble floor, which makes for a good ghost story, but has never been proven to be true.

Spooky: Madison has also been candid about the ghosts that allegedly haunt her current Los Angeles home

Haunted house: The Holly's World star's home is being investigated for paranormal activity in the new episode of Ghost Adventures that airs on Thursday

Marquardt plans on continuing her research on the claim, though she has never been able to find proof that anyone died in the house.

Madison explained that Hefner told her a woman that he had dated in the 1980s had made up the story about Letts' allegedly ill-fated wife, noting that he was 'not a believer.'

The Holly's World star has also been candid about the ghosts that allegedly haunt her current Los Angeles home while detailing the paranormal activity she has experienced in her TikTok videos.

Her home is investigated in the new episode of Ghost Adventures that airs on Thursday and features both Madison and Marquardt,

Madison's boyfriend Zak Bagan co-hosts the show, which follow ghost hunters as they travel to haunted destinations.

Bagan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they 'captured some really incredible evidence' at Madison's 'old castle house.'

'I dont know if thats going to make her rethink living there,' he added. 'But her house is so absolutely cool, and shes in love with it. I think that shes just accepted that she has a roommate that she cant see.'
A quarter of all pregnancies in England and Wales now end in abortion, official data revealed today.

The figure is the highest since records began in 1990, and marks the first time it has ever breached the 25 per cent mark.

Around 207,000 of the 821,000 pregnancies conceived in 2019 were terminated, the Office for National Statistics said.

Teenage abortions hit their highest level ever, with almost two-thirds of conceptions terminated among under-16s.

But rates increased across the board, including among women in their 30s and 40s  the only age groups where conception rates are higher than they were a decade ago.

Women are increasingly putting off starting a family in their twenties when they are more fertile, often delaying motherhood to focus on their careers.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released today shows a record 25 per cent of pregnancies conceived in 2019 were terminated

Separate Department of Health figures show some 210,860 abortions were carried out in England and Wales last year.

It suggests the figure  which has co-incided with a drop in conception rates over the past decade  will continue to rise.

Over-40s have bucked the trend, however, with rates of older women giving birth having tripled since the 1990s.

The proportion of women in their late 30s becoming mothers has nearly doubled across the same time-frame.

The ONS figures today suggest the rise in abortions was actually driven by younger women.

The proportion increased from 30.3 to 30.8 per cent among over-40s.

For comparison, it went from 35 to 37.3 per cent in 20-24 year old women, and 21.4 to 22.5 per cent among the 25-29 group.

Regionally, abortions were highest in London, where they made up 28.1 per cent of the 156,716 pregnancies in the capital  44,037.

Pregnant women are urged to get a jab as new data shows just one in ten have had one Pregnant women have been urged to get jabbed as new data shows just one in ten have come forward. Health chiefs said rates of Covid hospitalisations are rising rapidly among unvaccinated mothers-to-be. Public Health England data shows that so far 51,724 pregnant women in England have received at least one dose, and 20,648 women have had two. Around 600,000 women in the UK are pregnant, meaning less than ten per cent have been jabbed. Since April, pregnant women have been eligible for the vaccine at the same time as the rest of their age group. But uptake remains low and health chiefs are concerned about rising admissions for Covid among pregnant women. Some 95 per cent of the pregnant women in hospital with Covid last week were unvaccinated. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: It is brilliant to see so many pregnant women coming forward for their Covid vaccines, ensuring they protect themselves and their baby from this awful virus. 'While uncommon, severe illness from Covid is more likely in later pregnancy and infection increases the risk of a premature birth. 'The Covid vaccines are one of the best defences against infection, preventing at least 11.7 million infections in England alone.' Advertisement

It was followed by the North West (27.4 per cent), North East (24.1 per cent) and East Midlands (23.9).

The lowest abortion rate was in the East of England, where 22.8 per cent of the 83,785 pregnancies were terminated.

Lambeth in south London had the highest rate, with 36.8 per cent, followed by neighbouring Southwark (33.8 per cent) and Liverpool (33.3 per cent).

Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Devon had the lowest rates, with 18.3 per cent, 19.3 per cent and 19.8 per cent respectively.

The ONS said: 'The percentage of conceptions leading to a legal abortion among all women in England and Wales increased from 24 per cent in 2018 to 25.2 per cent in 2019, the second year in a row this has increased for all age groups.'

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service said the data reflected a broader shift toward later motherhood and smaller families.

Clare Murphy, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said: 'As women are choosing to start and complete their families later in life, they spend a greater proportion of their most fertile years trying to avoid pregnancy.'

Conception rates fell among all age groups under 40. Since 2013, the total fertility rate has fallen steadily to 1.65 children per woman in 2019, a 2.9 per cent decrease from 2018.

Ms Murphy continued: 'There are a variety of reasons why women are choosing to delay motherhood and have smaller families  these include financial instability, desire to progress at work, and the ever-increasing cost of raising a child.

'It may well be that the Covid pandemic will further accelerate these trends.

'Women try hard to avoid unplanned pregnancy and no method of contraception is 100 per cent effective, nor suited to all women. All methods can have unwanted side-effects.

'Abortion is an important back-up so women can make the decisions that are right for them and their families, and we need to ensure access is as straightforward as possible.'

Yvonne Neubauer, associate clinical director for MSI Reproductive Choices UK, told MailOnline: 'Both the reduction in the conception rate and the 1.2 per cent increase in the abortion rate show that women are choosing to have fewer children.

'This highlights that it is more important than ever that women of all ages have access to the full range of contraceptive options and if that contraception fails, good quality abortion services.'

Pro choice charity Abortion Rights highlighted the role online video consultation for abortions  a temporary provision during the Covid pandemic  in helping women who needed early terminations.

Abortion Rights Chair Kerry Abel said: 'The case has been made for keeping abortion telemedicine, full stop.'

The charity argued the service needs to continue to be provided after the pandemic ends.

A spokesperson said: 'The proportion of abortions that are performed at under 10 weeks has continued to increase, according to national statistics released today.

'In 2020, 88 per cent of abortions were performed under 10 weeks, increasing from 82 per cent in 2019. In 2020, there were 209,917 abortions for women resident in England and Wales.

'371 people from Northern Ireland travelled to England for abortions in 2020, a significant decrease from the 1,014 in 2019.

'It is shocking that, during a global pandemic, more than one person per day from Northern Ireland was forced to travel for abortion healthcare due to inadequate provision at home.'
An Arkansas hospital system is so desperate to fill open positions it is offering signing bonuses of up to $25,000.

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has 360 health care vacancies, with 200 specifically being for nurses, reported CNN.

The hospital system is short 50 percent of its nursing workforce.

As COVID-19 begins to ramp up again in the southeastern state with cases increasing by almost 900 percent through the latter half of July, the hospital - and its staff - are now overwhelmed.

Morale among the health care workers is low, and some are even walking out on the job due to intense pressure.

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (pictured) is offering new hires signing bonuses of up to $25,000 amid a COVID surge in Arkansas

'Teams are stretched thin. People are frustrated. People are very tired,' Dr Cam Patterson, UAMS chancellor, told CNN.

'We are down a significant number of positions here, because we just don't have enough nurses that we can recruit to come here and help us to take care of patients.'

Working in a hospital for the past 17 months has been tough on health care workers.

Swells of cases creates a huge workload for everyone in the facility.

Physicians are also seeing a lot of death, and due to pandemic restrictions, nurses often have to comfort patients in their final moments in lieu of their families.

This can take a toll on a persons mental health.

'I've had moments where I've sat in my car and cried before I came to work, before I came in,' Takela Gardner, a nurse at UAMS in Little Rock, told CNN.

'I've.. literally just sat there and cried because I didn't know what I was coming into.'

The $25,000 bonus is available to nurses with at least one year of experience in critical care, Leslie Taylor, the hospital system's vice chancellor or marketing and communications told the DailyMail.com

The nurse also must be willing to work in a 24/7 Covid and ICU unit.

It has been raised from $12,500, which the hospital first offered in March.

The money will be paid out over three years, and a nurse must stay for the time period in order to keep the money.

If a nurse leaves the job before the three year time period is up, they must return any part of the bonus they have been paid.

Nurses can also receive $18,000 for referring another nurse to the hospital - also to be paid over three years.

Nurses who recently started will also receive a $10,000 retention bonus.

Arkansas's COVID-19 situation took off in mid-July, with the state suffering one of the worst summer outbreaks in the country.

Cases increased nearly ten-fold, from around 200 cases per day in mid-July to almost 2,000 on August 1.

The state seems to be on the right side of the surge, with cases now falling once again, down to 1,627 per day on August 5, according to Johns Hopkins University.

COVID cases increased 10-fold in Arkansas last month as the state suffered one of the nation's largest outbreaks

The situation is still dire, though. The state reported on Thursday that it was left with only 25 available ICU beds.

'There's times when we get into the ER and there's just not a bed, so we'll just have to hold the patient on our bed against the wall, waiting on something to clear up so that they can get them off,' Greg Thompson, executive director for Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services, told CNN.

'Normally we should be able to get out of the hospital in less than 30 minutes. But sometimes we're seeing some extremes of an hour to three hours.'

Arkansas is also one of 14 states with less that half of the population having received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine - with only 48 percent having gotten a shot - though vaccine in-take in the state has increased since the July surge.

Employees at UAMS told CNN that a majority of the patients they are seeing are unvaccinated, and it is frustrating.

'It does become infuriating. I don't know if I can necessarily be angry at the patient themselves, or to the general public,' said Dr. Marc Phan, a UAMS emergency room physician, to CNN.

'I think we just need to not necessarily ignore that side of it, but embrace them, try to bring them in, and try to tell them the importance of the vaccine and how it can change their life.'

In April, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed a law that prohibited mask mandates in the state.

He admitted earlier this week that he regrets signing the law amid the states Covid situation.

Hutchinson has even called for a special legislative session to amend the law and bring masks back to the state.
Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine is 93 percent effective at preventing infection against the disease six months after receiving the second dose

In new data released on Thursday, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company says its vaccine is also 98 percent effective against severe disease and 100 percent effective against death.

The data were collected before the Indian 'Delta' variant began circulating widely in the U.S. - but the company says it developing booster shots that it believes will be needed by fall to combat the strain.

Additionally, Moderna said it is planning to complete its application for full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month.

Moderna released new data on Thursday showing its vaccine is 93% effective against COVID-19 six months after the second dose. Pictured: Moderna's CEO discusses the news

The vaccine remains highly protective. Pictured: A vial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, April 7

"The final analysis of our Phase 3 at 93% which shows very good duration of efficacy," says $MRNA CEO @sbancel on #coronavirus vaccine durable efficacy to @megtirrell. pic.twitter.com/sHRmHaoM7i  Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 5, 2021

Moderna was the second company to offer a COVID-19 vaccine for Americans, boasting an initial effectiveness of 94 percent.

New data show that the vaccine remains highly effective and provides protection for at least six months.

Company executives reported the news at an earnings call on Thursday.

These numbers align with real-world data showing that the vast majority of Americans who died of Covid in recent months were unvaccinated.

The data come from patients who participated in Moderna's late-stage phase III clinical trial last year and were followed up with at regular intervals.

This 93 percent efficacy is high compared to results from Pfizer - which recently reported that immunity from its vaccine dropped to 84 percent after six months.

However, Moderna's six month data were collected before the Delta variant became the dominant Covid strain in the U.S.

'We are pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine is showing durable efficacy of 93 percent through six months, but recognize that the Delta variant is a significant new threat so we must remain vigilant,' said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.

In its earnings report, Moderna said that the company expects the Delta variant - combined with waning vaccine effectiveness after that six month mark - to lead to more breakthrough cases.

As a result, the firm has developed a booster shot option.

Preliminary lab studies demonstrate that this booster shot, called mRNA-1273, multiplies antibody levels against Delta by 42 times, Moderna said.

This would be a significant boost to the immune system against a dangerous variant.

The company says that booster shots will 'likely be necessary prior to the winter season'

Moderna has developed a booster shot to aid the immune system in protecting against Delta

'We believe a booster (dose 3) is likely to be necessary this fall, particularly in the case of Delta,' the company said.

Pfizer has a booster shot currently in development as well - also focused on protection against Delta. But booster shots are a controversial topic among global public health experts.

The World Health Organization recently called for a moratorium on these extra doses, saying that healthcare workers and vulnerable adults in low-income nations should get their first doses before people in rich nations get third doses.

Moderna is applying for full approval from the FDA for its current two-shot regimen. The company announced this morning that its application will be completed this month.

While the main focus right now is on Covid, Moderna is planning other applications of its mRNA technology.

'We have begun preparing late stage studies for our flu vaccine and RSV vaccine, which received fast track designation from the FDA a few days ago and are looking forward towards our vision of a single dose annual booster that provides protection against COVID-19, flu and RSV for adults,' Bancel said.

'I look forward to the start of our Phase 3 trial for CMV this year and to clinical proof of concept data in the coming quarters from our therapeutics pipeline. We believe this is just the beginning.'
CVS Health will no longer be offering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at its pharmacy locations.

The national chain is pulling the one-dose vaccine from most of its locations, but will still offer the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, reported CNBC.

CVS MinuteClinics, small facilities within some locations, will still offer the J&J shots, though they only account for ten percent of the company's locations.

This is yet another setback for the New Jersey-based firm, which has been troubled since its vaccine first received approval in February.

CVS will no longer carry the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at its pharmacy locations after months of turmoil for the one-dose jab. Pictured: a CVS pharmacy location in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania

CVS Health did not offer a reason behind the halt to CNBC.

However, the chain said it has been using up all its J&J vaccine and its pharmacies - and not ordering more doses - for several weeks now.

However, CVS spokesperson Mike DeAngelis did say that the company's 1,000 MinuteClinic locations, which provide non-emergency services, in 25 states and the District of Columbia, will still offer the vaccines.

Faith in the only one-shot vaccine available in the U.S. has faltered over the past several months.

Only weeks after approval, the vaccine's use was paused by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after cases of some recipients forming blood clots.

The pause was lifted after 11 days, but with a new blood clot warning added to the label.

Also in April, a Baltimore plant that was manufacturing the shots had to be shut down and 75 million doses discarded after some vials of the vaccine were contaminated with ingredients from the AstraZeneca vaccine, and investigation revealed unsanitary conditions.

The Baltimore factory has since reopened.

Mike Duggan, mayor of Detroit, even declined the city's initial allotment of the J&J vaccine in March, saying the Pfizer and Moderna versions were better.

'So, Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are the best. And I am going to do everything I can to make sure the residents of the city of Detroit get the best,' Duggan said.

Last month, the FDA revised the vaccine's label, adding a warning that the shot had been linked to Guillain-Barre, a rare autoimmune disorder in which a person's immune system attacks their own nerves.

Earlier this week in San Francisco, the city began to offer people who previously received the J&J vaccine a 'supplemental' shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine on request.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has faced setbacks from when it was first approved. Within only weeks, its approval was paused due to issues with blood clotting. Pictured: A vial of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been used in the United States 13.5 million times, a figure that pales in comparison to the usage of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine

'We remain committed to helping end this deadly pandemic as quickly as possible,' Johnson & Johnson wrote in a statement, according to CNBC.

'A single-shot vaccine that provides protection and prevents hospitalization and death is an important tool in the global fight against COVID-19.

'Evidence from our Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study demonstrates the efficacy of the J&J single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, including against viral variants that are highly prevalent. Regardless of race and ethnicity, age, geographic location and comorbidities, these results remain consistent.'

At the start of July, the company released data showing its vaccine was effective in combatting the Indian 'Delta' variant even eight months after receival.

A New York University study found otherwise, though, with researchers finding the vaccine did little to combat the Delta variant.

The vaccine has been administered 13.5 million times, according to official data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dwarfed by the Pfizer vaccine (194 million administered) and Moderna (139 million).
More than half of unvaccinated Americans believe that COVID-19 vaccines pose a greater risk to their health than the actual virus, a new poll suggests.

The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), found that 53 percent of people who have not gotten the vaccine believe the shots are riskier than contracting the disease.

This view is especially prominent among those who say they're 'definitely not' getting the vaccine with 75 percent of 'definitely not' responders believing the vaccine is more dangerous.

In fact, the virus is far more dangerous. Out of 243,000 Covid deaths reported in the U.S. since January 2021, only 1,300 have occurred in vaccinated Americans.

The polling data demonstrates the challenge facing U.S. leaders seeking to get the nation vaccinated.

Still, the Indian 'Delta' variant is inspiring some Americans to go get their shots. KFF found that 22 percent of unvaccinated respondents said that variant news made them more likely to seek vaccination.

Over half of unvaccinated Americans believe that COVID-19 vaccines pose a higher risk to their health than the actual virus, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation

In fact, the vaccines are extremely effective in protecting against Covid disease, hospitalization, and death. Pictured: A nurse administers a Covid shot at a drive-through site in Orlando, Florida, August 2021

The U.S. recently met President Biden's goal - vaccinating 70 percent of American adults with at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose - but hit the target about one month late.

As of Thursday, 58 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose and just under 50 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Public health experts say that those Americans who remain unvaccinated are in grave danger as the Delta variant spreads through the U.S.

This highly-contagious variant is now causing more than 90 percent of U.S. cases - and it's overwhelmingly unvaccinated people who are getting sick.

The vast majority of Covid hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated. The virus may also cause long-term damage to patients' brains, lungs, and other parts of their bodies.

Out of 243,000 Covid deaths reported in the U.S. since January 2021, only 1,300 occurred in vaccinated Americans, equivalent to about 0.5 percent.

Yet a lot of people who haven't gotten their shots do not recognize this danger, according to the new KFF poll.

The nonprofit health research organization has conducted regular polling on American perceptions of the Covid vaccines since the vaccine rollout started last winter.

KFF surveyed recipients who say they are 'definitely getting' vaccinated (or have already been vaccinated), those who say they will 'wait and see' how vaccinations progress, those who will only get a shot if required, and those who will 'definitely not' get vaccinated.

In an August 4 report reflecting surveys conducted in July, KFF examined perceptions of those Americans who have not yet been vaccinated.

About 53 percent of unvaccinated Americans believe that the vaccine poses a bigger health risk than the coronavirus itself, the pollsters found.

This includes 75 percent of the 'definitely not' group and 34 percent of the 'wait and see' group.

A small number of vaccinated Americans - about 7 percent - also believe that the vaccine is a bigger danger than the virus.

In addition, the majority of unvaccinated Americans, 57 percent, believe that the risks associated with Covid have been exaggerated by the media.

That includes 75 percent of the 'definitely not' group and 43 percent of the 'wait and see' group.

The majority of unvaccinated Americans (57%) believe Covid risks have been exaggerated

Despite the new dangers posed by Delta, many unvaccinated Americans continue to believe that inoculation is unnecessary.

KFF found more concern about new coronavirus variants among vaccinated Americans than among unvaccinated Americans.

About 74 percent of vaccinated Americans said they were worried about variants, compared to 39 percent of those who are unvaccinated.

Vaccinated adults were also more likely to say they'd wear a mask in public (62 percent) and avoid large gatherings (61 percent).

Among unvaccinated adults, 37 percent said they'd be likely to wear a mask and 40 percent said they'd avoid large gatherings.

Vaccinated Americans tend to be more worried about new variants compared to the unvaccinated

Vaccinated Americans are also more likely to adjust their behavior due to variants - though the new strains are a vaccination motivator for some

Still, for some unvaccinated adults, Delta is a motivator for getting their shots.

About 22 percent of unvaccinated adults - just over one in five - told KFF that Delta news made them more likely to seek out the vaccine.

For adults in the 'wait and see' group, 34 percent said the variants were a vaccination motivator. A small number of adults in the 'definitely not' group (2 percent) said the same.

This motivation is reflected in the U.S.'s vaccination numbers, which have risen in recent weeks.

On Thursday, White House Covid Data Director Cyrus Shahpar announced that 864,000 new doses were reported that day - the highest single-day total in more than a month.

Many of the states with the worst Delta-driven surges are also the states seeing the highest vaccination increases.

At a press conference on Thursday, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator said several states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma were seeing the highest levels of vaccination since April.

Federal and local governments are also taking steps to encourage vaccination. In New York City, vaccination will soon be required for indoor dining and other activities.

While it is unclear how much any one strategy is driving up vaccinations, the KFF survey data indicate that some Americans are responding to these initiatives.

About one quarter of currently unvaccinated adults said that they are likely to get their shot before the end of 2021 - including 13 percent who said they're 'very likely' to get vaccinated.
The nation's top infectious disease expert says the Biden administration is working to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots approved for immunocompromised Americans.

Several public health experts have said that there is currently no evidence to suggest people who have completed their vaccine series need extra doses.

But, during a press briefing on Thursday, Dr Anthony Fauci said that people with weakened immune systems are 'vulnerable' to COVID-19 infection.

They 'do not make, in general, an adequate response [to the COVID-19 vaccine] that we feel would be adequately protective,' he said.

'It is extremely important for us to move to get those individuals their boosters, and we are now working on that and will make that be implemented as quickly as possible, because for us and, for the individuals involved, it is a very high priority.'

It comes as sources tell The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expects to have a plan on who should get booster shots and when by September.

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Dr Anthony Fauci said on Thursday (above) that the Biden administration is working on getting COVID-19 vaccine booster shots approved for immunocompromised people

Past studies have found that, even after being fully vaccinated, people with weakened immune systems have low or undetectable antibody levels. Pictured: Francisco Arechiga gets a COVID-19 vaccine in Arleta, California, August 2021

As many as three percent of all Americans are considered immunocompromised due to cancer treatment, autoimmune diseases, HIV or other ailments.

In the past few months, several studies have suggested that people with weakened immune systems don't have as much protection after being fully vaccinated as healthy people.

A study in May found that all cancer patients developed fewer antibodies after being vaccinated compared to healthy participants and 10 percent barely developed antibodies at all.

Another study in June looked at 30 organ transplant recipients and found that 24 developed negative antibody levels - meaning they did not have any immune-fighting cells - after two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

The findings are worrying because immunocompromised people are already at an increased risk of hospitalization or death from the virus.

This makes COVID-19 immunity even more crucial for this population.

However, third doses may be a way to boost antibody levels.

For example, the study about organ transplant patients found that one-third of patients with negative antibody levels from the first two doses now showed an increase after a third dose.

The biggest increase seen were antibody levels that rose 687-fold.

Last month, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said the agency is working to make additional doses available for immunocompromised people.

'I think what you're asking about is, you know, is there a way to offer a third dose to individualsthrough a study, or through an investigational new drug format for this population?' Amanda Cohn, the CDC's chief medical officer for vaccine policy, told the panel.

'I will just say that we are actively looking into ways that could be done to potentially provide access earlier than any potential change in regulatory decisions.'

The advisory committee cannot recommend boosters until the FDA gives the vaccines full approval or extends emergency use authorization to allow three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to be administered or two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have been conducting clinical trials of booster shots, with hopes they will be authorized by the fall.

Additionally, several countries, including Costa Rica, Israel, France and Germany have begun administering them to certain populations.

The U.S. may soon join these countries. Sources tell The Journal the FDA is hoping to publish guidelines on when boosters doses should be administered and to whom by next month.

According to two people familiar with the matter, the Biden administration hopes to include over-65s, immunocompromised people and those who received the shot in the early stages of the rollout including December 2020 and January 2021.

This is despite the World Health Organization calling for moratorium on booster shots on Wednesday until the end of September so all countries can vaccinate at least 10 percent of their populations.
A Virginia father-of-six is pleading with others from his hospital bed to get the COVID-19 vaccine as he continues to battle the virus.

Travis Campbell of Bristol, Virginia, contracted Covid late last month, and has been hospitalized in Bristol Regional Medical Center Hospital in Tennessee ever since.

His wife, Kellie, was previously hospitalized with the virus and has since recovered.

Neither of them were vaccinated.

Travis told ABC News that he is now fighting for his life - struggling to breathe every day - and wants to help others avoid the same fate.

Travis Campbell (second from left) is urging others to get vaccinated from his hospital bed after he contracted a serious case of COVID-19 last month. His with, Kellie (far right), was previously hospitalized with the virus. Both are unvaccinated. Pictured: Travis and Katie with their six children

Campbell (pictured) says that he feels like he fighting for his life in the hospital

'When you feel like you have to fight for your life, you don't realize that you're fighting for every single breath all day long,' Travis told ABC News.

'If I have a day or two left, I don't want to waste my time.

'I want to help as many people as I can, to let them see the real truth, that [the Indian 'Delta' variant] is real, and it's only getting stronger and faster.'

Kellie told ABC News that she and her husband are not against the vaccines, but had just not gotten around to getting the shots yet.

'We just put it in the back of our mind and we kept saying: "We'll do it tomorrow, we'll do it tomorrow,"' she said.

'We have a very hectic life and it's no excuse, but that's our excuse.'

More than 98 percent of Covid hospitalizations in Virginia are among people that are not fully vaccinated, according to official state data.

'It's time to protect your family, its not worth getting long term lung damage or death please go get the vaccine,' Travis wrote in a Facebook post.

'The 2nd wave is coming and is going to be stronger than the first. When I hear my kids with the rattle lung cough, when they say they are so dizzy they are getting sick, or they or I are dehydrated from the diarrhea, I realize I could have prevented this.

'I'm over the stupid conspiracies, its time to be rational and protective. Its not worth being stubborn like I did.'

Campbell posted a video of himself wearing an oxygen mask and struggling to speak between labored breaths to his Facebook page on Thursday.

Campbell posted a video of himself struggling to breathe while wearing a mask to his Facebook page on Thursday

He also asked anyone inspired by his story to contact him, and shared a message he received from a pharmacist who said many in the area had come in to get their shots after hearing the Campbell family's story.

Cases of the virus are growing in Virginia, as they are in many other parts of the country as well due to the Delta variant.

The state is averaging 1,279 new cases per day, a 173 percent increase from the 467 figure from two weeks ago.

Vaccine demand is growing as well, however.

As the Delta variant has swept across the nation, many are getting their shots, realizing the pandemic is not yet over.

The White House reported that 863,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses were distributed on Wednesday - including 585,000 first doses - the highest single day total in over a month.

Around 10,000 of those shots were administered in Virginia, where 62 percent of the population has received at least one vaccine dose.
The U.S. recorded the highest number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in a single day in more than a month.

On Wednesday, there were nearly 864,000 shots in arms, including 585,000 Americans getting their first doses.

Several of the states with the highest vaccine demand are also those seeing the worst Covid surges, such as Florida, where daily vaccinations have jumped by about 67 percent in the past month.

The upticks come as the Indian 'Delta' variant drives a rapid case rise and both governments and businesses announce vaccine requirements for workers and customers.

'Clearly, Americans are seeing the impact of being unvaccinated and unprotected, and they respond by doing their part, rolling up their sleeve, and getting vaccinated,' Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, said at a press briefing on Thursday.

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The U.S. recorded nearly 864,000 Covid vaccinations on Wednesday, including 585,000 first doses - the highest daily count in more than a month, Zients announced

Daily vaccinations in the U.S. have more than doubled in the past three weeks in states with the highest case rates, Zients said

After millions of Americans eagerly waited in line for vaccination in the winter and spring, the vaccine demand slowed in the summer.

Now, however, vaccinations are ticking back up as Americans seek to protect themselves against the rapidly-spreading Delta variant.

On August 5, the U.S. reported 864,000 new Covid vaccines administered the previous day, which is the highest single-day total since July 3.

That number included 585,000 first doses - Americans getting newly vaccinated with the first shot in a two-dose series - which is a figure not seen since July 1.

Some of the states seeing the fastest-growing vaccine demand are also the states with the highest case rates.

'We've more than doubled the average number of people newly vaccinated each day over the past three weeks in the states with the highest case rates,' Zients said.

Florida and Texas are bearing the brunt of the current Covid surge. These two states have accounted for one-third of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week.

Several other southern states are also seeing disproportionately high case rates - Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Together with Florida and Texas, these seven states make up half of new U.S. cases and hospitalizations in the past week - but make up less than a quarter of the total population.

Some residents in these states are responding to the Covid wave by getting vaccinated.

In Florida, daily vaccinations have increased from 40,000 a day in mid-July to 67,000 as of August 5.

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma are all reporting vaccination numbers not seen since April, at the height of the spring vaccination effort, Zients said.

In Florida, daily vaccinations have increased from 40,000 a day in mid-July to 67,000 a day

In Tennessee, daily vaccinations have increased from 8,000 a day to 14,000 a day in the past three weeks

Other states are picking up the pace as well.

Tennessee, for example, has seen a 90 percent increase in first doses over the past two weeks. Oklahoma has seen an 82 percent increase.

'Clearly, Americans are seeing the impact of being unvaccinated and unprotected, and they respond by doing their part, rolling up their sleeve, and getting vaccinated,' Zients said.

Recent survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation reflects this trend.

About one-fifth of unvaccinated Americans surveyed by the research nonprofit said that Covid variant news made them more likely to get their shots.

Zients additionally cited vaccination requirements from governments and businesses as a driver of the trend.

Federal workers and contractors now must be vaccinated or wear a mask at work and get regularly tested for Covid.

Businesses from Disney to Google are also requiring vaccinations for workers.

Many small businesses are requiring vaccines as well. Yelp announced Thursday that the app has introduced a 'Covid vaccine filter,' allowing users to specifically search for restaurants that require vaccination.

Colleges and universities are also following the trend. Almost 650 schools are requiring vaccination for on-campus employees and students, Zients said.

Medical schools and healthcare providers are doing the same.

On Wednesday, Massachusetts state officials announced that vaccination will be required for all staff in nursing homes.

Despite the rising numbers, it could take months for under-vaccinated states to catch up to states like Vermont, where over 80 percent of the eligible population has received at least one shot.

Public health experts say that continued communication and partnerships with local organizations will be needed to drive up vaccinations as the Delta surge continues.
BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE MAGIC BOX

by Rob Young (Faber 20, 500 pp)

When I was growing up in Bedwas, South Wales, where it steadily rained soot, the television was my window on a wider world.

Coming through what author Rob Young calls a blizzard of whirring white dots were 143 episodes of The Adventures Of Robin Hood (bugle fanfares and school-play jousts), the incontinent baby elephant on Blue Peter, Fanny Cradocks kitchen, Open University lecturers in all their flared-trousered, chunky-sweatered, formulae-chalkboard tedium, which put me off maths for life, the coloured paper, string and glue of the puppet menagerie constituting Fingerbobs and Baroness Floella Benjamin, as she then wasnt, acting the giddy goat with Brian Cant on Playschool.

Before the invention of the video recorder, let alone DVDs and Blu-ray discs, YouTube, streaming services and iPlayer, television contributed to the national conversation. Everyone had to be sitting down watching the same programmes at the same time, something that no longer happens when 209 million subscribe to Netflix.

Rob Young has penned a book revealing how British television has always enshrined our recurring psychic dread. Pictured: Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who

I was particularly delighted to be reminded of a vanished breed of men. Loamy-voiced Jack Hargreaves pottered about rural idylls, examining dry stone walls and fishing for chub.

Who of a certain age can forget Fyfe Robertson, a wizardly uncle adrift in a rowing boat on the River Severn? Fred Dibnah enthusiastically presented programmes about our industrial heritage, all pumping pistons and brick dust. John Betjeman eulogised branch lines, tea rooms and church bells.

If Young has a thesis, its that underneath the innocent surface of things, television has always enshrined our recurring psychic dreads  even the cosy-seeming Betjeman and company were warning about the destruction of the environment, rising population numbers, bulldozers destroying woodlands, wildlife and half-timbered barns, in favour of concrete roads, shopping malls and slum housing estates.

Youngs area of expertise is horror and science-fiction, which, in an era of the H-bomb tests and the Cold War, represented fearful fantasies of the world being turned upside-down, the nation being invaded.

Hence, from 1963 onwards, we had Doctor Who, about a shape-shifting folk hero in an age of space travel, although Jon Pertwee  who played the Doctor from 1969  was later to metamorphose into Worzel Gummidge, a talking scarecrow.

Young discusses the plots in Quatermass, where Hemel Hempstead was swamped with irradiated goo, and he argues that this symbolised, as did Dads Army, the phobia of conservative Britons trying to protect their sovereign shores from every kind of alien.

It is true that even in the Seventies, World War II was still a powerful memory  many of our schoolteachers were old soldiers; unexploded German bombs were always turning up in building sites  but I think Young overstates the case to say Daleks and Cybermen provoked memories of Panzer tanks and stormtroopers with flame-throwers.

While, I confess, I hid behind the sofa, its hard now as an adult to see why I was scared by monsters made from a bathroom plunger and an egg whisk who couldnt cope with stairs.

Rob Young claims the export market for television drama is currently worth an annual 1.34 billion, mainly thanks to Downton Abbey (pictured)

What definitely is the case  and nostalgia buffs must beware  is that the quality of mid-20th- century telly could be pretty poor, with bad acting, stilted scripts and accents seesawing between Somerset and Glamorgan.

Sixteen-millimetre outside film footage clashed with grainy video-based interior scenes. Shoe-scuffed studio floors were visible, reflecting the lights and exposing the trails left by cumbersome camera cables.

If there was an air of make-do-and-mend, the governments Protect And Survive information film about how to respond to a Soviet nuclear attack was laughable  whitewash your double glazing, fill buckets with tap water and stockpile baked beans.

Television drama, according to Young, was keen to imagine what would happen when the stability of the local community was pushed off a precipice, with either an outbreak of black magic, witches and anarchic cults  as in the ghost stories cramming the schedules  or industrial action and economic meltdowns (which did indeed afflict Seventies Britain) inspiring prophetic alternative-history scenarios.

One such was an Englishmans Castle, with Kenneth More and Nigel Havers, in which National Trust properties were converted by the totalitarian government into psychiatric hospitals for the torture of dissidents.

THE MAGIC BOX by Rob Young (Faber 20, 500 pp)

A Very British Coup (1988) also picked up on the paranoia, with civil liberties suppressed in ways that actually just happened with lockdown.

Young says the export market for television drama is currently worth an annual 1.34 billion, mainly thanks to Downton Abbey. The obsession with class snobbery is nothing new. Granadas Brideshead Revisited, with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews baring their bottoms, was a global success in 1981.

The British have always been good at costume drama  I have formative Seventies memories of Glenda Jackson in Elizabeth R and Keith Michell in The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. Jane Austen regularly does wonders for bonnets, as do Poirot and Miss Marple for Art Deco.

Antiques Roadshow, running since 1979 and devoted to the appeal of buried treasure, suggests we, the British, are happiest rummaging for old relics. Television, Young implies in conclusion, pines for the past and sees little good in the future.

Viewers like me, snug on the sofa with our plates of custard creams, are prisoners of dreams, who may yearn to be eternally childlike, like Tom and Barbara in The Good Life, living a bohemian dream of eco-self-sufficiency. But really and truly, most of us turn into Margo and Jerry, anxious about jobs and mortgages and keeping up appearances.

Young tells us The Magic Box took a good ten years and many hundreds of hours of viewing to complete. With respect, that is its problem. It is rambling and repetitious. Chronology is all over the shop. Cinema requires a separate volume.

Nevertheless, the image of Jack Hargreaves sitting contentedly in his tool-shed will always make me smile.
ANIMALS

THE LONGEST STORY

by Richard Girling (Oneworld 25, 416 pp)

When a man in the U.S. state of Missouri was convicted of poaching deer in 2018, the judge sentenced him to a year in prison. But that wasnt all  the judge also ordered that, at least once a month during his time inside, the poacher had to watch the Disney film Bambi.

The story reveals the inconsistency of our attitudes to animals: we get angry about cute deer being shot, while we rarely pause to think about the agonies endured by laboratory rats.

In his thought-provoking book, Richard Girling examines mankinds relationship with animals from the dawn of history to the present day. Its clear hes on the side of the animals  he criticises the way humans treat them on farms, in laboratories, in circuses and in the wild  but hes careful to argue his case in a measured tone, avoiding over-simplifications. For instance, he recognises that an entirely vegetarian society would mean not meadows filled with happy lambs, but no lambs at all.

Richard Girling examines mankind's relationship with animals and explores our similarities in a thought-provoking book (file image)

Humans have certainly given their animals a hard time over the centuries. In Roman times, a rich person would snack on a dormouse rolled in honey and poppy seeds. When German publisher Johannes Gutenberg printed 30 copies of the Bible in 1456, the required vellum (paper made from animal skin) accounted for 5,950 calves. Eight million horses were killed in World War I alone.

Then theres the controversial topic of medical research. When a brown terrier died in the laboratories of University College London in 1903, anti-vivisectionists erected a bronze statue of the dog in a South London park, which was then repeatedly attacked by medical students, until eventually it had to be removed. Animals had less to fear in the 18th century. When a smallpox vaccine needed testing in 1721, six condemned criminals at Newgate prison were offered a deal  if they took the vaccine and survived, theyd be set free. They all accepted, and all lived.

The central question of the book is how much are animals like us?. Last year, five grey parrots at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre had to be separated to reduce the volume of their swearing.

Some animals even keep pets  wild chimpanzees have been observed catching tree hyraxes (similar to large guinea pigs), grooming them and sleeping with them, much as a child might do with her puppy.

THE LONGEST STORY by Richard Girling (Oneworld 25, 416 pp)

A key test of how human an animal is involves a mirror: does the creature recognise its reflection as itself, or does it think its another animal of the same species? Some of the results are surprising. Dolphins and pigeons pass the test, but gorillas and pandas dont.

In 1880 a monkey from London Zoo not only failed the test, he also assumed his reflection was a monkey of the opposite sex, and began in the most indescribably ludicrous manner to pay to it the addresses of courtship.

Even if you take the view that humans are superior to animals and entitled to treat them however they like, theres still the issue raised by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant: He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with man. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.

However, Kants British counterpart John Stuart Mill pointed out that animals can be pretty cruel themselves: Nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another are natures everyday performance.

As if to prove that  and to remind us that humans do sometimes end up on the losing side  theres the story of the Victorian big game hunter Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming.

On an expedition in South Africa he woke one morning to find the only trace of his chief wagon-driver was a leg bitten off below the knee but still wearing its shoe.
...are you reading now?

Ive become hooked on Japanese murder mysteries which are astonishing . . . intricately plotted and often bonkers.

Everything Soji Shamada writes tantalises me, but Id start with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders which has a gruesome solution.

Ive just started Yukito Ayatsujis Decagon House Murders, which is a clever homage to Agatha Christie with a group of murder-mystery enthusiasts being killed one by one on a small island. Three deaths so far and I havent guessed who did it.

Anthony Horowitz (pictured) would take William Schirer's The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich to a desert island

...would you take to a desert island?

If theres one book I can read time and time again, its William Schirers The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich.

From Hitlers birth to his suicide, from the treaty of Versailles to the fall of Berlin, its a masterclass in human evil told by a journalist who witnessed many events personally.

Its packed with detail and brilliantly narrated. Sadly, the book still has much to tell us about the world we live in, and how all too easily a nation can be led down the road to Auschwitz.

...first gave you the reading bug?

I started with Tintin, followed by the Adventure series by the Canadian traveller Willard Price. But the book that truly began my journey into literature was The Go-Between by L.P Hartley, which I read when I was 15, inspired by a brilliant English teacher . . . thank you Mr Helliwell!

This bittersweet love story, set in 1900 (and beautifully filmed by Joseph Losey), made me realise that books could do more than tell stories. The main character, a 13-year-old boy called Leo, is traumatised by his involvement in an illicit love affair.

It has one of the great opening lines: The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

...left you cold?

Oh dear  this is the controversial one. Well, I absolutely love and admire Agatha Christie but the one book of hers that disappointed me was The Murder At The Vicarage. Why?

The solution is both unsurprising and yet rather unbelievable, and the village of St Mary Mead seems to be too full of people behaving badly or pretending to be something they arent. Even Christie agreed there were too many characters and sub-plots.

My dear friend, the author Kate Mosse, will probably never speak to me again, but I much prefer Poirot to Miss Marple any day, and if theres one type of book that has to completely satisfy you at the end, its a whodunit. This one didnt.

A LINE TO KILL by Anthony Horowitz will be published on August 19 (Century 20).
Virgin Media O2 has launched the first ever National Databank, providing free mobile data to those in need.

It is hoped the Databank could help some of the seven million people across the UK who are unable to access mobile data or broadband at home.

Access to the internet is becoming increasingly important as many are still working and studying from home.

The project has been created by Virgin Media O2, but the free data will be distributed by the charity Good Things Foundation, through its network of 5,000 community organisations.

Virgin Media O2 has launched a National Databank, giving free mobile data to those in need

It will launch with 7.5million GB of O2 mobile data, to help over 200,000 people get connected by the end of 2023.

The National Databank, which will be open to all mobile operators, will provide free data for community groups to distribute across the UK, including the most digitally deprived areas.

It will provide a central hub where community groups can access free 'data voucher codes' and Sim cards for anyone who needs them.

Those accessing free data will also be offered additional support, including digital skills training and signposting to other essential services.

Virgin Media O2 said it would donate 12.5million worth of O2 connectivity  equivalent to 7.5million GB of data - to the National Databank by the end of 2023.

This is enough to provide 319million hours of internet use to over 200,000 people in need, nationwide.

The network has also donated 500,000 to Good Things Foundation to cover the operational costs of running the Databank.

Ahead of a nationwide rollout in November, an initial three-month pilot with 10 community organisations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is now underway.

The pilot will help test and improve the online platform built by Virgin Media O2's innovation team, The Lab.

As a growing number of households struggle to afford data, Virgin Media O2 and Good Things Foundation called on other mobile networks to join the National Databank.

It said this would help grow the platform as a long-term, sustainable solution to tackle data poverty, and that by working together, the industry had the power to provide connectivity to millions of digitally excluded people across the UK.

Virgin Media O2 will donate 12.5million worth of O2 connectivity to the National Databank

Lutz Schuler, chief executive officer at Virgin Media O2, said: 'The pandemic has escalated the UK's data poverty crisis like never before  and with many millions of people facing digital exclusion, now is the time to come together and close the gap on digital inequality.

'Our industry has done remarkable things in recent months to keep customers connected when they needed it most, but it can't stop there.

'By establishing the first ever National Databank with Good Things Foundation, coupled with a 12.5million data pledge, we want to build a lasting legacy from the pandemic. We're now asking our colleagues in the mobile industry to join us and help end data poverty for good.'

Matt Warman, the Government's digital infrastructure minister, added: 'I welcome Virgin Media O2's significant investment in the National Databank.

'This is a perfect example of industry innovation making a huge difference to people's lives, and will mean more practical help for those on low incomes to get online and access the endless benefits of digital connectivity.'

After the pilot scheme is over, those looking to apply will be able to find their nearest participating centre online.

It is expected that the National Databank will start operating nationwide from November 2021.

Virgin Media and O2's 31billion merger launched on 1 June, with the newly-formed firm promising to help power the nation's recovery after coronavirus.

The business is now one of the UK's largest, with 47million connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone.
I bought a van from a Renault garage and was quoted to pay 16,000 plus VAT, making it a total of 19,200.

Renault offered to pay 13,800 for my existing van, leaving me to pay 5,400 which I did so at the dealership.

However, within an hour of leaving, I received a call from the salesman informing me that he had undercharged me for the van and I still owed 2,300.

A Renault customer signed a contract and paid for a van but then was asked to pay more

I told him I would need to take advice before paying but he rang me back an hour later on his mobile saying the offer had been reduced to 1,700 and I had to pay or I would have to return the vehicle and take a refund.

Should I pay even though I had already signed the contract and paid the original asking price? J.R., via email

Grace Gausden, consumer expert at This is Money, replies: This situation almost drove you to despair after Renault tried to reverse the deal, even though you had already paid.

While looking for a replacement for your existing Renault Kangoo Formula Edition van, you contacted a number of dealerships before settling on a deal with Renault for a Kangoo Business+ edition as it was one of the better offers.

Overall, you would have to pay 5,400 after subtracting the 13,800 Renault would pay you for your van.

After agreeing to the deal, you were also made an offer of 13,500 by someone else looking to purchase your van.

However, as the dealership had offered you 300 more than the private sale, you decided to part exchange it.

GRACE ON THE CASE Our weekly column sees This is Money consumer expert Grace Gausden tackles reader problems and shines the light on companies doing both good and bad. Want her to investigate a problem, or do you want to praise a firm for going that extra mile? Get in touch: grace.gausden@thisismoney.co.uk

After paying the difference in the dealership as well as paying out for a road fund licence and private numberplate, you agreed you would pick up the van the next day.

But an hour after payment, a salesman from Renault rang you to say you had been undercharged and owed an additional 2,300 which understandably came as a shock.

You told the salesman you wanted to seek counsel about this but within the hour you had a further phone call, this time via the salesman's personal mobile.

He said he had made an error when adding up the price on your new van and had added VAT to the part exchange offer when the price should have not included the extra 20 per cent.

As such, while Renault originally were going to give you 13,800 inclusive of VAT on your van, they were now offering 11,500 - the price without VAT.

This left you owing them 7,700 overall - 5,400 of which you had already paid, meaning you needed to stump up an additional 2,300.

The salesman added he was in trouble with his boss and his job was on the line, putting added pressure on you to make the payment immediately.

You claim he said that Renault were prepared to take a hit on the deal and said they would settle for 1,700 or you could return the new vehicle and get a refund for the amount you had already paid.

What the reader paid What the original Renault contract said: Cost of van: 19,200 including VAT Part exchange price on your van: 13,800 including VAT Difference you paid: 5,400 What Renault then asked you to pay: Cost of van: 19,200 including VAT Part exchange price on your van: 11,500 not including VAT Difference to pay: 7,700 After the 5,400 you paid: 2,300 outstanding Amount reduced to 1,700: 5,400 plus 1,700 = 7,100.

The Renault customer was shocked when he was asked to pay even more for his new van

Again, you stated you would need time to think about this and would get back in touch.

Although Renault have reduced the amount, you feel that you have been misled by the French car manufacturer.

I could easily understand your frustration at being told to stump up thousands of pounds more after having already paid and signing the contract.

Therefore, I contacted Renault to see how this error had happened and how much you actually owed.

A spokesperson said: 'We are very disappointed to hear of Mr R's experience and apologise for the error.

'The mistake was due to the fact that the sales executive made a human error when calculating the VAT, therefore the dealership has rectified the mistake and taken on the loss.

'We apologise for the inconvenience caused.'

Fortunately, Renault said the dealership will take on the loss, meaning you now have your van and do not need to pay any more funds.

Shortly after you received a call from the salesman who had initially called you to say there was nothing else for you to pay, adding he had received a warning.

Luckily, Renault realised its mistake, and whilst mistakes do happen, you had already signed the contract and paid what you were asked to.

However, I imagine you are not in a rush to deal with the firm next time you are looking for a new vehicle.

An AA customer was shocked at the high price when she received her renewal quote

Hit and miss: This week's naughty and nice list

Each week, I look at some of the companies that have fallen short of expected standards as well as those that have gone that extra mile for customers.

Miss: This week, AA is under fire from reader, Sally, after she received a particularly high renewal quote.

She said: 'We have been a member of the AA for over 35 years but when our renewal quote came through it was 370.

'My husband looked online to join and the price for a new customer is 139. When he contacted the AA, it would only knock the premium down to 260.

'We have now had to cancel our membership and start all over again. Where is its customer loyalty service?'

I contacted AA about this to see why it was charging loyal customers nearly double what new customers had to pay.

However, AA refused to back down.

A spokesperson said: 'We believe all of our customers get a good deal at a fair price.

'We offer a market-leading breakdown service, which is rated in the highest possible way by customers, and our prices reflect the high quality of the service we provide.

'Like many providers and other subscription-based services, we do offer introductory discounts to encourage new customers to trial our services and we communicate these discounts at the point of purchase.

'We are grateful to Sally for her continued loyalty and are sorry that she was unhappy with her recent renewal quote. However, we are pleased to hear they remain happy with the service.'

It added that loyal customers receive extras such as, after the first year of breakdown cover, when members are given complimentary Silver benefits that are not available to new members and after five years, it provides further additional Gold benefits.

However, you say whilst you have these benefits, you would rather have a lower premium.

Sadly, you aren't the first to be hit by the loyalty penalty  and won't be the last. It's just a shame the AA didn't see fit to alter your premiums, leaving you to sign up again as new members.

Hit: In happier news, a reader, who wished to remain anonymous, got in touch to praise Marks & Spencer.

She said: 'I emailed M&S to say I was disappointed they only had granny-pant style bikini bottoms available with a bikini set I liked.

'They made me some bespoke bikini briefs to go with the set. Amazing customer service.'

M&S were certainly not pants in this situation and proved themselves by going the extra mile.
Emma Walmsley of Glaxosmithkline

AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot is urging Emma Walmsley to stand firm and stick with her plans for Glaxosmithkline amid an assault from activist investors. His unusual intervention in defence of a rival is largely based on his own experience and that of his board in repelling a bid from US pharma giant Pfizer in 2014.

'If you are challenged by another company, the key is to have a good plan and stick to it and implement,' Soriot told the Daily Mail.

He rejected the claim from Elliott Advisers that Walmsley, one of a handful of FTSE100 women chief executives, was unsuited to heading GSK's freestanding pharma and vaccines arm because she isn't a scientist.

'It's important that the pharmaceutical companies understand every aspect of the firm. You don't necessarily need to be a scientist. Over the years very smart people will gain the knowledge and be able to be fluent in discussions with scientists,' Soriot says.

At a time when it seems that much of the FTSE is under siege from private equity and overseas buyers, Soriot urged directors to be tougher. 'It's a sad story for the board. It's much easier to take a premium. In AZ's case, when it came under siege we had a chairman [Leif Johansson] who, when he says no, it's no.'

Having seen Pfizer in action in the past, Soriot, 62, did not want to contemplate selling. 'I have seen the cost cutting which follows and the disorganisation in the [drugs] pipeline.'

He wanted to rebuild AZ's drug development, and in particular the company's cancer fighting capacity. He said: 'We thought if we derail this development, it's going to impact our patients and our shareholders.'

At a time when so much of the UK's aerospace, engineering and tech sector is under siege the AZ boss has no doubt about the consequences. He said: 'First the company disappears, it becomes a branch. Then the substance [the R&D and science] disappears. It takes five years but it happens.'

He and the AZ board, having stood up to a predator, find it hard to understand why the independent directors in other sectors have failed to put up a more robust defence. 'Senior non-executives seem not to have stood up.' His advice to Walmsley and the GSK board is 'do what you think is right'.
Britons who have lost their local bank branch or cash machine may soon be able to get hold of their money at their nearest corner shop, thanks to the UKs first 'Click & Collect' cash service.

Using the same technology retailers use to pay out lottery winnings, financial platform Sonect wants to to enable them to also give the public free access to their cash.

It runs on a location-based app, which connects shops with cash to people who need it, by matching demand for cash withdrawals with the cash in shop tills.

Sonects deal with Lottomatica and BNL Bank in Italy will enable 35,000 Italian lottery terminals to offer cash withdrawals later this year

Italian shoppers are set to start withdrawing money in this way later this year, as Sonect is under contract to enable 35,000 Italian lottery terminals to offer free cash.

With 95 per cent of the UK population living within one mile of a lottery terminal, Sonect says it can help solve the 'access to cash crisis' in the UK.

Bank branches and free-to-use cash machines have been disappearing from Britain's high streets at a record pace in recent years.

Since January 2015, bank branches have been closing at a rate of 50 each month, according to the Consumer Champion Which?, and a total of 4,299 have shut their doors during that time.

With over 500 closures since the pandemic alone, and ATMs reducing from a peak of around 71,000 in 2015 to 54,000 in 2020 according to Government figures, convenient access to cash is on a steep decline.

Almost two thirds of the industry's top executives think branch-based lenders will be 'dead' in the next five years, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit for financial software company Temenos.

Sonect intends to turn cash registers into ATMs, using the existing point of sale system or any smartphone to localise the processing of cash

But while the use of physical money is declining, millions of Britons still rely on cash, particularly the elderly.

Around 2.4 million people aged 65 and over rely on cash to a large extent in their day-to-day life, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Sonect is a location-based app, connecting shops with cash to people who need it

According to a recent survey, nearly three-quarters of over-65s, around 8.8 million people, had used cash at some point in the past month. Two-thirds of under-65s, or around 25 million adults, had also done so within that time.

Sonect has been piloting its cash scheme in Burslem and Tunstall in Stoke-on-Trent, and says hundreds of residents have signed up in the past two months.

In these towns, it says both the public and its retailers are already enjoying the convenience of cash circulating locally free of charge.

Tony Riaz, who runs a One Stop in Burslem said: 'This lottery terminal solution sounds like a no-brainer to me - I already know my customers would love the speed and convenience of getting some cash at the same time as their lottery tickets.

'A simple idea like this would be perfect for guaranteeing a free access to cash solution in the UK.'

The app will allow residents to pick up money from a range of participating stores, but Sonect say that around 45,000 brand-new terminals will need to be installed to guarantee free access to cash nationwide.

Ron Delnevo, UK director of Sonect said: 'In the UK we're under-utilising the potential of modern lottery terminals to provide a wide-range of services to customers of community retailers.

'The terminals can become a vital convenient local touch-point for access to cash, and other services the public have a right to expect on their doorsteps.

'We really need to seize this technical innovation opportunity in the UK to support all the local needs of the public and the retailers who serve them and, critically, to solve the huge access to cash crisis.'
The ex-partner of a firefighter murdered by London Bridge terror attack hero Steven Gallant said she is struggling to process the news of his release from prison.

Vicky Foster, whose ex-partner Barrie Jackson was beaten to death by Gallant in a 2005 attack in Hull, has previously said his actions on London Bridge were 'not enough proof' of his reform.

It comes as Gallant was given early release from his 17-year murder sentence, after using a narwhal tusk in a bid to take down Fishmonger's Hall jihadist Usman Khan during his deadly 2019 terror attack.

Speaking from her home in Hull, Mrs Foster, who had two children with Mr Jackson, said: "I need a bit more time to think about what has happened here, it is a very strange thing for me and the children to have to process.

'Every time this is in the news it brings it all back for me and the kids and that's obviously difficult.

'It's not something I want to talk about, at the moment I'm trying to let it sink in."

Vicky Foster whose firefighter ex-partner was murdered by London Bridge terror attack hero Steven Gallant (left) said she is struggling to process the news of his release from prison

Pictured: Fishmongers Hall attacker Usman Khan being detained by Steve Gallant and others

Firefighter Barrie Jackson had been enjoying a night of drinking in The Dolphin, in Greenwich Avenue, Hull, on the night of Sunday, April 24, 2005.

But just at 10.30pm, before he could finish his drinks and make his way home, he had been attacked and beaten so severely paramedics who tried to revive him could not find his mouth.

Pictured: Vicky Foster has said she is struggling to process the early release of her ex-partner's killer

Mr Jackson had been sprayed with CS gas and beaten to the ground with a hammer by two men, including Gallant. The pair lay in wait for Mr Jackson outside the Dolphin pub after believing he had attacked Gallant's girlfriend.

After a city-wide police hunt, Jackson's murderers were finally found.

The attack was deemed to have been pre-meditated and co-ordinated, as the men had laid in wait for Jackson, and continued to attack him despite him trying to run away.

A post-mortem revealed every bone in his face had been broken.

Steve Gallant and Daniel Gilligan, both of east Hull, were eventually convicted of murder, and ordered to spend at least 17 years behind bars.

Barrie Jackson was sprayed with CS gas and beaten to the ground with a hammer by two men - including Gallant. He was so badly beaten paramedics struggled to find his mouth

But 15 years after entering prison aged 28, Gallant would find himself back out on the streets, saving the lives of innocent citizens.

Writing in The Hull Story last year, Vicky revealed she had not a clue that the man who confronted Khan with a narwhal tusk was the same one who had killed her partner.

At the time, she said: 'I was drawn in by images of a man on London Bridge tackling an armed terrorist with a narwhal tusk.

'A light in the middle of a tragic event. A video to share on social media, show to your friends and then forget about.

'It appeared to be a clear-cut case of good triumphing over evil; a physical, decisive, spur-of-the-moment act that saved lives.

'But then in January this year word came to me that the hero I'd admired was actually one of the men who murdered the father of my children. I tried to brush it off at first; get on with other things.

Khan is confronted by armed police on London Bridge following attack at Fishmongers' Hall

'The past is the past and there's nothing I can do about it. But it wasn't that simple.

'You see, when extreme violence enters your life, everything you think you know is shattered. Everything becomes harder.'

Ms Foster said that her family had been hugely impacted by the coverage of Steven Gallant in the news.

She said: 'Despite letters from my MP Dame Diana Johnson, explaining this to members of the government - including Boris Johnson - we have had no contact or consideration in their processes whatsoever.

'Gallant no doubt helped save lives on London Bridge last year, but he has also caused lifelong damage to myself and my family.'

Vicky said: 'I find it difficult to understand how one violent man can be held up as an example of what rehabilitation can do, while it's suggested that another deserved to meet with the brutal murder that man committed.

Pictured: terrorist Usman Khan who was killed by police on London Bridge

'Logic alone means those two things cannot both be true. It just makes more distress and trauma that we've had to work through.

'Myself and my boys definitely did not and do not deserve that, or the added trauma that this year of news has caused us.'

Gallant was one of three men who restrained terrorist Khan until armed police arrived at the scene and shot the 28-year-old jihadist dead in November 2019.

Khan, who had two large knives and a fake suicide belt, fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, and injured three other people during his frenzied attack at a prisoner rehabilitation event, before running out onto London Bridge.

Giving evidence at the inquest in April this year into the victims' deaths, Mr Gallant said he 'whacked' Khan with a narwhal tusk but was empty-handed by the time of the battle on the bridge.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Steven Gallant following an oral hearing.

'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

'A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.'

The decision on release is provisional for 21 days subject to any appeal by the Justice Secretary.

Mr Gallant had been on day release at the event for reformed prisoners in Fishmongers' Hall when he helped end Khan's rampage. His actions on the day later saw his sentence cut following an intervention by the Queen.

Narwhal tusk, which was used by members of the public as they tackled terrorist Usman Khan

The Ministry of Justice revealed in October that the monarch had employed the little-used 'Royal Prerogative of Mercy' to bring Mr Gallant's case before the Parole Board 10 months early.

It was considered at a remote oral hearing on June 21, during which Mr Gallant gave evidence.

In a summary of the Parole Board's decision, it said the panel had recognised his conduct during the Fishmongers' Hall incident but 'was clear that it was not a reason to direct his release'.

The board said professional witnesses had recommended Mr Gallant be released on licence, telling the panel he had 'worked hard to understand and address his risk factors and to bring about a change to his life'.

Of its decision, the board said: 'After considering the circumstances of his index offending, his pattern of previous offending, the progress made while in custody, the details of the release plan and all the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Gallant was suitable for release.'

Conditions of his release on licence would include a curfew, staying at a designated address and to comply with an exclusion zone to avoid contact with his victim's family.
Prisoners in Alabama are now being incentivized to get the COVID-19 vaccine with a $5 canteen credit.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, prisons have been a hot bed for the spread the deadly virus.

Alabama is especially at risk as cases surge, as the state has the lowest vaccination rate of all 50, with only 34.5% fully vaccinated, according to Mayo Clinic data.

While the $5 canteen credit seems to be working, 103 inmates participated in the prison's free vaccination program since the incentive was introduced.

The Alabama Department of Corrections reported a total of 15 people tested positive for Covid-19 as of July 30: six inmates and nine staff members. Last week, 27 people tested positive: nine inmates and 18 staff members- which was more than four times the amount of cases reported the previous week.

As of August 4, 1,666 incarcerated people have tested positive and 66 have died of the 16,907 prisoners who have been tested in Alabama, according to Covid Prison Project.

Alabama Department of Corrections is offering $5 canteen credit to prisoners who do or already have get the covid-19 vaccine

Since the incentive was introduced, 103 inmates participated in the prison's vaccination program

Coronavirus cases have been spiking in Alabama prisons as the highly-contagious Delta variant has continued to spread

Other prisons have also been offering initiatives for inmates to get the vaccine.

Last month, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision randomly selected vaccinated individuals to receive a care package valued up to $75. In Pennsylvania, inmates were offered $25 in commissary credit.

But the incentives offered to incarcerated people pale in comparison to incentive programs being offered across the country.

New Yorkers who got vaccinated at ten designated spots were handed scratch cards with prizes worth up to $5 million on offer.

Nashville offered its citizens a range of prizes including a pair of Nashville Predators season tickets, valued at more than $5,000 while North Carolina is offering its residents $100 in some counties to vaccinated. Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department raffled off backstage passes to a Gucci Mane concert.

The Yankees and Mets were even offering free tickets to spectators who roll up their sleeves at the stadiums, while Vanguard Group Inc. is offering $1,000 to employees who get vaccinated by October, according to Bloomberg.

Alabama is the state has the lowest vaccination rate of all 50 states with only 34.5% fully vaccinated

Many companies and local governments are trying to incentivize people to get vaccinated

In prisons, the prizes may be less impressive, but vaccinations are arguably more important as the crowded close quarters are the perfect breeding ground for the virus.

In Alabama, 10,971 incarcerated people have now received at least one vaccination equaling 43.7% of the state's total prison population. While that number is still below herd immunity and the national numbers, it is higher than the state's vaccination rate.

'A confined correctional environment in which social distancing is challenging and all communicable diseases, to include Covid-19, spread more easily is -- put simply -- starkly different than a community environment,' department spokesperson Kristi Simpson told ABC News, also pointing to the fact that incarcerated people don't have the 'freedoms available to free citizens to ensure public safety.'

It comes just in time as last month thousands of federal convicts were beginning to be sent back to prison after being released to home confinement during the pandemic.

A memo from the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel sent a week before Biden took office states that inmates whose sentences last beyond the official state of emergency declared for the pandemic have to go back behind bars.

'We understand that approximately 40% of those prisoners would not have been eligible [for home confinement] absent the emergency authority,' the order reads.

The CARES Act allowed about 4,000 nonviolent offenders to temporarily leave prison, the New York Times reports.

Covid-19 cases have been spiking as new variants have been spreading and vaccination rates have slowed

As Covid-19 infections have continued to rise so has the number of deaths in the country

As Covid-19 has continued to spread, the emergency period is not expected to end this year

Recent surges in COVID cases and concerns over the Delta variant mean the emergency period, declared in March 2020, likely won't end this year.

The CARES Act directed the DOJ to allow lower-level cons released on home confinement to help slow the virus' spread. Then-AG Barr sent the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) a memo with strict eligibility standards.

Officials reportedly pressed that the decision was made based off of law, not policy.

The Biden team is reportedly hesitant to issue a blanket commutation over the potential political risk and concerns on intervening with DOJ policy on such a wide scale.

But as an administration that has championed prison reform, Biden has come under intense pressure to revoke the Trump-era directive.

A letter signed by 20 advocacy groups including the ACLU and NAACP begged Biden to commute thousands of prisoners' sentences.

'This is your opportunity to provide second chances to thousands of people who are already safely out of prison, reintegrating back to society, reconnecting with their loved ones, getting jobs and going back to school,' the letter sent last month read.

More than two dozen House Democrats and one Republican urged Biden to 'reverse the Trump administration's cruel and misguided decision to require thousands of people currently on home confinement to return to federal prison.

The Biden legal team's decision backs a memo written by the Trump DOJ during the ex-president's last days in office. It states that federal convicts must return to prison no more than 30 days after the official pandemic emergency declaration ends

As an administration that has championed prison reform, the Biden White House is under intense pressure to revoke the Trump-era directive (pictured: Clinton Correction Facility in New York)

'Such a move would harm families, waste tax dollars, and undermine public safety.'

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Cory Booker also sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter in late April urging him to rescind the Trump DOJ policy.

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley also supported the reversal during a hearing in April, citing statistics that say less than 1% of the criminals sent home under the CARES Act violated the terms of their home confinement.

When asked for a statement, the White House did not mention any pandemic-specific regulation.

'President Biden is committed to reducing incarceration and helping people to re-enter society,' White House spokesman Andrew Bates told the New York Times. 'As he has said, too many Americans are incarcerated, and too many are Black and brown. His administration is focused on reforming our justice system in order to strengthen families, boost our economy and give people a chance at a better future.'
Queensland's biggest Covid-19 outbreak since the first wave in 2020 grew by 16 cases on Thursday as the state's top doctor flagged making children under 12 wear masks.

'Most places only require masks from the age of 12 and that's what we have always done here in Queensland,' Dr Young said.

'But we are looking if it's possible to do it for younger [people].

'For a start we will have to look at different masks these masks wouldn't be any use because they are too big.

'There's a whole range of things that we need to look at before we could do it, but yes we are definitely looking at.'

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the new cases were all linked to the original Indooroopilly cluster.

The cases include three students and a further nine household contacts.

Another is a teacher at a school and one is linked to Brisbane Boys' Grammar. A further case is a student from the school.

Four of the cases were in the community while infectious.

The new cases bring the number of cases in the current outbreak to 79.

'We did not expect to be this far in front of the virus,' chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said.

'There were only five days that they were out in the community while infectious and of those five days, all happened while we were in that lockdown so they should have [had] minimal interactions,' she said.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young flagged the idea of children under 12 wearing masks at Thursday's Covid update

A woman exercises in Brisbane. It remains unclear whether south-east Queensland's lockdown will extend beyond next Sunday at 4pm, with Deputy Premier Steven Miles saying it was 'too early to predict' whether restrictions would be eased

Police check members of the public for compliance with lockdown orders in central Brisbane

Mr Miles said it was 'too early' to predict whether the lockdown could be lifted on Sunday.

'My absolute focus is on doing what we need to do today and tomorrow and Saturday to hopefully be able to lift the lockdown on Sunday, that is the goal right now,' he said.

A further 11 cases were overseas acquired, with members of a ship anchored off Gladstone to be cared for on board unless their condition changes.

The state conducted another 52,350 Covid tests on Wednesday, which Mr Miles said was a record for Queensland.

Mr Miles said a delivery of Pfizer vaccines allocated to Queensland would be brought forward from September to August.

'They are not additional vaccines but they will allow for Queensland Health to do more vaccinations in August,' he said.

Concerns are growing about the effect of the latest outbreak on children, with 44 of the 63 cases announced yesterday comprising people under 19 years of age, and more than 20 aged 0-9 years.

The current outbreak began with the case of a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Indooroopilly State High School, with subsequent cases genomically linked to this cluster.

Seven Brisbane schools had since been caught up in the outbreak.

Children infected by the Delta variant are being treated in the the Gold Coast University Hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Womens, Prince Charles and Sunshine Coast University hospitals.

'We do have a of children in hospital, but they are not particularly unwell,' Dr Young said on Thursday.

'But they need to be in hospital and thank goodness we have got the Children's Hospital which is one of the best hospitals in Australia for children

'I'm very confident that we can manage them there or in one of those other hospitals that have now had a lot of experience in managing COVID in children.'

Dr Young confirmed 65 people out of the state's 122 active cases were currently in hospital.

Daily case numbers have increased since the lockdown came into effect last Saturday, but authorities are hopeful of lifting those restrictions by the end of the weekend.

Yesterday they pleaded with Queenslanders from the Gold Coast to Noosa to only go out for essential items, and even consider limiting online shopping.

'If we don't do something really, really special in Queensland, we'll be extending the lockdown, so please ... try your absolute hardest to stay at home,' chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said on Wednesday.

Dr Young asked people to delay online and 'click and collect' shopping for non-essential items until the lockdown lifts in a bid to further prevent movement on the streets.

'Do you need those people out in the community, delivering packages?' she said.

The comments were criticised as 'removed from reality' by online fashion retailer Fleur Richardson.

'What Jeanette Young is really saying is stop the economy,' she said.

'We are very conscious as employers about how many families we feed and so we are putting the wellbeing of our employees first.'

People line up outside a vaccination clinic at the Logan Entertainment Centre south of Brisbane on Wednesday

Ironside State School in St Lucia is one of a number of Brisbane schools caught up in Queensland's worst Covid outbreak since mid-2020

There are now almost 200 COVID-19 exposure sites for close and casual contact across southeast, central and far north Queensland.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles reiterated the message to stay put unless locked down residents absolutely' needed to do essential shopping or receive health care.

'Five more days, do the right thing, and then next week you can buy all the sun lounges you think you need,' he said on Wednesday.

Authorities continued to investigate the case of a Cairns pilot who tested positive to the Delta variant on Tuesday, despite being fully vaccinated.

It was feared the virus had escaped south-east Queensland to the state's Far North.

Dr Young said the man's case posed a low risk but not 'no risk'.
House investigators this week interviewed Patrick Hovakimian, a Justice Department official who penned a resignation letter in the final days of the Trump administration when he feared the president would sack the deputy attorney general.

Hovakimian, who served as acting chief of staff to acting AG Jeffrey Rosen, was prepared to bolt after Trump sought to enlist Rosen, a career official, in his election overturn efforts.

Rosen had taken the reins after the sudden resignation of Attorney General Bill Barr in the last weeks of the Trump administration, after he said publicly he didn't see evidence of fraud sufficient to affect the outcome of the election.

The maneuvering all went down in the final days of the Trump administration, as Trump and his allies furiously sought to challenge results in states that went to Joe Biden, with Trump trying to get DOJ officials to assist in his efforts.

House investigators interviewed Patrick Hovakimian, a Justice Department official who penned a resignation letter expecting Trump would fire acting AG Jeffrey Rosen

Trump had asked Acting AG Jeffrey Rosen to assist his election overturn efforts days after he took over leadership of the agency, according to notes from a top DOJ official

In one example that emerged last week, Trump told Rosen and a top official: 'Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen.' His push was memorialized in notes by then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue of a December 27, 2020 phone call that also included Rosen.

According to his draft resignation letter, reported by CNN, Hovakimian wrote: 'This evening, after Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen over the course of the last week repeatedly refused the President's direct instructions to utilize the Department of Justice's law enforcement powers for improper ends, the President removed Jeff from the Department.'

Trump did not in fact remove Rosen. He addressed the unsent letter to top DOJ officials.

The draft letter was among letters provided to House and Senate committees, according to the network, which reported Hovakimian was interviewed for three hours Wednesday.

Acting head of the DOJ's civil division Jeffrey Clark was touted in December for higher things by then President Trump, just before he urged colleagues to write to Georgia lawmakers recommending they investigate the results of the 2020 election in their state

'We have an obligation to tell people that this was an illegal, corrupt election,' according to notes on Trump call with DOJ officials in December last year

He was in some ways taking a cue from Rosen and Donoghue, who also took pains to make note that they were not abetting Trump's overturn effort.

Donoghue's notes, released by House Oversight, say they told Trump: 'Understand that the DOJ can't + won't snap its fingers + change the outcome of the election, doesn't work that way.'

That prompted Trump to say 'Don't expect you to do that,' and to just 'say' the election was corrupt.

'Told him flat out that much of the info he is getting is false, +/or just not supported by the evidence  we look at allegations but they do not pan out,' the notes also said.

In yet another development, senior DOJ officials turned back a colleague's request that they ask lawmakers in Georgia to investigate Trump's fraud claims there.

The head of DOJ's civil division, Jeffrey Clark, circulated an extraordinary letter Dec. 28th pushing Georgia lawmakers to convene a special session, and even cast doubt on the election outcome there.

'In light of these developments, the Department recommends that the Georgia General Assembly should convene in special session so that its legislators are in a position to take addition testimony, receive new evidence, and deliberate on the matter consistent with its duties under the constitution,' he wrote in the draft.

'Time is of the essence,' the letter says, noting Congress was due to meet to count the electoral votes on Jan. 6  the day that would ultimately include the Capitol riot.

Donoghue's notes suggest Trump was contemplating elevating Clark with just days left in office.

'People tell me Jeff Clark is great, I should put him in. People want me to replace DOJ leadership,' Trump said in his call with Rosen, according to Donoghue's notes.
Australians soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 could be banned from serving overseas and a number of frontline roles.

The Department of Defence along with the Australian Border Force and WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) have warned tough restrictions lay ahead for employees who don't opt for the jab.

It comes after WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson defended forcing unvaccinated officers to wear face masks while on duty starting next week.

Australians soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 could be banned from serving overseas and a number of frontline roles. Pictured: ADF personnel and NSW police in Fairfield in south-west Sydney

As of Monday, 75 per cent of Australian Defence Force employees had received one dose of the vaccine, and 55 per cent were fully vaccinated with two doses

The WA Police Union has criticised the mandate and said it would not accept discrimination against its members based on their vaccination status.

Acting President Mick Kelly said it was their view that the Commissioner of Police doesn't hold the power to ask all police officers roll up their sleeves.

As of Monday, 75 per cent of Australian Defence Force employees had received one dose of the vaccine, and 55 per cent were fully vaccinated with two doses.

A Department of Defence spokesman confirmed to the West Australian the vaccine remains mandatory and would not be used on ADF personnel without their consent.

However, unvaccinated members who wish to work overseas or perform frontline roles in high-risk environments may be restricted from doing so.

'ADF members who do not wish to receive the Covid-19 vaccine may be restricted from being able to perform certain roles, such as those in high-risk settings where the risk of infection and consequences from Covid-19 are high,' the spokesman said.

'For example, working in frontline healthcare roles, deploying on Operation Covid-19 ASSIST or being deployed overseas.'

It comes after WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson (pictured) defended forcing unvaccinated officers to wear face masks at all times from as early as next week

Unvaccinated members of the Australian Defence Force who wish to work overseas or perform frontline roles in high-risk environments may be restricted from doing so

From this week, all Australian Border Force employees who come into contact with international staff and crew must have had one dose of the vaccine or be booked in for an appointment to stay in their current role.

As it stands, 91 per cent of the 4400 person workforce have received one dose of the vaccine, having been eligible since late February.

An ABF spokesman said employees still had the choice to get vaccinated but would likely be redeployed to another role.

Commissioner of the DFES Darren Klemm said he was exploring policy options in regards to mandatory vaccinations for staff and personnel yet to get the jab.

It comes after an ex-nurse in Covid-ravaged Western Sydney was forced to backtrack on a bizarre claim the army was going door-to-door to vaccinate residents.

Naomi Cook shared a 'warning' to people in the suburbs of Fairfield, Blacktown and Mount Druitt - all in Sydney's west or southwest - which sparked fear and panic among constituents.

She claimed that she was told the military were going 'door-to-door late at night armed with the vaccine in hand'.

From this week, all Australian Border Force employees who come into contact with international staff and crew must have had one dose of the vaccine or be booked in for an appointment to remain in their current role. Pictured: ADF personnel in south-west Sydney

As it stands, 91 per cent of the 4400 employees in the Australian Border Force have received one dose of the vaccine, having been eligible since late February.

Defence forces have been enlisted to support police in maintaining compliance with orders. They've also delivered food packages to struggling residents.

But Ms Cook, who also goes by 'Nurse Naomi', falsely alleged they were forcing residents into the streets in the dead of night, demanding they not film, and were told they would be 'coerced and pressured into' having the jab.

After the post gained traction within anti-vaccine communities, Ms Cook was forced to backtrack on the claims.

She later claimed she was simply asking for 'further' experiences and did not mean to alarm anybody by sharing the post.

Vaccinations are demonstrably saving the lives of Sydneysiders, proven by new data which revealed there isn't a single fully-immunised Covid patient in intensive care.

Australias acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, confirmed on Monday that the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are keeping people out of hospital, even as high case numbers in New South Wales persist.

Of the 2,700 cases of the Delta variant that have been recorded in NSW throughout this outbreak, 93 per cent of diagnoses were in unvaccinated people.

A further six per cent of known cases were identified in people who have only had a single jab, meaning they weren't entirely protected.

That leaves just one per cent if the infected NSW population who have had both jabs - but not a single one of them wound up in intensive care as a result of the virus.

Vaccinations are demonstrably saving the lives of Sydneysiders, proven by new data which revealed there isn't a single fully-immunised Covid patient in intensive care

Of the 2,700 cases of the Delta variant that have been recorded in NSW throughout this outbreak, 93 per cent of diagnoses were in unvaccinated people

On Tuesday, a 27-year-old man died 'suddenly' in his home in south-west Sydney from the virus on day 13 of his isolation.

The man had complained of 'feeling a little fatigued' and passed the virus onto another close contact, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.

An unvaccinated woman in her 80s from Sydney's inner-west also died at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on Tuesday, taking the death toll from the city's latest outbreak of the highly-contagious Delta strain to 16.

Two-thirds of all of NSW's cases during the latest outbreak are under 40-years-old, the state's health minister Brad Hazzard said

The state recorded 233 cases of the virus, including 47 who were infectious in the community.
A major food producer will ban its employees from the workplace unless they get booked in to be vaccinated against Covid-19 within six weeks.

Canned fruit and vegetable processor SPC announced on Thursday it had given all of its 450 on-site employees until September 15 to schedule their first dose.

All staff and contractors at the company's factory in Shepparton in regional Victoria must be fully vaccinated by the end of November.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie praised SPC for 'having the guts' to make vaccinations mandatory for its staff.

Canned fruit and vegetable processor SPC announced on Thursday it had given all of its 450 on-site employees until September 15 to schedule their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Pictured is the SPC factory in Shepparton in central Victoria

'The last thing we need is for food suppliers, which are so crucial, to be shutting down,' she told the Today show on Thursday morning.

'I applaud them, [for] having the guts to come out and do that.'

SPC's edict followed tech giant Microsoft announcing all employees must show proof of vaccination before entering its US offices from September.

Poll Should Australia companies be allowed to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for their workers? Yes No Should Australia companies be allowed to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for their workers? Yes 593 votes

No 858 votes Now share your opinion





SPC is Australia's primary producer of packaged fruit and its brands include Ardmona, Goulburn Valley, SPC, ProVital, Kuisine, and PomLife.

Chairman Hussein Rifai said the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant prompted the move - which is a first in Australia for non-health-related businesses.

'Lockdowns are not a sustainable solution and the Australian economy needs to open up again,' he said.

'The Delta variant poses a significant threat to our people, our customers and the communities we serve.

'The only path forward for our country is through vaccination.'

All SPC workers will be offered paid time off to get their vaccinations.

'Its not a matter of opinion. This is science. Vaccines work,' he told The Australian.

All staff and contractors at the company's factory in Shepparton in regional Victoria must be fully vaccinated by the end of November

SPC Chairman Hussein Rifai said the emergence of the highly-contagious Delta variant had prompted the move - which is a first in Australia for non-health-related businesses

Staff will also get special paid leave of up to two days if they become unwell after vaccination.

SPC noted there might be some workers with a pre-existing condition who are unable to be vaccinated and their circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

SPC chief executive Robert Giles said the company was setting an example for others.

'Australian companies must go further by rapidly vaccinating their staff,' he said.

'By taking proactive steps now, we are shoring up our company for the future.

'We firmly believe that it will be manufacturers and innovators like SPC who will help drive Australia's post-Covid economic recovery.'
A photoshoot with friends has cost a man more than a thousand dollars for breaching lockdown restrictions.

The 31-year-old Burpengary man was issued with a $1378 fine after he was found at North Lakes walking outdoors.

The man told officers he was on his way to take some pictures with friends.

Queensland police (pictured) check on residents in the strict lockdown

A man has been fined $1,378 for breaching the lockdown laws, with 14 other fines issued in the Moreton area (stock image)

It comes as Queensland was plunged into a lockdown on July 31 as they combatted a growing Covid cluster.

The only reasons residents are able to leave home is to obtain essential goods within 10km of their home, for essential work, school or childcare, to exercise with one person within 10km of their home or for healthcare.

Queensland acting Premier Steven Miles commented on Monday that people need to do the right thing and stay at home for the lockdown to be effective.

'But for it to work, for us to come out of this at the weekend, we need absolutely everyone in those LGAs to stay at home if they can. It is absolutely critical that people only leave their homes for the four reasons,' he said.

An additional 14 fines have been issued in the Moreton area since lockdown began.

Three men and a woman from Redcliffe were caught travelling to the Sunshine Coast to 'drink and smoke' and now facing penalties totalling more than $5000.

Another woman from the Sunshine Coast was issued a $1378 fine after she was caught on her way to Toowoomba with no valid excuse.

A further three people have received a $206 fine for failing to carry or wear a face mask without an exemption.

Three people have recieved a $206 fine for failing to carry or wear a face mask without exemption (stock image)

The incidents have prompted police to issue a warning, urging residents not to become complacent and to obey the rules.

'In these difficult times, police would prefer not to write these infringements,' Moreton Police community engagement officer Senior Constable Jo Arthur said.

'If people refuse to listen to the warnings and continue to disregard the messaging, then they (police) are left with no option (but) to ensure the safety of all community members.

'Please stay home, help save lives and don't abuse the restrictions. They are there for a reason.'

Police across the region have answered over 160 calls regarding residents not following the lockdown directions since it began.

Fines of over $1000 are being issued for people travelling outside of the 10km radius without a valid excuse or exemption (stock image)

On Wednesday, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said it was up to the community whether the lockdown was extended or not.

'If we do this right over the next five days  we can see the southeast come out of lockdown,' she said.

She said people should not be questioning health directives or trying to find loopholes in the rules.

They also need to use common sense on whether they really need to go out, potentially exposing themselves or others to the virus.
A mum has given birth to a huge baby boy in the front seat of a borrowed car after she went into labour on the freeway.

Tanika Brincat had 10lb baby Marco in a car outside the front doors to Osborne Park Hospital in Perth's northern suburbs after contractions began during her toddler's Sunday morning swimming lessons.

He husband Mathew was forced to take an emergency exit off the Mitchell Highway and find the closest hospital when his wife started going into labour during their trip to their planned birthing suite.

Perth mum Tanika Brincat in hospital with newborn Marco shortly after she gave birth to him in the front seat of a borrowed car

'My body started crowning, I couldn't stop it, it was just doing it on its own,' new mum Tanika Brincat told 9 News.

The couple pulled up directly outside Osborne Park Hospital's front doors and Mathew sprinted inside to get help.

Two midwives followed him outside to help carrying towels, all filmed on the hospital's CCTV.

Ms Brincat was in a late model hatchback which had a fully reclining front seat, allowing her to get into a position for Marco to emerge as the midwives converged.

It all happened within 'about five minutes' of pulling up outside the hospital, with Marco arriving at 10.44am with 'one push'.

Tanika Brincat (right) with her newborn Marco, beside the car she gave birth in, with husband Mathew, who had to frantically exit the freeway and find the nearest hospital

Mathew and Tanika Brincat with their newborn Marco stand beside the car she gave birth in

Tanika and her newborn were then wheeled inside the hospital where a bed was found.

They spent the night in hospital and were discharged the next day.

Smiling dad Mathew explained in detail to TV cameras how the birth happened in the cramped space and where he cut Marco's umbilical cord.

'[The midwife] gave me the scissors and she's here and I'm leaning in and it was a very delicate operation because there's not much room for error,' he said.
White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki brushed off a question by a reporter Wednesday whether President Joe Biden should face an independent investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him similar to the one New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced.

Asked whether the accusations, which include the 1993 sexual assault of a former aide, reports of unwanted touching and of skinning dipping in front Secret Service agents warranted an investigation, Psaki responded that they had been 'heavily litigated.'

'Well first I would say, the president has been clear and outspoken about the importance of women being respected and having their voices heard and being allowed to tell their stories and people treating them with respect. That has long been his policy, continues to be his policy,' she said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declined to say Wednesday whether President Joe Biden should face an independent investigation into sexual misconduct allegations similar to that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced, and said they had been 'heavily litigated'

'That was heavily litigated during the campaign,' she told the reporter from the New York Post. 'I understand youre eager to come back to it, but I dont have anything further other than to repeat that he has called for the governor to resign.'

As Psaki noted, Biden called on on Cuomo to resign Tuesday after an independent investigation by state Attorney General Letitia James found the governor had sexually harassed 11 women with unwanted touching, kissing and inappropriate personal comments.

In March, Biden told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that Cuomo should resign if the investigation turned up evidence of harassment.

On Tuesday, Biden said, 'I stand by that statement,' and when asked if he was calling on Cuomo to resign, he replied, 'yes.'

Biden on Tuesday called on Cuomo to step down after an attorney general report found that he had sexually harassed 11 women

Cuomo has defended his conduct, saying that he often hugs and kisses many people as a sign of affection

Biden, however, faced his own accusations of sexual misconduct during the 2020 election, most seriously in March, 2020 that in 1993 he sexually assaulted Tara Reade, and aide to Biden when he was in the Senate.

But before that, in 2019, four other women had come forward to say that Biden had made them feel uneasy with certain tactile gestures.

Caitlyn Caruso said Biden had made her feel uncomfortable when he put his hand on her thigh at an event on sexual assault at the University of Nevada when she was 19, the New York Times reported.

Biden, however, has also had sexual misconduct accusations leveled against him, most seriously that in 1993 he sexually assaulted former aide Tara Reade (pictured)

Writer D.J. Hill said Biden had placed his hand on her shoulder and then began running it down her back when she and her husband were posing with Biden for a photograph in 2012 at a fundraiser in Minneapolis.

Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state legislator said Biden had made her feel uncomfortable when he kissed her on the back of the head during a campaign event in 2014 when she ran for lieutenant governor.

Additionally, former congressional aide Amy Lappos said Biden had inappropriately grabbed her by the back of the neck and rubbed noses with her in 2009 during a fundraiser in Connecticut when Biden was vice president.

'Social norms have begun to change, theyve shifted. And the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset,' Biden said after the initial accusations surfaced in 2019, Time Magazine reported. 'And I get it. I hear what theyre saying. Ill be much more mindful, thats my responsibility and Ill meet it. But Ill always believe that governing is about connecting with people. That wont change, but Ill be more mindful and respectful of peoples personal space, and thats a good thing.'

Biden has had a history of making certain tactile gestures, and four women came forward in 2019 saying that he had made them feel uncomfortable with them. He is pictured in 2015 with Maggie Coons and her father, Sen. Chris Coons

Cuomo has defended himself vociferously, and said that he has often hugs and kisses people as signs of affection.

In light of the attorney general report's finding, Biden stopped short of saying Cuomo should be forced out, telling reporters Tuesday, 'Let's take one thing at a time. I think he should resign.'

'The president made clear yesterday that Gov. Cuomo should resign,' Psaki said Wednesday. 'And I believe we should start with that. Theres obviously a process thats going to proceed, and leaders in New York spoke to that yesterday. Well leave it to them to speak to that.'

Majority of NY Assembly members say they WILL start impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andrew Cuomo

A majority of state Assembly members said they will start impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he doesn't resign over investigative findings that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, according to an Associated Press count.

At least 83 of the Assembly's 150 members have said publicly or told AP they favored initiating the process of ousting the third-term Democratic governor if he doesn't quit. A simple majority is needed to authorize an impeachment trial.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement on Tuesday that Cuomo 'can no longer remain in office' and that the state's legislative body 'will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.'

If the Assembly votes to impeach Cuomo, the state Senate could launch an impeachment trial 'in weeks,' Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris told the Associated Press.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay, left, urged Speaker Carle Heastie, a Democrat, to convene an emergency special session to vote to impeach Cuomo.

Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris said the state Senate could launch an impeachment trial 'in weeks' if the Assembly votes to impeach Cuomo

Gianaris, a Democrat, said the chamber has been preparing for a potential impeachment trial for months.

'We'll be ready to go if and when the impeachment articles are sent over,' he said. 'It could happen very quickly.'

If Cuomo were to resign, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would become New Yorks first female governor. Hochul would also take office and serve out the rest of Cuomo's term until 2023 if state lawmakers voted to remove him from office.

In order to remove Cuomo from office, the Assembly would need 76 votes to impeach Cuomo and send articles of impeachment to the Senate where a trial would be held. At least two-thirds of the state's 63 senators would then have to vote in favor of convicting and removing Cuomo from office.

Heastie would oversee the impeachment proceedings against Cuomo in the Assembly and Janet DiFiore, as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, could oversee the trial in the state Senate.

The Assembly includes 106 Democrats, 43 Republicans and one Independent. At least 40 of the 830 Assembly members who say they are ready to start impeachment proceedings are Democrats.

Assembly Democrats, who lead the chamber, debated virtually for hours Tuesday about whether to impeach the governor now, wait to see whether he resigns, or give the Assembly Judiciary Committee time to wrap up its wide-ranging investigation.

The Judiciary Committee is investigating topics from sexual misconduct to the Cuomo administrations months long obfuscation of the total number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19.

Some said the Assembly should vote for impeachment now, while others said the chamber should impeach Cuomo if he doesn't resign.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay urged Speaker Heastie, a Democrat, to convene an emergency special session to vote to impeach Cuomo.

Heastie, left, said in a statement on Tuesday that Cuomo 'can no longer remain in office' and that the state's legislative body 'will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible'

New York Speaker Carl Heastie, who would oversee impeachment proceedings against Cuomo, released this statement on Tuesday saying an investigation was underway and would conclude 'expeditiously'. Critics say the legislature needs to act fast to remove the Governor, who has 'lost the confidence' of his peers

New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins is pictured

The tally reflects a governor plunged into a political deep freeze - a Democratic scion who has lost most, if not all, of his allies in the party establishment, just a year after basking in national attention as the voice of fighting the coronavirus.

Cuomo has denied that he made any inappropriate sexual advances and insisted the findings didn't reflect the facts. But while political pressure grew, so did the potential for criminal charges against Cuomo.

District attorneys in Manhattan, suburban Westchester and Nassau counties and the state capital of Albany said they asked for investigative materials from the inquiry, overseen by Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James.

James' investigation found that Cuomo - a former state AG himself - had violated civil laws against sexual harassment. Making no conclusions about whether he should be criminally charged, investigators left the door open for local prosecutors to bring cases.

'We are reviewing the deeply disturbing findings,' said Joyce A. Smith, the acting district attorney in Long Island's Nassau County. She pledged her office would 'thoroughly and expeditiously investigate any potential crimes' that happened there.

After James released her report Tuesday, Democrats from the statehouse to the White House called for Cuomo to go. President Joe Biden said the governor should resign, though press secretary Jen Psaki wouldnt say Wednesday whether Biden wanted to see Cuomo impeached and removed from office.

THE CALLS FOR CUOMO TO STAND DOWN FROM BIDEN, PELOSI, AOC, DE BLASIO AND MORE President Joe Biden In March, when the AG launched her investigation into Cuomo, Biden said that if he was found culpable, Cuomo should stand down. Yesterday, when asked again about the report, Biden said he 'stands by' his earlier statement and believes he should resign. Speaker Nancy Pelosi 'As always, I commend the women who came forward to speak their truth. Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign.' AOC and 12 New York Reps 'For the good of New York State, Cuomo must resign. If he does not, the NY State Assembly must begin impeachment proceedings.' Governors of NJ, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island 'We are appalled by the findings... Governor Cuomo should resign from office.' NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio 'It is beyond clear that Andrew Cuomo is not fit to hold office and can no longer serve as Governor. He must resign, and if he continues to resist and attack the investigators who did their jobs, he should be impeached immediately' Carl Heastie, NY speaker It is abundantly clear to me that he has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority. Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible. LT Gov Kathy Hochul, who would replace Cuomo No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps.

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'The president believes Governor Cuomo should do the right thing, resign, and leave space for future leadership in New York,' Psaki said.

And one of the governor's closest allies, New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, declared that Cuomo 'has lost his ability to govern, both practically and morally.' Jacobs told Spectrum News he had tried privately to persuade Cuomo to resign but 'wasnt making headway.'

Cuomo showed no signs of heeding such messages, saying that some episodes described in the report never happened, others were misconstrued or mischaracterized and the whole exercise was tainted.

'Politics and bias are interwoven throughout every aspect of this situation,' he said in a recorded video response.

James' investigation, conducted by two outside lawyers, painted what she called a 'clear picture' of a governor who touched or made sexually inappropriate comments to a series of women, many of whom worked for him. One is a state trooper whom Cuomo successfully sought to have assigned to his security detail.

While many of the allegations against Cuomo involve verbal comments, some women have also alleged that he gave them unwanted kisses or touches. One aide said the governor reached under her shirt and groped her breast at the governor's mansion in Albany.

The governor denied Tuesday that he ever inappropriately touched anyone and said that he never intended harm.

To date, Cuomo has rebuffed calls to step down and has moved ahead with plans to run for a fourth term in 2022.

As New York went through a harrowing coronavirus surge in spring 2020, Cuomo's daily briefings garnered him fans around the country and an International Emmy Award.

Casting himself as a tough-minded yet compassionate leader who steered the state through its biggest public health emergency in a century, the governor even wrote a book about it.

Now, that book itself is among the focuses of investigations into Cuomo, with James examining the role some of his aides played in producing it.

As complaints and investigations accumulated in recent months, Cuomo became an embattled but unabashed figure. He often still touts the state's handling of the pandemic despite now-rising infection rates amid a national surge in the more infectious delta variant.

He took office in 2011, following in the footsteps of his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who served three terms in the 1980s and '90s.
New South Wales families struggling to pay their energy bills due to loss of wages brought on by the lengthy Covid-19 lockdown can now apply for a $1,600 government subsidy.

Those needing help were previously allowed to apply for a grant of $1,200 a year but this had now been bumped up by the state government in response to the ongoing lockdown which will not be lifted until the end of this month at the earliest.

NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean said people struggling to pay bills should not 'hesitate' to visit the Service NSW website to register for the voucher as soon as they need to.

'The current Covid outbreak has put an increased strain on some household budgets, with more of us staying at home during these winter months,' Mr Kean said.

Families struggling to pay their energy bills in New South Wales due to recent Covid-19 lockdowns can now apply for a $1,600 government handout (pictured Sydney residents at Centennial Park)

'In this difficult time, we want make sure households in NSW not only keep the lights on but keep their families safe, warm and comfortable. That is why NSW energy customers facing hardship will be able to access up to $1,600 per year in bill support.'

The vouchers are being offered under the Energy Accounts Payments Assistance (EAPA) scheme and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

The payment can only go towards bills that haven't been paid yet and a government agent will assess each applicant to ensure they're eligible.

Applicants need to prove they aren't making enough income for basic needs such as food, housing, energy supply and health, the EAPA scheme says, or if they are at risk of having their power disconnected.

The vouchers will be sent to a family's energy retailer by the government and used as a credit.

Applicants will need to prove they are not making enough income to fulfill their basic needs or are at risk of having their energy disconnected

The government says the vouchers will go towards those struggling amid lockdown restrictions across the state (pictured health workers at the Sydney Olympic Park vaccination centre)

The lockdown which began on June 26 has had little headway in reducing case numbers, which reached 234 on Wednesday - only five off the record.

It was also announced early on Thursday morning that three children in a town 122km from Sydney have tested positive to coronavirus, raising fears the outbreak is now spreading into regional New South Wales.

Two of the students attend Lake Munmorah Public School on the NSW Central Coast and their older sibling goes to Morisset High School near Lake Macquarie.

Both schools were shut down for deep cleaning on Wednesday after the positive tests and hundreds of students and stuff sent into isolation.

Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast have had next to no Covid cases but are in lockdown along with Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Illawarra.
Two former defence ministers have called on British forces to return to the frontline in Afghanistan to stop the Taliban taking over.

Ex-Commando Johnny Mercer and Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, are leading calls for the UK to reverse its decision to abandon the country.

The withdrawal, which came after President Joe Bidens decision to bring US troops home, is already having dramatic consequences for the region.

In the weeks since the last British troops pulled out, the Taliban has made huge territorial and strategic gains, putting the lives of former British interpreters in even greater jeopardy.

Two former defence ministers have called on British forces to return to the frontline in Afghanistan to stop the Taliban taking over

Ex-Commando Johnny Mercer (left) and Tobias Ellwood (right), chairman of the Commons defence committee, are leading calls for the UK to reverse its decision to abandon the country

Many live in Helmands capital Lashkar Gah  which was on the verge of falling to the Taliban last night  and face almost certain death should they be identified.

The Daily Mails award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign has highlighted the plight of ex-translators at risk of Taliban revenge attacks.

And yesterday Labour claimed that around two-thirds of the Afghans who supported British forces could still be under threat.

It came as Mr Mercer warned that, although the US has lost its moral compass and left Afghanistan to its fate, that doesnt mean Britain should do the same.

In the weeks since the last British troops pulled out, the Taliban has made huge territorial and strategic gains, putting the lives of former British interpreters in even greater jeopardy

We have aircraft all over the Middle East. We should be dropping bombs and killing Taliban, he said. No call for air support from Afghan troops on the ground should go unanswered.

The Tory MP, who served three tours of Afghanistan, added: A lot of British blood was spilled in Helmand Province.

Media urges ministers to provide sanctuary The Daily Mail and other leading media groups have called on the Government to provide sanctuary to Afghans at risk because of their vital work supporting British journalists. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, they highlight how the Taliban has masterminded a campaign of targeted killings against reporters. The signatories  including Sky News, The Guardian and The Times  also called for a special Afghan visa programme so those who have worked for the British media can find safety in the UK with their families. The letter warns: There is an urgent need to act quickly as the threat to their lives is already acute. If left behind, those Afghan journalists and media employees... will be left [at] risk. Advertisement

The sacrifices of our troops are being squandered. Was it all really for nothing? Are we really so tied to the Americans that we cannot do anything ourselves or with other Nato partners?

Mr Ellwood also called on the Government to step up and show international leadership. The accelerated withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan while the Taliban is rampant is the biggest foreign affairs own goal of this century, he said.

Britain must step up and show international leadership, convene a conference of like-minded states and get a plan in place to deliver effective military support. If we dont, everything we fought for since 2001 could be lost.

Speaking of August 31, when all US and Nato troops are expected to be out of Afghanistan, he added: This order must be revoked. The UK must not be timid.

We are capable of acting without the Americans and its time to prove it.

From 2001, more than 450 British troops sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan and more than 2,000 suffered serious injuries. The vast majority were killed in Helmand, where the Taliban have seized nine out of ten districts in its capital, Lashkar Gah.

It is one of three provincial capitals under siege by the Taliban.

The Taliban commander overseeing an assault on the capital of Helmand was released from prison at the USs request, it was reported last night.

Mawlavi Talib was one of 5,000 prisoners released last year in a bid to reach a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

However, Talib is now leading the Taliban offensive in the city of Lashkar Gah  with at least 50 civilians feared dead in the most recent fighting.
Giving hospitalised Covid patients sleep apnoea mask cuts their risk of falling even more ill, a study has suggested.

Researchers at Warwick University and Queen's University Belfast found continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines stop some seriously ill patients needing to be hooked up to a ventilator.

The therapy  which can cost up to 720  works by pumping air into the lungs to stop the upper airways from collapsing.

It was originally designed for sleep apnoea sufferers, helping them breathe during the night and stopping them from snoring.

But the NHS says its is helpful in other situations, with the masks used to treat Covid patients since the pandemic began.

The academics sought to compare how CPAP compared to standard oxygen therapy, which delivers oxygen via a loose fitting mask.

The trial of more than 1,200 patient across 48 UK hospitals also looked at HFNO (high pressure oxygen delivered up the nose).

Every one in 12 patients who were moved on from standard oxygen therapy to CPAP were prevented from requiring mechanical ventilation, data suggested.

Researchers said their findings, which have not yet peer-reviewed, can help reduce pressure on intensive care units.

The results should give patients and their families confidence the treatment can be used in place of standard oxygen therapy, the team said.

Giving Covid patients sleep apnoea mask cuts their risk of falling even more ill, a study has suggested. Pictured: A Covid patient is given a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask as part of her treatment

CAN VENTILATORS CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE LUNGS? Ventilators pump oxygen under pressure directly into the lungs via a tube inserted down the throat. Pushing pressurised oxygen into the organs can cause them to become extremely inflamed. They become irritated which triggers an aggressive immune response, resulting in the inflammation. Very high levels of oxygen is also harmful because it increases free radical formation, leading to damaged membranes, proteins, and cell structures in the lungs. Doctors normally circumvent this by making sure to keep pressure levels low and only administer as much oxygen is necessary to keep the organs supplied. But, in patients who already have severely damaged and inflamed lungs, they can worsen the problem. Inflammation can cause fluid from nearby blood vessels to leak into the tiny air sacs in the lungs, making breathing and getting oxygen to organs increasingly difficult. Advertisement

Professor Gavin Perkins, from Warwick, said: 'By giving patients the most effective treatment to begin with, we can help prevent resource shortages in our NHS and make sure the right type of ventilation is available to patients when it is required.

'This is the first large trial of different types of ventilation in Covid.

'While it is encouraging that these results can help reduce the number of people who require invasive ventilation, it is important to stress that, where it is needed, invasive ventilation can be lifesaving.

'What this trial does, for the first time, is provide an evidence base that can give patients, their families and clinicians, the confidence to step from controlled oxygen therapy to CPAP.

'One in 12 people [who have] that therapy will escape the need for invasive ventilation.'

Data also suggested the routine use of HFNO should be reconsidered.

Results showed the therapy did not improve outcomes for Covid patients compared, with conventional oxygen therapy.

Professor Perkins said: 'The routine use of HFNO, which can consume large amounts of oxygen, should be reconsidered as it did not improve outcomes.'

The Respiratory Strategies in Covid-19, CPAP, High-flow, and Standard Care (Recovery-RS) trial is the world's largest non-invasive respiratory support trial for Covid.

All three methods studied are commonly used to treat Covid patients suffering acute respiratory failure.

But it was not known which, if any, resulted in a better outcome.

Between April 2020 and May 2021, 1,272 Covid patients admitted to hospital with acute respiratory failure, aged over the age of 18, were recruited to the study.

They were randomly allocated to receive one of the three respiratory support interventions as part of their hospital care.

CPAP works by pumping air into the lungs to stop the upper airways from collapsing and was designed to help people breathe while they sleep and prevent snoring

WHAT IS A VENTILATOR? A machine that helps people breathe. It puts oxygen directly into patients' lungs and removes carbon dioxide from them. A breathing tube connects the ventilator machine to your body. One end of the tube is placed into the lungs airways through down the throat or nose. In some serious cases, the tube is connected directly to the windpipe through a small cut in the throat. Surgery is needed to make the hole in the neck. This is called a tracheostomy. Patients are heavily sedated so they can't fight the sensation of being unable to breathe on their own. Ventilators are used to help a person breathe if they have lung disease or another condition that makes breathing difficult. They can also be used during and post-surgery. Advertisement

The likelihood of patients being hooked up to a ventilator or dying within 30-days of treatment was significantly lower in the CPAP group.

Data showed 137 of 377 participants (36.3 per cent) given CPAP either needed mechanical ventilation or died within 30 days.

For comparison, 158 of 356 participants (44.4 per cent) given standard oxygen treatment saw their condition worsen.

The study, which has been released as a pre-print, found there was no difference between patients in the HFNO and conventional oxygen therapy groups.

Based on these results, one person would avoid needing invasive ventilation within intensive care units (ICU) for every 12 people treated with CPAP instead of standard oxygen therapy, the researchers say.

Professor Danny McAuley, study co-author, said: 'The results of this trial are really encouraging as they have shown that by using CPAP, invasive ventilation may not be needed for many patients with Covid requiring high oxygen levels.

'Avoiding invasive ventilation is not only better for the patients, but it also has important resource implications as it frees up ICU capacity.

'This research should help healthcare professionals in the UK and beyond manage patients with Covid, to improve patient outcomes while helping to lessen the burden on resources.'

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer, said: 'This study, funded by the NIHR, provides valuable evidence around how non-invasive respiratory support can be used to improve patient outcomes.

'Reducing invasive mechanical ventilation is better for patients and reduces pressures on mechanical ventilator capacity across the NHS.'
More than 40% of plastic toys bought online fail UK safety tests - with some posing risks of choking or even strangulation, parents have been warned.

Consumer group Which? tested 28 toys bought from Amazon Marketplace, AliExpress, eBay and Wish and found 12 posed a safety risk after failing one or more tests.

Investigators found a total of 50 safety failures across the 12 toys, with 10 toys presenting a choking risk and two posing a strangulation risk for children.

Which? also found two toys that had either magnets or batteries that could be easily accessed, which could cause serious injuries to children if swallowed.

All the toys were tested against British safety standards.

The most dangerous toy in the investigation was a 51-piece doctor's playset - described as a toy for a baby or toddler - sold on Wish

A similar doctor's set sold on AliExpress contained 10 potential choking hazards, while a long cord on the doctor's coat could present a strangulation hazard, the watchdog said

A set of magnetic building blocks sold on Amazon Marketplace and aimed at children aged three years old and above broke open to reveal tiny magnets that were almost four times as powerful as they were permitted to be under current standards, which could pose a choking risk

Which? also found a toy tablet sold on Wish that posed a serious risk as the battery cover could be easily removed to reveal a button battery

A toy phone sold on AliExpress, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about after an investigation found more than 40% bought from online marketplaces failed safety tests

A ring teether with bells and ribbons from AliExpress, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

Five of the products that failed tests were sold on Wish, making it the worst offender, Which? said.

Three were sold on eBay and AliExpress respectively, and only one was available on Amazon Marketplace.

The most dangerous toy in the investigation was a 51-piece doctor's playset - described as a toy for a baby or toddler - sold on Wish.

Which? described it as 'filled with unsafe toys' with 'at least 20 choking hazards' including toy plasters and pills, adding: 'Most of the toys in the set broke into small and dangerous parts far too easily, including play scissors and a notepad which revealed sharp points.'

A similar doctor's set sold on AliExpress contained 10 potential choking hazards, while a long cord on the doctor's coat could present a strangulation hazard, the watchdog said.

A set of magnetic building blocks sold on Amazon Marketplace and aimed at children aged three years old and above broke open to reveal tiny magnets that were almost four times as powerful as they were permitted to be under current standards, which could pose a choking risk.

Which? also found a toy tablet sold on Wish that posed a serious risk as the battery cover could be easily removed to reveal a button battery.

Both magnets and button batteries can be a choking hazard and cause serious injuries or chemical burns if swallowed.

Which? shared its investigation with the four online marketplaces and all 12 products that failed have since been removed from sale.

Unlike UK retailers, online marketplaces have limited responsibility for ensuring the products sold on their platform meet legal safety requirements, repeatedly allowing unsafe toys and products to make it onto their sites.

The UK's product safety regulator, the Office for Product Safety and Standards, is currently reviewing the product safety system, including regulation of online sales.

A toy dog sold on Wish, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

A hanging crib monkey rattle from Wish, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

A baby sensory box sold on eBay, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

A rainbow ribbon ring from eBay, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

A toy dog sold on eBay, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

A caterpillar crib toy from Wish, one of the toys that the company has warned parents about

Which? head of consumer protection policy, Sue Davies, said: 'Many parents will be appalled by our research which has revealed that some toys bought from online marketplaces are failing to meet safety standards and could pose a serious safety risk to children playing with them.

'Consumers should be able to trust that products sold in the UK are safe and meet the standards required, yet a woeful lack of checks and monitoring by online marketplaces means dangerous toys are entering people's homes.

'It is absolutely crucial that online marketplaces are urgently given greater legal responsibility for the safety of products sold on their sites so that consumers are far better protected from dangerous and illegal items.'

An AliExpress spokesman said: 'The safety of our customers is of paramount importance to AliExpress. After being contacted by Which?, we took swift action and removed the affected products.'

An Amazon spokesman said: 'Safety is important to Amazon and we want customers to shop with confidence on our stores. We have proactive measures in place to prevent suspicious or non-compliant products from being listed and we monitor the products sold in our stores for product safety concerns.'

An eBay spokeswoman said: 'We take the safety of our users extremely seriously and work closely with authorities including Trading Standards to help ensure sellers and listings on eBay comply with laws and regulations. We have removed the products identified by Which? and taken the appropriate action on the sellers.'

Wish said: 'All merchants on our platform are required to adhere to local laws and safety standards where their goods are sold. In the rare instance where a product falls foul of those standards, it is promptly removed and, where appropriate, the merchant in question faces a potential suspension from the platform.'
Hundreds of people have been plunged into quarantine after a fly-in fly-out worker visited 11 locations while infectious for up to 16 days.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the worker tested positive to Covid after returning from the Fortescue Cloudbreak mine in the state's north-west on July 27.

He visited three pubs, two medical centres, a Coles, Baker's Delight, and five other locations while potentially infectious, sparking fears of another lockdown.

The worker returned a 'weak' positive test result and authorities are unsure when, or for how long, he was infectious in the community, but say it could be as long as 16 days.

A fly-in fly-out worker may have been infectious with coronavirus in the community for as long as two weeks after flying into Perth from a rural mine

The infected man also attended the popular Indian Ocean Hotel in Scarborough on Thursday July 29

NEW PERTH EXPOSURE SITES Fremantle: Pathwest waiting room, Fremantle Hospital, 1pm-3pm, August 2 Fremantle: Old Faithful Hotel, 5pm-7.30pm, July 28 North Fremantle: MRKT SPACE (19 Freeman Loop), 8.30am-10am, July 31 South Perth: Southbank Day Surgery, 1pm-1.15pm, August 2 Subiaco: Subiaco Hotel, 6.30pm-12am, July 31 Greenwood: Greenwood Coles (Greenwood Village), 3pm-3.30pm, July 31 Greenwood: Lewis Meats, (Greenwood Village), 2.45pm-3pm, July 31 Greenwood: Bakers Delight (Greennwood Village), 2.45pm-3pm, July 31 Scarborough: Indian Ocean Hotel, 7.30pm-1am, July 29-30 Perth Airport: T3/4 Perth Domestic Airport, 4.30pm-6pm, July 27 Perth Airport: T3/4 Perth Domestic Airport, 4am-7am, July 20 Advertisement

His girlfriend was tested and has returned a negative result.

He is believed to have caught the virus at Perth Airport on July 20 from a traveller who flew to WA after completing hotel quarantine in Queensland.

The man attended Old Faithful Bar and BBQ in Fremantle on July 28 and went to the popular Indian Ocean Hotel in Scarborough the next day.

He also visited Greenwood Village Shopping Centre and the Subiaco Hotel on July 31.

The infected FIFO worker also attended two medical centres including Fremantle Hospital.

Anyone who was at the establishments at the relevant times must immediately be tested and isolate until further information is made available.

Health Minister Roger Cook said it was unlikely genomic testing would reveal which strain of the virus the FIFO worker had contracted because his result was so weak.

'To further complicate matters, the FIFO worker had been Covid-positive back in March and April last year,' Mr McGowan said.

'There is some confusion, we don't know if he is actually a shedder of the virus now, although that is unlikely.

'We don't actually know that he acquired it from the gentleman at the airport on July 20, but that is the most plausible explanation we have.'

The worker is believed to have spent most of his time in the coastal suburb of Fremantle and Greenwood in Perth's north since returning from a week-long stint at the mine.

The infected Fifo worker also attended two medical centres including Fremantle Hospital

The worker tested positive to the virus after returning from the Fortescue Cloudbreak mine site in the state's north-west on July 27. Pictured are mine workers boarding a flight at Perth Domestic Airport in December 2020

Eleven exposure sites have so far been identified across the city, including the Subiaco Hotel in the inner-city and the Indian Ocean Hotel in Scarborough in Perth's north-west.

Anyone who was at either terminal three or four at Perth Airport on July 20 between 4am and 7am has been told to get tested for Covid-19 and isolate until they receive a negative result.

The same order has been given to travellers and staff at the two terminals on July 27 between 4.15am and 6am.

Mr Cook said it was possible the FIFO worker was not infectious at all given this was the second time he contracted the virus.

'The suspicion is that if he did acquire the virus again then there is a possibility he wasn't infectious at all,' Mr Cook said.

'He has three very close contacts in relation to work, one of those has been tested and is also negative.'
Following a directive by President Joe Biden to explore the matter, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is leaning toward requiring all U.S. troops to get vaccinated for the coronavirus.

The Pentagon chief has been examining the issue as the Biden administration looks for ways to boost vaccination nationwide, while protecting military personnel who must content with viral variants even as they carry out their duties of providing for the national defense.

Austin's 'inclination is towards making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory' for active-duty troops, CNN citing a Defense official.

The signal on his reported posture comes after Biden  who as commander-in-chief can issue the vaccine order for the the troops  made his own preference known, without going so far as to call for it.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's 'inclination is towards making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory,' according to a report

Biden said last week in a speech on boosting vaccination that he had asked the military 'to look into how and when they will add COVID-19' to to the list of mandatory vaccinations service members already must get.

'Our troops serve in places throughout the world, many where vaccination rates are low and disease is prevalent,' he noted.

The military are one of the few groups Biden can directly order to get the shot. For other Americans, he has relied on persuasion, even getting behind the idea of $100 prizes for those who get their jabs, which have the benefit of lowering spread of the virus and protecting unvaccinated people including children.

President Biden has told the military to ''to look into how and when they will add COVID-19' to the list of required vaccines

An employee receives a vaccination against Covid-19 from a National Guard soldier at a pop-up vaccination stand at the Vermont Creamery in Websterville, Vermont on June 29, 2021

A soldier in a face mask and shield prepares to administer a dose of the Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in Dallas.). 'Our troops serve in places throughout the world, many where vaccination rates are low and disease is prevalent,' Biden said last week

He is not ordering federal workers to get shots  but is requiring workers who don't attest to being vaccinated to take part in periodic testing.

Austin, having consulted with military medical personnel, wants to 'seek authorization to make it mandatory,' the official said.

The FDA has yet to grand formal approval to any of the three vaccines already approved under emergency use authorization, leaving doubt about when a final Pentagon position will come out.

But the spread of the delta variant is adding urgency. There were multiple outbreaks on ships and bases when the outbreak first began last year.

'The President directed us to do something and we'll get after it,' Austin said last week.

A July Justice Department memo references an 'option to accept or refuse' a vaccine codified in existing law for a vaccine under emergency use authorization. It states that the provision may be waived 'only by the President' after he determines 'that complying with such requirement is not in the interests of national security.'

Biden's actions on the federal workforce applied to the roughly 766,000 civilians working in the military, but not the the 1.3 million active duty troops.
Ten people have been killed and 13 are injured after a van carrying illegal migrants flipped over in Texas.

The top heavy Ford van was reportedly speeding but not being chased when it crashed coming off the Highway 281 in Encino shortly after 4 pm on Wednesday afternoon.

Approximately 30 people we inside the 15 passenger van, in which the driver is thought to have been traveling at a high speed which caused the vehicle to miss a curve, hit a utility pole, and struck a stop sign, according to a DPS spokesperson.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Nathan Brandley confirmed most of the passengers were undocumented immigrants.

Ten people have been killed and 13 are injured after a van carrying mostly undocumented immigrants crashed in Texas on Wednesday

The vehicle was not being chased but was reportedly speeding when it crashed into a pole off

The 15 passenger van was carrying nearly 30 people while driving on Highway 281 in Encino, Texas

The driver was reportedly speeding which caused the vehicle to miss a curve, hit a utility pole, and struck a stop sign

Sgt. Nathan Brandley confirmed most of the passengers were undocumented immigrants

Texas Department of Public Safety and Brooks County Police Department are working together to investigate the deadly crash

Texas DPS is working with the Mexican Consulate to confirm identities of the passengers.

Helicopters transported the injured to trauma centers in the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi.

Authorities have not identified the driver but confirmed that he died at the scene, Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Benny Martinez told My RGV News.

The crash happened in Encino, Texas nearly 2 miles south from the Falfurrias Border Patrol check point

DPS is leading the investigation with assistance from the Brooks County Sheriffs Office. Traffic is currently being diverted around the scene of the crash.

Encino is a small community of about 140 residents nearly 2 miles south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol three-lane traffic check point.

The US Customs and Border Patrol Agency was on the scene quickly but is not involved in the investigation as authorities have not found evidence that the van was or had gone through the checkpoint.

This is a breaking news story, more details to follow.
A $1 million reward is being offered to solve the mysterious disappearance of a young couple from Sydney's north shore more than forty years ago.

Stephen Lapthorne was 21 and his girlfriend Michelle Pope was 18 when they were last seen leaving his home on Wyuna Avenue at West Pymble, on August 25, 1978.

They were driving a lime green-coloured 1977 Bedford CF van - with NSW registration plates SL710 - and were believed to be heading to Ms Pope's home at Berowra.

A huge reward of $1million has been offered to solve the disappearance of Stephen Lapthorne and Michelle Pope who disappeared 43 years ago

The van had a dark green horizontal band along each side, chrome plated mag wheels and a 150cm aerial in the centre of the roof, with a clip-on aerial above the driver's window.

In August 2005, a coronial Inquest concluded Mr Lapthorne and Ms Pope were dead but the time and cause of their deaths was undetermined.

The case was referred to the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad.

The young couple aged 21 and 18 were last seen leaving Mr Lapthorne's home on Wyuna Avenue in Sydney's West Pymble in a lime green-coloured camper van on August 25 1978

Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, said the families of the couple had spent nearly more than four decades searching for answers

In January, the unsolved crimes unit began a new investigation and searched in the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park following the discovery of vehicle parts in McCarrs Creek.

The parts were sent for forensic examination but were not a match for the couple's van.

NSW Police are now renewing an appeal to the community for information and Police Minister David Elliott on Thursday announced the reward had been lifted from $100,000 to $1 million.

In January this year, the NSW unsolved crimes unit began a new investigation searching in the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park after vehicle parts were found in McCarrs Creek

Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, said the families of the couple had spent nearly more than four decades searching for answers.

'It's hoped that the increase in this reward will encourage anyone with information about their whereabouts, or the location of the car they were travelling in at the time of their disappearance, to come forward,' he said.

Ms Pope's brother, Jeff Pope, said the impact of his sister's disappearance on the family was immense and their mother, Veronica, had died without knowing what happened to her daughter.

'Not a day goes by where we don't think about Michelle and the life she could have led,' he said.

'We hope this reward will encourage someone to come forward with information - no matter how small. It's possible that it could help detectives and finally allow Michelle to rest in peace.'
The parents of a brain-damaged two-year-old at the centre of a right-to-life court battle were devastated last night after the European Court of Human Rights agreed her treatment should be withdrawn.

Alta Fixsler has no 'conscious awareness' and experiences constant pain, according to her doctors at a Manchester hospital.

The High Court ruled in May that she should be allowed to die but her ultra-Orthodox parents say their Jewish faith means they cannot agree to her life support being turned off.

They want to take her to the United States or Israel for care and, after failing to overturn the decision at the Supreme Court, sought to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The parents of brain-damaged Alta Fixsler (pictured), two, at the centre of a court battle were devastated after the European Court of Human Rights agreed treatment should be withdrawn

However, yesterday their lawyers confirmed that appeal had also been rejected.

In a letter sent to the Fixslers on Monday, the ECHR said it agreed with the UK court's decision to allow the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and place their daughter on end-of-life care.

Alta's father has joint Israeli-US citizenship, and last week the State Department in Washington granted a visa for Alta to travel there for assessment and possible treatment after senior senators intervened.

Speaking on behalf of the Fixsler family, David Foster, partner at law firm Moore Barlow, said: 'The ECHR's decision is devastating for Alta's parents who only want to see every option explored to try and save their daughter's life.

'Foreign nationals who have been offered care overseas should have the encouragement to explore these alternatives  preventing them from doing so is not in their best interests and is setting a worrying precedent.'

The family's friend Yossi Gestetner told the BBC: 'We're not dealing here with something that doesn't feel pain.

Alta's ultra-Orthodox parents say their Jewish faith means they cannot agree to her life support being turned off. Pictured: Alta with her brother Tzvi and father Abraham

'We're dealing with a human being that's alive, that has feelings, and therefore has the potential of a better future, if given the right care.'

But Mr Justice MacDonald said in May that taking the British-born two-year-old overseas for treatment would 'expose Alta to further pain and discomfort' for 'no medical benefit'.

The decision carries echoes of the plight of Alfie Evans whose case provoked intense public sympathy in 2018 when a judge ruled doctors could withdraw life support against the wishes of his parents after concluding nothing more could be done to treat him.

Pope Francis expressed his support for the youngster's parents, while the Italian government granted Alfie citizenship amid lobbying for a transfer to a Vatican-operated hospital.

But their appeals were in vain and Alfie died aged 23 months four days after his life support was switched off.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said that it recognised 'this is an incredibly difficult and distressing time for Alta's family and we will continue to support them'.
A toddler has been seriously injured after being hit by a lorry in Birmingham.

The two-year-old girl was rushed to hospital at 3.20pm on Wednesday.

Bystanders rushed to the aid of the youngster until emergency services arrived.

A section of the road was sealed off for three hours as detectives investigated the collision.

The lorry driver stopped at the scene and was helping police with their enquiries.

The two-year-old girl was rushed to hospital at 3.20pm on Wednesday. Pictured: The lorry

A West Midlands Police spokesman said yesterday: 'We are currently on Nechells Park Road, Birmingham after a toddler was hit by a lorry at 3.20pm today.

'The girl was rushed to hospital where she remains in a serious condition.

'Officers from our collision investigation unit are at the scene. We thank you for your patience as the road is currently closed.

'The lorry driver stopped at the scene and is assisting our enquiries.'

Bystanders rushed to the aid of the youngster until emergency services arrived (pictured)

Two ambulances, a paramedic officer and a critical care paramedic attended the incident.

The youngster was rushed to Birmingham Children's Hospital for specialist treatment.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: 'Ambulance staff arrived on scene to find the pedestrian, a young girl, being cared for by bystanders following a collision with a lorry.'

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101.
Hotel quarantine costs are to soar to more than 200 a night, it was revealed last night.

All travellers returning from red list countries  such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa  must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 11 nights.

Until now, the cost of staying in a 'managed quarantine facility' has stood at 1,750.

But yesterday ministers agreed to hike prices by more than 30 per cent to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'.

All travellers returning from red list countries  such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa  must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 11 nights

From next Thursday, the price will jump to 2,285 for a single person. Additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate.

The price for children aged five to 12 will remain at 325, while under-fives will continue to stay for free.

The rise means that, for a family of four with two teenage children, the cost will jump from 3,700 to a staggering 6,575  a rise of 78 per cent.

Officials said the cost would include transport to the hotel, security and food.

Until now, the cost of staying in a 'managed quarantine facility' has stood at 1,750. But yesterday ministers agreed to hike prices by more than 30 per cent to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'

It would also include provision of welfare services and two coronavirus tests which are required by law on days two and eight of quarantine.

Some travellers have complained of 'prison-like' conditions in the hotels, with little access to fresh air and poor food. Others have been forced into debt by the crippling costs.

Last month, the Government announced that solo women travellers would be given female guards, following allegations of sexual harassment.

Failure to arrange a quarantine hotel is an offence carrying a 4,000 fine for people returning from a red list country. Offenders still then have to pay for a hotel. Breaking quarantine rules attracts a fine of 10,000.
The step-father of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, the boy found dead in a Welsh river at the weekend, has tonight been charged with his murder.

John Cole, 39, from Sarn, Bridgend, is due in court this morning, accused of carrying out the killing.

Logans mother Angharad Williamson, 30, from Sarn, and a 13-year-old boy were also jointly charged with perverting the course of justice along with Cole.

All three have been remanded in custody and will appear before Cardiff Magistrates' Court later. The 13-year-old cannot be identified due to his age.

Williamson and Cole  who is also known as Jay Cole  had been a couple for around three years and got engaged in May, locals said this week.

Logan Mwangi is pictured with his mother Angharad Williamson and stepfather John Cole, also known as Jay, who is Miss Williamson's partner

Tragic Logan Mwangi was found in the River Ogmore close to his home in the village of Sarn near Bridgend early on Saturday

Cole and Angharad Williamson, pictured, have both been charged by police overnight

The couple (pictured together) were planning on getting married next year, with Logan excited about being a pageboy

Pictured: A police diver surfaces in the bank of river Ogmore in Lower Llansantffraid in Sarn near Bridgend, Wales

Logan's body was found in the Ogmore River near Pandy Park in Bridgend on Saturday after police were called to a report of a missing child.

He was taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital, where it was confirmed he had died.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mark O'Shea, said: 'This is a very harrowing case for all involved and I extend my deepest sympathies to Logan's family and friends.

'This remains an extensive and sensitive investigation by the Major Crime Investigation Team and I am grateful to the local community for its support and understanding while we have continued to gather evidence across several scenes.

'Legal proceedings are now underway and I want to remind everyone to avoid speculation which may prejudice this investigation.

'We continue to appeal to anyone who has any information in relation to the incident to contact the Major Crime Investigation Team.'

Family friends said they received a phone call on Saturday morning from Miss Williamson to say Logan had been taken to the nearby Prince of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

She is said to have collapsed when doctors told her Logan could not be saved.

Logan, five, is pictured at the Ogmore River in Sarn near Bridgend where he was found dead on Saturday

Floral tributes near the scene where the body of five-year-old Logan was found in Sarn, Bridgend

A police officer near the scene after Logan was found in the Ogmore River in the early hours of Saturday morning

Police tape at a property in the Sarn area of Bridgend, near to where five-year-old Logan was found dead

Family friends paid tribute online to the 'kind, funny, polite, handsome and clever' boy. Those wanting to pay their respects were encouraged to place teddy bears at a lamppost and footbridge near where his body was found.

Many of those who came to lay tributes said they did not know Logan or his family but travelled to the area after hearing news of his death.

Logan was in a nursery class at Brynmenyn Primary School in Bridgend where he was loved by pupils and staff.

Mother Lois Shepherd, 25, left a cuddly toy baby shark chosen by daughter Maisie-Rae, four. She said: 'I'm just shocked and gobsmacked - the is such a small community everyone is feeling the pain of what happened.'

Messages left at the river bank include: 'Fly high Logan, sending love and kisses,' 'RIP angel' and 'Thinking of you.'

A mother of two who drove two miles to the scene said through tears: 'I didn't know the little boy and his family but I felt I had to come. It's so sad, I can't comprehend what the family is going through.'

It was reported earlier this week that Williamson had been due to marry her fiance Cole, a carer, next year after he proposed in May - and Logan was said to have been 'beyond excited' about the wedding, where he was set to be a pageboy.

Logan and his family had recently returned from a holiday in Blackpool and contracted Covid-19 during the trip.

Anyone with information is asked to contact South Wales Police via mipp.police.uk.

Alternatively, they can call 101 quoting reference number 2100268674.
Hackers have targeted the private computer systems of six schools on the Isle of Wight.

A so-called 'ransomware' attack crippled the servers of the Island Education Federation.

Such attacks use a computer virus that when downloaded can encrypt data, with cybercriminals demanding money to restore the systems.

At least one school affected has delayed the start to term and said it would take 'months of work' to recreate all the information that was lost.

A so-called 'ransomware' attack crippled the servers of the Island Education Federation, affecting six schools on the Isle of Wight (stock image)

The IT systems were compromised between July 28 and 29 and affected three primary schools, two secondary schools and a sixth form college.

A spokesman for the group said: 'We are working with officers from the police cybercrime unit to pursue the cyber criminals and understand the full impact of the attack.

'There are obviously some significant implications of this, which we are managing and will take measures to secure our systems even further in the future.'

In March, 37,000 pupils at Harris Federation academies in London were left unable to access emails. It was the fourth attack on school trusts that month.

Lanesend Primary (pictured), one of the six schools affected, announced that pupils would return three days later than planned for the Autumn term due to the disruption

It is not yet known what data has been encrypted in the latest attack, but personal data of pupils and staff - including registrations, addresses, and dates of birth - are often stored on servers.

One of those affected, Lanesend primary, has announced that pupils would return to the classroom three days later than planned for the Autumn term due to the disruption.

A statement said: 'Having spoken to our service provider, we understand that the attack means that all the information that we stored with them has been encrypted. This means we cannot and will not be able to access it again.

'As you can imagine, the team now have hours, days, and months of work ahead of them to recreate the information that has been lost.

'In order to assist with this painstaking process, the Trustees have approved the school to close for 3 extra days at the end of the summer holidays.'
Visitors in August won't have to pay to go up the much-ridiculed Marble Arch Mound when it reopens on Monday.

Westminster Council has already apologised for the botched launch of the 2million artificial hill, which closed last week after just two days.

Tourists were charged up to 8 to climb the 82ft mound, which was billed as offering lush greenery and views across central London.

But visitors slammed the attraction, describing it as just a heap of scaffolding with turf and some trees.

Westminster Council has already apologised for the botched launch of the 2million Marble Arch Mound (pictured), which closed last week after just two days

Yesterday, the council's Labour leader Adam Hug said it had 'brought shame on Westminster across the world'.

He called on the council to say why the mound was allowed to open and how much it will cost taxpayers in total. Westminster Council was contacted for comment.

Last week, Westminster Council's chief executive Stuart Love said in a statement: 'We're very sorry that the Marble Arch Mound wasn't ready for visitors when it opened earlier this week.

'London's businesses and residents have suffered through the pandemic and we built the Mound as part of our bigger plan to get people back into the City and into the shops, restaurants, theatres and to see the amazing sights the West End has to offer.

The 82-ft tall mound, planned by Dutch architect company MVRDV, was designed (pictured) to give views of the capital's Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone

'We wanted to open the Mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets.

'We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasn't had a great experience on their visit.

'With that in mind we're going to make The Mound free for everyone to climb throughout August.'

He added: 'We are very much looking forward to welcoming visitors back so they can enjoy everything London has to offer and can make their mind up about the Mound.'

The 82-ft tall mound, planned by Dutch architect company MVRDV, was designed to give views of the capital's Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone.

It is part of a scheme to increase footfall in the shopping district as lockdown restrictions ease.
Up to 30,000 bottles of sparkling Highland Spring should be thrown away because they may explode.

The problem has been caused by a fault which caused a weakness in the 750ml glass bottles.

A safety notice has been issued for bottles with 'use by' dates in May, June and July of 2023.

The firm said: 'Highland Spring Ltd is recalling their 750ml glass bottle Sparkling Spring Water on a precautionary basis because there have been a small number of reports that the bottle has exploded.

'Please avoid unnecessary handling of the product and do not return to the store, instead, safely dispose of the product.'

It advised customers to contact the company for a refund.

The problem has been caused by a fault which caused a weakness in the 750ml glass bottles. A safety notice has been issued for bottles with 'use by' dates in May, June and July of 2023

Highland Spring said: 'Three consumers have contacted us reporting that a Highland Spring sparkling 750ml glass bottle product has 'exploded', with one consumer suffering a minor cut.

'These products have been in the market since May and this issue has arisen in the last few days so we would expect the majority to have been consumed with the bottles now recycled.

'The reason for the recall is we anticipate approximately 20,000 to 30,000 bottles could still be in circulation.

'We believe the three consumer complaints have arisen from circa 100,000 bottles which have already been consumed.'
A man charged with fatally shooting two people at a Southern California movie theater is blaming voices in his head that he said had tormented him for months, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

'The voices said my friends and family were going to be killed,' Joseph Jimenez, 20, said Wednesday in a interview at a Riverside County jail in Banning where he is being held, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

He did not explain how killing people would save his loved ones.

Jimenez said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia about eight months ago but recently had stopped taking his prescribed medication. 'I ran out and didn't get it refilled,' Jimenez said.

Joseph Jimenez, 20, blamed voices in his head that he said had tormented him for months after he was charged with fatally shooting two people at a Southern California movie theater

He said that voices had haunted him for eight months, sometimes threatening to steal his car and television.

In the interview, he also gave a blow-by-blow description of the shooting but offered his condolences to the families of the victims, saying: 'I wish I didn't do it.'

Rylee Goodrich, 18, and Anthony Barajas, 19, were shot in the head while watching The Forever Purge at a nearly empty Corona, California, theater July 26. They were found by an employee after 9.35pm screening.

Goodrich died at the scene. Barajas was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was placed on life support but died last week.

Rylee Goodrich, 18, and Anthony Barajas, 19, were shot in the head while watching The Forever Purge at a nearly empty Corona, California, theater July 26. They were found by an employee after 9.35pm screening. Pictured: Goodrich, a marketing major, who died at the scene

The accused gunman, his friends and the two victims were the only people who attended the film as the only six tickets had been purchased for the screening, police said.

Barajas, known online as itsanthonymichael, had nearly a million followers on TikTok and more on other platforms.

However, police have said the suspect acted alone, and there's no indication he knew the victims or that Barajas's role as a TikTok influencer played a role in the crime.

Jimenez had been to the theater with three friends, who told detectives he was acting so strangely that they snuck out of the movie house, records obtained by the Orange County Register show, but they didn't warn anyone.

Barajas, who was known online as itsanthonymichael, had nearly a million followers on TikTok and more on other platforms, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was placed on life support but died last week

The unidentified pals later saw Jimenez run out of Regal Edwards Cinema and speed away in his car, according to a police sworn declaration filed in court.

It remains unclear whether the inaction by the three friends amounts to a crime. Their names were not listed in county jail records on Tuesday.

David Goodrich, Rylee's father, revealed that she was texting her mother just moments before the fatal shooting.

He said: 'She texted my wife how boring and stupid it was, how she didn't like the movie. That was the last we heard from her. It had to be right then.'

The 43-year-old father said police told him they believe it was a random attack, and that Jimenez intended to steal from the young couple.

Goodrich was majoring in marketing and had a full academic scholarship to Grand Canyon University.

Police have said the suspect acted alone, and there's no indication he knew the victims or that Barajas's role as a TikTok influencer played a role in the crime

Jimenez was arrested last Tuesday and charged with murder and attempted murder, but the second count was expected to be upgraded to murder by the time Jimenez appeared in court today for his arraignment, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Police seized a handgun of the same caliber as the one believed to have been used in the shooting and recovered Goodrich's wallet and other possessions from Jimenez's home less than 24 hours after the shooting.

The allegations filed against Jimenez include sentencing enhancements of personal use of a firearm causing death, personally inflicting great bodily injury and personal use of a firearm causing great bodily injury.

Prosecutors also filed a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, which makes him eligible to receive the death penalty.
Stolen Generations survivors in the territories will each receive $75,000 in compensation for being ripped from their families as children.

It's part of a $378.6 million redress scheme for Indigenous survivors forcibly taken from the Northern Territory, ACT and Jervis Bay Territory.

Additional $7,000 payments will be available to help individuals get trauma support

Each survivor will also be given the chance to detail the consequences of their removal in a confidential session with a senior government official.

Survivors of the Stolen Generation will each receive $75,000 in compensation for being ripped from their family as a part of a $378.6 million redress scheme announced on August 5

If survivors choose to do this, they will receive a face-to-face or written apology.

Thursday's announcement is part of a suite of measures worth more than $1 billion to help reduce social, health and economic disadvantage among Indigenous Australians.

Aboriginal leader Pat Turner welcomes the compensation, but says it can never replace growing up with family.

"Many of our Stolen Generations have never re-met their families and never been able to reconnect. So I hope this will give some relief to the survivors," she told ABC radio.

The redress payments, separate from state-run schemes, are among measures Prime Minister Scott Morrison will use to try to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

"This is a practical plan that builds from the ground up by making good on the harm caused to Stolen Generations survivors to supporting this and future generations of young people with more education opportunities," he said.

Other funding includes $254.4 million for Aboriginal-controlled community health organisations and $160 million in early years support for children.

It builds on an agreement last year between the government and Indigenous organisations involving around 17 health and wellbeing targets.

Labor's alternate plan to close the gap includes enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution as called for by the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Other funding as a means of closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians includes $254.4 million for Aboriginal-controlled community health organisations and $160 million in early years support for children

The opposition also wants to double the number of Indigenous rangers to 3800 and increase the proportion of Aboriginal federal public service employees from 3.4 per cent to five per cent by the decade's end.

A progress report released in July showed Australia was expected to miss key targets including on reducing suicide rates, closing the life expectancy gap, and keeping children out of child protection and adults out of jail.

But some were on track, including a target of reducing the rate of youth detention.

Stolen Generations survivors can apply for the one-off federal payment from March 1 next year until February 2026.

Indigenous people who were under the age of 18 when they were taken from the NT and ACT, before the territories became self-governing, as well as Jervis Bay, are eligible.

Families of survivors who die between the scheme's announcement and applications opening next year will be able to lodge a claim on behalf of their loved ones.

The Stolen Generations were the result of decades-long government assimilation policies. Legislation sanctioning these forced removals was repealed in 1969.
The highly contagious Delta strain of Covid-19 is causing 'sudden deaths' as a result of fatal heart problems, an infectious disease expert warns.

Professor Peter Collignon said though the risk of dying was higher in older populations, those aged 30 had a one in 10,000 chance of losing their lives if they became struck down with the virus.

He said in New York there were noticeably 'a lot more sudden deaths' believed to be linked to cardiac problems.

'Whenever you get this infection you get inflammation all around your body. Your oxygen levels could go down,' he told the Today show on Thursday.

'You could get myocarditis inflammation of the heart and that can give you potentially unusual rhythms that can cause sudden death.

'That is actually seen and it still doesn't mean your death rate is higher but it's more than normal and Covid seems to be contributing to this.'

Ady Al-Askar, 27, collapsed and died in the shower at his home in Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west, despite having barely any symptoms of coronavirus.

The forklift driver caught the virus from his wife, an aged care nurse whom he married just six weeks earlier.

Infectious disease expert, Peter Collignon, has warned the highly contagious Delta strain of Covid-19 is causing 'sudden deaths' as a result of fatal heart problems (pictured residents in Coogee, in Sydney's eastern suburbs)

The couple were due to end their 14-day mandatory self-isolation period on Wednesday and relatives are now questioning whether Covid contributed to his death.

Heart conditions reportedly run in the Al-Askar family, and his cousin, Khalid Thijeel, told Daily Mail Australia he believed it was this that killed him, not the virus.

Mr Al-Askar was said to be anxious about getting vaccinated because he feared it could have long-term side effects.

Mr Thijeel stressed his cousin was not an 'anti vaxxer', but was hesitant after mixed messaging from the federal government which initially told Australians the AstraZeneca jab was not safe for people under the age of 60.

Ady Al-Askar, 27,collapsed in the shower at his home in Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west, and died suddenly despite few symptoms

The 27-year-old had been isolating in his Liverpool unit in Sydney's southwest with his aged care nurse wife, Yasmin (pictured together), who first contracted the virus and brought it home from work

'He was young, and it's my understanding he wanted to see what long-term effects there were he doesn't have children yet, but would it affect them,' he said.

'He was just waiting to see'.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant earlier said healthcare workers were checking on Mr Al-Askar daily and noted he had complained of feeling a 'little fatigued'.

'We are aware that with Covid, you can get sudden deaths and I think that is important to understand that your health status can deteriorate,' she said.

Another five deaths from Covid-19 and 262 new cases were recorded in NSW on Thursday as Newcastle and the Hunter are thrown into lockdown.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the five NSW residents to die from the virus in the past 24 hours were not vaccinated. The fifth had received only one dose of the AstraZeneca jab.

NSW Health said 45 of the newly-acquired cases were infectious in the community.

Ms Berejiklian said the Newcastle and Hunter region - more than 100km north of Sydney - would enter a one-week lockdown from 5pm on Thursday after five school students tested positive to Covid-19 in regional NSW.
Pictured: Ady Al-Askar

Relatives of a 27-year-old man who dropped dead in the shower 13 days after receiving a Covid diagnosis believe the slow and confusing vaccine rollout may have contributed to his death.

Ady Al-Askar collapsed and died on Tuesday inside his home in Liverpool in Sydney's south-west.

His brother-in-law told Daily Mail Australia the newly-married forklift operator had wanted to get vaccinated, despite his concerns about long-term effects, but there were several roadblocks that delayed the process.

'It's the fact that the stupid health department had a three-month waiting line,' he said.

Mr Al-Askar caught the highly infectious Delta strain off his disability support worker wife, Yasmin, who first contracted the virus through her workplace.

The virus has been spreading through NSW since mid-June, with a further five deaths recorded on Thursday and 262 new cases. Victoria is also on the brink of a sixth lockdown after recording six new cases.

Mrs Al-Askar's brother, Fahad Aziz, wants the public to know that Mr Al-Askar was not against the vaccine, but was not able to secure an immediate appointment.

Family also said Mr Al-Askar was 'anxious' about the long-term effects of the vaccine, particularly on his children if he was to have them.

But Mr Aziz said Mr Al-Askar 'followed all the rules and never disobeyed the law', and wanted to do his bit to end the lockdown by getting vaccinated.

But he claims Mr Al-Askar was told 'he would be waiting until September' due to 'the slow rollout' in the community.

Ady Al-Askar married Yasmin (pictured together) just six weeks ago and the couple were hoping to celebrate after lockdown lifted

Until recently, Mr Al-Askar would not have qualified for a vaccination as priority was given to the elderly and frontline workers

'When the health department talk about him being unvaccinated it wasn't like the poor man had a choice, he was in a line and I assure you he won't be the only person to die from this tragic pandemic if the vaccine isn't handed out to everyone.

'Australia is the slowest with their vaccine production and are starting to fix their mistakes after people starting losing lives and one of them was my brother.'

Until recently Mr Al-Askar would not have qualified for a vaccination as priority was given to the elderly and frontline workers.

But when the Delta strain seeped into the community, Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued an urgent plea for adults of all ages to come forward and get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Both the federal and state governments have come under fire for the conflicting advice regarding the rollout.

Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou said he and his wife Josephine struggled to book a timely vaccination in their part of western Sydney, where only 17.7 per cent of people are fully vaccinated and 35.1 per cent have had a first dose.

'I don't think it's as easy for people to book an appointment in western Sydney and get vaccinated as easy as it is in the more affluent suburbs,' he said on Wednesday.

Mr Al-Askar's cousin, Khalid Thijeel, earlier told Daily Mail Australia that the 27-year-old was absolutely not an anti-vaxxer, but was wary of potential long term effects the vaccine might have.

The 27-year-old had been isolating in his Liverpool unit in Sydney's southwest with his aged care nurse wife, Yasmin (pictured together), who first contracted the virus and brought it home from work

Given his youth, he said Mr Al-Askar wasn't overly concerned about the extended wait times to get the jab.

Mr Thijeel stressed his cousin was hesitant after mixed messaging from the Federal Government which initially told Australians the AstraZeneca jab was not safe for people under the age of 60.

'He was young, and it's my understanding he wanted to see what long-term effects there were he doesn't have children yet, but would it affect them',' he said.

'He was just waiting to see'.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation's latest advice states that increased transmissibility of the Delta variant outweighs any minor risks associated with the AstraZeneca jab.

'In a large outbreak, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca are greater than the risk of rare side effects for all age groups,' the advice states.

'ATAGI reiterates that all adults in greater Sydney should strongly consider the benefits of earlier protection with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca rather than waiting for alternative vaccines.'

Pictured: Mr Al-Askar on his wedding day, just six weeks ago

Sydney's vaccine divide: NSW government is accused of giving MORE jabs to city's north and east - as furious mayor says it takes 30 DAYS to get vaccinated in south-west hotspot Sydney's south-west, taking in the Liverpool and Fairfield council areas, has eastern Australia's lowest metropolitan vaccination rate despite being in a Covid hotspot. Just 14.6 per cent who those aged 16 and over have had two doses, with 33.1 per cent so far receiving one injection. On the other side of the city, 26.9 per cent of people are fully vaccinated on the North Shore where a majority, or 51.9 per cent, have had one dose, federal Department of Health data shows. In the eastern suburbs, where the outbreak of the more contagious Delta strain began in June, 23.9 per cent of eligible residents were fully vaccinated with 44.8 per cent having receiving a single jab as of August 1. Even the Richmond-Tweed area of northern NSW, covering the traditional anti-vaxxer hubs of Mullumbimby and Byron Bay, had a higher first dose vaccination rate of 39.7 per cent with 17.2 per cent fully vaccinated. Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou said he and his wife Josephine struggled to book a timely vaccination in their part of western Sydney, where only 17.7 per cent of people are fully vaccinated and 35.1 per cent have had a first dose. 'I don't think it's as easy for people to book an appointment in western Sydney and get vaccinated as easy as it is in the more affluent suburbs,' he said on Wednesday. 'Only last night my wife, she conducted a little test with me in our loungeroom, where she jumped online and she could potentially book herself a vaccination appointment within seven days if her postcode was within the northern suburbs or eastern suburbs area. 'But for western Sydney, there's was potentially up to a 30-day wait so that may be part of the problem. We're a bit short of jabs out here.' Residents in the Fairfield, Liverpool, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Blacktown, Parramatta, Campbelltown and the Georges River are subject to stricter measures banning them from venturing more than 5km from home, even for work unless they are employed in the health or emergency services sectors. With Premier Gladys Berejiklian calling on NSW to hit a six million vaccination target, Mr Christou said he had offered 19 community centres to be turned into immunisation hubs. 'Just come in: give us the nurses, give us the jabs, and we'll absolutely help you reach your six million target,' he said. 'But it's hard to do that when you're not giving us nurses or jabs.' Advertisement

Pictured: Healthcare workers asking a person in southwest Sydney to check in on Wednesday

Six Australians have died as a result of developing blood clots after receiving their AstraZeneca jab, out of about 12.3million doses administered.

Meanwhile 22 people have died as a result of the current Covid outbreak in NSW.

Pfizer is largely considered the preferable option among certain demographics, but is not as easy to source as the AstraZeneca.

Mr Al-Askar's death makes him the youngest victim of the virus in New South Wales to date.

He and his wife were due to finish their 14-day quarantine period on Wednesday, and relatives claim the 27-year-old had even returned a negative Covid test just one day before his death.

It is understood a person can still experience adverse symptoms, including death, even after returning a negative result.

But Mr Thijeel said his cousin was feeling '90 per cent fine' even as recently as Tuesday morning.

He did not develop any symptoms until about a week after his diagnosis.

'He woke up yesterday, he was feeling good, he had breakfast, called his family and then he had a shower about 4pm and that was it,' Mr Thijeel said.

'He only got married about 6 weeks ago [he was] just starting his life.'

Mr Al-Askar's wife, who was quarantining with him inside their unit, found him unconscious in the shower and called an ambulance.

She was rushed to hospital in shock. She, too, had minor symptoms.

'He had no coughing, nothing,' Mr Thijeel said.

Paramedics who responded to the emergency reportedly confirmed that he suffered heart failure, whereas the hospital specified that Covid was a contributing factor in his death.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health regarding the family's claims about the three-month vaccine wait period.

New South Wales recorded another 233 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday as Sydney's Delta outbreak continues to grow

Mr Al-Askar's cousin Khalid Thijeel (pictured together) said the family are not certain he died of Covid-19, despite what authorities have told them
Australian beach volleyballers Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy are one match away from Olympic gold medal glory after beating Latvia in their semi-final on Thursday morning.

The girls held their nerve on the sand in Tokyo to win in straight sets, 23-21, 21-13.

'Australia, they can't do anything wrong right now,' former Olympian Kerri Pottharst said in commentary.

The impressive result guarantees Australia its first major beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Pottharst won at Sydney 2000 on the sand at Bondi.

Taliqua Clancy (left) and Mariafe Artacho del Solar celebrate after beating Latvia in their semi-final on Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics

Queensland raised Taliqua Clancy was immense in Australia's semi-final beach volleyball triumph at the Tokyo Games

Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar (right) overcame a slow start to get the better of their Latvian opponents in their beach volleyball semi-final on Thursday

US pair April Ross and Alix Klineman await in the final from 12.30pm (AEST) on Friday afternoon.

Ross and Klineman defeated Switzerlands Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre 21-12, 21-11 to progress to book a match with the Aussie girls.

'We came here for gold, it's going to be a good game in the final against USA, but we always back our game so we're ready for it,' a fired up del Solar told Channel 7.

Meanwhile Clancy, Australia's first ever Indigenous beach volleyballer, was elated after overcoming a nervous start before running away with the result in tandem with del Solar versus Latvia's Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka.

'We always knew that we were going to be in this position (going for gold),' a jubilant Clancy said.

'It was just awesome for us to know that we took another step forward here today.

'We stayed really patient, we stayed strong and showed that's our game. Just so proud of Maria and our whole team.'

Incredibly, the Aussie girls only formed as a professional duo on the sand back in 2017.

'We connected straight away. We won our first three international events. So we knew we had something there that we needed to continue to explore,' del Solar, 27, told Sporting News recently.

'T(Taliqua) and I have a really special chemistry on the court. We feel each other and we are on the same page. We have the same goals and we balance each other really well.'

Clancy, 29, also grew up a long way from the beach, in Kingaroy in rural Queensland, while del Solar, who was born in Peru, is from Sydney's north shore.

US pair April Ross and Alix Klineman await in the final for Aussie duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy (pictured) from 12.30pm (AEST) on Friday afternoon
The Taliban commander leading the attack on Afghanistan's Helmand Province capital, Lashkar Gar, was released from jail last year under a prisoner swap that the Afghan government was pressured into by the Trump Administration.

The assault is being led by a commander using the name Maulavi Talib, who was captured last year only to be released with 5,000 other Taliban prisoners under Donald Trump's attempt to kick-start peace negotiations.

Talib, real name Mullah Abdul Ahad, is a top senior Afghan Taliban leader who was arrested in Sangin after being spotted as he tried to slip through a checkpoint.

He was sent to Bagram Prison outside Kabulm, but then freed as part of the swap. The last of the 5,000 prisoners were released in August of 2020.

Those freed were asked for assurances they would not return to the fight, but it is believed that many others beside Abdul Ahad already have.

Abdul Ahad resumed his old post soon after his release and is currently overseeing the fight in Lashkar Gar, Attaullah Afghan, chairman of Helamand's provincial council, confirmed.

Taliban fighters have taken over many of the neighborhoods in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan

Afghan Special forces patrol a deserted street during fighting with Taliban fighters, in Lashkar Gah

The Taliban pressed ahead with their advances in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, capturing nine out of 10 districts of the Helmand provincial capital, residents and officials said

The Afghan government revisited the prisoner release, but was pressured to accept the deal by the Trump Administration after the Taliban refused to begin peace talks with Afghanistan otherwise.

The US agreed to a swap in which the Afghan government would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the insurgents release up to 1,000 prisoners.

Nearly a year after the prisoner release, talks have yet to begin and the Taliban have overtaken much of Afghanistan.

Lashkar Gar was nearly overtaken by the Taliban as Afghans suffered a violent attack as government forces desperately defended their remaining corner of the city.

A top Afghan military commander ordered residents to flee the overtaken city as the army prepared a major offensive to push out Taliban fighters as fighting has escalated during three days of heavy fighting.

The Taliban is currently occupying the majority of the city's neighborhoods.

The fall of Lashkar Gah would be a major turning point in the offensive the Taliban have waged over the past months as U.S. and NATO forces complete their pullout from the war-torn country.

The fall of the city would mark the first city taken by the insurgents as Taliban forces have increasingly gained control since foreign allies began the final stages of withdrawing troops in May.

Hundreds of families were trying to leave the city yesterday after Afghan General Sami Sadat told residents on Tuesday to get out as soon as they could via the media.

The local army commander urged them to evacuated before a major counter attack to relieve and clear the city.

'I know it is very difficult for you to leave your houses  it is hard for us, too  but if you are displaced for a few days, please forgive us. We are fighting the Taliban wherever they are. We will fight them  we will not leave a single Taliban alive,' he said addressing the city of 200,000.

Mohammad Ekhlas, a resident of Safiyan in Lashkar Gar, told The Telegraph, 'Life has become more difficult. We have been waiting for a week for the government to recover security, but the city is closed.'

'The fighting continued and there was no hope of liberation,' he said.

Many families had fled because of unemployment and hunger, with no work or business in the city, he said.
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Bill Gates admitted on Wednesday that it was a 'huge mistake' to spend time with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and revealed that they shared 'several dinners.'

Gates, 65, also revealed that his divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates 'was a source of great personal sadness' for the Microsoft co-founder in an extensive and wide-ranging interview with Anderson Cooper on his CNN show.

Gates' relationship with Epstein dates back to 2011 but it became a point of contention in September 2013 between him and Melinda - who has been said to have been concerned about his relationship with the convicted pedophile.

Melinda reportedly told friends she was furious about their alleged friendship and wanted nothing to do with Epstein - and has been reported to have hired divorce lawyers in 2019 after meetings that Gates had with Epstein became public.

Bill Gates, 65, made a number of bombshell revelations during an extensive and wide-ranging interview with Anderson Cooper on his CNN show

He revealed that his divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates 'was a source of great personal sadness': The couple are pictured with their three kids in a 2018 family photo. The kids - Jennifer (center), Rory (right) and Phoebe (left) are now aged 25, 21 and 18

Gates also admitted on Wednesday that it was a 'huge mistake' to spend time with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and revealed that they shared 'several dinners'

Bill Gates explains his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, saying they shared several dinners in which he hoped to raise billions of philanthropy.



When it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended it was a huge mistake to spend time with him. pic.twitter.com/ljBMYD94Ei  Anderson Cooper 360 (@AC360) August 5, 2021

Gates has been reported to have visited Epstein's home numerous times and even talked with him about his 'toxic' marriage while the pedophile allegedly gave him advice on ending his marriage, according to the Daily Beast.

The billionaire told Cooper that he also 'certainly' had concerns about Epstein, who had pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute - years before the tech mogul met the financier.

'I had several dinners with him hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts he had might emerge. When it looked like that wasn't a real thing that relationship ended,' Gates said.

'It was a huge mistake to spend time with him and give him the credibility of being there. There were lots of others in that same situation, but I made a mistake.'

A photo shows Bill and Melinda Gates while they were dating before getting married

Gates' spokesperson told Insider in June that Gates had 'absolutely no business partnership or personal friendship' with Epstein, and any meetings between the two were about philanthropy.

'It is extremely disappointing that there have been so many lies published about the cause, the circumstances and the timeline of Bill Gates's divorce,' the spokesperson said.

'The rumors and speculation surrounding Mr. Gates are becoming increasingly absurd and it's unfortunate that people who have little to no knowledge are being characterized as 'sources.'

Cooper also asked Gates if he had 'regrets' about recent allegations that he engaged in workplace misbehavior - though the billionaire did not provide extensive comment responding to those claims.

'Certainly everyone does [have regrets] but it's a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward,' Gates said.

'My work is very important to me, within the family we'll heal as best we can and learn from what's happening.'

In June, four Microsoft employees accused Gates of being an office 'bully' whose catchphrase was 'that's the stupidest f*****g idea I've ever heard' and claimed he pursued sexual affairs with employees and journalists.

Gates' reputation as a hot-tempered boss began not long after he launched tech giant Microsoft with childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975, Insider reported. A spokesperson for the billionaire has denied he mistreated employees.

A former Microsoft executive who spoke on condition of anonymity told the outlet that 'having a meeting with Bill was just an opportunity to get yelled at, so I tried to avoid that.'

Gates would even allegedly track his employees by memorizing their license plates, according to the outlet.

Maria Klawe, a former Microsoft board member, said 'a person like Bill Gates thinks the usual rules of behavior don't apply to him' and accused him of being unreceptive to suggestions about improving diversity.

Klawe said that Gates behaved as if he was the 'smartest person in the room' and that diversity was not something Gates 'was interested in hearing about.'

Bill Gates, not pictured, still went on annual vacations to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with his ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad, pictured, the software entrepreneur whom he had dated from 1984 to 1987, even after marrying Melinda Gates

She said that, when female executives would suggest diversity initiatives, Gates would allegedly respond with: 'Are you trying to effing destroy the company?'

A spokesperson for Gates told Insider that Klawe's allegations are a 'gross mischaracterization.'

Gates' relationships and encounters with employees have long been a topic of discussion surrounding the billionaire, the outlet noted.

The future of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman announced in June that Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, who serve as the foundation's two co-chairs, decided to expand the number of trustees overseeing the foundation's governance and decision-making as a family charitable trust. 'The additional trustees will bring new perspectives, help guide resource allocation and strategic direction, and ensure the stability and sustainability of the foundation,' a news release from the announcement reads. The news came after the couple announced they would be divorcing in May - raising concerns about the future of the foundation amid their separation. Suzman noted that Gates and French Gates 'are fully committed to continuing to work constructively together at the foundation to advance its program and policy objectives.' 'However, they have also agreed to an additional step to ensure the continuity of the foundation's work: if after two years either decides they cannot continue to work together as co-chairs, French Gates will resign her position as co-chair and trustee,' the release reads. 'In such a case, French Gates would receive personal resources from Gates for her philanthropic work. These resources would be completely separate from the foundation's endowment, which would not be affected.' In the release, Melinda noted she was 'deeply proud' of what the foundation and its partners have accomplished in the last two decades. 'Their faith that progress is possible fuels mine. These governance changes bring more diverse perspectives and experience to the foundation's leadership,' she said. 'I believe deeply in the foundation's mission and remain fully committed as co-chair to its work.' The foundation noted that its co-chairs expect to appoint individuals 'who will further enhance the diversity, experience, and expertise of the foundation's leadership and continue to uphold a culture of integrity.' Suzman and Connie Collingsworth, the foundation's chief operating officer and chief legal officer, have been asked to oversee that process. The new trustees are expected to be announced in January 2022. According to the website for the Gates Foundation, the nonprofit was organized into a two-tier structure in October 2006 when The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust were created. The foundation has become one of the most powerful and influential forces in global public health with spending of more than $50 billion over the past two decades. The Gates Foundation currently has an endowment of about $49.9 billion, according to its website. The foundation's trustees were Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett until the Berkshire Hathaway billionaire resigned as a trustee in the wake of the divorce announcement, Reuters reported. Buffett, 90, also announced he has been an 'inactive trustee' for years at the foundation, but fully supported Suzman and that their goals were '100% in sync.' He did not explain to Reuters why he was resigning, while noting he has given up all directorships outside Berkshire, reducing his workload. Advertisement

French Gates herself was an employee at Microsoft, having been hired as a product manager in 1987, when the billionaire first asked her out months after flirting with her at a conference dinner.

In 2006, Bill Gates allegedly asked a female Microsoft employee out to dinner in an email after attending a presentation she had given, The New York Times reported.

'If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened,' Gates wrote in the email obtained by The New York Times.

A Gates Foundation employee told the outlet that the billionaire asked her on a date while they were at a cocktail party in New York.

'I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?' Gates allegedly told the woman.

In the 1992 biography Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire, author James Wallace revealed Gates had an alleged affair with a married woman 13 years older than him when he was 27 years old.

His alleged affair was with the wife of an Osborne Computer executive who lived abroad, according to the biography.

Gates himself admitted to frequenting the area, centered on Washington Street between Boylston Street and Kneeland Street, in a 1994 interview he did with Playboy magazine.

'Just because I went there doesn't mean I engaged in everything that was going on,' Gates said.

'I ate pizza, read books and watched what was going on. I went to the diners.'

Wallace claimed to Insider that Gates' penchant for socializing with women remained even after he started dating Melinda Gates in 1987.

Gates was allegedly known to invite friends to swim naked at his bachelor pad in Laurelhurst where he 'rounded up' dancers from local all-nude nightclubs, Wallace said.

'I don't know if he physically transported them or if he just told them where to show up,' Wallace told the outlet.

Robert X. Cringely, who wrote a popular computer gossip column for InfoWorld, told Insider that Gates was allegedly often inebriated at tech events and after-parties and that he 'got drunk pretty easily.'

'All of us will have been at some affair where Bill was clearly impaired. He was happier' drunk, Cringely said.

Gates, then 33, took a helicopter to Les Arcs ski resort in the French Alps for an international sales meeting for Microsoft in the summer of 1988 where he was allegedly caught lying on top of a woman on the lawn.

The pair were 'just snuggling' after Gates joined his employees for drinks in a Swiss chalet and partied until the early morning, Dan Graves, a former Microsoft export manager, told Insider.

After he started dating Melinda, Gates allegedly struggled to commit to her and she was allegedly aware of his 'womanizing,' the outlet reported. The couple even broke up for at least a year early in their relationship.

'Bill wanted to be married, but he didn't know whether he could actually commit to it and have Microsoft,' Melinda said in an interview for the Netflix docuseries Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates.

Even after marrying Melinda, Gates told Time magazine in 1997 that he still went on annual vacations to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with his ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad, the software entrepreneur whom he had dated from 1984 to 1987.

Bill and Melinda Gates' personal affairs have been managed by Watermark Estate Management since at least 2001, which would allegedly arrange Gates' annual beach trips with Winblad.

The couple officially divorced on Monday after 27 years of marriage, just months after the couple first announced their split in May.

Cooper had started the interview on Wednesday, intended to discuss the recent surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19, by asking about Gates' divorce and its effects on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

'It's definitely a very sad milestone. Melinda is a great person and that partnership that we had coming to an end is a source of great personal sadness,' Gates said.

'We are communicating and working at the foundation and so that partnership, we're going to try and continue.'

The foundation has said that Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates would continue working together as its trustees for two years on a trial basis.

'Melinda has incredible strengths that she brings that help the foundation be better. We always enjoyed our work together. The two of us can go out and work with leaders and help build the organization and so that would definitely be the best thing for the foundation.'
Barnaby Joyce slurred his words and struggled to make sense during a bizarre performance in Parliament in Question Time on Wednesday.

The Deputy Prime Minister was answering a question about building infrastructure in regional NSW when he decided to sarcastically attack Labor leader Anthony Albanese with a bizarre reference to The Aviator, a 2004 Hollywood film about American pilot Howard Hughes.

Mr Joyce struggled to get his words out and repeatedly slurred and stuttered, saying: 'Now, I, I, I li-, I like going to the movies and I can't, can't but re-, I can't but always remember Howard Hughes, Howard Hughes the aviator.

'But Howard Hughes the aviator but Labor party got Albo the advocator, the great, the great advocator, the great ideas man, the great ideas man straight from the pool room,' he said.

As jeers erupted from astonished MPs, Mr Joyce continued: 'But never in this whole period of time has he uttered from between his lips a word about one dam he will build in regional Australia.

'Not one dam is going to come out of this man. He has never uttered a word about one regional road he is going to build...'

Mr Albanese stood up to interrupt with a point of order and said: 'I am forced to bring out the 'on weirdness' stuff - I have no idea what this is, but it's nothing to do with the question.'

The Speaker said Mr Albanese had not made a point of order and gave Mr Joyce the call.

The Deputy Prime Minister continued his bizarre attack, saying: 'The great advocator - there he is.

'We are never going to get anything constructed by him. But he did have one great idea - we saw it the other day: $300 per jab,' he said in reference to Mr Albanese's plan to give cash to everyone who gets a Covid vaccination.

Barnaby Joyce (pictured on Wednesday) slurred his words during Question Time

As Mr Joyce ran out of time, the Speaker interrupted him and said: 'The Deputy Prime Minister needs to resume his seat.'

'I think we might as well leave it there. Whilst he was asked about alternative policies, they need to be alternatives to the issues laid out in the question. I think we will just leave it there.'

The extraordinary exchange left Twitter users bewildered and some raised concerns about Mr Joyce's health.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Joyce's office for comment.

Moments earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister had been caught on camera scrambling to put on his mask after forgetting to wear it.

With Covid-19 ravaging Sydney and Brisbane, MPs are being asked to wear masks when they are 'not participating in debate' in the House of Representatives.

Just before Question Time began at 2pm on Wednesday, Mr Joyce was seen laughing and chatting with a colleague without wearing his face covering.

As Prime Minister Scott Morrison stood up to answer his first question, Mr Joyce appeared to have been reminded of the rules and frantically scrambled to retrieve his mask from his jacket pocket before putting it on.

Just five weeks ago Mr Joyce revealed he was fined by New South Wales Police for failing to wear a mask, in what he called a 'funny story'.

The Nationals leader was reported by a member of the public while filling up at a petrol station in Armidale, in northern NSW.

The local resident called Crime Stoppers to report 54-year-old after he was inside the store for less than a minute.

Officers checked the petrol station's CCTV and later issued the $200 penalty.
Lawyers making a final push to convince a Canadian court not to recommend the extradition of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday called into question the reliability of information provided by the United States in its extradition request.

Meng has returned to a Canadian courtroom for the final weeks of her U.S. extradition hearings, as the legal proceedings running more than two years draw to a close.

Meng, 49, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a warrant from the United States, charging her with misleading HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.L) about Huawei's (HWT.UL) business dealings in Iran, potentially causing the bank to violate American economic sanctions.

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at British Columbia Supreme Court with her security detail for the afternoon session of her extradition hearing, August 4, 2021

Meng has returned to a Canadian courtroom for the final weeks of her U.S. extradition hearings, as the legal proceedings running more than two years draw to a close

She had donned a business-like blue dress paired with black pumps - and an ankle monitor

Meng, who has said she is innocent, has been fighting her extradition from under house arrest in Vancouver.

The hearings, expected to last until August 20, will initially focus on the third part of her lawyers' arguments, specifically that U.S. prosecutors materially misrepresented the case against her in their extradition request to Canada.

On Wednesday, defense lawyer Mona Duckett told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the British Columbia Supreme Court that there was no way for her to 'know if the wool has been pulled over (her) eyes' by the United States in their request for Meng's extradition.

Meng is back in a Canadian court on for a final round of hearings on her possible extradition to the US, after nearly three years of court battles and diplomatic sparring

Meng, who has said she is innocent, has been fighting her extradition from under house arrest in Vancouver

On Wednesday, defense lawyer Mona Duckett told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the British Columbia Supreme Court that there was no way for her to 'know if the wool has been pulled over (her) eyes' by the United States in their request for Meng's extradition

The defense has called the U.S. record of the case 'manifestly unreliable,' which Canadian prosecutors dispute

The defense has called the U.S. record of the case 'manifestly unreliable,' which Canadian prosecutors dispute.

After this stage is completed, hearings will then move to the remedy stage, which will address Meng's allegations that abuses of process occurred during her arrest. After that, a committal hearing, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence against Meng for her to stand trial, will take place.

A decision is widely expected in the autumn.

A spokesperson for Canada's Department of Justice said on Tuesday Meng will continue to be afforded a fair process in accordance with Canadian law.

Huawei said in a statement on Wednesday it 'remains confident' in Meng's innocence, and added the company will continue to support her defense

Huawei said in a statement on Wednesday it 'remains confident' in Meng's innocence, and added the company will continue to support her defense.

In the days following Meng's arrest, which immediately caused a chill in relations between Ottawa and Beijing, China detained two Canadians - Michael Spavor, a businessman, and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat. Ottawa has repeatedly pressed Washington for help in pressuring China to release the men.

The context of the case has 'changed significantly' since Joe Biden became U.S. president in January of this year, said Lynette Ong, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and expert on China.

Biden's return to more traditional modes of diplomacy means that Canada can rely on the United States to advocate for the two Canadians in ways it could not under former President Donald Trump, Ong said.

'Friends have to look out for each other's interests in the Biden era, which wasn't the case during Trump - it was very much a unilateral aggressive approach,' Ong said.
Hillsong founder Brian Houston has been charged with allegedly concealing his father's sexual abuse of a young boy in the 70s. Above with wife Bobbie

The founder of the Hillsong megachurch, Brian Houston, has been charged with allegedly concealing his father's sexual abuse of a child in the 1970s.

In a statement, the NSW Police Force confirmed detectives had served a court attendance notice on 67-year-old Houston's lawyer in Sydney about 2pm on Thursday.

The charge against Houston - who has recently led prayer services in Monterrey, Mexico - is one of concealing a serious indictable offence.

It can carry a maximum penalty of up to five years' imprisonment, depending upon the exact crime concealed.

The sensational development follows a years-long investigation by police in the city's Hills District, where the global Pentecostal church first opened its doors.

'Police will allege in court the man knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police,' a statement said.

Brian Houston released a statement about the charge on Thursday night.

'These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter,' he said.

'I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.'

NSW Police began investigating Brian Houston after a 2014 royal commission into child sexual abuse delved into how Hillsong's forerunners - the Hills and Sydney Christian Life Centres - handled abuse allegations raised against Frank in 1999.

Sins of the father: In 1999, Frank Houston was accused of abusing a seven-year-old Sydney boy in the 1970s. He died in 2004 aged 82

Brian and Bobbie Houston's Hillsong empire has outposts in 28 countries and has attracted a celebrity following but has been beset by scandal in recent year

Two of the church's most famous parishioners were pop star Justin Bieber (who no longer follows the church) and its celebrity pastor Carl Lentz (who was ousted in a sex scandal)

Then, Frank Houston was accused of sexually abusing a seven-year-old boy from Sydney's east during trips from his native New Zealand three decades' prior, in 1969 and 1970.

After learning of the allegations, Brian Houston, then the president of the evangelical organisation the Assemblies of God in Australia, confronted his father, who confessed, the royal commission's final report said, and ended his dad's career as a preacher.

However, the inquiry found that neither Houston nor the organisation's national executive referred the Frank Houston sex abuse allegations to police.

Instead, the victim told the commission he met Frank Houston at a McDonald's restaurant in Thornleigh in 2000 and was offered a dirty napkin to sign in exchange for $10,000.

The victim later called Brian Houston as he hadn't received the promised money, and later received a $10,000 cheque in the mail, with no correspondence attached.

The victim said he felt 'shame, fear and embarrassment' for many years and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.

Houston Sr died in 2004, age 82, after confessing to a 'continuing problem' of a sexual interest in young boys. He was never charged by police.

Brian Houston told the royal commission he did not report his dad to police as the victim was 35 or 36 years of age at the time the allegations surfaced.

Brian Houston also claimed that, weeks after he became aware of the abuse, the victim had told him he did not want to go public or approach the police.

The victim has previously disputed that.

Brian Houston has been charged by Australian police - with his lawyer handed a notice on Thursday instructing the megachurch founedr to attend Sydney's Downing Centre Court in October

Houston with former NRL and NFL footballer Jarryd Hayne during a trip to the United States

Scandal: Darnell Barnett, 32, resigned as creative director of Hillsong's Montclair, New Jersey chapter in April after posting lewd photos (right) of himself wearing nothing but white Nike Pro workout tights which outlined his large manhood

Gone: Carl Lentz and his wife Laura were Hillsong's golden couple - but have both since left

The Hillsong Church released the following statement on Thursday night.

'We are disappointed that Pastor Brian has been charged, and ask that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process as is his right.

'He has advised us that he will defend this and looks forward to clearing his name. Given that this matter is now before the court, neither Pastor Brian or Hillsong Church will be making further statements. We thank all who are a part of our church for their support and prayers at this time.'

The charge against Pastor Houston will send shockwaves through the global evangelical empire Brian and wife Bobbie have built.

The church operates in 28 different countries, has boasted of celebrity followers - formerly including Justin Bieber and jailed footballer Jarryd Hayne - and has its own record label.

More recently Hillsong has been shaken by scandals including celebrity New York pastor Carl Lentz being sensationally sacked after admitting cheating on his wife.

A married pastor in New Jersey resigned in April when DailyMail.com revealed that he had shared lewd photographs on Instagram.

Hillsong church was founded in Sydney's north-west and since become a global phenomenon. Above, its best known site, in the suburb of Norwest

The charge will also have political consequences in Australia.

In 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that he had sought an invitation for Brian Houston to attend a state dinner at Donald Trump's White House.

The NSW Police investigation into Brian Houston was public knowledge at the time.

Police sources said the decision to charge Houston came after the agency received advice from state's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The prosecution brief has been with the DPP for several months.

Houston will face Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on October 5. Daily Mail Australia contacted a Hillsong spokesman for comment.

Do you know more? Contact our reporter: daniel.piotrowski@mailonline.com
The parents of a student killed in a car crash have shared how they forgave the man behind the wheel, taking him into their home and calling him son.

Elizabeth and Fernando Jimenez were devastated after their daughter Maria was killed in a car crash in March 2017 but felt obligated to help Nick Tay, the friend who had been driving, as he faced prosecution.

Despite being 'consumed with grief', Elizabeth couldn't help but feel for 25-year-old Nick, whose family lived in Singapore, leaving him facing the aftermath of his actions on his own.

The couple decided they would forgive him and the three of them would go on to form a remarkably close bond with each other as Nick faced prosecution, was sent to prison and then deported after serving his sentence.

In March 2017, Maria Jimenez had planned to go Korea to teach after finishing her linguistics degree at Brighton University.

The parents of Maria Jimenez (pictured left) who was killed after her friend Nick Tay (right) crashed her car while travelling at 110mph have said how forgiving him helped them heal

Fernando and Elizabeth Jimenez described how they were consumed by grief after learning of their daughter's death in March 2017 but remarkably forgave her friend 25-year-old Nick Tay

But just days before her 24th birthday, she was killed in a crash after friend Nick Tay flipped the car while travelling at 110mph.

The pair had been for dinner with their church music group and Maria had asked Nick to drive her home because she had been drinking.

Nick, 25, was speeding down a dual-carriageway in south west London at more than double the limit when he veered across two lanes, hit the central reservation and flew off towards a verge.

Maria was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the Peugeot 206 when Tay, who escaped with minor injuries, crashed in the early hours of March 22.

The crash, which happened on the A3 near Tolworth, cost Maria her life in what police would later call 'an incident that was entirely preventable'.

The young woman's parents, originally from Costa Rica but who moved to the UK in 1995, told the Mirror how they were 'consumed with grief' when they were informed about Maria's death.

In a memorial fundraiser set up after her death, Fernando reflected on how her childhood and teenage days were 'always full of friends, parties, ballet and dancing, in which her leadership and love were notorious'.

He described how Maria 'had a good voice and enjoyed playing the piano, gifts that allowed her to become a part of Hillsong Church Musical Worship Team at Guildford, UK', where she would meet Nick.

The couple grieved in their separate ways with Fernando being overcome with anger after finding out what had happened.

Describing his reaction to the Forgiveness Project, he said: 'These revenge fantasies initially got me through, but I also knew I didnt want to end up a bitter man.'

Meanwhile Elizabeth's thoughts turned to Nick and wondering whether he was OK.

She told the Mirror: 'Suddenly I thought "Wait a minute, who is with Nick at the police station?"

Maria Jimenez with her family, brother Joshua (left) and her parents Elizabeth and Fernando

'I knew his family lived in Singapore. He must be desperate.

'I had never met this man before. I know that with their daughter killed many would react with furious anger and blame.

'But all I felt was deep worry for this young man I didn't know. I just wanted to be by his side.'

As prosecution loomed, Maria's parents decided to invite Nick to their home so they could meet him.

Elizabeth recalled Nick entering their living room and approaching Fernando, adding: 'Nick hugged him and said, "please forgive me". In tears they both collapsed to the ground, all the while Nick repeating his request over and over and Fernando saying, "I forgive you son".'

From that point, Fernando and Elizabeth considered him to be part of the family.

Maria was studying linguistics at Brighton University and had planned to go to Korea to teach

Fernando, a missionary, said: 'If Id held onto these feelings, they would have destroyed me. Instead, I decided to love him. Thats the moment he became a son to me.'

The family offered Nick a place to stay as legal proceedings were brought against him and Nick lived with them for six weeks ahead of the court hearing.

Elizabeth described how it was 'wonderful' to have him there and how they would cook and go for walks together.

In November 2017, Tay, from Guildford, Surrey, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by driving an uninsured vehicle.

He was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for four and a half years.

Elizabeth told the Forgiveness Project: 'Going to prison was extremely traumatic for Nick. He felt such deep guilt and remorse. With his family in another country I began to visit him every week.

'Things improved for him when he was moved to Maidstone Prison and joined the Beating Time choir.

'That made such a difference to him because it meant time together with others and space to sing. And crucially he found a way to express extremely complex and painful feelings.

'Ive always known that in order for there to be a happy ending to this story, restoration has to take place and be the driving force guiding me to overcome my loss and pain. I dont want there to be any more casualties.'

Fernando added: 'Maria was a strong, good character full of life and joy. She was so dear to me and I knew she would want me to forgive Nick if she was here.

'So I took this position in order to honour Maria. I found great help in knowing I couldnt blame God or anyone. It was an accident.'

Nick was released after three and a half years but was immediately taken to the airport and deported back to Singapore.

Reflecting on their journey her father Fernando said: 'The true power of forgiveness is for the person who gives it, not just the person who receives it.

'Nothing would bring Maria back. But forgiving Nick helped me heal.'

Elizabeth, added: 'We always taught the children, never react with anger, always react with love.

'What we did with Nick is exactly what Maria would have wanted us to do. Now he is as dear to us as any child could be.'

The family still speak to Nick every day and say that he is now married and expecting his first child. They plan to visit him once Covid restrictions allow.
Shoppers in the Hunter Valley stripped supermarket shelves bare almost immediately after it was announced they would be plunged into Covid lockdown - but it wasn't the only panic-buying that was taking place.

Daily Mail Australia understands that drug dealers are hoping to cash in on the seven-day stay-at-home orders by driving up the price of ice to as high as five times the normal asking fee in communities where meth use is almost triple the New South Wales average.

The street price of the dangerous drug normally fluctuates between $300 to $500 a gram, but with bored casual users now unable to leave their homes from 5pm Thursday in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, the cost is set to shoot up to $1000 to $1500.

Dealers are also well aware that generous government subsidies will soon start to flow into the area, meaning more dollars will be competing for the same amount of product, inflating prices.

Lockdown measures have been extended to Newcastle and the Hunter regions due to a local outbreak of new cases

'With lockdown, people are going to have a hard time getting on the gear,' a source with inside knowledge of the drug trade in the area told Daily Mail Australia.

'So the price will go through the roof.

'I reckon it will probably go to somewhere between $1,000 to as high as $1,500 a gram.'

The NSW government last year released a report outlining the devastating impact that meth is having on many Hunter Valley communities, with assistant senior counsel Sally Dowling SC noting that use of the drug has rapidly increased over the past decade.

'Maitland, Moree Plains and Cessnock each experience more than double the state average of convictions for possession or use of amphetamines,' she told the East Maitland hearing in 2019.

The Special Commission of Inquiry into the drug 'Ice' received testimony from concerned locals in a range of fields who warned that use of the drug has become more prevalent among adolescents.

The NSW government last year released a report outlining the devastating impact that meth is having on many Hunter Valley communities, with assistant senior counsel Sally Dowling SC noting that use of the drug has rapidly increased over the past decade. Pictured: The city of Newcastle

Daily Mail Australia understands that drug dealers in the picturesque Hunter Valley are hoping to cash in on the seven-day stay-at-home orders by driving up the price of ice to as high as five times the normal asking fee

Anne-Marie Connelly, the client services manager of Cessnock Community Services told the hearing that 'younger and younger' people were using the drug across the Hunter Valley, some as young as 12.

'It appears to have increased appearance in schools in the area,' she said.

'The exposure to parents using has desensitised young people to the negative consequences... It appears there's a higher likelihood of a young person using ice because of that inter-generational effect.

The price of ice in some areas during the Hunter Valley's lockdown could reach $1,500-a-gram

'The worst-case scenarios there have been young men and women who have been seriously psychically and sexually assaulted over a period of time.'

Ironically, one of the reasons for the high rate of use before the pandemic has been historically low prices which have made meth 'more accessible' to children and families.

David Lowe, the manager of Juvenile Justice in the Hunter New England region, told the hearing 28 per cent of young people in the community who are under supervision orders or remand and control orders are meth users.

'Predominantly, it's within the the older cohort, 16, 17, 18, who use ice.'

NSW Police declined to comment on the impending lockdown price hike, but told Daily Mail Australia that any drug dealing is a serious offence that carries heavy penalties whether it is during lockdown or any other time.

Panic buying has broken out across Newcastle and the Hunter region after the areas were thrown into a snap seven-day lockdown (pictured in Rutherford, Maitland)

In a supermarket in Kotora the aisle selling toilet paper was pictured almost completely sold out

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the Newcastle and Hunter region - more than 100km north of Sydney - would be put under a one-week lockdown after five school students tested positive for coronavirus on a day where NSW reported a record 262 cases.

The local government areas ordered into lockdown are Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog, Singleton and Muswellbrook.

Residents in those LGAs will face the same strict stay-at-home orders as five million residents across Greater Sydney, who are in lockdown until at least August 28.

The state's Chief Health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the outbreak in the Hunter region was almost certainly linked to a party held at Blacksmiths Beach, south of Newcastle last Friday night.

She said authorities believe some of those at the party may have broken laws to travel there from Sydney despite the city's residents being banned from entering regional NSW for non-essential reasons.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said 'we believe there is linkages back to western Sydney'.

'If they've made a wrong judgement they regret please tell us the truth because that will allow us to find out who was there and stop any chains of transmission,' Dr Chant said.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp shared an alarming video to his Facebook account on Thursday afternoon showing dozens of shoppers lined up outside a Woolworths in Marketown

At a Coles in Mayfield, a set of shelves holding raw chicken meat had also been stormed with just a few items remaining
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Britons trying to book for France have today accused Eurotunnel, Eurostar and easyJet of 'ripping off' customers who claimed the price of passage trebled as soon as the Government announced it would scrap quarantine for tourists returning from Sunday.

People trying to book trains from St Pancras to Paris claim that 50 was almost immediately added to the cost of a 89 one-way ticket while MailOnline research has found that the average price increase to travel this weekend is between 20 to 60 for a standard or standard premier ticket.

After Grant Shapps made the announcement last night, one Eurostar customer trying to get back to Britain tweeted: 'So now Eurostar prices are double the price if not more. Expats are consistently fighting a losing battle'. Another wrote that the website was crashing 'again and again' with the 'price relentlessly going up', adding: 'Took about 10 attempts and 50 quid more! Absolutely ridiculous!'.

One driver trying to book the Eurotunnel to France from Folkestone tweeted: 'Why are you doubling your prices from this Sunday just as the new quarantine rules for UK people coming from France come into affect? Isn't this what's known as profiteering? Our ticket cost has doubled in 24hrs because we had to amend our booking'.

And people trying to fly to France in August are also being hit in the pocket. Several accused easyJet of cancelling flights in order to force them into buying more expensive tickets.

One wrote: '@easyJet has just cancelled all flights to nice in august so that prices can be hiked up! Outrageous! My friend now has to find alternative flights at a vastly inflated cost'. Another said: '@easyJet - our flight to France was cancelled 3 times so on the 3rd cancellation we took a voucher as we did not have a lot of time to think about it. You have now increased the price, can you offer the same deal at least?'.

The companies today denied they were taking advantage, saying any rises were down to demand.

A Eurotunnel spokesman said: 'The cost of a ticket does not double overnight due to an amendment. Our pricing works like that of most travel operators, as a dynamic model, led by demand. With the announcement last night, we saw an immediate uplift in bookings and therefore certain departures are now in higher demand than previously. Conversely, there are plenty of keenly priced departures available too'. Eurostar and easyJet have been asked to comment.

Tourists exit from an arrivals gate at St Pancras International station following the arrival of a Eurostar train from Paris on the day it was announced travel would be opened up between the two countries

Queues at St Pancras International this morning as France was opened up both ways for British tourists and people jumped on the Eurostar

People trying to get to and from France have complained that major travel companies have bumped up prices. They have blamed rising demand

As Boris Johnson relaxed travel rules to Europe, allowing more people to travel in August, it also emerged today:

Seven European countries: Austria, Germany , Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will turn green from Sunday 4am.

India , Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels;

But Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte are joining the red list. Up to 6,000 Brits are on holiday in Mexico and now scrambling to get back this weekend to avoid quarantine hotels - with not enough seats to get them home;

Hotel quarantine costs are to soar to more than 200 a night from a week today. From next Thursday, the price will jump to 2,285 for a single person. Additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate;

Queues formed at Eurostar today as British tourists rushed to France after it was revealed double-jabbed tourists returning from the country will be spared quarantine - but Grant Shapps has already warned that it may only be safe from the red list for another three weeks.

With Emmanuel Macron's government already allowing fully-vaccinated Britons into the country with traffic picking up at airports, the Channel Tunnel, ferry ports and St Pancras from this morning.

But they face a battle for accommodation with French staycationers, EU tourists and even Americans who have had a month's headstart on their British counterparts.

Grant Shapps said today that people can travel without 'looking over their shoulders' for the next three weeks as countries will not move lists 'unless something exceptional and unexpected happens'. But the Transport Secretary added that full vaccination for travel will be a feature for Britons 'forever more' and admitted that countries could turn red again by the end of the month.

Tens of thousands more Britons are now expected to head to France for August - although tourism chiefs have warned millions more Frenchmen are staying in the country this summer so there is serious a lack of accommodation if the traveller is without a second home.

There is a particular shortage of gites, camp sites and hotel rooms in the south of the country, especially near beach resorts such as Biarritz, Narbonne, Ile de Re and Saint-Tropez, while experts have said there are much larger numbers of tourists from Holland, Belgium and Germany in the country this year.

French tourism chiefs have welcomed the news that Britons can more freely come and go from Sunday - especially because Britons are by far the biggest spenders in the country but only around ten per cent of the usual number of UK tourists are in the country this summer.

But in the past month Mr Macron has enforced a 'high alert' covid-19 level hit in 37 departments in France because of rising cases of the Delta variant and increasingly busy hospitals. In Occitanie, in south-west France, a 'white' alert has been imposed meaning medics on holiday can be forced to return to work because of increasingly packed covid wards.

Spain has also been spared being given red status - potentially forcing tens of thousands into 2,285-a-stay quarantine hotels - but the Government is urging travellers to take a PCR test before they fly home from the Iberian country.

Experts are predicting that there will be a flurry of bookings for France (St Pancras today) but there is already a battle for accommodation with French staycationers in particular

People are now heading off to France since the drop in quarantine has been announced by the Government

Covid cases in the UK and France look set to pass each other in the coming days as a wave of delta cases in Britain drops while it is on the rise across the Channel

People enjoy the Saint Francois beach in Ajaccio as health officials activated an emergency plan on the Mediterranean island of Corsica as a fourth wave of Covid infections spread across France and the island

Grant Shapps: I can't rule out Spain turning red - but denies keeping it amber is because of a lack of space in quarantine hotels The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he 'can never say there is a zero chance' travellers from Spain and other popular holiday destinations will not have to quarantine again in future. Grant Shapps was asked by Sky News whether Spain could return to the red list for travel destinations in future. He replied: 'With coronavirus you can never say there is zero chance. 'But having said that, the levels of vaccination and what we now know about the virus and what our scientists have been able to work out in the last year means that people should be able to go away, enjoy their holidays without looking over their shoulders the whole time and as I say, the next set of changes are not for another three weeks.' He also denied that Spain has not been placed on the travel red list because the UK would not have the capacity to quarantine all returning travellers. The Transport Secretary was asked by Times Radio if this was the 'real reason' Spain had not been placed on the red list. Mr Shapps replied: 'We will always do whatever is required, and you have seen us do this so far with the red list to make sure that countries, even from destinations where there are a lot of people, would go on that red list if that is what is required. 'But we will simply follow the scientific advice.' He also explained why the Government is recommending travellers from Spain take a PCR test before they leave, saying scientists are 'particularly interested in one of the new variants which is B.1.162', currently prevalent there. Advertisement

Mum of two Natalie said the decision to take remove France from the Amber plus list meant that she and her family could enjoy her week long holiday without the worry of facing 10 days in quarantine on their return.

She told MailOnline while queuing for her Eurostar train: When we heard the decision it was a huge boost. We were always going to go on the trip, but there was always the worry of what would happen when we came back.

I have two children and it would have been a huge problem with quarantine and who looks after them when it's time for work.

No one really raises the question of what it is like to have to quarantine with children and try to fit in work.

Natalie, from East London, was travelling with her husband and children aged two and five to Euro Disney in Paris.

The trip had been book weeks before France was suddenly placed on the newly created Amber plus list over fears of the Beta variant  which was later revealed to be mostly on the French Reunion island thousands of miles from mainland France.

Other passengers checking in for their Eurostar train were jubilant they would be saving hundreds of pounds by not having to pay for a day two and day eight test and the extra cost of a test on day five to escape quarantine early.

The average cost of a three-test package by providers on the Government website is over 150 with others costing more than 300.

UK residents who have had two jabs do not need to quarantine on arrival in France.

Many departing passengers were scathing of the ttraffic light system imposed by the Government that has determined where people can travel abroad.

This Government is just playing with us and making it as difficult to travel as possible, said 41year old Jenny Gill.

How can a country be at risk, and then within a couple of weeks is suddenly free for us to travel to with no restrictions,.

My husband and I were determined to go to France to see friends and were prepared to pay the costs of tests and quarantine. It now means we dont have to worry.

Nurse Naz Baei was headed to France before travelling to Switzerland for a three-week trip.

The 24-year-old said: Im a nurse and double jabbed. I dont see why restrictions were put on people who have had the vaccination. It is great news that I no longer have to quarantine when I get back as I would not be able to do my job.

I am sure there will be many more people who will no go to France for a holiday. People have been desperate to get away and I know I will enjoy myself.

Eurostar staff checking documentation at the terminal in central London said most of those departing had booked tickets in advance.

Businessman Alan Tyler was headed to Paris for a series of m meetings and planned to return on Tuesday  48 hours after the quarantine rules were lifted.

If we want to get the country back to work and moving forward, then there has to be free travel, he said.

I always thought putting France on the amber plus list was short sighted, and then when I read there were more Beta variant cases in Spain it just did not make sense.

The only people who will lose out now will be the testing companies as they will not have so many people to charge.

Another passenger who was on his way to Normandy to see his girlfriend said:' This has saved me a bundle of money and I don't have the hassle of having to stay at home. As I am now back on the office I would have had to pay for the early release. I'll spend the money I've saved on a nice meal.'

People heading to France admitted they were relieved to avoid quarantine and extra money on testing

A family speaks to Eurostar staff as they head to Europe today

Changing travel rules: What you need to know There have been more changes to the rules for international travel, with some popular destinations climbing the ladder to the green list and others sliding down on to the red. The Government has also hiked the price of hotel quarantine, meaning a trip to a red list country is a pricey affair. Here is the state of play for your summer holidays. Is there any good news? Seven countries will be added to England's green travel list from 4am on Sunday, the Government announced on Wednesday. Anyone returning from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway will no longer need to quarantine on arrival. France has also lost its confusing 'amber plus' status, which meant all travellers and not just those who are not fully vaccinated had to self-isolate for 10 days upon return. Our nearest neighbour had been in a category all by itself because of concerning levels of the beta variant of Covid-19 there. Is that it? Sadly yes, but it just got slightly easier to visit India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as they have been downgraded from the red to the amber list, meaning arrivals will no longer have to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel. There are currently 24 countries on the green list, including the popular holiday destinations of Barbados, Croatia and Malta - unfortunately 16 of these are on the 'green watch list' meaning they could be suddenly be shunted up to amber. Australia and New Zealand are both unambiguously green - unfortunately neither are welcoming British travellers at the moment. Has anyone joined the red list? Yes - Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte are joining the red list. If you have a holiday to one of those destinations already booked and want to press ahead, bear in mind the cost for solo travellers in a quarantine hotel in England will be ramped up from 1,750 to 2,285 from August 12. The charge for an additional adult sharing a room will more than double from 650 to 1,430 to 'better reflect the increased costs involved', the Government said. Is my trip to Spain safe? There were fears in the travel industry that Spain - the most popular overseas destination for UK holidaymakers - could be added to England's red list. The Government announced it would keep its amber status, but urged travellers arriving in the UK from Spain to take a PCR test for the mandatory pre-departure test 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'. Many travellers have been relying on the cheaper lateral flow test kits which are less reliable than PCRs. Things keep changing - what do I have to do when I get home again? There are different rules for countries on the red, amber and green lists that also differ according to a traveller's vaccination status. Passengers to England returning from a red list country must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test before departure and must book a hotel quarantine package including two Covid-19 tests even if they have had both jabs. They must also complete a passenger locator form. If you have come from an amber list country, you need proof of a negative test before travel and those who are not fully vaccinated must self-isolate 10 days upon arrival and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. You might be able to get out of quarantine early if you pay for a private PCR test to be taken on day five under the Test to Release scheme. Those with two vaccines only need to take a PCR test on day two of their arrival and can skip self-isolation - the same rules apply to those who are under the age of 18 regardless of their vaccination status. Anyone returning from a green list country need only have proof of a negative Covid-19 test before travel, fill in a passenger locator form and take a test on day two after arrival. Do these changes apply elsewhere in the UK? The devolved nations have control over their own amber, red and green lists of countries as well as the rules around quarantine upon return, and the recent changes have attracted criticism from some quarters. The Welsh Government is still advising against 'all but essential' travel abroad, and those who have been to a red list country cannot even enter until they have completed 10 days of quarantine in England or Scotland first. In a statement, a spokesman for the Welsh Government said: 'We have long called for a clearer system of rules regarding international travel. 'The ad-hoc nature of the decisions made by the UK Government on the issue does little to instil confidence or provide clarity for travellers. 'We continue to advise against all but essential travel abroad because of the continuing risk of infection, including with new variants of coronavirus which may not respond to our vaccines. 'We will consider the latest changes announced by the UK Government.' Advertisement

Changes to the traffic light system are a 'positive step forward' but the Government needs to make faster progress in opening up international travel, industry experts have warned.

Four countries are being removed from England's red list as part of the latest update to the international travel system, while seven more, including Germany are being added to the green list.

It has also been confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate, aligning the nation with other countries on the amber list, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have followed England in introducing the same travel relaxations.

However, the changes have attracted criticism from the Welsh Government which has continued to advise against 'all but essential' travel.

Confirmation that France is joining the amber list is 'positive' especially during the 'critical' school holiday period, said Mark Tanzer, head of Abta, the travel association.

But he warned the Government is 'failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout' with a 'very cautious' approach to the green list and 'failure to relax restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when visiting low risk destinations.'

But there is growing anger about the decision to turn Mexico red with just three days' notice, with panicked and 'f***ing fuming' Britons trying to get home before 4am on Sunday. Georgia, La Reunion and Mayotte will also turn red this weekend.

Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will all move to the quarantine-free tier at the end of the weekend, in a huge boost for those looking to book a late summer getaway on the continent. But while there is no quarantine people will still have to take a negative test before returning and a PCR test on day two back in the UK.

Meanwhile, the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels.

While Spain avoided joining them, those flying back will soon face higher testing costs after ministers urged holidaymakers to take a PCR for the mandatory pre-departure test, rather than the cheaper lateral flow alternatives, 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

With the guidance being advice, rather than law, many travellers may feel entitled to refuse to take the gold-standard test, which can cost as much as 175 per person.

Elsewhere, as expected, the Government also confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate, likely sparking a surge in cross-Channel bookings, as is the custom in August when traditionally more than four million Britons make the trip.

France will be aligned with all other amber nations, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated. The changes to the travel lists come into force at 4am on Sunday.

Those who do have to quarantine in hotels after returning from red-list countries are now facing a heftier bill, however, which the Government says it to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'.

From August 12, the rate for solo travellers will rise from 1,750 to 2,285, while additional adults sharing a room will see their bill hiked from 650 to 1,430.

Children over the age of 12 are charged at the same rate as adults, while parents will have to cough up an additional 325 for those aged between five and 12.

It means a family of four with two teenage children now faces a hefty bill of 6,575, compared to 3,700 under previous rules - an increase of some 77.7%.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government is 'committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we've made through our successful vaccination programme'.

He went on: 'While we must continue to be cautious, the changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.'

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said changes to the travel lists are 'based on the latest data and expert public health advice'.

He added that the announcement 'demonstrates the need for continued caution', with additions made to the red list to 'help protect the success of our vaccine rollout from the threat of new variants'.

There were fears in the travel industry that Spain - the most popular overseas destination for UK holidaymakers - could be added to the red list, but it is staying amber.

The Government urged travellers arriving from Spain to take a PCR test 'wherever possible' as their mandatory pre-departure test.

Many people currently use cheaper lateral flow tests to meet the testing requirement.

In a statement, the Government said PCR tests should be used 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

It added that UK clinicians and scientists 'remain in close contact with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest data and picture of cases'.

The Government claimed its decision to scrap the amber plus list and align France in line with the rest of the amber list 'simplifies the system to three categories'.

But the green watchlist - which is designed to give travellers notice where green status is at risk - remains in use, and is unchanged.

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said the extension of the green list is 'a positive step forward' but warned that the UK remains 'a long way off a full and meaningful restart of international travel'.

Tim Alderslade, boss of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UK-registered carriers, described the announcement as 'another missed opportunity'.

Quarantine hotel bills rocket to 200 a NIGHT: Cost of isolation on returning to UK is set to soar after ministers agreed to hike prices to 'reflect increased costs involved' Hotel quarantine costs are to soar to more than 200 a night, it was revealed last night. All travellers returning from red list countries  such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa  must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 11 nights. Until now, the cost of staying in a 'managed quarantine facility' has stood at 1,750. But yesterday ministers agreed to hike prices by more than 30 per cent to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'. From next Thursday, the price will jump to 2,285 for a single person. Additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate. The price for children aged five to 12 will remain at 325, while under-fives will continue to stay for free. The rise means that, for a family of four with two teenage children, the cost will jump from 3,700 to a staggering 6,575  a rise of 78 per cent. Officials said the cost would include transport to the hotel, security and food. It would also include provision of welfare services and two coronavirus tests which are required by law on days two and eight of quarantine. Some travellers have complained of 'prison-like' conditions in the hotels, with little access to fresh air and poor food. Others have been forced into debt by the crippling costs. Last month, the Government announced that solo women travellers would be given female guards, following allegations of sexual harassment. Failure to arrange a quarantine hotel is an offence carrying a 4,000 fine for people returning from a red list country. Offenders still then have to pay for a hotel. Breaking quarantine rules attracts a fine of 10,000. Advertisement

He added that the travel industry has not had 'anything like the reopening it was hoping for'.

Meanwhile, Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, welcomed the addition of more green list countries, but warned that the constant chopping and changing would cause further disruption for many.

'The cost for travellers can be significant,' he said. 'Some holidaymakers whose countries have now been placed in the red category will find that their airline or tour operator is unwilling to give them a refund. Other providers won't refund or even facilitate rebooking if a country is moved from green to amber.'

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: 'While there's some welcome progress, the Government is still being too cautious at a time when they should be opening up travel faster to help the sector's recovery.'

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: 'Now summer is fully under way, this provides some reassurance to consumers by keeping the status quo for key holiday destinations, as well as adding some Green list destinations for last-minute bookers where there are still great flight and holiday deals available.

'But we remain disappointed at the double standards applied to travel versus the domestic economy. With infection rates remaining lower in much of Europe and the high vaccination levels in the UK, if not now, it is hard to know when the time is for much of Europe to genuinely turn Green.

'And Government urgently needs to tackle this expensive testing regime which is adding unnecessary cost, especially for the fully vaccinated. No one wants to see flying become a preserve of the rich again - particularly when so many need to get away or reunite after such a long time.'

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta - The Travel Association, said: 'Today's confirmation that France joins popular holiday destinations such as Spain and Greece on the list of countries that fully vaccinated individuals and their families can travel to without the need to quarantine on return is positive, particularly as we are now in the critical school holiday season.

'However, the Government is still failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout with a very cautious approach to the Green list and failure to relax restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when visiting low risk destinations.

'As a result, the UK is falling behind our European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is progressing at a snail's pace - making it extremely difficult for travel agents and tour operators to generate enough income to kickstart a recovery, which is desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods.'

It comes after aviation bosses urged ministers to relax travel testing rules on Wednesday after data suggested no coronavirus 'variants of concern' were found in hundreds of thousands of travellers returning from amber and red list countries.

Testing remains a key part of the Government's traffic light scheme, with even travellers coming back from green list countries having to take a test after they get home.

But analysis of official data published by The Telegraph showed that fewer than one in 60 people returning from an amber or red nation tested positive for Covid-19.

More than 320,000 people arrived back in the UK from countries in those categories between July 1 and July 21 and no 'variants of concern' were identified.

The disclosure came as it was confirmed that Spain will not be moved to the 'red list' because of falling case numbers in the country and fears the Government's hotel quarantine system would be unable to cope.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to deliver his three-weekly update to the rules on Thursday.

Boris Johnson refused to be drawn on what will be announced as he answered questions this afternoon during a visit to Scotland.

But he said he recognised that 'people yearn to go abroad' and insisted the Government must strike a 'balance' between opening up travel and protecting against importing coronavirus variants.

Spain will remain on the amber list which means fully-vaccinated Brits can return home without having to quarantine.

There had been fears the country could be moved up to the 'red list' but it has now been confirmed that it will remain in the medium tier.

Meanwhile, holidays to France are expected to be back on the table with the 'amber plus' list reportedly set to be scrapped altogether.

France is the only country in the category which currently means that even double-jabbed travellers have to quarantine when they come home.

Ministers are expected to streamline the traffic light system but Boris Johnson remains under pressure to go further and scrap it completely.

Aviation bosses and Tory MPs believe the system should be replaced with one simple 'red list' of banned nations, with vaccinated tourists allowed to travel everywhere else quarantine-free.

France was put on the 'amber plus' list due to fears over the spread of the Beta coronavirus variant.

But numbers now show that just 0.4 per cent of Covid-19 cases in France are Beta while the number is 0.5 per cent in Spain, according to The Times.

Ministers were considering rolling out a new 'amber watchlist' for countries currently amber but at risk of imminently turning red.

It had been suggested that Spain could be put in the new category but Mr Johnson torpedoed the new list after a ferocious backlash.

As well as a fall in case numbers in Spain, the nation has also been spared the 'red list' because of logistical concerns around hotel quarantine.

All travellers returning from a 'red list' nation have to spend 10 days in a Government-approved hotel at their own expense.

The Government has tens of thousands of rooms reserved but with an estimated one million UK tourists in Spain there would not be space in the system for all of them to be housed.

A Whitehall source told The Times: 'Spain won't be going on the amber watchlist - the only danger is it going red but that's very unlikely.

'Cases are coming down. And they haven't got enough beds to quarantine everybody. So it's not going to happen.'

Meanwhile, Britain's daily Covid cases increased for the first time in almost a fortnight on Wednesday, but hospitalisations continue to fall, official data revealed.

Health chiefs posted 29,312 positive tests, an increase of six per cent on last week's 27,734. It is the first time the cases have risen week-on-week since July 27 (44,104).

Coronavirus-tracking experts warned the recent fall in cases  which sparked hopes the worst of the third wave was over  was beginning to flatten out as a delayed result of Freedom Day.

Another 119 laboratory-confirmed deaths were also recorded, up by around 31 per cent on the 91 victims declared last Wednesday.

But the number of people being admitted to hospital with the virus is continuing to fall. Admissions dropped 19.1 per cent to 668 on Saturday  the latest data figures are available for.

It is the fifth day in a row hospitalisations fell on the week before, in a glimmer of hope that Britain may be turning a corner in the amount of severe disease caused by the third wave. The number of infected people occupying NHS beds in England has fallen below 5,000 for the first time since July 25.

The fall in admission can be explained in part by the effect of Britain's successful vaccine drive. Some 29,508 first doses were given out yesterday, taking the total amount of adults to have had a jab up to 46.9million  88.7 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile, another 143,002 second doses were put in people's arms, meaning 38.7million (73.2 per cent of adults) are now fully protected against the virus.

It comes as ministers confirmed 16 and 17 year olds will be offered Covid vaccines. No10's top experts also opened the door to jabbing younger teenagers later in the year.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the Government on the vaccine roll-out, recommended that the 1.4million older teenagers should be offered the Pfizer jabs 'as soon as possible'.

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said there was 'no time to waste'.

Despite the slight increase in cases today the seven-day average for infections is continuing to fall, dropping 13.6 per cent today. The measure  which provides a more well-rounded picture of where cases are compared to just daily figures  suggests the rate at which cases are falling may be slowing, however

A Department of Health graph shows the number of people being treated for the virus in England has fallen below 5,000 for the first time since July 25

16 and 17 year olds will NOT need parental consent to get Covid vaccines: 1.4million teenagers to get Pfizer jab 'as soon as possible' as health chiefs open door to inoculating all over-12s Sixteen and 17-year-olds will not need parental consent to get the Covid vaccine, health chiefs have revealed as they open the door to jabbing younger teenagers. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) today recommended that the 1.4million people in the age groups should be offered the Pfizer jabs 'as soon as possible' with Professor Jonathan Van-Tam saying there was 'no time to waste'. Ministers have accepted this advice and the NHS is now preparing to dish out their first doses at centres across the country. Officials said they expected the first to be invited for jabs in 'a very short number of weeks'. There are currently no plans to offer the age group second doses, but scientists are reviewing more data to understand the risks of administering the jabs. Officials close to the programme said a child would be able to give consent for the jab if they were able to understand the risks and benefits of any medical treatment. The JCVI is also considering vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds, but they said they will need to review more safety data before they can update their recommendation for this group. Boris Johnson today called on families to listen to the advice from No10's top scientists, saying that the committee was 'among the best in the world' and that the country should 'take our lead from them'. Professor Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, told a Downing Street press conference today that the first inoculations for 16 and 17-year-olds would be dished out 'in a very short number of weeks'. He said: 'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixths forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this. 'The NHS has been kept informed of what is being deliberated for JCVI, it has been preparing for multiple options for very many weeks now and I would expect this programme will start in a very short number of weeks.' He added there was 'plentiful' supply of the vaccines to meet the top scientists recommendation that 16 and 17-year-olds should be vaccinated. Advertisement

Despite the slight increase in cases today, the seven-day average for infections is continuing to fall, dropping 13.7 per cent.

However, the measure  which paints a clearer picture of where cases are compared to just monitoring daily figures which fluctuate heavily  suggests the rate at which cases are falling may be slowing.

Infections are still falling in the North East and North West of England but appear to be flatlining in London, the South East, South West, East Midlands and East of England.

However, data for regions in England lags behind the United Kingdom as a whole, so the slight increase seen across has yet to be reflected in the English numbers.

It comes after the JCVI today recommended that the 1.4million people in the age groups should be offered the Pfizer jabs 'as soon as possible'.

Ministers have accepted this advice and the NHS is now drawing up plans to offer first doses to them in the coming weeks. There are currently no concrete plans to offer the age groups second doses, with scientists set to review more safety data before pressing ahead.

Officials close to the programme said a child would be able to give consent for the jab if they were able to understand the risks and benefits of any medical treatment.

Boris Johnson today called on families to listen to the advice from No10's top scientists, saying that the committee was 'among the best in the world' and that the country should 'take our lead from them'.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said they had accepted the advice from the scientists and were aiming to start rolling out jabs for younger age groups 'as soon as possible'.

Many experts welcomed the move to protect people in younger age groups, but several have slammed it for being 'too little, too late' because young people now cannot be jabbed before the Autumn term. The return of schools in September is likely to spark another rise in cases.

Some scientists have, however, said it was 'pointless' to vaccinate the age groups because most of them already have immunity from past infection. Office of National Statistics figures suggest up to 60 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds already have antibodies against Covid to fight off the virus.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said there was 'no time to waste' in starting the extension of the vaccination programme to 16 and 17-year-olds.

He told a Downing Street press conference: 'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixths forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this.

'The NHS has been kept informed of what is being deliberated for JCVI, it has been preparing for multiple options for very many weeks now and I would expect this programme will start in a very short number of weeks.'

He added there was 'plentiful' supply of the vaccines to meet the top scientists recommendation that 16 and 17-year-olds should be vaccinated. He said: 'We have the supply and I'm expecting this to start in a very short number of weeks indeed.'

Many experts welcomed the move to protect people in younger age groups, but Independent SAGE members slammed it for being 'too little, too late' because young people now cannot be double-jabbed before the Autumn term. Scientists say the return of schools in September is likely to spark another rise in cases.

Some scientists have, however, called the plans into question saying it was 'pointless' to vaccinate the age group because they are at such low risk from the virus and most already have immunity from previous infection. Office of National Statistics figures suggest up to 60 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds already have antibodies against Covid to fight off the virus.

The JCVI, which advises No10, last month ruled only over-12s with serious underlying health conditions or who live with a vulnerable adult should get jabs.

The panel, made up of the country's top experts, warned the 'minimal health benefits' did not outweigh the risks to justify vaccinating all children. It adopted a 'precautionary approach' because of a rare link between the jab and a cases of heart conditions called myocarditis and pericarditis.

Officials are keen to push the immunisation drive on to more youngsters in order to prevent an autumn surge in infections when they return to schools in September.

'I'm definitely getting the jab - not like my naive mum and dad': 16 and 17-year-olds say they WILL get the Covid vaccination when they become eligible regardless of their parents' opinions

Sixteen and 17-year-olds have insisted that they will get the Covid-19 vaccination when they become eligible, regardless of their parents' opinions.

It has been revealed that 16 and 17-year-olds won't need parental consent to get Covid vaccines, while No 10's top scientists have hinted children as young as 12 could be offered jabs later this year.

And 16 and 17-year-olds in Manchester have said that they plan to get the Covid vaccine as soon as they are eligible - even if their parents do not agree with them.

One 16-year-old said he is planning to get the Covid jab so he won't have to 'worry' about getting the virus, and criticised his 'naive' parents for choosing not to get vaccinated.

Clayton Murdock, 16, slammed his parents for being 'naive' in not getting vaccinated themselves, but insisted that will not stop him from getting the Covid jab

Meanwhile, another teenager said he would get the Covid vaccine so he can go to gigs next year, while one 17-year-old said she was hoping to bag a 'free kebab' for getting vaccinated.

But some teens have remained sceptical about the vaccine after the announcement, with one woman saying she has heard of women suffering from bad periods after the jab, while another teen said he would only get the vaccine if he is 'forced' to.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the 1.4million youngsters should be offered Pfizer jabs, marking a U-turn on guidance the same panel issued two weeks ago.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the NHS would dish out invites for vaccines 'as soon as possible', with the goal of getting the oldest teenagers protected before they return to classrooms in September.

Clayton Murdock, 16, from Manchester, slammed his parents for being 'naive' in not getting vaccinated themselves, but insisted that will not stop him from getting the Covid jab.

He continued: 'I'm definitely for taking the Covid vaccine. If it's helping people then I'm all for it.

Amy Blackshaw, 16, expressed her concerns that some women have complained about missing their periods after getting the jab, but said she would get the vaccine to keep others safe

'I've heard though that it's killing people but I don't care as long as it's helping people.

'I'd take it so I could go out and not worry about getting the virus. My parents haven't had it, but that's because they are naive.'

Meanwhile, Annie Sawbridge, 17, from Manchester, said she too wants to get vaccinated, sharing her hopes that she might be able to bag a free Uber or a free kebab if she is double vaccinated.

Annie said that her father is already double vaccinated, while her mother has had her first vaccine, and she plans to join them in getting the Covid jab as soon as she is eligible.

She added: 'I would take the vaccine. I've heard you can get a free Uber or a free kebab out of it, so I'd get it and hope for a free kebab.

'I'd take it to keep people safe.'

Elsewhere, Amy Blackshaw, 16, from Manchester, expressed her concerns that some women have complained about missing their periods and getting 'swollen' breasts after getting the jab.

But she said that despite her belief that people should be told 'what's going to happen' after getting the jab, she still plans to get the vaccine in a bid to keep other people safe.

She explained: 'I'd love to take the vaccine, but I've heard women saying that their boobs are swelling and that they're missing their periods from it and it's a shame that women's mental health isn't taken into account, but I'd still take the vaccine anyway because it's important.

Meanwhile, Annie Sawbridge, 17, said she wants to get the Covid jab, sharing her hopes that she might be able to bag a free Uber or a free kebab if she is double vaccinated

One teenager who feels slightly sceptical about getting the Covid jab is Kieron Booth, 16, from Ponteland in Northumberland. He said he will only get vaccinated if he is 'forced' to

'I think when you take it, you should be told what's going to happen. I don't think people are told enough what can happen.

'I'd take it to be safe for other people.'

Another teenager who feels slightly more sceptical about getting the Covid jab is Kieron Booth, 16, from Ponteland in Northumberland.

Kieron said he will only get the vaccine if he is 'forced' to, saying he feels safe in the knowledge that he is young and believes that Covid will not 'affect' him 'as much'.

He said: 'For me getting it depends on if I'm forced to have it to go on holiday.

'I would definitely get it if I had to for holidays. I would preferably not get it but if they forced me I would.

'I've missed out on a couple of things like holidays because of Covid.

'But I'm not in any rush, not until I have to. I feel safe enough as being younger I don't think it affects you as much.

'My family have had their first jabs and my mam has been really ill with it so I don't want to get it unless I have to.'

Childcare and education student Millie Coulson, 16, from Blyth, said she plans on getting the vaccine as she trusts the Government and said getting the jab would make her feel safer amid the pandemic.

She explained: 'I definitely plan on getting it when I get the chance.

Childcare and education student Millie Coulson, 16, from Blyth, said she plans on getting the vaccine as it would make her feel safer amid the pandemic

'If the Government are advising it then we just have to trust them really, that's all you can do.

'I don't feel that safe at the moment because I know Covid is deadly but I would definitely trust the injection.

'I have no issues in getting it. I'd love to go to festivals and holidays later on so I would have to get it.'

Lauren Nicholson, of Blyth in Northumberland, admitted that her grandparents have been encouraging her to get the Covid jab, despite her not really thinking about it.

The 17-year-old sixth form student said: 'I haven't had the vaccine yet and I haven't really thought about it.

'I think I might get it in the future especially if you have to for if you're going abroad and things like that.

'My grandma and grandad have encouraged me to get it and they want me to have it when I can.

'I would like to go away places on holiday at some point in the future so I will end up having it at some point.'

One teenager whose parents have opted to get the Covid vaccine is 17-year-old Freddie Wakeling, from Manchester, who said he is one of the only people in his family not to have been vaccinated yet.

He said that while he is in no rush to get the vaccine, as he is not clinically vulnerable, he wants to get the jab when he can so he is able to attend gigs and other events next year.

One teenager whose parents have opted to get the Covid jab is 17-year-old Freddie Wakeling, who said he is one of the only people in his family not to have been vaccinated yet

Bailey Wressell (left), 17, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, and Lauren Nicholson, of Blyth in Northumberland, both plan to get the Covid vaccine when they are eligible

He explained: 'It's something I would take if I was offered it, but as I'm not particularly vulnerable, I'm not in any hurry to get it.

'The main reason I want to get it is from fears of not being able to do things in the future especially with big public events with gigs and that kind of thing.

'That's something I don't want to miss out on, especially next year because I've got a few booked now.

'I'm pretty much the only person in my family not to be vaccinated yet, but that's only because I've not been eligible.'

Bailey Wressell, 17, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, also had concerts and public events on her mind as she said she is planning on getting the vaccine as soon as she can.

The sixth form student said: 'When I am eligible I will definitely be having it.

'I want to stay safe and I think it would be silly not to get it really. We don't want to end up back in lockdown so you might as well get it.

'I feel it's important to keep older people safe too such as grandparents.

'Me and my friend have got a concert booked for next year so I will need it for that.'

Evan Cooper, 17, has already had both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which he got in a bid to protect his grandparents and to allow him to go on holiday with his friends.

Evan, from Manchester, said he could not afford to pay for the PCR tests required before going abroad, so decided to get the Covid jab so he was able to go on holiday.

He added: 'I'm double vaccinated but the main reason I took it was because I'm going on holiday with some friends and if I don't have it, then the PCR tests are really expensive and I'm young as it is, so I can't really afford it, so I took it for that reason and to protect my grandparents.

Evan Cooper, 17, has already had both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which he decided to get in a bid to protect his grandparents and to enable him to go on holiday with his friends

While Mila Jowett, 17, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, said she feels a certain duty to have the Covid jab, saying the only reason she hasn't had it is because she is not eligible yet

'Both of my parents are double vaccinated, my sister is 22 and she has had her first vaccine.'

Evan is not the only teenager thinking about going on holiday in the future, as photographer Alex Elliot, 17, of South Shields in South Tyneside, said he wants to get the jab so he knows that he is 'safe' to go abroad.

Alex, who turns 18 next month, said: 'I've read in the news that young adults can get it. 'But I've not actually had any contact personally saying I'm eligible.

'I wouldn't be in a rush for it but definitely when I have the time and if I wasn't busy, I would go and get it.

'It's more about me not wanting to restrict anybody in the future and I don't want to be seen as bad by anyone.

'I would rather just get it for other people. I definitely want to be part of a group effort to keep people safe.

'Getting it to go places isn't really on my mind but it would be comforting to know that if I needed to go abroad in the future, I would be safe to do so.'

And waitress Neeve Rogers, from Newcastle, also plans on getting the vaccine so she is able to travel abroad and visit her family in America.

The 17-year-old said: 'I haven't had it yet but I do plan on getting it.

'I think it's important because it will help everything get better and the quicker everyone gets vaccinated then the quicker it should all be over.

Waitress Neeve Rogers, from Newcastle, also plans on getting the vaccine so she is able to travel abroad and visit her family in America

'I really want to travel, just anywhere abroad once I get my vaccine.

'I'd like to travel back to America as I have family there so if I got the jab I'd be able to go see them.'

Michael Hale, 16, from Manchester, said he has already had Covid and would choose to get the vaccine when he is eligible, adding: 'I think it's about safety.

'I've already had Covid, so I shouldn't get it for a while, but I think you need to take into account other people. My parents have both been vaccinated.'

While Mila Jowett, 17, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, admitted that she feels a certain duty to have the Covid jab, saying the only reason she hasn't had it is because she is not eligible yet.

She continued: 'I haven't had the jab because I'm not eligible I don't think.

'I think it's important for my state of mind and I do think there is a duty to have it.

'I will feel safer once having it, sometimes I feel a bit on edge now after lockdown and especially with people getting pinged which is a hindrance.

'Definitely in the future I would like to go on holiday as well.'

The teenagers' eagerness to get the vaccine comes after it was announced that 16 and 17-year-olds won't need parental consent to get Covid jabs.

Photographer Alex Elliot, 17, of South Shields in South Tyneside, said he wants to get the jab so he knows that he is 'safe' to go abroad

Michael Hale, 16, said he has already had Covid and would choose to get the vaccine when he is eligible, adding that he thinks people need to take into account other people as well

Health Secretary Sajid Javid accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and asked the NHS to prepare to vaccinate the group 'as soon as possible'.

And Boris Johnson called on families to listen to the advice, saying that the committee was 'among the best in the world' and that the country should 'take our lead from them'.

Officials said there is 'no time to waste' and want to give all 1.4million older teenagers the Pfizer vaccine before schools return in September. Detailed plans will be set out this week.

At a Downing Street press conference this afternoon, JCVI chair Professor Wei Shen Lim revealed 16-17 year olds won't be booked in for second doses just yet.

There are currently no concrete plans to offer the 16 and 17 year olds second doses, with the expert panel wanting to buy more time to understand the safety risks.

Meanwhile, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, said there was 'no time to waste' and that there was 'plentiful' supply of the vaccines.

Unveiling the inoculation drive expansion in a Downing Street briefing today, Professor Van-Tam said: 'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixths forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this.

'The NHS has been kept informed of what is being deliberated for JCVI, it has been preparing for multiple options for very many weeks now and I would expect this programme will start in a very short number of weeks.'
A 53-year-old man has been charged with murder over the death of a housemate in a share home in outer Melbourne which was home to a dozen people.

Kristen Daniels was found dead at a home on Petrie St in the southeastern suburb of Frankston, with police attending the scene at 3am on Wednesday morning, the Herald Sun reported.

Kevin Seymour, who also lived at the residence was formally charged with murder in a court hearing on Thursday.

He was remanded in custody ahead of the next hearing on Dec. 9.

53-year-old Kevin Seymour has been charged with the alleged murder of Kristen Daniels in a shore house in Frankston (pictured)

The Petrie St property was said to be a converted childcare centre.

Another resident of the share house, Helen, said she saw Mr Daniels body, with a bloody chest.

'I was shocked. I have never seen that, the way Kris was lying, not even moving,' Helen said to the Herald Sun.

She said Mr Daniels had been a resident at the share house for about 11 years and was aged in his 40s.

The converted child care centre was home to twelve people, and both the man charged and the victim were residents of the share house

Nigel, another resident of the crime scene said he was shocked to hear of the alleged stabbing.

'I've been in shared houses where they've (people) have committed suicide and that was bad enough,' Nigel said.

In a court hearing on Thursday, the judiciary was informed the accused required medication for paranoid schizophrenia taken fortnightly

Nigel described Mr Daniels as a kind man who was always happy to assist his fellow house mates.

'He'd help anybody out, doing grocery shopping for other people that are in need that were incapacitated,' Nigel said.
A Queensland woman had to get emergency medical treatment after she tucked into a tub of Baskin-Robbins and claims to have swallowed staples hidden in the sweet treat.

Soldier Jessica Torrens, 22, ordered the ice cream through Uber Eats and had already eaten one staple before she says she found a second in her mouth.

X-rays revealed the first staple was passing through her large bowel after cutting up her throat, while Jessica kept hold of the second one as a memento.

Jessica Torrens, 22, ordered the ice cream through Uber Eats and had already swallowed one staple before she says she found a second in her mouth (right)

'Found some nasty surprises in my ice cream,' she posted on Facebook alongside a photograph of one staple and her desert plus the x-ray scan of the second staple.

'Is this the universe telling me to stop "treating yourself"?'

She added: 'The one staple that managed to be consumed has missed main areas and only cause small scratches to my throat.

'Time to lay off the Baskins.'

'I thought it was really cold and that they'd just frozen their choc chips, then I noticed there was something in my teeth and pulled out a staple,' Ms Torrens told the Courier-Mail.

Jessica Torrens, pictured, says x-rays revealed the first staple was passing through her large bowel after cutting up her throat

Jessica Torrens, from Everton Hills in Brisbane, said she had contacted Baskin-Robbins about the incident but they had only offered her more ice cream and apology. Pictured is a tub of Baskin-Robbins ice cream

'I had a few cuts in my throat. I can still feel a lump in my throat.'

Ms Torrens, from Everton Hills in Brisbane, said she had contacted Baskin-Robbins about the incident but they had only offered her more ice cream and apology.

However she said she was concerned about the possible effects the staples might have had on an unwary child if they had swallowed them instead.

She added: 'I didnt really want their free ice cream. They just said they could assure me that there would be no more staples.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Baskin-Robbins for comment.
Armed Iranian commandos stormed an oil tanker off the coast of UAE but fled after the crew disabled the engines and allowed a US warship to catch up with them, it has been claimed.

The Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess was sailing 85 miles from the Emirati port of Fujairah on Tuesday when it suffered what the UK maritime safety agency called a 'suspected hijack'. Hours later it said the incident was 'over', but gave no details.

Now, radio recordings and intelligence sources have given the first detailed account - revealing that 'five to six' Iranian commandos stormed the vessel and tried to divert it to a port in Iran.

But the plan failed when crew disabled the tankers' engines, allowing American and Omani warships to catch up with her - at which point the Iranians fled.

Five to six armed Iranian commandos tried to hijack the Asphalt Princess (pictured) off the coast of UAE but failed when crew disabled the engines, it has been claimed

'US and Omani warships turned up and the Iranians got into some boats and went off,' an intelligence source told The Times.

Meanwhile radio chatter between the ship and an unknown source captures crew saying there are 'five to six armed Iranians are on board the vessel'.

Asked what the Iranians are doing, the crew member responds that he cannot understand they are saying.

'We are drifting. I cannot tell you when we will get to Sohar,' the man adds.

The ship is believed to have been sailing from Bandar Abbas, in Iran, to the port of Sohar in Oman when the commandos attempted to seize it.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the hijacking attempt, saying western accusations are merely a pretext for 'hostile actions' against the regime.

The attack on Asphalt Princess came just days after another vessel - the Liberian-flagged Mercer Street - was hit by an explosive-laden drone, killing a British security officer and a Romanian crew member.

Mercer Street is though to have been targeted because it is operated by a company owned by an Israeli billionaire.

The UK, Romania and Liberia have joined the US and Israel in blaming the attack on Iran, with Tehran again denying involvement.

A 'shadow war' has been ongoing between Iran and its proxies and regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia since at least 2019, which has seen civilian vessels frequently targeted in attacks that threaten to push the region into all-out conflict.

On Tuesday, Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz called for firm action against Iran and its new president - hardliner Ebrahim Raisi - to deter future attacks.

'It is time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds. Otherwise the attacks will continue,' he said. 'Now is the time for deeds - words are not enough'.

The attack on Asphalt Princess unfolded after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency flagged what it called a 'non-piracy incident' near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic bottleneck off the coast of Iran.

The commandos were trying to divert the tanker to an Iranian port but fled when US and Omani warships caught up to the vessel, sources said

Iranian 'shadow war' threatening major Middle East conflict In recent months, there have been several reported attacks on Iranian ships that Tehran has linked to Israel. In March, Iran's foreign ministry said it was 'considering all options' in response to an attack on a cargo ship in the Mediterranean it blamed on Israel. And in April, Tehran said its freighter Saviz was hit by an 'explosion' in the Red Sea, after media reports said Israel had struck the ship. The New York Times reported at the time that the Saviz had been targeted in an Israeli 'retaliatory' attack after 'Iran's earlier strikes on Israeli ships'. It came at a time of heightened tensions between the foes, with reports of a series of tit-for-tat strikes on shipping since early March. In a report published in March that cited US and Middle East officials, the Wall Street Journal said Israel has targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for Syria, mostly carrying Iranian oil, since late 2019. 'The occupier regime knows that such (accusations) will not fix its problems. Whoever sows the wind reaps the whirlwind,' Khatibzadeh said. Iran has also accused Israel of being behind sabotage attacks against its nuclear sites, and killing a number of its scientists. The tanker strike comes as Tehran and world powers are engaged in talks in Vienna in an effort to return Washington to a 2015 nuclear deal and lift sanctions, and bring Iran back in compliance with nuclear commitments it waived in retaliation for sanctions. The accord was strained when in 2018 former president Donald Trump withdrew the US unilaterally and reimposed sanctions. Advertisement

It later updated that description to say it was a 'potential hijacking'.

Sources within the shipping industry then identified the vessel as the Asphalt Princess, though several ships in the area were either showing as 'stopped' or 'not under command' at the time.

British sources then told The Times newspaper that they were 'working on the assumption Iranian military or proxies boarded the vessel'.

Britain's foreign ministry was 'urgently investigating' an incident on a vessel off the UAE coast, a spokesperson said.

The White House called the reports 'deeply concerning'.

It is not clear exactly what Britain's connection to the ship is.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards denied that Iranian forces or allies were involved in action against any ship off the UAE coast, saying the incident was a pretext for 'hostile action' against Tehran, state television reported on its website.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also denied his country was involved and 'warned of any effort to create a false atmosphere for special political purposes.

'Iran's naval forces are ready for help and rescue in the region,' he said.

Apparently responding to the incident, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as calling the recent maritime attacks in the region 'completely suspicious.' He denied that Iran was involved.

'Iran's naval forces are ready for help and rescue in the region,' Khatibzadeh said.

Iran and its proxies have been engaged in a shadow conflict with rivals Israel, Saudi Arabia and their allies around the Arabian Peninsula since at least 2019.

During that time tankers with links to Saudi and Israel have been struck by mines and other explosives, while Saudi's largest oil refinery was also blown up in a bold strike using drones and missiles.

An American drone was even shot down by Tehran's forces, bringing the two sides close to all-out conflict.

Iran has used its armed forces to seize a tanker once before - the British-flagged Stena Impero which was detained in the port of Banda Abbas in September 2019.

Tehran struck in a tit-for-tat action after the Royal Navy seized one of its vessels near Gibraltar. The two ships were ultimately freed after a weeks-long standoff.

On Thursday night, a kamikaze drone laden with explosives crashed into the bridge of the Mercer Street tanker off the coast of Oman, killing a British Army veteran working as a security guard and a Romanian crew member.

The attack was swiftly condemned by Israel, followed by the US and Britain, who blamed Tehran for the strike.

Iran denied involvement in that suspected drone attack and said on Monday it would respond promptly to any threat against its security.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.

Britain, Romania and Liberia told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that it was 'highly likely' that Iran used one or more drones to carry out a deadly tanker attack last week off the coast of Oman.

U.S. officials have said privately they are watching the situation closely but do not expect a military response for now.

Tensions have increased in Gulf waters and between Iran and Israel since 2018, when then U.S. President Donald Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

On Monday, Washington promised to lead a 'collective response' against Tehran, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling the MT Mercer Street incident 'a direct threat to freedom of navigation and commerce'.

Damage purportedly to the Mercer Street oil tanker after the bridge of the vessel was struck by an explosive-laden kamikaze drone

One image shows a huge gaping hole in the top deck of the vessel while another shows the main mast (pictured) which appears to be blackened from a blast. Neither images could be independently verified

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MailOnline that 'Iran should face up to the consequences of what they've done', while adding that it was 'clearly an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping'.

In response, Tehran said any move against the national security of Iran will 'face a tough and firm response', while adding that Washington and London will be 'directly responsible for its consequences'.

Iran 'will not hesitate to protect its security and national interests, and will immediately and decisively respond to any possible adventurism,' foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil passes.

Fujairah, on the UAE's eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

Since 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen a series of explosions and hijackings. The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.

Also in 2019, Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz as it was headed from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Dubai.

The raid came after authorities in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, seized an Iranian supertanker carrying $130 million in crude oil on suspicion it was breaking European Union sanctions by taking the oil to Syria. Both vessels were later released.

In July of last year, an oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the Emirati coast, following months of tensions between Iran and the U.S.

The vessel and its crew ended up in Iran, though Tehran never acknowledged the incident.
Grant Shapps today admitted that France and Spain could be added to the 'red list' later in the summer as he said being double-jabbed is likely to be a requirement for international travel 'for evermore'.

The Transport Secretary has announced sweeping changes to the Government's traffic light rules, with fully-vaccinated travellers now able to return from France without having to quarantine.

Meanwhile, Spain has been spared being moved onto the 'red list' allowing quarantine-free holidays to the country to continue.

However, Mr Shapps conceded this morning that the countries could be made subject to tighter restrictions in the weeks ahead as he said 'with coronavirus you can never say zero chance'.

But Mr Shapps said he believes people will be able to travel to the holiday hotspots 'without looking over their shoulders the whole time' for the next three weeks before the next update of the rules.

The Transport Secretary also said he believes being fully-vaccinated will be an entry requirement for most countries long into the future.

Grant Shapps defends asking travellers returning from Spain to take costly PCR test Grant Shapps today defended the Government asking travellers returning from Spain to take a costly PCR test instead of a cheaper lateral flow test. Spain is staying on the amber list so quarantine-free holidays to the country can continue for double-jabbed Brits. But tourists will still be required to take a pre-departure test and the Government has advised it should be a PCR check which can cost as much as 175 per person. Mr Shapps said that PCR tests are preferable because they are more accurate and are used to keep track of emerging coronavirus variants through a process called genome sequencing. He said that some lateral flow tests in Spain are not good enough to meet the Government's requirements and 'nine out of 10 people' travellers returning from the country already take a PCR test Asked why people would bother to get a PCR test instead of a lateral flow if it is not compulsory, he said: 'They have already actually been required to get a test of this particular, a high sensitivity, a specificity, that hasn't changed. 'If you have the choice, if you are presented with both, the PCR ones are particularly useful. 'As I say, in Spain it so happens that actually the PCR test is the go to test. It is actually quite unusual to find a lateral flow test which actually meets the requirements. 'It so happens the UK lateral flow tests are of high specification but in most places, including Spain, people are already getting the appropriate type of test. 'We are just reminding people that helps our scientists to sequence the genome which is the thing which enables us to know whether there are variants.' Advertisement

The changes announced by the Government mean that double-jabbed tourists returning from France will be spared quarantine from Sunday.

Spain will not be moved to the 'red list' as had been feared but the Government is urging travellers to take a PCR test - which can cost as much as 175 per person - rather than a cheaper lateral flow test before flying home from the country.

Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will all move to the 'green list'.

But while there is no quarantine people will still have to take a negative test before returning and a PCR test on day two back in the UK.

The status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels.

The cost of staying in the quarantine hotels is set to increase from August 12 from 1,750 to 2,285.

Meanwhile, Mexico is being moved to the 'red list', giving an estimated 5,000 Brits just three days to get home or face hotel quarantine at their own expense.

The decision to ditch quarantine rules for France by scrapping the 'amber plus' list will provide a major boost to the travel industry but there are fears the country could be moved to the 'red list' in the future.

Mr Shapps told Sky News: 'I suppose with the virus it is always the case that you have to be keeping a very close and vigilant eye out. We have known that the whole way through this.

'But we know a lot more about the virus now than we did say this time last year.

'Everyone has been offered a vaccine now and that is obviously the big game changer and throughout Europe and the rest of the world the number of vaccines are catching up as well, all of which provides a sort of wall of protection.

'We know that people look forward to, save up for, want to go on holiday plus other people who are travelling to see family and friends or just to do business.

'We want to try and make it as straight forward as possible and that is what the changes do as we gradually move from our domestic unlock to being able to internationally unlock as well.'

Asked about the chances of France and Spain moving to the top tier of restrictions, Mr Shapps said: 'Well, I think you know that with coronavirus you can never say zero chance with coronavirus.

'But having said that the levels of vaccination and what we now know about the virus from what our scientists have been able to work out in the last year means that people should be able to go away, enjoy their holidays without looking over their shoulders the whole time.

'As I say, the next set of changes are not for another three weeks.'

The Transport Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that double vaccination will be a requirement for travel to many countries long into the future.

He said: 'It is a reality that in this new world we are living with coronavirus and as we have done domestically with the unlock, learning to live with it with international travel as well.

Quarantine hotel bills rocket to 200 a NIGHT Hotel quarantine costs are to soar to more than 200 a night, it was revealed last night. All travellers returning from red list countries  such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa  must quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 11 nights. Until now, the cost of staying in a 'managed quarantine facility' has stood at 1,750. But yesterday ministers agreed to hike prices by more than 30 per cent to 'better reflect the increased costs involved'. From next Thursday, the price will jump to 2,285 for a single person. Additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate. The price for children aged five to 12 will remain at 325, while under-fives will continue to stay for free. The rise means that, for a family of four with two teenage children, the cost will jump from 3,700 to a staggering 6,575  a rise of 78 per cent. Officials said the cost would include transport to the hotel, security and food. It would also include provision of welfare services and two coronavirus tests which are required by law on days two and eight of quarantine. Some travellers have complained of 'prison-like' conditions in the hotels, with little access to fresh air and poor food. Others have been forced into debt by the crippling costs. Last month, the Government announced that solo women travellers would be given female guards, following allegations of sexual harassment. Failure to arrange a quarantine hotel is an offence carrying a 4,000 fine for people returning from a red list country. Offenders still then have to pay for a hotel. Breaking quarantine rules attracts a fine of 10,000. Advertisement

'I think double vaccination, or full vaccination, is going to be a feature for evermore and most countries, probably all countries, will require full vaccination in order for you to enter.'

Mr Shapps also defended the Government urging travellers coming back from Spain to take PCR tests amid ongoing concerns the cost of the checks will price many families out of a holiday.

He said: 'Just to clarify, there is no change in terms of what is required. We have always had quite high specifications specificity is what it is called for the tests you have to do before you come to the UK and that specification has not changed.

'In the case of Spain where we have an interest in a variant called the B1621 variant the reality is that nine out of 10 people already take a PCR test so there is actually no particular change.'

Mr Shapps said the PCR tests were more 'helpful' than lateral flow because they can be used to keep track of variants.

Asked why people would bother to get a PCR test instead of a lateral flow if it is not compulsory, he said: 'They have already actually been required to get a test of this particular, a high sensitivity, a specificity, that hasn't changed.

'If you have the choice, if you are presented with both, the PCR ones are particularly useful.

'As I say, in Spain it so happens that actually the PCR test is the go to test. It is actually quite unusual to find a lateral flow test which actually meets the requirements.

'It so happens the UK lateral flow tests are of high specification but in most places, including Spain, people are already getting the appropriate type of test.

'We are just reminding people that helps our scientists to sequence the genome which is the thing which enables us to know whether there are variants.'

The changes to the travel rules have been welcomed by aviation bosses but they want the Government to go much further, warning that the UK is reopening at a 'snail's pace'.

There are growing calls for ministers to scrap the PCR testing requirement.

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Travel Association, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'I think a simpler system is definitely what is required to avoid confusion in the case of consumers, and to provide some form of certainty for people who are wanting to travel, and in some cases absolutely need to travel.

'This expensive and unnecessary testing I think needs to be challenged and I think the Government should demonstrate why they require it.'

He added: 'I think there is a valid reason and a concern, and I would accept that maybe for some of these high-risk countries that have been identified you can make the argument that some form of testing should be done, but I don't think you can justify requiring 2.2 million people to undertake PCR tests when only 8,000 of those are subsequently sequenced.'

Mark Tanzer, head of Abta, the travel association, warned the Government is 'failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout' with a 'very cautious' approach to the green list.

He said: 'As a result, the UK is falling behind our European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is progressing at a snail's pace  making it extremely difficult for travel agents and tour operators to generate enough income to kickstart a recovery, which is desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods.'

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said the extension of the green list is 'a positive step forward' but warned the UK remains 'a long way off a full and meaningful restart of international travel'.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: 'Now summer is fully under way, this provides some reassurance to consumers by keeping the status quo for key holiday destinations, as well as adding some green list destinations for last-minute bookers where there are still great flight and holiday deals available.'

But he added the budget airline is 'disappointed at the double standards applied to travel versus the domestic economy'.

'With infection rates remaining lower in much of Europe and the high vaccination levels in the UK, if not now, it is hard to know when the time is for much of Europe to genuinely turn green,' he said.

Mr Lundgren also called for the Government to look at the travel testing regime, saying it is adding 'unnecessary cost, especially for the fully vaccinated'.
Teenagers have rebelled against anti-vaxxers following No10's expansion of the roll-out to include all 16- and 17-year-olds, with youngsters demanding adults stay out of the fierce debate.

Some concerned parents took to social media last night under the 'LeaveOurKidsAlone' hashtag to slam the Government's move  which will mean children get to decide for themselves whether or not they get jabbed.

But many youngsters quickly hijacked the argument, telling adults to take their own advice and let teens make up their own mind.

The youths were 'enraged' by demands they stay unvaccinated, with critics of No10's decision resorting to scare-mongering to dissuade youngsters.

Teenagers argued they wanted to get inoculated to help protect their grandparents.

And teachers weighed in to support their students, telling 'anti-vaxxing morons' they have no right to deny anyone a vaccine.

Health chiefs yesterday unveiled the updated guidance on vaccinating children, in a dramatic U-turn on advice given just two weeks before.

England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said parental consent will not be needed for the jabs, which will be rolled out before children go back to school in September.

And he strongly hinted the programme could be extended to those aged 12 to 15, with No10's expert panel dedicated to reviewing 'emerging data'.

Safety concerns centre around a rare heart condition called myocarditis, which is up to seven times more common after second doses.

The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)  which advises No10 on vaccine policy  has not yet committed to making concrete plans to give teens top-up jabs.

But top scientists questioned what took the expert panel so long, saying the delayed decision means children won't have time to have get doses before term-time.

Health officials have left it open as to whether boys  who have a higher chance of developing the complication  will be given different advice.

Pictured: Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, during a coronavirus media briefing in Downing Street on August 4, 2021

The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)  which advises No10 on vaccine policy  has not yet committed to making concrete plans to give teens top-up jabs. Health officials have left it open as to whether boys  who have a higher chance of developing the complication  will be given different advice

'I'm definitely getting the jab  not like my naive mum and dad': 16 and 17-year-olds say they WILL get the Covid vaccine Sixteen and 17-year-olds have insisted that they will get the Covid vaccination when they become eligible, regardless of their parents' opinions. It has been revealed that teenagers won't need parental consent to get Covid vaccines, while No10's top scientists have hinted children as young as 12 could be offered jabs later this year. And 16- and 17-year-olds in Manchester have said that they plan to get the Covid vaccine as soon as they are eligible - even if their parents do not agree with them. One 16-year-old said he is planning to get the Covid jab so he won't have to 'worry' about getting the virus, and criticised his 'naive' parents for choosing not to get vaccinated. Clayton Murdock, 16, slammed his parents for being 'naive' in not getting vaccinated themselves, but insisted that will not stop him from getting the Covid jab Meanwhile, another teenager said he would get the Covid vaccine so he can go to gigs next year, while one 17-year-old said she was hoping to bag a 'free kebab' for getting vaccinated. But some teens have remained sceptical about the vaccine after the announcement, with one woman saying she has heard of women suffering from bad periods after the jab, while another teen said he would only get the vaccine if he is 'forced' to. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the 1.4million youngsters should be offered Pfizer jabs, marking a U-turn on guidance the same panel issued two weeks ago. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the NHS would dish out invites for vaccines 'as soon as possible', with the goal of getting the oldest teenagers protected before they return to classrooms in September. Advertisement

Immediately after the announcement, some parents took to social media to tell the Government to leave their 'kids alone'.

But writing on Twitter, one teenager said: 'Yes, leave us alone. Let us get the vaccines ourselves, and stop pushing your anti-vax agenda's onto us.

'We can make our own minds up. I'm vaccinated and proud to be vaccinated as I know I'm protecting more people than just myself.'

Another wrote: 'Maybe the anti-vaxxers in #LeaveOurKidsAlone should listen to their own advice and leave us alone??

'I've been waiting for this vaccine to help protect my high risk parents for ages and I'm excited to get it over and done with or at least wait for news on a possible nasal vaccine.'

And another said: 'This actually enrages me. As an actual 16-year-old who's scared s***less of needles, I want my Covid vaccine.

'One of my school friends got long Covid so badly she missed almost all of her GCSE mocks.

'Covid is very much a problem for kids, do #LeaveOurKidsAlone.'

Teacher's came to their students' side, with one writing: 'As a teacher of 16-17 year olds, I can promise you they are the most switched on, worldy-wise, well-informed generation of all time.

'Better than mine and yours. They don't need anti-vaxxing morons to try to deny them anything.

'Shove your #LeaveOurKidsAlone up your arses.'

At a Downing Street briefing, Professor Van Tam said there was 'no time to waste' in starting the rollout to 1.5million 16 and 17-year-olds.

'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixth-forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this,' he said.

'Now we have the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice on starting that initial first dose in 16 and 17-year-olds, then I want us to proceed as fast as is practically possible.'

Although he said this rollout was unlikely to start next week, it is set to commence very soon, with the jab initially delivered via existing vaccine clinics, GP surgeries and pharmacies.

The rollout could later be expanded and delivered at secondary schools.

Although the NHS is soon to embark on a booster programme for some more elderly and vulnerable people, Professor Van-Tam insisted there was a 'plentiful' supply of vaccine.

He added: 'The NHS has been preparing for multiple options for very many weeks now and I would expect this programme will start in a very short number of weeks.'

The JCVI's decision to recommend the jabs for 16 and 17-year-olds came less than three weeks after it stated that only under-18s with learning disabilities or chronic health conditions should be eligible for a vaccine.

That had followed concern over a rare side effect called myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation.

Now however, the committee believes it has 'more certainty' that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks and that serious side effects are rare and mainly come after a second dose.

But the side effects are more common in boys than girls, according to data, and the JCVI have left it open as to whether different advice on second doses will be given to male teenagers.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the JCVI and a paediatrician at the University of Bristol, said separate advice for boys was 'theoretically on the cards'.

Pictured: A teenager reacts while receiving a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a Clalit healthcare maintenance organisation in Tel Aviv, Israel June 21, 2021

School segregation fears By Eleanor Harding, Education Editor for the Daily Mail Pupils who refuse the Covid vaccine must not be treated differently, families have urged. Parent campaigners UsforThem fear unvaccinated children could be split into different groups and separated from their friends as schools try to control the virus. Some schools previously made pupils sit apart and banned them from PE if they refused to wear a mask, the group says. They fear another a two-tier system over vaccines, adding: Its not hard to imagine where this could lead. However head teachers union ASCL stressed last night that all pupils will be treated the same, as schools will not know which ones have been vaccinated. It is understood the Government will also insist unvaccinated pupils are not treated unfavourably. Molly Kingsley, co-founder of UsforThem, said: While vaccination of children will in theory be voluntary, a number of measures rolled out over the last year have been voluntary in name only. Were already seeing widespread peer pressure being applied to young people to take the vaccine. In France, where the vaccine is approved for those aged 12 and over, unjabbed children are already being treated unfavourably, she said. Last week a French minister said pupils who are not vaccinated will be sent home in the event of a Covid outbreak, while inoculated ones will be allowed to stay. Advertisement

He said it was clear myocarditis was primarily a 'second dose risk', with the risk in boys around six per million first doses given out compared to 67 per million second doses.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan yesterday denied the Government had piled pressure on the JCVI to reverse its policy. Downing Street also insisted it had not leant on the panel.

But, in private, ministers have made little secret of their frustration, especially because authorities in the US, France and Germany have started jabbing children.

The 16 and 17-year-olds will initially be given Pfizer jabs because Moderna has not yet been approved for them.

Boris Johnson encouraged families to listen to the JCVI's advice, saying: 'They are extremely expert there, they're among the best, if not the best, in the world, they know what's safe and I think we should listen to them and take our lead from them.'

Health Secretary Sajid Javid added: 'The JCVI will continue to review data and provide updates on at-risk groups aged 12 to 15 and whether any additional groups will be added.'

He later confirmed the rollout for those aged 16 and 17 could take place via schools. 'It will be this month and so the way we're going to roll this out, I think as people will expect, is working through the clinicians, working through GPs, through the primary care networks,' he said.

'Also, we will use hospital hubs, we will use hubs like the one in Bournemouth I visited today  that I was very impressed by. And also we'll be working through the already existing schools vaccination programme, which I think will help to bolster this.'

But some scientists questioned why the JCVI was not including 12 to 15-year-olds.

Children over 12 are eligible for the jab only if they have severe underlying health conditions or live with a vulnerable relative.

Peter Openshaw, a professor at Imperial College London and a government adviser, said: 'Vaccination of teenagers may have a major effect on the return of Covid next winter, assuming that the rates will drop this summer.

'Full vaccination takes time, so the sooner we start the sooner this age group will be protected.'

Much-needed, but this may be too little too late, say scientists By Eleanor Hayward, Health Correspondent for the Daily Mail Scientists have called for vaccines to be available to younger children immediately  claiming the decision to jab over-16s is too little, too late. The group of 18 healthcare experts have written a paper stating the UK is now a global outlier because it is not immunising 12 to 15-year-olds. They claim the jabs benefits clearly outweigh the risks in younger children. The scientists said there have so far been no deaths or serious adverse effects in the nine million under-18s vaccinated around the world. The paper, which is under review at The Lancet medical journal, added that the position of the Governments vaccines advisory committee contrasts with the policies of many other countries, including the US, Canada, Israel and much of Europe and south-east Asia, all of whom are currently vaccinating 12 to 17-year-olds. They criticised the JCVIs unacceptable delay in approving vaccines for over-16s, warning it means it will not be possible to fully vaccinate older teenagers before schools reopen. Lead author Professor Christina Pagel, of University College London, said: An opportunity to fully vaccinate students before the start of the next school term has been missed. This same decision even a month earlier would have allowed this. Advertisement

Dr PAUL McKAY: I understand parents' concerns over Covid jab, but vaccinating is the right thing to do

Commentary By Professor Paul McKay

Any parent can be forgiven for feeling perplexed, if not alarmed, by the rapid reversal of the Governments position on Covid vaccination in the under-18s.

Less than three weeks ago, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ruled out the routine use of universal vaccination of children as data suggested the benefits did not outweigh the risks for youngsters.

Yesterday we learned the jab is to be offered to 16 and 17-year-olds after all.

So what is going on and how worried should parents and their teenagers be about the claims and counter-claims on safety? Tens of millions of Britons are now double-jabbed  part of a coronavirus shield that protects us individually as well as those around us.

Pictured: Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (Covid-19). Picture date: Wednesday August 4, 2021

But vaccine availability has largely been limited to adults. That has set us apart from many other countries, including the US, Canada and France, which are routinely vaccinating all over-12s. That does not mean that we are lagging behind. On the contrary, assessing the benefits of vaccinating youngsters against any possible risks is an on-going process.

And now JCVI scientists have analysed further data on vaccine safety and also taken into consideration the impact of the pandemic on school closures.

They are confident that the jab is safe for teenagers and so issued new recommendations.

This is good news. New infections are still flourishing  and largely in younger age groups  fuelled by the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant. Some people think this doesnt matter, given that many youngsters appear to be largely asymptomatic and very few suffer long-term effects.

But it matters a great deal because they can still infect others  especially vulnerable individuals, including those who cannot have the vaccine.

It will also matter a great deal come autumn when schools return. A surge in cases could have serious consequences for the education of our youngsters and wider society.

I understand this decision has been greeted with caution by some parents who worry about potential longer-term consequences. And there is, I know, particular concern about fertility in the wake of reports of menstrual irregularities linked to the vaccine.

Parents  and teenagers  are right to ask questions and they deserve honest answers. But too much of this debate is being played out in the lawless world of social media  often in a post from an anonymous doctor or my friend who is a nurse or someone from the anti-vax movement.

Such accounts have assiduously and shamelessly fed lies and misinformation to the public from the start of the pandemic. This sort of content, steeped as it is in conspiracy and paranoid thinking, can prove more exciting than the dry pronouncements of boring old experts  and it is being lapped up by the young.

Well, I do hope young people and their parents will listen to this boring old scientist when I tell them that all the evidence shows that Covid vaccines are every bit as safe for the young as they have proved in the elderly who were first in the queue many months ago.

And as for fertility concerns, anecdotes and hearsay are no match for clear and rigorous evidence  and our evidence is that the vaccine has no effect whatsoever on the male and female reproductive systems.

What we do know is that the Covid virus can spread to the reproductive organs  it has been found in testicles and ovaries. In other words, any young person who is concerned about their future fertility should, in my view, have the vaccine. Getting jabbed is the right thing to do to protect yourself and others.

Dr McKay is a senior vaccine research scientist at Imperial College London.

What Covid vaccine will 16 and 17 year olds get? Will they get jabs in school? All your questions answered about the Government's plan to inoculate 1.5million teenagers

Health chiefs have recommend all 16 and 17-year-olds get jabs, marking a dramatic U-turn.

Just two weeks ago the same expert panel  the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)  advised against doing so.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid accepted the advice and asked the NHS to prepare to vaccinate the group 'as soon as possible'.

Officials said there is 'no time to waste' and want to give all 1.4million older teens the Pfizer vaccine before schools return in September. Detailed plans will be set out this week.

At a Downing Street press conference this afternoon, JCVI chair Professor Wei Shen Lim revealed 16-17 year olds won't be booked in for second doses just yet, with the panel wanting to wait for more safety data.

The major safety concern around vaccinating children centres on a heart condition called myocarditis, which is six times more common after the top-up jab.

Health chiefs confirmed that children will be able to overrule their parents and opt to get the vaccine without their permission.

But experts are divided over the hugely controversial topic of vaccinating children, given their tiny risk of dying or falling seriously ill.

Some countries  including the US and Israel  have already started, which made Britain an outlier in so far only vaccinating the most at-risk over-12s.

As plans to vaccinate children in the are due to be unveiled by No10's scientists, MailOnline answers your questions about the roll-out to youngsters.

The Government has not yet given a timeline on when 16 and 17-year-olds can start coming forward for jabs. But even if the roll-out out to older teenagers begin straight away, there will only be time to give them one dose by the time the school year begins on September 6

When will children be vaccinated?

Those aged 16 and 17 will be offered the jab within weeks, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, said today.

At a Downing Street press conference, he said: 'I want us to proceed as quickly as practically possible.

'That isn't going to be tomorrow. I don't think its likely to be early next week.

'But I can tell you the NHS has been kept informed of what's been deliberated and it has been preparing for multiple permutations and options for weeks.'

Mr Javid confirmed 16 and 17-year-olds will be offered the jab this month.

How long will it be until they get their second dose?

The children will initially be given one dose of Pfizer's vaccine to give them 'some immediate protection from severe disease'.

But the committee is yet to decide when they will receive their second dose.

Regulators are waiting for more safety data before pressing ahead with plans to give them a top-up.

Data from the US suggests myocarditis, a rare heart condition linked to the jab, is occurring more frequently after second doses.

The JCVI is looking at the evidence on whether the top-up jab is best delivered at eight weeks, as with adults, or sooner or potentially later.

Professor Lim told the press conference: 'We are expecting more data to accumulate in the coming weeks. And that means we can offer advice that is the most up to date and relevant.'

Even if the roll-out to older teenagers began straight away, there will only be time to give them one dose before the school year begins on September 6.

Will jabs be dished out in schools?

Jabs will be administered in schools, like how the HPV vaccine is rolled out for 12 and 13 year old boys and girls.

Speaking to reporters at a vaccination centre in Bournemouth, Mr Javid revealed GPs and hospital hubs will also dish out jabs to children.

He said: 'The way we're going to roll this out, I think as people will expect, is working through the clinicians, GPs, primary care networks. Also, we will use hospital hubs.'

'And we'll be working through the existing schools vaccination programme, which I think will help to bolster this.'

But Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is expected to push for them to continue to be given at GP surgeries and NHS hubs, sources claimed.

What vaccine will youngsters get?

The UK has so far only approved Pfizer's coronavirus jab for use in children over 12.

Health chiefs today confirmed it would the US-made vaccine would be given to 16 and 17 year olds.

Moderna's vaccine  which works in a similar way  has not been given the green light for youngsters yet.

AstraZeneca's injection has been linked to rare blood clots, and health chiefs have already restricted its use to over 40s. Therefore, the British-made vaccine won't be offered to children.

The UK has so far only approved Pfizer's coronavirus jab for use in children over 12

Scientists are currently testing nasal spray forms of the Covid vaccine  a method already used to give out children's flu jabs. But none of the candidates being studied have yet to make it out of trials.

Which countries have already began vaccinating children?

Until today, Britain was the 'outlier'. Major European countries and the US are already giving vaccines to children.

A quarter of 12 to 15 year olds in the US have received two doses, while a third have received their first jab.

France, and Spain, Hungary have already starting giving the jab to over-12s, while 10 per cent of children are already vaccinated in Germany.

Meanwhile, Canada, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, Switzerland, are expected to start giving youngsters jabs soon.



Israel approved the jabs for over-12s in May and subsequently approved it for 5 to 11-year-olds.

Have the vaccines been trialled on children?

The companies that make the vaccines, as well as other scientists, have studied how safe they are among children.

Pfizer and Moderna found their jab poses little risk in over-12s and are now trialling the injection in under-11s.

Rigorous analysis also revealed the jabs were effective.

The JCVI said a trial of 1,000 12 to 15-year-olds who received the Pfizer jab found it to be effective and only cause short-term side effects like a fever.

University of Oxford scientists are testing the AstraZeneca jab on children aged six to 17.

Graph shows the proportion of people in each age group who had received one Covid jab (light blue) and who were fully immunised (dark blue)

Do children get ill with Covid?

Most children who get infected have no or mild symptoms.

Fewer than 30 under-18s have died of Covid in the UK since the pandemic began  which scientists say is the equivalent of around one in 500,000 who get infected.

And a major study last night revealed just one in 50 develop symptoms which persist for longer than eight weeks.

So, what are the benefits of vaccinating children?

Scientists claim vaccinating children will curb the spread of the virus, with younger adults known to have fuelled Britain's third wave.

Rolling out jabs to children, advocates insist, minimise the numbers having to take days off school to self-isolate.

Others say it will be impossible to achieve any kind of population immunity without inoculating under-18s.

Building up immunity now, before children return to classrooms in the autumn, will help keep infections down.

This is because vaccinating children can cause 'knock on benefits across the whole population', Imperial College London researchers say.

So what are the potential risks?

Since the vaccine roll-out has been expanded to children around the world, there have been reports of rare heart conditions: myocarditis and pericarditis.

Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, while pericarditis is when the protective layer around the heart gets inflamed.

Data from the US shows those aged 12-17 are at the most risk of developing the heart problem after a Covid jab, compared to other age groups.

In that group, 10 cases of myocarditis were reported per million first doses given. This rises to 67 per million after the second dose. Most people recovered quickly.

There are no specific causes of the conditions but they are usually triggered by a virus.

The British Heart Foundation says in some cases, myocarditis can affect the heart's electrical system, stopping it from pumping properly. 'This can cause an abnormal heart rhythm, known as an arrhythmia,' it claims.

But British regulators insist the 250 cases seen among Pfizer recipients are 'typically mild'. Affected patients recover 'within a short time with standard treatment'.

What explains the sudden U-turn?

Ministers had urged the JCVI to keep reviewing its decision and were keen to expand the roll-out to children.

No major new evidence has emerged, but the committee said they now 'have more certainty' that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Crucially, they are reassured that the side-effect of heart inflammation is extremely rare. Data from the UK shows it affects just one in 100,000 people and most make a full recovery.

The situation has also changed because high vaccine uptake in adults mean the UK's epidemic is increasingly concentrated in un-jabbed teenagers.

Will parents have to give consent for the jabs?

It has been one of the most controversial issues surrounding the roll-out, but health chiefs said today that parents will not be able to decide whether their child gets the vaccine.

Professor Lim said: 'In the UK a person who is 16 years and above is deemed able to consent for themselves.

'If they are competent and able to consent for themselves, then that consent holds.'

This means children will be able to overrule their own parents if they disagree.

Government sources had claimed last night that under-18s wanting the jab would have to provide proof of parental consent.

But hinting at the JCVI's stance, universities minister Michelle Donelan would not confirm that would be the case when quizzed about the move this morning.

Will more young people be offered the vaccine?

As it stands, at-risk 12 to 15-year-olds are already eligible for the vaccine.

But health chiefs hinted that more people in this age group could be offered the jab in the future.

Children in that age group are already eligible if they have a severe neurodisability, Down's syndrome, underlying conditions resulting in immunosuppression, profound or multiple learning disabilities, severe learning disabilities, or those who are on the learning disability register.

But Professor Van-Tam said: 'We have asked the JCVI to continue to review that list on an ongoing basis and my sense is that it is more likely rather than less likely that that risk will broaden over time as data becomes available.'

The JCVI said they are reviewing the evidence and want to 'go very carefully and very safely' before recommending it to more children.

The jabs are not currently licenced for under-12s, so use in young children is not on the horizon.

Will children be incentivised to come forward?

It is not yet clear what, if any, incentives will be offered to older teens to encourage them to get vaccinated.

But with younger adults being offered discounts for takeaways and taxis, ministers may make offerings to 16 and 17-year-olds.

Asked whether teens could be offered cash to come forward, Ms Donelan refused to rule it out.

She said: 'We look at a variety of mechanisms to encourage young people.

'I think the biggest incentive is to protect their own health and protect the health of their friends and their loved ones and we are seeing young people come forward every day and get vaccinated.

'But we will keep everything on the table and review all options for incentivising everybody to get the vaccine.'

If cash for jabs was offered, the Government would be following in the footstep of US President Joe Biden, who told states to offer $100 (71) to newly vaccinated people to encourage more to come forward.
Tensions flared in Melbourne on Thursday after Australia's second-most populous state was slammed into another Covid lockdown after just a handful of cases were detected.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Melbourne on Thursday evening to march across the city in protest against the new lockdown restrictions.

Police were seen clashing with some protesters and making at least 15 arrests and fining 16 others, as furious marchers who were shouting 'no more lockdowns' said the gruelling restrictions were ruining lives.

The outburst came after authorities announced Victoria, home to the country's second city of Melbourne, would go into strict stay-at-home orders starting 8pm Thursday - just nine days after residents were released from the previous lockdown.

The restrictions will last for at least a week and came after just eight 'mystery' cases with no known source were uncovered.

Tensions flared in Melbourne on Thursday after Australia's second-most populous state was slammed into another Covid lockdown after just a handful of cases were detected

Police were seen clashing with some protesters and making at least one arrest, as furious marchers said the gruelling restrictions were ruining lives

A protester is seen holding a sign that claims the state's lockdown is not about the Covid-19 virus

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Melbourne on Thursday evening to march across the city in protest against the new lockdown restrictions

Police were seen clashing with some protesters and making at least one arrest, as furious marchers who said the gruelling restrictions were ruining lives

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Melbourne on Thursday evening holding placards claiming 'the injection IS the weapon' as Victoria was slammed into another Covid lockdown

With stay at home orders kicking in at 8pm, Premier Dan Andrews told residents: 'Go home, and begin that lockdown.

'Don't be out and about because all you might be doing is spreading the virus.'

But that did not stop the swarm of protesters, mostly without facemasks, descending on the city with flares, banners and not even an inch of social distancing.

Police were seen threatening crowds with pepper spray as they struggled to control the angry protesters.

Protests started on Thursday after Victoria was slammed back into a Covid lockdown after eight 'mystery' cases were reported

Police were seen clashing with some protesters and making at least one arrest, as furious marchers said the gruelling restrictions were ruining lives

Hundreds of angry demonstrators marched through the centre of Melbourne on Thursday night after new lockdown restrictions were announced

A demonstrator gives gestures toward police during the anti-lockdown march in Melbourne on Thursday evening

A police officer discharges a pepper spray canister during the heated demonstration

Police officer are seen moving down Melbourne's iconic Hosier Lane during anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne, Thursday, August 5, 2021

At least two flares were let off in the street (pictured) as protesters stormed Melbourne

It marks the sixth time Victoria has been locked down, with state premier Dan Andrews telling weary residents he had 'no choice' but to act - despite Australia being one of just a few countries still pursuing a 'zero Covid' strategy.

'I can't tell you how disappointed I am to have to be here doing this again,' he said.

'But with so few in the community with one vaccination, let alone two, I have no choice but to accept advice, and we collectively [have] to make this important decision to keep Victorians safe.

'The alternative is we let this run  away from us and our hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed [with] not hundreds of patients but thousands.'

Residents are only allowed to leave home for exercise, essential shopping, care-giving, essential work and getting vaccinated.

A protester carries a sign calling on Premier Daniel Andrews to 'get the boot'

A protester live streams anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination demonstrations in central Melbourne on Thursday

A protester smiles as she is dragged away by police during anti-lockdown demonstrations in central Melbourne on Thursday evening

Protesters hold a sign reading 'we will not be censored, we will not be silenced, we will not be stopped' during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne on Thursday

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne during a demonstration against the new lockdown in the state of Victoria

It is now the sixth Covid lockdown the city has face since the pandemic hit Australian shores

Meanwhile New South Wales, home to the country's largest city of Sydney, registered 262 cases of Covid on Thursday - its highest toll since the pandemic began, despite large parts being under stay-at-home orders since June.

The lockdown is officially due to last until August 28 but is now almost certain to be extended beyond that, as measures were extended to the city of Newcastle and surrounding Hunter Valley after five cases were found there.

State leader Gladys Berejiklian warned on Wednesday that driving up vaccination rates is now the only viable route out of lockdown.

'We will not get through this numbers until we see high rates of vaccination,' she told a press conference on Wednesday.

Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has pursued a so-called 'zero Covid' strategy - shutting infections out of the country using tough border quarantines and stamping out infections within its borders using snap lockdowns.

That has allowed the country to keep case and death numbers relatively low - 35,000 cases and 925 deaths - and has allowed life to continue relatively undisturbed between the lockdowns.

But border shutdowns have failed to keep out the more-infectious Delta strain while snap lockdowns are struggling to combat its spread - hampered by the fact that just 16 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the world.

That has meant either repeated returns to lockdown measures, or extended periods under harsh restrictions that is crippling the country's economy and leading to sometimes-violent protests.

Ministers are now signalling a shift away from the 'zero Covid' policy by linking the easing of lockdowns with the number of people vaccinated.

Ms Berejiklian has said measures can start easing in Sydney once more than 50 per cent of people have been jabbed, which she hopes to achieve by mid-September.

Victoria, home of Australia's second city Melbourne, will go into lockdown from 8pm Thursday after just eight cases of Covid were found (pictured, officers enforce lockdown in Sydney)

Meanwhile Sydney, which has been under stay-at-home orders for six weeks (pictured), has recorded its highest one-day case toll of the whole pandemic

Australia is suffering a third wave of Covid driven by the more-infectious Delta variant of the virus, which lockdowns are struggling to suppress

Covid deaths across the country remain low (pictured), though the city of Sydney saw five people die Wednesday - its joint-highest one-day toll of the pandemic so far

Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hinted he will rethink the national lockdown strategy once 70 per cent have been dosed, hopefully before year-end.

Previously, lockdowns were only lifted once community transmission of Covid - i.e. people people who tested positive while not in isolation - dropped to zero.

Health officials in New South Wales said almost all of the state's 262 new cases were located in Sydney, though five were found in Newcastle.

It is thought infections may have been spread there by a beach party that several young people travelled from Sydney to attend, in violation of the lockdown.

Schools have now been shuttered in Newcastle, with residents told they must stay at home except for essential business for at least a week.

Australia also recorded five deaths from Covid, its joint-highest one-day total of the pandemic, all of whom were in Sydney and four of whom had not been vaccinated.

'I cannot stress enough how it's so important for everybody of all ages to come forward and get the vaccine,' Berejiklian said.

The five deaths in Sydney included three men in their 60s, one man in his 70s and a woman in her 80s.

New South Wales also confirmed the death of a healthy 27-year-old man from the virus a day previous, the state's youngest victim so far.

'As older people become vaccinated ... COVID will predominantly affect the unvaccinated, in this case younger people,' Alexandra Martiniuk, epidemiologist at the University Of Sydney, said.

Dan Andrews, leader of Victoria state (left) and New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian (right), are urging people to get vaccinated to stop the spread of the virus

Australia has fully vaccinated just 16 per cent of its population, one of the lowest rates in the world, leaving the country especially vulnerable to more-infectious variants

New South Wales health officials are imploring residents, especially people above 60, to get inoculated.

Health experts expect the country to endure stop-and-start lockdowns until it reaches a high vaccination coverage.

Mr Morrison, once hailed for his 'zero Covid' strategy, is now finding himself under pressure due to the slow vaccine drive which has left the population vulnerable to the emergence of new variants and the lockdowns they are sparking.

Polls show his popularity has slumped since the start of the year.

With Melbourne now back in lockdown, all three of Australia's largest cities are now under stay-at-home orders, with Brisbane in Queensland hit last week.

That means more than half the country's 24million people are now in some form of lockdown, having spent most of 2020 living largely restriction-free.
Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry a Trump Card and has asked them to choose their favorite design and then donate up to $5,000 in his latest fundraising tactic.

The former President's camp on Wednesday published four red and gold credit card sized mock-ups emblazoned with Trump's signature, asking supporters to choose the best design.

It comes after Trump announced on July 26 he would start selling signed pictures for $45.

The card designs feature a 'Save America' logo, include name, member ID, and 'member since' sections, and have small print underneath Trump's signature reading 'authorized by President Donald J. Trump'.

Of the four designs, one features a bald eagle while three have 'Official Trump Card' making up the majority of the card.

Donald Trump's camp has launched four 'Trump Cards' branded with his signature for supporters 'dedicated... to our movement to SAVE AMERICA'

The former President's camp on Wednesday launched four red and gold credit card sized designs emblazoned with Trump's signature (pictured, Trump arrives in Manhattan on July 18)

The cards were launched in two emails sent on Wednesday.

'The card you select will carried by Patriots all around the Country', read the first email, seen by Business Insider.

'They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and I'm putting my full trust in you'.

A second was sent later on Wednesday, telling supporters: 'We're about to launch our Official Trump Cards, which will be reserved for President Trump's STRONGEST supporters.'

'We recently met with the President in his Florida office and showed him four designs,

'Originally we were planning on releasing just one design, but when President Trump saw the cards on his desk, he said, "These are BEAUTIFUL. We should let the American People decide - they ALWAYS know best!"'

It was unclear who qualifies for the cards or what benefits holders will be entitled to.

Supporters who voted for their favorite design were then redirected to a fundraising page.

'Wait... you've been selected,' the page reads alongside a picture of Trump pointing past the camera.

'President Trump wants to see your name at the top of the donor list', it added before asking for a contribution of between $50 and $5,000.

'Donald Trump appreciates your input, and now he's calling on YOU to take the next step to SAVE AMERICA!

'For the NEXT 5 MINUTES you can INCREASE your impact by 300%,

'Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to stand with President Trump and to claim your 300%-impact offer.'

It was not immediately clear how the 'offer' worked.
A fifth of Covid patients currently in hospital are aged between 18 and 34, the head of the NHS revealed today.

Amanda Pritchard, who took over as chief executive of the health service last week, urged young people to get a vaccine.

In her first major interview since taking the role, she said there is 'no doubt' the roll-out is keeping people out of hospital and saving lives.

Some 20 per cent of the 5,000 patients currently in hospital with the virus are young people, according to NHS data. This is up from 5.4 per cent  around one in 20  at the peak of the second wave in January.

It does not mean the virus now poses a bigger threat to youngsters. Instead, it shows how the current crop of vaccines have prevented tens of thousands of older adults from being hospitalised.

Just 64.1 per cent of 30 to 34-year-olds have had a jab so far, and uptake falls to just 60.8 per cent for people in their mid to late 20s. For comparison, more than 90 per cent of over-60s have been jabbed.

Ministers have already roped in Uber and Deliveroo to offer deals for young people in a bid to encourage them to come forward.

It comes as Government data shows the number of patients being hospitalised with Covid is continuing to fall, in a sign that the worst part of the summer wave may be over.

However, experts are concerned cases may creep up again this week, which could see the NHS come under more pressure towards the end of the month. It can take several weeks for infected patients to become severely ill.

New NHS boss Amanda Pritchard today urged young people to get the jab, as she revealed a fifth of all people going to hospital in England with Covid are adults under 34-years-old. (Pictured: Ms Pritchard during a visit to University College Hospital London last Wednesday)

Now all over-12s could be jabbed: Healthy younger children are likely to be offered Covid jabs, say scientific advisers Healthy children as young as 12 are likely to be offered Covid jabs, scientific advisers said last night. Vaccine officials yesterday confirmed that doses will be offered within weeks to all 16 and 17-year-olds  and they will not need parental consent. But Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, strongly hinted the programme could be extended to those aged 12 to 15. In a clear sign this could happen this year, he stressed the need to 'continually review the emerging data'. Children over 12 are eligible for the jab only if they have severe underlying health conditions or live with a vulnerable relative. But Professor Van-Tam said it was 'more likely, rather than less likely' that the list of eligible 12 to 15-year-olds would grow. At a Downing Street briefing, he said there was 'no time to waste' in starting the rollout to 1.5million 16 and 17-year-olds. 'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixth-forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this,' he said. Advertisement

Ms Pritchard told the BBC about 1,000 young adults are currently 'really unwell' in hospital, adding that the number of them being admitted to hospital is four times higher than the peak last winter.

Speaking yesterday at a vaccine clinic in Reigate, Ms Pritchard said: 'There is no doubt that the NHS vaccination programme is having a major impact, keeping around 52,000 people out of hospital and saving an estimated 60,000 lives.

'However, we must not forget that there are more than 5,000 people who are seriously ill in hospital with Covid and more than a fifth of those admitted are young people.'

She urged people to 'not delay sorting your jab', saying the NHS is making it 'as easy as possible to protect yourself, your family and your friends', with pop-up clinics and walk-in sites bolstering the 1,600 permanent sites already in place.

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows admissions among 15 to 24-year-olds in England are higher now than they were in the January peak.

This is also partly down to young people fuelling the third wave, with surveillance studies suggesting up to a third of teens were carrying the virus during July.

But overall, the numbers going to hospital with Covid look promising.

Official figures show hospitalisations fell by 19.1 per cent to 668 on Saturday  the latest date numbers are available for  compared to the 826 people admitted one week earlier.

Meanwhile, infections continued to drop but appear to be flattening out at around 30,000 new cases every day.

It comes as Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to expand the vaccine roll out to those aged 16 and 17.

Scientists concluded that the benefits of jabbing this age group - such as protecting them from catching the virus and passing it on - outweighed risks.

Other countries, including the US and France, are already jabbing children over 12.

But scientists in the UK wanted to wait for more data regarding the prevalence of an extremely rare side effect of heart inflammation called myocarditis, which they concluded was 'extremely rare'.

Along with jabbing the newly eligible group, NHS staff are also preparing to dish out Covid booster injections at the same time as flu jabs this autumn for all over-50s and healthcare workers.

Health chiefs hope this will increase their protection against the virus ahead of a potential surge in cases later in the year.

Ms Pritchard said people who come forward for the jabs will also be offered health checks 'wherever possible', including blood pressure checks, to 'make every contact count when it comes to improving peoples health'.

Official figures show hospitalisations fell by 19.1 per cent to 668 on Saturday - the latest date numbers are available for - compared to the 826 people admitted one week earlier
Google co-founder Larry Page was allowed into New Zealand despite its closed border so his son could receive urgent medical attention, the government admitted today.

The billionaire has been living off the grid in Fiji for most of the pandemic but sought special permission to fly to New Zealand with the child, who is around 12-years-old.

Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is facing backlash for allowing Page and the boy to enter while there are strict border controls to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Ardern denied knowledge of the 2,600-mile round trip which has incensed New Zealanders living abroad who haven't been able to see their families in months.

The country's immigration chief Kris Faafoi told reporters that Page had requested an exemption 'to make sure his son got the treatment that was required.'

It does not appear that Page, 48, was accompanied by his media-shy wife Lucinda Southworth, 42, or their other child, who is around 10-years-old.

Larry Page, 48, with his media-shy wife Lucinda Southworth, 42. The couple have two children together, a boy born in 2009 and another child born in 2011. Southworth is a research scientist and is the sister of actress Carrie Southworth.

Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is facing backlash for allowing Page and the boy to enter while there are strict border controls

The distance from the island of Tavarua, Fiji, where Page has been staying to Auckland, New Zealand, is around 1,300 miles

Page has spent months in Fiji during the pandemic - mostly on the island of Tavarua - and it has been rumoured the billionaire has bought at least one island in the country's Mamanuca archipelago

Health minister Andrew Little was interrogated about the visit in parliament, saying that an application was approved in January for a child, accompanied by an adult, to be medically evacuated from Fiji.

He said anyone accepted for treatment is considered to require immediate care and could not be treated locally.

'I'm advised all of the normal steps occurred in this case,' Little said.

Ardern said she was not briefed at the time Page was in New Zealand.

Immigration New Zealand general manager of border and visa operations, Nicola Hogg, told AFP that Page 'met relevant requirements' to be approved entry.

'Mr Page is not a permanent resident. Citizenship is a matter for the Department of Internal Affairs. Due to privacy reasons, we are unable to comment further without a privacy waiver.'

Hogg did not address the question of whether Page spent two weeks in quarantine, as required of people entering New Zealand.

New Zealand's opposition ACT Party called on Ardern's government to be more open about his visit.

'The Government has questions to answer about why billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page was allowed into New Zealand when desperate Kiwis and separated families can't get through the border,' ACT leader David Seymour said.

Seymour said while he had sympathy for Page's situation, there were numerous people with similar issues who could not get in.

'I have had to tell them, 'sorry, but there is no way you can get through the border, government policy will not allow it',' he added.

'New Zealanders stranded overseas who are desperate to get home deserve answers.'

Page founded Google with Sergey Brin in the 1990s and is listed by Bloomberg as the sixth-richest person in the world with a reported wealth of $121 billion.

Page has reportedly become become reclusive over the past several years - avoiding being photographed except for a handful of times since stepping down as CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. in 2019.

He has spent months in Fiji during the coronavirus pandemic - mostly on the island of Tavarua - and it has been rumored the billionaire has bought at least one island in the country's Mamanuca archipelago, sources told Insider.

Page, pictured with his wife, requested special permission to enter New Zealand so that his son, who is around 12-years-old, could receive medical treatment

An aerial view of Tavarua, where Page is said to have spent most of the pandemic. The heart-shaped island is in Fiji's Mamanuca archipelago

Another view of Tavarua Island, which is where Page is said to have spent most of the pandemic

Page has also been spotted an a smaller island called Namotu - which a sailor claimed Page had bought in a blog post in August.

He had taken his private jet to donate COVID-19 medical supplies to Fiji in June as a second wave of the pandemic hit the country - which was reported by Fijian Broadcasting Company News on June 19, according to Insider.

However, that story has since disappeared from the state-owned news site - and sources told Insider that health officials in Fiji asked for it to come down, claiming that the information should not have been made public.

A source confirmed to DailyMail.com that the article had been removed after health officials asked for the story to be taken down because 'they didn't want the donation highlighted.'

The article appears to have also since been scrubbed from Google.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Fijian Broadcasting Company News for more information and additional comment.

According to Insider, the story had reported that Page flew from Hawaii to Fiji's Nadi International Airport to provide the country with medical supplies including masks, gowns and gloves.

A photo of Page's jet was posted to Twitter on June 19 by a Fijian journalist, who captioned the post: 'One of the Co-Founders of Google Larry Page donated cartons of COVID-19 supplies to Fiji as the country battles its second wave of the virus.'

The plane's call sign 813QS, pictured on one of its engines, is licensed to Blue City Holdings, according to the Federal Communications Commission .

One of the Mamanuca islands juts out of the ocean in this file photo. It has been rumored Page has bought at least one island in the country's Mamanuca archipelago, Insider reported

From a file photo in 2008 is a picture of Larry Page's old yacht, named Senses. Business Insider reports that he's downsized to at least one smaller yacht that is now moored in Fiji

Blue City Holdings manages a fleet for Page and his co-founder Sergey Brin, as well as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Insider reported.

Sources said that Page and his wife Southworth have been seen surfing on traditional and electronic surfboards near the country's islands, and that 'he's good at it, too.'

Southworth is a research scientist and is the sister of actress Carrie Southworth.

The couple are very private and have not revealed the names of their two children who were born in 2009 and 2011.

Google's co-founders Page and Brin, who still hold incredible control over the company despite having both stepped away, have largely avoided scrutiny while stepping out of the limelight.

In recent months, Google and companies like Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have been hit with high-profile lawsuits and made to testify during congressional hearings.

As the new CEO of Alphabet Inc., Pichai appeared before congress in May - though Insider noted that he and Page talk regularly.

Pichai testified on a wide range of issues including extremism such as those who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, misinformation, cyberbullying, climate change and the coronavirus, the Washington Post reported.

Nell Minow, vice chair of consulting firm ValueEdge Advisors, called Page's relationship with the company he co-founded 'unusual' in comments to Insider.

'It's certainly unusual, and it's certainly not good corporate governance,' Minow said. 'You don't normally see someone who's still involved with the company hang a 'gone fishing' sign on the door and disappear.'
'La bise', the traditional French way of greeting one another with a kiss on each cheek, might not make it in the post-COVID world.

The French greeting is a tradition dating back to the Romans, however, despite some going back to using it on a daily basis, others are strongly opposed to the idea of 'la bise' reclaiming its place in the French society.

It is an 'exhausting, violent, and intrusive activity that only creates misery,' says Paul Douard, the editor-in-chief of the Vice News France bureau, in an opinion piece.

'La bise', the traditional French way of greeting one another with a kiss on each cheek, might not survive in the post-COVID world. Above, French President Emmanuel Macron about to greet the former Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte with 'la bise' in Naples, 2020

The tradition comes from the Roman kiss 'basium', which was used for a kiss signifying courtesy or politeness. Above, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is greeted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris, 2011

Above, former US President Donald Trump is kissed on the cheek by Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron in Biarritz, 2019

He says that the pandemic has given people the option of refusing the traditional greeting. 'It's a wake-up call,' says Douard.

'In France you have all this social pressure to do the old historical stuff... but now when you say no, people are generally understanding. It's your choice.'

According to a survey, more than half of the French population said they were done using 'la bise' altogether, The Telegraph reports.

More than 75 per cent of respondents said they would only continue to use it with people they were close to, such as their family members.

Anthropologist David Le Breton says the greeting gives adults 'a rare and important opportunity to touch the face of another person'. Above, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac leaning in to give Madonna 'la bise' in Paris, 1987

However this is not the first time an airborne disease has forced the French to question the traditional 'la bise'.

With The Black Death, the worst pandemic in human history to date, physical contact among people became similarly limited.

Where does 'La bise' come from? According to French author Xavier Fauche, who has a book called 'Le Baiser' on the subject, the root of today's 'la bise', comes from various Roman kisses.

The Romans used ' saevium ' , for a loving kiss, and ' osculum' for a friendly kiss.

The third kiss ' basium ', was used for a kiss signifying courtesy or politeness.

Over time, it evolved into what is known today as 'la bise'. Advertisement

'La bise' ended up surviving the plague, and was reintroduced into society during the French Revolution of 1789, becoming once again cemented as a daily act after the First World War.

'La bise', during this period, is thought to have strengthened two of France's national values, fraternite and egalite.

According to Anthropologist David Le Breton, the greeting gives adults 'a rare and important opportunity to touch the face of another person', reported The Local France.

While President Macron, although masked, publicly embraced Second World War veterans during an award ceremony in June, the French public still seem torn on the issue.

'I honestly wouldn't mind if this is the end of la bise,' said Patrick Abanda, a Parisian who works in media told the Telegraph.

'And now with Covid-19, I can finally have an excuse not to use it at all!' his friend, Olivia Barthet, added.

Yet some are already reminiscing about the traditional greeting. 'It's something beautiful,' said Davide Siche, a 29-year-old restaurant manager.

'I hope I can use it again... the day I can do la bise will be the day I can stop worrying about Covid!'
A man was arrested Wednesday for storming the US Capitol dressed in a George Washington costume during the January 6 insurrection.

Isaac Yoder, a locksmith from Nevada, Missouri, earlier admitted that he entered and exited the Capitol through a 'west facing door'.

Federal agents used phone tracking and facial recognition to arrest Yoder following the riot on January 6.

FBI said that they received an anonymous tip on February 26 from someone who claimed an employee of Yoder Lock and Key was involved in the January 6 riot. In an affidavit seen by Huffington Post , the

Isaac Yoder, a locksmith from Nevada, Missouri, was arrested on Wednesday for storming the US Capitol dressed in a George Washington costume on the January 6 insurrection

They added that they didn't know the first name of the rioter, but knew that he was 'dressed as George Washington' when he stormed the Capitol.

Federal agents said the father-of-two's phone had 'utilized a cell site consistent with providing service to a geographic area that includes the interior of the United States Capitol building'.

The affidavit alludes to facial recognition which they used to identify participants in the Capitol attack.

On the company's website under the 'About Us' section, Mr Yoder appears to be wearing colonial-era clothing as he smiles in a photo with his wife, Kelly.

In an interview with Newsweek in March, Mr Yoder said the casualties could have been much higher during the deadly riot.

He said: 'Most of us out there are on the side of the aisle who are the gun owners.

He admitted that he entered and exited the Capitol through a 'west facing door'. The FBI said that they received an anonymous tip on February 26 from someone who claimed an employee of Yoder Lock and Key was involved in the January 6 riot

More than 550 people face charges arising from the riot in which supporters of Donald Trump sought to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory

'If we had collectively gone there to cause trouble there would have been piles of bodies. We could have leveled things.'

In footage from the incident, people appear to push past police officers and fight with law enforcement to gain unlawful entry to the Capitol, which Yoder denies is something he would have done.

He said: 'If there's a police officer standing there guarding a door, you don't cross a police line. I certainly did not cross the police line. I never went against law enforcement.'

On the company's website under the 'About Us' section, Mr Yoder appears to be wearing colonial-era clothing as he smiles in a photo with his wife Kelly

According to the affidavit, federal agents used phone tracking and facial recognition to arrest Mr Yoder following the riot on January 6

In April, Yoder attended a Rally Against the Lockdown in Jefferson City with his two children Gracia, six, and Zebulun, four.

He wore the George Washington costume while holding the Missouri state flag and the Christian flag.

More than 550 people face charges arising from the riot in which supporters of Donald Trump sought to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.

Many of the defendants are facing misdemeanor charges, which carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison but many will not serve any time.

Before the riot, Trump delivered a speech to supporters repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

The US Congress on Tuesday agreed to award Congressional Gold Medals to police officers who fought rioters trying to overrun the Capitol building.

It came seven months after the attack and two days after authorities announced that two more of those officers had taken their own lives.

Earlier this year, Mr Yoder said the casualties could have been much higher during the deadly riot, saying: 'If we had collectively gone there to cause trouble there would have been piles of bodies. We could have leveled things'

'Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal is a way to commemorate their sacrifice and make sure that the truth of Jan. 6 is recognized and remembered forever,' Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said on the chamber floor.

He said it was the 'highest expression of gratitude' that Congress could bestow.

'I cannot imagine more worthy recipients than the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend this temple of democracy,' he added.

The honor will go to officers with the U.S. Capitol Police and Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.
Are you affected by long passport renewals? Email: dan.sales@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Holiday-starved UK residents hoping to travel abroad for a well-deserved break are still facing ten week queues to renew their passports - thanks to the pandemic.

The waiting time is over triple that of the clearing period pre-coronavirus, when it took just three weeks to get a new document.

The Home Office said warnings have been issued due to a potential rush for renewals after numbers applying for new passports dropped to four million in 2020 from seven million on average.

It comes as the majority of civil servants continue to work from home during the pandemic, although a spokesperson denied this influences processing times.

Texts have been sent by mobile phone out to those whose documents are nearing expiry.

It reads: 'Reminder: It takes up to ten weeks to get a new passport. Don't leave it too late, renew now.'

And the website for the identifying travel papers urges people to avoid delaying getting them re-ordered.

Passport alerts have been sent by text warning people they need to renew in good time

There were three million less renewals last year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic

Director General of Her Majesty's Passport Office, Abi Tierney, said: 'It is vital those who may need to apply for a new passport do so now.

'If you have delayed renewing your passport or are applying for the first time, please apply now so you can receive it in good time.

'Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure that passport applications are processed as quickly as possible.

'This new advice will help to ensure that we continue to meet the travel plans of our customers during any period of the very highest passport demand.'

The passport office says it usually has an excess of seven million people apply for renewal.

But it says the pandemic has seen a 'significant drop' from applicants.

Covid cases in the UK and France look set to pass each other in the coming days as a wave of delta cases in Britain drops while it is on the rise across the Channel

Grant Shapps: I can't rule out Spain turning red - but denies keeping it amber is because of a lack of space in quarantine hotels The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he 'can never say there is a zero chance' travellers from Spain and other popular holiday destinations will not have to quarantine again in future. Grant Shapps was asked by Sky News whether Spain could return to the red list for travel destinations in future. He replied: 'With coronavirus you can never say there is zero chance. 'But having said that, the levels of vaccination and what we now know about the virus and what our scientists have been able to work out in the last year means that people should be able to go away, enjoy their holidays without looking over their shoulders the whole time and as I say, the next set of changes are not for another three weeks.' He also denied that Spain has not been placed on the travel red list because the UK would not have the capacity to quarantine all returning travellers. The Transport Secretary was asked by Times Radio if this was the 'real reason' Spain had not been placed on the red list. Mr Shapps replied: 'We will always do whatever is required, and you have seen us do this so far with the red list to make sure that countries, even from destinations where there are a lot of people, would go on that red list if that is what is required. 'But we will simply follow the scientific advice.' He also explained why the Government is recommending travellers from Spain take a PCR test before they leave, saying scientists are 'particularly interested in one of the new variants which is B.1.162', currently prevalent there. Advertisement

It estimates that in 2020 just over four million people wrote in to get their documents renewed.

The disappointing news comes as holidaymakers have been told they can travel abroad without 'looking over their shoulders' in fear of being caught out by changing rules.

Restrictions are being eased or limited for people arriving in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from several countries from 4am on Sunday.

Fully-vaccinated travellers will be exempt from quarantine when returning from France, Spain has kept its place on the amber list, and India is among four countries being removed from the red list.

Seven nations will be added to the quarantine-free green list, including Germany, Austria and Norway.

Grant Shapps said the rollout of vaccinations in the UK and overseas means changes to the travel lists are being made every three weeks, compared with once a week last summer.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I hope people will be able to go away under this simplified system, enjoy their breaks and not be looking over their shoulders the whole time.'

But asked on Sky News whether Spain could be put on the red list in future, the Cabinet minister replied: 'With coronavirus you can never say there is zero chance.'

Mr Shapps defended the decision to raise the price of quarantine hotels, which are mandatory for travellers returning to the UK from red list locations.

From August 12 the rate for solo travellers will rise from 1,750 to 2,285.

Additional adults sharing a room will see their bill hiked from 650 to 1,430.

Mr Shapps told Times Radio: 'It is necessary to cover the costs of the quarantine hotels and at the moment the system hasn't been doing that and it has cost about 75 million, so we are keen to ensure people using them are covering the full cost of this service.'

Under the latest changes, India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are being moved out of the red list, while Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte are being added to that tier.

Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will be added to the green list.

The UK Government announced the moves for England, but the devolved administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland said they will match the decisions.

The Welsh Government has not confirmed whether it will take the same action.

Mark Tanzer, head of travel association Abta, said confirmation that France is being aligned with other countries on the amber list is 'positive' news, especially during the 'critical' school holiday period.

But he warned that the Government is 'failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout' with a 'very cautious' approach to the green list and 'failure to relax restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when visiting low-risk destinations'.

He said: 'As a result, the UK is falling behind our European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is progressing at a snail's pace - making it extremely difficult for travel agents and tour operators to generate enough income to kick-start a recovery, which is desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods.'

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: 'Now summer is fully under way, this provides some reassurance to consumers by keeping the status quo for key holiday destinations, as well as adding some green list destinations for last-minute bookers where there are still great flight and holiday deals available.'

But he added that the budget airline is 'disappointed at the double standards applied to travel versus the domestic economy'.

'With infection rates remaining lower in much of Europe and the high vaccination levels in the UK, if not now, it is hard to know when the time is for much of Europe to genuinely turn green,' he said.

Spain has avoided being given red status, but the Government is advising travellers to take a PCR test before they fly home from the country.

A Home Office spokesperson denied civil servants working from home influenced passport processing times and said there was no passport backlog.

They added: 'Since the outset of the pandemic, over 4.5 million people have delayed applying for a passport.

'This means that potential demand for passports is higher than ever before and passport processing times could change quickly.

'We have therefore been advising applicants since April to plan to wait up to 10 weeks before they receive their passport.'
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Are you stuck in Mexico and facing hotel quarantine back in the UK? Let us know: danny.hussain@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

British holidaymakers scrambling to get back from Mexico before it goes on the red list on Sunday face huge ticket prices for flights to make it back in time.

From 4am on Sunday, people returning to the UK from Mexico will have to stay in isolation in a hotel for 10 days.

However, the government has been slammed for giving only three days' notice of the change, with the only direct flight from Mexico City to London before Sunday on sale for a staggering 6,878.

Around 6,000 Britons are thought to currently be in Mexico, with travel agency boss Paul Charles tweeting: 'Pity poor #UK travellers in #Mexico - some 5/6,000 who have to somehow get back before hotel quarantine kicks in on Sunday. Certainly not enough seat capacity.'

And holidaymakers have revealed how they found out about Mexico going red at the very last minute.

Claire, 30, from south London, said: 'I had access to the Wifi so I found out in mid air.

'I just wanted to grab the tannoy and tell everyone because I could see all these families looking forward to their holiday and it was obvious they didn't know.

'It's crazy the lack of notice. I had no inkling Mexico was about to go on the red list.'

Another tweeted: 'Landing in Mexico to find out it's been added to the red list whilst I was up in the air, has got to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced.'

Father-of-two David Hing, 40, arrived in Mexico with his wife and children aged four and seven on July 31. They were supposed to stay until August 21 - five days before the travel list is looked at again.

Mr Hing told MailOnline: 'We knew the risks and while at the moment it seems like a bad dream and is very stressful and I've been up all night looking at alternative options, we are just going to try to enjoy the holiday.

'It broke my heart when my two little ones said they wanted to stay on holiday and would lend us money if we needed it.

'The notice period doesn't really give long enough to make changes especially when it's hard to get through and talk to anyone at the airlines.

'The images of the food and hotels do not seem like they are worth the cost so that's why we are going to try and fly back somewhere else first. I feel sorry for the people who were already on the flight from the UK and hope they can make alternative arrangements.'

A young couple cut short their honeymoon in Mexico from two weeks to two days, after they discovered the new restrictions upon landing in Mexico early on Thursday morning.

Joe Coward, 29, said: 'Basically we touched down to find that our two-week honeymoon, which had already been rearranged several times, was going to be a two-day visit. We've arranged a flight for tomorrow and will be spending today getting ready to turn right around and go home.'

Mexico is in the grip of a third wave of Covid and on Wednesday reported 20,685 new confirmed cases in the country, the highest daily jump since late January.

Seven European countries: Austria, Germany , Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will turn green from Sunday 4am.

India , Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels;

But Mexico, Georgia and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte are joining the red list. Up to 6,000 Brits are on holiday in Mexico and now scrambling to get back this weekend to avoid quarantine hotels - with not enough seats to get them home;

Hotel quarantine costs are to soar to more than 200 a night from a week today. From next Thursday, the price will jump to 2,285 for a single person. Additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate;

Ayo Faley (left), a call handler of NHS Test and Trace in London, arrived in Cancun, Mexico, on Thursday morning for her holiday, and plans to continue her trip as planned and pay for quarantine when she returns to the UK. Aaron (right) is relocating his family to Edinburgh in late August and will now have to pay for them all to quarantine on arrival

Those who have received both doses have unrestricted entry - meaning they do not have to quarantine or provide a negative test result - when travelling to Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Romania and Georgia. But those who are not double-jabbed are still subject to some regulations upon arrival and, in the cases of Germany and Slovakia, can be denied entry entirely

The price of the only direct flight from Mexico City to London before Mexico moves to the red list has soared to a staggering 6,878

Another 611 deaths were also reported and the country has recorded a total of 2,901,094 infections and 242,547 deaths.

The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published recently suggested the actual death toll is at least 60% above the confirmed figure.

The decision to place Mexico on the red list also reflects worries about a new variant which originated in Colombia and which has concerned British scientists.

Passengers arriving from Mexico City at Heathrow Terminal 5 today slammed the new rules.

Leidy Corrales, 35, a dental assistant, who was travelling back to Switzerland from Playa de Carmen in Mexico, said: 'I'm travelling back to Geneva with my two children Joshua and Carla and my husband.

'Putting Mexico on the red list is not logical because when you go there, everything is normal, they are taking all the same protections - masks, hand sanitisation and social distancing.

'The quarantine costs are just unreasonable - I think when people go on holiday, they should just have to do two tests and only quarantine if it's positive.

'Mexico is a tourist hotspot and people here like going to hot places, but the government doesn't want people to go on holiday, they want to control them.

'It's like a dictatorship of security in a democracy, because they keep changing the rules and no-one can afford that.'

Her husband Denys added: 'We're so happy to have been able to enjoy our holiday without having to pay for a hotel on the way back, thank God.'

Amy Perez, 39, a marketing director from Putney, south west London, who has been travelling around Mexico with her family, said: 'It's inconvenient and expensive and there seems to be an entire industry surrounding Covid testing.

'We were on holiday for two weeks and are really chuffed that we don't have to quarantine for 10 days.

'We would have been locked up in a hotel with these two little monsters - Maxi, 18 months, and Emilia, who just turned four yesterday.'

Passengers arriving from Mexico City at London's Heathrow Terminal 5 today slammed the new rules, which come into effect on Sunday

Amy Perez, 39, a marketing director from Putney, south west London, has been travelling around Mexico with her family

Sofia and Gabriella Martinez were among the many passengers to arrive at Terminal 5 at Heathrow today from Mexico

Leidy Corrales, Denys Corrales, Carla Corrales and Joshua Corrales were also among the arrivals earlier today

Her husband Jorge said: 'The government wants people to get vaccinated, but then people don't see the benefits.

'It would have made more sense for us to take the fine rather than shell out thousands of pounds, not be able to work and be locked up with our children.'

Alejandro Seama, 42, a filmmaker from London, said: 'I think it's terrible and stupid, because it seems they just want rich people to be able travel.

'Look at my dad, he's 72, he's been double vaccinated, he's absolutely fine, but for some reason they don't accept his vaccines here.

'I had to spend 600 on mandatory Covid tests just to get my parents here.

'If the rules had already changed, they would not have been able to visit and I would have never left.

'I had no clue that Mexico was going on the red list, but thank God we came back today.'

Returning from Mexico after the deadline will see Britons face a steep hotel quarantine bill after the government raised the price to 'reflect increased costs involved'.

A single person will have to stump up 2,285 from next Thursday during their isolation - while additional adults and teenagers will be charged 1,430  more than double the current 650 rate.

'I'm definitely getting the jab - not like my naive mum and dad': 16 and 17-year-olds say they WILL get the Covid vaccination when they become eligible Sixteen and 17-year-olds have insisted that they will get the Covid-19 vaccination when they become eligible, regardless of their parents' opinions. It has been revealed that 16 and 17-year-olds won't need parental consent to get Covid vaccines, while No 10's top scientists have hinted children as young as 12 could be offered jabs later this year. And 16 and 17-year-olds in Manchester have said that they plan to get the Covid vaccine as soon as they are eligible - even if their parents do not agree with them. One 16-year-old said he is planning to get the Covid jab so he won't have to 'worry' about getting the virus, and criticised his 'naive' parents for choosing not to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, another teenager said he would get the Covid vaccine so he can go to gigs next year, while one 17-year-old said she was hoping to bag a 'free kebab' for getting vaccinated. But some teens have remained sceptical about the vaccine after the announcement, with one woman saying she has heard of women suffering from bad periods after the jab, while another teen said he would only get the vaccine if he is 'forced' to. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the 1.4million youngsters should be offered Pfizer jabs, marking a U-turn on guidance the same panel issued two weeks ago. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the NHS would dish out invites for vaccines 'as soon as possible', with the goal of getting the oldest teenagers protected before they return to classrooms in September. Advertisement

The price for children aged five to 12 will remain at 325, while under-fives will continue to stay for free.

It means that, for a family of four with two teenage children, the cost will jump from 3,700 to a staggering 6,575  a rise of 78 per cent.

Mr Coward said if the couple do not receive a refund from British Airways for their holiday, based near Cancun, they will be 'several thousand pounds out of pocket'.

He said staying is not an option due to the cost of quarantine hotels - which from August 12 will rise to 2,285 for a solo traveller, plus an extra 1,430 for additional adults sharing a room.

Ayo Faley, a call handler for NHS Test and Trace in London, also landed in Cancun on Thursday morning but she plans to stay for her holiday as planned and pay for quarantine.

She is returning on August 11 so will pay the lower rate of 1,750, but said she is 'absolutely distraught'.

The 24-year-old said: 'I only found out (travel restrictions had changed) the minute I was able to connect to wifi at the airport... I went into a state of panic.

'(I tried) to locate other Brits and see whether they knew and what their next plan of action was... you could see the look of confusion, fear and regret all in their faces.

'I am absolutely distraught... I've decided to just stay and enjoy the time here... I'll just have to face the consequences when I arrive.'

Ms Faley works from home and had planned to do so on her return from Cancun, but said she will not be able to access her equipment in quarantine.

She added: 'How are (the Government) planning to help individuals who have found themselves in a situation like this?

'Leaving the UK thinking their country of destination was safe to then land and find out they better return ASAP or risk being stuck in a hotel for 11 days.'

Aaron, who did not wish to share his second name, is relocating his family to Edinburgh in late August and will now have to pay for them all to quarantine on arrival.

The 43-year-old arrived in Mexico in early July to witness the birth of his son, Aviv, and his wife, who is from Sinaloa, had her UK visa approved on July 28.

'(Aviv) was due to be born July by C-section, but they brought the date forward, so I arrived in the airport at 3am and just made it to the hospital before my wife went to surgery,' Aaron told PA.

Aaron is a self-employed data and audiovisual engineer and said he 'can't quantify' how much quarantining will cost his business.

'I have previously taken out a bounce-back loan to keep my business afloat,' he added.

'I have no idea why I should have to pay to isolate in a hotel when I've had both (Astrazeneca) vaccinations in Edinburgh, proof of vaccination, took a test on my way here and will take one on arrival in Scotland.'

James Dean, 38, from Bournemouth had already spent 8,000 on a fortnight in Cancun with wife Rebecca and their four children Lilly, 16, Jack, 13, Isabella, nine, and Fred, six.

The office manager told the Mirror: 'That has just shocked me. I'm gutted to be honest.

'I'm going have to pay for us all to go in to quarantine as well. I'm still digesting it. I'm just gobsmacked.'

John Soones, 62, from south west London, was travelling to Mexico with his wife and their 18 year old daughter.

He said: 'It's just incredible. It's terrible to get no notice that this is likely to happen and no time to change plans.'

In more positive news, it was announced that double-jabbed tourists returning from France will be spared quarantine from Sunday and seven European countries including Germany and Norway were added to the green list of destinations.

Spain has also been spared being given red status - potentially forcing thousands into 2,285-a-stay quarantine hotels - but the Government is urging travellers to take a PCR test before they fly home from the Iberian country.

Queues at St Pancras International this morning as France was opened up both ways for British tourists and people jumped on the Eurostar

Experts are predicting that there will be a flurry of bookings for France (St Pancras today) but there is already a battle for accommodation with French staycationers in particular

Grant Shapps said today that people can travel without 'looking over their shoulders' for the next three weeks as countries will not move lists 'unless something exceptional and unexpected happens'. But the Transport Secretary added that full vaccination for travel will be a feature for Britons 'forever more' and admitted that countries could turn red again by the end of the month.

Tens of thousands more Britons are now expected to head to France for August - although tourism chiefs have warned millions more Frenchmen are staying in the country this summer so there is serious a lack of accommodation if the traveller is without a second home.

There is a particular shortage of gites, camp sites and hotel rooms in the south of the country, especially near beach resorts such as Biarritz, Narbonne, Ile de Re and Saint-Tropez, while experts have said there are much larger numbers of tourists from Holland, Belgium and Germany in the country this year.

Not wearing a face mask on the Tube should be a CRIMINAL offence says Sadiq Khan Sadiq Khan has said that failing to wear a face mask on the Tube should become a criminal offence. The London Mayor has been pushing the the government to allow Transport for London (TfL) to impose a by-law requiring face coverings on the capital's transport network. Since the easing of restrictions on July 19 'Freedom Day', passengers have only been required to wear a covering as a 'condition of carriage' rather than a legal requirement. This means TfL staff can tell non-compliant customers to leave a bus or train but are powerless to impose fines. But Mr Khan now wants a bye-law put in place to effectively bring back the rule that was dropped on July 19. The rule change would also mean British Transport Police officers could be used to enforce it. Speaking to the BBC's Newscast podcast Mr Khan said: 'We are trying to lobby the Government to allow us to bring in a bye-law, so it will be the law again, so we can issue fixed penalty notices and we can use the police service and BTP to enforce this.' Advertisement

Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia will all move to the quarantine-free tier at the end of the weekend, in a huge boost for those looking to book a late summer getaway on the continent.

But while there is no quarantine people will still have to take a negative test before returning and a PCR test on day two back in the UK.

Meanwhile, the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will switch from red to amber, meaning arrivals from those countries will no longer have to spend 11 nights at pricey quarantine hotels.

While Spain avoided joining them, those flying back will soon face higher testing costs after ministers urged holidaymakers to take a PCR for the mandatory pre-departure test, rather than the cheaper lateral flow alternatives, 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

With the guidance being advice, rather than law, many travellers may feel entitled to refuse to take the gold-standard test, which can cost as much as 175 per person.

French tourism chiefs have welcomed the news that Britons can more freely come and go from Sunday - especially because Britons are by far the biggest spenders in the country but only around ten per cent of the usual number of UK tourists are in the country this summer.

But in the past month Mr Macron has enforced a 'high alert' covid-19 level hit in 37 departments in France because of rising cases of the Delta variant and increasingly busy hospitals.

In Occitanie, in south-west France, a 'white' alert has been imposed meaning medics on holiday can be forced to return to work because of increasingly packed covid wards.

Changes to the traffic light system are a 'positive step forward' but the Government needs to make faster progress in opening up international travel, industry experts have warned.

Four countries are being removed from England's red list as part of the latest update to the international travel system, while seven more, including Germany are being added to the green list.

It has also been confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate, aligning the nation with other countries on the amber list, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have followed England in introducing the same travel relaxations.

However, the changes have attracted criticism from the Welsh Government which has continued to advise against 'all but essential' travel.

Confirmation that France is joining the amber list is 'positive' especially during the 'critical' school holiday period, said Mark Tanzer, head of Abta, the travel association.

But he warned the Government is 'failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine rollout' with a 'very cautious' approach to the green list and 'failure to relax restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when visiting low risk destinations.'

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said the extension of the green list is 'a positive step forward' but warned that the UK remains 'a long way off a full and meaningful restart of international travel'.

Covid cases in the UK and France look set to pass each other in the coming days as a wave of delta cases in Britain drops while it is on the rise across the Channel

Tim Alderslade, boss of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UK-registered carriers, described the announcement as 'another missed opportunity'.

He added that the travel industry has not had 'anything like the reopening it was hoping for'.

Meanwhile, Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, welcomed the addition of more green list countries, but warned that the constant chopping and changing would cause further disruption for many.

'The cost for travellers can be significant,' he said. 'Some holidaymakers whose countries have now been placed in the red category will find that their airline or tour operator is unwilling to give them a refund. Other providers won't refund or even facilitate rebooking if a country is moved from green to amber.'

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: 'While there's some welcome progress, the Government is still being too cautious at a time when they should be opening up travel faster to help the sector's recovery.'

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: 'Now summer is fully under way, this provides some reassurance to consumers by keeping the status quo for key holiday destinations, as well as adding some Green list destinations for last-minute bookers where there are still great flight and holiday deals available.

'But we remain disappointed at the double standards applied to travel versus the domestic economy. With infection rates remaining lower in much of Europe and the high vaccination levels in the UK, if not now, it is hard to know when the time is for much of Europe to genuinely turn Green.

'And Government urgently needs to tackle this expensive testing regime which is adding unnecessary cost, especially for the fully vaccinated. No one wants to see flying become a preserve of the rich again - particularly when so many need to get away or reunite after such a long time.'

Is pingdemic mayhem finally easing? Number of alerts sent by NHS Covid app plunged by 43% last week... and that was BEFORE software was tweaked

The number of alerts given out by the NHS Covid app fell by 43 per cent in a week before it was made less sensitive, official data has shown.

NHS figures show 395,971 alerts in England and Wales were sent in the seven days up to July 28, down from 690,129 the week before, in a sign that pingdemic mayhem may finally be easing.

Thousands of people have deleted the app in recent week to avoid the alerts, which tell people they have been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.

The alerts have forced millions into self-isolation across the country  despite not testing positive themselves  leading to chaos as supermarket shelves were left barren with workers having to stay home.

Earlier this week it was announced that the app is being updated so fewer contacts will be instructed to isolate.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers, insisted the app is still 'incredibly useful', despite the swathes of people being asked to isolate.

But the changes were made after the latest data  suggesting another reason is behind the drastic fall in alerts.

Britain's Covid cases began falling on July 21 but did not reach the rate of the drop off in alerts until July 28, the last date included in the most recent data.

It comes after academics claimed Britain's Covid self-isolation sentence could be halved to just five days and be as effective.

Data suggests 98 per cent of transmission occurs either before people become ill, or within five days of symptoms starting.

NHS figures show 395,971 alerts in England and Wales were sent in the seven days up to July 28, down from 690,129 the week before

The number of alerts given out by the NHS Covid app fell by 43 per cent in a week before it was made less sensitive, official data has shown

The NHS data today showed the number of venue check ins made with the Covid app dropped from 6.6million to 2.3million in the most recent week  a drop-off of 65 per cent.

People are no longer required to use the app to check into venues since restrictions were lifted on July 19, but the trend gives an indication in the fall in usage.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers, described the app as 'incredibly useful', despite large numbers of people being asked to isolate

Earlier this week, Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said the 'logic' behind the app was tweaked, although the sensitivity and risk threshold will remain unchanged.

Instead of checking contacts for five days before a positive test, the app will only go back two days.

Dr Tildesley told Sky News: 'I know there have been some challenges in terms of particularly at the moment the so-called 'pingdemic', but in terms of being able to detect contact, it has been extremely valuable.

'Obviously the challenge with that is that a lot of people are going into isolation and over the last few days the app has been made less sensitive.'

Dr Tildesley said there is a worry that if too many people are pinged, fewer may be willing to comply, but he added that the tweak will 'hopefully guarantee higher levels of compliance'.

Fresh data from Oxford University's Pathogen Dynamics Group shows up to 40 per cent of transmission occurs before symptoms emerge.

But most of this happens during the two days before people fall ill, which prompted the alteration of how the NHS Covid app works.

Around 35 per cent of transmission occurs within the first two days of people having symptoms.

However, the data came from September  before the highly-infectious Delta variant took off.

Oxford University data suggests 98 per cent of transmission occurs either before people become ill, or within five days of symptoms starting

Ministers are keen to replace quarantine rules with daily testing, with scientists now investigating if it is safe to make the drastic move.

Dr Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert at the University of St Andrews, told the Telegraph: 'Given most transmission happens very early on, the isolation period could be much shorter for the cases.

'Viral load peaks pretty quickly, so people are highly infectious within the first few days.

'Also importantly, many people have non-specific mild symptoms before developing more noticeable ones, like fatigue or myalgia, so that's probably when people are highly infectious too but continue daily activity.

'So, the current self-isolation guidelines, especially given the lack of support provided for sick leave, does not serve for the purpose.'
China should end tax breaks for gaming companies as they have grown into global firms, a regime-backed newspaper said today in the latest threat to the multi-billion dollar sector.

The gaming industry, which raked in 130 billion yuan ($20 billion) in the first half of this year, was earlier this week accused of feeding 'spiritual opium' to children, turning them into screen zombies who are unable to work.

The Communist Party's volley of propaganda appears to be laying the groundwork for a crackdown on the sector, linked to its broader regulatory assault on big tech.

Jack Ma, China's answer to Jeff Bezos and owner of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, disappeared for three months last year and had his firms 'restructured', while DiDi, a Chinese Uber which raised $4.4bn on the New York stock market, was pulled from app stores.

Now Tencent, the gaming colossus owned by 'Pony' Ma Huateng, is being zeroed in the sights of the Communist regime which won't allow any single entity or person to get bigger than the Party.

A sleek gaming lounge in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. State media this week accused online gaming companies of feeding the nation's children 'spiritual opium'

After the report published Tuesday by the Economic Information Daily calling gaming 'spiritual opium' circulated widely, the share price of sector giant Tencent lost $60 billion at one point, Bloomberg News reported. On Thursday, Tencent's shares slipped 3.7 percent down in Hong Kong

On Thursday, state-owned newspaper Securities Times said 'the gaming industry has now grown strong' on the back of preferential tax policies for the software industry and subsidies doled out to encourage development.

'With these software industries having developed... the government no longer needs to continue providing industry support,' it said.

'In this regard, the gaming industry should be mentally prepared,' the piece added, without citing any specific companies.

Investors are growing jittery with regulators already taking aim at tech giants over monopolistic practices and data security, while more recently forcing the vast after-school tutoring sector to go non-profit.

After the report published Tuesday by the Economic Information Daily calling gaming 'spiritual opium' circulated widely, the share price of sector giant Tencent lost $60 billion at one point, Bloomberg News reported.

The reference was, within hours, edited out of the piece.

On Thursday, Tencent's shares slipped 3.7 percent down in Hong Kong while rival NetEase lost 5.1 percent.

Bilibili, which also has mobile games, was down 4.3 percent in Hong Kong.

'Admittedly, China's online gaming industry is part of the broader tech space, but this is the second government mouthpiece to take a shot at the sector this week, and you ignore the non-too subtle warning at your perils,' said Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at trading firm Oanda.

At least in public, the Communist party claims to be hitting back at anti-competitive practices, wealth inequality, and a soul-crushing workplace culture at startups where a typical week runs from 9am to 9pm, six days a week - the so-called '996' routine.

That has sparked a millennial movement called 'tangping' - or 'lying flat' - which rejects climbing the career ladder acquiring material goods in favour of living a modest lifestyle - a worrying trend to a regime hell-bent on growth.

In a sign of the party's anxiety about 'tangping', almost all references to it are banned on China's tightly-controlled internet and state-owned media have also denounced the movement, CNN reports.

However, other analysts believe the CCP's motives after less public-spirited and may stem from old-fashioned jealousy at the newly emergent billionaire class.

Where once Xi Jinping dominated headlines about China's success, his name and face were replaced in recent years by the high-flyers of tech, most notably Jack Ma.

That would help to explain why, on the eve of Ma's Ant Group hitting the stock market last year in what was expected to be the biggest ever public offering at $37billion, he suddenly disappeared.

Tencent, the gaming colossus owned by 'Pony' Ma Huateng (pictured), is being zeroed in the sights of the Communist regime which won't allow any single entity or player to get too big

Jack Ma disappeared for three months and was hit with investigations that have wiped more than $100billion off the value of his empire after he criticised China's financial sector

Where once Xi Jinping dominated headlines about China's success, his name and face were replaced in recent years by the high-flyers of tech

Ma stayed gone for five months - an absence that has never officially been explained - during which time Ant's stock market debut was cancelled and its business model forcibly restructured, wiping some $70billion off its value.

When Ma did finally reappear, his Alibaba web store - China's equivalent of Amazon - was hit with a $2.8billion fine for anti-competitive practices, just for good measure.

It is widely thought the CCP acted against him after comments he made to a conference shortly before he vanished, criticising China's financial system.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, Christina Boutrup - a China analyst who has interviewed Ma - said it seemed Ma crossed 'the invisible red line'.

The message to other billionaires was clear: Keep politics and business separate.

In the wake of Ma's disappearance, fellow entrepreneurs raced to protect themselves - with Pony Ma, who heads up online gaming firm Tencent, even going so far as to call for more regulation of his own company to appease the powers in Beijing.

It did little to appease the powers that be, which subsequently hit the firm with anticompetition lawsuits that saw an eye-watering $170billion wiped off its value in July this year alone.

Also in the wake of Ma's punishment, Simon Hu - director of Ant Group - quit his role, while Colin Huang stepped down as the chairman of Pinduoduo, an online grocery firm, causing its share price to plunge.

Speaking to The Economist, one source close to Huang directly linked his departure to Ma's public censuring. 'He understands very well that it is not safe to be at the top or at an extreme,' the source said.

Another added: 'He saw what was going on next door and decided to leave.'

A second theory is that China is punishing tech firms that try to raise capital in the West, with a number of targets having made big bucks on foreign stock exchanges.

Perhaps the most prominent example is ride-hailing firm Didi, which raised $4.4bn when it debuted in New York in July - but just days later was pulled from app stores back home and banned from accepting new users over alleged misuse of data.

Two other firms - truck-hailing app Manbang and recruitment firm Kanzhun - also faced similar probes not long after floating in New York, devastating their value.

Beijing then announced a tightening of rules for home-grown companies looking to list overseas, forcing each one to undergo a cyber security review in advance.

The review will look into any national security implications of companies accepting foreign investment, officials said - in a clear sign of what the ruling regime perceives the threat to be.

Another possibility is that China doesn't actually want a large tech sector - or at least not a tech sector filled with firms designing games, peddling cheap goods, and distracting people on attention-hoarding social networks.

Instead, observers suggest, Xi could be trying to drive money towards hard tech sectors with bigger implications for China's march to power - including robotics and semiconductor manufacturing, a key component in computer chips used in cars, satellites and military tech.

Evidence of this is seen in the stock market: While Alibaba and Tencent have seen their values slide, two of the country's largest semiconductor manufacturers have seen theirs soar by more than 20 per cent.

Indeed, China is throwing money at creating a domestic semiconductor industry to end its reliance on foreign imports.

It is perhaps no coincidence that the push comes amid China's military development, as it modernizes everything from nukes to tanks, planes, ships and guns with Xi vowing at the 100th anniversary of the CCP to grow the army 'to world class standards.'

A lack of computer chips - amid a worldwide shortage - could have a devastating impact on those plans.

Just recently, Russia's space agency was reduced to begging America to send a specific kind of chip which it had run out of - saying it could not put satellites into space without it.

And, in a further indication of Xi's thinking, the President declared during an event last year that - while digitization is important - 'we must recognize the fundamental importance of the real economy and never deindustrialize.'

Whatever the reason, Beijing's intervention in the free market has proved devastating for some of China's biggest firms.

Spooked by the declaration that Tencent was producing 'spiritual opium', Wall Street investors scrambled to move their money elsewhere.

China has for years given tech giants free reign to generate value, but this year launched a crackdown that has wiped out $1.2trillion in value (pictured, China's tech capital of Shenzen)

Ride-hailing app DiDi was pulled from Chinese app stores and banned from accepting new users just days after floating on the New York Stock Exchange

Game developer Tencent was accused of corrupting children with 'spiritual opium' by state media, sparking a sell off which has seen billions wiped off its value

Tencent fell 6 per cent and was briefly knocked from its mantle as Asia's most valuable company.

Shares in gaming firm NetEase fell nearly 8 per cent on Tuesday while game developer XD Inc fell 8 per cent and mobile gaming company GMGE Technology Group Ltd dropped almost 14 per cent.

Investors believe a major shift is under way in China as the government aggressively pursues reform of the tech sector.

Chaotic selling last week, triggered by leaked details of an education-sector crackdown, capped the worst month for Chinese stocks in nearly three years as investors worried about where the next target may lie.

China's securities regulator, in a meeting with foreign brokerages last week, had sought to soothe fears with a promise of a steadier reform rollout, yet Tuesday's news sparked fresh concern that nowhere is safe.

'(The share price moves) showed how investors are jumpy these days,' said Ether Yin, partner at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium.

'They don't believe anything is off limit and will react, sometimes over-react, to anything on state media that fit the tech crackdown narrative.'

The nerves have coincided with a slowdown in China's economy - factory activity grew at its slowest pace since February 2020 last month - adding to a broad sense of caution in markets even among investors who say the crackdowns are manageable.

'We see little global spillover risk from China's assertion of greater control over certain industries, even as it potentially leads to market volatility,' analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note.

'We remain tactically neutral on China stocks and see further monetary and fiscal policy loosening as beneficial for cyclical assets in China.'
Grant Shapps has revealed he is still undecided on whether to go on holiday abroad or opt for a staycation this summer after the Government eased international travel rules.

The Transport Secretary said he wanted to wait for today's update to the traffic light system before making a decision.

He said that 'like everybody else' he wanted to hear the latest advice from experts and the issue is likely to be a 'conversation in our household this coming weekend'.

It came as it emerged that Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is expected to follow Boris Johnson's lead in opting to take a break in the UK.

Grant Shapps has revealed he is still undecided on whether to go on holiday abroad or opt for a staycation this summer

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is expected to follow Boris Johnson's lead in opting to take a break in the UK

Mr Shapps went on holiday to Spain last July but had to return early after his own department imposed quarantine restrictions on the country while he was there.

Much of the Cabinet are taking a domestic break this year and Mr Shapps was asked this morning what his plans are.

He told Sky News: 'We haven't yet had the discussion in the Shapps household.

'I was actually like everybody else, waiting for this set of traffic light announcements before we had the discussion because like everyone else I was waiting to get the experts' advice as to where we can go.

'I suspect it might be a conversation in our household this coming weekend.'

The Times reported that Mr Sunak is planning to get out of Westminster by spending a week in his North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond.

The Chancellor is said to be looking forward to spending time with his two children and Nova, his new red labrador puppy.

It emerged earlier this week that Mr Johnson will be staying in the UK for his holiday.

A senior Government source told The Telegraph: 'The PM is going to staycation this year.'

Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and son Wilfred took a trip to Scotland last year but it is not clear where he will go this time.

They stayed at a remote three-bedroom cottage on the Scottish coast which also featured a tepee-style canvas tent.

Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and son Wilfred took a trip to Scotland last year but it is not clear where he will go this time

The cottage offered sweeping coastal views and cost more than 1,500 a week to rent in the peak summer months.

Many Government frontbenchers have said they intend to stay in the UK this year for their holiday.

Home Secretary Priti Patel, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland are all staying.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, is expected to go to Devon for a surfing holiday with his family.
Boris Johnson last night offered Nicola Sturgeon a 'huge' role at an upcoming global climate conference - after snubbing her offer of face-to-face talks during his visit to Scotland.

The Prime Minister said he wanted the Scottish First Minister and her Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts to be involved in Cop26, which takes place in Glasgow in November.

His offer comes amid a stand-off between Westminster and Edinburgh after he dismissed an offer of talks about Covid rebuilding during his current visit to Scotland.

Mr Johnson turned down an offer to meet Ms Sturgeon at her Bute House residence in Edinburgh before undertaking an engagement just 30 miles away.

Both sides denied the move was a snub, but the First Minister branded his decision 'odd'.

The offer of a Cop26 role may also raise some Tory eyebrows. At the party's conference in 2019, Mr Johnson told an event that he did not want the Scottish leader involved, saying: 'I don't mind seeing a Saltire or two but I want to see the Union flag and I don't want to see Nicola Sturgeon anywhere near it.'

However last night he told the BBC: 'It's a huge undertaking by the whole of the UK.

'I hope very much that the First Minister, along with all her colleagues around the UK, at whatever level in government, will evangelise, will exhort everybody she represents to do the needful.'

The Prime Minister boarded a ship on his way to visit an offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth this morning.

Mr Johnson tuned down an offer to meet Ms Sturgeon at her Bute House residence in Edinburgh before undertaking an engagement just 30 miles away yesterday

Mr Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are visiting renewable energy projects in Scotland today as the country prepares to host the Cop26 climate conference.

Keir Starmer demands 'just' timetable to end North Sea oil and gas industry in green push Keir Starmer sparked anger last night as he demanded a timetable to end the North Sea oil and gas industry. The Labour leader spoke out on a visit to Scotland focused on climate change ahead of the Cop26 conference in Glasgow in the autumn. Sir Keir attacked Boris Johnson as being 'missing in action' in the lead up to the conference, and told journalists there needed to be a firm timetable laid out to end the extraction and exploration of oil and gas in the North Sea. 'It's got to be subject to consensus and agreement and we've got to... bring communities with us on this, otherwise there will be a disconnect between the obligations that we have to deal with the climate crisis and the communities that are going to be affected,' he said. When asked what timescale he would look to usher in, the Labour leader said it would be subject to agreement with areas of the country which would be impacted, such as in the north east of Scotland. 'We'll have to sit down and agree it, but we have to have a hard edged timetable,' the Labour leader said. Currently, an application is being mulled by the Oil and Gas Authority for another oil field near Shetland. The Cambo field could produce up to 255 million barrels of oil during its lifetime, but would release an estimated 132 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Climate activists are steadfastly against the move, and Sir Keir said the UK Labour Party are too. But Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the comments, despite the pledge for a just transition, show Labour has 'abandoned' Aberdeen and the North East. 'People across the North East will be appalled to hear that Keir Starmer is happy to throw away their livelihoods by agreeing a hard edged timetable to shut down the North Sea sector,' he added. 'Labour's plans would risk the 100,000 jobs that depend on our vital oil and gas industry. 'This position is potentially even more extreme than an SNP-Green coalition would hold. It's beyond reckless, especially when jobs and Scotland's economic recovery from Covid must be our top priority.' Advertisement

The Prime Minister boarded a ship on his way to visit an offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth this morning.

Boris Johnson and business minister Kwasi Kwarteng walked aboard the ship in Fraserburgh harbour in Aberdeenshire on Thursday morning.

The Prime Minister is heading to the Moray East wind farm development, which is currently under construction.

The trip is part of his two-day visit to Scotland, which began on Wednesday with a visit to Police Scotland's Tulliallan training college in Fife.

Ms Sturgeon said his refusal to meet her was 'strange' and said it was for him to explain his refusal.

Mr Johnson denied snubbing her, when asked by reporters at the college, where he posed with police dogs in an area away from public access.

'No, I haven't. I'm always delighted, always, always, always, delighted - and look, we, seriously, we work together,' he said.

Mr Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are visiting renewable energy projects in Scotland today as the country prepares to host the Cop26 climate conference.

The Prime Minister and the leader of the Labour Party are on separate visits north of the border and will today tour renewable energy projects three months ahead of the international climate gathering.

Sir Keir was at a wind farm in Eaglesham, south of Glasgow, this morning.

Global leaders will attend the summit, to be held from October 31 to November 12, in what is seen as a critical moment for the future of the planet.

Sir Keir has called for 'rapid green investment' across the UK as new figures reveal more than 75,000 green jobs have been lost over the past five years.

The Labour leader said the UK had to 'lead by example' on the climate crisis and invest more in jobs in renewable energy and technology via a 'Green New Deal', as he toured Scotland on a two-day visit.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics cited by Labour show a loss of 33,800 'direct' jobs and a further 41,400 jobs in the supply chain for low-carbon and renewable sectors between 2014 and 2019.

This includes thousands of fewer jobs in solar power, onshore wind, renewable electricity and bioenergy.

Sir Keir said: 'Tackling the climate crisis must be at the heart of everything we do. We are at a critical moment. In less than 100 days, Cop26 will be over and our chance to keep the planet's warming below 1.5 degrees will have either been grasped or abandoned.

'The UK must rise to this moment and lead by example. That means rapid action to create good, green jobs across the country. And it means a proper strategy to buy, make and sell more in Britain, to create good, unionised jobs in clean energy and through supply chains.

He added: 'Nobody here in the UK can afford for this issue to be yet another example of Boris Johnson bluster. We need real action, now. It is time for a Green New Deal.'

The Labour leader also criticised the Scottish Government's record on green jobs, claiming the SNP 'broke its pledge to create 130,000 green jobs by 2020'.

Sir Keir has called for 'rapid green investment' across the UK as new figures reveal more than 75,000 green jobs have been lost over the past five years.

In 2010, the Scottish Government predicted that jobs in the low-carbon sector would reach 130,000 by 2020 according to a now-archived official web page, but the latest ONS figures show 21,400 direct green jobs in Scotland, compared to 23,200 in 2014.

A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said: 'As we build back better and greener from the pandemic, this Government is firmly committed to seizing the economic opportunities presented by the transition to a green economy.

'The data from 2019 and 2014 cannot be compared as there was a change in how the survey was conducted. In fact, ONS has concluded that the low-carbon and renewable energy economy has remained stable.'
The figures come from a Freedom of Information Act survey of the 45 fire and rescue services in England

One fire chief suggested sprinklers should be pre-emptively fitted into hoarder homes in order to save lives

Between 25 and 30 percent of fire deaths in the UK are related to hoarding, according to charity HoardingUK

The true number of hoarder homes could be as high as 20,000, as 14 fire brigades did not respond with data

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Over 16,000 English homes have been deemed a fire risk due to dangerous levels of hoarding, with Merseyside and Greater London topping the regional list.

Newspapers stacked against doors, compressed gas cylinders and 'biological hazards' such as used incontinence products - these are just a few examples of the risks fire brigades have flagged up in homes around the country.

Figures show Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service have logged a whopping 6,333 home addresses with dangerous amounts of clutter, while Greater London have recorded 1,675.

Crews in the worst-offending county conduct more than 50,000 inspections of properties every year, 10,000 of which are for premises deemed high fire risk.

Firefighters have a duty to report hazards to social services, if they fear the clutter could cause fires to rage out of control, or they find obstacles that could compromise escape routes.

Merseyside has a table-topping 6,333 homes flagged up as fire risks due to hoarding, followed by Greater London with 1,675 and Wiltshire and Dorset with 1,089

NUMBER OF HOUSES FLAGGED AS FIRE RISKS DUE TO HOARDING Fire brigade Hoarder houses Merseyside 6333 Greater London 1675 Dorset and Wiltshire 1089 Royal Berkshire 843 Essex 670 Hampshire 633 Nottinghamshire 549 Avon 409 Surrey 404 North Wales 380 Hereford and Worcester 373 Humberside 347 Devon and Somerset 341 Hertfordshire 335 Durham and Darlington 330 Cheshire 312 Derbyshire 220 Kent 197 Norfolk 175 Bedfordshire 160 Leicestershire 157 North Yorkshire 140 Northamptonshire 140 Cumbria 136 South Wales 127 Buckinghamshire 77 Northumberland 59 Warwickshire 54 Oxfordshire 17

The findings come from an exclusive MailOnline Freedom of Information (FoI) survey of the 45 fire brigades in England.

Only 31 of the nation's 45 fire brigades responded to the FoI survey, meaning the total number of fire-trap hoarder houses could be closer to 20,000.

Mark Andrews, Assistant Chief Fire Officer at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, suggested domestic sprinkler systems could be fitted into houses with excess hoarding to 'significantly reduce the risk to the occupants in the premises'.

He said: 'It significantly reduces the risk to firefighters responding to what is a very difficult set of firefighting circumstances'. His comments came in a video published by the Chief Fire Officers Association in May 2014.

Kevin Johnson, Strategic Safeguarding Lead for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said: 'Merseyside has some of the most deprived areas in England (as evidenced in the latest indices of deprivation) which may have some impact around living and environmental issues.

'However, we work closely with partner agencies to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in the communities we serve.

'We do this through carrying out approximately 50,000 Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs) each year, as well as 10,000 high risk Safe and Well visits.

'These visits help us to identify more vulnerable hoarders and allow us to have a collaborative approach with our partners to reduce or eliminate the risk of hoarding altogether. In cases of extreme high fire loading, we are able to submit a Safeguarding Referral to the local authority's Adult Social Care Team to initiate a multi-agency response.'

 Slide me  The Clutter Index: The International OCD Foundation has created a 1-9 ranking used by social workers to measure how bad hoarders' homes are. A number of fire brigades said they kept a record of houses that scored higher than 7 (pictured, clutter index rankings 1 and 7)

 Slide me  How messy is it? The Clutter Index allows social workers to communicate to fire brigades just how many obstacles they should expect when carrying out a rescue operation. As well as the level of clutter, some fire brigades keep records of the presence of 'environmental health concerns', like human waste or animal infestations

Cardboard boxes filled with old photos and newspapers block light from the window of property attended by fire fighters

Mark Andrews, Assistant Chief Fire Officer at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, suggested domestic sprinkler systems could be fitted into houses with excess hoarding to significantly reduce the risk to the occupants in the premises.

Firefighters in the worst area for hoarding, Merseyside, conduct 50,000 inspections of properties every year - 10,000 of which are for premises deemed high fire risk

Mark Andrews said fitting domestic sprinkler systems in extremely cluttered houses could 'significantly' reduce the risks for firefighters. Heather Matuozzo, founder and director of HoardingUK, said for hoarders, 'hoarding isn't the problem, it's their solution, so if you take their stuff away, that will make them more anxious'.

One of the most tragic examples came in Merseyside in October 2016, when a couple both died in a fire at their home after excessive hoarding saw them literally trapped.

Robert Cain, 72, and wife Clare, 75, lived in terrible conditions in Mather Avenue, Allerton, and were unable to escape when the blaze, which also left their next-door neighbours homeless, ripped through the property.

Edna Sexton and her husband Harold, who were forced out of their home by the tragedy, recalled seeing the couple returning to their house with 'bags and bags' of items for more than 10 years.

She told the Liverpool Echo: 'We used to joke that if he is doing a car boot he is bringing back more than he sells.

'She would shout at him when he came back with things and we would see him out the window, taking bags and bags of things out of the car boot or out of a shopping trolley and he would pass them in to her.

'But he would have to go through the front door sideways, holding in his stomach, because there was that much stuff behind the door.

'There would sometimes be as many as five cars on the driveway that were all full of things.'

At an inquest into the death of the couple, a court heard it took 26 fire engines, nine specialist vehicles, three aerial appliances, an urban search and rescue appliance and two fire and rescue dogs and one police dog to excavate the home which was then demolished.

The bodies were found two days later, on October 25, in the front room of their home  the room they lived in.

Mr Cain was in an armchair, on a stack of newspapers, while his wife was found on the floor, near another armchair.

One of the most tragic examples came in Merseyside in October 2016, when a couple both died in a fire at their home after excessive hoarding saw them literally trapped

Robert Cain, 72, and wife Clare, 75, lived in terrible conditions in Mather Avenue, Allerton, and were unable to escape when the blaze, which also left their next-door neighbours homeless, ripped through the property

At an inquest into the death of the couple, a court heard it took 26 fire engines, nine specialist vehicles, three aerial appliances, an urban search and rescue appliance and two fire and rescue dogs and one police dog to excavate the home which was then demolished

The bodies were found two days later, on October 25, in the front room of their home  the room they lived in

Mr Cain was in an armchair, on a stack of newspapers, while his wife was found on the floor, near another armchair

'Clutter scale' showing rooms in various states of disorder helps people decide if they have a hoarding problem A clutter scale has been created to help people decide whether they have a hoarding problem. Academics from Oxford University and charity Hoarder UK published three rooms in various states of disorder during a project in 2018 to show when they need to seek help. And the results are surprising. Experts say that rooms that appear just a little messy on the surface can indicate the homeowner may be harboring a deeper problem. The images show a kitchen, living room and bedroom on a sliding scale from 'completely clutter-free to very severely cluttered'. Each series has nine photographs and people can pick the one that comes closest to the level of disorder in their home. The first picture in one series shows a spick and span kitchen, with subsequent images showing more and more detritus. In the final image, the room is crammed from floor to ceiling with junk. Created by academics Gail Stekeree and Randy Frost, the scale is being promoted to raise awareness about the condition. Megan Karnes, director of charity Hoarding UK, said people with hoarding problems were facing eviction instead of getting the help they needed. Advertisement

Hoarding is defined as the 'excessive collection and retention of any material to the point that it impedes day to day functioning' by the Care Act 2014.

'In hoarding situations, a person may have the ability to clean up or order a skip, but that doesn't take into account the related emotions  the value of their possessions to them, emotional significance of the items, safety, anxiety or guilt', according to guidance published by Merseyside Safeguarding Adults Board in 2019.



The International OCD Foundation quantify hoarding using a 1-9 ranking. A number of fire brigades responding to our survey said they kept a note of houses that scored 7 and above on the index.

'A lot of people want to help in these circumstances', said Heather Matuozzo, founder and director of HoardingUK, speaking in a video on the Chief Fire Officers Association's YouTube channel.

'But the key to being able to help is understanding the condition. It's an anxiety-based condition. Their hoarding isn't a problem: it's their solution.

'So if you take their stuff away, that will make them more anxious.'

Kimberley Gordon, also of HoardingUK, told MailOnline: 'Between 25 and 30 percent of fire deaths in the UK are related to hoarding.

She continued: 'If you or a loved one is living in a hoarded property, there are steps you can take to decrease the risk.

'Firstly, create a safe route through the home so if there is an emergency it can be exited quickly.

'Work towards being able to close all the doors in the home without having to move items.

'Consider clearing spaces around electrical and gas appliances, boilers and outlets. This will reduce the risk of a fire starting and allow safety checks to take place to ensure the home is safe.'

A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: 'Hoarding is a problem that can develop in households over years and often it can be linked to a person's mental health.

By the time people recognise there is a problem they may feel they are out of their depth or unable to make their homes safer.

'Anyone who is concerned that they may be at higher risk of fire due to hoarding, or know someone who is, should contact their local Fire & Rescue Service for advice.'

Hoarder who started amassing junk after he lost his partner 18 years ago is shocked into cleaning after a fellow collector admits she 'can't breathe' while visiting his cluttered, fly-infested home

A hoarder who began collecting items when his partner died 18 years ago is shocked into action after a fellow sufferer admits she 'can't breathe' while visiting his home.

Nigel, 64, has accumulated staggering piles of junk including seven sewing machines and yards of wool and fabric, and has a problem with flies in his rubbish-strewn kitchen.

He appears on Channel 5's Hoarders on Thursday, where he meets Janice, 65, from Liverpool, who began hoarding to cope with loneliness, and the pair discuss the state of their homes.

Janice admits she was 'frightened' by the sight of Nigel's apartment, with the visit motivating her to transform her own living space. 'There was too much stuff and it was smelly, and I couldn't breathe,' she says.

Janice, 65, from Liverpool, appears on Channel 5's Hoarders, which airs at 9pm on Thursday, where she reveals she began collecting things to help her cope with loneliness

During the programme, Janice is motivated to change after meeting with Nigel, 64, who started hoarding because he could not process the death of his partner Syd in 2002

Janice, who lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached house, explains her habit developed after she began visiting the shops more often out of boredom.

She says: 'The hoarding started pure out of loneliness. When you go out, you always end up talking to someone; the problem is, you're always buying stuff, and then you bring it over.'

Janice explains she only recently realised she had a problem, revealing: 'It was only when I applied for a boiler, that the lady said, 'Oh no we can't do anything, you have to get rid of all this stuff'.

'It wasn't until then that I realised there's quite a lot of stuff here.'

Janice only realised that her hoarding had become a problem after she was rejected for a boiler

Janice, who lives in a three bedroom semi-detached house, owns mountains of junk which fill the rooms of her home

Meanwhile, Nigel's hoarding started after losing his partner Syd in 2002, leaving him living alone with his cat.

In 2011, Nigel had his house professionally cleaned by the Declutter Divas - however it wasn't long before he fell back into old habits.

And the hoarder now owns mountains of junk, which includes seven sewing machines and yards of wool.

He says: 'I tried to explain to people who don't have the hoarding disorder how things are, how your emotions go, but they don't seem to understand it.'

The 65-year-old says her hoarding habit helps her to cope with loneliness and confesses she hopes visiting Nigel's flat will help her to overcome her problems

Nigel, who stores countless yards of fabric in his three-bedroom flat, laments the fact that people don't understand why hoarders live the way they do

What is hoarding? A hoarding disorder is where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value. Hoarding is considered a significant problem if: the amount of clutter interferes with everyday living  for example, the person is unable to use their kitchen or bathroom and cannot access rooms

the clutter is causing significant distress or negatively affecting the quality of life of the person or their family  for example, they become upset if someone tries to clear the clutter and their relationship suffers. Advertisement

Nigel had tried to turn his life around and move on from hoarding, but had been unsuccessful.

He admits being ashamed of the state of his flat and says nobody has visited him in years.

Janice says she hopes seeing Nigel's flat will help her overcome her own problem, admitting: 'I am hoping to get some tips on how to maybe not do it again.'

Meanwhile, Nigel says he feels 'apprehensive' at the thought of someone visiting his home.

He confesses: 'I hope because she is a hoarder herself, she will understand more the situation.

Unfortunately, Janice is completely taken aback by the sight of Nigel's flat, telling him: 'I don't know what to say honestly. Do you really need seven sewing machines?'

She asks her fellow hoarder: 'Do you think people understand hoarders?'

But Nigel is fairly sure that people lack an understanding of the condition, explaining: 'Most people think you're lazy, dirty, or can't be bothered. People just don't get it.'

The pair then move into the kitchen, which is filled with flies and mounting piles of dust and garbage.

Janice says the visit has scared her into realising how much the issue could spiral out of control, explaining: 'It's frightened me a bit, that if it hadn't have been for a broken boiler, I could have gone further, you know.'

Meanwhile for Nigel, the visit is a wake-up call as he explains: 'It's quite good to talk to other hoarders because you never get the chance to talk to other people.

Janice says she struggled to breathe during her visit to Nigel's flat, while he says her trip has been a 'wake up call'

'It's now got to stop and I need to get back to how I wanted it.'

'It will make an awful lot of difference to your life,' Janice encourages him, adding: 'You would be able to invite people.'

The encounter leaves both hoarders with plenty of food for thought, with Nigel explaining: 'It was nice to chat with another hoarder and pick up their thoughts on my hoard and little suggestions about what might help.'

Nigel says he hasn't had visitors in years because he was ashamed of how bad his hoarding had become

Meanwhile, the shock visit encourages Janice to do something about her own hoarding habit.

She says: 'I was quite shocked that you could put so much in one tiny space.'

Shortly after returning from Nigel's, Janice hires a team of experts to help her de-clutter her flat.
Almost 400,000 people in the UK say they have been suffering from long-Covid for more than a year, data suggested today.

Around 1.46 per cent of the population claim they've been left plagued by persistent symptoms after catching the coronavirus.

The Office for National Statistics, which carried out the major poll, said this equated to around 945,000 people.

Among those, 40 per cent say they've been left battling symptoms such as tiredness and muscle pain for at least 12 months.

There is no universally agreed definition of long-Covid  but the ONS defines it as symptoms people suffer from for more than four weeks after they caught the virus that could not be explained by something else.

The poll data comes after a study this week found the poorly-understood condition is 'rare' in children.

Meanwhile, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton fears he may be suffering long Covid after he came close to collapsing at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fatigue was the most common symptom, affecting an estimated 535,000 people, followed by shortness of breath striking 397,000 and muscle ache hitting 309,000, according to the Office for National Statistics

The ONS surveyed 313,602 people in the four weeks up to July 4. Not everyone who was asked ever tested positive for Covid.

Of those who had long Covid, 88.4 per cent had symptoms for more than 12 weeks  equating to an estimated 834,000 people in the UK.

Some 64.7 per cent said their symptoms hampered their daily activities.

And around one in five people reported their ability to engaged in daily activities had been 'limited a lot'.

Tiredness was the most commonly reported symptom, with the ONS calculating that 528,000 Brits were suffering from it.

Shortness of breath (388,000), muscle ache (296,000) and a loss of smell (285,000) were the next complained about symptoms.

WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19? Most coronavirus patients will recover within a fortnight, suffering a fever, cough and losing their sense of smell or taste for several days. However, evidence is beginning to show that the tell-tale symptoms of the virus can persist for weeks on end in 'long haulers'  the term for patients plagued by lasting complications. Data from the Covid Symptom Study app, by King's College London and health company Zoe, suggests one in ten people may still have symptoms after three weeks, and some may suffer for months. Long term symptoms include: Chronic tiredness

Breathlessness

Raised heart rate

Delusions

Strokes

Insomnia

Loss of taste/smell

Kidney disease

Mobility issues

Headaches

Muscle pains

Fevers For those with more severe disease, Italian researchers who tracked 143 people who had been hospitalised with the disease found almost 90 per cent still had symptoms including fatigue two months after first falling unwell. The most common complaints were fatigue, a shortness of breath and joint pain - all of which were reported during their battle with the illness. Source: NHS Advertisement

Self-reported long-Covid was highest in people aged between 35 and 69, with 2 per cent of that group estimated to have the condition.

Women, people living in deprived areas, healthcare workers and those with underlying conditions were also more likely to report ongoing Covid symptoms.

But the number of people the ONS thinks are suffering from the condition is down slightly from its estimate of 962,000 one month earlier.

Just 8.1 per cent of people who report having long-Covid were hospitalised with the virus, the ONS found.

And 41.4 per cent had not contacted the NHS when they were infected, suggesting the condition also affects those who had mild symptoms.

The ONS findings could over exaggerate how many people actually have the condition because it relies on people self-reporting symptoms.

A survey by researchers at Kings College London, which was published this week, found less than two per cent of children who became ill with the virus suffered persistent symptoms that lasted at least eight weeks.

The majority recovered within a week and many children who catch Covid 'don't show any symptoms at all', they found.

Meanwhile, racing driver Lewis Hamilton revealed this week that he has suspected long-Covid after 'fighting all year' with his health after catching the virus in December.

He said: 'I haven't spoken to anyone particularly about it but I think it is lingering,' he said.

'I remember the effects when I had it. The training has been different since then and the levels of fatigue you get are different and it's a real challenge.'

Dr Stuart Ritchie, a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, told MailOnline: 'When you see numbers like this I think you should always be asking what the person means by 'long Covid'.

'Unfortunately at the moment there are an awful lot of different definitions, though the cases you hear about a lot in the media are often the most extreme ones, where people suffer very debilitating and life-changing symptoms.

'It's likely that a lot of the cases in that headline number are far milder - indeed, only around 20 per cent of the people in the ONS survey said their long-Covid symptoms had limited their daily activities by a lot.'

He added: 'There have been some confusing numbers in past research where substantial proportions of people who report long-Covid symptoms can't prove they've ever had Covid itself.

'That's not to say they're making it up - the symptoms are likely real.

'And lots of people could have had Covid and missed getting a test, especially if they had it early in the pandemic.

'But it means that researchers need to do a lot more to get to the bottom of who's having symptoms that are specifically caused by having had a previous Covid infection, and who might be suffering from problems that stem from another cause.'

He added that questions around long Covid should not make anyone less concerned about getting a vaccine, because symptomatic Covid is 'unpleasant and dangerous enough, leaving aside long-term consequences'.

Professor Kevin McConway, an emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said it's possible that the some people may report having long-Covid but are mistaking their symptoms as something else.

But he added: 'These results show quite major levels of illness, discomfort, and to some extent disability, that were mostly not there before the pandemic.'

He said the ONS figures have been criticised for being self-reported, but this is the only way to get a 'good, complete estimate' because there is a lack of support from health services.

Dr David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, warned the ONS findings 'may be an underestimate' of the true figures.

He said: 'The ONS is dependent on self reported symptoms and people with more subtle deficits are unlikely to report problems.'

Professor Keith Willison, chair of chemical biology at Imperial College London, told MailOnline: 'Many virus diseases in humans cause long-term problems and Covid seems no exception.'
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Covid cases are rising among the oldest teenagers and adults in their early twenties in England for the first time in a month, MailOnline's analysis of official figures revealed today.

Scientists claimed the worrying trend was likely triggered by 'Freedom Day' and the reopening of nightclubs, but also warned lower vaccine uptake and colder weather towards the end of the month may be partly to blame.

Other experts said they suspected the data may have played a role in the dramatic U-turn of vaccinating children, with health chiefs yesterday confirming all 16 and 17-year-olds would be offered jabs within weeks.

Britain's Covid cases rose week-on-week yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks, sparking warnings that people must keep their guard up and that the worst of the third wave is not definitely over.

Department of Health data suggests the trend in cases  which have been flattening off over the past week  is being driven by an up-tick in cases among 15-19 year olds and 20-24 year olds.

Rates remained static in other age groups and continued to fall among all over-30s.

Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University, warned there was a risk these infections could yet spill over into older age groups, with previous waves beginning in the young before rapidly picking up the pace among older, more vulnerable people.

He called on the over-50s to make sure they get their booster jabs when they are dished out, to ensure they have the best protection possible.

It comes as separate data today confirmed cases were genuinely declining last week  and that the blip was not down to a lack of testing. But the surveillance studies don't reflect the current situation because they are lagging measures.

ZOE's symptom-tracker branded its data  which showed a 22 per cent drop in people falling ill  as being the 'good news the UK had been waiting for'.

Meanwhile, Public Health England's weekly report showed rates fell in all but 12 of England's 149 authorities. And Test and Trace statistics revealed the shrinking outbreak helped to ease some of the 'pingdemic' chaos that has disrupted the nation over the past month.

Covid cases are rising among adults in their early twenties and the oldest teenagers in England, and are static among adults in their late twenties. Experts said this could be due to Freedom Day easings and the long daylight hours encouraging more socialising. Younger age groups tend to do more socialising than older age groups

Covid cases are still dropping week-on-week in all age groups, but the rate of decrease has slowed considerably among adults in their early twenties. It could switch to a rise in cases in the coming days

Britain's Covid cases rose yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks, rising five per cent from seven days ago to 29,312 new infections. Today's Covid cases were flat compared to the previous week after 30,215 were recorded

 Slide me  Covid cases in England fell in all but 12 of the country's 149 local authorities last week, Public Health England data showed. The slowdown comes as experts say the data will begin to reveal the impact of July 19 lockdown easings

Experts said Freedom Day easings including the reopening of nightclubs could be behind the rise. But they also said the longer daylight hours leading to more mixing were likely playing a part . Pictured are revellers on the dancefloor at Powerhouse nightclub in Newcastle on Freedom Day

The Covid Symptom Study estimated cases fell by almost a quarter last week, after saying they had plateaued. It estimated 46,905 people are now catching Covid every day, down from almost 60,000 previously

Test and Trace data showed Covid cases dropped by almost 40 per cent a week ago, in yet another sign the third wave has peaked. They said 189,232 Britons tested positive for the virus over the seven days to July 28

MailOnline's analysis of the Government data was based on the date tests were carried out, meaning they also lag behind slightly.

But specimen date figures  as opposed to reported date  offer one of the most accurate ways of tracking the state of the outbreak.

It can take a week between someone getting infected with coronavirus and testing positive because of the time taken for symptoms to develop and swabs to be analysed.

The statistics showed the weekly infection rate  the number of positive tests per 100,000 people  among 20-24 year olds stood at 734 on July 30. This equated to around one in 136 adults in the age group having Covid.

The rate is still lower than it was the week before (738.2), but it has been up on every day since July 26 (633.9).

Among 15 to 19-year-olds, the Covid infection rate has also been trending upwards since July 26 (from 694.2 to 724.6).

One-in-five Covid patients currently in hospital are aged between 18-34, new NHS boss reveals New NHS boss Amanda Pritchard (pictured) A fifth of Covid patients currently in hospital are aged between 18 and 34, the head of the NHS revealed today. Amanda Pritchard, who took over as chief executive of the health service last week, urged young people to get a vaccine. In her first major interview since taking the role, she said there is 'no doubt' the roll-out is keeping people out of hospital and saving lives. Some 20 per cent of the 5,000 patients currently in hospital with the virus are young people, according to NHS data. This is up from 5.4 per cent  around one in 20  at the peak of the second wave in January. It does not mean the virus now poses a bigger threat to youngsters. Instead, it shows how the current crop of vaccines have prevented tens of thousands of older adults from being hospitalised. Just 64.1 per cent of 30 to 34-year-olds have had a jab so far, and uptake falls to just 60.8 per cent for people in their mid to late 20s. For comparison, more than 90 per cent of over-60s have been jabbed. Ministers have already roped in Uber and Deliveroo to offer deals for young people in a bid to encourage them to come forward. It comes as Government data shows the number of patients being hospitalised with Covid is continuing to fall, in a sign that the worst part of the summer wave may be over. However, experts are concerned cases may creep up again this week, which could see the NHS come under more pressure towards the end of the month. It can take several weeks for infected patients to become severely ill. Advertisement

Dr Raghib Ali, an epidemiologist at Cambridge University, told MailOnline it would 'make sense' for nightclubs to be behind the rise in younger age groups.

He said: 'We don't have direct data, but given that was the only change really after Freedom Day it seems likely.

'We don't know the proportion of younger adults that go to nightclubs, but it will be a higher proportion than those in older age groups.'

He also said lower vaccine uptake could be a factor.

Official figures show almost three million people in their twenties are still to get a first dose of the Covid vaccine, despite the drive being open to them since mid-June.

Dr Clarke pointed to a spike in cases after the Government launched its Eat-Out-To-Help-Out scheme last summer to explain the rise in younger age groups, saying: 'If you wind the clock back 12 months this is what happened then.

'[The rise] is because they mix more, that they are more likely to be social in the summer months, there are more social opportunities and these are being taken up by young people.'

He added that the weather could be a factor, after colder temperatures at the end of July may have led to more people socialising indoors where the virus finds it easier to spread.

Met Office data shows temperatures dipped after the last weekend in July from highs of 29C (84F) to around 20C (68F).

Asked whether the rise in cases was behind the U-turn on vaccinating children yesterday, he said: 'I suspect they will have looked at the data and it would be one of the factors that they may consider.

'But it is difficult to know how much weight they would put on that.'

Health chiefs had access to a plethora of data  most notably evidence on how safe the jabs are  to make the decision.

Dr Clarke added infections could spill over to older age groups in the coming weeks.

He said: 'We should be concerned about that if people don't get their boosters because with dealing in the realms of the unknown there is the possibility that immunity would start to wane.'

More than 30million over-50s are set to be offered a third dose of the Covid vaccine from next month amid fears in scientists that protection from jabs could wane over time.

Dr Jonathan Stoye, a virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, said the rise in infections in younger people was likely down to them mixing more and being less likely to still follow face mask and social distancing guidance.

'It is either because they have more social contact individually than older people or because they have given up some of the restrictions more easily,' he told MailOnline. 'They feel less inhibited about wearing face masks and things like that.'

Professor Karl Friston, an Independent SAGE member modelling the spread of Covid in the country, said the 'selective' rise in cases in young people was 'certainly consistent with clubs reopening'.

The neurologist added: 'This speaks to a key determinant of viral spread; namely, contact rates and personal mitigating behaviours.

'These factors have a greater effect on transmission the closer we get to a population immunity threshold. This probably explains why the summer wave peaked when it did  because we are still, as a population, behaving in a careful and considerate way, even though many restrictions have been lifted.'

PHE data showed Covid cases fell in every age group in England in the week to August 1. But this data does not cover the latest period where separate Department of Health figures showed cases began to rise again

Covid cases were also still falling across every region of England in the week to August 1, PHE said

It came as the symptom-study said cases had fallen last week, although infections were still highest among people who had not received the vaccine.

Statistics from health data company ZOE suggested there were 29,620 Covid cases a day among the un-vaccinated.

For those that had a first dose there were predicted to be 6,534 cases a day, and for people that had both doses there were 10,751 cases a day.

This does not mean vaccines do not work. Scientists say the shift was obviously going to happen because so many more people are now double-jabbed.

Lead scientist on the ZOE Covid app and reader at King's College London Dr Claire Steves said: 'According to the latest ZOE incidence figures, the number of new daily cases in the UK has finally begun to fall, with a UK R value around 0.9.

'This is the good news the UK has been waiting for but, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, this pandemic definitely isn't over yet as cases remain very high.'

The app relies on daily reports from more than a million Britons on whether they are feeling unwell, what symptoms they are suffering and if they have tested positive for Covid to estimate the spread of the virus.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, warned last week data from the app was becoming less reliable because vaccines had turned Covid into a 'bad cold', making it harder to pick out from other infections.

PHE's weekly report showed Covid cases were falling in every age group and every region in the week to August 1, but this did not cover the latest couple of days when official figures suggest Covid cases had stopped falling.

A more granular look at the data revealed cases were falling in all but 12 of England's 149 local areas.

Lincolnshire was the only area to record a more than 25 per cent uptick in infections in a week, while Peterborough, Brighton and Hove, Sheffield, Rutland, Norfolk, Bournemouth and Dorset saw cases rise by more than 10 per cent. Hull, Leicester, Devon and Knowsley saw a slight rise in cases.

The test positivity rate  the proportion of swabs that detect the virus  also continued to decline, suggesting that the fall in cases is genuine and not because fewer swabs have been carried out.

Separate data from Test and Trace suggested Britons are still turning away from the service in droves after the proportion of Covid-infected Britons handing over details of their close contacts fell to its lowest level since May.

Official figures showed out of 158,000 people who tested positive for Covid in the week to July 28, almost 40,000 (23.9 per cent) were listed as unable to hand over details of their close contacts after testing positive.

For comparison, in the previous seven-day spell 23.1 per cent of Covid-infected people did not hand over details of their close contacts, and at the start of May only 16 per cent did not do this.

The proportion of close contacts reached by Test and Trace also fell in the same period  despite the number of close contacts dropping by 200,000.

Figures showed out of more than 400,000 close contacts, almost 45,000 were not reached (10.7 per cent). In the previous week out of 600,000 close contacts 60,000 were not reached (10.2 per cent).

Test and Trace lists someone as not able to give details of close contacts if 'they were successfully reached by NHS Test and Trace, but either had no recent close contacts or could not provide details of close recent contacts to pass on for further contact tracing'.

Britons who are contacted by Test and Trace are required to self-isolate for ten days. But those who are 'pinged' by the NHS app can choose whether to follow the guidance.
Sadiq Khan has said that failing to wear a face mask on the Tube should become a criminal offence.

The London Mayor has been pushing the the government to allow Transport for London (TfL) to impose a by-law requiring face coverings on the capital's transport network.

Since the easing of restrictions on July 19 'Freedom Day', passengers have only been required to wear a covering as a 'condition of carriage' rather than a legal requirement.

Sadiq Khan has said that failing to wear a face mask on the Tube should become a criminal offence unless people are exempt (stock photo)

This means TfL staff can tell non-compliant customers to leave a bus or train but are powerless to impose fines.

But Mr Khan now wants a bye-law put in place to effectively bring back the rule that was dropped on July 19.

The rule change would also mean British Transport Police officers could be used to enforce it.

Speaking to the BBC's Newscast podcast Mr Khan said: 'We are trying to lobby the Government to allow us to bring in a bye-law, so it will be the law again, so we can issue fixed penalty notices and we can use the police service and BTP to enforce this.'

'We need people to be coming back to the West End. We want to encourage people to return to their offices.

A decision taken by Mr Khan weeks ago means that face coverings are still compulsory on the Tube despite other transport networks choosing not to make them a requirement

Since the July 19 rule change Transport for London has said the overall compliance rate for wearing face masks remains high at 85 per cent

'They are not going to do so if they dont feel public transport is safe.

'Im hoping the Government understands, on the issue of public safety and public confidence, we want to be able to use the law to make sure people do wear face masks in spaces where you cant keep your social distance for obvious reasons.'

The call for a legal requirement for face coverings provoked a sharp backlash for people on social media.

Twitter user Patrick Christys commented: 'Taking a stronger stance on mask wearing than he does on knife crime. Thanks Sadiq Khan.'

Gillian McKeith, a TV personality and Covid anti-vaxxer, added: 'Mad Mayor threatens public..Not wearing a face mask on the Tube should be a CRIMINAL offence says Sadiq Khan.'

Ian Harris replied to a tweet of the Mr Khan's announcement saying: 'Looks like Khan is planning for face masks on the tube to be a permanent thing, why can't politicians be honest about the fact that they would like these things to be around for ever?'

And Christopher Moakes commented: 'Khan has been obsessed with masks since the beginning of the pandemic. It gives the impression of someone who would like to see everyones face permanently covered. He clearly does not care about trying to get back to some kind of normal life without any restrictions.'

The London Mayor has been pushing the the government to allow Transport for London ( TfL ) to impose a by-law requiring face coverings on the capital's transport network

The call for criminalisation on refusing to wear a mask provokes backlash online

A decision taken by Mr Khan weeks ago means that face coverings are still compulsory on the Tube despite other transport networks choosing not to make them a requirement.

However since the change TfL has said the overall compliance rate remains high at 85 per cent.

The public remains broadly behind the wearing of masks, with 64 per cent of adults in Great Britain saying they still plan to cover their faces in shops, and the same percentage saying they would do so on public transport.

Airlines still mandate mask wearing, while pubs, visitor attractions and local travel companies have all come up with their own rules.

Announcing the rule change in July, the Government said it 'expects and recommends' masks to be worn by workers and customers in crowded, enclosed spaces such as public transport.

Public Health England (PHE) said staff, patients and visitors in all NHS settings must continue to wear face coverings and observe social distancing.
A Cambridge University graduate recorded himself downplaying his Covid symptoms and telling viewers the disease was not to be feared days before the virus claimed his life.

Solicitor Leslie Lawrenson, 58, died at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, just nine days after releasing footage to Facebook explaining why Covid-19 was 'nothing to be afraid of'.

Leslie had no underlying health conditions and had previously refused his vaccine because he believed he 'did not need it' and instead placed his faith in his immune system.

Wanting to record 'the realities' of having the virus for '99,9% of us', anti-vaxxer Leslie took to social media to share two vlog posts earlier this summer.

Solicitor Leslie Lawrenson, 58 (right), died at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset, just nine days after releasing footage to Facebook explaining why Covid-19 was 'nothing to be afraid of'

Carla Hodges, pictured left, with her children and her mother Amanda, 56, centre and her stepfather Leslie Lawrenson, pictured rear, urged the pair to get vaccinated

With intermittent coughing breaking up his monologue, he explains his symptoms and describes them as 'no worse than a cold'.

He later criticises the Government's approach to Covid-19 restrictions, saying 'these are things we have to suffer, it's part of living', before urging viewers to 'trust' their immune systems over vaccines.

In the videos shared to his Facebook feed, Leslie describes having a 'very high temperature, aches, pains and shivers' at around 11pm on June 24

In the vlog dated June 23, Leslie compares his symptoms to a bad cold, says he 'doesn't feel too bad' and that if he is diagnosed with Covid-19 he will 'gladly take it'

With intermittent coughing breaking up his monologue (above), he describes his symptoms and says they are 'no worse than a cold'

In a second video released days later, his condition has worsened but he insists it is still no worse than the flu

Leslie's unwavering commitment to anti-vaxx theories after catching Covid-19 In his first video released on June 23: 'I feel pretty rough. I have got a very high temperature, aches, pains and shivers. 'This isn't too bad. It's nothing worse than a bad cold. 'If this is Covid-19, I'll gladly take it. 'If it gets no worse than this, I'll nowhere near have to get hospitalised. 'If I have got Covid-19, this is what 99.9 per cent of us will experience. 'There's no need to be afraid. There's no need to panic. 'I hope I've got it. I hope it is Covid. I'd rather the antibodies than the jabs. 'We'll see. We'll see how it goes, and how I feel in the morning'. In his second vlog, June 24: 'Last night was pretty dreadful. The symptoms had massively ramped up. 'I spent six hours in a fetal position trying to block out the pain. 'Every part of my body was wracked with pain. 'I didn't get any sleep. It was agony. My breathing got constricted for about an hour. 'I didn't feel like I was going to be in any danger. 'I didn't get the point where I would have had to be hospitalised. 'Things did get worse, but I am glad I got Covid-19. 'These are things we have to suffer. You have to trust your immune system.' Advertisement

Comparing his symptoms to a bad cold, he says he 'doesn't feel too bad' and that if he is diagnosed with Covid-19 he will 'gladly take it'.

He tells viewers he wants to get 'antibodies and natural immunity in my blood' rather than receive a vaccine.

He passed away on July 2, just nine days after recording his initial video.

On the same day Leslie died, his partner Amanda Mitchell, 56, who has diabetes and was also suffering with Covid, was admitted to hospital with pneumonia  she was also unvaccinated.

Reacting to his death, she said: 'I feel incredibly foolish. Les died unnecessarily.

'Les made a terrible mistake and he's paid the ultimate price for that.'

Days before his passing, Leslie said in a clip: 'If I have got Covid-19, this is what 99.9 per cent of us will experience.

'There's no need to be afraid. There's no need to panic.

'I hope I've got it. I hope it is Covid. I'd rather the antibodies than the jabs.'

In a second video released the following morning, Leslie explains his symptoms 'massively ramped up' and he did not get any sleep.

He said on the vlog: 'Last night was pretty dreadful. The symptoms had massively ramped up.

'I spent six hours in a fetal position trying to block out the pain.

'Every part of my body was wracked with pain.

'I didn't get any sleep. It was agony. My breathing got constricted for about an hour.'

Despite these revelations, he admits he did not feel like he was in any real 'danger'.

'I didn't get the point where I would have had to be hospitalised.

'Things did get worse, but I am glad I got Covid-19.

'These are things we have to suffer. You have to trust your immune system.'

Ms Mitchell said her partner, a Cambridge University graduate, decided against having a coronavirus jab after reading material on social media.

She said: 'It was a daily thing that he said to us: "You don't need to have it, you'll be fine, just be careful."

'Les was highly educated... so if he told me something, I tended to believe it.'

Ms Mitchell, who has diabetes and hypertension, said her partner appeared to be recovering from Covid-related pneumonia while she became seriously ill.

She said paramedics who attended her at home on July 2 were called back 10 minutes later when her 19-year-old son found Mr Lawrenson dead in bed.

Ms Mitchell was admitted to hospital the same day that Leslie was found dead and spent a week on a Covid ward.

She said she felt foolish for putting her daughter and older son at risk when they came to help to care for the couple's 11-year-old son.

Daughter Carla Hodges, 35, said: 'Leslie was so brainwashed by the stuff that he was seeing on YouTube and social media.

'He said: 'A lot of people will die more from having the vaccine than getting Covid.''

Ms Mitchell said she would be having the vaccine as soon as doctors declared her fit enough.
A British ex-pat on trial in Singapore for refusing to wear a mask on the subway has been remanded into a mental hospital after declaring the court hearing 'ridiculous.'

Benjamin Glynn, originally from Yorkshire, berated the judge on Thursday calling the proceedings 'disgusting' and 'preposterous' as spectators cheered in the public gallery.

The 39-year-old was originally arrested for failing to wear a mask on the train on May 7, but has been further charged for refusing to wear a face covering at his first court appearance last month.

Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the judge he had communicated with Glynn's friends and family who spoke of a 'marked change of behaviour' since the pandemic started.

'The accused's behaviour in court speaks for itself,' Mr Koh added.

Glynn shot back: 'My mind is crystal clear. I'm wide awake. I'm enlightened. Just because I refuse to be a slave, you accuse me of being a lunatic.'

Throughout the hearing, Glynn declared that he was a 'sovereign' - an apparent suggestion he was the authoritative power - and denounced the legitimacy of the court, saying he would neither plead guilty nor not guilty.

Benjamin Glynn, 39, went viral on the internet in May after he was filmed refusing to wear a mask on the subway in Singapore

Glynn also lost a new job he was due to start in the UK and fears he could have to spend as much as 12 months on bail before his trial

Another sovereign who refused to wear mask on MRT towards Redhill last night. What shall we do to these people? Posted by Keefe Chan on Friday, May 7, 2021

The married father-of-two further claimed that he had been 'kidnapped and abducted' and 'tortured physically and psychologically.'

He says he spent 18 days 'being tortured in Changi Prison.'

Glynn urged the judge to return his passport so that he could travel home to Britain to see his wife and children.

'They've stolen my passport, my God-given right to travel,' he said.

'I can't believe this has been going on since the 8th of May,' Glynn said, according to Channel News Asia.

'It's so straightforward it's so clear that this sham of a case should be dropped.'

He added: 'I'm disgusted with how the Singapore judicial system has treated me.'

At this point a woman got up in the public gallery to clap and cheer.

Glynn has been in custody since July 19 after his 2,700 bail was revoked by the judge.

At the start of proceedings, the defendant introduced Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman as his legal representative.

Mr Rahman has also acted as Glynn's bailor, according to The Straits Times, and was turned away from the court previously for inappropriate attire.

District Judge Eddy Tham blocked Mr Rahman from representing Glynn because he was not legally qualified.

Mr Rahman told the judge that he was an 'ambassador-at-large and advocate of Kingdom Filipina Hacienda' and had every right to defend his 'sovereign compatriot.'

Judge Tham replied that this was 'not the position' of Singaporean law.

Prosecutor Mr Koh went on to argue that Glynn needed to be reviewed by psychiatrists because there is evidence he is not of 'sound mind.'

'Prosecution has received a letter from the accused's family and friends or persons purporting to be his family and friends and in this letter, the persons report a marked change of behaviour in the accused's person that was noticeable especially after the COVID restrictions set in,' Mr Koh said, according to CNA.

Glynn, 39 (pictured) arrived for another court appearance last month without a mask and was further charged for this alleged offence

Glynn (pictured) is against the wearing of masks as he doesn't believe them to be effective

Mr Koh noted an increased 'hostility' by Glynn towards his family.

The prosecutor said that in light of this new information, as well as Glynn's behaviour in court, it would not be 'prudent' to continue to trial without a medical report.

Glynn interrupted the lawyer, saying: 'The certificate of vaccine regulations do not apply to the living man and I'm well aware of this fact.

'Why have the mask regulations been dropped all over America and Europe? Because they are unconstitutional. I don't get my information from the Straits Times.'

However, Judge Tham agreed with Mr Koh and ordered Glynn to be remanded to the Institute of Mental Health until August 19.

Before he was led to the cells, Glynn called out: 'Good luck getting into the Book of Life, Mr Koh. How can you say Singapore is a safe country. Police who hunt me down like a pack of wild animals. This is not justice. This is disgusting.'

Glynn had been working for the Singaporean branch of a British recruitment company since January 2017.

Weeks before he was due to return to the UK for a new job, he was filmed without a mask on a subway near Raffles Place, the financial district of Singapore, on May 7.

In Singapore it is mandatory to wear a mask when residents leave their homes, with very few exceptions.

The clip was widely shared on social media and detectives soon tracked Glynn down.

Glynn is a British expat originally from Helmsley, Yorkshire, who is now stuck in Singapore awaiting trial after Singapore police arrested him on May 8 for not wearing a mask on public transport the day before

The Brit claims that he was arrested by police while his family were asleep on May 8.

He previously revealed how his family had returned home to Leeds on May 31, saying: 'This whole situation is ridiculous. I want to leave the country anyway - just let me go!

Glynn has previously spoken out to say he thinks masks are ineffective in preventing the spread of Covid-19

'I think it's insane that I am facing a trial at all, just for not wearing a mask.'

He is now out of work because he was due to transfer to a position back in the UK, which has now been revoked.

'It's a horrible situation to be in when I don't know when I can next see my family,' he said previously.

'Especially when I don't even believe masks stop the spread of the virus in the first place.

'I honestly believe it's a hoax - I don't feel there is any evidence to show mask-wearing is effective in any way.

'From a scientific basis, I think it's nonsense, but now all I can do is wait.'

Glynn is charged with harassment, being a public nuisance, an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and a charge linked to an offence 'within and outside' the States Court building.

If convicted for breaching the Covid-19 rules he faces up to six months in prison and a fine of 5,300.

For harassment, the maximum sentence is a year in jail and a fine of 2,700.
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Double-jabbed Britons can visit Latvia, Romania and Germany with no tests needed, while those who are unvaccinated must provide proof that they are Covid-free to enter Spain, it can be revealed.

Those who have received both doses have unrestricted entry - meaning they do not have to quarantine or provide a negative test result - when travelling to Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Romania and Georgia.

But those who are not double-jabbed are still subject to some regulations upon arrival and, in the cases of Germany and Slovakia, can be denied entry entirely.

And the Spanish Government requires all travellers from the UK to present either proof of a negative Covid-19 test or that they have received two vaccinations at least 14 days before arrival.

There are still some rules for fully-vaccinated people if they are visiting places such as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where they have to carry out seven days of quarantine, but this is less than the 12 days of self-isolation required for Britons who have only had one or no doses of the vaccine.

Restrictions do not differ for double-jabbed people if they are travelling from the UK to Austria, where they are still expected to quarantine for 10 days, Norway, India and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte.

The guidance comes amid the Government's shake-up of the traffic light system, adding seven European countries to the green list of destinations and switching the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from red to amber.

But there is growing anger about the decision to turn Mexico red with just three days' notice, with panicked and 'f***ing fuming' Britons trying to get home before 4am on Sunday. Georgia, Reunion and Mayotte will also turn red this weekend.

While Spain avoided joining them, those flying back will soon face higher testing costs after ministers urged holidaymakers to take a PCR for the mandatory pre-departure test, rather than the cheaper lateral flow alternatives, 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

Elsewhere, as expected, the Government also confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate, which could spark a surge in cross-Channel bookings, as is the custom in August when traditionally more than four million Britons make the trip.

France will be aligned with all other amber nations, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated. The changes to the travel lists come into force at 4am on Sunday.

Below are the regulations in full for visitors from the UK, laid out according to their vaccination status, to countries where travel rules have recently changed.

Those who have received both doses have unrestricted entry - meaning they do not have to quarantine or provide a negative test result - when travelling to Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Romania and Georgia. But those who are not double-jabbed are still subject to some regulations upon arrival and, in the cases of Germany and Slovakia, can be denied entry entirely

Passengers wearing facemasks as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus walk through arrivals onto the main concourse at St Pancras International station in London in August last year (file photo)

Travellers come out of the Eurostar train from London upon their arrival at the Brussel-Zuid or Bruxelles-Midi train station on January 15 this year in Brussels. The UK Government has added seven European countries to the green list of destinations and switched the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from red to amber

Austria

Austria is one of the seven European countries being added to the green list of destinations.

Those who are fully vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days and provide proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours before departure.

The restrictions are the same for Britons who are not double-jabbed, including 10 days of quarantine and showing a pre-departure negative PCR test.

Germany

Germany is also being moved from the amber to green list as part of the UK Government's latest changes.

Under entry requirements for Germany, those who are not fully vaccinated and do not meet the exemptions outlined, such as being a German citizen or having an urgent need to travel, 'may not currently enter' the country.

Unvaccinated children under the age of 12 can enter Germany if they can show proof of a negative Covid test and are travelling with at least one fully vaccinated parent.

Meanwhile, those who are double-jabbed are permitted entry and do not have to quarantine.

Latvia

Tourists travelling from the UK to Latvia, which is being added to the green list, have unrestricted entry if they are fully vaccinated.

Those who are not double-jabbed must show a negative PCR test before boarding or crossing the border.

Arrivals must also complete and submit an electronic form no longer than 48 hours after entering the country.

Norway

Fully vaccinated visitors from the UK to Norway, which is being added to the green list, are not allowed to visit unless residing in Norway or if they are a close family member of a Norwegian resident.

The same applies to those who have not received both doses.

This comes after the UK left the European Union at the start of this year, meaning that UK nationals are no longer classified as EU/EEA nationals and will not be allowed to visit Norway unless they meet certain exceptions.

Romania

Fully vaccinated people travelling to Romania, which is moving from the amber to green list, do not have to quarantine or take a test.

The guidance states it allows Britons who can 'demonstrate proof of a full course of vaccination against Covid-19' to be exempt from self-isolation.

People are not double-jabbed will have to quarantine for 14 days, unless a RT-PCR test can be shown before their arrival and they leave within 72 hours afterwards.

Slovenia

For Slovenia, which is being added to the green list, people travelling from the UK who are fully vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days if they do not have a permanent or temporary residency.

Those without two jabs can similarly only enter if they quarantine for 10 days (if they do not have a permanent or temporary residency).

They must also prove one of the following: a recent Covid test, at least one vaccine dose (AstraZeneca, Janssen or Covishield) or a positive PCR test showing they have had Covid within the last six months.

Slovakia

For Slovakia, moving to the green list, it states 'entry is now permitted for fully vaccinated travellers from the UK'.

However, those who have not received both doses can only be admitted under certain exemptions, such as being a resident or studying there.

Bahrain

Bahrain, which is moving from a red to amber list status, requires pre-departure, arrival and day 10 PCR tests for people who are fully vaccinated, but says they do not need to quarantine.

Those without two jabs must quarantine for 10 days and also take the pre-departure, arrival and day 10 PCR tests.

India

All regularly scheduled international flights remain suspended but a limited number are in operation.

Those who do travel to India must go through thermal screening on arrival, show proof of a negative private test (not PCR) and quarantine for 10 days quarantine.

This applies to everyone regardless of their vaccination status.

Qatar

The guidance for Qatar, moving to the amber list, says there is no quarantine for those who are fully vaccinated, but they must show a negative PCR test.

Those who are not double-jabbed must quarantine for seven days and also show a negative PCR test.

United Arab Emirates

Fully vaccinated people travelling to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, being added to the amber list, from the UK must quarantine for seven days, show a negative PCR test on arrival and on their sixth day in the country.

People who have not received both doses must quarantine in Abu Dhabi for longer - 12 days - alongside showing a negative PCR test on arrival and on day 11 of their stay.

Meanwhile, if travelling to Dubai, all international tourists must show a negative PCR test before departure and will be subject to thermal screenings. Visitors do not have to quarantine.

Queues at St Pancras International this morning as France was opened up both ways for British tourists and people jumped on the Eurostar

Experts are predicting that there will be a flurry of bookings for France (St Pancras today) but there is already a battle for accommodation with French staycationers in particular

People are now heading off to France since the drop in quarantine has been announced by the Government

Spain

Britons travelling to Spain, moving to the amber list, who are fully vaccinated are permitted entry and do not have to quarantine or show tests.

Those who are not double-jabbed are also allowed entry without quarantine, but must show a negative Covid test.

France

People travelling from the UK to France, which has lost its 'amber plus' status under the latest update, are permitted unrestricted entry if they are fully vaccinated.

They must present a completed 'sworn statement' saying they do not have any symptoms upon arrival.

Meanwhile, Britons without both jabs can visit the country for essential travel only. Those allowed entry need to quarantine for seven days and provide pre-departure and post-quarantine PCR tests.

Mexico

The guidance for Mexico, moving from the amber to red list, states for fully vaccinated Britons that entry is permitted via commercial flights.

Visitors must fill out a health questionnaire and are advised to avoid travelling within the country wherever possible.

There is no differentiation in the guidance between people according to their vaccination status.

Georgia

Georgia, switching to the red list, says it allows 'unrestricted entry for citizens of any country, including the UK, who have documentary proof of having received a full course of Covid-19 vaccination'.

People who are not double-jabbed must travel direct by air 'and submit a travel history in advance', in addition to showing a negative PCR test on arrival and on day three of their stay.

Reunion

Fully-vaccinated Britons travelling to the French oversea territory of Reunion, moving to the red list, must visit for essential travel only.

They must also self-isolate for seven days, in addition to showing a negative pre-departure test and a post-quarantine test.

The guidance does not differ for those who have not received both jabs.

Mayotte

The French oversea territory of Mayotte, switching from the amber to red list, also requires the same restrictions for Britons regardless of their vaccination status.

The country says Britons should travel there for urgent family/work reasons only, self-isolate for seven days and show a negative pre-departure and post-quarantine PCR test.
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England's 'pingdemic' chaos may finally be easing, according to official data which revealed the number of alerts sent by the controversial NHS Covid app fell by 43 per cent last week.

NHS statistics released today show 395,971 self-isolation pings were sent in England and Wales in the seven days ending July 28  down from the record-high 690,129 the week before.

But the drop was mainly fuelled by the fall in actual cases, given the tweak to make the app less disruptive didnt kick in until the start of August.

In total, 950,000 quarantine alerts were dished out across the week  compared to rates of 1.5million during the most chaotic parts of the third wave. Nearly 190,000 people tested positive and 360,000 of their close contacts were tracked down.

It marks a steep turn in the direction of the self-isolation mayhem, which sentenced millions to house arrest and left supermarket shelves empty, pubs closed and trains cancelled.

Thousands of people have deleted the app in recent week to avoid the alerts, which tell people they have been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus. But its 'pings' are merely guidance and not legally enforceable, unlike instructions from Test and Trace call handlers.

Earlier this week health chiefs announced that the app was being updated so fewer contacts will be instructed to isolate. It now only finds close contacts from up to two days before infected people tested positive. Previously, it had trawled through five days of a user's Bluetooth history.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) which advises ministers, insisted the app is still 'incredibly useful', despite the swathes of people being asked to isolate.

NHS figures show 395,971 alerts in England and Wales were sent in the seven days up to July 28, down from 690,129 the week before

People pinged by the NHS app made up 42 per cent of the isolation alerts sent out during the week ending July 28. Some 38 per cent were contacts who were called by NHS Test and Trace directly, while 20 per cent were people testing positive

In total 947,868 people were asked to isolate, with 362,665 contacts reached by call handlers and 189,232 testing positive themselves

The NHS data today showed the number of venue check-ins made with the Covid app dropped from 6.6million to 2.3million in the most recent week  a drop-off of 65 per cent.

People are no longer required to use the app to check into venues since restrictions were lifted on July 19, but the trend gives an indication in the fall in usage.

Proportionally, the amount of people pinged by the app compared to how many people who are testing positive has been falling for weeks.

There were 1.8 alerts sent for every infected app user on average in the week ending July 7. This dropped to just 1.1 in the most recent week.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) advising ministers, described the app as 'incredibly useful', despite large numbers of people being asked to isolate

In total, the amount of self-isolation alerts fell 40 per cent from 1,533,409 in the week ending July 21 to 947,868 in the most recent week.

However, the figure only refers to the amount of alerts  not people.

A single person may be identified by the app and call handlers before going on to test positive themselves  or be asked to isolate multiple times in the same month.

The number of people reached by call handlers fell from 536,338 to 362,665 (32 per cent) while the number of people testing positive fell from 307,758 to 189,232 (39 per cent).

Both falls were lower than the drop off in app alerts, suggesting fewer people using the app may be partly behind the fall in pings.

Earlier this week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the 'logic' behind the app was tweaked, although the sensitivity and risk threshold will remain unchanged.

Instead of checking contacts for five days before a positive test, the app will only go back two days.

Dr Tildesley told Sky News: 'I know there have been some challenges in terms of particularly at the moment the so-called "pingdemic", but in terms of being able to detect contact, it has been extremely valuable.

'Obviously the challenge with that is that a lot of people are going into isolation and over the last few days the app has been made less sensitive.'

Dr Tildesley said there is a worry that if too many people are pinged, fewer may be willing to comply, but he added that the tweak will 'hopefully guarantee higher levels of compliance'.

Fresh data from Oxford Universitys Pathogen Dynamics Group shows up to 40 per cent of transmission occurs before symptoms emerge.

But most of this happens during the two days before people fall ill, which prompted the alteration of how the NHS Covid app works.

Oxford University data suggests 98 per cent of transmission occurs either before people become ill, or within five days of symptoms starting

Around 35 per cent of transmission occurs within the first two days of people having symptoms.

However, the data came from September  before the highly-infectious Delta variant took off.

Ministers are keen to replace quarantine rules with daily testing, with scientists now investigating if it is safe to make the drastic move.

Dr Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert at the University of St Andrews, told the Telegraph: 'Given most transmission happens very early on, the isolation period could be much shorter for the cases.

'Viral load peaks pretty quickly, so people are highly infectious within the first few days.

'Also importantly, many people have non-specific mild symptoms before developing more noticeable ones, like fatigue or myalgia, so that's probably when people are highly infectious too but continue daily activity.

'So, the current self-isolation guidelines, especially given the lack of support provided for sick leave, does not serve for the purpose.'

The drop off in transmission could also be down to symptomatic people adhering to self-isolation rules.

But Dr Cevik was behind research last November which found people were most infectious within the first five days of having symptoms.

France, Germany and the US have already cut their quarantine period after reaching similar findings, with people in those countries isolating for just five to seven days.

Anyone who breaches Britain's 10-day isolation law can be fined up to 10,000. First-time offenders can get a 1,000 penalty.
A man from Sydney's North Shore has been charged with almost 30 firearm offences after police seized over 350 weapons from his home.

In May, North Shore Police attended the Mosman property on Rangers Avenue, to conduct a safe storage inspection of firearms which were kept at the premises.

Police launched an investigation after concerns were raised over a number of alleged breaches related to the Firearms Act (1996).

North Shore Police seized over 350 firearms (pictured, stock image) from an 85-year-old man's home in Mosman

Later that month officers returned to the 85-year-old's property to seize over 350 firearms and issue the man with a warning.

On Thursday police issued the Mosman man with a Court Attendance Notice following further inquiries.

The man was charged with almost 30 offences in relation to possession of an unregistered firearm, failure to keep firearm safely and failing to produce registered firearm.

He is expected to front Manly Local Court on Thursday November 16.
Around 14 per cent of the US population is still opposed to the Covid-19 vaccine and most of them believe that it is more dangerous than Covid-19 itself.

The percentage of people saying they will 'definitely not' get a vaccine has remained relatively steady since December.

Of the unvaccinated adults, more than half said getting vaccinated is a bigger risk to their health than getting infected with the virus itself. This includes 75 per cent of those who said they will 'definitely not' get the vaccine.

Some three quarters, including 90 per cent who will 'definitely not' get it, said they are 'not worried' about getting seriously sick from the virus, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Around 14 per cent of the US population are still opposed to the Covid-19 vaccine and believe that it is more dangerous than Covid-19 itself. More than half of unvaccinated adults said getting vaccinated is a bigger risk to their health than getting infected (file photo)

The poll may not capture any recent vaccinations after data from the CDC cited the increase risk of the Delta variant to both unvaccinated and vaccinated people.

Around two thirds of US adults has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine with an additional three per cent saying they will get vaccinated as soon as they can.

Of unvaccinated adults, 10 per cent said they want to 'want and see' how vaccines work for other people before they get vaccinated, down from 39 per cent in December, while three per cent said they will only do so 'if required' to do so for work, school or other activities.

A further one in four said they are likely to get the vaccine before the end of the year.

Last Friday, Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, said that a federal vaccine mandate was being considered before later tweeting that they were not.

She said: 'That's something that I think the administration is looking into. It's something that I think we are looking to see approval of, from the vaccine. Overall, I think in general, I am all for more vaccination.

'But I have nothing further to say on that except that we are looking into those policies.'

Walensky added that any vaccine mandates currently in place are strictly on the local or corporate level.

Several hours later, she tweeted: 'To clarify: There will be no nationwide mandate. I was referring to mandates by private institutions and portions of the federal government. There will be no federal mandate.'

Her backtracking came amid concern at the way both the CDC and the White House is communicating the COVID strategy to the public.

Last Friday night, President Joe Biden warned Americans that new restrictions were coming, as the Delta variant caused Covid-19 caseloads across the country to soar.

The president, leaving the White House for a weekend at Camp David, was asked whether new rules were likely to be introduced.

'In all probability,' he said, without expanding.

On Tuesday, the CDC updated its guidance to recommend the wearing of face masks indoors, in areas where there is considerable transmission of the virus. The new advice applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Musicians from the UK will be able to tour in key European countries without needing a visa or work permit after a breakthrough on post-Brexit border rules.

Boris Johnson's Government has announced it has done a deal with 19 of the European Union's 27 member states to allow British performers to conduct short visits without the need for paperwork.

New rules which came into force at the start of the year after the UK's exit from the EU do not guarantee visa-free travel for musicians on the continent.

The initial post-Brexit arrangements prompted fears that touring artists would face large fees to perform in the EU.

Sir Elton John had led the backlash and demanded ministers take action, warning in June this year that musicians were facing a 'looming catastrophe'.

Boris Johnson's Government has announced it has done a deal with 19 of the European Union's 27 member states to allow British performers to conduct short visits without the need for paperwork

Sir Elton John had led the backlash against post-Brexit rules which did not guarantee visa-free travel for musicians

The UK has now done deals with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.

Talks remain ongoing with the remaining EU member states, including Spain, Portugal and Greece.

It is hoped that the entire bloc will align its arrangements with the UK's, which allow touring performers and support staff to visit for up to three months without a visa.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement: 'We want the UK's fantastic performers and other creative professionals to be able to tour abroad easily.

'We recognise challenges remain around touring, and we are continuing to work closely with the industry.

'We want to ensure that when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, touring can resume and our world-leading creative and cultural artists can continue to travel widely, learning their craft, growing their audiences and showing the best of British creativity to the world.'

It comes after months of campaigning from musicians like Sir Elton and Ed Sheeran amid warnings the rules threatened 'a generation of talent'.

Sir Elton had warned that the 'prohibitive costs of visas, carnets and permits' could rob UK musicians of 'an essential part of their education and development'.
A five-year-old boy pulled dead from a river had multiple injuries including a torn liver, an internal head injury and a broken collarbone.

Step-father John Cole, 39, has been accused of the murder of little Logan Mwangi after he was found in the waters.

Details of Logan's injuries were revealed for the first time in court as his mother Angharad Williamson, 30, and another boy, 13, appeared charged with perverting the course of justice.

Police were called to Sarn in Bridgend, South Wales, to reports of the missing boy - also known to his friends as Logan Williamson.

Cole, of Bridgend, appeared before magistrates in Cardiff today dressed in a grey prison tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name and address.

He looked down at the floor throughout the hearing as the court heard the case could only be dealt with at crown court.

Bench chair Elaine Farthing said: 'You've been charged with murder and perverting the course of justice. You are remanded in custody to appear at Newport Crown Court on Friday 6th August at 9am.'

Detectives investigating the death of five year old Logan Mwangi have charged three people

Angharad Williamson, the mother of Logan, with her partner Jay Cole have both been charged

A van arrived at Cardiff Magistrates Court believed to be bringing the three charged to court

Logan's mother Angharad Williamson, 30, along with care worker Cole and a 13-year-old boy, have also been charged with perverting the course of justice.

There was tight security at the court as the three arrived in white vans.

Police were called to reports of a missing child at around 5.45am on Saturday and pulled his body from the River Ogmore.

He was taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend where he was confirmed dead.

Cole and Williamson became engaged less than three months ago - and little Logan was excited at becoming a pageboy.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mark O'Shea, said: 'This is a very harrowing case for all involved and I extend my deepest sympathies to Logan's family and friends.

A police diver surfaces in the bank of river Ogmore in Lower Llansantffraid near Bridgend

'This remains an extensive and sensitive investigation by the Major Crime Investigation Team and I am grateful to the local community for its support and understanding while we have continued to gather evidence across several scenes.

'Legal proceedings are now underway and I want to remind everyone to avoid speculation which may prejudice this investigation.

'We continue to appeal to anyone who has any information in relation to the incident to contact the Major Crime Investigation Team.'

The tragic youngster lived just 400 yards away from the river where he was found in a ground-floor terraced flat with his family.

Young pals of little Logan have been among those leaving hundreds of tributes including flowers, cards, and soft toys at a riverside bridge nearby.

Parents of his reception class have broken the news of Logan 'going to see the angels in heaven' - and asked about their memories of the playful boy.

One attached to flowers said: 'RIP Logan, such a beautiful little soul taken way too soon. You will be dearly missed. Sleep tight my lovely. Until we meet again!'
Israeli jets have bombed two sites inside Lebanon which the military said were used to launch rockets at its territory.

The IDF struck the sites overnight Wednesday after three rockets were fired earlier in the day, two which landed in Israel and one which fell short in Lebanon.

Israel had also fired artillery earlier on Wednesday, marking a sharp increase in border fighting amid rising tensions with Iran - whose proxy groups control Lebanon.

'This was an attack meant to send a message,' defence minister Benny Gantz told Israeli media afterwards. 'Clearly we could do much more, and we hope we won't arrive at that.'

Israeli jets bombed two sites in Lebanon overnight which it said had been used to launch rockets at the country on Wednesday

Gantz added that he believes a Palestinian faction had launched the rockets. Small Palestinian factions in Lebanon have fired sporadically on Israel in the past.

The rockets struck open areas in northern Israel, causing brush fires along the hilly frontier but causing no further damage or casualties.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came from an area of south Lebanon under the sway of Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

Israel responded with several rounds of artillery fire on Wednesday before launching air strikes early on Thursday, the military said.

'(Military) fighter jets struck the launch sites and infrastructure used for terror in Lebanon from which the rockets were launched,' the military said in a statement.

The military also struck an area that had seen rocket launches in the past, it added.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said that Israeli warplanes had carried out two raids on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Mahmudiya, about 7.5 miles from the Israeli border. There were no reports of casualties.

Two rockets landed inside Israel on Wednesday, one of which blew a hole in a road and scorched the surrounding vegetation (pictured)

Israel said two rockets landed within its territory Wednesday and one fell short in Lebanon, failing to cause any casualties or significant damage

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israel's air strikes were the first targeting Lebanese villages since 2006 and showed an escalation in its 'aggressive intent'.

Aoun also said in a tweet the strikes were a direct threat to the security and stability of southern Lebanon and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The border has been mostly quiet since Israel fought a 2006 war against Hezbollah, which has advanced rockets.

Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah posts in the border area last summer. Israel says its aircraft last struck inside Lebanon in 2014, though Al-Manar TV reported one such strike in 2015.

This week's cross-border fire came after a suspected drone attack last Thursday on a tanker off the coast of Oman that Israel, the US and Britain blamed on Iran.

Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were killed. Iran has denied any involvement.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack.

Israel says it is keeping the option open of acting alone if necessary.

Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said the attacks were designed as a warning, adding 'clearly we could have gone further' but chose not to

Security sources have also blamed Iran for a second incident on board tanker Asphalt Princess this week, after a suspected hijacking on Tuesday afternoon.

Those briefed on the incident said five or six armed Iranian commandos had raided the vessel in an attempt to divert it to an Iranian port.

But the plan was foiled when crew scuppered the engine, allowing US and Omani warships in the area to catch up to the tanker - prompting the commandos to flee.

However, no official accusation of responsibility has been made. Tehran has again denied involvement.

Iran and its proxy groups have been involved in a years-long shadow war against regional rivals and western allies Israel and Saudi Arabia that - at times - has threatened to push the region to an all-out conflict.

Meanwhile Israel was involved in an 11-day conflict with armed Palestinian groups in Gaza in May this year that killed hundreds and left more than 1,000 wounded - most of them Palestinian.

A ceasefire was declared on May 21, with both sides claiming victory.
A newly-elected Labour mayor was filmed brawling with a cabbie in a road rage row in the middle of the road.

Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik, also a part-time taxi driver, is facing calls to resign after footage of him fighting with another driver emerged.

The pair were seen throwing punches and pushing each other to the ground in the tussle which took place on a busy roundabout junction in Crawley town centre.

Newly-elected Labour mayor Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik was filmed brawling with a cabbie in a road rage row in the middle of the road by a busy roundabout in Crawley (pictured)

Despite the damning video the mayor, a father of three, has continued to carry out his duties, including attending a children's event, despite calls for him to step down from his post.

According to The Sun, the brawl, which took place on the afternoon of Monday, July 19, began after the taxi driver cut across the mayor's lane.

A witness said: 'The cabbie tried to cut across his lane and they wound down each others' windows before they started screaming at each other.

'It just escalated from there, nobody wanted to get involved because it looked personal.

Despite the damning video the mayor (pictured), a father of three, has continued to carry out his duties despite calls for him to step down from his post

'It didnt last long and they just got back into their cabs and drove off, screaming at each other in the end.'

Sussex Police revealed on Friday, July 27, that one man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but was later released on conditional bail.

It is not clear which of the two men was arrested.

The statement read: 'Police investigating reports of an altercation involving two men at the Tushmore roundabout in Crawley around 2.30pm on Monday, July 19, have arrested a man on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

'He has been released on conditional bail while enquiries continue.

'Officers continue to appeal for anyone who witnessed the incident, captured any relevant dash-cam or mobile phone footage, or who has any other information to report it online or by calling 101, quoting reference 1094 of 19/07.'

The pair were seen throwing punches and pushing each other to the ground in the tussle which took place on a busy roundabout junction in Crawley town centre

Councillor Malik was elected Mayor on Friday, May 28, and had been the Deputy Mayor since May 2019.

Speaking at the time of election, the Mayor, whose selected charity for 2021/22 is The British Red Cross, said: 'I am truly humbled and honoured to have been elected as the Mayor of Crawley.

'I dont know if I will ever be able to pay Crawley back but I can assure you that I shall try to serve Crawley to the best of my abilities with compassion and devotion, and play my role in making Crawley an even better place to live.

'In the end, my heartfelt thanks to the one and only, My Beloved Crawley.

A Crawley Borough Council spokesperson said: 'There was an incident on the afternoon of Monday 19 July involving two taxi drivers.

'This incident continues to be investigated by Sussex Police, who have advised us that it is not appropriate to comment on a live investigation.'

MailOnline has approached Councillor Shahzad Abbas Malik for comment.
A student who was discovered dead after going missing had suffered a spate of tragedies including a recent miscarriage and the brutal death of her father, her family has since revealed

Zantanna Hall, 24, was found dead in woodland area around Mortal Ash Hill, near Scunthorpe, after being missing for two days last month.

Family have revealed she went missing for two days after struggling with 'difficult lockdown restrictions', before her body was recovered from the woods.

Her partner Brandan explained: 'Everyone supported her but she often felt on her own. With lockdown restrictions it was difficult for her.'

The young social care student had already suffered several tragedies in her short life, including a miscarriage in February and the violent death of her father when she was a child.

Heartfelt tributes have since been paid to Zantanna in the wake of her funeral, which was held in Scunthorpe earlier this week.

Zantanna Hall, 24, was found dead in woodland area around Mortal Ash Hill, near Scunthorpe, after being missing for two days last month

Zantanna and partner Brendan Scott (pictured together) met seven years ago. They were expecting a baby together but suffered a miscarriage earlier this year

Zantanna had met partner Brendan, 23, seven years ago when the pair started working in Scunthorpe.

They set up home in Warley Road together two years ago, and endured 'the darkest and happiest times' together.

The couple were expecting their first child together after Zantanna fell pregnant at Christmas time, but she sadly suffered a miscarriage in February.

Brendan said: 'She had mountains to climb after all the tragedies in her life. But we loved going out eating and for rides on our bikes and we both loved travel.

'Often we went to Tattershall Lakes, London and had a great time in Turkey. It was always impulsive. We just saw a place and went,' he said.

The young social care student had already suffered several tragedies in her short life, including a miscarriage in February and the violent death of her father when she was a child

She was due to graduate in social care at Lincoln University later this year. Her mother Sharon said she will receive the degree in her memory.

Zantanna's father, Andy Hall, was brutally killed in September 2004 after being struck with a heavy piece of wood outside of his home. She was just seven-years-old at the time.

Her grandmother, Camille Searby had died from a brain tumour in 2017 after being cared for by Zantanna.

Her partner Brandan Scott, 23, (left) plans to erect a bench in the town with a plaque dedicated to her memory and thanked family and friends for their 'exceptional support' over the most difficult time of his life

Brandan plans to erect a bench in the town with a plaque dedicated to her memory and thanked family and friends for their 'exceptional support' over the most difficult time of his life.

Her mother, Sharon, commented: 'We were always best friends. We enjoyed our holidays.

'She had lots of friends from Frederick Gough School and spent most of her time with cousins Crystal and Kiara. She enjoyed horse riding too.'

After working as receptionist at Specialist Surfacing, she decided to take up a career in social care and studied at Lincoln University for two years.

'She was such a loving and giving soul. Nothing was too much and if anyone was feeling upset she would always be there to put her arm around them,' Sharon added.

She added: 'I am so lucky to have had such a beautiful and amazing daughter for 24 years.'

She said the support from family and friends at the funeral service on Tuesday was a great comfort to her.

Callum McLellan, of Everest Road, Scunthorpe, was originally charged with the murder of Andrew Hall, who died in Hull Royal Infirmary on September 23, 2004, four days after being struck with a piece of wood outside his home.

At Hull Crown Court, McLellan admitted the manslaughter and was jailed for four-and-a-half years.
The review app Yelp added a vaccination filter that will let users know which businesses require customers and staff to get the shot, a measure it has taken as the Delta variant of the coronavirus rapidly spreads in the United States.

Users will be able to filter businesses by two new attributes - 'proof of vaccination required' and 'all staff fully vaccinated' - when searching for local businesses and restaurants.

Yelp will allow businesses to activate the filters on their own through their accounts with the app, though the site will not be verifying the information provided by their clients.

Customers will also be free to share their first-hand experiences with businesses in their reviews.

The review app Yelp added a vaccination filter that will let users know which businesses require customers and staff to get the shot

Customers will be able to use Yelp to search out businesses that meet certain criteria related to COVID health and safety protocols

'These new, free attributes can only be indicated by the business and are completely voluntary for a business to add to their Yelp page,' a spokesperson for Yelp told DailyMail.com.

'They serve as another way to communicate the health and safety measures theyre implementing - similar to what they might put on their own website, or on signage at their business.

For businesses that activate these attributes on their Yelp page, the company will add protective measures to safeguard them from reviews that criticize the enforcement of COVID-19 health and safety measures.

Yelp says that it implemented the new protective measures has seen a recent increase in the number of 'review bombs'

The fast-spreading and highly-contagious Delta variant has led to several retailers reinstating their mask mandates and companies extending their work-from-home policies, just months after they lifted previous restrictions.

As guidelines have evolved, Yelp said businesses could also activate 'masks required' and 'staff wears masks' attributes on their pages.

'Both business owners and consumers have expressed interest in Yelp releasing vaccine-related attributes,' Noorie Malik, Yelps VP of User Operations, told TechCrunch.

'For many months weve seen businesses implement vaccine requirements for both their customers and staff.

The image above shows a paramedic administering a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Culver City, California on Thursday

'As a result, weve also seen a rise in reviews focused on peoples stance on COVID vaccinations rather than their actual experience with the business.'

Several businesses that reported strict COVID-19 safety protocols involving masking and vaccination reported that they had received a barrage of negative, one-star reviews from anti-vaxxers on Yelp and Google.

HOW BUSINESSES CAN ACTIVATE YELP'S NEW VACCINATION FILTER Go to the Business Information section Click Add (or Edit if you have existing content here) next to 'Amenities and more' Click Yes next to the attribute you'd like to turn on Click Save Changes Advertisement

Richard Knapp put up a sign near his bar, Mother's Ruin, in the SoHo section of Manhattan indicating that only vaccinated patrons would be allowed indoors.

After the image went viral on Instagram, he said he started receiving a torrent of angry messages from anti-vaxxers.

'I've been called a Nazi and a communist in the same sentence,' he told MIT Technology Review.

'People hope that our bar burns down. It's a name and shame campaign.'

One-star reviews on Yelp and Google can have a severely negative impact on a business.

Establishments like Mother's Ruin have required customers to show proof of vaccination before being given service.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced that New York will be the first major city in the United States to require that indoor diners, theatergoers and gym members show proof of vaccination if they want to receive service.

The news on the vaccination requirement for customers was met with mixed reaction from restaurant owners and managers, who say that while they are hopeful this will spur more New Yorkers to get vaccinated, it could also pose problems for those trying to enforce the measure.

The new requirement, which will be phased in over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken yet to curb a surge in cases caused by the Delta variant.

De Blasio has focused on getting as many New Yorkers vaccinated as possible while resisting calls to mandate masks indoors, as several cities and counties in California have done.

For businesses that activate these attributes on their Yelp page, the company will add protective measures to safeguard them from reviews that criticize the enforcement of COVID-19 health and safety measures

He said vaccination cards will be accepted as proof of inoculation, along with state and city apps.

People will have to show proof that they have had at least one vaccine dose.

'The only way to patronize these establishments indoors will be if you're vaccinated,' de Blasio said.

'The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the time. If we're going to stop the delta variant, the time is now.'

Yelp said it will use a combination of automated systems and human moderators to protect businesses from negative review bombs stemming from COVID safety protocols.

Since January of this year, Yelp says that it has issued more than 100 unusual activity alerts on its pages in response to a business getting negative feedback over health and safety protocols.

In total, Yelp says it has removed around 4,500 reviews that violated content guidelines.

In June of last year, Yelp instituted a similar feature allowing businesses to mark themselves as black-owned, Latinx-owned, Asian-owned, and LGBTQ-owned.

Yelp has always served as a trusted source of information on local businesses, helping the millions of people that come to Yelp every day make informed spending decisions, Malik said.

Its important that consumers have a resource for relevant firsthand information when engaging with a business.

You could argue this is even more important during a public health crisis, making reviews from relevant firsthand consumer experiences critical.
The controversial culling of beloved alpaca Geronimo began with a stand-off on Thursday as its owner denied government claims that she vowed to euthanise the animal herself following a years-long legal battle.

A spokesperson for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said Helen Macdonald, 50, indicated the animal would be euthanised today by her private vet on the farm in south Gloucestershire.

It said the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) would then collect the animal so that it can be disposed of safely and so that a post-mortem examination can be undertaken.

However Miss Macdonald denied making any such promise and said she would not be making any arrangements to have her black-furred animal killed.

It comes after actress Joanna Lumley and naturalist Chris Packham called on ministers to grant the stud from New Zealand a last-minute reprieve this week.

Meanwhile a petition demanding the prime minister step in has gathered more than 75,000 signatures.

Helen Macdonald, 50, fears staff from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will turn up at her farm at 'any minute' to slaughter Geronimo (Pictured: Miss Macdonlad with Geronimo Thursday)

Miss Macdonald lost her final attempt in the High Court this week to save Geronimo from slaughter after he twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTb).

She has always disputed the results, claiming Defra relied 'doggedly on flawed science.'

But the government body was defiant today, saying that while it 'sympathised' with Miss Macdonald's situation, 'we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease.'

The High Court ruling means Geronimo could be killed from today, as a new warrant calling for his death takes effect.

The 'kill window' is open for 30 days and Miss Macdonald has now issued a last ditch bid for a late reprieve before it is too late.

Miss Macdonald today called for Boris Johnson to step in and stop the execution.

She said: 'I want to hear from George Eustice or Boris himself.

'The least they can do is justify their position.

'From today if I haven't had him put down, they are now allowed to come here and shoot him.

'But I've not agreed to do anything - I've asked for them to stop this and do another test.

'They haven't responded, I haven't heard anything from them.

The 'kill window' is open for 30 days and Miss Macdonald has now issued a last ditch bid for a late reprieve before it is too late (Pictured: Geronimo on the day the 'kill window' opened)

'Stressed and upset': Geronimo's Facebook account, run by Miss Macdonald says it is 'grateful for all the support'

'They know this is wrong and they're hiding behind this wall and the law is as it stands.

'It's morally, ethically, wrong.'

A post from Geronimo's Facebook account, run by Miss Macdonald, read today: 'Stressed and upset to find ourselves in this awful situation but so very grateful for all the support from everywhere!'

The veterinary nurse, who breeds the species at her farm in Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, has been locked in a legal battle with Defra since 2017.

A Defra spokesperson said today: 'We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonalds situation  just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease.

'It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny.

'Bovine tuberculosis is one of the greatest animal health threats we face today and causes devastation and distress for farming families and rural communities across the country while costing the taxpayer around 100m every year.

'Therefore, while nobody wants to cull infected animals, we need to do everything we can to tackle this disease to stop it spreading and to protect the livelihoods of those affected.'

The defiant stance comes after celebrities joined the cause this week, taking to social media to drum up awareness and support.

Absolutely Fabulous star Ms Lumley said yesterday: 'When in doubt, don't. So please spare Geronimo, as there is real doubt hanging over this death sentence.'

Springwatch's Packham also called for Environment Secretary George Eustice to halt the planned killing.

He added: 'If she refuses they'll use a warrant, bring the police and force entry to kill a beautiful animal which is not diseased.'

Previously speaking outside the High Court last week, a sobbing Miss Macdonald said new evidence she brought to the table was denied, as the judge said it couldn't take anything away from the previous positive tests.

She said: 'He referred back to the previous judgment - essentially the judge had taken into account new evidence we put forward but concluded it didn't overrule the previous high court judgement.

Joanna Lumley (left) and Chris Packham (right) are among those demanding ministers give a last-minute reprieve to eight-year-old Geronimo, who is believed to have bovine tuberculosis

'They also said I didn't have a right to obtain new evidence.'

On what evidence she brought forward she added: 'The last two years of him being completely fit and healthy.

'There's vet examinations and other data about what happens to an alpaca when get Tb - they die very quickly.

'They said it doesn't take away from the fact they had two positive tests. So that's enough for them to kill him.

'So, there we are - four years of battle. We'll just pick up the pieces of our lives and carry on.'

Helen previously lost a High Court appeal to challenge the environment secretary's refusal to allow Geronimo to be re-tested in 2019.

It is illegal to test an animal without permission.

Geronimo has been in quarantine with five other alpacas on her farm in Wickwar, near Bristol since arriving in the UK in August 2017.

Geronimo the alpaca (pictured with his owner Miss Macdonald) twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis on arrival from New Zealand in 2017, despite previously testing negative

The stud had tested negative for bovine TB in New Zealand but when Helen agreed to a voluntary test as part of national surveillance of the disease the result came back positive.

Defra decided to conduct a second test in November 2017, which also came back positive, and Geronimo was earmarked for slaughter.

In the past four years the restrictions enforced on her alpaca farm mean she has been unable to trade livestock or receive any income from it.

There is a legal requirement to report the disease if present or suspected in a herd, but there is no requirement for alpacas to be regularly tested.

Under The Animal Health Act 1981 Defra's secretary of state only needs to suspect the disease is present to order the slaughter of animals and limit its spread.

The British Alpaca Society is calling for more research into the testing.

The society's CEO, Duncan Pullar, said: 'The system was put in place to test TB in cattle. There will be some false positives and some false negatives.

'It's frustrating that there are no learning opportunities as to why he is fit and healthy but has a failed test against his name.'
The Biden administrations totalitarian move to extend the eviction moratorium means the head of the CDC will now decide who can live in your home, under what circumstance, and for how long, Tucker Carlson says.

The Fox News host on Wednesday blasted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, as just a college professor who youd almost certainly never heard of before this year.

'Rochelle Walensky now makes the laws,' Carlson told his viewers on Wednesday.

Carlson was reacting to the news that the CDCs moratorium on rental evictions, a policy first imposed by the Trump administration at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, was extended another 60 days on Tuesday.

The new 60-day ban protects millions of renters from eviction and covers counties with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rates.

Tucker Carlson of Fox News on Wednesday blasted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the agency on Tuesday extended its moratorium on evictions

'Rochelle Walensky now makes the laws,' Carlson told his viewers on Wednesday. Walensky is seen above in Washington, DC on July 20

The ban currently applies to about 82 percent of US counties and more than 90 percent of the population.

More than 15 million people in 6.5 million US households are currently behind on rental payments, according to a study by the Aspen Institute and the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, collectively owing more than $20billion to landlords.

Realtor groups are now suing the Biden administration over the move.

Carlson says the CDC and Walensky have now usurped powers that the Constitution assigns to Congress.

'Walensky announced today that she has decided to nationalize America's rental properties, millions and millions of them from Maine to California, according to Carlson.

The new 60-day ban protects millions of renters from eviction and covers counties with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rates

The Biden administration has come under fierce pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to extend the eviction moratorium. House Rep. Cori Bush (left) of Missouri staged a five-day sit-in on the steps of the US Capitol. She is seen left with House Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas

Tenants are no longer required to pay their rent.

Carlson continued: Property owners cannot evict them under any circumstances. Making someone pay to live on your property is now a federal crime.

Try it, and you can wind up in prison, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

At the same time, you should know, property owners will still be required to pay the banks that hold their mortgages.

Theres no moratorium on mortgages. Why?

Carlson says there is no moratorium on mortgage payments because banks are huge Democratic donors, and theyre getting the treatment they paid for.

Sandy Cortez and The Squad arent calling for the banks to do their part, Carlson said, referring to Democratic lawmakers.

Its property owners who will suffer, many of them members of the rapidly disappearing American middle class.

'Where did Rochelle Walensky get the power to do this, to suspend private property rights in America?' Carlson said.

'The answer is, she simply asserted the power.

'Walensky claimed she had the authority, and no one stopped her from exercising it.'

Carlson continued: If youre wondering how all of this can possibly be legal, rest assured that its not  its not even arguably legal.

We know for a fact that its not. The Supreme Court just ruled on the question, specifically.

Landlord groups late on Wednesday asked a federal judge in Washington, DC to immediately lift the new eviction moratorium, saying the new order was 'unlawful.'

President Joe Biden admitted that the new CDC order may be unconstitutional

The Alabama Association of Realtors and others said in an emergency filing the CDC issued the new order 'for nakedly political reasons - to ease the political pressure, shift the blame to the courts for ending the moratorium, and use litigation delays to achieve a policy objective.'

The groups won a ruling from US District Judge Dabney Friedrich in May declaring that the CDC's eviction ban was unlawful, but an appeals court blocked an effort by the Alabama landlord group and others to enforce the decision.

In June, a divided Supreme Court agreed to let the CDC moratorium remain in effect after the CDC announced it would allow the ban to expire on July 31.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued a concurring opinion saying in his view extending the CDC moratorium past July 31 would need 'clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).'

Under pressure from President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress, the CDC reversed course on Tuesday and issued a slightly narrower eviction ban, replacing the nationwide moratorium that expired Saturday at midnight after Congress failed to approve an extension.

House Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, staged a sit-in on the steps of the Capitol for several days in protest of the expiring moratorium.

The White House had repeatedly said previously before Tuesday's order it did not believe it had legal authority to extend eviction protections.

The White House did not immediately comment. A CDC spokeswoman declined to comment.

Lawyers for the landlord groups in asking Judge Friedrich to overturn the new CDC moratorium noted Biden on Tuesday said 'the courts ... made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional; it wouldn't stand.'

The Supreme Court extended the federal ban until the end of July on a 5-4 decision, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh saying he would block future extensions without 'clear and specific congressional authorization' from Congress

Biden said the administration was moving forward in part because 'by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time' to get more than $40billion in rental relief approved by Congress distributed to renters and landlords.

The White House said on Wednesday that an 'old school' Biden would not have pushed for an extension of the expired eviction moratorium if he didn't believe it had 'legal standing.'

The statement came a day after Biden himself revealed scholars he had consulted believed such a move would not pass 'constitutional muster'  an admission that suggested Biden shopped for different attorneys who would tell him the move was legal.

'The president would not have moved forward with a step where he didn't' feel comfortable and confident in the legal justification,' said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

She rejected a question at Wednesday's press briefing that the administration took the action to 'buy time,' even if it were to get struck down in court.

'The president would not have supported moving forward if he did not support the legal justification. He is old school in that way,' Psaki said.

Biden warned on Monday that the latest effort, which extends the moratorium until October 3, 'is likely to face obstacles.'

Biden also revealed that he consulted constitutional scholars  most of whom gave him the bad legal news.

'The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says it's not likely to pass constitutional muster, number one,' he told reporters shortly before the policy got announced. 'But there are several key scholars who say that it may and it's worth the effort.'

Then he added 'There are several key scholars who think that it may, and it's worth the effort.'

His comments suggested the possibility Biden gave a green light to the strategy despite harboring his own doubts the action was constitutional.
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Much of a historic Northern California Gold Rush town has been reduced to ashes as a relentless wind-driven wildfire has forced 800 residents to evacuate.

The Dixie Fire, fueled by bone-dry vegetation and winds of up to 40mph, tore through Greenville on Wednesday night - destroying the town's more than century-old staples including a gas station, hotel and bar that date back to California's Gold Rush era.

The three-week-old blaze has been exasperated by dangerous weather, including heat waves and a historic drought which have made wildfires harder to fight in the West Coast, which is currently overtaken by dozens of active blazes.

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The town of Greenville is under mandatory evacuation orders after winds picked up on Wednesday and the Dixie Fire spread

The Dixie Fire has ravaged the small town of Greenville and has forced it's 800 residents to evacuate as homes and establishments are destroyed by the uncontrollable fires

Firefighters are working around the clock to try to extinguish Dixie Fire near Chico in Greenville as weather conditions worsen

As of Thursday morning the Dixie Fire, California's largest this year, has burned though more than 320,000 acres and has only been 35 percent contained

A map of the Dixie Fire, the fast spreading wildfire that has burned through over 305,000 acres as of Thursday morning

Much of the town of Greenville was reduced to ash as the Dixie Fire swept through the small community on Wednesday as weather conditions worsened

Greenville's Way Station bar is destroyed by the Dixie Fire which has leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 large, active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles in 13 U.S. states, the National Interagency Fire Center said

Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

As the fire continues to spread, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office issued a Facebook posting warning the town's approximately 800 residents: 'You are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!'

Early in the week, some 5,000 firefighters had made progress on the blaze, saving some threatened homes, bulldozing pockets of unburned vegetation and managing to surround a third of the perimeter.

Fire spokesman Mitch Matlow said more fire engines and bulldozers were being ordered to bolster the fight.

By Wednesday the fire grew by thousands of acres and an additional 4,000 people were ordered to evacuate, bringing nearly 26,500 people in several counties under evacuation orders.

As of Thursday morning the wildfire, California's largest this year, has burned though more than 320,000 acres and has only been 35 percent contained.

'We did everything we could,' Matlow told AP. 'Sometimes its just not enough.'

Flames consume buildings as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, August 4

The Dixie fire burned through dozens of homes and businesses in downtown Greenville and continues to forge towards other residential communities, August 4

Operations Chief Jay Walter moves a light post that was blocking Highway 89 as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community on Wednesday

Bystanders watch powerless as flames over take trees and homes in the Greenville are completely overtaken by fire

The historic Sierra Lodge is entirely leveled by the Dixie Fire which destroyed multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville

Making firefighters jobs more difficult is the red flag weather conditions of high heat, low humidity and gusty afternoon and evening winds that erupted Wednesday and were expected to be a continued threat through Thursday evening.

The trees, grass and brush were so dry that 'if an ember lands, youre virtually guaranteed to start a new fire,' Matlow said.

The Dixie Fire is not the only wildfire in the area wreaking havoc, just 100 miles south in Nevada and Placer counties, the River Fire has spread 1,400 acres after starting early Wednesday morning.

The wildfire, also fueled by dry and windy conditions, has not been contained as of Thursday morning.

Nearly 2,400 people were ordered to evacuate in Placer County, as well as 4,200 people in Nevada County who were ordered or warned to leave and 2,000 residents in Colfax, the Washington Post reported.

Placer County Sheriff Devon Bell warned residents: 'If you're ordered to go, get out.'

About 150 miles west to the Dixie Fire, the lightning-sparked McFarland Fire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

As of Wednesday the fire was only 5 percent contained after burning through nearly 5,000 acres of drought-stricken vegetation.

160 miles north of the Dixie Fire firefighters are also battling to extinguish the Monument Fire in Northern California as it grew by 6,000 acres in one night to engulf 15,000 - which has forced thousands to evacuate their homes.

Forest officials said the fire, burning near Big Bar and Del Loma in California, kept spotting ahead of itself and is now established on the north side of the Trinity River.

Four spot fires crossed the Trinity River and Highway 299 in Northern California closing the highway. The fire remains south of Del Loma and a half-mile east of Big Bar.

Residents were instructed to use air conditioning units and car vent systems to re-circulate to prevent outside air from moving inside.

Similar risky weather was expected across Southern California, where heat advisories and warnings were issued for interior valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 large, active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles in 13 US states, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

A car leaves the town of Chester,which is under mandatory evacuation orders, as the Dixie Fire burns on the edge of town
Joe Biden's top health official said in a Wednesday interview that it's highly likely children under 12 will be approved to get vaccinated against coronavirus during this upcoming school year.

'What are the odds that a vaccine for kids under 12 will be approved during the next school year?' Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was asked as part of the 'Skimm This' podcast, which will air Thursday.

'I think the odds are high,' he responded, but did not expand as it was part of the lightning round of questioning.

Three COVID-19 vaccines  from pharmaceutical Pfizer, biotechnical company Moderna and medical device company Johnson & Johnson  have been approved for emergency use authorization in the U.S.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said the 'odds are high' that the FDA will approve emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines in children under 12 by the start of next school year

Vaccinations are been approved under the emergency order since December 2020 for American adults, and in May opened up to those over the age of 12. The rate, however, has plateaued recently as hesitant communities refuse to get the jab

Since children cannot get the vaccine, new CDC guidance says that students, teachers and staff will need to remain masked when school resumes this fall

The Food and Drug Administration has to approve all vaccinations and medications in the U.S., but there is a special stipulation to fast-track the process in emergency situations, like the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to this, none of the three vaccines that have been administered to millions of Americans have actually received full FDA approval yet.

In December, the first vaccination was administered and last week Biden's administration hit its goal nearly one month late to get 70 per cent of Americans at least one dose of the COVID jab.

About five months after the first vaccine was administered in the U.S., emergency use authorization was opened up to children as young as 12. Those below that age, however, are still unable to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

With the Delta variant surging and more and more breakthrough cases emerging in vaccinated Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance last month saying children and staff will still have to wear masks at schools in the fall.

Along with that guidance came a step back in public masking, as the CDC said now the fully vaccinated should mask up in public indoor spaces.

When Murthy was asked Wednesday if he plans to dine indoors with his family this month, he said he will keep it outside since he has two young children who cannot get inoculated against coronavirus yet.

'I'm probably going to do some outdoor dining,' Murthy said. 'I've got two small kids at home who are not vaccinated. So I tend to be cautious about indoor settings.'

'I wear masks when I'm indoors, and if I've got to take my mask off a lot, then I try to avoid settings like that.'

The U.S. is nearing 60 per cent fully vaccinated. Last week, the Biden administration hit its July 4 goal a month late when the U.S. reached 70 per cent of Americans with at least one dose

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to bow to pressure to reimplement mask mandates indoors on the vaccinated. Instead, the Democrat opted to impose a requirement that people show proof of vaccination to do things like dine indoors, workout at gyms or attend performances.

'If you want to participate in our society fully, you've got to get vaccinated,' de Blasio said at a news conference. 'It's time.'

'This is going to be a requirement. The only way to patronize these establishments is if you are vaccinated, at least one dose,' he continued. 'The same for folks in terms of work, they will need at least one dose.'

He also told NY1 when announcing the new rule: 'It is so important to make clear that if you are vaccinated, you get to benefit in all sorts of ways. You get to live a better life.

'And if you're unvaccinated, there are going to be fewer and fewer things that you're able to do.'

This step, which goes further than other American urban areas, is the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. and has received outcry over a city finally imposing a so-called 'vaccine passport,' which has been decried by the left as communist.

Murthy lauded local governments and private entities imposing more restrictive rules than what has come out from the federal government and the CDC.

'There has been, thankfully, a lot of evolution in recent months in the private sector to build vaccine verification-type systems,' Murthy said. 'And I think we're going to see that accelerate significantly as more institutions move toward a vaccine requirement for their workplace or for their school.'

'I think the bottom line is that these requirements are ultimately going to be helpful, and I think they're going to help bump up our vaccination rates,' he continued.
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Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul who will replace Cuomo if he resigns or is impeached, which is becoming increasingly likely. The 62-year-old mother-of-two is an Irish immigrants' granddaughter who started her political career upstate with more conservative policies than Cuomo's

The woman who would replace Andrew Cuomo in the event that he is impeached or stands down, which is becoming increasingly likely, is Lieutenant Kathy Hochul, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants who was handpicked by the embattled governor and has now turned against him.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, 62, would become the first female governor in New York's history if she replaces Cuomo.

Throughout the pandemic, she has taken a quiet backseat to her boss's very public profile after being cherry-picked by him in 2014.

She won another political role in 2011 by replacing Rep. Chris Lee, her married male colleague who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist.

Hochul was only in his seat for a year before being replaced. Previously, she ran upstate as a more conservative candidate and was once endorsed by the NRA.

In 2007, when she was the Erie County Clerk, she went against the then Governor Elliot Spitzer's effort to give all undocumented migrants driver's licenses.

She was endorsed again in 2012, when running against Chris Collins, but she lost that election.

Hochul was chosen by Cuomo in 2014, replacing former Lieutenant Gov. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Duff, and was re-elected along with Cuomo in 2018.

Hochul grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father once so poor his family had to live in a trailer, before he became a successful businessman.

She has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.

'The AGs investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.

'No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps.

'Because Lieutenant Governors stand next in the line of succession, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the process at this moment,' she tweeted.

Hochul was handpicked by Cuomo in 2014 to stand as his running mate. At the time, she'd replaced another male colleague - Chris Lee- who was ousted for soliciting sex from women on Craigslist. The pair were re-elected in 2014

Hochul - who grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father, has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.

Hochul's husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

Her husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

In 2011, Hochul replaced Rep. Chris Lee who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist despite being married

He is now a private attorney but was previously the United States attorney for the Western District of New York.

The pair live in Buffalo in a $800,000, three-bedroom apartment, according to public records.

Their kids are in their early 30s. Katie, or Caitlin, works for PR firm Concepts Inc whose past clients include The Gates Foundation and the Justice Department.

Her son, William Hochul III, is a DC lawyer.

Unlike Cuomo - whose father was a governor and who grew up in wealth and New York society - Hochul's family are Irish immigrants.

On her public bio, she talks about how her mother and father lived at one time in a trailer on the grounds of the steel plant where her father worked in Buffalo.

Hochul was endorsed by the NRA in 2007 when she was running as Erie County Clerk but she has since become decidedly anti-gun and is shown above at a 2019 rally against gun violence. In the background is AG Letitia James - who found Cuomo guilty in her report this week

She describes herself as 'progressive' and is keenly pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights. Hochul is well-liked upstate, where Cuomo's popularity has evaporated.

'She is probably one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet.

Cuomo is clinging on despite being told to resign. He now faces three criminal investigations, impeachment and lawsuits

'Shes gone to great heights in government, yet one-to-one, she is so accessible and so warm and just a very generous person.

'Shes always able to help  particularly women, too,' Assembly member Karen McMahon told Politico recently.

'She works hard, she listens to people, she cares. In any state, you want for your lieutenant governor somebody who can do the job of governor. It doesnt always happen, but in Kathy Hochuls case she has the ability to do the job if it comes to it,' Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told The Wall Street Journal.

The Assembly Committee that is determining whether or not to launch impeachment proceedings against Cuomo will meet on Monday.

Then, it would require an Assembly vote with a simply majority to kick off an impeachment trial.

It would then also require the conviction of a High Court of Impeachment, consisting of seven Court of Appeals judges and all of New York's sitting state senators, to convict him.

The process may take months and while it plays out, Hochul would be drafted in to replace Cuomo on the day-to-day running of the state.

Democrats are calling for Cuomo to resign before that happens but he is digging his heels in, insisting he is innocent.
An outraged Brisbane local has written a hostile letter demanding a neighbour 'close all windows' as their children go to a school listed as a Covid exposure site.

The Ascot resident took it upon themselves to instruct their neighbour to keep all their children in self isolation, bizarrely including shutting all doors and windows.

Eight students at Brisbane Grammar School, as well as two teachers and two parents, have tested positive to the virus, plunging thousands into isolation.

'Being Bris Grammar School your boys/household should be in full self isolation,' the handwritten letter read.

'Please close all windows doors accordingly facing (redacted).'

A furious Brisbane local has demanded her neighbour 'close all windows and doors' leaving a handwritten letter (pictured)

Brisbane Grammar School (pictured) is caught up in Queensland's latest Covid-19 outbreak after a total of eight students, two teachers and two parents contracted the virus

The recipient of the letter even claimed the hostile neighbour produced photos along with the note, featuring relatives dropping off food supplies to their front gate while adhering to Covid safe regulations.

Tensions run high as Brisbane Grammar School is the latest exposure site caught up in Queensland's growing Covid-19 outbreak.

On Saturday, the school advised students who attended the premises between July 28 and July 30 to self isolate until further notice after a student tested positive for Covid-19.

South-east Queensland is back in lockdown until at least Sunday after the mystery outbreak emerged (pictured, queues at a vaccine centre in Logan)

The school since confirmed on Thursday a total of eight students, two teachers and two parents are now infected with the virus.

Overnight Queensland Health has been investigating multiple school-related events Brisbane Grammar School students may have attended while infectious.

A rugby training session, gymnastics class and rugby match between between July 29 to July 31 are all sites of interest.

Queensland has entered one of its biggest Covid-19 outbreaks since the first wave in 2020, recording 16 community cases on Thursday, with five infectious while in the community.

The south-east Queensland lockdown is due to end at 4pm on Sunday August 8.
Microbiologist Dr Simon Clarke told MailOnline there is barely any difference between the two countries

But ministers only added Mexico to the travel red list, it was announced last night

And more passengers arriving in England from 12 other countries tested positive compared to Mexico

Meanwhile, just 64 people coming from Mexico had the coronavirus between July 1 and 21 (3.3% of arrivals)

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Infection rates are only marginally higher among travellers returning to Britain from Mexico compared to Spain, raising questions about why it was moved to the red list.

Official Government figures also show Spain  which escaped any further sanctions  is 35 times more popular for tourists, meaning hundreds of Covid cases are actually being imported from the holiday hotspot. Only dozens of infected people are flying back from Mexico.

British holidaymakers are now scrambling to get back from Mexico before strict hotel quarantine rules come into place on Sunday.

The decision gave people just three days' notice, with some only discovering the news while mid-air. Plane tickets allowing Britons to make it back in time are on sale for up to 7,000.

But Spain  which scientists say has a similar-shaped outbreak  stayed in the amber category, despite rumours that the holiday plans of tens of thousands of Brits were on the brink of ruin.

Experts have now called on ministers to publish the full set of data to justify last night's decision to place Mexico onto the red list, with the rules set to kick in at 4am on August 8.

The Department for Transport released a spreadsheet of 'key' statistics used by ministers to inform their policies.

Raising questions on why Mexico was singled out for the red list - meaning travellers have to isolate in a hotel when they arrive in England - latest figures show 457 people per million tested positive in Spain yesterday, while just 122 tested positive in Mexico (graph, left). Meanwhile, positivity rates among travellers returning from Mexico was only marginally higher than Spain - 3.3 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent (graph, top right). But just 1,940 flew in from Mexico, while 71,418 arrived from Spain, which swayed the percentages (graph, bottom right). Some 2,065 arrivals from Spain tested positive, while the figure for Mexico was just 64

Scramble to get last plane seats out of Mexico: Cost of tickets soars to 7,000 as 6,000 Brits face hotel quarantine if they cant return to UK before 4am Sunday British holidaymakers scrambling to get back from Mexico before it goes on the red list on Sunday face huge ticket prices for flights to make it back in time. From 4am on Sunday, people returning to the UK from Mexico will have to stay in isolation in a hotel for 10 days. However, the government has been slammed for giving only three days' notice of the change, with the only direct flight from Mexico City to London before Sunday on sale for a staggering 6,878. Around 6,000 Britons are thought to currently be in Mexico, with travel agency boss Paul Charles tweeting: 'Pity poor #UK travellers in #Mexico - some 5/6,000 who have to somehow get back before hotel quarantine kicks in on Sunday. Certainly not enough seat capacity.' And holidaymakers have revealed how they found out about Mexico going red at the very last minute. Ayo Faley, a call handler for NHS Test and Trace in London, also landed in Cancun on Thursday morning but she plans to stay for her holiday as planned and pay for quarantine. She is returning on August 11 so will pay the lower rate of 1,750, but said she is 'absolutely distraught'. The 24-year-old said: 'I only found out (travel restrictions had changed) the minute I was able to connect to wifi at the airport... I went into a state of panic. '(I tried) to locate other Brits and see whether they knew and what their next plan of action was... you could see the look of confusion, fear and regret all in their faces. 'I am absolutely distraught... I've decided to just stay and enjoy the time here... I'll just have to face the consequences when I arrive.' Ms Faley works from home and had planned to do so on her return from Cancun, but said she will not be able to access her equipment in quarantine. She added: 'How are (the Government) planning to help individuals who have found themselves in a situation like this? 'Leaving the UK thinking their country of destination was safe to then land and find out they better return ASAP or risk being stuck in a hotel for 11 days.' Ayo Faley (left), a call handler of NHS Test and Trace in London, arrived in Cancun, Mexico, on Thursday morning for her holiday, and plans to continue her trip as planned and pay for quarantine when she returns to the UK. Aaron (right) is relocating his family to Edinburgh in late August and will now have to pay for them all to quarantine on arrival Advertisement

The Government agency says countries are assumed to be amber unless they have a 'low public health risk', with small outbreaks and a low prevalence of variants such as Beta.

On the other hand, countries are put on the red list if their epidemics have spooked the Joint Biosecurity Centre a branch that decides the travel quarantine rules.

Under this methodology, the JBC assesses the prevalence of variants in each territory.

NHS Test and Trace data, which is used by civil servants to make the list decisions, shows only six samples were sequenced from travellers returning from Mexico. Three were either Delta or Alpha  the others were not marked as being ones of concern.

Almost all of the swabs analysed among Britons coming back from Spain were Alpha or Delta. No Beta-infected samples were spotted.

But exact breakdowns of other variant data were 'suppressed'.

The DFT says: 'The vast majority of data used to inform the risk assessment is in the public domain. However, some data cannot be published due to the privacy risks that disclosure may have on individuals or groups.

'Similarly, privately shared data from other governments or organisations cannot be published due to the undertakings given when obtaining the data.'

The JBC also carries out a 'deep dive' on the prevalence of Covid in each country, looking at testing rates, infection rates and sequencing ability.

Spain's daily Covid infections are significantly higher than Mexico's, with 457 people per million testing positive every day at present, according to Our World in Data  one of the Covid-tracking websites civil servants use to monitor outbreaks. The rate is also dropping.

For comparison, the figure is three times lower in Mexico (122) but is rising quickly.

And Spain is conducting about nearly 15 times more tests in proportion to the size of its population than Mexico, which has a test positivity rate of almost 40 per cent and has only fully-vaccinated a fifth of all adults.

The European holiday destination  which has three times higher vaccination rates  is also sequencing around 1,000 tests a day. In contrast, Mexico has genetically analysed only 18,000 Covid samples since the pandemic began.

Under the third part of any travel quarantine decision, the JBC look at an array of data available from the World Health Organization, NHS Test and Trace and other official sources.

The most up-to-date figures from NHS Test and Trace  which only go up until July 21  show just 3.3 per cent of arrivals from Mexico tested positive for Covid. For comparison, the figure stood at 2.9 per cent in Spain  Britain's most visited holiday destination.

But because of the popularity of Spain, 35 times fewer cases are actually being imported from Mexico.

Just 64 of the 1,940 people who landed in England from Mexico between July 1-21 had Covid. Meanwhile, 2,065 of the 71,418 travellers who arrived from Spain tested positive.

Positivity rates among travellers from Mexico have doubled in since June, but they have more than tripled among people arriving from Spain.

And the numbers also show in addition to Spain, there are 11 other countries still on the amber list where higher number of positive cases are being imported from.

For comparison, 344 people travellers positive after arriving back from Greece, while 217 travellers from Portugal were infected.

More Covid cases were also found in people flying to England from France (205), the US (164), Italy (147) and Nigeria (132). There were also more infected people coming back from Cyprus (90), Poland (89), the Netherlands (85), Romanian (82) and Russia (65).

France trips 'TREBLE' in price: Eurotunnel, Eurostar and easyJet are accused of hiking fares for lockdown-weary Britons... just hours after quarantine rules changed Britons trying to book for France have today accused Eurotunnel, Eurostar and easyJet of 'ripping off' customers who claimed the price of passage trebled as soon as the Government announced it would scrap quarantine for tourists returning from Sunday. People trying to book trains from St Pancras to Paris claim that 50 was almost immediately added to the cost of a 89 one-way ticket while MailOnline research has found that the average price increase to travel this weekend is between 20 to 60 for a standard or standard premier ticket. After Grant Shapps made the announcement last night, one Eurostar customer trying to get back to Britain tweeted: 'So now Eurostar prices are double the price if not more. Expats are consistently fighting a losing battle'. Another wrote that the website was crashing 'again and again' with the 'price relentlessly going up', adding: 'Took about 10 attempts and 50 quid more! Absolutely ridiculous!'. One driver trying to book the Eurotunnel to France from Folkestone tweeted: 'Why are you doubling your prices from this Sunday just as the new quarantine rules for UK people coming from France come into affect? Isn't this what's known as profiteering? Our ticket cost has doubled in 24hrs because we had to amend our booking'. And people trying to fly to France in August are also being hit in the pocket. Several accused easyJet of cancelling flights in order to force them into buying more expensive tickets. One wrote: '@easyJet has just cancelled all flights to nice in august so that prices can be hiked up! Outrageous! My friend now has to find alternative flights at a vastly inflated cost'. Another said: '@easyJet - our flight to France was cancelled 3 times so on the 3rd cancellation we took a voucher as we did not have a lot of time to think about it. You have now increased the price, can you offer the same deal at least?'. The companies today denied they were taking advantage, saying any rises were down to demand. A Eurotunnel spokesman said: 'The cost of a ticket does not double overnight due to an amendment. Our pricing works like that of most travel operators, as a dynamic model, led by demand. With the announcement last night, we saw an immediate uplift in bookings and therefore certain departures are now in higher demand than previously. Conversely, there are plenty of keenly priced departures available too'. Eurostar and easyJet have been asked to comment. Advertisement

However, these figures were originally published last Thursday, meaning ministers may have seen more recent data that gave them cause for concern about Mexico.

The final part of any travel quarantine decision made by the JBC is known as the 'outcome'. It is used to 'support decision making', and allows ministers to take the risk assessments into account 'alongside wider public health factors to inform watchlists'.

'Travel connections with the UK and details of the in-country and territory vaccination profile are included as contextual information,' the DFT also says.

A Department of Transport spokesperson said: 'Our international travel policy is guided by one overwhelming priority  public health  and traffic light allocations are based on a range of factors including genomic surveillance capability, transmission risk and variants of concern.'

Asked about MailOnline's analysis of the numbers, Dr Simon Clarke said he would 'absolutely agree' that there is barely any difference between outbreaks in Spain and Mexico.

But the microbiologist, from Reading University, warned civil servants making the decision would have inevitably considered other data that may have skewed the argument.

He said policymakers should release the raw data justifying the decisions, echoing calls by other prominent Covid experts.

Dr Clarke, however, said: 'Frankly, I think the government don't want academics and scientists kicking over the stuff and questioning their decisions.'

Professor Lawrence Young, a molecular virologist at the University of Warwick, told MailOnline: 'The whole international travel situation remains very confusing  despite the government stating that this is a 'simplified system'.

'The criteria used for designating a country as amber, green or red is not clear and is still subject to change.

'There are rising cases of infection in Mexico against a backdrop of around 20 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated.

'What's important is not to get complacent. The virus is still infecting people  even some who have been fully vaccinated.

'The testing regime for amber listed countries is very important to ensure returning travellers are not spreading infection. We need to protect ourselves from importing dangerous virus variants.'

Professor Gary McLean, a molecular immunologist at London Metropolitan University, said: 'It looks like Mexico is being more carefully watched here due to rising case numbers, particularly among those returning to the UK and the presence of another variant that originated in South America.

'The current wave in Spain is in decline, much like the current UK wave - the fears over the spread of the Beta variant in Spain have subsided somewhat. Allowing Spain to remain amber.

'However the wave in Mexico is still rising despite similar daily case numbers to Spain.

'All of this put together has allowed Spain to remain amber but unfortunately Mexico jump to red - the traffic light list and restrictions is really attempting to reduce the flow of cases from regions with higher and increasing case rates associated with variants that may escape immunity.

'Whilst it is imperfect it is surely better than a complete border closure at this stage of the pandemic.'

Where CAN you go on holiday now? How double-jabbed Brits can visit Latvia, Romania and Germany with NO tests needed... while unvaccinated must provide proof they're Covid-free to enter Spain

Double-jabbed Britons can visit Latvia, Romania and Germany with no tests needed, while those who are unvaccinated must provide proof that they are Covid-free to enter Spain, it can be revealed.

Those who have received both doses have unrestricted entry - meaning they do not have to quarantine or provide a negative test result - when travelling to Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Romania and Georgia.

But those who are not double-jabbed are still subject to some regulations upon arrival and, in the cases of Germany and Slovakia, can be denied entry entirely.

And the Spanish Government requires all travellers from the UK to present either proof of a negative Covid-19 test or that they have received two vaccinations at least 14 days before arrival.

There are still some rules for fully-vaccinated people if they are visiting places such as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where they have to carry out seven days of quarantine, but this is less than the 12 days of self-isolation required for Britons who have only had one or no doses of the vaccine.

Those who have received both doses have unrestricted entry - meaning they do not have to quarantine or provide a negative test result - when travelling to Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Romania and Georgia. But those who are not double-jabbed are still subject to some regulations upon arrival and, in the cases of Germany and Slovakia, can be denied entry entirely

Restrictions do not differ for double-jabbed people if they are travelling from the UK to Austria, where they are still expected to quarantine for 10 days, Norway, India and the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte.

The guidance comes amid the Government's shake-up of the traffic light system, adding seven European countries to the green list of destinations and switching the status of India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from red to amber.

But there is growing anger about the decision to turn Mexico red with just three days' notice, with panicked and 'f***ing fuming' Britons trying to get home before 4am on Sunday. Georgia, Reunion and Mayotte will also turn red this weekend.

While Spain avoided joining them, those flying back will soon face higher testing costs after ministers urged holidaymakers to take a PCR for the mandatory pre-departure test, rather than the cheaper lateral flow alternatives, 'as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country'.

Elsewhere, as expected, the Government also confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate, which could spark a surge in cross-Channel bookings, as is the custom in August when traditionally more than four million Britons make the trip.

France will be aligned with all other amber nations, from which arrivals only need to quarantine at home if they are not fully vaccinated. The changes to the travel lists come into force at 4am on Sunday.

Below are the regulations in full for visitors from the UK, laid out according to their vaccination status, to countries where travel rules have recently changed.

Austria

Austria is one of the seven European countries being added to the green list of destinations.

Those who are fully vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days and provide proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours before departure.

The restrictions are the same for Britons who are not double-jabbed, including 10 days of quarantine and showing a pre-departure negative PCR test.

Germany

Germany is also being moved from the amber to green list as part of the UK Government's latest changes.

Under entry requirements for Germany, those who are not fully vaccinated and do not meet the exemptions outlined, such as being a German citizen or having an urgent need to travel, 'may not currently enter' the country.

Unvaccinated children under the age of 12 can enter Germany if they can show proof of a negative Covid test and are travelling with at least one fully vaccinated parent.

Meanwhile, those who are double-jabbed are permitted entry and do not have to quarantine.

Latvia

Tourists travelling from the UK to Latvia, which is being added to the green list, have unrestricted entry if they are fully vaccinated.

Those who are not double-jabbed must show a negative PCR test before boarding or crossing the border.

Arrivals must also complete and submit an electronic form no longer than 48 hours after entering the country.

Norway

Fully vaccinated visitors from the UK to Norway, which is being added to the green list, are not allowed to visit unless residing in Norway or if they are a close family member of a Norwegian resident.

The same applies to those who have not received both doses.

This comes after the UK left the European Union at the start of this year, meaning that UK nationals are no longer classified as EU/EEA nationals and will not be allowed to visit Norway unless they meet certain exceptions.

Romania

Fully vaccinated people travelling to Romania, which is moving from the amber to green list, do not have to quarantine or take a test.

The guidance states it allows Britons who can 'demonstrate proof of a full course of vaccination against Covid-19' to be exempt from self-isolation.

People are not double-jabbed will have to quarantine for 14 days, unless a negative RT-PCR test can be shown before their arrival and they leave within 72 hours afterwards.

Slovenia

For Slovenia, which is being added to the green list, people travelling from the UK who are fully vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days if they do not have a permanent or temporary residency.

Those without two jabs can similarly only enter if they quarantine for 10 days (if they do not have a permanent or temporary residency).

They must also prove one of the following: a recent Covid test, at least one vaccine dose (AstraZeneca, Janssen or Covishield) or a positive PCR test showing they have had Covid within the last six months.

Slovakia

For Slovakia, moving to the green list, it states 'entry is now permitted for fully vaccinated travellers from the UK'.

However, those who have not received both doses can only be admitted under certain exemptions, such as being a resident or studying there.

Bahrain

Bahrain, which is moving from a red to amber list status, requires pre-departure, arrival and day 10 PRC tests for people who are fully vaccinated, but says they do not need to quarantine.

Those without two jabs must quarantine for 10 days and also take the pre-departure, arrival and day 10 PRC tests.

India

All regularly scheduled international flights remain suspended but a limited number are in operation.

Those who do travel to India must go through thermal screening on arrival, show proof of a negative private test (not PCR) and quarantine for 10 days quarantine.

This applies to everyone regardless of their vaccination status.

Qatar

The guidance for Qatar, moving to the amber list, says there is no quarantine for those who are fully vaccinated, but they must show a negative PCR test.

Those who are not double-jabbed must quarantine for seven days and also show a negative PCR test.

Fury at 'expensive and unnecessary' travel testing demands as ministers urge Brits to take expensive PCR Covid tests when returning from Spain even though they are NOT mandatory Aviation bosses have demanded the Government take action on the cost of travel testing amid fears many families are being priced out of a trip abroad. The Government has made a raft of changes to its traffic light scheme, extending the green list, reopening quarantine-free holidays to France and keeping trips to Spain on the table after it was spared being moved to the 'red list'. Testing remains a key component of the system, with pre-departure tests required for travel from red, amber and green nations. Ministers have now stressed that all travellers returning from Spain should take a PCR test because they are more accurate than cheaper lateral flow checks and can help officials keep track of coronavirus variants. However, travel chiefs believe the PCR tests - which can cost up to 175 per person - are 'expensive and unnecessary'. They want the PCR tests to only be required for travel from the most high-risk nations and for lateral flow tests to be made acceptable in all other circumstances. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Travel Association, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'I think a simpler system is definitely what is required to avoid confusion in the case of consumers, and to provide some form of certainty for people who are wanting to travel, and in some cases absolutely need to travel. 'This expensive and unnecessary testing I think needs to be challenged and I think the Government should demonstrate why they require it.' He added: 'I think there is a valid reason and a concern, and I would accept that maybe for some of these high-risk countries that have been identified you can make the argument that some form of testing should be done, but I don't think you can justify requiring 2.2 million people to undertake PCR tests when only 8,000 of those are subsequently sequenced.' Advertisement

United Arab Emirates

Fully vaccinated people travelling to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, being added to the amber list, from the UK must quarantine for seven days, show a negative PCR test on arrival and on their sixth day in the country.

People who have not received both doses must quarantine in Abu Dhabi for longer - 12 days - alongside showing a negative PCR test on arrival and on day 11 of their stay.

Meanwhile, if travelling to Dubai, all international tourists must show a negative PCR test before departure and will be subject to thermal screenings. Visitors do not have to quarantine.

Spain

Britons travelling to Spain, moving to the amber list, who are fully vaccinated are permitted entry and do not have to quarantine or show tests.

Those who are not double-jabbed are also allowed entry without quarantine, but must show a negative Covid test.

France

People travelling from the UK to France, which has lost its 'amber plus' status under the latest update, are permitted unrestricted entry if they are fully vaccinated.

They must present a completed 'sworn statement' saying they do not have any symptoms upon arrival.

Meanwhile, Britons without both jabs can only visit the country for essential travel only. Those allowed entry need to quarantine for seven days and provide pre-departure and post-quarantine PCR tests.

Mexico

The guidance for Mexico, moving from the amber to red list, states for fully vaccinated Britons that entry is permitted via commercial flights.

Visitors must fill out a health questionnaire and are advised to avoid travelling within the country wherever possible.

There is no differentiation in the guidance between people according to their vaccination status.

Georgia

Georgia, switching to the red list, says it allows 'unrestricted entry for citizens of any country, including the UK, who have documentary proof of having received a full course of Covid-19 vaccination'.

People who are not double-jabbed must travel direct by air 'and submit a travel history in advance', in addition to showing a negative PCR test on arrival and on day three of their stay.

Reunion

Fully-vaccinated Britons travelling to the French oversea territory of Reunion, moving to the red list, must only visit for essential travel only.

They must also self-isolate for seven days, in addition to showing a negative pre-departure test and a post-quarantine test.

The guidance does not differ for those who have not received both jabs.

Mayotte

The French oversea territory of Mayotte, switching from the amber to red list, also requires the same restrictions for Britons regardless of their vaccination status.

The country says Britons should travel there for urgent family/work reasons only, self-isolate for seven days and show a negative pre-departure and post-quarantine PCR test.
A woman who defected from North Korea and came to the US says she was mugged by three black women outside a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Chicago last year but was prevented from calling the police by white bystanders because doing so was racist.

Yeonmi Park, the Columbia University student who along with her mother was sold into slavery by human traffickers after fleeing North Korea when she was just 13, alleges the incident took place during last summers looting in the Windy City.

Park alleged that police and prosecutors declined to charge the thief, but public records indicate that 29-year-old Lecretia Harris was sentenced to two years in prison after her arrest in connection with the incident.

One of Harris accomplices managed to evade arrest.

At around the time of the incident, the city was in the midst of widespread unrest as vandals smashed windows of dozens of businesses and made off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else they could carry.

Park said that bystanders encouraged Harris to run and were hostile to her when she tried to call the police. Some who witnessed the crime branded her a racist for trying to dial 911, according to Park.

By speaking out about the incident, Park said that she has 'become the enemy of the woke.'

Yeonmi Park, the Columbia University student who along with her mother was sold into slavery by human traffickers after fleeing North Korea when she was just 13, says she was called a racist by bystanders in Chicago last year after she tried to call police after she was mugged by three black women

Lecretia Harris, 29, was sentenced to two years in prison after her arrest in connection with the incident

COMMENTS ABOUT THE ROBBERY START NEAR THE 2:00:00 MARK

During an appearance on Joe Rogans podcast, Park said that she was accosted by three black women near the Saks Fifth Avenue on Michigan Avenue - right along the citys famed Magnificent Mile.

Last year, during the looting in Chicago, I was robbed by these three black women, Park told Rogan on Tuesday.

Anybody can become a murderer or a thief, but it just happened to be a black woman.

Park said that her nanny, who is a Muslim wearing a hijab, was carrying her stroller behind her.

She claims that one of the women robbed her of her wallet. Park said that she then grabbed onto the thiefs arm to prevent her from fleeing and held onto it while attempting to call the police.

According to Park, a group of white bystanders who witnessed the robbery started calling her a racist for seeking to call the police.

Park appeared on Tuesday's edition of the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, hosted by comedian Joe Rogan (seen left with Park)

They were telling me that the color of their skin doesnt make them a thief, Park said.

Calling a black person a thief is racist.

Park alleged that the thief punched her while she held onto her arm.

I tried to call the police and they (the bystanders) prevented me from calling the police, she said.

When asked who was preventing her from calling the police, Park replied: All the people along Michigan Avenue [who witnessed the incident.]

Thats when I was thinking, This country lost it.

Park said that while holding her arm, she told the thief: Im not accusing you of anything. Can you wait here until the police come?

She said that if a similar event happened in North Korea, bystanders there would help the victim.

Theyre not going to just, out of nowhere, scream: Youre a racist.

Park claimed that the police obtained video footage of this incident but the authorities declined to prosecute the culprits.

At around the time of the incident, the city was in the midst of widespread unrest as vandals smashed windows of dozens of businesses and made off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else they could carry. Staff board up Louis Vuitton on Magnificent Mile in Chicago on August 10

Park is an author and has spoken out about 'woke' culture of 'censorship' in the United States, saying that it reminds her of North Korea.

She told Rogan that at Columbia University, she was told by a humanities professor that a man holding the door for a woman was an example of 'toxic masculinity' since men are 'overpowering' women when making the gesture.

Park said that when she objected to that characterization and thought it was an act of 'decency,' she was told she was 'brainwashed.'

'Here, in the name of a space space, you can't have anything other than the mainstream view,' she said of her time at Columbia.

Park said that students who attend colleges and universities in the US are being indoctrinated with 'anti-racist' ideology.

She said that the concept of 'white privilege' and 'white guilt' was 'so new to me.'

'How are you guilty for what your ancestors did?' Park asked.

'You didn't choose to be born as white. I don't choose my birthplace.'

Park said that she was told by tech executives that they would never set foot in Texas because it's 'Trump Country.'

A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told DailyMail.com that officers responded to a report of an incident on the 800 block of North Michigan Avenue at around 4:12pm on August 14, 2020.

'The victim, a 26-year-old female, related she was at the above location when two female offenders approached,' according to the police.

'The offenders struck the victim and took personal property from her before fleeing northbound on foot.

'The victim declined medical assistance on scene.'

The spokesperson added: 'According to the report, officers were called to the scene and responded by 4:15pm.

'One of the offenders was placed into custody on August 21, 2020 and charged accordingly.'

The suspect was identified as Harris. She was charged with a felony count of robbery.

In January, Harris, who has several prior convictions including aggravated battery, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful restraint. In exchange, she was given a two-year prison sentence.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the robbery count.

Park fled North Korea as a teenager and was sold into slavery when she and her mother entered China. They were ultimately rescued by Christian missionaries who helped them escape to Mongolia, where they crossed the Gobi Desert into South Korea

She started attending Columbia University, pictured, in 2016 and said she thought she was going to learn how to think critically but was instead 'forced to think' a certain way

Police and prosecutors also said there were two perpetrators rather than three and that one of them was a man.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Park seeking to clear up the discrepancy.

Prosecutors said that Harris used a stolen credit card to pay for a taxi cab ride, the CWB Chicago reported last year.

Park is the author of a memoir titled In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

Police then used the information from that transaction to track down Harris.

Prosecutors said that Harris and another man approached Park, who was walking with her nanny and her baby just outside the Water Tower Place mall on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Harris and the man approached Park and the nanny and had an interaction, according to authorities.

Thats when Park noticed her wallet was missing from her purse, which was unbuttoned.

Park then ran and caught up with Harris and the man in an attempt to stop them.

She then pulled out her phone and called the police.

At that point, the man punched Park in the chest while Harris knocked the phone out of her hand and threw it on the sidewalk, according to prosecutors.

Park is then said to have retrieved her phone and started recording Harris and the man. She then went into a nearby store and called 911.

Investigators tracked down Harris. Park then identified her in a police lineup.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Saks Fifth Avenue and the Cook County States Attorneys office seeking comment.

DailyMail.com has also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain video footage of the incident.

Park and her mother fled North Korea to China over the frozen Yalu River in 2007, when she was just 13, and the two were sold into slavery by human traffickers.

They were ultimately able to flee to Mongolia with the help of Christian missionaries and trekked across the Gobi Desert to eventually find refuge in South Korea, where Park, now 27, attended college before transferring to Columbia in 2016.

'I literally crossed the Gobi Desert to be free and I realized I'm not free, America's not free,' she said.

'I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy to learn how to think,' she told FOX News in June.

'But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think.'

'I realized, "Wow, this is insane",' she recounted, 'I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.'

In an interview with FOX News in June, Yeonmi Park said she saw similarities between her homeland of North Korea and American educational institutions

Park said that her professors would give them 'trigger warnings' and allow them to opt out of readings and discussions.

'Going to Columbia, the first thing I learned was 'safe space,'' she told the New York Post.

She explained that when she started school at Columbia, she was excited to learn more about history, a subject she said was discouraged in her homeland.

But when her teacher, discussing Western Civilization, asked if students had an issue with the name of the class topic, most did, saying there was a 'colonial' slant.

'Every problem, they explained us, is because of white men,' she said, reminding her of her home country where people were categorized based on their ancestors, according to the Post.

During her orientation, a professor asked who the class who liked classical books, like Jane Austen.

Park is seen above with her infant son in the above undated file photo

Park is also an activist who advocates for human rights in her native North Korea. She is seen above with Olivia Munn

Park is seen above at an event alongside actress Scarlett Johansson

Park is seen above posing for a photograph alongside former TODAY show co-anchor Katie Couric

'I said, 'I love those books,' Park said in an interview with FOX News. 'I thought it was a good thing.'

'Then she said, 'Did you know those writers had a colonial mindset? They were racists and bigots and are subconsciously brainwashing you.'

From there, she said, her classes were filled with 'anti-American sentiment, reminding her of her childhood in North Korea, where students were constantly taught about the 'American bastard,' which was the only way they were allowed to refer to Americans.
The Taliban executed some 900 people in six weeks in just one province as its fighters overran government troops, a police chief has claimed

Targets included police officers, tribal elders, civil activists, and even a popular comedian who were dragged from their homes and killed in southern Kandahar province, the region's former head of police Tadin Khan said.

Islamist fighters have now recaptured much of the province and have laid siege to the regional capital - also named Kandahar - as they push to retake control of the country following US troop withdrawal.

Taliban fighters executed 900 people in Kandahar province in just six weeks as the Islamist group overran government troops, a former police captain has claimed (pictured, government troops in Kandahar city)

Those executed include police, tribal elders, religious scholars, government supporters and even a popular comedian, the chief claimed (pictured, government troops in Kandahar city)

Many of the deaths occurred in the town of Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan, Khan told Afghan news outlet TOLO.

'The people have suffered enormously,' he said. 'The brutality that occurred in Boldak is unforgivable.'

Among them was comedian Nazar Mohammad, who previously served in the Afghan police, who had his throat slit before images of his body were posted online.

Other targets of the Islamists have been Afghan soldiers in hiding - some of whom may have surrendered to the Taliban rather than fight on the promise they would be allowed to return safely home.

Religious scholars, government employees, and anyone thought to be a supporter of the government has also been targeted, Khan said.

Taliban leaders have been keen to present the modern group as moderate version of the one that the US went to war with in 2001, in an attempt to build alliances with neighbours and prevent the kind of intervention that saw it toppled from power.

But those on the ground say it is the same brutal regime as before that has imposed its strict interpretation of Sharia law on the provinces it has captured.

Aside from the executions, women say they have been banned from leaving the house without a permit and from attending school in Taliban-controlled areas.

The Taliban has denied claims of executions.

The Taliban has recaptured swathes of Afghan countryside and is now vying for control of the provincial capitals of Herat, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah

Images of the executions published online has sparked as refugee crisis, as people fearing they will be targeted by the terror group flee their homes (pictured)

Kandahar is just one of three provincial capitals to come under attack from the Taliban, which has spent months recapturing rural areas behind the backs of retreating American and NATO troops.

Having conquered the countryside, the militants are now focusing on recapturing cities whose control is key to control of the country.

The hardest-hit has been Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province which is the Taliban's traditional heartland.

Most of the city has now fallen to the Islamists, with US warplanes striking Taliban positions in an attempt to hold back the assault and buy government troops who are still holding out in a handful of areas some breathing space.

But locals report the strikes having little impact - forcing the Taliban to pause briefly while they are carried out, before resuming their attack once the bombing stops.

Government forces are meeting with greater success in the northern city of Herat, however, having pushed a Taliban assault away from its outer suburbs.

President Ashraf Ghani is hoping that by concentrating his forces in cities and holding them, the Taliban can be sufficiently weakened that it feels the need to return to peace talks which are currently at loggerheads.

The most optimistic outcome is that the government and Taliban can work out some kind of power-sharing arrangement which keeps Ghani in office.

The Taliban is now fighting to take control of Kandahar city (pictured), one of three provincial capitals that have come under attack

A woman who fled her home in rural Kandahar waits for assistance after making her way to the provincial capital, where government forces are still in control

However, if the Taliban emerge victorious then it will likely push on to try and retake the capital of Kabul - handing it back control of Afghanistan and making a mockery of two decades of western intervention.

The nightmare scenario is that no side can deal a killer blow and the conflict drags out into a prolonged and bloody civil war of the kind seen in the 1990s which spawned the Taliban in the first place.

That risks creating a severe refugee crisis and providing a safe haven for other terror groups - such as ISIS - to move into.

Just yesterday, the head of Britain's armed forces General Sir Nick Carter warned that the country is at risk of becoming a failed state even if the Taliban re-take power.

Gen Carter also warned BBC Radio 4's Today there is a 'real risk' that 'we're giving far too much legitimacy to the Taliban movement'.

'There is a huge disparity between what Mullah Baradar is saying publicly, and what he's doing publicly in travelling around countries like Russia and China, and so on and so forth, and a disparity between what's actually happening on the ground.

'And the international community has got to do much more about calling out the way that the people on the ground are trashing government buildings, they are threatening the population, there are reports of people being forced into marriages.'

He said there have been 'grisly videos of war crimes' and 'we mustn't let them get away with this - we've got to call them out'.
Seven men have been jailed for life for the murder of law student Aya Hachem who was mistakenly gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting.

Tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman, 40, arranged the execution of a rival businessman in broad daylight but the gunman he hired instead shot dead innocent passer-by Aya.

The 19-year-old who dreamed of becoming a solicitor had fled from violence in her native Lebanon as a child to settle with her family in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Miss Hachem was shot on May 17 last year while on a trip to a nearby supermarket to buy food ready for when her family would break their Ramadan feast that evening.

She died in hospital after a bullet entered her left shoulder, passed through her body and embedded itself in a telegraph pole.

On Thursday, Suleman, of Blackburn, was ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years before he can be considered for parole.

The gunman, Zamir Raja, 33, of Stretford, was jailed for a minimum of 34 years and his driver, Anthony Ennis, 31, of Partington, must serve at least 33 years.

Fellow accomplices Ayaz Hussain, 36, Abubakr Satia, 32, both of Blackburn; his brother, Uthman Satia, 29, of Great Harwood, and Kashif Manzoor, 26, of Blackburn were handed minimum terms of 32 years, 28 years, 28 years, and 27 years, respectively.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Turner told Suleman: 'You were the driving force behind the whole deadly enterprise from beginning to end and followed through this plan with obsessive determination.

'When you were in prison you commented to Abubakr Satia you were the captain of the ship and if you were to go down then everyone would down with you. How right you were.'

Horrific footage shows the moment Aya Hachem's (pictured) drive-by killers opened fire on a rival tyre firm but hit her at point-blank range as she walked to the shop

Suleman, 40, Kashif Manzoor, 26, Ayaz Hussain, 35, Abubakr Satia, 32, Zamir Raja (right), 33, Anthony Ennis (left), 31, Uthman Satia, 29, were today found guilty of murder at Preston Crown Court

All seven men were also convicted of the attempted murder of Pachah Khan while Chapman was acquitted of the attempted murder of Mr Khan. Left: Kashif Manzoor. Right: Feroz Suleman

Left: Ayaz Hussain. Right: Uthman Satia. Lancashire Police today released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death

Preston Crown Court heard the drive-by shooting was organised by Suleman, who had been embroiled in a bitter feud with his neighbour and business rival Mr Khan. Left: Abubakr Satia. Right: Judy Chapman

The men were jailed today in front of Aya's heartbroken father Ismail, mother Samar and brother Ibrahim, who watched on from the public gallery.

In a statement, Aya's father Ismail told the court: 'They didn't just kill Aya, they killed our family. The light in our lives has gone out.'

Yesterday, horrific footage showed the moment Aya's drive-by killers opened fire on a rival tyre firm but hit her at point-blank range as she walked to the shop.

CCTV captured the 19-year-old law student walking past the garage on the way to Lidl before she was hit in the chest by a stray bullet shot from a Toyota Avensis.

The force of the blast sent the round straight through her body and into a nearby telegraph pole.

What were each of the defendants convicted for? Feroz Suleman , 40, of Blackburn instigated and organised the hit.

, 40, of Blackburn instigated and organised the hit. Abubakr Satia , 32, of Blackburn sourced the Avensis used in the shooting and was also involved in buying petrol afterwards to burn out the car, however, this did not go ahead.

, 32, of Blackburn sourced the Avensis used in the shooting and was also involved in buying petrol afterwards to burn out the car, however, this did not go ahead. Kashif Manzoor , 26, of Blackburn was responsible for ensuring the Avensis used to transport the shooter was running on the day of the incident.

, 26, of Blackburn was responsible for ensuring the Avensis used to transport the shooter was running on the day of the incident. Judy Chapman , 26, of Great Harwood, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Avensis on Wellington Road, Blackburn and collected them afterwards in the afternoon of the shooting.

, 26, of Great Harwood, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Avensis on Wellington Road, Blackburn and collected them afterwards in the afternoon of the shooting. Uthman Satia , 29, of Great Harwood  Judy Chapman's partner - was also responsible for transporting the gunman and driver to and from the Avensis on Wellington Road as Chapman's front seat passenger.

, 29, of Great Harwood  Judy Chapman's partner - was also responsible for transporting the gunman and driver to and from the Avensis on Wellington Road as Chapman's front seat passenger. Ayaz Hussain , 35, of Blackburn was the link between the Lancashire offenders and Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis, based in Manchester. He played a key role in organising and orchestrating the shooting and was in company of Abubakr Satia when the petrol to burn out the Avensis was bought.

, 35, of Blackburn was the link between the Lancashire offenders and Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis, based in Manchester. He played a key role in organising and orchestrating the shooting and was in company of Abubakr Satia when the petrol to burn out the Avensis was bought. Zamir Raja , 33, of Stretford, Manchester was responsible for sourcing and transporting the firearm used in the shooting, as well as firing the shots.

, 33, of Stretford, Manchester was responsible for sourcing and transporting the firearm used in the shooting, as well as firing the shots. Anthony Ennis , 31, Partington drove the Avensis carrying the gunman during the shooting. Advertisement

She was not the intended target of the shooting, which came after a long-running feud between rival tyre firm owners Suleman and Pachah Khan.

Judy Chapman, 26, was cleared of murdering Aya but found guilty of manslaughter after a 12-week trial.

All seven men were also convicted of the attempted murder of Pachah Khan while Chapman was acquitted of the attempted murder of Mr Khan.

Lancashire Police today released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death.

The clip shows the Toyota slowly approach the garage as one of the early rounds burst a bucket near one of the workers - causing him to spin around in horror.

The video ends by showing innocent bystander Aya standing on the path between the shooter and the target - just feet away from the gun that killed her.

Other media released by the police force - as the case against her killers came to a close - shows the gun being pointed out of the car.

Car wash workers look on in surprise as they watch the Toyota slow down and the small handgun poke out from the back left passenger seat.

Preston Crown Court heard the drive-by shooting was organised by Suleman, who had been embroiled in a bitter feud with his neighbour and business rival Mr Khan.

Suleman hired Raja, a hitman from Manchester, to carry out the shooting for the price of 1,500.

Raja, of no fixed address, refused to fully participate in cross-examination and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

On his behalf, his legal team argued it was never his intention to kill and he had set out on a mission to 'scare or intimidate' Mr Khan and his workers at Quickshine Tyres.

The Toyota Avensis driven by Ennis with hitman Raja on board drove past Quickshine Tyres on three occasions shortly before the fatal fourth journey.

Footage from CCTV cameras captured Suleman stood outside his premises next door at RI Tyres with a 'ringside seat' to the shooting.

The first shot hit the front window of Quickshine and the second was let off as Lebanese-born Ms Hachem walked by - hitting her rather than the intended target.

Nicholas Johnson QC previously told the jury Raja, the man who he says fired the shot that killed Aya, fled to Portugal via Dublin nine days after the incident.

Lancashire Police released new photographs of Aya Hachem (left and right) today after her killers were convicted

Lancashire Police today released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death. One of the bullets hit near a workman (pictured)

The force of the blast sent the round straight through Aya's body and into a nearby telegraph pole (pictured)

Ammunition in the car was found by officers and released by Lancashire Police today after the men were convicted

A search of the Nissan Juke which Raja drove to Liverpool with Anthony Ennis on May 16 revealed a similar bullet to the one that killed Aya

The Avensis is pictured in situ where it was found on Wellington Road following the shooting

Operation Colindale to find Aya's killers in numbers: 23 arrests, 8 charges

80,000 hours of CCTV seized

3,959 exhibits generated

120 phones seized

180 digital storage devices seized

Two bullets recovered, one of which killed Aya, together with 2 live rounds of ammunition

62 scenes searched

2,455 actions raised

30 vehicles seized and searched, including the Toyota Avensis used to transport the gunman Advertisement

Three days later Anthony Ennis, the man accused of being Raja's driver at the time of the hit, flew to the continent on his brother's passport, it was heard.

Prosecutors say a meet up between the pair in which they initially pretended not to know each other but later embraced in a 'brotherly hug' was caught on CCTV.

Nicholas Johnson QC told the jury at Preston Crown Court: 'They thought they had got away with murder. Home free.'

By this stage, other suspects Feroz Suleman, Judy Chapman, Kashif Manzoor, Abubkar Satia, Uthman Satia and Hussain Ayaz had all been arrested.

Ten days after he had travelled to Portugal, Raja returned to the UK in a car he had hired with Ennis in Portugal, Mr Johnson told the court.

Mr Johnson said the feud between Suleman and Mr Khan started in 2019 when Quickshine began selling tyres next door to RI after previously only washing cars.

This resulted in 'bad blood', it was heard, and a plan was hatched to kill Mr Khan and/or someone else at Quickshine.

The court heard Aya, an aspiring solicitor, was walking along King Street in Blackburn at 3pm on May 17, 2020, when she was hit.

Aya, a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time later of an 'irreversible' cardiac arrest.

Her distraught parents said she was the 'most loyal, devoted daughter' who enjoyed spending time with her family.

Aya and her family were also known to be heavily involved with Blackburn's asylum seeker and refugee community.

Aya (left and right), a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time later of an 'irreversible' cardiac arrest

Kashif Manzoor's text messages were also revealed by Lancashire Police today as they shared evidence used in the case

A Google search made by tyre firm owner Feroz Suleman is pictured in a release by Lancashire Police today

She herself had fled war-torn Lebanon for a new life in the UK and had passed her second year exams shortly before her tragic death.

She was a trustee with the Children's Society and won Student of the Year at Blackburn Central High School in 2016.

In a touching tribute online at the time of Aya's death, Noreen Hussain said: 'Aya Hachem was exactly the type of young woman I'd love for her to aspire to be like.'

The Asylum and Refugee Community (ARC) Project wrote in a Facebook post: 'With great sadness and heartache we have to share with you that we have lost Aya, beloved eldest daughter of Samar and Ismael from Lebanon.

'Aya, one of our own, lost her life in a horrific senseless attack, randomly caught up in a shooting outside Lidl, King Street, Blackburn as she walked past at around 3pm on Sunday.

'Aya, a beautiful 19 year old young woman from Lebanon, had just passed her 2nd year law exams at Salford University and had a dream and ambition to study international law. Aya and her family are much loved in our ARC community.

'Our hearts and prayers are with them at this painful time especially during this holy month of Ramadan when Aya and her family were fasting.'

Seven people have been found guilty of the murder of law student Aya Hachem (left and right) who was gunned down as she shopped for groceries in botched drive-by execution

Ms Hachem (pictured), who was a young trustee with the Children's Society, had been close to her home when she was shot and killed on King Street

Feroz Suleman (right), 40, and Kashif Manzoor (left), 26, were among the men found guilty of murdering the teenager

Jury at Preston Crown Court also found Abubakir Satia (left), 32, and his brother Uthman Satia (right), 29, guilty of murder

Ayaz Hussain (left), 35, was also found guilty of Ms Hachem's murder. Judy Chapman (right), 26, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter

In a statement issued after the verdicts, Aya's heartbroken family said: 'We thank God for the justice that has been served today.

'To our dear beautiful angel in heaven we know you are in a better and more beautiful place. God chose you from amongst many and blessed you with martyrdom.

'We are so proud of you and we miss you so much - our lives are difficult without you. This is God's decree and praise be to God for this. You will remain in our hearts forever.

'You loved life and despite all the struggles and barriers that we faced in this country, it did not stop you contributing to your community and charites including the Children's Society and fundraising at Salford University where you were studying to become a barrister.

'God chose you as an angel in his heaven. Heaven is yours and may God give us the patience after your murder. We love you.'

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo from Lancashire's Force Major Investigation Team, said: 'My thoughts and sympathies are very much with Aya's family for the devastating loss they have suffered.

'They have had to endure a twelve-week trial and listened to the lies of each of the eight defendants, none of whom showed any responsibility or remorse for their actions.

'The death of someone we love is excruciating, especially when that person is one's child. Aya's parents will never get over her death.

'They will, however, I hope, with time, come to terms with Aya's passing and rebuild themselves around their loss.

'I hope these convictions go some way to laying the foundations for that long rebuilding process.'

Ms Hachem's father Ismail - a former soldier - arrived in England ten years ago as an asylum seeker before being granted British citizenship in 2019

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running dispute between Suleman, the owner of RI Tyres, and Mr Khan, the owner of Quickshine Tyres, after the latter began to sell tyres having previously only washed cars. Pictured: Police at the scene previously

Ms Hachem's family flew to Lebanon for the teenager's funeral which was held in Qlaileh. Pictured: Her coffin is carried by relatives

Alan Richardson, Senior Crown Prosecutor, added: 'Each of these callous conspirators is in their way responsible for the senseless killing of Aya Hachem  an innocent young woman full of promise who lost her life as a result of a petty business rivalry.

'The ruthlessness of everyone involved is staggering, with the group going to extreme lengths to plan an assassination in broad daylight  risking the lives of members of the public going about their daily business.

'Even when the wrong target was hit, they refused to display any guilt or remorse and denied involvement in this devastating murder.'

Aya's father Ismail Hachem - a former soldier - arrived in England ten years ago as an asylum seeker before being granted British citizenship in 2019.

Ms Hachem's family flew to Lebanon for the teenager's funeral which was held in Qlaileh.

The seven men will be sentenced on Thursday. Chapman will be sentenced at a date to be confirmed in October.
An eight year-old Tennessee orphan taken to Syria by her ISIS supporter parents still speaks with an American accent - and was beaten by an Islamic State 'carer' assigned to look after her when her parents died.

Aminah Mohamad spoke with a researcher from the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE), offering insight into her trauma-filled young life.

'I only know that my mom died, and my dad died,' Aminah told the researcher. The youngster, born in Tennessee to American mom Ariel Bradley, 25, still has her US accent, and does not appear to be able to speak Arabic. She also gave her age as six, rather than eight, during the ICSVE interview.

Aminah has been living in hiding since she began the sole survivor of a 2018 airstrike that killed her mother, stepfather and little brothers, the Daily Beast reported. The girl was injured in the attack and still scars from the blast.

Following her family's deaths, Aminah was placed in the care of one of her stepfather's other wives, an ISIS detainee who remained loyal to the cause, at Camp Roj.

Aminah Mohamad (pictured), an 8-year-old American girl who grew up under ISIS rule, says she doesn't know much about her family or where she came from noting: 'I only know that my mom died, and my dad died'

'I dont know her; she just takes care of me,' Aminah said when the ICSVE asked about her caretaker.

A Kurdish woman who Aminah reportedly opened up to in the camp claimed the orphan had been beaten and assaulted by her former caretaker. Aminah was also forced to do housework in their tent and was tasked with caring for the woman's son.

Simultaneously, Aminah was being actively hidden from local authorities who actively seek out orphans. She was placed in a niqab, a face covering that shows only the eyes, and which children do not normally wear, in effort to disguise the fact that she was not her caretaker's biological daughter.

According to the women who helped facilitate her rescue, Aminah was 'languishing in the camp' and faced several hardships including starvation.

She did not attend school and appeared to not understand Arabic, the native language of Syria. Aminah's preferred language is English and she speaks with an American accent, the Beast reported.

Aminah was rescued from Camp Roj on July 17 and is being held at a secure location in northeast Syria as preparations are being made for her repatriation to the United States.

Aminah was rescued from Camp Roj (pictured) on July 17 and is being held at a secure location in northeast Syria as preparations are being made for her repatriation to the United States

The repatriation process, which is handled by the U.S. Department of State, involves a DNA confirmation of identity before Aminah can be brought home. Afterwards, authorities will work to determine a placement that is in her best interest.

Aminah has been through things that no child should ever go through  war, hunger, the deaths of her mother, father and stepfather, being hidden away. She will need a lot of supports, psychological and material,' Galbraith, who is not involved in the placement process, explained.

The state department did not provide DailyMail.com with specific details on Aminah's case, however a spokesman said in a statement, the country's official policy is to: 'repatriate, prosecute when appropriate, rehabilitate when possible and reintegrate their foreign terrorist fighter nationals and associated family members currently living in northeast Syria and Iraq'.

The youngster's grandparents, aunt and uncle live in Tennessee, and say they will push to adopt Aminah when she returns to the United States.

'We are and have been actively working the many steps it will take for Aminah to come home,' Aminah's uncle, Daniel Bradley, of Chattanooga, told DailyMail.com. 'We anticipate the day Aminah will return to the United States to live with her family.'

Aminah's mom, Ariel Bradley, grew up in a devout Christian household in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and converted to Islam in 2011

Aminah was born on December 8, 2011 to Chattanooga-native Ariel Bradley who grew up a strict Evangelical Christian, but later rebelled against her devout upbringing.

Bradley became a drug-taking anti-climate change protester, before converting to Islam after taking up with an Iraqi refugee based in Sweden - Yasin Mohamad - who is Aminah's father. The couple also shared a son together, Yaqub, and moved to Syria to join ISIS in 2014.

Mohamad was killed while fighting in 2015, with Bradley then marrying Australian pediatrician Tareq Kamleh. Kamleh is the father of Bradley's third child, a boy named Yousef.

Bradley, Kamleh, Yaqub and Yousef were killed in a hospital air strike in 2018 that left Aminah injured, according to the Daily Beast. She has been left with permanent scars as a result of that bombing.

Aminah and her parents had been living under ISIS rule since her parents joined the terrorist organization in 2014. After her family's deaths, she was then sent to Camp Roj, a Kurdish-controlled detention camp for people with ties to the Islamic State.

Camp Roj is famously home to Shamima Begum, a British ISIS bride who fled London in February 2015 at the age of just 15 to join the caliphate.

Begum married a Dutch ISIS fighter, and is said to have joined the terror group's morality police. Her husband and three children have all died, with Begum currently pleading to be allowed home to the UK, despite being stripped of her citizenship.

Aminah was rescued from the facility last month after a Canadian woman who has since denounced her ties to the terrorist organization managed to alert former US diplomat Peter Galbraith of her condition.

According to Galbraith, a group of Somali women living together took steps to hide Aminah from the Kurdish guards, who would regularly search for orphans.

Galbraith, who dealt with the Kurds for the United States government and has spent the past three years trying to repatriate women and children from the detention camps, was alerted of Aminah's condition after successfully rescuing another family.

Peter Galbraith, a former United States diplomat who worked with the Kurds, has spent the past three years trying to repatriate women and children from the detention camps

He told DailyMail.com that he visited the camp in November 2019 after a German woman asked him to help rescue her children from the facility.

When he successfully repatriated that family, his contact information spread through the camp, reaching a Canadian woman who was crucial to Aminah's rescue.

The woman used Kurdish authorities to alert Galbraith of Aminah's situation and he decided he needed to free her.

'I didn't know if I could get Aminah out,' Galbraith said. I want to give credit to the Canadian woman  without her courage in terms of identifying Aminah and saying where she is, we wouldnt have been able to get her out.'

She risked her life to save this child,' he added.

On July 17, a team of SDF soldiers descended on the Somali enclave and retrieved Aminah. It is unclear what happened in the raid. She is now being looked after at a safe location in northern Syria while officials work to repatriate her.

Bradley, who grew up in poverty, was homeschooled by her mother with a curriculum based on the beliefs of the Pentecostal Church of God, according to the Herald-Sun. She had several gaps in her knowledge, such as not learning to read until she was a pre-teen and never obtaining a high school diploma or GED.

As she aged, Bradley grew embarrassed of her mother's evangelism, became an atheist and denounced religion as a 'delusion.' She ran away from the family home around age 16 and spent the next decade bouncing between relationships, homes, and religion.

Bradley's (pictured) friends said she often changed her beliefs to match those of 'whatever guy she was interested in' at the time

'Not to throw her under the bus or anything, but she was definitely always looking for love, always looking for that sense of belonging,' one friend told Buzzfeed in 2015.

'Her life was a solar system without a star, without a sun,' another echoed.

Bradley later committed her time to social activism, pushing for racial equality, teachers' rights and fair housing, while also volunteering with the homeless.

Her friends claim she got tattoos, drank and smoked weed, before developing a crush on a young Muslim man she met while working at a local restaurant.

She then started dressing more modestly, made Muslim friends and wore scarves over her head, and officially converted to Islam in 2011.

'The thing about Ariel that was just so weird was that she had a clearly segmented life,' a friend said after Bradley joined ISIS. 'It was like when I first met her, she was a Christian, and then she was a socialist, and then she was an atheist and then a Muslim.

'As far as I could tell it was always in relation to whatever guy she was interested in. So if she meets a guy that's an atheist, she falls into that for a year. Then the guy leaves and she becomes somebody new and it starts all over again.

'It seemed like whatever guy she was with, she would just crawl into his skin and kind of become him.'

As she aged, Bradley (right) grew embarrassed of her mother's evangelism, became an atheist and denounced religion as a 'delusion'

Bradley started talking to Yasin Mohamad on a dating website that year, and traveled to Sweden to meet him in person in December 2011. They wed during her visit.

Her friends, particularly her Muslim friends, were concerned about the arrangement. Some believed that Mohamad, a refugee from Iraq who was not a Swedish citizen, was using her to obtain American citizenship.

'Everybody warned her and just said, 'Don't do it, don't do it, you don't know him, you don't know anything about his background, you don't know his family.' It could be a trick or something,' a close female Muslim friend told the news outlet.

When she became pregnant, Buzzfeed reports, she returned home to give birth in her hometown, before moving back to Sweden to be with Mohamad and eventually to Syria so Bradley and Mohamad could join ISIS in 2014.

According to Buzzfeed, Aminah was 18-months-old when her family relocated to Syria. At the time, Bradley was pregnant with her second child, Yaqub.

She used social media to document her life inside, Buzzfeed reported at the time, sharing stories about her children and bemoaning the barrage of bombs as she would eat breakfast with her kids.

She reportedly wrote that she would take her kids to the park to play - an adventure that ended with the family watching ISIS propaganda.

Bradley, under the handle @umaminahamrikl, used social media to document her life inside

She would share stories online about her children and bemoaning the barrage of bombs as she would eat breakfast with her kids

Bradley also shared this photo of a bowl of meat from an animal sacrificed to celebrate the birth of her baby son

Aminah was interviewed by the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism following her release from the camp.

'She clearly self-identified as Aminah and talked about her family with deep sadness,' director Anne Speckhard told Buzzfeed, adding she 'doesn't have a clear context as to where she's from.'

Speckhard said she needs 'a safe, predictable and loving environment to replace the traumatic one [she] lived under.'

According to the Canadian woman, 'Children in the camps have the worst start to life. They are already traumatized y losing one or more parents and growing up around violence, poverty and misery.

'They deal with constant danger, lack of food, lack of education and their lives are simply going to waste.'

Aminah has family in Tennessee who told DailyMail.com they are 'actively working the many steps it will take for Aminah to come home' and 'anticipate the day Aminah will return to the United States to live with her family'

Galbraith said he wants to do whatever he can now to ensure that her new life in America will be different from the one she escaped.

He said he wants her to play with other children, attend school and 'get the counseling and the mental health support she's clearly going to need.'

Aminah has been through things that no child should ever go through  war, hunger, the deaths of her mother, father and stepfather, being hidden away. She will need a lot of supports, psychological and material,' he said.

'My ability to do anything is limited,' Galbraith added. 'But I want the people who make the decisions to know where she came from and what she went through.'

Galbraith also managed to secure the release of the Canadian woman, who is now in Iraq waiting to be repatriated to her home country.
Some of the Democratic Party's most influential women me for dinner in July to help strategize how to combat a slew of negative news stories about Vice President Kamala Harris, a Thursday report revealed.

Kiki McLean, a Democratic public affairs expert and former adviser to both Bill and Hillary Clinton, hosted the 'urgent' gathering, according to Axios.

'The point of it was how can this group be supportive from the outside,' a person familiar with the dinner said.

'It was less about how do you sort out the infrastructure [of Harris' operation], and it was more how can this group contribute to make sure that not only is her team making the most of this moment  as the first woman of color in the White House  but how can we help from the outside?' they added of the meeting's intention.

Others who attended the strategic session last month include former Democratic National Committee officials Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry; former Hillary Clinton spokeswomen Adrienne Elrod and Karen Finney; and former Obama White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri.

Biden adviser Stephanie Cutter and Harris confidant Minyon Moore were also there.

Notably absent from the dinner, the report notes, was any staff from Harris' office.

A group of the most influential women in Democratic politics met for dinner in July to help combat a slew of negative news coverage surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and her Chief of Staff Tina Flournoy (right)

Kiki McLean, a Democratic public affairs expert and former adviser to both Bill and Hillary Clinton, hosted the 'urgent' gathering last month

The dinner was celebratory of old friends getting together for the first time since the pandemic, but also had a more pressing purpose to address reports of 'rampant dysfunction' in the vice president's office and how to improve her media standing.

They needed to figure out how to better defend Harris and her Chief of Staff Tina Flournoy against the negative press.

Harris has faced a series of damaging press reports, including leaks from administration officials questioning her political judgment and describing an unhealthy work environment.

Politico reported on June 30 that through interview with 22 current and former Harris and Biden aides, associates and officials, it was concluded that there was a 'tense' and 'dour' atmosphere in the office.

'Aides and allies said Flournoy, in an apparent effort to protect Harris, has instead created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out,' the report read. 'Often, they said, she refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.'

Other than the leaks and interviews with White House staff, Harris has also faced public criticism from media figures and politicians surrounding the jobs she has taken on as vice president  most notably her role in addressing 'root causes' of the southern border crisis.

Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff hosted a post-Fourth of July barbecue themed party at their Naval Observatory residence following claims staffers were made to 'feel like s***'

Harris photobombs a picture of aides Peter Velz (left) and Opal Vadhan (right)

The women who gathered discussed how to best sell the public and media on Harris, including the dismal ratings she received as 'border czar.'

'Many of us lived through the Clinton campaign, and want to help curb some of the gendered dynamics in press coverage that impacted HRC,' another source familiar with the dinner told Axios.

'It was like: 'We've seen this before.' It's subtle. But when things aren't going well for a male politician, we ask very different questions, and they're not held to account the way a woman leader is.'

The individual said they want to 'make sure the press knows this' and attempts to get rid of the 'sexist overtones' in Harris coverage.
A 12-year-old girl was attacked by a shark that left her needing 42 stitches for 20 cuts on her leg while vacationing in Maryland with her family.

Jordan Prushinski, of Plains Township, Pennsylvania, recounted the harrowing incident on a beach in Ocean City on Monday in an interview with WBRE-TV.

She was playing in knee-deep water on 119th St. Beach when she suddenly felt a sharp pain and limped to the shore to find blood streaming down her leg.

'I didn't really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere,' Jordan said.

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Jordan Prushinski, 12, (pictured) was attacked by a shark that left her needing 42 stitches for 20 cuts on her leg while vacationing in Maryland with her family on Monday

Jordan (front left) recounted the attack in an interview with WBRE alongside her sister and parents. 'I didn't really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere,' she said

'I was swimming and a wave had just crashed and I was right on the edge of the crash zone, I thought a horseshoe crab had got lifted up and hit against my shins,' Jordan said of the moment she felt the bite

Beachgoers, including an EMT and a nurse, helped give Jordan first aid before she was transported to a hospital. Her leg is seen before (left) and after (right) she received 42 stitches

'I was swimming and a wave had just crashed and I was right on the edge of the crash zone, I thought a horseshoe crab had got lifted up and hit against my shins,' Jordan said of the moment she felt the bite.

'I dont like the sea creatures so I rushed out immediately to find blood everywhere, with cuts all over my left leg.'

Her mother, Melissa Prushinski, said other beachgoers, including an EMT and a nurse, helped give Jordan first aid.

They cleaned and bandaged the wound as Jordan's family then took her to Atlantic General Hospital.

The supposed shark attack occurred on 119th St. Beach in Ocean City, Maryland

The Ocean City Beach Patrol also was there to help Jordan. Captain Butch Arbin said he has not seen anything like this in 49 years, according to CBS Baltimore.

He also said that sharks have no interest in biting people generally and it is not unsafe for humans to swim in the water with them present.

Bradley said: 'Its more likely in the summertime than it is other parts of the year because there are more people going to the beach, more people in the water; it increases the potential that someone could interact with a shark but its still relatively uncommon here in Maryland.'

Jordans father Robert Prushinski said: 'Lifeguards and everybody else that were helping, were fantastic. By the time I got there, I scooped her up and got her onto a quad and got her out of there.'

The town of Ocean City says officials are consulting experts and arent ruling out marine life.

Mrs Prushinksi said: 'We still dont know what kind of shark it was. The ER doctor confirmed it was a shark bite because no other animal makes this type of bite.'

Marie Levine, the executive director of the Shark Research Institute, believes that a black tip shark might have bit Jordan when she was in the ocean.

Shark attacks are not common for Maryland waters and is the only coastal state with zero unprovoked shark attacks, according to the Ocean City Beach Patrol.

On record, there was only one shark bite that happened in Maryland waters after a man named Matthew Vickers was bit while sharkfishing in 2014.

This event was the only one recorded by the Florida Museum of Natural History for the state of Maryland.

Marie Levine, the executive director of the Shark Research Institute, believes a black tip shark might have been responsible for the bite on Jordan's leg

In terms of the US, fatal shark attacks are still considered extremely rare as the chances are about one in four million, according to National Geographic.

The International Shark Attack File released a report saying that 2020 saw a deadly year as ten people were killed in shark attacks around the world, which was considered the highest since 2013.

Three of these attacks happened in California, Hawaii and Maine.

There were also 33 confirmed cases of unprovoked US shark attacks that year as well.
This is the terrifying moment a British sailor was surrounded by a pod of killer whales which tried to capsize his boat 'so they could eat him'.

Alan Bruce, 63, was manning a 44ft sailing yacht in the Gibraltar Strait with Frenchman Stephen Peare, 49, when four orcas suddenly began ramming and rocking the vessel in a bid to throw them off.

The pair managed to record a short clip of the mammal family, which consisted of an 18ft male, a female and their two calves.

The experienced sailors retreated below deck and radioed for help before enduring 90 minutes of harassment from the animals as they repeatedly shunted the hull of the boat.

They also deliberately broke the rudder to disable the yacht, in what Mr Bruce described as 'payback' for humans overfishing their natural habitat.

Alan Bruce, 63, (pictured) was manning a 44ft sailing yacht in the Gibraltar Strait with Frenchman Stephen Peare, 49, when four orcas suddenly began ramming and rocking the vessel in a bid to throw them off

Mr Bruce, from Ferndown, Dorset, is convinced he and Mr Peare were being 'eyeballed as food' by the four orcas.

He said: 'Something hit beneath the boat and when I looked back the orca was there. There was a whole family of them. The male was a big boy, about 18ft long.

'I rushed to switch off the engine and all the electric and just let them play with the boat.

'They can travel at 34 miles an hour and could crash the boat if they wanted to. They're not to be messed and I didn't want to make them aggressive.

'We went down below deck because when we looked over the side at them they were eyeballing us for food.

'We could feel the force of these creatures pushing the sides of the boat and there was nothing we could do - it was a 10 tonne boat and they were pushing it sideways.

'They are very intelligent animals and they were trying to get at the rudder to disable the boat. I've read reports of orcas attacking boats and they always go for the rudders.

'They snapped the main rudder but we could still steer the vessel with an emergency steering system.

'We manoeuvred it to a port 10 miles north. It was nighttime by this point so I had to bring it into dock in the dark. When we arrived we had to open a bottle of whiskey just to calm the nerves.'

The two men were sailing a Jeanneau 479 yacht from Cartagena, Murcia, to Portugal on behalf of a client when they came under attack.

Luckily the pod of whales eventually left the vessel alone and Mr Bruce and Mr Peare were able to limp it 10 miles to the nearest port at Barbate in southern Spain.

The whales deliberately broke the rudder to disable the yacht, in what Mr Bruce described as 'payback' for humans overfishing their natural habitat (Pictured: Killer whale attacking the boat of Arthur Dyevre)

The alarming episode is the latest exchange between killer whales and private yachts in the waters of the Iberian Peninsula.

It is said that as the mammal's natural food sources in the area become scarcer, confrontations between the two are becoming alarmingly common.

There were 45 incidents recorded between July and November last year when mostly young orcas interfered with boats, in many cases damaging the rudders.

Mr Bruce docked at Barbate on Monday night where he remained for several days to repair the boat.

During his time there he said that three other vessels were rescued by lifeboat crews after they were attacked by orcas, making it a 'daily occurrence.'

The father-of-two said: 'The emergency crews here are saying it's happening every day - at least two or three times daily.

'I think it's all to do with global warming and over-fishing. We've been over-fishing their waters and now it's payback time.'

French sailor Arthur Dyevre, 22, was also rescued after his 38ft sailing boat sustained a two hour attack by a pair of adults with their calf.

He said: 'We saw them coming and thought they were dolphins, but they just kept getting bigger and bigger.

'We cut the engine off and they started hitting against the boat, spinning it around like crazy for about 45 minutes.

'Then another boat arrived and they moved to that. By the time the rescue team came they had pushed our two boats closer together by around 300ft.

'The rescue team did laps around our boats for around an hour to scare the orca away. We thought it was never going to end.

'The people in the other boat were terrified - at one point they screamed and said they were letting in water.'
A white, female Apple manager said she's been placed on administrative leave this week after complaining about hostile treatment, including that managers told her she was too hard on white men during diversity training and speaks with a Valley Girl tone.

The tech giant also barred the employee, Ashley Gjvik, from using its Slack channel while on leave and from meeting one-on-one with other female employees to discuss her issues with the company, she said in an interview with The Verge.

Over the past month, Gjvik has been vocal on Twitter about her experiences. After she was placed on leave, she tweeted, 'So, following raising concerns to #Apple about #sexism, #hostileworkenvironment, & #unsafeworkconditions, I'm now on indefinite paid administrative leave per #Apple employee relations, while they investigate my concerns. This seems to include me not using Apple's internal Slack.'

Apple allegedly placed senior engineer Ashley Gjvik on administrative leave after she voiced her concerns about sexism and unsafe working conditions

Gjvik set an out-of-office message to let her colleagues know she had been placed on indefinite paid leave Wednesday.

Later that day, she also pinned a tweet on her profile alluding to hazardous working conditions, which read, 'When I say 'unsafe #workconditions,' I mean physically unsafe; #dangerous chemicals; #OSHA. You'll hear much more about this in a bit.'

Gjvik has not followed up with specific allegations regarding dangerous conditions. The Daily Mail reached out to her for more information, but did not immediately hear back.

Apple responded to a request from the Daily Mail regarding Gjvik's concerns with a statement that read, 'We are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace. We take all concerns seriously and we thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised.'

The company would not confirm Gjvik's leave or the reasons for it, but said, 'out of respect for the privacy of any individuals involved, we do not discuss specific employee matters.'

Gjvik told The Verge that she asked for months that Apple address her concerns, adding that she provided them with 558 'pieces of evidence to review.' In response, she said that the company offered her Employee Assistant Program therapy and medical leave.

'I told them that made no sense, and said they should talk to my leadership and set up oversight and boundaries,' she said. 'I added that if there was no other option they could give me paid administrative leave. They apparently made no effort to set boundaries and instead said they were placing me on administrative leave and implied they did not want me on Slack where I had been vocal about my concerns with certain policies at the company. They also implied they didn't want me to meet one-on-one with other women at the company about their concerns with Apple policies, which I had been doing.'

Late last month, Gjvik retweeted a New York Times story in which a number of women working at Google said they also were offered EAP therapy or administrative leave after asking the company to address workplace misconduct.

She added to the post, 'This happened to me at #Apple too: they offered EAP and suggested medical leave after I spoke up about #sexism, #discrimination, and a hostile work environment. They also suggested requesting #ADA #disability accommodations after I raised concerns about unsafe #workconditions.'

She followed up with, 'When ER (Employee Relations) offered me EAP, medical leave, & disability accommodations as a mitigation for how I was treated, they further burdened the victim, obfuscated the real issue, and revealed their apathy. @timnitGebru said it best: 'no amount of mindfulness fixes a hostile work environment.'

Timnit Gebru worked at Google as an AI ethicist until she was ousted in December after criticizing what she called a lack of diversity within Google's AI unit.

Gebru shared one of Gjvik's tweets and wrote, 'As I mentioned before, Apple operates with impunity. I have so many stories from my days there. And given that they're not on the spotlight, the message they receive is that their approach is working.'

Gjvik said this is the second time Apple has agreed to address her claims about sex discrimination at the company. Employee relations closed an earlier investigation and allegedly found no evidence of discrimination. Apple did not confirm the previous claims from Gjvik and it is unclear when her first complaint occurred.

In response, Gjvik took to Twitter at that time to share what she experienced.

She posted a screenshot of a text exchange with one of her male counterparts, who commented on her tone during a presentation and said she didn't 'go up an octave at the end of her statements' and sounded 'more authoritative.'

Gjvik wrote, 'Wanted to share: #Apple employee relations confirmed this #tonepolicing is totally ok feedback for me to get from my #bigtech #male leaders & not #sexist. As this investigation rolls on, I've decided to start Tweeting the stuff they say is 'ok.' I mean, they did say it was ok?'

She said that she was 'brushed off' by Apple the first time she raised concerns and tweeted, '#Apple employee relation's 1st #sexism investigation only arose while I was complaining about unsafe work conditions and related #intimidation. They tried to quickly brush me off & prevented me from raising more concerns. This time, I gave them 558 pieces of evidence to review.'

Gjvik worked at Apple for nearly seven years, according to her LinkedIn page

Gjvik's experience comes during a rise in employee activism throughout Silicon Valley. The Apple Park campus above is seen in Cupertino, California

She posted another example referencing an incident she said was ignored by employee relations, in which she led a diversity training exercise and was told by management that she was being too hard on white people.

It reads, 'Today's #Apple 'employee relations said this is ok' example: I led an I&D training for my #bigtech all male mgmt team and got complaints I was 'too hard on the #whiteman' and told to only talk about '#equalopportunity but not #equaloutcomes.' Employee relations said that's okay.'

Gjvik worked at Apple for nearly seven years, according to her LinkedIn page, which also says she has a juris doctor and is a Public International Law Certificate candidate at Santa Clara University. It lists that she attended Bennington College from 2004 to 2005 and got a bachelor's from Portland State, where she was enrolled from 2007 to 2012.

Her tweets come during a rise in employee activism in Silicon Valley.

Tech writer Casey Newton, founder and editor of Platformer, noted the trend in a recent article and wrote, 'Suddenly at Apple, as everywhere else, managers can only stand back and watch as workers reshape the bounds of what will be permitted at work.'

Newton's article came in May after 2,000 Apple employees signed a petition to oust a new hire, Antonio Garcia Martinez, over controversial passages from his 2016 memoir, Chaos Monkeys, written after he was fired from Facebook in 2013. The petition called them sexist and racist.

In May, Antonio Garcia Martinez, above, was ousted from his new job at Apple after employees complained about him saying women are 'full of sh*t' and comparing an Indian coworker to an 'auto-rickshaw driver from Delhi' in his memoir Chaos Monkeys

Garcia Martinez released Chaos Monkeys back in 2016, chronicling his move from Wall Street to Silicon Valley and promising a behind-the-scenes look at Facebook after he was fired from his advertising manager role at the social media giant in 2013

Colleagues flagged his book's claims that 'women are 'full of sh*t' and another excerpt likening a former Indian coworker to a 'bored auto-rickshaw driver from Delhi'.

The petition also was leaked to media outlets, which is unprecedented at Apple, known for making employees sign project-specific NDAs to prevent them from sharing information even with family members.

In 2018, the company sent a note to employees saying that it caught 29 people leaking company information and had 12 arrested. In the note, the company also threatened to fire and even sue workers who shared product information.

But employees have recently pushed back against the culture of secrecy. A group of Muslim employees wrote a letter to Apple asking for the company to release a statement in support of Palestinian civilians affected by violence in Gaza. When CEO Tim Cook didn't respond, someone leaked the letter to The Verge.
In an 'unprecedented' move, five alleged Aryan Brotherhood members will not have to appear at certain court hearings in person as prosecutors fear they are too dangerous.

In a stipulation filed on Tuesday, Ronald Yandell, Danny Troxell, Pat Brady, Jason Corbett and William Sylvester all agreed to appear by video to all hearings where their appearance wouldn't be required or valuable to the defense.

Prosecutors feared the men would escape as they said the men were found making ropes and fishing lines and asking about details about their transportation to court.

The men are among two dozen alleged Aryan Brotherhood members and associates charged in connection to five prison murders, four murder plots and a large-scale drug trafficking ring within the California state prisons.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller agreed that the decision was 'unprecedented,' and defense attorney's argued that the move infringes upon their clients' right to face criminal charges in person.

Accused: Daniel Troxell, left, and Ronald Yandell, right, are among 16 leaders and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood gang who are awaiting trial in California

Prosecutors said alleged Aryan Brotherhood inmates including Jason Corbett (left) and William Sylvester (right) may be too dangerous to leave jail even for a court appearance

The defendants were charged with murder, plotting murder and running a large drug-trafficking ring within the California State Prison-Sacramento, pictured above

The prosecutors added that the prisoners' dangerous behavior was evident as they continued to commit crimes while being held at Sacramento County Jail and New Folsom Prison, The Mercury News reports.

According to federal prosecutors, the men were plotting to smuggle cellphones into the Sacramento County Jail and discussed 'taking out' a person who had introduced on their wives to an undercover federal agent.

Court records also said that the defendants were seen 'eyeing locks,' exchanging secret messages, and that another alleged Aryan Brotherhood member, Samuel Keeton, had tampered with the lighting device in his cell.

Troxell is a convicted killer serving a life sentence who spent more than 20 years in solitary confinement.

Five other defendants are also convicted murderers, including Jason 'Jake' Corbett and William Sylvester who are both accused of further killings in prison.

Sylvester and his cellmate, Yandell, allegedly used smuggled cell phones to organize heroin and methamphetamine in California.

Yandell, serving a life sentence for a double murder, is described as one of the gang's three-member leadership commission, as is Troxell.

Some of the inmates could face the death penalty if they are found guilty.

Prosecutors say one murder victim was a longtime leader of a rival black gang, killed just days after he was released from decades of solitary confinement.

Black Guerilla Family leader Hugo 'Yogi' Pinell, a killer with ties to the 1960s black revolutionary movement, was killed by the Aryan Brotherood in 2015, it is alleged.

Pinell became infamous as a member of San Quentin Six, helping slit the throat of prison guards during a failed 1971 escape attempt that left six dead.

In addition, attorney Kevin Macnamara is accused of aiding the gang by helping smuggle drugs and cellphones into prisons.

Guards have alleged finding three phones, plastic wrappers and power cables concealed in the seat cushion of Macnamara's wheelchair.

Despite its racist philosophy, the Aryan Brotherhood had a drug smuggling partnership with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors claim.

Authorities have been trying to bring down the Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, for decades.

The gang was formed by white inmates in the mid-1960s and has a policy of 'blood in, blood out,' holding that full members must kill to gain entry.
A priest has been condemned by the Catholic Church after urging parishioners to avoid getting a Covid-19 vaccine.

Anti-vax conspiracist Father George Roth sparked outrage by telling worshippers vaccines were 'bio-terrorism' and urging them to 'do all you can' to avoid them.

In the email sent to parishioners on his mailing list, he added those pushing vaccinations are 'conspiring with evil men who wish [to] de-populate our world'.

The behaviour of the priest, of St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Gosport, Hants, has been condemned by the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth as well as the local borough council.

In a blog post on the church's website which has now been deleted, Fr Roth linked a disinformation video from notorious anti-vaxxer Vernon Coleman - who wrongly claims to be a doctor.

The Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth have said it is investigating the matter, and is 'disappointed' Fr Roth had expressed the 'personal view'.

Father George Roth said vaccines were 'bio-terrorism' in a blog post put online to believers

The priest's act, of St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Gosport, Hants, has been condemned

A spokeswoman said: 'The Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is very disappointed that one of the Family of Mary Immaculate and St Francis in Gosport has publicly expressed a personal view about the Covid vaccination programme that is contrary to the official position of the Catholic Church and the Diocese.

'The matter is being taken very seriously and an investigation is in progress.

'We would encourage all our parishioners to benefit from the protection afforded by the vaccine.'

Fr Roth also posted a video sermon in January in which he called abortion the 'culture of death'.

He urged worshippers in online address they should 'do all you can' to avoid having vaccine

He praised former US President Donald Trump's 'draining of the swamp' in the YouTube video.

A former police sergeant, who lost her own mother to Covid-19 last year, said Fr Roth's comments were 'an affront' to her mother's death.

Lesley Meenaghan, of Gosport, said: 'Hearing a community figure such as a church leader advising against the Covid-19 vaccination is an affront to my mother's death and thousands of others.

'I am so disappointed we still have anti-vax propaganda in Gosport, especially from people in positions of trust.

'This is the only way out of this terrible pandemic, and we must all do our duty.'

Graham Burgess, the Conservative leader of Gosport Borough Council, added: 'He's supposed to be what you call a pillar of the community, but he doesn't seem to be acting as one.'
Justin Holman, 36, has been charged with reckless homicide in the February 19 death of Shanel Smith, 50 (pictured), who was left to die in a snowbank in Indianapolis after heavy drinking

An Indianapolis man has been charged with homicide more than four months after he allegedly dragged a severely inebriated female friend out of his car and left her to freeze to death on a mound of snow.

The incident resulting in the death of Shanel Smith, a 50-year-old mother-of-two from Indianapolis, took place back in mid-February, but 36-year-old Justin Holman was not charged until June 29.

Holman allegedly told police he didn't remember why he decided to leave Smith alone in the cold behind a laundromat after removing her from his car when she wouldn't wake up.

Holman was booked into the Marion County jail on July 1 on a charge of reckless homicide, which is punishable by one to six years in prison. He was freed on Tuesday after posting $3,000 bond.

Marion County does not release inmates' booking photos to the public, and Holman has not commented on the charges he faces.

The case began unfolding back on February 19, when police found Smith lying dead on her back in a snowbank behind a laundromat in the 9900 block of East 38th Street.

An autopsy determined that Smith died of 'environmental cold exposure,' but her death was ruled a homicide because surveillance video showed Holman allegedly intentionally leaving the unconscious victim alone in the cold.

In the video, which was first obtained by Indianapolis Star, a man is apparently seen dragging Smith out of the passenger seat of a black Pontiac and ditching her in the snow. He then throws the woman's belongings next to her and drives away.

Police discovered Smith dead from exposure to the cold behind this laundromat on East 38th Street in Indianapolis

Smith reportedly could be seen moving for the first few minutes, and then again two hours later when she sits up. She then reclines in the snow, never to stir again.

A toxicology report that was released months later indicated that Smith's blood alcohol level hours after her death was .297, which is more than three times the drink drive limit in Indiana. Police used surveillance video from the street to track down Holman a day later.

During an interview with detectives, Holman allegedly said that he and Smith had been 'hanging out and drinking' in his car near a liquor store. He said the woman had dozed off and would not wake up, so he pulled her out of the car and left at around 4pm.

When pressed to explain why he abandoned his friend behind the laundromat, rather then in front of the business where she could have been found by passersby, Holman was said to have replied that he did not remember.

Smith's blood alcohol level hours after her death was more than three times the legal limit in Indiana. She is survived by her two children

Despite having been identified as a suspect just hours after Smith's death, Holman was not arrested until July 1, with police attributing the months-long delay to investigative procedures.

Smith's family said they were pleased to learn of Holman's arrest, but the father of the woman's two children said he thinks the charge against him is too light.

'My kids will never be able to see their mother even again because of what he's done,' John Wallace told the paper.

Holman is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on October 5.
The principal of an Arizona school has admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old boy - plus two other male victims - saying he wanted to recruit him for his school.

Victor Zamora, 40, was arrested on July 22 and charged with 15 counts of sexual misconduct involving three minors. He admitted to engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy and two others over two years, court documents say.

The 16-year-old was a student at the Legacy Academy in Mesa, Arizona, where Zamora was a teacher and principal. One of the other victims was the sibling of another student at Legacy.

Victor Zamora, 40, was arrested on July 22 and charged with 15 counts of sexual misconduct involving three minors. He admitted to engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy - plus two other male victims - over the course of two years

According to court documents, during the first incident in April 2019 Zamora took the 16-year-old student out to dinner to try and recruit him to attend his school.

After dinner he took the boy to a parking lot and touched his chest, shoulder and legs, the documents say. The victim said Zamora told him to get into the backseat of the car where they engaged in sexual acts.

Sgt. Jason McClimans of the Chandler Police Department told the East Valley Tribune: 'Zamora was a teacher and principal at the school and therefore in a position of trust. Zamora was also active as a youth leader in various religious communities in the East Valley.'

A month later Zamora drove the victim to his office in Mesa and they engaged in sexual acts again, according to court documents.

The 16-year-old victim was a student at the Legacy Academy in Mesa, Arizona, where Zamora was a teacher and principal. One of the other victims was the sibling of another student

'On numerous occasions Zamora would pick up the victim from their home in Chandler, taking the victim to dinner and his office in Mesa,' McClimans added.

Police called Zamora on July 19, 2021 and he admitted to knowing the victim was 16 years old, documents say. He also told police he performed 'numerous sex acts' with two other victims.

Chandler police arrested Zamora at his home two days later and he is being held on a $1million bond at the Lower Buckeye Jail.

Sergeant Jason McClimans of the Chandler Police Department said: 'On numerous occasions Zamora would pick up the victim from their home in Chandler, taking the victim to dinner and his office in Mesa'

Police later interviewed a second victim, who confirmed sex acts with Zamora happened between January 2020 and May 2021, court documents show.

Police recommend Zamora not be released since he is not a legal citizen of the US and can flee to Mexico with a border crossing card, AZ Family reported.

Zamora arrived in the US on a Class B2 visa, which allows visitors into the country for recreational purposes such as tourism, to visit friends and family or to receive medical treatment. Class B2 visas expire 10 years after they're issued.

Zamora's visa expired July 25, 2019.

Officers in Chandler, Mesa and Gilbert believe Zamora might have engaged in sexual acts with other victims and are working to identify them.

An arraignment is scheduled for August 10.
Brits desperate for a summer break in the United States have been handed fresh hope today after it was revealed President Joe Biden's administration plans to re-open the borders to double-jabbed tourists.

Joe Biden's move would form part of the eventual relaxation of travel restrictions that bar much of the world from entering the United States.

The White House is not ready to immediately lift travel restrictions because of the rising COVID-19 case load, a senior official explained.

The Biden administration has interagency working groups striving to prepare a 'new system for when we can reopen travel,' the official added.

The source explained the plan includes 'a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States [from all countries] need to be fully vaccinated.'

President Joe Biden's move would form part of the eventual relaxation of travel restrictions that bar much of the world from entering the United States

The Biden administration is developing a scheme to require nearly all foreign visitors to the United States to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The news that the Biden administration is developing plans to require nearly all foreign visitors comes amid lingering global concerns about the more contagious Delta variant of the virus.

Currently, non U.S-citizens aren't allowed into the country from China, Iran, most of Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South African and India.

Some of the border bans - such as the ones imposed on the EU, UK and China - have not been updated since they were put in place back in March 2020 when the pandemic first took hold.

Biden has been facing mounting pressure to lift the ban - including from travel industry groups and lawmakers in his own party.

On Monday the UK announced that fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and the European Union would be allowed back into the country without quarantining for 10 days.

The White House has been asked frequently when travel restrictions might be lifted.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked why unvaccinated individuals from other parts of the world were allowed to travel into the U.S., but vaccinated individuals from Europe and other banned countries weren't let in.

'I would certainly point you to our health and medical teams who make these decisions and evaluate what we need to do, from a public health perspective, to keep the American people safe at a time where the Delta variant is rising, and one where we are very cognizant about keeping the American people safe,' Psaki replied.

The Biden administration is developing a scheme to require nearly all foreign visitors to the United States to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 [Stock picture]

During her visit to the White House last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel articulated one sticking point: that countries don't want to have to close down travel again once it's initially opened.

'And obviously before such a decision, one has to reflect, and it has to be a sustainable decision,' Merkel said then. 'It is certainly not sensible to have to take it back after only a few days, so I have every confidence in the American COVID team.'

The EU reopened its borders to American tourists in June.

The news comes amid confirmation that summer holidays were saved after double-jabbed tourists returning from France are set to be spared quarantine.

Seven European countries; including Germany and Norway were added to the green list of travel destinations.

Spain has also been spared being given red status - potentially forcing thousands into 2,285-a-stay quarantine hotels - but the Government is urging travellers to take a PCR test before they fly home from the Iberian country.

Tens of thousands of Britons are now expected to head to France for August - although tourism chiefs have warned millions more Frenchmen are staying in the country this summer so there is a lack of accommodation.

There is a particular shortage of sites and hotel rooms in the south of the country, especially near beach resorts.
Antonio King, 22, walked into the Nashville Smile Direct Club warehouse on Tuesday, where he has worked since June, and opened fire on three people

The disturbing 911 calls made during a workplace shooting that left three injured and the gunman dead, were released by Nashville police Wednesday.

On Tuesday, 22-year-old Antonio King went to the Nashville Smile Direct Club warehouse, where he has worked since June, and opened fire into the building.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear.

'He's got multiple clips in his sling pack because he keeps replacing bullets,' a witness outside the building frantically tells a 911 dispatcher.

'I probably heard 20 rounds.'

The caller provides the dispatcher with a description of King as he walks alongside the building shooting.

'The shooter has a green shirt on and a sling pack around his shoulder,' the caller says. 'He's walking beside the building currently  still shooting.'

On Wednesday, authorities also released security camera video and officers' bodycam footage from the scene.

In this surveillance video still, King can be seen firing his .45 caliber handgun at security guards and into the Smile Direct Club warehouse

Video footage captured King as he reloaded his pistol multiple times during the workplace shooting

King arrived at the warehouse around 6am Tuesday, firing more than 20 rounds from a .45 caliber pistol. Video shows him reloading the gun multiple times as he shoots into the manufacturing facility.

In a second 911 call made during Tuesday's tragic workplace shooting, another caller tells the dispatcher that a security officer has been shot as workers frantically attempt to flee and hide.

'I have an active shooter.  There is a security officer shot,' one of the callers tells the 911 dispatcher as King engaged the guards in a shootout.

'We cleared the office area and were trying to clear people in the parking lot. People are seeking shelter in between the vehicles.'

Security guard Johnny Hardin, 46, was shot and transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, while 66-year-old Carlton Watson and Thomas Abbott, 43, were both taken to the hospital in stable condition. Abbott, the facility's manager, was released shortly after being admitted, according to a tweet from Metro Nashville Police Department.

Pictured: Responding officer Dylan Ramos' bodycam footage shows the moments leading up to the fatal police-involved shooting

Ramos and officer Cherell Kinchloe were forced to shoot King after he refused to comply with commands

King then fled to a nearby intersection, where police tracked him down.

Responding officers Cherell Kinchloe and Dylan Ramos fired several shots at King when he did not comply with orders to drop his weapon.

King was fatally shot by police after raising his gun toward them. 'Officers engaged with King on Antioch Pike,' Nashville police said.

'He refused commands to drop his gun and was fired on as he raised his pistol at police.'

In this video still, King can be seen casually leaving the scene after shooting three security guards outside of his place of work on Tuesday

Nashville police spokesman Kristin Mumford said in a video statement, that the department is reviewing the fatal police-involved shooting, she said regarding the incident.

'The actions of Officer Kinchloe, in firing two shots given the vantage point represented by her video, are under review by the police department,' Mumford said.

King's family members and coworkers are in shock following Tuesday's tragic incident, with one coworker telling Nashville's Fox 17 that King was 'nice, polite and smart.'

Family members told WKRN-TV that King was a 'quiet, caring, fun-loving, and hardworking' young man.

'The actions of Officer Kinchloe, in firing two shots given the vantage point represented by her video, are under review by the police department,' said public affairs officer Kristin Mumford

King was fatally shot by police after raising his gun towards the officers

'The reality of his mental illness has taken us by surprise,' the family added.

'It is important for us as a community to be aware of how mental illness can manifest itself in our loved ones in friends. In the days that we live in where it is so easy to shame, belittle, berate, and criticize others without knowledge of how they struggle daily,' King's family told the outlet.

Smile Direct Club released a statement later Tuesday, saying the company is 'shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place at our (Nashville) manufacturing facility.'

'We are grateful for the swift actions taken by our Team Members, security personnel and Metro Nashville Police in responding to, and quickly containing, the situation,' the company said in the statement.

'The safety of our Team Members is a top priority for the Company, and we maintain strict security protocols and a no weapons policy at all our facilities.'
Violence erupted on the streets of Melbourne with hundreds of mask-less protesters marching into the CBD as the state entered its sixth Covid lockdown at 8pm on Thursday.

Footage showed chaotic scenes with some demonstrators throwing bottles and other projectiles at police as officers deployed pepper spray to disperse the agitated crowd.

Hundreds of furious Victorians, only released from their fifth lockdown nine days ago, were heard chanting 'sack Dan Andrews' as they released flares in the street.

'Outraged' Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they made 15 arrests at the protest and will issue 16 others with fines for breaching public health orders, as investigations get underway over the assault of an officer who was allegedly pushed to the ground and stomped on.

It has also been revealed that event organisers may be charged with incitement for their alleged role in whipping up the crowd.

The snap seven-day stay-at-home orders issued by Premier Daniel Andrews came after flurry of new cases and a swath of new exposure sites on Thursday.

State health authorities flagged 14 sites in a late-night drop that included busy shopping centres, supermarkets and two Virgin Airlines flights that an infected passenger travelled on, raising concerns there could be many more cases to come.

Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters are seen marching through Melbourne's CBD on Thursday night (pictured) furious at the state being plunged into its sixth lockdown

A large ball of fire is captured in the background as chaotic anti-lockdown protests erupted in Melbourne on Thursday night (pictured) with hundreds taking to the streets

Several flares were set off during the demonstration as tensions boiled over with police, who made 15 arrests at the protest

A protester is seen holding a sign that claims the state's lockdown is not about Covid (pictured in Melbourne on Thursday night)

A protester with a megaphone is pictured speaking with police officers during the rally

Police take action against 31 protesters There were 15 arrests  Two people for the indictable offences of breaching bail and stating false names  Nine people were arrested before their identity could be confirmed to issue fines.  Four people are also expected to be charged on summons in relation to breaching their bail, activating a flare and hinder police. A further 16 people will be issued fines for breaching public health orders A number of incidents will also form criminal investigations including:  The assault of a police officer where offenders pushed a police sergeant to the ground and allegedly kicked him.  The activation of a flare, and  Criminal damage to a police vehicle Advertisement

The frustrated protest group met at Flinders Street Station earlier in the evening chanting conspiracy theory slogans and calling for Premier Dan Andrews to be sacked.

One man was captured on video being taken to the ground by four officers atop the steps of the iconic train station as police warned protesters to 'move away'.

The groups chanted 'freedom' and 'no lockdown' before one of the rally's organisers addressed demonstrators with a megaphone.

'Bring it on Daniel Andrews, we will fight to our last breath,' the woman screamed.

As the crowd got on the move and made their way down the street toward Parliament House, the march started peacefully with several young children and even babies among the swelling rally.

But the mood quickly turned hostile as protesters made their way past police officer lined up on the footpath.

Violent clashes were captured on video with some in the group shouting abuse at officers and calling them 'dogs'.

Police could be seen reaching for their pepper spray canisters and telling to the crowd to 'move away'.

When some in the group continued to move forward, officers fired the non-lethal weapon at various protesters.

Some demonstrators responded by hurling bottles and other projectiles before the hostile group dispersed.

'There are families, there are kids here and a whole mix of people from Melbourne and the police are just indiscriminately spraying pepper spray into the crowd,' a man filming the rally dubiously claimed.

'They are attacking the people who are marching to Parliament House.

'Spraying kids spraying families, these people have lost their jobs.'

Police officer are pictured threatening protestors with pepper spray as tempers flared on Thursday night

Police tell the hostile crowd to 'move away' as they deploy pepper spray on protesters

A bottle or projectile is captured on camera being thrown at police officers as tensions flare

A woman is pictured carrying a baby during the anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne

A demonstrator is taken away in handcuffs after being arrested by police officers during the raucous rally

Police confirmed they made a total of 15 arrests during the 'unlawful' protest with two people slapped in hand cuffs for allegedly breaching bail and stating false names.

A further nine were arrested before their identity could be confirmed to issue fines and four more are expected to be charged in relation to breaching their bail, activating a flare and hindering police.

Officers also issued 16 people with fines for breaching public health orders for offences like exceeding the public gathering limit, failing to wear facemask and travelling 5km from home - which is against the state's new lockdown rules.

Police confirmed that a number of incidents will now form criminal investigations including the the assault of a police officer who was allegedly pushed to the ground and kicked leaving him with 'minor cuts and abrasions'.

Hundreds of protesters swarmed Melbourne (pictured on Thursday night) to protest the new lockdown

A demonstrator with a megaphone is seen being pulled away by a police officer outside Flinders Street Station

Other charges are also expected to the laid over the activation of a flare, and criminal damage to a police vehicle.

'Four of the offenders who were arrested or fined are known to police as protest organisers,' Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said in a statement.

'They have been dealt with previously and it is expected they will be presented to court on appropriate charges, such as incitement.

'Any offenders who are established to be repeat offenders will also face appropriate charges and be placed before the court to prevent their repeat offending.'

Investigators say they're already scouring video footage to identify as many protesters as possible.

'Police are, together with the vast majority of Victorians who are doing the right thing, outraged that a small minority of people continue to engage in deliberate breaches of the CHO Directions, putting the lives and jobs of their fellow Victorians, as well as their police at risk,' Assistant Commissioner Cornelius said.

A demonstrator gives gestures toward police during the anti-lockdown march in Melbourne

At least two flares were let off in the street (pictured) as protesters stormed Melbourne

The drama comes as two Virgin Airlines Flights were declared a Tier 1 Covid exposure sites after a positive case passenger is thought to have travelled while infectious.

Anyone who travelled on Virgin Flight VA808 from Sydney to Melbourne on August 2 departing 7:00am must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.

It is the same story for those who flew on Virgin Flight VA1364 from Melbourne to Launceston on the same day, departing at 10:35am.

Those who may have visited Melbourne Airport Terminal 3 between 8:35am and 11:05am are urged to monitor their health an immediately get tested if they feel even the slightest symptoms.

Several other venues across Melbourne were also flagged, including the National Auto Glass store in Derrimut which was exposed for five days, along with Kmart in Footscray in the inner-west.

Central West Shopping Centre in West Footscray was also exposed including its Aldi supermarket, as was the busy Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong in Melbourne's inner north-west.

Police made 15 arrests during the rally and issued 16 others with fines for breaching health orders

A police officer discharges a pepper spray canister during the heated demonstration

With stay at home orders kicking in at 8pm, Premier Andrews told residents: 'Go home, and begin that lockdown.

'Don't be out and about because all you might be doing is spreading the virus.'

But that didn't stop the swarm of protesters, mostly without facemasks, descending on the city with flares, banners and not even an inch of social distancing.

Announcing the lockdown earlier on Thursday, Mr Andrews said there was 'no alternative' because the Indian Delta strain of coronavirus is so contagious.

'None of us want to be in a situation where we have to lockdown again but the Delta variant moves so fast,' he said.

'There are no alternatives to lockdown. If you wait, it will spread. And once it spreads, you can never even hope to run alongside it.

'I would prefer we didn't have to make this decision now. But my fear is if we were to wait a few days there is every chance instead of being locked down for a week, this gets away from us.'

NEW COVID EXPOSURE SITES IN VICTORIA ANNOUNCED ON THURSDAY NIGHT Tier 1 - Anyone who has visited this location during these times must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure. Virgin Flight: VA808 Sydney to Melbourne 02/08/2021 7:00am - 8:35am Case travelled as a passenger Virgin Flight: VA1364 Melbourne to Launceston 02/08/2021 10:35am - 11:42am Case travelled as a passenger West Footscray: Eco Laundry - Central West Shopping Centre T36/67 Ashley Street West Footscray VIC 3012 03/08/2021 5:55pm - 7:00pm Case attended venue Braybrook: One Stop WorkWear 306A Ballarat Road Braybrook VIC 3019 31/07/2021 10:00am - 11:30am Case attended venue Maribyrnong: Lowes - Highpoint Shopping Centre 120-200 Rosamond Road Maribyrnong VIC 3032 31/07/2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm Case attended venue Maribyrnong: Bad Workwear - Highpoint Shopping Centre 120-200 Rosamond Road Maribyrnong VIC 3032 31/07/2021 12:30pm - 1:30pm Case attended venue Derrimut: National Auto Glass Supplies (Derrimut) 31 Benn Court Derrimut VIC 3026 28/07/2021 9:00am - 3:45pm Case attended venue Tier 2 - Anyone who has visited this location during these times should urgently get tested, then isolate until confirmation of a negative result. Continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested again if symptoms appear. West Footscray: ALDI West Footscray - Central West Shopping Centre 67 Ashley Street West Footscray VIC 3012 01/08/2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm Case attended venue Footscray: Kmart Footscray 51 Paisley Street Footscray VIC 3011 01/08/2021 10:30am - 12:00pm Case attended venue 05/08/2021 5:20pm Braybrook: Metro Petroleum (Petrol Station) 263 Ballarat Road Braybrook VIC 3019 01/08/2021 5:00pm - 5:40pm Case attended venue West Footscray: ALDI West Footscray - Central West Shopping Centre 67 Ashley Street West Footscray VIC 3012 03/08/2021 5:30pm - 6:20pm Case attended venue Maribyrnong: Highpoint Food Court (Level 3) 120-200 Rosamond Road Maribyrnong VIC 3032 31/07/2021 12:30pm - 2:00pm Case attended venue Maribyrnong: Highpoint Shopping Centre (Level 2) 120-200 Rosamond Road Maribyrnong VIC 3032 31/07/2021 12:00pm - 1:30pm Case attended venue 05/08/2021 5:15pm Tier 3 - Anyone who has visited this location during these times should monitor for symptoms - If symptoms develop, immediately get tested and isolate until you receive a negative result. Melbourne Airport: Terminal 3 02/08/2021 8:35am - 11:05am Case spent time in terminal Further information can be found on the Victorian Government's website. Advertisement

Residents are only allowed to leave home for exercise, essential shopping, care-giving, essential work and getting vaccinated.

Mr Andrews asked residents to 'assume you have Covid' and immediately get tested if suffering any cold and flu symptoms - and he also urged people to obey the rules.

'I plead with all Victorians please don't go and visit family and friends, because you might well be contributing to the spread of the virus,' he said.

The premier said he wanted the lockdown to be successful so the state could open up quickly.

'I'm determined and I believe we have every chance of being open for the vast majority of the time between now and when we are up to 80 per cent of people who have had the jab.

A protester carries a sign calling on Premier Daniel Andrews to 'get the boot' during the Melbourne march on Thursday night

TWO NEW MYSTERY CASES Female school teacher who lives in the Hobsons Bay area in southwest Melbourne and works at Al-Taqwa College in the western suburb of Truganina A man who lives in the Maribrynong local government area in northwest Melbourne and works at a warehouse in the western suburb of Derrimut Advertisement

'That is absolutely doable. We all have to pay our part to achieve that outcome,' he said.

Mr Andrews said the whole of the state had to be locked down because of a positive sewage test in Wangaratta, 236km north-east of Melbourne, which indicated cases had already escaped the capital.

'With one sewerage detection we have to assume there are cases,' he said.

Victoria recorded six new cases - including two of unknown origin - on Thursday plus an additional two cases that will be lodged in Friday's numbers.

One of the two new mystery cases is a teacher in her 20s at a prestigious Islamic school in Melbourne - whose positive result has sent 2,100 students and 300 staff members into isolation for 14 days.

The teacher, who lives in the Hobsons Bay area and works at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in the city's west was diagnosed on Wednesday and may have been infectious in the community and the school for a week.

The Victorian Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed a female teacher at the Al-Taqwa College (pictured) in Truganina in the city's west may have been infectious in the community for a week. The teacher lives with her partner in the Hobsons Bay area, he has also tested positive along with two of his family members

It is now the sixth Covid lockdown the city has face since the pandemic hit Australian shores

Police officer are seen moving down the iconic Hosier Lane during anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne on Thursday

The teacher's partner, who lives with her, has also tested positive. He works in Caroline Springs and is plays for local Australian Rules club Newport. He played a match on July 31 against West Footscray at Shorten Reserve and members of both teams have been instructed to get tested and isolate.

Two of his family members, who do not live with the couple, returned positive tests today.

A man who lives in the Maribrynong local government area and works at a warehouse in the western suburb of Derrimut is the second new positive case with an unknown source.

Mr Andrews warned on Thursday that his 'government's priority is to avoid what's going on in Sydney', where Delta variant case numbers continue to rise.
A Los Angeles woman struck by a car after being forced to step into a busy street because a homeless encampment blocked the sidewalk has slapped the city, county and state with a lawsuit.

Debra Todd, 64, was hit by a Nissan at the 101 Freeway overpass on Gower Street in Hollywood on Oct. 4, 2020, while attempting to deliver food and water to individuals living at the freeway encampment.

She sustained injuries to her head, hip, back, arm and leg, according to the lawsuit filed Monday at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

'Because of the encampment, you couldn't walk on the sidewalk. You had to walk on the street,' Todd told the L.A Times. 'There was no light or stop sign anywhere at Gower where I got hit.'

Debra Todd, 64, said she was hit by a Nissan at the 101 Freeway overpass on Gower Street in Hollywood on Oct. 4, 2020, while attempting to deliver food and water to individuals living at the freeway encampment. She is suing the City of Los Angeles for negligence

Todd's lawsuit states that the encampments at the 101 overpass on Gower Street create dangerous conditions for pedestrians and drivers, and accuses the city of allowing the encampments to remain for a 'substantial amount of time.'

Todd's lawsuit states that the encampments at the 101 overpass on Gower Street create dangerous conditions for pedestrians and drivers, and accuses the city of allowing the encampments to remain for a 'substantial amount of time.'

Her attorney, Alan Turlington, told the L.A Times his client suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, that could potentially leave her with a permanent disability and require future medical treatment.

The amount demanded for the injuries was not specified. Requests for comment from Todd's lawyer from DailyMail.com were not returned.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of L.A Mayor Eric Garcetti signing an order on July 2 that allows the City Council to remove homeless encampments that pose a public safety threat to residents.

Under the proposed law, no one is allowed to obstruct a street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way 'by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, in a manner that impedes passage.'

While many approve of the new ordinance, others argue it would criminalize homelessness and result in the city to issuing citations to those who don't have the funds to pay.

Before enforcement of the law can begin, a council vote will be required.

California has an estimated 161,000 unhoused people, more than a quarter of the nationwide total of 580,000, according to the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

On July 19, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $12 billion Project Homekey plan to combat homelessness in the nation's most populous state, calling it the 'largest single investment in providing support for the most vulnerable in American history.'

California has an estimated 161,000 unhoused people, more than a quarter of the nationwide total of 580,000, according to the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

On July 19, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (pictured) signed a $12 billion Project Homekey plan to combat homelessness in the nation's most populous state, calling it the 'largest single investment in providing support for the most vulnerable in American history.'

Newsom's office said $800 million - most of it federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money - was spent on Homekey in 2020 to provide shelter for 8,200 people.

Now, the administration plans to go even bigger: California will spend $5.8 billion of state and federal funds over two years to expand the program and create an estimated 42,000 housing units.

'If you think of last year as a proof of concept, you can think of this year as taking this strategy to scale and making it a centerpiece of Californias approach to housing the homeless,' said Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Newsom.

Newsom has made tackling homelessness one of his top priorities. Now that the governor faces a recall election, Republican candidates have released their own plans to combat the crisis.

John Cox wants to require unhoused people to receive any needed treatment for addiction or mental illness before they can get housing. Kevin Faulconer wants to build more shelters to make it easier to clear encampments.

But California isn't the only state regulating homeless encampments.

In addition to encampments encompassing Hollywood, Venice Beach's homeless encampments have also become a virtual tent city with violent crime and rampant drug use pushing tourists and families out.

LAPD officers found skeletal remains near Venice Beach and identified them as belonging to Kolby Story, 32, (pictured) who had been missing since December

This summer, New York City instituted an aggressive campaign to remove encampments from Manhattan, and Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to transfer more than 8,000 people from hotels where they were placed at the start of the pandemic into shelters.

And in Washington state, Seattle residents will vote on a measure that would force the mayor to take steps to combat the encampment problem, including creating 2,000 shelter or housing spaces within a year.

In addition to encampments enveloping Hollywood, Venice Beach has also become a virtual tent city with violent crime and rampant drug use pushing tourists and families out.

City workers began the process of tearing down homeless camps along Venice Beach ahead of the July 4 weekend this year.

During a round of clearing tents on July 16, police were told that a woman was being held against her will in a beach tunnel in the 13700 block of Way, KCBS-TV reported.

During an investigation, LAPD officers found the skeletal remains of Kolby Story, 32, missing since December.

An LAPD spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com that a 'good Samaritan' found personal belongings belonging to Story and turned them in to police. According to KCBS-TV, cops recovered her checkbook and driver's license.
An educator who taught children at a U.S Army base in Germany is accused of sexually assaulting two female students, both under the age of 9 years old, recently released court records reveal.

On Tuesday, Stefan Eberhard Zappey, an educator of German language courses at Patch Elementary School in Stuggart, Germany, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Georgia.

He was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child committed by a person employed by the Armed Forces outside of the United States.

On Tuesday, Stefan Eberhard Zappey, an educator of German language courses at Patch Elementary School in Stuggart, Germany, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Georgia.

Zappey was a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, assigned to an elementary school at an Army base near Stuttgart, Germany, prosecutors said.

In March, one student told a teacher that she had been abused in 2007 and 2008, when she was less than 9-years-old, according to a recently unsealed complaint in U.S. District Court in Georgia.

The student said she didn't report the abuse at the time because she didn't know it was wrong, the complaint states.

Her report led to an investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, who interviewed former students and faculty members - some of whom shared stories of inappropriate touching by Zappey.

An additional student also said when she was under the age of 9, Zappey would call her to his desk during class, and put his hand inside her shirts and pants, court records state.

Another faculty member said he had known Zappey for eight years, and that Zappey 'would train students to become 'really touchy feely,' court records showed.

'I have witnessed on several occasions what I deem as inappropriate touching of students by Mr. Zappey,' one faculty member is quoted in court documents as saying.

'Examples of this touching is running his fingers through girls [sic] hair, sitting students on his lap, hugging students based on the placement of their faces as they are hugged, picking up students when they run up to him and letting them wrap their legs around him, and just being over touchy feely with students.'

A federal public defender representing Zappey did not respond to a request for comment.

Zappey was arrested last month in Georgia after an FBI special agent discovered he was in the U.S. this summer visiting relatives.

The agent traced Zappey's cell phone to Fayetteville, a city south of Atlanta.

Federal law allows Zappey, who is a U.S. citizen, to be charged in the U.S. if the crimes occurred in a U.S. military installation overseas.

A preliminary court hearing set for July 30 was canceled because Zappey was in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19.

He's been held at a federal detention center in Lovejoy, Georgia, south of Atlanta.
A dead heiress who was once one of the world's wealthiest women is facing a posthumous murder probe after a former paper boy came forward to say he'd seen her deliberately drive over her designer friend in 1966.

Bob Walker, a 68-year-old Marine Corps veteran, prompted police in Newport, Rhode Island to reopen their probe into the horrific death of Eduardo Tirella. Tirella is believed to have been crushed by Doris Duke with her two ton station wagon after telling her he was leaving to seek fame and fortune on the west coast.

Walker, who was 13 years old at the time of the crash, decided share his account of events with authorities after reading Peter Lance's meticulously researched book 'Homicide at Rough Point', released in February, which investigated Tirella's killing.

His version of events lines up almost exactly with Lance's theory on Duke's alleged crime. She died in 1993.

According to the former paperboy, he was on his bike delivering The Newport Daily News on October 7, 1966 around 5pm when he heard 'two people obviously arguing and screaming at each other'.

'I initially heard the argument and screaming of two people,' Walker told Lance in a Vanity Fair interview released Thursday.

'And the next thing I heard was the roar of a motor, the crash, the screaming of a man, ever so slight skidding sound and deacceleration of the motor, a pause in the screaming, a man beginning to scream again, the roar of the motor again, the man's scream turning to horror of 'Nooooooo!' and then another crash.'

When Doris Duke, the fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heir, ran over and killed a longtime employee Eduardo Tirella (right) at her Newport mansion in 1966, many people never bought the official police report that the death was an 'unfortunate accident'. Tirella, a gay man in his 40s, was one person who was troubled by the treatment he had been subjected to as Duke's artistic director

Doris inherited her father's massive fortune when he died in 1925, also acquiring the Newport estate - known as Rough Point. The heiress was notorious for her tense relationships and horrible treatment of service workers

Tow truck prepares to haul away a station wagon driven by Doris Duke which fatally crashed into Eduardo Tirella

When he came on the scene, he said he saw Duke get out of a car and move her body to block his view. He asked her if she wanted any help and if she wanted him to call police, and he said she screamed at him to leave.

'She spun around and looked at me. I said, 'Can I help you, ma'am?' And she said,'screaming and pointing her finger'You better get the hell out of here!' Walker recalled.

He said he offered Duke help twice more before she bellowed at him 'Get out of here now!,' leaving him shaken as he left to complete his paper route.

Walker told his father who advised that he never police what he saw that day, warning his son that Duke was a 'rotten person' who 'had some people on her payroll who were very unscrupulous.'

He previously had only shared his story with close family and, at the time of the incident, had been warned not to talk about it by his dad, who later confessed he feared Walker would end up being killed to silence him.

Walker said he never bought the official account of Tirella's death and went to police last month as a civic duty.

At the time, Duke told police the fatal crash at her Rough Point estate on Millionaire's Row was an accident, claiming she she had inadvertently hit the gas instead of the brake. Authorities believed her and the case, declared an 'unfortunate accident,' was closed within 96 hours.

Within months of the incident, Duke began donating large sums of money - equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars today - to the City of Newport, Vanity Fair reported.

Police Chief Joseph Radice, who died in 1997, oversaw the probe and retired shortly after the investigation. Others involved with the case were promoted.

Tirella (left) had worked for a decade refurbishing Duke's homes and appraising antiques

'The narrative that was accepted by the cops was not the narrative that I remembered,' Walker said.

Tirella had worked as a designer for Duke for seven years acting as her companion, planning her gardens, curating her art collection, and decorating her mansions.

On the day of the death, the pair were taking the station wagon to look at an artifact, according to Lance's book. But Duke was allegedly furious at Tirella for telling her that he was leaving her to become a set designer in Hollywood.

Police conducted a brief interview with Duke several days later at which point she informed them that Tirella was driving but had gotten out of the car to open the estate's massive wrought-iron gates, so she got behind the steering wheel to drive through the gates.

She told police the car suddenly 'leaped forward'; the police report said Tirella was crushed against the gates.

Walker says the next day, when delivering the October 8 issue of the newspaper, he saw a headline that 'took his breath away'. It read: Doris Duke Kills Friend in Crash.

The paper also featured a two-column photo showing the underside of Duke's smashed Dodge Polara 'from which Tirella's lifeless body had been extracted'.

'I just sat there reading it, stunned,' Walker explained. 'Eduardo Tirella. That was the man I'd heard screaming. Only they got it all wrong. The story said he was 'crushed against the iron gates,' which was a lie. It also said, 'She was admitted to Newport Hospital, suffering from facial cuts and severe shock.' More lies.'

According to his death certificate (pictured), Tirella was 'struck by auto while opening iron gates and then dragged under vehicle'

Walker asserts that Duke 'didnt have a scratch on her face,' noting that had she shown any sign of injury he would have 'been even more insistent on going for help'.

He also claims that Duke took no initiative to help Tirella and instead 'just froze there looking down, very deliberate...just standing there doing nothing, looking down at the bottom of the car'.

According to Lance, Walker's recollection of events matched that of police investigator who responded to the scene that day and concluded that Duke struck Tirella once, sending him onto the hood of the car, then when he fell off, accelerated again and ran him over. The car ended up careening across the street where it struck a fence and tree.

Officials determined that Tirella was killed instantly.

Retired detective James Moss, who solved hundreds of murders with Brooklyn South Homicide, offered input to Lance as he investigated Tirella's death.

In his assessment of the case, Moss told Lance: '[Walker's] most impactful revelations come in his detailed account of how Doris Duke behaved in the immediate aftermath of Eduardo Tirellas death: using her dominating presence to dismiss a young witness to what she knew was an intentional murder.

'Bob saw her deliberately exit the crashed wagon, uninjured and cold-blooded. For her to then get back in the car, marking herself with bruises and cuts in an attempt to play the victim, is behavior consistent with the acts of a pure psychopath.'

Heiress Doris Duke attends a polo match in Cairo, Egypt in 1950.Peter Lance's book 'Homicide at Rough Point' released earlier this year concluded that Duke literally got away with murder in the death of Eduardo Tirella

The story of the killing at Duke's Rough Point estate has resonated in the seaside tourist mecca for years, according to Lance.

'This is one of those stories that is still talked about in Newport,' the author and journalist, a city native who got his first reporting job at The Newport Daily News several months after Tirella's death, shared. 'I read a Facebook page for Newport residents and every three or four months someone brings this up.'

However, he notes that this would not be the first time Duke committed a crime and got away with it.

The author asserts that Duke, who was 'a notoriously jealous and possessive woman,' stabbed her common-law husband musician Joseph Armand Castro during a 'booze-and-drug-fueled haze.'

In a previous Vanity Fair report, Lance claimed that Duke was envious of the attention Castro received when he performed and feared the jazz pianist would eventually leave her. The couple often fought and, with time, their spats became more violent.

'Duke had frequent bouts of depression, deepened by alcohol, barbiturates, and Castros temper,' Lance wrote. 'And, one night in 1963 at Shangri La, while Doris was playing a jazz piece, Castro supposedly made a crack, so she grabbed a butcher knife and slashed his arm.'

Duke was not charged in the stabbing.

Doris Duke and her attorney Aram Arabian, leave Superior Court in Providence in 1971

However, shortly after the incident, Castro filed three lawsuits against Duke asking for $150,000 in damages. In a suit claiming assault and battery, Castro alleged that she 'attempted to kill him' and left him with a 'large permanent scare' that impacted his ability to work.

Weeks later Castro renounced his litigation after being 'strong-armed by Dukes attorneys'.

Duke was born in New York City on November 22, 1912 to James Buchanan Duke, a founder of the American Tobacco Company and Duke Power, and his second wife Nanaline Holt Inman Duke.

Her father died in 1925, leaving his fortune to his daughter and a charitable foundation he established to serve the people of the Carolinas.

Due to her age, Duke received her inheritance in increments, ultimately becoming the 'richest girl in the world' in 1947 when inherited $100million at age 25, ABC News reported.

Throughout her life Duke donated the equivalent of more than $400million in todays dollars to various charities and philanthropies.

She is credited with the restoration of 83 properties, three of which now operate as museums that are open to the public, including her Rough Point home which features extensive collections of fine and decorative arts and educational programs.

A photo of the Grand Staircase at Duke's Rough Point home taken in July 2000. The property is located near the end of Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island

The October 7, 1966, crash in Newport, Rhode Island, that killed Eduardo Tirella is covered in Peter Lance's new book Homicide at Rough Point'

She passed away in 1993 at 80 years old, leaving behind a nearly $1billion estate. According to ABC News, Duke left nearly all of her fortune to charity.

She reportedly has two surviving heirs, twins Georgia and Walker "Patterson" Inman III, the offspring of Duke's nephew Walker Patterson Inman Jr., who was a heroin addict that overdosed when the twins were two.

When she died, Duke left Walker Jr. $7million.

His children, who reportedly endured a 'slavelike childhood' that involved being locked in a feces-filled basement, deadbolted in their bedrooms and scalded by boiling baths, allegedly inherited $1billion on their 21st birthday.

In addition to receiving the remainder of Walker Jr.'s estate, the twins inherited money through their grandmother, Duke's mother, and his father, Duke's half-brother.

DailyMail.com has contacted Newport Police Department and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for comments.
A mayor on the Texas-Mexico border is slamming Joe Biden and his state's federal lawmakers after he was forced to declare a disaster over the surging number of migrants infected with COVID being released into his city.

In a video posted to Facebook Wednesday, McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos fumed at the White House after 1,500 migrants tested positive for COVID out of 7,000 left in his city by Border Patrol last week.

The city commission voted on Tuesday to set up emergency tents to house the overflow of migrants, but moved it to a county-owned facility further away from residents angry over its location.

Villalobos said the city commission's decision was something 'we shouldn't have to do' in the first place.

His message comes after new data shows 1,500 of 7,000 migrants released in McAllen last week tested positive for COVID (pictured: Asylum-seeking families wait for CBP in Roma, Texas, also along the border but far from McAllen, on July 30)

Addressing his citizens the Republican mayor told them 'I know ya'll are angry, we get the calls, we get the texts, we get the emails.'

'Lately we've been getting about 1,800 immigrants a day,' he said. 'Then, coupled with the fact that 15 percent of the immigrants have COVID, have caused substantial problems to our great city of McAllen.'

Villalobos urged his constituents to not blame local officials or even Governor Greg Abbott for the situation.

'If you want to place blame, let's do it,' he challenged defiantly.

'Call your president, call your congressman, and call your senators - if you want to place blame, blame them. Place it on the people who are responsible, and that is Washington.'

Villalobos captioned his video with contact information for federal officials, with just Joe Biden's name topping the list

The Texas Republican is just the latest political leader to criticize the Biden administration over how it's handled the border.

In July, 210,000 migrants crossed into the U.S. along the southern border, the highest one-month total in 21 years, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The number of children traveling alone who were picked up at the border reached an all-time high of more than 19,000 in July, according to preliminary numbers shared with the Associated Press by David Shahoulian, assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

'The rates at which encountered noncitizens are testing positive for COVID-19 have increased significantly in recent weeks,' Shahoulian said. 'And although the rate of infection among CBP officers had been declining, this rate recently began increasing again, even though the percentage of officers and agents who have been fully vaccinated has grown significantly since January.'

According to preliminary figures, 210,000 were apprehended in July at the southern border. The chart shows a comparison between apprehensions in 2021 and 2020

CBP was holding more than 10,000 migrants in custody as of August 1, nearly eight times its COVID-adjusted capacity.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) extended an order limiting entry for migrants due to coronavirus, Title 42.

The Biden administration said Title 42 is responsible for sending away most single adult migrants who cross illegally, and the United Nations and the ACLU had called on President Biden to end the order. The order is used to expel roughly 100,000 mostly single adults each month.

Additionally, about 20,000 detainees in Immigration and Custom Enforcement custody have received a dose of the COVID vaccine so far. More than 1,000 immigrants were actively infected as of August 1 and nine have died.

In a bid to stem the flow of migrants to his state and keep COVID transmission down Abbott signed an executive order last week to prohibit ground transport of migrants by anyone other than law enforcement.

Abbott accused the Biden White House of 'knowingly importing COVID-19' and 'jeopardizing the health and safety of Texans on a daily basis.'

A federal judge temporarily blocked the order.

Villalobos said McAllen's formal disaster declaration was a bid to get help from the state and federal governments.

President Joe Biden and Senator Ted Cruz were two DC officials the mayor indicated in his Facebook video caption

The McAllen mayor said the city 'should not be involved' in directing migrants after the city commission voted to set up emergency housing to deal with the influx

'Immigration is not a municipal issue, it never should be. We should not be involved, we don't want to be involved,' he said.

Villalobos made the disaster declaration on Monday citing 'recent increases in number of released immigrants and the potential for even greater numbers.'

He also noted that charitable organizations designated to help migrants in the area are overwhelmed and are buckling under the influx.

The greater area of Hidalgo County followed suit and declared a disaster on Tuesday.

Statewide Texas saw nearly 12,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker. Nearly 7,000 people are hospitalized, a 93 percent increase over 14 days.

The average COVID positivity rate more than doubled from mid-July.

That's against the backdrop of more than 35 million COVID cases across the US in total and 614,804 deaths.

Villalobos insisted he did not blame the migrants or local officials trying 'to protect your community' but acknowledged the high rate of migrants coming into McAllen with COVID is a problem.

'We don't want these individuals - these immigrants - to just be dropped off at the bus station and just wander off - 1,800 people a day. If we don't assist, if we don't do something, they're gonna be throughout the city. Fifteen percent of them have COVID - we have to be responsible.'
A father has appeared in court charged with the 'harrowing' murder of his five-year-old stepson who was found dead in a river.

John Cole, 39, is accused of murdering 'kind, handsome, polite and clever' Logan Williamson who died of serious liver and head injuries.

Cole is also charged with perverting the course of justice along with his fiance Angharad Williamson, 30, and a 13-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The court heard Logan was allegedly attacked at his home in Bridgend, South Wales, and was left in 'extreme pain and distress.'

Prosecutor Bethan Poole told the court how his mother found him dead in the early hours of last Saturday morning and a plot was hatched to 'cover up' the crime.

Ms Poole said: 'Angharad Williamson was shouting: 'He's dead, he's dead. They decided not to call the police and get rid of the body.'

The court heard Logan's body was taken to the river in a plastic bin bag and his ripped t-shirt was also disposed of. The court heard the family often used the river for fly-tipping.

Magistrates were told screams of 'Where is Logan' heard by neighbours were a decoy to make people think the little boy had gone missing.

Detectives investigating the death of five year old Logan Mwangi have charged three people

Angharad Williamson, the mother of Logan, with her partner Jay Cole have both been charged

A van arrived at Cardiff Magistrates Court believed to be bringing the three charged to court

Ms Poole said Williamson rang police to say Logan was missing and another person had taken him as a 'cover up story.'

But two figures were seen on CCTV leaving and returning to the property in the middle of the night, the court was told.

The prosecutor told the court: 'There were three main injuries caused when Logan was alive and 24 hours before he was found dead.

'The cause of deaths not an accident and was as a result of impacted pressure either by an object, a foot or a fist.

'His liver was torn, the back of his head and scalp had become parted and he had a broken collar bone.'

Father-of-two Cole spoke only to confirm his name and address and date of birth. No plea was given.

A police diver surfaces in the bank of river Ogmore in Lower Llansantffraid near Bridgend

Williamson also confirmed her details to the court during a two-hour hearing before Cardiff magistrates who described it as a 'grave crime'.

The pair were remanded in custody while the 13-year-old was remanded into the local authority care.

All three will appear at Newport Crown Court tomorrow(fri). The alleged offences happened between July 28 and August 1.

Investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mark O'Shea, said: 'This is a very harrowing case for all involved and I extend my deepest sympathies to Logan's family and friends.'

He was remanded in custody to Newport Crown Court tomorrow(FRI AUG 6) by bench chairman Elaine Farthing.

Loveable Logan, also known as Logan Mwangi, was found in the shallows of the River Ogmore just 300 yards from the family home in the village of Sarn, Bridgend.

Locals were left shocked and in tears at the death of the schoolboy who loved Power rangers and the Lion King.

Dozens of cuddly toys and bunches of flowers were left at the riverbank in sight of the family's two bedroom ground floor flat.

Logan's heartbroken playmates will release balloons from the spot where his body was found at midday on Saturday.

Parents want their youngsters to say goodbye to little Logan Williamson by giving him a colourful send off.

One mum said: 'You can't explain to five-year-olds about what's happened but Logan was a big part of their lives and a special little boy.

'All we can do is make a memory and say goodbye to him by letting balloons go.'

Logan's classmates are to be offered counselling when they return to Brynmenyn Primary School in Bridgend, South Wales, next month.

Organiser Rhiannon Hayes, 26, who Logan called 'Auntie Rhi, said: 'I felt we had to do something for Logan's friends including my own daughter who he was very close to.

'The children will release helium balloons into the sky and think about their little friend.'
Brazilian agents confiscated more than a ton of cocaine packed in 24 suitcases on a private jet moments before it was set to depart for Belgium.

The Federal Police made the discovery at Fortaleza International Airport in Fortaleza, Ceara, on Wednesday morning.

A Spanish passenger and the flight's 48-year-old Turkish captain were arrested and two crew members  both Turkey nationals  were brought in for questioning.

Footage recorded by the police showed one of the agents confronting the passenger in Portuguese, saying: 'Open that suitcase, I'm telling you.'

A Brazilian agent with the Federal Police tests the purity of a white powdery substance that was cut out out from a package inside a suitcase before confirming it was cocaine. Authorities would seize 1,304 kilos of cocaine that were concealed in 24 suitcases belonging to a passenger (left) from Spain who was arrested on Wednesday at Fortaleza International Airport in Fortaleza, Brazil. The flight captain (second from right) - a Turkish national - was taken into custody, too. The drugs were bound for Brussels, Belgium

Over a ton of cocaine - 1,304 kilos to be exact - were recovered by Brazil's Federal Police at Fortaleza International Airport on Wednesday before a Turkish-owned jet (pictured) was set to take off for Brussels, Belgium

View of the inside of the Fortaleza International Airport in Ceara, Brazil

The agent then asks the flight captain in English, 'What do you think this is?'

Another officer used a knife to cut through a piece of cloth and drove into a plastic wrapped bundle that revealed the white powdery substance.

The police officer proceeded to examine the substance on the knife, which returned a positive test for the Type-A party drug.

A total of 1,304 kilos of cocaine were found packed into 24 suitcases belonging to the Spanish national, according to Federal Police Chief Alan Robson.

Each suitcase contained 50 plastic bundles of cocaine.

A Spanish passenger opens one of his 24 suitcases that were packed with a total of 1,304 kilos of cocaine

The 1,304 kilos of cocaine were split into 50 bundles that were concealed in 24 suitcases

The plane initially had taken off from Leite Lopes Airport in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, earlier in the day and made a short stop at Fortaleza International Airport to clear customs before continuing on to Brussels.

Authorities were already concerned after the Turkish-owned aircraft had landed earlier in the week at Fortaleza International Airport and headed for Leite Lopes Airport.

The agents boarded the place became alarmed when the passenger claimed that each of the suitcases were his and found inconsistencies to the responses he gave to their questions.

The cops grew even more suspicious of the group when they noticed that the jet's door were immediately being closed as they were leaving the place to talk to the airport personnel. They then decided to make a secondary inspection and discovered the massive shipment.

'They said they went on vacation in Guarulhos, that's when we suspected,' Robson said, according to Brazilian online news outlet G1. 'Then they went to open the bags, we climbed into the aircraft and ordered the engines to be turned off.'

Authorities seized the aircraft as well as cellphones and documents belonging to the passenger and crew members.
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Heavy downpours and thunderstorms could cause flash flooding across parts of the UK as the Met Office issues a three-day flood warning.

Forecasters say up to four inches of rain could fall in some places, with the heavy showers expected to hit from later this evening.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for thunderstorms across much of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales from the early hours of Friday until the end of Saturday.

The worst of the conditions will be on Friday with up to four inches of rain forecast over the day in a Met Office weather warning covering the Midlands and North of England, North Wales and Northern Ireland.

Areas hit by the storms could receive as much as 1.2 inches of rain in the space of just an hour.

Holidaymakers wearing waterproof jackets and carrying umbrellas to shelter from the rain walk along the seafront at the seaside resort of Weymouth in Dorset

Two people struggle with an umbrella at the East Looe Beach in Cornwall, as bad weather hits the region

In Bournemouth, the rain and windy weather kept tourists away from the seaside today.

There was still a scattering of families and dog walkers on the promenade protected by waterproof clothing but the beach was ghostly quiet.

The restaurants were busy with families hoping to escape the worst of the rain while eating lunch in sight of the sea.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: 'We do have a very unsettled weekend in prospect, with a lot of it covered by a thunderstorm and rain warnings.

'We have got an area of low pressure which will be milling around over the UK bringing rain to quite large parts, so I think everywhere can expect to see quite heavy showers.'

He added: 'We know the footprint of where we think the heaviest rainfall will be, but it's like a boiling saucepan: you will get bubbles coming up, and trying to pinpoint where the next bubble will be is virtually impossible.'

Heavy rain may also affect areas outside of the warning zone, but is less likely to cause flash flooding.

On Saturday, areas including Glasgow, Plymouth and Belfast should expect temperatures in the early 20s, while parts of the south of England such as Bristol and London may reach 23C - roughly average for this time of year.

The lowest temperatures are expected to be around 14C in the Shetland Isles and Northern Ireland.

Going into next week, forecasters predict the weather will remain unsettled in the long-term, with the chance of several one-off calmer days.

But the Met Office has at least predicted some good news for staycationers and families on school holidays, with the second half of August set to be 'drier' with 'higher than average' temperatures.

The driest areas will be in the south east of the UK.

And although the turbulent weather looks set to continue for a time, the Met Office has said there are early signs that temperatures could start to increase through next week.

A couple wearing waterproof jackets and carrying umbrellas to shelter from the rain walk along the seafront at the seaside resort of Weymouth in Dorset

A storm front is going to bring rain and thundery weather over the next few days before the good weather returns

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for thunderstorms across much of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales from the early hours of Friday until the end of Saturday

The UK recorded its joint fifth warmest July on record this year after a heatwave that saw the first extreme heat warning.

In contrast, the second half of the month saw some areas hit by intense downpours which caused flooding.

Met Office forecaster Nicola Maxey stressed the weather may still be under an 'Atlantic influence', with showers in the North and West, adding: 'We are likely to see potential for thunderstorms through much of this week.'

The average temperature for August is 70.5F (21.4C) in southern England and 66F (19C) in the UK as a whole. Ms Maxey added: 'There's little signal we're going to see any exceptionally hot temperatures.'

Forecasts again say 'torrential downpours are likely in some places', while 'there is a risk of strong winds at times for some'. Miss Maxey said accumulations of rain in areas receiving a couple of thunderstorms could be high.

But she added that it was 'quite usual to receive most of the month's rain in two to three bursts during the summer months'. The thunder could bring more flooding and make driving conditions difficult due to surface water and poor visibility.

An improvement in the weather is likely in the second half of next week. Miss Maxey said: 'From the 10th, 11th up to late August, there's some indication that we might see more settled weather as an area of high pressure moves in.

'But we'll continue that Atlantic influence, so it's unlikely to be a situation where temperatures build day by day, as happened in July. It could mean dry conditions become more prevalent but with the risk of showers and thunderstorms.

'Temperatures are due to turn higher than average but there's little signal we're going to see any exceptionally hot weather for the second half of the month.'

Miss Maxey said it was too early to give further details about the warm conditions. Temperatures over the coming days are only set to reach highs of 70F (21C) to 72F (22C) in northern and southern areas of England and Wales.
A private jet belonging to John Kerry and his family has taken 16 trips this year alone, according to flight records obtained by Flight Aware.

The jet is scheduled to depart Martha's Vineyard Thursday, one day after former President Obama's birthday bash with close family and friends.

Many of the flights were within Massachusetts, to and from both Martha's Vineyard and Boston.

Others were within Idaho, both Sun Valley and Boise. Kerry, 77, and his wife Teresa Heinz, 82, whose namesake comes from her late husband, an an heir to the ketchup fortune, have reportedly been part time residents in Sun Valley for decades and Heinz Kerry has owned a home in Ketchum.

Other flights included stops in New Jersey and Los Angeles. The flight log was first reported by Fox News.

A spokesperson for Kerry told DailyMail.com that Biden's point person to reduce global climate emissions has not himself flown private this year, but it's evident his family is not ready to give up flying private to reduce their climate footprint.

Stock photo of an EJM plane. Kerry's family jet has flown 16 times this year

Climate envoy John Kerry and wife Teresa Heinz, seen here in 2013 at the East Room of the White House for a reception hosted by Obama, have an estimated combined net worth well over $600 million

Kerry, after a lifelong career in politics was tapped by President Biden as White House climate envoy in February

Flying private emits approximately 40 times as much carbon as flying commercial.

The Kerry family jet will depart Martha's Vineyard around 5pm this evening, one day after the former president's birthday, and depart for Pittsburgh. The Obama family was set to host a 500-person party at their $11.75 million waterfront mansion, but scaled back the event to include only family and close friends after sharp criticism of 'superspreader' potential as the Delta variant of Covid-19 rips through the US.

Kerry bought a Martha's Vineyard home for $11.75 million in 2017, only to sell it less than one year later.

Kerry bought a home in Martha's Vineyard, pictured above, for less than one year in 2017

Obama bought his Martha's Vineyard home, pictured above, on the Edgartown Great Pond in 2019 for $11.75 million

Obama was set to host his 60th birthday bash at his Martha's Vineyard home, pictured above, but scaled back to a small gathering of family and close friends at the last minute due to surging cases in Covid-19

Kerry defended his own previous private jet use earlier this year when footage showed him flying private to accept a climate award in Iceland in 2019. He said that flying private 'the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle.'

Kerry has said he offsets his carbon emissions. A spokesperson for Kerry told Fox News the climate czar flies commercial when on official business for his role.

In 2020, Kerry's family jet spent over 22 hours in the air, producing an estimated 116 metric tons of CO2. The typical passenger vehicle emits 4.6 metric tons of CO2 in one year.

Kerry, former secretary of state, lieutenant governor and senator from Massachusetts, and unsuccessful 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, is worth far more than most lifelong politicians.

In his own right, Kerry is far more well-off than most lifelong politicians. He is through his mother's side a member of the well-to-do Forbes family - unrelated to the Forbes publishing family - but his wife's estimated net worth is around $550 million. Much of the climate envoy's finances are opaque, but the last time Kerry held elected office in 2013 his net worth was estimated to be $103 million.
The committee that kick off Cuomo's impeachment trial says its investigation is 'nearing completion'

Impeachment appears inevitable for embattled NY Governor Andrew Cuomo as the committee which would kick off proceedings says it is nearing the end of its investigation, and 86 lawmakers say they would vote him out - ten more than the majority that's needed.

The Assembly Committee has sent a letter to Cuomo asking him to submit 'evidence' to plead his case, according to Newsday's Albany Bureau Chief.

The committee also told him its investigation is 'nearing completion'.

That committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to decide the next step which would be to formally launch impeachment proceedings.

In that scenario, the first step would be a vote among the 150 members of the NY Assembly and a simple majority of 76 is needed to move it on.

Eighty-six members have already told The Associated Press that they would vote to impeach him.

New York Speaker Carl Heastie, who would oversee impeachment proceedings against Cuomo, released this statement on Tuesday saying an investigation was underway and would conclude 'expeditiously'. Critics say the legislature needs to act fast to remove the Governor, who has 'lost the confidence' of his peers

Carl Heastie, the Assembly Speaker, who would oversee the proceedings, said the investigation would be completed 'expeditiously'

Then, the vote would go to the next stage, the High Court of Impeachment which would be made up of all of the state's senators and seven judges from the Court of Appeals.

That process could, however, take months. In the meantime, Democrats are hoping he will resign so they can avoid the prolonged process.

Kathy Hochul, the Lieutenant Gov., would replace Cuomo if he is impeached or resigns first.

The Assembly includes 106 Democrats, 43 Republicans and one Independent. At least 40 of the 83 Assembly members who say they are ready to start impeachment proceedings are Democrats.

Assembly Democrats, who lead the chamber, debated virtually for hours Tuesday about whether to impeach the governor now, wait to see whether he resigns, or give the Assembly Judiciary Committee time to wrap up its wide-ranging investigation.

The Judiciary Committee is investigating topics from sexual misconduct to the Cuomo administrations months long obfuscation of the total number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19.

Some said the Assembly should vote for impeachment now, while others said the chamber should impeach Cuomo if he doesn't resign.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay urged Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, to convene an emergency special session to vote to impeach Cuomo.

Meet the 'down to earth' Irish immigrants' daughter ready to replace Cuomo: Kathy Hochul was once endorsed by the NRA and replaced a male colleague who was busted soliciting sex on Craigslist

Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul who will replace Cuomo if he resigns or is impeached, which is becoming increasingly likely. The 62-year-old mother-of-two is an Irish immigrants' granddaughter who started her political career upstate with more Conservative policies than Cuomo's

The woman who would replace Andrew Cuomo in the event that he is impeached or stands down, which is becoming increasingly likely, is Lieutenant Kathy Hochul, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants who was handpicked by the embattled governor and has now turned against him.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, 62, would become the first female governor in New York's history if she replaces Cuomo.

Throughout the pandemic, she has taken a quiet backseat to her boss's very public profile after being cherry-picked by him in 2014.

She won another political role in 2011 by replacing Rep. Chris Lee, her married male colleague who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist.

Hochul was only in his seat for a year before being replaced. Previously, she ran upstate as a more conservative candidate and was once endorsed by the NRA.

In 2007, when she was the Erie County Clerk, she went against the then Governor Elliot Spitzer's effort to give all undocumented migrants driver's licenses.

She was endorsed again in 2012, when running against Chris Collins, but she lost that election.

Hochul was chosen by Cuomo in 2014, replacing former Lieutenant Gov. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Duff, and was re-elected along with Cuomo in 2018.

Hochul grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father once so poor his family had to live in a trailer, before he became a successful businessman.

She has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.

'The AGs investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.

'No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps.

'Because Lieutenant Governors stand next in the line of succession, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the process at this moment,' she tweeted.

Hochul was handpicked by Cuomo in 2014 to stand as his running mate. At the time, she'd replaced another male colleague - Chris Lee- who was ousted for soliciting sex from women on Craigslist. The pair were re-elected in 2014

Hochul - who grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father, has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.

Hochul's husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

Her husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

In 2011, Hochul replaced Rep. Chris Lee who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist despite being married

He is now a private attorney but was previously the United States attorney for the Western District of New York.

The pair live in Buffalo in a $800,000, three-bedroom apartment, according to public records.

Their kids are in their early 30s. Katie, or Caitlin, works for PR firm Concepts Inc whose past clients include The Gates Foundation and the Justice Department.

Her son, William Hochul III, is a DC lawyer.

Unlike Cuomo - whose father was a governor and who grew up in wealth and New York society - Hochul's family are Irish immigrants.

On her public bio, she talks about how her mother and father lived at one time in a trailer on the grounds of the steel plant where her father worked in Buffalo.

Hochul was endorsed by the NRA in 2007 when she was running as Erie County Clerk but she has since become decidedly anti-gun and is shown above at a 2019 rally against gun violence. In the background is AG Letitia James - who found Cuomo guilty in her report this week

She describes herself as 'progressive' and is keenly pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights. Hochul is well-liked upstate, where Cuomo's popularity has evaporated.

'She is probably one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet.

'Shes gone to great heights in government, yet one-to-one, she is so accessible and so warm and just a very generous person.

'Shes always able to help  particularly women, too,' Assembly member Karen McMahon told Politico recently.

'She works hard, she listens to people, she cares. In any state, you want for your lieutenant governor somebody who can do the job of governor. It doesnt always happen, but in Kathy Hochuls case she has the ability to do the job if it comes to it,' Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told The Wall Street Journal.

The Assembly Committee that is determining whether or not to launch impeachment proceedings against Cuomo will meet on Monday.

Then, it would require an Assembly vote with a simply majority to kick off an impeachment trial.

It would then also require the conviction of a High Court of Impeachment, consisting of seven Court of Appeals judges and all of New York's sitting state senators, to convict him.

The process may take months and while it plays out, Hochul would be drafted in to replace Cuomo on the day-to-day running of the state.

Democrats are calling for Cuomo to resign before that happens but he is digging his heels in, insisting he is innocent.
Cori Bush said Thursday that she will continue to spend thousands of dollars in personal security because she has feared for her life, but at the same time reiterated her call for defunding police.

'I'm going to make sure I have security because, I know, I have had attempts on my life,' Bush told CBS News in an interview outside the Capitol. 'And I have too much work to do, there are too many people that need help right now, for me to allow that.'

'So if I end up spending $200,000, if I spend $10 more on it  you know what, I get to be here to do the work,' she added.

Bush, a 45-year-old mother of two, spent $69,120 in 'security services' from April 15 to June 28, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

She questioned when asked about criticism over her spending on Thursday: 'They would rather I die? You would rather me die?'

'Is that what you want to see?' Bush continued in awe. 'You know, because that could be the alternative.'

The security payments over the month-and-a-half were made to New York-based RS&T Security Consulting LLC and a Nathaniel Davis of St. Louis, Missouri.

Bush added in her Thursday interview: 'So suck it up, defunding the police has to happen.'

'We need to defund police and put that money into social safety nets,' the freshman congresswoman from Missouri said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Bush's comments at Thursday's press briefing, but reiterated that President Joe Biden does not support defining the police.

'The president has been crystal clear that he opposes defunding the police. He has said that throughout his campaign for office. His record over the last several decades has made that clear,' she told reporters during her daily press conference.

'There may be some in the Democratic Party, including Congresswoman Bush, who disagree with him  that's OK,' she added.

'But I would say the majority of Democrats, we've seen this in polling, and the majority of members also agree that we should not defund the police.'

Missouri progressive Representative Cori Bush, the newest member of the so-called 'squad', said Thursday that she would be willing to spend $200,000 on private security to protect her life while she still called for police departments to be defunded

'If I end up spending $200,000, if I spend $10 more on it  you know what... suck it up,' she said. It was revealed last week that Bush spent $69,120 in 'security services' in just two months, from April 15 to June 28

The criticism was sharp from Republicans. Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote said she thought the clip was 'parody'

When Fox News' Peter Doocey pushed Psaki on whether there is concern that 'defun police' is becoming a Democratic position going into the midterms, she denied the movement is left-leaning.

'It does not appear to be becoming a Democratic message even though there may be a desire for that on the other side of the aisle,' she said.

Democrats have recently tried to deflect the 'defund police' movement to Republicans, claiming they are the party against funding for law enforcement.

The movement garnered massive support by progressives and Black Lives Matter protesters, who are largely Democrat, during the summer of 2020 when there were riots over the police murder of George Floyd, a black man.

Bush, a member of the so-called progressive 'squad,' is a massive advocate for defining police.

'We shouldn't use the forest through the trees here, which is that a member of Congress  an elected official  is concerned that her life is threatened,' Psaki said of Bush's spending on private security. 'And that's disturbing that any elected official would have to suffer death threats and fear for their life. So I'm not going to comment, of course, on their security arrangements, I don't have any more details on that.'

The seemingly-conflicting comments from Bush on Thursday, however, drew swift and sharp criticism from Republicans.

The seemingly-conflicting comments drew swift and sharp criticism from Republicans.

'[Y]ou are a hypocrite and an elitist,' Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene began in a lengthy Twitter post Thursday railing against Bush.

'You don't care about the people, you only care about you,' she added in the tweet, which included a clip of Bush's interview with CBSN. 'You want to eradicate police from existence, take away guns to leave Americans defenseless, and create lawlessness all over our country.'

'You will pay endless amounts of money for private security for yourself because your security is clearly more important than the taxpayers who pay your salary and for your private security,' the Trump ally continued.

'I see you Cori. Faith healer. I don't think so, liar. I've seen you lie after you attacked me, then get a bigger office. Liar. You're a manipulator.'

'Climbing the ladder of power by deceptively using any and every tool you can find,' Greene added.

She accused: 'You are the BLM domestic terrorist Congresswoman who only represents the lawless rioters who devastated American cities in 2020 causing billions in damage resulting in deaths.'

Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Trump ally, wrote: 'I actually thought this was a parody skit. No, it's real.'

'[Cori Bush] says she's important enough to have her own private security, but the police that protect the rest of America need to be defunded' GOP Representative Jody Hice of Georgia tweeted on Thursday.

'The arrogance is outmatched only by the insanity,' he added.

Marjorie Taylor Greene issued a seven-tweet thread railing agains Bush as a 'hypocrite' and 'elitist' for her Thursday comments dismissing her spending on security but demands to get rid of protects for other Americans through police

Greene said Bush care more about her personal security than the safety of her constituents

She brought up Bush being involved in the BLM riot that breached a private neighborhood where Mark and Patty McCloskey live. They went viral in June for wielding guns toward the trespassing protesters

'I see you Cori,' Greene tweeted, sayign: 'So does everyone else'

Bush has spent several nights over the weekend and into this week sleeping in a camp chair on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building to protest a lapse in pandemic benefits pausing evictions for America's renters.

Former Representative Trey Gowdy criticized Bush on his Fox News show Sunday night for spending almost $70,000 on private security while openly calling to defund the police.

'Cori Bush tells us she is progressive, the better word might be hypocritical,' Gowdy said on his new show Sunday Night in America.

'Members of Congress are spending more money than ever on their personal security,' said Gowdy, a four-term Republican from South Carolina who left office in 2019.

'It's a tragic reflection of the times we live in  safety is priority number one for members of Congress, as it should be. But what about you?'

Crime has risen in some parts of the US as the country reopens following Covid-related lockdowns.

In New York, concerns about crime took center stage in the mayoral race, leading to the Democratic primary win in June of former NYPD officer Eric Adams.

Former Representative Trey Gowdy criticized Bush on his Fox News show Sunday night for spending almost $70,000 on private security while openly calling to defund the police

Cori Bush, 45, was elected in 2020 as the first black woman to represent Missouri in the House

Bush is an outspoken advocate of the defund the police movement, which seeks to redirect public funds away from law enforcement agencies and into social services.

The movement gained steam after last year's police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the ensuing protests, some of which turned violent.

'When we say defund, we're talking about needing to divest from the parts of our society that are harming and killing us - and invest in the parts that help keep us healthy and alive,' Bush tweeted on May 30.

'We deserve life.'

Bush has said that policing in the US is built to 'enable white supremacy.'

'It is not just a few bad apples, it's a rotten tree,' she tweeted on February 17. 'We need to transform public safety  and that starts with defunding the police and reinvesting in our communities.'

Some members of the Democratic Party, including party stalwarts like former President Barack Obama and House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, have cautioned against using the divisive slogan 'defund the police.'

'But if you instead say, 'Let's reform the police department so that everybody's being treated fairly, you know, divert young people from getting into crime,' Obama said on a Snapchat show in December. 'And if there was a homeless guy, can maybe we send a mental health worker there instead of an armed unit that could end up resulting in a tragedy?'

'Suddenly, a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you.'

Gowdy, 56, pointed out that Bush's security costs would go a long way in his home state.

'She wants to defund the police - she wants to defund your police, but not her police,' the host said.

'She spent nearly $70,000 on her own personal security last year. I don't know about your city or state, but $70,000 would get your own personal police officer in South Carolina. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.'

Calls to 'defund the police' emerged during protests following last year's police killing of George Floyd. Above, protesters face police during a march May 30 in Chicago

Congresswoman Greene wrote in her seven-tweet post railing against Bush on Thursday that the Missouri representative is the threat.

'Look at what you did to the McCloskeys,' she tweeted in reference to the Missouri couple, Mark and Patricia, who went viral over images of them weidling firearms in defending their home from Black Lives Matter protesters who breached their property.

'You led the mob into their neighborhood and they threatened to kill the McCloskeys,' she added.

'The McCloskeys lawfully stood their ground using their legal & constitutional #2A rights, then they were stripped of their rights as punishment for not caving to your lawless mob,' Greene wrote.

'Thankfully the Governor pardoned them returning their right to bear arms, so they can defend themselves.'

Bush was part of the riot group in June 2020 during the George Floyd protests in Missouri when BLM demonstrators trespassed in a private community where the McCloskeys reside.

On June 17, 2021, the McCloskeys pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses.

Mark was charged with fourth-degree assault and Patricia charged with second-degree harassment. The couple was ordered to surrender their guns used in the incident to be destroyed.

On August 3, 2021, the couple was pardoned by Republican Missouri Governor Mike Parson.
A mafia 'boss of bosses' was arrested by Spanish police Thursday morning on the streets of Madrid two years after he was mistakenly released from prison.

Domenico Paviglianiti was a leader of Italy's most powerful organised crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta, which controls much of Europe's cocaine trade.

Now one of Italy's most wanted fugitives, the 60-year-old was picked up on the streets of Madrid's working-class Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood in a joint operation carried out with Italian police, Spain's National Police said in a statement.

Paviglianiti was picked up on the streets of Madrid's working-class Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood in a joint operation carried out with Italian police, Spain's National Police said in a statement. Above, Paviglianiti's arrest

Domenico Paviglianiti was a leader of Italy's most powerful organised crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta, which controls much of Europe's cocaine trade

He was carrying fake Portuguese documentation at the time of his arrest as well as 5,000 in cash and six mobile phones, the police added.

Paviglianiti helped control mafia operations in Italy's north and in South America in his heyday.

He was dubbed 'the boss of the bosses' by Italian media for his role in crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s, including murder and drug trafficking.

Paviglianiti was originally arrested in Spain in 1996 and extradited three years later to Italy, where he began serving a life sentence, one typically given for top mafia criminals.

But his lawyers argued that Spain's extradition conditions did not recognise life imprisonment, a technicality that allowed his early release after serving over 20 years.

After his release Paviglianiti 'drove around in an armoured vehicle out of fear of being hit by a gang attack and his criminal activities allegedly focused on trafficking weapons and drugs,' a statement from the Spanish interior ministry said.

Italian prosecutors then issued an arrest warrant for him following a ruling by a high court that found that he had been erroneously released in 2019.

Spanish police located part of Paviglianiti's family in Barcelona, where he lived for several months before moving to Madrid.

Police regularly detain members of Italian mafia in Spain, the main entryway into Europe for cocaine from Latin America and cannabis from north Africa.

'Ndrangheta is based in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot. Above, a younger Paviglianiti

The 'Ndrangheta is based in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot. In January 2021 the biggest ever trial into the mafia took place in Calabria.

The organisation is considered the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy, having surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra, thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the main importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe via north Africa and southern Italy.

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's tight clan-based structure has made it hard to penetrate.
This is the breathtaking moment a massive grizzly bear strolled within a few feet of a group of tourists at a remote Alaskan nature reserve.

The video, which was shot by Cara Siciliano in Alaskas Katmai National Park, shows the bear suddenly appearing along a path approaching from the left of the shot.

In the footage, a man can be heard calmly repeating 'Hey bear,' and 'Hey, big boy!' as the grizzly lumbers past the party.

The huge beast stops in front of a sign announcing there are bears in the area, as if reading it, before turning on its heel and walking back past the nervous visitors.

The video, which was shot by Cara Siciliano in Alaskas Katmai National Park, shows how she was walking down the path with her friends when the bear suddenly appeared from behind them

The huge bear walked within feet of the party of tourists who stayed still beside the path

The grizzly, left, walked over to a sign warning about bears in the area, before turning around and going back the way it came

Siciliano shared the footage, which was shot on July 14, on TikTok where it has been viewed more than 11.3 million times

She explained that the man's voice was that of the seaplane captain who had flown the tourists there.

Siciliano added that the captain, who had guided trips in the national park hundreds of times, said he had never witnessed anything like the encounter before.

Viewers praised his calmness and explained that he was following advice on bear encounters by using a monotone voice to talk to it.

Siciliano said that she was walking down a path in the park with her friends when the bear suddenly appeared behind them.

She said it had, in fact, turned back at the sign because it had spotted another bear, glimpsed briefly in her footage, up ahead that it had been fighting with earlier.

Experts warn that humans should not run away from bear as it suggests that you are prey and they are likely to chase.

By talking to the bear in a deep voice, it is encouraged to move on without attacking.

According to the National Parks Service, it is important not to startle a wild bear.

The NPS advises: 'Stay calm and remember that most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone.

People commenting on social media were unsure why the group remained so calm and did not try and escape from the bear

'Continue to talk to the bear in low tones; this will help you stay calmer, and it won't be threatening to the bear.

'A scream or sudden movement may trigger an attack. Never imitate bear sounds or make a high-pitched squeal.'

People watching the video asked several questions and had plenty of comments.

Rick Ellis asked why the group stood still when the massive bear approached.

Siciliano replied: 'That is exactly what we were instructed to do and be calm. That was the sea plane captain trying to keep everyone calm.'

Commenting on the moment when the animal went to inspect the sign warning about bears in the area, Herman Salgado responded: 'He was checking to make sure his picture was still up.'

Another person suggested: 'Remember, you don't have to outrun the bear. You just need to be able to outrun your friends.'

Max Frost warned: 'Their lives were almost that scene from the Revenant.'

Morgan added: 'Prey runs. Don't run. Let them know you're there and most importantly you are not afraid - also known as - not food.

'It is Alaska, they did the right thing.'

The bear is one of 2,200 who is believed to live in the Katmai region of Alaska

The NPS said there are about 2,200 bears in the Katmai region and is one of the 'premier brown bear viewing areas in the world'.

Rangers believe there are more bears than people on the peninsula.

According to their website: 'As many bear populations around the world decline, Katmai provides some of the few remaining unaltered habitats for these amazing creatures.

'At Katmai, scientists are able to study bears in their natural habitat, visitors are able to enjoy unparalleled viewing opportunities, and the bears are able to continue their life cycle largely undisturbed.'
A man strangled a woman unconscious before trying to rape her on a New York City Subway train was filmed fleeing a station afterwards.

The suspect was seen rushing through the emergency exit door of a Manhattan station afterwards in what the NYPD allege was a harried escape.

He is said to have struck at 9.45pm on Tuesday on a northbound C train in Washington Heights.

According to the NYPD, the 40-year-old female subway rider was approached by a stranger who demanded her possessions and then slammed her into the train car seats.

The NYPD is looking for this man who police say choked a female subway rider unconscious and tried to rape her on Tuesday night

The suspect, seen here making his escape at the 168th Street station in Washington Heights, is accused of attacking the 40-year-old victim aboard a northbound C train

The burly perpetrator then strangled the victim until she lost consciousness.

Police said the assailant then groped the unresponsive woman's breasts inside her bra and tried to rape her, reported the New York Post.

When the train pulled into the 168th Street station, the attacker dragged the woman onto the subway platform and ran away.

Surveillance video from the station that was released by the police on Wednesday shows the suspect making his escape.

The victim was evaluated at the scene. The extent of her injuries has not been disclosed.

The burly suspect is suspected of strangling the victim unconscious, groping her breasts and trying to rape her, before dragging the woman off the train and fleeing

The suspect was last seen wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and shorts, with a mask strapped under his chin.

The brutal attack comes amid skyrocketing crime rates in New York City.

NYPD crime data show that rapes are up 3.1 per cent so far this year, with 842 reported as of August 1, compared to 817 in the same period of 2020.

Other sex crimes are up 26.3 per cent to 2,719 this year, compared to 2,152 last year, according to NYPD statistics.

Shootings have spiked 15.8 per cent in 2021 compared to last year, with 900 shooting incidents in 2021 compared to 777 in 2020.

Rapes in New York City were up 3.1 per cent so far this year, with 842 reported as of August 1, compared to 817 in the same period of 2020

There are also 12 per cent more shooting victims this year, the data shows, with 1,057 people falling prey to gun violence compared to 944 last year.

The biggest leap in crime rates is for hate crimes, which have surged by 103 per cent in the last year. The data come amid numerous random attacks on Asian Americans in the city in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An eight-year-old black boy was left with abrasions on his neck after two white children - ages eight and nine - allegedly wrapped a ten strap around his neck at a summer camp in Martha's Vineyard.

But police will not be pursuing any charges because a 2018 law reform raised the age of criminal responsibility in Massachusetts from seven years old to 12.

The Martha's Vineyard NAACP is investigating if the alleged lynching-like assault at the Chilmark Community Center on July 28 was racially motivated.

Local officials in Chilmark, Massachusetts, which oversees the camp, said during an emergency meeting on August 3 that they 'are not in a position to assess whether this was a safe play issue or a racial issue.'

'We do know that it is was unacceptable behavior,' the Chilmark Select Board said in its statement.

One of the board members - Warren Doty - said that the community center is undertaking an investigation.

She said 'based on their long history of running a successful summer program, we have confidence that the investigation will be thorough and fair,' the Martha Vineyard Times reported.

In the Chilmark, Massachusetts, Community Center, pictured here, two white children - ages eight and nine - allegedly wrapped a ten strap around the neck of an eight-year-old black child on July 28.

A view of Chilmark, Massachusetts on the Island of Martha's Vineyard

Chilmark Police Chief Jonathan Klaren said police can't pursue criminal charges after the age of responsibility was raised to 12 under the 2018 Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Bill.

Klaren said his officers are offering assistance 'where possible' to the victim's family.

It's unclear if the camp or the alleged attackers' families can be held criminally or civilly liable.

But without the police being able to bring criminal charges against the alleged attackers, the NAACP is left to investigate the matter.

Martha's Vineyard NAACP President Arthur Hardy-Doubleday said in a statement, 'This event reminds us that while the Island may have a reputation as a racial utopia, we are far from it.

'Incidents like this cannot be ignored. Pending the result of the investigation, I would ask the children and their parents to be held accountable for this reprehensible event.'

The residents were first notified about the incident on July 29, when Chilmark Town Affairs Council President Jeff Herman sent an email and text blast to people connected to the community center.

He said the victim had an abrasion on his neck but 'thankfully the child was otherwise physically unharmed.'

Herman called the event 'traumatic' and said, 'We will begin right away to take steps to investigate the incident and to make sure that incidents such as this do not happen again.'

The incident fired up the Martha's Vineyard community, who protested outside the Chilmark Community Center on Tuesday, calling for it to be closed during the investigation, and spoke during the August 3 meeting.

Jane Slater, 89, told the Boston Globe that Herman's message was 'very unsatisfactory' with 'no real information or real promise of information.'

'It was a horrific incident if it happened the way it was described,' she told the Boston Glove. '[Herman's] reference to the event and the effect it had on the victim was so casual. We felt that in this time and era it was too light and just too casual.'

Chilmark is a small town of about 1,200 residents on Martha's Vineyard, with about 94 percent of it population being white, five percent being Hispanic and one percent black, according to censusreporter.org.

The town has a median household income of $96,471, which is 19 percent higher than the state average, according to cleargov.com, and the median home value in 2019 was $1.16million.

The Chilmark Community Center bills itself as 'a social center for the townspeople of Chilmark, summer visitors and year-round residents alike,' on its website.

In July and August, the Community Center hosts a Playschool for kids ages three to five, youth programs for kids six to 14 and afternoon camp for ages six to 18.

They range in prices from $100 to $300 per week per child.

Chilmark, Massachusetts Select board member Warren Doty reads a statement about the camp incident during the August 3 meeting

The Chilmark Community Center summer programs range from $100 per week to $300 per week

Some people have called for the summer camp in the Chilmark Community Center to close while the NAACP investigates if the alleged attack was racially motivated

Full Chilmark police statement

'The Center is a source of particular pride in Chilmark,' its says on the community center's website.

'For new families, it is important to remember that it is not a day camp, not a day care or drop-in center, not an urban outpost. It is quite simply a familiar Island place, where there is no sense of entitlement, where the building of community and volunteerism are valued, and where the pleasures of summer may be enjoyed in full.'

DailyMail.com left calls and emails with the Martha's Vineyard NAACP and the Chilmark Community Center.
Two North Carolina men were charged with murder after raping and robbing a 24-year-old tourist who overdosed during spring break in Miami Beach.

Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 25, both from Greensboro, North Carolina, were found responsible for the fentanyl-induced death of Christine Englehardt, of Richboro, Pennsylvania, in March, a grand jury in Miami-Dade County said.

The three-page grand jury report accuses the pair of killing Englehardt with their "unlawful distribution of fentanyl" while committing sexual battery and burglary.

The men allegedly took Englehardt's credit cards and made illegal purchases at SOBE Liquors and the Sugar Factory.

Evoire Collier, 21 (left), and Dorian Taylor, 24 (right), were charged with murder in connection with the death of tourist Christine Englehardt at her Miami hotel room in March

Toxicology tests have revealed that fentanyl and alcohol played roles in Englehardt's death

Englehardt (right), pictured with mom Doreen, was allegedly given a green pill by one of the suspects, which was made to look like a painkiller but contained fentanyl

Englehardt was found lying face down on the bed at the Albion Hotel in South Beach on March 18 after she was raped and robbed

The grand jury also added a second first-degree murder charge against Taylor for supplying the same opioid to Walter Riley, 21, from Chicago.

He was found unconscious on a nearby street and died March 20, two days after Englehardt was found unresponsive in her hotel room, the Miami Herald reported.

Englehardt met the men while visiting South Beach, and went with them to her room at the Albion Hotel, prosecutors said.

According to police, Collier and Taylor led a severely intoxicated Englehardt into the room, where they sexually assaulted her after she lost consciousness, and then stole her credit cards to help fund the rest of their South Beach vacation.

Colliers attorney, Phil Reizenstein, told the Herald he's "stunned" by the indictment. He said the medical examiner found Englehardt had ingested so many different drugs that it was nearly impossible to pin down what caused her death.

"I think theyre going to regret doing this," said Reizenstein. "I think by the time Im finished with them, theyre never going to be able to say she died of this."

Taylors attorney, Liesbeth Boot, couldnt be reached.

The men remain jailed in Miami. They were arrested March 21, according to jail records.

Collier is seen posing up while roaming the streets of South Beach along with other Spring Breakers

Collier and Taylor are seen 'photo-bombing' another tourist a day after Englehardt's death

Englehardt also hard traces of cocaine, marijuana and amphetamine in her system

Authorities said surveillance video captured the men entering the hotel with Englehardt and later leaving without her.

An arrest report says Collier confessed to giving Englehardt a green pill and claimed they sexually assaulted her in the hotel room even as she lay unconscious.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner determined the pills ingested by Englehardt were "rapidly fatal" fentanyl.

The autopsy also found that her alcohol level when she died hovered near 2.0, almost three times the legal limit, and asphyxia may have played a role in her death, the Herald reported.
Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman was regarded as 'one of the most dangerous' people police ever investigated in the weeks before he was released from prison, an inquest heard.

Police predicted Amman would attack the public upon his release from prison - less than a month before he carried out his broad daylight rampage.

His inquest heard today MI5 and police officers discussing intelligence about the 20-year-old on January 9, 2020, two weeks before he was automatically released from Belmarsh prison for terror offences.

The court heard they were so concerned about his threat level that one officer remarked an attack would be 'when, not if'.

It emerged as Carina Heckroodt, head of the London Extremism Gangs and Organised Crime Unit at the Probation Service, denied it was a 'missed opportunity' not to recall Amman to prison on January 31 after he was spotted buying items later used to fashion a fake suicide belt.

Sudesh Amman, 20, confided to his mentors he 'realised' that those who committed terrorist acts ended up 'pushing people away' from Islam, days before the 2020 Streatham terror attack

CCTV footage of Sudesh Amman running along Streatham High Road as he stabbed passers by

Amman stabbed and injured two passersby, while wearing a fake suicide vest, before he was shot and killed by armed police a minute late

Amman, who had been bailed to Streatham in south London upon his release from prison on January 23, launched a 62-second attack on February 2.

He had stolen a knife from a high street shop and stabbed people apparently at random while wearing the hoax explosive, before his atrocity was brought to a halt when he was fatally shot by police.

A report by the Terrorism Offender Management Unit (TOMU), part of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, came off the back of intelligence about Amman's unrelenting commitment to extremism while serving a 40-month jail term for terror offences in Belmarsh prison, London.

The report which was prepared by the TOMU before Amman's release, was produced at Amman's inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice.

CCTV image of Sudesh Amman at his approved premises on January 31, 2020, two days before he randomly stabbed two people and was fatally shot by police in Streatham, London

It concluded: 'It is the collective view of the SOI (senior investigating officer), investigation team and all partner agencies that he (Amman) represents one of the most dangerous individuals we have investigated.'

The senior police officer leading the investigation into Amman's release from prison, known only as HA6 to protect his identity, said in his witness statement that he feared Amman had not changed his extremist mindset in jail. He wanted Amman's custody to be extended.

Giving evidence screened from the public and journalists, he told the inquest: 'Between ourselves and MI5 it caused us great concern.'

Sudesh Amman at the till in Poundland in Streatham on January 31, 2020 - two days before the atrocity - where he bought items including four bottles of Irn Bru and kitchen foil

HA6 also described Amman's 'concerning' behaviour in the days following his release from prison, including taking a bus to Croydon and praying in the street outside a McDonald's.

He said of the behaviour: 'Odd is one interpretation. Anti-surveillance - trying to identify our response - being another interpretation.'

Timeline: Streatham 2020 terror attack January 23, 2020 Sudesh Amman is automatically released from prison. January 24 Amman, who is originally from Coventry, is under day-time surveillance by plain clothes officers. January 29 A decision is made to allow those surveillance officers to carry firearms. January 30 Amman's covert surveillance is relaxed slightly, meaning there would be no coverage between 6am and 10am. January 31 Amman is seen looking at knives in a shop and buying items that could be used to create a hoax suicide belt. These items include a roll of tape, aluminium foil and four bottles of Irn Bru soft drink. It is then decided to put Amman under 24-hour surveillance. February 1 Amman is placed on 'round-the-clock' - i.e. 24-hour - surveillance. February 2 1.22pm - Amman leaves his approved premises, the probation hostel, at Leigham Court Road. 1.50pm - Amman is seen on Streatham High Road. He is said to be walking 'very slowly'. 1.57pm - The 20-year-old enters a shop called Low Price Store. He is inside for barely a minute, and emerges with a knife which he has stolen. He is pursued by undercover police. Amman stabs two people - a man and a woman - before being shot at by an armed officer. 1.58pm - Amman, reaching the Boots shop, turns to face the police. Police shoot at him five times, with two shots hitting him. A total of 62 seconds after running from the shop, Amman falls to the ground. 2.40pm - A police explosives expert arrives on the scene to check the device around Amman's waist, which was identified as a hoax. 3.24pm - Sudesh Amman is pronounced dead by a paramedic. Advertisement

Amman's inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice previously heard of intelligence concerns about his behaviour in prison - specifically his allegiance to so-called Islamic State, his apparent desire to radicalise others, and his unwavering reluctance to engage with authorities.

Extremism Risk Guidance prepared ahead of his release also warned of the risk of Amman staging an attack in public.

On Thursday, it was disclosed that police shared those concerns.

Ms Heckroodt's witness statements, read before the inquest jury, said: 'On January 9, I attended a JOT (Joint Operational Team) meeting in London to discuss Amman.

'This meeting was attended by a number of people and included the police and the security service (MI5).

'I cannot remember all of the attendees and I am not sure who they all represented.

'During this JOT, the police said that Amman was a high threat and that an attack would be when, not if.'

Ms Heckroodt also said Amman was considered at that meeting to be 'high threat' and it was 'suspected he would use a knife to carry out an attack'.

She said she subsequently learned Amman bought some bottles of Irn Bru soft drink, a roll of tape and some kitchen foil from Poundland.

It prompted her to call the Probation Service's national security lead to discuss whether Amman could have breached the terms of his release from prison.

However, it was not felt Amman's actions were sufficient enough to recall him to prison.

He struck two days later.

Giving evidence, Ms Heckroodt said she was 'satisfied' there was nothing about the purchases that suggested he had breached any licence conditions.

Rajiv Menon, representing Amman's family, said: 'Your failure to recall him was a most serious missed opportunity in this case.'

Ms Heckroodt replied: 'I disagree, it was not a missed opportunity.'

Bilal Rawat, for the Probation Service, asked: 'If you were aware of the risk he presented, if you found a legitimate basis to recall him, would you?'

Ms Heckroodt replied: 'I would have done it immediately.'

The inquest also heard how police did not search Amman's room at his probation hostel because they 'did not want to show their hand' that he was under surveillance.

Recalling her conversation with police at the time, Ms Heckroodt said: 'We were trying to think what else can we do, what were his intentions?

'A room search was not possible. The police were very careful not to show their hand at the time.

'We couldn't do anything to show him he was under covert surveillance.'

Amman, who is originally from Coventry and of Sri Lankan descent, stabbed and injured two people on Streatham High Road before he was shot dead.

His inquest continues.
A fisherman has claimed that a 'shark' nearly tipped over his kayak - before it caused the evacuation of a Bournemouth beach.

Darron Tapper, 54, said the shark pulled his fishing rod out of his hands and almost dragged him in with it when it went for the lure on the end of his line just off Boscombe beach in Bournemouth, Dorset.

He saw a large shadow under the surface but was unable to identify the creature - which he thinks may have been a shark due to the sheer power of its bite.

Darron returned to the beach to alert lifeguards who had received two other reports from bathers of what was suspected to be a shark in the water.

The sightings prompted an RNLI lifeguard to use a megaphone to tell everybody to get out of the water in scenes reminiscent of the classic movie Jaws.

They also put up red flags on the beach - the RNLI's signal to warn swimmers of a serious hazard in the water.

Two lifeguards on jet-skis patrolled the water to search for the 'large marine life' but found nothing untoward. The beach was reopened after around an hour.

Darron Tapper, 54, told of his close encounter with the 'shark' that caused the evacuation of Boscombe beach in Bournemouth

The RNLI closed the busy Dorset beach on Wednesday after a shark was reportedly spotted in the water

Darren, 54, from Bournemouth, believes he had a lucky escape.

He said: 'I was pulling a lure back into shore and something grabbed that, I almost turned over in my kayak.

'I spun around and saw a big shadow.'

The experienced fisherman said he was sure it was not a fish he would expect to catch in the area.

He said: 'I know what fish are, it was something big.

'As a fisherman I've never heard of a shark in these waters so that was the last thing on my mind.

'It is very possible (it was a shark) I'm speculating that, I don't know what else would have the power.

'If you saw how it took my rod and reel I didn't stand a chance (if the kayak had gone over). God knows what would have happened, I looked like a seal in my wetsuit.

'In 13 years I have never ever experienced that, it is a bit of a thrill to think I escaped the clutches.'

He described the scenes as his own 'Jaws experience'.

He said: 'I had caught nine fish already and you could tell there was a predator in the water because of how animated the fish were.

'I started rowing back to the shore but still had my lure out as a fisherman loves one last catch.

'I was about to reel it in as I was getting to where people were swimming when I heard a bang.

The fisherman described the scenes as his own 'Jaws experience' as he relived his encounter

'The creature had gone for my lure with so much power my kayak spun around.

'It may have been a tope, a blue or a porbeagle shark.

'It only lasted a few seconds and I zig-zagged back to shore with a hole in the kayak.

'As I was carrying it from the water the lifeguards were running the other way.

'One lifeguard with a big megaphone was shouting people to get out the way and announced 'get out of the water'.

'It was like something out of the film Jaws and I had my own Jaws experience.'

Mark Hind, a shark expert and curator at the SeaLife Centre in Loch Lomond in Scotland, said the big sea creature was probably a large tope shark that would have been enough to give anyone a fright.

He said there was also a possibility it could have been a porbeagle shark which is a relative if the great white.

Mr Hind said: 'We have lots of sharks in our waters, they can bite but they are not man-eaters.

'Porbeagle and blue sharks are usually found way off shore and it is rare for them to come in close but it is possible that it could have been a porbeagle drifting in close chasing mackerel.

'You get a lot of tope in the water off the south coast and they can come in close. It could have been a very rare tope.

'If you see one in the water it is going to give you a fright.'

Mr Hind said he doubts it was a basking shark as they are so big that people would have been able to identify it.

RNLI lifeguards put up red flags, the signal to warn swimmers of a serious hazard in the water and put out a tannoy announcement telling people to get out of the sea, and searched the water on jet skis

Lifeguards on jet skis then spent 20 minutes searching the water off Boscombe beach in Bournemouth after three reports of some kind of 'large marine life' under the water, an RNLI spokesman said

Meanwhile another marine wildlife expert accused the RNLI over over-reacting by evacuating the beach.

Steve Trewhella said: 'It is absolutely possible that it could have been a thresher or porbeagle shark chasing food inshore. Had it been a seal or a dolphin it probably would have resurfaced again.

'But why close the beach? We aren't in Australia, this is Boscombe. No-one has ever been attacked or killed by a shark in the UK before. It was a complete overreaction.'

A spokesman for the RNLI said: 'On Wednesday 4 August, RNLI lifeguards received reports of a large marine animal in the sea near Boscombe Beach, Dorset.

'As a precautionary measure, lifeguards asked beach visitors to evacuate the water and put up red flags.

'Lifeguards used their Rescue Watercraft (RWC) to scan the area and visitors were able to go back into the water half an hour later.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson issued a letter this week requesting that airports work with concession sellers to help lower the amount of unruly passengers on planes.

Airports should monitor alcohol intake, the FAA advised, following an increase in bad behavior among passengers in 2021 - from the usual 100 reports to this year's 1,300 - despite fewer travelers compared with pre-pandemic levels.

In a Tuesday letter to airport managers, Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson expressed concern about serving alcohol to passengers in airport restaurants and bars before a flight, as reported by NBC.

'As the number of passengers traveling has increased, so has the number of unruly and unsafe behavior incidents on planes and in airports,' the letter read.

Dickson requested that airports work with concession sellers to help avoid this.

'Even though FAA regulations specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol aboard an aircraft that is not served by the airline, we have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol 'to go,' and passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated during the boarding process,' Dickson added.

In March, he extended the FAA's unruly-passenger zero-tolerance policy, which mandates that the FAA take legal action against any passenger 'who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members'.

While 2,475 of the 3,271 reports - 7.7 percent more than in 2020 - so far in 2021 involved passengers refusing to wear face masks, Dickson also attributed many disruptions to alcohol served pre- and mid-flight.

Some airlines already have taken matters into their own hands and limited drink service during flights.

American Airlines has restricted food and drink service in the main cabin according to flight length and destination. Alcohol is reserved for First Class passengers during international flights.

Cell phone video youll only see on @WPLGLocal10 shows a @FlyFrontier flight attendant duct taping an unruly passenger to his seat on Flight 2289 from Philadelphia to @iflymia. @MiamiDadePD says Maxwell Berry groped two flight attendants and punched a third. pic.twitter.com/SSLpCer8wh  Madeleine Wright (@MWrightWPLG) August 3, 2021

Frontier Airlines passenger Max Berry, 22, had a meltdown on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami on Saturday - the latest in a string of alcohol-related incidents on a plane to capture attention on social media. He downed several drinks then allegedly groped and assaulted multiple flight crew members. Flight crew members had duct tape Berry to his seat to control his behavior

Delta Airlines is no longer serving alcohol on domestic flights but beer, wine and spirits can be purchased on international flights, as reported by CNN Travel.

Southwest Airlines released a statement in May that said: 'Given a recent uptick industry-wide of incidents in-flight involving disruptive passengers, we're pausing previously announced resumption of alcohol service onboard.'

But passengers have found creative ways to catch a buzz during their flight. Some have resorted to a BYOB, putting alcohol in to-go cups.

Other passengers have purchased duty-free alcohol to drink before boarding their flight.

Back in November a drunk Sierra Nicole McClinton, 25, caused her Houston-bound flight to land after getting into a fight with another passenger and then with airline staff

However, neither is allowed. According to the FAA, regulations 'prohibit passengers from drinking alcohol on board the aircraft unless it is served by the air carrier'.

But the TSA does not limit liquids based on type. It allows passengers to carry alcohol through security and onto a plane as long as it is 3.4 ounces or less, can fit into a quart-sized bag and is under 70 percent alcohol by volume.

In the most recent alcohol-related incident, Frontier Airlines passenger Max Berry, 22, had a meltdown on a Saturday flight from Philadelphia to Miami.

He downed several drinks then allegedly groped and assaulted multiple flight crew members, who had to duct tape Berry to his seat.

In November, a drunk Sierra Nicole McClinton, 25, forced her Houston-bound flight to land after getting into a fight with another passenger and then with airline staff.

She exited the plane wearing only a T-shirt and underwear, and faced charges of disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

In 2021, the agency has proposed fines totaling $119,000 against 13 passengers for consuming alcohol that wasn't served by the airline.

In June, body-camera footage captured the moment an off-duty flight attendant was arrested after he forced a Delta plane to land early by seizing the intercom and threatening to bring the aircraft down

The FAA typically sees 100-150 formal cases of bad behavior per year. This year-to-date there have already been 3,715 reports.

However, not all unruly behavior in the recent string of incidents involves alcohol. In October 2020, a woman was tasered by police on a Spirit Airlines flight that had just landed in Puerto Rico because she refused to wear her face mask.

In June, body-camera footage captured the moment an off-duty flight attendant was arrested after he forced a Delta plane to land early by seizing the intercom and threatening to bring the aircraft down.

And last month, two women were seen brawling on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta.

As part of FAA's Zero Tolerance campaign it released a video featuring children explaining how to behave on a plane to show that 'even children know it's not safe to disrupt a flight'.

'I would be really scared,' one boy said.
A shocked Sikh father was put in handcuffs during a day-trip to a funfair for carrying a religious dagger - even though he is legally allowed to do so for religious reasons.

Prabjot Singh, 30, was outraged to be stopped by police after travelling 110 miles from Birmingham to Wales for the day out at the Tir Prince Fun Park in Towyn, Conwy.

Mr Singh, an Amritdhari Sikh, was carrying a six-inch kirpan - a religious sword or dagger which Amritdharis must wear.

He protested that they are legally allowed to do so in the UK for religious reasons under the 2018 Offensive Weapons Bill.

A member of staff at the park had noticed the dagger around Mr Singh's waist when he was on a ride with his young son.

Mr Singh was told by a staff member to remove the kirpan or leave the park.

Prabjot Singh, 30, was outraged to be stopped by police for carrying a religious blade after travellingfrom Birmingham to Wales for the day out at the Tir Prince Fun Park in Towyn, Conwy

Pictured: A Sikh holds a kirpan by his side as mandated by 17th century tradition

Family friend Arminder Singh explained that Prabjot doesn't speak much English - so he attempted to speak to the staff member on his behalf to make him aware that the kirpan is legally allowed.

He said: 'I was at the front of the line waiting to get on the ride when I heard the staff member say you have to go out.

'I shouted asking "what is the matter" and the staff member said this man is wearing a knife. He used the word knife. And said it's not allowed.

'I explained that it's legal under UK law and they said they can't allow it in case anyone gets injured.

'He said OK and didn't debate too much with me. When the ride started he reported that he had a knife to police, which they reacted to and four or five cars arrived before the ride had even finished.'

Once the officers had looked into the explanation for the kirpan, they released Prabjot and handed him a receipt for his detention (pictured)

Police arrived at Tir Prince Fun Park in Towyn, Conwy (pictured) after receiving reports that a man was in possession of a pair of knives, and Prabjot was placed in handcuffs

Police arrived after receiving reports that a man was in possession of a pair of knives, and Prabjot was placed in handcuffs.

Arminder said: 'Everyone was looking at us like we were terrorists. My friend's wife was in tears, everyone got very nervous.

'Without listening to anything they put him in handcuffs, it was very embarrassing,' he added.

Once the officers had looked into the explanation for the kirpan, they released Prabjot and handed him a receipt for his detention.

Despite being released by police, Arminder claimed the owner of Tir Prince escorted the group out of the park.

Arminder said that the owner apologised and refunded them for their visit shortly after but would not allow them to enter the park with the kirpan - despite the family visiting the park without issue last month.

Pictured: A Sikh holds his kirpan in the top of his turban, which holds up his uncut hair

Are Sikhs permitted to carry kirpans in public? The Offensive Weapons Bill of 2018 increased the number of items that are prohibited in public places. The crackdown came after a spate of acid attacks and stabbings across the country and during a year in which London's murder rate overtook that of New York. The bill widened the definition of offensive weapons to include flick knives. It also made it a crime to carry a corrosive substance in a public place without 'good reason'. But in late 2018, the Bill had to be amended to ensure that Sikhs were still able to practice a key tenet of their faith, the carrying of a kirpan. This meant introducing an exception to the carrying of blades in public. Kirpans vary in size, but all are permitted by the Bill that received Royal ascent. So although it is illegal to be caught with a small flick knife in public, a kirpan as large as 50cm is not considered an offensive weapon under UK law. Advertisement

He also claimed that the owner said he would not allow any other Amritdhari Sikhs to enter the site moving forward.

'He was not willing to let us in, we were very disappointed and made the 110 mile trip home with sad faces', Arminder added.

Chief constable Carl Foulkes said: 'I have been personally briefed on this incident as I recognise both the religious and cultural sensitivity.

'We are reaching out to the gentlemen affected to discuss the circumstances with him and we will understand and take on board learning for the force.'

In a statement, North Wales Police said: 'Officers were called to report of a man in possession of two knives at a busy amusement park in Towyn last Friday.

'When questioned, the man explained the circumstances of him carrying a kirpan as part of his Sikh faith.

'The officers were aware of the legal exemption for kirpans and having obtained the explanation they provided him with an official record of the stop search.

'North Wales Police works with all sections of our diverse communities across the region, and constantly seeks to engage over culturally sensitive issues which include consultation with colleagues from the Sikh Police Association, and the Black and Asian Police Association.

'Our officers receive extensive training on these issues, but we will always look to maximise any learning opportunities from each and every incident.

'The force is in the process of trying to contact the gentleman concerned, to address any ongoing concerns he may have.'
A Swiss woman has been 'raped and murdered' in Thailand after travelling to the country alone under a new post-lockdown tourism scheme in Phuket.

The 57-year-old was discovered lying face down in a rocky pool at the bottom of a waterfall with a black tarpaulin thrown over her body on Thursday afternoon.

A pair of jean shorts, underwear, a pair of trainers and a phone were found not far from her body at the nature reserve in the Wichit area of Phuket.

Detectives and forensics experts inspect evidence after the body of a 57-year-old Swiss woman was found in a rocky pool close to a waterfall in the Wichit area of Phuket on Thursday

The woman was discovered not far from the Ao Yon waterfall, a popular tourist hiking spot in the Wichit area of Phuket not far from the coast

Detectives say the victim, who has not been named, died around three days ago.

She had been raped and murdered, local media reported.

Immigration officials confirmed that the Swiss woman arrived at Phuket airport from Singapore on July 13 under the Phuket Sandbox scheme which started last month.

The reopening scheme allows vaccinated foreigners to travel to Phuket without needing to quarantine as in other parts of the country.

After 14 days in Phuket, which is heavily-reliant on tourist money, foreigners are allowed to travel further within Thailand.

The woman had stayed first at the Dusit Thani Laguna Hotel from July 13 to 27 before moving around 15 miles south to The Mooring Resort Hotel, according to The Bangkok Post.

A witness told police he saw her leaving the hotel and walking towards the beach at around 2pm on Tuesday.

A pair of Nike trainers were found dumped not far from the body

A local villager alerted officers after finding the woman at around 1.30pm on Thursday.

The woman had previously visited Phuket in 2019.

Her body has been sent for an autopsy at Vachira Phuket Hospital.
A brother and sister have won a legal battle over multimillion-pound company Oatly over a claim their PureOaty oat milk drink infringed their trademark.

Oatly had brought legal action against Glebe Farm Foods, a Cambridgeshire-based company that specialises in producing gluten-free oats, accusing them of attempting to take 'unfair advantage' of Oatly's trademarks with their oat drink called 'PureOaty'.

Glebe Farm Foods, run by brother and sister Philip and Rebecca Rayner, denied the claims and in a judgment on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Caddick QC ruled in favour of the siblings.

During a two-day hearing in June, the High Court in London heard that the farming company launched an oat milk in 2019 called 'Oat Drink', before launching the rebranded 'PureOaty' in 2020.

Oatly's lawyers argued that Glebe Farm Foods had infringed five of their firm's trademarks with the 'PureOaty' name and the drink's packaging, as well as 'passing off' their product as Oatly's.

Glebe Farm Foods, run by brother and sister Philip and Rebecca Rayner, denied the claims and in a judgment on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Caddick QC ruled in favour of the siblings

Judge Caddick found there were similarities between the initial PureOaty packaging and the Oatly packaging, including the use of the colour blue and the use of an irregular font for the product name.

However, the judge said the similarities were 'at a very general level'.

Oatly's lawyers had also argued that customers could be confused into believing that PureOaty was a type of Oatly product, but had not produced any evidence.

Judge Caddick said: 'It is hard to see how any relevant confusion would arise from the defendant's use of the sign 'PureOaty'. In particular, the use of 'Pure' as a prefix to the word 'Oaty' and the appearance of the carton as a whole seem to me to preclude any likelihood of the PureOaty product being seen as some sort of sub-brand of Oatly.'

The court heard that Oatly had sold more than 38 million of their 'barista edition' oat milk, and more than 13 million of other varieties.

Judge Caddick continued: 'On the facts of this case, I do not see that there is any risk of injury to the distinctive character of Oatly's marks.

Judge Caddick found there were similarities between the initial PureOaty packaging and the Oatly packaging, including the use of the colour blue and the use of an irregular font for the product name

'If Oatly loses sales, then it seems to me that that would be the result of there being a rival oat drink product on the market and not because the attractiveness of its brand as a badge of origin has been in any way diminished by the defendant's use of the PureOaty sign.'

He concluded: 'There is a relatively low or, at best, very modest level of similarity between the sign and the marks and that similarity is due to the presence in both the sign and the mark of the letters 'oat' that are descriptive of the relevant products.'

After the ruling, Mr Rayner said: 'We have had the threat of this court case - which has pitched our challenger brand against Oatly's multinational business - looming over us for more than a year.

'We have always felt certain that we have done nothing wrong, and we were determined to fight Oatly's claims that our brands were similar - something that is now proven to be wrong.

'You only need to look at the two products and packaging side by side to appreciate how different these brands are, and how unnecessary this legal action was.'

He concluded: 'It is enormously gratifying that the judge has ruled in our favour, and to see that smaller independent companies can fight back and win.'

Oatly has said it will not appeal the judgment.

PR manager Erica Wigge said: 'While to some this might be seen as vindication for small oat drink companies over big oat drink companies, we actually never saw it that way.

'For us, this case has always been about protecting our trademark... If we were to let one company pass because they, like Glebe Farm, seem to be one of the good guys, that might leave the door open for the bad ones.'

She continued: 'Truth is, we love all oat drink companies and never brought this case to damage Glebe Farm.

'In fact, we want them to thrive and help bring products into the world that are good for the planet.

'We just think they should do so in their own unique voice, just like we do.'
A police chief in New Hampshire quickly backtracked after a job recruitment listing on Facebook by his department offered 'qualified immunity' as one of the many 'unique' benefits of joining his Manchester force.

'The department offers many opportunities to advance and additional unique benefits including qualified immunity,' read Tuesday's recruitment post - which has since been deleted.

Allen Aldenberg, who did not write the listing, went on the social media platform hours later and took 'full responsibility' for the post. He called the mention of qualified immunity 'inappropriate.'

After publishing a job recruitment listing on Facebook Tuesday, Manchester chief of police Allen Aldenberg was forced to apologize after the department listed 'qualified immunity' as one of the many 'unique' benefits of joining the department (below)

In a follow-up apology on Facebook that same day, Aldenberg said he took 'full responsibility' for the post, calling the mention of qualified immunity 'inappropriate.'

But the damage had already been done. Advocates vying for police reform in New Hampshire immediately voiced their opinion online, demanding transparency and accountability from the department.

'Another demonstration of what is seriously broken about the police mindset. They shouldn't be looking for candidates that see qualified immunity as a perk. That is an invitation to abuse the public,' one user wrote on Twitter.

'What a fancy way of saying 'You can literally do no wrong, even if you do it's alright, we've got it,' wrote another.

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine recognized in 1967 by the Supreme Court which shields government officials, including on-duty officers, from being held personally accountable for constitutional violations.

The doctrine has proven to be a complicated subject to navigate, igniting a heated debate on all isles of the spectrum, particularly after the killing of George Floyd.

Advocates vying for police reform in New Hampshire immediately voiced their opinion online (below), demanding transparency and accountability from the department.

What is qualified immunity and how does it work? Recognized in 1967 by the Supreme Court, qualified immunity is a legal doctrine shielding government officials from being held personally accountable for constitutional violations. It protects a government official from a lawsuit alleging that the official violated a plaintiff's rights. However, the origins of qualified immunity date back to 1871, after Congress created the federal right to sue state and local government officials for violating the Constitution under what's known as Section 1983. During the Civil War, white vigilantes in the South supposedly began attacking newly freed Black Americans, with law enforcement doing little to stop them. The doctrine has proven to be a complicated subject to navigate, igniting a heated debate on all isles of the spectrum, particularly after the killing of George Floyd. In 1982, the Supreme Court offered a new version of qualified immunity. In the case Harlow v. Fitzgerald, the court ruled government officials have qualified immunity as long as they don't violate 'clearly established' rights that the officer would have to have been aware of. It is murky what constitutes as 'clearly established,' but over the past 40 years, the Supreme Court has 'made that standard more and more difficult to meet,' according to Joanna Schwartz, a professor of law University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Advertisement

Although qualified immunity wasn't the issue in the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin - who was convicted of killing Floyd - many believe it to be a systematic issue where holding police officers accountable for wrongdoing has become challenging.

In New Hampshire specifically, police officers are given special protections not afforded to citizens in the private sector, according to the ACLU.

Better known as New Hampshire's 'Laurie's List,' the list contains the names of more than 270 New Hampshire police officers whose credibility and truthfulness may be called into question during a trial because of past behavior.

For example, an officer's name could be added to the list for incidents relating to lying under oath or falsifying evidence.

However, the list is private and the public is left unaware which officers in their jurisdiction have previous issues pertaining to their truthfulness or credibility.

In April, the New Hampshire State Senate passed a bill by unanimous vote for the list to be made public.

Although the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled the list is not confidential, justices did order the lower court to issue a 'balancing test' on whether releasing the entire list would violate the privacy expectations of the officers.

According to the bill, officers on the 'Laurie list' were given 180 days to appeal their status to a superior court. Officers whose names were included on the list since April 30, 2018, were given 90 days to appeal.

Once those deadlines had expired, the Attorney General would post the list to a public website.

In March, the New York City Council passed legislation ending qualified immunity for police officers in cases of excessive force and unreasonable searches.

The move was spurred on by the police killing of Eric Garner, who died after cops used an illegal chokehold to subdue the Staten Island man.

The council said the legislation 'would end qualified immunity for police officers in New York City by creating a new local civil right protecting New Yorkers against unreasonable search and seizures and against excessive force and ban the use of qualified immunity, or substantially equivalent immunities, as a defense.'

'Today we provide the people of New York City an important tool for accountability when law enforcement violates their rights,' Council Member Stephen Levin said in March.

'This legislation is simpleit creates a set of civil rights here in New York City, mirroring those conferred by the 4th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, so that people in New York City can hold officers accountable if those officers violate their civil rights. It eliminates the shield of Qualified Immunity to allow victims the opportunity to seek justice.'

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also voiced his support for the legislation, which would be the largest jurisdiction in the U.S to restrict the qualified immunity defense.

'These reforms will confront centuries of over-policing in communities of color and strengthen the bonds between police and community,' de Blasio said. 'Together, we'll make our city safer and fairer for generations to come.'
An elderly hermit lauded as a folk hero after saying he'd rather stay in jail than give up his cabin on land he is accused of squatting on has lost his home to a fire.

The cabin, located in the woods of New Hampshire near the Merrimack River, burned down on Wednesday while its occupant David Lidstone, 81, was jailed on a civil contempt sanction following a dispute about him staying in the property.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the blaze, which destroyed the cabin. It was not hooked up to electricity, but had solar panels to provide power.

Lidstone's cousin Horace Clark says he isn't sure if his elderly relative has been told about the blaze, and doesn't know if the news will finally prompt him to end his jailhouse protest.

He fears the destruction of the cabin will send Lidstone, who has been in jail since July 15, to his grave.

Clark, who lives in rural Vermont, told DailyMail.com 'I am angry as hell. He's a tough cookie - but if this doesn't kill him, nothing will. He lived there for 27 years, and had a verbal agreement. But there's no such thing as a gentleman's agreement these days.

'We have our priorities all wrong - we have these mobs that are getting away with burning down cities and attacking people, but a little guy in the woods cant be left alone.'

Clark added: 'He's an 81 year-old man. If he'd just been left in peace, this problem would have resolved itself in another 10 or 20 years.'

Lidstone's friend Jodie Gedeon was shocked by news of the cabin's destruction, telling the Union Leader: 'Hes going to be devastated. That was his home, the only one hes known.'

David Lidstone's cabin - currently at the center of an ownership dispute that has landed its 81 year-old occupant in jail - burned down Wednesday, while Lidstone was behind bars

Lidstone has lived off-the-grid at the shack for 27 years, but was jailed after landowner Leonard Giles took action to evict him from his home

Lidstone, pictured, has become a folk hero as news of his property dispute has spread - although calls for him to be allowed to stay at his property are now moot given its destruction

Lidstone, nicknamed River Dave, was arrested last month over accusations of squatting on the property, which is owned by Vermont man Leonard Giles, 86, and was told he'd be freed if he agreed to leave the cabin.

'He holds the keys to the jailhouse in his hands,' Judge Andrew Schulman said.

'He can open the door and leave whenever he'd like. All he has to do is agree to abide by the court's prior orders.'

But he refused to do so, ended up in jail as a result - and became a national celebrity, even winning over fans who admired what they said was a principled stance.

According to Canterbury Fire Chief Michael Gamache, crews responded to the cabin around 2.27pm Wednesday after receiving reports of heavy smoke in the area.

Upon arrival, they saw a significant smoke condition in the area, as well as a large plume of smoke rising a distance into the woods. Officials said the access road was not accessible using a fire truck.

Canterbury crews, utilizing their off-road UTV made access to the cabin which was engulfed in flames and had mostly collapsed upon itself. The nearby woods were on fire as well.

Firefighters' initial focus was to extinguish the fire that was progressing in the woods before turning their attention to Lidstone's home.

The blaze was fully extinguished by 2.30pm.

Officials say no one was in the cabin at the time of the fire. Most of Lidstone's possessions had been taken out of the property before the blaze.

A New Hampshire cabin at the center of a legal battle with a man known as "River Dave" burned to the ground this afternoon, hours after the man appeared in court for a hearing. https://t.co/tZVVBqzzNL (: Bob Albini) pic.twitter.com/dxBzE4r7fu  Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) August 4, 2021

It is unclear what caused the blaze, with firefighters investigating. Lidstone's cousin Horace Clark says he fears news of the property's destruction will kill his elderly relative

'The investigation is ongoing,' Chief Gamache told DailyMail.com, noting that responding officials collected forensic evidence and are now evaluating local surveillance footage and conducting interviews with people involved in the land ownership dispute.

Lidstone, a US Air Force veteran and father of four, lived on a woodlot located a few miles from Interstate 93 north of the state's capitol city of Concord.

He told a judge during a Wednesday court appearance that he had no desire to comply with the order to leave the cabin. Most of his possessions were removed from it before the fire.'

Lidstone's cabin before it was destroyed. News of his story has spread across the US, sparking calls for him to be allowed to live out the remainder of his days in peace

Lidstone allegedly had the property's formal owner allowing him to be there, Chief Gamache explained.

A judge had pleaded with Giles' attorney to work towards resolving the dispute before Wednesday's blaze.

To the fire chief's knowledge, the current property owner had previously expressed concerns over Lidstone's presence.

DailyMail.com has contacted the town manager for more information on the property dispute and is waiting for a response.

Lidstone's off-the-grid lifestyle has made him a folk hero in northern New England, and news of the cabin fire led to sadness and empathy among his supporters.

They had organized a petition calling for him to be allowed to stay, although it is unclear what accommodation options are now open to Lidstone following the destruction of his home.
The laird had pleaded guilty to the assault, which happened in February 2020

Earl of Strathmore was sentenced to 10 months in February for sexual assault

Simon Bowes-Lyon, 35, is understood to have been released from HMP Perth

The Queen's playboy cousin, who was jailed for sexually assaulting a woman at the Queen Mother's childhood home, has been released from prison.

Simon Bowes-Lyon, 35, was sentenced to 10 months in prison in February for the late-night attack on a guest staying at Glamis Castle in Angus, his ancestral home.

The Earl of Strathmore, the son of the Queen's cousin, is understood to have been released from HMP Perth last week after serving half his sentence.

The Queen Mother's great-great nephew was sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to the assault, which happened in a bedroom at the castle 12 months earlier in February 2020.

The victim was attending a three-day event at the 16,500-acre estate and had gone to bed when a 'drunk' Bowes-Lyon went to her room at around 1.20am, the court heard.

Simon Bowes-Lyon (pictured in February), 35, was sentenced to 10 months in prison in February for a late-night attack on a guest staying at Glamis Castle in Angus

The multi-millionaire laird persuaded the woman to open the door before pushing her on the bed and sexually assaulting her in a 20-minute ordeal.

Bowes-Lyon repeatedly grabbed his victim and told her he wanted to have an affair with her - although he is unmarried - during the drink-fuelled assault.

He is said to have tried to pull up her nightdress, and pushed her up against a wall and groped her bottom and genitals.

His victim locked the bedroom door and wedged a chair under the handle to prevent him getting back in and was 'upset and afraid' and 'left shaking', the court heard.

The woman fled the castle in the morning and flew home to immediately report the matter to police. Both Police Scotland and the Metropolitan Police were involved in the investigation.

His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had undergone 'cognitive behaviour therapy' in the wake of the attack and was still having nightmares more than a year after the incident, the court heard.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said it did not comment on individual cases.

A spokesman for Strathmore Estates declined to comment.

The Earl of Strathmore (pictured in February), the son of the Queen's cousin, is understood to have been released from HMP Perth last week after serving half his sentence

In February, the judge imposed an initial sentence of 15 months and reduced it to ten months to recognise the plea of guilty at the first opportunity by Bowes-Lyon.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told Bowes-Lyon that the offence was so serious that he had to go to prison because it would send the wrong message to others, ignoring his plea for a suspended sentence.

In a statement outside court after pleading guilty, Bowes-Lyon apologised and said he was 'greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home'.

He said he had 'drunk to excess' on the night of the attack but acknowledged it was 'no excuse' for his actions.

Bowes-Lyon added: 'I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility.

'This has involved seeking and receiving professional help as well as agreeing to plead guilty as quickly as possible.'

'My apologies go, above all, to the woman concerned but I would also like to apologise to family, friends and colleagues for the distress I have caused them.'

He is understood to have served half of his sentence at HMP Perth, a jail which had Scotland's only purpose built execution shed before the death penalty was abolished in 1965.

It was named Scotland's most violent prison in 2016 due to the number of serious assaults and brawls. In 2018, the size of cramped cells in two blocks were criticised by inspectors.

It has been recently renovated and hit the headlines last year as inmates were given the go-ahead to open Scotland's first fine-dining vegan restaurant for the public in the grounds.

The victim was attending a three-day event at the 16,500-acre estate (pictured) and had gone to bed when a 'drunk' Bowes-Lyon went to her room at around 1.20am, the court heard

But there have also been complaints about the quality and quantity of food for prisoners, whose typical menu is porridge or a fry-up for breakfast, a Scotch Pie and beans for lunch and a pastie and chips for dinner.

The small cells and the carb-heavy meals were a world away from Bowes-Lyon's life at Glamis, where he lives in one of the UK's most beautiful castles and can roam its 14,000 acre estate freely.

Parts of the castle are open to the public for private tours and it is well known for its local produce, and famed for delicacies such as the Glamis pheasant and duck burger as well as world-class venison and game.

Bowes-Lyon, whose friends call him Sam instead of The 19th and 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was styled Lord Glamis until his father's death in 2016. He is a first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II.

Bowes-Lyon, known for his love of fast cars and holidays with reality TV stars, was named one of the UK's most eligible bachelors by Tatler in 2019.

His family owns Glamis Castle - the childhood home of the Queen Mother and the home of Macbeth in William Shakespeare's play - and inherited a share of his father's 40million estate.

Pronounced 'Glams', the castle was the beloved childhood home of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who died aged 101 in 2002, and the Queen's sister Princess Margaret was born at the castle in 1930 - the first royal baby born in Scotland for more than 300 years.

MailOnline revealed earlier this year that just weeks after the sex attack, in June 2020, Durham Police contacted the Earl, whose friends call him Sam, for violating the Covid-19 related travel restrictions banning from people leaving home.

He had travelled 200 miles to England to stay at one of his second properties, a lodge on the family's 20million Holwick estate in Middleton-in-Teesdale, just outside Barnard Castle, where Dominic Cummings went on his notorious lockdown drive to test his eyesight a month earlier.

In a statement after pleading guilty, Bowes-Lyon (pictured in February) apologised and said he was 'greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home'

Bowes-Lyon was outed to local detectives when one of his servants was seen as he went to the shops. 'It's the talk of the village,' a local source said at the time.

'His butler was spotted buying newspapers.'

The Earl then agreed to return to Glamis Castle in Scotland  the childhood home of the Queen Mother, north of Dundee.

In 2010, he was banned from the road for nine months after he was clocked riding his motorbike at 100 mph on a 60 mph stretch of road.

It was noted in court, as the then 24-year-old was fined 500, that his licence had already accumulated 23 penalty points due to various speeding convictions.

His father, the rambunctious Mikey, was a larger-than-life character who battled alcohol problems, married three times, romped with escorts and was known as the 'head of the Queen's Scottish family'.

This highly-colourful lifestyle - and a series of scandals - meant the young Lord Glamis, along with his two brothers John 'Jock' Bowes-Lyon, 31, and George 'Geordie' Bowes-Lyon, did not have the most conventional start in life.
Marc Theodule has been fired following an investigation by the APD after the department was made aware of a video of Theodule kicking a woman in the face while she was laying handcuffed on the ground

An Atlanta Police sergeant has been fired after an investigation prompted by a video of him kicking a woman in the face as she was laying on the floor with her hands cuffed behind her back.

Marc Theodule, who was fired on Monday, and officer Bridget Citizen were recorded as they arrested Ashley Cooley on July 26.

In the video, Cooley appears to be kicked in the face by Theodule after she allegedly spat on his boots and pants.

Theodule had been put on unpaid suspension while Citizen was placed on administrative assignment when Atlanta Police Department Chief Rodney Bryant was made aware of the video the same day it was recorded.

Citizen has since returned to full duty after the investigation conducted by the Atlanta Police Department Office for Professional Standards determined she had not violated their duty-to-intervene policy.

Citizen reported the incident to her supervisors immediately after it happened.

'Our expectation is that employees intervene in ongoing situations, whereas the kick occurred one time and then ceased,' read a statement from the agency.

Cooley's neighbor, who shot the footage and did not want to be identified, told CBS46 she actually saw the cops kick her more than once.

'They actually kicked her down the hill and she went rolling,' she said.

Theodule had been part of the Atlanta PD since 2008 and had received training sessions on de-escalation techniques and use of force last April, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Officer Bridget Citizen has returned to full duty after an investigation by the Atlanta PD concluded she had not violated their duty-to-intervene policy

Ashley Cooley (above in blue top), who was kicked in the face by Theodule while she was laying handcuffed on the ground, speaks at a press conference in Atlanta

The seven-second video shows Cooley lying face down on the ground next to some parked cars with Theodule and Citizen standing over her.

Police had been called to an apartment at 35 Haygood Avenue in Summerhill at around 12.30pm to reports of a woman walking around and pointing a gun at several people.

In the video, Cooley, who is partially undressed, raises her head in Theodule's direction before he kicks her in the head with his right foot.

A gasp is heard in the footage as his boot strikes Cooley's face.

Citizen does not appear to react or make any attempt to stop the incident.

A third officer is then seen coming around the side of the patrol car to the scene when the footage ends.

The incident took place on July 26, when police were called to an apartment in Summerhill, Atlanta, for a domestic incident, according to Atlanta Uncensored. Cooley was kicked in the face by Theodule after she allegedly spat on his boots and pants

Citizen did not appear to react or make any attempt to stop the incident. A third officer is then seen coming around the side of the patrol car to the scene (above)

'She was spitting at the officer and then she had already spit on him once before but it didn't get on him, so she spit on him again and it got on his boots and that's when he decided to kick her in the face,' said the neighbor who recorded the incident.

The neighbor confronted the officer about the incident.

'We was like why did you kick her, he was like I didn't kick her, he didn't even know that somebody was recording,' she said.

Ashley's aunt Nell Gibson told CBS46 she was 'horrified' over the treatment of her niece who she said suffers from mental health problems and usually takes medication

Police said Theodule and Citizen had requested Grady EMS transport Cooley to the hospital for evaluation.

Atlanta PD slammed the actions of the cops and said Cooley was not charged.

The department had previously said that Theodule's actions were 'unacceptable' and they were 'also concerned with the apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident.'

Ashley's aunt Nell Gibson told CBS46 she was 'horrified' over the treatment of her niece, who she said suffers from mental health problems and usually takes medication.

'It was a woman down on the ground in handcuffs, oh man I am totally horrified, I'm speechless, not only that it's a police officer,' she said.

'Ashley does have some mental health problems we thought she was off her meds because she's been acting kind of off.'

The incident comes at a time when police brutality is under the spotlight. Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe (left) shot dead black man Rayshard Brooks (right) at a Wendy's on June 12 2020

Bodycam footage (above) showed the moments leading up to Brooks death. Brooks ran away and was shot twice by Rolfe when he turned to fire the Taser in Rolfe's direction

The incident comes at a time when police brutality is under the spotlight following the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin and a series of cop killings of black men and women across America.

Less than one month after Floyd's murder, Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe shot dead black man Rayshard Brooks at a Wendy's.

Rolfe, 27, shot Brooks, also 27, twice in the back as he ran from officers outside the fast food joint in Atlanta on June 12 2020.

The white cop and fellow Officer Devin Brosnan, 26, had been called to the drive-thru by customers who said a man was asleep at the wheel.

A scuffle broke out when the officers tried to arrest him, with Brooks taking Brosnan's taser and pointing it behind him in the direction of the cops.

Black Lives Matter protesters descended on City Hall in Atlanta in May after the local police department reinstated Officer Garrett Rolfe

Rolfe, a six-year police veteran, was charged with 11 counts over Brooks' death including felony murder.

He was also fired by the Atlanta Police Department one day after the fatal shooting.

In May, Atlanta police reinstated Rolfe to the department, saying the fired officer was 'not afforded his right to due process'.

He is now on administrative leave because the terms of his bond mean he is banned from possessing a firearm or being around other police officers.
Police have released an e-fit image of a teenage suspect they believe could have been the perpetrator in the rape of a 15-year-old girl.

The image, showing a boy with dark hair and a slash through his eyebrow, has been made public as Dorset police try to track down the person who raped a girl just off Bournemouth Beach last month.

The victim - a 15-year-old girl - was with her friends playing with a ball when it landed in front of a teenage boy.

He threw it back but began talking to the schoolgirl before pulling her out into deeper water close to Bournemouth Pier, Dorset.

Despite there being crowds of people in the water and on the pier, the young man then raped the girl under the cover of the water.

The attacker told his victim he was aged 17 and had travelled to the Dorset coast from Birmingham.

The girl later reported the shocking attack to the police who are appealing for people who took photos and video around the pier area.

The image, showing a boy with dark hair and a slash through his eyebrow, has been made public as Dorset police try to track down the person who raped a girl just off Bournemouth Beach last month

The attack happened in the sea off Bournemouth on Sunday (pictured, a file photo of the beach on Sunday)

The suspect is described as possibly of Pakistani descent and with tanned skin, between 5ft and 5ft 7ins tall and of a thin but muscular build with short dark hair that was pushed back and looked freshly trimmed.

He was wearing black or grey swimming shorts at the time.

Detectives from Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) launched an investigation into the incident.

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, of MCIT, said: 'The victim is continuing to be supported by officers and we have been carrying out a large number of enquiries into this incident.

'As part of our investigation we have obtained forensic evidence that means we will be able to eliminate anyone who was not involved from our enquiries.

'We have now obtained an e-fit image of the suspect and I would urge anyone who recognises him to please get in touch.

The victim was approached by her attacker when a ball she and her friends were playing with in the sea landed close to him in Bournemouth (pictured on Sunday)

The attacker threw her ball back but began talking to the schoolgirl before pulling her out into deeper water close to Bournemouth Pier (pictured on Sunday)

'We have also received a number of reports of young Asian men approaching female beachgoers on the date of the incident, some of whom may have exchanged messages on Snapchat.

'I would urge anyone who has exchanged Snapchat messages with someone who approached them on the beach that day to please make contact with us as it may assist our investigation.

'In addition I would like to renew our appeal to anyone who was on the beach in the vicinity of the Oceanarium to check any photographs or video footage taken to see if they have captured anything of relevance.'

Neighbourhood Inspector Darren Harris, of Bournemouth police, said: 'I understand this incident will have caused concern for the wider community.

'We continue to work collaboratively with BCP Council and other partner agencies to step up patrols along the seafront and these efforts will continue throughout the summer.

'Police officers, police community support officers, Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) officers, council staff and the RNLI will have a visible presence on the seafront and can be approached by members of the public with any concerns.'

Detectives are urging anyone with information, images or footage relevant to the investigation to submit it via the UK Police Major Incident Public Portal.
Mayor Bill de Blasio proudly boasted that his 'Safe Summer' program has driven down murder and gun attacks in New York City despite continued violent attacks that have plagued the streets on a daily basis.

In April, de Blasio unveiled his 'Safe Summer' program, a plan aimed at ending gun violence that focused on creating disincentives for young people looking to turn to guns by offering them positive alternatives.

During his daily briefing on Thursday, de Blasio proudly proclaimed that the program has been effective and said in the month of July the NYPD saw 'extraordinary successes' to curve violent crime.

Listing statistics from July, de Blasio noted that murders decreased by 49.1 percent and shootings were down by 35 percent across the New York City.

The NYPD made 383 gun arrests in July alone, up 133.5 percent compared to last July, the mayor said, while gun arrests in general have gone up 44.5 percent in 2021.

While de Blasio touted the success of his program he failed to mention an ongoing string of violent incidents in the streets of the Big Apple this summer that have led to the NYPD issuing hundreds of pleas to identify suspects.

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During his daily briefing on Thursday, de Blasio proudly proclaimed that the 'Safe Summer' program has been effective and said in July the NYPD curved violent crime

On Saturday, three innocent bystanders were struck when gunfire erupted outside a Washington Heights bodega

The men were gang members targeting rivals from the Trinitarios gang during the shooting on Saturday night in the borough's Corona neighborhood, police said

According to the mayor, the summer month of July is usually one of the most violent in the city but the NYPD 'rose to the challenge' and was able to suppress gun violence and executed an impressive number of gang takedowns.

'The gang takedowns mean taking a lot of bad guys off of the streets and at the same time a lot of shooters off the streets, this is crucial,' de Blasio noted.

Overall since the safe summer program was launched in May, murders have gone down 26 percent, shootings decreased 10 percent and shooting victims are down 11 percent.

'There is more to do, but the NYPD is moving and making an impact,' de Blasio said.

While de Blasio took his victory lap many New Yorkers are wondering if the program is actually working as the city is inundated with violent crime.

Rapes in New York City were up 3.1 percent so far this year, with 842 reported as of August 1, compared to 817 in the same period of 2020

Shootings so far this year have steadily increased since January, with a small dip in June and July

The suspect, seen here making his escape at the 168th Street station in Washington Heights, is accused of attacking the 40-year-old victim aboard a northbound C train

On Tuesday a man strangled a woman unconscious on a Manhattan subway train and attempted to rape her before taking off.

According to the NYPD, the 40-year-old female subway rider was approached by a stranger who demanded her possessions and then slammed her into the train car seats.

The burly perpetrator then strangled the victim until she lost consciousness.

Police said the assailant then groped the unresponsive woman's breasts inside her bra and tried to rape her, reported the New York Post.

When the train pulled into the 168th Street station, the attacker dragged the woman onto the subway platform and ran away.

This comes one day after police released surveillance footage of a masked attacker they say raped a 70-year-old woman at gunpoint in her apartment building in The Bronx last week.

According to the NYPD, the sexual assault took place at around 2am on July 27 in the Belmont neighborhood.

The elderly victim was entering her apartment building when she was approached from behind by a man wearing two plastic masks - a red one and a black one - on his face, police said.

Crime has rocketed by 53% in two years and system has already seen more murders in 2021 than it did for the whole of 2019

Police say the man was wearing black and red plastic masks (pictured in his right hand) when he raped the elderly woman at gunpoint in the stairwell

On Saturday, three innocent bystanders were struck when gunfire erupted outside a Washington Heights bodega.

Surveillance footage showed three men chasing a fourth man into a bodega as he goes behind the counter and holds a gun to the three men with his back to the cashier.

Shortly after the group of men took the standoff outside and began firing, striking a 42-year-old woman in the left arm, a 58-year-old woman in the buttocks and a 78-year-old man in the left arm and stomach, the New York Post reported.

Earlier this week, surveillance footage captured the moment two men approached a crowd in a busy Queens neighborhood and fired about 40 shots, injuring 10 people before fleeing the scene on mopeds.

The shooters were targeting members of the Trinitarios gang on Saturday night in the borough's Corona neighborhood, police said.

They opened fire while some bystanders were walking outside a barbershop and others were at a nearby restaurant for a birthday party.

These incident are reflective of the overall skyrocketing crime rates in New York City.

NYPD crime data show that rapes are up 3.1 per cent so far this year, with 842 reported as of August 1, compared to 817 in the same period of 2020.

Other sex crimes are up 26.3 per cent to 2,719 this year, compared to 2,152 last year, according to NYPD statistics.

Shootings have spiked 15.8 per cent in 2021 compared to last year, with 900 shooting incidents in 2021 compared to 777 in 2020.

There are also 12 per cent more shooting victims this year, the data shows, with 1,057 people falling prey to gun violence compared to 944 last year.

The biggest leap in crime rates is for hate crimes, which have surged by 103 per cent in the last year. The data come amid numerous random attacks on Asian Americans in the city in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An off-duty sheriffs deputy working security at a car lot in Kentucky was shot and killed after being ambushed early Thursday while sitting in his unmarked vehicle, police said.

An unknown assailant came came up to the vehicles window on Rockford Lane and shot Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon Shirley, 26, at around 2.30am, Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson Alicia Smiley told news outlets.

Shirley, who was wearing his uniform at the time, managed to call in the shooting and was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery but died of his injuries.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Shirley, 26, was shot and killed sitting in his unmarked vehicle at a car lot in Louisville, Kentucky, early Thursday

Shirley was off-duty and was working security at the time of the attack on Rockford Lane

During a press conference on Tuesday, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Erika Shields called Shirley's killing 'sickening' and 'absolutely heartbreaking,' and vowed to make an arrest, reported WLKY.

'He was targeted and he was ambushed,' the chief said of the attack on the deputy.

Shields did not comment on a possible motive or explain why she believed the deputy was the victim of an ambush, but added: 'for police, if someone is really determined to kill you, they're going to kill you. And that was the case here.'

Shirley had been on the force for less than three years and was assigned to court security

Police said they were looking at a couple of possible suspects but would not go into any further detail. As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests have been made.

Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey said Shirley joined his office in March 2019 and was assigned to court security in downtown Louisville.

Last year, Shirley was awarded the Medal for Valor for his response to the fatal shooting of photographer Tyler Gerth in Louisville during Black Lives Matter protests.

'Brandon was a hard-working, proactive deputy, really dedicated to his duties,' Major George Grissom said. 'Everybody liked him. He was a good person, a good person to be around.'

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear extended his condolences to Shirley's family in a tweet, writing in part: 'We are forever grateful for Deputy Shirley's bravery, selflessness and dedication to the people of the commonwealth.'

Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey (right) speaks at a press conference about Shirley's killing on Thursday

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer also mourned the deputy's death resulting from 'another senseless, tragic act of violence.'

Shirley was the fifth duty to die in the line of duty in the history of the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, reported WKYT.

Shirley's brother Mike Shirley paid an emotional tribute to his slain sibling, writing in a Facebook post: 'I cant believe youre really gone.. I wish this was all a nightmare Im gonna miss you so much brother .. I love you so much.. thoughts and prayers are much needed.. '
An unfortunately named amusement park is set to become Israel's largest ever when it opens this summer.

Magic Kass - named for Hanoch Kass, the investor behind the project - is an indoor theme park built in a settlement industrial zone outside of Jerusalem.

The Mishor Adumim site cost half a billion Israeli New Shekels (111,700) to construct, the Times of Israel reported, and is expected to be the first of several parks in the area.

'It is providing amusement, all right  with its name,' Israel blogger David Lange wrote, quipping: 'I guess no English speakers were involved in that processunless it was Bart Simpson.'

An exact opening date is yet to be announced for the park, which will include a 20-meter-high roller coaster overlooking the Dead Sea, video games and a VR area, according to the investor group's website.

Magic Kass - an unfortunately named amusement park is set to become Israel's largest ever when it opens this summer

The Mishor Adumim site is around 10 to 20 minutes drive from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank

The site is around 10 to 20 minutes drive from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law but the Israeli government disputes this.

Hundreds of Palestinians and Arab Israelis are employed in factories and other businesses in the industrial park, where the wages tend to be higher than in the Palestinian territories.

It is not clear whether Palestinians or Arab Israelis will be part of the staff at the Magic Kass amusement park.
Boris Johnson sparked fury in the north today by laughing and claiming Britain's transition to green fuel had benefitted from a 'big early start' thanks to Margaret Thatcher closing coal mines.

The Prime Minister, who was visiting an offshore wind farm on the final day of his trip to Scotland, said there were 'massive opportunities' to increase the use of green technology, but appeared to sound the death knell for North Sea oil and gas.

When referring to Ms Thatcher, whose time in office included the bitter miners' strikes in the mid-1980s, Mr Johnson is said to have laughed and told reporters: 'I thought that would get you going.'

His comments will cause uproar in the old Red Wall mining communities the Tories have won over in recent elections, while Labour branded the PM's responses today as 'shameful'.

The visit comes ahead of the Cop26 international climate summit in Glasgow in November, with Mr Johnson insisting he wanted it to be 'ambitious' in its aims.

Mr Johnson acknowledged that North Sea oil had been a 'huge part of the UK economy for decades now' and contracts already signed for work in the industry 'should not just be ripped up'.

He told reporters: 'We recognise that and there has got to be a smooth and sensible transition.

'But that doesn't mean there aren't massive opportunities to increase the use of green technology.'

Pressed on whether he would set a deadline for ending fossil fuel extraction, Mr Johnson said: 'Look at what we've done already. We've transitioned away from coal in my lifetime.

'Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we're now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.'

Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the comments were 'shameful' and 'reveal the Conservative party's utter disregard for the communities still scarred by Thatcher's closure of the mines and failure to deliver good new jobs in their place'.

Boris Johnson sparked fury in the north today as he claimed Britain's transition to green fuel had benefitted from a 'big early start' thanks to Margaret Thatcher closing coal mines in the 1980s

His comments are expected to cause uproar in the old Red Wall mining communities the Tories have won over in recent election, where bitter strikes were held during Ms Thatcher's time in office in the mid-1980s

Margaret Thatcher, pictured in 1983, was hailed by Mr Johnson for providing a 'big early start'

The Prime Minister, who was visiting an offshore wind farm on the final day of his trip to Scotland, said there were 'massive opportunities' to increase the use of green technology, but appeared to sound the death knell for North Sea oil and gas

Demonstrators at Fraserburgh harbour in Aberdeen, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to the Moray Offshore Windfarm East

There has been a huge backlash to the Prime Minister's comments, made during his visit to Scotland

She said: 'Without investment in good, green jobs as we move away from fossil fuels, the Conservatives risk repeating the mistakes of the past. It is vital that the green transition is a fair transition. The Prime Minister should apologise.'

Leader Sir Keir Starmer added: 'Boris Johnson's shameful praising of Margaret Thatcher's closure of the coal mines, brushing off the devastating impact on those communities with a laugh, shows just how out of touch he is with working people.'

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was also critical of Mr Johnson's comments.

She wrote on Twitter: 'Lives & communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatcher's destruction of the coal industry (which had zero to do with any concern she had for the planet).

To treat that as something to laugh about is crass & deeply insensitive to that reality.'

Mr Johnson acknowledged that tackling climate change, limiting temperature rises to below 1.5 degrees under the terms of the Paris climate deal, was 'going to be a tough ambition, this is a difficult thing to achieve'.

But he urged other world leaders to rise to that challenge, saying: 'What we won't do, we will not reduce the level of our ambition for Cop, in order to set the target, an ambition that we know we can meet.

'I'm going to be as ambitious as possible for Cop26 in Glasgow. I want the world to recognise the extent of the challenge, and I want everybody to try to rise to meet it in the way that I just set out with those ambitions.

'We must, must, must be as ambitious and as tough as possible and that's what we're going to do.'

A target of phasing out coal power worldwide by 2040 was 'doable', Mr Johnson said.

'What we are saying to the whole world, as we come forward to Cop in November, we want the whole world to move away from hydrocarbons.

'We are setting a deadline for the end of coal, we want everybody to give up coal by 2040, that's one of the targets we are setting at the Cop summit to happen in Glasgow.'

Mr Johnson faced criticism from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and a union boss as he visited the offshore wind development.

The Prime Minister and business minister Kwasi Kwarteng boarded the Esvagt Alba in Fraserburgh Harbour, Aberdeenshire, on Thursday morning before heading several miles out into the Moray Firth to the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm.

The 100-turbine development is under construction but began exporting its first power to the National Grid in June.

The development sparked controversy when BiFab fabrication yards in Scotland were overlooked for manufacturing contracts, with jobs going overseas.

GMB general secretary Gary Smith said: 'Moray East is a monument to the broken promises of the political leaders who promised us a 'Saudi Arabia of renewables' and it should serve as an important lesson to this Prime Minister.

'If he wants a genuine green jobs revolution across the nations and regions of the UK, then he must stop the mass export of the jobs we need to deliver it.'

The Prime Minister boarded a ship on his way to visit an offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth this morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson onboard the Esvagt Alba during a visit to the Moray Offshore Windfarm East, off the Aberdeenshire coast

Sir Keir, also on the second day of a two-day visit to Scotland, called for action not 'soundbites' from the Prime Minister on climate change.

He said: 'We've got a UK Prime Minister who bundles around with a cabaret of soundbites, with targets about climate change but doesn't put in place the action.

'We all know that hydrogen and wind are part of the future, we haven't got an industrial strategy, we haven't got a hydrogen strategy.

'Get your head out of the sand, stop the soundbites, let's have some action.'

Speaking on a visit to the UK's largest on-shore wind farm, Whitelee just outside Glasgow, Sir Keir also criticised the Scottish Government, claiming it had delivered just one in 20 of the jobs expected from offshore renewables.

He urged both governments 'to take their heads out of the sand and make the necessary investment and commitment in next generation energy'.

Earlier, Mr Johnson met fishing industry leaders in Fraserburgh where he was urged to 'stem the haemorrhage' of foreign workers in the fishing industry following Brexit.

He was also told the Brexit deal for the industry 'had fallen far short of expectations'.

Mr Johnson and Sir Keir are both in Scotland ahead of the Cop26 UN climate change summit in the autumn, which is being hosted by the UK in Glasgow.

Global leaders will attend the summit, to be held from October 31 to November 12, in what is seen as a critical moment for the future of the planet.

The Scottish oil industry is already under pressure amid opposition to plans for a new Shetland oil field.

Currently, an application is being mulled by the Oil and Gas Authority for the Cambo field. It could produce up to 255 million barrels of oil during its lifetime, but would release an estimated 132 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The Scottish Greens, who are on the verge of agreeing an electoral pact with Nicola Sturgeon's SNP, are opposing it, as is Labour.

Mr Johnson's comments also appear to put him at odds with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross.

He last night attacked Sir Keir's over his call for the running down of oil and gas, saying it would put 100,000 jobs at risk.

Mr Johnson tuned down an offer to meet Ms Sturgeon at her Bute House residence in Edinburgh before undertaking an engagement just 30 miles away yesterday

Mr Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are visiting renewable energy projects in Scotland today as the country prepares to host the Cop26 climate conference.

PM offers Sturgeon Cop26 role after meeting snub Boris Johnson last night offered Nicola Sturgeon a 'huge' role at an upcoming global climate conference - after snubbing her offer of face-to-face talks during his visit to Scotland. The Prime Minister said he wanted the Scottish First Minister and her Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts to be involved in Cop26, which takes place in Glasgow in November. His offer comes amid a stand-off between Westminster and Edinburgh after he dismissed an offer of talks about Covid rebuilding during his current visit to Scotland. Mr Johnson turned down an offer to meet Ms Sturgeon at her Bute House residence in Edinburgh before undertaking an engagement just 30 miles away. Both sides denied the move was a snub, but the First Minister branded his decision 'odd'. The offer of a Cop26 role may also raise some Tory eyebrows. At the party's conference in 2019, Mr Johnson told an event that he did not want the Scottish leader involved, saying: 'I don't mind seeing a Saltire or two but I want to see the Union flag and I don't want to see Nicola Sturgeon anywhere near it.' However last night he told the BBC: 'It's a huge undertaking by the whole of the UK. 'I hope very much that the First Minister, along with all her colleagues around the UK, at whatever level in government, will evangelise, will exhort everybody she represents to do the needful.' Ms Sturgeon said his refusal to meet her was 'strange' and said it was for him to explain his refusal. Mr Johnson denied snubbing her, when asked by reporters at the college, where he posed with police dogs in an area away from public access. 'No, I haven't. I'm always delighted, always, always, always, delighted - and look, we, seriously, we work together,' he said. Advertisement

Mr Johnson boarded the vessel Esvagt Alba for his visit to the Moray Offshore Windfarm East, off the Aberdeenshire coast today.

Speaking to reporters aboard the ship this afternoon, Mr Johnson described the turbines he has seen as 'colossal', and added: 'The potential of Scottish wind is just incredible. This is an opportunity to generate high wage, high skilled jobs that have the additional pleasure and motivation for people that by doing them they're doing something to save the planet.'

Pressed on whether he would set a deadline for ending fossil fuel extraction, Mr Johnson said: 'Look at what we've done already. We've transitioned away from coal in my lifetime.

'Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we're now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.'

But his comments on the closure of mines were attacked by Labour and the SNP.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: 'These are shameful comments from the Prime Minister, and reveal the Conservative Party's utter disregard for the communities still scarred by Thatcher's closure of the mines and failure to deliver good new jobs in their place.

'Without investment in good, green jobs as we move away from fossil fuels, the Conservatives risk repeating the mistakes of the past. It is vital that the green transition is a fair transition.

'The Prime Minister should apologise.'

Mr Johnson added that North Sea oil had been a 'huge part of the UK economy for decades now'.

'We recognise that and there has got to be a smooth and sensible transition,' he said.

'But that doesn't mean there aren't massive opportunities to increase the use of green technology.'

Sir Keir, who today visited a wind farm in Eaglesham, south of Glasgow, last night called for a talks to discuss a closure of the oil and gas fields that worked for local people employed in them.

'It's got to be subject to consensus and agreement and we've got to... bring communities with us on this, otherwise there will be a disconnect between the obligations that we have to deal with the climate crisis and the communities that are going to be affected,' he said.

When asked what timescale he would look to usher in, the Labour leader said it would be subject to agreement with areas of the country which would be impacted, such as in the north east of Scotland.

'We'll have to sit down and agree it, but we have to have a hard edged timetable,' the Labour leader said.

But his comments were attacked by Mr Ross, who said: 'People across the North East will be appalled to hear that Keir Starmer is happy to throw away their livelihoods by agreeing a hard edged timetable to shut down the North Sea sector.

'Labour's plans would risk the 100,000 jobs that depend on our vital oil and gas industry.

'This position is potentially even more extreme than an SNP-Green coalition would hold. It's beyond reckless, especially when jobs and Scotland's economic recovery from Covid must be our top priority.'

Sir Keir has called for 'rapid green investment' across the UK as new figures reveal more than 75,000 green jobs have been lost over the past five years.

The Labour leader said the UK had to 'lead by example' on the climate crisis and invest more in jobs in renewable energy and technology via a 'Green New Deal', as he toured Scotland on a two-day visit.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics cited by Labour show a loss of 33,800 'direct' jobs and a further 41,400 jobs in the supply chain for low-carbon and renewable sectors between 2014 and 2019.

This includes thousands of fewer jobs in solar power, onshore wind, renewable electricity and bioenergy.

Sir Keir said: 'Tackling the climate crisis must be at the heart of everything we do. We are at a critical moment. In less than 100 days, Cop26 will be over and our chance to keep the planet's warming below 1.5 degrees will have either been grasped or abandoned.

'The UK must rise to this moment and lead by example. That means rapid action to create good, green jobs across the country. And it means a proper strategy to buy, make and sell more in Britain, to create good, unionised jobs in clean energy and through supply chains.

He added: 'Nobody here in the UK can afford for this issue to be yet another example of Boris Johnson bluster. We need real action, now. It is time for a Green New Deal.'

The Labour leader also criticised the Scottish Government's record on green jobs, claiming the SNP 'broke its pledge to create 130,000 green jobs by 2020'.

Sir Keir has called for 'rapid green investment' across the UK as new figures reveal more than 75,000 green jobs have been lost over the past five years.

In 2010, the Scottish Government predicted that jobs in the low-carbon sector would reach 130,000 by 2020 according to a now-archived official web page, but the latest ONS figures show 21,400 direct green jobs in Scotland, compared to 23,200 in 2014.

A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said: 'As we build back better and greener from the pandemic, this Government is firmly committed to seizing the economic opportunities presented by the transition to a green economy.

'The data from 2019 and 2014 cannot be compared as there was a change in how the survey was conducted. In fact, ONS has concluded that the low-carbon and renewable energy economy has remained stable.'
Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is 'deeply troubled' by the current state of the GOP as she made her case for a riot commission to study Jan. 6.

'My dad is deeply troubled about where our party is, deeply troubled about where the country is,' Cheney said at an event hosted by the Aspen Institute.

She called the President George W. Bush's second-in-command, now 80, a 'tremendous source of advice and guidance and wisdom for me.'

Cheney said her father had taught her the importance of 'having the courage of my convictions.'

Dick Cheney was once a leader of the Republican Party and is widely believed to be one of the most powerful vice presidents of all time.

Rep. Liz Cheney, pictured above, emphasized at an Aspen Institute even on Wednesday the importance of a Capitol riot commission

Former VP Dick Cheney, pictured above, is said by his daughter to be 'deeply concerned' by the state of the Republican Party

Cheney is one of two Republicans with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Ill., on the House select committee to investigate the Capitol riot.

Cheney said that when 'you look at the response of my party in the days and weeks and now months afterwards, it's very clear that there are some people who are willing to accept what I think was a line that can never be crossed.'

The Wyoming Republican lost her no. 3 leadership spot due to her persistent criticisms of former President Trump and his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Cheney voted for Trump in 2020 and voted with him 92.6 percent of the time.

'I think there is a lot we don't already know,' she said of Jan. 6. 'We don't know minute by minute what was going on that day. We don't know, for example, what were the discussions that were going on with the Pentagon.'

Cheney said the committee would need to issue subpoenas 'quickly,' and would need to 'be prepared to enforce those subpoenas.'

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been critical of Cheney and Kinzinger for accepting a spot on the commission, deeming them 'Pelosi Republicans.'

Kinzinger, for his part, has said he would be open to issuing a subpoena to McCarthy.

The committee held its first hearing last week, where Cheney focused her attacks on the former president's role in the fateful day. She said the committee needed to understand 'what happened every minute of that day in the White House.'

'Every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during and after the attack,' Cheney added.

Cheney assumed office in 2017 and has said she will seek reelection in 2022, and will face a number of primary challengers.
The final moments leading up to the death of Kaylee-Jayde Priest have been revealed in chilling new CCTV footage after her 'uncaring' mother was convicted alongside her then-boyfriend of killing her three-year-old daughter.

Kaylee-Jayde Priest was found dead at the flat where she lived with her 23-year-old mother, Nicola Priest, on August 9 last year.

The child's mother rang 999 but a jury convicted Priest - along with her lover Callum Redfern - after hearing the youngster had been 'dead before the call was made'.

In the footage played to court, Kaylee-Jayde and her mother were seen together just hours before the youngster's fatal collapse, using a lift at the block of flats where they lived in Kingshurst House, Solihull.

The footage showed Priest's total disinterest in her daughter; repeatedly checking her reflection in the mirror and scrolling through her phone, while the youngster periodically gazed up at her mother's face.

At no point in the footage was there any physical contact between the pair, with Priest neglecting even to reach out to hold her daughter's hand.

Three-year-old Kaylee-Jayde Priest (pictured) was found dead on August 9, 2020 at the flat where she lived with her mother in Birmingham

Pictured: Nicola Priest (left) and lover Callum Redfern (right) were both were unanimously cleared of murder but convicted of the child's manslaughter on Thursday

Pictured: A screen grab from CCTV footage issued by West Midlands Police of Kaylee-Jade Priest and her mother Nicola Priest by the lift in their apartment building, hours before the young girl was killed on August 9 last year

Hours later, the youngster described in court as a 'happy child', died from serious chest and abdominal injuries.

Medical examinations later showed she had also suffered historical injuries including broken ribs, lower leg fractures and a broken sternum, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Priest and her 22-year-old lover Callum Redfern pointed the finger of blame at each other during their trial, but were at the time in a 'close sexual relationship'.

Both were unanimously cleared of murder but convicted of the child's manslaughter on Thursday.

Jurors had heard how Priest would hit Kaylee around the head and refer to her as a 'f****** brat', while the youngster was also heard crying 'in a fearful tone'.

On one occasion, neighbours in a flat below at Kingshurst House, Solihull, recalled hearing a bang above and then Kaylee crying, before allegedly hearing Priest say: 'I'll just say she fell off the bed.'

Pictured: A screen grab from CCTV footage of Kaylee-Jade Priest (left) and her mother Nicola Priest (right) outside their Kingshurst House, Solihull apartment building, hours before the young girl was killed on August 9 last year

The CCTV footage (pictured) showed Priest's (left) total disinterest in her daughter; repeatedly checking her reflection in the mirror and scrolling through her phone, while the youngster (right) periodically gazed up at her mother's face

At no point in the footage was there any physical contact between the pair (pictured in CCTV footage in the building's lift), with Priest (right) neglecting even to reach out to hold her daughter's (left) hand

The same residents claimed they noticed that 'when Kaylee cried, the response appeared to be to drown out her crying with music'.

In a text message exchange on July 24 2020, days before Kaylee's death, Priest told Redfern: 'I'm gonna kill her... because she keeps leaving the living room or going in the kitchen, so I've paled (hit) her one and smacked her for s**tting in her nappy.'

Redfern said: 'Good - give her one from me.'

Priest replied: 'I will, babe.'

Three days later, Redfern messaged Priest saying: 'I'm going to keep the little brat away from me... sick of your spunking daughter.'

Prosecutors said the messages painted a vivid picture of the 'uncaring attitude from Priest and Redfern towards Kaylee'.

Opening the case at the start of the trial, prosecution barrister Andrew Smith QC said: 'The prosecution case is that her death was caused by her having received serious injuries to her chest and abdomen in a sustained assault on August 8 of last year.

'That intentional assault occurred when both of the defendants were alone with Kaylee-Jayde.'

Her mother Nicola Priest, 23, and 22-year-old Callum Redfern denied murdering the little girl

Floral tributes to the young girl were left outside the flat after families learned of her death

From the time Priest moved in to the flat in mid-2019, neighbours heard her 'shouting with real regularity' at Kaylee, including comments like 'Shut up', 'Go away' or 'Leave me alone' - and 'never anything positive or kind'.

Priest was also found guilty of cruelty to a child, relating to the youngster's historical injuries, but Redfern was cleared of that charge.

In a statement released through police after the verdicts, Kaylee's grandmother Debbie Windmill said the impact of her death would live with her for the rest of her life.

She said: 'I could never stop staring at the smile on her beautiful face.

'I loved every moment watching her develop to nearly school age; preparing to buy my first grandchild her pre-school uniform was something that filled me with such happiness.

'I couldn't wait to see her in it, but this opportunity was stolen from me in the most brutal of ways.

'Everybody deserves the gift of life. Kaylee-Jayde deserved to show the world who she could have been and what greatness she could have brought to this world. Nanny will forever hold you in her heart.'

A photo tribute at the scene of her death showed her happy and smiling in poignant scenes

Speaking afterwards, Detective Inspector Adam Jobson, said: 'This is a really horrific set of circumstances and I cannot imagine for one second what Kaylee-Jayde's family must be going through, they've lost their three-year-old family member at the hands of her own mother and Nicky Priest's boyfriend, Callum.

'It is a grim picture.

'I don't think, sadly, we will ever fully know what has happened, we'll never get that full picture, both have not admitted their own responsibility.

'One thing is clear, Nicky Priest has failed her daughter, she's failed to protect her and she should be - being a mother to that little girl - the one person who should have been able to protect her.'

Priest, of Poplar Avenue, Edgbaston, Birmingham, and Redfern, of Temple Street, Dudley, West Midlands, will be sentenced on Friday.
Richard Trumka, who rose from the Pennsylvania coalmines to become one of the country's most powerful labor leaders, died on Thursday at the age of 72.

He had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO, representing more than 50 unions, since 2009, and was a close ally of the Biden White House.

President Joe Biden, union leaders and Democratic lawmakers were quick to pay tribute.

Biden said Trumka was more than just a 'great union leader,' he was a friend and confidant.

'He was always there,' he said during an event on the South Lawn of the White House.

'He was an American worker, always fighting for working people, protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions, and their ability to build a middle class life.'

He apologized for arriving late but said he had just been on the phone to Trumka's widow and son.

'My heart goes out to Barbara and Rich Jr. and the grandkids,' he added.

Friends said his background as the son and grandson of coalminers marked him out as an authentic voice for the labor movement, and he had worked with every Democratic White House of the past 30 years.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, one of the country's most powerful labor leaders, died on Thursday at the age of 72. He worked with every Democratic White House of the past 30 years

President Biden described Trumka as a 'very close personal friend' after learning of his death. They are seen here hugging in 2010, when Vice President Biden attended the AFL-CIO executive council meeting at Walt Disney World

Trumka (center) was an important ally for the Biden White House in tackling the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic. He is pictured in the Oval Office during a meeting on the administration's coronavirus response bill

His death comes at a critical point for millions of workers and a White House plotting a course out of the economic wreckage of the coronavirus pandemic. Trumka had proved himself an important ally as the Biden administration battled Republican governors, supporting vaccine mandates for workers, for example.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer choked back tears as he announced the death on the Senate floor.

'I rise today with some sad, horrible news about the passing of a great friend Rich Trumka who left us this morning,' he said, before taking a breath. 'We lost a fierce warrior.'

After composing himself, he added: 'His memory will, I know , importune all of us to do more, even more, for the working people of America who Rich Trumka so deeply loved.

Trumka was raised in in the small southeast Pennsylvania town of Nemacolin. He followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by working in a coalmine even as he studied at Penn State University.

He became the youngest ever leader of the United Mine Workers of America at the age of 33 in 1982.

But with his burly figure and thick moustache he always looked every inch the union organizer.

'He was an American worker, always fighting for working people, protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions, and their ability to build a middle class life,' Biden as he paid tribute

Richard Trumka, a reliable advocate for Democrats, is pictured speaking to the audience before a presidential primary debate on July 30 in Detroit

Trumka forged close relationships with the the last two Democratic administrations. He is pictured here as he introduced President Barack Obama at AFL-CIO executive council meeting in Washington in 2010

In 1993, he demonstrated his uncompromising side when the Union Mine Workers launched a nationwide strike against Peabody Coal, raising the possibility that some mines would hire in permanent replacement staff.

'I'm saying if you strike a match and you put your finger in it, you're likely to get burned,' he said.

He quickly added that he was not threatening violence.

'Common sense will tell you that in these strikes, that when you inject scabs, a number of things happen,' he told the Associated Press at the time. 'And a confrontation is one of the potentials that can happen.

Trumka died from a heart attack, according to Biden.

He said the labor leader was on a camping trip with his grandsons before he died.

'At least he was with people who adore him,' he told reporters at the White House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: 'Richard Trumka dedicated his life to the labor movement and the right to organize.

'Richard's leadership transcended a single movement, as he fought with principle and persistence to defend the dignity of every person.'

Sen. Joe Manchin said he was heartbroken at news of his friend's death.

'Rich's is the American story - he was the son and grandson of Italian and Polish immigrants and began his career mining coal,' he said. 'He never forgot where he came from.'

Democratic lawmakers and labor leaders were quick to pay tribute to a man they said had dedicated his life and career to helping America's working men and women

Rep. Eric Swalwell said: 'He dedicated his life to ensuring more Americans could attain the American Dream. Hell be sorely missed.'

Tim Schlittner, of the ALF-CIO, said the labor movement had lost a legend but promised that it would honor his legacy with action

'He was a relentless champion of workers rights, workplace safety, worker-centered trade, democracy and so much more,' he said.

'He was also a devoted father, grandfather, husband, brother, coach, colleague and friend. Rich was loved and beloved.'

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the nation had lost one of its most effective advocates for working people.

'From his earliest days working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, Rich has lived the values of the labor movement with the greatest passion and purpose,'he said.

'He has touched and improved so many lives.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday told the governors of Texas and Florida not to be the reason schools are interrupted after they refused to support a CDC recommendation for face masks in classrooms.

'Don't be the reason why schools are interrupted. Our students have suffered enough,' Cardona said when asked his message for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

'Politics doesn't have a role in this. Educators know what to do,' he added.

DeSantis threatened to withhold funds from Florida school districts if they mandate that students wear face coverings. He said the new CDC recommendations for masks in classrooms 'lacks' scientific justification. But several Florida school districts said they would require students to mask-up anyway.

Abbott also said there would be no face mask requirements for Texas school children.

The education secretary also warned there could be more closures if the war over face masks in schools continues.

'I'm worried that the decisions that are being made, that are not putting students at the center and student health and safety at the center, is going to be why schools may be disrupted. We know what to do,' he said.

'We know what works, we have to keep our students safe. We have to keep our educators safe.'

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told the governors of Texas and Florida to not be the reason schools are interrupted

The White House has doubled down on blaming the two Republican governors for the rising rates of coronavirus infections in their state.

President Joe Biden had asked DeSantis and Abbott to 'get out of the way' of restrictions as COVID cases are on the rise. And DeSantis snapped back: 'Why don't you do your job?'

The war of words escalated on Thursday as White House officials followed Biden's lead in bashing Florida and Texas.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called out DeSantis for 'partisan name calling' during a national pandemic.

'We're here to state the facts. Frankly, our view is that this is too serious, deadly serious, to be doing partisan name calling. That's what we're not doing here. We're focused on providing public health data information to the people of Florida, to make sure they understand what steps they should be taking, even if those are not steps taken at the top of the leadership in that state,' she said.

At the White House COVID briefing on Thursday, response coordinator Jeff Zients noted Florida and Texas have accounted for one-third of new cases in the nation.

'Over the past seven days Florida and Texas have accounted for about one-third of new cases and more than one-third of new hospitalizations,' Zients noted. 'States with some of the lowest vaccination rates account for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, despite making up less than a quarter of the US population.'

White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients noted Florida and Texas have accounted for one-third of new cases in the nation

He also praised six Southern states - Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi - for seeing a rise in vaccination rates.

Zients also noted the administration was pushing for new action on vaccine requirements, including supporting private businesses that have vaccine mandates for employees.

'Businesses know vaccinations are a way to keep their workers and customers safe and to keep their doors open. And today, Yelp is announcing a new feature that allows consumers to search for businesses with fully vaccinated workers, workers or businesses that require proof of vaccinations to enter the business,' he said.

'We support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country,' he added.

His comments come after DeSantis furiously attacked Biden on Wednesday after the president's sharp remarks on his and Abbott's refusal to embrace mask requirements as COVID numbers surge.

DeSantis complained that Biden was trying to 'single out Florida,' after the state broke its own record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, and attempted to shift the focus to the president's handling of a surge in apprehensions at the southern border.

'Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure?' DeSantis angrily told Biden, in a press conference on Wednesday.

'And until you do that I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.'

Florida set an all-time record for COVID hospitalizations on Tuesday, with 11,515 hospitalized in one day.

The previous day also saw a record 10,389 hospitalizations, outpacing its previous peak on July 23, 2020, when there were 10,170 hospitalizations.

'Joe Biden has taken to himself to try to single out Florida over COVID,' said DeSantis.

'This is a guy who ran saying he was going to shut down the virus. What he's done is imported the virus from around the world with a wide open southern border.'

President Biden asked governors limiting COVID restrictions to 'get out of the way' - targeting Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida (center) and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas (right)

Florida is averaging 27,681 cases per day, a 342% increase from the 6,492 average cases reported two weeks ago (left). COVID-19 hospitalizations also reached a record high with 11,515, breaking the previous record of 10, 207 set on Monday (right)

The number of people who said the US is moving in a favorable direction with the pandemic has also fallen as cases surged over July

'We can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state.

'And I can tell you, Florida, we're a free state. People are going to be free to choose.'

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, urged DeSantis to do more to help Florida's COVID battle.

'Twenty three per cent of new COVID hospitalizations in the U.S are in Florida, and their hospitals are being overwhelmed again,' she said on Twitter.

'We are doing everything we can to help the people of FL, and they're stepping up by getting vaccinated  we hope @GovRonDeSantis joins us in this fight.'

Marco Rubio, senator for Florida, tweeted: 'You want to help #Florida?

'Stop sparking fights over mask mandates & pushing contradictory courses of action.

'Thankfully vaccinations are up.

'But that's in spite, not because of the Biden Administration.'

Biden criticized Florida and Texas for barring schools and local governments from imposing mask mandates.

'They should free people to do the right thing, such as allowing teachers to ask students to wear masks, he continued.

'I say to these governors, please help.

'But if you're not going to help at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.'
A North Carolina landlord says he is out $24,000 in unpaid rent from his tenants, including one who splurged on three boats and requested a $4,500 heat pump during the pandemic.

Buddy Shoup, a property owner near Charlotte, worries that the tab will only grow following the CDCs recent decision to extend the moratorium on rental evictions until October 3.

The suspension of evictions was first imposed by the Trump administration at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and was set to end July 31, but then it was extended another 60 days Tuesday. The new 60-day ban protects millions of renters from eviction and covers counties with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rates.

But property owners have criticized the moratorium, saying it penalizes those who must pay mortgages whether or not their tenants pay them.

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Buddy Shoup, a North Carolina landlord, says that he is out $24,000 in unpaid rent from his tenants. He shared his thoughts on the recent extension on the moratorium on rental evictions on Fox and Friends

Shoup, who owns 35 properties throughout Catawba County under Family Home Rentals, LLC, added that the moratorium is a burden on landlords who are still required to maintain properties despite losses in rent

Shoup, who owns 35 properties throughout Catawba County under Family Home Rentals LLC, added that the moratorium also is a burden on landlords who are still required to maintain properties despite losses.

He recently referenced a tenant who had three new boats in his driveway but hasnt been paying rent, though he didnt specify the exact amount the man owed him.

'The guy didnt pay me rent and was evidently getting money from somewhere and he had three boats. Well, lo and behold, the middle of the summer their air conditioner went out. So I had to put about a $4,500 heat pump on that house to make sure that they stayed cool and I didnt receive any rent or anything so it goes way beyond the loss of rental income. Were still bound by county laws and rules, and we need to maintain the property, he said In an interview with Fox and Friends, Shoup.

Shoup recently gave Spectrum News 1 a tour of some of his properties in Catawba County, pointing out what certain tenants owed. In the video, he gestures to one house and says, This guy didnt pay no rent at all, $12,000 behind he was.

He points to another home and says, They had packages every single day coming from Amazon, Rental Center, buying furniture and all of this. She had a whole U-haul of stuff. And theres my money.

Shoup recently gave Spectrum News 1 a tour of some of his properties in Catawba County, pointing out what certain tenants owed

When tenants cant pay their rent, Shoup said that he often directs them to seek assistance from local nonprofits

When tenants cant pay their rent, Shoup said that he often directs them to seek assistance from local nonprofits, which are funded by city and county taxes, such as the Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry.

As far as federal assistance goes, however, Shoup said he hasnt seen any sign that the money is going to those who need it most.

"The money from the government, stimulus checks, all of it, should have gone to the programs so they could distribute it to people who need it for rent and utilities. It should never have gone directly into people's pockets," Shoup said.

Shoup added that under the moratorium, he can only evict tenants for breach of contract in their lease agreement. After October 3, however, he said hes going to have to start considering evictions again.

Its a business, he said. I cant help their personal feelings. I have to take care of myself and my business and evict them. And thats the way it has to be.

Shoups experience is being felt by landlords throughout the country, as its estimated that renters owe a total of $21billion, or an average of $3,300 per household, according to the National Equity Atlas most recent figures last month.

The total renters owe in North Carolina is estimated at $571million. Renters owe $3.2billion in New York and $3.5billion in California.

For Vanie Mangal, a Queens landlord, the situation goes beyond losing $36,600 in rental income. Her first-floor tenants have not paid rent in 15 months, she recently told the New York Times, and bang on the ceiling below her bed at all hours as well as yell, curse and spit at her.

A tenant in the basement apartment, who also stopped paying rent, allegedly keyed Mangals car and dumped her mail by the garbage. That tenant eventually moved out after Mangal got an order of protection and then a warrant for the tenants arrest.

Its been really horrendous, she said. What am I supposed to do  live like this?

A Holocaust survivor has been faced with a tenant, Julie Rinke, who refused to leave her home and had 'totally destroyed' some of the furniture, according to court documents. Rinke (pictured on Friday) refused to comment when asked by DailyMail.com why she was still in the house

Markon's home in Hampton Bays was leased in July 2020, and was due to be handed over on June 18. Rinke, however, remains in the property

Meanwhile, on Long Island, a Holocaust survivor's tenant refused to leave her home and 'totally destroyed' some of the furniture, according to court documents.

Genya Markon, 78, spends the winters in Israel and summers at her $675,000 home in Hampton Bays. She leased the home in July 2020, and the lease expired June 18.

But Markon flew to the U.S. only to find her tenant, Julie Rinke, still there.

Markon said Rinke is taking advantage of pandemic protection against eviction, designed to prevent unscrupulous landlords in New York from forcing people from their homes during the global crisis.

But the protection should not apply to short-term leases, Markon said.

'My tenant, who is also a real estate agent, refuses to leave in spite of the fact that she only has a seasonal lease and is not protected by the hardship application she filed,' Markon said.

Some landlords can't afford to let their tenants live, rent-free, because they only own a few properties and rely on rent as a main source of income.

Howard Simon owns a small building in Massachusetts with three rental units. So far, Simon is out $7,000 in rent and his tenants havent made a payment since last October, he told CNBC.

I have mortgages, I have expenses for repairs to that particular building, Im losing one-third of the rent just because of this, said Simon, adding that tenants arent applying for federal funding programs aimed at alleviating the burden of rent.

Im just a small landlord, and Im not a big corporation like many of the other large rental organizations, so although the funding is very helpful, if the tenant doesnt cooperate everything falls apart, he said.

Sandy Su, a Brooklyn landlord, told the Daily Mail that some of her tenants are trying their best to make payments on time, but others say they cant because they dont have a job.

Its been very hard on landlords, she said. But we cant do anything about it. The only thing we can do is wait for the courts to open again so evictions could resume.

Tucker Carlson of Fox News on Wednesday blasted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the agency on Tuesday extended its moratorium on evictions

'Rochelle Walensky now makes the laws,' Carlson told his viewers on Wednesday. Walensky is seen above in Washington, DC on July 20

Following the moratorium extension, Fox News host Tucker Carlson slammed the totalitarian move and said it means the head of the CDC will now decide who can live in your home, under what circumstance, and for how long.'

The Fox News host on Wednesday blasted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, as just a college professor who youd almost certainly never heard of before this year.

'Rochelle Walensky now makes the laws,' Carlson told his viewers on Wednesday.

The ban on evictions currently applies to about 82 percent of U.S. counties and more than 90 percent of the population.

More than 15 million people in 6.5 million US households are currently behind on rental payments, according to a study by the Aspen Institute and the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, collectively owing more than $20billion to landlords.

The new 60-day ban protects millions of renters from eviction and covers counties with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rates

The Biden administration has come under fierce pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to extend the eviction moratorium. House Rep. Cori Bush (left) of Missouri staged a five-day sit-in on the steps of the US Capitol. She is seen left with House Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas

Carlson continued: Property owners cannot evict them under any circumstances. Making someone pay to live on your property is now a federal crime.

Try it, and you can wind up in prison, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

'Where did Rochelle Walensky get the power to do this, to suspend private property rights in America?' Carlson said.

'Walensky claimed she had the authority, and no one stopped her from exercising it.'

Realtor groups are now suing the Biden administration over the move.

Landlord groups late on Wednesday asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to immediately lift the new eviction moratorium, saying the new order was 'unlawful.'

President Joe Biden admitted that the new CDC order may be unconstitutional

The Alabama Association of Realtors and others said in an emergency filing the CDC issued the new order 'for nakedly political reasons - to ease the political pressure, shift the blame to the courts for ending the moratorium, and use litigation delays to achieve a policy objective.'

The groups won a ruling from US District Judge Dabney Friedrich in May declaring that the CDC's eviction ban was unlawful, but an appeals court blocked an effort by the Alabama landlord group and others to enforce the decision.

In June, a divided Supreme Court agreed to let the CDC moratorium remain in effect after the CDC announced it would allow the ban to expire July 31.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued a concurring opinion saying in his view extending the CDC moratorium past July 31 would need 'clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).'

Under pressure from President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress, the CDC reversed course on Tuesday and issued a slightly narrower eviction ban, replacing the nationwide moratorium that expired Saturday at midnight after Congress failed to approve an extension.

House Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, staged a sit-in on the steps of the Capitol for several days last weekend in protest of the expiring moratorium.

The White House repeatedly said before Tuesday's order it did not believe it had legal authority to extend eviction protections.

The White House did not immediately comment. A CDC spokeswoman declined to comment.

Lawyers for the landlord groups asking Friedrich to overturn the new CDC moratorium noted Biden on Tuesday said 'the courts ... made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional; it wouldn't stand.'

The Supreme Court extended the federal ban until the end of July on a 5-4 decision, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh saying he would block future extensions without 'clear and specific congressional authorization' from Congress

Biden said the administration was moving forward in part because 'by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time' to get more than $40billion in rental relief approved by Congress distributed to renters and landlords.

On Tuesday Biden said scholars he consulted believed such a move would not pass 'constitutional muster'  an admission that suggested Biden shopped for different attorneys who would tell him the move was legal.

'The president would not have moved forward with a step where he didn't' feel comfortable and confident in the legal justification,' said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

She rejected a question at Wednesday's press briefing that the administration took the action to 'buy time,' even if it were to get struck down in court.

'The president would not have supported moving forward if he did not support the legal justification. He is old school in that way,' Psaki said.
A female sailor who worked on the COVID Navy ship USNS Mercy dismissed the claims of the 'bipolar' seaman accused of torching the USS Bonhomme after he told friends they were engaged until he dumped her for getting pregnant by another man.

Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays, 20, has been charged with setting the fire on board the Bonhomme last July. His attorney says he had nothing to do with it and he is awaiting a preliminary hearing.

The ship was docked in San Diego last summer when someone set fire to it. The blaze lasted five days, with the $1.2 billion vessel scrapped, because it would have been too expensive to repair.

Newly unsealed documents this week shed more light on the Navy's case against Mays, who dropped out of SEAL training shortly before the fire.

During a ten hour interview with Navy investigators, he told them that he'd been in a romantic relationship with Petty Officer Armelle Ane.

He said they were engaged, that he had proposed at a French restaurant, and that the relationship ran into trouble when she was deployed to the UNSN Mercy, a Navy hospital ship that was deployed to Los Angeles to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

While in L.A., deployed on the Mercy, he told investigators that Ane became pregnant by another man.

Mays said it drove him to end their engagement and that he was 'single'. He'd thought at first that he was the father, the report says.

Ryan Sawyer Mays (right) is the Seaman Apprentice charged with setting fire to the USS Bonhomme. He told investigators that he was engaged to Petty Office Armelle Ane (left) and that he'd proposed to her at French restaurant in San Diego before she was deployed to the USNS Mercy, the COVID ship sent to L.A. last year (she is pictured on board, left). He said he dumped her after finding out she'd become pregnant by another man. Ane says they're all 'bipolar' lies

The fire on the USS Bonhomme on July 12. It began on July 11 and raged for five days, during which time 70 people were injured and the ship was so seriously damaged that it has since been decommissioned

But in her interview with investigators the next day, Ane said he made it all up.

Ane told the investigators that she even took a pregnancy test to prove that she was not pregnant, as the alleged arsonist told all their friends

It's unclear if the pair ever dated, but she emphatically told the investigators they had never been engaged, nor had she become pregnant by anyone.

She even said she took a pregnancy test to prove that he was lying, after he'd told their friends about her apparent affair.

'On August 21, 2020, U.S. Sailor Petty Officer Third Class Armelle Ane was interviewed in regard to her romantic relationship with Mays.

'Ane stated that she was not engaged to Mays and that she was not pregnant. Ane related that Mays was telling fellow sailors that he was going to be a father and that Ane was pregnant.

'Ane refuted and stated that she was not pregnant, never became pregnant, and had previously taken a pregnancy test to confirm that she was not pregnant.

'Ane described Mays as being volatile and bipolar,"' the report reads.

When contacted by DailyMail.com on Thursday, Ane declined to comment.

The Navy search warrant suggests that Mays was embittered against the military after dropping out of SEAL training because it was too hard. His lawyer says he is innocent

A screenshot from Mays' Instagram page that the Navy investigators included in their search warrant

Mays joined the Navy in 2019 'with the intent on becoming trained in the Advanced Electronics Computer Fields,' but 'changed his career goals to becoming a Navy SEAL,' according to the search warrant

The newly unsealed search warrant suggests that Mays was embittered against the Navy after dropping out five days into the rigorous training required to become a SEAL.

Witnesses told investigators that Mays was seen going below deck carrying two buckets on the day of the fire, and that he muttered he 'hated' the Navy.

His attorney insists this is not the case, and that he planned to try again at joining the SEALs.

'His dream has always been to make the Navy a career.

'My client, although he dropped out, was hopeful that one day he could get back into it.

'I can say that my client has always denied any involvement with the fire on the Bonhomme Richard and he continues to do so.

'He is presumed innocent. We're just looking forward to the opportunity to where we can review the evidence and prepare our case,' attorney Gary Barthel told ABC News.
Juliette Kayyem outlined her case for banning unvaccinated Americans from flying in The Atlantic

Republicans are lining up to take a swing at an Obama-era Homeland Security official for suggesting that unvaccinated Americans be put on a no-fly list, an idea Kentucky Senator Rand Paul called 'obscene' on Thursday.

'If we now disagree in our personal medical decisions with the left, they're going to declare that we're a terrorist and can't fly?' the senator posed on Fox & Friends.

Juliette Kayyem served as a former assistant secretary for Homeland Security under then-President Barack Obama and now runs a homeland security program at Harvard University.

'Flying is not a right, and the case for restricting it to vaccinated people is straightforward: The federal government is the sole entity that can regulate the terms and conditions of airline safety. And although air-filtration systems and mask requirements make transmission of the coronavirus unlikely during any given passenger flight, infected people can spread it when they leave the airport and take off their mask,' she wrote in an op-ed for The Atlantic.

She called the ban on unvaccinated Americans an 'obvious step' for a federal government that recently rejected the idea of a US-wide vaccine mandate.

For vaccinated people, Kayyem argues, it's just one more inconvenience in order to fly on top of tossing water bottles, disclosing personal data and locking firearms in checked luggage.

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul called Kayyem an 'idiot' for her suggestion on Fox & Friends Thursday

But she accuses the unvaccinated of rejecting health guidance, and says 'people who defy public-health guidance are not, and do not deserve to be, a protected class.'

Paul ripped Kayyem as an 'idiot.'

'It's complete collectivism - all of these people are the same people who hooted and hollered "Trump is leading us to authoritarianism" - what could be more authoritarian than a no-fly list for people who disagree with you?'

'Vaccinated people should no longer carry the burden for unvaccinated people,' Kayyem writes.

She also cited international travel bans - which most recently include the US restricting unvaccinated travelers from entering the country - as proof the system is within the realm of possibility.

Kayyem further pushed her idea on CNN, where she is employed as a commentator

She says the ban would encourage those who are holding out on getting vaccinated to get their shots (pictured: a stock image of passengers wearing masks on board a Boeing 737-800)

But Paul complained that the idea wasn't even practical.

'Even the CDC says you're not supposed to get vaccinated if you've been infected within three months. So what are we going to do? Tell people that can't fly for three months, even according to the CDC?'

'Even according to the CDC, this idiot would have us not flying for three months.'

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does recommend that some patients recovering from COVID - specifically those who were treated with monoclonal antibodies or plasma - should wait 90 days before being vaccinated.

However there is no such recommendation for anyone else who recovers from COVID.

Still other Republicans jumped on Kayyem's suggestion.

Former Trump official Richard Grenell mocked Kayyem on Twitter for her suggestion

Republican commentators blasted The Atlantic for publishing Kayyem's piece

Fox News contributor Sara Carter called the idea 'unbelievable'

Former US Ambassador to Germany and later Acting Director of National Intelligence under Donald Trump, Richard Grenell, lambasted Kayyem as a 'radical intolerant.'

'Thanks for telling the world that Democrats want to bar the unvaccinated from flying,' he wrote.

Jack Posobiec, senior editor of conservative outlet Human Events, accused The Atlantic of 'advocating for the unvaccinated to be placed on the No Fly List' - which in capital letters refers to the government's terrorist watchlist.

British conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson pointed out the owner of The Atlantic 'owns two private jets.'

Fox News contributor Sara Carter on Twitter mulled whether Kayyem's idea is a 'big power grab' or 'something far worse.'

The op-ed comes as the US grapples with a weeks-long resurgence in coronavirus cases

COVID cases have risen as vaccination rates fall, prompting many state, local and federal leaders to encourage their constituents to get inoculated

The debate comes as COVID cases across all 50 states rose through July and the level of vaccinations went down.

Infections in the US now number past 35 million, with nearly 615,000 reported virus-linked deaths.

Just under half of Americans aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated, with 58 percent having at least one dose according to the New York Times tracker.

Joe Biden set a July 4th goal of having at least 70 percent of US adults with one or more doses in May, but amid falling vaccination rates that benchmark wasn't reached until August.

Republican-led states Alabama, Mississippi and Wyoming are at the bottom of the list for fully-vaccinated residents.
Lindsey Graham said on Thursday that he has been pushing Donald Trump to speak up and press his supporters to get a COVID vaccine after the fully-vaccinated South Carolina senator was re-infected himself.

'I've urged him to be aggressive and say, ''Take the vaccine,''' Graham, a longtime Trump ally, told the Associated Press in his first interview since announcing he tested positive for a second time.

Graham indicated he spoke with Trump today and said the ex-president had been checking on him every day during his illness.

The Republican lawmaker lauded Trump's efforts in developing the vaccine and said Trump was 'very proud of that accomplishment.'

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Donald Trump called him every day to check on him during his second COVID infection (pictured here on July 30)

'From a conservative person's point of view, we should do all we can as a nation to get our economy back up and running and to protect our way of life,' Graham said.

Trump has not been shy about taking credit for Operation Warp Speed fueling rapid vaccine development, but has been murkier in his public opinion of whether Americans should actually take it - possibly wary of the skepticism large swaths of his base have show toward the vaccines.

He said on Fox News in March that he would recommend inoculation to 'a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me.'

At a Phoenix, Arizona rally in late July, Trump told a crowd of his supporters he felt some people were not taking the vaccine because they 'don't trust' President Joe Biden and stressed people's 'freedoms 100 percent' to do what they felt best.

Graham, a longtime Trump ally, has been urging the former president to come out stronger for vaccines as large swaths of his supporters appear to be skeptical (pictured on January 12)

Fully-vaccinated Trump has not made a strong public effort to encourage his supporters to get the shot (pictured at a Florida rally on July 3)

He echoed the sentiment in a statement a week earlier, declaring 'People are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don't trust [Biden's] Administration, they don't trust the Election results, and they certainly don't trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth.'

Trump himself was vaccinated in December after an apparently severe COVID infection in October.

Graham was also vaccinated in December, and despite his reinfection called the shot 'the antidote to the virus thats wreaking havoc on our hospitals.'

He said he believed his symptoms would have been much worse had he not been vaccinated.

The number of COVID infections is surging past the levels the US was at in June

Surging cases have coincided with a slowdown in the rate of vaccinations

US COVID hospitalizations are climbing again in states with lower vaccination rates. As of Wednesday the state of Arkansas only had 25 free ICU beds left as more unvaccinated Americans are being hospitalized with the highly contagious Delta variant.

The current 7-day average for new cases is 66,606 - up 64 percent from the previous week.

The number is 480 percent higher than the lowest infection point in the pandemic, which was less than eight weeks prior in June, signaling the contagiousness of the new and most prominent variant.

Graham announced he tested positive after a party on Joe Manchin's houseboat and says 'everybody there was vaccinated'

Graham announced he tested positive on Monday, days after gathering with a handful of Senate colleagues on West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin's houseboat. That same night, Saturday, Graham said he began experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Saying he felt 'achy and kind of yucky' through the weekend, Graham said Thursday that his symptoms had been steadily improving, although Monday and Tuesday were 'pretty tough days.'

'It went from sort of a mild sinus infection until just a full-blown, feeling like crap,' Graham said.

Graham declined to talk about the Manchin event on Thursday, except to say that 'everybody there was vaccinated.'

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is also pushing his former boss to be more vocal on vaccines.

Azar wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that he wished that Trump had gotten the shot publicly, so that his supporters could 'see how much trust and confidence he has' in the vaccines.

Recognizing that taking the vaccine might be a 'sacrifice' for some, Graham said the task paled in comparison with others that have been required of Americans in the past.

'No ones being asked to go off to fight radical Islam or fight a foreign enemy. Were being asked to make responsible medical decisions,' Graham said. 'Take the vaccine.'
Two of the runaway Democrats who fled to D.C. last month were missing from the district this week  and reportedly the duo took off to Portugal for a vacation.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also called on Thursday for a second special legislative session to pass two Republican voting rights bills, which is the reason that sparked the several dozen Democratic lawmakers to flee the state and break quorum in the first place.

'I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve,' Abbott said in a statement. 'Passing these Special Session agenda items will chart a course towards a stronger and brighter future for the Lone Star State.'

The Texas Democratic Caucus could not account for state Representatives Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch and Jessica Gonzalez of Dallas in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation told the Texas Tribune in a Wednesday report.

A reporter for Texas Monthly tweeted on Tuesday they could confirm both lawmakers and their partners went to 'Portugal for a vacation they had been planning, with non-refundable tickets, for a year-and-a-half.'

The duo, the reporter continued, were still participating in meetings with the caucus over Zoom.

Runaway Texas Democratic Representatives Jessica Gonzalez (left) and Julie Johnson (right) could not be accounted for by their caucus on Tuesday  and reportedly jet off to Portugal for a pre-planned vacation

A reporter covering the Democrats' breaking quorum and fleeing to Washington D.C. said he could confirm the duo and Gonzalez' fiance and Johnson's wife all went to Portugal and the lawmakers joined meetings over Zoom from their European vacation

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday that he is calling a second special legislative session to get, in part, the voting bills passed  the reason the Democrats fled the state and broke quorum in the first place

Texas Republican House member Tom Oliverson lamented on Twitter that he had to cancel a family vacation to make it to the state's special session as he took his oath to serve the people of his district seriously.

'Wow, just wow,' Oliverson tweeted in response to two of his Democratic colleagues taking a vacation from their D.C. hiatus. 'Had to cancel my family's vacation last week to Grand Teton because of a special session they helped create back in May.'

'Texas deserves better than this,' he added.

Several in the group of around 60 Democrats who fled from Austin last month have called themselves heroes and said they are doing their civic duty by not showing up for their job in the Texas legislature and instead lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass the For the People voting reform bill.

'Please pray for these heroic Texas Democrats as they suffer away from home, in Portugal. Perhaps consider sending them a care package?' Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who represents Texas' 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House, sarcastically tweeted.

Republican Texas Rep. Tom Oliverson lamented that he canceled a family vacation to make sure he made it to a special session in May

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who represents Texas' 2nd congressional district, sarcastically wished them well 'as they suffer away from home, in Portugal'

The Dallas Democrats posted on their Twitter last month, 'Our Dems in DC said they'd appreciate care packages from home,' as they prepared to send items to the runaways.

'Before 5pm Tues, we're collecting Dr. Pepper, salsa, hard candy, hairspray, travel toiletries, hand sanitizers, sewing kits, first aid, and/ or $ to pay shipping,' the tweet continued.

In a text exchange with the San Antonio Express-News, Gonzalez said 'No one has shown proof' of the Portugal trip.

'These are rumors, period,' she said in the Tuesday evening text. 'End of story.'

Gonzalez, in particular, plays a prominent role in the voting rights fight as vice chair of the Texas House Elections Committee. 

Between July and August 7, when the first special session ends, the Texas Democrats predicted they would spend around $1.5 million for transportation, hotel accommodations, food and other expenses in D.C.

The group chartered two private jets at $100,000 to flee Austin early last month.

None wore masks and soon after an outbreak occurred among the group where at least six tested positive for coronavirus despite being vaccinated. One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's aides, who helped usher the group around the Capitol, also tested positive as well as a White House staffer.

Since arriving, the runaways have been staying at the Washington Plaza Hotel in the northwest quadrant of the city. Rooms start at $199 per night.

The group has been criticized by Republicans who claim they are dodging their duty to show up and vote on legislation, even if it will have an unfavorable outcome for their interests. Democrats, however, have praised the Texas lawmakers for sticking it to the GOP and not allowing voting reform bills to pass through the State House.

News of Johnson and Gonzalez's absence came the same day this week when more than 100 state legislators across the nation showed up to support their fight against what they feel are more restrictive voting laws.
An international puppy smuggling ring has been jailed for a total of 18 years for selling animals online that had been so badly treated they died before they new owners got them home.

The gang of smugglers, many of them from the Irish Cawley traveller family, made more than 300,000 in a sophisticated fraud designed to dupe innocent dog owner's out of their hard-earned cash.

Sentencing the 13 defendants today, Judge Francis Sheridan said: 'You have all played your part in this disgusting trade and you preyed upon the kindness of British citizens.'

The gang would smuggle several dogs into the UK from southern Ireland a day.

The gang of smugglers, many of them from the Irish Cawley traveller family, made more than 300,000 in a sophisticated fraud designed to dupe innocent dog owner's out of their hard-earned cash

The gang would smuggle several dogs into the UK from southern Ireland a day

Earlier, prosecutor Hazel Stevens revealed that excited new owners were horrified when their adorable pets started falling sick before they even got them home, with some being so riddled with disease, they could not survive.

Judge Sheridan heard how the Cawleys, now from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, used frontman Daniel Yeboah, aged 45 years, to place numerous adverts under false names before luring unsuspecting families into buying the smuggled puppies - often out of pity for the conditions in which they were being kept.

Mrs Stevens told the judge: 'Many people purchasing a puppy, naturally became excited and invested time and emotion as well as money into their puppy. They chose a name and planned the arrival of their new family member and were left devastated when the puppy was sick and in some cases died.

Pictured: Police officers raid the trailers where the smugglers would keep their dogs

'The use of these animals as a commodity without care for their welfare and for the effect on the purchasers and children in their family, is something that the RSPCA, other animal welfare charities and the Government have been working very hard to stop.'

In a harrowing victim impact statement, Kimberley Duffy, an innocent puppy buyer who had brought her Shih Tzu puppy Barnaby from the swindlers, told the court how the scam had affected her family.

She said: 'When I went to see Barnaby and heard he was being bullied by another dog, I instantly decided to take him home. I then decided to surprise my partner at work with Barnaby on her lunch break and video her reaction.

Sentencing the 13 defendants today, Judge Francis Sheridan said: 'You have all played your part in this disgusting trade and you preyed upon the kindness of British citizens'

'She was extremely excited and surprised as he was an early Christmas present. When the children came home that evening, they too were extremely excited and we all bonded with him instantly.'

However, the court heard that their dream soon turned into a nightmare, as Barnaby became ill when he arrived home and after a visit to the vet, Ms Duffy and her partner ended up staying awake all night to feed him.

Ms Duffy explained what happened next: 'Myself and my partner stayed up all night with Barnaby, giving hourly food, fluids and medication. By 4.30am we decided on one more dose and then allowed him to rest.

'Being exhausted ourselves we fell asleep. At 7.15am on Thursday, October 24, 2019, we were awoken by the traumatic cries of our 11-year-old son who had been into our room and found Barnaby no longer breathing.

Daniel Yeboah, of Avon House, Bletchley, and John Cawley (right), 24, of Willen Caravan Site, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, were jailed for 42 months for their role in the smuggling while Joseph Cawley Senior (left), 44, of Willen Caravan Site, was jailed for 45 months

'Myself and my partner tried in vain to revive him while our children looked on traumatised and heartbroken. At 7.34am we decided to stop trying. We both broke down in tears, absolutely devastated that our little fur baby hadn't survived despite our desperate tireless efforts to do all we could.'

The court heard that with vet bills and the price of buying Barnaby from the Cawleys the Duffys lost more than 1,300.

Describing their emotions, Ms Duffy said: 'We feel utter anger, frustration and are furious at the lies we were told by the seller, the sheer neglect and trauma Barnaby suffered at the hands of these vile people.

'The events that took place that morning, the screams and the devastation from our children and the loss and heartbreak will forever haunt us and is irreparable.'

In a harrowing victim impact statement, Kimberley Duffy, an innocent puppy buyer who had brought her Shih Tzu puppy Barnaby from the swindlers, told the court how the scam had affected her family

The couple's six-year-old son Beaux said: 'I feel really sad that Barnaby died and I feel angry at his old owners because they didn't feed him and look after him like we did. I really miss Barnaby and wish he was still at home with us, I just want Barnaby back.'

Today after a two-day sentencing hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court, Judge Sheridan said: 'Not one of the defendants in this case should ever be given a licence to breed animals.

'The effects referred to in this case cannot be regarded by the public as anything other than utterly abhorrent.

'This is a trade in cruelty and misery for the animals and the human beings who sought to buy them. The protection of the public must be foremost in my mind.

'This is a massive industry and that is all it is, an industry of misery.'

The judge warned consumers to be vigilant when buying dogs from the website Pets4Homes

The judge also warned consumers to take care when they bought dogs from the website Pets4Homes, which had been used to facilitate the sale of many of the scammers' puppies.

At an earlier hearing, most of the defendants had admitted conspiring to dishonestly making false representations to make a gain for themselves while other charges included failing to fulfil the duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure its welfare and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Daniel Yeboah, of Avon House, Bletchley, and John Cawley, 24, of Willen Caravan Site, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, were jailed for 42 months for their role in the smuggling while Joseph Cawley Senior, 44, of Willen Caravan Site, was jailed for 45 months.

A tearful Margaret Cawley, 46, also of Willen Caravan Site who was described by Judge Sheridan as 'at the heart of the conspiracy', was jailed for 45 months.

Joseph Cawley Junior (right), who was a youth at the time of offences, received a community order that will last for 24 months, including 150 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity days. Annalise Cawley (left), 22, of Willen Caravan Site, was handed 12 months in prison, suspended for two years as well as a requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and 150 hours of unpaid work

Michael Cawley, 41, of Reeves Croft, Milton Keynes, whom the court heard had gained more than 54,000 out of the scam, was jailed for 27 months.

Austin Paice, 34, of Whaddon Way, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, was jailed for 13 months alongside another frontman for the operation John O'Brien, 49, of Grangers Croft, Milton Keynes.

O'Brien's wife Wendy, 32, also of Grangers Croft, was told she only avoided jail because she needed to care for her children while her husband was in jail. She was instead handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Mrs O'Brien will also be subject to a three-month curfew between 6pm and 5am and will have to pay 1,000 in compensation to the victims of the scam.

Rebecca Hall, 30, of Shepherds Close, Newport Pagnell, who allowed her house to be used to sell puppies, was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to pay 750 in compensation, which will be split between the victims of the fraud.

Mary Ward-Jackson, 31, of also Reeves Croft, Milton Keynes, the wife of Michael Cawley, was given three months in prison, suspended for two years, as well as a requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days.

Joseph Cawley Junior, who was a youth at the time of offences, received a community order that will last for 24 months, including 150 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity days.

Annalise Cawley, 22, of Willen Caravan Site, was handed 12 months in prison, suspended for two years as well as a requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and 150 hours of unpaid work.

James Yeboah, 43, of Avon House, Bletchley, was given nine months in prison, suspended for two years.

In addition, he will have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay 330.54 of prosecution costs and 669.46 of compensation to the victims of the scam.

Incensed Judge Sheridan banned each of the 13 defendants from owning or controlling any animals for the next 10 years, except for Wendy O'Brien and Rebecca Hall, who were allowed to look after their existing family pets.

Ending the hearing, Judge Sheridan told the packed courtroom he would do what he could to reimburse the victims of the scam. He said: 'I will try to reimburse them so they can buy a puppy from a legitimate breeder if that is what they want to do.

'Some of them I suspect will never want an animal again because of the misery they have been through.'

A Pets4Homes: 'As the UK's most popular pet rehoming site, we help over 2,500 animals find loving homes each day, and, thankfully, cases such as this are incredibly rare.

'The events of this case occurred before Pets4Homes came under new management, as well as the introduction of security checks including enhanced ID verification, a dedicated 24 hour Trust & Safety team reviewing adverts, and a deposit scheme which only transfers payment once a pet buyer is satisfied.

'These, and other security features, make it near impossible for people like those convicted to be able to exploit the goodwill of our users and community in 2021.

'We are proud to be the safest marketplace in the UK for the rehoming of pets and have a zero tolerance policy towards any attempt to exploit British pet lovers.

'We always collaborate with the authorities in investigations and the preparation of prosecutions, and are proud to play a part in bringing such evil individuals to justice.'
A Turkish social media influencer has said she is being prosecuted in her country for posting pictures of sex toys from Amsterdam's sex museum to her Instagram page.

Merve Taskin, 23, shared the 'joke' pictures of objects she bought from the world-famous museum during a birthday trip to the Netherlands in January last year.

But a few months later, she was arrested in Turkey, where the sharing of pictures considered obscene is deemed a crime.

Turkish social media influencer Merve Taskin has said she is being prosecuted in her country for posting pictures of sex toys from Amsterdam's sex museum to her Instagram page. Pictured: Ms Taskin pictured in the museum in January 2020

Now, the prominent Instagram influencer with almost 600,000 followers says she has been summoned to court to face obscenity charges.

Under Turkish law, anyone who publishes 'obscene' material can be fined, or can even face a jail sentence of up to three years.

'People do so many things and barely get a sentence in Turkey, therefore it would be ridiculous for me to get imprisoned over something like this. I was just entertaining my followers', Ms Taskin told MailOnline.

'My purpose was to make jokes,' Ms Taskin told MailOnline, recalling that she visited Amsterdam with friends at the beginning of 2020 to celebrate her 22nd birthday.

One of the items on her to-do list while in the city was to visit the Sex Museum, which is a popular tourist attraction to visitors from around the world.

Inside, Ms Taskin - from Istanbul - shared pictured of the objects that are on sale in the museum, including penis-shaped pasta and a 'sexy bottle opener'.

'I shared these on my social networks because I genuinely thought they were funny', Ms Taskin told MailOnline.

She didn't think twice about the pictures, thinking that they were innocent enough, but back in Turkey authorities considered them obscene.

'I was asked whether I was planning on bringing the items to Turkey to sell them', Taskin told MailOnline. 'I told them I simply bought them for myself and shared images with my followers', she said.

Merve Taskin, 23 (pictured), shared the 'joke' pictures of objects she bought from the world-famous museum during a birthday trip to the Netherlands in January last year

Pictured: The entrance to Amsterdam's sex museum (file photo). Ms Taskin was visiting the museum during a birthday trip to Amsterdam last year, when she shared a picture of some of the merchandise that can be found inside the museum

She told the BBC that in the months following her return home, she was arrested twice - once during a summer holiday and then on a second occasion.

During her second arrest, she said she gave a statement to a prosecutor, believing it would be the end of the matter. 'I got scared, so I deleted all the images', Ms Taskin told MailOnline.

However, earlier this year, she says she was surprised to receive a text message summoning her to appear in court in Istanbul over the pictures.

According to the BBC, a screenshot of the text message showed that Ms Taskin has been told to appear in court on October 26 for violating Article 226 of Turkey's penal code, which refers to a variety of offences relating to obscene material.

The court summons prompted her to delete a number of tweets 'so they wouldn't complain again'.

While Ms Taskin said she was afraid to testify in court, she said that she would do so willingly.

'I have no idea what will happen to me and I have no idea what I will be asked. I think my posts circulated too much and the Turkish public complained about it multiple times', said Taskin to MailOnline.

Under Turkish law, anyone who publishes 'obscene' material can be fined, or can even face a jail sentence of up to three years. Pictured: Influencer Merve Taskin

A tweet she posted about the court case received widespread coverage of the case in the Netherlands, with Monique van Marle - the director of the museum - telling the BBC that she found the situation 'absolutely ridiculous'.

She added that the museum has sent a supportive message to Ms Taskin, saind the museum was 'sorry to hear about the trouble you are in' and calling her a 'great role model to other women', the BBC reported.

'Our museum is intended to educate people all around the world about the history of sex. We admire you for expressing yourself and posting such pictures,' the message added.

Ms Taskin said to MailOnline that she would love for this to turn into a feminist movement and is happy her voice is being heard internationally.

Those that have been prosecuted under Turkish law for obscenity include websites, publishers and government critics.

Human rights groups have criticised the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a decline of freedom of expression online, calling him an autocratic leader intolerant of dissent.

'Turkey remains one of most challenging places in the European region to exercise one's right to free speech and expression,' according to human rights group Freedom House.

'In 2019, it maintained its status as the world's of professional journalists. Many others, including writers, civil society activists, artists, political figures, leaders from marginalized communities, digital rights activists, and everyday citizens face widespread persecution for criticising the government,' it added.
A black high school principal said race was at the forefront of his bosses' decision to force him take down photos of him embracing and kissing his white wife from social media.

James Whitfield, 43, said that when he became the principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in 2019, he received an email from the district about a beachside photoshoot he had taken with his wife, Kerrie, for their anniversary a decade ago.

'I look at the picture, and I look at the words above it, and it says, 'Is this the Dr. Whitfield we want leading our schools?' I showed it to my wife, who immediately begins to well up with tears,' Whitfield said.

When he became principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in 2019, James Whitfield received an email from the district with this photo of him and his wife during their anniversary 10 years ago

Whitfield and his wife, Kerrie, said they teared up at the email, believing that it implied that there was something wrong with interracial marriage

The couple had hired a professional photographer to take pictures of them at the beach for their anniversary a decade ago. Whitfield had the photos up on his social media

Whitfield shared his story via Facebook on July 31, days after a heated district meeting

Whitfield has led the high school for two years now. He is shown above posing with an officer and the school's mascot during a school event

He claims the photos received complaints back then because it featured an interracial couple.

Although he removed the pictures, Whitfield went public with the story last week after a heated meeting between Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District officials and parents over race on July 26, The New York Times reports.

Some parents had accused him of pushing critical race theory and programs that ensured equality and diversity.

Critical race theory is an educational program that seeks to understand the roots and persistence of racial disparities in the U.S.

Opponents claim teaching critical race theory is harmful to young students and is itself racist.

'I am not the CRT Boogeyman. I am the first African American to assume the role of Principal at my current school,' Whitfield wrote on Facebook.

'For the better part of the last year, I've been told repeatedly to just 'get around the fact that there are some racist people' and 'just deal with it and stay positive'...but I will stay silent no longer.'

In a statement, the district did not address the meeting, but it said the request to remove the photos of Whitfield and his wife was meant to provide a 'smooth transition.'

Whitfield often posts photos of himself with his family on social media. He is pictured above with his son after voting in November

Whitfield is the high school's first black principal

Whitfield believes that race was at the center of the complaint over the photo of himself with his wife

Some parents have accused Whitfield of pushing critical race theory

'Some of the photos the district received contained poses that are questionable for an educator, especially a principal or administrator. It had absolutely nothing to do with race,' the statement said.

Whitfield added that he had recieved an 'overwhelming' outpour of support from the community, with more than 1,000 people signing an online petition to side with him.

"I think it's sweet. He's a happily married man. It's he and his beautiful wife, they have a beautiful family," Sunni Roppollo, who has children at Colleyville Heritage High, told NBC.
An investigation has been launched after a massive blaze tore through Britain's shortest pier in Burnham-on-Sea.

At least five fire engines rushed to the scene at about 12pm today and crews spent hours tackling the flames which are believed to have started by a wood storage area and a bin on Burnham-on-Sea pier in Somerset.

Footage shows plumes of smoke billowing at the rear of the historic Pavilion which was built between 1911 and 1914.

High winds also risked spreading the blaze from the storage area to part of the dome of the pier.

At least five fire engines rushed to the scene at about 12pm today and crews spent hours tackling the flames which are believed to have started by a wood storage area and a bin on Burnham-on-Sea pier in Somerset

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it sent four engines to the scene, supported by another crew from Avon Fire and Rescue Service.

An investigation into the cause of the fire, which caused severe damage, has been launched.

A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue told Somerset Live: 'Fire appliances attended a developed fire on the pier, following multiple calls from members of the public.

'A request was made for a further 3 appliances, along with the incident command unit.

Footage shows plumes of smoke billowing at the rear of the historic Pavilion which was built between 1911 and 1914

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it sent four engines to the scene, supported by another crew from Avon Fire and Rescue Service

'The fire involved a single storey building used as an amusement arcade. 4 breathing apparatus, 1 hose reel jet and 2 main jets were in use.

'At 1336 hrs, a further three appliances were requested for breathing apparatus. Also, Avon FRS sent Weston Super Mare with their turntable ladder to support the incident.

'Crews added an additional hose reel jet, fogspike and triple extension ladder to the equipment in use at the scene.

'At 1416 hrs, crews began stripping external flashing to gain access to the fire in the wall cavity, and damp down hot spots.

An investigation into the cause of the fire, which caused severe damage, has been launched

Opened just before World War One, the pier was taken over by new owners in 2017, having been family-owned for nearly 50 years

'Western Power were requested to isolate the electricity. The incident is being scaled down. The cause is undetermined at this time, and investigations continue.'

Opened just before World War One, the pier was taken over by new owners in 2017, having been family-owned for nearly 50 years.

The road along the beach was closed off while crews dealt with the incident.

The pier, which is the shortest in the UK, is also one of the oldest illuminated ones and was the first concrete structure of its kind in Europe.
Authorities in San Diego relied on a combination of advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy to solve a 1980 cold-case murder of a local college student, identifying the suspected killer as a US Air Force veteran.

But for 20-year-old Michelle Wyatt and her family there will be no justice served because John Patrick Hogan, the man who police say strangled the young woman with a telephone cord after raping her, died of a drug overdose in 2004. He was 42 years old.

On Wednesday, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced the major break in the Wyatt case, which has been 40 years in the making.

Hogan, who was 18 years old at the time of the killing and likely did not know Wyatt, was identified as the suspect after investigators matched hitherto unknown DNA that was collected at the crime scene using commercial genetic genealogy sites, according to a press release.

Authorities in San Diego identified the late John Patrick Hogan (left) as the man who they say raped and killed Michelle Wyatt, 20 (right), in October 1980

Wyatt, a college student, was found strangled to death with a telephone cord inside her condominium in Santee, California (pictured), after being raped

A gravestone bearing Michelle Wyatt's name and the dates of her birth and death is pictured

The case began unfolding on October 9, 1980, when deputies responded to a condominium complex on Kerrigan Court in the San Diego suburb of Santee after a woman reported finding her roommate, Wyatt, dead in the living room with a telephone cord wrapped around her neck.

An autopsy determined that Wyatt, who attended Grossmont College and worked as a cashier, died of asphyxiation cause by strangulation after being sexually assaulted.

The attack took place in the early morning hours, not long after Wyatt's boyfriend left her apartment and locked the front door behind him.

Witnesses reported hearing screams coming from Wyatt's apartment, but no one called 911 for help, according to the sheriff's department.

Investigators identified and interviewed multiple suspects and followed all possible leads until the case went cold.

Sixteen years later, Wyatt's murder was reviewed for additional leads and use of new DNA technology. Nearly 90 potential suspects were screened, and many of them provided DNA samples to compare against the biological evidence collected in 1980.

The samples were sent for examination but no suspect was identified at the time.

Hogan (left) was an 18-year-old US Air Force serviceman at the time of the murder. Wyatt (right) attended Grossmont College, worked as a cashier and had a boyfriend

Wyatt's mother, Louise Wyatt, is pictured speaking to ABC10 not long after her daughter's brutal murder

In June 2000, evidence from the scene was reexamined using up-to-date methods, revealing two separate DNA profiles.

The rape kit recovered from Wyatt revealed that one of the DNA profiles was the victim's boyfriend, who was eliminated as a suspect, and the other that came from an unidentified man.

Hogan cannot be brought to justice because he died of a drug overdose in 2004. He was 42 years old

In 2001, the unknown suspect's DNA was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, but no match was found.

Last September, the San Diego County Sheriff Homicide Unit's Cold Case Team and the Sheriff's Crime Laboratory selected Wyatt's murder to be worked using investigative genetic genealogy.

Over the next nine months, the team, with the assistance of the FBI identified Hogan, known at Pat Hogan, as a potential suspect using genetic genealogy.

A subsequent investigation has revealed that Hogan was born in Arizona in 1961 and moved to Santee sometime in the 1970s. He attended Santana High School and at one time may have lived in the same condominium complex as Wyatt.

Hogan had friends in Wyatt's complex, whom he would frequently visit. At the time of the murder, Hogan lived just over a mile from the crime scene.

Hogan joined the US Air Force in 1979 and was stationed in New Mexico for a brief time. He would travel back and forth from Arizona, Idaho and California until his death from a methamphetamine overdose in 2004. He was never identified as a suspect in Wyatt's killing in his lifetime.

Louise Wyatt, seen above speaking to ABC10 in 2020, said she was thankful for the authorities' hard work but disappointed with the outcome of the case

Through further DNA testing, it was revealed that the unknown DNA recovered at the system of Wyatt's rape and murder came from Hogan.

'The investigation revealed substantial and convincing evidence that Hogan sexually assaulted and murdered Michelle,' the sheriff's press release stated.

The Sheriff's Homicide Unit harnessed the science of genetic genealogy to track down relatives whose DNA profile matched those of the unidentified suspect in the homicide.

The suspect's profile was developed and uploaded into commercial genealogy sites that allow law enforcement agencies to participate.

,The Cold Case Team then created family 'trees,' which led detectives to other potential relatives of the man. This process eventually led investigators to closer relatives and ended with contacting Hogan's direct family members who provided DNA samples, which confirmed the identification.

'Michelle's murder would likely have gone unsolved if not for the use of investigative genetic genealogy,' the sheriff's office stated.

Wyatt's parents, who are both in their 80s, expressed their gratitude for the work of the homicide detectives to identify their daughter's killer, but they said they were disappointed in the outcome, reported San Diego Union-Tribune.

'OK, hes dead, but I would have liked to have been able to talk to this man personally, ' said Louise Wyatt, Michelles mother. 'I just feel horrible for the ending.'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted that the administration's travel ban is 'inconsistent and confusing' on Thursday as she said the U.S. plans to maintain restrictions due to the Delta variant of Covid-19.

'There's a lot of confusion about what the restrictions are now and you all have asked a lot of good questions about it because it feels inconsistent and it is,' the press secretary said.

Meanwhile, the US Travel Association claimed that the nation's economy is losing $1.5 billion each week the borders are closed.

She said the White House is still working to develop a 'consistent and safe' international travel policy. Psaki added the US will open the borders to international travel 'when it's appropriate,' without outlining any timeline.

On Wednesday an administration official told Reuters that the White House is preparing to mandate vaccines for all incoming foreign travelers in its first step toward lifting restrictions.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, pictured above at Thursday's breifing, admitted that the administration's travel ban is 'inconsistent and confusing'

The US border remains closed to 26 European countries, the UK, Iran, China, South Africa, Brazil and India because of COVID-19 concerns. Some of the border bans have not been updated since they were put in place back in March 2020 when the pandemic first took hold

Currently, non U.S.-citizens aren't allowed into the country from China, Iran, most of Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India.

Some of the border bans - such as the ones imposed on the EU, UK and China - have not been updated since they were put in place back in March 2020 when the pandemic first took hold.

Biden has been facing mounting pressure to lift the ban - including from travel industry groups and lawmakers in his own party.

On Monday the United Kingdom announced that fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and the European Union would be allowed back into the country without quarantining for 10 days.

The EU reopened its borders to American tourists in June.

Requiring vaccinations for international travelers from certain countries would come after the Biden administration has long shied away from a vaccine mandate, instead encouraging businesses and localities to institute requirements.



The US Travel Association welcomed the idea that the Biden administration is building a plan to reopen the borders to vaccinated travelers of countries that are restricted, but urged against requiring vaccines for all countries.

'Every week that travel bans on the UK, EU, and Canada remain in place, our economy loses $1.5 billion in spending, which would support 10,000 American jobs,' U.S. Travel Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes said in a statement.

'While vaccinations are a crucial tool to allow us to reopen to 212(f) countries, it would be a step back to replace the current testing requirement with a vaccine requirement for all other countries.'

'We urge the administration to advance this plan for 212(f) countries and set a reopening date as quickly as possible, especially as the U.K., much of the E.U., and Canada have all taken recent similar steps to reopen their borders to vaccinated travelers and rebuild their economies,' Barnes added.
The Justice Department launched an investigation on Thursday into Phoenix police amid allegations officers abused homeless people, retaliated against peaceful protesters and used unlawful deadly force.

Police were accused last year of rounding up Black Lives Matter protesters and arresting them on trumped up charges that were quickly dismissed.

And the investigation will also look into whether police violated the constitutional rights of homeless people by disposing of their property.

The investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department is latest wide ranging review of a police force following similar investigations announced in Minneapolis, after the death of George Floyd, and in Louisville, Kentucky, after the death of Breonna Taylor.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said such 'pattern or practice investigations' aim to determine whether officers breached the Constitution or federal law.

'This increases public trust, which in turn increases public safety. We know that law enforcement shares these goals,' he said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a 'pattern or practice' investigation into the Phoenix Police Department and City of Phoenix to examine whether officers have been using excessive force and abusing homeless people

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said investigators will review body camera video, along with training materials and other records.

Garland reeled off areas of investigation, including, 'whether the department violates the First Amendment by retaliating against individuals who are engaged in protected expressive activities.

The investigation will also look into how police respond to people with disabilities.

'This includes whether decisions to criminally detain individuals with behavioural health disabilities are proper,' he said.

'And fifth, whether the Phoenix Police Department violates the rights of individuals experiencing homelessness by seizing and disposing of their belongings in a manner that violates the Constitution.'

Some of the claims relate to last year's hot summer of protests, as cities erupted in anger at a string of police killings.

The Phoenix Police Department is being sued by 124 people who claim officers retaliated against their protest by arresting them on charges that were immediately dismissed in court.

Their lawsuit said officers denied them their free-speech rights, and said the police were motivated in part 'by the desire to silence and disrupt plaintiffs actual or perceived protected anti-police-violence views.'

Other people have complained that they have not had confiscated property - such as cellphones - returned to them.

A local television station reported that police officers celebrated shooting a protester in the groin by issuing commemorative coins.

Protesters confronted Phoenix Police outside Dream City Church last year as President Donald Trump was speaking to young Republicans inside the church. The police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and dispersed the protestors. The force is being sued by protesters who claim they were arrested on trumped up charges during last summer's protests

Protesters confront Phoenix Police officers Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Phoenix during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd

A Phoenix police officer watches as a crowd of protesters outside the Phoenix Convention Center hold up signs and chant anti-Trump slogans during a rally held by U.S. President Donald Trump on August 22, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona

The police force has also come under fire for its treatment of homeless people.

A 2018 ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stopped cities arresting people sleeping in public places if there is no alternative accommodation.

But campaigners say nothing has changed in Phoenix and accuse officers of confiscating the belongings of people sleeping rough.

And last month, police responded to multiple 911 calls made by 64-year-old Stanley Howard. They shot him dead after he pointed what turned out to be a water gun at them.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said investigators will review body camera video, along with training materials and other records.

'Protecting the rule of law demands that those who enforce our laws also abide by them, she said.

Garland said part of the problem was that police were being asked to address social problems.

'Too often we asked law enforcement officers to be the first and last option for addressing issues that should not be handled by our criminal justice system,' he said.

'This makes police officers jobs more difficult increases unnecessary concentrations confrontations with law enforcement and hinders public safety.'

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego welcomed the probe.

'The recommendations that will result from this review will assist us in our ongoing efforts to become an even safer, stronger, more equitable city,' she said in a statement.
The Miami-based security contractor who hired the Columbian mercenaries at the center of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise said the plot was all orchestrated by a former Haitian Supreme Court judge.

Antonio Intriago, owner of the CTU Security firm, said his men were actually hired to help police arrest Moise on July 7.

He added that he had been in contact with the FBI to verify that the U.S. government knew about his mission.

But when the mercenaries stormed the presidents house and got to his room, he was already dead.

His lawyers said the plan to set him up was masterminded by former Justice Windelle Coq-Thelot, who was fired earlier in the year, along with two other justices after the late-president claimed he had foiled their attempt at a coup in February.

An arrest warrant was issued for Coq-Thelot following the assassination. Authorities have yet to find her.

Antonio Intriago, pictured in the photos above, said he was initially hired to provide security for solar powered station in Haiti. The job continued to evolve to the point where his men prepared to assist police in arresting Moise on murder charges. He claims the president was already dead when the mercenaries got to his room

Intriago claims former Haitian Supreme Court Justice Windelle Coq-Thelot, pictured, plotted the president's murder after she was fired in February. The late president had accused her and at least 23 other people of killing her earlier this year. Authorities have yet to locate her

The lawyer's statements said Intriago was initially contacted by Christian Sanon, a Haitian-American preacher and doctor, to provide security for solar-power stations in a southern Haitian town, the Wall Street Journal Reports.

The 63-year-old preacher is currently under arrest and had previously said he believed God had chosen him to remove Moise from power.

Sanon was one of three U.S. citizens arrested in connection to the assassination, along with DEA informant Joseph Vincent and James Solages, 35, a maintenance worker.

Vincent had claimed that that his work with Sanon was backed by the U.S. government.

A number of the arrested suspects were also FBI informants, CNN reported.

Moise is pictured in 2018. The president was assassinated at his mansion in Port-au-Prince in the early hours of July 8 in his bedroom

Christian Sanon's alleged involvement in the assassination plot of Haiti's Jovenel Moise Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63-year-old Florida doctor and pastor, reportedly told Haitian professor Michel Plancher at a meeting last month it was God's 'mission' for him to replace Jovenel Moise as the leader of the Caribbean country. 'He said he was sent by God. He was sent on a mission of God to replace Moise,' Plancher, a civil engineering professor at Quisqueya University in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, told the New York Times. Christian Sanon Another associate of Sanon has suggested the US supported the plot for the Floridian to assume control of the country, saying the mission was supposed to 'save Haiti from hell, with support from the US government'. The plan was only for Moise to be arrested, the associate said, insisting Sanon would not have participated if he knew Moise would be killed. Associates described him as 'gullible' and suggested Sanon may have duped by those really behind the assassination plot. Sanon 'is completely gullible,' one associate added. 'He thinks God is going to save everything.' Advertisement

Intriago's lawyers said he was caught by surprise when the job he was hired for evolved into arresting the president of Haiti, so he reached out to some of his contacts in the FBI to update them on the plan.

'Whenever Mr. Intriago questioned the legality of providing security services for Dr. Sanon or anyone else in Haiti, [the business associate] called his FBI contacts and Mr. Intriago became confident that the United States government knew exactly what was taking place in Haiti,' his lawyers said.

They did not share who Intriago's contact in the FBI were, nor did they clarify which parts of the ever evolving story the FBI was made aware of.

The State Department previously stated that reports of the mercenaries acting on behalf of the U.S. government were false.

The Biden administration have sent investigators from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to help solve the case.

Intriago siad he had eventually received a warrant against the president for the crime of murder, which was issued by Haitian Judge Jean Roger Noelcius in February, the Wall Street Journal Reports.

Intriago added that he had received a notice from Coq-Thelot, who pretended to still be in-power, saying that Moise had become a 'dictator' after allegedly overstaying his five-year-term.

'I hereby expressly request that your company, that its members assist our Constitutional authorities, especially myself and in general the Haitian people in order to protect democracy,' she wrote in the letter to Mr. Intriago that was released by his lawyers. 'I ratify, in my capacity as a Magistrate, in my capacity as a lifetime official and that I represent the people, and protected by the actions of a Judge and a Prosecutor, by the merit given to us by the Constitution, the Law and Reason that we give and will give immunity, protection and security to their actions in our favor.'

Coq-Thelot is a former judge at La Cour de Cassation, Haiti's highest court.

She is originally from the town of Marmelade, and spent more than a decade at the Court of Appeals in Gonaives and Port-au-Prince, the Haitian Times reports.

In 2011, she was promoted to associate justice at the nation's highest court.

Moise named her as part of a group of at least 23 people who allegedly tried to kill him earlier this year.

Vincent helped the DEA in 2017 to arrest Guy Philippe (pictured left in 2004), who led a 2004 coup against then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide, on drugs trafficking charges, the sources said. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, (right) was the third US citizen arrested in Haiti over the assassination. Haitian police said they uncovered a DEA hat in his home - along with weapons

James Solages, 35, (left) and Joseph Vincent, 55, (right) are seen Thursday following their arrests. It has emerged Vincent was a DEA informant who handed over the warlord responsible for leading the last coup in the Caribbean nation

DEA and FBI informants arrested in assassination plot Joseph Vincent helped the DEA in 2017 to arrest Guy Philippe, who led a 2004 coup against then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide, on drugs trafficking charges, the sources said. Vincent was with Haitian Police when Philippe was handed over to the DEA at an airport. Philippe is now serving nine years in a US federal prison. Footage from the assassination shows an attacker with an American accent shouting in English 'this is a DEA operation' as the hit squad arrived at the president's mansion. Both US and Haitian authorities insisted in the hours after the assassination that the DEA was not involved. A DEA official, speaking under condition of anonymity, confirmed Monday one Haitian-American man arrested in the assassination plot had worked as a US informant. The suspect was not an active informant with the DEA at the time of the assassination, they said. 'At times, one of the suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise was a confidential source to the DEA,' the DEA official said in an email, adding that the suspect had reached out to the DEA after the assassination. The agency and the US State Department urged him to surrender and helped to arrange him being handed over to Haitian authorities, they said. 'Following the assassination of President Moise, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA. Advertisement

She was among the three candidates chosen to replace him by the political opposition.

Intriago's ultimately claimed that it was the president's own bodyguards who betrayed and kill him, but they did not elaborate on the reason why they guards may have done so.

Haitian and Colombian police have accused Intriago of recruiting the hit squad of assassins responsible for the president's slaying.

Colombia's national police chief Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas said its company credit card was used to buy 19 plane tickets from Bogota to Santo Domingo for some of the Colombian suspects.

Most arrived in the Dominican Republic in June before entering Haiti within weeks, Vargas said.

Charles said Sanon flew into Haiti in June on a private jet accompanied by several of the alleged gunmen.

The suspects were told their job was to protect Sanon, but they were later ordered to arrest the president, Charles said.

Haiti's National Police chief Leon Charles said that after Moise was killed, one of the suspected assassins contacted Sanon who then got in touch with two other people believed to be masterminds of the plot. He did not identify the masterminds or say if police know who they are.

Authorities are yet to present evidence of Sanon's involvement in the assassination plot.

Haitian police said officers found a hat emblazoned with the logo of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in Sanon's home in Haiti - along with an arsenal of weapons including 20 boxes of bullets, gun parts, four license plates from the Dominican Republic, two cars and correspondence.

Sanon launched a website last month campaigning to replace Moise as president in, DailyMail.com has revealed.

As part of the campaign he claimed to have the backing of a key UN figure and wrote a letter to a State Department official saying he had been picked as interim leader of the country.

His political ambitions appeared to at least date back to February 2011 when he launched a website entitled 'Dr Christian Sanon Leadership pour Haiti'.

The site has since vanished but archived web pages from 2011 to 2016 include a portal for donations, a 'plan for Haiti', and news updates on Sanon's efforts to build clinics in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

In a YouTube video for the campaign, he hits out at the nation's leaders for corruption.

Sanon has lived in the US since the 70s including Kansas City, Missouri and most recently Florida.
Kentavya Mack's, 25, mugshot after her arrest on Wednesday for performing a sex act in front of a child

A Tulsa woman was arrested earlier this week after authorities said she filmed herself having sex in front of her 3-year-old son.

Kentavya Mack, 25, was arrested after video circulated on social media, showing her and an unidentified man having sex while a toddler watches in the background, according to the Tulsa Police Department.

Someone who saw the video sent it to authorities via Facebook Messenger.

The Child Crisis Unit, which is part of Tulsa PD, found and interviewed Mack shortly after the video emerged online. Police said she told them she was the woman in the video, and that the child in the background was her son.

It is unclear who shot the video and whether they knew they were being filmed.

She was arrested Wednesday for lewd or indecent acts with a child under 12. Her bond is set at $50,000.

Kentavya Mack's arrest came about after a video circulated on social media, showing her and an unidentified man having sex while a toddler watches in the background

Mack is facing a minimum of three years in prison and upwards of 25 years to life due to the young age of the victim.

According to the Law Firm of Oklahoma, 'a person who knowingly and intentionally performs a lewd act with a minor or makes an indecent proposal to a minor is guilty of a felony punishable by a minimum of three years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.'

'However, if a victim is under the age of 12, the crime is punishable by 25 years to life.'

Meanwhile, Tulsa PD is currently looking into the identity of the man in the sex video, as he faces potential charges.

In July 2017, Mack's younger sister Chantel Mack was killed after getting caught in gun crossfire during a gang-related shootout at a community softball game in Tulsa

Mack is due in court Aug. 10, according to the Tulsa County inmate information center.

In July 2017, Mack's younger sister Chantel Mack was killed after getting caught in gun crossfire during a gang-related shootout at a community softball game in Tulsa.

'My heart just completely broke. Don't have any words for that,' Kentavya Mack told News on 6 at the time of her sister's death.

'Her kids. Her kids, she loved her kids. She loved them dearly. She did anything in the world. She made it happen for them by any means.'
Tesla has paid more than $1 million to a black former worker after an arbitrator ruled the Elon Musk-owned company failed to stop supervisors from calling him the N-word.

Melvin Berry, 47, was awarded the rare discrimination victory by arbitrator Elaine Rushing, a former judge with over two decades of experience, after a closed-door proceeding on May 12.

The ruling capped years of complaints from black workers that the electric car giant turned a deaf ear to the use of racial slurs on the assembly line and was slow to clean up graffiti with swastikas and other hate symbols scrawled in common areas at its Fremont, California, plant.

Arbitration rulings are usually kept secret, but Rushing agreed to Berry's lawyer's request to make it public.

The decision in favor of Berry and make it public was described as rare by Cliff Palefsky, a San Francisco employment lawyer who wasn't involved in the case.

Palefsky told Bloomberg: 'Racial discrimination awards are rare and it seems this was especially hard fought,' he said. Rushing 'was clearly troubled by the facts, culture at the company and the tone of the defense.'

Melvin Berry, 47, was awarded the rare discrimination victory by arbitrator Elaine Rushing

The Tesla plant in Fremont has been described as a 'hotbed of racial behavior' by former employees

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was criticized on Twitter after announcing that Juneteenth would be recognized as a Holiday both at Tesla and SpaceX but only if employees used a vacation day

Berry, of Antioch, California, was hired by Tesla in 2015 as a materials handler. He quit less than 18 months later when a supervisor gave him longer shifts and made him push a heavier cart after Berry complained about being called the N-word, his lawsuit claimed.

Tesla said in 2017, when Berry's case had just started, that they were 'absolutely against any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment of any kind.'

The company said it had fired thee people after an investigation in the case, but according to a sworn declaration in that suit, the N-word had been used no less than 100 times and employees called the plant 'the plantation' or 'slaveship.'

Still, Tesla offered Berry only $148 because he left the job voluntarily. Part of Tesla's evidence in the case was a letter a supervisor had written of Berry slacking at work.

The letter, Rushing noted, had been written by a 23-year-old white man with a high-school education supervising the then-43-year-old Berry, who has a college degree.

Rushing decried the missive as 'a classic invitation for serious resentment.'

Berry said he suffered from insomnia, panic attacks, depression and anxiety and had to seek psychological help because he was questioning his sanity.

He will now receive $266,278.50 in damages, including $100,000 to compensate for emotional distress, of the $1.02 million settlement.

Berry said he suffered from insomnia, panic attacks, depression and anxiety

According to a sworn declaration in a suit against Tesla, the N-word had been used no less than 100 times and employees called the plant 'the plantation' or 'slaveship'

Ten thousand of Tesla's 80,000 global employees work at the plant in Fremont, San Franciso

Berry's is not the only cry of discriminatory behavior at the Fremont, California, plant, which has been described as a 'hotbed of racist behavior' in a suit from another black worker.

Owen Diaz, 52, who worked at the Fremont plant over a course of 11 months from 2015 to 2016, said one of his supervisors drew a black face person with a bone in his hair and wrote 'booo,' short for 'jigaboo,'

The supervisor then told him 'he couldn't take a joke' when Diaz confronted him.

Diaz also said he would see swastikas and other hate signs on bathroom walls for days, before they were covered with paint.

He is now also represented by Berry's lawyer, Lawrence Organ, and was allowed to sue Tesla.

Since 2014, more than 145 complaints have been filed with the California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging discrimination at Tesla on the basis of race, age, gender, disability, medical leave, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and national origin.
The Romance Writers of America has rescinded its award for a novel that critics accused of 'glamorizing killing of Native Americans' with opening scene depicting the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Karen Witemeyer's At Love's Command recently won the best romance with religious or spiritual elements of 2021 at the RWA's inaugural Vivian Awards.

The Christian western romance novel, which centers around ex-cavalry officer Matthew Hanger and Dr Josephine Burkett who fall in love in 1890s Texas, opens with a scene depicting the Wounded Knee Massacre.

After Witemeyer was given the award, it came under fire from critics who said it offensively romanticizes the battle in which an estimated 300 Lakota people were killed by soldiers of the United States Army on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on December 29, 1890.

Karen Witemeyer's 'At Love's Command' recently won the best romance with religious or spiritual elements of 2021 at the RWA's inaugural Vivian Awards before it was rescinded

Outraged critics say that the scene romanticizes the Battle at Wounded Knee (pictured) in which and estimated 300 Lakota people were killed by U.S. soldiers

During her acceptance speech at the virtual awards hosted by the RWA, Karen Witemeyer (pictured) said she was 'delighted and humbled,' and thanked Jesus for her win

The book begins during the battle where Hanger, a captain of the 7th Calgary, confronts the Lakota Sioux.

He is 'grounded' by a verse from the Psalms as the cavalry demands the Lakotas' weapons and when a medicine man begins chanting, 'stirring up defiance,' a Lakota man fires his gun, leading Hanger to give the order attack the Lakota.

'They'd just participated in a massacre,' Witemeyer writes at the end of the prologue.

In response to the controversy, Witemeyer's publisher Baker Publishing Group, released statement that said the author is 'saddened' by the offense the book has caused.

The statement clarifies that while her protagonist participates in the war, he is 'sickened' by his actions.

'The author makes it clear throughout the book that the protagonist deeply regrets his actions and spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the wrong that he did,' the statement said.

'Witemeyer wrote this carefully-researched story with the knowledge that it would include some of the darkest moments of our nations history, including deplorable acts of violence like the Wounded Knee Massacre.'

'It was neither the authors nor publisher's wish to offend, but rather to recount this history for the tragedy it was,' the statement added.

The RWA said they came to their decision to rescind the award after holding an 'emergency meeting.'

'RWA is in full support of First Amendment rights; however, as an organization that continually strives to improve our support of marginalized authors, we cannot in good conscience uphold the decision of the judges in voting to celebrate a book that depicts the inhumane treatment of indigenous people and romanticizes real world tragedies that still affect people to this day,' the nonprofit said in a statement.

The win also generated some outrage on social media.

'This is appalling,' one person tweeted. 'Heroes do not participate in genocide. This book does not deserve an award for anything.'

Someone else tweeted: 'A ''romance'' in which the 'hero' commits genocide against Native Americans is honored with an award named after the pioneering Black woman founder of RWA is why the organization continues to bleed membership.'

'As a Taino, I'm not at all surprised that a book has romanticized genocide,' another person tweeted. 'However, I am VERY disappointed to see it won an award. After I naively believed in new beginnings and gave @romancewriters a second chance? They will NEVER learn. Membership permanently cancelled.'

The RWA is a non-profit for romance novel writers that holds charity events and conferences and annual awards.

Last year they renamed the award the 'Vivian'- after the famous African-American romance novelist Vivian Stephens.
Charles Zolot, 65, was found in a pool of blood with 'trauma to his face' and 'puncture wounds to his chest,' according to the New York Police Department

A divorce lawyer was found beaten to death in his office in Queens, New York early this morning after allegedly being threatened by a client the night before.

Charles Zolot, 65, was found in a pool of blood with 'trauma to his face' and 'puncture wounds to his chest,' according to the New York Police Department.

A maintenance worker discovered the battered body at around 5:50am in the second-floor office at 37-06 82nd St. in Jackson Heights.

He called 911, but Zolot was declared dead at the scene.

Police have said they retrieved surveillance footage from the office which may show a potential suspect, but the video has not been released and a suspect has not been named.

Other lawyers in the building said a client had threatened the lawyer, and then returned last night.

'Sounds like a disgruntled client,' Mark Drucker, a lawyer who owns a firm in the same building, told FNTV.

'They think that someone came in last night and I think one of the secretaries was afraid of this guy.

'From what I hear, he came in with his brother I think. Charlie took him up to the office and never came down.

'I think the secretaries are really upset by it. We have cameras on the floors and we were asked for that, so I think that they have pictures of what's going on.'

Drucker said he was in the building at the time, but had not heard any noise or disturbance.

A maintenance worker discovered the battered body at around 5:50am in the second-floor office at 37-06 82nd St. in Jackson Heights. The body is removed from the scene on Thursday

Zolot was declared dead at the scene after the attack

Other lawyers in the building said a client had threatened the lawyer, and then returned last night

Zolot's friend and tailor Horacio Navas, 70, said: 'The maintenance guy told me he came in this morning and saw a pool of blood and followed it and thats when he found his body beaten to death.'

'I dont know why anyone would want to do this to him,' Navas told the New York Post. 'The neighborhood is changing. This would never happen here [before].'

A tenant working at another law office in the building who wished to go unnamed told MailOnline that his dog had discovered red droplets near the building's elevator the evening before - but he had dismissed them as juice.

He said: 'I bring my dog to work sometimes and I had my dog here yesterday. Around 4:30, she wanted to go outside. When we got to the elevator, she was looking at something on the floor like she wanted to lick it.'

'Sounds like a disgruntled client,' Mark Drucker, a lawyer who owns a firm in the same building

Zolot specialized in divorce and child custody cases, according to his website. He advertised himself as having experience with guardianship, pre and post nuptial agreements, alimony cases, child custody and child support cases, the settlement of estates, adoption law, the negotiation of visitation rights and bankruptcy

'I was like "that looks like blood, wouldnt that be crazy? But its probably just juice".

'One of the secretaries in the office saw the four or five drops and asked me if I thought it was blood - I said that I thought it was juice.'

'When I got a text saying Charlie was dead this morning, I thought it was a heart attack - then someone told me he was murdered.'

The tenant said that neither he nor his coworkers heard anything out of the ordinary.

He was unable to return to work until about 4 pm today, he said, due to the closed-off police crime scene.

A tenant in the building who wished to remain anonymous told news outlets that two clients had threatened him in his building the night before

Zolot was not married, and did not have any children - another tenant described him as an 'almost retired bachelor.'

'I was referring him business - most lawyers are really expensive and Charles was probably the most reasonable rate of any lawyer in Jackson Heights,' another attorney working out of the building told MailOnline. 'A lot of immigrants and crazy kinds of cases - typically a lower-middle class clientele.'

The attorney said that it was typical for Zolot to work late into the evening. To get into the building without a key, he said, you need to be buzzed in or to sneak in after someone else leaves.

Drucker added: 'As a lawyer, you're always afraid of some clients that could get really upset with you, and we're living in a very crazy time when people get very agitated very quickly.'

Zolot specialized in divorce and child custody cases, according to his website.

He advertised himself as having experience with guardianship, pre and post nuptial agreements, alimony cases, child custody and child support cases, the settlement of estates, adoption law, the negotiation of visitation rights and bankruptcy.

He graduated from Syracuse University college of Law in 1981, and had been practicing in New York since the following year, records show.

Zolot was scheduled to represent a client in a preliminary conference at the Queens Supreme Court today, according to ABC 7 New York.
Allan Goodson, a Utah mechanic who converted to Islam, sued his former employer for religious discrimination

A mechanic who converted to Islam is suing his former employer claiming he was relentlessly mocked by his coworkers, who referred to him and other people who practiced the religion as 'sand n*****s', and said he will 'marry a five-year-old girl' and 'start blowing up innocent people'.

Allan Goodson also claimed Bradshaw Chevrolet Company in Cedar City, Utah, denied him short prayer breaks and fired him twice within days of filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to a federal lawsuit.

'When Goodson was terminated the second time, (Service Director Richard) Batt, who was in the room, mocked Goodson by waving his middle finger at him and winking at him,' the lawsuit alleges.

The legal action was filed on Monday by the Washington DC-based Council on American-Islamic Relations on behalf of Goodson.

In an emailed statement to DailyMail.com, Mark Bradshaw, who owns the company, said, 'Alan Goodson tried to file these charges with the EEOC first. The EEOC decided not to pursue any action. We are surprised that he is now trying this. We deny all of the allegations.'

Bradshaw Chevrolet Company in Utah was sued by Goodson for religious discrimination

'They were constantly talking about Muslims being terrorists, Muslims beheading people,' Goodson is pictured here telling FOX 13. 'Any time that a customer would come through the shop that basically wasn't a white man, these are the types of comments that would be getting made'

Goodson was Christian when he was hired in August 2019 and converted to Islam in October 2019.

As a practicing Muslim, he's required to pray five times a daily, of which two fell during Goodson's shift. One of his breaks he took during his lunch.

His supervisors allegedly denied his request to take a five-to-10 minute-break to pray and prevented him from attending an hourlong prayer service on Fridays, according to the lawsuit.

On top of that, his colleagues allegedly harassed him for months with racist insults, calling him a 'terrorist' and saying he 'betrayed [his] race (white) because Islam is a non-white religion,' the lawsuit says.

'They were constantly talking about Muslims being terrorists, Muslims beheading people,' Goodson told FOX 13. 'Any time that a customer would come through the shop that basically wasn't a white man, these are the types of comments that would be getting made.'

Batt, who was one of Goodson's supervisors, allegedly told Goodson, 'The darker your skin color, the more evil you are.'

These are a few excerpts from the federal lawsuit against the Utah-based Bradshaw Chevrolet Company

Goodson made an internal complaint in March 2020, which was immediately followed by a drastic reduction in hours, the lawsuit claims.

After about a month without work, he came back to the 'same hostile work environment' in April.

The alleged harassment continued through May 2020. During one of the interactions with Batt, Goodson claims he asked why Batt berated him so often.

Batt allegedly responded, 'My problem with you is that you're a sand n***** terrorist.'

On May 28, 2020, a coworker saw him filling out an electronic questionnaire with the EEOC.

Three days later - on June 1 - he was fired. The reason, at first, was for a tire rotation job, according to the lawsuit.

But later that day, Bradshaw, who owns the dealership, called Goodson to his office to discuss his termination told Goodson he was fired but it wasn't because of the tire rotation; but because he disrespected a supervisor.

Then Batt allegedly flipped him off, according to the lawsuit.

Goodson is is seeking an undetermined amount of money as well as an injunction prohibiting the company from discriminating against employees based on their religion, allowing Muslim workers to take prayer breaks and to attend the hourlong service on Friday, and mandating religious sensitivity training for management.

DailyMail.com left a message for Bradshaw Chevrolet Company for comment.
Face masks are mandatory indoors at all Disney theme parks for anyone over the age of two regardless of vaccination status, the company announced Wednesday, as Florida - home to Walt Disney World - sees a surge of COVID cases.

Visitors do not have to wear masks while walking around the park outdoors, but must now 'mask up' indoors and when in line approaching indoor attractions.

Disney has put some cast members on mask lookout to make sure guests wear masks when they're supposed to. By law the park has the right to deny services to anyone not willing to comply.

The mandate was not put in place by a state or the federal government, but by Disney as a private business.

Disney theme parks announced face masks are mandatory indoors for anyone over the age of two. Visitors do not have to wear their masks while walking around the park outdoors but must now 'mask up' when indoors and when in line approaching the indoor attractions

Visitors at the park recognize the rules and seem to be fine with them, NBC News reported.

'It's definitely not going to impact my vacation in a negative way. Not at all. I'm going to do the right thing,' said one vacationer at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

'Put your mask on and enjoy your life,' another added.

One vacationer said: 'It's definitely not going to impact my vacation in a negative way. Not at all. I'm going to do the right thing.' Another said: 'Put your mask on and enjoy your life'

Florida Republican governor Rob DeSantis has been vocal about his decision not to implement statewide mask or vaccine requirements, even as school starts in the state next week.

On Tuesday, President Biden said in a statement at the White House that 'some governors aren't willing to do the right thing to beat this pandemic.

'Just two states, Florida and Texas, account for one-third of all new COVID-19 cases in the entire country. Just two states," he said.

The mandate was not put in place by the government but by Disney as a private business

'I say to these governors, please help. But if you are not going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives', said Biden.

But DeSantis hit back Wednesday: 'Why dont you get this border secure? Until you do that, I dont want to hear a blip about COVID from you.'

The governor also has made it known that he believes illegal immigrants are crossing the border and bringing the virus with them.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom has urged residents to wear masks and get vaccinated - although he's been criticized for being a 'Covid hypocrite' after allowing his son to attend a camp that doesn't enforce face coverings.

California, home of Disneyland, has reported an increase of 118 cases per day, totaling 3,983,926 reported COVID cases since the onset of the pandemic.

Florida Republican governor Rob DeSantis has been vocal about his decision not to implement mask or vaccine requirements. He has made it known that he believes illegal immigrants are crossing the border and bringing the virus with them

As of August 4, Florida is averaging 27,681 new cases per day, a 342 percent increase from the 6,492 average cases reported two weeks ago (left). There have been 16,935 new cases reported within the last 24 hours, according to NBC News. COVID hospitalizations also reached a record high with 11,515, breaking the previous record of 10, 207 set on Monday (right)

As of August 4, Florida is averaging 27,681 new cases per day, a 342 per cent increase from the 6,492 average cases reported two weeks ago.

There have been 16,935 new cases in Florida reported within the last 24 hours, according to NBC News.

COVID hospitalizations also reached a record high with 11,515, breaking the previous record of 10, 207 set Monday.

Dr. Marc Napp, the chief medical officer of the Memorial Healthcare System said: 'The numbers of patients are unprecedented and that's in black and white. We have more patients in our hospital now than ever before.'
Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the three House Republicans suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for not wearing masks on the House floor, announced he has a breakthrough COVID infection.

Norman said he began experiencing minor symptoms of COVID-19 on Thursday, tested positive for the virus that day and would quarantine for 10 days.

'Thankfully I have been fully vaccinated and my symptoms remain mild,' he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Rep. Ralph Norman, who is fully-vaccinated, announced he has a breakthrough COVID infection

He is one of the three congressional Republicans suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for not wearing masks on the House floor

The South Carolina Republican is part of a federal lawsuit against Pelosi over a rule that lawmakers must wear face masks on the House floor.

Last week, Norman and fellow Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky sued Pelosi. They want their $500 fines - given when they went maskless during a May House vote - declared unconstitutional and rescinded.

'The masking requirement was an attempt to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, medicine, and science, despite a deep divide over these issues of opinion,' lawyers for lawmakers wrote, arguing that masks were required 'in televised areas only' in the chamber.

'It has been used to force Plaintiffs and other members of the minority party to be instruments for fostering public adherence to this ideological point of view that Plaintiffs find unacceptable,' they added.

Norman has been critical of mask mandates.

'Government-imposed mask mandates represent a harmful combination of virtue signaling and unjustified fear,' he tweeted July 28.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (above) is also suing Pelosi over face masks and refuses to wear one in the hallways of Congress

The three lawmakers had challenged the fines in June, arguing the mask rule wasn't in sync with the current federal guidelines on face coverings. That appeal to the House Ethics Committee failed.

That May vote took place after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance noting that 'fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing.'

But after that CDC announcement, Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician for Congress, wrote that 'mask requirement and other guidelines remain unchanged until all Members and floor staff are fully vaccinated.'

The face mask requirement was lifted June 11 but was reissued last week because of a resurgence of the coronavirus.

Monahan confirmed in a note to lawmakers and staff that the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus had been detected on Capitol Hill.

Health experts note that breakthrough cases are still rare and typically cause milder symptoms or asymptomatic cases. The majority of recent hospitalizations and deaths have been unvaccinated individuals.

Some fully-vaccinated lawmakers and staff, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, have tested positive for COVID in what is called a 'breakthrough' infection.

'I was just informed by the House physician I have tested positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated,' Graham said in a statement on Monday.

He said he started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night and went to the doctor Monday morning.

'I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms,' he continued. 'I will be quarantining for ten days.'

'I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse,' he added.

Several members of the Senate were seen wearing face masks after Graham's announcement.
US intelligence agencies are looking through a large trove of virus samples from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in a bid to determine whether COVID-19 may have originated there after the theory was largely dismissed last year.

The search is part of President Joe Biden's push for the intelligence community to reach a definitive answer on the origins of COVID-19 by the end of this month.

Officials have decided on two likely scenarios: that the virus emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident, Biden said when he announced a 90-day push for answers on May 26.

'There's two components on one side that lean towards one, there's one component that leans towards the other. But honestly, we simply don't have enough information at this stage,' said Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines in an emailed statement.

Multiple sources told CNN that intelligence agencies are now studying a giant catalog containing the genetic blueprints of virus samples studied at the lab in Wuhan.

It's unclear how the US obtained access to the data given that the Chinese government has been uncooperative in efforts to track down the origins of the virus.

China refused to hand over raw data on 174 early cases to a team of investigators at the World Health Organization, according to Reuters. The country has defended its transparency efforts.

A leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has been identified as one of two possible sources of COVID-19 by US intelligence officials

The earliest cases of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan in October and November 2019, according to the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections. The first cases were linked to visits to the Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market.

Haines says the National Counterproliferation Center, located within her office, is taking the lead on the origin issue by facilitating work across various agencies.

She warns that for all their work, they may not ever reach a definitive answer.

'I mean, in some ways, we're hoping to find a smoking gun, but it might not happen,' she said.

Analyzing the trove of new data presents technological and staffing challenges.

Agencies are using supercomputers at the Department of Energy's National Labs, a collection of 17 elite government research institutions, CNN reports.

Finding qualified staff to analyze the highly complex Chinese data has also been an obstacle.

'Obviously there are scientists who are (security) cleared,' one source told CNN.

'But Mandarin-speaking ones who are cleared? That's a very small pool. And not just any scientists, but ones who specialize in bio? So you can see how this quickly becomes difficult.'

Investigators have long sought genetic data from 22,000 virus samples at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but it's unclear if that's the trove the government is analyzing now.

Donald Trump placed blame on China during his presidency, going so far as referring to COVID-19 the 'China virus' and 'kung flu.'

The virus's origin caused a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes in the US.

Meanwhile, disease experts and media outlets dismissed the lab leak theory during the first half of 2020.

'Based on the virus genome and properties there is no indication whatsoever that it was an engineered virus,' Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright told the Washington Post in January 2020.

'The vast majority of new, nasty diseases ... come from nature,' he said.

In November 2019, three researchers at the Chinese lab got sick enough to seek medical care

In November 2019, three researchers at the Wuhan lab got sick enough to seek medical care, according to a Wall Street Journal article based on a US intelligence report.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Biden and the nation's top infectious disease expert, recently defended the National Institute of Health's decision to give $600,000 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2014 after concerns that the research could have contributed to the coronavirus outbreak.

'If you go back to when this research really started, and look at the scientific rationale for it, it was a peer-reviewed proposal that was peer-reviewed and given a very high rating for the importance of why it should be done, to be able to go and do a survey of what was going on among the bat population, because everyone in the world was trying to figure out what the original source of the original SARS-CoV-1 was,' Fauci said.

The effort to pin down the origin of COVID-19 has been highly politicized.

Republicans in Congress have called on Democrats to investigate the question, but Democrats have remained focused on the economic and health effects of the virus and on President Trump's response.

Democratic Reps. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Carolyn Maloney of New York, both on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, rejected calls from Republicans to investigate the origin of the virus in June.

'We are concerned that your request may be designed not to obtain new information to protect Americans' health, but to deflect accountability for the Trump Administration's failed response to this crisis,' Clyburn and Maloney wrote.

'In early 2020, President Trump applauded China's 'efforts and transparency' as the coronavirus spread around the globe, and said he wanted to 'thank President Xi' for his handling of the virus.

'He refused to take action to stop the spread of the virus across the United States, telling Americans, 'One dayit's like a miracleit will disappear.''

The coronavirus has killed more than 4.2 million people worldwide, and over 615,000 in the US alone.

'Regardless of how it started, no origin can excuse the lethal recklessness of Donald Trump's mismanagement of COVID-19. Nothing,' said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a member of the subcommittee, according to Politico.

One expert is skeptical that the data being analyzed by US intelligence has anything new.

'Basically in [a 2020 research paper published in Nature], the WIV talked about all the sequences they had up until a certain point in time - it's what most scientists virologists believe, that's pretty much what they had,' Dr. Robert Garry, a virologist at the Tulane University School of Medicine, told CNN.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to questions from DailyMail.com about the latest data. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases declined to comment.
A Minnesota man who was arrested for beheading his girlfriend and then dumping her body in the middle of the street in full view of horrified neighbors is an illegal immigrant from Cuba wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Alexis Saborit-Viltres, 42, has been charged by authorities in Scott County with the gruesome murder of America Mafalda Thayer, 55.

Thayer was found with stab wounds at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street in Shakopee, Minnesota, around 2.31pm on Wednesday, the Shakopee Police Department said in a news release.

Witnesses reported seeing a man in his car 'swinging an object in the air and bringing it down repeatedly' and 'making a hitting motion.'

Cops discovered Thayer's body lying next to a car - with her head nearby, according to a search warrant obtained by KMSP. Saborit-Viltres told police he used a machete to behead Thayer out of self-defense.

'Alexis Saborit-Viltres, 42, is a citizen of Cuba who is unlawfully present in the United States,' ICE spokesperson Shawn Neudauer told DailyMail.com on Tuesday.

'US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not placed a detainer on Saborit-Viltres following his recent arrest for second-degree murder in Shakopee, Minnesota.'

During his first court appearance this past week, Saborit-Viltres asked to be deported instead of avoiding trial, but the judge refused. Bail has been set at $2.5million.

'The Defendant said he used a knife to kill Victim because she had "gone too far" in her abuse of him and in her comments about ending their relationship,' according to the criminal complaint obtained by Alpha News.

A woman was founded beheaded on a Minnesota sidewalk by police responding to calls of a stabbing incident last Wednesday, July 28

'The driver threw an unknown object into a yard and then dragged something out of the car that looked like a body. The driver then grabbed an object which Witness 2 eventually realized was a human head with blonde hair,' the complaint says.

Investigators found a 'black sheath that appeared to be for a machete-style knife' in the grass near the crime scene.

The machete was found the next day 'concealed in a bush' by a woman who was out walking her dog.

'The knife was almost entirely concealed and difficult to see. It appeared as though it had been plunged into the dirt somehow,' the complaint read.

'The knife was a black machete with a partially serrated edge.

'The blade was covered with blood-like substance and there appeared to be strands of hair on the blade.'

Neudauer confirmed that Saborit-Viltres has a lengthy criminal record which includes convictions in Minnesota and Louisiana for domestic abuse, driving under the influence, and fleeing a police officer.

There are pending charges against Saborit-Viltres stemming from a 2020 arrest for first-degree arson, first-degree criminal damage to property, and obstruction of the legal process.

ICE first attempted to deport Saborit-Viltres to Cuba in 2012, but his home country would not approve the necessary travel documents.

Saborit-Viltres was eventually released on order of supervision. He is currently being held in the Scott County Jail. On Friday, he was charged with second-degree murder.

The 2001 Supreme Court decision Zadvydas v. Davis limits the length of time under the Immigration and Nationality Act that ICE can detain noncitizens who are subject to a deportation order.

The ruling generally precludes the agency from holding noncitizens with final orders of removal for more than six months if their actual removal cannot occur in the reasonably foreseeable future.

This is often due to a foreign governments refusal to accept the repatriation of its nationals.

Police scanner traffic showed that Saborit-Viltres allegedly dropped a knife while fleeing the scene, MN Crime reported.

Saborit-Viltres was spotted by police walking near Shenandoah Drive and 4th Avenue where cops arrested him without incident around 3.20pm, the outlet reported.

Cops later reportedly found the sheath for a large knife in a nearby yard and the knife in a trash can in a nearby alley, KMSP reported.

Witnesses told investigators that he often carries a machete with him.

Thayer reportedly worked at Dollar Tree and MyPillow, her coworkers told KMSP.

Her coworkers said she had been in a long-term relationship with Saborit, and alleged that domestic violence had been a 'consistent problem' with the couple.

In 2017, Saborit-Viltres was convicted of domestic assault in Carver County, WCCO noted.

The crime scene was processed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, cops said.

'The department would also like to extend its condolences to the family of the victim,' cops said.

Neighbors told KMSP that they were stunned by the daytime beheading.

'I have no words for it. Just scary. I just feel very sorry for the families,' said neighbor Jessica Sondrol.

Cops found Thayer's body lying next to a car - with her head lying next to the body, according to a search warrant obtained by KMSP. The image above was taken on July 28

Saborit was spotted by police walking near Shenandoah Drive and 4th Avenue where cops arrested him without incident around 3:20pm on July 28

Neighbors said that they were stunned by the daytime beheading

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Shakopee Police Department for more information and additional comment.

The shocking beheading came after another woman was found beheaded in her burning apartment in Indiana on Monday.

Cops later allegedly found her head in a suitcase and 'human digits' - such as fingers and toes - inside a plastic container at the home of suspect Brian Williams, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by WDRB.

Williams, 36, has been charged with murder, arson and misdemeanor theft in connection with the death of 67-year-old Melody Gambetty.

Police said they do not believe Williams knew Gambetty and that the murder might have happened as the result of burglary attempt or home invasion, WDRB reported.
A Chicago cop has been charged with felony battery with a firearm and official misconduct more than a year after she shot an unarmed man in the back.

Melvina Bogard, 32, turned herself in to investigators on Thursday morning to face charges over the shooting of 33-year-old Ariel Roman, whom she injured in February 2020 as he fled from arrest for walking between train cars on the CTA red line.

She was released upon an order from Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz after she made a written promise to appear in court, according to a news release from The Cook County State's Attorney Office.

The state's attorney's office also states the aggravated battery charge carries a sentence of six to 30 years in prison and the official misconduct charge carries a sentence ranging from probation to five years in prison.

Chicago cop Melvina Bogard, 32, (left) was charged with felony battery on Thursday for the February 2020 shooting of 33-year-old Ariel Roman (right). Bogard shot Roman in the back after he fled from arrest for allegedly walking between train cars

A bystander recorded video (pictured) of the moment Bogard shot Roman in the back

Her next hearing is scheduled for August 18.

A video was recorded by Michael McDunnah on February 28, 2020, and showed Bogard and another officer, Bernard Butler, pursuing Roman, a short-order cook who was suspected of violating a city ordinance by walking from one train car to another.

The footage shows officers chasing Roman and Bogard shooting him at the foot of the escalator and then shooting him the back from about 10 feet away.

Bogard and Butler stopped to talk to Roman after they noticed he was walking between train cars at a CTA red line station

A cellphone video was shot by Michael McDunnah on February 28 of last year as it showed Roman being held down by Bogard and other officer Bernard Butler

The cellphone video shot by McDunnah was made public almost immediately and received national attention, as did footage from police body cameras and Chicago Transit Authority surveillance cameras released two months later.

McDunnah told ABC 7 Chicago: 'He was resisting but he was not violent, as far as I could see, and he was unarmed'

'At some point the male officer said "shoot him".

'The female officer at that point, I think, pulled out her mace and maced him in the face.'

'That was the point at which the female officer fired her weapon.'

Roman survived the shooting and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after mass transit officers intervened.

He filed a federal lawsuit after he allegedly claimed that Bogard and the other officer, Bernard Butler had 'chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered and shot twice.'

Roman also had surgery for bullet wounds to the abdomen and buttocks but did not face charges for his actions, according to Cook County prosecutors.

The announcement of charges was not surprising given the actions of the then-police superintendent and the comments made by his spokesman and the mayor.

Interim Superintendent Charlie Beck signaled his concern almost immediately and took the unusual step of requesting that prosecutors be sent directly to the Red Line L station where the shooting happened.

At the time, Anthony Guglielmi, Beck's spokesman, said that while the superintendent 'doesnt want to rush to judgment,' the incident raised significant tactical concerns about the officers' actions.

Beck took the unusual step of stripping the officers of their police powers pending the outcome of an investigation.

Officers are normally placed on desk duty if they are involved in a shooting.

The concerns were only deepened when extended security and body-camera footage was released of Bogard shooting Roman in the back on the escalator.



Roman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after mass transit officers intervened

The security and police bodycam footage deepened concerns as Bogard and Butler were stripped of their powers during the investigation of the incident

Police Superintendent David Brown recommended that Bogard be fired to the police board in April.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed her support for Becks decision to send prosecutors to the scene as well as her concerns about what she called the 'extremely disturbing' cellphone video.

Lightfoot tweeted that although 'one perspective does not depict the entirety of the incident, the video is extremely disturbing and the actions by these officers are deeply concerning.'

'To ensure full transparency and accountability, I support Superintendent (Charlie) Beck's decision to contact the State's Attorney due to the potential criminal nature of this incident,' she tweeted.

The shooting came the same day that Lightfoot and the department announced a safety plan for the city's rail system amid a spike in crime, including more officers on trains and at stations.

A spike in crime on Chicago's rail system and some recent high-profile outbursts of violence prompted the city's police department to put 50 more officers in trains and on platforms and assign four detectives to investigate nothing but Chicago Transit Authority crimes.

The number of officers now assigned to the Mass Transit Unit is 250.

One of Roman's lawyers Greg Kulis also applauded the decision to press criminal charges, even if it took a year and a half.

Kulis told The Chicago Tribune: 'I think its very, very clear in reviewing the video that a crime was committed by (Bogard). And I think its quite clear that Mr. Romans civil rights were violated in the actions that Officer Bogard took.'

He also said that Roman is still suffering from 'internal' mental issues related to the incident and may require another surgery.

The Chicago Police Department said today that the police board has not yet made a decision and declined to comment on Bogard's arrest.
Admiral Nelson's snuff box - that helped start his affair with Lady Hamilton - has been put up for sale for 45,000.

The tortoiseshell composition snuff box was originally owned by the Battle of Trafalgar hero, and features a miniature watercolour scene of the Amalfi coast on the top.

The box was gifted by Nelson to his personal secretary George Unwin, during a dinner party in Sicily in late 1798 or early 1799.

The party was also attended by Nelson's mistress - Emma, Lady Hamilton.

Lord Horatio Nelson's (pictured) snuff box that helped start an affair with Lady Hamilton has been put up for sale - for 45,000

The tortoiseshell composition snuff box was originally owned by the Battle of Trafalgar hero, and features a miniature watercolour scene of the Amalfi coast on the top

Nelson had first met Hamilton in 1793 and the pair were reunited in 1798 following the Battle of the Nile.

Having been severely injured, Nelson recuperated in Naples, during which time he was nursed back to health by Lady Emma and her elderly husband, Sir William Hamilton.

It was during this period that Nelson and Hamilton began their famous love affair, which lasted until Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

It is believed Nelson may have given this gift to Unwin as a show of generosity, in an attempt to impress his mistress over dinner.

A hugely rare and intimate piece of British history - the snuff box is now on sale for 45,000 courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.

The item is being offered along with a manuscript letter by Unwin's son, George.

It reads: 'My Father had either lost his own snuff box on going ashore or in some shop in Palermo and upon mentioning the circumstances at Lady Hamilton's table where Lord Nelson was one of the party his Lordship handed over to him this identical box and desired him to keep it until he could get a better one.'

The box was later passed down to Unwin's own son George, then via his wife Anne Oxenham to her brother Rev. William Oxenham, and by descent through the family for several generations.

Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson is one of the most celebrated figures in British history, best remembered for his heroic efforts during the Napoleonic wars.

Nelson's career as a naval officer saw him lead the British fleet to several victories, during which he suffered injuries, including the loss of his right arm and the sight in his right eye.

The box was gifted by Nelson to his personal secretary George Unwin, during a dinner party in Sicily in late 1798 or early 1799

Nelson had first met Lady Hamilton (pictured) in 1793 and the pair were reunited in 1798 following the Battle of the Nile

His most famous victory came in October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy decimated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies.

Prior to the battle, Nelson sent out the famous message 'England expects that every man will do his duty.'

Tragically, he was shot by a French sniper and died on board his ship the HMS Victory mid battle.

His body was returned to England where he was granted a state funeral, and numerous monuments were erected in his honour, including Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
President Joe Biden kept up his war of words with Ron DeSantis on Thursday, joking 'governor who' when asked about the Florida Republican.

The two men have gotten into a tit-for-tat over COVID guidelines with Biden criticizing DeSantis for telling Florida schools not to follow CDC guidelines on having students wear face masks.

Biden asked DeSantis to 'get out of the way' of restrictions as COVID cases are on the rise. And DeSantis snapped back: 'Why don't you do your job?'

The president piled on Thursday during an event at the White House on electric cars. Biden had just finished driving an electric Jeep Wrangler around the South Lawn when he was asked his response to DeSantis' criticism: 'Governor who,' he said and then chuckled.

The White House has doubled down on blaming DeSantis and fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas for the rising rates of coronavirus infections in their state.

President Joe Biden kept up his war of words with Ron DeSantis

President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are fighting over face mask guidelines in schools as coronavirus cases are on the rise

The battle escalated on Thursday as White House officials followed Biden's lead in bashing Florida and Texas.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told the two governors not to be the reason schools are interrupted after they refused to support a CDC recommendation for face masks in classrooms.

'Don't be the reason why schools are interrupted. Our students have suffered enough,' Cardona said when asked his message for Abbott and DeSantis.

'Politics doesn't have a role in this. Educators know what to do,' he added.

DeSantis threatened to withhold funds from Florida school districts if they mandate that students wear face coverings. He said the new CDC recommendations for masks in classrooms 'lacks' scientific justification. But several Florida school districts said they would require students to mask-up anyway.

Abbott also said there would be no face mask requirements for Texas school children.

The education secretary also warned there could be more closures if the war over face masks in schools continues.

'I'm worried that the decisions that are being made, that are not putting students at the center and student health and safety at the center, is going to be why schools may be disrupted. We know what to do,' he said.

'We know what works, we have to keep our students safe. We have to keep our educators safe.'

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told the governors of Texas and Florida to not be the reason schools are interrupted

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called out DeSantis for 'partisan name calling' during a national pandemic.

'We're here to state the facts. Frankly, our view is that this is too serious, deadly serious, to be doing partisan name calling. That's what we're not doing here. We're focused on providing public health data information to the people of Florida, to make sure they understand what steps they should be taking, even if those are not steps taken at the top of the leadership in that state,' she said.

At the White House COVID briefing on Thursday, response coordinator Jeff Zients noted Florida and Texas have accounted for one-third of new cases in the nation.

'Over the past seven days Florida and Texas have accounted for about one-third of new cases and more than one-third of new hospitalizations,' Zients noted. 'States with some of the lowest vaccination rates account for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, despite making up less than a quarter of the US population.'

He also praised six Southern states - Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi - for seeing a rise in vaccination rates.

Zients also noted the administration was pushing for new action on vaccine requirements, including supporting private businesses that have vaccine mandates for employees.

'Businesses know vaccinations are a way to keep their workers and customers safe and to keep their doors open. And today, Yelp is announcing a new feature that allows consumers to search for businesses with fully vaccinated workers, workers or businesses that require proof of vaccinations to enter the business,' he said.

'We support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country,' he added.

White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients noted Florida and Texas have accounted for one-third of new cases in the nation

His comments come after DeSantis furiously attacked Biden on Wednesday after the president's sharp remarks on his and Abbott's refusal to embrace mask requirements as COVID numbers surge.

DeSantis complained that Biden was trying to 'single out Florida,' after the state broke its own record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, and attempted to shift the focus to the president's handling of a surge in apprehensions at the southern border.

'Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure?' DeSantis angrily told Biden, in a press conference on Wednesday.

'And until you do that I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.'

Florida set an all-time record for COVID hospitalizations on Tuesday, with 11,515 hospitalized in one day.

The previous day also saw a record 10,389 hospitalizations, outpacing its previous peak on July 23, 2020, when there were 10,170 hospitalizations.

'Joe Biden has taken to himself to try to single out Florida over COVID,' said DeSantis.

'This is a guy who ran saying he was going to shut down the virus. What he's done is imported the virus from around the world with a wide open southern border.'

President Biden asked governors limiting COVID restrictions to 'get out of the way' - targeting Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida (center) and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas (right)

Florida is averaging 27,681 cases per day, a 342% increase from the 6,492 average cases reported two weeks ago (left). COVID-19 hospitalizations also reached a record high with 11,515, breaking the previous record of 10, 207 set on Monday (right)

The number of people who said the US is moving in a favorable direction with the pandemic has also fallen as cases surged over July

'We can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state.

'And I can tell you, Florida, we're a free state. People are going to be free to choose.'

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, urged DeSantis to do more to help Florida's COVID battle.

'Twenty three per cent of new COVID hospitalizations in the U.S are in Florida, and their hospitals are being overwhelmed again,' she said on Twitter.

'We are doing everything we can to help the people of FL, and they're stepping up by getting vaccinated  we hope @GovRonDeSantis joins us in this fight.'

Marco Rubio, senator for Florida, tweeted: 'You want to help #Florida?

'Stop sparking fights over mask mandates & pushing contradictory courses of action.

'Thankfully vaccinations are up.

'But that's in spite, not because of the Biden Administration.'

Biden criticized Florida and Texas for barring schools and local governments from imposing mask mandates.

'They should free people to do the right thing, such as allowing teachers to ask students to wear masks, he continued.

'I say to these governors, please help.

'But if you're not going to help at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.'
Gladys Berejiklian is the only Australian leader who believes New South Wales can get its freedom back by vaccinating its way out of lockdown, a top health expert has warned.

Ms Berejiklian this week set the the ambitious target of getting six million jabs in arms across the state by the end of August.

She said at that point half the state's eligible population would be vaccinated and she would consider easing Sydney's lockdown - which is in place until at least August 28 to stop the spread of the highly-contagious Delta strain.

But Australian public health strategist Professor Bill Bowtell said the NSW premier was fooling herself if she thought that was enough to give her residents freedom.

Professor Bowtell wants residents to come forward and get vaccinated but believes a successful hard lockdown is the only way to defeat the virus and regain freedom in the next few weeks.

He called on the state leader to 'go back to Covid zero' by implementing Victoria-style night curfews and forcing Sydneysiders to wear masks in all outdoor spaces.

Pictured are Sydneysiders outside the Sydney Opera House on Thursday. A top health expert has warned New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian to stop trying to 'vaccinate our way out of lockdown' and get back to a policy of 'Covid zero' by locking the city down even harder

Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday. She has set the the ambitious target of getting six million jabs in arms across the state by the end of August

'We cannot vaccinate our way out of this crisis,' the UNSW strategic health policy consultant told the Today show. 'The only person who holds that view is the premier of NSW and her crisis cabinet.

'It's not the view of the prime minister. It's not the view of the other state and territory leaders.'

While he is not a medical professional, Professor Bowtell is a recognised health policy advisor who helped the Australian government respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s.

He helped introduce the Medicare insurance system to Australia in 1984 while working as a senior advisor to the health minister.

Ms Berejiklian, he claimed, had now moved towards a policy of 'living with Covid' in NSW.

'I don't think that's what the people of Australia or NSW want,' he said.

He said the state needed to first eradicate Delta from the community and then wait until the vast majority of the Australian population is vaccinated against the virus.

'We have got to go back to COVID zero and then let's hope the vaccines come along,' Professor Bowtell said.

'At 70 to 80 per cent [of residents vaccinated in NSW] we can start thinking sensibly about how we open up and do all the other things we want to do.

Australian public health strategist Professor Bill Bowtell said the NSW premier had to introduce Victoria-style curfew restrictions in Sydney to completely eradicate the spread of the virus

A nurse administers a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at a pop-up walk-in clinic in Miller in Sydney's south-west on Thursday

'But we can't do it in the next few weeks.'

While Ms Berejiklian has emphasised vaccines as a solution to ending restrictions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the most important measure is the lockdown.

At least week's national cabinet meeting all premiers and chief ministers agreed that lockdowns would become much 'less likely' when 70 per cent of Aussies are vaccinated and would be almost obsolete once 80 per cent are jabbed.

His warning came as Victoria entered strict stay-at-home orders starting 8pm Thursday - just nine days after residents were released from the previous lockdown.

The restrictions will last for at least a week and came after just eight 'mystery' cases with no known source were uncovered.

It marks the sixth time Victoria has been locked down, with state premier Dan Andrews telling weary residents he had 'no choice' but to act - despite Australia being one of just a few countries still pursuing a 'zero Covid' strategy.

Australia is suffering a third wave of Covid driven by the more-infectious Delta variant of the virus, which lockdowns are struggling to suppress

'I can't tell you how disappointed I am to have to be here doing this again,' he said.

'But with so few in the community with one vaccination, let alone two, I have no choice but to accept advice, and we collectively [have] to make this important decision to keep Victorians safe.

'The alternative is we let this run  away from us and our hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed [with] not hundreds of patients but thousands.'

Residents are only allowed to leave home for exercise, essential shopping, care-giving, essential work and getting vaccinated.

What are the four phases of opening up? A. Vaccinate, prepare and pilot (from July 14) Arrival caps cut in half to 3,035 a week; early, stringent and short lockdowns if outbreaks occur; trials of seven-day home quarantine for vaccinated arrivals in South Australia; medicare vaccination certificates available on apps like apple wallet B. Post vaccination phase (when 70 per cent are jabbed, expected late this year) Lockdowns less likely but possible'; vaccinated people face reduced restrictions; caps for unvaccinated arrivals increased; a larger cap for vaccinated arrivals with 'reduced quarantine requirements'; capped entry for students and economic visa holders C. Consolidation phase (when 80 per cent are jabbed, time not announced) Lifting all restrictions for outbound travel for vaccinated travellers; no caps for vaccinated arrivals; increased caps for students and visa holders; more travel bubbles being set up with countries such as Singapore; booster shots rolled out D. Final phase (percentage or time not announced) Uncapped arrivals for vaccinated people without any quarantine and uncapped arrivals for unvaccinated people with testing before departure and on arrival Advertisement

Under Mr Morrison's four-step re-opening plan, a state or territory can move to phase B when the national vaccination rate hits 70 per cent and the rate in that state also hits 70 per cent.

Mr Morrison said he hopes this phase will be achieved before the end of the year but warned the timing 'is entirely up to how the nation responds to this challenge we're setting for ourselves.'

This phase will make lockdowns 'less likely' and will give doubled-vaccinated people 'special rules' to allow them more freedom than Aussies who refuse a jab.

'If you get vaccinated, there will be special rules that apply to you. Why? Because if you're vaccinated, you present less of a public health risk,' Mr Morrison said.

A 'small working group' involving the Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania has been set up to determine which restrictions will not apply to the double-vaccinated.

The Prime Minister warned that some localised lockdowns may be required in phase B but 'broad-based metropolitan-wide lockdowns' shutdowns will not be needed.

Lockdowns and state borders will be largely removed when 70 per cent of Australians over 16 are jabbed, Scott Morrison announced. He is pictured holding his four-stage plan

'Lockdowns in phase B are less likely, but they are possible... they may be necessary but they are not something that you would normally expect,' he said.

'Once we get into phase B, then the calculus does change and lockdowns do cost a lot.

'Where you have that higher level of protection then there is more discretion exercised. That's why that phase is referred to as less likely, but possible.'

Mr Morrison said 'track, trace, isolate and quarantine remain very important parts of the program' in phase B.

The phase will increase the cap for vaccinated Australians arriving from overseas and allow 'reduced' quarantine requirements such as home quarantine - as well as capped entry for students and economic visa holders.

Phase C begins when 80 per cent of adults are double-jabbed, allowing vaccinated Australians to travel overseas for any reason. Pictured: Sydney Airport before lockdown

Phase C begins when 80 per cent of adults are double-jabbed, allowing vaccinated Australians to travel overseas for any reason.

Travel bubbles will be set up with safer countries such as Singapore to allow vaccinated travellers to fly in without quarantine.

Mr Morrison said a country would be deemed safe if it has 'the same sort of vaccination levels as Australia'. The UK has already fully vaccinated 71.4 per cent of adults.

Phase C will remove all domestic restrictions on double-jabbed Aussies and abolish caps on returning vaccinated Australians.

There is no vaccination rate set for phase D, which will remove almost all rules except for testing of unvaccinated arrivals and quarantine for arrivals from 'high risk' places.

'It is too hard to say what the situation will be down the track,' Mr Morrison said.

'It will depend on the booster program, which we have ample vaccines for.

'But the durability and the proof of those vaccines over time, there are too many unknowns before we can understand life as normal, but that's certainly where we are heading.'
A Michigan man allegedly strangled his girlfriend during a fight then lived with her mutilated corpse for seven months until his sister found her body.

Matthew Lewinski, 37, admitted to cops he strangled his girlfriend Jerri Winters at his home in Clinton Township near Detroit in December 2020 when the couple got into a fight, the Macomb Daily reported.

Winters was killed in the living room of Lewinski's 1,000-square-foot Crosswinds Condominiums unit last year, Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Sian Hengeveld said.

However, her body was moved to the basement of the home where it remained until it was found on top of a tarp by Lewinski's sister - who called police.

Matthew Lewinski admitted to cops he strangled his girlfriend Jerri Winters at his home in Clinton Township in December 2020 when the couple got into a fight. Winters was pictured smiling with Lewinski in photos posted to Facebook months before her death

Jerri 'Courtney' Winters is pictured months before she was allegedly killed by her boyfriend and her body was allegedly kept in his home

Neighbors told the Macomb Daily they had smelled a stench coming from the home in the past several months but just assumed it came from a dead animal

Neighbors told the Macomb Daily they had smelled a stench coming from the home in the past several months but just assumed it came from a dead animal.

'I've smelled it for a while. I would run from my car,' said neighbor Jacqueline, who added that she would have to cover her face with her shirt when entering her home.

'A guy said maybe he needs to clean up his house. But I said that is not cleaning house, that is something dead.'

Hengeveld called it 'a very gruesome case' and told the Macomb Daily that Lewinski allegedly removed 'large portions of her skin from her back.'

The prosecutor said Lewinski and Winters, who were dating, had lived together but she moved out last November.

Jacqueline recounted to the Macomb Daily that Lewinski had told her Winters was abusive toward him.

'If the b***h comes back, I won't let her in,' Lewinski said, according to Jacqueline.

Prosecutors posted about the case on Facebook with the press release

But Winters allegedly moved back in a month later, Hengeveld told Macomb Daily.

Other neighbors said that Winters and Lewinski often argued, particularly about money and bills.

Lewinski describes himself as a 'work in progress trying to accept help from others when the people who are supposed to fail,' according to his Facebook account uncovered by DailyMail.com.

A family friend of Lewinski told DailyMail.com that they were still in shock and 'disgusted' after finding out about the arrest.

Lewinski, left, and Winters are pictured affectionately posing for a photograph at the Stray Cat Lounge in Clinton Township

However, her body was moved to the basement of the home where it remained for seven months until it was found on top of a tarp by Lewinski's sister

A Facebook account for Winters showed that she went by the name Courtney, which was confirmed to DailyMail.com by the family friend.

Photos posted to her account just months before her death showed the happy couple smiling. Winters and Lewinski were engaged last August.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Hengeveld and the Clinton Township Police Department - as well as a public defender listed for Lewinski in court records - for more information and additional comment.

Macomb County Jail records show Lewinski was booked on July 30, and he is being held on charges including first-degree premeditated murder, disinterment and mutilation of a body, and concealing the death of an individual.

He was arraigned Friday in Clinton Township District Court.
Britons who have received the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab may not need a booster because they should have longer term protection against Covid-19 infection, the head of the drugs company has said.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of the UK pharmaceutical giant, told the Daily Mail that he is hoping for concrete data this autumn that proves its jab produces strong T cell immunity.

T cells  a type of white blood cell in the immune system  provide a different type of immunity to antibodies, and it may last for longer.

The elderly and vulnerable are currently due to receive Covid booster shots this autumn on the NHS amid fears that the protection afforded by vaccines may wane over time.

Should the data on the T cell response be confirmed, it may mean that some of those who received the AstraZeneca jab do not need one.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of the UK pharmaceutical giant, told the Daily Mail that he is hoping for concrete data this autumn that proves its jab produces strong T cell immunity

Mr Soriot said: We hope that the Oxford-AstraZeneca will provide longer term protection. The science so far suggests that our vaccine provides a strong T cell response which I hope means its effects will last longer. So, it looks good but we dont yet know for sure whether you will need a booster. Time will tell.

AstraZeneca believes it will have authoritative data by October or November. If the science proves correct, it could relieve the NHS of the great burden of delivering millions of urgent booster injections before the winter sets in and save hospitalisations and countless lives.

A Birmingham University study shows that the AZ jab, based on traditional immunisation science, triggers the T cells, which fight infection, more than its America counterparts produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

Data collected by another pharma group, Johnson & Johnson, based on the same vaccine technology as Astras Covid jab and used against the Zika virus in Africa, shows it provides years of protection Mr Soriot said. Pfizer has acknowledged that the efficacy of its mRNA jabs shows a decline in levels of protection after six months which is why the company is recommending a booster.

Mr Soriot also revealed that authoritative data shows that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is very effective against the rampaging Delta variant. And an increasing number of studies show that someone receiving the Pfizer vaccine was just as likely to experience rare side-effects as those receiving the AZ dose.

Earlier this year European leaders Angela Merkel of Germany and Emanuel Macron of France made disparaging comments about the AZ vaccine and launched court action against the company over supply bottlenecks.

We are in discussions with the European Union to reach a settlement, Mr Soriot said. In spite of all the hostility, AZ is the second largest supplier of doses to the EU.
The eight-year-old animal was condemned to death after he twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis following his arrival from New Zealand in 2017

The owner of a condemned alpaca last night vowed to stand in the way of any government gunman sent to execute the pet after he tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.

Helen Macdonald revealed she'd be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in defence of her beloved stud animal, Geronimo.

The heartbroken vet, 50, has been told she must kill Geronimo herself or else an extermination team will be scrambled to carry out the deed as early as this weekend.

It comes after a High Court judge ruled the animal was suffering from the disease and had to be destroyed, despite Miss Macdonald's pleas that the positive tests were faulty.

She told The Sun: 'I can't stand by and let my animal be killed and I'm willing to stand in the way of any gunman who comes to destroy Geronimo.

'They've picked on the wrong woman. There is no way that I will put him to sleep.'

A court order that came into effect yesterday gives officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 30 days to visit owner Miss Macdonald's farm to put Geronimo down.

Environment Secretary George Eustice made his first comments on the case last night following pressure to allow Geronimo to be retested. But he refused to change his position, effectively consigning the alpaca to slaughter.

He said: 'My own family have a pedigree herd of South Devon cattle and we have lost cows to TB so I know how distressing it can be and have huge sympathy for farmers who suffer loss. I have looked at this case several times over the last three years and gone through all of the evidence with the Chief Vet and other experts in detail. Sadly, Geronimo has tested positive twice using a highly specific and reliable test.'

Alpaca breeder Miss Macdonald, 50, said she fears Government officials 'breaking in and shooting him' and vowed to prevent his execution, saying: 'I will die first'

Miss Macdonald, from Wickwar, Gloucestershire, who bought Geronimo for 15,000 to be a stud animal, said serious questions had been raised over Defra's handling of the case.

Why animal faces the death penalty How many tests has Geronimo had? Seven. Geronimo had four skin tests before he was exported from New Zealand. They produced negative results. He also had two Enferplex blood tests and a skin test in the UK  all positive. How does the Enferplex test work? It measures the number of certain antibodies in Geronimo's blood. If a threshold is met, the test is positive. A substance called tuberculin is injected into the animal. It contains a 'heat-inactivated' form of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and prompts an immune response which is said to show previous exposure to the disease. Is it accurate? Defra has said the test has a 0.36 per cent chance of a false positive. But trials of its accuracy have not been carried out with tuberculin on alpacas. Why won't Defra test him again? Defra has said it would set a dangerous precedent where all farmers would demand their animals be retested after a positive bTB result. Have other alpacas been tested? The alpacas who made the journey from New Zealand with Geronimo were all tested and returned negative results. Geronimo is in isolation with five other alpacas. None has been tested and Defra has refused to allow it. Advertisement

She said: 'The police and officials could come without telling me, arrive with a gunman, break in and shoot him. I am hoping they wouldn't send anybody here to shoot him. I can't stand by and let my animal be killed.

'I'm willing to stand in the way of any gunman who comes to destroy Geronimo. I will die first before they do anything to him.

'It feels like it's just minute-by-minute and I can't even look at the clock.'

She added that she had considered asking her own vets to put Geronimo down but they 'do not feel safe coming to euthanise him now as they fear animal rights activists will target them.' Celebrity campaigners including actress Joanna Lumley and TV wildlife expert Chris Packham have backed her plea for mercy.

Miss Macdonald earlier appealed to the Prime Minister to step in with a petition attracting over 5,000 signatures. She said: 'We're asking Boris Johnson to intervene to sort this out and stop the slaughter order.

'The entire industry is up in arms because this really is the senseless destruction of an innocent animal.

'They have a choice here. They don't have to kill him  they could at least test him first.' It has emerged that Geronimo tested negative on four occasions in New Zealand.

Defra officials have been forced to defend the tests they used on Geronimo, which are said to have never been trialled for their accuracy in detecting bovine tuberculosis in alpacas. Miss Macdonald said: 'We believe Defra know it was a false positive because they failed to contact New Zealand or other owners about a potential outbreak.

'The decision-making around them retesting Geronimo was the start of their behaviour of covering things up. I feel frustrated, angry and deceived. There is a complete lack of transparency.' She has said: 'I just want him to be properly tested with an approved test and then if he was to test positive, I'd of course agree to put him down. They are putting me through hell.'

A Defra spokesman said: 'We are sympathetic to Miss Macdonald's situation  just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease.'

He stressed the testing results and options for Geronimo had been 'very carefully considered' by experts and passed 'thorough legal scrutiny'.
NSW police are on the lookout for a further eight men and a woman who allegedly protested in Sydney's anti-lockdown march last month.

Among the group officers wish to speak to there appears to be a mullet-sporting activist and another with a distinctive hand tattoo.

Police have released further CCTV footage from the unauthorised protest in Sydney's CBD on July 24.

One man officers are attempting to locate is of Caucasian appearance, aged between 50 and 60, of a slim build with shoulder length grey hair. He was wearing round frame glasses as well as a black jacket and pants.

The woman (pictured) NSW police want to speak to who allegedly took part in the anti-lockdown march last month in Sydney

NSW police are continuing to investigate those (pictured above) who allegedly protested last month in Sydney

One man police believe can assist with their investigation has a distinctive hand tattoo (pictured)

A second man has a slim build, with a dark beard and is bald. He was wearing a navy-blue hooded jumper, white t-shirt, black tracksuit pants and a navy-blue shoulder bag.

A third man with an olive complexion has a distinctive dark mullet-style haircut.

Another man was wearing a white t-shirt with the words Los Angeles written on the front.

A fifth man was Caucasian, believed to be aged in his 20s, with short brown hair. He was wearing a grey shirt and shorts when allegedly protesting.

Another man police believe can assist with their investigation has tattoos on his right arm, a beard and short brown hair. He was also wearing a red t-shirt and white running shoes.

The seventh man identified by police has a slim build, and was wearing a black t-shirt, sunglasses, sweater and pants, with white earphones and a dark hat.

The eighth man is believed to be of Middle Eastern appearance, and he was wearing an olive t-shirt.

The woman officers wish to speak to has a medium build, with dyed orange shoulder length hair.

More than 60 alleged protesters have been charged and remain before the courts.

Police are confident this man wearing a white t-shirt with the words 'Los Angeles' on the front (pictured) could assist with their investigation into the anti-lockdown march in Sydney

Another man NSW police would like to catch up with who allegedly protested was wearing a grey t-shirt (pictured left)

Police also believe this man wearing a purple scarf (pictured) could help their investigation following the anti-lockdown march in Sydney on July 24

Another man wearing a white t-shirt who is balding (pictured) who NSW police wish to speak to

Additionally, investigators are again appealing about the current whereabouts of three men who also allegedly protested last month.

One man was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a purple scarf. He also has a distinctive hand tattoo.

A second man was wearing a black hat, scarf and a grey jumper, while a third man was had on a blue tracksuit with a dark hat.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the men and woman are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A former marine has disappeared in the Russian prison system, and the U.S. embassy in Moscow has demanded to be told where he is.

Trevor Reed, a 29-year-old Texan, was last known to be in a Moscow prison, and was described by President Vladimir Putin as 'just a drunk and a troublemaker' who 'got himself s***faced and started a fight.'

His attorneys told the family that he had been moved to a prison camp in Mordovia, 400 miles south east of Moscow, they said on Tuesday.

But on Wednesday the State Department said they had no idea where he was, and their repeated requests for access to him were being rejected.

Trevor Reed, 29, has been in custody in Russia since August 2019. On Wednesday the State Department said that they had no idea where he was, and were urgently seeking access

Reed is seen on July 30, 2020 - standing inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Moscow

'It is now 19 days since #TrevorReed was transferred from a Moscow prison & the Russian government has still not officially informed the embassy of his whereabouts, despite our repeated requests,' tweeted Jason Rebholz, spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

He demanded that the foreign ministry allow U.S. officials to see him.

'We urge @mfa_russia to honor its obligations & grant us consular access to Mr. Reed.'

Reed was arrested in August 2019, after attending a party with his Russian girlfriend at the home of her colleagues.

His family say he was encouraged to drink large quantities of vodka.

Police were called, and Reed was taken to jail to sober up. But when two Russian intelligence agents from the FSB came to speak to him, he was charged with assaulting them.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is seen on June 14 speaking to NBC News

During the interview Putin said that Reed was 'a troublemaker' who 'got s***faced'

In July 2020 he was sentenced to nine years in prison following a trial that the U.S. authorities said was absurd.

During the court hearings, the two police officers struggled to recall the alleged incident and contradicted themselves.

At one stage in a session, attended by ABC News, even the judge began to laugh at them.

The U.S. has called for Reed to be released, saying his conviction was 'ridiculous'.

'This conviction, and a sentence of nine years, for an alleged crime that so obviously did not occur, is ridiculous,' said John Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, at the time.

'I cannot even say 'miscarriage of justice,' because clearly 'justice' was not even considered.

'This was theater of the absurd.'

In the military Reed had served as a marine presidential guard, whose assignments include providing security at Camp David when President Barack Obama was there.

Reed's parents, Joey and Paula, have been campaigning for his release from their home in Fort Worth, Texas. Joey Reed spent months in Moscow working to free his son

Reed's parents, Joey and Paula, have been campaigning for his release.

Joey Reed even traveled to Moscow and spent months living there, working to try and free him.

When President Joe Biden met Putin, the case of Reed was brought up, plus that of Paul Whelan, who was detained several months before Reed.

Whelan was arrested by the FSB in December 2018 at his hotel in Moscow while visiting for a friends wedding.

He was charged with espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a prison camp in a case that his family and U.S. officials was also fabricated.

Whelan, 51, a native of Michigan, left the Marines in 2008 after being convicted in a court martial on larceny charges and given a bad conduct discharge.

Paul Whelan, who has U.S., British and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in December 2018 and charged with espionage, and sentenced to 16 years. He insists he was set up in a KGB sting

When he was arrested in Moscow he was a global security director for the auto parts company BorgWarner.

Officials have said they believe Whelan was the victim of a KGB-style sting.

Whelan said a Russian friend collaborating with the FSB planted a memory card on him while visiting him in his hotel room during the wedding trip. Five minutes after the friend called on Whelan unannounced, FSB agents burst into the room and detained him, Whelan said.

Putin told Biden that he was open to a prisoner swap, but the U.S. is yet to agree a deal.

Of Reed, Putin told NBC on June 14 he had little sympathy.

'He's just a drunk and a troublemaker,' the Russian leader said.

'As they say here, he got himself s***faced and started a fight.'
Aussies who live abroad will soon have to apply for an exemption to leave Australia after visiting.

Citizens and permanent residents have been banned from going overseas since March 2020 but people who don't normally live here can depart without permission.

That will change on August 11 when updated rules require them to apply for an exemption.

Australians who live abroad will soon have to apply for an exemption to leave the country. Pictured: Passengers at Sydney Airport in July

The government wants to stop Australians leaving the country during the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce the number of people who many need to use the hotel quarantine system in future.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said: 'This does not stop Australians ordinarily resident outside Australia from departing. However, these people will now need to apply for an exemption.

'The exemption's regime is based on health advice and enables people to travel if essential, but is ultimately about keeping Australians safe from overseas Covid transmission.'

Health Minister Greg Hunt changed the law last week.

The amendment to the Biosecurity Act 2015 says: 'The Amendment Determination will remove the automatic exemption for Australian citizens and permanent residents ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia, such that a person will no longer be able to rely on an automatic exemption to travel overseas where they ordinarily reside in a country other than Australia.

'However, in exceptional circumstances, the Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner or an ABF employee may grant an exemption to an Australian citizen or a permanent resident, or an operator of an outgoing aircraft or vessel from the requirement not to travel outside Australian territory.

'The person will be required to demonstrate that they have a compelling reason for needing to leave Australian territory.'

Travellers prepare to board a passenger aircraft operated by Qantas at Sydney Airport

Australian James Turbitt, who lives in Belgium and recently returned to visit his dying mother, said the rules were 'barbaric.'

'My life is overseas, my work is there, my partner is there, I've just lost my mother, and now I can be denied to go back and seek comfort from my partner,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'She has not been allowed in with me and now I might be denied leaving? What has this country come to?'

It comes as 16million Australians are locked down due to outbreaks of the Delta strain of Covid-19 in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Only 20.8 per cent of adults are double vaccinated due to a lack of supply, one of the lowest jab rates in the OECD group of 38 rich nations.
Cumbria: The final frontier. This appears to be the latest voyage of the Starship Enterprise.

Its mission: To seek out a stricken teenager on a hillside in the Lake District and boldly pluck her to safety.

And, as the captain's log will no doubt record, it was a triumph. With spinning rotors and flashing lights against the night sky mimicking Captain Kirk's spaceship, this Coastguard helicopter was called in by the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team to winch up a girl who had fallen, injuring her knee and head.

She is now recovering well. The team leader of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) Chris Higgins captured a dramatic shot of the Coastguard's search and rescue helicopter on Saturday night.

With spinning rotors and flashing lights against the night sky mimicking Captain Kirk's spaceship, this Coastguard helicopter was called in by the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team to winch up a girl who had fallen, injuring her knee and head

After sharing a snap of the late-night rescue on Facebook, stunned users flooded the comments section saying they thought they'd spotted the famous fictional spacecraft from Star Trek - joking they needed their eyes tested.

The 55-year-old joked that although 'beaming' people to safety like Scotty would save the team from scrambling to late-night calls, the technology is still some way off.

Chris said: 'It would be fantastic if we had a spaceship that could just beam people up from any trouble in the mountains and transfer them to safety.

'I think that technology is a bit of a way away yet, but it would certainly save us getting out of bed in the early hours of the morning to help people if we could invest in one of those spaceships.

'The comments from people saying it was the Starship Enterprise gave me a good laugh.'

Keswick MRT scrambled to a call-out at 8.30pm after a family of four were separated near the summit of Blencathra in Keswick, Cumbria.

Cumbria: The final frontier. This appears to be the latest voyage of the Starship Enterprise

The family's separated teenage daughter had fallen and sustained minor injuries to her knee and head, but managed to WhatsApp her location to her parents via digital addressing system What3Words (W3W).

The teen was between Hall's Fell and Doddick Fell and as the terrain is known to be difficult the 15-strong team requested the Coastguard's help.

Their search and rescue helicopter located her, directed the MRT team to the scene via radio and winched her to safety, where she was reunited with her family.

Chris said: 'With a lot of people having to holiday in the UK the number of visitors in the Lake District National Park, and I imagine all the national parks, has skyrocketed.

'Inevitably because of the numbers and some of the people going out into the hills aren't as experienced they're going out without the knowledge, experience or equipment to best look after themselves.

'We had two call-outs on the same night, they're coming in thick and fast at the minute.

'Calling the Coastguard doesn't happen very often, they're a limited resource and we think long and hard about when we choose to call them because they might be needed somewhere else.

'We try to take photographs of all of our rescues because it generates public interest and we rely on public donations.

'At the time I just thought it was a fantastic shot - for the crew of the helicopter to position their aircraft in that position demands a great amount of skill.

'Obviously when you're taking a photograph of a moving aircraft you can't predict how it's going to come out in terms of what the spinning rotors and flashing lights are going to be like.

'It was dramatic to be there and I just hoped the photograph captured some of the drama of the scene.'
The mini-housing boom has seen the average price of a home in Britain rise around 24,000 during the past year to almost 245,000.

But this doesn't mean to say that it isn't still possible to find a bargain if you're currently on the lookout for your next home to buy.

We have found some examples on property website Zoopla of homes that cost less than a fifth of the typically priced British home.

You may need to compromise on location or condition, but the relatively low price tag may be enough to tempt you to take a closer look.

We reveal four homes for sale with price tags of 40,000, including this four-bedroom detached house in the Scottish Highlands (scroll down for more details)

Tom Parker, of Zoopla, said: 'The property market is enjoying a once-in-a-generation boom but that doesn't mean there aren't bargains to be had if you look hard enough.

'While you won't often get the finished article for 40,000 there's plenty of properties with ample opportunity to be improved if you have the money and imagination.'

It comes after the average value of a home in Britain was revealed to have risen by around 24,500 between July last year and the end of June this year.

Nationwide said that the average cost of a home now stands at 244,229, although this is a drop from 245,432 in June, following the end of the stamp duty holiday.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: 'Buyers had rushed to complete deals before the deadline, with the number of housing market transactions soaring to a record high of almost 200,000 in June, which is around twice the typical monthly number before the pandemic.'

All of the selected properties are in the North and Scotland, and some need updating.

But two have the benefits of being moments from the sea, an unexpected perk that is likely to appeal to house hunters amid the pandemic - especially when the price tag only reads 40,000.

Here are pick of homes with price tags of 40k

1. Four-bed house in Unst, Scotland,

This four-bed detached house in the Scottish Highlands is for sale for 40,000 via estate agents Anderson Strathern

The four-bed property could prove to the perfect pandemic pad as it is moments from the coast

The property is on Unst, which is the most northerly island in Shetland and the northern most part of the British Isles

If you didn't think it was possible to buy a four-bedroom detached house for 40,000, think again as this property fits the bill.

It is in the Scottish Highlands and requires some updating, but it could make a comfortable family home.

Unst is the most northerly island in Shetland and the northern most part of the British Isles. The property is available to buy via estate agents Anderson Strathern.

2. Two-bed house, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire

Heading towards the beach? This two-bed property is a short distance from the coast in North Yorkshire

The property requires some updating and is on the market for 40,000 via estate agents Michael Poole

This terrace property is in a quiet street just off a high street and moments from the coast in North Yorkshire.

It has two bedrooms and is advertised for sale via estate agents Michael Poole.

3. Two-bed house in South Moor, County Durham

This two-bedroom house in South Moor is available to buy for 40,000 via estate agents Sylvester Properties

The terrace property has a kitchen with grey cabinet doors alongside black worktops and flooring

This terrace house in County Durham has two bedrooms but requires some updating, including in the bathroom.

Outside, there is an enclosed yard. The property is for sale via estate agents Sylvester Properties.

4. Two-bed house in Pontefract, West Yorkshire

This two-bedroom property in Pontefract, West Yorkshire is for sale for 40,000 via estate agents Park Row Properties

It needs a makeover! The property's bathroom has a window and requires extensive updating

This two-bedroom property in Pontefract, West Yorkshire is close to two primary schools and has good access to public transport with two station within a mile.

Outside, there are paved areas at the front and at the rear of the property. It is for sale via estate agents Park Row Properties.
A tiny, rocky exoplanet that orbits a star 35 light years away from Earth is half the mass of Venus, a new study reveals.

The planet, called L 98-59b, is the closest planet to its star, called L 98-59, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Germany announced.

There are now four planets that are confirmed to orbit the star in total, including L 98-59b, and a further possible fifth planet  the existence of which is as yet unconfirmed, they reveal.

This fifth planet may reside in the habitable 'Goldilocks zone'  the area where it is neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface, meaning it may harbor alien life.

Astronomers used Very Large Telescope (VLT), located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to shed light on the neighbouring planetary system, which is relatively close despite being 210 trillion miles away.

The results are an important step in the quest to find life on planets outside the Solar System, known as exoplanets.

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This artist's impression shows L 98-59B (left) orbiting its star (right). Astronomers used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to measure the mass of L 98-59B, finding it to be half that of Venus

This infographic shows a comparison between the L 98-59 exoplanet system (top) and part of our inner Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Earth). The planet closest to the star (L 98-59b) is around half the mass of Venus. The existence of the fourth planet has been confirmed, but scientists don't yet know its mass and radius (its possible size is indicated by a dashed line). The team also found hints of a potential fifth planet (also circled with a dashed line), the furthest from the star, though the team knows little about it

The study, published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics, represents a technical breakthrough, according to ESO.

Astronomers were able to determine, using the radial velocity method, that the innermost planet in the system (L 98-59b) has just half the mass of Venus.

This makes it the lightest exoplanet ever measured using this technique, which calculates the wobble of the star caused by the tiny gravitational tug of its orbiting planets.

The fifth unconfirmed planet (called L 98-59f) would sit in the system's habitable zone where liquid water could exist on its surface.

The Earth and L 98-59f likely receive similar amounts of light and heat from their respective stars, according to the experts

Assuming their atmospheres are similar, this fifth planet would have a similar average surface temperature to Earth and would support liquid water at its surface.

PLANETARY SYSTEM L 98-59 The planetary system and its star - which are only around 35 light years away - are both called L 98-59. The planets in this system are the following, from closest to the star to further away: - L 98-59b (confirmed): This rocky planet has half the mass of Venus (4.8681024 kg). it's likely dry, but might have small amounts of water. It's smaller than the Earth but still bigger than Mars. - L 98-59c (confirmed): Likely dry, but might have small amounts of water - L 98-59d (confirmed): About 30 per cent of the mass of this planet could be water (but note that this would not be liquid water at the planet's surface) - L 98-59e (confirmed): Exact mass, size and composition unknown. Has a 'year' of 12.8 days and is at least three times more massive than the Earth (a 'super-Earth'). Its temperature is thought to be only a few ten degrees warmer than that of the Earth. - L 98-59f (planet candidate; detection not confirmed): In the habitable zone of the star, meaning liquid water may exist at the surface of this planet L 98-59b is smaller than Earth but larger than Mars. NASA has previously described L 98-59b as the 'tiniest exoplanet'. Meanwhile, L 98-59c and L 98-59d are larger than both Earth and Mars Data correct as of August 2021 Advertisement

'The planet in the habitable zone may have an atmosphere that could protect and support life,' said study author Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio, an astronomer at the Centre for Astrobiology in Madrid, Spain.

With the contribution of VLT, the team was able to infer that three of the planets may contain water in their interiors or atmospheres.

The two planets closest to the star (L 98-59b and L 98-59c) are probably dry, but might have small amounts of water.

Meanwhile, up to 30 per cent of the third planet's mass (L 98-59d) could be water, making it an ocean world.

The incredible discoveries were made using the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) instrument on VLT.

Bird's eye view of the Very Large Telescope in the remote, sparsely populated Atacama Desert in northern Chile

'Without the precision and stability provided by ESPRESSO this measurement would have not been possible,' said Zapatero Osorio.

'This is a step forward in our ability to measure the masses of the smallest planets beyond the Solar System.'

Back in 2019, NASA announced the discovery of three planets (L 98-59b, L 98-59c and L 98-59d), none of which are in the habitable zone of their host star.

The astronomers first spotted the trio using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

The 'tiniest exoplanet': The discovery of L 98-59b, as well as L 98-59c and L 98-59d, was announced back in 2019

This satellite relies on a technique called the transit method  where the dip in the light coming from the star caused by a planet passing in front of it is used to infer the properties of the planet  to find the planets and measure their sizes.

However, it was only with the addition of radial velocity measurements made with ESPRESSO and its predecessor, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the ESO La Silla 3.6-metre telescope, that Demangeon and his team were able to find extra planets and measure the masses and radii of the first three.

'If we want to know what a planet is made of, the minimum that we need is its mass and its radius,' Demangeon said.

The team hopes to continue to study the system with the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
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Blue Origin posted an infographic on its website, seen Wednesday, that calls SpaceX's lunar Starship an 'immensely complex and high risk' approach for sending the first woman and next man to the moon in 2024.

The criticism comes just days after the Jeff Bezo-owned company's protest against NASA's decision to award SpaceX a contract to build the lunar was denied, and suggests Blue Origin isn't taking the loss lightly.

The infographic states that the Elon Musk-owned firm would need more than 10 Starship launches to land once on the moon and needs to be refueled in orbit, 'a process that has also never been done before.'

It also cites the massive size of the Starship, compared to the Blue Origin lander, along with the fact that SpaceX has yet to launch an orbital mission from its Boca Chica, Texas launch site.

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Blue Origin posted an infographic on its website , seen Wednesday, that calls SpaceX's lunar Starship an 'immensely complex and high risk' approach for sending the first woman and next man to the moon in 2024. The criticism comes just days after the Jeff Bezo-owned company's protest against NASA's decision to award SpaceX a contract to build the lunar was denied, and suggests Blue Origin isn't taking the loss lightly

NASA made the initially announcement about the lunar lander contracts in April 2020.

It awarded the Blue Origin team with $579 million, the Dynetics team with $253 million and SpaceX with $135 million.

The firms were given until 2021 to create a lander and then NASA would choose one or more winners to turn the design into a working spacecraft.

On April 16, 2021, NASA announced SpaceX was going to be the only company to construct a lunar lander.

The infographic states that the Elon Musk-owned firm would need more than 10 Starship launches to land once on the moon and needs to be refueled in orbit, 'a process that has also never been done before'

Blue Origin highlights it would only need three National Team launches with proven systems. Starship's exit is 126 feet off the ground, which would likely use elevators to ferry astronauts down to the lunar surface, while the Blue Origin lander is 32 feet off the ground and would use a simple down a long ladder

SpaceX received a $2.9 billion contract, which was reportedly much lower than what competitors bid.

Blue Origin, however, refused to accept the decision and filed a protest with US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The 'congressional watchdog' released its conclusion Friday, which found 'NASA did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award,' which was Blue Origin's entire defense on the matter.

But the infographic suggests Blue Origin may still be licking it wombs.

'There are an unprecedented number of technologies, developments, and operations that have never been done before for Starship to land on the Moon,' Blue Origin wrote in the infographic.

The infographic is designed as a comparison between the two company's lunar landers.

While it states SpaceX would need more than 10 Starship launches, Blue Origin highlights it would only need three National Team launches with proven systems.

The criticism continues with Blue Origin calling out SpaceX for not sending any craft into orbit from its own launch site.

However, Musk's company has sent more than 100 Falcon 9 rockets into orbit and Bezos' firm has only sent a crewed capsule 351,000 feet into the air and back.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin did have high hopes of winning its protest against NASA's decision and told DailyMail.com that 'there were fundamental issues with NASAs decision.' Elon Musk also responded to last week's decision by posting 'GAO' with the strong arm emoji on Twitter, which is the typical gesture of someone who won a fight

SpaceX is also reading its first Starship that will soar into orbit, which could happen as early as May.

The infographic also shows a comparison of the lunar landers, with Blue Origin's mirroring those of the past and Starships massive cylinder-like shape.

Starship's exit is 126 feet off the ground, which would likely use elevators to ferry astronauts down to the lunar surface, while the Blue Origin lander is 32 feet off the ground and would use a simple down a long ladder.

What the image fails to include is the cost to construct the lunar lander and get it off the ground, which was a major part of NASA's final decision - SpaceX bid $2.9 billion, while Blue Origin was roughly double at $5.99 billion.

Blue Origin did have high hopes of winning its protest against NASA's decision and told DailyMail.com that 'there were fundamental issues with NASAs decision.'

'Well continue to advocate for two immediate providers as we believe it is the right solution,' the Blue Origin spokesperson continued.

'The Human Landing System [HLS] program needs to have competition now instead of later  that's the best solution for NASA and the best solution for our country.'

Musk also responded to last week's decision by posting 'GAO' with the strong arm emoji on Twitter, which is the typical gesture of someone who won a fight.
The Gulf Stream is at its weakest in a millennia, approaching a 'tipping point' where it could collapse and push temperatures in Europe down by 18F, a new study has warned.

Human caused climate change is responsible for changes bringing the current - also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) - to the brink of collapse, according to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.

The Atlantic Ocean circulation system is responsible for the mild temperatures in the UK and Europe, moving heat from the tropics to the northern hemisphere.

Its underlying system has become destabilised, researchers discovered, which could eventually result in it switching to a 'weak mode' and lead to its collapse.

It is currently only approaching 'tipping point', but when it happens warm water won't be moved up through western Europe, causing freezing cold winters.

Study authors can't say when it will happen as there is still the chance to stop it, but it would require a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions.

'At the moment we most likely haven't already crossed the critical threshold,' study author Niklas Boers told MailOnline, adding 'every single gram of CO2 we don't emit into the atmosphere will reduce the probability that we'll cross the threshold'.

The Gulf Stream is at its weakest in a millennia, approaching a 'tipping point' where it could collapse and push temperatures in Europe down by 18F, study reveals

It is currently only approaching 'tipping point', but when it happens warm water won't be moved up through western Europe, causing freezing cold winters

WHY ARE OCEAN CURRENTS SO IMPORTANT? Ocean currents play a critical role in regulating the planet. They are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of sea water by gravity, wind, and water density. Water in the ocean moves in two directions - horizontally and vertically. Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are called upwellings or downwellings. Slower circulation in the North Atlantic can yield profound change. This is on both the North American and European climate but also on African and Asian summer monsoon rainfall. This is through its effect on sea surface temperature, hydrological cycle, atmospheric circulation and variation in the intertropical convergence zone. If the Gulf Stream, moving warm water up from the tropics, collapses Europe would be plunged into a deep freeze. Advertisement

Disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow was based on the collapse of AMOC, the phenomenon that drives the gulf stream, carrying warm surface water from the equator and return it cold back tot he bottom of the Atlantic.

The AMOC is known to be at its weakest in more than 1,000 years based on an earlier study, and this new research explored whether it was due to an underlying stability.

A collapse was previously considered unlikely under current global warming levels, with the system slowly weakening over the last century.

Lead author Dr Niklas Boers, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, explored the underlying dynamical stability of the AMOC.

'The loss of dynamical stability would imply that the AMOC has approached its critical threshold beyond which an abrupt and potentially irreversible transition to the weak mode could occur,' he explained.

The analysis was based on 'fingerprints' the AMOC leaves in surface temperature and salinity patterns.

It showed a 'critical threshold' is being reached beyond which the system may collapse, although we haven't reached that point yet.

The finding was both alarming and surprising, as the scenario was expected to occur at global warming levels much higher than the current increases.

'The signs of destabilisation being visible already is something that I wouldnt have expected and that I find scary,' said Dr Boers.

'Its something you just can't [allow to] happen.'

'Most evidence suggests the recent AMOC weakening is caused directly by the warming of the northern Atlantic ocean,' he explained.

Mean early-warning indicators for the Atlantic ocean suggest that the Gulf Stream is still in its strong mode, but is at risk of switching to the weak mode then collapse

'But according to our understanding, this would be unlikely to lead to an abrupt state transition.

'Stability loss that could result in such a transition would be expected following the inflow of substantial amounts of freshwater into the North Atlantic in response to melting of the Greenland ice sheet, melting Arctic sea ice and an overall enhanced precipitation and river runoff.'

Fresh water from melting ice - especially in Greenland - has accelerated in the last few decades, with regional destabilisation of the Greenland Ice sheet already detected.

Dr Boers added: 'To understand this in-depth we need to find ways to improve the representation of the AMOC and polar ice sheets in comprehensive Earth system models and to better constrain their projections.

'I hope that the results presented here will help with that.'

Disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow was based on the collapse of AMOC, the phenomenon that drives the gulf stream, carrying warm surface water from the equator and return it cold back tot he bottom of the Atlantic

He said that while it is weakening, it hasn't reached the tipping point yet, and this study simply shows that the AMOC is still in its strong circulation mode.

David Thornalley, an expert in the AMOC from University College London, not involved in this study, said there is evidence the modern AMOC could suddenly switch to a new, weaker state.

'But we dont know for certain if this can happen, and if it can, how close we might be to any such tipping point,' he said.

ATLANTIC MERIDIONAL OVERTURNING CIRCULATION (AMOC) The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents. They carry warm water from tropics northwards into the North Atlantic. Like a conveyor belt, driven by differences in temperature and salt content  the water's density. As warm water flows northwards it cools and some evaporation occurs, which increases the amount of salt. Low temperature and a high salt make the water denser, and this dense water sinks deep into the ocean. The cold, dense water slowly spreads southwards, several kilometres below the surface. Eventually, it gets pulled back to the surface and warms in a process called 'upwelling' and the circulation is complete. This global process makes sure that the world's oceans are continually mixed, and that heat and energy are distributed around the earth. This, in turn, contributes to the climate we experience today. SOURCE: UK Met Office Advertisement

Adding: 'We still dont know how close we might be to a future tipping point, and if indeed one exists.

'But this study provides evidence to suggest that there may be a loss in stability of the AMOC that is consistent with the idea of an approaching tipping point.'

'The weak circulation mode is much much weaker than the present day mode, even if that has slowed down,' Dr Boers told MailOnline.

The team discovered that the decline in strength over the last century is associated with a loss of stability, rather than just a linear change in its mean state.

'So we have been moving closer to the critical threshold, but we certainly haven't moved into the weak circulation mode already,' he said.

'The concern is that we have moved closer to the critical point where a collapse to the weak mode can occur,' adding it would have dramatic consequences in terms of cooling Europe by up to 18F and impact on tropical monsoon systems.

'I reveal significant signs of stability loss, but it's hard to estimate from that where exactly the critical threshold is,' he told MailOnline.

'This is because there are too many uncertainties in translating our CO2 emissions into global warming, translating that to the actual warming in the Arctic, then translating that to the freshwater inflow to the North Atlantic via Greenland Ice Sheet and Sea Ice melting.

'Then there are still uncertainties in the exact value of freshwater inflow at which the AMOC will tip over to the weak mode.

'What can be said for sure is that we haven't expected to see such clear signs of stability loss at this point already. Once we reach the critical point, the AMOC will likely collapse within a few decades.'

It isn't beyond hope though, as Dr Boers told MailOnline 'every single gram of CO2 that we don't emit to the atmosphere will reduce the probability that we'll eventually cross the threshold and thus trigger the AMOC collapse.'

'This is certain even if the numbers themselves are uncertain,' he added.

Professor Mark Maslin, from University College London, not involved in this study, said it raises serious questions about the stability of North Atlantic ocean circulation.

'Increased instability could make European weather more variable, leading to more extreme events. But we do not know if the ocean circulation will collapse or how close we are to that critical threshold.'

Researchers explored salinity fingerprints linked to changes in the Gulf Stream over the past 1,000 years to calculate the strength of the steam itself and risk of collapse

David Alexander, Professor of Risk and Disaster Reduction at University College London, not involved in the research, said Britain is unprepared for a major disaster.

'Britain does not have a proper civil protection system,' he told MailOnline, with no national emergency operations centre, inadequate training an an 'excessive reliance on military assistance,' he said.

He added that 'almost all the vital areas have been starved of resources, there are no representatives of disaster science on SAGE and volunteer organisations are not properly incorporated into the system.'

'There is a failure to learn from other countries' good practices and a strong desire to emulate the United States, which is possibly the worst example to follow.'

'Despite the presence of an enormous well of talent and expertise in Britain, almost all disasters over the last 35 years have been badly managed.'

Professor Thornalley from UCL said: the study couldn't prove AMOC might undergo a sudden collapse in the future, but does add real-world evidence it may be more unstable than models currently suggest.

'The link between the AMOC and these fingerprints is still being debated and there are other processes that might also affect some of these ocean properties,' he said.

'Therefore the study might be showing increasing instability in a feature of ocean circulation (which is a concern in itself), but it might not be AMOC.

'However, it is reasonable to me to use this collection of different indicators to infer that it is likely they are detecting changes in AMOC.'

He said scientists should be cautious about the quality of the observational data from the early part of the record, as direct ocean measurements were sparse.

This 'could mean the variability in the first part of the record is not accurately captured, which could alter the assessment of long term trends in variability and stability,' said Thornalley.

The study is part of the EU's TiPES project which is investigating tipping points in the Earth system and is published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
A nearby star that looks like a young version of the sun has been discovered by NASA astronomers, and it could shed light on how life on Earth first formed.

The star, Kappa 1 Ceti has a similar mass and surface temperature to our sun, is about 30 light years away, the team from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said, adding it is just 600 to 750 million-years-old.

The sun is considered middle-aged, at 4.6 billion-years-old, so finding a similar star in its younger years can help understand conditions in the early solar system.

'The work allows scientists to better understand how [the sun] may have shaped the atmosphere of our planet and the development of life on Earth,' said NASA.

Part of the work involved studying coronal mass ejections and stellar winds flowing from the young star to see how the sun's expulsions may have impacted the Earth.

Illustration of what the sun may have been like four billion years ago, around the time life developed on Earth

An artist concept of a coronal mass ejection hitting young Earth's weak magnetosphere

HOW DO STARS FORM? Stars form from dense molecular clouds - of dust and gas - in regions of interstellar space known as stellar nurseries. A single molecular cloud, which primarily contains hydrogen atoms, can be thousands of times the mass of the sun. They undergo turbulent motion with the gas and dust moving over time, disturbing the atoms and molecules causing some regions to have more matter than other parts. If enough gas and dust come together in one area then it begins to collapse under the weight of its own gravity. As it begins to collapse it slowly gets hotter and expands outwards, taking in more of the surrounding gas and dust. At this point, when the region is about 900 billion miles across, it becomes a pre-stellar core and the starting process of becoming a star. Then, over the next 50,000 years this will contract 92 billion miles across to become the inner core of a star. The excess material is ejected out towards the poles of the star and a disc of gas and dust is formed around the star, forming a proto-star. This is matter is then either incorporated into the star or expelled out into a wider disc that will lead to the formation of planets, moons, comets and asteroids. Advertisement

It is impossible to go back billions of years to the early solar system and see what the sun was like when life first formed on planet Earth.

However, there are more than 100 billion stars within the Milky Way, with one in ten of which are of a similar size and luminosity to our own star.

Many of these stars are in the early stages of development.

'Imagine I want to reproduce a baby picture of an adult when they were one or two years old, and all of their pictures were erased or lost,' said study author Vladimir Airapetian from NASA.

'I would look at a photo of them now, and their close relatives' photos from around that age, and from there, reconstruct their baby photos,' he said.

'That's the sort of process we are following here  looking at characteristics of a young star similar to ours, to better understand what our own star was like in its youth, and what allowed it to foster life on one of its nearby planets.'

Kappa 1 Ceti is one such solar analogue star, within our stellar neighbourhood.

The star is located about 30 light-years away, which NASA says in space teerms is like living on the next street over.

Study second author, Meng Jin, a heliophysicist with the SETI Institute and the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in California said it is a 'twin' of the sun when it was young.

The team adapted existing models of the solar system to try and predict some of the more difficult to measure characteristics of Kappa 1 Ceti.

This includes the strength of stellar winds and coronal ejections coming from the star as they flow out towards any potential planets - yet to be formed or discovered - within the system.

They used data from a range of space telescopes include Hubble, TESS, NICER and the ESA XMM-Newton satellites.

Like human toddlers, young stars are known for their high bursts of energy and activity - released in the form of a stellar wind.

Stellar winds, like stars themselves, are mostly made up of a superhot gas known as plasma, created when particles in a gas have split into positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons.

The most energetic plasma, with the help of a star's magnetic field, can shoot off away from the outermost and hottest part of a star's atmosphere, the corona, in an eruption, or stream more steadily toward nearby planets as stellar wind.

'Stellar wind is continuously flowing out from a star toward its nearby planets, influencing those planets' environments,' Jin said.

Global structure of the stellar magnetic corona of 1 Ceti in 2012 (left) and 2013 (right panel), with the superimposed plasma pressure along the field lines specified by the colour bars.

KAPPA 1 CETI: A TWIN OF THE YOUNG SUN Name : Kappa 1 Ceti

: Kappa 1 Ceti Constellation : Cetus

: Cetus Known planets : None

: None Spectral type: G5

G5 RA : 03h 19m 21.6960s

: 03h 19m 21.6960s DEC : +03 22 12.712

: +03 22 12.712 Distance : 29.81 light years

: 29.81 light years Mass : 1.037 solar masses

: 1.037 solar masses Radius : 0.95 solar radius

: 0.95 solar radius Luminosity : 0.85 times the sun

: 0.85 times the sun Temperature : 9,814 F

: 9,814 F Age : 600-750 million years Kappa 1 Ceti is a yellow dwarf star 30 light years away from the Earth in the constellation of Cetus. It has a rapid rotation, once every nine Earth days and so far no exoplanets have been discovered. It is regarded as a good candidate to host terrestrial planets similar to Earth. It is about the mass of the sun, with a radius 95 per cent that of our own star, but is only 85 per cent as bright. It is relatively young, at a few hundred million years old making it a good candidate to explore the sun's past. Advertisement

Younger stars tend to generate hotter, more vigorous stellar winds and more powerful plasma eruptions than older stars do.

Such outbursts can affect the atmosphere and chemistry of planets nearby, and possibly even catalyse the development of organic material  the building blocks for life  on those planets.

Stellar wind can have a significant impact on planets at any stage of life.

But the strong, highly dense stellar winds of young stars can compress the protective magnetic shields of surrounding planets, making them even more susceptible to the effects of the charged particles.

The sun is a perfect example of this process and how it changes over the lifetime of the star - from youth to middle-age.

Compared to now, in its toddlerhood, our sun likely rotated three times faster, had a stronger magnetic field, and shot out more intense high-energy radiation.

These days, for lucky spectators, the impact of these particles is sometimes visible near the planet's poles as aurora, or the Northern and Southern Lights.

Airapetian said that four billion years ago these lights would have been visible from many more different places around the globe than they are today.

That high level of activity in our sun's early years may have pushed back Earth's protective magnetosphere, and provided the planet with the right atmospheric chemistry for hte formation of the first biological molecules.

This wouldn't have happened for Venus, which was close enough to have its atmosphere torched, or Mars too far away for the radiation to reach at strength.

Similar processes could be unfolding in stellar systems across our galaxy and universe including in Kappa 1 Ceti.

'It's my dream to find a rocky exoplanet in the stage that our planet was in more than four billion years ago, being shaped by its young, active star and nearly ready to host life,' Airapetian said.

'Understanding what our sun was like just as life was beginning on Earth will help us to refine our search for stars with exoplanets that may eventually host life.'

The team used multiple instruments including Hubble and TESS to study the star to see how it compares to the young sun

THE SUN: YELLOW DWARF STAR IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM Name : Sun

: Sun Known planets : Eight

: Eight Spectral type: G2

G2 Distance : 2.710^17 km

: 2.710^17 km Mass : 1.988510^30 kg

: 1.988510^30 kg Radius : 696,342 km

: 696,342 km Luminosity : 3.82810^26 W

: 3.82810^26 W Temperature : 9,929 F

: 9,929 F Age : 4.6 billion years The Sun is the star at the heart of the Solar System, it is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, radiating energy supporting life on Earth. It has a diameter of 1.39 million km, and is 330 times the mass of the Earth. Three quarters of the star is made of hydrogen, followed by helium, oxygen, carbon, neon and iron. It is a G-type main sequence star and is sometimes called a yellow dwarf. The Sun formed from the gravitational collapse of matter in a large molecular cloud that gathered in the centre. The rest flattened into an orbiting disc that formed planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Advertisement

Multiple agencies have sent instruments into space capable of measuring the stellar winds from the sun - but it is not yet possible to directly observe the stellar wind of other stars in our galaxy, like Kappa 1 Ceti, because they are too far away.

When scientists wish to study an event or phenomenon that they cannot directly observe, scientific modelling can help fill in the gaps.

While scientists have previously modelled the stellar wind from this star, Airapetian said they used more simplified assumptions than the new NASA study.

The basis for the new model of Kappa 1 Ceti is the Alfven Wave Solar Model, which is within the Space Weather Modelling Framework, that works by inputting known information about a star, including its magnetic field and ultraviolet emission line data, to predict stellar wind activity.

When the model has been tested on our Sun, it has been validated and checked against observed data to verify that its predictions are accurate.

'It's capable of modelling our star's winds and corona with high fidelity,' Jin said.

'And it's a model we can use on other stars, too, to predict their stellar wind and thereby investigate habitability. That's what we did here.'

Previous studies have drawn on data gathered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to identify Kappa 1 Ceti as a young solar proxy, and to gather the necessary inputs for the model, such as magnetic field and ultraviolet emission line data.

'Every model needs input to get output,' Airapetian said, adding that to get useful output the input needs to be from a solid data source, or multiple sources.

'We have all that data from Kappa 1 Ceti, but we really synthesised it in this predictive model to move past previous purely observational studies of the star.'

The team is now working on a project looking more closely at the particles that may have emerged from early solar flares, as well as prebiotic chemistry on Earth.

The researchers hope to use their model to map the environments of other Sun-like stars at various life stages.

Specifically, they have eyes on the infant star EK Dra  111 light-years away and only 100 million years old  which is likely rotating three times faster and shooting off more flares and plasma than Kappa 1 Ceti.

Documenting how these similar stars of various ages differ from one another will help characterise the typical trajectory of a star's life.

Their work, Airapetian said, is all about 'looking at our own Sun, its past and its possible future, through the lens of other stars.'

The findings have been published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Brass knuckles, old letters and a portrait of Adolf Hitler are among the trove of WWII Nazi artifacts found hiding behind a wall of a home in Hagen, Germany.

The 'Nazi time capsule' was discovered during renovations following a severe flood that hit the region in July, which killed 190 people and cost billions of dollars in damages.

Sebastian Yurtseven was conducting renovations at his aunt's home that suffered damages when he pulled a rotted piece of plasterboard away and came across a newspaper dated 1945.

'I got goosebumps,' Sebastian Yurtseven told local media. 'I didn't think it would turn into such a huge discovery.'

One-by-one, Yurtseven pulled out a revolver, gas masks, National Socialist German Worker's Party eagles and hundreds of letters and documents from the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV)  among other items.

NSV, which was started in 1938, was structed on the Nazi Party model and provided childcare, healthcare and medical services to those who followed Hitler's values and ideologies.

The group also operated its own kindergartens and several relief organizations, and organized its Kinderland Dispatch in 1940 - a camp for Nazi youth.

Researchers say there is evidence of all these aspects in the Hagen find.

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Brass knuckles, old letters and a portrait of Adolf Hitler are among the trove of WWII Nazi artifacts found hiding behind a wall of a home in Hagen, Germany

NSV was funded through assets and money taken from Jews, and researchers believe the home was once one of its headquarters.

The artifacts are said to have been quickly tossed inside the foot-wide wall cavity in April 1945, when Nazi members heard American forces were marching into Hagan.

Archive manager Ralf Blank of the FAZ told the Frankfurter Allgemeine: 'That must have happened very hectically.

'Such hasty disposal operations are known from countless diary campaigns, but to actually be able to secure such a find once, that alone is a very exciting thing.'

Sebastian Yurtseven was conducting renovations at his aunt's home that suffered damages when he pulled a rotted piece of plasterboard away and came across a newspaper dated 1945

One-by-one, Yurtseven pulled out a revolver, brass knuckles, NSDAP part eagles and hundreds of letters and documents from the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV)  among other items

The discovery is being hailed as 'a time capsule from the Nazi era' and experts hope it will reveal the inner workings of the NSV, as most of the documents were destroyed or loss following the arrival of allied forces.

'We hope, for example, to come across files on the distribution of so-called Jewish furniture,' said Blank.

Along with the documents, experts found dozens of WWII gas masks for men, women and children stashed inside the wall, along with several air canisters.

Staff excavating the home have collected 12 boxes of artifacts that have been taken to another facility for further examination.

The discovery is being hailed as 'a time capsule from the Nazi era' and experts hope it will reveal the inner workings of the NSV, as most of the documents were destroyed or loss following the arrival of allied forces. Pictured is the Nazi Eagle pin

Along with documents, experts found dozens of WWII gas masks for men, women and children stashed inside the wall, along with several air canisters

Yurtseven and his aunt were amazed at the discovery and said they had no idea of the Nazi legacy behind the wall of their family house that was purchased in the 1960s.

A separate WWII era discovery was made last month, when a construction crew working in Lublin, Poland discovered a bunker built by Nazi Germany.

The wooden structure included a staircase that led to three underground corridors surrounded by concrete walls and ceilings - all of which were encased in wooden beams.

A separate WWII era discovery was made last month, when a construction crew working in Lublin, Poland discovered a bunker built by Nazi Germany. The wooden structure included a staircase that led to three underground corridors surrounded by concrete walls and ceilings

The bunker may have been the site of an intense battle between the Germans, during their occupation of the country, and the Soviet Red Army in 1944, experts believe.

Dariusz Kopciowski, the Lublin Conservator of Monument, told TheFirstNews: 'We don't yet know what else could be there. At the moment we have to check if there are not some unexploded bombs.'

'In the discovered bunker, we found ammunition which could suggest that battles were fought inside.'

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Researchers have extracted DNA from a brown bear that lived approximately 32,000 years ago which suggests the massive mammal once lived near present-day Tokyo, migrating from Honshu, Japan's largest island.

The DNA, which was taken from the skull that included the bear's right and left petrosals -- came from a bear found in a cave in the Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo.

In Japan, brown bears only exist on the island of Hokkaido.

The petrosals, which are found near the inner ear, were able to keep the bear's DNA from degrading in the hot and humid climate, as well as the acidic soil that has plagued researchers looking for ancient DNA in the country.

DNA taken from a brown bear that lived around 32,000 years ago suggests it once lived near present-day Tokyo

The bear migrated from Honshu, Japan's largest island. However, it's unclear why brown bears are no longer on Honshu, with the authors citing 'reasons unknown'

It's possible the bears crossed over the Tsugaru Strait between Hondu and Hokkaido, where brown bears still exist

'The number of brown bear fossils excavated from the Pleistocene in Japan is scarce, with less than ten incomplete specimens,' the study's lead author, Takahiro Segawa, told Live Science.

This brown bear is from the Pleistocene era and 32,500 years old, according to the study.

The DNA was compared to 95 other genetic sequences of brown bears, including ones from Hokkaido, where brown bears still reside in modern-day Japan.

The authors concluded that this brown bear is 'a previously unknown lineage sitting as a sister group to the southern Hokkaido brown bears.'

It's likely that the Honshu bear split from the Hokkai bears about 160,000 years ago and may have crossed over the Tsugaru Strait around that time.

According to LiveScience, other mammals, including Naumann's elephants and the giant deer crossed between Hokkaido and Honshu around 140,000 years ago, suggesting that the strait between the two islands was accessible to the brown bears due to shallow water levels.

The oldest brown bear fossil from Honshu is estimated to be 340,000 years old, according to the study, citing previous research.

Given the age discrepancy between these fossils, it's likely that brown bears came to Honshu at different times. For comparison purposes, humans arrive on the island roughly 30,000 years ago.

However, it's unclear why the brown bears are no longer on Honshu, with the authors citing 'reasons unknown.'

'Knowledge of the evolutionary history of these brown bears is crucial for understanding the occurrence and extinction of megafauna in the Japanese Archipelago because the bear is considered to be at the top of the food chain on the Archipelago.'

The research has been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Another day, another snake on the loose.

A West African banded cobra was reported missing by its owner this week, the Grand Prairie Police Department announced on Wednesday.

Officials are asking those who spot the highly venomous and poisonous snake, which is considered aggressive, to not approach it.

'Residents who live in the area and see any type of snake believed to be the missing cobra, are asked to call 911 immediately,' the Police Department wrote in a press release.

'Do not approach or attempt to capture the venomous snake.'

The snake has been missing from its enclosure since Tuesday, August 3, around 5 pm.

A West African banded cobra (similar to the one above) has been reported missing by its owner in Texas

The snake went missing in Grand Prairie on August 3 around 5 pm. Officials ask residents who spot the venomous snake to not approach it

The police department said it is partnering with the local fire department to alert area hospitals of the missing snake and initiate a protocol to treat someone if they are bitten by the snake.

The owner, who has not been identified, was permitted to have the snake by the State of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

However, they told NBC 5 it's possible the cobra may have been caught inside the walls of his house and died or died from the Texas heat.

'I did make a mistake and I feel very sorry for the community,' the owner told NBC 5.

'I left to go get food for my other animals down the street and I came back, and the cage door was open by an inch,' he said. 'She must have found a way to open it up.'

Although recently new to science, according to a study published in 2018, a bite from the West African Banded Cobra is considered lethal to humans.

Although recently new to science, a bite from the West African Banded Cobra is considered lethal to humans. These snakes can reach up to 9 feet in length, but bites are considered rare

It is considered a subspecies of the forest cobra, one of the most venomous snakes in the world, according to Animal Diversity Web.

According to the African Snake Bite Institute, these snakes can reach up to 9 feet in length, but bites from this group are considered rare.

In June, a spitting zebra cobra escaped from its owner's house in Raleigh, North Carolina, sparking fear in the neighborhood.

However, that snake was eventually captured by Raleigh's police department after they used glue traps to 'locate and safely remove' the reptile.
A swarm of more than 1,000 earthquakes ripped through Yellowstone National Park in July, which officials are calling a 'doozy' of a month.

This was the most seismic activity in the region since the Maple Creek swarm of more than 1,100 quakes shook the park in June 2017.

Although some may fear this increase in activity may mean 'the big one [earthquake] is near,' the US Geological Survey (USGS) says the earthquakes were not caused by magma, but rather groundwater moving through pre-existing faults.

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations, responsible for the operation and analysis of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, located 1,008 earthquakes in the park, with a whopping 764 beneath Yellowstone Lake.

The largest event was a 'quake with a 3.6 magnitude, located 11 miles below the lake's surface.

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A swarm of more than 1,000 earthquakes ripped through Yellowstone National Park in July, which officials are calling a 'doozy' of a month.

'While above average, this level of seismicity is not unprecedented, and it does not reflect magmatic activity,' the USGS wrote in its report.

'If magmatic activity were the cause of the quakes, we would expect to see other indicators, like changes in deformation style or thermal/gas emissions, but no such variations were detected.'

Yellowstone National Park sits in the northwest region of Wyoming and is home to bursting geysers, steam vents and bubbling pools.

At 3,472 square miles, the park is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Yellowstone National Park sits in the northwest region of Wyoming and is home to bursting geysers, steam vents and bubbling pools. At 3,472 square miles, the park is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined

Most of the land is in Wyoming, but some of the park spills into Montana and Idaho.

Earthquakes that strike the park usually happen in swarms and are a result of volcanic fluids flowing along 'small fractures in the shallow rocks over the magma, a pattern that has been noted in volcanoes around the world,' according to the park.

However, some of the swarms are associated with water that lubricates the faults, causing them to shake, or tectonic forces that trigger numerous earthquakes at once  which is what occurred in July.

July seismicity in Yellowstone was marked by seven earthquake swarms, which began on July 16.

Along with those in the Yellowstone Lake, the University of Utah also found the other earthquakes hit in groups of 12, 14, 20, 24 and 20.

Michael Poland, USGS geophysicist and Scientist-in-Charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Accuweather: 'Yellowstone also has a tremendous amount of groundwater, and that's from all the snow that falls in that area. That's the highest area in the Rockies on average, and it's absolutely full of preexisting faults.'

As the underground pore space soaks up the snowmelt-turned-groundwater, it increases pressure on those nearby faults and can even cause them to fail.

'We typically see lots and lots of earthquakes when the snow melts or it gets into the ground and interacts with these faults,' Poland said.

'That's what caused earthquakes the last real big month for earthquakes back in June of 2017.'

Poland also explained magma fueled earthquakes leave behind different features and frequencies of shaking.

'Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas in the United States,' according to Yellowstone National Park's website.

'Approximately 700 to 3,000 earthquakes occur each year in the Yellowstone area; most are not felt.'
Scientists have been baffled by Jupiter's 'energy crisis' for 50 years, the idea that a planet that far from the sun should be about 163 degrees Fahrenheit, yet the gas giant's atmosphere is 798 degrees Fahrenheit.

To solve this mystery, scientists at the University of Leicester, along with NASA, created heat maps of Jupiter and found intense auroras are driving the extreme temperatures, despite only covering less than 10 percent of the planet.

Charged particles that escape from Jupiter's volcanic moon Io are captured by the planet's magnetic field, which in turn produces ultraviolet auroras.

Models of the atmosphere's of gas giants suggest that the auroras work like a giant refrigerator, with heat energy drawn from the equator towards the pole that is released in the lower atmosphere throughout pole regions.

These new findings suggest that fast-changing aurorae may drive waves of energy against this poleward flow, allowing heat to reach the equator.

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Scientists have been baffled by Jupiter's 'energy crisis' for 50 years, which is the idea that a planet this far from the sun should be about 163 degrees Fahrenheit, yet the gas giant's atmosphere is 798F

Dr James O'Donoghue, a researcher at Japan's JAXA space agency and the lead author of the study, said in a statement: 'We first began trying to create a global heat map of Jupiter's uppermost atmosphere at the University of Leicester.

'The signal was not bright enough to reveal anything outside of Jupiter's polar regions at the time, but with the lessons learned from that work we managed to secure time on one of the largest, most competitive telescopes on Earth some years later.

'Using the Keck telescope we produced temperature maps of extraordinary detail. We found that temperatures start very high within the aurora, as expected from previous work, but now we could observe that Jupiter's aurora, despite taking up less than 10% of the area of the planet, appear to be heating the whole thing.'

Earth has similar light shows, known as the Aurora Borealis and Australis (or more commonly known as the northern and southern lights), which form when ions of solar winds collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere.

To solve this mystery, space scientists at the University of Leicester, along with NASA, created heat maps of Jupiter and found intense auroras are driving the extreme temperatures, despite only covering less than 10 percent of the planet

However, Jupiter's cosmic event is fueled by its volcanic moon, Io, and produces the most powerful aurora in the solar system.

The fact that Io plays a key role in Jupiter's auroras was only discovered in March, utilizing data captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Also known as the Jovian polar light show, or the auroral dawn storms, the auroras start off as particles that become ionized and trapped around the gas giant planet by its magnetic field, creating the circular early morning light show around the polar regions.

Scientist have previously speculated the Jovian aurorae was the mechanism behind Jupiter's atmospheric heating, but the study is the first to confirm it.

The team used the powerful Keck Observatory in Hawai'i to create 'the most-detailed yet' map of the gas giant's upper atmosphere, allowing them to provide evidence that the stunning light show is delivering planet-wide heating.

Charged particles that escape from Jupiter's volcanic moon Io (pictured) are captured by the planet's magnetic field, which in turn produces ultraviolet auroras.

Researchers created five maps of the atmospheric temperature at different spatial resolutions, with the highest resolution map showing an average temperature measurement for squares two degrees longitude 'high' by two degrees latitude 'wide.'

The team scoured more than 10,000 individual data points, only mapping points with an uncertainty of less than five percent.

Observations also showed a region of localized heating in the sub-auroral region that could be interpreted as a limited wave of heat propagating equatorward, which might also show evidence of the process driving heat transfer.
SpaceX's Starship Serial Number 20 (SN20), which is set for an orbital launch later this year, has rolled out to the firm's testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas, a day after the Super Heavy booster was lowered onto the launch pad.

CEO Elon Musk tweeted three pictures Wednesday of a giant crane hoisting the booster, including its 29 massive Raptor engines, onto the pad, noting 'Mechazilla will do this for future rockets, but it's not quite ready.'

Mechazilla will eventually be the Starship tower that catches the giant booster following a launch.

On Thursday, SN20 appeared on the launch site with its nose cone pointed directly at the stars.

Super Heavy is the first stage of SpaceX's two-stage, fully reusable Starship system, which will be used to send people and cargo to Mars and other distant planets.

The upper, or second stage, is the 165-foot-tall Starship.

Musk has calculated that to reach his goal of putting one million humans on Mars by 2025, his Starship rockets would need to conduct around three flights a day and a total of 1,000 flights a year.

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SpaceX's Starship Serial Number 20 (SN20), which is set for an ambitious orbital launch has been rolled out to the firm's in Boca testing facility in Chica, Texas a day after the Super Heavy was lowered onto the launch pad

The Super Heavy, also known as Booster 4, is set to perform a series of pressurization and engine tests, and if all goes to plan, will eventually launch with SN20 at its helm, Space.com reports.

SpaceX has yet to announce a date for the launch, but a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) states it is targeting a six-month period as of June 20.

However, the Musk-led firm is still waiting on an environmental review from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which could take months to be cleared.

The filing also revealed how the orbital launch would play out, starting with the Super Heavy Booster taking off and firing for 169 seconds, before allowing Starship to take its own journey, SpaceNews reports.

CEO Elon Musk proudly shared three pictures Wednesday of a giant crane hoisting the booster, including its 29 massive Raptor engines, onto the pad

The booster would 'softly land' in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles from the shore.

Starship would use its Raptor engines to soar into orbit and splash down in the Pacific Ocean, 62 miles northwest of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Musk's dream, however, is on hold until SpaceX receives approval from the FAA, but that has not stopped the billionaire from preparing for the mission.

SpaceX has completed several tests on the 160-foot Starship upper stage, with the most recent, SN15, landing on the launch pad after a short high-altitude flight.

However, this will be the first test of the full Starship system, including the booster stage.

Super Heavy is the first stage of SpaceX's two-stage, fully reusable Starship system, which is will be used to send people and cargo to Mars and other distant planets - and the upper stage is a 165-foot-tall Starship

In 2020, Elon Musk told SpaceX employees that Starship progress was a top priority, with progress accelerating 'dramatically and immediately.'

That resulted in a rapid increase in Starship prototypes being built, often with a new prototype ready before the previous one had even been tested.

The test flights have ranged from static firing the engines, to launching up to six miles into the air and attempting to land back down on the launch pad.

SpaceX is working with the FCC, US Air Force, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration for the flight to arrange the safest time to launch.

One of SpaceX's key goals is to ensure that the Starship rockets are reusable, and future tests will see both stages return to the launch pad, rather than the ocean.
Lionel Messi will sensationally walk away from Barcelona this summer and leave the Spanish giants for good, despite being widely expected to remain at the Nou Camp.

Messi became a free agent last month after his original contract with Barca expired, though was set to re-sign with the club following positive initial talks between all parties.

Messi was in line for a fresh long-term deal, albeit on lower pay terms. Now, however, the Catalan giants have confirmed the agreement is dead due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish LaLiga regulations).

Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona this summer after an agreement could not be reached

Issuing a shock statement on Thursday evening, Barcelona said: 'Despite having reached an agreement between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi and with the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish LaLiga regulations) .

'Given this situation, Lionel Messi will not continue linked to FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of both the player and the Club cannot finally be fulfilled.

'Barca would like to thank with all its heart the player's contribution to the enhancement of the institution and wishes him the best in his personal and professional life.'

Messi will leave the club after 20 years of service, following his signing as a young boy

The Argentine has been a 'one-club man' and is seen as the embodiment of Barcelona

Earlier in the evening the news had initially been broke via Catalan radio outlet RAC1, who noted that Messi's situation at Barca had become 'irreversible'.

He is, it was reported, 'more out of Barca than ever' and 'does not like the current squad'.

The 34-year-old is said to have communicated his opinions to the club on Wednesday upon his return to the city, following an off-season holiday with his wife and children.

The latest developments will come as a hammer blow to returning president Joan Laporta

Barca had been banking on their talisman and club legend committing the remainder of his career to the Nou Camp, though have been hindered for weeks by their dire financial situation.

The forward was set to take a 50 per cent pay deduction from his previous deal, which was worth in excess of 425million over four years, in order for Barca to be able to re-register him with La Liga.

This would have meant that Messi's earnings would have been slashed by 250,000 every week on the proposed new five-year contract.

Following the official Barca statement, fans started to gather outside the club's famous stadium in Catalonia in a display of grieving. One fan was captured on camera walking up to the gates of the Nou Camp, before collapsing to his knees with a Messi shirt and breaking down into tears.

Reports in Spain further state that a meeting over food took place on Thursday between Barca's hierarchy and Messi's father, along with other representatives.

It is said that this meeting did not reach a positive resolution, and has blown the whole situation wide open.

One fan took a Messi shirt to the Nou Camp and broke down in emotional scenes

Other supporters gathered together outside the ground to come to terns with the statement

A sense of loss and dejection hung in the air as supporters sat around sharing silence

Barca's statement suggests that a deal has been put in place by both the player and club, but has been scuppered purely due to the regulations of the Spanish top flight.

Just 24 hours earlier La Liga had announced a new deal with American investors that would mean a cash injection of 2.7billion (2.29bn) into Spanish football in exchange for 10 per cent of the money the league makes from TV rights over the next 40 years.

Barcelona and rivals Real Madrid were expected to welcome the news. They did not. Madrid issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying the deal was brokered without them and was illegal.

As they see it they give up their TV rights for LaLiga to negotiate with for three-year periods. This deal sees them lose 10 per cent of television revenue for the next 40 years.

Messi returned to Barcelona on Thursday following a holiday with his wife and children

The 34-year-old now faces moving on from Barca, with his two sons and Antonella Roccuzzo

Messi has been heavily linked with both Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain, and the shock developments come just days after the superstar met up with his former team-mate and close friend Neymar.

Neymar left Barca for PSG in 2017, and has spoke frequently about his desire to play with the Argentine again one day.

On Wednesday Neymar uploaded an image to social media, showing himself with Messi along with PSG trio Angel Di Maria, Leo Parades and Marco Veratti, with the caption: 'amigos.'

The image has now sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with many fans believing Messi has been talked around by the PSG quartet into swapping Catalonia for Paris.

Further fuel was poured on the fire after fans noticed that Neymar had 'liked' a mocked up image of himself and Messi embracing in PSG shirts, created by a graphic designer.

Given his contract at the Nou Camp has officially expired, Barca will be powerless to stop Messi joining a major European rival this summer.

Neymar 'liked' a mocked up image of himself and Messi playing for PSG on Instagram

However, Sportsmail understands City are not set to allow the unexpected turn in Messis situation deter them from pursuing Harry Kane, after tying up the 100m British transfer record signing of Jack Grealish.

That would leave PSG a clear path if they can overcome the financial implications of having Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi all on the same pay-roll.

They would also need to persuade Messi to play for another European club when he has already stated his preference is to play in the MLS once he leaves Barcelona.

Barcas president Joan Laporta is due to give a press conference on Friday morning to explain the club's bombshell statement.
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Channel 4's morning show, The Big Breakfast.

And despite being off the air since 2002, the show's former host Denise Van Outen has teased that something's in the pipeline to mark the occasion in 2022.

Speaking about the decision to revive it for a one-off special in September as part of Channel 4's Black To Front day, Denise, 47, also weighed in on the announcement that AJ Odudu will host alongside Mo Gilligan.

Marking the occasion? Denise Van Outen has teased a Big Breakfast return for the show's 30th anniversary in 2022

'AJ is a good friend of mine. I'm thrilled she's doing it, she'll be great. And it'll be so nice to watch. It's like a trip down memory lane  back into the old house. I'm not sure what it's like in there now,' Denise said.

Asked if she'd ever like to go back, she teased: 'It's the anniversary next year. So there might be something... That's all I'll say!'

Earlier this year, Denise - who hosted then show with Johnny Vaughan - told MailOnline that they were hoping to return.

Denise, who ended her 20-year feud with Johnny during the COVID-19 lockdown, confirmed she's already discussed ideas with her former co-host, saying: 'We've started having conversations. It would be nice to do something to mark the 30th anniversary.

Reboot? Denise - who hosted then show with Johnny Vaughan - told MailOnline that they were hoping to return

Asked if she'd ever like to go back, she teased: 'It's the anniversary next year. So there might be something... That's all I'll say!'

Exciting: AJ Odudu has been announced as the host of The Big Breakfast as the show is set to return after 19 years off air

'The original house has so many great memories and it would be amazing if we could return and film there, even though it's been renovated. We'd want to see all the old faces return and play some of the old games too. I'm sure the fans would love it and see it as a real nostalgia trip.

'It would be so much fun working with Johnny again on show which means so much to us both.'

Denise is currently working on a campaign to encourage Brits to try a meat-free picnic this summer.

The actress is partnering with Quorn to deliver meat-free picnics for free via the Deliveroo app in London and Manchester on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th August 2021, for 1p while stocks last.

Plant-based: Denise is currently working on a campaign to encourage Brits to try a meat-free picnic this summer

Flying the flag: The actress is partnering with Quorn to deliver meat-free picnics for free via the Deliveroo app in London and Manchester on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th August 2021, for 1p delivery while stocks last

Explaining that she and her fiance Eddie, along with her daughter Betsy, 11, have started only eating meat one day of the month, she said: 'We wanted to be healthier as a family and, of course, there are the benefits for the environment.

'Betsy loves a bolognaise and Eddie made one with Quorn for her and she couldn't even tell. So now we have meat once a month, like on a Sunday for a roast or when we have BBQ.'

On changing their lifestyle, Denise went on: 'We actually havent found it so hard  we've been using a lot of cook books. Like Fearne Cotton's book Happy Vegan.

'And you know what, I am in my late 40s now, it's also about looking after myself and being conscious about what I put into my body.'
Kris Jenner could be seen in a newly surfaced clip bidding a fond farewell to her days on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The 65-year-old was feeling nostalgic for her 'old house' - the famous Hidden Hills mansion where the reality show was largely filmed in earlier seasons.

And in footage released by E! this week the matriarch enjoyed breakfast there with a couple of her daughters not long before the show finally ended in June.

What a moment: Kris Jenner could be seen in a newly surfaced clip bidding a fond farewell to her days on Keeping Up With The Kardashians

'I love it here,' said the mother of six to her daughter Khloe as she fried up some bacon for them in the kitchen. 'This is where my heart is.'

She shared: 'I know all the little nooks and crannies, I know all the little noises, I know every creak on the steps - the black and white checkered floors, the white countertops and the La Cornue stove.'

Flashback clips abounded, including of the Roaring Twenties themed party that Kris' daughters threw for her 60th birthday.

Kris was also seen telling her daughter Kim: 'I know how the door opens and closes in the middle of the night and this is my home base. I feel good here.'

Throwback shot: The 65-year-old was feeling nostalgic for her 'old house' - the famous Hidden Hills mansion where the reality show was largely filmed in earlier seasons

'This is where my heart is': 'I love it here,' said the mother of six to her daughter Khloe as she fried up some bacon for them in the kitchen in a new clip

'Yeah, I mean a lot has gone down in this house, especially in this kitchen,' said Kim as throwback footage played of her there during one of her pregnancies.

'I sold my house and trying to figure out what to do while were looking for a new one and what better place to come stay than my old house?' said Kris in a confessional.

Last year Kris sold a Hidden Hills home she had bought in 2017 - not to be confused with the house with the checkerboard floors which she purchased in 2010.

'I cant think of a better place to come and just feel really comfortable while all this change is going on around us.'

Remember when: Flashback clips abounded, including of the Roaring Twenties themed party that Kris' daughters threw for her 60th birthday

Features: Kris reminisced in the clip about 'the black and white checkered floors, the white countertops and the La Cornue stove'

The ex-wife of Caitlyn Jenner added: 'It definitely feels like right back where we started in a certain way because we spent so much time at this house filming so it feels symbolic. We're at the end of the journey.'

Kris bought the 'old house' in 2010 with Caitlyn Jenner back when the latter was known as Bruce and was married to the momager.

The home became instantly recognizable to fans, particularly for its checkered floors which People reports were installed by interior designer Jeff Andrews.

The way she was: 'Yeah, I mean a lot has gone down in this house, especially in this kitchen,' said Kim as throwback footage played of her there during one of her pregnancies

Upheavals: 'I sold my house and trying to figure out what to do while were looking for a new one and what better place to come stay than my old house?' said Kris in a confessional

Meanwhile the house she sold was also located in Hidden Hills but was one she purchased in 2017 - just across from Kim and her husband Kanye West.

Kris sold that property last year for $15 million in cash to the German heiress Katharina Harf - whose father is chairman of the company that bought a majority stake in Kylie Cosmetics in late 2019.

Since then Kris and Khloe have shelled out a cumulative $37 million for under-construction mansions right next to one another in Hidden Hills.

Stream every episode ever of Keeping Up With The Kardashians only on hayu in Australia.
Dita Von Teese and Hayley Hasselhoff made stunning style statements at the Villa Remus party in Mallorca on Wednesday night.

Dita, 48, whose real name is Heather Renee Sweet, wore an elegant black slit dress which included stunning detailing on the arms and bodice.

Hayley, 28, daughter of David Hasselhoff and Pamela Bach, showcased her figure in a busty gown, which had separate mesh gloves.

Stunning statements: Dita Von Teese and Hayley Hasselhoff dazzled in jaw-dropping black ensembles as they upped the glam at the Villa Remus party in Mallorca on Wednesday night

Burlesque dancer Dita added a very subtle wave to her raven bob and splashed a touch of colour to her outfit by opting for red lipstick.

Strappy heels accentuated her frame, as she posed with a small black clutch.

Hayley slicked back her blonde hair into a tight bun and her effortless makeup was notably on full display.

Elegant: Dita, 48, whose real name is Heather Renee Sweet, wore an elegant black slit dress which included stunning detailing on the arms and bodice

Pose: The Burlesque dancer added a very subtle wave to her raven bob and splashed a touch of colour to her outfit by opting for red lipstick

Accessorising: Dita posed with a small black clutch

Incredible: The American vedette worked a number of angles as she glammed up for the event

The actress and model sported a winged eyeliner look, with a touch of highlighter which defined her cheekbones.

She posed with German businessman Marcel Remus, who organised the event.

He gained notoriety via his appearance on Rent, Buy, Live on the German TV channel VOX, as a real estate agent in Mallorca.

Wow! The actress and model sported a winged eyeliner look, with a touch of highlighter which defined her cheekbones

Glam night: Hayley posed with German businessman Marcel Remus, who organised the event

Successful: Marcel gained notoriety via his appearance on Rent, Buy, Live on the German TV channel VOX as a real estate agent in Mallorca

Party: Hayley slicked back her blonde hair into a tight bun and her effortless makeup was notably on full display

Big event: Lilly Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was also in attendance

Dita, Hayley and Marcel truly made the most of the elegant event and were spotted taking a selfie.

Marcel undoubtedly had a strong network of support at the event, as his mum Silke arrived to see the night unfold.

She looked sensational in a sparkly black dress and glamorous heels as she posed with Dita and her son.

Say cheese! Dita, Hayley and Marcel truly made the most of the elegant event and were spotted taking a selfie

Network: The trio posed for a cute photo at the Villa Remus party

Support: Marcel undoubtedly had a strong network of support at the event, as his mum Silke arrived to see the night unfold

Dazzling: Hayley showed off her ample assets in the plunging outfit

Spruce: Hayley and Marcel graced the red carpet

Striking a pose: Dita oozed class at the Mallorcan party

Hayley, who made history in April when she became the first plus-size model to pose for the cover of the German edition of Playboy, also showcased her fashion sense in another stunning outfit on Tuesday.

Posing for a selfie on the Balearic Island, the LA star donned a beige knit dress with a black one-sleeve bodysuit underneath.

Hayley's style was perfectly colour coordinated, as she wore beige sandals and carried her belongings in a black-and-beige bag.

Chic: Hayley, who made history in April when she became the first plus-size model to pose for the cover of the German edition of Playboy, also showcased her fashion sense in another stunning outfit on Tuesday

Happy: The LA star donned a beige knit dress with a black one-sleeve bodysuit underneath

Taking a pause: The model took in her scenic surroundings, her white choker and large gold earrings exhibited

As she took a stroll in Mallorca, she was surrounded by horses and carriages.

The model took in her scenic surroundings, her white choker and large gold earrings exhibited.

Her pout was touched up with crimson lipstick for the outing.
Beanie Feldstein transformed into Monica Lewinsky in a brooding new teaser for Impeachment: American Crime Story.

The upcoming anthology series depicts the scandals that rocked the final years of the Bill Clinton presidency - including his affair with Monica, who was his intern.

Monica's face is obscured throughout the teaser as heads over to meet the president in the Oval Office, where multiple sexual encounters of theirs took place.

Incoming: Beanie Feldstein transformed into Monica Lewinsky in a brooding new teaser for Impeachment: American Crime Story

An evocative clip at the beginning of the sneak peek shows her packaging a garish gold and blue tie in a gift box and then placing a card on it for 'Bill.'

When Monica first testified before Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury Bill was seen wearing a tie that looked strikingly like the one in the teaser.

In real life Monica insisted that she had given him that tie as a present, but when Bill was asked about it he let slip only that it was possible she had done so.

As the teaser wears on Monica is seen hiding the gift box in a manila envelope and tucking it in one of her arms as she heads off into the White House hallways.

'I': The upcoming anthology series depicts the scandals that rocked the final years of the Bill Clinton presidency - including his affair with Monica, who was his intern

On her way: Monica's face is obscured throughout the teaser as heads over to meet the president in the Oval Office, where multiple sexual encounters of theirs took place

Present: An evocative clip at the beginning of the sneak peek shows her packaging a garish gold and blue tie in a gift box and then placing a card on it for 'Bill'

History: When Monica first testified before Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury Bill was seen wearing a tie that looked strikingly like the one in the teaser

Setting off: As the teaser wears on Monica is seen hiding the gift box in a manila envelope and tucking it in one of her arms as she heads off into the White House hallways

Ominous music plays as the intertitles set the scene to 'Washington, D.C. 1995,' and say: 'The President Of The United States had a secret affair with a 22-year-old intern.'

Monica heads determinedly through the hallways, past pictures of previous presidents, until she arrives at the Oval Office reception desk.

The woman at the desk buzzes inside the Oval and announces: 'Mr. President, Ms. Lewinsky's here to see you.'

Although she is briefly seen heading into the Oval Office to see her boss, Monica's face remains hidden from the camera.

Ominous music: Intertitles set the scene to 'Washington, D.C. 1995,' and say: 'The President Of The United States had a secret affair with a 22-year-old intern'

Forebears: Monica heads determinedly through the hallways, past pictures of previous presidents, until she arrives at the Oval Office reception desk

Opening doors: The woman at the desk buzzes inside the Oval and announces: 'Mr. President, Ms. Lewinsky's here to see you'

Mystery: Although she is briefly seen heading into the Oval Office to see her boss, Monica's face remains hidden from the camera

Cryptic: Bill, who is being portrayed by Clive Owen, can be glimpsed sitting at the Resolute desk but facing away from the screen

Bill, who is being portrayed by Clive Owen, can be glimpsed sitting at the Resolute desk but facing away from the screen.

Although his chair begins to turn so that he can face Monica the teaser cuts to black before his features can become clear.

Ryan Murphy and his frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk are executive producers on American Crime Story which has had two seasons so far.

Edie Falco, who rose to international fame as the wife of a serially unfaithful mobster on The Sopranos, is playing Hillary Clinton.

Side by side: Clive is pictured at a 2017 photo-call in Rome (left) and the former president is pictured at the White House in 1994 (right)

Who's who: Edie Falco (left), who rose to international fame as the wife of a serially unfaithful mobster on The Sopranos, is playing Hillary Clinton (right)

Meanwhile Sarah Paulson is starring as Monica's former friend Linda Tripp who was previously played by John Goodman on Saturday Night Live.

It was Linda's secretly taped phone conversations with Monica, in which the intern discussed her liaisons with the president, that set off the Lewinsky scandal.

Monica testified that she performed fellatio on him multiple times, and it also emerged that at one point a cigar was used as a sex toy.

One of the principal pieces of evidence of the affair that Monica had in her possession was her blue Gap dress stained with the president's semen.

Uncanny: Annaleigh Ashford (left) is playing Paula Jones (right) whose lawsuit against Bill is what brought the Lewinsky scandal out into the open

Monica's relationship with Bill was brought into the spotlight as a consequence of Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against him.

Paula alleged that while Bill was Governor Of Arkansas and she was a state employee he called her to his hotel room, dropped his trousers and instructed her to 'kiss it.'

The story of Monica's affair was dredged up in the discovery phase of Paula's lawsuit in order to establish his history of sexual misconduct.

Bill's denial under oath that he had 'sexual relations' with Monica instigated the impeachment that gives the anthology show its title.

The mini-series is based on a book by Jeffrey Toobin, whom the New Yorker fired last year for masturbating on camera during a Zoom meeting.

Meanwhile: Sarah Paulson (left) is starring as Monica's former friend Linda Tripp (right) who secretly taped her conversations about the affair

'I believed I was not visible on Zoom,' he insisted to Vice. 'I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.'

Jeffrey also wrote the book that formed the basis of the first season of American Crime Story which covered the O.J. Simpson trial.

Anthony Green will play Clinton's vice president Al Gore whilst Margo Martindale is cast as literary agent Lucianne Goldberg - the woman who persuaded Linda to secretly tape her conversations with Monica.

Annaleigh Ashford is playing Paula Jones, with Taran Killam as her husband Steve and Jeanetta Arnette as her mother Delmer Lee Corbin.

Meanwhile the comedian Billy Eichner is featuring as Matt Drudge whose website the Drudge Report broke the Lewinsky story.

Betty Gilpin was initially cast as lawyer turned author Ann Coulter, who worked on the Paula Jones legal briefs and then became a rightwing celebrity with her debut book High Crimes And Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton.

What a cast: Margo Martindale (left) is cast as literary agent Lucianne Goldberg (right) - the woman who persuaded Linda to tape the Monica conversations

However Betty told Collider she eventually had to leave the project 'because of COVID and scheduling,' and a replacement has not been announced.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Bill Clinton included those from Kathleen Willey, who said the president groped her the day of her husband's suicide.

Furthermore Juanita Broaddrick accused him of raping her at a hotel in the 1970s and then telling her: 'You'd better put some ice on that.'

Juanita told the Wall Street Journal that Lisa Myers, who interviewed her for 60 Minutes about her allegations, informed her: 'The good thing is, youre credible. The bad thing is youre very credible.'

No casting information has been included about Juanita or Kathleen and it is currently unclear whether they will be included in the series.

Impeachment: American Crime Story, which counts the real Monica as one of its producers, will premiere September 7 on FX and have 10 episodes.
Today show host Karl Stefanovic became emotional as he announced the death of legendary Channel Nine newsreader Brian Henderson on Thursday morning.

The TV and radio pioneer, who had been Karl's mentor when he was a young reporter, passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 89.

During a touching speech in which he paid tribute to the 'absolute legend and gentleman', Karl recalled the advice Henderson once gave him, which he carried with him throughout his career.

Tragic news: Today host Karl Stefanovic became emotional as he announced the death of his mentor Brian Henderson on Thursday, and revealed the advice the legendary Channel Nine newsreader gave him before he died

'He mentored a lot of people that came through the newsroom, including myself,' the 46-year-old began.

'I remember this one particular day, I'd come down from Brisbane and he called me to his office and he said, "I've got a couple of things to raise with you, young fellow."'

After initially being worried he was 'in trouble' with the TV great, Karl revealed that Henderson had actually asked him: 'Are you trying to sound like Ray Martin?' - referring to the ever-charismatic Nine journalist.

Passing: Brian Henderson, who had been Karl's mentor during his years as a young reporter, passed away at the age of 89, one year after refusing treatment for kidney cancer

As his fill-in co-host Sophie Walsh began to chuckle, Karl said he had responded: 'Yes, I think the world of Ray Martin!'

But Henderson then gave him a word of advice: just be yourself.

'That little bit of advice, and from the master craftsman...' Karl added. 'What a life, and what a legend in the business. A life well lived.'

With a smile, Karl also recalled that the veteran newsreader was a 'perfectionist' and a 'hard worker' who always had a 'cheeky smile' on his face.

Declining health: In February 2020, Henderson revealed his decision to refuse further treatment or surgery after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Pictured announcing his retirement in 2002

Confirming Henderson's death earlier in the show, Karl said: 'Brian was a much-loved member of the Nine family, hosting the Sydney weeknight news from 1957 until his retirement in 2002, becoming Australia's longest-serving news presenter.

'He also hosted Bandstand for many years. I knew him - an absolute legend, a gentleman and a total professional who provided guidance and inspiration for many generations who followed. We loved him.'

The New Zealand-born journalist leaves behind two children from his first marriage, and two children, Nicole, 50, and Jody, 48, with his second wife, Mardi.

Karl concluded: 'Brian was married to his lovely wife Mardi for 48 years. She was at his bedside this morning alongside his daughters Jody and Nicole.'

Today Extra host David Campbell led tributes on Twitter, writing: 'Brian Henderson has passed away. A legendary broadcaster and true gentleman.

'RIP to one of the greats.'

Family: The New Zealand-born journalist leaves behind two children from his first marriage, and two children, Nicole and Jody, with his second wife, Mardi. The couple are seen in 2006

In February 2020, Brian had revealed his decision to refuse further treatment or surgery after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

He told The Daily Telegraph at the time he'd had a 'wonderful life' and wanted to spend his last days with those closest to him.

Henderson said: 'I wont go tomorrow, but whats the point of living if you have to spend it in a hospital having treatment after treatment?'

Before his final diagnosis, the TV veteran had beaten melanoma, prostate, bowel and throat cancer over the years.

Henderson refused to have intrusive keyhole surgery to remove his right kidney and said he was not interested in undergoing radiation or chemotherapy.

Battles: Henderson had previously had his prostate and some of his bowel taken out, and described his 2014 diagnosis with throat cancer as a 'toughie'. Pictured in the Nine News Sydney studio in 2002

'My doctor said the tumour in my kidney is likely to be slow growing so Ive decided, at my age, to leave it there,' he said.

'The doctor said Im likely to die of something else before this kills me.'

Henderson had previously had his prostate and some of his bowel taken out, and described his 2014 diagnosis with throat cancer as a 'toughie'.

He also said he worried about his wife Mardi being lonely when he's gone.

The couple met when Mardi was only 16 and Henderson was 33, and her parents forbade them to marry until she had turned 18.

Professional life: Henderson was Australia's longest-serving newsreader, arriving in the country in 1953 to work as a DJ, before working for Channel Nine between 1957 and 2002

'Brian was my first real love...It's been years of wedded bliss. We are also best friends - always have been,' Mardi told New Idea in 2014.

In an interview with Nine News Sydney anchor Peter Overton last year, Henderson said he 'wasn't afraid' of death, and promised the reporter they would 'catch up for a drink' when both of them were 'on the other side'.

Henderson was Australia's longest-serving newsreader, arriving in the country in 1953 to work as a DJ, before working for Channel Nine between 1957 and 2002.

Family first: Henderson told The Daily Telegraph in February 2020 he wanted to spend his last days with his family and wife of 48 years, Mardi. Pictured at the 2013 Logies

He also hosted the popular Australian version of music show Bandstand from 1958 to 1972, which launched the careers of artists such as Peter Allen and the Bee Gees.

He won two Gold Logies during his illustrious career, the first in 1968 as the host of Bandstand.

Brian received his second in 2013, when he became the 30th member of the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame.

He retired from television in 2002.

Peter Costello, Chairman of Nine, said in a statement: 'Brian Henderson was the best of the best, he was iconic. The ultimate professional and the trusted face of television news for generations of Australians.

'Hendo was not just a much loved newsman, he also brought modern pop music to generations of Australian teenagers through his hosting role on Bandstand.

'He was trusted, he had a warmth that he brought into the living rooms of millions of Australians. He will be deeply missed but his giant legacy and contribution will live on in the DNA of Nine.'
She's no stranger to turning heads with her eye-catching ensembles.

And Jess Gale, 22, ensured all eyes would be on her as she donned a revealing ensemble for a night at Novikov Restaurant and Bar in London's Mayfair on Wednesday.

The former Love Island star flashed her cleavage and a glimpse of midriff in a white top with cut-out detailing.

Night out: Jess Gale, 22, made the most of her ample assets in a white keyhole top with a plunging neckline for a night at Novikov Restaurant and Bar in London on Wednesday

The low neckline of the garment ensured her cleavage was on show as she made the most of her shapely figure.

Jess wore a pair of leather shorts which left her long slender legs on display, showing off her impressive tan.

The television personality completed her look by wearing a Gucci shoulder bag and a pair of nude heels with clear straps.

Got the look: The former Love Island star flashed a glimpse of her midriff with the cutaway detail of her clothing leaving her skin on show and showed off her long legs in her tiny shorts

Her long blonde tresses were loosely curled into a bouncy style and her nails were painted a bright white to match the gleaming shade of her top.

Jess appeared on Love Island in 2015 with her twin sister Eve and they were two of the many celebrities who jetted to Dubai throughout the pandemic, as they visited the sun-soaked city in December.

They joined many other Love Islanders including Joanna Chimonides, Hayley Hughes and Francesca Allen.

Twinning: Jess appeared on Love Island in 2015 with her twin sister Eve and they were two of the many celebrities who jetted to Dubai throughout the pandemic

After Dubai joined UK's travel ban list, celebrities then began flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it established itself as the next COVID getaway destination.

Many stars insisted their trips were for 'work purposes' after criticism from the Home Secretary Priti Patel.

And Jess is no stranger to posting bikini pictures of herself on Instagram for her 898,000 followers to see.

The star recently shared a snap of herself in a white bikini set as she stood on a beautiful sandy beach in what appeared to be a tropical location.
Victoria Beckham's latest outfit choice drew comparisons to the creepy doll from the horror movie Annabelle.

The fashion designer, 47, gushed over her new dress as she shared snaps of herself in the 1,450 garment on Instagram, however, the look drew a strong reaction from her followers.

Reacting to the post, one user commented: 'The beginning of the first slide, I thought it was the Annabelle doll.'

All dolled up: Victoria Beckham's latest outfit choice has drawn comparisons to the creepy doll from the horror movie Annabelle

Another user said: 'It's like a high fashion Annabelle,' while another added: 'Is that you Annabelle???'

One follower compared the outfit to The Handmaid's Tale while others simply said they were not fans, with one writing: 'Omg this is so weird' and another said: 'Looks good for Halloween.'

Annabelle is a possessed doll known to horror movie fans for her appearance in the 2013 film The Conjuring.

The character was later given her own self-titled spin-off film released the following year.

This was followed by a prequel named Annabelle: Creation and a sequel Annabelle Comes Home.

Quirky: The fashion designer shared snaps of herself in the 1,450 garment to her Instagram and the look drew a strong reaction from her followers

Despite the strong reaction, Victoria was clearly a fan of the look, calling it one of her favourites.

Alongside the post, she wrote: 'One of my favourite New York looks is now available at victoriabeckham.com and in our Dover Street store! @davidbeckham loves it too'.

The white ensemble, which is part of Victoria's autumn/winter 2021 collection, featured frill detail across the bodice and shoulders.

Victoria wrote: 'One of my favourite New York looks is now available at victoriabeckham.com and in our Dover Street store!'

Reaction: Uploading a video of the look, one user commented: 'The beginning of the first slide, I thought it was the Annabelle doll

Get the look: Victoria also shared a clip of a model showcasing the look on her Instagram

The dress was topped with a scarlet collar and was broken up by a black leather patch with gold buttons just above her hips.

She carried a matching black leather clutch bag under her arm and her face was barely visible as she wore a black face mask and sunglasses.

To finish off the look Victoria donned a pair of sky blue high heels with a thin strap around the ankle.
Kate Hudson shared stunning snaps from her Italian family vacation on Wednesday.

The 42-year-old actress revealed that she, partner Danny Fujikawa, 35, and daughter Raini, two, had made a 'quick stop in Firenze' as she posted images from the trip.

Showing off her finest Italian summer style, Hudson donned a myriad of flowing skirts during a few romantic sunset strolls and other sightseeing outings.

Bellisima: Kate Hudson, 42, shares stunning snaps from she and her family's 'quick stop in Firenze'

The Almost Famous actress was seen strolling along the city's cobblestone streets in a flowing black skirt and a grey tee which exposed her abs.

For an evening in Florence she rocked a top knot and carried a pink face mask in hand before she removed it for a selfie near the city's famed Ponte Vecchio bridge with Fujikawa.

At one point she made a quick outfit change as she strolled by the Arno river in a pink skirt with a suit jacket tucked over her shoulders.

Other moments shared included some local street art as Rani remarked at a painting of the Mona Lisa and some wine.

Safety first: The Almost famous star removed a pink face mask for a selfie with Fujikawa

Sunset lovers: The actor-musician wore a paper boy cap and a white button down as he cozied up next to Kate for a selfie

Florence at night: She was seen standing next to the Arno river after a night out

And naturally she and Fujikawa took in the city's local cuisine as she posted a selfie of the pair eating paninis.

Earlier in the day the family took a break from walking around to pop into a bistro. She was seen chowing down on some food in a flowing black dress and doting on Rani.

Her other children: son Ryder Robinson, 17, and Bingham, 10, all enjoyed vacation in Greece a few weeks prior where Kate had been shooting Knives Out 2.

Despite having a relaxing vacation, Hudson has been very busy on the work front as she continued to build excitement for her role in Apple Tv's Truth Be Told Season 2 alongside Octavia Spencer which is set for release August 20.

Panini run: The couple were seen eating their way through town as they swung by a local panini restaurant

Local culture: Rani looked intrigued by a local artist who had drawn the Mona Lisa on the street

Postcards from Italy: Kate's summer style consisted of a bunch of flowing skirts

While speaking about the drama series on an episode of E!'s Daily Pop, Hudson divulged that she had been burned a couple times for being too trusting of people.

'I trust until I can't, until there's a reason to not trust, whereas I think there's a lot of people who don't hold back until they can earn the trust. I'm sort of the opposite,' she explained.

She added that she had 'been burned a couple of times,' in the process but remarked 'I got to keep my secrets.'

She and Fujikawa had run in the same circle for years before the pair began dating officially in 2017. Prior to that she was in relationships with musician Chris Robinson and later Muse frontman Matt Bellamy.
Jesinta Campbell is an official ambassador for Seafolly's new inclusive campaign.

She joins the likes of Elyse Knowles and Jessica Vander Leahy as one of Seafolly's ambassadors as the brand pushes forward with a focus on female empowerment, sustainability and inclusivity.

In a series of photos for the campaign, the mother of two stuns in a bandeau bra and high-waisted bottoms.

Strong: Jesinta Campbell is an official ambassador for Seafolly's new inclusive campaign

She threw a comfortable white cardigan over the top of her swimwear and kept her makeup minimal and natural.

'Proud to be an Ambassador for Seafolly Australia, an iconic Australian swim brand that has embraced me through the different stages of my life,' she said.

Speaking to the Herald Sun on Thursday, the former Miss Universe Australia, 29, admitted she doesn't recognise her body anymore after welcoming two children, but wouldn't change a thing.

'I've had two babies in the space of 13 months, which is crazy, so my body doesn't look the same as it did before but I feel differently towards it now,' said the model.

All smiles: In a series of photos for the Seafolly campaign, the mother of two stuns in a bandeau bra and high-waisted bottoms

Jesinta, who shares daughter Tullulah, one, and son Rocky, five months, with her husband Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, insisted: 'I did feel a bit different being in a bikini but it doesn't bother me.'

'There's some rolls, cellulite, stretch marks and to me that's all beautiful because it gave me two healthy babies,' she added.

Jesinta has previously spoken about her battle with body image and 'self love' after welcoming her first child last year.

Natural: She threw a comfortable white cardigan over the top of her swimwear and kept her makeup minimal and natural

In February, she told The Daily Telegraph it had been a long journey 'of self-love' and 'learning to love her new body'.

'Your body goes through so many changes when you're pregnant, I probably don't feel as confident as I used to feel in a swimsuit,' she admitted.

Jesinta, who gained 18kg during her first pregnancy, has also previously slammed the pressure women face to 'bounce back' after welcoming a baby.

'There is so much pressure on women after having a baby to lose weight, and get back to where they were prior to pregnancy,' she wrote on Instagram last August.

'I have never understood this and never let this worry me, as I trust my body to do what it needs to do in its own time.'
She recently acknowledged that 'there is a lot of change going on' in her life right now, amid her very public battle against the conservatorship that controls her.

But on Wednesday, Britney Spears was back to one of her regular antics on her Instagram, when she posted a selfie video dancing on the marble floor of her living room.

Unlike other, more frenetic clips, the 39-year-old Lucky songbird simply swayed smoothly side to side in this one, modeling two orange dresses that accentuated various parts of her killer figure.

On Wednesday: Britney Spears was back to one of her regular antics on her Instagram, when she posted a selfie video dancing on the marble floor of her living room

While That's The Way Loves Goes by Janet Jackson and other pop songs played in the background, Spears wore a sherbet orange mini dress with glittery straps and similar detailing around the waist and skirt.

She wore her habitual heavy eyeliner and smiled at the camera with her long blonde hair flowing over one shoulder.

Britney then changed into another even more enticing dress, this one a skintight halter in a lighter shade of peach.

Unlike other, more frenetic clips: The Lucky songbird simply swayed smoothly side to side in this one, modeling two orange dresses that accentuated various parts of her killer figure

The second dress featured a dramatic and sexy swooping boat neck that put the Princess of Pops bosom front and center.

For both looks, the mother of two selected open-toed brown Mary Jane sandals.

She posed and dipped her hips to each side, at one point placing a hand on her hip.

Peachy keen: She wore her habitual heavy eyeliner and smiled at the camera with her long blonde hair flowing over one shoulder

'Okay so you guys have been seeing lots of me dancing in my living room the past two years,' she captioned the brief clip along with various emojis.

'but I just wanted to wear heels and a dress today !!!! Psssss orange is the new black,' she concluded, in reference to the popular Netflix series.

The post comes after Spears recently returned from Hawaii with boyfriend Sam Asghari, where she enjoyed some time away on her favorite tropical island amid a massive conservatorship battle.

'Okay so you guys have been seeing lots of me dancing in my living room the past two years,' she captioned the clip along with emojis. 'but I just wanted to wear heels and a dress today !!!'

In June, Spears gave an emotional, 23-minute testimony during a hearing in a Los Angeles, California court where she pleaded with Judge Brenda Penny for freedom by ending the 13-year conservatorship she's been under where her father, Jamie, has held the power over all of her personal and financial decisions following her multiple involuntary holds in psychiatric hospitals.

The last time Spears spoke directly to the judge was in May 2019, but the court was closed to the public and her testimony was sealed, and details of her mental health have never been disclosed.

In the shocking testimony, Britney admitted: 'I've lied and told the whole world I'm OK and I'm happy. It's a lie. I've been in denial. I've been in shock. I am traumatized. Fake it 'til you make it, but now I'm telling you the truth, OK? I'm not happy. I can't sleep. I'm depressed. I cry every day.'

Spears said she did not feel she 'was heard on any level' the last time she was able to speak to the court in 2019.

'I want changes and I want changes going forward,' she said. 'I deserve changes. I was told I have to sit down and be evaluated, again, if I want to end the conservatorship. Ma'am, I didn't know I could petition the conservatorship to end it.

'This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good. I deserve to have a life, I've worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three-year break.'
Eddie Murphy's ex-wife Nicole Murphy cut a stylish figure when she was spotted out and about in Los Angeles this week.

The 53-year-old model showed off her enviably chiseled figure in grey and black workout gear while walking one of her dogs.

Nicole, who has two Maltese pooches called Babi and Zack, had apparently indulged in a spot of luxury as she was seen with a small Tiffany's shopping bag.

Legs for days: Eddie Murphy's ex-wife Nicole Murphy cut a stylish figure when she was spotted out and about in Los Angeles this week

Eddie and Nicole, who were married from 1993 until 2006, brought five children into the world together during their romance.

They share four daughters called Bria, 31, Shayne, 26, Zola, 21, and Bella, 19, as well as a 28-year-old son called Miles.

The former couple became grandparents a couple of years ago when Miles and his girlfriend Carly Olivia welcomed a little girl named Evie.

Swanking about: Nicole, who has two Maltese pooches called Babi and Zack, had apparently indulged in a spot of luxury as she was seen with a small Tiffany's shopping bag

Although Nicole reportedly got $15 million in the divorce from Eddie, con man Troy Stratos bilked her out of $10 million and landed in jail, the New York Post claimed.

The Hollywood Exes alumna swung by The Wendy Williams Show in 2018 and dished that she 'kept the ring' after her broken engagement to Michael Strahan.

Although she was was linked to Mariah Carey's ex-husband Nick Cannon she rubbished the rumors to Wendy saying they 'were only friends.'

Side by side: Eddie and Nicole, who were married from 1993 until 2006, are pictured at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004

Eddie has a total of 10 children by five different mothers, including a 14-year-old daughter called Angel by his former fling, ex-Spice Girl Mel B.

Although Eddie initially cast doubt on the claim he was Angel's father, he eventually took a DNA test proving his paternity when the little girl was two months old.

By the time he took the test he was already dating Babyface's ex-husband Tracey Edmonds, who married Eddie on New Year's Day 2008 and left him two weeks later.
Jameela Jamil has BLASTED Addison Rae's forthcoming film He's All That, which is a gender-swapped remake of the beloved 90s teen comedy She's All That.

'This looks objectively F***ing terrible,' tweeted the Good Place actress, 35, prompting her following to weigh in by sharing the film's recently released trailer.

Despite being immediately turned off by it, Jameela went on to predict that He's All That will most likely be an instant hit once it makes its Netflix debut on August 27.

Not her cup of tea: Jameela Jamil has BLASTED Addison Rae's forthcoming film He's All That; Jameela pictured in 2020

'Which means *everyone* is going to watch it and it's going to be number 1,' Jamil wrote, adding in a follow-up tweet that it's the perfect bait for avid 'hate watchers.'

'You'll succumb to the hate watching peer pressure. Just wait. We ignore great art and publicize stuff like this with our hatred, and then it becomes number 1, and then studios green light more films just like it,' she jokingly explained.

Although plenty of her followers agreed with her statements, one attempted to encourage her to give Addison's acting chops a chance, since they had initially turned their nose up at Jameela's role on The Good Place.

Objectively: 'This looks objectively F***ing terrible,' tweeted the Good Place actress, 35, prompting her following to weigh in by sharing the film's recently released trailer

Coming soon! He's All That is a gender-swapped remake of the beloved 90s teen comedy She's All That, which is slated to premiere on Netflix on August 27

Jamil famously played Tahani Al-Jamil in the hit NBC comedy series, which ran from 2016 to 2020 for a total of four seasons in the network.

'But that's also how I felt about your performance in The Good Place,' wrote the follower, to which Jameela replied: '100 percent fair. I had never acted before and had no idea what is was doing. Thank GOD for Ted Danson.'

The UK native further clarified in a later tweet that she was not putting Addison's acting on blast, but instead the film as a whole.

Humble yourself: Although plenty of her followers agreed with her statements, one attempted to encourage her to give Addison's acting chops a chance, since they had initially turned their nose up at Jameela's role on The Good Place

New territory: Jamil famously played Tahani Al-Jamil in the hit NBC comedy series, which ran from 2016 to 2020 for a total of four seasons in the network; (L-R) Ted Danson, D'Arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto, Jameela Jamil, Kristen Bell pictured in The Good Place

Not an attack: Jameela clarified in a later tweet that she was not putting Addison's acting on blast, but instead the film as a whole

'Didn't say anything about Addison,' but just said 'the film looks bad,' read her tweet, which was in response to an Addison Rae fan encouraging her to 'just chill.'

The first official trailer for He's All That was released on Wednesday, which gave fans their very first look at the 20-year-old TikTok star in the film's starring role.

Addison Rae plays influencer Padgett Sawyer and popular high school student who dumps her hunky boyfriend after she catches him cheating.

Casting: Addison Rae plays influencer Padgett Sawyer, while Tanner Buchanan of Cobra Kai fame plays the class dork Cameron Kweller, who Padgett is challenged to makeover

She is then challenged to make over the class dork Cameron Kweller, who is played by Tanner Buchanan of Cobra Kai fame, and make him her date for the prom.

Rae's pal Kourtney Kardashian and She's All That vet Rachael Leigh Cook are seen in small roles, which were briefly featured in Wednesday's trailer.

He's All That is directed by Mark Waters with R Lee Fleming Jr penning the screenplay. The film is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on August 27

Gender-swapped: He's All That is directed by Mark Waters with R Lee Fleming Jr penning the screenplay. The film is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on August 27
Paris Hilton was in attendance at Wednesday's Netflix Food Event held at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, which is located in the WeHo area of Los Angeles.

The same day, the 40-year-old socialite's highly-anticipated cooking show, titled Cooking With Paris, premiered its very first season on the streaming platform.

Hilton posed before the event's joyful backdrop in a romantic-looking white sundress that softly hugged her slender figure.

Guest of honor: Paris Hilton was in attendance at Wednesday's Netflix Food Event held at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, which is located in the WeHo area

The summer-appropriate garment had slight ruffling on the lower half of the skirt, as well as a ruched waistline and puffed sleeves.

She slipped her feet into a pair of studded Valentino heels with beige leather detailing.

Paris wore her signature blonde hair parted to one side and bumped under at the ends to frame her face.

As for accessories, Hilton rocked a single bracelet on her left wrist and threw a pair of white designer shades over her hazel eyes.

Style icon: Hilton posed before the event's joyful backdrop in a romantic-looking white sundress that softly hugged her slender figure

While on the event's colorful step-and-repeat, the heiress posed playfully with one hand in her hair and a smile on her face.

Paris also took a moment to strike some poses beside a giant champagne display that featured shelves lined with glasses set against a mounted shrub.

Taking fans inside the Netflix Food Event, Hilton could not help but select some sweets from a curated candy display.

Big premiere: The same day, the 40-year-old socialite's highly-anticipated cooking show, titled Cooking With Paris, premiered its very first season on the streaming platform

Signature look: Paris wore her signature blonde hair parted to one side and bumped under at the ends to frame her face

Bake Squad star Ashley Holt was another major Netflix player to drop by the streaming platform's food-based event on Wednesday.

The renown pastry chef rocked a nautical mini dress and a pair of open-toed black heels

Maya-Camille Broussard, owner of Justice Of The Pies bakery, dazzled in a rainbow patterned one-shoulder sundress and a bright red statement clutch.

Stopping by: Bake Squad star Ashley Holt was another major Netflix player to drop by the streaming platform's food-based event on Wednesday

Stunning: Maya-Camille Broussard, owner of Justice Of The Pies bakery, dazzled in a rainbow patterned one-shoulder sundress and a bright red statement clutch

Ashley and Maya-Camille were later joined by Bake Squad's Christophe Rull and Gonzo Jimenez.

According to Netflix, Bake Squad sees 'expert bakers elevate desserts with next-level ideas and epic execution' while battling 'to win over clients in need of very special sweets'

The competition show is slated for an August 11 release.

Reunited: Ashley and Maya-Camille were later joined by Bake Squad's Christophe Rull and Gonzo Jimenez

Coming soon: According to Netflix , Bake Squad sees 'expert bakers elevate desserts with next-level ideas and epic execution' while battling 'to win over clients in need of very special sweets'; (L-R) Gonzo Jimenez, Maya-Camille Broussard, Ashley Holt, and Christophe Rull pictured

Although they will have to wait for Bake Squad, Netflix viewers can get their fill of cooking - with a healthy dose of comedy - on Paris' very own series Cooking With Paris.

The six-episode series premiered on the streaming platform on Wednesday, August 4.

Cooking With Paris shows the star demonstrating 'simple recipes' alongside famous friends, like Kim Kardashians and comedian Nikki Glaser.
She is notoriously private about her marriage to Sam Worthington.

And on Thursday, Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) shared a rare photo of herself cosied up to her husband.

The 34-year-old model and actor appeared to be back in their adopted home of Los Angeles, after several months in her native Sydney.

Night out! Lara Worthington shared a rare photo of herself looking loved-up with her actor husband Sam as they enjoyed a night out

In the selfie, she beamed alongside Sam, 44, as they enjoyed dinner at a restaurant with their friends.

They were joined by actress Phoebe Tonkin, who is currently based in Los Angeles, and a male pal.

Lara looked chic in a loose white button up alongside Sam who was dressed in a black sweatshirt with his hair tied back.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2014, share three sons together, Rocket, six, Racer, four, and 15-month-old River.

Friends: In the selfie, she beamed alongside Sam, 44, as they enjoyed dinner at a restaurant with their friends

It's unclear when exactly Lara and Sam returned to US.

The family first moved back to Australia in January, after spending the better part of a decade living in New York and Los Angeles.

This comes after Lara recently shared her home workout routine after going through months of lockdowns while living in the U.S. last year.

Back in the US? Lara, Sam and their family first moved to Australia in January, after spending the better part of a decade living in New York and Los Angeles. It's unclear when exactly Lara and Sam returned to US

'I create a makeshift gym wherever I go': This comes after Lara recently shared her home workout routine after going through months of lockdowns while living in the U.S. last year

Last month, she told Who magazine she's been doing at-home Pilates workouts while locked down in Sydney, and has even set up her own gym.

'Fortunately I have worked out a way to implement exercise into my daily routine by streaming workouts from Fluidform Pilates, which I highly recommend,' she added.

'I bought some workout equipment online and create a makeshift gym wherever I go, which really helps mentally and sets the tone of the day.'
She turned 27 years old last week.

And Winnie Harlow took to TAO restaurant in Los Angeles on Wednesday night for an intimate belated birthday dinner with her friends.

The supermodel put on a dazzling display in a silver, glitter-beaded gown which showed off her toned pins and slim waist.

Centre of attention: Winnie Harlow put on a leggy display as she dazzled in a silver glittering gown for her belated 27th birthday dinner with friends in LA on Wednesday

The Vogue cover star flicked her sleek light brown tresses as she was pictured leaving the event wearing a pair of silver heels.

Winnie continued her colour scheme for the night with a pair of silver round earrings and sported an unmissable W pendent, which hung from her silver-and-blue necklace.

She had flawlessly applied a full-face of makeup, including eyelash extensions, complete with a winged eyeliner look.

Wow! She took to TAO restaurant in Los Angeles for an intimate belated birthday dinner with her friends

Looking good: The supermodel put on a dazzling display in a silver, glitter-beaded gown which showed off her toned pins and slim waist

The former America's Next Top Model contestant held tightly onto a Judith Leiber Brick Phone Call Me Clutch Bag, which sells for a whopping 4,103.82.

Inside the Pan-Asian restaurant, Winnie took to her Instagram Story to keep her fans updated with the night's timeline of events.

With the Brent Faiyaz and Drake hit, Wasting Time, playing in the background of her car journey, the birthday girl recorded a string of sizzling videos where she made sultry poses towards the camera on her way to her destination.

Camera-ready: The birthday girl recorded a string of sizzling videos where she made sultry poses towards the camera

Beauty: As Drake sang, 'Whenever I tell the truth, you feel like you being attacked,' Winnie mouthed along and typed the lyrics into her caption

Hot stuff: In another selfie video, she donned a crying filter and played with her glossy tresses

As Drake sang, 'Whenever I tell the truth, you feel like you being attacked,' Winnie mouthed along and typed the lyrics into her caption.

In another selfie video, she donned a crying filter and played with her glossy tresses.

The Tyra Banks protege gave her fans a closer look at her shimmering Judith Leiber clutch, along with a personalised birthday menu by the restaurant.

Birthday gift? Winnie gave her fans a closer look at her shimmering Judith Leiber clutch, along with a personalised birthday menu by the restaurant

Winnie filmed her group of pals singing Happy Birthday as they presented her with a cake, complete with a striking shot of herself on top.

Later on in the evening, she tempted fate as she cracked open a fortune cookie to receive her reading.

'I want another, I don't like this one,' she declared after bulging her eyes at the message, which remains a mystery.

Surprise: Winnie filmed her group of pals singing Happy Birthday as they presented her with a cake, complete with a striking shot of herself on top

Having a blast: Winnie's friends took to their phones to film the model's reaction
Jimmy Nicholson said he was blindsided after learning Stephanie Lynch had called Holly Kingston the C-word on The Bachelor.

Speaking to Yahoo! Lifestyle on Thursday, the 31-year-old Bachelor admitted he had some regrets after choosing Steph for a solo date during Wednesday's episode.

The pilot confessed that if he knew then what he knows now, he never would have chosen the 27-year-old, branding her behaviour on the show 'disappointing'.

Kept in the dark: Jimmy Nicholson (pictured) said he was blindsided after learning Stephanie Lynch had called Holly Kingston the C-word on The Bachelor

'Watching the show back, I'm looking at it and I'm thinking, "No, don't do it mate! What are you doing?! Don't take her on this date!"' he admitted.

'Now I've seen everything that everyone's said, and I think it's important to realise that I didn't know any of this kind of stuff.

'People might be like, "Get rid of her, get rid of her", but I wasn't seeing what we're seeing now back then.'

'No idea': Speaking to Yahoo! Lifestyle on Thursday, the 31-year-old Bachelor admitted he had some regrets after choosing Stephanie Lynch (right) for a solo date during Wednesday's episode

During a particularly jarring moment, Stephanie branded Holly, 27, a 'c**t', before later denying she'd ever said it, despite video evidence to the contrary.

While drinking tea with some of the other ladies in the Bachelor mansion, Stephanie declared: 'So Holly's a c**t.'

She later denied having said it after being confronted by Holly at the cocktail party just hours later, before then adding: 'Isn't she kind of one though?'

Buyer's remorse: The pilot confessed that if he knew then what he knows now, he never would have chosen the 27-year-old, branding her behaviour on the show 'disappointing'

Later learning about what had transpired, Jimmy admitted he wasn't happy with the 'schoolyard antics' on the show.

'If that's the way you're acting on national television when you're supposed to be a little bit more polished and wary of your audience, then how are you going to act outside of it?' he asked.

Previous contestants of the reality show have blamed 'editing' for their bad behaviour, but Jimmy maintained there was no excuse.

Offensive: During a particularly jarring moment, Stephanie branded Holly Kingston (pictured) a 'c**t', before later denying she'd ever said it, despite video evidence to the contrary

'People sort of say, "Oh, the edit stitched me up", but they don't tell us to say that. There's no script, so if you say something, you've got to own it,' he said.

After watching the show back on TV, Jimmy maintained he had 'no idea' about what went on behind his back, and said he 'definitely would have changed my narrative' if he'd seen it while filming.

He added that he 'probably would have just gotten rid of some people earlier on if I had seen that', but understood it made for entertaining TV.
Sam Burgess embraced his younger brother George in an emotional reunion on Thursday.

The 32-year-old greeted his sibling, 29, with a hug outside of a Sydney hotel as they prepared to head home in a luxury hire car.

Each wearing face masks, the brothers appeared to share a heartfelt word with each other after George relocated to the UK in 2019 to play footy.

Welcome home: Sam Burgess, 32 (left), embraced his brother George, 29 (right), in an emotional reunion outside of a Sydney hotel on Thursday

George was also holding a large white envelope - likely with his hotel release documents.

Sam clearly missed his four-year-old nephew Boston as he picked up him up to give him a big hug.

The former South Sydney Rabbitohs star player then loaded their luggage into the back of the car.

Burgess boys together again: Sam also picked up his four-year-old nephew to give him a hug as they prepared to go home, after two weeks in hotel quarantine

Big hug: George was also holding a large white envelope - likely with his hotel release documents

Covid safety first: Each wearing face masks, the brothers appeared to share a heartfelt word with each other after George relocated to the UK in 2019 to play footy

Growing fast: Sam picked up little Boston to give him a big hug

Meanwhile George, who played for the Wigan Warriors, helped settle his son in his seat.

George and his son's hotel quarantine stint comes after his wife Joanna and their two young daughters - Birdie, three, and Blainey, two - completed their two weeks over the weekend.

The model confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she and her two young daughters were in quarantine in Australia and that they travelled separately from George and Boston due to restriction complications.

Family: Sam clearly missed his nephew after over a year in the UK with his family

Helping hand: The former South Sydney Rabbitohs star player then loaded their luggage into the back of the car

Finally heading home: Meanwhile, George helped settle his son in his seat in the car. George and Boston's hotel quarantine stint comes after his wife Joanna and their two young daughters - Birdie, three, and Blainey, two - completed their two weeks over the weekend

'George, our three children and I have moved back to Australia. Unfortunately, we are having to quarantine separately,' the mother of three said.

'Long story short, Singapore changed their travel laws last minute. My son [Boston] was required to have a Covid test to enter Singapore for our connecting flight back home, which takes 24-48 hours to get results back.

'My husband stayed in the UK waiting for their results, which meant the girls and I had to travel separately,' she said.

Separate travel: Joanna confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday that she and her two young daughters - Birdie, three, and Blainey, two - were in quarantine in Australia and that they travelled separately from George and Boston due to restriction complications

The family had relocated to the UK in 2019, after George - who formerly played as a prop for the South Sydney Rabbitohs - signed a three-year deal with England's Wigan Warriors.

He played eight times in the 2020 season, before leaving the club due to an ongoing hip injury.

In June 2021, George confirmed his interest in an NRL comeback with the St George Illawarra Dragons following life-changing hip surgery.

He's since signed a contract to play with the team until 2023.
Victoria will be plunged into its sixth Covid-19 lockdown on Thursday.

And Rebecca Judd was gifted dinner to feed her family-of-six ahead of Melbourne's lockdown.

The 38-year-old WAG shared a video to Instagram, showing fans the gift box which includes salad, soups, tacos and cocktails.

Gift: Rebecca Judd was gifted dinner to feed her family on Thursday as Melbourne is plunged into its sixth lockdown

'Hey Baysiders, great news Blakeaway is opening this Saturday in Brighton. Look at all this amazing food. Just so delicious,' Rebecca said.

'There is soups and salads. I'm having pulled lamb tacos for dinner tonight but I also wanted to show you that they do premixed cocktails.'

Rebecca and her husband, Chris Judd, live in a $7.3million mansion with their four children, son Oscar, 10, daughter Billie, seven, and twin boys Darcy and Tom, four.

Dinner time: The 38-year-old WAG shared a video to Instagram, showing fans the box which included salad, soups, tacos and cocktails

Victoria will be plunged into its sixth Covid lockdown after the state recorded eight new infections.

The state-wide shutdown will start at 8pm on Thursday and last for a week.

It comes just nine days after Victorians were released from the previous lockdown.

Premier Daniel Andrews said there was 'no alternative' because the Delta strain of coronavirus is so contagious.

Family: Rebecca and her husband, Chris Judd, live in a $7.3million Brighton mansion with their four children, son Oscar, daughter Billie, seven, and twin boys Darcy and Tom, four

'None of us want to be in a situation where we have to lockdown again but the Delta variant moves so fast,' he said.

'There are no alternatives to lockdown. If you wait, it will spread. And once it spreads, you can never even hope to run alongside it.'

Residents are only allowed to leave home for exercise, essential shopping, care-giving, essential work and getting vaccinated.
Natalie Portman stepped out for the first time since resigning from her new movie Days of Abandonment on Thursday.

The actress kept a low profile in a white hat and face mask as she strolled the streets of Sydney.

The 40-year-old dressed casually in grey sport tights and matching coloured jumper during the outing.

Outing: Natalie Portman stepped out in Sydney for the first time since cancelling her new movie Days of Abandonment for 'unforeseen personal reasons'

Natalie teamed the ensemble with a pair of comfortable black sneakers.

The actress carried a brown paper bag and glanced at her phone as she strolled the streets.

Natalie's outing comes after she pulled out from her new movie just a day before filming was set to commence, effectively putting a stop to production, The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

'Due to unforeseen personal reasons, Natalie Portman has stepped down from HBO Films' Days of Abandonment prior to the start of filming,' HBO said in a statement.

Out and about: The actress kept a low profile in a white hat and face mask as she strolled the streets of Sydney

'Unfortunately, the production will not move forward. We are very sorry we won't be able to bring this beautiful story to the screen with our talented writer/director and cast.

'We send our sincere thanks to our cast, producers, and crew for all their passion and hard work.'

Natalie was also set to executive produce the film, based on the best-selling novel by Elena Ferrante.

Cancelled: Natalie's outing comes after she pulled out from her new movie just a day before filming was set to commence, effectively putting a stop to production, The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday

The film had been in pre-production, and centred around a woman named Tess, who abandoned her own dreams in favour of maintaining a stable home life, only for her husband to walk out on her.

The Federal Government had committed $3.4million to the project as part of its location incentive program, while Communication Minister Paul Fletcher had said he expected the production to generate more than $25million for the local economy.

While it's not known what 'personal reasons' prevented her from going ahead with the film, Natalie has deleted the majority of posts from her Instagram account.

Natalie and her family relocated Down Under in September last year, ahead of her filming Thor: Love and Thunder in Sydney.
Mia Fevola's AFL star boyfriend Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has signed on for another two years to play with the Western Bulldogs.

The 19-year-old told Perth Now on Thursday he was happy to stay with the team that gave him his first opportunity.

'It's an unreal moment and I'm excited to re-sign for another two years.'

Making deals: Jamarra Ugle-Hagan [pictured] has resigned with the Western Bulldogs. 'It's an unreal moment and I'm excited to re-sign for another two years,' he told Perth Now

'I've got time to develop as a player and person on and off the field, so it's good to stay around at the Kennel,' he added.

'It still doesn't feel real, I'm still getting used to the team around me. You watch these guys on TV and now you're playing with them,' he said, referring to the likes of colleagues such as Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae.

The deal will see him based with the footy team until the end of 2024.

Happy: The 19-year-old footy star, who is dating Mia Fevola, said of signing: 'I've got time to develop as a player and person on and off the field, so it's good to stay around at the Kennel'

Rising through the ranks: The deal will see him based with the footy team until the end of 2024

In addition to rising through the AFL ranks and proving himself to club bosses, Jamarra has also raised his social profile thanks to his blossoming romance with Mia, the stepdaughter of retired footy star Brendan Fevola.

Brendan has given his stamp of approval to Mia's beau, recently telling Triple M Footy: 'He does the dishes, he washes, he does everything, he's amazing.'

'He's got some strings to his bow, I've got to give it to him. Good kid,' the radio star added.

Mia and Jamarra went public with their relationship in an Instagram post back in March.

Approved: Mia's stepfather Brendan has given his stamp of approval to Mia's beau, recently telling Triple M Footy: 'He does the dishes, he washes, he does everything, he's amazing.'Pictured, left to right: Brendan, his wife Alex, Mia and Jamarra

Enough is enough: Mia and Jamarra went public with their relationship in an Instagram post back in March

Unfortunately in the days that followed, the 21-year-old influencer and businesswoman was subjected to misogynistic abuse from Instagram trolls.

She shared examples of the vile comments she received in an Instagram Stories post after debuting their romance.

The courageous brunette said she's 'sick of staying silent' and is 'ashamed' at how 'normalised' bullying is.

Mia defiantly told trolls to be 'quiet' if they have nothing positive to say.
Great British Bake Off star John Whaite is set to take to the dancefloor on Strictly, two years after discussing TV after-care for contestants.

It was announced on Thursday morning that the TV chef, 33, would be one of the stars of this year's show, nine years on from his triumph on Great British Bake Off, which sadly led to a host of mental health battles.

In 2019, John penned a piece for The Telegraph, in which he called for 'serious reform' into how stars of shows are prepared for life after TV, as he himself fell into financial woes, 'dried-up' work and began drinking excessively.

In the piece, he did insist that even if help had been available to him, he would still have gone down the same path given his emotions at the time

Back: Great British Bake Off star John Whaite is set to take to the dancefloor on Strictly, two years after discussing TV after-care for contestants

On Thursday, the fourth Strictly Come Dancing star was revealed as John, who will be one-half of the show's first all-male partnership.

After much controversy during the show's 17 year run over the prospect of a same-sex pairing, Strictly is finally addressing the call for change with John delightedly praising the 'great step forward in representation and inclusion'.

He said: 'What's exciting for me, is that I'm going to be one half of the first all-male partnership, which is a great step forward in representation and inclusion.'

His history-making turn on the show comes two years after he lifted the lid on how he struggled with post Bake Off-life.

Tough: In 2019, John penned a piece for The Telegraph, in which he called for 'serious reform' into how stars of shows are prepared for life after TV, as he himself fell into financial woes, 'dried-up' work and began drinking excessively (John pictured in 2012)

John confessed that he felt he was beyond help, however he did note that the BBC's aftercare was inadequate given how life changes after TV appearances.

In a piece written for The Telegraph, he penned: 'Some days I'd wish I had never been on the show, because in reality, it totally derailed me from a steady lifepath. I could blame the production company or the BBC.

'It would be simple to point the finger and say they gave me no advice on how to manage the transience of the industry, or how to comprehend the temporariness of my appeal.

'They didn't, and perhaps in the wake of reality TV star meltdowns and suicides, there should be a serious reform of the way contributors are prepared for, and guided through, their post-show life.

Help: John confessed that he felt he was beyond help, however he did note that the BBC's aftercare was inadequate given how life changes after TV appearances

'But I don't think it would have made an ounce of difference even if they had. Addiction to the razzle dazzle came naturally to the youthful me...

'What I failed to remember though, was that age-old mantra: be careful what you wish for. Because as the next batch of Bake Off stars emerged, my appeal shrank. Year on year, the working days became fewer and financial offers were smaller.

'The life to which I had become accustomed slowly dissolved. With more days alone at home, waiting by the phone like an anxious 1980s teenager urging their crush to call, my already depressed state of mind worsened...

Tough: Speaking to the Irish Times in the same year, she said: 'I've just come off anti-depressants and I actually feel quite stable. I think they've knocked things about in my brain and I hope it lasts forever'

'I drank more than I should have and posted unwisely on Instagram and Twitter. If I knew then what I knew now, would I do it all again? Absolutely. But I'd approach it so differently.'

Speaking to the Irish Times in the same year, he said: 'I've just come off anti-depressants and I actually feel quite stable. I think they've knocked things about in my brain and I hope it lasts forever...

'It just happens. At first, I don't feel it, I just feel very tired and flat and then, more and more, over the past couple of years, it's become suicidal tendencies and thoughts'.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for BBC for comment.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit samaritans.org
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Filming is underway in Scotland on the hotly-anticipated fifth series of The Crown - with the last two seasons of the hit drama covering the Royal Family in the 1990s to 2003.

With the shift in time periods comes a shift in line-up, with familiar faces such as Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth II) and Emma Corrin (Princess Diana) replaced by new stars.

MailOnline takes a look at the brand new faces of the Netflix Royal drama as it prepares to depict one of the most turbulent periods in the Monarchy's history...

PRINCESS DIANA - PLAYED BY ELIZABETH DEBICKI (REPLACING EMMA CORRIN)

Out with the old... MailOnline takes a look at The Crown's new stars for series five - it was announced that Elizabeth had been cast as Princess Diana last August, and fans of the Netflix show were delight to hear that the Australian actress would be taking on the role

Screen star: From her big break in 2013's The Great Gatsby to becoming a household name thanks to 2016 TV series The Night Manager, Elizabeth steadily climbed up the ranks of showbusiness to secure the career-making role

It was announced that Elizabeth, 30, had been cast as Princess Diana last August, and fans of the Netflix show were delighted to hear that the Australian actress would be taking on the role - replacing Emma Corrin.

Past: Emma Corrin played the People's Princess in the show's fourth series

From her big break in 2013's The Great Gatsby to becoming a household name thanks to 2016 TV series The Night Manager, the star steadily climbed up the ranks of showbusiness to secure the career-making role.

A former ballerina in training, Elizabeth switched to theatre during high school. She studied at University of Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts, where she was also awarded the Richard Pratt Bursary for outstanding acting students.

She shot to stardom after making her debut in The Great Gatsby in 2013, after impressing the film's director, Baz Luhrmann, with her brief appearance in the 2011 Australian movie A Few Best Men.

Since then, she has appeared in several movies including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Tenet and The Cloverfield Paradox.

Elizabeth has also done voiceovers for Peter Rabbit and appeared in television series The Kettering Incident and The Night Manager alongside Tom Hiddleston.

The actress said of her casting last year: 'Princess Diana's spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many. It is my privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.'

PRINCESS ANNE - PLAYED BY CLAUDIA HARRISON (REPLACING ERIN DOHERTY)

Who's who? The actress playing Princess Anne in The Crown's fifth season has been revealed as The IT Crowd and Humans star Claudia

RADA-trained performer Claudia was spotted in character on-set at Scotland's Covesea Lighthouse on Tuesday, where she was shooting opposite Imelda Staunton, who is taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix show.

Claudia, 45, boasts a number of TV gigs on her CV as well as a high-profile co-star following her turn in 2005 thriller Archangel, where she starred opposite Daniel Craig in the show about a mystery concerning dictator Josef Stalin.

Throwback: The role of Princess Anne was previously played by Erin Doherty in The Crown's third and fouth series

She is a farmers wife and a mother-of-three and is said to have been shocked and delighted when she was chosen to play Anne when the Royal was aged in her 40s.

As well as Imelda, Claudia was also shooting alongside Theo Fraser Steele, who is thought to be playing Anne's second husband Timothy Laurence.

After she was seen on set of Tuesday, tongues began wagging over the identity of who was playing the royal and also over her remarkable likeness to Princess Anne.

One Twitter account entitled Royal Watcher, shared a message reading: 'Ok I think the actress playing Princess Anne is called Claudia Harrison? #TheCrown', alongside a trio of images of Claudia in different roles as well as an image from on-set.

The role of Princess Anne was previously played by Erin Doherty in 2019's third and last year's fourth series of The Crown.

TIMOTHY LAURENCE - PLAYED BY THEO FRASER STEELE

Royal role: The Crown's fifth season will feature The Thick Of It star and London deli owner Theo Fraser Steele playing Princess Anne's husband Timothy Laurence (pictured on-set on Tuesday)

Busy: Theo's acting career spans back to 1996, when he starred in Casualty while he also played Christian Holhurst in political satire The Thick Of It in 2005. As well as acting, he is a successful deli owner and runs a shop with his wife in Hackney

The Thick Of It star and London deli owner Theo Fraser Steele plays Princess Anne's husband Timothy Laurence.

He cut a dapper figure during filming to play the role of Anne's spouse, who she married in 1992 after splitting from Mark Phillips.

Theo's acting career spans back to 1996, when he starred in Casualty while he also played Christian Holhurst in political satire The Thick Of It in 2005. As well as acting, he is a successful deli owner and runs a shop with his wife in Hackney.

Theo comes from Essex and trained to be an actor in London before working with Bill Nighy and Stella Gonet in Richard Eyres production of David Hares Skylight at the National Theatre aged just 23.

He went on to have many stage roles both in the capital and across the country. In The Thick Of It he played an MPs son who was shoved up against a wall and subjected to a torrent of abuse by the foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker.

Speaking in 2018 about moving from acting to food, when he told The West Morland Gazette: 'We didnt choose to do it - we sort of fell into it. It started with just me. We now own the business and have a staff of 12'.

PRINCE ANDREW - PLAYED BY JAMES MURRAY (REPLACING TOM BYRNE)

The Crown series 5: James Murray is set to take on the role of Prince Andrew following his TV appearances in Cutting It and Primeval (James pictured in 2018)

Working hard: The Mancunian actor (pictured with his wife Sarah Parish and their daughter Nell in 2019) is also currently filming Masters of Air - the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-produced Apple TV series

New guard: Tom Byrne played the Queen's second son in series four

James Murray, 46, will take on the role of Prince Andrew, replacing Tom Byrne, who played the Queen's second son in series four.

James' previous endeavours include his portrayal of Stephen Hart in ITV's Primeval and playing Liam Carney in BBC One's season four of Cutting It.

He acted as the lead DCI in completely improvised show Suspects.

The Mancunian actor, who is married to actress Sarah Parish, is also currently filming Masters of Air - the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-produced Apple TV series.

PRINCE CHARLES - PLAYED BY DOMINIC WEST (REPLACING JOSH O'CONNOR)

New role: Dominic West is set to play Prince Charles in the final two series of The Crown

New role: A TV insider said: 'Show bosses looked at several stars for the sought-after role, but he was by far their preferred actor. Now both parties are hammering out a deal' (Dominic is pictured in July 2021)

Dominic West is set to play Prince Charles in the final two series of The Crown.

Critically acclaimed: Dominic will replace Josh O'Connor who has played the role for two series

The actor, 51, is understood to be taking on the role of Prince Charles at the time of his affair from Diana, Princess of Wales, with his second wife Camilla Parker Bowles.

A TV insider told The Sun: 'Show bosses looked at several stars for the sought-after role, but he was by far their preferred actor. Now both parties are hammering out a deal.'

They revealed how the 'irony' of the casting will 'not be lost on anyone' following his recent scandal where he was pictured embracing actress co-star Lily James last year.

Dominic will replace Josh O'Connor who has played the role for two series.

PRINCE PHILIP - PLAYED BY JONATHAN PRYCE (REPLACING TOBIAS MENZIES)

New role: The Two Popes actor Jonathan Pryce, 73, has said he is 'confident' to take on the 'daunting' role of Prince Philip in The Crown's final two seasons

Out and about: The actor's role in The Crown comes after he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Netflix's The Two Popes. However he lost out on the gong to Joaquin Phoenix (Jonathan is pictured with his wife Kate in 2011)

Jonathan Pryce has said he is 'confident' about 'tackling the daunting prospect of portraying Prince Philip' in seasons five and six of The Crown.

It was revealed in August that the actor, 74, will join the star-studded cast of the hit Netflix show and portray the royal through the 1990s and 2000s.

Past: Tobias Menzies played the late Royal in series three and four

Speaking after the announcement, Jonathan added that it will be 'a joy' to act alongside Imelda Staunton as the Queen and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.

In a statement shared on social media by Netflix, Jonathan said: 'I am delighted to be working with Netflix again.

'The positive experience I had making The Two Popes has given me the confidence to tackle the daunting prospect of portraying Prince Philip.

'To be doing so with Peter Morgan in the company of Imelda [Staunton] and Lesley [Manville] will be a joy.'

As well as praising the other on-screen talent lined up for the show, Jonathan added that he was excited to be working with screenwriter Peter Morgan.

The actor's role in The Crown comes after he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Netflix's The Two Popes. However he lost out on the gong to Joaquin Phoenix.

In previous instalments of The Crown Prince Philip has been played by actors Matt Smith, in the first two seasons, and Tobias Menzies, in series three and four.

PRINCESS MARGARET - PLAYED BY LESLEY MANVILLE (REPLACING HELENA BONHAM CARTER)

Congrats! Lesley Manville has been cast as Princess Margaret (right in 1966) for the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown

Exciting: Lesley is believed to have been producers first choice for the role, is set to play the Queen's younger sister during one of the 'darkest periods of her life' (pictured in February 2020)

Lesley Manville has been cast as Princess Margaret.

The actress, 64, will be taking the reins from current star Helena Bonham Carter for the fifth and final series of the Netflix hit.

Goodbye: The actress, 64, will be taking the reins from current star Helena Bonham Carter for the fifth and final series of the Netflix hit

Lesley is believed to have been producers first choice for the role, is set to play the Queen's younger sister during one of the 'darkest periods of her life'.

Confirming the news in a statement, she said: 'I could not be happier to be playing Princess Margaret. The baton is being passed on from two formidable actresses and I really don't want to let the side down.

'Furthermore, to play siblings with my dear friend Imelda Staunton will be nothing short of a complete joy.'

The role has been played by Helena for season three and upcoming season four, and was taken on by Vanessa Kirby in season one and two.

A source told The Sun: 'Lesley is hugely respected by the creators of The Crown and was their first choice to play Princess Margaret this time.

'They wanted a star who could tackle the difficult role of a royal entering one of the darkest periods of her life, when the Windsors faced endless scandals and she was dogged by ill health.

'That's why Lesley was one of the first actors they approached to join the new cast, and remains one of the few who has fully committed to The Crown.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II - PLAYED BY IMELDA STAUNTON (REPLACING OLIVIA COLMAN)

Her Royal Highness: The very first image of Imelda Staunton in character as Queen Elizabeth II was revealed last week

Casual: Speaking about joining the hit show, Imelda, 65, admitted she is 'frightened' to take on the Queen Elizabeth role in The Crown

Speaking about joining the hit show, Imelda, 65, admitted she is 'frightened' to take on the Queen Elizabeth role in The Crown.

The actress is following on from Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, but says she has an 'extra challenge' playing a recent version as it will be fresh in the audiences mind.

Before: Oscar-winner Olivia Colman has played the monarch for two series

Speaking to The Sun, Imelda said: 'When Claire was in the first series, to all of us that felt like history. Then following on from that with Olivia, again it seems like history.

'Now we start in 1991 playing someone much more recent. That's the extra challenge I have, people saying, "Oh, I don't think she's like that at all"'.

Many members of the series four cast have also joked that they won't be giving any advice to their successors. Oscar-winning actress Olivia said recently: 'I haven't spoken to Imelda and I wouldn't dare offer any advice about playing the Queen.

'Imelda is extraordinary and she's going to do it all much better than me. I can't wait to watch what she does.'

The Crown lovers took to Twitter to react to the news.

One wrote: 'Gonna miss this Queen [Olivia Colman] but I'm sure Imelda will do a brilliant job. My time with the crown is done, some of last seasons cast and this seasons were just not it for me. Good luck to everyone involved tho.'

One fan simply penned: 'perfection' with another calling the new line-up 'very strong'.

It has also been reported that young actors Lucas Barber-Grant and Arran Tinker are returning to reprise their roles as Princes William and Harry respectively, after making their debut in season four last year, but this yet to be officially confirmed.

The pair appeared in sweet scenes which saw the brothers playing in the swimming pool with their mother Diana, while their father Charles watched on.

The final two series of The Crown will cover the Royal Family's history throughout the 1990s and into 2003, however it is not yet known which moments will be seen.

Coming back? It has also been reported that young actors Lucas Barber-Grant and Arran Tinker are returning to reprise their roles as Princes William and Harry respectively, after making their debut in season four last year (pictured)

Filming is already underway in Scotland with Imelda appearing to recreate the Queen and Prince Philip's Royal trip to Belfast in 2003.

There are several poignant moments which could be used, including the Queen making a speech on her 40th anniversary of her accession in 1992, in which she called the year an 'annus horriblis'.

She was referring to the breakdown of three of her children's marriages; Prince Andrew, Princess Anne's and Prince Charles' divorce from Princess Diana.
Kaitlynn Carter announced her pregnancy on June 17, revealing that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kristopher Brock.

And during Wednesday's episode of The Hills: New Beginnings' season finale, her ex Brody Jenner's reaction about her baby news was finally revealed.

'Listen, how well do you know this guy?' referring to Kristopher. 'We spent six years together and I think that me being one of the last people to find out, that's what hurt me the most.'

The latest: Kaitlynn Carter announced her pregnancy on June 17, revealing that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kristopher Brock

Brody added that he 'unfortunately, I've kind of heard through the grapevine,' about her pregnancy, with Kaitlynn saying that was not her intention.

Kaitlynn said that she wanted to have a private conversation with him about it but couldn't find the right time to do so.

Brody said that they did spend time together with the dogs at his house but she did not say anything.

He added that 'It's not my business. You always told me how you want to be a mother, that's your dream in life. I know for a fact you will be the best mother ever. I just want to make sure you're with the right person.'

Candid: 'Listen, how well do you know this guy?' referring to Kristopher. 'We spent six years together and I think that me being one of the last people to find out, that's what hurt me the most'

Kaitlynn told him: 'It is your business, it was important for me to tell you about it. That was, from the very beginning, that was a priority to me.'

She noted that felt 'a little anxious' about having the conversation with him and even her with her parents.

After their conversation, Brody said in the confessional: 'It's just a little soon, but I don't know. What's done is done. I just hope that she's making the right decision. Ultimately, I just want to see her happy. If I don't think she's making the right choice, I'll definitely let her know that.'

Soon after his conversation with Kaitlynn, Brody talk to Audrina Patridge about the baby news, speaking about his frustrations with her waiting so long to tell him.

While she will be 'an incredible mother,' Brody said he felt 'left out.'

He told Audrina: 'My main concern was him,' speaking about Kristopher, was 'who is he, I never met him. I thought it was soon. I trust her judgement. I trust she knows what she's doing.'

Meanwhile, Kaitlynn talked to baby daddy Kristopher about her conversation with Brody, noting that it felt like 'a big weight' has been lifted off her shoulders: 'I appreciate Brody's concern, but there was six years of my life I was waiting when I as waiting with Brody to have kids. That's what I know I want and that's what Kris wants as well.'

Conversation: Meanwhile, Kaitlynn talked to baby daddy Kristopher about her conversation with Brody, noting that it felt like 'a big weight' has been lifted off her shoulders

With the news out, Kristopher said he was 'really excited' to meet with Brody.

They met at a Wild West themed night out and Brody congratulated Kristopher about the baby news, adding that he's heard 'a lot of very nice things about him.'

Brody gave his thoughts in the confession later in the night: 'He seems friendly, he seems nice. I don't know anything about him. I think it's a little quick that she's pregnant already.. that was quick. You never know.'

Adding: 'I think that given some time and hanging out in different circumstances, things will only improve from here. They're not punching each other in the face.'

Meeting: They met at a Wild West themed night out and Brody congratulated Kristopher about the baby news, adding that he's heard 'a lot of very nice things about him'

Kaitlynn and Kristopher dated for 13 months before announcing their baby news on June 17.

Kristopher has a six-year-old son named Charlie from his previous marriage to Laura Vassar.

The former couple, co-founded the Brock Collection together, split in 2019.

Kaitlynn and Brody were together for six years until August 2019; They even had a wedding ceremony in Indonesia in 2018.

They never legally wed in the US despite that.

After their split, Kaitlynn dated Miley Cyrus for two months in fall 2019.
She's been soaking up the culture in Albania.

And Dua Lipa put on an amorous display with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid as they enjoyed a cosy dinner on Wednesday.

The New Rules hitmaker, 25, posed for a cute selfie while patiently waiting for a meal with the model, 22, after jetting to Ibiza following their European break.

Say cheese! Dua Lipa, 25, put on an amorous display with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid as they enjoyed a cosy dinner in Butrint on Wednesday

Dua cut a stylish figure in a form-fitting white dress as she waited for her food at an outdoor table in the swanky eatery.

The singer briefly stopped to pose for a selfie with her beau, while she also documented their evening on social media.

Dua was certainly dressed to impress in the form-fitting white dress with revealing cut-outs as she sipped her water while waiting for her food to arrive.

Wow! The New Rules hitmaker was dressed to impress in a revealing white cut-out dress as she waited for her meal with the model

Sweet: Both Dua and Anwar seemed more loved-up than ever as they sat at the table and waited for their meal to arrive

Hungry? The pair were joined by a group of friends as they waited for their food at the swanky fish restaurant

Gorgeous: The star finished her glamorous look with a pair of coral pointed-toe heels as she cosied up to her beau

Flawless: The stunner left her raven tresses to cascade over her shoulders, while she highlighted her features with glam make-up including orange eyeshadow

For the gram! Dua appeared to be documenting her evening on social media, as she took snaps on her phone

Dua also took to Instagram to share a glimpse of her glamorous dinner look, showcasing her svelte physique in a shimmering white mini dress.

She showed off her toned physique and slender pins in the form-fitting number, while going bare-foot on the beach.

The stunner left her raven tresses to cascade over her shoulders amid the idyllic outing, while she highlighted her features with a slick of glam make-up including orange eyeshadow.

She accessorised her thigh-skimming pearlescent dress with a huge pair of quirky silver earrings.

Wow: Dua also took to Instagram to share a glimpse of her glamorous dinner look, showcasing her svelte physique in a shimmering white mini dress

Stunner: She wowed as she posed for a number of solo shots before cosying up to her loved ones in the new snaps shared to Instagram

Beach babe: Dua showed off her toned physique and slender pins in the form-fitting number, while going bare-foot on the beach

Best friends: One snap showed Dua alongside her pals as they enjoyed an unexpected evening at the beach

Radiant: Dua also shared a picture from what appeared to be earlier in the day as she enjoyed a meal at an idyllic beach-side location

Quirky: The star made a bold statement in her revealing white dress as she waited for her dinner with her pals

Dua also shared a picture from what appeared to be earlier in the day as she enjoyed a meal at an idyllic beach-side location.

Captioning her latest post, she simply wrote: 'Water child'.

It comes after Dua appeared to be having a fabulous time on Wednesday as she balanced a glass on her head while performing a traditional dance at her resort in Kep Merli.

Need a break? While waiting for his food, Anwar briefly stepped away from the table to enjoy a cigarette break

Posing up a storm: Dua posed for a playful snap with her pals as she enjoyed the meal

Stunning: She made a bold statement in her eye-catching white mini dress

Sweet: The pair appeared to be deep in conversation as they settled down for dinner together

History: Dua was born in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents who fled conflict and political instability in the Balkans

In a new video, Dua was seen showing off her impressive balancing skills as she danced with a glass of water on top of her head.

The chart-topper waved around a handkerchief while flashing a glimpse of her toned midriff in a camel crop top and matching skirt.

Dua appeared in her element as she laughed and sang along to the music as a plethora of women sang and danced around her.

Captioning the clip, she penned: 'Tell me ur Albanian without telling me youre Albanian.'

Happy: The Levitating singer and the younger brother of model sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid began dating in June 2019

Open: The couple have given fans multiple glimpses of their love on social media since making their relationship official

Together: Talking about her romance with Anwar to Rolling Stone magazine, the star recently said: 'I'm very comfortable in the relationship, more so than any others'

Meanwhile, in a further post shared to her social media, Dua sizzles as she goes braless beneath a black crochet crop top and a slinky midi skirt.

The stunner looked incredible as she posed up a storm in front of a large plant, boosting her height with purple heeled mules.

She swept her raven tresses into a half up, half down style, while she added gold jewellery including stylish pendant and an ankle bracelet.

Dua was born in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents who fled conflict and political instability in the Balkans.

Open: Dua also discussed how the couple spent part of 2020 isolating on Anwar's family farm in Pennsylvania

'Quiet': The singer admitted that she loved the quiet pace of life and also used the opportunity to improve her horse riding skills

The star is on holiday with her family and her boyfriend Anwar Hadid.

The Levitating singer and the younger brother of model sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid began dating in June 2019, and have given fans a glimpse of their romance on social media ever since.

Talking about her romance with Anwar to Rolling Stone magazine, the star recently said: 'I'm very comfortable in the relationship, more so than any others.'

Relaxing: She said: 'Wake up around 9:00, 9:30, shower, get dressed, have a bit of breakfast, take the dog out on a really nice long walk, maybe do some yoga, make some lunch, hang out'

Coy: The hitmaker also spoke about boyfriend Anwar in a recent issues of British Vogue, saying that she tries to balance 'being so excited and in love', while keeping their romance private

Private: Dua told the magazine: 'We have all these incredible memories and experiences, and if there's something that we want to share together, then OK that's fun'

Dua also discussed how the couple spent part of 2020 isolating on Anwar's family farm in Pennsylvania.

The singer admitted that she loved the quiet pace of life and also used the opportunity to improve her horse riding skills.

She said: 'Wake up around 9:00, 9:30, shower, get dressed, have a bit of breakfast, take the dog out on a really nice long walk, maybe do some yoga, make some lunch, hang out, watch a movie, play with the animals.'

Speaking out: She added: 'But at the same time, we're quite private - we'll only show you as much as we want you to see'

Views: 'It's a little bit of give and take, trying to find the right balance of being so excited and being in love, and wanting to share that with the people around me, but at the same time not wanting to put too much out there,' she said

Relaxing: Anwar and Dua were joined by a large group of pals for their dinner together

The hitmaker also spoke about boyfriend Anwar in a recent issues of British Vogue, saying that she tries to balance 'being so excited and in love', while keeping their romance private.

Dua told the magazine of posting their relationship on Instagram: 'We have all these incredible memories and experiences, and if there's something that we want to share together, then OK that's fun.'

She added: 'But at the same time, we're quite private - we'll only show you as much as we want you to see.

'It's a little bit of give and take, trying to find the right balance of being so excited and being in love, and wanting to share that with the people around me, but at the same time not wanting to put too much out there.'

Look at her go! Dua appeared to be having a fabulous time on Wednesday as she balanced a glass on her head while performing a traditional dance at her resort in Kep Merli, Albania
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard action star Ryan Reynolds was wearing his iPod Earbuds while running errands in Manhattan on Thursday.

The 44-year-old Grammy nominee had a spring in his step as he wore a pink button-up, purple pants, and white sneakers.

Ryan has been hard at work learning how to tap dance with Will Ferrell on the Boston set of Apple TV's Spirited.

Mariah Carey tunes? The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard action star Ryan Reynolds was wearing his iPod Earbuds while running errands in Manhattan on Thursday

Rocking out: The 44-year-old Grammy nominee had a spring in his step as he wore a pink button-up, purple pants, and white sneakers.

'He's been a comedy idol of mine for a long, long time. It's weird because I'm working with him and he gets to see up close me stealing from him to his face, which is amazing,' Reynolds said on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday.

'The movie is written for people who sing and dance, which we have no history of. We're being taught by Chloe Arnold how to tap dance she's like a tap god.'

Guest co-host Katie Lowes asked the wisecracking Canadian if he asked his pal Hugh Jackman for advice considering he's a Tony-winning triple threat.

'And he will not let you forget it for one second!' Ryan stressed.

'He's been a comedy idol of mine for a long, long time': Ryan has been hard at work learning how to tap dance with Will Ferrell (R, pictured July 6) on the Boston set of Apple TV's Spirited

Reynolds said on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday: 'It's weird because I'm working with him and he gets to see up close me stealing from him to his face, which is amazing'

The wisecracking Canadian continued: 'The movie is written for people who sing and dance, which we have no history of. We're being taught by Chloe Arnold (3-R, pictured June 8) how to tap dance she's like a tap god'

'And he will not let you forget it for one second!' Guest co-host Katie Lowes (2-R) asked the wisecracking Canadian if he asked his pal Hugh Jackman for advice considering he's a Tony-winning triple threat

Ryan said: 'I did actually call Hugh Jackman (pictured in 2019) and ask for some advice, because I don't know what I'm going into. It's just, learning a new thing like that, it's scary'

'I did actually call Hugh Jackman and ask for some advice, because I don't know what I'm going into. It's just, learning a new thing like that, it's scary.'

Sean Anders' $75M-budget Christmas musical comedy - based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol - also stars Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and Sunita Mani.

On September 9, Reynolds will celebrate his ninth wedding anniversary with second wife Blake Lively, who attended the Free Guy premiere with him on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old Gossip Girl alum later revealed she was sporting a pair of Converse high-tops beneath her glamorous pink-sequin cutout Prabal Gurung gown.

Ken and Barbie! On September 9, Reynolds will celebrate his ninth wedding anniversary with second wife Blake Lively (L), who attended the Free Guy premiere with him on Tuesday

Sneaky sneakers: The 33-year-old Gossip Girl alum later revealed she was sporting a pair of Converse high-tops beneath her glamorous pink-sequin cutout Prabal Gurung gown

The former Green Lantern co-stars are proud parents of three daughters - James, 6; Inez, 4; and Betty, 21 months.

Audiences can finally catch Ryan as bank teller/NPC Guy in Shawn Levy's thrice-delayed comedy, which hits US/UK theaters August 13.

The PG-13 video game-set flick also features Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Taika Waititi, Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, Tina Fey, John Krasinski, and the late Alex Trebek.
Love Island's Kaz Kamwi has been receiving 'vulgar racist abuse' on her Instagram account, her family have revealed.

A note appeared on her stories on Thursday, written by her loved ones, hitting back at those attacking the reality personality while she is oblivious inside the villa in Majorca.

Kaz - who is currently immersed in a love triangle with Matt and Tyler in the villa, despite Tyler's terrible treatment of her after Casa Amor - has entrusted her family with looking after her social media while she's on the show.

Attack: Love Island's Kaz Kamwi has been receiving 'vulgar racist abuse' on her Instagram account, her family have revealed

They posted: 'Morning guys. Kaz's family and friends here. We understand that a lot of you love watching the show and that people will have differing opinions.

'However, this does not excuse the vulgar racist abuse we have been receiving on her account!'

They ended things with: 'Please remember to always #bekind'

The message failed to elaborate further - but Kaz has been caught up in drama on the show in the past week, perhaps prompting the terrible abuse.

'Vulgar!' A note appeared on her stories on Thursday, written by her loved ones, hitting back at those attacking the reality personality while she is oblivious inside the villa in Majorca

The message failed to elaborate further - but Kaz has been caught up in drama on the show in the past week, perhaps prompting the terrible abuse

Things got heated on Wednesday's episode of Love Island as Clarisse had an argument with Tyler about his feelings for Kaz.

Tyler admitted to Kaz he still had feelings for her, to which she said the door for their potential romance is 'open'.

However, Tyler drew the ire of Clarisse when he told her the this, prompting her to tell him she wished he hadn't brought her back from Casa Amor.

During his conversation with Kaz, Tyler said: 'Do you feel is the door still open?' She replied: 'Door is open, it's like a crack.'

Tyler asked: 'What's keeping it open?' 'The little feelings I have,' Kaz replied.

Tyler then admitted: 'I want you back. I miss how we used to be.'

Tension: Things got heated on Wednesday's episode of Love Island as Clarisse had an argument with Tyler about his feelings for Kaz

Candid: Tyler admitted to Kaz he still had feelings for her, to which she said the door for their potential romance is 'open'

Kaz said: 'Thank you for letting me know. It's up to you too open that door. I'm going to keep getting to know him [Matt]. Are you up for the challenge? You're quiet competitive.'

Speaking to Clarisse after, Tyler said: 'I can't just turn my feelings off for Kaz.' Unimpressed, Clarisse said: 'Yeah, I knew it.'

Tyler said: 'I had a chat with her, nothing happened, I didn't kiss her. I just said it's her. You're still an amazing individual.'

Clarisse responded: 'I can't lie, I don't even want to have this conversation. I knew this was going to happen.'

Awkward: Tyler drew the ire of Clarisse when he told her the truth about Kaz prompting her to tell him she wished he hadn't brought her back from Casa Amor

Tyler said: 'We see each other in the corridor and locking eyes and smiling.'

Clarisse asked: 'Why are you still kissing me, hugging me, being next to me?'

Tyler replied: 'I can't really put time stamps on it. I still wanted to get to knw you fully. I just can't shake that feeling with her.'

Clarisse admitted she wished Tyler hadn't coupled up with her, saying: 'It's cool. I just wish you didn't bring me back here. I could be at home right now.'

Tyler replied: 'I find you attractive.'

Speaking to Clarisse after, Tyler said: 'I can't just turn my feelings off for Kaz'

Heated: Kaz and some of the other girls watched the tense chat between Tyler and Clarisse

Clarisse then stood and stormed off, saying: 'I don't give a f**k. You do your thing, enjoy yourself.'

After the heated chat with Clarisse, Tyler then went to Matt, who Kaz is currently coupled up with, to tell him about his feelings.

He said: 'I'm sorry if she [Kaz] hasn't come to you first and said this cos maybe it should be her but she said the door is still open, like minuscule.

Matt said: 'It is what it is. I'm happy for her to get to know whoever. There's no pressure on me either way.'

Matt then went to speak with Kaz and admitted he wasn't happy to hear she still had feelings for Tyler from him, rather than her.

Clarisse admitted she wished Tyler hadn't coupled up with her, saying: 'It's cool. I just wish you didn't bring me back here. I could be at home right now'

He said: 'I think you should have told me first to be honest. Being told through Tyler is not ideal.'

Kaz replied: 'I didn't purposefully say I'm going to leave Matt in the dark. You told me things aren't that deep between us Matt'

Matt said: 'I said it's early days. You know what, I need to cool down cos you're p*****g me off.'

Kaz was then heard saying to herself: 'I don't know what to do.'

Love Island will continue on Thursday at 9pm on ITV2 and the ITV Hub.

Not happy: Matt spoke to Kaz and admitted he wasn't happy to hear she still had feelings for Tyler from him, rather than her

Love Island 2021 - Meet the contestants

Which Love Island couples are still together?

Where are the Love Island winners now - and what are they worth?
Frenemies Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) are back in action in the second teaser for season four of Cobra Kai, which premieres in December on Netflix.

'Fasten your gi. Tie your belt. Karate is coming to the world's biggest stage where legends are born,' the voiceover states.

'Welcome back to the All Valley Karate Tournament. The soul of the Valley is on the line.'

Premieres in December on Netflix! Frenemies Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) are back in action in the second teaser for season four of Cobra Kai

Martin Kove's villainous John Kreese menacingly grins during the 30-second preview for the hit Karate Kid spin-off.

There were only a few glimpses of the actual season in the trailer, including a shot of Johnny breaking cement blocks while rocking out to tunes on his Walkman.

A mystery female character showcases her parkour skills by leaping from one rooftop to another.

Daniel is seen training alongside his formerly paralyzed pupil Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) backyard at his Miyagi-Do Karate dojo.

The voiceover states: 'Fasten your gi. Tie your belt. Karate is coming to the world's biggest stage where legends are born. Welcome back to the All Valley Karate Tournament. The soul of the Valley is on the line'

'There will be no mercy': Martin Kove's villainous John Kreese menacingly grins during the 30-second preview for the hit Karate Kid spin-off

Hi-yah! There were only a few glimpses of the actual season in the trailer, including a shot of Johnny breaking cement blocks while rocking out to tunes on his Walkman

Leap of faith: A mystery female character showcases her parkour skills by leaping from one rooftop to another

Miraculous recovery: Daniel is seen training alongside his formerly paralyzed pupil Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) backyard at his Miyagi-Do Karate dojo

On Wednesday night, 20-year-old Xolo gushed over Instastory: 'Y'all are in for a treat for Cobra Kai season four! And knock on wood we do season five because I love the show, and it ain't over yet, baby'

On Wednesday night, 20-year-old Xolo gushed over Instastory: 'Y'all are in for a treat for Cobra Kai season four! And knock on wood we do season five because I love the show, and it ain't over yet, baby.'

The fourth season ensemble also includes Mary Mouser, Gianni DeCenzo, Jacob Bertrand, Tanner Buchanan, Peyton List, Courtney Henggeler, Vanessa Rubio, as well as newcomers Dallas Dupree Young and Oona O'Brien.

There was also a quick shot of a certain silver ponytail belonging to Thomas Ian Griffith, who portrayed The Karate Kid III baddie Terry Silver.

'Now the real pain begins!' There was also a quick shot of a certain silver ponytail belonging to Thomas Ian Griffith, who portrayed The Karate Kid III baddie Terry Silver

'Man can't see, he can't fight': The wealthy Dynatox CEO - who co-founded Cobra Kai with Kreese - famously manipulated Daniel into joining their dojo, which created a rift between him and his sensei Mr. Miyagi

Cobra Kai co-creator Hayden Schlossberg tweeted on July 13 that 'the end goal is a spinoff series called DYNATOX that takes place in the 1970s and 80s with [Terry Silver's secretary Margaret Spencer] as the protagonist'

Tease: That same day, the 43-year-old producer tweeted that season four will be 'an explosion of nonstop action' like 'every Rocky fight rolled into one'

The wealthy Dynatox CEO - who co-founded Cobra Kai with Kreese - famously manipulated Daniel into joining their dojo, which created a rift between him and his sensei Mr. Miyagi.

Cobra Kai co-creator Hayden Schlossberg tweeted on July 13 that 'the end goal is a spinoff series called DYNATOX that takes place in the 1970s and 80s with [Terry Silver's secretary Margaret Spencer] as the protagonist.'

That same day, the 43-year-old producer tweeted that season four will be 'an explosion of nonstop action' like 'every Rocky fight rolled into one.'

Spoiler alert! Fans can also probably expect the return of Robyn Lively (L, pictured in 1988) and Sean Kanan (R), who portrayed Jessica Andrews and Mike Barnes in John G. Avildsen's dismally-reviewed 1989 three-quel

'Sweep the Emmy's Johnny!' Both actors have been actively posting about Cobra Kai on their respective Instagram accounts

Airing September 19 on CBS! Cobra Kai impressively received four nominations - including outstanding comedy series - at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards

Fans can also probably expect the return of Robyn Lively and Sean Kanan, who portrayed Jessica Andrews and Mike Barnes in John G. Avildsen's dismally-reviewed 1989 three-quel.

Both actors have been actively posting about Cobra Kai on their respective Instagram accounts.

Cobra Kai impressively received four nominations - including outstanding comedy series - at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, which air September 19 on CBS.
Her DIY skills have been put to the test since moving into her new dream home with her blossoming family.

And Stacey Solomon, 31, proved that hard work does pay off when she gave fans a peek of her unborn daughter's new nursery this week.

A gorgeous pink flower wall captured immediate attention, which left room for a large mirror.

'I get so emotional just being in here': Stacey Solomon showcased her unborn daughter's gorgeous new nursery on Instagram this week

From the snap, the pink theme was further showcased by the bright walls and the built-in wardrobes that appeared in the reflection.

Emotional, Stacey wrote: 'I could honestly cry, it's such lovely flooring. And just makes it feel so much bigger and cleaner in here... I went for a white herringbone laminate so I can mop it and keep it nice and clean in here. I just love it.'

The mother-of-three, who is expecting her first girl with fiance Joe Swash, 39, also gave fans a peek at the room before the renovations.

The most notable differences included the removal of the carpet, the colour theme - and the addition of the vibrant rose wall.

Transformation: The mother-of-three, who is expecting her first girl with fiance Joe Swash, 39, also gave fans a peek at the room before the renovation

Reflecting: Standing in her little princess' nursery, Stacey took a selfie which drew attention to her burgeoning bump

Standing in her little princess' nursery, Stacey took a selfie which drew attention to her burgeoning bump.

Cradling it, she told her 4.6million Instagram followers: 'There's a few more bits I need to do in here, and furniture to put up and then I promise I'll show you the full room I just want it to be totally done first.

'I'm so so proud of it in here and I get so emotional just being in here. We can not wait to bring home to here little princess.'

Girls day out: On Thursday, the media personality enjoyed some retail therapy with home cleaning influencer Sophie Hinchliffe, better known as Mrs Hinch

Retail therapy: Stacey documented their successful trip to Victoria's Secret, one of the shops the boys 'never let them in'

On Thursday, the media personality enjoyed some retail therapy with home cleaning influencer Sophie Hinchliffe, better known as Mrs Hinch.

Stacey documented their successful trip to Victoria's Secret and wrote: 'Picked this one up and told her that we deserve a day with the chance to go to the shops that the boys never let us in'.

Whilst Stacey hit the shops, Joe, who she has been with since 2015, revealed his fiancee's bizarre cravings on talkSPORT.

Funny: Whilst Stacey hit the shops, Joe, who she has been with since 2015, revealed his fiancee's bizarre cravings on talkSPORT (pictured above Stacey with Joe, Zachary, Rex and Leighton)

'She has got the weirdest cravings I have ever seen in my life,' he told Alan Brazil, Jamie O'Hara and Joe Marler.

And Joe is the one tending to her needs. 'She keeps sending me out the supermarket at eight o'clock at night to get cauliflower and mango chutney.

'She has a little bit of curry powder and she covers it with mayonnaise and mixes it all together,' he revealed.

He also added that she 'crunches away like a rabbit', much to the amusement of the radio hosts.

Stacey is due to marry Joe next July after having to postpone their wedding.

She has a son Rex, two, with him, as well as Zachary, 13, and nine-year-old Leighton from previous relationships .
She recently supported Meghan Markle's new global initiative to help working mothers around the world.

And Melissa McCarthy proved to love a good bargain as much as her star status as she stopped by HomeGoods in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old actress rocked a flowing green dress to pick up a few things at the budget store after appearing in a fancy fascinator for Markle's latest endeavor.

Quick stop: Melissa McCarthy proved to love a good bargain as much as her star status as she stopped by HomeGoods in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The Bridesmaids star rocked a trendy tie-dye dress with billowing sleeves and a long ruffled hem.

She tied up her auburn hair into a messy bun and wore a pair of oversized shades with vibrant red slides on her feet.

Melissa carried a brown leather cross-body purse with fringed tassels in addition to a new accent pillow tucked into a plastic bag.

Out and about: The 50-year-old actress rocked a flowing green dress to pick up a few things at the budget store after appearing in a fancy fascinator for Markle's latest endeavor

Cool for the summer: She tied up her auburn hair into a messy bun and wore a pair of oversized shades with vibrant red slides on her feet

Melissa was featured in the Duchess of Sussex's birthday video which was launched as an initiative for people to commit to giving 40 minutes of their time to support women going back to work.

Meghan told Melissa McCarthy: 'It's my 40th birthday and I've got an idea. Because I'm turning 40, I'm asking 40 friends to give 40 minutes of their time to mentor a woman who is remobilising back into the workforce.

'Over 2million women in the US alone and tens of millions around the world have lost their jobs due to Covid. And I think if we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to an act of service, it can have a ripple effect.'

Cheers! Melissa was featured in the Duchess of Sussex's birthday video which was launched as an initiative for people to commit to giving 40 minutes of their time to support women going back to work

Meghan told Melissa McCarthy: 'It's my 40th birthday and I've got an idea. Because I'm turning 40, I'm asking 40 friends to give 40 minutes of their time to mentor a woman who is remobilising back into the workforce

Melissa repeatedly interrupted Meghan with jokes about other things she could be doing to celebrate her birthday, leaning on her royal links suggesting a tea party or a bash on a yacht.

But it was McCarthy who laughs the loudest at the end of the call when she spots Prince Harry juggling outside the window, much to Meghan's surprise.

Meghan called on her star-studded network of actors, activists, fashion designers, musicians and world leaders to back her 40x40 project, which was launched on Wednesday to coincide with her 40th birthday.

Close friends, including Priyanka Chopra, Adele, Stacey Abrams, Jose Andres and Tracee Ellis Ross joined Hillary Clinton and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in announcing their support for the initiative.
She reportedly got caught in the middle of an 'ugly altercation' with her Love Island beau Brad McClelland in Brighton last week.

But Lucinda Strafford, 21, put her woes aside on Thursday, spending the day at the I Saw It First headquarters in Manchester.

The reality star stunned as she posed in a variety of different outfits, including a beautiful pastel mini dress and a hot pink smock which left her slender legs on show.

Simply stunning: Love Island's Lucinda Strafford, 21, stunned in a figure-hugging pastel dress as she showed off her long legs and impressive tan in Manchester on Thursday

Lucinda, who rose to fame on the current series of Love Island and returned to the UK last week, posed in front of a pair of butterfly wings on a wall as she wore the pastel number.

The dress featured hues of pink, beach, white and blue and the shades perfectly accentuated her impressive tan after she sunned herself while filming in Majorca.

Her long blonde tresses were curled into a bouncy 'do and rested over her shoulders and to her front, framing her pretty face.

She completed her look with a pair of baby pink strappy heels to boost her stature by a few inches.

Style queen: The reality star was reportedly caught in a bust-up co-star beau Brad McClelland in Brighton last week but she put her woes aside in a pink smock at I Saw It First's HQ

Going for another look, the television personality wore a hot pink dress which showed off her long slender pins.

The plunging neckline of the garment left her decolletage on show as she gave the camera a sultry look.

And, in another look, Lucinda opted for a grey co-ord consisting of cargo pants and a cropped top, displaying her midriff as she stood with her hands in her pockets.

Keeping it casual: In another look, Lucinda opted for a grey co-ord consisting of cargo pants and a cropped top, displaying her midriff as she stood with her hands in her pockets

Stepping out: The television personality looked content as she wore her casual clothes, covering her arms with a blue denim jacket and carrying a pink bag

Lucinda's fashion parade came after she and her Love Island beau Brad were caught in a bust up in a Brighton nightclub on Sunday night, according to eyewitnesses.

The dumped reality stars were allegedly out when Lucinda is said to have been caught flirting with another man in front of Brad.

Brad then confronted the guy in a heated exchange that got 'very ugly'.

The bizarre dalliance between Lucinda and Brad continues, with the pair caught in a bust up in a Brighton nightclub Shoosh, according to eyewitnesses [pictured on Love Island]

Brad and Lucinda coupled up on the current series of Love Island but were forced to part ways, deciding that 26-year-old Brad would sacrifice his place in the villa and leave Lucinda there to continue her experience.

She wasted no time in coupling up with Aaron Francis, but the pair were dumped last week, with Lucinda already seen to have flitted back to Brad on the outside world.

Yet she seems to be keeping all options open, going by Sunday night's escapades, as reported in The Sun.

Sources say that the nightclub's security had to get involved, asking Brad to leave at 2:30AM on Monday morning.

Calm before the storm: The pair were snapped arriving at the club ahead of the dramatic row on Sunday evening, unaware of the tiff that was about to befall them

Brad was heard threatening the other man, yelling: 'Come on then, I'll knock you out! You're just a little boy!'

Brad - from Northumberland, visiting Brighton to see ex-air hostess Lucinda for their night out at Shoosh - apparently became riled when Lucinda 'secretly invited the other man to meet her in the VIP section' of the club.

Brad's pals claim this was the case, while Lucinda's friends told The Sun it was all a big misunderstanding.

The publication shared photos of her chatting to both men, with Brad clocking her speaking to the second man and yelling at him, while Lucinda attempted to placate him.

'It got very ugly. Lucinda was playing with fire and has strong feelings for both lads. The men didn't fancy sharing and it got very heated,' a source said. 'Trouble flared again outside when Lucinda and her other enthusiast left at the same time.'

A friend of Lucinda said: 'A man kept coming over and trying to talk to her in front of Brad. It got very annoying.'

Lucinda appeared on Lorraine hours later with Aaron, where they took part in an awkward joint interview with Christine Lampard.

Aaron lamented missing out on spending time in Casa Amor, while Lucinda chatted about her recently rekindled romance with Brad.

Hard to watch: Lucinda appeared on Lorraine hours later with Aaron, where they took part in an awkward joint interview with Christine Lampard

Aaron said: 'We were only coupled up for like three or four days. So, we're like "alright guys, calm down," but obviously it's easy to misinterpret.'

Christine turned to Lucinda and stated: 'And you were recoupling with Brad at the weekend, we saw you met up in the papers!'

Lucinda was photographed looking cosy with Brad McClelland in Brighton, who she was coupled up with before she moved onto Aaron.

While looking over at Aaron, Lucinda responded to Christine , saying: 'Yeh I met up with Brad. It's still early stages at the moment. But yeh, we'll see how things go.

'I had a good connection with him, but our time got cut short. It's early stages. It's up in the air at the moment.'

Aaron looked notably uncomfortable and when asked about the situation confessed: 'I'm gutted I missed lads holiday, at Casa Amor.'

Thoughtful: The pair said an emotional farewell just before Lucinda cracked on with Aaron

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Carla Gugino has managed to keep her youthful good looks as she is about to hit a milestone.

And the siren, 49, told the summer digital cover of NewBeauty Magazine that worrying less is her secret.

'Sweating the small stuff never benefits us, but the harm it does to our well-being becomes more apparent over time,' said the star as she wore a black spaghetti string top and light lavender skirt on the cover.

Staying busy during the pandemic: While some people have taken up hobbies, Gugino has been out shooting and promoting her new projects like Gunpowder Milkshake and Leopard Skin

The actress, who started working at age 13, added, 'I am much more interested in connecting with those I love and focusing on creating opportunities to do what I love more now than ever. I figure if I keep myself busy with that, there's less time to worry!'

Carla also talked turning 50: 'The thing that comes to mind with this birthday is that I am halfway through my time on this planet, if I have a long life. That is a surreal thing to acknowledgeits also incredibly freeing.'

And Gugino talked the people in her life: 'I also have a boyfriend who is very grounding and a family of friends, many of whom are also in this business, that I am so grateful to share this life with. Great friends always give me insight and inspiration.T'

Sweating the small stuff never benefits us': Gugino said she isn't worried about turning 50 and that she is 'much more interested in connecting with those I love' this year

The Haunting of Bly Manor star also discussed her film career with NewBeauty, including some of her most memorable makeup styles on set such as the one her character had in the 2019 action series, JETT.

'For JETT, my fantastic makeup artist, Julie Hewitt, and I wanted a strong, but not precious, smoky eye. We used Guerlain's Kohl Powder Liner.

'It was the ticket for Jett's signature eye.'

Beauty that never gets old: Carla Gugino graced the summer digital cover of NewBeauty magazine and proved she is one of those rare celebrities who doesn't seem to age

Gugino has stayed quite busy in recent years.

The Spy Kids star appeared in two television shows last year and has a new movie coming out, Gunpowder Milkshake, which already premiered in France and is set to be released in Germany in September.

The film stars Marvel actress Karen Gillian and Game of Thrones star Lena Headey alongside Gugino, all as master assassins, who have to team up to save a young girl from other assassins.

In the actor's chair: Gugino also discussed her film career with the magazine, including her most memorable makeup looks for the films she's starred in

Dead or alive you're coming with me: The actress opened up with Variety about breaking her hand in the Dominican Republic and said the wrist cast 'made me look like Robocop'

New film: The Spy Kids star appeared in two television shows last year and has a new movie coming out, Gunpowder Milkshake, which already premiered in France and is set to be released in Germany in September

She also broke her wrist while on a hike in the Dominican Republic where she was shooting a new movie, Leopard Skin.

The Mr. Popper's Penguins actress later joked with Variety that, '[The wrist cast] made me look like Robocop.'

For her shoot she had on festive summer styles.

She wore a number of other outfits in the shoot as well including a black dress and a gold dress, both with a floral pattern. And there was a baby blue dress complete with off the shoulder peasant sleeves.

Photography by Mikael Schulz at Bloom on Forty Fifth.
Malin Andersson has revealed she was scared to reveal her pregnancy and sometimes fears her baby won't make it after she tragically lost her daughter Consy two years ago.

The former Love Island star, 28, who is expecting her baby with boyfriend Jared, shared an Instagram snap of her bump in a beige swimsuit on Thursday.

Alongside the post, Malin said she has been going to therapy to deal with 'unresolved feelings' around her daughter's passing aged four weeks.

Speaking out: Malin Andersson was scared to reveal her pregnancy and sometimes fears her baby won't make it after she tragically lost her daughter Consy two years ago

She wrote: 'Hey. It feels like I've been here with you before. I have. I'll be honest, 3 years ago feels like a blur to me.. but feeling a new human growing inside me again feels so familiar. It scares me.

'So I'm here to welcome you on my journey with my rainbow baby. I know that sharing how I feel resonates.. and I want those that are struggling to conceive, or have lost a baby and are trying, pregnant with their rainbow baby or feel like their happy ending hasn't come yet - to see a clearer view through my life.

'And that actually we must trust the timing in everything. I haven't spoken to you much yet on how I've felt.. to be honest it's been a very weird journey so far. I was hesitant to even reveal my pregnancy.

'I have this inner hurt, this pain & that voice in my head that tells me this isn't real.. that my child won't survive - that something bad will happen. I've been very quiet.

Pregnancy: The star also shared a photo of herself in a vest and leggings on her Instagram Stories and wrote: 'Boobs - sore, big, veiny and for some reason the feeling of pregnancy feels so magical.'

'Malin quiet? That's strange - the queen of positive thinking.. waking up each day with not much to say. Just hope in her heart that baby will make it another day..'

Malin added that she appreciates every minute of life and is hoping for the best, adding that Consy is 'integrated' in her.

She said: 'See the reality is, we never really know what life can throw at us - we must remain present & mindful.. appreciate every minute. For sure I hope for the best, but I can't help past trauma creep up on me. She's integrated in me.

'Consy lives through me each day. I see her brown eyes open one last time.. and it gives me fear.. fear of the unknown. So what do I do? I've been going to therapy; remaining consistent.

'This has brought up a whole lot of unresolved feelings & pain that I seemed to have blocked out.. don't get me wrong I have the most amount of love and joy in my heart - but as I said.. I'm only human.'

The reality star added that she gets 'goosebumps' when she thinks about welcoming her child.

Relationship: Malin said she has been going to therapy to deal with 'unresolved feelings' around her daughter's passing (pictured with her boyfriend Jared)

She wrote: 'We tend to always think the worst. When I realise what's growing inside me, I get goosebumps, I have to have a double take. Isn't it sad that sometimes things seem too good to be true? Well maybe, just maybe they aren't.

'I keep telling myself that this is my time.. And for f****n' sure - it is. Believe in your time. I'm here to tell you that your ending is only your beginning. Ma.'

The star also shared a photo of herself in a vest and leggings on her Instagram Stories and wrote: 'Boobs - sore, big, veiny and for some reason the feeling of pregnancy feels so magical.'

Malin revealed she was expecting a baby on Sunday when she a snap of her baby bump, with her hands and her boyfriend Jared's hands resting on it.

Consy was born seven weeks premature in December 2018 and was being treated at Great Ormond Street hospital, but sadly passed away aged four weeks on 22 January 2019.

Malin wrote: 'I have this inner hurt, this pain & that voice in my head that tells me this isn't real.. that my child won't survive - that something bad will happen'

Since then Malin has struggled with further strife, reportedly left terrified after her violent ex recently broke his licence conditions meaning he has been sent back to prison.

Tom Kemp, 28, was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court in September after admitting to actual bodily harm, which left the reality star 'black and blue' but was released three months later in January.

The Sun recently reported that Tom - who was serving the remaining term on Home Detention Curfew - recently visited the area that the Love Island star lives.

He was then reportedly sent back to prison after failing to comply with the rules he was set as he continued to serve part of his sentence in the community.

A source told the publication: 'Malin was really shocked when she heard he had been in her area.

Good news: Malin revealed she was expecting a baby on Sunday when she a snap of her baby bump, with her hands and her boyfriend Jared's hands resting on it

Tragic: Her daughter Consy was born seven weeks premature in December 2018 and was treated at London's Great Ormond Street hospital, but sadly passed away on 22 January 2019

'She had really hoped his prison sentence would mark the end of having to think about him ever again.

'The whole thing has been incredibly stressful, but Malin is very strong and just hopes he's learnt his lesson now.'

A source also told MailOnline: 'Malin was glad to hear that Tom had been sent back to prison for breaching his license conditions, but to learn that he only returned for a week due to his sentence coming to an end concerns her.

'She feels that far too often the justice system fails survivors of domestic violence and ultimately believes that this contributes to the reason why perpetrators continue to abuse.'

Tom, was jailed at last year after following an attack in which he broke her hand.

Scary: Malin has struggled with strife, reportedly left terrified after her violent ex Tom Kemp recently broke his licence conditions meaning he has been sent back to prison (pictured together in 2019)

TV star Malin previously accused the 'narcissist' of being abusive in Instagram posts in 2019 and shared pictures of herself with a cut cheek and bloodied nose.

But Tom, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, denied the claims at the time, branding her a 'liar with mental health issues'.

The former couple had an on-off romance, splitting briefly during her pregnancy, amid claims Tom had been unfaithful to her, but reconciling shortly before the birth.

In March they split again, with Malin admitting it was better to end things between them as she and her partner struggled with their grief.

In October, Malin told how she believes the physical abuse Tom subjected her to while she was pregnant was a factor behind her daughter's death at just one month old.

Awful: Tom Kemp, 28, was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court in September after admitting to actual bodily harm, which left the reality star 'black and blue' but was released three months later in January (Malin pictured with her injuries - taken at the time)

She revealed Kemp 'slapped and punched' her while she was six months pregnant, causing her to fall on her back and her stomach to hit the side of a bed.

Speaking to The Sun, Malin said she is convinced the incident contributed to Consy's death as after a few days, she noticed she wasn't moving around as much.

A month later, the movements reduced again and Malin insisted Kemp drive her to the hospital where doctors discovered Consy's irregular heartbeat, leading her to have an emergency cesarean that day at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

She said: 'When Tom threw me about, I'd tense my stomach so much, I could feel her pausing inside me. The doctors didn't understand what happened to her, but I know in my heart.'

Injuries: Tom left Malin with broken bones and bruises in a violent tirade

In June last year, Malin posted a lengthy Instagram post, captioned: 'The third and final lot, I am NOT a victim anymore.'

Calling their romance 'toxic and unhealthy', she said 'it has been an ongoing battle to emotionally let go as dealing with the grief from both my mum and daughter I've had him as my comforter.'

Accusing Kemp of emotional and physical abuse she said: 'Including being spat at, hit, pushed, kicked, scratched, spoken down to, controlled, manipulated, cheated and so much more I experienced the worst pain yet to come last night.'

Malin claimed she had received a phone call from a woman asking why the star had been texting her 'boyfriend.'

She wrote: 'After a calm and collected call with her we had finally came to the confirmation they have been speaking since January (when our daughter was in intensive care).'

Shocking: Tom, was jailed at last year after following an attack in which he broke her hand (pictured are the injuries to her face)

'While I've been focusing on my mental health I've been receiving multiple emails, calls, texts from one extreme to the other (I'm a bad mum, my mum hates me I'm going to hell to the extreme of I love you I can't be without you etc.

'This ladies is a fine example of a narcissistic man.

'I will NOT be another victim to domestic violence, I will not be beaten mentally or physically when I've fought through so much worse than this.

Adding that she was 'exhausted, heartbroken and confused' she urged her followers to 'listen to your gut and learn to love yourself.'

If you are a victim of domestic abuse, call Refuge's freephone, 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247
Tiger King star Allen Glover is incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center in South Carolina after being arrested for driving with an open container, driving on a suspended license, and driving under the influence.

The BC sheriff's department initially pulled the former Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park handyman over Wednesday at 10pm due to a 'defect on his vehicle' - according to TMZ.

Allen - whose first prison stint was at age 18 - was busted for a non-driving DUI just 14 months earlier while in the parking lot of a Valley Brook, OK strip club.

Busted! Tiger King star Allen Glover is incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center in South Carolina after being arrested for driving with an open container, driving on a suspended license, and driving under the influence

Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage famously paid Glover $3K to 'cut off the head' of his nemesis - Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin - but he never intended to follow through.

The 58-year-old former roadside zoo owner then offered $10K to an undercover FBI agent to follow the 60-year-old big-cat rights activist 'into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.'

Joe has spent that last three years imprisoned at the Grady County Jail in Chickasha, OK; but the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver ruled on July 14 that his 22-year sentence will be shortened to 17 over a technicality.

Maldonado-Passage regularly keeps fans update through social media of his legal journey for a pardon and to fully appeal his conviction.

Remember him? The BC sheriff's department initially pulled the former Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park handyman over Wednesday at 10pm due to a 'defect on his vehicle'

2020 mugshot: Allen - whose first prison stint was at age 18 - was busted for a non-driving DUI just 14 months earlier while in the parking lot of a Valley Brook, OK strip club

Key witness: Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage famously paid Glover $3K to 'cut off the head' of his nemesis - Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin (R) - but he never intended to follow through

'The truth is about to land in President Biden's lap. Thanks to Jeff [Lowe] for handing over everything he recorded while Agent Bryant and Amanda Green were obstructing justice, committing perjury, and conspiring to kidnap me,' the gun-toting openly gay polygamist wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

'And Carole and Howard [Baskin] are right in the middle of it. Thank you Jeff, James [Garretson], and Allen [Glover]. Now we add [John Reinke] to my witnesses and we got this wrapped up. Even my oldest brother stepped up. Too bad [my ex-'husband'] John Finlay didn't.'

Joe's attorney John M. Phillips posted a video Tuesday of himself meeting with their 'secret weapon' Jeff Lowe, who briefly took over the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.

Joe's 2018 mugshot: The 58-year-old former roadside zoo owner (pictured) then offered $10K to an undercover FBI agent to follow the 60-year-old big-cat rights activist 'into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off'

'I'm done with the Carole Baskin saga': Joe has spent that last three years imprisoned at the Grady County Jail in Chickasha, OK; but the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver ruled on July 14 that his 22-year sentence will be shortened to 17 over a technicality

'The truth is about to land in President Biden's lap': Maldonado-Passage regularly keeps fans update through social media of his legal journey for a pardon and to fully appeal his conviction

'#freejoeexotic': Joe's attorney John M. Phillips (L) posted a video Tuesday of himself meeting with their 'secret weapon' Jeff Lowe (R), who briefly took over the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park

Despite his myriad flaws, Maldonado-Passage is certainly a colorful character having run for both President in 2016 and Oklahoma Governor in 2018.

Meanwhile, Hedwig and the Angry Inch's John Cameron Mitchell is hard at work on the Australian set of Peacock limited series, Joe Exotic, which will also stream on NBC and USA Network.

SNL's Kate McKinnon produces and stars as Carole Baskin alongside Dennis Quaid, Kyle MacLachlan, William Fichtner, Brian Van Holt, Joel Marsh Garland, Dean Winters, and Lex Mayson.

Spin-off series coming: Meanwhile, Hedwig and the Angry Inch's John Cameron Mitchell (pictured April 21) is hard at work on the Australian set of Peacock limited series, Joe Exotic, based on Robert Moor's 2020 Wondery podcasts

Amassing over 34M viewers! Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness held the No. 1 spot on Netflix top 10 most streamed list for 25 days straight between March-April 2020

Here, kitty kitty: Directing duo Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaikli's eight-part docuseries truly became a pop culture phenomenon in the age of COVID-19 quarantine and spawned a number of spin-offs

Justin Tipping directs the first four episodes of the series based on Robert Moor's 2020 Wondery podcasts, Joe Exotic and Over My Dead Body.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness held the No. 1 spot on Netflix top 10 most streamed list for 25 days straight between March-April 2020 - amassing over 34M viewers.

Directing duo Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaikli's eight-part docuseries truly became a pop culture phenomenon in the age of COVID-19 quarantine and spawned a number of spin-offs.
Chris Pratt was in full action hero mode while filming The Terminal List in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy star, 42, demonstrated his dedication to his craft while getting soaked by the chilly Pacific Ocean for a scene simulating a skydiving land.

Chris looked tough as he fought through the surf, sporting a collection of cuts and bruises as he emerged.

Action! Chris Pratt was in action hero mode while shooting his show The Terminal List in

Pratt's character Navy SEAL James Reece was dressed in cargo shorts and a tee shirt while appearing to carry a pack of supplies on his front.

When he made his way to the sand, the Virginia, Minnesota native was greeted by co-star Taylor Kitsch's character, who had a towel waiting.

The Minnesota-born actor, who is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger, 31, has been busy at work filming the forthcoming Amazon series, which is based on the novel by author Jack Carr.

Water world: Chris looked tough as he fought through the surf in a scene made to simulate a skydiving landing

Co-star: When he made his way to the sand, the Virginia, Minnesota native was greeted by co-star Taylor Kitsch's character, who had a towel waiting

Based on a book: Pratt plays Navy SEAL James Reec, who is dealing with the aftermath of an ambush during a secret mission in the series

He plays the role of Navy SEAL James Reece on the show, who is dealing with the aftermath of an ambush during a secret mission.

Upon learning more about the incident, Reece finds out about the focus aligned against him, putting the lives of him and his loved ones in jeopardy.

In order to give the show a greater sense of realism, half of the writing staff is composed of either veterans or writers with veterans in their family, according to Deadline.

The series has an all-star cast, including Zola star Riley Keough as Chris' wife, along with his brother-in-law Patrick Schwarzenegger, Hustlers star Constance Wu, Jeanne Triplehorn and Taylor Kitsch.

Antoine Fuqua will direct the series, while David DiGilio is the head writer.

The Terminal List is slated to debut on the streaming service next year.
Multi-hyphenate mogul Nicky Hilton has turned designer as she oversees her new shoe line Nicky Hilton X French Sole.

And this week the heiress and younger sister to Paris Hilton told Retreat Magazine's city issue, available in print and digital on Thursday, that she feels a certain responsibility with her company.

'I think today, more than ever, it's very boss-like to look after the environment and to lead a more sustainable life in your personal and professional life  whether that's changing the way you shop, eat, travel,' she said. 'We all have to do our part to leave this world a better place for our children and our children's children.'

Woman in charge: Multi-hyphenate mogul Nicky Hilton has turned designer as she oversees her new shoe line Nicky Hilton X French Sole. The mom-of-two hits a power-pose in a black and white patchwork blazer and shorts set from Dolce and Gabbana

Smoky quartz: Inside the magazine is an eight-page spread shot by photographer Cody Rasmussen

She also talked about 2020 as she says she's grateful.

'It was a crazy, crazy year, but one of the words I take away most is gratitude,' says Nicky. 'I think so many of us were taking such simple things for granted. Just going out to lunch with a friend, or even meeting in person for a meeting. Going to the grocery store.

'And then, suddenly, all of us were put on house arrest. So, I would definitely say that it has made me grateful for the small things.'

Nicky dazzles in the cover image, wearing a brown sequin number and a matching set of smoky stones on her wrist, finger, and ears.

Calm and collected: The French Sole collaborator sits cooly with a hand in her pocket

Inside the magazine is an eight-page spread shot by photographer Cody Rasmussen. In the first shot the mom-of-two hits a power-pose in a black and white patchwork blazer and shorts set from Dolce and Gabbana.

On another page she dons a white long-sleeved blouse and red cutout pants by Oscar De La Renta. Large, emerald green chandelier earrings dangle from her ears as she sits cooly with a hand in her pocket.

A different shot offers a smiling Nicky as she pulls a suitcase down a street in New York City's Chinatown in a white Mola Walker dress. Later we see four fun shots of the 37-year-old dancing in the dress.

On the move: A smiling Nicky pulls a suitcase down a street in New York City's Chinatown in a white Mola Walker dress

Finally, the designer models a long, black Carolina Herrera dress and then a black Dazluq blazer for the last page of the feature.

Looking to the future of her fashion designs, the creator is set to release a fall collection with French Sole. 'You'll definitely see more shoes, and I'm working on a few fun projects, which I will launch at the beginning of next year,' she says.

When big sister Paris came up Nicky gushed about their love of taking trips. 'We love to travel together. I would say one of our favorites is Las Vegas,' she shared.

She added, 'We just were in Vegas for the Resorts World Opening that she deejayed. Vegas is always a fun time.

Dancing in the street: When big sister Paris came up Nicky gushed about their love of taking trips. 'We love to travel together'

Glad and grateful: As she reflected back on 2020 the heiress said gratitude comes to mind

'If we're looking for something more relaxing, Hawaii. Maui. We've been going there every year since we're babies, and it's just such a nice, relaxing, beautiful place to visit.'

The fashion designer said last week that her sister Paris was not pregnant after an outlet said the DJ was with child.

The star has five-year-old Lily-Grace and three-year-old Teddy with her husband James but Paris has not yet started a family. However, Paris said in July she thinks having children is the true meaning of life.

Paris, Nicky, and mom Kathy all appear on Cooking with Paris, now on Netflix.
She escaped Australia's latest Covid outbreak by jetting to Britain on a work permit.

And Married At First Sight's Tamara Joy has now flown to Greece for a summer holiday, as her home country faces some of the harshest lockdowns in the world.

The influencer, 32, showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a tiger-print bikini on Thursday while soaking up the sun poolside at her luxury resort.

What pandemic? Married At First Sight's Tamara Joy showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a tiger-print bikini on Thursday while soaking up the sun poolside at a luxury resort in Greece

Tamara filmed a Boomerang clip for Instagram, offering fans a tantalising glimpse of her toned and tanned body as she sat on a lounger.

Her raven hair was styled in beachy waves and her cross-legged position drew the eye to her rarely seen groin tattoo, visible just above her bikini line.

She pulled up her bikini bottoms to reveal just a portion of the inking, but it's unclear what it says or represents.

Racy tattoo: Her cross-legged position drew the eye to her rarely seen groin tattoo, visible just above her bikini line. She pulled up her bikini bottoms to reveal just a portion of the inking

Tamara seems to be enjoying the relative freedom of life in Europe - where the vaccination uptake has seen society return to something approaching normality - as much of Australia is locked down amid a surge in Delta variant transmissions.

She revealed in late June she'd been granted permission to travel from Australia to Britain on a work permit.

She has since struck up a romance with former Love Island UK star Tom Powell.

'I was approved for an existing working contract': Tamara revealed in late June she'd been granted permission to travel from Australia to the UK on a work permit

New relationship: She has since struck up a romance with former Love Island star Tom Powell. Pictured together in Greece last week

'I applied for an exemption as you can't get past the Australian borders without an exemption to leave, and it was granted quite quickly,' she said.

'I was approved for an existing working contract and left five weeks ago. What also helped was the fact I have no intention to return to Australia anytime soon and it's at my own risk.

'I had to provide all correct documentation to support this and prove I could support myself being away from Australia for a certain period of time.'

'I have gone through the correct channels and did a lot of research to find out how to make my situation work,' she concluded.

Getaway: She seems to be enjoying the relative freedom of life in Europe - where the vaccine uptake has seen society return to something approaching normality - as much of Australia is locked down amid a surge in Delta variant transmissions. Pictured in Australia earlier this year

People can travel to and from other countries that are not low-risk if they receive exemptions.

These are not automatic exemptions; they have to be granted by the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force.

Exemptions are granted if travel is part of the response to the Covid-19 outbreak; if travel is for your business or employer; to receive urgent medical treatment; if you're travelling on compassionate or compelling grounds; for urgent or unavoidable personal business; or if travel is in the national interest.

If you want to leave Australia to travel on a return ticket, you may be able to go if your travel is for more than three months - if you have a 'compelling reason'.

Studying overseas is noted as acceptable evidence, as is travelling to provide care for a sick family member.
Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna claims one of the most explosive moments from last week's episode was cut from the show: a screaming match between Erika Jayne and the show's producers.

The former daytime diva, 58, took to Instagram to dish on Thursday, telling fans Bravo missed a chance at 'epic TV' by not including a 'screaming fight' during the girls' visit to La Quinta, California near Palm Springs.

Erika, 50, reportedly became upset after a private, off-camera conversation about estranged husband Tom Girardi came up during filming, according to an insider who spoke to People.

Drama: Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' Lisa Rinna claims an explosive 'screaming fight' between Erika Jayne and producers was cut from this week's episode, where the girls went to the Palm Springs area

Addressing the unaired scene on her Instagram Story, Rinna wrote: 'Dang it I wish they had shown the screaming fight between the producer and Erika last night on the show in La Quinta.'

'Now that would have been epic TV. Too bad. Bravo Bravo f****** Bravo..'

Lisa went on noting that she'd likely 'get in trouble for this in. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 .'

Erika did not directly comment but she did repost Rinna, seeming to show she supported her castmate's story.

A People magazine insider said that the issue arose when co-star Garcelle Beauvais, 54, asked Erika about a private, off-camera conversation she had with Crystal Minkoff about ailing husband Girardi, 82 - likely because she was given the information by producers.

Missed opportunity: Addressing the unaired scene on her Instagram Story, Rinna wrote: 'Dang it I wish they had shown the screaming fight between the producer and Erika last night on the show in La Quinta'

Privacy please! Erika, 50, reportedly became upset after a private, off-camera conversation about estranged husband Tom Girardi came up during filming, according to an insider

'It was a private conversation that was picked up by production on the mics and then Garcelle, who was not present for the conversation, proceeded to ask Erika about it,' says the source.

'So of course Erika was upset. The editing was unfair and inaccurate.'

During the episode Garcelle brings up Tom during a hike with Erika and Crystal, making it seem like she had learned the information from Janye herself.

Though the fight wasn't part of last night's show, it was still an emotional episode.

Jayne broke down crying after she revealed to the other housewives that her estranged husband Tom still calls her every day, but that she doesn't take his calls.

Emotional: 'It was a private conversation that was picked up by production on the mics and then Garcelle, who was not present for the conversation, proceeded to ask Erika about it,' says the source

Confession: During the emotional episode Jayne broke down crying after she revealed to the other housewives that her estranged husband Tom still calls her every day, but that she doesn't take his calls

The scene was edited to make it appear like Erika had told Garcelle about Tom's calls earlier in the day, but that she hadn't been planning on sharing this news with everyone until Garcelle blurted it out.

On the show, she was captured talking to Garcelle and Crystal Kung Minkoff, 35, about Tom's calls during a hike in the desert, adding that she never talks to him but he calls every day with messages that he loves and misses her, but she instructed her lawyer to say she can't talk to him.

'He needs help and I can't give it,' Erika told them.

Erika told them that Tom was never the same after his car accident where he had suffered a head injury, adding he would tell the same story 10 times a day and would lash out in anger often, adding she believed he showed signs of Alzheimers.

Tell all: On the show, she told Garcelle and Crystal Kung Minkoff, 35, about Tom's calls during a hike in the desert, adding that she never talks to him but he calls every day with messages that he loves and misses her, but she instructed her lawyer to say she can't talk to him

Accident: Erika told them that Tom was never the same after his car accident where he had suffered a head injury, adding he would tell the same story 10 times a day and would lash out in anger often, adding she believed he showed signs of Alzheimers

'Part of true brain trauma is making decisions that you wouldn't normally make,' Erika said. 'It's hard to watch someone go through this and there is nothing I can do to help.'

But later that day when Garcelle decided to share Erika's revelation with the other housewives, Erika was pissed - likely because she never intended to share with Garcelle in the first place, if reports of the fight are true.

All the housewives had regrouped back at the Kyle Richards, 52, La Quinta house for lunch.

Erika told them that she was waiting for some news and told them that she might need to go back early. Garcelle then blurted out to everyone that Tom still calls Erika.

'You don't mind me saying that,' Garcelle asked Erika.

Erika said in a confessional that Tom 'is in legal jeopardy and I cannot talk to him.' She said if she was ever asked when was the last time she spoke to him that she had to be able to say the day she left.

Garcelle shares: But later that day when Garcelle decided to share Erika's revelation with the other housewives, Erika was pissed

Kyle's house: All the housewives had regrouped back at the Kyle Richards, 52, La Quinta house for lunch. Erika told them that she was waiting for some news and told them that she might need to go back early. Garcelle then blurted out to everyone that Tom still calls Erika

Don't mind: 'You don't mind me saying that,' Garcelle asked Erika

'Well, I do mind you saying that because I feel you are betraying my friendship, but please have your moment. Go ahead,' Erika said.

'Let me tell the story. Tom calls me all the time. I won't take his call.' She told Garcelle not to 'sugarcoat' the fact that she got her to reveal her personal info. Erika then glared enraged at Garcelle and then broke out crying.

'I was sharing a private moment,' Erika said while sobbing. 'Not everything is up for discussion.'

She told Garcelle she didn't think it was right what she did. 'You didn't have to do it twice,' Erika said. 'You didn't have to do it in front of them. Once was enough.'

'There is only so much that I can take right now,' Erika said as she got up sobbing and walked to the bathroom.

Garcelle then started crying and said she would have never shared with the women if Erika had told her not to. Crystal said it was a misunderstanding. Erika could be heard sobbing from behind the closed bathroom door.

Legal jeopardy: Erika was pissed. Erika said in a confessional that Tom 'is in legal jeopardy and I cannot talk to him.' She said if she was ever asked when was the last time she spoke to him that she had to be able to say the day she left
11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift made it very difficult for her loyal fans to discover what the bonus tracks were to her upcoming re-recorded Red album on Thursday morning.

The 31-year-old pop diva - who boasts 379M social media followers - posted a 'casually cruel' 30-second vault video, which unveiled 13 rows of 13-word scrambled letters.

Twitter users realized it was a 13x13 word puzzle full of clues written vertically, horizontally, diagonally, and backwards.

'Love is a ruthless game': 11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift made it very difficult for her loyal fans to discover what the bonus tracks were to her upcoming re-recorded Red album on Thursday morning

The 10 bonus tracks included a 10-minute version of All Too Well as well as Taylor's duets with Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and Ed Sheeran.

Two hours later, Swift exasperated fans further by cryptically tweeting: 'Your next clue will be in the spot where you hear red...'

The preppy Pennsylvania-born blonde's $14.99, 30-track version of her 2012 fourth studio album officially drops November 19.

And after re-releasing Fearless in April, Taylor has just four more archival albums to faithfully re-record after losing the rights to her own master recordings.

'*Cackles maniacally*': The 31-year-old pop diva - who boasts 379M social media followers - posted a 'casually cruel' 30-second vault video, which unveiled 13 rows of 13-word scrambled letters

Scratching their heads: Twitter users realized it was a 13x13 word puzzle full of clues written vertically, horizontally, diagonally, and backwards

Swift was blindsided on June 28, 2019 when Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine Records for $300M to Scott 'Scooter' Braun, who then sold her masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300M.

RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) BONUS TRACKS 21 Ronan 22 Better Man 23 Nothing New (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) 24 Babe 25 Message in a Bottle 26 I Bet You Think About Me (feat. Chris Stapleton) 27 Forever Winter 28 Run (feat. Ed Sheeran) 29 The Very First Night 30 All Too Well (10-Minute Version) Advertisement

'For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and "earn" one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in,' the Renegade songstress said in a statement at the time.

'I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.'

Taylor added: 'Some fun facts about today's news: I learned about Scooter Braun's purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years.'

'Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life's work, that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.

'This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term 'loyalty' is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says 'Music has value', he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.'

Two hours later, Taylor exasperated fans further by cryptically tweeting: 'Your next clue will be in the spot where you hear red...'

Excited? Swift's $14.99, 30-track version of her 2012 fourth studio album officially drops November 19

Two down! And after re-releasing Fearless in April, the preppy Pennsylvania-born blonde has just four more archival albums to faithfully re-record after losing the rights to her own master recordings

Wheeling and dealing: Swift was blindsided on June 28, 2019 when Scott Borchetta (L) sold Big Machine Records for $300M to Scott 'Scooter' Braun (R), who then sold her masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300M

Swift concluded: 'When I left my masters in Scott's hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.

'Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn't want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.

'Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create. Thankfully, I left my past in Scott's hands and not my future. And hopefully, young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make.'
She's always on the go.

So Lucy Hale kept up her energy with a post-workout coffee on Thursday.

The Pretty Little Liars star, 32, looked cheery as she walked around in a sporty-chic outfit with a drink in her hand.

Coffee break: Lucy Hale treated herself to an iced coffee after her Thursday workout in LA

Lucy put her fit figure front and center donning a belly-baring white tank top and shiny black leggings with an animal print waistband.

Straight from the gym, she still had on her running shoes and toted along a full bag of exercise supplies.

The fresh-faced Life Sentence star added some flair to her look with a colorful beaded necklace and earrings.

Hale, who's from Memphis, Tennessee, showed some love for her adopted home town, sporting a black LA Dodgers cap with leopard embroidery.

Sporty: The Pretty Little Liars star put her fit figure front and center donning a belly-baring white tank top and shiny black leggings with an animal print waistband

LA lady: Hale, who's from Memphis, Tennessee, showed some love for her adopted home town, sporting a black LA Dodgers cap with leopard embroidery

On Monday, Hale shared several images from the set of the upcoming television series, Ragdoll, to her Instagram account.

In the shots, the performer was seen interacting with many other cast and crew members, as well as holding up a copy of the novel on which the show is based.

She also wrote a lengthy message in the post's caption to express her gratitude for the production team's work and her excitement for the project's impending premiere.

The statement began with: 'feeling so grateful for a wrap on Ragdoll and for all the beautiful friends & memories I made. Cannot wait for you all to see this coming to your [televisions] soon!'

An inside look: Hale shared several shots from the set of the upcoming thriller series Ragdoll to her Instagram account on Monday

Personal feelings: The actress wrote that she was grateful for all of 'the beautiful friends & memories I made' while she worked on the forthcoming show

Ragdoll is based on Daniel Cole's 2017 bestselling novel of the same name.

The storyline is centered on a set of detectives who investigate the grisly murders of six people who have been dismembered and reassembled into a single body.

The group's situation is only made much more serious when the individual responsible for the victims' deaths begins tracking their every move.

Hale will portray Lake Edmonds, while Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Thalissa Teixeira portray her fellow detectives Nathan Rose and Emily Baxter.

Source material: Ragdoll is based on Daniel Cole's bestselling 2017 novel of the same name

Development on the forthcoming series was initially announced this past February.

Hale joined the show's cast in March, and its other two leads signed on to appear in the project the following month.

Principal photography on the series initially began in May and was recently completed.

Ragdoll currently does not have a set release date.
She recently revealed she has been cutting out friends from her life who have refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Now Jennifer Aniston is hitting back at backlash over her decision.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the actress, 52, addressed a commenter who was wondering why she was so concerned about being around her unvaccinated friends.

'We have to care more about than just ourselves here': Jennifer Aniston hit back at comments criticizing her decision to cut out friends who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19

'But if she's vaccinated she's protected correct? Why be worried about unvaxxed around her? (shrugging emoji),' wrote one commenter.

'Because if you have the variant, you are still able to give it to me. I may get slightly sick but I will not be admitted to a hospital and or die. BUT I CAN give it to someone else who does not have the vaccine and whose health is compromised (or has a previous existing condition) - and therefore I would put their lives at risk. THAT is why I worry. We have to care about more than just ourselves here,' Jennifer said.

The actress was obviously disheartened over the criticism she had received online over her revelation, first posting a photo of herself wearing a mask along with the message, 'These comments (disappointed emoji).'

She also shared a funny cross stitch of the message, 'What doesn't kill you mutates and tries again.'

Standing up to the critics: Aniston said her decision came down to worried about potentially spreading the virus to unvaccinated individuals with compromised health or preexisting conditions

Masking up: Aniston posted this cross stitch reading, 'What doesn't kill you mutates and tries again'

Jennifer revealed in the September issue of InStyle that she has been forced to cull friends from her circle who have 'refused' to get their COVID-19 vaccine.

The Hollywood icon explained that she has no time for anti-vaxxers or those who 'just don't listen to the facts' when it comes to science.

The Friends star said she feels the swath of American's who aren't getting their COVID jabs are basing their stance on 'fear or propaganda.'

Standing her ground: Aniston revealed in a new interview that she's been forced to cull friends from her circle who 'refused' to get their COVID-19 vaccine

Aniston, who stars in AppleTV+'s The Morning Show as a news anchor, explained that she spent much of the pandemic keeping up with the news but at one point needed to take a break.

'I've really had to stop [keeping it on too much],' she said of watching CNN. 'We all went through news fatigue, panic fatigue, during the pandemic because we were hoping one day we would wake up and hear something hopeful, and all we got was more insanity.'

She then touched on the group of anti-vaxxers, who have thus far refused to get their coronavirus vaccine.

'[There's] still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts. It's a real shame,' Aniston said. 'I've just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose [whether or not they had been vaccinated], and it was unfortunate.'

'[There's] still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts. It's a real shame,' Aniston said. 'I've just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose [whether or not they had been vaccinated], and it was unfortunate.'

She added: 'I feel it's your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we're not all podded up and being tested every single day. It's tricky because everyone is entitled to their own opinion  but a lot of opinions don't feel based in anything except fear or propaganda.'

Unvaccinated Americans are most likely to be younger, male, black and living in a rural area, a DailyMail.com analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.

While the White House announced Monday it had finally hit its target of delivering at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 70 percent of the adult population, there is still a large segment of the population that has not been immunized, which is concerning as the Indian 'Delta' variant continues to spread.

'I feel it's your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we're not all podded up and being tested every single day. It's tricky because everyone is entitled to their own opinion  but a lot of opinions don't feel based in anything except fear or propaganda.'

The U.S. is currently facing a surge in COVID-19 cases with the highly contagious delta variant picking up steam all over the country.

According to CDC data, over 99.99% of those fully vaccinated have not suffered a breakthrough case (contracting COVID despite being immunized) that was severe enough to warrant hospitalization or death. The current surge in cases is being fueled primarily by the unvaccinated.

Aniston received her second dose of the vaccine in May and took to Instagram to share the news with her followers and encourage them to help get shots in arms around the world.

'Fully vaccinated and it feels soooo good,' she penned a the time. 'We are extremely lucky and privileged to have access to Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. right now.'

'Unfortunately, thats not the case everywhere... and as we know, the health of one of us affects all of us,' she continued. 'Thinking about those who do not or will not have the opportunity to get vaccinated and hug their friends and family.'

Immune: Aniston received her second dose of the vaccine in May and took to Instagram to share the news with her followers and encourage them to help get shots in arms around the world

During her interview with InStyle, Jennifer also discussed her appreciation for another A-list Jennifer: Jennifer Lopez.

'J.Lo. I want to know what gives her the look like she's about to be seething. It's amazing. She's almost stuck getting mad at somebody, but she's just so gorgeous,' mused the blonde bombshell.

The Morning Show actress added: 'She's like, "I can't believe I'm standing here." But I don't think she's trying; she fell out of bed that way. She's a performer.'

Aniston and Lopez have never worked together but do appear to be pals as they have been seen chatting at events. And they are the exact same age: 52.

As far as her own red carpet performance, Jennifer said: 'It depends on your stylist, because they go, "Never do this! Always do this!" I'm like, "Well, that feels weird." I don't know how to stand on a red carpet, but you do the best you can.'

And making friends on the carpet is important too: 'I also try to connect with those people holding cameras. Some of them I've known a long time, so I'll say hello. If I'm having an honest interaction with someone, it makes it easier.'
She is set to start filming her very first major motion picture.

But Kelly Gale is still busy with her modelling work.

The 26-year-old turned up the heat in hot pink sheer lingerie during a photo shoot in Los Angeles this week.

She's tickled pink! Victoria's Secret model Kelly Gale turned up the heat in sexy fuchsia lingerie and sheer stockings during a photo shoot in Los Angeles on Thursday

The busty beauty left nothing to the imagination in a see-through bra, high-cut knickers and sheer stockings as she posed on her knees.

She gave the camera a sultry stare and as she ran her fingers through her long dark curly hair.

Kelly's stunning natural beauty was enhanced by a shimmering makeup palette.

Turning up the heat! The busty beauty left nothing to the imagination in a see-through bra, high-cut knickers and sheer stockings as she posed on her knees

She just announced the exciting news she has landed her first acting role.

The exotic beauty also posed in bondage-inspired lingerie during the shoot.

Sultry: She gave the camera a sultry stare and as she ran her fingers through her long dark curly hair

She's glowing! Kelly's stunning natural beauty was enhanced by a shimmering makeup palette

Sexy: The exotic beauty also posed in bondage-inspired lingerie during the shoot

She modelled two saucy sets - a black and white balconette bra and matching knickers and a cut-out set with suspenders and stockings.

The shoot came after the actress-in-the-making accompanied her fiance Joel Kinnaman to The Suicide Squad premiere.

Sizzling: The brunette beauty showed off her phenomenal figure and six-pack abs during a photo shoot, presumably for Victoria's Secret

She also announced this week she has landed her first film role.

The Australian-Swedish beauty, took to Instagram to share the news via a Deadline article on Monday.

Kelly will star alongside Gerard Butler in the Lionsgate thriller The Plane.

Movie magic: Kelly is set for Hollywood stardom as she announces a new role alongside Gerard Butler in The Plane

'Am I dreaming? I still can't believe this is real! Started acting via Zoom at the beginning of the pandemic and immediately fell in love with the craft,' she wrote.

She added that it was good to get out of her comfort zone and try something new.

'It felt so good getting out of my comfort zone and feeling so passionate for something I was doing. Huge thanks to all my teachers,' she said.

Co-star: Kelly will star alongside Gerard Butler in the Lionsgate thriller The Plane. The British actor is pictured here in Berlin on February 23, 2020

She finished by thanking her actor fiance, Joel, whom she described as 'my biggest supporter and... the person who taught me the most'.

Kelly previously walked the runway for Victoria's Secret before the lingerie giant underwent a 'woke' corporate rebrand.

She was also Playboy Playmate of the Month for September 2016.

Leggy lady: Kelly previously walked the runway for Victoria's Secret before the lingerie giant underwent a 'woke' corporate rebrand. Pictured here in New York City on November 8, 2018

Kelly got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Joel, 41, in January this year.

She announced the exciting news on her Instagram account at the time.

She posted a photo of the pair embracing on a clifftop in California, and flashed her stunning new sparkling engagement ring.
This is the film Hollywood is simply too scared to show. That is the message in an impassioned letter from film director Andrew Levitas to MGM last week in which he accused the movie giant of callously trampling on the lives, legacy and bravery of innocent people.

The innocents in question are the inhabitants of a fishing town in Japan whose lives have been devastated by a toxic industrial pollution scandal, and whose shocking true story the film exposes. But the star at its centre is Johnny Depp, no stranger himself to a different type of toxic abuse scandal.

According to Levitas, an artist and director who is married to Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, MGM has buried his latest film, Minamata, because it is terrified of being associated with a movie in which the shamed actor not only plays the leading role but is also a producer.

Pictured: Director Andrew Levitas (left) with Johnny Depp (centre) and actress Minami (right) filming a scene from the movie Minamata. In a letter last week, Levitas accused the movie giant MGM of callously trampling on the lives, legacy and bravery of innocent people' because it is terrified of being associated with a movie in which the shamed actor Depp not only plays the leading role but is also a producer

Minamata  filmed before Depps career imploded when he lost his High Court case last year over claims he was a wife beater  was due to be released in February. But it has yet to become available in the US although it will be in UK cinemas and on digital platforms from August 13.

The low-budget film was a passion project for Depp. He plays the celebrated but mercurial American photo-journalist W. Eugene Smith, who went to a remote corner of southern Japan to document a poisoning scandal caused by the release of mercury from a factory owned by the Chisso Corporation, a chemical company.

The pollution continued for decades and all that time the local people of Minamata were eating poisoned seafood. It affected thousands, afflicting them with a dreadful neurological disorder called Minamata Disease.

The condition resulted in severe deformities, paralysis, insanity and death. The physical effects were similar to cerebral palsy, leaving victims with emaciated bodies, cruelly twisted hands and elongated fingers. It was congenital, too, leading to babies being born blind, deaf and brain-damaged.

The film also stars Bill Nighy as Robert Hayes, Smiths former editor at Life Magazine, and Katherine Jenkins as his deputy in her first film-acting role. But the way Depps career is going, one has to wonder if it might be his last.

For if Hollywood is dragging its feet over releasing a low-key independent production whose reported $13 million (9.3 million) budget wouldnt even cover a blockbusters catering bill and which is hardly likely to attract a stampede to the cinema, they are surely not going to let him do much else.

Could the final on-screen glimpse we get of this talented yet troubled actor be as the bohemian Smith  gravel-voiced and virtually unrecognisable as Depp behind a scruffy grey beard, glasses and beret?

Following the High Court judgment last November  in which a judge ruled that Depp, 58, assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard a dozen times and put her in fear for her life during their short and stormy marriage  he has become persona non grata in Hollywood.

He was dropped by Warner Bros from playing evil wizard Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts film, even though he had the support of J.K. Rowling whose book the film was based on. No other projects are on the horizon.

Actor Johnny Depp (left) and Actress Amber Heard attend the 'Black Mass' premiere during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The couple. Last year a judge ruled that Depp, 58, assaulted his ex-wife Heard a dozen times and put her in fear for her life during their short and stormy marriage

All of which is painfully relevant to whats happened to Minamata, says its director. Levitas claims he was told by Sam Wollman, the senior MGM executive who bought the movie, that it would not be promoted and that MGM had decided to bury the film .

He accused the company of putting its concerns about Depp ahead of the victims of Minamata and their families.

MGMs behaviour, said Levitas, was a stark reminder of how Japans Chisso Corporation had ridden roughshod over ordinary people after it polluted the sea around its factory, then refused to compensate locals whose lives were destroyed.

Bent on shaming MGM, he included some of the harrowing photos that Smith  beaten up so badly by Chisso goons that he never fully recovered  took of the crippled and deformed victims.

Pictured: A photo taken by W. Eugene Smith of a fisherwoman in Minamata Bay, 1971

Yes, you are legally within your rights to bury their story as so many have done before, but you have a moral obligation to do better than that, thundered Levitas, a successful sculptor but a novice at making feature films Minamata is his second.

Strong words but ones which have yet to move MGM. The company confirmed that Minamata continues to be among its future releases but an actual date has yet to be announced.

The decision to cast Depp as the impassioned camera crusader determined to highlight the plight of the oppressed, marked a radical departure for an actor who is best known for playing the pantomime-like knave Captain Jack Sparrow in the overblown Pirates Of The Caribbean movies.

But W. Eugene Smith actually wasnt that dissimilar to Depp. He was an alcoholic, addicted to amphetamines and had deeply self-destructive instincts. He was a shell-shocked recluse in 1971 when he decided to kick start his career again by going to Minamata.

A broken alcoholic who finds a purpose and sort of a new chapter in his life, Depp told a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival last year. Yeah. Heard that story somewhere before, he added with a smile.

The son of a Kansas grain-elevator owner who killed himself, the irascible Smith himself frequently threatened suicide. He spent time in a mental institution, neglecting and eventually abandoning his first wife and children.

Although regarded as one of the finest photo-journalists of his generation, Smith was a nightmare to work with. He was a perfectionist and obsessive, lugging around tons of equipment to each assignment and once supplying a client who wanted 50 pictures of Pittsburgh with 10,000 instead.

While covering World War II in the Pacific he was badly wounded by mortar fire and also injured in two plane crashes. Hed already left Life Magazine in a huff when he persuaded the editor to let him go out to Minamata in early 1971 to record the suffering of local people as they battled Chisso for compensation.

Smith, then 52, was accompanied by his 21-year-old second wife, Aileen, a beautiful half-American, half-Japanese woman. She would prove crucial in breaking down the suspicion of simple Japanese families, most of them fishermen and all of them wary of the camera-toting foreigner who turned up wanting to photograph them and their maimed relatives.

The low-budget film was a passion project for Depp (pictured in his role as W. Eugene Smith). He plays the celebrated but mercurial American photo-journalist, who went to a remote corner of southern Japan to document a poisoning scandal caused by the release of mercury from a factory owned by the Chisso Corporation, a chemical company

The couple planned to be there a few months but would stay three years. During that time they witnessed the terrible toll wrought by Minamata Disease  the severe deformities, deafness, abnormal gait and eye movements, and altered speech. Loss of bodily control would cause sufferers to flail around uncontrollably.

What was particularly scandalous was that the Minamata disaster was allowed to continue for 34 years.

The Chisso factory started releasing methyl-mercury  the most toxic form of the metal  through its wastewater into the sea in 1932. The mercury accumulated inside fish and shellfish, which were then eaten by people and animals.

The disease was first identified in 1956 and the first victims were cats which would start having convulsions, acting erratically and then dying. It was dubbed Dancing Cat Fever although it affected other animals  crows began falling from the sky and dead fish floated to the surface of Minamata Bay.

Among humans, children were the first to show symptoms  two sisters, aged two and five, within days of each other started showing evidence of severe brain damage. They were convulsing, couldnt walk and their speech was incoherent.

Soon there were many more victims, young and old, and the frightened town  unable to understand what was happening to them  thrust them into bleak hospital isolation wards. Some of them would suddenly spin into what witnesses dubbed a frenzied dance of death.

Helped by a Japanese government reluctant to obstruct a big national business, Chisso managed to worm out of responsibility for years, withholding the results of its own research that made clear they were to blame.

When the company diverted its wastewater into a nearby river, the devastation only shifted there as people and animals in surrounding villages were affected. In 1959, Chisso cynically agreed a one-sided deal with the first victims and local fishermen in which they offered consolation payments to the afflicted but accepted no liability.

Johnny Depp (right) and Japanese actress Minami (left) in character as W. Eugene Smith and Aileen respectively in the movie Minamata

Furthermore, the company inserted a clause stipulating that if it was later found guilty of any offence, it wouldnt be liable for additional compensation. It took the government until 1968 finally to act, announcing Chisso was definitely causing Minamata Disease.

Bearded Smith gradually won the trust of the shy local people  who said he reminded them of KFCs Colonel Sanders and Father Christmas  to the extent that he was allowed to photograph them with children and other loved ones afflicted by Minamata Disease.

Initially, they had been especially reluctant to cooperate because, in a cruel turn, families with victims were often ostracised by neighbours. Chisso was the biggest employer in town so many people instinctively took the companys side.

Pictured: The film poster for Minamata

Smiths most celebrated picture of his career was one of these haunting images. Entitled Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath, it was obtained after Ryoko, the mother of the severely deformed and brain-damaged girl, agreed to allow Smith to photograph them as she gently bathed the 15-year-old in a Japanese bath tub.

Tomoko, who had been poisoned by mercury in the womb of her unaffected mother, died five years later. The photo is on display in Washingtons Smithsonian museum.

Life Magazine  renowned for the quality of its photography  featured the image as part of a major photo essay in a June 1972 issue that brought home the tragedy of Minamata to the wider world.

The presence of a famous U.S. photographer was considered a critical factor in breaking down Chissos refusal to pay significant compensation to the victims as the company knew the world was now watching. When the following year, a Japanese court considering the compensation claims ruled in the victims favour, the corporation didnt appeal.

The government finally started cleaning up Minamata Bay in 1977, but the water wasnt considered safe for another two decades. Chisso is estimated to have paid at least $86 million in compensation to more than 10,000 people.

The battle for justice continues  critics say Chisso has avoided recompensing later victims by dividing into two companies, making it difficult for claimants to pursue it.

Smith paid a terrible price for his championing of the victims. In January 1972, he photographed a demonstration outside the Chisso factory and was set upon by half a dozen thugs who beat him, picked him up and slammed his head against concrete, as he put it, the way you would kill a rattlesnake if you had him by the tail.

The vicious assault left him permanently injured; he became almost completely blind and endured such violent pain from a crushed nerve that he kept blacking out. Nor could he could ever again raise his hands without difficulty.

Smith died in 1978 after a fall in a grocery story. He hit his skull, which was still fragile from the beating. He had just $18 in the bank.

Films like this dont get made every day, Depp proudly told an audience in Berlin last year.

And it appears they dont get shown very easily either.
15-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys shared a series of snaps on Thursday of her bikini-clad self paddle boarding through majestic sea caves in France.

'These sea caves take hundreds of thousands of years to form,' the 40-year-old R&B songstress - who boasts 105.8M social media followers - explained.

'And look how gorgeous they are. Take your time. The majesty within you is forming.'

Exploring: 15-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys shared a series of snaps on Thursday of her bikini-clad self paddle boarding through majestic sea caves in France

The 40-year-old R&B songstress - who boasts 105.8M social media followers - explained: 'These sea caves take hundreds of thousands of years to form. And look how gorgeous they are. Take your time. The majesty within you is forming'

That same day, Alicia hopped into a helicopter for a lavish tour with her husband Swizz Beatz (born Kasseem Dean) as they continued their 11th wedding anniversary celebration.

Keys (born Aguello-Cook) beamed as she checked out the seaside terrain from thousands of feet in the air alongside her 42-year-old 'soulmate,' 'twin flame,' and 'existential earthquake.'

The inseparable couple - who met as teens - have yachted in the South of France and walked an adventure course with their blended family in the Corsica commune of Calvi.

Joining Alicia and the late DMX producer poolside on land were their 10-year-old son Egypt Daoud and six-year-old son Genesis Ali.

Romantic: That same day, Alicia hopped into a helicopter for a lavish tour with her husband Swizz Beatz (born Kasseem Dean) as they continued their 11th wedding anniversary celebration

Mile-high club: Keys (born Aguello-Cook) beamed as she checked out the seaside terrain from thousands of feet in the air alongside her 42-year-old 'soulmate'

Met as teens: The inseparable couple have yachted in the South of France and walked an adventure course with their blended family in the Corsica commune of Calvi

Pride and joy: Joining Alicia and the late DMX producer poolside on land were their 10-year-old son Egypt Daoud (L) and six-year-old son Genesis Ali (R)

'I drive my boys crazy!' Keys is also step 'mammy' to Swizz's three older children by three different women - son Prince Nasir (L), 20; son Kasseem Dean, Jr. (R), 14; and daughter Nicole, 13 (not pictured)

Keys is also step 'mammy' to Swizz's three older children (by three different women) - son Prince Nasir, 20; son Kasseem Dean, Jr., 14; and daughter Nicole, 13.

'Happy anniversary my love!' the native New Yorker tweeted last Saturday.

'Wow it's just getting better! I celebrate, honor, and deeply respect us! Here's to many many many many more!'

Alicia last performed July 16 at the 27th annual amfAR Gala Cannes at Villa Eilenroc in France, which raised over $11M for lifesaving AIDS research programs.

The native New Yorker tweeted last Saturday: 'Happy anniversary my love! Wow it's just getting better! I celebrate, honor, and deeply respect us! Here's to many many many many more!'
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department on Thursday said it was launching a widespread probe into the police force in Phoenix to examine whether officers have been using excessive force and abusing people experiencing homelessness.

The investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department is the third sweeping civil investigation into a law enforcement agency brought by the Justice Department in the Biden administration and comes as the department has worked to shift its priorities to focus on policing and civil rights. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the probe will also examine whether police have engaged in discriminatory policing practices and will work to determine if officers have retaliated against people engaged in protected First Amendment activities.

In June, the top prosecutor in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, permanently dismissed charges that included gang allegations against more than a dozen people arrested at an October 2020 protest against police brutality.

The move came amid complaints from civil rights advocates that Phoenix police and prosecutors were pursuing gang charges as part of abusive political prosecutions intended to silence dissent and scare protesters.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, hailed the Justice Department investigation and said it will help with ongoing police reform measures she has been pushing since taking office in 2019.

Public safety reform is an ongoing process in Phoenix, and now, with the help of the USDOJ, this robust program will continue, Gallego said in a statement.

The city also plans to start a new program this year to respond to mental health calls by placing behavioral health professionals in the field. The city also has a new office of police accountability that is charged with independently investigating allegations of wrongdoing by officers.

That office may be hamstrung, however, by a new state law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that limits civilian review boards like the one Phoenix has set up.

City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, a frequent defender of Phoenix police, said the department has been under extreme attack by activists bent on defunding the police.

I welcome another set of eyes to see what we already know: that we have a department staffed by dedicated individuals who go to great lengths to protect our community, and do so honorably and fairly, he said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which has sued Phoenix police in the past for actions against protesters, said the investigation was needed to force the department to change.

This is not a case of a few bad apples  Phoenix PD has deep-rooted, systemic problems with the way it treats community members, Victoria Lopez, the group's advocacy and legal director, said in a statement.

Part of the investigation will also examine whether police officers have been violating the rights of people who are experiencing homelessness by seizing and disposing of their belongings in a manner that violates the Constitution, Garland said.

The new investigation is known as a pattern or practice  examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing  and is generally is a sweeping review of the entire police department.

In announcing the probe, Garland also pointed to what he described as straining the policing profession by turning to law enforcement to address a wide array of social problems.

Too often we asked law enforcement officers to be the first and last option for addressing issues that should not be handled by our criminal justice system," he said "This makes police officers' jobs more difficult, increases unnecessary confrontations with law enforcement and hinders public safety.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said investigators will meet with police officers and supervisors, review body camera video, along with training materials and other records. She said the Justice Department spoke with Phoenix city officials and they had expressed support for the probe.

Protecting the rule of law demands that those who enforce our laws also abide by them, Clarke said.

The Justice Department had reviewed an array of publicly available information, including lawsuits and news reports before it decided to open the Phoenix investigation, Clarke said.

The police force has come under fire in recent years for its handling of protests and the high number of shootings. One lawsuit alleged that police and prosecutors colluded to target protesters during a demonstration last summer. In February, a local television station reported that a team of police officers had celebrated shooting a protester in the groin during another protest with commemorative coins they would share.

We found that the evidence here warrants a full investigation, but we approach this process with no predispositions or pre-drawn conclusions, Clarke said.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams defended the department and the reforms it has made in recent years at a news briefing. But she said she is open to any Justice Department recommendations.

"The Department of Justice inquiry is another opportunity to further improve the department and to better serve our city," Williams said. Wearing the badge is a privilege, not a right. Ill say that again, wearing this badge is a privilege, not a right.

The majority of our officers out there act every day with professionalism and compassion, she added.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department announced it was opening similar investigation into police forces in Minneapolis, after the death of George Floyd, and in Louisville, Kentucky, after the death of Breonna Taylor.

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Christie reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed
Gov. Ned Lamont is considering giving local mayors and first selectmen wide discretion to impose COVID-19 rules in their cities and towns, including mask mandates in supermarkets, restaurants, and other private businesses.

That would represent a sweeping change in pandemic decision making in Connecticut, as cities and towns are now limited in what orders they can make. They must generally follow state guidance, and Lamont has avoided carving up the state with different rules throughout the pandemic.

Despite rising coronavirus numbers, pressure from some public health advocates and tighter rules in other states, Lamont has hesitated to order new restrictions. On Wednesday, for example, the percent of daily positive tests pushed over 3 percent, although the number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 inched downward.

The governor again said Wednesday, as he has almost every day, that no mandates are needed yet despite the spread of the more contagious delta variant.

For example, New York City under Mayor Bill de Blasio will require proof of vaccination for people to eat inside a restaurant, starting next month  a rule Lamont specifically declined to adopt.

But he has urged businesses and cities and towns to take whatever action they deem appropriate. And on Wednesday he indicated he would likely give a green light to local officials to have a higher security standard if they think its necessary.

Lamont suggested that he could grant municipalities the needed power on his own without legislative approval. His emergency authority expires Sept. 30 and he said he wants to move more decision-making to the General Assembly even before then.

Look, weve got towns where less than 50 percent of the people are vaccinated. We have towns where 99 percent of the people are vaccinated so I think giving some flexibility there makes a fair amount of sense and well be issuing some directives on that within a day, Lamont said after an event in Manchester.

Asked why local officials would want to issue city or town-wide orders not in place on a statewide basis, the governor again pointed to varying vaccination rates and said he tends to think a mayor has pretty good insight into what keeps his community safe.

One area where the governor is willing to intervene locally is schools. Hes promised to provide guidance for public schools several weeks before kids return to classrooms, and said Wednesday that superintendents have told him they want strong recommendations from the state.

Take the heat off, give us some real clarity, he said of their comments.

Daily coronavirus numbers reported by the state Wednesday showed that hospitalizations decreased by 2 people from a day earlier, for a total of 163. Hospitalizations have been creeping up in recent weeks but are nowhere near the December high.

The percent of positive tests reported Wednesday was 3.35 percent, the highest reported for one day since April 19. The weekly positivity rate stood at 2.9 percent Wednesday  slightly up from the weekly rate of 2.8 percent reported Tuesday.

Lamont, who continues to mull a vaccine rule for state workers, appears close to ordering a mandate for nursing home workers. Asked Wednesday about Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Bakers decision to require long-term care staff to be vaccinated, Lamont indicated Connecticut might do the same.

Were definitely thinking about that, Lamont said. .... We know a lot of the vaccinations are wearing off in the elder community where they maybe dont keep the antibodies as long. So I think thats going to be a priority for us. I think well have something to say on it within 24 hours.

As for the powers of city and towns, currently they can impose restrictions on their own property, but cant require businesses in their jurisdiction to institute mask orders. Some have started to require residents, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks when going into local government buildings.

New Haven is contemplating taking it a step further. Mayor Justin Elicker is considering a vaccine mandate for city staff.

At the Manchester event, Lamont was joined by the citys Mayor Jay Moran, who said starting Wednesday residents are required to wear masks in public buildings. But Moran said, even if allowed, he is not interested in imposing further rules at local restaurants or other businesses at this point.

State House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said it may make sense for Lamont to grant the towns authority, as the state has more variations in cases than it did before the vaccinations. If youre dealing with hot spots, Ritter said, then that might make some sense to me.

Ritter said the legislature could vote to give towns broad authority, but more specific the directions may best come from the governor, as they might change with new circumstances.

For much of the pandemic, Lamont resisted allowing municipal leaders to make their own decisions on how to respond.

Before I was really worried he keeps his bar open, they shut it down over there. Everybodys going back and forth. I thought about that as a state. I thought about that as a region, Lamont said, referring to collaboration among Northeast governors on pandemic restrictions early on.

Now a state with one of highest vaccination rates in the country and a relatively low infection rate its a little less top of the mind for us right now, Lamont said, referring to uniform rules.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
BEIJING  Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged that 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be supplied to the world through this year, increasing Chinas commitment as the largest exporter of the shots.

Xis announcement was delivered late Thursday at a vaccine forum China hosted virtually.

The figure likely includes the 770 million doses China has already donated or exported already and its not clear if it includes a COVAX agreement for Chinese producers to supply 550 million doses.

Xi also promised to donate $100 million to the UN-backed COVAX program, which aims to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine distributions have been starkly unequal, as wealthy countries now consider issuing booster shots to their citizens and poorer nations struggle to get enough vaccines for a first dose.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese shots, the vast majority of which are from Sinopharm and Sinovac, have already been administered to people in many countries across the world. However, there are concerns about whether they protect adequately against the new, highly transmissible delta variant.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

 Florida, Georgia, Louisiana account for nearly 40% of U.S. hospitalizations

 Tokyo hits record 5,042 daily cases as infections surge during Olympics

 US plans to require COVID-19 shots for international travelers

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 Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

MANILA Thousands of people have jammed coronavirus vaccination centers in the Philippine capital after false news spread that unvaccinated residents would be deprived of cash aid or barred from leaving home during a two-week lockdown.

Officials placed Metropolitan Manila under lockdown until Aug. 20 as a new spike in COVID-19 infections that health officials say could be due to the highly contagious delta variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

The fake news reports that spread a day before Fridays lockdown start sent large crowds heading for vaccination centers in the cities of Manila, Las Pinas and Antipolo even without prior registrations.

In Manila alone, up to 22,000 people showed up outside vaccination centers before dawn.

Police were forced to stop vaccinations in at least one of the shopping malls and asked the crowds to return home.

Critics partly blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for the confusion. Duterte warned Filipinos last week that those who refuse to get vaccinated will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the spread of the delta variant. He acknowledged that there was no specific law for such a restriction.



BEIJING  China recorded another 80 locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as the country seeks to control its widest flare-up since the original outbreak with a combination of lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.

Of the new cases, 58 were found in the eastern city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu province, where the highly contagious delta variant spread among airport workers in the provincial capital of Nanjing. Other cases were found in six provinces from tropical Hainan in the south to Inner Mongolia bordering on Russia.

That has taken the number of cases linked to the Nanjing outbreak to more than 460 since the middle of last month, prompting renewed travel restrictions, community lockdowns and the sealing off of Zhangjiajie, a city of 1.5 million.

Such measures have been implemented with much success following local outbreaks under Chinas zero tolerance approach to the pandemic, although they are being seen as taking a major toll on society and the economy, stirring speculation that a new approach may be needed that allows for the virus to circulate to some manageable degree.

China says it has administered more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccine, although questions have been raised about the efficacy of the domestic jabs.

Another 44 imported cases were reported on Friday and 1,370 people are currently being treated for COVID-19, 34 of them in serious condition, according to the National Health Commission.

China has reported 4,636 deaths out of 93,498 cases.



SEOUL, South Korea __ South Korea says it will extend the toughest distancing rules imposed on the greater Seoul area for two more weeks as its worst COVID-19 outbreak at home has no immediate signs of abating.

South Korea on Friday reported 1,704 new cases over the past 24-hour period, taking the countrys total to 207,406, including 2,113 deaths from COVID-19. Its the 31st day in a row for South Koreas daily tally to be above 1,000.

Senior health official Lee Ki-Il said the average number of daily infections this week is 1,451, a decrease from last weeks 1,506. Lee still calls the size of the ongoing outbreak big and says its unclear if the outbreak will display a downward trajectory soon.

Lee says authorities will continue to place the Seoul area under the toughest distancing restrictions until Aug. 22. He says the second highest distancing guidelines enforced on non-capital regions will also be extended for two additional weeks.

In Seoul and nearby cities and towns, private gatherings of three or more people are banned after 6 p.m. High-risk facilities such as nightclubs are not allowed to operate, and weddings and funerals can be attended by up to 49 people. ___

TRENTON, N.J.  New Jersey students from kindergarten to 12th grade will be required to wear masks in schools when the new year begins in a few weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy is set to announce Friday as COVID-19 cases rise in the state.

Murphy, a Democrat seeking reelection this year, will formally announce the decision Friday, according to spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna.

The decision to require masks is an about-face from just a few weeks ago when Murphy said it would take a deterioration of COVID-19 data to require masks.

The states figures, like many across the country, have been trending up in recent weeks. The seven-day rolling average of new cases climbed over the past two weeks from 512 on July 20 to 1,104 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The surging figures are part of a nationwide struggle with the contagious delta variant, which has been leading  along with vaccination holdouts  to higher hospitalization rates across the country.

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HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday signed an executive order that allows municipal leaders to require both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear face coverings indoors at public places within their respective cities and towns.

This latest order lets municipal leaders move beyond Lamonts current edict, which requires only unvaccinated people to wear masks while in indoor public places. It also requires everyone to wear them in specific settings, such as health care facilities, prisons, day care sites and public and private transit.

There are some pockets of the state that are lagging behind others and some leaders in those areas have requested the option of requiring everyone to wear masks until they can get their vaccination rates higher, the Democrat said in a written statement.

Also Thursday, Lamont signed an order that will ultimately enable Dr. Deidre Gifford, the acting public health commissioner, to require all unvaccinated nursing home staff to be tested weekly for COVID-19. This move comes as public health officials plan to visit every nursing home to check on the number of employees whove been vaccinated.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md.  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced new vaccination requirements for state employees who work in settings where they interact with the vulnerable  or else face strict face-covering requirements and regular coronavirus testing.

The governor said Thursday that the requirements taking effect Sept. 1 apply to employees at 48 different state facilities. They include 11 state health care facilities and 12 facilities under the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. They also include six detention centers and 18 correctional facilities as well as the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home.

Hogan adds that we are also strongly urging the private operators of the states 227 nursing homes to institute similar vaccination requirements for their employees.

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SEATTLE  Amazon has pushed back its return-to-office date for tech and corporate workers until January as coronavirus infections rise nationally due to the more contagious delta variant.

Unlike its Seattle-area rival Microsoft and other tech giants, Amazon will not mandate employees receive a coronavirus vaccine before they return to the office. Instead, the company said Thursday that unvaccinated employees will be required to wear masks in the office.

The surge of cases has upended many companies plans to bring office workers back this fall, a drive already complicated by efforts to accommodate widespread employee preference for flexible remote work policies, and debates over how to handle vaccine and masking policies.

Other companies that have postponed reopening plans include Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Lyft.

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BALTIMORE  Baltimore is the latest U.S. city to return to indoor mask requirements as coronavirus infections rise.

Mayor Brandon Scott said Thursday that indoor masking regulations will take effect Monday, giving businesses and citizens a few days to adjust. The indoor mask rules are mandated for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

The order came as the city health commission said new virus cases have increased 374% over the past month. As is the case across the nation, the delta variant is driving those infections.

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OKLAHOMA CITY -- The number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Oklahoma has topped 900 for the first time since February, which a University of Oklahoma doctor says is his biggest concern due to a lack of nurses.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health said Thursday that there are 954 hospitalizations, with 274 patients in intensive care.

Dr. Dale Bratzler at University of Oklahoma Health says that back in January, February, we handled the capacity with the big numbers of cases. We cant do it now because we dont have enough nurses and personnel to take care of all of those patients.

OU Health has three hospitals plus clinics around the state and says its nursing staff is 19% below what is needed, with about 400 positions unfilled.

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WEST DES MOINES, Iowa  One of Iowas largest health care provides has announced it will require its more than 33,000 employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus  or lose their jobs.

The West Des Moines-based system announced the vaccine requirement Thursday.

CEO and president Clay Holderman says the vaccination requirement is meant to protect the systems employees and patients. The requirement applies to all employees, regardless of whether they provide direct patient care.

UnityPoint employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. Those who refuse must resign or be fired.

Employees can request an exemption for medical or religious reasons, and pregnant employees  while strongly encouraged to get vaccinated  can request a temporary deferral.

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TOPEKA, Kan.  Kansas most populous county has ordered masks worn by students and staff in elementary schools in hopes of checking the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.

The Johnson County Commission voted 5-2 Thursday to impose the requirement for schools from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

The commission faced criticism both from health care providers who urged members to go further and from parents and other residents who opposed a mask mandate.

Johnson County, in the Kansas City area, has six public school districts with about 96,000 students or 20% of the states total. The mandate affects roughly 50,000 students

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MILAN  Italy will require a vaccination pass on long-distance transportation, including high-speed trains and ferries between regions, beginning Sept. 1.

Government ministers met Thursday to decide additional requirements for the so-called Green Pass, which will be required from Friday to access indoor dining, theaters, indoor swimming pools, gyms, museums and other gathering places.

Under the new restrictions, access will be granted to anyone who has had at least one dose of vaccine in the last nine months, who has recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months, or has tested negative in the previous 48 hours.

Ministers also say school will resume in September with all students present in classrooms, after a year and a half of at least part-time distance learning. All students over age 6 will have to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
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The residents of the apartment in which actress Niharika and her husband J.V. Chaitanya reside in Film Nagar have lodged a complaint against him at the Banjara Hills Police Station. They allege he brings scores of people into his apartment and has been creating a nuisance. The apartments residents have objected to his activities, complaining that it infringes their privacy. Our repeated attempts to reach out to the SHO of Banjara Hills Police Station for comment have got no response.
Justice Prateek Jalan passed the order after time was sought by the counsel for CBSE. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted time to the Central Board of Secondary Education to respond to a plea concerning the methodology of assessment of private class 10 students after the examination was cancelled on account of COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.

Justice Prateek Jalan, hearing a petition moved by the mother of a private class 10 student, passed the order after time was sought by the counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Rupesh Kumar, learned counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education, seeks ten days' further time to take instructions on the methodology for assessment of private candidates for the class 10 examinations, the judge recorded in the order dated July 29 as he listed the matter for further hearing on August 23.

The notice to CBSE in the petition was issued in June when the court granted six weeks' time to the education body to clarify its stand.

In her petition, Payal Bahl has submitted that while students have been declared as Pass after the announcement of cancellation of examinations, CBSE has not issued any notification regarding its policy on how marks are to be awarded to private students.

CBSE's attitude towards the students who are privately enrolled in class 10 examination is "prima facie violative of the Article 14 of the Constitution of India" and takes away their equal opportunity of proceeding with further education, she contended.

It is highlighted that CBSE has already notified that assessment of regular class 10 students was to be based on internal assessment.
New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday announced the results of class 10 examinations that were cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Similar to the class 12th results, girls have outshone the boys. The board also announced that more than 99 per cent students have been declared pass.

Over 57,000 students have score above 95 per cent, while more than 2 lakh students securing places between 90 per cent and 95 per cent.

However, the board added that the results for over 16,000 students is still under process, adding that it will also be declared soon.

CBSE has also added that no merit list will be announced this year.

The results came days after the board announced the results of class 12.

The examination board had cancelled the exams for class 10 after the pandemic hit the country.

The schools had been asked to submit the tabulated marks by June 30. The CBSE had also announced an alternative marking policy.

According to the policy, while 20 marks for each subject will be for internal assessment as every year, 80 marks will be calculated on basis of the students' performance in tests or exams throughout the year.

The weightage in terms of maximum marks for schools which have conducted the tests and exams through the year will be -- periodic test/unit test (10 marks), half-yearly exam (30 marks) and pre-board exams (40 marks).

Meanwhile, an NGO told the Delhi High Court on July 22 that CBSE's evaluation policy for this year's Class 10 board examination did not have any grievance mechanism for students.

In the hearing before a bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh, the NGO -- Justice For All -- argued that Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) should make an arrangement for uploading the soft copy of the marking scheme followed by schools.

However, the court responded that there was no direction from CBSE to schools to follow the same pattern.

The high court had on June 2 sought response of the Centre, Delhi government and CBSE on the NGO's petition claiming that the policy of the board for calculating marks of class 10 students based on the internal assessment by schools was unconstitutional and required to be modified.

In its petition, the NGO had said: "The policy of moderating the average marks assessed by the school, based on the historical performance of the previous average result of the school, in terms of the best overall performance of the school would be injustice to the students as the performance of school is not relatable in any manner with the performance of the student."

It had also said moderating the marks in consonance with the overall average score of the district, national and state average "was absolutely unreasonable, illogical and punitive for the students of a school which would appear in the board exams for the first time", with no previous data of performance.

The NGO had alleged that it can also lead to the manipulation of marks and exploitation, extortion of the students and parents.
Chennai: Aimed at taking healthcare services to people's doorsteps, a scheme 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam' was launched at a village in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu on Thursday by Chief Minister M K Stalin. Rolling out the scheme, Stalin said the initiative was aimed at fulfilling one of his seven assurances, "Healthcare for all" which was also part of the 10-year vision statement for the state and unveiled ahead of the April 6 Assembly polls.

Stalin assumed office as Chief Minister on May 7 following a big win in Assembly polls. The plan would take essential healthcare services to the people's doorsteps and in the first phase, 1264 women health volunteers and 50 physiotherapists and an equal number of nurses would be deployed, he told reporters in Krishnagiri. The scheme, for which Rs 242 crore has been allocated in the first phase, shall soon be extended throughout Tamil Nadu, he said, adding "for sure, the scheme will be extended across the state before the end of this year and beneficiaries will get additional treatment (facilities) in hospitals."

The scheme envisages diagnosis of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, treatment, supply of medicines, offering physiotherapy and palliative care by visiting beneficiaries in their houses, an official release here said. Also, healthcare for people aged 45 and above, those with kidney related ailments and detecting birth defects of newborns and monitoring and categorising beneficiaries by registering them in the "social welfare register" is a key feature of the MTM scheme. Women health volunteers trained by Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women, health workers in an intermediary role, physiotherapists and nurses would take forward the scheme under the aegis of the Health Department.

The first goal of the programme is reaching out to about one crore people, part of approximately 30 lakh beneficiary families, the government said. The National Health Mission Tamil Nadu tweeted, "#MakkalaiThediMaruthuvam is the new flagship scheme from the Govt. of #TamilNadu launched by the Hon'ble CM today bringing healthcare to people's doorsteps! #MTM #UngalSevayilNaangal." The Chief Minister, when asked if people in hilly terrain would get treatment for dialysis and anemia under the scheme, said efforts were on to meet the requirment. "We are trying to do that (dialysis) by using portable equipment. We will provide drugs to treat anemia."

To a question on vacancy in posts of village health nurses, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said the Chief Minister has already instructed appointment of approximately 25,000 paramedical workers under the scheme. Stalin visited the houses of two beneficiaries at Samanappalli village in Krishnagiri district's Shoolagiri Panchayat Union, marking the launch of the scheme and he inspected delivery of healthcare services. He gave away packs of medicines to beneficiaries, inspected physiotherapy treatment and flagged off three cars for use by nurses and physiotherapists for implementing the scheme.

The Chief Minister also gave away prosthetic legs to two beneficiaries, equipment for dialysis and handed over the key of an ambulance to authorities for use by people of a hilly region in Krishnagiri district. Also, he launched HBsAg (Hepatitis B Surface Antigen) test services to detect jaundice in pregnant women. From Krishnagiri, Stalin virtually launched the scheme in Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli and Chennai districts, while Public Works Minister E V Velu inagurated the services in Tiruvannamalai district.

Also, the CM launched a coronavirus vaccination drive for one lakh workers in Krishnagiri district under Corporate Social Responsibilty initiatives of various companies. Ministers for Health and Handloom, Ma Subramanian and R Gandhi respectively, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, and Krishnagiri District collector V Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy participated. The previous AIADMK regime had last year launched 'Amma mini clinic scheme" to take healthcare services closer to the people.
According to the petition, he returned to India due to the COVID second wave in Saudi Arabia in January and when the Centre provided vaccines for people aged above 45, he registered on the Cowin portal using his passport details. (PTI)

Kochi: An expat working in Saudi Arabia submitted a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking permission to get re-vaccinated with Covishield after being fully vaccinated with Covaxin. The court sought the Central government's view on this and adjourned the matter to August 9.

A Kannur native, Girikumar Thekkan Kunnumpurath (50), submitted the petition stating that Covaxin is not recognised in Saudi Arabia and as per his visa stipulation, he has to return to Saudi Arabia before August 30 or he would lose his job.

According to the petition, he returned to India due to the COVID second wave in Saudi Arabia in January and when the Centre provided vaccines for people aged above 45, he registered on the Cowin portal using his passport details.

"He got the first Covaxin dose on April 17, and the second a month later. It was only after receiving Covaxin that he came to know that it is not approved by the Saudi government. Had the authorities informed the public about the non-recognition of Covaxin earlier, he would not have taken it. He never knew his decision would put his job abroad in jeopardy," read the petition.
He insisted the Tamil Nadu government should extend its cooperation to the Cauvery-Godavari river linking project, and it also expedite the implementation of the Cauvery-Gundaru linking.

Thanjavur: The BJP Tamil Nadu unit on Thursday staged a hunger strike here against party-ruled Karnataka's move to build a reservoir on river Cauvery at Mekedatu.

Amidst a bullock cart procession and wearing green shawls, leaders and cadres of the saffron party raised the pitch demanding that neighbouring Karnataka should not go ahead with the balancing reservoir project which aims to meet both drinking water needs and power generation.

Lashing out at the Karnataka opposition parties for backing the BJP government on the issue there, party's Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai claimed the law was clearly in favour of the lower riparian state, Tamil Nadu, and that Karnataka could not build a dam without its consent.

"Our fast agitation today is to demand the Karnataka government to give up its plans to build the Mekedatu dam. We condemn the opposition parties for asking the government to go ahead with the project. We will not allow its construction," Annamalai said while addressing the party members at the day- long fast here.

"The inter-State River Water Dispute Act is clear. You can not build the dam without the consent of the lower riparian state. BJP always stands for the well-being of the farmers and it will not allow the construction of the Mekedatu dam," Annamalai asserted.

Thanjavur, part of the fertile Cauvery delta region in the state, is described as Tamil Nadu's "rice bowl."

Annamalai took a swipe at the ruling DMK for allegedly according more importance to enhancing TASMAC liquor sales revenue rather than working towards the welfare of the farmers in the state, claiming it had not conducted a single review meeting pertaining to agriculture.

Training his guns on Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K S Alagiri for mocking the BJP's agitation, he said both the leaders humiliated the farmers as they could not comprehend the seriousness of the issue.

"Kamal Haasan's campaign during the assembly election in Coimbatore resembled a film shooting...people are bound to send him home," he said, apparently referring to the actor's electoral loss at the hands of party leader Vanathi Srinivasan from Coimbatore South in the April 6 Assembly polls.

He insisted the Tamil Nadu government should extend its cooperation to the Cauvery-Godavari river linking project, and it also expedite the implementation of the Cauvery-Gundaru linking.
HYDERABAD: The state government had sanctioned Rs 85,913 crore for the Scheduled Castes Development department by way of financial support to the SCs (Dalits) in the last seven years. It has, however, released Rs 57,100 crore and spent much less, Rs 47,685 crore.

The government will needs to completely rework the SC development budget if it aims to extend the promised financial support of Rs 10 lakh per family as the Dalit Bandhu benefit.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has said that 13 lakh SC families are eligible for Dalit Bandhu, out of the estimated 15 lakh Dalit families in the state. He said one lakh to two lakh eligible Dalit families would be covered every year under the scheme.

If one lakh dalits are covered a year, the state needs to allocate Rs10,000 crore for the purpose. At this rate, it will take 13 years to cover all 13 lakh families.

This year, the government sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore for SC Development. This includes Aasara pensions, Kalyana Laxmi, 2BHK scheme, ration, free power, fee reimbursement, scholarships, Arogyasri, industrial incentives, bank-linkage loans for self-employment, roads, infrastructure and tens of other welfare schemes.

Against this backdrop, questions arise over the availability of funds for the Dalit Bandhu scheme. While addressing a Dalits meeting in his adopted village Vasalamarri on Wednesday, the CM made it clear: "None of the ongoing welfare schemes and development programmes will be halted due to the introduction of the Dalit Bandhu scheme. Dalits will continue to receive all these benefits as usual. Dalit Bandhu is only an additional benefit and not a replacement for all other ongoing schemes."

The SC department budget needs to be increased to 30,000 crore to meet the Dalit Bandhu expenditure to cover at least one lakh families per year

from the present Rs 21,306 crore. The sum is not enough to cover pending fee reimbursement and scholarship arrears of Dalit students for two years, the industrial incentives for Dalit entrepreneurs, and the bank-linked loans for the uemployed Dalit youths for the past four years.

The total revenue expenditure of the state government last year (2020-21) was Rs 1.33 lakh crore. Against this backdrop, doubts arise over the states ability to earmark Rs 30,000 crore just for the SC Development department.

In 2017, the TS government brought forward the Special Development Fund Act to earmark funds in the Budget proportionate to the population of the SCs and STs in the state. Though the budget figures meet this norm every year, there exists a wide gap between the promises and allocations.

If unspent funds were transferred to subsequent years sincerely, as directed in the Act, the SC Development department should be overflowing with funds and there should be no pending unpaid arrears for Dalit beneficiaries.

The TRS government had launched a scheme for distribution of three acres of land to each Dalit family amid much fanfare in 2014. But the scheme could not become a success due to funds crunch. In the last seven years, only 6,662 Dalit families given 16,544 acres of land at a cost of Rs 735 crore.

Later, the government almost shelved this scheme, saying government lands are not available in state and purchasing private lands became too expensive.

SC Development budget allocations and spending in the last seven years

Year Allocation Released Spent 2014-15 Rs 7,579* Rs 3,235 Rs 2,936 2015-16 Rs 8,089 Rs 4,780 Rs 4,682 2016-17 Rs10,484 Rs 7,173 Rs 5,257 2017-18 Rs14,375 Rs10,820 Rs 9,990 2018-19 Rs 16,452 Rs11,077 Rs11,020 2019-20 Rs12,400 Rs11,778 Rs10,250

2020-21** Rs16,534 Rs 6,637 Rs 3,547

*Rs in crores ** Till September
Hyderabad: The state government on Thursday wrote to the Krishna and Godavari river management boards that it would be unable to attend the joint meeting on August 9 here.

State Engineer-In-Chief (irrigation) C. Muralidhar said cases regarding the Krishna waters were coming up in the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal which was why the TS government was abstaining. He asked that the meeting be convened at a later date.

The TS government has skipped the coordination meetings of KRMB and GRMB held on Tuesday on the same grounds.

The government also reiterated its demand to hold full-board meetings of the KRMB and GRMB.

GRMB member secretary B.P. Pandey said the meeting was meant to put in place an organisational structure to perform functions mandated by the notification giving control of irrigation projects on the Godavari to the board.

The meeting as to identify the category of posts to be filled from officers serving in the Centre. This is apart from discussing implementation of other clauses of the notification.

The TS government says that as per the AP Reorganization Act, 2014 any decision on important issues has to be decided in a full board meeting.
Its a strange paradox that sometimes the more we find out about things the less we seem to understand them. That is true of the first subject I shall write about today. Of the second -- and youll soon discover what it is -- were simply ignorant. No one has bothered to tell us. Not even -- or do I mean particularly? -- the media.

The subject that we know a lot about, albeit one-sidedly, is the Covid-19 situation in Kerala. The known facts are worrying. The state represents two to three per cent of the countrys population but for almost a week it has added over 20,000 Covid-19 cases each day, often touching 50 per cent of the national daily increase. The R number is 1.1 and the positivity rate around 12 per cent. Seen by themselves these facts are troubling, and understandably so.

However, place them in a fuller context and the picture that emerges alters considerably. This is the part were only dimly aware of. First, the fourth national sero-survey has established that while nearly 68 per cent of the country has been infected, the percentage in Kerala is just 44. The difference was equally stark in the earlier three surveys. They showed the national rate to be 0.7 per cent, seven per cent and 24 per cent. The figures for Kerala were 0.3, 0.9 and 11.6 per cent respectively. This means that Kerala has done a much better job protecting its population than any other state in the country.

Second, Keralas vaccination rate is equally far ahead of the rest of the country: 54 per cent of its adult population have received a single dose, 23 per cent both. The national average is 39 and 11.

The same story is true of testing. On average, Kerala does between 140,000 and 160,000 tests a day. At least once last week it did 196,000 tests. In comparison, West Bengal, with three times the population, does only 50,000 daily tests. Consequently, Kerala has done 4,587 tests per million, the highest of Indias large states. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh, with a much biggest population, has only done 1,052 tests per million. The national figure is almost four times less than Keralas at 1,280.

A simple conclusion follows: Kerala has done more than any other state to protect its people both in terms of vaccination levels and low sero-positivity. Not surprisingly, this reflects in the states healthcare statistics. Cases may be increasing at over 20,000 a day but Keralas Case Fatality Rate is only 0.5 per cent. Thats almost one-third of the national figure of 1.3 per cent. Consequently, occupancy of hospital beds, ICUs and ventilators is less than 50 per cent. Keralas healthcare system is well in control of the situation and not under pressure. Finally, excess deaths are estimated to exceed official Covid deaths just 1.2 or 1.6 times, the lowest of all states.

So why is its daily increase in Covid cases shooting skywards? There are three possible reasons. Prof. Gagandeep Kang, a member of the Covid Working Group, says this is best explained by the states low sero-positivity. The percentage of people that remains vulnerable is greater than in any other state. Put differently, it means Kerala is further from herd immunity than any other state. So, the virus has more people to infect.

She also offers a second reason. Keralas high testing rate and its smart targeting means its more successful at identifying positive cases. The under-reporting established by the latest sero-survey makes this clear. For every positive case identified Kerala misses six. Look how different the rest of India is. For Bihar its 59, for Madhya Pradesh 83, and for Uttar Pradesh 98. For India as a whole, its 33 missed for each identified.

A third set of reasons has been suggested by the Centre. First, Kerala made an avoidable mistake in relaxing restrictions over Id-ul-Zuha. This is, no doubt, undeniable. But, importantly, positivity in many minority-dominated districts is among the lowest. So dont jump to the conclusion that Muslim parts of the state are pushing up the daily case rate!

A second suggestion, attributed allegedly to the special team sent by Delhi to Kerala, is lax monitoring of people in home isolation. The states healthcare officials are said to be fatigued, and thus people supposed to be isolated at home are moving freely in their neighbourhood. If thats happening, it will clearly fuel the virus spread.

Gagandeep Kangs conclusion is Kerala must further restrict movement, meaning impose local lockdowns, and increase the RT-PCR component of testing. She says there are no grounds for complacency. But she also adds theres not a lot to worry about. Despite the Id lapse, she says, Keralas done an outstanding job controlling the spread of Covid. In fact, she believes its a role model for the rest of the country.

Now, very briefly, to the subject that weve ignored despite its undeniable relevance and importance. Im referring to Bhramar Mukherjees recent paper on the Narendra Modi governments handling of the second wave. Dr Mukherjee, a world-renowned epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, asked the question: Could timely nationwide non-pharmaceutical interventions (lockdowns) have mitigated wave two in India? Her answer is an unequivocal yes. I shall present her key facts and conclusion. You can decide if you agree or not.

Dr Mukherjees paper says if a moderate lockdown was instituted in mid or late March, daily cases would have peaked at 20,000 and 49,000 respectively, instead of 414,000. This means by April 15, approximately 2.6 million cases could have been averted, and by May 15 nearly 12.9 million. That would have been a reduction of 97 per cent of cases.

Dr Mukherjees paper offers a similarly startling conclusion about deaths. Even with a moderate lockdown beginning mid or late March between 97-109,000 deaths could have been averted by May 15. Thats 90-98 per cent of the 112,000 deaths between March 15 and May 15.

And now her conclusion: Had action taken place at any time in March, its plausible more than 90 per cent of observed cases and deaths between March 1 and May 15 could have been potentially avoided.

Why on earth has our media kept quiet about these findings? Its not that Bhramar Mukherjee is unknown to them. Alongside Ashish Jha, shes possibly the most quoted epidemiologist based in the West. Could it be fear of the governments response that led them to bury these findings? I know my answer. Whats yours?

The writer is a television commentator and anchor
It's been nearly two years since Apple introduced dark mode support with the iOS 13. The dark colour scheme worked system-wide and across all native apps to deliver a great viewing experience, particularly in low-light environments.

Soon, Twitter and other third-party apps began to offer dark mode interface, but the most popular navigation app on Apple App Store, Google Maps did not support it to this day.

Now, Google has confirmed that the Maps will get dark mode support in the coming weeks. To turn it on, head to your Settings, tap on dark mode, then select On.

Once activated, the background of the map turns dark grey, while the names, displays of the locations are in lighter shade and contours of the roads and terrain are bluish-grey. All the colours are distinctive in nature, which makes it easy to see the details without any confusion.

Besides the dark mode, Google Maps now offers a new widget feature with live traffic details.

"With the new nearby traffic widget, you can now access this information for your current location right from your home screen. So if you're about to leave home, work, school, or any other place, youll know at a glance exactly what traffic is like, and can plan accordingly," the company said.



Google Maps widget for iPhone. Credit: Google



Here's how to get the Google Maps widget on your iPhone's home screen:

Step 1: On the home screen, touch and hold a widget or an empty area until your apps jiggle.

Step 2: In the upper-left corner, tap the Add button.

Step 3: Search for and tap the Google Maps app.

Step 4: Swipe to select a widget, then tap Add Widget. Tap Done.

Also, Apple iPhone users will now be able to share their real-time location via Google Maps right from the iMessage app.



Google Maps real-time live location sharing feature on the iMessage app. Credit: Google



By default, it will stay live for one hour. Users can extend the live location sharing feature up to three days.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
Dozens of people attacked a Hindu temple in central Pakistan over blasphemy allegations, police said Thursday, in the latest incident of religious-fueled violence targeting a minority group in the Islamic republic.

Police said the mob attacked the temple in Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province Wednesday afternoon following the release on bail of a young Hindu boy accused of blasphemy.

"Some 70 to 80 protesters then attacked and smashed the windows of the temple," Ahmed Nawaz, a police spokesman from the district, told AFP.

The boy had earlier been arrested over rumours that he committed blasphemy, a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan where insults against Islam and the Prophet Mohammad carry harsh prison sentences and the death penalty in some instances.

Such allegations are explosive and often result in furious outcries among large ultra-conservative groups in the Islamic republic.

Videos circulating on social media showed a group of men ransacking the temple, using iron bars to destroy portions of the property.

"The damage isn't too extensive. The building has been partially damaged," said Riasat Ali, a local administration official, adding that security forces had been deployed to protect the local Hindu community in the area.

The country's strict blasphemy laws have been disproportionately used against religious minorities in the past, including the Christian community with critics arguing they are frequently abused to settle personal scores.

Discrimination and violence against religious minorities is commonplace in Pakistan, where Muslims make up 97 percent of the population and Hindus compromise around two percent.

The attack was just the last in a string of assaults on Hindu places of worship in recent years, including an attack late last year that saw around 1,500 people overrun and set fire to a temple in northwestern Pakistan.

The uptick in violence comes as leaders in Pakistan and India have been locked in an increasingly harsh war of words, with both sides accusing the other of inflaming religious sentiments to target minorities in their respective countries.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met with his counterparts from Kuwait, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Oman on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of Irans new President Ayatollah Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi here.

Jaishankar in a tweet said he was "delighted to catch up" with Kuwaiti foreign minister Dr Ahmed Nasser Mohammed AlSabah.

"Took forward our discussions on post Covid economic and health cooperation. Useful exchange of perspectives on regional developments," he added, sharing a photograph of their meeting.

In another tweet, Jaishankar said he appreciated Nicaragua foreign minister Denis Ronaldo Moncada Colindre's "warm words for our projects in power, health and ICT".

"Our cooperation is a model of South-South solidarity," the External Affairs Minister said.

In his meeting with Bolivian foreign minister Rogelio Mayta, Jaishankar discussed the development partnership and multilateral cooperation between India and Bolivia.

Jaishankar discussed "our strong bilateral partnership, GCC developments and regional issues" with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi.

"Look forward to working with him closely," he tweeted.

Jaishankar represented India at the swearing-in ceremony of Raisi.

Raisi, the former judiciary chief who is believed to be close to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was sworn in during a ceremony in parliament, which was attended by representatives from over 70 countries.

Last month, Jaishankar had called on Raisi and handed over a personal message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a stopover in Tehran on his way to Russia.

Raisi won a landslide victory in Iran's presidential election in June.

In June, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Raisi and said he looked forward to working with him to further strengthen the warm ties between India and Iran.

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For the vaccinated, it was supposed to be a worry-free, hot vax summer of socialising and fun. But the rise of the highly infectious Delta variant has spoiled those plans.

While the vaccines remain remarkably protective against Covid-19, especially against serious illness, headlines about breakthrough infections and new recommendations that vaccinated people should sometimes wear masks have left many people confused and worried.

While new research shows vaccinated people can become infected and carry high levels of the coronavirus, its important to remember that those cases are rare, and its primarily the unvaccinated who get infected and spread the virus.

Also read: Global Covid-19 tally crosses 20 crore

If youre vaccinated, youve done the most important thing for you and your family and friends to keep everyone safe, Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, said. Theres substantially more freedom for people who are vaccinated, but the idea that everything is the same as the summer of 2019 is not the case.

If Im vaccinated, why do I need to worry about Delta?

No vaccine offers 100% protection. Think of vaccine antibodies like a sea wall designed to protect a town from a storm surge, says Erin Bromage, a comparative immunologist and biology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Most of the time, the wall stands up to the pounding waves, but a hurricane might be forceful enough to allow some water to get through. Compared with earlier forms of the virus, Delta is like a viral hurricane; its far more infectious and presents a bigger challenge to even a vaccinated immune system.

Vaccinations give you that extra protection you wouldnt normally have, Bromage said. But when you hit a big challenge, like getting near an unvaccinated person who has a high viral load, that wall is not always going to hold.

The good news is the current crop of vaccines available in the United States is doing a remarkable job of protecting people from serious illness, hospitalisation and death. More than 97% of those hospitalised with Covid-19 are unvaccinated. And new data from Singapore shows that even when vaccinated patients are hospitalised with Delta breakthrough infections, they are far less likely to need supplemental oxygen, and they clear the virus faster compared with unvaccinated patients.

Whats the real risk of a breakthrough infection after vaccination?

Breakthrough infections make headlines, but they remain uncommon. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking all breakthrough cases in May, about half of all states report at least some data on breakthrough events. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently analysed much of the state-reported data and found that breakthrough cases, hospitalisations and deaths are extremely rare events among those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The rate of breakthrough cases reported among those fully vaccinated is well below 1% in all reporting states, ranging from 0.01% in Connecticut to 0.29% in Alaska, according to the Kaiser analysis.

But many breakthrough infections are probably never reported because people who are infected dont have symptoms or have mild symptoms that end before the person even thinks about being tested.

Breakthrough infections are pretty rare, but unless we have a population-based sample we dont know the level of rarity, said Dr. Asaf Bitton, executive director of Ariadne Labs at Brigham and Womens Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. A lot of people with mild scratchy throat for a couple days may have had them, but we dont know. Its not a failure of the vaccine that were having breakthrough cases. Its been estimated that weve staved off 100,000 to 200,000 deaths since the vaccine campaign started.

Also read: Rise in Covid cases, R number in some states worrying, but premature to declare third wave: Scientists

What is clear is that the risk of a breakthrough infection increases the more opportunities you give Delta to challenge the wall of protection conferred by your vaccine. Big crowded events  like a July 4 celebration in Provincetown, Massachusetts, or the packed Lollapalooza concert in Chicago  pose a much greater risk that a vaccinated person will cross paths with an infected person carrying a high viral load.

The more people you put yourself in contact with, the more risk you have, but it also depends on the local climate of risk, Gonsalves said. Soon well probably see a Lollapalooza outbreak. All these people crushed together is an ideal situation for the spread of Delta.

When should I wear a mask?

The CDC has a colour-coded map of Covid-19 outbreaks in the United States. Blue and yellow zones show relatively low levels of infections, while orange and red zones indicate areas where cases in the past week were above 50 cases per 100,000 people. The agency advises people to wear masks if they live in an orange or red zone  which now accounts for about 80% of the counties in the United States.

Infection numbers remain relatively low in much of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, while Delta has caused huge spikes in cases in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida.

The problem with the map is that case counts are changing rapidly and may surge in your local community before the map has changed colours. Even if youre certain youre living in a highly vaccinated community with very low case counts, it makes sense to consider the case counts and vaccination rates in nearby communities as well, because people  and viruses  cross state and county boundaries all the time.

Most experts agree that you dont need to wear a mask outdoors if youre not in a crowd and have plenty of distance (at least 6 feet) from people whose vaccination status isnt known. Its still risky to attend a packed outdoor concert, but if you do, wear a mask.

I would still suggest wearing a mask if you are indoors with people whose vaccination status you dont know, especially if you will be within a few feet of them for any amount of time, or if you will be in the room for a long period of time with those people, said J. Alex Huffman, an aerosol scientist and associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Denver. I dont wear a mask indoors in all situations now, because Im fully vaccinated, but I put my N95 mask on whenever I go into indoor public spaces.

Should I upgrade my mask?

You will get the most protection from a high-quality medical mask like an N95 or a KN95, although you want to be sure you have the real thing. A KF94 is a high-quality medical mask made in Korea, where counterfeits are less likely. If you dont have a medical mask, you still get strong protection from double masking with a simple surgical mask under a cloth mask. A mask with an exhale valve should never be worn, since it allows plumes of viral particles to escape, and counterfeit masks may have faulty valves that let germs in.

You may want to pick your mask based on the setting. A cloth mask may be adequate for a quick trip into an empty convenience store in an area with high vaccination rates. But a higher-quality mask makes sense during air travel or in a crowded grocery store, especially in communities where vaccination rates are low and case counts are high. Masks with straps or ties around the back of the head seal more tightly than masks with ear loops.

Read | While some Covid cases could go undetected, missing out on deaths completely unlikely: Govt

All the mitigation efforts we used before need to be better to hold off the Delta variant, and this includes masks, Huffman said. I strongly encourage people to upgrade their mask to something with high filter quality and something that fits tightly to their face. The No. 1 factor, in my opinion, is to make sure the mask is sealed well all around the edges  over the nose bridge, by the cheeks and under the chin. So any mask that fits tightly is better than almost any loose-fitting mask.

Whats the risk of hanging out with my vaccinated friends and family?

Vaccinated people are at very low risk when they spend time, unmasked, with their vaccinated friends and family members. I dont think mask-wearing is critical, Huffman said. If you are indoors with a small number of people you know are vaccinated, wearing a mask is low on my list of worries.

But some circumstances might require extra precautions. While its unusual for a vaccinated person to spread the virus to another vaccinated person, its theoretically possible. A vaccinated friend who is going to crowded bars, packed concerts or travelling to a Covid hot spot is a bigger risk than someone who avoids crowds and spends most of their time with vaccinated people.

With the Delta variant spreading, Bitton suggests an outdoor first strategy, particularly for families with unvaccinated children or family members at high risk. If you can take your event outside to a backyard or patio this summer and minimise your time indoors, you lower your risk.

Spending time with smaller groups of vaccinated friends has less risk than attending a big party, even if you believe everyone at the party is vaccinated. If youre indoors, open the windows to improve ventilation. If someone in the group is at very high risk because of age or because they are immunocompromised, its reasonable to ask even vaccinated people to be tested before a visit. A simple rapid home test can even be offered to guests to be sure everyone is Covid-free.

Can I still dine at restaurants?

The answer depends on local conditions, your tolerance for risk and the personal health of those around you. Risk is lowest in communities with high vaccination rates and very low case counts. A restaurant meal in Vermont, where two-thirds of the population is vaccinated, poses less risk than an indoor meal in Alabama or Mississippi, where just one-third of the residents are vaccinated.

Parents of unvaccinated children and people with compromised immune systems, who studies show may get less protection from vaccines, may want to order takeout or dine outdoors as an added precaution.

Is it safe to travel? Should I skip the peanuts and water and keep my mask on?

Airplanes are typically well ventilated and not a major source of outbreaks, but taking precautions is still a good idea. The potential for exposure to an infected person may be even higher in the terminal, sitting in airport restaurants and bars, or going through the security line. In airplanes, air is refreshed roughly every two to three minutes  a higher rate than in grocery stores and other indoor spaces. While airlines still require passengers to wear masks, people are allowed to remove them to drink water or eat.

To prevent air from circulating to everyone throughout the cabin, airplane ventilation systems keep airflow contained to a few rows. As a result, an infected passenger poses the most risk to those sitting in the seats in the immediate area.

Most experts say that they use a high-quality medical mask, like an N95 or KF94, when they fly. If you dont have one, double masking is advised. For a vaccinated person, the risk of removing a mask briefly to eat or drink during a flight is low, but its better to keep it on as much as possible. The CDC says its best for unvaccinated people, including children, to avoid flying.

Bromage said he recently travelled by air and took his mask off briefly to drink a beverage, but kept it on for most of the flight. He said he would be more comfortable removing his mask to eat if he knew the people next to him were vaccinated. He said he would be more concerned if the person next to him didnt seem to care about Covid precautions or wore the mask under the nose. If youve got a random person next to you, especially a chatty person, Id keep the mask on, he said.

How safe are buses, subways and trains for vaccinated people?

Most buses, trains and subways still require everyone to wear a mask, which lowers risk. While vaccinated people are well protected, the risk of viral exposure increases the longer the ride and the more crowded the train car or bus. For many people, riding public transit is essential for getting to work or school, and wearing a well-fitted medical mask or double mask is recommended. When public transit is optional, the decision about whether to ride should factor in local vaccination rates and whether case counts are rising.

Can I hug and visit older relatives? What about unvaccinated children?

While its generally considered safe for vaccinated people to hug and spend time together unmasked, parents of unvaccinated children have more risks to consider, particularly when visiting older relatives. In communities with low case counts and high vaccination rates, its generally considered safe for unvaccinated children from a single household to spend time with vaccinated grandparents. But as the Delta variant spreads and children return to school, the risks of close contact also increase for older or immune-compromised people who are more vulnerable to complications from Covid-19, even if theyre vaccinated.

When families plan a visit to a high-risk relative, its a good idea to minimize other exposures, avoiding restaurant dining or working out at the gym in the week leading up to the visit. Even though the risk of a vaccinated person spreading Covid-19 remains low, vaccinated grandparents should also reduce their personal exposure when they spend time with unvaccinated children.

I have not been masking up indoors with my octogenarian parents at this point, because I am still very careful in the way I wear masks in public settings, Huffman, the aerosol scientist, said. But if I had more interactions that increased my overall risk of exposure, I would strongly consider masking up when indoors with vulnerable individuals.

Rapid home tests are an added precaution when visiting grandparents or an immune-compromised family member. Take a test a few days before the visit as well as the day of the visit.

Home tests are a wonderful option for people with a little more anxiety right now in regards to the virus, Bromage said. What were doing is buying those, and each and everyone tests before they come together  literally right before were together. When everyone is clear, you can enjoy that time together.

How do I know if I have the Delta variant?

If youre diagnosed in the US with Covid-19, the odds are overwhelming that you have the Delta variant. The CDC now estimates that Delta accounts for more than 82% of cases in the United States. The Delta variant has become dominant in other countries as well. In late July the World Health Organization said Delta accounted for 75% or more of the cases in many countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and the UK.

That said, standard Covid tests wont tell you if your infection was caused by the Delta variant or another variant of the virus. While health departments may use genomic sequencing to identify levels of different variants in a community, this information typically isnt shared with individuals. You still need to isolate and seek medical advice if you have low blood oxygen levels, have trouble breathing or have other worrisome symptoms.
Released: August 5, 2021

People in Delaware County Urged to Wear Masks Regardless of Vaccination Status

The Pennsylvania Health Alert Network has issued the recommendation that all people, regardless of vaccination status wear a mask in public indoor settings.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued updated COVID-19 guidance based on new evidence of the Delta variant currently circulating in the United States.

The new guidance includes:

A recommendation that all people regardless of vaccination status wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. (Delaware County is now considered a county with substantial transmission.)

Information that all people regardless of vaccination status wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission, if they are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease from COVID-19, or if they have someone in their household who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease or not fully vaccinated.

A recommendation that all people who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.

CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.

The updated CDC guidance can be found here: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html

On August 2, the CDC listed Delaware County and neighboring counties as "communities of substantial transmission" for the coronavirus, as the number of new cases climbs with the more contagious Delta Variant. The Delta Variant is highly contagious and people who are fully immunized can still contract and spread the virus.

Delaware County has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases across the county. The 7-day average has increased from 6 to 45; a 360% increase in new cases in the past two weeks.

COVID-19 is a respiratory virus and respiratory viruses naturally peak in the fall. Therefore, residents are urged to get vaccinated if they havent already to prepare for an even larger spike in the fall.

The vaccination rate in Delaware County continues to increase. 58% of the Delaware County residents have received at least one vaccine, and 89% of residents age 65 and over are fully immunized. The goal is to reach at least 70% of the total countys population in order to reach herd immunity and best protect the community.

The COVID-19 vaccine and masking are our strongest defense against the deadly virus. The County is following CDC and Pennsylvania Health Alert Network guidance in County-operated buildings and urging residents and businesses to follow the public health guidance as well.

Hesitant or have questions? Learn more about the facts and fiction about the COVID-19 vaccine here- www.factsoverfiction.info

Information on County run and non-County run vaccine clinics across Delaware County can be found here - www.delcopa.gov/covid/vaccination.html
A child reacts to a throat swab during mass testing for COVID-19 in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The coronaviruss delta variant is challenging Chinas costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the virus out of the country need a less disruptive approach.
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County government

Delco mandates masks in county buildings; may require Fair Acres nurses to vaccinate
FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2020, file photo, a droplet falls from a syringe after a health care worker was injected with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Providence, R.I. An untold number of Americans have managed to get COVID-19 booster shots even though the U.S. government hasn't approved them. They're doing so by taking advantage of the nations vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated.
A man charged with endangering peoples lives in an arson attack and robbing a man while in possession of a knife has been remanded into custody at Derry Magistrates Court.

Neil Henry, 27, of Aberfoyle Terrace, who was arrested in connection with two incidents in Derry on Tuesday appeared at Bishop Street courthouse yesterday.

He has been charged with a number of offences including arson with intent to endanger life, robbery, kidnapping, wounding with intent, possession of a bladed article, possession of Class A controlled drugs and making threats to kill.

A police officer said a report was received of a fire at 4am on August 3.

Bins had been set alight outside a residential property on the Strand Road.

The court was told that all four flats were occupied at the time when a fire was lit outside the only entrance and exit to the property.

Witnesses were spoken to, the police officer said, and the defendant was identified as matching the description of the offender.

An alleged injured party told police that he exchanged words with Henry who then pushed him against a wall and demanded all of his belongings including a bank card and USB pen.

A police officer said Henry took the alleged victim to a bank machine and told him to withdraw 50.

The complainant refused and at Bank Place in the city centre Henry demanded to know where he lived, the PSNI officer added.

She said the defendant held a knife to the alleged injured partys cheek causing a small laceration.

At that point the alleged victim put his hand on Henrys neck and told him to drop the knife.

The police officer said Henry did drop the weapon and gave back some belongings.

The complainant located police on the Strand Road and the accused was subsequently arrested and cautioned.

While waiting at Strand Road Police Station, Henry allegedly threatened to kill two police officers by burning them and their families.

In a statement to police, the court was told, Henry said it was a good job he (the alleged victim) only got a wee cut as he was going to slice his throat.

The defendant is alleged to have added that he knows where the victim lives and said yes I did take the c**t hostage.

Objecting to bail, the police officer said Henry committed a number of reckless offences in the space of a few hours.

It was submitted that the 27-year-old has 125 previous convictions, 65 of which are relevant to the charges before the court.

The police officer said there are concerns for the safety of police and members of the public given that threats were made after his arrest.

Concerns over interference with witnesses and of Henry absconding were also cited.

Defence barrister Sean Doherty accepted the very serious nature of the charges but said his client is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

He added that Henry denies the offences saying that while he has an appalling history of offending he has had nothing approaching the seriousness of this matter.

Defence counsel submitted that his client has a learning disability and there are concerns that he could lose his current address if he was remanded in custody.

Urging the judge to grant bail, Mr Doherty said the case is likely to be delayed well into next year.

Refusing bail, District Judge Barney McElholm said no address was suitable given the threats that were made.

He also suggested Henry could make things difficult by going across the border.

Judge McElholm concluded: He seems to have no remorse. He then threatens to burn two officers and their families.

He may think he can say whatever he likes, but just as actions have consequences so does speech.

I cant conceive of any conditions he would adhere to or how to manage his bail.

He seems to have gone from one level of offending to another.

The case has been listed for a court hearing on August 26.
SDLP Derry councillor Brian Tierney has said comments from a TUV Assembly election candidate about Bloody Sunday and the Ballymurphy Massacre are an affront to victims.

The party's East Belfast candidate, former paratrooper John Ross, called Bloody Sunday "a very successful operation" at a protest in 2019. He also questioned whether those shot dead in Ballymurphy were innocent.

Councillor Tierney, who is the SDLP's representative on the Bloody Sunday Trust, called for TUV leader Jim Allister to clarify his party's position on victims.

The Ballyarnett councillor said: The comments made by John Ross are a real kick in the teeth not just to the Bloody Sunday families and survivors, but to all victims.

The parachute regiment murdered civilians in Derry, Ballymurphy and on the Shankill Road and made no religious or political distinction in their victims. John Ross comments are a disgusting insight into the TUVs views.

Are the TUV happy to stand over these remarks that Bloody Sunday, the mass murder of 14 innocent people, was a successful operation'? Does the TUV and John Ross believe that the murder of 11 people in Ballymurphy was justified? Would they describe the murder of Ritchie McKinnie and Robert Johnston on the Shankill Road in these same terms?

Jim Allister, John Ross and the TUV must come out and state where they stand on truth and justice for all victims and their families."
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The new Economy Minister Gordon Lyons today made his first official visit to Derry.

Mr Lyons, who took on the economy portfolio following a recent Stormont reshuffle, was hosted by members of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

He met with a chamber delegation to discuss the ongoing impact of the pandemic on local businesses, the Executives plans for economic recovery post-lockdown, and the Department for the Economys High Street Stimulus Scheme.

Londonderry Chamber President Dawn McLaughlin said they welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Minister.

This was a very useful engagement with Minister Lyons as he takes up his position and we discussed a wide range of issues including the impact of the pandemic on our members, the Ministers plans for recovery and post-pandemic growth, and his departments upcoming High Street Stimulus Scheme.

Its been a busy summer for the North West as the economy has reopened and visitors from across the UK and the island of Ireland have returned in strong numbers.

The summer tourism period has been vital in helping boost our small and independent businesses across all sectors and the influx of visitors has really helped them as they get back on their feet again.

We discussed the Ministers High Street Stimulus Scheme, which will be an important driver of economic growth and will support our local traders as they reopen, and the Executives Covid-19 Recovery Plan which was published this week.

We stressed to the Minister that the plans actions to help the economy  such as support for skills through greater access to apprenticeships, driving innovation, supporting job creation, and reinvigorating local high streets  must be rolled out as quickly as possible and receive the necessary financial backing from the Executive to become a reality.

Businesses do not need more plans and strategies - they need swift action and committed support as they deal with the severe impact of the pandemic.

We also urged the Minister and the wider Executive to state when all remaining Covid restrictions can be lifted, as in other parts of the UK, given the ongoing impact they are having on sectors, specifically hospitality.

I thank Minister Lyons again for visiting the North West this afternoon and I look forward to further engagements with him and his department over the coming months as we recover and rebuild.
Jennifer Aniston breaks ties with friends from her inner circle who refuse to get vaccinated

Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston says she has drawn a line between her and some people who wouldn't receive a COVID-19 vaccine, leading her to lose them from her inner circle.

The 52-year-old actor, who was fully vaccinated in May, said it is unfortunate that things had to turn out this way.

"There's still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts. It's a real shame. I've just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose (whether or not they had been vaccinated), and it was unfortunate," Aniston said in her InStyle September cover interview.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston)

The "Friends" alum said it is a "moral and professional obligation to inform" people about the benefits of the vaccine but acknowledged people have their own beliefs.

"It's tricky because everyone is entitled to their own opinion -- but a lot of opinions don't feel based in anything except fear or propaganda, she said.

Aniston has been vocal throughout the fight against coronavirus, urging her Instagram followers to wear a mask and get the jab.
Mohnish Bahl reveals Salman asked him if he's quit negative roles after 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun!': "I was like, Are you crazy?'"

'Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!' is Sooraj Barjatiyas masterpiece that remains iconic even 27 years after it released in theatres. The ensemble family drama was a trendsetter in Bollywood for several reasons and for actor Mohnish Bahl the film was a big turning point. The actor who was widely stereotyped as the villain in Bollywood before 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!' happened says the film opened many doors for him in the industry.

Mohnish who played Salman Khans cousin Rajesh in the film relived a few memories on the films anniversary today. He revealed that 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!' changed the perception about him as an actor. Talking to Times of India about the iconic Rajshri film Mohnish says, Because of Hum Aapke Hain Koun!(I dont mean this in a detrimental way), people were like how do we cast him in a negative role now. Many were also wondering if I would do any negative roles now. Even Salman Khan was like, Monya are you going to close the door for the negative roles now? I was like, Are you crazy? Every filmmaker is not Sooraj Barjatya who will give me roles of parallel leads in films. That would have been the end of my career.

The actor also said that even he was pleasantly surprised when Sooraj Barjatiya approached him to play a positive character in the Salman Khan Madhuri Dixit led film. I was well established in a negative role after Maine Pyaar Kiya, that when Hum Aapke Hain Koun! came along, I was a bit surprised. I also asked Sooraj ji, if he was sure about this casting because you know how actors get stereotyped in the industry. But he was adamant about it. Later, I realised why he wanted me to play that role, Mohnish says.

The actor further explained how his positive role made the climax tense. Mohnishs character is all set to marry Madhuris Nisha towards the end and when Rajesh finds out she loves his brother Prem played by Salman, it made for a tense moment as people banked on his history of negative roles while anticipating his reaction. His positive response, however, makes the climax more fulfilling and the happy ending sweeter.
Raashii Khanna roped in opposite Dhanush for D44, actress says she's looking forward to it

Actor Raashii Khanna on Wednesday said she has been cast as the female lead for an upcoming Tamil film, starring Dhanush. Currently titled D44 , the film is produced by Sun Pictures and directed by Mithran Jawahar, known for helming movies like Uthamaputhiran and Mathil. The film also features Nithya Menen, Prakash Raj and director-turned-actor Bharathiraja.

Khanna, who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil language films, made her debut with John Abraham-starrer Madras Cafe. The 30-year-old actor, known for films like Bengal Tiger and Supreme, said she is looking forward to working on the film.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Raashii Khanna (@raashiikhanna)

"I look forward to working with Dhanush, who has contributed in such a huge way to cinema. I've so many people to thank for the work that comes my way - the audience who love my work and the filmmakers and content creators (who) trust it," she said in a statement.

Khanna will soon star in an Amazon Prime Video original web series, directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D K, in which she will be seen alongside Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi. She will also be seen in director Rajesh Mapuskar's web series Rudra -The Edge of Darkness starring Ajay Devgn, and films like Tughlaq Durbar , Aranmanai 3 and Bhramam .
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra reveals Aamir Khan had personally requested Hrithik Roshan to do Rang De Basanti: "Its a good filmkar le"

Rang De Basanti would just be one of the finest films in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's filmography, but it remains one of the finest films to be ever made and has gotten a cult status from cinema lovers. But, it wasn't easy for the film to be made. In fact, for the role of Karan Singhania, which was finally played by Siddharth, Mehra found himself in a bit of a soup when actors refused to do the role. In his autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror, he has revealed that Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek Bachchan, and Hrithik Roshan were approached for the role. In fact, while Abhishek thought Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was going 'nuts', Aamir had himself requested Hrithik to consider the film.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hrithik Roshan (@hrithikroshan)

In his autobiography, the director wrote, "Every known actor kept declining the role to play Karan Singhania. I had first offered it to Farhan Akhtar. This was a time when he had never acted in a film before and was one of the most respected young directors. He was both surprised and amused. When I narrated it to Abhishek, he told me point-blank, I thought you are crazy but after hearing your narration I think you are completely nuts."

He then went on to add, "I requested Aamir to put in a word with Hrithik Roshan. Aamir even went to Hrithiks house. Its a good filmkar le (do it). But it wasnt meant to be. Finally, Siddharth signed on the dotted line in January 2005, one month before the shoot. He had never done a Hindi film before. Bharathi had seen the Tamil film Boys, starring Siddharth, a couple of months before the shoot, and his energy and unique combination of innocence and naivety came through. She thought he could pull off the conflict in Karans character well. The senior actors accepted the smaller parts with graceOm Puri, Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Mohan Agashe and K.K. Raina are all masters of their craft and formed a dependable unit on which we built the movie."

And what a Bollywood debut it proved to be for Siddharth. We wonder if the actors who had rejected the part had regretted their decision latter.
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REDMOND (AP)  Microsoft has reversed course and will now require employees to be fully vaccinated to enter the company's U.S. offices and other worksites, starting next month.

The Redmond-based tech giant told employees Tuesday it will require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors, and any guests entering Microsoft buildings in the U.S., the Seattle Times reported.





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SEATTLE  The Kiddie Academy property, at 601 Valley St., sold for a little over $12.3 million, according to King County records.

The buyer was 601 Valley Queen Anne LLC, which is associated with Devinder Singh, an Eastside entrepreneur who owns a half dozen local Kiddie Academy franchise operations.





. . .
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BELLEVUE  An office building at 345 118th Ave. S.E. in Bellevue sold for $4.2 million, according to King County records.

The seller was PPB LLC, which acquired the property in 2017 for $3.3 million.





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Education

'We're going to thrive this year': Tupelo Schools welcomes students back

TUPELO  As Parkway Elementary School students walked through the buildings front doors on Wednesday morning, Aug. 4, backpacks and face masks on, for the first day of Tupelos 2021-22 school year, it felt like New Years Day for kindergarten teacher Melissa Allen.

We get to start over, have a fresh start, fresh faces, Allen said. Its just fun. I look forward to it all year.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM NaKeysha Shannon, a teacher at Parkway Elementary School, helps Caysei Vigres, a second grader, locate his class as he arrives for the first day of school in Tupelo on Wednesday morning.

This is Allens 28th year working in education, and her fourth at Parkway.

Each educator at the school is taking part in a One Word Challenge, where they each selected a single word to be their focus for this school year.

Allen chose the word thrive.

Here's where Northeast Mississippi schools stand on requiring face masks for the 2021-22 school year With no statewide mask mandate in place, Gov. Tate Reeves has left it up to individual school districts to determine whether they will require face masks be worn by students in Mississippi's K-12 schools.

Were going to thrive this year, she said. We had a great year last year, and Im looking forward to a great year this year. Its going to be a little different, but children are adaptable, and weve been adaptable. Education hasnt stopped.

We want to be the best class, the best school, the best district, Allen added. And then ultimately, these are going to be the best children.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM/ Molly Ray, a teacher at Parkway Elementary School, escorts Madisyn Barker into her kindergarten class while meeting her teacher Melissa Allen on the first day back to school in Tupelo on Wednesday morning.

As students returned to school on Monday morning, they entered the buildings and met their teachers for the first time. Annual open house events, originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, were canceled after several cases of COVID-19 were discovered among students taking part in summer activities and teachers preparing for the start of school.

During a special called meeting, Monday afternoon, the Tupelo Public School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to require face masks for all students and staff, reversing a previous policy that would have made masks optional as the school year began.

Tupelo School Board approves mask mandate for new school year Correction: Tupelo Schools will resume classes Wednesday, Aug. 4. This story originally stated that TPSD students return Thursday, Aug. 5.

The decision followed guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Mississippi State Department of Health recommending all students, staff and visitors wear a mask indoors at K-12 schools.

Despite the change in plans, the masks didnt seem to stifle the excitement of the day.

Carmen Gary is beginning her fifth year as principal of the school, which has around 400 students in kindergarten through second grade. As she watched new and returning students flow into the building, Gary said she knows students are excited to be in school.

One of her goals for the year is to help students grow academically and emotionally. She hopes to offer support to them and their families to make the school year a success for everyone.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Parkway Elementary School students exit the bus as they are met by school staff for their first day back to school on Wednesday morning.

The word Gary selected to focus on for the year is purpose.

I want to be purposeful in what I do to provide support to everyone thats involved with Parkway, whether it be teachers, students, office staff, parents, the community, Gary said. I just want everything that I do to be purposeful.

Second grade teacher Jennifer Fulgham began teaching in 2009 and came to Parkway three years later. Shes taught there since.

Fulgham moved from first to second grade this year, so she knows quite a few of the students in her class already.

Im excited to be back because I already have a relationship with these kids, Fulgham said. I taught summer school this summer, the whole month of June, so really it just feels like I had a little Christmas break and Im back because I already know them.

Fulghams focus word this year is intentional.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Britney Owens, of Tupelo, leans over to hug and kiss her son, Braylon Barnes, goodbye for the day before he walks into Parkway Elementary School for his first day of kindergarten, Wednesday morning.

I want to be intentional with my words, intentional with my actions, intentional with helping others, intentional with helping the kids be their best selves, to succeed, Fulgham said.

One of Fulghams students, Emmie Reese Brown, a 7-year-old second grader, said her goal for the year is to get smarter and accomplish more things.

Over the summer, she missed her friends and especially her first grade teacher  Ms. Fulgham, who will teach her this year in second grade, too.

Adam Robison | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM Teachers at Parkway Elementary School walk students down the hallway to their classrooms on the first day back to school for Tupelo on Wednesday morning.

Sam Kendrick, an 8-year-old second grader at Parkway, was glad to be back in school. He missed his friend Mason and going to PE class the most over summer break.

Im really excited, Kendrick said. It feels really good to be back. Im most excited to have new classmates and new friends. Its going to be a good year.
(The Center Square)  A federal judge has ruled Union City farmer Robert Holmans lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over COVID-19 relief funds directed toward non-white farmers will be heard instead of being delayed until there is a result in a similar case in Texas.

Holmans case challenges a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that allows for automatic loan forgiveness up to 120% of the federal loan for farmers or ranchers who are socially disadvantaged, which is defined as Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic, or Asian, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson in the Western District of Tennessee issued an injunction against the federal loan program in early July, halting disbursement of funds throughout the country until there is a result in the case.

Temporary injunctions in similar cases surrounding the USDA funds have been granted in Wisconsin and Texas, and the USDA argued, in part, to avoid inconsistent rulings, the Tennessee court should wait to proceed until there was a result in the Texas case (Miller v. Vilsack).

The interests of the Miller plaintiffs are not completely aligned with Plaintiffs interests, thus negating Defendants claim of duplicative lawsuits, Anderson ruled Monday.

Anderson also said a similar case in Tennessee involving Antonio Vitolo, the owner of Jakes Bar and Grill in Harriman who is contesting COVID-19 relief funds from the U.S. Business Administration that are based on the restaurant owners race and sex, is a binding precedent in Holmans case but not in the Texas lawsuit.

When it comes to race discrimination, justice cant wait, said William Trachman, general counsel for the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which is helping represent Holman. The government hoped that it could put our equal protection rights on ice by trying to pause this case for what would have been years on end, and were pleased to see the federal governments attempt to halt this case completely rejected by the judge. Its time for the government to end its efforts to resegregate us by race. And we look forward to litigating this case to its conclusion.

Also at issue is whether farmers who receive ARPA funds will be eligible for future USDA loans, a point that was not brought up in the Texas case and has not been determined in court. So Holman has the option to opt out of being part of the class represented in the Texas case, because the two cases differ, and thus his rights would not be represented if the court had allowed the Tennessee case to be delayed.

Trachman said he believed the USDA was looking to fight the cases one at a time rather than fighting them simultaneously.

The court handed the government another loss by emphatically rejecting the strategy, Trachman said.
Duncan, OK (73533)

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Claremont, NH (03743)

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North Andover, MA (01845)

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Superintendent reinstated; board had voted to not implement COVID-safe guidelines from state

SANTA FE  The Public Education Commission on Wednesday suspended the five board members for Floyd Municipal Schools for voting to disregard COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming school year.

The department also reinstated Superintendent Damon Terry, stating in its release Terry refused to carry out the boards wishes. The board placed Terry on paid administrative leave Monday night. Board President Leon Nall told The News the board did not have a disagreement with Terry and placed him on leave to protect him.

Suspended along with Nall were board members Jeff Essary, Vicki Banister, Charlsea Lee and Ryan Bollema.

Terry will report to Education Secretary Ryan Stewart, who is slated to remain at the post until Aug. 20. The PED release said Stewart may designate the oversight elsewhere within the department. Floyd begins its school year Monday.

The PED takes its responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all staff and students incredibly seriously, Stewart said in the suspension memo. We cannot put students, staff and their families at unnecessary risk as we continue the fight against the Delta variant. By ignoring these basic safety measures, the board impairs the ability of the district to offer safe and uninterrupted in-person learning opportunities.

While suspended, school board members may not carry out board functions, use district property, devices or technology, and may not use the district email system. In addition, they may not be represented by the districts legal counsel.

According to the PED release:

 The Floyd board voted July 26 to make masks and social distancing optional and to disregard various other state guidelines on COVID-safe practices.

 A July 27 memo from Stewart advised the board their actions were inconsistent with state requirements and gave the board a noon Tuesday deadline to rescind its actions.

 The board took no action Monday to rescind its July 26 actions.

 Stewart called Nall prior to issuing the suspension and offered PED support and assistance on outdoor learning programs, testing practices and conversations with public health experts. While the conversation was honest and respectful, the memo said, Board President Nall indicated that the board would remain firmly committed to the actions originally taken on July 26.

The Floyd board is the third to receive a suspension during Stewarts tenure. The Questa board was suspended in 2019 for allegations of violating the Open Meetings Act and failure to accommodate students with disabilities. The Los Lunas School board was suspended in May based on credible evidence certain members violated procurement and public access laws and professional ethical standards.

In response to an inquiry from The News, a PED representative said the Floyd board members have a right to a hearing, but are not required to request one. A hearing will be scheduled in 60 calendar days and will be presided over by an independent hearing officer appointed by the PED. Following the hearing, the officer has two business days to produce a report to the education secretary. The secretary must make a decision within five business days of the hearing to make permanent, modify or withdraw the suspension. The decision can be appealed in district court.

Attempts by The News to contact board members was not immediately successful.

The Republican Party of New Mexico issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon in support of the board, stating, PEDs decision today to suspend the Board and to, in effect, take over Floyd schools in Roosevelt County is the latest example of New Mexico continuing to systematically peel away our freedoms and dilute local governance afforded to our citizens. Local communities should decide whats best for its residents and our children.

On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, and Sen. David Gallegos issued a statement following a meeting with Stewart and Steinhaus regarding the suspension: While we appreciate the Secretary and Secretary-Designate visiting with us today, we fundamentally disagree that the Public Education Department can legally remove a duly-elected school board under the force of law when they dont obey the edicts from the Governors office. This is a dangerous precedent that not only undermines the authority of all school boards, but the legislature which alone has the power to make laws. We support our local leaders and the families who voted them into office, and we hope the courts soon correct this blatant violation of local authority.
Government forces are patrolling much of Indian-controlled Kashmir and ordered shops and businesses to remain open to foil a planned strike by separatists on the second anniversary of Indias revocation of the disputed regions semi-autonomy
Oregon health care workers will be required to get vaccinated or face frequent testing
A senior HSE official has appealed to parents of children and young teens to get them vaccinated, saying the benefits outweigh the risks.

Chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said experts spent a long time analysing the facts and evidence before issuing advice to the Government about vaccinating children.

Registration for Covid-19 vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds will open next week.

It comes as a further 1,491 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the State.

As of 8am on Thursday, 193 Covid patients are in hospital, including 28 in intensive care units.

The chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said: Vaccination offers a real way out of this pandemic. The positive news is that take-up in Ireland is extremely high, which shows people understand the benefits for themselves and for their communities of getting vaccinated.

Those with at least a first dose in the over 40s is over 90 per cent, in the over-30s it is 84 per cent, in the 18 to 29 year age group it is over 73 per cent, and in the 16-17 year age group, it is over 46 per cent.

These figures continue to increase, and each person who has come forward should be commended.

Meanwhile, the Norths health department in its daily bulletin on Thursday afternoon reported three more deaths of coronavirus patients and another 1,641 new infections were confirmed.

There are 226 patients receiving Covid-19 treatment in Northern Ireland hospitals, with 39 in intensive care and 27 on ventilators. Hospital capacity is at 101 per cent.

Vaccine hesitancy

Asked about vaccine hesitancy among parents, Dr Colm Henry said the focus of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) has been on what is in the childrens best interest.

Niac took a long time over this, they took a long time looking at evidence. They said they deliberated a long time over it, Mr Henry said.

The advice, in the document, is what is in their best interest, and while there are societal benefits to having the population vaccinated, the advice was based on what are the risks and benefits.

Taking everything into account, taking the disruption, even mild illness, the psychosocial and educational, the benefits weighed towards getting the vaccine.

 The registration for a COVID-19 vaccine for children and young people, age 12-15 will open next week.



I'm encouraging parents and these young people to seek information from reliable sources such as the HSE website https://t.co/IIIa5S5lXO#ForUsAll pic.twitter.com/CPLcevJvQ6  Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) August 5, 2021

Damien McCallion, the HSEs national lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme, said it will provide factual and trusted information to parents and guardians that they can understand.

Niac have come with this information and we have trusted them all the way through this process and there is a huge wealth experience in Niac, Mr McCallion added.

They have served us well with that advice. Their decision is based on facts, on scientific evidence, on what they believed is the right thing to do.

We will put that information out for people to make their own decision. We recognise we do need to get that advice to parents.

The online registration system for 12 to 15-year-olds will open next Thursday, August 13th.

Six million doses

Meanwhile, the HSE administered its six millionth vaccine on Thursday morning.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid described it as a great milestone.

Its a very proud day for Ireland, he added.

It comes as more than 30,000 people attended the walk-in vaccination centres over the weekend.

Approximately 65 per cent of people were below the age of 20, and 85 per cent of attendances were below the age of 30.

The oldest was a woman aged 83 in Co Sligo.

Mr Reid praised the number of young people who showed up in great numbers to be part of what he said was a very momentous weekend.

We were genuinely taken aback by the overall experience over the course of the whole weekend, and particularly by a few factors, he added.

Firstly, the number of people who attended, and particularly younger people.

Secondly, the attendances proved very strong all across the country, so not just in urban areas but rural areas all across the country.

Whilst it was predominantly younger people that we saw coming through, there was also attendance by all age groups across the board.

Mr Henry said that the positivity and encouragement in walk-in vaccine centres was something to behold.

He said that one centre in Co Cork opened early to cater for the large amount of people queueing outside during last weekend.

There are currently 193 people being treated in hospital for Covid-19, an increase of 26 per cent on last week.

Mr Reid said the slow and steady rise in numbers gives a clear and stark message that the virus is still transmitting.

More than 3.3 million people have received their first vaccine, meaning 84 per cent of adults are partially vaccinated.

More than 2.8 million have received their second dose or single dose, which is approximately 75 per cent of adults.

Some 90 per cent of the population aged over 16 have registered to get a vaccine.

High take-up

Ireland has the second highest up-take rates of the vaccine in Europe, with Iceland taking the lead.

New figures from the HSE show that 75 per cent of cases in the last two weeks are in people under the age of 35, with most cases in the 19-24 age group.

Niamh OBeirne, the HSEs national lead for testing and tracing, said the positivity rate in testing centres is about 12 per cent and continuing to rise.

Ms OBeirne also said that since the reopening of hospitality, there have been outbreaks in hotels and different accommodation settings.

Its not excessive and they are managing them, she added.

We havent heard any particular concerns with the sector and volume of outbreaks, there is just another sector for the health service to work with.
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How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids lives and lungs

As Pennsylvania moves to join a regional greenhouse gas initiative, experts say it will also reduce toxics, foster healthier kids, and save the state billions. But GOP policymakers and industry groups remain opposed.
ELKHART, Ind., Aug. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Patrick Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: PATK) (the "Company") announced that on August 12, 2021, its Board of Directors (the "Board") declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.28 per share. The dividend is payable on September 13, 2021, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 30, 2021.
Washington, MO (63090)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Drivers must use this election to stand up for themselves, according to an outgoing MHK.

Departing Douglas East member Chris Robertshaw has taken aim at what he describes as an anti-car mentality in government.

Hes urging motorists to vote for candidates who wont beat them up with policy.

Mr Robertshaw believes active travel and public transport can be encouraged without inconveniencing others.

Speaking to Local Democracy Reporter Chris Cave, the former policy and reform minister said: Arent we moving into an environment where were actually becoming anti-car, anti-driver? And is that necessarily the right way to go?

If we really want to encourage active travel and all of that, is the right way [to go] about it to beat drivers up?

My answer to that is no.'

A number of candidates who have put themselves forward for Septembers House of Keys elections are standing on green issues such as addressing climate change.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle declared a so-called climate emergency in May 2019 at an event explaining how government intended to encourage more people to walk and cycle.

Official data shows the Isle of Man contributed a total of 0.84 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2017, with transport responsible for 19 per cent of that figure.

The UK as a whole (including Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies) had total greenhouse gas emissions of 464.5 million tonnes (MtCO2e).

Over the last few months there have been calls to pedestrianise areas in Douglas as well as the DOI seemingly implementing a 20mph speed limit on the towns promenade.

A government report published in March 2019 showed there were just under 250 electric vehicles registered on the Isle of Man, with a target for there to be 10,000 by 2030.

Mr Robertshaw feels motorists need to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Its about time drivers started standing up for themselves a little bit and I would like to think that in the next election they do that, he said.

Its not for them to constantly be put at inconvenience by government simply because it can.

You need to listen deeper to candidates arguments rather than them just parroting the current fashion.

Of course climate change issue matters, of course active travel issue matters, but there is the rest of the world that must continue to exist and to be provided for.
Nearly 1.4m given to charity addressing climate issues

Nearly 1.4m has been awarded to an International charity which helps people affected by climate change issues in rural Africa.

Send a Cow are one of two charities selected from more than 30 that applied for support through the International Development Partnership (IDP).

The grant aims to facilitate lasting and sustainable change through the creation of long-term partnerships between the Government and a number of respected International charities.

The charity will use the 1.37m to fund projects that help people affected by the impact of climate change in Burundi and equip them with skills to grow their way out of poverty.

It will also help educate thousands more to manage their own natural resources, improve environmental sustainability and empower women to participate in environmental and economic activities

Details of the second charity to be selected will be announced shortly.
Roy Len Taylor, 79, of Athens, died Monday, August 9, 2021, at his residence. Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Spry Funeral Home Chapel in Athens with Rudy Evers officiating, burial at Antioch Cemetery. Visitation is from 9:30 a.m. - until service Thursday at the funeral home. Pallbearer
New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in New York. An investigation found that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in and out of state government and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers, James announced Tuesday.
Walter Isaacson, the author behind the 2011 Steve Jobs biography published shortly after his death, is currently writing Elon Musk's life story. Fox Business reported back in June that the famous writer was in talks with Musk about the possibility of writing a book on him. The author was reportedly yet to make a decision back then, but now Musk has confirmed on Twitter than Isaacson is writing his biography covering his work on Tesla, SpaceX and his "general goings on."

If youre curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2021

As CNET notes, there's already an official published biography on the entrepreneur entitled Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future. It was written by Ashlee Vance and was published in 2015. Since then, though, Tesla has launched the Model 3, which became the world's best-selling electric car. It was also only later in 2015 that SpaceX first achieved the successful landing and recovery of a rocket's first stage. In 2017, the private space company made history when it successfully relaunched its reusable Falcon 9 rocket for the first time. Four years later, SpaceX launched four astronauts to the ISS on a Dragon capsule used in a previous mission on top of a reused Falcon 9 booster.

Isaacson's Jobs biography was adapted by Aaron Sorkin into a film starring Michael Fassbender and directed by Danny Boyle. He also wrote biographies on Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and American biochemist Jennifer Doudna, who's known for her work in CRISPR gene editing. While he didn't respond to Musk's announcement, he has been retweeting SpaceX-related content since June.
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Families who are still largely working and studying at home might find that their WiFi network is feeling the strain, especially if someone's setup is far away from the router. If you're on the lookout for an upgrade, it may be worth considering the Google WiFi mesh system . A three-pack of nodes currently costs $149 on Amazon. That's the lowest price we've seen to date on the most recent model, which debuted in October at a price of $199 for the three-pack.

Buy Google WiFi (three-pack) at Amazon - $149

The idea behind a mesh system is that, after you set up the nodes around your home, they can work together to provide a stronger WiFi network across a larger area than many single routers are capable of. Google WiFi supports speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps, the company says. It claims a single point can support multiple simultaneous 4K video streams, though the size of your home, building materials and layout can impact signal strength.

The system uses WPA3 encryption and dual-band connectivity, as well as security updates and parental controls. You can manage the network using the Google Home app.

It's worth noting Google WiFi isn't quite as fast as the Nest WiFi system. Each node can cover up to 1,500 square feet, compared with 2,200 square feet for the Nest WiFi router and 1,600 square feet for each additional point. The latter also has a built-in Google Assistant smart speaker. A Nest WiFi three-pack costs $350, though. If you're in the market for a solid mesh system that won't break the bank, Google WiFi might do the trick.
Paramount+ is finally expanding into Europe  with a little help. ViacomCBS has struck a deal with Sky to launch Paramount+ in the UK, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland sometime in 2022. The pact will make the streaming TV service available on Sky platforms in return for Sky extending carriage of ViacomCBS pay TV channels like Comedy Central.

You'll have the option of both a direct subscription to Paramount+ as well as bundles. Sky Cinema subscribers will get Paramount+ at no extra charge, while other Sky customers will have to add it to their accounts.

ViacomCBS didn't provide pricing or local content differences, although it's notable that the broadcaster already has deals with rivals to carry streaming shows in the area. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have rights to carry Star Trek: Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks in the UK, for instance.

Paramount+ is already available in the Americas, Australia, Hungary, Russia and the Middle East. This could be the most significant expansion to date, though. Europe is a major market for streaming, and Sky's influence in the region could put the service in front of people who wouldn't otherwise have considered it. This won't bring Paramount+ to the level of heavyweights like Netflix or Prime Video, but it could help competition against narrowly focused rivals like HBO Max.
After a spate of accidents on its Tread+ treadmill, Peloton temporarily moved the basic running mode of Tread+ behind a paywall so non-authorized users couldn't gain access. Now, all users will be able to use the "Just Run" feature without a subscription and still be able to lock it up with a pin code, the company told The Verge.

Peloton recalled its Tread and Tread+ treadmills in the US and Canada after several reports of injuries and one death. The company subsequently released a software update that required a passcode to use the basic running mode, but the feature was only available to subscribers. To offset that cost, Peloton gave users the subscription for free for three months, with the promise that an update was coming.

The Tread Lock feature locks the device if you haven't used the treadmill in 45 seconds and aren't in a class. You then need to input a four-digit code before it can be used again. The aim is to prevent it being accessed by inexperienced users  especially kids  following 29 reports of injuries to children, including second- and third-degree abrasions and broken bones.

While the update was inconvenient for non-subscribers who purchased the $4,000+ devices, Peloton did make it possible to do basic running without paying. As part of the recall, Tread+ owners can get a full refund if they decide to return their treadmills by November 6th, 2022, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 92F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Val Kilmer continuously tries to fight for his life for over a decade since he first received his cancer diagnosis.

Ahead of the upcoming release of his highly-anticipated documentary "Val," Kilmer made everyone worry after failing to attend the premiere. While everyone still feels worried about the "Topgun" star, his children Jack and Mercedes, who will be featured in the documentary, recently shared an update through Extra.

The siblings both revealed details about the flick before giving an update about Kilmer's recovery.

"He's doing really well, he's like, you know, he's seen it probably a thousand times so we can't control what he does," the 29-year-old Mercedes said. She added that the recovery process is also grueling like the actual disease.

Meanwhile, Jack said that watching the documentary is very emotional for their father. Although they wanted him to join them in the premiere, he could not.



Despite that, Kilmer reportedly feels proud and happy that people will see a side of him that has never been seen before.

Why Val Kilmer Will NOT Watch His Documentary

Despite marking it as a comeback-like feature, Kilmer reportedly does not watch the documentary for one good reason.

In the same interview, Mercedes shared how their father would not enjoy watching himself at the premiere or the flick itself. She added that Kilmer saw the opportunity as something insane that he was able to score over five decades.

"He's never really been interested in watching his movies over. He likes to make them and he likes to make things and then when it's done, it's like," she went on.

READ ALSO: Queen Elizabeth, Royal Family Suffered During Prince Philip's Funeral Because of THIS

Both Mercedes and Jack played a huge role in the documentary, which will also flaunt the actor's home movies and behind-the-scenes footage from the movies he nabbed throughout his career.

The 26-year-old son will narrate the whole writings of their father and told ET how the job was special for both of them.

They concluded their heartfelt statements about their father by describing how much Kilmer loves life so much. They also see him as one of the best listeners and the most interesting person they ever met.

Kilmer is not currently required to do another surgery. But the tracheotomy he received allowed his doctors to create a surgically opened part through the neck into his trachea.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the procedure allows access to the breathing tube to ensure airway and remove secretions from the lungs.

READ MORE: Robert Downey Jr. To Return As Iron Man Or Not? Titular Marvel Hero Trends Worldwide Because Of THIS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, held a telephone conversation today with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry. The conversation focused on recent regional developments: the situation in Libya and Tunisia, human rights and the fight against the pandemic.
2021-08-04

Maeci

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, spoke today at the International Conference in Support of the Population of Lebanon, held in virtual mode and jointly sponsored by France and the United Nations on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Beirut port explosion.

In his address, Minister Di Maio stressed the importance of the international community's commitment to supporting the people of Lebanon and to promoting recovery in the country of cedars, an effort to which Italy is contributing with conviction through a wide range of initiatives.

The Foreign Minister emphasised the significant humanitarian support provided by Italy in the aftermath of the emergency caused by the explosions of 4 August 2020, including the delivery of over 65 tonnes of humanitarian aid and the deployment of vehicles and teams of experts.

Italy, added Minister Di Maio, is strongly committed through its support to the Lebanese armed forces, the protection of the country's cultural heritage, initiatives to rehabilitate social housing and social assistance and, also from a regional perspective, through its participation in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.

Reiterating that Lebanon's stability, security and prosperity are crucial for the region as a whole, Minister Di Maio concluded by urging the new Prime Minister-designate Mikati and all Lebanese political forces to intensify their commitment to the rapid formation of a Government.
EUR/USD Exchange Rate Falls as Mixed Risk Sentiment Boosts Safe-Haven US Dollar

The Euro US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate dipped today following yesterdays release of Junes US factory orders, which beat forecasts and rose by 1.5%, buying demand for the Greenback. The pairing is currently fluctuating around $1.18.

Analysts at Reuters commented on the data:

The increase in factory goods orders in June was broad, with notable gains in machinery, computers and electronic products, as well as electrical equipment, appliances and components. Orders for transportation equipment increased 2.0%.

As a result of growing confidence in the US economy, risk sentiment has improved with hopes that this could have a positive effect on the global economy in the months ahead.

However, with concerns rising over the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 throughout Asia, risk sentiment has fluctuated.

Michael Hewson, chief market analysts at CMC Markets UK, said:

Concerns that rising infection rates across Asia, and in China especially, appear to be causing anxiety that the rebound story in that part of the world is about to become the weakest link in the global recovery story. Not only are we hearing about more cases in China, but we are also getting an acceleration of cases across Indonesia and Thailand, as the virus hunts out the parts of the global economy with low vaccination rates.

USD investors are awaiting todays release of Julys US ISM services PMI for July. Any further improvement in the outlook for the US economy would be US Dollar-positive.

Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Slip as Eurozone Composite PMI Falls Below Forecasts

The Euro (EUR) fell today following the release of the final Eurozone composite PMI figure for July, which fell below forecasts and was revised downward from 60.6 to 60.2.

Consequently, EUR investors have become more concerned about the outlook for the Eurozone economy, which is showing some signs of slowing down.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, the company which compiles the survey, was more optimistic, however, saying:

Europes service sector is springing back into life. Easing virus restrictions and further vaccination progress are boosting demand for a wide variety of activities, especially in the tourism, travel and hospitality sector. Its not just the consumer sector that is booming, however, with business and financial service providers also enjoying a growth spurt as broader economic recovery hopes build.

Today also saw the release of Junes Eurozone retail sales data for June. This beat forecasts year-on-year, rising by 5%, but the month-on-month figure fell below consensus from 4.1% to 1.5%.

The continued recovery in the Eurozones retail sector has however buoyed confidence in the outlook for the economy but failed to uplift the EUR/USD exchange rate.

Bert Colijn, senior Eurozone economist at ING, said:

Confidence among consumers is very high at the moment, which is translating into an immediate return of spending on high streets now that restrictions have been eased.

EUR/USD Exchange Rate Forecast: Could Rising US Employment Boost the Greenback?

Euro (EUR) investors will be looking ahead to tomorrows release of Junes German factory orders. Any improvement in the outlook for the Eurozones largest economy would be EUR-positive.

Tomorrow will also see the European Central Banks (ECB) latest economic bulletin. Could an upbeat outlook for the blocs economic recovery see the single currency rise?

US Dollar (USD) investors will eye tomorrows release of the latest US initial jobless claims for the weak ending July 30.

Any improvement in the US labour sector could further uplift the USD/EUR exchange rate.
Thursday, August 5, 2021

By Scott Lorenz

Westwind Book Marketing

As a book publicist, Im frequently asked to give advice on writing a book. The truth is, there are so many elements that can make a book successfulbut one of the most important is that it be written well.

Writing well is the goal of every writerregardless of where they are in their writing journey. It is also a skill that requires continuous practice. Even published authors continuously work to perfect their craft.

It can be hard to decide what advice is most relevant when so many books have been published on the topic. That said, reading books on the art of writing can sometimes be more helpful than an entire college writing course. The five books that Ive listed below reveal the nature of writing life and the art of writing well in intimate detail. They offer everything from grammar rules to advice on publishing a book to personal narratives as they teach the ins and outs of writing and what it means to be a writer.

1. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. This memoir is a brilliant graphic tale of Kings life, and like all his stories, it does not lack imagination. The book is an invitation behind the scenes to his writing and career. It features moments that shaped King as an author and the various lessons he acquired from decades of practice and publication. It is a masterclass for aspiring writers.

2. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. The Elements of Style is considered the gold standard on writing. Strunk and White outline basic linguistic and stylistic rules and instructions on how to write clearly and concisely. They also cover common mistakes that writers make and how to avoid them. This book is a classic for a reason.

3. On Writing by Ernest Hemingway. While Hemingway never wrote a treatise on the art of writing, he left behind passages in letters, articles, and books with opinions and advice on writing. In 1984, Larry W. Phillips compiled these into a book. On Writing is a collection of writing advice from one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. Hemingway gives us a glimpse into the psyche and mental preparation of a writer and a clear definition of the difference between good and bad writing. The book is essential reading for any aspiring writer.

4. Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg. In this book, Verlyn Klinkenborg challenges writers to forget everything they have ever been taught about writing. The author uses a poetic prose style to make the point that the sentence itself is the most essential element of writing, and each sentence should do its share of the work.

5. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. In this delightfully witty and humorous piece on writing and family life, Lamott addresses the difficulties of writing and getting published. Bird by Bird is an anecdotal work full of wry observations about life and writing. Annes lessons are those she has shared in workshops over the years as she covers what shes learned through trial and error. Bird by Bird is a must-read, for aspiring fiction writers especially.

Today, many books and courses are available to assist writers on their writing journey. Authors have abundant writing resources at their disposal to help them hone their writing skills. Ive previously written on how editing and proofreading can make your writing shineand on the power and art of brevity for authors. If you dont want to read a book, you can watch the Masterclass courses on writing and receive author advice from some of the best writers of our day. There is a great masterclass by James Patterson on how to write a bestselling book.

The Bottom Line: Regardless of how long youve been writing, you can glean tips and techniques from authors who have succeeded in their field. Learn from them.

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether its their first book or their 15th book. Hes handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Womans World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Denver, CO, August 5, 2021W. Michael Gear, professional archaeologist and New York Times bestselling author with 60 novels, 82 non-fiction articles in print that have been translated into 29 languages, is being inducted into the Colorado Author's Hall of Fame.

His North America's Forgotten Past series, co-authored with Kathleen O'Neal Gear, has educated millions around the world and is the only series of books written by professional archaeologists that tackles the panorama of extraordinary native cultures that have inhabited North America over the past twenty thousand years.

The Gears were also just inducted into the Western Writers of America Hall of Fame, and Michael Gear was the 2020 winner of the Owen Wister Award. In Michael's words, "Receiving all of these awards, it doesn't happen very often for being in this business for 35 years. This is really refreshing."

Gear began writing one winter during a break in the archeology field season, after retreating to his family cabin. "I was reading a western novel, in which the protagonist takes off from Texas with a heard of steers. In the end, the main character is in a valley in Montana, and the steers were having calves, and it was just outlandish," said Gear. The inaccuracies in the book lead Gear to writing his own book.

"I knew that I could do better than that. At the time nothing else was happening, and I sat down with a typewriter, and two and a half weeks later, I had my first book," said Gear. "It stunk. The dialogue was all he said, she said, long didactic passages. But, the facts were all correct. And, the key was  I just so enjoyed the process of writing. It was fun. It was one of those moments of epiphany where you sat back and say, 'This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.'"

The Gears has been writing for over 35 years now, and his most recent novel, Dissolution, is a post-apocalyptic western, and a bestseller in western science fiction.

Gear's knowledge of archaeology and history gives him a unique perspective in his writing. "Kathy and I being anthropologists, we have been writing about the collapse of cultures now for 30 years. We write about what happens when civilizations fall apart, and as archeologists, the patterns are all there. The patterns are always the same. And even in our modern world culture where we are much more sophisticated, things still fall apart the same way."

The Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame will hold its second Author Induction celebration gala on September 18 at the Renaissance Central Park hotel in Denver, honoring an incredible group of exceptional authors. The public can attend and purchase tickets at ColoradoAuthorsHallOfFame.org

About Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame

Authors' Hall of Fame strives to educate the people of Colorado and the country about the stories of the authors who shaped their works using their personal presence and the environment of our State with courage, leadership, intelligence, compassion, and creativity. Inductees are authors who've made a major impact on others with their words. The Authors' Hall of Fame recognition endeavors to ensure their legacies never die.

The next Induction of the Hall of Fame will be held September 18, 2021 at the Renaissance Central Park in Denver, Colorado. Additional information about the upcoming Induction event, inductees, tickets, donations, events, and board members is available at www.ColoradoAuthorsHallofFame.org

Press inquiries: Contact Founder, Dr. Judith Briles, Judith@Briles.com or 303-885-2207.

###
Author: Owen Symes

Publisher: Zero Books

ISBN: 978 1789043310

On January 29, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United Statesbecoming the first African American to serve in that office. Can we now assess his achievements and did they meet expectations? What will we recall about his legacy? What will have mattered most? Will there be legislation, or perhaps an executive inaction, that we can say had some significant consequences? What was his global impact as a leader of the Free World?

On taking office, Obama faced massive pressures. How would he handle a full-blown recession affecting the economy and millions of lives? It should be recalled, while in office, George W. Bush began carrying out a bailout package whose aim was to help some financial institutions that were in horrendous shape. Was Obama going to mess with Bush's package? And how about foreign affairs where US troops were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As Owen Symes, author of HE WAS OUR MAN IN WASHINGTON: A History of the Obama Years, points out, there are different points of view. The Conservatives were almost unanimous in their dismal opinions. Robert Ehrlich at the Washington Examiner described Obama as "hyper-partisan and ultra-liberal." The liberal assessments were varied to positive.

To make sense of the Obama years, Symes focuses his tome on an array of topical points which are separated into six chapters: the forever war or the war on terror, markets and austerity, health-care, marginal groups (maintenance of status quo more or less), climate change, and indigenous resistance and the intersectionality of American history. His analysis reflects the extensive body of work he has read and pondered.

What comes out of this study, according to Symes, and based on the information he could get his hands on, is "a president who more than anything else desired to give America more of the same. He was not a revolutionary many conservatives feared, and many leftists wanted. He found comfort in the liberal tradition of faith in a market with some government oversight (but not too much!), of an interventionist foreign policy, of the myth of American Exceptionalism." To Symes, and this makes up the underlying thesis of the book, Obama was a Neo liberal. After a comprehensive analysis, Symes concludes that many of Obama's assumptions did not hold up.

From the beginning Symes clarifies he has scant interest in writing history for the powerful, but in critiquing the power and holding it to account. He sticks to the evaluation of groups and structures, while using individual actors as examples of a trend, tendency, or movement. In addition, he brings in broad historical context which he believes is not trivia but something we need to examine to figure out where we are now.

Our past teaches us about the present because history furnishes us with the means to evaluate and interpret our past issues and positions us to identify patterns that would otherwise be invisible in the present. And Symes does not rely on one perspective when linking to the historical context, but looks to multiple causes. For illustration, when examining the war on terror, Symes realized when assessing Obama, it was not adequate just to go back to George W. Bush. It was fundamental to go back to World War II where the USA emerges with a degree of power unseen in recorded history culminating in anti-communist crusades where we encounter the USA becoming implicated in the affairs of the Middle East. All of this meddling continued up to the present day.

In conclusion, Symes asks, how did Obama do? In replying, he refers to Obama's first inaugural address dealing with the war on terror, the economy, healthcare, and the environment.

Symes reminds us that the administration missed many marks. The USA was still engaged in Iraq, and there was no peace in Afghanistan. There was still the specter of global warming. The economy is still over reliant on the ephemeral efforts of the financial sector; the infrastructure remains rusted and deficient, healthcare is not affordable for most, and economic activities still rely on fossil fuels. As noted, "in helping a bruised status quo back into the ring, Obama fulfilled his promise not to apologize for the American Way of Life-and all the costs that go along with it."

Owen Symes devotes much of his time to writing history, and this shows in his fascinating analysis of the Obama years. Although, HE WAS OUR MAN IN WASHINGTON: A History of the Obama Years may be a heavy tome for the casual reader, it is a fresh and most welcome perspective. It is a provocative study for anyone wanting to get a better comprehension of the Obama administration.

Follow Here https://waa.ai/xdyP To Read Norm's Interview With Owen Symes
San Antonio-based pipeline and terminal operator NuStar Energy L.P. on Thursday said it more than doubled its profit in the second quarter, with demand for refined oil products soaring.

NuStar posted earnings of $63 million in the quarter ended June 30, a 110 percent increase from the same period last year  during the worst of the pandemic-driven drop-off in oil demand. The company generated revenue of $427 million in the latest quarter, a 25 percent increase from a year ago.

Refined product demand has continued to improve as more and more Americans have returned to normal day-to-day activities, NuStar President and CEO Brad Barron said. After dipping to an average of 95 percent in the first quarter due to Winter Storm Uri, our second-quarter average rebounded back up to 105 percent of pre-pandemic demand, and we are now forecasting 100 percent for the full year.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-based NuStar sells 8 storage terminals to Sunoco in $250 million deal

NuStar moved 1.9 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined products through its 10,000-mile long pipeline network, 22 percent more per day than in the same time last year. The pipeline segment of NuStars business earned $96.5 million in the second quarter.

The strengthening refined product demand we have seen has also increased U.S. refiners demand for crude, contributing to higher throughputs for our crude pipelines in the second quarter, Barron said.

The companys fuel storage business grew since last year, too. NuStar said its 73 storage facilities averaged a throughput of nearly 386,000 barrels per day in the quarter, a 10 percent bump from a year earlier. The storage segment made a profit of $46.2 million.

NuStar said it carries $3.48 billion in debt, which its looking to reduce. NuStar earlier this week announced the sale of eight terminal locations on the East Coast to Sunoco LP for $250 million, leaving the company with 64 storage terminals.

When the sale closes later this year, NuStar will use the proceeds to improve our debt metrics, Barron said.

While selling assets is never easy, this transaction is a win-win for all parties as we are exiting non-core assets at an attractive valuation, which allows us to lower leverage, he said.

NuStar is also increasingly capitalizing on Californias mandate for gasoline-powered vehicles to shift to zero-emission fuel sources by 2035. NuStars West Coast pipeline network delivered nearly 20 percent of Californias ethanol and 30 percent of the states renewable diesel volumes.

NuStar comprises a meaningful amount of California's renewable fuels, said Stewart Glickman, an energy analyst at CFRA Research. He called NuStars renewable fuels segment a niche business that we think has secular growth tailwinds.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-based NuStar Energy rebounds to profit in first quarter as oil recovery continues

NuStar also could soon experience greater demand for its ammonia pipeline network, which runs from Louisiana through the Midwest.

Hydrogen could potentially replace gasoline as a fuel for vehicles, especially for big-rig, long-haul transports. In theory, hydrogen would be stored in a vehicles fuel tank and then run through a fuel cell where it would be converted to electricity to power the motor.

But hydrogen isnt very dense, so storing enough of it in a vehicle is a challenge. Ammonia, which is more dense, could potentially act as a carrier for hydrogen fuel.

The ammonia NuStar transports through its network is currently used mostly for fertilizing crops on farms in the Midwest. But the potential for ammonia to deliver zero-emission fuel could drive demand for NuStars ammonia network with little or no additional strategic spending, the company said.

Glickman said NuStar is generating ample cash flow that is sufficient to fund its own capital expenditures and distribution payments to shareholders without incurring debt.

The biggest threat to NuStar for now is the surging delta variant of COVID-19, which could impact demand for oil if the spread accelerates, Glickman said.

Still, Glickman maintained a 12-month price target of $21 per unit for NuStar.

NuStar units closed at $15.22 on Thursday, a one percent increase from Wednesdays close.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Even a trip to the restrooms at SeaWorld San Antonio reminds visitors the COVID-19 pandemic isnt over.

The theme park has plastered signs on lavatory walls, at restaurant entrances and at other indoor venues, issuing a warning: You are entering an indoor area. Face coverings are recommended for all people.

An image of a head with a face mask is an added touch to remind visitors the delta variant is spreading and causing illness at an alarming rate.

The signs went up after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week reversed course on its mid-May guidance that masks were no longer necessary in most cases for those whove been vaccinated against COVID-19. The new guidance says that even vaccinated people should wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.

On ExpressNews.com: Local COVID hospitalizations rise as CDC revises masking guidance

Nonetheless, nearly every SeaWorld visitor is ignoring the message and going maskless indoors. And unlike the days before mid-May when SeaWorld employees confronted maskless visitors, theyre now going unchallenged.

The CDCs new guidance is testing theme parks and other tourist attractions on how to react to the challenges of the delta variant without scaring away guests. They dont want a repeat of last summer, when fears of COVID-19 hammered attendance once they reopened after government-mandated shutdowns.

This summer is different, with visitor counts nearing pre-pandemic levels in some cases. Still  even in red-state Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has outlawed government mask mandates  theme parks are private businesses. They have the power to put new rules in place, said Carissa Baker, an assistant professor at the University of Central Floridas Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

But Baker, whose specialty is theme parks, said she wouldnt count on them doing it. Theme parks want to encourage guests to visit without worries  and mask requirements are a bad memory of the pandemic.

Theres just no doubt that guests are pretty fatigued with mask-wearing and the pandemic in general, she said.

Randy Diamond /Staff photographer

SeaWorld Sea Antonio President Byron Surrett said his park is being prudent with its recommended mask policy.

We are following the CDC guidance, he said. They are only recommending indoor mask use.

Six Flags approach

Nearly 16 miles away, San Antonios other theme park has an entirely different message, one ignoring the new CDC guidance on masks. Instead, Six Flags Fiesta Texas is promoting a policy it announced after the CDCs late May announcement relieving people of masks in most cases.

On ExpressNews.com: Six Flags Fiesta Texas dropping mask requirements for vaccinated guests, ditching temperature checks

The pronouncement on the parks website Wednesday: COVID-19 Protocol Update  No More Masks Required if Vaccinated.

A sign in front of the parks entrance also tells vaccinated individuals that no masks are required. The announcement and sign indicate that mask-wearing is recommended for unvaccinated guests.

A park spokesman said new guidelines were possible.

We are evaluating the newest CDC recommendations and will make updates as needed, with the health and safety of our guests and team members top of mind and consistent with applicable law, he said.

Much of Six Flags Fiesta Texas and SeaWorld San Antonio is outdoors. But Six Flags has two indoor rides, indoor restaurants, gift shops and an indoor theater with more than 3,000 seats. SeaWorld has numerous indoor spaces, including aquarium exhibits, restaurants, gift shops and a theater with more than 500 seats.

People dont want to

More than 400 people  almost all unmasked  crammed into the indoor Sea Star Theater at SeaWorld on Saturday to see Elmo, Cookie Monster and other furry friends from Sesame Street sing and dance in a childrens musical review. The crowd included several hundred children.

People dont want to wear masks anymore, said one employee at the theater after the fourth and final Sesame Street show July 31.

In fact, it was hard to find a masked visitor anywhere in the 250-acre park, from the indoor aquarium exhibits and restaurants to the lavatories.

Theme park expert Martin Lewison, an associate professor of business management at Farmingdale State College in New York, said he wasnt surprised few visitors were wearing masks at SeaWorld, even in a crowded theater.

Its not like there is poison gas in the area and you are going to drop dead for not wearing a mask inside a theater, he said.

In contrast to Texas, Six Flags and SeaWorld parks in California are requiring mask-wearing in compliance with new state orders to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., has adopted the same policy recommending masks indoors as in San Antonio.

Lewison said Texas politicians anti-regulation approach could figure in Six Flags and SeaWorlds handling of mask rules.

So there may be an attitude about government regulations in general that may lead to not standing at attention, he said.

Disneys culture

The operator responding most strictly to the CDCs new recommendations is the Walt Disney Co. Its flagship set of parks, Walt Disney World in Central Florida, announced last week  the day after the CDC revised its mask guidance  that all visitors, regardless of vaccine status, must wear masks indoors.

The Disneyland Resort in Southern California also put mask rules in place in indoor venues, though they were also mandated by California authorities.

Disney has a certain culture of behavior for guests, Lewison said. And if Disney says heres the rule, people are likely to follow the rules.

Baker, the Florida professor, who was at Walt Disney World last week, said nearly 100 percent of guests were wearing masks, in compliance with the new Disney rules. Ride attendants at indoor attractions gently reminded visitors to put on their masks.

Said SeaWorlds Surrett: Disney is the outlier.

Other major theme park companies are doing what SeaWorld is doing in light of the new CDC guidelines: recommending masks for guests when theyre indoors, he said.

Mario Gonzalez-Fuentes, an associate professor of marketing at Trinity Universitys business administration department, said the San Antonio theme parks reluctance to embrace tougher rules is understandable. Requiring guests to wear masks again could increase fears about the pandemic and cut into attendance, which is still recovering.

People may think if everyone has to wear a mask, maybe its not safe and I should cancel that trip to SeaWorld or Six Flags, he said.

If the delta variant surge continues, Baker said, Texas theme park operators may have no option but to return not just to mandatory masking but to social distancing and capacity limits.

This has been one of the most difficult periods for this industry in its whole history, and I think that weve already seen the industry reel once and we dont want it again, she said. But I do think its a cautious wait-and-see approach, and we can just hope that it doesnt need to go beyond the current guidelines.

randy.diamond@express-news.net
Nicholas Morrison spent the first seven years of his life thinking the man he shared a last name with was his biological father.

When his parents divorced, however, his mother told him that his father was someone named Elias living in Norway.

The San Antonio man  now 26  always wondered about his birth father. But with such little information about his identity, Morrison never thought finding him was in the cards.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-area woman wants Blue Bell to sell this flavor year-round

He knew his mom met his biological father on an Amtrak ride from California to Illinois in December 1993. The man was 21 at the time, backpacking across the country and hit it off with Morrison's mother. The two spent about three days together.

Four months later, his mom found out she was pregnant but had lost the man's contact information, Morrison said.

"His whole life he thought he was going to have to hire a private investigator to find his dad," said his 23-year-old fiance Regan Willaims-France, who is also from San Antonio.

In 2018, she purchased Morrison, who was her boyfriend at the time, a 23andMe DNA test. The results linked him to a relative in Norway who also shared their information on the website's Relative Finder page.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio police officer alleges Atlanta Braves logo infringes on a design he created in high school

The couple reached out and heard back a few days later from a man named Elias Nornes, who they believed was Morrison's father.

"He remembered the train trip, and he actually still had the ticket, so it added up for (Nornes)," she said. "But to make sure, he suggested to do a DNA test."

The results showed a 99.9 percent probability that Nornes was his father.

Now Playing: Nicholas Morrison met his father, Elias Nornes, for the first time in Norway in 2019. Video: Courtesy of Nicholas Morrison

"It was fulfilling to finally know," Morrison said. "There were a lot of emotions: shock, surprise, joy and yes, a lot of tears."

Morrison's mom was shocked he found Nornes so many years later.

"She couldn't believe it, but she was very happy for me to go meet him and the rest of the Norwegian family," Morrison said.

In 2019, the couple booked a two-week trip to Norway to meet Nornes and the rest of his recently discovered family.

"Everyone was so welcoming, and they were so excited to have another member of the family," Williams-France said. "I mean they could have pushed him away, especially since (Nornes) has his own family  two kids and a wife  but they love us so much and we talk almost every day."

Morrison connected with his half siblings, only a few years younger than him, as well as his grandparents.

"We were lucky because most of them spoke English, which made it easy to communicate with them," Williams-France said. That was not the case with his grandmother, who speaks Norweigian and limited English.

While on the trip, Nornes gifted his baptism spoon to Morrison, which he then used to propose to Williams-France after forging it into a ring.

Courtesy of Nicholas Morrison

"It meant so much to me for Nick's father to give us something so special for him to propose with," she said. "It was a magical experience."

Morrison said his father and several family members will attend their wedding in Texas this fall, when the couple will take his dad's last name.

After Oct. 15, they will be known as Mr. and Mrs. Nornes.

Malak.Silmi@express-news.net
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  Vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike should resume wearing masks indoors in most of Wyoming amid a rise in infections of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, the state health officer said Wednesday.

Fifteen of Wyoming's 23 counties had moderate to high virus transmission, according to a health department dashboard. They included Laramie, Campbell, Sweetwater, Albany and Fremont counties.

People should wear masks indoors in those and 10 other counties, said Dr. Alexia Harrist, the state health officer.

We are deeply concerned. The delta variant has really changed the COVID fight we have on our hands. Unfortunately, Wyomings low vaccination rate makes our state more vulnerable to this highly contagious variant, Harrist said.

A recent survey of more than 5,000 people with lab-confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases in Wyoming showed that 95% were not fully vaccinated against the virus, the health department said.

About one-third of residents are fully vaccinated, according to the department.

That's one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the U.S. Vaccination rates are almost twice as high in Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine as in Wyoming, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, according to Becker's Hospital Review.

Virus transmission was relatively low and a mask recommendation wasn't in place for Natrona, Sheridan, Johnson, Crook, Washakie, Weston, Hot Springs and Niobrara counties. Still, unvaccinated people everywhere in Wyoming should wear masks indoors, Harrist said.

No vaccine can prevent all infections, but the overwhelming majority of vaccinated people who get COVID-19 don't become seriously ill, the health officer said.

In other words, vaccines certainly help keep you from getting COVID-19 in the first place, but if you do get it, you are far less likely to get severely ill, Harrist said.

Newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wyoming have crept back up above 90 per day after falling below 50 per day last spring. They topped 600 a day in November.

The virus had killed 786 people from Wyoming.
More than 150 baboons kept at a San Antonio medical research facility had fingers, toes or tails amputated after suffering frostbite during the February freeze, despite power generators and supplemental heat intended to protect the animals.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture investigate the Texas Biomedical Research Institute after learning that 159 baboons  about 15 percent of the institutes baboon colony  were injured when the record winter storm collapsed the states power grid.

The institute said it made every effort to respond to an extreme meteorological event that stressed the entire state of Texas.

The animals have access to indoor and outdoor housing and were indoors during the storm, said Lisa Cruz, Texas Biomeds vice president of communications.

On ExpressNews.com: Animals dead after sanctuary left without heat, electricity during freeze

Texas Biomed, along with other animal care facilities, were focused on the health and safety of animals and team members, Cruz said. The institute has a long history of providing exceptional care for our research animals.

Animals at the research facility played a key role in testing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to ensure it was safe for humans. Texas Biomed officials have said their work over the years has led to medical advances including a neonatal high-frequency ventilator and medications to treat diabetes and high blood pressure.

More than 50 staff members slept at the facility overnight throughout the week of the storm, providing 24-hour observation and care of the animals, according to Cruz. The institutes 2,500-primate colony includes marmosets, macaques and chimpanzees, as well as baboons.

Texas Biomed has backup generators that were used to power heaters for protecting the overall health of the animals, Cruz said.

In some cases, the extreme ground temperature caused frostbite to extremities. It is important to note that no mortality was suffered by any of the institutes animals despite this once-in-a-century weather event, Cruz said.

This was due to the diligent work of our staff, many of whom worked around the clock in trying weather conditions to ensure the well-being of the animals, she said.

The institute, located on the far West Side, reported the animals injuries to the National Institutes of Healths Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. It also provided immediate and exceptional veterinary care to mitigate further injury, Cruz said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined that the institutes efforts were consistent with regulatory philosophy  and actions taken to resolve the issue were appropriate, Cruz said.

The department did not find any need for further action, she said.

PETA, however, asserted that the animals had been treated cruelly.

In a letter to the USDA, the animal rights organization said that for highly tactile primates such as baboons, one of the few pleasures for those of them confined at (Texas Biomed) is exercising their ability to pluck blades of grass, manipulate food items and engage in grooming.

Leaving baboons to freeze during a catastrophic, record-breaking storm constitutes neglect and cruelty, said Dr. Alka Chandna, PETAs vice president for laboratory investigations. PETA urges federal agents to investigate and prosecute this federally funded disaster.

Primarily Primates, a North Bexar County animal sanctuary, lost at least 12 animals during the extended freeze, including a chimpanzee, numerous monkeys, lemurs and tropical birds.

In previous years, the USDA has fined Texas Biomed after primates escaped from the property or people or animals were injured there. PETA contends that primates at the facility are subjected to painful procedures and invasive surgeries and are sometimes denied pain relief.

A routine USDA inspection report from May listed one issue at the facility: Paint was peeling from several cinder block walls at two buildings, making it difficult to keep them sanitized. The concern was labeled noncritical, and Texas Biomed has until September to correct it.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas Biomed get $37 million to care for monkeys that helped with COVID-19 vaccine

Texas Biomed is an independent, nonprofit infectious disease research facility funded through the National Institutes of Health, donations and contracts with private bioscience companies. The organization reports more than $60 million in annual revenue and employs about 365 people on its 200-acre property.

The facility, which has an 80-year history in San Antonio, partners with researchers and institutions around the world to develop vaccines and treatments for viral pathogens that cause COVID-19, AIDS, hepatitis, hemorrhagic fever, tuberculosis, and parasitic diseases responsible for malaria and schistosomiasis.

shuddleston@express-news.net
Authorities in South Texas continued investigating a crash Thursday in which a van crammed with suspected undocumented immigrants flipped north of Falfurrias, killing 10 of its occupants and injuring the rest.

As police looked at the cause of the crash, a spokesperson said federal Homeland Security Investigations agents were conducting a separate investigation into what they suspect was a smuggling attempt.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash occurred about 4 p.m. Wednesday near Encino, when the driver of a Ford passenger van traveling at a high speed in the left lane of U.S. 281 tried to turn right, veering off the roadway.

A witness told DPS troopers the van struck a metal utility pole and a stop sign. The driver and nine passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

The Brooks County Sheriff's Office said at least 30 people were traveling in the van at the time and 20 were injured. DPS said the Border Patrol responded to the scene and aided the victims before 20 passengers were transported to several area medical centers in McAllen, Edinburg, Corpus Christi and Kingsville. Troopers said the identities of the deceased will be released once they are properly identified and next of kin is notified.

The ruthless human smuggling organizations and cartels behind these smuggling attempts brazenly transport undocumented migrants into the country by any means necessary, without regard for life or limb, said Mark Dawson, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Houston.

Dawson urged anyone with information about a suspected human smuggling attempt or stash house to call his agency at (866) 347-2423 or local law enforcement.

guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
The man whose 2019 murder trial in a Trinity University students death ended with a hung jury has asked a judge to bar prosecutors from retrying him on the grounds that they knowingly used a witness who lied.

While prosecutors had planned to retry Mark Howerton this month for the murder of Cayley Mandadi, defense attorney John Hunter said doing so would constitute double jeopardy. In a writ of habeas corpus, Hunter argued that prosecutors committed prosecutorial overreach when they called a witness in the first trial who they knew had lied in two police reports and in prior sworn testimony before a grand jury.

Hunter said prosecutors should not be allowed to benefit from such overreach that hurt Howertons chances for acquittal.

If the gamble worked, the state would have obtained a conviction, Hunter wrote. If it failed, and the jury hung, he would have the opportunity to see the entirety of the defendants case-in-chief, squander the defendants resources, and resubmit a retooled prosecutorial theory for a second attempt at conviction.

As a result, he said, retrying Howerton should be barred under double jeopardy, the legal principle that prevents a suspect from being tried multiple times on the same or similar charges following an acquittal.

On ExpressNews.com: Judge declares a mistrial after Bexar County jury deadlocks in trial of boyfriend accused in death of Trinity University student

The judges ruling on the writ of habeas corpus  which typically is used to challenge whether someone is being detained lawfully  could be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, potentially postponing the yet-to-be-scheduled trial for months or longer.

The Bexar County District Attorneys Office declined to comment on Hunters allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, citing the pending litigation.

HO /Staff Photographer

The death of a student

When Mandadi died in 2017, she was a 19-year-old sophomore from League City majoring in communications, and a well-liked member of Trinitys cheer team and Chi Beta Epsilon sorority. During the initial trial, three rows of courtroom benches were often full of her friends and family.

Prosecutors allege Howerton, who had been dating Mandadi for about six weeks, fatally assaulted her in a jealous rage over a former boyfriend, with whom she had an on-and-off-again relationship, after attending a music festival in San Antonio.

Jett Birchum, Mandadis ex-boyfriend, testified that she told him she planned to break up with Howerton and that he saw Howerton put his arm around her and pull her away at the festival that evening.

On ExpressNews.com: Slain Trinity University student had plans to break up with boyfriend, ex says

Howerton, 25, has maintained his innocence, saying Mandadi agreed to go to Houston with him after the festival. He said they stopped at a gas station to have rough makeup sex before continuing to Houston.

Howerton said Mandadi had been drinking heavily before the festival and taking MDMA, a mood-altering drug commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly.

At some point, he said, she stopped breathing so he drove to a hospital in Luling. When they arrived there, she was covered in bruises, and she was not wearing pants.

Officials, however, said Mandadis injuries  including bruises on her stomach and legs  were inconsistent with Howertons explanation of rough sex and charged him with murder.

A four-paragraph indictment alleges that Howerton intentionally or knowingly caused Mandadis death by striking, grabbing and shaking her, slamming her head against a blunt object, or by an unknown means. The indictment also says that Howerton could have caused Mandadis death in the process of sexually assaulting or kidnapping her.

Testimony questioned

Birchums testimony is at the heart of Hunters writ.

Birchum, a former Trinity University student who dated Mandadi for about nine months before she met Howerton, testified during the trial that he saw Howerton at the festival pulling Mandadi away aggressively.

Birchum said he tried to call Mandadi, but that Howerton answered the phone.

He basically said dont call this phone again. This is over with, Birchum testified. Like, shes mine, I dont ever want to hear from you again.

Birchum said he attempted to follow them, but lost them in the crowd.

Prosecutors presented other evidence to corroborate Birchums testimony.

Howerton, in interviews with law enforcement officers, admitted that he and Mandadi were at the festival that afternoon.

On ExpressNews.com: Boyfriend apologized for 'shoving' Trinity University cheerleader weeks before her death

Another witness, Joseph Goodwin, testified that he took MDMA with Mandadi and Howerton before going to the festival and that he saw them there.

They were about 10 feet behind me. Mark said he was going to get drinks near the entrance. Thats the last time I saw them, Goodwin told the jury.

Another of Howertons friends, Landon Suggs, testified to Judge Raymond Angelini  outside the jurys presence  that he also saw Mandadi and Howerton at the music festival the day prior and that Howerton became agitated when the couple saw Birchum nearby.

Suggs also told the judge that he visited with Howerton about a week after Mandadis death to ask what happened. According to Suggs, Howerton said the worst thing he ever did to Mandadi was slam her head against a car window.

The judge, however, did not allow Suggs to testify to the jury after Suggs said under oath that he had used illegal drugs while at the festival. Angelini said Suggs should have a lawyer present, and prosecutors did not call him to the stand again.

On ExpressNews.com: Defense witness explains how Trinity University cheerleader might have died

Hunter said Birchums testimony isnt reliable, arguing that he had a clear subjective incentive to testify falsely because he was offered immunity for an unrelated drug offense in exchange for his grand jury testimony.

During Howertons trial, Hunter presented GPS and cell tower records that show the defendant and Mandadi drove by the music festival but never went inside. He said its more likely the couple dropped Goodwin off at the festival and kept driving.

The GPS data doesnt lie, Hunter said Thursday in an interview.

Prosecutors, however, argued that there were gaps in the GPS data, making it not as conclusive as the defense contends.

Hunter said Howertons own account that they were at the festival cant be trusted, either.

Mr. Howerton was giving that statement when hes under the influence of MDMA at a high dose in a very stressful explanation, Hunter said. Hes at a hospital where his girlfriend was seriously, seriously ill.

Alternatively, Hunter said its possible Howerton and Mandadi stopped at the festival for 15 to 25 minutes. But he said it still would have been objectively impossible for Birchum to see the couple there given the timing.

Either way, we land at the same place, Hunter said. Jett Birchum is lying about the time he saw them, where he saw them, or if he saw them at all.

Challenging prosecutors

In his writ, Hunter said prosecutors were aware of how unreliable Birchums testimony was, as he had brought it up multiple times before and during the trial.

At one point during proceedings  outside the jurys presence  Angelini questioned why prosecutors put Birchum on the stand.

To be quite frank, no ones going to believe Jett Birchum, not about anything, the judge said. They put on this testimony. I dont know why.

Still, Hunter said, prosecutors continued to rely on his testimony  even during closing statements. He said that amounts to prosecutorial misconduct.

Hunter declined to answer questions on whether he planned to file a complaint against the prosecutors with the State Bar of Texas.

He said he hopes his filing  and the potential for appeals  doesnt take too long. A hearing on the writ has not been scheduled.

If its going to be denied, Id like to continue to trial, Hunter said. But by the same token, I want to make sure this is thoroughly reviewed. Legally, this question of double jeopardy is an unanswered question.  This issue must get resolved to determine if its constitutionally permissible to retry this case.

eeaton@express-news.net
CPS Energy

Thursdays storm brought more than pouring rain, grumbling thunder and flashes of light. It also brought fire and knocked out power for thousands of homes and businesses across San Antonio.

CPS energy crews are working to resolve 155 weather-related outages affecting 4,200 customers, the company said on Twitter.
Dog owners, youre on notice: Any poop left in the breezeway could cost you, regardless of whether your pooch left the mess or not.

Thats whats in store for residents of an apartment complex in Converse, a small city northwest of San Antonio, where the management company there is threatening to fine every pet owner $50 the next time someone allows their dog to use the hallway as a bathroom.

Management at Legends at Kitty Hawk apartments, which bills itself as San Antonio luxury, unveiled the new policy to residents in an email on July 29.

On ExpressNews.com: S.A. apartments test dog DNA to catch tenants who don't scoop

Recently there have been numerous reports of residents allowing their pets to use the bathroom in the breezeways and not cleaning up after, the email said. Not only is this disrespectful to your neighbors, but it is unsanitary and leaves our buildings looking nasty.

Management added: There will be a $50 fine added to every pet owner each time this happens, until the issue is resolved.

The Legends at Kitty Hawk

But some residents with pets on their leases at the 13-building complex on Kitty Hawk Road said that managements threat is not fair.

I was honestly pissed off, one pet-owning resident told the Express-News. She agreed to speak to the newspaper on condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation. I dont even have the words to say  why should we end up paying for somebody else doing this?

In the last several months, management at Legends has aggressively tried to go after owners who dont clean up after their dogs, the resident said. It has offered a $50 gift card for information leading to the capture of a serial pooper. Maintenance also chopped down the bushes bordering the air conditioning unit because someone was allowing their dog to defecate behind them.

On ExpressNews.com: These are the most popular dog names in San Antonio

But management has seemingly ignored other sanitary concerns, the resident said. The dried puke on the stairs leading up to her apartment has been there for months, according to resident. The railings on some of the buildings are covered in a thick layer of bird droppings, she added.

Texas does not have any specific tenant pet laws. Landlords can create their own rules for pets and put them in the lease. Several apartment complexes around San Antonio use DNA testing to keep bad dog owners in check.

While bills typically fluctuate, the resident said she typically pays over $1,000 a month. Thats on top of a $300 pet deposit, a $20 pet rent and other maintenance fees.

Courtesy photo

Theres no freaking way that they can charge us extra fees, on top of what we're already doing for something that we haven't done, she said. I can understand if someone caught us on video, or pictures. That I can understand. But we havent done anything.

A representative at the Legends, who identified herself as Jessica, referred comments to Roscoe Properties, Inc.. Roscoe Properties, Inc. did not return multiple requests for comment.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-area man has been flinging large bags of cat feces from his car window, police say

Contrary to the July 29 email threat, the apartment complex will not charge all residents with pets on their leases, Jessica said.

The new policy only refers to individual pet owners who do not clean up after their pets. When asked to clarify, she said that the email was an effort to encourage pet owners to come into the office to discuss potential violations.

She added: Its more of a way for residents to come speak to us.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
"Good morning, Valerie Salas sings to Neville Mupfeka.

Its 6:30 a.m., and hes still asleep inside a row of cardboard boxes tucked between two businesses a few blocks from the Alamo.

Salas, 39, taps on the boxes advertising fresh bread or chips, and Mupfeka, 50, reaches up. She helps him out of the makeshift bed and hands him a coffee with five creams, five sugars and a Sausage McMuffin.

She worries he wont eat if she doesnt bring him food.

Salas is the director of homeless services at Christian Assistance Ministry. Shes known Mupfeka since 2016, when she first started working in homeless outreach.

At first, Salas thought Mupfeka was mute. Nobody she knew had ever heard him speak.

I was just very intimidated by him, she recalled.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Progress can be slow and frustrating when working with the homeless, many of whom may have untreated mental disorders or addictions. Outreach specialists are used to hearing no from the people they try to help. They wait patiently for the day they hear yes.

Salas is passionate about her work. She doesnt give up easily, and she celebrates each victory.

Ive been looking for you

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Homeless outreach isnt just driving someone to a shelter or ladling soup for a hot meal. Specialists offer friendship and stability to people living in the streets. A fresh shirt is the beginning of a relationship and a promise to help however they can.

More than 2,000 homeless people received help in Bexar County between January 2020 and January 2021, according to the annual Point-In-Time Count, a census conducted by the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless.

Recently, Salas watched another one of her clients  Brittany Aguirre  earn her two-year recovery chip. Aguirre, a mother of two, has struggled with drug addiction most of her life. She recently moved into her own apartment.

The young mother will always see Salas as the person who saved my life.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Salas herself was homeless on and off for a year until she got sober in 2013. Once she was back on her feet, she worked as a receptionist at a law firm in downtown San Antonio. On work breaks, she spent time outside and met an older woman with severe mental health issues.

I was just drawn to her, Salas said.

She wanted to find a way to be able to help these people all day. Soon, shed get the opportunity.

Salas frequently went across the street from the law firm to visit a friend who worked at Centro San Antonio, a nonprofit that cleans and beautifies downtown. Her friend was in recovery and kept relapsing, so she left him notes encouraging him and making sure he knew he was loved.

When a manager at Centro found out why Salas was visiting, he told her he just started an outreach program.

Ive been looking for you, he told her. Youre perfect.

A mysterious past

Its taken a few years, but Mupfekas grown to trust Salas.

He doesnt talk much. Sometimes he is lucid. But on most days, he can be seen pacing the streets downtown, sometimes talking to himself, often writing on walls with his index finger. Mupfeka said this is how he organizes his thoughts.

His past is a mystery. He started receiving support services in 2013, when he checked himself into the Courtyard at Haven for Hope, a homeless services campus near downtown.

The Courtyard is a low-barrier shelter, meaning it will accept even those who cant stay sober, wont abide by a curfew or have a criminal record.

Once Salas became an outreach worker and was comfortable speaking to Mupfeka, he started to follow her. She cut his nails and asked him his name. He replied by writing it  along with several math equations  on a dusty window with his finger.

Salas had someone check the equations  they were correct.

Most of the time, Neville did not know what day it was or the current year, Salas said.

When he does talk, he usually doesnt make sense.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Hell have good mornings, holding a conversation and playfully placing a graduation cap he found in a nearby flowerpot on Salas head.

Other mornings, hell go straight to a wall and start writing.

Mupfeka wont speak to Salas, or really anyone, about his mental health; he hasnt been formally diagnosed with a mental health disorder. At one point, his family was told Mupfeka showed early signs of schizophrenia, but he never wanted to acknowledge it, Salas said.

Since then, he continues to deteriorate, she said.

Good days, bad days

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

More than 70 percent of homeless individuals who engaged with street outreach services in Bexar County reported a mental health condition, according to the 2021 Point-In-Time Count.

Some local outreach specialists estimate that one in four homeless people suffer from mental illness so extreme that they cant take care of basic needs. They often lose contact with family and friends, magnifying their loneliness and sense of hopelessness.

As Salas got to know Mupfeka, she searched for his family and clues to how he got to where he is. Mupfeka grew up in Zimbabwe and came to the United States on a student visa in 2002. He attended a university in Cleveland and later served in the Army for a year.

After that, the chronology grows murky. His family didnt know where he was. Salas tracked them down by messaging each of Mupfekas Facebook friends from an account he hasnt used since 2013.

Mupfekas family was grateful to learn he was still alive.

A few times a week, Salas has him video chat with his family, including his parents and siblings in Britain and his sister who still lives in their childhood home in Zimbabwe. They talk about the beach and growing up; he asks about their lives.

But those moments of clarity dont last long. Mupfeka sometimes grabs the phone and lectures his family about space while tracing his finger on the wall as if writing on a chalkboard.

Some days are good, some bad, Salas said.

A lost cause

A few years ago, 31-year-old Brittany Aguirre was also living on the streets.

Aguirre started doing hard drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, when she was 13. She was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, insomnia and major depression.

I was in and out of rehabs and mental hospitals since about 13, Aguirre said. I never stayed sober and just progressed and progressed.

She bounced around, couch-surfing at friends houses. In her early 20s, she moved in with a boyfriend.

My use just got worse, she said.

Aguirre didnt know she had a problem, and recovery programs didnt make sense to her.

Her father died in 2017. She spent that night in jail, embarking on a revolving-door journey through the criminal justice system. She was accused of theft, possession of drugs and assault.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

During times of freedom, she would search for somewhere to sleep outside or drink.

It was horrible ... but for some reason, I didnt care. Like I had nothing. I just wanted to die, she said.

She started shooting up heroin and meth.

Salas remembers chasing Aguirre on a downtown street, afraid the girl would stumble into traffic. As Aguirre grew to trust her, Salas would take her to safe places to talk.

On the streets, Aguirre was often robbed or would leave her belongings behind. She used her boots like a purse.

Police bike patrol officers would find her sleeping outdoors, wake her up to see if she was OK and find her safe spaces to sleep.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Salas often brought her toiletries and took her to Haven for Hope for a shower.

She was so young, beautiful and vulnerable, Salas said.

But Aguirre wasnt ready to confront the trauma she was experiencing.

The easiest way to get through it all was just to stay in that blackout, she said.

Looking back on her time on the streets, most of it is a blur. When Aguirre would come to, something bad was happening, she said. She was being held against her will, kidnapped or assaulted by men threatening to kill her.

I felt like I was a nothing  a lost cause, she said.

Running out of options

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

In early May, Mupfeka got in line to board a Greyhound bus headed from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. Wearing a clean purple shirt, he frowned and raised his middle finger.

Told to stop, he started to write on the bus windows.

Mupfeka sat in the very back row, looking out the window. He refused to speak to Salas and outreach specialists Morgan Handley and Gavin Rogers of Corazon San Antonio, a homeless services organization affiliated with Travis Park Church.

At the beach, Mupfeka hesitated to get in the water, so Salas linked arms with him and led him to the waves. Once his toes touched the Gulf of Mexico, Mupfeka couldnt help but smile. He frolicked in the waves, laughing, and dared Rogers to chase him. Later, the four went back to their hotel room, and Mupfeka watched the History channel.

The trip wasnt just for fun. The outreach workers were testing Mupfeka to see if he could travel well in public.

Eventually, they hope to put him on a plane back to Zimbabwe and his family.

The next week, Mupfeka agreed to visit a shelter in San Antonio. It was at a La Quinta hotel  some of the rooms operate as a low-barrier shelter run by SAMMinistries, an interfaith nonprofit that helps the homeless.

The outreach workers tried to make Mupfeka comfortable in the room. They turned on the History channel. Handley made the bed, and Mupfeka tinkered with the thermostat.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Then he left the room, saying he needed to go to a clinic to have a case of athletes foot checked out. The outreach workers suspected he just didnt want to be left alone.

This was one of the last shelter options for Mupfeka in San Antonio.

Even if he wanted to go somewhere, theres nowhere for him to go, Handley said.

He doesnt understand rules. He doesnt have the capacity to sit through an intake assessment, Handley said. That rules out emergency shelters. He cant go into a group home; he has no income.

He isnt violent or a criminal, so a state psychiatric hospital isnt an option, either  even if there was a bed available.

The longer someone has been on the streets, the harder it is to leave.

Being isolated does something to you, said Alberto Rodriguez, senior director of transformational operations at Haven for Hope.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

An outreach worker typically needs to engage with a homeless individual seven to nine times before they accept some sort of assistance, Rodriguez said.

It took Salas 10 interactions to coax Mupfeka into talking to her.

Hes the most challenging case I have ever dealt with, she said.

Making amends

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Aguirre was in jail for about a year before she entered a treatment program for the last time. She had been to Haven for Hope three or four times previously.

I was very broken when I got there, she said. I was so hurt and broken that I couldnt even bear another moment or a day.

She spent six months in treatment, then graduated to a live-in program at the shelter. She started trauma therapy and joined a support group for rape victims.

I learned new things about myself, she said. She found her faith and let it guide her. I was able to just kind of build a whole new person for myself through those times.

She started Alcoholics Anonymous. The ninth step  making amends  was the most difficult.

I started to finally realize the damage I had done, she said.

Then, she started to question if she had healed enough to know how to apologize.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

In December 2019, Aguirre got a full-time job with Waste Management Inc. as a sorter.

When it was time for her to leave the shelter, she was terrified, afraid she would relapse, like so many others.

She moved in with her mother in November 2020 and slept on an air mattress. She helped around the house, occasionally buying groceries or doing other acts of kindness for her mother.

People care

In late July, Aguirre and Salas went to a recovery meeting together. Together, they celebrated Aguirres two years of sobriety. She recently got a promotion at work and is rekindling her relationships with her two daughters, ages 5 and 6. She attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings two to three times a week.

I couldnt be more proud of her, Salas said. Her transformation is absolutely inspiring to me and reminds me that recovery is possible for anyone.

Aguirre is grateful to Salas, the bike patrol officers and other outreach workers for giving her a support network. Seeing that they cared made her realize she was worthy. Even when she has doubts, she thinks back on those moments.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

People care about me. People love me no matter what I do, no matter how I look, no matter how Im feeling, Aguirre said. These people extended their arms. Why would you think those things about yourself?

When she feels anxious or has flashbacks, she knits or writes in her journal. When she feels out of control, she finds solace in her daughters, by going for a run or by speaking with someone who is also in recovery.

I wouldnt want to live another day the way I was living in my addiction, she said. Theres a way (out), and its so much more worth it than ever hurting again.

Desperate for help

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

While Aguirre adapts to her new life, Salas hopes to get Mupfeka back to his childhood home in Zimbabwe. His parents recently retired, and they want to join their daughter on the property in Zimbabwe where they can take care of him together around the clock.

The question is how to get them there.

Jessica Phelps/San Antonio Express-News

Salas and other outreach workers are coordinating with his family, law enforcement and other agencies to figure it out. In the meantime, she arranged for a passport photo of him, and she has reached out to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington for temporary travel documents.

He deserves the opportunity to be reunified with his family, she said in a letter to the embassy. I fear something will happen to him if we do not get him off the street. I reach out to you now desperate for help. We do not know what else to do.
If genuine American democracy means the removal of all barriers to the ballot box for citizens and ensuring the federal government protects their right to vote, then that democracy turns 56 today. It is the anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing into law the Voting Rights Act, or VRA, of 1965.

It took 189 years from the nations founding, 178 years since the writing of the Constitution, the Civil War and the civil rights movement to get to Aug. 6, 1965.

On that day, Johnson said: This law covers many pages. But the heart of the act is plain. Wherever, by clear and objective standards, States and counties are using regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote, then they will be struck down. If it is clear that State officials still intend to discriminate, then Federal examiners will be sent in to register all eligible voters. When the prospect of discrimination is gone, the examiners will be immediately withdrawn.

And, under this act, if any county anywhere in this Nation does not want Federal intervention it need only open its polling places to all of its people.

Associated Press file photo

The Voting Rights Act, and the full democracy it birthed, is younger than millions of Americans, including former President Barack Obama, who turned 60 last week and whose election to the presidency would have been impossible without the VRA.

None of the people in the Rotunda that day  not Johnson, not Martin Luther King Jr., not John Lewis  could have imagined that by the VRAs 56th birthday, its health would be so perilous its survival is in question.

The heart of the act was removed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelley v. Holder in 2013. The court ruled unconstitutional Section 4 of the VRA requiring the federal government to preclear specific local and state governments before changing voting laws. Section 5, which sets out the preclearance requirement, was left standing but lacks authority without Section 4. Those provisions were in place in specific states, including Texas, because they had a history of racial discrimination in voting.

The evisceration of the VRA has left it and the federal government powerless against a slew of bills in Republican-led statehouses that would disproportionately suppress Black and Latino votes. Texas House Democrats have left Texas to delay the inevitable passage of more restrictive legislation here.

The Selma, Ala., campaign for voting rights in 1965, including the beating of Lewis and 600 other activists on Bloody Sunday, generated public support for the VRA, accelerating its passage. But years of organizing for voting rights for Black citizens in the rural towns and back roads of Mississippi  at considerable danger, suffering and death  preceded the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The catalyst for that organizing effort was the legendary Bob Moses, a soft-spoken field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, a figure as revered as King among civil rights activists and the people he helped organize.

Moses died July 25 at 86. Born in Harlem, he was studying for a Ph.D. in the philosophy of mathematics at Harvard and teaching school when he went to Mississippi in 1960 to register Black voters. Over the next few years, he survived beatings, arrests and being shot at.

In 2014, Moses was prescient when he told a Florida radio station, We will be fighting forever rear-end battles against different state and local governments that for one reason or other want to control who votes, and when and how. What we really need is an affirmative right to vote and a national presence through the government that assures proactively everyones right to vote.

Much blood was shed and many lives lost to secure that right to vote. But weve come to learn that that right was never as secure as assumed.

We should be celebrating the VRAs anniversary, not pondering its obituary. If the Biden administration and congressional Democrats cant find the way to a national presence strong enough to stop voter suppression, genuine American democracy will die as prematurely as some who sacrificed their lives for that ideal.
A local Republican official whose social media posts derided vaccines and masks was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died Wednesday, leaving behind a wife and infant son. He was 45.

The Galveston County Republican Party confirmed in a statement the death of H Scott Apley, a precinct chair for the organization and member of the Dickinson City Council and State Republican Executive Committee.

"I wish to express our deep sense of loss following the passing of our friend and colleague," said Patrick McGinnis, chairman for the Galveston County organization. "This indeed, is a tragedy; it is magnified by his youth, his young family especially his very young son."

Apley was admitted Sunday to UTMB Galveston for pneumonia-like symptoms, according to a GoFundMe page created to assist with medical bills that has since garnered nearly $30,000. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was ventilated for three days before his death.

Apley's wife also tested positive but was not hospitalized, the page said.

RELATED: 'This is scary': San Antonio comedian Cleto Rodriguez shares tearful update as he battles COVID-19

Neither the fundraiser's organizer nor GOP officials immediately responded to inquiries from a reporter.

It was unclear whether Apley was vaccinated.

Im led to believe he was not, said Dickinson Mayor Sean Skipworth. I dont know that for a fact.

Two days prior to his hospitalization, Apley shared to Facebook a post expressing skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines.

In April, he responded to a doctor's tweet about the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy with this statement: "You are an absolute enemy to a free people." In May, he shared a post about a mask burning event with the comment: "I wish I lived in the area!"

Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the Delta variant drives another pandemic surge. Vaccines, free and widely available, are effective at preventing death and severe illness, according to doctors and health experts.

RELATED: 'Upward trend' of COVID cases halts new jury trials in Bexar County - again

Skipworth said the death of the new father and active community member was tragic for many reasons, including the rapid nature of his decline.

The two local leaders did not always agree but had a good working relationship, Skipworth said. A special election will be set for Apleys successor on city council.

The mayor said he thinks the death was preventable and hopes the situation compels residents to get vaccinated.

I dont know that the needles really going to move for any one thing, he said. I hope itll at least be a slow process as we see more stories like this, that people will take things to heart and make that decision to get vaccinated.

The death has sparked vitriol and insensitive comments on social media from people criticizing Apleys apparent choice to decline the vaccine. The phone in Dickinson City Hall was ringing Thursday morning, Skipworth said, with calls from people telling the mayor to go to hell after he expressed condolences for the council members death.

This isnt the moment to have a victory lap and say, I told you so, Skipworth said, calling for kindness but urging action. Please  get vaccinated if its something youre able to do.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  Arkansas ban on mask mandates faced new legal challenges -- including from a school district where more than 800 staff and students are quarantining because of a COVID-19 outbreak -- and defiance from the mayor of the state capital as Republican lawmakers rejected efforts to roll back the prohibition.

The Little Rock and Marion school districts asked a state judge to block the law Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed in April prohibiting schools and other governmental bodies from requiring masks. Little Rock's mayor, meanwhile, issued an order requiring masks in the city's public spaces.

Hutchinson called the Legislature back into session this week to consider rolling back the ban for schools but faced heavy opposition from fellow Republicans. There have been growing calls to lift the ban as Arkansas' coronavirus cases spiral ahead of classes resuming statewide later this month.

But a House committee Thursday rejected two proposals to allow school boards to require masks in buildings where children under 12 may be present. The move means lawmakers on Friday will likely adjourn the session called to revisit the bans without any action on the issue.

Hutchinson said he was disappointed by the Legislature's refusal to act.

It is conservative, reasonable and compassionate to allow local school districts to protect those students who are under 12 and not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine," he said in a statement.

The schools' lawsuit argues that the ban violates Arkansas' constitution. It seeks a temporary order blocking the prohibition while the lawsuit is considered. Another lawsuit by two parents challenging the ban is going before a state judge Friday morning.

No rational reason exists for denying public school students, teachers and staff, and the school boards which are obligated to keep them safe, the ability to ensure that all who work and learn in our public schools are as safe as possible," the schools' lawsuit said.

The Marion School District on Thursday said 839 students and 10 staff have quarantined since classes began last week because of its outbreak. The district said in a Facebook post that 46 students and 10 staff have tested positive for the virus.

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott's order would only apply to city-owned parks and facilities, but Scott also urged private businesses to require masks. The rule takes effect on Friday and will be in effect through the end of the month.

It is time to act. It is time to do what is best for the residents of Little Rock," Scott said at a news conference at city hall.

The state's coronavirus cases rose by more than 2,700 and the state's COVID-19 hospitalizations grew by 19 to 1,251. The state reported 17 new deaths from COVID-19.

Heading into this week's session, Republican legislative leaders said there weren't enough votes to change the mask mandate ban. The move faced an even bigger hurdle since it needed at least two-thirds support to take effect before classes begin later this month.

The days of big government mandates over the will of the people are done," Republican Sen. Trent Garner, who sponsored the mask mandate ban law, tweeted after the panel's votes.

The bills rejected Thursday included one backed by a Republican lawmaker that would have allowed school boards to impose mask requirements for up to 60 days if the rate of virus cases over a two-week period reached a certain threshold. The other bill, backed by a group of Democratic lawmakers did not include the threshold requirement or the 60-day limit.

The state's mask mandate ban exempts Arkansas' Department of Corrections, and a Democratic lawmaker called it unconscionable" that the state would allow mask requirements to protect inmates but not children.

Society all the time makes modest sacrifices for the common good," Rep. Deborah Ferguson, the House committee's vice chair, said before the vote. This is not about I dont want my child to wear a mask. This is about all children wearing a mask to protect other children."

Pediatricians and health officials say masks in schools are needed to protect children, as the delta variant and Arkansas' low vaccination rate fuels the state's skyrocketing cases.

The situation we're in is very dire," Dr. Jared Beavers, a pediatrician, told the House panel.

Lawmakers have been inundated with calls, texts and emails from opponents of allowing mask mandates, if not the use of masks altogether to stop the spread of COVID-19. During hearings Wednesday and Thursday, opponents who testified against allowing mask requirements in schools repeatedly cited false and discredited claims about masks and the virus.

One woman who testified Thursday falsely suggested COVID-19 wasn't real, saying lawmakers should ask the state's top health official to provide proof of its existence. Another woman who spoke against the bill wore a shirt that read, Just say no to: masks vaccines mandates."

Republican Rep. Julie Mayberry, who sponsored the narrower attempt to allow some school mask mandates, said the state may need to consider delaying the start of school.

I don't want to delay school, but that's I think possibly the only other tool we have," she said.

House and Senate leaders said they expected to adjourn the session Friday morning after giving final approval to the only piece of legislation that advanced during the session.

That measure was aimed at preventing the state from having to resume making supplemental unemployment payments to 69,000 residents. The bill was in response to a judge's ruling last week that said state law indicated the Legislature, not the governor, had the authority to end the payments.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A bill requiring minors to get approval from their parents before receiving a COVID-19 shot in North Carolina was sent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday.

The measure, which cleared the state Senate unanimously earlier this week, passed on Thursday with support from all but five House Democrats.

Americans who are at least 12 years old are currently eligible for the shot. Parental consent for the COVID-19 vaccine for youths between the ages of 12 and 17 would be required once the bill becomes law but only apply as long as the COVID-19 shots remain approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. The FDA may soon give the Pfizer vaccine final approval, which is the only vaccine available for children 12 years and older.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, state law gives people under the age of 18 the ability to make certain health decisions, including the choice to get a COVID-19 vaccine, if they show the decisional capacity to do so.

The parental consent provision is included within a bill that expands the types of medications immunizing pharmacists can administer.

In a Wednesday news conference, Cooper declined to say whether he would sign House Bill 96 if it reached his desk.

I'm not gonna give you what you want, Cooper said. We're gonna examine that legislation as it goes through the process. It does some important things that we know that we need to do, so we're going to continue to look at it.

As of Thursday, 262,236 North Carolina adolescents aged 12 to 17 have gotten at least one shot of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, state health department data shows. The vaccinated youth represent less than 33% of the nearly 800,000 children in that age group, far below the statewide average of 59% of eligible residents and 87% of adults 65 or older at least partially vaccinated.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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Follow Anderson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BryanRAnderson.

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Anderson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The rare clash this week between the Biden administration and congressional Democrats over a lapsed eviction moratorium could become a blueprint for even larger fights that lie ahead.

Finding allies in congressional leadership, a new generation of progressive lawmakers insisted the White House pay attention to them. Their tactics, including a well-publicized multiday protest on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, ultimately forced the administration to find a new way to keep most tenants in their homes.

After largely holding back as President Joe Biden spent his opening months in office courting moderate Democrats  and even some Republicans  many progressives say that deference is over. And with Democrats holding exceedingly narrow margins in Congress, that means the White House may have to pay closer attention to the left wing of the Democratic Party in the coming weeks, especially as the administrations push for an infrastructure package intensifies.

Hopefully, this has shown not only leadership, the caucus, but our progressive family that when we say we are not going to back down, we dont back down, said Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who staged the round-the-clock sit-in on the Capitol steps.

While progressives are feeling emboldened in Washington, there are warning signs. Voters in Ohio on Tuesday rejected a congressional candidate enthusiastically backed by progressive leader Sen. Bernie Sanders. That followed similar setbacks for the left in elections earlier this year in New York City and Virginia.

This week's progressive revolt, however, was distinguished by Bush's protest.

By the time she brought her chair to the Capitol steps late Friday, the House had already tried  and failed  to pass a quickly drafted bill to prevent a moratorium lapse. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Biden a day earlier that Congress would not be able to provide a legislative fix.

As Bush began her vigil, people streamed to the steps to join the first-term lawmaker, who spoke passionately of her own time being unhoused, a young mother of two, living out of her Ford Explorer on the streets around whats now her St. Louis-area congressional district.

Her visitors included Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, whose presence added to the media attention.

A quieter lobbying campaign was also taking place. Over several days, Pelosi rushed into a series of phone calls to Biden and senior White House officials, insisting the administration needed to move unilaterally and focus on a new moratorium directly linked to the public health emergency and the delta variant.

She was saying things like: They can do it, I dont know what theyre talking about. They are not prevented from doing it, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the Financial Services Committee chairwoman, said of Pelosi.

We said, Mr. President, you have to step up to the plate, Waters said.

At the White House, officials were keenly aware that many of those impacted by the moratorium were Bidens constituents and recognized the need to keep the liberals on the party line.

But many in the administration were galled by claims that they had failed to take aggressive action to stop evictions. A senior White House official who requested anonymity to discuss conversations with the president said their efforts were a beehive of energy and activity over several months.

The first challenge was that the Trump administrations guidance for issuing rental aid required extensive documentation and hobbled the entire program. Bidens team updated the guidance multiple times after consulting with advocates, academics and housing experts, trying to make it easier for states and cities to administer with updated guidance on Feb. 22, May 7 and June 24.

When the Supreme Court suggested that congressional approval would be needed to extend any moratorium, the White House turned to the local court system where the evictions occur. Their goal was to have local judges require efforts to receive the rental aid before approving any evictions, the official said.

But after days of bad headlines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3. The ban announced Tuesday could help keep millions in their homes as the coronavirus delta variant has spread and states have been slow to release federal rental aid.

The senior White House official said the president had been told a national moratorium would likely be unconstitutional, but Biden kept instructing agencies to dig into the matter and look for ways to keep people in their homes. One of the keys was to have a moratorium that was targeted and dynamic  meaning that evictions could resume with a sufficient reduction in COVID-19 infections.

That made it different from the previous nationwide moratorium that was set without regard to the pandemics trends.

This is also going to be a temporary solution regardless, and a longer-term solution will require legislative action, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. But (Bidens) message to anyone whos been a passionate advocate is that he shares their concern, he shares their commitment.

To this point, Bidens agenda has focused on working across the aisle with the bipartisan infrastructure deal, including keeping moderate Democratic senators happy. The president has yet to fully tackle progressive priorities like climate change, voting rights and student debt.

But the eviction moratorium was an undeniable win for the progressives  and proof of their clout heading into a budget package that is especially central to Bidens promise to reshape governments relationship with its citizens.

Today is important because it marks, I hope, a turning point in the way that this White House views progressives, said Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y. We are prepared to leverage our energy and our activism in close coordination with grassroots activists and people all across this country of good conscience to do right by the American people.

Moving forward, the administration knows the end of the latest eviction moratorium will be a problem if the aid is still sitting in state coffers.

The White House Domestic Policy Council and Gene Sperling, the official overseeing the coronavirus relief programs, are meeting with every department to find more ways to keep renters in their homes. And on Friday, White House adviser Susan Rice and Sperling will hold a Cabinet-level meeting with the ultimate goal of getting aid out through the states in order to reduce the number of potential evictions once the new moratorium ends.

In Congress, meanwhile, Waters said she has prepared a package of housing bills she will insist on being included in Biden's infrastructure measure.

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Associated Press journalists Zeke Miller, Rick Gentilo and Derek Karikari contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Rep. Cori Bush began her sit-in at the Capitol on late Friday, not Saturday, and that she once lived on St. Louis-area streets with her children in a Ford Explorer, not a Ford Bronco.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The superintendent of Iowas largest school district said hes pleased about the resolution of complaints against him over the district's refusal to return students to in-person classes last year during a surge in coronavirus cases.

Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart said hes eager to focus on issues facing the district rather than defending himself against complaints affirmed by the state Board of Educational Examiners. The panel found that the district violated the law by not immediately complying with Gov. Kim Reynolds order for all schools to offer in-class options for students.

On Wednesday, the board approved an administrative law judges decision in June that Ahart should have a letter of public reprimand placed in his permanent licensure file. The judge denied the state's request that Ahart be required to complete 15 hours of ethics training.

I am pleased that this matter is resolved, Ahart said in a statement to The Associated Press. My focus has been and remains on the real work to be done for our students in Des Moines. From making up for last years interruptions to learning, to preparing for a new school year as the cloud of COVID grows once again, to simply fulfilling our mission to support our more than 32,000 students grow and succeed. Im proud to lead a great team committed to the education and well-being of our students and their families.

School districts across the country dealt with disputes last year as they tried to balance safety with student learning. But the controversy in Des Moines stood out because the district's stance contrasted so markedly from the Republican governor's demand that students have the option of returning to the classroom before vaccines were available, including to teachers. The dispute happened at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year as Iowa faced some of the nation's highest rates of coronavirus infections.

Reynolds ordered that schools provide students with in-person learning at least half the time, arguing that the risks of being infected with the coronavirus were outweighed by the need to give parents and students the choice to go to school. Throughout the pandemic, the governor has repeatedly pushed to reduce or end restrictions, saying she needed to balance public health measures with efforts to invigorate the states economy and ensure personal freedoms.

The virus has killed more than 6,100 Iowans.

For the first two weeks of the school year, the Des Moines district violated the order until it gave students the options of hybrid or all virtual learning. Board members were concerned that the districts aging schools didnt offer enough space or air-filtering capabilities to make in-classroom learning safe for students and teachers.

That delay led to complaints filed with the education board, a panel appointed by the governor. The board found that Ahart violated the law and gave him the option of surrendering his license or agreeing to a lesser sanction.

Ahart appealed the decision, saying he only gave the Des Moines school board options and then carried out its directives. Board members supported Ahart and said it wasnt fair to punish him for the board's decisions.

Trying to save the lives of Iowans, during a period unlike anything any one of us has ever experienced, should not be met with an attack on Dr. Aharts career, the board said in a statement at the time.

Administrative Law Judge David Lindgren acknowledged Aharts concern for student and staff safety, and his efforts to give the school board options. But he said the superintendent still cant break the law. Under the circumstances, though, Lindgren called for the least serious punishment and ordered the letter of reprimand.

Although the complaints against Ahart have been resolved, his future with the district is unclear. The school board in May voted 4-3 against an extension of Aharts contract, which runs through June 2023.

School board Chairwoman Dwana Bradley didnt respond to an email seeking comment about the resolution of the complaint and whether Aharts contract would be extended.

Reynolds' spokesman, Pat Garrett, said the governor declined to comment on the matter.

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Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
Officer identified as Lt. Michael Byrd, top, in House chamber before the Ashli Babbitt slaying in the hall. A Capitol Police officer says Byrd wasn't following firearms training. (See photo detail below.)

By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations

August 5, 2021

Kicking off the first hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot, Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, promised to fully investigate "the facts of what happened on Jan. 6, calling it a scene of violence in the citadel of democracy.

But over the next 3 hours, he and other Democrats, along with their handpicked Republican panelists and police witnesses, never mentioned the most lethal act committed that day  the fatal Capitol Police shooting of unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt. It was the only shot fired during the entire riot.

This omission angered Babbitts family and a number of Republicans who maintain that the Select Committee and the Capitol Police are covering up the circumstances surrounding her death. Questions linger over the shooting, especially whether the officer who fired the fatal shot warned Babbitt to stop before he opened fire as she attempted to breach a barricaded door inside the Capitol Building.

The officers lawyer insists his client not only issued such a command, but did so loudly and clearly. However, in an interview with RealClearInvestigations, Babbitt family attorney Terry Roberts said he has gathered evidence indicating the officer, a plainclothes police lieutenant, remained silent. Far from warning Babbitt he would shoot, Roberts said the officer ambushed her from the side where she could not see he had taken up position in a hall doorway and had trained his weapon on her.

Its not debatable, said Roberts. There was no warning.

A Maryland personal-injury lawyer who specializes in police misconduct cases, Roberts has won several million dollars for victims of police brutality. He said he is preparing to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Capitol Police and the officer, seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Babbitt, 35, was fatally wounded as she attempted to climb through the broken window above a door leading to the House chamber, where lawmakers were being evacuated. Standing to the side of a pile of furniture blocking the doors and out of Babbitts view, the officer took aim with his Glock service pistol, striking her in the left shoulder. Babbitt fell back from the doorway to the floor. She was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died from injuries sustained from the .40-caliber bullet wound.

More than six months after the shooting, the U.S. Capitol Police still refuse to release the name of the officer. But several sources have identified him as Lt. Michael L. Byrd, a 53-year-old veteran of the force who was serving as commander of the House Chamber Section of the Capitol Police on Jan. 6. He has not returned to duty and remains on paid administrative leave. Attempts to reach Byrd were unsuccessful.

Though Byrd appears to have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, he may still be subject to civil action. If Babbitt was not given an opportunity to obey commands before she was shot, it could figure prominently in the familys planned wrongful-death suit against the officer. Roberts said he has interviewed several witnesses who were standing outside the Speakers Lobby with Babbitt, and that they'll testify they did not hear the officer issue "any kind of warning."

He also said video recordings his investigators have analyzed reveal that other police who were in the hallway with the officer did not react as expected before he fired. He said they seemed to be caught unaware as he opened fire. Roberts said he has lined up expert witnesses, including ex-cops and use-of-force experts, who will testify that the officers behind him in the Speakers Lobby would have taken cover or crouched and pulled their own weapons if they heard the lieutenant give repeated warnings he was going to shoot. Instead, Roberts said, they appeared to be casually standing or walking around in the lobby in the seconds leading up to the shooting.

Those other officers were within earshot. If hes yelling, they certainly arent showing any reaction to it, he said. If he was giving any kind of warning, why didnt they react? Roberts added that no warnings can be heard coming from the officer in any videos taken at the scene.

The officers lawyer, Mark Schamel, insists his client issued verbal commands and warnings to Babbitt. He was screaming, Stay back! Stay back! Dont come in here! Schamel said.

Schamel said witness statements back him up. He explained the lieutenant's commands were not picked up on video recordings because the footage was shot on the other side of the doors where dozens of rioters were shouting and banging and drowning out his words. And he said his client could not be seen yelling out the instructions because his mouth was covered by a mask he wore as part of COVID-19 protections.

Its not clear if this critical issue was resolved by the investigation of the shooting by the Justice Department, which concluded in April that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution of the officer for willfully violating Babbitts civil rights, though it did not rule out the possibility he acted out of panic or even poor judgment." Justice investigators reportedly did not pursue murder or manslaughter charges.

They cleared him real fast, U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said. "I was surprised."

Im not sure how he was justified shooting her when there was a SWAT team right behind her, added a veteran Capitol officer, referring to three heavily armed USCP officers who had positioned themselves between the doors and the mob. They saw no immediate threat. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. A Capitol Police spokeswoman would not say if the officers actions were consistent with use-of-force policies, which are not publicly available. In a statement released this summer, however, USCP noted that it is "increasing its use-of-force ... training.

Schamel said his client received his training primarily at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Glynco, Ga., where Capitol Police recruits spend about two months before coming back for another two months of agency-specific training. Although the FLETC training emphasizes use-of-force decisions through simulated-shooting exercises, Capitol Police officers are not trained for riot-control situations on the scale of Jan. 6.

We were trained in what to do if gunmen tried to storm the Capitol, but we were not trained in what to do if hundreds of people decided to rush the building, former Capitol Police officer Patrick Skinner said. On Jan. 6, he added, police were unsure whether they were facing an imminent deadly threat or whether they were authorized to use deadly force.

There was only one incident of deadly force by a police officer, Skinner noted. Every instinct of those [other] police officers was to not shoot.

A former federal inspector general told RealClearInvestigations that even the Capitol Police are relatively unprepared to react to the kind of threat posed on Jan. 6 in which a mob tried to beat down doors leading to the House chamber.

This is not meant pejoratively but just as a fact, but the [Capitol Police] is far from being some kind of elite law enforcement body, the inspector general said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Its principal function is to assist tourists, maintain decorum in a tourist environment, and help out members of Congress and their staffs."

Roberts said as part of the discovery process, he plans to seek the shooting officers training records and his discipline file containing any infractions or complaints of misconduct. He noted that in February 2019, Byrd was investigated for leaving his department-issued Glock-22 firearm unattended in a restroom on the House side of the Capitol, even though the potent weapon, which fires .40-caliber rounds, has no manual safety to prevent unintended firing. The abandoned gun was discovered by another officer during a routine security sweep.

A Capitol Police spokeswoman would not say what, if any, disciplinary actions were administered against the officer. Unlike other police forces, it does not have to disclose records on police misconduct.

The Photo Evidence

Also, Roberts said the officer appeared to lack trigger discipline, judging from photos taken by a freelance photographer inside the House chamber before the shooting down the hall in the Speakers Lobby. Hes gunslinging like some cowboy, the lawyer said.

In one of the freelancers photos obtained by RCI, the officer can be seen advancing toward the door of the chamber while several other law enforcement officers had taken position behind a barricade. His Glock-22 is slung low at his side pointed in the direction of the other officers, whose backs are to him, and his finger appears to be on the trigger.

The veteran Capitol Police officer who spoke to RCI on the condition of anonymity said his colleague was not following department firearms training, which requires officers to keep their weapons pointed in a safe direction while making sure of whats in front of and beyond a target, and to keep the finger off the trigger until ready to fire.

His trigger finger shouldnt be inside the trigger guard and the gun shouldnt be pointed at other officers. Hes even pointing it in the direction of a member of Congress, the fellow officer said, referring to Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a former professional mixed-martial-arts fighter who had joined the scrum in front of the chamber doors.

I cant tell you how many officers have contacted me to say that what that guy did doesnt pass muster, Roberts said in an extensive interview. No one has come forward to say this was justified homicide, not even the Justice Department.

The way he did it  hiding in a room and then popping out and firing  is a problem, Roberts added. If his objective was to stop her, he didnt need to shoot. He could have got out in front of her and used a number of other methods of less-lethal force. He could have tried to cuff her.

Police have confirmed that Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was unarmed. (If arrested, she would have faced unlawful entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds charges, police sources say.) I would call what he did an ambush, Roberts continued, I dont think hes a good officer. I think hes reckless.

While Roberts argued Babbitt did not pose a threat, the officers lawyer insisted that his client was acting to protect himself and lawmakers from bodily harm."

"He was acting within his training, Schamel said. "Lethal force is appropriate if the situation puts you or others in fear of imminent bodily harm.

Added Schamel: "There should be a training video on how he handled that situation. What he did was unbelievable heroism."

Roberts argued that he could have retreated if he feared for his life, as other officers did that day  and later received medals for heroism  but Schamel countered that he was guarding a critical chokepoint and saved a "potential massacre of lawmakers and staff by the mob.

The speaker may have been escorted out of the area, but there were still at least 100 people including lawmakers in the hallway behind my client, Schamel said.

Still, Republican lawmakers want to know why SWAT team members standing behind Babbitt before she was shot were not more alarmed. They were right next to her and saw no threat, certainly no lethal threat, said GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, who sits on the House Oversight Committee.

He and other Republicans are demanding the Select Committee call the SWAT members to testify about what they heard and saw before the shooting.

Why were there no warnings given or escalation of command and force in proper law enforcement technique? Gosar asked.

Correction

Monday, August 9, 2021, 11:11 PM Eastern

An earlier version of this article misstated the month when the U.S. Capitol Police said it was increasing its use-of-force training. It was July, not "this month."
A three-year-old boy has died after he was struck by a vehicle on a farm in Pembrokeshire, police have confirmed.

The boy was hit by the vehicle on a farm in Clynderwen, near Narbeth on Tuesday night (3 August).

Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed the boy had died at the scene. No one else was injured.

In a statement, the force said the boy had died after being involved in a "collision with a vehicle" at the farm.

They added that the child's family were being supported by specialist officers.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Coroner have also been informed.

It follows the release of HSE figures that show a total of 41 people in Britain were killed in agriculture during the past year, including two children and seven members of the public.

Almost twice as many people were killed on farms in England, Wales and Scotland compared to the previous year.

Adrian Hodkinson, acting head of agriculture at the HSE, said the causes of farming accidents were 'well known'.

When we investigate life-changing farm workplace incidents we find, time and time again, that risks are not being removed or managed," he added.

"The things to stop them are usually straightforward: putting on handbrakes; fastening lap belts in cabs; getting ATV training and helmets; putting cows and calves in fields without footpaths; stopping things before trying to fix or unblock them and so on.

"It is far too common for people to accept risk is an inevitable part of the job  this isnt the case, the guidance is easily available to manage the risks and prevent injury."
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
Oak Hill, WV (25901)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 88F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
In spite of initial plans by the West Virginia Division of Highways to close the Oyler Avenue Bridge over U.S. 19 beginning at 7 p.m. on Aug. 16, the closing date was moved up until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 12, Greg Hylton, District Nine construction engineer, announced in a press release ye
LaLiga Announced this past Wednesday an agreement to sell 10% of the competition at the end of international investment CVC. This deal will provide to the FC Barcelona more than 250 million euros to invest in "sportive strategy, infrastructure, international development, development of mark and product, strategy of communication, plan of innovation, technology and data and plan of development of contents in digital platforms and social networks".

In concrete, all the clubs will have right to invest 70% of the money in infrastructures, 15% in refinanciar his debt and in losses caused by the pandemia of the coronavirus and another 15% in the staff. Therefore, as they aim in 'Sportive World', the Barca will have some 40 million extra euros to be able to inscribe to Leo Messi and to all his signings, something that would have to be a big news.

However, in 'MD' ensure that from the club are far to be happy and satisfied by this injection of money. In fact, in the newspaper confirm that a source of inside the entity has left clear the scepticism of the Barcelona in front of this deal. "This news does not understand in the club like a good news, is not to throw rockets. We are a bit skeptical, this has to debate ", affirm.

It seems that in the Barca do not agree with to sell the rights of television of the competition to 40 years, that is the time that will have all the teams to give back the money loaned. "it is speaking To sell the rights of television to 40 years seen, does not know if we will be in the Superliga or where will be. It is a position of LaLiga a bit brave", continue.

Besides, from inside the club seem to leave clear that can close continuity of Leo does not prevent to be against of this deal. "It is better that do not do informative associations with the of Messi because it can be a confusion. The Barca does not throw rockets by this agreement and does not do cabalas on if it will benefit or no regarding the renewal of Messi, does not go by here the thing", stood out.

The clubs of LaLiga have to vote to validate the agreement

It will be necessary to see what finishes occurring, since before this agreement was official have to give him validity all the clubs of LaLiga. Seemingly, the majority will vote "yes", but by what seems from the Barcelona have doubts on how proceed. In the short term, this impulse will serve so that Messi follow and to be able to breathe at last this summer, but on a long-term basis could be bad for the interests of the clubs of LaLiga.
Kriti Sanon who has delivered her careers best performance with Mimi is clearly basking in the glory. The actress has several big films in her kitty which she had already bagged before the success of Mimi and surprisingly her next film is now about adoption.





Kriti Sanons next with Rajkummar Rao which still remains untitled is about a couple who are looking out to adopt parents in their life to fill the void. Kriti Sanon gets talking to a daily about this film and finds it funny that while her last film was about surrogacy, this one is about adoption. She further reveals that the film is a wonderful slice-of-life drama and has a beautiful message which has been treated in a light manner. Well now that sounds like yet another Mimi in offering.

The older-couple in the film is played by Ratna Pathak Shah and Paresh Rawal and the actress says that it's her first project with the talented duo and she got to learn so much from them and it even enhanced her performance. Now thats really cool. We cant wait to watch yet another comedy with several emotions and drama thrown in the mix.

Kriti Sanon even hasnext where she will be seen playing the role of Sita. She even has Varun Dhawan starrer, Bachchan Pandey with Akshay Kumar andwith Tiger Shroff. There is even Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo with Kartik Aaryan which is yet to be made official.Read More - Janhvi Kapoor Starts Shooting For Her Next Film Titled Mili
Alex, Australia's newest digital bank, goes live on The Temenos Banking Cloud to create a hyper-efficient cost structure and offer better value lending products and services to retail customers

Temenos technology simplifies Alex's loan application journey, facilitating 3-minute application times and the delivery of nearly 10,000 loans in the last six months

Temenos' packaged banking services will enable the quick launch of Alex's savings business line so the bank can achieve rapid time to value and maximize growth and profitability

Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that Australia's newest digital bank, Alex, has gone live on The Temenos Banking Cloud. Temenos technology powers Alex's launch as a licensed bank, following the acquisition of its Restricted-Authorized Deposit-Taking Institution (RADI) license from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) earlier this month.

The new digital bank was built on The Temenos Banking Cloud to disrupt the Australian retail banking market with fast, simple, fairer and more human banking to address the digital preferences of millennial and gen-Z consumers. With Temenos' SaaS technology, Alex has created a hyper-efficient cost structure that enables the bank to offer better consumer credit options, like fast, competitive loans with no upfront, ongoing or hidden fees.

The end-to-end digital banking platform automates manual loan application processes to generate fast and simple customer journeys. Temenos technology has already supported the bank to process almost 10,000 loan applications in the last six months, with each application taking the customer just three minutes to fill out.

Alex's front-to-back platform uses Temenos' pre-configured Australia Model Bank methodology, which applies localized functionality to deliver new products and services faster. This will allow the bank to quickly expand its scope of services from personal lending to deposits now that the bank has received its RADI license. Using The Temenos Banking Cloud, Alex will be able to simply and cost-efficiently scale its business and bring to market a portfolio of products to improve the consumer credit and banking experience for Australians.

The Temenos Banking Cloud is a SaaS banking solution that gives Alex total control to deploy banking services that are easy to consume, configure and integrate with external applications. It combines the Temenos Infinity onboarding and channels services and the Temenos Transact retail lending banking service.

Simon Beitz, Chief Executive Officer, Alex, commented: "We are thrilled to launch to market as Australia's newest digital bank, powered by The Temenos Banking Cloud. Temenos' AI-driven digital banking platform provides the perfect foundation for Alex a bank that is both digital and human. Temenos' ultra-efficient cloud technology simplifies our business operations so we can focus on our customers' needs and help them to get more of the things in life they really care about. It also allows us to keep our operating costs at an absolute minimum, so we can pass the benefits of better value, fairer banking services on to our customers."

Jean-Paul Mergeai, President International Sales, Temenos, said: "Temenos is proud to support Alex on its journey to make banking human in Australia. Temenos technology supports more than 70 challenger banks worldwide, helping them scale fast and grow profitably while providing differentiated digital banking services to their customers. By choosing to run their operations on The Temenos Banking Cloud, Alex will gain control of its business model and innovation cycles. This means having the agility to launch new products and entire business lines fast and without complexity, delivering better value to its customers."

Ends

About Alex

Alex was founded in 2018 by seasoned industry professionals Simon Beitz and Craig Fenwick with a mission to revolutionise banking in Australia by focusing on what matters to customers speed, simplicity, fairness and a more human approach to banking products and services. Its team of energetic bankers include a board of diverse and experienced corporate professionals and its shareholders are some of Australia's most respected private and corporate investors.

Alex Bank Pty Ltd ABN 13 627 244 848 ("Alex"), Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence 510805, is authorised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ("APRA") to operate under a time-limited and Restricted Authorised Deposit-taking Institution ("Restricted ADI") licence. Under its Restricted ADI Licence, Alex does not yet meet APRA's full prudential framework for an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution ("ADI"). Further information regarding Alex's Restricted ADI licence is available at www.alex.bank/legal

1 Alex's initial personal loan product has secured the Finder Finalist Award for Risk-Based Unsecured Personal Loans, Canstar 5-Star Rating 2020 Award for the Excellent Credit Unsecured Personal Loan, Mozo Expert's Choice Award for Best New Personal Loan and RateCity Gold Award for Excellent Credit Personal Loan.

About Temenos

Temenos AG (SIX: TEMN) is the world's leader in banking software. Over 3,000 banks across the globe, including 41 of the top 50 banks, rely on Temenos to process both the daily transactions and client interactions of more than 1.2 billion banking customers. Temenos offers cloud-native, cloud-agnostic and AI-driven front office, core banking, payments and fund administration software enabling banks to deliver frictionless, omnichannel customer experiences and gain operational excellence.

Temenos software is proven to enable its top-performing clients to achieve cost-income ratios of 26.8% half the industry average and returns on equity of 29%, three times the industry average. These clients also invest 51% of their IT budget on growth and innovation versus maintenance, which is double the industry average, proving the banks' IT investment is adding tangible value to their business.

For more information, please visit www.temenos.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804005065/en/

Contacts:

Media

Jessica Wolfe Scott Rowe

Temenos Global Public Relations

Tel: +1 610 232 2793 +44 20 7423 3857

Email: press@temenos.com

Alistair Kellie Andrew Adie

Newgate Communications on behalf of Temenos

Tel: +44 20 7680 6550

Email: allnewgatetemenos@newgatecomms.com
The digital experience agency joins Google, Samsung, IBM, General Motors, Moderna, and others on prestigious annual list

LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast Company today announced its third annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list, honoring businesses and organizations that demonstrate a deep commitment to encouraging innovation at all levels. Global digital experience agency Isobar, a dentsu company, was named in this prestigious list in recognition of the organisation's ability to foster innovation, including a "Live Playbook" that serves as an internal resource for design-forward thinking.

The 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators ranks 100 winners from a variety of industries, including computer science, biotech, consumer packaged goods, nonprofit, education, financial services, cybersecurity, and engineering. Working together, Fast Company editors and researchers scored nearly 1,500 applications, and a panel of eight eminent judges reviewed and endorsed the top 100 companies. The 2021 awards feature workplaces from around the world with several of the honorees based outside the U.S.

"We are proud to be recognised by Fast Company for the depth of the innovation culture and creative expertise within Isobar. Innovation has been at the heart of our agency for many years and today, more than ever, brands are looking for a powerful vision for the future that (re)defines who they are, supported by a new creative process that delivers that vision for a connected world. We are proud to cultivate that thinking in our agency and live and breathe it together with our clients." - Sven Huberts, Head of Innovation and Design, dentsu and Managing Partner, Isobar

Since the genesis of Isobar in 2004, the agency has cultivated a culture of innovation and design. The agency has a track record of disruptive creative, proved by global award-winning work including Volkswagen Road Tales, Aeronaut, KFC Pocket Stores, Boss Touch & Go and Cadillac Live Store. More recently, as part of dentsu International the agency partnered with Malaria No More to launch the Draw The Line Against Malaria campaign, bringing together pop culture, art and technology to fight mankind's oldest and deadliest enemy: malaria.?

"These leaders and teams created cultures of innovation and sustained them, even as remote work extended into 2021. This newest list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators honors those organizations that found ways to collaborate and invent despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring employees were at the forefront." - Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company

To see the complete list, go to: www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/2021

Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators issue (September 2021) is available online now, and the print issue will be on newsstands beginning August 17, 2021. Join the Best Workplaces for Innovators conversation using FCBestWorkplaces.

About Fast Company:

Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with its sister publication Inc. Stephanie Mehta is editor-in-chief.

About Isobar:

Isobar is dentsu's global creative agency focusing on building a differentiated offering around Strategy and Innovation, Product and Experience, Brand Design & Systems and Comms & Content.

Isobar crafts distinctive brands and innovative experiences for a connected future. We work on the intersection of brand creativity and experience design to bridge the gap between a brand promise and the experience it offers to customers, employees and communities.

Over the last three years, Isobar has won 400 awards, including 6 D&AD Pencils, 7 Cannes Lions with one Gold Lion in the Creative eCommerce category, and was named a Leader in the Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Global Marketing Agencies" for the seventh consecutive time. Isobar's top clients include adidas, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, P&G and Philips.

CONTACT: Hannah Ainsworth / Hannah.ainsworth@dentsu.com / +44 7824 142 788
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit presented Dominica's annual budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022. During the parliamentary session, he also provided an update on various measures introduced last year, most notably, the Vulnerability Risk and Resilience Fund - an initiative aimed at financially supporting the island in the case of weather disasters.

According to the Prime Minister, the Vulnerability Risk and Resilience Fund stands at a balance of $5 million as of July 28th. Established in October 2020, it uses revenue generated from Dominica's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, which deposits $500,000 into the Fund monthly. This venture directly aligns with Dominica's commitment to becoming the world's first climate-resilient nation with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

"In the event of a disaster, this Fund will give the country some degree of cushion and an immediate pool of funds from which to draw. It is this Government's intention to increase the monthly contribution when the economy improves. Government shall also mandate every Government-owned company and statutory corporation to establish a similar Vulnerability Risk and Resilience Fund," stated PM Skerrit.

Building resilience has been a high priority for the Government, demonstrated in the level of investment channelled into the sector. In recent years, Dominica has invested in constructing a geothermal plant, thousands of weather-resistant homes for its population, sustainable infrastructure and strengthening its eco-tourism industry. Much of these endeavours have been significantly supported by the island's CBI Programme.

Operating for over two decades, Dominica's CBI Programme has welcomed individuals and families to become citizens of the island once contributing to either a government fund or through the purchase of pre-approved real estate. After undergoing the necessary vetting process, successful applicants gain visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to over 140 destinations or approximately 75 percent of the world. Additionally, investors gain the right to live, work and study in the country along with the ability to pass citizenship down for future generations.

Dominica's currency is pegged to the US dollar, making it a financially stable nation ideal for setting up businesses. Aside from the economic incentives, those who choose Dominica rest assured that they are investing in a nation dedicated to achieving global goals.

Contact: +447867942505, pr@csglobalpartners.com, www.csglobalpartners.com
TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights:

Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF) reveals trailblazing sensor technology for consumer and business robots as well as motorcycles and scooters

Piaggio Group motorcycles and scooters featuring an innovative sensor technology package developed, built and supplied by PFF including 4D imaging radar provided by Vayyar expected to debut in 2022 with PFF robots launching in late 2021

Vayyar Imaging, the global leader in 4D imaging radar, supplying the RoC (Radar-on-Chip) for the sensor package developed, built and supplied by PFF for mass production in Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) and robots

Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), the Boston-based robotics company and a leader in smart following technology, has developed new sensor technology for implementation not only in consumer and business robots but also in scooters and motorcycles.

Founded in 2015 by the Piaggio Group, PFF has previously focused on advancing innovation in smart following technology and smart behavior implementation in robots and machines, but in a strategic decision last year, began developing a custom radar sensor module for use first in Piaggio Group motorcycles and scooters with the intention to provide the technology to other companies in the future.

PFF's hardware-software modules offer uncompromising safety by providing robust monitoring in all environmental and lighting conditions. PFF awarded a supply contract for the modules' Radar-on-Chip to Vayyar Imaging, marking the deployment of the industry's first ever 4D imaging radar-based motorcycle safety platform. The complete sensor package is developed, built and supplied by PFF for mass production in Piaggio Group motorcycles' Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS).

ARAS applications are on the front line of the battle to prevent collisions and protect motorcycle riders. ARAS technology meets the rigorous technological requirements of traditional driver assist functions, addressing additional motorcycle-specific challenges such as size constraints and seamless vehicle maneuverability at high-tilt angles.

The PFF modules use Vayyar's mmWave 4D imaging Radar-on-Chip (RoC) sensor, enabling multiple ARAS functions such as Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Lane Change Assist (LCA) and Forward Collision Warning (FCW) with a single sensor supporting a range of over 100m, and an ultra-wide field-of-view. PFF robots incorporating the radar technology are expected to be released at the end of 2021, with Piaggio Group motorcycle models equipped with the PFF sensor module launching in 2022.

"PFF is creating advanced technology products for robots and motorcycles that detect and measure objects in our surroundings to provide the information we need for mapping, object detection, and control, regardless of lighting, weather and other environmental factors. We have chosen to develop our sensing applications with Vayyar's 4D imaging radar technology. We are excited to work with such a professional, passionate team, to develop innovative new solutions that provide our customers with a better product experience." Greg Lynn, CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward.

The Vayyar 4D imaging radar technology being used in both PFF robots and PFF sensing modules developed for the motorcycle industry supports a large Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) array that enables ultra-high resolution point cloud imaging for holistic monitoring of a robot's and a vehicle's surroundings. This high-performance sensor incorporates sophisticated single-chip 4D imaging radar technology, featuring an ultra-wide field of view (both in azimuth and elevation) with no dead zones, detecting and tracking multiple targets. Its small form-factor is engineered to address the unique challenges of motorcycle and robotics design.

"We're very excited to partner with PFF, who are at the forefront of sensor technology, both in terms of harmonization with rider experience on two- and three-wheeled products, as well as application in their innovative robots. Motorcycle riders are among the most vulnerable road users, and this is a big step forward in reducing their risk of collision," says Ilan Hayat, Director of Business Development at Vayyar Imaging. "Regardless of vehicle type, rider safety should not be compromised, and by partnering with PFF we are thrilled to deliver an automotive standard of safety to motorcycles", added Hayat.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1587161/Vayyar.jpg
Highly accomplished sales and technology executive to accelerate new business efforts by forging stronger partnerships with leading eCommerce retailers.

LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RevLifter , the leading technology solution for hyper-personalized deals and offers, today announced the appointment of Andrew Rooks as its first-ever Chief Revenue Officer. Boasting extensive global experience and a vision for delivering uniquely effective solutions for clients, Rooks will help the fast-growing organization further accelerate its global expansion efforts.

RevLifter's groundbreaking platform uses a combination of behavioral and contextual data to deliver hyper-personalized deals across the entire customer journey. By using a merchant's business goals as a foundation, RevLifter tailors 1-2-1 messages and offers to each customer to drive both increased revenue and profitability.

Rooks brings a wealth of experience to RevLifter's executive and sales teams thanks to his long record of guiding tech companies to unprecedented success across EMEA, North America, and APAC. He has been at the forefront of applying personalization to the growth opportunities of many leading global brands. At the heart of his approach is a consultative focus on understanding specific customer needs and opportunities, allowing his teams to craft uniquely effective solutions.

Prior to RevLifter, Rooks served as Vice President - Global Revenue Operations, Sales and Sales Development for cross-channel customer engagement solution provider Cheetah Digital. After a highly successful tenure, Rooks was made Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Experian in the UK and Ireland, where he spearheaded unprecedented growth by leading key functions including new business, client success, and marketing.

"I am delighted to welcome Andrew Rooks to the RevLifter team," commented Simon Bird, RevLifter's Co-Founder and CEO. "Andrew brings a client-first approach that facilitates rapid growth by focusing on delivering the best possible solutions. At RevLifter, our success comes directly from our results for eCommerce retailers. Andrew has demonstrated an outstanding record of leadership in building effective client partnerships globally and we're thrilled to have him join at such an exciting time for the business."

Rooks commented: "I am proud to be joining the RevLifter team as we work to transform eCommerce through the power of 1-2-1 personalized deals and content. As someone who has been active in the personalization space for many years, I am so pleased to be part of a team delivering solutions that are both unique and proven effective across more than 100 leading global brands."

About RevLifter

RevLifter is on a mission to make every eCommerce deal intelligent across the entire customer journey. Its revolutionary platform allows brands across all verticals to launch real-time hyper-personalized offers that exceed goals for revenue, conversions, acquisition, and more. RevLifter's cutting-edge solutions are rapid to implement, paid on performance, and reimagining eCommerce by delivering the best possible outcome for brands and their customers. For more information, visit https://revlifter.com.
CLEVELAND, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MIM Software Inc., a leading global provider of medical imaging software, announced today it has received CE Mark approval for MAA voxel-based SPECT/CT dosimetry through its MIM SurePlan LiverY90 product.

MIM SurePlan LiverY90 provides pre-treatment activity planning, time-saving tools for liver and tumor segmentation, deformable registration, and post-treatment dosimetry for interventional radiologists and Nuclear Medicine physicians treating hepatic tumors with radioactive microspheres, including SIR-Spheres. The software allows physicians to quickly calculate the dose delivered by the microspheres to improve treatment decisions and patient care.

"With this new dosimetry capability, interventional radiologists can efficiently conduct pre-treatment activity planning using formulas traditionally provided by microsphere manufacturers, as well as take advantage of MAA voxel-based dosimetry simulation," said Aaron Nelson, MD, Chief Medical Officer of MIM Software. "We're excited to provide this offering to the Interventional Radiology community and are looking forward to the impact on patient care."

The CE Mark approval expands upon the partnership MIM Software entered with Sirtex in February 2020, which authorized specialized Sirtex sales teams in the United States, Europe, and other key global markets to offer a comprehensive solution, INSYTEY90, that includes MIM SurePlan LiverY90 alongside SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres to improve treatment precision for patients with hepatic tumors.

"MIM SurePlan LiverY90 has become a valuable tool for physicians when treating patients with SIR-Spheres," said Kevin Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Sirtex. "We congratulate MIM Software on this accomplishment and look forward to continuously advancing patient care as partners."

About MIM Software Inc.

MIM Software Inc. is a privately held company with a dynamic working environment. It is headquartered in Cleveland, OH, with international offices in Beijing, Chengdu, and Brussels. These fully-staffed offices manage application support as well as sales and engineering efforts for the European and Asian markets, respectively.

MIM Software sells its products globally to imaging centers, hospitals, specialty clinics, research organizations, and pharmaceutical companies. The company's products are used in over 3000 centers worldwide, with more than 500 of those centers located outside of the United States. MIM Software is used in 16 of the top 20 hospitals listed in the U.S. News & World Report Hospital Rankings & Ratings.

MIM Software Inc. is committed to enhancing patient care by providing customer-centered and innovative imaging solutions in the fields of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Neuroimaging, Cardiac Imaging, and Radiation Oncology.

About Sirtex

Sirtex is a global healthcare business with offices in the U.S., Australia, Europe, and Asia, working to improve outcomes in people with cancer. Sirtex's current lead product is a targeted radiation therapy for liver cancer called SIR-SpheresY-90 resin microspheres. For more information, visit www.sirtex.com . SIR-Spheres is a registered trademark of Sirtex SIR-Spheres Pty Ltd.

In the United States, SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres received Premarket Approval (PMA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are indicated for the treatment of non-resectable metastatic liver tumors from primary colorectal cancer in combination with intrahepatic artery chemotherapy using floxuridine. SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres are approved for the treatment of inoperable liver tumors in the European Union.

Contact:

Nick Sewell

nsewell@mimsoftware.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/709760/MIM_Software_Logo.jpg
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DueDil today announced a new and exciting Strategic Partnership with Artesian Solutions, bringing together two of the UK's leading FinTechs in a collaboration which will, in combination, aim to transform the ability of the UK FSI Sector to find the right customers, onboard them quicker and keep them for life.

Combining the best of both platforms - DueDil's Business Information Graph and Premium APIs and Artesian's powerful web application and advanced rules-based insight engine - delivers a powerful solution that will allow banks, insurers and financial services companies to do better business, faster by helping them find, onboard and retain the right customers for life. Ultimately, customers of both DueDil and Artesian will be able to supercharge decision making for prospecting, customer engagement, risk and opportunity selection, onboarding, KYC/KYB, insurance underwriting and customer lifecycle management.

The partnership marks a step-change in the way both businesses address the needs of the market, through the power of collaboration.

Justin Fitzpatrick, CEO of DueDil, added: "The most successful companies are those who collaborate to deliver the best outcomes for their customers. We are delighted to work in partnership with Artesian to increase the pace of digital transformation in the financial services industry - helping our customers connect theirs to the best financial products and services."

Artesian CEO & Co-Founder Andrew Yates commented: "Today marks the beginning of an exciting new partnership. We are two uniquely complimentary businesses that for a decade have competitively set the pace for innovation in the company intelligence market. We are thrilled to come together, combining our determination for continuous innovation and dedication to extraordinary customer service to deliver something truly special for our customers."

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

For more information about the Artesian Solutions and DueDil merger please contact:

Kelly Prior, PR Consultant

Tel: +44(0)7730-572878

Email: Kelly@kellyprior.co.uk

About DueDil

Founded in 2011, DueDil is a company intelligence platform that delivers insights on every UK and Irish company and the people behind them. DueDil provides a complete view of the UK and Irish market so the SME onboarding process is as robust as it is frictionless. All of this is available in a single KYB for Life platform that ensures compliant onboarding and proactive risk monitoring.

DueDil.com

About Artesian

Artesian is a leading provider of client relationship intelligence and risk solutions aimed at helping you find your next customer, identify risks, engage effectively and solve complex, high value challenges in B2B frontline teams.

Artesian combines innovative data-science with the world's best premium business information, a powerful Insight Engine and bespoke processing rules, connectors and APIs, to deliver a uniquely configurable platform.

artesian.co

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1588313/DueDil_Partnership_Artesian.jpg


NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - The UK's Competition and Markets Authority or CMA has provisionally found that Pfizer and Flynn abused their dominant positions to overcharge the U.K.'s National Health Service or NHS for vital anti-epilepsy drugs, after reassessing the case.



The CMA has provisionally found that the companies exploited a loophole by de-branding the drug - known as Epanutin prior to September 2012 - with the effect that the drug was not subject to price regulation in the way branded drugs are. As Pfizer and Flynn were the dominant suppliers of the drug in the UK, the NHS had no choice but to pay unfairly high prices for the vital medicine.



Following the overnight price increases by the companies, NHS spending on phenytoin sodium capsules rose from around 2 million pounds a year in 2012 to about 50 million pounds in 2013.



CMA alleged that, for over four years, Pfizer's prices were between 780% and 1,600% higher than it had previously charged. Pfizer then supplied the drug to Flynn, which sold it to wholesalers and pharmacies at prices between 2,300% and 2,600% higher than those they had paid previously.



In December 2016, the CMA fined Pfizer and Flynn for breaking competition law by charging unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium capsules.



The companies appealed against the CMA's decision that competition law had been broken and against the fine.



In June 2018, the Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld the CMA's findings on market definition and dominance but set aside the CMA's finding that the companies' prices were an unlawful 'abuse' of dominance. The the Competition Appeal Tribunal referred the matter of abuse back to the CMA for further consideration - known as a remittal.



The CMA and Flynn then appealed to the Court of Appeal. In March 2020 the Court dismissed Flynn's appeal in its entirety and upheld aspects of the appeal brought by the CMA relating to the application of the legal test for unfair pricing.



The CMA decided to re-investigate the matters remitted by the the Competition Appeal Tribunal and opened its investigation in June 2020.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

PFIZER-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de


87,000m3 type LPG-powered large LPG/ammonia carrier

TOKYO, Aug 5, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has concluded a technical cooperation agreement with Namura Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. relating to LPG(liquefied petroleum gas) powered very large gas carriers (VLGCs) and are capable of transporting both LPG and ammonia. Based on this agreement, Namura Shipbuilding will construct a LPG powered VLGCs on order from MOL Group.Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has developed an all-new type of VLGC applying its knowledge and expertise accumulated through the construction and delivery of more than 80 VLGCs and midsized LPG/ammonia carriers. Operating performance has been improved by increasing the holding capacity of the cargo tank from the earlier 83,000m3 to 87,000m3, while engineering enhancements have resulted in improved fuel efficiency. In addition, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has applied its technologies in gas handling to develop a new system capable of using LPG in the cargo hold as fuel to propel the ship. This ability to secure LPG fuel from the cargo tank has a benefit that adds flexibility for the LPG terminal compatibility. Furthermore, the newly developed VLGC features largest-scale at present among all ships capable of carrying ammonia, a point of advantage amid anticipated expansion of demand for large-scale ammonia transportation, which emits zero CO2 during combustion.MHI originally concluded a basic agreement with Namura Shipbuilding in 2017 to form a business alliance in commercial ships(Note). Under the newly concluded technical cooperation agreement, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will not only provide Namura Shipbuilding with technical designs but also procure some equipment and support construction. In this way, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will provide comprehensive engineering services to support Namura Shipbuilding's successful construction of the large LPG/ammonia carrier for MOL Group.Going forward, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will provide shipbuilding technologies in response to all customer needs as a total engineering firm handling new ship constructions as well as ships already in service, making no distinctions between vessels constructed in-house and those made by other shipbuilders. In these ways the Company will make ongoing contributions to the development of maritime logistics and also help reduce environmental impact, a critical issue of global scale.About MHI GroupMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, logistics & infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on www.spectra.mhi.com.PRESS CONTACT:Corporate Communication DepartmentMitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Email: mediacontact_global@mhi.comSource: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Leading data collection platform Bright Data has strengthened its support for the UK's National Data Strategy (NDS) by taking part in the first meeting of the Forum established by the UK Government. Bright's CEO, Or Lenchner, joined an invited group of experts and industry leaders at the meeting in June, which was Co-Chaired by Rt Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP, the UK's Minister of State for Media and Data. The meeting explored ways that the Government, industry and other groups can work together to ensure that the ambitions of the NDS are achieved. As head of one of the global data industry's most important companies, Or was able to provide a unique perspective on the value of data as a social and economic asset.

Bright's participation in the NDS Forum builds on the wide-ranging support that the company is giving to the strategy in partnership with a variety of partners. Through the Bright Initiative, which works to ensure that online data helps drive positive change around the world, Bright's support for the NDS is gathering pace throughout the summer and into early Autumn. Recent activity includes:

Supporting officials from the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) on research aimed at mapping the UK's data skills needs

Working in partnership with the respected Institute for Government think tank to convene a meeting of data professionals from across UK Government agencies to discuss how they can implement the NDS

Contributing expert comment to specialist media serving the UK's local government and training and skills sectors about the opportunities of the NDS and potential value of online data

The Bright Initiative will continue to support the NDS over the coming months, including participating in a further Institute for Government 'Databites' event and facilitating a skills-development workshop for students involved in the upReach Tech500 programme. Discussions are also underway about a major research project in collaboration with one of the UK's most significant non-profit organisations.

Or Lenchner, CEO of Bright Data said:

"I look forward to further supporting UK Government Ministers and Officials to deliver on the promise of the NDS. Data has emerged as one of the world's most valuable assets both in driving economies forward and achieving social justice. The NDS gives the UK a clear route to fully realising this potential and an industry leader like Bright Data has a responsibility to help ensure its success."

The Bright Initiative draws on Bright Data's significant expertise and technical capability to support delivery of the NDS. This includes one of the industry's most powerful tools for collecting publicly available online data.

The Bright Initiative program was established by Bright Data earlier this year. In addition to supporting the UK NDS it works with over 110 leading academic institutions, NGOs, NPOs, and public sector bodies around the world to drive positive change. It is built on three key pillars: promoting web transparency, fighting social injustice, and encouraging data-driven expertise through education and research.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Visit here to read a blog post by Rt Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP about the first meeting of the UK Government's NDS Forum:

https://dcmsblog.uk/2021/07/national-data-strategy-forum-themes-from-the-first-discussion/

Visit here to read an article on the role of the training and skills sector in delivering on the NDS, that Bright Data's CEO Or Lenchner wrote for FE News:

https://www.fenews.co.uk/featured-article/72443-a-data-driven-opportunity-for-the-fe-and-skills-sector

Visit here to read an article on the potential value of online data in enhancing local service delivery, that Bright Data CEO Or Lenchner wrote for Localgov.com:

https://www.localgov.co.uk/Embracing-the-opportunity-of-alternative-data/52411

About Bright Data

Bright Data's mission is to shine a bright light on the Internet, making it transparent again. The company's SaaS platform allows its thousands of customers to tap into the Internet, the world's largest database, and collect large amounts of public unstructured data and transform it into structured data. Bright Data's customer base includes large e-commerce, finance, travel, and security firms that benefit from near-live data insights, allowing them to act on the latest decision-making factors with speed and simplicity.

About the Bright Initiative

The Bright Initiative was established as a place to give back and make a real impact on people's lives. We offer our robust online data collection technology, know-how, expertise, and finely attuned support, aimed at quite literally improving the world as we know it. We focus on three areas:

Community and Social Well-being: Supporting various social justice initiatives and crisis response projects, improving community wellbeing and saving lives

Academia: Driving critical research forward and educating the next generation of data scientists

Promotion of Internet Transparency: Championing programs and initiatives that promote integrity on the World Wide Web.

To read more about the Bright Initiative, click here

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005050/en/

Contacts:

Mark Fuller

mark@showrunnercomms.com

07498 560 288

Keren Pakes

kerenp@brightdata.com
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of British Muslims will gather for the first time since start of the COVID-19 pandemic for UK's longest running Islamic conference.

Ahmadi Muslims will descend on the 200-acre Oakland Farm, in Hampshire, for three days of worship and gathering at the event known as the 'Jalsa Salana'.

Prior to last year's global pandemic, over 35,000 people from across the world attended the Jalsa, which was last held in 2019. This year, only UK residents who have been double vaccinated were permitted to enter the ballot to attend.

Roughly 4,000 of those lucky enough to have been selected will attend the event amid strict social distancing measures at the pop-up tent village from 6-8 August.

In addition to proof of double vaccination and negative COVID-19 test result to gain entry, face masks will be mandatory in all enclosed spaces, including the two marquees - each able to accommodate thousands of worshippers.

The highlight of the event will be the attendance of the global Islamic Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who will deliver an address to attendees on each of the three days of the Jalsa. The objective of the event is to practice and highlight the true peaceful teachings of Islam.

Abid Khan, Press Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said:

"This is the first time since the pandemic started that our members from across the UK have been able to meet and worship together with our Caliph. So, whilst we are sad that due to social distancing measures it is still not possible for everyone to be here, unquestionably this is a wonderful and joyous occasion for our community. I am sure those who can't attend will be watching on TV across the world and so in that sense it is a truly international event."

Those unable to attend in person will gather to virtually join the event at 40 mosques and centres around the UK which will put up big screens and serve the same food being served at Jalsa so they too can have a taste of the atmosphere of the event. This includes London's first mosque, The Fazl Mosque, and UK's largest Mosque, Baitul-Futuh.
DAGANG TOWN, China, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PHNIX has launched its new high specification airExpert - Inverter all-in-one heat pump water heater, which claims exceptional energy efficiencies across the range. The new model is powered by PHNIX Inverter technology, which promotes fast and effective water heating, all the while delivering lower electricity consumption and running costs. It should be noted that airExpert - Inverter is PHNIX's first all-in-one heat pump water heater that adopts inverter technology and has been well received in many countries globally.

Available at volume from 200L to 300L with heating capacity 2.3kW, the airExpert - Inverter achieves market leading energy efficiency with COP of 4.6 (A++). The high COP is realized by stepless full inverter technology which through performing step-less frequency conversion in a wide range of 30Hz-70Hz, automatically calculating and analyzing its current operating conditions to adjust the power input and reach an optimal performance.

Moreover, the stylish units, with attractive color touch screen controller and integrally-formed all-in-one cabinet, delivering a sense of elegance in appearance.

"We are very proud to be the first heat pump water heater manufacturer in the industry to bring out an all-in-one heat pump water heater with inverter technology." Said Edward, director in charge of residential heat pump water heater division.

The airExpert - Inverter includes many features to improve comfort.

Stable Silent Operation

PHNIX R&D Center has optimized the noise control system and through countless experiments on the units, reducing its noise to as low as 42dB(A), leaving a peaceful home environment for users.

Micro-Channel Heat Coil

The high-density micro-channel heat coils with multi-flow allow the refrigerant and the surface of the enamel water tank to have a large-area for heat exchanging, which highly improves the heat transfer efficiency, enabling instant hot water at any time.

Intelligent Remote Control

The airExpert-Inverter comes equipped with a color touch screen controller. The clear UI allows the user to freely set the water temperature, the running mode and check the temperature curve to know about the unit's working condition whenever they want.

About PHNIX

As the leading heat pump manufacturer in China, PHNIX is an international enterprise specializing in the R&D and production of heat pumps and energy-saving solutions. Over 50% of PHNIX products are exported to Europe, North America, and other overseas markets. To learn more about PHNIX and its products, please visit www.phnix-e.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1588109/Iverter_All_in_one_Heat_pump_Water_Heater_airExpert_Inverter.jpg
The "HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Turkey Total Hospital Medical IB Mapping report was updated in 2021 and includes over 1,500 hospitals and imaging centers from the country with their health infrastructure detailed out.

Contents:

1. Visualize and Map the Total Installed Base of the Country by Hospital

Monitoring Access: ECG Machines, Holter monitors, Patient monitors, Ventilators, Anesthesia machines, Stress Testing Machines

Surgical: C-Arms

Cardio: Echocardiography, Cath Labs

Diagnostic Imaging: PET-CT,PET-MRI, SPECT, CT Scanners, MRI Scanners, Ultrasound, X-Ray Machines, Mammography machines, DEXA

Infant Care: Incubators, Radiant Warmers, Fetal monitors, Phototherapy Units, Infant Ventilators

Renal: Dialysis Machine

Radiation Therapy: LINAC, Cobalt-60

Hospital IT: PACS, EMR

2. Generate Targeted Leads Based on Current Care Area Focus of a Hospital

13 care areas tracked for each hospital

General Medicine, Gyn/Obs, Neurology, Internal Medicine, ER/Trauma, Pulmonology, GI, Cardiology, Oncology, Radiology, Nephrology, Ortho and Nuclear Medicine included in the report

3. Visualize the Current Health Resource Status of a Hospital

Total number of doctors by hospital

Total number of Radiologists by hospital

Total number of Cardiologists by hospital

Total number of internal medicine physicians by hospital

Surgeons, neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons by hospital

4. Comprehend Medical Services Potential Using Bed and Operating Rooms Data

Total bed size of a hospital

Number of ICU beds by hospital

Number of NICU, PICU beds by hospital

Number of Major and Minor Operating Rooms available per hospital

Total number of outpatient visits per hospital where available

Total number of inpatient visits per hospital where available

5. Understand and Identify Types of Hospitals

Hospitals by ownership type public and private

Assess and differentiate based on size of hospital University hospitals, State hospitals, Private hospitals and Imaging centers

Chart and map based on level of care Secondary and tertiary care

6. Create Opportunity Heat Maps

1,539 hospitals and Imaging centers in Turkey listed by city, region, latitude and longitude and Zip Code

Contact numbers available for 95% of the hospitals

Website links mentioned for hospital where available

7. Estimate Market Potential of Equipment in the Country

Executive Summary:

Expansion of cancer care infrastructure likely to drive demand for diagnostic equipment in Turkey

As of 2021, Turkey has 1,539 healthcare facilities, with 729 public health facilities, 701 private facilities, and imaging centers, with the remaining being university and military facilities. The availability of low-cost healthcare amenities is widespread throughout the country. With the presence of more than 60 reputed medical training centers, healthcare personnel are provided with advanced training, allowing them to provide high-quality service to patients. Life expectancy has shown substantial improvements, with an increase from 74 years to 77.4 years from 2002 to 2020. However, the healthcare system is still affected by challenges, such as long waiting times due to overcrowding in public hospitals, and lower number of radiology equipment as compared to the demand for imaging examinations.

According to this new HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, opportunities for medical device manufacturers in the immediate term are evident in the secondary care sector for radiology equipment, and tertiary care for nuclear medicine equipment respectively. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country, with 126,000 mortalities annually. Due to the geographical location, asbestos is present in abundance, leaving the population vulnerable to lung cancer, and mesothelioma a malignant tumor of the pleura. Additionally, exposure to radon continues to cause about 20% of lung cancer cases in the country.

To combat this, Turkey initiated the National Cancer Control Plan in 2008. Additionally, cancer screening programs such as Cancer Early Diagnosis, Screening, and Training Centers (KETEM), and family practitioners are providing screening services for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers free of charge. By 2023, 10 Comprehensive Oncology Centers, as well as 29 Treatment and Diagnosis Centers for Oncology will be established in Turkey. Despite these proactive approaches taken by the government, lung cancer accounts for nearly one-fifth of the deaths due to cancer in Turkey.

As per the HospeTrack Dataset, over 1,000 CT scanners and about 150 PET scanners are currently installed across the country. The Turkey Ministry of Health, Cancer Department has projected the incidence rates of cancer to increase to over 270 per 100,000 inhabitants over the next few years. This indicates significant market potential for medical device manufacturers for equipment such as PET scanners, MRI, CT, SPECT scanners as well as linear accelerators.

Key Topics Covered:

1. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, Introduction

2. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, Guidance Hospital Segmentation

3. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, Insight Summary

4. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, Installed Base Pivot Analysis

5. HospeTrack Hospital Intelligence for Turkey, IB Base File

Companies Mentioned

Drager

GE Healthcare

AMS, Mindray

TMS Medical

Okuman Medical

B Braun

Baxter (Gambro)

Fresenius Medical Care

Medtronic

Philips Healthcare

Spacelabs Healthcare

Genoray

BMI Biomedical International

Integrity Medical

Ziehm Imaging

Comen

GEMSS

Siemens Healthineers

Toshiba Medical System

Shimadzu Corporation

Mediso

Canon Medical Systems

Picker

Hitachi Medical Systems

Aloka

Esaote

DRGEM

Fujifilm Medical Systems

Hologic

IMS Giotto

Metaltronica

DMS Imaging

Medilink

Accuray

Varian

Elekta

IntraOp

Theratronics

Datamed

Infinitt

Interpacs

Karmed

Mergen Tech

Probel

SARUS

Sisoft

Sectra

Avicenna

Mondad

Pusula

Agfa Healthcare

Samsung Healthcare

And Many More!

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bjamhj

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005470/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
TACOMA, WA / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / IONIC BRANDS CORP. (CSE:IONC)(OTC PINK:IONKF)(FRA:1B3) ("IONIC BRANDS" or the "Company"), a regional multistate operator in the Pacific Northwest markets of premium and luxury vape, concentrate and consumable products, is pleased to provide our shareholders our monthly report on our brand performance by category for the Pacific Northwest markets.

During the month of July 2021, the Company saw an increase in flower and concentrate revenue of 2% and 15% respectively, when compared to June 2021 and increases of 5% and 41% when compared to May 2021. Although the Company experienced a decrease in demand for our business-to-business wholesale revenue in July, attributed to a current over supply of biomass in the Washington market, the average price per unit increased from $0.38 per gram in May and $0.41 per gram in June to $0.63 per gram in July which corresponds to 53% and 66% increases when compared to June and May respectively. The Company anticipates a flat-to-net positive increase in the business-to-business wholesale segment for the remainder of 2021 Q3 compared to Q2.

John Gorst, Chairman & CEO of Ionic Brands Corp., stated, "In the month of July, Ionic Brands became a stronger, more fiscally focused company and is now well on a path to profitability. We continue to focus our attention on financial performance metrics, stabilizing operating costs, and increasing gross margin performance. Furthermore, Ionic Brands has completed 90% of its planned investments in infrastructure to enhance its manufacturing output. While additional investments are slated to be made later this year, our absolute focus now becomes achieving profitability and positive cash flows for Ionic Brands."

Gorst further states, "Our overall top-line revenue for flower and concentrate categories continues to modestly grow. The current over-supply of biomass has led to a temporary reduction in input costs. Although we have seen our competitors drop pricing to retail stores to increase market share, we believe the correct strategy would be to maintain pricing to the retail stores, creating price stability to the end consumer, while capturing more significant gross margin revenue. We note that this pricing strategy may be challenging to execute and maintain over the coming quarters. However, gross margin revenue remains at the heart of achieving our goal of profitability in Q3 - 2021. Due to the newly acquired brand assets of Cowlitz Country Cannabis (CCC) completed on March 5th of 2021, the CCC brands have now cemented our foothold into the flower segment of cannabis."

The Company is very excited to continue the process of fully executing on our path to profitability that we started over a year ago. We look forward to generating greater s sales volume from our brand portfolio in both the Washington and Oregon markets and developing strategic partnerships across the country to build greater brand equity and recognizability in the US market.

About Ionic Brands Corp.

The Company is dedicated to building a regionally based multi-state consumer packaged goods company with a highly respected cannabis concentrate brand portfolio with strong roots in the premium and luxury segments of vape, concentrates, flower, and consumables. The cornerstone Brand of the portfolio, IONIC, is a top concentrates brand in Washington State along with its economy brand Dabulous and has aggressively expanded throughout the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The brand is currently operating in Washington and Oregon. IONIC BRANDS' strategy is to be the leader of the highest-value segments of the cannabis market.

For a review of the Company's April 2021 pro-forma results, see the Company's press release dated May 25, 2021 available on the Company's website or at www.SEDAR.com.

On behalf of IONIC BRANDS CORP.

John Gorst

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

For more information visit www.ionicbrands.com or contact:

investor.relations@ionicbrands.com

+1.253.248.7927

To stay better informed with the current events of the company you can join our investor community at https://www.ionicbrands.com/investor-community

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's strategic partnership and expansion in the east coast of the United States.

Explanatory Note Regarding the Company's Operations

References in this news release to the Company and its operations and assets are inclusive of the operations and assets of certain licensed cannabis operators that operate under the Ionic Brands brand pursuant to contractual arrangements with the Company. For additional information, please refer to the Company's disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com .

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

The Company has provided certain non-IFRS financial measures including "Gross Margin" and Adjusted EBITDA. These non-IFRS financial measures do not have a standardized definition under IFRS, nor are they calculated or presented in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company defines "Gross Margin" as Gross divided by Revenue. The Company calculates Adjusted EBITDA as net income as reported adjusted to exclude the impact of the following items: fair value adjustment of sale of inventory, provision for income taxes, foreign exchange (gain)loss, change in fair value of investments, interest expense, share based compensation, depreciation and amortization, costs associated with public listing, impairment loss, loss on financial instruments and gain on sale of fixed assets.

The Company has provided these non-IFRS financial measures as supplemental information and in addition to the financial measures that are calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS. The Company believes that these supplemental non-IFRS financial measures provide a valuable additional measure to use when analyzing the operating performance of the business. As other companies may calculate these non-IFRS measures differently than the Company, these metrics may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. These supplemental non-IFRS financial measures should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for or as an alternative to, and should only be considered in conjunction with, the IFRS financial measures presented herein.

Caution Regarding Cannabis Operations in the United States

Investors should note that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in the United States. While legal in certain states, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal under federal law in the United States to, among other things, cultivate, distribute or possess cannabis. Financial transactions involving proceeds generated by, or intended to promote, cannabis-related business activities in the United States may form the basis for prosecution under applicable U.S. federal money laundering legislation. Investors should carefully read the risk factors and disclosures contained in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com .

Caution Regarding Cannabis Operations in Washington State

Holders of marijuana licenses in Washington are subject to significant regulation. Such regulation creates a number of risks unique to such holders, especially when compared to the holders of marijuana licenses in other U.S. states. In addition, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board ("LCB") has historically taken an aggressive approach to enforcing the applicable regulations. Washington law specifically prohibits out-of-state ownership or control of marijuana licenses and requires that any person or entity who provides financing to the holder of a marijuana license be subject to rigorous scrutiny. These laws significantly limit how out-of-state companies and non-licensed companies may transact with marijuana licensees. What may appear to be a minor violation may result in irreparable harm as the LCB has cancelled marijuana licenses as a punishment for a first offense of a regulatory violation related to ownership and control. While consulting agreements, service arrangements, and intellectual property agreements are generally permissible and appear to be acceptable to the LCB, a licensee who enters into such transactions with an out-of-state or non-licensed company runs the risk of the licensee's business being suddenly terminated if the LCB perceives any concern about ownership and control of the licensee. Investors in the Company must be aware that the Company faces the risk of total business loss if a Washington licensee the Company relies upon has its license cancelled. There is significant risk and uncertainty regarding an investment in the Company.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Ionic Brands 's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Ionic Brands 's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, statements about the anticipated expansion of the Company's operations and growing capacity in Washington, projected financial results for the second quarter of 2021, potential acquisitions and the Company's prospects and the cannabis market generally in the states of Washington.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Ionic Brands is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Ionic Brands has made certain assumptions. Although Ionic Brands believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: unexpected costs or delays in the completion of the Company's proposed dispensaries and other operations; negative results experienced by the Company as a result of general economic conditions or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; delays in the ability of the Company to obtain certain regulatory approvals; unforeseen delays or costs in the completion of the Company's construction projects; adverse changes to demand for cannabis products; ongoing projects by competitors that may impact the relative size of the Company's operations; adverse changes in applicable laws; adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws, including those related to taxation; increasing costs of compliance with extensive government regulation; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com .

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Ionic Brands does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Financial Outlook

This news release contains a financial outlook within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The financial outlook has been prepared by management of the Company to provide an outlook for the second quarter of 2021 and may not be appropriate for any other purpose. The financial outlook has been prepared based on a number of assumptions including the assumptions discussed in this press release and assumptions with respect to market conditions, pricing, and demand. The actual results of the Company's operations for any period will likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and such variations may be material. The Company and its management believe that the financial outlook has been prepared on a reasonable basis. However, because this information is highly subjective and subject to numerous risks, including the risks discussed under the heading "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements", it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future results.

Third Party Information

This press release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources.SOURCE: IONIC Brands Corp.

SOURCE: IONIC Brands Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658509/IONIC-Brands-Corp-Provides-Monthly-Update-on-Financial-Performance-by-Revenue-and-Units-Sold-in-the-Pacific-Northwest-Markets-for-the-Month-of-July-2021
Supporting intergovernmental organization's monitoring of the environment and climate change

Spire Global, Inc. ("Spire" or "the Company"), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, announced today it has been awarded a contract to provide radio occultation satellite data to the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), a global operational satellite agency which gathers, and gives access to, accurate and reliable satellite data on weather, climate, and the environment.

Spire's data will be distributed to the EUMETSAT user community worldwide to aid in their forecasting efforts and is gathered from Spire's constellation of more than 110 low-earth orbit nanosatellites. This radio occultation data is captured around the clock and during extreme weather conditions or heavy cloud cover, unlike traditional visible satellite imagery. EUMETSAT will leverage this radio occultation data to provide greater accuracy and depth to its forecasts, even in remote areas and on the open ocean.

"EUMETSAT does important work to provide data on dangerous weather conditions, helping to safeguard the daily lives of citizens, and protect human life and property," said Theresa Condor, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Space Services and Earth Intelligence at Spire. "We are excited to work together to better understand and protect our planet."

EUMETSAT's satellites are a vital part of international weather forecasting and make a significant contribution to the global environmental monitoring sector. This three-year pilot project with Spire is part of a broader shift toward the provision of commercial weather satellite data, enabling agencies to access otherwise unavailable data and enhance their forecasting abilities in this era of increased weather variability.

About Spire Global, Inc.

Spire is a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, offering access to unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy, and speed. Spire uses one of the world's largest multi-purpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire, valuable data and enriches it with predictive solutions. Spire then provides this data as a subscription to organizations around the world so they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage, and mitigate risk. Spire gives commercial and government organizations the competitive advantage they seek to innovate and solve some of the world's toughest problems with insights from space. Spire has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, Washington DC, Glasgow, Luxembourg, and Singapore. To learn more, visit http://www.spire.com.

About NavSight Holdings, Inc.

NavSight Holdings, Inc. ("NavSight") (NYSE: NSH) is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

Special Meeting of NavSight Stockholders to Approve Business Combination

On July 26, 2021, Spire announced that the registration statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-256112) of NavSight relating to the previously announced merger of NavSight and Spire (the "Business Combination") was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as of July 22, 2021. A previously announced special meeting of NavSight's stockholders (the "Special Meeting") is expected to be held on August 13, 2021 at 10:00 AM ET to, among other things, allow stockholders to vote to approve the proposed Business Combination. The Special Meeting will be completely virtual and conducted via live webcast. Stockholders of record of NavSight common stock as of the close of business on the record date of June 21, 2021 may vote at or before the Special Meeting. If the proposals at the Special Meeting are approved, the parties anticipate that the Business Combination will close shortly thereafter, subject to the satisfaction or waiver (as applicable) of all other closing conditions. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, the parties expect that the combined company will operate as Spire Global, Inc., and that the shares of common stock and the warrants of the combined company are expected to be listed on New York Stock Exchange under the symbols "SPIR" and "SPIR.WS," respectively.

NavSight stockholders who need assistance voting, have questions regarding the Special Meeting, or would like to request documents may contact NavSight Holdings, Inc., 12020 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 100, Reston, Virginia 20191, by telephone at (571) 500-2236, or by email at jack@navsight.com, or NavSight's proxy solicitor D.F. King Co., Inc. by calling (800) 207-3158 or banks and brokers can call at (212) 269-5550, or by emailing NSH@dfking.com.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed Business Combination (the "Proposed Transaction"), NavSight has filed the Registration Statement with the SEC, which includes a proxy statement which has been distributed to holders of NavSight's common stock in connection with NavSight's solicitation of proxies for the vote by NavSight's stockholders with respect to the Proposed Transaction and other matters as described in the Registration Statement, a prospectus relating to the offer of the securities to be issued to Spire's stockholders in connection with the Proposed Transaction, and an information statement to Spire's stockholders regarding the Proposed Transaction. NavSight has mailed a definitive proxy statement/prospectus/information statement and other relevant documents to its stockholders of record as of June 21, 2021, the record date established for the Special Meeting. Investors and security holders and other interested parties are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement, any amendments thereto and any other documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC carefully and in their entirety as they become available because they will contain important information about NavSight, Spire and the Proposed Transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement and other documents filed with the SEC by NavSight (when available) through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to: NavSight Holdings, Inc., 12020 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 100, Reston, VA 20191.

Participants in Solicitation

NavSight and Spire and their respective directors and certain of their respective executive officers and other members of management and employees may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the Proposed Transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of NavSight is set forth in its final prospectus filed on July 22, 2021 (the "NavSight Prospectus"). Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is included in the Registration Statement, the NavSight Prospectus and other relevant materials filed or that will be filed with the SEC regarding the Proposed Transaction as they become available. Stockholders, potential investors and other interested persons should read the Registration Statement and NavSight Prospectus carefully before making any voting or investment decisions. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to the Proposed Transaction. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "target" or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding the impact of Spire's data on the EUMETSAT user community and on their forecasting efforts, the impact of radio occultation data on forecasting, the shift toward and consequences of the provision of commercial weather satellite data, safety of human life and property, potential benefits of the Proposed Transaction and the potential success of Spire's market and growth strategies, and expectations related to the terms and timing of the Proposed Transaction. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of NavSight's and Spire's management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of NavSight and Spire. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including (i) the risk that the Proposed Transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of NavSight's securities; (ii) the risk that the Proposed Transaction may not be completed by NavSight's business combination deadline and the potential failure to obtain an extension of the business combination deadline if sought by NavSight; (iii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction, including the approval of the Proposed Transaction by the stockholders of NavSight, the satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount following any redemptions by NavSight's public stockholders and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals; (iv) the inability to complete the PIPE investment in connection with the Proposed Transaction; (v) the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Proposed Transaction; (vi) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the Proposed Transaction on Spire's business relationships, performance, and business generally; (vii) risks that the Proposed Transaction disrupts current plans of Spire and potential difficulties in Spire employee retention as a result of the Proposed Transaction; (viii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against NavSight or Spire related to the business combination agreement or the Proposed Transaction; (ix) the ability to maintain the listing of NavSight's securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (x) the ability to address the market opportunity for Space-as-a-Service; (xi) the risk that the Proposed Transaction may not generate expected net proceeds to the combined company; (xii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the Proposed Transaction, and identify and realize additional opportunities; (xiii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the business combination agreement; (iv) the risk of downturns, new entrants and a changing regulatory landscape in the highly competitive space data analytics industry; and those factors discussed in the NavSight Prospectus under the heading "Risk Factors," and other documents of NavSight filed, or to be filed, with the SEC. If any of these risks materialize or Spire's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that neither NavSight nor Spire presently know or that NavSight and Spire currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect NavSight's and Spire's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. NavSight and Spire anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause NavSight's and Spire's assessments to change. However, while NavSight and Spire may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, NavSight and Spire specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing NavSight's and Spire's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005395/en/

Contacts:

For Spire Global, Inc.:

Hillary Yaffe

hillary.yaffe@spire.com

For NavSight Holdings, Inc.:

Jack Pearlstein

jack@navsight.com
MOSCOW, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the initial safety results of the randomized, single-blind study for the evaluation of the immune response and safety of heterogeneous regimens combining the first component of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus (Sputnik Light vaccine based on human adenovirus serotype 26) and vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Moderna in the Buenos Aires province (Argentina). RDIF is a partner of the study.

The heterogeneous boosting approach ("vaccine cocktail" using human adenovirus serotype 26 as the first component and human adenovirus serotype 5 as the second component) was at the core of Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus. With this approach proving successful in creating a longer and more durable immunity against the coronavirus, RDIF took the lead in initiating partnerships with other vaccine producers to conduct joint studies of a combination of the first component of Sputnik V with foreign vaccines. The first partnership of this kind was concluded in December 2020 between RDIF, The Gamaleya Center, AstraZeneca and R-Pharm and studies began in February 2021.

To date, the data of 121 volunteers corresponding to the Sputnik V combination groups were analyzed in the following regimens: Sputnik Light/AstraZeneca, Sputnik Light/Moderna, Sputnik Light/Sinopharm, Sputnik Light/Sputnik Light compared to control group Sputnik V 1 Comp./Sputnik V 2 Comp.

Sputnik Light vaccine is tested in Argentina in combination with other vaccines both as the first injection (primer) and the second one (booster shot). The data collected by the Ministry of Health of the Buenos Aires province demonstrates that both the combination of Sputnik Light with other vaccines and vaccination with two injections of only Sputnik Light shows high safety profile with no serious adverse events related to vaccination. All of the combinations studied are safe.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said:

"RDIF was the first in the world to offer vaccine cooperation to other producers to conduct joint mix&match studies. This approach is the most promising one to fight the pandemic and new strains of coronavirus emerging around the world. The Sputnik Light vaccine can be effectively used in combination with other vaccines which is proven by studies in Argentina and other countries. RDIF is ready to partner with other producers for further mix&match studies in other parts of the world."

Key advantages of Sputnik Light:

Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of Sputnik V - the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus.

An efficacy level of almost 80% is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines.

Sputnik Light has proven effective against all new strains of coronavirus, as demonstrated by the Gamaleya Center during laboratory tests.

Sputnik Light is compatible with standard vaccine storage and logistics requirements.

The Sputnik Light vaccine is based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector platform that has proven to be safe and effective, with no long-term side effects, as confirmed in over 250 clinical trials conducted globally over the past two decades (while the history of use of human adenoviruses in vaccine development started in 1953).

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling RUB 2.1tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 1 mn people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at rdif.ru

For additional information contact:

Alexey Urazov

Russian Direct Investment Fund

Director for External Communications

Mobile: +7 915 312 76 65

E-mail: Alexey.Urazov@rdif.ru

Andrew Leach / Maria Shiryaevskaya

Hudson Sandler

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanEquity, hosted by Innovator Capital, the London based specialist investment bank and the Monaco Economic Board, closed on Friday 23rd July with its award ceremony in the presence of His Excellency, Bernard Fautrier.

For the second year running, CleanEquity was streamed live on EarthxTV, attracting over 1,000 live viewers. The live stream enabled global real-time access to best in class emerging technologies.

Watch the full CleanEquity conference OnDemand here.

CleanEquity's 14th annual event showcased 17 companies and the three recipients of the CleanEquity Awards for Excellence were:

Conamix (US), Award for Research; the company's core technology, utilising sulfur cathodes, enables the production of high energy batteries for EVs 25% cheaper than current lithium-ion technology while using zero cobalt and zero nickel;

Vertoro (NL), Award for Development; by converting residual biomass into its liquid platform product, Goldilocks, Vertoro provides a sustainable alternative for existing fossil oil refineries and petrochemical plants; and

Voltaware (UK), Award for Commercialisation; its innovative smart meter utilises algorithms to accurately break down bills to the level of individual appliances, unlocking use cases such as energy efficiency, predictive maintenance, safety and security, and elderly monitoring.

The runners up, in the three categories, were, respectively: IPG (UK), Agerpoint (US) and Purify Fuel (US).

Claire McCluskey, the Irish visual artist, created the Awards similar in shape, each was based on a 20-sided platonic solid, carrying symbolic associations to water. The sustainable and traceable wood is sourced from the Lisnavagh Timber Project in Carlow. All of Claire's work is grounded in a way that relates to the world around us.

His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, said:

"For the past decade, it has been a pleasure to participate in this conference, as it has always been instructive with the opportunity to meet fascinating people committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and making the world a better and fairer place."

Mungo Park, Chairman of Innovator Capital and co-founder of CleanEquity, said:

"We thank His Serene Highness for His continued support throughout this year and His Excellency Mr. Bernard Fautrier for his participation in the Award Ceremony. Thank you Claire for your magical work, the 2021 Awards. Many thanks also to everyone who joined us in Monaco and those who participated online. We are honoured to have such groundbreaking presenting companies and technologies at CleanEquity. Thank yous go also to our sponsors and partners: the Fondation Prince Albert II, Cision, Covington & Burling, Cranfield University, EarthX, MIT Solve, Monaco Economic Board and Taronis Fuel, for their continued support and the new partnerships formed."

About Innovator Capital

Innovator Capital (ICL), established in 2003, is a London based specialist investment bank focusing on health and sustainable technology companies; advising on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, IP, business and corporate development. ICL's mission is to assist IP rich private and public companies with finding the right investors, acquirers, customers, licensees and commercial partners. Follow ICL and CleanEquity via LinkedIn.
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanEquity Monaco 2021, the forum for sustainable technology innovation, hosted by Innovator Capital and the Monaco Economic Board, closed on Friday, 23rd July with the Awards Ceremony in the presence of His Excellency, Monsieur Bernard Fautrier.

An independent panel of industry expert judges selected Vertoro to receive the Award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Development.

Mungo Park, Chairman of Innovator Capital commented: "Vertoro is supporting all of us on its path away from fossil fuel dependency by providing a sustainable alternative compatible with existing infrastructure, making for a seamless transition."

Vertoro, founded in 2017, is a spin-off from a public-private consortium, including two Dutch Universities and Royal DSM. Vertoro converts residual biomass from existing operations (saw dust, coffee grounds, lignin) into a liquid platform product, Goldilocks, which can readily be used as sustainable feedstock for existing fossil oil refineries and petrochemical plants. This will enable their fossil-world customers to produce carbon-neutral fuels, chemicals and materials, with existing legacy assets. Together, they will prevent a cumulative 1 billion tons in CO2 emissions by 2030.

Michael Boot, Co-founder and CEO of Vertoro said: "We were humbled by the high quality of presenting companies and honored to have been one of the award recipients. At Vertoro, we produce sustainable alternatives to several fossil products, including marine fuels. The opportunity to pitch in Monaco against the backdrop of magnificent ships in the bay was therefore certainly a unique opportunity. We furthermore met several investors who could help us raise our next (15M) Series B round later this year."

CleanEquity thanks, in particular: The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Cision, Covington & Burling, Cranfield University, MIT Solve, the Monaco Economic Board, Parkview and Taronis Fuels.

CleanEquity Monaco will be returning to the Principality of Monaco in 2022.

Follow CleanEquity on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up to date with the news.
Designed to Accelerate Execution of Integrated Drug Development Plan

for NEO-001 to Treat Obesity

Establishes R&D Advisory Board, Appoints Philippe Martin as Chairman

Expands Regulatory Capabilities in Preparation for Proof-of-Concept Study

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / NeonMind Biosciences Inc. (CSE:NEON)(OTCQB:NMDBF)(FFE:6UF) ("NeonMind' or the "Company"), an integrated drug development and wellness company focused on the potential therapeutic uses of psilocybin for treating obesity and weight management conditions, announced today a strategic reorganization to focus on the execution of the Company's integrated drug development plan ("IDP") for its lead drug candidate targeting obesity, NEO-001.

This new structure reorganizes NeonMind's business operations to focus on its core Pharmaceutical Division, and establishes resources to execute on the Company's regulatory and clinical operations strategy. This includes the establishment of a Research and Development Advisory Board and the expansion of NeonMind's regulatory team through the engagement of several key industry professionals. The reorganization will enable NeonMind to successfully execute its IDP by streamlining its corporate structure and leveraging the guidance of regulatory experts.

"These organizational changes will drive the advancement of our lead drug candidate, NEO-001, through the regulatory process," said Robert Tessarolo, President & CEO of NeonMind. "Combined with our earlier initiatives, including the establishment of our Specialty Clinics Advisory Board, we have brought together an incredible team, all with proven expertise in executing regulatory, clinical, and commercial milestones across leading pharmaceutical organizations. We are excited to prepare NEO-001 for a phase 1/2 study in obese patients as we collaborate with the FDA and Health Canada on IND/CTA submissions."

Key Appointments to Oversee Core Businesses

As part of the reorganization, Philippe Martin has been appointed Chairman of the Company's R&D Advisory Board. Mr. Martin was instrumental in building NeonMind's integrated development plan through the Company's R&D Working Group. He has 20 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience developing and commercializing innovative therapies in the fields of immunology, oncology/hematology, and neurology. Currently, he is the Chief of Development & Operations at Bioalta Inc. overseeing the development of pre-clinical and clinical assets. Previously, at Celgene, Mr. Martin led the development and commercialization of the blockbuster drug Otezla. Prior to this, while at Schering-Plough, he oversaw the anti-TNF alpha collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and led the REMICADE lifecycle strategy and operations, as well as SIMPONI development, regulatory approvals, and preparation for launch in multiple indications.

In addition, NeonMind has expanded its regulatory team with the hiring of highly experienced regulatory consultants. They bring over 45 years of combined biopharmaceutical industry experience and will provide regulatory guidance and support as the Company prepares for its Proof-of-Concept study.

Related to the reorganization, the Company's Chief Psychedelics Officer, Trevor Millar, is transitioning to an advisory capacity. Mr. Millar has resigned as Chief Psychedelics Officer and has been engaged by the Company as an advisor, effective August 6, 2021. Additionally, as NeonMind's focus shifts to navigating the regulatory process, the Company has terminated its consulting agreement with Translational Life Sciences and Dr. William Panenka is leaving the Scientific Advisory Board.

In May 2021, the Company established its Specialty Clinics Advisory Board to guide the planning and operation of NeonMind branded clinics across Canada. To support this endeavor, in July 2021 NeonMind appointed Dr. Sagar Parikh, MD to its Specialty Clinics Advisory Board. In this role, Dr. Parikh will leverage his vast expertise in clinical treatment and interventional psychiatry including effectively treating patients with psychedelics such as ketamine, esketamine, and neurostimulation for mood and anxiety disorders to guide NeonMind as it develops specialty clinic services for communities in need. Dr. Parikh also brings pivotal experience in planning and successfully launching new mental health treatments.

NEO-001, the Company' lead drug candidate targeting obesity, is a high-dose psilocybin treatment coupled with behavior therapy and lifestyle intervention, which aims to improve the efficacy of chronic weight management in adults. The Company has identified a regulatory strategy, including a target indication and product profile, which it believes will best position NeonMind as it advances its first lead candidate through development.

About NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

NeonMind is engaged in preclinical research to develop potential clinical treatments and wellness products to address obesity and weight management conditions and to promote health and wellness. The Company operates three divisions: (i) a pharmaceutical division engaged in drug development of psychedelic compounds with two lead psilocybin-based drug candidates targeting obesity; (ii) a medical services division focused on launching specialty mental health clinics that integrate psychedelic therapeutics into traditional psychotherapy settings; and (iii) a consumer products division that currently sells mushroom-infused products to promote health and wellness.

In its pharmaceutical division, NeonMind has two distinct psilocybin drug development programs targeting obesity. NeonMind's lead candidate, NEO-001, employs psilocybin as an agonist at the serotonin 5- HT2A receptor, which is involved in the hallucinogenic effect of psychedelics. The Company's second drug candidate, NEO-002, employs low-dose psilocybin as an agonist at the 5-HT2C receptor, which controls appetite.

NeonMind established a medical services division with the goal of launching NeonMind-branded specialty mental health clinics in Canada that incorporate evidence-backed innovative treatments to address a variety of mental health needs.

NeonMind's consumer division currently sells NeonMind-branded coffee products in the United States and Canada through NeonMind's direct to consumer e-commerce platform.

For more information on NeonMind, go to www.NeonMindBiosciences.com.

Rob Tessarolo, President & Chief Executive Officer, NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

rob@neonmind.com

Tel: 416-750-3101

Investor Relations:

KCSA Strategic Communications

Scott Eckstein/Tim Regan

neonmind@kcsa.com

Tel: 212-896-1210

Media Inquiries:

KCSA Strategic Communications

Annie Graf

neonmind@kcsa.com

Tel: 786-390-2644

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or NeonMind's future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on NeonMind's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, NeonMind's drug development plans, its ability to retain key personnel, and its expectation as to the development of its intellectual property and other steps in its preclinical and clinical drug development constitute forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. NeonMind disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658477/NeonMind-Announces-Corporate-Update-and-Strategic-Reorganization-of-its-Pharmaceutical-Division
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors digested a slew of earnings and awaited the Bank of England's rate decision for cues on its asset purchase plans. The benchmark FTSE 100 was marginally higher at 7,124 after closing about 0.3 percent higher on Wednesday. Glencore fell about 1 percent. The commodity trading and mining company raised expectations for its trading division, but lowered full-year guidance for nickel and coal, citing output disruptions. Gold mining company Centamin tumbled 3 percent after its net profit for the first half of the year fell 20 percent, reflecting weaker gold production and higher unitary costs. Real estate investment trust company Hammerson declined 1.8 percent after releasing mixed half-year results. WPP rallied 2.3 percent. The advertising group said its revenues had returned to pre-pandemic levels a year sooner than it had expected. Paper and packaging group Mondi jumped 2.5 percent after reporting a stable set of results for the first half. Troubled engineering group Rolls Royce Holdings soared 3.7 percent after it moved back into the black in the first half of the year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Los Angeles, California--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - NUGL Inc. (OTC Pink: NUGL) (the "Company"), a search directory and multimedia platform for the cannabis industry, is pleased to announce it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Kaya Group, Jamaica's leading, vertically-integrated group of medical cannabis companies, to share intellectual property as an interim step to a proposed merger with Kaya. As part of the joint venture agreement NUGL has agreed to issue, in a series of tranches, $400,000 USD aggregate principal amount of convertible notes.

The joint venture agreement allows Kaya and the Company to begin utilizing each other's intellectual property to strengthen each brand and create jointly owned intellectual property. In addition, the parties have agreed to work towards a definitive merger transaction. Should the companies not complete the merger, the $400,000 note will convert into equity of Kaya.

Kaya Group is Jamaica's leading, vertically-integrated medical cannabis company with diverse operations that include a licensed cultivation facility, processing facility, three retail dispensaries, and conditional licenses to transport and operate therapeutic wellness spas. Kaya was the first to open a medical cannabis retail location in Jamaica in March 2018 and has since established itself as a leading supplier and exporter of medical cannabis throughout the Caribbean and South America through its ganja franchise with Quantum Ventures in Punta Del Este, Uruguay.

The proposed merger will give both NUGL and KAYA an opportunity for further expansion and diversification internationally as more countries decriminalize or put in place new regulatory and legal frameworks for the sale and use of cannabis.

"The strategic partnership of NUGL's media infrastructure and KAYA authentic lifestyle brand and unique retail experience will help us chart new ground internationally as we continue to deliver high-quality services and products while building shareholder value," stated NUGL CEO CJ Melone.

The proposed merger will benefit the shareholders of NUGL Inc. and capitalize on the expansion of the Kaya brand internationally. NUGL has filed a REG A and has identified five Kaya ventures in three additional countries. Tangiers Capital, a long-time investor of NUGL, has provided bridge funding to facilitate the transaction.

"We introduced a ganja retail experience in 2018 by tailoring an Amsterdam style coffeeshop culture to modern-day legal Jamaica by respecting the roots of the culture of the island while maintaining the quality of high-grade medical ganja based on international standards. We are very excited to work with the team at NUGL which is just as passionate about our brand and look forward to enhancing their media platform with new and immersive live content from each of our locations that can house over 1,000 patrons. Our partnership with NUGL provides us with a platform for immediate access to the public markets for capital for growth through acquisitions and partnerships," stated Bali Vaswani, Chairman and CEO of Kaya.

The proposed transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including negotiation of definitive agreements and approval by the Jamaican Cannabis Licensing Authority.

About Kaya Group

Kaya is Jamaica's leading vertically-integrated medical cannabis companies with diverse operations headquartered in Ocho Rios, which includes a licensed cultivation facility with over 70 genetics, a processing facility, three retail dispensaries, and conditional licenses to transport and operate therapeutic wellness spas. The Kaya Group was the first to open a medical cannabis retail location in Jamaica in March 2018 and has since established itself as a leading supplier and exporter of medical cannabis throughout the Caribbean and South America through its ganja franchise with Quantum Ventures in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. (www.kayaherbhouse.com)

You can review all the latest features at nugl.com and nuglmagazine.com and download the new iOS and Android apps in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

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NUGL Magazine: https://www.nuglmagazine.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include projections of matters that affect revenue, operating expenses, or net earnings; projections of growth; and assumptions relating to the preceding. Such forward-looking statements generally start with the "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "believes," or similar words of like kind. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or qualified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those outlined in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. The company's business plan addresses these factors in greater detail, along with NUGL's current financial filings with the OTC Markets Group, Inc.

NUGL PR

7143839982

investorrelations@nugl.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92142
NEW YORK, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apollo European Principal Finance Fund III ("Apollo EPF III"), a fund managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE:APO), today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Italian pension fund Fondazione Ente Nazionale di Previdenza ed Assistenza dei Medici e degli Odontoiatri ("ENPAM") to acquire ENPAM's directly owned portfolio of real estate assets (the "Portfolio") for 842 million.



The Portfolio comprises 68 high-quality commercial and residential assets, including hotel, retail, logistics and parking assets primarily located in the economic hubs of Rome and Milan.

"We are pleased to reach this agreement with Apollo to help deliver on our primary objective of providing retirement income to ENPAM pensioners", said Chairman of the pension fund Alberto Oliveti. "As we prepare to reach the peak of retirement for our members, this divestment allows us to realize important savings and to allocate the proceeds towards diversified, mission-related investments that will offer adequate reserves and returns to meet our commitments. We look to the future with even greater peace of mind".

Skardon Baker, Head of European Principal Finance, said, "This transaction demonstrates our ability to source and execute unique, complex opportunities that expand our European real estate portfolio and exemplifies Apollo EPF's continued commitment to working with European financial institutions to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes, in this case using our transitionary capital to provide ENPAM with greater liquidity and financial flexibility to serve its pension members. We remain focused on broadening our European portfolio and building on our strong foundation of successful strategic real estate investments in Italy".

"These high-quality properties in prime locations with strong alternative use potential are a great fit for our multi-disciplinary asset management capabilities. With a truly heterogenous portfolio composition and increased market demand, we are confident that this group of assets will be attractive to tenants as well as local and international investors", continued Samuele Cappelletti of Apollo.

Apollo's European Principal Finance business is the second largest, closed-end fund franchise within Apollo, following only the flagship private equity funds, with $7 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2021. The EPF funds sit at the crossroads and tap all three of Apollo's three business strategies: yield, hybrid and opportunistic. The first EPF fund launched in 2009 and was created to capture a broad range of opportunities arising from distress, deleveraging and the realignment of financial service models. Since inception, the EPF funds have invested over $9 billion of capital.

Advisors to the Apollo Funds in this transaction included Realty Partners, with the support of JLL and Conio, as commercial advisors; Lazard as financial advisor; Belvedere Inzaghi as legal diligence advisor; BonelliErede and Vinson & Elkins as transaction counsel; and BonelliErede for tax advisory.

Duff & Phelps acted as an independent evaluator and Deloitte Financial Advisory acted as financial advisor to ENPAM. Angelo Piazza, Luca Leone and Paola Conio acted as legal counsel and Stefano Petrecca (CBA) as tax advisor to ENPAM.

The transaction is expected to close by year end.

About Apollo

Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. We seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three business strategies: yield, hybrid and opportunistic. Through our investment activity across our fully integrated platform, we serve the retirement income and financial return needs of our clients, and we offer innovative capital solutions to businesses. Our patient, creative, knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of June 30, 2021, Apollo had approximately $472 billion assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.

About ENPAM

ENPAM (Ente Nazionale di Previdenza e Assistenza dei Medici e degli Odontoiatri) is Italy's largest private first-pillar pension fund. Established in 1937, it provides retirement benefits and insurance to nearly half a million medical doctors and dentists. ENPAM has over 25 billion euros in assets under management.

Contacts

Apollo

For Investors

Peter Mintzberg, Head of Investor Relations

Apollo Global Management, Inc.

+1 (212) 822-0528

APOInvestorRelations@apollo.com

For Media

Joanna Rose, Global Head of Corporate Communications

Apollo Global Management, Inc.

+1 (212) 822-0491

Communications@apollo.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Legend Power Systems (TSXV:LPS)(OTCQB:LPSIF), a global leader in commercial electrical system solutions, today announced several key milestones with new channel distribution partners.

First, Legend has entered an agreement with a leading provider of private label energy efficiency solutions in a program to resell SmartGATE Platform and SmartGATE Insights. This provider serves several large utilities across the US by offering compelling energy efficiency technology subscriptions to their rate paying customers. These offerings include turnkey subscriptions for energy savings infrastructure (HVAC, lighting, electrical, and more) directly through the utility provider. "This top-tier provider knows first hand how unstable power can increase maintenance and repair costs - it is literally their business!", says Mike Cioce, VP of Sales and Marketing for Legend Power Systems. "They have customers across the country that are experiencing reliability issues with recently installed systems due to unstable electricity. So, not only can Legend save them more energy, but we can optimize the performance of these new critical building systems."

Additionally, Legend has engaged in a meaningful way with another division of one of its existing ESCO partners. This new division generates 3x the revenue of the ESCO performance contracting group which Legend has been working with. "Not only does this expanded relationship offer a dramatic increase in distribution capabilities for Legend, but this partner also has a nationwide network of electrical installation capabilities which could prove to be a new market enabler for team Legend", continued Cioce.

SmartGATE is an industry-leading Active Power Management Platform that identifies and fixes underperformance and waste in the electrical system of a commercial building inherent in its incoming grid connection. These performance issues often impact key areas of commercial real estate metrics, including occupant safety and satisfaction as well as financial performance and ESG leadership. This waste can also lead to higher operating costs, higher GHG emissions, lower net operating income, and other potential financial risks to the building owner, including adverse tenant experiences.

About Legend Power Systems Inc.

Legend Power Systems Inc. (www.legendpower.com) provides an intelligent energy management platform that analyzes and improves building energy challenges, significantly impacting asset management and corporate performance. Legend's proven solutions support proactive executive decision-making in a complex and volatile business and energy environment.

For further information, please contact:

Steve Vanry, CFO

+ 1 604 671 9522

svanry@legendpower.com

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations

+ 1 647 503 1054

sean@sophiccapital.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the company's quarterly and annual Management's Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements other than as may be required by applicable law.

SOURCE: Legend Power Systems Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658487/Legend-Power-Laying-Foundation-for-Growth-with-New-Channel-Distribution-Partners
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / AEX Gold Inc. ("AEX") (AIM:AEXG)(TSXV:AEX), an independent gold company with a portfolio of exploration licences in Greenland, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited as joint corporate broker.

Eldur Olafsson, CEO of AEX, commented:

"I am delighted to welcome Panmure Gordon to the AEX Gold team as we continue to progress our flagship Nalunaq asset and our wider exploration portfolio. Panmure has a strong reach into the institutional market and we look forward to working with them to bring our exciting story to a wider audience."

Enquiries:

AEX Gold Inc.

Eldur Olafsson, Director and CEO

+354 665 2003

eo@aexgold.com

Eddie Wyvill, Investor Relations

+44 (0) 7713 126727

ew@aexgold.com

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Callum Stewart

Simon Mensley

Ashton Clanfield

+44 (0) 20 7710 7600

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited - Joint Broker

John Prior

Hugh Rich

Dougie Mcleod

+44 (0) 20 7886 2500

Camarco (Financial PR)

Gordon Poole

Nick Hennis

+44 (0) 20 3757 4980

For Company updated:

Follow @AexGold on Twitter

Follow AEX Gold Inc. on LinkedIn

Further Information:

About AEX

AEX's principal business objectives are the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Greenland. The Corporation's principal asset is a 100% interest in the Nalunaq Project, an advanced exploration stage property with an exploitation license including the previously operating Nalunaq gold mine. The Corporation has a portfolio of gold assets covering 3,870km2, the largest portfolio of gold assets in Southern Greenland covering the two known gold belts in the region. AEX is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and wholly owns Nalunaq A/S, incorporated under the Greenland Public Companies Act.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Corporation's current expectations regarding future events and the future growth of the Corporation's business. In this press release there is forward-looking information based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Final Prospectus available under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking information included in this press release is based only on information currently available to the Corporation and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new circumstances or events. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Inside Information

This announcement does not contain inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("UK MAR"), as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("EU MAR").

SOURCE: AEX Gold Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658445/Appointment-of-Panmure-Gordon-UK-Limited-as-Joint-Corporate-Broker
Altada Technology Solutions ("Altada"), a global provider of artificial intelligence ("AI") solutions that enhance automation and data-driven decision-making for companies across sectors, announced today that Denis Canty has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer ("CTO") based in Limerick, Ireland. Denis will lead Altada's vision for technological advancements in the AI industry to further enable Altada to deliver enhanced outcomes for clients.

"We welcome Denis to our team as we continue to develop industry-leading solutions which change our world for the better, and center trust at the heart of AI. Said Allan Beechinor, Altada's Co-Founder and CEO. "We're thrilled to be working together and to have Denis' expertise in digital transformation and emerging technologies to facilitate Altada's global expansion and further scale the impact of our cutting-edge AI solutions."

Before joining Altada, Denis was the Chief Technology Advisor, EMEA Enterprise and Global Web Services for World Wide Technology, an international provider of technology solutions. In that role, he led C-suite clients on digital transformation journeys, helping them deploy next generation architectures and transformative solutions. Prior to that, Denis was the Global Vice President, Developer Platform Services and Technology Labs at McKesson, an impact-driven global healthcare company. He successfully led the global evolution of the developer experience across DevOps, API and UX Design platforms against McKesson Technology goals. Denis also led emerging technology functions for companies in cloud, cybersecurity automation, computer vision and IoT. He is a Board Member of it@cork, a leading not-for-profit independent business organisation that represents the interests of the IT industry in the South of Ireland.

Denis Canty, Altada Technology Solutions' CTO added: "The people, creative energy and culture of Altada has established the company as a leader in AI, making it possible to provide sophisticated solutions to a global and fast-growing client base. It is paramount for the tech industry to harness the combined value of diverse talent, inclusive iteration, and global mindset to create differentiated products that scale. I am looking forward to joining the Altada team, and to collaborating with our customers and partners so we can continue to deliver the innovation and results behind Altada's vision."

Earlier this year, Altada appointed Maire P. Walsh as Chief Commercial Officer and Trucle Nguyen as Chief Innovation Officer. In June, Altada partnered with Tangent, Trinity College Dublin's Ideas Workspace, to select the first winner of the 2021 Alsessor AI Programme competition, Empeal, who was awarded 250,000 to help boost its business. Alsessor AI was launched in November 2020 by Altada and Tangent, with the aim of supporting other AI entrepreneurs in the start-up stage.

Altada's mission is to ensure that AI is deployed responsibly, in a way that liberates individuals and teams to take on more high-value activity and without compromising integrity by embedding privacy by design. Altada's real-world solutions help companies achieve outcomes in automation and data-driven decision-making and increase profitability through the wonder of AI, whilst ensuring that ethics and trustworthy AI are the priority.

About Altada Technology Solutions

With offices in Europe and the U.S. Altada provides scalable artificial intelligence solutions to companies in financial services, travel and cybersecurity among others. Altada's solutions are successfully driving data-driven decision-making. Its executive and technical team have over 20 years' experience of expertise in AI technologies. Altada holds itself to the highest ethical standards and code of conduct in all its business relationships and strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005565/en/

Contacts:

For Europe:

Charles Font

cfont@montiethco.com

+44 (0)7379 099 390

For the U.S.:

Katarina Matic

kmatic@montiethco.com

+1 917 853 1105
Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE: SIXW) (OTCQB: SIXWF) (FSE: AHUH) ("Sixth Wave", "SIXW" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the finalization of a commercial system design for Affinity cannabis purification technology. SIXW is contracted to deliver three units to Oregon-based producer Green Envy Extracts (the "Customer") after successful field trials beginning in the fall of 2021.

The Affinity System is a leading-edge purification process that will allow cannabis producers to deliver a product with the highest possible THC/cannabinoid purity with greater consistency that consumers demand. Affinity machines will use Sixth Wave's breakthrough nanotechnology to significantly increase yields for producers by reducing the amount of cannabis lost through traditional methods in faster times with lower costs.

The savings are achieved by using the company's patent-pending Molecular Imprinted Polymer (MIPs) technology to eliminate "winterization" and other conventional but sluggish stages of cannabis production, thereby capturing and extracting cannabinoids more efficiently and without the use of toxic chemicals or extreme heat which can degrade product quality.

"I'm excited that we have reached the last phase of testing before rolling out our first Affinity units to our commercial partner," said Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, President, and CEO of Sixth Wave. "All the data from our research and development work indicates that Affinity units can eliminate winterization and produce high-purity, full-spectrum distillates that consumers demand, both for recreational and medicinal purposes."

The cannabis market continues to grow and evolve. Licensed producers like Green Envy aggressively look for ways to optimize their operations and improve the quality and consistency of the products they offer. Sixth Wave continues to regularly receive new inquiries on the availability of the Affinity System and the company plans to convert these opportunities into hard sale orders in the coming months.

The market for Affinity is shifting as well. Sixth Wave originally tested its technology on crude hemp extracts, where it successfully eliminated the need for winterization and achieved purity levels that exceeded conventional multi-stage distillation. The company has built upon those successes by widening its focus to the cannabis market, where demand grows for purer products across the spectrum of users, from those who prefer edibles or tinctures to connoisseurs desiring a superior taste or vapers looking for consistency in the performance of their cartridges.

Bench-scale testing has already indicated that Affinity is capable of superior adsorption kinetics for THC over the CBD extracted from hemp. Final configuration work is aimed toward optimization of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cannabis extracts.

Recent improvements in the polymer beads and optimizing procedures indicate that Affinity will achieve the goal of enabling entry-sized machines to process 20kg of finished distillate per day. Sixth Wave envisions potential revenue generation in excess of $1.25M annually from each machine when used at capacity while providing the licensed producer the opportunity to capture between 20-40% more cannabinoids from the crude extract and with a higher quality product adding directly to their bottom line.

"The Affinity System already shows somewhat stronger ability to purify THC than CBD," Dr. Gluckman says. "We expect even better performance with crude cannabis extracts once we adjust the standard operating procedures to accommodate for the different total cannabinoid concentrations for these extracts. No reconfiguration of hardware should is expected."

Ongoing work includes:

Validation and/or update to the crude extract preparation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for possible changes to accommodate this specific type of extract material. The Affinity system allows us to remove the winterization process and replace it with sample preparation that does not require cryogenic refrigeration and is much faster than winterization. This is accomplished in a single process that also dilutes the crude extract so that it flows through the Affinity columns for isolation of the cannabinoids.

Selection of final Affinity bead design for product rollout. Sixth Wave has currently completed extensive design, manufacture, testing, and initial scale-up work on four high-performance formulations. Several designs have exceeded initial expectations and functional design specifications. The beads show performance advantages on several key parameters that reduce operating costs, reduce ethanol usage, and improve capacity. Final evaluation of purity level designs associated with hemp and cannabis crude is ongoing to optimize performance. The work is on schedule for Green Envy delivery and bead production scale-up.

About Sixth Wave

Sixth Wave is a nanotechnology company with patented technologies that focus on extraction and detection of target substances at the molecular level using highly specialized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs). The Company is in the process of a commercial rollout of its Affinity cannabinoid purification system, as well as IXOS, a line of extraction polymers for the gold mining industry. The Company is also in the development stages of a rapid diagnostic test for viruses under the Accelerated MIPs (AMIPS) label.

Sixth Wave can design, develop and commercialize MIP solutions across a broad spectrum of industries. The company is focused on nanotechnology architectures that are highly relevant for the detection and separation of viruses, biogenic amines, and other pathogens, for which the Company has products at various stages of development.

For more information about Sixth Wave, please visit our website at: www.sixthwave.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Jonathan Gluckman"

Jonathan Gluckman, Ph.D., President & CEO

For information, please contact the Company:

Phone: (801) 582-0559

E-mail: info@sixthwave.com

Cautionary Notes

This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" including statements regarding the performance of the IXOS, Affinity, and AMIPs technologies. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future events or developments that the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In particular, successful development and commercialization of the Affinity technology are subject to the risk that the technology may not prove to be successful in capturing cannabinoid targets more efficiently than legacy technology, uncertainty product development, the uncertainty of timing, lack of track record of developing products for these applications and the need for additional capital to carry out product development activities. The value of any products ultimately developed could be negatively impacted if the associated patent is not granted.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92127


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - 92714 new cases of coronavirus infections were reported in the United States on Wednesday, taking the national total to 35,330,902.



From an average of less than 20000 cases reported on July 4, the seven-day average has multiplied by nearly five times to 96036 within a month, according to data analyzed by the New York Times. This is the highest weekly average recorded since February 12, marking a 131 percent increase in two weeks.



490 additional casualties recorded on Wednesday took the national COVID death toll to 614,785, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.



Florida accounted for the most number of cases reported nationally - 16,935. The state also led in most COVID-related deaths - 140.



The number of people hospitalized due to coronavirus infection in the country has risen to 51,661, an 87 percent increase in a fortnight.



As of August 4, 192.6 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



165.33 million people, or 49.8 percent of the U.S. population, are fully vaccinated.



80.2 percent of people above 65 have received both vaccine doses.



A total of 29,787,316 people have so far recovered from the disease in the country.



Meanwhile, a top U.S. military medical doctor has predicted coronavirus longevity. 'COVID-19 and other such coronaviruses likely will stay in the environment and continue to mutate, Army Lt. Gen. Ronald J. Place, director of Defense Health Agency, told participants at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Maryland, on the topic of the COVID-19 response and post-pandemic national security.



As part of the Biden administration's efforts to encourage vaccinations, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team on Wednesday convened a historic gathering of all living, former U.S. Surgeon Generals, including Dr. Antonia Novello, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Dr. David Satcher, Dr. Richard Carmona, Dr. Regina Benjamin, and Dr. Jerome Adams.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Invesco Select Trust Plc ('the Company')

Notice of General Meeting

The Board of the Company has resolved to convene a General Meeting to be held on 31 August 2021 at 11am at 43-45 Portman Square, London W1H 6LY, in order to renew the Company's authority to make market purchases of its own Shares.

At the Annual General Meeting held on 6 October 2020, the Company was authorised to make market purchases of Ordinary Shares up to a maximum number of each share class then in issue. In the case of the Managed Liquidity Shares this maximum number has almost been reached. The Board considers it to be prudent to seek Shareholder approval to renew the authority for this class of Shares to ensure that the Company's discount control strategy can continue to operate effectively and is also taking the opportunity to renew the authorities to repurchase UK Equity and Global Equity Income Shares.

The maximum number of Ordinary Shares of each of these Share classes that may be purchased shall be 14.99 per cent. of the Company's Ordinary Shares of that class in issue at the date of the General Meeting. Repurchased Ordinary Shares may be either held in treasury or cancelled.

The authority being sought will be utilised when financial and stock market conditions allow and the Directors consider it to be in the best interests of the Company and of its Shareholders as a whole.

A circular containing a Notice, together with a Form of Proxy, will be sent to Shareholders shortly and will be available on the Manager's website at the following web address: www.invesco.co.uk/investmenttrusts. This is the Invesco investment trust hub page and the circular will be accessible by selecting any of the Company's four share classes on that page.

For and on behalf of

Invesco Asset Management Limited

Company Secretary

5 August 2021

Contact:

Shilla Pindoria 020 3753 1000
Nextech AR Solutions Corp. ("Nextech" or the "Company") (OTCQB: NEXCF) (NEO: NTAR) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: N29), an emerging leader in augmented reality (AR) for eCommerce, AR learning applications, AR-enhanced video conferencing and virtual events, is pleased to announce that it has begun integration of its mixed reality (MR) solution HoloX, a human hologram application into HoloLens2, which is expected to be available in September 2021. This implementation will support gesture controls across HoloX's UI and UX, allowing for users to navigate the application through eye-tracking and hand gestures.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005341/en/

AR/MR smart glasses are wearable computer-capable glasses that add 3D images and animations to a massive screen on your glasses. The HoloLens initiative is being designed as a solution to provide a more realistic feeling of human hologram presence, beyond what is currently capable from other in-market solutions. This project is the first product coming out of Nextech's AR Innovation Labs to support head mounted displays, however the company is now actively looking at other AR glasses manufacturers as well. This work will provide a platform for the development of solutions for industries where immersive interactions are vital to remote collaboration including: education, medical, military field training and others.

Nextech CEO Evan Gappelberg comments, "The AR computer glasses industry is going to be substantial with Facebook, SNAP, Apple, Google, Lenovo and Microsoft all coming out with their own version. We are starting with Microsoft as they are clearly targeting HoloLens at corporations and the government, places where we already have customer relationships and we see very specific use cases for our human holograms." He continues: "We see this integration with Microsoft HoloLens and our powerful content creation application HoloX as one of the key building blocks that sets us up for future success as the AR glasses industry is now rapidly accelerating."

According to Gartner, by 2035, the digital human economy will become a $125-billion market. Digital human technologies are growing exponentially across many of today's industries.

To learn more, please follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com.

About Nextech AR

Nextech develops and operates augmented reality ("AR") platforms that transports three-dimensional ("3D") product visualizations, human holograms and 360 portals to its audiences altering e-commerce, digital advertising, hybrid virtual events (events held in a digital format blended with in-person attendance) and learning and training experiences.

Nextech focuses on developing AR solutions however most of the Company's revenues are currently derived from three e-Commerce platforms: vacuumcleanermarket.com ("VCM"), infinitepetlife.com ("IPL") and Trulyfesupplements.com ("TruLyfe"). VCM and product sales of residential vacuums, supplies and parts, and small home appliances sold on Amazon.

Forward-looking Statements

The NEO has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be," "looking forward" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the Company increasing investors awareness are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements of Nextech to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including capital expenditures and other costs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005341/en/

Contacts:

Evan Gappelberg

investor.relations@Nextechar.com
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) ("Talon" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project ("Tamarack Nickel Project"), located in Minnesota, USA. The Tamarack Nickel Project comprises the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project.





Figure 1: Aggregate of 9.63 meters (31.6 feet) of massive sulphide nickel-copper mineralization beginning at 191.1 meters in drill hole 21TK0323 from the CGO West area.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2443/92147_ae917057b4e2d942_001full.jpg

HIGHLIGHTS

Talon continues to drill massive nickel-copper mineralization in the CGO West exploration area, which lies approximately 100 meters north-north-east of the Tamarack Nickel Project's resource area and extends for an additional 400 meters. As previously announced, Talon discovered a new thick pool of massive nickel-copper mineralization when 13.88 meters (45.5 feet) of massive and semi-massive nickel-copper mineralization was drilled in drill hole 21TK0313 (see the Company's news release dated May 19, 2021).

In a news release on July 6, 2021, Talon announced the first assays received for the newly discovered pool of massive nickel-copper mineralization from drill hole 21TK0313, with 13.92 meters (45.7 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralization grading 5.54% Ni, 2.14% Cu, 0.16% Co, 0.21 g/t Pd, 0.26 g/t Pt and 0.08 g/t Au ( 6.70% NiEq 1 or 17.86% CuEq 2 ) starting at only 225.44 meters.

New drill hole 21TK0323, approximately 100 meters east of drill hole 21TK0313, has intersected an aggregate of 9.63 meters (31.6 feet) of mixed and massive sulphide starting at only 191.11 meters.

Continuous drilling nearby has already led to seven (7) additional intersections of nickel-copper mineralization, including 9.81 meters (32.2 feet) of mixed and massive sulphide mineralization 32 meters west of drill hole 21TK0313 (see the Company's news release dated June 9, 2021).

New drill holes in the CGO West area shows a potential strike length to the thick pool of massive sulphide of at least 130 meters from drill hole 21TK0320 to drill hole 21TK0323 (see Figure 2).

In today's news release, Talon is reporting five (5) new drill holes in the CGO West area, all of which hit accumulations of nickel-copper mineralization, including two thick intersections of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization to the east of the thick pool of massive sulphide mineralization found in discovery drill hole 21TK0313. More specifically, these two thick intersections are located 100 meters to the east (drill hole 21TK0323), and 115 meters to the east (drill hole 21TK0329), respectively, of drill hole 21TK0313 in the CGO West area.

Rapid surveying of each new drill hole with the Bore Hole Electromagnetic ( "BHEM" ) geophysical surveys continues to allow for quick and more precise targeting of subsequent drill holes.

Notable results from new drill holes are as follows: Drill hole 21TK0323 (approximately 100 meters east of drill hole 21TK0313) intersected: 3.13 meters (10.2 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at 179.14 meters; and 11.66 meters (38.2 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at 191.1 meters, with an aggregate of 9.63 meters (31.6 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization , including: 7.36 meters (24.1 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 191.11 meters; and 2.27 meters (7.4 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 200.5 meters. Drill hole 21TK0328 (approximately 70 meters east of drill hole 21TK0313) intersected: 10.22 meters (33.5 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 177.53 meters; and 7.43 meters (24.4 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 188.69 meters, including: 0.90 meters (2.9 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 188.69 meters; and 1.88 meters (6.2 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 194.24 meters. Drill hole 21TK0329 (approximately 115 meters east of hole 21TK0313) intersected: 4.27 meters (14 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 171.9 meters; and 11.32 meters (37.1 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 187.85 meters, with an aggregate of 8.88 meters (29 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization, including: 6.47 meters (21.2 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 187.85 meters; and 2.41 meters (7.9 feet) of mixed massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 196.76 meters.

These results show a second thickened 'pool' of massive sulphide mineralization, whose boundaries are still open in all directions. Assays remain pending.

"We are excited to continue expanding the 'pool' or potentially 'pools' of high quality massive sulphides in the CGO West area. Our use of Bore Hole EM (geophysics) is allowing us to 'see' where massive mineralization is most likely to extend so that follow up holes are drilled with more precision, rather than as blind step-outs from the last drill hole. This significantly reduces the time, effort and cost it takes to delineate this new exciting area," said Brian Goldner, Vice President of Exploration.

SUMMARY

Talon's newest exploration area, the CGO West area, lies approximately 100 meters north-north-east of the Tamarack Nickel Project's resource area and extends for an additional 400 meters. Drilling of 13 holes has been reported in news releases dated May 19, 2021, June 9, 2021 and July 6 2021, which detail thick intersections of massive sulphide nickel-copper mineralization notably in drill holes 21TK0313, 21TK0316, 21TK0317, and 21TK0320. These drill holes have intersected a thick 'pool' of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization that has not yet been completely defined.

In a news release on July 6, 2021, Talon announced the first assays received for the newly discovered 'pool' of massive nickel-copper mineralization from drill hole 21TK0313, with 13.92 meters (45.7 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralization grading 5.54% Ni, 2.14% Cu, 0.16% Co, 0.21 g/t Pd, 0.26 g/t Pt and 0.08 g/t Au (6.70% NiEq or 17.86% CuEq), starting at only 225.44 meters.

Today, Talon is pleased to report an additional five (5) new drill holes from the CGO West area. These holes have intersected new, thick accumulations of mixed and massive sulphide nickel-copper mineralization, particularly in new drill holes 21TK0323 and 21TK0329. The mixed and massive nickel-mineralization in these two holes are 9.63 meters and 8.88 meters thick, respectively, and are 35 meters apart. Importantly, these intersections are up to 105 meters away from the previously reported thick intersections of mixed and massive sulphides in the CGO West area.

Talon's regular practice of BHEM surveying (geophysics) each new drill hole immediately after it has been completed allows Talon to efficiently follow the massive nickel-copper mineralization. This geophysical technique allows the drill rig to be carefully aimed at the highly conductive zones that the BHEM instrumentation detects. Talon is then able to collect and process the geophysical data quickly because the surveyors and geophysicists are employed by Talon and work on site every day.

All five (5) drill holes reported today have encountered nickel-copper mineralization. Assays are pending.

Details of each of the five drill holes are as follows:

Drill hole 21TK0323 intersected an aggregate of 9.63 meters (31.6 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization within 11.66 meters (38.2 feet), as follows (note that this drill hole represents a 100 meter step-out from drill hole 21TK0313, which intersected 13.88 meters of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization - see Figure 2): 3.13 meters (10.2 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 179.14 meters; and 11.66 meters (38.2 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 191.1 meters, including: 7.36 meters (24.1 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 191.11 meters; and 2.27 meters (7.4 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 200.5 meters.

Drill hole 21TK0326 intersected 24.39 meters (80.0 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 163.98 meters.

Drill hole 21TK0327 intersected 12.8 meters (42.0 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 166.42 meters.

Drill hole 21TK0328 intersected: 10.22 meters (33.5 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 177.53 meters, and 7.43 meters (24.4 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 188.69 meters, including: 0.90 meters (2.9 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization startingat only 188.69 meters, and 1.88 meters (6.2 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 194.24 meters.

Drill hole 21TK0329 intersected an aggregate of 8.88 meters (29 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization, as follows (note that this drill hole represents a 115 meter step-out from drill hole 21TK0313, which intersected 13.88 meters of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization - see Figure 2): 4.27 meters (14 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 171.9 meters, and 11.32 meters (37.1 feet) of nickel-copper mineralization starting at 187.85 meters, including an aggregate of 8.88 meters (29 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization, as follows: 6.47 meters (21.2 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at 187.85 meters, and 2.41 meters (7.9 feet) of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization starting at only 196.76 meters.



Drilling continues in the CGO West area with the goal of defining the size of the newly discovered mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralized body. Assays remain pending for all five of the new holes in this news release.





Figure 2: Plan view geological map showing in green text boxes for the 5 new drill holes within in the CGO West area (outside of the Tamarack Resource Area).

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2443/92147_ae917057b4e2d942_002full.jpg

Figure 2 also shows the location of two sections (See A and B above) passing through the nickel-copper mineralization. Sections A and B are approximately 90 meters apart. Section A passes through drill holes 21TK0313 and 21TK0317 (see Figure 3 below), while Section B passes through drill holes 21TK0323 and 21TK0329 (see Figure 4 below).





Figure 3: Section A represents a portion of the CGO West area looking east showing the thick intersections of nickel-copper mineralization found in drill holes 21TK0313 and 21TK0317.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2443/92147_ae917057b4e2d942_003full.jpg





Figure 4: Section B represents a portion of the CGO West area looking east showing the thick intersections of nickel-copper mineralization found in drill holes 21TK0323 and 21TK0329.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2443/92147_ae917057b4e2d942_004full.jpg

QUALITY ASSURANCE, QUALITY CONTROL AND QUALIFIED PERSONS

Please see the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) #3 of the Tamarack North Project - Tamarack, Minnesota" with an effective date of January 8, 2021 prepared by independent "Qualified Persons" (as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Leslie Correia (Pr. Eng), Andre-Francois Gravel (P. Eng.), Tim Fletcher (P. Eng.), Daniel Gagnon (P. Eng.), David Ritchie (P. Eng.), Oliver Peters (P. Eng.), Volodymyr Liskovych (P.Eng.), Andrea Martin (P. E.) and Brian Thomas (P. Geo.) for information on the QA/QC, analytical and testing procedures at the Tamarack Project. Copies are available on the Company's website (www.talonmetals.com) or on SEDAR at (www.sedar.com). The laboratory used is ALS Minerals who is independent of the Company.

Lengths are drill intersections and not necessarily true widths. True widths cannot be consistently calculated for comparison purposes between holes because of the irregular shapes of the mineralized zones. Drill intersections have been independently selected by Talon. Drill composites have been independently calculated by Talon. The geological interpretations in this news release are solely those of the Company.

The locations and distances highlighted on all maps in this news release are approximate.

Dr. Etienne Dinel, Vice President, Geology of Talon, is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Dr. Dinel is satisfied that the analytical and testing procedures used are standard industry operating procedures and methodologies, and he has reviewed, approved and verified the technical information disclosed in this news release, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical information.

ABOUT TALON

Talon is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with Rio Tinto on the high-grade Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project located in Minnesota, USA, comprised of the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project. Talon has an earn-in to acquire up to 60% of the Tamarack Project. The Tamarack Project comprises a large land position (18km of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts outside the current resource area. Talon is focused on expanding its current high-grade nickel mineralization resource prepared in accordance with NI 43-101; identifying additional high-grade nickel mineralization; and developing a process to potentially produce nickel sulphates responsibly for batteries for the electric vehicles industry. Talon has a well-qualified exploration and mine management team with extensive experience in project management.

For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at www.talonmetals.com or contact:

Sean Werger

President

Talon Metals Corp.

Tel: (416) 361-9636 x102

Email: werger@talonmetals.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the timing and results of the exploration program, including assay results, grades, mineralization, potential and results, strike length and drilling plans; and the potential for 'pools' of high quality massive sulphides in the CGO West area. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Table 1: Collar Locations of New Drill Holes Referred to in this News Release

HOLEID Easting

(m) Northing

(m) Elevation

(masl) Azimuth Dip End

Depth

(m) 21TK0323 491077.7 5169039.1 388.5 358.8 -72.0 249.3 21TK0326 491077.3 5169040.1 388.5 347.4 -59.3 230.3 21TK0327 491077.1 5169039.7 388.5 21.1 -66.2 231.1 21TK0328 491076.8 5169039.9 388.5 340.0 -69.5 228.6 21TK0329 491074.0 5169043.0 388.0 20.0 -66.0 228.0

Collar coordinates are UTM Zone 15N, NAD83.

Azimuths and dips are taken from survey record at collar unless otherwise noted.

Table 2: Quick Lithology Log for New Drill Holes Referred to in this News Release

HOLEID FROM (m) To (m) Length Quick Log % Sulphides 21TK0323 0 42.29

OB

42.29 179.14

FGO/MZNO Traces 179.14 182.27 3.13 CGO 9% 182.27 190.97

CGO Traces 190.97 191.11

FGO/MZNO Traces 191.11 198.47 7.36 MMS/MSU 10-97% 198.47 199.5 1.03 FGO/MZNO 5-7% 199.5 200.5 1 CGO 3% 200.5 202.77 2.27 MMS/MSU 40-95% 207.77 249.33

SED

21TK0326 0 45.5

OB

45.5 163.98

FGO/MZNO Traces 163.98 188.37 24.39 FGO/MZNO 3% 188.37 201.95

FGO/MZNO Traces 201.95 230.28 28.33 SED tr-2% 21TK0327 0 44.5

OB

44.5 166.42

FGO/MZNO Traces 166.42 172.44 6.02 FGO/MZNO 3% 172.44 179.22 6.78 CGO 5% 179.22 200.76

CGO tr-3% 200.76 231.1

SED

21TK0328 0 45.1

OB

45.1 177.53

FGO/MZNO Traces 177.53 183.39 5.86 CGO 3% 183.39 187.75 4.36 FGO/MZNO 10% 187.75 188.69

SED

188.69 189.59 0.9 MMS/MSU 75% 189.59 194.24 4.65 FGO/MZNO 3% 194.24 196.12 1.88 MMS/MSU 20% 196.12 228.6

SED

21TK0329 0 47.85

OB

47.85 171.9

FGO/MZNO Traces 171.9 176.17 4.27 FGO/MZNO 3% 176.17 184

CGO 1% 184 184.4 0.4 CGO 6% 184.4 187.85

CGO 1% 187.85 194.32 6.47 MMS/MSU 10-85% 194.32 196.76 2.44 FGO/MZNO 5% 196.76 199.17 2.41 MMS/MSU 15-85% 199.17 227.99

SED



Quick lithology log of drill holes: Overburden (OB); Fine-grained Orthocumulate/Mixed Zone (FGO/MZNO); Mixed massive sulphides (MMS); Massive sulphides (MSU); Meta-sedimentary rocks (SED); Coarse-grained Orthocumulate (CGO)

1 Where used in this news release: NiEq = Ni%+ Cu% x $3.00/$8.00 + Co% x $12.00/$8.00 + Pt [g/t]/31.103 x $1,300/$8.00/22.04 + Pd [g/t]/31.103 x $700/$8.00/22.04 + Au [g/t]/31.103 x $1,200/$8.00/22.04

2 Where used in this news release: CuEq = Cu%+ Ni% x $8.00/$3.00 + Co% x $12.00/$3.00 + Pt [g/t]/31.103 x $1,300/$3.00/22.04 + Pd [g/t]/31.103 x $700/$3.00/22.04 + Au [g/t]/31.103 x $1,200/$3.00/22.04

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92147
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Seabridge Gold (TSX: SEA) (NYSE: SA) is mobilizing equipment to initiate drilling at its 100%-owned Snowstorm Project in Nevada. Snowstorm is located 15 km north of Turquoise Ridge on a blind extension of the prolific Getchell Trend. This drilling program is designed to follow-up on results that found discrete gold-bearing intervals hosted within a similar structural setting and rocks as the Turquoise Ridge Mine.

The program is designed to re-enter existing drill holes and use directional drilling tools to continue the drill hole from known gold-bearing intersections toward prospective higher-grade feeder structures. An initial program of about 2,500 meters of exploration drilling is planned for this program.

Rudi Fronk, Seabridge Chairman and CEO noted: "Our multi-year exploration program at Snowstorm has found gold-bearing structures which support the potential for an economic deposit. We are now planning to step out from the gold system we have identified to evaluate nearby structures as pathways for gold-bearing fluids."

"Snowstorm requires a disciplined sequential exploration approach in part because the target strata lie under a thick package of young volcanic rocks. Using directional drilling techniques, we can re-enter previously-drilled holes, re-direct them to new targets and shorten the required drilling," said Fronk.

Results from the four drill holes completed in 2020 provided positive outcomes in our search for gold-bearing fluid pathways. Two of the holes encountered intensely altered intermediate intrusive rocks sited at stratigraphic breaks. These intrusive rocks and wall rocks footwall to the intrusions are sheared and contain abundant silica introduction. Shearing and alteration in these rocks represent a low angle or thrust fault within the Paleozoic stratigraphy which provided a fluid pathway, associated with the sheared and altered zones are gold, arsenic, and silver concentrations one to two orders of magnitude above background intensities.

The 2021 program is designed to off-set these previous intersections toward a structure with a topographic expression which is projected into the Paleozoic section using magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical readings. The surface expression of this structure has produced a significant arsenic in soil anomaly. These initial off-sets will provide additional pierce points on the gold-bearing features and could refine the vectoring toward a Getchell Trend gold occurrence.

Exploration activities by Seabridge at Snowstorm are conducted under the supervision of William E. Threlkeld, Registered Professional Geologist, Senior Vice President of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Drill assays are submitted with about 15% certified standards, blanks and duplicates, then scrutinized to establish reliability of assay results using industry standard tools. Mr. Threlkeld has reviewed and approved this news release.

Seabridge holds a 100% interest in several North American gold projects. Seabridge's assets include the KSM and Iskut projects located near Stewart, British Columbia, Canada, the Courageous Lake project located in Canada's Northwest Territories, the Snowstorm project in the Getchell Gold Belt of Northern Nevada and the 3 Aces project set in the Yukon Territory. For a full breakdown of Seabridge's mineral reserves and mineral resources by category please visit Seabridge's website at http://www.seabridgegold.com.

None of the Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, or their Regulation Services Providers accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Technical Information

Unless otherwise indicated, the technical and scientific disclosure contained or referenced in this press release, including any references to mineral resources or mineral reserves, was prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. Accordingly, the scientific and technical information contained or referenced in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding: (i) the scale of the 2021 drill program; and (ii) previous exploration supporting the presence of higher-grade feeder structures and the potential for an economic deposit; (iii) the proposed program refining the vectoring toward a Getchell Trend gold occurrence, and (iv) the projected extension of the Getchell Trend and the projection of certain topographic expressions into the Paleozoic section, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include regulatory issues, discontinuity or otherwise unexpected geology at the Project, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Rudi Fronk"

Chairman and C.E.O.

For further information please contact:

Rudi P. Fronk, Chairman and C.E.O.

Tel: (416) 367-9292  Fax: (416) 367-2711

Email: info@seabridgegold.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92154
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Provenance Gold Corp. (CSE: PAU) (FSE: 3PG) (OTCQB: PVGDF) (the "Company" or "Provenance") believes it controls a large open-pit grade gold deposit in in Elko County, Nevada. The strong assays from its first hole recently drilled in the northern part of a 3.2 km by 1.6 km mineralized area identified by Provenance on the White Rock Property reinforces the belief that it controls a major new discovery. Drilling continues on the property and currently five holes are in the lab being prepared for assaying.

Hole WR-15 was drilled vertically to test disseminated gold mineralization in the sedimentary rocks that host the system. The highest assay value in WR-15 was 2.35 g/t gold over 1.5 meters (5 feet) and was found in a strong interval of 29 meters (95 feet) of 0.636 g/t gold. This was closely followed by another 53 meters (175 feet) of 0.197 g/t gold. Both intervals each contained 7.6 meters (25 feet) of 1.45 g/t gold and 0.427 g/t gold respectively. The anomalous gold mineralized zone had a cumulate thickness of 91.5 meters (300 feet).

The rationale for drilling this first hole was to confirm historic exploration, to confirm continuity of mineralization and to begin to establish details of the mineral system. Provenance believes the local gold plumbing system that carried the gold into the sedimentary rocks is also nearly vertical, so the hole was likely testing the disseminated gold mineralization that has spread into the host sedimentary rocks. Planned angled drill holes will begin to locate the "feeder" veins for the system.

Provenance is planning to drill at least 25 holes in this first drilling phase in this mineralized system. Nearly all the historic 67 holes were vertical, yet intercepted gold mineralization. The Company's goal is to verify the scale of the deposit, which the Company believes to be very large, and to define its internal geometry.

White Rock is in the far northeast corner of Nevada, which is in a region that has had limited exploration and discovery. However, two recent nearby developments include the discovery and development of Long Canyon by Newmont and rediscovery of the Black Pine, Idaho deposit by Liberty Gold. Black Pine continues to grow with a recent announcement of a new open-ended resource.

Steve Craig, Senior Consultant to Provenance said, "Work continues to better establish controls on mineralization and with the identification of a northwest trending anticlinal fold axis, we believe we may have found a key mineralized trend and control structures. Host Permian sedimentary rocks have been domed, folded, and silicified suggesting that gold mineralization could have been focused very much like an oil trap. We believe White Rock hosts a large open-pit grade gold system similar to others being mined in Nevada and our initial drilling program will begin to define it."

Nathan Tribble, Technical Advisor to Provenance stated, "Confirming the historic mineralization on the White Rock property provides the needed leverage in the exploration program that we have been waiting for. Drilling similar gold grades to what we see regionally in Nevada adds immediate value to our strategic planning and upcoming programs. Utilizing this data with the current geological model allows us to explore the property in a way that supports both technical and operational concepts."

Quality Assurance and Quality Control: The reverse-circulation drilling program utilized by Provenance completed a quality assurance / quality control program (QA/QC) with control samples consisting of standards, blanks and duplicates inserted approximately every 100 feet. Control samples were randomly inserted into the sample stream prior to being sent to the laboratory. The RC drill sampling was in five-foot sample intervals. Drill samples were taken to Paragon Geochemical, an ISO 9001 compliant company in Sparks, Nevada for fire assaying for gold and silver. The rejects and pulps remain with Paragon in Sparks, Nevada. The QA/QC program was implemented as part of the sampling procedures for the exploration program.

Rauno Perttu, P. Geo., a Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101), and the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this News Release.

About Provenance Gold Corp.



Provenance Gold Corp. is a precious metals exploration company with a focus on gold and silver resources within North America. The Company currently holds interests in three properties in Nevada, USA. For further information please visit the Company's website at https://provenancegold.com or contact rclark@provenancegold.com.

On behalf of the Board,

Provenance Gold Corp.

Rauno Perttu, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange, nor its regulation services provider, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to a review of potential strategic acquisition opportunities, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92161
PowerBand Solutions' DRIVRZ products delivered 31% month-over-month revenue growth for the second consecutive month in July 2021

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSXV:PBX)(OTCQB:PWWBF)(FSE:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company"), a comprehensive e-commerce solution transforming the online experience to sell, trade, lease, and finance vehicles, is pleased to announce that the Company's July 2021 financial results demonstrate continuation of momentum following a record Q2 2021.

Gross revenue increased to CDN $2.4 million in July 2021, representing 31% growth month-over-month. Cumulative year-to-date gross revenue has now exceeded CDN $10 million with a gross margin of 52%. Lease originations counts increased to 261 in July 2021, up 21% from June 2021. DRIVRZ Financial highlighted significant milestones with 57 originations in California, representing 42% growth month-over-month. For context, California is a nascent market where sales and marketing resources were deployed in April 2021. Also, significant progress has been made increasing market share inside dealerships, as 41% of producing dealers booked four or more deals in July.

In August, DRIVRZ Financial will benefit from several initiatives that should produce strong growth in originations. As press released on July 19, 2021, DRIVRZ Financial added 64 dealerships through one dealer group onto the DRIVRZ Financial platform. The Company has also bolstered its workforce by hiring sales professionals in New York and New England, two new geographies with large total addressable markets.

Jon Lamb, CEO of DRIVRZ Financial commented, "Despite historically low used car inventory levels and a hurricane in Florida which impacted originations, we still generated greater than 30% revenue growth sequentially for a second consecutive month. We see growth accelerating in the Fall when used car inventory levels are replenished. We have broadened our sales outreach to several new markets and have increased sales density in existing markets. Market acceptance for our products is unequivocal, and our conviction is growing stronger to achieve our 2021 and 2022 objectives."

Kelly Jennings, CEO and Founder of PowerBand Solutions states, "The DRIVRZ sales team is in the field driving the momentum, we see incredible opportunity and massive room to grow. We had a good second quarter and expect to have an even better third quarter."

About PowerBand Solutions Inc.

PowerBand Solutions Inc., listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the OTCQB markets, is a fintech provider disrupting the automotive industry. PowerBand's integrated, cloud-based transaction platform facilitates transactions amongst consumers, dealers, funders, and manufacturers (OEMs). It enables them to buy, sell, trade, finance, and lease new and used, electric and non-electric vehicles, on any phone, tablet or PC connected to the internet. PowerBand's transaction platform - being trademarked under DRIVRZ - is being made available across North American and global markets.

For further information, please contact:

Kelly Jennings

Chief Executive Officer

E: info@powerbandsolutions.com

P: 1-866-768-7653

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Non-IFRS Measures:

This news release contains non-IFRS financial measures; the Company believes that these measures provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial performance of its business, enable comparison of financial results between periods where certain items may vary independent of business performance, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in operating its business. Although management believes these financial measures are important in evaluating the Company's performance, they are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and may not be comparable with similar measures used by other companies. For certain non-IFRS financial measures, there are no directly comparable amounts under IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial performance determined in accordance with IFRS. Moreover, presentation of certain of these measures is provided for year-over-year comparison purposes, and investors should be cautioned that the effect of the adjustments thereto provided herein have an actual effect on the Company's operating results.

SOURCE: PowerBand Solutions Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658494/PowerBand-Reporting-Consistent-Growth-in-July-2021
Berge meets with top economic leaders in Eastern Europe to solidify manufacturing relationships & facilitate factory purchase to accommodate recent acquisitions demands

FAIRFIELD, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Bergio International Inc. (OTC PINK:BRGO), a premier jewelry designer and manufacturer, moved forward with steps to expand international jewelry manufacturing in Eastern Europe to accommodate growing customer and market demand after recent landmark acquisitions of Aphrodite's and GearBubble.

CEO Berge Abajian went on a tour of Eastern Europe, including Istanbul, Ukraine, Armenia, and Georgia, to meet with global economic leaders, including Vladimir Karapetyan, Ambassador to Ukraine, and Vahan Kerobyan Minister of Economy, both from the Republic of Armenia. He also met with the Head of Customs to discuss import and export assistance to facilitate transportation in and out of the Republic of Armenia.

Bergio is currently negotiating the 50% purchase of a factory located in the Republic of Armenia. The company is awaiting documents to review inventory, assets, and conduct all financial due diligence on the anticipated acquisition.

Vahan Kerobyan, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, and Berge Abajian, CEO of Bergio

Berge Abajian, CEO of Bergio, and Vladimir Karapetyan Ambassador to Ukraine from the Republic of Armenia

Bergio International Plans to Expand Overseas Jewelry Manufacturing

"Further establishing our international manufacturing footprint will allow us to expand and contract our jewelry production as needed," shared Berge Abajian, CEO of Bergio International. "This will enable us to gain a stronger control over cost while continuing to improve the quality that our customers have grown to expect from our brands."

The labor force in Eastern Europe is as competitive as the far east and has only been growing stronger. The area offers superior talent in jewelry manufacturing and higher ethical standards in factories, making the thriving region a desirable international hub. The location is also a key factor, allowing Bergio to open the key Russian market that is readily available from the Republic of Armenia.

Bergio has been on a mission to grow, diversify and increase its global presence since going public back in 2008. They recently acquired Aphrodite's, a fast-growing jewelry e-tailer, for $5 million, and GearBubble, a B2B e-commerce fulfillment platform, for $3.2 million. To meet the ever-growing customer demands, it was imperative to solidify overseas manufacturing operations. The most recent acquisitions require manufacturing to be nimble and pivot on a dime to increase inventory on product styles that become popular. And since the items will be manufactured within the Bergio supply chain, the quality will remain high.

About Bergio International, Inc.

The Bergio brand, the primary portfolio asset, is associated with high-quality, handcrafted, and individually designed pieces with a European sensibility, Italian craftsmanship, and a bold flair for the unexpected. Established in 1995, Bergio's signature innovative design, coupled with extraordinary diamonds and precious stones, earned the company recognition as a highly sought-after purveyor of rare and exquisite treasures from around the globe. With family jewelry roots reaching back to the 1930s, founder, CEO, and designer Berge Abajian is a third-generation jeweler, blending superior knowledge in design and manufacturing to create unparalleled collections in craftsmanship and style. The Bergio brand features fine jewelry, silver fashion jewelry, bridal, couture, and leather accessories, ranging in price from $50 to $250,000. For further information, please visit www.bergio.com.

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding our business strategy and plans as well as expectations of future growth, all of which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not historical in nature and include those related to future financial and operating results, benefits, and synergies of the combined companies, statements concerning the Company's outlook, pricing trends, and forces within the industry, the completion dates of capital projects, expected sales growth, cost reduction strategies, and their results, long-term goals of the Company and other statements of expectations, beliefs, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends, and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors, including changes in the general economy; changes in demand for the Company's products or in the cost and availability of its raw materials; the actions of its competitors; the success of our customers; technological change; changes in employee relations; government regulations; litigation, including its inherent uncertainty; difficulties in plant operations and materials; transportation, environmental matters; and other unforeseen circumstances. A number of these factors are discussed in the Company's previous filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those detailed under the caption 'Risk Factors' in our Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the 'Act') protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.

Media Contact

Lais Pontes Greene

(954) 960-6083

Investor Relations

John Guercio

(845) 216-3100

SOURCE: Bergio International, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658430/Bergio-International-Plans-to-Expand-Overseas-Jewelry-Manufacturing
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Patriot") (CSE:PMET)(OTCQB:RGDCF)(FSE:R9GA) is pleased to announce it has commenced a ground geophysical survey program at the Company's wholly owned Freeman Creek Gold Property (the "Property"). The Property is located 15 km northeast of Salmon, Idaho, and is road accessible year-round.

The induced polarization and IP-resistivity survey will be completed over both, the Carmen Creek Prospect (~10-line km) and the Gold Dyke Prospect (~6-line km). IP-resistivity is a geophysical tool commonly used in gold and base metals exploration and is often effective at qualifying drill targets initially developed from surface mapping and sampling. The primary objective is to define targets for an inaugural drill program at Carmen Creek Prospect. It will also provide additional data to refine drill hole locations for follow-up drilling at Gold Dyke Prospect.

The Company has engaged TMC Geophysics to carry-out the field survey, a leading geophysical services provider to the mineral exploration industry with their head office in Canada, as well as satellite offices in the United States and Mexico. The Company has also retained Dynamic Discovery Geoscience Ltd., an expert geophysical group based in Ottawa, ON, to assist with survey design and interpretation.

The Company is fully permitted to carrying out a follow-up drill program at the Gold Dyke Prospect in 2021, pursuant to its declared Notice of Intent on file with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Permitting for an inaugural drill program at the Carmen Creek Prospect is in process.

The geophysical surveys are expected to elucidate a chargeability response reflective of the sulphides present, which are associated with gold and silver mineralization at both prospects. This association is strongest at Carmen Creek, where sulphide content is higher. Areas of silicification or alteration, associated with the precious metal mineralization, may also elucidate a resistivity response. The geophysical responses over the currently known mineralized zones will be used as markers to detect similar responses over the area, which may highlight additional, yet to be discovered zones of mineralization.

Qualified Person

Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

About Patriot Battery Metals Inc.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects containing battery, base and precious metals.

The Company's flagship assets are the wholly owned Corvette Property and the FCI Property (held under Option from O3 Mining Inc.) located in the James Bay Region of Quebec, and the Freeman Creek Gold Property, located in Idaho, USA.

The Freeman Creek Property hosts two major advanced targets; the Gold Dyke Prospect with a 2020 drill hole intersection of 4.11 g/t Au and 33.0 g/t Ag over 12 m, and the Carmen Creek Prospect with surface sample results including 25.5 g/t Au, 159 g/t Ag, and 9.75% Cu.

The Corvette-FCI Property includes the wholly owned Corvette claim block, and the FCI East and West claim blocks held under Option from O3 Mining Inc. The claim blocks are contiguous and host significant gold-silver-copper-PGE-lithium potential, highlighted by the Golden Gap Prospect with grab samples of 3.1 to 108.9 g/t Au from outcrop and 10.5 g/t Au over 7 m in drill hole; the Elsass and Lorraine prospects with 8.15% Cu, 1.33 g/t Au, and 171 g/t Ag in outcrop; and the CV1 Pegmatite Prospect with 2.28% Li2O over 6 m in channel.

In addition, the Company holds the Pontax Lithium-Gold Property, QC; the Golden Silica Property, BC; and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, NWT, where the Company maintains a 40% interest, as well as several other assets in Canada.

For further information, please contact us at info@patriotbatterymetals.com Tel: +1 (604) 279-8709, or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

"BLAIR WAY" "ADRIAN LAMOUREUX"

Blair Way, President & Director Adrian Lamoureux, CEO & Director

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release

SOURCE: Patriot Battery Metals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658442/Patriot-Battery-Metals-Inc-Commences-Geophysical-Work-Program-at-the-Freeman-Creek-Gold-Property-Idaho-USA
Every purchase made through the brands' mobile apps will help UNICEF get a vaccine to someone in need.

Expedia Group and its family of brands including Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, ebookers and CheapTickets announced today a joint program calling on travelers to join in an effort to help safely re-open the world, one trip and one shot at a time. Starting today, each purchase made via Expedia Group's mobile apps will result in a donation to help UNICEF's global COVID-19 response, including distributing safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments in over 180 countries, bringing us all one step closer to experiencing the world again.

Participation is simple. Customers can download any app from one of the Expedia Group brands, plan and purchase a trip through the app and in turn they can help get a vaccine to someone, somewhere in the world who needs it. Travelers can visit here for full program details and to learn more.

Globally, the Expedia Group family of brands represents a community of passionate travelers dedicated to seeing the world but, more importantly, believe in the importance of having an equitable world. They share our vision that travel is a force for good because travel brings people together and broadens horizons. We know traveling won't be the same until the whole world is open to travel, and so, to get there as quickly as possible, we must all help accelerate rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. It is essential that everyone, everywhere has access to vaccines, but currently less than 1 percent of global supply is reaching those living in low-income countries.1 As the world's single biggest buyer of vaccines, UNICEF's expertise uniquely positions it to help address the logistical challenge currently facing many low-income countries around the world.

"At Expedia Group, we are a passionate group of employees with a deep understanding of the power travel has to expand horizons and strengthen connections. Right now, the most significant obstacle to all people being able to roam the world freely remains the lack of access to COVID-19 vaccines," said Peter Kern, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia Group. "We support a global and equitable approach to vaccine distribution and embrace efforts to help protect everyone, everywhere. We are proud to contribute to UNICEF and what will be the single largest and most rapid global vaccine deployment ever. I hope other companies, and anyone else who can, will join us in accelerating vaccine rollout, fighting global inequity, and igniting a movement that will help bring the world together. We all must do our part for the world to be truly open again."

"UNICEF won't stop until the fight against COVID-19 has been won but we need the support of both companies and individuals alike in the biggest public health undertaking of our lifetime," said Michael J. Nyenhuis, President and CEO, UNICEF USA. "With the help of the Expedia Group brands and their dedicated community of travelers, we are one step closer to ending this pandemic and rescuing a generation of children from decades of COVID-caused setbacks."

A portion of every eligible booking will support UNICEF's global COVID-19 response. With the help of travelers around the world, the Expedia Group family of brands will donate a minimum of $10M to UNICEF's work. UNICEF has spent 75 years building an unprecedented global-health support system and is the only organization with the infrastructure, experience, and expertise already in place to make it happen as fast as possible. UNICEF is committed to delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to people who need them most, regardless of where they live, through a network of global health organizations, governments, manufacturers, logistics experts, and philanthropic groups.

Notes to the editor:

Full program terms and conditions can be found here. Learn more about UNICEF's work at www.unicef.org.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc. companies power travel for everyone, everywhere through our global platform. Driven by the core belief that travel is a force for good, we help people experience the world in new ways and build lasting connections. We provide industry-leading technology solutions to fuel partner growth and success, while facilitating memorable experiences for travelers. The Expedia Group family of brands includes: Expedia, Hotels.com, Expedia Partner Solutions, Vrbo, Egencia, trivago, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Wotif, ebookers, CheapTickets, Expedia Group Media Solutions, Expedia Local Expert, CarRentals.com, and Expedia Cruises.

For more information, visit www.expediagroup.com. Follow us on Twitter @expediagroup and check out our LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/expedia/.

2021 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50

About UNICEF

UNICEF is the world's largest children's organization, working in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, they work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About UNICEF USA

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world's most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005227/en/

Contacts:

Expedia Group

Dave McNamee dmcnamee@expediagroup.com

UNICEF USA

Ann Reinking Whitener areinking@unicefusa.org
Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security inspection technologies, today announced the commissioning of an HCVM scanner by the Lebanese Customs at the Port of Beirut as part of a collaboration with the Embassy of France in Lebanon, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, Expertise France and the CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics. This mobile X-ray inspection system will increase the security of the port by providing it with improved detection of hazardous materials and illicit substances.

This equipment, financed by the General Directorate of the Treasury, will play a critical role in the fight against smuggling. It also includes two years of maintenance of this scanner provided weekly by Smiths Detection, technical assistance for its installation and training of Lebanese Customs officers in charge of its operation. Transport of the scanner, from Vitry, France to Beirut, was carried out with the support of Smiths Detection's partner, CMA CGM, as part of its continued support in Lebanon since the devastating explosion of 4 August 2020.

The HCVM was welcomed at the port on Friday, 23 July by Anne Grillo, Ambassador of France to Lebanon, who said: "This new scanner [HCVM] will improve the detection of dangerous goods and the fight against smuggling. It will thus contribute to Lebanon's economic recovery by restoring to Lebanese Customs its full capacity to act."

The HCVM, which can be easily moved from one location to another, will be the only scanner in the city capable of inspecting both containers and trucks, with a throughput of up to 25 trucks per hour. The HCVM scanner, previously used by the French Douanes, underwent a software update and a complete refurbishment before its shipment to the port of Beirut.

Jerome de Chassey, Vice President Commercial of Smiths Detection, said: "We are proud to be able to help Lebanon improve its security. The impact of the tragic explosion that devastated Beirut last year continues to be felt, and smuggling has continued since that disaster. This system, which will be vital to protect people and property, has been designed to be easy to use in order to facilitate the work of Lebanese Customs. This donation would not have been possible without the cooperation of our partners, first and foremost the French Government and the CMA CGM group, to whom we are immensely grateful."

About HCVM

https://www.smithsdetection.com/products/hcvm-mobile-x-ray-systems-smiths-detection/

About Smiths Detection

Smiths Detection, a division of Smiths Group, is a global leader in inspection and detection technologies for the air transport, ports and borders, armed forces and urban security markets. With more than 40 years of experience in the field, we offer the necessary solutions to protect society from the threats posed by explosives, prohibited weapons, contraband, toxic chemical agents and narcotics.

Our mission is simple: to ensure the security, peace of mind and freedom of movement on which the world depends.

Please visit http://www.smithsdetection.com/ for further information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005635/en/

Contacts:

FTI Consulting:

Tom Hufton/Georgina Reeves, sc.smithsdetection@fticonsulting.com, +44 (0)20 3727 1000

Smiths Detection:

Sophie Mills, Global Communications Manager, sophie.mills@smithsdetection.com, 44 (0)7384236474

CMA CGM:

media@cma-cgm.com
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Delta Resources Limited ("Delta" or "The Company") (TSX-V:DLTA) (OTCBB:DTARF) (Frankfurt:6G01) is pleased to announce that it has received a fourth tranche cash payment of $200,000 from Yorkton Ventures (TSX/V:YVI) for the sale of its Bellechasse-Timmins Gold Deposit in southeastern Quebec, Canada.

The terms of the previously announced agreement on July 7, 2020 has been modified by both parties with respect to the balance of payment in the amount of $1,000,000.

As per a revised agreement signed on January 27, 2021, Delta had agreed to the following revised schedule of payment;

$200,000 cash payment no later than August 1, 2021

$200,000 cash payment no later than Septemeber 1, 2021

$200,000 cash payment no later than October 1, 2021

$200,000 cash payment no later than Novemebr 1, 2021

$200,000 cash payment no later than December 1, 2021

Yorkton has also committed to paying Delta a 1% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on any and all commercial production derived from the Bellechasse-Timmins property. Yorkton may re-purchase 0.5% of the NSR for $1 Million at any time.

About Delta Resources Limited

Delta Resources Limited is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on growing shareholder value through the exploration of two very high-potential gold and base-metal projects in Canada.

DELTA-1, 45 km 2 located 50km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario where an extremely high gold-in-till anomaly and kilometre-scale gold-bearing alteration halo point to a never-tested regional structure.

located 50km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario where an extremely high gold-in-till anomaly and kilometre-scale gold-bearing alteration halo point to a never-tested regional structure. DELTA-2 GOLD and DELTA-2 VMS, 170 km2 in the prolific Chibougamau District of Quebec, with a potential for hydrothermal-gold and gold-rich VMS deposits.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED.

Frank Candido

Chairman

www.deltaresources.ca

We seek safe harbor. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

For Further Information:

Delta Resources Limited

Andre C. Tessier, CEO and President

Tel: 613-328-1581

atessier@deltaresources.ca

or

Frank Candido, Chairman

Tel: 514-969-5530

fcandido@deltaresources.ca

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds of the non-brokered private placement and payment of the debt settlements. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event.

SOURCE: Delta Resources Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658535/Delta-Resources-Recieves-200000-Cash-Payment-from-Yorkton-Ventures
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - With summer in full swing in Canada, family-owned Australian winery Wakefield Wines is on a worldwide mission to save seahorses. The winery has partnered with Project Seahorse, the global leaders in seahorse conservation, to support their vital work in protecting these quirky fish species and ultimately the health of our oceans.

Project Seahorse, based at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, makes discoveries & collaborates globally to take effective action for the seahorses and their seas. According to Project Seahorse, robust seahorse populations are dependent on healthy oceans. Around the world, seahorses come under pressure from many factors including nonselective fisheries, degradation of coastal habitats, and climate change.

This summer, Wakefield Wines are calling on people to help raise much needed funds for Project Seahorse and advocate for their oceans. Wakefield's social channels will showcase a series of ocean photography captured by wildlife and conservation photographers from Canada, the United Kingdom and USA.

By building an army of ocean ambassadors, the two organizations aim to show how local actions can have global impact. Wakefield is kickstarting the campaign by committing AUD$10,000 to Project Seahorse.

Though winemakers and marine scientists may appear as an unlikely duo, Wakefield third-generation Winemaker and Managing Director Mitchell Taylor acknowledges both organizations face a common challenge.

"Seahorses, much like grapevines, are an indicator species that raise the alarm to serious climate-related issues. To reverse the decline in seahorse populations we need to take a step back to look more closely at how we care for our oceans more broadly."

Project Seahorse Director and Co-Founder Amanda Vincent, a Professor at UBC, was the first ever marine conservationist to receive the Indianapolis Prize, the world's top award for animal conservation. This award is given every two years for scientists and researchers who have achieved major victories in advancing the sustainability of an animal species. Pioneering work by Project Seahorse has identified that saving seahorses is about more than just looking at the species in isolation.

As a Canadian who has spent her fair share of time in the ocean locally and abroad, Amanda has seen firsthand our impact on marine environments.

"All of us in Canada need to develop a sense of stewardship for our ocean... and our seahorses. Forty percent of Canada's surface area is marine and we have the longest coastline of any country, yet we pay scant attention to the ocean. Looking after our seahorses in Nova Scotia is part of protecting our ocean heritage and caring for our ocean's future."

Steve Woods is a Vancouver based wildlife and conservation photographer who will be capturing the beauty of Canada's local oceans. His underwater photography showcases how awe-inspiring the ocean is. Canadians are invited to share their own stories and contribute images of the ocean through the hashtag ouroceanhome making sure to tag Wakefield Wines and Project Seahorse.

Seahorses have been a symbol on all Wakefield wine bottles for over fifty years. The winery's passion for seahorse conservation started in Australia where Wakefield is also partnering with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) on a project to help save Australia's Endangered White's Seahorse from extinction.

Mitchell Taylor is proud to be supporting conservation efforts not just in Australia's own backyard but now, by working with Project Seahorse, in Canada and around the world.

"We're excited to extend our network of seahorse partnerships and work with a global leader like Project Seahorse in seahorse conservation. Their research recognizes the pressures on our ocean as urgent, and their research is geared towards real-world conservation impact," says Mitchell.

Amanda Vincent added: "We have the knowledge and skills to advance ocean conservation. Now, it's about spreading the awareness on how to take action and make a change."

Donations to Project Seahorse as well as additional information is available at wakefieldwines.com/projectseahorse.





Figure 1

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Figure 6

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Cannot view this video? Visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U65KIMegi00

www.wakefieldwines.com

@wakefieldwines @projectseahorse

ouroceanhome

For further information, imagery or interview requests please contact Andros Communications:

Lisa Ulrich - Senior Project Manager | T: 905 637 2100 | E: lisa@androscom.com









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Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Psygen Industries Ltd. ("Psygen" or the "Company") announced today that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") of unsecured convertible debentures (the "Debentures") for gross proceeds of $5.5 million. The Debentures incur interest of 8.0% per annum. The proceeds will allow Psygen to hire key employees and complete their 17,000 square foot facility, which is anticipated to be the first GMP compliant manufacturing facility dedicated to synthetic production of psychedelics when construction is completed in Q3, 2021.

As previously announced, Psygen intends to complete a reverse takeover transaction ("RTO Transaction") in conjunction with a brokered private placement offering (the "Psygen Concurrent Financing") at a price to be determined in the context of the market for gross proceeds of a minimum of $10,000,000.

The Company may redeem the Debentures upon 30 days notice to the holder, by paying the principal amount plus all accrued but unpaid interest due to the date of redemption (the "Redemption Date"). The Debentures cannot be redeemed until six months prior to the Maturity Date.

The Debentures will be automatically converted into Psygen common Shares ("Common Shares"): (i) immediately prior to the completion of the RTO Transaction at a price equal to 80% of the deemed price per share in connection with the Psygen Concurrent Financing (the "Conversion Price"); or (ii) 12 months following the issuance of the debenture certificate (the "Maturity Date"), at a price per Common Share equal to $30 million divided by the number of shares issued and outstanding at the time immediately prior to the closing of the Offering on a fully-diluted basis.

"We are very pleased with the amount of interest in Psygen's debenture financing. The oversubscribed financing strengthens our balance sheet while we prepare to complete the RTO Transaction." Said Danny Motyka, CEO of Psygen.

About Psygen

Psygen intends to be a leading provider of psychedelics for healing and wellness. Psygen will be a manufacturer of pharmaceutical-grade psychedelic drug substances for clinical research and therapeutic applications. Psygen consists of a team of industry and business experts with over 25 years of direct experience manufacturing psychedelics. Psygen is building Canada's first dedicated psychedelics manufacturing facility, which will be dedicated to the synthesis of psychedelic drugs for clinical research and approved therapeutic applications. Psygen has worked in partnership with an existing Licensed Dealer to develop manufacturing protocols for psychedelic drug products.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities to be issued in connection with the Transaction have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, the completion of the RTO Transaction, and associated transactions, the Psygen Concurrent Financing, the completion of the build-out of Psygen's facility, the business plans and objectives of Psygen, and expectations for other economic, business and competitive factors and approvals of regulatory bodies. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the terms of the RTO Transaction, the expected terms of the Psygen Concurrent Financing, the timing and completion of the Psygen Psygen Concurrent Financing, the timing and completion of the build-out of the Facility, obtaining necessary shareholder approvals, Psygen's strategic plans and its ability to satisfy closing conditions and receive necessary approvals. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

For more information, please contact:

Psygen Industries Ltd.

Andreas Curkovic, Investor Relations

Telephone: 416-577-9927

Email: invest@psygen.ca

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92156
Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its partner, Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. (TSXV: SSE), has completed its Phase 1 exploration drilling at El Mezquite Au-Ag property ("El Mezquite" or the "Property"). The first seven (7) drill holes of the program were completed on June 14th and the Company is awaiting the results of gold, silver and multi-element analysis from the laboratory. The remaining thirteen (13) holes were drilled with two RC rigs from Layne de Mexico and completed as scheduled on July 28th. A total of 2,485 metres were drilled in twenty (20) holes from eight drill pad locations.





Figure 1. Pad M1 (MEZ-002, 180, -70) at El Mezquite showing RC rig from Layne de Mexico

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"We are very happy to see the completion of the inaugural drilling campaign at Mezquite Gold and Silver Project. We look forward to receiving the results and planning a Phase 2 program with our partners. Through our partnership with Silver Spruce, we have been able to advance and unlock potential value for shareholders at El Mezquite with no dilution to our market capitalization," said Ron Goguen, President and CEO of Colibri.

Logging and sampling are progressing quickly at Colibri Resource's office facilities in Hermosillo. Samples are being submitted in batches to ALS Global through the second week of August. Laboratory assay results are anticipated from four to eight weeks after submittal. The results of Phase 1 drilling, combined with recent and historical surface exploration, will be used as the basis for design of a Phase 2 drill program planned for after the summer rainy season.

Silver Spruce Resources is currently in the 2nd year of a four year agreement with Colibri to earn 50% of the El Mezquite Gold and Silver Project. For full details of the agreement please refer to the Colibri news release dated June 11th, 2020.

ABOUT COLIBRI RESOURCE CORPORATION:

Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring and exploring prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company has six exploration projects of which five currently have exploration programs being executed or planned for 2021. The flagship Evelyn Gold Project is 100% owned and explored by Colibri. The Company has four additional projects, Pilar Gold & Silver Project (optioned to Tocvan Ventures- (CSE: TOC)), El Mezquite Gold & Silver Project , Jackie Gold & Silver Project, and the Diamante Gold & Silver Project (earn-in agreements with Silver Spruce Resources - (TSXV: SSE)) are also currently being actively advanced.

For more information about all Company projects please visit: www.colibriresource.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate.

For further information: Ronald J. Goguen, President, Chairperson and Director, Tel: (506) 383-4274, rongoguen@colibriresource.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92170
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Matica Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMJ) (FSE: 39N) (OTCQB: MMJFF) ("Matica" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company's subsidiary, RoyalMax Biotechnology Canada Inc. d.b.a. West Island Culture ("West Island") has signed with National Cannabis Distribution Inc. ("NCD") a private cannabis wholesaler, to distribute Non-Medical Cannabis in Saskatchewan. West Island has delivered its first order to NCD for distribution to their retail network.

"We are very pleased to be working with an organization such as NCD. Matica is working to further expand our distribution network and introduce more consumers to our brands of craft cannabis," stated Matica CEO, Boris Ziger. "Our premium OUESTTM and our CITOYENTM brands have been well received in Saskatchewan and elsewhere."

Brent McFadzen, General Manager of NCD added, "NCD is excited to partner with Matica, as we prepare to launch the RoyalMax portfolio within the Saskatchewan market and continue to provide high quality cannabis products to our serviced retailers."

About National Cannabis Distribution Inc.

National Cannabis Distribution Inc. (NCD) is a division of Kiaro Holding Corp. (TSXV: KO) and is a leading wholesaler in the province of Saskatchewan, the only vertically integrated province in the Canadian cannabis market. NCD claims over two-thirds of the market share in Saskatchewan and continues to build a solid portfolio of products with a commitment to providing craft, artisan, and boutique licensed producers a proven path to market within Saskatchewan. With multiple exclusive distribution partnerships in Saskatchewan and strategic feature planning, NCD has positioned itself as a leader within the cannabis supply community.

About Kiaro Holdings Corp.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Kiaro is an independent, omni-channel cannabis retailer and distributor. Through existing storefronts across British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario, a wholesale distribution division servicing Saskatchewan, ecommerce sites in Canada, the US and Australia, and plans for continued national expansion, Kiaro is driven to introduce new and experienced consumers to a lifelong exploration of cannabis. With more than 50 years of collective retail-focused experience, Kiaro's leadership team has a proven track record of growing retail brands across North America and plans to open multiple retail locations nationwide over the coming years.

About Matica

Matica is a multi-faceted, innovative company in the Quebec cannabis space. Its subsidiary, West Island Culture is a Dorval, Quebec based Health Canada Licence Holder with standard cultivation licence, standard processing, medical sales and sales licences. Matica continues to work with Yunify Natural Technologies, a Quebec based health and personal care research and innovation company to develop proprietary products for Matica and West Island, including topicals and ionic mists. Through its acquisition of Trichome Treats, an award winning chocolatier, Matica and West island intend on introducing edibles into the West Island product mix.

For more information on Matica Enterprises please visit the website at: www.maticaenterprises.com.

For More information on our cannabis brands please visit go-ouest.ca and citoyencannabis.ca

On behalf of the Board of Directors

MATICA ENTERPRISES INC.

Boris Ziger

Boris Ziger, CEO & Chairman

The Company's public filings are available for review at www.sedar.com and www.thecse.com.

For further information, please contact Boris Ziger, at:

Telephone: 416-304-9935

E-mail: info@maticaenterprises.com

Website: www.maticaenterprises.com , www.maticammj.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Corporation. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Corporation's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

This news release contains statements about the Company's information that may be made available on the S&P Capital IQ Corporation Records Listing Program and the business of Matica that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92045
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. trade deficit widened by more than expected in the month of June, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $75.7 billion in June from a revised $71.0 billion in May. Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $74.1 billion from the $71.2 billion originally reported for the previous month. The wider than expected trade deficit came as the value of imports jumped by 2.1 percent to $283.4 billion, while the value of exports rose by 0.6 percent to $207.7 billion. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BELIZE CITY, Belize, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboForex, the company that provides brokerage services for trading on global financial markets, has been named the winner of the "Most Transparent Broker Global 2021" award, which is presented within the framework of the World Economic Awards for outstanding achievements in the industry.

The organizing committee rated RoboForex above other companies on the market on the following criteria:

Security of client's funds.

Beneficial trading conditions.

5 account types for clients with different experiences.

State-of-the-art and hi-tech trading solutions.

Opportunity to get trading bonuses.

World Economic Awards highlights the achievements of companies on the global financial market, as well as their commitment to promoting business excellence. Since award winners are chosen based on their achievements alone, only those companies and individuals are selected who stand out from the crowd and do their best to satisfy their clients' needs. World Economic Awards' research team independently collects data from various public sources and then compares it with the information provided by nominees themselves.

Robert Stephenson, Chief Business Officer at RoboForex, is commenting: "Our company's values are a high level of quality of provided services and good results. They allow us to move forward, make our contribution to financial market development, provide availability of investment and trading products to a wide audience. In today's competitive market, it's very important to be open to clients and offer not just quality services but also transparent and understandable to everyone. And we exert our best efforts to do this, I guess that's why the company was so highly appreciated. To me, as a top manager, it's very meaningful that our work has been noticed. It means that we're moving in the right direction."

About RoboForex

RoboForex is a company, which delivers brokerage services in many countries all over the world. The broker provides traders, who work on financial markets, with access to its proprietary trading platforms. RoboForex has the brokerage license IFSC 000138/210. More detailed information about the Company's activities and operations can be found on the official website at www.roboforex.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1575771/RoboForex_Logo.jpg
COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Idaho-based New Jersey Mining Company (OTCQB:NJMC) ("NJMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the approval of two trademarks from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Both the Company's "New Jersey Mining Co." logo and headwear slogan, "Toughest Hat in Your Closet" have been approved. The idea for a New Jersey Mining Co. apparel brand was formed in part due to the lack of apparel brands that also do 'real work' and as a testament to the hard-working employees and mining communities that support New Jersey Mining Co. The Company has forged a strong corporate culture and roll-up your sleeves attitude that cannot be replicated without the willingness to personally accept the many challenges of starting small and taking on the '1 in 10,000' odds of putting a gold mine into production.

The Flynn Skeleton Series and "Toughest Hat in Your Closet" campaign is in recognition and celebration of the Company's vertically integrated structure: mining, milling, and drilling; and its ability not to fall victim to somebody else's business plan. The Flynn Skeleton Series features three different designs on the back of three different New Jersey Mining Co. T-shirts, which depict a Skeleton (Flynn) mining, milling, and drilling Golden Chest ore. The name Flynn, and subsequent skeletal character has been adopted by the Company's employees as the patriarch of the Golden Chest and is a tip-of-the-hat to the "old-timers". Patrick Flynn was one of the main discoverers of the Paymaster Claim in 1883, which is the current location of the Golden Chest portal, recent high-grade drill intercepts and potentially the location of future underground development.

The Company currently has multiple colors of the "Toughest Hat in Your Closet" trucker cap (image below) in stock and ready to be shipped. Miner Flynn T-shirts (image below) in stock, Driller Flynn T-shirts (image below) on order, and Miller Flynn T-shirts (no image) in the design phase.

NJMC CEO John Swallow commented, "As everyone knows, we have always bet on ourselves. Our New Jersey gear is designed and tested by us for us, with the idea of providing plenty of everyday apparel that also represents the history and culture of the company. All of us are proud to be Idaho-based and work for an Idaho Company, and especially thankful for the opportunity to live where we work, a rarity in an industry largely centered around remote locations and lengthy spans of time away from home and the family unit. Our approach toward apparel is simple - we do not have an approach. We didn't care for many of the sales reps' uncomfortable t-shirts and $5.00 hats, so we decided to create our own. And if our 'apparel division' becomes a legit revenue stream, well, then that will be a good thing."

The Company is inviting anyone who supports hard work and fits within New Jersey Mining Co.'s culture, to purchase New Jersey Mining Co. gear at www.njmcmerch.com or via the Company's Instagram and Facebook accounts.

About New Jersey Mining Company

Headquartered in North Idaho, New Jersey Mining Company is the rare example of a vertically integrated, operating junior mining company. NJMC produces gold at the Golden Chest Mine and recently consolidated the Murray Gold Belt (MGB) for the first time in over 100-years. The MGB is an overlooked gold producing region within the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, located north of the prolific Silver Valley. In addition to gold, the Company maintains a presence in the Critical Minerals sector and is focused on identifying and exploring for Critical Minerals (Rare Earth Minerals) important to our country's defensive readiness and a low-carbon future.

New Jersey Mining Company possesses the in-house skillsets of a much larger company while enjoying the flexibility of a smaller and more entrepreneurial corporate structure. Its production-based strategy, by design, provides the flexibility to advance the Murray Gold Belt and/or its Critical Minerals holdings on its own or with a strategic partner in a manner that is consistent with its existing philosophy and culture.

NJMC has established a high-quality, early to advanced-stage asset base in four historic mining districts of Idaho and Montana, which includes the currently producing Golden Chest Mine. Management is stakeholder focused and owns more than 15-percent of NJMC stock.

The Company's common stock trades on the OTC-QB under the symbol "NJMC."

For more information on New Jersey Mining Company go to www.newjerseymining.com or call:

Monique Hayes, Corporate Secretary/Investor Relations

Email: monique@newjerseymining.com

(208) 699-6097

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable, but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, that New Jersey Merchandise will result in any revenues or profits, that recent or continued recent drill intercepts will result in future underground development or an economic resource, an increased risk associated with production activities occurring without completion of a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, , environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and the potential impact on revenues from changes in the market price of gold and cash costs, a sustained lower price environment, risks relating to widespread epidemics or pandemic outbreak including the COVID-19 pandemic; the impact of COVID-19 on our workforce, suppliers and other essential resources and what effect those impacts, if they occur, would have on our business, including our ability to access goods and supplies, the ability to transport our products and impacts on employee productivity, the risks in connection with the operations, cash flow and results of the Company relating to the unknown duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other uncertainties and risk factors. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NJMC disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: New Jersey Mining Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658403/New-Jersey-Mining-Co-Receives-Trademark-Approvals-and-Advances-Apparel-Brand-with-Release-of-its-Flynn-Skeleton-Series-and-Toughest-Hat-in-Your-Closet-Campaign
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / MediXall Group, Inc. (OTCQB:MDXL), an innovative healthcare solutions provider, announced that the leading international public relations firm, Transmedia Group, will generate media coverage highlighting the positive impact its wholly owned subsidiary, Health Karma, has had on health and wellness of individuals and employees of businesses nationwide. The PR campaign will focus on Health Karma's success as it enters the next phase of growth and seeks to expand its footprint on healthcare. The award-winning PR firm will help the company improve its corporate messaging and enhance communications with key stakeholders.

The TransMedia team will begin by helping establish Health Karma's brand strategy through strategic media placements in which the company can articulate how uniquely capable it is in the healthcare marketplace. TransMedia Group plans to direct media attention to Health Karma's success in providing businesses and individuals with affordable, high-quality alternatives to traditional healthcare benefits. Additionally, TransMedia will support Health Karma with all its corporate communications needs.

"We'll show how Health Karma becomes your personal hub for health and wellness, saving you time and money with just a couple clicks on their site, regardless of your health insurance coverage" said TransMedia Group President Adrienne Mazzone. "Whether it is tracking your insurance in real time to answer coverage and benefit questions, finding savings on your prescriptions, a consultation with a licensed medical provider in the middle of the night through telehealth, talking with a licensed, professional therapist in as little as 24 hours to address common behavioral health concerns, or finding the right in-network provider and scheduling an in-person appointment, Health Karma is there for you when you need it most."

TransMedia President said, "What sets Health Karma apart is that they've built a healthcare experience more similar to what consumers experience from a best-in-class technology or consumer products company than from a traditional health care organization."

"We are very excited to enter into this collaboration with TransMedia Group, a partner and extension of our team, as we enter this next phase of growth for Health Karma," says Michael Swartz, President of Health Karma. "We understand the importance of building brand equity and want to communicate effectively in what can be a complex media space. We have great chemistry with the team at TransMedia Group, and I'm confident they will help us tell our unique story in ways that connect to the needs of consumers and businesses across the nation."

"By driving substantial media coverage and attention, TransMedia Group will ensure that Health Karma is recognized for providing an easy to use and personalized solution that empowers consumers with the tools and resources to navigate the confusion of the healthcare system." said Adrienne Mazzone.

For more information on Health Karma, visit their official website: www.healthkarma.org and follow them @HealthKarmaApp on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Media Contact: Karla Hernandez, karlahernandez.transmediagroup@gmail.com, 561-768-1773.

About TransMedia Group

TransMedia Group is one of the country's leading, multi-lingual public relations firms. From the TransMedia Building in downtown Boca Raton, the award-winning firm serves clients worldwide, from Israel to New York, Norway to South Africa, Miami to Mexico.

Since 1981, TransMedia's international PR and social media marketing campaigns have made products and services, companies and entrepreneurs widely known and respected. Those clients have included AT&T, American Red Cross, Anushka Spa, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cenegenics Medical Institute, City of New York, Daum Crystal, Gunster Yoakley, Illustrated Properties, GL Homes, Jordache, Krispy Kreme, Merrill Lynch, GOLD To Go, Rexall Sundown, Trammel Crow and Wrap Media. TransMedia Group is truly an international firm that has conducted massive media campaigns in Brazil and Mexico. TransMedia Group has received numerous awards, including a Bronze Anvil from PRSA for a Public Service Campaign for The City of New York. For more information, please visit www.transmediagroup.com

About MediXall Group, Inc.

MediXall Group, Inc. (OTCQB:MDXL) is a technology and innovation-driven organization purposefully designed and structured around delivering products and services to make it easier for consumers to learn, decide and pay for healthcare. The mission of MediXall Group is to revolutionize the healthcare industry by improving communication; providing better technology and support services; and enabling more efficient, cost-effective healthcare for the consumer. By approaching the entire healthcare ecosystem, MediXall creates, invests and incubates companies that embody its mission statement.

About Health Karma, Inc.

Health Karma, a wholly owned subsidiary of MediXall Group, is a data-driven healthcare technology company whose mission is to continually raise the bar of the healthcare experience by empowering people to understand and manage their entire health care journey anywhere, anytime, whether they have insurance or not. For more information, please visit www.gethealthkarma.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. Specifically, the company's ability to raise additional capital, execute its business plan and strategy, sustain or increase gross margins, achieve profitability and build shareholder value are forward-looking statements. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:

Investor Relations

(954) 908-3481

SOURCE: MediXall Group, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658542/MediXall-Group-Hires-Leading-PR-Firm-TransMedia-Group-to-Drive-Brand-Awareness-Media-Relations-to-Propel-Health-Karma-on-Its-Next-Phase-of-Growth
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Doubleview Gold Corp (TSXV: DBG) ("Doubleview", the "Company") is pleased to announce the longest mineralization drilled to date at the Lisle Deposit in diamond drill hole H036 and the new discovery of the "O'Zone", in step-out diamond drill hole H037 approximately 1.5 km west of the Lisle Deposit at the Company's 100% owned HAT gold rich copper porphyry property, located in the "Golden Triangle" of northwestern British Columbia. Drill hole H036 intersected 907.8 meters mineralization of 28.64 g/t Sc and 0.41 g/t AuEq (0.31% CuEq) including 563.4 meters 26.20 g/t Sc and 0.50 g/t AuEq (0.37% CuEq). Drill hole H037 intersected 133.3 meters 32.51 g/t Sc and 0.35 g/t AuEq (0.26% CuEq). The HAT property is now recognized as Polymetallic Porphyry Deposit containing Copper (Cu), Gold (Au), Cobalt (Co), Palladium (Pd) and Scandium (Sc). Metallurgical studies for the full spectrum and recovery of the critical metals is underway.

Drilling Highlights:

"Lisle Zone" drill hole H036 intersected porphyry-style mineralization for entire length of the hole (972.3m)

"O'Zone" Inaugural drill hole H037, situated approximately 1.5 km west of the Lisle Zone, intersected porphyry-style mineralization in an area that was previously unexplored by drilling

Both drill holes reached intended targets and intersected long sections of strong copper, gold, cobalt, silver, palladium and scandium mineralization.

Company president and CEO, Farshad Shirvani, stated, "We are extremely encouraged by the significant intercept in drill hole H036, the new discovery of the O'Zone in drill hole H037 and the potential for the economic recovery of Scandium."

Mr. Shirvani stated further, "Having recently signed a communication and engagement agreement with the Tahltan Central Government ("TCG"), the Company has begun engagement with the TCG's Employment and Contracting Department as we prepare for our summer/fall drill program at HAT. With in-excess of $5 million dollars in the treasury, Doubleview is fully funded to complete its next phase of drilling, which will be designed to expand on the O'Zone discovery and further delineate the Lisle deposit."

Highlights of the mineralization intersected are tabulated below: [Note: CuEq and AuEq do not incorporate Scandium (g/t) values]

DDH From

(m) To (m) Length

(m)* Ag

(g/t) Au

(g/t) Co

(g/t) Cu

(%) Pd

(g/t) Sc

(g/t) CuEq**

(%) AuEq**

(g/t) H036 38.6 946.4 907.8 0.31 0.12 4.74 0.15 0.03 28.64 0.31 0.41 H036 Inc. 38.6 602.0 563.4 0.41 0.15 5.14 0.18 0.03 26.20 0.37 0.50 H036 Inc. 295.3 602.0 306.7 0.47 0.20 4.72 0.28 0.05 24.25 0.52 0.70 H036 289.3 822.0 532.7 0.33 0.15 4.37 0.20 0.03 28.14 0.38 0.51 H036 Inc. 302.0 464.0 162.0 0.50 0.18 5.00 0.29 0.05 26.30 0.52 0.70 H036 Inc. 302.0 414.0 112.0 0.61 0.22 5.43 0.34 0.04 25.43 0.60 0.81 H036 Inc. 302.0 332.0 30.0 1.18 0.48 7.09 0.62 0.03 19.63 1.07 1.45 H036 372.3 439.2 66.9 0.33 0.10 4.59 0.22 0.05 27.50 0.39 0.53 H036 564.0 599.0 35.0 1.35 0.76 7.33 0.92 0.02 18.84 1.58 2.13 H036 Inc. 766.8 794.0 27.3 0.26 0.10 5.53 0.13 0.02 40.75 0.28 0.37 H037 4.0 764.4 760.4 0.11 0.03 4.81 0.04 0.02 24.94 0.13 0.17 H037 Inc. 4.0 178.6 174.6 0.09 0.01 4.38 0.01 0.01 27.99 0.07 0.09 H037 Inc. 531.7 665.0 133.3 0.12 0.08 6.42 0.11 0.03 32.51 0.26 0.35 H037 Inc. 563.5 665.0 101.6 0.11 0.09 6.78 0.12 0.03 33.40 0.29 0.39 H037 Inc. 563.5 584.3 20.8 0.13 0.14 6.26 0.18 0.02 31.88 0.37 0.50 H037 Inc. 628.8 665.0 36.3 0.17 0.10 7.14 0.18 0.05 32.81 0.37 0.50 H037 Inc. 643.3 665.0 21.7 0.21 0.13 6.96 0.23 0.05 30.88 0.46 0.61 H037 Inc. 666.0 746.4 80.4 0.05 0.02 3.86 0.03 0.05 36.15 0.13 0.18

- Metal equivalents should not be relied upon for future evaluations.

* Drill hole intercepts included in this news release are core lengths that may or may not be actual widths of mineralization. It is not possible to determine actual widths.

** AuEq and CuEq are calculated on the basis of long-term metal prices: Au US$1350/oz, Cu US$2.65/lb, Co US$25/lb, Pd US$1800/oz (Ag and Sc are excluded in CuEq and AuEq calculations).

** Cu eq are calculated based on Cu eq (%) = ([(%Cu) x (22.0462) x ($2.65) + (g/t/Au) x (1/31.1035) x ($1350)+ ($25) + (g/t/Pd) x (1/31.1035) x ($1800)+ (%Co) x (22.0462) x ($25)])  ((22.0462) x ($2.65lbCu))).

**Au eq are calculated based on Au eq (g/t) = ([(%Cu) x (22.0462) x ($2.65) + (g/t/Au) x (1/31.1035) x ($1350)+ (g/t/Pd) x (1/31.1035) x ($1800)+ (%Co) x (22.0462) x ($25)])  (($1350) x 1/(31.1035))).

The scandium values indicated in the table above are twice the value normally associated with upper crustal rocks and significantly higher than in other projects in the area. Scandium is included in the mineralization table above as a metal of potential interest but has been excluded in the equivalency calculations until metallurgical testwork demonstrates the technical feasibility of Scandium metal recovery. Other critical metals that have been identified, such as Rhodium, will be analyzed routinely in future exploration programs.

About Scandium:



Scandium is an element listed as a critical metal in demand for North America. It is used as a battery metal, as a lightweight and high strength alloy with aluminum, in aviation and recently in fast charging batteries and battery technology.



There are several types of scandium that are the result of different metallurgical processes. Values of scandium vary widely based on the end refined product and range from a few dollars per gram to hundreds of dollars per gram.

The metallurgical process and related criteria determine the type of scandium chemical composition and its recoverability factor. Doubleview has engaged Coffey, Tetra Tech consulting for this test work, the results of which will be announced when received.

The following illustrations show the drill holes H036 and H037 on the property and in relation to each other. This drilling campaign has again demonstrated the integrity and reliability of the 3D IP survey.





Drill Holes H036 and H037



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8003/92155_5836bb0b146d580b_001full.jpg

The "gap" in the IP does not demonstrate a lack of mineralization between the targets rather than a different characteristic of the deposit. Such characteristics will be explored in future drill programs.

Drill Hole East (m) North (m) Elevation (m) Azimuth () Dip() Depth (m) H036 347,870 6,453,938 959 185 -80 972.3 H037 346,568 6,453,758 988 290 -60 781.8

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Core samples were prepared at the Vancouver facility of Bureau Veritas Mineral using their PRP70-500, FA350, MA200, and LF200 packages. Each core sample is dried, then crushed to 70% passing a 2mm screen. All material is processed in an automatic Boyd Crusher or Riffle splitter to yield a 500g homogenized, representative sample. This sub-sample is then pulverized to 85% passing a 75-micron screen. All samples are analyzed for Au, Pt, Pd by 50g fire-assay fusion/ICP-ES finish, using FA350 package. A separate 0.25g pulp split is analyzed by Four Acid digestion/ICP-MS finish, reporting 45 elements. Over limit Cu is analyzed by Four Acid digestion/ICP-ES finish using MA370-X assay package. All Doubleview core samples are analyzed or assayed at independent ISO 17025 and ISO 9001- certified laboratories.

Erik Ostensoe, P. Geo., a consulting geologist and Doubleview's Qualified Person with respect to the Hat Project as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. He is not independent of Doubleview as he is a shareholder of the company.

Andrew Carter, a Principal of Coffey, Tetra Tech Company, consulting metallurgical engineer with special emphasis on the recovery of metals in smelting and refining processes, has supervised laboratory scale test work on Hat Project materials and has advised Doubleview on the potential recovery of metal values from the Lisle Zone of the Hat deposit. Mr. Carter has reviewed and approved analytical and metallurgical information included in this news release.

Cautionary Note: No mineral resources have been defined at the Hat Property and there is no assurance that further work will result in the Lisle deposit or O'Zone, or other zones if present, being delineated as resources.

About Doubleview Gold Corp

Doubleview Gold Corp, a mineral resource exploration and development company, is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: DBG). Doubleview identifies, acquires and finances precious and base metal exploration projects in North America, particularly in British Columbia. Doubleview increases shareholder value through acquisition and exploration of quality gold, copper and silver properties and the application of advanced state-of-the-art exploration methods. Doubleview's portfolio of strategic properties provides diversification and mitigates investment risk.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Farshad Shirvani, President & Chief Executive Officer

For further information please contact:

Doubleview Gold Corp

Vancouver, BC

Farshad Shirvani

President & CEO

T: (604) 678-9587

E: corporate@doubleview.ca

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Doubleview cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Doubleview's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Doubleview's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Doubleview undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92155
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed ZeU Technologies, Inc. (OTC Pink: ZEUCF) (CSE: ZEU) ("the Company"), a forward-thinking Canadian technology company that has developed a state-of-the-art blockchain protocol, providing the foundation for the next generation of encrypted and distributed networks. President and CEO of the Company, Frank Dumas, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's recent developments. "We have completed the development of peer-to-peer casino games and an online gaming platform, and we are launching with partners now," shared Dumas. "The first lottery will be licensed before the end of August in the Caribbean and in Africa," he continued. "This is going to be accessible by 240 countries," said Dumas, adding that the Company will also be integrating their own payment solution, ZeUPay, by November.

Dumas then elaborated on the development of the Company's additional solutions, including their Mula Platform. "It goes pretty fast in terms of development," said Dumas before elaborating on the solutions this platform offers. "MulaMail is also the window to our lottery and gambling," he explained. "Our debit cards and credit cards will launch soon, probably by the end of September, with ZeUPay."

"How are you getting this platform information out?" asked Jolly. Dumas shared that the Company has not decided which proposal they will use to launch the platform but is confident it may have success organically. "We're going to be the first product to actually pay you for your personal data," said Dumas. "We're also going to be one of the first products that will allow you to own the casino with which you gamble," he added. "We also have other companies coming in that have a lot of media exposure," said Dumas. "We will use the money we make from the gambling and leverage it for the marketing of the platform itself."

"Could you give us some insight on what will be happening over the next two or three quarters?" asked Jolly. "The lotteries are being launched," said Dumas. "That will change the Company. It will bring revenue in, which is recurring revenue," he shared. "It will allow us to modulate what we are doing in terms of development and marketing," said Dumas. "Then we have the launch of ZeUPay, and MulaPay will follow it," he continued. "We are launching this with big credit card companies and with a few banks in Europe."

"MulaMail is coming out at the end of November or the first week of December," said Dumas. "This has been upgraded to a level where we have a few patents, which will be explained in a few press releases that will be coming out in August and September."

Jolly then commented on the Company's gambling platform and asked whether or not individuals using the system will have their own application to run a casino. "We're going to have a developer section of the application where people will be able to come and connect," explained Dumas, adding that individuals looking to create their own gambling offering will be able to do so by utilizing the Company's templates, which are simple and straightforward.

To close the interview, Dumas expressed his confidence in the Company's current and upcoming projects as they continue to move forward. "Starting in about two weeks, people will be able to see what we have done over the last seven to eight quarters. So, I think it is super exciting."

To hear the entire interview with Frank Dumas, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7918833-zeu-technologies-discusses-upcoming-launch-of-mulamail-zeupay-and-other-technologies-with-the-s

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/

About ZeU

ZeU is a forward-thinking Canadian technology company that has developed a state-of-the-art blockchain protocol, providing the foundation for the next-generation of encrypted and distributed networks. Thanks to its high level of sophistication, ZeU's technology maximizes transparency, security and scalability as well as big data management. ZeU's strategy is to monetize blockchain transactions in diverse sectors such as payment, gaming, data, and healthcare.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

(602) 821-1102

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92171
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / UMAX Group Corp. (OTC PINK:UMAX), a Nevada corporation, has recorded its 100th live comedy special in its state-of-the-art facility in Downtown Los Angeles.

After the acquisition of Funny Media Group in May 2021, UMAX has now fully transitioned into comedy development as the vehicle to achieve a cash-flow positive operation and to provide the best return on shareholder's investment.

Rondell Fletcher (UMAX President and CEO), who has been producing content for more than 18 years, says that the 100th-show milestone was the result of hard work and focus.

"Our team has been working tirelessly to provide the best comedy venue in Los Angeles, and comedians have flocked to us and embraced us," Mr. Fletcher says.

Since beginning the shows in May 2021, Mr. Fletcher notes that positive feedback from comedians has turned them into recruiters.

"They like it so much, they tell their friends," Mr. Fletcher says. "I think that speaks to both the experience they have in our facility, and the opportunity that we provide."

For comedians, Funny Media Group offers payment for the show, and then produces a comedy special for each comedian.

"These comedians are great," Mr. Fletcher says. "But most of them have not had this type of opportunity. This can be a game-changer."

Funny Media Group has booked The Comedy Cube through October, Mr. Fletcher adds.

The shows feature an MC, a Live DJ plus custom graphics on a 100-foot curved video wall, all in front of a live audience. After shooting, Funny Media Group adds a graphics package and locks in the color and audio.

The first five specials will be released on August 9, 2021 on Funny Media Group's website and YouTube channel. After that, three shows per week will be released, one each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

"Nobody is doing what we are doing, and the buzz has been electric," Mr. Fletcher says.

Mr. Fletcher has an extensive producer and media background. He has owned his own production studio in los Angeles for the past 10 years and has produced several miniseries. Additionally, Mr., Fletcher has worked with networks such as Fox, Food Network and CNN to produce shows shown on a nationwide scale. The short-term goal is to produce content for streaming services like Netflix and Amazon with the long-term goal being to build a large enough media catalog that any of the current streaming services would be interested in acquiring. Funny Media's social media sites are as follows:

Web Site: https://www.FunnyMediaGroup.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funnymediagroupofficial/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbv-T0DNjMM

The company plans on adding to their current production assets. The company is constantly finding the talent necessary to produce additional specials for future release. The production schedule for shooting new specials is currently booked through October.

About Us

UMAX Group Corp. is a Nevada corporation, is a public quoted Pink Sheet issuer under the ticker symbol "UMAX." UMAX reports as an alternative reporting issuer with OTC Markets Group, Inc. and is current in its mandatory required filings (E.g., "Pink Sheet Current").

Disclaimer Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements that we make may constitute "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include information concerning future?strategic objectives, business prospects, anticipated savings, financial results (including expenses, earnings, liquidity, cash flow and capital expenditures), industry or market conditions, demand for and pricing of our products, acquisitions and divestitures, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory developments or general economic conditions.? In addition, words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," and future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may," "could," "should," and "would," as well as any other statement that necessarily depends on future events, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. ?Although we make such statements based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.? We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking?statements.

Company Information:

UMAX Group Corp.

3774 West Cheyenne Avenue, Suite 130

Las Vegas, NV 89032

Web: New website under construction

Website: https://funnymediagroup.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funnymediagroupofficial/?hl=en

Investor Relations:

Ted Campbell

Email: ted@umaxgrpcorp.com

SOURCE: UMAX Group Corp.

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Thursday that sets a target of 50 percent electric vehicle sales share in the U.S. automobile market by 2030.



Also, at 3 PM ET, the President will announce a set of new actions aimed at advancing smart fuel efficiency and emission standards in the country, and increasing the impact of his proposed Build Back Better investments.



The actions that his Administration is taking to strengthen American leadership on clean cars and trucks will drive the electric vehicle future forward, outcompete China, and tackle the climate crisis, the White House said.



The Executive Order will set an ambitious target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles.



The White House said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will announce smart fuel efficiency and emissions standards. That is expected to deliver around $140 billion in net benefits over the life of the program, save about 200 billion gallons of gasoline, and reduce around two billion metric tons of carbon pollution. For the average consumer, this means net benefits of up to $900 over the life of the vehicle in fuel savings.



The President will sign the order in the presence of top executives from American automobile giants Ford, GM, and Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW).



Ahead of the signing ceremony, Ford, GM, and Stellantis issued a joint statement announcing their shared aspiration to achieve sales of 40-50 percent of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles by 2030 in order to move the nation closer to a zero-emissions future consistent with Paris climate goals.



They called on the Government to timely deploy the full suite of electrification policies committed to by the Administration in the Build Back Better Plan, including purchase incentives, a comprehensive charging network of sufficient density to support the millions of vehicles these targets represent, investments in R&D, and incentives to expand the electric vehicle manufacturing and supply chains in the United States.



The automakers promised to work with the Biden Administration, Congress and state and local governments to enact policies that will enable these objectives.



UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement that any auto industry transition to alternative fueled engines must be paired with passage of the Stabenow Amendment and passage or an agreement to adhere to the policies of the PRO Act to ensure these jobs of the future will protect UAW members, their families, and the American middle class. He urged the Senate to pass the PRO Act.



Separately, BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and Volvo called on the federal government to take bold actions to build consumer demand for electric vehicles. 'That includes a strong nationwide greenhouse gas emissions standard, continued investments in charging infrastructure, and broad consumer incentives for all electric vehicle purchases,' the California Framework companies said in a joint statement.



The Alliance for Automotive Innovation President and CEO John Bozzella said auto manufacturers are committed to a net-zero carbon transportation future. 'We look forward to working with the Administration as we evaluate EPA's proposed changes to light-duty vehicle standards for Model Years 2023-2026,' he added.



Collectively, the U.S. auto industry has committed to investing more than $330 billion to bring new electric vehicles to market, including plug-in hybrid, battery and fuel cell EVs.



The global market is shifting to electric vehicles and tapping their potential to save families money, lower pollution, and make the air we breathe cleaner. Despite pioneering the technology, the U.S. is behind in the race to manufacture these vehicles and the batteries that go in them. Today, the U.S. market share of electric vehicle sales is only one-third that of the Chinese electric vehicle market.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Affordable and comprehensive suites offer new tools that streamline the photo editing workflow and boost creativity for photographers of any skill level

OTTAWA, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Introducing PaintShop Pro 2022 (https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/products/paintshop-pro/standard/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L) and PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate (https://www.paintshoppro.com/ultimate/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L), Corel's powerful, all-in-one photo editing and graphic design suites built to produce impressive images, sophisticated photo composites and compelling designs. Designed for photographers and content creators of any level of expertise, PaintShop? Pro 2022 offers new editing features that use the power of AI to dramatically simplify complex tasks and a sleek and streamlined interface that make creating amazing images in PaintShop Pro faster and easier than ever before. Whether you're looking for pro-caliber depth and control or easy, intelligent tools that interpret and respond to your photos to deliver incredible one-click results, PaintShop Pro 2022 is an essential addition to your photography toolkit.



"No matter your photo editing expectations or expertise, PaintShop Pro 2022 makes it simple to create, organize and share your visual story," said Chris Pierce, Director of Product for Photo and Digital Arts at Corel. "PaintShop Pro has long been known for its depth and impressive professional photo power. But with this latest release, we've found new ways to make the entire creative editing process easier, and frankly more fun, for a full range of photo software users. We're leveraging the power of AI to simplify tedious tasks, re-imagining the photographer's flow through the application, and delivering new creative content to offer an exceptional experience from start to finish. The versatile set of tools in PaintShop Pro 2022 can help anyone make every shot, the best shot."

Sophisticated, yet simple to use, powerful AI features make advanced photo editing easy and unlock new creative options, fast.

NEW! AI Background Replacement: Instantly change the background of an image. The new AI Background Replacement tool intelligently detects and masks people in a photo, enabling you to seamlessly replace a background and experiment with different scenes, color schemes and more.

Instantly change the background of an image. The new AI Background Replacement tool intelligently detects and masks people in a photo, enabling you to seamlessly replace a background and experiment with different scenes, color schemes and more. NEW! AI Portrait Mode: PaintShop Pro's immersive technology automatically analyzes and applies a bokeh blur to a background. Enhance headshots by adding a softly blurred background and ensure the focus of an image remains on the subject.

PaintShop Pro's immersive technology automatically analyzes and applies a bokeh blur to a background. Enhance headshots by adding a softly blurred background and ensure the focus of an image remains on the subject. ENHANCED! AI Style Transfer: Advancements to Style Transfer enable customers to apply even more artistic features to images. With new Color Matching and Smooth Image options, users can now control and level the detail, texture and color in stylized images.



New editing tools and an enhanced workflow streamline the editing process for any photographer.

NEW! Frame Tool: Place photos or other raster objects into shapes quickly, easily and intuitively. Work with a variety of frame shapes and sizes to achieve a desired look and accelerate the creation of digital layouts. Draw frames to use as handy placeholders or over a selected object, image or text to create standout, polished results.

Place photos or other raster objects into shapes quickly, easily and intuitively. Work with a variety of frame shapes and sizes to achieve a desired look and accelerate the creation of digital layouts. Draw frames to use as handy placeholders or over a selected object, image or text to create standout, polished results. NEW! File Support: PaintShop Pro's extensive file compatibility enables customers to easily import, save and export in a variety of file formats. Now with HEIC and HEIF support, users can upload images captured with an iPhone or iPad without needing to convert the file format.

PaintShop Pro's extensive file compatibility enables customers to easily import, save and export in a variety of file formats. Now with HEIC and HEIF support, users can upload images captured with an iPhone or iPad without needing to convert the file format. NEW! Creative Content: Take your creativity to the next level with new brushes, color palettes, gradients, patterns and picture tubes. Download the new patterns from the Welcome Book and find the rest of the creative content already built into PaintShop Pro 2022.

Take your creativity to the next level with new brushes, color palettes, gradients, patterns and picture tubes. Download the new patterns from the Welcome Book and find the rest of the creative content already built into PaintShop Pro 2022. ENHANCED! Usability: Enjoy enhancements made to the Welcome screen, redesigned with the beginner photographer and hobbyist in mind. The new Workspace tab includes built-in tutorials and learning content to help master the product with ease. And new thumbnail previews for recent files make the navigation process much more seamless. Plus, with enhanced document-aware scaling, adding creative effects like drop shadows, inner and outer bevels and texture to large images is more effective.

Explore additional photo and video editing power in PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate! Take advantage of all the power and capabilities of PaintShop Pro 2022, plus a bonus collection of features and premium software, all at an affordable price.

NEW! Highlight Reel: Create quick videos showing off highlights of your adventures. Import your photos and videos and in a matter of minutes, the new Highlight Reel analyzes, extracts, and compiles the best parts together, enabling you to easily create movies of your everyday moments.

Create quick videos showing off highlights of your adventures. Import your photos and videos and in a matter of minutes, the new Highlight Reel analyzes, extracts, and compiles the best parts together, enabling you to easily create movies of your everyday moments. NEW! MultiCam Capture Lite: Engage your viewers, grow your audience, and capture video with MultiCam Capture Lite. Easily create how-to videos, gaming videos, record product demos and more with this easy-to-use recording software.

Engage your viewers, grow your audience, and capture video with MultiCam Capture Lite. Easily create how-to videos, gaming videos, record product demos and more with this easy-to-use recording software. NEW! Painter Essentials 8: Explore a fun and uncomplicated painting software for beginners that will inspire you to experiment and fall in love with digital painting. Sketch, draw or paint on a blank canvas using realistic Natural-Media brushes, or experiment with image-based AI and cloning art.



PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate bonus add-ons also include the Sea-to-Sky Workspace, PhotoMirage Express, Corel AfterShot 3 and the Corel Creative Collection.

Pricing and Availability

PaintShop Pro 2022 and PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate are available in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Traditional Chinese and Japanese. Suggested retail pricing (SRP) for PaintShop Pro 2022 is $79.99 USD / 69.99 / 69.99 and SRP for PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate is $99.99 USD / 89.99 / 89.99. GBP and Euro prices include VAT. Upgrade pricing is available to registered users of all previous versions of PaintShop Pro (excludes NFR, OEM and Academic versions).

For more information or to download a free trial, visit www.paintshoppro.com (https://www.paintshoppro.com/ultimate/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L). To learn more about volume licensing for enterprise or educational organizations, visit www.paintshoppro.com/en/licensing (https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/licensing/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L).

Stay Up to Date & Join the Conversation

Connect with the PaintShop Pro community on Facebook at www.facebook.com/corelpaintshop (http://www.facebook.com/corelpaintshop); keep up with @CPaintShopPro (https://twitter.com/cpaintshoppro) on Twitter; and get all the latest PaintShop Pro developments, tutorials and more on the Corel Discovery Center at http://learn.corel.com (https://learn.corel.com/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L).

About Corel

Corel products enable millions of connected knowledge workers around the world to do great work faster. Offering some of the industry's best-known software brands, we give individuals and teams the power to create, collaborate and deliver impressive results. Our success is driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative applications - including CorelDRAW, MindManager, Parallels and WinZip - to inspire users and help them achieve their goals. To learn more about Corel, please visit www.corel.com (https://www.corel.com/?utm_source=PSPnewsRelease&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=SMPRPSP&utm_content=2022L).

 2021 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved. Corel, the Corel logo, the Corel Balloon logo, PaintShop, AfterShot, CorelDRAW, Essentials, Natural-Media, MindManager, MultiCam Capture, Painter, PhotoMirage, Sea-to-Sky, and WinZip are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation in Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere. Parallels is a trademark or registered trademark of Parallels International GmbH in Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere. iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc. All other company, product and service names, logos, brands and any registered or unregistered trademarks mentioned are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Use of any brands, names, logos, or any other information, imagery, or materials pertaining to a third party does not imply endorsement. We disclaim any proprietary interest in such third-party information, imagery, materials, marks, and names of others. For all notices and information about patents, please visit www.corel.com/patent (http://www.corel.com/patent).

Media Contact:

Saeed Ismail Saeed

Corel PR

saeed.saeed@corel.com (mailto:saeed.saeed@corel.com)

www.corel.com (http://www.corel.com)

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/15654c77-d394-4f22-9117-ab31306e9640 (https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/15654c77-d394-4f22-9117-ab31306e9640)

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Future Market Insights (FMI) survey on the reverse osmosis pump market offers insights into key factors impacting the growth from 2021 to 2031. The report offers analysis of the demand outlook and segments the market in terms of technology type, pump type, flow rate, application type, and sales channel.

DUBAI, U.A.E., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The global reverse osmosis pump market size is anticipated to surpass a valuation of US$ 6 billion in the year 2021, as per a study by FMI. Driven by the increasing applications in the water treatment and oil and gas sectors, the market for reverse osmosis pumps is expected to total US$ 14.2 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% over the forecast period 2021 to 2031.

Historically, the reverse osmosis pump market registered growth at a CAGR of 3.2% between 2016 and 2020. With increasing adoption for reverse osmosis filtration pumps in industrial units and water treatment plants for separating contaminants such as arsenic, bacteria, fluorides, and pesticides, the market is likely to exhibit rapid growth.

The coronavirus pandemic has positively impacted the sales in the residential sector. Reverse osmosis systems address concerns pertaining to water quality by eliminating microbes such as cysts, viruses, protozoans, and others present in the water.

This, coupled with increasing awareness regarding the health among people around the world, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19, will fuel the demand for reverse osmosis pumps in the next few years.

Online sales channels have emerged as the most preferred choice for sales and purchase. Owing to the convenience of easy returns and exchanges, offers, and a broad product portfolio for individuals to choose from, the sales channel is expected to account for over 85% of the market in 2021.

"With increasing investments by governments in municipal water and wastewater treatment especially in the developing economies, the sales of high capacity reverse osmosis pumps are likely to spur through 2031," says the FMI analyst.

Request a report sample to gain comprehensive insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-11808

Key Takeaways from Reverse Osmosis Pump Market Analysis

In North America , the U.S. is estimated to remain the dominant market, exhibiting growth at a CAGR of 7% over the forecast period.

, the U.S. is estimated to remain the dominant market, exhibiting growth at a CAGR of 7% over the forecast period. The market in India is expected to expand at a CAGR of more than 15% through 2031, accounting for over 40% of the sales in South Asia and Pacific region.

is expected to expand at a CAGR of more than 15% through 2031, accounting for over 40% of the sales in and Pacific region. Owing to increasing investment in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination, the GCC countries are likely to account for a market share of above 49% in MEA.

China , being the largest exporter of machinery required for filtration of water, the market in the country is anticipated to surge at a CAGR of 7.6% through 2031.

, being the largest exporter of machinery required for filtration of water, the market in the country is anticipated to surge at a CAGR of 7.6% through 2031. Based on the technology type, centrifugal pumps are dominating the segment, accounting for more than 69% of the value share by 2021.

Key Drivers

Shortage of clean water supplies is a key factor fueling the demand for reverse osmosis pumps.

Increasing use of reverse osmosis pump in oil & gas industry application is driving the market.

Rising investment in wastewater treatment plants is expected to spur the sales of reverse osmosis pumps.

Discover more about the reverse osmosis pump market with figures and data tables, along with the table of contents. Get Market Alerts https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/get-market-alerts/rep-gb-11808

Competitive Landscape

Companies operating in the reverse osmosis pump market are aiming at optimizing product by creating strategic partnerships with other market players to expand their market revenue share. For instance,

In October 2019 , Flowserve, an America suppliers of industrial and environmental machinery signed an agreement to provide the main pumps for two large sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants, Rabigh-3 and Taweelah in Saudi Arabia and UAE respectively.

, Flowserve, an America suppliers of industrial and environmental machinery signed an agreement to provide the main pumps for two large sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants, Rabigh-3 and Taweelah in and UAE respectively. In June 2021 , Advanced Watertek, a Dubai based water treatment supplier, announced entering into an agreement to upgrade the existing sea water RO systems to deliver an agreed capacity of 100,000 US Gallons per day in the UAE.

Some of the leading players operating in the reverse osmosis pump market profiled by FMI are:

Ebara Corporation

Kubota Corporation

Xylem Inc.

Sulzer AG

Flowserve Corporation

Grundfos

Danfoss

Wier Group

KSB Group

More Valuable Insights on Reverse Osmosis Pump Market

FMI, in its new report, offers an unbiased analysis of the global reverse osmosis pump market, analyzing forecast statistics through 2021 and beyond. The study reveals growth projections on in the reverse osmosis pump market with detailed segmentation:

By Technology Type:

Centrifugal Pump

Single Stage



Multi Stage

Diaphragm Pumps

By Pump Type:

Booster Pump

Delivery/Demand Pumps

By Flow Rate:

0.1 to 0.5 GPM

0.5 to 1 GPM

1.1 to 5 GPM

5 to 20 GPM

20 to 100 GPM

100 to 500 GPM

500 to 1000 GPM

By Application Type:

Domestic & Commercial

Filtration Units



CounterTop Filter Cum Demineralizer

Industrial RO Filtration Unit

Manufacturing



Oil and Gas



Power Generation

Seawater Desalination Unit

By Sales Channel:

Online

Offline

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Pacific

& Pacific Middle East and Africa (MEA)

We Offer tailor-made Solutions to fit Your Requirements, Request Customization@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-11808

Key Questions Covered in the Reverse Osmosis Pump Market Report

The report offers insight into reverse osmosis pump demand outlook for 2021-2031

The market survey also highlights projected sales growth for the reverse osmosis pump market between 2021 and 2031

Reverse osmosis pump market analysis identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry

Reverse osmosis pump market share analysis of the key companies within the industry and coverage of strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, collaborations or partnerships, and others

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage on the Industrial Automation Domain

Foodservice Equipment Market: Future Market Insights (FMI) provides a deeper insights on the new trends of global Foodservice Equipment Market while incorporating the impact of ongoing trends, and growth & restraining factors during the forecast period of 2019 to 2029. Market dynamics have been presented on the basis of prominent drivers, trends and opportunities prevailing across key geographies for the aforementioned decade.

Aviation Test Equipment Market: ESOMAR-certified market analysis and consulting company Future Market Insights (FMI) provides incisive coverage on the global Aviation Test Equipment Market over the forecast period of 2015 and 2025. Additionally, to find the effect of COVID-19 on the Aviation Test Equipment Market in general, the study monitor global Aviation Test Equipment sales in 20+ high-growth markets and addresses their end-user in particular.

Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers Market: ESOMAR-certified market research and consulting firm Future Market Insights (FMI) offers in-depth insights on key factors of global shell and tube heat exchangers market. The study offers detailed study on key trends that influence the demand for shell and tube heat exchangers. The report covers global demand in more than 20 high potential markets, in addition to an in-depth analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the global shell and heat exchangers market

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, and has delivery centers in the UK, U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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Future Market Insights,

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BEIJING, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Over the past century, friends from around the world who developed a profound friendship with China and its people devoted themselves to the great cause of China's revolution and development. The book, "Shared Ideals: The Communist Party of China and Its Cherished Friends from Around the World," is here to take a closer look at their stories with China.

Published by the Foreign Languages Press, the book features 18 characters who have worked with the CPC to make outstanding contributions to the Chinese people's cause of national liberation, socialist development, and reform and opening up.

The characters selected include Norman Bethune, Edgar Snow, Agnes Smedley, and Anna Louise Strong, mentioned by Chairman Mao Zedong in his "In Memory of Norman Bethune" as well as in other essays; Dwarkanath Kotnis, Jean-Augustin Bussiere, and Hans Shippe, mentioned by President Xi Jinping in his speech at a seminar to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; Ohira Masayoshi, Juan Antonio Samaranch, and Konosuke Matsushita, honored with the China Reform Friendship Medal; and Israel Epstein, Rewi Alley, Ivan Vasilevich Arkhipov, and Morihiko Hiramatsu, listed among the Top 10 International Friends of China, an online event.

Many international friends have made a contribution to the cause of Chinese revolution and socialist development under CPC leadership. They have worked through thick and thin with the CPC and the Chinese people, forming a close community of shared future. Some have worked for the Party's cause for decades, some have joined the CPC, and some have become Chinese citizens. Their love and compassion for the CPC and the Chinese people, their devotion and contribution to China's revolution, development and reform, their sacrifice for the pursuit of truth, and their strict self-discipline are all part of the CPC's glorious history over the past century.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, sends congratulations to the Foreign Languages Press on the release of the book, saying, "For the world to understand China, the world must understand the party's way of thinking."

"I think where this book can be very helpful is in terms of inspiring and motivating people who have a positive attitude to China," said David Ferguson, a senior copy editor at the Foreign Languages Press. "It shows them that they're not alone, that they are part of a very long-standing tradition involving some significant individuals."

Ferguson's opinion is echoed by Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, Head of Center for Brazil-China Studies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law. He said the book symbolizes the dialogue and goodwill between China and the CPC and the international friends.

Video - https://youtu.be/vjuiuOtotp0

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Contact:

Liu Yuhong

Email: 81968029@qq.com

+8610-68995846
ActivePure Purification Technology, Proven to Deactivate Airborne and Surface Viruses, Enhances Safety Measures in Brazilian Hotels

DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Amid the spread of new variants of COVID-19, the Hilton Hotel and Resort in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is committed to the health and safety of its guests and employees and is taking extra precautions by installing ActivePure Technology . ActivePure is the only air and surface purification technology proven to proactively and continuously inactivate SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, on surfaces and in the air. In addition, ActivePure's decontamination technology occurs in real-time and is safe for use in occupied indoor spaces. ActivePure Technologies' exclusive distributor in Brazil handled the sale.

'The transformation of spaces into healthy environments will be part of the safety protocols post-pandemic, which includes, above all, the quality of the air we breathe," says Henrique Cury, president of ActivePure Brazil , an ActivePure Technologies global partner. "We are delighted to provide peace of mind to Hilton's guests as they visit Sao Paulo."

With the Hilton brand strengthening safety and disinfection practices for its hotels worldwide, the Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi added an extra layer of protection with ActivePure. As a result, guests, employees and visitors to the hotel and resort have the confidence that the property's indoor air and surfaces are protected by this technology, proven by science and independently validated to inactivate the COVID-19 virus and other clinically relevant pathogens in the air and on surfaces.

This sanitizing system further enhances the CleanStay and EventReady with CleanStay Programs, launched globally by the Hilton brand, which offer a high standard of cleaning and disinfection to protect guests, customers, event planners and their attendees, as well as members of the team.

"With ActivePure, the Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi is able to invite people into their hotel and resort with con?dence," said Joe Urso, chairman and CEO of ActivePure Technologies, LLC. "We commend Hilton Sao Paulo for prioritizing the health and safety of its guests and employees."

In addition to the Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi, ActivePure is working with many more hospitality leaders in Brazil, including:

Ibis, an Accor Hotel

Mercure Sao Paulo Jardins Hotel

Intercontinental Sao Paulo Hotels, IHG

Melia Hotels Group

Atlantica Hotels Group

TYRP by Wyndham

ActivePure Technologies is a science-driven company that has developed a one-of-a-kind technology that immediately, safely and continuously inactivates pathogens - including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as bacteria and other pathogens in the air and on surfaces. The technology, which has origins in the NASA Space Program and was inducted into the Space Foundation Hall of Fame in 2017, powers the 100 plus adaptable ActivePure Technology devices trusted by millions of hotels, hospitals, schools, stores, offices and homes worldwide.

ActivePure works instantly and continuously to fill rooms with virus-neutralizing particles. ActivePure's patented technology releases thousands of submicroscopic particles that actively target pathogens in the air and on surfaces, inactivating them safely on contact.

In June 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deemed ActivePure Technology safe to use in occupied spaces when it cleared the ActivePure Medical Guardian as a Class II Medical Device, using the same ActivePure Technology found in over 100 devices. The airborne COVID virus easily transmits from person to person in enclosed spaces. Independent testing completed in FDA-compliant biosafety labs level three and four found that ActivePure inactivated more than 99.9% of a high concentration of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in three minutes.

To learn more about ActivePure Technology, its uses and scientific studies, please visit ActivePure.com , or call 888-217-4316.

ABOUT ACTIVEPURE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC:

Privately held ActivePure Technologies, LLC, is the global leader in active, continuous surface and air disinfection systems for health care and educational institutions, commercial and public facilities, and hospitality and residential applications since 1924. ActivePure Technologies includes the patented ActivePure Technology, the most powerful surface and air purification technology ever discovered backed by science. The only one in its class recognized by the Space Foundation as Certified Space Technology and included in the Space Foundation Hall of Fame. ActivePure Technology is engineered based on technology with origins in the NASA Space Program and that has evolved to reduce exposure to diseases, including RNA and DNA viruses, bacteria and molds, by 99.9%. ActivePure Technologies' eight brands include Aerus Enterprise Solutions, Aerus Global , ActivePure Medical , ActivePure Technology , Allergy Buyers Club, Beyond by Aerus , The Pure Company and Vollara . Additionally, the ActivePure Medical Guardian is registered and cleared as an FDA Class II Medical Device. For more information, please visit ActivePure.com or call 888-217-4316.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jo Trizila, TrizCom PR on behalf of ActivePure Technologies

Email: Jo@TrizCom.com

Office: 972-247-1369

Cell/Text: 214-232-0078

Avery Cooper, TrizCom PR on behalf of ActivePure Technologies

Email: Avery@TrizCom.com

Office:972-247-1369

Cell/Text: 972-743-4415

SOURCE: ActivePure Technology

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658559/Hilton-So-Paulo-Morumbi-Installs-ActivePure-Technology-to-Ensure-Guests-Health-and-Safety
BANGALORE, India, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterilization Equipment Market by Product Type - High Temperature Sterilization, Low Temperature Sterilization, Application - Hospitals and Clinics, Pharmaceutical, Others, Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021 - 2026. It is published in Valuates Reports under the Medical Devices & Equipment Category.

In 2020, the global Sterilization Equipment market size was USD 1295 million and it is expected to reach USD 1608.2 million by the end of 2027, with a CAGR of 3.1% during 2021-2027.

The major factor driving the growth of the sterilization equipment market are:

An increase in the prevalence of Healthcare-associated infections(HAI) due to the lack of sanitation and preventive measures is anticipated to propel market growth over the forecast period.

The recent COVID-19 outbreak along with the rise in the number of hospital admissions due to chronic disease is expected to further augment the sterilization equipment market growth. Sterilization equipment efficiently serves the purpose as they reduce the risk of infection transmission among patients and improve care delivery.

Government laws and regulations requiring the use of sterilization equipment in healthcare facilities to control the spread of infectious diseases are projected to give market growth prospects.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/reports/QYRE-Auto-35L4149/global-sterilization-equipment

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE STERILIZATION EQUIPMENT MARKET

A rise in the prevalence of HAI as a result of a lack of sanitation and preventive measures is expected to drive the sterilization equipment market over the forecast period. Sterilization equipment is essential for the sterilization and cleaning of various hospital equipment since it aids in the prevention of infections and the spread of diseases. Furthermore, the increase in the number of chronic disease patients which leads to hospital admission is expected to further fuel the sterilization equipment market.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge surge in demand for sterilization equipment. The coronavirus is a contagious ailment that can spread easily through the air and has been declared as a pandemic by WHO. To reduce the danger of disease transmission, sterilizing equipment is widely utilized in hospitals, clinics, and laboratories.

Government authorities' strict laws and regulations requiring the use of sterilizing equipment to restrict the spread of the disease are projected to give market growth prospects. The sterilization equipment market is also being fueled by government initiatives to enhance the use of sterilization equipment in hospitals, as well as cooperation between research centers and enterprises to extend their product portfolios.

Moreover, emerging economies such as India and China are likely to offer a diverse range of growth prospects for market participants, owing to their large and growing populations as well as an increasing number of hospitals and clinics.

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TOP COMPANIES IN THE STERILIZATION EQUIPMENT MARKET:

The sterilization equipment market is moderately fragmented with the top five players holding a share of about 55%.

Some of the top companies in the sterilization equipment market include Getinge, Steris, Belimed, Advanced Sterilization Products, Tuttnauer, etc.

STERILIZATION EQUIPMENT MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS:

The largest market was held by Asia-Pacific, accounting for about 35% of overall sales, followed by North America and Europe, which account for about 60% of total sales.

Based on type, InHigh Temperature Sterilization is the largest segment, with a share of about 80%. High-Temperature Sterilization is generally preferred as they are non-toxic and cost-effective.

Based on application, the Hospitals and Clinics segment is expected to be the most lucrative. Factors such as the rising frequency of healthcare-associated infections (HAI), the growing number of hospitals in Asian countries, and the rising number of surgical procedures performed are all contributing to this segment's high market share.

Inquire For Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-35L4149/Global_Sterilization_Equipment_Market

Sterilization Equipment Market By Type

High Temperature Sterilization

Low Temperature Sterilization

Sterilization Equipment Market Application

Hospitals and Clinics

Pharmaceutical

Others

Sterilization Equipment Market Regions

North America

United States



Canada

Asia-Pacific

China



Japan



South Korea



India



Southeast Asia



Australia



Rest of Asia-Pacific

Europe

Germany



France



U.K



Italy



Russia



Nordic Countries



Rest of Europe

Latin America

Mexico



Brazil



Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

& Turkey



Saudi Arabia



UAE



Rest of MEA

Sterilization Equipment Market Companies

Getinge

Steris

Belimed

Advanced Sterilization Products

Tuttnauer

Shinva

Steelco

MMM Group

Fedegari

Systec

Matachana

Sakura Seiki

Cisa Production

MELAG Medizintechnik

Laoken

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SIMILAR REPORTS :

- Global Surgical Sterilization Equipment Sales Market Research Report contains Market Size, Market Share, Market Dynamics, Porter's 5 force Analysis, Segmentation, Regional and Competitor Analysis. Product: Surgical Sterilization Equipment, Product-Type: High Temperature, Low Temperature, Radiation, Application: Hospitals, Clinics, Others.

- Global Dental Sterilization Equipment Sales Market Research Report contains Market Size, Market Share, Market Dynamics, Porter's 5 force Analysis, Segmentation, Regional and Competitor Analysis. Product: Dental Sterilization Equipment, Product-Type: Semi-Automatic, Automatic, Application: Hospital, Dental Clinic, Other.

- Medical Disinfection and Sterilization Equipment Market by Product-Type: Sterilization Of UV_C Waves, Ozone Sterilization, Ethylene Oxide Sterilization, Pre-Vacuum Autoclave Sterilization, Cryogenic Ion Sterilization, Other, Application: Pharmaceutical And Biotechnology Companies, Hospital, Medical Equipment Company, Outpatient Surgical Centers And Clinics, Academic And Research Organizations, Other.

- ETO Sterilization Equipment market is segmented by company, region (country), by Type, and by Application. Players, stakeholders, and other participants in the global ETO Sterilization Equipment market will be able to gain the upper hand as they use the report as a powerful resource. In the coming years there is an increasing demand for EO sterilization in the regions of ASEAN that is expected to drive the market for more advanced EO sterilization. Increasing medical field expenditures, more-intense competition, launches in introducing new products, increasing spending on health industry, retrofitting and renovation of old technology, increasing adoption of EO sterilization will drive growth in Asia markets.

- Global Healthcare Disinfection and Sterilization Equipment Sales Market Report 2021

- Global Sterilization Technologies Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021-2027

- The ozone therapy equipment has a broad-spectrum, high-efficiency and rapid sterilization function, and can fully kill Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Staphylococcus, Candida and various sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, the ozone therapy equipment is suitable for disinfecting and sterilizing hospital clinical, environmental and medical equipment. The product is simple in operation, economical and effective, and is a new type of medical device preferred by various medical departments.

- The global E-beam Sterilization market size is projected to reach USD 2154.8 million by 2027, from USD 1078 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 10.4% during 2021-2027.

- In 2020, the global Disinfectant Equipment market size was USD 4939.3 million and it is expected to reach USD 7538.4 million by the end of 2027, with a CAGR of 6.2% during 2021-2027.

- Global Contract Sterilization Service Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021-2027

- Global Sterilization Trolleys Sales Market Report 2021

Click Here To See Related Reports On Sterilization Equipment

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Regulatory News:

ESI Group (FR0004110310 ESI) (Paris:ESI), leader and pioneer in Virtual Prototyping solutions, hereby releases the total number of shares making up the company's capital and the total number of voting rights in July 31, 2021, in accordance with articles 223-16 and 221-3 of the General Regulations of the "Autorite des Marches Financiers".

Number of shares Number of theoretical

voting rights * Number of voting rights ** 6,063,092 8,306,590 7,947,291

* The number of theoretical voting rights is calculated based on all shares eligible for voting right (single or double), including shares temporarily deprived of voting rights (treasury shares).

** All Group shares have equal right to vote, except treasury shares, which are deprived of the right to vote, and registered shares held for more than four years that are eligible for double voting rights.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005598/en/

Contacts:

ESI Group
DGAP-News: Dialog Semiconductor Plc. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Dialog Semiconductor Plc.: Notification of Q2 and H1 2021 Results



05.08.2021 / 18:30

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



(R) low energy and industrial edge computing solutions, will announce its Second Quarter and Half Year 2021 results on Wednesday 11th August 2021. Dialog Semiconductor (XETRA: DLG), a provider of highly integrated power management, Configurable Mixed-signal IC, AC/DC power conversion, solid state lighting, Bluetoothlow energy and industrial edge computing solutions, will announce its Second Quarter and Half Year 2021 results on The Company will not host a conference call on the day of results. The full announcement will be made available on the Investor Relations website: https://www.dialog-semiconductor.com/investor-relations For further information please contact: Dialog Semiconductor

Jose Cano

Head of Investor Relations

T: +44 (0)1793 756 961

jose.cano@diasemi.com FTI Consulting London

Matt Dixon

T: +44 (0)2037 271 137

matt.dixon@fticonsulting.com FTI Consulting Frankfurt

Katharina Tengler

T: +49 (0)69 9203 7118

katharina.tengler@fticonsulting.com About Dialog Semiconductor



Dialog Semiconductor is a leading provider of integrated circuits (ICs) that power mobile devices and the Internet of Things. Dialog solutions are integral to some of today's leading mobile devices and the enabling element for increasing performance and productivity on the go. From making smartphones more power efficient and shortening charging times, enabling home appliances to be controlled from anywhere, to connecting the next generation of wearable devices, Dialog's decades of experience and world-class innovation help manufacturers get to what's next. Dialog operates a fabless business model and is a socially responsible employer pursuing many programs to benefit employees, the community, other stakeholders and the environment we operate in. Dialog's power saving technologies including DCDC configurable system power management deliver high efficiency and enhance the consumer's user experience by extending battery lifetime and enabling faster charging of their portable devices. Its technology portfolio also includes audio, Bluetooth(R) Low Energy, Rapid Charge AC/DC power conversion and multi-touch. Dialog Semiconductor Plc is headquartered in London with a global sales, R&D and marketing organisation. It currently has approximately 2,300 employees worldwide. In 2020, it had approximately US$ 1.38 billion in revenue. The company is listed on the Frankfurt (XETRA: DLG) stock exchange (Regulated Market, Prime Standard, ISIN GB0059822006)





Contact:

Jose Cano

Director, Investor Relations

jose.cano@diasemi.com

+44(0)1793756961 Contact:Jose CanoDirector, Investor Relationsjose.cano@diasemi.com+44(0)1793756961

05.08.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Company's Continued Growth Demonstrates Value of Platform for Landlords and Renters

CAMBRIDGE, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / SplitSpot, the trusted platform that provides flexible and affordable apartment room rentals, just announced that they are expanding into New York City and Washington, D.C. After tripling in size every year since its founding in Boston in 2019, the company has begun expanding down the east coast to bring its modern apartment rental solution to landlords and renters in both metro cities.

In the traditional rental market, consumers face a process that lacks trust, simplicity, and flexibility. Whether it be a landlord who's not following regulations, or roommates who're mishandling utility bills, subletting a room the traditional way is full of barriers and mistrust every step of the way.

With SplitSpot, renters can easily schedule as many virtual tours as they'd like in seconds. SplitSpot gives renters the ability to approve of their new potential roommates by facilitating a roommate vetting process that ensures everyone feels comfortable in their new home. Renters can find roommates, split rent and utilities, and file requests through the platform. This provides massive benefits to inexperienced and seasoned renters alike.

To date, SplitSpot has worked with thousands of renters in Boston, New York City, and the District of Columbia saving them from dealing with realtors, broker's fees, large security deposits, and hours wasted searching multiple listing sites.

"We're excited to expand our modern take on apartment living to the massive markets in New York and D.C.," said Ernesto Gaxha, Co-Founder, SplitSpot. "We've proven that our approach to apartment rentals is the future of urban housing by focusing on features and perks that renters are dying for. With our affordable apartments, we're able to provide fantastic benefits to renters who would otherwise use Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace to find a room."

For landlords, marketing properties and finding acceptable tenants can take significant time and resources. Once apartments are filled, they have to manage individual renters and handle things like maintenance requests. If a tenant leaves, the landlord has to start the entire process over. SplitSpot helps landlords ensure a high occupancy rate, utilizing its marketing expertise and market analysis to position each apartment appropriately and find tenants quickly. On average, it takes just 2.6 weeks to fill a room on the SplitSpot platform.

"SplitSpot has been a great help for me over the past 2+ years. They initially took on one of my units, and now manage eight of them," said Dillon Brennan, a Boston-area landlord. "It's been great not having to find new tenants each year. SplitSpot diligently fills bedrooms with great tenants at above market rents, and I would recommend them to anyone."

SplitSpot Co-Founder David Mazza is confident New York and D.C. landlords will see the same success as Brennan did in Boston: "Property owners and managers in New York and D.C. will find deep value in our tools for marketing their apartments, streamlining the onboarding process, and managing their tenants," said Mazza. "With our team's market insights and experience, we handle the often burdensome work of tenant placement and management, and let property owners get back to doing the work they care most about."

About SplitSpot

Founded in 2019, SplitSpot enables a trusted, flexible, and streamlined rental process for both tenants and landlords. SplitSpot's platform modernizes the apartment rental experience: convenient listings, lower fees, and flexible leases, all while providing landlords with quality tenants and reduced vacancy. SplitSpot works to improve accessibility for housing while providing landlords quality tenants. The company is based in Cambridge, MA, and currently serves tenants and landlords in the Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. areas.

Contact Information:

Mark Nolan

York IE for SplitSpot

mark@york.ie

SOURCE: SplitSpot, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658574/SplitSpot-Expands-Coliving-Apartment-Rental-Platform-to-New-York-City-and-Washington-DC
DGAP-News: exceet Group SCA / Key word(s): Half Year Report/Half Year Report

exceet Group SCA: Financial Result First Half-Year 2021 (news with additional features)



05.08.2021 / 18:45

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Financial Result First Half-Year 2021



After sale of exceet Secure Solution GmbH, exceet Group SCA decided to divest the remaining operating entities GS Swiss PCB AG and Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme, too. exceet Group SCA discloses these companies now as Discontinued Operations.

( Group Net Sales of the discontinued operations up to EUR 25.0 million (H1 2020: EUR 24.9 million).

( Group EBITDA increased to EUR 4.9 million (H1 2020: EUR 4.8 million) achieving an EBITDA margin of 19.5% (H1 2020: 19.4%).

( EUR 6.2 million Group Net Profit (H1 2020: EUR 3.1 million), including a profit of EUR 3.4 million arising from the divestment of exceet Secure Solutions GmbH



Grevenmacher, 5 August 2021 - After the sale of exceet Secure Solution GmbH and the planned divestment of GS Swiss PCB AG and Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme all operating business is disclosed as Discontinued Operations. Continued operations is only related to the Corporate Business, which comprises the holding companies with its administrative costs. exceet is currently evaluating various strategic options with regard to its future.

The financial performance of the Group in H1 2021 was stable compared to prior year, while Q2 2021 outperformed Q1 2020. The Group's business was not impacted of the Corona crisis beside of the extended delivery of components and higher prices for some of them. Nevertheless the companies went on with the protection of the production processes by securing the supply chains and keeping inventory at higher levels, but also taking care of the personal safety of employees, customers and suppliers by suspending travelling and face-to-face meetings as well as home office work for certain members of the staff.

In this business environment, exceet achieved sales in Q2 2021 of EUR 12.0 million, up 7.6% versus one year ago and a total of EUR 25.0 million for the first half year 2021, up 0.4% compared to the corresponding period last year (H1 2020: EUR 24.9 million). Excluding the positive foreign exchange impact of minus EUR 0.6 million in the first half of this year, exceet realized organic top line growth on a like-for-like basis of 3.0%. Group EBITDA reached EUR 2,2 million in Q2 2021 (+34.3% versus Q2 2020) and EUR 4.9 million for the entire reporting period (+0.9% versus H1 2020).

The divestment of exceet Secure Solutions GmbH increased the interest result by EUR 3.8 million in the first half year 2021 while FX result decreased by EUR 0.6 million in the first half year. Net profit amounted in the first half year 2021 to EUR 6.2 million from the corresponding period in 2020 with EUR 3.1 million.

Healthcare Segment



The segment realized H1 2021 net sales of EUR 20.2 million (H1 2020: EUR 20.3 million) accounting for 80.9% (H1 2020: 81.4%) of Group net sales The EBITDA for the first half-year 2021 amounted to EUR 5.7 million (H1 2020: EUR 5.9 million), down 4.0% resulting in an EBITDA margin of 28.1% (H1 2020: 29.2%). Even Q1 2020 was extremely strong in revenue, for the half year period 2021 the business was close to the performance of last year. Strong backlog of EUR 12.8 million (June 30 2020 of EUR 9.6 million) indicates a strong business for the upcoming months, too.





Software (including IoT) Segment



After the sale of exceet Secure Solutions GmbH end of April 2021, this segment includes Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme.

In the reporting period between January and June, the segment contributed net sales of EUR 4.8 million (H1 2020: EUR 4.6 million) representing 19.1% (H1 2020: 18.6%) of Group net sales due to the strong performance of Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme, which over-compensated the effect of the divestment of exceet Secure Solutions GmbH. The EBITDA for this period came from minus EUR 0.1 million in H1 2020 to plus EUR 0.5 million in H1 2021. Based on higher sales by 3.6% compared to last year, the segment could improve its profit performance.

Outlook



With Share Purchase Agreement dated 29 April 2021, exceet sold the shares in exceet Secure Solution GmbH and deconsolidated the related assets and liabilities. Currently the business comprises the operating entities GS Swiss AB AG und Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme.

On 17 May 2021 exceet Group SCA announced by adhoc that the Board of Directors of exceet Group SCA resolved to start a large-scale structured sales process with regards to the potential sale of its portfolio company GS Swiss PCB AG. In the financial year 2020, the manufacturer of highly miniaturized printed circuit boards for the medical technology and aerospace sectors based in the Swiss Canton of Schwyz generated revenue of EUR 36 million and an operating profit (EBITDA) of EUR 9.5 million.

On 29 June 2021 exceet Group SCA released an adhoc announcement, that Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme as only remaining operating entity will be sold, too. Lucom GmbH Elektrokomponenten und Systeme was a former subsidiary of exceet Software Solutions GmbH and for strategic reasons exceet Group SCA decided to sell this business. The company operating in the field of mobile communications and automation and security technology generated revenues of EUR 5.4 million and an operating profit (EBITDA) of EUR 0.7 million in the financial year 2020.

Following the completion of the sale of GS Swiss PCB AG and the sale of Lucom, exceet would no longer hold any operating companies. exceet is currently evaluating various strategic options with regard to its future.

Business environment 2021 will be still driven by COVID-19 pandemic. The management is confident that exceet's business is resistant enough and will not be as negatively impacted. Currently both companies, GS Swiss PCB AG and Lucom GmbH Elektronikkomponenten und Systeme are performing well in this environment. For the first half year and as far as forecasted for the remaining period of 2021 the companies are even performing better as expected at the beginning of 2021.

Not taking into account the potential sale of the both operating entities, for 2021 exceet will miss about EUR 4 million net sales contributed by exceet Secure Solutions GmbH in prior year, but exceet's Management is currently confident for expected sales and for financial performance better than in 2020. Focus to measure the performance is EBITDA, unchanged to prior years.





Annex: Performance and Structural Data first half year 2021

Performance Report on the first half year 2021 available at

https://www.exceet.com/Q2-2021-Report

and Company Presentation at

https://www.exceet.com/Q2-2021-Presentation

Please contact for further information:

Email: investor.relations@exceet.com

exceet Group SCA

17, rue de Flaxweiler

L-6776 Grevenmacher

Phone +352 28 38 47 20

ISIN LU0472835155 (Public Shares), Regulated Market, Prime Standard, Frankfurt/Main

exceet will announce nine months results 2021 on 4 November 2021

(after closing of the market)

About exceet

exceet is a listed holding company focusing on technology corporations within the healthcare and software markets.
Architect Equity ("Architect") announced today that it has acquired The Mail Group ("TMG") from bpost group ("bpost"). TMG is an asset-light third-party logistics provider ("3PL") that offers full-service mail delivery solutions for critical mail, packets, parcels, and publications for US domestic and global destinations.

Dionisio Lucchesi, Managing Director of Architect Equity, said, "We are pleased to complete the acquisition of TMG and we are excited to partner with a proven leadership team. Architect looks forward to bringing its financial, operational, and corporate development resources to fully support the company's growth plans."

"TMG represents an opportunity that fits well with Architect's investment thesis of acquiring an established business with unique service capabilities, a diversified revenue base that can scale significantly with existing operational infrastructure, and large addressable end markets that provide for breakout potential on a stand-alone basis," added Eric Luoma, Principal at Architect Equity.

Bill Sickenberger, CEO of TMG, commented, "This is an exciting next step in our journey at The Mail Group. Architect shares our vision for accelerated growth, world class customer experience, and an entrepreneurial team culture. We are entering this partnership with great momentum and with the backing of Architect, TMG will be well positioned to strengthen its current services offering and grow its diverse customer base."

"The leadership team of TMG has developed a significant amount of domain knowledge from operating in the industry over an extensive period of time, which is a real differentiator when delivering creative logistics solutions to customers across a range of industries," said Lisa Bahash, Principal and Operating Partner at Architect Equity.

Architect Equity is a private investment firm comprised of an integrated team of investors and operators that provide immediate liquidity solutions to public and private business owners. Under Architect's ownership, target companies benefit from industry relationships, operational resources and an M&A platform to support further company growth. The acquisition of TMG marks the fifth platform acquisition by Architect since its inception and its second cross-border, corporate divestiture transaction in the last 12 months.

Republic Partners served as financial advisor to bpost and Morgan, Lewis Bockius served as legal advisor to bpost.

About The Mail Group

The Mail Group (TMG) is a full-service mail delivery provider handling business-critical mail, packets, parcels and publications from customers located throughout North America and elsewhere. With extensive postal resources, an experienced staff and a variety of in-house services, TMG provides creative, customized, cost-effective delivery solutions with personalized customer care. All TMG customers also enjoy the latest in technology which gives them the ability to place orders, monitor shipments, review distribution reports, view invoices and more, all from the palm of their hands via any remote device.

To learn more about The Mail Group, please visit www.themailgroup.com.

About bpost

bpost is Belgium's leading postal operator and a growing parcel omni-commerce logistics partner in Europe, North-America and Asia. Its 36,000 employees in Belgium and across the globe connect consumers, businesses and governments, by delivering mail and parcels to millions of doorsteps and providing e-commerce logistics services. As a people- and planet-friendly company, bpost creates long-term sustainable value for its customers and shareholders.

To learn more about bpost group, please visit www.bpost.be.

About Architect Equity

Established in 2018 by Jay Yook and Dionisio Lucchesi, Architect Equity is an evergreen investment fund focused on acquiring and managing businesses in the lower middle market. The firm pursues companies that exhibit the opportunity for improvement and growth and can benefit from Architect's capital base, industry relationships and operational resources. Architect Equity is comprised of a team of investors and operators that have over 100 years of combined experience in successfully acquiring and managing companies across a range of industries and market cycles.

To learn more about Architect Equity, please visit www.architectequity.com.

For general inquiries, please contact Dionisio Lucchesi via e-mail at dionisio@architectequity.com.

For business development inquiries, please contact Steve Tamjidi via e-mail at steve@architectequity.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005931/en/

Contacts:

Dionisio Lucchesi, dionisio@architectequity.com
LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb today announced the appointment of Hilda Toh as Property and Casualty (P&C) Chief Underwriting Officer for the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa (UKISA).

In her new role, Hilda will oversee the strategy for all P&C product lines in the region, working with the segment heads. Hilda will also set product guidelines and have technical oversight for product development, develop underwriting-related business intelligence and ensure that Chubb's underwriting guidelines are followed. All P&C product line heads in UKISA will also report to her.

Hilda was previously UKISA Financial Lines Manager. She succeeds Mark Roberts, who was recently appointed Division President for the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. She will be based in London and the appointment is effective immediately.

Hilda has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience. She joined Chubb Canada in 1998 and moved to London in 2004. Hilda has held a variety of management roles including Chubb Canada Financial Institutions Fidelity Manager, European Zone Underwriting Specialist and UKI Financial Lines Underwriting Operations Manager.

Mark Roberts said: "I am delighted that Hilda is joining our senior management team. Her promotion demonstrates the depth of talent we have within our business. Hilda is a seasoned insurance professional with an enviable track record of success across several important lines of business. Her in-depth knowledge, skill set and expertise means she is perfectly placed to ensure our P&C offering in UKISA meets the continually evolving and complex needs of our brokers and clients."

About Chubb



Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com.

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Ubique Minerals Limited ("Ubique")(CSE:UBQ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an exclusive, non-binding Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") to earn-in up-to 80% of Alumina Ventures Ltd ("AVL") shares. AVL is 100% owner of the Port Loko Bauxite deposit and partially developed mine in Sierra Leone.

The Opportunity

Alumina Ventures Ltd is a Sierra Leone registered private company that holds large scale mining licence ML10-2021 for the historic Port Loko Bauxite project. The Port Loko Bauxite project was developed by SierraMin towards production from 2016 to the end of 2020 and was acquired by AVL in May 2021. The mine had started its pilot plant phase but operations were halted in late 2020 COVID related. AVL acquired all of SierraMin assets in April 2021.

The board of directors of Ubique after undertaking initial due diligence have determined to move into final discussions and legal agreement with AVL towards the completion of an agreement as follows:

The commercial terms of the acquisition/earn-in.

The company and AVL signed a MoU on the 8th July 2021 with the following conditions.

UBQ will have the option to earn a 51% stake in the Port Loko Bauxite project in Sierra Leone by: Spending a minimum of US$3m on infrastructure and project costs in the Port Loko project and; Making a commercial production shipment

UBQ can invest US$5m and acquire further 29%

UBQ will agree that the current shareholders of AVL will receive a 2.5% Royalty and that both parties shall negotiate a buy back price.

UBQ shall at the signing of this document transfer U$25,000.00 to AVL as a loan payable upon demand. Done

AVL shall grant UBQ 30 days exclusivity to the transaction as described above to carry out due diligence and structure a more detailed transaction document. Done

UBQ has the right to extend that period by 60 days by further advancing AVL U$50,000.00. Done

The company will use the next 60 days to finalise legal agreements and due diligence on the project.

Funding of the project

The company is in advanced discussion with investors to fund the earn-in/acquisition by a way of a convertible loan facility but does not preclude the use of alternative sources of funding in addition.

Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson CEO commented "the company is using its resources to identify distressed projects and opportunities within the mining sector. The Port Loko project is a unique opportunity to get into near term production and the team looks forward to the challenges ahead. With a strong backup from associated partners Greenbank Capital and JV Capital that participated in our current private placement the company is well funded and with strong partners the project could be in operation within a reasonably short period of time"

Project History.

Significant exploration of the Port Loko area occurred between 1972 and 1976. During that period a subsidiary of Alusuisse, Sierra Ore and Metal Company ("SIEROMCO"), undertook systematic exploration of the northern extension of the bauxite belt in the Port Loko area. SIEROMCO, had mined bauxite in Sierra Leone since 1965. The majority of the existing database was generated during this time. The SIEROMCO work concluded with feasibility studies, which indicated a mineable deposit with 'reserves' of over 100 Mt, of which 77.3 Mt of bauxite has been 'proved'. This resource estimate is not considered to be compliant with International Reporting Codes.

Work on the deposit resumed between 1992 and 1997 and was conducted by Jupiter Export Import Ltd ("Jupiter"). The work involved the re-excavation and re-sampling of several SIEROMCO's pits in order to confirm the historical data. Jupiter's work was preliminary in nature and did not add significantly to the projects' exploration activities. Jupiter's programme appears to have been a summary of previous SIEROMCO work, including redrawing of maps, although these do not appear to provide any additional information.

Many of the raw exploration records collected/collated prior to 1996 by both SIEROMCO and Jupiter were destroyed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. In 1997, Canadian mining company Global Explorations Ltd commissioned Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited ("WGM") of Toronto, Canada to prepare a due diligence report ("WGM report") on the Jupiter work in association with a proposed purchase of the concession from Jupiter. This work was conducted by Hains Technology Associates ("Hains") under subcontract to WGM and included assessment of the rail and port facilities. Historical scoping study level estimates (50% accuracy) for capital and operating costs of development and operation of the mine where described. These estimates included rehabilitation and operation of the rail line and port facilities and a financial analysis was conducted based on saleable tonnage of 1.8 Mtpa at an average price of USD 18.00/t. Assuming a capital cost of USD 40.0M, the operation was evaluated as profitable at the time and under the set of assumptions provided. The analysis also indicated the Project was highly sensitive to variations in sales price, capital costs and operating costs.

Between 2002 and 2008, Moydow Mines International Inc. (TSX and AIM listed) and Gondwana (Investments) S.A. completed over 400 auger drillholes and initiated work on a 'Bankable Feasibility Study' in 2006. In Moydow Mines Annual Information Form, filed on SEDAR on March 31, 2009 for the year to December 31, 2008 they state:

"Sieromco's 1970s exploration led to the definition of 104 million tons of ore of medium grade as shown:"

Recovered washed bauxite in millions of tons Proven Indicated Inferred Kambia - 6.0 4.0 Port Loko North 30.6 3.1 3.0 Port Loko South 46.8 2.7 2.0 Mamaliki - 3.5 1.0 Total 104 million tons 77.4 15.3 11.0

Washed Bauxite Material Average % Alumina (total) 47.0 Reactive silica 3.5 Quartz 0.5 Iron oxides 21.4 Titanium dioxide 1.9

This is considered a historic resource and should not be relied on by the reader.

Subsequently another private company, Sierra Leone Exploration and Mining Company ("SLEMCO") obtained the licence for Port Loko in 2009 after it was not renewed by Moydow and Gondwana. Between 2009 and 2014, SLEMCO undertook limited verification work before the exploration licences were transferred to another private company, SierraMin. In 2016 SierraMin was issued a large scale mining license and in 2017 contracted with SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd to complete a JORC compliant resource of inferred and indicated resources which was completed in 2017. The report is not yet public. SRK recommended additional work to upgrade the resource and metallurgical test work which was also undertaken, and in 2019 a pilot plant was built onsite of which the company has not received any metallurgical or operational results. As part of its due diligence Ubique will determine to what extent SRK can assist in the furtherance of development of the property.

Project Location.

Figure 1 the yellow colour represents the mining license ML-10 2021 total 129.3 km2 the blue respresents 247,7 km2 exploration license held by Sierramin and are part of AVL purchase and are requested to be transferred to AVL.

About Ubique Minerals Limited.

Ubique Minerals Limited is a zinc exploration company listed on the CSE (CSE:UBQ) focused on exploration of its Daniel's Harbour zinc property in Newfoundland. It was funded for its first two years by private equity including that from Greenbank Capital Inc (CSE:GBC and OTCMKTS:GRNBF and FRA:2TL). Ubique became a publicly listed company in September 2018. Ubique has an experienced management group with a record of multiple discoveries of deposits worldwide, and owns an extensive and exclusive database of historic exploration results from the Daniel's Harbour area. For more information on Ubique please contact Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson CEO +354 8697296 or by email vilhjalmur@jvcapital.co.uk or see www. ubiqueminerals.com

Dr. Gerald Harper, P.Geo.(NL), is the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 responsible for the technical data presented herein and has reviewed and approved this release.

Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business and trading in the common stock of Ubique Minerals Limited., the raising of additional capital and the future development of the business. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the company's management. Although the company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because Ubique can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Ubique disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Ubique Minerals Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658611/Ubique-Minerals-to-Acquire-up-to-80-of-the-Port-Loko-Bauxite-Deposit-and-Partially-Developed-Mine-in-Sierra-Leone
NEWS RELEASE Paris: EUR

EURO RESSOURCES REPORTS EARNINGS FOR THE

SECOND QUARTER AND SIX MONTHSENDED JUNE 30, 2021

Paris, France, August 5, 2021: EURO Ressources S.A. ("EURO" or "the Company") (Paris: EUR) today announced its unaudited statutory interim financial results prepared in accordance with French Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") and its unaudited condensed interim financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") for the six months ended June 30, 2021. These unaudited interim financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on August 5, 2021. All financial amounts are expressed in Euros ("" or "euros") unless otherwise specified.

Highlights

Under French GAAP, EURO reported a net profit of 4.5 million (0.072 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2021 (1.1 million for the second quarter of 2021 (0.018 per share)) compared to 8.5 million (0.137 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 (3.5 million for the second quarter of 2020 (0.055 per share)).

Under IFRS, EURO reported a net profit of 3.3 million (0.054 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2021 (1.5 million for the second quarter of 2021 (0.024 per share)) compared to 8.3 million (0.132 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 (3.3 million for the second quarter of 2020 (0.053 per share)).

EURO recorded revenues of 5.7 million in the first six months of 2021 (2.2 million in the second quarter of 2021) compared to revenues of 12.5 million in the first six months of 2020 (5.2 million reported in the second quarter of 2020).

On June 10, 2021, EURO paid dividends of 15.6 million (0.25 per share).

Liquidity and capital resources

Cash at June 30, 2021 totaled 22.4 million as compared to 31.5 million at December 31, 2020. The decrease was mainly due to the dividends paid, partially offset by cash flow from operating activities.

Marketable securities

EURO holds marketable securities related to mining companies which are part of a volatile market. Share market price exposure risk is related to the fluctuation in the market price of marketable securities. Investments in marketable securities are recorded at fair value.

As at June 30, 2021, marketable securities were comprised of 19,095,345 shares of Orea Mining Corp. ("Orea") (9.3% of outstanding shares; December 31, 2020: 9.7%) and 3,819,069 shares of Allegiant Gold Ltd. ("Allegiant") (4.9% of outstanding shares; December 31, 2020: 6.2%).

During the six month period ended June 30, 2021, the Company recognized an unrealized loss under IFRS following the decrease of the fair value of these marketable securities. Under IFRS, this loss of 0.9 million was recorded in other comprehensive income (gain of 0.3 million during the six months ended June 30, 2020). Under French GAAP, the gain of 0.2 million was recorded in investment income in the statement of earnings.



Royalty assets

(Refer to MD&A for more detail)

As at June 30, 2021, the Company's impairment review indicated that the facts and circumstances did not represent an indication of potential impairment. In May 2019, The French Government declared the Montagne D'Or project not yet compatible with environmental requirements. The statements by the French Government regarding the Compagnie Miniere Montagne d'Or (the joint venture) in May 2019, to which the Paul Isnard royalty is attached, have created some uncertainty around the delivery of the various authorizations and permits not yet obtained and required for developing the project, and can potentially affect the operational and financial capacities of the project. On December 24, 2020, the Cayenne Administrative Court ordered the French State to extend the Montagne d'Or mining concessions within 6 months of the decision. On February 3, 2021, the French Government announced that it was appealing the Administrative Court's decision to extend the Montagne d'Or mining concessions. On July 7, 2021, Orea Mining Corp. declared that the parties presented their pleadings before the Administrative Court of Appeal in Bordeaux, France, on July 6, 2021. On July 22, 2021, Orea Mining Corp. announced that the Administrative Court of Appeal in Bordeaux has rejected the French Government's appeal and request for a stay of execution of the court rulings of December 24, 2020. In those circumstances, the Company is maintaining the same assumption from the impairment test related to the Paul Isnard royalty asset performed as at December 31, 2020. The Company continues to assume that the various authorizations and permits would be granted under conditions that will allow the JV to go on with this project, though the timing is somewhat uncertain. No impairment charges were recorded in the statement of earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

Comments on financial results prepared in accordance with French GAAP for the six month period ended June 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020

Under French GAAP and IFRS, EURO accounted for revenues of 5.7 million, a decrease compared to revenues of 12.5 million for the same period in 2020. Revenues were only attributable to the Rosebel royalty for the first six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020. The decrease in revenues was mainly due to lower gold production of 47,404 ounces in the first six months of 2021 compared to 107,794 ounces in the first six months of 2020 (7.0 million) primarily due to lower head grades and throughput as a result of heavy rains that impacted the mining activities during the first six months of 2021. The decrease in revenues is also due to a strengthened euro (0.5 million), partially offset by a higher average gold price in the first six months of 2021 of US$1,803 per ounce compared to US$1,633 per ounce in the first six months of 2020 (0.7 million).

Under French GAAP, operating expenses (excluding amortization expense) for the six months ended June 30, 2021 were 0.34 million compared to 0.57 million during the same period in 2020. The decrease was mainly due to lower administrative costs in 2021.

The depreciation expense related to intangible assets was 0.07 million during the first half of 2021 compared to 0.15 million during the first six months of 2020. This decrease was mainly due to lower production at the Rosebel mine.

Financial results included a foreign exchange gain on bank accounts under French GAAP of 0.57 million in the first six months of 2021 compared to a foreign exchange gain on bank accounts of 0.04 million in the first six months of 2020. The increase of the foreign exchange gain was mainly due to the strengthening of the Euro compared to the United States dollar in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

During the first six months ended June 30, 2021, EURO recorded an income tax expense of 1.7 million compared to 3.5 million during the six months ended June 30, 2020. The decrease was mainly due to the tax impact of lower earnings, partially offset by translation adjustments.

Select IFRS financial results

Since December 31, 2010, EURO no longer prepares and publishes consolidated financial statements for French purposes; only French GAAP can be applied for the presentation of statutory financial statements and approval by the shareholders. However, in order to comply with Canadian requirements and have equivalency of information between French financial requirements and Canadian financial requirements, the following information on the IFRS financial results is provided for comparison purposes.

Six months ended June 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 (IFRS)

Under IFRS, EURO reported a net profit of 3.3 million (0.054 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2021 compared to 8.3 million (0.132 per share) for the six months ended June 30, 2020.

Under IFRS, revenues totaled 5.7 million in the first half of 2021 compared to revenues of 12.5 million during the same period in 2020, the same as under French GAAP as explained above.

Operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2021 were 0.26 million compared to 0.33 million in the same period in 2020. The decrease was mainly due to lower administrative costs in 2021.

The amortization expense of 0.08 million during the six months ended June 30, 2021 was lower than the amortization expense of 0.19 million recorded during the same period in 2020, mainly due to lower production at the Rosebel mine.

EURO recorded a foreign exchange loss of 0.25 million in the first six months of 2021 compared to a loss of 0.18 million in the first six months of 2020, mainly due to the revaluation of dividends payable, bank accounts and income tax payable.

EURO recorded an income tax expense of 1.8 million in the six months ended June 30, 2021 compared to 3.7 million in the same period of 2020. The decrease was mainly due to the tax impact of lower earnings, partially offset by translation adjustments.

Second quarter ended June 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 (IFRS)

Under IFRS, EURO reported a net profit of 1.5 million (0.024 per share) for the second quarter of 2021 compared to 3.3 million (0.053 per share) for the second quarter of 2020.

Revenues were 2.2 million during the second quarter of 2021, a decrease compared to 5.2 million for the second quarter of 2020. Revenues were only attributable to the Rosebel royalty in the second quarter of 2021 and 2020. The decrease in revenues was mainly due to lower gold production of 18,172 ounces in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 42,395 ounces in the second quarter of 2020 (3.0 million) primarily due to lower head grades and throughput as a result of heavy rains that impacted the mining activities during the quarter. The decrease in revenues is also due to a strengthened euro (0.2 million), partially offset by a higher average gold price in the second quarter of 2021 of US$1,816 per ounce compared to US$1,711 per ounce in the second quarter of 2020 (0.2 million).

During the second quarter of 2021, the Company recorded operating expenses of 0.14 million compared to 0.21 million during the same period in 2020. The decrease was mainly explained by lower administrative costs in 2021.

The amortization expense of 0.03 million during the second quarter of 2021 was lower than the amortization expense of 0.08 million recorded during the second quarter of 2020, mainly due to lower production at the Rosebel mine.

EURO recorded a foreign exchange loss of 0.18 million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a loss of 0.19 million in the second quarter of 2020, mainly due to the revaluation of dividends payable, bank accounts and income tax payable.

EURO recorded an income tax expense of 0.4 million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 1.5 million in the second quarter of 2020. The decrease was mainly due to the tax impact of lower earnings and the tax impact of the change in fair value of the marketable securities.

Outlook

The Rosebel royalty production for 2021 has been adjusted downward to 90,000 to 110,000 ounces from 144,000 to 171,000 ounces. The reduction reflects the multitude of challenges that have and are continuing to adversely impact the operations, including the unusually severe rainy season and the continued uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Rosebel royalty is expected to provide revenues to the Company of between approximately 10.1 million and 12.5 million (US$12.1 million and US$15.0 million). These pre-tax numbers assume a gold price of US$1,745 per ounce and an exchange rate of 1 for US$1.20. The impact of changes in the average gold price on EURO's annual revenues, based on an estimated production of 100,000 ounces, would be approximately US$1.0 million for each US$100 per ounce change in the gold price. The impact of a 5% change in the average foreign exchange rate on EURO's annual revenues would be approximately 0.6 million. EURO's cash flow is expected to be primarily affected by income tax payments. The Company maintains certain cash available to pursue opportunities that would enhance the Company's long-term business.

Global COVID-19 pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. Despite widespread mass immunization programs limiting the spread of the virus in many countries, the emergence of new variants is causing infection rates to surge in certain areas, particularly among unvaccinated populations. The lifting of restrictions on the movement of people and goods, social distancing measures, restrictions on group gatherings, quarantine requirements and contact tracing varies from country to country and often within countries. The Company has been closely monitoring and taking necessary measures to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of its operations.

There was a significant increase in COVID-19 cases due to the emergence of a new variant in Suriname during the second quarter. The increase in cases and social impacts, including multiple lockdowns and a strained healthcare system, had a disruptive effect on the operations at the Rosebel mine. Several mitigating controls have been put in place, including a mandatory antigen testing program, with all workers on the 14/7 work rotation being tested in an effort to reduce the impact on operations. More recently, cases have been decreasing and the additional 360 beds that have been added to the camp to safely accommodate an optimal workforce have now been commissioned.

About EURO

EURO is a French company whose main assets are a royalty on the Rosebel Gold Mine production in Suriname (the "Rosebel royalty"), a royalty on the Paul Isnard concessions, and marketable securities. The Rosebel Gold Mine is 95%-owned by IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD"), and is operated by IAMGOLD. The royalty on the Paul Isnard concessions is a net smelter returns production royalty on future production of the Paul Isnard concessions and an area of interest surrounding the concessions in French Guiana, owned under a joint venture agreement between Orea Mining Corp. and Nord Gold SE.

EURO has approximately 62.5 million shares outstanding. At June 30, 2021, IAMGOLD France S.A.S. ("IAMGOLD France"), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD, owned approximately 89.71% of all issued outstanding shares of EURO. As at June 30, 2021, IAMGOLD France held 56,058,191 shares representing 112,116,382 voting rights or 94.25% of the voting rights of EURO. This threshold crossing results from a double voting rights allocation.

Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Some statements in this news release are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to a U.S. person absent registration, or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

Additional information relating to EURO Ressources S.A. is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further requests for information should be addressed to:

Tidiane Barry

Directeur General

Tel: +1 450 677 0040

Email: tbarry@euroressources.net (mailto:blittle@euroressources.net) Sophie Halle

Directeur General Delegue

Tel: +1 450 677 0040

Email : shalle@euroressources.net (mailto:shalle@euroressources.net)

Attachment
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) is reportedly planning to pledge to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. According to reports, the discussions are taking place as the company is considering its future actions and plans. These deliberations are taking place two months after company shareholders replaced three directors with candidates that had been proposed by a new hedge fund. The hedge fund has been exerting pressure to improve returns and do more to become less carbon-dependent. Even while the company is yet to make a formal announcement about the pledge, sources said that Exxon has in the pipeline a series of important steps on the environment and other issues, which will be implemented by year-end. In a written response to rumors about the pledge, the company said that it is committed to working to decarbonize high-emitting sectors and invest in technologies that will help society achieve a net zero future. 'Throughout our engagement process with shareholders, we have heard clearly their interest in our work in this area and affirm our commitment,' Exxon added. As per the current strategy, Exxon will bring down its greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 30 percent in its oil and gas production business. All these moves are part of the company's plan so that the targets are met by 2025. In July, the oil company decided upon plans to cut their greenhouse gas emissions as a proportion of output. But Exxon's plan of reduced carbon footprints, which covers emissions from its direct operations and from the power used for these operations, is behind its European rivals. Other oil companies like BP Plc (BP.L) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) have also promised to reduced emissions from products sold. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2021) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has delivered the first batch of trench samples to the ALS laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario for assay. Stripping, washing and geological mapping were completed in the two trenched sites in the West Contact Zone. Rock grab samples were collected before the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry issued an Emergency Area Order to control and contain the wildfires in the northwest region of Ontario. This order imposes restriction on the use of equipment required for exploration activities. The Company is assessing the situation and planning to begin an airborne magnetic survey on the property in the coming weeks. The new airborne magnetic survey and trenching data will be analyzed to determine the new drill targets in the West Contact Zone. Please refer to the July 5 press release for details of the 2021 exploration program.

About Thundercloud Property

The Thundercloud Property is located in the Archean Manitou-Stormy Lakes Greenstone belt in Western Ontario, 47 kilometers southwest of Dryden. The geological setting is comparable to the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Eastern Ontario but the Thundercloud Property is much less explored. The Belt contains numerous gold showings, several deposits and high grade historic past producers. Regionally, exploration results indicate excellent potential to define bulk-tonnage orogenic gold mineralization, as close to 30 million ounces of gold have been discovered in recent years in the area, including several large-scale mining operations nearby.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in greenstone belts in Ontario and the Midas gold camp in Nevada. Currently, the 70% owned Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, is in a legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd..

For more information, please visit Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92228
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S administration on Wednesday announced that all foreign visitors coming to the country must have received both the doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This move is part of the country's plan to lift the travel restrictions for foreign citizens coming into the country. The administration, however, declined to give a timeline as to when the travel restrictions will be lifted even as interagency working groups study and analyze as to when travel can be brought back to the pre-covid times. In the near future, all foreign citizens coming to the United States, with limited exclusions, must be completely vaccinated to enter the country. As of now, the U.S Government has in place, stringent restrictions on entry into the U.S, given the fast-spreading Delta variant. According to the travel rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S. All travelers, in spite of their vaccination status, must show a negative COVID-19 certificate, taken within three days of travel. The U.S administration is under pressure to remove some of the travel restrictions from the airline industry, affected people and families who have been separated for a long time. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / MONARCH MINING CORPORATION ('Monarch' or the 'Corporation') (TSX:GBAR)(OTCQX:GBARF) is pleased to announce the closing of the previously announced transaction with Gold Royalty Corp. ('Gold Royalty') (GROY) whereby Gold Royalty has acquired the following royalty interests from Monarch for cash proceeds of $11.25 million (the 'Transaction'):

a $2.50 per tonne royalty on all material processed through the Beacon mill originating from the Beaufor mine operations; and

a 2.5% net smelter return ('NSR') royalty on each of the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, of which half (1.25%) can be bought back by Monarch for $2 million per property in the future, subject to certain conditions being met.

As per the terms of the Transaction, Gold Royalty made a first cash payment of $7.5 million at closing and will make the final payment of $3.75 million in six months.

Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. acted as financial advisor to Monarch in connection with the Transaction.

About Gold Royalty

Gold Royalty Corp. is a gold-focused royalty company offering creative financing solutions to the metals and mining industry. Its mission is to acquire royalties, streams and similar interests at varying stages of the mine life cycle to build a balanced portfolio offering near, medium and longer-term attractive returns for its investors. Gold Royalty's diversified portfolio currently consists of net smelter return royalties on gold properties located in the Americas.

About Monarch

Monarch Mining Corporation (TSX:GBAR) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four advanced projects, including the fully permitted past-producing Beaufor Mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other advanced assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch's wholly owned and fully permitted Beacon 750 tpd mill. Monarch owns 28,702 hectares (287 km2) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean-Marc Lacoste

President and Chief Executive Officer

1-888-994-4465

jm.lacoste@monarchmining.com

Mathieu Seguin

Vice President, Corporate Development

1-888-994-4465

m.seguin@monarchmining.com

Elisabeth Tremblay

Senior Geologist - Communications Specialist

1-888-994-4465

e.tremblay@monarchmining.com

www.monarchmining.com

SOURCE: Monarch Mining Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658450/Monarch-Mining-Corporation-Announces-the-Closing-of-the-1125-Million-Transaction-With-Gold-Royalty-Corp
Carbon Streaming Corporation (NEO: NETZ) (FSE: M2QA) ("Carbon Streaming" or the "Company") is pleased to confirm that it has closed the previously announced carbon credit streaming agreement with Infinite-EARTH Limited ("InfiniteEARTH") and strategic alliance agreement with the InfiniteEARTH founders.

As detailed in the August 3, 2021 news release which can be found here: Carbon Streaming Corporation News Media, InfiniteEARTH is the developer of the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project (the "Rimba Raya Project"), the industry's flagship REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) project. The Rimba Raya Project, for which InfiniteEARTH has exclusive carbon and marketing rights, is expected to create over 70 million credits throughout its remaining 20-year crediting period (approximately 3.5 million carbon credits per annum).

Carbon Streaming's President and CEO Justin Cochrane affirmed, "We are delighted to have closed this transformational investment in the Rimba Raya Project with our strategic partners at InfiniteEARTH." Mr. Cochrane continued, "We intend to act swiftly and at scale to bring exceptional carbon projects like Rimba Raya into the Company portfolio."

More information about the Rimba Raya Project can be found here: https://rimba-raya.com/.

About InfiniteEARTH

InfiniteEARTH is a Hong Kong-based project development company that develops and manages conservation land banks and provides environmental offsets and corporate social responsibility (CSR) solutions to companies across the globe. The company was formed in 2008 with the goal of creating the Rimba Raya Project, a 64,500-hectare peat forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Rimba Raya is one of the world's largest REDD+ projects. The project eradicates deforestation, promotes conservation of local wildlife and sells carbon credits based on the carbon rich forest which was previously gazetted for conversion to palm oil.

InfiniteEARTH's projects focus on the preservation of endangered species habitat, High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Forests, and National Parks through the creation of social and physical buffer zones.

All projects are designed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by funding sustainable development in rural communities through capacity building, transfer of low-impact technologies such as solar and fuel-efficient cookstoves, aquaponics, agro-forestry ("jungle crop") models, and social benefits programs such as health care and early childhood education materials.

About Carbon Streaming Corporation

Carbon Streaming is a unique ESG principled investment vehicle offering investors exposure to carbon credits, a key instrument used by both governments and corporations to achieve their carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals. Our business model is focused on acquiring, managing and growing a high-quality and diversified portfolio of investments in projects and/or companies that generate or are actively involved, directly or indirectly, with voluntary and/or compliance carbon credits.

The Company invests capital through carbon credit streaming arrangements with project developers and owners to accelerate the creation of carbon offset projects by bringing capital to projects that might not otherwise be developed. Many of these projects will have significant social and economic co-benefits in addition to their carbon reduction or removal potential.

If you would like to receive corporate updates via e-mail as soon as they are published, please subscribe here: https://www.carbonstreaming.com/contact/request-information/.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, 'forward-looking information') within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, statements and figures with respect to the estimation of future carbon credit generation at the Rimba Raya Project; and the Company's strategy going forward and the timing thereof) are forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: general economic, market and business conditions and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's AIF dated as of June 30, 2021 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006057/en/

Contacts:

ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY:

Justin Cochrane, President and CEO

Tel: 647.846.7765

info@carbonstreaming.com

www.carbonstreaming.com

Investor inquiries can be directed to: investors@carbonstreaming.com
Venture Firm Catalyzes Growth of Startups through the Global Network of New Frontier Capital

PALO ALTO, Calif. and TOKYO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- (July 30, 2021) - Allegis Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley VC, and New Frontier Capital Management International ("NFCM"), a leading Asian GP, have jointly announced today that they have signed an MOU to become strategic partners.

With this new strategic partnership, Allegis and NFCM will promote cross-border collaboration, such as business alliances and M&A between Silicon Valley startups holding world-class technologies and Japanese and multinational corporations seeking to further global innovation.

NFCM will provide business matching, corporate alliance, joint R&D, M&A and other business opportunities to startup companies invested by Allegis Capital by introducing and connecting the startups to global corporations with a special focus on Japanese corporations.

NFCM will also support the development and commercialization of the technologies of Allegis startups by connecting the startups to global universities and institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), University of Melbourne, Zhejiang University, Russia Skolkovo and Kenya Investment Authority.

In addition, together with its global fund partners such as Tata Capital, China Merchants Group and Da Vinci Capital, NFCM will unlock opportunities for Allegis startups for financing and global market entry into international markets such as Japan, India, China, Australia, Russia and Africa.

"The strategic partnership with NFCM represents the opportunity for us to aide our portfolio companies to expand their strategic plans internationally. We also hope that this partnership will evolve over time into a larger strategic partnership." said Spencer Tall, Allegis Capital Managing Director.

"The Allegis-NFCM partnership is a powerful combination, especially in today's digital era. Allegis is a member of inner circle of Silicon Valley and has proprietary access to cutting-edge technology and business models in Silicon Valley. NFCM has the network of Japanese corporations, international funds and global universities seeking for the next-generation innovation," said Shigeki Usuki, NFCM CEO. "The geographic strengths, North America for Allegis and Asia Pacific for NFCM, also complements the significance of our strategic partnership."

About Allegis Capital

Based in Silicon Valley and Maryland, Allegis Capital has pioneered an integrated cybersecurity investment platform spanning seed to early-growth cybersecurity companies. It is the first VC focused exclusively on cybersecurity and data science and has been investing in cybersecurity for more than 15 years in the U.S and select international markets. The Allegis Capital team is replete with VC and startup entrepreneurial veterans. The team has been described in industry press as the "Cyber's Money Men" for its domain expertise and position. Current Allegis Capital investments include Area 1 Security, Callsign, CyberGRX, Dragos, SafeGuard Cyber, Shape Security, Signifyd, Source Defense, Synack, and vArmour. For more information, please visit www.allegiscyber.com

About New Frontier Capital Management International

NFCM is based in Japan with offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore. Through NFCM Hong Kong, NFCM co-invests in global GPs and jointly manages global VC and PE funds such as CMH Growth Fund, a China PE growth fund with China Merchants Group, and Tata Capital Growth Fund, an Indian PE fund with Tata Capital as well as global VC funds such as Cybernaut New Frontier Venture Fund (China VC), AI Human (Australia VC) and Africa Healthcare Fund (Africa VC).

In addition to NFCM's corporate network of Japanese and global corporations, NFCM Hong Kong has a global network of innovation and has signed agreements relating to the promotion of innovation with top-tier academia and government institutions including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad, University of Melbourne, Skolkovo Foundation (Russia), Zhejiang University (China) and Kenya Investment Authority. For more information, please visit www.nfcm.com.hk/en/
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 5, 2021 / Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (CSE:PLTH)(OTCQB:PLNHF) ("Planet 13" or the "Company"), a leading vertically-integrated national cannabis company, announces that Planet 13 Illinois LLC ("Planet 13 Illinois") won a Conditional Adult Use Dispensing Organization License in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

"We are thrilled to announce that Planet 13 Illinois was successful in the dispensary license lottery in the Chicago region," said Larry Scheffler, Co-CEO of Planet 13. "Chicago has been one of the main target markets for a Planet 13 SuperStore with its rapidly growing cannabis sales, large population base, and attraction as a tourist destination. We are thrilled to be a partner with Frank Cowan to help support the growth of the industry and to bring the Planet 13 experience to the Chicago region."

Frank Cowan added, "Planet 13 has defined what the cannabis retail experience can be. Their Las Vegas store is out of this world, and I'm excited to partner with them to bring that experience to my home town."

Plant 13 Illinois LLC is owned 51% by Frank Cowan and 49% by Planet 13 Holdings, Inc. For more information on Planet 13, visit the investor website.

About Planet 13

Planet 13 (www.planet13holdings.com) is a vertically integrated cannabis company, with award-winning cultivation, production and dispensary operations in Las Vegas and dispensary operations in Orange County, California. Planet 13's mission is to build a recognizable global brand known for world-class dispensary operations and a creator of innovative cannabis products. Planet 13's shares trade on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol PLTH and OTCQX under the symbol PLNHF.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward looking-statements relate to the growth of the industry and bringing the Planet 13 experience to the Chicago region.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: risks associated with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the applicable cannabis market and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in the State of Nevada; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

The Company is indirectly involved in the manufacture, possession, use, sale and distribution of cannabis in the recreational and medicinal cannabis marketplace in the United States through licensed subsidiary entities in states that have legalized marijuana operations, however, these activities are currently illegal under United States federal law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business, including COVID-19, are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information form dated April 5, 2021 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

For further inquiries, please contact:

LodeRock Advisors Inc., Planet 13 Investor Relations

mark.kuindersma@loderockadvisors.com

Robert Groesbeck or Larry Scheffler

Co-Chief Executive Officers

ir@planet13lasvegas.com

SOURCE: Planet 13 Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/658636/Planet-13-Illinois-Wins-Chicago-License
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will on Friday release its statement on monetary policy, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Australia also will see July results for the Performance of Services Index from the Australian Industry Group; in June, the index score was 57.8. Japan will provide June figures for household spending, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.0 percent on month and 0.1 percent on year. That follows the 2.1 percent monthly decline and the 11.6 percent yearly spike in May. Japan also will see preliminary June results for its leading and coincident indexes; the previous readings were 102.6 and 92.7, respectively. South Korea will release June numbers for current account; in May, the current account surplus was $10.76 billion. The Philippines will see June data for imports, exports, trade balance and industrial production. In May, imports were up 47.7 percent on year and exports jumped an annual 29.8 percent for a trade deficit of $2.755 billion. Industrial production had skyrocketed 249.5 percent on year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Partnership Provides Long Term Financing to GALLANT BUILDING SERVICES LTD and Ethos Asset Management INC's first UK investment.

Today, ETHOS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC USA, announced a new long-term financing partnership with GALLANT BUILDING SERVICES LTD., a United Kingdom based industrial company. Ethos, a private project financing provider based in San Diego, California, with global operations, has committed to providing Gallant with a significant capital infusion of 8 million GBP, that will continue for several years.

Carlos Santos, CEO of Ethos Asset Management, stated, "We are delighted to be able to support Gallant through our Crisis Financing Facility (CFF). We whole-heartedly support Gallant's ambitions to deliver their project and realise their vision across the hotel, health, retail, industrial sectors in the UK and expansion into Europe. This is a double celebration for Ethos, as this is our first deal concluded in the United Kingdom, so this is a special moment for us as we cement our entry into the UK and European market."

Ethos Asset Management (Ethos) is an independent, US-based company with a global reach in resource mobilization and project financing. Providing financing to government and privately promoted projects in every continent and every sector, Ethos has developed a unique risk modulation model which allows them to provide financing in terms not available anywhere in traditional financial markets. Additionally, Ethos provides advice to structure projects and restructure debt. Ethos supports and develops their clients to achieve their long-term goals with confidence.

Carlos Santos, CEO of Ethos Asset Management, is actively involved in acquiring and structuring three investment funds. He is directly involved in four business areas of the companies: resource mobilization, project financing, wealth management, and commodities trading. Mr. Santos holds a bachelor's degree in Economics, three Master's degrees in Finance, Banking Accounting and International Taxation, and a Ph.D. developer in Financial Instruments.

Craig Freeman, Ethos' UK Associate, also said, "I am delighted to be able to help Gallant secure funding for expansion of the business through our relationship with Ethos, having found the whole team at Ethos very helpful and supportive of the client's needs."

For more information about Ethos, please visit https://www.ethosasset.com/ or contact:

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006197/en/

Contacts:

Ethos UK Contact: Mr Craig Freeman, Ethos Associate; craig@freemansaccountancy.com

Ethos USA Contact: Attributed Holdings International, Ethos Associate; info@attributedholdings.com
Buildots, a Tel Aviv, Israel and London, UK-based AI construction tech company, raised $30m in Series B funding.

The round was led by Lightspeed Ventures with participation from previous investors TLV Partners, Future Energy Ventures, Tidhar Construction Group and Maor Investments.

The company will use the new funds to double the size of its global team with a focus on its Sales and R&D departments.

Founded in 2018 by Roy Danon, CEO, Buildots provides construction companies with an end-to-end solution that allows project managers to get control of every activity on the construction site. Its AI algorithms automatically validate images captured by hardhat-mounted 360 cameras, detecting any gaps between the original design, scheduling and the reality on the construction site. The platform acts as a mobile control room for project managers, allowing them to make decisions that dramatically speed up construction and ultimately reduce costs.

Buildots has recently announced that their technology is being used to reduce costs and enhance output on a slew of major construction projects being led by top building companies around the world. These include Build Group in California & Washington state, MBN in Germany, Gammon in Hong Kong, Wates in the UK and further announcements expected in the coming months.

FinSMEs

05/08/2021
CauliBox, a London, UK-based circular economy business focused on food packaging, secured 250k in seed funding.

The round was led by SFC Capital, with participation from angel investors.

Led by Josephine Liang, CauliBox provides digitally-enabled reusable solutions for the disposable food packaging market. The service has already been trialled at a number of London food markets, with partnerships with brands and organisations such as: Westminster City Council, Veolia and London School of Economics.

Within CauliBoxs circular economy the loop system is as follows: the packaging is used, collected or dropped off, washed, and repeatedly re-used at least 400 times, users of the app earn CauliCoins for their efforts which rewards the user with gifts like exhibition tickets.

FinSMEs

05/08/2021
Marie Louise Sunde and Isabelle Ringnes

Equality Check, an Oslo, Norway-based crowd-sourced employee review platform, raised 1.25m in seed funding.

The Norwegian venture capital fund Alliance Venture lead the round, together with several angel investors and the global early-stage VC Antler.

The company intends to use the funds for product development and international expansion.

Founded in 2018 by Marie Louise Sunde and Isabelle Ringnes, Equality Check provides a digital platform offering insights into opportunities for employee advancement and growth regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or age in individual companies. It also supplies companies with a means to assess their own progress in terms of promoting and maintaining progressive gender equality policies, with data from employees informing the analysis.

In recent months, the company has entered into several major collaborations with one of Norways leading news outlets, E24, as well as KPMG, and acquired some of Norways largest organisations as paying customers.

FinSMEs

05/08/2021
FullStory, an Atlanta GA-based digital experience intelligence (DEI) company, raised $100M in funding at $1.8 Billion valuation.

The round was led by Permiras growth fund with participation from Kleiner Perkins, GV, Stripes, Dell Technologies Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Glynn Capital. In conjunction with the funding, Bruce Chizen, Senior Advisor at Permira and former CEO at Adobe, who has joined the FullStory Board.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its business internationally and to further enhance its DXI platform across digital products, websites and mobile applications.

Led by Scott Voigt, founder and CEO, FullStory provides digital experience intelligence platform enables businesses to continuously improve their digital customer experience across sites and apps. The platform proactively surfaces actionable insights from billions of data points, helping thousands of companies, including Fortune 100 companies and the worlds most innovative consumer brands, make evidence-based digital improvements.

More than 3,100 customers in over 60 countries currently use FullStory.

FinSMEs

05/08/2021
tab32, a Sacramento, CA-based dental industrys cloud-based, full-service technology platform, closed a Series B funding of undisclosed amount.

The round was led by Spark Growth Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to double its headcount across its offices in the United States and India, and continue to invest in R&D to optimize and build out its AI infrastructure for dental intelligence.

Led by Kiltesh Patel, CEO and co-founder, tab32 provides a patient-first cloud dental electronic health record software (Dental EHR), Dental Practice Management System (Dental PMS), and Open Data Warehousing. Providers use tab32 to track appointments, patients, and radiology xrays.

The company currently has 65 employees.

FinSMEs

05/08/2021
Google has seemingly made a mistake in their online store and has accidentally leaked 4 new products in their Nest security camera line. These include new Nest Cam Battery, new wired Nest Cam, Nest Cam with floodlight, and Nest Doorbell with battery.

Earlier this year, Google did confirm that they were planning to release new products in the Nest line up. Now, the Google appears to have accidentally revealed these planned products on the Google Store. Each product did not have an individual page, and when clicking the Learn More and Buy links, it redirects to the main Google Store homepage, which suggests that it went live before it was supposed to.

The interesting product among these 4 cameras are the battery-powered models, which has not existed in the Nest camera line up till date. Google has only featured cameras that were directly connected to wired power, and other manufacturers like Ring, Eufy and Arlo already have battery-powered products.

Since these products have appeared on the store now, Google will likely officially announce them soon with more details and exact pricing.

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MOBILE, Ala. (WALA)  Setting new COVID-19 hospitalization records almost daily, southwest Alabama now is the epicenter of the latest surge in one of nations most battered states.

Rendi Murphree, the top epidemiologist for the Mobile County Health Department, noted during her daily briefing Wednesday that the 669 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday were a daily record. Hospitalizations hit 332.

Again, that is far and away beyond the total, the highest number of people hospitalized on any one given day that we had seen back in January, she said. So this for sure is the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic for Mobile County. We are not seeing any leveling off. We are continuing to see rising case count.

For context, that 332 hospitalization figure is 20 percent above the high-water mark of 276 set on Jan. 11.

The state of Alabama also is experiencing rapidly rising hospitalizations, but the totals still have not hit their pandemic highs.

You have, far and away, the highest rates of transmission, Alabama Hospital Association President Dr. Don Williamson told FOX10 News.

Williamson pointed to a worst-case projection that researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham recently made.

UABs worse model is actually based on statewide transmission at the level of what were seeing in Mobile-Baldwin County, he said.

Williamson said it is unclear why the surge has been stronger in southwest Alabama, although he suggested it might have something to do with its position along the Interstate 10 corridor. He noted that coastal Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle are seeing even worse outbreaks than Mobile.

The trend in Mobile and Baldwin counties is worse even that it was at the height of the surge in India, where the Delta variant originated, Williamson said.

Indias experience would be much better for Alabama than south Alabamas experience statewide, he said.

Williamson added that the forecast for the state looks troubling.

Were on a model now  its early  but unfortunately, we tend to be following more of the south Alabama track, he said.
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2020 file photo, Steve Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, S.C., right, looks on as U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, left, speaks with a voter outside a polling place in Columbia, S.C. During a city council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, Benjamin said that he was considering issuing a new state of emergency for the city, a declaration that he said would allow him to impose mask requirements. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below.
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020 file photo, former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at Turner Field in Atlanta. Obama has scaled down his 60th birthday bash due to the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus. A spokeswoman says the party planned for this weekend at his home on Martha's Vineyard is now limited to family and close friends. Obama, who turned 60 on Wednesday, had been criticized for planning a big celebration during a pandemic. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 81F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Embracer Group has acquired eight companies including Deep Rock Galactic developer Ghost Ship Games and Ion Fury creator 3D Realms for a combined SEK 2.7 billion ($313 million).

The deal will see Embracer, which already owns the likes of THQ Nordic, Koch Media, and Gearbox Software, hand over an additional SEK 2 billon ($232 million) if certain performance milestones are achieved over the next eight years.

As already mentioned, the platter of acquisitions includes deals for studios like Ghost Ship Games and 3D Realms. It also features notable moves for Danish studio Slipgate Ironworks, which worked on the Ghostrunner port, and Road96 and 11-11 Memories Retold developer Digixart.

VR studio Force Field, best known for projects like Landfall and Coaster Combat, has also been acquired by Embracer alongside Huntdown developer Easy Trigger.

Embracer completed its latest spending spree by penning deals for Israel-based mobile company CrazyLabs, which is the developer-publisher behind casual title Super Stylist, and e-commerce and Viking merchandise specialist Grimfrost.

Outlining the strategic rationale behind the deals, Embracer said all eight are designed to improve its capabilities within mobile publishing and development, indie development, VR development, and PC and console development -- with a particular focus on narrative titles and retro shooters.

Company CEO and co-founder, Lars Wingefors, said Embracer still has a "strong balance sheet with a sizeable net cash position to support further mergers and acquisitions moving toward," and explained talks with other companies - including "transformative" businesses that would create new operating groups - are ongoing.

Earlier this year, Embracer completed a quadruple acquisition to the tune of $8.5 million and debuted a new publishing arm called Prime Matter through its Koch Media subsidiary.
The Washington Post is reporting that several major Overwatch League sponsors are considering yanking their funding for Blizzards premiere esports league in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the State of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing that alleged Activision Blizzard fostered an environment of harassment and discrimination at the company.

Those sponsors arent lightweights either. These include major advertising spenders like beverage maker Coca-Cola, insurance company State Farm, and telecom company T-Mobile.

T-Mobiles lack of branding on Overwatch League events began to manifest shortly after the lawsuits filing, as first noticed by Polygon. But Washington Post is now confirming that Coca-Cola and State Farm are actively reconsidering their sponsorships with the League.

State Farm has apparently asked the League to not run any advertisements featuring the company over this weekend, while Coca-Cola is actively monitoring the situation.

All three brands might return to the League in the future, but the fact that theyre considering exiting the League after the lawsuits revelations is notable.

The Overwatch League doesnt represent a large revenue stream for Activision Blizzard, but its a legitimizing force meant to drive interest in Overwatch and build financial relationships with sponsors like Coca-Cola. It's a small part of the impact on Activision Blizzard's financials that the company warned investors about during its quarterly earnings call this week.

If these companies decide to permanently yank their sponsorship, itll be another example of once again, how unchecked harassment and discrimination can do financial damage to institutions that allow them.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  The queen's representative in New Zealand said Prince Harry and Meghan discussed moving to the South Pacific country during their 2018 visit, more than a year before the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the United States.

Governor-General Patsy Reddy also told The Associated Press in an interview she believes the British monarch should remain New Zealand's head of state and described the hand-typed letters she sends to Queen Elizabeth II.

Reddy, 67, will leave her largely ceremonial role representing the queen in New Zealand in October after a 5-year term. A lawyer who was given the honorific Dame for her services to arts and business, Reddy officially signs bills into law, presides over many public ceremonies and tours the country, meeting with various groups including Indigenous Maori.

Harry and Meghan visited New Zealand at the end of a hectic 16-day royal tour of the South Pacific, and Reddy recalled the couple as being tired.

"I remember theyd just been down to the Abel Tasman National Park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand.
"By creating the corps and encouraging young people to participate in those activities, we will help create that next generation of firefighters and folks willing to work for the state and federal governments in forest management," Vilsack said. "Not only do we want these forests to be healthy, we want them to be great places to recreate."

Vilsack and Brown agreed on a need for more federal-state projects such as the Good Neighbor Authority to reduce wildfire threats.

"We leverage federal resources and federal partnerships, and put Oregonians to work doing the thinning and prescriptive burning that needs to happen to ensure that our landscapes are more resilient," Brown said. "I think it is incredibly important that both state and federal governments step up because we are seeing a new era of wildfire. Both in terms of resources, people power and equipment, we both need to step up further."

Both were briefed by state and federal officials in a closed-door meeting on the status of wildfires. According to the state's dashboard, 98 active wildfires involved 463,432 acres in Oregon  although the largest wildfire by far is the Bootleg fire, the nation's largest and the second largest in Oregon history, at 413,462 acres. The fire, first reported on July 6, is 84% contained.

Farm visit
Gillette, WY (82718)

Today

Plentiful sunshine. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. High 86F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 58F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
After 20 years of war, the power in Afghanistan returns to the Taliban, the countrys brutal Islamist movement and military organization. The goal of the war, which started in 2001 after the 9/11 attack against the United States, was a regime change in Kabul. The Taliban, who had ruled most of the country since 1996, established an oppressive system and gave shelter to terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, and especially, Osama bin Laden. The U.S. arranged a coalition of Afghan opposition groups and invaded the country with their support.

The international community naively presumed that Afghanistan could be pacified and troops from various countries could sustain a central government there. This produced an illusion of democracy. The concept has failed, and now the U.S. has decided to retreat. The other countries, mainly NATO members, followed.

The West hypocritically talks about reaching peace through negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban. This is merely a ruse to cover the defeat and betrayal of the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

Civil war looms

The Taliban will sweep away the present government, at best maintaining a charade of a transition. This means death sentences for many in the country, as well as the repression and harsh subjugation of women. A new wave of Afghan refugees and migrants has started flowing toward Iran. As Irans economic and social conditions are also grim, they are already trying to transit into Turkey. From there, many will attempt to reach Europe.

Some of the ethnic leaders will raise militias to defend their areas against the Taliban regime

Afghanistan is a mountainous, multiethnic Islamic country with a resident population estimated at 37 million; some 3 million live as refugees in Pakistan and Iran. The largest ethnic group are Pashtuns (42 percent), Tajiks (27 percent), Hazaras (9 percent) and Uzbeks (9 percent). Many are leaving the country to either save their lives or  especially women  preserve their freedom. Another wave of emigration is inevitably coming, as the Taliban will not bring peace. Some of the ethnic leaders raised militias to  rightfully  defend their areas against the new regime.

Mohammad Ismail Khan, who successfully fought the Taliban during their previous period in power and is known as the "Lion of Herat," has already declared that he would not accept Taliban rule and has mounted resistance in his territory near the borders with Iran and Turkmenistan. An Uzbek leader in exile in Turkey, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, has announced his return to Jowzjan Province to suppress the Taliban in northeastern Afghanistan. Also, Abdul Ghani Alipur, a Hazara overlord, is preparing his militia to resist the Taliban (the Hazaras are a Shia minority in primarily Sunni Afghanistan). Others, such as Atta Muhammad Nur, a Tajik strongman in the north, may also resist. A so-called peace, if it occurs in Afghanistan, will come out of a new civil war. To what extent the local leaders will collaborate to achieve a common goal is unsure.

Uncontested Taliban rule would return the entire country to misery and oppression. However, over the last two decades, education in Afghanistan has improved, including for women. In addition to opposition from local leaders, the more educated parts of the society might help reduce the fundamentalists grip on the country. In any case, all this will result in a new wave of refugees flowing into Turkey.

Turkey has done an admirable job hosting 3.7 million refugees from Syria and integrating many of them into its society. It also has had an influx of an estimated 100,000 Afghans. Now, the Turks must prepare for new waves of refugees from that direction. Another problem lurks at the border with Iran: as tensions and economic issues deepen in that country, many Iranians are already trying to migrate to a more prosperous, free Turkey.

We should show understanding for the Afghan peoples plight

All this may seem far away from Europe. However, Europe cannot expect that Turkey will hold the floodgates closed at its own expense. The remark of the chancellor of Austria that refugees from Afghanistan should find asylum in the neighboring countries shows a combination of naivete and helplessness typical of todays Europeans. Looking at these neighboring countries, one sees Tajikistan , an impoverished mountain state with a minuscule capacity to receive immigrants. Uzbekistan has its own problems and makes for a problematic host. Iran has a sinking economy, and its internal repression is also fierce. And India is unlikely to give shelter to Muslims due to its Hindu-nationalist politics

Have no illusions: the Afghan refugees will move west. It is inevitable, and we should show understanding for their plight.

Unfortunately, European countries have mishandled their immigration policies. The German government burned its fingers with the Willkommenskultur (Welcoming culture) of encouraging immigration and accepting newcomers without properly checking claims before granting refugee status. Oddly, while the European governments data collection policies increasingly violate citizen privacy, it was considered intrusive to demand documents and claim proof from immigrants.

In these circumstances, it is essential that the countries in Europe collaborate more closely with Turkey and stop the widespread bashing of that country. Active discussions with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, including support package offers, would be more helpful than empty slogans from European capitals. More effective border controls will be increasingly important. Also, European governments need to demonstrate more determination and ability to repatriate the immigrants who break the law.
CANMORE, Alberta, Aug. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The boil water order issued by Alberta Health Services on July 29 has been lifted for the remaining areas of Rundleview and Homesteads. These areas add to the following locations that have been cleared for regular water service over the past few days: Benchlands, Cougar Creek, Palliser Trail, Silvertip, Dead Mans Flats, Harvie Heights, the Canmore Nordic Centre, Three Sisters Resort and Peaks of Grassi (see detailed maps below).



Effective immediately, residents, visitors and businesses in the green areas of the maps are no longer subject to the boil water order. Residents and businesses in the remainder of the town of Canmore (red areas on the maps) are still required to boil water before consumption, until further notice.

EPCOR recommends all residents who now have regular water service to run their water-using fixtures for five minutes or until the water is clear before consuming. Residents can also drain cisterns, including toilets, and flush with clean water.

Businesses that have been cleared for regular water service should refer to the Alberta Health Service guidance document related to their industry (see links below) for procedures to take following the lifting of a boil water order.

As EPCOR continues to flush and test the remaining parts of town, residents and businesses may temporarily experience low water pressure or a temporary water outage. We thank residents, visitors and businesses for their patience and support as we work as quickly as possible to restore regular water service.

For areas remaining under the boil water order, water directly from the tap should not be consumed.

Consumption of microbiologically-contaminated water may result in illness and stomach flu-like symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps and headaches.

Until further notice, visitors, residents and business owners in the areas identified in red on the maps must bring tap water to a rolling boil for at least one minute prior to:

drinking

brushing teeth

cleaning raw foods

preparing infant formula or juices

making ice

handwashing dishes

Water used for bathing, flushing or laundering clothes does not need to be boiled. Dishwashers can also be used if they are in good working order and have a hot temperature sanitizer cycle.

Water trucks providing free, potable water are also available from 9 am to 8 pm at:

Canmore Recreation Centre: 1900 8 Ave, Canmore

Elizabeth Rummel School: 1033 Cougar Creek Drive, Canmore

Lawrence Grassi Middle School: 610 7 Avenue, Canmore

Elevation Place: 700 Railway Ave #100, Canmore

Residents and visitors of Canmore may also instead choose to purchase bottled water for the duration of the boil water order.

Residents can find more information on boil water orders and steps to take once lifted here.

Businesses, schools and health-care facilities can find more information on the procedures to take during and immediately following boil water orders on the following documents.

Anyone requiring additional information, is asked to call EPCOR at 403-609-6400.

Health-related questions should be directed to Health Link at 811 or MyHealth.Alberta.ca.

Related Information

Green and Red Zone Maps

http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/734b22e4-133d-47f6-8c97-538139db2baa

For more information contact:

Media Relations

780-721-9001

epcormedia@epcor.com



About EPCOR

EPCOR, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, builds, owns and operates electrical, natural gas and water transmission and distribution networks, water and wastewater treatment facilities, sanitary and stormwater systems, and infrastructure in Canada and the United States. The company also provides electricity, natural gas and water products and services to residential and commercial customers. EPCOR, headquartered in Edmonton, is an Alberta Top 75 employer.
Dublin, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Pharmaceutical Warehousing Market 2021-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The publisher has been monitoring the pharmaceutical warehousing market and it is poised to grow by $13.30 billion during 2021-2025, progressing at a CAGR of over 4% during the forecast period. Our report on pharmaceutical warehousing market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.

The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by the rise in demand for outsourcing pharmaceutical warehousing services and increased focus on quality and product sensitivity in the pharma industry.

The pharmaceutical warehousing market analysis includes service segment and geographic landscape. This study identifies the automation at warehouses to increase efficiency and accuracy as one of the prime reasons driving the pharmaceutical warehousing market growth during the next few years.

The report on pharmaceutical warehousing market covers the following areas:

Pharmaceutical warehousing market sizing

Pharmaceutical warehousing market forecast

Pharmaceutical warehousing market industry analysis

The publisher's robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading pharmaceutical warehousing market vendors that include Schenker AG, BDP International Inc., CEVA Logistics AG, DHL International GmbH, FedEx Corp., GEODIS, Kuehne + Nagel International AG, United Parcel Service Inc., XPO Logistics Inc., and Agility Public Warehousing Co. KSCP. Also, the pharmaceutical warehousing market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage all forthcoming growth opportunities.

The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape

The publisher presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. The market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast the accurate market growth.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary

Market Overview

2. Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

3. Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2020

Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

4. Five Forces Analysis

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

5. Market Segmentation by Service

Market segments

Comparison by Service

Non-cold chain warehousing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Cold chain warehousing - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Service

6. Customer landscape



7. Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers

Market challenges

Market trends

8. Vendor Landscape

Overview

Landscape disruption

9. Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Agility Public Warehousing Co. KSCP

BDP International Inc.

CEVA Logistics AG

DHL International GmbH

FedEx Corp.

GEODIS

Kuehne + Nagel International AG

Schenker AG

United Parcel Service Inc.

XPO Logistics Inc.

10. Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/htha33
TORONTO, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX:WM) (Wallbridge or the Company) is pleased to announce that its resource definition drill program for the upcoming maiden mineral resource estimate (MMRE) on the Fenelon Gold Property (Fenelon or the Property) is now almost complete.



Drilling has been focusing on multiple areas, within the approximately 1.0 km by 1.2 km central portion of the Fenelon Gold System, to better define the gold mineralization in support of the MMRE. Approximately 260,000 m drilled by the Company at Fenelon within the three years since the commencement of systematic, continuous exploration drilling will be incorporated into the MMRE. With the drill program for the MMRE now substantially complete, drill rigs are being transitioned to focus on resource expansion and exploration drilling at Fenelon as well as regional exploration on the Companys other projects along the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend (see Wallbridge news release dated July 22, 2021 on the commencement of Phase I drill program at the Martiniere Project).

As we near the completion of the resource drill program in support of our maiden mineral resource estimate at Fenelon, we are excited to turn our attention again to more widely-spaced exploration drilling to continue outlining the ultimate size potential of the Fenelon Gold System and to discover additional gold deposits on our underexplored Detour-Fenelon land package, stated Marz Kord, President & CEO of Wallbridge.

We are excited to reach this important milestone and to move forward with our MMRE, stated Attila Pentek, Vice President Exploration of Wallbridge. The MMRE will provide an initial snapshot of the true potential of the Fenelon Gold System, the limits of which we have not yet defined.

Additionally, new assay results from the definition drill program released today continue to demonstrate excellent bulk mining potential at Fenelon and provide important additional information in the top 500 metres of the known gold system.

Highlight results released today, include:

Tabasco-Cayenne-Contact Zone, Definition Drilling:

3.75 g/t Au over 27.00 metres, including 5.73 g/t Au over 16.00 metres in FA-21-268A,

4.95 g/t Au over 11.70 metres, including 9.22 g/t Au over 5.70 metres, and 17.64 g/t Au over 2.40 metres in FA-21-264A, and

6.79 g/t Au over 5.50 metres, including 51.10 g/t Au over 0.60 metres in FA-21-260;

Area 51, Definition Drilling (above 300 m depth):

1.93 g/t Au over 13.50 metres and 92.38 g/t Au over 0.50 metres in FA-21-264A;



Area 51, Definition Drilling (below 300 m depth):

2.23 g/t Au over 10.80 metres in FA-21-224;

Tabasco-Cayenne-Contact Zones, Definition Drill Results

Definition and expansion drilling at a nominal 75-metre drill spacing targeting the Tabasco-Cayenne-Contact Zones over a strike length of approximately 800 metres and vertical depths between 300 and 1,000 metres has been the primary focus of this campaign (see Figs. 1 and 2) to better define the geometry and grade of the zones and gain information on the structural controls of the gold mineralization.

FA-21-268A 3.75 g/t Au over 27.00 metres, including

5.73 g/t Au over 16.00 metres in the Tabasco Zone (see Figs. 1 and 2);



FA-21-264A

4.95 g/t Au over 11.70 metres, including

9.22 g/t Au over 5.70 metres in the Contact/Tabasco Zone, and

17.64 g/t Au over 2.40 metres in the Cayenne Zone (see Figs. 1, 2 and 3);



FA-21-260 6.79 g/t Au over 5.50 metres, including

51.10 g/t Au over 0.60 metres in the Tabasco Zone (see Figs. 1 and 2);







Area 51 Definition Drill Results



As our drill holes approach Tabasco-Cayenne, they also transect the Area 51 gold vein network, providing important information from all of these zones.

Highlight intersections of Area 51 zones from above 300 metres vertical depth reported today include:

FA-21-264A 1.93 g/t Au over 13.50 metres, and

92.38 g/t Au over 0.50 metres (see Figs. 2 and 3);

Highlight intersections of Area 51 zones from below 300 metres vertical depth reported today include:

FA-21-224 2.23 g/t Au over 10.80 metres, including

4.12 g/t Au over 4.00 metres (see Fig. 2);

In-fill Sampling Program Results

A systematic campaign of continuous in-fill sampling of historic drill holes down to a vertical depth of 250 metres is underway in order to collect further information for the open pit constrained portion of the MMRE.

Assay results from the historic drilling in-fill sampling program are highlighted by:

FA-19-079 14.64 g/t Au over 1.50 metres in the Tabasco Zone (see Figs. 1 and 2);



FA-19-077 1.15 g/t Au over 8.50 metres, including 7.62 g/t Au over 1.00 metre in the Tabasco Zone (see Figs. 1 and 2);

2021 Drilling Program Update

In 2021, the Company is planning to complete approximately 170,000 metres of drilling, including 20,000 metres devoted to regional exploration on the Companys district-scale, underexplored land package on the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend.

As of June 30 2021, a total of 64,021 metres has been drilled at Fenelon. The decision to use directional drilling to control hole deviation, which is slower but optimizes drill hole spacing and reduces required drilling meterage for the MMRE in the Tabasco, Cayenne and Area 51 zones, means the rate of drilling in the first half of the year was lower than the projected 2021 quarterly average. The Company expects higher drilling productivity during the second half of the year as the resource focused directional drilling gives way to resource expansion drilling and regional exploration.

Assay results of 10 drill holes of the 2021 exploration drill program and two historic drill holes are reported in the Table and Figures below. All figures and a table with drill hole information of recently completed holes are posted on the Companys website under Current Program at https://www.wallbridgemining.com/s/fenelon.asp.

Figure 1. Fenelon Gold, Tabasco-Cayenne-Gabbro Zones Long Section

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/551b71be-ddbc-4e26-b197-9c5eed0facf2

Figure 2. Fenelon Gold, Plan View

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/409c6137-280f-4fa2-b72c-c0c8f8d12505





Figure 3. Fenelon Gold, Cross Section 9975_E

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/57e96429-9250-4957-876c-7ef492a53478





Table 1. Wallbridge Fenelon Gold Property, Recent Drill Assay Highlights [(1] Drill Hole From To Length Au Au Cut(2) VG(3) Gold Zone Section (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) FA-19-077 80.50 89.00 8.50 1.15 1.15 Tabasco 10125 Including 80.50 81.50 1.00 7.62 7.62 Tabasco 10125 FA-19-079 33.50 35.00 1.50 14.64 14.64 Tabasco 10050 FA-21-224 723.30 725.50 2.20 4.00 4.00 VG Area 51 10350 FA-21-224 872.20 883.00 10.80 2.23 2.23 Area 51 10350 Including 872.20 876.20 4.00 4.12 4.12 Area 51 10350 FA-21-227 154.20 155.90 1.70 6.41 6.41 Area 51 9825 FA-21-255 329.50 331.00 1.50 4.01 4.01 VG Area 51 10050 FA-21-260 391.90 397.40 5.50 6.79 6.79 Tabasco 10050 Including 396.80 397.40 0.60 51.10 51.10 Tabasco 10050 FA-21-260 543.00 545.50 2.50 2.01 2.01 VG Tabasco 10050 FA-21-260 558.15 562.00 3.85 2.98 2.98 Tabasco 10050 Including 560.90 562.00 1.10 9.85 9.85 Tabasco 10050 FA-21-264 70.00 108.50 38.50 0.80 0.80 VG Area 51 10200 Including 70.00 71.70 1.70 6.11 6.11 VG Area 51 10200 And 103.00 108.50 5.50 1.73 1.73 Area 51 10200 FA-21-264A 75.50 78.50 3.00 2.19 2.19 VG Area 51 9975 FA-21-264A 252.50 253.00 0.50 14.04 14.04 VG Area 51 9975 FA-21-264A 298.00 301.00 3.00 1.69 1.69 Area 51 9975 FA-21-264A 319.40 332.90 13.50 1.93 1.93 VG Area 51 9975 Including 319.40 319.90 0.50 34.20 34.20 VG Area 51 9975 FA-21-264A 403.60 404.10 0.50 92.38 50.00 VG Area 51 9975 FA-21-264A 452.60 454.70 2.10 5.73 5.73 VG Contact Zone 9975 FA-21-264A 470.30 471.90 1.60 3.99 3.99 VG Contact Zone 9975 FA-21-264A 497.00 508.70 11.70 4.95 4.95 VG Contact Zone & Tabasco 9975 Including 503.00 508.70 5.70 9.22 9.22 VG Contact Zone & Tabasco 9975 FA-21-264A 703.35 705.75 2.40 17.64 17.64 Cayenne 9975 Including 703.35 704.20 0.85 49.20 49.20 Cayenne 9975 FA-21-268A 341.00 355.00 14.00 1.06 1.06 Contact Zone 10250 Including 341.00 341.60 0.60 11.80 11.80 Contact Zone 10250 FA-21-268A 518.00 545.00 27.00 3.75 3.75 VG Tabasco & Cayenne 10250 Table 1. Wallbridge Fenelon Gold Property, Recent Drill Assay Highlights (1) Drill Hole From To Length Au Au Cut(2) VG(3) Gold Zone Section (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) Including 529.00 545.00 16.00 5.73 5.73 VG Tabasco & Cayenne 10250 FA-21-268A 558.70 559.30 0.60 10.19 10.19 VG Tabasco & Cayenne 10250 FA-21-273 No Significant Mineralization(4) 9525 FA-21-277 No Significant Mineralization(4) 10200 FA-21-280 113.40 117.70 4.30 2.19 2.19 VG Area 51 9750 FA-21-280 160.55 162.50 1.95 3.21 3.21 Area 51 9750 FA-21-280 251.90 261.00 9.10 1.53 1.53 Area 51 9750 Including 251.90 253.25 1.35 7.13 7.13 Area 51 9750

(1) Table includes only assay results received since the latest press release dated June 29, 2021.

(2) Au cut at: 100 g/t Au for the Tabasco/Contact zones; 60 g/t Au for the Cayenne zones; 50 g/t Au for the Area 51 zones.

(3) Intervals containing visible gold ("VG").

(4) Metal factor of at least 5 g/t*m and minimum weighted average composite grade of 1 g/t Au.

* Results reported here contain previously announced intervals that were extended with new assay results.

Note: True widths are estimated to be 5080% of the reported core length intervals.

Assay QA/QC and Qualified Persons

Drill core samples from the ongoing 2021 drill program at Fenelon are cut and bagged either on site or by contractors and transported to SGS Canada Inc., AGAT Laboratories Ltd. or Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. for analysis. In 2020 samples were submitted to either SGS Canada Inc. or ALS Canada Ltd. for analysis. Samples, along with standards and blanks that are included for quality assurance and quality control, were prepared and analyzed at the laboratories. Samples are crushed to 90% less than 2mm. A 1kg riffle split is pulverized to 85% passing 75 microns. 50g samples are analyzed by fire assay and AAS. At SGS, AGAT and Bureau Veritas samples >10g/t Au are automatically analyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish or screen metallic analysis. To test for coarse free gold and for additional quality assurance and quality control, Wallbridge requests screen metallic analysis for samples containing visible gold. These and future assay results may vary from time to time due to reanalysis for quality assurance and quality control.

The Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release is Peter Lauder, P.Geo, Exploration Manager of Wallbridge.

About Wallbridge Mining

Wallbridge is currently advancing the exploration and development of its 100%owned Fenelon Gold property which is located along the DetourFenelon Gold Trend, an emerging gold belt in northwestern Quebec. The Company completed approximately 102,000 metres of drilling in 2020 and currently conducting a fullyfunded 2021 program of approximately 170,000 metres of drilling and 2,500 metres of underground exploration development (Phase 1 of a 10,000metre program). The Company intends to complete a maiden mineral resource estimate on the Fenelon Gold System in the third quarter of 2021.

Wallbridge now holds several kilometres surrounding its rapidly expanding Fenelon discovery providing room for growth, as well as future mine development flexibility. Wallbridge's land holdings in Quebec along the DetourFenelon Gold Trend are over 900.0 km2, improving Wallbridge's potential for further discoveries for over 90kilometre strike length in this underexplored belt.

Wallbridge is also the operator of, and a 17.8% shareholder in, Lonmin Canada Inc., a privatelyheld company with a portfolio of nickel, copper, and platinumgroup metals (PGM) projects in Ontario's Sudbury Basin.

This news release has been authorized by the undersigned on behalf of Wallbridge Mining Company Limited.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.wallbridgemining.com or contact:

Wallbridge Mining Company Limited

Marz Kord, P. Eng., M. Sc., MBA

President & CEO

Tel: (705) 6829297 ext. 251

Email: mkord@wallbridgemining.com

Victoria Vargas, B.Sc. (Hon.) Economics, MBA

Investor Relations Advisor

Email: vvargas@wallbridgemining.com

This press release may contain certain forwardlooking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation relating to, among other things, the operations of Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (Wallbridge or Company) and the environment within which it operates. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of Wallbridge, future opportunities and anticipated goals, the Companys portfolio, treasury, management team, timetable to mineral resource estimation, permitting and the prospective mineralization of the properties, are forwardlooking statements that involve various risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. Generally, forwardlooking information can be identified by the use of forwardlooking terminology such as seeks, believes, anticipates, plans, continues, budget, scheduled, estimates, expects, forecasts, intends, projects, predicts, proposes, "potential", targets and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results may, will, could, would, should or might, be taken, occur or be achieved. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

By their nature, forwardlooking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes could differ materially from those contained in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, regulatory, environmental or other required approval, the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuations in prices of commodities, fluctuations in currency markets, actual results of additional exploration and development activities at the Companys projects, capital expenditures, the availability of any additional capital required to advance projects, accidents, or pandemic interruptions.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forwardlooking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These statements reflect the current internal projections, expectations or beliefs of the Company and are based on information currently available to the Company.

The Company does not undertake to update any forwardlooking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in those forwardlooking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon by investors as actual results may vary.

Risks and uncertainties about Wallbridges business are more fully discussed in the disclosure material filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available on SEDAR under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials and should not place undue reliance on the forwardlooking statements contained in this press release.

Covid19  Given the rapidly evolving nature of the Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic, Wallbridge is actively monitoring the situation in order to continue to maintain as best as possible the activities while striving to protect the health of its personnel. Wallbridge' activities will continue to align with the guidance provided by local, provincial and federal authorities in Canada. The Company has established measures to continue normal activities while protecting the health of its employees and stakeholders. Depending on the evolution of the virus, measures may affect the regular operations of Wallbridge and the participation of staff members in events inside or outside Canada.
New York, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "North America Energy Drink Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06126837/?utm_source=GNW

The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a weakened growth of industrial output and the decline in light-manufacturing production across significant manufacturing hubs, owing to the halting of production and disruption in the supply chain across the country. According to the US Department of Energys report published in July 2021, many LED manufacturers cited a decreased demand for lighting products due to the challenges faced after the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarterly earnings dropped substantially for publicly traded LED lighting manufacturers.









The growing demand for energy-efficient lighting systems, declining prices of LED products, and stringent government regulations are some of the major factors driving the adoption of LED lighting in the United States. LEDs have been undergoing rapid technological and economic development as a new source of illumination in the country, motivating investment in the sector. The United States is one of the significant adopters, innovators, and investors in the global LED market. LED lighting is currently available in a wide variety of home and industrial products in the domestic space, and the list has been growing significantly.



According to the US Department of Energy, most of the projected energy savings in 2035 may be driven by the increased use of LED lighting in commercial and industrial buildings and outdoor lighting applicationsapplications characterized by high light output and extended operating hours.



Moreover, Local manufacturers, like Acuity Brands, are some of the significant innovators at the domestic and global levels. The companys new product, Cadiant, has brought new development in the LED market. According to Cree, the cost premium of LED-based lamps in the United States has mostly been eliminated. Therefore, many consumers may continue to move to LEDs, given the inherent energy savings and long lifetimes, which is expected to improve the studied market growth over the forecast period significantly.



The integration of intelligent features for connected lighting has also been emerging as one of the significant drivers in the market studied, as LED is one of the major components. Government initiatives for smart cities have been majorly contributing to the increasing demand for smart lighting solutions. Connected lighting systems are anticipated to emerge as one of the most critical components of the smart city infrastructure. According to the Consumer Technology Association, smart city spending is expected to reach USD 26 billion by 2020.



With the rising smart home trend in the region, there has been an increasing demand for intelligent LED lighting systems connected with other electronic devices and can be controlled remotely. The regional market vendors have also been focusing on making connected lighting more accessible, which has also been bringing innovation at the global level.



Further, the market is witnessing challenges, such as decreased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decline in the automotive sector lighting due to the slowdown of automobile sales, and the requirement of high volumes to make manufacturing in the United States. Viable considering the cost associated with additive manufacturing and 3D printing as US-based manufacturers cited that additive manufacturing and automation in LED manufacturing can make the United States a more feasible option for production.







Key Market Trends



Residential Sector Accounts for the Largest Market Share









The residential segment occupies a significant share of the market, and it is expected to retain its position during the forecast period. LEDs have been witnessing an increasing adoption from the residential sector in the United States. Also, according to the Energy Information Administration, in FY 2020, the residential sector electricity consumption for the lighting was around 62 billion kWh, or approximately 4%, of the total residential sector electricity consumption and about 2% of the total US electricity consumption.



Moreover, Government regulations are significant factors shifting the residential consumers affinity toward more efficient products, such as LED lighting.? Despite the increasing market and regulatory uncertainties, residential lighting represents a significant share of ratepayer-funded energy efficiency electricity savings.



However, most of the energy efficiency programs have transitioned to promote solid-state LED lamps instead of CFLs. This transition may probably accelerate further because of the new ENERGY STAR v2.0 lighting specifications that are effectively limited to LED lamps. LEDs gained tremendous momentum and a higher market share, while future CFL production may become increasingly unlikely.



Incandescent light bulbs have been used traditionally in the United States for household lighting. The basic technology in incandescent bulbs has not changed substantially, although they convert less than 10% of their energy input into the light. Improving light bulb performance can reduce the overall energy usage in the United States, further driving the demand for LED lighting products.



Further, closet shed lights and other home applications require one or two LED lighting for operation and are often battery operated. Owing to the increasing consumer demand, several market players are offering solutions to capitalize on the opportunity. For instance, the US-based revolution lighting offers ambient luminaires for natural, flat, and ambient lighting needs, ideal for residential settings.







Outdoor LED Holds Major Share in the Market









The outdoor LED lighting in the United States covers areas like a roadway, parking, and exterior building lighting, to serve purposes like creating a sense of personal security, providing proper illumination for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and attracting attention to business and spaces.



Several government initiatives, public-private deals, and product innovations and improvisations are expected to boost the adoption of enhanced street lighting solutions in the country, thus boosting the market growth. For instance, the 70/75 Airport Logistics Access Project, led by the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District (TID), is considering a roadway project to improve access to the Dayton International Airport to address the significant growth in activity in the manufacturing, logistics, and distribution sector.



Moreover, the Michigan Department of Transportation partnered with Freeway Lighting Partner LLC signing a 15 years contract to design-build and finance the improvements on existing freeway and tunnel lighting systems and maintain the existing and improved lighting system for the remaining operating and maintenance period. Freeway Lighting Partner LLC will hand back the lighting system to MDOT at the end of the contract term.



In August 2020, the Department of Public Utilities in the City of Richmond was planning to convert 7,500 streetlight fixtures to LED lighting for residential and commercial uses to meet sustainability, safety, and security needs and provide much-needed public safety and quality of life.



Further, Innovative city projects have gained momentum over the last decade. More municipalities across the country have launched a wide variety of digital transformation initiatives to realize the benefits of utilizing technology to manage assets and resources that ultimately enhance city operations.







Competitive Landscape



The United States LED market is moderately competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with a prominent share in the market focus on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability.









March 2021 - NICHIA has announced its H6 series. Implemented into NICHIAs 3030 mid-power 757 packages to start, the new family of LEDs delivers the most significant multi-level boost in color rendition and efficacy while maintaining the outstanding lifetime expected from NICHIA.



March 2020 - Signify has acquired Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton for USD 1.5 billion. With this acquisition, the company planned to focus on innovation in connected lighting solutions and systems. This is designed to drive the companys revenue growth in the North American market, with an increased aim in professional revenues from 42% to 53%.







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Dublin, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market By Component (Outsourced and In-house), By Service (Front-end, Back-end and Middle-end), By End-use (Hospitals, Clinics and others), By Country, Growth Potential, Industry Analysis Report and Forecast, 2021 - 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market is expected to witness market growth of 12.5% CAGR during the forecast period (2021-2027).



Medical billing includes the revenue cycle management (RCM) process that is among the most complicated and important part of the healthcare sector. The existing systems which are used to manage revenue are slowly becoming outdated, owing to the absence of expert knowledge to manage the new payment models & revenue management tools.

In addition, the growth of the market is anticipated to be propelled owing to the growing utilization of billing and medical coding processes in the RCM. There are regular alterations in the classification systems for medical coding, which will also bolster the market for medical billing outsourcing. Many new codes were formed for COVID-19.



There are several benefits of medical billing outsourcing, which includes increasing the cash flow, reduction in equipment & software costs, decreasing the staff size & expenses and increasing the focus of the healthcare providers on their core activities. The growing geographical reach of the major companies by mergers & acquisitions is estimated to encourage the market for medical billing outsourcing in the forthcoming years.



The European region is among the major market for outsourcing medical billing services that is significantly driven by the increasing demand for reduction in the total healthcare costs. This region has more growth potential due to the aspects like ever-changing pricing and reimbursement policies, consolidation of big healthcare providers, and growing pressure on European healthcare providers to develop more sustainable healthcare systems.



All these factors will provide lucrative opportunities for the key players and regional players of the market to increase their market size. Europe region includes prominent countries like Germany and the UK, which have more healthcare budget allocation that will further increase the demand for medical billing outsourcing in the region for more efficient and effective utilization of funds.



The Germany market dominated the Europe Back-end Market by Country in 2020, thereby, achieving a market value of $228.7 million by 2027. The UK market is showcasing a CAGR of 11.5% during (2021-2027). Additionally, The France market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 14% during (2021-2027).



Based on Component, the market is segmented into Outsourced and In-house. Based on Service, the market is segmented into Front-end, Back-end and Middle-end. Based on End-use, the market is segmented into Hospitals, Clinics and others. Based on countries, the market is segmented into Germany, UK, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Rest of Europe.



Key companies profiled in the report include General Electric (GE) Co. (GE Healthcare), Quest Diagnostics, Incorporated, AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., Athenahealth, Inc. (Veritas Capital), McKesson Corporation, Genpact Limited, eClinicalWorks LLC, Experian PLC, R1 RCM, Inc., and Kareo.

General Electric (GE) Co. (GE Healthcare)

Quest Diagnostics, Incorporated

AllScripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.

Athenahealth, Inc. (Veritas Capital)

McKesson Corporation

Genpact Limited

eClinicalWorks LLC

Experian PLC

R1 RCM, Inc.

Kareo

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology

1.1 Market Definition

1.2 Objectives

1.3 Market Scope

1.4 Segmentation



Chapter 2. Market Overview

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Overview

2.1.2 Market Composition and Scenario

2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market

2.2.1 Market Drivers

2.2.2 Market Restraints



Chapter 3. Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by Component

3.1 Europe Outsourced Market by Country

3.2 Europe In-house Market by Country



Chapter 4. Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by Service

4.1 Europe Front-end Market by Country

4.2 Europe Back-end Market by Country

4.3 Europe Middle-end Market by Country



Chapter 5. Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by End-use

5.1 Europe Hospitals Market by Country

5.2 Europe Clinics Market by Country

5.3 Europe Others Market by Country



Chapter 6. Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by Country

6.1 Germany Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.1.1 Germany Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by Component

6.1.2 Germany Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by Service

6.1.3 Germany Medical Billing Outsourcing Market by End-use

6.2 UK Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.3 France Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.4 Russia Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.5 Spain Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.6 Italy Medical Billing Outsourcing Market

6.7 Rest of Europe Medical Billing Outsourcing Market



Chapter 7. Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3qygz0
TORONTO, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labrador Gold Corp. (TSX.V: LAB | OTCQX: NKOSF | FNR: 2N6) (LabGold or the Company) is pleased to announce the results of a till sampling program recently completed along the Appleton Fault Zone on its 100% controlled Kingsway project Newfoundland. The Kingsway project is located within the highly prospective Gander Gold District.



Highlights from the sampling program include:

Results of 59 till samples taken over the southern Kingsway property show contained gold grains ranging from 0 to 311 grains. Twelve of the 59 samples contain more than 50 gold grains, of which four contain more than 100 grains.

A sample containing 165 gold grains, of which 153 (93%) are pristine, occurs just down ice of Big Vein which is the likely source of the grains in this till sample.

Two samples containing 165 (96% pristine) and 311 (83% pristine) gold grains occur approximately 700 metres northeast (down ice) of Big Vein. The large number of pristine grains in these samples indicates a short transport distance suggesting a source other than Big Vein closer to the sample locations.

Similarly, a sample containing 101 gold grains, 28 of which are pristine, occurs a further 2.3km to the northeast, again suggesting a separate source.

The results from these till samples, together with anomalous soil geochemistry from the 2020 sampling survey, demonstrate the potential for the discovery of further gold mineralization along the Appleton Fault Zone.

We are very excited by the possibility of additional gold occurrences to the northeast of Big Vein along the Appleton Fault Zone demonstrated by these sample results, said Roger Moss, President and CEO of Labrador Gold. While our primary focus remains to drill the Big Vein target and find more high-grade gold mineralization, our field crews will follow up these till results in the coming weeks to generate targets for drilling later this year.

Figure 1. Results of till sampling along the Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ).

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8de89de5-83a2-4239-9763-4de2d9e99d7f

Labrador Gold Webinar



The Company is pleased to announce that President and CEO Roger Moss will be presenting an update from the Kingsway project in a live webinar taking place on Thursday, August 12th, 2021, at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET. The webinar will be hosted by Focus Communications Investor Relations ("FCIR") and Cory Fleck of the Korelin Economics Report. Participants are encouraged to submit any questions for the company prior to the event by emailing FCIR at info@fcir.ca.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Thursday, August 12th

Time: 1pm PT / 4pm ET

Registration: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/LAB

QA/QC

Till samples comprised of 10kg of material were collected, placed in plastic bags and sealed with single use ties. Samples were shipped by transport truck in plastic totes to Overburden Drilling Management (ODM) of Nepean, Ontario for processing. ODM uses custom gravity concentration including shaking tables and micro-panning of the resulting heavy mineral concentrates to recover gold grains from the samples. Any gold grains present are extracted for microscopic study to determine the morphology and dimensions of the grains.

Roger Moss, PhD., P.Geo., President and CEO of LabGold, a Qualified Person in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in NI 43-101, has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this release.

The Company gratefully acknowledges the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) Program for its financial support for exploration of the Kingsway property.

About Labrador Gold

Labrador Gold is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of prospective gold projects in Eastern Canada.

In early March 2020, Labrador Gold acquired the option to earn a 100% interest in the Kingsway project in the Gander area of Newfoundland. The property is along strike to the northeast of New Found Golds discovery of 92.86 g/t Au over 19.0 metres on their Queensway property. (Note that mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Companys property). In early July 2020, the Company signed an option agreement to acquire a third license to add to the property package which now covers approximately 77 km2. Infrastructure in the area is excellent located just 18km from the town of Gander with road access to the project, nearby electricity, and abundant local water.

The Hopedale gold property covers much of the Florence Lake greenstone belt that stretches over 60 km. The belt is typical of greenstone belts around the world but has been underexplored by comparison. Initial work by Labrador Gold has identified a 3 kilometre mineralized section of the northern portion of the belt in the vicinity of the known Thurber Dog gold showing where grab samples assayed up to 7.8g/t gold.

The Ashuanipi gold project is located just 35 km from the historical iron ore mining community of Schefferville, which is linked by rail to the port of Sept Iles, Quebec in the south. The claim blocks cover large lake sediment gold anomalies that, with the exception of local prospecting, have not seen a systematic modern day exploration program. Results of the exploration to date show gold anomalies in soils and lake sediments over a 15 kilometre long by 2 to 6 kilometre wide north-south trend and over a 14 kilometre long by 2 to 4 kilometre wide east-west trend.

The Company has 150,577,206 common shares issued and outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol LAB.

For more information please contact:

Roger Moss, President and CEO Tel: 416-704-8291

Or visit our website at: www.labradorgold.com

Twitter: @LabGoldCorp

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. When used in this document, the words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including those factors discussed in filings made by us with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties, such as actual results of current exploration programs, the general risks associated with the mining industry, the price of gold and other metals, currency and interest rate fluctuations, increased competition and general economic and market factors, occur or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, or expected. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Sparks, Maryland, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KCI Technologies Inc.s Chairman of the Board, Terry F. Neimeyer, PE, F.ASCE, F.ACEC, ENV SP, BCEE, has announced his retirement and will step down from his position on December 14, 2021. KCIs Board of Directors will select its next chairman at their December 2021 meeting.

It has been an honor to lead this organization over the last few decades. I am proud of our employee owners, the work we have completed, and the impact that our projects have made for our clients and communities. I know this transition will be seamless thanks to the KCI Board of Directors and the current leadership we have in place.  Terry Neimeyer, Chairman of the Board

Neimeyer joined KCI in 1977 and quickly assumed leadership roles of increasing responsibility before being named president and chief operating officer of the firm in 1995. Soon after, he became chief executive officer, a position he held for nearly two decades. Neimeyer has served as chairman of the board since 2001, and under his leadership, KCI has expanded to a nationwide geographical footprint and has continuously climbed positions on the Engineering News-Records list of Top 500 Design Firms, most recently landing at 48 on the annual rankings. He also led KCIs certification to an ISO 9001 quality standard, moved the firms headquarters into a 120,000 square-foot, LEED Gold-certified sustainable building, and launched internal programs aimed at training the next generation of leaders for the company. During his leadership years, KCIs stock value increased by 17,424%.

Terry has played an instrumental role in guiding the success of KCI. He is a remarkable leader, mentor and businessperson who has earned the utmost respect of those he has worked with and for. I feel privileged to have worked with and learned from him for so many years and am confident that his contributions and leadership will have a lasting impact on our firm.  Nathan Beil, Chief Executive Officer

Recently, Neimeyer was recognized by both the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers (MDSPE) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for his lifelong contributions to the industry. MDSPE named him an Icon of the Industry, an award that honors an individual who has made a significant impact on their community and the engineering profession, and in the fall, ASCE will award him with the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award, recognizing his lifetime accomplishments in management for exceptional management skills in his professional career.

His dedication to the industry is evident through his ongoing support for educational institutions and professional organizations. He served on advisory boards for the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering and the University of Delaware College of Engineering, has an annual student scholarship offered in his name at both institutions, and was selected as the Civil Engineering Alumnus of the Year in 2000 and the Alumni Wall of Fame in 2004 at the latter. He has served as chairman of the Baltimore County and Maryland Chambers of Commerce, chairman of the American Council of Engineering Companies, president of XL Insurance Design Professional Risk Control Group, and sat on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Transportation Builders and Materials Association. Neimeyer is a fellow of both the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Council of Engineering Companies and a graduate of Leadership Maryland.

Outside of the industry, Neimeyer is a visible leader whose philanthropic spirit has aided his local community. As past-president of the Maryland Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, his fundraising efforts have contributed toward finding a cure for a disease that affects the lives of more than 16 million Americans. He recently sat on the United Way of Central Marylands (UWCM) board of directors and co-chaired their 2017 annual corporate campaign, helping raise nearly $23 million. In 2011, he received the UWCMs Community Ambassador Award and in 2013, he chaired the organizations Tocqueville Society. Neimeyer has served on two legislative appointed panels in Maryland, the first a funding panel for the Shock Trauma system in the state and the second a retirement security commission on the readiness of Marylanders for retirement.

Neimeyer earned his bachelors degree in civil engineering from the University of Delaware, his masters degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and his Master of Business Administration from Wilmington University. He is a registered professional engineer in six states and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He earned his Envision Sustainability Professional Credential from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), an organization in which he served on the founding board and as chairman and guided the ISIs first group of certified professionals.

In his retirement, Neimeyer will maintain an office as an independent contractor at the firms Sparks, Maryland, headquarters where he will continue to advise the KCI Board of Directors as Chairman Emeritus and plans to serve as a part-time advisor to the AEC industry.

Photograph attached.

###

KCI Technologies

With sales in excess of $343 million in 2020, KCI Technologies Inc. is ranked among the top 50 engineering firms in the country by Engineering News-Record. Roughly 1,750 employee owners support clients from more than 55+ offices throughout the U.S. KCI offers environmental, transportation, telecommunications, construction, facilities and land development services to government, institutional and private-sector clients. For more information, visit www.kci.com.

Attachment
Portland, OR, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report, the global turbine motors market generated $194.1 billion in 2020, and is expected to generate $422.2 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 8.1% from 2021 to 2030. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the top investment pockets, top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, market size & estimations, competitive scenario, and wavering market trends.

Rise in demand for renewable and sustainable energy sources, replacement of fossil fuel power plants, reduction in fossil-based energy generation, and technological advancements drive the growth of the global turbine motors market. However, high initial installation cost and location constraints hinder the market growth. On the other hand, supportive government initiatives and subsidies, promotion of the steam turbine usage, and less lead time for the planning and construction of wind power projects present new opportunities in the coming years.

Download Report Sample (465 Pages PDF with Insights) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/12733

Covid-19 Scenario

Production activities of turbine motor manufacturers were hugely affected due to lockdown restrictions across the globe. Moreover, challenges such as disruptions in supply chain and dearth of raw materials hampered the business flow altogether, especially during the initial phase of the lockdown.

Shutdown of manufacturing and energy generating facilities gave way to dwindled demand for turbine motors during the lockdown. Nevertheless, the demand is expected to increase steadily post lockdown.

The global turbine motors market is analyzed across type, capacity, application, and region. Based on type, the wind turbine segment generated the major share in 2020, holding nearly three-fifths of the global turbine motors market, and is projected to retain the lions share during the forecast period. Nevertheless, the water turbine segment is expected to cite the fastest CAGR of 9.1% from 2021 to 2030.

Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Turbine Motors Market Request Here

By application, the industrial segment accounted for the highest share in 2020, holding nearly two-fifths of the global turbine motors market, and is expected to lead the trail by 2030. At the same time, the residential segment is projected to register the fastest CAGR of 8.7% from 2021 to 2030.

By region, the market across Europe held the major share in 2020, generating more than one-third of the global turbine motors market. Simultaneously, Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period. The other provinces studied in the report include North America and LAMEA.

Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/12733

The key market players analyzed in the global turbine motors market report include Canyon Industries Inc., General Electric, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., Litostroj Power Group, Norcan Hydraulic Turbine Inc., Turbocam, Arani Power, Andritz AG, Toshiba Hydroelectric Power, Voith Gmbh & Co. Kgaa, Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon Ltd., Chola Turbo Machinery International Pvt. Ltd., Doosan Skoda Power, Vestas Wind Systems Elliott Group, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Inc., Siemens AG, Turbine Generator Maintenance Inc. These market players have incorporated several strategies including partnership, expansion, collaboration, joint ventures, and others to brace their stand in the industry.

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HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Irving Shipbuilding is pleased to be a sponsor of the 5th Navy Bike Ride. The ride is charting the course for Canadas first-in-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, HMCS Harry DeWolf, as the ships crew set sail on their inaugural deployment through Canadas Arctic and North American waters.



This years event has special meaning for our team as the proud builders of HMCS Harry DeWolf, explains Kevin Mooney, President of Irving Shipbuilding. The Harry DeWolf Challenge is an opportunity to celebrate the delivery of this ship and enjoy the outdoors while supporting a great cause that helps those who bravely serve and their families. We have people of our team who have been part of the Navy Bike Ride from the very beginning. Together, we are biking hundreds of kilometres for Support Our Troops and the Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund. Building ships in Canada also means giving back in the communities where we are proud to live and work.

We are delighted to have the team at Irving Shipbuilding on board in support of the Navy Bike Ride. This years Harry DeWolf challenge celebrates the Royal Canadian Navys first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship, HMCS Harry DeWolf which was built at the Halifax Shipyard. We appreciate their corporate sponsorship and the involvement of their fine shipbuilders in this years ride, says Commander Chris Sherban, Navy Bike Ride Director

The generosity of Canadians, through their support of the Navy Bike Ride, assists Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families through the two beneficiary organizations, Support Our Troops and the Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund. Support Our Troops, the official charitable cause of the Canadian Armed Forces, provides financial assistance to promote family resiliency and to support Veterans and serving members with an illness or injury. The Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund, created at the end of the Second World War, provides financial assistance to members of the Navy family in distress and to promote their overall wellbeing.

CONTACT: Mary Keith

Vice President Communications

Irving Shipbuilding Inc

Office: (902) 484-2435

Cell: (506) 650-8209

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/80b4f3f2-97ab-4a64-be40-9488e0d9d6fd

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3e7d3ece-fdca-4aee-aca1-f0f31998a740
TORONTO, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX: XAM, TSX: XAM) (Xanadu or the Company) is pleased to provide an exploration update for the Red Mountain copper-gold district (Figure 3), a joint venture with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC JV).

Highlights

Drilling commenced at Red Mountain on a targeted approx. 2,450 metre program

Assay results returned for the 1,000 metres trenching program, confirming additional, shallow high-grade copper mineralisation at Stairy and extending zones of mineralisation seen in historic trenches

Significant results include:

OUTR100 returns 8m @ 2.03% eCu from 136m 1

OUTR104 returns 8m @ 1.94% eCu from 4m1

Varying thicknesses of copper mineralisation intersected in all trench assays

Exploration drilling will focus on shallow high-grade targets identified via trenching and previous drilling

Red Mountain district is being progressed as a standalone high-grade copper project, complementing the advanced large-scale Kharmagtai copper-gold district

Xanadus Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andrew Stewart, said We are very excited by shallow copper mineralisation in our surface trenching at Red Mountain. This confirms the mineralised structures are sub-vertical and up to twenty-four meters wide, potentially extending well over a kilometre. Importantly, our latest geological interpretation suggests these may be linked to a large-scale porphyry system at depth. The quality of Stairy and of the Red Mountain district continues to improve, laying a strong foundation for our new drilling program.

Stairy Trenching Results

Approximately 1,000 metres of trenching was completed at Stairy (Figure 1), designed to obtain geological (structural) data relating to the zones of mineralisation associated with previous company trenches. Multiple intercepts of strong copper mineralisation have been encountered (Appendix 1: Tables 1 and 2), including Trenches OUTR100 and OUTR104 shown below. These results indicate extensions of the mineralisation zones seen in historic trenches and provide important information for targeting future drilling programs.

Hole ID From2 Interval Au Ag Cu eCu OUTR100 22m 6m 0.01g/t 6.17g/t 0.77% 0.78% and 132m 19m 0.06g/t 8.14g/t 0.88% 0.91% including 136m 8m 0.13g/t 18.33g/t 1.96% 2.03% including 136m 6m 0.17g/t 23.60g/t 2.36% 2.45%



















Hole ID From2 Interval Au Ag Cu eCu OUTR104 0m 14m 0.03g/t 9.43g/t 1.32% 1.34% including 4m 8m 0.04g/t 13.78g/t 1.92% 1.94% and 38m 14m 0.02g/t 6.56g/t 0.95% 0.96% including 40m 12m 0.02g/t 7.62g/t 1.08% 1.09%

















Note that true widths will generally be narrower than those reported. See disclosure in JORC explanatory statement attached.

FIGURE 1: Trenching Results at Stairy, showing surface high-grade mineralisation.3 is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c0aee884-7352-43eb-9d0d-36fec08a3142



Stairy Drilling Program Commencing

An approximately 2,450-metre drilling program has commenced at the Red Mountain district, with the objective to delineate a near surface, low tonnage, high-grade copper deposit.

Targets are developed based on results of the recent 1,000 metre trenching program and drilling intercepts from the first quarter of 2021, which included drill hole OUDDH100 with 4m @ 15.85% Cu from 55m within 16m @ 4.09% Cu from 54m.4

About Stairy

The Stairy prospect consists of a 1.5km by 1km zone of sheeted mineralised structures hosted within the Stairy Intrusive in the central east of the Red Mountain Mining Lease (Figure 2). These structures are interpreted to be sub-vertical, up to twenty-four meters wide and can extend for over a kilometre.

Copper mineralisation at Stairy consists of bornite and chalcopyrite sulphide with quartz carbonate fill. The current geological interpretations suggest these sheeted structures may be linked to a large-scale porphyry system at depth.

FIGURE 2: Red Mountain Mining Licence, showing ground Landsat data and priority target locations is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2d585fec-1e9a-4db8-afb4-53faff32ddfb

About Red Mountain

The Red Mountain district is located within the Dornogovi Province of southern Mongolia, approximately 420 kilometres southeast of Ulaanbaatar (Figure 3) and is a joint venture between Xanadu and JOGMEC, in which JOGMEC may earn up to 51% beneficial interest in the project by sole funding up to $US7.2 million in exploration expenditure over 4 years, commencing April 2020.

Red Mountain covers approximately 57 square kilometres in a frontier terrane with significant mineral endowment, and it has a granted 30-year mining licence. Red Mountain comprises a cluster of outcropping mineralising porphyry intrusions which display features typically found in the shallower parts of porphyry systems where narrow dykes and patchy mineralisation branch out above a mineralised stock. This includes multiple porphyry copper-gold centres, mineralised tourmaline breccia pipes copper-gold/base metal skarns and high-grade epithermal gold veins.

FIGURE 3: Location of the Red Mountain district in the South Gobi porphyry copper belt is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ed706c28-6083-49db-b32c-358dd35706ef

About Xanadu Mines

Xanadu is an ASX and TSX listed Exploration company operating in Mongolia. We give investors exposure to globally significant, large scale copper-gold discoveries and low-cost inventory growth. Xanadu maintains a portfolio of exploration projects and remains one of the few junior explorers on the ASX or TSX who control a globally significant copper-gold deposit in our flagship Kharmagtai project. For information on Xanadu visit: www.xanadumines.com.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Stewart

Chief Executive Officer

T: +61 2 8280 7497

M: +61 409 819 922

E: Andrew.stewart@xanadumines.com

W: www.xanadumines.com

This Announcement was authorised for release by Xanadus Board of Directors.

Appendix 1: Trenching Results

Table 1: Trench locations

Hole ID Prospect East North RL Azimuth () Depth (m) OUTR100 Stairy 378456 4939918 1056 203 151.1 OUTR101 Stairy 378346 4939874 1056 217 160.0 OUTR102 Stairy 378444 4940018 1058 155 100.0 OUTR103 Stairy 378550 4939640 1050 180 140.0 OUTR103A Stairy 378550 4939725 1053 180 85.0 OUTR104 Stairy 378656 4939694 1051 152 100.0 OUTR105 Stairy 378370 4939583 1052 180 175.0 OUTR106 Stairy 378980 4939790 1047 180 125.0 OUTR107 Stairy 378725 4939390 1045 180 50.0

Table 2: Significant trench results

Hole ID Prospect From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) CuEq (%) AuEq (g/t) OUTR100 Stairy 22 28 6 0.01 6.17 0.77 0.78 1.53 and 132 151.1 19.1 0.06 8.14 0.88 0.91 1.77 including 136 144 8 0.13 18.33 1.96 2.03 3.97 including 136 142 6 0.17 23.60 2.36 2.45 4.79 OUTR101 Stairy 96 113 17 0.01 2.32 0.32 0.33 0.64 and 123 131 8 0.01 0.42 0.09 0.09 0.18 OUTR103 Stairy 94 97.5 3.5 0.02 2.86 0.69 0.70 1.37 OUTR104 Stairy 0 14 14 0.03 9.43 1.32 1.34 2.62 including 4 12 8 0.04 13.78 1.92 1.94 3.80 and 38 52 14 0.02 6.56 0.95 0.96 1.88 including 40 52 12 0.02 7.62 1.08 1.09 2.12 OUTR105 Stairy 32 46 14 0.01 0.77 0.24 0.24 0.48 including 34 38 4 0.01 1.10 0.44 0.44 0.86 and 102 114 12 0.01 0.71 0.10 0.10 0.20 and 130 160 30 0.01 0.37 0.12 0.12 0.24 including 130 136 6 0.01 0.70 0.27 0.28 0.54

Appendix 2: Statements and Disclaimers

Competent Person Statement

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Dr Andrew Stewart, who is responsible for the exploration data, comments on exploration target sizes, QA/QC and geological interpretation and information. Dr Stewart, who is an employee of Xanadu and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists, has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify as the Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves and the National Instrument 43-101. Dr Stewart consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Copper Equivalent Calculations

The copper equivalent (eCu) calculation represents the total metal value for each metal, multiplied by the conversion factor, summed and expressed in equivalent copper percentage with a metallurgical recovery factor applied. The copper equivalent calculation used is based off the eCu calculation defined by CSA in the 2018 Mineral Resource Upgrade for Xanadus Kharmagtai project.5

Copper equivalent (eCu) grade values were calculated using the following formula:

eCu = Cu + Au * 0.62097 * 0.8235,

Where Cu = copper grade (%); Au = gold grade (gold per tonne (g/t)); 0.62097 = conversion factor (gold to copper); and 0.8235 = relative recovery of gold to copper (82.35%).

The copper equivalent formula was based on the following parameters (prices are in USD): Copper price = 3.1 $/lb (or 6,834 $ per tonne ($/t)); Gold price = 1,320 $ per ounce ($/oz); Copper recovery = 85%; Gold recovery = 70%; and Relative recovery of gold to copper = 70% / 85% = 82.35%.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this Announcement, including information as to the future financial or operating performance of Xanadu and its projects may also include statements which are forwardlooking statements that may include, amongst other things, statements regarding targets, estimates and assumptions in respect of mineral reserves and mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices, recovery costs and results, capital expenditures and are or may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other conditions. These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Xanadu, are inherently subject to significant technical, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such forwardlooking statements.

Xanadu disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, circumstances or results or otherwise after the date of this Announcement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than required by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The words believe, expect, anticipate, indicate, contemplate, target, plan, intends, continue, budget, estimate, may, will, schedule and similar expressions identify forwardlooking statements.

All forwardlooking statements made in this Announcement are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned that forwardlooking statements are not guarantee of future performance and accordingly investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forwardlooking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

For further information please visit the Xanadu Mines Website at www.xanadumines.com.

Appendix 3: Red Mountain Table 1 (JORC 2012)

Set out below is Section 1 and Section 2 of Table 1 under the JORC Code, 2012 Edition for the Red Mountain project. Data provided by Xanadu. This Table 1 updates the JORC Table 1 disclosure dated 22 July 2021.6

1.1 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 1 - SAMPLING TECHNIQUES AND DATA

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling

techniques Nature and quality of sampling (e.g. cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (e.g. reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases, more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (e.g. submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. The exploration results are based on diamond drill core samples, reverse circulation (RC) chip samples and channel samples from surface trenches.

Representative  core samples were split from PQ, HQ & NQ diameter diamond drill core on site using rock saws, on a routine two metre sample interval that also honors lithological/intrusive contacts.

The orientation of the cut line is controlled using the core orientation line ensuring uniformity of core splitting wherever the core has been successfully oriented.

Sample intervals are defined and subsequently checked by geologists, and sample tags are attached (stapled) to the plastic core trays for every sample interval.

RC chip samples are  splits from 1m intervals using a 75%:25% riffle splitter to obtain a 3kg sample.

RC samples are uniform 2m samples formed from the combination of two  split 1m samples.

Trench samples are collected as 2m composite from 30m above the trench toe.

Sampling generally honors lithological contacts.

Trench samples are continuous along the length of the trench Drilling

techniques Drill type (e.g. core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc.) and details (e.g. core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc.). The exploration results are based upon diamond drilling of PQ, HQ and NQ diameters with both standard and triple tube core recovery configurations, RC drilling and surface trenching with channel sampling.

All drill core drilled by Xanadu has been oriented using the Reflex Ace tool. Drill sample

recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. Diamond drill core recoveries were assessed using the standard industry (best) practice which involves: removing the core from core trays; reassembling multiple core runs in a v-rail; measuring core lengths with a tape measure, assessing recovery against core block depth measurements and recording any measured core loss for each core run.

Diamond core recoveries average 97% through mineralization.

Overall, core quality is good, with minimal core loss. Where there is localized faulting and or fracturing core recoveries decrease, however, this is a very small percentage of the mineralized intersections.

RC recoveries are measured using whole weight of each 1m intercept measured before splitting

Analysis of recovery results vs grade shows no significant trends that might indicate sampling bias introduced by variable recovery in fault/fracture zones. Logging Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc.) photography.

The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. All drill core is geologically logged by well-trained geologists using a modified Anaconda-style logging system methodology. The Anaconda method of logging and mapping is specifically designed for porphyry Cu-Au mineral systems.

Logging of lithology, alteration and mineralogy is intrinsically qualitative in nature. However, the logging is subsequently supported by 4 Acid ICP-MS (48 element) geochemistry and SWIR spectral mineralogy (facilitating semi-quantitative / calculated mineralogical, lithological and alteration classification) which is integrated with the logging to improve cross section interpretation and 3D geological model development.

Drill core is also systematically logged for both geotechnical features and geological structures. Where drill core has been successfully oriented, the orientation of structures and geotechnical features are also routinely measured.

Both wet and dry core photos are taken after core has been logged and marked-up but before drill core has been cut. Sub -

sampling

techniques

and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in-situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. All drill core samples are  core splits from either PQ, HQ or NQ diameter cores. A routine 2m sample interval is used, but this is varied locally to honour lithological/intrusive contacts. The minimum allowed sample length is 30cm.

Core is appropriately split (onsite) using diamond core saws with the cut line routinely located relative to the core orientation line (where present) to provide consistency of sample split selection.

The diamond saws are regularly flushed with water to minimize potential contamination.

A field duplicate  core sample is collected every 30 th sample to ensure the representivity of the in-situ material collected. The performance of these field duplicates is routinely analysed as part of Xanadus sample QC process.

sample to ensure the representivity of the in-situ material collected. The performance of these field duplicates is routinely analysed as part of Xanadus sample QC process. Routine sample preparation and analyses of DDH samples were carried out by ALS Mongolia LLC (ALS Mongolia), who operates an independent sample preparation and analytical laboratory in Ulaanbaatar.

All samples were prepared to meet standard quality control procedures as follows: Crushed to 75% passing 2mm, split to 1kg, pulverised to 85% passing 200 mesh (75 microns) and split to 150g sample pulp.

ALS Mongolia Geochemistry labs quality management system is certified to ISO 9001:2008.

The sample support (sub-sample mass and comminution) is appropriate for the grainsize and Cu-Au distribution of the porphyry Cu-Au mineralization and associated host rocks.

Trench samples by previous explorers between 2001 to 2007 were prepared and assayed by SGS Mongolia. Quality of

assay data

and

laboratory

tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g. standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. All XAM samples were routinely assayed by ALS Mongolia for gold.

Au is determined using a 25g fire assay fusion, cupelled to obtain a bead, and digested with Aqua Regia, followed by an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish, with a lower detection (LDL) of 0.01 ppm.

All samples were also submitted to ALS Mongolia for the 48-element package ME-ICP61 using a four-acid digest (considered to be an effective total digest for the elements relevant to the MRE). Where copper is over-range (>1% Cu), it is analysed by a second analytical technique (Cu-OG62), which has a higher upper detection limit (UDL) of 5% copper.

Quality assurance has been managed by insertion of appropriate Standards (1:30 samples - suitable Ore Research Pty Ltd certified standards), Blanks (1:30 samples), Duplicates (1:30 samples -  core duplicate) by XAM.

Assay results outside the optimal range for methods were re-analysed by appropriate methods.

Ore Research Pty Ltd certified copper and gold standards have been implemented as a part of QC procedures, as well as coarse and pulp blanks, and certified matrix matched copper-gold standards.

QC monitoring is an active and ongoing processes on batch-by-batch basis by which unacceptable results are re-assayed as soon as practicable.

Prior to 2014: Cu, Ag, Pb, Zn, As and Mo were routinely determined using a three-acid-digestion of a 0.3g sub-sample followed by an AAS finish (AAS21R) at SGS Mongolia. Samples were digested with nitric, hydrochloric and perchloric acids to dryness before leaching with hydrochloric acid to dissolve soluble salts and made to 15ml volume with distilled water. The LDL for copper using this technique was 2ppm. Where copper was over-range (>1% Cu), it was analysed by a second analytical technique (AAS22S), which has a higher upper detection limit (UDL) of 5% copper. Gold analysis method was essentially unchanged.

Trenching samples from 2001 to 2007 were analysed for 6 elements (Cu, Ag, Pb, Zn, As and Mo) by SGS Mongolia using a three-acid-digestion of a 0.3g sub-sample followed by an AAS finish (AAS21R). Samples were digested with nitric, hydrochloric and perchloric acids to dryness before leaching with hydrochloric acid to dissolve soluble salts and made to 15ml volume with distilled water. The LDL for copper using this technique was 2ppm. Where copper was over-range (>1% Cu), it was analysed by a second analytical technique (AAS22S), which has a higher upper detection limit (UDL) of 5% copper. Gold analysis method was essentially unchanged. Verification

of sampling

and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data. All assay data QA/QC is checked prior to loading into XAMs Geobank data base.

The data is managed by XAM geologists.

The data base and geological interpretation is managed by XAM.

Check assays are submitted to an umpire lab (SGS Mongolia) for duplicate analysis.

No twinned drill holes exist.

There have been no adjustments to any of the assay data. Location of

data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. Diamond drill holes have been surveyed with a differential global positioning system (DGPS) to within 10cm accuracy.

The grid system used for the project is UTM WGS-84 Zone 49N

Historically, Eastman Kodak and Flexit electronic multi-shot downhole survey tools have been used at Red Mountain to collect down hole azimuth and inclination information for the majority of the diamond drill holes. Single shots were typically taken every 30m to 50m during the drilling process, and a multi-shot survey with readings every 3-5m are conducted at the completion of the drill hole. As these tools rely on the earths magnetic field to measure azimuth, there is some localised interference/inaccuracy introduced by the presence of magnetite in some parts of the Red Mountain mineral system. The extent of this interference cannot be quantified on a reading-by-reading basis.

More recently (since September 2017), a north-seeking gyro has been employed by the drilling crews on site (rented and operated by the drilling contractor), providing accurate downhole orientation measurements unaffected by magnetic effects. Xanadu have a permanent calibration station setup for the gyro tool, which is routinely calibrated every 2 weeks (calibration records are maintained and were sighted).

The project DTM is based on 1 m contours from satellite imagery with an accuracy of 0.1 m.

Trenching locations for trenches between 2001 and 2007 were located using a handheld GPS. Data spacing

and

distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing, and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied. Holes spacings range from <50m spacings within the core of mineralization to +500m spacings for exploration drilling. Hole spacings can be determined using the sections and drill plans provided.

Holes range from vertical to an inclination of -60 degrees depending on the attitude of the target and the drilling method.

The data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish anomalism and targeting for porphyry Cu-Au, tourmaline breccia and epithermal target types.

Holes have been drilled to a maximum of 1,300m vertical depth.

The data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish geological and grade continuity. Orientation of

data in

relation to

geological

structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. Drilling is conducted in a predominantly regular grid to allow unbiased interpretation and targeting.

Scissor drilling, as well as some vertical and oblique drilling, has been used in key mineralised zones to achieve unbiased sampling of interpreted structures and mineralised zones, and in particular to assist in constraining the geometry of the mineralised hydrothermal tourmaline-sulphide breccia domains. Sample

security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Samples are delivered from the drill rig to the core shed twice daily and are never left unattended at the rig.

Samples are dispatched from site in locked boxes transported on XAM company vehicles to ALS lab in Ulaanbaatar.

Sample shipment receipt is signed off at the Laboratory with additional email confirmation of receipt.

Samples are then stored at the lab and returned to a locked storage site. Audits or

reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. Internal audits of sampling techniques and data management are undertaken on a regular basis, to ensure industry best practice is employed at all times. External reviews and audits have been conducted by the following groups: 2012: AMC Consultants Pty Ltd. was engaged to conduct an Independent Technical Report which reviewed drilling and sampling procedures. It was concluded that sampling and data record was to an appropriate standard. 2013: Mining Associates Ltd. was engaged to conduct an Independent Technical Report to review drilling, sampling techniques and QAQC. Methods were found to conform to international best practice.



1.2 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 2 - REPORTING OF EXPLORATION RESULTS

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections).

Criteria JORC Code (Section 2) Explanation Commentary Mineral

tenement

and land

tenure

status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a license to operate in the area. The Project comprises 1 Mining Licence (MV-17129A).

Xanadu now owns 90% of Vantage LLC, the 100% owner of the Oyut Ulaan mining licence.

The Mongolian Minerals Law (2006) and Mongolian Land Law (2002) govern exploration, mining and land use rights for the project. Exploration

done by

other

parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. Previous exploration was conducted by Quincunx Ltd, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd including extensive drilling, surface geochemistry, geophysics, mapping. Geology



Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The mineralisation is characterised as porphyry copper-gold type.

Porphyry copper-gold deposits are formed from magmatic hydrothermal fluids typically associated with felsic intrusive stocks that have deposited metals as sulphides both within the intrusive and the intruded host rocks. Quartz stockwork veining is typically associated with sulphides occurring both within the quartz veinlets and disseminated thought out the wall rock. Porphyry deposits are typically large tonnage deposits ranging from low to high grade and are generally mined by large scale open pit or underground bulk mining methods. The deposits at Red Mountain are atypical in that they are associated with intermediate intrusions of diorite to quartz diorite composition; however the deposits are in terms of contained gold significant, and similar gold-rich porphyry deposits. Drill hole

Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes:

easting and northing of the drill hole collar.

elevation or RL Reduced Level - elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar.

dip and azimuth of the hole

down hole length and interception depth

hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. Diamond drill holes are the principal source of geological and grade data for the Project.

See figures in this ASX/TSX Announcement. Data

Aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g. cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. A nominal cut-off of 0.1% eCu is used in copper dominant systems for identification of potentially significant intercepts for reporting purposes. Higher grade cut-offs are 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% eCu.

A nominal cut-off of 0.1g/t eAu is used in gold dominant systems like for identification of potentially significant intercepts for reporting purposes. Higher grade cut-offs are 0.3g/t, 0.6g/t and 1g/t eAu.

Maximum contiguous dilution within each intercept is 9m for 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% eCu.

Most of the reported intercepts are shown in sufficient detail, including maxima and subintervals, to allow the reader to make an assessment of the balance of high and low grades in the intercept.

Informing samples have been composited to two metre lengths honouring the geological domains and adjusted where necessary to ensure that no residual sample lengths have been excluded (best fit). The copper equivalent ( eCu ) calculation represents the total metal value for each metal, multiplied by the conversion factor, summed and expressed in equivalent copper percentage with a metallurgical recovery factor applied.

) calculation represents the total metal value for each metal, multiplied by the conversion factor, summed and expressed in equivalent copper percentage with a metallurgical recovery factor applied. Copper equivalent ( CuEq or eCu ) grade values were calculated using the following formula:



 eCu or CuEq = Cu + Au * 0.62097 * 0.8235,

or ) grade values were calculated using the following formula:  eCu or CuEq = Cu + Au * 0.62097 * 0.8235, Gold Equivalent ( eAu ) grade values were calculated using the following formula:



 eAu = Au + Cu / 0.62097 * 0.8235.

) grade values were calculated using the following formula:  eAu = Au + Cu / 0.62097 * 0.8235. Where:

Cu - copper grade (%)

Au - gold grade (g/t)

0.62097 - conversion factor (gold to copper)

0.8235 - relative recovery of gold to copper (82.35%)

The copper equivalent formula was based on the following parameters (prices are in USD):

Copper price - 3.1 $/lb (or 6834 $/t)

Gold price - 1320 $/oz

Copper recovery - 85%

Gold recovery - 70%

Relative recovery of gold to copper = 70% / 85% = 82.35%. Relationship between mineralisation

on widths

and intercept

lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (e.g. down hole length, true width not known). Mineralised structures are variable in orientation, and therefore drill orientations have been adjusted from place to place in order to allow intersection angles as close as possible to true widths.

Exploration results have been reported as an interval with 'from' and 'to' stated in tables of significant economic intercepts. Tables clearly indicate that true widths will generally be narrower than those reported. Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. See figures in this ASX/TSX Announcement. Balanced

Reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. Exploration results have been reported at a range of cut-off grades, above a minimum suitable for open pit mining, and above a minimum suitable for underground mining. Other

substantive

exploration

data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk samples  size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. Extensive work in this area has been done and is reported separately. Further

Work The nature and scale of planned further work (e.g. tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. The mineralisation is open at depth and along strike.

Current estimates are restricted to those expected to be reasonable for open pit mining. Limited drilling below this depth (-300m RLl) shows widths and grades potentially suitable for underground extraction.

Exploration on going.

1.3 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 3 ESTIMATION AND REPORTING OF MINERAL RESOURCES



Mineral Resources are not reported so this is not applicable to this report.

1.4 JORC TABLE 1 - SECTION 4 ESTIMATION AND REPORTING OF ORE RESERVES

Ore Reserves are not reported so this is not applicable to this report.

__________________________________________________________________

1 Refers to horizontal distance along the trench

2 Refers to horizontal distance long the trench

3 ASX/TSX Announcement 16 June 2021 - Multiple strong MLEM conductors detected at Stairy

4 ASX/TSX Announcement 23 March 2021 - Shallow Bornite Mineralisation at Red Mountain

5 ASX Announcement 31 October 2018 - Major increase in Kharmagtai Open-Cut Resource to 1.9Mt Cu & 4.3Moz AU

6 ASX Announcement 22 July 2021  Target Program Completed at Red Mountain
Washington, D.C., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calling it an imperative to improve equity, access, and health outcomes, today CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and a coalition of health industry executives, clinical professionals, public health experts, and advocates sent a letter to Congress urging expansion of Medicare to include dental benefits.



The letter, sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Finance Committee Chair Roy Wyden, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, Jr., and Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal, called on Congress to pay for this critical expansion with savings realized through negotiating prescription drug prices.

The letter follows the release of a recent Morning Consult poll, showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum and across the country favor adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare. The poll revealed that 84% of all voters  89% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans  favored inclusion of these benefits in Medicare.

Medicares lack of an oral health benefit means that two-thirds of all enrollees  more than 37 million Americans  do not have dental coverage, the group states in their letter. These are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other people of color, those with disabilities, and those living in rural communities who are left without a way to afford the care they need to maintain health and well-being. For example, in the last year seven out of 10 Black Medicare enrollees and six out of 10 Hispanic enrollees did not see a dentist, and 20 percent of rural seniors have not seen a dentist in more than five years. This disproportionate lack of access to care can have serious consequences. One study showed that almost half of American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 65 or older had untreated tooth decay, compared to 19% of that age group for the U.S. as a whole.

The letter makes clear that strengthening Medicare by including dental coverage is not only an equity issue, but also makes financial sense, as studies have shown that adding the benefit would result in a reduction of long-term health care costs. Providing benefits to people with chronic conditions has been shown to result in reduced health care spending. Additionally, people without dental benefits are also more likely to seek dental care at emergency departments, which are not equipped to provide this type of care and add significant costs to our health care system.

The group calls for funding the enhanced benefit package by allowing the federal government to negotiate prescription drug costs in Medicare, which the Congressional Budget Office projects would result in $456 billion in savings. Allowing drug price negotiation would also reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs to Medicare enrollees.

The letters signatories include American Dental Hygienists Association, Arcora Foundation, Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, Community Catalyst, Families USA, Hispanic Dental Association, National Dental Association, National Dental Hygienists Association, National Indian Health Board, National Rural Health Association, Oral Health Progress and Equity Network, Project Accessible Oral Health, Santa Fe Group, and Dr. Bruce Donoff, DMD, MD, FACS, FACD, former Dean of Harvard School of Dental Medicine. The group behind the letter came together at the start of the pandemic to highlight and address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our nations oral health.

About Medicare Dental Coverage

Medicare does not currently include coverage for dental health services as a standard benefit. Of the 60 million older adults and individuals with disabilities who receive Medicare benefits, 67% of them  37 million  do not have dental coverage. Low-income adults and people of color are overrepresented in this group. Poor oral health is linked with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and pneumonia, the risk of which increases among older adults.

About CareQuest Institute for Oral Health

CareQuest Institute for Oral Health is a national nonprofit championing a more equitable future where every person can reach their full potential through excellent health. We do this through our work in grantmaking, research, health improvement programs, policy and advocacy, and education as well as our leadership in dental benefits, care delivery, and innovation advancements. We collaborate with thought leaders, health care providers, patients, and local, state, and federal stakeholders to accelerate oral health care transformation and create a system designed for everyone. To learn more, visit carequest.org.

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THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asante Gold Corporation (CSE:ASE/ FRANKFURT:1A9/U.S.OTC:ASGOF) (Asante or the "Company") announces that it has recruited an industry proven operations leadership team that is tasked with expanding the resources and fast tracking the development of the Bibiani Gold Mine to production within the next year.

New Management Team

Dave Anthony: Chief Operating Officer

A resident of Canada, Mr. Anthony holds a BSc Mining Engineering from Queens University. He has +40 years international experience in mining and mineral processing mostly gained at the senior management & executive levels in gold process plant design, permitting, construction and operation. This includes 10 years in Africa, where he worked to become COO of African Barrick Gold.

He has designed, delivered and operated open pit and underground mine assets with CAPEX from $100M to $3.6B and with total material movement to 65 Mt/y.

Eben Swanepoel: Project Director

A resident of South Africa, Mr. Swanepoel has 43 years mining experience in open pit and underground mining. He holds a Masters in Engineering, GDE in Mineral Economics and a 4-year diploma in Mine Survey.

Mr. Swanepoel has worked on various mines in Africa of which the latest was the Galiano Gold - Goldfields Nkran Mine in Ghana where he held the position of General Manager - Operations for 4 years. During this time, the company was voted as the best mining company in Ghana for 2 consecutive years. He has held various positions from General Manager to CEO and Project Director. He was also a Director of Tati Nickel Mining Co. Ltd.

Dean Bertram: Executive General Manager

A resident of Ghana, Mr. Bertram has held the position of Managing Director of Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited for the past 2 years and has served on the boards of Resolute Mining Limiteds Ghanaian and Ivorian subsidiaries since 2008. A geologist by profession, Mr. Bertram has 35 years mining and exploration experience, including 30 years in West Africa. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

Paul Abbott: Manager Geology

A resident of Ghana, Mr. Abbott holds a General MSc. in geology with 50 years of international exploration and mining experience, including 30 years in West Africa, primarily in Ghana. Mr. Abbott is credited with numerous gold discoveries, most recently the 7.0Moz Namdini gold deposit being developed by Cardinal Resources in northern Ghana. He has worked extensively at Kubi and on delineation of the 4.5Moz Obotan deposit for PMI Gold Corporation (now the Galiano Gold - Goldfields Nkran Mine), on Ghanas Asankrangwa gold belt.

"Douglas R. MacQuarrie"

President and CEO

About Asante Gold Corporation

Asante is a pure gold exploration and development company with a high-quality portfolio of projects in Ghana, Africas largest and safest gold producer. Asante is focused on developing high margin gold projects including the Bibiani and Kubi Gold mines located on the prolific Bibiani and Ashanti Gold Belts. Asante has an experienced and skilled team of mine finders, builders and operators, with more than 24Moz of gold resources and reserves discovered and developed in Ghana. Asante is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange and has announced plans to co-list its shares in Ghana. Asante is also exploring its Keyhole, Fahiakoba and Betenase projects for new discoveries, all adjoining or along strike of major gold mines near the centre of Ghanas Golden Triangle. Additional information is available on our web site at: www.asantegold.com

About the Bibiani Gold Mine

Bibiani is a historically significant Ghanaian gold mine situated in the western region of the country. Bibiani has previous production of 4Moz, is fully permitted with available mining and processing infrastructure on site consisting of a 3 million tonne per annum mill and processing plant, and existing underground mining infrastructure. Resolute acquired Bibiani in 2014 through a Scheme of Arrangement supported by the Ghanaian Government. The Company placed the mine on care and maintenance following the acquisition to complete exploration activities designed to enable the development of an economically viable, long term, large scale underground operation. In July 2018, Resolute, based on some 50,500 metres of drilling completed since 2015, released an updated feasibility study for Bibiani (see ASX Announcement dated 13 July 2018) and published current JORC compliant Mineral Resources of 21.7 million tonnes at 3.6 grams of gold per tonne for 2.5Moz of gold.

Qualified Person Statement

Scientific and technical information contained in this news release that relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves for the Bibiani Gold Mine, is based on information compiled from public disclosure by ASX and LSE listed Resolute Mining Limited. The information has been reviewed and approved by Dan Bansah the Chairman and MD of Minecon Resources & Services Ltd. of Accra, Ghana, a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. Mr. Bansah has over 30 years-experience in the gold mining industry in Africa including 16 years with Ashanti Goldfields when it operated the Bibiani mine. He has an MSc. in Mineral Exploration with Distinction from Leicester University, UK, is a Member and a Chartered Professional of AusIMM, a Fellow of the West African Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (WAIMM) and a Member of the Ghana Institute of Geoscientists.

Mr. Bansah has recently visited the Bibiani mine and reviewed and confirmed the current project exploration database and he is content that based on his review and his experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken, there are no differences to the data that would materially affect the mineral resource statements contained in the Bibiani Feasibility Study published by Resolute on 13 July 2018 on the ASX and the Competent Persons Report for the Bibiani Gold Mine dated 17 June 2019 and prepared for Resolute for their London Stock Exchange listing by Optiro Pty Ltd. of Perth, Western Australia.

To the best of the Companys knowledge, information, and belief, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the Bibiani mineral resources, mineral reserves or results of the Bibiani Feasibility study inaccurate or misleading. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

For further information please contact:

Douglas MacQuarrie, President & CEO, tel: +1 604-558-1134; E-mail: douglas@asantegold.com

Malik Easah, Executive Director, E-mail: malik@asantegold.com

Alec Rowlands, Capital Markets Consultant, E-mail: alec@asantegold.com

Valentina Gvozdeva, Business Development, E-mail: valentina@asantegold.com

Kirsti Mattson, Media Relations, E-mail: kirsti.mattson@gmail.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the resources, reserves, exploration and development program at Bibiani and Kubi, including results of drilling, and future exploration plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its planned activities, and the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. The reader is referred to the Company's public disclosure record which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except as required by securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. No securities of the Company have been or will, in the foreseeable future, be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the 1933 Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

LEI Number: 529900F9PV1G9S5YD446. Neither IIROC nor any stock exchange or other securities regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Military entrepreneurs looking to build a business can turn to Berkeley College for support as the presenting sponsor of the Patriot Boot Camp Virtual Fall 2021 program aimed at providing business education and mentorship to military veterans, service members and military spouses, including those located overseas.

The two-day program, which takes place on Thursday, October 14 and Friday, October 15, 2021, will educate 50 military veterans, service members or their spouses on how to launch, innovate and scale their ideation-stage technology-focused businesses. Topics related to funding, marketing, mission transition and pitching will be explored, in addition to networking opportunities.

Participants will have access to world-class speakers, mentorship and a community of experts dedicated to assisting members of the military, veterans and military spouses at no cost. Applications are required. The ideal candidate profile for Patriot Boot Camp is a military-affiliated technology-based founder of a startup, as well as those in the ideation and very early-stages of launching a tech-focused business. Military-aligned entrepreneurs located in the United States and overseas are also strongly encouraged to apply. The application is available from August 5 through August 31, 2021.

Berkeley College has a longstanding commitment to the welfare and success of military students, veterans, and their families, said Diane Recinos, EdD, Berkeley College Senior Vice President, Student Success. We are excited to partner with Patriot Boot Camp to ensure their future success in entrepreneurial ventures.

For the first time in our nine-year history, Patriot Boot Camp will also be recruiting from OCONUS (overseas) service-members, military spouses, and veteran entrepreneurs who are thinking about starting a business or currently have a new startup. We are thrilled to provide this opportunity to those currently serving overseas who normally would not be able to travel to an in-person boot camp, said Jennifer Pilcher, CEO, Patriot Boot Camp, and a 2013 alumna of the PBC organization.

Click here for a link to the application and more information on Patriot Boot Camps 2021 virtual fall program. (https://patriotbootcamp.org/pbc-virtual-fall-2021)

About Patriot Boot Camp

Since 2012, Patriot Boot Camp has been on a mission to assemble and activate an inclusive community that advances military members, veterans and military spouses in their mission to become creators, innovators and entrepreneurs leading the new economy. Twice per year, a cohort of 50 technology entrepreneurs are selected to attend the intensive multi-day boot camp, modeled after the Techstars Accelerator program. Patriot Boot Camp has hosted 22 programs virtually and in 12 U.S. cities, supporting more than 950 military, military spouses and veteran entrepreneur alumni worldwide, more than two-thirds of whom are veterans with a service-connected disability.

About Berkeley College

Berkeley College, founded in 1931, is a career-focused institution accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that offers students Masters, Bachelors, and Associates degree and Certificate programs in more than 20 career fields. The College also offers continuing education programs to enhance career credentials.

Berkeley College has campuses in Midtown Manhattan and White Plains, NY, as well as in Newark, Paramus, Woodbridge, and Woodland Park, NJ, with more than 4,900 students enrolled. In addition, Berkeley College Online serves a global population. U.S. News & World Report has named Berkeley College among the Best Colleges for Online Bachelors Programs and among the Best Online Bachelors Programs for Veterans, for eight consecutive years. The website address is www.BerkeleyCollege.edu.

The mission of Berkeley College is to empower students to achieve lifelong success in dynamic careers.

Attachment
Phoenix, Arizona, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As students across Arizona return to school, Education Forward Arizona seeks to unite sectors, interests and communities across the state to improve education outcomes and close achievement gaps, from early learning through K-12 and postsecondary attainment. This new organization aims to change the way people think about and support education as the key to improving the economy and the quality of life in Arizona.

Arizonans want bold action that moves education forward in Arizona, said Rich Nickel, president and CEO of Education Forward Arizona. Its time to close the aspiration gap between what people in the state repeatedly say they want and the underfunded and inequitable system we have. We need to work together, statewide, to find solutions that advance the prosperity of all Arizonans.

In a launch event this morning featuring leading business, workforce, community and education partners statewide, Education Forward Arizona announced its new name and action plan to ensure all Arizona students can succeed. The organization is the next evolution of the work of three well known education non-profits who joined forces earlier this year  Achieve60AZ, College Success Arizona and Expect More Arizona.

The launch of Education Forward Arizona is a turning point for education in our state, said Vince Roig, chair of Education Forward Arizonas board of directors. Education and the economy are inextricably linked. To get where we want to go, we need every student to thrive. As a state, we must prioritize supporting our underserved students.

Education Forward Arizona will focus on building the case for education as an investment and not an expense, collaboratively driving action to close achievement gaps and influencing courageous actions to meet the goals in the Education Progress Meter. The organization will also lead innovative programs to serve primarily low-income and first-generation students to help them reach and complete a postsecondary education.

The organization launches with support from partners from across the state from the education, business, philanthropic, community and nonprofit communities. Launching Education Forward Arizona with these partners demonstrates how the organization sees its mission being achieved  with all sectors and stakeholders working together to build the public and political will needed to meet the goals in the Arizona Education Progress Meter.

To learn more about Education Forward Arizona, visit educationforwardarizona.org.

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



RIMOUSKI, Quebec, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc., PUMA-TSXV, (the Company or Puma) announces a non-brokered private placement of $1,600,000. The Company plans to issue up to 5,000,000 units at a price of $0.32 per unit ("Unit") for gross proceeds of up to $1,600,000 (the "Offering"). Crescat Portfolio Management LLC (for itself and/or for accounts managed by Crescat Portfolio Management LLC (collectively, Crescat)), has agreed to be the lead order by making a strategic investment of $960,000 or representing 60% of the proposed financing. In addition, Crescat requested and secured participation rights that provide for an option to participate in future financings.

Proceeds from this Offering will be used to increase the current ongoing 2,000-meter diamond drill program to 10,000-meter at the Williams Brook Gold Project, located in New Brunswick, Canada and for general working capital purposes. We are encouraged by the near-surface, high-grade gold that Puma is encountering in New Brunswick. We are excited to infuse capital to help the company with its goal of quintupling the planned meters of drilling this season, commented Kevin Smith, Crescat's Chief Investment Officer.

Marcel Robillard, President & CEO of Puma, added We are extremely pleased to welcome Crescat, as a significant strategic shareholder of the Company as we continue to unlock the mineral potential of the Williams Brook Gold Project. The confidence Crescat and its world-renowned technical advisor, Dr. Quinton Hennigh, have shown in Puma is a vindication of our belief of the potential of the Williams Brook Gold Project. This financing will allow us to advance exploration more aggressively at our flagship project which covers 27,000 hectares of favourable geological setting.

Puma's Triple Fault Gold Project is a grass roots success in a prolific gold belt," commented Dr. Quinton Hennigh, technical advisor to Crescat Capital. "Newfoundland has become a hot bed of exploration over the past year, but the same geology continues into New Brunswick to the southwest. Puma has identified similar high-grade gold mineralization to that seen in Newfoundland and has already identified multiple high-grade targets. Further prospecting is expected to generate more. We are very happy to join Puma as a shareholder at a time when they are beginning to drill test these exciting targets."

Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant, with each warrant exercisable to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.50 for a period of 24 months. The Company may pay finders fees in relation to a portion of this Offering. The Offering and payment of finders fees are subject to acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Offering is fully subscribed and it is expected that the closing will occur on or about August 13, 2021 (the "Closing Date"). All securities issued pursuant to this Offering and any shares issued pursuant to the exercise of warrants will be subject to a four-month hold period from the Closing Date.

ABOUT CRESCAT CAPITAL LLC

Crescat is a global macro asset management firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Crescat's mission is to grow and protect wealth over the long term by deploying tactical investment themes based on proprietary value-driven equity and macro models. Crescat's goal is industry leading absolute and risk-adjusted returns over complete business cycles with low correlation to common benchmarks. Crescat's investment process involves a mix of asset classes and strategies to assist with each client's unique needs and objectives and includes Global Macro, Long/Short, Large Cap and Precious Metals funds.

Crescat is advised by its technical consultant Dr. Quinton Hennigh on gold and silver resource companies. Dr. Hennigh became an economic geologist after obtaining his PhD in Geology/Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. He has more than 30 years of exploration experience with major gold mining firms that include Homestake Mining, Newcrest Mining and Newmont Mining. Recently, Dr. Hennigh founded Novo Resources Corp and currently serves as Chairman. Among his notable project involvements are First Mining Gold's Springpole gold deposit in Ontario, Kirkland Lake Gold's acquisition of the Fosterville gold mine in Australia, the Rattlesnake Hills gold deposit in Wyoming, and Lion One's Tuvatu gold project on Fiji, among many others.

ONEIL GOLD TREND (OGT)

The ONeil Gold Trend (OGT) is a pervasive altered and brecciated rhyolite unit hosting significant gold showings and occurrences followed by trenching over a strike length of 700 meters. The geophysical signature of the OGT is expressed over 7km. The favourable unit (rhyolite) is similar and parallel to the structures hosting the Williams 1 and Williams 2 Gold Zones with selected drill results of 11.2 g/t over 2.8m, 2.1 g/t Au over 9.0m, and 1.0 g/t over 23m.

These trends are interpreted to be related to a major rifting in the New Brunswick Geological events and could represent a low sulphidation epithermal gold system. Along the OGT, the width of the altered horizon varies from 5 to 250 meters with an average apparent thickness of 150 meters.

Numerous quartz veins, quartz veinlets, stockworks and breccias were observed mostly perpendicular to the major trend and contain the gold mineralization. The OGT has never been drilled and many gold zones were discovered during the summer 2020 exploration campaign.

High-Grade Selected Grab Samples Assays on the Prolific ONeil Gold Trend (OGT)*:

ONeil Gold Zone (VG**): 128.5 g/t Au, 44.4 g/t Au, 38.8 g/t Au, 32.8 g/t Au, 23.1 g/t Au Pepitos Gold Zone (VG**): 52.1 g/t Au, 16.1 g/t Au, 15.0 g/t Au, 13.1 g/t Au, 4.87 g/t Au Lynx Gold Zone (VG**): 241.0 g/t Au, 79.8 g/t Au, 74.2 g/t Au, 63.5 g/t Au, 58.4 g/t Au Chubby Zone Area: 3.5 g/t Au, 1.2 g/t Au, 1.2 g/t Au, 0.45 g/t Au Moose Gold Zone: 2.4 g/t Au, 2.1 g/t Au, 1.3 g/t Au, 1.1 g/t Au





* Selected rock grab samples are selective by nature and may not represent the true grade or style ** VG: Visible Gold

QUALIFIED PERSONS

Dominique Gagne, PGeo, independent qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 standards, has reviewed and approved the geological information reported in this news release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Mr. Gagne is independent of the Company.

QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL (QA/QC)

Rock samples were bagged, sealed and sent to the facility of ALS CHEMEX in Moncton, New Brunswick where each sample is dried, crushed, and pulped. The samples were crushed to 70% less than 2mm, riffle split off 1kg, pulverise split to better than 85% passing 75 microns (Prep-31B). A 30-gram subsplit from the resulting pulp was then subjected to a fire assay (Au-ICP21). Other screen sizes available. Duplicate 50g assay on screen undersize. Assay of entire oversize fraction.

ABOUT PUMA EXPLORATION

Puma Exploration is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company with precious and base metals projects in early to advanced stages located in the Famous Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) in New Brunswick, Canada. Great efforts will be made by the Company in the coming years to deploy its DEAR strategy (Development, Exploration, Acquisition and Royalties) in order to generate maximum value for shareholders with low shares dilution.

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the Unites States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the Unites States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the Unites States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

You can visit us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

Learn more by consulting www.explorationpuma.com for further information on Puma.

Marcel Robillard, President, (418) 750-8510; president@explorationpuma.com

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Puma to be materially different from actual future results and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the quarterly and annual reports and in the documents submitted to the securities administration.
MELBOURNE, Australia and KYOTO Japan, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) is pleased to announce that Mr. Ryoichi Tanaka has joined the Telix Japan leadership team in the role of Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development.



Mr. Tanaka joins from Siemens Healthcare K.K. where most recently he was Head of Medical Policy & Public Affairs. Ryoichi brings with him over 35 years experience in radiology and molecular imaging across sales and marketing, business development, and medical policy and government affairs. He currently holds two public positions as Vice Chair of the Committee of Research and Development of JIRA (Japan Medical Imaging and Radiological Systems Industries Association) and Director of Reimbursement of the European Business Council (EBC) in Japan, a position he has held since 2016.

Ryoichi has a Bachelors degree in Radiology from Suzuka University of Medical Science, and took a Doctorial course in Nuclear Medicine at Yokohama City University. He obtained his radiological technologist licence in 1985 and also has an MBA from Prifysgol Cymru University of Wales in Japan.

On joining Telix, Mr. Tanaka stated, I am very pleased to join Telix, a global leader and innovator in molecularly targeted radiation (MTR). I look forward to making our MTR products available to Japanese patients and pioneering the Japanese market. Patient access to nuclear medicines in Japan has been limited to date and Telix has an opportunity to change the paradigm. I am proud to be part of that journey.

Telix Japan President, Dr. Shintaro Nishimura added, I am delighted to welcome Ryoichi to Telix Japan at this important time in our Companys evolution. His pedigree in radiology and nuclear medicine, combined with broad experience in business and medical policy, will be instrumental as we prepare for Japanese pivotal studies of our lead investigational imaging products TLX250-CDx for renal cancer, and Illuccix for prostate cancer.

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products using Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR). Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with international operations in Belgium, Japan, and the United States. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical-stage products that address significant unmet medical need in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX). For more information visit www.telixpharma.com and follow Telix on Twitter (@TelixPharma) and LinkedIn.

Telixs lead investigational product, Illuccix (TLX591-CDx) for prostate cancer imaging, has been accepted for filing by the U.S. FDA,1 and is under priority evaluation by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).2 Telix is also progressing marketing authorisation applications for Illuccix in the European Union3 and Canada.4 None of Telixs products have received a marketing authorisation in any jurisdiction.

Telix Media Contact

Dr. Stewart Holmstrom

Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Director Corporate Communications

Email: stewart.holmstrom@telixpharma.com

____________________

1 ASX disclosure 24/11/20.

2 ASX disclosure 14/04/21.

3 ASX disclosure 1/05/20.

4 ASX disclosure 16/12/20.
MARKHAM, Ontario, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Extendicare Inc. (Extendicare or the Company) (TSX: EXE) today reported results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. Results are presented in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.



Second Quarter Highlights

Continuing growth in vaccination levels among residents and staff, providing enhanced protection across our network.

No current outbreaks in our long-term care (LTC) homes or retirement communities.

LTC occupancy up 250 bps as COVID restrictions ease.

Maintaining enhanced staffing levels, testing and other prevention measures as emergence of COVID variants remain a concern.

Home health care average daily volumes increase 3.7% and return to pre-pandemic levels.



As the impact of the pandemic receded, we experienced a broad recovery across Extendicare in the second quarter, with strong growth in both LTC occupancy and home health care volumes, said President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Michael Guerriere. We are gratified by the outstanding efforts of our staff to get vaccinated to protect themselves and those we care for. Our comprehensive resident and staff vaccination program has enabled us to welcome families and visitors back into our LTC homes and retirement communities in recent weeks. While we are encouraged by the progress made this quarter, we continue to maintain enhanced staffing levels in our homes, accompanied by robust testing and other prevention measures, to complement the success of the vaccines. We remain vigilant as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases cannot be ruled out until there is broader progress on vaccination rates in the general population.

Protecting Residents, Clients and Caregivers

As of August 5, 2021, Extendicare has no active outbreaks across its 69 LTC homes and retirement communities.

Extendicares extensive education and awareness campaign for staff, along with the provision of paid time off and reimbursement of travel expenses for vaccination, are contributing to rising vaccination rates that are helping to keep our residents and employees safe and keep the virus out of our LTC homes and retirement communities. Our vaccination rates as of August 5th were as follows:

92% of our LTC and 90% of our retirement residents have been fully vaccinated;

86% of our LTC staff and 80% of our retirement staff have received at least their first dose; and

86% of ParaMed staff have received at least their first dose.



More of our staff are being vaccinated each week. We continue to conduct active symptom screening upon entry and continued use of personal protective equipment. Surveillance testing continues to play an important role in keeping our homes and communities safe  now with a particular focus on those who are not yet fully vaccinated.

With the marked decrease in COVID-19 outbreaks in Q2 2021, our pandemic related spending decreased to $42.8 million from $58.1 million in Q1 2021. These costs were partially offset by provincial funding of $33.3 million. These costs included $11.3 million in temporary pandemic pay premiums for eligible front-line staff in Q2 2021, offset by funding from Ontario and Alberta. Since the beginning of the pandemic, unfunded pandemic costs have resulted in a cumulative reduction of Adjusted EBITDA of $41.9 million. While COVID-19 costs declined in Q2 2021, we will continue to incur elevated costs as we remain vigilant in our on-going efforts to protect our residents, clients and staff until the threat of the pandemic has abated. The amount and timing of COVID-19 funding has not always aligned with when costs are incurred causing significant volatility in our results, which we expect will continue until the pandemic subsides.

Extendicare is also investing to meet the needs of residents and clients in the future. During Q2 2021, construction commenced on Extendicares new 192-bed LTC home in Kingston, Ontario, while construction on our new Sudbury, Ontario home continued. In Q2 2021, we successfully closed $95.9 million in construction financing to support the Sudbury and Kingston projects.

In our ongoing efforts to address the significant staffing challenges facing the industry, we continue to make progress with our PSW college partnerships and in-house HSW training programs, graduating and hiring more than 300 new caregivers through these programs in the first half of 2021. We are also participating in various new federal and provincial programs aimed at expanding the seniors care workforce, with more than 250 students enrolled in internships to whom we plan to offer employment upon graduation.

Q2 2021 Financial Highlights (all comparisons with Q2 2020)

Revenue up 9.0% or $25.5 million to $307.4 million; driven by a 24.0% increase in home health care average daily volumes (ADV), COVID-19 funding of $6.1 million, LTC funding enhancements and growth in retirement living and other operations, partially offset by timing of flow-through funding, and lower preferred accommodation revenue in LTC operations.

Net operating income (NOI) (1) up $11.3 million to $31.3 million; reflecting the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) payments to ParaMed of $7.7 million, increased ADV and back-office efficiencies in home health care operations and a reduction in net COVID-19 costs of $1.1 million, partially offset by increased costs of resident care and lower preferred accommodation revenue in LTC operations.

up $11.3 million to $31.3 million; reflecting the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) payments to ParaMed of $7.7 million, increased ADV and back-office efficiencies in home health care operations and a reduction in net COVID-19 costs of $1.1 million, partially offset by increased costs of resident care and lower preferred accommodation revenue in LTC operations. Adjusted EBITDA (1) up $9.7 million to $17.8 million; reflecting the improvement in NOI noted above and $0.1 million reduction in COVID-19 related administrative costs, partially offset by higher administrative costs related to labour, information technology, professional fees and travel.

up $9.7 million to $17.8 million; reflecting the improvement in NOI noted above and $0.1 million reduction in COVID-19 related administrative costs, partially offset by higher administrative costs related to labour, information technology, professional fees and travel. Earnings from continuing operations up $9.8 million to $1.0 million; primarily driven by improvements in NOI from the home health care operations, lower finance costs and other expense recorded in Q2 2020, partially offset by higher administrative costs.

AFFO(1) of $8.1 million ($0.09 per basic share), up $5.1 million; reflecting the increase in earnings from continuing operations, excluding the other expense recorded in Q2 2020, partially offset by higher maintenance capex.



Six Months 2021 Financial Highlights (all comparisons with Six Months 2020)

Revenue up 13.7% or $76.1 million to $629.8 million; driven by COVID-19 funding of $61.5 million, a 10.1% increase in home health care ADV, LTC funding enhancements and growth in retirement living and other operations, partially offset by timing of flow-through funding and lower preferred accommodation revenue in LTC operations.

NOI up $21.2 million to $71.5 million; reflecting CEWS payments received by ParaMed of $17.4 million, increased ADV and back-office efficiencies in home health care and growth in other operations, partially offset by increased costs of resident care and lower preferred accommodation revenue in LTC operations.

Adjusted EBITDA up $17.2 million to $45.5 million; reflecting the improvement in NOI noted above, partially offset by higher administrative costs related to labour, information technology, professional fees, travel, insurance and claims reserves, and COVID-19 administrative costs of $0.8 million.

Earnings from continuing operations up $16.9 million to $9.3 million; primarily driven by improvements in NOI from the home health care and other operations segments, and lower finance costs and other expense, partially offset by higher administrative costs.

AFFO of $27.6 million ($0.31 per basic share), up $13.0 million; reflecting the increase in earnings from continuing operations, excluding the other expense recorded in 2020, partially offset by higher maintenance capex.



Business Updates

The following is a summary of the Companys revenue, NOI and NOI margins by business segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

(unaudited) Three months ended June 30

Six months ended June 30

(millions of dollars, 2021 2020 2021 2020 unless otherwise noted) Revenue NOI Margin Revenue NOI Margin Revenue NOI Margin Revenue NOI Margin Long-term care 187.2 9.8 5.2 % 178.5 11.1 6.2 % 392.3 26.1 6.6 % 338.7 29.5 8.7 % Retirement living 12.3 3.7 30.1 % 11.7 3.5 30.0 % 24.5 7.1 29.2 % 23.8 7.2 30.4 % Home health care 101.1 14.0 13.9 % 85.5 1.4 1.7 % 198.8 30.0 15.1 % 178.6 5.7 3.2 % Other 6.9 3.7 54.2 % 6.3 3.9 62.0 % 14.3 8.3 58.1 % 12.7 7.8 61.4 % 307.4 31.3 10.2 % 281.9 19.9 7.1 % 629.8 71.5 11.4 % 553.8 50.3 9.1 % Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Long-Term Care

Lower rates of COVID-19 cases and an easing of restrictions during Q2 2021 resulted in an increase in admissions to our LTC homes. Average occupancy in our LTC homes recovered 250 bps to 85.4% in Q2 2021 from 82.9% in Q1 2021, down from 93.5% in Q2 2020. With lengthy waitlists for LTC in many of the communities where Extendicare operates, we expect average occupancy levels to continue to increase as long as rates of COVID-19 in the community remain low. Despite lower occupancy levels, our revenue base was largely preserved through basic occupancy protection funding from the Government of Ontario, which continues until August 31, 2021. Each of the western provinces where we operate have also introduced additional funding to offset the impact of COVID-19, some of which includes funding to address occupancy shortfalls.

Increased costs to protect our staff and residents and lower preferred accommodation revenue resulted in lower NOI and NOI margin compared to the same period last year. NOI and NOI margin in Q2 2021 were $9.8 million and 5.2%, respectively, down from $11.1 million and 6.2% respectively in Q2 2020. Compared to Q2 2020, COVID-19 related funding increased by $7.9 million, resulting in a $1.4 million reduction in unfunded costs associated with COVID-19 and pandemic pay programs.

Home Health Care

Extendicares home health care volumes returned to pre-pandemic levels as we exited Q2 2021. Our Q2 2021 ADV was 25,264, up 3.7% from Q1 2021 and 24.0% higher than Q2 2020.

In Q2 2021, ParaMeds revenue was $101.1 million, up 18.3% from Q2 2020, driven by growth in ADV of 24.0%, partially offset by lower COVID-19 and pandemic pay funding of $1.8 million.

NOI and NOI margin increased to $14.0 million and 13.9%, respectively, in Q2 2021, up from $1.4 million and 1.7%, respectively, in Q2 2020. The improvement in NOI reflects CEWS payments received by ParaMed of $7.7 million in Q2 2021, higher ADV and improved back-office efficiencies. This was offset by an increase in net costs associated with COVID-19 of $0.6 million. Given the level of recovery in ADV, we do not anticipate qualifying for CEWS in future quarters.

Excluding the impact of CEWS, net COVID-19 related costs and Q4 2020 one-time charges, NOI margins continue to improve with Q2 2021 at 7.9%, as compared to 7.3% in Q1 2021 and 5.8% in Q4 2020.

Retirement Living

The financial performance of our retirement living operations improved over Q2 2020, as easing of COVID-19 restrictions began to positively impact occupancy and care services.

In Q2 2021, higher revenue of $0.6 million or 4.8% and lower estimated net COVID-19 costs, partially offset by increased labour and promotional costs, contributed to an increase in NOI of $0.2 million or 5.2% from Q2 2020.

Throughout the pandemic the average occupancy of our stabilized communities has remained above 90%. The easing of restrictions during the latter half of the second quarter contributed to an increase in average occupancy of 30 bps to 84.4% in Q2 2021 from Q1 2021 comprised of an increase of 210 bps in our lease-up communities, partially offset by a 50 bps decrease in our stabilized communities.

Other Operations

Increased customer demand contributed to continued solid performance in our SGP Purchasing Partner Network (SGP). Investments in growth initiatives, including higher promotional and travel expenses, impacted NOI and NOI margins in the quarter.

Revenue increased to $6.9 million, up 9.8% from Q2 2020, largely driven by customer growth in SGP. Increased operating costs in the quarter resulted in a decline in NOI by $0.2 million or 4.0% to $3.7 million, representing 54.2% of revenue. The number of third-party residents served by SGP increased to approximately 83,500 at the end of Q2 2021, up 11.1% from Q2 2020 and 3.0% from Q1 2021.

Financial Position

As at June 30, 2021, Extendicare had cash and cash equivalents on hand of $132.5 million and access to a further $73.2 million in undrawn demand credit facilities. In addition, the Company has construction financing in the aggregate of $95.9 million available for its Sudbury and Kingston LTC redevelopment projects. As a result, Extendicare is well positioned with strong liquidity and no scheduled debt maturities until Q1 2022.

Select Financial Information

The following is a summary of the Companys consolidated financial information for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

(unaudited) Three months ended June 30

Six months ended June 30

(thousands of dollars unless otherwise noted) 2021 2020 2021 2020 Revenue 307,449 281,947 629,830 553,765 Operating expenses 276,198 262,013 558,315 503,448 NOI (1) 31,251 19,934 71,515 50,317 NOI margin (1) 10.2 % 7.1 % 11.4 % 9.1 % Administrative costs 13,434 11,767 25,975 22,019 Adjusted EBITDA (1) 17,817 8,167 45,540 28,298 Adjusted EBITDA margin (1) 5.8 % 2.9 % 7.2 % 5.1 % Other expense  2,780  2,780 Earnings from continuing operations 960 (8,889 ) 9,283 (7,652 ) per basic and diluted share ($) 0.01 (0.10 ) 0.10 (0.09 ) Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax  5,230  9,899 Net earnings 960 (3,659 ) 9,283 2,247 per basic and diluted share ($) 0.01 (0.04 ) 0.10 0.03 AFFO (1) 8,073 2,946 27,618 14,576 per basic share ($) 0.09 0.03 0.31 0.16 per diluted share ($) 0.09 0.03 0.30 0.16 Current income tax expense included in FFO 2,091 (1,848 ) 4,918 225 FFO effective tax rate 24.7 % 140.9 % 18.3 % 2.3 % Maintenance capex 3,746 2,157 4,779 3,912 Cash dividends declared per share 0.12 0.12 0.24 0.24 Payout ratio (1) 133 % 365 % 78 % 147 % Weighted average number of shares (thousands) Basic 89,980 89,826 89,954 89,735 Diluted 100,615 100,177 100,672 100,095 (1) Non-GAAP Measures: Extendicare assesses and measures operating results and financial position based on performance measures referred to as net operating income, NOI, NOI margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, AFFO, AFFO per share, and payout ratio. In addition, the Company assesses its return on investment in development activities using the non-GAAP financial measure NOI Yield. These measures are not recognized under GAAP and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP. These non-GAAP measures are presented in this document because either: (i) management believes that they are a relevant measure of Extendicares operating performance and ability to pay cash dividends; or (ii) certain ongoing rights and obligations of Extendicare may be calculated using these measures. Such non-GAAP measures may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures as reported by such issuers. They are not intended to replace earnings (loss) from continuing operations, net earnings (loss), cash flow, or other measures of financial performance and liquidity reported in accordance with GAAP. Detailed descriptions of these terms can be found in Extendicares disclosure documents, including its Managements Discussion and Analysis, filed with the securities regulatory authorities; these documents are available at www.sedar.com and on Extendicares website at www.extendicare.com.

Extendicares disclosure documents, including its Managements Discussion and Analysis, may be found on SEDARs website at www.sedar.com under the Companys issuer profile and on the Companys website at www.extendicare.com under the Investors/Financial Reports section.

August Dividend Declared

The Board of Directors of Extendicare today declared a cash dividend of $0.04 per share for the month of August 2021, which is payable on September 15, 2021, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31, 2021. This dividend is designated as an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Conference Call and Webcast

On August 6, 2021, at 11:30 a.m. (ET), Extendicare will hold a conference call to discuss its 2021 second quarter results. The call will be webcast live and archived online at www.extendicare.com under the Investors/Events & Presentations section. Alternatively, the call-in number is 1-800-319-4610 or 416-915-3239. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after completion of the live call until midnight on August 20, 2021. To access the rebroadcast dial 1-800-319-6413 followed by the passcode 7326#.

About Extendicare

Extendicare is a leading provider of care and services for seniors across Canada, operating under the Extendicare, Esprit Lifestyle, ParaMed, Extendicare Assist, and SGP Purchasing Partner Network brands. We are committed to delivering quality care throughout the health continuum to meet the needs of a growing seniors population. We operate or provide contract services to a network of 120 long-term care homes and retirement communities (69 owned/51 contract services), provide approximately 8.8 million hours of home health care services annually, and provide group purchasing services to third parties representing approximately 83,500 senior residents across Canada. Extendicare proudly employs more than 23,500 qualified, highly trained and dedicated individuals who are passionate about providing high quality care and services to help people live better.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, economic performance or expectations with respect to Extendicare and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, statements regarding its business operations, business strategy, growth strategy, results of operations and financial condition, including anticipated timelines, costs and financial returns in respect of development projects, and in particular statements in respect of the impact of measures taken to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, the availability of various government programs and financial assistance announced in respect of COVID-19, the impact of COVID-19 on the Companys operating costs, staffing, procurement, occupancy levels and volumes in its home health care business, the impact on the capital and credit markets and the Companys ability to access the credit markets as a result of COVID-19, increased litigation and regulatory exposure and the outcome of any litigation and regulatory proceedings. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by the expressions anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, intend, objective, plan, project, will or other similar expressions or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements reflect the Companys current expectations regarding future results, performance or achievements and are based upon information currently available to the Company and on assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable securities laws. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements. In particular, risks and uncertainties related to the effects of COVID-19 on the Company include the length, spread and severity of the pandemic; the nature and extent of the measures taken by all levels of governments and public health officials, both short and long term, in response to COVID-19; domestic and global credit and capital markets; the Companys ability to access capital on favourable terms or at all due to the potential for reduced revenue and increased operating expenses as a result of COVID-19; the availability of insurance on favourable terms; litigation and/or regulatory proceedings against or involving the Company, regardless of merit; the health and safety of the Companys employees and its residents and clients; and domestic and global supply chains, particularly in respect of personal protective equipment. Given the evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19, it is difficult to predict how significant the adverse impact will be on the global and domestic economy and the business operations and financial position of Extendicare. For further information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause Extendicares actual results to differ from current expectations, refer to Risk Factors in Extendicares Annual Information Form and Forward Looking-Statements in Extendicares Q2 2021 Managements Discussion and Analysis filed by Extendicare with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com and on Extendicares website at www.extendicare.com. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on Extendicares forward-looking statements.

Extendicare contact:

David Bacon, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (905) 470-4000; Fax: (905) 470-5588

Email: david.bacon@extendicare.com

www.extendicare.com
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Sebastian Vettel finished second at the Hungary Grand Prix last weekend, but was subsequently disqualified after the race. The reason for this was because the FIA could not get enough fuel out of his tank. From Vettel's car they could only get 0.3 litres out of the tank, while this should be at least 1 litre.

Aston Martin have announced in a press release that they will officially appeal this decision as the team's records show that there was more than 1 litre of fuel in the car after the race.

Aston Martin had 96 hours to gather evidence, and that time expired on Thursday evening. After this, the team decided to officially protest. "Since the team's data indicated that there was more than 1.0 litre of fuel in the car after the race  1.74 litres according to the data  the team immediately reserved its right to appeal, and has requested a right of review alongside the appeal procedure, as a result of having discovered significant new evidence relevant to the sanction which was unavailable to it at the time of the FIA stewards' decision", it says on the website.

Aston Martin did not have the new evidence at hand when the FIA decided to disqualify Vettel. Should Vettel regain his second place, Lewis Hamilton will be relegated to P3 and Carlos Sainz to fourth. Max Verstappen will drop back to tenth place.
Williamsburg, NM (87901)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 81F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 64F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Hyundai Motor become a partner in H2 MOBILITY, a company that sets up and coordinates the nationwide hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. (Earlier post.) The Hyundai Motor Company will be represented by Hyundai Motor Deutschland GmbH at the shareholders meeting. Hyundai is the seventh shareholder alongside the founding members Total, Shell, OMV, Linde, Air Liquide and Daimler.





Hyundai has been an associated partner of H2 MOBILITY since 2017 and has been actively involved in the development of a hydrogen infrastructure in Germany ever since. By signing the partnership agreement, the company is once again underlining its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell technology. The establishment of a functioning and comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations is fundamental in order to further establish the Hyundai fuel cell electric vehicles successfully on the market.

The decision to join, after many years of partnership, is based on H2 MOBILITY's extensive experience in setting up an infrastructure for hydrogen. H2 MOBILITY has been building and operating the hydrogen filling station network in Germany since 2015. As the worlds largest operator, the company is currently responsible for 91 hydrogen filling stations, most of them in Germany in the metropolitan areas of Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich as well as on the adjacent motorways. Another two filling stations are in the planning phase, 10 in the approval phase. Three are about to go into operation.

Fuel cell electric vehiclespassenger cars and light commercial vehiclescan be filled with 700 bar at all H2 MOBILITY stations, and a growing number of medium-weight commercial vehicles can also be filled with 350 bar. In order to cope with the increasing number of larger commercial vehicles such as buses, garbage trucks, road sweepers and trucks with fuel cell drives, future stations will allow hydrogen refueling in addition to 700 with 350 bar from the outset.

Hyundai is a leader in the development, mass production and export of hydrogen fuel cell systems, including fuel cell electric vehicles. With the XCIENT Fuel Cell, Hyundai has been using the worlds first series-produced, hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicle in Switzerland since 2020. Hyundai plans to deliver 1,600 units of the fuel cell truck to Europe by 2025. In Munich, the Hyundai Motor Company has been using the hydrogen-powered ELEC CITY Fuel Cell Bus in test operation on a daily basis together with two bus companies for several weeks. The test operation is intended to prove that hydrogen-powered buses are a practicable and efficient solution for commercial passenger transport.

In order to further advance the transition to a provider of smart mobility solutions, the company is not only focusing on the construction of emission-free vehicles, but also on the necessary infrastructure. With the entry into H2 MOBILITY, Hyundai is taking on a more active role.

H2 MOBILITY Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG focuses on the nationwide development of a hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. The aim is to initially operate 100 stations in seven German metropolitan regions (Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich) as well as along motorways and major federal highways. H2 MOBILITY takes on all the necessary tasks from planning to construction to operation and marketing, which are necessary for the successful network expansion and operation of a hydrogen filling station network.

The founding shareholders of H2 MOBILITY are Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and TOTAL. Hyundai is now added as the seventh company. BMW, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen as well as the NOW GmbH National Organization Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology advise and support H2 MOBILITY as associated partners.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  British-born singer Yola broke through in 2019 with her critically acclaimed solo record Walk Through Fire that earned her four Grammy nominations after decades working as a singer and songwriter.

But the album that earned her praise from the likes of Elton John and Brandi Carlile was just a first glimpse into what the mononymous and multi-genre singer could do. On her new record Stand For Myself, the powerful and versatile singer tells the journey of reclaiming herself after being burdened by tokenism and inequities.

Yola was born in Bristol to immigrant parents from Ghana and Barbados, and the albums imagery is awash in royal purple, a reflection of her African lineage. But for much of her early life and career, she felt like her Blackness had to be tamped down and she was unable to fully represent her style.

That was a lot of my life: Put up, or shut up, and assimilate, said Yola.

Now living in Nashville, Tennessee, Yolas musical branches are spread wide through classic pop and 70s era R&B and soul, with sprinkles of disco, funk and rock. Working again with producer Dan Auerbach, Yola co-wrote some of the songs with Nashville hitmakers Natalie Hemby, Liz Rose and Ruby Amanfu, as well as new artist Joy Oladokun.

Considering her own expertise in merging genres, Yola seems a perfect fit to portray the rock pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a new film about Elvis Presley directed by Baz Luhrmann, which has been rescheduled for release in 2022. Yola spent much of the pandemic learning how to play like Tharpe, who is credited with being among the first artists to distort the electric guitar and influenced Elvis, Little Richard and Johnny Cash.

Yola spoke with The Associated Press about how a motorcycle ride gave her an idea for a song, how she learned to stand for herself and the challenges of her first-time acting gig. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

AP: Your last album was hailed as a refreshing mix of country and soul, but did you want to avoid getting labeled with certain genre types?

Yola: I was concerned about being pigeonholed because even the single, the first song on the album was something that people just didnt seem to be discussing. And Im like, Why is it so hard? Because its right in front of you. Its not country or soul. So youre going to have to think of me outside of soul because Im Black and country because I forced it on you as a conversation to have. And theyre like, "Oh, but its so weird because youre English."

AP: The new album starts with a song, Barely Alive, co-written with Oladokun, that is the beginning of a journey that ends with the title track Stand For Myself. Why did you want to bookend the album with those tracks?

Yola: The plan was to start with Barely Alive because it speaks on the minimizing of my Blackness and of Black people broadly, but frankly anyone who is an other or is considered an other broadly. Thats what it feels like to be the only one of a type Thats really where we are in "Barely Alive." Its that whole, Well, I just want to be safe. I dont want to be stopped and frisked by the bloody cops. And so I am going to try and smile. Like Im really going to try and make things as easy for myself as humanly possible. And actually you make it as hard as possible because you cant self-actualize if you dont have any self. If you diminish all the things that are self, you cant actualize the self.

AP: One of the standout tracks is a very danceable bop called Break the Bough, which was inspired by your late mother. How did you write that?

Yola: Im driving back from my mothers funeral. And you should never drive a motorcycle to a funeral. This is what I realized because you cant cry and ride a motorcycle. You will crash. So Im trying not to crash and the bassline jumps into my head. And Im like this is actually quite fortuitous because I think Im going to die if I dont think about this bassline And then it speaks on the imagined idyll of what would be my mothers heaven, which would be like an old school Barbados, before they did the bait and switch by the power of the Windrush.

AP: For the new Baz Luhrmann film, youre stepping into the shoes of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who hasnt really gotten the recognition she deserves for her contribution to rock. What did you take away from that experience?

Yola: Ive never done a solo in my bloody life. And so now Im sweating bullets, as we say in the UK, sweating bullets trying to learn how to play like Sister Rosetta, which is really bloody hard. And Im grateful that the pandemic gives me an extra year to learn how to do that because I needed every single dayIve got to do her mannerisms. Ive got to physically act. Ive got to interact with Elvis and the other characters in my scene. I have to hit my marks. Ive got to be able to see Baz Luhrmann because hes gonna be giving me directions. And Ive got to do all of this just all at the same time. And the only one of these things Ive done before is sing. Honestly, I bloody nailed it and I have no idea how. I nailed it to the floor and I had to do it for 15 hours straight.
Since the late 19th century, Norwalk has held the title of "Oyster Town" due to its rich volume of surrounding shellfish grounds.

This has led to an number of family-owned oyster farms throughout Connecticut, including Copps Island Oysters and Norm Bloom and Son right in "Oyster Town."

In 1994, Norm Bloom started his oyster farming and harvesting company entitled Norm Bloom and Son, LLC. Norm had been an oysterman since the age of 10 under the guidance of his father, Norm Bloom Sr. and his uncle, Hillard Bloom, who had been oysterman since the 1940s. In the years that have followed, Norm along with his two children, Jimmy and Jeanne Bloom, have come to establish one of the largest oyster farms on the east coast as well as some of the most popular oysters on the "Gold Coast" and the state  Copps Island Oysters.

Being a third generation oysterman, Jimmy has had some of the weight of the business on his shoulders  though he has to try and avoid getting it on his hands and in his eyes. Jimmy is allergic to oysters.

Lisa Nichols / Hearst CT Media

The principal harvester for Copps Island Oysters said he first realized he was allergic to oysters when he was a teenager. He noticed that he'd get sick every time he ate oysters.

"The allergy isnt that severe. I just cant eat anything I catch," Jimmy said. "I will get short of breath if I spend too much time in our chipping room, but otherwise its very manageable."

Despite the allergy, Jimmy said he loves the entire oyster farming process. "It also doesnt hurt to be on the water every day," Jimmy added. He's also raising his 5-year-old son Jack in the family business.

"My son, Jack, has already taken a strong interest in the family business," Jimmy said via email. "He definitely prefers to work on deck with the crew rather than ride in the wheelhouse with me. Some days he puts in a full nine-plus hour day. Pretty impressive for a five-year-old."

Anne Burmeister / Contributed Photo

Jimmy said the job helps him to find new ways to solve "a multitude of issues."

One of those issues that arose last year was the pandemic, which dealt a blow to the oyster fishing community last year, according to Jimmy. The oyster fishing community in Connecticut was hit hard as sales bottomed out for oyster farmers down the coast. However, according to Jimmy, the industry is fighting back.

"The oyster industry in Connecticut is thriving, particularly in the wake of COVID," Jimmy said. "We are thankful that the market has since bounced back."

For those looking to get into oyster farming in Connecticut, Jimmy said the key is patience.

"Shellfish farming takes patience and hard work and there are no quick results," he said. "You have to be able to put in the work on a daily basis and hope that Mother Nature cooperates."
The states cannabis social equity council took up its first major task Thursday, approving a list of disproportionately impacted neighborhoods that will receive preferential treatment in licenses and other benefits in Connecticuts budding recreational marijuana industry.

The idea is to ensure diversity in the industry, although the rules cannot single out race or ethnicity as factors.

The 15-member council met in Hartford for the first time and voted unanimously on the list of 215 census tracts in which residents and some former residents will receive a higher share of licenses for cultivation, packaging, transportation, and sale.

PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP /Getty Images

Connecticuts new adult use cannabis law stipulates that at least half of all initial licenses must be reserved for so-called social equity applicants, who must be from these impacted areas as current or longtime former residents. Equity applicants must also make no more than three times the median income.

Many of the impacted areas are concentrated in the states cities including Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. In New Haven, the Fair Haven and Newhallville neighborhoods, among others, are included. Most of Bridgeport also qualifies.

The areas were chosen based on unemployment rates and percent of residents who have been convicted in drug crimes  a way of steering benefits to places hardest hit by the now-discredited war on drugs launched by former President Richard Nixon in 1971.

Some wealthier areas such as Morris and the west and south ends of Stamford also made the list.

The targeted communities will also financially benefit from the market. The law direct much of the state revenue from cannabis sales  an estimated $70 million to $75 million annually once the market is mature  to those same communities.

Well finally have within the community of Black and brown a way to wealth creation. This is truly an opportunity to see the 40 acres and a mule of our ancestors, said Joseph Williams, a business adviser and trade specialist at the Connecticut Small Business Development Center at UConn, who was appointed to the council by Gov. Ned Lamont.

The list of impacted areas was generated based on drug-related convictions, including drug paraphernalia, drug possession, and drug manufacturing and sale, from 1982 to 2020 and the 5-year estimate of the unemployment rate in 2019 per Census data.

The impacted areas, 215 of 833 census tracts, represent 23 percent of the states population but two-thirds of the drug convictions in the state over the past 38 years.

The list of cities and towns includes the states nine largest municipalities and 18 of the 20 largest  with only Greenwich and Milford not included among those 20.

We know about those communities that were hardest hit by the war on drugs, a war on drugs that incarcerated a lot of people that shouldnt have been incarcerated, Lamont said at the start of Thursdays meeting. It set a lot of communities back. It set a lot of people back in a way that was fundamentally unfair.

Some equity council members expressed concern with having to vote on the list, seen as critically important to ensuring fairness in Connecticuts new recreational cannabis market, at their first meeting without much time for deliberation or to review it.

I just find it just a bit troubling to be voting on disproportionate areas at our first meeting without really having true discussion, said Corrie Betts, criminal justice chair of the NAACP Connecticut State Conference.

The governors office generated the list approved by the council Thursday and said tracts with conviction rates greater than one-tenth of 1 percent or an average unemployment rate greater than 10 percent were marked as disproportionately impacted areas. The law set Aug. 1 as deadline for the council to identify the impacted tracts.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday ordered face coverings for all school children from preschool through 12th grade to thwart the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Democratic governor also said he will require all state employees who work in highly populated facilities such as prisons to be vaccinated.

With the potentially deadly virus continuing to spread, worsened by the more virulent delta variant, Pritzker urged residents who have not been vaccinated to get the shots necessary to prevent the illness and its spread.

Every time we think we know where this virus is headed, it changes, and it shifts...," Pritzker said in Chicago. I want to say this, specifically to young adults: Please do not think that the worst-case scenario can't happen to you. It can happen. It is happening. Get vaccinated."

The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans' homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled. Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.

Employers both private and public have begun requiring shots against the deadly virus  President Joe Biden is considering such a requirement for all federal employees  and the law appears to be on the side of the boss. Employers can make vaccination a condition of employment, experts say.

Roberta Lynch, executive director of Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most of those affected by the vaccination order, said those workers have been reporting to work since the beginning of the pandemic putting their own health and safety at risk to assure public safety and provide essential care."

Lynch said the union is prepared to discuss parameters with the Pritzker administration to ensure fairness for employees while safeguarding the health of staff and all those who reside in these facilities.

While the debate over vaccines has caused deep divisions nationally, face coverings have lit an even shorter fuse. They are an aegis against transmission for some, an unwelcome and unjust intrusion for others, with local school boards the latest battleground. The state's largest teachers' union, the Illinois Education Association, issued a statement indicating its agreement with the governor's action.

Lets pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up. We owe it to our students and we owe it to each other, said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. Were so thankful to have leadership in this state that wont let the virus fester and grow. But, it us up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees.

School safety was paramount last winter when Chicago public school teachers threatened to walk out before Mayor Lori Lightfoot negotiated safety protocols before students returned for in-person learning.

Republicans, as they have since the early day of Pritzker's involvement in stemming the pandemic, continued to criticize the governor's unilateral approach to mitigation of the virus' impact. Senate GOP Leader Dan McConchie of the Chicago suburb of Hawthorn Woods used Pritzker's All In Illinois COVID-19 mantra in his critique.

"He himself refuses to be all in with state and local elected officials who better understand their geographic areas and their communities needs," McConchie said in a statement. If he really wants to achieve the best possible mitigation results, he would abandon this singular approach and instead bring others to the governing table to ensure that mitigation efforts will be broadly accepted by the populace and effectively implemented.

Pritzker, who last week ordered that face coverings be worn by anyone entering a state building, also said Wednesday masks would be required in all long-term care facilities, including those privately owned. That jibes with the industry's response, as the nation's largest nursing-home owner, Genesis Heathcare, announced it would require 70,000 employees at 400 facilities nationwide to get the shot.

Advocate Aurora Health announced Wednesday it would require vaccinations for 75,000 hospital workers in Illinois and Wisconsin as well.

I know this is hard, Pritzker said, addressing people who have gotten the shot. You did the right thing ... and now, because of the new delta variant and the high number of unvaccinated people in the United States feels like were going backwards.... I want to ask you one more thing. Talk to someone in your life who could get the vaccine, but hasnt. Share your story, share why you did it.

___

Follow Political Writer John OConnor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor
MIAMI (AP)  Despite a ban by Gov. Ron DeSantis, two Florida school districts have decided to require masks when children return to classrooms because of dramatic rises in coronavirus infections, with the state leading the country in hospitalizations.

School boards in Duval County, home to Jacksonville, and Alachua County, home to Gainesville, made the decision based on rising hospitalizations and new cases of the coronavirus. The surge has hit parts of northeast Florida particularly hard.

The Duval County School Board voted late Tuesday to require students to wear masks unless parents submit paperwork to opt out. The Alachua County board said it had voted to require masks for the first two weeks of school, adding that the decision will be reevaluated in two weeks. Students in both districts go back to school next Tuesday.

We applaud the school boards of Alachua and Duval County for listening to and following the advice of the doctors in their community, the Florida Education Association said in a statement. "We hope other school districts will also heed the advice of the trusted medical professionals.

In Arizona, at least three school districts are also defying the state on masks, despite a recently enacted law barring mask requirements. Other states such as Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah have also banned mask mandates in schools.

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that governors who are against mask mandates should get out of the way. DeSantis sharply criticized Biden on Wednesday, repeating his stance that the decision on masks in schools should be left to parents.

If youre coming after parents rights in Florida, Im standing in your way. You wont get away with it, he said. Instead, DeSantis said, the president should do more to secure the border: Until you do that, I dont want to hear a blip about COVID from you.

In Florida's capital, the superintendent of the Leon County school district sent a heartfelt letter to DeSantis asking him to allow a temporary mask requirement.

I have stood firm in my belief that a mask mandate was the wrong course of action. With that said, I believe that new data and information as well as student instructional models compels us to rethink mask protocols," said Superintendent Rocky Hanna, who, like DeSantis, said he was concerned about how mask-wearing was impacting children emotionally.

Hanna said that only in the past 10 days, and before classes resume, four school-aged children in Leon County had been admitted to local hospitals with COVID-19 and two pre-K teachers were fighting the virus in intensive care units.

Because the COVID-19 landscape continues to evolve, as superintendent, Im learning that no matter how far you may have gone down a road, it is never too late to turn back and make a choice that is best for the community as a whole," he wrote.

The governor of Arkansas turned back. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the majority-GOP Legislature back into session to revert a state law he signed earlier this year prohibiting school mask mandates. Hutchinson expressed some regret about signing the ban but said the states cases were much lower when the bill passed.

Everything has changed now, he said Tuesday. And, yes, in hindsight, I wish that it had not become law.

Last Friday, DeSantis issued an executive order ordering school districts not to mandate the use of masks or they could risk losing state funding. The order cited a Brown University study that looked at schools in New York, Florida and Massachusetts, but with a caveat: It analyzed cases associated with schools and not cases spread in schools.

One of the authors, Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University, said she was not consulted by the governor's office and said the study relied on data prior to the emergence of the more contagious delta variant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nations top public health agency, last week recommended that masks be worn indoors at schools nationwide -- by teachers, staff, students and visitors -- regardless of their vaccination status.

Before vaccines became available at the end of 2020, masks were seen as a key way of reducing spread. One study involving Floridas own Health Department found that mandatory mask last fall use appeared to be a factor in lower infection rates among students, while another found that Wisconsin schools with mask requirements and other measures had fewer cases than their surrounding communities in the first few months of last school year.

The CDC said the need for returning to masks has become greater with the spread of the more contagious delta variant, which has fueled a surge in cases in Florida. On Wednesday, more than 12,000 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, and nearly 2,500 of them were in ICU beds.

On Tuesday, the CDC added more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases in the state over the previous three days, pushing the seven-day average to one the highest counts since the pandemic began, an eightfold increase since July 4.

In total, the state has seen more than 2.6 million cases and 39,179 deaths.

While some school districts decided to require masks, others have backpedaled.

The Broward County School Board, representing one of the largest districts in the state, had voted to require masks after hours of contentious debate that included a screaming match from angry anti-mask parents who set fire to masks and held picket signs outside. The board reversed course Monday over fear of losing funding, but on Wednesday said in a statement on Twitter that they are waiting for guidance in light of the governors orders.

___

Associated Press writers Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg contributed to this report.
5 1 of 5 Contributed / Brunswick School / Greg Horowitz Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Contributed / Brunswick School / Greg Horowitz Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Contributed / Brunswick School / Greg Horowitz Show More Show Less 5 of 5









GREENWICH  The students in the Horizons at Brunswick programs received free back-to-school supplies, courtesy of Staples of Riverside.

Jose Novoa, general manager of Staples of Riverside, visited the students on Monday to deliver the supplies. It was the first giveaway of its kind, according to Daniel Griffin, Brunswicks director of institutional communications.
GREENWICH  With the town in a rough patch as COVID-19 cases increase due to the highly contagious delta variant, First Selectman Fred Camillo is preparing to take steps to combat the spread.

As of Wednesday, the town reported 31 more cases of COVID-19 since July 30, bringing Greenwichs total cases to 5,277 since the pandemic began in March 2020. Greenwich Hospital reported it was treating six patients diagnosed with COVID-19, after discharging one patient on Wednesday morning.

Certainly thats not much compared to other places, but we dont want it to get a troublesome spot, Camillo said at a press briefing with Greenwich Hospital on Wednesday. We want to stay on top of this and maybe adjust some policies a little bit.

To that end, Camillo said he will once again require all town employees, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks while interacting with others at Town Hall. Employees will not have to wear masks when they are alone at their work stations, but will be required to wear them when interacting in close proximity with the public and co-workers.

Visitors to Town Hall will also be required to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.

The official announcement would likely be made Wednesday night, Camillo said, with notices going out to all town employees. More details will be sent in his weekly e-blast to residents, he said.

The measures on masks are expected to be temporary to get ahead of the problem and help prevent outbreaks, Camillo said.

None of us want to go there again, he said. Were tired of it. Were sick of it. We have the fatigue. We love our freedom without the mask. But its a rough patch, and we didnt come all this way to give it all back. Were seriously considering just adjusting policies a little bit. Nothing is getting shut down. No hours will be shortened. If we have to take a few more precautions, we will.

Local businesses can do as they see fit when it comes to masks, Camillo said. There is no need to cancel any events and said people can go out and enjoy themselves but should be careful when indoors and in close proximity to others, he said.

This is not going to last forever, but we have enough warning for us to take a little action, Camillo said.

Camillo said he spoke with Darien First Selectwoman Jayme Stevenson, who put the same policy back in place in Darien Town Hall.

Camillo also reconvened his department heads for a meeting about the towns COVID-19 response, including with police, fire and Greenwich Emergency Medical Service. He said they didnt identify to be any problems but said the town would monitor the situation.

None of the six patients at Greenwich Hospital were in the intensive care unit or on ventilators, hospital President Diane Kelly said.

But COVID-19 cases are rising throughout the Yale New Haven Health System, of which Greenwich Hospital is a part, she said. As of Wednesday, there were 56 hospitalized COVID patients in the system, with 45 on ventilators.

The majority of these patients continue to be not vaccinated, Kelly said. Of the 56 in the Yale New Haven System, 48 of them did not have a vaccine.

She urged all eligible residents to get vaccinated.

Theres still ways people can get the vaccine. You cant stress that enough, Kelly said. Theres definitely enough data throughout Connecticut and the rest of the country to show that the vaccine absolutely is working.

There has been a shift in the age of patients who get sick, with the majority of community members over the age of 65 fully vaccinated, she said. Now more patients with COVID are in their 20s and 30s, which is different from the early stages of the pandemic.

Testing remains extremely important, Kelly said. Residents can sign up for same-day appointments online at www.greenwichhospital.org.

Its important because even if youve been vaccinated, you want to know if youre carrying this, she said.

Even with the increase in COVID-19 cases, Kelly said the numbers are far lower than they earlier because of the availability of vaccinations.

The town has a list of local vaccination sites at https://bit.ly/3jnt9DZ, including local CVS and Walgreens locations as well as the Greenview Pharmacy on North Water Street and the North Street Pharmacy. Greenwich Hospital also has a list at https://portal.ct.gov/Vaccine-Portal?language=en_US to help people find vaccination locations.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  First Selectman Fred Camillo said Greenwich is open for business as he officially put a mask policy back in place for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, at Town Hall. But for now, he is leaving it to businesses to set their own policies on COVID-19.

Starting Monday, Aug. 9, all town employees must wear face masks while in public spaces in town-owned buildings, especially when it is not possible to practice social distancing, Camillo announced Thursday amid more reports of COVID-19 due to the delta variant.

Additionally, all visitors will be required to wear face masks while in Town Hall. Previously, under state guidelines, only those who had not been vaccinated against COVID -19 were required to wear masks.

This is a temporary measure, Camillo said in a statement. A minor adjustment of our operations to help us get through this recent uptick in cases. This does not signal any change in our daily operations. We are open for business.

Camillos statement was sent to all town employees. He also sent out an e-blast to the community about the policy change on Thursday afternoon.

Camillo said the town will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation on a daily basis.

The mask policy covers all municipal buildings, including the civic centers and the Nathaniel Witherell nursing home. But the ruling does not include private businesses, Camillo said in an interview with Greenwich Time on Thursday.

The businesses right now can do what they want to do, he said. They certainly dont want to get sick, and I think theyve been very cautious the whole time.

All businesses have the option of requiring patrons to wear masks, Camillo said. That would be their decision, he said.

Since some restaurants and other businesses require masks and others dont, Camillo recommended that each resident carry a mask wherever they go and wear it as needed.

We need to take these precautions (with masks) until we get through this, and hopefully it wont be that long, he said.

The policy on municipal buildings does not include the towns school buildings. The Board of Education is expected to be set that policy before classes begin next month. Under the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, students should wear masks in schools.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he was leaving decisions to local leaders about how to proceed as the number of COVID-19 cases jump due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. On Wednesday.Lamont indicated he was giving wide discretion to the leaders of towns and cities to set their own policies about what is permitted in businesses such as stores, supermarkets and restaurants.

Earlier in the pandemic, those policies were set by the state.

Look, weve got towns where less than 50 percent of the people are vaccinated. We have towns where 99 percent of the people are vaccinated. So I think giving some flexibility there makes a fair amount of sense, and well be issuing some directives on that within a day, Lamont said.

On Thursday, Camillo said he was expecting to hear more from the governors office.

The governor is mulling his next move, and we dont know what hes going to do, Camillo said. Were waiting to see which direction the state wants to go in.

Camillo, town Director of Health Caroline Baisley and Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly have all continued to urge town residents to get fully vaccinated.

If you are not vaccinated, I cannot stress strongly enough that you consider doing so to protect not only yourself but your family and your co-workers, Camillo said. Yes, there are breakthrough cases of the COVID variant. Those patients experience very mild symptoms of the illness.

Getting vaccinated and wearing a mask are the best strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, he said.

For those seeking vaccine information, Camillo directed residents to visit www.portal.ct.gov/Vaccine-Portal. In Greenwich, Walgreens and CVS locations are offering vaccinations along with the Greenview Pharmacy on North Water Street and the North Street Pharmacy.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
The Honor Earbuds 2 SE were unveiled in mid-June for the Chinese market. Now, after a quick name change to Honor Earbuds 2 Lite, the TWS headset is coming to several countries in Europe. It will be available from August 7 (this Saturday) and you will be able to pick one up from hihonor.com.



Honor Earbuds 2 Llte in White and Black

The buds will be available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Finland. Brits are looking at a 70 price tag, on mainland Europe the price starts at 70 (though it is higher in some places, e.g. in Italy the buds are listed at 100 for some reason).

Update: besides Honor's official online store, you can also pick up the Earbuds 2 Lite from AliExpress. At the time of this writing there is stock ready to ship from Spain and China (and a discount that is not available on hihonor.com).

Anyway, the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite are available in two colors, Glacier White and Midnight Black. Below is a quick overview of the key features, you can also read our in-depth review for more details.

The buds have 10 mm drivers with polymer composite diaphragms, two microphones each for active noise cancellation and wind noise reduction (with an Awareness mode included, of course), an amazing 10 hours of continuous listening time (with ANC disabled) and 32 hours of total playback time, plus fast charging (40% in 10 minutes, this is enough for 4 hours of listening time).
The governors office will continue to investigate the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and provide more information once available, though an increase in cases was expected following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, spokesperson Krystal Paco-San Agustin said on Thursday.

Guams CAR Score has reached a staggering 4.6 with 29 new cases reported out of 378 tests performed on Aug. 4, according to a release from the Joint Information Center. Twenty of those cases were identified through contact tracing. There have now been a total of 8,652 reported cases with 143 deaths. There are 145 cases in active isolation and 8,364 not in active isolation, according to the Joint Information Centers latest release.

The CAR Score was previously reported to be 1.7 on Tuesday, but was resting at 3.0 on Wednesday following the release of testing results from Aug. 3. Thirty more cases of COVID-19 were reported on Aug. 3, and over 20 were reported on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands confirmed that a sample it sent off island for testing came back positive for the delta variant. Government officials there said there was no risk to the community as the sample came from a quarantined traveler who had tested positive for COVID in July and had no close contacts upon arrival.

Expected

Upon achieving Operation Liberate Guam, Gov. Leon Guerrero lifted restrictions. Its to be expected that we would see an increase in positive cases as a result. However, its important to note that hospitalizations remain low because of our high vaccination rate. We continue to encourage all eligible persons to get vaccinated, Paco-San Agustin said.

As I understand it, we have seen an increase in military positives and military cases, Paco-San Agustin added.

A mask requirement was instated in group settings on Guam military installations on Wednesday, following an increase in positive cases among military members. The increase was concurrent with an increased operational tempo and influx of temporarily assigned personnel, a news release issued Wednesday by Joint Region Marianas states.

U.S. Army and Air Force units have been conducting large scale military exercises centered around Guam recently. Requirements have been put in place restricting Department of Defense personnel assigned to temporary duty, or with units visiting Guam, from leaving the base or their temporary lodgings.

The governor in April said that the administration was aiming to keep the CAR score below 2.5 and COVID-related hospitalizations at less than 10. Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio made no mention of any goals for COVID-19 rates when he certified that Guam had reached fully vaccinated status for 80% of residents on July 31. On Aug. 1, restrictions on social gatherings, social distancing requirements and occupancy limits for businesses were lifted.

Paco-San Agustin stated that there were no plans to reinstate restrictions as of Thursday, but noted that the governor and her team would continue to monitor the situation closely.

The mask mandate will remain in place, Paco-San Agustin stated.
Shawn Michael Santos will have to wait to enter a guilty plea for 2019 burglary charges after an unexecuted plea agreement was submitted the day of the scheduled hearing.

Santos appeared before Judge Arthur Barcinas at the Superior Court of Guam, where it was revealed the submitted plea agreement by Santos's counsel was not reviewed by the Office of the Attorney General.

Barcinas, expressing some frustration, said if the attorneys could not come to terms of the plea agreement by the next scheduled hearing, the case will go to trial.

"I'm just thinking about when we can set a hearing for something to be accomplished," Barcinas said.

Barcinas then said there have been multiple hearings for the plea agreement to be decided.

"It may have been better to set the hearing for Christmas," Barcinas added.

May 2021 hearing

In May, Barcinas rejected a proposed plea agreement because he said it did not take into account the victims and did not reflect the seriousness of Santos's actions, PDN files state.

Joaquin "Jay" Arriola, who represented one of the victims in the case, also said at the May hearing that Santos had an extensive criminal record ranging from burglary to assault, according to PDN files.

Magistrate's complaint

Santos was charged with burglary and two counts of theft of property in August and December 2019.

In the August incident, Santos was seen attempting to steal a bush cutter from a woman's residence in Agat, the complaint said.

On Dec. 3, 2019, video surveillance from Mama Tita's Bakery in Santa Rita recorded Santos walking in and taking a receipt bag, according to the magistrate's complaint.

The third incident occurred on Dec. 13, 2019, when a Mangilao resident saw Santos walk toward the garage area of his home. After being noticed by the resident, Santos returned to his vehicle and left, the complaint said.




Haiti - FLASH : The file on the assassination of President Moise finally transferred to the investigation cabinet





Wednesday, August 4, 2021 afternoon, after 25 days of investigation, interrogation and search, the file and exhibits on the assassination of ex-President Jovenel Moise, almost a month after his death, were finally referred to the Cabinet of Instruction.



It is now up to Me Bernard Sainvi, the Dean of the Court of First Instance (TPI) of Port-au-Prince, to choose a judge to investigate this important politico-judicial case with international ramification, which should be done this Thursday, August 4 during a meeting of judges which will not be done without some difficulties, two judges contacted by the Dean have already shown themselves reluctant to investigate this case... The name of the examining magistrate charged with the murder of the Head of State is expected in the coming hours.



Note that the former First Lady Martine Moise, before leaving the country last week https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34354-haiti-news-zapping.html , was heared by the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ), which holds a rogatory commission from the Government Commissioner to hear people in connection with the investigation. Let's recall that 45 people were heard in this case including the 18 members of the Colombian "commando".



44 people have already been arrested in connection with the assassination of President Moise, including Christan Emmanuel Sanon, one of the alleged intellectual authors of this assassination hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34210-haiti-flash-arrest-of-one-of-the-intellectual-authors-of-the-assassination-of-president-moise-and-an-attempted-coup.html . Several other individuals are still actively sought, including : Ashkard Pierre Joseph; Badio Joel Felix; Desire Gordon Phenil; Jaar Rodolphe; Joseph John Joel; Palacios Mario Antonio and Thelo Wendelle Coq.



The investigation continues to find those who financed this complex operation and who gave the order to assassinate the President.



Read also on the assassination of President Moise :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34371-haiti-flash-a-4th-police-officer-arrested-in-direct-connection-with-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34351-haiti-flash-all-the-arrested-colombian-ex-soldiers-were-aware-of-a-plan-to-kill-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34339-haiti-flash-official-report-by-dimitri-herard-on-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34331-haiti-flash-arrest-of-the-presidential-security-coordinator-jean-laguel-civil.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34299-haiti-flash-7-of-the-colombians-arrested-had-received-american-military-training.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34296-haiti-flash-the-company-which-participated-in-the-financing-of-the-operation-knew-nothing-about-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34283-haiti-flash-follow-up-of-investigations-into-the-assassination-of-president-moise-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34278-haiti-national-funeral-note-from-the-first-lady-martine-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34265-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34250-haiti-flash-according-to-colombia-in-the-commando-only-a-few-knew-about-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34238-haiti-flash-monitoring-of-investigations-into-the-assassination-of-president-jovenel-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34225-haiti-notice-the-pnh-is-looking-for-3-dangerous-and-armed-individuals-including-a-former-senator.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34223-haiti-justice-the-dg-of-the-colombian-police-wonders-about-the-role-of-the-chief-of-security-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34220-haiti-politic-creation-of-the-organizing-committee-for-the-national-funeral-of-president-moise-text-of-the-decree.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34218-haiti-flash-wanted-notice-for-a-very-dangerous-colombian-mercenary.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34217-haiti-flash-the-white-house-does-not-rule-out-sending-troops-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34214-haiti-assassination-of-president-a-colombian-team-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34212-haiti-politic-a-large-american-delegation-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34210-haiti-flash-arrest-of-one-of-the-intellectual-authors-of-the-assassination-of-president-moise-and-an-attempted-coup.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34205-haiti-flash-statements-and-testimony-from-colombia-about-the-commando.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34203-haiti-usa-no-american-military-assistance-for-the-moment.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34201-haiti-flash-authenticated-message-from-the-first-lady-martine-moise-audio.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34199-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-names-of-the-20-members-of-the-commando-arrested-5-others-still-on-the-run.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34193-haiti-flash-the-government-requests-the-sending-of-american-soldiers-to-the-country.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34188-icihaiti-flash-11-mercenaries-arrested-in-the-taiwanese-embassy.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34193-haiti-flash-the-government-requests-the-sending-of-american-soldiers-to-the-country.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34188-icihaiti-flash-11-mercenaries-arrested-in-the-taiwanese-embassy.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34183-haiti-flash-the-commando-that-killed-the-president-included-26-colombians-and-2-haitian-americans-official-video.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34182-icihaiti-assassination-of-president-moise-15-days-of-national-mourning-text-of-the-decree.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34178-haiti-politic-what-measures-contains-the-state-of-siege-text-of-the-decree.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34177-icihaiti-usa-the-pm-met-with-secretary-of-state-anthony-blinken.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34176-haiti-un-the-security-council-condemns-the-assassination-of-president-jovenel-moise.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34174-icihaiti-diplomacythe-assassins-of-moise-were-professional-mercenaries-dixit-bocchit-edmond.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34173-haiti-flash-the-police-intercepts-the-presumed-assassins-of-president-moise-official-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34172-haiti-flash-martine-moise-in-florida-for-treatment.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34170-haiti-flash-the-first-lady-martine-moise-would-still-be-alive-but.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34168-haiti-flash-the-state-of-siege-is-declared-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34165-haiti-assassination-of-jovenel-moise-what-says-the-constitution.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34162-haiti-flash-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-by-mercenaries-official-updated-7am-+-video.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Justice : The OPC asks P.M. Henry to translate his fine speeches into concrete actions





The Office for the Protection of the Citizen (OPC), an independent National Institution is closely monitoring the file of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Indeed, according to data provided by the spokesperson of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Inspector Marie Michele Verrier, no less than 44 people including 12 police officers were arrested and wanted notices were issued to against several individuals for their alleged involvement in the assassination of the Head of State.



The OPC welcomes the efforts of the Central Direction of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) and the Prosecutor's Office of Port-au-Prince in the treatment of this file but recalls that from 1995 to the present day, the Haitian population has never followed a large criminal trial with conviction of the guilty defendants. In more than 20 years no trial for spectacular murder of more than 40 citizens has taken place in the country. The alleged killers identified have never been brought to justice. Some, arrested were released by judges without any form of trial with suspicion of corruption.



The OPC deplores that the judicial system is held hostage by certain sectors which protects dishonest and corrupt judges but persecutes, through bogus human rights NGOs, those who are honest and who want to remain independent, faithful to their mission.



The OPC recalls that the assassination of President Jovenel Moise must not remain unpunished and recommends to the Prosecutor's Office of Port-au-Prince, particularly to the Government Commissioner not to be intimidated nor to give in to the pressures or maneuvers of individuals of all stripes who want at all costs to sabotage the investigation into the assassination of the President in order to strengthen the phenomenon of impunity in Haiti for ulterior and shameful ends.



Finally, the OPC calls on acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry to translate "his fine speeches" into concrete action by advancing the case of the President's assassination in accordance with criminal procedure.



Concluding "justice must play its role and not let the assassination of President Moise remain unpunished and restore his image, otherwise we will have to put Haitian justice on trial."



Recall that on Wednesday August 4, 2021, the file on the assassination of President Jovenel Moise was referred to the Cabinet of instruction https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34402-haiti-flash-the-file-on-the-assassination-of-president-moise-finally-transferred-to-the-investigation-cabinet.html



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34402-haiti-flash-the-file-on-the-assassination-of-president-moise-finally-transferred-to-the-investigation-cabinet.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Corruption : ULCC handed 70 lawsuits against former mayors and personalities





Wednesday August 4, 2021, Me Hans Jacques Ludwig JOSEPH, Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC), in the presence of Me Rockefeller VINCENT, Minister of Justice and Public Security and Ms. Ana Maria CALDERON BOY, coordinator of the institutional strengthening project in the framework of the fight against corruption in Haiti of the Organization of American States (OAS) officially handed 10 investigation reports finalized by the institution to the Commissioners of the Government of Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets as well as 70 requests asking for the prosecution of 7 personalities as well as 63 former mayors of the departments of the West and Nippes for not having carried out either on their entry or on their departure from office their declaration of assets despite formal notices from the Institution.



For the Director JOSEPH, anti-corruption gendarme, this handing-over testifies to the concern for impartiality and transparency of the ULCC, which remains determined to clean up the public administration "We are waiting for court decisions taken in an impartial manner. We will ensure that these cases can undergo a treatment that respects the law and anti-corruption law," explained Me Hans Jacques Ludwig Joseph.



He said he was particularly concerned "in the face of false words from certain multi-role people who improvise themselves as specialists in everything but in real nothing. They are at the same time in one person, political activist, political opponent, supposed defender of human rights, President of an organization for the defense of human rights, activist against corruption and astonishment and paradoxically, lawyer and fierce defender of many people prosecuted for proven acts of corruption. A confusion of questionable roles which reveals an acute and regrettable lack of ethics."



Minister VINCENT, took note of the tabling of these final reports to the various Government Commissioners at the Public Prosecutor's Offices of the Republic declaring "These reports, I am convinced will help the country to see more of the underside of the corruption maps, whose proponents are ready, willing and motivated to kill, assassinate, vilify, torture and sacrifice for the maintenance of great illegally acquired benefits. It is at this crossroads that Justice must stand up to defeat these demons and these enemies of the Nation. The entire country and the people as a whole converge their gaze on Haitian justice. Live up to the dignity surrounding your noble and honorable position," emphasizing "the fight against corruption can in no way be a form of political persecution, on the contrary it is a moral duty to which we are all bound."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Haiti "a volcano that burns inside" says Mathias Pierre

"If there are no elections before 2022, this country will explode [...] It is a volcano that is burning inside," said Mathias Pierre, the Minister Delegate in charge of Electoral Matters.



Boulos case : Me Sainvil withdraws

Wednesday Me Bernard Sainvil the dean of the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince, acting as Referee Judge, deported for personal reasons, from the case opposing Reginald Boulos of "Real Business Investment" to Hans Jacques Ludwig Joseph, the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC).



North : 5th Departmental Director in 10 months

On Tuesday August 3, 2021, the Divisional Commissioner Frantz MATHURIN, former head of the Nippes police, was installed as Departmental Director in the North. He replaces in this post the Chief Commissioner Eddit T. SYLVAIN who spent 1 month and 26 days in this post and who was transferred transferred in the same way to the head of the police in the North-East. Note that MATHURIN is the 5th director installed at this post in 10 months in the North...



Tourism : Update on the RIAT-South program

This Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. LK Cassandra FRANCOIS had a videoconference with representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on the progress of the Integrated Region of Tourism Development Program (RIAT SOUTH) but also to take stock of the infrastructure works within the framework of the Program Component, in particular the Place d'Aquin, the Touyac Waterfall and the Marie-Jeanne Grotto.



See alos :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27262-icihaiti-tourism-laying-the-first-stone-of-the-place-d-armes-of-aquin.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27653-haiti-heritage-towards-the-restoration-of-the-forts-of-oliviers-and-saint-louis.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27323-icihaiti-tourism-presentation-of-the-adventure-circuit-caves-and-canyons-of-the-south.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23052-haiti-tourism-inauguration-of-a-pier-at-aquin.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15031-haiti-tourism-30-tourist-projects-will-start-on-the-south-coast.html



Opening of a new Vaccination site

Claire-Heureuse Hospital, Marchand Dessalines, without appointment, from 9:00 a.m.

To see the complete updated list see our last bulletin of August 4 : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34408-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-503.html



JCI : Fortnight of Active Citizenship

The Junior Chamber International Haiti (JCI-Delmas) in partnership with the Leaders of Tomorrow launched the "Fortnight of Active Citizenship". An event aimed at sensitizing young people to get involved in order to become agents of positive and lasting change.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Spectrum Health announced Wednesday it will require all of its employees, volunteers, students and contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Editor: We need to be focused on the deepest meaning of the reason for creation. O
From Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Salt Lake City Division, Helena Resident Agency Office, wants to warn the public about virtual kidnapping scams and variations of this type of scam that have been targeting families in western Montana.

FBI Salt Lake City has recently received reports of victims getting calls from scammers claiming to have kidnapped their loved one and threatening to harm them unless a ransom is paid. No one is physically kidnapped in these schemes, but they are often traumatic for everyone involved. Many of these calls originate in Mexico.

In one recent case, a scammer was able to convince a Kalispell man that his son was in danger and defrauded the victim out of thousands of dollars.

In another case, criminals targeted a woman whose daughter was reported missing earlier this year. The scammers used phishing techniques and information from social media posts to try and convince the woman that the teen was in immediate danger and a ransom needed to be paid for her safe return. The woman did not pay the ransom.

These extortion schemes typically involve an individual or criminal organization who contacts a victim via telephone and demands payment for the return of a kidnapped family member or friend. While no actual kidnapping has taken place, the callers often use co-conspirators to convince their victims of the legitimacy of the threat.

Callers, sometimes representing themselves as members of a drug cartel or corrupt law enforcement, will typically provide the victim with specific instructions, to ensure safe return of the allegedly kidnapped individual. These instructions usually involve demands of a ransom payment.

Most schemes use various techniques to instill a sense of fear, panic, and urgency in an effort to rush the victim into making a very hasty decision. Instructions usually require the ransom payment be made immediately and typically by wire transfer. These schemes involve varying amounts of ransom demands, which often decrease at the first indication of resistance. The perpetrators will often go to great lengths to engage victims in ongoing conversations to prevent them from verifying the status and location of the kidnapped individuals. Callers will often make their victims believe they are being watched and were personally targeted. In reality, many of these callers are outside of the United States, simply making hundreds of calls, possibly using phone directories or other phone lists.

Although the FBI does not keep national statistics of virtual kidnapping for ransom, according to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2020, extortion scams had the third highest victim count in the U.S., behind phishing scams, and non-payment/non-delivery scams. Montana had 186 victims of extortion with losses totaling $413,176. The FBI believes most virtual kidnappings for ransom remain unreported. We hope to raise awareness about this most recent scheme and equip individuals with the knowledge they need to avoid becoming a victim of this crime.

To avoid becoming a victim of this extortion scheme, look for the following possible indicators:

 Calls are usually made from an outside area code

 May involve multiple phone calls

 Calls do not come from the kidnapped victims phone

 Callers go to great lengths to keep you on the phone

 Callers prevent you from calling or locating the kidnapped victim

 Ransom money is only accepted via wire transfer service

If you receive a phone call from someone who demands payment of a ransom for a kidnapped victim, the following should be considered:

 Stay calm.

 Try to slow the situation down.

 Avoid sharing information about you or your family during the call.

 Request to speak to the victim directly. Ask, How do I know my loved one is ok?

 Request the kidnapped victim call back from his/her cell phone

 Listen carefully to the voice of the kidnapped victim if they speak, and ask questions only they would know.

 If they dont let you speak to the victim, ask them to describe the victim or describe the vehicle they drive, if applicable.

 While staying on the line with alleged kidnappers, try to call the alleged kidnap victim from another phone.

 Attempt to text or contact the victim via social media.

 Attempt to physically locate the victim.

 To buy time, repeat the callers request and tell them you are writing down the demand, or tell the caller you need time to get things moving.

 Dont directly challenge or argue with the caller. Keep your voice low and steady.

Anyone with information about these fraud schemes is encouraged to contact the Salt Lake City FBI at (801) 579-1400.

FBI Salt Lake City is committed to working with our state and local law enforcement officers to increase public awareness regarding the threat posed by virtual kidnappings and will continue to investigate and refer these types of cases for prosecution.

 For more information on virtual kidnapping for ransom schemes, read here: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/virtual-kidnapping .

 For more information on scammers targeting families who post missing persons on social media, read here: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2021/PSA210514 .
Call out for parade, vendors, list of events

The South Alberta Pipe and Drums Band performs in the 2019 Festival Days Parade. No parade was held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Havre Area Chamber of Commerce is soliciting applications for people to participate in this year's Festival Days parade Sept. 18.

After many events in Havre Festival Days were canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Havre's decades-old celebration is coming back in full swing.

Havre Area Chamber of Commerce announced that the theme for this year's celebration, set for Sept. 17-19, is "Havre Has Grit," and the Chamber is calling for parade participants and vendors to register.

"Life on the Hi-Line is great, but it doesn't come without its struggles," a release from the Chamber said. "It takes a lot of strength, hard work and perseverance to make a life in this place that we call home. We want to celebrate the grit that our community has and the amazing town in which we live.

"Show us your grit this September by coming together as a community to celebrate the time-honored tradition of Festival Days," the release added.

Festival Days was started in 1980 by a group of community members as a revival of the Havre Music Festival.

Havre had held a May music festival from the 1930s through the 1960s, which was highly acclaimed and brought hundreds or more to town to listen to the performances of regional bands.

The inaugural May Festival in 1931, organized by the Havre Band and Orchestra Association, brought city, high school and grade school bands from the region to perform in Havre.

The event became an international celebration, with Canadian bands sometimes attending.

That festival died off in the mid- to late-1960s, but Havre community members decided about 1980 to try to bring back a festival that drew the community together. They decided to hold the new festival in the fall, more as a celebration of harvest and the end of summer.

The festival grew over the next three decades with more and more events and activities added through the years, until the emergency conditions in the pandemic last year canceled many events.

The festival continued last year in a reduced form.

Activities included the annual Steve Heil Memorial Car Show taking a cruising turn with car owners driving their classics on Fifth Avenue and First Street, a street dance with a performance by Sax Cadillac, a vendor show on the street by The Atrium Mall and more performances inside the mall.

The Eagles Club held a hamburger feed, a comedy show and music that Friday and a a cornhole tournament Saturday, with the Havre Lions Club opening its Pronto Pup stand that normally opens during the Great Northern Fair, which was canceled last year due to the pandemic.

The longstanding 48-hour softball tournament also ran last year, a vendor fair was held at Holiday Village Mall and Havre Trap Club held its annual Moonlight Shoot Saturday at the club south of Havre.

For this year, the Chamber is reaching out to groups that have held events in the past to list them on its schedule, and invites people interested in holding events to call 406-265-4383 or email [email protected] with information about their planned events or go to the Chamber Office at 130 Fifth Ave.

People are invited to fill out the free registration for the parade, downloadable online at https://bit.ly/2VjJZfe , and to register as a vendor either downtown or in the Holiday Village, with forms downloadable at https://bit.ly/3rVCTsS .
Havre Police Department

Christopher Ryan Magis of Great Falls, 31, was arrested on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence and careless driving after a caller on 10th Street reported Wednesday at 7:01 a.m. that a Honda Civic crashed into a parked Buick.

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Officers investigated after a Wednesday 7:28 a.m. caller on Northern Heights Drive reported two dogs attacked a deer.

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A caller at Havre Job Service reported Wednesday at 9:35 a.m. that an air compressor was left on the property.

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Officers investigated a remote breathalyzer test violation reported at the police station at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

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Someone stopped at the police station Wednesday at 12:17 p.m. and asked to speak with an officer about a fraud issue.

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A Second Street caller asked Wednesday at 12:31 p.m. to speak with an officer about pressing charges on the person who stole her phone - an incident investigated by officers Tuesday.

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Wednesday at 1:44 p.m., a caller at 14th Avenue and Second Street reported that a loose pit bull bit him.

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Joshua Ian Beaumont of Havre, 47, was issued a summons on a shoplifting charge after a caller at a First Street business reported Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. that a male shoplifter had taken south bound on Eighth Avenue.

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A caller at a First Street business reported the theft of some beer Wednesday at 10:13 p.m.

Hill County Sheriff's Office

A crash involving semitractor-trailers and multiple vehicles was reported Wednesday at 2:48 p.m. on U.S. Highway 2 at the approach to Gildford. Deputies responded and Hi-Line Ambulance was paged. Montana Highway Patrol reported that no one was injured.

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Deputies were called at 1:52 a.m. today to assist another agency in Rudyard with a medical incident.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical personnel responded to six calls Wednesday and one call early this morning.

Havre Animal Shelter

The shelter this morning held three 6-week-old kittens, one 9-week-old kitten, three 16-week-old kittens and one 11-week-old kitten all of unknown gender, seven female cats, three male cats and one female 22-week-old kitten. A male 13-week-old kitten and a male 14-week-old kitten were being held separately.

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The shelter also held three female and two male 8-week-old puppies, a female 16-week-old puppy, a male 7-month old puppy, a male 10-month-old puppy, a female Doberman pinscher dog, a male and a female 11-month-old puppies, and a male boxer.
Traditional powwow set for Friday evening

Rocky Boys Indian Reservation will be host to a trio of events Friday including a traditional powwow and the tribes annual sobriety walk which will double as a walk to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous people this year.

Registration for the walk will begin at 8:30 a.m. and begin in earnest at 9 at the Old Stone Child College parking lot and end at Rocky Boy Powwow Grounds. Lunch will be provided.

The sobriety walk has been an annual event at Rocky Boy for decades, but this year it is being held in conjunction with a walk to raise awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cause, an event spearheaded by Duane Garvais Lawrence that travels around the U.S. in an effort to raise money and give a voice to those affected by the issue.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Native Americans account for more than 25 percent of the missing person cases in the state of Montana despite being less than 7 percent of the population.

Native Americans, especially Native American women, go missing at extremely high rates compared to people of any other races or ethnicities in the U.S. and Canada and face staggeringly high rates of homicide, abuse and sexual violence, many times that of white women.

This disproportionate rate of violence has been attributed to a number of issues, including the historical legal inability of tribes to prosecute on their own reservations when the perpetrator is non-Native, confusion regarding jurisdiction between tribal, state and federal law enforcement, and a lack of resources on the part of tribal police departments, as well as the general economic and social marginalization of Native Americans.

Accurate statistics on missing person cases can be difficult to obtain due to the before-mentioned lack of resources of tribal police departments, as well as frequent errors by non-native police departments, misclassifying Native Americans as another race.

Lawrence, as well as being an ex-U.S. Marine, was in law enforcement for 25 years and until a few years ago had no idea just how bad the problem was.

He said he was the assistant chief of police for a tribe on the west coast when the tribes chairman, a friend of his, gave him a copy of Savannas Act, a bill in Congress proposed to address the issue, and asked him to look into what he could do about the issue.

He knows me pretty well and knew Id do something about it, he said.

He said as he read the act, passed by Congress last year, and the research behind it he was stunned and sickened by how bad things were, and, as a father of five daughters and a few granddaughters, he knew he had to do something.

I remember that day, I went outside and I went through a range of emotions going from mad to disbelief, to crying a little bit and then getting mad again, he said.

Lawrence said, as a law enforcement officer, he believes very strongly that people in his profession need to live up to their oath to protect and serve, but sometimes, especially when it comes to Native Americans who go missing, its an oath that isnt always lived up to.

Lissa Kicking Woman of the Blackfeet Nation said when her niece, Ashley HeavyRunner-Loring, went missing in June of 2017, law enforcement didnt take the situation seriously and at first said she was probably off partying with her friends.

We just got no help, Kicking Woman said.

She said after going through the process of requesting help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation they were able to, after nine months, gain the help of one agent, one dog, and one helicopter.

Until they finally got those resources it was just her and four others trying to search the 1.5 million acres of the reservation on foot.

She said this sluggishness just isnt seen when non-Native people go missing, citing an incident nearby but outside the reservation of a young white woman who faked her own disappearance in the Glacier area.

Kicking Woman said that incident almost immediately gathered hundreds of people searching including members of their tribal police department, nine dogs, five helicopters, and far more substantial assistance from the FBI.

She said her reservation has three people still missing. Her niece is one, her nephew Leo Wagner is another, and the last is an infant who she has been trying to help find as well.

She said even getting the word out about newly missing people is difficult because tribes often dont have necessary infrastructure for things like amber alerts.

Kicking Woman said these disappearances profoundly affect her and the community, and inspire a great deal of fear in the people of the Blackfeet Nation.

She said her experience made her want to help others who go through the same thing, and shes been an MMIP Awareness advocate ever since, carrying on the work of her niece, herself an awareness advocate.

Kicking Woman said her niece wrote a series of essays about the issue in her capacity as a student, all three of which won awards and praise from her instructors and peers and one year later she went missing herself.

She said her nieces disappearance and the subsequent attention garnered by the incident has changed things for the better in the Blackfeet Nation at least with regards to how law enforcement responds to missing people cases, but there is much to be done before this issue goes away.

Lawrence said the response that so many Native people get when bringing these incidents to the police, that their loved one is probably fine, that theyre just out partying, that the incident isnt suspicious and they shouldnt worry, is completely unacceptable.

Youre not a judge, youre not a jury, your duty is to protect and serve the people, he said.

He said even if it is an instance of someone partying and not checking in, officers need to take every incident seriously, and get the ball rolling on finding people immediately.

Origins of the MMIP Walk

Lawrence said after getting some downtime from his job in law enforcement he considered running across America to raise awareness for the issue, but made a slight alteration to the plan after praying on it.

Im 55 years old so Creator God said, You might want to bike across America, he said. That was a good idea.

He said he has been helping Earth-Feather Sovereign, a well known MMIP awareness advocate out of Seattle, and set up a GoFundMe for her efforts before setting out.

Lawrence said he traveled the country trying to give as many people as possible a chance to tell their stories and show them that there are people out there who care.

He said he ended up at Plymouth Rock at the 400 year anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower, and met with the decedents of the host tribe, and discussed the historical trauma and cultural erasure that echoes down through history resulting in the continued marginalization of Native Americans.

He said they spoke about the violence experienced by those who were forced into the residential school system in the U.S. and Canada, where Native Americans and First Nation people were subjected to horrific treatment at the hands of the system.

In the past few months mass unmarked graves of hundreds of Indigenous children have been found at the sites of former residential schools in Canada, some of which were run by the Roman Catholic Church.

The system was part of a century-long campaign of forced assimilation which the Historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded was cultural genocide.

The residential school system was in place until 1996 and many people still living today feel the effects of that system.

Lawrence said the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People is ultimately another echo of this history of cultural erasure.

Even when people are found, he said, the compounded historical trauma can make coping with what happened to them difficult.

He said 42 percent of survivors have attempted or committed suicide, more than half lack permanent housing, and more than a third have report being driven to alcoholism by the incident.

Nearly all report being affected by historical trauma.

As for those left behind, Lawrence said, they are left with no resolution and cannot properly grieve their loved ones, and like the survivors, many are driven to alcoholism or drug use to cope.

Were in this destructive cycle, he said.

After returning home from the journey, Lawrence said, tribes were already contacting him to see when he was coming back.

He also said hes been in talks with a Canadian film company that is interested in making a documentary about the issue so awareness does seem to be increasing.

He said this time around hes working more closely with the tribes he visits and hes looking forward to his arrival at Rocky Boy Friday.

Were excited to be there, he said.

Rocky Boy Wellness Coalition Chair Elinor Nault said when she heard about the event coming to Rocky Boy she suggested that they combine it with the sobriety walk, seeing crossover between the two issues.

Nault said Rocky Boy has been affected by MMIP profoundly, with two men still missing.

Our community hasnt had any closure, because we dont know what happened to them, she said.

She said Rocky Boy is also affected by the disproportionate rates of violence and murder, having lost many women to it over the years.

She said according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention murder is the third-leading cause of death for Native American women and more than 84 percent experience violence in their lifetimes.

Nault said more than half have experienced abuse at the hands of intimate partners and nearly as many have experienced sexual violence, far more than Anglo-American women.

She said due to poor record keeping and underreporting the issue is likely even worse than the numbers suggest, but even then they communicate the harrowing violence that Native American women and girls face.

Nault said the families of these people have been invited to speak at the event and she hopes it will be a way to remember people.

People cant just go missing and be forgotten, she said.

She said the Chippewa Cree Business Committee has voiced support for the event and voted by resolution to have the event held in honor of Robbie Alexander and Smokey Roasting Stick and their families.

The Powwow

Nault said the walks will be followed by the Chippewa Cree Traditional Powwow, which will be at the Rocky Boy Powwow Grounds.

A community feed will be at 5 p.m., Drum Roll Call will be at 6:30, and Grand Entry will be at 7.

In order to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 non-residents are prohibited from attending and People who do attend are encouraged to wear masks, social distance and be mindful of hand hygiene.

For more information, people can call Loni Talyor of the Chippewa Cree Business Committee at 406-399-3399.
New portal will streamline applications for loans $150K or less for over 6.5 million businesses

WASHINGTON  The U.S. Small Business Administration launching a streamlined application portal to allow borrowers with Paycheck Protection Program loans $150,000 or less through participating lenders to apply for forgiveness directly through the SBA.

The SBAs new streamlined application portal will simplify forgiveness for millions of our smallest businesses  including many sole proprietors  who used funds from our Paycheck Protection Program loans to survive the pandemic, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said. The vast majority of businesses waiting for forgiveness have loans under $150,000. These entrepreneurs are busy running their businesses and are challenged by an overly complicated forgiveness process. We need to deliver forgiveness more efficiently so they can get back to enlivening our Main Streets, sustaining our neighborhoods and fueling our nations economy.

This new change will help rush relief to over 6.5 million smallest of small businesses which has been the Biden administrators priority since day one. The new forgiveness platform began accepting applications from borrowers Wednesday.

Lenders are required to opt-in to this program through https://directforgiveness.sba.gov .

In addition to the technology platform, the SBA is setting up a PPP customer service team to answer questions and directly assist borrowers with their forgiveness applications. Borrowers who need assistance or have questions should call 1-888-552-2692, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mountain Time.

This initiative will allow PPP borrowers to put their concerns of achieving full forgiveness behind them and focus on operating and growing their businesses again, Associate Administrator for SBAs Office of Capital Access Patrick Kelley said. We are pleased to be able to assist financial institutions across the U.S. in processing forgiveness applications for small business owners.

Paycheck Protection Program Summary

Overall, the SBA and lenders have worked to originate over 11.7 million loans totaling nearly $800 billion in relief to over 8.5 million small businesses.

In 2021:

 SBA approved over 6.5M loans totaling over $275B

 The average loan size was $42 thousand  compared to $101 thousand in 2020

 96% of loans went to businesses with fewer than 20 employees  compared to just 87% in 2020.

 32% of loans went to businesses in LMI communities  compared to just 24% in 2020

Direct Forgiveness Summary

 Over 600 banks have opted in to direct forgiveness, enabling over 2.17 million borrowers to apply through the portal. This represents 30% of loans $150,000 or less that have not yet submitted for forgiveness.

As one of the leading PPP lenders in the nation, Customers Bank is proud to partner with SBA to deliver responsive digital loan forgiveness service to the small business borrowers, Sam Sidhu, president and CEO of Customers Bank said. The streamlined and efficient SBA PPP loan forgiveness portal will help borrowers and lenders move forward with economic growth and job creation following the pandemic. We encourage other lenders to join Customers Bank and opt-in to the SBA portal.

Established by the CARES Act in 2020, the PPP was among the first COVID-19 small business economic aid programs and provided more than $798 billion in economic relief to small businesses and nonprofits across the nation, keeping employees working, and helping businesses come back stronger than ever. View the Interim Final Rule on PPP Forgiveness.

Other programs include Economic Injury Disaster Loan EIDL Advance, Targeted EIDL Advance, Supplemental EIDL Advance, Restaurant Revitalization Fund, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and SBA Debt Relief program. To learn more about these programs, poeple can visit www.sba.gov/relief .

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start and grow their businesses. It delivers services to people through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, people can visit http://www.sba.gov .
From USDA Rural Development

BOZEMAN  U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson announced Monday that the department is accepting applications for loans and grants to support rural microenterprises.

The funding is being provided through USDAs Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program.

RMAP provides loans and grants to a non-profit entity, tribe or institution of higher education as a Microenterprise Development Organization to establish revolving loan funds to provide loans to rural microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs. The funds also may be used to provide training and technical assistance to microentrepreneurs. To be eligible for a loan from an MDO, an ultimate recipient must be a business with 10 or fewer full-time employees and be located in a non-metropolitan rural area with a population of 50,000 or less.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact USDA Rural Development Montanas Business and Cooperative Programs Director Lad Barney at 406-309-3350 or [email protected], well in advance of the application deadlines to discuss their project and ask any questions about the RMAP program or the application process.

For additional information and for application deadlines, people can see page 41,004 of the July 30 Federal Register.
After our mutual agreement last week that Ariels car with Four-in-the-Floor and not enough wiggle room would not be a good car for my needs, Ariel went on the search for the Right car.

Ariels morning routine includes a strong coffee, sweet roll, and Guadalajara newspaper at the Oxxo out on the highway. The Oxxo is a convenience store with the usual. You could walk in the door and feel right at home.

The sweet roll might be a disappointment because Mexican sweet rolls, at least the ones Ive tasted, arent very sweet. But the coffee machine is familiar. You can operate it without hesitation. Unlike most instruction manuals, the newspaper does not come in two languages, so skip the newspaper.

While sipping coffee, seated in the front window at the Oxxo, my neighbor read the paper, front to back. In the classified ads, Ariel found a listing for a car that got his blood running hot. He phoned Leo who happened to be at work in my yard that day.

The listing was for a 10-year-old Nissan Abao with 80,000 kilometers which is almost 50,000 miles. Sweet, eh? And the asking price was only a few thousand pesos more than Ariels 20-year-old VW Bug. Should he make the phone call? He asked.

That was a no-brainer. Of course, make the call. Find out what is wrong with the car, was my first thought, following the logic that if a deal sounds like to good to be true, well, you fill in the blanks.

Me, I had no idea what a Nissan Abao looked like. Abao? Never heard of it. I quit looking at cars back in the gasoline crisis of the 70s when they all became little white square boxes with no personality, no buzz to them. And nothing since then has gotten me excited. But I do know how to operate Google to find the picture. Mmm, sweet. Almost sporty.

An hour or so later, Ariel came over and we sat in the backyard. Seemed the car was a company car used by a Mabe executive. My stove and refrigerator are made by Mabe. They have a large plant just off the road we take to Guadalajara. The company replaces executive cars every 10 years. This one had all the bells and whistles including leather seats and newish tires.

Sure. Set an appointment for us to go look at the car. If we had to, there was time; we could even go that afternoon. Id have to scramble for the money. Shoot, Id have to borrow from Leo. Guau! (That is Wow in Espanol.) We all got excited.

Until Ariel returned with the bad news. The man said, Send a deposit to hold the car. Ariel, who didnt just come plucked out of the turnip patch with mud in his ears, said, No money until we see the car. And hung up the phone.

What a perfect scam, I said. What a great story. All the juicy details to create instant rapport. Ill bet a lot of people send money, depending on their means. A thousand pesos, three thousand, five or eight. Executive car, indeed! How rich! Flim Flam Scam.

Was I disappointed? Sure. A little bit. I think we all felt a bit let down. It doesnt take long to be able to imagine myself comfy in the tan leather seats, hands at 2 and 10 on the wheel, heading over the mountains to Puerto Vallarta, wind in my hair, suitcase in the trunk, gas tank topped, making the maiden run.

What is going on with you, Woman? Youve happily gone eight years without a car. Why are you looking for one now? (I can talk with myself if I want.) Yes, now! Now, when you, by your own precautions, refuse to travel because of the on-going pandemic. Now you want a car?

Doesnt matter, does it? Both the VW and the Nissan slipped through my fingers. (I can answer myself too.) No car. No destination.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring. The car seed has been planted. Maybe the seed will grow. Maybe not. Meanwhile, Im happily able to reimburse friends, neighbors and public transportation to meet my needs. Needs and wants. Two different things, worlds apart.

But I can dream. Maybe a Hummer. Maybe with a chauffeur?



Sondra Ashton grew up in Harlem but spent most of her adult life out of state. She returned to see the Hi-Line with a perspective of delight. After several years back in Harlem, Ashton is seeking new experiences in Etzatlan, Mexico. Once a Montanan, always. Read Ashtons essays and other work at http://montanatumbleweed.blogspot.com/. Email [email protected]
(The Center Square)  With Kentucky facing a COVID-19 surge that Gov. Andy Beshear said is starting to grow exponentially, state officials have started to implement new policies in hopes of flattening that curve.

Starting Tuesday, state-operated health care facilities implemented mandatory masking policies. That includes the veteran nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals and immediate care facilities.

At the same time, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services is strongly encouraging employees and contractors who work at state-run health facilities to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1. While the state will grant exceptions for medical or religious reasons, anyone unvaccinated will be required to take at least two COVID-19 tests a week.

Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander told reporters Monday hes concerned about the new strain of the virus.

This delta variant is real, he said. It is potent. We need to take precautions. We need to protect ourselves, our families and others.

While Kentucky-run health facilities and other state buildings now have universal mask requirements, Beshear has not yet decided to take the next step and make it mandatory in other public settings. Hes also not contemplating a vaccine-or-required-test mandate for state employees, a step other states and the U.S. government have implemented recently.

Still, Beshear has called on some organizations, including school districts, to implement mask mandates as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now recommended.

Beshear was flabbergasted after he learned Carter County Schools announced earlier Monday it still would not require masks even after officials in the eastern Kentucky county delayed the start of its school year from this Thursday to Aug. 16 because of an increase in COVID-19 cases among students.

My goodness, I really hope smarter heads prevail, Beshear said. For everybody else. I can tell you the delta variant is going to spread, but in this instance, you know kids already have it.

Heading into this week, Beshear said the states positivity rate had risen for 38 straight days. What started at 1.8% has since shot up eight percentage points to 9.8% on Monday.
Sheriff's office identifies child who died in house fire

Authorities have identified the child who died in a house fire early Wednesday morning as 3-year-old Liam Valazquez Martinez.

Stephanie Barbosa, the Latino Outreach Liaison for the sheriff's office has been assisting the family. The family has also received assistance from Joel Garcia, associate pastor of Upward Christian Fellowship Church. The American red Cross is also assisting the family with living accommodations.

Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue, along with mutual aid companies, responded to the report of the fire at 9:07 a.m. at the home between Allen Road and Old Spartanburg Highway. Firefighters arrived within minutes to find a single-wide mobile home in heavy fire involvement throughout the interior. Immediate fire suppression and simultaneous search and rescue operations were initiated and resulted in the discovery that a preschool-aged child had died in the fire.

Officials From Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue, the Henderson County Fire Marshals Office, and the Henderson County Sheriffs Office are using certified fire investigators to determine the cause and origin of the fire.






THAMES Valley Police refuse to say how many officers will be on duty in Henley during the regatta.

Superintendent Sarah Grahame, tactical commander for the event said: This year will not see a normal regatta as there will be fewer public facilities and most areas are only available to ticket holders.

We still expect to see a large number of visitors to Henley, which will increase traffic and congestion through the town centre.

We advise you to book your tickets in advance and ask that motorists be patient and mindful of the increased traffic and pedestrians. Remember to leave plenty of time for your journeys, and to carefully follow the appropriate signs to the allocated car parks.

The neighbourhood policing team in Henley will be an integral part of our operation and will ensure the priorities of the local community are acted on, as normal, during this time.

A number of security measures have been put in place to ensure that members of the public can continue to enjoy the regatta in a safe and secure environment.
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Greenville, TX (75401)

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Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 95F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Winchester, TN (37398)

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Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 90F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Uniontown, PA (15401)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High near 90F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Like a well-kept secret, the cisterns of the Temple Mount are concealed, barred and padlocked by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. In ancient times, the cisterns refreshed pilgrims arriving at the Temple. A few originally functioned as shaft graves or quarries from which stones were carved to build the Temple, filling with water only years later.

According to archaeologists' calculations, to transport 26,417 gallons of water from the Gihon Spring 2,624 feet to one small cistern on the Mount would have taken at least 1,300 donkey trips. Most of the cisterns on the Mount are considerably bigger, able to contain hundreds of thousands of gallons; water reached them mainly through ancient channels. Rainwater, which was absorbed by the ground of the Temple Mount, also helped fill the cisterns. Research points to the existence of 49 cisterns on the Mount, as well as 42 channels that carried water to them. Some also served as hiding places prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.

While the Temple has been destroyed, the cisterns remain, and can help tell its story and the story of its ruin, which we mark today, July 18, Tisha B'av. The vast majority appear to be empty. A few have been equipped with sensors and alarms. Even Israel's security forces can only approach most of the cisterns in rare emergency situations. Members of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement even had a plan to refill the cisterns with water imported from Mecca to make the compound more sacred to Muslims.

Only by walking around the Mount is it possible to get a more tangible impression of the cisterns. For years, I would visit two of them. The first, which dates back to the First Temple, has been locked for 10 years and is not part of the guided tours of the area. Its entrance was uncovered in 2012, between paving stones of a Herodian-era drainage ditch that links Siloam Pool to the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

The walls of the large cistern are covered in yellowish-brown plaster characteristic of the First Temple period. The discovery of the cistern challenged the established belief that in the First Temple era Jerusalem's only water source has been the Gihon Spring. The cistern branches out toward the east, toward the Temple Mount compound, near the location of the Museum of Islam. But that part is blocked, like the rest of the cisterns.

The other cistern I've visited lies a little more to the north and does not enter the Temple Mount. Archaeologist Eli Shukron, who discovered both cisterns, thinks that it was a hiding place for a family that lived in the city 2,000 years ago, and that they ate their last meals there, fearing that the rebels would steal their food.

Josephus Flavius' book "The Jewish War" describes how in the weeks prior to the destruction of the Temple, the rebels would ambush the population of Jerusalem and murder and torture women, children and the elderly as part of their great food theft. The finds at the bottom of the cistern correspond chillingly with Josephus's narrative. Pottery vessels containing traces of food were found there, along with a small clay lamp that would have provided only enough light to allow the family to see their food without being discovered.

A new book by journalist and Temple Mount researcher Arnon Segal, "Habayit" ("The Home"), attempts to create a "virtual" visit to the cisterns. Segal, who has been writing a weekly column about the Temple Mount in Makor Rishon for the last 10 years, devotes a sizable portion of his book to the Temple Mount cisterns.

His documentation goes back to the golden age of research on the cisterns in the 19th century.

Segal explained that at that time, "Jerusalem was a weakened, sleepy city, far from the awareness of the world and the bloody conflicts that characterized the focus on it starting in the 20th century. In short-a paradise for the research pioneers. This is why most of the information about the cisterns we have in the 21st century is based, oddly, on the sketches [by] people in the 19th century, mainly the findings of Charles Warren and Conrad Schick, two of the most diligent mappers of that century."

But Warren and Schick weren't the only ones. Ermete Pierotti, an engineering officer in the Sardinian Army who arrived in Jerusalem after being chosen to serve as a consultant on refurbishments to the Temple Mount, was another.

Pierotti was appointed city engineer by the Ottoman governor of the city, and since he handled the city's water systems, the mysteries of the Temple Mount were open to him.

Pierotti's encounter with the "Well of Souls" that was supposedly dug beneath the Dome of the Rock is one of his more intriguing ones, mainly because even now it is unclear whether or not that cistern actually exists.

Q: What is the Well of Souls?

Segal: In the Foundation Stone, there is a cave carved out to which 14 steps lead down, and there is a large marble slab set on its floor that supposedly covers the cistern. Because according to Islamic tradition, the marble slab covers the opening to hell and the souls of the dead buried under it, it was called the 'Well of Souls.' The Muslims avoid opening it. The Muslim tradition about that cistern draws on the power of the Jewish tradition of the Foundation Stone, which midrashim say is the foundation of the world. Our sages see the Foundation Stone as a kind of stopper that closes the chasm underneath it, lest it come back and inundate the world like the ancient flood.

Q: And Pierotti went inside?

A: Not even he was allowed to open the marble slab that seals the cistern. He got in through a side opening.

Q: And what did he find?

A: Pierotti wrote that he found a large space, and if he was exact, this is of major significance, because the cave under the Dome of the Rock is full of important Jewish history. According to the main approach [of] Jewish sages, which Maimonides among others espoused, in the time of the First Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was stored in a 'deep and twisting concealment' beneath the Holy of Holies. According to tradition, as well as numerous researchers, the Holy of Holies is located where the Dome of Rock is today. Unless he was making things up, Pierotti effectively identified the existence of a major underground space at the Well of Souls, a space that until then had been considered the stuff of legend.

Security officials took pictures

The Well of Souls has made headlines twice in the past decade. The first time, in the spring of 2015, was when the Waqf replaced the rugs at the Dome of the Rock and in the cave beneath the Foundation Stone. This exposed the floor of the structure, and it was photographed. One of the photographs shows the marble slab that might cover the opening to the Well of Souls.

The second time was in 2017, after the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement carried out a terrorist shooting at the Temple Mount compound that left two police officers dead. The police closed the area off and conducted careful sweeps to ensure that no other weapons were hidden on the Mount. A large contingent of police and Border Police raided the offices of Temple Mount employees, sent ropes down cisterns that hadn't been opened since the 19th century, and surveyed numerous structures.

Some of the cisterns were photographed, and security officials shared their documentation with the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Waqf claimed that forces had also searched the cave under the Dome of the Rock. Was the marble slab opened? No security officials are volunteering an answer. In any case, the Well of Souls is only one of the 49 cisterns research has identified on the Mount. Researcher Rivka Goren has identified four cisterns as primitive shaft graves, of the kind used to bury the dead until the end of the third millennium BCE, long before the Temple Mount was built.

Another cistern, No. 8, known as the "Great Cistern," is the largest and can hold more than three million gallons. It was documented and illustrated by William Simpson in 1872.

"Benjamin Mazar claimed that it was a cistern mentioned in Jewish sources that was used as a main water source by pilgrims in the days of the Temple," said Segal. "According to Mazar, the daughter of Nehunya, who was in charge of supplying water to pilgrims in the Second Temple Era, might have fallen into it."

Segal points out that Dutch archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer believes that the Great Cistern was also one of the sources of the stone used to build the Temple. "He thinks that most of the large cisterns on the Temple Mount started out as underground quarries, and only after the quarrying stopped were they plastered and used to collect water," he says.

Segal raises a few more interesting questions about the cisterns: Is Cistern No. 5, at the south of the Mount, the one dug in the Second Temple Period that provided water to Ezra, as researcher Ben Zion Luria believed? The Mishnah says that the curtain that separates the "Holy" from the "Holy of Holies" was submerged in this cistern, and professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology thinks it provided water for the bath where the priests would wash the feet and hands of pilgrims.

Another intriguing one is No. 11, named after the Hellenistic Acra fortress, which Simon the Hasmonean destroyed. The Acra, hated by the Jews of Jerusalem, was designed to force them to worship pagan gods in the heart of the Temple. Researcher Joshua Schwartz was the first to link the Acra to the cistern, but it is not a certainty.

"Most Israelis," said Segal, "know the Temple Mount as a place of tensions and conflict. They remember it exists only when the constant conflict that envelops it flares up. But the Temple Mount can be so much more than that, and tell a story that is far beyond the current conflict, a story that exposes the earliest roots of the Jewish people, and hope for its future."

Nadav Shragai is a veteran Israeli journalist.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
A menorah belonging to the great-grandfather of Daniel Pearl is lit by Judea and Ruth Pearl, his parents, at a Chanukah celebration on Dec. 10, 2007, in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, D.C.

(JNS) - Ruth Pearl, the mother of slain Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, died on July 20 at the age of 85.

In 2002, Ruth Pearl and her husband, Judea Pearl, were thrust into international attention after Al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan kidnapped their son, Daniel Pearl, and executed him nine days later.

Pearl, an electrical engineer and computer analyst, was born Eveline Rejwan in Baghdad on Nov. 10, 1935. According to the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation news release, her childhood was interrupted in 1941, when a coup attempt in Iraq left a power vacuum in the British-controlled territory, allowing thousands of Iraqi civilians, soldiers and paramilitary gangs inspired by Nazi propaganda and anti-Zionist fervor to start a pogrom against the Jews in what became known as the "Farhud."

Pearl spoke of this history in one of 20 interviews of the Visual History Archive about the Jewish experience in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II.

According to the release, at least 179 Baghdadi Jews were killed in the Farhud and hundreds of others raped, injured, or had their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Pearl recalled seeing a bullet fly past her mother while she held her baby sister and watched Jewish-owned shops being looted.

In 1951, she, her younger siblings and her parents were transported to Cyprus and then Israel as part of the mass exodus of Jews from Iraq, forfeiting their citizenship and possessions.

She met her husband, Judea Pearl, while studying electrical engineering at the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology in Haifa. They married in 1960 and moved to New Jersey to pursue graduate degrees. They had three children; Daniel Pearl was the middle child, born on Oct. 10, 1963.

When he was kidnapped, Pearl revealed that she had dreamt that he was in trouble. She woke up and sent her son an email.

"I said, 'Danny ... please humor me and answer this email immediately,' " she wrote according to the Shoah Foundation.

Daniel Pearl never responded.

She and her husband went on to form the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which sponsors fellowships to bring journalists from Muslim countries to the United States, among other programs. They also started the Daniel Pearl Foundation Music Day project, held on their son's birthday.

Pearl served as the chief financial officer for the foundation, which aims to perpetuate Daniel's commitment to reaching across divides through journalism and music.

"Dehumanizing people is the first step to inviting violence, like Nazism and fascism," she said in her testimony. "It's very easy to dehumanize. I'm sure the killers of Danny didn't have any sense of identifying with the humanity that connects us. For them, Danny was an object. And that can happen only if you really don't have your own self-respect and your own respect for human beings. So we have to figure ways to educate the next generation differently."

In addition to her husband, she is survived by daughters Michelle and Tamara. She is also survived by her daughter-in-law Mariane; her sister Carmella; and grandchildren Leora, Tori, Ari, Evan and Adam.
(JTA) - It has been a question insiders have posed all week: Could Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling its ice cream in the West Bank trigger many or all of the laws that U.S. states have passed in recent years to hurt the Israel boycott movement?

Well, five states are already looking into it.

Officials in Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Illinois are reviewing whether the move will require divestment from Ben & Jerry's parent company Unilever under their various state laws.

There are 34 states in total that require their governments to stop doing business with companies that boycott Israel - and 21 of those explicitly include West Bank settlement boycotts in their definitions.

Of those states, 12 are required to remove companies that engage in boycotts from state employee retirement investment funds - an action that experts say is far more damaging than simply ending contracts with a company for its goods and services.

Here's a look at the five states that have launched actions so far:

Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday wrote to the State Board of Administration, which manages the state's retirement and other funds, asking that it place Ben & Jerry's and Unilever on the "Continued Examination Companies that Boycott Israel List."

"Continued Examination," under Florida law, means that at least one piece of evidence has come to light that a company is taking an action that would, according to Florida law, cut it off from state business. Should it determine that the company is indeed in conflict with Florida requirements, it would go on the Scrutinize Company List, which would mandate that Florida divest its funds from the company.

Florida law explicitly extends to companies that boycott, divest or sanction West Bank settlements, and it extends its purview to the state retirement funds.

Texas

Glenn Hegar, the state comptroller, told CNBC that he has launched an inquiry to determine if Unilever meets the standard to be delisted from companies with which the state does business.

"I've directed my staff to determine whether any specific action has been taken by Ben & Jerry's or Unilever would trigger a listing under Chapter 808 of the Texas Government Code," he said.

Texas law also includes West Bank settlements in its Israel boycott definition, and also applies its law to the restriction of state retirement funds.

New York

Liz Gordon, the executive director of Corporate Governance for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, on Friday wrote to Unilever saying that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is "troubled and concerned about reports suggesting that Ben & Jerry's, a Unilever wholly-owned subsidiary, is involved in BDS activities." BDS refers to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement targeting Israel.

"This letter serves as notice that the Fund intends to include Unilever on our list of companies participating in BDS activity if these reports are correct," the letter says.

New York has yet to pass any BDS-related laws, although some are under consideration. However, in 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order still in effect that bans doing state business with companies observing BDS, and extended it to investment funds. The executive order does not explicitly address whether settlement boycotts are included.

Illinois

Illinois law requires that state employee retirement funds divest from companies that promote BDS, including those who restrict their actions to Israel's settlements.

Daniel Goldwin, the executive director of public affairs at Chicago's Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the process of review by the independent Illinois Investment Policy Board was underway. The board wrote to Unilever, giving them 90 days to "explain why their reported actions are not a violation of Illinois law."

"At the next quarterly meeting, the board will review the company's response and/or invite them to testify and answer questions. Then, if it's determined that state pension divestment is warranted, the actual divestment will occur in a 'timely way that does not lead to a material loss of value,'" Goldwin said.

New Jersey

New Jersey law also requires state employee retirement funds divest from companies observing BDS, also including companies who only boycott Israel's settlements.

Jewish Insider on Friday quoted an official in the State Treasurer's office as saying that "the Division of Investment is aware of the situation and is working to determine whether any actions must be taken to ensure continued compliance with the State's anti-BDS law."

Gov. Phil Murphy was "disappointed" in the decision, a spokeswoman said.

"The governor believes we must continue working toward the shared goal of peace and mutual respect," the spokeswoman told USA Today.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the American Jewish businessmen who founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings in 1978, said in a New York Times guest essay on Wednesday that they "unequivocally support" the company's decision last week to no longer sell its ice cream in Judea and Samaria.

"We unequivocally support the decision of the company to end business in the 'occupied territories,' which a majority of the international community, including the United Nations, has deemed an illegal occupation," Cohen and Greenfield said in the essay, titled, "We're Ben and Jerry. Men of ice cream, men of principle."

The two men, who identified themselves as "proud Jews" and "supporters of the State of Israel," said they are also "proud" of the company's action and "believe it is on the right side of history."

"In our view, ending the sales of ice cream in the 'occupied territories' is one of the most important decisions the company has made in its 43-year history," said Cohen and Greenfield, who no longer have operational control of Ben & Jerry's after signing an acquisition agreement with Unilever in 2000.

""We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year," the statement said.

Avi Zinger, the "licensee" and CEO of Ben & Jerry's Israel, told i24 News, "I was asked by the company to stop distributing ice cream to the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and east Jerusalem. I refused."

Zinger's refusal to boycott his fellow citizens had consequences. "I got a letter from the CEO of Ben & Jerry's saying that they are not going to renew my license at the end of 2022," he said.

"It was especially brave of the company. Even though it undoubtedly knew that the response would be swift and powerful, Ben & Jerry's took the step to align its business and operations with its progressive values," they said.

Cohen and Greenfield insisted that their support for boycotting Israeli citizens in Judea and Samaria is "not a contradiction nor is it anti-Semitic."

"In fact, we believe this act can and should be seen as advancing the concepts of justice and human rights, core tenets of Judaism," they said.

The Ben & Jerry's co-founders said that the company's decision did not constitute a boycott of Israel but only of territory "outside Israel's democratic borders."

In a statement on July 19, Ben & Jerry's said, "We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry's ice cream to be sold in the 'Occupied Palestinian Territory.'"

The 'right side of history'?

The author of this article, Josh Plank of World Israel News, stated, "the so-called 'occupied Palestinian territory,' composed of the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, was in fact never part of Palestine, a country which never existed. Jordan invaded and occupied the territory in 1948, and the land was later captured by Israel in 1967 after Jordan attacked the Jewish State.
On the first Shabbat of August, Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th, Congregation Ohev Shalom welcomes a new rabbi on its Bima. Rabbi Murray Ezring will serve as spiritual leader of COS, guiding the congregation and serving its needs as it continues its search for a long-term rabbi.

"I am very excited to work with Rabbi Ezring!" said COS Board of Trustees president Rachel Gebaide. "I look forward to learning from him and hearing his perspectives. It will be a pleasure to welcome Rabbi Ezring and his wife, Barbara, to Ohev Shalom."

Rabbi Ezring has more than four decades of experience in strengthening congregations through innovative pulpit and teaching techniques, in conjunction with a compassionate and sensitive pastoral presence. He is committed to a whole-synagogue approach guided by the concept of Relational Judaism. In 2019, Rabbi Ezring retired from Temple Sinai in Charlotte, N.C., after a distinguished 25-year career leading his congregation. He comes to COS from Norfolk, Va., where he has served for the past two years as interim rabbi at Congregation Beth El.

Rabbi Ezring will work with lay and professional leaders of COS to help the congregation shape its future. He has undertaken intensive training with the Rabbinical Assembly, joining a small cadre of highly experienced Conservative rabbis who specialize in helping congregations during times of transition. In addition to his rabbinic duties, Rabbi Ezring will serve as a guide as the congregation reassesses its goals and priorities, as well as counsel and support COS in its search for its next permanent rabbi.

The COS Rabbinic Search Committee began its work in the fall of 2020, but restrictions on travel and the general atmosphere of uncertainty brought on by the global health emergency proved to be formidable constraints. Committee members were very pleased to find and secure a commitment from Rabbi Ezring, whose rabbinic accomplishments, strong and welcoming Bima presence, and engaging, empathetic manner make him highly sought after. The committee is eager to begin its work anew, with Rabbi Ezring as an ally and guide, when the High Holiday season is over and the rabbinic hiring season begins.

"Ohev Shalom is looking forward to Rabbi Ezring's assistance and involvement as we review our congregation's and congregants' needs and strengthen our relationships," said Jeff Bornstein, who along with Lori Brenner is co-chair of the COS Rabbinic Search Committee. "The congregation is excited to work with Rabbi Ezring as we look to the future and continue to grow in our second century of serving the Jewish community of Central Florida," added Brenner.

The community is warmly invited to join COS for Friday night services and Oneg Shabbat on Friday, Aug. 6, as we welcome Rabbi and Barbara Ezring to our congregation. Note that COS currently requires face masks for all congregants and guests entering the synagogue, regardless of vaccination status.

Also, join COS for these other August highlights as the congregation prepares to greet the High Holidays. Visit the COS website (click on High Holy Days 5782) or contact the office by email or phone for information and registration.

Sweet as Honey

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 56:30 p.m.

It is a tradition to eat apples and honey for a sweet new year. Want to know how honey is made? Join us for a fun and educational program with a beekeeper from Local Bee Honey. She is bringing everything to learn how honey is made, including the bees! All ages welcome - dinner, honey tasting and fun included for all!

Styling the Sukkah

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 79 p.m.

Get your paintbrush ready to help COS make decorations for our Sukkah! Did you know our clergy assistant, Vann, is an artist? Join us as she shares her artistic talent and teaches us how to paint sun-catchers and string festive garlands for Sukkot during this adult art class. All supplies and instruction provided.

B'Yachad Elul Two Drink Minimum: Holiday Cocktail How-To With a Jewish Twist

Thursday, Aug. 19, 79 p.m.

Get your shakers ready for a sweet new year! Stacey Glazer, former bartender, current USCJ engagement director, religious school teacher and JTS student, will teach us how to make two specialty cocktails created with Rosh Hashanah in mind! $18 per ticket (21+)

Musical Healing Service

Sunday, Aug. 22, 79 p.m.

Join Cantor Robuck at the piano for a 1-hour service featuring music with healing energy. There will be mixture of melodies for the whole congregation to sing as well as some for listening with varying composers and styles.

We Want More Apple Cake!

Thursday, Aug. 26, 79 p.m.

Last year's virtual joint baking programs were so popular we are bringing them back! Prepare for the holidays by learning how to prepare this yummy apple cake together on Zoom. Great for all ages - we supply the recipe and you supply the ingredients!
(JNS) - It was billed as the first Iranian delegation to Israel since the fall of the Shah 42 years earlier. Six Iranian Muslim dissidents, forced to leave their homeland decades ago and who made their way to the United States, came on a three-day solidarity mission last week to show support for the Jewish state following the May clash between Israel and Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip - namely, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - that have long been backed by Iran.

Accompanying the group were four former Trump administration officials, including Ellie Cohanim, former U.S. deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism at the U.S. State Department, who described the visit as "historic." Cohanim was born in Tehran and escaped with her family shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

"They know that Hamas, which rained down these rockets on Israel, is an Iranian proxy, and they know that Hezbollah on the Lebanese border is an Iranian proxy," Cohanim told JNS. "And they wanted to show the Israeli people, but also the world, that they support Israel in its right to a country and its right to self-defense, and they really just stand against the Iranian regime."

The mission was organized by the Institute for Voices of Liberty, a U.S.-based nonprofit that seeks to "counter the false narratives propagated by the Islamic Republic and its apologists," and to act as a voice for the "freedom-seeking people of Iran."

The group's whirlwind tour of Israel included stops at the northern border with Lebanon and Syria, and at the southern border with the Gaza Strip. They also met with officials at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry tweeted on Sunday: "It was an honor to meet these brave individuals."

Israel and Iran enjoyed close relations for 30 years under the Pahlavi regime until Iran's shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was forced into exile, making way for the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose hostility to Israel is a centerpiece of its ideology.

Members of the delegation would like to see ties restored and spoke of an alliance going back millennia to Cyrus the Great (circa 590530 B.C.E.), who allowed Jews exiled by the Babylonians to return to the Land of Israel. Delegation members talked of advancing a "Cyrus Accords," a renewed friendship between the Iranian and Israeli peoples along the lines of the Abraham Accords, recently signed between Israel and four Muslim states.

'The Iranian regime is at war with Persian culture'

Ben Tabatabaei, a member of the delegation who is an international business and political economist, was 10 when his family fled Tehran in 1984, several years after the revolution. He told JNS before that, Israel and Iran enjoyed cooperation in a host of areas, including military programs, water conservation and agriculture. He suggested that the friendship between the Jews and Persians (Iran was known as Persia for millennia) is the natural state of things, and the current theocratic regime in Iran is an anomaly.

"The regime in Iran is at war with Persian culture, civilization, and, most importantly, our Persian values," he said.

He warned against the current effort by the U.S. administration to re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear deal the Trump administration withdrew from in May 2018.

"This regime is determined to get nuclear weapons. It throws them a huge lifeline because they need to have at least $60 billion" to fund their various supporters to stay in power, he said. "Now they're struggling mightily because they're not able to provide the funds."

He said it had been his "lifelong dream" to visit Israel and that he couldn't help comparing hopeful Israeli youth with the youth of Iran, who don't have the opportunity to succeed.

Amir Hamidi, another member of the delegation who sits on the board of directors of the Institute for Voices of Liberty, escaped Tehran in 1980. He said his family lost everything; some were even executed. Hamidi became an expert on global terrorism, a high-ranking official in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, serving as country attache at the U.S. embassy in the United Arab Emirates.

"Drug traffic - that's my expertise," he told JNS. "And the Islamic Republic rules as a mafia network. They deal in drugs, guns, prostitution. They're a cartel-type organization."

"Iran has 15 million drug addicts," noted Hamidi, saying he has seen videos of Iranian children as young as four using opioids. "It's disgusting."

He said that Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's former chief justice and its recently elected president, only has a sixth-grade education. "He was head of a death squad," he noted, referring to Raisi's role in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 when he was deputy prosecutor of Tehran. The United States sanctioned Raisi for his role in the executions in 2019.

Hamidi said that before his trip, he tweeted, "'I'm going to Israel' and I received an outpouring of support from people inside Iran, people I didn't know, saying, 'Give our regards to Israel,' 'Tell them we love you.'"

'You are talking about a criminal cult'

One of the most impressive members of the delegation was Ahmad Batebi, who served 10 years in an Iranian prison. He was arrested at 22 for his involvement in activities against the regime at his university. When he suffered a mini-stroke in prison, he was taken to a hospital where an Iranian-Kurdish group helped him get away.

His family still lives in Tehran. "My sister was a member of Iran's national karate team. She has 52 international medals. She is a champion, but you never hear her name because she's my sister. They count her medals but never say her name," said Batebi.

The Iranian regime is facing a number of serious threats currently from water shortages in its oil-rich Khuzestan province and severe drought conditions elsewhere. The country is in economic freefall as a result of gross mismanagement, strong U.S. sanctions put in place by the Trump administration, as well as record-high COVID-19 cases. Protests in Iran have escalated in recent days, spreading to Tehran where demonstrators have called for the "death to the dictator."

Asked by JNS if the recent riots that have spread to more than 90 Iranian cities could spell the end of the regime, Batebi said: "Yesterday, we were talking to an Israeli official. He said, 'We believe that the revolution is coming soon.' I said, 'We're already in revolution right now.' "

The Iranian economy has collapsed, and there's no trust in the government among Iranians. The government's brutality keeps it in power, he said, but "every day, [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard [Corps] members, police refuse to kill people."

Batebi is a strong supporter of continued sanctions on the Iranian regime. "Those sanctions cut off the Revolutionary Guards' hands from money; it's a legitimate sanction. ... And right now, it works."

He said that "when you talk about the Iranian regime, you don't talk about a government that is representative of the nation. You are talking about a criminal cult with an ideology that says directly 'we're going to export our revolution to other countries.' "

Referring to the Biden administration's current talks with Iran to return to the Obama administration's nuclear deal, Batebi said "if you want to repeat that mistake, go back to them [the Islamic Republic's rulers], but don't say afterwards that you didn't have any information - that you didn't know."
(JNS) - It's been three years since Hanna and Shamshy Schlager traded their home in New York for a new one in Modi'in, Israel.

It's been a good three years, they'll tell you, a time of growth, not the least of which was adding a third child to their family. But that first year was not without its challenges, including arranging for bank accounts and credit cards, insurance policies - not to mention the paperwork around setting up his private psychology practice.

"All of a sudden, you need to create your entire life here like you've just been born," says Hanna. "Between the language barrier and trying to understand when the offices are closed and how to make appointments online, it can be overwhelming - luckily, my sister-in-law was here to help, but still it had its moments."

Making sure the Schlagers and tens of thousands like them immigrating to Israel have systems in place to assure a positive welcome and an efficient integration into their newly adopted country is one impetus behind last week's rollout of the new Nefesh B'Nefesh Institute for Aliyah Policy and Strategy.

Designed to identify and promote policy changes relating to the absorption and integration of new immigrants, or olim, the institute will rely on Nefesh B'Nefesh's two decades of data and feedback from the nearly 70,000 people it's helped make aliyah over the years.

That's in addition to its goal of advocating for olim as they not only seek to integrate but also put their own stamp on Israeli society.

"One central goal is for olim to have a seat at the table, to contribute their voice to Israeli life," is how the institute's newly appointed head Michal Cotler-Wunsh puts it. "To use their skills to help move the State of Israel forward and build bridges, both internally and externally."

As such, the institute represents a giant leap beyond the original goal of Nefesh B'Nefesh: easing the aliyah process and getting more North Americans (originally British Anglos, too) on the plane en route to new lives in the Jewish state.

In 2001, after a relative of Rabbi Yehoshua Fass was murdered in a terrorist attack, he teamed up with Florida businessman Tony Gelbart to form Nefesh B'Nefesh. Partners included Israel's Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA. The mission was clear: to inject new life into aliyah with a step-by-step process designed to lower any financial, professional, logistical and social hurdles that got in the way.

The following year, Nefesh brought 519 newly minted Israelis on its very first chartered flight; many of the babies from that trip are most likely Israel Defense Forces soldiers by now.

In addition to the number of newcomers who have arrived courtesy of Nefesh B'Nefesh, the organization is equally proud of another figure: more than 90 percent of them stay.

And, since in the wake of COVID-19 and social unrest across North America, the numbers of aliyah are dramatically up (2021 figures are projected at 5,000 - 1,000 of them expected in August alone, up 95 percent from 2020), the institute has arrived on the scene at an opportune time.

"During this past year, our Nefesh B'Nefesh hotline has been ringing round the clock," says Fass. "And it's undeniable that a majority of these issues could have been prevented with broader strategic planning in advance, which unfortunately cannot take place when you are in crisis mode."

'Everyone stands to benefit'

Cotler-Wunsh brings to the challenge her unique background.

For starters, she has her feet in two worlds. As a native Jerusalemite, her mother, Ariela Ze'evi-the secretary of Gahal and Likud during former Prime Minister Menachem Begin's day-Cotler-Wunsh was born with politics in her blood. And, with the move at age 8 to Montreal when her mother married Irwin Cotler, the activist who founded the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and served as Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General, her commitment to being an agent of change grew even stronger.

Returning to Israel as a young adult, Cotler-Wunsh served as a lone soldier and earned her law degree before cutting her legal teeth on a job at the Ministry of Justice. Years later, this commitment to justice expressed itself in her doctoral research on freedom of speech on university campuses.

After another period of time in Canada, for the last 11 years, Cotler-Wunsh and her family have been back in Israel. She spent time in legal research and practice before entering the 2019-20 Knesset under the Blue and White Party where she experienced the internal workings of Israel's government.

She chaired the Subcommittee on Israel-Diaspora Relations, served on the Foreign Relations and Defense Committee and the Law and Constitution Committee, as well as the Aliyah and Absorption Committee, and helped form the international Inter-Parliamentary Bi-Partisan Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism.

"I just realized I've spent exactly half of my 50 years in Canada and half here, and now the Israel half is edging out the Canadian," she says with a laugh.

Working with the institute's vision, Cotler-Wunsh says she's as excited about wrestling with the challenges as she is about embracing the opportunities. Hot-button immigration issues that she's looking forward to tackling include shaping policy around professional licensure, certification and academic equivalency, to maximize newcomers' opportunities for both professional advancement and sharing their skills with their new homeland. "We're looking to open doors not just professionally, but also socially and in every way," she adds.

Though she "never saw my work in Knesset as just representing the olim, I did come to understand that by removing hurdles and empowering them to lean into the policy-making process here, we can encourage Knesset leadership to see olim as the huge untapped resource they are. That way," she explains, "everyone stands to benefit. By opening up more opportunities, even more will be encouraged to come - and more Israelis living elsewhere will return home."

'More support in the first few months'

Will being away from the intensity of the Knesset be a departure for Cotler-Wunsh?

Not really, she says. "Yes, the Knesset is a very important place and being inside, I was able to see their strengths and their blind spots-mostly not ill-will but a lack of awareness-but now I'll be able to focus on building a platform to directly create holistic public policy change."

With Cotler-Wunsh, the right leader is in place, and the institute can begin the ambitious job of going to bat for olim from all around the globe, says Fass. "As the institute improves and deepens the connection between the Israeli public and new immigrants, it will strengthen Israel's relations with the Jewish Diaspora."

Destined to benefit from the institute's initiatives are new arrivals like Asher Daniels, a 30-year-old native of Stanford, Conn., who was running out the door to his ulpan (Hebrew) class. "For others in my ulpan - mostly Spanish and Russian speakers - coming to Israel, they're moving up in their standard of living, but not so much us for us from the West who are used to a pretty easy life," acknowledges Daniels, who arrived on aliyah before last Rosh Hashanah and now makes his home in Tel Aviv. "Here, besides the language barrier, we find out they run businesses like banks differently. There is so much connecting us to this place, but more support in the first few months would make a huge difference."

Despite such gaps, Daniels insists that "for the future, it's really important that the Jews here have a strong bond with each other and Jews around the world, and that Israel becomes even more welcoming to olim. So I'm all for anything that can strengthen that."

To that end, Cotler-Wunsh describes new arrivals as "the live bridge between these two places, these two parts of our people, a bridge that goes beyond language, beyond culture, to connect the Jewish past, present and future."

Each and every immigrant is an important addition to the Israeli enterprise, she goes on to say. "And especially those who come from democracies have a huge role to play-to bring that sensibility, those values with them as they take their place around the public-policy table."

Even though they are a small percentage, she adds, "at the end of the day, the olim who come from democracies will make changes that will affect all of Israel and the future of the Jewish people here and around the world."

Resources for New Immigrants to Israel:

 KeepOlim supports and advocates for successful integration into Israeli society after aliyah. Programs include food vouchers for low-income olim, free legal contract reviews (rental, employment, etc.) and free mental-health services for lone soldiers and low-income olim from around the globe. To learn more, click here.

 Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, based in Jerusalem, helps English-speakers with such initiatives as counseling in such areas as housing and government forms, as well as one of the city's biggest English lending libraries (including large print and books on tape), as well as has a coronavirus assistance fund. To receive their online newsletter, click here.

The Schlager family.

 Five tips to ease the aliyah transition, courtesy of Akiva Gersh, author of Becoming Israeli: The Hysterical, Inspiring and Challenging Sides of Making Aliyah, a collection of personal essays by 40 English-speaking olim.
(JNS) - Dozens of college students from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and elsewhere gathered online for the annual CAMERA on Campus conference aimed at empowering young adults to be advocates for Israel in an increasingly hostile environment.

As speaker, professor and author Gil Troy told the students, "When you stand up on campus and increasingly in the public square these days, and when you stand up with CAMERA, it takes a huge amount of courage ... All of you have tremendous courage."

College campuses are a hotbed of anti-Zionist activity with students from far-left, progressive groups calling for their schools to participate in the BDS movement against Israel, coupled with professors who publicly criticize the Jewish state during class. Added to that are incidents of anti-Semitism on campus, including verbal threats, vandalism such as swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti.

"Students around the world are experiencing anti-Semitism, and they're asking us how to respond to it," said Aviva Rosenschein, CAMERA's international campus director. "Our conference is addressing an organic need among students by providing them with high-level, content-rich strategies for pro-Israel activism."

Many of the student attendees at the conference are fellows with CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. They are on the frontlines of their campuses in the fight against anti-Israel activities by classmates and professors. Among the topics were workshops on writing news articles for school and local media, hosting events on campus and boosting a pro-advocacy presence on social media.

They also heard from several speakers throughout the three-day program. Alyza Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center, said Jewish students on campus often have to choose between their Jewish identity and support of Israel, and acceptance by their peers. She also laid out U.S. laws her organization uses to protect Jewish students on campus.

"Since the latest round of Hamas-Israel fighting, anti-Israel activity has transmogrified into unapologetic anti-Semitism," said Aidan Segal, a student at the University of Pittsburgh who has written for The Pitt News. "People no longer hesitate to slander the Jewish state, and some are taking the invective to new levels by attacking Jews on the streets of Europe and America. That's why we're attending CAMERA's conference; we want to learn strategies for combating the hate we're all facing."

Fellow speaker Hen Mazzig, a writer active on social media and in progressive causes who described himself at one point as a "Gay Mizrachi Jew," said it was important for Jews to support causes they believe in yet still call out the anti-Semites in those movements.

As for Troy, author of "Why I Am a Zionist" and other works, he told the students that while it's important to speak up against those who delegitimize and criticize Israel, it can't be all they do.

"We have got to turn some of these negatives into positives," he said. "We need to have a thoughtful, happy, delighted conversation about how lucky we are to be living in 2021. Because for all the challenges, we are blessed to have a Jewish state. We are blessed to have a Jewish people. We are blessed to know that we are part of the big, broad network where you can be like Natan Sharansky, nine years in the gulag, and know you are never alone. Or you can be on campus and know you are never alone."
Alex, Yves and Sarih Bettan, from Englewood, N.J., are part of a pandemic-era wave of immigrants to Israel from North America.

Leah and Yehuda Smolarcik are moving to Israel from Chicago with their four children this summer. The challenges over the past year and a half of COVID convinced them not to put off reaching for their dream any longer.

"My husband and I met in Israel while living there temporarily after college, and we always hoped to return as immigrants," Leah said. "The pandemic made us realize that there is no sure or stable thing anywhere, so we felt now was the time to make the move."

The Smolarciks are far from alone in seizing the moment.

Approximately 5,000 people are expected to immigrate to Israel from North America in 2021, a 42 percent increase over the annual average, according to Nefesh B'Nefesh, which coordinates North American immigration to Israel, known as aliyah.

Such numbers would mark a historic high for aliyah from North America.

Over 2,000 olim - 1,000 in August alone - are expected to arrive in Israel this summer on 40 group flights organized by Nefesh B'Nefesh, which facilitates and assists with immigration from North America in partnership with Israel's Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA.

Since the beginning of the global pandemic in March 2020, more than 18,000 aliyah applications have been opened and some 16,000 unique households have attended online informational events run by Nefesh B'Nefesh.

The major increase in aliyah is due to a number of factors. Young people, families and even retirees are reordering their life priorities amid the experience of the pandemic. Israel's relatively successful management of the pandemic has cast a more positive light on life in the country. Not only was Israel a global leader in vaccine rollout and endured a much lower fatality rate than the United States - both per capita and per COVID-19 infection - but the country's socialized health care system proved invaluable during the pandemic.

The normalization of remote work has opened new opportunities for people who want to move and keep their jobs. Some university students are also moving to Israel now with plans to complete their degrees through distance learning online.

"Young people see Israel as a skills-based society and are choosing to launch themselves here instead of staying in North America and following more conventional career tracks," said Marc Rosenberg, vice president for Diaspora partnerships at Nefesh B'Nefesh.

Internet entrepreneur Eli Cohen, 27, said he saw no reason to stay any longer in Los Angeles after deciding following a 2019 Birthright Israel trip that he wanted to make Israel his home. Having joined a July aliyah flight, he plans on living in the Tel Aviv area, where there is a lively singles social scene.

Cohen's ability to work anywhere with a laptop and smartphone made the move possible.

"I can work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection," Cohen said. "And I do business with multiple Israeli companies, so it makes sense to be in an area where there's a lot of connections to be made."

Leah Smolarcik, 39, is also taking advantage of the opportunity to make a U.S.-level salary while working remotely from Israel. A medical biller and office administrator at a mental health center, she approached her boss about working from Israel and he assented.

Her husband, a clinical psychologist focused mainly on social-emotional testing for children, as well as geriatric testing, will search for a job after getting settled. Smolarcik said he is open to employment in different fields, too.

"Even just two years ago, 90% of olim started their job search after arriving here," Rosenberg said. "Now only about 60% do so because of the increase in opportunities to keep their existing jobs and work remotely."

Aliyah numbers are up as well because a greater number of families with older children are moving, according to Rosenberg. Before the pandemic, the vast majority of the families immigrating were young couples with no children or young children. Since the pandemic, there are more parents with established careers coming with their children in upper elementary grades and high school.

The Smolarciks' oldest son is 16 and heading into 11th grade. The family will live in a Jerusalem suburb and he will attend YTA, a yeshiva high school for English speakers in the capital city.

"We didn't want to wait until any of our kids were old enough to opt out of coming with us to Israel," Leah Smolarcik said.

Another change since the pandemic is increased interest in immigration among retirees whose children still live in North America rather than almost exclusively among retirees following their adult children to Israel.

Naomi, 67, a retired nurse who for privacy reasons asked that her last name be withheld, will make aliyah this summer from Woodmere, New York, along with her husband. They plan to buy an apartment in either the coastal city of Netanya or Jerusalem.

After several years of regularly spending about two months per year in Israel, Naomi said she and her husband are ready to make it their primary home. With the option of spending part of the year back in New York with their three children and eight grandchildren, they don't see any reason not to make their long-held aliyah dream come true.

Naomi said she looks forward to her American grandchildren coming to study in Israel after high school and being able to spend time with them.

Chaim Reiss, 73, also takes comfort in knowing that his grandchildren will come and study in Israel after he and his wife, Phyllis, make aliyah in August from Boca Raton, Florida. The couple lived for many years in Far Rockaway, New York, before retiring from their jobs in business and accounting for major Jewish organizations and moving to the Sunshine State a year ago.

By keeping their apartment in Florida, Reiss and his wife plan to maintain a foothold in North America, where their five children, many grandchildren and one great-grandchild live.

"The family used to come to us for holidays in the U.S., and we hope they can come be with us in Israel," Reiss said. "In addition, we hope to see them when we use our Florida home during the winter months."

For decades, Reiss made two trips to Israel per year as part of his work. But making aliyah was never something he and his wife felt they could do because of career and financial reasons.

Now they are ready to make their principal home the Jerusalem apartment they purchased four years ago in anticipation of their eventual aliyah.

"As a Jew, I have always believed that my place is in Israel. Now is the time to act on that belief," Reiss said. "I have no more excuses."

This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Nefesh B'Nefesh, which in cooperation with Israel's Ministry of Aliyah, The Jewish Agency, KKL and JNF-USA is minimizing the professional, logistical and social obstacles of aliyah, and has brought over 65,000 olim from North America and the United Kingdom for nearly two decades. This article was produced by JTA's native content team.
(JNS)  A recent mass arrest of Hamas members in the West Bank offers a glimpse into the deceptive nature of the ongoing quiet in the area and how hard the terror organization based in the Gaza Strip is working to puncture the relative calm.

At any given time, Hamas is trying to set up terror cells, and only the determined efforts by the Israeli defense establishment prevents these efforts from maturing into waves of shootings and bombings against Israelis.

Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet intelligence agency announced the arrest of dozens of Hamas operatives in the village of Turmus Aya, north of Ramallah. Assisted by the Border Police, the arrest operation enabled Israel to break up a Hamas student cell at Birzeit University near Ramallah.

Some of those apprehended were directly involved in terror activities, including money transfers, incitement and the organization of Hamas activities, the IDF said in a statement. The suspects were taken into custody for questioning.

These results were made possible by high-quality intelligence, operational preparations and tight cooperation between multiple Israeli security organizations in the West Bank. The arrests are merely the tip of the iceberg.

A broad campaign by the Israeli security forces against Hamas occurs around the clock, mostly behind the scenes, and it is the central factor behind the relative quiet. The Palestinian Authority, which is directly threatened by Hamass activities, has an interest in the coordination it conducts with the IDF; the official resumption of this coordination in November 2020 means more effective repression of Hamass terror activities in the area.

Student cells in Palestinian universities form fertile ground for Hamas to spread its radical Islamist ideology and recruit ideological young people to the organization.

Hamas often disguises such recruitment programs as social-welfare activities. The Islamic student organizations, known locally as a Kutla, form a strategic recruitment mechanism for Hamas. The organizations Gaza headquarters, as well as operatives in its overseas branches in Turkey and Lebanon, are often behind attempts to remotely set up West Bank terror cells, fund them, recruit more members, and eventually, activate them to conduct attacks against Israeli targets, including plots to conduct mass-casualty shootings and bombings in Israeli cities.

Paradigm shift in public attitudes against the P.A.

While Hamas is continually working under the radar to undermine stability in the West Bank, the current timing of the arrests is of particular interest since the terror faction clearly recognizes a potential to improve its foothold in the West Bank due to the growing unpopularity of and ongoing power struggles within the Fatah-led P.A. Hamas is committed to eventually toppling and replacing Fatah as a ruling movement, as it did in Gaza in 2005. It remains flexible on how to do thiswhether via ballot, elections or bullet, as occurred during the bloody Gaza coup against Fatah.

It is this objective of weakening Fatah that led Hamas to fire rockets at Jerusalem and southern Israel on May 10, sparking a destructive 11-day conflict with Israel. One of the key considerations behind Hamass choice to risk war was the idea that marketing itself as Jerusalems genuine defender would strengthen Hamass status at the expense of the P.A. in Palestinian public perception.

A recent opinion poll among Palestinians by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that Hamas made considerable progress towards this goal in its war with Fatah for Palestinian hearts and minds. The center stated that its report found a semi-consensus that Hamas has won the May 2021 confrontation with Israel, adding that this represents a paradigm shift in public attitudes against the P.A. and its leadership and in favor of Hamas and armed struggle.

The poll also found a two-third majority rejecting the decision by P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the Palestinian electionsa decision driven by the knowledge that a splintered Fatah was on its way to elections defeat and that Hamas was en route to victory.

Meanwhile, Hamass efforts on the ground are occurring around the clock. In 2020, 430 significant terror attacks were thwarted by Israel in Jerusalem and the West Bank; in 2019, that number topped 500. The drop in attempts last year represents a temporary slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The current year shows no sign of letting up, and Hamas is encouraged by the weakness it identifies in the rival Palestinian ruling entity it wishes to replace.

These factors lead to the conclusion that the calm in the West Bank is highly deceptive. At the surface level, the quiet seems to be secure, but it rests on the ongoing ability of the Israeli defense establishment to successfully thwart Hamas terrorism recruitment and orchestration efforts, using top intelligence.
(FLAME via JNS)  Theres no doubt that Arabs have lived in the Holy Land for many hundreds of years. You cant blame them for making claims to some of the land.

Arabs today control about 97 percent of the Middle East, and Palestinian Arabs represent about 70 percent of the population of Israels neighbor, Jordan.

The problem is, Palestinian Arabs flatly deny that Jews have also lived in this land  especially that they have dwelled on their tiny sliver of territory continuously for over 3,000 years. This rejection of Jewish history leads Palestinians to nullify the right of Jews to settle there and create their own nation.

In other words, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is not about two states  not about sharing real estate in the Holy Land. Rather, Palestinian Arabs claim all of this land  from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea  including all of Israel.

What many see as a violent Israel-Palestinian struggle over land, is instead much more a conflict about narratives and legitimacy, about truth.

The Palestinian attempt to negate Jewish history has been going on since the beginning of the conflict. To this day Palestinian leaders still reject widely accepted historical research and archeological artifacts  coins, seals, inscriptions  that prove Jewish history, legitimacy and rights.

These leaders believe if they can disconnect Jewish history from the Land of Israel, they can justify their violent struggle. Their goal is to convince the world that the conflict is about colonialism, apartheid or occupation.

If they admit the Jews had a civilization on this land 3,000 years ago before Arabs conquered it, their argument falls apart. Obviously, no indigenous people  as the Jews clearly are  can occupy or colonize its own territory.

A recent example of this is the uncovering of a section of Jerusalems city wall, built some 2,700 years ago during the First Temple era and mostly destroyed by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE. This finding is another piece of the puzzle, proving not only that Jewish history in the land stretches back millennia, but is also entirely consistent with ancient Jewish sources and religious texts.

Since such an archeological find is devastating to Palestinian mythology, it was no surprise that their reaction came fast. Hamas spokesman Muhammad Hamadeh said, The aggression of the occupation did not stop at the limits of falsifying history. Rather, it seeks to change the reality. The announcement of these alleged discoveries comes in conjunction with the normalization agreements that gave it an international cover.

Palestinian leaders have consistently disputed any historic Jewish connection to Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular. In the early 1900s, murderous mass Arab riots against Jews were largely motivated by accusations that Jews were Judaizing Jerusalem and other holy sites. These were the rallying calls of Hitlers friend and colleague, Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini.

This lie continues. Jerusalem expert Nadav Shragai reports, [Palestinian Authority leader] Mahmoud Abbass religious-affairs adviser, Mahmoud al-Habash, asserted that Jewish Jerusalem is a legend; former Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Ala declared that a gold medallion discovered in an archeological dig at the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, notable for its classic Jewish symbols such as a menorah, a shofar and a Torah scroll, is just a forgery; Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority minister for Jerusalem affairs, has stated that Israel has a policy of Judaization and fabrication, whose aim is to invent a Jewish connection with Jerusalem.

Abbas has used similar themes as a rallying cry to incite riots on the Temple Mount and its environs. Last year, the P.A. produced a TV filler of Abbas again denying Israels history in Jerusalem, saying Palestinians must confront the [Israeli] plots that are being woven against it to forge its identity and to change its character.

These assertions create a major problem for the Palestinians  and all who respect the truth. No serious expert, historian or archeologist doubts the historic, indigenous connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.

Indeed, the evidence is overwhelming: There is not a spot anywhere in the Holy Land  Israel proper or the disputed territories  that is not replete with irrefutable proof of Jewish history and civilization. Barely a day passes without some new archeological discovery again confirming Jewish roots in this land.

Nonetheless, the delegitimization of Jewish history in Israel serves another Palestinian purpose: It provides Palestinian leadership an excuse to whip its people into a frenzy. This directly leads to violence and bloodshed, as we witnessed recently in Jerusalem and that ultimately led to Hamass missile attacks on Israeli civilians.

Official P.A. TV summed up the fabrications about Jewish history in a broadcast in 2015, translated by Palestinian Media Watch: The story of the Temple is nothing but a collection of legends and myths for political reasons. They [Jews] have set Palestine and Jerusalem as their goal, and have used the myths in the service of their declared goals of occupation and imperialism. In the spirit of the delusions and legends, they try to get rid of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and establish their so-called Temple  the greatest crime and forgery in history.

Mahmoud Abbas has actively sought to replace Jewish fact and history with fiction. In 2014 he said, The Israeli occupation authorities are rushing  to erase and remove the Islamic-Christian Arab character of East Jerusalem  continuing their efforts to achieve their final goal of Judaizing Jerusalem.

In other words, archeological evidence is simply a provocation for the Palestinian leadership to wage war. They need to protect their lies with violence. They know the international community will be distracted from the original sin by images of Israelis and Palestinians fighting.

This creates a win-win for Palestinian leadership. They can continue promoting their myths about Jews lack of connection to Israel  against all evidence and fact  hoping to attract sympathy for their colonization, occupation and apartheid myths.

They are also able to achieve a rallying call to mobilize Palestinian masses to violence as a distraction from the truth  and thus gain more sympathy.

This battle for truth goes to the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict  because verifiable facts reveal who the occupiers and colonizers are, who came by force and conquest, and who the real indigenous people are  the ones who returned to liberate and resettle their homeland.

James Sinkinson is president of Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME), which publishes educational messages to correct lies and misperceptions about Israel and its relationship to the United States.
KIBBUTZ HANNATON, Israel (New York Jewish Week via JTA)  Like Tikvah, one of the two main characters in my debut novel, Hope Valley, I moved to Israel out of Zionist ideology. Growing up, I went to Zionist schools and summer camps, where I imbibed the narrative that after 2,000 years of exile and oppression, even genocide, we, the few, defeated the many evil nations who were out to destroy us, and created a third Jewish sovereignty here on this land promised to us by God.

But once living on this land, I slowly began to open my eyes, ears and heart, and realized I had only been told part of the story. Like Tikvah, who meets the Palestinian protagonist of my novel, Rabia (or Ruby), and hears her familys story, I began to form close friendships with Palestinians and look beneath the surface of what I had been taught. I did my own research and listened to my friends family stories, and I began to get a broader picture.

When I read this weeks Torah portion, Ekev, I hear echoes of the Zionist narrative of my upbringing. Moses tells the Israelites as they are about to cross the Jordan River into Canaan:

If you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love YaHWeH your God, to walk in all Gods ways, and to hold fast to God, then will God drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place where the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness to the Levanon, from the river, the River of Perat, to the uttermost sea, shall be your border. There shall no man be able to stand against you. (Deut. 10:22-24)

Moreover, we are told:

You shall consume all of the peoples which YaHWeH your God shall deliver to you. Your eyes shall not have pity on them, and you shall not worship their gods. For that will be a snare for you. (Deut. 7:15)

As I read this weeks Torah portion, I want to close the book in dismay. If this is what my most sacred religious text tells me, then this religion is not for me. But then another verse in this weeks Torah portion catches my eye: And love the stranger because you were strangers in Egypt. (Deut. 9:19). I grasp onto this lone voice of collective memory that is not about vengeance but rather love and compassion.

These are the two voices I heard inside my head as missiles were falling on us weeks ago, and much of the world did seem to have turned against Israel and the Jews. There is an enemy who wants to wipe us out. There is antisemitism. There is an anti-Israel bias. Our collective trauma is not unfounded. How easy it would be to turn to this weeks Torah portion for justification to close the heart I worked hard to open.

But how can I love the stranger if my heart is hardened? If I cannot have compassion on the stranger, how can I love her?

In this same Torah portion, we are told to love not only the stranger, but to love God  with all of our hearts and all of our souls. (Deut. 9:12) How can I love this vengeful God with my heart when my heart is a compassionate heart? How can I love this jealous, power-hungry God with my soul when my soul is an expansive universalist soul? Does having no pity align with what we today call Jewish values? Perhaps for some it does, but for this human with this heart and this soul, it does not.

I am reminded of the powerful documentary film Blue Box, directed by Michal Weits, great-granddaughter of Yosef Weitz, the mastermind of the Zionist plan to create a Jewish majority in a sovereign Jewish state. The Jews were a minority on this land before 1948, which is why they were happy to accept the Partition Plan. When the surrounding Arab countries attacked, this was a license to change those demographics. When the Arabs left in fear, their villages were razed and they were not allowed to return.

According to the many diaries that Yosef Weitz left behind, he carried out this plan with a heavy heart, as he did feel compassion for the Arab refugees he was creating, but he felt at the time that it was us or them. He assumed the surrounding Arab countries would absorb the Palestinians, whereas Jewish refugees had nowhere else to go.

But the Palestinian refugees were not absorbed, and he had a change of heart  especially in 1967, when occupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip reversed much of what he had accomplished. With annexation, Palestinians would again be a majority on this land. With occupation, Jews would be mistreating the stranger. At that point in history, the Jews were no longer the powerless refugees they were in 1948. But matters were out of his hands.

This weeks Torah portion tears me apart  if we are truly meant to read it as a recipe for how to live today. But what if we arent? What if we are meant to read it as a recipe of what not to do today? What if instead of trying to repeat history, we are meant to correct it? The Jews were sovereign on this land twice already, and it did not end well.

As Ruby tells Tikvah about her mandala art in my novel: These paintings combine the linear and the circular. As does life. We move forward as we spiral back to our core. Each reconnection to our essense strengthens us for the next spiral. Hopefully even correcting past mistakes, healing old wounds.

Should we insist on the borders God promised us in Deut. 10:23, or should we take the spiral path forward, look beyond Deuteronomy, inward to our hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:29), and find a new way to live here in this land that does not pit us against them? I am part of a growing movement in Israel to create a shared society, a true partnership of equals. It is hard work, but it is the only way to spiral out of this vicious cycle dating back to the biblical Ishmael and Isaac.

In my novel, when Tikvah and Ruby meet, they are suspicious and fearful of each other. But slowly, as they recognize each others humanity and acknowledge each others pain, they build a deep and true friendship which ends up being the corrective of the novels backstory in 1948. Lets hope fiction can one day become reality.

Text Messages, produced with The Jewish Week, is a column sharing wisdom from the weekly Torah portion.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
(JNS)  If you thought that American Jews were going to unite against discrimination in ice-cream sales, you were wrong. The decision of the Ben & Jerrys company to end sales of our ice-cream in occupied Palestinian territories was widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel, by many mainstream Jewish groups and by American political leaders. But the notion that this is an issue around which Jews are going to rally is wrong. Even worse, it may be that, like so much else, it will become fodder for partisan squabbling and is highlighting the growing acceptance of anti-Zionist attitudes even among those on the Jewish left who still say they support Israel.

That even Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the leader of Israels center-left Yesh Atid Party who orchestrated the ouster of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office, would condemn Ben & Jerrys pronouncement as disgraceful and a capitulation to anti-Semitism and the BDS movement was telling.

Even those who still pay lip service to the theoretical desire for a two-state solution to end the conflict with the Palestinians understand that the old Green Line border between Israel and Judea and Samaria will never be resurrected. The idea that places like Jerusalem and its immediate suburbs  through which the armistice line that divided the Jewish state from areas illegally occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967  will be ethnically cleansed of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who now live there is as absurd as it is offensive. Though the international community still treats every Jew who lives in these places as an illegal settler, should the Palestinians ever decide to choose peace, even they know that Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem and the settlements will remain inside the Jewish state even in a theoretical two-state solution.

While there is a consensus inside Israel on this issue that stretches from the left to the right, many American Jews are still resolutely determined to ignore reality.

Mainstream Jewish groups like the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Jewish Committee, Bnai Brith International and Hadassah, which represent the views of both liberals and conservatives, agreed with Lapid when they jointly condemned Ben & Jerrys. They called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbot to enforce his states anti-BDS laws forbidding its government from having contracts with companies that engage in such discriminatory commercial conduct.

Texas is just one of many states that rightly treat BDS as just another form of illegal prejudicial behavior, which in this case is biased against Israel and Jews, just as other laws punish those who discriminate on the basis of race or religion.

Indeed, the backlash against the ice-cream company was such that this might well turn out to be a turning point in the ongoing battle against BDS.

But not if the Jewish left has anything to say about it.

Seeing the groundswell of resentment against Ben & Jerrys  and the utter irrationality of a move that would deny both Jews and Arabs in parts of Jerusalem and other places from purchasing their products  some progressive Jewish groups have mobilized in support of the companys boycott plans.

Eight liberal groups, including Americans for Peace Now, J Street and the New Israel Fund, have signed a letter supporting the company for what it claimed was a principled decision that is not incompatible with support for Israel.

They make the argument that there is a vast difference between a full-scale BDS boycott of Israel, which they say they oppose, and boycotting Jerusalem and the territories. The latter is, they claim, merely a protest against misguided Israeli policies and the existence of settlements they assert are an obstacle to peace. In that sense, they believe that such boycotts are not merely compatible with supporting Israel but support the Jewish states best interests, even if few in Israel share their opinion.

Put that way, this BDS-lite adopted by Ben & Jerrys is merely a way to support the peace process.

But the problem here is twofold.

One is that the peace process that these boycott supporters say theyre bolstering doesnt exist anymore. The Oslo Accords were blown up in the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada when the Palestinian Authority, along with Hamas, demonstrated that they had no interest in peace with the Jewish state on any terms. Its true that the legal distinction between Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and those inside the 1967 lines remains. However, the idea that you can boycott one part of the country  and in particular, Jerusalem  while not being tainted by a BDS movement whose purpose is the destruction of all of Israel is no longer viable.

To the Palestinians and their cheerleaders promoting BDS, every inch of Israel is occupied Palestinian territory  a term that has no meaning even when applied as it was by Ben & Jerrys to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria since at no point in history were they ever part of a Palestinian Arab entity or state.

Moreover, its just as clear that these partial boycotts are merely way stations on road to full-scale BDS discrimination against all of Israel and its Jewish population.

Their claims that anti-BDS laws are a threat to free speech are equally false. Just as other anti-discrimination laws dont make it a crime to hate racial, ethnic or religious groups but punish those who engage in discriminatory business practices, the same is true of BDS hate. Companies that discriminate against Israelis should be shunned and denied government contracts on both the state and federal levels.

Much of the American left has accepted the catechism of critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely claim that the Palestinian war to eliminate Israel is not merely morally equivalent to the struggle for civil rights in the United States but directly linked to it as a common battle against white privilege. The belief that Jews  whether people of color who trace their origins to the Middle East or from Europe  are white, privileged and not indigenous to their ancient homeland is as irrational as it is mendacious. Yet to groups like Vermonters for Justice in Palestine, which spearheaded the pressure campaign against Ben & Jerrys and hopes to expand it, these toxic hate-filled ideas are the basis for their efforts to boycott Israel.

These anti-Zionist attitudes are at the heart of both BDS and BDS-lite. By declaring that Jews have no right to live in parts of Jerusalem or to their homes and holy places in occupied territory, you have accepted the premise of intersectionality about the illegitimacy of the Jewish presence anywhere in the country. Indeed, even these supposedly pro-Israel and pro-peace groups like J Street have no problem making common cause on college campuses and elsewhere with anti-Zionist organizations like Jewish Voices for Peace and IfNotNow, which traffic in anti-Semitic tropes and ideas.

Regardless of your politics or where you think Israels borders should be if peace were possible, if you care about the right of the Jewish state to exist, then you should oppose actions like those of Ben & Jerrys and support enforcement of anti-BDS laws.

Propping up partial boycotts of Israel plays right into the hands of those who are opposed to peace on any terms. By seeking to defend Ben & Jerrys in this manner, these groups arent defending a non-existent peace process or theoretical hopes for a two-state solution. What theyre doing is providing Jewish cover for a movement whose aims are inherently anti-Semitic and which act as auxiliaries for terrorist groups that threaten Jewish lives.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNSJewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
Pipeline

5 August 2021

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of a management agreement with Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. for DoubleTree by Hilton Osaka Castle.

Scheduled to open in the spring of 2024, the 377-room new-build hotel will mark the debut of the DoubleTree by Hilton brand and the third Hilton-managed hotel in Osaka, joining Hilton Osaka and Conrad Osaka in the city.

DoubleTree by Hilton Osaka Castle is approximately 50 kilometers from Kansai International Airport and conveniently located within a 10-minute drive from Osaka Station, offering excellent access to nearby cities including Kyoto, Nara and Kobe.

The hotel will be situated to the northwest of the almost 450-year-old Osaka Castle, one of the most visually spectacular creations in Japan, and within walking distance of the castle. Famed General Toyotomi Hideyoshi began construction of Osaka Castle in 1583, which was to be the center of a unified Japan under the rule of the Toyotomi clan. Presently amid the historical Osaka Castle Park, with an abundance of cherry, apricot and plum trees, the area's diverse flora promises beautiful landscapes in both spring and fall. Leisure guests will enjoy the short five-minute walk to Temmabashi Station where they can get quick access to Umeda and Namba for retail and various local dining options in the city. The hotel will also provide business travelers with convenient access to Osaka's commercial and prime business zones.

Occupying 15 levels of a newly-constructed building complex when it opens, DoubleTree by Hilton Osaka Castle will offer 377 modern and well-appointed rooms and guest facilities including an indoor pool, a fitness center, meeting facilities and an executive lounge. Guests will have a selection of dining options from the hotel's all-day dining Grab & Go where they can grab a midday snack and a lobby lounge and bar.
Now Open

5 August 2021

IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's leading hotel groups has opened the brand new Holiday Inn Dublin Airport, Ireland in partnership with JMK Group.

The hotel has 421 stylish, modern rooms showcasing Holiday Inn's newest room design which creates a 'Central Living' space for guests to relax and work in if needed. The rooms include an in-room sofa bed providing a flexible space ideal for watching TV, socialising, and lounging. A dedicated work area with a desk and multiple device connection options is perfect for those who want to get some work done in their room. All rooms are soundproof and fully air-conditioned to allow for a great night's sleep and are fitted with a smart TV plus tea and coffee facilities. The hotel also has free Wi-Fi and food available 24-hours a day to ensure that all guests feel welcomed at any time of day and night.

Only a ten-minute drive or free shuttle from Dublin Airport T1 and T2 and a fifteen-minute drive to Dublin City Centre - the hotel is a great choice for those looking for a place to stay for a layover or to spend a night before an early flight. As with all Holiday Inn hotels globally, Holiday Inn Dublin Airport welcomes families with the Kids Stay & Eat for Free offer, where children under the age of 12 stay and eat for free. The addition of the sofa bed also provides families with ample sleeping space, making the standard double room an ideal space for two adults and two children.

Holiday Inn Dublin Airport has onsite meeting facilities able to accommodate up to 120 delegates with all the latest technology including state-of-the-art AV equipment and electronic touch control equipment. With plenty of natural daylight, air conditioning and black out blinds, there is also a secure entrance accessible via the hotel lobby, with a private reception and registration area for meetings. IHG's Meet With Confidence programme, allows guests to have the flexibility to book future meetings and events with zero cancellation fees at participating hotels.

With parking available for up to 400 cars, the hotel offers several Park Stay & Go packages, which include one-night accommodation plus up to eight nights parking. With the free shuttle bus to and from Dublin Airport all day, the packages take the stress out of travelling.

Holiday Inn Dublin Airport is the first new build Holiday Inn in Dublin and IHG's eighth hotel in Ireland. With over 1,230 hotels globally, the Holiday Inn brand from IHG Hotels & Resorts has served hundreds of millions of guests worldwide during its nearly 70-year history and is one of the most recognised and trusted travel brands in the world.
Appointment

5 August 2021

Perry Lane Hotel, A Luxury Collection Hotel announces that Matthew Douzuk has been appointed as General Manager, effective August 1st, 2021.

Douzuk came to Perry Lane in 2019, assuming the role of Hotel Manager where he succeeded in achieving operational excellence and profitability. Prior to joining the Perry Lane team, Douzuk was serving as the Director Rooms Division with Chatham Bars Inn Resort and Spa, overseeing all aspects of resort operations. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade with The Ritz-Carlton where he quickly rose through the ranks holding various leadership positions in Buckhead, Kapalua, and Amelia Island, and went on to open new hotels Internationally in Toronto, Saudi Arabia, and Puerto Rico.

With over 18 years of experience in hotel and resort management, Douzuk has cultivated a culture of deeply attentive hospitality and has sustained the highest levels of guest satisfaction through outstanding administration of daily operations, continuing to strive for excellence at every turn.

With new ownership in Wheelock Street Capital, and the continued support of Sage Hospitality, the next chapter of growth and success will arise from Douzuk's outlook and determinization to carry Perry Lane into the future by redefining luxury, offering curated experiences to guests, encouraging innovation, and developing a deep-seated employee culture.
Supplier News

5 August 2021

Innisfree Hotels, an owner and operator of both full and focused service properties throughout the United States, selects StayNTouch, a global leader in guest-centric technology and mobile hotel property management systems (PMS), as the PMS provider for their 5 independent Gulf Coast Properties, totalling more than 590 rooms.

Innisfree is currently the largest beachfront hotel owner-operator on the Gulf Coast, with over 3,191 hotel rooms, $800 million of assets under management, and $175 million in annual hotel revenue. Innisfree chose StayNTouch to implement an intuitive mobile PMS across their independent portfolio, facilitate more efficient staff training, enable flexible management of inventory, and deliver a more unique and memorable guest experience.

Scott Ford, Director of Marketing at Innisfree, explains: Here at Innisfree Hotels, we strive to provide unique, fun and memorable experiences for our guests and everything a vacation should be. We needed a PMS that could empower each of our independent properties to deliver their own unique and exceptional guest experience, while also helping to boost staff productivity and increase revenues. StayNTouch is the right solution for us.

Michael Heflin, Chief Revenue Officer for StayNTouch, said, Partnering with Innisfree Hotels is an exciting opportunity for StayNTouch, particularly because we share a commitment to deliver a customer experience driven by innovation and excellence. We are proud to provide our customers with PMS technology that is both guest-centric and staff-centric and facilitates more efficient operations, enhanced revenues, and an empowered ownership experience.

About Innisfree Hotels

For more than three decades, Innisfree Hotels has expertly developed and managed dozens of hotels in partnership with many of the worlds most-recognized hotel brands. Today, the company owns or manages 3,470 hotel rooms and employs approximately 2,000 people. Innisfree is the largest beachfront hotel owner-operator on the Gulf Coast, with 14 Gulf-front properties totaling 2,128 rooms.

Innisfree is a triple bottom line company, measuring success not only in profits but also through its impact on people and on the planet. To these ends, Innisfree strives to promote a culture of responsibility and service to humanity. A value-driven corporate culture enables the company to have a deeper understanding of the needs of its guests, partners and clients, resulting in service that ensures fun and memorable experiences.

In 2019, Innisfree was ranked as one of the nations top Management Companies and top Owners & Developers by Hotel Business, the no. 1 hotel industry information source according to Harvey Research.

About StayNTouch

StayNTouch provides a full cloud and mobile hotel property management system (PMS) and over 1100+ integrations, enabling hotels to raise service levels, drive revenues, reduce costs, and ultimately captivate their guests. Backed by a team of professionals with deep roots in the hospitality industry, StayNTouch is a trusted partner to many forward-thinking hotels and resorts, including the TWA Hotel, First Hotels, Conscious Hotels, Margaritaville, Valencia Hotel Group, and Modus Hotels. StayNTouch is also a preferred PMS partner to some of the leading independent hotel collections around the world including; Design Hotels, an Independent Marriott Brand, and Curator Hotel & Resort Collection.
Supplier News

5 August 2021

DALLAS, TX - UniFocus, the leading provider of Workforce Management Systems, today announced a partnership with Rain, a global leader in financial wellness, to deliver employers a solution that equips employees, both hourly and salaried, with more control over their pay and finances. Addressing rising concerns about costs of accessing wages, unbanked staff, and high turnover rates, UniFocus will integrate Rains on-demand, automated payment system into their leading workforce optimization solutions.

A disproportionate number of hourly hospitality and restaurant employees are unbanked and/or using predatory financial products to access their wages, said Mark Heymann, CEO of UniFocus. The financial issues that workers face when accessing wages and remaining unbanked often leave hourly employees vulnerable to predatory financial products just to make ends meet. Our partnership with Rain gives operators a competitive edge in the labor market and empowers staff by offering employees more control and flexibility over how and when they are paid, delivering an incredible, tangible, meaningful benefit to hourly employees. The integration of UniFocus and Rain technologies puts us in the unique position to truly help employees in a way that makes a substantial difference in their lives.

Available as a secure app with a convenient log-in and simple verification system, employees will have the option to access up to 50% of their earnings after each shift, receiving the rest of their wages on their designated payday. UniFocus innovative and elegantly integrated, accurate tip-pooling systems, which operate in real-time, will ensure that tipped employees can equally benefit from the ability to access wages daily. All UniFocus partners using Labor Management and/or Time Attendance will be able to seamlessly access this benefit. This will also improve our partners ability to attract and retain talent, especially in todays tough labor market.

We are excited to partner with UniFocus because of their forward-thinking approach to developing best-in-class workforce management solutions, said Alex Bradford, CEO at Rain. At Rain, our mission is to kill predatory financial products and guide people to economic freedom. We provide a vastly better alternative for employees who depend on payday loans and overdraft fees to make ends meet. Together with UniFocus, we are giving employees control over their income and finances, while providing employers with the ultimate employee engagement tool that drives productivity, retention, and recruiting."

Photo: UniFocus

About UniFocus

UniFocus workforce management software provides all the tools you need to make labor force decisions with confidence. We help you optimize your daily operations with powerful yet flexible tools. Empower leadership and staff to create schedules that maximize customer satisfaction while minimizing wasted labor hours. Better labor management for contingent workforces in the hospitality, restaurants, retail, and healthcare industries. If you are in the market for a better WFMS, contact us today.

About Rain

Rain is the largest on-demand pay provider globally with operations in the US, India, Brazil, and the EU. Rain provides on-demand pay and other financial wellness benefits to employees of mid to large-sized organizations. Rains mission is to kill predatory financial products and guide people to economic freedom. Find out more at https://rain.us.
Press Release

5 August 2021

CGI Merchant Group, LLP (CGI)  a global investment management firm with a focus on real estate and private equity  today announced its purchase of the hotel complex formerly known as The Celino South Beach. Located at 640 Ocean Drive, the property will reopen in fall 2021.

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This deal marks the latest acquisition by the firm's CGI Hospitality Opportunity Fund I, LP (H-Fund), closing only weeks following the reopening of The Gabriel Miami, Curio Collection by Hilton, located in nearby Downtown. The transaction also precedes the unveiling of CGI's new hospitality concept this fall.

"This is a critical step in our mission to breathe new conscious energy into the hospitality space across the vibrant Florida market and beyond," said Raoul Thomas, CEO and founder of CGI. "This deal, and The Gabriel Miami before it, exemplifies how our team's unique perspective allows us to move on opportunities in ways that drive both profits and the greater good."

Made up of four individual buildings  including the historic Park Central Hotel, Heathcote Apartments, and the Imperial Hotel  the complex is steps away from the world-famous Ocean Drive and features a bold Art Deco aesthetic and uninterrupted ocean views. The property encompasses 132 guest rooms, including 26 lavish suites, all newly renovated with modern South Beach touches. It also has multiple restaurants concepts and outlets well-suited for a wide array of cuisines.

"We are thrilled to be part of the Miami Beach family and to partake in the reinvention of Ocean Drive. The strip has such incredible history, and we all have great memories from visiting from afar or as locals," adds Thomas. "We look forward to helping the area reach its full potential and sharing how it reflects our vision for the hospitality industry."

Launched in late 2020, the $650 million fund looks to purchase 20 hotels across gateway cities in North America and the Caribbean. H-Fund assets are hand-selected and will be repositioned to form a first-of-its-kind hospitality collection, housed within the Hilton portfolio of brands. Aimed at today's more conscious traveler, this new concept is driven by impact investment principles, offering authentic experiences while catalyzing positive change in host communities.

Founded in 2006, CGI Merchant Group currently holds assets across multiple alternative investment strategies, including value-add and opportunistic funds. These strategies have consistently delivered double-digit returns, and, in the process, allowed CGI to remain nimble, regardless of outside economic factors.

In addition to the Celino South Beach and the Gabriel Miami, CGI is also the owner of other marquee Miami properties, including 55 Miracle Mile, 550 Biltmore Way and 3480 Main Highway.

For more information about CGI Merchant Group, visit https://cgimg.com.

About Curio Collection by Hilton

Curio Collection by Hilton is a global portfolio of more than 100 one-of-a-kind hotels and resorts in nearly 30 countries and territories. Curio Collection properties offer guests authentic, curated experiences through distinctly local offerings and elevated amenities, while providing the benefits of Hilton and its award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors. Experience a positive stay at Curio Collection by Hilton by booking at curiocollection.com or through the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits. Learn more about the brand at newsroom.hilton.com/curio, and follow Curio Collection by Hilton on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Press Release

5 August 2021

DiamondRock Hospitality Company (the "Company") (NYSE:DRH) today announced that it has acquired the Bourbon Orleans Hotel ("Bourbon Orleans" or the "Hotel"), a lifestyle boutique hotel on the famed Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Henderson Park Inn (the "Resort"), a beachfront resort situated on the Emerald Coast in Destin, Florida. The combined purchase price for the two hotels is $108.6 million. Inclusive of transaction costs, the total investment is $117.4 million.

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The total investment in the 220-room Bourbon Orleans Hotel represents a 7% capitalization rate on 2019 net operating income ("NOI"). The Hotel recently reopened and is expected to generate approximately a 6.3% NOI yield in 2022 and is underwritten to achieve a stabilized 8% NOI yield. The investment in the 37-room Henderson Park Inn was acquired for nearly a 7% capitalization rate on trailing 12-month NOI and is also expected to achieve an 8% yield after the implementation of new professional management and best practices. Both acquisitions were funded with cash proceeds from dispositions closed in the second quarter and the properties are expected to generate positive cash flow in 2021.

"These high-quality acquisitions continue DiamondRock's multi-year strategic initiative to assemble a leading portfolio of leisure-oriented, experiential hotels and resorts," said Mark W. Brugger, President and Chief Executive Officer of DiamondRock Hospitality Company. "Finding off-market acquisitions in unique markets allows DiamondRock to purchase higher quality real estate at better pricing than many others. Moreover, these two deals have numerous attractive attributes we target, including proven cash flow, significant ROI opportunities, irreplaceable locations, high-barrier-to-entry markets, fee simple and fully unencumbered by brand and management."

Bourbon Orleans Hotel

The Bourbon Orleans Hotel represents a rare opportunity to acquire a large, fully unencumbered, fee simple hotel in the heart of the famed French Quarter of New Orleans. When the property was rebuilt into a modern hotel it retained its historic facade and Parisian grandeur from its time as The Orleans Theatre & Ballroom (1817-1881) and convent for the Sisters of the Holy Family (1881-1964). Today, the Hotel offers guests all the rich legacy of a historic building without having to comprise on modern amenities or services.

The Bourbon Orleans Hotel shows a uniquely sophisticated side of life on Bourbon Street, the single biggest leisure destination in the city. The Hotel has a strong track record of profitability and is traditionally ranked top 10 on TripAdvisor. It has also been recognized by numerous travel publications for its excellence, including Conde Nast (#7 Top Hotel in New Orleans), USA Today (#5 Top Haunted Hotel in the U.S.), and TripAdvisor (2019 Certificate of Excellence).

The French Quarter provides a unique experience of The Big Easy that appeals to the modern traveler. Internationally recognized and one of the country's most popular leisure destinations, New Orleans draws visitors from all over the world to experience its eclectic culture, award-winning unique restaurants, jazz clubs, shops, casinos, riverboat cruises, festivals and sporting events. The French Quarter is the epicenter of activity and primary demand driver of New Orleans' tourist economy including 135 festivals, most notably the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ("Jazz Fest") and Mardi Gras, and features a bohemian, creole charm that is reflected in the fabric of the community, from the century-old restaurants and historic Spanish architecture to streets adorned with live performers and constant sounds of jazz music. The French Quarter is the primary draw for the nearly 20 million visitors who came to New Orleans in 2019, the city's 13th consecutive year of tourism growth. The outlook for New Orleans in 2022 is particularly bright with the return of Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and the NCAA Final Four in the first quarter 2022, as well as a strong convention calendar.

Henderson Park Inn

Situated on Florida's Emerald Coast, Henderson Park Inn benefits from the strong trend for adults-only, beachfront romantic vacations and retreats. The Resort has a New England-style charm and is situated on nearly two acres of secluded white-sand beach, making it the perfect spot to enjoy spectacular views and luxurious privacy. The Resort's irreplaceable location and top-quality amenities have made this the #1 resort in Destin on TripAdvisor and garnered attention from numerous travel and leisure publications, including being named the 23rd Best Hotel in the Country (TripAdvisor), Best Luxury Value (Conde Nast 2020 Awards for Excellence), Best Hotel in Destin, FL (U.S. News and Travel), and Ten Best Beach Hotels in Florida (Coastal Living). As one indication of the Resort's high quality, it achieved an average room rate of over $500 in June.

Known for its 24 miles of pristine beaches and emerald green water, Destin was recently ranked as the #1 Best Beach in Florida and the #3 Best Beach in the U.S. The destination continues to gain immense popularity with urban feeder markets such as Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, and Houston. Last year alone, the white sand beaches of Destin attracted 4.5 million visitors and The Henderson Park Inn is one of the few beachfront hotels in Destin. The fee-simple interest in the Resort was purchased fully unencumbered by brand and management, previously managed by an owner-operator. The Company has installed a professional management company and has identified several opportunities to dramatically improve revenue management and expects to achieve significant growth.
Opinion Article

5 August 2021

There are lots of messages out there, in the hospitality industry now, about what hotels need to do, or what technology they need to buy, to reach recovery more quickly. Some of these messages are accurate and others questionable.

But dont you worry Ive got you covered. Get ready for a thorough debunking of three common myths related to COVID recovery strategies.

MYTH #1: Business and/or city-center hotels are dead.

Truth: There is no type of hotel that cant reach profitability, even if corporate travel and MICE business doesnt pick back up again for years. Full stop.

The road to success will be different for these hotels, but still fully attainable; the key to success for city-center and corporate hotels is to make their properties relevant in other ways to the types of consumers that are looking for new, exciting travel experiences. Think about out-of-the box experiential activities that leisure travelers will love  and that will inspire them to choose to book with your property to experience it.

Its also important to look for opportunities for other revenue streams for your property. Heres a fantastic idea that The Jupiter Hotel in Portland implemented to boost their appeal to leisure travelers  and create a new revenue stream: they partnered with local restaurants and chefs to create pop-up restaurants, featuring different types of cuisine or well-known chefs. The food was delivered to each guest in their room, giving them a private chefs table experience to remember!

Heres why this idea is so genius: by partnering with restauranteurs, they are doing good for the community, while attracting a new demographic to their property: followers of the restaurant or chef. Today, chefs have become the new rock stars, and consumers will follow them around the world to taste their food. By bringing those well-known chefs to your property, youll be creating a new revenue stream and securing bookings with lots of new, very excited leisure guests.

MYTH #2: Less is more, when it comes to OTAs & other online booking channels

This is a very prevalent belief, especially in the US, for hoteliers. Dont get me wrong, I completely understand why hoteliers are frustrated and want to drive more direct bookings; that being said, today, hotels need to accept all the bookings that they can  no matter where they come from.

Remember that you only pay the OTAs when you get a booking, so why limit yourself to just listing your property on a few OTAs?! Your property should be listed on as many OTAs and other online booking channels as possible right now, even if its just for the free advertising!

As well as the big-name OTAs, hotels should also be listing their property on regional booking sites used by travelers who are interested in traveling to their destination; for example, if you know that there is demand in your destination from European travelers, you should be listing your rooms on their preferred booking sites to capture some of that pre-existing demand.

Another good reason that you should be on as many OTAs as possible: The Billboard Effect. Often, consumers use the OTAs to identify what properties are available in a destination and then will click through to the propertys website to book direct. Its been proven in countless studies over the years; being listed on as many online booking channels as possible brings in bookings through the sites AND increases direct bookings.

Total win/win, right?!

MYTH #3: There is no demand on the GDS, so I dont need to be listed on it.

Dont disregard the importance of the GDS. Even though there may be fewer bookings coming through the GDS, stats have shown that many travelers, post-COVID, will be preferring to book through travel agents; in fact, a recent study showed that 44% of travelers are more likely to use travel advisors after the pandemic.

In addition to the leisure travelers who will be using travel agents, post-COVID, there will still be corporate bookings coming through, albeit less. Either way, having a presence on the GDS is another way to expand your reach  again, giving your property the opportunity to secure as many bookings as possible and reach recovery, more quickly.

Finally, I hope that youve heard of the TripAdvisor Plus program, but in case you havent, Ill fill you in: it is a subscription model program launched by TripAdvisor, which gives travelers discounts and perks at hotels and experiences booked through their site, worldwide. If you want to participate in this program  which I highly suggest you do, by the way  you MUST have GDS connectivity, so again, GDS connectivity is a must today, tomorrow, next year and well into the future, COVID or no COVID (lets hope for no COVID though!).

And thats it Part One of our three-part Mythbuster article series, where we debunk the most common recovery-related hospitality industry myths and give hoteliers out-of-the-box ideas on how to increase bookings and revenue, now and post-COVID. Check back here to read Part Two, coming soon
Opinion Article

5 August 2021

Technology has become an integral part of the modern hotel business. At the very least, contactless payment for services has become a default feature by the year 2021. And big chains like Hilton are transforming rooms into hyper-personalized spaces, allowing guests to control lighting or heating from their own smartphones.

However, the number one invention that helps hotels immensely, remains the Hotel Management Software. It can be perceived as a brain of your property, which ensures the well-coordinated work of all its departments. Collecting the slightest information about your guests' preferences or providing a fully contactless guest experience  these are just a few examples of what this software can offer you.

Choosing the right solution for your property is not an easy task. Todays market is full of different options, and it seems like finding the right one takes an eternity. Nevertheless, everything is much easier when you have a complete checklist of the important things to keep in mind.

Want to make your hotel more tech-friendly? Looking for a new system that suits your needs best? This article will help you figure out where to start.

Getting ready to make the right choice

Before moving on to choosing the right solution, here is what we suggest you do:

1. Determine the type of your hotel Before you ask Google to find you that very perfect software, create a portrait of your hotel. To define what type of property your hotel belongs to, you need to evaluate the following criteria:

propertys size and location

available services

your main target markets

facilities and amenities

the number of rooms

You can start with basic characteristics like location, size, and the number of rooms. For example, suppose you own a medium-sized hotel in Germany. The number of rooms in your hotel ranges from 30 to 50. There are several popular tourist spots nearby, as well as excellent infrastructure in your area.

All these details will allow you to understand which specific components of the system will be useful to you, and which you are unlikely to use.

2. Decide what kind of PMS would align with your business goals Your main task at this stage is to ask yourself some questions. What do you expect from this solution? What problems should it solve? Is the provider of this or that software really trustworthy?

In order to make this easier for you, we are going to analyze several universal requests from the hotel owners. Using them as an example, we will show how a good modular Hotel Management System can suit the needs of different users.

It will also help you understand what to expect from such software and what options are currently available on the market.

I need a system that will perform its basic functions

If you are a small family hotel owner or simply want to optimize fundamental processes only, then this is your case. And here are the tools you will need:

Cloud-based Property Management System (PMS) with Front Desk to manage main administrative processes. Channel Manager to sell your rooms on various OTAs and avoid overbookings due to real-time synchronization. The Channel Manager will help you to gain visibility on the worlds largest marketplaces, such as Booking.com and Expedia. A website with your own Booking Engine to gain direct bookings and save on the fees for OTAs. A great example of such a website is the Waldhotel Harz, which has an integrated Booking Engine by HotelFriend.

The main markers of quality of such a system will be a seamless integration of its components and the absence of extra payments. It is also crucial that the installation of the system does not take much time and does not require special training.

The software should be user-oriented, and since you are a hotelier and not a programmer, each minute that you could spend on your guests is your most precious resource.

In addition to these core features, there may also be:



A Smart Task Management that helps you to delegate tasks more efficiently and improve collaboration between different departments.

Accounting and Invoicing for fast and secure financial reporting and analytics.

Central Reservation System to eliminate overbookings and facilitate the booking process.



Digital Cash Book for daily accounting that helps hoteliers to store cash receipts and monitor fee income from one place.

Financial Reporting to always have a full overview of all key performance indicators.

Payments module to process and manage payments via such payment gateways as Stripe.

I need a system that would help me automate even more operations in my property

If your requests are not only limited to the need to abandon thousands of Excel spreadsheets, here's what else you might find useful:

Quick check-In that allows your guests to skip waiting lines at the front desk. This option will not only save the time of your guests but also help maintain physical distance, which is crucial during the pandemic. Your clients will be able to check in by filling out the form in advance and adding digital copies of all the necessary documents. Fast room access is a feature that allows your guests to get the key without any fuss and go to their room right away. After your guest checks in on their own and you receive a registration form, there will be no need to waste their time at the front desk. Keyless entry option is another important attribute of the COVID-free hotel. This solution will provide your guests with an almost completely contactless experience. The ability to open a room using your own smartphone can become a real highlight of your property.

My hotel needs not only a PMS but also its own application

Having your own application will greatly expand the range of your capabilities. The app is a great way to upsell your services. In addition, it is a tool that will allow your guests to communicate with the administration, pay online and complete fast check-ins on their own. (Check out 8 reasons why you should use Hotel Concierge Guest App).

HotelFriend can offer you the following ways to customize your app:

Basic customization: you will receive an app template that you can customize with your own logo and change its color scheme. Your own unique design: the provider will make an app that looks like your own. Complete customization: you are free to change the app as you wish, according to your preferences.

A unique application specifically designed for your hotel will give you a huge advantage over the competitors. Let your guests enjoy a higher level of secure contactless service.

Checklist of 5 key points to consider

Summarizing all the information mentioned above, we have created a small checklist of questions that can be your food for thought when choosing a Hotel Management System.

All of them concern fundamental areas of your business, namely customer experience, automation of administrative processes, marketing, distribution, and scalability.

To get the most out of your system of choice, it must have the means to improve each of these components. Here's what can help you make the right decision:

Is the solution guest-oriented?

It is worth paying attention not only to your own requirements but also to what this system can give your guests. Instant messaging, online check-in, and the availability of a dedicated app have already become the norm for hotels all around the world. Therefore, guests will definitely expect to encounter at least one of these features at your property.

Can it help you to improve your marketing strategy?

A good marketing strategy will help your business stay afloat even during the most difficult times. And to create it, you need information about potential customers and guests.

OTAs often not only refuse to provide this information but also sell it to third parties. Therefore, in order to regain control over your target audience, pay attention to providers that give you such tools as CRM and Booking Engine.

Does it have everything you need to automate daily operations?

First of all, evaluate the quality of the PMS. Be sure to find out if the provider assures support at all stages of its implementation. In addition, there shouldnt be any hidden costs, and all of the products should be in flawless sync.

Also, the program should include Reporting and Staff collaboration tools to ensure a productive workflow on a daily basis.

Does it allow you to sell rooms efficiently?

Receiving direct bookings from your website is important, just as receiving them from Online Travel Agencies and Global Distribution Systems (GDS). All distribution channels can be managed from one place with the help of the Channel Manager.

It will give you full control over your inventory and prices across multiple channels. In addition, you can access reports to find out which channel turned out to be the most profitable for you.

Is it a scalable solution that adapts to your business?

No matter how big or small your business is, you need a product that scales with your business. When choosing software, make sure that it will continue to work just as well as your business expands.

In addition, choose a solution that allows you to take only what you need and not overpay for unnecessary functions.

We hope that following all these tips will help you to choose the right Hotel Management Software for your property. Choose wisely and aim for the one that will strengthen your business in the long run!
Since COVID-19 vaccines became available in January, Taseer Badar, chief executive of ZT Corporate, has wanted to require his employees to get vaccinated.

His human resources department encouraged him to wait. But when President Joe Biden announced last Thursday that federal workers would need COVID-19 shots or submit to regular testing, Badar saw his chance. He announced the same day that the private equity firm's 1,500 employees in Houston would need to get at least their first shot by Friday or find new places to work.

Frankly speaking, I dont want blood on my hands, Badar said. I dont want that on my conscience when I have the ability to do this and get them the education that they need to get it done.

On HoustonChronicle.com: What would a fourth COVID wave mean for the economy?

As the highly infectious delta variant brings another wave of COVID-19 cases, concentrated among the unvaccinated, companies in Houston and across the country are reassessing return-to-office, vaccination and mask policies. Few local companies appear to be following the example of ZT Corporate and major national companies such as Google, Tyson Foods, Disney, Walmart and Microsoft in requiring employees to get COVID vaccinations. But some are reconsidering expectations that the pandemic was soon to be beaten  and revising the plans that went with those expectations.

Houston-based human resources company G&A Partners delayed its return-to-office plans until early next year considering the recent rise in cases, said Dave Berndt, associate general counsel for the company, which has around 500 employees nationally. The retailer Francescas reinstated its mask requirement for all corporate, retail and warehouse employees, said Stephen Harwell, Francescas vice president of corporate operations, supply chain and logistics.

BP, the British oil major. last week began requiring employees in its Houston offices to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status, following the recent mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and death are rising rapidly across the country, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates. In Houston, for example, COVID hospitalizations increased for the twentieth consecutive day on Tuesday, rising to 2,531. While thats still below the spikes of last summer, the trajectory of cases suggests another wave. Some 45.5 percent of Harris County residents are fully vaccinated, compared to 50.5 percent nationally.

VACCINE TRACKER: Interactive map shows where you can get vaccinated in Houston

The constant shifts in case counts, recommendations and mandates have made it difficult for employers to set polices and stick with them as they try to bring normalcy to the workplace. Exxon Mobil and Sysco are staying the course on their current vaccination and masking policies, despite the changed conditions. The pipeline company Kinder Morgan still plans to have all its 2,100 local employees back in their Houston offices by September, according to a spokeswoman.

In the Houston area, worker vaccination requirements have primarily been limited to large hospital systems. Houston Methodist. Baylor College of Medicine and Memorial Hermann have all made COVID-19 vaccinations a condition of employment.

Wide latitude

While Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting state agencies, including public schools, from mandating COVID vaccines and mask wearing, private employers have wide latitude imposing such requirements, said Jennifer Trulock, a partner with Baker Botts who heads the law firms labor and employment practice. Federal courts and regulatory agencies have routinely ruled in favor of companies requiring vaccines, so long as they offer medical and religious exemptions.

Right now, I dont think theres any question the federal government has made it an easy thing for employers to mandate vaccines, Trulock said. If someone says, I dont want vaccines, I dont believe they work, I dont want a foreign substance in my body, they dont really have legal ground to stand on.

Employers, however, may be reluctant to introduce mandatory vaccinations for fear of losing staff, especially in the current job market where workers are in high demand and short supply. Companies could run the risk of losing some of their best talent if they roll out a mandatory vaccine policy, Trulock said, and their top performers would rather work somewhere that doesnt require the shots.

Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, CEO of the restaurant company Landrys and owner of the Houston Rockets, said hed like his employees to be vaccinated, but estimates he would lose around 18 percent of his employee base  nearly one in five workers  if he required vaccinations.

Thats a risk Badar with ZT Corporate is willing to take.

99.999 percent

He said the companys mandate is in line with the safety protocols the company has had in place since the beginning of the pandemic, when it created a private testing program. Employees at the firm, which has holdings in the health care, finance and automotive industries, were called back to work early as their jobs were deemed essential, Badar said. The new vaccination program is the next step to keeping employees safe, he said, and will help move the needle in getting get more Americans vaccinated.

Im very compassionate, but people have had plenty of time look at it, Badar said. Look at whats going on with the Delta variant. Its so contagious, but you see the CDC come out and say 99.999 percent of vaccinated people havent had a deadly case. We think this is helpful to get the stragglers who could cause issues for their families and others in the office.

This story has been updated to correct vaccination rates.

Amanda Drane, Paul Takahashi and Rebecca Carballo contributed.

shelby.webb@chron.com
Dutch Bros Coffee

Dutch Bros Coffee, a drive-thru coffee company based in Grants Pass, Ore., is expanding into Houston with plans to open 20 stores over the next 14 months. The first location, operated by Todd Sesock, opened at 19366 Interstate 45 in Spring.

Founded by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma in 1992, Dutch Bros Coffee has grown to 479 locations. Most of the stores are built from the ground up and contain double drive-thrus, less than 1,000 square feet of space and a pick-up window. Servers take orders at the car, offering specialty coffee, smoothies, freezes, teas, energy drinks and nitrogen-infused cold brew coffee.
For a brief window of time  Monday and Tuesday  Harris County courts heard eviction cases without the federal eviction moratorium in place. During that window, 129 households in Harris County received eviction judgments.

What many may be shocked to hear is that that's about the pace at which renters have been evicted throughout the pandemic -- even when the moratorium was in place.

Roughly 63 renter households in Harris County had been evicted each business day while the federal moratorium was in place, according to data compiled by the data science firm January Advisors.

"The real story is that of those 129 evictions, only one would have been prevented had the CDC moratorium been in place," said Eric Kwartler, a public interest lawyer at South Texas College of Law Houston. The federal moratorium only protects those impacted financially by the pandemic who knew to file a declaration saying so. And Kwartler said that only two of those 129 evictions were by Harris County judges who are continuing to honor the CDC moratorium in the first place; to his knowledge, a total five justices of the peace in Harris County are still honoring the moratorium, including Eric Carter, JoAnne Delgado, Israel Garcia, Wanda Adams and Sharon Burney.

Nonetheless, advocates expressed relief that the protection had returned. Jay Malone, the political director of a collection of unions called the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, applauded the eviction moratoriums renewal.

During the pandemic, members of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation have been going door to door trying to get word out about how to file a CDC declaration form  in which a renter attests to impact of the pandemic on their finances in order to take part in the eviction moratorium  as well as how to apply for aid such as the Houston-Harris County Rental Assistance Program and Harris Countys emergency expense grants.

(R)ental assistance alone wont prevent a wave of evictions from hitting our community in the coming weeks, exacerbating the already exponential rise in Delta variant cases, Malone said in a statement. He called the return of the CDC eviction moratorium a huge win for working people struggling during the ongoing COVID crisis.

Data from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University suggests the moratorium's true impact has been in deterring a portion of landlords from filing for eviction in the first place. The group compared the number of eviction filings in Houston since March 15 to the historical average in order to gauge the moratoriums deterrence effect. In Houston, the number of filings had fallen by more than half during the moratorium.

The original moratorium, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, expired July 31, after a Supreme Court ruling prevented an extension. However, after an outcry by progressive Democrats, the CDC issued a new eviction moratorium until Oct. 3.

In an attempt to dodge the Supreme Court ruling, the new moratorium is not a nationwide ban but instead a pause in evictions in counties with substantial and high levels of COVID-19. So much of the country meets the moratoriums definition of substantial and high levels of virus transmission that it would cover counties where 90 percent of the countrys population lives.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Thousands in Houston behind on rent could qualify for aid. But many dont know the program exists

This weeks Houston eviction hearings showed a glimpse of how many renters are being evicted. Judges asked whether there had been any attempts to pay rental assistance since the beginning of the suit; if a renter was present, the renter and the landlords representative were asked to speak with a member of the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services. The Alliance has been working to connect renters to the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which can provide up to a year of past-due rent payments from the city and county, plus two months more to give renters time to regain their financial footing.

But in case after case, the renter was not present and the landlords representative said there had not been an attempt to pay rental assistance, which could delay proceedings. Those cases ended in default judgments for eviction.

This story has been updated to accurately reflect the number of Harris County judges honoring the CDC moratorium.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

twitter.com/raschuetz
As COVID cases surge, more Texans are getting vaccinated  but the state still needs additional buy-in from unvaccinated individuals to slow the spread of the more contagious delta variant, state health officials said Wednesday.

Texas has recorded significant upticks in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations over the past month, rivaling numbers from February and indicating the start of a third wave. Since then, daily vaccinations have risen 70 percent: On Tuesday, the state recorded a seven-day average of 75,000 doses administered each day, compared to 44,000 on July 5.

More than 15 million Texans have received at least one dose of the vaccine  about 52 percent of the states population and 63 percent of eligible individuals. Texans 12 and up can receive the shots.

Still, that progress hasnt been enough to entirely counteract the delta variant, which is now estimated to make up about 75 percent of COVID cases in Texas, Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the state health departments chief epidemiologist, said during a news briefing.

COVID HELP DESK: What you need to know about the delta variant

The state confirmed more than 15,500 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, and nearly 7,700 Texans are currently hospitalized with the virus. Over the past week, average new cases have jumped by about 92 percent; hospitalizations, 49 percent; and fatalities, 15 percent.

This alarming rise in cases and hospitalizations makes it even more important for every person to go get fully vaccinated, Shuford said. We know that these vaccines work, even against variants like delta.

The news conference was the first that officials have held in months, after holding such events about once a week during Texas vaccine rollout in the spring.

The quick spread is affecting all age groups, but the most severe cases are concentrated among unvaccinated individuals. Since vaccinations began, unvaccinated people have accounted for almost all COVID fatalities in Texas, she added.

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that unvaccinated individuals make up 97 percent of hospitalized COVID patients.

Going forward, state officials expect to see increasing cases among young people, who have gotten the vaccine at far lower rates than older Texans, Shuford said.

They dont have that protection from being fully vaccinated, and some of those people are going to be in the hospital, she said, adding that hospitalizations have risen in every age group, including pediatrics.

Because no vaccine is perfect, some inoculated people will contract COVID  but the shots help avoid the most serious outcomes, including severe illness, hospitalization or death, Shuford said.

The prevalence of the delta variant has reinforced the need for Texans to receive both vaccine shots, Shuford said. One dose appeared to protect individuals from most previous COVID strains  but the delta variant needs the extra boost, she said.

Two of the vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, require two doses for full immunization. Nearly 10 percent of Texans who have received their first dose are overdue for their second, said Dr. Saroj Rai, a scientific adviser with the state health department.

We are really encouraging every individual to go and please get your second dose as soon as possible, she said, adding that many, many vaccines are available throughout the state.

Anyone who has received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine shouldnt necessarily worry, though  being fully vaccinated is most important, Shuford said, and that only means getting the number of shots required by the manufacturer.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
Animal lovers looking for a new home might have found their match.

A unique, safari-themed home recently hit the market in the Cypress area with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a two-car garage, a pool, an elaborate outdoor kitchen, and a personality like no other.

A large mural of a safari scene with a big leopard covers one of its upper walls, an indoor koi pond is tucked underneath the staircase, and its living room and indoor bar space is filled with animal decor, from monkeys to giraffes, elephants, birds and more.

The home touted on HAR.com as a "one of a kind tropical oasis" is located at 11907 Fawnview Drive in the Lakewood Forest community and sits on a spacious 9,828 square foot lot. It's listed for $350,000.

'LIKE FOUR HOUSES IN ONE': Massive Houston-area home hits market for $4.5 million

When realtor Don Hulen listed the property, he almost considered having the owner paint over the mural and scale back the decor, but decided to leave it because of its uniqueness.

"Granted its not everybodys taste," he said. "Were hoping maybe she finds the perfect buyer with the same interests as her."

If so, all the furnishing and decor is negotiable, and the owner is willing to leave everything "if the price is right," Hulen said. If not, they are open and prepared to take everything out so the buyer can start a fresh slate.

Another one of those "interests" is Houston sports. One of the bedrooms is decked out in Texans and Astros gear, with a custom-made Texans couch, curtains, and murals of the Astros' Jose Altuve and former Texan J.J.Watt covering the wall.

HAR.com

"This house (is) an entertainers dream," Hulen said. "Someone who wants to have people over, relax by the pool, somebody who wants a really big master bedroom."

The owner is very meticulous about her home and has taken great care of it, he said, pouring more than $100,000 into the outdoor kitchen.

HAR.com

The outdoor kitchen features a stove top, double sink, refrigerator, Weber grill, gas lamps, and a brick oven, according to the listing, and is surrounded by a hot tub and pool with the furniture in it.

"People like to lounge on those hot Houston days," Hulen said.

Why sit by the pool when you can sit in the pool. Stay cool in the pool.

HAR.com

Although Hulen describes this home as "one of a kind," he said custom-made homes are common in this neighborhood.

"No two homes are alike," he said. "Its not your standard subdivision like these new houses that all have the same floor plan. (There's) not a lot of flavor. This neighborhood has a lot of character because its an established neighborhood."
Philanthropist, activist and rapper Trae tha Truth only opened his Howdy Homemade Ice Cream shop in Katy last month, but the brand is already spreading across Houston.

Starting tomorrow, wildly popular restaurant Turkey Leg Hut will begin selling Howdy Homemade Ice Cream, which employs individuals with special needs. The mission is personal for Trae, who has a son with special needs.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to increase dramatically in Montgomery County and around the region as the delta variant surges in unvaccinated residents.

While the Department of State Health Services recently started tracking cases in vaccinated people and specific data is not yet available, county health officials are reporting most new cases in unvaccinated residents.

We can say that the vast majority of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths have not been vaccinated, said Misti Willingham with the Montgomery County Hospital District. Vaccines help reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death. Being vaccinated does a great job prepping your immune system should you encounter the virus.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 7,305 people were hospitalized statewide for COVID-19 as of Tuesday  more than four times as many as on July 1.

Were heading into dark times, said Texas Medical Center CEO Bill McKeon in a Houston Chronicle story. McKeon previously noted ICUs are filled with unvaccinated people.

According to data from the health district since July 7, total hospitalizations in Montgomery County increased from 42 to 238 with 48 of those patients in critical care beds. MCPHD noted 157 of those 238 are Montgomery County residents.

The countys active cases jumped 767 to 4,219. Since July 7, active cases in the county have surged by 3,624. The countys total number of cases is now 60,941, increasing from 55,838 since July 7. Additionally, the county added three more reinfections bringing that number to 26.

However, health officials did not report any additional deaths from the virus. The total number of deaths remained at 354.

The countys testing positive rate has climbed from 4 percent in early July to 19 percent. To date, 30,742 people have fully recovered.

The CDC has confirmed the transmission of the delta variant has led to accelerated community transmission in the United States. Currently, the delta variant is the predominant strain circulating in the United States and is estimated to account for over 82 percent of cases since July 17. Additionally, the delta variant is more contagious than other variants to date, CDC officials stated.

Late last month, the CDC updated its guidance for fully vaccinated people, recommending that everyone wear a mask in indoor public settings in areas of substantial and high transmission, regardless of vaccination status.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has extended the states COVID-19 disaster declaration through August and has prohibited all mask mandates. Abbotts most recent executive order, issued July 29, prohibits any government entity, including school districts, from mandating masks, meaning that students, staff and visitors may not be required to wear masks at public schools in the state. Failure to comply with the governors order could result in a fine of up to $1,000.

With a new school year starting, some health officials believe the lax in precautions could led to an increase in new cases and hospitalizations, especially among children. In previous surges, Texas Childrens Hospital has taken pressure off other Houston-area hospitals by accepting non-COVID adults. But officials say thats not possible now.

Texas Childrens interim pediatrician-in-chief Jim Versalovic says that the hospital is now faces two challenges in just serving children: an unusual summer wave of RSV respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which can be life-threatening for babies and young children; and a steady increase of COVID-19 in children of all ages. More than 25 children are currently hospitalized there with COVID, he said  more than seen in previous waves.

As far as vaccinations, MCPHD confirmed 244,448 people 12 years of age and older have been vaccinated. Thats about 49 percent of the countys 12 and up population.

Willingham urged residents to take precautions as the cases continue to spike.

Do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19, she said. The best way to protect yourself and those around you is to be vaccinated.

Houston Chronicle reporter Lisa Gray contributed to this story.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
With COVID-19 cases on the rise amid the highly contagious delta variant, some Fort Bend County families are concerned as their students prepare to head back to school.

County Judge KP George wrote an open letter Monday criticizing Gov. Greg Abbott who doubled down in a July 29 executive order on his policy that no governmental entity or official can require wearing masks or COVID-19 vaccinations.

More by Tracy Maness: All Lamar CISD students can benefit from free meals this school year

There is nothing more important to Fort Bend parents than the safety and well-being of our children and those that care for them. News of the growing case positivity and transmission rates among members of my community troubles me, George said in the letter. But what breaks my heart is that our children and teachers are preparing to return to school thwarted in their abilities to mitigate the spread of the deadly coronavirus because of politics.

He took aim at leaders who he said play politics with childrens lives, noting that he felt compelled to speak out as a parent, husband to an educator and as a former school board member. Parents and teachers voicing concerns, George said, also caused him to address the issue. He said the executive order has left his hands tied.

Renae Eze, the governors press secretary, said Texas will not return to a mask mandate or require vaccines.

Gov. Abbott has been clear that the time for government mandating of masks is over  now is the time for personal responsibility, Eze said. Every Texan has the right to choose whether they will wear a mask, or have their children wear masks.

She explained vaccines are the best tool to guard against COVID-19 and developing harsher symptoms and said the governors office continues to encourage eligible Texans to be vaccinated, but the shots will continue to be voluntary. She said the vaccination rate is climbing in Texas, citing that more than 52 percent of eligible Texans are now fully vaccinated.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend Junior Service League busy preparing for new league year

Fort Bend County has been one of the states leaders in testing and vaccinations because it focuses on science, data and experts, George said. He said local community leaders best understand how to address local needs, particularly with consistent increases in test positivity and a double-digit increase in intensive care unit bed usage from COVID-19 cases during the past week.

This troubles me, when we have tools in the tool kit to fight COVID-19 especially as schools prepare to resume in-person learning, as historically we have seen a rise in hospitalizations shortly thereafter, George said.

The governor, Eze said, has been in regular communication with Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and Dr. John Zerwas, executive vice chancellor for health affairs at The University of Texas System, since the pandemic started. She explained that the governor also collaborates with the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management to get people vaccinated and help communities.

High school senior Anshumi Javeri discussed some of the issues Tuesday during a press conference with George and other county leaders. She said she is worried about starting in-person learning in two weeks, for the first time since the pandemic began in March 2020.

More by Tracy Maness: Lamar CISD principal welcomes 2 former students as new teachers

My anxiety is made worse by knowing that while I am vaccinated and I choose to wear a mask, people sitting directly next to me may not, and their decision directly impacts my health, she said.

Once vaccinated, Javeri said she was more inclined to go out and be around others. But the delta variant has brought the fear back, especially because there will be no mask mandate or social distancing requirements at school. Javeri questioned Abbotts concern for students health.

I encourage everyone to please wear masks and to get vaccinated, not just for yourself but for the safety of students just like me, she said.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana State University students will have to wear masks in classrooms and at campus events this fall to help fight the spread of COVID-19, but won't have to be vaccinated to return to school, university officials announced Wednesday.

LSU will require students to either have proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test within five days of arriving on campus. It also will require monthly tests for unvaccinated students. Some students living on campus may be required to take more frequent tests, university system President William Tate said.

The decision against requiring students to get the immunization was certain to anger some faculty who had pushed for mandatory coronavirus vaccines before returning to in-person instruction. Tate only encouraged vaccination instead.

It is the single most effective thing you can do to help us restore normal operations to the university, Tate wrote in a message sent to faculty, staff and students.

Wednesdays announcement came as Louisiana reported 4,778 new coronavirus cases, 44 more deaths and 135 more hospitalizations  pushing the state's daily COVID-19 hospitalization count to an all-time high of 2,247.

Hospitals under stress are getting federal help to arrange extra staffing.

Louisianas largest hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge, saw assistance arrive Monday from a disaster medical response team of nearly three dozen health care workers. On Wednesday, Baton Rouge General started receiving a staffing boost as well, with more than 100 medical workers arriving that it said will help its hospitals and other health care facilities in the area.

The additional staff includes doctors, registered nurses, respiratory therapists and certified nursing assistants. With their help, Baton Rouge General said it will be able to open up as many as 110 more hospital beds to care for COVID-19 patients.

Gov. John Bel Edwards continues to urge people to get vaccinated. And he said a statewide indoor masking mandate that he ordered, which took effect Wednesday, was the least onerous we can to do in order to try to curb transmission and give some breathing room back to our hospitals.

At a town hall meeting hosted by The Advocate newspaper, the Democratic governor said he doesnt intend to return to further restrictions on businesses.

This is a very targeted and limited approach that we believe will be effective, Edwards said of his mask mandate, which expires Sept. 1 but could be extended.

Asked if he intended to require proof of vaccination against the coronavirus for entrance into large events or New Orleans Saints games, Edwards said: Were not entertaining that here in Louisiana. But we do want people to be vaccinated.

He said he would consider requiring a vaccination for state workers, but not until the FDA has given full approval to one of the coronavirus immunizations.

Meanwhile, three students at a north Louisiana medical school have joined Attorney General Jeff Landry in a lawsuit fighting that schools vaccination requirement. The suit against the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Monroe was filed Tuesday in federal court.

The lawsuit states that the three students are being required to get vaccinated in violation of their religious beliefs.

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Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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McGill reported from New Orleans.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A state investigation into the fatal police shooting of a Black man in an Ohio emergency room is being referred to the county prosecutor, the attorney general announced Wednesday.

The state completed its probe into the April shooting death of Miles Jackson at Mount Carmel St. Anns Hospital in suburban Columbus and submitted it to the Franklin County prosecutor, who will determine whether to file charges against the officers involved.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Shontel Brown's surge came almost out of the blue. Over just a few weeks, she surmounted a double-digit lead that progressive Nina Turner had built over months and easily won the Democratic nomination for a Cleveland-area congressional seat.

But her victory Tuesday was the product of years of careful work making a name in local politics and creating a network of support from establishment Democrats. That establishment, including Rep. Marcia Fudge, who left the seat to join the Biden administration, lined up firmly behind her and pushed hard to defeat the more strident progressive flank.

Brown, 46, has chaired the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, the largest county party in Ohio, since 2017. She's currently on the Cuyahoga County Council. Brown faces Republican Laverne Gore in November, but is a strong favorite to be the next representative from the heavily Democratic 11th Congressional District.

Brown criticized Turner, a popular surrogate during Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns, as divisive and has pledged to be a bridge builder. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Brown emphasized the importance of working together, both within the Democratic Party and with Republicans, in an implicit criticism of Turner and progressives in Washington. She also highlighted how local legislators, not political heavyweights such as Hillary Clinton, ultimately led her to her victory.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

AP: During your campaign, you suggested that Nina Turner would further exacerbate the nations political divide, while you would work to bring people together. Do you intend to work with Democratic progressives in Congress, as well as Republicans? Do you consider yourself a progressive?

BROWN: I absolutely intend to work with everyone. I think its very interesting that Congress is the only place where people expect their colleagues to not get along. ... And when people ask about whether I consider myself a progressive or a moderate, I like to describe myself as a humble public servant. When people are asking for food assistance or rental assistance or how to get their hands on a PPP loan, they never end the call with oh, by the way, are you a moderate or progressive? So I dont ascribe to any of the labels. I am a proud Democrat who works tirelessly for the people who are trusting me to make decisions on their behalf.

AP: You mentioned rental assistance. Obviously, the CDC issued a new eviction moratorium this week that would last until October. Would you have joined congresswoman Cori Bush in the camp-out protest if you were in Congress?

BROWN: Its easy to say what you would do, hypothetically. But I am grateful for the work that she did to be able to get that moratorium extended. Ive not been much, candidly speaking, of an activist. ... I know that is something she has been very proud to be and I respect that wholeheartedly. But I really pride myself on being a legislator  one who sits at the table to negotiate on the behalf of the people who are trusting me to make decisions.

AP: Turner attributed your victory to the influence of dark money. Were you comfortable with the amount of money spent on electing you by outside groups, or did they have an outsize influence on Ohio voters in this race?

BROWN: I honestly am not sure how much money any of the outside groups raised  the ones that were campaigning against her or me. But lets be clear, she also had an ally smearing or at least alleging very negative things about my campaign, and she also had twice as much money: $5 million. I dont think this race was decided by money. I think it was decided by the people who deliver results and people who are willing to work and really willing to work collaboratively. This is a sport by addition, not subtraction. And so when you have friends and youre able to work with others, I think that proved to be a successful formula to get me to this place called victory.

AP: Some of your allies and supporters cast your victory as proof that some in the media, liberal activists and liberal Twitter are out of touch with the views of Democratic voters. Do you agree with that?

BROWN: I think theres certainly some room for other voices at the table, for sure. And Ive been hyperfocused on trying to find that common ground: Where can we meet together so that we can make progress? Thats been my focus. Im not one that looks for the dividing point but really looking for the uniting point.

AP: Youve mentioned how you are a local legislator. You have spent time in local office and spend a lot of time with the community. (The 11th District) is the second poorest congressional district in the country. The (functional) illiteracy rate (in Cleveland) is 66%. Your general election opponent, Laverne Gore, faults Democrats for those problems. She says they have supported policies that keep people, particularly people of color, dependent on government rather than helping them to be independent, because it provides them a political advantage. Is she right?

BROWN: I think that (Gore) might be a little bit out of touch with whats happening here in Ohio. Ohio has been under Republican leadership for a very long time. So if there are any issues with our statewide government, I think theres enough blame to go around. But certainly, under the leadership of the Republicans, I would have to agree that we could really reevaluate how were allocating our resources for students, which has been deemed unconstitutional. ... But again, Im not one to really place blame. Lets figure out how we get to a solution to make education and literacy priorities and deal with these economic issues.

AP: Last night, you said many of the things youve accomplished on County Council have not gotten a lot of attention, but you did them because they served the public. Can you give us a few examples?

BROWN: When it comes to public safety, having modernized our emergency system to include text 911; being the only candidate in this race to oversee the allocation of over $200 million in COVID relief funds and how it would be allocated to hospitals, small businesses, banks, rental assistance programs and most notably when our students had to transition from the classroom to virtual learning, I led the initiative to request $1.5 million be set aside so that they could receive Wi-Fi hotspots.

___

Farnoush Amiri reported from Anaheim, Calif. Amiri is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
It was hardly a stroke of genius for Gov. Greg Abbott to veto funding to the entire legislative branch of goverment, after Democrats in the Texas House broke quorum on the last day of session to thwart the passage of a troubled election integrity measure.

In wielding his veto pen against a co-equal branch of government, the governor sent legislators an unambiguous message about what he expects from them: to do his bidding, their own priorities notwithstanding.

Abbott also showed the state, writ large, that he has little respect for the separation of powers  and that hes callously unconcerned about collateral damage. Several thousand men and women who work for the legislative branch of state government are at risk of losing their salaries, and health insurance, at the end of this month, when the current fiscal biennium ends.

That risk can no longer be ignored, thanks to the Democratic quorum break of last month: a majority of the Democrats in the Texas House remain in Washington, D.C., where they are trying to raise awareness of their fight for voting rights and lobbying members of Congress to take action.

Abbott can call a special session the moment this one ends, and he has vowed to do so. Still, he cant impel the Democrats to return to Texas, and without a quorum in the Texas House, the Legislature cant get anything done.

And so, as it stands, Abbott has effectively plunged the state government into a serious and unprecedented game of chicken. There are several ways that it might end:

The Texas Supreme Court could rule that Abbotts use of the line-item veto in this case was unconstitutional, in which case it would never take effect.

Alternatively, Abbott could unilaterally restore funding to the Texas Legislature, the same way he unilaterally decided back in June to devote $250 million in state funds to a border wall back. That might not pass legal muster, but under the circumstances, legislators would be unlikely to object.

And, of course, its also possible Democrats will abandon all hope and return meekly to Texas for the second special session, in the hopes that Republicans will restore Article X funding before their innocent staffers find themselves in a cruel predicament.

But, of course, the men and women who work as legislative staffers, or for legislative agencies, are already in a cruel predicament, thanks to Abbott. And although Democratic legislators are surely willing to work with Republicans to fix this mess, it remains unclear whether Abbott--and, for that matter, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick--are in the mood to be cooperative. Even now, with the clock ticking, none of the states Big Three have even publicly pledged to tackle Article X as the first priority during any special session.

To be clear, the Democrats involved in this mess arent above reproach. Most of the legislators in DC are taking the quorum break seriously, and using their time in the nations capitol to focus on raising awareness about voting rights.. Others have bungled the message, a bit. Someone brought a case of Miller Lite for the bus ride to the Austin airport, to start. And this week it was reported that two Democratic legislators--state Reps. Julie Johnson and Jessica Gonzalez, both of Dallas--had decided to decamp to Portugal for a vacation.

I dont respond to rumors, said Gonzalez in a text message to Hearst Newspapers Tuesday evening, when asked about these reports.

No one has proof, she elaborated, when pressed. These are rumors, period. End of story.

Do they serve Miller Lite in Portugal, one wonders?

Thats among the questions Gonzalez constituents might have for their representative, whenever she returns from wherever she is. (Portugal, according to reports.)

And many Republicans, in light of this weeks Portuguese subplot, will be asking if Texas Democrats are actually concerned about voter suppression in Texas, or whether this entire quorum break was just a publicity stunt.

Still, its simply not credible for Republicans to blame anyone other than Abbott for Abbotts audacious use of his veto pen.

The governor should, at the very least, publicly commit to restoring funding to the legislative branch as soon as possible, if Democrats return to Austin.

That may not be an offer that inspires much confidence, on their end. But it would be an offer, on Abbotts part, that Democrats would be hard-pressed to reject.

erica.grieder@chron.com
With the fall semester just weeks away, Texas colleges have been forced to adjust plans and add new precautions following a resurgence of COVID-19.

The University of Texas at Austin canceled four sessions of Camp Texas, its freshman orientation retreat, after the venue where it was slated to be held announced it would close for 14 days following a COVID case among counselors.

The delta variant, a more contagious form of the original coronavirus strain, means what was expected to be a return to normal college life is on hold for now.

COVID HELP DESK: What you need to know about the delta variant

Rice University will require masks indoors for all individuals this fall, officials said Tuesday. The mandate rescinds its policy released in May, which lifted mask requirements for those who are vaccinated. Masks outdoors, however, are still not required.

Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates, also wrote in a Tuesday letter that while alcohol will be permitted on campus according to policy, cross-college events that invite the public would be canceled. The college is also delaying the reopening of Willys Pub through September after closing it last March.

Let me first say that while these policies move us farther away from normal campus operations than we had hoped to be at this time, we are not returning to the very stringent rule structure we had in place all of last year, Gorman assured students.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Rice will require all students to be fully vaccinated against COVID

Kevin E. Kirby, chair of Rices Crisis Management Advisory Committee, encouraged anyone who hasnt been vaccinated to do so. Rice expects 90 percent of its 11,000 community members to be vaccinated this fall, Kirby wrote in a Tuesday letter to students, but the university is still taking extra precautions.

Officials will implement a flex work schedule for employees and will ramp up testing again  requiring testing every two weeks for those who are vaccinated and twice a week for those who are not vaccinated.

Rice said in May that all students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend courses this fall. Only those with a medical waiver or who cite religious reasons are exempt.

Baylor University, a private college in Waco, will not require masks, but has encouraged those who are unvaccinated to wear them indoors, according to its website. Weekly testing will be required for students who have not been vaccinated or had a positive test within 180 days.

Not all Texas schools have the privilege to make mask requirements.

Gov. Greg Abbotts most recent executive order, issued July 29, prohibits any government entity, including school districts, from mandating masks, meaning that students, staff and visitors may not be required to wear masks at public schools in the state. Failure to comply with the governors order could result in a fine of up to $1,000.

Many public colleges, however, have still strongly encouraged vaccinations, masks and distancing as a way to curb the spread of the virus.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Despite concerns, Houston-area schools will not defy Abbotts ban on masks

The University of Houston, which began its full return to campus Monday, has encouraged those who are not vaccinated to wear masks on campus and for those who are vaccinated to wear them for an extra level of protection.

UH professor Andrew* Joseph Pegoda, who said he is high risk and teaching from home, says its time for Texas colleges to band together to defy Abbotts mandate.

To not defy Abbott, renders meaningless everything we teach. To not defy Abbott, is to make the workplace and educational space inaccessible. To not defy Abbott, is to be an accessory to avoidable death and sickness, Pegoda wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning.

Let the lawyers battle it out, he added.

Pegoda declined to comment further to the Houston Chronicle.

Nearly all colleges within the Houston metropolitan area are planning for a 100 percent return, with some still offering a combination of choices for online, hybrid and in-person courses.

Editors note: This article has been updated to include the correct name of Andrew Joseph Pegoda. The Houston Chronicle regrets the error.

Alejandro Serrano and Hannah Dellinger contributed to this report.

brittany.britto@chron.com
Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Texans for Vaccine Choice will host a rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol later this month, protesting the current state of medical mandates as the state grapples with a surge in COVID-19 cases and stagnating vaccination rates.

The rally is scheduled for Aug. 21 at 11:30 a.m. A panel discussion will address the states current COVID protocols and vaccine requirements.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday returned the county to the highest COVID-19 threat level and urged unvaccinated residents to stay home and avoid unnecessary contact with others.

At a news conference, Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner pleaded with residents to get vaccinated, wear masks in public settings, and avoid hospitals except for life-threatening conditions.

We find ourselves retracing our steps toward the edge of a cliff, Hidalgo said. Its very conceivable that we can once again be heading toward a public health catastrophe.

The virus has worsened significantly here in the past month, which researchers blame on the countys low rate of fully vaccinated eligible residents and the highly transmissible delta variant.

Harris County had been at Level Red for most of the pandemic, from last June through May, when the county judge downgraded to Orange. By then, the virus appeared to be waning. The positivity rate had dropped below 5 percent, hospital admissions plummeted and deaths slowed to a trickle. She lowered it further to yellow, or moderate, which reminds residents to stay vigilant, a few weeks later.

The countys data report Wednesday evening showed how far and fast the situation has deteriorated: an explosion of new cases and a positivity rate of 16 percent. Hospitalizations in the Houston area have increased for 20 straight days and show no signs of slowing; they are on pace to set a pandemic record in about a week.

At its heart, the stay-home request of unvaccinated residents is toothless. Hidalgo lacks the authority to enforce it, let alone issue less restrictive edicts, such as mandatory mask wearing. As one of the most popular local elected officials, however, she hopes to shake residents from a sense of complacency that the pandemic is over.

I know theres a lot of conflicting messages, theres a lot of confusion, so I dont want to talk about what I dont have the ability to do, Hidalgo said of the state pre-emptions. The truth of the matter is, the best we can do right now, the most we have the authority to do right now, is what were doing. So, were going to continue to make the most of that and really be direct about what we want the community to do.

The mayor, who bucked the governor in requiring city workers to wear masks this week, said the numbers would dictate the citys response to the virus. As of Thursday, 197 city employees had active cases of COVID-19.

The numbers will dictate my response, and then well deal with whatever happens after that. But Im not going to be constrained by some order, Turner said. Wherever this virus goes, and whatever we need to do to check it and to save lives, is what Im prepared to do.

Other cities and counties across Texas are making similar pleas with residents. Dallas moved to its own threat level to red on Tuesday, and Austin and Travis County moved to what they call Stage 5 guidelines on Thursday. San Antonio sent a public safety alert to residents Wednesday, warning the risk of COVID-19 is now at severe level.

Hidalgo said a confluence of factors is leading to the surge: strained nursing and hospital staff, a more contagious variant, and little ability to implement the restrictions the county had at its disposal last year. When the county first entered Level Red last summer, Hidalgo said the community responded, and the numbers began trending down within weeks.

We are facing a perfect storm, Hidalgo said.

Turner said officials no longer could afford to downplay the spreads impact.

The increase in positive cases in our city and our county that are linked to the Delta variant is cause for grave concern and serious action, he said.

Dr. David Persse, the citys health authority who oversees its EMS services, painted another dire picture in local hospitals. In recent days, patients have been transferred to Austin, Shrevesport, La., and even North Dakota as beds fill up in greater Houston. One of those patients is a member of his family, he said.

When the news conference began at 1 p.m., Persse said, 26 of the Houston Fire Departments 104 ambulances were stuck with patients at hospitals. Four of them had been there for longer than two hours, he said.

An ambulance thats in the emergency department waiting to offload patients is not available to take the next 911 call, Persse said. Were going to have a long response time  or none at all. That is foreseeable based on the numbers I just gave you.

County officials continue to say that increasing the vaccination rate of residents is the most effective strategy. Fifty-five percent of eligible Harris County residents are fully vaccinated, 11 points higher than the statewide figure, but still well short of the 70 to 80 percent researchers say is required for herd immunity.

The past two weeks, the countys rate has improved by 0.75% per week, a pace that would take until late September to reach 60 percent and just before Christmas to hit 70 percent.

Data from Harris Health, the countys safety net hospital system, demonstrate the effectiveness of the vaccines. Of 123 patients who died from COVID-19 at Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals have recorded this year, 4 percent were partially vaccinated, 0 percent were fully vaccinated and 96 percent were unvaccinated.

Harris Health CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa urged residents to get inoculated as soon as possible, which he said is essential to ending the pandemic before it worsens further.

At some point, we will run out of luck, and we will face a variant that is also resistant to our vaccine, Porsa said. When that happens, all of a sudden, 100% of the population is now again at risk of becoming infected. Its only a matter of time.

zach.despart@chron.com

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations growing exponentially in Houston and Texas, responsibility for blunting the surge is still largely a matter of personal choices, leaving medical and public-health professionals pleading with Texans to be vaccinated, mask up and maintain social distancing.

Texas reported that 8,522 patients were in hospitals for COVID-19 on Thursday, a 46 percent increase since the previous Thursday. That day, Texas Medical Center hospitals admitted 336 new patients for COVID  a number similar to admissions at the peaks of the two previous largest surges, and expected to grow.

When all the indicators head in the same direction, that gives you a good idea, said epidemiologist Catherine Troisi, who teaches at UT School of Public Health. Right now everything is looking bad.

The current wave pits highly effective vaccines against the highly transmissible delta variant. With only 55 percent of eligible Harris County residents fully vaccinated  and only 45 percent of all Harris County residents, including children  the variant appears to be winning.

By Sunday Aug. 8, Houston-area COVID hospitalizations are projected to pass the peaks of all previous surges, according to the UT-Austin COVID Modeling Consortium.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Experts: Houstons fourth COVID-19 wave to be the largest yet

Delta is so transmissible, its picking off anyone whos unvaccinated, said Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor. Thats whats been happening in Louisiana and Mississippi, and now its starting here.

Of the three main strategies to blunt the effect of the coming surge  vaccinating, masking and social distancing  Hotez favors vaccinations, and says its crucial to administer as many as possible immediately.

If we wait until mid-surge, a vaccine campaign will be much less effective, he said. If ever there were a time to vaccinate, its now.

He continued: The single best thing we could do is mandate vaccinations for schools, but in Texas were not even talking about that. We cant even mandate masks.

An executive order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott prohibits governmental entities in Texas from requiring masks, but some local leaders have rebelled. This week Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner required city employees to mask up, and Houston Independent School Districts superintendent is proposing a mask mandate for students and school district employees.

Troisi agreed that urging individuals to act responsibly isnt enough.

From a public health standpoint, she said, we need to get people vaccinated, and we need to increase testing. Maybe we dont have to mandate vaccines. But you shouldnt be able to go into Target or eat at McDonalds if youre not vaccinated. There have to be consequences for not getting the vaccine. You cant just put other people at risk.

The delta variant moves faster than previous coronavirus strains, notes Spencer Fox, associate director of the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium.

With the traditional coronavirus, if someone is infected, on average theyre infectious starting two-and-a-half days after infection and show symptoms at five days, he said. But with delta, a key difference is that the time between exposure and being infectious is shorter by a day.

A percentage of people infected today are almost certain to need hospitalization within one to two weeks. So preventive measures taken today, he said, will help reduce hospitalizations a week from now, and will have major impacts two weeks from now.

On HoustonChronicle.com: COVID-19 cases found on Carnival Vista cruise

Its time  if not already too late  for people to increase their personal precautions, said Katelyn Jetelina, an assistant professor at UTHealth and author of the Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter.

Since her own daughters, like all children under 12, are not eligible to be vaccinated, she recently removed them from daycare, and is once again restricting them to activities within our bubble.

Jetelina said its also time for vaccinated people to have conversations with the unvaccinated people in their lives.

Weve seen that the most influential factor in changing someones mind about vaccinations, she said. Its not what they hear from some expert in an ivory tower. Its what they hear from family and friends.

Bill McKeon, CEO of the Texas Medical Center, hopes to increase the number of Houstonians being tested for COVID. Currently around 13 percent of tests performed in the medical center are positive  a high percentage that appears to indicate that not only that COVID is spreading fast, but that many people are tested only when theyre gravely ill. Vaccinated or not, untested people may not realize theyre carrying COVID and infecting people around them.

Those who are vaccinated have not felt the need to test perhaps until now, said McKeon. And those those that are unvaccinated have never been interested in testing unless they become symptomatic.

With delta spreading fast, Troisi said that a mask or mandates and vaccination requirements should be less controversial than seatbelt laws.

I mean, Im required to wear a seatbelt, she said. But if I dont, Im mainly just risking my own life  putting more pressure on hospitals, and I may need care at public expense  but mainly, its my own life Im risking. With COVID, its not just my own life that Im risking by not being vaccinated or not wearing a mask. I risk infecting other people with a highly contagious respiratory disease.

lisa.gray@chron.com, twitter.com/LisaGray_HouTX
After a marathon two weeks competing at the Olympics in Tokyo, gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles on Thursday afternoon returned home to Houston to the cheers of adoring fans.

Waiting patiently to greet them at Bush Intercontinental Airport was a crowd of more than 100 supporters: family, friends and a troupe of enthusiastic young gymnasts from World Champions Centre, the Spring gym run by the Biles family.

At 1 p.m., a small group of parents and children gathered at a baggage carousel with flags and colorful signs celebrating Biles and Chiles, whose ascent to the Olympics has captured the imagination of gymnasts in Houston and around the world.

Now Playing: After a marathon two weeks competing at the Olympics in Tokyo, gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles on Thursday afternoon returned home to Houston to the cheers of adoring fans. Video: Laura Duclos, Yi Chin Lee Houston Chronicle

VIDEO: The Biles: Breaking down the physics of Simone Biles' biggest new move, the Yurchenko double pike

The United flight carrying the gymnasts from New York was scheduled to arrive at 2:30 p.m., but it was delayed until 3:18 p.m. and then to 3:56 p.m. The crowd settled in front of the escalators where the two gymnasts would descend after meeting Biles family at the gate. As children, mostly girls, chattered excitedly, parents took turns walking Biles French bulldog, Rambo.

These girls are all gymnasts, they all love her, said Lesley Brousseau-Barton, whose 11-year-old daughter Madison trains at World Champions Centre. They would wait five more hours if thats what it takes.

News of the gymnasts imminent arrival spread through Houstons gymnastics scene, drawing eager trainees from as far away as Corpus Christi. The event was a reunion of extended family, many of whom have supported Simone Biles, now 24, since she was young and cheered on both Biles and Jordan Chiles at the Olympics.

For many of Biles supporters, both trainees and parents, it was an opportunity to meet not just an Olympic champion but a role model. Amid intense pressure and a well-documented mind-body disconnect known as the twisties, Biles, in an unprecedented move, bowed out of most of the team final and several individual events for safety reasons.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texans' Jonathan Owens, Simone Biles' boyfriend, says he sensed trouble before her Olympics exit

All these girls have, at some point, faced mental blocks - they suddenly lose track of where they are in the air or on the ground, and theyll come home in tears, said Brousseau-Barton. For her to stand up for her own health means so much to them.

Many young gymnasts said they were most inspired by the teamwork and sisterhood between Biles, who came back to compete and win the bronze medal in balance beam, and Jordan Chiles, who stepped up to replace Biles in the team final and helped secure a silver medal for Team USA.

Biles & Chiles adorned most of the young gymnasts handwritten signs. Madison, Brousseau-Bartons daughter, said she spent several hours making three posters: one for Simone, one for Jordan, and one celebrating both.

A few minutes before Team USA descended to greet the crowd now numbering over 100, Madison jumped on a chair and held up her Jordan poster. You did your best, it read, along with Black girl magic.

I did it to show that some people care about her and it doesnt matter how many medals she wins, explained Madison.

VISUALS: Meet Jordan Chiles, the gymnast who credits Houston for her Olympics spot

Meanwhile, Timothy and Gina Chiles, the parents of 20-year-old Jordan Chiles, waited with bouquets from HEB that were equal part roses and Twix candy bars on sticks, one of Jordans favorites. The Chiles family moved to Houston in 2019 so Jordan could train with Biles at World Champions Centre.

After being on a gymnasts diet, the family looked forward to taking Jordan somewhere for a good steak, said Timothy, who asked longtime Houstonians around him for suggestions.

This is their down time to relax, because in a few days theyre back at it full time to prepare for the Gold Over America Tour, he said. That exhibition will take Biles, Chiles, and four other women to 35 cities across the US - including Houston on October 8.

As the two gymnasts in their white Team USA jackets finally came into view, the crowd was ecstatic. But the gymnasts and their families were quickly whisked past television cameras into a secure room. Rambo, Biles French bulldog, joined her inside.

Airport officials and police explained the gymnasts could not leave until the crowd dispersed. But soon, a Biles family SUV pulled up, and a smiling but weary Biles was ushered outside.

Biles, who at seven Olympic medals is now tied for the most earned by an American female gymnast, may have concluded her Olympic career at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo.

For 20-year-old Jordan Chiles, Tokyo was just the start, Timothy Chiles said.

Were going to keep pushing her, keep up that discipline, he said. The best thing about any ending is theres a new beginning.

charlie.zong@chron.com

charlie.zong@chron.com
Brayt Rosales smelled something strange as he gathered material to build scaffolding up on a structure at LyondellBasell Acetyls. People on the ground started yelling. He panicked. They needed to get down.

When 26-year-old Rosales reached the ground, he struggled to get enough air. He saw the white cloud of chemicals. The sun was low.

You couldnt breathe at all, he said.

His boss, Hector DeLeon, was in a company truck. DeLeon opened the door, inhaled and knew from 28 years of experience: This was an acid leak. They had to go.

DeLeon, 50, waited for Rosales and the others. Around them, everyone scattered. The wind pushed the cloud. DeLeons nose and eyes burned. He thought he might not make it.

They ran.

The contractors reached an office, but chemicals followed. They hurried to another safe point. Rosales coughed. He had never imagined this. DeLeon, who has three kids, looked at his colleagues red eyes.

At one point, DeLeons wife called. He told her: Im OK. But on the radio he heard man down and knew something bad happened.

They shed their clothes, showered between two fire trucks and went to the hospital.

Both men are now represented by attorney Vuk Vujasinovic, of VB Attorneys, joining a growing list of at least 19 injured workers and the family of one deceased who filed five civil lawsuits in Harris County District Court.

The suits add to the slow-moving process of trying to right what went wrong during the chaotic scene from July 27, when 100,000 pounds of a liquid acetic acid mixture released at the industrial facility and made dozens run for their lives.

The white cloud enveloped people working on various tasks, including electricians. They too struggled to breathe as they got down from their posts. Some workers told attorney Miriah Soliz and her team that they thought they might pass out.

They just didnt think they were going to make it, Soliz said.

Their chests hurt. They threw up. Theyve had trouble falling asleep.

Another man, Seth Wheeler, suffered injuries so extensive that doctors had to operate on his face and eyes, according to court records. He remained on a ventilator this week and expected more surgery ahead.

Those who survived worry about ongoing and long-lasting health effects  and about losing their jobs. Rosales and DeLeon are back at work, but DeLeon still feels his throat burn and Rosales finds it sometimes hard to breathe.

The families of the two workers who died held memorial and funeral services. Shawn Kuhleman, 32, was married for 12 years and had two kids his family described as the pride of his life. A GoFundMe page said he was a kid at heart. He loved being on a lake, spending time in his garage and working.

Dustin Day, 36, was an army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to an obituary. He liked to collect guns, ride his ATV and fish. He and his wife, Jennifer, were married 11 years. He died on her 36th birthday, according to another GoFundMe.

She expected to start chemotherapy the next day.

Experts still dont know what exactly the workers breathed in or how the incident happened. Attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz and Stogner allege the company knew of the leak but didnt hire specialized contractors to fix it. Those at VB Attorneys argue the company knew conditions there were dangerous and didnt warn workers.

The company restarted portions of the facility, located near La Porte, but the exact spot where it occurred remained under study. The Chemical Safety Board said in a statement this week that the immediate are was inaccessible because hazardous material was still there.

In an earlier statement, a spokesperson said those at the company could not discuss pending litigation.

We recognize this is a difficult time for our employees who continue to grieve the loss of their colleagues and are offering assistance where needed, the latest LyondellBasell update read. Our workforce, and the communities where we operate, are our family, and they are our first priority.

The lawsuits add to other accusations that workers lodged against the same facility.

Adam Good wrote of his lanyard getting stuck in Dec. 2020 when an improperly secured valve broke and filled the area where he worked with liquid. He hurt his shoulder, arm and knee and almost drowned before a coworker helped free him, according to the court documents.

In 2019, two pipes allegedly crushed welder Marcos Villanueva as he climbed scaffolding. The pipes pinned him to the scaffolding, according to the records. He required surgery. Months earlier, a cable pulley allegedly snapped and hit Tony Torres in the head.

Torres said his hard hat cracked.

emily.foxhall@chron.com
In March, just after Texas devastating winter blackout that killed hundreds, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a La Quinta in San Antonio for alleged price gouging, declaring that gross exploitation of Texans would not be tolerated.

Companies looking to profit from this tragic event that left millions of Texans without power or water will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted, Paxton said in a press release.

He accused the motel of taking advantage of surging demand for lodging by charging exorbitant prices for rooms. How exorbitant? Triple the normal rates, according to the release.

Just triple. If only Texans had been so lucky when it came to natural gas prices, which soared 100 times their regular level during the freeze.

So why arent Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott decrying that exploitation? Why arent they firing off press releases and filing lawsuits against natural gas pipeline companies and traders who made billions profiting from Texans desperation after Winter Storm Uri?

Because unlike $199 motel rooms and $11 gallons of milk, wholesale electricity prices of $9,000 per megawatt hour were not a quirk of the system but a function.

The companies did exactly what Texas deregulated electricity market allows them to do: ramp up production to meet surging demand during a crisis situation and collect handsomely from sky-high emergency pricing.

Call it state-sanctioned exploitation. Call it price-gouging by design. Call it, as San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg put it, the most massive wealth transfer in Texas history.

No matter what you call it, its a bad deal for Texans who will foot the bill for many years to come on the $3.6 billion in natural gas costs incurred by utilities for one week in February.

Windfall profits included $2.4 billion for Energy Transfer of Dallas, $1.1 billion for Kinder Morgan of Houston and more than $1 billion for BP from its natural-gas trading business, according to the Chronicles Paul Takahashi, citing company filings and analyst estimates.

So, other than the zeroes, how is Energy Transfers $2.4 billion so different from a motels inflated $199 room rate during peak demand?

Some litigants and energy experts claim it isnt. They point to a section in Texas law that deals with deceptive trade practices which prohibits people during an official disaster from taking advantage of others by selling necessities  including food, lodging and yes, fuel  at an exorbitant or excessive price.

But it would seem that the spirit of the law was intended for those acting deceptively and its a stretch to argue that a company doing what the law allows, and in fact encourages it to do, is acting deceptively. Unless, of course, utility plaintiffs suing some of these gas companies can prove they purposely withheld gas supplies in order to artificially inflate prices.

There hasnt been any compelling evidence of that thus far, and its important to note that companies such as Energy Transfer made the investments they should have to keep producing during the storm when others were sidelined by frozen facilities and equipment. Well leave it for the courts to hash out whether any wrongdoing took place.

But what is deceptive is the way in which Abbott and lawmakers pretend theyve fixed an electric grid thats still vulnerable to collapse and lacking an adequate cushion of supply during crisis.

Whats deceptive is our leaders crowing about new weatherization requirements to prevent facilities from freezing again  and then slyly carving out loopholes for a gas industry whose executives are generous campaign contributors to Abbott and other Republicans in control.

Whats deceptive is the idea that Texas independent electric grid, cut off from the rest of the country, is somehow saving Texas ratepayers money or providing us with more reliable energy than other states.

We are hypocrites if we ever cast another condescending glance over at California during a blackout there. The Texas grid during Winter Storm Uri came within minutes of total collapse. The widespread blackouts across the Lone Star State were 500 times worse than those affecting California during the 2020 wildfires, Bloomberg reported.

Another tragedy from the storm, besides the loss of life and economic losses, is that ordinary Texans, even those who couldnt turn on the heat for days during the storm, must pay for the billions in profits to a rich industry only made richer by our misery.

In the Houston area, more than 1.8 million CenterPoint Energy ratepayers are responsible for the $1.14 billion natural gas bill the utility racked up when it was forced to buy energy at astronomical prices.

The average natural gas bill in the Houston area  about $30  could go up by $2 to $5 a month starting next year if CenterPoint is allowed to use state-issued bonds to finance what it owes, Takahashi reported, noting that it could shake out to $60 more per year for each ratepayer over the next decade.

But if the Texas Railroad Commission rejects CenterPoints financing request, the utility could charge customers fees of between $15 and $40 per month over the next year, which could add $480 to Houstonians gas bills for the year.

Thats exploitation if we ever saw it  but mostly by state officials who are perfectly comfortable fleecing Texans pockets as long as they can line theirs with campaign contributions from a grateful industry.
Regarding 'At least get out of the way': Biden condemns Gov. Abbott's ban on mask mandates, (Aug. 3): I have two children who are at high risk for severe disease if they to come into contact with COVID. One is a newborn who requires supplemental oxygen. My oldest will be in first grade. He spent his entire kindergarten year doing virtual school in order to protect his family. He deserves to be able to go to school in person and not worry that he will bring home a virus that kills his baby brother. Masks are scientifically backed, and have been shown to be our best protection to stop the spread of COVID when vaccination is not possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC both stress their necessity in schools. Abbott knows this. And yet he doesn't care. He will pander to his base and it will kill Texans. The only way out of this pandemic is to curb the virus until we can vaccinate children, and to get the vast majority of people vaccinated before the virus mutates to escape our vaccines.

Taylor Martin, Houston

As an old-time conservative I am struggling to understand the modern conservative movement.

First, I am in favor of law and order. Are our government officials at the county, city and school district level supposed to follow their duty under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, or are they to violate that law at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott? I would argue that in not mandating masks and vaccination for Texas state employees, he stands in violation of OSHA.

Second, as a fiscal conservative I disagree with the redistribution of income by the federal government. Instead of raising the minimum wage paid by the private and public sectors, we taxpayers are increasingly expected to subsidize the substandard wages paid by employers of all types and sizes through tax credits.

I have retired from teaching the principles of business and financial literacy to high school students, not so much because I wanted to but because I could no longer overcome the lessons being taught to my students by both the liberals and the modern conservatives. Can someone help me out here?

Ernest Davis, Houston

Regarding Despite concerns about virus surge, Houston-area schools will not defy Abbott ban on mask mandates, (Aug 3): Abbott's political hubris rules the day and the responsible adults in the room subject our schoolchildren to undeserving and untold misery.

Yolanda Ramirez Moore, Humble

Im a parent. I would like to be the one to decide if my child is exposed to people not wearing masks while at his public school. It is not my choice for my unvaccinated 8-year-old to be indoors with unmasked people as the delta variant spreads, but since there is no virtual option our only choice is in-person class, and mask mandates are forbidden in schools. How do I exercise my right as a parent to make the decision I believe to be best for my child? I want to see mask mandates in public schools and virtual school options for kids too young to be vaccinated. I need Gov. Abbott to reverse the mask-mandate ban to help me protect my unvaccinated child.

Jessica Catrett , Houston

All U.S.-born males and male immigrants ages 18 to 25 must register with Selective Service. In every state but the bustling state of New Hampshire, seat belts are required. We must all pay sales taxes on almost everything but food. Government mandates are there for the greater good. The failure to have one for COVID may kill us.

Ted Weisgal, Houston

Love for veterans

Regarding George H. W. Bush showed us how to live with purpose and find unexpected friendship, (Aug. 1): The excerpts from Jean Beckers book The Man I Knew do show President George H. W. Bushs love for Houston. His love for our nations veterans was equally strong. I once asked President Bush to write a letter to a mother whose only son died heroically in Vietnam. Without hesitation, Bush wrote the letter below to Mrs. Roy Herron, mother of my childhood friend and fellow Marine, Lee Roy Herron.

He wrote, I, of course, did not know your son, but I have no doubt that he was the best our country has to offer. As a former fellow Navy man myself, and as a former Commander-in-Chief, I join in recognizing Lee Roy for taking up the torch of freedom and answering his countrys call to duty.

Of all the accolades her son received, Mrs. Herron seemed most proud of President Bushs personal letter to her. She proudly displayed it in her home and showed it to all visitors. Thanks to President Bush for his love of our city and our veterans.

David Nelson, Houston
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, isnt stupid. He is, however, ambitious and supremely cynical. So when he says things that sound stupid, its worth asking why. And his recent statements on COVID-19 help us understand why so many Americans are still dying or getting severely ill from the disease.

The background here is Floridas unfolding public health catastrophe.

We now have highly effective vaccines freely available to every American who is at least 12 years old. There has been a lot of hype about breakthrough infections associated with the delta variant, but they remain rare, and serious illness among the vaccinated is rarer still. There is no good reason we should still be suffering severely from this pandemic.

But Florida is in the grip of a COVID surge worse than it experienced before the vaccines. More than 10,000 Floridians are hospitalized, around 10 times the number in New York, which has about as many residents; an average of 58 Florida residents are dying each day, compared with six in New York. And the Florida hospital system is under extreme stress.

Theres no mystery about why this has happened. At every stage of the pandemic DeSantis has effectively acted as an ally of the coronavirus, for example by issuing orders blocking businesses from requiring that their patrons show proof of vaccination and schools from requiring masks. More generally, he has helped create a state of mind in which vaccine skepticism flourishes and refusal to take precautions is normalized.

One technical note: Floridas vaccination rate is well below the rates in the Northeast, but closely matches the national average. But seniors are much more likely to be vaccinated than younger Americans, in Florida as elsewhere; and Florida, of course, has an unusually high number of seniors. Among younger groups the state lags behind the nation as a whole, and even further behind blue states.

So, given these grim developments, one might have expected or at least hoped that DeSantis would reconsider his position. In fact, he has been making excuses  its all about the air-conditioning! He has been claiming that any new restrictions would have unacceptable costs for the economy  although Floridas recent performance looks terrible if you place any value on human life.

Above all, he has been playing the liberal-conspiracy-theory card, with fundraising letters declaring that the radical left is coming for your freedom.

So lets talk about what the right means when it talks about freedom. Since the pandemic began, many conservatives have insisted that actions to limit the death toll  social distancing, wearing a mask and now getting vaccinated  should be matters of personal choice. Does that position make any sense?

Well, driving drunk is also a personal choice. But almost everyone understands that its a personal choice that endangers others; 97 percent of the public considers driving while impaired by alcohol a serious problem. Why dont we have the same kind of unanimity on refusing to get vaccinated, a choice that helps perpetuate the pandemic and puts others at risk?

True, many people doubt the science; the link between vaccine refusal and COVID deaths is every bit as real as the link between DUI and traffic deaths, but is less obvious to the naked eye. But why are people on the right so receptive to misinformation on this subject, and so angry about efforts to set the record straight?

My answer is that when people on the right talk about freedom what they actually mean is closer to defense of privilege  specifically the right of certain people (generally white male Christians) to do whatever they want.

Not incidentally, if you go back to the roots of modern conservatism, you find people like Barry Goldwater defending the right of businesses to discriminate against Black Americans. In the name of freedom, of course. A lot, though not all, of the recent panic about cancel culture is about protecting the right of powerful men to mistreat women. And so on.

Once you understand that the rhetoric of freedom is actually about privilege, things that look on the surface like gross inconsistency and hypocrisy start to make sense.

Why, for example, are conservatives so insistent on the right of businesses to make their own decisions, free from regulation  but quick to stop them from denying service to customers who refuse to wear masks or show proof of vaccination? Why is the autonomy of local school districts a fundamental principle  unless they want to require masks or teach Americas racial history? Its all about whose privilege is being protected.

Anyway, as you watch DeSantis invoke freedom to escape responsibility for his COVID catastrophe, remember, when he says it, that word does not mean what you think it means.

Krugman is a columnist for the New York Times.
One in three American adults  more than 70 million people  have some type of criminal record. To put this in perspective, about the same number of Americans have college degrees right now.

Unfortunately, these Americans, who were incarcerated or have a conviction on their record, are essentially unable to secure good jobs in this country. Nearly half of formerly incarcerated people are unemployed one year after leaving prison. That is a moral outrage.

This group is ready to work and deserves a second chance  an opportunity to fill the millions of job openings across the country. Yet our criminal justice system continues to block them from doing so.

Currently, financial, legal and logistical roadblocks prevent those who have paid their debt to society from re-entering the work force. Barriers like occupational licensing rules that keep people with records from getting jobs and a history of systemic racism in our criminal justice system disproportionately impact communities of color, especially Black people, who represent 35 percent of formerly incarcerated people but only 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to a 2020 Brennan Center report.

At JPMorgan Chase & Company, weve taken several steps to tackle this. We banned the box that asked about a candidates criminal or arrest records on initial job applications as part of our strategy to build a more inclusive talent pipeline. We established a Second Chance hiring program that provides legal services, job search support and mentorship in collaboration with local nonprofit organizations in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, which we will extend to other cities. In part because of these efforts, we hired approximately 2,100 people with a criminal background in 2020  roughly 10 percent of our new hires in the United States that year.

Recently, we partnered with other employers like Accenture, CVS, Eaton, General Motors, McDonalds, Microsoft, Verizon and Walmart to form the Second Chance Business Coalition, which allows businesses to develop and share best practices and test new approaches to help support the hiring and advancement of people with criminal backgrounds. We want more companies to join us. That is why today were welcoming Aon, LKQ, Lowes and Micron to the coalition. And Im joining Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago and local business and community leaders to discuss what else we can do.

But to create real systemic change, we need better public policy. Right now, various forms of Clean Slate legislation are making their way through Congress and U.S. state capitals. These efforts would help clear or seal eligible criminal records, open access to jobs and increase earnings by about 20 percent. These initiatives enjoy significant support across the aisle  a rare opportunity for consensus, bipartisanship and momentum.

The reality, however, is that pursuing the expungements that those with criminal backgrounds are eligible for is complicated, expensive and requires a great deal of time, which is unfair and asks too much from people who are often already facing financial, bureaucratic and legal difficulties. For example, in New York, the current clearing process involves up to 40 hours from an attorney and court officials over several months, the Legal Action Center in New York estimates. When there is a hearing, cases cost an average $2,200. As a result, many eligible Americans dont or simply cant wipe clean their eligible records. One report found that less than seven percent of those who qualify for expungement in Michigan obtain it within five years of becoming eligible.

Clean Slate legislative reforms at the national and state level would automate the existing process of sealing or clearing certain eligible records, such as those for minor drug offenses and driving under the influence, after a certain period of time has passed. Proposed federal legislation, the Clean Slate Act of 2021, introduced by Senators Bob Casey and Joni Ernst and Representatives Lisa Blunt Rochester and Guy Reschenthaler would create a record-clearing process for the first time and establish automatic sealing for certain low-level crimes too. Together, these efforts clear a path for people to apply and be considered for employment in a way that is fair and efficient.

Theres been great progress on this front already: Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Delaware have all passed or enacted similar bipartisan clean slate legislation. C.E.O.s and community leaders must urge more states and the federal government to pursue similar legislative solutions.

At the same time, we should continue to push for other policies at the federal and state level that are good for the economy and spur job creation for people who have paid their dues. These include reforms to hiring rules at regulated institutions like banks and lifting state bans on financial support for education in prison. We also know things like the expiration of a drivers license while serving time can make it very difficult to verify someones identity following incarceration, which in turn makes it hard to secure a job, open a bank account or access housing. I am personally picking up the phone and meeting with business leaders, regulators and government leaders around the country to make the case for these reforms.

Im doing this because Ive seen firsthand the merits of this work and the dignity a good job can provide. In 2017, I met with a few gentlemen with records who graduated from a program to train mechanics organized by North Lawndale Employment Network in Chicago, a community organization that helps residents find jobs, with a focus on those who had been incarcerated; Chase also invested in this program. These mens experiences made me think about the seemingly insurmountable obstacles they and millions of others with criminal backgrounds face when looking for employment. Thankfully programs like this helped them build skills and secure good-paying jobs with the Chicago Transit Authority.

We need more training programs like this in U.S. communities and support for them by local employers. Jobs bring dignity and lay a foundation for stability. Employment with a living wage leads to better social outcomes  stronger households, less crime and even better health and well-being.

An inclusive economy  in which there is equal access to opportunity  is a stronger, more resilient economy. Thats something we should all get behind.

Dimon is the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Company. He is the co-chair of the Second Chance Business Coalition, which is committed to expanding opportunities to employment and greater upward mobility for people with criminal records. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
A local Republican official whose social media posts derided vaccines and masks was hospitalized this week with COVID-19 and died Wednesday, leaving behind a wife and infant son. He was 45.

The Galveston County Republican Party confirmed in a statement the death of H Scott Apley, a precinct chair for the organization and member of the Dickinson city council and State Republican Executive Committee.

"I wish to express our deep sense of loss following the passing of our friend and colleague," said Patrick McGinnis, chairman for the Galveston County organization. "This indeed, is a tragedy; it is magnified by his youth, his young family especially his very young son."

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Apley was admitted Sunday to UTMB Galveston for pneumonia-like symptoms, according to a GoFundMe page created to assist with medical bills that has since garnered nearly $30,000. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was ventilated for three days before his death.

Apley's wife also tested positive but was not hospitalized, the page said.

Neither the fundraiser's organizer nor GOP officials immediately responded to inquiries from a reporter.

It was unclear whether Apley was vaccinated.

Im led to believe he was not, said Dickinson Mayor Sean Skipworth. I dont know that for a fact.

VACCINE TRACKER: Interactive map shows where you can get vaccinated in Houston

Two days prior to his hospitalization, Apley shared to Facebook a post expressing skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines.

In April, he responded to a doctor's tweet about the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy with this statement: "You are an absolute enemy to a free people." In May, he shared a post about a mask burning event with the comment: "I wish I lived in the area!"

Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the Delta variant drives another pandemic surge. Vaccines, free and widely available, are effective at preventing death and severe illness, according to doctors and health experts.

Skipworth said the death of the new father and active community member was tragic for many reasons, including the rapid nature of his decline.

The two local leaders did not always agree but had a good working relationship, Skipworth said. A special election will be set for Apleys successor on city council.

The mayor said he thinks the death was preventable and hopes the situation compels residents to get vaccinated.

I dont know that the needles really going to move for any one thing, he said. I hope itll at least be a slow process as we see more stories like this, that people will take things to heart and make that decision to get vaccinated.

The death has sparked vitriol and insensitive comments on social media from people criticizing Apleys apparent choice to decline the vaccine. The phone in Dickinson City Hall was ringing Thursday morning, Skipworth said, with calls from people telling the mayor to go to hell after he expressed condolences for the councilmembers death.

This isnt the moment to have a victory lap and say, I told you so, Skipworth said, calling for kindness but urging action. Please  get vaccinated if its something youre able to do.
WASHINGTON  Laredo immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros launched her second primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar on Thursday, setting up a South Texas rematch that is sure to draw national attention as Republicans hope to make the border a centerpiece of their efforts to retake the House in 2022.

The challenge from the left comes as Cuellar, among the most conservative Democrats in the House, criticizes the Biden administrations handling of a crush of migrants crossing the southern border.

Cisneros, 28, came less than 3,000 votes short of pulling off an upset in 2020 as she outraised the longtime congressman, a member of the influential Appropriations Committee who was backed by the Democratic establishment and corporate donors, including the conservative Koch Industries.

BACKGROUND: Progressive Cisneros defeated by incumbent Cuellar in highly watched Texas battle

When they said we had no chance, we showed them just how powerful the dreams of immigrants, teachers, and rancheros are, Cisneros said in a video announcing her run. Now, its time to finish what we started. Im running for Congress because #TX28 deserves a representative who will fight for our dreams as hard as we do.

The 2020 race became a proxy battle between progressives and establishment Democrats. The partys leaders stood behind Cuellar, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress  with some even making a stop at his campaign headquarters in Laredo  while progressives in Washington, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, backed Cisneros.

Immigration is certain to be a key issue in the race. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported rising numbers of encounters with migrants crossing the southern border for much of the spring and summer, including a record 188,829 in June.

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The vast majority of those are single adults who are repeatedly attempting to cross and being turned away under a public health order issued because of the coronavirus. But tens of thousands of families and unaccompanied children are also crossing, many of them seeking asylum from Central American countries plagued by poverty and corruption.

Cisneros said in her campaign announcement that she is running to fix the broken immigration system that has been weaponized against working families in Texas. She also hit Cuellar for introducing anti-immigration bills with Republicans and past support for spending on a border wall.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Cuellar has been among the loudest voices calling on the Biden administration to do more to address the surge, which has often put him on the same side as Republicans, who are angling to wield the issue in campaigns next year.

Last week, Cuellar wrote a letter to President Joe Biden with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, calling on Biden to appoint a new border czar.

Cuellar earlier this year filed legislation with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez  two Texas Republicans  that would speed adjudication of asylum claims while building new processing centers to address overcrowding in border facilities.

Cisneros said Cuellar is using the same political theater as Republicans on Fox News.

The focus really shouldnt be just on migrants, Cisneros said. People coming to the United States isnt anything new  especially for people in Laredo, where everyone has their own immigrant story, whether it be themselves or their parents or grandparents.

For me, its more about how we can treat folks that are coming to this country to seek protection in a very humane, dignified, respectful way, but at the same time making sure were taking care of their health and our health as well, Cisneros said. Thats what people are most concerned about because we were a COVID hot spot last year.

WARNINGS IN MARCH: We are weeks, maybe even days, from a crisis at the border, Texas Democrats say

Colin Strother, a spokesman for Cuellars campaign, said the congressman has been focused on working with the Department of Homeland Security and the White House to address a humanitarian crisis at the border.

He and his opponent have very different philosophies, Strother said. She wants open borders and thinks everyone should just be let in, carte blanche, no questions asked, and the congressman understands you cant just inundate border communities with hundreds or thousands of people, in this case, who have nowhere to live or no means to support themselves.

Cisneros is again supported by Justice Democrats, the group that helped U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 defeat a longtime New York congressman who was a moderate Democrat.

This pandemic has only highlighted how desperate Congress is for leaders who have lived the struggles they are being elected to solve, Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, said in a statement. Jessica comes from a community that has been sidelined by Republican corporate interests for too long, and will legislate with the scale and urgency this moment demands.

Cuellar is also being targeted by congressional Republicans as they hammer the Biden administration over the border and hope to build on the surprising support former President Donald Trump drew in South Texas in 2020.

Cuellar, however, defeated Republican Sandra Whitten by nearly 20 points in November.

The large 28th congressional district stretches from San Antonio to the southern border with Mexico, though it is likely to change as lawmakers redraw political boundaries this fall. It has been reliably Democratic, but is unique in that it is largely rural and overwhelmingly Latino.

In the 2020 primary, Cuellar won in five of the counties, including Atascosa, Starr, Webb, Wilson and Zapata. Cisneros won in Bexar, Hidalgo and Wilson. The two candidates tied in tiny McMullen, where they each received nine votes.

Strother acknowledged that Cuellars campaign, which he worked for, was caught a little flat footed in 2020.

We hadnt had a campaign in a while, he said. We were a little out of shape and we spent the last 15 months getting in shape. Weve been actively campaigning for 4 months now.

We are better than we were, Strother said. Were going to perform much better than we did.

ben.wermund@chron.com

ben.wermund@chron.com
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday encouraged cities and counties to sign on to a proposed $26 billion national opioid settlement agreement that could yield up to $1.5 billion for the state.

This is a good deal for Texas, for its cities and its counties and really all of the citizens of this great state, said the Republican attorney general at a news conference in Houston. The cities and counties with trial dates have no guarantees of a trial and they have no guarantees of any money. One thing they are guaranteed is a long, drawn-out process, which doesnt allow the people who need this to get it.

The proposed settlement was made with Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen  the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors  and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids.

The distributors had been accused in hundreds of lawsuits of ignoring the amount of addictive painkillers being sold on the black market and their role in the nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths. Johnson & Johnson was accused of minimizing the dangers of opioids in its marketing. All three have denied wrongdoing.

Some governments have scoffed at the payout. The Philadelphia district attorney late month sued that states attorney general over the deal, saying the city will reap relative pennies compared to the cost of the crisis that is killing more than 1,000 people there per year.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he would reject the deal as insufficient and move ahead with a trial on claims against the distributors scheduled to start in September.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Similar attitudes abound in Texas as well. Attorneys representing Bexar County have disagreed over whether to participate in the settlement, with some arguing that the plaintiffs will have better leverage and a chance for even more funds if they continue marching toward trial.

Local governments have until Jan. 2 to decide whether to sign onto the deal, while the states have a few more weeks. As cities and counties have to go through city councils and commissioners courts, the process may take some time. So far, while the AGs office has heard from some that intend to take the deal, none have officially signed on, said Alejandro Garcia, a spokesman for the office.

At least 44 states  and more than 90 percent of cities, counties and others suing the companies and jurisdictions that have yet to sue  must sign onto the deal to receive a portion of the money, according to sources familiar with the agreement who spoke on the condition of anonymity with the Washington Post. To receive the maximum amount, 48 states would have to join on, a source told Reuters.

The settlement does not have a specific joinder threshold to move forward, Garcia said. However, if we do not have a large number of cities and counties participating, approximately half our money wouldnt be available. The more that join, the more the amount will increase.

Most of the states estimated $1.5 billion which would go toward treatment, prevention, education and other costs created by the epidemic, as prescribed by a new state law.

Nearly 500,000 people died from overdoses involving opioids  including both prescription drugs and illicit ones, such as the synthetic fentanyl  from 1999 to 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of deaths reached a record high in 2020 at more than 93,000.

Under the 10-year proposed court order, the companies would be required to create and fund an independent clearinghouse of data showing where shipments of the prescription drugs are going and how often. The defendants are also agreeing to use data-driven systems to identify and stop suspicious opioid orders from customer pharmacies.

INVESTIGATION: Fentanyl deaths are soaring in Texas, and officials aren't taking key steps to stop them

J&J would not be able to sell opioids, which it said it already stopped doing in the U.S. last year, lobby on any related matters, or fund grants to third parties for promoting opioids. It also would have to share clinical trial data with the Yale University open data access project.

If approved, the settlement will likely be the largest of many in the opioid litigation playing out nationwide. Its the second-biggest cash settlement in U.S. history following the $246 billion tobacco agreement in 1998.

The three distributors would pay $21 billion over the next 18 years, while J&J would pay up to $5 billion over nine years.

Paxtons office had previously estimated that Houston would receive about $7 million and Harris County about $15 million. San Antonio would receive about $4 million and Bexar County about $7 million.

We feel that the reason that the pharmaceutical companies and the AG have partnered to push Bexar County into this settlement agreement is that they know that if we continue into trial, which is our strategy, Bexar County residents will be able to get more compensation, Robert Vargas, director of public policy for one of the attorneys, Phipps Mayes, told the Express News in December 2020.

The firm would like to see Bexar County get at least $1 billion and worry that taking Paxtons deal would jeopardize their shot at justice. County Judge Nelson Wolff has also questioned the sum.

MORE ON THAT: Opioid lawsuit settlement's $7 million for Bexar County not enough, Wolff says

Paxton had previously taken heat from state lawmakers for making decisions about where to direct the funds without involving the Legislature, which makes appropriation decisions on behalf of the state.

Suzanne Jarvis, director of data management and program analytics for the Houston Recovery Center, a substance abuse sobering center that helps connect people arrested for public intoxication with support services, said the funding is sorely needed. The center also works with Houston and Harris County to provide case management and outreach efforts.

We are so grateful for this money thats coming in, Jarvis said from the center where the news conference was held Thursday. Substance use money comes in with a lot of restrictions, but it seems that this money thats coming in, we will as a population in Texas be able to define how those funds are distributed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Boston Symphony Orchestra violinists Ala Jojatu, left, and Rebekah Edewards perform a Mozart duet at Berkshire Medical Center's North Adams campus on Wednesday.

BSO Popup Concert Brings Mozart to North Adams



The violinists, posing with Mayor Thomas Bernard, performed the last of three popup concerts for health-care workers at BMC. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The sounds of Mozart and Beethoven could be heard across the back parking lot at the Berkshire Medical Center campus on Wednesday afternoon.

The noontime popup performance by violinists Ala Jojatu and Rebekah Edewards was a joint venture by Boston Symphony Orchestra and BMC to offer a musical respite for frontline medical workers as well as anyone else who loves music.

"[During the pandemic] musicians wanted the opportunity to go into communities, and particularly partner with health care, which is so directly in the front lines," said Alexandra Fuchs, BSO's chief operating officer. "This year we're fortunate that Berkshire Medical Center is a sponsor and they were very happy to work with us to facilitate all the on-site preparation, and the invites for staff and caregivers and everyone to attend."

The North Adams performance was the final of three planned "mini" concerts hosted by the hospital system, with the first a brass quintet at the main campus in Pittsfield and the second with strings at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.

A dozen or so staff and others, including Mayor Thomas Bernard and his family, were treated to 40 minutes of duets by Jojatu and Edewards. The violinists said it was nice to be able to play in front of live audiences again after last year's concert cancellations because of the pandemic  even in a parking lot.

"It's always good, very different and very casual but in a way it's very pleasant to play for just whoever wants to come by," said Jojatu, a Boston University master's graduate who joined the BSO and Boston Pops a decade ago.

Edewards, a five-year BSO veteran who graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music, noted, "it's the way music should be used. We started out as chamber music in small intimate settings so it's always nice to be able to do it again."

Fuchs said the players had welcomed the opportunity to perform within the communities, and that their performances can suffer without an audience to respond to them.

"I think we've learned a lot in the last year and a half," she said. "I think it is important that we stay really connected with communities and externally focused and I think this is resonating also with the musicians."

BMC spokesman Michael Leary said the health-care community has been appreciative of the musical interludes.

"It has just been an incredible treat and respite, I think, for our staff but we're very, very happy with our relationship and

we're thankful that the BSO was back this year," he said.

While there have been no discussions on future concerts, Leary said BSO officials had toured the main campus and its auditorium "and they did mention that there was a possibility that maybe we could extend this over other periods of time. ... We would love to work with Tanglewood on something like that."

Bernard echoed Leary's comments, saying, "it's this little break in the day, this beauty, this joy, this talent, coming in a place where people can really use it, at a time when we all just have to remember that we've had a hard road behind us and it's a road we're still on ... a little music, a little joy along the way, it's not a bad thing."

After the first concert in Pittsfield, Fuchs said she heard some hospital staff saying it's the first live music they'd heard in years.

"So just knowing how much it means and how the pandemic has upended everyone's lives. It's really meaningful all around," she said.

The audience offered rounds of applause and thanks on their way back into the building, with one woman telling the violinists, "thank you very much, it was really lovely."
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Photo Credit: White House Press Office

Photo Caption: Rep. Schrier receives a pen from President Joe Biden. She is pictured with U.S. Representatives (L-R) Mike Levin, Mark Takano, Colin Allred and Derek Kilmer.
Somali journalists deserve to work in an environment free of fear for their safety if they are to make a positive contribution to the development of democracy in the country. The call for greater respect for the rights of journalists, especially during the upcoming elections, came at the end of a two-day workshop on Safety, Access to information and Media Professionalism conducted by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Mogadishu.

The training, financed by the Lord Deedes of Aldington Charitable Trust, focused on essential survival skills for journalists working in dangerous environments, professional responsibility of media during the elections and the importance of access to information for effective reporting.

Since journalists are charged with the crucial responsibility of keeping people informed about electoral processes, we believe that Somali journalists need to be well trained to acquire skills that enable them to concentrate elections reporting on pertinent issues in an accurate, responsible and impartial manner said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

This training is particularly intended to help Somali journalists to live up to their ethical responsibility by resisting the pull of negative influences from different actors. With Somalia already voting to elect political representatives, the society is looking to media for accurate and credible information about the electoral process emphasised Osman.

President of NUSOJ Supreme Council Awil Mohamud Abdi stressed that journalists need a secure environment free of harassment and with decent pay to fulfil their professional obligations. Media thrives on public trust and journalists therefore need to protect that trust by exercising professional judgement observed Abdi.

Mohamed Hassan Irro, the Chairman of the Federal Elections Implementation Team (FEIT), who was the guest of honour at the opening welcomed the training saying that it would contribute to the development of a professional media cadre in Somalia during this critical electoral period. Irro who highlighted the medias central role during the current election season, said journalists should uphold their professional responsibilities to report factually and avoid inflammatory reporting that can cause disharmony in society.

He supported NUSOJs call for increased access to public information for journalists during the elections but cautioned that such access came with a responsibility not to twist facts. I agree with you that journalists need facts to report accurately and public officials including election officers have a duty to share information in their possession with the media. But the media also need to exhibit goodwill by not distorting such information, Irro said.

Speaking about the same theme, IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger observed that access to information and professional media was a "chicken and egg" situation. Unless journalists have access to official information in a timely manner, they will have no choice but to rely on alternative sources of information which may not be so accurate. And in the absence of credible information, journalists will struggle to meet professional expectations. They also need to be physically and materially secure if they are going to fulfil their role independently, Bellanger said.

He reminded journalists of the importance of personal safety, telling them that no story is worth a journalists life. Professionalism, he added, is a culture that is bred through constant adherence to the basic principles of accuracy, fairness and impartiality.

Journalists also need to work in an environment in which their safety is guaranteed, because vulnerable journalists cannot be an effective watchdog over the society. If journalists are societys messengers, then it is in the interest of both society and the state that they are protected from harm, Bellanger concluded.
Investing in the nation's crumbling infrastructure is never a tough sell in the business community. After all, businesses benefit when everyone can get from point A to point B without busting an axle, and they also stand to gain from the winning sizable construction contracts.

To wit, the current infrastructure bill, formally dubbed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, calls for spending $550 billion over five years. In addition to existing authorized funding, that number currently stands at just under $1 trillion over five years and north of $1.2 trillion over eight years. But you may chafe at the real price tag--particularly as much of it calls for repurposing some $205 billion in untapped-yet-in-demand Covid-19 relief aid.

Under the current bill, $38 billion would be diverted directly from extant small-business relief programs. That includes $17.6 billion from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, $13.5 billion from the Targeted EIDL Advance, $4.7 billion from the Paycheck Protection Program, and $1.4 billion from the Economic Stabilization Program. Another $992 million is getting yanked from the SBA's business loans program account.

It's not as though these programs aren't being utilized. While the PPP is over and no longer supporting loans to small businesses, the other programs are indeed active. Starting with the Cares Act, Congress charged the SBA with making debt relief payments to help hard-hit businesses into certain SBA-backed loans including the agency's flagship working capital loan product, the 7(a) loan program. The Economic Aid Act sweetened the pot, allowing the SBA to increase its loan guarantee to 90 percent from 75 to 85 percent, depending on the size of the loan.

According to National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), loan approvals for 7(a) loans shot up to $2.04 billion last week, up from $865 million the week prior. This debt relief program expires on September 30, 2021, or when funds run out.

Similarly, the pace of EIDL approvals has recently reached more than $5 billion a week, with $7.5 billion in EIDLs receiving approval last week. As of July 29, 2021, businesses have filed 3.8 million EIDLs, amounting to $236 billion in funding.

And demand is increasing along with lender bandwidth, says Tony Wilkinson, president and CEO of NAGGL. "As our lenders were moving away from the PPP program, they had more time to focus on the regular program," he says.

The news about lawmakers' plans to redirect funds has lenders scrambling to get loans done, adds Wilkinson. By his estimation, the funds for SBA's debt relief program could even dry up by September 20.

Unless lawmakers get to it first. With recess approaching, leaders of the House and Senate could call their members back to vote on an infrastructure bill at any point. The Senate could even approve the measure this week. Should it land on President Biden's desk this month, and as such stimulus funds suddenly expire, many in-need businesses now banking on that money would be left adrift.

Mark Yuska's events business is one. When the pandemic hit his Sterling, Virginia-based Alliance Nationwide Exposition, revenue, which had clocked in at $20 million in 2019, dropped to zero in 2020.

"We went from 100 percent to zero. It wasn't like we were doing takeout. It wasn't a downturn; [business] was gone," says Yuska, who had to let his entire staff go, including himself, last year. The company only recently began hiring again; it brought in 100 people in July in anticipation of events picking back up in August. But he has more work than what 100 people can do. "We still have 250 shows on the books this year; 100 people just isn't enough," he says, noting that he'd use the $2 million 7(a) loan for which he applied two months ago to support the additional hires. Now that plan might fall through.

For small-business owners like Yuska, 2020 losses loom large among lenders. The federal stimulus--chiefly, the SBA's boosting of its guarantee to 90 percent and the fee moratorium--helped make those loans more palatable, says Joe Arie, president of the SBA division at Bank of Edison, a national lender based in Edison, Georgia. "It's a matter of risk tolerance," he says. "If we make a $2 million loan, and the SBA drops its guarantee back down to 75 percent, that risk goes from $200,000 to $500,000."

Arie adds that while lenders are trying to expedite existing loan applications, he fears that many borrowers with loans still in the pipeline will get dropped, because 1) they can't afford the fees without the moratorium and 2) the lender might pull the plug. "Washington has created such uncertainty for these borrowers. Now we're having to tell some of them we don't know what will happen," adds Arie. "There's a high likelihood that for several of these loans, it truly becomes a question of access to credit."
Amanda Knox has doubled down on her criticism of Matt Damon and director Tom McCarthy for their new film Stillwater, which she claims has seen them profit from her wrongful murder conviction.

Damon stars in the new movie  made by Spotlight filmmaker McCarthy  as a father who travels to France to help exonerate his daughter, who is in prison for a murder she claims she didnt commit. The story is partially inspired by what has been described by press as the Amanda Knox saga.

Knox, who was acquitted in the case of Meredith Kerchers murder in 2007, condemned the film in a lengthy Twitter thread that went viral last week.

Now, in a new interview with Variety, she made calls for Damon and McCarthy to have a conversation with her. She asked them to explain why they felt they had the right to exploit her story and  according to her  perpetuate the idea that she was involved in Kerchers death. Knox was wrongfully imprisoned for four years and Rudy Guede was convicted of killing the British student.

She said: Matt Damon and the director can walk away with a great story in their pocket, but meanwhile, Im still living with the consequences of people thinking that I am somehow involved in this crime that I am not involved in.

Knox added: Im very open about how Ive continually felt exploited by people who are not allowing me to be a voice in my own narrative. And because I have been so vocal about that, I find it to be a kind of gross negligence of these filmmakers to not take note of that in their own development of this project, and in their promotion of this project, constantly bringing me into the equation as this idea of me, as opposed to as the real person.

Knox said she would love to have a conversation with Matt Damon and Tom McCarthy about why it never occurred to them to reach out to me to, at the very least, inform me that something was going to be dredging up an ongoing trauma that I have.

The Independent has contacted eOne as well as Damon and McCarthy for comment.
The Suicide Squad featured two scenes after the credits rolled that you might have missed.

James Gunns new DC film, which is a soft reboot of David Ayers 2016 film Suicide Squad, features a handful of character from that film as well as new additions.

Returning characters include Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), while Idris Elba and John Cena join the cast as Bloodsport and Peacemaker, respectively.

While the film, whose 15 age rating has confused viewers due to its amount of violence, appears to be close ended, a few additional scenes set up a future Suicide Squad movie.

*Spoilers follow  you have been warned*

The first is a witty scene looping back to the opening sequence, in which the Task Force team led by Flag jump out of a helicopter and land in the ocean of Corto Maltese  only to discover the character Weasel cant swim.

Despite Savant (Michael Rooker) dragging him to shore, Weasel is pronounced dead.

It turns out he wasnt  a mid-credits scene shows Weasel waking up and running into the jungle.

The second scene is much more crucial for it sets up a forthcoming spin-off.

In the film, following a disagreement over how to handle top secret government files, Peacemaker kills Flagg. As hes about to kill Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Bloodsport arrives and shoots him dead.

(Warner Bros Pictures)

However, Wallers team exhumes his body from the rubble at body is exhumed from the Jotunheim rubble, and decides to give him a lifeline in case they need him again to save the f***ing world.

Cena will return as Peacemaker in a HBO Max show thats been devised by Gunn.

Its unknown whether Flags body is also found.

The Suicide Squad is in cinemas now.
Fetty Waps four-year-old daughter died from a heart defect that she had had since birth, her death certificate has confirmed.

The rappers daughter Lauren Maxwell, who he shared with dancer and musician Turquoise Miami, died last month.

The news was confirmed by Miami, real name Lisa Pembroke, on Monday (2 August), as she paid tribute to her amazing, beautiful, funny, vibrant, loving, talented, smart, and hardheaded daughter.

A death certificate obtained by TMZ shows that Lauren died of a fatal cardiac arrhythmia due to complications of congenital cardiac anomalies.

She had been born with the condition, dying of an irregular heartbeat.

The document also shows that Lauren died on 24 June at her home in Riverdale, Georgia.

On Tuesday (3 August), Fetty paid tribute to his daughter in public for the first time.

He shared a photo of Lauren to Instagram, writing: Hey mini me (My Twin) .... I love you to the moon and back forever and ever bestfriend.

Shes good, my babys happy now, he also said on Instagram Live.
The first teaser for American Crime Story: Impeachment has been released and fans are celebrating the first glimpse of Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky.

The latest instalment in Ryan Murphys true-crime anthology series, Impeachment is set in the mid-1990s and centres on former US president Bill Clintons affair with White House intern Lewinsky, who was just 22 at the time.

It will star Booksmarts Feldstein as the young Lewinsky, while Clive Owen plays Bill Clinton.

On Thursday (5 August), the first teaser trailer for the series was released. In it, Lewinsky, whose face isnt shown, is seen packing a yellow tie in a gift box with a note addressed to Bill.

She then hides it in a document file and walks through the White House in silhouette to give it to him, wearing a red dress.

Lewinsky walks past his assistant outside, with the voice over saying: Mr President, Miss Lewinskys here to see you.

Fans shared their excitement at the first teaser, with one commenting: Absolutely psyched for this new season. It looks amazing already and the talent is top notch. So glad Monica Lewinsky is also attached to this!

Sharing the trailer on her own Instagram, Feldstein was supported by her famous friends including Jameela Jamil, who wrote: Cannot F***ing wait beanie.

Held my breath for the whole minute so not sure how Im gonna watch the show.... actor Ben Platt also commented.

Impeachment will also star Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton, Margo Martindale as Lucianne Goldberg, Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones, Betty Gilpin as Ann Coulter and Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge.

Lewinsky herself served as an executive producer on the series.

American Crime Story: Impeachment begins on FX in the US on 7 September. A UK release is yet to be announced.
Emma Roberts says she intentionally limits what she shares on social media because its a dark and polarising place.

The actor broached the topic in a recent interview with Bustle in which she discussed Bellettrist, the book club she has co-founded with her friend Karah Preiss.

As part of the chat, Roberts  who has 16.7 million followers on Instagram  was asked how she decides what to share on social media and what to keep private.

Sharing on social media has always been something that Ive loved, but I always err on the lesser side because you cant take back anything youve shared online, she said. Even when a post is taken down, it still lives somewhere.

With that in mind, she acknowledged that she enjoys interacting with fans and friends online.

But I try to keep it limited to books or fashion or vacations, she added.

The internet can be such a dark and polarising place, so my corner of the internet I try to keep lighthearted and fun, because thats what I like to see on Instagram.

Roberts was seen in the three most recent seasons of American Horror Story: 1984, Apocalypse, and Cult. She will also appear in About Fate, an upcoming romantic comedy directed by Marius Weisberg.
The Crown fans have shared their excitement as Elizabeth Debicki was pictured on set as Princess Diana for the first time.

The Australian actor will portray the late royal in the forthcoming fifth series of Netflixs royal drama, taking over the role originally played by Emma Corrin.

On Wednesday (4 August), Debicki was photographed while filming at the Ardverikie estate in Scotland alongside two young actors playing Prince William and Harry.

While the pictures arent particularly high quality, Debicki is seen wearing a double-breasted blazer, pink shirt and jeans while sporting Dianas instantly recognisable short blonde hairstyle.

The actors playing her sons are wearing matching blue striped rugby shirts.

The pictures were widely circulated on Twitter, with fans celebrating the first glimpse of Debicki as Diana.

OH MY GOD ELIZABETH DEBICKI AS DIANA, one commenter wrote.

ELIZABETH DEBICKI IS COMING TO SERVE, another tweeted, while one tweet read: ELIZABETH DEBICKI AS DIANA IM ON THE FLOOR.

The Great Gatsby actor will star in series five and six of The Crown opposite Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, with her first official photo in character being released last week.

Jonathan Pryce will play Prince Philip, while Lesley Manville has been cast as Princess Margaret. Dominic West will play Dianas former husband Prince Charles.

The Crown is expected to return to Netflix in 2022.
The Crown is said to have found its new Prince Andrew for the final two seasons.

The Netflix show is currently filming the fifth run, with Imelda Staunton replacing Olivia Colman in the role of Queen Elizabeth II.

While the majority of the shows new stars have been revealed, it was unknown who would be playing the role of the older Prince Andrew. When he last appeared in the drama, he was in his twenties and played by Tom Byrne.

His main scene saw him fly in on a royal navy helicopter for a lunch with his mother, who asked him about recent headlines about her sons possible relationship with a young, racy American actress.

According to The Sun, James Murray will play Prince Andrew in the next two seasons. Murray is known for his appearance in BBC series Cutting It, and is married to his former co-star Sarah Parish.

He was most recently seen in Ryan Reynoldss Netflix hit 6 Underground and has been cast in No Time to Die director Cary Joji Fukunagas Second World War drama Masters of the Air.

The Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-produced drama will be released on Apple TV+ in 2022.

James Murray will play Prince Andrew in The Crown season five (ITV/Shutterstock)

In April, Netflix was forced to deny it was struggling to find actors who wanted to play Prince Andrew.

The new series of The Crown will see Lesley Manville take over from Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, while Jonathan Pryce will star as Prince Phillip. Tenet actor Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana.

Find out everything you need to know about The Crowns fifth season here.

The Independent has contacted Netflix for comment on Murrays casting.
Myanmars ambassador to the United Nations has warned of a reported massacre by the military junta in a letter to the world body.

Kyaw Moe Tun  who refused to step down from his post despite Myanmars military juntas takeover of the country on 1 February this year  wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday informing him that 40 bodies had been found in Kani township in July in the Sagaing area of north-western Myanmar.

The military junta denied the allegations of the massacre and AFP reported that they could not independently verify the reports.

Mr Moe Tun on Wednesday also said that there had been an apparent threat made against him and that the US authorities had stepped up his security.

He was quoted by Reuters as saying: Reportedly there is some threat. The police are working on it. Necessary security has been provided by the police.

Meanwhile, in his letter to the UN Secretary-General, the Myanmar envoy said that the military tortured and killed 16 men in a village in the township around 9 and 10 July, after which he claimed 10,000 residents fled the area.

He said in the letter that 13 bodies were discovered in the days following clashes between local fighters and security forces on 26 July.

Mr Moe Tun also said that another 11 men were killed and set on fire in a separate village on 28 July. This, he claimed, included a 14-year-old boy.

The envoy urged humanitarian intervention from the international community and called for a global arms embargo on the ruling junta in Myanmar.

The United Nations  in spite of the military juntas claims that Mr Moe Tun no longer represents the country  still considers him the rightful envoy.

Mr Moe Tun added: We cannot let the military keep on doing this kind of atrocity in Myanmar. It is time for the UN, especially the UN Security Council, to take action.

This comes after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Wednesday appointed a new special envoy to Myanmar to help mediate a resolution to the current crisis. ASEANs foreign ministers announced the appointment of Bruneis second foreign minister, Erywan Yusof..

Myanmar has been in political turmoil since 1 February when the junta ousted the democratically elected government in Myanmar. More than 900 people have been killed since and thousands displaced, as per a local monitoring group.

Meanwhile, the military junta chief said on Sunday that elections would be held and a state of emergency lifted by August 2023.
A recent study has revealed that flooding is a threat to tens of millions more people than previously believed.

The journal Nature published the findings, revealing that up to 86 million more people are living in areas at danger of flooding around the world in 2015 than in 2020.

Researchers compiled what they call the most comprehensive data of observed floods ever developed, showing that more people have moved into areas where flooding is a major risk.

Because city planners and insurance companies have been using old datasets while developing policies, the risk of floods to people around the world may be significantly underestimated.

The study comes in the wake of severe floods in locations around the world. People in Germany, Belgium and China were killed when massive floods washed through towns, destroying homes and leaving motorists stranded in their cars.

Most of the flooding is a result of record-breaking rainfall, caused at least in part by climate change resulting in warmer air. Warm air holds more moisture, which results in heavier rainfall.

It just really hits home, the urgency of the issue, Colin Doyle, one of the authors of the new study told The Verge. Its urgent now that we deal with the resilience issue  both adapting to the events and also creating infrastructure as a safety net.

The new research suggests that previous estimates detailing people who live in flood prone areas may be underestimating those numbers by 10 times the actual amount.

According to the study, people living in at-risk areas increased by 20 to 24 per cent since 2000.

Using satellite data allowed the researchers to include more types of floods than commonly used flood maps. Floods from snow melts, surface water floods, and dam failures were included in the group's study.

The research has found that the changes are not just indicative of better monitoring technology; it also reveals that human development is concentrating in areas that are at-risk of significant floods. Part of that worldwide trend is caused by poverty and a lack of access to less risky areas.

Brendan Jongman, a senior disaster risk management specialist with The World Bank who reviewed and wrote an accompanying piece to the study in Nature, told The Verge that for some communities the only solution to avoiding flood risks is to leave.

The only option for some communities will be to manage their retreat out of flood-prone areas, he said.
The environmental impact of drinking bottled water is 3,500 times higher than drinking tap water, a new study has found.

Consumers have long been warned about the ecological toll of bottled water, from plastic production and transportation costs to the billions of discarded bottles that wind up in the ocean each year.

This newly released study is thought to be the first research project that investigates the environmental damage caused by our obsession with bottled water compared to tap water.

A team of scientists from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) examined the impact of bottled water in the Spanish city.

It found that if the citys 1.6 million population were to switch to bottled water, the cost of extracting the water at source was $83.9 million, 3500 times higher than tap water costs.

Scientists also discovered the impact on natural ecosystems of the city population drinking bottled water was 1400 times higher than if they were to drink tap water.

While there is a small risk of developing bladder cancer from tap water due to trihalomethanes (THM) in the treatment process, this was more than offset by the lesser environmental impact.

Lead researcher Cristina Villanueva said: While it is true that tap water may contain trihalomethanes (THM) derived from the disinfection process and that THMs are associated with bladder cancer, our study shows that due to the high quality of the tap water in Barcelona, the risk for health is small, especially when we take into account the overall impacts of bottled water.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US has one of the safest water supplies in the world.

Standards vary from state to state, depending on source and treatment methods, but all water must meet the Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Adding a home filtration system would help to rid tap water of any toxins, the researchers concluded.

Globally, water consumption increased from 212 billion litres in 2007 to 391 billion litres in 2017.

In the United States, per capita consumption of bottled water reached 171 litres (45.2 gallons) in 2020, which equates to an estimated 50 billion bottles every year.
Forests purchased by major corporations in an effort to offset their carbon emissions are burning as the United States experiences a record wildfire year  and its a major problem that needs reassessing, experts say.

Microsoft and oil giant BP are among the international powerhouses with carbon offset programs impacted by the fires in California, Oregon and Washington. The Bootleg Fire in Oregon and the Colville Indian Reservation blaze in Washington have been particularly damaging.

Weve bought forest offsets that are now burning, Elizabeth Willmott, Microsofts carbon program manager, said at an event hosted by Carbon180, a non-profit focused on carbon removal.

Carbon offsetting is the idea is that you pay somebody else to cut their emissions or directly remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and that will make up for the fact that you are still emitting, Danny Cullenward, policy director at non-profit CarbonPlan, told The Independent.

Its really complicated to do but thats the basic idea. A lot of people are doing this more and more... many countries and governments have relied on carbon offsets in their climate policies. Many large companies  and it ranges the gamut from the big energy companies, utilities, oil and gas majors to companies and others that dont directly have a major energy emissions footprint but also want to do their part.

It is a very dominant way of thinking right now, so its very popular.

His organization has been attempting to map offset projects and federal fire information to see the extent of the damage. Its not the first year this has been a problem.

This season, like last fire season, was a really bad year, Mr Cullenward said. So what were seeing is already, some of the projects are being affected by fire.

Thats bad, because when the carbon the trees store burns up, it goes up in the atmosphere, which is the opposite of what youre looking for.

Protocols associated with these programs are supposed to be designed to anticipate these kinds of risks, and what were seeing, basically, is that the life on the ground is looking a lot worse than [what] the protocol standards for generating these credits anticipated, he added.

Microsofts carbon manager addressed the same issue. We dont want this to force us to pull out of investing in nature-based solutions, she said, adding that buyers should get really smart about what the risks are.

Currently theres a built-in cushion for companies that seek credits from buying forest, but the reality of more frequent and intense wildfires mean it will need to be possibly overhauled, Mr Cullenward said.

They have whats called a buffer pool, he said. You can think of it like an insurance program  so when an offset project says, Im going to save 100 tons of carbon. Please give me 100 credits, a certain share of those credits are not given to the project but are instead set aside in the buffer pool, like you set aside money in an insurance fund to cover fire or drought or disaster in a traditional insurance program.

What we are learning is that the buffer pools are not set up in a way that anticipates the real climate risk to forest space, he added. Its just early August. Its a long road between here and the rains ... weve got to take these risks seriously.

He used the example of the Colville fire; despite the carbon offset forest being located in a vey fire-prone, eastern area of Washington, participants only had to contribute 2 per cent to the buffer pool.

2 per cent is just not the right number, he told The Independent. We need to really seriously [assess] what those risk numbers need to be if were going to set up a program that effectively addresses the risks.

The 2021 fire season is notably worst than even last years historic blazes, with more than 1million acres already burned, according to the National Interactive Fire Agency.
President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order aiming for 50 per cent of vehicles sold by 2030 to be electric and zero-emissions, and propose new rules to cut tailpipe pollution in the next five years.

While the proposal is a major leap forward after the rollback of vehicle emissions standards under the Trump administration, the plan has been met with scepticism from climate scientists and environmental groups who say the rules are unenforceable and too weak amid an ever-worsening climate crisis.

While the topline numbers of the proposals look strong on paper, we understand that the standards are undercut by unnecessary giveaways to automakers that reduce their real-world benefits and delay progress toward better technologies, said Johanna Chao Kreilick, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

We know automakers can meet a higher standard, and we also know we cant rely on them to meet purely voluntary commitments.

Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The New York Times: Voluntary pledges by auto companies make a New Years weight-loss resolution look like a legally binding contract.

Global warming is burning forests, roasting the West and worsening storms. Now is not the time to propose weak standards and promise strong ones later.

While President Bidens plan is not legally binding, a number of major US auto manufacturers and the United Auto Workers labour union came out in support of it.

In a joint statement, Ford, GM, and Stellantis said they had a shared aspiration in achieving 40-50 per cent of annual US sales of electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030, to help the country keep its emissions-reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement.

However the car industry has underlined that billions of dollars in EV investments, part of the legislation currently inching its way through Congress, is crucial to hitting targets.

The nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package includes a number of provisions to tackle carbon emissions including $7.5bn for EV charging stations.

The rapid transition to EVs will also require a monumental shift in the psyche of US drivers. Americans are currently buying record numbers of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. In April, the Department of Labor reported that dealerships sold around 17,000 more pickups than cars.

However, while fully electric vehicles only account for about 2 per cent of the US auto market, sales are growing faster this year than for traditional cars.

Leading figures in the auto industry will join President Biden on Thursday afternoon at an event as he signs the executive order.

Notably Tesla, currently the leading EV brand, has been excluded from the event, something which billionaire founder Elon Musk noted on Twitter.

In response to an article headlined, Will The White House Exclude Tesla, The Most American Made EV, From Its EV Event?, he wrote: Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasnt invited.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNBC that he was not sure why Tesla had not been asked during an appearance on Thursday morning, then pivoted to speaking about the momentum behind EVs more broadly.

The fuel economy standards, which will go through the regulatory process including public comments, would be a U-turn on steps taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former President Trump. At that time, the increases were reduced to 1.5 per cent annually through model year 2026.

The White House has not yet released information on the proposed annual mileage increases. However Mr Becker told the AP that an EPA official gave the numbers during a presentation on the plan.

The official said the standards would be 10 per cent more stringent than the Trump rules for model year 2023, followed by 5 per cent increases in each model year through 2026, according to Mr Becker. Thats about a 25 per cent increase over the four years.

The standards build on the momentum from California Framework Agreement, an agreement between California and five automakers, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen Group, BMW, and Volvo.

The White House underlined the importance of shifting to EVs as not only imperative to cutting emissions but also to compete with China and other nations who are sprinting to lead in the sector.

China is increasingly cornering the global supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries with its fast-growing electric vehicle market. By setting clear targets for electric vehicle sale trajectories, these countries are becoming magnets for private investment into their manufacturing sectors  from parts and materials to final assembly, a statement read.

President Biden is committed to changing that and delivering for the American people.
 Close Hundreds rescued by boat from Greek island as flames reach shore

Two people have died in Greece and eight killed in Turkey amid extreme wildfires, fanned by unpredictable winds and soaring temperatures  described as the worst in southern Europe in decades.

A volunteer firefighter has died after being struck by a falling electricity pole in an area north of Athens affected by the fire, officials said on Friday.

Flames swept through a residential town outside the Greek capital overnight as wildfires burned across the country for a fifth day, while hundreds of people were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia.

More than 700 firefighters, including reinforcements from Cyprus, France and Israel, have been deployed to fight the blaze north of Athens, assisted by the army and water-bombing aircraft.

In neighbouring Turkey, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated after flames swept through the countrys southwestern coastal regions.
It was the exact sort of situation where a social media app could come in handy for an activist.

In late July, a TikTok user and Indigenous educator who goes by the handle @quiiroi was in far northern Minnesota, protesting the Line 3 oil pipeline, a massive project to replace an ageing pipeline in the region with a new one that runs near or through multiple native nations and pristine wilderness, as well as crossing the Mississippi River.

In the middle of a combined prayer ceremony and protest, a group of riot police crashed the demonstration, roughing up protesters and sending more than 20 people to jail.

About halfway during the ceremony, I went to sit down and take a break, I hear screams [and] I come rushing with my camera, I immediately [turned] my live stream on. Police were there holding a line, they told the Daily Dot . They showed up with tear gas and rubber bullets and guns. Were in camping gear. I was wearing this camisole and flip flops. And a bandana to keep the sun off the top of my head. Why are [the police] in riot gear?

Soon after posting a stream of the encounter, their account was banned for more than a week without explanation, the latest in a string of allegations from marginalised communities that the wildly popular, Chinese-owned social media apps is censoring certain kinds of perspectives.

This is a physical and spiritual battle, Quiiroi, whose non-political videos sometimes attract hundreds of thousands of views, added. We need help. Im blessed to have a platform. I was using it for good, and then TikTok took it away.

Were deeply committed to fostering an inclusive environment and celebrating the rich and vibrant Native American and Indigenous communities that inspire and connect with millions of people on TikTok, a TikTok spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. The company declined to comment on the record about the specific circumstances of Quiirois ban or TikToks general moderation policies.

Native activists challenging the new pipeline project, which critics say will exacerbate societal reliance on climate-damaging fossil fuels, arent the only ones who say theyve been unfairly sidelined.

TikTok users making posts about how to spot and stop Nazi and alt-right imagery have reported that trolls were able to get their videos taken down, and Black TikTokers have said theyve experienced bans or precipitous losses in views when posting about Black Lives Matter .

Reporting from outlets like The Guardian have revealed leaked moderation guidelines from the app, barring videos about controversial topics in China like Tiananmen Square and Tibetan independence , and Uighurs have reportedly had their content removed after posting about Chinas systematic discrimination and imprisonment of the minority group. (TikTok has said its Chinese censorship rules dont apply to international versions of the app, and has previously said it unequivocally does not shadow ban or otherwise single out certain groups.)

Last spring, The Intercept reported on moderation guidelines that went as far as suppressing posts by people deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled to merit high visibility on the app. (The company said the guidelines were either outdated or never put into practice by the time of the reporting.)
Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have reconstructed the limbs of a bearded vulture that had to be amputated after it injured its foot, helping the worlds first bionic bird land and walk again with two feet.

The team used a novel technique called osseointegration in which external prosthetic parts are connected directly to a bone anchor to provide a solid skeletal-attachment, their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, noted.

This concept offers a high degree of embodiment, since osseoperception provides direct intuitive feedback, thereby allowing natural use of the extremity for walking and feeding. For the first time we have now successfully bionically reconstructed the limb of a vulture, explained Oskar Aszmann from the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, MedUni Vienna.

With a wingspan of up to 2.6 m, bearded vultures are the largest flying birds in Europe, and the particular bird, Mia, had injured its foot, which had to be amputated.

Feet are vital for a vulture not only for landing and walking, but also for holding onto their prey, and they need their legs to withstand various loads.

Following a clinical visit to Haringsee, it was clear that the rare bird could not survive long in its current condition. We designed and fabricated a special bone implant that could be surgically attached to the stump. Aszmann said in a statement.

To conduct the surgery, the surgeons and researchers first analysed the remaining length of bone and geometry of the inner sections of the birds stump.

Then they made sure that a titanium implant of sufficient length and diameter could be designed so that the external prosthesis would be adequately stable.

The researchers then ensured that the bone physiology and skin surrounding the region is flexible with sufficient blood vessels, so that it could be surgically manipulated to integrate with the titanium prosthesis, and also allow subsequent healing.

After inducing general anaesthesia, the surgeons carefully made a cut 2.8 mm proximal to the distal end of the bone, using a specifically designed instrument.

They then longitudinally inserted the titatnium fixture into the area inside the bone which contains the bone marrow called the medullary canal.

After checking for the successful integration of the prosthetic limb with the bones, the surgeons closed the stump by suturing skin graft onto it, and wrapping sterile gauze around the abutment screw with additional bandage.

The bird was put on antibiotics, pain killers, and anti-inflammatory drugs for the following few days, they said.

According to the researchers, the bird made the first attempts to walk just three weeks post-surgery, and the prosthesis was under full load after six weeks.

Now Mia can once again land and walk using both feet, making it the first bionic bird, Aszmann said.
The divorce of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates has been finalized.

The Microsoft co-founder and his wife announced in May they were ending their 27-year marriage and on Monday a King County Superior Court judge signed the dissolution decree. The New York Times reports the court documents didnt detail how they would divide their assets.

Bill Gates was formerly the worlds richest person and his fortune is estimated at about $150 billion.

They met after she began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987. The two were married in 1994 in Hawaii.

The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the most influential private foundation in the world, with an endowment worth about $50 billion. It has focused on global health and development and U.S. education issues since incorporating in 2000.

The two have said they will continue to work together as co-chairs of their foundation. However, if after two years Gates and French Gates decide they cannot continue in their roles, French Gates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced earlier this month.

If French Gates resigns, Gates would essentially buy her out of the foundation, one of the worlds largest private charitable organizations, and she would receive resources from him to do her own philanthropic work. The resources received would be separate from the foundations endowment, according to foundation.
An initiative from philanthropists Melinda French Gates, MacKenzie Scott and the family foundation of billionaire Lynn Schusterman awarded $40 million Thursday to four promoting gender equality projects in tech, higher education, caregiving and minority communities.

The projects are the winners of The Equality Cant Wait Challenge, a funding competition launched in June 2020 with the goal of expanding womens power and influence in the United States According to an announcement released Thursday by Lever for Change, an affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation that managed the challenge, the awardees, selected from a pool of more than 500 proposals submitted from across the country, will receive $10 million each.

Equality Can't Wait will fund: Building Womens Equality through Strengthening the Care Infrastructure, a project by a coalition of organizations working on the societal perceptions of caregiving; Changing the Face of Tech, an initiative to offer women more opportunities in the tech sector; Girls Inc.s Project Accelerate, which aims to help young women through college and career entry; and The Future is Indigenous Womxn, an initiative to support businesses owned by Native American women.

The three funders have all given contributions to gender equality initiatives in the past. And French Gates, whose investment and incubation company Pivotal Ventures hosted the competition, has pledged to spend $1 billion toward such projects in the U.S., citing low rates of women in leadership positions. That money is slated to be spent through Pivotal, which unlike a traditional charity, is able to invest in high-risk, for-profit entities and become more politically involved. It also doesn't have to disclose information on all the groups it funds.

French Gates said in a statement Thursday that we can break the patterns of history" and advance gender equality if there's a commitment to support organizations, like the awardees, "that are ready to lift up women and girls. While Scott, who's given more than $8 billion in three rounds of funding since last year, praised the awardees for having strong teams working on the front lines and from within communities to help women build power in their lives and careers.

Separately, additional funding of $8 million will be split between two finalists: one project working to combat physical, sexual and other forms of violence inflicted by romantic partners and another aiming to help young women become more politically active.

Nicole Bates, Pivotal Ventures director of strategic partnerships and initiatives, declined to say how Scott and Scott's husband, Dan Jewett, became involved with the funding competition, but noted it was exciting to join forces and make a collective statement about the importance of gender equality.

Those of us who share values, particularly in gender, we see each other and we respect each others work, Bates said.

French Gates also serves as a co-chair and trustee at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable foundation in the world. The foundation said earlier this month that French Gates would continue in her role after her divorce from Bill Gates However, if after two years, the two decide they cannot continue in their roles, she will resign.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a way to help ensure that doses are available in countries where few people have received their first shots.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the appeal mostly to wealthier countries that have far outpaced the developing world in numbers of vaccinations.

WHO officials say the science is unproven about whether giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

The U.N. health agency has repeatedly called for rich countries to do more to help improve access to vaccines in the developing world.

Tedros pointed to a WHO target set earlier this year to ensure that 10% of the populations in countries receive vaccines against the coronavirus.

Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated, he said Wednesday.

To help take the heat out of the pandemic, WHO has been focusing on getting vaccines to older adults, health care workers and other target populations in many countries before booster shot campaigns are carried out.

Israel, France Germany and many Middle Eastern countries have already started administering booster shots, and other nations, including the United States and Britain are considering plans to do so in the wake of the emergence of the highly transmissible delta variant.

Dr. Katherine OBrien, WHOs director for immunization, vaccines and biologicals, noted that a very limited number of countries were giving booster doses though a larger number were contemplating it.

The evidence is evolving. Its moving. We dont have a full set of evidence around whether this is needed or not, O'Brien said, adding that the main message was that we need instead to focus on those people who are most vulnerable.

WHO officials reiterated their call for global solidarity to help battle the coronavirus pandemic and appealed to wealthy countries and corporations to help.

We need everyones cooperation, especially the handful of countries and companies that control the global supply of vaccines, Tedros said, appealing in particularl to the influential Group of 20 large economies. The G-20 has a vital leadership role to play as the countries that are the biggest producers, the biggest consumers and the biggest donors of COVID-19 vaccines.

He urged the G-20, which currently is chaired by Italy, to make concrete commitments to support global vaccination targets.

We call on everyone with influence -- Olympic athletes, investors, business leaders, faith leaders and every individual in their own family and community -- to support our call for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of September, Tedros said.
Paleontologists have unearthed the fossil remains of a crocodile species that roamed the Earth about 148 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch, an advance which sheds light on the evolution of modern-day crocs.

According to the researchers, the newly discovered species, Burkesuchus mallingrandensis, was a relatively small animal  roughly 70 cm long  and belonged to the group Mesoeucrocodylia, which includes all living crocodiles and their fossil relatives.

In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the scientists analysed fossilised remains of the skull, vertebral column and the lower extremities of the animal collected from beds in the Toqui Formation, which crops out of the mountains flanked by the Maitenes and Horquetas rivers in southern Chile.

They said the crocodile ancestor lived alongside giant dinosaurs, at a time when enormous sauropods as well as smaller herbivorous species like Chilesaurus diegosuarezi roamed what is now South America.

Nevertheless, its body size falls within the size range  less than 1m in whole length  that was usual for most Triassic and Jurassic terrestrial crocodyliforms, the scientists noted in the study.

The fossil thigh bone of the crocodile ancestor indicates it had a sprawling stance and gait and tail-based locomotion similar to that of modern crocodiles when swimming and upon entering the water.

Based on an analysis of the forelimb, the researchers said the crocodile ancestor may have had a more upright posture than seen in modern-day crocodiles.

But they added that the acquisition of the sprawling posture seen in our extant crocodilians may not have evolved simultaneously in both fore- and hind limbs, but via separate processes and under different conditions.

Although speculative, it is possible that the hind limbs, which tend to be more important for locomotion in living crocodiles, changed their shape before the forelimbs. It is possible that Burkesuchus illustrates this intermediate condition with somewhat upright forelimbs and sprawling hind limbs, the researchers noted in the study.

While the biological reasons behind the retention of small sizes among these crocodile ancestors is currently unknown, the researchers speculate that competition with ecologically dominant large terrestrial dinosaurs could be a reason.

However, they say this constraint on body size was released in marine forms of crocodile ancestors during the Jurassic age, as well as in different clades during the later Cretaceous era.

Burkesuchus mallingrandensis, the palaeontologists say, expands our understanding of the diversity of Jurassic period crocodile ancestors and sheds more light on the evolution of different lineages of crocs.

This new discovery expands the meagre record of non-pelagic representatives of this clade for the Jurassic Period, and together with Batrachomimus, from Upper Jurassic beds of Brazil, supports the idea that South America represented a cradle for the evolution of derived crocodyliforms during the Late Jurassic, the scientists noted in the study.
Prosecutors are reviewing numerous Extinction Rebellion cases after a third protester in as many days had their conviction quashed.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped its opposition to the activists appeals against their convictions for obstructing roads in different demonstrations.

At least four more appeals are due to be heard over the coming days at Londons Old Bailey, while similar cases are ongoing at other courts.

The latest demonstrator to have her conviction quashed was 23-year-old Amelia Halls, from Stamford in Lincolnshire.

She was originally convicted of highway obstruction over a protest at City of London Airport in October 2019 and given a conditional discharge with 400 costs.

Alex Slater, for the CPS, said it would no longer be resisting her appeal against conviction and sentence.

He told the Old Bailey the decision was sparked by a Supreme Court ruling that demonstrators can have a reasonable excuse for blocking roads under human rights laws.

There is a case-by-case review of appeals listed over the coming weeks, he added.

Judge Mark Dennis QC, sitting with two magistrates, formally quashed Ms Slaters conviction and said any money paid would be returned.

He told the court he expected the same issue to rise in upcoming appeals and asked the CPS to make a decision on whether it would continue to oppose them by next Wednesday.

Judge Dennis previously warned of a fundamental problem in Extinction Rebellion appeals and urged the CPS to review all the remaining cases where the main issue was lawful excuse.

He said prosecutors had not grasped the effect of a Supreme Court ruling or the basic human rights point that has been there for a very long time.

Ms Halls said the finding was a huge relief, adding: Its showing that what we are doing [with Extinction Rebellion protests] is beginning to be seen as proportionate.

 Extinction Rebellion protesters block roads across UK

She said it was frustrating that protesters were having to go through a drawn-out appeals process to have their convictions overturned.

In the magistrates courts there seems to be this desire to convict without fully engaging with whats going on, but in the appeals they are looking in more detail, she added.

Its really showing that our right to protest is being honoured with these obstruction cases.

On Wednesday, the CPS presented no evidence against 65-year-old Robert MacQueen, who was appealing against a highway obstruction conviction for an October 2019 protest in London.

On Tuesday, Judge Dennis also quashed the conviction of Emma-Rose Goodwin, 47, from Exeter, when the CPS again offered no evidence.

The Supreme Court ruled that protests can be a lawful excuse to block roads in June, following the acquittal of protesters who blockaded a London arms fair in 2017.

Its ruling said that protesters can have a lawful excuse defence against the offence of obstructing a highway, even where they have used deliberately physically obstructive conduct.

Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Show all 25 1 /25 Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators block Westminster Bridge in central London to show anger at government inaction on climate and ecological issues AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A pro environment protester is arrested by police on Lambeth bridge in London EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Police with demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A demonstrator is led away by police on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters

There must be an assessment of the facts in each individual case to determine whether the interference with article 10 or article 11 [of the European Convention on Human Rights] was necessary in a democratic society, he added.

The ruling, which is binding on all courts, means that protesters cannot be convicted of blocking roads if their rights to protest outweigh any disruption or interference with the rights of others.

It caused the trial of Extinction Rebellion activists who blockaded a Rupert Murdoch-owned printworks to be paused, but a judge convicted them last month after finding there was not a fair balance between the rights of the defendants to protest and and the rights of the business to operate.

A CPS spokesperson said: We have a duty of continuous review of our cases which includes cases which have already been charged or are at the appeal stage. This enables us to take account of any change in circumstances or legal rulings.
Police have released an e-fit image of a teenager suspected of raping a 15-year-old girl near Bournemouth beach in July.

The victim was playing ball with her friends in the sea off Bournemouth beach at around 3.30pm on Sunday 18 July, when the ball landed in front of a teenage boy in the water, Dorset Police said.

The boy began talking with the girl, and eventually threw the ball back to her friends, before pulling her deeper out to sea and raping her.

Detectives are renewing their appeal for information about the attack and have shared a computer-generated image of what they believe the rapist to look like.

The boy is described as having tanned skin and a thin, muscular build, and possibly being of Pakistani descent. He is believed to be between 5ft5 and 5ft7 and has short dark hair that was pushed back and appeared to be freshly trimmed. The e-fit image shows a slash cut through left his eyebrow.

The suspect told the victim that he was 17 years old and travelling to Birmingham, where police believe he lives.

He was described as wearing black or grey swimming shorts.

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour of the Major Crime Investigation Team said: The victim is continuing to be supported by officers and we have been carrying out a large number of enquiries into this incident.

As part of our investigation we have obtained forensic evidence that means we will be able to eliminate anyone who was not involved from our enquiries.

We have now obtained an e-fit image of the suspect and I would urge anyone who recognises him to please get in touch.

We have also received a number of reports of young Asian men approaching female beachgoers on the date of the incident, some of whom may have exchanged messages on Snapchat. I would encourage anyone who exchanged Snapchat messages with someone who approached them on the beach that day to please make contact with us as it may assist our investigation.

He also encouraged anyone who was on Bournemouth beach on 18 July to check any photographs or video footage taken in order to see if they may have captured anything relevant to the investigation.

Neighbourhood Inspector Darren Harris said: I understand this incident will have caused concern for the wider community.

He said that Bournemouth Police were working collaboratively with the local council and partner agencies to set up patrols along the seafront which would continue throughout the summer.

Police officers, police community support officers, Community Safety Accreditation Scheme officers, council staff and the RNLI will have a visible presence on the seafront and can be approached by members of the public with any concerns, Mr Harris said.

Anyone with information about the incident  including images or video footage  is encouraged to submit it to the UK Police Major Incident Public Portal at https://mipp.police.uk/operation/55HQ21M71-PO1 .

Information can also be shared with the Dorset police via their website or by calling 101 and quoting reference number 55210115587.

Anyone wanting to report information anonymously can do so by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Simon Bowes-Lyon, a relative of the Queen jailed for sexual assault, has been released from prison after serving half of his sentence.

Bowes-Lyon, the 19th Earl of Strathmore and the son of a cousin of Her Majesty, was in February jailed for 10 months.

He pleaded guilty to a late-night sex attack on a guest staying at his ancestral home, Glamis Castle in Angus, about 13 miles north of Dundee.

The assault took place in a bedroom at the 14th-century chateau-style castle in February 2020.

Mr Bowes-Lyon, 35, was released from HMP Perth last week after serving half of his term in jail, it is understood. He was sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court.

The court heard how the victim was attending a three-day public relations event at the 16,500-acre estate and had gone to bed when a "drunk" Bowes-Lyon went to her room at around 1.20am.

He persuaded her to open the door before pushing her on the bed and sexually assaulting her in a 20-minute ordeal.

His victim locked the bedroom door and wedged a chair under the handle to prevent him from getting back in and was "upset and afraid" and "left shaking", the court heard.

In a statement outside court, Bowes-Lyon apologised and said he is "greatly ashamed of my actions which have caused such distress to a guest in my home".

He said he had "drunk to excess" on the night of the attack but acknowledged it was "no excuse" for his actions.

He added: "I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility.

"This has involved seeking and receiving professional help as well as agreeing to plead guilty as quickly as possible."

Glamis Castle is the seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, part of the late Queen Mother's family.

A spokesperson for Strathmore Estates declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Prison Service said it did not comment on individual cases.

Glamis Castle has been the seat of the Bowes-Lyon family since 1372.

It was the Queen Mother's childhood home and Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, was born in the castle.

Bowes-Lyon was a great-great nephew of the Queen Mother.

Additional reporting by Press Association
More than 10,000 people have now made the life-threatening journey across the English Channel in small boats this year after a new daily record for crossings was set.

At least 482 people succeeded in crossing the Dover Strait on Wednesday on board 21 boats  the highest number yet on a single day.

Campaigners accused ministers of failing to tackle the root causes of the rise in crossings, which have resumed in recent days following a period of bad weather, and have this year already eclipsed the total from 2020.

Data compiled by PA news agency shows the tally for this year now stands at more than 10,200 people, despite the dangers involved in the journey.

Wednesdays numbers  confirmed by the Home Office on Thursday morning  surpass the previous daily high of 430 set on 19 July 2021.

Despite this, the UK continues to see far fewer boat arrivals and asylum claims than many of its European counterparts.

At least 50,989 people have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea so far this year, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

More than 1,000 people are estimated to be dead or missing, according to the same data.

It comes as home secretary Priti Patel plans to reduce small boat arrivals by criminalising asylum seekers who reach Britain via unauthorised routes  which accounts for around 60 per cent of those seeking sanctuary in the UK.

As part of her new immigration overhaul, Ms Patel will also seek to deny permanent protection to these individuals and instead routinely assess them for removal.

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: Its shameful that 10,000 people have had to risk their lives to reach sanctuary here because the government refuses to open up more routes to safety.

Ministers must stop wasting time and taxpayers money on ridiculous schemes such as fake websites and Facebook pages and address the root cause of Channel crossings.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, refugee and migrant rights director at Amnesty International UK, accused UK ministers of stoking hostility towards vulnerable people, adding that many make the dangerous crossings because there are simply no safe alternatives open to them.

Instead of more fences, more border policing and more deterrence measures, the government should be providing safe routes and procedures for people to reach the UK and exercise their right to seek asylum, he said.

Ministers often condemn people smugglers, but they themselves are driving people into the hands of smugglers by making it virtually impossible for people seeking asylum to get here by any other means.

Ms Patel and her department have repeatedly vowed to make the Channel route unviable, but crossings have continued to rise.

Dan OMahoney, clandestine Channel threat commander for the Home Office, said: These dangerous small boat crossings, facilitated by criminal gangs, are putting lives at risk.

He said the numbers were unacceptable and claimed the governments controversial new plan for immigration was the only credible long term plan to fix the broken asylum system.

Last month, Ms Patel announced an agreement to more than double the number of police patrolling French beaches, with the government to give France 54m to facilitate the plans.

This week, she met members of the Greek government and visited a controversial new closed asylum centre on Samos Island, prompting concern that she plans to implement similar structures in the UK.

The two-day official visit saw the home secretary meet ministers in Athens before going out on patrol with the Hellenic coastguard off the island of Samos to learn more about the methods used to prevent small boat crossings.

Additional reporting by Press Association
More than 90,000 workers left the UKs hospitality sector over the past year, a new report has revealed.

Due to Brexit and the pandemic, many EU hospitality workers have either chosen to leave the country or been forced to due to new visa income requirements. Others have simply left the field to find employment elsewhere, as restaurants, bars and other hospitality venues were closed during coronavirus lockdowns.

Now, more Britons are entering the hospitality field with as many as three out of five employers in the sector receiving more applications from UK workers than ever before, a report from Caterer.com has found.

The jobs site discovered that vacancies had grown by 342 per cent since hospitality venues were allowed to reopen as Covid restrictions were lifted. It also revealed that there are currently more than 28,000 vacancies advertised on the site.

The report also suggested that some areas would be particularly hard hit by the loss of EU workers  prior to the pandemic, it estimates that up to 75 per cent of Londons hospitality workers were from the EU.

Kathy Dyball, marketing manager at Caterer.com said that while it was encouraging that more UK workers were entering the field, EU workers are critical to the hospitality sectors success.

Its encouraging to see more UK workers entering the industry as people see the valuable, long-term employment opportunities hospitality can offer, she said.

However, talented EU workers remain an essential part of the sectors success and we join the industry in calling for the Government to urgently make it easier for hospitality talent to return to the UK.

She added that staff shortages in the industry had been exacerbated by the pingdemic with staff being told to self-isolate with no notice.

Yet again this is a case of the sector needing more attention from the government to be able to trade properly, she said.

In the longer term, there is work to be done to change perceptions of the industry. Its reputation has suffered due to lockdowns, with job uncertainty added to the list of misconceptions such as low pay and lack of flexibility.

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchesters night time economy adviser said that the vacancies in the hospitality industry were on a scale that is difficult to comprehend.

There are over 2,500 hospitality vacancies right now across Greater Manchester, he said, adding that many venues were closing midweek as they have been unable to open full-time due to staffing shortages.

Not only has the workforce been decimated by Brexit and the introduction of salary-threshold visas, but the enforced closures during Covid lockdowns have forced staff the industry and retrain, or seek higher wages elsewhere.

He added: As we rebuild, we cant now expect the youngest and hardest hit by the pandemic to be satisfied with minimum wage roles, when they can earn higher salaries elsewhere in office or retail.

While the field of hospitality is varied and includes everything from restaurants and bars to lodging, event planning and tourism, career website Totaljobs found that the average salary for bar staff is around 19,000 per year.

Under the new skilled worker visa scheme, applicants from EU and non-EU countries must be paid a salary of 25,600 or higher, which is likely out of range for many who work in the hospitality sector.

The new guidance states: There is no general route for employers to recruit at or near the minimum wage.

The caterer.com report comes after data released last month found that the proportion of British workers in the hospitality sector rose to 51 per cent, up from 46 per cent two years ago, and 67 per cent of all new starters in the sector in June were British. EU citizens made up only 28 per cent of new starters, compared with 50 per cent in January 2019.
The Marble Arch Mound, branded Londons worst tourist attraction, will welcome the public for free from Monday.

The 2m man-made hill opened last week only welcoming those who had purchased online tickets in advance, before closing for two days later.

However, following its underwhelming launch, Westminster Council has decided to scrap the ticket price, which was between 4.50 and 8, and reopen it as a free experience.

Marble Arch Mound was commissioned by the local authority in the hope the installation would draw people back into the West End after the Covid pandemic.

But was met with derision after visitors complained they were not able to see the promised 360 degree view down Oxford Street and Hyde Park from the 25-metre viewing platform.

The town hall issued refunds for those who had already purchased tickets for the experience, and had made it free for the month of August.

Chief Executive of Westminster Council, Stuart Love, said: Were very sorry that the Marble Arch Mound wasnt ready for visitors when it opened. We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasnt had a great experience on their visit.

We wanted to open the mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets.

Labour councillors have called for an inquiry into how the project so spectacularly flopped to ensure the fiasco is not repeated.

The partys Westminster leader Adam Hug said: There are some basic questions that the council needs to answer about what went wrong with its decision making and project management.

"These are questions must be answered now but Labour believes there needs to be an independent investigation of what happened to ensure this fiasco isnt repeated."
Conservatives MPs have urged Boris Johnsons government to ditch advice recommending British travellers take the most expensive type of Covid tests, claiming passengers are being ripped off.

Airline bosses have also lamented the decision not to ease requirements for PCR tests  which have been condemned as a 100-a-head tax on flights by the industry.

Despite relief at the governments decision to keep Spain on the amber list, there was anger over new advice urging holidaymakers to take the costly PCR tests before coming home from Spain  though it will not be a legal requirement.

Henry Smith, the Tory chair of the Future of Aviation all-party parliamentary group, urged the government to drop its insistence on PCR tests and encourage use of the cheaper lateral flow tests instead.

Fellow Tory MP Huw Merriman, chairman of the transport select committee, tweeted: Passengers are being ripped off with expensive PCR tests  This barrier to affordable travel needs to stop now.

The government has urged travellers arriving in the UK from Spain to take a PCR test for the mandatory pre-departure test as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps defended the move on Thursday morning  arguing that the PCR tests were particularly useful when youre trying to track the variant.

He told Sky News: PCR tests are helpful because they will help out clinicians and scientists work together to keep a very close eye on variants  Were just reminding people that it helps our scientists sequence the [Covid-19] genome.

Tourism chiefs are disappointed that travellers coming to the UK are still required to take PCR tests when in the UK. Those coming from an amber list country who are not fully vaccinated must self-isolate for 10 days and take a PCR test on day two and day eight.

Aviation bosses condemned the sky-high cost of the PCR tests  which can typically cost anywhere from 60 to 150  claiming that they were dampening bookings. Lateral flow tests can cost between 5 and 30.

Meanwhile, quarantine hotel costs are rising to better reflect the increased costs involved, according to the government. The rate for solo travellers will rise from 1,750 to 2,285 from next week.

Mr Shapps defended the decision to raise the price of using a quarantine hotel, claiming that it was time for travellers to cover the cost.

The transport secretary said: It is necessary to cover the costs of the quarantine hotels and at the moment the system hasnt been doing that and it has cost about 75m, so we are keen to ensure people using them are covering the full cost of this service.

Mr Shapps also said recent reports of sexual harassment and rats in some quarantine hotels are certainly unacceptable.

He told Times Radio: In terms of the quality of accommodation, this is not government barracks, these are hotels ... any accusations of crimes need to go straight to the police, and I know that they will have done in those cases.

Four countries are being removed from Englands red list as part of the latest update to the international travel system, while seven more are being added to the green list.

It has also been confirmed that arrivals from France will no longer need to self-isolate  aligning the country with others on the amber list.
The governments amber list status governing travel restrictions to Britons favourite holiday destinations should be abolished, a leading business organisation has demanded.

The amber list - which covers Spain, Greece, Italy and the USA, to be joined on Sunday by France, the UAE and India - is creating confusion at a time when businesses need confidence and clarity in order to recover from the pandemic, said the British Chambers of Commerce.

The call came as Boris Johnson came under growing pressure for further simplification of the traffic light scheme, with calls from industry and Conservative MPs for cheaper testing requirements on travellers returning to the UK.

The CBI said that the addition of seven countries to the quarantine-free green list and the removal of Frances amber-plus status from 8 August offered some relief for hard-pressed travel companies.

But the organisations chief policy director Matthew Fell warned that the sector faces a long road to full recovery and called for an urgent move to a strategy which allows a more comprehensive resumption of travel in a way which is safe, simple and certain.

And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of creating a wall of chaos with its overly complicated system.

BCC director of policy James Martin said that changes to the traffic light system announced by transport secretary Grant Shapps late on Wednesday were welcome news for travel businesses.

But he said that it is time for the amber category to be ditched in favour of a simple red-or-green system under which UK nationals could clearly see the countries they can safely visit and those to which travel is not recommended.

Under current rules, travellers from green list countries - which include Iceland, Malta and Gibraltar, to be joined on Sunday by Germany and Norway - must take a lateral flow test before returning and a PCR test within two days of arrival, whether or not they have been vaccinated.

But requirements for amber countries are different depending on vaccine status. A fully inoculated individual who received their second jab at least 14 days before arrival can follow the same rules as those from the green list, but the unvaccinated have to self-isolate at home for 10 days and take a second PCR test after eight.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. 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local resident puts love hearts and slogans on the plastic that covers offensive graffiti on the vandalised mural of Manchester United striker and England player Marcus Rashford on the wall of a cafe on Copson Street, Withington in Manchester Getty Images UK news in pictures 11 July 2021 England's Bukayo Saka with manager Gareth Southgate after the match Pool via Reuters UK news in pictures 10 July 2021 Australias Ashleigh Barty holds the trophy after winning her final Wimbledon match against Czech Republics Karolina Pliskova Reuters UK news in pictures 9 July 2021 England 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst stands on top of a pod on the lastminute.com London Eye wearing a replica 1966 World Cup final kit and looking out towards Wembley Stadium in the north of the capital, where the England football team will play Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday PA UK news in pictures 8 July 2021 Karolina Pliskova celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka during the women's singles semifinals 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The rules for the red list, involving a mandatory 10-day quarantine in an airport hotel, are far more onerous, reflecting the higher level of concern linked to visits from countries where infections are rife and Covid-19 variants of concern widespread.

Mr Martin said: Now is the time for the government to fundamentally simplify the traffic light system for international travel.

Businesses need the confidence and clarity provided by a system which places countries in either green or red categories, removing the ambiguity of the amber designation, which now relies on very different rules for the vaccinated and non-vaccinated.

The government should also step-up efforts to drive down the cost of tests required by the system; limited progress has been made in this area so far and the cost remains a significant barrier to both business and leisure travellers.

Mr Fell said: Todays green list extension will offer some relief to the international travel sector, which has suffered more than most during the pandemic and still faces a long road to full recovery. Restoring freedom of travel to these countries will enable firms to salvage a limited summer season.

However, defining a strategy for a more comprehensive resumption of travel that is safe, simple and certain remains an urgent priority.

Vaccine rollout has created an opportunity for the UK to move beyond Covid travel restrictions to new travel norms which restore passenger confidence and protect jobs and skills. This will be vital to ensure the UKs travel industry remains robust to fulfil its unique role in the countrys economic recovery.

Speaking during a visit to Scotland, Starmer said: Anybody who has been trying to organise a holiday this summer has got their head in their hands because almost on a daily basis weve had a changing system, changing colours, U-turns left, right and centre.

Weve been saying since the beginning of the summer have a simplified system. We may be edging towards it and I feel very strongly for those families and I hope that that helps them going forward.

But the big question I have for the government is why on earth have we had to go through this chaos to get there?

And its not the first time. Last summer we had the chaos of the exams, at Christmas we had the chaos of the Christmas mixing and now weve had the summer of chaos about travel and holidays.

Every time theres a predicable problem the Government goes through a wall of chaos before it begins to sort it out.
A proposal to criminalise LGBT+ people in Ghana is a gross violation of human rights and could set back a decade of progress fighting HIV/AIDS in the West African nation, according to the United Nations.

The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, received a first reading in parliament on Monday. It will now be reviewed by a committee before going back to lawmakers for a second reading.

This proposed legislation is a gross violation of the human rights of Ghanas lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who already face high levels of violence, abuse, stigma and discrimination, said Patrick Brenny, who runs UNAIDS programmes across west and central Africa.

UNAIDS stands squarely on the side of human rights, expresses its solidarity with LGBT people in Ghana and urges lawmakers to reject this bill.

Gay sex is already punishable with up to three years in jail in Ghana.

The draft law goes further by imposing a maximum five-year term for anyone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, pansexual and non-binary - someone who does not identify as male or female.

It also makes advocating for LGBT+ rights, sympathising or offering help - financial or medical - to LGBT+ people or their organisations a crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

According to UNAIDS, about 470,000 Africans living with HIV die every year because they cannot or do not get tested and so miss out on treatment.

Vulnerable groups include men who have sex with men, along with transgender people and sex workers who encounter persecution, stifling their chances of getting help.

Some 60 per cent of the 350,000 Ghanaians living with HIV currently get anti-retroviral therapy. This drops to 3.7 per cent for the estimated 55,000 men who have sex with men who are living with HIV in Ghana, data shows.

Brenny said while AIDS-related deaths in Ghana have fallen by more than a third to 13,000 since 2010, and new infections are down about a fifth - the bill would create strong headwinds against forging future progress.

If passed, this legislation will have the certain effect of driving people further away from HIV prevention, care and treatment services and endanger the advances made, he said.

A 2019 study found thousands of gay men in Africa likely die from HIV-related illnesses every year due to homophobic laws.

Major foreign aid donors including the United States have also expressed concern over the proposed law and its fallout.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation it was concerned by the increasing anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric and actions and was watching closely.

The United States is Ghanas top foreign aid donor, giving a range of projects more than $210 million in 2018/19, data shows.

The European Union, Britain and the World Bank - which have provided a total of $265 million in 2018/19 - urged Ghana to uphold protections enshrined in the countrys constitution.

The EU actively condemns discriminatory laws, policies and practices, including the criminalisation of consenting same-sex relations between adults or transgender identities, said an EU spokesperson.

A World Bank spokesperson said that institutionalised discrimination had serious consequences in everyday life.

When laws are enacted that prevent people from fully participating in the workforce, economies suffer, he said, urging countries like Ghana to embrace equality of opportunity.

Thomson Reuters Foundation
A long-awaited report issued Tuesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo detailed several accounts from accusers who have gone public.

But the report also revealed previously unknown accusations, including one by a state trooper assigned to Cuomo's security detail.

Investigators hired specifically for this case said they corroborated the accounts of at least 11 women.

Cuomo denied many of the allegations, saying he never touched anyone inappropriately. Those he didnt deny  like kissing women on their cheeks and calling them names like sweetheart  were innocent or overblown, he said.

Here's a look at the women and their allegations, as described by the investigators, and Cuomo's responses:

___

TROOPER NO. 1

A state trooper whom Cuomo successfully sought to have assigned to his security detail said the governor kissed her cheek, touched her belly and back and made inappropriate, gender-based remarks to and about her, including asking her why she did not wear a dress. Several other troopers witnessed these acts and corroborated her allegations, according to the report. The trooper wasn't identified by name in the report and has not told her story publicly.

A 26-page statement issued by Cuomo's attorney, Rita Glavin, after the report's release does not mention the trooper, whose account was not public before Tuesday.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT NO. 1

A woman who worked in Cuomo's office became visibly emotional watching a press conference early this year in which Cuomo denied ever touching anyone inappropriately, investigators wrote. She told colleagues Cuomo had reached under her blouse and groped her breast in his office at the governor's mansion three months earlier. The governor's staff later reported the allegations to Albany police.

The woman also told investigators Cuomo had, on various occasions since 2019, grabbed her buttocks, kissed her on the lips, hugged her inappropriately and pried into her personal life.

Cuomo says he never groped her, pointing to text messages the executive assistant sent to other staff on the day in question, indicating nothing was amiss, as evidence it didn't happen. He told investigators she initiated their hugs, and that he was more in the reciprocal business. CHARLOTTE BENNETT

Bennett, a low-level aide to Cuomo, said the governor asked her about her love life, including whether she ever had sex with older men, whether she had been with older men and whether she was monogamous. He also told her that he was lonely and wanted to be touched, according to the report.

When Bennett complained to administration officials that she felt like the governor was hitting on her, she was transferred to another job. The administration did not formally investigate or report the allegations to the governor's Office of Employee Relations, the attorney general's investigators determined.

Cuomo apologized to Bennett in a recorded video released in response to the attorney general's report, saying that he had been trying to counsel her after she confided in him that she is a sexual assault survivor because someone in his family had suffered a similar experience.

STATE ENTITY EMPLOYEE NO. 1

A woman who worked for an entity affiliated with the state told investigators that Cuomo tapped and grabbed her butt while they posed for a photo at a 2019 event sponsored by her organization. She told friends about it at the time, the report states.

Cuomo's statement does not mention this interaction.

VIRGINIA LIMMIATIS

Virginia Limmiatis, an energy company worker, said Cuomo ran his fingers on the lettering that ran across the chest of her shirt when they met in a rope line at a 2017 event. He then told her he was going to say there was a spider on her shoulder and proceeded to brush her chest with his hand, the report said.

Limmiatis immediately told other attendees what had happened, investigators found, but she didn't come forward until seeing Cuomo's press conference this year denying he'd touched anyone inappropriately.

The statement from Cuomos attorney does not mention this interaction.

LINDSEY BOYLAN

The report found that Cuomo kissed, touched, and made inappropriate comments to Lindsey Boylan while she served in various roles working closely with the governor. He commented on Boylan's physical appearance and attractiveness, compared her to a former girlfriend and suggested they play strip poker, investigators found.

The attorney general's report also says that "the Executive Chamber actively engaged in an effort to discredit her" after Boylan, the governor's first accuser to go public, reported the harassment in December 2020. This included leaking records related to her departure from her job.

The statement released by Cuomo's attorney delves into those details, saying Boylan was dismissed for bullying subordinates and suggesting she made up her sexual harassment claims to further her own political aspirations.

ALYSSA McGRATH

Cuomo made inappropriate comments to another executive assistant, Alyssa McGrath, including commenting on her neckline after staring down her loose shirt, regularly asking about her marital status and asking whether she would tell on Executive Assistant No. 1 if she were to cheat on her husband, the report says.

Cuomo's attorney's statement concedes he referred to McGrath and Executive Assistant No. 1 as mingle mamas, but only after they said they were single and ready to mingle ahead of a business trip.

KAITLIN

Another woman, listed just as Kaitlin in the report, was hired to work for the governor after meeting him at a fundraising event in December 2016. Cuomo regularly made Kaitlin uncomfortable by commenting on her appearance and telling her she was not ready for work if she was not wearing makeup, and by calling her sponge  apparently a reference to his advice to soak up knowledge from others  which she told investigators she found embarrassing, condescending and demeaning.

Glavin's statement says the governor frequently comments on staffers' appearances, usually in a complimentary fashion. It also says he was frustrated with Kaitlin's job performance.

ANA LISS

Ana Liss worked as an aide in Cuomo's office from 2013 to 2015, and told investigators he kissed and touched her, addressed her almost exclusively as sweetheart or darling," made inquiries about her relationship status and made inappropriate remarks about her appearance. In the report, Liss explains that she did not immediately come forward about the harassment because, in the governor's office, the typical rules did not apply.

Cuomo's attorney's statement notes that Liss tweeted favorably at and about Cuomo long after she left his office, suggesting that undercuts her account. The attorney's statement also suggests the timing of Liss coming forward was politically motivated.

The governor's interactions with Alyssa McGrath, Ana Liss and Kaitlin were unremarkable, Glavin's statement says.

STATE ENTITY EMPLOYEE NO. 2

A doctor at the state health department told investigators Cuomo made a sexually suggestive comment just before she performed a COVID-19 nasal swab test on him during a televised press conference at the start of the pandemic.

You make that gown look good," Cuomo said after thanking her during the press conference.

She told investigators she found the comments demeaning and felt Cuomo wouldn't have made them to a male doctor.

Glavin's statement doesn't address this allegation.

ANNA RUCH

In September 2019, Anna Ruch met Cuomo at a wedding reception for one of Cuomo's staff members. She told investigators Cuomo touched her bare back and, after she removed his hand, grabbed her face and kissed her. Ruch said the governor remarked, Wow, youre aggressive." Ruch's friend photographed the encounter.

Cuomo says he commonly kisses people on the face, attributing it to his Italian heritage, and said he didn't mean to make Ruch feel uncomfortable.
The number of wealthy Americans renouncing their citizenship in favour of a foreign country hit a record high in 2020, according to figures from the IRS.

As reported by Axios, the agency publishes a quarterly report listing people with more than $2m in assets who have renounced their citizenship or given up their green cards. The most recent figures show that in 2020, 6,707 people took one of these steps

The US taxes people based on citizenship wherever they are in the world, and since the law requires wealthier expatriate Americans to report the value of some assets abroad , the incentives at work encourage them to look for another less expensive nationality.

Among the high-net-worth Americans to have defected to other countries since it was brought in is Tina Turner , who opted to become Swiss in 2013.

The specific legislation covering Americans foreign assets is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (or FATCA), which was passed in 2010 to crack down on non-compliance by Americans storing their assets in foreign accounts. It requires foreign financial institutions to report on these accounts, while certain account holders themselves also have to declare their assets.

The intention behind FATCA was to crack down on individual tax evasion and sniff out more sinister instances of financial manipulation.

However, FATCA has proved onerous for people beyond the obvious targets; as reported by The Connexion , the legislation applies to people who enjoy American citizenship because they were born on American soil even if they have never lived, worked or maintained assets in the US itself.

According to the website, some 40,000 people in France alone are afflicted in this way, and attempts to obtain some kind of relief from the US government are ongoing.
The Biden administration wants automakers to raise gas mileage and cut tailpipe pollution between now and model year 2026, and it has won a voluntary commitment from the industry that electric vehicles comprise up to half of U.S. sales by the end of the decade.

The moves are big steps toward President Joe Bidens pledge to cut emissions and battle climate change as he pushes to shift the nation away from internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles.

The administration on Thursday announced there would be new mileage and anti-pollution standards from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department. In addition, it said the auto industry had agreed to a goal that 40% to 50% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.

Both the regulatory standards and the voluntary target will be included in an executive order that Biden plans to sign later Thursday.

The standards, which still have to go through the regulatory process including public comments, would reverse fuel economy and anti-pollution rollbacks done under President Donald Trump At that time, the increases were reduced to 1.5% annually through model year 2026.

The White House didn't release information on the proposed annual increases late Wednesday, but Dan Becker, director of the safe climate campaign for the Center for Biological Diversity, said an EPA official gave the numbers during a presentation on the plan.

The official said the standards would be 10% more stringent than the Trump rules for model year 2023, followed by 5% increases in each model year through 2026, according to Becker. That's about a 25% increase over the four years.

Last week, The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that the Biden administration was discussing weaker mileage requirements with automakers, but they apparently have been strengthened. The change came after environmental groups complained publicly that they were too weak to address a serious problem.

Transportation is the single biggest U.S. contributor to climate change. Autos in the U.S. spewed 824 million tons (748 million metric tons) of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in 2019, about 14% of total U.S. emissions, according to the EPA.

The voluntary deal with automakers defines an electric vehicle as plug-in hybrids, fully electric vehicles and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Environmental groups praised the higher standards but said the administration should be moving faster.

This proposal helps get us back on the road to cleaning up tailpipe pollution, Simon Mui of the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement. But given how climate change has already turned our weather so violent, it's clear that we need to dramatically accelerate progress.

Scientists say human-caused global warming is increasing temperatures, raising sea levels and worsening wildfires, droughts, floods and storms globally.

Becker said the anti-pollution standards are full of loopholes, such as granting excessive credits for electric vehicle sales.

We urgently need to cut greenhouse gas pollution, and voluntary measures wont cut it, he wrote in an email. Voluntary pledges by auto companies make a New Years weight-loss resolution look like a legally binding contract.

Several automakers already have announced similar electric vehicle sales goals to those in the deal with the government. Last week, for instance, Fords CEO said his company expects 40% of its global sales to be fully electric by 2030. General Motors has said it aspires to sell only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, also pledged over 40% electrified vehicles by 2030.

The Trump rollback of the Obama-era standards would require a projected 29 mpg in real world stop-and-start driving by 2026. It wasn't clear what the real world mileage would be under the Biden standards. Under Obama administration rules, it would have increased to 37 mpg.

Automakers said in statements they would work toward the 40% to 50% electric vehicle sales goal.

You can count on Toyota to do our part, said Ted Ogawa, the company's North America CEO, adding that the goal is great for the environment and Toyota employees.

General Motors, Stellantis and Ford said in a joint statement that their recent electric-vehicle commitments show they want to lead the U.S. in the transition away from combustion vehicles.

But they said the change is a dramatic shift from the U.S. market today, and can only happen with a policies that include incentives for electric vehicle purchases, adequate government funding for charging stations and money to expand electric vehicle manufacturing and the parts supply chain.

The United Auto Workers union, which has voiced concerns about being too hasty with an EV transition because of the potential impact on industry jobs, did not commit to endorsing a 40 to 50% EV target. But in a statement, UAW said it stands behind the president to support his ambition not just to grow electric vehicles but also our capacity to produce them domestically with good wages and benefits."

Only 2.2% of new vehicle sales were fully electric vehicles through June, according to Edmunds.com estimates. That's up from 1.4% at the same time last year.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a large industry trade group, said in a statement it will work with the administration to reach zero carbon emissions from transportation. But it said the best opportunity for environmental benefits will come after 2026 as more electric vehicles are sold.

The industry, it said, will invest more than $300 billion in electrification by 2025, producing 130 electric models by 2026. Only about 50 are available today. The regulations, it said, must strike a balance between pollution cuts and encouraging added investment in electric vehicles.

In the infrastructure bill awaiting passage in the Senate, there is $7.5 billion allocated for grants to build charging stations, about half of what Biden originally proposed. He wanted $15 billion for 500,000 stations, plus money for tax credits and rebates to entice people into buying electric vehicles.

___

Associated Press writers Hope Yen and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in an interview on Wednesday admitted that his interactions with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were a huge mistake.

I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge. When it looked like that was not a real thing, that relationship ended, Mr Gates told CNN News.

It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there, he said.

You know, there were lots of others in that same situation, but I made a mistake, he added.

The relationship the tech billionaire had with Epstein has been under the scanner for a while, with numerous media reports, some without clear evidence, making a wide range of claims.

Some reports said Mr Gates confided in Epstein about his toxic marriage, while others claimed Epsteins involvement in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

One report by the Wall Street Journal said Mr Gatess social connection with Epstein was a factor in his divorce with Melinda French Gates. Mr Gates declined to respond to that report, according to CNN.

The power couples divorce was finalised earlier this week, ending their 27-year-old marriage. It remains unclear how their assets will be divided between them.

Mr Gates described the culmination of his marriage as a very sad milestone.

Melinda is a great person and that partnership coming to an end is great personal sadness.

Mr Gates, whose fortune is estimated to be $150bn (108bn), had met Ms French Gates after she began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.

The two were married in 1994 in Hawaii. Incorporated in 2000, their philanthropic endeavour, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is considered one of the most influential private foundations in the world. It has an endowment worth about $50bn (36bn) and focuses on global health, poverty reduction and gender equality.

Mark Suzman, the head of the foundation, said the Gates family will determine over the next couple of years if it will be possible for the former couple to try and continue working together there.

Melinda has incredible strengths that she brings that help the foundation be better. We have always enjoyed our work together. Two of us can go out and work with leaders and help build the organisation  that would be definitely the best thing for the foundation, Mr Gates said.

If after two years, however, they decide it will not be possible to continue in their roles, Ms French Gates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee, the foundation said earlier this month. Mr Gates will then compensate Ms French Gates using his personal funds, reported CNN.
Seventeen people  including at least three employees of Walt Disney World  have been arrested in Florida in what police have described as a major child sex-trafficking sting operation.

The Polk County Sheriffs Office on Wednesday said that the group of 17 people have been charged with 49 felonies and two misdemeanours, including travelling to meet a minor for sex, attempted lewd battery, use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of material harmful to a child.

Police are calling it Operation Child Protector. Grady Judd, the Polk County sheriff, told the media: You have got to know who your children are talking to, who they are communicating with.

The detectives had posed as children on social media apps and dating sites.

Police said that the majority of the 17 suspects had communicated with undercover agents  who had posed as 13 or 14-year-old children  and then travelled to a location with the intention of meeting and sexually battering the victims.

ABC News in Polk County reported that police said six of the suspects brought condoms to the meet-ups. Two sent sexually explicit messages, photos and videos to the underage targets online. And three suspects  Kenneth Javier Aquino, Jonathan McGrew and Sarah Lawrence  were employed by Disney, police said.

Mr Aquino, 26, was wearing his Disney polo shirt, swim trunks and crocs when he was arrested by undercover detectives on 27 July, Mr Judd informed the media, adding: He bragged about his prowess and how wonderful he was. He left his girlfriend who was seven months pregnant with his child in order to have sex with a child.

Mr McGrew, 34, and his girlfriend Ms Lawrence, 29, allegedly tried to arrange a threesome with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl on 1 August.

Both are from Kissimmee and were custodians at Disneys Hollywood Studios.

At least 35 Disney employees have been arrested for charges related to child sex abuse between 2006 and 2014, according to PIX.

The New York Post reported that all those arrested were from Central Florida except for one 33-year-old man who was from California. Mr Judd said: What you see on this board  are deviants. Incredible deviants. They travel from as far away as Clewiston, Florida. One even came from Los Angeles.

He added: Much to their chagrin, instead of meeting with young children, they were met by law enforcement officers who were online undercover posing as children.

The Independent has contacted Disney for comment on the operation.
A teenage mother whose baby boy drowned while taking a bath with her is facing charges of murder and child cruelty.

Police say they believe Anslie Brantley, 19, from Georgia, had taken drugs and fallen asleep in the bathtub with her son. When she woke up, the 10-month-old was unresponsive. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead later that day.

Ms Brantley was taken into custody on Friday and charged with second-degree felony murder and second-degree child cruelty over the death of the 10-month old.

A deputy from Coweta County Sheriffs Office responded to a call about an unresponsive child in June. He said Ms Brantleys mother, Kelli Gordon, 36, told him she tried to check on her daughter and the child several times since she had been in the bathroom for some time, but then went back to watching TV.

About 10 or 20 minutes later she heard screams from her daughter, who had found the baby not breathing. Ms Gordon told the deputy that she saw how blue he was, and he was cold, real cold.

The deputy reported that Ms Brantley was sitting in a chair with only a towel wrapped around her crying, and not in a state where she was willing to speak with him.

During the investigation, detectives said they discovered that Ms Brantley had taken drugs before she got into the bath with her son and fallen asleep. Officers found methamphetamine in the home, and charged Ms Gordon with possession of narcotics.

Ms Gordons five other children have reportedly been placed in the care of the Georgia Department of Family and Childrens Services.

Ms Brantley is being held in Coweta County Jail and was denied bond. Ms Gordon is also being detained on charges unrelated to the death or the drug charge.
Coronavirus infections across the country are spiking due to the Delta variant, but an even worse version of the virus could be on the horizon if the US does not get a handle on the pandemic, Dr Anthony Fauci has warned.

The director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, warned that more dangerous coronavirus variants could spawn if the US does not greatly increase the number of people who are vaccinated.

If we don't crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smoulder through the fall into the winter, giving it ample chance to get a variant, he told McClatchy.

Quite frankly, we're very lucky that the vaccines that we have now do very well against the variants, particularly against severe illness. We're very fortunate that that's the case. There could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside Delta.

He said that the US would really be in trouble if a variant with the same transmissibility as the Delta variant but with more severe symptoms were to emerge.

People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think it's only about them. But it isn't. It's about everybody else, also, Dr Fauci said.

The doctor said that the latest spike in cases is the result of the Delta variant's high transmissibility and the substantial number of people who still have not taken the vaccine.

To find out what others are saying and join the conversation scroll down for the comments section or click here for our most commented on articles

What we're seeing, because of this increase in transmissibility, and because we have about 93 million people in this country who are eligible to get vaccinated who don't  that you have a significant pool of vulnerable people, he said.

Approximately half of all US adults have been fully vaccinated, and 70 per cent have taken at least one shot.

While CDC data suggests that less than one per cent of people who have been vaccinated have experienced breakthrough infections, the agency still updated its guidance to recommend mask usage by fully vaccinated individuals while indoors if they live in regions with high transmission rates.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that the pandemic is primarily among those who have not taken vaccines, and that unvaccinated are the main drivers of transmission to other unvaccinated people.

Because the coronavirus was co-opted in the US's culture wars early on, vaccination rates have largely fallen along political lines. While some Republican havens  like Florida  have generally kept up with the national average for adult vaccinations, other states  Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and Louisiana, for example  are in some cases 10 per cent or more behind the national average.
A rare fish with human-like teeth was spotted by some beachgoers in the Outer Banks in North Carolina, a discovery that has caught the attention of internet users.

The photo taken of the mysterious fish, shared on Facebook on Tuesday by Jennettes Pier  a fishing destination in Nags Head  shows the nine-pound creature opening its mouth and displaying human-like teeth, which makes it look like its wearing dentures.

The fish was identified as a sheepshead, with several rows of molars in its mouth it uses for crushing oysters and other prey. It is believed to have received its name because its mouth looks like that of a sheep.

Sheepshead fish are usually found near rocks, jetties, reefs, and even bridges. They are also known as the convict fish because of their black and white stripes. Officials with the North Carolina aquarium were quoted by local media outlets as saying that these fish are extremely difficult to catch, but taste great.

The photo was captioned #bigteethbigtimes and its shows the sheepshead flashing a top and bottom set of pearly-ish whites.

Martin, the person who caught the fish, told McClatchy News he was out fishing with his twin brother on Monday when he came across a mouth full of teeth. He said he is a regular at the pier and went out in hopes of catching a sheepshead.

Its a very good fight when youre fighting on the line, its a really good catch, and it tastes very good, he was quoted by McClatchy News as saying.

The Facebook post with the picture of the fish has created quite a splash on social media with over 1200 reactions on it. In the comment, users expressed their disbelief at what they were seeing.

Is this where dentures come from? one commenter, Lisa Drouin Martin, said.

I know people who would love to have that many teeth, wrote Charlene Turner.

That fish has better teeth than me, wrote Helen Prager.
People with flu shots are less likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid, and reported less severe symptoms, a new study has found.

The research, which was carried-out by scientists from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida, suggested that there were benefits from flu shots amid the ongoing outbreak of Covid.

More than 74,700 people from the US, the UK, Italy, Germany, Israel and Singapore, all of whom tested positive for Covid, were featured in the study, which was published on Wednesday in the journal Plos One.

It suggested that receiving a flu shot within six months of contracting Covid-19 could cut the chance of ICU admission by 20 per cent, and of visiting an emergency room by 58 per cent.

While those with flu shots reported less severe symptoms of Covid, the research found that it could not stop fatalities.

The study questioned whether those who received a flu shot were more likely to also get vaccinated against Covid, and in turn, were more likely to live a healthier lifestyle that prevented the worst of Covid, in some cases.

It was also unclear whether or not the annual change in the flu shot would prevent similar results in future, according to ABC News, though previous studies have found a link between Covid survival and the flu shot.

The Miami Millar studys senior author, Devinder Singh, told the Deccan Herlad that further solutions were needed to reduce severe illness from Covid in the wake of slow vaccination rates across the world.

"Only a small fraction of the world has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to date, and with all the devastation that has occurred due to the pandemic, the global community still needs to find solutions to reduce morbidity and mortality, he told the outlet.

Mr Singh also called on people to get both their flu vaccines and Covid vaccines to prevent illness from the respiratory disease.

Roughly 4.1 billion Covid vaccines have been administered worldwide, with a majority of those in the West.
Google billionaire Larry Page was granted entry to New Zealand to seek emergency medical treatment for his son, angering some citizens stranded overseas due to the Governments closed borders policy.

Mr Page, the eighth richest man in the world according to Forbes , has spent most of the pandemic living with his wife Lucinda Southward and their two sons, aged 12 and about 10, on a remote Fiji island.

When his eldest son fell ill in January, Mr Page and his son were granted an emergency waiver to enter the country, as was first reported by Stuff .

An air ambulance was dispatched from New Zealand to bring Mr Page and his son back, a round trip of 5,000km (3100 miles).

Mr Page, 48, spent two weeks in isolation while the boy was taken directly to Aucklands Starship Hospital, a specialist public childrens hospital.

The countrys immigration office has since confirmed that Mr Page, who is worth $116 billion, holds New Zealand residency.

New Zealand effectively closed its border to the outside world last March as it successfully eradicated Covid, and enforces a strict two week quarantine to returning citizens in a military-run secure hotel.

It also restricts the number of places available in its quarantine facilities, meaning many New Zealanders stranded overseas are barred from returning to visit sick or dying relatives.

The countrys immigration department has not said whether Mr Page spent time in a Government-run isolation facility.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she was not briefed on Mr Pages visit at the time.

Im not advised of every single individual... because politicians do not make that decision, and nor should they.

As with all cases, those are decisions for clinicians, and I absolutely trust our clinicians to make decisions between those in the host country and receiving country around what is best for a patient.

Ms Ardern said around 100 medevacs were transported to New Zealand each year.

Facing questions in New Zealands Parliament on Thursday (NZ time), Health Minister Andrew Little said the the Ministry of Health received a request for a child to be medevacked from Fiji on January 11, accompanied by an adult.

Mr Little said anyone granted emergency medical entry must require immediate care that is not available where they are.

Im advised all of the normal steps occurred in this case, he told Parliament.

Immigration New Zealand general manager of border and visa operations, Nicola Hogg, told the AFP that Page met relevant requirements to be granted entry.

The leader of New Zealands right-wing ACT Party David Seymour called on Ms Arderns government to release more details about his visit.

The Government has questions to answer about why billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page was allowed into New Zealand when desperate Kiwis and separated families cant get through the border, Seymour said.

Seymour said he sympathised with Page, but there were many New Zealand residents facing similar issues who were not allowed into the country.

I have had to tell them, sorry, but there is no way you can get through the border, government policy will not allow it, he added.

New Zealanders stranded overseas who are desperate to get home deserve answers.

Its unclear how Mr Page gained residency.

New Zealand operates a points-based residency system which gives weight to applicants who have spent two years in the country on a Work to Residence visa.

In 2017, Facebook investor and billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship after spending just 12 days in the country.

Page founded Google with Sergey Brin in the 1990s, turning it into the fourth largest technology company in the world.

Page has rarely been seen out in public since stepping down as CEO of Googles parent company Alphabet Inc. in 2019.
With Covid-19 vaccines widely available, the scientist behind experimental technology used by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna has explained what was baked into the first batch off the production line.

Dr Drew Weissman, a professor in the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine, is one of the pioneers of the vaccine formula called Messenger RNA (mRNA). He collaborated with Pfizer and BioNTech on their version of the vaccine.

He told The Independent that the vaccine, unlike any that has been developed previously, contains a new technology that delivers genetic code  or directions  that instructs the body to create a copy of the Covid-19 virus spike protein, which prompts an immune response.

The mRNA is produced by an enzyme that copies DNA that contains the protein to be produced, Mr Weissman said.

Four lipids are used to create the lipid nanoparticle that self-assemble with the mRNA. They are all created synthetically. The cationic lipid, which is the main function component is proprietary to companies.

Dr Weissman explains the Covid-19 vaccines contain only the synthetically created mRNA genetic code and four lipids, known as lipid nanoparticles, in contrast to traditional vaccines that are created within living cells and contain components of a virus.

None of this is made in mammalian cell lines, he said.

The result is a 95 per cent effective vaccine, according to Pfizer and BioNTech, while Moderna says its version is 94.5 per cent effective.

Traditional vaccines contain an active component to generate an immune response, usually tiny fragments of the disease-causing organism in the form of a protein, as outlined by the World Health Organization.

They also contain preservatives like 2-phenoxyethanol and stabilisers like sugars (lactose, sucrose), amino acids (glycine), gelatin, or proteins (recombinant human albumin, derived from yeast).

Surfactants, used in foods like ice cream, keep the ingredients together while residuals from the manufacturing process, like egg proteins, yeast or antibiotics, can be found in trace amounts.

They also use diluents like sterile water and adjuvant stimulate local immune cells, which can be aluminium salts like aluminium phosphate, aluminium hydroxide or potassium aluminium sulphate.

The experimental vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, technically called BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, respectively, are created synthetically using messenger Ribonucleic acid (or mRNA). RNA and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic) are nucleic acids that carry genetic instructions for creating life.

Rather than injecting an organic version of the virus to generate an immune response, mRNA contains snippets of the coronavirus spike proteins genetic code that tells the bodys cells to produce a small facsimile of that spike protein, which kickstarts the immune system to produce antibodies.

This is done with the DNA that has a sequence that binds the enzyme and tells it to start working, followed by the sequence of the protein. There are other sequences that increase the amount and duration of protein production, Dr Weissman said.

Our mRNA vaccine differs as one of the nucleotides, letters, is modified and that gets rid of the inflammatory potential of the mRNA.

Paula Cannon, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Southern Californias Keck School of Medicine, told The Independent that vaccines developers have improved on natural RNA, which are short-lived and fragile.

They can be made entirely synthetically, you dont need a biologist on board to make these you need a chemist, Ms Cannon said.

Part of the secret source of these vaccines is that the chemists have found a way to modify RNA and improve on what nature has developed to increase its stability and damp down its foreignness to the body. We dont want the body to freak out about this RNA thats been injected into it. So theres been some chemical modifications to make the RNA a bit more stealthy.

The closest glimpse of what, exactly, those chemists put into the Covid vaccine came in the FDAs emergency use authorisations breaking down the ingredients in Pfizers BNT162b2 and Modernas mRNA-1273. Brace for medical jargon.

In the Pfizer vaccine, mRNA is delivered by the four lipids: ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate), 2 [(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, and cholesterol).

To balance acidity in the body, the vaccine includes the salts potassium chloride, monobasic potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, and dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate. Basic table sugar, or sucrose, is included to help molecules maintain shape while frozen.

The Moderna vaccine is similar but has slight differences in the delivery of the mRNA. The lipids used include: (SM-102, polyethylene glycol [PEG] 2000 dimyristoyl glycerol [DMG], cholesterol, and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine [DSPC]).

To balance acidity it uses acetic acid, Tromethamine & Tromethamine hydrochloride, and sodium acetate. Sucrose is also used to maintain form.

(Separately, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that uses a different DNA technology is delivered using a modified version of a different virus, Adenovirus 26, that was first isolated in 1956 from an anal specimen of a 9-month-old male child. It also includes citric acid monohydrate, the salt trisodium citrate dihydrate, the sugars 2-hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin (HBCD) and polysorbate-80, sodium chloride, as well as ethanol.)

Its like a carrier and protective chemical that helps to package up and protect and help with the delivery of the RNA. Thats often based on lipids made entirely chemically, Ms Cannon said.

So you have one flask thats making the RNA and one flask thats making the lipid, and they get kind of mixed together and the way that the chemistry is designed is that the RNA is attracted to the lipid, it forms a complex with it, and that puts the RNA in a Goldilocks spot.

For Pfizers vaccine, it needs to be stored at a temperature of at -94 F to remain in that Goldilocks zone, while Modernas vaccine needs to stay at -4 F.

Researchers have been attempting to trick the bodys immune system using mRNA for decades, and the Covid vaccines are the first successful implementation since research began in the early 1990s. The experimental technology not only makes an impact on the Covid pandemic, but it also opens the door to a whole line of vaccines for viruses like Herpes, HIV and the Flu.
Kanye West was advised against partnering with Gap to release his wildly successful Yeezy line by the retail giants former CEO.

Mickey Drexler, who headed the company in the 1980s and 90s, said he warned Mr West that Gap was too corporate for the maverick musician and fashion impresario.

I have a lot of friends at Gap still, but it doesnt work for someone like Kanye, Mr Drexler told Yahoo Finance .

He is not a corporate person and Gap is a big corporation.

Gap announced in June 2020 that it was teaming up with Mr West, 44, in a 10-year deal that would comprise modern, elevated basic designs sold at accessible prices.

The deal represented a triumphant homecoming of sorts for Mr West, who once worked at a Gap store while growing up in Chicago and has since amassed a $1.7 billion fortune.

Shares of the retailer surged by 42 per cent when news of the collaboration was released last year.

When Gap unveiled a Yeezy branded $200 blue puffer jacket on Mr Wests 44th birthday in June, it sold out overnight, netting $7m in sales.

Since then the sole release from the brands has been the same coat in black.

No further details of upcoming releases have been made public, but they will reportedly include hoodies and t-shirts.

Mr Drexler noted the success the two brands had already achieved together, but said it wasnt the right move for either party.

He is a smart guy but he shouldnt have done it, he told Yahoo.

And I dont think they should have done it, either.

The Independent has approached Gap seeking comment but had not heard back by the time of publication.

Mr West recently announced he was going to live in Atlantas Mercedes-Benz stadium while he finishes his 10th studio album, Donda, which was named after his late mother.

Mr West has previously said he wants to be the Steve Jobs of the Gap.

Yeezy sneakers are a favourite among sneaker collectors and the fashion press, and the company is now estimated to be worth between $3.2bn to $4.7bn.

In April, a pair of Yeezy sneakers went for $1.8m at auction, making them the most expensive pair of sneakers ever sold.
Two men killed by a train in North Carolina were mourning their brother who died in the same spot.

Pablo Tiquiram Us, 29, and Chilambalam Tiquiram Us, 20, went to the railway crossing in Charlotte at around 5.10am on Tuesday to remember their brother Baltazar Tiquiram Us, 27, who had been killed there when his pickup truck was hit by a light-rail train a week earlier.

They were walking north down the southbound tracks in the early morning when they were hit and killed by a Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) Lynx train in the same spot as their sibling.

Police said the train operator immediately stopped the train and that a medic pronounced the brothers dead at the scene.

Two brothers were mourning the loss of another brother who had been struck by another train, Sgt Adam Jones of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Sgt Jones said the brothers could be seen on video footage standing on the track before the crash and that the gate arms and other track safety devices at the crossing appeared to be working properly, Spectrum Local News reported.

As the train was approaching, they appeared to look at it before they were struck, he added.

Police said they think drinking was involved: Alcohol impairment is suspected as a contributing factor for the pedestrians.

Their brother, Baltazar Tiquiram Us, was driving his pickup truck across the tracks at East Hebron Street in southern Charlotte on 26 July just before 10pm when his car was struck by a train, killing him and gravely injuring a passenger in the vehicle. The unidentified passenger in the Toyota Tundra was taken to hospital for treatment.

Police said in a release that four people were on the train when it hit the truck, but they werent injured.

The driver of the Toyota drove around the crossing arms and into the path of the Light Rail train, police said late last month.

The train operator sounded the horn while it was approaching the crossing, and the crossing arms warning lights were operational and flashing, the CMPD added.

The Charlotte Observer reported that a 26-year-old woman was killed at the same crossing in 2017 after her vehicle collided with a train. CMPD said she didnt stop despite the crossing arms and signals being operational.
Joshua Spriestersbach fell asleep on a sidewalk one hot day in May 2017 while waiting for food outside of a Honolulu homeless shelter. He woke up to a police officer arresting him for violating the citys ban on lying down in public places.

At least thats what Spriestersbach thought.

The officer actually arrested him because he believed Spriestersbach was a man named Thomas Castleberry, who had an arrest warrant out for allegedly violating probation in a 2006 drug case.

It was the first mistake of many that led to Spriestersbach spending two years and eight months in jail and a mental institution for crimes he didnt commit, according to a 36-page petition filed Monday by the Hawaii Innocence Project. While locked up, doctors pumped him full of powerful psychiatric drugs, judges ruled that he was unfit to stand trial and his lawyers ignored his assertions that police had the wrong man, the document claims.

Police, doctors, judges, public defenders and prosecutors all failed Spriestersbach  and their failure to do their jobs cost Mr. Spriestersbach almost three years of his life  incarcerated for a crime he never committed by a person ... he never knew, Innocence Project lawyer Jennifer Brown said in the petition.

Every aspect of our justice system played a role in this miscarriage of justice, Innocence Project co-director Kenneth Lawson told The Washington Post.

The Hawaii Office of the Public Defender did not respond to an email from The Post.

There were many opportunities to fix the injustice, Brown said.

The first came when the officer first found Spriestersbach on the sidewalk. Spriestersbach didnt have an ID but gave the officer his full name, date of birth and Social Security number. Nevertheless, the officer insisted that Spriestersbach was actually Castleberry and took him to jail. He was fingerprinted and had his photo taken, generating records that could have been used to prove he wasnt Castleberry, the Innocence Project asserts.

When Spriestersbach went to court for the first time in June 2017, he told the public defender his name and provided the same identifying information hed given the officer, Brown said in the petition. Spriestersbach said he wasnt even on Oahu in 2006 when the crime happened because he was being treated at a mental health clinic more than 150 miles away on the Big Island.

Instead of investigating, the public defender requested that a three-judge panel evaluate Spriestersbachs mental state, Brown said.

Soon after, Spriestersbach was transferred to Hawaii State Hospital, where he kept telling anyone who would listen that he wasnt Castleberry. He also told hospital employees his name, date of birth and Social Security number, according to the petition.

No one believed Mr. Spriestersbach, and they continued to call him Mr. Castleberry, Brown said.

At the hospital, Spriestersbach was forced to go to group sessions for drug users because of the nature of Castleberrys crimes, she said. Spriestersbach has no history of using or abusing drugs and said so.

For speaking out, Spriestersbach was deemed problematic and given antipsychotic medications, including Haldol, which made him despondent and catatonic.

Spriestersbach protested the heavy doses, the petition states, but that just made things worse.

The more Mr. Spriestersbach vocalised his innocence by asserting that he is not Mr. Castleberry, the more he was declared delusional and psychotic by the [hospital] staff and doctors and heavily medicated, Brown wrote.

This went on for more than two more years, even though the public defenders representing him could have easily verified his claims, the petition argues.

Public defenders had represented the real Castleberry in 2006, so they could have reviewed the photo they had on file of Castleberry and seen that  as the Innocence Project noted  the two men do not look alike at all. They could have compared the Social Security number given by Spriestersbach with the one on a warrant for Castleberry and realised they didnt match. Or they could have done a quick search of the Internet and public court records to find out the real Castleberry had been locked up in Alaska since 2016.

Instead, they did absolutely nothing, Brown said.

On 2 January 2020, Spriestersbach said once more what he had been saying for more than two years: he wasnt Castleberry. He wasnt on probation. He had never used drugs and was not on Oahu in 2006 when the crimes were committed.

This time, someone listened.

One of the doctors who had previously found Spriestersbach mentally incompetent changed course and, after investigating, determined Spriestersbach had been telling the truth all along. That led the state hospitals attorney to have a police detective take Spriestersbachs fingerprints. They didnt match the ones they had on file for Castleberry. Officials also compared photos of the two men  again, not a match.

On 17 January 2020, hospital staff freed Spriestersbach.

Around that time, the state attorney general notified a judge and the public defenders office of the situation, and a secret meeting followed. There is no court record of that meeting, which Brown said may have been because officials wanted to avoid public embarrassment.

Or maybe they just thought no one would care enough because Mr. Spriestersbach was houseless, poor and in their eyes did not matter, Brown said in the petition.

Gary Yamashiroya, a special assistant to Hawaiis attorney general, said in an email to The Post that the department had not been served with a copy of the petition but would review the allegations and respond accordingly. Yamashiroya sent no follow-up messages.

After his release, Spriestersbach went to Vermont to live with his sister. Vedanta Dumas-Griffith told the Associated Press she spent nearly 16 years looking for her brother. She said Spriestersbach moved to Hawaii with her in 2003 when her husband was in the Army and stationed on Oahu. While suffering from mental health problems, Spriestersbach moved to the Big Island and then disappeared.

After her brother arrived in Vermont, Dumas-Griffith said she reached out to a local doctor who reviewed his discharge summary from Hawaii State Hospital. The doctor concluded the amount of psychiatric medications he was on was well beyond therapeutic levels, which is why he was acting catatonic and his expressions vacant, Dumas-Griffith said in a sworn statement to the court.

He was a shell of his former self  his eyes were vacant, he was overly medicated, and looked like he had been through hell, Dumas-Griffith said in a court filing.

The doctor was shocked by what Spriestersbach had been through. Spriestersbach was prescribed powerful drugs, the doctor added, in an effort to make him competent when in reality he had always been competent.

As lawyers with the Hawaii Innocence Project prepared to clear Spriestersbachs name, they reached out to the public defenders office that had once represented him for documents needed to build their case.

According to the petition, a public defender named William Bento told them he had consulted with the state Department of the Attorney General. Bento, who did not respond to a request for comment, said officials in that office had instructed him not to hand over any documents related to Castleberrys 2006 drug case, including all records filed after May 2017 that actually pertained to Spriestersbach.

Spriestersbach was not entitled to the documents, officials said.

The reason: He was not the defendant in that case. He was not Thomas Castleberry.

Washington Post
Despite a shark bite leaving a 12-year-old with 20 deep cuts requiring 42 stitches, authorities say the waters off Marylands Ocean City remain safe for swimming.

Jordan Prushinski was on vacation with her family when she felt something brush by her leg in the knee-deep water. She limped out of the water with the bite mark across her calf.

I didnt really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere, she told local broadcaster WTOP.

Her mother, Melissa Prushinski, said other beachgoers, including an EMT and a nurse, helped give Jordan first aid.

With the help of a lifeguard, they cleaned and bandaged the wound, and Jordans family took her to Atlantic General Hospital.

Ocean City Beach Patrol said in a statement to Fox Baltimore on Wednesday they confirmed the injuries were likely from a shark.

"Experts that we have been in touch with are in agreement that wound pattern is consistent with a bite from a small sandbar shark," the statement said.

The beach patrols captain Butch Arbin said previously he hadnt seen an unprovoked attack in his 49 years at the beach, and the bite pattern indicated it "absolutely was not an attack".

"We dont know what it was," he told CBS Baltimore.

Jay Bradly, the curator of the Blue Wonders exhibits at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, told the outlet it was likely a case of mistaken identity, and that it was not unsafe to swim in the water with sharks.

Its more likely in the summertime than it is other parts of the year because there are more people going to the beach, more people in the water; it increases the potential that someone could interact with a shark but its still relatively uncommon here in Maryland, Mr Bradly said.

Generally, it is thought to be mistaken identity, and a majority of the attacks are on the extremities either hands or feet. Typically, its one bite and the shark moves on, he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A venomous snake has escaped into the community of Grand Prairie, Texas, after a cage malfunction occurred at its enclosure.

The snake, a West African banded cobra, was reported missing by its owner around 5pm on Tuesday.

Grand Prairie Animals Services began searching for the animal around 6:30pm, and was joined by the snake's owner, other animal services specialists, and a venomous snake apprehension specialist.

The organisation issued a statement about the escaped snake. Under Texas law, the owner had a legal right to possess the snake, even though it is venomous. The State of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department called the creature dangerous.

The snake's owner, Tre Mat, insisted to local ABC affiliate WFAA that he was not an irresponsible reptile owner. He claims the vulnerability in the cage only existed for a few minutes before it was fixed, but the snake managed to escape in that time regardless.

I'm doing everything I can to help retrieve the snake, he said.

This is the first time the department has had to deal with a West African banded cobra. According to one of the officers, the thought of encountering the snake has put his colleagues on edge.

We're out there walking in the grass, around the home wondering is my next step going to be on a poisonous snake, Grand Prairie Police Officer Mark Beseda told the broadcaster.

The officer warned neighbours to avoid the snake, calling it extremely dangerous and extremely aggressive. He advised residents to call 911 immediately and stay away if they encounter the animal.

The police department has coordinated with the Grand Prairie Fire Department and Parkland Hospital to prepare to treat anyone who may be admitted with a snakebite.

This is the second cobra escape to make news in as many months; a TikTok personality also lost their venomous zebra cobra in North Carolina. The snake was on the loose for months before it was captured in July.

The TikTokker, Christian Michael Gifford, 21, was charged with 40 counts of misdemeanours stemming from numerous alleged violations of regulations on the ownership of venomous reptiles.
The New York State Assembly is close to finishing its impeachment inquiry into Governor Andrew Cuomo following the release of an investigation by state Attorney General Letitia James that found that Mr Cuomo had sexually harrassed 11 women.

The chair of the committee overseeing the inquiry, Charles Lavine, said in a statement on Thursday that the probe said it was nearing completion and that the Assembly will shortly consider potential articles of impeachment against Mr Cuomo.

Mr Lavine, the chair of the Assemblys Judiciary Committee, said lawyers hired by the state legislature had told Mr Cuomo and his legal team to submit any evidence they may have in defence of the governor by next Friday. The lawyers previously issued a subpoena to get access to documents relevant to their investigation.

The announcement is a sign that the Democratic State Assembly is trying to move expeditiously to remove the three-term governor of their own party from office after Ms James, also a Democrat, found that the governor had created a toxic workplace, including sexually harassing several women who worked for him.

Mr Cuomo is the son of Mario Cuomo, also a three-term New York governor, and the older brother of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.

The New York State Assembly started an expansive impeachment inquiry in March, looking into several scandals involving the governor, such as how he handled deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic. The inquiry had started slowly, but after the report by the state Attorney General, Assembly leaders signalled that they were speeding up the probe and moving towards holding an impeachment vote, The New York Times reported.

 Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, investigation finds

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said on Tuesday that members of the body would move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.

State lawmakers in the Assembly can impeach the governor by a simple majority vote. The State Senate, where Democrats are also in the majority, would then conduct an impeachment trial.

If hes convicted, Mr Cuomo would be forced to leave his office and could be banned from seeking statewide elected office in the future. He would be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.

In the beginning, the impeachment inquiry focused on four main issues: the allegations of sexual harassment, the handling of nursing home deaths data, if Mr Cuomo had used state resources to write a book about his leadership during the pandemic, and if his administration had hidden structural problems at a bridge named after his father  the Gov Mario M Cuomo Bridge.

One member of the Assemblys judiciary committee said on Wednesday that the inquiry had been redirecting to move away from the allegations about the bridge. Others confirmed this version of events, The New York Times reported.

The statement from Mr Lavine didnt specify when the probe would conclude and members of the judiciary committee have said that they will take as long as they need to conduct the investigation and provide the strongest case possible for impeachment ahead of a possible trial.

The Times reported earlier this week that one person involved in the process said it could take up to a month to finish the investigation as well as the articles of impeachment.

The committee is set to meet on Monday morning in the state capital of Albany. Mr Cuomo has denied touching anyone inappropriately and has refused to accede to demands for his resignation for months.

Following the state Attorney Generals report, Mr Cuomos public support has decreased and some of his most loyal supporters have moved away from him.
President Biden has signed a bill honouring the Washington DC police who fought off 6 Januarys pro-Trump attack on the Capitol, telling a crowd at the White House that we cant allow history to be re-written.

It wasnt dissent. It wasnt debate. It wasnt debate. It was insurrection, the president said on Thursday of the riot. It was fundamentally un-American, an existential threat, a test of whether our democracy could survive.

The bill, HR 3325, which passed the Senate unanimously but was opposed by 21 Republicans in the House, awards four congressional gold medals to members of the US Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police Department who kept the crowd of angry MAGA loyalists from reaching senior members of the government taking shelter inside the Capitol.

Our democracy did survive, Mr Biden added. Truth defeated lies. We did overcome. Thats because of the women and men of the US capitol police, Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, and other law enforcement officials we honour today.

The law marks the highest honour yet for the officers stationed at the Capitol that day, after various Congress members have recognised them, and officer Eugene Goodman, hailed as one of the heroes of the riot, escorted vice-president Kamala Harris at the inauguration. Five people, including Capitol officer Brian Sicknick, were killed at the riots, and four officers present that day have died by suicide since. More than 100 other police were injured during the attack, which attempted to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in Congress.

Though Congress has reached an increasingly rare bipartisan consensus that the officers who served deserve commendation, the broader legacy of 6 January remains contested.

Though Republicans in Congress rejected a bipartisan, 9/11-commission-style investigation into the riot in June, a House committee is continuing its efforts to understand what happened that day, including by calling in DC police officers to testify.

That effort could escalate in the coming days, as the committee mulls whether to call (or force) testimony top Republicans like minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, whove said they were in contact with former president Trump during the course of the riot.

The biggest fight of all would be if House investigators try to subpoena Mr Trump, which could touch off a lengthy legal fight between Congress and the former president.Elsewhere, the mirage of consequential voter fraud in the 2020 election, debunked over and over again by experts, retains its allure.

Republicans in the swing state of Arizona are still auditing 2020 election results, even though the state already certified its returns, and Mr Trump has continued to suggest the 2020 election was rigged as he plots his political comeback and hosts rallies around the country.
The Biden administration offered a temporary safe haven for Hong Kong residents who are present in the United States, according to a statement from the White House.

President Joe Biden signed a memorandum on Thursday that defer removing certain Hong Kong residents in the country for 18 months, according to a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

This decision to offer safety and protection to these individuals was made based on the ongoing assault on democracy, and rights and freedoms in Hong Kong by the People's Republic of China, Mr Mayorkas said in a statement.

Mr Mayorkas added that residents whose removal was deferred can also apply for employment authorization in the United States through US Citizenship and Naturalization Services.

Given the politically motivated arrests and trials, the silencing of the media, and the diminishing the space for elections and democratic opposition, we will continue to take steps in support of people in Hong Kong, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Roughly two decades before she was elected to Congress Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri lived in a Ford Explorer with her then-husband and two young children after the family had been evicted from their rental home.

So for Bush, a freshman Democrat from St. Louis, the debate over whether to revive the moratorium on evictions during the pandemic is deeply personal. To dramatize her point, she started to sleep outside the U.S. Capitol last Friday to call attention to the issue as part of the effort to pressure President Joe Biden and Congress to act.

On Tuesday, she won. After coming under intense pressure, the Biden administration issued a new eviction moratorium that will last until October 3, temporarily halting evictions in counties with substantial and high levels of virus transmissions, which covers areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives.

Bush's experience sets her apart from the more conventional partisan sniping and grandstanding in the capital because of her direct connection to an urgent problem affecting millions of Americans.

I know what its like to be evicted and have to live out of my car with my two babies, Bush said in an interview Saturday. "As long as I am a sitting U.S. congressperson, I will not keep my mouth shut about it.

Bush was a prominent part of a larger push among progressives to stop evictions, and the Biden administration moved quickly to provide a policy response. It thrust her swiftly into meetings with top congressional leaders and administration officials and she was sought after for interviews.

She met Monday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and had a brief chat with Vice President Kamala Harris  attention that punctuates a political rise that took Bush from leading protests against police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri, to the halls of Congress in little more than five years.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday gave a salute to Bush "for her powerful action to keep people in their homes.

Before reversing course, the Biden administration initially argued it didn't have legal authority to extend the moratorium again, pointing to a Supreme Court opinion in June that suggested Congress should pass legislation to do so.

A last-minute attempt to pass a bill through the House also came up short Friday. Then the chamber adjourned and lawmakers left town for an extended August recess  a response Bush says "failed to meet this moment."

On Tuesday, before the administration's announcement, Bush said: Am I supposed to just go home? No, Im an organizer. I am an activist. So I fell back into what I know how to do.

It is activism borne of personal experience.

In 2001, Bush became ill while pregnant with her second child and had to quit her job at a preschool. The lost income led to their eviction.

For about three months the couple lived out of their Explorer with two playpens in the back. She said that, at the time, she was working in a low-wage job. Eventually, her family, already struggling themselves, was able to help her find a home.

I dont want anyone else to have to go through what I went through, ever, Bush said while wiping away tears.

The couple later divorced and Bush went back to school, earning a nursing degree. She also became a pastor.

Her life changed in 2014 when a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, a Black and unarmed 18-year-old, in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.

Bush joined the thousands of activists in the protests that followed the shooting and quickly became a leader of the movement that sought police and criminal justice reform in Ferguson and throughout the St. Louis region. She was back on the streets again three years later after a white St. Louis police officer was acquitted in the shooting death of a Black suspect.

Her activism fueled an interest in politics. She ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in 2016, followed by another losing primary race for a St. Louis congressional seat in 2018, in which she was defeated by roughly 20 percentage points.

Two years later, her supporters sensed a change in the political landscape in the aftermath of George Floyds death. With backing from the progressive group Justice Democrats, she sought a rematch against longtime Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay  and won.

They counted us out, Bush said after her primary win. They called me  Im just the protester, Im just the activist with no name, no title and no real money. Thats all they said that I was. But St. Louis showed up today.

She won easily in heavily Democratic St. Louis in November.

The Rev. Darryl Gray, a political adviser to Bush, said her tenacity was apparent early in her failed 2016 bid for Senate, when she was willing to campaign in rural and very conservative corners of the state.

She wasnt afraid to show up and speak for justice in places where people would warn us about going, some of these sunset towns, Gray said. She knew she wouldnt get support, but people respected the fact she showed up.

Still, there are some who questioned the decision to pick a fight with congressional leadership and the president from her own party. Administration and congressional officials also noted that much of the money Congress had allocated to provide housing assistance has not been distributed by states.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he was "sensitive" to Bush's aim, but suggested she may be waging the wrong battle.

Its not the federal government thats doing it, Clyburn said. "If youve appropriated $46 billion for the country, and only $3 billion has been used, then thats not Congress. ... Its on whoever has got the money tied up.

Tuesday evening, after the administration made its announcement, Bush tweeted out a photo of her and others sitting on the Capitol steps with a one-word caption: Grateful.

___

Salter reported from OFallon, Missouri. Associated Press writers Kevin Freking in Washington and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.
A senior Democrat says the votes are there for the Senate to repeal the two Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) used by US forces to justify continued combat operations in Iraq.

Senator Tim Kaine told The Hill on Wednesday that 11 GOP senators plan to either co-sponsor or vote for legislation repealing the two AUMFs passed in 2002 and 1991. The AUMF governing military actions in Afghanistan, from which the US is withdrawing combat forces, remains in effect.

The move is mostly seen as symbolic  as turning the page on one of the most controversial chapters in recent US history  and would be the first time in 50 years that Congress had repealed such an authorisation.

We think we have 11 who have either co-sponsored or voted for it or told the press theyre going to vote for it, said the Virginia senator.

A bipartisan bill from Mr Kaine and Senator Todd Young to repeal the AUMFs advanced through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in recent days, and is now headed for the Senate floor.

At least 10 Republican votes would be needed for the bill to avoid a GOP filibuster, provided that every Democrat supported the legislation. Mr Kaine said he expected that to be the case.

The two AUMFs in Iraq were repealed by the House in June, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi; President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure if it reaches his desk.

The US has been involved in combat operations in Iraq for nearly two decades, and a repeal of the AUMFs passed in 2002 and 1991 would not significantly change the US presence in the region, as much of the countrys efforts are now devoted to hunting ISIS-aligned militants and militias believed to be aligned with Iran.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed that the measure would be voted on before the end of the year.
Grant Stern, a Florida radio broadcaster and the executive editor of the progressive political organisation Occupy Democrats, tweeted out a video he says shows that he was removed by four police officers for asking House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about why he opposed the 6 January Commission.

I tried to ask @GOPLeader McCarthy a question after he decried Cuban police pickup up (sic) people in the streets, Mr Stern tweeted. Why does he oppose the bipartisan #January6thCommission? A Congressional staffer had four cops pick me up and drag me from the room. I still asked the question.

Matt Sparks, a spokesman for Mr McCarthy, said in an email to The Independent that congressional staff had nothing to do [with] his removal.

How can you stay silent when you hear the cries of freedom? Mr McCarthy can be heard saying in the video. You see the oppression of people being picked up in streets.

When the minority leader finishes speaking, a man from behind the camera can be heard saying: Minority leader, you said that the 1960 revolution created tyranny on the island of Cuba and I am asking you a question.

The camera then starts to move around. With a raised voice, he continues, Its not a Democratic or Republican issue, so why do you oppose the January 6th commission, sir? The camera then starts to shake more and more as he appears to slowly leave the room.

In an email to The Independent, Mr Stern said: I dont understand why Minority Leader McCarthy is talking about freedom to hold elections in Cuba, but hes so afraid of my questions about Americas freedom to elect its president. When he saw me being dragged away, why didnt he speak up and stop it?

He added: In America, our first amendment rights to press freedom are sacrosanct and Minority Leader McCarthy just stood by as they were violated. I am disgusted by his inaction.

House Democrats launched a select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection after a 9/11-style independent commission was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

The House Republican Leader announced his opposition to such a commission in May. He cited other bipartisan efforts to look into the riot, a security review that was ongoing at the time, and the hundreds of arrests already made by the Department of Justice.

For months, the Speaker of the House refused to negotiate in good faith on basic parameters that would govern a commission to examine the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Mr McCarthy said in a statement on 18 May.

Republican requests for fair representation and an unbiased premise from which to begin such an investigation were always understood to be the starting point for bipartisan negotiations, not the end result, he added.

Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speakers shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation, Mr McCarthy concluded at the time.
An Oregon city official was threatened with stoning in a public meeting in which he was allegedly called a sinner for being gay.

Eric Osterberg, the assistant city manager of Klamath Falls, Oregon, told colleagues on Monday he was threatened by a man who brought a rock to this meeting who accused him of being a sinner for being gay and of spreading Aids here in the community.

He was also accused of blasphemy and of trying to say that I am the second coming of Christ by the man, who has not been named.

Mr Osterberg, who is Black, was about to deliver the findings of an equity task force when he was verbally assaulted and threatened in the chamber of Klamath Falls city hall.

I just want to start the meeting off by pointing to you that just having a simple conversation about racism in our community is gaining that level of violence, that threat of violence, Mr Osterberg told colleagues.

As the Herald and News reported, the man was removed from the building but there was not enough information to arrest him as of Monday, according to police.

Mr Osterberg told the news outlet that he had hoped the man would be arrested, since he made a direct threat to me, and I think it would be pretty bad if he was allowed to just leave, but that had reportedly not happened.

He added: "I think this proves that there is such a violent reaction to the idea that there is even racism in the community.

That people are being threatened by violence in order to try and silence them. And I think that is pretty damning of the community.

Mr Osterberg is due to leave Klamath Falls in August to become the city manager of Ferguson, Missouri.

The Independent has approached Klamath County Sherffs Office for comment.
The State Department has launched an investigation into the whereabouts of a nearly $6,000 bottle of Japanese whiskey given to Mike Pompeo.

In a filing posted to the Federal Register, the department announced they did not know where the gift from Japans government was and said its looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry.

According to document, the former secretary of state was away on a government trip to Saudi Arabia when the whiskey, which was valued at $5,800, was dropped off at the State Department in June 2019.

Mr Pompeos lawyer said that he nor his client had any idea of the whereabouts of the whiskey.

Pompeo has no idea what the disposition was of this bottle of whiskey, William A Burck said.

It is unconstitutional to accept a gift from a foreign government of such a high value. The authors of the US Constitution felt expensive gifts could act as tools to get power and influence over the US government. Punishment for accepting gifts from a foreign power, like the whiskey bottle, can include articles of impeachment.

Under the rules, government officials are permitted to keep gifts that cost less than $390. All gifts over that value threshold automatically become property of the US government.

No more information was provided by the State Department, but two individuals briefed on the matter spoke to the New York Times. They told the paper that the whiskey was never bought from the US government and that the departments inspector general was asked to help to figure out where it eventually ended up.

In April, the State Departments inspector general released a report that said Mr Pompeo and his wife had broken the ethical code by asking employees of the department to carry out personal tasks for them, such as walk their dog.

Like a lot of what occurred in the Trump era, this arises from a mix of rules and regulations that were previously obscure and rarely invoked, Steven M Brand, a lawyer who used to work for the House of Representatives, told the Times. I have been doing ethics stuff for 40 years and this has never been on the top of the list or on the list of problems.

It is unsure what kind of whiskey was given to Mr Pompeo. In recent years, Japan has made a name for itself as a country with a well respected whiskey industry that mirrors the taste of Irish and Scottish offerings.

The Independent reached out to Mr Pompeo for comment.
The president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of trade unions in the US, has died at the age of 72.

Richard Trumka, whose career working for unions spanned several decades, died on Thursday. Politico reported that the cause of death was believed to be a heart attack.

Mr Trumka championed numerous progressive and labour-related causes over the years, but most notably won a human rights award from the Institute for Policy Studies for his support of striking mine workers in South Africa, who at the time were battling the countrys racist apartheid system.

He also stepped into the national spotlight in 2008 with a speech from the main stage of the Democratic National Convention in support of then-candidate Barack Obama and against what he said were racist forces working against Mr Obamas campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer memorialised Mr Trumka minutes after the news broke on the US Senate floor.

He had in his veins, in every atom of his body, the heart, the thoughts, the needs of the working people of America, said Mr Schumer. He was them. Rich Trumka was the working people of America.

Richard Trumka was someone who the president considered a friend, White House press secretary Jen Psaki added, while not ruling out the possibility of President Joe Biden attending his memorial service.

The largest union of federal workers also mourned his death in a news release.

Richard Trumka was an inspirational labor leader and a friend to workers everywhere  but he was a special friend to federal and DC government workers, said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Through every major fight our union has waged in recent decades, Richard Trumka was standing beside AFGE members, defiantly raising his fist in solidarity. During the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, he rallied all of labor to the steps of the White House to stand up for the 800,000 government workers who went weeks without a paycheck. And behind the scenes, he worked tirelessly to help us end a political standoff that was hurting working people, added Mr Kelley.
Israel is ready to strike Iran, Israels Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday, a direct threat seen as a stark warning to the government of the Iranian new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Israeli new threat is the first of its kind since the patchwork coalition government of right-winger Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took over in June. This is also the highest escalation point between the two countries since US President Biden was sworn in in January.

Mr Gantz, who led the centrist Blue and White party and was considered a serious contender to win the PMs office, said Tehran was a threat to his country, the wider Middle East and the entire world.

When asked by the Israeli Newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth whether Israel is ready to launch a military strike against Iran, he replied: yes.

This comes as tensions between Israel and Iran intensified after the first-known deadly attack on an Israeli-operated ship in the Gulf of Oman, leaving a British and a Romanian dead. The US, the UK and Israel blamed Tehran for the attack, as the Islamic Republic prepared for Mr Raisis inauguration ceremony. Iran denied the Israeli accusations, dismissing them as baseless.

Mr Raisi, a former ultra-conservative judge, was widely accused of overseeing the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners, as part of was known in the late 1980s as the death commission.

Israel and Iran have been engaged in a shadow war on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions around Irans nuclear programme.

In April, Iran blamed Israel for a mysterious explosion that knocked out power at its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.

Mr Raisi, 60, will be inaugurated later on Thursday to take over from moderate president Hassan Rouhani, two days after winning the formal endorsement of the countrys Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to take office.

After Mr Raisi was declared the winner in the June presidential election, Israels prime minister called on the international community to wake up to the new presidents nuclear ambitions, calling him Irans brutal hangmen. Iran has repeatedly denied it has intentions to make nuclear weapons.

Experts say Israel is seeking to set out the boundaries for Irans new government at a time it enjoys a constricted mandate from the Biden administration  an approach that runs contrary to the conceivably more tolerant policy President Trump had pushed in dealing with Israel.

Iran is an international and regional problem. The world witnessed one example on Friday, Mr Gantz said, pointing to the attack against the Mercer Street tanker last week. This could happen to anyone, he added.

Mr Gantz commented on Raisis Thursday inauguration and his potential hardline policies across the region by saying, Im telling the world, pay attention. Its coming.

Iran seeks to pose a multi-front challenge to Israel and is building up its forces in Lebanon and Gaza, deploying militias in Syria and Iraq and maintaining its supporters in Yemen. Iran is a global and regional problem and a challenge to Israel, Mr Gantz said.

This is not the first time Israeli leaders have threatened to wage war against Iran in their bid to score political points within Israel and on the international stage.

Just days before he left office, Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens the elimination of the existential threat posed by Iran.

Later, it was revealed that Mr Netanyahu had repeatedly urged former US President Donald Trump to launch military strikes against Iran during Mr Trumps final days in office.

The comments made by Defense Minister Benny Gantz arent much different from former PM Netanyahu. It seems that Israel is sticking to its bomb Iran rhetoric, which has been a favourite topic of Israeli politicians, like Netanyahu, for years, Holly Dagres, Senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told The Independent.

Rhetoric like this is often for domestic consumption as much as it is for Israeli politicians to take an international stand, she added.
A week after the death of his eldest son, Moayed al-Alami sat on the sofa on his ground floor patio, protectively hugging and kissing two of his remaining children.

The Israeli military has opened an investigation into the killing of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Alami who was shot by Israeli soldiers as he rode in the family car.

But that is no comfort to his father, who is devastated by his sons death and has little faith that he will see justice. I have no confidence in the investigation until I see the soldiers in court, he said.

The rear of Moayeds car is riddled with bullet holes and the back seats are still covered in bloodstains. Mohammed was shot and killed by Israeli forces as he travelled with his father and two siblings in their hometown of Beit Ummar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

His death sparked two days of violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops, resulting in the death of one protester.

Recounting the events of last week, al-Alami said he had just picked up some snacks for the children, using his car, when Mohammed asked to return to the store. Mohammed told me, father you have forgotten something. I asked if it was necessary, and he said it was very necessary. So, I told him that we will go back and buy it, said al-Alami.

Al-Alami said he turned the car around. Moments later, his white Renault was struck by gunfire from the rear, including at least three bullets that he said hit Mohammed.

The boy was rushed to hospital and operated on for four hours before he died. The Israeli military has said soldiers in the area called on the van to stop, and that the forces fired warning shots and only aimed at the vehicles tyres.

Al-Alami said he never heard any warnings. Over 10 bullet holes riddled the vehicle. The army also said that al-Alamis car resembled a vehicle driven by a group of men who were seen burying what turned out to be a dead baby earlier that day.

Al-Alamis brother  who witnessed the entire event from the balcony - said the two events were not related and that earlier, another family had been burying a stillborn baby in a cemetery. The three people who arrived earlier had come to bury a baby that had died in the womb, Ashraf Al-Alami said.

After the three people had left, he said he began to worry when he saw soldiers arrive. He feared they would mistake the burial site as a crime scene and grow suspicious. That was when his brothers car approached. The Israel human rights group BTselem this week released what it said was security-camera video of the shooting.

In the video, al-Alamis van is seen approaching a dip in the road, with a group of Israeli soldiers standing further down a hill. Al-Alami is seen doing a U-turn before being chased up the street by troops, who are heard shouting at him to stop, before opening fire.

The actual shooting is not seen, but at least a dozen shots are heard. BTselem said the video shows the family posed no threat to the troops. The army has said that senior commanders and military police  which investigate suspected wrongdoing by troops are involved in the probe.

But Moayed said that he did not expect the investigation to lead to anything. He said the military helped transfer the boy to the hospital after the shooting, but that he has not heard from investigators.

And BTselem grew so frustrated with the military justice system that in 2016 it halted its longtime practice of assisting in investigations. It accuses the army of whitewashing wrongdoing and says soldiers are rarely punished.

In the first seven months of this year, Israeli fire has killed 11 Palestinian children in the West Bank, surpassing the total number of child killings in 2020, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.

Israeli soldiers man a watchtower next to Beit Ummar in order to protect traffic going in and out of the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmei Zur. Mohammeds funeral the following day resulted in large clashes in which a 20-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli army fire.

His funeral was held on Friday, followed by more clashes.

The mayor of Beit Ummar - who is also a member of the extended al-Alami family  said that most of Beit Ummars 17,000 residents attended the boys funeral. The soldiers did not allow us to bury our child in dignity, said Habis Al-Alami.

To kill a boy with just bread in his hand. It is a crime, we just want to be treated as human beings.

by Associated Press
Spirit cancelled the majority of its flights on Wednesday, leaving thousands stranded as the week of chaos for the carrier stretches into its fifth consecutive day.

According to Flight Aware, the airline cancelled 60 per cent of its scheduled flights on Wednesday, a figure which translated to more than 400 flights.

USA Today reported that the airline has cancelled more than 1,300 flights since Sunday, but the company says it is working around the clock to get our guests where they need to be.

The last three days were extremely difficult for our guests and team members, and for that we sincerely apologise, the airline said in a statement.

The disorder showed little sign of letting up on Thursday with 376 (48 per cent) of its flights listed as being cancelled, according to Flight Aware.

The week-long commotion has left thousands of passengers stranded at airports across Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Houston, and San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Aviation experts have predicted that the disarray has come as a result of inclement weather, staffing shortages and the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

Orlando airport spokesperson Carolyn Fennell told The Sun-Sentinel that the issues are causing a perfect storm for the flight company.

Jon Jager, an analyst at aviation data firm Cirium and a former schedule planner for a major US carrier, told The Washington Post that increased travel demand is also a factor.

This is the last best chance for airlines to make revenue  and the demand is there, Mr Jager said.

He said: People are wanting to travel. This causes pressure on the airline to maximise their schedule with fewer employees available to work due to pandemic staffing levels.

Spirit Airlines is recommending that customers check their email before leaving for the airport to confirm whether their flight has been cancelled or delayed.

They advise that for those affected the fastest way to receive direct assistance from the airline is through their web chat platform.

Cancellation numbers will progressively drop in the days to come, the airline has said.

The Independent has reached out the Spirit Airlines for further comment.
A young couple are cutting short their honeymoon in Mexico from two weeks to two days after the Latin American nation was added to the UKs red list  requiring hotel quarantine for anyone arriving back after 4am on Sunday 8 August.

An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 British holidaymakers are scrambling for flights home from Mexico before the country joins the UK high-risk register, according to the transport secretary, Grant Shapps.

Among them is Joe Coward, a 29-year-old student from London, who discovered the new restrictions after landing in Mexico early on Thursday morning with his bride.

He told the PA news agency: We touched down to find that our two-week honeymoon, which had already been rearranged several times, was going to be a two-day visit.

Weve arranged a flight for tomorrow and will be spending today getting ready to turn right around and go home.

We feel extremely angry at the governments incompetent handling of international travel rules during this crisis, and incredibly sad and frustrated that the time that shouldve been spent enjoying being newlyweds has been ruined.

Mr Coward said if the couple do not receive a refund from British Airways for their holiday, based near Cancun, they will be several thousand pounds out of pocket.

Ayo Faley, a call handler for NHS Test and Trace in London, also landed in Cancun on Thursday morning but she plans to stay for her holiday as planned and pay for quarantine.

The 24-year-old told PA that when she learnt of the red-list rating she went into a state of panic.

She said: I am absolutely distraught... Ive decided to just stay and enjoy the time here... Ill just have to face the consequences when I arrive.

The UK government says Mexico was added to the high-risk red list due to increasing incidence in country, growing positive cases of those travelling to the UK, and the presence of the B.1.621 variant first identified in Colombia.

Arrivals from Mexico before the 4am Sunday deadline are governed by amber list rules, which means self-isolation for people who have not been vaccinated in the UK, European Union or US  but no quarantine for travellers who have the right jabs.

But touching down in the UK after that time triggers 11 nights in hotel quarantine  at a cost of 1,750 for a solo traveller until 12 August, when prices increase.

Many hundreds of UK travellers are due to return before Monday, regardless of the new rules.

Tui Airways has flights from Cancun, the main Mexican resort for British holidaymakers, on Thursday afternoon to Gatwick and Manchester, and on Friday afternoon to Manchester.

British Airways is offering passengers  whether flight-only or BA Holidays  the option to re-book their flights from Mexico at no additional cost.

A spokesperson for the airline said: Our teams have been working through the night to arrange as many additional seats out of Mexico as possible to help get Britons home.

British Airways Holidays will automatically refund any customer with a booking to Mexico in the next four weeks.

The Independent understands that BA is laying on extra relief flights from both Cancun and Mexico City, converting a cargo service to a passenger flight and re-timing an existing flight to arrive before the 4am Sunday deadline.

At present BAs Saturday flight from Cancun to Gatwick is scheduled to depart at 5.40pm and land at the Sussex airport at 9.15am on Sunday. It would need to be moved to a morning departure from Mexico in order to beat the deadline.

The airline is also negotiating with hotels in Cancun to try to get refunds for people who have to return to the UK earlier than planned.

The Friday afternoon flight from Mexico City to London Heathrow on BA is currently priced at 1,239 one way in premium economy  but the airline is keeping online fares deliberately high to protect re-booking space for existing BA customers.

While there are hundreds of flights from Mexico to the US each day, with many connections onwards to Britain, people who have been in the UK in the past 14 days are not allowed to board them and change planes at American airports.
Jetting off on a foreign holiday from the UK is possible under a traffic light system, with countries classified as green, amber or red and prescribed restrictions to match based on the risk of arrivals importing new Covid-19 infections.

There are still myriad hoops travellers must jump through, including pre-departure and post-arrival coronavirus tests taken within a certain timeframe.

Spain and its islands have long been a favourite destination for Britons, with more than 18 million holidaymakers visiting this Mediterranean hotspot in a normal year. However, the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the travel industry.

But how likely is a Spanish getaway this summer  and what are the current rules on travel? Heres everything you need to know.

Are British holidaymakers allowed to travel to Spain this summer?

The Alhambra Palace in Granada (Getty Images)

Yes, and Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, had originally said the nation would be more than delighted to welcome back British tourists without any restrictions - there were previously no testing, quarantine or vaccination requirements for UK arrivals.

To sign up to Simon Calders free weekly travel newsletter click here

However, due to transmission of the Delta variant, British holidaymakers must now present either a negative Covid test (PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR) taken within 72 hours of arrival, or proof of full vaccination at least 14 days prior, in order to gain entry to the country as of 2 July. Spain will accept an NHS Covid Pass as proof of vaccination status.

Antigen tests are only accepted in certain limited circumstances, but not for tourism.

Before travel to Spain, passengers must also complete and sign an online Health Control Form no more than 48 hours prior to travel, declaring any known history of exposure to Covid-19 and giving contact details.

Anyone who has not completed this form electronically via the Spain Travel Health website or app may submit it in paper format prior to boarding.

Is Spain on the amber list?

The aquamarine waters surrounding Majorca (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Mainland Spain, as well as the Canary and Balearic Islands, remains on the governments amber list.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps revealed the latest reshuffle of the traffic light lists for international travel on 4 August, when it transpired Spain and its territories remained stuck on the amber list.

The next review is due to take place on or around 25 August, with any changes taking effect the following week.

Will Spain join the green list in the next review?

Nothing is ever certain in the ongoing game of traffic-light travel roulette. The next review of the lists is expected in three weeks time.

But asked on Sky News whether Spain could be put on the red list in future, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, replied: With coronavirus you can never say there is zero chance.

What does travel to an amber list country entail?

Barcelonas Sagrada Familia cathedral (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Holidaymakers travelling home from a destination on the amber list will need to take a pre-departure test - which can be a lateral flow or rapid antigen test, as well as a PCR test - with proof of a negative result.

However, in the latest government travel update, the Department for Transport added on a special note for travellers from Spain, advising them to take a PCR, rather than the cheaper, quicker, lateral flow as their pre-departure test. This is currently advice, rather a legal requirement.

Upon arrival to the UK from an amber list country, travellers who have not been fully vaccinated must self-isolate at home for 10 days, plus have pre-booked and paid to take two PCR tests: one on day two and one on day eight.

Returning travellers in England can opt to pay for a further test on day five and end self-isolation early if its negative.

Britons who have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine and those under the age of 18, plus travellers whove been double-jabbed in the US or EU, will not have to self-isolate upon returning, but still have to book and take a day two PCR test.

Will I need to have been vaccinated to visit Spain?

No - although if you havent been double jabbed at least 14 days prior to entering Spain, you must present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival.

What restrictions are in place in Spain?

Rising Covid-19 infection rates have seen the reintroduction of restrictions in Catalonia and Valencia.

Health emergency chief Fernando Simon called the situation really dramatic, adding: We are still in a situation where we have to reduce risks.

The Catalan regional government announced last month that all activities, including bars, would have to shut at 12.30am, that social gatherings would be capped at ten people, and eating or drinking in public areas would be banned. A 1am curfew was extended to 176 municipalities in Catalonia on Thursday and social gatherings remain capped at 10 people.

Night curfews have also been imposed in more than 30 towns in neighbouring Valencia and tourism hotspot Benicassim.

The use of face coverings continues to be mandatory for anyone over the age of six years old on all forms of public transport in Spain, in any enclosed space open to the public, and outdoors where social distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be observed.

Specific rules on the use of face masks may vary between regions. You should refer to local authorities for specific information on face-covering requirements and any exceptions where you are.

Penalties may be imposed if you do not comply.
There was a collective sigh of relief on 4 August, after it transpired that Spain would remain on the amber list for travel in the governments latest traffic light reshuffle.

Fears had been stoked that the country might join France in the special amber plus category, necessitating returning travellers to quarantine on entering the UK, even if fully vaccinated.

However, the latest update saw the Department for Transport ditch the amber plus label altogether, in addition to the amber watchlist  an idea that was briefly floated but soon scrapped following a backlash from ministers.

However, the latest travel review, whose changes take effect from 4am on Sunday 8 August, included specific advice for passengers from Spain regarding testing.

So which Covid tests do you need to visit Spain? Heres everything you need to know.

Which Covid tests do I need to visit Spain if Im unvaccinated?

On the outbound journey, its up to Spain to determine which tests they need from travellers.

They currently request that travellers from the UK who are not fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to entry must have taken a Covid test within 72 hours before arrival in Spain and tested negative.

The test must be a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT): eg PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR.

Antigen tests are not accepted if you are travelling from the UK to Spain for tourism.

All passengers (including children under 12 years old) travelling by air or sea must also complete and sign an online Health Control Form no more than 48 hours prior to travel.

Which Covid tests do I need to visit Spain if Im vaccinated?

Travellers from the UK who are fully vaccinated need not get tested prior to entering Spain.

You must present proof of being fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain, with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation. Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer and Moderna are all accepted.

Spain will accept the NHS Covid Pass, either digital or in the form of a physical letter. You should check that the name on your passport matches how it is displayed by the NHS Covid Pass at least two weeks before you travel. If the names are different, contact your GP practice to have your details updated.

Your NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate your vaccine status.

Which Covid tests do I need to return to the UK?

All travellers returning to the UK from abroad must present a negative test, which can be a lateral flow (which tends to be cheaper and quicker than a PCR) before they can depart.

However, in the latest government travel update, they included the following Spain-specific advisory: Arrivals from Spain, and all its islands are advised to use a PCR test as their pre-departure test wherever possible, as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country. UK clinicians and scientists will remain in close contact with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest data and picture of cases in Spain.

However, taking a pre-departure PCR test is currently advised rather than a legal requirement.

Which Covid tests do I need after arriving in the UK?

This will depend on your vaccination status.

Spain is an amber list country, which means adults whove been fully vaccinated in the UK, US or EU at least 14 days prior and accompanying under 18s can forgo quarantine when they enter the UK.

Instead they must follow green list rules, taking one PCR test within two days of arrival.

Adults whove not been double jabbed must follow the original amber list rules: quarantine at home for 10 days on arrival, and pre-book a set of two PCR tests to be taken on day two and day eight. Those in England may pay for a further test on day five which, if negative, allows them to leave self-isolation early.
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India is to end retrospective tax of capital gains from sale of assets located in the country by entities registered abroad. The development comes after major setbacks in arbitration cases involving retro tax demands contested by Cairn Energy and Vodafone. The Indian government will also refund the money collected on the basis of retrospective taxation, but without any interest, subject to certain stipulated conditions. An end to retrospective taxation has been long demanded by the international business community, and will remove unnecessary uncertainty over triggering corporate tax liabilities for an MNC in India. Previously, the Finance Act of 2012 enabled Indias tax department to impose tax on gains arising from the sale of shares of a foreign company  if such shares derived their value from assets located in India.



On August 5, 2021, the central government introduced The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the lower house of parliament that seeks to withdraw tax demands made using the 2012 Finance Act, which enabled the collection of retrospective tax on indirect transfer of Indian assets. The bill is an outcome of Indias long-time tax disputes with UK firms Cairn Energy PLC and Vodafone Group.

On Friday, August 6, the bill was approved by the lower house. On Monday, August 9, the bill was returned from the upper house amid a walk-out from opposition parties, and since no objection has been recorded, the bill will move to receive the Presidents assent.

Once the bill receives the Presidents assent, which is only a matter of procedure, the Indian government aims to settle the pending tax disputes. As per a senior Finance Ministry official speaking to the media, Among the four main companies which are to get refund, Cairn is the largest one and it is already in touch with the government. Still, we will communicate to it about the new law. We will also talk to the other three.

The other three cases involve New Singular Wireless (INR 1.19 billion / US$16.03 million), WNS Capital (INR 470 million / US$6.33 million), and Vodafone (INR 447.4 million / US$6.03 million).

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson JB Mohapatra told media this week that the Indian government will have to pay INR 80 billion (approx. US$1.075 billion) to four companies, including Cairn Energy, Vodafone, and WNS Capital. The refund amount will not include interest.

What is the tax amendment bill proposing and will there be any future scope for retrospective tax in India?

The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to amend the Income-Tax Act, 1961 so that no retrospective tax demand shall be raised on any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012 (that is, the date on which the Finance Bill, 2012 received the Presidents assent).

The bill proposes that tax demand raised for indirect transfer of Indian assets made before May 28, 2012 shall be nullified on the fulfillment of specified conditions, such as the withdrawal or furnishing of undertaking for the withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing an undertaking that no claim for cost, damages, interest etc. shall be filed.

The bill proposes to refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest thereon. Given this intention, the Indian government will have to refund US$1.2 billion to Cairn Energy for the shares of the company it had sold, tax refund withheld, and dividends that had been confiscated by the tax department.

The bill also proposes to amend the Finance Act, 2012 to provide that the validation of demand, etc. under section 119 of the Finance Act, 2012 shall cease to apply on the fulfillment of specified conditions, such as the withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing an undertaking to the effect that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc. shall be filed.

In its objectives, the bill said, Pursuant thereto, income-tax demand had been raised in 17 cases. In two cases assessments are pending due to stay granted by High Court. In two cases, the Arbitration Tribunal ruled in favour of the taxpayer and against the Income Tax Department [referring to the Cairn Energy and Vodafone cases].

Why is the bill being introduced now?

The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is a major effort towards ensuring the principle of tax certainty in India, which has been long asked by foreign investors and multinational enterprises operating in India.

Moreover, the high profile Cairn Energy and Vodafone retrospective tax arbitration cases have done much damage to Indias reputation as a business-friendly jurisdiction, neutralizing gains made through bureaucratic reforms and the push to expand Indias industrial production and infrastructure upgrades.

India wants to settle the pending cases by the fiscal year end.

Background

On December 21, 2020, the Indian government lost an international arbitration over the retrospective levy of taxes on Cairn Energy PLC. The three-person Hague-based tribunal, which includes an Indian representative, unanimously invalidated Indias claim of INR 102.47 billion in past taxes over a 2006-07 internal reorganization of Cairns India business. In a 582-page order, the tribunal stated that India had failed to accord the Claimants (Cairn Energys) investments fair and equitable treatment under its bilateral investment protection pact with the UK. The tribunal ordered India to return the value of shares it had sold, dividends seized, and tax refunds withheld to recoup the tax demand. The government was also asked to compensate Cairn for the total harm suffered along with interest and cost of arbitration. Based on this order, Cairn Energy has claimed that it has been awarded US$1.2 billion damages plus interest and cost. According to sources, this would be US$200 million of interest and US$20 million of arbitration cost, with the total amount payable by the Indian government US$1.4 billion (about INR 105 billion).

Prior to the Cairn Energy arbitration order, on September 25, 2020, the Netherlands-based Vodafone International BV won its international arbitration award against the Indian governments retro tax demand of INR 221 billion. The international arbitration court ruled that the Indian government seeking INR 221 billion in taxes from the company using retrospective legislation was in breach of the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment guaranteed under the bilateral investment protection pact between India and the Netherlands. The Indian governments liabilities  covering legal costs  are significantly less in this case since it did not take action to recover the retro tax demand from Vodafone.
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Days after Israeli-spyware Pegasus snooping case rocked the nation, the Supreme Court heard a clutch of petitions, including those filed by the Editors Guild of India. The court made it clear that truth has to come out in the matter.

"Allegations are serious"

The Supreme Court said the allegations are serious if the media reports correct as the media body sought a special probe into the Pegasus spyware scandal involving allegations that opposition leaders, journalists and others were targets of snooping,

TOI

The court also asked the petitioners to serve the copies of the pleas seeking probe into the matter. A two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, is hearing the petitions. Justice Surya Kant is the second judge on the Bench.



The observation came in response to senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is representing the petitioners, saying that Pegasus is a rogue technology that enters our lives without our knowledge and is an assault on the privacy, dignity and values of the Indian Republic.

What happened in court

CJI NV Ramana further asked why no one has filed a criminal complaint about illegal interception under the IT and the Telegraph Act in connection with the Pegasus row.



"We don't see that any of them have filed a complaint," the CJI said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing on behalf of the petitioners told the court, "We have no direct access to the information. There are 37 verified cases of interception."



REUTERS

The CJI also rapped petitioner ML Sharma for filing a petition against the Prime Minister, and other individual ministers. "Don't try to take advantage," the Court told Sharma.



The snooping row

The global media investigation involving several leading publications, including The Wire, has disclosed that 300 phones from India were on the list of potential targets on the leaked database of NSO, which supplies Israeli spyware Pegasus. It is not established, however, that all the phones were hacked.



Two petitions were filed in the Supreme Court on the same case, one by CPM MP John Brittas and the other by advocate ML Sharma. Following this, senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar had sought probe by a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting of former judge into the snooping allegations.

Getty Images

The Editors Guild of India, in its petition filed two days ago, requested the Supreme Court to seek details from the government on the spyware contract and a list of those targeted.

The pleas, which were filed on July 27, seek a direction to the Centre to disclose if the government or any of its agencies obtained a license for Pegasus spyware and used it, either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance in any manner.


A student who has started college during the coronavirus pandemic is suffering the most. Neither they are able to enjoy all the fun a college life offers nor they are getting the kind of exposure they should be getting via their college.

But the travel restrictions due to the extended pandemic in India has left a lot of students deprived of going back to their international colleges. While most colleges abroad have already opened up, Indians students are losing money and education due to covid-induced restrictions.

So, a girl from Kolkata by the name Isha B found a way to return to her university in Hong Kong by taking a mega detour.

Unsplash

It will take her over 3 weeks, 17.5 hours that will just be spent on flights and over 10,000 km to reach Hong Kong. Even though the distance from Kolkata to Hong Kong is just over 2,000 km away her detour is going to take her places, reports TOI.

Ishas weird journey itinerary came into effect on Tuesday when she flew from Kolkata to Mumbai, the place she stayed the evening earlier than boarding a flight to Male within the wee hours of Thursday. Five others college students from the same college whove been equally stranded in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are travelling along with her.

On reaching Male, they are going to keep for 14 days in a resort accepted for quarantine earlier than taking a flight to Dubai on August 19. There, the scholars will keep per week earlier then board a flight to Hong Kong on August 26.



Unsplash

Ishas family will be spending over Rs 3.5 lakh on the journey in opposition to Rs 35,000, the fare for a direct flight from Kolkata to Hong Kong. Moreover, a journey which could have been of just 4.5 hours has been stretched to a 528-hour itinerary with different flights going to different places.

About this, her father Ravi B told Times Of India, When the pandemic was declared final March and the Indian authorities introduced that everyone worldwide flights can be suspended, our daughter flew again in a rush. Since then, she has been attempting to return to the college however in useless. There have hardly been any flights between the 2 nations and issues acquired sophisticated additional with India getting into the pink checklist from the place journey is banned by a number of nations. Because the college is now insisting that college students return to campus, Isha has no choice however undertake this arduous journey. 

Unsplash

Travel agent Anil Punjabi, who helped the family make the itinerary said, Since India is on the red list, a 14-day stay in Male will ensure that they can travel again to Dubai which is on the green list. However, to enter Hong Kong, a person has to be on the Green List in one or more countries in the past 21 days. Also, RT-PCR test is to be done from a specialized class laboratory with international recognition. Since this facility is available in Dubai, there is a seven-day stay in Dubai before going to Hong Kong.



Since India is in the red zone, the future of several students studying abroad has suddenly become quite uncertain.




The report's release comes after a more-than-yearlong focus on COVID-era hate violence directed at Asian Americans and Asian immigrants, and ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which saw an uptick in anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh attacks. Above: A protester holds a sign during a rally for justice for AAPI crime victims at the Thomas J. Cahill Hall of Justice on April 14, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In this photo illustration the stock trading graph of Google is seen on a smartphone screen. Dhruv Krishnans algorithm simplifies the process of navigating the stock market. (photo illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Family, friends and community members attend a vigil in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 18 to remember the victims of a mass shooting at a local FedEx facility that took the lives of eight people, including four Sikh Americans. Indian American organizations had raised questions about whether the gunman's motivation was in any way racially or ethnically motivated. (Jeff Dean/AFP via Getty Images)
Woodbridge, VA (22192)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Hot and humid. High 93F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Long Realty Company has sold their most expensive Tucson-area home in more than a decade with the closure of a $4 million house in the Ventana Canyon Mountain Estates.
Heavy, continuous rain in parts of northern New England led to flash flooding, washed out roads and a few home rescues, authorities said.

The latest rains come as what has been a soggy July in some parts of the region comes to an end.

Police in Marlow, in southwestern New Hampshire, said four people and two animals were rescued from a home off Route 10 that had water rushing into the basement, WMUR-TV reported. About 15 miles north, a fire department ladder truck helped with a home rescue in Goshen.

Ive never seen it rain that hard in that short of time before, said Kevin Bevilacqua, a road agent in Goshen. Weve got about five roads washed out and a bunch of people out of their houses.

New Hampshire State Police responded to a number of flash-flooding calls in Goshen and Newport about 5 miles away.

In Bellows, Falls, Vermont, there was waste-deep water in some neighborhoods. Firefighters pumped water from the basements of half a dozen homes. In Putney, a number of local roads were closed by flooding.

With the latest rainfall, Concord, New Hampshire, had recorded 13.04 inches of rain, further solidifying the dubious distinction of wettest July on record. The old record was 10.29 inches in 1915, said meteorologist Hunter Tubbs from the National Weather Service.

It was the second-wettest July on record in Portland, Maine.

The National Weather Service in Burlington says that in northern Vermont, rainfall this July has been about normal, but it has been rainier in Rutland, Windsor, Bennington and Windham.

Meteorologist Robert Haynes said Friday the Springfield airport has seen record rainfall, of 9.13 inches, but the records only go back to the late 1990s.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood
A cyberattack that crippled the computer systems of a hospital network affecting six hospitals in Vermont and New York last fall happened after an employee opened a personal email on a company laptop while on vacation, a University of Vermont Health Network official said.

The email was from legitimate local business that had been hacked, Doug Gentile, network chief medical information officer told The Associated Press. The email contained an attachment that had the malware. When the employee returned from vacation and logged onto the UVM network through a virtual private network, the attackers were ready and launched the attack, he said.

We have no evidence at all that UVM was specifically targeted. We just got caught up in a broad phishing attack, Gentile said.

VTDigger first reported how the attack happened.

The October 2020 cyberattack caused significant, ongoing computer network problems for the University of Vermont Health Network, affecting its six hospitals in Vermont and New York, officials had said at the time. The same day, the FBI and two federal agencies warned in an alert that they had credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.

UVM figured out how the cyberattack happened a week or so later by going through detailed logs, Gentile said. It had called state and federal law enforcement immediately and the FBI was extremely helpful in the investigation, he said. The source of the attack was a criminal gang that the FBI is familiar with, he said.

These people are virtual and they can be anywhere. Most of them are offshore, some place where our law enforcement cant get to them, he said.

At the time of the attack, UVM Health Network had blocked access to personal email for anyone who was on the network but had not yet extended that to the machines when they were off the corporate network, which it had planned to do this year, Gentile said. It has since done so, he said.

The same day, the FBI and two federal agencies warned in an alert that they had credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.

Since the attack, UVM has blocked access to has installed more advanced viral wall protection on all corporate assets and considerably tightened up its vpn access, he said.

So weve made a lot of changes, Gentile said.

The attack cost an estimated $50 million, mostly in lost revenue, he said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cyber Education Universities
The head of one of the UKs largest insurers and investors warned that the City of London is struggling far more than the countrys other office districts in luring workers back to their desks.

Since lockdown restrictions were eased, other centers were showing greater signs of life than the capitals main financial district, according to Nigel Wilson, chief executive officer of Legal & General Group Plc. He said employers will have to step up efforts in the next few years to refill their offices.

The challenge for us that we have in the UK is how do we get people back to working in the City, Wilson said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. If you travel around the rest of the country, there is a lot more economic activity going on in the core areas within those cities.

Read more: London Staff Want Big Pay Raises Before Returning to Their Desks Full-Time: Survey

L&G has made regional regeneration a key part of its investment thesis, and hasnt been long central London office buildings for many years, Wilson said. He was speaking following half-year results, which saw the firms return on equity jump 22% versus 6.3% a year earlier thanks to investments in real assets.

Activity in the City and rival district Canary Wharf recently inched up after having been little changed in recent weeks amid the summer holiday season, according to the Pret Index, which measures transactions at Pret A Manger stores. Still, it signals theres a long way to go before the areas return to pre-pandemic levels.

Firms in the UK and globally are grappling with what the future of the office holds, with many allowing staff to work from home several days a week. HSBC Holdings Plc this week said it had reduced its global office footprint by about 10% and is on track to cut it by about a fifth by the end of this year.

With assistance from Anna Edwards.

Photograph: Commuters emerge from Bank Underground station in the City of London, UK, on Thursday, July 1, 2021. With the vast majority of the Square Miles 500,000 office staff working from home during the pandemic, once-bustling streets have been largely deserted. Photo credit: Tom Skipp/Bloomberg.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics London
This edition of International People Moves covers two promotions at the insurer Fidelis and a new hire at broker OneGlobal in Bermuda.

A summary of these appointments follows here.

Fidelis, the Bermuda-based insurer, has appointed Charles Mathias to the newly created position of group director of underwriting. Mathias will be responsible for ensuring that Fidelis underwriting data, systems, processes and reporting are of the highest standard and will support the CEOs of insurance, reinsurance and Socium in delivering Fidelis business plans.

Phillip Murfet will assume the role of group chief risk officer, replacing Mathias. Murfet was formerly Fidelis group portfolio manager and head of catastrophe modeling.

The scale and scope of our underwriting capabilities have increased dramatically over the last two years. We now offer over 60 different products working with our clients through brokers and MGAs, said Richard Brindle, chairman and group chief executive officer of Fidelis.

So our underwriting controls, systems and data are at the center of what we do, not just for our own needs but also for those of our Socium partners and other stakeholders, added Brindle. We have already developed market leading tools to manage our underwriting and analytics. We now need to move to the next level of automation and reporting. Charlie has great experience in these areas and will ensure we remain efficient and focused.

Phil Murfet has already shown real understanding and innovation in his roles in portfolio management and modeling. As such he has worked closely with me and the risk team and has a thorough understanding of our risk appetites, framework and tolerances. He has already contributed significantly to the development of our proprietary FireAnt aggregation and analytics tool, and he will be looking for opportunities to enhance our risk management and reporting tools for operational and all other risk sectors, commented Mathias.

***

Oneglobal Broking, the London-based broker, announced the appointment of George Bowring as head of Energy Casualty  Bermuda. Bowring will report to Group CEO Mike Reynolds.

He will join the company once he has fulfilled his contractual obligations to his current employer, BMS, and the necessary immigration approvals have been received.

Bowring is an experienced energy casualty broker with strong relationships with U.S. independent broker-producers. He is committed to the Bermuda market having previously been with BMS and before that Price Forbes, based in Bermuda.

Oneglobal is dedicated to providing best-in-class service to our clients when they need an energy casualty solution, and we continue to hire exceptional people to deliver on this commitment, commented Reynolds. Georges strong capabilities and client relationships in the energy casualty sector will provide the significant experience and class leadership that Oneglobal looks for in our team, and Im pleased to welcome him.

Topics Underwriting Casualty Bermuda
A man has been killed at a poultry operation near the village of Lindsay in northeastern Nebraska, officials there said.

Madison County Sheriffs deputies were called Aug. 2 in the afternoon to an address for a report of a man being crushed, and deputies arrived to find Bairon Neftali Carreto Perez, 23, of Columbus, gravely injured, the sheriffs department said in a news release.

Carreto Perez was rushed to a Norfolk hospital, where he died. Sheriffs officials said an investigation showed Carreto Perez had been helping with the transport of large crates of live chickens, which were being moved using a forklift when the crates became dislodged. Carreto Perez stepped between the crates and the forklift, investigators said, when the crates slipped further, crushing him against the forklift.

Officials did not give the name of the poultry operation, but the address of the workplace is the same one listed for K & K Poultry on state permitting documents.

Lindsay is about 27 miles (43.5 kilometers) southwest of Norfolk.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Nebraska
A U.S. judge said Microsoft Corp.s LinkedIn must face a lawsuit claiming it inflated the number of people who watched video ads on the networking platform, allowing it to overcharge hundreds of thousands of advertisers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen, however, on Tuesday dismissed fraud-based claims and an unfair competition claim, saying the plaintiff advertisers did not show that LinkedIn made specific misrepresentations or that its conduct hurt the public at large.

But the San Jose, California-based judge let the advertisers pursue claims based on the theory that bot traffic, errant clicks and fraudulent clicks inflated the metrics they relied on when buying LinkedIn ads.

Led by TopDevz Inc. and Noirefy Inc., the advertisers said LinkedIn had been counting video ad views from users LinkedIn apps, even when the videos were playing only off-screen because users had scrolled past them.

LinkedIn said in an email on Wednesday it looked forward to showing the claims lacked merit and said it was committed to the transparency and integrity of our ads products.

Warren Postman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email he was pleased with the decision and looked forward to proving that LinkedIn broke the law.

Van Keulen said the plaintiffs could try to pursue their dismissed claims again.

The advertisers sued after LinkedIn https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/linkedin-news/2020/how-we-re-working-to-improve said on Nov. 12 that its engineers had three months earlier found and then fixed software bugs that may have led to more than 418,000 overcharges.

LinkedIn said more than 90% of the overcharges were less than $25, and that it provided credits to virtually all affected advertisers.

In their lawsuit, the advertisers said the overcharges left them with less money to spend elsewhere, including on ads. They are seeking unspecified damages and restitution.

The case is In re LinkedIn Advertising Metrics Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-08324.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Dan Grebler)

Topics Lawsuits Legislation
A ransomware attack in July that paralyzed as many as 1,500 organizations by compromising tech-management software from a company called Kaseya has set off a race among criminals looking for similar vulnerabilities, cyber security experts said.

An affiliate of a top Russian-speaking ransomware gang known as REvil used two gaping flaws in software from Florida-based Kaseya to break into about 50 managed services providers (MSPs) that used its products, investigators said.

Now that criminals see how powerful MSP attacks can be, they are already busy, they have already moved on and we dont know where, said Victor Gevers, head of the non-profit Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure, which warned Kaseya of the weaknesses before the attack.

This is going to happen again and again.

Gevers said his researchers had discovered similar vulnerabilities in more MSPs. He declined to name the firms because they have not yet fixed all the problems.

Managed service providers include companies such as IBM and Accenture offering cloud versions of popular software and specialist firms devoted to specific industries. They typically serve small and medium-sized firms that lack in-house technology capabilities and often boost security.

But MSPs also make an efficient vehicle for ransomware because they have wide access inside many of their customers networks. Kaseyas software serves many MSPs, so the attacks multiplied before Kaseya could warn everyone, rapidly encrypting data and demanding ransoms of as much as $5 million per victim.

The business of MSPs has boomed during the coronavirus pandemic alongside the rapid increase in remote work.

Thats where you find the trusted access to customers systems, said Chris Krebs, the first leader of the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which has made ransomware a top priority. Its a much more economical approach to launch a breakout attack. And its hard for the customer to defend.

Bugcrowd Inc, one of several platforms where researchers can report vulnerabilities, has also seen security flaws as bad as Kaseyas, said Bugcrowd Chief Executive Ashish Gupta, perhaps because MSPs have been growing so fast.

Time to market is such a high requirement, and sometimes speed becomes the enemy of security, Gupta said.

Service providers have been targeted before  most dramatically by suspected Chinese government hackers who went after big tech companies in a series of breaches known as Cloud Hopper. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-cyber-cloudhopper

REvil hit more than 20 Texas municipalities through a shared provider two years ago, but only demanded $2.5 million in total ransom, said Andy Bennett, then a state official managing the response.

With REvil extortionists asking for a record $70 million to reverse all the Kaseya damage, he said, their aspirations are clearly bigger now, and their approach is more measured. Its unclear how much ransom was ultimately paid or how many businesses were affected.

An increase in ransomware attacks led U.S. President Joe Biden to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States would act on its own against the worst hacking gangs operating on Russian soil unless the authorities reined them in.

On July 22, Kaseya said a security firm had developed a universal decryption key without paying the criminals, prompting speculation that Putin had helped or that U.S. agencies had hacked REvil.

CISA is trying to get the word out both to MSPs and their customers of the risks and what to do about them, said Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity.

Less than two weeks after the July 2 Kaseya attack, CISA issued guidelines for best practices on both sides of the equation. CISA also offers free risk assessments, penetration testing and analyzes of network architecture.

Organizations need to look into the security of their MSPs, Goldstein said. The broader consideration here is the importance for organizations big and small to understand the trust relationships that they have with those entities that have connections into their environment.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; editing by Grant McCool)

Topics Cyber
While the aggregate InsurTech funding level for the first-half of 2021 soared past the amount raised for InsurTech businesses for the entire year 2020, InsurTechs continued to quietly shut their doors with much less fanfare.

When Willis Towers Watson reported a surge in InsurTech funding to $7.4 billion in the first-half of 2021 last week, just one paragraph of the firms Quarter InsurTech Briefing referred to the fact that more than 450 InsurTechs have failed over the past decade. But its an important update, the studys author, Andrew Johnston told Carrier Management in an interview two weeks before the reports release, noting that hes been collecting failure data for the last 14 months.

Most of the InsurTechs that we know about are the very, very successful ones or the ones that have attracted a lot of capital, he said, referring to knowledge of the general public. But they really are not reflective of the global InsurTech scene. I reckon that it might be something like 3,000 InsurTechs globally, and a lot of them come and go, right? Theyre quite serious but their successes are limited, said Johnston, who is global head of InsurTech at Willis Re.

One such InsurTech business is Traity, a Madrid, Spain-based insurance startup, which Carrier Management profiled in 2016 and which won several InsurTech awards, according to information on the LinkedIn profile of the founder and CEO. But the business that scored online reputations using a patented predictive data analytics solution had to turn off the lights, after many years of ups and downs, the CEOs profile summary says. The line between success and failure was very thin, but we could not cross it, the summary says.

Johnston previously made observations about the soaring mortality rate of InsurTechs around the world in the fourth-quarter 2019 edition of the Quarterly InsurTech Briefing published by Willis Re and CB Insights. In that prior report, the estimate of InsurTech businesses that had ceased trading was roughly 184.

The updated figure456 failurespresented in the second-quarter 2021 briefing is still a rough estimate, according to the text of the report. To come up with the figure, Willis Towers Watson totaled up those businesses that:

Have raised less than $10 million overall

Have not exited (through and IPO or M&A

Have not raised any capital in over 24 months, and

Are outside the top 25 percentile in CB Insights platform Mosaic Score.

CB Insights Mosaic Score is a predictor of individual company health, the Briefing report noted.

While the actual number of InsurTechs that have ceased trading could be drastically different, our sense is that it is probably at least this many businesses if we consider 2010 our starting point, the report said.

Bubble Set to Pop?

Johnston discussed the InsurTech failure rate with Carrier Management for a separate article (soon-to-be published in the third-quarter print magazine) about talent movements between InsurTechs and incumbents, noting that job candidates might jump ship to incumbents if an InsurTech is on shaky ground. (Related article: Are InsurTechs Losing The Talent War? Its Debatable)

Separately, Johnston and Chris Downer, a principal of Brewer Lane Ventures, speaking at the Casualty Actuarial Society Seminar on Reinsurance in June, said there is a bubble is being created by exuberant investors in the InsurTech space stoking high valuations.

But in nuanced answers to the questionIn what way are InsurTech bubble fears justified?Johnston and Downer also stressed that there are many InsurTechs starting to show their potential to improve the industry, when asked by panel moderator David Wright, chief insurance officer of Acrisure Technology Group.

If the fear is about an overvaluation being crushed under these businesses inability to deliver profitable long-term [results], then I think we are seeing a confluence of short-term investment bullishness meeting the realities of whats required to deliver return, Johnston responded. But it speaks to a bigger issue, which is you have all of these different stakeholders that are looking at InsurTech for all manner of reasons. And the term now is so ubiquitous that InsurTechs are no longer just risk originators with a great brand, but theyre software for the entire industryand in some cases doing some really fantastic things, he continued.

Still, before long, there is going to be a version of a bubble bursting where its just no longer possible to justify certain valuations and rely on public investment bullishness to support those investments. I dont know what the time frame of that is going to be, and I dont know if it will be bubble-esque in that it sort of bursts overnight, or whether it will be a slow, hot air balloon with a hole making it back to planet earth. But I do think that were at a point now where the fuse is certainly lit on those businesses that have gone public. And theres increasing pressure on those businesses to deliver from a long-term perspective, he said.

Downer, whose firm has been investing in InsurTechs since 2015, said that if the principals had been asked about a potential InsurTech bubble back in 2016 or 2017, they would have answered, There might be, even then. Weve only accelerated from that point.What we are seeing is a lot of interest from venture capitalists, private equity, hedge funds who are coming to the space and saying, Look, theres something going on here in InsurTech. We want to be involved.'

So with the amount of capital that is coming in, theres a lot of competition when it comes to these deals. Therefore youre seeing a lot of companies raising money quickly, raising a lot of money and raising money at valuations that are, I think, stretched to put it nicely, and probably absurd to put it frankly, he said.

I think valuations are rising in a manner that is concerning, Downer added. But I think the impact that InsurTech can and should have on the insurance sectorwere really just seeing the beginning of it. And so yes, while there may be valuation concerns and things of that nature, the relative impact is still quite small, he concluded.

As a venture capitalist, we believe very much that InsurTech can, should and will have a much more impactful presence in the insurance space. And so I guess somewhat politically, we are in a relative bubble. We are not yet concerned quite yet that that bubble will burst.

Later during the CAS session, the panelists weighed in on the question of whether the rate of new startup ventures will rise, remain the same or decline. While 41 percent of actuaries in the audience said the rate would climb and only about a quarter (26 percent) said it would fall, the panelists said they believed it would decline.

I think that there will be a steady rate of decline of brand new ventures, Johnston said. Theres just increasingly less and less space to squeeze new businesses. Expanding on his answer, the Willis Re executive predicted that the creation of new businesses who are identifying as InsurTechwill slowly start to see a drying up at the embryonic stage. But from a lifecycle stage as it relates to fundraising, we might not actually see that until three, four or five years down the line.

In terms of actually creating something from scratch, I think that there will be a slow decline there, he reiterated.

Pressed for drivers of the slowdown by Wright, Johnston first noted the presence of a backlog of companies who were already in this space for a long time, that werent calling themselves InsurTech. We would meet with lots of people saying, Weve been doing this for 10 years, and now we finally have a term that we can latch onto and sell into the industry. And that group of people have worked their way through now, he said, also pointing to changing investment conditions overall.

In addition, he said, there are things afoot that incumbents are doing that will require fewer InsurTechs, or outside businesses coming in to help solve for certain problems.

And its just that there are so many businesses in this space right now. I just dont think its sustainable over time.

Downer agreed that startup rates will decline. The early wave of InsurTech startups consisted of folks who werent necessarily from insurance, but came in to start an InsurTech on the parts of insurance they touchhome renters, auto, maybe some life, maybe portions of distribution. I dont think the InsurTech market needs another five renters insurance companies. I dont think the InsurTech market at this point needs another 10 auto insurers, he said. And I think that the barriers to entry [for] folks who dont know insurance have increased, he said. Theres still plenty of room to run on the commercial side, but you need to know about commercial insurance in order to start that InsurTech.

Dont forgetthese InsurTechs that are currently in business as they mature, they themselves are going to have to start to adopt a defense strategy, added Johnston. When they start biting back, thats going to be particularly interesting [in terms of] how it affects these nascent businesses.

A final panelist, Isaac Espinoza, vice president of reinsurance for Root agreed that the number of new ventures will decrease. The hurdle is now becoming higher, he said. I think reinsurance capacity is harder to come by. I think theres a number of people that have skepticism, and the first-mover advantage has gone away for these new tech companies, added Espinoza, who previously worked in a VC-type role for Greenlight Re.

Funding Levels Balloon

As for the current state of the InsurTech market, global InsurTech funding ballooned to $4.8 billion in the second-quarter of 2021. While that was 89 percent higher than the $2.6 billion tallied for the first quarter, funding for the two quarters togetherroughly $7.4 billionsurpassed the full year 2020.

According to the report, the portion of those totals that went to property/casualty InsurTechs was 71 percent of second-quarter 2021 and 69 percent for first-quarter 2021, producing a first-half P/C total of roughly $5.2 billion (Carrier Managements calculation).

There were 107 P/C deals in the first quarter and 119 more in the second quarter, bringing the first-half total to 226, a figure that is 82 percent of the full-year 2020 total and above all of the prior full-year totals that Willis Towers Watson and CB Insights have calculated since 2012.

An article published by Carrier Management last week highlights some of the report details about differences in deal counts and dollar amounts by funding stage and geography.

The text of the latest Briefing comments on overvalued InsurTechs and the speed at which InsurTechs are going public. The rush to IPO is either a sign that some InsurTechs are ready for prime time or [that] investors may be a bit overeager in a very bullish market, Johnston said, on a video accompanying the report.

The report also highlights some InsurTechs that have gone public or plan to do so, which are performing very well, giving the particular example of Doma (formerly States Title). Doma announced it would go public through a special purpose acquisition company with Capitol Investment Corp. in March., reporting Q2 revenues of $128 million, up 80 percent from Q1 2020 and a gross profit of $26 million, up 98 percent from Q1 2020, the report said.

In the forward to the report, Johnston also commented on a a recent trend for most InsurTech stock prices to move up and down together, almost regardless of how the businesses themselves are performing.

Currently, most public InsurTech stock is experiencing a downward trend, as is so often the case with relatively exciting new investment opportunities during periods of volatility and uncertainty. This is not to suggest, however, that there will not be a positive future for many InsurTechs that can survive this uncertainty, and to this point, some individual businesses are demonstrating some impressive resilience already, he wrote.

The HPIX, an index of InsurTech stock prices administered by Hudson Structured Capital Management, rose about 2 percent during the second quarter (from 155.92 on April 1 to 159.14 on June 30), but has fallen about 8 percent since (to 145.86 on Aug. 2).

A section of the Willis Towers Watson briefing includes an interview with Adrian Jones, managing director of HSCM, who created the index.

Asked for advice he would give to an InsurTech startup, Jones responded that the characteristic, which distinguishes great InsurTech entrepreneurs is enormous persistency.

Insurance is not a business that is entranced by brilliant founders straight out of business school sprinkling pixie dust, he said, noting that those who are poised to change the industry going forward take the time to study the industry and its history, and then spend years building companies.

Insurance is a get rich slowly business that is ripe for disruption by those founders that are in it for the long haul, he said.

This article is republished from Carrier Management.

Topics Mergers InsurTech Tech
Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King announced that a Putnam County fire was intentionally set and has been ruled an act of Arson. The fire occurred on Grand Avenue at approximately 3:19 A.M. on July 31st. The fire started in a vehicle in the front yard and spread to the residence, causing moderate damage to the 81-year-old, 1669-square foot structure.

The occupant reported seeing a person in the front yard shortly before the fire began. Upon investigation, it was determined that the passenger side door was open, leading investigators to believe the fire was intentionally set, said Commissioner King.

Commissioner Kings Fire Investigations Unit is assisting the Eatonton Police Department with this investigation. In coordination with the State Fire Investigations Unit, a reward of up to $10,000 is offered by Georgia Arson Control for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for arson.

Source: Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner

Topics Property Georgia Arson
The Southern California city of Fontana has agreed to pay $1 million to the parents of an unarmed man who police shot to death in February, according to a newspaper report.

The agreement comes after Kenisha Kinard and Amond Hawkins filed a claim against the city following the death of their son Daverion Deauntre Kinard, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Tuesday.

Officers investigating a burglary report encountered Kinard inside a home on Feb. 13. Kinard refused to surrender and fled onto a nearby construction site, police said.

While officers were attempting to establish a perimeter, a single officer confronted Kinard hiding in a portable restroom. Within seconds, an officer-involved shooting occurred in which the officer fired one round and Kinard was struck in the front of his torso, a police news release said.

Kinard died at the scene. No weapon was recovered.

The settlement prohibits the city and the parents from commenting on the agreement beyond its terms. Also, neither side is allowed to make disparaging comments about the other.

The City Council approved the settlement in June. The money is being paid from an insurance fund.

The city has declined to make the video from officers uniform-worn cameras public, the Press-Enterprise reported.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Law Enforcement
Two residential care centres were threatened with losing their registration after serious failures to improve health and safety were identified in inspections by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

The centres are operated by Camphill Communities of Ireland (CCoI). The Irish Examiner previously revealed that a facility operated by the group in Wexford had left residents living in rooms infested with cat faeces and rotting food.

That facilitys registration was cancelled on July 3 and the HSE took over following allegations at the facility including institutional abuse, neglect of residents and sexual abuse.

Hiqa published 27 inspection reports today on designated centres for people with disabilities. Inspectors identified non-compliance with the regulations and standards on 15 inspections.

Inspectors found continued high levels of non-compliance with the regulations across a number of centres operated by Camphill Communities of Ireland (CCoI).

The Chief Inspector issued a notice of a proposed decision to refuse the registration of two of the centres given the seriousness of these findings, and the failure of the provider to demonstrate an ability to take action to improve the safety and quality of service for residents. However, CCoI has expressed sincere regret for the regulatory issues it experienced at two of its centres.

Read More Registration of care facility cancelled after Hiqa inspection

It said that considerable progress has been made at the two centres, Ballymoney, Co. Wexford, and Kyle, Co. Kilkenny, reported upon by Hiqa today.

Camphill said that it is pleased with the positive reports on high levels of compliance at Ballybay, Co. Monaghan and Grangebeg, Co. Kildare.

Camphills Interim CEO, Louise Gorman, said that the Hiqa reports are based on inspections carried out last spring and the regulator carried out inspections in Ballymoney and Kyle in recent weeks and approved both centres for registration purposes, albeit with conditions attaching.

Camphill sincerely regrets the regulatory challenges that we experienced at two of our centres and the impact that these had on our residents and their families. The staff and management of Camphill  locally and nationally  put in a huge effort to tackle the issues highlighted by Hiqa and to achieve compliance since Hiqa carried out its inspections last February and March," she said.

Last month Hiqa carried out detailed inspections at both Ballymoney and Kyle and found that very significant improvements have taken place at both centres. As a result, they have now moved to re-register the two centres with a condition attached that they must be fully compliant with the regulations by January 2022.

Non-compliance at other centres

Hiqa inspectors also identified non-compliance with regulations and standards in eight centres operated by the Daughters of Charity.

Improvements were required in areas such as governance and management, staff training, personal planning, risk management and residents' rights.

Non-compliance was further identified at three other centres operated by KARE Promoting Inclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Enable Ireland Disability Services and Autism Initiatives Ireland. These centres were required to improve areas such as governance and management, positive behavioural support, residents' rights and fire safety.

Good level of compliance

However, inspectors also found a good level of compliance with the regulations and standards in 12 centres operated by a number of providers including; Ability West, Daughters of Charity, COPE Foundation, Cheeverstown House, GALRO, Health Service Executive and MMC Childrens Services.

Examples of good practice observed by inspectors included a centre operated by the COPE Foundation in Cork where one resident experienced positive benefits to their daily life since recently moving from a congregated setting.

And in a centre in Dublin operated by Cheeverstown House, residents were supported to keep in regular contact with their family and friends through the use of personal electronic devices.

A centre in Mullingar, operated by GALRO, supported residents to learn new skills and gain confidence in activities such as shopping in their local community which was also observed as an example of good practice.

All the reports are available to view at Hiqa's website.
Tourism Ireland spent almost 50,000 on a marketing campaign to tie in with the release of the new instalment of hit video game Assassins Creed.

The latest expansion of the Valhalla series Wrath of the Druids sees gamers travel virtually to Ireland with the Giants Causeway, Co Antrim, Benbulben, Co Sligo, and the Hill of Tara, Co Meath all featuring.

For the first time, Tourism Ireland collaborated directly with gaming streamers using influencers on Twitch in France, Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia.

Tourism Ireland said the campaign had cost 49,405 but declined to release details of how much the individual influencers had been paid citing commercial sensitivity.

From that total, 1,599 was paid to Maxmedia for its work on video editing while media agency OMD was hired to arrange the influencer campaign.

In France, Tourism Ireland worked with a streamer called NotaBene which had 5,545 viewers on his two-hour live stream on Twitch.

Recorded extracts from that livestream on YouTube and other Ireland-related material garnered more than 50,000 views since they were uploaded.

In Germany, a streamer called Kaya Yanar did an advance promotion on Instagram that generated more than 60,000 impressions.

His live stream on Twitch had 4,440 viewers and almost 20,000 views on YouTube, according to Tourism Ireland.

In the Nordic countries, a streamer called Keebabb worked on the campaign with over 4,000 people seeing his posts on Instagram and another 6,000 watching his YouTube video.

Tourism Ireland said the British leg of the campaign is now underway while its own video created for social media has hit more than 60,000 views and helped generated international coverage.

In rolling out our Assassins Creed Valhalla campaign, our aim is to bring the island of Ireland to the attention of a new audience of gamers," it said.

We want to spike their curiosity about the locations which feature in the game and inspire them to come and explore them in real life.

It said the the video collaboration with game creators Ubisoft was designed to keep Ireland top of mind for post-Covid holidays by showcasing Viking heritage and spectacular landscapes.

A brief for the campaign, also released under freedom of information, said Twitch influencers would be briefed on Irish history for when they were live-streaming.
On October 26 last year, Mark O'Sullivan was asleep in his bedroom when he was shot dead by his father Tadg and brother Diarmuid following a festering row over who would get the family's 150 acre farm in Kanturk, Co Cork, when Diarmuid and Mark's mother died.

Tadg and Diarmuid were later found dead near an old fort close to the farmhouse, about 500m away.

Yesterday, a jury at the inquest into the death of Mark returned a verdict of unlawful killing and that both his brother and father took their own lives.

Since the National Suicide Research Foundation began collating figures in 2007, at least 64 lives have been lost to what we term, murder-suicide in this country.

Their record does not include probable cases of murder-suicide and cases of filicide without suicide where a parent murders their child but does not kill themselves.

The vast majority of cases in Ireland are what is termed familial, where the perpetrator, usually male, kills close family members and then kills himself.

Significant questions remain about what occurred beforehand.

Statistics tell us that a history of abuse most likely preceded these killings.

Murder-suicide presents a profound obstacle in that the primary sources or witnesses  victims and perpetrators in the incident  cannot explain what happened and why.

Thus, a gap exists between what can be established about such an incident and the demands of an often traumatised community for an explanation.

Media coverage of these cases has brought to light the media's power to inform society about a phenomenon of which they would otherwise have little direct knowledge.

But media coverage is problematic and misrepresentative of murder-suicides as a wider social issue.

Media accounts of murder-suicide typically forego exploration of these significant questions, presenting these cases as isolated and linking them to mental health problems, financial debt or as being out-of-the-blue.

We were told the deaths of in Kanturk were motivated by a dispute over a proposed will.

In previous coverage of the Hawe case in Cavan, we were told that Alan Hawe was the most normal man you could ever meet, yet he murdered his wife and three children.

Michael Greaney in Cobh was deeply troubled about finances which was subsequently linked as a motivation for killing his wife Valerie, and the attempted murder of his daughter.

What we are not told is that murder-suicides are cases of extreme domestic violence.

As a result, these accounts tend to cloud rather than clarify the problem of domestic violence.

The media, by putting forward causes of mental health, financial debt or indeed family strife, can lead to the portrayal of the perpetrators as victims.

We are implicitly led to believe that if the perpetrator or perpetrators couldnt control their actions, then who is responsible?

These problematic representations by the media focus on what and not who is responsible.

These violent outbursts are more often than not, linked to mental illness by repeated references to perpetrators previously good nature with the implication being that mental illness changed this.

Alan Hawe, for example, was a father, husband, son, community, and family man. He was a valuable member of the community, a real gentleman.

The illness and the act are intertwined in the narrative either implicitly or, in some cases, explicitly.

Alan Hawe with his wife Clodagh and their children Liam, Niall, and Ryan, who died in a murder-suicide at their countryside house in Co Cavan, in 2016.

We are told that that mental illness is the only plausible reason for familicide, implying that only people with a mental illness could carry out such a crime.

In fact, data from a large study of homicide-suicide in the US has shown that 38% of offenders had no history of mental illness.

Whilst they may be factors in these cases, they cannot be examined in isolation. Causation and association are not synonymous.

These stories are also often over-simplified by virtue of gender. These narratives about violence against women, children, and family members portray these men as having some sort of triggering incident that made them behave out of character.

By doing this, they suggest that murder-suicides are not a societal or gendered problem but a misfortune that occurs to problematic individuals.

Coverage does not link these violent crimes to acts of coercive control. References to domestic violence, is frequently done so only in the context of increased calls to organisations such as Womens Aid in the days after they occur.

Media accounts of murder-suicide typically label these events as tragedies, presenting them as crimes which are isolated events that are unrelated to other similar cases. There is also a patriarchal narrative that runs through coverage.

Female victims are often presented as secondary characters in media coverage around murder-suicide and are spoken of only in terms of their relationship to the perpetrator as opposed to having agency in their own right.

By suggesting motivations for the events, there is a tendency to indirectly blame the victims, why didnt they leave, he must have not been in his right mind to do such a thing. This shifts blame from those responsible.

Societally, domestic violence is seen as a private problem, but research tell us that it follows specific patterns. It does not occur because of some external influence or pressure, and the perpetrator did not snap or lose control.

Equally, murder-suicides transcend across race, class, gender, and geographic lines  it is not a private family matter, nor is it out of the blue or tragic. It is a major social problem that resulted in the deaths of 64 people in Ireland since 2007.

Journalists have an essential role in helping readers process difficult and complex issues. Proper contextualization is necessary for educating the general public about the role of domestic violence as a precursor to femicide.

If, we as a society want to create a wider understanding and the prevention of such incidents , we cannot view the cause of them through such simplistic prisms of mental illness or point to economic structures as a reason for the murder-suicide.

In refusing to name murder-suicides as cases of extreme domestic violence and coercive control, we are continuing to hold a cloak over these private crimes. It is not a private family matter, nor is it out of the blue. It is a major social problem.

Audrey Galvin is an associate teacher in journalism at the University of Limerick
Burma Kayah Forces Claim Successful Attacks on Myanmar Junta Troops

Military reinforcements arrive in Loikaw, Kayah State, in June. / Tharlikar

An estimated 14 junta soldiers were reportedly killed in shootouts with the Karenni Army (KA) and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) in Kayah State this week.

On Wednesday afternoon, civilian resistance fighters and troops from the KNDF and KA, the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party, ambushed around 120 troops from the 66th Division in the west of Demoso Township.

The KNDF said junta troops were preparing raids in Hpruso Township.

Three junta soldiers were killed and others injured while no casualties were reported by the ethnic armed groups.

Villagers have fled their homes because of the clashes, according to the KNDF.

Four shootouts between junta forces and the combined KA and KNDF occurred in Hpruso and Bawlakhe townships on Tuesday.

The heaviest fighting took place near Htar Lal village in Hpruso Township when the KA and KNDF ambushed around 27 military trucks carrying soldiers.

Three vehicles burned after triggering landmines.

At least 11 junta soldiers were killed and at least 20 injured, the KNDF said.

The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm the military casualties.

The KNDF said troops tortured villagers and looted Nan Hpe village in Bawlakhe Township after being attacked by Karenni forces in the township.

The regime is attacking Karenni forces in Loikaw, Demoso, Hpruso, Bawlakhe and Hpasawng townships.

The regime have carried out airstrikes against civilian targets after suffering heavy losses in the state. More than 100,000 Kayah residents were displaced in June by the fighting.

We will not allow the military into Karenni Army-controlled areas. We will fight to force the troops out, a KA representative told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

Armed resistance against the junta started in Kayah State in late May.



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Burma Myanmar UN Ambassador Complains of Junta Massacre

Bodies discovered near Taung Pauk Village on July 30. / CJ

Myanmars ambassador to the United Nations (UN), U Kyaw Moe Tun, has told the UN that at least 40 people, including a child, were killed by the military regime in Sagaing Region in July. The ambassador made the claim in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the AFP news agency reported on Wednesday.

U Kyaw Moe Tun said in the letter that 40 bodies had been found in Kani Township, Sagaing Region in July. The ambassador opposed the juntas Feb. 1 coup that ousted State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy government, but has stayed in his role despite the efforts of the regime to replace him.

The ambassador alleged that regime soldiers tortured and killed 16 men in a village in Kani Township around July 9 and 10, after which 10,000 residents fled the area.

He said a further 13 bodies were discovered following clashes between civilian resistance fighters and junta forces on July 26. 11 more men, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and their bodies set on fire in a different village on July 28, added the ambassador.

We cannot let the military keep on committing these atrocities in Myanmar, U Kyaw Moe Tun told AFP. It is time for the UN, especially the UN Security Council, to take action.

Sagaing Region in northwest Myanmar has seen numerous armed clashes since the coup between junta forces and civilian resistance fighters who oppose military rule.

Since April, locals have formed themselves into Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) and used traditional hunting weapons to fight back against regime troops. Prior to the coup, Sagaing Region had not seen any armed insurrections for decades.

Junta forces have employed helicopter gunships and heavy artillery to suppress the PDFs. The fighting has resulted in thousands of villagers being forced to flee their homes. While conducting clearance operations, the Myanmar military has reportedly committed human rights violations, extrajudicial killings and torture, all of which it has been accused of doing in the past.

In his letter, U Kyaw Moe Tun repeated his call for a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military and for urgent humanitarian intervention from the international community.



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Burma Myanmars UN Envoy Threatened in New York

Myanmar's UN Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun ended his General Assembly address in February denouncing the coup with a three-finger salute used by protesters. / UN Web TV

Myanmars ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, says the US authorities have stepped up his security after he received a threat.

Since the coup in February, U Kyaw Moe Tun has represented Myanmars National Unity Government formed by lawmakers from the ousted government and ethnic minority representatives.

The military regime tried to replace him but he remains the official envoy because the United Nations is yet to acknowledge the junta.

U Kyaw Moe Tun has ignored the militarys claims that he no longer represents Myanmar in New York.

Myanmars junta-controlled television announced in February that U Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country after he urged countries to use any means necessary to reverse the military takeover.

Reportedly there is some threat. The police are working on it. Necessary security has been provided by the police, U Kyaw Moe Tun, who lives in New York, told Reuters.

He was made aware of the threat on Tuesday.

No details were available.

A State Department spokesperson said: We do not discuss details of our protective operations.

A significant number of expats from Myanmar live in New York. There were unconfirmed reports of a city resident from Myanmar being approached by the regime.

The police and the security authorities in New York are working on it, the ambassador added.

Diplomats expect a showdown next month at the United Nations over U Kyaw Moe Tuns status at the 193-member body.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which was formed in exile across the Thai border in December 1990, suffered from disappearances and murders.

Two of its ministers, U Win Ko and U Hla Pe, disappeared separately in 1992 and were found murdered the next year.

U Hla Pe was murdered in Bangkok. U Win Kos body was found in a hotel room in southern China. No one claimed responsibility for the deaths.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February coup, with the regime killing more than 900 people, according to human rights groups.



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Guest Column Myanmar Needs People First Assistance

Employees pack boxes with COVID-19 vaccine at the packaging and dispatch department in Pune, Maharashtra, India on Feb. 23, 2021. / UNICEF

The people of Myanmar face an unparalleled national three Cs (coup, COVID and climate change) crisis today as we confront a failed military coup, catastrophic third COVID-19 wave, and natural disasters engineered by changes in the climate. As the third wave of COVID-19 spreads rampantly throughout Myanmar, it is possible that the next COVID-19 variant could arise out of Myanmar; this is a major threat to regional and global public health security, a threat that must be immediately addressed by ASEAN and Myanmars neighboring countries as well as the international community.

For six months, the military junta has robbed the people of Myanmar of their sense of security and dignity. The military has murdered 940 people, including over 70 children as young as 6 years old. They have arbitrarily detained over 5,400 people. Of those, 19 percent are women who have been at the forefront of leading anti-junta protests on the streets. The Ministry of Women, Youths and Childrens Affairs has reported rape and sexual violence against girls and women in detention. Along with peaceful LGBTIQ protesters, they have been sexually assaulted and harassed, made to conduct humiliating and degrading acts that amount to torture in detention.

Meanwhile, food insecurity is growing, the banking sector is in crisis, and the economy is collapsing with the World Bank forecasting Myanmars economy to shrink by 18 percent, and the World Food Program estimating that an additional 3.4 million people will now go hungry. This adds to the decades of military rule, and the mismanagement of essential administration, including in the health sector. Instead of funding education and health, the military focused on stealing wealth from the people of Myanmar to fund their decades-long civil war against ethnic communities, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic areas and genocide against the Rohingya with impunity. As a result, more than half a million people are now internally displaced in Myanmar. This is the reason why Myanmar requires such dire levels of international assistance today.

In the face of these challenges, the people of Myanmar, and the National Unity Government (NUG) have repeatedly called on ASEAN and the international community for rapid and expanded humanitarian aid intervention. We welcome the generous support that has been provided by the regional and international community in response to the humanitarian crisis so far, particularly in dialogue with the NUG and NUG-aligned administrative bodies, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), but the needs are far greater and require a more robust and coordinated intervention.

Responsibility for this human rights and humanitarian crisis rests squarely with the military junta, which, rather than tackling these issues to the benefit of the people of Myanmar, continues to weaponize COVID-19 and humanitarian aid for its own political gain.

It is vital that humanitarian assistance programs be designed and implemented in a way that ensures that they are not being used to promote or benefit the political or financial interests of the military junta.

ASEAN and the wider international community must coordinate with and empower existing governance structures that are supported by the people in all parts of Myanmar, particularly through NUG-aligned administrative bodies and CSOs/CBOs in ethnic-administered areas for localized humanitarian response to needs on the ground.

The NUGs people-centered response to humanitarian aid prioritizes the immediate needs of the people of Myanmar. The People First approach places the peoples well-being and health services as our first priority, as we endeavor to work with all UN agencies and development partners to bring equitable access to healthcare and COVID-19 vaccination for all people of Myanmar in accordance with international standards, including those laid out by the WHO and UNICEF.

We urge ASEAN, and its humanitarian assistance through the AHA Center, to adhere to certain principles in provision of humanitarian aid. While the people in Myanmar are in desperate need of assistance, support must reach those most in need in a way that does not legitimize the junta, which is the cause of the peoples suffering.

While recognizing that communication with the military may be unavoidable in some instances in providing humanitarian aid, all ASEAN, UN and international partners are strongly urged to avoid communications with the military junta, which will imply or provide it with legitimacy or recognition. To this end, we strongly urge ASEAN to have regular, meaningful and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders as set out in its five point consensus, in particular by holding dialogue with the NUG and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) as well as ethnic armed organizations.

It is crucial that resources be provided directly to local actors who can flexibly and creatively meet the needs on the ground in a way that does not legitimize or otherwise support the military junta. By resourcing CSOs, CBOs, ethnic administrations, and in some circumstances services through CDM health professionals, ASEAN and international support can meet the needs of the people without causing greater harm. This can also ensure that COVID-19 support and vaccinations are not used as a weapon against the people and those participating in the CDM.

Commitment to providing cross-border assistance is key to meeting the urgent needs of the people of Myanmar. Cross-border aid can be delivered through CSOs and CBOs with decades of experience in provision of essential services, particularly in ethnic administrations. The COVID-19 Task Force set up by the Ministry of Health, NUG and ethnic health organizations is central to such provision of assistance at this time.

Decentralized and localized aid is reflective of the emerging federal democratic union that we aspire to build and cross-border aid is currently essential in the realization of inclusive and equitable provision of aid.

These above positions of the NUG in regards to humanitarian aid are clearly laid out in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management position paper issued on June 19. On July 18, reiterating these calls, the NUG sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, requesting a robust and well-designed intervention from the international community.

Every day that passes without ASEAN and the international communitys urgent action is a day that we lose more lives. The military exists to serve its own interests and has demonstrated over the past six months that it will not act in the best interest of the people of Myanmar. Rather, it serves to perpetuate its own status quo, which will only be further emboldened by the inaction of ASEAN and the wider international community.

The attempted coup has failed. It is the people of Myanmar, despite the immense challenges and against all odds, who are keeping the future of Myanmar from falling into decades-long military rule once again. But we require immediate support.

ASEAN must act, and it must act NOW. Not only for the sake of the people of Myanmar but for the sake of ASEAN. Their continuing insistence on working through the junta is an affront to its own founding Charter, with its declaration of adhering to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

History is repeating itself once again. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is an aspiring dictator, a third-generation military chief who is following in the footsteps of previous dictators, appointing himself as the caretaker of Myanmar. This is a threat to global stability and security, and while ASEAN has an important role to play, the world must no longer wait for ASEAN to act. The current human rights, humanitarian and COVID crisis requires robust and immediate action by the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council. Their immediate action is needed to save lives.

Aung Myo Min is Minister of Human Rights in the National Unity Government of Myanmar.



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Businesses in every corner of Australia can now access business-grade services on NBN's Business Satellite Service (BSS), with 100% of the mainland, large islands and hard to reach remote locations now open to retail service providers.

The expanded NBN BSS beam coverage now takes the percentage of eligible Australian businesses from 93 to 100%, with access expanded across the east coast of the Australian mainland, the west coast of Tasmania and large surrounding islands such as Christmas Island, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

Along with enhanced coverage, NBN says it has reduced wholesale pricing by approximately 40% for the BSS Access Bandwidth Service (ABS) Layer 3 committed bandwidth product for internet retailers, including where they engage in extended contract terms with NBN to help meet the needs of their customers over longer time periods.

NBN says the ABS Layer 3 service delivers wholesale speeds of up to 50/13 Mbps to provide the core connectivity for critical applications required by many medium and large businesses, enterprises and government organisations.

Since April this year most standard satellite installations have been provided at no cost to internet retailers for businesses that take up the ABS Layer 3 and the BSS Virtual ISP (VISP) solution for a 12-month minimum contract. BSS VISP is designed for core business needs by providing wholesale speeds of up to 30/13 Mbps, said NBN.

NBN says, eligible industrial and government organisations with remote facilities and worksite operations are increasingly relying on satellite broadband to support a range of IoT, safety, cloud services and critical applications. The BSS beam coverage expansion will help retailers to provide a range of business-grade satellite solutions with a range of options such as committed bandwidth and enhanced service levels.

NBN Co chief development officer of regional and remote Gavin Williams said, At NBN, we recognise that connectivity is vital for businesses to drive innovation, productivity and growth. With this knowledge we have dedicated ourselves to expand the availability of wholesale business-grade services across the continent.

Whether to connect remote health facilities, mining operations or large-scale agriculture, these enhancements help make the business NBN satellite service more accessible for eligible businesses and government organisations even in the most remote parts of continent and we look forward to delivering new capabilities to further improve the service in the future.

Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia (BIRRR) founder Kristy Sparrow said, We are delighted that businesses across the Australian mainland now have access to business-grade services with the expanded coverage provide by the business NBN satellite service.

"The reduced wholesale prices and no installation fee for selected products, along with the improved accessibility to business-grade services will help remote businesses succeed.

For further information on how to access these new products and services, businesses are advised to talk to their retail service providers.
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An iPhone user reads MBKh Media news site in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Two news outlets and a legal aid group backed by a leading Kremlin critic have shut down in Russia after the authorities blocked their websites amid mounting pressure on independent media, opposition supporters and human rights activists ahead of Russia's September parliamentary elections. Otkrytye Media and MBKh Media news sites, as well the Pravozashchita Otkrytki legal aid group, announced ceasing operations on Thursday morning, citing reports that their websites on Wednesday night were blocked over their alleged ties to organizations declared "undesirable" in Russia.
Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado.
Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing.
Teton County Reporter

Billy Arnold has covered government and policy since January 2020, sitting through hours of Teton County meetings so readers don't have to. He moonlights as a ski reporter, helps with pandemic coverage and sneaks away to climb when he can.
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...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southern Wilkes County through 215 PM EDT... At 148 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over Wilkesboro Reservoir, or over Boomer, moving southeast at 25 mph. HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph and pea size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is possible. Locations impacted include... North Wilkesboro... Wilkesboro... Boomer... Windy Gap... Cricket... Wilkesboro Reservoir... and Buck. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. Locally heavy rain will quickly reduce visibility and result in ponding of water on roadways, standing water in low lying areas, and minor flooding of creeks, streams, and areas of poor drainage. Drivers are urged to slow down and use extra caution to avoid hydroplaning. Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. && MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN; MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH
The European Union on Thursday condemned the Talibans latest deadly attacks in Afghanistan and demanded an urgent, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire.

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU commissioner for aid and crisis management Janez Lenarcic accused the Taliban of breaking its promise to seek a negotiated peace.

This senseless violence is inflicting immense suffering upon Afghan citizens and is increasing the number of internally displaced persons in search of safety and shelter, they said.

The Talibans military offensive is in direct contradiction to their stated commitment to a negotiated settlement of the conflict and the Doha peace process, the statement continued.

Violations of principles of international humanitarian law and human rights continue to rock the country, in particular in Taliban-controlled areas, such as arbitrary and extrajudicial killings of civilians, public lashing of women and the destruction of infrastructure, it said.

Some of these acts could amount to war crimes and will have to be investigated. Those Taliban fighters or commanders responsible must be held accountable.

The statement singled out three recent attacks in particular, one on the UN office in Herat, an offensive in Lashkar Gah that killed 40 civilians and an assault on the defence ministers residence in Kabul.

The EU calls for an urgent, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire to give peace a chance, the EU officials said.

Fighting in Afghanistans long-running conflict began to intensify in May, when US and other foreign forces began the first stage of a withdrawal due to be completed later this month.

The Taliban already control large swathes of the countryside and are now challenging Afghan government forces in several large cities.
A marijuana grower in Jackson County, Oregon, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) for failing to publish a marijuana registry and filed a lawsuit with the Jackson County Sheriff to prevent the destruction of his cannabis.

We have written about the difficulties faced by cannabis farmers when law enforcement tries to destroy or do destroy cannabis crops or harvest:

As these articles explain, it is unlikely that the federal, state, or local government will receive damages from the federal, state, or local government after the law enforcement agency mistakenly seizes or destroys cannabis. This is because various exemption doctrines provide the government and its agents with a broad shield against most claims.

So, if cannabis farmers have reason to believe that their cannabis is at risk of being confiscated and destroyed, what should they do? One answer is to file a lawsuit to seek declarative relief, and to propose a temporary restraining order that prohibits law enforcement from taking action against marijuana. This is what happened here.

These allegations strongly indicate that official development assistance has messed up. The plaintiff company is owned and operated by a combat veteran who grows cannabis for CBD to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and is committed to providing resources for veterans who experience various PTSD, CPTSD, and other diseases and mental health challenges. The plaintiff registered cannabis cultivation in 2020 and leased several properties for cannabis cultivation. The plaintiff had no problems in 2020 (such as administrative or other violations), and all of its cannabis passed the pre-harvest and post-harvest tests.

In May 2021, the plaintiff claimed that it submitted an application for the 2021 season and paid the registration fee for each property. ODA cashed the check shortly after it was submitted. By June, the plaintiff had not received the registration, so he called ODA and was told that his application would be approved within a few days. The plaintiff subsequently purchased a cannabis clone and planted some plants underground. Relying on ODAs statement, he will soon be registered. But none is coming.

In early July, the Jackson County Sheriffs Department visited one of the properties and requested the use of the greenhouse in the property. They were told how to enter, but left without performing any checks. On July 20, a woman who refused to reveal her identity and was not an official development assistance agent visited the property and requested that the greenhouse and the cannabis plant inside be destroyed.The person also told the plaintiff that they were criminally liable HB 3000. (Look here For our opinion on HB 3000).

After these incidents, the plaintiff visited the Office of Official Development Assistance in Salem, Oregon on July 21 and asked about his application. An ODA employee told the plaintiff that the application had been completed, but ODA was short of staff and they expected to issue the registration within a few days. The plaintiff then talked to another ODA representative who stated that the application had been set aside because the Jackson County law enforcement department told ODA that the plaintiff was growing marijuana. This was news to the plaintiff, who explained that he had grown cannabis under the ODA registration in 2020 and just wanted to do so again.

Now very worried that law enforcement might damage his crops, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against ODA and the Jackson County Sheriff. The plaintiff sought a statement that prior to the promulgation of section 41 of House Bill 3000 (signed into law on July 29, 2021), any prosecution of certain activities related to marijuana violated the ex post provisions of the Constitution. The plaintiff also requested an order to compel ODA to issue cannabis registrations.

But just filing a lawsuit does not guarantee the direct safety of the plaintiffs cannabis.

Therefore, while filing the lawsuit, the plaintiff also filed a Unilateral Motion for Temporary Restraint Order (TRO). Unilateral motions are motions filed without notifying the other party. This is usually used if only In emergency situations where there is no time to complete the ordinary steps involved in submitting a motion. The motivation essentially tells the judge Look, if you dont act now and order the subject of the motion to do something (or not do something), I will suffer irreparable harm. Here, the threat of destruction of property (marijuana) Imminent.

This is a wise procedural move by the plaintiffs lawyer. They filed the motion on July 23 and obtained the TRO on the same day. TRO ordered the sheriff to stop any efforts to seize or destroy the plaintiffs marijuana. The TRO also ordered ODA to issue registrations or explain to the court why such documents should not be issued before July 28.

But TRO does mean that the plaintiff won. TRO is temporary In terms of its nature, the parties must now appear in court on July 28 so that the court can decide whether the TRO should continue as the litigation progressesin essence, whether to convert the TRO into a preliminary injunction. At the show cause hearing, both parties can provide evidence and testimony to support their claims. Assuming that the allegations in the complaint are supported by verifiable substantive evidence, it is hoped that the plaintiff will prevail and continue to seek to support the veterans by providing access to the CBD. (Note: This lawsuit was initiated by our colleagues Green Light Law Group.)
Following the massive success of the SBS mystery drama "Taxi Driver," main lead's Lee Je Hoon will be stepping forward to try something new in his career.

Taxi Driver Actor Lee Je Hoon to Make Directorial Debut with the Film Unframed

Versatile actor Lee Je Hoon has always been excellent when it comes to his craft. And as an actor who always worked in front of the lens, Lee Je Hoon is about to start something new in his career.

On August 5, according to a known K-media news outlet, Jung Hae In was cast to appear as the main character in the short film "Unframed," in which "Taxi Driver" Lee Je Hoon will have his directorial debut.

The upcoming movie is set to start its production by this month. Actors Jung Hae In and Lee Je Hoon have built a close friendship during their years of working in the same field. The film industry in South Korea is starting to look forward to the special collaboration between the first-time director Lee Je Hoon and "Something in the Rain" actor Jung Hae In.

Unframed to be Produced under Lee Je Hoon's Film Company Hardcut

"Unframed" is one of the projects to be produced by Hardcut, a film company founded by actor Lee Je Hoon in partnership with director Yang Kyung Mo and producer Kim Yu Kyung. In addition, the forthcoming project is said to be released as an original series on a specific online streaming platform this coming December.

Hardcut already features a number of short films made by actors Choi Hee Seo, Park Jung Min, Lee Jae Hoon, and Son Seok Gu.

It has been reported that Lee Je Hoon already started filming last August 4. The story of the short film centers around the reality and struggles of the younger generations who have focused on financial technology.

Jung Hae In to Join Forces with His Real-Life Friend Lee Je Hoon

This will be another exciting journey for Lee Je Hoon for he is about to unleash the inner directorial skill that he has. From his outstanding stints in different dramas and movies, Lee Je Hoon is about to make an impressive movie project this time.

He is showing various sides of his creativity as an artist. Lee Je Hoon's love for films became evident. He visits the theater, watching movies and understanding the stories deeply. The "Move to Heaven" star is also known as cinephile.

Netizens are already excited to see what kind of synergy will Lee Je Hoon and Jung Hae In show in the project. It has been said that once Jung Hae In finished filming the drama "Snowdrop" he will start to do the short film "Unframed."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jung Hae In Teases New Character for Upcoming Drama 'D.P.' + Netflix Releases Action-Packed Video Trailer

What are you excited to see in Lee Je Hoon and Jung Hae In's first collaborative work? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins.
"Nevertheless" actor Song Kang has made millions of hearts flutter with his beautiful face and charisma. The actor oozes with confidence and allure, and it's not news that fans and Korean drama viewers have swooned over him.

Since his small screen debut in 2017, the actor has landed many roles in his stay in the industry.

The 28-year-old boy-next-door starred in many dramas as well as films. But have you ever wondered how Song Kang still maintains his lean physique despite his roster?

Let's find out what the actor does to keep his body in shape.

Song Kang Maintains His Lean Physique with Yoga and Hitting the Gym

Despite being a newcomer in the South Korean television industry, he isn't just another beautiful face. Actor Song Kang proved himself that he's hardworking as he does his best in every role and project he receives.

Even in the gym, Song Kang is also a hard worker. His great body does not come instantaneously, but he does his best to maintain his fit body.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jeon Do Yeon and Ryu Jun Yeol Are Lost in Their Own Melancholy in New JTBC Drama

The actor doesn't post his gym adventures that much but sometimes, he takes his fans and viewers in a brief sneak peek in his Instagram stories.

The "Nevertheless" actor begins his morning by doing yoga, and hits the gym according to his mood. He also runs religiously.

Before the actor starred in "Sweet Home", he was a bit more muscular than he is right now and was forced to tone his workout routine down to fit his character better.

Song Kang Tries Doing Ballet

In tvN's 2021 television series "Navillera", Song Kang starred as a dancer who became interested in ballet. With this, the actor prepared for his role by enrolling in a ballet class.

Song Kang took six months of ballet to mentally and physically prepare for his role. Despite the challenging role, he still pushed through.

He shared that even if it was his first time trying to dance ballet, he enjoyed it, and the results that he saw made him love his body even more.

"When I tried doing ballet for my role, I realized that it was fun. It was my first time learning to dance ballet and I liked how my body changed overtime."

The actor will appear in the upcoming drama series "Meteorological Service Agency" (literal translation) that is slated to air in early 2022.

Right now, the actor is currently starring in JTBC's drama series "Nevertheless" with actress Han So Hee.

Follow KDramastars for more Kdrama, KMovie, and celebrity news updates!

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Four of the Republican candidates vying to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the September 14 recall election met on the debate stage Wednesday night, railing against Covid-19 mask mandates and accusing the Democrat of failing the state's business owners and school children by forcing closures during the worst of the pandemic.

Businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and former Rep. Doug Ose all took part at the forum at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, largely avoiding taking shots at one another but faulting Newsom's leadership for everything from the state's homelessness crisis, to rising crime, to the labor shortage.

It was their repeated calls for greater personal responsibility and less "government overreach" to halt the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that created some of the most striking exchanges of the night -- in part because the hands-off approach they proposed to the pandemic would diverge so sharply from the course that Newsom has taken. The Republican-led recall gained steam last year because many GOP voters were angry about what they perceived as Newsom's overreach -- and the candidates sought to channel that anger Wednesday night by criticizing what they described as an erratic set of Covid regulations and mandates that they claim crushed businesses.

Faulconer, who was elected in San Diego in part because he was able to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans, said he would look into whether the governor has the powers to bar mask mandates in individual school districts and localities.

"I do not favor mandates; I favor educate," Faulconer said. "You're not going to mandate your way out of the coronavirus."

Kiley said parents "know what is best for their kids and they should be making decisions themselves" when asked what he would do to prevent mask mandates for children in schools -- and he suggested California would have fared better last year with fewer restrictions.

"To make the case that California got it right, you also have to make the case that all 49 other states got it wrong, and that's a case that simply cannot be made on the basis of the data." He added that the level of harm done to children in California through the closures is still not known.

"States that took a different approach, that followed the science that took a balanced approach, and that trusted their citizens, did a lot better," Kiley said.

Cox downplayed the severity of the virus and called Newsom's Covid management "an absolute disaster" that "resulted in far more danger and far more problems."

Ose said he believes the government "is engaged in a significant overreach of its authority," including the recent guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people should wear masks indoors in hot spot areas, even when they are vaccinated.

"I happen to have great faith in the ability of people to make decisions of their own," Ose said. "The government overreach has to stop. ... Instead of giving people mandates, we need to give them options," he said. He suggested that Americans should have the option to move their children to a different school or simply choose to shop at a different store if they don't agree with mask requirements in place in those locations.

Newsom's challenge

Forty-six contenders -- of all parties -- have qualified for the ballot and none has commanded the star power that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, did when he was elected in the 2003 recall. But the GOP candidate who has recently captured the most attention among Republican voters and donors after his late entrance to the race, conservative talk show radio host Larry Elder, did not participate in the Fox 11 debate because of a preexisting commitment to a fundraiser in Bakersfield. Newsom and GOP candidate Caitlyn Jenner also declined to take part, the network said.

Newsom has found himself in an unexpectedly challenging position in this final stretch of the GOP-led effort to recall him -- just as ballots are about to be mailed out to every California voter mid-August. Covid cases are surging again; the state's wildfire season began early with ferocity; and California is facing a harrowing drought that has created alarming water shortages and led the governor to declare a drought emergency in 50 of the state's 58 counties last month, covering 42% of the state's population.

Voters will be asked two questions on the ballot: First, yes or no on whether they want to recall Newsom and second, select from a list of candidates to replace him.

Though Newsom has maintained a strong approval rating -- with a July survey by the Public Policy Institute of California showing that 56% of likely voters approved of his leadership on jobs and the economy; and 59% approved of his handling of environmental issues -- polls have consistently shown that the overwhelming energy in this special election lies on the GOP side.

That has left Newsom allies with a difficult task in these final weeks: generate enough Democratic enthusiasm -- or gin up fear of the alternative -- to move their voters to fill out their ballots supporting the governor and send them back. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in California.

But in interviews on Wednesday, more than half-a-dozen California political strategists noted that it is virtually impossible to predict what the universe of likely voters will be for a special election on a random date in September in the middle of a pandemic when every voter has a ballot on their kitchen table. (To slow the spread of Covid, Newsom signed a law in February extending the state's rule that every registered voter would receive a mail-in ballot for any election this year).

There are no high-profile Democrats challenging Newsom and the governor's labor supporters are heavily involved in the effort to invigorate reliable Democratic voters, urging them to take the recall threat seriously. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is starring in an anti-recall television spot, tying the effort to recall Newsom with attempts by supporters of former President Donald Trump to reverse the 2020 election results and attack the right to vote, warning that "now they are coming to grab power in California."

California Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo worries that the resurgence of Covid cases due to the Delta variant has made the final grassroots push unexpectedly difficult.

"The biggest challenge is finding the volunteers to knock on doors and the voters to open them," Trujillo said. "When you go from thinking we had suffocated the pandemic to realizing we hadn't, it means that running an effective field campaign in California is slowly being taken off the table for Democrats. Our volunteers are Covid-sensitive, our voters are Covid-sensitive."

He noted that the most effective way to engage the voters Democrats need most in communities of color is with repeated door-knocks to educate them about the ballot. "If the number of volunteers that are willing to do that is diminished and the number of voters willing to open their doors is diminished -- you have a real problem communicating why this election is so important," he said.

Republicans seize on crime and homelessness in California

The GOP contenders largely focused on their ideological differences with Newsom and sought to blame him for some of the deep systemic problems that have faced California for decades, including the way housing costs have squeezed middle class families -- leading some to leave the state.

Seizing on one of the hot-button topics that is at the top of the Republican agenda nationally, Faulconer accused Newsom of "enabling" the "defund the police" movement and faulted him for supporting Proposition 47 in 2014, which reclassified some theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.

"I've seen the disasters of these policies on the streets throughout this great state of ours, it's time to have a governor who is going to put victims first," Faulconer said. "Every California family deserves to be safe, to feel safe and to have a safe neighborhood. That is not the reality under Gavin Newsom's California."

In the midst of a series of meetings on racial injustice in policing last year, Newsom spoke about "reimagining" policing, but made it clear that he did not support eliminating police departments.

The candidates also had a robust debate over how to handle the deepening crisis of homelessness in California. Cox lamented the number of tents along the streets in San Diego and pledged to take a more forceful approach, which would likely require changes to the law: "If we have to, we're gonna force people to get into treatment."

Faulconer said the housing crisis that has thrust so many people out on to the streets is also taking an economic toll: "People are leaving California, they are voting with their feet. ... And the reality is that we have a governor who doesn't seem to think that it's a problem."

Newsom team seeks to tie GOP candidates to Trump

The governor's team has portrayed the recall effort as a zealous mission led by Trump acolytes -- and Wednesday night's debate was no exception. Newsom strategist Dan Newman described the face-off as "another proof point that California faces a very clear choice between (Newsom) and installing a Trump-supporting Republican as governor."

Newman said Elder's late entrance to the race within a field of little-known and little-noticed candidates has clarified the choice for voters. "He unapologetically opposes Roe v. Wade, supports Trump, says the minimum wage should be $0.00, and that we should be drilling for oil off the California coast. That's what's at stake," Newman said. "Our challenge is to make sure that California voters understand that binary choice."

For his part, Newsom has made a point of appearing to focus on his day job -- traveling the state to highlight his administration's response to wildfires, for example, and promising that California will have the "strongest state vaccine verification system in the US" after announcing that the state will require state employees and health care workers provide proof of vaccination or submit to regular testing.

"He's dealing with a number of crises side by side," said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. "The way these crises are handled over the next month and a half will weigh on how people think about whether it's important for them to weigh in on the recall and do they want to keep this current governor."

Finding a way to draw Democrats into that discussion and getting them committed to participate remains the biggest hurdle for the Newsom campaign, Baldassare said. "Thus far, they haven't found a way to really engage their core constituents -- and at this point the election is really going to be determined by that."

The-CNN-Wire

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UPDATE, AUGUST 6, 2021 11:00 AM--The Antelope Fire has grown to 34,479 acres with 0% containment.

The Southwest Area Type 2 Incident Management Team 4 will host a community meeting today, Friday, August 6, at 6:00 p.m. at the Butte Valley Community Center in Dorris, located at 52900 Highway 97. The public is encouraged to join in-person or virtually during the livestream.

More details can be found here; go here for the latest map of the fire. For

YREKA, Calif.  In a significant push to the north on Wednesday, fire officials said that the Antelope Fire in eastern Siskiyou County swept around the remote community of Tennant.

Antelope is one of more than a dozen fires sparked by recent thunderstorms in the county, and it emerged Wednesday as the most threatening. Fire officials said that the fire, estimated at 2,400 acres Wednesday morning, exploded to 20,900 acres or more by that night  with most of that growth made to the north, toward the community of Tennant.

As of Thursday morning, Tennant sat roughly in the center of the fire area. Regardless of its perilous position, Operations Section Chief Buck Wickham of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 described a scenario in his morning update that provides Tennant residents with a reason to hope that their homes are still standing.

"In Tennant, we did have resources in there that stayed there while the fire burned around the community," Wickham said, "and they stayed there not only through the day yesterday, but all last night too  they stayed there just to protect structures there in that community."

Wickham described firefighters' efforts on Wednesday as a "pretty valiant fight," and crews will be in the town again on Thursday. There was some damage to the community, Wickham divulged, but there are no specific assessments of the losses yet. Crews were forced to fall back from the Fish Camp area just south of Tennant due to the fire's extreme behavior, suggesting that it was overtaken by the flames.

By Thursday morning, the Antelope Fire extended about six miles north of Tennant. Officials said that almost all of the spot fires produced by the main fire quickly spread. Fire crews saw challenges around 8 a.m. on the southwest area of Tennant.

Fire crews made some progress on the fire's western side overnight after it "fell on its face" in the late night hours, Wickham said. Fire officials hope that conditions will continue to moderate over the next several days, reducing chances of the extreme fire behavior seen on Wednesday.

Multiple areas of Siskiyou County remain under evacuation orders as fires throughout the Klamath National Forest continue to spread. Those fires are roughly divided into two theaters  the Antelope Fire around Tennant, and the River Complex fires in the very southwestern reaches of Siskiyou County.

Fire officials said that fire behavior was more moderate on the River Complex until Wednesday night due to the heavy smoke inversion, though the larger Haypress and Summer Fires continued to grow. A cold, dry weather front was expected for Thursday, with increased winds. The winds are also expected to change from southwest to westerly and northwesterly, changing fire behavior.

"Priorities remain protection of identified values at risk within the complex. All fires within the complex are planned for full suppression," officials said.

The River Complex consists of more than a dozen fires, though most remain small or have been contained. The largest and most challenging are the 11,522-acre Haypress Fire southeast of Shadow Creek Campground, the 4,730-acre Summer Fire near Cecil Lake, and the 510-acre Cronan Fire northwest of Sawyers Bar.

Evacuation orders and warnings are still in effect for areas surrounding the communities of Forks of Salmon, Sawyers Bar, Taylor Creek Road, Tennant, and Antelope Creek. Up-to-date information regarding evacuations can be viewed at an interactive map managed by the Siskiyou County Office of Emergency Services: https://arcg.is/1nnHKm0.

Here are the active evacuation orders and warnings as of Wednesday morning:

River Complex fires

An evacuation order has been issued for areas south of McNeil Creek, west of the Siskiyou-Trinity County line, north of South Fork Road, and east of Rush Creek.

An evacuation order has been issued for the town of Cecilville and all residents along Caribou Road due to wildfire. Leave the area immediately.

has been issued for the town of Cecilville and all residents along Caribou Road due to wildfire. Leave the area immediately. An evacuation order has been issued for Taylor Creek Road and surrounding areas by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office. Please leave the area immediately.

has been issued for Taylor Creek Road and surrounding areas by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office. Please leave the area immediately. An evacuation warning has been issued for areas south of Cecilville Road, west of Red Rock Mountain, east of Trinity-Siskiyou County line, and north of Sawtooth Ridge, including Coffee Creek Road.

has been issued for areas south of Cecilville Road, west of Red Rock Mountain, east of Trinity-Siskiyou County line, and north of Sawtooth Ridge, including Coffee Creek Road. An evacuation warning has been issued for the following areas surrounding the Cecilville area: Godfried, Blue Ridge, Black Bear, Uncle Sam Mine and Eddy Gulch Road. Please prepare in case evacuations are ordered.

has been issued for the following areas surrounding the Cecilville area: Godfried, Blue Ridge, Black Bear, Uncle Sam Mine and Eddy Gulch Road. Please prepare in case evacuations are ordered. An evacuation warning issued by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office remains in effect for Forks of Salmon and Sawyers Bar areas.

Antelope Fire

An evacuation order has been issued for the communities of Tennant, Bray, Mount Hebron, the Round Valley area south of Red Rock Road including Long Prairie Road, Robison Road, and Old State Highway. Residents are asked to leave immediately.

A Temporary Evacuation Point (TEP) has been set up at the Dorris City Hall, 307 South Main Street, Dorris, CA. If you are evacuated and need assistance or sheltering, please proceed to the Dorris City Hall or call 530-340-3539 for assistance.
SALEM, Ore.  Oregon Fish & Wildlife staff killed two wolf pups in the northeastern part of the state this week, a response to the wolf pack's chronic killing of livestock at a Baker County ranch.

Wolves from the Lookout Mountain Pack were implicated in the death or injury of four cows within a 14-day period. Three of the cows were yearlings of more than 850 pounds. ODFW agreed that the kills represented chronic depredation, presenting a "significant risk" to livestock.



Photo courtesy Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Photo courtesy Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

The state wildlife agency issued a permit to the livestock producer at the end of July, allowing them kill up to four uncollared wolves within a designated area. ODFW noted at the time that state staff can kill wolves to assist the rancher.

On Sunday, ODFW staff went up in a helicopter and shot two of the pack's seven pups, killing none of the older wolves. Prior to the kill permit, the Lookout Mountain Pack consisted of two breeding adults, two uncollared yearling wolves, and seven pups.

In a statement released Wednesday, Congressman Peter DeFazio condemned the wolf pup killings and called for the Biden administration to restore Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf that were jettisoned during the Trump era.

"The state of Oregon killed two 3-month-old wolf pups under the irrational premise that it would somehow lessen the food needs of the pack. Wolf pups are no threat to livestock, said Rep. DeFazio. Nearly 80 years after a federal extermination campaign nearly wiped out the species, I will not sit by and allow the re-implementation of cruel, inhumane, and unscientific policies that degrade local ecosystems. I have called on Interior Secretary Haaland to expeditiously relist the Gray Wolf under the Endangered Species Act to prevent their likely extinction.

Michelle Dennehy, Communications Coordinator for ODFW, told NewsWatch 12 that killing the pups helps to reduce the food need of the pack, and disrupts its pattern of behavior toward targeting livestock for food. The rancher still has the license to kill two more uncollared wolves, if needed, through August 21.

ODFW noted that the livestock producers in the area had been using non-lethal means to deter wolves for years, and stepped up their efforts when the first depredation happened. The Lookout Mountain wolves are a relatively new presence in the area, and were first documented in 2019.

In prior years, the Rogue Pack wolves of southern Oregon easily topped ODFW's depredation reports  accounting for the majority of livestock kills in 2020 despite comprising less than 13 percent of the total wolf population.

Wolves in western Oregon were shielded from lethal countermeasures up until the federal delisting earlier this year. None of the Rogue wolves have yet been killed in response to depredation, but livestock deaths attributed to wolves in southern Oregon appear to have dropped off almost entirely since the beginning of 2021.
MALIN, Ore.  Detectives from the Oregon State Police raided a large illegal marijuana grow in southern Klamath County early this week, eventually seizing more than 22,000 plants and uncovering evidence of water theft, according to the agency.

OSP said that "information was developed" about the suspected grow operation on an 150-acre property on Harpold Road near Malin. During a search, detectives from the agency reported finding more than 85 greenhouses  each 30-foot by 100-foot structures, and each full of marijuana plants.

An investigation of the grow confirmed that there was no permit to legally grow hemp or marijuana on the property. OSP also concluded that the grow may have relied on stolen water and "unlawful use of groundwater."

"Marijuana is a very water-intensive plant and since illegal grows dont receive water permits, these grows deplete water at even more wasteful rates with no regard for sustainability," the agency said in a statement.

By the end of the search, detectives had identified and seized more than 22,000 plants. Initial tests confirmed that the plants were marijuana and not hemp, OSP said.

Detectives interviewed multiple people and seized other evidence from the property. While the investigation is still ongoing, OSP said that a list of charges against the property owners will be referred to the Klamath County District Attorney's Office, including Unlawful Possession of Marijuana/Hemp, Unlawful Manufacture of Marijuana, and Unlawful Use or Appropriation of Ground Water.

Beyond detectives from OSP's Klamath Falls Area Command, other agencies involved in the investigation were the Oregon State Police Southwest Region Drug Enforcement Section, Basin Interagency Narcotics Team, Klamath County Community Corrections, the Klamath Falls Police Department, the Klamath County Sheriffs Office, and the Oregon Water Resources Department.
MEDFORD, Ore.  The Medford Police Department says that a now-former custodian at South Medford High School had made significant steps toward carrying out a mass shooting before he sought help several weeks ago.

On July 20, 24-year-old Kristopher Clay came into the Medford Police Department lobby and requested to speak with an officer. MPD said that Clay told the officer he was having "homicidal thoughts" and had plans to follow through with them. The officer took Clay to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center's Behavioral Health Unit.

MPD launched an investigation into Clay, leading to a series of searches covering at least three locations in Jackson County, including Clay's residence in the 700-block of W McAndrews in Medford. Investigators found ammunition, rifles, gun parts, tactical gear, and "written material." Lieutenant Mike Budreau said that the recovered evidence included manifestos, maps, and a journal that Clay allegedly tampered with while in the hospital.

Clay worked as a custodian at South Medford High School at the time that he turned himself in. MPD said that police contacted officials from the Medford School District and school officials worked with School Resource Officers on a sweep of the school. The District also ensured that Clay's employment was quickly terminated.

On Wednesday, police took Clay into custody at Asante Rogue Regional just before he was to be discharged from the mental health unit. Medford Police charged him with a number of counts: Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Assault in the First Degree, two counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

"It should be noted that Clay was in protective custody up to the point he was placed under arrest," MPD said. "The Medford Police Department would like to thank the many agencies involved in this case, and we are relieved a potentially catastrophic event was prevented."

According to police, Clay had marked out several potential sites for shootings  including South Medford High School. However, Clay had reportedly not identified any specific individuals as targets, with Lt. Budreau saying that Clay had chosen "areas, not people."

Though Clay ultimately came to the police station and told the officer about his alleged homicidal urges, Lt. Budreau underlined that the investigation had produced significant evidence of the custodian's planning, including a possible date for the attacks.

"Everything was culminating to the point where the only next step would be a mass shooting event," Budreau said.

Clay had no prior criminal convictions, but he was prohibited from possessing firearms due to a court determination of mental illness under Oregon law, which Budreau said occurred in 2019. Police said that he obtained the guns through "various channels," ordering parts online and sourcing intact guns from people he knew.

Medford School District hired Clay in February of this year, according to spokesperson Natalie Hurd. MSD conducted the usual background and reference checks that they do for District employees, Hurd said, but there were no red flags during Clay's hiring process. The court determination was not a criminal case and did not appear on the background check.

Budreau said that Medford Police officers had one interaction with Clay in 2019, when he was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. Though he was taken into custody, he was not prosecuted for the charge and it does not appear on his criminal record.

Regardless, Clay's mental state was not entirely obscure. Budreau said that police have now interviewed several people who heard concerning statements from Clay, but did not take the threats seriously and did not report them to authorities.

"When we asked them why they didn't contact us or didn't do anything about it, it was their impression that it wasn't serious, that he was just being goofy or . . . there wasn't a real threat," Budreau said. "I'd just like to remind folks that any time you hear talk of mass or school shootings or anything that should be of concern, don't discount it  report it, let us look into it and see if it has any veracity, because what we saw in this case was that it absolutely did."

While Budreau said that it's common for people to disclose to Medford Police that they want to harm themselves, he reflected that the circumstances in this case are "very unusual," considering how Clay surrendered himself into protective custody within the context of a purportedly detailed plan for violence.

"Sometimes people indicate that they are a danger to others, but never to this extent, and never to this . . . being planned out, with this many specifics, and this many steps going towards that," Budreau said.

Clay appeared in court via video feed for his arraignment on Thursday. For the attempted murder charge, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $375,000.

When asked for his initial plea, Clay told the judge that he wanted to plead guilty to all charges. Judge Cromwell advised that he speak with an attorney before entering a guilty plea.

"These are extremely serious charges that are mandatory prison," Judge Cromwell said. "So I have a little bit of a concern, based on preliminary information that I've received, that would cause me some concern for you doing that today. If you want to just at least talk to an attorney to discuss your rights . . . it's not to say you can't plead guilty."

"Yes, your honor," Clay replied. " . . . I would like to discuss with an attorney."

The judge referred Clay to the public defender's office for representation. Prosecutors requested that Clay's bail be set at $2 million, which Judge Cromwell approved. If Clay were to post bail, he'd be placed on supervised release with relatively stringent requirements, including GPS monitoring.

Budreau said that there is still an ongoing investigation into the case, and some details that investigators have gathered so far are being withheld as the Jackson County District Attorney's Office pursues its case against Clay.
The COVID-19 infection rate in BC has leaped to 536, a figure not seen since mid-May. There are more than 3,500 active cases in the province and more than half of those are in the Interior Health region.

You voted:
After putting the wind in "Moana's" sails with his music and lyrics, Lin-Manuel Miranda brings his stage-honed chops to another animated movie in "Vivo," a sweet if slight love story built around an inordinately resourceful kinkajou. Premiering on Netflix, Miranda's songs elevate a small-boned effort -- call it cute, without that being pejorative -- with an unabashedly romantic streak.

The title kinkajou (voiced by Miranda) has been raised in Cuba by a street performer, Andres (Juan de Marcos), who reveals his long unpursued love for musical star Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan), who is planning a farewell concert in Miami.

An unforeseen turn leaves Vivo seeking to fulfill Andres' wishes by embarking on a seemingly impossible mission for a rainforest "honey bear" with big cartoon eyes, journeying to Miami to deliver to Marta the love song that Andres wrote for her decades earlier.

As with most such quests, the furry musician gets help from a variety of unexpected sources, most significantly a nerdy outcast named Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo), who has lost her father, and whose antics (including a track record of deceased pets) has her poor mother (Zoe Saldana) at her wits' end.

The trip to Miami, however, experiences several detours, including one through the Everglades, which mostly feels like a laborious attempt to introduce more animal friends (and foes) while prolonging the modest journey to feature length.

Written by Quiara Alegria Hudes (Miranda's collaborator on "In the Heights"), and directed by Kirk DeMicco ("The Croods") and co-director Brandon Jeffords, "Vivo" comes from Sony's animation arm, which produced the "Hotel Transylvania" series but hardly possesses Disney's storied legacy.

Even so, the songs -- featuring the composer's trademark mix of musical styles and playful lyrical calisthenics -- prove catchy and touching, particularly in Andres' words about sharing Marta, who was destined for bigger things, with the world.

Netflix has sought to diversify its menu with children's fare, a something-for-every-demographic strategy -- in cultural terms with the recent "Over the Moon" as well as age -- that has yielded mixed creative dividends.

Animation provides Miranda -- who is also writing songs for Disney's upcoming "Encanto" -- and Hudes a colorful canvas to extend their collaboration, albeit at a scale that won't make anyone forget about "Hamilton." Still, by continuing to explore a medium that has a long musical history, Miranda's not throwing away his shots.

"Vivo" premieres Aug. 6 on Netflix.

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Many vaccinated people are angry at those who aren't. If you've had your Covid shots, you may agree with Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama, who said recently: "Folks supposed to have common sense, but it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."

And it's not just the masses who are letting us down but people close to us: our coworkers, friends, family members. You may be furious at what you see as the selfishness and ignorance and lack of civic responsibility in the people in your life who refuse to get the jab.

And you're not alone -- social media is rife with posts that attempt to convince people to get vaccinated by explaining how wrongheaded they are. It's human nature. You might be doing the same kind of browbeating yourself.

But here's a question: How's that strategy working for you? After you lay into the anti-vaxxers and the vaccine-hesitant, are they thanking you for setting them straight and rushing to make appointments?

Our guess is, that's not what's happening.

Instead, those conversations get heated, things get said that can't be unsaid and you both leave feeling angry, frustrated and resentful. In the moment, it can feel good to indulge our emotions and let them have it. But the cost is high: We damage the relationship and they don't get vaccinated. Even when we present them with clear, seemingly convincing facts.

There's a well-documented phenomenon in psychology called the "backfire effect." Giving people facts disproving their incorrect beliefs can actually reinforce those beliefs. Researchers have observed this phenomenon in the context of political misconceptions, voting preferences, the decision to vaccinate one's children and whether to get a flu vaccine oneself. The more people are confronted with facts at odds with their opinions, the stronger they cling to those opinions.

And if arguing with facts backfires, you know what backfires even more? Criticizing, blaming and shaming them for being thoughtless, selfish, stupid, ignorant or psychopathic. You can check this yourself: When was the last time you changed your behavior in response to someone blaming or shaming you?

We want to say that we feel your pain. We're both vaccinated. We're disappointed that the Delta variant, combined with widespread vaccine hesitancy, is prolonging the pandemic and necessitating continued mask mandates and lockdowns to control its spread. And we're mortified at the resulting unnecessary suffering and loss of life. We're angry too.

Like Gov. Ivey, we also feel the urge to convince them to change by giving them the facts, arguing with them and criticizing and shaming them for their selfish disregard for others.

The truth is, we care deeply about the issue. And we also care deeply about our relationships. When the two collide, it feels like we have to choose. Do I risk getting a breakthrough infection by spending time in a confined space with my unvaccinated family member, or do I risk the relationship by refusing to be in her presence, or demand that she wear a mask, or try to convince her to do the right thing?

The power of empathy

How do we balance risk and relationship?

We'd like to share a process that reduces risk through relationship. While it isn't guaranteed to get the unvaccinated people in your life to drop everything and make an appointment for the shot, we think it will significantly increase your odds of success.

Our approach hinges on your willingness to give up control; to acknowledge that the person you're trying to change has autonomy and will make their own decision. Of course, what you're giving up isn't control; it's the illusion of control. The person you're talking to is always free to get vaccinated -- or not. You don't get to choose for them. That's why you're trying so hard to convince them.

So when we can't persuade with facts or criticism, what can we lead with instead?

Two things: empathy and curiosity.

When we demonstrate empathy, we show the other person that we believe they have valid needs and concerns. Even if we disagree with their position, we acknowledge that it makes sense to them.

How do you show empathy to someone who doesn't want to get the vaccine? Let's make this real: Think about someone you want to convince. First, be OK with your own feelings. Are you furious at them? Disappointed? Terrified? Do you look down upon them?

Feel those feelings, own them, and don't beat yourself up for having them. Instead, have empathy for yourself. Your motivations are good. You want to reduce suffering, save lives and allow people to congregate freely again without fear of infection. You care deeply, and because of that you feel strongly about the topic.

But now don't act on those emotions either. Instead, extend your empathy to the other person. What do they care deeply about? Here's what we've heard from the vaccine hesitant people in our lives:

"I don't want to put unknown chemicals in my body."

"I don't trust pharmaceutical companies."

"I don't want to be told what to do about my body."

"These vaccines have been rushed through without enough research, and they aren't even fully approved by the FDA."

"My chances of getting harmed by the vaccine are much higher than my risk of dying of Covid."

I know you can argue with these statements. You might be doing it in your head right now. But can you empathize with them as well?

Does it make sense that someone would want to avoid putting unknown chemicals in their body? Is it reasonable not to fully trust the pharmaceutical industry? It doesn't take a lot of Googling to find lawsuits and settlements of billions of dollars involving harms, false claims and withheld information by drug companies. Isn't it true that we have only short-term data on the effects and side effects of the vaccines, if only because the trials began less than two years ago?

In practice, empathy is about validating the other person's perspective without agreeing or disagreeing with them. It's making true statements that show the other person that you understand them to their satisfaction. For example:

"It sounds like you're fearful of the possible side effects of the vaccine. And that makes sense."

"It seems like you don't trust the pharmaceutical companies that are producing the vaccines. I understand that"

"You're worried that we don't have long-term data on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines. I get that."

Can we talk?

And then, encourage them to talk. That's where curiosity comes in. Ask questions, not to trap them in logical inconsistencies, but because you are truly curious about their answers. How do they compare the relative risks of vaccines and Covid? What data are they looking at? What makes them doubt the safety of the vaccine? What have they seen and heard?

Once they feel like you care about their opinion so you can learn from it -- and them -- rather than demolish it -- or them -- you're in a real conversation. Now you can get to the important questions: What do they want? For themselves, for their loved ones, for their country, for the world? Chances are, this is where you can find common ground.

We all want people to be well, to be free from harm, to be free from coercion. We all want the economy to flourish -- even though we may have very different visions of what that entails. We all want to be respected.

From this place, you can begin to explore your differences with curiosity and compassion. "It sounds like you and I want people to be both healthy and free from coercion. And this virus is sort of pitting those values against each other, and I'm coming down more strongly on the side of health, and you appear to value freedom more. But I hear your concerns about your health as well. And actually, I'm in favor of vaccination because I think it will give us all more freedom."

That was the approach we used with one of our vaccine hesitant friends. After a conversation full of respectful questions and discussion, she told us, "You know, I think I'm going to get the vaccine." Instead of trying to change her, we created an environment in which she felt safe enough to change on her own.

We're not guaranteeing that outcome. We don't know how your conversations will go. But when you don't have actual power over someone, it's only through a caring and respectful relationship that you can influence them to change. If you want a loved one to get vaccinated, approach them with empathy and curiosity, to communicate your caring and respect. It's your best shot at helping them get theirs.

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EUGENE, Ore.-- The 4J School Board meeting was forced to take a break after the audience got disruptive during public comment Wednesday evening.

Most of the attendees were there to voice their concerns about Governor Kate Brown's new mask requirement for K-12 schools.

About two dozen people rallied outside of 4J's headquarter's before the start of the meeting, demanding the district to make it a choice for students to wear masks indoors.

Some even called on community members to un-enroll their children from school if they do not agree with the mask rule.

Harry Sanger, a 4J parent, said the mask requirement disenfranchises some students.

"You're creating an area of inequity because families that can't afford to send their kids to private school or home school," Sanger said. "Families that can't are left with a difficult decision and trying to do what's right for their children. If they don't have the means to avoid public school but the public schools are requiring masks and they don't believe in masking, then what do those families do? Where does that leave them?"

There were some public comments from community members who support the new mask rule. They said they support the decision to keep students and families safe.

In May, the district announced masks would still be required on campuses, months before the governor's new requirement.

Now it being a statewide law, districts could face penalties for defying it. It's unlikely 4J will go against the new rule.
LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- There's been an increase in COVID-19 cases here in Oregon, including breakthrough cases.

Breakthrough cases are when a person who's been vaccinated tests positive for the virus. According to Dr. Hans Notenboom, the urgent care director at PeaceHealth, these account for a small percentage of hospitalizations at PeaceHealth. He said 98% of COVID-19 hospitalizations at the hospital are among those who are unvaccinated.

"The people who are vaccinated are for the most part the ones who are not getting sick, requiring hospitalization and having bad outcomes, including death," said Notenboom.

One couple in Cottage Grove is among the few breakthrough cases in our area. At first, Beth and Bobby were skeptics, but they decided to get their shots in May despite their initial hesitations.

"You know I just kind of wanted to see what happened, and take time to educate myself and make a decision I felt comfortable with," said Beth.

The two told KEZI 9 News they wanted to get the lay of the land. But eventually, Beth was fed up. So she made appointments for herself and her husband.

"The wife just said I made an appointment and I just happened to agree with her," said Bobby.

Bobby started experiencing symptoms last Sunday. And even though the pair ended up getting sick with COVID-19 symptoms like aches and pains, they still say there are benefits to getting vaccinated.

They said they also got the vaccine to protect their grandson.

"For him to have to go through any kind of testing, or the sickness and stuff, he wouldn't understand or anything. So I wanted to kind of protect him from that," said Beth.

Dr. Pilar Bradshaw, a pediatrictian for Eugene Pediatric, said getting vaccinated will help children.

In a recent Facebook post, Bradshaw said her clinic recently saw more children test positive for COVID-19 than any other day since the pandemic started. She said it's a grim reminder that we need to do what's necessary to protect our children.

"What we know that's real is the virus is very dangerous. It's in the top ten causes of deaths in kids in the US. It's important for people to understand that it can do more than just kill you, it can make you have long-hauler's COVID, where your child can be symptomatic for many months and be really disabled by this virus," said Bradshaw.

While Beth and Bobby didn't end up in the hospital, the two still ended up breaking through. However, it isn't stopping them from telling people to rethink refusing the vaccine.

"We are living proof that you can still get this virus. Think about yourself on that one. Do you want to only be able to lay around for two weeks because you don't have the energy? It's not about the people who aren't doing what they're supposed to do, you need to think about yourself and your own family," said Beth.
EUGENE, Ore. -- With flu season approaching, health officials are reminding pregnant women about the importance of a flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine.

As part of KEZI 9 News Parenting & Pregnancy segment sponsored by Womens Care, Anchor Renee McCullough looks at the risks and benefits of vaccines.

We do recommend the flu vaccine. We sort of forgot about influenza last year, said Dr. Brant Cooper.

Cooper said we got a pass on the flu last year because so many were wearing masks and social distancing, but this year will likely be different, and he wants to make sure pregnant women are prepared.

One percent of the regular population is hospitalized every year with influenza, so for 100 people who get influenza, one gets hospitalized, but for pregnant women, its about 10%, Cooper said.

The COVID-19 vaccine is still a big talker for his patients. He said while a lot of his patients have been vaccinated, he continues to have conversations with others who are scared.

Some have not. I think its easy to be fearful when you are pregnant because you dont want anything to happen to your unborn baby, and theres a real deep feeling about that, he said.

Cooper said health officials are much more confident about the safety of the vaccine than just six months ago.

There can be side effects from the vaccine, he said.

Theyre real. Often within 12 to 24 hours, you may feel a little bit achy and need to take some Tylenol perhaps, and sometimes even have a low-grade fever, Cooper said.

However, the risk of getting COVID-19 is even greater, according to the doctor.

Weve unfortunately seen a number of pregnant women who have gotten COVID. Some have been in the hospital. One has been in the hospital for about a month, so you really can get ill. The immune system doesnt work as hard when youre pregnant, Cooper added.

Plus, if you get the vaccine and still get COVID-19, your symptoms likely wont be as severe.

Just this week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine put out a message urging pregnant women to get vaccinated.

The groups cited the recent rise in cases and potential risk of severe complications if you get COVID-19. They say based on evidence from thousands of people who have gotten the vaccine while pregnant, its safe.
EUGENE, Ore. -- A new scam is targeting Uber and Lyft drivers in Oregon, according to a spokeswoman with the Portland Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The ride-hailing industry has skyrocketed over the past year. The pandemic made becoming a driver for a ride-hailing company one way to bring in a few extra bucks during hard financial times.

Beth Anne Steele said the FBI has been receiving many scam reports from ride-hailing drivers in the state. The drivers work for one of the big companies like Uber or Lyft, which are also known as ridesharing companies.

"It happens all the time. In terms of the rideshare scam, it is a little bit of a new twist on an old scam," Steele said. "Scammers will go where the money is and where the potential victims are. So in this case, rideshare scams, rideshare drivers -- a growing population of people, particularly through COVID as they are trying to make extra money."

The FBI told KEZI one driver received a call from someone he believed was with the ride-hailing company, telling him he was a great driver. He was then offered a $250 "bonus." The scammer then began asking him questions about his account and banking information so they could make the transfer. He realized he was being scammed, but it was too late.

Steele said the industry as a whole had grown exponentially, so it is just a matter of time before scam artists dial from another number.

Roy Hester said he'd seen it all as one of the first Uber drivers in Eugene. He told KEZI he experienced one of these spam calls, but he immediately saw the red flags.

The scammer will tell the driver to call a specific number, and Hester said that is the red flag that drivers often miss. You can only call the number the scammer provides by using your personal cell phone number instead of going through the rideshare company's app. If a driver does call the provided number, the scammer grabs all your information using your personal number and asking further questions.

Hester said he hopes people will think twice before they answer any type of personal questions.

"They need to be aware that they should not give that information out, any information out, and Uber and Lyft both occasionally send out messages to tell us to not give out our personal information," Hester said. "Occasionally, we have to if someone has a lost item, but Uber support will call us and ask us permission to give that number out."

Steel said if this happens to you, immediately call your bank and file a report with the FBI's internet crime complaint center at IC3.gov.
By Tonny Abet and CAROLINE AYUGI

The developers of Covidex and Covilyce-1, the herbal medicines being used as a supportive treatment for Covid-19, have said their plans to start clinical trials have been hampered by the governments delay to release funds.

Early last month, Gulu University said during a special meeting, President Museveni besides giving a go-ahead to Dr Alice Lamwaka, the lead researcher of Covilyce-1 to produce the medicine, also promised Shs3.7 billion for the team to do clinical trials.

The university told Daily Monitor on Monday that they are yet to receive the money.

Also, Ms Rebecca Mwanje, the personal assistant to Prof Patrick Ogwang, the developer of Covidex, said they have not yet received funding for clinical trials.

Prof Ogwang had earlier revealed that Shs2 billion is needed for clinical trials.

Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/covidex-covilyce-1-clinical-trials-hang-in-balance3499648
By Prossy Kisakye

Kampala Capital City Authority is calling for calm from taxi drivers who were operating in Old Taxi Park, assuring them that it will soon be reopened for public use.

This is after taxi operators under their umbrella body Kampala Operational Taxi Stages Association (KOTSA) threatened to storm and capture the park blaming the citys governing body, KCCA for the continued delay to finish the rehabilitation works which started early last year.

Now the spokesperson of the Authority, Daniel NuweAbiine tells KFM that threats will not prompt KCCA to reopen the park before all construction works are complete.

He noted that some equipment to aid the completion of the park is still in the procurement process, urging the affected parties to be a little patient

According to KCCA, the old taxi park will have designated entry and exit points for both vehicles and pedestrians and will have access control for vehicles to avoid queuing on the surrounding roads and congestion within the park.

The park used by over 200, 000 people daily will also have improved sanitary facilities such as toilets, an administration block and a Police Post and CCTV cameras.
By Moses Ndhaye

Kampala Capital City Authority is today set to begin closing down arcades and shopping malls that have failed to comply with the presidential directives on the prevention of COIVID-19.

While inspecting Kampalas major business hub Kikuubo lane yesterday, the minister for Kampala Minsa Kabanda lane revealed that effective today, no arcade shall be allowed to operate without observing the set Standard Operating Procedures.

The traders operating in Kikuubo lane have meanwhile asked the government to first sensitize the business community before taking such action against them.

President Museveni last week announced a ban on retail business in the Kikuubo shopping area as one of the measures to reduce congestion and curb further spread of COVID-19 in the business area.
The NUP Secretary-General, David Lewis Rubongoya has revealed that the famous blogger and government critic, Fred Lumbuye who has been arrested should be charged in Turkey and not brought back to Uganda if he has committed any crime.

While posting on his twitter account, Rubongoya says that many people who have been speaking against the NRM government have been tortured and therefore, if Lumbuye is brought back to Uganda, he will also be tortured.

In short, we are saying that if Lumbuye has committed any offences under Turkish laws, he should be tried in Turkey and not handed over to a regime which has made a name for violating the rights and freedoms of those it lays its hands-on, he said.

He adds that trying Lumbuye in Uganda will threaten other government critics in the diaspora.

All we are saying is that if Fred Lumbuye is handed over to the regime in Kampala, that will send shock and fear within Ugandan dissidents and political activists everywhere in the world, he added.

Lumbuye was arrested in Turkey yesterday. He is a critic who uses his social media accounts to attack and criticise government officials in Uganda. Some of his statements are termed by Ugandan security officials as crimes against the state.

Foreign Affairs State Minister Oryem Okello said Lumbuye isnt a special person and therefore he isnt above the law.
By Damali Mukhaye

The Ministries of Education, health and the National task force have deferred the decision to reopen medical schools to the next meeting.

This follows a meeting that was convened by the education minister Janet Museveni on Wednesday to decide on the fate of reopening these schools as directed by President Museveni but failed to agree.

The meeting which was also attended by scientists agreed to first inspect medical schools to evaluate preparedness and installation of standard operating procedures facilities.

Sources also indicate that the education ministry asked that all medical students are first vaccinated.

Meanwhile, scientists also warned that rushing to reopen the school might expose the students to infections which could worsen the situation and cause the death of some of the learners.
Breda Tobin

The death has occurred of Breda Tobin, The Sycamores, Kilkenny and formerly Garnagale, Urlingford, Kilkenny. Breda died peacefully at St Luke's Hospital Kilkenny surrounded by her family and her amazing carers at The Sycamores. Predeceased by her mother Nellie and brother Con. Deeply regretted by her loving father Paddy, brothers Pat and John, sister-in-law Kay, nieces Kathrina and Patricia, nephews Diarmuid and Thomas, relatives, neighbours and her friends at the Sycamores Kilkenny.

Reposing at her brother Pats residence Garnagale, Urlingford on Thursday evening from 6pm until 8pm. Removal takes place on Friday morning to St. Patrick's Church, Graine arriving for Requiem Mass at 11am (max 50 people) followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. As per Covid-19 directives please comply with government guidelines regarding public gatherings , social distancing and face covering. The Tobin family would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their understanding and support at this difficult time

Thomas (Tommy) Fox

The death has occurred of Thomas (Tommy) Fox, Barrowmount Drive, Goresbridge, Kilkenny. The death has occurred of Thomas (Tommy) Fox Jnr. who passed away, peacefully, at St Vincent's University Hospital, August 3. Tommy will be sadly missed by his beloved mother Kathleen and loving family and friends. Funeral arrangements to follow. Donations, if desired, to The Irish Cancer Society.

Kathleen Carroll (nee Giles)

The death has occurred of Kathleen Carroll (nee Giles) of Bray, Wicklow, late of Salisbury, England and formerly of Inistioge, Kilkenny, passed away peacefully, on Saturday, July 31, at St Vincents University Hospital, Dublin. Mourned and missed by her husband Tommy, children Sheila, Marie, Irene, Peter and David, son-in-law Andrew, daughter-in-law Annabel, grandchildren Daniel, Martha, Emilia, Ted and Evee Grace, sisters Bernice, Pauline and Nancy and by her extended family and friends in Ireland and England.

Funeral Service on Saturday, August 7, at 2pm at Colliers Funeral Home, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray and this may be viewed on www.churchservices.tv/colliersbray, followed by cremation at Mount Jerome. Private messages may be forwarded through www.colliersfuneraldirectors.com.
The wait for live events in the Marble City comes to an end today as audiences have the chance to attend in person, premieres in theatre, music and visual art as part of Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Pictured are soprano Maire Flavin (as Chrysothemis) and bass-baritone Tomas Tomasson (as Orest) from the cast of Elektra, in Kilkenny ahead of the first staged performances of this opera in Ireland which will be the opening performances of Kilkenny Arts Festival 2021. Irish National Opera in association with Kilkenny Arts Festival presents Richard Strausss Elektra outdoors in Castle Yard from August 5-14 for live audiences.

The production provides the rare prospect of an opera set in the mythical courtyard of Agamemnons palace being performed in a historic, real-world courtyard.

Numbers will continue to be limited (working within government guidelines), and the festival is ever cognisant of the importance of retaining a digital strand in the programme, engaging with broader audiences and facilitating those who may not yet be in position to attend in person.

The festival runs from Thursday, August 5  15. In the midst of an ever changing landscape, the festival brings artists and audiences together again through unique arts encounters.

Line-up also includes a new play from Rough Magic in a future where hope for a return to the halcyon days of the 2020s comes in the form of a new Tonic. The festival continues to support artists as they explore new directions with new projects from Karan Casey and Murieann Nic Amhlaoibh with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Helen Comerford premieres 19 new artworks, an immersive installation at Kilkennys new skatepark and Richard Mosses Incoming at the Butler Gallery.

Organisers of Kilkenny Arts Festival say theyre grateful for the continued support from funders, including principal funder, the Arts Council; Kilkenny County Council, as well as Failte Ireland.

The festival would like to sincerely thank all its sponsors, the local business community, volunteers, friends and audiences for their continued support and commitment in these challenging times, said the festival.

Kilkenny Arts Festival runs from August 5 to 15. For more, go to kilkennyarts.ie.
As hospitals in Louisiana fill up with Covid-19 patients, vaccination sites in the state are also seeing increased traffic, leaving at least one hospital official optimistic that all the vaccination outreach is working.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center Director of Operations Thomas Dunn said seeing people of all ages come in for their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination is a positive sign.

The hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is low on space as another wave of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations sweeps the region. Masking and vaccinations, Gov. John Bel Edwards said, is the only way to end the nightmare.

As of Wednesday, 37.2% of Louisiana's population was fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Our Lady of the Lake Injection Clinic at Pennington in Baton Rouge has administered 50,000 shots since opening in February this year, Dunn said. In June, medical professionals at the site administered 1,500 shots. That number doubled to 3,000 in July.

This month, Dunn said, they're seeing nearly three times as many first-time doses compared to June. Numbers are up across all age groups, with the greatest increase among those ages 26 to 40, and the average age of recipients in July was 35.

On Wednesday, sisters Bethany Wilson and Kate Wilson came to the clinic with their mother to get vaccinated before they go back to school.

"I was kind of excited," 15-year-old Kate Wilson said. "It's something I have to do for me and my community. It's a responsibility, so it's exciting."

Both sisters came into the vaccination site with a heavy heart. They said their friend, a 19-year-old, has Covid-19. The sisters said he's been hospitalized for more than 20 days -- spending most of that time on a ventilator.

"It kind of just happened so fast that he got admitted to the hospital, then he was on a ventilator," 17-year-old Bethany Wilson said, her voice breaking. "And now, he's pulling through, he's doing alright, he's doing better. But it just scared me because he's 19. He's so young. And my brother's 19."

Mother of two, Erone Burchell, brought her 27-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son to get their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine. She's a cancer survivor and works in the medical field.

"I don't know as a parent, how I could live with myself if my son, if I didn't get him vaccinated, he got it [Covid], and then something happened to him. I don't know how I could live with myself," she said.

Burchell's son Larry said he wanted to get vaccinated before the start of the school year. He said while some kids his age believe they're invincible, he knows Covid-19 is a major threat.

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's real, it's happening, so do whatever you can to stay safe and get the vaccine," the teenager said.

Kaylan Merritt said she was a vaccine holdout who was too fearful to get the shots.

"Just hearing that you can get the shot and then still get it, still spread it. I was kind of thinking, 'Well, what's the point?' But then when the Delta variant came out, it kind of urged me to want to get it more. And my family, too," she said.

"It really was not as bad as I thought. It was just like a little ant bite, small prick, and I'm feeling good," said Merritt.

Louisiana hospitals strained

Health experts and officials are hoping even more people will sign up for the "little ant bite," especially as the spread of the virus in Louisiana overwhelms hospitals in the area.

Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's largest hospital, admitted 32 new Covid-19 patients in a 24-hour period ending Wednesday morning -- a record number, according to hospital spokesperson Ryan Cross. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, 175 people were hospitalized with the virus and 61 were in the ICU, he said.

Officials at Ochsner Hospital for Children in Jefferson announced Wednesday that they are seeing a "concerning and significant" increase in the percent positivity for Covid-19 in children 19 and under in recent weeks.

To help relieve the pressure on hospitals, Edwards reinstated a mask mandate that went into effect Wednesday and lasts until at least September 1.

"The least onerous thing we can do in order to try and curb transmission and give some breathing room back to our hospitals is to reinstate the mask mandate," he said.

Edwards highlighted that while the state was reporting around two deaths a day a month ago, there have been 103 in just the past two days.

"The capacity at our hospitals is just absolutely strained," Edwards said.

The-CNN-Wire

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MASON CITY, Iowa  Public health officials in Cerro Gordo County say people need to follow new CDC guidelines and wear face masks while indoors in public places.

CG Public Health says the county is currently experiencing substantial community spread of COVID-19, the second-highest level of coronavirus activity, and the risk of infection may be higher.

This guidance comes from data showing that the Delta variant is highly transmissible compared to past strains AND that vaccinated people experiencing a breakthrough case can spread the virus, says CG Public Health. This was not a significant concern with other variants.

Iowa law prohibits school districts from mandating mask-wearing or enforcing quarantine but CG Public Health says parents can encourage their children and their school board to support those who choose to mask up.

The CDC online map of COVID-19 activity by county is available by clicking here. CG Public Health says to get an appointment for the coronavirus vaccine, click here.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - It's a topic being hotly debated across the nation right now - should mask mandates be put back in place?

It's been a year and a half since the city of Rochester issued an executive order enforcing the mask mandate.

City council member Molly Dennis believes given the rapid spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 it's time for a second round.

"I think the city of Rochester and the responsibility of community leaders is to keep our society safe," said Dennis. "I think we need to set a precedent saying that this is important. We need to keep children, people with immune deficiencies, the most vulnerable safe so in order to do that I believe there needs to be regulation."

However, clearly, not everyone agrees with Dennis. KIMT News 3 spoke with about a dozen of people both on and off camera. One man tells KIMT he believes masking is a joke while another who declined to go on-camera said he needs more data before he trusts masking actually works.

Other community members, like Jane and Dan Brodrick, say they will continue to mask when asked as they see it as a small price to pay to save lives.

"I think it's a concern for the nation and if people don't wear masks and get vaccinated this will never end," said Jane.

Nicole Deluna is more skeptical saying, "If enough people are vaccinated I think it should be okay to not wear a mask."

While Andy Johnsrud from Rochester agrees he doesn't like to mask up he did say he will continue to do so for the safety of others.

Johnsrud added, 'I think that masking seems to follow the science so I think we should do it."

The possibility of a city-wide mask mandate is being discussed and Dennis is hopeful a decision will be made soon.

"There are meetings going on that are going to show the data and I'm just waiting to hear back from the mayor and see if we're going to do something at the next city council meeting," Dennis added.

Mayor Kim Norton does have the ability to execute an executive order lasing for three days. After that period the city council would have to take further action.
HAMILTON COUNTY, Iowa  One person is dead after an SUV crashed into a tow truck north of Ames.

The Iowa State Patrol says it happened just after 9:30 pm Wednesday on Interstate 35. A northbound tow truck driven by Anthony Nessa, 61 of Webster City, was struck from behind near mile marker 141 by an SUV driven by James Bergert, 58 of Williams.

The State Patrol says Bergert suffered minor injuries but his passenger, Joanna Rizzo, 51 of Williams, suffered life-ending injuries. The State Patrol says Rizzo was not wearing a seat belt.

The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office and Williams EMS assisted at the scene.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Community members who receive extra pandemic unemployment benefits have a month to attend a number of webinars aimed at helping Minnesotans find a new career path.

The unemployment benefits through Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), will be ending on September 4.

Currently, participants are receiving an additional $300 a week on top of regular unemployment benefits.

However, the Department of Employment and Economic Development wants to help Minnesotans prepare for the transition.

There will be three webinars hosted by the department throughout the month of August. If youre interested you can learn how to join CareerForce and find a job or new career path at no cost.

Commissioner Steve Grove says since the beginning of the pandemic staff have called more than 60,000 Minnesotans whove been receiving unemployment benefits and have shared the CareerForce resources to help in job searches.

He explained, This isn't the beginning of an effort for DEED, we've been doing a good job this entire year really trying to connect Minnesotans to those benefits and it's important. If our economy is going to recover and rebuild and bounce back coming out of this pandemic we need people in our workforce.

Grove says its essential to connect community members with family-sustaining jobs and employers with the workers they need to grow their business. It may also present career-changing opportunities for employees.

He said, Many of these jobs are not just hourly wage jobs but have career potential and many times offering training right on the job. So, folks might not know you don't necessarily have to have a degree or specific certification in a field right now. Frankly, employers are so desperate for workers they can train you right on the job and move you into that field.

The three webinars will be held on:

Tuesday, August 17th at 10:00 a.m. on Facebook Live

Tuesday, August 24th at 10:00 a.m. on Facebook Live

Tuesday, August 31st at 10:00 a.m. on Facebook Live

You can also reach out to CareerForce today to answer your questions about finding employment, to get ready to apply for jobs or prepare for interviews, and more.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The superintendent of Iowas largest school district says hes pleased complaints against him stemming from a refusal to return students to in-person classes last year amid a surge in coronavirus cases has been resolved.

On Wednesday, a state panel approved an administrative law judges decision that Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart should have a letter of public reprimand placed into his permanent licensure file. The judge denied a state request that Ahart be required to complete 15 hours of ethics training.

The complaints stemmed from the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year, when Governor Kim Reynolds ordered that schools provide at least half-time in-person learning, arguing parent choice outweighed the risks of being infected with the coronavirus.
THREE LAKES TOWNSHIP, Minn. (AP)  Minnesotas state auditor and a state senator are hospitalized following a collision with a semi in Redwood County.

A legislative aide for Senator Melisa Franzen says Franzen and Auditor Julie Blaha were injured Wednesday while driving back from Farmfest in Redwood County. The Minnesota Highway Patrol says a Jeep Cherokee driven by Blaha collided with a semi at an intersection in Three Lakes Township about 5 p.m. Both women were taken to Redwood Hospital with injuries that are not life threatening. The semi driver was not injured.

Farmfest is a three-day agricultural show in southwestern Minnesota.
CERRO GORDO COUNTY, Iowa  Two men are facing drug charges after being stopped for speeding on Interstate 35.

Law enforcement pulled over a vehicle a little before 7:30 am Wednesday near mile marker 188 in Cerro Gordo County. Court documents state the vehicle was going 79 miles per hour in a 70 mph zone. The arresting officer says he noticed green plant material consistent with marijuana in the lap of the driver.

That led to a search of the vehicle which authorities say discovered marijuana and products labeled as THC in the front passenger compartment and a vacuum sealer and a scale with marijuana residue on it in the trunk. Law enforcement says they also found new empty heat-sealed bags labeled for repackaging marijuana and numerous containers of THC concentrate.

The driver, Brann Sidney Trosclair, 31 of Broomfield, Colorado, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving without a license. A passenger, Kayne Allen Kyrin Bulow, 20 of Richfield, Minnesota, was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and interference with official acts.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Gov. Tim Walz and a top state lawmaker say they will support an emergency financial relief package for farmers in Minnesota, where most of the state is in a severe or extreme drought.

Walz says he would support an aid package in a special session next month. The governor got an earful at Farmfest in Redwood County Wednesday from farmers and ranchers seeking drought relief. Agriculture officials say livestock and specialty crop farmers are hardest hit because their insurance generally covers less than corn and soybean farmers.

House Speaker Melissa Hortman said a financial relief package could be modeled after previous aid that lawmakers approved after flooding.

The National Integrated Drought Information System says 35.1% of Minnesota is under extreme drought conditions and 99.3% of the state is classified as abnormally dry. Drought conditions are worst in the central, western, and northern parts of Minnesota.
The Biden administration is developing a plan to mandate vaccinations for almost all foreign visitors to the US, a White House official confirms to CNN, though some exceptions are expected.
The suspect in the violent attack outside the Pentagon on Tuesday has been identified as 27-year-old Austin William Lanz of Georgia.
Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, smiles after a ranking officials' meeting between South and North Koreas at Panmunjeom in this Aug. 13, 2018 photo. Ri is now the North's minister of foreign affairs. Yonhap



Virtual meeting to limit chance of direct talks among officials of Seoul, Pyongyang, Washington



By Nam Hyun-woo



The Moon Jae-in administration is making a last ditch effort to expedite talks with North Korea by taking advantage of the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers Meeting, in which a representative from Pyongyang is expected to participate.



According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday, Minister Chung Eui-yong has been participating in a series of virtual ministerial meetings with his ASEAN counterparts this week, starting with the ASEAN-Korea Foreign Ministers Meeting, Tuesday.



The ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting, slated to take place Friday, will be participated in by ASEAN ministers, Chung and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as a North Korean representative.



The ARF meeting is the only regional multilateral security forum that North Korea attends  until 2018, the North's foreign affairs minister participated, with then-Minister Ri Yong-ho attending that year. The 2019 and 2020 events were attended by North Korean Ambassador to Thailand Kim Je-bong and Ambassador to Indonesia An Kwang-il, who is also head of North Korea's mission to ASEAN.



During a press briefing Monday (local time), a U.S. Department of State official said Washington "expects" North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon to participate in the meeting. However, this is uncertain as Pyongyang sent An to an ARF preparatory meeting last month.



In Friday's meeting, Chung is expected to call for ASEAN countries' support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and successful introduction of a peace regime.



"Our prime goal at the meeting is to get ASEAN's reaffirmation of the Moon administration's continued efforts toward peace between the two Koreas and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy," a foreign ministry official said.



"As this year's ARF meeting will be the last participated in by the current government, we are expecting member countries to reaffirm their position on the peace process, and appreciation of the recent communication line restoration between the two Koreas."





South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong speaks during the virtual ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers' Meeting at his office in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs



During the ASEAN+3 foreign ministers' meeting also held Tuesday, Chung echoed this view, saying "diplomacy and talks based on existing inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea agreements are crucial for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," and "the recent communication line restoration can be a start of the peace process for the two Koreas."



Though South Korea is reaching out not only to ASEAN but also North Korea on the occasion of the meeting, chances are slim that talks between Chung, Blinken and a Pyongyang official will take place, because the event is taking place virtually, meaning ministers will not be able to engage in a pull-aside or other types of sideline talks.



"Given the pending issues such as the South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise and the restoration of inter-Korean communication hotlines, I don't see much chance of a high-profile figure from the North participating in the virtual meeting. The ambassador to Indonesia is anticipated to attend the meeting instead of Minister Ri," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. "If this is so, Korean Peninsula issues are unlikely to be high on the agenda during the meeting."



Yang added that a virtual meeting has limits in coordinating its agenda and setting up pull-asides, thus it would be difficult to expect it to serve as a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations.



The U.S. Department of State also said Blinken has no plans to engage with the North Korean representative on any particular issue, although the secretary will urge "ASEAN members to fully implement U.N. Security Council Resolutions" on North Korea.




Calls to decouple from China are becoming less of a reality as the country's share of global trade soars, proving that cutting trade ties with the world's second largest economy is a lot stickier than expected, analysts say.



Despite the push for decoupling from Washington and some other Western countries, China looks likely to maintain its integral position in global supply chains after the coronavirus pandemic, said Louis Kuijs, head of Asia Economics at Oxford Economics in new research published on Tuesday.



During the pandemic, China stepped up its drive to improve supply chains, including cutting transport fees and ensuring smooth port logistics, he said.



"China's strong export performance since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic underscores that the global supply chains developed in recent decades  and in which China plays a key role  are much 'stickier' than many suspected," he said.



China's global market share of exports rose to around 18 per cent in early 2021 due to substantial gains in developed markets, according to Capital Economics. In spite of calls for decoupling, China's share of exports to developed countries leapt to near 25 per cent in 2020 before settling just above 20 per cent this year.



The country's global share of exports and exports to developed countries rose from about 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively before the pandemic in 2019.



"Very few other countries have seen their share of the global trade pie rise," Kuijs said.



Even if they fall after the pandemic, "the strong showing of China's exports to developed countries confirms that there has been little decoupling thus far", he said.



While there is still a chance of decoupling  with US trade war tariffs showing it was possible to slow Chinese exports  it is difficult for importers in developed countries to switch to other sources at the moment, the economist said.



China's growing share of world trade is further proof that firms shape the nature of supply chains rather than governments, said Yukon Huang, senior fellow for the Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.



Though trade war tariffs created some decoupling, China's exports to the U.S. soon rebounded, Huang said.



Furthermore, China's resilience in circumventing U.S. tariffs, especially when Chinese manufacturers relocated production for products like clothing and furniture to low-cost neighbors such as Indonesia and Vietnam, meant it retained its position as the "world's factory", said Friedrich Wu, an adjunct associate professor at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.



"Made-in-Vietnam" or "Made-in-Indonesia" goods for export were actually assembled in Vietnam or Indonesia for Chinese manufacturers investing in those countries, he added.



No other country could match China's "sophisticated networks of supply chains", meaning decoupling remained "wishful thinking among economics-illiterate American politicians and policymakers", Wu said.



"The simple fact is that, as a high consumer and pluralistic society, the U.S. government is not able to mobilize or arm-twist corporate America to disinvest in China and [make] American consumers seek alternatives from Chinese goods," he said.



Indeed, the strongest demand for Chinese products during the pandemic came from developed countries rather than emerging countries, Kuijs said.





Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar banknotes / Reuters-Yonhap
By Bhaskar Anand





The word "racism" commonly refers to the 16th-century European colonial idea that white men were superior, and could thus enslave people of Asian or African descent. By the end of the 20th century, most cases of colonialism and slavery had ended with independence or autonomy across Asia and Africa.



However, the inexplicable roots of the obnoxious plague of racism remain in society today and continue to proliferate. The exploding upsurge of the coronavirus, its rapid and deadly variants, and the limited number of available vaccine doses have ushered in the seeming need to categorize people based on their priority according to particular public health criteria. With such categorization, the seemingly quiet racist biases of society have become loudly evident.



Recently, racist biases have gone through several phases of metamorphosis, leading to previously muted racist snobbery. For instance, vaccine hesitancy is a multifaceted issue, shaped by several influential factors, such as individual confidence, assurance, appraisal, expediency, collective responsibility, etc.



However, administrators and politicians often use vaccine hesitancy as a scapegoat to justify the racial gap in who is vaccinated, which is often more the result of structural racism. As a matter of fact, vaccine hesitancy is an outcome of a racist past that leads to mistrust in the healthcare system and the government, due to unethical medical trials on minority groups having resulted in the profound fear of certain human beings being used as "guinea pigs."



In December 1965, the UN passed the general assembly resolution on an international convention, and in 1969, called for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. However, racial prejudice is still persistent in political agendas and administrative practices. They exist in utter disregard of the recent social campaign run by the U.N., "Youth Standing up against Racism."



This campaign engaged the public through the #FightRacism hashtag as well as aiming to foster a global culture of resilience, coexistence and anti-discrimination, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the coronavirus, a parallel social virus has continued to mushroom, with hatred, violence and fear against certain ethnicities and nationalities.



Nations in the 21st century are no longer separated or isolated from each other in terms of the political boundaries they had in the 16th century. Countries' contemporary geopolitical and socioeconomic interdependence, with its deep foundations in modern globalization and transnational cultural exchange, challenges the new imposition of national boundaries and isolation due to the spread of COVID-19.



In today's world, both developed as well as developing economies should behave as a collective global village to share resources and achieve sustainable development. However, it can be seen that several countries around the world have implemented selfish policies for fighting off this global pandemic by only selectively providing and sharing vaccines. This narcissistic approach endangers the lives of the entire population, and originates from looking down at a racially segregated group that might have a lower socioeconomic status within the specific national context in question.



With the unprecedented loss of life of over 4 million people due to the current global COVID-19 crisis, we cannot afford any race-based disparities in the vaccine rollout and receipt processes. Racial prejudice in the vaccine rollout will exacerbate the current humanitarian crisis.



Hence, there is a pressing need for intergovernmental intervention from the U.N. and WHO, to negotiate terms between the governments of different countries and establish a more reliable framework convention for equitable vaccine access and provision so as to avoid any nationalistic and racially biased dogfights. We, as human beings, have the moral responsibility to keep our racial biases aside and act more responsibly. In this dire situation, we can only save ourselves by saving others.





Bhaskar Anand (www.bhaskaranandjha.com) is a doctoral student working in the field of air quality and material application at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University.


Welcome to life on the river... bring your boat & fishing poles and enjoy riverfront living on the north branch of the upper Fox River. Travel on your boat north into Wisconsin or head south through beautiful Chain O'Lakes State Park to tour the entire Chain O'Lakes and continue south down the Fox River through the locks in McHenry all the way down to Algonquin IL. This new three-bedroom, two-bath home currently under construction sits at least two feet above floodplain and offers a nice great room with cathedral ceiling & sliding glass door, kitchen, eating area, two main level bedrooms as well as a full bath & laundry room and upper-level master suite with full bath & loft overlooking great room. Pretty view of the Fox River and across to the nature area with plenty of wildlife to enjoy. Exterior is cedar with vinyl shingle siding, architectural shingle roof, Andersen windows and masonry around concrete flow-through foundation. Nice deep lot with two car garage and plenty of parking & storage for your boat & other toys. Oak Park playground and boat launch is just a couple minutes away, Gander Mountain Nature Preserve is 5 minutes away and the Chain O'Lakes State Park is approximately 10 minutes away. Shopping areas in Antioch and Spring Grove are also about 10 minutes away. Earn some sweat equity and finish yourself, or the seller will finish for you. Home is priced "as-is" or is available fully finished with potential for buyer upgrades. Price completed starts at $330,000.
A fountain statue that was damaged several weeks ago could be returning to its rightful place soon.

The angel statue that typically sits atop of the Driehaus Family Fountain in front of the Riviera in downtown Lake Geneva was damaged about 12 a.m., June 5 by two out-of-state suspects.

Police said an officer noticed one suspect hanging from the statue, and another suspect in the fountain with him.

The statue was damaged and broken off the fountain.

Public Works Director Tom Earle said additional damage was found on the statue while it was being repaired at Vanguard Sculpture Services in Milwaukee.

When they started the repair, they found a few issues we did not see caused by the fall, mostly cracking, Earle said.

Police said Todd Stewart, 20, of Fort Wayne, Indiana has been charged with criminal damage to property over $2,500, resisting and obstructing a police officer and disorderly conduct as a result of the incident.

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Stewart has been bound over for trial and is next to appear in Walworth County Court 1:15 p.m., Sept. 1, according to court records.
Just months after celebrating its one-year anniversary, La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant in Williams Bay announced that it would be permanently closing Saturday, Aug. 7 due to unforeseen circumstances.

La Familia Perez has been blessed to serve such a great and loving community, the Perez family said in a Facebook post on Thursday, Aug. 5. It is through our great team and loyal guests that we have had such a tremendous run.

Village President Bill Duncan said he was sorry to hear the news.

It was a big surprise, he said. I was expecting that La Fiesta would be with us for a long time.

While La Fiesta is leaving Williams Bay, the Perez family said they hope to continue the business. According to the Facebook announcement, the restaurant is offering catering and to-go options for now. They expressed plans to reopen at a different location in the future.

Tough beginningsPresident Duncan reflected on the restaurants opening in June 2020, at a point when the COVID-19 pandemic kept many businesses from operating at full capacity.

They opened at a tough time, he said.
Tedros pointed to a WHO target he had announced in May seeking to ensure that 10% of the populations in all countries receive vaccines against the coronavirus.

Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated, he told a news conference.

To help take the heat out of the pandemic, WHO has been focusing on getting vaccines to older adults, health care workers and other target populations in many countries before booster shot campaigns are carried out.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a special adviser to Tedros, said the moratorium was about an appeal to countries considering booster doses to put a hold on such policies until and unless we get the rest of the world caught up" in the fight against the pandemic.

As weve seen from the emergence of variant after variant, we cannot get out of it unless the whole world gets out of it together. And with the huge disparity in vaccination coverage, were simply not going to be able to achieve that," Aylward said.
Democrats are going apoplectic over new voting measures passed in various states. They have been viciously attacking Republicans with their usual chants of Racism, Racism, Racism

Voting law has become a hot issue after multiple election procedures were radically and rapidly changed due to Covid-19. These changes increased opportunities for fraud, and regardless of how much occurred, sowed doubt for some in the validity of the election.

In Congress Democrats are seeking to seize control of elections from the states and give it to the federal government. Earlier this year the House passed HR 1, now being debated in the Senate. Opposition to HR1 has been widespread and even from some Democrats. Voting law in New Hampshire dates to 1783, election turnout there is among the countrys highest. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, a Democrat, opposes HR1, calling it a egregious over-reach of federal authority  the simplicity of Hew Hampshire elections will be gone. Moderate Democrat Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) also opposes some of the bill.
In 2021, the Assembly District maps must be re-drawn to reflect changes in population. Governor Evers set up a non-partisan Peoples Maps Commission to draw the maps. The State Republican leadership have decided to draw their own maps and the battle will most likely in end up in court with substantial costs to the taxpayer. Republican leadership attempted to hire taxpayer paid lawyers to fight this battle, but were told by the courts their action was illegal.

Gerrymandering is not the only tool the Republicans are using to suppress the vote in Wisconsin. They have introduce bills in the legislature to make it more difficult for certain groups of voters to cast their ballots; these groups traditionally vote Democratic.

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One bill would require most elderly and disabled people who are indefinitely confined to show photo ID in order to vote absentee; require all absentee voters to fill out more paperwork and show their ID every time they vote absentee, rather than just the first time as is current law; and require voters who are confined to apply to get an absentee ballot every year, rather than have them sent automatically as they are now.
Once upon a time, there became a choice between conventional agriculture and organic farming. It was a choice to be made by both farmers and the consumers of their products.
Two women in Colombia were caught smuggling cocaine hidden in their vaginas after airport authorities noticed them walking strangely.

The incident happened at the Rafael Nunez International Airport located in the city of Cartagena in Colombia, The Daily Mail reported.

The two women reportedly tried to board a flight to the Caribbean Island of San Andres. The said island was known for its party scene and a popular tourist destination where narcotics are rampant.

San Andres was also known to be a hub for the global drug trade that served as a "strategic" location for cocaine smugglers from Colombia to enter Central America and other Caribbean islands.

READ NEXT: FBI Lures Sexual Predators With 'Provocative Photos' of Female Office Staff, Watchdog Says

2 Colombia Women Caught Smuggling Cocaine Hidden in Their Vaginas

The inspection occurred after the two women in Colombia appeared nervous and made "strange movements" just minutes before they boarded the flight.

A spokesperson from the Cartagena police said the units "meticulously" inspected the hand luggage of the said domestic flight passengers, and they discovered at least 60 tablets of "Rivotril synthetic drugs."

Authorities said the two women were brought to a police station, where they voluntarily removed the packages from their vaginas. Anti-narcotics experts confirmed that the substance inside their genitals were illicit substances, officials noted.

Police said they seized 1,000 doses of cocaine and 60 pills of benzodiazepines, which were wrapped in cylinders coated with latex. The said cylinders were reported inside the vaginas of the two women.

After discovering the drugs inside the two women's private parts, the suspects will face charges of manufacturing narcotics and drug trafficking.

Other Cases of Smuggling Cocaine in Airports

The two women in Colombia were not the only individuals arrested in airports for smuggling drugs. Last April, a woman, identified as Yerlina Lantigua Hernandez DeNova, was caught concealing $94,000 worth of cocaine.

The said incident happened at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DeNova, who arrived from the Dominican Republic but a lawful resident of the U.S., was caught with three pellets containing white powder inside her purse.

After being examined in a private search room, officials from CBP discovered more pellets in her bra and admitted that she also had the substances hidden in her vagina and anus.

DeNova tried to conceal at least 100 pellets of cocaine weighing around three pounds, making her face charges of felony.

In 2019, the Daily Mail reported that airport authorities stopped another Colombian in Barcelona after noticing a toupee sitting in his head. The man from Colombia, who was not identified, reportedly tried to conceal half a kilo of cocaine beneath the wig. Police described the act to be "mockery."

According to the United Nations, airports were often the points for drug trafficking, other transnational organized crime, and acts of terrorism. The UN noted that such illegal activities have a direct impact on the public's safety.

READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel 'Financial Officer' Extradited From Mexico to U.S. to Face Charges

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: The Dangers of Keeping Drugs 'Down There' - From The Doctors
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has a reply to President Joe Biden, who said that Republican governors should "get out of the way" in light of the administration's COVID response.

DeSantis, a Republican, then accused Joe Biden of coming after the rights of the people of Florida with his lockdown policies, The Daily Wire reported.

On Wednesday, August 4, the governor noted that if Biden tries to restrict people by imposing mandates and trying to ruin jobs and livelihoods, he will continue to stand in the president's way.

Ron DeSantis said he is standing for the people of Florida. He noted that Biden should do his job and secure the border, which he claimed is "wide open."

"And until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you. Thank you," the Florida governor added.

Joe Biden had criticized Ron DeSantis and other Republican governors for not imposing mask mandates and lockdowns in their respective states, even with Florida seeing spikes in their hospitalization rates amid the delta variant.

The president said if they are not going to help, "at least get out of the way of people trying to do the right thing," NBC Miami News reported.

READ NEXT: Virus Hotspots: Florida, Texas Account For One-Third of All New COVID Cases, White House Says

Statement of Joe Biden Against Ron DeSantis and Other Republican Governors

In a press briefing at the White House on Tuesday, August 3, Joe Biden said the country needs leadership from everyone, and if some governors are not willing to do the right thing to address the pandemic, then they should allow universities and businesses who want to do the right thing to be able to do it.

The president noted that the governors should use their powers to save lives. Biden added that he believes the decisions made by Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are "bad health policy," The Hill reported.

Florida and Texas accounted for one in three COVID cases last week, according to White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted that many governors continue to step up and do the right thing. Psaki also denied that Biden's words were at all political. She noted that it was not a partisan evaluation or assessment.

The press secretary said the White House is in touch with state officials such as Florida and Texas on providing additional assistance for better response to the increase in COVID cases.

Florida and Texas COVID Rates

Florida and Texas are among the states identified as virus hot spots after accounting for a full third of all new cases last week, Yahoo News reported.

Florida has broken a national record after it reported 21,000 new cases for one day. Zients said they knew that this virus was unpredictable from the onset of the pandemic.

The White House COVID response coordinator further noted that there had been a 70 percent increase in the average number of new people getting vaccinated daily over the past two weeks, NPR reported.

Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott had vigorously fought mask mandates in recent days, despite public health experts saying that masks could help reduce the increased transmissibility of the delta variant.

Last week, the Florida governor signed an order last week that made face masks optional in schools.

READ MORE: Moderna Scientists Warn Against New COVID Variants That Could Drive a New Wave of Transmission

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: DeSantis Blasts Biden: "I Am Standing in Your Way" - From FOX 13 Tampa Bay






A van reportedly packed with more than a dozen migrants crashed on a highway in Texas, killing at least 11 individuals and injuring 13 others.

According to Daily Mail, the incident happened at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 4, on Highway 281 located in Encino, Texas.

Sergeant Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said most of the passengers were undocumented immigrants. Texas authorities noted that they were working with the Mexican consulate to confirm the identities of the passengers.

READ NEXT: CDC Extends Trump-Era Policy That Allows Migrants to Be Expelled at U.S. Border Over COVID Concerns

The vehicle, a Ford van, was reportedly speeding when it crashed despite not being chased by authorities. The DPS noted that around 30 people were inside the 15 passenger van.

Authorities believed that the driver, which was not identified, traveled at high speed that caused the vehicle to miss a curve, crashed on a utility pole, and struck a stop sign.

Helicopters responded and transported the injured victims to trauma centers in Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley. The driver of the van died at the scene.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency was also on the scene. However, the agency was not involved in the investigation led by DPS as they have not found evidence that the van had gone through the checkpoint.

Other Crash Involving Undocumented Migrants

It was not the first time that a vehicle crash killed some undocumented migrants. In March, eight migrants died after a pickup crashed into a truck as they were chased by a trooper of Texas DPS trying to stop them from speeding.

The eight migrants who died were Mexican nationals between the ages of 18 and 20. A Texas man identified as Sebastian Tovar, who was driving the pickup loaded with migrants, was charged with "transporting illegal aliens resulting in death."

In a separate collision in California last March, at least 13 people died in a crash near the U.S.-Mexico border. Twelve individuals died on the scene, while another person died at a local hospital.

Texas New Migrant Order

The governor of Texas recently issued an order that would allow state troopers to stop vehicles, which are not from the federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, carrying migrants.

The latest order from Governor Greg Abbott would also permit DPS to reroute the said vehicle back to its point of origin. The mandate drew criticisms from several migrant unions and Attorney General Merrick Garland from the Justice Department.

Garland has urged Abbott to lift his order, calling it both "dangerous and unlawful."

READ NEXT: California Governor Gavin Newsom Expands Healthcare to Undocumented Migrants Aged 50 and Up

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Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Several Dead After Van Full of Migrants Crashes North of the Texas-Mexico Border, Authorities Say - From KHOU 11
The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton publicly wished Meghan Markle a happy birthday amid reports of a rift between the Sussexes and the royal family.

Meghan Markle has turned 40 on Wednesday, August 4, with her in-laws led by Queen Elizabeth II publicly greeting her on social media.

The Royal Family account, representing the Queen, shared three photos of Markle, including an image of the Queen and Markle and one with Markle, Prince Harry, and their two-year-old son. The photo caption reads: "Wishing the Duchess of Sussex a very Happy Birthday today!"

Along with a birthday greeting that reads "Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to the Duchess of Sussex," Prince William and Kate Middleton also posted a photo of Markle from her 2018 Royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga, ET Online reported.

The Clarence House account, representing Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, shared another photo of Meghan Markle for her birthday with a caption: "Wishing the Duchess of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday!"

The Sussex family had officially stepped down as senior members of the royal family. They had also opened up their life as royals during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

READ NEXT: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Daughter Lilibet Is Still Missing From the Royal Family's Line of Succession

Royal Family Rift With Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

The royal family's relationship with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has been strained in recent years, and it is no secret.

In an explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle revealed that a royal family member expressed concern about how dark her unborn child's skin might be. On the other hand, Prince Harry called out his father, Prince Charles, for not returning his calls.

But Meghan was complimentary toward the Queen during the interview, saying the Queen"has always been wonderful to me."

Newsweek reported that Buckingham Palace released a statement a few days after the interview, saying some recollections may vary.

Prince Harry still returns to the United Kingdom to be with family on certain occasions, including the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip. The Duke of Sussex also returned to the United Kingdom in July for the unveiling of his late mother's statue. The statue of Princess Diana was located at Kensington Palace.

Meghan Markle did not attend both occasions as she was pregnant during the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral and has just given birth to their daughter Lilibet at the time of the statue unveiling, CBS 8 reported.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Projects

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their first project with Netflix in April, featuring "The Invictus Games," a tournament for wounded veterans, CBS News reported.

With the working title "Heart of Invictus," the series will be directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and produced by Joanna Natasegara.

Last month, Markle and Harry announced that their second Netflix project would be focusing on a 12-year-old girl's adventures in an animated series. The working title of the said animated series would be "Pearl, according to an Associated Press report.

Meghan Markle will serve as an executive producer with filmmaker David Furnish, who had worked as a producer on "Rocketman" and "Sherlock Gnomes."

The couple is also creating content podcasts for Spotify. They are currently living in California after they decided to walk away from their Royal duties. A lot of women from history inspired the animated series.

READ MORE: Royal Family Snubs Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Offer To Help Search for 'Diversity Czar'

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WATCH: Prince Harry Crashes Meghan Markle's Birthday Video - From TODAY






Three Disney World employees were among the 17 people arrested during a massive child sex sting operation in Florida.

The operation was dubbed "Operation Child Protector," wherein undercover law enforcement officials had posed as 13 and 14 years old children on social media, New York Post reported.

The undercover officers also posed as kids on online dating apps between July 27 and August 1. After the undercovers and suspects made contact, the officers proposed they meet at a location in Polk County, where they were apprehended.

Those arrested were between 26 and 47 years old. All of them were from Central Florida, except for a 33-year-old man from California. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd on Tuesday labeled the suspects as "deviants."

Judd noted that the suspects had traveled as far away as Clewiston, Florida, with one coming from Los Angeles. Judd said parents should know who their children are talking to and communicating with, NBC News reported.

READ NEXT: Gov. Ron DeSantis Wants Florida to Boycott Ben & Jerry's Over Its Stance on Israel-Palestine Conflict

Disney World Employees

One of the 17 people arrested was a lifeguard in Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World. The two others were custodians at Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios.

The lifeguard was identified as Kenneth Javier Aquino, 26. But the company said he no longer works for Walt Disney World.

The custodians were identified as Jonathan McGrew, 34, and Savannah Lawrence, 29. Both of them are currently on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the case.

Jail records showed McGrew was being held on bail on Wednesday, August 4, while Lawrence was released on bond. The two Disney World employees have reportedly been dating.

Lawrence told officials that McGrew was the initiator and that she only went along and was not told the age until they were in an Uber heading to the location. The court documents noted that texts showed her being shocked after being told the purported girl's age.

Police said the suspects face nearly 50 felony charges that include attempted lewd battery, traveling to meet a minor for sex, and using a computer to seduce a child.

Child Sex Sting Operation in Florida

Judd said, like the suspects, many people hang out in game rooms and other social media sites where one can likely find children.

He noted that this was the downside of social media, adding that it has made the predator easier to get to the children, Bay News 9 reported.

Meanwhile, a Bay area group cautioned parents and urged them to be more active on their child's social media engagement.

Protect Young Children Project, Tim Williams, said they are 14 million children in America between the ages of 10 to 17 that have full access to pornography and any website that could have access to child predator chat rooms.

Williams cited social media platforms TikTok and Snapchat as being the most popular apps for children. Judd supports the groups' effort, saying parents should be up in their children's business regarding internet usage.

He added that the children's safety depends on checking on them. The Protect Your Children Project wants to educate parents on how to safely and privately install security blocks on their child's phones.

READ MORE: Republican Lawmaker Warren Davidson Introduces Bill Banning Private Businesses From Using COVID Vaccine Passports

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Disney Employees Among 17 arrested in Undercover Child Predator Sting - From FOX 13 Tampa Bay






Paris Hilton graced Netflix with her presence as she teamed up with the streaming behemoth in producing a cooking show, even though she doesn't know how to.

Featuring different elegant dresses and look, Hilton will hit the kitchen fabulously. The new cooking show from Netflix entitled "Cooking with Paris" debuted on Wednesday, August 4, revealing six episodes featuring some of her friends, The New York Times reported.

READ NEXT: Jennifer Aniston Reacts to TikTok Doppelganger, Says It Freaked Her Out

Netflix New Cooking Show With Paris Hilton

"Cooking With Paris" is a new addition to the roster of cooking shows hosted by celebrities who do not have enough culinary experience or at least a trip to the kitchen.

Paris Hilton was not afraid of making mistakes in her new cooking show, admitting that she was not a trained chef, and she was not trying to be one.

Eater reported that the hook was that Hilton surprisingly loves to cook, and she found some new recipes. Hilton would not be alone in the kitchen as she will be joined by some of her celebrity friends such as Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Lele Pons, and Saweetie.

The new Netflix cooking show would not be an "ordinary" cooking show as Hilton would be appearing on every episode in her gorgeous outfits with feathers and crystals.

"It's not the most practical cooking outfit, but I like to cook in style," the socialite said in one of the episodes.

Apart from dressing glamorously while cooking, every show's episode would begin with Hilton going on a trip to the grocery store to buy the ingredients.

In one scene of the series, Yahoo! Life reported that Paris Hilton wore a hot pink Christian Cowen-designed Barbie prom dress which was '80s inspired.

Despite thinking if people would look at Hilton's outfit as "over the top," the socialite's stylist for nearly 10 years, Sammy K. noted that they decided to go with the elegant dresses.

"Everything fell into place from that point on," Sammy noted. The stylist also highlighted that the Netflix show was a "creative outlet" for them because they match the outfits, set design, and dish of the day on every episode's theme.

The Start of Paris Hilton's Cooking Show on Netflix

Paris Hilton shared that the cooking show stemmed from a 2020 video published on YouTube, where she cooked lasagna.

In the video, the socialite utilized a small pan sauce, stirred in the ricotta cheese with a spatula, and folded all the ingredients in a foil pan while her chihuahua named Diamond Baby watched her cook. Hilton shared that her lasagna video went viral, and people reached out to her asking to do an actual cooking show.

"When I got the offer from Netflix... I was like this is the perfect home for this type of show," Hilton noted.

Despite being inexperienced in the kitchen, producer Aaron Saidman, who was also the producer of "Selena + Chef" on HBO, noted that the socialite found the recipe from various sources and relied on producers with culinary expertise.

"Even in failure, a good time can be had by all," said Saidman, adding that Paris Hilton and her friends made tasty treats on the episodes of the Netflix show.

READ MORE: Netflix' Selena: The Series,' 'Mr. Iglesias' Among Top Nominees at the 2021 Imagen Awards

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Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Cooking With Paris - From Netflix
An Indiana wife shot her husband, dismembered his body with an ax, and asked her two children to help put his chopped-up remains into bags, police said.

Thessalonica Allen allegedly shot her 50-year-old husband of one year, Randy Allen, inside their home in La Porte, Indiana on July 27.

Daily Mail reported that the feud between the 34-year-old Indiana wife and husband started when Randy confronted the suspect after using an undisclosed website.

Court documents noted that their two minor children heard a loud bang and ran to their mother's bedroom. The children then found their father on the ground, and Randy asked his children to call 911.

However, Thessalonica had ordered them to return to their room. Later that night, the Indiana wife woke her kids and asked them to drag Randy's body out of the house and load it into his car.

Thessalonica Allen was said to have struggled to dispose of her husband's body, alleging that she got to work by chopping him into pieces to make it easier for her to carry it and burn.

READ NEXT: Florida Man Dated 2 Sisters Who Killed Their Father and He Decided to Turn Them In

The Horrific Murder in Indiana

The Indiana wife claimed that she asked an ex-boyfriend for help two days after the killing. He then refused and reported the incident, South Bend Tribune reported.

Thessalonica's former partner said he kept the gun that the suspect had thrown out of the car's window and called emergency services.

The children also said that their mother had come home the next day with cleaning supplies. She later asked them to help place Randy's body into a tote. They added that Thessalonica has planned to drive the body to South Bend and set it on fire.

Police then found the vehicle outside a hardware store in La Porte and the tote containing Randy's dismembered body inside a closet in the children's bedroom.

Records said that the Indiana wife had shot her husband after he started choking her. Authorities said they searched the property and found notes that had messages that include "hit him with a hammer and stab him."

They further noted that the notes include a message that said to roll up the body in sheets and plastic bags, Independent reported.

Randy Allen's Family Reacts

Randy's sister, Sharon Colmen, said they were devastated by the senseless murder that did not have to happen. Randy's family had disputed the suspect's claims of being beaten by her husband.

They said that Randy was always a loving father and grandfather. Randy's oldest daughter, Jakelia Dooley-Jones, said her father was a sweet, caring, and nurturing person. Dooley-Jones noted that her father did not give any indication that his partner was crazy.

In addition to murder, Thessalonica Allen also faces felony charges of abusing a corpse and altering a death scene. She is also charged for contributing to the delinquency of her two minor children and neglect.

The Indiana wife is currently being held in the La Porte County Jail. Thessalonica is being held without bond.

READ MORE: Dunkin' Employee in Florida Punches, Kills Elderly Customer Over Racial Slur Confrontation

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: LaPorte Woman Charged With Killing Husband and Dismembering His Body - From Max Lewis






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Key Takeaways

Extradition is a well-established international process for bringing fugitives back to their home nations in a timely manner.

Treaties and agreements govern the process, which follow globally recognised legal norms for surrendering fugitives.

It is critical to repatriate offenders from other nations in order to provide speedy justice and restitution of grievances.

Taking advantage of the developments and the sovereign powers of every country, the offenders have used escaping to another country a way of evading charges and for the same reasons, the Indian legislature has made provisions to extradite the offenders.

has made provisions to extradite the offenders. The article discusses the process of extradition and the legal footing of the provision, in India and the world.

Introduction

When an offender escapes from the country to go and settle in another country, it becomes extremely difficult for the country to bring the offender to the Court without compromising the sovereignty of the country where the offender is hiding. With a steady rise in international and cross-border crimes, the world has a huge hurdle in terms of identification, arrest, extradition, and trial. It is important for each country to define its rights and obligations in combating international crime, as well as to establish the due process of law for the arrest, interrogation, surrender, and transfer of suspected individuals, as well as the eventual trial and conviction of those accused.

Extradition is the process by which one jurisdiction hands over a person suspected or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction to the law enforcement authorities in that jurisdiction. It is a joint law enforcement effort between the two jurisdictions that is dependent on the agreements reached. Extradition includes the physical transfer of custody of the individual being extradited to the legal authority of the requesting jurisdiction, in addition to the legal parts of the process.

The Extradition Act, 1962

The Extradition Act 1962 is the law that oversees the extradition of a fugitive from India to a foreign country or vice versa. The Extradition Act has to be read in conjunction with the treaties that India has signed with other countries. Extradition is governed by two principles, i.e., Principle of Relative Seriousness of the Offence and the Principle of Dual Criminality.

Principle of Relative Seriousness of Offence: The most significant premise that governs Extradition Law is this principle. It requires that the crime that the fugitive is accused of committing be a crime in both the requesting and requested states.

Principle of Dual Criminality: Extradition is only applicable in circumstances when the offence for which extradition is sought by a requesting state is recognised as a crime in the requested state, according to the basic criteria of determining dual criminality. The offence's name is unimportant, but the substance of the offence is examined using the dual criminality principle. Extradition request forms normally include a need for requesting states to define the fundamental elements of the crime and provide information on the legal status of the crime. This is a criterion for determining whether or not an extradition request meets the dual criminality test.

India has signed Extradition Treaties with 47 Countries, the last treaty being with Lithuania in 2017 and Extradition Arrangements with 11 countries out which the arrangements with Italy and Croatia are only with respect to crimes related to Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances as both the countries are a part of the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 along with India.

Section 3 (4) of the Extradition Act requires the Central Government to make a notification under which an international convention signed by both India and the non-treaty partner countries is recognised as an extradition treaty for the crimes specified in the convention. The only offences for which extradition can be sought in these circumstances are those specifically listed in the applicable international convention.

India is also a signatory to the International Convention for the Prevention of Terrorist Bombings, which was signed in 1997. This also establishes a legal foundation for extradition in cases involving terrorism. If an extradition request is submitted by a country with which India does not have a common international convention, or by a country with which India does have a common international convention but the extradition request is for an offence not covered by that convention, India does not have to comply.

On April 21, 2018, India passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018, which allows for the start of various measures against fugitive economic offenders who depart the nation after defaulting on multi-billion dollar bank loans and other forms of fraud. A fugitive economic offender is a person who has fled India to avoid criminal prosecution for a scheduled offence of more than Rs. 100 crores, or who has refused to return to India to face criminal prosecution while abroad. According to the Ordinance, certain authorised officers can file an application in a special court to have fugitive economic offenders declared.

Extradition Process

Extradition process starts with extradition petitions are made only after the filing of a charge sheet, cognizance of the same, and issuing of an arrest warrant, in accordance to the Ministry of Home Affairs Comprehensive Guidelines for Investigation Abroad and Issue of Letters Rogatory. The extradition process must be followed if the accused is to be apprehended and brought before Indian courts.

The request for extradition would be made to the MEA after the Investigative Agency has filed the charge sheet and the Magistrate has taken cognizance of it, issued orders/directions justifying the committal of the accused to trial and asked the attendance of the accused to face trial. The Magistrate has to follow the grounds listed above when issuing such a warrant for the arrest of the accused.

The request comes in the form of a self-contained affidavit from the Magistrate that establishes a prima facie case against the defendant. To establish a prima facie case, the affidavit must provide brief facts and a history of the case, including witness statements and relevant documentary evidence, legal provisions invoked, and a description of the accused that establishes his identification. The offences, under which the offender is charged, as well as the articles of law specifying the maximum sentence, have to be specified.

The extradition request is accompanied with a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) duly counter-signed by the Magistrate justifying the accused persons committal to trial on the basis of the evidence provided in the charge-sheet, as well as directions seeking to secure the accuseds presence in Court to stand trial in the said Court from the country of present stay. Such a request must be supported with an original, open-dated warrant of arrest specifying the offences for which the accused has been charged, as well as the fact that the Court has taken cognizance of the relevant sections.

States are not compelled to extradite foreigners or nationals if the crime is not listed in the treaty as an extraditable offence. Extradition can be denied when the matter is of military or political offences. For the purposes of extradition treaties, terrorist offences and violent crimes are excluded from the scope of political offences. If the activity creating the charge is criminal in both the requesting and the foreign countries, the offence may be tried in either of the countries depending on variables such as the region where the offence was committed and the nationality of the accused. In case of any deficiency in proper implementation of the procedure for extradition, the extradition can be denied.

Conclusion

Extradition is a significant step forward in international crime-fighting cooperation. Extradition should be regarded as a legal necessity arising from international cooperation in the fight against crime. Extradition law is in a state of flux due to the growing internationalisation of crime and judicial reforms. It goes without saying that it allows fugitive criminals accused of crimes in India to avoid arrest and prosecution for years. The Ordinance is a positive step in the right direction, but its long-term advantages and potential to urge foreign countries to cooperate with India to speed up the extradition process remain to be seen. The recent instances of Mehul Choksi or the Sanjay Chawla case give us a little hope that we may be going forward but there are still plenty of provisions which the fugitives use to escape.



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Portland, TN (37148)

Today

Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Portland, TN (37148)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Laois has had one of the highest recorded incidence rates of Covid-19 in Ireland through July with the county worse of than any other midlands and most Leinster counties as the Delta wave swept through unchecked.

While there are signs the situation is improving in August, the second half of July saw some 400 cases identified in Laois with the most densely parts of the county worst hit. Rural areas have not escaped.

The latest Local Electoral Area (LEA) figures as published on August 5 on the Covid-19 Ireland data hub breakdown covers the period from July 20 to August 2.

These figures show that there were 153 new cases in the Portlaoise LEA over the two weeks. This contrasts with 127 cases in the county town up to July 26. The 14 day population incidence on August 2 was 481.2 per 100,000 people which contrasts with 399.4 per 100k up to July 26.

The two week Republic of Ireland rate 372.6 per 100k on August 2.

The rapid worsening of the situation in the Portlaoise area is revealed when contrasted with earlier in July. Figures show that there there were 58 new cases in the district between July 13 and 26 when the LEA incidence rate was 182.4 per 100,000 population.

The population of the Portlaoise LEA is 31,794 people with more than 20,000 living in the county town environs. It includes Abbeyleix, Ballyroan and Ballinakill. It borders Kilkenny.

The latest figures from the Portarlington Graiguecullen LEA show it has the highest incidence in Laois but the situation has improved a little on the previous reporting period.

There were 164 new cases in the district in the fortnight to August 2. This produced an incidence of 583.7 per 100 k.

The improvement is found when compared to the two weeks previous. There were 178 new cases in the area in the 14 days to July 26. This gave an LEA rate per 100k of 633.5 one of the worst in Ireland at the time.

There were 92 new cases up to July 19 compared with 25 new cases in the 14 days to July 12. The incidence rate has risen from 89 per 100k at the end of June.

The population in this LEA is 28,096. Apart from the two big towns, it includes Stradbally, the home of the Electric Picnic which has been refused a licence due to Covid-19.

Other communites in the district include Timahoe, Ballylinan, Ballyadams, Killeshin, Crettyard, Killenard, Ballybrittas. It borders Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny and Offaly. MORE BELOW LINK.

The situation has improved marginally in the largely rural Mountmellick / Borris-in-Ossory LEA.

There were 85 new cases in the second half of July giving an incidence of 342.6 per 100 k. This contrasts with 91 new cases in the two weeks to July 26 when the population rate was 366.8 per 100k.

The rapid spread of Covid-19 in Laois is best reflected in this area when the figures at the end of June are examined.

In the 14 days to June 28 there were less than 5 cases in the Borris / Mountmellick LEA while the incidence was also less than 5 cases per 100k.

The district is less populated than the others however Mountmellick is close to Portlaoise. With 24,807 people it includes Rathdowney, Mountrath, Durrow, Castletown, Camross, Errill, Clonaslee and Rosenallis. It borders Tipperary, Offaly and Kilkenny.

Health Protection Surveillance Centre figures up to August 2 revealed that while the incidence remained high, the situation in Laois is improving.

The 14 day incidence was 479.4 per 100 k on the back of 406 new cases. However, just 40% or 162 of these had been detected in the previous seven days. The incidence over seven days in Laois to August 2 was 191.3 per 100 k.

More up to date figures show further improvement.

HPSC figures up to August 3 show that there were 372 cases in Laois in the previous 14 days, giving a two week incidence rate of 439.2 per 100k. Just over 38%, or 143 of these were spotted in the previous seven days, which included the August Bank Holiday weekend. The seven day incidence to August 3 had fallen to 168.8 per 100 k.

At one stage during July, Laois had the second highest incidence of the disease in Ireland. The county has now improved to the 14th highest.

Vaccination accelerated in Laois during the last week of July with teenagers getting the jab and walk-in clinics operating at the vaccination hub in Portlaoise. July also saw the highest number of vaccines administered at the Laois hub for any month since it opened in April.

Remarkably, Offaly has the lowest incidence on August 3 as the Dealta virus swept Ireland. It had the highest level of the disease for several weeks during the deadly third wave in early 2021.

Vaccination has meant hospitalisations have dropped. There was one patient in Portlaoise hospital and one patient in Tullamore hospital by 8pm on August 3. Neither was in ICU.

NPEHT reported that as of midnight, Wednesday 4 August, there were 1,491 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. As of 8am Wednesday, 193 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 28 are in ICU.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health urged people to avail of vaccines at centres in Porlaoise and elsewhere.

Vaccination offers a real way out of this pandemic. The positive news is that take-up in Ireland is extremely high, which shows people understand the benefits for themselves and for their communities of getting vaccinated. Those with at least a first dose in the over 40s is over 90%, in the over 30s it is 84%, in the 18 to 29 year age group it is over 73%, and in the 16-17 year age group, it is over 46%. These figures continue to increase, and each person who has come forward should be commended.

Its understandable that after the period of time that COVID-19 has been with us, that some people become tired of it. But the virus does not become tired. It doesnt care if we are fed up, it only sees the opportunity to spread from person to person when we let our guard down". More below link.

Risk assess your plans this weekend. Remember that if you have any cold or flu like symptoms at all, you should err on the side of caution and stay at home - do not meet up with others, and do not go to work. If you are an employer, remind your employees to continue working from home where possible for now, and not to attend work with any COVID-19 symptoms. Vaccines work, but they must also be supported by us all choosing to act as safely as possible, concluded Dr Holohan.
The pandemic made 2020 an extraordinary year resulting in huge challenges to the Irish Prison Service according to its Director General, Caron McCaffrey.

The boss of the service which includes two big prisons in Portlaoise summarised the impact in the introduction to the annual report which publishes figures which put the spotlight on committals.

2020 has been an extraordinary year. COVID-19 presented a huge challenge to our Service as the spread of the virus within the close confines of a prison could have devastating consequences for those who live and work in that environment.

Working together as a team, we aimed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our prisons, detect early any possible case and contain any possible outbreak. The response to this crisis has been a whole-of-service response from management, staff, service providers and prisoners who have all worked together in collaboration. I am pleased to report that no hospitalisations as a result of COVID-19 were required, she said.

The pandemic had a huge impact on numbers behind bars.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was evident in the reduced numbers committed to prison in 2020. In 2019, we reported a sustained increase in the numbers in prison, a trend that continued into the first quarter of 2020. However, from March 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions were implemented in the community, we began to see a reversal in this trend.

The total number of committals to prison in 2020 was 6,340, a decrease of 29% (-2,599) from 2019.

This is largely attributable to a reduction in Court activity throughout 2020. Other public health measures in place from March 2020, including restriction on travel and closure of non-essential retail and hospitality, have led to a reduction in the prevalence of certain crime types (Crimes Against the Person and Public Order Offences), which ultimately impact on committals to prison.

The decrease in new committals, and a planned, managed programme of Temporary Release from March to May, as a response to managing the risk of an outbreak of COVID19 in prison, resulted in a decline in our numbers in custody. This was essential in ensuring an effective infection control regime.

The average number in custody peaked at 4,108 in February 2020, before subsequently declining by 10.3% (-424) to a low of 3,684 in September 2020 and levelling off thereafter.

There was a decrease of 3.7% (-147) in the average number in custody from 2019 to 2020. The average number of females in custody was 148, a 12.9% (-22) decrease on the 2019 average of 170.

There was a 3.3% (-125) decrease in the average number of males in custody, from 3,801 in 2019 to 3,676 in 2020.

In 2020, the average number in prison on remand was 738, a 4.4% (+31) increase on 2019. 2020 also saw an increase in the average duration of remand. In December 2020, 11.5% of all remand prisoners had been on remand for a duration of one year or more, compared with 6% in December 2019. Furthermore, the 50.5% of remand prisoners had been in custody for three months or less in December 2020, compared with 65.5% in December 2019, said Ms McCaffrey.

She praised staff for the efforts made in 2020.

"I wish to commend all our prison staff and service providers who have ensured that support for those in custody were maintained and enhanced where possible, during the year, despite the many challenges presented in 2020.

This has involved great creativity, innovation and flexibility and I would like to thank them for their contribution to our success in 2020. It also has involved some sacrifice, while rapidly and skilfully learning new ways of working and communicating with one another.

"The organisation as a whole thanks them for their contribution to the vison of the Irish Prison Service for a safer community through excellence in a Prison Service built on respect for human dignity," she concluded.
MANAGEMENT at University Hospital Limerick say they are satisfied that any changes in practice put in place in response to the pandemic have not resulted in any significant additional risk to patients despite claims by doctors of dangerous practices being in place.

A letter, signed by 17 doctors from across different specialities in the hospital, was sent to the CEO of UL Hospitals Group, Colette Cowan, outlining a number of issues in areas such as the Emergency Department, Acute Medical Unit and High Dependency Unit.

The letter, seen by the Limerick Leader, outlines concerns relating to staffing, IT systems, nurse training, patient charts, and the transfer of patients to other hospitals.

Failure to take steps to rectify these issues will only cement UHLs reputation as a poor place to train, which will worsen an already stretched medical service because medical registrars will not want to work here, the letter states before giving detailed examples of alleged deficiencies.

The letter, which does not identify any individual patients, goes on to claim that the Acute Medical Unit is not fit for purpose.

This service runs 24 hours a day at present, and is staffed overnight by one medical SHO with a medical registrar on call from home. There is no senior staffing on site because we do not have the manpower to provide this.

In its response, UHL Hospitals Group points out that the AMU at UHL has not functioned as an AMU for the last 16 months.

National clinical guidance developed in response to Covid-19 required us to establish a non-Covid medical pathway. Since March of 2020 the former AMU has functioned as a medical Emergency Department for stable non-Covid medical patients. Stable surgical patients are similarly streamed to the Surgical Assessment Unit, now the Surgical ED. Patients who are unstable and patients who are Covid-positive or query Covid remain in the Emergency Department, said a spokesperson.

Outling their concerns in relation to the Emergency Department, the doctors state: The referral of patients for admission without initial investigations (i.e. lab results and imaging) is dangerous and is not consistent with the standard of care nationally.

This is a practice we have grave concerns about because it appears to be growing in frequency. At best this practice is frustrating, because we cannot make appropriate treatment plans or decide which patients need to be seen first without knowing the results of these investigations. At worst, it is potentially catastrophic for patients.

UL Hospitals says the triage process in the ED and the governance of it has been agreed by the Medicine Directorate and the Executive Management Team.

We are satisfied that any changes in practice put in place in response to the pandemic have resulted in no significant additional risk to patients. The various clinical scenarios outlined in the correspondence of June 30 do not alter this. Among the entirely appropriate initial presentations to Medical ED were cases of patients who required an escalation in care following comprehensive assessment and investigation.

On the subject of training, the doctors claim that formal registrar teaching has been non-existent over the past 12 months. This should be reinstated, and provided during working hours rather than after-hours. UHL cannot claim to be a centre for training if it does not provide training, the letter states.

In response, management said: Of NCHDs (non-consultant hospital doctors) entering basic specialist training in medicine in 2019, six identified UHL as their number one choice in which to train. This year it was 58. Our own end-of-year assessments for basic specialist training reported a 100% satisfaction rate. In the last year alone, we have received approval for an additional 12 medical consultants; hired additional SpRs and interns and welcomed international fellows.

In relation to occupational therapy, the doctors stated it is a basic service in any hospital, therefore the lack of OT staff is frankly embarrassing, particularly in a Model 4 hospital.

The majority of issues highlighted here are not a result of either the Covid pandemic or the recent cyberattack (though they have been exacerbated by them), the letter states.

UL Hospitals says staff are Welcome to discuss any matters of concern individually or through the longstanding formal structures which are in place to raise any such issues and that the scale of the challenge over the last 16 months has been unprecedented and has affected all its staff.

In order to prevent infection and to maintain care for the sickest Covid and non-Covid patients, all staff have had to adapt; to re-purpose clinical space; to redesign their service; to upskill or change their scope of practice; to redeploy to areas where demand was greatest

We are grateful for the contribution of our NCHDs in driving so much of this and in keeping our patients safe throughout the pandemic. We look forward to working with the new intake who commenced their training with us this month.
Nearly 1,000 new .ie domains were registered in Limerick in the first half of 2021, new data has revealed. The figure represents a 5.8% increase on the same period in 2020.

According to the latest .IE Domain Profile Report, a total of 6,831 new .ie domains were registered in Munster in the first half of the year - representing a 8.4% increase on the same period in 2020.

A total of 932 new website address were registered in Limerick.

A website and e-commerce functionality mean SMEs can adapt quickly to changing economic circumstances and remain open to customers even if their physical premises are closed, said David Curtin, Chief Executive of .IE, which manages Irelands country domain name.

Overall, there was an increase of 64% in the number of new .ie web addresses with outdoor summer-related keywords in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year.

Web addresses containing the word pool increased by 187.5%, barbecue by 100%, and tent by 55.6%, among other outdoor activities and hospitality products.

Explicitly pandemic-related keywords, such as Covid, sanitiser and vaccine decreased by 76.4% while general health-related keywords, such as doctor, pharmacy, wellness, and fitness increased by 18.8%.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler this week declared war on what he called the Wild West of crypto trading, promising a vigorous attack on fraud and misconduct. But progress is likely to be more piecemeal and incremental than wholesale and sudden.

Mr. Gensler outlined his desire to regulate digital assets such as bitcoin and other crypto products to the same extent as stocks, bonds and commodity-related trading instruments. He told the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday that his priorities include newer innovations such as stablecoins and decentralized finance, products that are beginning to draw more mainstream investors.

The impulse to regulate these markets is growing more evident around the globe. Japans top financial regulator said Wednesday that plans to combat money laundering would also include digital currencies.

Mr. Genslers mission faces several obstacles, including the cryptocurrency industrys historical resistance to following SEC rules. Because so many crypto developers have bypassed the SECs front door, the agency has tried to rein them in through enforcement, a slow process that requires investigating a particular product and either suing the team behind it or convincing them to settle and adopt the SECs requirements.

There is going to be a more aggressive enforcement posture, and I think that is one way to bring order to chaos," said Lee Schneider, a securities lawyer who has worked at several broker-dealers and cryptocurrency firms. That is one way, but perhaps not the most effective or the most evenly distributed way."

One of the biggest problems for Mr. Gensler is bitcoin, a cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $710 billion and one that Washington has acknowledged is a commodity. Market regulators dont have authority to write rules for how commodities are bought and soldonly for financial products such as futures whose value is tied to the real-world products.

Mr. Gensler has said Congress should create an investor-protection regime for bitcoin trading. But lawmakers tend to move slowly on financial-regulation overhauls, and typically write laws only after a crisis.

That means Mr. Gensler must use the SECs existing powers, which limit him to policing crypto assets that qualify as securities. Many are, but crypto developers insist SEC oversight doesnt fit their technology and trading protocols.

To date, the SECs strategy has centered on suing token sellers on a case-by-case basis. The SEC has prevailedthrough settlement or trial verdictsin every such enforcement action it has filed. As a result, public sales of crypto tokens largely stopped, with startups limiting the deals only to private investors.

Late last year, the SEC sued Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, accusing them of raising $1.3 billion by selling an unregulated cryptocurrency, XRP, that should have been registered with the SEC.

Larger U.S. crypto exchanges reacted by halting trading in XRP. More crypto exchanges should reckon with whether they are dealing in unlicensed securities, the SEC chairman told CNBC on Wednesday.

Theyve got to come in and lets talk to them," Mr. Gensler said. Many of them right now are trying to say, you know, well, well, were not going to come in."

Newer crypto innovations, such as stablecoins and decentralized finance, or DeFi, could form the next wave of enforcement targets, according to securities lawyers. Some stablecoins may meet the definition of mutual funds, while certain DeFi applications could be investments that should be registered with federal regulators, Mr. Gensler said.

Stablecoins, which seek to track the value of national currencies such as the U.S. dollar, are used by traders to shift value between exchanges and move between strategies. Total stablecoin supply is about $113 billion, more than triple the level from the start of the year, according to The Block, a news and data provider.

Forcing stablecoin issuers to register the assets as securities could be painful for some players, said Charles Cascarilla, chief executive of Paxos, a blockchain company that developed Binance USD, a dollar-backed stablecoin. But the industry would ultimately benefit from transparency into the reserves that underpin the coins value, he added. Oversight creates trust, and trust can lead to widespread adoption," Mr. Cascarilla said.

DeFi encompasses a range of projects that seek to replicate traditional financial activities, such as trading and lending, using cryptocurrencies and the internet. DeFi has boomed during the past year, with many projects avoiding the most basic regulation such as anti-money-laundering controls.

Regulators may have trouble applying securities laws to DeFi, where projects are often set up as automated peer-to-peer networks with no central entity operating them. In contrast, the SEC and other federal agencies largely focus on people and companies. Mr. Gensler suggested that legislation might be needed to impose investor protections on DeFi.

The problem is that regulation applies to entities," said Lee Reiners, executive director of the Duke Universitys Global Financial Markets Center. But with a decentralized trading or lending platform, its not clear who that entity is."

The industry could potentially avoid an enforcement blitz by agreeing to follow SEC rules or pursuing exemptions on a case-by-case basis. The SEC has exempted a few digital assets from oversight. In those cases, the token wasnt sold to raise capital and was used for purposes such as videogames or flights on business jets.

Some still argue Mr. Gensler should stop enforcing old rules and propose an updated code tailored to how crypto works. But Mr. Gensler and other regulators have shown little interest in that.

Many in the crypto industry are saying that the SEC should come up with new rules," said Michael Didiuk, a former SEC lawyer and now a partner at Perkins Coie LLP. The SEC, on the other hand, has repeatedly said that, for the most part, the rules are there."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said allegations of snooping are serious if the reports regarding it are correct as it commenced hearing on a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter .

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant asked some questions at the outset from senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar.

Before going into all that, we have certain questions. No doubt, the allegations are serious, if the reports are true," the CJI observed and raised the issue of delay, saying the matter had come to light way back in 2019.

Reports of snooping came to light in 2019. I do not know whether any efforts were made to get more information, the CJI observed, adding that he did not want to say that it was an impediment.

The top court said that it was not going into the facts of each case and if some people claimed that their phones were intercepted then there is the Telegraph Act under which complaints can be filed.

I can explain. We do not have the access to many materials. The petitions have information about 10 cases of direct infiltration into phones," Sibal said.

The hearing on as many as nine petitions, including those filed by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter, is presently on.

They are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO's spyware Pegasus.

An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Israel is prepared to attack Iran, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, as his country lobbied for a response to a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-operated oil tanker that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.

Asked in an interview broadcast on a local media website whether Israel is prepared to assault Iran, Gantz gave a one-word answer: Yes."

Pressed on whether he sought military action against Iran now, Gantz replied: We must not see Iran only as Israels problem and exempt the rest of the world." Pushed further on whether that confrontation should be military, he said, Yes, yes," and added, and Israel has to do its part."

The defense minister also replied in the affirmative when asked whether Israels military is ready for a multifront conflict that might include Iran.

Israel has said frequently that it is ready to take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but Gantzs comments come at a time of raised tensions in the region over attacks at sea. Israel says its given allies hard evidence" that the Islamic Republic was behind last weeks deadly drone attack off the coast of Oman, and early this week the U.K. Navy reported a suspected ship hijacking in waters near Iran.

The U.S., U.K. and Israel have all said theyd respond to the tanker attack. Tehran denies involvement in either of the incidents, which are the latest in a yars-long shadow war being waged on Middle East waterways crucial to oil exports.

Frictions involving Iran have coincided with the installation of an ultraconservative new president, and cloud prospects for talks with world powers over reviving the frayed 2015 nuclear deal that Israel opposes.





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From his perch on the International Space Station, a French astronaut watched a long-running Russian space module break into pieces in a shower of fireworks. What's more, he caught the event on video.

The European Space Agency's Facebook page shows a sped-up timelapse of the module, called Pirs, meeting its fiery demise Monday (July 26) under the watch of Thomas Pesquet.

"Atmospheric reentry without a heat shield results in a nice fireball," Pesquet wrote in the post, which also included a French description. "You clearly see smaller pieces of melting metal floating away and adding to the fireworks."

Video: Watch a spacecraft burn up in Earth's atmosphere from space station

Related: Astronaut watches Russian space station module fall from space in fiery demise (photos)

Russia's Progress 77 resupply ship with the Pirs docking compartment attached are pictured during their descent into Earth's atmosphere on July 26, 2021, when they were 270 miles (430 kilometers) above the southern Pacific Ocean. (Image credit: Thomas Pesquet/ESA/NASA)

The astronauts could watch Pirs breaking apart above the clouds for around six minutes, he added, then joked it might be a good idea to wish upon the next "shooting star" you see in the sky, which might be a meteor  or might be the orbital trash burning up. If it is trash, he continued, "not sure it [the wish] will be granted ... but you never know, I'd still advise to go ahead."

Pirs was retired from service after nearly 20 years of work at the space station. It came to orbit Sept. 14, 2001 after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, along with a modified Progress spacecraft as the upper stage of its Soyuz-U rocket. Three days later, it docked with the Zvezda service module, becoming the sixth pressurized module of the orbiting complex.

The long-running docking compartment met its demise to make way for a new Russian science module called Nauka. The delayed module  held up for 13 years due to various technical and budgetary issues  temporarily created havoc Friday (July 30) when a misfire caused Nauka to temporarily yet severely tilt the International Space Station.

NASA representatives have repeatedly emphasized that the Expedition 65 crew was never in any danger and that the tilt was quickly corrected. "The change occurred was slow enough to go unnoticed by the crew members on board, and all other station systems operated nominally during the entire event," the agency told Space.com on Monday (Aug. 2).

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
A man standing in front of the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant as wildfire approaches on Aug. 4, 2021. (Image credit: SERDAR GURKAN/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the many raging wildfires in Turkey reached a coal-fired power plant on the country's southwestern coast on Wednesday (Aug. 4), prompting evacuations, according to recent news reports.

In the past week, Turkey has been battling intense wildfires, most of them along the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea coasts, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

Extreme heat, low humidity and strong winds are fueling the fires. Some 167 fires have been brought under control and 16 continue to burn, officials said, as reported by The Associated Press. Eight people and many animals have died; forests have been destroyed; and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. Now, one of the wildfires has reached the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province.

Related: NASA images show California's largest wildfire from space

NASA's Aqua satellite captured a couple of the wildfires burning in Turkey's southwestern and southern coasts on Aug. 3. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

People at the power plant and the nearby area of Oren were ordered to leave. As a precaution, hydrogen tanks were emptied and filled with water and all explosive chemicals and hazardous materials were removed, according to local officials and the regional municipality, The Guardian reported. Still, there's a risk that the fire could spread to the coal inside, the regional Mayor Osman Gurun said, according to The Guardian.

Helicopters and planes worked to battle the blaze from above, while firefighters with the help of police water cannons, and rescuers who dug ditches, battled the flames from the ground, according to the AP.

Hot and dry conditions, along with strong winds have made the wildfires in Turkey worse, Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said on Thursday (July 29), according to CNN.

The Mediterranean Basin, where many of the fires are burning, is one of the most susceptible places to climate change risks, Hikmet Ozturk, a forestry expert with the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion told CNN. "Typical weather conditions in the summer for the area is hot and dry, which means the risk of fires is already high, and climate change raises that risk."

Experts have been warning for decades that climate change would make weather events such as heat waves more extreme, according to NASA. Turkey and much of southeastern Europe have been facing extreme heat that has not been recorded since the 1980s, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

Originally published on Live Science.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  The queen's representative in New Zealand said Prince Harry and Meghan discussed moving to the South Pacific country during their 2018 visit, more than a year before the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the United States.

Governor-General Patsy Reddy also told The Associated Press in an interview she believes the British monarch should remain New Zealand's head of state and described the hand-typed letters she sends to Queen Elizabeth II.

Reddy, 67, will leave her largely ceremonial role representing the queen in New Zealand in October after a 5-year term. A lawyer who was given the honorific Dame for her services to arts and business, Reddy officially signs bills into law, presides over many public ceremonies and tours the country, meeting with various groups including Indigenous Maori.

Harry and Meghan visited New Zealand at the end of a hectic 16-day royal tour of the South Pacific, and Reddy recalled the couple as being tired.

"I remember theyd just been down to the Abel Tasman National Park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand.

Of course, we said Sure. It would be fine. There are lots of opportunities to live in New Zealand, but that would be something that theyd have to explore,'" Reddy said. They were looking at how they might raise their family. And, obviously, theyve made some decisions since."

Reddy said she didn't view it as a formal request for assistance but more of an informal discussion about the couple's hopes for the future. She said the pair seemed impressed with the access to the outdoors and their interactions with New Zealanders.

Still, the discussion shows the couple were considering options outside of Britain less than six months after they married and well before their eventual move to the U.S.

During a widely watched interview with Oprah Winfrey near the couples California home earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, mentioned they'd offered to the royal family to take a step back from royal life in a Commonwealth country such as South Africa or New Zealand.

Reddy said she watched the interview but didn't want to comment on internal royal family business.

I thought they were a lovely couple and I hope theyve got a great future where they are, Reddy said.

She said she regularly expresses her confidential views of what's happening in New Zealand to the queen, such as the nation's response to the pandemic. She said the communication "is quite touchingly old-fashioned, by letter.

She has told me on the times that Ive seen her that she finds it interesting to have a personal perspective on whats happening, Reddy said. As she says, I like to know whats happening between the lines."

Many people in New Zealand believe the country should become an independent republic but Reddy said she believed the queen should remain the head of state because the arrangement works and has strong historical links.

She said New Zealand has a special connection to the monarchy because its founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed by Maori and the representative of Queen Victoria.

Asked about a future scenario in which a monarch might turn out to be dictatorial or autocratic, Reddy said the same scenario with an elected president would likely be worse.

Weve seen how that doesnt work in other countries in the world," she said. "But actually, because the monarch is much more of a theoretical construct, a figurehead rather than an actual ruler, I think it gives us a measure of safety, constitutional safety.

Reddy said she agreed with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's assessment that there was currently little appetite among New Zealanders for a constitutional change, and that people were concerned about more pressing issues like climate change, inequality and the pandemic.

She said she thought the royal family had been great role models during the pandemic, using the internet and social media to great effect and abiding fastidiously to the rules imposed by the British government.

So we saw tragically the funeral of Prince Philip, where they could only have 30 mourners," Reddy said. But there was no question that thered be any kind of dispensation, even from the requirements for isolation, when, for example, Prince Harry came back to that funeral.

Reddy said she'd watched the Netflix series The Crown.

I've enjoyed it as a historical drama, she said. Its production values and some great characterizations, I think. But, you know, it's not real life is it?"

She pushed back at the negative portrayal of Prince Charles, saying she thought he would be a good monarch.

Ive been enormously impressed with the breadth of his knowledge, the depth of his well-considered perceptions on a range of subjects," she said. "From urban planning to the environment, to the impact of religions on the world.

Children's advocate Cindy Kiro has been named by Ardern to succeed Reddy. Kiro, who is also a Dame, is the first Indigenous woman appointed to the role.
After giving Rep. Henry Cuellar a tight race in 2020 in Texas 28th district, congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros announced publicly on Thursday that she will be challenging Cuellar once again in the next district race. She joins fellow Laredoan Tannya Benavides as challengers for the eight-term local leader.

Cuellar gathered 38,720 votes in 2020, or 51.8%, edging Cisneros 35,964 votes, or 48.2%, in the showdown between Democrats.

Its just a testament to everyones effort last time, the fact that we came so close, Cisneros said. And we are ready to hit the ground running.

The 28-year-old Cisneros is now no longer running as a first-time candidate, but as someone using their experience and momentum from the previous race to try and close and surpass the percentages. By not starting from scratch, Cisneros will now circumvent the learning curve of a political campaign, as well as have a foundation of supporters from the previous race.

Cisneros said that her platform remains the same as her last campaign. She will continue to focus on health care and more job opportunities for District 28, stating that, if anything, they have been aggravated by this pandemic.

Cisneros referenced the situation where Laredo residents without insurance or with unfavorable insurance will visit Nuevo Laredo to receive more affordable healthcare. Healthcare is a human right, she says, and Medicare for All continues to be one of the focused platform points during this campaign.

Addressing the lack of employment opportunities is another key point for her platform as she said that she would create more union jobs after the pandemic resulted in residents losing their jobs or being laid off.

Cisneros said that the lack of opportunities results in few paths to the middle class in South Texas, which subsequently results in experienced and educated individuals leaving the area for better jobs and infrastructure.

According to a release, Cisneros said she will also be running to fix the broken immigration system that has been weaponized against working families in Texas.

I cant stand to see my community suffer under failed leadership anymore, so I am back to finish what we started  to bring a voice to the South Texas community that believed in me and believed in a better future for themselves, she said. I thought this pandemic would wake up our representative to the problems South Texans face daily, but Henry Cuellar proved to us once again that serving his Republican corporate donors matters more than serving our community. South Texas deserves a leader thats going to fight for their dreams as hard as they do  without a dime of corporate PAC dollars.

Furthermore, Cisneros criticized Cuellars leadership amid the pandemic and said that the residents of District 28 need a champion that works for the people. Citing Cuellars vote against the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021, Pro Act, she believes that the representatives goals do not align with the needs of the district.

The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on March 9, 2021, and it states that it will expand various labor protections related to employees rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace, alongside protection for employers who try to discourage employees from unionizing.

Cisneros also called out Cuellars involvement in what she says is political theater in regard to the migrant influx at the border. She said that with her daily involvement in the immigration system, Cuellar and the Republican party routinely use inflated numbers of apprehensions, not unique encounters.

The unique encounters in terms of actual people, not the number of apprehensions, is significantly lower than even 2019, Cisneros said.  Its terrible to see a lot of political theater around it. And instead of cosplaying here along the border, pretending to be Rambo like Republican Ted Cruz and other folks that come down here to give the border area a bad name,  they are actually not doing anything to address the issues.

Cisneros explained that the rise of apprehensions of migrants is caused by Title 42, and more talk is needed with shelter supervisors to give them the dignity they deserve while still discussing the safety of the community amid the pandemic.

With a specialization in immigration law, Cisneros began working once again as an immigration lawyer after her 2020 campaign. After participating in a support role for Democrats during the November 2020 elections, she transitioned to serving as a supervising attorney for the Laredo office of Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. There she represents migrants at immigration court from around the migrant shelters throughout Laredo.

To that end, she said that she hopes to see Cuellar on the debate stage and feels confidant, as she believes he will have to take the race more seriously considering the slim victory in 2020.

The result last time around said we almost won, she said. This was supposed to be a wake up call for him, and he decided to not wake up. But now we are here to finish the job.

Once again, Cisneros said she will be running her campaign without any corporate donations in contrast to Cuellars corporate donors. The 2020 election race saw Cisneros raise over $2 million dollars from individual contributions. As for her planned campaign trail, because of the pandemic, many calls are expected to be made to supporters of her 2020 run and to new potential supporters, however, she emphasized that no one will be taken for granted.

Cisneros added that this is also in line with her endorsements, which garnered attention throughout the process as she was endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, organizations and local entities. She believes her platform goals and campaign promises will speak for themselves and help her past endorsers consider her again.

Im a known quantity. People know. They already knew what kind of race we ran last cycle; they know who I am as a person and they know the value of this campaign, but I dont want to take anything for granted, Cisneros said. The fact that people stand behind this campaign and stand with us shoulder to shoulder is always an honor and is always something that Im going to be working toward every single day.

Cisneros already has the endorsement of Justice Democrats, a national progressive organization that states they help unseat corporate-backed incumbents.

Justice Democrats is so proud to once again endorse Jessica Cisneros in this race to bring working class leadership to TX-28, Justice Democrats Executive Director Alexandra Rojas said. This pandemic has only highlighted how desperate Congress is for leaders who have lived the struggles they are being elected to solve. Jessica comes from a community that has been sidelined by Republican corporate interests for too long and will legislate with the scale and urgency this moment demands. Her deep commitment to working families has shined through her work, her campaign and her vision for a better future for all Texans. Together, we are ready to finish what we started and bring a new generation of leadership to South Texas.

According to Rep. Cuellars campaign spokesperson, the 2020 close call was only a result of an incumbent who had not been ready to be a candidate in a competitive campaign and a first-time candidate who had the help of outside supporters, including Bernie Sanders voters in counties surrounding Webb County.

The reality is that Jessica Cisneros was and is a liar and a fraud. She built her entire last campaign on lies on congressmans Cuellar character and his record in congress, the spokesperson said. Furthermore, she never actually really campaigned. She ran what amounts to what we call a scam PAC, where she pretended to be campaigning when she really wasnt.

However, after the 2020 election cycle, Cuellars campaign team has been built from the ground up, strengthened and is now in fighting strength, they state. For the past four months, the Cuellar team has been actively campaigning, giving them a head start this race.

We are confident that well grow and perform better than we did last election, and we welcome the opportunity for the voters of the district to compare the congressmans extensive body of accomplishments with Cisneross complete lack of accomplishments, the spokesperson said.

They made it clear that Cisneros would have a much tougher race this time around.

Cisneros, a Laredo native, was born of Mexican immigrants and grew up in the Sal Si Puedes neighborhood in central Laredo and graduated first in the Class of 2011 at Early College High School. After which, she transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to study government and Latin American Studies before earning her law degree from the University of Texas Law School.

Being a lawyer pushed me more to assess what the issues were and just go to the root of the problem, Cisneros said in 2019. If the problems are the laws, then lets go change them. So Im running for Congress.

cocampo@lmtonline.com
As the City of Laredo has seen its COVID-19 situation continue to worsen over recent weeks, officials are sounding the alarm once again.

Local leaders stated on Wednesday in a media briefing that as hospital capacity has dwindled, a request to the state for medical assistance was not approved.

That assistance that we asked for from the state was denied on Friday, Laredo Fire Chief Guillermo Heard said. We have been asking multiple times for assistance and for them to expand.

Hospitalizations have risen significantly in recent weeks. After COVID patients sat as low as six from April 10-12 and 13 on June 24, patients exceeded 30 in late July and as of Wednesday were at 41  a week removed from as high as 48.

While hospitalizations are nowhere near the all-time high of 249 set on Jan. 17 and 19, local resources arent nearly as vast now either. At that time, Heard said that the city was receiving assistance ranging from 400-500 medical care providers who had come into the city. But with no help now on the way, its much more difficult to keep up with the rising figures.

Additionally, hospitals are struggling for a few other reasons. First, the area is medically underserved. Heard used Corpus Christi as an example Wednesday, a city with a similar population with around 320,000 people compared to Laredos nearly 260,000, according to 2019 U.S. Census data. The Texas Department of State Health Services listed Corpus Christi with a hospital capacity of 1,687 as of its most recent data on Tuesday, while Laredos sat at just 436. And further hampering those efforts is that Laredo continues to struggle with staffing concerns at its hospitals, which are also limiting their maximum resources.

At Tuesday nights city council meeting, Laredo Health Authority Victor Trevino stated that 17 patients were part of the overflow area in a hospital.

The hospitals continue to be our last line of defense but should be our first indicator to tell us where we are in a public health crisis, Trevino said. Were not going to sugarcoat this: Laredo is in a public health crisis and on the verge of being overwhelmed if theres no relief. This may not be popular information, but this may be a matter of days when we are getting more migrant buses at the same time were going to go back to school, which will produce more positive cases.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz focused much of his time speaking on migrants being bused to non-governmental organizations like the Holding Institute and Catholic Charities. He said that the city tried to go the political route with the U.S. government and now is focusing on a court resolution in the wake of their lawsuit filed a few weeks ago. He added that the city has a Plan B if necessary that was discussed in executive session at the city council meeting Tuesday, but he cannot reveal its details yet.

Saenz added that locals should have first rights to the hospital facilities in the area  especially as capacity fills  stating that this is really the argument for the judge to rule on regarding Laredos migrant concerns.

Its not that we dont want to treat the migrants, we have so limited capacity, Saenz said. I truly feel that, without offending anyone, the hospital system  we should have a preferential right for us as residents here to take care of ourselves and to use the hospital. The federal government has a choice. They can take them to another city where theres ample facilities, maybe even more hospital space than what we have here locally.

However, Laredo Health Director Richard Chamberlain shortly after clarified the mayors assertion that migrants were using up hospital resources by stating that none were currently inside local hospitals.

As of this moment, it is our own Laredo population that is filling our hospital population, Chamberlain said. We dont have any migrant population admitted to our hospitals. It is largely our own unvaccinated population that is causing this surge in our hospital systems, so we cannot stress enough today obtaining your vaccine to protect everybody.

On Wednesday night, the city reported that Saenz signed a Declaration of Local Disaster due to an influx of migrants, adding that a 3-month-old child was sent to a local hospital Wednesday due to COVID symptoms. The release said that the city filed a request for an emergency hearing asking U.S. Federal Judge Diana Saldana to rule on their original restraining order for buses entering the area, which stemmed from the original lawsuit. It added that 283 migrants arrived in buses Wednesday to local shelters.

Chamberlain stated during the briefing that that 73 migrants were currently positive at NGOs. Laredos active case count for its population reached 653 on Wednesday.

Additionally, local children are set to report back to school soon. That brings more concerns as the bulk of recent active cases belong to the youth, with 36.9% (241) below 19 years old as well as 51.9% (339) between ages 20-49.

As the vaccine can only be administered to ages 12 and up, a significant portion of the population may not even be eligible to get it yet, further complicating the local efforts. According to 2019 U.S. Census data, 33% of Laredos population is under the age of 18. However, both school districts were present at the briefing and confirmed that all plans were moving forward for an on-campus start.

Ultimately, that could spell even more cases for a hospital system that is already at its peak. Laredo Medical Center CEO Jorge Leal expressed just how serious the situation is, especially with the state not planning to send any help.

Our ecosystem is at a tipping point, Leal said. We need to make sure we can take care of every person that walks through our doors, be it at LMC or Doctors Hospital. We need to work together as a community to make sure we are here for all Laredoans and all the communities that are around us.

Ultimately, every local leader stressed Wednesday that the course of action must be more vaccinations for the community.

While Laredo has had significant success in getting its population vaccinated  ranking as the No. 1 metro in Texas at just under 76.1%  its lack of medical resources combined with those facilities staffing concerns arent giving it as much wiggle room as others. And thus with no assistance coming, the area is much more reliant on vaccinations to keep its hospitalization figures down.

We respect your rights, but the evidence and science truly indicates to us the unvaccinated people are really the ones that are now perpetuating and promoting this medical health crisis that we have here locally and throughout other areas in the state and nation, Saenz said.

The CEOs of both Laredos major hospitals spoke on the increase of COVID cases, stating that they are seeing higher figures recently  mostly from the younger population  and more serious cases. They each said about half their hospitalizations were in the ICU.

While vaccinations havent been mandated for employees, each CEO stated that staff vaccination figures were extremely high. And both are asking for masks to be worn at all times in their facilities  a measure that is already being met with resistance.

We still see that even after everything we have gone through, theres still a resistance from our community to want to wear the mask upon entering the hospital, Doctors Hospital CEO Emma Maria Montes-Ewing said. And our focus  is to keep everybody safe and continue to keep care of our community and our patients. We deal with angry visitors that dont understand the challenge, and so it makes the job a little more difficult.

Laredo has had among the most difficult road navigating the pandemic of any city in the country. According to the New York Times, Laredo ranks No. 6 in the U.S. in places hit hardest by the disease. Laredo has 159.5 cumulative confirmed cases per 1,000 population, which is behind only Eagle Pass (178); Yuma, Arizona (174); Gallup, New Mexico (172.7); Bismarck, North Dakota (165); and El Paso (161.6) nationally.

Laredo also was far and away leading the state in COVID hospitalization rate for months, still owning the record for highest recorded single-day rate at 48.8% on Jan. 16.

We banded together as a community and went from highest hospitalization rate to highest vaccination rate, which was a good positive, Heard said. That was thanks to all the community here. But now we are faced with a different situation. Even though we are the highest vaccination rate in our (state for metro areas), we are seeing a percentage of unvaccinated  unfortunately they are getting sick and some of them are passing away.

Officials have stated previously that some deaths have yet to be officially announced as there are delays waiting on death certificates. One more death was reported Wednesday  a woman in her 70s  giving the area its 19th reported fatality in the past 20 days.

Its deaths like these that have the city scrambling to find answers amid its hospitalization crisis. Leaders have expressed that masks should be worn in indoor settings among persons not from your home and that large gatherings outside are discouraged.

The shortage of hospital beds and ICU beds, the diversions we see now more on an everyday basis, they are indicators were in a severe crisis medically, Saenz said. It requires less people visiting our hospitals. We prevent this as much as we can. It comes down to personal responsibility.

But again, while masks are certainly one measure to help fight the virus, local leaders continue to point to vaccinations as really the only sure way to slow the diseases spread.

Overall, Chamberlain said there have been a total of 157 breakthrough cases  a positive from a fully-vaccinated individual  this entire year, and of those, just 36 resulted in hospitalization. As Laredoans started to be vaccinated beyond just first responders back in January, the city has had a total of 19,401 positive cases year to date.

Vaccines do work, vaccines do protect others and vaccines do save lives, Chamberlain said.

zdavis@lmtonline.com
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A key protection against evictions would be restored and a new round of funding would flow to utilities to cover unpaid customer bills under legislation advancing through the Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly.

Those provisions are among a host of other priorities lawmakers are considering this week as they meet in Richmond for a special session to allocate billions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief, intended to cover pandemic response needs and bolster the economy.

The budget legislation, which received initial approval in the House and Senate on Wednesday, reinstates what housing advocates say was a significant protection against eviction that expired at the end of June: a requirement that a landlord must have applied for rental assistance on their tenant's behalf before an eviction for non-payment of rent can proceed.

While the protection does not amount to an eviction moratorium, housing advocates had worried that evictions would surge, and homelessness could eventually follow, if landlords didn't face a requirement to tell tenants about the relief money.

Martin Wegbreit, director of litigation for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, said it makes sense for landlords to handle the applications.

Theyre the ones who know whos behind (on rent), and they are the ones who will end up with the money," Wegbreit said. And that will keep them paid and keep tenants staying in their apartments.

As of July 14, more than $308 million had been paid out statewide to support more than 48,000 households, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.

The protection would take effect after the bill is passed and signed by Gov. Ralph Northam, and it would remain in place through June 30 of next year, under the version of the budget that advanced out of the House and Senate money committees Monday.

The deliberations in Virginia come after the Biden administration allowed a federal moratorium on evictions to expire over the weekend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a new moratorium that would last until Oct 3.

Michael Hipps, an attorney representing various landlords in Virginias Hampton Roads region, said that shifting the onus back on to landlords to apply for rental assistance would not be terribly burdensome for large-scale landlords.

But he said it could pose a challenge to landlords who only have one or two properties. They would have to navigate the application process without many resources, he said.

Also in the Democrats' budget plan is a new round of funding to cover certain unpaid water, electric, natural gas or other utility bills. It would allocate $120 million to provide assistance to residential utility customers with accounts over 60 days past due.

The State Corporation Commission would establish an application process to distribute the funds directly to utilities, according to the legislation. Funding is to be awarded proportionally based on the total amount of money owed.

The SCC doesnt currently have an accounting of what's owed, spokesman Ken Schrad said. The legislation directs the state to undertake one.

Utilities may ask customers to attest that they have experienced a financial hardship due to the pandemic, according to the bill. They are not required to do so.

Dominion Energy Virginia, the state's largest electric monopoly, is excluded from the funding.

State regulators have routinely found that the company has over-earned, but Dominion has pushed through legislation in recent years that limited state regulators ability to mandate refunds or rate reductions.

Instead of allowing Dominion to tap into the new pool of money, the budget contains language that says Dominion cannot disconnect certain low-income customers until March 1 of next year.

Rayhan Daudani, a Dominion spokesman, said the company has flexible payment options even for customers who don't fall into that category.

In addition to the rent and utility provisions aimed at helping Virginians, the budget also allocates money for various state agencies to pay for costs associated with the pandemic, including $34.8 million for the Department of Corrections to cover ongoing COVID testing, the purchase of personal protective equipment and the expansion of telehealth services and video visitation.

It further provides $20 million to the Department of Health to provide targeted outreach on COVID-19 vaccines in hard-to-reach communities; $10 million to backfill COVID-related revenue shortfalls at veterans care centers; and $15 million over two years to address Medicaid eligibility re-evaluations, appeals and operational backlogs at the Department of Medical Assistance Services due to COVID-19.

The budget also contains language clarifying that a state law prohibiting the wearing of masks in certain places doesnt apply to Virginians wearing a face covering to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The issue had been an area of some ambiguity since Virginia's state of emergency due to the pandemic lapsed at the end of June.

____

Finley reported from Norfolk. Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie contributed to this report from Richmond.
Officials from the City of Laredo and Webb County announced 209 positive cases of COVID-19 and one related death in Wednesdays public update.

The new data, reflecting the past two days, gives the area 46,390 positives and 866 deaths historically dating back to the emergence of the pandemic locally in March of 2020.

Positive cases continue to grow as the past three updates have eclipsed 200. Previously, the last time the city had announced that many positives in a report was Feb. 10.

That puts the city on track for another record week. With now 476, its now 210 positives shy of last weeks 686 positives, which was the most since Feb. 6-12 featured 1,047  the final in a span of 14 weeks which all featured over a thousand positives which made up the worst time period for the area against COVID stretching over parts of November 2020 to February 2021.

Laredos other previous recent highs were in each of the previous two weeks including 333 two weeks ago and 176 the week prior. From a seven-week stretch from mid-May to late June, the area didnt reach triple digits over a single week, including a low of 46 cases from May 22-28.

Laredo has 653 active cases locally, up from 609 Monday. Its the highest single-day active total since Feb. 15 had 659.

The current rolling seven-day positivity rate is over 13.7%. Texas rolling positivity rate is at 12.9% while the United States is 10.5%.

Among the active cases, 241 are younger than 19 years old, 339 are between the ages of 20-49 and 73 are older than 50. Of the current actives that have been investigated, 192 are not vaccinated, totaling 86%.

Laredo leaders stated on Wednesday during their media briefing that the delta variant is the expected cause of the increase.

Laredo has only confirmed one case of the delta variant thus far, however, it takes around 3-6 weeks to get samples studied by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino stated that delta has been responsible nationally for over 93% of cases during the last two weeks of July, so it stands to reason the variant has arrived locally due to the recent surge.

A total of 30 samples were sent to the DSHS in July, and Laredo Health Director Richard Chamberlain said that he hopes to see some of those results start to trickle in soon.

Meanwhile, Wednesdays death reported belonged to a woman in her 70s. A second death was reported earlier in the day during a media briefing from a man in his 30s, but it was later clarified that he was from Zapata and would not count toward local figures.

Hospitalizations remained at 41 after reaching as high as 48 last week. A total of 21 are reportedly in the intensive care unit.

The City of Laredo stated that its latest figures show that 76% of the eligible population over 12 years of age has been fully vaccinated, totaling 164,198 people.

Additionally, a total of 93% of the eligible population are at least partially vaccinated, and nearly 94.2% of the population over 65 years of age is at least partially vaccinated.

City of Laredo officials made it clear that as hospitals are at the tipping point, getting vaccines and wearing masks are vital right now.

We have talked to the hospitals trying to strategize on how we can assist, but ultimately the key is  and we will keep pushing out that message  vaccines, Laredo Fire Chief Guillermo Heard said. Weve tried to do a more targeted response, but if you do know somebody out there that hasnt gotten vaccinated, please spread the word. Help us. We have multiple, multiple sites to help vaccinate.

Please, mask up for indoor activities right now. Vaccinated or unvaccinated, what we can do makes a huge difference.

Laredo has tested 371,355 persons over the course of the pandemic. An estimated 44,871 have recovered from a previous infection.

zdavis@lmtonline.com
A lifelong passion for data and a commitment to its utilization in innovation strategies that can foster economic and enterprise development will guide Dr. Daniel Covarrubias, the recently-named director of Texas A&M International Universitys A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business Texas Center for Economic and Enterprise Development.

With his keen grasp of research, knowledge, assistance and expertise in border and binational socio-economic development efforts, Dr. Covarrubias will not only deliver our mission, but surely expand its reach and relevance, Dr. Steve Sears said.

Covarrubias will lead the Texas Center in its essential mission of providing support to private and public entities, said TAMIU Dean of the Sanchez School of Business. Covarrubias said he looks forward to the challenge and has already considered the Texas Centers path forward.

I look forward to leading the Center's activities and data research and acting as an integrating agent for the region's academic, public and private actors in areas related to economic development and competitiveness, he said. Our aim for the Center will be to provide research services to regional economic actors, and to transfer knowledge generated through research to society, contributing to the betterment of economic development here and beyond.

Additional directions he said he would like to explore include establishing the Texas Center as the go-to place for reliable and timely data; continuing to engage TAMIU faculty in border socio-economic development and international trade research projects; serving as a liaison with local, regional and bi-national socio-economic development agencies or entities; and moving beyond traditional data management and analysis to include research activities that truly contribute to the creation of knowledge.

Covarrubias completed his Ph.D. in Business Competitiveness and Economic Development from Deusto Business School at the University of Deusto in Spain. He also holds an MA in political science from Texas A&M International, an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a BA in Business Administration from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

His research is centered on Cross-Border Regional Development, Regional Innovation Systems, Clusters and Territorial Development Policy.

Covarrubias previous experience includes founding and directing Nuevo Laredos Center for Socioeconomic and Technological Innovation (Centro IST) for the past five years.

During my tenure at the Centro IST, I worked closely with businesses, ranging from small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to Fortune 500 companies. One of my main activities was to help them identify areas of opportunity to further their competitiveness and develop and grow new business models related to innovation and technological development within products, processes, and organizational structures, he recalled.

Prior to the Centro IST role, he served as an adviser to the Minister of Economy of Mexico.

I researched and furthered public policy proposals to improve Mexico 's industrial composition, competitive framework and enhance its businesses' innovative capacity and productivity levels. My Ministry work deepened my understanding of the dynamics of international business and allowed me to witness first-hand the impact of economic cooperation between Mexican firms and trade agreement partners in North and Latin America in addition to Europe and Asia, he explained.

A significant portion of Covarrubias working life has been devoted to leadership service focused on the promotion of the Laredos Region economic development in roles as both Secretary of Economic Development for the City of Nuevo Laredo and as founding Director of the Institute for Competitiveness and International Commerce of Nuevo Laredo.

He said his time as a doctoral student in the Basque region of Spain served to strengthen his passion as a socioeconomic researcher and actually led to his dissertation topic.

My dissertation, entitled "Bridging the socioeconomic gap: integrating cross-border regions through comparing different worlds-Region Laredo, Aquitaine-Euskadi and Oresund," has a broad objective of understanding the impact that Social Capital and Social Innovation have on economic development and competitiveness strategies in a cross-border context. Ultimately, the goal was to provide a case study comparison while focusing on understanding each case compared to the otherseffectively, learning from differences, he said.

The Texas Legislature established the Texas Centers for Border Economic and Enterprise Development by an act passed by the 71st Legislature (1989). House Bill (HB) 2974 was approved on June 14, 1989 and became effective September 1, 1989, as a consortium between TAMIU, the University of Texas Pan-American and the University of Texas-El Paso.

Since 1989, Texas A&M International Universitys Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development has provided leadership and support to Texas border communities in their socio-economic development efforts, including activities in the areas of business, education, health care, public administration and the environment.

For additional information, visit the Center at texascenter.tamiu.edu, email Covarrubinas at dcova@tamiu.edu, call 956-326-2520, or visit offices located at TAMIU in Anthony J. and Georgia A. Pellegrino Hall, Room 216.
TOKYO (AP)  Tokyo reported 5,042 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its most since the pandemic began as infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics.

Tokyo has been under a state of emergency since mid-July, and four other areas of the country have since been added. But the measures, basically shorter opening hours and a ban on alcohol for restaurants and bars, are increasingly ignored by the public, which has become tired of restrictions.

We need to tackle the situation now that we have a stronger sense of urgency," Prime Minister Yosihide Suga told reporters, referring to Tokyo exceeding 5,000 new daily cases for the first time. The infections are expanding at a pace we have never experienced before."

Suga, who has been criticized for insisting on hosting the Olympics despite the coronavirus's surge, says there is no evidence linking the increase in cases to the July 23-Aug. 8 Games. He urged people to firmly stick to the emergency requests and stay at home during summer vacation.

The new cases brought Tokyo's reported total to 236,138. The entire country registered more than 14,000 new cases on Wednesday, for a 970,460 total.

Alarmed by the pace of the spread, some experts have called for the state of emergency to be expanded nationwide.

Instead, Suga on Thursday announced a milder version of the emergency measures in eight prefectures, including Fukushima in the east and Kumamoto in the south, beginning Monday. The less-stringent measures allow prefectural heads to target specific towns but do not allow them to order business closures.

Suga also pledged to prevent the further spread of the virus by firmly carrying out vaccinations.

Experts say people are not cooperating because many feel less of a sense of urgency about the pandemic while the Olympics are going ahead and the government's repeats of the same requests for people to stay at home.

Experts on a Tokyo metropolitan government panel cautioned that infections propelled by the more contagious delta variant have become explosive and could exceed 10,000 cases a day in two weeks.

Measures targeting business owners begin with requests and increase to orders, and violators can be fined, though this rarely happens. Those who comply can receive compensation, but thousands of eateries still stay open after the requested 8 p.m. closing time. Measures for the general public are only voluntary requests, including staying at home, wearing a mask outside and avoiding nonessential trips.

Japan has managed to keep its cases and deaths lower than much of the world, but testing is still insufficient and Tokyos positivity rate stands at 20%, indicating widespread infections. Japan has 8.9 new confirmed cases per 100,000, compared to 8.5 in Vietnam and 28.4 in the United States.

In Tokyo, nearly 17,000 patients with mild symptoms are currently isolating at home  more than a tenfold increase from a month ago  and more than 10,000 others are waiting for beds in hospitals or special hotels.

As hospital beds fill, Suga's government introduced a new policy this week in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will isolate at home instead of in hospitals, an attempt to save hospital beds almost exclusively for seriously ill patients.

Opposition lawmakers criticized Suga for not increasing hospital capacity sufficiently despite warnings about the delta variant. Coronavirus treatment in Japan is limited to public and university hospitals that have adequate facilities and expertise.

Dr. Masataka Inokuchi, the vice chair of the Tokyo Medical Association, said he hopes to establish a system that allows patients to isolate safely at home. This system, however, will collapse if the number of patients at home keeps rising, he said.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Cedric Daniels and Joshua Bradstreet Contreras didn't think they really needed the coronavirus vaccine. After all, the uncle and nephew are both young  37 and 22, respectively  and Contreras was as healthy as a horse, Daniels said.

But just days after Daniels went to visit Contreras in New Orleans  a long-awaited reunion that came after not seeing each other for months because of the pandemic  the nephew was rushed away in an ambulance. He couldn't breathe, even when sitting completely still. He is now in a hospital in a New Orleans suburb, on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma.

At about the same time, Daniels started feeling weak, had blurred vision and was so short of breath he could barely make it from his couch in the living room to the bathroom. He tested positive for the virus, then went to a hospital in Baton Rouge already overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, where he stayed for a week on oxygen as he recovered from pneumonia.

Contreras and Daniels are among a flood of patients filling up overloaded hospitals across the U.S. amid a surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the virus's highly contagious delta variant. Health officials say the most serious cases have been among the unvaccinated.

It is frustrating, because its preventable  but more than that, its really sad, said James Ford, a critical care doctor in the ICU at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where Daniels was treated.

To help with the influx, the hospital brought in a disaster medical assistance team of nearly three dozen health care workers on Monday. That same day, hospital leaders at a news conference where Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a reinstated statewide mask mandate described grim conditions across Louisiana: facilities filled with COVID-19 patients, including children, and hospital hallways lined with stretchers because there arent enough beds.

A lot of them are debilitated and need around-the-clock care," said Ford, who has been working on his days off to help ease his hospital's burden. "Its very labor intensive.

Some of those patients, like Daniels, now wish they had taken the shot.

Theyre talking about putting tubes down your throat possibly if your oxygen doesnt go up within the next hour, and that is frightening, he told The Associated Press on Monday as he lay in a bed with an oxygen tube in his nose. He was released shortly afterward but still must use oxygen at home.

I am now a huge advocate for doctors orders, Daniels added. They think we ought to get vaccinated, I think we ought to get vaccinated.

Daniels, who lives in Gonzales, about 57 miles (92 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans, said he and Contreras were the only unvaccinated members of their households. Daniels' wife and live-in mother-in-law, both of whom were inoculated months ago, have both tested negative twice since he tested positive.

Contreras' mother, Tarsha Bradstreet, had also been vaccinated, as had her 19-year-old son who lives in the same house in New Orleans. Bradstreet said she tried to persuade Contreras to get the shot, but said she had only so much pull over him.

Josh hardly goes anywhere since COVID hit, so he didnt think he needed the vaccine, Bradstreet said.

One of the places to which Contreras did go, however, was his summer job at Cafe Reconcile. About the time he started getting ill, he got a call from the restaurant telling him that a co-worker had tested positive for the virus and he needed to get tested himself.

He had a headache and some nausea, so at first we thought it was dehydration, Bradstreet said. A week later, he couldnt smell. He couldnt breathe. I noticed his breath was quick and rapid, and he could barely stand up or do anything. I had to call an ambulance.

A while later, the hospital called and said, 'Your son is on a ventilator,' and I almost died, Bradstreet said. I couldnt believe it. I didnt realize how serious it was. I didnt know. He almost died.

Bradstreet talks to her son every day through one of the hospitals portable laptops, so that he can hear her voice even if he cant see her.

She also prays a lot, and hopes that sharing her sons story will motivate others who have not yet been vaccinated to go and get the shot.

When we go through things, its to help other people, to teach people something, she said. Their choice may leave them in the hospital. Maybe theyll get the lesson before they have to go through this.
The U.S. Border Patrol Laredo Sector announced on Wednesday that a reported gang member was arrested for crossing the border illegally.

Jose Alberto Garcia-Diaz was arrested by agents on Wednesday morning.
NASA and Boeing officials remained largely silent Wednesday about what the likely next steps are for Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, a day after a much-anticipated test flight was scrubbed because a sensor indicated a valve on the vehicle wasn't in the proper position.

The spacecraft remained on its launchpad in Florida throughout the day amid speculation from engineers and others familiar with the spacecraft that it would need to be moved and perhaps disassembled to determine what went wrong. A new launch date, they speculated, could be weeks away.

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That would add to what has already been a humiliating chain of events for Boeing, whose first test flight of Starliner in December 2019 ended when a software problem put the capsule in a wrong orbit and forced ground controllers to bring it home without reaching the International Space Station. Boeing then rewrote the capsule's software, taking 80 "corrective actions" and waiting for a launch window that aligned with available docking space at the space station. In the meantime, Boeing's rival, SpaceX, delivered three astronaut crews to the station.

Asked late Wednesday when Boeing would make an announcement on its, spokespeople responded "soon" but provided no additional information.

Boeing officials had said they thought a lightning strike near the spacecraft Monday might be the source of the problem. But determining that was impossible while the spacecraft and booster were on the launchpad, people familiar with the investigation said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Some officials said it seemed likely that Starliner would have to be detached from the booster altogether for a visual inspection of the component to take place.

Such a move would almost certainly take days to accomplish, pushing any possible relaunch into a period when other events at the International Space Station could make a launch impossible for some time.

"We will not launch until our vehicle is performing nominally and our teams are confident it is ready to fly," said John Vollmer, vice president and program manager of Boeing's commercial crew program. "We're going to let the data lead our work."

NASA declined to say when the next available launch window might come. "NASA and Boeing will look for the next available opportunity after resolution of the issue," a NASA spokesperson said via email.

There's a slim chance the problem could be fixed this week, according to aerospace engineers not affiliated with Boeing or NASA.

But what's more likely is a weeks-long delay as teams attempt to locate the source of the problem before beginning the multistep process of fixing it, putting the pieces back together and running safety tests.

MORE NEWS: 60 years ago, a father-son duo hijacked a Houston-bound flight

Boeing attributed the scrubbed OFT-2 mission to "indications that not all valves were in the proper configuration needed for launch." The company hinted at lightning as the cause of the complication, saying the issue was initially detected following electrical storms in the region of Kennedy Space Center.

Less-than-stellar weather conditions prompted ground personnel to roll Starliner indoors from the launchpad days earlier.

The valves in question may be used to help guide the spacecraft in the right direction in space, according to Sven Bilen, professor of aerospace engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

"If your car is misaligned, you'll be constantly pulling on the steering wheel to get it straight," he said. "In a spacecraft, it wouldn't maneuver the way that you expect it to. You risk not getting to the space station, or it burns up in the atmosphere coming back because it wasn't oriented the right way."

Boeing says it ruled out a software problem.

Based on the information released by Boeing, it seems like a complex issue to solve, aerospace engineers say.

"If the valve is broken, if they have to pull it out and replace it, you're talking weeks at a minimum," Bilen said. "If it's a sensor issue, and it's easy to replace," a relaunch could happen sooner. But there may be a concern that "the same issue is on other valves," he added.

While space vehicles are generally well-insulated, thunderstorms and spacecraft don't mix well. NASA learned that first hand during the Apollo 12 launch in 1969. The Saturn V launch vehicle was struck twice as it headed to the moon with three astronauts on board. The event caused the aircraft to lose "nine nonessential instrumentation sensors," NASA said. However, the mission was still successful.

This isn't the first Starliner delay. Its first test flight went haywire in 2019. A retest was scheduled for last Friday, but that launch was postponed after a misfire of a Russian module sent the space station into a barrel roll.

Boeing can't simply relaunch Starliner whenever it wants. NASA determines safe mission dates and times based on a blend of factors, including the launch site availability, room to dock at the ISS, weather and orbital needs.

LOCAL CLOSURE: We've finally seen the last of Houston's Celebration Station

"A low Earth mission with specific timing needs must lift off at the right time to slip into the same orbit as its target," NASA says on its website. The space agency also has SpaceX trips to the ISS set for later this year and a big mission to study asteroids associated with Jupiter no earlier than Oct. 16.

For Boeing, relaunching Starliner is critical. NASA has paid the company more than $4 billion for developing the capsule and flights and any repairs now are added to the company's expenses.
Lockport, NY (14094)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 63F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
A major fundraising drive is underway to aid Longford woman Laura Gilmore Anderson in her ongoing fight against incurable cancer.

The brave and much loved 34-year-old has been battling neuroendocrine cancer for over a year after her cancer went misdiagnosed for three years.

A Go Fund me page set up earlier this year raised over 70,000 as part of her bid to attend a special cancer clinic in Mexico.

Urgent appeal to Longfordians living in Gran Canaria to come to aid of stricken Longford man A public appeal has tonight been made for ex pats residing in Gran Canaria to provide urgent assistance to a Longford man who remains in hospital after falling ill last month.

Now, friends of Laura's have set up an online fundraising raffle, aptly dubbed 'Help Laura Heal' to generate enough monies to help the former Scoil Mhuire student access alternative treatments in her fight for survival.

"She has undergone chemotherapy in Edinburgh which, unfortunately, did not have the desired effect that she had hoped for," said a close friend.

"We are attempting to raise money to help Laura afford alternative treatments which are often expensive and very far from home.

"The treatments will hopefully boost her immune system and give her the best fighting chance against this cancer and let her take charge of her route to healing."

The fundraiser, which can be accessed via online fundraising platform iDonate, boasts a total of 40 prizes with a wedding video package and two tickets to Manchester Utd V Arsenal being among the top attractions.

For more and to buy a ticket, simply follow the link: https://www.idonate.ie/raffle/12694_help-laura-heal-raffle.html?fbclid=IwAR293a12PN2jTbT-tL2GnAN5dZwA4nzgVlTHzK89aM_y6UYGxV2a9w1JAyc
Crime, Politics

By Chris Boyle Published: August 05 2021

County Executive Bellone announces promotion of first Hispanic chief in department history.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has announced the promotions of three Chiefs, one Inspector and one Detective. Among the various promotions is the first Hispanic Chief, Milagros Soto. Inspector Milagros Soto has been promoted to Deputy Chief of Internal Affairs, a one-star chief title, and will oversee the integration of the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission into Internal Affairs Investigations, as laid out in the Countys Historic Police Reform and Reinvention Plan.

We have been laser focused on increasing diversity in all ranks of the SCPD. The promotion of not only the first Hispanic female, but person of color to Chief follows our historic detective level promotions, where 33 percent of the officers promoted were women and individuals of color, said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. The positon of Chief is absolutely critical to public safety, and these individuals being promoted today will continue the departments efforts to make Suffolk County one of the safest communities in the nation.

I have known Milagros Soto for her entire career and I believe that her integrity, dedication and talent make her the right person to oversee our Internal Affairs Bureau, said Acting Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron. She has extensive experience working in our Internal Affairs Bureau and her first-hand knowledge of our reform plan will allow her to oversee our integration with the Human Rights Commission as detailed in our police reform plan.

Chief Soto is a 33-year department veteran. Soto was promoted to inspector in 2019 and was assigned to the Office of the Commissioner where she oversaw the Community Relations Bureau, the Public Information Bureau and was the liaison to the District Attorneys Conviction Integrity Bureau. Most recently, Chief Soto served as the Commissioners Liaison to the Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force and is currently the Department Coordinator for the Implementation Phase of the reform plan. During her more than three-decade tenure, Soto has served as Deputy Commanding Officer of the Third Precinct, Deputy Inspector, and Captain in the Internal Affairs Bureau where she lead the Internal Affairs Investigators into former Sgt. Scott Greene, who was convicted for targeting Hispanic drivers.

In addition to the promotion of the first Hispanic Chief, the promotions include Deputy Chief Christopher Hatton to Chief of Operations, a three-star chief title, Deputy Chief Gerard Hardy to Assistant Chief of Patrol, a two-star chief title, Deputy Inspector Alexander Crawford to Inspector, and Officer Chris Racioppo to Detective. Chief Robert Waring, who was recently named Chief of Operations, will become Chief of Patrol following the retirement of Chief Robert Brown.

Earlier this year, Suffolk County Police Officer Christopher Racioppo was stabbed while attempting to apprehend a drunk driver in Patchogue. Officer Racioppo was stabbed in the leg by Jonathan Nunez as he was attempting to evade arrest for DWI after causing a motor vehicle crash. Bleeding profusely and teetering dangerously close to losing consciousness, Racioppo was given a fighting chance due to the efforts of good Samaritans, Guillermo Sandoval, a United States Marine, and retired NYPD Officer Frank Recupero, and responding Fifth Precinct personnel, including Sgt. Frank Samartino, Sgt. Nick Blaschuk, Officer Taylor Herbst, Officer Christopher Morris, and Officer Jarrett Hanwright.

Officer Racioppo is nothing short of a hero, said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. Four months ago Officer Racioppo was within seconds of losing his life, but today Officer Racioppo has made a miraculous recovery and will return to the Department as Detective Racioppo.

Officer Racioppo will be promoted to detective in anticipation of his return to duty.
Nature & Weather, Community, Charity & Cause

By Chris Boyle Published: August 05 2021

Suffolk unveils first beach clean-up station donated through a pilot program sponsored by Legislator Kara Hahn intended to assist volunteers reduce beachfront litter.

Standing along Suffolks iconic oceanfront, officials and environmentally minded community members launched a new initiative intended to combat litter along portions of our coastline. Unveiled at Smith Point County Park was the first clean-up station to be installed through a pilot program championed by Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn earlier this year that places beach clean-up baskets at nine county parks across Suffolk.

The program is intended to give parks patrons an opportunity to combat beach pollution by providing carriable baskets for litter collection. Volunteers who participate are asked to take a basket, collect debris and then return the baskets and litter to the cleanup station where trash receptacles are located for proper disposal.

Suffolk County entered into an agreement with Remsenburg, New York-based nonprofit RELIC Sustainability for placement of clean-up stations at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, Cupsogue Beach County Park in Westhampton, Meschutt Beach County Park in Hampton Bays, Orient Point County Park in Orient, Cedar Point County Park in East Hampton, Cordwood Landing County Park in Miller Place, Indian Island County Park in Riverhead, Shinnecock East County Park in Southampton and Montauk County Park in Montauk. The partnership with RELIC comes at no cost to the County as the organization sells sponsorship for each station. This initial site at Smith Point is sponsored by Sunrise Wind - Powered by Orsted and Eversource.

As Long Islanders, our beaches and our coastline are central to our identity and our prosperity. They not only create thousands of unforgettable moments for our residents and visitors each year, but they also generate millions of dollars for our local economy through tourism and marine related jobs, said Legislator Hahn, sponsor of legislation authoring the Countys agreement with RELIC Sustainability. Suffolk Countys shoreline is its welcome mat and our partnership with RELIC will make these beaches even more alluring.

Aiden Kravitz, co-founder of RELIC Sustainability said, With more and more plastic trash washing up on our shorelines, we couldn't be more excited to be taking action against coastal pollution with Suffolk County and Sunrise Wind. We are determined to continue building and implementing clean up stations that integrate stakeholders from the community, government, and business as part of a collective environmental solution. By working together, we can keep our coastlines clean and protected as we enter a time period hallmarked by pollution and debris."

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean each year with researchers who study pollution on Australian atoll islands estimating that about 524,000 pounds, or 238 metric tons, of plastic washed up on beaches that are exposed to ocean currents, wind and waves." It is believed 80 percent of all aquatic waste is comprised of single use plastics.

With more than 980 miles of coastline, Suffolk County is especially impacted by beach litter that is either left behind by visitors or washed ashore. To combat this issue locally, Suffolk has prohibited the use of single use plastic straws and stirrers, microbeads in personal care items and polystyrene packaging through legislation sponsored by Legislator Hahn. Data from the Long Island Sound Study show that these, and similar, efforts may be working as it was estimated the body had 67 pounds of litter debris per mile in 2020, down significantly from the 2004 high of 1137 pounds of trash per mile.

Suffolk County beaches are some of the most beautiful in the Country and we must do all that we can to keep them clean, safe and litter-free, said Legislator Tom Donnelly. I thank Legislator Kara Hahn and the generosity of RELIC Sustainability for this unique and important initiative that will enable all of us to do our part in working towards this critically-important commitment.

Legislator Sarah Anker agreed, "We have been blessed with beautiful parks and beaches here in Suffolk County. Providing sustainable cleanup stations like this one, empowers the community and gives them the opportunity to be a part of keeping them clean for everyone to enjoy.

I would like to congratulate Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn and RELIC Sustainability on their partnership which prioritizes keeping our Suffolk County beaches clean and safe for all residents to enjoy, added Suffolk County Majority Leader Susan A. Berland.
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5th August 2021

Runtime 15:09

With the granting of an exploitation licence in Mongolia and a swift fundraise, oil explorer Petro Matad (LSE:MATD) is now funded for its drilling programme which should see production start next year.

Chief Executive Mike Buck tells London South East's Sarah Lowther, he's hoping to get the Heron One discovery on stream by the middle of 2022. In parallel with that ambition Petro wants to drill two other wells within the proven area of the field so that by the end of the drilling campaign in 2022, "Weve got three wells on production and finally producing some oil and some revenue."

"We're moving from the pure explorer that weve been throughout our existence into a production company as well as an explorer to continue our efforts in Mongolia to find more oil."

Those efforts will be expedited by the relationship that has been formed with neighbouring operator PetroChina who Buck says are "keen and very willing" to cooperate and offer access to their facilities. Commercial cost-effective negotiations are now underway with the Chinese oil and gas company about the processing and exporting of Petro Matad's oil.

In the meantime the Mongolian government is building a refinery in the country which will compliment the ambitions of Petro Matad's founding shareholder Petrovis which is also Mongolia's largest fuel distribution company.

Buck is grateful for Petrovis's invaluable support in his company's journey as it arrives at the inflexion point of development into production. He's also thankful for the support from retail investors who participated in the open offer, and who he hopes will benefit from the value creation generated in this next phase of the operation particularly as there's so much exploration potential in the licence area.
(Sharecast News) - Armenia and Kyrgyzstan-focussed gold mining company Chaarat announced on Thursday that Artem Volynets would step down by mutual agreement from his role as chief executive officer and executive director with immediate effect, and would move into a senior adviser role.

The AIM-traded firm said its executive chairman Martin Andersson would serve as interim CEO until the formal appointment of a successor to Volynets.



As part of the company's evolving strategic requirements, earlier this year the board appointed a global executive search firm to support its succession planning process.



It said it had already reviewed a number of potential candidates for the role, and was in advanced discussions with a preferred potential candidate.



"Being part of Chaarat's dynamic evolution over the past three years has been immensely fulfilling, and I look forward to my continued association with the company in my new role as senior adviser," said Artem Volynets.



Chaarat said Volynets would assume the role of senior adviser to the business, leveraging his experience in the mining industry across the former Soviet Union.



In the role, Volynets would focus on developing merger and acquisition opportunities in the region and assisting with capital market activities.



"I would like to thank Artem for all his hard work and dedication to Chaarat over the past three years," said executive chairman Martin Andersson.



"Artem led Chaarat through the group's transformation from an exploration company to a producer.



"Together with his team, he has created a solid foundation for our next stage of development."



Andersson said Artem would, in his new capacity and as a long-term shareholder, continue to add value to the business moving forward.



"The team and I look forward to continuing to work with Artem as the business advances its strategic initiatives."



At 1301 BST, shares in Chaarat Gold Holdings were up 5.42% at 21.4p.
(Alliance News) - Egyptian gold miner Centamin PLC on Thursday said profit dropped in the first half of 2021, as gold production declined and operating costs increased.

Centamin shares were trading down 2.4% at 103.55 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

FTSE 250-listed Centamin reported a sharp drop in half-year pretax profit, down 39% to USD116.8 million from USD192.5 million a year prior.

Revenue fell 18% to USD367.4 million from USD448.8 million and gold production dropped by 20% to 204,275 ounces from 256,084 ounces.

Operating costs, meanwhile, increased by 7.4% year-on-year to USD22.3 million in the first half from USD20.8 million.

Nevertheless, the company has maintained its full-year production and cost guidance for 2021.

Currently, Centamin expects between 400,000 and 430,000 ounces of gold production at cash costs of USD800 to USD900 per ounce, with an all in sustaining cost between USD1,150 and USD1,250 per ounce sold.

The miner's capital expenditure guidance remains around USD225 million for the full-year, plus exploration expenditure of USD17 million.

Chief Executive Martin Horgan said: "We look forward to delivering continued operating results, taking advantage of a promising gold price environment, and expect continued strong progress with our capital projects and exploration programmes in the second half."

The gold miner declared a 4.0 US cents interim dividend per share, down by a third from 6.0 cents a year earlier. Centamin said it expects to pay out 5.0 US cents as a final dividend.

"The company is financially robust with USD312 million in cash and liquid assets, providing the flexibility to invest in the long-term future of our flagship asset, Sukari, and continue to develop our active growth pipeline in Egypt and [the Ivory Coast]," Horgan added.

By the third quarter, the miner said it expects to complete the final legal formalities for its recently agreed exploration licence terms for a 3,164 kilometre square land package in Egypt's Arabian Nubian Shield zone.

In the coming year, the company said it will continue to assess its strategic opportunities for non-core asset Batie West in Burkina Faso, including potential disposal of the asset.

Meanwhile, an ongoing pre-feasibility study at the company's Doropo asset in the Ivory Coast is scheduled for completion by the second-half of 2022.

By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Sigma Capital Group PLC - Edinburgh, Scotland-based property company - High Court of England and Wales sanctions Sigma Capital takeover by funds managed by PineBridge Benson Elliot LLP for GBP188.4 million.

The offer, which was first agreed to in June, means that Sigma's last day of trading on the London Stock Exchange will be Friday, then be suspended on Monday next week, then cancelled on Tuesday.

Current stock price: 200.00 pence

Year-to-date change: up 53%

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Resolute Mining Ltd - gold miner with assets in Africa - Enters agreement to sell Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana to Asante Gold Corp for a USD90 million total cash consideration. Says Asante is an experienced explorer and developer of gold projects, including the Kubi Gold Project.

Notes receipt of USD30 million deposit. Says it will receive a further USD30 million within six months of completion and the final USD30 million payment within twelve months of completion. Says the agreement has received ministerial consent. Expects completion within ten days.

"The transaction is consistent with our strategic focus on our core operating assets and strengthening the balance sheet," says Chief Executive Stuart Gale.

In April, the company's attempted sale of Bibiani, to Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co Ltd for USD105 million, was cancelled by the buyer after the mining lease for the area was temporarily revoked.

Current stock price: 30.00 pence, up 3.6% on Thursday

Year-to-date change: down 36%

By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Sharecast News) - Mineral exploration and development company Mkango Resources said on Thursday that it has entered into agreements to acquire Noble Group subsidiary Talaxis' 49% interest in Lancaster Exploration and a 24.5% stake in Maginito.

Mkango stated the addition of Lancaster would return 100% ownership of the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project in Malawi to the firm, while snapping up Maginito grants it a 25% interest in rare earths magnet recycler HyProMag.



In order to satisfy the acquisition, the AIM-listed firm will hand over 54.16m shares to Talaxis, equivalent to 13.0m.



Mkango has also conditionally raised 5.52m from new and existing shareholders at a price of 24.0p per share.



Chairman Derek Linfield said: "This transaction brings material benefits to both Mkango and Talaxis and strengthens Mkango's position as a future integrated supplier of rare earths.



"We believe this transaction delivers a better platform to create value and a structure more aligned with the strategies of both companies."



As of 1100 BST, Mkango shares had shot up 12.0% to 28.0p.
(Alliance News) - A group of Moonpig shareholders plan to sell part of their holdings to other institutional investors in a placing, JPMorgan Securities PLC said on Thursday.

The group will sell 19.4 million shares in Moonpig to "a small group of institutional investors". The block of shares represents a 5.7% stake in the personalised gifts and greeting cards retailer.

Sellers include Exponent Private Equity LLP, LCP VIII Holdings, Strategic Partners, Abrdn PLC, and LGT Capital Partners. They were Moonpig's top five shareholders before the initial public offering in February, according to the IPO prospectus.

The other sellers are GoldPoint Partners and K Athena Investments No 40 Ltd. Citi and JPMorgan are joint bookrunners for the placing.

Moonpig shares were up 1.8% to 375.80 pence in London, making the block worth around GBP72.9 million.

The shares are up 7.4% since the IPO when they cost 350p each, although they have dropped from a peak of 488.40p in June.

By Ivan Edwards; ivanedwards@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Madison, IN (47250)

Today

Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High near 85F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Home  News  Advisory: Calling on Congress to Pass the For the People Act

Media Advisory

August 4, 2021

Marie Follayttar

marie@mfal.me

207-838-0162

Jenna Howard [Fecteau]

jenna.howard@legislature.maine.gov

207-214-3185

Emily Cook [Bellows]

emily.cook@maine.gov

207-441-0405

Media Advisory:

Maine Secretary of State and Maine Speaker of the House are United in Calling on Congress to Pass the For the People Act

Maine recently passed legislation establishing online voter registration and a new ongoing absentee voting option for some Maine voters. Join Speaker Ryan Fecteau and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to celebrate and applaud the leadership of Mainers who have advocated for voter access and continue to push to ensure that whatever our color, background or zip code, voters across the country can freely and safely cast their ballots.

Voting Rights Press Conference and Rally

Who: Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, and allies



What: Voting Rights Press Conference and Rally

When: Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 10:00 am



Where: New Location: Secretary of States Office, 103 Sewall Street, Augusta 2nd Floor

Maine is a leader in democracy, and our electoral system reflects many of the values expressed in the For the People Act, but there is more to be done to ensure that our elections are modern, accessible, and fair. This federal legislation would bring policies that have already benefited Maine voters, such as same-day voter registration, a clean election system, ballot drop boxes, automatic voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting, to other states.

Passage of the For the People Act would ensure that Maines strong tradition of democracy continues in the years ahead by strengthening ethics and disclosure laws, increasing transparency, and supporting efforts to modernize our election infrastructure.

The For the People Act would also bring resources for online voter registration, funding for ballot tracking, and election security improvements to Maine.


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Manchester Center, VT (05254)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Entertainment Schedule

Thursday

5:30 p.m.  Church of Cash

7 p.m.  The Kentucky Headhunters

9 p.m.  Steve Earle & the Dukes

Friday

5:30 p.m.  Arch Allies

7 p.m.  Vertical Horizon

9:30 p.m.  Scott Stapp (the voice of Creed)

Saturday

2 p.m.  Jacuzzi Puma

5 p.m.  Lonesome Losers

7 p.m.  Viva Knievel

9 p.m.  Hairball

Sunday

1 p.m.  Tribute to Steve Murphy Featuring the Murphy Brothers Band, the Jade Murphy Band, the Rain Kings and more.

Tickets for Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are $10 in advance and $12 at the gate. Admission is free noon-3 p.m. Saturday and all day Sunday.
Trent C. Bluhm died 8/9/2021. Son of Thane and Bernice Bluhm of Pemberton. Trent was a very generous and caring man, as many of his friends and family knew. His good sense of humor will be missed.
Lionel Messi has returned to Barcelona having ended his holidays in Ibiza, and the Catalan club are now confident that the Argentine will have his new contract signed in a matter of hours.

The club and player agreed terms weeks ago, but it is only ready to become official now that the player is back in the city. The signing of the contract will then lead to Messi's return to training at Barcelona, having ended his holidays on Wednesday. His return has allowed the Blaugrana to breath a little more easily.

Messi will ratify the agreement reached three weeks ago, and will commit the next five years of his career to Barcelona. However, in the final three years he could play in the United States and become an ambassador for the Catalan club.

End of holidays

The No.10 has returned to Catalonia after his post-Copa America holidays came to an end, and his agent and father Jorge Messi plans to be in Barcelona before the end of the week, meaning the prolonged soap opera is finally set to end almost a year after the player announced his intentions to leave the Camp Nou.

He is expected be involved as Barcelona are presented at the Joan Gamper Trophy this coming Sunday.

The agreement was only made possible thanks to the fact that Messi has reduced his salary by half and the economic injection received by LaLiga from the American investment fund CVC. Barcelona though, are still working to reduce their wage bill further as required by LaLiga.

As a result, Barcelona and LaLiga will keep one of the world's most valuable players in Spain. Messi, who has six Ballon d'Ors and six Golden Boots, will begin his 18th season in Spain's top flight as he looks to further cement his place in the record books.
The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been devastating, so any help that the government can provide, such as stimulus checks, is most welcome. Across the USA, low-income and medium-income families have already received three stimulus checks and now a fourth stimulus check has just been approved.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a state budget proposal that includes a fourth stimulus check for residents of the Sunshine State. Here, we explain what exactly this means and who is eligible.

Who is eligible for California's fourth stimulus checks?

It is expected that two-thirds of Californians will qualify for these latest payments. That's because individuals earning up to 75,000 dollars and families earning up to 150,000 dollars per year will qualify to receive the stimulus. Those people must, though, must have lived in California for more than half of the 2020 tax year and still reside in California when the check is sent out.

The main stimulus check will be for 600 dollars, but people with ITINs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers) can also receive an extra 600 dollars, while taxpayers with dependents can receive an extra 500 dollars.

To work out exactly how much your stimulus check will be, you can check this official estimator tool.

The fourth stimulus checks are approved, so when will they be sent out?

According to the State of California Franchise Tax Board, the payments will start in September of 2021. It's not happening straight away, then, but this is something for residents of California to look forward to.

Knowing that these extra stimulus checks are coming can help Californians to plan ahead for the rest of 2021, with so many families having had their income cut because of the pandemic.

"Direct stimulus checks going into people's pockets and direct relief is meaningful," Newsom said of these payments. "We recognize the acuity of stress associated with back rent and we recognize the acuity of stress as it relates to gas, electric and water bills. We can keep people housed. We can keep people warm and safe, and make sure that they are getting the kind of resources that they deserve during this very challenging period of time."
Jerry Wayne Deaton, 77, of Moore, formerly of Savanna, passed away Sunday, Aug. 8, at his home in Moore. The family will welcome friends at Brumley-Mills Funeral Home on Tuesday, Aug. 10, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. for visitation. Memorial services will be Wednesday, Aug. 18., at 2:00 p.m. at th
McAlester, OK (74501)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 95F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
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Atlanta, GA (30303)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Hot and humid. High 91F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
Darrell Lane, 34, of the St. Louis area, was charged Friday with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer.
Roswell, GA (30075)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
Atlanta, GA (30342)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Hot and humid. High 91F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.
Atlanta, GA (30342)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms. Hot and humid. High 91F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
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Atlanta, GA (30320)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
Memorial service for Robert Craig Phillips, who passed away on January 15, 2021, to be held on August 14, 2021. It will be at his family home at 29140 White Hill Road, Cambridge Springs, PA, at 4 PM.
SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72066021R10014

ISSUANCE DATE: August 03, 2021

CLOSING DATE/TIME: August 24, 2021 at

17:00 (Kinshasa Time)





SUBJECT: Solicitation for a Cooperating Country National Personal Service Contractor (CCNPSC - Local Compensation Plan)  Development Outreach and Communications (DOC) Specialist, based in Kinshasa

---------------------------------------------------

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation.

Offers must be in accordance with Attachment 1 of this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records.

This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offers.

Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in the Attached 1.

Sincerely,

/S/

Samuel Matthews

Contracting Officer

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72066021R10014

2. ISSUANCE DATE: August 03, 2021

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: August 24, 2021, at 17:00 (Kinshasa Time)

4. POINT OF CONTACT: Christiane Lemba at usaidhrkinshasa@usaid.gov

5. POSITION TITLE: Development Outreach and Communications (DOC) Specialist

6. MARKET VALUE: Equivalent to FSN-12 in accordance with AIDAR Appendix J and the Local Compensation Plan of USAID/DRC. Final compensation will be negotiated within the market value.

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years, estimated to start o/a January 2022. The services provided under this contract are expected to be a continuing nature that will be executed by USAID through series of sequential contracts, subject to the satisfactory job performance, the continued need, and the availability of funds.

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: Cooperating Country Nationals as defined in AIDAR Appendix J: Cooperating country national (CCN) means an individual who is a cooperating country citizen, or a non-cooperating country citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the cooperating country.

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Security Certification issued by the U.S. Embassy Regional Security Office.

Click here to download the full document - PDF format
Artificial pancreas have the potential to become a key feature of integrated personalized care for people with complex medical needs.

Kidney failure increases the risk of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia - abnormally low or high levels of blood sugar respectively - which in turn can cause complications from dizziness to falls and even to coma.Managing diabetes in patients with kidney failure is challenging for both patients and healthcare professionals. Many aspects of their care are poorly understood, including targets for blood sugar levels and treatments.Most oral diabetes medications are not recommended for these patients, so insulin injections are the most commonly used diabetes therapy - though optimal insulin dosing regimens are difficult to establish.A team at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has previously developed an artificial pancreas with the aim of replacing insulin injections for patients living with type 1 diabetes.In research published today in Nature Medicine, the team - working with researchers at Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Switzerland - has shown that the device can be used to support patients living with both type 2 diabetes and kidney failure.The artificial pancreas is powered by software in the user's smartphone that sends a signal to an insulin pump to adjust the level of insulin the patient receives. A glucose monitor measures the patient's blood sugar levels and sends these back to the smartphone to enable it to make further adjustments.Unlike the artificial pancreas being used for type 1 diabetes, this version is a fully closed loop system - whereas patients with type 1 diabetes need to tell their artificial pancreas that they are about to eat to allow adjustment of insulin, for example, with this new version they can leave the device to function entirely automatically.Dr Charlotte Boughton from the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge, who led the study, said: "Patients living with type 2 diabetes and kidney failure are a particularly vulnerable group and managing their condition - trying to prevent potentially dangerous highs or lows of blood sugar levels - can be a challenge. There's a real unmet need for new approaches to help them manage their condition safely and effectively."The artificial pancreas is a small, portable medical device designed to carry out the function of a healthy pancreas in controlling blood glucose levels, using digital technology to automate insulin delivery. The system is worn externally on the body, and is made up of three functional components: a glucose sensor, a computer algorithm to calculate the insulin dose, and an insulin pump.The team recruited 26 patients requiring dialysis between October 2019 and November 2020. Thirteen participants were randomized to receive the artificial pancreas first and 13 to receive standard insulin therapy first. The researchers compared how long patients spent in the target blood sugar range (5.6 to 10.0mmol/L) over a 20 day period as outpatients. Patients using the artificial pancreas spent on average 53% of their time in the target range, compared to 38% when they used the control treatment. This equated to around 3.5 additional hours every day spent in the target range compared with the control therapy.Mean blood sugar levels were lower with the artificial pancreas (10.1 vs. 11.6 mmol/L). The artificial pancreas reduced the amount of time patients spent with potentially dangerously low blood sugar levels, or 'hypos'.The efficacy of the artificial pancreas improved considerably over the study period as the algorithm adapted, and the time spent in the target blood sugar range increased from 36% on day one to over 60% by the twentieth day. This finding highlights the importance of using an adaptive algorithm, which can adjust in response to an individual's changing insulin requirements over time.When asked about their experiences of using the artificial pancreas, everyone who responded said they would recommend it to others. Nine out of ten (92%) reported that they spent less time managing their diabetes with the artificial pancreas than during the control period, and similar numbers (87%) were less worried about their blood sugar levels when using it. Other benefits of the artificial pancreas reported by study participants included less need for finger-prick blood sugar checks, less time required to manage their diabetes resulting in more personal time and freedom, and improved peace of mind and reassurance. Downsides included discomfort wearing the insulin pump and carrying the smartphone.Senior author Professor Roman Hovorka, also from the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, said: "Not only did the artificial pancreas increase the amount of time patients spent within the target range for the blood sugar levels, but it also gave the users peace of mind. They were able to spend less time having to focus on managing their condition and worrying about the blood sugar levels, and more time getting on with their lives."Dr Boughton added: "Now that we've shown the artificial pancreas works in one of the more difficult-to-treat groups of patients, we believe it could prove useful in the wider population of people living with type 2 diabetes."The team is currently trialing the artificial pancreas for outpatient use in people living with type 2 diabetes who do not need dialysis and exploring the system in complex medical situations such as perioperative care.Dr. Lia Bally, who co-led the study in Bern, said: "The artificial pancreas has the potential to become a key feature of integrated personalized care for people with complex medical needs."The research was supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, The Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation, Swiss Society for Endocrinology and Diabetes, and Swiss Diabetes Foundation and Swiss Kidney Foundation.Source: Eurekalert
Feel Better with the 'selfBACK' App

Customized Solutions from the AI-powered Tool

Tips for Back Pain Relief

Focus on good posture

Maintain healthy weight

Stretch your joints and soft tissues through yoga

Try mindful meditation

Keep a heat patch handy

Sandal LF, Bach K, veras CK, et al. Effectiveness of App-Delivered, Tailored Self-management Support for Adults With Lower Back Pain-Related Disability: A selfBACK Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 02, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.4097 Low Back Pain Fact Sheet - (https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Low-Back-Pain-Fact-Sheet) Back Pain Facts and Statistics - (https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/What-is-Chiropractic/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics)

Most people tend to be physically inactive when they experience back pain, but this again aggravates the condition and elevates the intensity of pain.For the current study, the study team evaluated the efficacy of the selfBACK app in a trial that included 461 patients with back pain from Norway and Denmark. About half of the subjects received standard treatment for back pain, whereas the other half used the selfBACK app along with the standard treatment.The progress in the outcomes of backaches among the patients was evaluated after three, six, and nine months of using the app. This showed a majority of the participants who used the app felt better in managing their back pains as the clinical improvements were about 32 percent higher for participants who used selfBACK.Unlike other healthcare apps, selfBACK tailors recommendations for each patient to plan how to deal with the pain. This AI-powered smartphone app includes suggestions drawn on other people's experiences with back pain, including physical activity and exercise explains Mork.The European Union supported this research work with five million Euros. The results of the complete study were published in the journalSource: Medindia
Recently, a mob was seen attacking a Hindu temple in Pakistan's Punjab province, and the video of the despicable act has left a lot of people enraged.



The group not only burned down the temple but also desecrated the idols, reports state.

This happened at the Siddhivinayak temple, situated in the Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan District. This place is around 500 Km from Lahore.

According to reports, the police mentioned that the attack came after the alleged desecration of a Muslim seminary.

 iStock

The violence began on Wednesday after a post on social media went viral in which the people of Bhong city were seen taking revenge for the alleged desecration.



Later on, the mob stepped out with iron rods, stones, bricks, and other heavy materials and were seen outside the temple in a group and started the attack.

To bring the situation under control and to protect around 100 Hindu families, the Pakistan Rangers were called in as a security measure.

Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani posted the video of the attack on Twitter and asked the law enforcement agencies to stop the violence.

Attack on Hindu temple at Bhong City District Rahimyar Khan Punjab. Situation was tense since yesterday. Negligence by local police is very shameful. Chief Justice is requested to take action. pic.twitter.com/5XDQo8VwgI  Dr. Ramesh Vankwani (@RVankwani) August 4, 2021

Dr Ramesh Kumar wrote, "Attack on Hindu temple at Bhong City District Rahimyar Khan Punjab in a series of tweets. The situation was tense since yesterday. Negligence by local police is very shameful. Chief Justice is requested to take action.



He also added that strict action should be taken against the mob. Meanwhile, Police have been deployed to thwart any further damage.

District Police Officer (DPO) Rahim Yar Khan Asad Sarfraz said, "Our first priority is to restore law and order and provide protection to the minority community."

 Twitter/Aditya Raj Kaul

 Twitter/Aditya Raj Kaul

He also spoke about how a minor boy, who had allegedly desecrated the library, was arrested last week and was booked, but he was released since he was a minor. He further added, "We will arrest those miscreants who incited people to attack the temple."



Goes without saying that this development left a lot of people angry. Here are some reactions:

Highly disgusting....can Pakistan Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI condone such an act?  Sandeep Datta (@sandeepdatta) August 4, 2021

Unaccptable

Very soryy to our hindu Community  Qasim Zar (@qasimxar) August 4, 2021

@USCIRF please take action. Hindus are minority in Pakistan and are being persecuted by Muslim citizens.  Nachiket Kulkarni (@advnachi) August 5, 2021

Following the ways of their forefathers. Nothing much has changed in these parts it seems  Vikram Bhat (@VikramBhat) August 5, 2021

What is wrong in this? Their ancestors did the same. They are just following their legacy of hate and intolerance. And as they convert more people they are just growing in numbers.

These all people will face a horrible death by karma.  Somesh Bahuguna (@somesshbahuguna) August 5, 2021

What to say now Rashmi di. If we raise voice then some people call us "hatred virus" (ravish Kumar will call us "poisonous people : who hates other community")  Rahul Kumar (@rahulkumar_18) August 4, 2021

LET them bark. We have to fight back for Hindu and Sanatan's safety. People like Ravish Kumar are nothing but a modern version of JAYCHAND.  Chinese Virus ( 100% WUHAN Variant) (@aparmar2015) August 4, 2021

Before vandalism, looks like it was newly built, sparkling new in video below. https://t.co/TSXHiotDOy  Stewie (@NuffinSerious) August 4, 2021

now they have burned it down. https://t.co/GBmRkNA0o0  Lo_jamun_khao (@AngoorLo) August 4, 2021

now they have burned it down. https://t.co/GBmRkNA0o0  Lo_jamun_khao (@AngoorLo) August 4, 2021

Speaking of religious minorities in Pakistan, they are treated as non-citizens. As per a report by the Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR), the Pakistan Constitution treats everyone equally, but it is only on paper.

The report further said, "They are people without a voice; people without any constitutionally or legally protected rights."

As of the Blasphemy Law, the report mentioned that it works as an instrument of exploitation. It said, "Fake rumours of desecrating the Quran or defaming Islam and the Prophet are spread. Minorities and their families are terrorised, subjugated and converted through this draconian law."

Finally, on April 28th 2021, the European Parliament adopted a joint motion for a resolution on the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. It has comprehensive approaches and addresses the abuses of blasphemy laws.
The viral video clip which shows a woman from Lucknow beating up a cab driver in front of the public and traffic police has sparked a nationwide outage. The cab drivers interview explains how he had to bear a lo of financial loss after his phone was damaged and his car was confistcated. Above all, he demands his self-respect to be resurrected and has demanded publics help in serving him justice. An FIR was lodged against the woman in question but post her recent interview with a news portal, several new twists have come up.



In an interview with Zee News, the woman who has been identified as Priyadarshini Yadav, claims that the cab driver was over speeding despite the signal being red and was about to hit her. The murkier details which she revealed includes that according to her, a cab driver with over 100 men used to beat her up for 2 years. Mujhe 2 saal bohot mara in logo ne. Pure sharir mein chote lagi huyi hai. Woh sabko leke aya tha. Puri mob ne mujhe mara hai she said. On being questioned by the interviewer if this was the same cab driver who did it or the fact that she was traumatised in the past led her to assume shed be hurt this time as well, her reply was slightly convoluted. She explained that she is unwell and she has to go out for running and walking. She explained that men scared her off and cars with modified lights used to stop by and scare her away.

 zee news

She further explained that this cab drivers car had modified lights and was using his phone when she pointed him to stop the car. The interviewer asks her if this was a trigger and hence she went ahead and got violent. It is basically just assumed that this is what happened, according to her statement. He then also asked her if she has any proof of these previous incidents as well, to which she explains that the Police should be responsible for gathering CCTV footage for them. The public is extremely confused and divided with these new claims and people on social media demand justice for the cab driver.



She is mentally ill....

Latest interview of #lucknowgirl

And this girl should behind the bars ...#ArrestLucknowGirl #CabDriver pic.twitter.com/LfokTt3ckF  Saloni Rajgaur (@Salonirajgaur) August 4, 2021

#lucknowgirl #priyadarshini

Watch how Lucknow girl made up a complete false story to save herself-



Watch full interview on

Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand YouTube channel https://t.co/VU1qaZYHky pic.twitter.com/bKiZBaSphE  Swet Singh (@SwetSin48818809) August 4, 2021

In an interview with @ZeeNews that girl said, "Uss cab driver ke saath km se km 100 log the jinhone mujhe Mara hai"

Girl! You think we people are blind?

Atleast don't ruin someone's life like this!#justiceforcabdriver#lucknowgirl#Lucknowcabdriver  Khushi Chauhan (@InK___MonsteR) August 4, 2021

Saw that #lucknowgirl 's interview. Man, she's one talented liar. Absolutely blatant.

Feel really bad for the poor cab driver. Looks like the police didn't register his complaint either. Infact he was allegedly harassed instead.

Sad state of affairs, also, it's Uttar Pradesh.  Shoaib Ali (@cantcarelesser) August 4, 2021

The Public is clearly irked and calling her out for the lies which they believe are ruining the life of the cab driver. Heres hoping that justice is served and the authorities can soon conclude this case after interrogating both the sides.


Meridian, MS (39302)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
The countrys strict Covid-19 lockdown was extended until Tuesday August 10, government officials announced on August 3. A feature of this latest lockdown is that most heavy industry such as steel production has been banned, but with some exceptions.

The two companies which own electric-arc furnaces [EAFs] in Bangladesh lobbied to stay open because they said they could not run their oxygen plants if they closed, a steel scrap exporter said.

These mills are operating at a lower capacity utilization rate, but they are operating nonetheless, he said, adding that almost all induction furnace (IF) mills in the country, which do not have their own oxygen supplies, have stopped production.

Any mills that are producing are just building up steel inventories because retail markets remain closed, putting a halt on steel trading in the country, sources said.


Donas most recently acted as an external relations and new business director for Latin America in Peru and the United States for US-based gold-copper-silver producer Newmont for almost three years, Abal said. She worked with government affairs and the communications director at aluminium producer Alcoa from 2012 to 2018.



Donas said that the positioning of aluminium in an environmentally-sustainable economy was her priority.



Our product is extremely competitive due to Brazilian aluminiums low carbon footprint. We have an integrated production chain that is a world reference in environmental and social responsibility, as well as in governance, she said.



Donas takes over the position following the departure of Rego in January, when the association said it had parted ways with him by common accord after almost seven years in office.



Im sure Janaina has the ideal skills and experience to represent the Brazilian aluminium industry, Abal chairman Otavio Carvalheira said. We know our sector is [predominantly] male, and that theres still a long way to go toward inclusion and diversity, but it is encouraging to see women advancing in the industry.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all pregnant women Wednesday to get the COVID-19 vaccine as hospitals in hot spots around the U.S. see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus.Expectant women run a higher risk of severe illness and pr
Michigan Iron Industry Museum - Iron Ore Heritage Bike Tour, Aug. 6

Michigan Iron Industry Museum - Iron Ore Heritage Bike Tour, Aug. 6

Fee: $25 (includes tour, lunch and handouts)

Registration deadline: August 2

Download the 2021 Iron Ore Heritage Bike Tour registration

Enjoy a leisurely guided bike tour on the Iron Ore Heritage Trail.



You'll travel approximately 15 miles as you go from the Michigan Iron Industry Museum to Ishpeming and then back again. Stops along the way include the Jackson Mine and Old Town Negaunee; on the return trip, we'll take a break for lunch provided by Midtown Bakery and Cafe. Please note that the course includes hills and may be challenging for beginners.

The Michigan Iron Industry Museum-part of the Michigan History Museum System-is located eight miles west of Marquette. Read more Michigan Iron Industry Museum visitor information.

We invite you to explore our online calendar, where you'll find all Michigan History Center events throughout the state.

Updated 06/09/2021
Attorney General

Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746

Public inquiries: 517-335-7622



August 5, 2021

LANSING - Today, in People v Deonton Rogers, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that Michigan's ethnic intimidation statute protects individuals who are targeted because of their gender, including intimidation against transgender individuals. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel previously filed amicus briefs in the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court supporting this outcome.

"The transgender community is at heightened risk for intimidation and bias-based crimes, and I applaud the Court for making clear that gender intimidation includes intimidation based on a person being transgender," Nessel said. "I also want to thank Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Fair Michigan Justice Project for their dedication to protecting vulnerable communities from violence by pursuing this important case."

In the case, defendant Deonton Rogers is alleged to have intimidated and threatened a transgender woman as she entered a gas station in 2018 in Detroit. Rogers allegedly prodded her with insulting remarks, showed her that he had a gun, and threatened to kill her. The victim believed Rogers to be serious and attempted to pull the gun away; the gun went off, hitting the victim in the shoulder and requiring her hospitalization.

After Rogers was bound over on an ethnic intimidation charge, among others, the circuit court quashed it. On appeal, and contrary to Nessel's position in her arguments to the Court, the Court of Appeals initially agreed that Rogers' conduct did not fall within the ethnic intimidation statute. Ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling. Nessel filed an amicus brief in the Michigan Supreme Court prior to that ruling.

Today, the Court of Appeals changed course, holding in part that a "plain reading of the statute would dictate that, whenever a complainant's gender was the impetus for the intimidating or harassing behavior, the conduct falls within the ethnic-intimidation statute."

Thus, the Court of Appeals reinstated the ethnic intimidation charge and remanded for further proceedings.

"Incidents like these are unfortunately far too common in the transgender community," Nessel said. "Since taking office, I have fought for all Michiganders - especially those who are often the target of hate crimes. This ruling supports that priority and reinforces our most basic and fundamental protections under the law."

Most recently, in June, Nessel declared unconstitutional a state law requiring "sex-reassignment surgery" to change the sex designation on a birth certificate in Attorney General Opinion #7313. She also enacted a department-wide Transgender Policy that same month.

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Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

BIG RAPIDS  A 22-year-old Stanwood man was arrested Wednesday after admitting he was involved with a shooting in the city of Big Rapids.

Shortly after midnight, Big Rapids police officers were dispatched to the 400 block of South State Street for a gunshot victim, according to a news release from the department.
MOSCOW (AP)  Two Russian news outlets and a legal aid group backed by a leading Kremlin critic shut down Thursday after authorities blocked their websites, the government's latest moves targeting independent media, opposition supporters and human rights activists ahead of Russias September parliamentary election.

The Otkrytye Media and MBKh Media news sites, as well the Pravozashchita Otkrytki legal aid group, announced they were ceasing operations, citing reports that their websites on Wednesday night were blocked over their alleged ties to organizations declared undesirable in Russia  a label that outlaws an organization and exposes its members, supporters and partners to prosecution.

All three organizations are backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian tycoon who moved to London after spending a decade in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging President Vladimir Putins rule. Russian authorities have declared a number of organizations linked to Khodorkovsky undesirable.

Otkrytye Media said in a statement Thursday that it had received a grant from Khodorkovsky but never worked with undesirable organizations. Still, the outlet said it would shut down as the risks for the project's staff members are too high. MBKh Media Editor-in-Chief Veronika Kutsyllo echoed the sentiment, saying on Facebook that she wasn't "ready to endanger the freedom and lives of other people.

Unfortunately, the authorities don't need media projects that are critical of what is happening in the country. The more criticism there is, the shorter the lifespan of a project. But we at least tried, Otkrytye Media's statement read.

Lawyer Anastasia Burakova, who worked with Pravozashchita Otkrytki, told the Dozhd TV channel there was no other option for the group but to shut down.

Independent media, journalists, opposition supporters and human rights activists in Russia have faced increased pressure ahead of the Sept. 19 vote, which is widely seen as an important part of Putins efforts to cement his rule before the next presidential election in 2024.

The 68-year-old Russian leader, who has been in power for more than two decades, pushed through constitutional changes last year that would potentially allow him to hold onto power until 2036.

In recent months, the government has designated a number of independent media outlets and journalists as foreign agents  a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations that could discredit the recipients  and raided the homes of several prominent reporters.

Three journalists of Otkrytye Media were labeled foreign agents last month.

The publisher of one outlet that released investigative reports exposing alleged corruption and abuses by top officials and tycoons close to Putin was outlawed as an undesirable organization.

Khodorkovsky said in a statement Thursday that the recent political repressions show the regression of Putin's regime and Putin personally towards the outdated Soviet model, adjusted for his personal greed.

Me and those of my allies who are prepared for the new level of risks will continue the resistance against the regime until it's complete dismantlement, Khodorkovsky said.
Apple unveiled plans to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused, including by governments looking to surveil their citizens.

The tool designed to detected known images of child sexual abuse, called NeuralHash, will scan images before they are uploaded to iCloud. If it finds a match, the image will be reviewed by a human. If child pornography is confirmed, the users account will be disabled and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified.

Separately, Apple plans to scan users' encrypted messages for sexually explicit content as a child safety measure, which also alarmed privacy advocates.

The detection system will only flag images that are already in the center's database of known child pornography. Parents snapping innocent photos of a child in the bath presumably need not worry. But researchers say the matching tool  which doesnt see such images, just mathematical fingerprints that represent them  could be put to more nefarious purposes.

Matthew Green, a top cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University, warned that the system could be used to frame innocent people by sending them seemingly innocuous images designed to trigger matches for child pornography. That could fool Apples algorithm and alert law enforcement. Researchers have been able to do this pretty easily, he said of the ability to trick such systems.

Other abuses could include government surveillance of dissidents or protesters. What happens when the Chinese government says, Here is a list of files that we want you to scan for," Green asked. "Does Apple say no? I hope they say no, but their technology wont say no.

Tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others have for years been sharing digital fingerprints of known child sexual abuse images. Apple has used those to scan user files stored in its iCloud service, which is not as securely encrypted as its on-device data, for child pornography.

Apple has been under government pressure for years to allow for increased surveillance of encrypted data. Coming up with the new security measures required Apple to perform a delicate balancing act between cracking down on the exploitation of children while keeping its high-profile commitment to protecting the privacy of its users.

But a dejected Electronic Frontier Foundation, the online civil liberties pioneer, called Apple's compromise on privacy protections a shocking about-face for users who have relied on the companys leadership in privacy and security.

Meanwhile, the computer scientist who more than a decade ago invented PhotoDNA, the technology used by law enforcement to identify child pornography online, acknowledged the potential for abuse of Apple's system but said it was far outweighed by the imperative of battling child sexual abuse.

Is it possible? Of course. But is it something that Im concerned about? No, said Hany Farid, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, who argues that plenty of other programs designed to secure devices from various threats haven't seen this type of mission creep. For example, WhatsApp provides users with end-to-end encryption to protect their privacy, but also employs a system for detecting malware and warning users not to click on harmful links.

Apple was one of the first major companies to embrace end-to-end encryption, in which messages are scrambled so that only their senders and recipients can read them. Law enforcement, however, has long pressured the company for access to that information in order to investigate crimes such as terrorism or child sexual exploitation.

Apple said the latest changes will roll out this year as part of updates to its operating software for iPhones, Macs and Apple Watches.

Apples expanded protection for children is a game changer," John Clark, the president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said in a statement. "With so many people using Apple products, these new safety measures have lifesaving potential for children.

Julia Cordua, the CEO of Thorn, said that Apple's technology balances the need for privacy with digital safety for children." Thorn, a nonprofit founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, uses technology to help protect children from sexual abuse by identifying victims and working with tech platforms.

But in a blistering critique, the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology called on Apple to abandon the changes, which it said effectively destroy the companys guarantee of end-to-end encryption. Scanning of messages for sexually explicit content on phones or computers effectively breaks the security, it said.

The organization also questioned Apples technology for differentiating between dangerous content and something as tame as art or a meme. Such technologies are notoriously error-prone, CDT said in an emailed statement. Apple denies that the changes amount to a backdoor that degrades its encryption. It says they are carefully considered innovations that do not disturb user privacy but rather strongly protect it.

Separately, Apple said its messaging app will use on-device machine learning to identify and blur sexually explicit photos on childrens phones and can also warn the parents of younger children via text message. It also said that its software would intervene when users try to search for topics related to child sexual abuse.

In order to receive the warnings about sexually explicit images on their children's devices, parents will have to enroll their childs phone. Kids over 13 can unenroll, meaning parents of teenagers wont get notifications.

Apple said neither feature would compromise the security of private communications or notify police.

___

AP technology writer Mike Liedtke contributed to this article.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks the previous day from Lebanon by launching rare airstrikes on its northern neighbor, the army and Lebanese officials said.

A statement from the Israeli military said jets struck the launch sites from which the rockets were fired, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The military blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel's sovereignty.

The overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time. Israel's new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease-fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas' militant rulers in Gaza in May. Several incidents leading up to this week's rocket fire from Lebanon have focused attention on Israel's northern border. The United States swiftly condemned the attacks on Israel.

Lebanon is mired in multiple crises, including a devastating economic and financial meltdown and a political deadlock that has left the country without a functional government for a full year.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israels use of its air force to target Lebanese villages is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions against Lebanon. In a statement, he said Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations.

The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, Stefano Del Col, called on the parties to act with urgency to de-escalate tensions and prevent violations of the cessation of hostilities that has been in effect since 2006.

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a devastating, monthlong war in 2006 which killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and around 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The war failed to neutralize the groups rocket threat, and Israeli officials say the Iran-backed Hezbollahs improved missile arsenal is now capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

No one has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire from Lebanon, and Hezbollah has not commented. The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV reported the Israeli strikes at around 2 a.m. Thursday, saying they hit an empty area in the village of Mahmoudiya in Marjayoun district.

Avichai Adraee, the Israeli armys Arabic-language spokesman, said the Lebanese government is responsible for what happens on its territory and warned against more attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory and Israel responded with sustained artillery fire. Sirens sounded in northern Israel, warning of a possible rocket attack. Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the army said.

Channel 12 said one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israels defense system, known as the Iron Dome. Israeli media reported that the incoming rockets set off fires near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

The Lebanese military said 92 artillery shells were fired by Israel on Lebanese villages as a result of Wednesday's rocket fire from Lebanon. It said the Israeli artillery shelling resulted in a fire in the village of Rashaya al-Fukhar. The Lebanese army also said it was conducting patrols in the border region and had set up a number of checkpoints and opened an investigation to determine the source of the rocket fire.

There have been several similar incidents in recent months.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon.

Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks, he told reporters on Wednesday in Washington, adding that the U.S. would remain engaged with partners in the region in an effort to de-escalate the situation.

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Karam reported from Beirut.
Midlands congressman is one of six Michigan Republican Congressional members to sign a brief that seeks to overturn Roe v. Wade.

According to Right to Life Michigan, the brief argues that the U.S. Supreme Court overstepped its authority in Roe v. Wade: This Court in Roe incorrectly concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment includes a liberty interest in the right to abort a pre-born child. Not a single word uttered or written in the promulgation of the Fourteenth Amendment even remotely suggests that the Amendment includes a right to abortion.

Regarding the brief, which was filed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, issued the following statement to the Daily News:

I have always believed that ending the lives of unborn children is something future generations of Americans will look back at and be saddened by. Instead, we should promote the sanctity of life, encourage adoption and continue supporting organizations that help parents and children. I have visited the hospitals, health centers, Head Start classrooms, Child Advocacy Centers, and pregnancy resource centers in our region. Each one is devoted to helping parents bring precious new life into this world and provide them with the resources they need in the early years of parenting. In Congress, I have voted to support these programs and organizations because they do outstanding work to help young families and I know people across mid Michigan cherish every precious life.

Progress Michigan issued a statement condemning the six Michigan GOP lawmakers who signed on to the brief.

At the state, local, and national level, weve watched Republican lawmakers and right-wing extremists launch attack after attack on the human right to safe, legal abortion, stated Sam Inglot, deputy director of Progress Michigan. Everyone should have the right to make their own decisions about their reproductive health and be able to access the healthcare they need. These repeated attacks on reproductive freedom are both unconstitutional and unconscionable and we, along with millions of Michiganders across the state who recognize that reproductive rights are human rights, will continue to fight back and defend abortion access.

Check www.ourmidland.com for an update on this story, as Moolenaar's office indicated the lawmaker will be available for further comment with the Daily News on Thursday.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Qatar Airways said Thursday it grounded 13 Airbus A350s over what it described as fuselages degrading at an accelerated rate in the long-range aircraft, further escalating a monthslong dispute with the European airplane maker over the issue.

While Airbus declined to specifically discuss the announcement, Qatar Airways' decision to ground the aircraft raised questions about the A350s' carbon composite fuselage, designed to make the twin-aisle aircraft lighter and cheaper to operate by burning less jet fuel. Qatar Airways also is one of the world's top operators of the aircraft.

In its statement, Qatar Airways said it had been monitoring the degradation beneath the paint on the fuselage of the aircraft for some time. It described the issue as a significant condition, without elaborating.

Following the explicit written instruction of its regulator, 13 aircraft have now been grounded, effectively removing them from service until such time as the root cause can be established and a satisfactory solution made available to permanently correct the underlying condition, the airline said in its statement.

Qatar Airways has a fleet of 53 Airbus A350s in both its 1000 and 900 series. The airline has another on order with the Toulouse, France-based airplane manufacturer, making its total order of 76 aircraft  the most of any airline worldwide. In June, Qatar Airways said it wouldn't take any more A350s unless the problem was fixed.

Airbus declined to specifically discuss Qatar Airways' grounding.

As a leading aircraft manufacturer we are always in talks / working with our customers, a statement said. "Those talks we keep confidential. We have no further comment on our customers operations.

Currently, Singapore Airlines is the world's top operator of the A350, with 56 now in its fleet. The airline said it has not experienced the issues reported. In America, Delta Air Lines has 15 in its fleet. The Atlanta-based carrier did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The A350 has a list price as much as $366.5 million, though buyers often get discounts in bulk deals.

Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar al-Baker, is known for his hard-changing, confrontational approach in negotiating with manufacturers and others.

The airline will be the crucial carrier for fans attending the upcoming FIFA 2022 World Cup in this Arabian Peninsula country.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
NEW HAVEN  Sterling Timmone died one year ago, on Aug. 3, 2020, after being fatally wounded near his familys Westville home.

The loss still haunts his brother, Brandon Timmone, who is seeking to have the New Haven Police Department further its investigation and, through progress and an eventual arrest and conviction, help his family find a path forward.

I want to see this solved, said Timmone. I want resolution and justice, so we get closure as a family.

He said his younger brother, the father of a 7-year-old daughter, Neriah, was inclined to spend his time helping people, whether that was as complicated as aiding them in moving or as simple as riding in the car for companionship.

He was good with his hands, inquisitive in nature  as noted even on his kindergarten diploma, Timmone said  and had a knack for repairing things. Without formal training, he also learned to fix up old cars on his own.

Contributed photo /

He was a wandering soul in his professional life, finding jobs around the intersection of his passion for helping people and his natural talent of fixing things, and sought to one day open his own company, Timmone said.

(He) always understood that there is more to life than dedicating so much time to the pursuit of professional success that it becomes a detriment to enjoying the other opportunities in life that bring joy. He never strayed from the pursuit of happiness  both professionally and personally, said Timmone. And for teaching me that lesson, I thank him.

Sterling Timmone grew up facing trauma and difficulty in life, both mental and emotional, but maintained a positive outlook, his brother said.

He still had that vibrancy, said Timmone. I admired him for those things.

The family gathers each Christmas, no matter where they are in the world, no matter how short a time they can spend together, Timmone said. Since he was small, his brother played the role of Santa Claus, picking out gifts for people to open.

With innocence, curiosity and a joyful spirit, his brother always wanted to know what was inside the presents, Timmone said. The family had to start putting everything in boxes, just to dissuade him.

He always wanted to know more, said Timmone.

On the night of Aug. 3, 2020, Sterling Timmone had been helping his parents, Robert and Donna Timmone, in their Westville home before going down to a corner store a few blocks away, Brandon Timmone said. He got there, but never made it home.

He was stabbed in the back, according to New Haven police, and found bleeding on Whalley Avenue. He died after being taken to the hospital for care.

Timmone said flashes of that night still sometimes come jarringly to mind.

He relives getting the call and driving down from his home near Boston; seeing his father crying, for the third time he could remember; the hospital parking lot. He remembers seeing his brother lying wounded in a hospital bed.

(Those memories are) the part that just kind of tears you up inside, said Timmone. Knowing you dont have the chance to make another memory, thats the part Im struggling with.

The pain has faded somewhat, but the grief never leaves, Timmone said. For months, it was all he could think about; for nearly a year, he was at 70 percent in life, drawn elsewhere by it.

Timmone said hes gone to therapy, building his coping mechanisms, trying to grow from the experience. His parents are struggling more, seeking balance, he said.

There is a sense of hopeless permanence to it all, Timmone said. The petty issues of life, such as dealing with the weather, have faded in importance. They can be changed; family ties and death cannot.

You cant move forward with what you had before, said Timmone. What does my life look like now?

Timmone said New Haven police had not communicated readily about the investigation. When he spoke with them, he was assured he would get updates, but only his mother, after calling and prying for information, has received any, Timmone said.

Timmone said he understands that policing is a difficult job, noting he has friends in law enforcement. But there was seemingly evidence available, from witnesses to testimony to cameras, and the case remains unsolved.

Timmone said he would like to be apprised of progress  not trying to become involved in the investigation, just seeing empathy from the department and feeling like theyre still making this a priority, not having this marked down in a book somewhere and thats the end of it.

His niece, Neriah, deserved to understand that police can solve these sort of cases, he said.

If the community were unwilling to provide information, Timmone said, that would speak to a deeper issue about whether the department is successfully keeping them safe.

Its hard to swallow, said Timmone, noting the attention given to Kevin Jiang, a Yale graduate student killed this year. It just doesnt sit well when this is such a huge incident in someones life.

But Acting Chief Renee Dominguez said Tuesday that Timmones slaying was still being actively investigated, although obstacles had impeded the departments progress so far. She declined to say whether the department had suspects, noting the ongoing inquiry.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Detective Carmelo Rivera, the lead investigator, and Sgt. Bertram Etienne, supervisor of the homicide unit, had been in touch with Donna Timmone, providing information as developments warranted, she said.

She offered her sympathies to the Timmone family, noting their grief and pain.

I cant imagine how difficult it is to not have an arrest and not have justice.  We are very sorry for their loss and a year I cant even imagine, said Dominguez. Know that we work tirelessly; they are not forgotten.

Dominguez asked anyone with information about the case to contact the department, including those who spoke to police at the scene of Timmones death. Any detail, no matter how small, could be the one that cracks the case, she said, and detectives develop further questions as they learn more through the investigatory process.

On behalf of the city, Mayor Justin Elicker offered his deepest condolences to the Timmone family. The department, he said, was working hard on the case and would continue to do so.

I cant imagine how frustrating it is after a year not to have any sense of progress, but I can assure the family we do not forget, said Elicker.

Timmone said his family gathered this week to celebrate his brothers life. Hes planning to hike in Sleeping Giant State Park, as he and his brother would do together.

Contributed photo

But their experience, he said, is shaded by the seeming lack of progress in the case.

Sterling was extremely kind, extremely caring, said Timmone. I cant overstate how much our family feels like theyve lost and (how) ... a lack of closure magnifies that loss.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
As Gov. Ned Lamont empowered municipal leaders on Thursday to impose their own local mask requirements, many officials along the shoreline and lower Connecticut River Valley region said broad mandates are not needed  yet.

Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield said she is waiting to see how neighboring community leaders respond before making a decision on requiring masks to be worn inside local businesses.

Bransfield said she was disappointed the governor has deviated from his recent messages to the public.

I like to be consistent. I dont want to create an aberration, Bransfield said.

The first selectwoman plans to speak next week with Russell Melmud, head of the Chatham Health District, before making a decision.

In Middletown, Mayor Ben Florsheim this week reinstated the mask requirement at City Hall and municipal buildings, which are closed through Monday due to a small COVID outbreak. The mayor did not immediately respond Thursday whether he would consider a broader mask policy citywide.

Cromwell Mayor Enzo Faienza will not require masks and is leaving the choice up to individual businesses to do whats best for them, he said. At Town Hall, he said they are following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, requiring only unvaccinated people to wear masks.

Faienza said the town has not needed to close municipal offices due to COVID cases.

Weve been very fortunate, he said, adding there have been a few cases among employees that were contained by following safety protocols.

Based on the boost in transmissions, East Hampton is requiring everyone to wear masks when entering Town Hall and other municipal facilities, Town Manager David Cox said.

However, Cox said he does not anticipate instituting a broader policy for the town, but could reconsider the issue in the future.

While many towns along the shoreline have recently started requiring masks again in municipal facilities, officials said Thursday they would be much more hesitant to extend those rules to local businesses.

I have no intention of mandating anything in the community, Colchester First Selectwoman Mary Bylone said, several days after the town announced that public meetings were going virtual again, and masks would be required in Town Hall.

Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna, who chose not to require masks in town buildings this week, said that while he may revisit his decision, he was unlikely to impose a broader mask mandate on the town.

My inclination would be to not, under any circumstances, unless there was a statewide order to tell a business what to do, Fortuna said.

Even officials who said they would consider making such an order said Thursday the numbers do not justify doing so yet.

When asked if he would consider a town-wide mask mandate in Guilford, First Selectman Matthew Hoey responded by saying, not at this point, but obviously subject to change as the data unfolds and upon the advice of our health director.

Killingworth First Selectwoman Catherine Iino similarly said she would have to consult with her health director, adding that she would absolutely consider a general mask mandate if the circumstances warranted it.

Some businesses in town have already begun self-imposed mask mandates in recent days, she added.

Health officials say this latest surge in COVID cases is primarily driven by the delta variant, which is considered to be more contagious than the novel coronavirus, even among vaccinated people.

COVID cases in Connecticut are now at the same level they were on May 6, and trending higher, officials say.

The state Department of Public Health strongly recommends everyone wear masks, regardless of vaccination status, when indoors in public settings throughout Connecticut.
Venice, FL (34285)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. High around 90F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 75F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  An off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as River Dave whose cabin burned down on wooded property where he was squatting for 27 years has been inundated with offers from as far away as California for a new place to live.

David Lidstone, 81, lived in the woods along the Merrimack River in the town of Canterbury. He was jailed on July 15 on a civil contempt sanction and was told he'd be released if he agreed to leave the cabin. The property owner, Leonard Giles, 86, of South Burlington, Vermont, wants Lidstone off the property.

Fire destroyed the cabin on Wednesday afternoon, the same day Lidstone appeared in court to defend himself. He was released Thursday from the Merrimack County Jail, after a judge ruled that he would have less incentive to return to this particular place in the woods now that the cabin had burned down. His whereabouts were unknown.

The state fire marshal's office said it is investigating the blaze, but deferred questions to the Canterbury Fire Department. Lt. Dave Nelson of Canterbury Fire said he expects the investigation to take a few days and there were no updates available about its cause on Thursday.

We just had the fire yesterday, it takes a while, Nelson said.

Jodie Gedeon, an avid kayaker who befriended Lidstone about 20 years ago, said people were just devastated about the news of the fire.

But she said they are not abandoning efforts to solve Lidstone's dilemma including working out some compromise with Giles. Money raised from supporters could go to bringing Lidstone's compound up to code  its currently in violation of local and state zoning and environmental regulations  and to build an access road to the property.

They just can't believe it happened. We felt like we had a little bit of hope, she said of the recent court hearing. We thought the land owner and David would come to agreement. One option was to lease that portion of land to Dave. Bring it up to code. We felt that would be a realistic resolution if the two men would agree.

A first cousin of Lidstone, Horace Clark of Milton, Vermont, agrees he should be allowed to remain on the property. Lidstone has grown his own food, cut his own firewood, and tended to his pets and chickens.

The woodlot Lidstone called home was just a few miles away from Interstate 93, north of the capital city of Concord. But it was hidden by the trees; its on 73 acres that have been used for timber harvests. The property has been owned by the same family since 1963. There are no plans at this time to develop it.

Leave the guy alone. Hes not harming anybody, Clark said. If he wasnt a problem in 27 years, he is not going to be a problem now.

But Giles attorney Lisa Snow Wade said there are no discussions around allowing Lidstone to remain on the property.

I did speak with Jodie Gedeon this morning who raised the idea of a lease, but I explained to her that we had considered this idea in the past when Mr. Lidstone had counsel, and we all concluded that it did not change the liability of the landowner to the town for having someone living in an illegal structure on the property, she said in an email interview.

The other option for Lidstone would be to relocate to another parcel of land, a real possibility given that Gedeon has received about 20 offers from Maine, New Hampshire and as far as California. Many of those offers resulted from the media coverage of Lidstone's plight.

It tells me that people have compassion and humanity and don't agree with what happens, Gedeon said, adding she planned to discuss options with Lidstone in a jailhouse phone call Thursday night.

Lidstone told a judge during the Wednesday court appearance that he had no desire to comply with the order to leave the cabin. Most of his possessions were removed from it before the fire.

Lidstone, who is originally from Maine, also said the cabin was not a proper home but rather a hunting and fishing camp. He doesn't have an attorney for his court case. Another hearing in the case is scheduled for next week.

You came with your guns, you arrested me, brought me in here, youve got all my possessions. You keep em, Lidstone told a judge during the court appearance. Ill sit here with your uniform on until I rot, sir.

___

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. AP Correspondent Michael Casey contributed from Concord, New Hampshire.
Top enlisted leaders are getting new titles later this year, according to a memo sent to all airmen dated Aug. 4.

The title "superintendent," usually reserved for senior master sergeants and chief master sergeants, will switch to "senior enlisted leader." The move goes into effect Oct. 1, coinciding with the new fiscal year. The change would impact the senior enlisted member at the detachment, squadron and group levels.

The memo was first posted online by the unofficial Air Force Facebook page Amn/NCO/SNCO on Thursday.

"Today's modern threats call for a new level of teaming and partnerships to defend the security of our nation," the Air Force memo said. "To support this mission imperative, it is important that our duty titles reflect the key leadership roles many of our senior noncommissioned officers serve in."

Read Next: SEAL Dropout Who Shipmates Said 'Hates' the Navy Is Suspected in Bonhomme Richard Fire

The memo was signed by Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass and Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the Air Force chief of staff.

Enlisted evaluations that close out prior to October will not be impacted and will not need to be modified, the memo added.

It's unclear what spurred the change or what tangible impact it will have on the force beyond new titles on paper, as pay will not be altered. The Air Force did not immediately return a request for comment.

"We intentionally chose to avoid waiting to make this decision," the memo said. "This shift further signifies the role of our senior enlisted leaders as a crucial part of our command teams."

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: New Air Force PT Test Will Have Walking Option for Some Troops, General Says
Newly minted Marine Cedar Ross has a huge legacy to live up to. Ross just graduated from boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, with 349 other new boots. Attending his graduation ceremony was Hershel Woody Williams, a Marine Corps veteran and the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II.

"The chief drill instructor told me, 'Ross, you're going to have big shoes to fill,'" Ross told CBS News. "I said, 'Yes, sir. Thankfully, I wear size 15.'"

Legendary Marine Hershel Woody Williams, who at 97 is the last living WWII Medal of Honor recipient, is back on base at Parris Island for graduation.



After conquering boot camp himself, hes now passing the torch to his great-grandson in a ceremony for the ages. pic.twitter.com/hT1oU1yB1s  CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 21, 2021

Williams isnt a Marine Corps legend just for receiving the Medal of Honor, although thats more than enough. He received it for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the Marine Corps most important and defining moments. It was also one of the most deadly battles in the history of the Corps.

If you know anything about the history of the Marine Corps, thats a pretty big statement.

Read: 6 Reasons Why the Battle of Iwo Jima Is So Important to Marines

One of the keys to the Marines success on the island was the flamethrower. The Japanese defenders spent months turning the entire island into a fortress, complete with a network of fortified bunkers, concrete pillboxes and reinforced tunnels.

Flamethrowing tanks, like the M4A3 Sherman, and Marines with handheld flamethrowers were critical to clearing out these redoubts. But while the Sherman tanks could resist bullets, the tanks on the back of flamethrowing Marines could not. Even Williams will tell you the life expectancy for a flamethrower Marine like himself on Iwo Jima was about five minutes.

Williams improvised, adapted and overcame that life expectancy by forming a flamethrower team with him at the center and a fire team of four other Marines providing cover. He carried his 70-pound tank of fuel into contact with the enemy at close range multiple times over the span of four hours, clearing enemy positions and returning to the rear to refuel.

Flamethrowers like Williams turned what looked like a stalemate into a complete rout. The Japanese couldnt hide from a room full of gasoline-fueled fire coming at them at a relatively high velocity. Williams received the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman during a White House ceremony on Oct. 5, 1945.

Also: The Last Battle for Iwo Jima Legend Woody Williams, Only Surviving WWII Medal of Honor Recipient

At age 97, Williams appeared at Parris Island clad in his dress blues to watch his great-grandson, 20-year-old Cedar Ross, pass in review during his graduation ceremony. Williams was made an honorary official for the parade and saluted the new recruits as they passed.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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When Monica Helms was in the Navy, she served aboard the submarines USS Francis Scott Key and the USS Flasher. Her missions had her going out on deployments of up to 70 days each. She served for eight years, hiding something she didnt quite understand.

Helms would come to understand it and, with a little nudge from the universe, fully embrace herself. After making her transition, she fought for the rights of trangender people, especially those who served in the U.S. military, while creating one of the enduring symbols of that struggle, the transgender pride flag.

Read: The Worldwide Icon of Pride Month Was Created by an Army Veteran

Helms wrote an autobiography, titled "More Than Just A Flag." (Monica Helms via Twitter)

While she was on base in Charleston, South Carolina, Helms says she was hiding the fact that she liked dressing as a woman. In the 1970s, just being openly gay in the military meant the end of a service members career. None of the branches made a distinction between being gay or transgender. Being caught meant a discharge while being caught in the act meant a dishonorable discharge in many cases.

Helms kept her secret until 1978, after the Navy sent her to San Francisco two years prior. There, she found a community of people just like her and felt she could live as her authentic self. From there, she did what many veterans do; she lived her life. She moved to Phoenix, joined the United States Submarine Veterans, got married and began raising two kids.

In 1987, during a visit to San Francisco, one of her close friends confided in her that he soon would become a woman. It hit Helms that she, too, needed to transition. It changed her life once more. Her parents stopped talking to her, and her youngest son held on to some degree of resentment for a long, long time.

She even had to fight to re-register with the U.S. Submarine Veterans organization to register under her name, Monica, at a time when only men were submariners. After some significant wrangling, the national leadership deferred the issue to a vote in her local chapter. They accepted her.

But Helms now had her voice, she told the Atlantic in 2012. She moved to Atlanta and founded the Transgender American Veterans Association in 2003 to bring the fight for equality to the public arena. She created the transgender pride flag in 1999 as a symbol of her own transness after talking with Mike Page, the creator of the bisexual pride flag. He told her to keep it simple.

Two weeks later, I woke up, and while lying in bed, the design came to me, Helms told the Modern Military Association of America. I got up and drew it out and liked what I saw. I contacted the people who made the Bi Flag and they sent me some swatches. A week later, I had the first Trans Flag.

The trans pride flag is made up of five horizontal stripes, two light blue, two pink and one white in the center.

The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys, Helms explained to the Huffington Post. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender."

She first flew her original design at the Phoenix Pride Parade in 2000. Since then, it has caught on as a symbol of trans pride around the world. Cities officially raise the flag on public flagpoles during Transgender Awareness Week and the Transgender Day of Remembrance, both of which are in November. Helms is flabbergasted.

Because I took it everywhere, it got seen and people started liking it, she recalled. I now see how important the flag has become to many people. Im overwhelmed at how popular its become  seeing it in different countries and different places, seeing the colors displayed in places, like the spiral on top of the One World Trade Center or on top of tall mountains, still thrills me to no end. I have one bucket-like goal on where I want to see the flag, and thats in the International Space Station.

Nevada Army National Guard Sgt. Sam Hunt, an electrician with G Company, 2/238th General Support Aviation Battalion at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Stead, Nevada. Hunt is the first openly transgender soldiers of the Nevada National Guard. (U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Emerson Marcus)

Her original Trans Pride Flag, first flown in 1999, is now in the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of American History.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen candidates stand in formation at Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at Recruit Training Command (RTC) during their graduation ceremony marking the completion NROTC New Student Indoctrination Cycle 2.
Kumar Mangalam Birla has stepped down as the Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Vodafone Idea Ltd.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that the company has accepted the request of Birla to step down.

"The Board of Directors of Vodafone Idea Limited, at its meeting held today, have accepted the request of Kumar Mangalam Birla to step down as Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board with effect from close of business hours on 4th August, 2021," it said.

Consequently, the board has unanimously elected Himanshu Kapania, currently a Non-Executive Director, as the Non-Executive Chairman.

Kapania, a nominee of the Aditya Birla Group, is a telecom industry veteran with 25 years of experience. This includes significant board experience in telecom companies globally.

He has also served on the Global GSMA Board for two years and was also the Chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for two years. He is presently the Chairman of the FICCI Council on Telecom, Electronics and Digital Economy.

Further, based on recommendation of Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Board has appointed Sushil Agarwal, a nominee of Aditya Birla Group, as an Additional Director (Non-Executive and Non Independent) with effect from August 4. Agarwal is not related to any other Director of the company and is not debarred from holding the office of Director by virtue of any SEBI order or any other authority.

Birla's resignation comes days after it became public that he had written to the Cabinet Secretary that he is willing to hand over his stake in the debt-ridden company to government entities in a bid to keep the company operational.

Vodafone Idea which already is in weak financial shape owes Rs 50,399.63 crore as AGR dues. It has already paid Rs 7,854.37 crore.

In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Birla warned of a "looming crisis" and offered to transfer his 27.66 per cent stake in the telco to "any public sector/government/ domestic financial entity, or any other the government may consider worthy, - to keep (VIL) going".

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Almost 10.6% of Indias population lives with a mental illness, shows data from the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) in 2016. However, even today, it is difficult and costly to access health services and care for mental illnesses across the country. Although health insurance for mental illness can protect from large out of pocket expenses, it is an uphill task.

Until the enactment of the Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA) 2017 , mental illness was excluded in all health insurance policies through standardised exclusion clauses, a discriminatory feature against mental illness.

Section 21 (4) of the MHCA makes it obligatory for all health insurance companies to provide medical insurance for the treatment of mental illness on the same basis as for physical illness. This provision is based on the principle of parity, which means only removal of the exclusion clause for mental illness is not enough: the insurance companies are obligated to ensure no discrimination occurs in the types of policies, coverage and terms of insurance coverage provided both to mental and physical illnesses.

However, its implementation has not been straightforward. In 2018, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued a circular mandating immediate compliance with Section 21 (4) of the MHCA.

This was followed by the Supreme Court issuing a notice to the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) and IRDAI in 2020 about non-compliance of MHCA by insurance companies. This resulted in another circular from IRDAI requiring all health insurance companies to disclose their underwriting philosophy of offering insurance coverage to persons with mental illness by 1 October 2020.

While all major providers have published their underwriting philosophy, the principle of parity has not yet translated to action on ground. Insurance seekers still face denials or delays for coverage for mental illness

The standard process to address such discrimination or other grievances, is to make a complaint to the insurance company and then to the IRDAI grievance redressal cell and if the issue is not resolved, the aggrieved party can approach the Insurance Ombudsman.

At this stage, if the matter is still disputed, the aggrieved party can take the legal route, and approach consumer courts or the High Court.

Despite the redressal processes within the IRDAI, individuals have had to approach courts for their rightful insurance claims for mental illness in the recent past, as witnessed in the Delhi High Court, which delivered a landmark judgment on the liability of insurance companies and the IRDAI to comply with the MHCA.

In the case of Shikha Nischal vs National Insurance Co Ltd (NIC) , Ms Nischal was denied health insurance for treatment of her mental health condition by the insurer citing an exclusion clause from the policy. The clause stated that no coverage would be provided in relation to psychiatric disorder, or intentional self-inflicted injury.

The Delhi High Court ruled in favour of Ms Nischal, observing that the IRDAIs lack of monitoring over insurance companies was an abandonment of its duty to supervise and ensure that the law was implemented by all the insurance companies.

Importantly, the HC also held that all insurance companies were liable to adhere to Section 21(4) of the MHCA with effect from the date it came into force, implying that all health insurance policies since this date would have to include mental illness irrespective of any considerations. This is a landmark judgement that sets an important precedent

While the law is clear about the obligation of insurance companies, we ask, to what extent are insurance companies implementing the MHCA, in letter and in spirit?

And equally importantly, is the IRDAI, as a regulator and monitoring agency, doing their part to uphold the principles put forth by the MHCA?

The India Mental Health Observatory (IMHO) undertook a systematic review of health insurance policies that were introduced or revised during the years 2019-2021 to assess whether they comply with Section 21 (4) of the MHCA. It reviewed over 400 policies and found all but six policies by two providers, Universal Sompo General Insurance and Navi General Insurance, had not removed mental illness from the standard exclusion clauses.

The IMHO has published a summary of their analysis as a dashboard of health insurance policies. with the hope that people with mental illness seeking insurance will be able to weigh their options. The dashboard can be accessed here

Findings from the IMHO analysis of policy wordings reveal that certain insurance policies have differential coverage for mental illness. For example, differential waiting periods (35 policies) or lower provision of sum assured (32 policies), thus violating the principle of parity embedded in the MHCA.

on Standardisation of Health Insurance Products (2020) allows insurers to impose sub-limits on specific disease or conditions provided the limitations are based on sound actuarial principles. Many insurance companies have used this to limit the coverage of mental illness. The IRDAIs Master Circular (2020) allows insurers to impose sub-limits on specific disease or conditions provided the limitations are based on sound actuarial principles. Many insurance companies have used this to limit the coverage of mental illness.

An important judgement on the matter of sub-limits, the case of Subhash Khandelwal vs Max Bupa Health Insurance Co Ltd, is scheduled to be heard in the Delhi High Court soon.

In this case, the petitioner purchased an insurance policy from Max Bupa for an assured sum of Rs35 lakh. When the petitioner raised his claim for mental illness, he was informed of a clause in the policy, restricting the sum assured to Rs50,000 with additional conditions.

Since the matter of restriction on sum insured is sub-judice, the Delhi High Courts judgment on this issue can potentially shape future action around discrimination against mental illness through differential terms in insurance policies.

Beyond sub-limits, a frequent exclusion within insurance policies is coverage for self-inflicted injuries or attempted suicide.

Official estimates suggest India has a suicide rate of 17.9 deaths by suicide per 100,000 population and the number of attempts is estimated to be 20 times higher.

Attempt to suicide is related to severe stress and mental health conditions and is likely to involve treatment or hospitalisation for physical injuries. Attempted suicide or self-inflicted injury is not a standardised exclusion approved by the IRDAI and thus, the frequent exclusion by insurance providers is discriminatory.

Section 115 of the MHCA creates a presumption that a person attempting suicide is under severe stress and cites the appropriate Government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide.

Following this, it is imperative that coverage for treatment related to suicide is included by all health insurance providers and the IRDAI ensures this is upheld.

While these examples are representative of current practice among insurance companies, the IMHO also found the IRDAIs Master Circular (2020) itself permits the exclusion (under Exclusion 12) of treatment for substance use and any addictive condition from health insurance coverage. This is in violation of the MHCA.

Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in India with estimates showing 22.4% of population above the age of 18 are affected by substance use disorders. Addiction and substance use disorders are recognised under section 6 of the ICD-11 as requiring both psychiatric and medical intervention.

The MHCA too recognises mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs as a mental illness. Substance use disorders are treatable conditions, yet there remains a high gap in care. Data from the NMHS 2016 estimates a gap of 86% for alcohol use disorders, where a majority of those who require treatment for alcohol use disorders do not seek, receive or have access to appropriate care.

Thus, by authorising the exclusion for addiction use disorders for insurance coverage, the IRDAI is enabling this gap in access to treatment.

The MHCA provides a robust legal framework for the treatment for mental illness and clearly states the right to medical insurance. The next line of responsibility is with the IRDAI, the regulator, to play a more proactive role in supervision, ensuring that insurance companies comply with the letter and spirit of Section 21 (4) of the MHCA.

The IRDAI should, with immediate effect, remove the exclusion clauses for addiction disorders and exercise its supervisory jurisdiction to ensure insurance companies dont discriminate against persons with mental illness.

Ultimately, it is not the responsibility of individuals to seek legal recourse for their rights to health insurance. However, until insurance companies and the IRDAI abide by their legal obligations to ensure that every individual has access to affordable mental healthcare without discrimination, citizens may have to continue the laborious task of advocating for themselves, using the Delhi High Court judgement as a precedent to exercise their right under the law.
After Cairn Energy embarrassed the government by secured an order from a French court to seize about 20 properties in Paris belonging to India, the Narendra Modi government has finally decided to amend the retrospective amendment introduced in 2012. The retrospective amendment of the law to extort taxes was a monstrous demonstration of State power, initiated by Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 and continued by successive finance ministers under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime.



On Thursday, the Indian government introduced the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha aiming to bring closure to the retrospective income-tax (I-T) law introduced in 2012. The 2012 law was used to raise large tax demands on Vodafone and Cairn Energy for transactions that had taken place earlier.

The new amendment proposed by finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman says no tax demand to be raised based on the 2012 retrospective amendment on indirect transfers of Indian assets. The 2012 amendment will apply prospectively and not retrospectively, it says.

Further, for the tax purpose, the transaction should have taken place before 28 May 2012, the new amendment says.

Read: Kumar Mangalam Birla steps down as Vodafone Idea's Non Executive Chairman ) On the dramatic announcement, Kumar Mangalam Birla, who was a non-executive director and non-executive chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd resigned. Mr Birla's resignation comes days after it became public that he had written to the Cabinet secretary that he is willing to hand over his stake in the debt-ridden company to government entities in a bid to keep the company operational. (

Last month, the minister of state for civil aviation Gen (retd) VK Singh informed the Lok Sabha that UK's Cairn Energy and Devas Multimedia Ltd have filed lawsuits in the US to seize overseas assets of Air India to recover dues from the Indian government. However, since Air India is a corporate entity with its own management and board, it is defending its interest in this case by appointing lawyers, the minister says.

Last year in September, Vodafone had won the case against India over a retrospective tax demand of more than Rs20,000 crore.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has ruled that the conduct of India's tax department is in breach of fair and equitable treatment.

Vodafone had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016 due to a lack of consensus between the parties' arbitrators in finalising a judge for the tax dispute.

Following this, a tribunal was constituted in June 2016 after Vodafone challenged India's use of a 2012 legislation that gave it powers to retrospectively tax deals like Vodafone's $11 billion acquisition of a 67% stake in Hutchison Whampoa in 2007. The retrospective tax law had been enacted after the Supreme Court judgement went in Vodafone's favour.

Vodafone had challenged the tax department's demand of Rs7,990 crore as capital gains taxes (Rs22,100 crore after including interest and penalty) under the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).

Similarly, last month, UK's Cairn Energy has securing an order from a French court to seize about 20 properties in Paris belonging to the Indian government for recovering a portion of $1.2 billion from India against the backdrop of the arbitration victory of the company.

In December 2020, an international arbitration tribunal ruled that India's tax claim of Rs10,247 crore in past taxes over the internal reorganisation of Cairn's India business was not a valid demand and had awarded damages of $1.2 billion along with interest and costs to the UK energy company.

In 2010-11, Cairn Energy had sold Cairn India to Vedanta. Post the merger of Cairn India and Vedanta in April 2017, the UK company's shareholding in Cairn India was replaced by a shareholding of about 5% in Vedanta issued together with preference shares.

Along with attaching its shares in Vedanta, the I-T department from India seized dividends of around Rs1,140 crore due to it from the shareholdings and set off an Rs1,590-crore tax refund against the demand.

In 2015, Cairn had initiated an international arbitration to challenge retrospective taxation.
Death is often a merciful release, if it is an old person suffering in pain. It is those left behind who go through the trauma of loss and bereavement.

However, when my husband passed away in May after a prolonged and painful battle with cancer, I had not reckoned with the kind of problems and harassments that I am still facing, two months after the event.

These problems were unconnected to the issue of losing a spousein hindsight, I feel at least the conventional bereavement-related traumas could be coped with prayer or counselling or philosophical acceptance. The 'post-death traumas' I am referring to here, are different  and far more corrosive and maddening.

Strings had to be pulled even for carrying out the cremation. You can only get a slot at the crematorium after three days said the person in charge. Getting some friend with influence helped, in getting permission for an earlier slot.

Getting a death certificate turned out to be a huge harassment. The crematorium gives a receipt but it is necessary to get a 'proper' death certificate from the municipal corporation. That too, 'within 21 days' as per the rules.

We began running to the corporation office from the third day. It was always Go to the corporation office in the other ward or Go to the head office or Get a counterfoil from the crematorium.

Almost 20 days went in running hither and thither ('fill this form' and when you do that, 'get it countersigned by a notary' or some variation of that, to make us run around). Without that 'official certificate' from the corporation, nothing can move  bank accounts cannot be closed, money cannot be withdrawn or transferred even to a nominee.

One needs to run around, for notarys signature, and signature of two witnesses. (Even buying stamp paper was a problem, since the curfew imposed during May for the coronavirus outbreak had resulted in most offices working only restricted hours).

It is our money, but the banks hang on to it for dear life. We are still running around, filling up forms and submitting them, to complete the formalities, after daily visits over several weeks.

This money also lies unclaimed because Govt puts hurdles in the way of rightful claimants and heirs or due to endless litigation  need to fix that first before allowing Govt to distribute peoples hard earned and tax paid money!YYYS https://t.co/xMD89AU2at  Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) July 26, 2021

And everywhere, the hapless family is milked even in death  the cremation charges are Rs50, according to a large announcement painted at the entrance, but we were charged Rs800. How does one argue, with a dead body on hand? If you dont pay up, your work does not get done.

The ambulance from the hospital to the crematorium likewise, charged Rs1,020 for a distance of three kms. By the time we left the crematorium, we had spent Rs12,000.

The death certificate from the municipal corporation is supposed to cost Rs130. Again, we had to shell out Rs800 ('otherwise, no certificate'), and without this piece of paper, nothing can move, including bank accounts even if a nominee is recorded in the banks books.

We were in fact, relieved to get the certificate on the 20th day or within the mandated 21 day limit.

With this document in hand, we began the rounds of the banks, to close accounts standing in my husbands name and transfer the balance to our joint accounts. This again involved filling endless forms making daily trips to the banks, to submit one set of forms and collect another.

These had to be submitted with an affidavit, or notarised, with two witnesses. Affix photos on the forms, enclose copies of the death certificate. We were well advised to pay for and obtain 10 copies, for which, of course, one pays extra.

This went on, for over a month, making daily pilgrimages to the bank managers offices.

In the meantime, fresh cheque books had to be applied for and obtained, to pay for sundry expenses.

Even when it was a joint account, I discovered that my name had been added by hand on the passbook, so the cheque leaves did not have my name printed. It had not even occurred to me to check, since it was my husband, who always signed cheques.

The nationalised banks were the worst in terms of service, especially State Bank of India (and Bank of India).

After two months, we are still not in sight of a resolution and settlement. SMSs and one time passwords (OTP) continue to come to my deceased husbands mobile phone.

Want to change the phone number? Fill another sheaf of papers, affix photographs, sign here, sign there, enclose photocopies of Aadhaar card.

Even my marriage certificate was needed in one case. I was married 59 years ago, cannot even remember whether I had a marriage certificate.

What do people who cannot afford to run around like this endlessly, do, to lay their hands on savings that are legally and legitimately, theirs, according to the will?

What happens when there is a premature death of a young person, who has not left a will behind?

My guess is that all hurdles can be cleared, if the right palms are greased with adequate amounts. What a shame.

Claiming medical reimbursement was yet another messy hurdle, necessitating the submission of endless forms and declarations, scanning of hospital and pharmaceutical bills.

Death is a natural process for all living beings. Sooner or later, it occurs.

Do the survivors have to be treated as if they are out to swindle the bank to which their hard-earned savings have been entrusted? Who makes these rules, for whose protection or benefit?

I often stop to ask myself these questions in the midst of my bereavement and the practical day-to-day problems that crop up in the wake of the death of a family member
Automobile major Maruti Suzuki's production will be partially impacted in August due to semiconductor shortages.

On Wednesday, the auto major, in a regulatory filing to the BSE, said that the company has been informed by its contract manufacturer -- Suzuki Motor Gujarat -- that production will be partially impacted in this month.

"This is to inform you that owing to the semiconductor shortage situation, the Company has been informed by its contract manufacturing company, Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited (SMG), that production will be partially impacted in this month," the filing said.

"SMG will tentatively not carry out production on the three Saturdays (7th, 14th and 21st August)."

Besides, the company said some of the production lines may see temporary reduction from two-shift to one-shift working.

"As the situation is dynamic and uncertain, the company will monitor and take a day-to-day decision on models, lines or shifts to optimise resources for maximum efficiency."

Globally, various industries including consumer durables as well as automobiles and other sub-segments are facing semiconductor or electronic chip shortages due to high demand.

Earlier, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said: "Supply constraints will continue through 2021. While shortages initially occurred in automotive semiconductors, the impact is being felt across the board in semiconductors manufactured at older technology nodes."

The industry will continue to struggle to rebalance across different industry segments, it said while investment in capacity now will improve the industry's resiliency in a few years.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
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MOULTRIE, GA.- Allison Usry Reid, 48, of Moultrie, passed away Tuesday, August 10, 2021, at her home due to complications of Covid. Cobb Funeral Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook at www.cobbfuneralchapel.com.
The diffusion of chorioactis geaster, more commonly known as the "Texas star" tends to puzzle scientists. The fungus is entirely unique to Texas, with the exception of the odd sighting around Kyushu, Japan, making it one of the rarest mushrooms in the world.

To the delight of the local mushroom enthusiasts, on June 22, Gov. Abbott finally signed legislation declaring the mushroom as Texas' first official state fungi.

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For the regionally minded, the Texas Star mushroom is a bit of local flora that Texan's can claim proudly (while tipping their hats toward the Western Pacific Ocean). The Central Texas Mycological Society, who seek to "strengthen fungal understanding" is even working to raise enough money to slap its likeness on a license plate.

I'm not in the business of trend forecasting, but you heard it here first: the Texas Star is shooting toward Texas bluebonnet status. Whether or not ritualistic family photos will ensue near damp mushroom enclaves is too soon to tell.

The fungi approaching fame is appropriately named for its leathery, star-like characteristics, visible only once it blooms. While otherwise absent across the world, the fungi is not entirely uncommon in Texas when the conditions are ripe. If you see a cluster of them pre-bloom, the bunch might cloak itself as the smokey, rolled offerings resting inside of your humidor. This deception has earned it the seductive nickname, "the devil's cigar."

It is said that when the devil's cigar unfurls, it releases a strange hissing noise and hazy cloud of spores.

If you take a mushroom walk through the Austin Nature Center on a damp December day, like Angel Schatz, a member of the Austin-based mycological organization often does, you might find yourself having a fungus run-in.

"It's rare in that its only found in very geographic specific spaces, but in the correct season it can be found fairly easily," Schatz tells MySA.

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Angel Schatz

Having a childhood fertilized with experience scavenging for morel mushrooms with her grandad in Mississippi, the Austin-ite rediscovered a passion for fungi before joining the leadership team at the Central Texas Mycological Society during the pandemic.

"There's so many wonderful things about mushrooms, something for everyone, too," Schatz says, continuing on to discuss the appeal, from the culinary aspect, to the environmental benefits and medicinal properties many mushrooms can possess.

Beginning in 2019, the educational, volunteer-run organization has grown to 400 members across Texas, with some living across state lines. Boasting a variety of online workshops, and nature walk opportunities, certain members of the network were also pivotal in organizing toward getting the star mushroom its due.

Throughout the process, one member  who chooses to remain anonymous  documented the progression of the legislation until its victorious end through a Facebook page. In a livestream, you can view the moment the devil's cigar was elevated to its current status, with help from Republican Senator Dr. Donna Campbell. Across the country only Oregon (Pacific Northern chanterelle) and Minnesota (common morel) have made the motion to designate an official state mushroom, this summer, Texas became the third. It's an exciting journey for the Texas fungi, which was first documented in Austin in 1893.

Like all things worth waiting for, you'll have to catch it at the right time and in the right place if you wish to witness this homegrown jewel in bloom. From a narrow corridor spanning as far south as San Antonio to as far north as the Oklahoma border, you can find the creature colonizing decomposing cedar elm trees. In Japan, the mushroom targets oak trees.

"We don't know if there's something very specific about these two species, or if there's something in the soil that makes it specific to the liking of this mushroom," explains Schatz.

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Angel Schatz

The mushroom hobbyist credits the lack of knowledge to shortcomings in funding, and states that one of Central Texas' Mycology Society's long term goals is to be able to provide research money to scientists looking to explore the great mushroom mysteries of our day.

Until then, Texan's can celebrate the state's new official 'shroom, which Schatz tells me isn't poisonous, but not entirely edible. Instead, mushroom fans might be better satisfied with a portobello-based dinner.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  The season of Brazilian forest fires has begun, and early data plus severe drought is sparking concern that nationwide destruction in 2021 will stay at the high levels recorded in the past two years, despite efforts to tamp down the blazes.

The government space agency that uses satellites to monitor fires reported more area burned in the month of July than in any July since 2016, according to data released Thursday. The same was true for June.

Most Brazilian blazes are manmade, often started illegally by land-grabbers clearing forest for cattle or crops. Fires tend to begin increasing in June and peak in September, according to historical data. They can easily get out of control during the dry season, burning large swaths of forest to the ground.

Brazil is home to the worlds largest rainforest and tropical wetlands  the Amazon and Pantanal  which saw dramatic fires in 2019 and 2020, respectively, that caused the greatest annual forest loss since 2015. That drew global criticism of the response from the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly called for development of the region.

This year, its the Cerrado savanna stretching across Brazils center-west region that is suffering more than usual. An area almost as big as Connecticut and New Jersey burned there in the first seven months of 2021.

Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said in a July 27 online panel that there have been fewer Amazon fires this year due to cool weather, which limits fire's potential to spread. But deforestation remains on par with the last two years, so much dry material remains on the ground waiting to be burned, she added.

I am afraid about the coming months, said Alencar, who is also coordinator of MapBiomas Fogo, which compiles data on deforestation and fires across the region. When this cold front goes away, the vegetation will be drier and then we will have warmer temperatures. ... Im not sure that the people who cut down the forest will not light it.

Citing heightened hazard due to Brazils worst drought in nine decades, the Justice and Environment ministries on July 22 announced a task force to prevent and investigate fires in 11 states of the Amazon, Pantanal and Cerrado biomes. Some 6,000 people, including federal and state police and firefighters, as well as state public security and environmental officials will participate in the effort, according to a statement.

On June 29, Bolsonaro decreed redeployment of soldiers to the Amazon to combat fires and deforestation, and also issued a 120-day ban on unauthorized outdoor fires.

Similar measures in previous years didn't prevent illegal fires, however. More than 90% of the Pantanal hot spots detected in 2020 came after a similar presidential ban, according to Vinicius Silgueiro, coordinator of territorial intelligence at the Center of Life Institute in Mato Grosso state.

The sense of impunity is very high. Enforcement is well below what is necessary, Silgueiro said.

In Mato Grosso state, half of whose territory is in the Amazon, the federal and state governments last year began coordinating actions to put an end to overlap that frequently left other areas unmanned and vulnerable, according to Mauren Lazzaretti, the state's environment secretary.

The state is also purchasing a helicopter and plans to deploy dozens of planes loaned by Pantanal farmers and businesses to drop fire retardant onto blazes.

Last year, over 4 million hectares (about 15,000 square miles) of the Pantanal went up in flames, or about 27% its area  by far the most since official record-keeping began in 2003. While the biome regenerates quickly, unlike rainforest, fires often kill local wildlife, such as jaguars, caimans and giant otters.

The size of the fires last year drew society's attention to the component of individual responsibility, Lazzaretti said. The engagement of cities, farmers and even traditional and Indigenous communities is much greater this year.

The year before, fires in the Amazon roused global concern, and several European governments openly criticized Bolsonaros administration. Bolsonaro countered that fires nationwide and in the Amazon, while up from 2018, were roughly in line with the average of the preceding several years and were down sharply from 15 years earlier. He called on European leaders to mind their own backyards.

Earlier studies showed the Amazon absorbs about 2 billion of the 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide the world emits into the atmosphere each year, making it an important part of the global effort to curb climate change. But a study led by the Brazils Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, published in Nature on July 14  spanning 10 years and involving nearly 600 flyovers  found the dry season's intensification and increased deforestation had caused more fires and higher carbon emissions. The southeastern part of the Amazon, particularly ravaged by logging, has become a net source of carbon.

Paulo Artaxo, professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said other recent studies have shown even the more preserved western Amazon region is now carbon neutral in terms of emissions, while a few years ago, it was a carbon sink.

Carlos Nobre, a prominent climatologist, says Brazils Amazon is nearing a tipping point," after which the thick jungle will cease to generate enough moisture to sustain its current form and will begin transforming into tropical savanna.

Nobre said Bolsonaro's government has yet to demonstrate any encouraging change in approach to help save the rainforest.

The federal government continues incentivizing organized crime in the Amazon that is responsible for the theft of timber, illegal deforestation and fires, he said. Those who practice these crimes haven't given any sign of worry that enforcement will become rigorous. They continue to feel rather empowered. ___ Alvares is based in Brasilia. AP writer David Biller contributed.
VERONA, Italy (AP)  Shouts of Liberty! have echoed through the streets and squares of Italy and France as thousands show their opposition to plans to require vaccination cards for normal social activities, such as dining indoors at restaurants, visiting museums or cheering in sports stadiums.

Leaders in both countries see the cards, dubbed the Green Pass in Italy and the health pass in France, as necessary to boost vaccination rates and persuade the undecided.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi likened the anti-vaccination message from some political leaders to an appeal to die.

The looming requirement is working, with vaccination requests booming in both countries.

Still, there are pockets of resistance by those who see it as a violation of civil liberties or have concerns about vaccine safety. About 80,000 people protested in cities across Italy last weekend, while thousands have marched in Paris for the past three weekends, at times clashing with police. More than 200,000 marched across France on Saturday, 14,000 of them in Paris, in the biggest show yet.

European nations in general have made strides in their vaccination rates in recent months, with or without incentives. No country has made the shots mandatory, and campaigns to persuade the undecided are a patchwork.

Denmark pioneered vaccine passes with little resistance. Belgium will require a vaccine certificate to attend outdoor events with more than 1,500 people by mid-August and indoor events by September. Germany and Britain have so far resisted a blanket approach, while vaccinations are so popular in Spain that incentives are not deemed necessary.

In France and Italy, demonstrations against vaccine passes or virus restrictions in general are bringing together otherwise unlikely allies, often from the political extremes. They include far-right parties, campaigners for economic justice, families with small children, those against vaccines and those who fear them.

Many say vaccine pass requirements are a source of inequality that will further divide society, and they draw uneasy historic parallels.

We are creating a great inequality between citizens, said one protester in Verona, who identified himself only as Simone because he said he feared for his livelihood. We will have first-class citizens, who can access public services, the theater, social life, and second-class citizens, who cannot. This thing has led to apartheid and the Holocaust."

Some protesters in Italy and France have worn yellow Stars of David, like those the Nazis required Jews to wear during World War II.

Holocaust survivors call the comparison a distortion of history.

They are madness, gestures in poor taste that intersect with ignorance, said Liliana Segre, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and Italian senator for life. It is such a time of ignorance, of violence that is not even repressed any more, that has become ripe for these distortions.

Similar comparisons during protests in Britain have been widely condemned. One of the most prominent anti-lockdown activists, Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, was arrested earlier this year after distributing a leaflet making the comparison, depicting the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The French health pass is required at museums, movie theaters and tourist sites, and comes into effect for restaurants and trains on Aug. 9. To get it, people must be fully vaccinated, have a recent negative test, or proof they recently recovered from COVID-19.

Italys requirements are less stringent. Just one vaccine dose is required, and it applies to outdoor dining, cinemas, stadiums, museums and other gathering places from Aug. 6. Expanding the requirement to long-distance transport is being considered. A negative test within 48 hours or proof of having recovered from the virus in the last six months also provide access.

Vaccine demand in Italy increased by as much as 200% in some regions after the government announced the Green Pass, according to the country's special commissioner for vaccinations.

In France, nearly 5 million got a first dose and more than 6 million got a second dose in the two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron announced that the virus passes would be expanded to restaurants and many other public venues. Before that, vaccination demand had been waning for weeks.

A full 15% of Italians remain resistant to the vaccine message: 7% identifying themselves as undecided, and 8% as anti-vaccine, according to a survey by SWG. The survey of 800 adults, conducted July 21-23, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The biggest reasons for hesitating or refusing to get vaccinated, cited by more than half of respondents, are fears of serious side effects and concerns that the vaccines have not been adequately tested. Another 25% said they dont trust doctors, 12% said they dont fear the virus, and 8% deny it exists.

This leaves some hard-to-penetrate segments of the population.

About 2 million Italians over 60 remain unvaccinated, despite being given precedence in the spring. Thousands remain unprotected in Lombardy alone, the epicenter of Italys outbreak.

The city of Milan is dispatching mobile vans with vaccines and other supplies to a different neighborhood every day. They reach out to the reluctant with flyers and social media posts, vaccinating 100-150 people a day with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Rosi De Filippis, 68, got the shot after pressure from a daughter.

In any case, it became sort of mandatory, De Filippis said. In the beginning, we didnt know everything we know today. So I decided to go ahead with it.

Businesses in Italy and France are grudgingly accepting the passes, amid concern over how private companies can enforce public policy. Denmarks experience suggests compliance gets easier with time -- and rising vaccination rates.

The first couple months werent good, recalls Sune Helmgaard, whose restaurant in Copenhagen serves hearty classic Danish fare. In the spring, vaccination rates were still low and customers couldnt always get tested in time.

But with more than 80% of eligible Danes having received at least one shot and more than 60% fully vaccinated, Helmgaards business is back to pre-pandemic levels.

People feel safer, he said, so Danes are quite happy to show their pass.

____

Associated Press reporters across Europe contributed.

-

More AP stories on the coronavirus pandemic:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
BEIT UMMAR, WEST BANK (AP)  A week after the death of his eldest son, Moayed al-Alami sat on the sofa on his ground floor patio, protectively hugging and kissing two of his remaining children.

The Israeli military has opened an investigation into the killing of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Alami who was shot by Israeli soldiers as he rode in the family car. But that is no comfort to his father, who is devastated by his son's death and has little faith that he will see justice.

I have no confidence in the investigation until I see the soldiers in court, he said. The rear of Moayed's car is riddled with bullet holes and the back seats are still covered in bloodstains.

Mohammed was shot and killed by Israeli forces as he traveled with his father and two siblings in their hometown of Beit Ummar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His death sparked two days of violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops, resulting in the death of one protester.

Recounting the events of last week, al-Alami said he had just picked up some snacks for the children, using his car, when Mohammed asked to return to the store.

"Mohammed told me, father you have forgotten something. I asked if it was necessary, and he said it was very necessary. So, I told him that we will go back and buy it, said al-Alami.

Al-Alami said he turned the car around. Moments later, his white Renault was struck by gunfire from the rear, including at least three bullets that he said hit Mohammed. The boy was rushed to hospital and operated on for four hours before he died.

The Israeli military has said soldiers in the area called on the van to stop, and that the forces fired warning shots and only aimed at the vehicle's tires. Al-Alami said he never heard any warnings. Over 10 bullet holes riddled the vehicle.

The army also said that al-Alami's car resembled a vehicle driven by a group of men who were seen burying what turned out to be a dead baby earlier that day.

Al-Alami's brother  who witnessed the entire event from the balcony -- said the two events were not related and that earlier, another family had been burying a stillborn baby in a cemetery.

The three people who arrived earlier had come to bury a baby that had died in the womb, Ashraf Al-Alami said.

After the three people had left, he said he began to worry when he saw soldiers arrive. He feared they would mistake the burial site as a crime scene and grow suspicious. That was when his brother's car approached.

The Israel human rights group B'Tselem this week released what it said was security-camera video of the shooting. In the video, al-Alami's van is seen approaching a dip in the road, with a group of Israeli soldiers standing further down a hill.

Al-Alami is seen doing a U-turn before being chased up the street by troops, who are heard shouting at him to stop, before opening fire. The actual shooting is not seen, but at least a dozen shots are heard. B'Tselem said the video shows the family posed no threat to the troops.

The army has said that senior commanders and military police  which investigate suspected wrongdoing by troops are involved in the probe.

But Moayed said that he did not expect the investigation to lead to anything. He said the military helped transfer the boy to the hospital after the shooting, but that he has not heard from investigators.

And B'Tselem, a major human rights group, grew so frustrated with the military justice system that in 2016 it halted its longtime practice of assisting in investigations. It accuses the army of whitewashing wrongdoing and says soldiers are rarely punished.

In the first seven months of this year, Israeli fire has killed 11 Palestinian children in the West Bank, surpassing the total number of child killings in 2020, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.

Israeli soldiers man a watchtower next to Beit Ummar in order to protect traffic going in and out of the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmei Zur.

Mohammeds funeral the following day resulted in large clashes in which a 20-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli army fire. His funeral was held on Friday, followed by more clashes.

The mayor of Beit Ummar  who is also a member of the extended al-Alami family  said that most of Beit Ummars 17,000 residents attended the boy's funeral.

The soldiers did not allow us to bury our child in dignity, said Habis Al-Alami. To kill a boy with just bread in his hand. It is a crime, we just want to be treated as human beings.
SRINAGAR, India (AP)  Government forces patrolled much of Indian-controlled Kashmir and ordered shops and businesses to remain open Thursday to foil a planned strike by separatists on the second anniversary of Indias revocation of the disputed regions semi-autonomy.

Government forces placed steel barricades and razor wire across many roads, bridges and intersections and set up additional checkpoints in anticipation of anti-India protests. Some shops and businesses remained shut in Srinagar, the regions main city, while police and soldiers checked vehicles and frisked pedestrians.

In Srinagars main business center, men escorted by police used iron rods and bricks to break locks on some shuttered shops.

Theyre forcing us to open our businesses to show normalcy, said shopkeeper Nazir Ahmed. The paradox is that India has destroyed this place and are now forcing us to celebrate our subjugation and humiliation.

On Aug. 5, 2019, the Indian government led by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and revoked inherited protections of land and jobs, allowing more outsiders to settle in the Muslim-majority region.

The former state was split into two federal territories  Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir  deepening anti-India sentiment in the region, which is also claimed by Pakistan. Indian authorities also enforced a monthslong information blackout and security clampdown. Thousands of young people and political leaders  both anti- and pro-India  were arrested. Scores remain incarcerated.

As some of the restrictions were eased, India enforced another harsh lockdown to combat the coronavirus, deepening the economic crisis in the region.

Separatist groups who challenge Indias sovereignty in Kashmir called for Thursdays strike to mark what they call black day.

Some viral videos on social media Thursday showed police officers asking shopkeepers to open their shops in Srinagar. In one video, a police official carrying an assault rifle was seen breaking a lock on a shuttered shop.

Some shopkeepers told of similar incidents at least in three other towns in the Kashmir valley.

Meanwhile, suspected rebels fired bullets in the air in Srinagars old neighborhood shortly after a small explosion occurred there, police and witnesses said. No one was reported injured.

Also, in northwestern Sopore town, suspected rebels fired at a police party who were asking shopkeepers to open their businesses in the main market, witnesses said. No one was injured. Police later said there was no shooting in the area.

The Modi government has maintained that the changes to Kashmirs autonomy are for the public good and national security to stop threats from Pakistan and anti-national elements.

Jammu and Kashmir has seen real Democracy, Development, Good Governance and Empowerment in the last two years. As a result, Indias unity and integrity has been immeasurably strengthened, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishanka tweeted Thursday.

Kashmirs main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said Indias unilateral and arbitrary changes only complicated the dispute over Kashmir. It urged New Delhi to start a dialogue with Pakistan and with those who represent the political aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The government continues to assault the people ... by continuing to incarcerate political prisoners and youth, bringing in arbitrary and anti-people laws, media gags, gagging all voices of dissent and continued misrepresentation of the actual conditions in the region, it said in a statement Thursday.

Modis Bharatiya Janata Party hoisted Indias flag at several places in the region in celebration. Tarun Chugh, the partys general secretary in Srinagar, told party workers that the 2019 decision dealt a big blow to the divisive and terrorist forces, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The Peoples Democratic Party, a Kashmiri political group that favors union with India but with autonomy, held protests in Srinagar and southern Jammu city calling Aug. 5 a day of mourning. The partys leader and former top elected official in the region, Mehbooba Mufti, led the protest in Srinagar and demanded that India revoke black laws of the black day.

Police prevented the protesters from marching to the city center. Mufti and dozens of other party officials were detained for months during Indias crackdown in 2019.

The status of Kashmir has been a key point of dispute between Pakistan and India since the two countries split after the end of British colonial rule. They each control part of Kashmir and have fought two wars over the region.

Since 1989, rebels have fought Indias rule in the portion of Kashmir it controls. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Midland County Records

A 46-year-old Midland man received a sentence of 30 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to first-degree continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf.

Ismael Romero will not be eligible for parole or early release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, according to a press release.
Muskogee, OK (74401)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 95F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 72F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
JEFFERSON CITY  A Perry County man shot a 125-pound, 5 ounce bighead carp last month while bowfishing, setting a new state record, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced Thursday.

Matt Neuling, of Perryville, shot the lunker July 24 at Lake Perry, according to a news release.

I was out with my buddy early that morning when we both shot what we thought was a 30-pound grass carp, Neuling told the department. My buddys arrow pulled out, but mine shot straight through and stayed in there.

Neuling told the department his friend sent another arrow into the fish.

"If my buddy wasnt with me, there was no way I could have pulled it out of the water," he said.

The Department of Conservation took the fishs head in an effort to age it, the release said. A department official estimated the fish was 10 years old and said bighead carp were invasive.

Missouri separates fishing records by pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternatives include bowfishing as well as other methods such as jug and limb lines.
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Santee Coopers street lights program will soon receive an outside audit, a move thats encouraging to Grand Strand HOAs who have for years argued that they pay too much for this basic infrastructure.

The S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff, which audits and inspects public utilities, on Wednesday finalized an agreement with Santee Cooper that clears the way for the agency to begin auditing the lighting program. ORS Executive Director Nanette Edwards said in an email that the agency hopes to complete its work by the end of the year.

That was welcome news to Bob Sweet, a Carolina Forest resident who has been in discussions with state-run Santee Cooper about changing the utilitys street lighting program.

For over a year, weve been seeking a qualified third-party to thoroughly examine the outdoor lighting rate structure and leases imposed by Santee Cooper on managed communities, Sweet said in an email. We hope this will be the catalyst leading to a fair deal for all concerned!

The HOAs pay for their street lights through lease agreements with Santee Cooper. For example, Plantation Lakes forks out more than $8,500 per month for its 220 lights and power. Residents maintain theyve paid for the infrastructure multiple times over.

For more than two years, HOA leaders and Santee Cooper have debated various options for addressing residents concerns about the program, but progress has been slow.

The parties discussed the possibility of HOAs purchasing the lights from Santee Cooper in 2019, but the utility told them that wasnt possible without action from the General Assembly. However, the utility later changed its position, saying Santee Cooper leaders had reviewed the matter further and believe such a sale was possible. A group of HOA leaders from Horry and Georgetown counties met with Santee Cooper officials for the first time in October and again in November before a third discussion in January.

Along the way, Santee Cooper insisted that its lighting program was consistent with industry standards, but the utility was willing to listen to residents concerns. The HOAs stressed the need for Santee Cooper to clarify the utilitys rate chart and address issues with the indefinite costs associated with poles and light fixtures.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Afghan air force carried out more airstrikes against Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, as the insurgent force made additional gains in the country's north.

A defense ministry statement said air strikes were carried out across the country, including in the southern Helmand province, where the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah is being fiercely contested. The Taliban control of nine of the city's 10 police districts.

Residents in Lashkar Gah reported heavy bombing near the government radio and television station, which is under Taliban control. Several wedding halls and a guesthouse of the provincial governor's are all located near the radio and television station.

Dr. Sher Ali Shaker, head of Helmand's public health department said that in past 24 hours at least three civilians were killed and 40 more including women and children were wounded during battles in Lashkar Gah city.

In northern Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of most of the provincial capital of Sar-e-Pul, the head of its council, Mohammad Noor Rahmani said. In recent months, the group has gained control of dozens of districts across several provinces in the north.

Meanwhile, Jawzjan province in the north remains under a three-month Taliban attack, with most of it's districts having surrendered to the Taliban without a fight. The stronghold of Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek warlord, it has lost eight out of ten districts to the insurgents, who continue to advance on the capital, Shibirghan city.

Dustom returned to Afghanistan on Wednesday and plans to lead the fight in Shibirghan after an agreement with President Ashraf Ghani, his spokesman Ehsan Nero said.

In the west, Taliban attacked seven different parts of Herat city but were defeated, said Jelani Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

Farhad said that three Afghan security personnel were killed and four others wounded in the firefights, while dozens of Taliban fighters were also killed in the battles on Wednesday night.

Dr. Arif Jalali of Herat Hospital said that one civilian was killed and 12 more were wounded in fighting in Heart city over the past 24 hours.

The Taliban onslaught seems to have intensified with the start of the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops in late April. As attacks intensify, Afghan security forces and government troops have retaliated with increasing air strikes, aided by the United States. This has raised growing concerns about civilian casualties across the country.

We can tell you that we are deeply concerned about the safety and protection of people in Lashkar Gah, in the south, where tens of thousands of people could be trapped by fighting, Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesman said on Wednesday.

We, along with our humanitarian partners in Afghanistan, are assessing needs and responding in the south, as access allows, he said.
Masks will be required for students, teachers and staff of pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade public schools, as well as those in long-term care facilities, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday.

Pritzker also announced his intention to require all state employees working in congregate facilities to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 4. The state is telling unions representing the employees of its intention to move forward with this requirement.
Overnight reports from Jacksonville police:

 Lance L. Lawyer, 50, of Olmsted was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and operating an uninsured motor vehicle at 10:31 p.m. Wednesday at Massey Lane and Delaney Drive.

 Stephen R. Butwell, 36, of Vienna was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2200 block of West Morton Avenue.

 Carla De Jesus, 18, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of possession of adult-use cannabis in a motor vehicle at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of West Morton Avenue.
Morgan County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Charles L. Hill, 64, of 2755 Literberry Prentice Road, Ashland, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 1:41 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of allowing animals to run at large.

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Joshua M. King, 40, of 728 N. East St. was arrested at 12:26 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

 Joshua M. King, 40, of 728 N. East St. was arrested at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of resisting or obstructing a peace officer after being accused of trying to flee from police.

 Mary A. Decker, 44, of 301 W. Beecher Ave. was arrested at 10:33 a.m. Wednesday on a disorderly conduct charge after being accused of yelling at and threatening someone.

 Kelton C. Galmore, 20, of Chatham was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:47 a.m. Tuesday on a battery charge.



Pike County

State police

ACCIDENTS

 Three people were injured in a crash at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on Dutch Creek Road west of U.S. 54 in Pike County.

Christopher B. King, 38, of Griggsville was going west on Dutch Creek Road and lost control of his vehicle on a curve, causing his pickup truck to turn sideways in the road. The truck and a sport utility vehicle being driven east by Anna P. Shufflebothm, 43, of Rockport, then collided, according to a preliminary report from Illinois State Police.

King, Shufflebothm and a 5-year-old girl in Shufflebothms SUV were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries.

King was cited on a charge of failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, according to the report.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
MOUNT STERLING  A year-long wait is over and Brown County has a new group of reigning royalty after the 2021 queen, Little Miss and Little Mister were crowned Tuesday during the opening night of the Brown County Fair.

Isabelle Koch, 18, of Mount Sterling was named the 2021 Miss Brown County Fair queen and will represent the county for the next year.

I love our community and feel Ill be a great asset to it, Koch said. What better way can I serve my community that as its queen?

Koch, the daughter of Todd and Jennifer Koch, also was named Miss Congeniality, a title voted on by the contestants.

Im super honored because it showed me how much the girls had fun with me, Koch said.

McKenna Ormond, 5, the daughter of Chris and Elizabeth Ormond, was crowned Little Miss Brown County.

Henry Barfield, 5, the son of Johnny and Jennifer Barfield, was crowned Little Mister Brown County.

Koch is a 2021 graduate of Brown County High School and will attend Heartland Community College in Normal, where she plans to get a degree in business.

Though shell be attending school, Koch is excited to represent Brown County and her hometown, she said.

The most challenging thing as a queen is making sure I am prepared for (the state pageant) and representing my community to the best of my ability, Koch said.

She is most excited about working with children in the community and being a role model, she said.

I hope to be a good role model for all the little girls that look up to me, Koch said. I want them to feel confident, to learn to be themselves and truly never be afraid to show who they are.

She said that is something she learned from 2019 Miss Brown County Ashlyn Reid.

She showed me to have confidence in myself, to speak with confidence and to never be afraid to be myself, Koch said. Shes always been super fun and friendly and Ive looked up to her.

Henry is excited to be the countys little mister and was surprised when he won, he said.

I got a cool hat, Henry said. Im excited to go to the fair and I get to be in parades and ride rides every day.

Hes also looking forward to the other activities in which hell participate, including the sheep judging and riding a sheep during the rodeo, he said.

McKenna didnt hear her name when she was announced as the little miss winner.

I didnt hear them say my name, I heard them say my number, she said. I thought they were tricking me. I was very excited.

Now, shes looking forward to the fair, its rides and all the pretty dresses shell get to wear during the next year.

She said she enjoyed preparing for the pageant.

I liked making new friends, she said.

Other queen pageant awards:

First runner-up  Kennedy Gallaher

Second runner-up  Haley Boyd

Peoples Choice Abby Harris

Miss Swimsuit  Nicole Taylor

Most Photogenic  Nicole Taylor
1966 death of heiress employee under renewed scrutiny View Photo

When Doris Duke, a fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heiress, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, Rhode Island, mansion in 1966, police took her at her word that it was an accident.

But the story of the killing at Dukes Rough Point estate, which has resonated in the seaside tourist mecca, is being challenged by a witness  the paperboy.

Bob Walker, a Marine Corps veteran, says he was there the day Duke killed 42-year-old Eduardo Tirella, driving into him twice with a 2-ton station wagon as he screamed below it.

Peter Lance, an author and journalist whose meticulously researched book, Homicide at Rough Point, investigated the killing and recently interviewed Walker, who was 13 years old in 1966.

This is one of those stories that is still talked about in Newport, said Lance, a city native who got his first reporting job at The Newport Daily News several months after Tirellas death. I read a Facebook page for Newport residents and every three or four months someone brings this up.

Walker, now 68, says in a video interview with Lance released Thursday by Vanity Fair that he never went to police to tell them what he saw that day on the advice of his father, who feared for his sons life. The older man warned his son that Duke was a rotten person who had some people on her payroll who were very unscrupulous.

Duke inherited her money from her father, James Duke, president of the American Tobacco Co. and co-founder of the company known today as Duke Energy. Duke University in North Carolina is named for her family.

After reading Lances book, Walker last month went to police to give investigators his account of events, which he had only previously shared with a small circle of family and friends, and in response, local police are reexamining the case even though Duke died in 1993.

The Newport Police Department would like to look further into this (due to the new information weve been given), and rectify any possible misinformation concluded in the past, if any, for Eduardo and his family, Detective Jacque Wuest, who has been assigned to reopen the case, said in an email Thursday.

Walker, who was on his bike delivering The Newport Daily News, told Lance he first heard two people obviously arguing and screaming at each other.

And the next thing I heard was the roar of a motor, the crash, the screaming of a man, ever so slight skidding sound and deacceleration of the motor, a pause in the screaming, a man beginning to scream again, the roar of the motor again, the mans scream turning to horror of Nooooooo! and then another crash, he said.

When he came on the scene, he said he saw Duke get out of a car and move her body to block his view. He asked her if she wanted any help and if she wanted him to call police, and he said she screamed at him to leave.

Tirella had worked as a designer for Duke for several years. On the day of the death, the pair were taking the station wagon to look at an artifact, according to Lances book. But Duke was allegedly furious at Tirella for telling her that he was leaving her to become a set designer in Hollywood.

Police conducted a brief interview with Duke several days later at which point investigators took her at her word.

She said Tirella was driving but had gotten out of the car to open the estates massive wrought-iron gates, so she got behind the steering wheel to drive through the gates. She told police the car suddenly leaped forward. The police report said Tirella was crushed against the gates.

But thats not what Walker heard. He said he distinctly heard two impacts. And his recollection of events matched a police investigator who concluded that Duke struck Tirella once, sending him onto the hood of the car, then when he fell off, accelerated again and ran him over. The car ended up careening across the street where it struck a fence and tree.

Walker, in a telephone interview, said he never bought the official account of the death and went to police as a civic duty.

The narrative that was accepted by the cops was not the narrative that I remembered, he said.

By MARK PRATT

Associated Press
Pakistan sends troops after Muslim mob attacked Hindu temple View Photo

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  Pakistan on Thursday deployed paramilitary troops in a conservative town in the countrys eastern Punjab province, a day after a Muslim mob attacked and badly damaged a Hindu temple there.

In New Delhi, Indias foreign ministry summoned a Pakistani diplomat to protest the attack and demand protection for Hindus living in the predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Wednesdays attack took place in the town of Bhong in Rahim Yar Khan district after a court granted bail to an eight-year-old Hindu boy who allegedly desecrated a madrassa, or religious school, earlier this week. The mob damaged statues, burned down the temples main door and briefly blocked a nearby road.

The boy was earlier arrested on charges of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the madrassas library that housed religious books. The mob alleges he committed blasphemy, an act punishable by the death sentence in Pakistan, where mere accusations of blasphemy have in the past incited mobs to violence and deadly attacks.

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemning the attack on Twitter, saying he has ordered the provincial police chief to take action against any officers whose negligence may have contributed to the attack. Khan also promised the government would restore the temple.

Punjab police official Asif Raza said the police have a list of 50 suspects and promised speedy arrests. He said troops were now guarding the temple and that security has been provided to members of the Hindu community.

In New Delhi, Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said such incidents are occurring at an alarming rate while the state and security institutions in Pakistan have stood by idly and completely failed in preventing these attacks.

Muslims and Hindus have mostly lived peacefully in Pakistan, but there have been attacks on Hindu temples in recent years. Most of Pakistans minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britains government.

___

Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma contributed to this story from New Delhi.

By ASIM TANVEER

Associated Press
Belarus to close border as Lithuania turns away migrants View Photo

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The president of Belarus on Thursday ordered the countrys security forces to tighten control over the border with Lithuania, which earlier this week started turning away immigrants attempting to cross in from Belarus.

Lithuania, a member of the European Union, has faced a surge of mostly Iraqi migrants in the past few months. It says thats due to retaliation by Belarus authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after the EU put sanctions on his country over diverting a plane to the capital of Minsk and arresting a dissident aboard.

The surge of Iraqis and others is emerging as another source of tension between autocratic Belarus and its European neighbors to the west. On Tuesday, Lithuania said it reserved the right to use force to stop such illegal immigration and turned away 180 people attempting to enter the country.

Lukashenko on Thursday ordered defense and security agencies to close every meter of the border in order not to let immigrants Lithuania turns away back into Belarus.

God forbid they start implementing the policy of removing people they invited over there through official border crossing points, Lukashenko said during a meeting with defense and security officials. Starting from today, not a single person should set foot on the territory of Belarus from the adjacent side, be it from the south or from the west, he added.

Authorities in Belarus this week alleged that Iraqi immigrants forcibly expelled from Lithuania to Belarus had injuries, including dog bites, and had to be hospitalized. Belarus also claimed Wednesday that a non-Slavic person died from injuries at a border town but Lithuania dismissed the report as propaganda from a hostile regime.

Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas called the report an obvious provocation. Lithuania is under hybrid attack and spreading such information is a classic example of this process.

Lithuania, a nation of less than 3 million people, has no physical barriers on its 679-kilometer (420-mile) long border with Belarus. Some 4,090 migrants, most of them from Iraq, have crossed this year from Belarus into Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Interior Ministry this week distributed a video shot from a helicopter showing large groups of immigrants being escorted to Lithuanias border by Belarusian border guard vehicles.

Polish media report that some migrants have also sought to enter EU member Poland from Belarus, though on a lesser scale.

The Belarusian State Border Committee charged on Thursday that Lithuania continues to force migrants to trespass the Belarusian border and reported an attempt to aggressively remove eight migrants  to the Belarusian territory, thwarted by Belarusian border guards.

By YURAS KARMANAU

Associated Press
Sonora, CA  Tuolumne County Public Health is reporting 40 new COVID-19 cases in the county today. A total of 7 cases are Sierra Conservation Center inmates. There are 223 active cases and 17 who are hospitalized.

Tuolumne Public Health has added an additional age category dividing the 0-17 group into two groups with ages 0 to 11-year-olds and 12 to 17-year-olds. They state there have been 80 cases among children in the past couple of weeks; 35 cases age 0-11, and 45 cases age 12-17.

The gender and age breakdown for the 33 community cases is 2 females and 2 males age 0-11, 1 females and 0 males 0-17 years of age, 6 females and 3 males age 18-29, 3 females and 2 males age 30-39, 2 female and 1 male age 40-49, 2 females age 50-59, 5 females age 60-69, 2 females and 2 males age 70 to 79.

A total of 9 of the 33 new cases were vaccinated, 7 with Moderna, 2 with Pfizer. Out of 537 cases since June 15 when the first vaccinated individual was reported to have a break-through Covid infection 52 total have been identified; 27 Moderna, 16 Pfizer, 5 J&J, 2 not identified and 2 others partially vaccinated. Public health notes that 72% of the vaccine does administered by Public Health have been the Moderna vaccine. They state The small number of cases among vaccinated individuals does not necessarily demonstrate a lesser level of protection of one vaccine over another.

A total of 21,987 Tuolumne residents are fully vaccinated and 3,573 are partially vaccinated.

The California department of corrections reports 116 active cases at the Sierra Conservation Center (SCC). A total of 68% of the 3,318 inmates the prison manages, which includes all southern fire camps, are fully vaccinated and 1,417 inmate cases have been resolved. The associated staff of 1,179 is 39% are fully vaccinated.

The State testing site at the Tuolumne Memorial Hall is open Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. Expanded days of operation are expected to be implemented next week and will include testing Friday through Tuesday from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. In addition, the site is in the process of being relocated to Sonora, Tuolumne Public Health says they will release more information as details are confirmed. Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins are accepted. Please note that the site may close briefly for meal breaks. Appointments can be scheduled at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available through Rapid Care or the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contacting your healthcare provider.

Vaccine appointments can be made at local pharmacies and through myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255. Anyone 12 and older is eligible for the COVID vaccine, Pfizer is approved for children ages 12 to 17. If you have questions about MyTurn and the registration process, call Tuolumne Public Health at 533-7440 or email Health@tuolumnecounty.ca.gov

Public Health continues to strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, as the most important step we can take to reduce the spread of disease and prevent serious illness and death. In addition, the continued practice of other preventive actions like wearing a mask in public, keeping your distance, avoiding crowds, washing hands, and staying when sick will help slow the spread of the virus. The California Department of Public Health and local COunty Health Department issued statewide masking guidance for universal masking indoors as detailed here. Adventist Health detailed their response to the situation here. Tuolumne County has reinstated the mask mandate for those entering its county government buildings detailed here.

Calaveras has 15 new cases since yesterday, 57 active cases and two hospitalizations, Mariposa has 7 new cases, 38 active cases and three residents hospitalized with COVID-19.

County/Date

Tier Color Active

Cases New Cases

Total Cases COVID

Deaths Amador 8/3 98 13 2,038 39 Calaveras 8/4 57 15 2,359 58 Mariposa 8/4 38 7 537 7 Mono 8/4 29 13 1,079 5 Stanislaus 8/4 1,081 118 59,874 1,097 Tuolumne 8/4 223 40 4,731 73 For other county-level statistics view our page here.
Governor Newsom, Ag Secretary Vilsack and others tour fire damage View Photo

Citing the severe drought, the US Forest Service says it will change its current approach to suppressing wildfires.

Temporarily, the US Forest Service will no longer allow fires to burn for resource benefit and will implement full suppression tactics over the immediate period.

The change has been called for by lawmakers ranging from Congressman Tom McClintock to Governor Gavin Newsom. On the US House floor last week, McClintock compared monitoring wildfires to keeping an eye on a rattlesnake that is in your room. It is dangerous nonsense, he stated.

The concerning health and overgrowth of US Forest Service land was discussed yesterday when Governor Newsom, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and new US Forest Service Chief Randy Moore toured the damage from last years August Complex Fire in the Mendocino National Forest.

Newsom said the state and federal governments are, for the first time, working together and planning mutual projects to improve the health of the federal forestland.

Ag Secretary Vilsack indicated that there is a big push to put a heavy amount of forest funding into the federal infrastructure bill being formed in Washington, DC.

Adding, Candidly, I think it is fair to say that over the generations, and over the decades, we have tried to do this job on the cheapthe reality is that this has caught up with us, and which is why we have an extraordinary number of catastrophic fires.

A regional fire that quickly grew on Forest Service land, after being monitored for several days, is the 68,000 acre Tamarack Fire that started last month in Alpine County and crossed into Nevada.
CHP San Andreas cruiser View Photo

Cottage Springs, CA  The CHP has released the names of the three individuals involved in a head-on crash Monday afternoon on Highway 4, and one is a child.

As earlier reported here, the collision between two SUVs took place around 1:30 p.m. on the highway near Beatrice Drive in Cottage Springs, north of Arnold in Calaveras County. 23-year-old Jessy Lee Woodard with a 3-year-old boy passenger, both from Bear Valley, was eastbound on the highway. The CHP reports that for unknown reasons she crossed over the double-yellow lines into the path of driver, 65-year-old Rhonda Santen of Pinole, California.

All three had to be flown from the scene with the boy suffering major and Woodard moderate injuries taken to U.C. Davis Medical Center. Santen sustained major injuries and is being treated at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. There is no update regarding their conditions.

The CHP detailed that alcohol nor drugs appear to be a factor in this crash.
Oregon examines spyware investment amid controversy View Photo

SALEM, Ore. (AP)  The future ownership of an Israeli spyware company whose product has been used to hack into the cellphones of journalists, human rights workers and possibly even heads of state is up in the air.

Major investors in a private equity firm that has majority ownership of NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware, are in discussions about what action to take. The Oregon state employee pension fund is one of the largest investors, if not the largest, having committed $233 million to Novalpina Capital, the private equity firm, in 2017.

Novalpina Capital has been saddled with both an internal dispute among its founding partners and an explosive report showing NSO Groups spyware has been widely misused around the globe.

Oregon State Treasury spokeswoman Rachel Wray told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday the department is getting involved. State officials previously said investors have limited say in private equity investments once they are completed.

I can confirm that, consistent with our fiduciary duties to Oregon beneficiaries, and along with other limited partners, (Oregon State) Treasury is involved in discussions related to our investment in Novalpina, Wray said Wednesday.

The development comes amid a serious disagreement among the three co-founders of London-based Novalpina Capital that, according to press reports from Britain, resulted in investors moving to strip control of the fund after concluding that relations between the three had deteriorated so much that they could no longer work together.

Sky News reported the dispute was about future deployment of Novalpinas 1 billion euro ($1.18 million) fund.

On top of that internal strife, an investigation published in July by the global media consortium Forbidden Stories showed that at least 180 journalists around the world have been selected as targets by clients of NSO Group. In one case highlighted by the Guardian, Mexican reporter Cecilio Pineda Birto was assassinated in 2017 a few weeks after his cellphone number appeared on a leaked list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers.

French President Emmanuel Macron is one of several world leaders who may have been targeted using the spyware that is capable of checking a cellphones emails and other data and turning on its microphone and cameras.

NSO Group denied that it has ever maintained a list of potential, past or existing targets. In a separate statement, it called the Forbidden Stories report full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories.

The company insists it only sells to vetted government agencies for use against terrorists and major criminals and that it has no visibility into its customers data. Critics have provided evidence that NSO directly manages the high-tech spying.

Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, who serves as the states chief investment officer, is following and (is) concerned about the reporting surrounding Novalpina and the NSO Group, Wray said.

Wray said she cannot get into specifics about the discussions among Novalpinas investors because of confidentiality restrictions and Oregons obligations as a limited partner. Read declined an interview request.

Oregon was Novalpinas first major investor. Stephen Peel and Stefan Kowski, two founding Novalpina Capital partners, showed up at Oregon treasury offices in the Portland suburb of Tigard in November 2017 to make a pitch to the Oregon Investment Council, which oversees the states $90 billion pension fund.

As investors, we assume we have to be contrarian, Peel told the council. We have to find deals that other people dont see or dont want to do for various reasons.

The Oregon Investment Council unanimously approved a $233 million commitment. It has so far provided to the fund $65.7 million, according to the most recent statistics. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation and Englands South Yorkshire Pensions Authority invested $59 million and $33 million respectively.

In 2019, Novalpina Capital and the founders of NSO Group acquired a majority stake in NSO Group from another private equity firm, Francisco Partners, that the Oregon pension fund had previously invested in.

Novalpinas largest investors are now considering picking Berkeley Research Group to replace Novalpina, the Financial Times reported. If appointed, the California-based global consulting firm would be given a mandate to return investors money by selling the three companies Novalpina owns, including NSO, for the highest possible price, the London newspaper said.

Berkeley Research Group did not respond to a request for comment. The groups website says it helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement.

By ANDREW SELSKY

Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A former Louisville police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to striking a kneeling protester in the back of the head with a riot stick during protests over the death of Breonna Taylor last year.

Cory P. Evans pleaded guilty in federal court to the charge of using unreasonable force on a detainee.

Evans, 33, of Sellersburg, Indiana, struck the protester, who was identified as M.C., while the person was kneeling with hands in the air, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

The incident occurred during the early nights of protests in Louisville on May 31, 2020, a few days after Taylors boyfriends 911 call was released. Evans was downtown that night on curfew duty.

The Department of Justice said Evans admitted in court to striking the protester. The victim suffered a gash on their head and fell forward after they were struck, the release said. Evans resigned from the force in June.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot to death in her apartment by officers serving a narcotics warrant. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, told investigators he thought an intruder was breaking in and fired his gun. No drugs were found.

Evans faces up to 10 years in prison on a conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 23.

By DYLAN LOVAN

Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP)  A second man was charged Wednesday in connection with last summers shooting death of an 8-year-old Atlanta girl who was killed near the site where police had fatally shot a Black man weeks earlier.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Jerrion Amari McKinney, 23, of Loganville, was arrested on multiple charges, including murder and 12 gang-related offenses, for the July 4, 2020 slaying of Secoriea Turner. McKinney also faces four counts of aggravated assault and pointing or aiming a gun or pistol at another person.

McKinneys arrest was made with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the Atlanta Police Departments Fugitive Unit, said Nelly Miles, a spokesperson for the GBI.

Julian Conley, 20, was arrested last year and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting. Conleys attorney has said his client was peacefully protesting and witnessed the shooting but did not open fire himself.

Secorieas father, Secoriey Williamson, told WSB-TV that every day without his daughter is a painful struggle.

Our child is supposed to be here with us, Williamson said. I had to go to her grave site.

Turners family is suing the city, saying a lack of leadership and protective action led to the little girls death.

Secoriea was fatally shot in an SUV with her mother and another adult near the Wendys restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was killed by a white police officer on June 12.

Makeshift barricades had been set up in the area after Brooks was killed, and armed men had been blocking roads in the area and turning some drivers away. The SUV Secoriea was in was trying to make a U-turn at one of the barricades when shots were fired into the vehicle, police said. Investigators have said as many as four people opened fire, but until Wednesday, just one person had been charged in the case.

Authorities have not said how they linked McKinney to Turners shooting or if theyre searching for any more suspects.

Both McKinney and Conley remained held at the Fulton County Jail without bond. McKinney is scheduled for a first appearance hearing in Fulton County Magistrate Court on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could comment.
Sailor charged in ship fire was Navy SEAL dropout View Photo

SAN DIEGO (AP)  The sailor charged with starting a fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard last year was assigned to the ship after dropping out of training to become a Navy SEAL, and he was described by some fellow sailors as a person who had disdain for the Navy, according to investigators.

Details of 20-year-old Ryan Mays and the early investigation into the worst U.S. warship fire in recent memory were revealed in a search warrant unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

The Navy confirmed that Mays was the sailor charged Thursday with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel.

His lawyer, Gary Barthel, said he had not seen the search warrant yet and could not comment on what it said until he had the chance to review it.

Ryan has maintained his innocence throughout this entire investigation, he said.

The fire started July 12, 2020, in the lower storage area, which Mays duty station had access to, according to the court document.

About 160 sailors and officers were on board when the flames sent up a huge plume of dark smoke from the 840-foot (256-meter) vessel, which had been docked at Naval Base San Diego while undergoing a two-year $250 million upgrade.

The amphibious assault ship burned for more than four days. Left with extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage, the ship was later scrapped. Estimates to replace it ran up to $4 billion.

Officials investigating the ships damage found three of four fire stations on the ship had evidence of tampering: Fire hoses were disconnected and one was cut.

They also found uncapped bottles containing small amounts of highly flammable liquid near the ignition site, including one that tested positive for a heavy petroleum distillate such as diesel, kerosene or jet fuel, according to the court document.

A day after the bottles were tagged as part of the crime scene, one went missing from the scene. DNA tests were done on tape discarded from the missing bottle, but Mays DNA was not found on it, according to the court document.

Some sailors on board told investigators they believe they saw Mays go down to the ships lower vehicle storage area where the fire originated shortly before the blaze erupted.

When told by investigators that he was seen going down there before the fire started, Mays responded that he was being set up, according to the court document.

Mays reported he was in the hangar bay when he became aware of the fire. He described how he assisted firefighters, alerting at least one crew member of the threat of the fire, and eventually helped fight the fire, according to the court document.

He denied starting the fire, according to the document.

Mays joined the Navy in 2019 and started the grueling training to become a Navy SEAL in October of that same year. But dropped out five days after starting it in Coronado. He was reassigned as a seaman and put on the crew of the ship.

Mays was arrested after a 10-hour interview with investigators.

By JULIE WATSON

Associated Press
California spending billions to house homeless in hotels View Photo

LOS ANGELES (AP)  When homeless outreach workers first visited her encampment under a Los Angeles highway overpass last fall, Veronica Perez was skeptical of their offer of not just a bed, but a furnished apartment complete with meals, counseling and the promise of some stability in her life.

They said they had housing for me, but it just didnt seem real, Perez said. When youre homeless, you become leery and you dont trust people.

Perez, 57, had been sleeping in cars or tents all over Southern California since she lost her job at a storage facility three years ago and couldnt pay her rent.

The second time the outreach team came to the camp beneath Interstate 405, Perez decided she was ready to take a chance and make a change.

She accepted the offer and took residence in one of 6,000 new units built statewide over the past year as part of Project Homekey. The program started in June 2020 is repurposing vacant hotels, motels and other unused properties as permanent supportive housing.

Homekey is the lynchpin of Gov. Gavin Newsoms $12 billion plan to combat homelessness in the nations most populous state. California has an estimated 161,000 unhoused people, more than a quarter of the nationwide total of 580,000, according to the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Newsom signed the funding bill July 19, calling it the largest single investment in providing support for the most vulnerable in American history.

Newsoms office said $800 million  most of it federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money  was spent on Homekey in 2020 to provide shelter for 8,200 people. Now the administration plans to go even bigger: California will spend $5.8 billion of state and federal funds over two years to expand the program and create an estimated 42,000 housing units.

If you think of last year as a proof of concept, you can think of this year as taking this strategy to scale and making it a centerpiece of Californias approach to housing the homeless, said Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Newsom.

Newsom has made tackling homelessness one of his top priorities. Now that the governor faces a recall election, Republican candidates have released their own plans to combat the crisis. John Cox wants to require unhoused people to receive any needed treatment for addiction or mental illness before they can get housing. Kevin Faulconer wants to build more shelters to make it easier to clear encampments.

Its not just Republicans who are exasperated. The mostly progressive Los Angeles City Council this month passed a controversial anti-camping measure to remove homeless encampments.

Other states are also grappling with the escalating crisis. This summer New York City instituted an aggressive campaign to remove encampments from Manhattan, and Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to transfer over 8,000 people from hotels where they were placed at the start of the pandemic into shelters.

And in Washington state, Seattle residents will vote on a measure that would force the mayor to take steps to combat the problem, including creating 2,000 shelter or housing spaces within a year.

In California, Homekey is an outgrowth of Project Roomkey, a temporary effort during the coronavirus outbreak to find shelter at hotels, which Elliot said provided beds for 42,000 homeless people 65 and older or others susceptible to COVID-19. It has been extended through June 2022.

Under Homekey, the state buys the properties, covers all construction and conversion costs, then hands them over to cities or counties that contract with local service providers.

The states effort should be applauded but amounts to a drop in the bucket, said Eve Garrow, analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

This is substantial, but its nowhere near enough to meet the needs of all the people currently displaced from housing, she said.

A Homekey site at a hotel in the small Silicon Valley city of Milpitas met with some local opposition, prompting a lawsuit accusing officials of pushing the project through without public hearings.

Were saying, you need to ask us permission before you spend our taxpayers money and build in our city, said Suraj Viswanathan, a member of the group Voices Of Milipitas. The litigation was settled, with the group securing regular security patrols in the hotels neighborhood and twice-yearly meetings.

The former hotel that Perez now calls home is run by the nonprofit The People Concern, which operates three properties in LA County with a total of 162 units. All three are approaching capacity.

CEO John Maceri said the state has set up local governments for success, but it will take a combined effort of politicians and service providers to sustain the program. He estimates conversion costs will be far less than $550,000 per unit, the going rate for building from the ground up. Its also much faster than building new units, and speed is important in a crisis.

The goal should always be to provide permanent housing solutions faster and cheaper, Maceri said.

At her new home in central Los Angeles, Perez relishes her privacy, enjoys the three meals provided daily and appreciates that she was allowed to bring her cat. She attends a weekly painting class.

They told us, make yourself feel at home. And I do, she said. Staff helped her apply for a new Social Security card and will assist her in finding a job when shes ready.

Perez was diagnosed with PTSD from her years on the streets and receives on-site counseling. Others with more severe mental health problems or addictions also get the treatment they require.

The goal is to make sure even the hardest-to-house people will come inside, said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California, San Francisco. To that end, Kushel said Homekey gets the most important part right: providing permanent supportive housing, not temporary shelter.

Some people need services that go along with that housing, and some people dont. But the really essential thing is that without the housing, the services dont work, she said.

Eventually Perez will be presented with housing vouchers that will allow her to rent a subsidized apartment.

Its unclear how long those vouchers might last, however, raising concerns from advocates about the long-term success in a state with exorbitant housing costs.

A new database shows nearly 250,000 people sought housing services in 2020. About 117,000 of them are still waiting for help.

If Californias goals seem ambitious, Elliott said, thats because they are: Anything short of ending homelessness means were setting our sights too low.

___

This version has been updated to correct, in the summary, that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend $5.8 billion over two years to expand the Homekey program.

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER

Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)  A man suspected of stabbing and setting on fire a homeless man who later died at a hospital in Oakland has been charged with murder, authorities said.

Andre Weston, 58, was charged Tuesday in the killings of William Vann, who died of his injuries at a hospital on March 8, five days after Weston allegedly attacked him during an argument, the Oakland Police Department said in a statement.

The investigation revealed that there was an altercation between the victim, Vann, and the suspect, Weston, at which time Weston doused Vann with an accelerant, and then lit him on fire, ultimately causing his death, Oakland Police detective Robert Hardy said.

According to a police probable cause statement filed in court, Weston was identified as a suspect in the March 3 attack through video surveillance and witness statements. Police allege he doused Vann with an accelerant and set him on fire as the two argued. The nature of the argument has not yet been made public, the East Bay Times reported.

Weston was arrested July 27 in San Francisco and is now in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on a no-bail hold, according to court records. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Vann was homeless at the time and believed to have been living in his car, authorities said.

The complaint alleges that Weston has prior convictions for lewd act upon a child, failing to register as a sex offender, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, false imprisonment, assault, and dissuading a witness. He is expected to enter a plea at an Aug. 23 court hearing.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel's defense minister warned Thursday that his country is prepared to strike Iran, issuing the threat against the Islamic Republic after a fatal drone strike on a oil tanker at sea that his nation blamed on Tehran.

The comments by Benny Gantz come as Israel lobbies countries for action at the United Nations over last week's attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street that killed two people. The tanker, struck off Oman in the Arabian Sea, is managed by a firm owned by an Israeli billionaire.

The U.S. and the United Kingdom also blamed Iran for the attack, but no country has offered evidence or intelligence to support the claim. Iran, which along with its regional militia allies has launched similar drone attacks, has denied being involved.

Speaking to the news website Ynet, Gantz responded to whether Israel was prepared to attack Iran with a blunt yes.

We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran," Gantz said. "The world needs to take action against Iran now.

From Tehran, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described Gantz's threat as another brazen violation of Int'l law" and malign behavior" that allegedly stems from Israel's blind support for the West.

He tweeted: We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response. Dont test us."

On Wednesday, in a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Iran's deputy ambassador to the United Nations described Israel as the main source of instability and insecurity in the Middle East and beyond for more than seven decades.

This regime has a long dark record in attacking commercial navigation and civilian ships, Zahra Ershadi wrote. In less than two years, this regime has attacked over 10 commercial vessels carrying oil and humanitarian goods destined to Syria.

Ershadi's comments refer to an ongoing shadow war being waged in Mideast waterways since 2019 that has seen both Iranian and Western-linked ships attacked.

The latest provocation occurred earlier this week, when hijackers stormed an asphalt tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, briefly seizing the vessel before departing on Wednesday. No one claimed responsibility for the incident, although recorded radio communication from the ship shared with The Associated Press revealed one of the crew members saying that armed Iranians had boarded the Asphalt Princess.

In response to a request for comment, the United States Central Command, known as CENTCOM, put the blame squarely on Iran on Thursday.

We are troubled by the temporary forcible seizure of the M/V Asphalt Princess by Iranian gunmen, said U.S. Air Force Maj Nicole Ferrara, a CENTCOM spokesman. "We are looking into the incident, but do not have an understanding of what the Iranians were doing at this time, or why they would impede the transit of this legitimate commercial vessel.

Iran has denied involvement in the incident, calling all the recent maritime escalations in the region as completely suspicious.

Last week's attack on the Mercer Street killed the vessels Romanian captain as well as a British crew member who worked for Ambrey, a maritime security firm. In a statement Thursday, Ambrey identified the victim as Adrian Underwood, a former soldier in the British Army who started at the firm as a maritime security officer in 2020 before becoming a team leader.

We continue to be in contact with Adrians family to offer support at this sad and difficult time, said John Thompson, Ambreys management director.

The attacks began a year after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. President Joe Biden has said he's willing to rejoin the accord, but talks over salvaging the deal have stalled in Vienna.

___

Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
MERIDEN  Austin the yellow naped amazon parrot stood quietly on Ted Muchas shoulders, munching Fritos chili cheese corn chips and ignoring the two or three people who tried to get his attention at the police station courtyard on Tuesday.

Austin doesnt particularly enjoy the company of people, but as rescued animals sometimes do, he has some interesting eccentricities, said Ted Mucha and Muchas girlfriend, Teagan Gorton, who have owned the 20-something-year-old bird for 15 months.

When he says Not good, get ready to bleed. Its a bad sign, said Mucha, a retired Las Vegas property manager and volunteer fundraiser for Saving Paws, a non-profit fundraising organization for the Meriden Animal Control Office.

Mucha and Groton were among more than a dozen governmental and local social-service agency representatives at Meridens National Night Out celebration on Tuesday.

East Hartford, East Windsor, Enfield, Groton, Manchester, Monroe, Naugatuck, Norwalk, Vernon and Windsor were among the Connecticut municipalities celebrating the event.

The events goal: to underscore the role that police, neighborhood associations, block-watch groups, social service agencies and churches play in helping bolster the quality of life in Americas cities and towns. It is important for Meriden residents to recognize what police do, Mayor Kevin Scarpati said in a speech to the crowd. About 200 people attended.

We need to come together to support our officers who are out there protecting us, Scarpati said. We cant imagine some of the things they see in doing their jobs. Meet a police officer while you are here. Make a connection. We need to be engaged with you. We have a lot of great things going on but we also have our work cut out for us.

More than a dozen social service and government agencies had booths in the courtyard. Meridens Council of Neighborhoods, the citys association of block watch and neighborhood revitalization groups, and city officials honored recently deceased neighborhood association groups with declarations given to their families by local government and the state Legislature.

It was important for Muchas organization to bring Austin to the event to illustrate to people what they can get if they seek to rescue animals from the city animal control office. His group will pay for all spaying and neutering and medical costs for animals adopted once people pay the adoption fee the city charges, he said.

The event also gave the 15-member Beat The Street dance group, mostly Meriden teens, a chance to do a dance routine.

After last year, we are really looking to get out and perform more, said Shelby Hammel, the groups instructor.

nsambides@record-journal.com
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Wednesday to finally repeal two decades-old measures giving open-ended approval for military action in Iraq, an early round of action in a growing Democratic push to reclaim congressional say over U.S. military strikes and deployments.

Committee members voted 14-8, with three Republicans voting with Democrats, to repeal the 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War to expel Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait, and the 2002 measure that greenlighted the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who sponsored the measure with Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young, said he was hopeful of a full Senate vote in coming weeks repealing the two measures and formally bringing the war in Iraq to an end.

The House already has voted to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations of military force in Iraq.

In testimony before the committee Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman encouraged repeal of the 2002 measure. Ending the war authorization against Saddam's Iraq made clear that the Iraq government of today was a partner of the United States, and removed a grievance for rival Iran to exploit, Sherman said.

But Republican opponents argued that revoking the two authorizations for military force signaled U.S. weakness to Iran at a time when the Biden administration was formally ending its combat role in both Iraq and Afghanistan and negotiating to reenter a nuclear deal with Iran.

The ayatollah is listening to this debate, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate, has repeatedly tried to depict President Joe Biden as weak on Iran. The ayatollah is listening to whats happening. Weve seen him testing the Biden administration over and over and over again.

Republicans also pointed out that President Donald Trump's administration had cited the 2002 Iraq war resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani. Top lawyers for the State Department and Pentagon told committee members on Tuesday that the Biden administration believes it has adequate legal authority for any similar strike, even with repeal of the Iraq war measures.

Wednesday's vote comes in a growing tug-of-war over Congress' and the executive branch's constitutionally granted authority over U.S. military force. Democrats say Biden's administration is only the latest to sidestep seeking approval from Congress before carrying out airstrikes this year against al-Qaida allied insurgents in Somalia and Iran-backed militias on the Iraq-Syria border.
WASHINGTON (AP)  As officials seek clues about what prompted a Georgia man to fatally stab a Pentagon police officer, details of the suspects troubled past emerged Wednesday through interviews and court records.

Austin William Lanz, 27, was arrested last April for a break-in at a neighbors home and drew police attention months earlier for a harassment campaign involving sexually explicit photos and messages, according to interviews and records obtained by The Associated Press.

Investigators have not revealed a motive in the ambush-style killing of Pentagon police officer George Gonzalez, 37. But Lanzs past brushes with the law, and neighbors' accounts of recent menacing behavior, appear to suggest the violence was more likely the act of a troubled, violence-prone individual than part of a broader conspiracy.

I wish there was a better way to address those mental health issues that people have, said Phillip Brent, who shared a backyard fence with Lanz in Georgia and describes repeated harassment directed at himself and his then-fiancee. It feels like it was just a clear failure of our system to help someone out who needed that help.

The FBI on Wednesday said the burst of violence began around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday when Lanz exited a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center and stabbed Gonzalez without provocation. The two struggled and Lanz shot himself with Gonzalez's weapon. Other officers engaged the subject, who ultimately died at the scene, the FBI said.

The attack temporarily placed the U.S. military headquarters on lockdown and rattled the nerves of a region already primed to be on high alert for violence and potential intruders outside federal government buildings, particularly after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency described Gonzalez on Wednesday as a die-hard" New York Yankees fan and an Army veteran who served in Iraq and joined the police force in 2018. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said flags at the Pentagon would be flown at half-staff while the White House saluted Gonzalez as having lost his life protecting those who protect the nation.

Meanwhile, investigators were continuing to examine Lanzs background, including his criminal history, jail records, financial information and any online accounts, in search of a motive, a law enforcement official said.

Officials did not reveal why Lanz picked the Pentagon area for violence. Lanz had enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2012 but was administratively separated less than a month later and never earned the title Marine, the Corps said.

One episode of likely interest to investigators is an April arrest in Cobb County, Georgia, in which Lanz was accused of breaking into Brent's home in the Atlanta suburb of Acworth in the middle of the night with what police said appeared to be a crowbar.

He was recorded on video by the security system roaming the house for 13 minutes and turned on all the lights, which police said indicated that he'd been searching through the residence for something or someone. He left without taking anything, according to arrest reports and court filings.

Lanz was arrested and booked on charges of burglary and trespassing charges. When informed he was being charged, Lanz objected, saying, but I didnt take anything, the arrest report said. He then made statements to a police officer about how planes had been flying over the neighborhood and tracking his cellphone.

While being processed at the county jail, Lanz, who was listed as 6 feet, 3 inches (1.9 meters) tall and roughly 190 pounds (86 kilograms), is alleged to have attacked two sheriffs deputies in the intake area without provocation, including one who sustained a chipped bone and torn ligament in her knee. After he was restrained, Lanz reportedly accused the officers of being gay for teaming up on him and asked to be uncuffed so he could fight them one-on-one.

A judge reduced his bond in May to $30,000 and released him, imposing some conditions, including that he not take illegal drugs, that he undergo a mental health evaluation and that he not possess a firearm. The charges against him are still listed as pending.

A spokesperson for the Cobb County Sheriffs Office confirmed that Lanz had been held at the agencys detention center but referred all other questions to the FBI.

An attorney who represented Lanz in the Georgia cases didnt immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Messages left with family members at Lanzs home in Acworth were not immediately returned.

The April break-in was the culmination of a lengthy harassment campaign that involved sexually explicit and vaguely threatening messages that Lanz was caught on surveillance camera slipping into the mailbox of the neighboring home where Brent and his then-fiancee lived, Brent said.

The harassment briefly stopped after the police, presented with the video footage, confronted Lanz with a warning, Brent said.

But it later resumed, including in the form of a massive cardboard sign that was duct-taped on Brent's front door and said, cryptically, on one side: I'm done wondering for real" and Wut is the point of that on the other.

By the time of the break-in, Brent said, he was so unnerved that he was sleeping at his sister's house. On April 24, around 4 a.m., he was alerted that the alarm company had reported a break-in at his home. He pulled up the surveillance system video camera on his phone, and I was like, oh, it's Austin.

He said Lanz broke in through the back door with a sledgehammer, opened all the blinds and rummaged through his bed. Though it is not mentioned in the police report, Lanz was also carrying a handgun, Brent said.

It was terrifying, he said.

Brent and his former fiancee, Eliza Wells, said they were frustrated with the criminal justice system, which they say failed to initially treat the harassment claims with appropriate seriousness and then permitted him to be out on bond.

Brent said he recently learned from a prosecutor that Lanz's lawyer was seeking a bond modification that would permit Lanz to travel to the Washington, D.C., area to work with his father, who did not return messages seeking comment.

It just causes me to wonder what could have been done differently to help Austin mentally and give him the actual tools and resources if he needed, instead of just letting him out on bail and allowing him to travel out of state, and that sort of stuff, Wells said.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long in Washington and Lolita C. Baldor, Matthew Barakat and Sagar Meghani in Arlington, Va., contributed to this report.
This week marks 60 years since a Houston-bound flight was highjacked by a father-and-son duo seeking refuge in Cuba.

Leon Bearden, 38 at the time, had just been paroled from prison on a bank robbery charge when he and his 16-year-old son boarded Continental Airlines flight 54 in Phoenix on Aug. 3, 1961, according to the FBI's retelling of the story. The flight went from Los Angeles to Houston, with stops in Phoenix, El Paso and San Antonio.

Midway through the flight, Bearden asked for help from a flight attendant, only to pull a gun and shove it into her chest demanding to be taken to the cockpit. That's when he demanded to be flown to Mexico, then Cuba in order to flee the country.

His plan didn't exactly pan out. When the pilots told him there wasn't enough fuel for the Cuban trip, they proceeded to land at the airport in El Paso.

FBI File

Bearden and his son held everyone on the place hostage as crews refueled the aircraft. FBI agents and other police officers eventually negotiated to get most every passenger off the plane.

Crews intentionally refueled the plane slowly to buy time for law enforcement to figure out a plan.

At the time, according to the FBI, standard procedure was to sit and wait until a situation diffused. But one thing was certain: The plane was to never get off the ground with the highjackers onboard.

When the plane was fully fueled, Bearden ordered the pilots fire up the engines. That's when the police shot out the tires on the aircraft's landing gear, making it immobile.

Bearden eventually let an FBI agent on the plane to talk things out. Police then rushed inside the cabin and arrested both.

Bearden was sentenced to life in prison on several charges while his son was imprisoned and released when he turned 21.

The highjacking was one of several in the months prior, which ultimately led to tighter restrictions and higher sentences for airborne crimes, according to the FBI.
Despite COVID-19 levels increasing in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, Gov. Greg Abbott isn't budging on his COVID-19 response in Texas.

On Wednesday, the governor reaffirmed his stance on local or state government mandating any coronavirus protocols during his speech at Asian-American Hotel Owners Association's National Convention and Trade Show in Dallas.

"One thing we've learned along the way is lockdowns are wrong during the course of the pandemic," he says. "...In Texas, there will not be any government-imposed shutdowns or mask mandates. Everyone already knows what to do. Everyone can voluntarily implement the mandates that are safest for them, their families, and their businesses."

Abbott says the state will encourage everyone to implement the safest strategies to help slow the spread of COVID-19, including making sure everyone who wants the vaccine can get one. He says that's the surest way to "end the pandemic."

The governor's remarks come a day after President Joe Biden criticized how Texas and Florida have handled the COVID-19 spike. The two states accounted for one-third of all new cases in the U.S. last week, according to White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients.

On July 29, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting schools, governments, and other jurisdictions from instituting mask mandates. The order also doesn't allow any of those agencies to require proof of vaccination.

In the speech, Abbott says the Texas economy is booming due to keeping businesses open during the pandemic. By comparison, he says Texas has a larger economy than Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Russia. Abbott joked (hopefully) shortly after that the economic boost makes him more powerful than Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

Funny.
H Scott Apley, a Dickinson city council member and member of the Texas Republican Party, has died after being hospitalized with COVID-19. He was 45.

According to his GoFundMe page, Apley admitted himself into a Galveston hospital on August 1 after experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms. He later tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator.

Apley leaves behind his wife and 5-month-old son, both of whom tested positive for COVID-19. According to his GoFundMe page, Apley's wife has not been admitted to the hospital. The page has raised more than $30,000 as of Thursday morning.

It's unclear if Apley was vaccinated. However, in social media posts, Apley rallied against vaccines and masks. On July 30, Apley shared a Facebook post that mocked COVID-19.

It read, "In 6 months, we've gone from the vax ending the pandemic to you can still get Covid even if vaxxed, to you can pass Covid onto others even if vaxxed, to you can still die of Covid even if vaxxed, to the unvaxxed are killing the vaxxed."

On May 15, Apley published a Facebook post about a "mask burning" party 900 miles away in Cincinnati. "I wished I lived in the area," he said in the post.

In a Facebook post, the Galveston County Republican Party shared the following statement regarding Apley's death.

"On behalf of the Galveston County Republican Party, I wish to express our deep sense of loss following the passing of our friend and colleague  Scott Apley. This indeed is a tragedy; it is magnified by his youth, his young family especially his very young son. Our hearts mourn for him and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Melissa and their families. Scott was a hard worker; and deeply committed to the betterment of his community, including his activities with the Republican Party. He was an advocate for liberty, limited government and the highest ideals of American Exceptionalism. We will celebrate his life and be thankful for his contributions to Galveston County, Texas, and our Nation. Rest in peace, my friend."

Apley was elected to the city council Position No. 1 in November 2020 when he bested Trey Rusk for the seat, according to the Galveston Daily News. He previously had run unsuccessfully for Position No. 6 in 2019.
Jessica Cisneros is again mounting a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, following their bruising 2020 battle where she came within 4 percentage points of unseating the incumbent.

I think a lot of folks saw themselves reflected in the campaign last cycle, and even though we did come up a little bit short, I feel like a lot of South Texans were left with hope because we asked them to envision something that was almost impossible  or what people said was impossible  last time around, Cisneros said in an interview.

Cisneros, a Laredo attorney, took on Cuellar in the 2020 primary in a race that targeted his reputation as one of the most moderate Democrats in the House. Cisneros branded Cuellar as Trumps favorite Democrat and attracted massive national attention, money and support from some of the biggest names in progressive politics like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.

Cisneros said the coronavirus pandemic has only amplified the case against Cuellar, saying he did not step up in the way that we wanted him to to meet the moment to advocate for bold policies that would help South Texas. In a launch video, she provided a fresh list of criticisms of Cuellars time in office since the last primary, including his work with Republicans on border legislation and the fact he was the only Democrat to vote against a sweeping overhaul of labor laws. She also criticized his help in securing $500,000 worth of coronavirus tests for Laredo that turned out to be unreliable.

You would think that coming so close to losing his seat was a wake-up call, but it wasnt, Cisneros said in the interview.

Cuellars campaign confirmed that the congressman, who has served since 2005, will seek another term in 2022  and expressed confidence that voters would once more pick the more experienced incumbent over Cisneros.

We beat her handily last time, spokesperson Colin Stother said, and well beat her by an even larger margin this time.

Cisneros is launching her campaign again with the support of Justice Democrats, the national progressive group that recruited her for the 2020 race, when she was a 26-year-old first-time candidate. Back then, she said, she could definitely say there was a bit of a learning curve that I was able to overcome, and Im really excited to know that were not starting from scratch this time around.

This time around, though, other dynamics of the race could be different, starting with redistricting, which is likely to change the boundaries of the 28th District prior to the primary. Cisneros said that if the lines change, she is really confident in our campaign ... to be able to adapt to whatever gets thrown our way.

Also, Cisneros will not have a direct matchup with Cuellar  a newcomer, Tannya Benavides of Laredo, announced in June that she was challenging the incumbent in the primary.

The district is also now a target of national Republicans who are looking to capitalize on President Joe Bidens underperformance in South Texas last year. Biden carried the traditionally blue 28th District by only 4 percentage points.

Cisneros said she worked to get out the vote for Biden and saw the realignment coming, but the numbers were nonetheless shocking to see. Still, she expressed confidence that the policies that fuel her campaign  like Medicare for All  cut across the ideological and partisan lines that may have shifted last year.

Cisneros said she would be a much better partner than Henry Cuellar in working with the Biden administration to deliver for South Texans. She pointed to his scrutiny of the Biden administrations response to influx of migrants at the Mexican border, saying Cuellar decides to play it up for political theater and try to criticize the Biden administration on these issues when you could talk to me if you actually want to address the overinflated numbers of migrants that we are seeing on the border.

Cisneros is an immigration attorney, and since the 2020 primary, she has worked at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Service in Laredo, according to her campaign.

This time, Cuellars team is preparing to take on Cisneros more aggressively, with Strother, the campaign spokesperson, saying she kind of got a free pass in their last matchup.

Were not gonna put up with it this time, Strother said. Shes gonna find out what South Texas politics is really like.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Yves here. This isnt the first savaging of Big Pharma profiteering, and sadly, because no one see fit to stop it, it wont be the last. But the public needs to call out the costs of this greed every time it can.

And my goodness, I was going to run this post based on its headline and opening paras when I see a very nice shout out! What a pleasant surprise!

By Jag Bhalla, a writer and entrepreneur. Originally published at Undark

Greed just save the day? Thats what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed recently. The reason we have the vaccine success, he said in a private call to Conservative members of Parliament, is because of capitalism, because of greed.

Despite later backpedaling, Johnsons remark reflects a widely influential but wildly incoherent view of innovation: that greed  the unfettered pursuit of profit above all else  is a necessary driver of technological progress. Call it the need-greed theory.

Among the pandemics many lessons, however, is that greed can easily work against the common good. We rightly celebrate the near-miraculous development of effective vaccines, which have been widely deployed in rich nations. But the global picture reveals not even a semblance of justice: As of May, low-income nations received just 0.3 percent of the global vaccine supply. At this rate it would take 57 years for them to achieve full vaccination.

This disparity has been dubbed vaccine apartheid, and its exacerbated by greed. A year after the launch of the World Health Organizations Covid-19 Technology Access Pool  a program aimed at encouraging the collaborative exchange of intellectual property, knowledge, and data  not a single company has donated its technical knowhow, wrote politicians from India, Kenya, and Bolivia in a June essay for The Guardian. As of that month, the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative, a vaccine sharing scheme established to provide developing countries equitable access, had delivered only about 90 million out of a promised 2 billion doses. Currently, pharmaceutical companies, lobbyists, and conservative lawmakers continue to oppose proposals for patent waivers that would allow local drug makers to manufacture the vaccines without legal jeopardy. They claim the waivers would slow down existing production, foster the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines, and, as North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr said, undermine the very innovation we are relying on to bring this pandemic to an end.

All these views echo the idea that patents and high drug prices are necessary motivators for biomedical innovation. But examine that logic closely, and it quickly begins to fall apart.

A great deal of difficult, innovative work is done in industries and fields that lack patents. Has the lack of patent protections for recipes led to any dearth of innovation in restaurants? An irritating irony here is that economists who espouse the need-greed theory themselves innovate for comparative peanuts. For instance, in 2018, the median compensation for economists was about $104,000. The typical pharmaceutical CEO, meanwhile, earned a whopping $5.7 million in total compensation that year. (The hands-on innovators arent the need-greeders here; the median compensation for pharmaceutical employees  including benefits  was about $177,000 in 2018.) Even in Silicon Valley, writes ever-astute technology insider Tim OReilly, the notion that entrepreneurs will stop innovating if they arent rewarded with billions is a pernicious fantasy.

To be sure, it was not greed but rather a vast collaborative effort  funded largely with public dollars  that generated effective coronavirus vaccines. The technology behind mRNA vaccines such as those produced by Pfizer and Moderna took decades of work by University of Pennsylvania scientists youve likely never heard of. According to The New York Times, one of those scientists, Katalin Kariko, never made more than $60,000 a year while doing her innovative foundational research. The researchers at Oxford University who developed the technology behind AstraZenecas vaccine, which was mostly publicly funded, initially set out with the intention of non-exclusive, royalty-free licensing for their vaccine. Only after pressure from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation did they renege and license the technology solely to AstraZeneca.

It was astonishing, then, when Pascal Soriot, AstraZenecas CEO, said that intellectual property, or IP, is a fundamental part of our industry and if you dont protect IP, then essentially there is no incentive for anybody to innovate. The Oxford scientists whose work AstraZeneca licensed literally just innovated without the incentives Soriot claimed are essential. Why do journalists present need-greeder claims, such as Soriots, without holding the specific role of profit seeking to account?

Its no secret that innovators (and people generally) often arent necessarily greed-driven. For instance, as Walter Isaacson notes in his book about superstar biochemist Jennifer Doudnas work on Crispr gene manipulation technology, she was never motivated primarily by money. In fact, he reports that corporate maneuvering over her work made her physically ill. Countless cases like hers show that innovations in science and technology typically arent the result of genius lightning strikes but rather of field-wide efforts with multiple teams circling the same goal. If anyone withdraws for lack of greed-gratifying incentives, no problem: Theyre welcome to write themselves out of history. Others will gladly grasp the glory. And we, the public, lose nothing.

Perhaps Soriot meant, more generally, that reduced revenues would cut AstraZenecas overall research and development (R&D) spending. But even that claim is detectably dubious. When drug makers claim that high prices are essential for innovation, they are flat out lying financial expert Yves Smith wrote in 2019. Smith cited data published with the Institute for New Economic Thinking showing that, between 2009 and 2018, 18 drug makers listed in the S&P 500 spent 14 percent more on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on R&D. These companies could easily ramp up investments in innovative drugs, the authors wrote, simply by reining in distributions to shareholders. (Dont forget that share buybacks were effectively classified as illegal market manipulation until the Securities and Exchange Commission, under Reagan, relaxed the rules in 1982.)

Of the money that drug companies do invest in R&D, a significant amount for many goes not toward innovative research but to finding ways to suppress generic and biosimilar competition while continuing to raise prices, according to a recent report from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform. In these cases, executive and investor greed demonstrably impede innovation. A recent Congressional hearing dramatized this issue when Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat, grilled the CEO of AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company which she said spent $2.45 billion on research and development, $4.71 billion a year on marketing and advertising, and $50 billion on shareholder payoutsbetween 2013 and 2018. She characterized the idea that R&D justified astronomical prices as the Big Pharma fairy tale.

Even if greed makes sense for some for-profit ventures, it would be unwise for us to rely only on for-profit enterprise to harness innovation for social goals. There are many things that we must do whether they are profitable or not, and the horrific fiasco over vaccine patents has shown us that biotech executives and other members of the thinkerati are not above putting profits ahead of saving lives. As White House adviser Anthony Fauci noted to the Hill earlier this year, America has a moral obligation to make sure that the rest of the world does not suffer and die from something that we can help to prevent. Our government is failing in its duty to act in the public interest if it allows your money or your life to pass as an acceptable business model.

As an open letter signed by more than a hundred intellectual property scholars recently stated, IP rights (which includes patents) are not, and have never been, absolute rights and are granted and recognized under the condition that they serve the public interest. The scholars noted precedents like last years use of the Defense Production Act to increase production of medical supplies, and the U.S.s commandeering of penicillin production during World War II. If Covid-19 vaccine makers refuse to make life-saving technology publicly available, governments should enact mandatory licensing or similar measures.

There are also compelling reasons to develop a standing, publicly operated rapid-response vaccine manufacturing capability. Pfizers CFO suggested that prices on vaccines will go up once we are out of the pandemic-pricing environment, noting that the company can charge nearly nine times more than they have been ($150, $175 per dose, the CFO said, versus the $19.50 Pfizer is charging the U.S. in one supply deal). Even if those who havent received a single dose of the vaccine never do, that could mean roughly a $30 billion bonanza from U.S. booster shots alone. Patient advocates estimate that it would cost just $4 billion for the U.S. to set up a public-private operation capable of manufacturing enough mRNA vaccines to immunize the whole planet, with each shot costing $2. This would be a great way for America to show global leadership, and would surely be way cheaper, both individually and collectively, than being annually Pfizered. Plus, the usefulness of such a facility would long outlast the current pandemic, with climate change making zoonotic spillover events more likely (not to mention the risks of weaponized viruses). Covid-19 was our starter pandemic, as Ed Yong usefully dubbed it.

If greed-driven companies fail to exercise their powers responsibly, they should face competition from the public sector. President Biden let the cat out of the bag when he said that capitalism without competition isnt capitalism; its exploitation. While many people applauded his sentiment, stop and think about the implication: The president was, in essence, saying that we expect corporations to exploit us if given half a chance.

We pay a huge price in blood and treasure when we give the need-greeders free rein to lie to and exploit the public with impunity. We must be clear-eyed about exactly when greed can help our collective interests and when it hinders them. During a crisis as dire as a global pandemic, greed wont save us.
Yves here. As if lower commodity prices were a bad thingAnd lumber prices have already started to soften. Too many forget that the then less hefty China was a big driver of the 2007-2008 commodities boom and bust.

By Tsvetana Paraskova, a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. Originally published at OilPrice

One of the biggest drivers of the surge in metals prices this year, the worlds top commodity consumer China, is showing signs of a slowdown in demand, which could drag down copper and iron ore prices for the rest of the year after a blistering rally in the first half.

Chinese factory activity growth slowed down to the smallest in 15 months, imports of copper and iron ore are also slowing down amid surging prices and curbs in Chinas steel manufacturing, while authorities are releasing metals stocks from reserves to cool rallying prices which raise manufacturing costs.

All these factors from the past few weeks are bearish for the Chinese demandand as a result, importsof metals such as iron ore, copper, zinc, and aluminum, Reuters columnist Clyde Russell notes.

Although analysts say that slower Chinese demand doesnt necessarily mean lower commodity prices, because of tight global markets, China may not be a key driver of metals demand through the end of 2021. Thats because of slowing factory growth, authority-mandated caps on steel manufacturing, and the release of tons of metals from Chinas reserves.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showedthis week that Chinese factory growth was at its slowest in July in 15 months, also because of high raw material prices, especially for industrial metals.

At the same time, Chinas imports of iron ore, the key material for steel manufacturing, fell in June to the lowest in 13 months, slipping by 0.4 percent from May and by 12.1 percent from June 2020.

China moved to cap steel production and steel exports this year as part of its pledge to reduce emissions. Chinese authorities have implemented a policy to keep steel output flat at 2020 levels.

Following a 12-percent jump in steel production in the first half of the year, this policy means that Chinese steel manufacturing will likely drop in the second half of the year, dragging down demand for iron ore, too, analysts tell Global Times.

Cutting production is the main theme for the entire steel industry for the rest of the year not only because of environmental goals but also the unsustainability for firms to produce so much steel when the cost is so high, a steel industry insider told the Global Times this week.

China steel mills restrictions could result in around 75 million tonnes less iron ore demand in the second half, analysts at UBS said in a July note carried by Reuters.

The curbs on steel production in China have already resulted in lower iron ore prices.

Chinas copper imports have also slowed down in recent months, customs data shows. But copper scrap imports have been surging, doubling in the first half of 2021, according to metals intelligence firm Roskill.

As manufacturers replace the more expensive refined copper with scrap, This would unquestionable result in a decline in Chinese refined consumption in 2021- a hugely negative factor for world copper prices to surmount, despite the evident recovery in demand in the Rest of World, Roskill saidlast week.

Watch out copper. A great wall of scrap is still heading in Chinas direction, the intelligence firm said.

Copper prices could also drop because of Chinese sales of tons of metals, including copper, from state reserves.

Chinese policymakers are committed to curbing any excessive gains in commodity prices, which may deter some financial investors from re-entering the market, especially considering the uncertainties in the broader market as the Fed moves to taper asset purchases, Wenyu Yao, Senior Commodities Strategist at ING, wrote in a July 20 note.

For copper prices, [W]e may end up drifting around somewhat blindly this summer before further downside risks emerge in late 3Q21 and 4Q, Yao added.

Demand across most commodities in China is expected to slow down in the second half of 2021, Wood Mackenzie said in a new monthly China Economic Focus report last week.

Chinas economy is expected to slow down in H2 2021. Slower export growth, rising commodity prices, lacklustre infrastructure investment and expiring subsidies will all drag down the countrys GDP growth. As a result, we should see a deceleration of commodities demand in China, Wood Mackenzie senior economist Yanting Zhou said.
Yves here. Its going to be instructive, and if we are lucky, entertaining, to watch the walls close in on Andrew Cuomo.

Recall that when the story broke that Eliot Spitzer had been patronizing high end prostitutes, his resignation was effective seven days later. Cuomo is still oddly feared even though the Democratic party from top to bottom has turned on him. The attorney general Letitia James is still being awfully coy as to whether she will prosecute, despite publishing a damning 168 page investigation prepared by two outside law firms. I suppose the power players have to give Cuomo the chance to walk out with some semblance of dignity intact, but hes such a street thug that no one expects him to do that.

Hes clearly impossibly damaged as a candidate for 2022. So the next question is whether the legislature will go to the effort of impeaching him. As this post lays out, one reason they might it that once the Assembly approves an impeachment resolution, the lieutenant governor takes over.

By Josefa Velasquez (jvelasquez@thecity.nyc). Originally published at THE CITY on August 4, 2021

Facing calls to resign and a bombshell report of sexual misconduct, Cuomo could become the second governor in New Yorks history to face impeachment. Heres what you need to know about a process that hasnt been used in over a century.

The New York State Capitol Building in Albany. Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is bucking demands for his resignation, even as President Joe Biden leads calls for him to step down following a scathing report that found he sexually harassed 11 women.

If Cuomo doesnt resign  he and his aides have privately said he wont  the 63-year-old, three-term Democrat faces impeachment in the state Legislature.

The Assembly, authorized to draw up articles of impeachment, and the Senate, empowered to hold a trial, are readying to begin a voyage that New York has only taken once before. More than a century ago, Gov. William Sulzer was impeached and removed from office over charges he lied about campaign finance violations and used threats to suppress evidence.

With no modern precedent to rely on, the Democratic-controlled Legislature has little guidance other than whats spelled out in the state Constitution. One thing seems likely: The process could drag into the fall.

Heres what we know  and dont know  about how impeachment would work in New York:

Whats the First Step?

Much like the path the U.S. Congress follows to impeach a president, the process starts in the lower house  in this case the New York State Assembly. In order to pass articles of impeachment, the 150-member chamber needs to approve a resolution by a simple majority vote: at least 76 members in favor.

Democrats control 106 seats in the Assembly, while Republicans hold 43 and one seat is independent.

If They Just Need a Simple Majority Vote, Whats the Hold Up?

The state Constitution doesnt spell out what sort of conduct may constitute an impeachable offense  leaving it up to the Assembly to identify grounds.

In March, shortly after state Attorney General Letitia James launched an independent investigation into reports of sexual harassment by the governor, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie asked the Assemblys Judiciary Committee, to identify any basis for taking action on Cuomo.<

That probe, headed by Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Nassau County), is looking not only into sexual harassment and related alleged transgressions by the governor and his team. Also being examined: Cuomos handling of nursing home deaths at the height of the pandemic; reports he used state staff to help write a $5.1 million COVID-year memoir; and the safety of the reconstructed Tappan Zee Bridge.

The Judiciary Committee has a previously scheduled meeting slated for Monday, and the committees investigation is expected to wrap up within weeks. With a committee report or recommendations in hand, the Assembly could proceed to draw up articles of impeachment. That might take several weeks.

If the Assembly Votes to Impeach Cuomo, Then What?

Then the case goes to the High Court of Impeachment, the majority of which consists of all sitting members in the 63-seat Senate  with the exception of the senate majority leader.

Also serving on the High Court of Impeachment would be the seven members of New Yorks highest court, the Court of Appeals, all of whom were appointed by Cuomo.

The 69-member body would serve as jurors during the trial. The Senate is required by law to wait at least 30 days after receiving the articles of impeachment to summon the High Court to meet in Albany.

Isnt the Majority Leader Included in the High Court?

The Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), is second in the line of succession and could be asked to discharge the duties of the lieutenant governor if the current governor is removed. Given her role, the state Constitution doesnt allow her a vote because it could be a conflict of interest.

What Happens When an Impeachment Trial Starts?

As soon as the Assembly approves the impeachment resolution, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would automatically become acting governor while the trial is ongoing.

Because New York has only done this once before, theres a lot we dont know. Jurors would be required to take an oath or affirmation truly and impartially to try the impeachment according to the evidence. According to state law, no member of the High Court can act or vote on impeachment without having taken the oath.

The High Court will vote to set the procedural rules of the court, which only require a simple majority to pass. Those rules will dictate whether witnesses can be called and how evidence will be presented, among other items. The Assembly will also appoint impeachment managers to present the case for impeachment to the jury, which could be anyone, but will likely be members of the Legislature.

Is This Like Any Other Trial?

Sort of. Like any other trial, each side will likely present evidence and possibly call witnesses, but its hard to say how it might go. The governor would be allowed to retain his own lawyers to represent him in the trial.

Will Cuomo Have to Testify?

He might. The Senate has the power to ask him to testify. He could decline to testify, as Sulzer did during his impeachment trial.

How Long Will a Trial Take?

Depends. Could be days, weeks or months. It took the Legislature two months from the moment it began the impeachment process against Sulzer in the summer of 1913 to his removal in October 1913. The Senate trial lasted a month.

What Happens Then?

If two-thirds of the jurors, 46 members of the High Court, vote to convict, the governor would be removed from office. A sentencing vote requires a simple majority and can prohibit the governor from running for statewide office again in New York. Hochul would become the governor and have the power to appoint a new lieutenant governor. Hochul would remain governor through the rest of Cuomos term.

This story was originally published by THE CITY, an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.
Why whales in Alaska have been so happy BBC

Vasya the cat chases away a brown bear in the woods of Eastern Siberia Siberian Times (furzy)

Off-the-grid man jailed for refusing to vacate the cabin hes lived in for 27 years Guardian (resilc)

Oldest example of applied geometry is discovered on a 3,700-year-old clay tablet Daily Mail (BC)

Future Space Travel Might Require Mushrooms Scientific American (guurst)

Theres a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico this summer thats bigger than Connecticut USA Today (resilc)

Summer Temperature Anomaly Distribution Berkeley Earth (David L)

Athletes Break Down Under Extreme Heat at the Olympics Gizmodo (Kevin W)

U.S. Forest Service modifies disputed let it burn policy Los Angeles Times (Kevin W)

Cargo bikes deliver faster and cleaner than vans, study finds Guardian (AE90)

Biochar: The waste product that could help mitigate climate change PhyOrg

Meet Surfsides Disaster-Data Forensic Sleuths IEEE Spectrum (resilc)

Poison hemlock spreads across US parks, gardens: Beware of toxic plant USA Today (furzy)

#COVID-19

Study Finds Falsehoods About Delta Variant May Spread Twice As Easily As Original Covid Misinformation The Onion

US to require foreign travelers to be vaccinated when restrictions lift The Hill

Science/Medicine

China?

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

Biden

Shock poll shows Gavin Newsom losing recall vote by double digits SFGate

Andrew Cuomo Didnt Act Alone His inner circle enabled him. They should go down with their leader. New York Magazine (AE90)

GOP Clown Car

Cuomo Increasingly Desperate To Shift Focus Back Onto Nursing Home Deaths The Onion

Rare bid to repeal war resolution advanced by U.S. Senate committee Reuters (resilc)

The Voters Who Could Turn California Red Atlantic (resilc)

Our Famously Free Press

Rebirth of a Nation: US History According to DW Griffith CounterPunch

CenturyLink selling copper network in 20 states instead of installing fiber ars technica

Judge denies Elizabeth Holmes request to suppress patient complaints about Theranos CNBC (Kevin W). We said you could stick a fork in her when the judge ruled that superlawyer David Boies did not have attorney-client privilege with respect to Holmes (his client was Theranos, not Holmes personally). This only adds to how bad her prospects are. Hurrah!

Another reminder that you do get something for your tax dollars in the Communist State of New York:

The most anyone can be subject to involuntary psych detention (this includes drunk tank incidents) is 72 hours. To be held longer, you have to be deemed by two doctors to be a danger to yourself or others. I know of Stage 4 alcoholics who have been released.

The Two Economists Who Fought Over How Free the Free Market Should Be New York Times (resilc)

Shipping Container Crisis Could Derail Holiday Toy Sales Forbes

George Soros right-hand man was accused of BDSM assaults in his sex dungeon New York Post. Not my class at HBS but I know people in that class who knew both Howie and Mary. More generally, there is a lot of BDSM on Wall Street, but most who play that way know the rulesas in a Cut it out word that is taken seriously.

Nuding Out The Baffler. Chuck L: Perhaps nudism could spark a resurgence of interest in socialism and social democracy in the 21st century USA as it did in Weimar Germany.

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. The is Bliss, whose human servants are Bob H and Janet. I am not clear as to whether Bliss artfully chose to pose near flattering artwork, or whether the artwork was chosen to compliment Bliss.

And a bonus (Jim D):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
(Natural News) A staff member from The Kings School in Sydney, Australia was suspended after it was discovered that he attended anti-lockdown protests during the weekend. The schools headmaster, Tony George, said that it was disappointing to see individuals breach public health orders since many people had been working to get out of Australias lockdowns.

It has come to the attention of the school that a member of staff attended the protest rally in Sydney on Saturday 24 July  Consequently, the matter has been reported to Police by the School, and the staff member has been suspended from duties, George said in a letter to staff.

It is the mark of civil society that we should be able to engage in healthy debate and respect each others views, the letter continued. But this must be in a safe, lawful and respectful manner, at all times.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that she was heartbroken after seeing the protesters breaching health orders, adding that she found it absolutely disgusting.

Some also pointed out the possibility that the protest could turn into a superspreader event. However, it could take a few days for symptoms to materialize. (Related: New South Wales premier upholds construction ban as part of two-week lockdown in Greater Sydney.)

Staff member says media was creating a narrative

The staff member was said to have written on his Facebook account that the media focused its reporting on a handful of non-representative grubs in order to create their own narrative.

This is me standing up for what I believe in rather than being a keyboard warrior, a pacifist, or worse, a coward in my own mind. I live with me in the mirror, he wrote.

I do not believe in living in fear. I do not believe the propaganda. I do not believe in unjust house arrest  I stand for all students. I stand for all those families who are stranded, isolated and suffering . I stand for freedom. I love you, he continued.

The post, however, has been deleted.

NSW set up police task force to identify protesters

New South Wales police set up a task force focused on identifying and fining protesters participating in Sydney rallies  the number of which are in the thousands.

This task force is combing through social media, CCTV feeds, and police cameras to help them identify participants in rallies. So far, they have received over 11,000 tip-offs from the public.

While rallies and protests fall under the freedom of speech and expression, these were deemed to have violated public health orders issued by the government.

Because of the protests, Central Sydney shut down for several hours as thousands protested the lockdowns. So far, the police were able to charge 58 individuals, with 135 more who were fined.

The Greater Sydney area underwent a five-week lockdown due to the COVID-19 delta variant update. On July 28, the lockdown was extended for another four weeks, with the government citing low vaccination rates and the spread of infections.

Because of this, the government, health officials and police have drawn a hard line against protests, with the NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller vowing to heavily police future events.

We will take the ground very early, he said. You will be arrested and prosecuted. The community has spoken about that behavior, the Premier has spoken about that behavior, and it wont be tolerated again.

The commissioner also said that while there are no legal ways to prevent a second gathering, they are prepared to respond to the protests. There are no organizers that we can take to the Supreme Court to stop the protests happening, which means theyre a bunch of anarchists, he said.

Get more COVID-19 news and updates at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

ABC.net.au
(Natural News) Multiple towns in California, stricken by relentless drought conditions and government mismanagement of scarce resources, are just about out of water as they scramble for solutions.

City leaders in Fort Bragg, located on the Mendocino Coast, are rushing to install a new emergency desalination plant. In Healdsburg, government officials have banned lawn watering. In Hornbrook, the faucets have already run dry and people are having to drive 15 minutes away just to wash their clothes or take a shower.

Things are dire, in other words  with no end in sight. And all the while, California water management bureaucrats are draining the states reservoirs into the ocean to supposedly protect an endangered delta smelt.

This perfect storm of no rain, horrible politicians, and water-hungry crops and consumers threatens to leave parts of the Golden State dry as a bone. Think new dust bowl, except this time on the West Coast.

According to reports, it is not just small towns and rural hamlets that are struggling to find precious moisture. Larger towns with their own reservoirs and water departments are also in trouble as water systems run dry.

As the state struggles with its worst drought since at least 1977, no one has a complete list of which of the states 7,500 public water systems are facing the most severe shortages, reports The Mercury News.

How did California so horribly mismanage its water supplies?

The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in Sacramento announced back in May that things would get worse by the end of August  and here we are with critical water supply systems throughout California running dry (at the beginning of August).

This is going to be a long, hot, dry summer, warned Dan Newton, assistant deputy director of the boards Division of Drinking Water. Throw fires in on top of that with stressed water systems and it is going to be really difficult for some systems to survive.

The SWRCB says that at least 81 water systems serving around 132,559 people are now at risk. And many more could join them if things do not turn around somehow, and soon.

Newton says his board is planning to implement stricter measures to conserve dwindling water supplies and hopefully avoid a catastrophe. The state will probably not stop dumping freshwater into the ocean for the delta smelt, of course, but residents will be expected to let their lawns dry and wear dirty clothes  things like that.

In some areas, it is possible for emergency wells to be drilled to bring up water deep below in the water table. The problem is that California has only designated about $10 million for such projects, which is not enough to help every community in need.

Sadly, many local residents in affected communities have no idea that there are even any water problems  or that they are as severe as they appear to be. California clearly should have invested a whole lot more many decades ago into better water infrastructure, but that ship has sailed and now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Its extremely serious, warns Fort Bragg Mayor Bernie Norvell. Ive lived here all my life, 51 years, and I havent seen anything like this. Were hoping we can limp along until this thing gets here, he added about water trucks that the city has ordered to bring in emergency water.

Restaurants need to be using paper plates, demands Megan Caron, a local vintage shop owner who also says that hotels should not be allowing guests to run spas or take baths. People shouldnt be watering lawns. Its alarming.

The latest news about Californias water shortage problems can be found at CaliforniaCollapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

Archive.is

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) High metal prices may be good for miners, but they could delay the global transition to clean energy.

In its recent report titled The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said the surge in demand for minerals used in solar panels, wind turbines and batteries is straining supplies, sending prices soaring.

In particular, raw materials used in batteries are expected to garner the biggest surge in demand. For instance, the demand for lithium, an anode material in batteries, could grow over 40 times if countries want to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on so-called climate change.

Furthermore, the report emphasized that a lack of investment in new mines could further increase the costs of producing clean energy technologies. Meeting the climate goals will turbocharge demand for critical minerals, explained Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA.

Birol added that global efforts to transition to clean energy could definitely slow due to rising costs of minerals. Moreover, he warned that higher metal prices could outweigh any cost reductions achieved by increased production in clean energy technologies.

For instance, if the prices for lithium and nickel double, the cost of producing lithium batteries for electric cars could increase by up to six percent. Sales of electric cars worldwide are steadily increasing. But critical minerals need to be affordable if automakers are to keep selling these cars at affordable prices.

Copper prices, which hit a 10-year high of more than $10,000 last week, could also add half a trillion dollars to the costs of reaching climate goals in the next two decades.

According to Birol, the challenges posed by increasing metal prices are not insurmountable. That said, governments should give signals about how they plan to follow through on their climate pledges.

Critical minerals are key to energy security globally

The market price for copper, which is used in making electrical wires, rose 80 percent since last March, hitting a nine-year high. Nickel prices have also remained consistently high for over 17 months. Cobalt, which is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries, is trading close to two-year peaks.

Meanwhile, the price of iron ore, which is used to make steel, rose 85 percent, reaching highs not seen in almost a decade.

Experts suggest that the extended boom in the prices of raw materials could usher in the next supercycle. Supercycles are decade-long periods in which commodities sell above their long-term price trends. There have been only four supercycles in the past century.

But a supercycle is not enough. Investors are still not investing enough in new mines, which would need about 16 years to go from discovery to the first production. So in order to keep up with the increasing demand for minerals, investors need to start investing in new mines now, the IEA wrote.

Birol suggests that the lack of new investments could mean investors arent convinced governments are taking their climate goals seriously. There is not strong enough and clear enough signals given by policymakers about the speed and determination of the energy transition.

However, critical minerals, such as iron, nickel and copper, have become key to countries energy security. Birol said countries should consider stockpiling on certain critical minerals to protect themselves from an unexpected shortage if investments in new mines dont pick up. (Related: World rapidly running out of rare minerals needed to manufacture cell phones and mobile devices.)

This kind of strategic stockpiling would be helpful, especially for minerals with few suppliers. For instance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country in sub-Saharan Africa, produces more than 60 percent of the worlds supplies of cobalt.

Learn more about how high metal prices could affect different industries at MarketCrash.news.

Sources include:

FT.com

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) (Op-ed) Leana Wen, a baby murderer who used to receive a paycheck from Planned Parenthood as one of its top executives, is back in the news for calling on the government to issue new mandates for Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines.

While Wen was formerly devoted to terminating unborn life, she now apparently wants to see humans of all ages be exterminated for their own safety through Chinese Virus injections, telling CNN that she believes the alleged threat of the so-called delta variant warrants further plandemic tyranny.

Its going to be much harder, frankly, with the delta variant, and thats because the delta variant is so much more contagious, Wen told some talking-head hack at CNN. If you have a more contagious virus, youre also going to need a higher threshold of people who are vaccinated, or who have immunity in some way, in order to reach herd immunity.

When asked if she thinks it is already too late to flatten the curve and achieve herd immunity, Wen responded that the only way for it not to be too late is if the government starts to forcibly inject the American public with Trump Vaccines from Operation Warp Speed.

I dont think its too late. I do think that its time, though, for vaccine mandates, Wen said. Weve seen that the other methods that were using, including with incentives, with education and outreach  yes, they are convincing some people.

But there is a huge middle group, if you will, thats not yet moved. But we know based on polling that if there are requirements that these individuals will get vaccinated, and I think its time for us to do that in the interest of the publics health.

Leana Wen wants the government to forcibly inject you with DNA-modifying chemicals

Wen previously told CNNs Chris Fredo Cuomo during a segment that she believes the time for freedom of choice, ironically, is over. She still supports the right of women to murder their unborn children, of course  she just does not want grown adults to have the freedom to trust their own immune systems rather than science.

While vaccine lotteries and other gimmicks worked on some Americans, the remaining holdouts are not as easily swayed to sell their souls for a proverbial bowl of soup. So, in order to deal with them, Wen wants force and violence since that is all she knows from her baby murdering days at Planned Parenthood.

I think the CDC and Biden [regime] needs [sic] to come out a lot bolder and say, if you are vaccinated, you can do all these things,' Wen told Fredo. Here are all these freedoms you have.

Because otherwise, people are going to go out and enjoy these freedoms anyway, and I fear a situation of coming into the fall where we never reach herd immunity, and then we get hit by the next surge of Covid-19 in the fall. Something we could have prevented if we just got people vaccinated now.

Wen is a dangerous medical terrorist, in other words, whose communist Chinese leanings threaten to upend the freedoms and liberties that generations of Americans have held dear. She wants crimes against humanity to be committed in the name of vaccine compliance, and CNN is complicit by giving her airtime to propose such tyranny.

Chicom-born, genocidal suspect Leana Sheryle Wen, born alias Wen Linyan, is a former CT Matriarch Health Commissioner for the Communist City of Baltimore, Md. and the former profiteering CEO of Planned Parenthood, pointed out one commenter at Citizen Free Press about Wens alleged background.

More of the latest news about war criminals against humanity can be found at Terrorism.news.

Sources for this article include:

CitizenFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Mainstream media darling Prof. Peter Hotez has published a paper in the PLoS Biology journal calling on all criticism of fake doctor Tony Fauci to be designated as a federal hate crime.

According to Hotez, federal hate crime protections need to be extended to encompass far-right extremists who refuse to obey Faucis demands that they wear a mask and get vaccinated to prevent infection and spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

Earlier in the year, Hotez published a paper in the Nature journal calling for people who refuse Trump Vaccines to be punished harshly for putting vaccinated people at risk of contracting Chinese Germs.

There is a troubling new expansion of antiscience aggression in the United States. Its arising from far-right extremism, Hotezs latest paper, entitled Mounting Antiscience Aggression In The United States, says.

A band of ultraconservative members of the U.S. Congress and other public officials with far-right leanings are waging organized and seemingly well-coordinated attacks against prominent US biological scientists. In parallel, conservative news outlets repeatedly and purposefully promote disinformation designed to portray key American scientists as enemies.

Hotez is a longtime recipient of funding from Fauci, by the way. Since at least 1993, Hotez has been taking cash from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to conduct science on behalf of the deep state.

Supporting freedom of choice with vaccines is authoritarian, says Hotez

In Hotezs opinion, peoples rejection of Fauci Flu shots is a product of Donald Trumps America First movement, which he calls a modern day authoritarian regime.

Prior to Trumps presidency, the United States functioned under America Last policies that were more to Hotezs liking. Were it not for Trump, many more brainwashed Americans would be lining right up for their DNA modification injections, Hotez contends.

The America First element of the far right focuses on nativism, anti-immigration, and a foreign policy built around strong military build-up and deterrence, and confrontation with China, Hotez writes.

A darker view links it to voter suppression, and loyalty tests to the former President that question the veracity of the 2020 Presidential election.

Even though Trump was one of the few arguing that Chinese Virus injections should be optional, despite repeatedly claiming himself to be the father of covid vaccines, Hotez says that Trump is an authoritarian who sought to concentrate power among a selected few while limiting the reach of opposition groups.

Meanwhile, Hotez is pushing for a select few bureaucrats to be afforded the power to force Wuhan Flu shots at gunpoint if necessary. This is his version of anti-authoritarianism.

Questioning anything Fauci says on any given day is a hate crime, Hotez says. And those who are guilty need to be punished for defying science.

Despite evidence pointing to spillover from a viral infection in bats to additional mammals and ultimately humans accounting for previous coronavirus epidemics, the hearings took on a sinister tone, pointing fingers at virologists both in the US and China, Hotez alleges.

Hotez also wants all criticism of EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak to be criminalized as well, claiming that Daszak has had to endure harassment and stalking by the far-right media.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) should also be punished for introducing the Fire Fauci Act, Hotez says. In his view, any attempt at unseating Fauci and restricting his power is a form of authoritarian hate that must be stamped out to prevent America First authoritarianism from gaining any stronger of a foothold.

The odd thing is, in a March 2020 podcast Hotez was talking about the danger of coronavirus vaccines, noted one of our commenters about Hotezs flip-flopping over Chinese Virus injections.

The latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) medical fascism can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheNationalPulse.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Eminent European physicians and scientists this month co-authored an expert statement regarding ComirnatyCOVID-19 mRNA vaccine for children, outlining their expert opinions that vaccination of adolescents for COVID-19 is unnecessary, claims demonstrating efficacy are misleading, and the safety profiles are catastrophic.

(Article by Mordechai Sones republished from AmericasFrontLineDoctors.org)

Authored by Former Chair, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz Prof. emiretus Sucharit Bhakdi, M.D., European registered toxicologist and immunologist and CEO of the TPI consult GmbH Prof. Dr. Stefan Hockertz, Facharzt fur medizinische Mikrobiologie und Infektionsepidemiologie, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo Prof. Dr. Med. Michael Palmer, and Facharzt fur innere Medizin-Lungen-und Bronchialkrankheiten, Facharzt fur Hygiene und Umweltmedizin, Facharzt fur offentliches Gesundheitswesen Ltd. Med. Dir. i.R. Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, the document seeks to answer three questions:

Is vaccination of adolescents against COVID-19 necessary? Is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine effective? Is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine safe?

Arguments presented in Section 1 of the study pertain to all COVID-19 vaccines, whereas those in Sections 2 and 3 apply specifically to the Pfizer vaccine.

Section 1 seeks to show that vaccinating adolescents for COVID-19 is unnecessary, because

in this age group the disease is almost always mild and benign;

for the rare clinical cases that require it, treatment is readily available;

immunity to the disease is now widespread, due to prior infection with the virus (SARS-CoV-2) or with other coronavirus strains; and

asymptomatic adolescents will not transmit the disease to other individuals who might be at greater risk of infection.

Section 2 seeks to demonstrate that the claims of efficacy that Pfizer attaches to its vaccinenamely, 95% efficacy in adults, and 100% in adolescentsare

misleading, because these numbers pertain to relative, not absolute efficacy, the latter being on the order of only 1%;

specious, because they refer to an arbitrarily defined, clinically meaningless evaluation endpoint, whereas no efficacy at all has been demonstrated against severe disease or mortality;

most likely altogether fraudulent.

Section 3 seeks to show that the safety profile of the Pfizer vaccine is catastrophically bad. It claims that

Pfizer, the EMA, and the FDA have systematically neglected evidence from preclinical animal trials that clearly pointed to grave dangers of adverse events;

the Pfizer vaccine has caused thousands of deaths within five months of its introduction;

The agencies that granted emergency use authorization for this vaccine committed grave errors and omissions in their assessments of known and possible health risks.

In a section entitled Shortcomings of commercial COVID-19 PCR tests, the authors state: Unfortunately, the number of amplification cycles (the Ct value) needed to find the genetic material in question is rarely included in the results sent to authorities, doctors and those tested. Most commercially available RT-qPCR tests set the limit of amplification cycles up to which an amplification signal should be considered positive at 35 or higher. Multiple studies have indicated that Ct values above 30 have a very low predictive value for positive virus cultures, and thus for infectiousness or the presence of acute disease [15, 2628]. Considering that in many clinical trialsincluding the ones conducted by Pfizer (see later)a COVID-19 case, or an endpoint amounts to no more than a positive PCR test, regardless of Ct value, in combination with one or a few non-specific symptoms of respiratory disease, the significance of the use of improperly high Ct cut-off values cannot be overstated.

This systematic and widespread error alone has sufficed to gravely distort the diagnoses conferred on individual patients, as well as the epidemiology of the pandemic as a whole

In summary, a positive RT-qPCR test result cannot be accepted as proof that the person in question is currently infected and infectiouseven if there is reasonable clinical plausibility of actualCOVID-19 infection, as well as a significant community prevalence of the disease.

The document examines use of inaccurate diagnostic methods, potential pitfalls of PCR in diagnostic applications, unlikely claims and contradictions in Pfizers evidence on efficacy, evidence suggesting that the Pfizer documentation contradicts itself on COVID-19 incidence after vaccination, how preclinical data from animal experiments indicate potential for grave harm, toxic and procoagulant activities of the spike protein, mechanism of vaccine uptake into the bloodstream, mechanisms of accumulation in specific organs, potential risks to fertility and to the breastfed newborn, Pfizers failure to investigate risks evident from preclinical investigations, adverse events after the onset of vaccinations, fatalities reported in connection with COVID vaccines, severe events related to disrupted blood clotting, and other severe reactions, including miscarriages and deaths among breastfed infants. They also discuss antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), where in some cases antibodies can increase disease severity, even though antibodies in principle serve to protect us from infections.

The only possible conclusion from this analysis is that the use of this vaccine in adolescents cannot be permitted, and that its ongoing use in any and all age groups ought to be stopped immediately, the authors recommend.

Read more at: AmericasFrontLineDoctors.org
(Natural News) The Covid Scam is collapsing across the entire front much like the Wehrmacht after Stalingrad. Mask mandates and lockdowns are on the comeback because health authorities now admit that the Covid vaccines do not offer effective protection, especially against what are called new variants. What is the point of a Covid passport when the vaccine does not protect and the vaccinated have to wear masks? https://www.rt.com/usa/530394-cdc-vaccinated-masks-indoors/

(Article by Paul Craig Roberts republished from PaulCraigRoberts.org)

Presstitute scum in the US falsely report that the new outbreak of Covid is among the unvaccinated young, and the push is on to vaccinate all the youth. But the facts tell a different story. In the UK, for example, new Covid cases are exploding among the fully vaccinated, rising 40 percent in one week while new covid cases among the unvaccinated are declining by 22%.

Israel is another example where the rise in Covid cases is among the vaccinated.

It is hilarious to watch vaccine defenders argue that the rise in new Covid cases among the vaccinated is proof that the vaccines work! No, I am not making this up. Here is Katelyn Jetelina: The more vaccinated a population, the more well hear of the vaccinated getting infected.

Arieh Kovler explains: Countries with high vaccination will see mostly vaccinated people getting ill from Covid. https://www.deseret.com/coronavirus/2021/7/20/22584134/whats-going-on-in-israels-outbreak-among-vaccinated-people

What they mean is that as populations become vaccinated, there is no one to catch Covid but the vaccinated.

Despite the evidence, vaccine propagandists still claim 97.5% effectiveness for the vaccines. There is no evidence whatsoever for this fanciful claim. Only an ignorant moron would make such a nonsensical claim.

Although the vaccines are useless as protection, their side effects are deadly. The European Unions database of suspected drug reaction reports covering 27 European countries, EudraVigilance, reports that as of July 17, 2021, there have been in 2021 18,928 deaths and 1,823,219 injuries associated with the Covid vaccines: https://www.globalresearch.ca/18928-dead-1-8-million-injured-50-serious-reported-in-european-unions-database-of-adverse-drug-reactions-for-covid-19-shots/5750722

The US database, VAERS, reports that as of July 9, 2021 there are 10,991 deaths and 463,457 adverse health effects associated with Covid vaccinations. A CDC whistleblower with access to the VAERS data revealed in a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that the actual number of deaths in the database is five times higher than the number released. https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2021/07/26/how-the-covid-scam-is-perpetrated/

The British database of vaccine injuries is called the Yellow Card system. In the first four months of this year, there are 888,196 adverse vaccine events and 1,253 deaths.

Considering that the adverse vaccine reporting systems are not believed to capture more than 10% of vaccine injuries and deaths, just the US and UK alone from the beginning of the year until mid-July might have experienced 22,866,760 adverse health effects and between 299,190 and 639,280 deaths from Covid vaccines. This is an outcome worst than the claims for Covid.

The presstitutes, public health bureaucrats, and stupid politicians who have crawled out on the limb do not report these massive numbers. Their excuse is that the adverse vaccine reporting systems do not claim the adverse events are caused by the vaccines, only that they are associated with vaccination. But in all previous cases, a far smaller number of associated deaths served to pull the vaccines from use. Why not this time? Clearly, there are agendas afoot that take precedence over the normal rules and public healthprofit, an increase in government power over formerly free people, and perhaps darker agendas such as the WFOs Great Reset and population control. Are these possibilities the beliefs of conspiracy theorists or are they logical conclusions from the obvious contradictions in the official Covid narrative?

Is the pandemic real?

Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control have admitted that the very basis for the alleged Covid Pandemicthe PCR testis unreliable and cannot tell the difference between flu and Covid and between infected and non-infected. The CDC has announced that it is withdrawing its request for Emergency Use Authorization of the PCR test as of December 31, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/locs/2021/07-21-2021-lab-alert-Changes_CDC_RT-PCR_SARS-CoV-2_Testing_1.html

Why is the CDC waiting four months to stop using a Covid test that immensely exaggerates the number of cases? Is the answer that as the test is run at high cycles that produce a 97% false positive rate, the CDC wants to keep the fear of massive infection hyped until all are vaccinated? As the CDC shares in Big Pharmas spoils, as does NIH, our public health authorities have serious conflicts of interests. As we live in a world in which literally everything is corrupted by money, why should be think public health is an exception?

Mathew Crawford examined the CDCs reworking of its warning system that is used to indicate when adverse events associated with vaccines hit a red flag level. https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/defining-away-vaccine-safety-signals He found that the effect of the revision was to blur the difference between safe and dangerous vaccines. In other words, the warning signal was disabled. Was this the result of incompetence or intent?

Dont expect any investigation to be made. The entirety of the political, media, and medical establishment world is wedded to the orchestrated pandemic and efficacy of the deadly vaccine. Their credibility is at stake. They cannot afford for such a thing to be acknowledged, much less investigated.

And now we have another shameful development. Eli Lilly has developed an antibody cure for Covid, and its rollout is being blocked on the grounds that it doesnt cure variants, which might be more alleged than real. https://www.wsj.com/articles/eli-lilly-covid-19-antibody-drug-shipments-paused-over-variant-concerns-11624652980 But as the establishment now admits, the vaccines dont protect against the variants. Nevertheless there is a full court press to coerce universal vaccination with the dangerous vaccinations. If the same argument employed against Eli Lillys cure is applied to the vaccines, use of the vaccines should be immediately blocked, especially with their record of devastating side effects. Moreover, the medical establishment has provided no evidence that Eli Lillys cure doesnt work with variants. It is an assertion that the presstitutes hype.

Indeed, as I keep asking, how do we know that what are called variants are not vaccine-induced illnesses? What do they call the vast reported numbers of vaccine-induced illnesses among the fully vaccinated? They dont. They hide them under the blanket.

I suspect the real reason for blocking Eli Lillys cure is that the vaccine manufacturers have more clout and do not want any diminution of their vaccine market until they have exploited Covid fears to the full. Also, I suspect that the public health authorities who violated the law by allowing emergency use of the untested vaccines on the grounds that there were no cures when there were twoHCQ and Ivermectindo not want a third cure in the picture.

The medical bureaucrat Dr. Tony Fauci, who called US Senator Rand Paul a liar for pointing out that NIH grant documents show Fauci funded research at the Wuhan laboratory in China concerned with making the coronavirus more infectious, has now admitted on TV that he did fund the research and he defends it on totally absurd grounds that his presstitute protector, Jake Tapper, studiously overlooked. https://nypost.com/2021/07/25/anthony-fauci-defends-us-funding-research-at-wuhan-lab/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=mail_app The CNN moron agreed with Fauci, who has made a packet of money from the virus, that it would have been negligent not to fund the creation of Covid-19.

So we have Americas leading virus expert (what a joke!) creating a virus, then creating a pandemic around it based on fraudulent emergency use of an invalid test, then supporting nonsensical lockdowns that destroyed middle class businesses, then supported nonsensical mask mandates that provided zero protection and caused many illnesses (anything less than a N95 mask offers zero protection), then shot up a large percentages of the worlds population with a new experimental technology called a vaccine that is highly dangerous, and now is pushing mandated vaccination to the young and children who are not threatened by Covid-19. The utterly corrupt medical establishment say on one side of their filthy mouths that the Covid vaccines do not protect against the variants, therefore the vaccinated again have to wear masks, and on the other side of their filthy mouths they say in total contradiction that the young must be vaccinated with the vaccines in order to be safe.

Now, either we have a situation in which almost the entirety of the medical establishment is totally incompetent and stupid beyond all belief, or we have almost the entirety of the medical establishment involved in a gigantic scam that is murdering and injuring hundreds of thousands of people.

There is no other explanation.

The same goes for the politicians. One of the filthiest is the mass murderer of New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who sent Covid patients into nursing homes where the elderly infected by the imported Covid patients died. The Democrat Cuomo got a pass from the Democrat Biden DOJ. So much for accountability and justice. If you are a Democrat, there is no accountability. Whatever happened to the John Durham report on Russiagate? Obviously, the report is just another victim of Democrat non-accountability.

Here is the mass murderer Cuomo. Look at his crazed expression. Listen to this hysterical mass murderer declare war on the unvaccinated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwb6wF2P1Q

The Republicans, including that fake oneMcConnell have joined up with the Democrats pushing the vaccines. Now that we know that the vaccines do not protect but do kill, the dumbshit Republicans want everyone vaccinated. As so many have said for so long, there is no opposition party.

Federal agencies are now mandating vaccination of their work forces: https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/first-federal-agency-to-mandate-covid-19-vaccine_3918989.html?utm_source=News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-07-26-3&mktids=22baca7c76e659bf404b407ad98afb5e&est=9B%2FSynA47SoRBDrsWy%2B%2BJs4ZudZ3GuM5s8sCo0KQSwTIjxgRyM%2FjbA%3D%3D

So are blue states: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/07/tyler-durden/california-nyc-require-all-public-workers-to-get-vaccinated-or-submit-to-weekly-tests/

The corrupt DOJ Biden Justice (sic) Department has determined that federal law doesnt prohibit public agencies and private businesses from requiring Covid-19 vaccineseven if the vaccines have only emergency use authorization, or so says the presstitute CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/26/politics/doj-covid-19-vaccine-requirements-olc-opinion/index.html

This is a blatant lie as was the DOJs Russiagate, and the DOJs impeach gate. The US has a Justice (sic) Department unconcerned with justice and incapable of telling the truth, or it has a Justice (sic) Department whose incompetence is unprecedented.

Here are the actual facts:

Vaccinations are a medical intervention. All medical interventions require by law that valid consent is obtained. See, for example, the official UK National Health Service sitehttps://www.nhs.uk/conditions/consent-to-treatment/ which states:

Consent to treatment means a person must give permission before they receive any type of medical treatment, test or examination.

This must be done on the basis of an explanation by a clinician.

Consent from a patient is needed regardless of the procedure, whether its a physical examination, organ donation or something else.

The principle of consent is an important part of medical ethics and international human rights law.

For consent to be valid, it must be voluntary and informed, and the person consenting must have the capacity to make the decision.

The meaning of these terms are:

voluntary  the decision to either consent or not to consent to treatment must be made by the person, and must not be influenced by pressure from medical staff, friends or family.

informed  the person must be given all of the information about what the treatment involves, including the benefits and risks, whether there are reasonable alternative treatments, and what will happen if treatment does not go ahead.

capacity  the person must be capable of giving consent, which means they understand the information given to them and can use it to make an informed decision.

If an adult has the capacity to make a voluntary and informed decision to consent to or refuse a particular treatment, their decision must be respected.

This is still the case even if refusing treatment would result in their death, or the death of their unborn child.

Clearly, withholding information about the potentially serious and life-threatening risks of vaccinations and mandating and coercing people to undergo medical interventions is not only immoral and unethical and undermines the patient-doctor relationship, but also violates law and should lead to criminal prosecution. But it wont. The Democrats protect their criminals. Democrats reserve justice for Trump innocents who protest in defense of Americas President Trump.

The US has the same code of medical ethics. The problem is that the US medical establishment does not follow its own code. Medical ethics do not pay when you can avoid liability. If you can make money jabbing uninformed people with a death vaccine, do it. The vaccine companies have used political campaign contributions to purchase their protection from liability from the corrupt Congress of the United States. They can murder all the people they want without any liability.

As I have emphasized for decades, the American population is as gullible and trusting as Native Americans who accepted blankets infused with smallpox as gifts of good will. Americans think it is unpatriotic to distrust the government. As they think those who distrust the US government are communists or worst, it is easy for the establishment to control their minds.

Despite the failure of the vaccines to protect against infection and despite their massive adverse effects, the Oval Office moron says he is determined to force the FDA to approve the untested vaccines that are in use on fraudulent emergency use only basis: https://www.globalresearch.ca/politics-science-biden-admin-signals-intent-force-fda-approval-covid-vaccines/5751215

The White House wants the emergency use only condition removed and the untested vaccines given official tested approval for use. The Oval Office idiot wants this despite the overwhelming evidence that the vaccines do not protect but do cause massive serious adverse health effects and deaths. You can now see why the establishment stole a presidential election in order to put an idiot in office. He makes money for them and advances their secret agendas.

Tell me, is Biden a man who represents the welfare of Americans, or is this a man who represents the welfare of Big Pharmas profits and the hidden agendas behind the orchestrated pandemic?

Read more: PaulCraigRoberts.org and Pandemic.news.
(Natural News) The U.S. Air Force said it is developing small, bird-like drones that can flap their wings and change direction mid-flight. It partnered with California-based company Airion Health LLC to develop a prototype of the remote-controlled mini-air vehicle (MAV). The Air Force said the new MAV, which can imitate either insect or bird flight, will be used for surveillance purposes.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) confirmed the MAV project in a June 2021 service release. It said that the MAV would be able to perform insect-like maneuvers with two physical actuators while utilizing minimal computer processing power. The statement continued: Controllable forces would be generated by the wings based on position and velocity profiles, resulting in time-varying wing upstrokes and downstrokes which, at times may be asymmetrical.

According to the service release, Airion and the AFRL built on two patents filed in 2014 and 2016 for the MAV project. The service signed a non-exclusive patent license agreement with Airion in January 2021 for the MAVs licensing. The release added that a workable MAV is set to be released by early 2022.

The two patents lined up with the Air Forces requirements for a drone with two actuators that enabled mechanical movement. They also fulfilled the need for a drone with six degrees of flight. This meant that the MAV can change position forward or backward, up or down and left or right.

Air Force officials said the MAVs ability to be controlled remotely gives it the ability to change paths based on the users needs. Military.com reported that the MAV could either be used for surveillance over battlefields and military bases or for staking out targets before troops or aircraft get to the battlefield. It continued that the MAV could see commercial use for maneuvering into tunnels or inspecting larger machinery. (Related: First wireless insect-size robot takes flight.)

This was not the first time the Air Force invested in drones

Joshua Laravie of the AFRLs Aerospace Systems Directorate said the finished MAV will take longer than the early 2022 target date. The milestone is meant to illustrate and prove that Airion is making progress toward meeting the revenue goals required later in the license, he said.

The directorates technology transfer specialist and domestic alliance program manager added: We were excited to license our technology to a small business that was building strategic relationships in the drone industry. [We] are looking forward to supporting [its] efforts to commercialize an [Air Force] technology.

The June 2021 AFRL service release did not divulge any key specifications of the MAV such as its size and weight. However, this was not the first time the Air Force invested in drones for surveillance. Details for a throwable drone that security forces can use to see around corners while clearing a building were made public in February 2021.

The details called for throwable robots that weighed one pound, which troops could fling into a room and control with a handheld device. It added that such drones could be helpful in an active shooter situation when used to confirm the presence of other people in an area.

Service members at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida started using the drone called Throwbot for security training in 2020, with the bases 96th Security Forces Squadron receiving the unit. Squadron member Leon Gray first saw the Throwbot being demonstrated at trade shows. It took five minutes for me to learn how to use it. It quickly became apparent how our security personnel could utilize this tool in our operations, he said. (Related: Air Force deploying creepy robot dogs to enhance security at military base in Florida.)

Gray added that the squadron would look for ways to incorporate Throwbot in operations involving potential life-and-death situations. He remarked: Were glad to have the Throwbot as another  tool to use in our ever-evolving security mission at Eglin. It will be especially great to have [it] in emergencies to help us make informed decisions when seconds count.

MilitaryTechnology.news has more articles about the Air Forces use of drones.

Sources include:

DailyStar.co.uk

Media.Defense.gov [PDF]

Military.com

DVIDSHub.net
(Natural News) At the same time that the Biden regime is threatening mandates and lockdowns and other measures to get more Americans vaccinated for COVID-19, the president is literally weaponizing the virus to ensure that it spreads faster and farther across the country, and hes using illegal immigrants to do it.

No sooner than Joe Biden settled in behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, he began to sign a series of pre-written executive orders  an unprecedented amount of them for a president on his first day in office.

Among them were several orders aimed at dismantling President Donald Trumps border enforcement orders and agreements with Mexico and Central American nations. The result: A steady, quickening stream of illegal aliens bum rushing our border, inundating our country with third-world poverty and disease.

Including COVID-19.

But instead of turning back anyone who tests positive for the virus, the regime is allowing them safe passage into our country; the Department of Homeland Security has been instructed to seed the country with migrants, making it far more difficult to find them later and to ensure that as much of the virus as possible can be spread, especially to red states, where vaccination rates are lower because the people who live in those states dont trust Biden, Anthony Fauci, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now, at least one state is fighting back.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has implemented several of his own measures to crack down on the illegal immigrant tsunami. Hes ordered his National Guard to the border to assist state law enforcement agencies, while also empowering the Guard to make arrests. He has ordered state police to interdict vehicles suspected of moving illegal aliens inland. And hes preparing to fund border wall construction while putting hundreds of migrants in detention for breaking and entering.

These actions have earned him the threat of a lawsuit by the InJustice Department, though Abbott is undeterred. And he knows what Biden is up to.

The Biden Administration is knowingly admitting hundreds of thousands of unauthorized migrants, many of whom the federal government knows full well have COVID-19, he said in response to the DoJ suit.

While the Biden Administration is openly pondering looming shutdowns and mandates on U.S. citizens to control the spread of COVID-19, at the same time the Administration is knowingly worsening the problem by importing COVID-19 at extreme rates, he added.

As the Governor of Texas, I have a responsibility to protect the people of Texas  a responsibility that grows more urgent by the day while the Biden Administration sits on the sidelines, continued Abbott.

I have the authority, and duty, under the constitutions of the United States and of Texas to protect Texans and our nation. I also have the authority under long-established emergency response laws to control the movement of people to better contain the spread of a disaster, such as those known to have COVID-19. My duty remains to the people of Texas, and I have no intention of abdicating that, the GOP governor vowed.

He went on to say that the Biden regime must stop admitting migrants who are not authorized by Congress to be admitted, which would substantially reduce the importation of COVID-19 while also fulfilling the federal governments role to faithfully execute the laws of the United States.

It is clear that the Biden Administration fundamentally misunderstands what is truly happening at the Texas-Mexico border, Abbott noted correctly. It would be of some solace if the federal government were conducting appropriate COVID-19 testing and other mitigation strategies, but to the contrary, we hear too many reports of the federal government recklessly failing to do so and instead admitting into the United States  and Texas  migrants from over 150 countries, many of whom are testing positive for COVID-19.

In short, the Biden Administration is jeopardizing the health and safety of Texans on a daily basis by refusing to follow the law. And its not just Texans; these irresponsible policies and actions by the Biden Administration are endangering the lives of many Americans as well as the unlawful immigrants themselves.

Sources include:

JustTheNews.com

OpenBorders.news
(Natural News) Paul Louis Street, author of Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics, wants people who refuse to get injected or wear a face mask for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) to be abducted and forced into internment camps.

Also a writer at the far-left rag CounterPunch, Street commented on a Facebook post recently that he wishes Congress would draft medical fascism legislation to separate anti-vaxxers from their families and enslave them in concentration camps.

So, I am kidding not kidding here: when is someone going to draft legislation for internment camps and separate quarantined regions for Amerikaners who simply refuse vaccination and masks? Street wrote.

Im sorry to have to say this but we get a big fourth wave because of this partisan and social Darwinian and individualist madness and Ill draft the legislation myself. I am so not an anarchist and so much an authoritarian on this issue.

Street went on to propose cordoning off tens of thousands of acres of Western public lands where these people  meaning people who refuse to wear a face diaper and reject experimental chemicals from the government  can be detained indefinitely.

If they want to attain herd immunity through mass death, fine, thats their choice, Street callously added, but maybe do in [sic] under lock and key in Covidiot Banustans under the coordinated control of the Department of the Interior, Homeland Security, CDC, Department of Defense, and Border Patrol.

Go ahead, call me a fascist, whatever, Street concluded, I can take it.

The leftist anti-fascists have become medical fascists

At least Street acknowledges that he is a fascist, despite also apparently claiming to be a liberal. It used to be that the liberals opposed fascism  even just as recently as the Trump Administration, which saw widespread anti-fascism protests following major media events like George Floyd.

Now that Pedo Joe is occupying the White House, suddenly these anti-fascists are proposing new fascist measures concerning the Fauci Flu that threaten to imprison and punish people who refuse to take a Trump Vaccine, also known as a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Vaccine (check out this link to learn more about this).

Whatever you choose to call the jab, it is something that must remain optional. Nobody can legally or constitutionally be forced without consent to take a potentially lethal chemical injection that is known to permanently alter human DNA.

Any government official or hack writer like Street who suggests such is an enemy of freedom, an enemy of the Constitution, and an enemy of humanity and the sanctity of life. Needless to say, they must be stopped from eliminating health freedom, which currently hangs in the balance like perhaps never before in the history of our country.

The point is not that CounterPunch is a sh[***]y magazine run by liars and smear artists, tweeted the Consent Factory Twitter account. The point is, it typifies the fascistic mindset that has taken over much of the left. These people are a dangerous, totalitarian mob, whose hate is being instrumentalized by powerful forces.

Others responded that the left has long embraced totalitarianism as the solution to practically every problem that has ever presented itself, so it is no surprise that the most radical among them are now making propositions such as internment camps for the unvaccinated.

CounterPunch, which used to be a serious magazine, has devolved into a little clutch of shameless liars and smear artists, Consent Factory added. The most pathetic part is, they cant even publish their slander without making assess of themselves in the process.

More of the latest news about the scourge of medical fascism in todays America can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

Independent.co.uk

TheWatchtowers.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Americas fakest doctor is back on television fearmongering about the so-called delta variant of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), admitting in the process that vaccinated people are actively spreading it to others.

Tony Fauci, appearing on the fake news program Face the Nation, explained to some robotic suit and tie that the new thinking surrounding the delta variant is that it easily spreads from person to person, including people who already got injected with a Trump Vaccine.

Fauci claims that he and his fellow career bureaucrats have determined that the delta variant easily creates breakthrough infections in the vaccinated, though the infections are supposedly minimal.

But since no vaccine is 100 percent effective, youre going to see breakthrough infections, Fauci quickly added to try to justify the failure of Fauci Flu shots to prevent the Chinese Infection.

But what weve learned thats new, John, in answer to your question, is that when you look at the level of virus in the nasal pharynx of people who are vaccinated who get breakthrough infections, its really quite high and equivalent to the level of virus in the nasal pharynx of unvaccinated people who get infected  thats very different from the alpha variant, Fauci further added.

The alpha variant, the level of virus in a vaccinated person was extremely low in the vaccinated people compared to the unvaccinated people  not so with delta. So, we know now that vaccinated people who get breakthrough infections can spread the virus to other people.

Stay safe: Dont get vaccinated for covid

Why, again, are people being told that they must get vaccinated for the Wuhan Flu? Oh, we forgot: to minimize symptoms and prevent hospitalizations. Too bad this is also not true, as evidenced by the vast majority of new hospitalizations being among the jabbed.

Furthermore, at least eight times more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people are dying from the Chinese Virus. This means you are safer if you skip the shot than if you obey Faucis orders and get it.

Somehow, Fauci and friends are getting away with speaking out of both sides of their mouth. On the one hand, everyone is supposed to get injected with a Fauci Flu shot to help flatten the curve, while on the other the injections are causing the curve to go parabolic.

Which is it? Are Chinese Virus injections really safe and effective as Fauci has long claimed or are they spreading more disease, including the dreaded delta variant? It would appear as though the latter is true, and yet Fauci is still telling people to get jabbed.

Nothing makes any sense anymore, even as the medical fascists openly admit that Chinese Virus shots are failing to stop the spread as the government claimed they would all last year.

Everyone who already took the shot, believing it to be the final solution to the Wuhan Flu, must be reeling with horror as Fauci fesses up to the fact that they do not work. Everyone else will continue to stay far, far away from the injections for their own safety.

Fauxi is a worthless bureaucratic hack, wrote one commenter at Citizen Free Press. He should be on death row for his crimes.

The reason Faucis comments are so disjointed and confusing is because the engineering and release of Covid-19 was a political operation, and not accidental like they claim, so governmental damage control (Fauci backed up by propaganda media and censor media) must alter the information every time the real truth exposes their lies, wrote another.

The latest news stories about Chinese Virus injection deception can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

CitizenFreePress.com

Independent.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Judges in Berlin are reportedly taking steps to try to prohibit Germans from protesting against Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdowns, claiming ironically that protests will spread the so-called delta variant.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Berlin anyway to refuse government tyranny and make their voices heard, much like the French have been doing all throughout France in response to that countrys new vaccine passport scheme.

Judges in the German capitals administrative court refused to grant authorization to 13 of the demonstrations that had been scheduled to take place. Some of these were organized by a group called Querdenker, or Lateral Thinker, which represents an anti-lockdown movement.

The ban on these demonstrations was then upheld by the Berlin-Brandeburg upper administrative court, which told some 22,500 Germans that they could not participate in any of the scheduled protest rallies.

According to the German government, the latest round of Chinese Germs is just too scary to allow Germans to live their lives and exercise free speech. Everyone must stay home until the mainstream media decides that cases are no longer surging.

Another rally called For Peace, Freedom, Truth that was expected to draw some 3,500 people was also prohibited because the German government said that it would be unsafe.

The upper court decided that the Querdenker movements demonstrations violate legal norms that it says were created to contain the risk of infection in a way that attracted public attention, in particular by disregarding the social distance requirement and the mask requirement.

Germans are ignoring their corrupt government and protesting anyway

Despite the ban, tens of thousands of Germans traveled to Berlin anyway to protest their governments anti-human restrictions, which threaten to keep all of Germany locked down forever until the Fauci Flu magically disappears from the headlines.

Because protesters refuse to stand six feet apart and wear face diapers, the German government has concluded that they cannot and should not be allowed to gather because doing so could ignite another new variant that might make politicians feel extra, extra scared.

The Querdenker is Germanys primary anti-lockdown movement. It has been aggressively monitored and targeted by the countrys intelligence agencies based on accusations that it is linked to far-right and extremist groups.

The mainstream media in Germany claims that Querdenker is spreading conspiracy theories about the Chinese Virus, including claims that the Trump Vaccines introduced under Operation Warp Speed are dangerous and ineffective.

Querdenker also says that new federal and regional laws in Germany that are supposedly meant to flatten the curve are actually just excuses to impose more tyranny and infringe on citizens civil liberties.

The Alternative for Germany party, meanwhile, has taken a vocal stand for Querdenker and the right of all Germans to protest freely. Banning them from doing this as the German government is doing is both hypocritical and authoritarian, the group says.

In France, reports are emerging to suggest that area police are siding with protesters, in some cases, and against the Emmanuel Macron regime. Hundreds of thousands of French people have taken to the streets to just say no to mandatory chemical injections from Big Pharma, which is quickly rendering void that countrys vaccine passport effort.

German police, on the other hand, appear to be siding with tyranny as they arrest protesters for defying the governments orders to stay home in order to stay safe.

More than 600 people were reportedly arrested for participating in the Berlin protests. Police officers were seen blasting the protesters with pepper spray and truncheons while water cannon-equipped tanks roved the streets to keep everyone safe against the Wuhan Flu.

The latest news about Chinese Virus tyranny can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Archive.is

NaturalNews.com

Archive.is
(Natural News) Anders Tegnell, Swedens chief epidemiologist, has cautioned against drawing far-reaching conclusions about the delta variant.

On July 30, Tegnell said that more data is needed about the coronavirus (COVID-19) strains infectiousness and that there was a lot we do not know. He noted that the variant has been circulating in Sweden for quite some time with little effect, particularly in high-risk settings such as nursing homes.

His mask-free nation hovered at near-zero COVID-19 deaths per day throughout July.

CDC: Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox

Tegnells comments were made in response to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting the delta variant is more transmissible and could potentially cause more severe illness.

The New York Times and other media outlets reported that the CDC now believes the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox. (Related: Delta variant of the coronavirus will be the new excuse for tyrannical health measures.)

It is difficult to say how contagious delta is, [as] when it comes to chickenpox, we have been able to follow the disease for several years. The infectivity [of delta] seems to be very uneven. In some cases, one person infects a hundred people, then we have other occasions when an infected person does not infect anyone at all, he told Swedens Aftonbladet.

In a separate interview, he pointed to the fact that one-third of the countrys municipalities reported zero new COVID-19 cases over the past week. At the same time, there was an uptick in cases among young people in Stockholm and other large cities.

While U.S. health authorities are pressing Americans in high transmission areas to mask up, Sweden dropped its last remaining mask mandate  related to public transport  on July 1. Swedens public health agency has supported measures such as social distancing and remote working, but it has no recommendations for the use of face coverings in public spaces.

No lockdown, no problem

Reviled by the media for refusing to impose harsh lockdowns, Swedens approach to the health crisis appears to be paying off. The Scandinavian nation has recorded a total of eight COVID-linked deaths in July for an average of 0.26 deaths per day.

While its possible this number will increase due to reporting lags, deaths have undoubtedly plummeted over the past several months. On June 4, Sweden reported 13 deaths.

Daily hospitalizations have also stayed close to zero in July. On most days last month, the country saw between 0-2 COVID-19 cases requiring hospital treatment. At the same time, daily cases have fallen sharply since April.

In the last two weeks, Sweden has had a slightly higher average of 0.6 COVID-19 deaths per day. But it was still low compared with 74 fatalities in the UK and 329 deaths in the U.S. per day over the same period. Sweden has also kept its economy afloat throughout the pandemic with its reluctance to enforce tough social distancing rules or lockdowns.

Despite the promising developments, Tegnell warned against getting too comfortable. He stressed that Sweden is still in a pandemic and urged his countrymen, especially those in younger age groups, to get vaccinated.

Tegnell said that the spread of the delta variant was highest among young people who are not adhering to social distancing guidelines as much as older citizens.

There is a need for preparedness and attention everywhere. One should not draw any conclusions from the fact that no sick people have been found in a municipality this week. It can lead to serious consequences if you drop your guard, he said.

Sweden plans to offer boosters despite low number of COVID deaths

On Monday, August 2, Tegnell announced plans for booster vaccine doses for the most vulnerable citizens from the start of September. The assessment is that it is not possible to eradicate the virus and therefore vaccination work should be long-term and focused on reducing serious illness and death, Tegnell said.

Swedens Public Health Agency said that it is expecting the countrys entire adult population to have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine by autumn, and that there will be a good supply of vaccine over the coming years. (Related: Big Pharma companies begin push for coronavirus booster shots, with no end in sight.)

It did not give an exact figure for how many people would get a third dose next year, but said that a large part of the population would be offered another dose. This follows similar declarations in the UK, Germany and Israel.

The Telegraph reported on Monday that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants boosters to be offered to 32 million Britons beginning next month. Over 50s, immunosuppressed people and National Health Service (NHS) and care home staff, will be offered third doses from Sept. 6.

The vaccines will be administered at up to 2,000 pharmacies, with the goal of reaching 2.5 million per week. All eligible adults are expected to get a dose of Pfizer, regardless of which vaccine they received for their first two injections.

Latest data from Public Health England suggests the Pfizer injection is slightly more effective against the delta variant, which could encourage the UK government to adopt the mix-and-match strategy.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

RT.com

DailyMail.co.uk
(Natural News) You know that large outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) in Cape Cod, Mass., that the mainstream media has been using as political fodder to push for more mask mandates and possibly vaccine mandates? It turns out that the resort where it broke out is a homosexual mecca where LGBT males routinely hook up for casual sexual encounters.

Most people have no clue about this because the corporate talking-heads are deliberately shrouding the truth about Provincetown from the masses, pretending as though Chinese Germs just up and started spreading in this one specific area along the eastern coastline while avoiding all others.

None of the family-oriented resort towns in New England have experienced any such Chinese Virus outbreaks  only this one, thanks to the promiscuous behavior that takes place there, especially during this time of year.

The only thing the fake news media has been saying about the Provincetown Fauci Flu outbreak is that it occurred among people attending densely packed indoor and outdoor events at venues that included bars, restaurants, guest houses, and rental homes.

 the CDC report  stops far short of questioning the role that causal, often anonymous sex between males or groups of males might have played in transmitting the dreaded virus, notes Doug Mainwaring, writing for Life Site News.

Provincetown is Americas summer LGBT vacation mecca, and during the two-week period spanning from July 3 to July 17 when cases spiked, tens of thousands of gay men had jammed the resort.

LGBTs are spreading deadly diseases with their behavior and the CDC refuses to acknowledge it

The CDC did admit that the demographics of the cases likely reflect those of attendees at the public gatherings, as events were marketed to adult male participants. However, no mention has been made about these adult males being sex-crazed homosexuals binging on perversion.

The CDC assiduously avoided using the terms homosexual, gay, or men who have sex with men, and instead employed ambiguous terminology, ignoring the obvious. Why? asks Mainwaring.

The White House, meanwhile, offered even less of an explanation for the outbreak, which occurred among almost exclusively vaccinated people who rolled up their sleeves to flatten the curve.

According to White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, the most important takeaway from the outbreak is actually pretty simple: we need more people to get vaccinated. Jean-Pierre of course made no mention of the gay orgies and other activities that obviously caused it in the first place.

The same goes for The Washington Post, a fake news rag that actually blamed unvaccinated people who live clean lives for somehow causing the massive LGBT covid outbreak in Provincetown.

What this tells us is we need much more context and better data to guide whether and when vaccinated people should wear masks, because following CDCs new guidance wouldnt have stopped this outbreak from occurring, says Jennifer Nuzzo.

Perhaps the CDC should adopt the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) protocol that advised residents to always mask up when participating in an orgy because otherwise swingers and perverts could later test positive for Chinese Germs.

The reason this will never happen is because the mainstream media, the government, and the CDC are afraid of offending the LGBT community by speaking truth about how their behavior is spreading deadly diseases, threatening public health.

The CDC is afraid to identify the demographic characteristics of the adult male participants who packed Provincetown in early July, explains Mainwaring.

Rather than immediately recommending curtailing non-monogamous sexual activity to this small segment of the population, the CDC has quickly diverted the nations attention to masking, posturing the organization for the re-weaponization of face mask mandates against the entire American population.

The latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lunacy spreading throughout the government and media can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The law enforcement department of Portland, Oregon cant find enough officers to join its new police unit. The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said only a few police officers applied for its Focused Intervention Team (FIT). Formerly known as the Gun Violence Reduction Team, the FIT is the result of an overhaul brought about by Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

According to the PPB, only four police officers have applied to work with the FIT since the announcement of 14 job openings back in May 2021. To this day, none of them have been assigned yet. PPB officers said such positions became less desirable because of the increased scrutiny that came with the assignment.

Portland Police Association Executive Director Daryl Turner told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ): Theyre demonizing and vilifying you, and then they want to put you in a unity where youre under an even bigger microscope. Turners organization represented rank and file officers in the PPB.

Another veteran PPB officer told the WSJ: Martin Luther King couldnt dismantle systematic racism. Now you want a cop to do it? Nobody wants to be part of something thats set up to be a failure. The veteran officer added that his colleagues are incredibly hesitant to do anything proactive because either they have a complaint filed against them or every stop is a fight.

PPB Assistant Chief of Investigations Jami Resch acknowledged the bureaus low morale, saying criticism of the old unit was the main reason. She added that uncertainty surrounding the FIT and its 11-member citizen oversight committee contributed to the small number of applications. The committee overseeing the FIT was established after city leaders criticized the old unit for racial profiling.

However, Resch predicted that there will be more interest in the new unit once those roles are clarified. The old units past work was of benefit for the citys 23 percent minority population, she continued.

Last summer, the Portland City Council voted to cut $15 million from the PPB amid calls by BLM protesters to defund law enforcement. The budget cut impacted the bureaus 38-member gun violence team, which was disbanded in June 2020. However, homicide rates in the city increased with the old units dissolution. This prompted PPB officials to create a new team  the FIT  to address the violence. (Related: Movement to defund the Portland police has cost the citys taxpayers $6.9 million in police overtime alone.)

Defunding the police worsened Portlands homicide problem

A recent study by Washington, D.C. think tank Council on Criminal Justice said homicide rates in a sample of 32 U.S. cities went up by 24 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. It noted that the rates were far below homicide peaks from the 1990s.

However, PPB officials said Portland could surpass its all-time high of 70 homicides in 1987. The city recorded 53 homicides as of writing, which reversed its decades-long reputation of having one of the lowest homicide rates among large cities.

In response, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the FITs establishment in March 2021. He said the FIT would focus on combating gun violence and lowering tensions with residents. According to internal job postings, the FIT looked for additional qualifications such as the ability to identify and dismantle institutional and systemic racism in the [PPBs] response to gun violence.

A report by Police1 said FIT members will work primarily and uniform and use community-informed and data-led tactics to directly intervene with people identified to be at highest risk of gun violence. It added that these high-risk individuals will be identified through investigative leads, community service organizations and confidential informants.

In spite of this, PPB officers said law enforcement members had become more reluctant to take on tasks that could lead to controversy or criticism. The bureau has had to endure criticism from politicians and activists on both sides of the political spectrum and the threat of late-night street violence. (Related: Law enforcement officers in Portland doxed by Antifa.)

Furthermore, police departments across the country have seen a rise in retirements and resignations. A June survey by the law enforcement think tank Police Executive Research Forum found that more police officers left the force. According to its survey, there was an 18 percent increase in resignations and a 45 percent increase in retirements from April 2020 through March 2021 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Shootings.news has more stories about the consequences of cities such as Portland defunding their police forces.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

FoxNews.com

Police1.com
(Natural News) Imagine about three years ago, before Covid-19, if the CDC had started pushing everyone to get a new flu shot, but issued a dire warning first that it caused trillions of microscopic blood clots, yet reduced your chances of getting the flu by 50 percent for three months. Would you have gotten that influenza vaccine? Maybe youre pro-vaccine, but against flu vaccines lately, say in the past couple decades, because youve found out what they really put in them, including high doses of deadly mercury.

Well, the scenario you just read about vaccines causing trillions of blood clots is REAL, except its the Covid vaccines, and about half of all Americans are experiencing the population reduction experiment right now.

The scariest part is that most babies, children and preteens have not been injected yet. What happens to all those kids should the Covid vaccine blot clot tsunami all of a sudden take effect for the couple hundred million Americans that had their genes altered to produce trillions of virus-mimicking sticky spike proteins that clog their blood vessels? Do they even need a booster or Delta variant shot, or will the sticky spike proteins be enough to do them all in, especially the mRNA jabs, that instruct cells to indefinitely produce these toxic prions?

Unless they get all these American kids vaccinated, the great genocidal vaccine-induced wipeout will leave about 300 million children homeless within months

The secret societies of filthy-rich globalists are all licking their chops, ready for the vaccine apocalypse. Its great for the Democrats human trafficking networks, because about 300 million kids will be without parents, and possibly without schools and homes. What will the schools look like, massive foster care stadiums where kids get vaccines daily just to enforce the kill shot?

Will there be re-education on the huge TV screens at the FEMA stadiums instilling cancel culture, hatred of all Whites and devoted love for the Chinese Communist Party, thanking them for installing Communism in America?

How many crematoriums will need to be set up to handle the decimation caused by the Covid vaccines, or will all the bodies be shipped out to sea, and dumped in the Ocean where they dumped Bin Laden and the remains (evidence) from 9/11? Will there be NATO and SWAT forces on American soil enforcing martial law in the metropolitan cities and their suburbs (like after Boston Massacre), while the Communists invade from Mexico and Canada?

Will every gun be confiscated, so that the remaining conspiracy theorist non-vaxxers (who are the only ones left alive besides the globalists who never took the vaccines) cant defend themselves against the tyranny? Is that whats next, because all these blood clot cases around the world happening right after Covid vaccinations is NO coincidence.

Doctors are blowing the whistle now. Nurses are blowing the whistle now. Scientists are blowing the whistle now. Before all these parents find themselves 6 feet under, they may want to figure out where their kids are going to live, how, for how long, if they too get vaccinated later at the FEMA camps and DHS/CCP schools.

A generation of kids without parents

Every vaccine death will be blamed on Delta variant, or some other upcoming variant thats released from the same labs they released Covid-19 from. Every medical doctor (the ones still alive because they did not get Covid vaccines) and functioning under the umbrella of Big Brother/Big Pharma, will be instructed to never blame the vaccines, and to always test for Delta variant, then list it as the cause of death, or lose your medical license!

We could witness an entire generation of kids without parents, growing up in the foster nation, where every child is owned by the state, and manipulated by pharma propaganda 24/7/365. Their smart devices will only enable them to go on Fakebook, Commi-Tube, and Counterfeit News Network (CNN), which will filter and censor ALL content to match and support the narrative of the global reset (think Orwells 1984 here). A whole generation of kids without parents will make excellent drones.

Check out Pandemic.news for updates on these crimes against humanity and the upcoming Delta and Covid booster-vaccine Holocaust. Also, if you know someone who already got pricked with the blood-clotting Covid inoculations, and theyre suffering from lethargy, pain, clouded thinking or an inflamed heart, thats called CoVax Syndrome, so tell them to report it to VAERS.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic.news

NaturalNews.com

TruthWiki.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) All 120,000 U.S.-based employees at poultry giant Tyson Foods are now being told that they must get injected for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) in order to keep their jobs.

The company announced that it is aiming for total compliance, meaning a 100 percent vaccination rate, by Nov. 1. CEO Donnie King told his employees in a memo that he personally believes Trump Vaccines are the best way to keep everyone safe against Chinese Germs, hence his decree.

We did not take this decision lightly, King wrote in the memo. We have spent months encouraging our team members to get vaccinated  today, under half of our team members are.

Kings decision to impose medical fascism on all Tyson employees allegedly stemmed from his commitment to ensuring that team members health and safety is preserved, because nothing is more important.

 we thank them for the work they do, every day, to help us feed this country, and our world, King further wrote.

The Arkansas-based company is also offering $200 cash payments to every fully vaccinated worker on the front line of the company. The decision makes Tyson one of the, if not the, largest American corporation to mandate Chinese Virus injections for its employees.

Tyson employees who obtain a religious or medical exemption will not be forced to get jabbed, the company clarified in a follow-up news release. All employees whose religious convictions or medical histories prevent them from getting injected will be free to opt out of the program if they so choose.

Let the lawsuits begin

As you may recall from the early days of the pandemic, Tyson made headlines along with other meatpacking companies for having factory employees who tested positive for Chinese Germs.

This caused a major scare as the mainstream media ramped up the fearmongering about the Wuhan Flu possibly getting into peoples food. A handful of union workers belonging to the United Food and Commercial Workers union also died after testing positive for the Fauci Flu, which only made matters worse.

At one point, Tyson shut down some of its meat plants due to said fearmongering, which put some strain on the American meat supply in early 2020. Now, Tyson is trying to lay on the fear a second time with its vaccine mandate  as if the injections actually provided protection against infection and spread, which they absolutely do not.

In fact, the Trump Vaccines from Operation Warp Speed are causing many more people to become sick or die because the injections contain deadly spike proteins that eventually kill off their host by destroying their vital organs.

In the event that fully vaccinated Tyson employees start to become ill or drop dead from the forced injections, the company is certain to face mounting lawsuits. This is what needs to happen to stop these types of fascist companies from forcing experimental drugs into their employees bodies under threat of termination.

This kind of stupidity needs to be fought against everywhere, wrote one commenter at The Epoch Times. Workers should walk out of their plants wholesale and stay out until this company changes its tune!

Others are calling for a worldwide Tyson boycott to show the company that it will not get away with forcing deadly drugs on its workers just because the government claims the drugs to be safe and effective.

Tyson will be liable for any employee who suffers from adverse effects and / or death due to mandated vaccine, another commenter wrote. This will cost corporations millions. If I was an employee of this company, I would seek an attorney.

The latest news stories about Fauci Flu shot tyranny can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
As Brazil experiences extreme frost in the coffee bean industry, huge shortage is happening globally and is affecting the price of the coffee beans six-years high. As the leading coffee producer in the entire world, the market will surely experience drive up costs in coffee shops and supermarkets.

As the demand for coffee beans have increased, the traders have become more flexible in terms of the pricing they give to their prospects, securing financial flexibility in their side.

According to the traders, the beans' price increased thirty percent just this July and has almost doubled from the past year. The prices prompted the farmers to leave their farms and livelihood due to the huge drought it gave to the land.

Aside from Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia is experiencing extreme heat and economic loss due to the chaotic climate change. Other factors have also contributed to the recent rise in coffee price.

Coffee shipment has also been hampered due to a container scarcity, while Colombian coffee exports have been hampered by anti-government protests. Widespread heat waves, fires, and floods are generating concern in the agricultural markets as a whole.

Coffee Cooperatives and Investor's Action

Investors are attempting to assess the firm's capacity to pass on the increasing price for commodities such as copper, PVC, and coffee to the public.

Famous coffee companies such as Starbucks, McCafe, Costa Coffee, Tim Hortons, Dunkin' Donuts and many more voiced out their concerns about how much this drought affected their business.

Jose Marcos Magalhaes, the president of the Minasul Coffee Cooperative has spoken and is expecting loss of 66% or two-third of his harvest.

Also read: As Rainfall Consistently Decreases, Corn Prices Increase Alarmingly

Famous Coffee Companies: Starbucks announces Donation Program as Food Insecurity Reaches a New High

Minas Gerais is Brazil's most significant coffee-growing state, with the Sul de Minas area producing more coffee than any other region. According to Anete Fernandes, a meteorologist at Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology, temperatures in Sul de Minas plummeted as low as 23 degrees Fahrenheit in certain cities, while the area as a whole saw the coldest weather since 1994.

On Friday, Starbucks announced the expansion of its food donation program to all of its company-run locations in the United States to assist solve the issue that exacerbated during the Coffee shortage.As part of its FoodShare initiative, which is run in collaboration with Feeding America, roughly 8,000 restaurants will package qualifying unsold meals each evening and deliver them to organizations across the United States.

According to Mr. Copestake, the way the weather has shocked coffee prices and illustrates the hazards of the world's growing reliance on Brazil as a supplier of beans. In recent years, low-cost Brazilian farms have flooded the worldwide market, forcing less efficient growers in countries such as Honduras to switch crops or abandon their plants, he claims. As a result, consumers in the United States and abroad are sensitive to events that reduce supply in Brazil and Vietnam, the two countries that produce the most bitter-tasting Robusta beans.

Also read: Thawed Ice Within Russian Permafrost Unravels Ancient Lives Buried Deep Beneath the Snow!
Footage caught the moment the skies sparkle bright green as a meteor crashed to Earth. A Twitter handler from Turkey - the city of Izmir, posted the incredible video which seems to show the sky sparkle a brilliant green prior to the hurtling of the meteor towards the ground.

The footage have prompted speculations from social media, with some proposing it's a satellite or some intergalactic junk. Some people, on the other hand, believe it could possibly be aliens.

Those that witnessed the event reported that they heard a loud explosion and the celestial light showed at the same time, which could possibly be the object splitting up as it gets into the Earth's atmosphere or the sound of it touching the deck at speed.

On Twitter, one resident said: "Strange, bright object believed to be a rocket debris crashed in Turkey. Satellite?"

"UFOs have been seen in the sky," another wrote.

Nevertheless, before you get hold of your tinfoil hat, Dr. Hasan Ali Dal, an astrophysics professor shared his expert - if not entirely less thrilling - opinion.

He posted on Twitter saying 'fireball' triggered the bright colours, which occurs when a meteor starts burning up as it arrives in the planet's atmosphere.

Also Read: Meteor Detonates With the Force of 440 Pounds of TNT Over Vermont

Shooting Star Spotted

"It usually burns away in the upper atmosphere. It should be considered as a more specific version of the phenomenon known as a shooting star among the people and it is often experienced during periods of meteorite rains," he explained.

There is a possibility that the meteor could be among the Perseid Meteor Shower, which takes place each year during July and August. The yearly event takes place when the Earth moves through an area occupied with debris from the Comet Swift-Tuttle.

Usually, these meteors burn up prior to their landing, but it can be the best time of year to try spotting one up the sky because during peak time dozens of meteors can be witnessed every hour.

If you love spotting one, earthsky.com calculated that the best days for this are the 11th, 12th and 13th of August. To have the absolute best opportunity of catching a glimpse of one, visit a place that has low light pollution before dawn.

Perseid Meteor Shower

In the Northern Hemisphere, the August Perseids is ranked as an unsurpassed favorite meteor shower. The Perseids occur during the lazy, cloudy days of northern summer, this is when many families are usually on vacation.

And what could be more enjoyable than having a nap from the day's heat and witnessing this summertime classic in a cool night weather? Also, 2021 is the best year for this shower!

Regardless of where you reside all over the world, the 2021 Perseid meteor shower will possibly create the highest number of meteors on the a.m of August 11, 12 and 13.

Related Article: Perseid Meteor Shower Will Fill the Sky With Up to 100 Shooting Stars Per Hour This Week

For more news, updates about the meteor and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
On Wednesday, July 28, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake hit the Alaskan peninsula, raising worries of imminent tsunami waves. Another possible cause of calamity is the Great Sitkin volcano, which geologists currently watch.

Since January, the volcano, located in the central Aleutian Islands in eastern Alaska, has been showing symptoms of increased activity and rising surface temperatures.

A Particularly Explosive Eruption

After an explosive eruption in late May, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) raised the warning level for Great Sitkin. The volcano ejected an ash cloud as high as 15,000 feet into the sky, according to initial accounts.

The volcano's "unrest persists," according to geologists, and Great Sitkin is being watched for another possible eruption.





Triggering Seismic Movements

According to the AVO, a significant earthquake swarm rocked the volcano late on Sunday, August 1, but seismicity has since decreased.

The volcano's light steam emissions, which stand at an elevation of roughly 5709ft, have also been seen by satellites traveling over the island.

According to the AVO, "The current phase of instability might result in further explosive activity or lava effusion. This isn't definite, and there's a chance that discontent may return to normal levels. Local seismic and infrasound sensors, satellite data, webcams, and remote infrasound and lightning networks all monitor the Great Sitkin volcano."

Related Article: USGS Raises Yellow Warning on 6 Active Volcanoes in US for 'Elevated Unrest'





Sitkin's Potential Coverage

Adak, the next city, is roughly 26 miles distant and has around 300 people. Both Adak and Great Sitkin are part of the Aleutian Islands, a 69-island archipelago on the Bering Sea-Pacific Ocean boundary.

At least 14 of these volcanic islands make up the Pacific Ring of Fire's northern border. And Great Sitkin isn't the only volcano in Alaska that's being watched for signs of trouble.

The Semisopochnoi volcano, which was rocked by a series of earthquakes over the weekend, was also placed on a volcanic watch.

Small eruptions have been occurring in the volcano's north crater, according to the AVO. Up to 10,000 feet above sea level, ash clouds have been seen.

"Small explosions may occur without notice and may go undetected by region infrasound sensors due to overcast weather circumstances," the AVO cautioned. Another cause of concern for the US state may be the Aleutian Islands.





Underwater Caldera

According to the American Geophysical Union, six of the archipelago's volcanoes may be part of a bigger, underwater caldera.

There is evidence that the Carlisle, Cleveland, Herbert, Kagamil, Tana, and Uliag volcanoes are fueled by a larger source than previously assumed.

"Everything we look at lines up with a caldera in this location," Diana Roman, a co-author of research on the possible supervolcano, stated.

Last month, scientists issued a warning about the need to keep an eye on the world's supervolcanoes for eruption signals.

According to an expert participating in the study, there are no agreed-upon signs of an oncoming super-eruption, which has to alter immediately.

"Careful monitoring of these systems is needed to better understand the processes operating at deep under the volcano," said Dr. George Cooper of Cardiff University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Also Read: "Like the Plague"- Climate Crisis Triggers Catastrophic Events Around the World

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
According to the most recent figures, greenhouse gases emitted by New Zealand's dairy industry have reached an all-time high.

Dairy emissions increased 3.18 percent in 2019, to 17,719 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to new data from Stats NZ for the years 2007-2019. This increase contributed to the overall growth of the agriculture sector, which emitted about 42,000 kilotonnes that year.

Agriculture Pollution





Agriculture accounted for more than half of all industry and household emissions recorded by Stats NZ, with dairy, sheep, and beef production accounting for most of this. The surge was part of a longer-term trend in New Zealand agriculture emissions, which had increased by 5.5 percent in the last decade.

The pollutants produced by New Zealand's 6.3 million cows' digestive tracts are one of the country's most serious environmental issues. Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming and climate catastrophe.

It's "no surprise" that "when you let businesses and industries regulate themselves, they basically preserve the status quo of their pollution profile," according to Greenpeace spokesperson Steve Abel.

"To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you need to step in and regulate and legislate," he added.

Related Article: Your Organic Meat Isn't Helping Environment that Much; Here's Why



Poor Emission Regulation

New Zealand is one of the poorest performers in the world when it comes to emissions growth. Between 1990 and 2018, its emissions increased by 57 percent, the second-highest rise among all industrialized countries. According to figures released earlier this year, New Zealand's emissions climbed by 2% in 2018-19.

"Food isn't a nice-to-have. It's a must-have," Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said. "New Zealand farmers are among the best in the world at providing food with a shallow footprint."

"It hasn't fixed anything for New Zealand to embark on some virtue signaling campaign to shut down its agriculture industry simply to claim 'Hey, we've lowered a bunch of emissions,'" he continued.

According to Hoggard, the industry is optimistic that new scientific advances such as methane inhibitors, breeding, and utilizing alternative types of feed will continue to minimize methane emissions.

Multipartisan Climate Legislation

New Zealand enacted multipartisan climate legislation in 2019 that set a net-zero CO2 emissions target for 2050 and established the Climate Change Commission to chart a path to that goal. The government is constitutionally obligated to respond to the commission's findings, issued in June with policy recommendations, but has yet to do so.

According to the commission's study, some of the effort to reduce methane emissions could be made by improved agricultural methods and breeding animals that generated less gas. Still, it would also necessitate a 10% -15% reduction in total herd numbers.

Hoggard also stated that methane emissions were down from 2006, despite evidence revealing that methane emissions peaked that year. Since 2008, methane emissions have largely increased.

In Dire Need of Action

According to Abel, the data released on Thursday should be considered a conservative estimate because it excludes emissions from transportation, coal used to dry milk powder, and palm kernel emissions imported for food.

"All of the dairy industry's claims that it will self-regulate and take control of the problem are plainly not functioning, as seen by real emissions data," said Abel.

"We need farming, but it has to stop being this industrial polluter and instead focus on keeping the land healthy, our rivers healthy, and our freshwater healthy, rather than causing catastrophic weather events through climate change."

Also Read: Sustainable Agriculture: The Future of Green Farming

For more Agricultural News, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Surveillance radars in far-northern areas of the world (northern Alaska, Greenland, and the United Kingdom) abruptly and mysteriously jammed on May 23, 1967, more than two decades into the high drama of the Cold War.

These radars were built to detect Soviet nuclear missiles approaching the United States. An attack on them by another country was seen as a war crime.

US and Soviet Tensions

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were at an all-time high at the time. The blocked radars were considered by US military leaders to be an assault by their adversaries.

These commanders issued a strong alert on that tragic day in 1967. They gave the go-ahead for nuclear weapons-carrying planes to ascend to the skies. Fortunately, another cause for the blocked radar surfaced before they did.

In the end, an unexpected group of heroes emerged to rescue the day: some of the first space weather predictors. They determined the radar had been jammed due to the impact of a strong solar flare. Their understanding of the sun helped to avoid a full-fledged nuclear war.

Related Article: Expert Warns 'Situation Worse than Covid' if Government Ignores Solar Flare Defense



1967 Solar Storm

Delores Knipp, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Colorado and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (in Boulder, Colorado), teamed with former US Air Force officers to bring this tale to light in 2016. Their paper, titled "How a Solar Flare Nearly Triggered a Nuclear War," was published in the American Geophysical Union's journal Space Weather on August 9, 2016. According to the authors:

We show how the May 1967 storm would have been a major social event if it hadn't been for the US Air Force's fledgling attempts to expand its terrestrial weather monitoring, analysis, warning, and prediction activities into the domain of space weather forecasting.

Solar flares, which are linked with sunspots, are enormous blasts of energy from the sun. They're the most significant explosive events in our solar system, lasting anywhere from minutes to hours. They appear as bright spots on the surface of the sun. Solar flares, on the other hand, are a common occurrence. Moreover, they occur often, especially at the height of the sun's 11-year cycle of activity.

So how could individuals in the 1960s have been unaware of the possibility of a solar flare disrupting radar?

They did, in fact, know. But, on the other hand, solar flares were not studied extensively or regularly until the 1960s. Before that time, radio astronomy was a relatively young science, and studies of the sun and its flares were few and few between. However, by 1967, solar forecasters at the North American Aerospace Defense Command were receiving daily information from observatories worldwide (NORAD).

Sunspots

A vast collection of sunspots developed in a region of the sun's surface in mid-May of that year. Sunspots are cold, black areas on the sun that indicate atmospheric disturbance. A large solar flare was expected, according to forecasters. It did, in fact, happen. Due to this activity on the sun, a solar radio observatory in Massachusetts recorded extraordinary amounts of radio waves. In addition, observatories in New Mexico and Colorado reported witnessing the flare with their instruments, according to Knipp's 2016 research.

What if It Happens Today?

The solar storm showed the need for accurate forecasting of what has become known as space weather. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that the entire globe has learned: powerful solar flares may impair radio transmission. Today, solar flares have the potential to damage electrical grids and satellite communication systems, as we all know.

Also Read: Rosetta Eruption May Help Scientists Learn More About Solar Eruptions, Flares, And Storms

For more cosmic news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Weather Alert

...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PDT MONDAY... The Washington State Department of Ecology has issued an Air Quality Alert...in effect until 10 AM PDT Monday. A Smoke Air Quality Alert has been issued. Wildfires burning in the region combined with forecasted conditions will cause air quality to reach unhealthy levels. Health Impacts and Recommended Actions: When air quality is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, sensitive persons may experience health effects and should limit prolonged or heavy exertion and limit time spent outdoors. When air quality is Unhealthy, everyone should limit their time outdoors, and people with asthma, respiratory infections, diabetes, lung or heart disease should stay indoors. Information about air quality is on the Washington Department of Ecology Web site at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/air.html or call 360-407- 6000.

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures of 102 to 110 expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central and southeast Washington and north central and northeast Oregon. * WHEN...Until 8 PM PDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
DENVER (AP)  A Black man who was pistol-whipped and choked by a suburban Denver police officer said Wednesday that he feared for his life during the violent confrontation that led to assault charges against the officer and later his resignation.

In an interview, Kyle Vinson said he was afraid of dying when Officer John Haubert of the embattled Aurora Police Department held a gun to the back of his head and pointed it at his chest while arresting him on July 23 for a probation violation. The run-in was captured on Haubert's body-worn camera.

The arrest July 23 stirred new anger over a Police Department plagued by allegations of misconduct in recent years, including the 2019 death of Elijah McClain and incidents involving other people of color.

Vinson is a homeless Army veteran who said he was trying to take a break from the midday heat when police approached. When the arrest turned violent, he said he thought about never being able to see his brother or his friends, ride his bicycle or eat again.

Just little things like that, youre just thinking, Oh, this is it. This is my time to go, right now,'" he said.

Vinson said he tried to comply with the officers' orders as best he could and control his emotions so he would not be killed, noting the deaths of George Floyd and McClain, a Black man stopped on the street by Aurora police in 2019 and put into a neckhold.

If someone was even not compliant just a little bit, they could have lost their life," he said.

Hauberts lawyer has vowed to zealously defend him but did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.

A week and a half after the arrest, Vinson said he still is in pain from his injuries, the worst of which is in his chest from being poked with the gun's barrel. He said he also suffers headaches and back pain and got six stitches for a cut on his head.

Haubert and another officer had been sent to investigate a trespassing report when they encountered Vinson and two other people who had outstanding felony warrants, according to court documents. The two others ran away.

Haubert is accused of grabbing the back of the Vinsons neck, pressing a gun against his head, then striking his head with the pistol at least seven times while ordering him to lie on his stomach, according to an arrest affidavit.

Youre killing me, Vinson cried as Haubert held him down and struck him, according to the video released by Police Chief Vanessa Wilson following the officers' arrests. She called it a very despicable act and apologized, saying it was an anomaly.

The second officer is accused of not intervening as required under a police accountability law passed last summer amid nationwide racial injustice protests.

The law also makes it easier to file lawsuits against police officers over misconduct allegations. One of Vinson's lawyers, Qusair Mohamedbhai, who represents McClain's mother in a lawsuit against Aurora, said a lawsuit was being considered in Vinson's case.
Contributed photo

Jim Carty will recount his experiences in the Gambia for the members of the New Canaan Mens Club at their regular weekly in person meeting on Friday, Aug. 6. Carty will also describe the research he did while he was a student of the London School of Economics. The research was focused on furthering Englands economic, and commercial development shortly after it gained independence from Great Britain in 1965.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. with Cartys comments expected to begin around 10:30 a.m., following the usual business session of the meeting.
Contributed photo

There will be a Special Election on Tuesday Aug. 17, to fill the unexpired term of Connecticut state Sen. for the 36th District Alex Kasser, who resigned on Tuesday, June 22. Voting will be held in the New Canaan High School gym from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Absentee ballots, both in-person or by mail, are available to all eligible voters in District One. The senate district includes Greenwich, North Stamford and Western New Canaan. No other offices are on the ballot.

Only those voters in New Canaan Dist. 1 will be voting. Those who normally vote at Saxe Middle School, (Districts 2 and 3), will not be voting in the special election. To verify your district or eligibility, contact the Registrars office at 203-594-3060.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  The future ownership of an Israeli spyware company whose product has been used to hack into the cellphones of journalists, human rights workers and possibly even heads of state is up in the air.

Major investors in a private equity firm that has majority ownership of NSO Group, the maker of the Pegasus spyware, are in discussions about what action to take. The Oregon state employee pension fund is one of the largest investors, if not the largest, having committed $233 million to Novalpina Capital, the private equity firm, in 2017.

Novalpina Capital has been saddled with both an internal dispute among its founding partners and an explosive report showing NSO Group's spyware has been widely misused around the globe.

Oregon State Treasury spokeswoman Rachel Wray told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday the department is getting involved. State officials previously said investors have limited say in private equity investments once they are completed.

I can confirm that, consistent with our fiduciary duties to Oregon beneficiaries, and along with other limited partners, (Oregon State) Treasury is involved in discussions related to our investment in Novalpina, Wray said Wednesday.

The development comes amid a serious disagreement among the three co-founders of London-based Novalpina Capital that, according to press reports from Britain, resulted in investors moving to strip control of the fund after concluding that relations between the three had deteriorated so much that they could no longer work together.

Sky News reported the dispute was about future deployment of Novalpina's 1 billion euro ($1.18 million) fund.

On top of that internal strife, an investigation published in July by the global media consortium Forbidden Stories showed that at least 180 journalists around the world have been selected as targets by clients of NSO Group. In one case highlighted by the Guardian, Mexican reporter Cecilio Pineda Birto was assassinated in 2017 a few weeks after his cellphone number appeared on a leaked list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers.

French President Emmanuel Macron is one of several world leaders who may have been targeted using the spyware that is capable of checking a cellphone's emails and other data and turning on its microphone and cameras.

NSO Group denied that it has ever maintained a list of potential, past or existing targets. In a separate statement, it called the Forbidden Stories report full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories.

The company insists it only sells to vetted government agencies for use against terrorists and major criminals and that it has no visibility into its customers data. Critics have provided evidence that NSO directly manages the high-tech spying.

Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, who serves as the states chief investment officer, is following and (is) concerned about the reporting surrounding Novalpina and the NSO Group, Wray said.

Wray said she cannot get into specifics about the discussions among Novalpina's investors because of confidentiality restrictions and Oregon's obligations as a limited partner. Read declined an interview request.

Oregon was Novalpina's first major investor. Stephen Peel and Stefan Kowski, two founding Novalpina Capital partners, showed up at Oregon treasury offices in the Portland suburb of Tigard in November 2017 to make a pitch to the Oregon Investment Council, which oversees the states $90 billion pension fund.

As investors, we assume we have to be contrarian, Peel told the council. We have to find deals that other people dont see or dont want to do for various reasons.

The Oregon Investment Council unanimously approved a $233 million commitment. It has so far provided to the fund $65.7 million, according to the most recent statistics. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation and Englands South Yorkshire Pensions Authority invested $59 million and $33 million respectively.

In 2019, Novalpina Capital and the founders of NSO Group acquired a majority stake in NSO Group from another private equity firm, Francisco Partners, that the Oregon pension fund had previously invested in.

Novalpinas largest investors are now considering picking Berkeley Research Group to replace Novalpina, the Financial Times reported. If appointed, the California-based global consulting firm would be given a mandate to return investors money by selling the three companies Novalpina owns, including NSO, for the highest possible price, the London newspaper said.

Berkeley Research Group did not respond to a request for comment. The groups website says it helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement.
Melissa Phillip/AP

SPRING, Texas (AP)  A Texas water park says a chemical exposure that sent dozens of people to hospitals was caused by improper installation of a water filtration system.

Six Flags officials said Wednesday that a third-party service company improperly installed the system at Hurricane Harbor Splashtown, causing pool-sanitizing chemicals to be released in an outdoor kiddie pool area on July 17.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 86F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 64F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.


Christian groups return to a revamped Letton Hall Christian groups return to a revamped Letton Hall

Letton Hall Conference Centre is fully open again after refurbishment works and raising more than 50,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.

One of the centres most distinctive features, the atrium-like lantern at the top of the stairwell, was found to be leaking and had to lifted off its lead base and reconstructed. It is now fully restored with a shining metal frame and new glass.







The Norfolk Wing of the centre has also been refurbished and is available to hire out separately as an Air B & B. When larger groups are in, it will also be used as an overflow from the main building.







There has been a long heritage of Christian groups using this place, said Centre Manager Jon Horrox. They have been coming ever since Peter Carroll bought the Grade II listed building in 1979 to become a retreat centre. We have many groups coming from Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and London, as well as some from Norfolk itself.







People love the peaceful surroundings. Fortunately, the farmer is being paid to keep all the area around us as parkland.



The centre received a massive boost through a crowdfunding JustGiving page which raised over 50,000. It was set up by the Peterborough-based Christian youth charity CROPS, which is one of its client groups. The centre also raised some 44,000 through a Culture Recovery Fund grant.



Jon has more plans to develop the centre, including the establishment of glamping units. He is also working with the well-known architect Ptolemy Dean OBE to consider major improvements which would bring the building closer back to its original Georgian design.







The centre has 73 beds in the main house, and nine in the Norfolk Wing. Apart from a couple of large family rooms, most rooms are one- or two bed. The nearby Stables has 54 beds, including two ten-bed dormitories and several three- or four-bed rooms.



You can find out more about Letton Hall on their website www.lettonhall.org



Pictured above are (top to bottom) the front of the hall, the lantern, the Norfolk Wing, the park and a bedroom in the main house





Eldred Willey, 05/08/2021
High-tech vendors continue to battle supply-chain problems and higher costs brought on by the current semiconductor shortage, according to statements made in the most recent round of earnings calls.

As Network World reported in May, COVID-19 triggered an explosion of the global remote workforce, which created extraordinary demand for new tech gear. It also forced the shutdown of processor plants. Restarting those plants and renewing supply chains to their pre-pandemic state will be a lengthy process, industry leaders warn.

Read more: The 10 most powerful companies in enterprise networking 2021

This is the worst I've seen it. And there have been some big ups and downs. And more than the worst I've ever seen it, I think it's also going to be prolonged, Aristas CEO and president Jayshree Ullal told analysts at the companys recent financial call.

Everything from copper shortages and wafers to manpower, logistics, and freight has been impacted, Ullal stated.

Campus, routing, switching, and data center products are all affected. And they're at the component level, Ulall said. Now, we're going to try and absorb as much of it and offset as much of it as we can, and not pass it onto our customers if we can help it, except in modest levels.

Component lead times have roughly doubled from pre-pandemic norms. In particular, semiconductor lead times have extended to the range of 40-60 weeks, according to Arista.

Things are very constrained, but I think what's happened is the world supply chain never planned for this big mismatch in supply and demand, said Anshul Sadana, Aristas chief operating officer and senior vice president. And as a result, when you run into a crunch, people try to book ahead and plan to rebuild buffers and so on. But this is not an industry where you can react in one quarter. This will last a long time.

The semiconductor industry is predicting a possible recovery in 2023. But who knows what demand will be at that time, Sadana said.

Part of the problem is that current semiconductor foundry capacity is not adequate to meet the recent surge in global demand, wrote Baron Fung, industry analyst at Dell'Oro Group, in a recent blog.

The cost of servers and other data center equipment is projected to rise sharply in the near term partly due to the global semiconductor shortages, Fung stated. An increase of server average selling prices could approach the double-digit level that was observed in 2018, which was another period of tight supply and high demand. However, in the longer term, we anticipate that supply and demand dynamics could reach equilibrium and that technology transitions could drive market growth.

Other vendors are reporting similar issues.

Similar to others, we are experiencing ongoing supply constraints, which have resulted in extended lead times and elevated costs, Ken Miller, executive vice president and chief financial officer with Juniper Networks, told analysts. We continue to work closely with our suppliers to further enhance our resiliency and limit disruptions outside of our control to the best of our ability. Despite these actions, we believe extended lead times and elevated costs will likely persist for at least the next few quarters. While the situation is dynamic, we believe we will have access to sufficient semiconductor supply to meet our full year financial forecast.

Extreme Networks is battling the same conditions, saying that demand is outstripping supply for certain products, which led to record backlog for products entering fiscal year 2022.

The supply constraints are leading to further rise in component and freight costs as we enter Q1, Remi Thomas, Extremes CFO, told analysts.

We continue to proactively manage the supply chain, and our strategic relationship with Broadcom is helping us in this regard. Importantly, we have secured vendor commitments that will allow us to accelerate product delivery and bring down backlog as of Q2 and beyond, Thomas stated.

Cisco, too, in its May Q3 2021 results call said the company is seeing the strongest demand for its products in nearly a decade, but it's also seeing similar component shortage supply issues as its competitors.

The good news, CEO Chuck Robbins stated, is that we are confident we will work through this as we have already put in place revised arrangements with several of our key suppliers. We believe these actions will enable us to optimize our access to critical components, including semiconductors, and take care of our customers by fulfilling their demand as quickly as possible.
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HARTFORD  Police are investigating the death of a local man as a homicide after he was found shot to death in an apartment on the citys north end Wednesday afternoon.

Police identified the victim as Zayon Collier, 25, who lived in the 60 block of Blue Hills Avenue

Just after 12:45 Wednesday city police were called to the apartment building for gunfire damage inside the building, Lt. Aaron Boisvert said in a press release.

Police located evidence of gunfire inside a common stairwell.

As police were checking to make sure residents were alright, they found Collier dead inside one of the apartments with apparent gunshot wounds, Boisvert said.

Investigators believe the shooting may have occurred overnight, when police received a report of gunfire in the area. Boisvert said police conducted a lenghty canvass in the area but didnt find evidence of a shooting during that initial search.

The departments Major Crimes and Crime Scene divisions are investigating.

Police are also investigating a second shooting that occurred on Wethersfield Avenue around 3:31 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Two men, one in his 50s, the other in his 30s, both showed up at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries while officers were at the scene.

Anyone with information about either shooting is asked to call HPD Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP)  Germany's Siemens AG raised its outlook for the year Thursday, joining other major European industrial companies in signaling that the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is gathering pace despite parts shortages and concerns over the spread of the delta variant.

Rebounding global demand for infrastructure and manufacturing software led to a sharp increase in orders in the April-June quarter at Munich-based Siemens AG, with an order from U.S. rail company Amtrak a large contributor.

Siemens said orders saw "double-digit growth in all industrial businesses and reporting regions."

The engineering and manufacturing company raised its outlook for its fiscal year, joining Volkswagen and Airbus in raising their predictions for business performance amid a global recovery from the worst of the pandemic shutdowns in the April-June quarter a year ago.

Siemens cautioned that its business could be affected by the same shortage of semiconductors for electronic components that has forced production cutbacks among automakers. It said it was also seeing higher costs for raw materials, parts and freight services.

The company said its order book increased by 47% to 20.5 billion euros ($24.2 billion). The figure was boosted by 2.8 billion euros in contracts awarded by Amtrak for 73 trains to be built at the company's factory in Sacramento, California.

The order book also benefitted from an order for passenger coaches in the Czech Republic and a signaling system in Taiwan. In addition, Siemens saw strong increases in orders for industrial software. Part of the current strong manufacturing demand was due to companies increasing production to fill inventories and reserves to mitigate risks that their supply chains might be disrupted.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch said in a statement that the company was benefitting from the strong economic recovery in our key industrial verticals. These include, for example, the automotive industry, machine building and electronics, but also the infrastructure market, including areas such as power distribution, data centers and transportation.

Siemens raised its forecast for net income this year to 6.1 billion-6.4 billion euros, from the earlier outlook for 5.7 billion-6.2 billion euros. Net profit for the most recent quarter, the company's fiscal third, was 1.48 billion euros, up from 535 million in the year-ago quarter.

The net income figure benefited from a positive swing in income from discontinued operations, which showed a loss of 403 million euros in the year-earlier quarter.
I still remember the feeling I had on December 13, 2020 -- the date the first vaccines rolled out of the Pfizer facility in Michigan, destined for hospitals and vaccination centers in every state in the country. Typically reserved scientists described it as the "medical moonshot" we had all been waiting for: a powerful tool against the new virus that had paralyzed the world for almost a year. Those first doses shipped out across America were supposed to signal the next phase of this pandemic -- and it felt as if the whole country could soon let out a collective sigh of relief.

As I waited to get my first shot, I remember thinking how completely ordinary, and how completely extraordinary, it was all at the same time. Here was a snippet of messenger RNA from the virus, delicately wrapped in a little lipid envelope and delivered to each of our bodies via two shots, spaced a few weeks apart. This mRNA would prompt each of us to manufacture a little piece of the coronavirus (the spike protein) which would in turn prompt our immune system (our body's defense mechanism) to create antibodies and other immune cells in response.

While the vaccines seemed to be created within months, whereas they normally take years, the technology behind this vaccine was actually the culmination of a couple of decades of work by some of the most brilliant minds in science and medicine. It quickly became clear the vaccines worked extraordinarily well and have the potential to truly revolutionize medicine beyond this pandemic.

I kept reflecting how this moment could be a turning point -- the beginning of the end of the pandemic; light at the end of a very long, devastating tunnel.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Eight months ago, while I was waiting for my turn to get the shot, the headlines were about the surging numbers of cases, hospitals buckling under pressure, dire predictions for more of the same in the months to come, and the politics of mask wearing.

Today, I'm heartbroken to read the same headlines: case numbers climbing, hospitals in some places inundated with patients, predictions of "the worst is yet to come," and cries against mask mandates. And this time, vaccine mandates, too.

I want to be clear: This was not inevitable. Even without vaccines, the country became far sicker than it should have. The vaccines were supposed to wrap us with near-impenetrable armor and provide longer lasting protection. Of course, armor only works if you wear it, and the same is true of vaccines.

If you look at the map, the five states with the highest percentage of new cases in the US are Florida, Texas, California, Louisiana and Georgia. Almost one in every five new cases of coronavirus -- 19.2% -- are from Florida alone, yet the state only has 6.5% of the US population. All of those states, except California, have fewer than 50% of their populations fully vaccinated.

Among the states with some of the lowest rates of new cases per 100,000 people, you'll find many of them have among the highest rates of vaccination in the country, such as Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Maryland.

President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others warned this great vaccination divide would cleave the country in half, especially when coupled with the very transmissible Delta variant that has been sweeping the country.

"When you have such a low level of vaccination superimposed upon a variant that has a high degree of efficiency of spread, what you are going to see among under-vaccinated regions -- be that states, cities or counties -- you're going to see these individual types of blips. It's almost like it's going to be two Americas," Fauci predicted on CNN at the end of June.

"You're going to have areas where the vaccine rate is high, where more than 70% of the population has received at least one dose. When you compare that with areas where you may have 35% of the people vaccinated, you clearly have a high risk of seeing these spikes in those selected areas," he said.

Fauci called the situation "entirely avoidable, entirely preventable."

Vaccines protect us from getting sick

Despite the latest news and research -- showing that even among people who are vaccinated, there is some risk of getting infected with the coronavirus -- the most recent data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows only about 6,600 breakthrough cases were severe out of more than 163 million fully vaccinated people, and more than a quarter of those were classified as "asymptomatic or not related to Covid-19." Put another way: More than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death. And yes, that's even taking into account the more transmissible Delta variant.

There is some good news. The pace of vaccination is picking up across the country. An average of 681,373 doses are reported administered each day, according to the CDC's latest data. That includes an average of 446,300 people getting their first shot each day -- a 24% increase over last week and the highest it's been since July 4.

Worst to first

The vaccination rate is picking up even in states where residents have been more reluctant to get vaccinated. For example, Louisiana, where just 37% of the population is fully vaccinated -- and which had the most new cases per capita last week -- saw daily vaccination rates rise 111% compared to three weeks ago. The state ranks 47th overall for the share of the population with at least one dose of vaccine, but last week ranked first in new vaccinations per 100,000 residents. Alabama, whose average more than doubled from three weeks ago, ranks 46th overall in vaccine coverage but third in last week's pace; and Mississippi was 50th overall but eighth last week.

"This may be a tipping point for those who have been hesitant to say, 'Okay, it's time.' I hope that's what's happening," National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

"That's what desperately needs to happen if we're going to get this Delta variant put back in its place."

But we still have to do better if we want to get this pandemic under control. Our average of 446,300 people getting their first shot each day is still well below our peak in mid-April, when an average of nearly 2 million people were doing so. As things stand now, there are about 140 million people in this country who have still not even gotten one shot, and of that, more than 90 million are age 12 and older and thus eligible to be vaccinated.

If we had maintained the vaccination pace of early spring, the entire eligible population would've gotten at least one shot by now. It didn't happen, despite the widespread availability and zero cost. Having just returned from Japan, where only 30% of people are vaccinated, I was reminded just how scarce -- therefore valued -- these vaccines are around the world. In India, just 7.5% of the population is fully vaccinated. In many African countries that number is less than 5%, and in Haiti, it's less than 1%.

Where's the rub?

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So, now that a remarkable feat of science has been created, we have to address the obstacles that prevent it from having its maximal benefit. In many other countries, it is access, but in the United States, it is hesitancy, which comes in all sorts of different forms. We have to combat vaccine hesitancy -- an issue as old as vaccines themselves, the first instances appearing soon after the first vaccines were popularized in the 1800s.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released in mid-July, concerns about side effects, the newness of the vaccine, and perceptions about not needing to get vaccinated were among the top reasons people gave for not getting their shot.

So, let me try and address these one by one. These are the same conversations I have been having with my own neighbors and friends.

As far as safety goes, more than 4 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered worldwide. In the United States alone, more than 347 million doses have been administered.

These are some of the widely used medical products on the planet, and as a result there is a remarkable amount of real world data.

Throughout the vaccination campaigns, the number of side effects have been and remain consistently and extraordinarily low. The CDC is constantly searching for side effects. That is how the agency was able to confirm 28 cases of rare blood clots among the 8.7 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered in the US. The side effect monitoring system is very sensitive and the news has been good. Overall, side effects have been minuscule.

What is not minuscule is the number of deaths caused by Covid-19: more than 4.2 million deaths worldwide, including more than 610,000 here in the United States.

As for the newness of the vaccine, and the fact that the ones here in this country are not fully approved -- simply "authorized" -- by the US Food and Drug Administration, the agency has said it is working as fast as possible to get that done. But it is a complicated and time-dependent process that, until recently, used to take more than a decade to complete.

To give an emergency use authorization, the FDA had asked for two months of data, whereas for full approval the agency requires six months' worth. There is also a review of manufacturing facilities and even discussion about how it will be marketed in the future. It adds layers of complexity that can be agonizingly slow, but may also provide a layer of confidence in the process.

"I can't speak to a date when we intend to have this done. But what I can say is we are going to move with all due diligence to get the review done with our usual high quality, as rapidly as we can," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told The Washington Post on Friday.

"We know how important it is for people to be able to get vaccinated. We know that there are students going back to college who would like to see a licensed vaccine before they get vaccinated. And we understand that, and we will work toward getting this across the finish line as rapidly as possible," he said.

The last of the top three reasons for not getting vaccinated -- perceptions about not needing the vaccine -- might be the trickiest to tackle, although it shouldn't be because the statistics are stark.

Covid-19 is a disease that wasn't known to us 20 months ago, but still became a leading cause of death in the US last year. Its closest competitor, heart disease, doesn't have a vaccine to prevent it, but Covid-19 does.

And even though millions of people in the US have become infected with the coronavirus, and hundreds of thousands have died of Covid-19, there are still many pockets of the country where people feel they escaped the worst of the pandemic and no longer need to worry, or that they never had to worry in the first place.

But the Delta variant has changed that calculation. Delta is unforgiving and will take advantage of even a quick chance encounter to infect.

If you look at the data, the death rates and hospitalizations have plummeted over this spring and summer, but that is only part of the story. If you dig a bit deeper, there are alarming trends. According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, of about half the states (those that provided data), more than 95% of hospitalizations and deaths have been among unvaccinated people. That number now includes young and formerly healthy people, not just older Americans and those with underlying health conditions.

The country is no longer being split into vaccinated and unvaccinated. It will quite simply be divided between vaccinated and infected. It is also why masks will once again be commonplace for a time. As we hopefully continue to increase vaccination rates, we want to simultaneously hit the brakes on viral transmission, and masks in high-risk areas are the most effective way to accomplish that; masks, to help us bring viral transmission to low levels around the country, and high levels of vaccination to keep us there.

One of the most common questions about the vaccine: What if I previously had Covid-19? It is a very fair question, and there is plenty of evidence showing that natural infection can provide good immunity. I want to be clear before I continue: By now you must realize that achieving immunity by naturally getting infected is a terrible idea and could land you in the hospital or worse. Vaccination is an exponentially safer way to achieve immunity. But, the question you are likely asking is more nuanced: Do you still need a vaccine if you already had Covid-19?

The official guidance from the CDC is yes. And, here is why. Existing data provides evidence that the vaccine will provide more durable immunity, and may also be protective against future variants.

These are always critically important metrics, and even more so now, as we deal with the Delta variant. Again, this isn't dismissing the immunity from a previous Covid-19 infection, but making the case that adding a vaccine will provide better protection going forward. While the United States recommends a full two-dose course of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, some countries have recommended getting at least one shot in those with previously known Covid infections. The rationale is the original infection provided the same initial immunity as the first shot of a vaccine, and then a second shot would act as a powerful booster.

These are the real discussions I have been having with friends and colleagues and I know winning over people in this last camp may be the most difficult of all, because it does involve conversation -- possibly a series of ongoing conversations -- with loved ones, friends and perhaps a personal physician or trusted pastor, who can talk to the hesitant or reluctant person in a way that resonates with them personally. And victory will be hard won, measured one person at a time.

I try to do it all the time. For example, as I walk through my daily life, as an on-air correspondent, as a doctor, and in this space. I do it not only because I love my family, but because I love yours, as well.

The-CNN-Wire

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If you're not protected against Covid-19, the virus will likely infect you, one expert told CNN on Wednesday.

"This virus is highly infectious. If you decide to try to run the game clock out, don't try to do it. This virus will find you, it will infect you eventually," Michael Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN's Pamela Brown.

"If that's not enough to motivate people to get vaccinated," he added, "then the only other things I think we have are the mandates that say, 'If you're going to work here or go here ... you have to get vaccinated.'"

Americans who are choosing not to get their Covid-19 shot aren't just putting themselves in danger -- they're putting everyone around them in danger as well, Osterholm said.

"If you are a case and you become infectious, you do two things: one is you pose a risk to others including your own loved ones, but number two is you're also using hospital resources right now which in many instances are very, very short," he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said people choosing not to get the vaccine are also upping the chances of another coronavirus variant emerging, one that could be more aggressive and more pervasive than the Delta variant.

"If we don't crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smolder through the fall into the winter, giving it ample chance to get a variant which, quite frankly, we're very lucky that the vaccines we have now do very well against the variants -- particularly against severe illness," Fauci said in an interview with McClatchy. "There could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside Delta."

And if a variant arises that's also highly contagious but also more likely to cause severe illness, "then we really could be in trouble," Fauci added.

"People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think it's only about them. But it isn't. it's about everybody else, also," he said.

Roughly 58% of the US population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 49.8% of the population is fully vaccinated, the data shows.

More than 90 million eligible people in the US are still unvaccinated. And though the seven-day average of people initiating vaccination each day is the highest it has been since July 4 at 446,300, many experts say the US is still not where it needs to be to get the pandemic -- and the rapidly spreading Delta variant -- under control.

On Tuesday, for the first time since February, more than 50,000 hospital beds across the country were occupied by Covid-19 patients, according to new data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. That number is more than triple what it was a month ago.

"This surge that we're going through right now has every potential to be -- and already looks to be -- the worst surge we've faced so far," former US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said during a live online interview with The Washington Post.

Delta variant now accounts for more than 93% of Covid-19 cases in the US

The Delta variant now accounts for an estimated 93.4% of coronavirus circulating in the US, according to figures published by the CDC.

This includes several sub-lineages of Delta, all of which are classified as variants of concern. Together, they made up about 93.4% of cases during the last two weeks of July.

This number is even higher in certain parts of the country, including the region that includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, where Delta accounts for more than 98% of circulating virus.

These figures have shown a rapid increase over the past two months. In the two weeks ending May 22, for example, Delta's prevalence was estimated around 3%.

At that same time in May, another variant first identified in the UK -- Alpha, or B.1.1.7 -- was the dominant one in the US, causing 69% of cases. Now, CDC's most recent estimates put that variant at just under 3%.

Experts considering boosters for immunocompromised people, Fauci says

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Although experts have said data so far does not indicate a need for the general population to get vaccines boosters, Fauci said there is an effort underway to get them for immunocompromised people.

Some conditions -- including autoimmune diseases, transplants and cancer treated with chemotherapy -- compromise people's immune systems.

"Those individuals we know almost invariably do not have an adequate response, so the need to give them an additional boost is much more emergent than the general population," Fauci said during a virtual event hosted by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday.

Vaccine advisers to the CDC have met to discuss whether immunocompromised people may need additional protection from a vaccine booster but have not yet presented a formal recommendation or voted on guidance.

"We are trying very hard to get the regulatory mechanism in place very soon to get those individuals a boost that might bring up their immunity to the level where it should be, if possible," Fauci said.

During a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, Fauci said it's "very likely" Covid-19 variants evolved in the bodies of those who are immunosuppressed.

People with immune suppression may be unable to fight off Covid-19 infections for weeks or even months, meaning the virus has plenty of time to evolve and change.

"Variants, we all know, have emerged because of the pressure that the human immune system has put on the virus, very likely from people who are immunosuppressed ... and had virus in them for days and days and days before they cleared it and/or died, and then essentially led to the emergence of a variant," Fauci said.

'Substantial' increase in cases among children and teens

With the new school year stirring concerns about protecting children from Covid-19, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Tuesday there's been a "substantial" increase in cases among children.

Nearly 72,000 children and teens caught Covid-19 last week -- five times as many as at the end of June, the group said.

The definition of a child varies by state, but generally includes those up to age 17 or 18.

Covid-19 protocols vary across the country, but when children go back to school, districts will need to know how to respond to outbreaks quickly.

Districts need to be prepared to enact contact tracing, testing, the quarantining of people who were exposed to the virus and the isolation of people with infections, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

While most schools follow those steps to isolate cases, contact trace and test, response plans can vary state by state and school district by school district, Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association, told CNN.

"From what we understand, it does depend on what district you are in. The district should have very well thought-out outbreak plans that have included the voices of educators and parents and community members in the crafting of those plans, and they should have plans that follow the CDC recommendations," Anderson said.

"Our recommendation to all students and school districts is to follow the medical experts and follow the CDC," she said.

The-CNN-Wire

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DULUTH  Aug. 11 is almost here, and Georgia 811 hopes that the 8/11 date on the calendar will serve as a natural reminder for residents to contact Georgia 811 prior to any digging project. Georgia residents can contact 811 at www.Georgia811.com or via the three-digit 811 phone number to have underground public utility lines marked. Every few minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first contacting 811.

When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to Georgia 811, the local one call center that notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators then arrive at the digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint or both.

Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, inconvenient outages and fines. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants contacting 811 online or by phone. Contact 811 before installing a mailbox, building a deck, planting a tree or laying a patio.

On Aug. 11 and throughout the year, we remind homeowners and professional contractors alike to use the free 811 service before digging to reduce the risk of striking an underground utility line, Megan Estes, director of communications for Georgia 811, said in a news release. Calling 811 or visiting Georgia811.com is really the only way to know which public utilities are buried in your area so that you can dig safely.

The depth of utility lines can vary for a number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches or digging in a location thats previously been marked, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.

Georgia 811 is spreading the 811 message by hosting the Georgia 811 5k. The free virtual event kicks off on Aug, 11 and continues through Sept. 11. Participants can complete their 5k in one day or over the course of several days. Anyone sharing the provided safe digging social media message will be put in a drawing to win 1 of 9 gift cards. For details on the #Georgia811Virtual5k, visit https://www.georgia811.com/index.php/811-run-walk/.

Visit www.Georgia811.com for more information about Georgia 811 and safe digging practices.
JONESBORO  Jonesboro resident Madison Stafforf has been named a 2021 HCBU Scholar.

Stafforf is one of 86 students from around the country to be named a scholar by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She attends Paine College in Augusta.

Students were selected based on their accomplishments in academics, leadership and civic engagement. Applicants were required to submit their transcript, resume, essay, letter of recommendation and the signature of their university president.

The HBCU Scholars announced all have demonstrated remarkable dedication to their learning and exemplify the talent that our nations Historically Black Colleges and Universities have nurtured for generations, said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. The students who hold this honor are committed to creating a more just and equitable society through their civic engagement. They are leaders and change-makers in their communities, and I cannot wait to learn from them as they serve as ambassadors both for the White House Initiative and their institutions of higher education.

Over the course of an academic school year, the HBCU Scholars selected through this program will serve as ambassadors of the Initiative and their respected institution. The Initiative will provide scholars with information about the value of education as well as networking opportunities. Scholars can also share these resources with their fellow students.

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Through their relationships with community-based organizations, and public and private partners, all of which are gained through this recognition, scholars will also share promising and proven practices that support opportunities for all young people to achieve their educational and career potential.

This cohort of HBCU Scholars will also participate in national and regional events and monthly classes with Elyse Jones, HBCU Scholar Program Coordinator, Initiative staff and other professionals from a wide range of disciplines. All HBCU Scholar events are designed to connect HBCU students with non-profit, business, and federal leaders to discuss professional development while identifying challenges and providing equitable solutions to barriers that HBCU students face when preparing and entering the 21st century workforce.

Supporting the next generation of student leaders who will continue their education and graduate from HBCUs has been the highlight and joy of my career with the Initiative said Jones. It is my honor to announce these 86 students who will continue to make meaningful contributions to our country. Each student selected into this program has demonstrated their commitment to their academic achievements and improving their communities. I look forward to working with them as partners I cant wait to see what they will do as leaders.

Selected HBCU Scholars will be invited to the 2021 HBCU Week National Annual Conference, which will take place Sept. 7-10. This years conference theme is Exploring Equity. During their time at the conference, they will participate in sessions about entrepreneurship, innovation, and personal and professional development. Most importantly, they will also have opportunities to engage with one another and showcase their individual and collective talent across the HBCU community.
Pentagon police officer George Gonzalez died Tuesday after sustaining injuries during a violent incident outside of the Pentagon building, according to a release from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

Gonzalez joined the Pentagon Force Protection Agency as a police officer in July 2018 and was "promoted twice and attained the rank of Senior Officer in 2020," according to a release by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, which oversees security at the Pentagon.

The FBI has been investigating the incident and in a series of tweets Wednesday, its Washington field office offered some details.

On Tuesday around 10:40 a.m., "an individual who has now been identified as Austin William Lanz, 27, exited a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center in Arlington, VA, and immediately, without provocation, attacked" Gonzalez with a knife, "severely wounding him," the FBI Washington field office tweeted.

After Lanz stabbed Gonzalez, "a struggle ensued." Lanz "mortally wounded Officer Gonzalez and then shot himself with the officer's service weapon," the FBI said.

A civilian bystander was also injured during the incident. The civilian was taken to the hospital and later released with non-life threatening injuries, the FBI Washington field office said in the tweets.

Army and police veteran

Before joining the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Gonzalez worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Transportation Security Administration. He also served in the US Army, earning a Commendation Medal for his service in Iraq, the release said.

"Officer Gonzalez embodied our values of integrity and service to others," the release said.

Gonzalez, originally from Brooklyn, New York, was a "die-hard" Yankees fan and a graduate of New York City's Canarsie High School, the release added.

"A gregarious officer, he was well-liked and respected by his fellow officers," the release said. "Officer Gonzalez's family is in our thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace."

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The White House offered condolences to Gonzalez's family on Wednesday.

"I wanted to also take a moment to recognize the passing of Pentagon Force Protection Officer George Gonzalez, who was tragically killed yesterday in the line of duty. His life was one of service, a veteran of both the police and the military," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the daily press briefing.

"He lost his life protecting those who protect the nation. We mourn his loss and offer condolences to his family," Psaki added.

Details of incident remain unclear

The "shooting event" occurred on the bus platform on the Pentagon complex and prompted a lockdown of the building with no personnel allowed outside, according to a message that was sent to the Pentagon workforce by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

The Metro Bus platform is a major entrance to the Pentagon used by thousands of personnel every day entering and leaving the building and is used by multiple bus lines in the area.

The Pentagon Metro platform and Pentagon Metro stop entrance remained closed Wednesday morning as thousands of people who work inside the Pentagon came to work.

"Trains are bypassing Pentagon due to an on-going police investigation outside the station. Shuttle bus service is available," a tweet from the WMATA Metrorail account said Wednesday morning.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

The-CNN-Wire

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The suspect in the violent attack outside the Pentagon on Tuesday that resulted in a death of a Pentagon police officer has been identified as 27-year-old Austin William Lanz of Georgia, according to a law enforcement official and Lanz's former attorney Lisa Wells. Lanz died from injuries sustained in the attack, Wells told CNN.

A senior defense official told CNN that the officer, George Gonzalez, was stabbed by the assailant and that other officers responded rapidly and shot the suspect.

The FBI's Washington field office confirmed Lanz as the suspect on Twitter Wednesday and said that he died by suicide using the service weapon of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer he had fatally wounded.

According to the FBI's tweet, Lanz "exited a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center" and "immediately, without provocation, attacked" Gonzalez with a knife.

The FBI continued, tweeting that a "struggle ensued, in which the subject mortally wounded Officer Gonzalez and then shot himself with the officer's service weapon. Other PFPA officers engaged the subject, who ultimately died at the scene."

Lanz briefly enlisted with the US Marine Corps in 2012 but never earned the title of Marine, according to Maj. Jim Stenger, Marine Corps spokesperson.

"Our sincerest condolences are with the family of the officer who was killed," Stenger said in a statement to CNN. "We can confirm Austin W. Lanz enlisted in the Marine Corps on October 9, 2012 but was administratively separated on November 2, 2012 and never earned the title Marine."

Stenger referred all questions related to the investigation into the August 3 attack to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington Field Office Public Affairs.

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Cobb County Magsitrate Court records show that on April 24 of this year, Lanz was arrested on a number of charges including criminal trespassing, burglarly, two counts of aggravated battery on a police officer, terroristic threats, rioting in a penal institution, and obstructing or hindering law enforcement.

Lanz was released on a $30,000 bond on May 12 and required to undergo a mental health and substance abuse evaluation within 30 days. The terms of his bail also required him to enroll in any treatment within 15 days of its recommendation.

He was also required not to possess any firearms.

Lanz had not yet been indicted on the charges because the case was transferred to Cobb County Superior Court. Court records show that two charges -- rioting in a penal institution and terroristic threats -- were dismissed because "probable cause does not exist."

This story ihas been updated with additional reporting.

The-CNN-Wire

 &  2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
"I started dating a girl, and one day, she was tired of listening to me complain about my job. She asked me: 'If you could do any job, what would it be?' I told her that I wanted to become a police officer, and she replied, 'Well, get your fat butt up, start exercising and start taking tests.'"
In a proof-of-concept study, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have created a coating that can be applied to endotracheal tubes and release antimicrobial peptides that target infectious bacteria with specificity. The innovation could reduce upper-airway bacterial inflammation during intubation, a situation that can lead to chronic inflammation and a condition called subglottic stenosis, the narrowing of the airway by an accumulation of scar tissue. The findings were published recently in the journal The Laryngoscope.

"We have created a novel device to modulate the upper-airway microbiome, which could be used to prevent bacterial infections during intubation and help prevent subglottic stenosis and other airway diseases," said senior study author Riccardo Gottardi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and head of the Bioengineering and Biomaterials Laboratory at CHOP. "Not only does this technology work predictably and continuously over the normal duration of chronically intubated patients, but it is also fast and easy to produce and could easily be modulated to target any bacteria of interest."

Recent studies have shown that the endotracheal microbiome of intubated patients with subglottic stenosis is unbalanced. However, addressing the overgrowth of certain bacteria with conventional antibiotics is not ideal, as their use can disrupt the balance of both "good" and "bad" bacteria, while also causing antimicrobial resistance.

Instead, the investigators explored the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are small proteins that destabilize bacterial membranes, causing bacterial cells to fall apart and die. This mechanism of action allows them to target specific bacteria and makes them unlikely to promote antimicrobial resistance. Prior studies have shown that it is possible to coat endotracheal tubes with conventional antibiotics, so the research team investigated the possibility of incorporating AMPs into polymer-coated tubes to inhibit bacterial growth and modulate the upper-airway microbiome.

The researchers, led by Matthew Aronson, a graduate student in Penn Engineering's Department of Bioengineering, tested their theory by creating a polymer coating that would release Lasioglossin-III, an AMP with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. They found that Lasio released from coated endotracheal tubes, reached the expected effective concentration rapidly and continued to release at the same concentration for a week, which is the typical timeframe that an endotracheal is used before being changed. The investigators also tested their drug-eluting tube against airway microbes, including S. epidermidis, S. pneumoniae, and human microbiome samples and observed significant antibacterial activity, as well as prevention of bacterial adherence to the tube.

This study shows that it is possible to create a drug-eluting endotracheal tube to prevent airway complications, which opens the door to future research on targeting specific pathogens that are responsible for laryngotracheal stenosis. Moreover, the ability to purposefully select AMPs against certain microbes in the trachea and other organs could have significant implications in the prevention of specific diseases, even beyond airway disorders." Ian N. Jacobs, MD, Study Co-Author, Medical Director of the Center for Pediatric Airway Disorders in the Division of Otolaryngology and Endowed Chair in Pediatric Otolaryngology and Pediatric Airway Disorders at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
In a newly published study, physician-scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have shown that the flu vaccine may provide vital protection against COVID-19.

The study, titled "Examining the potential benefits of the influenza vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: A retrospective cohort analysis of 74,754 patients," was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One on August 3. This was the largest study of its kind and analyzed deidentified patient records from around the world, which strongly suggested that the annual flu shot reduces the risks of stroke, sepsis, and DVT in patients with COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 who had been vaccinated against the flu were also significantly less likely to visit the emergency department and be admitted to the intensive care unit.

Only a small fraction of the world has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to date, and with all the devastation that has occurred due to the pandemic, the global community still needs to find solutions to reduce morbidity and mortality." Devinder Singh, M.D., senior study author, chief of plastic surgery, and professor of clinical surgery at the Miller School

"Having access to the real-time data of millions of patients is an incredibly powerful research tool," added Dr. Singh, who conducted the study with medical student Susan Taghioff and plastic surgery resident Benjamin Slavin, M.D., both of whom were lead authors. "Together with asking important questions, my team has been able to observe an association between the flu vaccine and reduced morbidity in COVID-19 patients."

Sharing findings with scientists and general public

The researchers previously presented their preliminary data findings at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), receiving international attention. Now that the full study has been published, the authors are extremely excited to share their detailed findings for the first time with both the general public and scientific community.

The study was conducted using patient records from a number of countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy, Israel and Singapore. The team screened de-identified electronic health records on the TriNetX research database for more than 70 million patients to identify two groups of 37,377 patients. The two patient groups were then matched for factors that could influence their risk of susceptibility to severe COVID-19, including but not limited to age, gender, ethnicity, smoking, and health problems such as diabetes, obesity, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Members of the first study group had received the flu vaccine two weeks and six months prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19. Those in the second group also had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis but were not vaccinated against the flu. The incidence of 15 adverse outcomes (sepsis; strokes; deep vein thrombosis or DVT; pulmonary embolism; acute respiratory failure; acute respiratory distress syndrome; arthralgia or joint pain; renal failure; anorexia; heart attack; pneumonia; emergency department visits; hospital admission; ICU admission; and death) within 30, 60, 90 and 120 days of testing positive for COVID-19 were then compared between the two groups.

The analysis revealed that those who had not had the flu shot were significantly more likely (up to 20% more likely) to have been admitted to the ICU. They were also significantly more likely to visit the emergency department (up to 58% more likely), to develop sepsis (up to 45% more likely), to have a stroke (up to 58% more likely) and a DVT (up to 40% more likely). The risk of death was not reduced.

Avoiding Adverse Outcomes

The investigators were also able to calculate how many COVID-19-positive patients would need to receive an influenza vaccine to avoid one adverse outcome. Notably, they found that only 176 patients needed to have received a flu vaccine to prevent one ED visit within 120 days of testing positive for COVID-19. Additionally, only 286 patients needed to have received their flu vaccine to prevent one case of sepsis, which is known to be the most expensive condition to treat in the U.S. health care system. Last, for every 440 patients who were up to date on their flu shot, one ICU admission was prevented.

Although it isn't exactly known yet how the flu vaccine provides protection against COVID-19, most theories speculate that the flu shot may boost the innate immune system -; general defenses we are born with that do not protect against any one specific illness.

The results, said study authors, strongly suggest that the flu vaccine may protect against several severe effects of COVID-19. However, they strongly recommend that people receive COVID-19 vaccines as well their annual influenza vaccine. They add that more research, in the form of prospective randomized control trials, is needed to prove and better understand the possible link but, in the future, the flu shot could be used to help provide increased protection in countries where the COVID-19 vaccine is in short supply or even aid in the ongoing struggle against breakthrough cases in those individuals already vaccinated against COVID-19.

"Continued promotion of the influenza vaccine also has the potential help the global population avoid a possible 'twindemic' -; a simultaneous outbreak of both influenza and coronavirus," Taghioff said. "Regardless of the degree of protection afforded by the influenza vaccine against adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19, simply being able to conserve global health care resources by keeping the number of influenza cases under control is reason enough to champion continued efforts to promote influenza vaccination worldwide."
As the United States continues to recognize, include and protect the LGBTQ+ community, one part of that community may not come to mind immediately: older adults. LGBTQ+ individuals who were in their 20s during the Stonewall riots era more than half a century ago are entering a phase of life when long-term care like nursing homes may be needed, raising the question, who is protecting them?

A research team at Rush University Medical Center set out to find out how older LGBTQ+ adults felt in long-term care facilities (LTC) and what guidelines were in place in these facilities to protect its residents.

The study was recently published in the journal Clinical Gerontologist and found that older LGBTQ adults fear discrimination in the LTC setting, "leading to the invisibility of their identities," in the words of the study authors, who include three faculty members in the Rush University College of Nursing and a student in the college's Advanced Public Health Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program. These findings show a need for practices in these facilities to change if they are going to ensure that older LGBTQ adults don't feel the pressure or trauma of coming out all over again.

A need for progress

The study authors searched four electronic databases for studies conducted between 2000 and 2019 related to caring for LGBTQ+ older adults in LTC settings. From their search, 20 eligible studies were selected to be reviewed.

Due to the scarcity of research in the area of LGBTQ older adults, especially related to long-term care settings, we chose to conduct an integrative review that includes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods study designs with the highest quality evidence, given that this work would be used to develop best practices." Katherine Fasullo, BSN, RN, Co-Author

These studies showed an overall lack of knowledge among LTC staff about their LGBTQ+ residents and that staff are unaware of the challenges faced by older LGBTQ+ adults and the stigma and biases they face in health care settings.

These findings called attention to a lack of uniform policies and best practices in the LTC setting, leading the authors to make recommendations to promote equitable health care for LBTQ+ residents.

A call for change

The recommendations center on staff training and facility policies that create and encourage a safe and validating environment for LGBTQ older adults. A major part of these recommendations is encouraging staff to not assume the sexuality or gender identity of residents.

To go even further, staff should not see LGBTQ+ resident as one group, but instead see each as a unique individual. When staff respect each resident's own expressions that describe how they identify, it creates an equitable environment where residents may feel more comfortable discussing their personal lives.

"LGBTQ is often used as an umbrella term to talk about one community of people, says Fasullo. "What we need to recognize is that the letters in 'LGBTQ' each represent unique subgroups of individuals  and involves the intersectionality of sexual orientation and gender identity. When we treat LGBTQ individuals as unique, we are acknowledging their varying identities and lived experiences."

Erik McIntosh, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, one of co-authors of the study explains that LGBTQ individuals can have many intersecting identities including race, culture, religion, economics, geography, and more, and that these sometimes can compete with their LGBTQ identity.

"It's important to recognize and hold space for these individual, intersecting identities in order to provide competent and personalized care," he says. "Allowing residents to express their authentic self in a safe environment will lead to a healthy and thriving community."

To increase inclusivity for these residents, nursing homes need to change their culture and practices. This can be done in a variety of ways, including offering socialization opportunities within the facility that allows LGBTQ+ residents the ability to build a community together, within their living arrangements.

Once the community is established, it needs to also be maintained, the study authors say. Offering a variety services and allowing residents to maintain connections outside of the their LTC -; by welcoming partners and friends as visitors -; are integral to ensuring older adults feel comfortable and seen. The authors also recommend that in mainstream facilities, LGBTQ+ residents have a separate floor to help foster a sense of safety and community.

"For LGBTQ older adults, community is everything," Fasullo notes. "Despite today's older adults being the first "out" generation, they have experienced pervasive societal discrimination in their lifetimes.

When LGBTQ older adults enter long-term care, it is critical for them to be able to keep the safety of their built communities  whether from outside the facility or developing a new, welcoming community within the organization."

The researchers go on to explain the significance of changing forms and policies to include LGBTQ+ residents. Facilities should not only review forms and policies, they say, but also gather input from LGBTQ+ older adults to ensure that policies and practices are inclusive and reflect the needs of every resident. This effort should include updating policies to allow for same-sex couples to stay together and partners to be included as next kin.

These recommendations stress the importance of changing resident rights and policies to include sexuality-specific protections as well as antidiscrimination polices that apply not only staff but also to other residents as well. LGBTQ+ older adults can face discrimination from not only staff, but also other residents who may harbor homophobia. The best way to for LGBTQ+ residents to feel secure and protected within a nursing home is to make sure both staff residents are held accountable for their actions and words.

Making the change and raising awareness

The study shines a light on the fact that members of the Stonewall era of the LGBTQ+ community are aging and on the importance of not letting them be left behind or forgotten.

Because LGBTQ+ older adults are more likely to live alone, be socially isolated, and have less family support, they have a disproportionate reliance on LTC facilities, and not having protective policies and practices in place can leave this population at risk. Issues such as access to care and living arrangements that allow older LGBTQ+ adults to live and age in the same way cisgender heterosexual adults do is crucial to truly having an equal and equitable society.

Adopting inclusive care and policies is just the beginning though: Making them known to other residents, visitors and beyond also is necessary for them to be effective. From hiring staff, to updating forms, to creating LGBTQ-themed programming and activities, LTC facilities can make it visible to everyone that they are LGBTQ+-inclusive spaces and work to educate others about the aging LGBTQ+ adult population.

Fasullo is already putting these recommendations into practice during her time in the Advanced Public Health Nurse DNP program at Rush University. She is working with a long-term care facility to implement these best practices through the creation of the GLBT+ Older adults Leading Initiatives to Drive Change (GOLD program). The GOLD program works to amplify the voices of LGBTQ older adults in the facility by creating an LGBTQ Older Adult Advisory Council and events where LGBTQ older adults share their personal stories.

"At Rush, we are ahead of curve in the field of LGBTQ health, but there are still ways that we can move the needle," explains Fasullo. "I hope that this work inspires others to consider the experiences of LGBTQ older adults and look to these best-practices for ways to affirm the lives of LGBTQ adults in their practice settings."
Purchase a pack of cigarettes in Australia and be prepared to be accosted with graphic warning labels depicting the dangers of tobacco use - including images of gangrene of the foot, a newborn with a breathing tube and throat cancer.

"Graphic warning labels are used in more than 120 countries to counter marketing that promotes cigarette smoking. We wanted to know what effect such cigarette packaging would have on United States smokers," said David Strong, professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.

Graphic warning labels were mandated by the United States Congress in 2009 but implementation has been stopped pending the outcome of legal challenges to the law by the tobacco industry.

In a paper published online in JAMA Network Open on Aug. 4, 2021, Strong and colleagues at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, California State University San Marcos, San Diego County Public Health Services, and San Diego State University, demonstrated that graphic warning labels are effective reminders of the negative health consequences of smoking.

"Graphic warning labels caused daily smokers in the United States to perceive cigarettes to be less positive and it increased their concerns about the health effects of smoking on both themselves and their loved ones," said corresponding-author John P. Pierce, Distinguished Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health.

The study manufactured special cigarette packs that incorporated the graphic warning labels used on cigarette packs in Australia (under license from the Australian government). Study participants were 357 smokers living in San Diego who agreed to purchase their preferred brand of cigarettes from a study website. Participants were randomized to receive their cigarettes in one of three pack designs: in package with a graphic warning label, with a blank pack, or in a standard commercially available U.S. pack.

During the study, participants were queried by interactive text messaging about concerns over health risks and about their perceptions of the most recent cigarettes that they smoked. Changes in consumption and smoking status were assessed at the end of the three-month intervention.

Participants who received cigarettes in the standard pack or a blank pack had no change in their positive perceptions of their cigarettes, while smokers randomized to the graphic warning label arm perceived their cigarettes less favorably. Health concerns increased in all three groups, likely due to the intervention that made them think about health consequences more often, said the study authors.

While these labels make smokers more likely to think about quitting, it did not make them more likely to make a serious quit attempt, nor was it sufficient to help them quit their nicotine addiction. Thus, graphic warning labels are an integral component of tobacco control strategies but they are only one tool for governments to reduce the societal costs from the death and disease caused by tobacco smoking." Karen Messer, senior-author, professor of biostatistics, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health
The age at which women go through menopause is critical for fertility and impacts healthy aging in women, but reproductive aging has been difficult for scientists to study and insights into the underlying biology are limited.

Now, scientists have identified nearly 300 gene variations that influence reproductive lifespan in women. Additionally, in mice, they have successfully manipulated several key genes associated with these variants to extend their reproductive lifespan.

Their findings, published today in Nature, substantially increase our knowledge of the reproductive aging process, as well as providing ways to improve the prediction of which women might reach menopause earlier than others.

While life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past 150 years, the age at which most women go through natural menopause has remained relatively constant at about 50 years old. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever carry, and these are gradually lost with age. Menopause occurs once most of the eggs have gone, however natural fertility declines substantially earlier.

Co-author Professor Eva Hoffmann, of the University of Copenhagen, said: "It is clear that repairing damaged DNA in eggs is very important for establishing the pool of eggs women are born with and also for how quickly they are lost throughout life. Improved understanding of the biological processes involved in reproductive aging could lead to improvements in fertility treatment options."

This research has been achieved by a global collaboration involving academics from more than 180 institutions, and jointly led by the University of Exeter, the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, and the DNRF Center for Chromosome Stability at the University of Copenhagen. Their findings identify new genetic variations linked to reproductive lifespan, increasing the number known from 56 to 290.

The new discoveries were made possible through analyses of datasets from hundreds of thousands of women from many studies including UK Biobank and 23andMe. Data from 23andMe was provided by customers who have opted-in to participate in research. While the large majority are from women of European ancestry, they also examined data on nearly 80,000 women of East Asian ancestry, and found broadly similar results.

The team discovered that many of the genes involved are linked to processes of DNA repair. They also found that many of these genes are active from before birth, when human egg stores are created, but also throughout life as well. Notable examples are genes from two cell cycle checkpoint pathways  CHEK1 and CHEK2 - which regulate a broad variety of DNA repair processes. Knocking out a specific gene (CHEK2) so that it no longer functions, and over-expressing another (CHEK1) to enhance its activity each led to an approximately 25 per cent longer reproductive lifespan in mice. Mouse reproductive physiology differs from humans in key ways, including that mice do not have menopause. However, the study also looked at women who naturally lack an active CHEK2 gene, and found they reach menopause on average 3.5 years later than women with a normally active gene.

Co-author Professor Ignasi Roig, from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, said: "We saw that two of the genes which produce proteins involved in repairing damaged DNA work in opposite ways with respect to reproduction in mice. Female mice with more of the CHEK1 protein are born with more eggs and they take longer to deplete naturally, so reproductive lifespan is extended. However, while the second gene, CHEK2, has a similar effect, allowing eggs to survive longer, but in this case the gene has been knocked out so that no protein is produced suggesting that CHEK2 activation may cause egg death in adult mice".

The genes identified by this work influence the age at natural menopause and can also be used to help predict which women are at highest risk of having menopause at a young age.

We hope our work will help provide new possibilities to help women plan for the future. By finding many more of the genetic causes of variability in the timing of menopause, we have shown that we can start to predict which women might have earlier menopause and therefore struggle to get pregnant naturally. And because we are born with our genetic variations, we could offer this advice to young women." Dr Katherine Ruth, Co-Author, University of Exeter

The team also examined the health impacts of having an earlier or later menopause by using an approach that tests the effect of naturally-occurring genetic differences. They found that a genetically earlier menopause increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and is linked to poorer bone health and increased risk of fractures. However, it decreases the risk of some types of cancer, such as ovarian and breast cancer, that are known to be sensitive to sex hormones which are at higher levels while a woman is still menstruating.

Co-author Dr John Perry, of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, a senior author on the paper, said: "This research is incredibly exciting. Although there's still a long way to go, by combining genetic analysis in humans with studies in mice, plus examining when these genes are switched on in human eggs, we now know a lot more about human reproductive aging. It also gives us insights into how to help avoid some health problems that are linked to the timing of menopause."
More support needs to be put in place for hospital workers dealing with the Covid pandemic after a global review of studies found high levels of depression, PTSD, anxiety and burn-out amongst frontline staff.

The review, conducted by the University of York and the Mental Health Foundation, also revealed that COVID-19 patients with other physical health problems, and children and adolescents are struggling with a host of mental health issues during the pandemic.

The study looked at 25 systematic reviews conducted during the early months of the pandemic. Many of these studies were of hospital workers in China.

Estimates varied from 12 per cent for anxiety in one review of healthcare workers in hospital, to 51 per cent for depression and PTSD in another review.

For children, changes in household interactions and social changes such as school closures may increase the risk of adverse mental health outcomes.

Tangible support

The review was a collaboration between the University of Yorks Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and the Mental Health Foundation. In addition, a panel of six UK healthcare workers helped the researchers to interpret findings of the review.

Based on feedback from the panel, the study authors highlight a lack of responsibility from the UK government to support healthcare workers, pointing out a need for tangible support more so than orchestrated initiatives such as Clap for Carers.

The panel confirmed review findings on the importance of support from colleagues, clear communication in the workplace, and the need for resources and support for a shift to working from home for community workers.

Higher risk

Lead author, Noortje Uphoff, a Research Fellow at the University of Yorks Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, said additional support during outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic could prevent an increased burden of mental health problems in the population.

She said: Many people worldwide have felt the impact of the Covid pandemic on their mental health, but some groups of people may be more at risk of experiencing poor mental health than others.

Healthcare workers may already have a higher risk of adverse mental health outcomes due to the stressful nature of their work. However, there were some indications that mental health may be further affected as a result of working on the frontline during an infectious disease outbreak.

This review indicates which types of support should be explored to protect the mental health of healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups during this pandemic and any future coronavirus outbreaks.

Stark differences

Much has been said about the impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers. However, our novel partnership approach to complete this review brought a range of unique perspectives to the project. Our team consisted of researchers and workers with academic, third sector, clinical and lived experience, thus supporting the idea that research can be more meaningful if inclusive. Our research highlighted some stark differences between different frontline workers that were not apparent in other studies, such as community workers experiencing more stress due to feeling more isolated, not having a clear structure or sense of control, and feeling as though they were not supported enough in the pandemic. Dr Antonis Kousoulis, Director, Mental Health Foundation

The study is a result of a multi-year strategic partnership between the Mental Health Foundation (which funded this study) and Cochrane Common Mental Disorders with the aim of bringing more accessible evidence to policy and practice.
The Senates release of its bipartisan infrastructure plan signals that lawmakers are poised to throw former President Donald Trumps belated bid to lower Medicare drug prices under the bus  not to mention trains, bridges, tunnels and broadband connections.

Thats because the massive spending bill is the first of two likely to at least delay the so-called Medicare rebate rule released at the end of the Trump administration, which has yet to take effect. Congress would use the projected costs of that rule to pay for more than half a trillion dollars in new infrastructure.

What has infrastructure spending got to do with Medicare drug rebates?

Bear with us as we explain the mad logic of how Congress intends to pay for a spending program with money that doesn't really exist. Tossing Trumps reform under the steamroller to offset other costs offers a window into the convoluted process of congressional budgeting: Senators say the plan will provide billions of dollars of savings, even though the federal government has never spent a dime on the rebate rule. And it focuses attention on the intractable problem of bringing down drug prices: The rule would take money from drug industry brokers and provide refunds to consumers, which would suggest it was saving them and Medicare money. Yet budget analysts said the process would cost the government billions of dollars.

Let's start with the Medicare drug rebates.

The way things work now, pharmacy benefit managers, which are often owned by insurance companies, negotiate with drugmakers to get significant reductions on a drugs list price. They pass the bulk of that savings along to Medicare and the insurers, who can pocket some of it and use it to lower overall premiums for customers who buy drug plans in Medicare Part D.

While customers benefit from a lower premium, it doesnt mean they actually get a better price for their drugs, said Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Thats because a patient's price is not based on the rebate but on a share of the original list price of the drug. If a drug costs $100, and a patients share is 25%, they pay $25, regardless of how big a rebate the PBM got for the insurer.

It thus serves the interest of the PBM for the drugmaker to raise prices. When the list price goes up, your patient responsibility goes up, so the patient ends up paying more, Anderson said. The PBM makes money because, when the list price goes up, the rebate is larger. But the patient loses, because their cost sharing is based often on the list price.

Since the PBM controls the formulary that says which drugs are covered in a given plan, Anderson and others point out, it is also in the interest of a drug company to raise list prices if it wants the PBM to give its drugs preferential treatment.

If youve got two drugs that are available to take care of some heart disease, the PBM wants the drug thats going to pay them the most money, and the money is the difference between the list price and the actual transaction price, Anderson said. So the higher the list price, the higher the profit margin for the PBM. So the drug company who wants their drug on the formulary has to raise their price in order to give the PBM a greater profit.

A wrinkle in federal law allows that to happen. Typically in federal contracting, if someone sets a high price to give the buyer a cut, its considered a bribe or a kickback, and its illegal. But the law that created the Part D drug program carved out whats known as a safe harbor to allow such deals in the hope that negotiations would lower overall costs.

The Trump administrations rule attempts to end the perverse incentive by taking the safe harbor away from the PBMs and giving the rebate to customers at the pharmacy counter. Then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said costs would fall by about 30%.

But the effort had two major problems. First, the rule was challenged in court by the PBMs on procedural grounds. Second, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that, rather than save money, it would end up costing the federal government $177 billion over 10 years because drugmakers would be less likely to provide as many discounts, causing a spike in Medicare drug coverage premiums.

The Biden administration delayed the rule, and could scrap it, making that $177 billion cost more theoretical than real. But that's where congressional budgeting comes in.

A chief selling point of the infrastructure proposal is that it is paid for, meaning it taps new revenue streams or ends other things that cost money so that the $550 billion in new spending in the plan doesnt add to the federal deficit.

Even though Trumps rebate rule has already been delayed and is likely to be killed, it is, at this moment, on the books. Since the infrastructure bill would delay the rule and its costs until 2026, the savings get counted as offsetting the new spending. Confused yet?

Delaying the rule, instead of killing it outright, means theres still another $130 billion on the books that can be used to offset other spending  almost certainly likely to help fund the even bigger budget reconciliation measure that Senate Democrats intend to pursue as soon as the Senate passes the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who liked Trumps rule and also supports the bipartisan infrastructure bill, explained the reasoning to reporters shortly before the infrastructure legislation was released.

The Medicare rebate rule  you know, I actually agree with the policy, but it was a $182 billion cost to the Treasury, Cassidy said, citing a slightly different figure for the savings. And so, its been signaled that it was going to be used for something.  Just speaking practically, if somethings going to score that high, and here with a party, Democrats, that dont like it, its going to go away, right? So that was just a good take.

The move is essentially painless in congressional budget terms, and PBMs are thrilled. They argue they do not actually profit from the rebates they negotiate in Part D and pass all the rebate cash along to Medicare and plan sponsors already.

They say their ability to negotiate those rebates is part of what makes them valuable, and the rule interferes. Thats sort of the bread and butter of the work that our companies do, and undermining the ability to provide that value is obviously a real challenge, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association CEO JC Scott said in a call with KHN and PCMA spokesperson Charles Cote.

They favor not just delaying it but spiking it completely. From our perspective, that is the action thats needed, said Cote. To create certainty for Part D and for beneficiaries, it should just be fully repealed.

Repealing Trump's rebate rule is not painless for people who have high drug costs, though, because, as Johns Hopkins professor Anderson explained, the 10% or so of people who would get significant rebates at the pharmacy counter would be better off.

It helps the people that have the large bills; it harms the most the people that dont have the large bills, Anderson said.

Benefiting from Trumps rule would be drugmakers, according to the CBO data and other sources. In a statement from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industrys lobby group, spokesperson Debra DeShong cast ending the rule as a windfall for PBMs and a cynical raid on cash meant for sick, older Americans.

"Lawmakers are threatening to gut a rule that would provide patients meaningful relief, DeShong said. This would be an unconscionable move that robs patients of the prescription drug savings they deserve to help fill potholes and fund other infrastructure projects."

Senate lawmakers were hoping to pass the infrastructure bill by Thursday, then move quickly on the reconciliation bill, both paid for in part with the ill-fated rebate rule. The legislation would then go to the House when it returns from its August recess.
An invasive weed could escalate the spread of malaria in East Africa after scientists found new evidence that it creates a favourable breeding ground for female mosquitoes, which transmit malaria.

In a study published in Scientific Reports last month, researchers found that the plant popularly known as "famine weed" releases chemicals called terpene from its roots that have a "distinct blend of mosquito-attractive fragrances".

This weed which is generally known to be toxic to both humans and livestock is readily ingested by malaria mosquitoes for sugars as a source of energy and it also tolerates its key toxin called parthenin." Baldwyn Torto, aco-author of the study and head of the behavioral and chemical ecology unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya

He adds that as adult female mosquitoes feed on the weed known scientifically as Parthenium hysterophorus, they acquire sugars, a vital energy resource for flight to find a mate for reproduction, and seek humans to bite for a blood meal required for developing their eggs.

Torto tells SciDev.Net that female adult mosquitoes emerging from breeding sites contaminated with famine weed chemicals live a week longer than normal, increasing their likelihood to transmit the malaria parasite.

Researchers assessed whether gravid (pregnant) female mosquitoes would prefer to lay their eggs in distilled water or water treated with a blend of terpenes extracted from famine weed roots. The weed that thrives in warmer climates is a native of north-east Mexico and is endemic in America.

"Gravid females were more attracted to lay eggs in the root exudate-treated water than in the distilled water control," the study says.

Eunice Anyango Owino, a medical entomologist at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya, says that this weed could be considered as "the most destructive" globally.

"The findings that it favours the breeding of malaria-transmitting mosquito has only exacerbated the already bad situation considering that malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in children below five years old and pregnant women," she explains.

Owino says that the weed with its roots could be removed physically from water bodies besides using herbicides but she cautions that increased use of chemicals could be dangerous to the environment, costly to purchase and apply them.

Torto adds that the fragrance produced by famine weed can be exploited to develop trapping tools to target egg laying females as part of disease surveillance and control.

Torto explains that natural enemies such as stem-boring weevil (Listronotus setosipennis) and the leaf-feeding beetle (Zygogramma bicolorata), which targets the vegetative and reproductive parts of the weed under different environmental conditions and habitats, could help curb its spread.

According to a report published in May by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences, the Kenyan government has imported these two insects for biological control of the weed that has now invaded at least 48 countries globally including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

But Owino cautioned that the control of the invasive weed could be problematic as the plant's rapid growth rate and numerous but small seeds make it very hard to control.

"The seeds can easily be transported to new areas by even the wind, animals and water, are resistant to adverse weather, and remain viable for germination over a long time," she tells SciDev.Net.
Researchers at Sinai Health have used a tiny worm to track how an animals brain changes throughout its lifetime, shedding new light on how human brains develop.

In new research, out today in Nature, scientists from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) at Sinai Health describe four basic patterns of how new connections are made in the brain of the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, or C. elegans.

This is the first time that an entire brain's structure is deduced and compared across developmental stages, from birth to adulthood. These new findings have powerful implications for the fundamental rules that allow the brain's developmental maturation to take place." Dr. Mei Zhen, Senior Investigator, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Zhen and her colleagues used state-of-art electron microscopes to reconstruct the full brain of eight C. elegans individuals to learn how it changes with age. Although C. elegans is a relatively simple organism, many of the molecular signals controlling its development are also found in more complex organisms, like humans. They also have a short life cycle of only two weeks, making it useful for studying their development.

"We examined every connection for every neuron and found many new connections are added as animals grow older," said Dr. Zhen. "When we analyzed these connections like wires in a computational network, we discovered the new additions follow patterns and their collective changes serve one purpose -- effective information processing."

The first wiring map of C. elegans was generated by John White and his colleagues at MRC Cambridge more than 30 years ago, and it was a composite of partial maps from several different worms, including some at different developmental ages.

Dr. Daniel Witvliet, a former PhD student in the Zhen lab at the LTRI, led the current study, alongside scientists from Harvard's Brain Institute, including Drs. Aravi Samuel and Jeff Lichtman.

The researchers looked at how the worm's brain structure changed both at single synapse resolution and at the geometry level as a whole, discovering that a few structural properties in the newborn's brain allow them to correctly predict the wiring patterns of the mature brain.

"Our research shows that different parts of the brain have different degrees of flexibility," Dr. Zhen said. "Knowing which part of the brain has more plasticity can help scientists come up with strategies to overcome genetic vulnerabilities to diseases during the brain's development. We are humbled by and proud to continue the legacy from our scientific pioneers."

While identifying some key patterns of the brain's development, researchers also discovered substantial connectivity differences that make each brain unique.

Dr. Zhen said they noticed consistent wiring changes between different neurons, where each change altered the strength of existing connections and in turn created new connections, ultimately altering how information was being processed. Over the course of development, researchers found their central decision-making circuitry was maintained, where its sensory and motor pathways were substantially remodeled.
The currently deployed SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are mRNA or adenovirus-based and have proven effective in reducing the probability of infection and severity of disease upon infection. These vaccines, however, require a carefully controlled cold chain, making large-scale manufacturing and delivery difficult and costly.

The vaccinia virus is an enveloped virus that is closely related to the virus that causes smallpox, and has therefore been used as a live-virus vaccine against the illness. It can be lyophilized, and therefore is less dependent on an intact cold chain than mRNA-based vaccines. Poxviruses, like vaccinia, are unique among DNA viruses as they replicate in the cytoplasm of the host cell rather than the nucleus. Recombinant vaccines have also been produced using a vaccinia vector, wherein foreign genes can be expressed within a host and subsequently induce an immune response.

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv* by Kulkarni et al. (August 3, 2021), the potential of vaccinia virus-based vaccines expressing the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is examined in mice and Syrian hamsters. The findings report that the vaccine generates high titers of neutralizing antibodies with good activity towards SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

Two strains of vaccinia were utilized for comparison by the group: modified vaccinia Ankara (MVK) and New York City Board of Health viral strain of smallpox vaccine (v-NY), the first of which is a growth-restricted vector that has been demonstrated to be safe and effective against other viral diseases such as HIV, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV, while the latter is replication-competent but with reduced virulence compared to the standard Dryvax smallpox vaccine.

How was the study performed?

The full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sourced from the wildtype Wuhan strain was made to express on the surface of each vaccine vector. The prepared vaccines were administered to mice under three differing regimens: large MVA dose followed by a smaller second dose, small v-NY dose followed by small MVA boost, and large v-NY dose followed by small MVA dose. Sera was collected from the animals 2 weeks following the first and second doses of the vaccines, respectively, and in some cases, the spleen was harvested for further examination.

At each time point and under each administration regimen, the mice developed higher titers of neutralizing antibodies towards SARS-CoV-2 than the control group, in particular among those receiving the v-NY vaccine initially. Secretion of cytokines TNF- and IFN-was noted to be higher amongst vaccinated mice than IL-4 and IL-6, indicating that a Th1-based immune response had been instigated and T cells activated, inducing non-inflammatory protection. CD8+ T effector memory cells were also noted to be elevated in the spleens of those mice sacrificed, while the levels of CD4+ cells were not altered, supporting this observation.

Sera collected almost 5 months following the vaccine regimen still bore around 70% of the spike-specific antibodies seen at the two-week post-vaccination time point, demonstrating that the vaccines elicit a long-lasting immune response towards SARS-CoV-2.

Syrian hamsters are often used in research as a model for respiratory infection in humans. The group subjected the animals to the same dosing regimen as applied to the mice, finding that similarly high neutralizing antibody titers were obtained as in mice under each course. Given the more comparable lungs of Syrian hamsters to humans, the viral load within the lungs was assessed, finding that those in the control group bore extremely high titers, indicating infection, while in those receiving any combination of the vaccine, no viral particles were detected.

The v-NY vaccine was noted to generate a greater immune response than the MVA vaccine overall, reaching protective levels even after only a single dose, with antibody titers not then rising notably upon administration of the second dose. Interestingly, however, the sera of animals given the heterogeneous regimen bore higher antibody titers and exhibited improved cross-reactivity towards SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern over those given a homogenous dose.

As the v-NY vaccine can be dried and delivered without the need of careful cold chain monitoring, it may provide an ideal solution to the global demand for vaccines, and this paper suggests that it is capable of imparting relevant levels of immunity after only a single dose. Introducing heterogeneity between the first and second doses of the vaccine has also been suggested by other studies to improve the spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 lineages that are effectively neutralized. If this proves to be the case, then initial and urgent first vaccine doses could be provided by the storage stable v-NY vaccine, with subsequent and less time-sensitive doses originating from any other source.

*Important notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Clarksville Cove shuts down early due to Covid-19 health concerns and staffing shortages. Does that change some of your weekend plans? Also, around the 2:15 mark we have a look at some of the things happening around Southern Indiana this weekend.
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(Newser)  A book checked out a half-century ago has been anonymously returned to a library in northeastern Pennsylvania, officials said. The 1967 copy of Coins You Can Collect by Burton Hobson arrived last month at the Plymouth Public Library in Luzerne County along with a $20 bill, the AP reports. An accompanying unsigned letter, written as if by the book itself, said: "Fifty years ago (yes 50!), a little girl checked me out of this library in 1971. At this time, she didn't know they were going to move from Plymouth. Back then, kids weren't told things like that. As you can see, she took very good care of me." The letter said the book was packed away often for frequent moves but was "always with many other books."

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The writer, speaking in her own voice, then says she always intended to send the book back but never got around to it. "This became a running joke in my family. Each time we moved, they always asked me if I packed the Plymouth Book,'" she wrote. The letter writer said she knew the $20 wouldn't come close to paying the accrued fine but suggested, "Perhaps you can pay off some fines of some kids with it." Library director Laura Keller said she did just that, paying the "hefty fines" of a young mother who wanted to start borrowing books again. Borrowing privileges at the library are suspended if fines exceed $5, she said. Both letter and book will be displayed at the library, Keller said. The writer's identity remains a mystery, though she said her family and friends would know the story was about her if it was published in a local newspaper.

(Read more overdue book stories.)
(Newser)  The Biden administration is working on plans to lift travel restrictions to the USbut unvaccinated travelers are likely to remain barred. Officials tell CNN that while planning is still in the early stages, the administration's plan for lifting restrictions will require people arriving in the US from all countries to be fully vaccinated, with limited exceptions. Earlier plans to lift restrictions were put on hold as the delta variant of the coronavirus surged and a White House official speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity said no new timeline has been established for lifting restrictions, which were first introduced early last year.

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Under the current restrictions, non-US citizen travelers who have been in any of a long list of countries in the previous 14 daysincluding the UK, Brazil, China, and the 26 European countries in the Schengen areaare banned from entering the US. India was added to the list in May. An official tells Reuters that infections "appear likely to continue to increase in the weeks ahead" and that "the United States will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point." Officials say the White House has been in talks with airlines about how the vaccine policy would be implemented. It's not clear what sort of proof of vaccination will be required, or whether the administration will accept travelers who have received vaccinations that have not been approved by US regulators. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
(Newser)  Last summer, a Black Indiana activist says he was attacked by a group of white men and nearly lynched (he claims a noose was mentioned) as he walked with a friend to a park, and the video showing the incident went viral. Two men, Sean Purdy and Jerry Cox II, were charged in July 2020 for felony battery, intimidation, and criminal confinement, but on Friday, there were new assault and trespassing charges announced by Sonia Leerkamp, the special prosecutor for Monroe Countythis time against Vauhxx Booker, the man who says he was attacked. A local NAACP rep says Booker faces more than three years in prison and $15,000 in fines "for being subjected to a racist assault." Booker says the charges against him are retaliation by Leerkamp, who took over the case at the end of July 2020 after the state prosecutor suddenly recused herself. Per the Washington Post, Booker says Leerkamp, whom he now wants to resign, pressured him to agree to mediation.

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That means, per Booker, he'd have to publicly forgive his alleged attackers and sign a confidentiality deal so charges against Purdy and Cox could be droppedsomething he won't do. "I don't care if [Leerkamp] drags me back to the hanging tree," he says. "I am not going to back down." In a statement, Leerkamp notes, "Mr. Booker is presumed innocent of any charges that have been filed. That being said, unlike Mr. Booker, I am ethically restrained from commenting upon the evidence prior to its presentation at trial. I am doing my best to apply the law to the facts." Per NBC News, state investigators had released a report shortly after the incident showing there may have been potential crimes committed by Booker, but the original prosecutor in the case didn't bring charges. Booker's lawyer says she's never seen new charges filed like this a year after the fact. "There's nothing more American than charging a Black man in his own attempted lynching," Booker said Monday. (Read more Indiana stories.)
(Newser)  A wind-driven wildfire tore through a northern California mountain town, leaving much of the downtown in ashes and crews braced for another explosive run of flames in the midst of dangerous weather. The Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40mph gusts, raged through the northern Sierra Nevada town of Greenville Wednesday evening. Fire officials confirmed that some buildings were destroyed but had no details. However, a photographer on assignment for the AP described seeing a gas station, hotel, and bar burned to the ground. The town, which dates to Californias Gold Rush era, has some buildings more than a century old.

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As the fires north and eastern sides exploded, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office issued a Facebook posting warning the towns approximately 800 residents: You are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now! The three-week-old blaze, the states largest wildfire, had blackened well over 435 square miles and burned dozens of homes before making its new run. Early in the week, some 5,000 firefighters had made progress on the blaze, saving some threatened homes, bulldozing pockets of unburned vegetation, and managing to surround a third of the perimeter. "We did everything we could," firefighter Capt. Mitch Matlow said. "Sometimes its just not enough."

(Read more California wildfires stories.)
(Newser)  What was supposed to be a day of celebration turned into a day of mourning in Bangladesh, after a lightning strike killed more than a dozen people in a wedding party. Authorities say a boat headed toward the bride's house on Wednesday had just reached the banks of the Padma River in Shibganj when the bolt struck the vessel, per CNN. Police and fire officials say at least 17 were killed, while 14 were taken to the hospital with injuries. The bridegroom was said to be among the injured; the bride was not on the boat, officials say, per the New York Times.

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Deadly lightning strikes aren't uncommon in Bangladesh, which sees most of them between March and July. In fact, five years ago, the nation declared lightning strikes a natural disaster, with 200 victims just that May (more than 80 of them in one day). In addition to climate change and increased air pollution, experts say one reason the strikes have become more prevalent of late is because deforestation has yanked down trees that otherwise would attract the lightninginstead, it hits in low-lying fields, often where farmers are toiling. The Guardian notes lightning strikes are also common across other parts of South Asia during monsoon season, which takes place from June to September. (Read more Bangladesh stories.)
(Newser)  Bill Gates has acknowledged that hanging out with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a bad move. The former Microsoft CEO told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday that it "was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there." Gates met Epstein multiple times years after the financier served time in prison for sex offenses including soliciting prostitution from a minor. Gates said he had "several dinners" with Epstein, hoping to raise money for global health issues, but when it looked like Epstein's claim to be able to raise billions "wasn't a real thing, that relationship ended." Gates made similar remarks after Epstein's prison suicide in 2019, saying Epstein's promises were a "mirage."

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Sources told the New York Times in 2019 that when the Gates Foundation sent a team to Epstein's home in 2011 to discuss fundraising, he argued that his crimes were no worse than "stealing a bagel." Another team had serious doubt about Epstein's credibility after he claimed to have access to trillions of dollars, but the meetings with Gates continued. Gates flew on Epstein's private plane in 2013, though sources say Epstein, who had bragged about the connection, complained in 2014 that Gates had stopped talking him. Gates declined to comment to CNN on reports that disagreements over Epstein played a role in his divorce from Melinda Gates. "It's a time of reflection, and at this point, I need to go forward," he said. "Within the family, we'll heal the best that we can." (Read more Bill Gates stories.)
(Newser)  An heiress killed her employee shortly after he quit, and the police called it an accident. Later, the heiress donated huge sacks of cash to revitalize the town, while the police chief retired and bought two Florida condos. Folks have long suspected that when Doris Duke ran over Eduardo Tirella in October 1966, it wasn't an accident. Now, a new witness has come forward and police have reopened the case, reports Peter Lance, who wrote a book about the events. In his latest piece in Vanity Fair, Lance says he was signing his new book, Homicide at Rough Point, last month when a Marine Corps veteran approached him with some new information. Bob Walker told Lance he was a paperboy in Newport, RI, and had been delivering a paper to Duke's mansion the day Tirella was killed. He heard the whole thing, and his story backs up the one previously pieced together by a police investigator.

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The official version is that Tirella got out of the car to open a gate and Duke slid into the driver's seat to proceed through. That's when, she told police, the car "leaped forward" and ran Tirella down. What Walker says he heard was an impact, a scream, and then another impact. He pedaled his bike over to see what was going on and said he saw Duke, unharmed, blocking his view of the back of the car where Tirella was pinned. When he asked if she needed help, she yelled at him, "You better get the hell out of here!" Walker says he never told authorities his version of the story because his father was worried there'd be retribution. He did tell the story to a few friends over the years. Lance interviewed those people for his Vanity Fair piece. Walker's story matches an accident reconstruction done at the time by Sgt. Fred Newton of the Newport Police. But the chief at the time, Joseph A. Radice, the one who'd retired, waved those findings away. "The narrative that was accepted by the cops was not the narrative that I remembered," Walker told the AP. (Read more Doris Duke stories.)
(Newser)  The president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, has died. He was 72, and the cause of death was not immediately revealed. Trumka headed the powerful labor organization since 2009, when he moved up to the post from the next level down, secretary-treasurer, a job hed had since 1995. Before that hed been the president of the United Mine Workers of America, the New York Times reports. Trumka started his career as a coal miner, the third generation in his family to work that job, the Hill reports. When he was elected president of the United Mine Workers of America in 1982, he was only 33, and the youngest leader that organization had ever had, NPR reports.

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The Pennsylvania native started working in the mines in 1968, then went to school, eventually earning a law degree. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York announced the death of the man he called a "fierce warrior" on the Senate floor Thursday, and President Biden called him a good, close, personal friend. Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, also weighed in. "Richs story is the American storyhe was the son and grandson of Italian and Polish immigrants and began his career mining coal," said Manchin. "He never forgot where he came from. He dedicated the rest of his career to fighting for Americas working men and women. (Read more Richard Trumka stories.)
Pennsylvania schools brace for new year amid lingering pandemic uncertainty

Many of Pennsylvanias 500 school districts will reconvene classes later this month, and just how each will mitigate the spread of COVID-19 remains varied and complex, officials said Wednesday.

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said last week the state advised districts to follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding masking, social distancing and other measures to slow the spread of the virus.

The CDC recommends masking for those who are unvaccinated while a newer advisory suggests even inoculated Americans should wear masks indoors in areas where spread of the delta variant is high.

We are all trying to make sure that our students get as much time safely in school as possible, and clearly a way of doing that is adopting the CDCs guidance on masking, Beam said.

Wayne McCullough, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, said adherence to these policies varies widely throughout the state.

This is a very difficult time for schools as they reopen, he told The Center Square on Wednesday. The school boards, as well as administrators, are discussing what the best protocols are to have in place and are doing their best to understand and follow CDC guidelines, which are for most the part saying masks should be worn on school buses and in vehicles to and from school.

PASBO represents about 3,000 school business officials and other administrative school staff across the state. McCullough said considerations for each of them look very different.

It varies widely and is based on the local district and whats happening there, he said. And it will probably evolve based on changing conditions.

Beam confirmed that theres no plan to enact a universal masking mandate again and that schools are referred to CDC recommendations when implementing plans for the new year, including decisions about masking.

We want to make sure folks are really focused on getting vaccinated, she said during a news conference Thursday.

About 63.2% of residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated, the Department of Health said Wednesday. The state ranks 5th nationwide for total doses administered, though its struggling to reach its 70% statewide goal.

While we continue to explore the use of masking, thats just a tool in the tool box, and we want to make sure we focus on the vaccination effort right now to protect us into the fall, Beam said.

The majority of schools will also offer full-time in-person instruction after a year and a half of hybrid and virtual models that left some students struggling academically.

The state passed a bill earlier this year that allows students to repeat a grade, based on parental discretion, to make up for time lost during the pandemic. Federal aid appropriated through the American Rescue Plan and the state budget has also funded summer schools and other programs designed to address the widespread learning loss.

McCullough said some schools also used the one-time funds to upgrade infrastructure, like HVAC systems, to better comply with the CDCs recommendations for mitigating the spread of the virus.

Its one time money which will end, so while most of the school districts are spending it on learning loss now and updating facilities now, its important that they arent using it for ongoing expenses like paying the electricity bill, he said.
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is committed to strengthening cooperation with the international community in fighting people trafficking. During yesterdays weekly meeting, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Cabinet expressed its appreciation for the active role played by the Ministry of Interior and responsible authorities to address this serious global problem.

The Kingdom has joined the international community in celebrating the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July.

In addition, the Cabinet stressed the importance of protecting international maritime traffic from threats that adversely impact global trade, stressing the need to unify international efforts, to further strengthen regional maritime security.

The Cabinet commended the meeting that took place between His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and HRH the Crown Prince, in which HM the King emphasised the importance of further strengthening GCC ties and unity to advance the development of member countries.

The Cabinet noted HM the Kings statement that the AlUla Declaration had reaffirmed the commitment of GCC Member States to the goals of the GCC Charter, through integration and strengthened cooperation amongst the six GCC Arab nations.

The Declaration reflects the aspirations of GCC citizens for a return to joint GCC cooperation, greater integration and cohesion. The Cabinet emphasised the importance of mutual respect amongst the citizens of GCC member states and responsible media discourse to be compatible with the social values, Arab customs and traditions that consolidate the unity and common purpose of GCC citizens.

The Cabinet extended its best wishes to HM the King, HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and the citizens and residents of Bahrain, as well as to the Arab and Islamic nations, on the occasion of the new Islamic Hijri year 1443 AH.

It commended the Kingdoms achievements in mitigating the impact of COVID-19, and extended its gratitude to Bahrains citizens and residents, for their responsibility in adhering to necessary precautionary measures. The Cabinet noted the importance of continuing to responsibly follow these measures in support of Team Bahrain.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) delegation led by Chairman Samir Nass met Saudi Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Planning for Sectoral and Regional Development Affairs Khalil bin Ibrahim Al-Watban and discussed bilateral trade and investment relations.

The two sides reviewed close economic, commercial and investment relations binding Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, stressing the importance of expanding joint ties and consolidating business partnerships.

BCCI Vice-Chairman Khalid Mohammed Najeebi stressed deep-rooted historic relations, particularly economic and trade ties, in light of the care and royal directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

He underlined the chambers keenness on supporting complementary economic and trade strategies between the two countries, lauding the role of Saudi Arabia as the first and largest business partner in the region.

He said that the coming period would hopefully witness more coordination and cooperation in all economic, trade and investment sectors, stressing the importance of mitigating all impediments and difficulties that may confront the growth of investments.


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Local hospitals had to turn away patients because of staffing issues and the rise in occupancy levels
NORWALK  As a stopgap step during a larger assessment of industrial properties, the city is considering a temporary moratorium on construction of new self-storage facilities in portions of South Norwalk and East Norwalk.

Distribution warehouses would also be tabled for the time being in the citys industrial one zones that are concentrated in the two neighborhoods. A developer withdrew an application last February to build such a facility at the massive Norden Park complex just off Interstate 95 in East Norwalk after nearby homeowners voice opposition on concerns for an increase in truck traffic.

Norwalk wants to buy time as it undergoes an overhaul of its approach to zoning, with the goal of hitting on an optimal mix of properties for heavy and light industries; utilitarian uses like warehousing; and growing businesses like boutique food and beverage producers that mesh well with residential neighborhoods.

Milford enacted a similar moratorium more than two years ago, then a permanent rule restricting new self-storage facilities to its Housatonic Design District. Miami and Bainbridge Island, Wash., are among other locales nationally to seek a hiatus on self-storage development.

Steve Kleppin, Norwalks director of planning and zoning, said Wednesday that he is not aware of any current or prospective applications that would be impacted by the self-storage moratorium. He added that two more existing zones along the Route 1 corridor allow for self-storage.

This is probably where they will continue to be allowed but under very specific conditions, Kleppin said.

The Norwalk Zoning Commission convenes Thursday to hear pros and cons on the specific proposal, even as the city contemplates a deeper overhaul of its building zoning rules next month via a five-day planning session scheduled for Sept. 17-21.

A separate industrial zones oversight committee has been meeting since last November to brainstorm ways to encourage the development of businesses that offer the potential for employment or community interaction.

At a public hearing in April, a Boston consultancy recommended Norwalk scrap its existing system of eight zoning designations that allow for industrial uses in favor of three zones. The industrial one designation would be reserved for heavy industries largely clustered along the lower reaches of the Norwalk River. A light industrial zone would include warehousing, with another encompassing boutique production companies like bakeries, breweries and artisan studios.

The committee recommended Norden Place be singled out for some type of unique accommodation, given the sprawling buildings location in a largely residential neighborhood, including an Avalon East Norwalk building next door. That could include direct ramps on and off I-95 to limit traffic on an existing residential route authorized for trucks.

Self-storage companies have mushroomed in close proximity to new residential complexes across Connecticut. In addition to indoor units, many operators lease parking lot space for any boats and recreational vehicles that owners do not want to keep in their own driveways or yards.

SelfStorage.com lists five facilities in Norwalk and close to 330 in Connecticut. But the website undercounts the actual number, omitting some smaller independent operators, as well as chains like Westy Self-Storage which has a large facility on Keeler Avenue in Norwalk and three more in Stamford, Wilton and Fairfield.

While some operators have converted vacant buildings for self-storage, the biggest self-storage companies have focused on boxy new facilities designed for easy access.

Norwalks newest warehouse is located on Wilson Avenue, having been purchased in March with the possibility of a conversion to self-storage. South Norwalk is in the midst of an apartment boom with new additions including Soundview Landing, Harbourside Norwalk and the SoNo One Apartments.

Public Storage CEO Joe Russell said Tuesday that household moves during the pandemic sent leases through the roof in some markets that had greater vacancies, and said he expects the company to retain those contracts after people have settled into their new cities and towns.

Public Storage is the nations largest self-storage operator, with 13 locations in Connecticut including in Norwalk, Bridgeport, Stamford and Danbury.

Even as many of those markets return to some level of normal activity, with the opening up of businesses ... weve really seen no degradation in demand or occupancy levels, said Russell said.

Includes prior reporting by Abigail Brone;

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
LOS ANGELES (AP)  When homeless outreach workers first visited her encampment under a Los Angeles highway overpass last fall, Veronica Perez was skeptical of their offer of not just a bed, but a furnished apartment complete with meals, counseling and the promise of some stability in her life.

They said they had housing for me, but it just didnt seem real," Perez said. When you're homeless, you become leery and you don't trust people."

Perez, 57, had been sleeping in cars or tents all over Southern California since she lost her job at a storage facility three years ago and couldn't pay her rent.

The second time the outreach team came to the camp beneath Interstate 405, Perez decided she was ready to take a chance and make a change.

She accepted the offer and took residence in one of 6,000 new units built statewide over the past year as part of Project Homekey. The program started in June 2020 is repurposing vacant hotels, motels and other unused properties as permanent supportive housing.

Homekey is the lynchpin of Gov. Gavin Newsoms $12 billion plan to combat homelessness in the nation's most populous state. California has an estimated 161,000 unhoused people, more than a quarter of the nationwide total of 580,000, according to the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Newsom signed the funding bill July 19, calling it the "largest single investment in providing support for the most vulnerable in American history."

Newsom's office said $800 million  most of it federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money  was spent on Homekey in 2020 to provide shelter for 8,200 people. Now the administration plans to go even bigger: California will spend $5.8 billion of state and federal funds over two years to expand the program and create an estimated 42,000 housing units.

If you think of last year as a proof of concept, you can think of this year as taking this strategy to scale and making it a centerpiece of Californias approach to housing the homeless, said Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Newsom.

Newsom has made tackling homelessness one of his top priorities. Now that the governor faces a recall election, Republican candidates have released their own plans to combat the crisis. John Cox wants to require unhoused people to receive any needed treatment for addiction or mental illness before they can get housing. Kevin Faulconer wants to build more shelters to make it easier to clear encampments.

It's not just Republicans who are exasperated. The mostly progressive Los Angeles City Council this month passed a controversial anti-camping measure to remove homeless encampments.

Other states are also grappling with the escalating crisis. This summer New York City instituted an aggressive campaign to remove encampments from Manhattan, and Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to transfer over 8,000 people from hotels where they were placed at the start of the pandemic into shelters.

And in Washington state, Seattle residents will vote on a measure that would force the mayor to take steps to combat the problem, including creating 2,000 shelter or housing spaces within a year.

In California, Homekey is an outgrowth of Project Roomkey, a temporary effort during the coronavirus outbreak to find shelter at hotels, which Elliot said provided beds for 42,000 homeless people 65 and older or others susceptible to COVID-19. It has been extended through June 2022.

Under Homekey, the state buys the properties, covers all construction and conversion costs, then hands them over to cities or counties that contract with local service providers.

The state's effort should be applauded but amounts to a "drop in the bucket," said Eve Garrow, analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

This is substantial, but it's nowhere near enough to meet the needs of all the people currently displaced from housing, she said.

A Homekey site at a hotel in the small Silicon Valley city of Milpitas met with some local opposition, prompting a lawsuit accusing officials of pushing the project through without public hearings.

We're saying, you need to ask us permission before you spend our taxpayers money and build in our city, said Suraj Viswanathan, a member of the group Voices Of Milipitas. The litigation was settled, with the group securing regular security patrols in the hotel's neighborhood and twice-yearly meetings.

The former hotel that Perez now calls home is run by the nonprofit The People Concern, which operates three properties in LA County with a total of 162 units. All three are approaching capacity.

CEO John Maceri said the state has set up local governments for success, but it will take a combined effort of politicians and service providers to sustain the program. He estimates conversion costs will be far less than $550,000 per unit, the going rate for building from the ground up. It's also much faster than building new units, and speed is important in a crisis.

The goal should always be to provide permanent housing solutions faster and cheaper," Maceri said.

At her new home in central Los Angeles, Perez relishes her privacy, enjoys the three meals provided daily and appreciates that she was allowed to bring her cat. She attends a weekly painting class.

They told us, make yourself feel at home. And I do, she said. Staff helped her apply for a new Social Security card and will assist her in finding a job when shes ready.

Perez was diagnosed with PTSD from her years on the streets and receives on-site counseling. Others with more severe mental health problems or addictions also get the treatment they require.

The goal is to make sure even the hardest-to-house people will come inside, said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California, San Francisco. To that end, Kushel said Homekey gets the most important part right: providing permanent supportive housing, not temporary shelter.

Some people need services that go along with that housing, and some people dont. But the really essential thing is that without the housing, the services dont work, she said.

Eventually Perez will be presented with housing vouchers that will allow her to rent a subsidized apartment.

It's unclear how long those vouchers might last, however, raising concerns from advocates about the long-term success in a state with exorbitant housing costs.

A new database shows nearly 250,000 people sought housing services in 2020. About 117,000 of them are still waiting for help.

If Californias goals seem ambitious, Elliott said, thats because they are: Anything short of ending homelessness means were setting our sights too low.

___

This version has been updated to correct, in the summary, that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend $5.8 billion over two years to expand the Homekey program.
BEIJING (AP)  The delta variant is challenging Chinas costly strategy of isolating cities, prompting warnings that Chinese leaders who were confident they could keep the coronavirus out of the country need a less disruptive approach.

As the highly contagious variant pushes leaders in the United States, Australia and elsewhere to renew restrictions, President Xi Jinpings government is fighting the most serious outbreak since last year's peak in Wuhan. The ruling Communist Party is reviving tactics that shut down China: Access to a city of 1.5 million people has been cut off, flights canceled and mass testing ordered in some areas.

That zero tolerance strategy of quarantining every case and trying to block new infections from abroad helped to contain last years outbreak and has kept China largely virus-free. But its impact on work and life for millions of people is prompting warnings that China needs to learn to control the virus without repeatedly shutting down the economy and society.

Zhang Wenhong, a Shanghai doctor who became prominent during the Wuhan outbreak, suggested in a social media post that Chinas strategy could change. We will definitely learn more from the ongoing outbreak, he said, calling it a stress test for the nation.

The world needs to learn how to coexist with this virus, wrote Zhang, who has 3 million followers on the widely used Sina Weibo platform.

Chinas controls will be tested when thousands of athletes, reporters and others arrive for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. And the ruling party faces a politically sensitive change of leadership in late 2022, for which leaders want upbeat economic conditions.

Last year, China shut down much of the world's second-biggest economy and cut off almost all access to cities with a total of 60 million people  tactics imitated on a smaller scale by governments from Asia to the Americas. That caused China's most painful economic contraction in five decades, but Beijing was able to allow business and domestic travel to resume in March 2020.

The new infections, many in people who have already been vaccinated, have jolted global financial markets, which worry Beijings response might disrupt manufacturing and supply chains. The main stock indexes in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong sank Tuesday but were rising again Thursday.

China needs to shift to creating barriers to infection within communities by stepping up vaccinations and quickly treating infected people while allowing business and travel to go ahead, said Xi Chen, a health economist at the Yale School of Public Health. He said country needs access to the full range of vaccines, including allowing in the shot developed by Germany's BioNTech.

I dont think zero tolerance can be sustained, said Chen. Even if you can lock down all the regions in China, people might still die, and more might die due to hunger or loss of jobs.

But Beijing has shown no sign of abandoning its tactics.

Disease controls must "be even faster, more firm, stricter, more expansive and ready, He Qinghua, an official of the National Health Commissions Disease Control Bureau, said at a news conference Saturday.

The year's biggest outbreak has tentatively been traced to airport employees who cleaned a Russian airliner on July 10 in Nanjing, northwest of Shanghai in Jiangsu province, according to health officials.

Some travelers flew through Nanjing to Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist spot southwest of Shanghai in Hunan province, turning that city into a center for the viruss spread. The disease was carried to Beijing and other cities in more than 10 provinces.

On Tuesday, the government of Zhangjiajie announced no one was allowed to leave the city, imitating controls imposed on Wuhan, where the first virus cases were identified, and other cities last year.

Flights to Nanjing and Yangzhou, a nearby city with 94 cases, were suspended. Trains from those cities and 21 others to Beijing were canceled. Jiangsu province set up highway checkpoints to test drivers. The government called on people in Beijing and the southern province of Guangdong not to leave those areas if possible.

In Yangzhou, children at two tutoring centers were quarantined after a classmate tested positive, according to Zhou Xiaoxiao, a university student there. She said some parts of the city were sealed.

Eggs and some other food was scarce after shoppers cleared out supermarkets in anticipation of a lockdown, Zhou said. She said the government was delivering rice to households.

The price of vegetables has risen. That's nothing to me. But to the kind of family whose life isn't very good and who have no income, it's very troublesome," said Zhou, 20.

The 1,142 infections reported since mid-July, many linked to Nanjing, are modest compared with tens of thousands of new daily infections in India or the United States. But they jolted leaders in China, which hasn't recorded a fatality since early February.

The outbreak poses serious challenges to the countrys hard-won victory in the epidemic battle, said the newspaper The Global Times, which is published by the ruling party's People's Daily.

China has reported 4,636 deaths out of about 93,000 confirmed cases.

So far, most of the people infected in Nanjing had been vaccinated, and few cases are severe, the head of the critical care unit at the hospital of the citys Southeastern University, Yang Yi, told the Shanghai news outlet The Paper.

She said that means vaccines are protective  though concerns remain that Chinese-made vaccines offer less protection than some others.

Authorities have blamed Nanjing airport managers and local officials for failing to enforce safety rules and to detect infections for 10 days until July 20, after the virus spread.

A 64-year-old woman who is believed to have carried the virus from Nanjing to Yangzhou was arrested Tuesday on charges of hindering disease prevention, police announced.

Cleaning staff at Nanjings new international terminal mingled with co-workers in the domestic wing, when they should have been separated, according to news reports. The Russian flight was diverted due to bad weather from Shanghai, where airports are better equipped to handle foreign travelers.

Still, the city of 9.3 million people is the second-biggest in eastern China after Shanghai and has more resources than many smaller cities.

China needs to learn how to allow the virus to exist in areas with high vaccination rates and stronger health care, said Chen, the economist. He noted some areas have vaccinated at least 80% of adults.

I dont think they are blind to this," said Chen. "They should already be thinking about it.

___

This story corrects name of province to Guangdong, not Guangzhou.

___

Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Associated Press writer Fu Ting in Bangkok and researchers Chen Si in Shanghai and Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden may have averted a flood of evictions and solved a growing political problem when his administration reinstated a temporary ban on evictions because of the COVID-19 crisis. B ut he left his lawyers with legal arguments that even he acknowledges might not stand up in court.

The new eviction moratorium announced Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could run into opposition at the Supreme Court, where one justice in late June warned the administration not to act further without explicit congressional approval.

Landlords from Alabama whose bid to lift the earlier pause on evictions failed returned to federal court in Washington late Wednesday, asking for an order that would allow evictions to resume.

The administration is counting on differences between the new order, scheduled to last until Oct. 3, and the eviction pause that lapsed over the weekend to bolster its legal case. At the very least, as Biden himself said, the new moratorium will buy some time to protect the estimated 3.6 million Americans who could face eviction from their homes.

Some legal scholars who doubt the new eviction ban will stand up say its legal underpinnings are strikingly similar to the old one.

Meet the new moratorium, same as the old moratorium! Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who backed Biden over former President Donald Trump last year, wrote on Reason.com.

Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor, said he expects landlords "all over the country to turn immediately to the courts in an effort to secure a preliminary injunction, an order that would effectively allow evictions to resume.

The basic legal issue is whether the CDC has the authority in the midst of a public health crises to impose a pause on evictions, under existing federal law that dates to 1944.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in May the CDC exceeded its power under that law, a decision Bagley called measured and sensible. But Friedrich kept her ruling in favor of the Alabama landlords on hold pending appeal.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the moratorium to remain in place through the end of July, even though one justice in the majority, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that he believed CDC lacked authority to order it. Extending the moratorium any further, Kavanaugh wrote, would be possible only with clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).

Congress has not acted. Neither the House nor Senate had the votes for a temporary extension, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not so much as hint Tuesday that she would try to move legislation through the House.

Today is a day of extraordinary relief. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, the imminent fear of eviction and being put out on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is Here! Pelosi said in a statement.

Biden was told a new nationwide moratorium, like the one that just expired, would likely be blocked by courts, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the administration went ahead without Congress weighing in, after officials devised a plan with enough changes to, they hope, make it less vulnerable to court challenges.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Wednesday that Biden, who has a law degree, would not have supported it if he was uncomfortable with the legal standing or approach, despite the doubts he aired publicly a day earlier.

This is a narrow, targeted moratorium that is different from the national moratorium. Its not an extension of that, Psaki said.

Pelosi helped recruit Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe to work on a solution and persuade the White House that a narrower moratorium could stand up in court, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The new order protects renters only in parts of the country where there is significant COVID-19 transmission, though in practice it initially covers areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. Evictions can resume once there is a lasting reduction in new infections.

The differences are significant, some legal scholars said.

What this does is very directly link the moratorium to the control of COVID-19, said Emily Benfer, a Wake Forest law professor who studies health and housing. With all the information that is now known about the new delta variant, the war on COVID has changed since last time the question of the moratorium was before the Supreme Court, she said.

Brianne Gorod, of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, also cautioned against reading too much into Kavanaughs one-paragraph comment on the moratorium from late June.

Courts will consider how the spread of the delta variant and its significant transmissibility make clear the need for this more targeted moratorium, Gorod said.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, ruled in late July in a separate lawsuit that CDC lacks the authority to issue pauses on eviction. And the CDC order itself says it does not apply to the extent its application is prohibited by federal court order.

As a result, Barbara Peck, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee state court system, said Wednesday that lawyers for courts in her state had advised that it is not applicable in Tennessee.

Some housing advocates said the new system would be complicated but would prevent some evictions. Their clients were grateful for the reprieve.

Antoinette Eleby, 42, of Miami, said she had been worried as she expected an eviction order within two to three weeks after she said her landlord twice refused to take federal rental assistance. She had sent five of nine children to live with her mother in another county.

But after hearing about the new CDC order, Eleby said she was hopeful the additional time would persuade her landlord to take the federal funds and she could remain her home. She has been told by her lawyer that the order means she cannot be evicted by sheriffs officers.

Now that this happened, Im kind of at ease. I am just seeing what are the next steps. I just have to continue hoping for the best, said Eleby, who couldnt work for part of the pandemic after her family contracted COVID-19.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville in Washington and Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.
Carissa Moore wore a white and yellow plumeria pinned next to her ear for her victory-lap interviews after making history as the first Olympic gold medalist at surfings historic debut.

Her mother  crowned the Honolulu Lei Queen in 2016  had given her the flower hair clip before she left for Tokyo to remind the only Native Hawaiian Olympic surfer of where she came from.

At this pinnacle point, Moore is still in disbelief when she's compared to Duke Kahanamoku, the godfather of modern surfing who is memorialized in Hawaii with a cherished monument.

I dont think Ill have a statue, Moore said, grinning from ear to ear while her body bobbed into a quiet giggle at the suggestion. Gosh, theres only a few people in Hawaii that I think deserve that.

As celebrated at home as she is loved by fans and peers around the world, it was a characteristically modest statement from one of the worlds greatest surfers after she took home gold in the sports inaugural Olympic competition.

The methodical Moore found her rhythm with the ocean to deliver the kind of standout, power-surfing performance that has defined her career. The picture-perfect ending even included a rainbow that popped into the sky as she shredded waves in the final against South African rival Bianca Buitendag.

Moore has now become a realization of Kahanamokus dream, at once the symbol of the sports very best and a validating force for an Indigenous community that still struggles with its complex history.

Its a reclaiming of that sport for our native community, said Kuhio Lewis, president of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which convenes the largest annual gathering of Native Hawaiians.

Lewis said all the locals he knew were texting each other during the competition, glued to the TV and elated, even relieved, by Moore's surreal win. He called it a come to home moment" for a community that may never reconcile its dispossession.

After centuries of colonization by various European settlers, Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898 after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by U.S.-backed forces in 1893.

At times, were an invisible people. Were lumped in to other ethnic groups. Our sport is being defined by other groups. This puts it into perspective, Lewis said. It feels like an emerging of a people, of a native community that has been invisible to many."

All eyes were on Moore when the Tokyo Games began, not only because she was the medal favorite as the reigning world champion but also because she was competing for the United States. Until then, Moore had always surfed for Hawaii in the professional World Surf League, which recognizes it as a sovereign surfing nation.

Moore is biracial and grew up in the only majority Asian American and Pacific Islander state in the United States. Her white father, of Irish and German ancestry, taught her how to surf. Her mother is ethnically Native Hawaiian and Filipino and was adopted and raised in a Chinese-American family.

Im proud to be representing the USA, but specifically the islands of Hawaii because there are just so many different kinds of people there, and I feel like such a connection to all of them," Moore said. And I wouldnt be where I am today without the community of people that have really raised me.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii this week honored both Moore and Kahanamoku on the Senate floor.

Theres a saying that the best surfer is the person having the most fun and thats unquestionably the case with Carissa, Schatz said. Shes an intense competitor who wants to win every event she enters, but also one who wants to see her opponents  and more importantly the sport of surfing itself  succeed.

Kahanamoku was among the first athletes to break sports color barrier as an Olympic swimmer who medaled five times. It was at the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm that he first pushed the International Olympic Committee to include surfing, though it was virtually unknown outside of his native Hawaii back then.

Hawaiis most famous son then dedicated his life to promoting surfing and his homeland, famously introducing the sport via exhibitions in places from California to New Jersey, Australia and Europe. Kahanamoku was the ultimate waterman: His legacy includes popularizing flutter swimming kicks and spreading the concept of lifeguarding and water rescue to the masses. On top of that, he dabbled in Hollywood movies and served as Honolulus sheriff.

A century later, Moore was plenty accomplished in the sport before her Olympic Games. She became the youngest ever champion at age 18, and today has four world titles in addition to being the first Olympic gold medalist in her sport. Shes also recruiting young girls to take up a sport that once very much prioritized men, and has spoken publicly about her struggles with body image and disordered eating as a teenager.

With this new global platform, Moore says she is proud of what she represents and wants to spread positivity as her idol did.

This was his dream to have surfing in the Olympics, Moore said. I hope I made him and my people proud.

___

Seattle-based AP journalist Sally Ho is on assignment at the Tokyo Olympics, covering surfing. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/_sallyho. More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
WASHINGTON (AP)  Nearing decision time, senators struggled late Thursday to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan despite hopes to expedite consideration and voting on the nearly $1 trillion proposal.

The package had appeared on track for eventual Senate passage, a rare accord between Republicans and Democrats joining on a shared priority that also is essential to President Joe Bidens agenda. But senators hit new problems as they worked late into the night on amendments. A procedural vote was set for Saturday.

Weve worked long hard and collaboratively, to finish this important bipartisan bill." said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., just before midnight. In announcing Saturday's schedule, he said "We very much want to finish."

Called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the thick bill is a first part of Bidens infrastructure agenda, and would inject billions of new spending on roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and other projects to virtually every corner of the nation. If approved by the Senate, it would next go to the House.

The late-night session stalled out as new debates emerged over proposed amendments to change the 2,700-page package. Senators have processed nearly two dozen amendments so far, and none has substantially changed the framework of the public works package. With more than a dozen amendments still to go, senators struggled to reach agreements.

One of the amendments generating the most attention Thursday involved cryptocurrency.

The bill would raise an estimated $28 billion over 10 years by updating IRS reporting requirements for cryptocurrency brokers, just as stockbrokers report their customers sales to the IRS.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and others are concerned that crypto miners, software developers and others would be subject to the new IRS reporting requirement. Toomey led efforts to narrow the definition of who must file the reporting forms to the IRS.

If we were not to adopt this amendment, then we could be doing a lot of damage, Toomey said. We could have a very chilling effect on the development of this technology, and thats what I am most concerned about.

A top Republican negotiator, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who had written the provision, tweeted that he agreed with the amendment sponsors that more can be done to clarify the intent of the provision and the Senate should vote on their amendment.

But that vote has yet to occur and the White House weighed in late Thursday, suggesting it favored a different approach from Portman and other senators.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said the compromise amendment would reduce tax evasion in the cryptocurrency market.

He said the administration believes "this provision will strengthen tax compliance in this emerging area of finance and ensure that high income taxpayers are contributing what they owe under the law.

The Senate came to a standstill for nearly two hours as senators privately debated next steps.

The bill's top Democratic negotiator, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, said, While we were unable to agree on additional amendments today, I do also look forward to us reconvening together on Saturday and proceeding under regular order to finish what will be a historic piece of legislation  both in its bipartisan nature and the impact it will have in our country.

Overall, the infrastructure bill calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels for a nearly $1 trillion package, what could be one of the more substantial investments in the nations roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years.

A much anticipated analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the legislation would increase deficits by about $256 billion over the next decade.

It's unclear if the budget office's assessment could peel away support, particularly from Republican senators who have been wary of using what some view as gimmicks to pay for the package. The bill drafters had said the package would be paid for, but the budget office said in some cases they counted savings that would have occurred regardless of whether the infrastructure bill passes.

For example, the CBO did not count the $53 billion that is expected to be saved because more than two dozen states cut off expanded unemployment compensation before the benefit was set to expire. The bipartisan negotiators had also claimed $56 billion in savings through economic growth, while the CBO did not take that into account.

But the bill's backers sprang to defend the overall package, and said it included additional savings and would boost economic growth in ways the CBO does not measure.

If senators wrap up work on the bipartisan bill, they will turn to the much more partisan undertaking on the next phase of Biden's agenda: a $3.5 trillion proposal for what the White House calls human infrastructure  child care support, home health care, education and other expenditures that are Democratic priorities that Republicans have pledged to reject. Debate will extend into the fall.

Schumer wants the Senate to pass both the bipartisan package and a budget blueprint for the bigger proposal before senators depart for an August recess.

The Senate was expected to be quiet Friday as many lawmakers attend funeral services for former Sen. Mike Enzi in Wyoming. But senators are bracing for another weekend session as they push ahead on both pieces of legislation.
The 6-2 well and 6-1 well reached total depths of 2,294 meters (7,526 feet) and 2,780 meters (9,121 feet) respectively.

The 6-2 well had over 250 meters (820 feet) of hydrocarbon shows while the 6-1 had over 350 meters (1,148 feet) of hydrocarbon shows.

Both wells had full logging suites, extensive sidewall cores in addition to the full sample analysis of cuttings, and hydrocarbon shows, and were completed to enable the running of vertical seismic profiles in the next month, and potential for re-entry production testing at a later date.

The Company has now completed all drilling components required to satisfy the work program requirements for an extension of the exploration period on PEL 73.

The Company will transition to the exploration phase of drilling activity, targeting mapping of the entire leasehold and potential accumulations of recoverable commercial hydrocarbons.

Scot Evans, Chief Executive Officer of ReconAfrica, commented:

"The goal of the stratigraphic test well program, approved by the Namibian government, was to establish the presence of a working conventional hydrocarbon system in this new basin. The results we have achieved from these first two wells have significantly exceeded our expectations. Not only have we encountered a significant number of oil and gas shows over multiple potential zones, they are associated with zones of fracture and matrix porosity. Consistent with a conventional oil and gas play, analysis of the geochemical data from these wells indicates the hydrocarbons are migrated from off structure source(s) (see figure below). The findings of these two wells strongly supports acquiring, processing, and interpreting the first 2D seismic program in the Kavango sedimentary basin and its multiple sub-basins. This is just the beginning; the 6-2 and 6-1 wells provide a positive initial evaluation of a small component within our acreage position of 8,500,000 acres in Namibia and Botswana."

Doug Milham, Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Well Logging Inc. commented:

"Horizon is proud to be part of the team at ReconAfrica and the potential resource that has been discovered with their first two wells. The presence and quality of oil and gas shows encountered while drilling the 6-2 and 6-1 wells was remarkable, with many positive indicators of hydrocarbons encountered throughout both wells. Our sample logging data and analysis has identified significant intervals of oil and natural gas in each of the two wells drilled, with varying characteristics from multiple zones. This is an exciting oil and gas exploration project with world-class potential."

A complete report on the sample logging of hydrocarbon intervals from the 6-2 well can be seen HERE.

Kawe 6-2 Well

The first stratigraphic test well, the 6-2 in Kawe, Namibia, was drilled to a final depth of 2,294 meters (7,526 feet). The well was left in a state that allows it to be re-entered to run a Vertical Seismic Profile ("VSP") and test potential zones of interest. A total of over 250 meters (820 feet) of conventional migrated light oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids were encountered over three zones. The graph below, completed by Worldwide Geochemistry, Houston, highlights the three hydrocarbon bearing zones, fluid types, hydrocarbon migration, characteristics, and the potential for production testing - Jarvie 6-2 Analysis of Horizon Data. The Company will be running a Vertical Seismic profile (VSP) in this well and combined with the 2D seismic data, will delineate potential structures in and around the well.

Distribution of Hydrocarbon Shows from the 6-2 Well:

Mbambi 6-1 Well

The second stratigraphic test well, the 6-1 in Mbambi, Namibia, was drilled to a final depth of 2,780 meters (9,121 feet). Casing is set to total depth. The well will be left in a state that allows it to be re-entered to run a VSP and potential testing of possible production zones later. A preliminary total of 350 meters (1,148 feet) of oil and natural gas shows were encountered over seven potential zones. The well logging data, cuttings and cores are in the process of being prepared to be shipped to the US for further analysis similar to the 6-2 well.

Next Phase of Exploration Program

With the confirmation of a working conventional hydrocarbon system within the first of a potential five sub basins, the Company and its joint venture partner NAMCOR will be using drilling and 2D seismic data to determine the planning and execution of future drilling locations. In addition to potential production testing results from the 6-2 and 6-1 wells, future drilling locations will target potential hydrocarbon bearing structures from the seismic program with the purpose of achieving commercial levels of oil and natural gas production. It is expected that once the seismic data is acquired, an additional one or two wells will be drilled in 2021 and a further two to four wells drilled in the first half of 2022. Additionally, the acquisition and integrated interpretation of the 2D seismic data will facilitate a farm out joint venture process for the Company which will further accelerate the overall evaluation, exploration, and development of the 8,500,000 acres in Namibia and Botswana.

About ReconAfrica

ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the opening of the newly discovered deep Kavango Sedimentary Basin, in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, where the Company holds petroleum licences comprising approximately 8.5 million contiguous acres. In all aspects of its operations, ReconAfrica is committed to minimal disturbances in line with international best standards and will implement environmental and social best practices in all of its project areas.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information under applicable Canadian, United States and other applicable securities laws, rules and regulations, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the data from the 6-2 well confirming a working conventional petroleum system, the interpretation and analysis of data, results and samples from the 6-2 well, the running of a VSP for both the 6-1 and 6-2 wells to tie them together along the same seismic line, production testing being performed on the 6-1 and 6-2 wells at a future date, the extension of the exploration period on PEL 73, the activities to be undertaken by the Company as it transitions to the exploration phase of drilling and potential results therefrom, potential structures being delineated in and around the 6-2 well following the running of a VSP and the 2D seismic survey, results following further analysis of the 6-1 well, the number of additional wells to be drilled in the remainder of 2021 and in the first half of 2022, the acquisition and integration of 2D seismic data facilitating a farm-out joint venture process for the Company and the results therefrom and the Company's commitment to minimal disturbances in line with international best standards and its implementation of environmental and social best practices in all of its project areas. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on ReconAfrica's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's amended and restated annual information form dated May 19, 2021 available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Actual future results may differ materially. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to ReconAfrica. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and ReconAfrica undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

RECONNAISSANCE ENERGY AFRICA LTD. Tel: 1-877-631-1160 | www.reconafrica.com

SOURCE Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd.

For further information: Scot Evans CEO | Tel: +1-877-631-1160; Grayson Andersen, Manager, IR | Tel: +1-877-631-1160, Email: [email protected], IR Inquiries Email: [email protected], Media Inquiries Email: [email protected]

Related Links

https://reconafrica.com/


On the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status, and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories, PM Modi said two years ago on this day the first big step towards a new Jammu and Kashmir was taken.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that since the abrogation of Article 370 two years ago there has been unprecedented peace and progress in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status, and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories, PM Modi said two years ago on this day the first big step towards a new Jammu and Kashmir was taken.

A historic day. Two years ago, on this day, the first big step towards a #NewJammuKashmir was taken. Since then, there has been unprecedented peace & progress in the region. Head to Your Voice section of Volunteer module on NaMo App for informative content, graphics and more! tweeted the official account of Narendra Modis personal website.

The Centre had abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories in August 2019.

Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on Sunday accused the Opposition of engaging in unnecessary criticism and trying to malign the image of the Central government when the entire world is praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the policies.

Emphasising that the world is praising the BJP-led Central governments achievements including abrogation of Article 370, 35 A, implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act and the surgical strikes launched to give a befitting reply to Pakistans terrorist activities, Bhatt said that the Opposition has the habit of criticising the governments policies and actions.

Speaking to ANI, Bhatt said, The government is doing so well. Whenever the Central government works towards removing the shortcomings of the previous governments, the Opposition does not like it, be it the abrogation of article 370, removal of 35 A, implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act or the launch of airstrikes and surgical strikes where our countrys armed forces gave a befitting reply to some of the terrorist incidents carried out in our country.

Despite all these achievements of the present government, the Opposition is busy defaming the government, maligning the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The whole world is praising the government for its landmark decisions but our own people (Opposition) is busy with unnecessary criticism. But I really do not understand their motive behind this kind of behaviour. Maybe they have adopted a policy of hit and run where they hit the government by way of unnecessary criticism and try to run away from their own responsibilities, said the Union Minister.

Stating that the Opposition was behaving irresponsibly by creating ruckus in the Parliament and not allowing it to function, Bhatt said that such behaviour is not in the interest of democracy.

The Opposition is constantly creating a ruckus regarding the Pegasus issue and is not allowing the Parliament to function. The way the Opposition is not allowing the Parliament to run is very painful. It is very sad for democracy. Pros and cons are always there, but the irresponsible behaviour of the Opposition is not in the interest of democracy at all, the Union Minister said.

The Opposition has alleged that names of several Indian politicians, journalists, lawyers and activists have appeared on the leaked list of a potential target for surveillance by the unidentified agency using Pegasus software. This comes following reports published by a news outlet.

In the Assam and Mizoram border dispute case, Union Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt said, The government is aware of each and every development. It is closely monitoring the situation. Everything will be back to normal soon. It would be too early to comment much on this matter at this moment. But the government has an eye on the matter.

On July 26, the border dispute between the two states peaked and a fierce gun battle between the forces of the two states resulted in the death of six Assam police personnel and one civilian. At least 50 people were injured in the incident.

Congratulating PV Sandhu for bagging a bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics, Bhatt said, Our daughter has created history in the Olympics. Hearty congratulations to PV Sindhu. History is being made. It is a matter of pride for us. I wish her all the best.

Sindhu has set a record for India by becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals as she defeated Chinas He Bing Jiao in the bronze medal match of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
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Health Alert

Today we were notified that a student in the Taupe Cohort has tested positive for COVID-19 due to an exposure from a family member. The student, who was last on school grounds on Friday, will quarantine for the required time.

Contact tracing is now being conducted, but we have been advised that the Taupe Cohort will need to quarantine for the next two weeks. In addition, because the Taupe Cohort had limited indoor/masked contact with the Ecru Cohort during an unfortunate hallway altercation, the Ecru Cohort will also be quarantined for two weeks starting tomorrow.

I dont know about you, but I am so pumped for another year of this.

We know that kids dont get as sick as adults with COVID-19, but when you consider the delta variant carries 1,000 times more viral load and contagion spread than the original strain, paired with the fact that kids under 12 are not allowed to get vaccinated, we are looking at a coming storm, a doctor told me.

Wonderful. Add to that my under-12-year-old George has a habit of licking random objects in public places and were looking at a tsunami.

A lot of people are just lying on the form or whatever and getting their under-12-year-olds vaccinated anyway, a friend told me.

Yes, but thats illegal, I responded.

So was telling the nurse at the vaccination place that I had no underlying conditions, she said. At this point, its all about personal risk.

And personal ethics?

Those dont matter anymore, she said.

If sleepaway camps this summer are any indication, we are in for a wild ride.

A pricey New Hampshire overnight camp was abruptly canceled, the New York Post reported on July 22, after it descended into a Fyre Festival-like debacle  complete with tales of fistfights, unsanitary meals and mass vomiting.

Mass vomiting?

We have been in tears, bored and devastated the whole day, a camper wrote home. [The camp director] is lying to you all.  You have to trust us. You have to. We are not joking and we are not having fun. So many things are wrong with this place.

Meanwhile, our under-12-year-old George is having a ball up in Maine at his camp.

Thats because George enjoys anything unsanitary, my husband told me. George came home from camp last year with 10 of his 12 underpants untouched and has yet to master a fork.

Many sleepaway camps have shut down early this year, noting record numbers of kids leaving early and staff simply walking away.

People dont want to work this summer, especially the younger ones, a camp director told me. Match that with the fact that most campers are unvaccinated, a year behind their maturity level after months of limited socialization and its a perfect storm.

Theres that word again.

Id like to say right here and now that if we have another year-and-half of what we just went through, I will be generating a storm all of my own. And it will show all the signs of apocalyptic global warming dimensions  another issue I am currently freaking out about.

At least you guys had the option of in-person learning full time, a friend from Boston told me. My kids had remote for most of the week, which failed, and occasional half days on a rotation schedule I could never keep track of.

And how will teachers feel about going back to elementary schools filled with unvaccinated kids potentially carrying a COVID variant thats 1,000 times the viral load/contagion as last year, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks break-through cases?

With generous unemployment benefits, no one wants to work, a friend told me after being turned away from the fourth restaurant on Cape Cod because they were completely understaffed. A political argument ensued, along with homemade hot dogs, both of which got raucous fast.

In Stories from the Great American Labor Shortage, the New York Times documents this phenomenon from the workers and the employers points of view. Not surprisingly, employers are suffering and employees have never been happier. Writing poetry, biking, finding themselves, napping, being with their thoughts and reading books about lesbian nuns are just a few of the things workers cited as being able to enjoy while receiving unemployment.

I started to notice how well-rested I was, one worker told reporters. There were lots of days where I had to go into work and just be like, I really dont want to do this.  I just started to think that this is how Id like to live.

Id love to take naps, feel well-rested and read about lesbian nuns, too, my husband shouted.

And while many worry as the federal government hemorrhages money, theres another side to this that we tend forget.

I think that theres a huge part thats being left out of that conversation, one worker said. Almost 700,000 Americans have died of COVID  [so] I think that its super offensive to think, Why wont these people come back to their terrible jobs where theyre going to make less than they are on unemployment. But whats really NOT being said here is that a bunch of them died  so-called essential workers paid the highest price.

Claire Tisne Haft is a former publishing and film executive, raising her family in Greenwich while working on a freelance basis on books and films. She can be reached through her website at clairetisnehaft.com.
HAMDEN  A carnival, a cookout, youth football practices and, most recently, a community walk all have been part of the Police Departments work to further community policing efforts.

Lt. William Onofrio, who heads up the Neighborhood Initiative Unit, said such programs have paid off, and sees the results in the way that the citizens are approaching us now.

The last two years have been tough, according to Onofrio, who said many people didnt want to speak to the police, disgusted by reports they had seen in the media.

But thats starting to change, he said, adding that residents have been more receptive to officers, sometimes even inviting them in for coffee or tea.

Its good for morale, Onofrio said.

Onofrio said a plan is in place for his several-officer unit to expand. He hopes to get an officer assigned to each of Hamdens eight policing districts, he said, adding that each officer has a specialty on top of their community policing assignments.

The lieutenant spoke as he walked down the canal trail from the Highwood substation. Joined by several other officers, two police commissioners, the mayor and the police chief, Onofrio was on his way to speak with residents himself.

The group was participating in a community walk, which Onofrio described as a large-scale version of what the department wants officers to do in their regular shift.

Local activist and Human Services commissioner Daniel Hunt organized the event. Wanting to help build relationships between police and the community, Hunt launched the program in New Haven several years ago and has long wanted to bring it to Hamden, he said.

While the coronavirus pandemic delayed that goal, Wednesday marked the first in what Hunt hoped will be a series of monthly community walks.

The group made its way to Cherry Ann Street, where Officer Chris Sheppard stopped to chat with resident Ray Williams.

Sitting in his front yard, Williams said he felt that lately, the police had had a good relationship with his neighborhood. He said he would like to see more patrols at certain times of the day, adding that his biggest concern is traffic safety  people often speed down the dead-end street.

Nearby, Hunt, Chief of Police John Sullivan and Mayor Curt Balzano Leng stopped to speak with several men standing by the sidewalk.

One of them, Sam Uelreese, who said he used to live in the area but was visiting from Arizona, reflected on the interaction. He admitted it was somewhat awkward.

We dont see it every day, he said of police walking through the neighborhood. But I think its pretty cool. ... I think its a good thing, trying to build relationships with the community.

Robert Smith, an East Haven resident who spoke with the visitors at length about community concerns, said he thought the walks should take place more often and on other streets in town.

Hunt overheard Smiths comment. Were gonna hit every neighborhood, he said of his plans for future walks.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP)  Advocate Aurora Health will require its 75,000 employees in Illinois and Wisconsin to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 15, the hospital group announced Wednesday.

With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading nationwide, Advocate Aurora inpatient COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased five-fold over the past three weeks, and the systems test positivity rate is the highest its been since January, the system said.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP)  A federal appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a Maryland beach town's right to ban women from topless sunbathing.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled unanimously that Ocean City's law, which allows men to be topless but not women, is constitutional.

Ocean City passed its law in 2017 after one of the plaintiffs in the case, Chelsea Eline, contacted Ocean City police and asserted a right to go topless.

The panel's ruling notes that courts across the country have upheld laws banning women from topless sunbathing on public beaches. While the law imposes a restriction on women that is not imposed on men, Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. wrote that Ocean City's elected leaders are within their rights to enact laws that protect public sensibilities.

The judicial legacy of justifying laws on the basis of the perceived moral sensibilities of the public is far from spotless. Some government action that we now rightly view as unconstitutional, if not immoral, has been justified on that basis. Even so, in this situation, protecting public sensibilities serves an important basis for government action, Quattlebaum wrote.

Town leaders said they received calls and letters overwhelmingly supporting the ban.

In a concurring opinion, Chief Judge Roger Gregory wrote that U.S. Supreme Court precedent requires upholding the ban. But he suggested the court should reconsider the issue.

At first glance, Ocean Citys ordinance seems innocuous enough. ... But we must take care not to let our analysis be confined by the limits of our social lens, Gregory wrote. Suppose the ordinance defined nudity to include public exposure of a womans hair, neck, shoulders, or ankles. Would that law not run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause?

A town spokesman and an attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately return calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias second-largest city, Melbourne, went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nations slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Melbourne joins Sydney and Brisbane, Australias most populous and third-most populous cities respectively, in locking down due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will lock down for seven days after eight new infections were detected in the city, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Andrews gave less than four hours' notice that the state would lock down from 8 p.m. He said his government had no other choice because only 20% of Australian adults had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday.

To be really frank, we dont have enough people that have been vaccinated and, therefore, this is the only option available to us, Andrews said. The time will come when we have many more options. But that isnt now.

Andrews has accused neighboring New South Wales state of taking too long to lock down Sydney after a limousine driver who became infected while transporting a U.S. aircrew from Sydney Airport tested positive to the delta variant on June 16.

New South Wales on Thursday reported its worst day since the Sydney lockdown began on June 26 with a record 262 new local infections and five deaths.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the dead had not been vaccinated. One had a single dose of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine in late May.

Australian authorities have urged people in Sydney not to wait for the optimal 12 weeks before getting their second AstraZeneca dose.

No one who has died has had both doses of vaccine. I cannot stress enough how its so important for everybody of all ages to come forward and get the vaccine, Berejiklian said.

AstraZeneca and Pfizer are the only vaccines available in Australia.

There have been 21 COVID-19 deaths reported in Sydney since the latest outbreak began. There have been 78 deaths confirmed in New South Wales since the pandemic began.

The government reported 262 locally acquired infections in the latest 24-hour period. Another six cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine and are not considered threats to the community.

When Victoria ended its fifth lockdown last week, Andrews said he believed the state was the only jurisdiction in the world that had beaten a delta outbreak twice.

Melbourne was the Australian center of the pandemic last year, when new infections peaked at 725 in a day in August. Of Australias 925 COVID-19 reported deaths since the pandemic began, 820 have occurred in Victoria.

Authorities were gaining confidence on Thursday that Brisbane and surrounding cities in Queensland state will end an eight-day lockdown as planned on Sunday.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said efforts to suppress the spread had surpassed expectations.

All 16 new locally acquired cases reported on Thursday have been directly linked to known exposure sites.

But doubts are growing that Sydneys lockdown will end as planned on Aug. 28 as case numbers continue to grow.

___

This story corrects that the lockdown is to last seven days, not seven weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Thursday offered profound gratitude to law enforcement officers who responded to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection as he signed legislation to award them Congressional Gold Medals for their service. The president thanked the officers for saving the lives of members of Congress during those tragic hours of the attack seven months ago.

The medal is the highest honor Congress can bestow. Joined by members of Congress, law enforcement officers and the families of police who died following the attack, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held the formal signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

Many officers were brutally beaten and injured that day as the violent mob of then-President Donald Trumps supporters pushed past them to break into the Capitol and interrupt the certification of Bidens victory. Many of the insurrectionists repeated Trump's false claims about widespread election fraud as they hunted for lawmakers and tried to beat down the doors of the House chamber with lawmakers inside.

Some of the officers, including four who testified at a House hearing last week, have spoken openly about the lasting mental and physical scars.

My fellow Americans, lets remember what this was all about, Biden said of the siege. It was a violent attempt to overturn the will of the American people, to seek power at all costs, to replace the ballot with brute force. To destroy, not to build. Without democracy, nothing is possible. With it, everything is.

The Senate passed the legislation unanimously earlier this week. The new law will place the medals in four locations  Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution. Biden said the medals will be at the Smithsonian so all visitors can understand what happened that day.

The Senate passed the legislation by voice vote, with no Republican objections. The House passed the bill in June, with 21 Republicans who have downplayed the insurrection in Trumps defense voting against it.

Trump, along with many Republicans still loyal to him, has tried to rebrand the rioting as a peaceful protest, even as law enforcement officers who responded that day have detailed the violence and made clear the toll it has taken on them. The four officers who testified in the emotional hearing last week detailed near-death experiences as the rioters beat and crushed them on their way into the building.

Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges described foaming at the mouth, bleeding and screaming as the rioters tried to gouge out his eye and crush him between two heavy doors. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said a large group of people shouted the N-word at him as he was trying to keep them from breaching the House chamber. Both were at the White House ceremony, along with several other officers.

The officers testified at the first hearing of a new House committee investigating the insurrection. Most House Republicans have staunchly opposed the Democrat-led panel, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed after Senate Republicans blocked the formation of a bipartisan commission. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has called the committee a sham" and criticized Pelosi for rejecting two of the members he tried to appoint to the panel.

Instead, McCarthy and other Republican leaders  still loyal to Trump  withdrew all their appointments and have tried to pin blame for the insurrection of Trump's supporters on Pelosi, falsely claiming she was responsible for delays in military assistance that day.

Biden said at Thursday's ceremony that we cannot allow history to be rewritten" and the officers' heroism cannot be forgotten.

We have to understand what happened, Biden said. "The honest and unvarnished truth. We have to face it.

At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that immediately followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police announced that two more of their officers who had responded to the insurrection had died by suicide. Officer Kyle DeFreytag was found dead on July 10 and Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead in his home Thursday. The circumstances that lead to their deaths are unknown.

We are grieving as a department, the police said in a statement.

In a ceremony to send the bill to the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Jan. 6 was a moment, a day of extraordinary tragedy for our country and praised the Capitol Police for their bravery and patriotism.

Im so sad that it took a tragedy of this nature for the recognition to be given to them, Pelosi said.

The Congressional Gold Medal has been handed out by the legislative branch since 1776. Previous recipients include George Washington, Sir Winston Churchill, Bob Hope and Robert Frost. In recent years, Congress has awarded the medals to former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who became a leading advocate for people struggling with Lou Gehrigs disease, and biker Greg LeMond.

____

This story has been corrected to show the name of the medal is Congressional Gold Medal, not Medal of Honor.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  President Jair Bolsonaro swore in his new chief-of-staff Wednesday in a move to shore up congressional support for legislation, and also seen as aimed at stifling an impeachment push and scoring votes in Brazil's poorer northeast region.

After Bolsonaro tapped Sen. Ciro Nogueira to occupy the post last month, he described the position as his administration's "soul. Nogueira belongs to a centrist political bloc known for ideological malleability and the old-style politics of delivering support in exchange for positions  a practice Bolsonaro had vowed to his supporters that he would never embrace.

The conservative president drew closer to the so-called Centrao this year as his administration's pandemic response was targeted by a Senate committee's investigation, his popularity plunged ahead of his 2022 reelection bid and the opposition staged nationwide protests calling for his impeachment. He has said in recent days that he was part of the Centrao during his political career.

"I want to tell all of you, the arrival of Ciro Nogueira now is a demonstration by the government that ever more we want to deepen our relationship with Congress, he told attendees at the presidential palace. He added that the executive and legislative are effectively one government branch, since they rely on each other to implement most anything.

Nogueira hails from Piaui state in Brazils northeast, a region that has long been a stronghold of the Workers Party. The party's most prominent member  former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva  is expected to challenge Bolsonaro in next year's election and opinion polls put him well ahead in a runoff.

Bolsonaro kept saying he was going to do away with old politics, da Silva wrote on Twitter last week. What is his new politics? Become hostage to the Centrao?

Members of the Centrao held key positions in all administrations since Brazil's return to democracy, including da Silva's, but have never before secured the chief-of-staff post.

Ahead of Nogueira's swearing-in ceremony, video of a 2017 television interview circulated widely on social media showing him saying that Bolsonaro had a "fascist, prejudicial character and that da Silva had been Brazil's best president, especially for the northeast.

On Wednesday in Brasilia, he was eager to show allegiance to his new boss.

Were crossing the Cape of Storms  political, economic, social and institutional storms  and your excellency, President, you are our helmsman, Nogueira said. And I will be your helper, constantly at your side and advising of dangers along the route. ___ Associated Press writer Marcelo Silva de Sousa contributed to this report.
BRIDGEPORT  Carlos Pena, owner of Gala Foods Supermarket, is weary of essentially being deputized by federal and state health officials during the coronavirus pandemic to enforce policies on his own.

First businesses were advised customers who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear masks  a requirement largely left to the honor system.

How do we know whos been vaccinated? Pena said.

Now, with the rapid spread of the more contagious Delta variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged all Americans to resume wearing masks indoors. But without the return of last years statewide mask mandate, Pena asked, what is he supposed to do about those who refuse?

We cant argue with them, Pena said. They (officials) should say yes or no  one of those two.

In mid-May Gov. Ned Lamonts administration, thanks to the three vaccines available since winter and a drop in Connecticuts infection rate and hospitalizations, lifted most of the coronavirus restrictions that had been in place since the health crisis struck in March, 2020 to prevent the illness spread.

But the Delta variant in just a few weeks has threatened to upend that return-to-normal, and many businesses are struggling to adapt to the uncertainty with little help from local and state officials similarly trying to figure out how to react.

Lamont has so far refused to reinstate any of the strict rules that had been aimed at halting the virus spread. And while Mayor Joe Ganim at the height of the pandemic sometimes tried to go even further  like imposing an 8 p.m. curfew  his administration has adopted Lamonts stance that the focus should remain on jump-starting the stalled vaccination campaign.

Right now our focus is the campaign and getting everyone vaccinated, Rowena White, Ganims communications director, said Friday during a joint interview with Acting Health Director Ebony Jackson-Shaheed.

That response is not good enough for Hugh Hallinan. The long-time operator of the Downtown Cabaret Theatre was finally able to begin hosting live productions again this summer and is selling tickets for events through December.

But with this weeks announcement that New York City will require proof-of-vaccination for eating in restaurants, attending performances and working out at the gym, coupled with his own audience members beginning to question their safety and inquire about refunds, Hallinan said it is time for Bridgeport and Connecticut officials to make some tough decisions.

Hallinan said he has, unsuccessfully, sought on his own to mandate all patrons be vaccinated and wear masks. He recalled re-opening in July for a sold out Eagles tribute band show and, while the Downtown Cabaret requests audience members mask-up, a majority of the crowd of 600 did not.

Absolutely nobody was paying any attention to that (mask) policy. Here we are, a staff of six, managing 600 people, Hallinan said. Thats why there needs to be a mandate from the top, the higher the better.

Recommending is useless, Hallinan continued. It is a spineless gesture. They need to stand up and they need to give a directive. I know nobody wants to be unpopular, but we need the weight of the state and municipality to make that call so we can refer back to it.

He said all of the uncertainty surrounding the variant and how best to respond also has customers who were feeling safe again about gathering in crowds getting nervous.

We have had calls just asking what were going to say to them when they do call (to cancel tickets), Hallinan said. My rule of thumb is for every one call I get, theres 50 people with the same question.

Not far from Hallinans downtown venue is comedian Vinnie Brands Stress Factory club. Brand said he and his staff have been encouraging people to wear masks until they get to their table. Someone might say, Ive got my vaccine, Im not nervous, I dont want to do that, he said. If they dont want to and its not a requirement, were accommodating them.

Brand believes that again forcing the public to mask-up could hurt business. On the one hand, he said, while the coronavirus and the Delta variant must be taken seriously, re-instituting such a mandate might unnecessarily scare people and keep them home. Or lead to confrontations.

And theres a cohort of people who say, Hey, Im not wearing that mask and you put enforcement on the restaurant, nightclub, theater, thats a danger. People come in  I dont want to wear that  and get violent, Brand said.

He said his own staff stopped wearing masks a few weeks ago but well probably put them back in masks so they feel comfortable. Its leading by example.

And he was hopeful that Delta would renew interest in vaccinations.

Brand also said leaving it up to businesses to screen for those who are or are not vaccinated against COVID would likely provide an illusory safeguard.

Sadly, there will be a million fake vaccine cards in two weeks, he said. Theres no time to roll out a card of significance (distinguishable from a forgery).

But Shiran Nicholson, founder of The Knowlton event venue, artists studios and mural park on the East Side, said he would be for requiring people prove they have been vaccinated upon entry and, if not, have to don masks.

It keeps everybody honest, Nicholson said. We tried the honor system. Like in sales, people hear what they want to hear. And people heard, No masks. So everybody went no masks.

Nicholson said he has yet to see a drop off in events, but customers who lived through last years sudden economic shutdown and ban on public gatherings are not taking chances in the coming months.

Clients are saying, We need a clause that if we (Connecticut) get shut down, we get all our money back, he said. They dont want to book unless guaranteed to get their money back.

Dan Onofrio, president of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, agreed with the current approach of focusing more on getting the vaccinated to receive their shots rather than pushing for health and safety mandates.

As we saw last year, into the winter especially, its a burden for service industries  restaurants and smaller retailers, Onofrio said, referring to other COVID-related rules like capacity limits and social distancing that made the colder months particularly tough to navigate.

He said he is also worried about the impact the variant and the return of strict guidelines will have on consumer confidence and whether people will just decide to avoid going out altogether.

But he acknowledged from an enforcement perspective its easier if theres a clear cut, This is what the rule is. This is what we have to do, to abide by it. It puts undue stress on staff to go to someone and say, You really should be wearing a mask if its not mandated.

Onofrio also said he has a lot of confidence in the Lamont Administration and thinks the governor and staff have handled the crisis well overall.

Its a really sketchy moment in time right now, he said. We just need to be careful and mindful of business owners and do what we can to support them.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Four Republicans hoping to claim Gov. Gavin Newsom's job in a September recall election skirmished in their first debate Wednesday, labeling the incumbent Democrat a failure whose pandemic policies sent the state into a tailspin while hewing closely to familiar conservative themes.

There were a few sharp exchanges as candidates sought to distinguish themselves from their rivals, but much of the evening event amounted to a litany of complaints about Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the progressive drift of the nation's most populous state.

This used to be the state where anyone could get ahead. Now its the state that many cant wait to leave behind, and our soaring housing costs are central to that, said Kevin Kiley, a state assemblyman who at 36 years old could become the state's first millennial governor.

The stakes were elevated with mail-in ballots for the Sept. 14 contest going to voters in about two weeks. Polls suggest the race is growing tight, with Newsoms once-comfortable edge slipping as coronavirus cases climb and mask restrictions return across much of the state.

The election is being watched nationally as a barometer of the public mood heading toward the 2022 elections, when a closely divided Congress again will be in play. A Republican upset in the heavily Democratic state would be a stunning rebuke, and Newsom has warned that his ouster would have national implications in politics and policy-making.

Many of the exchanges during the 90-minute debate centered on signature conservative issues in the state that appeared aimed at energizing Republican and right-leaning voters, rather than winning over converts from the political center. They included building more water storage, restraining government growth and cutting taxes.

Former congressman Doug Ose promised to swiftly weed out Newsom appointees across state government. Former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer was critical of state efforts to expand health care for people who entered the country illegally. Businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 governor's race, appeared to endorse eliminating the state's minimum wage law.

The real, true minimum wage ... should be zero. It should be set between the employer and the employee, Cox said at one point.

But the debate also offered little drama or memorable lines that might resonate beyond a single night.

A notable point about the debate at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Orange County was who didnt show up: the two best-known candidates. Caitlyn Jenner has been in Australia filming a reality TV program, while conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who has been the leading replacement candidate in polls, attended a Bakersfield fundraiser.

Library officials said Newsom did not respond to an invitation.

Polls have shown many voters aren't paying attention or remain indecisive about the unusual late-summer election, which could remove the governor with about 15 months left in his first term.

One of the tautest exchanges took place when Ose challenged Faulconer's record on dealing with homelessness, a cornerstone of the former mayor's campaign. Ose, a former congressman, said falling numbers of homeless residents cited by Faulconer were the result of rejiggered calculations, labeling Faulconer a plastic man. Faulconer disputed that and defended his record.

Faulconer also stood out by emphatically encouraging everyone watching to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, something none of the other contenders on stage repeated. Cox, for his part, said people who have already had coronavirus should not be vaccinated, which goes against what the CDC recommends.

Faulconer, who made his plea when asked about masks in school, said vaccinations are the best way to end the pandemic. He said he opposes mask mandates in schools, but wouldnt give a clear answer on whether hed prohibit schools from requiring masks.

Kiley said he believes in personal choice on vaccinations.

Democrats have sought to link the recall effort to far-right extremists and supporters of former President Donald Trump. Earlier Wednesday, a judge tentatively ruled in Newsoms favor in a lawsuit that sought to block him from labeling the recall a Republican effort in the states official voter guide.

Faulconer backed Trump in 2020 after spurning him four years earlier. When asked if he would welcome Trump's endorsement, the former mayor called the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol in Washington abhorrent, but said he was eager to win support from Republicans, Democrats and independents, without directly mentioning Trump or ruling out accepting his endorsement.

Newsom's campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, said in a tweet that California needs to move forward, not back toward Donald Trump."

The debate comes at a time when Republicans already have witnessed signs of infighting that could drive down turnout and distract from the goal of toppling Newsom. Cox has accused GOP insiders of trying to steer an endorsement to Faulconer.

The recall grew out of widespread frustration during the pandemic over whipsaw stay-at-home orders, crushing job losses from business closures and long-running school closures that together disrupted life for millions.

In the election, voters will be asked two questions: First, should Newsom be removed, yes or no? The second question will be a list of replacement candidates from which to choose. If a majority votes for Newsoms removal, the candidate who gets the most votes on the second question becomes governor.

With 46 replacement candidates on the ballot, its possible a winner could emerge with as little as 20% of the vote should Newsom be recalled  a fraction of what a candidate would need in a typical statewide election.

That unusual election math also has allowed Republicans to largely target their campaigns at Republicans and right-leaning independents, which could provide a sufficient coalition to win.

The debate closed with light-hearted questions intended to prompt candidates to reveal something personal about their lives. Faulconer said he cycles for charity, Kiley plugged a restaurant in his district and Ose said his hidden talent was getting things done.

Cox, who branded himself as an outsider throughout the night, took an unconventional approach. Asked what embarrassing information his kids would share about him, he said: My wife doesnt like my nose hair.
Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

New Haven County has now been designated an area of high community COVID-19 transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Thursday, the CDC elevated the county from substantial to high spread of the virus when it updated its database to show New Haven County now has more than 100 cases of COVID per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period.
MILFORD  A group of about 30 adults and children rallied along Boston Post Road Tuesday evening, Aug. 3, demanding they be allowed to send children to school without masks.

The event, billed as the Unmask Our Kids Shoreline Rally, was organized by a group called Unmask Our Kids Connecticut, an organization made up of parents and residents demanding children to be out of masks. A statement on the official website reads, We do not consent to our children being in masks or coerced into vaccination. We demand our kids be unmasked and given mask choice right now.

One of the organizers, Terri Smith, said the goal of the group was to give parents the right to choose.

Its ultimately a medical decision, she said. So really, parents (should have) the freedom to choose for something health-related for our children. Not my child being discriminated against for not being vaccinated, for example.

Smith said the risks of COVID-19 to children were small and outweighed by the potential risks of mask-wearing. According to the state, there have been four confirmed COVID-19 deaths among state residents under age 20.

They just want to talk about COVID and masks, and the risk to children is almost nonexistent. I think weve had less than four deaths in Connecticut and they are all relating to underlying conditions not directly COVID like a healthy kid going to into a school getting COVID and dying, that doesnt happen, said Smith.

Jennifer Murphy, a parent at the rally, agreed.

Many of us feel like a lot of the restrictions going on for our children, the mental risk to our children far outweighs the physical risk (of COVID-19), she said. Its a choice. Some parents want to mask their kids and some parents do not. So when you look at the mental health risk and have a healthy child, and theres things in place that are making them fearful of school, it is no longer a safe space for them.

At Milford Public Schools, a decision has not been made yet regarding masks when students go back to school on Sept. 1.

Administrators continue to receive information from the State Department of Education, the governors office and the Milford Health Department, said school spokesperson Kathy Bonetti.

Smith said it would be up to each individual parent what to do if Milford schools mandate students wear masks in school this upcoming school year. The district does not plan to offer full remote learning as an option.

Its not like you need to do this or you need to do that, we are getting ideas from each other and respecting each others opinions, she said. Like someone might pull their child out, where I wouldnt. Or someone might send their child in without a mask and have them sent home every day, while I might not do that.

Smith said she knows many parents who plan to transfer their children to private schools.

One of our private schools is closing enrollment because they are being overloaded from kids being pulled from the public school system, she said. Thats a huge problem we are seeing all over the state.

Connecticut reported that nearly 80 percent of all new COVID-19 cases stem from the Delta variant on July 22. Gov. Ned Lamonts position has been not to issue a new mask mandate in the state, but he has asked people to use common sense in wearing masks in public places.

Lamont said infection numbers have been creeping up in the last six weeks, but the state still has one of the lowest infection rates in the country.

I think were going to give a lot of discretion to our mayors and first select people as well. Every town has sort of their own threshold for risk, said Lamont.

Gina Salerno, a retired teacher, was one of the participants of the rally and said she had decided to retire because she didnt agree with the school districts response to COVID-19.

I retired at the very beginning of this past school year in September because I absolutely refused to partake in this fiasco, she said. Im an elementary school teacher, and there just no way that I would allow myself to even either be seen or to see my little children, preschool and kindergarten age, with masks on. I couldnt do it. It made no sense to me, and I was done.

Salerno added that she felt she needed to do what was right for her and her emotions.

I think that the masks are fostering an environment of fear which is, I think, one of the biggest reasons we are all against it, said Smith.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Health care systems across Mississippi are seeing a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in people under 50, a shift from earlier in the pandemic when the virus was predominately affecting older adults. A hospital official said there were only six available ICU beds in the entire state.

"Most of the people that are unvaccinated in Mississippi are under 50, so thats the population that were seeing," said Dr. Alan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. "It's attacking the vulnerable and the vulnerable are the unvaccinated."

In response to the surge, Mississippi State University will be requiring masks indoors for the fall 2021 semester, the school announced in a news release Wednesday.

Officials at Mississippi's only level-one trauma center and teaching hospital said Wednesday that 90% of the new cases and hospitalizations they are seeing are among unvaccinated people.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,821 new cases of coronavirus in a single day Wednesday, numbers not seen in the state since the last surge of the virus over the winter. Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. LouAnn Woodward said during the last major surge, the vaccine was not yet available.

Woodward said it's exhausting for medical officials to know there's a tool available now that can be used to help fight the virus and people are refusing it.

It is almost impossible to put into words the frustration that we all feel, the disappointment that here we are again and honestly, some low level of anger," said Woodward, who is also dean of the School of Medicine. There are a lot of people in health care right now that feel pretty mad about this situation.

More than 1,000 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in Mississippi on Wednesday. University of Mississippi Medical Center Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Jonathan Wilson said there were only six available ICU beds in the entire state.

There have been days in the past few weeks when there were as many as 60 people waiting for beds at the medical center, Woodward said.

There are moments when were holding what I would say is a hospitals worth of patients in the emergency department, in the recovery room and other places like that are waiting for a bed," said Woodward. "That just puts a strain on the entire system.

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the surge in virus cases has been complicated by an ongoing staffing shortage. Jones said there are currently hundreds of positions open at the hospital. There are close to 30 beds that aren't being used because there are not enough employees to care for the patients, he said.

I think I can safely say that other health systems around us and the city and the state are at a breaking point, he said.

Jones said there were 94 people hospitalized with coronavirus Wednesday at the medical center, with 13 of those cases being children.

___

Leah Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregon health care workers will be required to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, Gov. Kate Brown announced Wednesday.

Officials say the new rule will apply beginning Sept. 30  giving time for employers to prepare for implementation and for unvaccinated health care workers to become fully vaccinated.

The more contagious delta variant has changed everything. This new safety measure is necessary to stop delta from causing severe illness among our first line of defense: our doctors, nurses, medical students, and frontline health care workers, Brown said.

Brown directed the Oregon Health Authority to issue the new rule which applies broadly to personnel in health care settings who have direct or indirect contact with patients or infectious materials. The rule requires weekly COVID-19 testing for personnel and can be waived with proof of vaccination.

A state law enacted in 1989 prohibits employers from independently mandating vaccines for certain limited categories of workers, including health care workers. But, a spokesperson from the governor's office says the new rule does not conflict with the law.

This is not a requirement for vaccination, rather, the OHA administrative rule gives health care personnel a choice between weekly testing or providing proof of vaccination," said Charles Boyle, Browns deputy communications director.

In addition, Brown says she intends to work with stakeholders and lawmakers to address the existing law during the February 2022 legislative session.

As COVID-19 surges across the state, leading health organizations  including the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems  have been pressing state leaders to open the door for health care organizations to enact vaccination mandates.

The Oregon Nurses Association and Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems applauded the governor's directive.

This is a reasonable and sensible approach which respects the individual choices of health care workers while also protecting public health, the Oregon Nurses Association said in a statement.

On Monday, officials at Kaiser Permanente, one of Oregons largest private health systems, announced that health care workers, along with the rest of its staff, would be required to get vaccinated. The only exemptions are for medical or religious reasons.

Making vaccination mandatory is the most effective way we can protect our people, our patients, and the communities we serve, CEO Greg A. Adams said in an online statement.

Kaiser serves approximately 12.5 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. So far nearly 78% of the 216,000 employees have been vaccinated and 95% of Permanente Medical Group's 23,000 physicians.

In a statement sent to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Kaisers Director of Integrated Communications Michael G. Foley acknowledged Oregon's 1989 law, but said because of the growing seriousness of the current situation, the new risks and increased cases caused by the delta variant, as well as the priority to keep patients and employees safe, we will act to apply the vaccination requirement in the Northwest region.

Kaiser is working with state health officials and the governor to support vaccination to the fullest extent permitted by law and any future guidance, Foley said.

On Tuesday, Oregon reported 1,575 coronavirus cases  the state's highest daily case count since January. In addition, hospital beds are filling up quickly with 379 people hospitalized on Tuesday due to COVID-19. Some hospital officials, including those at Oregon Health & Science University, said they are postponing some surgeries that are not urgent.

Health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated. Currently, around 29% of Oregon adults remain unvaccinated.

Brown said that she is looking at additional health and safety options to protect Oregonians, including vaccination and testing policies for state workers.

As we have throughout this pandemic, we are learning to adapt to the new reality the delta variant has created," Brown said. I am encouraging Oregon cities, counties, businesses, and employers to think creatively, and to implement measures such as paid time off for vaccination, and incentives for employees, in addition to instituting masking requirements and other health and safety measures in the workplace.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP)  The head of a national teachers union visited New Mexico on Thursday as part of a nationwide campaign to convince parents that it's safe to send their kids back to public school.

The effort comes as more parents voice concerns over mask mandates, saying they aren't being given a choice as school boards adopt state and federal guidance on the matter.

The Albuquerque school board ended its meeting early Wednesday amid parents protesting and members of a rural school board in eastern New Mexico were suspended by state officials for deciding that masks would be optional this school year.

American Federation of Teacher President Randi Weingarten said she believes masks are among the precautions that school districts can take to ensure students can safely return to in-person learning.

In her talks with parents around the country, she said they want to know details of plans by officials to keep their kids safe, plans for masks and whether school ventilation systems have been improved.

Were on a full court press this month to build trust among parents and educators that schools are safe and to get shots in the arms of people who have been resistant, Weingarten said in an an interview.

Weingarten was criticized in recent weeks after some said she wavered on school reopenings following the reversal of federal officials on mask-wearing rules for vaccinated people.

But Weingarten stressed that her union's goal is to get students back into the classroom and do it safely.

We are reopening our schools full-time because we know our kids need it but we also know they need to be safe, she said.

Weingarten's meeting Thursday with school officials in Rio Rancho followed visits to Albany, New York, on Monday, where she knocked on parents' doors and a trip to Florida over the weekend, where concerns are high due to a surge of COVID-19 cases.

I think the last three weeks of the delta surge has given people pause again  not a pause about reopening schools, but that the safety issues are front and center again, she said.

Weingarten will travel to seven more states this week as part of the union's campaign to support vaccination clinics and encourage parents through billboards, advertisements, town halls and door-to-door visits that schools are safe. The work is funded by $5 million in grants.

She said the Rio Rancho district has been building on efforts that were started earlier this year to ensure student and staff safety. The school board voted 3-2 this week to allow vaccinated secondary students the option of not wearing masks after they show proof of immunization.

New Mexicos largest district  Albuquerque Public Schools  is requiring all students, employees and visitors to wear masks while inside, whether they are vaccinated or not. Santa Fe schools are requiring masks inside school buildings and on buses.

New Mexico health officials say nearly 40% of children ages 12 through 17 in the state have been fully vaccinated.

While the state's overall vaccination rate is about 65%, officials said they are pleased that the rate is increasing among younger people.

New Mexico on Thursday reported another 671 confirmed infections  the highest daily total since March. However, state data shows that the percentage of new cases each week for those under 18 have been much lower than other age groups.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  The Virginia House and Senate gave initial approval Wednesday to budget legislation allocating billions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money, each passing slightly different bills that lawmakers will have to reconcile.

Legislators started their work during the special session that convened Monday with a budget proposal crafted by Gov. Ralph Northam and fellow Democratic leaders. It called for spending most of Virginias $4.3 billion share of the American Rescue Plan funding on initiatives aimed at helping small businesses, improving air quality in public schools, bolstering mental health and substance-abuse treatment, increasing broadband access and replenishing the states unemployment trust fund.

The House took up its measure first, passing the bill as it was introduced on a bipartisan vote of 71-25.

Virginians have experienced so much hardship in the last year and a half, and this budget sends a clear message to Virginians: We hear you, we are working for you, and we are building an even stronger Virginia in the process, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn said in a statement after the vote.

Although some Republicans joined with Democrats in voting for the bill, the GOP objected strenuously to being shut out of the budget-writing process and being largely kept from debating the legislation.

A day earlier, Democrats in the chamber quickly squashed a Republican counterproposal offered on the floor by House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, who was given just two minutes to discuss his proposed alternative.

I would have hoped that in this process, we would have at least been afforded the opportunity to explain our bill, but instead we are left with the inevitable two minutes, Gilbert said. Two minutes to discuss things of great importance to children, to law enforcement, to public safety, to the businesses that are hurting around Virginia and have been hurting for some time.

The special session was taking place at a sensitive time for House members. All 100 seats are up for election this fall.

In the Senate, the Democratic majority allowed debate on floor amendments, and discussion stretched late into the night Wednesday. A debate devolved into angry tirades about the process and whether it had been adequately bipartisan before the chamber eventually passed the bill, 22-18.

I think we have a product that we can be very proud of, said Sen. Janet Howell, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Moderate GOP Sen. Emmett Hanger was the only Republican to join with Democrats in voting for the bill.

Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle said he approved of some provisions in the bill, but objected strenuously to leaving $800 million of the federal money unspent, for the governor to allocate in the future. When we choose to spend almost a billion dollars without any discussion, without any input, without any debate, thats wrong, he said.

Republican Sen. Amanda Chase blasted Democrats for limiting debate on Republican-proposed amendments, promising to fight what she called one-party control and communism.

That prompted an angry retort from Democratic Sen. Richard Saslaw. Ive never heard such fairy tales in my life, he said.

I really dont appreciate being called a communist, he added.

Before the final vote, senators approved a handful of amendments, including one that would give staff of sheriff's offices and regional jails a one-time $5,000 bonus. The spending plan as introduced already included $5,000 bonuses for state police.

Another approved Senate amendment would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to return to allowing walk-in service for transactions at its customer service centers throughout the state. Because of the pandemic, the DMV instituted an appointment-only system for in-person services.

The chamber also voted to effectively strip language from the budget that dealt with allowing student-athletes to earn compensation for the use of their name, image or likeness. Republicans argued the issue shouldnt be dealt with through budget legislation in a special session with limited debate and public input.

Lawmakers will now have to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation before a final product can go to Northam.

Both versions of the spending plan approved Wednesday include some protections against evictions and utility disconnections for families still struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The General Assembly members were also slated to elect judges to an expanded Court of Appeals during the special session. They had not made public the list of contenders as of Wednesday.
The highly-infectious delta variant of the coronavirus is now widespread in the United States, and has been associated with several outbreaks and pushed public health officials to reinstate universal mask mandates in some parts of the country.

But its not the only strain of the virus circulating in the country right now. The lambda variant, first detected in Peru and now spreading in South America, has also caught public attention.

Researchers believe lambda may spread more easily from person to person than the original strain that emerged in Wuhan, and may prove resistant to antibodies.

The strain has also been detected in small numbers in Connecticut.

However, experts dont believe the variant is a major threat in Connecticut. And their advice for protecting yourself against the variants now circulating remains the same: Get vaccinated, and monitor the level of transmission of the virus in your community.

Heres what you need to know about the lambda variant:

Where was lambda found and where is it spreading?

Lambda was first identified in Peru in December 2020, according to the World Health Organization. It was designated variant of interest on June 14 of this year.

The strain has since been shown up in the United States, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina as well as other parts of Latin America and Europe.

Is lambda more dangerous than delta?

Unlike delta, which is considered a variant of concern by both the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lambda is considered a variant of interest by the WHO.

So far, about 1,000 cases have been identified in the U.S. through genomic sequencing, whereas delta is now thought to account for the majority of U.S. cases.

And lambda infections still appear to be much lower than delta.

I think theres always some concern that as new variants emerge that they may be more transmissible, said Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

He noted that lambda has been circulating in South America since at least January. While countries there have seen a fair number of cases, North America and Europe have not, he said.

That stands in contrast to the delta variant, which quickly became the dominant strain in the U.K., supplanting the alpha strain, which was also dominant in the U.S. Delta has now also surpassed alpha in the U.S. as the dominant strain.

Lambda is as old as delta, and again we have not seen it cause massive waves of disease in the western hemisphere, Dowdy said.

In Mexico, which has a fair amount of communication with the rest of Latin America, lambda comprised a small fraction of cases, he added. In Israel, there was a small spike of lambda cases before delta took over.

Whats the concern?

But researchers believe the variants characteristics may make it more infectious than the original strain of the coronavirus, and may make it more resistant to antibodies.

A document posted online to the website biorxiv suggested two mutations in the variants spike protein  T76I and L452Q  could make it highly infectious. The document claims three other mutations confer resistance to antiviral immunity.

The paper has not yet undergone peer-review.

Is lambda spreading in Connecticut?

No. So far only around 21 cases of lambda have been found in Connecticut through genetic sequencing, all in the spring. No new cases were reported in the most recent data from the state.

Whats the best way to protect yourself?

The advice for protecting yourself from lambda may sound familiar at this point: Get the vaccine, experts say.

If you havent been vaccinated  delta, lambda or whatever  now is the time to get vaccinated, Dowdy said.

He suggested people should be a bit more cautious now that cases are rising on the whole.

The CDC has also revised its guidance for people who are fully-vaccinated, saying they should wear masks indoors in areas where the virus is spreading rapidly. All of Connecticuts eight counties now meet that threshold, though the state has not reinstated an indoor mask mandate.

Dowdy said he hopes people dont interpret that to mean the vaccines are less effective.

No better time to get vaccinated if you havent yet, he added.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

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Senator Folashade Grace Bent has threatened legal action against Precious Chikwendu, estranged wife of Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation M...

Senator Folashade Grace Bent has threatened legal action against Precious Chikwendu, estranged wife of Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister.

Bent was reacting to Preciouss alleged malicious content on social media against her.

Precious was alleged to have accused Senator Brent of working with Fani-Kayode to deny her access to her children.

The estranged wife of the former minister also alleged that Brent threatened her life.

Precious had recently walked out of her marriage to Fani-Kayode over alleged abuse by the former minister.

But Fani-Kayode had denied the allegation while accusing Precious of cheating on him.

Amid the crisis, Precious allegedly linked Senator Bent to her marital issues with the former minister.

However, Senator Bent faulted the allegations by Precious, adding that she has reported to the police.

According to the Senator, a criminal investigation is ongoing into the allegations Precious raised, adding that assassination claims are severe.

A statement by Bents Public Relations Officer, PRO, Timothy Williams, reads partly: As a civil and law abiding citizen of Nigeria, the distinguished Senator immediately reported the matter to the Police, and investigation is ongoing.

For the records, a swift report had to be made to the relevant enforcement agency, because the publication alleged that the distinguished Senator was after the life of Ms. Precious Chikwendu.

This is a very weighty allegation of assassination tendencies and intendment.

The publication also alleged that Senator Grace Bent was out to pervert the course of justice by making efforts at muscling Ms. Precious Chikwendu to abandon her child custody suit.

Bent described the allegation by Precious as another bold allegation of criminality and disregard for the rule of law, and she would not be quiet.

Senator Bent explained that she only interfered in the crisis twice, hence her decision to report Precious allegation to the police.

Lastly the publication falsely alleged that the distinguished Senator is on an errand for Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and that they will together abusively activate the machineries of enforcement agencies against Miss Precious Chikwendu.

Senator Bent is a mother to many and a grandmother who appreciates family values and mutual respect for all and sundry.

Her interface with Precious is not in any way significant, and is limited to about only two occasions.

This is the more reason it became imperative to lodge the complaint, because the suggestion that the Senator wants to murder her is dangerous, inexplicable and unfathomable.

Finally, Senator Bent is consulting with her team of lawyers and will not hesitate to seek appropriate redress against the wrongs meted against her, both in law and equity, the statement read.

Efforts to reach Precious failed as she was unreachable, and a text message sent to her mobile contact was not acknowledged.
Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, has described his recent divorce from Melinda French Gates as a very sad milestone and ...

Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, has described his recent divorce from Melinda French Gates as a very sad milestone and a source of personal sadness.

Billionaire Gates spoke in an interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper as reported by New York Post on Wednesday, saying that his relationship with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was a mistake.

Jeffrey Edward Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender who committed suicide on August 10, 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, New York, United States

The Microsoft founder split with Melinda after 27 years of marriage.

Gates told the anchor that he and his ex-wife will continue their philanthropy work together, citing her incredible strengths in furthering the missions of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Melinda has said she will try to work with Bill on the foundation for at least two more years.





Concerning his relationship with the late Epstein, which was reportedly a source of contention in his marriage, Gates said, I had several dinners with him, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts he had might emerge.

When it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended. It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility. I made a mistake.

Gates said he does have some regrets about reports of a toxic culture at Microsoft, including allegations that he made unwanted advances on women at work, which he denies.

At this time, I need to go forward, my work is very important to me. Within the family, well heal as best we can and learn from whats happened, Gates said.

Gates, who has donated at least $1.75 billion to fight COVID-19, said he is pleased with the effectiveness and production of vaccinations but is alarmed by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

We wanted to be nearer to the end than we are, but Delta is very bad news, he added.
Watertown, NY (13601)

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Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..

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Free Comic Book Day is being celebrated Aug. 14 at the New Orleans Public Library. Starting at 10 a.m., visit any library location for a free comic book supplied by Crescent City Comics. While youre there, sign up to participate in a raffle to win an additional giveaway.

Typically held in May, Free Comic Book Day 2021 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supplies are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

WRITING WORKSHOP: Writers of all skill levels, styles and genres are invited to a Virtual Creative Writing Workshop from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 14. It will be hosted by Kathleen Balma, a New Orleans Public Library librarian, Pushcart Prize-winning poet and Fulbright Fellow. Participating writers will create, share and critique original work while learning to develop their own voice.

For details and registration, email kbalma@nolalibrary.org or visit nolalibrary.org/events.

The workshop will open with an optional writing prompt for those without prepared work.

TECH CENTER: The New Orleans Public Librarys Best Buy Teen Tech Center will host a virtual open house at 5 p.m. Aug. 18 on Twitch. Attendees will meet the Teen Tech Center staff while engaging in a round of Among Us, an outer space game of deduction and mystery.

Participants must complete a liability waiver before playing and anyone 12 years or younger must have adult supervision. Visit nolalibrary.org for details and registration.

Housed on the second floor of the Main Library, the Best Buy Teen Tech Center is an interest-based learning environment for teens to experiment and master various new technologies with help from their peers and adult mentors.

Designed to be a safe, comfortable and engaging space just for teens, the center is equipped with technology and multimedia tools that can be used for music and video production, interactive programming, graphic design and more. Membership is limited to ages 13 to 18, and all members must complete an application with signed permission from a parent or legal guardian in order to use the center.

Visit bbttc.nolalibrary.org for more information and to submit an application.

CRAFTY KIDS: Craft kits are available for teens and children to take and make at home. All library locations have a limited number of kits, which contain materials to create a craft and an instruction sheet. Additional supplies may be required and will be noted on the instruction sheet.

A new teen craft is available every month, and childrens crafts change every two weeks. Teens are also invited to come together on Zoom to complete their crafts at 4 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

Share creations with the library by tagging @nolalibrary on social media or emailing impact@nolalibrary.org.

Take & Make Crafts for children and for teens are made possible through support from the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library.

Dr. Gabriel Morley is director of the New Orleans Public Library.
Last fall, Meg Bickford became the first new executive chef at Commanders Palace in nearly two decades. She became the first female chef in the restaurants long history.

Now, the restaurant is planning a series of special dinners to welcome her aboard in style, and each revolves around talented friends in the field and hospitality-related causes in the community.

The series is called Chef Meg & Company, and each monthly edition features a menu devised by Bickford and other guest chefs, including rising talent and established heavyweights in New Orleans cuisine. Each collaboration will bring a five-course dinner with wine pairings and specialty cocktails.

This is bringing together a group of people who were really excited about, said Commanders Palace co-owner Ti Martin. Its a chance for us to celebrate the sense of community weve been feeling through all this time.

+34 See how these 33 historic New Orleans restaurants managed to reopen in pandemic Historic restaurants are landmarks of a very New Orleans type, repositories of personal traditions, shared memories and long relationships ent

The line-up of guest chefs includes:

Aug. 31: Serigne Mbaye, of Dakar Nola, and Melissa Martin, of Mosquito Supper Club. Mbaye is a Commanders Palace alum whose pop-up Dakar Nola showcases the flavors and culinary energy of his Senegalese heritage. Earlier in his career, he worked with Bickford at Cafe Adelaide, when she was executive chef there.

Martin shares Bickfords down-the-bayou roots from their upbringing in southeast Louisiana  Bickford's family is from Bayou Lafourche, Martins family is from Chauvin, along Bayou Petit Caillou. The two chefs express this heritage in different ways through their cooking.

Sept. 15: Michael Gulotta, of Maypop, MoPho and Rum & the Lash. Gulotta and Bickford are both alums of the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.

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Oct. 20: Frank Brigtsen, of Brigtsens Restaurant. While the restaurant that Brigtsen and his wife, Marna, started three decades ago is now an institution in its own right, the young chef got his start as an apprentice under Paul Prudhomme at Commanders Palace.

Dec. 7: Edgar Dooky Chase IV, of Dooky Chases Restaurant. The grandson of the late, great Leah Chase has been leading the familys landmark restaurant with an eye to its long role in the community and its potential as the next generations come up through it.

Proceeds from the dinner series benefit the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute, a fast-track culinary training program aimed at helping people in the hospitality field advance their careers.

Commanders Palace is also partnering for the series with Turning Tables, the local nonprofit tackling racial inequity in hospitality. Its focused on the bar and working to open doors in the bartending and drinks business for people of color. Students and alumni of the program will collaborate on cocktails for the series.

Bickford rose through the ranks at Commander's Palace before being named executive chef in October. She took the helm from Tory McPhail, who had been executive chef since 2002. Last year, McPhail moved to Montana, closer to his own family roots, where hes cooking with a restaurant group in the mountain town of Bozeman.

Tickets for each dinner are $165, all inclusive. Get them and find information at exploretock.com/commanderspalace.

+8 Longtime Commanders Palace chef departs, and for first time a woman leads the kitchen For the first time in almost two decades, Commanders Palace has a new chef. For the first time in the famous restaurants long history that c
When Kevin Appelson walked into the Mid-City bar Twelve Mile Limit, he wasnt expecting to see a freshly-written chalk board sign announcing a proof of vaccination requirement.

But he was ready -- and relieved.

I work in the service industry as well, we dont require vaccination where I work, but I wish they would, he said, after showing the bartender his vaccination status. Were putting ourselves at risk and if theres another shutdown, that affects my livelihood.

The ranks of New Orleans businesses requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination (or a recent negative test result) are still small, but their numbers have risen steadily for the past week.

These businesses have been largely focused in the hospitality sector -- music venues and, increasingly, restaurants and bars. The same sector has been particularly hard hit by the pandemics economic toll, struggling through shutdowns, massive layoffs and changing levels of limitations through earlier phases of the crisis.

The delta surge is already having a severe effect on the business. In recent weeks, numerous restaurants and bars have closed for a span of one or more days after reporting COVID exposure among employees or customers, reopening after testing or quarantine.

Proprietors now adopting vaccination requirements say they are trying to keep their people safe and also keep their doors open, acknowledging a growing dread that mandatory lockdowns or capacity limits could return.

We wanted to get in front of it and do it on our own terms, said Ashwin Vilkhu, who runs the Uptown Indian restaurant Saffron with his family. It came down to how do we keep the home base safe, and there was only one logical answer. With the numbers going the way theyre going, I think this is going to become more common.

Saffron began enacting its policy on Tuesday. The next day, Vilkhu got a call from the White House. Members of the administration's COVID response team asked about customer response and how the restaurant prepared for the move, he said. During a White House press briefing on Thursday, response team coordinator Jeff Zients praised Saffron for "stepping up," along with universities and large companies initiating their own mandates.

"Our message is quite simple: We support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country," Zients said in the briefing.

On Tuesday night, most people walking up to Saffron could confirm their vaccination by opening an app on their phones (the states LA Wallet app includes a digital copy of a Louisiana residents drivers license and can display vaccination documentation). A few pulled printed vaccination cards from their wallets and purses.

We heard a lot of support for this from our regulars, Vilkhu said. We know we could lose some business from this, but if that means losing 5% or 10%, thats better than being forced to go back to 50% capacity. That would devastate us.

Blowback concerns, 'hate messages'

Elsewhere, some sweeping new regulations are changing the way restaurants and other businesses can operate during the delta surge.

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New York City this week announced that it will make proof of vaccination mandatory for patrons and employees at restaurants citywide, along with gyms and performance venues. That policy is scheduled to begin later this month.

The move drew concern from the National Restaurant Association for putting verification duties on restaurant operators.

Last year, when mask mandates across the country were put in place, restaurant workers suffered terrifying backlash when enforcing those rules, Larry Lynch, the groups vice president for Science and Industry, said in a statement.

He pointed out that the industry group was compelled to create a new conflict de-escalation training program for front-of-the-house staff dealing with that kind of blowback.

On social media, the requirements announced by New Orleans businesses have drawn a mix of fury and praise.

But at the businesses themselves, the customers actually turning up have largely been prepared to follow the rules.

Weve gotten some hate messages on Facebook, but those arent our customers anyway, said Craig Nero, owner of Who Dat Coffee Cafe in the Faubourg Marigny, which began its requirement policy this week.

The French Quarter wine bar and restaurant Effervescence had a full weekend to see its own vaccine policy in action, after announcing it July 30. Proprietor Crystal Hinds said a handful of people cancelled reservations because they disagreed with the change. But she also had walk-in customers show up to take their place.

Some didnt have their vaccination cards with them, but I was able to show them how to download the (LA Wallet) app and then they were all set, she said. People are supportive once they understand why were doing this.

When the downtown steakhouse La Boca began its proof-of-vaccination requirement Tuesday, the dining room had a mix of couples on dates, families dining out and tables of six or eight colleagues meeting over flank steak and Malbec.

Theyd all shown their vaccination or negative test documents to the host, Lorenzo Kennedy, who fielded at least one phone call from someone ridiculing the policy.

Kennedy calmly told the caller he would be welcomed back without proof of vaccination once the crisis had lifted, and that he should wait until then to call again.

+3 Ian McNulty: As New Orleans revives, dont pretend restaurants and bars are back to normal When youre fully vaccinated, when you know the people you spend time with are fully vaccinated, things can start to feel kind of, sort of, al
Mario Villa, a multi-talented artist who created distinctive furniture, paintings, sculpture and jewelry, died Wednesday of complications from open-heart surgery at Ochsner Rehabilitation Hospital, his sister Maria McCulloh said. He was 68.

Villa ran his namesake Magazine Street gallery, one of the first in New Orleans dedicated to displaying contemporary art, for decades. The gallery closed in 2004.

He liked to be the showman as gallery director as well as produce his own work, said gallery owner Arthur Roger. It was a tough balancing act, but he did it for many, many years. He was a remarkable man.

Villas work, which was featured publications such as Architectural Digest and Elle Decor, attracted widespread attention from people who wanted to buy his jewelry and sculpture and furnish their homes. In a 2007 interview with Morgan Packard for myneworleans.com, Villa described his style as classical, with an M.V. twist.

The artist's celebrity clients included Ivana Trump, Kevin Costner, Carol Burnett, Joanne Woodward, Princess Caroline of Monaco and the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, according to the interview.

I love to work with clients who present a challenge and an opportunity to outdo myself, he told Packard.

A native of Managua, Nicaragua, Villa was the son of an architect, Julio Villa, who collected pre-Columbian pieces, his sister said.

He was interested in creating art as a child, so much so that he painted his bedroom walls and door, McCulloh said.

He had his first gallery show when he was 16, and the bedroom door was part of that exhibit.

A man wanted to buy it, McCulloh said, but my brother said, No, that is my door.

In his art, furniture and jewelry, Marios style was so embedded in the historical past, particularly of the Greek and Roman empires, said Diane Labouisse, a New Orleans writer and friend and longtime collector of Villas jewelry. It goes back to the motion and gracefulness of Greco-Roman furniture and jewelry.

Among his creations that displayed this classical influence were the outsize lighting sconces featuring metal palm fronds and burnished metal pieces that flank the entrance to the Contemporary Arts Center.

His pieces often showed profiles of such figures as gods, goddesses and Napoleon. Even though each piece was brand-new, Labouisse said, when you bought it, it looked like you had had it for thousands of years.

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As finishing touches, Villa often embellished his work with such decorative details as gold leaf, flowers, swags and vines, said E. John Bullard, former director of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Villa brought this exuberant aesthetic to his commission to redesign the Ochsner Clinics Center for Cosmetic Surgery to make it look less institutional and grim.

The result, featuring such details as suede-upholstered examining tables, steel drawer pulls and dancing female figures resembling Henri Matisses paper cutouts, looks more like a slightly stagey hotel lobby than it does any sort of medical center, Mimi Read wrote in The New York Times. It is a warm, soothing oasis of neoclassicism. It is also a total package: the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome, and the vanity that is America.

Based on what he achieved at Ochsner, Read wrote, Villa with a few dollars and some gold swags could probably transform a 7-Eleven into a nightclub.

Villa and his family were forced to flee Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution in the mid-1970s. After studying at the University of Bath in England, he came to New Orleans to finish his education and build his career as an artist and, later, as an entrepreneur.

He loved New Orleans because it had characters and architecture and flavor, his sister said.

Villa earned a degree in anthropology at the University of New Orleans and a degree in architecture at Tulane University.

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was creating oil paintings and watercolors, which he displayed in his first gallery, a converted garage in the French Quarter, Packard said. A few years later, Villa moved to a bigger space and started designing furniture.

In his gallery, Villa started showing other artists work. One of them, the sculptor Maurice Alvarado, said Villa gave fledgling artists tips on selling their creations.

He was very insightful to tell you little things like, Dont show something that youre not proud of. Always show your best work. If you dont believe in it, dont show it because (your lack of enthusiasm) will show, Alvarado said.

Villa had so many things to show, McCulloh said. He liked discovering artists and letting people know whats there. It was fun for him.

In addition to McCulloh, who lives in Orlando, survivors include another sister, Myriam Lacayo, of Managua.

A funeral will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. at Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home, 3827 Canal St. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p. m.

Burial will be in Nicaragua.
Search crews are looking for a man who fell into the Mississippi River on Wednesday in St. Charles Parish, the Coast Guard said.

Update: Search suspended for missing man in Mississippi River

The 60-year-old man fell in the water at the Gnots Reserve fleeting and towing facility in St. Rose, the Coast Guard said. He was reaching for something when he lost his balance and fell, according to officials.

The Coast Guard has closed the lower Mississippi River from mile marker 116 to 120 for the search. They are searching by water and air. In addition to the Coast Guard, law enforcement agencies and multiple good Samaritan vessels are searching.

Included in the search are:

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 A Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot response boat

 A Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter

 Charles Parish Sheriffs Office marine division

 Port of South Louisiana marine division

 Pontchartrain Levee District

 Multiple good Samaritan vessels
COVID's fast-spreading delta variant has not spared Louisiana's nursing homes, which reported more than 100 new infections in a week for the first time since February, the latest reminder that the pandemic remains a threat to the state's most vulnerable residents.

The state's approximately 270 homes also reported eight new deaths attributed to the virus, more than twice as many as last week and more than double the total through all of June and July, according to numbers reported this week by the Louisiana Department of Health this week.

+2 Rising COVID cases bring fresh worries to Louisiana's nursing homes, scenes of early tragedy Coronavirus cases among nursing home residents jumped more than fourfold in Louisiana last week, mirroring a broader community surge of the hi

Nursing homes reported 122 new "locally acquired" resident infections this week, 54 more than they reported last week. Wednesday's 54-case increase marked how steep the curve has become. Just three weeks ago, the state reported only six new cases, at that time the seventh consecutive week of single-digit cases. The term "locally acquired" is used by the state to refer to cases that originated in the facility which reported them.

Two dozen homes reported two or more cases this week; up from 16 homes that had that many a week prior.

In Louisiana, nursing homes were an early recipient of large numbers of vaccines and statewide the homes report an average of 83% of their residents are vaccinated.

Nursing home residents, even when vaccinated, are more vulnerable to COVID's dangers, said Dr. Fred Lopez, and infectious disease expert with LSU Health New Orleans.

"We know the vaccines are very, very good," he said. "But where arent they as good? Theyre not as good in people who are older and-or have underlying chronic medical conditions, both of which are seen frequently in residents of nursing homes."

Fortunately, deaths remain far below their early pandemic highs, when the state regularly reported more than 100 deaths per week in Louisiana nursing homes.

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Concerns remain, however, about the relatively low numbers of vaccinated staff. Nursing homes reported an average of 47% of staff had completed both shots of a vaccine regimen. Only another 4% have gotten at least one shot, the state's numbers show. The number of vaccinated staff has been static over the last several weeks.

New cases among nursing home staff soared to 240 this week, an increase of 80 over last week and nearly five times what was reported by homes just two weeks ago.

Last week, the nation's largest nursing home organization, the American Health Care Association, said it would support any home that insisted on a vaccine mandate for employees. This week, one of the nation's largest long term care center operators, Genesis Healthcare, said it would require employees to get the vaccine in the coming weeks. Genesis HealthCare does not operate any homes in Louisiana.

In Louisiana, however, homes have sought to motivate employees to get the vaccine without mandating it, using methods like education, cash bonuses and lotteries. But progress has been slow.

The Louisiana Nursing Home Association issued a statement Thursday "strongly urging" all residents and staff to get the vaccine, but stopped short of calling for employers to mandate it for employees.

+2 Three Louisiana nursing home deaths reported as COVID cases nearly triple among residents Louisiana nursing homes reported their first COVID-related deaths in more than a month Wednesday, as the highly-contagious delta variant fuels

At least one home has mandated vaccines for employees: Lambeth House, which was an early epicenter of the disease, reported 100% of its residents and 99% of its staff were full vaccinated. CEO Scott Crabtree said he didn't understand why other homes haven't followed suit.

"I just cant understand how were at the point where we dont have more people vaccinated, especially in health care and senior living," Crabtree said. "For our staff it's also about protecting them and getting them a safe environment so they can go home to their family and friends and be safe."

WWL-TV's Danny Monteverde contributed to this report.
As Louisianas fourth surge in coronavirus cases continues to break records, hospital officials and modeling experts suggest the state's worst wave could also be its longest.

According to the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, created by scientists who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases aren't likely to peak until sometime in mid-September.

Its very likely that cases will continue to increase over the next several weeks, said Rebecca Borchering, a researcher with the modeling team at Pennsylvania State University. Its unlikely to make a sharp downturn without any large change in behavior, either through vaccination or masking or social distancing or some other intervention.

Quantifying Louisiana's dire hospital staff shortages as COVID hospitalizations break records When University Medical Center in New Orleans was inundated with COVID patients during the first three surges, a unoccupied unit typically use

It can be difficult to predict when cases might start to drop off, because human behavior can influence the number of infections.

But so far, Louisianas actual numbers are tracking at the upper end of most models, Borchering pointed out, indicating a more dire scenario. Cases are growing at a much faster pace than ever before, and with 37% of the state fully vaccinated, the virus has lots of unprotected hosts to replicate within.

The delta wave has grown at a rate of 7.4% daily. That's compared to 3.6% daily during the second wave and 2.7% during the third.

Previous surges petered out much faster because of a less infectious variant of the virus and more social distancing measures.

During the first wave in March and April of 2020, it took 21 days for cases to peak. The second wave last summer took 48 days before a decline, and the third winter wave, the longest and deadliest, was sustained for 67 days.

The current wave of cases began rising 34 days ago, at the beginning of July.

Already, hospitalizations and weekly case rates have surpassed prior peak levels, with 2,350 patients hospitalized on Thursday and 24,147 cases over the last seven days. A month ago, weekly cases were at 3,360.

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As new COVID strain rages, a look inside a packed Louisiana hospital: We havent had many wins HAMMOND  Kim Schehr didnt believe she was at much risk of getting sick with COVID-19 when she left for a family vacation to Florida in July.

In the 48 days it took to get to the Wave 2 peak there were 65,958 new cases. So far, in the first 34 days of the current wave, there are almost as many, at 63,868 new cases.

Experts chalk up the wildfire-like spread to a key mutation in the delta variant that allows it to better infect cells.

Its able to replicate to higher levels and transmit better because, for whatever reason, it seems to stay in the upper respiratory tract, said virologist Robert Garry, a professor at Tulane University who has studied viruses for over 40 years.

Garry took note of deltas devastating effect on India and watched as it hit Arkansas and Missouri.

It looks like this hangs around for several months, said Garry. He predicts it will continue to surge as long as people gather in high-risk places like bars. "But is that two months, is that three months? Its going to be something along those lines, he said.

The peak and duration is not set in stone. Though increased vaccination wont have an effect for several weeks because of the time it takes for the immune system to develop antibodies, mitigation tools like wearing masks and limiting interactions can drive down cases. Going without them will extend the surge.

Its not a completely lost cause, said Borchering. There are reactive interventions. We dont necessarily have to let things get that bad.

Without these measures, cases will rise. At Ochsner Health, a 40-hospital system and Louisianas largest, there were 890 patients hospitalized on Thursday, a 73% increase from a week prior. Around 90% of hospitalized patients for COVID are unvaccinated.

At the hospitals main location on Jefferson Highway in New Orleans, 300 patients from other facilities who were seeking a transfer for more specialized care were turned away over the last 10 days, said CEO Warner Thomas. All signs suggest things will only get worse.

Theres no end in sight at this point, said Thomas. "The models  project that we will continue to see an escalation in the coming weeks. It is absolutely reaching a critical situation.
A Metairie man hit by a large truck while standing in the garage of an Elmwood business died of his injuries Monday, authorities said.

The victim was identified as Anthony Fassbender, 54, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office.

The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m. July 30 in the 600 block of Distributors Row, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a spokesperson for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

Fassbender is listed as the president of Fassbender Sewer & Drain Inc., a business located on Distributors Row, according to Louisiana Secretary of State records.

Fassbender was hit by a vehicle described as a large transport truck, the Sheriff's Office said.

"Multiple witnesses and video surveillance indicated that the decedent was struck by the vehicle during normal business operations," Rivarde said.

The driver has not been arrested or cited.
Markez Jefferson told police he couldnt believe what he was seeing.

The man he shot multiple times on Bourbon Street early Sunday, using a pistol outfitted with an extended magazine and a laser sight, stood back up and tried to limp away, he said. So Jefferson followed, took aim and kept firing until his target went down again and stopped moving, New Orleans police allege.

The victim would later say he had to "play dead" to get Jefferson to stop shooting and run off, according to police.

The blood-chilling account of the French Quarter fight that resulted in five people being shot was detailed in criminal court records filed by police following Jeffersons arrest and alleged confession on Tuesday.

+4 Man accused of shootout on Bourbon Street that wounded 5 has been arrested The search for a man accused of participating in a shootout that wounded five people on Bourbon Street ended with his arrest on Tuesday, New O

It all started about 2 a.m. in the 700 block of Bourbon, when a brawl erupted between two men, including one Jefferson apparently knew, investigators wrote in the documents.

Onlookers gathered, and a third man approached the crowd and waved a gun at the group, police said.

One of the men fighting fell to the ground, and was kicked by a friend of Jefferson, 22, police said, citing videos recorded by nearby surveillance cameras as well as a bystanders cellphone. Jefferson's friend was then pistol-whipped by the man who waved the gun, according to police.

Jefferson allegedly stepped up from behind and fired several times at the man who hit his friend. That man fell to the ground wounded, and Jefferson began firing at a second man who had started running away, police allege.

That man  who was unarmed  also fell wounded, and two others were struck as well, police said.

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The man who struck Jefferson's friend was injured but managed to get up and try to run away. Jefferson stalked after him, shot him several more times and inadvertently hit another bystander, the fifth person to be struck at the scene, police said.

Jefferson allegedly left after his target fell to the ground and lay still, investigators wrote in the court filings. The five wounded men were all taken to the hospital, according to police.

Police later released images of Jefferson, which had been captured by one of the cameras at the scene, and asked for the publics help to identify him. After seeing those images, Jefferson, who lives in Violet, called a former St. Bernard Parish Sheriffs Office deputy and said he wanted to surrender, according to police.

A New Orleans detective met Jefferson at the Sheriffs Office on Monday and recognized him from the videos, the court filings noted. Jefferson admitted to his role in the melee, saying it was unbelievable the man who pistol-whipped his friend was able to stand up after he was shot, police allege.

Jefferson also allegedly said he was calm  not angry or afraid  as he repeatedly pulled the trigger, stopping only when the man stopped moving.

I finished my clip, Jefferson remarked, according to police.

Investigators booked Jefferson on five counts of attempted second-degree murder. He remained in custody Wednesday afternoon, when Magistrate Court Commissioner Robert Blackburn set his bail at $300,000.

If convicted, each count of attempted murder could carry up to 50 years in prison.

Police on Tuesday also arrested a second suspect in the case, 20-year-old Nathan Saavedra, on a count of obstruction of justice. A third suspect, 29-year-old Kareem Moore, remained wanted on counts of illegally carrying a weapon and obstruction of justice.

Neither is accused of firing, police said.
For the second time in less than a decade, a Kenner woman has been arrested in connection with a drug-related death, this time booked with second-degree murder after authorities said she consumed the opioid fentanyl and breastfed her newborn baby.

Lana Cristina, 28, was arrested Wednesday, according to Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson.

Authorities have not identified Cristina's daughter, who was 4 days old when she died.

Cristina pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the 2013 overdose-death of a friend, Amber Hollis, 23. Cristina was sentenced to five years in prison for supplying the heroin that killed Hollis, according to Jefferson Parish court records.

On June 10, Cristina was staying at a hotel in the 1100 block of Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey when she called 911 about 3:40 a.m. to report that her baby was not breathing, Rivarde said.

The child was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead later that morning.

+2 Kenner woman faces murder charge in case of heroin-related death A Kenner woman has been arrested on a second-degree murder charge, accused of giving another woman heroin that she later overdosed on and died

During an autopsy, the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office determined the baby died of acute fentanyl toxicity, Rivarde said.

Fentanyl is an oft-abused pain-management drug that is much more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.

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Cristina admitted taking the drug before breastfeeding her baby, according to the Sheriff's Office. Investigators obtained a warrant for her arrest after the results of the toxicology tests were revealed.

Fentanyl-related deaths continue to make a scary climb in Jefferson Parish, according to the Coroner's Office. In 2020, there were 179 fatal overdoses linked to the lethal opioid.

In just the first three months of 2021, the Coroner's Office handled 80 fentanyl-related deaths, putting the parish on track to double last year's numbers, according to officials.

+2 After Kenner infant dies from meth-tainted breast milk, mom imprisoned 25 years A Kenner mother accused of killing her 6-week-old daughter by breastfeeding the infant after ingesting methamphetamine  the second time she a

The death of Cristina's newborn is tragically similar to two recent deaths of babies whose mothers allegedly consumed illegal drugs before breastfeeding.

Brandi Froeba, 38, of Kenner, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on July 22 after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of her 6-week-old daughter, Daisy. The baby died Aug. 16, 2018, of methamphetamine and amphetamine toxicity, court records said.

Autumn Blansett, 32, of Marrero, was arrested and booked with second-degree murder after her 3-month-old daughter, Maddalynn, died Nov. 1, 2020. An autopsy revealed the infant's cause of death was methamphetamine toxicity, authorities said. Blansett has not been formally charged.

+2 Bond cut for Marrero mom whose baby died from meth-tainted breastmilk A Jefferson Parish judge agreed to reduce the $250,000 bond set for a Marrero mother who faces a murder charge for allegedly ingesting methamp

Cristina was being held without bond Thursday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.
New Orleans residents have seen more frequent garbage pickups in recent weeks as additional crews have been hired to do the job, but collections remain at least a half day behind, with some residents complaining about even longer waits.

Metro Service Group, the collection company saddled with most of the delays, has hired seven more truck drivers since early July, and plans to fully resolve missed collections by Aug. 10, city officials said.

That target is 10 days after the deadline Metro originally committed to. The city has accepted the new deadline but reserves the right to penalize Metro if that date is again missed, New Orleans Sanitation Director Matt Torri said Wednesday.

+3 Late trash pickup complaints hit a new high in July; these neighborhoods have the most Despite hiring seven more truck drivers, pulling drivers from Mississippi routes and enlisting the help of reality star and IV Waste garbage m

"We fully anticipate that Metro will realize this goal by the (new) target date," he said.

A Metro spokesperson said that job fairs, employee incentives and other steps have helped the company gain a net increase of seven drivers, and that delays have shrunk on most routes.

"Still, Metro owners understand and sympathize with the publics impatience when routes are not run on time, and they will continue to pursue every possible option for improving recruitment and meeting their own and the publics high standards for performance," company spokesperson Greg Beuerman said.

Metro is one of two major firms the city pays to haul away residential garbage. Residential customers pay the city $24 per month.

Metro, led by brothers Jimmie and Glenn Woods, primarily serves neighborhoods on the lake side of Interstate 10.

Since April, customers in Lakeview, New Orleans East, parts of Gentilly and elsewhere have complained of spotty pickups, a problem Jimmie Woods said is due to several drivers leaving Metro for other companies. The remaining drivers have not been able to clear the backlog even while working overtime.

Metro said the problem mirrors national trends. Similar issues have plagued collection firms in Alabama, Florida and New Jersey, as licensed commercial drivers are taking advantage of a wealth of new opportunities given a pandemic-fueled boom in electronic commerce.

At the same time, the amount of waste that workers must cart away has multiplied, as more people have been working from home and have thrown things out more often, Jimmie Woods has said.

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Richard's Disposal, the hauler that handles neighborhoods on the river side of Interstate 10, has also had some departures in recent months, CEO Alvin Richard said recently. But their ranks have remained strong enough to keep collections running on time.

+5 Amid rising trash complaints in New Orleans, here's how long it could take to fix pickup delays A New Orleans sanitation contractor that has come under fire for missed garbage collections pledged Thursday to get back on schedule within th

To attract more drivers, Metro has raised base pay to $17 per hour and increased bonuses for employees who refer other workers. Metro had been paying closer to $14 per hour.

Woods was aiming to hire at least eight to 10 more drivers, and has already hired seven. An ideal team would see 16 or 17 new hires, Woods has said.

Woods has also been pulling other drivers from routes in Mississippi and has partnered with his competitors to address the issues in New Orleans. He has also partnered with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the city's JOB 1 program to recruit new hires.

Even that has not been enough to restore garbage collection, which typically occurs twice weekly, to its regular schedule. Recycled items are also supposed to be collected once per week.

New Orleans East resident William Atkins Jr. said collections have actually gotten worse on his street recently.

"Half day behind my butt," Atkins said Thursday. "The trash is supposed to get picked up on Wednesday, and the guy this week didn't come until Sunday. You have to have your trash sitting out the whole week, and then it gets picked up."

+2 Garbage pickup problems: See which New Orleans neighborhoods have the most complaints Complaints about missed garbage pickups have soared in New Orleans, as residents continue to call the city's 311 service in record numbers.

Birds who enjoy feasting on the trash have become regular guests at their home, Atkins said. So have swarms of flies. Atkins' sister and his dad have tried to complain to the city, but Atkins doesn't see the point.

"What is complaining really going to do about it? You are at the point where you are at the mercy of the garbage man," he said.
Norman, OK (73070)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Norman, OK (73070)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Harrisburg, Pa. - Good things, and new jobs, are about to be happening for the area around Williamsport and Jersey Shore, according to the governor's office.

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., a global manufacturer in design and production of high-quality delivery systems for injectable medicines, will be expanding and modernizing its Williamsport manufacturing plant, according to the Wolf administration.

This will mean an $18 million investment into the expansion project.

The company will be retaining 1,100 jobs statewide, and creating over 200 new, family-sustaining, full-time jobs collectively at three Pennsylvania locations in Williamsport, Jersey Shore, and the companys headquarters in Exton, according to West Pharmaceutical.

My administration is thrilled to support Wests expansion project - which will support increased manufacturing capabilities at its Williamsport location and bring over 200 new, good-paying jobs, to both Lycoming and Chester County communities, said the governor.

The expansion will include a 12,000 sq. ft. addition to the Williamsport facility, plus the purchase of production equipment for a new product mixer line.

With centennial roots in Pennsylvania, we are eager to witness Wests continued growth and contributions to our states renowned manufacturing industry," added Wolf.

The project is expected to modernize the plant, increase manufacturing output, and improve overall efficiency, according to the Wolf administration.

We are pleased to continue our growth within Pennsylvania, which will help support our mission of improving the lives of patients across the globe, said David Montecalvo, Wests Senior Vice President, Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer.

We are grateful for our partnership with the Commonwealth of PA and for the support of the Governors Action Team, which will help enable our continued commitment to expand our operations in PA and supporting a bright future for the communities in which we operate," Montecalvo said.

West Pharmaceuticals, a leading provider of innovative, high-quality injectable solutions and services, delivers more than 40 billion components and devices annually, ensuring the safe, effective containment and delivery of life-saving, and life-enhancing, medicines for patients.

West has been a key employer here in Lycoming County the past several decades, and continues to provide great jobs, with family-sustaining wages and benefits to those in the greater Lycoming County community. With over 650 jobs currently between the Williamsport and Jersey Shore plants, we are excited to see their growth with the addition of new jobs at these facilities, said Jason Fink, President/CEO of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

This expansion will provide for more people in our area to obtain quality jobs with a premier employer. It is great to see the breadth of the partnership established to land these jobs here in Pennsylvania. Much credit goes to the Commonwealth, the Governor and Governors Action Team, and the Lycoming County Commissioners for their investment in securing these jobs for Lycoming County and Pennsylvania," Fink said.

The company received a funding proposal from the Pa Department of Community and Economic Development for a $687,000 Pennsylvania First grant, a $258,000 workforce development grant to help the company train workers; and they also applied for the departments Manufacturing Tax Credit program; and for a Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan.

The company has said they are committed to investing over $18 million into the project, and creating over 200 new jobs over the next three years.

According to the state, this project was coordinated by the Governors Action Team, an "experienced group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor, and work with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania."

Those interested to learn more about a career at West Pharmaceutical's should explore here.
Mansfield, Pa. - Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education selected Dr. Bashar Hanna as interim president of Mansfield University during its July Board of Governors meeting.

Hanna began his appointment on Fri., July 30. He succeeds Charles Patterson, who took a position as interim president of Shippensburg University earlier in July.

Prior to Hanna's official appointment to lead Mansfield, Dr. John Ulrich, provost and vice president of academic affairs, was serving as acting president of the university.

"I am honored to have been selected for this role, and look forward to partnering with everyone at Mansfield on behalf of our students and their success," Hanna said.

Hanna will continue to serve as president of Bloomsburg University, a position he's held since 2017, and interim president of Lock Haven University, a position he was appointed to in February.

He will lead the team overseeing the Northeast Integration of three universities - Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield - into a single accredited entity with three distinct campuses and a single faculty and staff, a decision made by the state system just recently.

"Dr. Hanna's expertise has guided Bloomsburg and the entire integrations effort with great skill and with a sharp focus on student success," Board chair Cindy Shapira said. "He has our full confidence as a leader of three campuses and as someone who can bring constituencies together in the common purpose of quality, affordable public higher education."

"Dr. Hanna has proven himself to be a student-focused leader driven by a passion for public higher education," Chancellor Dan Greenstein said. "The expertise and heart he brings to the university is also present in the work on integration. We are excelling toward the goals of bolstering student success and expanding opportunities at these three campuses thanks in large part to Dr. Hanna's leadership."

According to the university, among Hanna's accomplishments at Bloomsburg are the improvement of student retention by five percent in two years; doubling the Bloomsburg Foundation's endowment growth to $60 million; and establishing the President's Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

"Together, we will continue to strengthen Mansfield University and ensure that high-quality, affordable education has a home in the Northern Tier," Hanna said.
Rome, GA (30161)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
Rome, GA (30161)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
Fast-food behemoth McDonald's has developed a curious DualSense controller covered in a Big Mac and fries livery. Apparently, Sony was unimpressed by the custom PlayStation 5 controller, because it has prevented the controller from being released.

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According to reports, McDonald's Australia had intended to raffle off 50 limited-edition DualSense controllers with a rather strange design. As the image above shows, McDonald's covered the DualSense in images of a Big Mac and fries, along with yellow buttons, a partially red case and a prominently placed McDonald's logo.

Supposedly, McDonald's wanted to give away the controllers during 'Stream Week' to celebrate 50 years of McDonald's Australia, which should have started on Sunday. However, it seemed that McDonald's failed to discuss its custom DualSense with Sony.

In a statement, McDonald's has clarified that it cannot use the DualSense for advertising purposes relating to McDonald's Stream Week. Consequently, these controllers will no longer be raffled off, and McDonald's has postponed its Stream Week event.
The main construction work for the South Shore Lines Double Track project was put out to bid Thursday, a second round of bidding that railroad officials hope will bring the price closer to engineers' initial expectations.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, operator of the South Shore, rejected a first round of bids in May, when the $400 million low bid exceeded the $228 million expectation.

New bids will be due Oct. 1, NICTD President Michael Noland said Thursday.

Specifications for the second round of bidding have been changed to reduce bidders exposure to commodity price volatility and to uncertainty regarding work surrounding the newly implemented Positive Train Control safety system.

Infrastructure purchases and consultant contracts approved by the NICTD Board of Trustees last week are intended to help accomplish those goals. Shifting elements of some rail line improvements to become options are also intended to reduce the core bids, as are operational changes, including more use of passenger busing, to make the construction process more efficient.

Additional federal funding is also aiding project finances.
Ray Scott Crawford, director of Michigan Citys Canterbury Summer Theatres Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, can make a comparison between thrillers such as his current production and the pandemic of the last year-plus.

I hate to make this political, but think about the virus that came from somewhere, he said. Whichever side of the fence youre on, its creating a lot of trouble. And the same thing goes with Jekyll and Hyde and Frankenstein. The idea is if we alter the progress of humanity, were going to get into a lot of trouble and suffer the consequences.

Wrapping up Canterburys 2021 summer season with a trio of shows Thursday to Saturday, Jekyll is the tale of the titular characters, the former an esteemed and mannered doctor who battles with a sinister side of himself, who takes on Mr. Hyde in 19th Century London.

Jekyll was penned by beloved Scottish novelist and poet Robert Louis Stevenson and was published as Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. Hundreds of nationally and internationally renowned adaptations of Stevensons story, on the big screen, small screen, stage and radio, have been produced over the course of the last 135 years.
CROWN POINT  A 25-year-old Chicago man was charged with a pair of felonies Thursday in Lake Criminal Court, two days after he pointed a gun at a womans stomach and stole her vehicle outside a strip mall in Hobart, police said.

Lake County prosecutors charged Jwan Farley with armed robbery and auto theft, both felonies, along with misdemeanor resisting a law enforcement officer. Farleys bond was initially set at a $50,000 surety or $5,000 cash according to online court records.

Hobart police arrested Farley shortly after the carjacking Tuesday morning when they found him face down in a vacant lot filled with overgrown vegetation near the intersection of 47th Avenue and Broadway in Gary. Farley and the stolen vehicle were located using a cellphone app the the owner installed to track her vehicle. When an officer approached the vehicle at the intersection, Farley fled on foot before being located with aerial support from the Lake County Sheriffs Department Aviation Unit.
"They have been asked multiple times that they need to install fire hydrants because there is no fire protection in much of the property," Barber said.

A year later, the fatal fire has had a lasting effect on the small community.

"It really is horrible," Barber said. "Our fire department is a volunteer fire department and they needed counseling after the fire. Knowing they couldn't save the girl because they couldn't get the fire knocked down. And the mother was airlifted. It's very sad. We've been asked why can't they be made to install more hydrants. I wish I could."

In court documents filed Friday in Lake Superior Court, attorneys representing the girl's mother allege that when firefighters arrived that afternoon, they were unable to provide necessary assistance due to the property owner's failure to provide fire protection.

Gwinn was found in a living room after firefighters knocked down the flames, New Chicago Fire Chief Joe Eakins previously told The Times.

The girl's mother, Stephanie Schuitema, was found unconscious in a back bedroom and flown to University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment. The blaze destroyed a total of three mobile homes.
MUGLA, Turkey (AP)  A wildfire that reached the compound of a coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and forced nearby residents to flee in boats and cars was contained on Thursday after raging for some 11 hours, officials and media reports said.

Strong winds drove the fire toward the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province late Wednesday, prompting evacuations from the nearby seaside resort of Oren. Navy vessels were deployed to help ferry away residents, while cars formed long convoys on roads leading away from the area, Haberturk television reported.

Turkey's worst wildfires in decades have raged for nine days amid scorching heat, low humidity and constantly shifting strong winds. The fires have so far killed eight people and countless animals.

In coastal Mugla province, where tourist hot spot Bodrum is located, fires continued to burn in five areas on Thursday, officials said. Fires also raged in five districts of Antalya province, another tourism destination, where two neighborhoods were evacuated on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the situation in Antalya was improving.
For more than a year, Chinese officials have beat back the coronavirus with a tried formula: Strict lockdowns at the sites of outbreaks. Lengthy quarantines for travelers. And citywide testing when new cases appear.

But an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant could challenge Chinas zero-tolerance approach toward new infections.

In the outbreak, centered in the eastern city of Nanjing, about 200 cases have been reported as of Friday. But infections have spread rapidly, with patients emerging in at least six Chinese provinces and the capital, Beijing, in just three weeks.

As officials move to contain the spread, the highly infectious Delta variant could prove to be a more difficult foe than the original version of the virus, which China stamped out with harsh efficiency in 2020. With most of Chinas people already vaccinated, the emergence of Delta could also present a test for the countrys domestically made vaccines and could force the authorities to take even tougher steps to control the virus.
Earlier this year, CNN executives floated an idea to their star anchor Chris Cuomo. If he wanted to formally advise his brother, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, on responding to the sexual harassment accusations that had engulfed his administration, he could take a temporary leave from CNN and return to the network later.

The idea was informal and strictly optional  not a request  and intended as an acknowledgment of Mr. Cuomos unique position as both a prime-time network anchor and the brother of a prominent politician facing a scandal, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

The exchange, which has not been previously reported, underlines the conundrum for a news network whose top-rated anchor belongs to one of the countrys most powerful Democratic families  and the lengths that CNNs president, Jeff Zucker, and his team have gone to accommodate Chris Cuomo, even as the anchor has had to apologize for participating in strategy sessions with Andrew Cuomos aides.

The idea for a possible leave was floated after Chris Cuomos involvement in those sessions was first reported in May. CNN called the anchors actions inappropriate, though Chris Cuomo faced no discipline.
Five weeks ago, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos most stalwart supporters paid $10,000 a head to mingle with him on the 32nd floor of a luxury skyscraper in Rockefeller Center, in the heart of Manhattan.

Even then, as the subject of multiple state and federal investigations, the governor exercised an ineluctable gravitational pull. The fund-raiser at 75 Rockefeller Plaza was teeming with business and political leaders, including the Brooklyn and Staten Island Democratic Party bosses and the head of one of the states largest unions, who made opening remarks.

But that all seems to have changed since Tuesday, when the New York attorney general released a report that concluded that Mr. Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women, violated federal and state law and fostered an office culture of unusual toxicity.

By Wednesday, the two Democratic county chairs at the fund-raiser had demanded Mr. Cuomos resignation. The union leader, George Gresham, has yet to renounce the governor, unlike many of his colleagues, but he was reticent about Mr. Cuomos future  which is about all the governor can hope for from his friends at the greatest moment of political vulnerability in his career.
Since the pandemic upended life last year, workdays for many of us who have been told to avoid the office have been very different. Some of it has been positive, allowing us to spend more time with our loved ones instead of commuting. Sometimes we work from our couch, or take calls from picnic blankets in the park or log into a meeting from our parents house. Other times, remote work can feel isolating, and Zoom fatigue can leave us feeling depleted and unfulfilled.

With more companies delaying their return to the office, working from home will remain a reality for many of us for the foreseeable future. And at least some remote work is likely to become a regular part of our lives, even after the pandemic is behind us.

So a year and a half after many of us began working from home, wed like to check in and hear how its going for you. If youd like to participate, use the form below to tell us your story. We may use your response in Our Changing Lives, a new series in this newsletter about big lifestyle shifts during the pandemic.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration is developing plans to require all foreign travelers to the United States to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, with limited exceptions, according to an administration official with knowledge of the developing policy.

The plan, reported earlier by Reuters, will be part of a new system to be put in place after the current restrictions on travel into the country are lifted, but officials have yet to determine when that might be done.

President Biden has been under pressure for months to ease restrictions on people wishing to travel to the United States, particularly as other countries, including Britain and Canada, relax their measures.

But White House officials have said in recent days that there is no plan to lift current restrictions anytime soon, in light of the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
His stance reflects a tentative but notable shift underway among Republicans as the United States haltingly disengages from what critics call the forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and continues to debate how to battle terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa.

After espousing hawkish, interventionist positions for decades and almost uniformly backing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Republican Party is now grappling with political pressure to align itself more closely with the inward-looking America First foreign policy articulated by Mr. Trump and backed by many conservative voters. It parallels similar foreign policy shifts Republicans have made in recent years to hew closer to Mr. Trumps views, including a move away from their support of free trade and a growing appetite for aggressive federal intervention to bolster American competitiveness against China.

Many Republicans remain opposed to repealing the Iraq-related authorization. And they have shown little enthusiasm for getting rid of the much broader war authorization passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks, which has been used by successive administrations of both parties as the main legal basis for a wide range of military actions.

Still, the shifting politics of the issue have helped to fuel the first significant bipartisan effort in a generation to curb a presidents authority to take military action.

Legislation taking shape in the Senate to repeal both a 1991 authorization for the Persian Gulf War and the 2002 law, an effort blessed by Mr. Biden, is partly symbolic, given that the government says it is not relying on either of them. But it reflects a growing consensus in favor of reasserting Congresss influence over matters of war and peace, driven at least in part by the changing Republican political calculus.
Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the European Unions executive arm, urged U.S. authorities on Wednesday to lift travel restrictions for E.U. residents, arguing that the epidemiological situation was similar on both sides of the Atlantic.

This must not drag on for weeks, Ms. Von der Leyen told the German news organization RND.

But White House officials have said in recent days that there is no plan to lift current restrictions any time soon, in light of the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Given where we are today, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters last week, with the Delta variant, we will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point.

That stance was reiterated on Wednesday evening by White House officials who said that there was no timetable yet for requiring foreign travelers to be inoculated.

The interagency working groups are working to develop a plan for a consistent and safe international travel policy, in order to have a new system ready for when we can reopen travel, the administration official, who was not authorized to publicly detail the plan, wrote in an email. This includes a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States (from all countries) need to be fully vaccinated.
Economists on Wall Street and in Washington will be parsing employment data Friday for any hint at whether workers are prodded back into the labor market as federal unemployment insurance benefits are cut off.

This will be the first jobs report that may reflect an increase in labor supply and hiring from the loss of benefits, because about half of the states had ended a $300-a-week federal supplement by the time of data collection. That money expires at a federal level on Sept. 6, but some states  all but one led by Republicans  began to curtail the federally funded support in mid-June, at the tail end of that months labor market survey.

Fridays report will offer only high-level numbers, figures on industries and data on demographic groups, so analysts may have to wait until state-by-state data are released in mid-August to compare the places that cut off the $300 supplement with those retaining it.

Many businesses have blamed generous unemployment benefits for inducing workers to remain out of work. That is why many states ended the benefit early. The Biden administration has been loath to say the added benefit discouraged work, but is allowing it to lapse. The infrastructure plan being considered by the Senate would be funded in part by unused appropriations for jobless benefits.
The Texas Tribune on Thursday named Sewell Chan, a top editor at The Los Angeles Times, as its new editor in chief.

Mr. Chan, 43, is the editorial page editor at The Los Angeles Times, overseeing its editorial board and opinion section. He will move to Austin, where The Tribune is based, in September and start Oct. 18.

The decision was really one about the potential and opportunity in working at a very different kind of institution in a very different state and, yes, the chance to lead an organization, which I think will be really exciting, Mr. Chan said in an interview.

Four months ago, two of The Tribunes leaders  the editorial director, Stacy-Marie Ishmael, and the chief product officer, Millie Tran  resigned after a year on the job. Their decisions to leave came as a surprise to The Tribunes chief executive, Evan Smith.
If Joe Biden stands for one idea, it is that our system can work. We live in a big, diverse country, but good leaders can bring people together across difference to do big things. In essence Biden is defending liberal democracy and the notion that you cant govern a nation based on the premise that the other half of the country is irredeemably awful.

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is skeptical: The Republican Party has gone authoritarian. Mitch McConnell is obstructionist. Big money pulls the strings. The system is broken. The only way to bring change is to mobilize the Democratic base and push partisan transformation.

If all you knew about politics was what goes on in the media circus, youd have to say the progressives have the better argument. Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene  healthy bipartisan compromise seems completely hopeless with this crew.

But underneath that circus, there has always been another layer of politics  led by people who are not as ratings-driven, but are more governance-driven. So over the past 20 years or so, while the circus has been at full roar, Congress has continued to pass bipartisan legislation: the Every Student Succeeds rewrite of federal K-12 education policy, the Obama budget compromise of 2013, the Trump criminal justice reform law of 2018, the FAST infrastructure act, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, the Trump-era ban on surprise billing in health care. In June the Senate passed, 68 to 32, the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, which would devote roughly $250 billion to scientific projects.
But this is the paradox of the Maldives. Tourism accounts for a quarter of the South Asian nations gross domestic product according to the World Bank, and fuels the Maldives other economic drivers, such as construction (there is always a resort being built) and fisheries (the catch of the day, forever on the menu). To generate the kind of revenue that would help bolster its infrastructure, the Maldives needs foreign investment. We are determined to stay a leading destination, Abdulla Mausoom, the Maldives minister of tourism, said in an interview recently. We are determined to diversify tourism so that we have something for everyone in the Maldives, not only for the super rich.

Mr. Mausoom has come up with a variety of methods to lure tourists back, including offering free Covid-19 vaccines to travelers who have not yet received them. But he said that the plan, announced in April, will not go into effect until all Maldivian residents are fully vaccinated: maybe late third quarter, or early fourth. For anyone who can get vaccinated closer to home, the offer is little more than a publicity stunt, though on a May trip to the Maldives, I met fellow travelers who had crossed borders to get inoculated.

Many others, like me and my husband, were fully vaccinated, eager to get out into the world and bent on seeing a bucket list place that, given rising sea levels, may not be around for much longer. (More than 80 percent of the islands that make up the Maldives are less than one meter above sea level; it has the lowest terrain of any country in the world.)

We came expecting white sand beaches and crystal clear water. We got that  as well as three days of torrential rain and 25-mile-per-hour winds (which, when youre on a strip of land maybe 12 feet wide, feel powerful enough to blow you away). But beyond the natural beauty, what stood out was the culture: the local culture, the Y.O.L.O. culture, the staff who let you in on their inside jokes and the vacation friends who give you their numbers and make you promise to look them up when you touch down in their part of the world. Maybe you can find this kind of exuberance wherever masks are coming off and people are gathering again. But to paraphrase the kids: In the Maldives, it hits different.
The cartoon posted on the far-right discussion forum showed police officers wearing Biden-Harris campaign logos on bulletproof vests and battering down a door with a large syringe. A caption read in part, In Bidens America.

The cartoon appears to be an example of the latest effort in Russian-aligned disinformation: a campaign that taps into skepticism and fears of coronavirus vaccination to not just undermine the effort to immunize people but also try to falsely link the Biden-Harris administration to the idea of forced inoculations. The image was one of several spotted by Graphika, a company tracking disinformation campaigns.

Both Russia and China have worked to promote their own vaccines through messaging that undermines American and European vaccination programs, according to the State Departments Global Engagement Center. But in addition to overt messaging promoting their own vaccines, Moscow has also spread conspiracy theories. Last year, the department began warning about how Russia was using fringe websites to promote doubts around vaccinations.

It is difficult to quantify the amount of disinformation being produced at any time by the Russians or other adversarial powers, government officials and outside experts said. But the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus  and shifting scientific advice on how to defend against a more infectious strain and the need for booster shots or masks  has created an atmosphere for misinformation to more easily spread, experts said.
The change in course means that the military judge, lawyers and other court personnel who will travel to the base for the arraignment of three Southeast Asian prisoners, scheduled for Aug. 30, will not have to arrive a week early, as long as they are vaccinated. The arraignment is the first consequential hearing to be held by the military commissions at the base since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The three prisoners, who have been held in United States custody for 18 years, are scheduled to go before a judge for the first time, on charges that they conspired in two deadly terrorist bombings in Indonesia in 2002 and 2003. They were captured in Thailand in 2003; one of them, an Indonesian man known as Hambali, was once a leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

The arraignment was originally scheduled for Feb. 22, but was postponed because of the pandemic.

The base has already been requiring arriving passengers to show a negative result on a P.C.R. test for the virus performed less than 72 hours before flying to Guantanamo Bay. The new policy requires fully vaccinated people to take what is known as a rapid antigen virus test, and if found to be positive, to be quarantined and retested with a P.C.R. test. Military officials were also considering adding yet another test, to be taken at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C., before boarding a flight to Guantanamo.

The naval base in Cuba, with about 6,000 residents and a small hospital, has so far been able to avoid a major coronavirus outbreak through isolation, testing and quarantines. It disclosed two cases in the spring of 2020 before the Pentagon adopted a policy of not reporting case tallies base by base.

According to base spokesmen, the seven recent cases connected with Guantanamo Bay included three unvaccinated residents who were quarantined on arrival and later tested positive; two vaccinated residents who tested positive within a week of arrival; and two vaccinated foreign journalists who visited the base from July 26 to July 29 and later tested positive.
Before the pandemic upended their work lives, Katie Rapheal and Nick Quesada were rarely at home. The couple were renting a small one-bedroom in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, but Ms. Rapheal spent her work days at the Union Square office of Fur, a body-care company, while Mr. Quesada worked long hours as a chef.

After the coronavirus engulfed the city, things changed. Ms. Rapheal, 27, relocated to a desk in the living room. Mr. Quesada, 28, lost his job, although he never stopped cooking. Instead, he took over their kitchen, working on projects like baking bread and pickling vegetables. At least one neighbor complained that the halls reeked of vinegar.

The couple, who plan to be married next year, craved more space. I realized I wasnt going to be back to an office probably ever, Ms. Rapheal said. They thought they could find a two-bedroom rental for close to what they were already paying, around $2,100 a month, but decided instead to look for a two-bedroom they could buy.

[Are you looking to buy or rent a new home in the New York City metro area? We want to hear from you for a new television series. If interested, contact us at: thehunttv@nytimes.com]

Ms. Rapheal, a Brooklyn native, contacted Claire McFeely, an agent at Compass and the sister of a childhood friend. The couple sought a sunny two-bedroom for less than $500,000 in or near their Sunset Park neighborhood.

We really wanted two completely separate rooms that were good sizes, said Ms. Rapheal, who needed space for her sewing machine and assorted notions and fabric. Mr. Quesada, who is from San Francisco, needed room for his guitar collection, camera gear and cooking equipment, including dozens of Mason jars.

I wasnt too particular about the kitchen, as long as it had enough space for all my stuff, said Mr. Quesada, who now works at Heritage Foods, a meat purveyor.

There were a lot of low buildings in the neighborhood, and the couple were fine with a walk-up. Many also had common courtyards, including the areas Finnish co-ops, built in the early 1900s by Finnish immigrants, who introduced co-op housing to the United States.

But we werent seeing a ton on the market that was interesting and in their price range, Ms. McFeely said.

Among their options:
In what can only be described as the real-life plot of a horror movie script, a homeless man was wrongfully arrested and locked up in a mental hospital for over two years, after being mistaken for a man he had never even met.

Joshua Spriestersbachs nightmare began on a hot day in 2017, while waiting in line for food outside a homeless shelter in Honolulu. When police woke him up, he thought he was being arrested for breaking the citys law against sitting and lying on public sidewalks, but little did he know that things were a lot more serious than that. What Spriestersbach didnt realize was that the police officer had somehow mistaken him for one Thomas Castleberry, who had a warrant out for his arrest for violating probation in a 2006 drug case. The fact that the two didnt even look similar didnt seem to matter to anyone, and instead of simply checking photographs or fingerprints of the two men, the homeless man simply became Castleberry.

Photo: Schluesseldienst/Pixabay

The Hawaii public defenders office did a poor job of depending Joshua Spriestersbach, and despite his repeated protests that he wasnt the man everyone though he was, he was committed to a mental institution and constantly administered psychiatric drugs to keep him sedated. The more he tried to convince people he wasnt this Thomas Castleberry, the more everyone though he was being delusional.

The more Mr. Spriestersbach vocalized his innocence by asserting that he is not Mr. Castleberry, the more he was declared delusional and psychotic by the H.S.H. staff and doctors and heavily medicated, a petition recently drafted by the Hawaii Innocence Project said. It was understandable that Mr. Spriestersbach was in an agitated state when he was being wrongfully incarcerated for Mr. Castleberrys crime and despite his continual denial of being Mr. Castleberry and providing all of his relevant identification and places where he was located during Mr. Castleberrys court appearances, no one would believe him or take any meaningful steps to verify his identity and determine that what Mr. Spriestersbach was telling the truth  he was not Mr. Castleberry.

Unfortunately, no one believed Joshua Spriestersbach, until one psychiatrist finally decided to listen to what he was saying and conduct some simple research. All it took was a few phone calls and a Google search to learn that Joshua Spriestersbach wasnt even on the same island as Thomas Castleberry when the latter was initially arrested. Furthermore, the real Castleberry had already been incarcerated in an Alaska prison since 2016.

The psychiatrist than hired a detective who finally did what was supposed to have been done in the first place  verify fingerprints and photographs to determine the wrong man had been arrested. At this point, Spriestersbach had spent two years and eight months in a mental institution for no reason whatsoever.

Youd think that after such a colossal blunder, Hawaii State Hospital would do anything to redeem itself and make amends. Youd be wrong! After the prints and photographs were verified, officials held a secret meeting and decided to quietly release Spriestersbach with only 50 cents to his name, thinking no one would care about another homeless man released on the streets.

However, after his release, Spriestersbach ended up at a homeless shelter, which, upon hearing his story, contacted his family, specifically his sister, Vedanta Griffith, who had spent nearly 16 years looking for him. Joshua is now living with her in Vermont, and wont leave the 10-acre property for fear that theyre going to take him again.

Part of what they used against him was his own argument: Im not Thomas Castleberry. I didnt commit these crimes.  This isnt me,' Vedanta Griffith told The Associated Press. So they used that as saying he was delusional, as justification for keeping him.

The Hawaii Innocence Project filed court documents detailing Joshua Spriestersbachs case and asking a judge to set the record straight.



This case reminds us of another gross judicial error, where a Mexican man spent over two decades in prison for killing a man who is actually still alive.
Ronn Torossian

Last month, the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection, an independent authority established to regulate data protection and privacy in the European Union, fined Amazon $887 million (746M) for breaching EU data protection laws.

In that decision, the commission claimed that Amazons processing of users personal data didnt comply with the EUs General Data Protection Regulation. Along with the imposed fine, the commission also required Amazon to revise its practice of processing data.

In response to the commissions decision, Amazon stated the claim was without merit and disclosed its own findings during a regulatory filing. According to the statement released by Amazon, there hasnt been any sort of data breach, and all of the customer data that Amazon has collected so far has not been exposed to third parties. Amazon also stated that it plans to appeal the commissions decision.

This decision was the final result of a probe that first began back in 2018, after a French privacy rights group filed a complaint. Now, that group welcomes the commissions decision with caution, with a representative stating that the group should remain vigilant regarding Amazon.

Back in May 2018, the GDPR put forth a set of rules regarding data privacy and production, and ever since, the EU data protection regulators powers have significantly increased. For the very first time, these regulations allow groups and watchdogs to go after brands and corporations and allow for fines of as much as four percent of any businesss annual global sales. Up to this point, the biggest fine came from a French watchdog group that was issued to Google.

In the last few years, Amazon has been drawing plenty of criticism for the vast amounts of data it has collected on a number of partners and customers, including various independent merchants who work with the companys retail marketplace, people who use its Alexa digital assistant and even shoppers who simply browse the Amazon website. According to Amazon, all of this data are collected with the goal of improving customer experience. The company has also set out specific guidelines that define what employees can and cant do with that data. However, plenty of lawmakers and regulators have already raised numerous concerns that the corporation has been using vast troves of data to give itself an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

Specifically, in November of last year, commissioners in the EU announced they believed Amazons non-public data was being misused to help the corporation compete with other markets in Germany and France. Additionally, the European Commission has also stated that there might be potential data privacy issues with the corporations digital assistant as well as with the data that Amazon and others are able to collect regarding user behavior.

In the last few years, an increasing number of companies have faced legal issues due to the latest regulations from the EU. The best way to go about solving this issue is for companies to be transparent with their user base regarding how data is being used. Whenever any complaints that claim otherwise are made by other organizations, companies should work with regulators to show its transparent business operations and data collection protocol in order to protect its reputation.

***

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR Firm.
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The US and China remained the preferred destinations for venture capital (VC) investors globally in Q2 2021, said a study.

According to GlobalData study, the US and China collectively accounted for 66.2% and 61.8% of high-value VC investment deals volume and value during Q2.

"Both nations attracted a significant amount of high-value VC investment deals (worth more than US$100m) both in terms of volume and value during the quarter," revealed the study.

The US accounted for 54.3% and 49.5% of high-value VC investments deal volume and value during Q2, followed by China's corresponding shares which stood at 12% and 12.4%, respectively.

India occupied the third position in terms of high-value VC investment deals volume, followed by Germany, the UK, Canada, France, Singapore, Sweden, and Brazil.

Of the top ten countries by high-value VC investment deals volume, two were headquartered in North America, four in Europe, three in Asia-Pacific and one in the South and Central American region.

Aurojyoti Bose, the Lead Analyst at GlobalData, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted VC investors to look at companies in areas with enhanced relevance. The US has several start-ups working in such areas, with China also eyeing up this space."

"The US outpaced its peers by a great margin, with the country's VC funding activity far ahead compared to other regions. It was the only country to showcase triple-digit high-value VC investment......................

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Opalesque Industry Update - Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC, a specialist investment manager and subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. has completed its acquisition of the business of Diamond Hill's high yield-focused U.S. corporate credit mutual funds following a previously announced agreement with Diamond Hill Capital Management effective July 30, 2021. The acquisition expands Brandywine Global's fixed-income offerings and broadens its expertise in bottom-up fundamental credit research. The High Yield and Corporate Credit funds will continue under current portfolio managers John McClain, CFA and Bill Zox, CFA, along with senior associate Jack Parker, CFA, as they join members of Brandywine Global's global fixed income team. As of June 30, 2021, the Diamond Hill High Yield Fund, which had $1.1 billion in assets under management (AUM), and the Diamond Hill Corporate Credit Fund, which had $2.3 billion in AUM as of the same period, each had an overall 5-star rating, for the High Yield Bond Fund category, by Morningstar for their Class I shares. Morningstar ratings are calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure. The experienced investment team and the two high yield-focused U.S. corporate credit funds complement Brandywine Global's existing value-driven, macro-oriented offerings and expand its suite of global corporate credit strategies. As members of the fixed income team, McClain, Zox and Parker will have the opportunity to leverage Brandywine Global's highly regarded macroeconomic capabilities to bring additional resources to these two funds. Additionally, this integration will introduce exciting opportunities for collaboration and research synergies between Brandywine Global's corporate credit and equity analysis functions. McClain, Zox, and Parker will be further supported by the broader global resources of Franklin Templeton. *** Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC believes in the power of value investing. Since 1986, the Firm has provided a range of differentiated fixed income, equity and alternative solutions to clients worldwide. Brandywine Global, a specialist investment manager of Franklin Resources, Inc., manages $65 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2021, with headquarters in Philadelphia and offices in Singapore and London. Bg

Full press release: Article source - Opalesque is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Risky Business: A Look Inside America's Adult Film Industry examines the social, psychological, and economic impacts of performing in adult films. What makes people decide to become adult entertainers, how do they go about entering the business, what are their experiences in the business, and how do they deal with career options, finances, and relationships once they exit the business? The documentary also examines proposed regulations that would address current 
VILNIUS, Lithuania  August 5, 2021  Ecency, a blockchain-based social network powered by Hive, is celebrating one year in business. One year ago, the company rebranded from its earlier identity and launched its new platform. The social network was created to revolutionize the way people interact, create, build and engage on the internet. Ecency is unique because it brings decentralization to the social media world. Ecency is designed on the 
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 3-week-old wildfire engulfed a tiny Northern California mountain town, leveling most of its historic downtown and leaving blocks of homes in ashes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday amid dangerous weather.

The Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40 mph (64 kph) gusts, raged through the northern Sierra Nevada community of Greenville on Wednesday. A gas station, church, hotel, museum and bar were among the fixtures gutted in the town dating back to California's gold rush era where some wooden buildings were more than 100 years old.

The fire burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families' homes, small businesses, and our childrens schools are completely lost," Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.

Plumas County Sheriff Tom Johns, a lifelong resident of Greenville, said that well over" 100 homes were destroyed, as well as businesses.

My heart is crushed by what has occurred there," he said.

We lost Greenville tonight, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who represents the area, said in an emotional Facebook video. There's just no words.

As the fires north and eastern sides exploded Wednesday, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office issued an urgent warning online to the towns approximately 800 residents: You are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!

A similar warning was issued Thursday as flames pushed toward the southeast in the direction of another tiny mountain community, Taylorsville, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Greenville.

To the northwest, crews were protecting homes in the town of Chester. Residents there were among thousands under evacuation orders or warnings in several counties.

No injuries or deaths were immediately reported.

Margaret Elysia Garcia, an artist and writer who has been in Southern California waiting out the fire, watched video of her Greenville office in flames. It's where she kept every journal shes written in since second grade and a hand edit of a novel on top of her grandfathers roll-top desk.

Were in shock. Its not that we didnt think this could happen to us, she said. At the same time, it took our whole town.

Firefighters had to deal with people reluctant to leave on Wednesday. Their refusals meant that firefighters spent precious time loading people into cars to ferry them out, said Jake Cagle, an incident management operations section chief.

We have firefighters that are getting guns pulled out on them, because people dont want to evacuate, he said.

The blaze that broke out July 14 is the largest burning in California and had blackened over 504 square miles (1,305 square kilometers), an area larger than Los Angeles. The cause was under investigation. But Pacific Gas & Electric has said it may have been sparked when a tree fell on one of its power lines.

The fire was near the town of Paradise, which was largely destroyed in a 2018 wildfire that became the nations deadliest in at least a century and was blamed on PG&E equipment.

Ken Donnell left Greenville on Wednesday, thinking hed be right back after a quick errand a few towns over, but couldn't return as the flames swept through. All he has now are the clothes on his back and his old pickup truck, he said. Hes pretty sure his office and house, with a bag he had prepared for evacuation, is gone.

Donnell remembered helping victims of 2018s devastating Camp Fire, in which about 100 friends lost their homes.

Now I have a thousand friends lose their home in a day, he said.

By Thursday, the Dixie Fire had become the sixth largest in state history, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Four of the state's other five largest fires happened in 2020.

The fire forced Lassen Volcanic National Park to close to visitors.

Dozens of homes had already burned before the flames made a new run Wednesday. The U.S. Forest Service said initial reports show that firefighters saved about a quarter of the structures in Greenville.

We did everything we could, fire spokesman Mitch Matlow said. Sometimes its just not enough.

About 100 miles (160 kilometers) south, officials said between 35 and 40 homes and other buildings burned in the fast-moving River Fire that broke out Wednesday near Colfax, a town of about 2,000. Within hours, it ripped through nearly 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) of dry brush and trees. There was no containment and about 6,000 people were ordered to evacuate in Placer and Nevada counties, Cal Fire said.

In Colfax, Jamie Brown ate breakfast at a downtown restaurant Thursday while waiting to learn if his house was still standing.

He evacuated his property near Rollins Lake a day earlier, when it looked like the whole town was going to burn down. Conditions had calmed a bit and he was hoping for the best.

After firefighters made progress earlier this week, high heat, low humidity and gusty winds erupted Wednesday and were expected to remain a threat.

Winds were expected to change direction multiple times Thursday, putting pressure on firefighters at sections of the fire that havent seen activity in several days, officials said.

The trees, grass and brush were so dry that if an ember lands, youre virtually guaranteed to start a new fire, Matlow said.

Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

About 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of the Dixie Fire, the lightning-sparked McFarland Fire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. There was little containment of the fire after it burned nearly 33 square miles (85 square kilometers) of drought-stricken vegetation.

Risky weather also was expected across Southern California, where heat advisories and warnings were issued for inland valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 wildfires covering 2,919 square miles (7,560 square kilometers) in 13 U.S. states, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Janie Har and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to say the Dixie Fire started on July 14, not July 21.
On Monday, Aug. 2, Cynthia Stephens, the Michigan Court of Claims judge presiding over an ongoing case against various Michigan state entities following the May 2020 flooding resulting from the Edenville and Sanford Dam failures, denied the defenses motion for reconsideration to dismiss the case. The state of Michigan, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE), Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Michigan Department of Attorney General Dana Nessel, Mario Fusco and Luke Trumble are named as defendants in the court order.

Judge Stephens denied the defendants motion for reconsideration stating the defendants have not demonstrated a palpable error by which the Court and the parties have been misled. This is the second attempt by the defendants to throw out the case after the first attempt, filed in May, was also denied.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  The question of whether lawsuits blaming big oil companies for loss of vulnerable Louisiana coastal wetlands will be tried in state courts, as local parish governments want, or in federal courts, as the oil companies want, has been revived by a federal appeals panel.

Thursday's ruling at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was a partial victory for the oil companies and a partial reversal of a decision the same court made a year ago. But a lead attorney for parishes suing the oil companies claimed victory, too, saying the decision effectively means at least 15 of the 42 lawsuits still face state trials  and the remainder could, too, pending more federal court review.

The decision is in our favor, lawyer John Carmouche said.

In August 2020, a panel of three 5th Circuit judges upheld federal district judges' rulings keeping the issue in state court, where coastal parishes' attorneys want them tried. But the oil companies pressed for reconsideration. Arguments were heard in October, and Judge James Ho, author of the 2020 opinion, wrote Thursday that the district courts should take another look.

Thursday's new ruling came in lawsuits filed by Cameron and Plaquemines parishes against oil companies including BP America, Chevron USA, Exxon-Mobil and Shell. But it has implications for all of the more than 40 lawsuits brought by six parishes and New Orleans. The overarching issue in the suits is whether the oil companies can be held responsible for allegedly contributing to decades of coastal erosion and the loss of wetlands.

But the cases, some of which date to 2013, have bogged down in jurisdictional questions. Oil companies want the cases in federal court. Attorneys for the parishes say the disputes are over state regulations. Carmouche has called the effort to have the suits moved to federal court a delaying tactic.

The latest jurisdiction question turns largely on whether a report filed by one of the parishes in the case contained what the oil companies said was new information that might warrant removal to federal court. The report said some of the wells involved in the lawsuits were drilled during World War II while the companies were acting under the authority of a federal wartime agency.

Hos Thursday opinion noted oil company arguments that some of the states drilling regulations conflicted with federal drilling rules in place during the war.

Carmouche, reached by phone Thursday, said more than 15 of the lawsuits don't involve wartime activities and, under previous rulings that still stand, are ripe for trial in state courts. "The operations in those cases all began after World War II," Carmouche said.

He added that the other cases go back to two federal district judges who have already ruled that the cases don't belong in federal court.

A request for comment from a Louisiana oil industry group was not immediately returned Thursday.

The wetlands in question are not only ecologically important to wildlife and fisheries but they also act as a kind of natural hurricane buffer to inland communities, including New Orleans. The companies' dredging of coastal canals, use of earthen pits instead of steel tanks at well heads, and drilling methods are among the issues in the lawsuits.

Oil companies have repeatedly called the suits frivolous, and an attack by money-seeking lawyers on an industry vital to Louisiana's economy.
Michigan State University St. Andrews will host a virtual Family Astronomy Night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, featuring the presentation, "Saturn: Our Most Beautiful Planet."

Did you know that Saturn is the furthest of the planets that we can easily see with our unaided eye? Have you heard that, while Saturn is many times larger and heavier than Earth, it is so light for its size that it would float on water? Are you aware that, while humans have sent nearly 50 missions to Mars, we have sent only four missions to Saturnand only one of those stayed in orbit? What makes travel to Saturn so difficult? How much can we really know about it? And what are the planets and constellations doing in our skies in August? Are you ready for the big meteor shower this month? Participants can join in on Zoom for free to learn more.
Mike Richards, Once Sued for Harassment, Is Reportedly 'Jeopardy' Host Frontrunner

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 5, 2021 |

As many of you have already seen by now, Mike Richards, according to Variety, is in advanced negotiations to take over for Alex Trebek as the new host of Jeopardy!. Richards, a producer on Jeopardy!, was also leading the search for a new replacement, so if he is ultimately selected, it would be something of a Dick Cheney situation (Cheney, recall, led the effort to find George W. Bush a vice president before ultimately choosing himself).

The choice of Richards is frankly an odd one. Richards boasted at the beginning of the process that he would take into account the wishes of fans, and Richards  the second person to take a turn as a guest host (after Ken Jennings)  was hardly a favorite. He is polished, and he does have experience hosting (he hosted Beauty and the Geek and a GSN revival of Pyramid) and more knowledge of game shows (hes worked on them most of his career) but among the fan community, he barely qualified as an also-ran.

The decision is also inscrutable given the other choices, which might have been able to bring another generation of viewers into the fold. LeVar Burton was the clear favorite among fans, although the Reading Rainbow host came under some criticism for a slow start to his week. Mayim Bialik also emerged as a leading contender after a stellar stint as guest host (in fact, it was Mayim Bialik who was trending on Twitter when it was leaked that Richards was in advanced negotiations).

I would not consider myself a frequent viewer, although I have watched the show fairly often in the last year, both to see Trebeks final days, as well as to keep up with the guest hosts. If they were hoping to convert casual viewers into die-hards, the selection of Richards is certainly not the way to go about that. I cant imagine, either, that most of the other candidates (save for Dr. Oz) were polarizing choices that might have alienated long-time viewers. Then again, to give the show the benefit of the doubt while conceding that Twitter is not the real world, there were probably some internal metrics that supported Richards as the new host.

It just seems so  unfair. Why did the series pretend to care about fan feedback if they werent going to listen to it? Alex Trebek was beloved. Why replace him with a Seacrest? It just feels like the least interesting choice among the bunch, Richards extensive game-show resume notwithstanding.

It might be worth noting, too, that Mike Richards  who has worked as a producer on a number of game shows (and is currently the executive producer of both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!  was involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in 2011. As a producer on The Price is Right, one of the shows models (one of Barkers Beauties, a label that I hope to God theyve retired by now) sued two of the shows producers, including Richards. In the suit, Lanisha Cole claimed that Richards stopped speaking to her and communicated only through notes, messages and intermediaries, while also showing favoritism to another model, with whom he was allegedly in a relationship. At some point, another producer on the show, Adam Sandler (no relation), also walked into her dressing room without permission and berated her as she stood in her underwear, according to the suit. The working environment was such that Cole eventually quit what she called her dream job. It is also worth noting, however, that Richards was dismissed from the suit before it was eventually settled (the terms of the settlement agreement, naturally, werent disclosed).

You know who has never been sued by a former employee? Mayim Bialik and LeVar Burton.

For what its worth, there is some idle Twitter speculation that Richards leaked that he was in advanced negotiations himself, or that another producer did so, perhaps in an effort to negotiate a more favorable deal with their top choice. Given the state of America, however, elevating another mediocre white guy into this position sounds about right. Nevertheless, a Jeopardy! spokesperson said that negotiations with a new host are still ongoing.

 It's Episode 100 Of Podjiba! (Also: 'Ted Lasso' And 'Kevin Can F Himself') | Kristen Schaal Was Once Fired from 'South Park,' Which Just Re-Upped for Fourteen (14!) Movies 

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Header Image Source: Getty Images
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 110 illegal migrants of various nationalities, who were heading for European shores in a dinghy, have been rescued by a patrol of Libyan coast guards and port security
Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA)  The Mauritian Minister of Health and Wellness, Kailesh Jaguptal, said that a national action plan on breastfeeding whose objective is to gradually increase the percentage of breastfeeding to 50%, will soon be introduced in the country
MADISON COUNTY, Ill.  A Brooklyn, Illinois, police officer was fatally injured early Wednesday while trying to stop a car fleeing from a nightclub in the Metro East.

The officer who died was identified by his family as Brian Pierce Jr., 24, who has been with Brooklyn force about nine months. Pierce was struck by a car around 3 a.m. while trying to deploy stop sticks on the McKinley Bridge over the Mississippi River to flatten the tires of the car that had fled the nightclub, said Lt. Michael Lewis of the Illinois State Police.

Police are still searching for the driver who hit the officer.

"He was born with a passion to be a police officer," Pierce's mother, Tammy Pierce, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "His favorite thing about police work was just being out in the public and stopping crime."

Pierce formerly worked for about two years with the police agency in Spillertown, Illinois, and was also a lieutenant with the Makanda Fire Department. Until he moved to Carbondale recently, he had been making the 100-mile drive every day from Makanda to Brooklyn to work the night shift, his mother said.

Brooklyn, which is just east of St. Louis, has about 10 officers on the department.

Brooklyn police said the suspect who hit Pierce was driving a red Dodge Charger with temporary Illinois tags and a black front end. The Dodge was last seen heading into Missouri from the McKinley Bridge, which crosses from Illinois into the Near North Riverfront neighborhood of north St. Louis.

After Pierce died, investigators on the bridge fired shots at another car whose driver crashed through a roadblock on the bridge. The driver survived the shooting.

About 3:50 a.m., while Illinois State Police, the Madison County sheriff's office and Brooklyn police were investigating the officer's death on the bridge, a gray Kia Optima sped through a roadblock on the bridge, State Police said. The Kia hit police cars and nearly struck officers, authorities said.

Madison County sheriff's deputies and Brooklyn officers fired shots at the car and struck the driver. The Kia then crashed into two State Police vehicles.

The Kia's driver, who was shot, suffered non-life threatening injuries, police said. The driver and three passengers were arrested.

In addition to his jobs with Brooklyn police and Makanda fire agencies, Brian Pierce also ran a company that installed police floodlights and other equipment for law enforcement agencies, his mother said.

Capt. Antonio White with the Brooklyn Police Department said Brian Pierce was "very energetic, he was always happy, always had a smile on his face."

"He'd come to work early because this is what he loved to do," White added. "He'd have your back 100%."

Robert Cohen and Colter Peterson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this report.

Kim Bell  314-340-8115 @kbellpd on Twitter kbell@post-dispatch.com

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Photo: (Photo : JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP via Getty Images)

A high school principal has spoken out about the treatment he has received from the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (ISD) in Texas, where he served for many years. Dr. James Whitfield, who became the principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in 2020, shared his experiences in a lengthy post on social media.

After he was named the principal of Heritage Middle School in 2019, Whitfield recalled that he got a phone call from the district's superintendent and instantly thought it was to congratulate him for his new role. However, the principal revealed that he was told to take down a few photos on his social media account where he's seen kissing his wife, Kerrie, on the beach.

In an email sent to Whitfield, the school district officials said they received complaints about the "questionable" intimate photos, and they didn't want them to be an "example" for the students. The principal said that the beach photos were taken ten years ago when he and Kerrie celebrated their anniversary in Mexico. Hence the images were romantic and intimate.

Read Also: Family Tragedy Sparks Official Random Acts of Kindness Day in Missouri

When Whitfield informed Kerrie of the school district's email, she became upset and assumed that it wasn't the kiss that bothered the officials but because the photo showed a Black man who had a tattoo on his arm. The pair thought that the school officials frowned upon their interracial relationship, but Whitfield did as told, and the photos were never brought up again.

Vilified in School

Last year, Whitfield achieved another highlight in his career when he became the first African American to be named the high school principal of Colleyville. However, since taking the role, Whitfield said that he was more vilified at the school board and became the target of racial attacks.

He was accused of teaching critical race theory to the high school kids after making one presentation during the school's Education Week. The principal said that the local press cited parents who were upset over the presentation because it seemed to perpetuate the belief that some Americans are inherently racist. However, Whitfield said that he was not the creator of the presentation.

The principal also revealed that he received numerous "racist threats and statements" during the board meetings. At the last meeting on July 26, some board members broached the idea that the principal must be fired. This prompted Whitfield to finally speak up and write his long-winded message on Facebook.

"I cannot ask people to speak up if I am unwilling to do so myself," Whitfield wrote. "Just because I am a school administrator that does not take away my rights and ability to be human and defend myself."

Support from the Community

As of press time, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District has not yet commented on the principal's statement, but they confirmed asking Whitfield to take down the photos. The board denied it had to do with race.

Despite the tension at the school board, some members of the community have launched a petition in support of Whitfield. On Twitter, #IStandWithDrWhitfield has also gained support with some parents speaking about Whitfield as a person who has a beautiful family.

The principal said he's still waiting for a public apology after years of telling himself to be positive and just deal with the situation.

Related Article: U.S. Schools Plan Weekly COVID-19 Testing of Students and Staff Regardless of Vaccination Status
Photo: (Photo : Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Parents across the U.S. are nervous, worried, and facing uncertainties as another school year opens. After a year of virtual or online learning, schools are returning to in-person classes, but there remains a looming risk as the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues its upward trend of claiming victims.

Over the summer, most schools were determined to remain on course and planned for the school's reopening this fall. However, with less than two weeks for classes to start, the Delta variant is rearing its ugly head.

According to Raquel Rios of Alabama, she's not prepared for her child to go back to class. Her daughter's school has provided a few mandates, including mask-wearing for the kids, and the mother believes that it's a good call since virus infection cases are on the rise.

On the other hand, Dad Mark Mack said that he feels they are prepared as a family, and he's more open-minded about things going wrong during the school reopening. The father said that every parent is doing what they feel is right for the kids. The school has also done its part to ensure that the system is straightforward.

"I feel like the school system has done the best they can," the father told Fox News.

Read Also: Highly Transmissible COVID-19 Delta Variant Puts 7 Kids in ICU

No Closures Expected

In San Francisco, Superintendent Vincent Matthews believes that schools will not shut down and will be able to keep its five days a week full-time schedule. At the San Francisco Unified School District, mitigation measures have been in place, such as proper ventilation in the classrooms and mask-wearing for everyone in the school, whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Some schools, however, will continue with virtual classes, especially for those with medical issues. Students who opt to study online will have a supervising teacher, but they will become part of the independent study program.

A parent of the school board's Parent Advisory Council said that her main worry had been triggered by some groups planning to ask the schools to do away with the mask mandate. She said that while she wants the children to have a proper education, including the social and emotional aspects of being inside the classrooms, they still need to lessen the risks of infection.

But a mother with a second-grader returning to school has no worries since San Francisco's vaccination rate is relatively higher compared to the other states. She also believes that children below 12 years old will finally get their vaccination soon.

Risk of Delta Variant in Kids

Dr. Sean O'Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that the U.S. is opening up schools when a more dominant variant impacts the health system. It's understandable for parents and the school community to raise their concerns since cases of the Delta variant infections have jumped in children.

O'Leary believes that the best way to protect the kids is to ramp up the vaccination efforts and convince other people who are eligible to get their jab as well. He also advised the public to be thoughtful of where they go and what they do and consider wearing a mask.

Some experts also said that an outdoor environment is better than indoors, so schools must do as much as possible to have outdoor activities, especially at daycare centers. For areas with a mask mandate, parents must explain to their kids why they should follow the rule.

Related Article: U.S. Schools Plan Weekly COVID-19 Testing of Students and Staff Regardless of Vaccination Status
Mr Alan Kyerematen, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has reiterated that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), will provide a unique platform to guide Africas post-COVID-19 economic recovery effort.



Mr Kyerematen said this in his address at the maiden AfCFTA - Angola Business Investment Forum in Accra.



The event forms part of activities marking the three-day official visit of President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of Angola to Ghana.



The aim of the forum was to further expand bilateral business relations through the promotion of two-way investment and mutually complementary partnerships in the relations between the two countries.



The forum was expected to drive networking for investment opportunities to boost trade and to discuss concrete solutions to attract investment, improve value addition and increase exports between Angola and Ghana.



The Minister said under the framework of AfCFTA, Ghana and Angola had a lot to gain from working together in fields such as agriculture, fisheries, livestock, industry, oil and gas, the petrochemical industry, value addition to their mineral resources, development of energy resources particularly renewable energy and the FinTech industry.



"In this regard, it is worth noting that the AfCFTA Protocol on services covering five priority sectors namely; transport, communication, financial services, tourism, and business services, which have been negotiated as part of the Phase One the AfCFTA Negotiations, had the potential of creating a robust ecosystem for supporting the productive sectors of African countries."



Mr Kyerematen noted that Ghana and Angola were the second and third largest producers of cassava in the world, with Nigeria being the first.



He said Ghana and Angola had enjoyed deep fraternal relations for many decades based on shared values, mutual respect, and a common heritage as Africans.



He noted that these fraternal relations had been strengthened even further with high level official visits between the two countries; saying, "exactly two years ago, the President of Ghana paid an official visit to Angola and this week, we have the privilege of hosting the President of Angola".



He acknowledged the support received from the Government of Angola for Ghanas bid to host the AfCFTA Secretariat.



"It is no longer a matter of international public debate that Africa is rising. Yes, Africa is indeed rising because of the commitment and dedication of a new generation of African leaders who are leading the Africa Renaissance, and this includes President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo and President Goncalves Lourenco," Mr Kyerematen said.



"It is the zeal and determination of our leaders, which has led to the historic decision to establish the AfCFTA, the largest trading bloc outside the World Trade Organization."

Source: GNA









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As part of measures to help address the impact of COVID-19 on the incomes of women in Ghana, government says it is activating a policy to have 20 per cent of procurement awarded to women.



The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed this today, Thursday, July 29, 2021, when he delivered the Mid-Year fiscal policy review of the budget statement and economic policy of the government in Parliament.



Mr Ofori-Atta also said women would also be supported with specific capacity building programmes and will be empowered to leverage the gender-sensitive lending policies to be implemented by DBG.













Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ministry of Information (MOI) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) have launched 'Spark Up'- an investment initiative to promote investments in Ghanas economy, stimulate growth and move the country forward from the COVID-19 induced setback.



The initiative which is an annual investment summit is aimed at reigniting the passion for investment in Ghana and create a platform for investors and investment facilitators to discuss investment challenges and find solutions to them.



Unveiling the initiative in Accra on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said it is about time the country put in measures to take advantage of the numerous investment opportunities.



He said: it is with excitement that the GIPC, the Ministry of Finance supported by the Ministry of Information come together to introduce an annual investment summit of the GIPC which brings together the various stakeholders in the value chain.



Heads of State may have done their part by traveling the world to sell Ghanas investment potential, GIPC may have followed up telling everybody about the various investment opportunities and have attracted them to register $2.7 billion worth of investment with 27,000 direct jobs. Our role now is helping to ensure that these investments are onboarded and that is why Spark-up has been created.







On his part, GIPC boss, Yofi Grant touted the initiative as one of the innovative ways of bringing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country as well as reinvigorate local investment in critical sectors of the economy.



He said the goal of Spark Up is to revive interest in investing in Ghana and to help restore economic growth as we emerge from the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic



The first of Spark Up conferences will be held on 6th September, 2021. It will be opened by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana in an opening ceremony followed by series of investment conferences to market the investment opportunities in the country.



Speakers at the opening ceremony will include the President, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Minister of Information and the Chief Executive of the GIPC, and other high-profile personalities.

Source: Peacefmonline









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Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa is pleading with the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to call off their nationwide strike.



UTAG, on Monday, August 2, has withdrawn all their services in compliance with directives from the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Association.



This action, according to the NEC, has become necessary because the government has refused to heed their calls to improve the aggravating conditions of service of the University teaching staff.



Replying UTAG during a panel discussion on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, the NPP Communications Director and former Adentan MP begged the teachers to be considerate stressing the country is not in normal times.



He noted that the government values UTAG's role in enhancing the progress of the education sector, but embarking on an industrial strike isn't the way to go, particularly during this pandemic season.



He called on UTAG and the Ministry of Education as well as all relevant authorities to hold negotiations geared towards resolving the teachers' plight in order for them to return into their lecture rooms.



"We admit that their role is unique. If the country will progress, it is hinged on education. We beg you, UTAG. You know you're special and we also know your relevance. The nation knows your relevance; so please reconsider your decision . . . They should sit and negotiate with the Ministry of Employment, Ministry of Education and all relevant agencies," he told host Nana Yaw Kesseh.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former Head of Monitoring at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu, has waded into discussions over the industrial strike by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).



UTAG members laid down their working tools and abstained from teaching on Monday, August 2 in protest against what they say is government's refusal to address their worsening conditions of service.



The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Association directed members to stop all teaching-related services until further notice.



According to the President of UTAG, they will intensify their strike action if the government fails to meet their demands.



"We are giving them [government] some time to respond to us or we take another dimension," Professor Charles Marfo, UTAG President, said on NEAT FM.



Specifically, negotiation of our conditions of service which was started some two years ago, had overly been delayed with no end in sight . . .We have no option than to resort to an indefinite strike, he expounded in an interview with Ghana News Agency.



Touching on the issue during Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Charles Owusu called on the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum to go to the negotiation table with the striking teachers to find lasting solutions to their plight.



He reposed confidence in the Minister to resolve what seems to be an impasse between UTAG and the government saying, "I have faith in him. I know he can do it. I believe the way he talks shows he is humble" and can effectively "engage the teachers to return to the classrooms".

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Yaw Buaben Asamoa, NPP Communications Director, has hit back at critics over government's call for monetary contributions towards the establishment of the National Cathedral.



Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed an initiative dubbed 100-cedis-a-month club to be launched on August 12 to enable Ghanaians contribute to the construction of the National Cathedral.



An initiative  the 100-Cedis-a-Month Club, also dubbed 'Ketewa biara nsua'  would be launched by the Trustees of the National Cathedral on 12th August 2021, to give as many Ghanaians as possible the opportunity to be part of the history to build the National Cathedral, he said while presenting the 2021 Mid-Year review Budget Statement and Economic Policy on Thursday, July 29.



But some social media users have registered displeasure with the governments plea for Ghanaians to support the construction of the National Cathedral with GH100 a month.



They have questioned why the government is not instead calling for contributions towards solving pressing issues like poor roads, bad school and hospital infrastructure among others.



Responding to the criticisms, Mr. Buaben Asamoa held that the school and health infractructure together with all the economic challenges confronting the citizenry cannot be done without the grace of God, hence constructing the Cathedral is in order.



He encouraged Ghanaians to join him and others to make the Cathedral possible by contributing their quota because, to him, Ghana's progress is hinged on the divine help that only God can provide.



"You need the grace and the favour . . . So, it spoils nothing to contribute a quota for the establishment of the national cathedral . . . The cathedral will motivate and help us. So long as we have faith, it will be helpful for God to raise His hands on us for our school and hospital projects to smoothly progress," he told host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo'.







Commissioning of the National Cathedral is scheduled to take place on March 6, 2024.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Ghana will from October this year, export Gold with its own embossment and signature.



This follows the ongoing works on the State Gold Refinery by the government through the Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC), a project which is 90 percent complete.



A Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. George Mireku Duker disclosed this to journalists when he inspected the facility at the premises of PMMC in Accra today, 3rd August,2021.



The visit was to, among others, familiarize himself and assess the operations of the company.



The world class Gold Refinery, when completed, will generate enough Revenue for the country, boost investor confidence in Ghanas gold, create jobs and enhance Ghanas reputation as Africas leading Gold producer.



He added that government is committed to transforming PMMC and will work to resolve the many challenges confronting the company especially the legacy debt.



The Acting Managing Director of PMMC, Nana Akwesi Awuah, said the completion of the Gold Refinery would result in increased revenue flow for the company and further put the company in a strong position to undertake other initiatives to drive it forward.



He expressed confidence in the government to turn the fortunes of PMMC

Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









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The Board Chairman of the Ghana Audit Service, Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, has called on auditors general in West Africa to remain independent and conduct their duties religiously to provide assurance of the prudent use of public funds.



He said it was also the role of an auditor general to ensure that auditors in public practice remained independent and worked for the benefit of the citizenry by ensuring that government officials spent public resources responsibly.



You should be able to remain independent because, as auditors, you dont belong to any of the three arms of government. Auditors are supposed to remain independent in their affairs, and that is very important, he said.



Prof. Dua Agyeman made the call at the second meeting of the ECOWAS Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (ECASAI) in Accra yesterday.



The ECASAI is the regional body of all the auditors general of ECOWAS member states, formed in 2019 to provide a platform for deeper cooperation among auditors in the subregion.





Peer guidance



Prof. Dua Agyeman, who is a founder member of the continental body of auditors out of which ECASAI was carved, noted that such associations were necessary because they provided the right fora for peer reviews and collaborations.



Such collaborations, he added, would help build the capacities of all the auditors general in West Africa and boost their confidence to remain independent in the discharge of their duties.



The President of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, who was also addressed the participants, urged members to make a collective commitment and effort at inception to make genuine contributions towards the success and sustenance of the association.



It is important to remind you that an association is only as strong as the individual members, and its success or failure is dependent on the extent to which there is a collective commitment to the pursuit and defence of its interests, he said.



Government support



A Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Thomas Mbomba, assured participants at the meeting of the governments commitment and support to the establishment of the association.



Ghana fully supports the establishment of ECASAI and is pleased with the steps taken by this august body to develop its foundational documents, tools and a work plan to fulfill the vision of promoting good governance in ECOWAS member states.



We understand, from the agenda of this meeting, that these documents will be concluded. We highly encourage you to do so, he said.



Mr Mbomba said Ghana was pleased by the support provided by ECASAI members in seconding staff to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) in Ghana to carry out audits on behalf of the country.



This has contributed to the delivery of the OAG Audit Plan and also the development of the capacities of both OAG and ECASAI staff, while saving the community the cost of maintaining a high number of permanent staff.



We believe that this will improve accountability and transparency in the use of community resources in the implementation of national and regional projects, with the aim of improving the living standards of ECOWAS citizens, he said.



Deeper cooperation



The acting Auditor General, Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic after the meeting, noted that the association, which is represented by all ECOWAS member states, held its first meeting in Accra in May 2019 to, among other things, network and provide assistance for one another for the improvement of good governance.



He said although the association was still young, there were indications that it would be of good service to citizens in the sub-region.



Mr Asiedu explained that the second meeting would focus on reviewing the constitution of the association and how to deepen cooperation among member states and provide technical assistance to support one another.















Source: graphiconline.com









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Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath looks on inside the Ontario Legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto, Ont. on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. The leader of Ontario's New Democrats is taking criticism over her stance opposing mandatory COVID-19 shots for education workers.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jack Boland-Pool
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Thanks to the dedicated work of a local volunteer group, Veteran Tom Marchetti, who suffers from PTSD, held his first fly fish rod during a casting clinic at Coatesville the VAMC.
Former colleagues recall Vic Sullivan's impact at PSU

Thursday, August 5, 2021 9:00 AM

People and Society, Science and Technology, News

Pittsburg, KS

In the 1990s, Victor Vic Sullivan crisscrossed the country with a couple of fellow educators doing reconnaissance on what at the time was a new concept: state-of-the-art technology centers at universities.

Pittsburg State University was building one, and as dean of the College of Technology, Sullivan wanted it to be the best.

On Aug. 1, he died after a 10-year battle with Alzheimers, but the Kansas Technology Center he helped make a reality stands at the corner of Ford and Rouse streets as a lasting testament to his passion and dedication. It is modern, sleek, and stands apart from the typical brick facade of most buildings in higher education. At its core: a courtyard that bears his name.

Since the KTC opened in 1997, the COT has sent tens of thousands of students into the workplace for careers in automotive, architectural manufacturing, construction, engineering, graphics, and more.

Vic was so critical in the growth and development of the university's technology programs. And of course, he was instrumental in creating the vision for what was to become the Kansas Technology Center, said President Steve Scott. His contributions will live on in the students whose lives he touched and in the students of today and tomorrow who call the Kansas Technology Center home.

Many of former colleagues of Sullivan, who retired in 1998 but continued to stay connected to Pittsburg State until his death, also recall his leadership and impact.

I remember seeing blueprints for the new center spread out on his drafting boards in his office that at the time was in Whitesitt Hall, said Robert Frisbee, a former faculty member in the automotive program. Vic played an instrumental role in getting the KTC funded, designed, and built.

Frisbee, who came to PSU in 1993, is now the dean of the College of Technology and strives to be like Sullivan.

He was so personable, so approachable, he said. He was just always the kind of person who made you feel welcome.

Sullivan grew up in Wichita, the city of flight, and became enamored with planes in his youth. Years later, he and his wife, Mary-Kate, built a lightweight Vari-Eze in their living room.

He also designed and built the home that he settled his family in in Pittsburg when he came to teach what was called industrial arts at Pittsburg State in 1962. In 1985, he was promoted to Interim dean of what was then called the School of Technology and Applied Science, followed by a promotion soon after to dean by then-President Donald Wilson.

It was a time of tremendous growth.

Dr. Sullivans expertise and commitment to Pittsburg State are valuable assets in this critical position, Wilson said at a ceremony announcing the promotion. We chose the right person to meet the challenge.

Former President Tom Bryant called Sullivan instrumental in providing the leadership towards the development of the Kansas Technology Center.

He was an excellent professor who always put his students first and foremost, and he loved Pitt State and his colleagues, he said.

Longtime faculty member Jim Otter, who now directs the School of Construction in the College of Technology, described Sullivan as passionate about technology education at all levels.

John Iley, now a special assistant in the College of Technology, was once Sullivans student and was impacted deeply by him.

He hired me to teach at Pitt State 37 years ago, Iley said, but its my time as his student that impacted me most. I was 1,200 miles away from home and he was an adopted father to me. When my sister, a Pitt State junior, was tragically killed in an automobile accident, he took care of everything  schedule, tuition details, everything  so that I could start summer school in July. He and Mary Kate hosted my family when they came to pick up my sisters things later that month. He was more than just a teacher and administrator to me  he was a good friend, and he will be missed.

Sullivan is survived by wife, their son Mark of Houston, their daughter Olive of Pittsburg, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Aug. 17 at 2 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church.
COLUMBIA  Two weeks before classes resume, the city of Columbia plans to require masks in many schools after declaring a state of emergency  a move that will likely trigger legal challenges from state leaders.

Mayor Steve Benjamin made the announcement Aug. 4 that will cover 43 public and private elementary and middle schools in the wake of rising COVID case numbers. The mandate includes staff, faculty and visitors at those schools but does not cover high schools.

"We are again at a significant challenging point of the rise of a Delta variant that has not only imperiled public health with a much more contagious version of the COVID-19 virus, but we've watched it rage through our community, a tenfold increase in infections just in the past month," Benjamin said at a news conference Aug. 4.

The city fire marshals would enforce the new mandate during the 61-day emergency declaration, Benjamin said. Families face $100 fines for violations.

Schools would be fined for teachers and staff who violate the mandate that is expected to win city council approval at a special meeting Aug. 5.

Columbia is the first local government in South Carolina to move ahead with plans for a mask mandate covering schools, though some cities and counties, including Charleston County, are requiring face coverings in publicly run buildings.

Columbia plans to issue the mandate at schools despite state lawmakers banning masks requirements in classrooms as part of a budget amendment this year. Benjamin, one of the state's top Democrats, said he is willing to defend the city's new rule to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Attorney General Alan Wilson's office, which got the University of South Carolina to back down from an indoor mask requirement this week, is waiting to see what the Columbia City Council passes, spokesman Robert Kittle said.

"The city has not passed anything yet and we dont know what the final wording will be, so at this point theres no way to know whether its legal," Kittle said.

Gov. Henry McMaster, who like Wilson is a Republican, has favored allowing South Carolinians to make their own decisions in taking precautions against the virus that has killed close to 10,000 residents here since March 2020.

"This is another attempt to force children to wear masks in schools without a bit of consideration for a parents right to make that decision." McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said. "State law prohibits mask mandates in public schools and the citys ordinance would require teachers and administrators to violate state law."

Benjamin told reporters, "The governor has expressed his opinion; that is not state law."

Legislators inside the GOP-dominated Statehouse could try to pass a law when they meet in September to prevent local governments from imposing COVID restrictions like the one Columbia is expected to pass.

Benjamin said requiring masks would slow another wave of infections that endangers the economy, just now returning to normal after the worst of the pandemic.

"For those who disagree (with the mask mandate), I respect their ability and right to disagree. We're going to continue to move forward to save lives and save livelihoods," the mayor said.

Children under 12 have not received federal clearance to receive the COVID vaccines.

Leadership at the Richland One School District, which oversees the bulk of the schools covered in the proposed mandate, backed Columbia's planned restrictions.

"I know that the state mandate is one thing and now the city (is getting) a law; we have to choose the one that's for children," Richland One board chairman Aaron Bishop said after the city's announcement. "This is all about preserving our tomorrow. We are trusting that the leadership of the city of Columbia and the leadership of Richland One find out how to navigate this moving forward."

Richland County, along with neighboring Lexington and Kershaw counties, has posted some of the state's highest per-capita rates of new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
Summerville, SC (29483)

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Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
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While the city of Columbia is pushing forward with a mask mandate for students and staff of primary schools, similar rules aren't yet coming to Lowcountry communities.

In Charleston, Mayor John Tecklenburg is still discussing the matter with leaders around the region and medical experts, a spokesman said. In nearby Mount Pleasant, the state's fourth-largest municipality, past discussions on Town Council have included uncertainty on whether the town even has the authority to mandate behavior in schools, Mayor Will Haynie said.

The hesitance is a testament to the complex logic that underpins Columbia's emergency order, first announced by Mayor Steve Benjamin on Aug. 4 and affirmed by City Council the next day.

A state budget proviso  or a special condition attached to South Carolina's spending package for the year  bans K-12 school districts from using state or federal money to enforce or create a mask order. Benjamin is attempting to skirt the proviso by creating the order at the city level, using Columbia's fire marshal to enforce it in elementary and middle schools and day care centers. He said in a news conference he was willing to fight the issue up to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

But that's left leaders elsewhere scrambling for their own interpretations of state law and whether they should pursue a similar move. Haynie said he's received several messages asking Mount Pleasant to do the same thing, but he was still consulting with legal counsel to determine if it was even possible.

There's the question of whether the town can control school facilities at all. Then, there are more practical concerns, he said. The idea of bringing back mask rules is something "I don't think is a political reality in Mount Pleasant right now," he said.

In Charleston, "the mayor is reaching out to regional leaders and medical professionals to discuss this issue today," spokesman Jack O'Toole wrote in a statement. "In the meantime, he continues to urge all citizens to follow CDC guidelines, and all eligible residents to get vaccinated without delay."

Tecklenburg wrote in an Aug. 5 commentary piece in The Post and Courier that as many people as possible should get a coronavirus vaccination to protect not only themselves but the community at large.

Ryan Johnson, a spokesman for the city of North Charleston, the state's third-largest municipality, said the city has "no purview over schools" but would continue to keep an eye on coronavirus data.

Andy Pruitt, a spokesman for Charleston County School District, said the system "does not have an opinion" on whether towns and cities could enforce masking rules in school facilities.

Masking in schools has become a hot topic in South Carolina and elsewhere, in part because there is no approved coronavirus vaccine for people under age 12. Children may be less prone to severe disease, but can still catch and pass along the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that "unvaccinated family members, including children 2 years and older, should wear a mask in all indoor public settings."

The more-infectious Delta variant of the virus is pushing case counts higher in the Palmetto State and much of the United States just as the beginning of the school year is approaching.

In Charleston County, the school year begins in less than two weeks, on Aug. 18.
SUMMERVILLE  Dorchester County recorded the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in South Carolina, according to data collected from the state health department.

Between July 20 and Aug. 2, Dorchester averaged around 730 new COVID cases per 100,000 people. In neighboring Berkeley and Charleston counties, the rates were less than 500. Of the three counties, Dorchester has the smallest population.

Over the last week, Dorchester has swapped the top ranking position with Kershaw County. As of Aug. 4, Kershaw's COVID incidence rate was a little more than 670, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Mario Formisano, the deputy administrator of public safety for Dorchester County, said the rise in the county's COVID cases is concerning.

"It serves as a reminder that COVID-19 is still very much within our communities," he said.

On Sept. 8, 2020, Dorchester County Council voted to allow its mask mandate to expire. Officials opted to instead recommend mask wearing where social distancing isn't possible.

Between September of last year and this August, many municipalities in South Carolina and across the U.S. have followed suit by swapping mask mandates with recommendations.

This increase also comes after the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, an item many health officials point to as a top priority for communities. In Dorchester County, Formisano said, community members should still be pursuing COVID mitigation strategies like getting vaccinated and frequent hand washing.

"We also support the recommendations from the CDC and DHEC to continue wearing face coverings indoors, regardless of your vaccination status," Formisano said.

In the tri-county area, Dorchester has the second highest rate of vaccine completions at more than 4,600 per 10,000 residents. Charleston County has the highest with nearly 6,000, according to DHEC. And in Berkeley County, it's around 4,500.

Dr. Scott Curry, an epidemiologist with the Medical University of South Carolina, said it is still possible to catch COVID even with the vaccine. However, a vaccinated person is less likely to be hospitalized.

There is an almost zero chance that a vaccinated person will die from the virus, Curry said. This is especially true if their immune system isn't weakened.

"If you feel sick, get tested at a reputable lab with a PCR test," he said.

But as COVID numbers rise across the state, Curry said residents should gear up for an even larger spread of the virus.

"Your hospitals are going to buckle up for a very rough September and October when schools start," he said.

Dorchester District 2 schools will reopen on Aug 16. In accordance with state guidelines, DD2 officials said they will not require students or staff members to wear face coverings.

Air purifiers, plexiglass and social distancing where possible are some of the strategies the district plans to incorporate to limit COVID concerns.

"The health and safety of students and staff continues to be a priority in all decisions made," said Pat Raynor, a DD2 spokeswoman.

Though Dorchester County has the highest incidence rate in the state, it still has the lowest number of confirmed COVID cases in the tri-county area.

In a February study by the University of South Carolina, experts examined COVID activity in rural and urban spaces. Contact tracing was one of the theories highlighted as to why rural counties like Dorchester have higher incidence rates but lower case numbers.

In the study, researchers said the heavy reliance on private clinics, like CVS, could potentially make it more difficult to ensure adequate COVID testing and contact tracing to curb virus transmission.

This means more residents will likely be exposed to someone who had the virus and not know that they should get tested.

On Aug. 4, DHEC recorded fewer than 700 confirmed cases in Dorchester, nearly 1,300 in Charleston and more than 900 in Berkeley.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.
We sacrificed. We logged less than 3,000 miles on our car in one year doing only necessary driving.

We didnt spend holidays with our extended family.

We didnt go out to eat. We didnt gather in groups. We didnt travel.

We wore masks everywhere.

We washed our hands and cleaned everything down with anti-microbial products.

And when the vaccines became available, we were up all hours trying to sign up to get one.

Was this the same type of sacrifice endured by our parents and grandparents, the aptly named Greatest Generation? Hardly.

And yet, after having done all this for 17 months, were now regressing and have returned to masking and limited interactions with those outside our home.

Do we love doing it? Of course not. Is it necessary until enough of us are protected by either vaccine or contagion? Yes.

Have you done your civic duty? What have you sacrificed for the good of your health, your familys well-being and the safety of your community?

What will it take to get you to make the sacrifice of getting vaccinated? The death of your spouse, child or other relative? Weeks in the hospital and medical bills you may not be able to pay?

If you can look at yourself in the mirror and say that you have done all you possibly can to protect yourself and others, bless you.

If not, you might consider doing so now.

LOIS HESSBERG

Deer Run

Johns Island

Work on SC issues

Why do Gov. Henry McMaster and Attorney General Alan Wilson feel compelled to chime in on issues in other states?

Are there not enough issues in South Carolina that need work? Or is it just easier to tag along with other states?

PAUL FLAHERTY

Atlantic Avenue

Sullivans Island

Violence beyond guns

The efforts of our city leaders, representatives and community activists to address the problem of violence and crime sweeping our nation is appreciated, particularly, the work of state Reps. Wendell Gilliard and Marvin Pendarvis.

As Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds stated at a recent town hall meeting on gun violence, there is a violence problem in our nation, state and Lowcountry.

Yet, the very framing of violence as gun violence has consequences, major flaws and drawbacks.

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First, it eradicates the ownership of violence, and second it frames the discussion on violence as a problem to be addressed on every level but a personal one.

Human choice, morality, ethics, responsibility and even evil are not acknowledged or adequately addressed.

Gun violence cements and solidifies our understanding of crime as solely a gun problem, dismissing the spiritual and emotional brokenness that leads one to pull the trigger.

Dont say their name is our new battle cry.

This is not a problem of gun violence any more than knife, car, poison or body violence. The violence has deep roots of hatred, rage, anger, cruelty, vengeance or greed.

But that is too deep and complicated to address. Yet it is the only course of action that can truly heal us, not only in this moment but for eternity.

JACKIE MORFESIS

Gilmore Road

Charleston

Thanks to firefighters

Earlier this summer, a severe fire started in the garage attached to our house.

We called 911, and in about 10 minutes, the fire engines from St. Johns Fire Station 4 on Kiawah Island arrived, fought the fire and saved our house.

The firefighters were at our house for about four hours working tirelessly in a difficult situation under the direction of Lt. John Edmunds.

We cannot give enough praise and thanks to these firefighters.

Kiawah residents are fortunate to have such a brave and accomplished service.

BAILEY SCHELL

TINA SCHELL

Conifer Lane

Kiawah Island

A click and a miss

Most charitable organizations print a website to contact for donations.

What they dont realize is that older people such as I do not own or know how to operate a computer.

We can, however, write a check or give a credit card number.

Please give us an address or a phone number so we can give.

JIM PRICE

Sam Rittenberg Boulevard

Charleston
John Edward Kuykendall, newly appointed dean of College of Humanities & Social Sciences at Charleston Southern University, has been with the university for nearly two decades.
ROCK HILL  Another South Carolina public figure has tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving a vaccination.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, released a message on Twitter on Aug. 5 confirming the diagnosis.

"After experiencing minor symptoms this morning, I sought a COVID-19 test and was just informed the test results were positive," he wrote. "Thankfully, I have been fully vaccinated and my symptoms remain mild."

He added, "To every extent possible, I will continue my work virtually while in quarantine for the next 10 days."

Norman joins U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Medal of Honor recipient James Livingston of Mount Pleasant, who both confirmed this week to having the virus even after getting a vaccination.

Instances where vaccinated individuals test positive are referred to as "breakthrough" cases.

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Prior to the diagnosis, Norman was one of three House Republicans, along with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who are suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after being fined $500 for not wearing masks on the House floor, The Hill reported.

The lawmakers contend the fines are unconstitutional and want a judge to bar them from being imposed.

Norman's Twitter account also shows he has chimed in on COVID-19 related politics recently.

"Mr. President, want to help stop the spread of COVID? Stop letting hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants cross our border monthly," he wrote in one post aimed at President Joe Biden.

In another he said, "Dems are weak on crime all across America. But dont worry, if my fully vaccinated staff is caught mask-less, thats an arrestable offence in the Dem-controlled House."

Norman represents the state's 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Sumter to Rock Hill.
Attorney Edwin H. Caldies letter stated recently that the creditors are not asking to be compensated for the full value of the Archdioceses Read more
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A northern long-eared bat is fed mealworms at the Pennsylvania Bat Rescue in Longswamp Township in 2016. This is a federally threatened species of bat targeted by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for preservation by changes to firewood harvesting in state forests this year.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday stressed the need for youth to be actively engaged in agricultural business to enhance jobs creation, poverty alleviation and the desired national development.

Mr Obasanjo made the assertion in Iseyin, Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, at the Oke-Ogun Agriculture Youths Summit.

Though, we are not maximising the potential in agriculture, with effective leadership, proper sensitisation, peace and security, much action and favourable government policies, we can move to a better and greater level.

For us to attain a better place in agricbusiness, all hands must be on deck.

Individuals, governments, corporate organisations, entrepreneurs and others must collaborate to ensure we do it rightly, the former president said.

Mr Obasanjo said he initiated the Ikere Gorge Dam, Ogun Osun River Basin, and the Badagry to Sokoto Expressway, to open up roads and opportunities that would enhance agriculture.

The Ikere Gorge Dam is a major earth-fill dam in Iseyin Local Government area of Oyo State in the South-West on Ogun River.

Its reservoir capacity is 690 million m3. The dam was initiated by the military regime of Mr Obasanjo and started in 1983 by the administration of former President Shehu Shagari.

Mr Obasanjo said that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State had promised to revamp the Ikere Gorge Dam.

The former president, while commending the organisers of the summit, promised to support the youth association with 500 hectares of farmland.

Also, a former Minister of Agriculture, Bamidele Dada, said that youth should form a strong collaboration and alliances with both local and international agencies for more support.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Niji Farms, Adeniji Kolawole, who spoke extensively on agriculture business, said Oke-Ogun was endowed with human and natural resources.

Mr Kolawole, however, expressed regret that such has not been fully maximised.

He offered to assist youths through training, as off takers of their products and facilitating financial loans through banks to reduce their interest.

Also, Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, decried the urban-rural migration and the level of importation of what should be produced at local level.

The business aspect of agriculture should be explored to its fullest, so as to create wealth, food security, regional development and a sense of fulfilment from choosing agriculture as a profession, he said.

Earlier, Bola Olalere, Coordinator of Oke-Ogun Youths Association, explained that the motive behind the summit was to enlighten and encourage younger generations on importance of agriculture business and the need to tap from its immense benefits.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oke-Ogun area of the state comprises 10 local government areas.

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The zone is generally regarded as the food basket of the state as farming is the main occupation of people of the area.

(NAN)
Global food commodity prices fell in July for the second consecutive month led by cereals, vegetable oil and dairy, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has said.

Details of this were highlighted in the FAO Food Price Index report released on Thursday. The index tracks the International prices of the most commonly traded food commodities.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 123.0 points in July 2021, down 1.2 per cent from June but still 31.0 per cent higher than its level in the same period last year.

The drop in July reflected declines in prices of cereals, dairy products and vegetable oils which more than offset increases in meat and sugar quotations for the second consecutive month, it said.

The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 125.5 points in July, down 3.0 per cent from June but still 29.6 per cent above its July 2020 value.

International maize prices fell by 6.0 per cent month-on-month on better yields than earlier projected in Argentina and improved production prospects in the United States of America.

It said, prices of other coarse grains such as barley and sorghum also dropped significantly reflecting weaker import demand.

However, prices received some support from continued crop condition concerns in Brazil, where threshing progressed well behind last years pace and high domestic prices encouraged farmers to direct sales to domestic markets.

Barley and sorghum export prices also fell in July, by 6.4 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively, mostly reflecting weaker import demand, the report said.

By contrast, wheat quotations edged upwards in July, rising by 1.8 per cent to their highest level since mid-2014, driven by continued concerns over crop conditions in North America where persistent dryness hindered yields of durum wheat in Canada and spring wheat in the United States of America.

International rice prices accelerated their decline in July to hit two-year lows, as new crop arrivals and currency movements compounded the slow pace of sales caused by high freight costs and logistical hurdles.

According to the report, the FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 116.5 points in July, down 2.8 per cent from June, declining for the second consecutive month, following 12 months of continuous increases.

However, the index remained 14.5 per cent above the corresponding month last year.

In July, international quotations for all dairy products represented in the index fell with skim milk powder registering the biggest drop followed by butter, whole milk powder and cheese, principally reflecting reduced import demand for spot supplies.

Slower market activity in the Northern hemisphere due to the ongoing summer holidays, coupled with expectations for rising export availability in the period ahead especially from Oceania, also weighed on international dairy price quotations, it said.

In the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 155.4 points in July, shedding 1.4 per cent and declining for a second consecutive month to a five-month low.

The contraction mainly reflected lower prices for soy, rape and sunflower seed oils, more than offsetting rising palm oil values.

International palm oil quotations rebounded moderately in July, underpinned by lower-than-expected output in major producing countries amid migrant labour shortage issues, primarily in Malaysia.

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By contrast, prices for soy oil weakened in July, largely pressured by the lower biodiesel blending mandate in Argentina.

Meanwhile, international prices for rape and sunflower oils also contracted, reflecting, respectively, subdued global import demand and prospective record supplies for the 2021/22 season, the report said.

The report said the FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 109.6 points in July, up 1.7 per cent from June, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase and the highest level since March 2017.

The rise in international sugar price quotations was mostly related to uncertainties over the impact of recent frosts on crop yields in Brazil, the worlds largest sugar exporter, already negatively affected by prolonged dry weather conditions.

Firmer crude oil prices, which tend to prompt producers in Brazil to divert more sugarcane crushing to ethanol production, lent additional support to world sugar price quotations.

Larger monthly price increases were, however, prevented by good production prospects in India and a weakening of the Brazilian Real against the US dollar, it said.

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According to the report, the FAO Meat Price Index averaged 110.3 points in July, up marginally from June, putting the index 19.6 per cent above the corresponding month last year.

In July, quotations for poultry meat rose the most underpinned by increased imports by East Asia amidst limited production expansions in some producer regions while those of ovine meat increased on high import purchases and seasonally declining supplies from Oceania.

Bovine meat prices also strengthened, reflecting the tightening of global markets due to lower supplies from major producing regions and continued high imports, especially by China.

Meanwhile, pig meat prices fell following a decline in imports by China, notwithstanding limited supplies from Germany due to the spread of African swine fever in some pig farms, it said.
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Forbes magazine has named the popular music star, Robyn Fenty, aka Rihanna, the worlds richest female musician.

Rihanna, the magazine said, has reached a billionaire status with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.

Her latest milestone makes her the wealthiest female musician in the world and the second wealthiest female entertainer, behind Oprah Winfrey.

Most of her fortune, estimated on Wednesday by Forbes, does not come from chart-topping singles, but from the success of her cosmetics empire.

Rihanna, 33, launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 with a dream to create a cosmetics company that made women everywhere [feel] included.

In its first year, the company of which she owns 50 per cent stocks achieved sales of $550m, far more than other celebrity-endorsed makeup ranges.

Forbes magazine estimates that the company is now worth a conservative $2.8bn.

Rihannas stake in the company, combined with a 30% stake in the lingerie line Savage X Fenty and money generated during her 16-year career as a recording artist, take her fortune to $1.7bn, according to Forbes.

In February, the lingerie company raised $115 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation, the American magazine reported.

Similarly, the demand for the makeup company has remained fairly steady even as the pandemic sent shockwaves through the retail market.

A 2020 annual report from LVMH revealed decreased revenue as a result of the pandemic, but Forbes reported the company as saying it showed good resilience and a significant improvement in trends in all its activities compared to the first nine months of 2020.
Grace Bent, a former Nigerian senator, has threatened a lawsuit against Precious Chikwendu, the estranged wife of a former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, over alleged defamation.

Ms Chikwendu, who has been locked in a child custody battle with Mr Fani-Kayode following their separation in August 2020, recently alleged a threat to her life by Ms Bent.

She also claimed Mrs Bent is running errands for her ex-husband to deny her custody of her children.

Ms Chikwendu, an ex-beauty queen, went public on social media and said the ex-senator verbally threatened to deal with her using the police and the SSS on July 29.

Given the antecedents of her collaborator-in-chief, there is no iota of doubt that they are indeed trying to use law enforcement agents to accomplish their dastardly and nefarious agenda against me!, she said

Mrs Bent, who is a close friend and longtime political associate of Mr Fani-Kayode, has debunked the allegations, describing it as a very weighty one that carries assassination tendencies and intendment.

Grace Bent

In the statement signed by her spokesperson, Timothy Williams, the ex-lawmaker said she swiftly reported the matter to the police for investigation.

Mrs Bent described the claims by Ms Chikwendu that she and Mr Fani-Kayode plan to jointly and abusively activate the machinery of enforcement agencies against her as false.

A part of the statement read: As a civil and law-abiding citizen of Nigeria, the distinguished senator immediately reported the matter to the police, and investigation is ongoing.

For the records, a swift report had to be made to the relevant enforcement agency, because the publication alleged that the distinguished senator was after the life of Precious Chikwendu.

This is a very weighty allegation of assassination tendencies and intendment. The publication also alleged that Senator Grace Bent was out to pervert the course of justice by making efforts at muscling Ms. Precious Chikwendu to abandon her child custody suit.

The ex-senator also added that she has consulted with her lawyers and wont hesitate to seek redress in law and equity for what she termed the wrongs meted against her.

Mrs Bent, whose daughter, Jackie B, is a housemate in the ongoing BBNaija reality show, also said she will not hesitate to seek appropriate redress against the wrongs meted against her, both in law and equity.

Friends and family are encouraged to be at peace, and avoid insalubrious comments, which may interfere with the ongoing investigation, and other civil actions which may be initiated, at the time appropriate, she said.

Police invitation

Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation against Ms Chikwendu over an alleged malicious post credited to her against Mrs Bent on social media.

Ms Chikwendu shared a copy of the police invitation signed by Dayo Ariyo, a deputy commissioner of police on behalf of the Inspector General of Police dated August 2, 2021.

The letter stated that the former beauty queen will be interviewed by Funmilayo Eguaoje , a deputy superintendent of police, on Wednesday at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

In the post, the mother-of-four accused her ex-husband and Mrs Bent of using the police as a show of power.

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So these two, think they would use the police that is meant for all of us to intimidate me? Jokers. Mr. Fani-Kayode and Grace Bent, you would tell me what this show of power is all about if not for my kids, she wrote.

If you had any shame you would sit with my lawyers and straighten issues. Its a shame we got to this bridge.

Custody battle

At a recent hearing at an Abuja court, Ms Chikwendu said her estranged husband lacked the capacity to cater for their children.

She said she is worried that Mr Fani-Kayode entrusts their four sons in the care of nannies and his girlfriends.

She alleged that with Mr Fani-Kayode was always travelling away from home, the oldest among the children has stopped going to school, while the younger triplets have yet to start schooling.

Born in 1989, Ms Chikwendu, who is fondly referred to as Snow White, is a model, actress, and former beauty queen.

She represented Nigeria at the Miss United Nations World Beauty pageant in 2014.
Ibrahim Katsina is the Special Adviser to Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, on security matters. The former director at the State Security Service (SSS) has been coordinating the fight against insecurity in the banditry-prone state since 2019.

In this interview, he tells PREMIUM TIMES why the state government decided to involve traditional rulers in its campaign against insecurity.

Excerpts:

PT: The security situation in Katsina is dire as in most states in the North-west region of Nigeria. What is the state government doing to reverse the situation?

Mr Katsina: Well, the general security situation in Katsina is improving gradually because we are on top of the situation and we are also understanding the dynamics of the threats and we have been doing the needful through community networking and synergy. The attacks have also reduced drastically and we are happy for that. What we need now is cooperation from the public to understand us and volunteer information on informants (of bandits) because without such cooperation, there is no way you can achieve what you set to achieve. But generally, the level of understanding we are getting from the people is impressive and I am sure we will succeed.

God has been on our side and the results are out there for all to see. We are winning against the bandits. Despite the fact that the issue is multifaceted, I can assure you that we have been recording success. We are not there yet but we shall win. The most important thing in issues like this is to find out what the problem is and we have found out what the problem is and we have made plans and measures are being taken.

PT: What exactly have you found out about the problem and what measures have the state government taken to address the situation?

Mr Katsina: You get results through community networking. The challenges we are facing are locally-oriented that started from the rural areas. For these crimes, we need local content solution and that is why I said our synergy with the members of the public in local areas and security agencies has been yielding positive results. If you aggregate the quantum of the threat perspective in Katsina and compare it to other states in the Northwest region, you will definitely give us a pass mark because the measures we have put in place are helping us to overcome the challenges. What we are doing so far has been paying positively.

PT: Is what you are dong enough in terms of impact?

Mr Katsina: No. I know that we need a permanent solution. As I stated elsewhere, we need to find solutions that are long-lasting. During Mr Presidents last visit, he ordered the governors in the region to bring an end to banditry and I am telling you they have started tapping from what we have done; that is community networking.

Even neighbouring states are copying our strategies because of how effective they are. I am sure you know the effectiveness of our three-tier committee. We have also included people we know have knowledge of social issues and insecurity. People like Mamman Dan Musa, Dr. Bashir Kurfi and others have been co-opted as part of our efforts to study the issue holistically.

PT: Tell us about that community networking and why you think it is effective.

Mr Katsina: Thank you. We have enacted a law on three tiers security arrangement which is giving an impetus to security management. That law, through involvement of traditional rulers, is the best solution to security challenges, not only in Katsina or the north but the whole country. When you go to countries like UK and others, they still respect their traditional institutions. In England, the Queen is still very strong and influential. So, why not in Nigeria?

We are changing the dynamic of security management by domesticating it and making it responsive. This arrangement involves everyone and not necessarily only the traditional rulers. But we want them to be fully involved because they are the next to the people, especially in the rural areas. We believe that by engaging the traditional institutions, we are reviving their role, especially in identifying threats to avert problem. Our traditional rulers used to be vibrant but the local government reforms of 1976 took away their role which we decided to give back to them.

PT: Do you think that will solve the problem?

Mr Katsina: This is part of many plans to bring an end to the menace. When something occurs in a community, we expect the immediate traditional ruler to know and also be able to unravel the nature of the crime and who can commit such crime because we believe most of these bandits are not from somewhere else; theyre people known in the society.

We are gradually co-opting the traditional rulers into our calculations. And I also want to remind people to know that you cannot make change overnight. We will gradually reach our destination. If we can cooperate with this arrangement, I am sure that everything will be history. You know all these issues are due to hostilities between groups and people. When someone does something to you and you feel he has cheated you and the immediate traditional ruler in your community has the power to sit you two down and deliver judgment on the issue, why would there be hostility?

PT: Despite assurances that you are on top of the situation, how was it possible for bandits to abduct over hundred of people at a time, like the Kankara students and worshippers in Jibia, and hide them from the community, government and security officials without trace?

Mr Katsina: Most of the kidnappers are Fulanis; they know the terrain more than the security agents. This is an asymmetric warfare; the enemy has its own identified target and they assimilate with the community, identify with the people of the community and undertake attacks. That was why I said earlier that this is a local issue and local leaders need to be involved. These bandits are local people disturbing their own community, a father being kidnapped by his son and so on. How do you solve this issue without understanding the dynamics of the conflict?

But thanks be to God now that we have identified that such things happen because of the knowledge of the bandits as regards the forest, hence our decision to involve the traditional rulers and other local stakeholders to help in containing the menace. And I am proud to say that Katsina State Government is doing what has not been in existence since after the arrival of colonial masters. By involving traditional rulers in the activities of their domains, we are saying that people who know the terrain, who know the area very well should be involved.

PT: Governor Masari and some of his officials were seen in public meetings with some of these bandits. What sort of engagement is the state government having with bandits?

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Mr Katsina: That was before and I was not the security adviser then. But to be fair and honest to them, the state government then thought dialogue or to use your word, engagement, was the only way out of it. In every conflict, dialogue is an option. Governor Masari is a person of integrity and he is very humane. He went to sit with the bandits, hoping that it would solve the problem. But when he realised the bandits were not sincere, he stopped all engagements with them. Masari has done his best and he wanted to find a lasting solution.

Dialogue is not bad. Look at how sophisticated the U.S is but it has to sit and dialogue with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

PT: Is dialogue still an option?

Mr Katsina: We were betrayed by the bandits and I know the governor has made it clear that he would not be in dialogue with them again. But we are finding other solutions. The issue is complicated and they (bandits) have contacts with many people who inform them of plans to attack them.

PT: Kaduna State Governor Nasir El Rufai said he does not believe in negotiating with bandits and kidnappers. He believes that other North-west governors should engage the bandits with force alone

Mr Katsina: (cuts in) Katsina is Katsina, Kaduna is Kaduna. I have no authority and I cant speak for Kaduna. But I know that the decision the governor took was based on his conviction that Kaduna can fight insecurity without discussing with bandits. As far as I am concerned, the issue of Kaduna State is based on the understanding of the dynamics of the challenges facing them.

PT: But the security challenges are the same

Mr Katsina: Yes. But different approach. I challenge anybody, including you journalists, to do a comparative analysis on which state in the Northwest is doing better in fighting insurgency than Katsina.

We have passed the stage of dialogue too. This three-tier committee arrangement is our new approach to the issue so it is not all about dialogue. Our plans have gone beyond dialogue. Dialogue is an archaic, old fashioned aspect of fighting banditry. What we are doing now is to address the reasons for banditry and not to sit and discuss with bandits.

PT: Do democratic institutions like chairmen and councillors have roles in the three-tier committee?

Mr. Katsina: Yes. The chairmen and councillors in the local areas are a part of the committee. The law has given them roles because they too are part of the community. They are all members of our ward councils. You know we have ward council, village council and district council. Chairmen and councillors are definitely part of it and they know the role we gave them.

This committee will help security agents to relax and do their real duty of augmenting the efforts of the community. We are doing domestic approach.

PT: What is the position of Katsina State on state police?

Mr Katsina: We have an action committee on state policing. When you do proper community policing, you dont need state police. The agitations for state police is because of the absence of effective community policing. The whole essence of policing is to build trust and confidence and you can have it with an effective community policing.

PT: Has your office done any other thing apart from the three-tier security committee?

Mr Katsina: Yes. I have also inaugurated a special committee to fight drug abuse and trafficking. It comprises influential people and security agents and traditional rulers. We meet regularly to discuss issues, especially on how to tackle the circulation of hard drugs in the state. We have made headway on it too because it helps in making sure that the drugs dont reach bandits and other criminals. We all know that drugs help them in becoming bold and heartless.

PT: Lets talk about gun trading especially with Katsina being a border state. Have you done anything to tackle gun trading in the state, like reaching out to Niger Republic to have a common approach?

Mr Katsina: I am sure you have heard of ECOWAS Protocol. I will give you an example. When we launched this committee in MaiAdua Local Government Area, a traditional ruler told us that there was a fugitive running from the law from Niger Republic who had built a sachet water factory in the area. Because of our committee, he was unearthed and taken back to Niger. I gave you this simple example that with the ECOWAS Protocol, we will not have problem of cross-border crimes. So, I assure you that no one can commit crime or engage in gun-running from Niger and find it easy here because the immediate traditional ruler in the area would be involved and investigation would be made as to who exactly the person is.

In situations where we have cases like that of gun-running, we have ways of reaching out to the country through the appropriate security means. The recent killing of a notorious bandit who kidnapped an old woman in Daura and took her to Jigawa State was achieved through this arrangement. There are several successes made by the security agents in the state.

PT: What is your call to the people, especially those in the frontline local government areas?

Mr Katsina: I want them to understand the situation, to understand the efforts we are making as a government and to understand the efforts and sacrifices the security agents are making. We need their understanding and cooperation because without community partnership and cooperation, the war against banditry will never end. I am insisting on this because without them volunteering information on bandits, we will keep going in the same circle. I keep repeating this but it is worth it. Our security issue is locally based. So, no matter what we do or intend to do, we must have synergy with those at the local level. They know some of the actors, they live together in the local areas. For example, with this three-tier system, we expect them to work with us and point out those helping the bandits.

What we need is community cooperation because the informants are within the communities, they are part of the communities and some people of the communities are helping them. When we expose the informants, we suffocate the problem and wipe it out completely.
Residents of Kano and Jigawa states have blamed lack of access to potable water and poor sanitation for the cholera outbreak reported to have caused at least 295 deaths between March and July in the two North-western states.

About 195 persons died from the disease in Kano, while over 100 persons lost their lives in neighbouring Jigawa in less than one month, officials said.

The Permanent Secretary of Jigawa State Ministry of Health, Salisu Muazu, told reporters Wednesday that over 5,000 suspected cases of the disease were reported in the state within the four months.

Kano States epidemiologist, Bashir Lawan, also said as of Wednesday, about 5,555 suspected cases had been recorded from March.

Residents narrate ordeals

Hassan Galadima said he lost two relatives to the outbreak, including his elder brothers wife, Aisha Muhammad. He said the 35-year old would have survived if the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in their hometown of Zareku in Miga Local Government Area of Jigawa State was functional and had drugs.

We took her to the facility on July 29 but they asked us to go home after first aid was given to her. But her condition deteriorated overnight and we returned her to the facility the following day. But she was not admitted due to lack of drugs to treat her at the centre, Mr Galadima said.

He said they had to take the patient to Jahun General Hospital in the neighbouring local government area, about 20 kilometres away. Still, she gave up the ghost there, leaving behind a four-month-old toddler and four other children.

Mr Galadima said the following day, his younger sister, Adama Galadima, 16, also died from the disease.

She died at home because we could not take her to the primary healthcare centre as we knew that there were no drugs there.

He said four other family members infected with the disease were, however, responding to treatment at the centre, following supply of drugs to the facility.

Mr Galadima blamed the cholera outbreak on unclean water in the area and the deaths on the poor response by health workers.

He said many people in the community source water from damaged pipes, despite warnings by health officials of the danger in consuming the water.

As of Tuesday, Mr Galadima was still at the Zareku primary healthcare centre, taking care of some of his infected relatives. He said the community recorded the fatalities before the arrival of drugs at the centre.

The village head, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said five persons died on Friday in the village, but the figure had risen to eight by Tuesday.

Abubakar Idris from Kurna area of Kano metropolis said he took his 41-year-old wife to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Kano after she vomitted throughout the night.

Our area does not have access to potable water. We rely on water vendors, but we dont know the source of the water they sell to us. The poor drainage system in our area is also responsible for our poor hygiene.

But we are happy that health officials received us well at the hospital and provided us medication free of charge. My wife is due for discharge, Mr Idris told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.

Rahila Salisu from Kawaji in Nasarawa LGA in Kano said her six-year old son, Muhammad Sani, survived the disease after prompt care at a health facility.

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After a downpour, I noticed him vomiting. When I gave him first aid, it stopped, but a day after, it started again, and he fell unconscious. When we arrived at the hospital, I thought he had died when he fainted. But Allah made it possible for the doctors to bring him back to life.

As you can see now, he is okay following the treatment in the hospital. Everything given to us here, even feeding, is free. I am very grateful, Mrs Salisu said. The little boy was discharged from the hospital on Friday.

Adamu Ahmad from Goron Dutse in Kano metropolis said he found himself in the hospital after eating a cabbage served to him by his wife.

I used to discourage the consumption of such vegetables due to poor hygiene and shortage of water in our area, but I eventually became a victim, Mr Ahmad said.

I was brought to the hospital on Wednesday unconscious. Someone here told me they had lost hope on me but thank God I am okay after treatment in the hospital, and I am due for discharge now.

Measures in place to contain the outbreak in Kano  Official

The Kano State epidemiologist, Bashir Muhammad, said the outbreak was first recorded on March 5 in one local government area before it escalated to 41 out of the 44 council areas in the state.

The state government has been doing the needful in emergency preparedness to handle the cases. The activities range from active case search both in the community and health facilities and contact tracing of relatives of the infected individuals, the official said.

The official, a medical doctor, said that recorded cases had dropped to only four local government areas. He said the high number of cases recorded was due to the rainy season and the Sallah festivities.

The state government has provided the gadgets and equipment the ministry needs and activities are going on at the community level like the treatment of the contaminated wells across the LGAs.

The state ministry has also reached out to over 9,925 households, enlightening them about the preventive measures, the official, who is also the incident manager said.

Measures in tackling the outbreak in Jigawa

Mr Muazu said because 90 per cent of the deaths in Jigawa occurred at homes, it is difficult for health officials to ascertain the numbers of fatalities.

The residents attitude of not patronising health facilities until the case is severe, caused the high rate of fatalities, Mr Muazu said on Wednesday.

The state government with support from UNICEF, Doctor without Borders and World Health Organisation are up and doing in response to the outbreak, he said.

Mr Muazu said with the support of the partners, the state has trained communities surveillance personnel across the state on how to identify cholera cases in their localities.

Also, there are radio jingles sensitising the residents on the preventive measures. The facilities are available and the drugs and consumables have been decentralised across the three senatorial zones for easy access and distribution, the permanent secretary said.
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At least 24 Chadian soldiers were killed on the night of August 4 to 5 during an attack by Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad region, several Chadian media reported Thursday, citing local sources.

The attack on a Chadian army position in Tchoukoutalia, Lac province, was confirmed by the army spokesperson, Azem Bermandoa Agouna, who was contacted by Xinhua.

The counter-offensive is underway, the army spokesperson said.

Lac province is regularly the target of attacks by Boko Haram. The last attack took place on April 27.

On August 14, 2019, a female suicide bomber killed six people after blowing herself up in western Chad.

The attack was attributed to Boko Haram jihadists.

Six people died, including a soldier, in the attack in Kaiga-Kindjiria district, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kaiga-Kindjiria lies in Lac province, which abuts the vast Lake Chad  a region shared by Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria a decade ago that has since spilled over into neighbouring countries.

It has carried out at least 10 cross-border attacks in Chad since 2018, mainly targeting army positions.

In March, 23 troops were killed when their forward position on the north-eastern side of the lake came under attack.

In June, 11 soldiers were killed and six were wounded in clashes at Tchoukoutalia, according to the authorities, who said 26 jihadists were killed.

Boko Harams campaign has left some 27,000 people dead and displaced around two million in Nigeria alone, according to some estimates.

In 2015, the four Lake Chad countries, together with Benin, set up a combined force to fight Boko Haram with the help of local groups of armed citizens.

(Xinhua/NAN)
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It was a rendition of eulogies as authors, poets and others converged Saturday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to celebrate Wole Soyinka at 87.

Mr Soyinka is a professor of Comparative Literature and the 1986 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. He turned 87 on July 13.

The event, tagged Kongi @87, was a special reading session organised by a literary club, Uyo Book Club, to celebrate the 87th birthday of the literary icon and Nobel laureate. It was attended by people across all disciplines.

Delivering the lecture Having fun with Wole Soyinka, the guest lecturer, Patrick Ebewo, shared his experiences on Mr Soyinkas literary exploits and described the Nobel laureate as a special human being who believes in justice as the first condition of humanity.

Soyinka established a tradition of voicing out against miscarriage of justice. His lone voice can be likened to a tiny David fighting the giant Goliath of the continent and he is highly regarded as a fighter of the peoples freedom, said Mr Ebewo, a professor of Dramatic Arts.

Mr Ebewo, who is the Vice Chancellor of Top Faith University, dissected the literary works of the Nigerian playwright: The Interpreters, The Man Died, The Trials of Brother Jero, Chronicles, Death and The Kings Horseman and others.

Mr Ebewo, whose doctoral dissertation was on Mr Soyinka, described him as the great enigma of our time whose essence cannot be written in one book.

Mr Ebewo was joined by Effiong John, a professor of Theatre Arts University of Uyo; Ekong Sampson, a lawyer and poet; Martins Akpan, an author and scientist; and Udeme Nnanna, a communication scholar and author. The event was aired live on zoom.

For Mr Sampson, Writers are prophets as captured in The Man Died. He stressed that a writer must live for something as Mr Soyinka is known for his contributions to knowledge, activism and strong advocacy for access to justice.

The man has remained standing even at 87 and tirelessly challenges our sensibilities on human rights and justice. As the country is facing challenges on many fronts ranging from insecurity, weak economy, secessionist agitations, his life challenges us for a saner society.

Mr Sampson entertained the guests with his new poem, My pen is pregnant which was introduced to the public for the first time.

On his part, Mr Akpan, an author and poet, described Mr Soyinka as a man that masters the joints of literature. He said there is still a lot in Mr Soyinka that is yet to be exploited.

In his contribution, Iboro Otongaran said Mr Soyinkas writing is a treasure of language use, a pulsating depository of culture and all that is fun in the English language. For those who love forensic challenges  Soyinka is a good company, especially his plays and poetry. Perhaps Soyinka is Nigerias best known brand.

For a country that has so little to celebrate lately, Soyinka is therefore worth all the drums and cymbals that can be rolled out for him at any time and more so at his birthday anniversary.

There was also a cutting of a cake that had an inscription WS Kongi @87 where WS stands for Wole Soyinka.

Earlier in his welcome remark, Udeme Nnanna, founder of Uyo Book Club, described Mr Soyinka as his role model since he was a teenager.

Mr Nnanna, a Mass Communication lecturer, said Mr Soyinka is a man whose spirit of activism cannot be bought.
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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a new project that seeks to reduce child and maternal mortality by increasing host countrys commitment to provide quality health care.

The four-year, $3 million Momentum Country and Global Leadership in Nigeria (MCGL) is to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in Sokoto and Ebonyi states.

GBV is a health and social concern with far-reaching consequences affecting mostly women and girls.

At the launch ceremony, held in Abuja, attended by the Nigeria Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who was represented by Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq and Minister for Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, the U.S. Charge dAffaires, Kathleen FitzGibbon, said the new activity will assist the benefitting communities to transform discriminatory and social norms and mitigate the impacts of violence against women and girls.

This new activity from USAID will strengthen GBV response mechanisms, help communities transform discriminatory gender and social norms that continue to subordinate women and make them vulnerable, and uphold and defend womens health and human rights.

It will increase womens voice and agency and reduce their vulnerability to gender-based violence. Ms FitzGibbon said in her keynote address at the launch which was posted on the agencyswebsite.

Ms FitzGibbon said the MCGL is already working in the two states to engage communities, elected and traditional leaders, and a growing coalition of stakeholders to explore social norms that drive GBV.

She explained that the agencys partner, Jphiego, will lead a growing consortium of Nigerian organisations to implement the activity in the two states due to their statistically high rates of GBV incidence and the presence of other USAID activities working to improve health outcomes.

In her response the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Mrs Farouq pledged the commitment of her ministry to ensure the success of the new activity.

We are committed to working together for a safer society for women, girls and the vulnerable, Mrs Farouq said. No time is more appropriate than now to adopt a policy of zero tolerance for gender-based violence in Nigeria.
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Two persons were feared dead as suspected armed robbers on Thursday attacked two generation banks in Iree, Boripe Local Government Area of Osun.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the robbers arrived at the two banks, in the same location at 3:50 p.m. and operated for about 30 minutes.

A witness, who spoke to NAN on the condition of anonymity, said two persons were killed during the robbery, while an unspecified amount was carted away.

According to the witness, a police officer attached to one of the banks was killed.

It was also learnt that the robbers shot sporadically into the air and engaged the police in a gun duel before they fled the scene and escaped through Iree-Ada Road.

Confirming the incident, the Spokesperson, Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said she could not yet ascertain the number of casualties.

Ms Opalola said police officers deployed to the area were already after the fleeing suspected armed robbers.

She said the suspected armed robbers abandoned their operation vehicles at the scene, adding that full details would be provided on the incident later.

(NAN)
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A group, Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to order the arrest of Kemi Adeosun, a former Nigerian finance minister.

The plaintiff prayed the court to compel the State Security Service (SSS), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), to arrest Mrs Adeosun for forgery of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

PREMIUM TIMES had, in an exclusive, reported how Mrs Adeosun tendered a forged NYSC discharge certificate at her appointment as minister in 2015.

Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Mrs Adeosun had skipped the youth service mandatory for under-30 Nigerian graduates. However, she came up with an NYSC certificate purported to have exempted her from the exercise.

PREMIUM TIMES uncovered the forgery scandal in a July 2018 report, which triggered a probe by a panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Although the probe report was never made public, it led to Mrs Adeosuns resignation from office on September 14, 2018.

In her resignation letter made public in a statement, Mrs Adeosun admitted that the NYSC certificate was forged, but claimed she was not aware it was counterfeit until the PREMIUM TIMES report.

However, a recent judgment she obtained from the Federal High Court in Abuja, ruled that she did not need to have participated in the youth service.

Mrs Adeosun claimed to have been vindicated, even though the verdict did not decide on the unchallenged evidence of certificate forgery against her.

New suit

In its new suit calling for Mrs Adeosuns arrest and prosecution, the trustees of Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) sued the Director-General of SSS, Yusuf Bichi; the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Alkali, and the ex-minister as defendants.

The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/732/2021 was filed on behalf of the plaintiff by its lawyer, Esther Iorhuna.

The plaintiff, through the suit, sought among others, an injunction restraining Mrs Adeosun from travelling out of the country to take refuge in another country.

It also sought a declaration that the DG of SSS and the IGP are under legal duty to arrest and prosecute Mrs Kemi Adeosun, for fraudulently using a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Exemption Certificate and intentionally giving false evidence before Ogun State House of Assembly.

It also sought a declaration that the action of the SSS and the police constitute negligence of duty by refusing, failing and or neglecting to arrest and prosecute Mrs Adeosun, who is sued as 3rd defendant in the suit.

It also prayed for, An order of mandamus compelling the 1st and 2nd defendants to perform their legal duties under Sections 1, 2 (3) and 8 of the National Security Agencies Act, 1 and 86 read together with Instrument No. 1 of 1999 as well as section 4 of the Police Act, 2020 by forthwith arresting and prosecuting Mrs Kemi Adeosun.
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed insinuations that he was fuelling the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Abubakar, who was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 election, was among the party leaders allegedly pushing for the resignation of Uche Secondus as the partys national chairman over incompetence.

The leadership crisis in the main opposition party deepened on Tuesday with the resignation of its seven national officials from their positions.

Also, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Joy Emordi, on Wednesday, dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Abubakar said rather than fuelling the crisis, he had ensured unity among the leaders of the party.

He explained that he was lately involved in reconciliation efforts within the party across the country and had backed reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party.

He called for calm and for combatants to sheathe their swords and give the reconciliation mechanisms of the party a chance

The former vice president said the main opposition party could not afford internal division at the time Nigerians need a reliable alternative to the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration come 2023.

The PDP is greater than our individual ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first before we talk about our ambitions. We have to be careful not to play into the hands of the ruling party. We cant afford a one-party system in Nigeria that denies our people a viable alternative for true change in 2023.

Those who want Nigerians to continue with the current hardship in the land will be eager to fuel the crisis in the PDP for their political advantage, the former vice president said in a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, on Thursday.

Mr Abubakar noted his role in ongoing reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party.

His stance was disclosed the day the partys BoT members met at its national headquarters in Abuja to assess the cause of defections of governors and other party members in recent time.

Read the full statement below:

PRESS RELEASE

PDP: Atiku calls for calm, urges reconciliation process be given a chance

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has called on PDP leaders to unite for the sake of the partys interest and the country.

Reacting to the current frictions in the PDP, Atiku said the party cannot afford to be divided at this critical point in time when Nigerians are desperately yearning for change in the face of their miserable living conditions.

According to Atiku, an opposition that is looked up to as an alternative cannot afford to be fighting itself and lend its hands to the ruling party for its own destruction.

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He urged the partys faithful to understand that the price of having a fragmented PDP is too high to pay, but above all, a betrayal to the memories of the founding fathers of the party.

The former Vice President dismissed insinuations that he was fuelling the crisis in the party.

He explained that he was lately involved in reconciliation efforts within the party across the country and has backed reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party. He called for calm and for combatants to sheath their swords and give the reconciliation mechanisms of the party a chance.

He noted that the interest of the PDP far supersedes that of any individual, insisting that the party will overcome its current travails for as long as all hands are on deck.

READ ALSO: PDP names Saraki reconciliation committee chairman

The PDP is greater than our individual ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first before we talk about our ambitions. We have to be careful not to play into the hands of the ruling party. We cant afford a one-party system in Nigeria that denies our people a viable alternative for true change in 2023, the former Vice President said.

The former PDP presidential candidate warned that lack of unity and internal cohesion could help the ruling party more than the PDP, and that those who want Nigerians to continue with the current hardship in the land will be eager to fuel the crisis in the PDP for their political advantage.

He added that PDP leaders should put personal differences aside and work for the good of the party, adding that divided soldiers cannot fight a war and win.

To ensure that the PDP does not repeat the mistakes of the past, Atiku Abubakar said that all contending issues in the party must be resolved through constitutional means.

Signed:

Paul Ibe

Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar

Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007

Abuja.

5th August, 2021.
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) is to set up a committee to resolve the internal leadership crisis rocking the party.

Former Senate President, David Mark, while briefing journalists on the outcome of the boards meeting held on Thursday in Abuja, described the meeting as cordial and fruitful.

Mr Mark said the board resolved to set up a committee comprising governors, members of the BoT, National Assembly caucus of PDP, the National Working Committee, former governors and former ministers to look into the matter.

He said the committee was needed not just to resolve issues related to recent resignation of seven deputy national officers of the party, but to make PDP more united.

He also denied the rumour that Governor Nyesom Wike of River was summoned to the meeting, saying the governor was a member of the board and he attended as a member.

Asked if the current NWC of the party would be allowed to complete its tenure, the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the committee members would meet between 48 to 72 hours for way forward.

Mr Saraki advised against making point out of who attended the meeting for the first time, saying as a member, I was attending for the first time in a long time.

We all came together to addresses some issues and because of the urgency of the matter, we agreed to set up this committee urgently.

Within the next 48 hours to 72 hours the committee will meet and at the end of the meeting, the country will see the direction the party is going.

The commitment of everybody to attend this meeting and subject themselves to the decision of the meeting shows the interest of everybody.

The presence of all of us here is because this meeting of today is important in addressing some of those issues.

My message to Nigerians is that we know the importance of this party to this nation in addressing the challenges ahead of us.

So, let us come together as a party and salvage this country, Mr Saraki said.

(NAN)
The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) has appealed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) members and supporters at all levels to remain resolute and continue to support initiatives of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

Governorships Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State and Chairman of the forum, which is an umbrella organisation of governors elected on APC platform, made the appeal in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

He applauded the Supreme Court for affirming the legality of the Buni-led Partys CECPC which had been in the media of late.

Mr Bagudu said that the Supreme Court ruling had put to an end the negative interpretations on the legality of the APC CECPC.

On Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the Supreme Court pronounced its split decision on the appeal and counter appeals before it, in the judgement of Ondo Gubernatorial election petition.

With the written judgment to be delivered afterwards, the Court released the written judgment on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.

Prior to the release of the written judgment, a lot of analysis and interpretations had been made, with some clearly mischievous, he said.

Mr Bagudu added that the early release of the written judgment had availed the public of the judgment of the court, which settled issues conclusively.

He thanked the Supreme Court for the judgment, saying it was a landmark judgment which had dealt conclusively with the legality of the APC CECPC, its composition and all its decisions.

He explained that the Supreme Court upheld the finding of the Court of Appeal, that the CECPC was set up to act on behalf of the APC National Executive Committee.

He noted that the CECPC was to temporarily carry out the function of the partys dissolved National Working Committee, (NWC) until new members were democratically elected.

The Supreme Court upheld further the ruling of the Court of Appeal that it is evident that the said Gov. Buni was appointed only in an acting capacity, on a temporary basis.

He is to temporarily carry out and fill in the seat of the national chairman of the party pending the election of new members.

The court has correctly ruled that in line with section 13.3 of the APC Constitution, the CECPC was constituted by the National Executive Council of the APC to act as the National Working Committee (NWC).

This ruling is consistent with the legal advice available to APC in creating the committee and we commend the partys legal team for the proper and lawful guidance, Mr Bagudu said.

He noted that Mr Buni was appointed in acting capacity, on a temporary basis.

He congratulated Nigerians and APC members and supporters across the country on the court judgment.

He said reports of the partys 31 July, Ward Congresses from all parts of the country demonstrated once more the commitment of its leaders and members at all levels to the process of rebuilding the APC.

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According to him, the congresses were highly successful.

(NAN)
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) met on Thursday to resolve the leadership and other internal crises rocking the party.

The BoT Chairman, Walid Jibrin, in his remarks at the meeting held at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, said that it became necessary to tackle numerous problems requiring the attention of the highest advisory body and conscience of the party.

He said now was the right time for PDP to put its house in order to enable it prepare for its upcoming elective convention for the election of its national leaders, as well as prepare for the 2023 general elections.

In order to achieve complete success, we must do away with personal interest and unnecessary in-house fighting, capable of killing the objectives set by the party.

He said the board must look critically at the party approved organs, advising all to wake up by functioning very well, in order to fulfil the dreams of PDPs forefathers.

In the light of the foregoing, it is very important therefore, that the BoT being the conscience of the party, must today come up with necessary strategy for election of our national leadership, based on free and fair election that will produce credible and competent officers of our party, he said.

Mr Jibrin noted that the BoT was always ready to listen to any group, committee, or individual with good intentions for the party, aimed at promoting peace and unity in PDP and Nigeria.

He urged the BoT to put their collective interest ahead any personal interests, in making sure that PDP new leaders emerged only through free and fair election at the national convention.

There is also need to take a firm stand to drastically reduce suits by aggrieved members, by following procedures enshrined in the PDP constitution, before referring any matter to court.

Anyone that takes the party to court should be seriously disciplined, he said.

Mr Jibrin, a former senator, stressed the need to look at why many past PDP national chairmen, Audu Ogbeh, Okwesilieze Nwodo, Bamanga Tukur, Ahmed Muazu and Ali Modu Sheriff, did not complete their tenures successfully.

We must sit with the national chairman and the NWC, to come out with decisions that will make our party strongest.

While truth is bitter, we must cope with the bitterness by taking serious actions to handle this situation, he added.

Mr Jibrin also disclosed that he had completed all arrangements with the PDP Governors Forum, the National Assembly Caucus and Forum of State Chairmen, for effective consultation on the way forward for the party.

In his remarks, the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, said the meeting was critical, not only for members of the NWC, but the entire PDP.

Mr Secondus said it was time for the party to brace up and come out very strong and even stronger.

I believe that in every human endeavour where there are issues, the issues must be tabled, discussed and solutions proffered. Those solutions will make our party strong, Secondus said.

Briefing the BoT on the state of the party, including the pending congress in nine states, Mr Secondus said the reconciliation committee had done great work in Plateau and Niger.

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He said for the remaining states, forms were being sold to those who wanted to contest.

Mr Secondus said that after the state congresses, PDP was looking forward to a smooth and peaceful convention coming up in December, adding that the office of the national organising secretary was already preparing.

Soon, the schedule of events, timetable and others shall be presented before the caucus, BoT, NEC and all organs of our party for action, leading to the convention, he said.

On the seven deputy members of principal working committee of the party that resigned, he said the NWC met them on the day they tendered their letters.

We also met with them on Wednesday. We quickly deployed the internal conflict resolution mechanism so that the issues are not escalated to the point that our party will be greatly damaged.

You are aware that the national youth leader took a stand that is outside the conduct of our normal process of settling grievances.

We believe that issues of this nature must be handled quickly and swiftly, so that we can get back to the business of conducting free and fair conventions for a smooth transition, he said.

Mr Secondus said that anything contrary to the smooth running of the party in the remaining three months would not be good for the PDP.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting had Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers, PDP National Secretary, Umar Tsauri, Deputy National Chairman, North, Suleiman Nazif and immediate past president of the senate, Bukola Saraki, in attendance.

Others included former senate presidents, David Mark and Adolphus Wabara; former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi, former Niger governor, Babangida Aliyu; and former ministers Tanimu Turaki and Tom Ikimi.

(NAN)
When Jega said the two main parties are hopeless, he was not telling voters anything new. He was only repeating what they couldnt forget. With less than two years to the next general elections, however, he was also reminding voters of a future they are condemned to face again.

The former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, got himself in soup last week.

His offence was saying it is futile to compare Nigerias two main political parties  the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Without mincing words, he said theres nothing to compare and nothing to choose from, and that both are the refuge of scoundrels.

That comment has earned him a beating to hell and back at the hands of members of both parties. Its not new that political parties have rotten roots, but they evolve. Americas founding fathers despised partisan politics so deeply that George Washington was not a member of any political party throughout his eight-year tenure as president.

When they finally decided to form parties, they were polarised over race, war, reconstruction and even the nature and role of central banking, bringing to pass their own worst fears about partisanship.

But it helped a lot that the politicians of that era painstakingly wrote down what they wanted to do and passionately debated how to get them done. They had a compass as the parties evolved.

In our own case, however, politicians are desperate for power grab first, before thinking about what to do with it. We appear to have settled for a pattern of one step forward, two backwards.

Anyone who has any doubt only needs to look at the record of the two main parties in office  the first 16 years of the PDP at the centre or the six years of the APC so far. Its largely a sordid tale of failed promises that has left Nigerians poorer, more divided and less secure.

That were living in a broken country today is largely a legacy of the main parties. That was all Jega said that got him into trouble.

Its the bitter truth. But the parties, far gone in their conceit and game of Ostrich, will not see the point. Instead, they have responded by abusing Jega. They have accused him of joining a mushroom party and declaring his remark as unpardonable, as if he just took the wives of their party leaders.

While the APC rejects resembling the PDP even remotely, the PDP says it would rather disband than stand being compared with the ruling APC.

The APC maintains an appearance of a party. But it is a party only in name. A faction of it, in alliance with influential forces in the Presidency, who are not even party members, have crushed other legacy parties, triumphing over them and holding the country hostage.

A top member of the PDP and former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, took the matter further in an interview over the weekend. He said the APC was founded on lies and blackmail and wont go beyond 2023, adding that the party had brainwashed Nigerians to believe that everything evil is caused by PDP.

If the APC would go into extinction in two years time, it would not be because Lamido said so. Or because the PDP is qualified to perform the funeral rites. It would be because for the last six years, the ruling party has carefully dug its own grave, prepared the gravestone and given the shovel to those who will seal its fate.

The APC is its own worst enemy. It wont be long before all the pretence will disappear, leaving the party with only its jaded, opportunistic soul. The APC isnt a party, but a makeshift vehicle fabricated to knock President Goodluck Jonathan from power in 2015.

Its inherent contradictions became manifest afterwards when a civil war broke out among its factions, comprising nPDP, ACN, CPC, APGA and ANPP. In an act of extreme desperation, Bukola Saraki had to make an adulterous deal with the PDP to emerge Senate president.

With nPDP barons frustrated out (except Rotimi Amaechi who has since become a General without troops in Rivers State), the remnants of CPC and ACN are now locked in a fratricide over the control of the party.

This is in spite of a foundational pact in 2014 that whereas CPC would produce the president, ACN would control the party. But like most promises made in the heat of the moment, this one was inseminated with the seed of its own failure. The winner kept the spoils; all of it. The palace coup against former party Chairman Adams Oshiomhole last year was masterminded by CPC foxes who imposed one of their own as caretaker.

The party has not held a formal meeting in months, and all decisions are taken ad hoc in a coven called Aso Rock. There is no Board of Trustees, no governance structure, no substantive officers, no programme, nothing.

Its like a house without a roof or windows, a tent without pegs or pillars. It has drawn three governors into its fold in the last one year or so, not because it offers anything materially different from the other finger of the leprous hand, but because it is the most secure sanctuary for fugitives from public accountability.

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And, of course, theres the promise that on election night, two years from now, when votes would have been written, since APC gods forbid electronic transmission of results, candidates on the platform of the ruling party can depend on the security forces to help them deliver results by hand.

The APC maintains an appearance of a party. But it is a party only in name. A faction of it, in alliance with influential forces in the Presidency, who are not even party members, have crushed other legacy parties, triumphing over them and holding the country hostage.

Jega is right that the two main parties are useless. The only challenge is that it will take more than just talking about it on the eve of the next election cycle to build an alternative vehicle.

But the long knives are out and the fight back promises to be nasty. Were already seeing signs of that with the parallel APC congresses and the mutiny against the Governor Mai Mala Bunis interim leadership of the party.

Yet, the PDP is not a haven, regardless of the bad things that Lamido has to say about the ruling party. In fact, the PDP is all the bad things that anyone can justifiably say about APC, except that its a worse version of it.

On top of the corruption and lawlessness prevalent during the 16-year reign of the PDP at the centre, the party also holds the record of the worst random murders, including the specific, targeted killings of both opposition and its own party members, who were either slightly out of line, or who seemed to have a bright future.

The murders of Bola Ige, Marshall Harry, Aminasoari Dikibo, Barnabas Igwe and his wife, and Ahmed Pategi, on the watch of PDP government, are among the 51 high profile murders comprehensively compiled by Lauretta Onochie three years ago.

If APC was founded on lies and blackmail, which the party can hardly deny with a straight face, PDP was founded on and has thrived on something more sinister: lies, blackmail and blood. It is a legacy that continues to haunt it to this day.

When Jega said the two main parties are hopeless, he was not telling voters anything new. He was only repeating what they couldnt forget. With less than two years to the next general elections, however, he was also reminding voters of a future they are condemned to face again.

I say condemned because apart from calling out the main political parties, idealists like Jega have yet to say how voters can overthrow the existing parties. How?

The current mutiny in the APC and PDP does not mean that either one is about to become extinct. Since 1999, we have seen this blood sport every four years and somehow mainstream politicians still manage to reinvent their baggage and retain power. Any hope that the system would change in two years is a pipe dream.

Before the conventions of the two parties are over, angry losers from both parties will align and form a third force but the crooked nature of our politics and the sheer enormity of the cost of being on the ballot on the eve of a general poll will ensure that they wont get far.

Jega is right that the two main parties are useless. The only challenge is that it will take more than just talking about it on the eve of the next election cycle to build an alternative vehicle.

Azu Ishiekwene editor-in-chief of LEADERSHIP.
The more out-of-school children we have, the more criminals, bandits, terrorists and other criminals we will see tomorrow. And the more half-baked education we provide, the more bad leaders we will produce tomorrow. Nigeria is suffering the consequence of being governed by educated illiterates today. The situation will grow worse, except the few educated ones in government choose to do things differently.

Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, has shown the world Nigerias helplessness in dealing with the problem of the abduction of students by terrorists often referred to as bandits. Between December 2020 and now, more than 1,000 Nigerian students and school staff have been kidnapped and held for ransom in the North-West region of the country. Over 500 of this figure were abducted in the last three months and the problem shows no sign of abating. Now, Nwajiuba is pleading with bandits to stop targeting schoolchildren. He has also begged them to free the abducted ones in their custody.

He spoke as another set of three students of Bethel Baptist Secondary School in Kaduna, who were part of the 121 kidnapped on July 5, reportedly escaped from their abductors on Tuesday. The students were found by troops at the Kankumi forest general area in the Chikun Local Government Area of the State. So far, seven students have escaped from their abductors  four had earlier done so on Sunday, July 25. This is in addition to the first batch of 28 students that the kidnappers released. Over 80 students of the Bethel school are still in the forest at the moment.

Elated at the news of the students escape, Nwajiuba said, This is the kind of news I want to be hearing every day. They should please return our children to us. I am so happy for these parents. So, I am really glad to have these three back and I think we should have all of them back. Please, any kind of help we can get. I appeal to parents to please bear with us.

Yes. This is where we are. Things have degenerated to the level that those who still have conscience among our government functionaries now rejoice over a small number of students who escape from their kidnappers dens, even when hundreds of them are still in the dens of lions across the thick forests of Nigerias North-West. As I wrote this article, there are over 300 students who have not been returned to their families. I talk about conscience here because there are some people in government who can look at Nigerians in the face and tell them that the challenge of the abduction of students has been solved and that the ones in the forests are mere remnants of the handiwork of a defeated foe. After all, that is how they told us that Boko Haram insurgency has been defeated, when terrorists were still hoisting their flags and killing military personnel in the North-East almost on a daily basis.

Even as it is, I am not sure the junior Education Minister will not be reprimanded for talking too much. Aside urging the bandits to leave Nigerian students alone, he also appealed to whoever talks to them to help tell them to leave our schools alone. I dont know why the Minister refused to mention the name of the person who talks to them. We all know him. His name is Sheikh Gumi. He has been the official spokesperson for bandits in Nigeria. The cleric has spoken openly on behalf of the bandits and visited them in their hideouts, with pictures of such visits in the public domain. He has not hidden his relationship with them. So, appealing to him to beg the bandits doesnt seem to be out of place.

Of course, as usual, the Minister tried to defend the Federal Government, saying it was doing as much as it could possibly do. I know it is disheartening how you feel and I am appealing as one of the Ministers you have put in government that we take responsibility and we are doing the most we can on this matter, he had said. But we all know that this defence is feeble. It is another way of paying lip service to the problem. Anyway, by now, the minister ought to know that the Federal Governments best, apart from being poor, is far from being enough!

It seems this country just loves to go from bad to worse when it comes to poor indices. Kidnapping of students has grown from being an aberration to a lucrative business in our clime. What started as an aberration in Chibok has moved to Dapchi to Kagara to Jingali to Jangebe and so on, without any real form of check. How can criminals abduct over 100 students at once without being apprehended? How do they move these students  through trucks or do they trek? Or how do they operate so freely in a country that has 17 security and law enforcement institutions? Yet, none of the gangs has been arrested in the eight mass kidnappings of Nigerian students since December last year.

Our Education Minister has not been the only one begging criminals. Its just that he has expressed his views publicly. Many state governors have also been begging criminals to stop kidnapping citizens within their domains. I heard that in one of the peace meetings with the criminal gangsthe leader of the bandits threatened to wreak more havoc and everybody, including the security representatives at the meeting, kept begging for mercy.

A senior analyst with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Bulama Bukarti, quoted the Deputy Director of Nigerias intelligence agency, the Department of State Services (DSS) as saying that kidnappers have extorted N2 billion ($4.9 million) from ordinary Nigerians in the first six months of this year alone. Yet, our leaders prefer to beg criminals than make them pay for their crimes. They would rather subject innocent citizens to unnecessary hardship under the pretence of making the country secure, as witnessed in the ongoing compulsory registration for the National Identification Number. I dont know what they want to achieve with this, when it is obvious that they arent using the basic technology that is available now to its full advantage. Or what do you make of a country that cant deploy basic technology to track the numbers that kidnappers use to communicate with parents of abducted students, to find their location? I even learnt the people in the North do not have any emergency number to call when attacks are underway and that kidnappers now accept ransom payments through bank transfers!

Our Education Minister has not been the only one begging criminals. Its just that he has expressed his views publicly. Many state governors have also been begging criminals to stop kidnapping citizens within their domains. I heard that in one of the peace meetings with the criminal gangs, which, by the way, had representatives of our security units in attendance, the leader of the bandits threatened to wreak more havoc and everybody, including the security representatives at the meeting, kept begging for mercy. The state governments are saying that they have minimal powers to do anything about physical security, since the security agencies essentially answer to the Federal Government. But the same governors will oppose a review of the Constitution to accommodate state police. Who is deceiving who?

As bad as it is for a government official to display cluelessness and helplessness in the midst of a gargantuan challenge, I think the Minister probably fared better when compared with the lacklustre performance of Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari at the recently concluded global education summit in London, United Kingdom. At least, the Minister acknowledged our problem. The Presidents outing was something else. Anyone who listened to his contributions at the summit would think Nigeria is an Eldorado, as far as its education sector is concerned.

Hosted by the U.K. and Kenya, the Global Education Summit brought together world leaders to make progress towards Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (quality inclusive education for all children). The centrepiece of the summit was the opportunity for leaders to make five-year pledges to support GPEs work to help transform education systems in up to 90 countries and territories, where 80 per cent of the worlds out-of-school children live.

If Nigerian parents truly know the value of education and are already doing their best in this area as the President claimed, why do we still have such a huge figure of out-of-school children in the country? Does it mean that such children dont have parents? Did they just fall from the sky? Why are they not in school? I really dont get the point that the President was making.

While leaders like Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta, were forceful and emotional about the challenges confronting the sector, emphasising the urgency required in tackling the problem of the underserved, unreached, as well as out-of-school children population across the globe, the President of Nigeria, where more than 10 million children are out of school, the highest figure in sub-Saharan Africa, spoke as if Nigeria had no challenge in this sector at all.

On the panel with Buhari were Presidents Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi. Everyone spoke about the peculiarities of the education sector in their countries. All that our president could tell the world was that Nigerians were acutely aware of the priority of education, and parents were making sacrifices to ensure that their children and wards get educated. He said Nigerians already know that, You cant succeed outside your educational qualification. So, no Nigerian parent jokes with education, as they are aware that if their children missed the opportunity of being educated, they have missed a lot.

If Nigerian parents truly know the value of education and are already doing their best in this area as the President claimed, why do we still have such a huge figure of out-of-school children in the country? Does it mean that such children dont have parents? Did they just fall from the sky? Why are they not in school? I really dont get the point that the President was making. Is it that Nigeria is too proud to accept its challenges or is it a case of delusions of grandeur? Whatever the case may be, I think the President should be reminded that almost everyone in Nigeria, except probably him and others in government, knows that Nigeria is not doing its best as far as its education sector is concerned.

We also know that the solution to our problem is very simple, provided our governments choose to be responsible. Majority of those in the criminal gangs operating in the North have never gone to school. Out of the over 10 million Nigerian children who are out of school, over 70 per cent of them are located in the North. I noted in my article of September 4, 2019 that Nigeria was breeding children of anger every day. That is still the case now. Investing in quality education is one of the ways to tackle the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria. The more out-of-school children we have, the more criminals, bandits, terrorists and other criminals we will see tomorrow. And the more half-baked education we provide, the more bad leaders we will produce tomorrow. Nigeria is suffering the consequence of being governed by educated illiterates today. The situation will grow worse, except the few educated ones in government choose to do things differently.

Olabisi Deji-Folutile is the Editor-in-Chief, franktalknow.com and member, Nigerian Guild of Editors. Email: bisideji@yahoo.co.uk.

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Bandits have kidnapped the father of the Speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, Nasir Magarya, and five others. Wednesday evening.

The state police spokesperson in the state, Mohammed Shehu, confirmed the incident which happened Wednesday evening but declined to give further details.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that the police commissioner in the state, Hussaini Rabiu, had deployed officers of the police tactical squad to rescue the abducted persons.

Sources told this newspaper that the Speakers father was kidnapped in Magarya in Zurmi local government area of the state, noting that he was abducted alongside his wife.

READ ALSO: Soldiers arrest 17 Zamfara villagers for alleged complicity with bandits

Another source said the bandits stormed Magarya and moved directly to the speakers house.

They came some minutes after 4 p.m. when most Muslim faithful were praying the early evening prayer. They started shooting sporadically as they moved towards the house to pick their target.

Another source also noted that other villages like Kaiwa Lamba, Jinkirawa and Sabon Fegi all in Zurmi were also attacked on Wednesday.

The Speakers official spokesperson, Mustapha Jaafar, told this reporter to wait for an official statement, when contacted.
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Two dropouts of Babcock University, accused of drugging and gang-raping a woman in a hotel in Lekki, Lagos, have been asked to open their defence.

Justice Abiola Soladoye of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, gave the order on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Don-Chima George and Segun Razak, are charged with two counts of conspiracy and rape.

They are alleged to have drugged and gang-raped the complainant (name withheld) on February 3, 2019, from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. at De-Lankaster Hotels, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Counsel to the defendants, Adebambo Adesanya, a senior advocate of Nigeria, had filed a no-case submission, stating that the prosecution has not brought a prima facie case against the defendants.

Mr Adesanya had urged the court to discharge and acquit the defendants based on insufficient evidence.

The prosecution led by Shola Soneye had, however, opposed the application of the defence.

The prosecution argued that it is the courts discretion to evaluate the evidence only when the evidence of the prosecution and defence witnesses are before it.

Mrs Soladoye, in a ruling on Thursday, said that she had considered the arguments of counsel in the no-case submission vis-a-vis the evidence before the court.

I am satisfied that based on the evidence before the court, it is required that there has to be some form of explanation from each of the two defendants on the allegations proffered against them.

The defendants are therefore called upon to open their defence. I so hold, she said.

NAN reports that on May 15, 2019, the 24-year-old complainant had testified that she had gone with the defendants to Kabaal nightclub located in Ikoyi, Lagos, to celebrate the birthday of George, who was her friend.

At the nightclub, the defendants allegedly mixed her drink with a substance, which rendered her unconscious, after a while.

She alleged that she was taken to a room at Georges fathers hotel, where the defendants took turns to rape her and record their actions on a mobile phone.

The complainant has so far been the sole witness presented by the prosecution in the case.

The offence, the prosecution said, contravened the provisions of sections 258 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

(NAN)
The Lagos State Government has approved 24 Magistrate Courts to prosecute environmental defaulters.

President, Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN), David Oriyomi, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

Mr Oriyomi told NAN that the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Kazeem Alogba, gave the approval in a letter sent to the association.

Some of the courts include Court 4, Court 10, Igbosere; and Court 4, Tinubu  all in Lagos Magisterial District.

Also, in Ikeja Magisterial District are Court 9, Court 18, Court 20 in Ogba; and Court 2 in Ogudu, among others.

The approval also included six Mobile Courts, where offenders would be tried on-the-go.

He said the approval was given in the month of May, adding that the association had been visiting the courts to ensure the judges collaboration on the directive.

According to him, the approval of the courts to try environmental offenders would support not only the association but also improve the aesthetics of Lagos State.

The president urged residents to patronise the waste managers and pay for services rendered, so as to ensure a cleaner Lagos.

He said the welfare of the members of the association was interwoven with the cleanliness of the state.

According to him, if the operator is well-funded with his equipment and is delivering the services, the entire state will be clean, but once the operator is not effective, it will impact negatively on the environment.

With the approval of these courts for environmental offences, defaulters will be forced to conform with the requirements of cleanliness.

Once you pay for the services rendered, the operators will be more efficient in delivering the services.

The operator will be able to service the loan that he acquired from the bank to purchase trucks that he used in servicing his clients.

We are happy that the Chief Judge approved the courts and by that token, he has enhanced the cleanliness of the state.

Most of these diseases come through dirty environment, so it behoves on us to keep our environment clean, so as to have healthy citizens and healthy economy, Oriyomi said.

The Spokesperson of AWAMN, Olugbenga Adebola, said it was now an offence not to patronise the PSP operators or refusing to pay for services rendered.

Mr Adebola said it was compulsory now to patronise and pay the waste managers because since the law had been made, it had put in the care of all assigned PSP operators to collect all the waste generated in Lagos State.

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We are all Lagosians and government is not interested in even prosecuting anybody. The government wants residents to comply with every environmental laws.

Just as the Bible said, Our Lord is not interested in the death of a sinner, but He wants every sinner to repent and make heaven, Mr Adebola said.

(NAN)
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The Oyo State House of Assembly on Thursday confirmed seven nominees sent to the house by Governor Seyi Makinde for reappointment as commissioners.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the nominees were screened and confirmed by the lawmakers during plenary in Ibadan.

NAN also reports that the nominees were commissioners before Mr Makinde dissolved his cabinet on June 29.

Those confirmed were Akinola Ojo, Commissioner for Finance; Oyelowo Oyewo, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; and Bayo Lawal, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.

Others were Dahud Shangodoyin, Public Works and Transport; Temilolu Ashamu, Energy and Mineral Resources; Faosat Sanni, Women Affairs and Social Inclusion; and Ayansiju Lawal, Establishments and Training.

The Speaker of the house, Adebo Ogundoyin, in his remarks, said the house had exercised its constitutional powers by confirming the reappointment of the nominees.

Mr Ogundoyin urged the nominees to contribute their quota to the development of the state.

The speaker commended the governor on the calibre of people he nominated as commissioners, adding that their vast experiences would be of help in repositioning the state.

More is expected from you by the good people of the state.

Build up on what you have achieved and keep strategising to make things better.

Governor Makinde believes in your capabilities and you must not disappoint him, the speaker said.

Speaking on the challenges of destitution in the state, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Sanni, said the government had relocated them to a permanent shelter.

Mrs Sanni said in spite of their relocation, some of the destitute had started returning to the street.

The final solution may be total deportation of the destitute to their various states, just like the way other states had been doing, Sanni said.

On his part, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Ojo, said the state government had improved on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to more than N2 billion monthly.

Our projection in the next two years is to generate N6 billion monthly, he said.

(NAN)
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The police in Ogun State have arrested five Oro worshippers for allegedly attacking Muslims in the Temitope area of Idi-Iroko-Ajegunle for violating their curfew.

Oro is a traditional festival held annually in most parts of south-western Nigeria in which the adherents impose several hours of curfew on the community.

In Idi-Iroko-Ajegunle, it was gathered that the adherents imposed a daytime curfew on residents since Saturday. On Tuesday, they allegedly attacked Muslims praying in their mosque for violating the curfew.

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the police spokesperson in Ogun State, told PREMIUM TIMES that five Oro worshippers involved in the attack had been arrested and charged to court.

They injured one Islamic cleric and on several occasions, we have warned them, even the CP has gone there to talk to them but they didnt listen, Mr Oyeyemi said.

There is nowhere a person or group of persons upon carrying out your religious activity will now declare curfew in daylight, what about other people who also want to worship God in their own way?

So the Christian should not go to church, Muslims should not go to mosque and the children should not go to school? In this 21st century? No problems, these ones have been arrested and charged to court. The court admitted them on bail but they are yet to perfect their bail conditions.

Witnesses said the Oro faithful attacked a Muslim and inflicted machete cuts on his head.

The Imam of the affected mosque, Abdul Waliy Omo-Akin, said the Oro adherents breached a court order restraining them from such a daylight festival.

One of our members, Boka Wasiu, was injured in the head by the Oro worshipers for coming out during the festival in the daylight, said Mr Omo-Akin.

He left the mosque around 4 p.m. for his farm to feed the fish. He was waylaid by them and attacked.

We were able to get hold of three of the attackers and handed them over to the police.

We had held a meeting with the DPO last week Wednesday where he warned them against daylight ritual. They imposed the curfew since Saturday.

The people out of fear did not go to their place of works, markets, banks were shut, while schools also were closed.

The leader of the Oro adherents could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
A nurse takes swab samples in the new rounds of Covid-19 testing in Nanjing in eastern China's Jiangsu province, Monday. China's worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic a year and a half ago escalated, Wednesday, with dozens more cases around the country, the sealing-off of one city and the punishment of its local leaders. (Chinatopix Via AP)
PLATTSBURGH [mdash] Elizabeth N. "Betty" Botten, 85, of the Butler Road passed away Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, at her home with her loving family by her side under the care of Hospice of the North Country. She was born in Plattsburgh on Feb. 13, 1936, the daughter of Herman and Marion (Rollie
TAIPEI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia Connection: Producers Camp (ACPC), a collaborative project by Taiwan's National Theater & Concert Hall (NTCH), Singapore's Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, South Korea's National Theater of Korea, and Japan's Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, will take place for the first time in August and September 2021. Working around COVID-19, this inaugural Camp will be held fully online.

After a selection process conducted jointly by the four partnering theaters, 16 producers from eight Asian countries - Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan - will join the camp's workshops, which will take place in nine days over three weeks. They will participate in group and individual sessions that will develop their communication skills to work better with creative artists. Outstanding works selected through the project will be co-produced by the four theaters, with opportunities sought to perform them internationally.

NTCH's General and Artistic Director Liu Yi-ruu hopes that, the world will have more opportunities to see what Asia has to offer through ACPC and that everyone walks away with new ideas and perspectives on the arts that are uniquely Asian.

In the individual sessions, ACPC will provide selected producers with guidance and mentoring by celebrated curators and producers. The participant producers will work with their mentors on case discussions and proposal exercises, and on how to better work with creatives as they further explore what Asian cultures have to offer. The project's team of invited mentors comprises Farooq Chaudhry, Executive Producer, Akram Khan Company, United Kingdom; Ong Keng Sen, director, Young Curator Academy of Maxim Gorki Theater, Germany; Wouter van Ransbeek, Creative Director, International Theater Amsterdam; Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Sadler's Wells, London; and Annette Shun Wah, Artistic Director, OzAsia Festival, Australia.

Moreover, NTCH and its three partnering theaters will be conducting two symposiums that will consider how theaters and the performing arts have been affected by the pandemic, and how they might act in response. As speakers, ACPC has invited Caroline Barneaud, Director of Artistic and International Projects at Vidy-Lausanne Theatre, Switzerland; Jeff Khan, Artistic Director of Performance Space in Australia; and Virve Sutinen, Artistic Director of Germany's Tanz im August festival to talk about how live and digital performances are being revolutionized in preparation for performances in the post-COVID world.

SOURCE National Theater & Concert Hall, Taiwan
EIGHTY FOUR, Pa., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 84 Lumber, the nation's largest privately held building materials supplier, is launching a recruitment effort to fill immediate openings at retail stores in Durham and Raleigh, NC. The company will host a Hiring Event on August 12th from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the company's Durham location (2543 Whilden Drive, Durham, NC 27713).

At the event, job seekers will learn more about the company culture and get the opportunity to be interviewed for open positions in the area that include manager trainees (MT), warehouse associates, door manufacturers, non-CDL truck drivers, and coordinators of sales. Qualified applicants may receive an offer of employment during the event. Candidates who attend the event and then get hired as a result of it are eligible for a one-time $840 sign-on bonus.

"84 Lumber is seeking to fill 12 open positions at our Durham and Raleigh locations to add to our team of more than 40 employees in the area," said Rob Woodrow, divisional vice president at 84 Lumber. "We're growing along with the growth in the construction industry  here in North Carolina and across the nation. We're looking for people seeking a fresh start."

Woodrow went on to detail the open positions.

Manager trainees (MTs) hired by 84 Lumber enter an intensive, one-on-one, on-the-job training program that teaches them about the company's business and puts them on a path to become a future leader within the enterprise. Starting compensation for manager trainees is $42,000 per year including the sign-on bonus.

hired by 84 Lumber enter an intensive, one-on-one, on-the-job training program that teaches them about the company's business and puts them on a path to become a future leader within the enterprise. Starting compensation for manager trainees is per year including the sign-on bonus. Warehouse associates need no prior experience and perform essential functions behind the scenes  from the management of supply shipments to the operation of equipment. These associates can expect a starting pay of $15 per hour.

need no prior experience and perform essential functions behind the scenes  from the management of supply shipments to the operation of equipment. These associates can expect a starting pay of per hour. Door manufacturers need no prior experience and are involved in the manufacturing of doors. These associates can expect a starting pay of up to $15 per hour.

need no prior experience and are involved in the manufacturing of doors. These associates can expect a starting pay of up to per hour. Non-CDL truck drivers load trucks and deliver materials to customer job sites. Drivers are responsible for building loads and deliveries; maintaining a safe, clean, and well-organized lumber yard; and loading and unloading lumber and building supplies. Hourly pay for drivers is up to $15 per hour.

load trucks and deliver materials to customer job sites. Drivers are responsible for building loads and deliveries; maintaining a safe, clean, and well-organized lumber yard; and loading and unloading lumber and building supplies. Hourly pay for drivers is up to per hour. Coordinators of sales are responsible for assisting salespeople with a variety of customer service activities. Coordinators of sales can expect a starting pay of up to $17 per hour.

"We are a family-owned company, which means we are committed to helping our employees build and cultivate a career with us. In fact, 95% of our store managers started in our manager trainee program," Woodrow said. "As we see it, 84 Lumber recruits individuals with a can-do attitude, a willingness to work hard, and a desire to learn. Once we find these people and they join the company, we teach and train them and find ways for them to grow with us."

Woodrow added that 84 Lumber expects it might find the right fit from all types of candidates  an individual with no construction experience, military veterans ready to embark on their next career challenge, or people with some previous work experience who seek to redirect their career.

Candidates interested in participating in the Hiring Event are asked to pre-register. To sign up, go to 84 Lumber's Hiring Page and complete the form. Once you are registered, you will receive an email from 84 Lumber with the link to apply for the desired position. To save time, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for positions online before they attend the event.

NOTE: 84 Lumber continues to follow CDC safety guidelines with regard to COVID-19. We ask that those attendees who are not yet fully vaccinated wear a mask and maintain social distancing.

To learn more about 84 Lumber, follow the company on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

ABOUT 84 LUMBER

Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, 84 Lumber Company is the nation's largest privately held supplier of building materials, manufactured components and industry-leading services for single- and multi-family residences and commercial buildings. The company operates nearly 250 stores, component manufacturing plants, custom door shops, custom millwork shops and engineered wood product centers in more than 30 states. 84 Lumber also offers turnkey installation services for a variety of products, including framing, insulation, siding, windows, roofing, decking and drywall. A certified national women's business enterprise owned by Maggie Hardy Knox, 84 Lumber was named by Forbes as one of America's Largest Private Companies in 2018 and one of America's Best Large Employers in 2019. For more information, visit 84lumber.com or join us at Facebook.com/84lumber and linkedin.com/company/84-lumber .

Contact: Jeff Donaldson, BLD Marketing

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (412) 347-8039

Photos: http://www.bldpressroom.com/84lumber/durham-hiring-event

SOURCE 84 Lumber

Related Links

http://84lumber.com


PLYMOUTH, Mich., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adient (NYSE: ADNT), a global leader in automotive seating, today announced third quarter 2021 financial results.

Q3 GAAP net income and EPS diluted of $(71)M and $(0.75) , respectively; Q3 Adj.-EPS diluted of $(0.53)

and , respectively; Q3 Adj.-EPS diluted of Q3 Adj.-EBITDA of $118M , up $240M y-o-y; Adj.-EBITDA margin of 3.6%

, up y-o-y; Adj.-EBITDA margin of 3.6% Cash and cash equivalents of $1.0B at June 30, 2021 (the cash balance excludes ~$270M held as "other assets" related to funds required to acquire certain assets of Yanfeng Adient Seating Co., LTD. [YFAS])

at (the cash balance excludes held as "other assets" related to funds required to acquire certain assets of Yanfeng Adient Seating Co., LTD. [YFAS]) Gross debt and net debt totaled $3,757M and $2,757M , respectively, at June 30, 2021

and , respectively, at Macro headwinds that continue to impact the industry and Adient are placing increased downward pressure on expected FY21 revenue and earnings

For complete details and to see reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures, visit the events section of the Adient investor website at www.investors.adient.com/events-and-presentations/events to download the full press release and earnings presentation.

Investor analyst conference call:

Adient's president and chief executive officer, Douglas Del Grosso, and executive vice president and chief financial officer, Jeff Stafeil, will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern to discuss the results. To participate by telephone, please dial 888-455-2945 (U.S.) or 773-799-3947 (international) 15 minutes prior to the start time of the call and ask to be connected to the Adient conference call. The conference passcode is ADIENT.

About Adient:

Adient (NYSE: ADNT) is a global leader in automotive seating. With approximately 77,000 employees in 32 countries, Adient operates 202 manufacturing/assembly plants worldwide. We produce and deliver automotive seating for all major OEMs. From complete seating systems to individual components, our expertise spans every step of the automotive seat-making process. Our integrated, in-house skills allow us to take our products from research and design to engineering and manufacturing  and into more than 19 million vehicles every year. For more information on Adient, please visit www.adient.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Adient has made statements in this document that are forward-looking and, therefore, are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are statements that are, or could be, deemed "forward- looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this document, statements regarding Adient's expectation for the strategic transactions in China and its deleveraging transactions (collectively, the "Transactions"), timing, benefits and outcomes of the Transactions, as well as its future financial position, sales, costs, earnings, cash flows, other measures of results of operations, capital expenditures or debt levels and plans, objectives, market position, outlook, targets, guidance or goals are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "forecast," "project" or "plan" or terms of similar meaning are also generally intended to identify forward- looking statements. Adient cautions that these statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Adient's control, that could cause Adient's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to: Adient's ability to consummate the Transactions that may yield additional value for shareholders at all or on the same or different terms as those described herein, the timing, benefits and outcomes of the Transactions, the effect of the announcements of the Transactions on Adient's business relationships, operating results and business generally, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Transactions, the failure to satisfy conditions to consummation of the Transactions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals (and any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on these approvals), risks that the Transactions disrupt current plans and operations, including potential disruptions with respect to Adient's employees, vendors, clients and customers as well as management diversion or potential litigation, the effects of local and national economic, credit and capital market conditions on the economy in general, and other risks and uncertainties, the continued financial and operational impacts of and uncertainties relating to the COVID-19 pandemic on Adient and its customers, suppliers, joint venture partners and other parties, the ability of Adient to execute its turnaround plan, work stoppages and similar events, energy and commodity prices, the availability of raw materials and component products, automotive vehicle production levels, mix and schedules, the ability of Adient to effectively launch new business at forecast and profitable levels, the ability of Adient to meet debt service requirements, the terms of financing, the impact of tax reform legislation through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and/ or under the new U.S. Presidential administration, uncertainties in U.S. administrative policy regarding trade agreements, tariffs and other international trade relations including as may be impacted by the change in U.S. Presidential administration, general economic and business conditions, the strength of the U.S. or other economies, shifts in market shares among vehicles, vehicle segments or away from vehicles on which Adient has significant content, changes in consumer demand, global climate change and related emphasis on ESG matters by various stakeholders, currency exchange rates and cancellation of or changes to commercial arrangements, and the ability of Adient to identify, recruit and retain key leadership. A detailed discussion of risks related to Adient's business is included in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Adient's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November 30, 2020, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 5, 2021, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period ended March 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on May 6, 2021 and in subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC, available at www.sec.gov. Potential investors and others should consider these factors in evaluating the forward- looking statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document, unless otherwise specified, and, except as required by law, Adient assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this document.

In addition, this document includes certain projections provided by Adient with respect to the anticipated future performance of Adient's businesses. Such projections reflect various assumptions of Adient's management concerning the future performance of Adient's businesses, which may or may not prove to be correct. The actual results may vary from the anticipated results and such variations may be material. Adient does not undertake any obligation to update the projections to reflect events or circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events. No representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy or reasonableness of such assumptions or the projections based thereon.

ADNT-FN

SOURCE Adient

Related Links

www.adient.com


CALABASAS, Calif., Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) (the "Company"), a leading provider of high-quality single-family homes for rent, today announced that the Board of Trustees declared a dividend of $0.10 per share on the Company's common shares for the third quarter of 2021. The distribution will be payable in cash on September 30, 2021 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2021.

The Board of Trustees also declared a per share quarterly distribution on the Company's cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred shares of $0.36719 per share on the 5.875% Series F shares, $0.36719 per share on the 5.875% Series G shares and $0.39063 per share on the 6.250% Series H shares payable in cash on September 30, 2021 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2021.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high-quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of March 31, 2021, we owned 53,984 single-family properties in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that relate to beliefs, expectations or intentions and similar statements concerning matters that are not of historical fact and are generally accompanied by words such as "believe," "expect," "will," "intend," "anticipate" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements include the payment and anticipated timing of the payment of distributions of the Company's common and preferred shares. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the Company's management considers these expectations to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control and could adversely affect our cash flows and ability to pay distributions. Additional information about these and other important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from anticipated results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform to actual results or changes in expectations, except as required by applicable law.

Contacts:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Nicholas Fromm

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

American Homes 4 Rent

Media Relations

Megan Grabos

Phone: (805) 413-5088

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

Related Links

https://www.americanhomes4rent.com


CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As students return to in-person learning, schools are bracing to respond to the ongoing youth vaping epidemic as a result of post pandemic stress, peer pressure and more. To equip schools with resources to prevent and reduce youth vaping, the American Lung Association is proud to support and provide training through its new Vape-Free Schools Initiative. Today, the American Lung Association announced the Vape-Free Schools Scholarship Fund, a new effort to fund schools' implementation of the Vape-Free Schools Initiative so that more kids can access cessation, support and education.

The scholarship drive seeks to raise funds to give schools across the country access to the program. With a cost of $400 per training seat, the goal is to raise $400,000 to serve 1,000 schools in need by the end of 2021. Through this scholarship drive, the Lung Association will enable faculty and students to access the Lung Association's proven vaping intervention and cessation programs.

"Parents, communities and schools want resources to help address youth vaping," said American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer. "The vaping/tobacco industries aggressively target youth, setting them up for a lifetime of addiction to nicotine. With close to 1 in 5 teens currently vaping, it is urgent that we address this issue and help students and schools become vape-free. We're seeking partners to fund scholarships for schools to implement these programs, so that they can help kids beat nicotine addiction and provide an alternative to suspension."

The Vape-Free Schools Initiative provides school administrators and educators with training to offer an alternative-to-suspension program for students found vaping, smoking or chewing on school property, and a voluntary vaping/tobacco cessation program for youth wanting to quit for good.

Alternative to Suspension (INDEPTH  ) an alternative for students who face suspension for violating school vaping and tobacco use policies. As teens continue to get hooked on vaping, this is a supportive program that teaches students about nicotine dependence and establishing healthy boundaries, rather than focusing solely on punitive measures.

(INDEPTH ) an alternative for students who face suspension for violating school vaping and tobacco use policies. As teens continue to get hooked on vaping, this is a supportive program that teaches students about nicotine dependence and establishing healthy boundaries, rather than focusing solely on punitive measures. Vaping Education & Tobacco Cessation Program (Not-On-Tobacco N-O-T) is a teen smoking/vaping cessation program for students that want to quit. The 10-session program provides the tools, information, and support for teens to end their addiction to tobacco. Participating schools will be recognized as part of the American Lung Association Vape-Free Schools Initiative in their communities.

"We hope every school nationwide has access to this program, and in our ongoing work to address health disparities, helping schools at higher risk or in certain communities of color is a priority," said Wimmer.

Laura Dern, award-winning actress, a mother of teens and advisor to the American Lung Association Board of Directors, is lending her voice to this effort. "I'm a mom and I'm acutely aware of how dangerous vaping can be to the developing lungs of kids," said Laura Dern. "As a mom to two teenagers, I'm proud to stand with the American Lung Association as they launch this important scholarship drive to support schools, parents and students. The Vape-Free Schools Initiative will be an important resource as kids go back to in-person learning and stress of being back and the peer pressure around vaping resumes."

Dern will raise awareness by encouraging parents, like her, to make sure their local school is aware of the Vape-Free Initiative and encourage donations to fund scholarships for schools to implement cessation and alternative to suspension programs.

Participating schools will be recognized as a member of the American Lung Association Vape-Free Schools Initiative participate and a leader student health. Those schools will be listed on the Lung.org website and will receive a toolkit of resources, including signage for their campus windows/doors and a letter of commendation from the American Lung Association.

To make a donation, visit Lung.org/scholarship. To get more information about the Vape-Free Schools Initiative or submit your school for scholarship consideration, visit Lung.org/vape-free-schools or contact [email protected]. To speak with a lung health expert about e-cigarettes and vaping cessation, contact Elizabeth Cook at [email protected] or 312-801-7631.

About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

American Lung Association  55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150  Chicago, IL 60601

1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 1425 North  Washington, D.C. 20004

1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.org

CONTACT: Elizabeth Cook | American Lung Association

P: 312-801-7631 | E: [email protected]

SOURCE American Lung Association
"Small cities and towns have an opportunity to emerge from the pandemic with a brighter, more prosperous future." Tweet this

"Small cities and towns have an opportunity to emerge from the pandemic with a brighter, more prosperous future," said Mark Sherman, Community Heart & Soul Executive Director. "Our Seed Grants accelerate the adoption of Community Heart & Soul so that more communities can use the proven model now, when it is needed most."

The cities of Akron and Westfield are supporting the use of Community Heart & Soul throughout the Akron-Westfield Community School District in northwest Iowa. "During the pandemic, many folks have realized how good we have it here. There are new businesses opening and our community is excited to build on the positive momentum through the Community Heart & Soul process," said Akron resident Lisa Harris.

The Village of Cambridge was beginning to embark on a community planning effort when they found the Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program. The timing was perfect to use the model to guide their efforts. "The pandemic has amplified the need for community involvement to reenergize the area," says John Taylor, board member, Village of Cambridge, Illinois.

HEAL Winchendon, a community movement to improve the health and quality of life for residents of Winchendon, Massachusetts, formed a steering committee to guide the implementation of Community Heart & Soul throughout the town of 10,841. "I hope that 'Winchendon Working Together', the words on the signs as you enter town, becomes more of a reality with more people finding or having ways to effectively work with others on ideas, opportunities, needs that they care about," said Winchendon resident Jane LaPointe.

Additional grants are available for interested communities. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Learn more at: http://www.communityheartandsoul.org/seed-grants.

About Community Heart & Soul

Community Heart & Soul, a nonprofit organization, builds stronger, healthier, and more economically vibrant small cities and towns across the United States. In addition to promoting the Community Heart & Soul model, the organization trains and supports a nationwide network of Certified Community Heart & Soul Coaches who provide training and guidance to over 100 local communities.

SOURCE Community Heart & Soul
RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- USA Today bestselling author Tina Glasneck returns with the latest release in her bestselling Order of the Dragon series, but this time, it's in celebration of Scottish legends in the multi-author collection, LOVE AND LEGENDS. Set in the town of Caithness, Scotland, where legend has it unicorns have been sighted, Glasneck's story, A VAMPIRE'S BLESSING, offers a new take on a fascinating tale of the British Isles.

Tina Glasneck, USA Today bestselling Author LOVE AND LEGENDS and book cover with the cover for Glasneck's story, A VAMPIRE'S BLESSING

Glasneck, known for her love of Norse myth and folklore, was excited to tackle the legend of the unicorn whilst siting near Old Wick Castle, weaving it into her contribution to this exciting collection.

LOVE AND LEGENDS offers a melange of stories based on and set across the British Isles and Ireland. "I did most of my research on Caithness online," Glasneck notes, adding that it was challenging because she could not visit Old Wick castle in person due to the pandemic and the travel bans--a journey she hopes to complete one day soon.

"My love of Norse mythology extends outside of Scandinavia, as the Vikings and Norse also settled abroad in places like Caithness." The Vikings reigned in many of the isles, including this far northeast corner of Scotland, from 850 A.D. until 1266 A.D.

Glasneck, who also writes about Norse gods like Loki and Thor, is always looking for a chance to bring history and myth to life. She says that since she has so much joy in doing so, even more opportunities continually arise. "I like to think that the Norse gods are giving me a boon as I help to share their myths."

Her fantasy books, specifically the Hell Chronicles, follow the Norse gods after their arrival to Earth. "I like to call the series 'Buffy' meets 'American Gods'. It's what happens when the Earth needs a hero and the only one available is a feisty heroine willing to risk it all for humanity."

"The Norse myths continue to teach me something new every day," she continues. "My favorite deity is Loki, as he's an agent of change. I find that the myths show that we can continue to push forward."

And pushing forward, she does. Glasneck is one of the 125 authors to send her catalog of books to the moon on Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine Mission One lander as part of the Writers on the Moon lunar time capsule. This mission is the first commercial launch, which includes payloads from NASA, DLR German Aerospace Center, Bosch, and even Dogecoin.

The launch is slated for 2022.

LOVE AND LEGENDS features stories from Tina Glasneck, Margo Bond Collins, Skye MacKinnon, Laura Greenwood, Arizona Tape, Ann Gimpel, Anthea Sharp, Zoey Indiana, Bec McMaster, Demelza Carlton, Joely Sue Burkhart, Tracy Cooper-Posey, Mia Harlan & Hanleigh Bradley, Gemma Cates, TB Mann, Meredith Medina, K. R. Max, and Lili Black.

LOVE AND LEGENDS releases August 17, 2021. Discover more about Tina Glasneck, download a FREE book, and learn more about the new anthology at www.TinaGlasneck.com/love-and-legends

For more information, contact Tina Glasneck at (804)519-3796 or [email protected].

SOURCE Tina Glasneck
GREEN BAY, Wis., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) ("Associated") today announced that it is calling for redemption on September 15, 2021 (the "Redemption Date") of all of its outstanding Depositary Shares (NYSE: ASB PR D) representing a 1/40th interest in a share of Associated's 5.375% Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D (the "Depositary Shares"). As of today, there are 3,978,320 Depositary Shares outstanding. The Depositary Shares will be redeemed at a redemption price of $25 per Depositary Share, plus an amount equal to any declared and unpaid dividends to the Redemption Date.

A notice of redemption and related materials will be transmitted to holders of record of the Depositary Shares on August 5, 2021. The Depositary Shares are held through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC") and will be redeemed in accordance with the procedures of DTC. Payment to DTC will be made by Equiniti Trust Company, in accordance with the Deposit Agreement among Associated, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (now known as Equiniti Trust Company) and the Holders from Time to Time of the Depositary Receipts Described Therein, dated as of September 15, 2016. Questions related to the notice of redemption and related materials should be directed to Equiniti Trust Company, as Associated's redemption agent (the "Redemption Agent"), at 1-800-468-9716. The Redemption Agent's address is Equiniti Trust Company, Attn: Corporate Actions Department, 1110 Centre Pointe Curve Suite 101, Mendota Heights, MN 55120.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $34 billion and is Wisconsin's largest bank holding company. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 220 banking locations serving more than 120 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact:

Ben McCarville, Vice President, Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059

Media Contact:

Jennifer Kaminski, Vice President, Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp

Related Links

www.assocatedbank.com


BUCHANAN, Va., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Buchanan-based Bank of Botetourt (OTCPK: BORT) is pleased to announce that the Grand Opening of its newest office in the Town of Vinton, Virginia will take place on Thursday, August 19th. The new office officially opened on July 26, 2021, and is located at 410 South Pollard Street and is approximately 2,700 square feet. Services include an ATM with deposit capabilities, a drive-thru, and night deposit. The Bank's mortgage company, Virginia Mountain Mortgage and financial services division, Botetourt Wealth Management will also be available from this location.

"We are excited to be in the Town of Vinton and look forward to working with the residents and community. With the on-going mergers of other financial institutions in our market area, we are pleased to be expanding our services and footprint as the largest community bank headquartered in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area," stated G. Lyn Hayth, III, President & CEO.

Paula E. Robins is serving as the Bank's Vinton Office Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager. She has over thirty-nine years of banking experience and was previously the branch manager at the Bank's Peters Creek and Bonsack offices.

The Grand Opening event will involve a formal ribbon cutting with the Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce beginning at 9:30am, along with activities throughout the day including, giveaways and the presentation of a Cat's Meow Replica for the new location.



About Bank of Botetourt

Bank of Botetourt was chartered in 1899 and operates thirteen retail offices in Botetourt, Rockbridge, Roanoke, and Franklin counties and the City of Salem, all in Virginia. Bank of Botetourt also operates a mortgage division, Virginia Mountain Mortgage and a financial services division, Botetourt Wealth Management.

SOURCE Bank of Botetourt

Related Links

http://www.bankofbotetourt.com


WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Delaware Life's new Accelerator PrimeSM variable annuity and its Pinnacle multi-year guaranteed annuities topped key categories in Barron's 2021, "The 100 Best Annuities for Today's Market" list.

Delaware Life Variable Annuity Delaware Life Pinnacle Fixed Annuity

The Accelerator Prime with Income ControlSM and Income BoostSM riders were both top rated in the "Best Minimum Guaranteed Income for Life" category. The Income Control Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) rider offers higher income guarantees through a 7% bonus rate, attractive annual income factors, and unrestricted access to 25 investment fund options. The Income Boost GLWB rider offers open architecture investment with 96 investment fund options, a 6% bonus rate over a 10-year period, and annual step-up potential.

"Having launched Accelerator Prime in May, it's great to see that it is already recognized by Barron's for its income benefits  a key consideration for clients," said Dale Uthoff, senior vice president, Variable Annuity Products, Delaware Life Insurance Company. "These income riders are one part of the innovative design of this product, which provides the option of prioritizing income or protecting clients' investment through the guaranteed minimum market protection benefit."

Delaware Life's Pinnacle MYGA three, five, and seven-year fixed annuities were top ranked in Barron's fixed annuities with a multi-year guarantee category. Recognized for offering industry-leading guaranteed income, the fixed annuities provide the flexibility to select the term of the annuity based on income needs. The single-premium deferred fixed annuities offer a simple, guaranteed way to build retirement assets without the principal risk typically associated with stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.

"By leveraging our product and investment expertise, Delaware Life is offering financial professionals and their clients, products with the returns and flexibility they are looking for to meet income and investment protection needs," said Tom Seitz, president, Delaware Life Marketing. "Already an industry leader in fixed annuities, with Accelerator Prime's compelling value proposition, we look forward to growing our variable annuity business to address client demand for products that balance the ability to invest in the financial markets with protection from market downturns."

More information about Delaware Life Accelerator Prime, product riders, and fees are available at: www.delawarelife.com/solutions/apva. Further information on Delaware Life's Pinnacle MYGA fixed annuities are available here: www.delawarelife.com/solutions/pinnacle-myga.

About Delaware Life

As of March 31, 2021, Delaware Life had assets of $42.1 billion and liabilities of $40.3 billion (does not include Delaware Life Insurance Company of New York) and more than 360,000 active annuity and life insurance policies. Delaware Life Insurance Company is a member of Group One Thousand One, LLC ("Group1001"). http://www.delawarelife.com

Disclaimers

Investors are advised to carefully consider an annuity's risks, charges, limitations and investment objectives of its underlying investment options prior to making any investment decisions. The applicable prospectuses for this Delaware Life Accelerator PrimeSM Variable Annuity and its underlying investment fund options contain this and other important information. Please visit www.delawarelife.com to obtain the prospectuses. Read them carefully before investing.

Annuities are long-term investments designed for retirement. Annuity withdrawals and other distributions of taxable amounts, including death benefit payouts, will be subject to ordinary income tax. For nonqualified contracts, an additional 3.8% federal tax may apply on net investment income. If withdrawals and other distributions are taken prior to age 59, an additional 10% federal tax may apply. Withdrawals will reduce the contract value and the value of the death benefits and also may reduce the value of any optional benefits.

Guarantees, including optional benefits, are subject to the claims-paying ability and financial strength of the issuing insurance company, Delaware Life Insurance Company, and do not protect the value of underlying investment fund options within the variable annuity, which are subject to risk. All optional riders are available for additional fees.

Not FDIC insured  May lose value  No bank or credit union guarantee  Not a deposit  Not insured by any federal government agency or NCUA/NCUSIF.

Annuity products are issued by Delaware Life Insurance Company and variable annuities are distributed by its affiliated broker-dealer, Clarendon Insurance Agency, Inc. (member FINRA), both located at 1601 Trapelo Road, Suite 30, Waltham, MA 02451. Both companies are members of Group One Thousand One, LLC (Group1001).

Delaware Life Insurance Company, 1601 Trapelo Road, Waltham, MA 02451

SOURCE Delaware Life

Related Links

http://www.delawarelife.com


HAMILTON, Bermuda, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Compre, the international specialist legacy group, and SiriusPoint Ltd. (NYSE: SPNT) ("SiriusPoint") today announce that they have reached an agreement for Compre to acquire a US$417 million portfolio of legacy liabilities, subject to regulatory approval.

The transaction, structured as a loss portfolio transfer, will be underwritten by Compre's class 3A Bermudian reinsurer, Pallas Reinsurance Company Ltd. ("Pallas Re") and the portfolio comprises asbestos, environmental and workers' compensation liabilities.

Compre CEO Will Bridger said: "I am delighted to announce this strategic milestone for Compre and Pallas Re. This transaction will grow our balance sheet significantly and will accelerate our growth strategy in North America. This is a significant step in our ambitious growth plans and further demonstrates our capabilities in executing large transactions. We value our client relationship with SiriusPoint and have greatly enjoyed working with them on this transaction."

"SiriusPoint is transferring its runoff business to legacy specialists, allowing us to redeploy capital internally to areas of strategic growth," said Sid Sankaran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SiriusPoint. "Compre is a practitioner we have known and respected for some time. With their new ownership and equity they are in an ideal position to benefit from our runoff portfolio. I am very pleased our transaction creates opportunities for both of our businesses."

Compre was advised by New York law firm Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady and PwC's Actuarial team. SiriusPoint was advised by international law firm Clyde & Co.

For further information please contact:

Compre

David Haggie / Richard Adams / Shipra Khanna, Haggie Partners

+44 20 7562 4444

SiriusPoint

Investor Relations

Clare Kerrigan, SiriusPoint

[email protected]

+44 7970695959

Media

Sarah Hills, Rein4ce

[email protected]

+44 7718882011

About Compre:

Compre is a leading legacy specialist with over 30 years of experience in the acquisition and management of discontinued and legacy non-life insurance and reinsurance business. Compre has experience of acquiring most classes of direct and reinsurance business, including general liability, marine and motor liability, and US APH. Compre has operations in Bermuda, Finland, Germany, Malta, Switzerland, the UK and at Lloyd's.

www.compre-group.com

About SiriusPoint

SiriusPoint Ltd. (SiriusPoint) is a top 20 global insurer and reinsurer providing solutions to clients and brokers in almost 150 countries. Bermuda-headquartered with offices around the world, we are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (SPNT). We write a global portfolio of Accident and Health, Specialty, Property and Runoff, combining data and creative thinking to underwrite risks with skill and discipline. With over $3 billion total capital, SiriusPoint's operating companies have a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) from AM Best, S&P and Fitch. For more information, please visit www.siriuspt.com .

SiriusPoint Forward Looking Statement

We make statements in this report that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in the U.S. Federal securities laws. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made on behalf of SiriusPoint. These risks and uncertainties include the impact of general economic conditions and conditions affecting the insurance and reinsurance industry, the adequacy of our reserves, fluctuation in the results of operations; pandemic or other catastrophic event, such as the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak; the costs, expense and difficulties of the integration of the operations of Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. and Sirius International Insurance Group, Ltd.; our ability to assess underwriting risk, trends in rates for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, competition, investment market and investment income fluctuations, trends in insured and paid losses, regulatory and legal uncertainties and other risk factors described in SiriusPoint's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods . Except as required by applicable law or regulation, we disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, or new information, data or methods, future events or other circumstances after the date of this report.

SOURCE SiriusPoint Ltd.

Related Links

https://www.siriuspt.com


Members can access a powerful analysis resource to identify, classify and prevent threats to protect their customers. Tweet this

CompTIA ISAO members can directly submit suspicious URLs and files through the ISAO's Cyber Forum to SophosLabs Intelix for rapid analysis to determine if they are known or zero-day cybersecurity threats. SophosLabs Intelix combines petabytes of threat intelligence derived from decades of SophosLabs threat research with Sophos AI tools and techniques, bringing a powerful new source of threat intelligence to the CompTIA ISAO and its managed services provider (MSP), vendor, distributor, and associate members.

"SophosLabs research illustrates how adversaries are constantly changing their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to breach targets, move laterally and carry out ransomware and other attacks," said Simon Reed, senior vice president, SophosLabs. "The only way to effectively fight modern cybercrime is if we do it together. That's why Sophos is committed to sharing actionable threat intelligence with the CompTIA community. This new integration gives member organizations advanced abilities to quickly investigate suspicious URLs and files to determine their risk and to understand what happens if they are opened or executed. Powered by machine learning, SophosLabs Intelix predictively convicts never-before-seen threats, and is constantly improving based on the collective input of community intelligence."

"This is a real differentiator for our members, who can access a powerful analysis resource to identify, classify and prevent threats, further protecting themselves and more importantly, their customers," said MJ Shoer, senior vice president and executive director of the CompTIA ISAO.

The new integration expands Sophos' support of the CompTIA ISAO. As a Silver Industry Partner, Sophos has been contributing detailed threat analysis from SophosLabs Uncut to the CompTIA ISAO.

"This is a significant addition to the resources available to our members," Shoer added. "It is the latest example of the support that industry partners such as Sophos have for the CompTIA ISAO, and the commitment we all have to make the industry more secure."

The CompTIA ISAO is a community of nearly 1,200 member companies that share best practices, cyber threat intelligence, educational content and more to help address ever-evolving cyber threats. Working closely with public and private cybersecurity agencies and organizations, the CompTIA ISAO is helping its members understand the threat landscape, defend against current and future attacks and raise cybersecurity awareness throughout the global tech industry. For complete details on the CompTIA ISAO and the benefits of membership visit https://www.comptiaisao.org/ .

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the estimated 75 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world's economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. Visit https://www.comptia.org/ .

About Sophos

Sophos is a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, protecting more than 500,000 organizations and millions of consumers in more than 150 countries from today's most advanced cyberthreats. Powered by threat intelligence, AI and machine learning from SophosLabs and SophosAI, Sophos delivers a broad portfolio of advanced products and services to secure users, networks and endpoints against ransomware, malware, exploits, phishing and the wide range of other cyberattacks. Sophos provides a single integrated cloud-based management console, Sophos Central  the centerpiece of an adaptive cybersecurity ecosystem that features a centralized data lake that leverages a rich set of open APIs available to customers, partners, developers, and other cybersecurity vendors. Sophos sells its products and services through reseller partners and managed service providers (MSPs) worldwide. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.



Media Contacts

Steven Ostrowski Lesley Sullivan

CompTIA Sophos

[email protected] [email protected]

+1 630-678-8468



SOURCE CompTIA

Related Links

http://www.comptia.org


VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Deep-South Resources Inc. ("Deep-South" or the "Company") (TSXV: DSM) announces the appointment of Mrs. Ally Angula as an independent Director in replacement of Mr. Sadike Nepela deceased in June 2021.

Mrs. Angula is a Namibian citizen and is a Chartered Accountant with extensive background in accounting and business management in Namibia. She is the principal founder of The CFO Namibia a Chartered Accountancy and Financial Advisory firm. She is also the Co-founder and Managing Director of Leap Holdings (Pty) Ltd. She was previously Deputy Executive Director of the Ministry of Finance in Namibia and she was also engaged by the Ministry of Finance to reform Financial Reporting for the Government of Namibia. Prior to this she was Partner at KPMG in Namibia for seven years and she was also External Audit Partner with clients spanning over a wide spectrum of Industries. She currently serves on the Boards of Oryx Properties Limited (Vice Chairperson), Pupkewitz Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Nabo Holdings. She also chairs the Audit and Risk Committees of the following Boards: Bank of Namibia (Namibia's Reserve Bank), Rossing Uranium Limited and Oryx Properties (PTY) Ltd. She has received awards and she is fellowship of the World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Dangote Fellow and Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow. She holds a Bacc. From University of Namibia and a Bcom from University of Natal from South Africa.

Mr. John Akwenye, Chairman of Deep-South stated that: "We are very proud to have Mrs. Angula joining our Board of Directors. Her appointment is a very strong move into the development of the company. Mrs. Angula brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the Namibian business as well as a serious guidance during the current situation of the Company. Her vast experience and qualifiquations add considerable strength to Deep-South."

About Deep-South Resources Inc

Deep-South Resources is a mineral exploration and development company Deep-South growth strategy is to focus on the exploration and development of quality assets in significant mineralized trends and in proximity to infrastructure in stable countries. In using and assessing environmentally friendly technologies in the development of its copper project, Deep-South embraces the green revolution.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Information contained in this news release which are not statements of historical facts may be "forward-looking information" for the purposes of Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking information. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule", "understand" and similar expressions identify forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: the Minister's refusal to renew the Company's Licence, the Company's intention to contest the Minister's decision before the Courts of Namibia and the outcome of such proceedings.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Deep-South, are inherently subject to significant technical, political, business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Factors and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: political risks associated with the Company's operations in Namibia; the failure of the Namibian Government to comply with its continuing obligations under the Act to allow for the renewal of the Licence; the impact of changes in, or to the more aggressive enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practices; the inability of the Company and its subsidiaries to enforce their legal rights in certain circumstances. For additional risk factors, please see the Company's most recently filed Management Discussions & Analysis for its quarter ended ended February 28, 2021 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

There can be no assurances that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as many factors and future events, both known and unknown could cause actual results, performance or achievements to vary or differ materially from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained herein or incorporated by reference. Accordingly, all such factors should be considered carefully when making decisions with respect to Deep-South, and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release is made as at the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Deep-South Resources Inc.
CENTENNIAL, Colo., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE:DHX) ("DHI" or the "Company") today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

During the second quarter 2021, the Company completed the spinoff of its eFinancialCareers ("eFC") business to the eFC management team. The results of the eFC business are reported as discontinued operations for all periods presented in this release.

Second Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

Total revenue was $28.7 million , up 4% year over year.

, up 4% year over year. Total bookings 1 were $27.9 million , up 23% year over year.

were , up 23% year over year. Loss from continuing operations was $0.2 million , compared to income of $1.2 million in the year ago quarter.

, compared to income of in the year ago quarter. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations was $0.00 , compared to $0.02 in the year ago quarter. Adjusted earnings per diluted share 2 for the quarter was $0.02 vs. $0.03 last year.

, compared to in the year ago quarter. Adjusted earnings per diluted share for the quarter was vs. last year. Cash flow from operations was $12.9 million , compared to $7.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

, compared to in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA 2 was $7.1 million , an Adjusted EBITDA margin 2 of 25%, compared to $6.1 million and 22% in the year-ago quarter.

was , an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 25%, compared to and 22% in the year-ago quarter. Cash was $7.9 million and net debt 2 was $8.1 million at quarter end.

and net debt was at quarter end. During the second quarter, the Company announced an additional $12 million authorization under its stock repurchase program, increasing the overall share buyback program running through June 2022 to a total of $20 million .

Commenting on the quarter, Art Zeile, President and CEO of DHI Group, Inc., said:

"The second quarter represented a revenue inflection point for DHI Group as we have turned the corner and are now on an upward revenue growth trajectory. As a result of our continued strong bookings1 performance, DHI returned to total revenue growth year over year for the first time in several years. Our bookings1 continued to strengthen month by month, across all teams, and we ended the quarter with total bookings1 growth of 23% year over year. Additionally, our Dice revenue renewal rate continued to strengthen in the second quarter and came in at 89 percent, up from 82 percent in the prior quarter and we ended the quarter with over 90% of our total revenue being subscription based.

"We created the industry-leading online marketplace for matching companies with the highest quality tech professionals, and with enterprises focused on tech-enabling their businesses, we are poised to benefit from the increase in hiring. Our confidence in our sales teams' strong performance over the past three quarters led us to hire more sales reps again this quarter as we look to capitalize on the millions of new technologist jobs expected over the next five years."

Business Outlook

"We expect the strong bookings1 performance we've had over the past three quarters to result in increasing total revenue growth throughout the remainder of 2021," commented Kevin Bostick, CFO of DHI Group, Inc. "We will continue to operate the business to Adjusted EBITDA margins2 at or near 20% as we balance our delivery of strong financial performance with sales and marketing investment to spur increased long-term revenue growth."

Product Highlights

Below are the key product highlights delivered during the second quarter:

Dice

Dice TalentSearch Social Data Refresh launched adding data and profiles from over 90 web sources. The powerful combination of refreshed social data and Dice profiles allow Dice to be the single source for the most comprehensive view of a technologist in the United States . Recruiters and employers now have a 360-degree view of candidates in Dice TalentSearch and don't have to go anywhere else when sourcing for their technology positions.

ClearanceJobs

CJ Team Recruiting enables a recruitment team to combine their candidate pipelines, allowing recruiters to tag candidates other recruiters from their company have interviewed, exclude those same candidates from search results, and see whether other recruiters from their company have connected with a candidate of interest. These new capabilities will increase the efficiency of the recruiting and hiring cycles.

1See definition later in this press release.

2 See "Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" later in this press release.

Conference Call Information

Art Zeile, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Kevin Bostick, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call today, August 5, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company's financial results and recent developments.

The call can be accessed by dialing 844-890-1790 (in the U.S.) or +1-412-380-7407 (outside the U.S.). Please ask to be placed into the DHI Group, Inc. call. A live webcast of the call will simultaneously be available through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, https://www.dhigroupinc.com , and available for replay after the call ends.

About DHI Group, Inc.

DHI Group, Inc (NYSE: DHX) is a provider of AI-powered career marketplaces that focus on technology roles. DHI's two brands, Dice and ClearanceJobs, enable recruiters and hiring managers to efficiently search for and connect with highly skilled technologists based on the skills requested. The Company's patent-pending algorithms manage over 100,000 unique technology skills. Additionally, our marketplaces allow technology professionals to find their ideal next career opportunity, with relevant advice and personalized insights. Learn more at www.dhigroupinc.com.

Investor Contact

Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers

MKR Investor Relations, Inc.

212-448-4181

[email protected]

Media Contact

Rachel Ceccarelli

VP of Engagement

212-448-8288

[email protected]

Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided certain non-GAAP financial information as additional information for its operating results. These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, measures in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") and may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP measures reported by other companies. The Company believes that its presentation of non-GAAP measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, and Net Debt provides useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the Company's management uses these measures for reviewing the financial results of the Company and for budgeting and planning purposes. The non-GAAP measures apply to consolidated results or other measures as shown within this document. The Company has provided required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures elsewhere in the document.

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is a non-GAAP metric and performance measure that is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in the analysis of operating trends. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is computed as diluted earnings per share plus or minus the impacts of certain non-cash and other items, including non-cash impairments, costs related to reorganizing the Company, including severance and related costs, gains or losses on the sale of businesses, disposition costs, unrealized gains or losses on equity securities, and discrete tax items.

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is not a measurement of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to diluted earnings per share, net income, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our profitability.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP metrics used by management to measure operating performance. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure for internal monitoring and planning, including preparation of annual budgets, analyzing investment decisions and evaluating profitability and performance comparisons between us and our competitors. The Company also uses this measure to calculate amounts of performance based compensation under the senior management incentive bonus program. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income plus (to the extent deducted in calculating such net income) interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock based compensation, losses resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business including prior negative operating results of those divested businesses, certain writeoffs in connection with indebtedness, impairment charges with respect to long-lived assets, expenses incurred in connection with an equity offering or any other offering of securities by the Company, extraordinary or non-recurring non-cash expenses or losses, transaction costs in connection with the credit agreement, deferred revenues written off in connection with acquisition purchase accounting adjustments, writeoff of non-cash stock based compensation expense, severance and retention costs related to dispositions and reorganizations of the Company, losses related to legal claims and fees that are unusual in nature or infrequent, minus (to the extent included in calculating such net income) non-cash income or gains, interest income, business interruption insurance proceeds, and any income or gain resulting from certain dispositions outside the ordinary course of business, including prior positive operating results of those divested businesses, and gains related to legal claims that are unusual in nature or infrequent.

We also consider Adjusted EBITDA, as defined above, to be an important indicator to investors because it provides information related to our ability to provide cash flows to meet future debt service, capital expenditures and working capital requirements and to fund future growth. We present Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental performance measure because we believe that this measure provides our board of directors, management and investors with additional information to measure our performance, provide comparisons from period to period and company to company by excluding potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense) and tax positions (such as the impact on periods or companies of changes in effective tax rates or net operating losses), and to estimate our value.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin is computed as Adjusted EBITDA divided by Revenues.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to revenue, net income, operating income, cash provided by operating activities, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our profitability.

Net Debt

Net Debt is defined as total principal outstanding on our debt less cash and cash equivalents. We consider Net Debt to be an important measure of liquidity and indicator of our ability to meet ongoing obligations. We also use Net Debt, among other measures, in evaluating our choices for capital deployment. Net Debt presented herein is a non-GAAP measure and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives contain forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations. These statements often include words such as "may," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate" or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to execute our tech-focused strategy, competition from existing and future competitors in the highly competitive markets in which we operate, failure to adapt our business model to keep pace with rapid changes in the recruiting and career services business, failure to maintain and develop our reputation and brand recognition, failure to increase or maintain the number of customers who purchase recruitment packages, cyclicality or downturns in the economy or industries we serve, the impact of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak on our operations and financial results, the uncertainty in respect of the regulation of data protection and data privacy, failure to attract qualified professionals to our websites or grow the number of qualified professionals who use our websites, failure to successfully identify or integrate acquisitions, U.S. and foreign government regulation of the Internet and taxation, our ability to borrow funds under our revolving credit facility or refinance our indebtedness and restrictions on our current and future operations under such indebtedness. These factors and others are discussed in more detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available on the Investors page of our website at www.dhigroupinc.com, including the Company's most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings under the headings "Risk Factors," "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made by the Company or its representatives herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect us. We have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.

DHI GROUP, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) (in thousands, except per share amounts)





























Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,







2021

2020

2021

2020





















Revenues $ 28,721



$ 27,596



$ 55,397



$ 56,981























Operating expenses:













Cost of revenues 3,593



3,499



7,295



6,983

Product development 3,510



3,401



7,112



7,142

Sales and marketing 10,151



9,564



19,922



21,112

General and administrative 6,939



6,904



13,093



14,119

Depreciation 4,040



2,573



7,671



5,340

Impairment of intangible assets 











7,200



Total operating expenses 28,233



25,941



55,093



61,896

Operating income (loss) 488



1,655



304



(4,915)

Interest expense and other (87)



(161)



(282)



(349)

Impairment of equity investment 











(2,002)

Unrealized gain (loss) on equity security (674)







1,839





Income (loss) before income taxes (273)



1,494



1,861



(7,266)

Income tax expense (benefit) (61)



332



61



(893)

Income (loss) from continuing operations (212)



1,162



1,800



(6,373)

Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax (29,999)



700



(29,340)



1,685

Net income (loss) $ (30,211)



$ 1,862



$ (27,540)



$ (4,688)























Basic earnings (loss) per share - continuing operations

$ 



$ 0.02



$ 0.04



$ (0.13)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share - continuing operations

$ 



$ 0.02



$ 0.04



$ (0.13)























Basic earnings (loss) per share - discontinued operations

$ (0.64)



$ 0.01



$ (0.62)



$ 0.03

Diluted earnings (loss) per share - discontinued operations

$ (0.64)



$ 0.01



$ (0.60)



$ 0.03























Basic earnings (loss) per share

$ (0.64)



$ 0.04



$ (0.58)



$ (0.10)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share

$ (0.64)



$ 0.04



$ (0.56)



$ (0.10)























Weighted-average basic shares outstanding

47,227



48,427



47,111



48,781

Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding

47,227



49,691



48,854



48,781

























DHI GROUP, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) (in thousands)

























Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,





2021

2020

2021

2020 Cash flows from (used in) operating activities:















Net income (loss) $ (30,211)



$ 1,862



$ (27,540)



$ (4,688)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash flows from (used in) operating activities:















Depreciation 4,349



3,019



8,445



6,272



Deferred income taxes (647)



458



(951)



(804)



Amortization of deferred financing costs 37



37



74



74



Stock based compensation 2,302



1,615



4,060



3,411



Impairment of intangible assets 











7,200



Impairment of equity investment 











2,002



Unrealized loss (gain) on equity security 674







(1,839)







Gain on sale of equity investment 



(200)







(200)



Change in accrual for unrecognized tax benefits 23



63



82



(18)



Loss on disposition of discontinued operations 30,203







30,203





Changes in operating assets and liabilities:















Accounts receivable 6,901



4,876



3,556



2,765



Prepaid expenses and other assets (1,002)



313



(373)



355



Capitalized contract costs 240



121



(554)



980



Accounts payable and accrued expenses 1,763



2,526



(4,507)



(4,242)



Income taxes receivable/payable 486



101



1,613



255



Deferred revenue (2,233)



(8,423)



7,118



(4,041)



Other, net (11)



719



(89)



699

Net cash flows from operating activities 12,874



7,087



19,298



10,020

Cash flows from (used in) investing activities:















Cash transferred with discontinued operations (2,951)







(2,951)







Cash received from sale of equity investment 



200







200



Purchases of fixed assets (3,119)



(4,117)



(6,822)



(8,405)

Net cash flows used in investing activities (6,070)



(3,917)



(9,773)



(8,205)

Cash flows from (used in) financing activities:















Payments on long-term debt (4,000)



(7,444)



(9,000)



(9,444)



Proceeds from long-term debt 



7,444



5,000



36,444



Payments under stock repurchase plan (1,775)



(3,433)



(3,444)



(5,076)



Purchase of treasury stock related to vested restricted and performance stock units (483)



(175)



(1,826)



(1,523)

Net cash flows from (used in) financing activities (6,258)



(3,608)



(9,270)



20,401

Effect of exchange rate changes 40



90



10



(122)

Net change in cash and cash equivalents for the period 586



(348)



265



22,094

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 7,319



27,823



7,640



5,381

Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 7,905



$ 27,475



$ 7,905



$ 27,475



DHI GROUP, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (in thousands)











ASSETS June 30, 2021

December 31, 2020 Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents $ 7,905



$ 4,542



Accounts receivable, net 13,727



16,134



Income taxes receivable 



533



Equity security 1,839







Prepaid and other current assets 4,000



4,101



Current assets of discontinued operations 



8,175





Total current assets 27,471



33,485

Fixed assets, net 21,982



23,033

Acquired intangible assets 23,800



23,800

Capitalized contract costs 6,695



6,189

Goodwill 128,100



128,100

Operating lease right-of-use assets 9,771



10,804

Equity investment 3,640





Other assets 1,542



1,378

Non-current assets of discontinued operations 



14,198





Total assets $ 223,001



$ 240,987

























LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY





Current liabilities







Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 13,325



$ 15,308



Operating lease liabilities 2,246



2,075



Deferred revenue 42,230



35,547



Income taxes payable 997







Current liabilities of discontinued operations 



12,455





Total current liabilities 58,798



65,385

Long-term debt, net 15,656



19,583

Deferred income taxes 8,932



9,765

Deferred revenue 958



1,035

Accrual for unrecognized tax benefits 1,024



941

Operating lease liabilities 8,191



9,371

Other long-term liabilities 1,944



2,049

Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations 



5,288





Total liabilities 95,503



113,417





Total stockholders' equity 127,498



127,570





Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 223,001



$ 240,987















Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Reconciliations

On the pages that follow, the Company has provided certain supplemental information that we believe will assist the reader in assessing our business operations and performance, including certain non-GAAP financial information and required reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measure. A statement of operations and statement of cash flows for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 and balance sheets as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 are provided elsewhere in this press release.

DHI GROUP, INC. NON-GAAP SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (Unaudited) (in thousands)



Revenue



Q2 2021

Q2 2020

$ Change

% Change Dice

$ 20,583



$ 20,489



$ 94



% ClearanceJobs

8,138



7,107



1,031



15% Total Revenues

$ 28,721



$ 27,596



$ 1,125



4%

















Income (loss) from continuing operations1

$ (212)



$ 1,162









Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax

$ (29,999)



$ 700









Net Income (loss)

$ (30,211)



$ 1,862









Diluted earnings (loss) per share - continuing operations

$ 



$ 0.02









Diluted earnings (loss) per share - discontinued operations

$ (0.64)



$ 0.01









Diluted earnings (loss) per share

$ (0.64)



$ 0.04









Adjusted diluted earnings per share

$ 0.02



$ 0.03









Adjusted EBITDA

$ 7,114



$ 6,115









Adjusted EBITDA Margin

25%



22%































Revenue



YTD 2021

YTD 2020

$ Change

% Change Dice

$ 39,634



$ 42,974



$ (3,340)



(8)% ClearanceJobs

15,763



14,007



1,756



13% Total Revenues

$ 55,397



$ 56,981



$ (1,584)



(3)%

















Income (loss) from continuing operations2

$ 1,800



$ (6,373)









Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax

$ (29,340)



$ 1,685









Net Loss

$ (27,540)



$ (4,688)









Diluted earnings (loss) per share - continuing operations

$ 0.04



$ (0.13)









Diluted earnings (loss) per share - discontinued operations

$ (0.60)



$ 0.03









Diluted loss per share

$ (0.56)



$ (0.10)









Adjusted diluted earnings per share

$ 0.02



$ 0.04









Adjusted EBITDA

$ 12,725



$ 11,670









Adjusted EBITDA Margin

23%



20%



























(1) For the three months ended June 30, 2021, the Company recorded an unrealized loss on an equity security and disposition, severance and related costs, all net of tax, and discrete tax iems that negatively impacted income from continuing operations $1.1 million. For the three months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recorded disposition, severance and related costs, net of tax, that negatively impacted income from continuing operations $0.1 million. (2) For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company recorded disposition, severance and related costs and an unrealized gain on an equity security, all net of tax, and discrete tax items that positively impacted income from continuing operations by $0.9 million. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recorded impairments of intangible assets and equity investments, a gain from sale of equity investment, and disposition, severance and related costs, all net of tax, and discrete tax items that negatively impacted income from continuing operations by $8.5 million.

DHI GROUP, INC. NON-GAAP SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (CONTINUED) (Unaudited) (in thousands)

Bookings1

Q2 2021

Q2 2020

$ Change

% Change Dice $ 20,215



$ 16,119



$ 4,096



25% ClearanceJobs 7,648



6,509



1,139



17% Total Bookings $ 27,863



$ 22,628



$ 5,235



23%

















YTD 2021

YTD 2020

$ Change

% Change Dice $ 48,140



$ 45,089



$ 3,051



7% ClearanceJobs 18,241



16,249



1,992



12% Total Bookings $ 66,381



$ 61,338



$ 5,043



8%















(1) Bookings represent the value of all contractually committed services in which the contract start date is during the period and will be recognized as revenue within 12 months of the contract start date. For contracts that extend beyond 12 months, the value of those contracts beyond 12 months is recognized as bookings on each annual anniversary of each contract start date valued as the amount of revenue that will be recognized within 12 months of the respective anniversary date.





Average Monthly Revenue per Recruitment Package Customer1

Q2 2021

Q2 2020

YTD 2021

YTD 2020 Dice $ 1,124



$ 1,131



$ 1,126



$ 1,142

ClearanceJobs 1,394



1,353



1,384



1,328



(1) Calculated by dividing recruitment package customer revenue by the daily average count of recruitment package customers during each month, adjusted to reflect a thirty day month. The simple average of each month is used to derive the amount for the periods..











Renewal Rates Renewal Rate on Revenue: Q2 2021

Q2 2020

YTD 2021

YTD 2020 Dice

89%





61%





84%





70%

ClearanceJobs

97%





93%





92%





93%

























Renewal Rate on Count:





















Dice

81%





57%





75%





63%

ClearanceJobs

84%





76%





83%





75%





































































Recruitment Package Customers

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020 Dice 5,441



5,450

ClearanceJobs 1,784



1,652





























Deferred Revenue and Backlog

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020 Deferred Revenue $ 43,188



$ 40,351

Contractual commitments not invoiced 31,890



19,029

Backlog1 $ 75,078



$ 59,380









(1) Backlog consists of deferred revenue plus customer contractual commitments not invoiced representing the

value of future services to be rendered under committed contracts.

DHI GROUP, INC. NON-GAAP SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (CONTINUED) (Unaudited) (in thousands)









Debt to Net Debt



June 30, 2021

December 31, 2020 Long term debt, net



$ 15,656

$ 19,583 Add: Deferred financing costs, net



344

417 Principal debt outstanding



16,000

20,000 Less: Cash and cash equivalents



7,905

4,542 Net Debt



$ 8,095

$ 15,458



























Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share

Q2 2021

Q2 2020

YTD 2021

YTD 2020 Diluted earnings (loss) per share1 $ (0.64)



$ 0.04



$ (0.56)



$ (0.10)

Impairment of intangible assets and equity investment, net of tax 











0.15

Disposition, severance, and related costs, net of tax 0.01







0.02



0.01

Unrealized loss (gain) on equity security 0.01







(0.03)





Discrete tax items 







(0.01)



0.01

Loss (income) from discontinued operations 0.61



(0.01)



0.60



(0.03)

Other2 0.03













Adjusted diluted earnings per share3 $ 0.02



$ 0.03



$ 0.02



$ 0.04

















(1) For the three month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, diluted earnings per share utilized weighted average shares of 47.2 million and 49.7 million, respectively. For the six month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, diluted earnings per share utilized weighted average shares of 48.9 million and 48.8 million, respectively. (2) Adjusts, as applicable, for the share impact of common stock equivalents, where dilutive. (3) For the three month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, adjusted diluted earnings per share utilized weighted average shares of 49.1 million and 49.7 million, respectively. For the six month periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, adjusted diluted earnings per share utilized weighted average shares of 48.9 million and 50.2 million, respectively.

DHI GROUP, INC. NON-GAAP SUPPLEMENTAL DATA (CONTINUED) (Unaudited) (dollars in thousands, except per customer data)







































Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliations



Q2 2021

Q2 2020

YTD 2021

YTD 2020 Reconciliation of Net Income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA:













Net income (loss) $ (30,211)



$ 1,862



$ (27,540)



$ (4,688)



Interest expense 185



365



373



545



Income tax expense (benefit) (61)



332



61



(893)



Depreciation 4,040



2,573



7,671



5,340



Non-cash stock based compensation 1,834



1,475



3,438



3,133



Impairment of intangible assets 











7,200



Impairment of equity investment 











2,002



Unrealized loss (gain) on equity security 674







(1,839)







Gain on sale of equity investment 



(200)







(200)



Severance and related costs 749



412



1,311



913



Loss (income) on discontinued operations, net of tax 29,999



(700)



29,340



(1,685)



Other (95)



(4)



(90)



3

Adjusted EBITDA $ 7,114



$ 6,115



$ 12,725



$ 11,670

















Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flows to Adjusted EBITDA:













Net cash provided by operating activities $ 12,874



$ 7,087



$ 19,298



$ 10,020



Interest expense 185



365



373



545



Amortization of deferred financing costs (37)



(37)



(74)



(74)



Income tax expense (benefit) (61)



332



61



(893)



Deferred income taxes 647



(458)



951



804



Change in accrual for unrecognized tax benefits (23)



(63)



(82)



18



Change in accounts receivable (6,901)



(4,876)



(3,556)



(2,765)



Change in deferred revenue 2,233



8,423



(7,118)



4,041



Discontinued operations results (1,937)



(1,671)



(3,593)



(3,633)



Severance and related costs 749



412



1,311



913



Changes in working capital and other (615)



(3,399)



5,154



2,694

Adjusted EBITDA $ 7,114



$ 6,115



$ 12,725



$ 11,670



SOURCE DHI Group, Inc.

Related Links

https://dhigroupinc.com


NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD), a global leader in driving connected commerce across the financial and retail industries, announced today that Jeffrey Rutherford, chief financial officer, will participate in the Oppenheimer 24th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference. In a virtual presentation, Rutherford will discuss how the company is transforming its business model and leveraging its competitive differentiation for growth.

The discussion will begin at 11:35 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 10. A live audio webcast of the event can be accessed at https://wsw.com/webcast/oppenheimer15/dbd/2493652, and a replay will be available on Diebold Nixdorf's investor relations website at Events & Presentations.

About Diebold Nixdorf

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) is a world leader in enabling connected commerce. We automate, digitize and transform the way people bank and shop. As a partner to the majority of the world's top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, our integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 22,000 employees worldwide. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/diebold

Twitter: twitter.com/dieboldnixdorf

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DieboldNixdorf

YouTube: www.youtube.com/dieboldnixdorf

DN-F

SOURCE Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated

Related Links

https://www.dieboldnixdorf.com


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Contact

BizVibe

Jesse Maida

Email: [email protected]

+1 855-897-5880

Website: https://www.bizvibe.com/



SOURCE BizVibe

Related Links

https://www.bizvibe.com/


NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Dr. Randal Pinkett and Lawrence Hibbert, Founding Partners of BCT Partners were named Entrepreneurs of The Year 2021 New Jersey Award winners. The Entrepreneur of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes those who are unstoppable entrepreneurial leaders, excelling in talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans. Dr. Pinkett and Mr. Hibbert were selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was announced during the program's virtual awards gala on July 26, 2021.

Dr. Randal Pinkett Mr. Lawrence Hibbert

As Mr. Hibbert stated, "Randal and I are so proud to have won this award. When we started BCT Partners with our two other founders, we had vision and determination but no guarantee as to whether that would translate into a long-lasting business. 20 years later, we have not only built a successful company that we are still running together, but we are making a lasting social impact. We are driving diversity, equity, and inclusion forward through the power of our people, data insights and technology."

For 35 years, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies' success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Dr. Pinkett and Mr. Hibbert will go on to become lifetime members of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries  all supported by vast EY resources.

As New Jersey award winners, Dr. Pinkett and Mr. Hibbert are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur of The Year 2021 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur off The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

The Entrepreneur of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:

Brian Niccol of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Saeju Jeong of Noom

Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.

of Carbon, Inc. Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation

of Starbucks Corporation Jodi Berg of Vitamix

of Vitamix Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn

and of LinkedIn Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani

of Chobani Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

of Kendra Scott LLC Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks

and of Arista Networks James Park of Fitbit

of Fitbit Daymond John of Fubu

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In New Jersey sponsors also include DLA Piper, Marsh McLennan, and PNC Bank.

About Entrepreneur of The Year

Entrepreneur of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

About BCT Partners:

BCT Partners is a national consulting firm that works with government agencies, Fortune 500 corporations, nonprofits, and foundations. Their mission is to harness the power of diversity, people, and technology to transform lives. Forbes has recognized BCT for two years in a row as one of America's Best Management Consulting Firms, Manage HR Magazine as one of the Top 10 Diversity and Inclusion Consulting/Service Companies, and the Black Enterprise BE100 list as one of the nation's largest African American-owned businesses. You can learn more by visiting: www.BCTPartners.com.

Patricia Neuray

Tangelo Media

917-748-7127

[email protected]

SOURCE BCT Partners

Related Links

http://www.BCTPartners.com


"It's truly an honor to receive this award. Entrepreneurs, like myself, seldom set out to do this for the recognition. We have a passion and dream that drives us. It's wired into us to build something for our team, our community, or for society. To have that effort and success recognized with an award like this is amazing."  Sam Thigpen, CEO of Sapphire Gas Solutions

For 35 years, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies' success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Sam Thigpen will go on to become a lifetime member of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries  all supported by vast EY resources.

As a Gulf Coast Area award winner, Mr. Thigpen is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:

Brian Niccol of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Saeju Jeong of Noom

Joe DeSimone of Carbon , Inc.

of , Inc. Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation

of Starbucks Corporation Jodi Berg of Vitamix

of Vitamix Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn

and of LinkedIn Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani

of Chobani Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

of Kendra Scott LLC Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks

and of Arista Networks James Park of Fitbit

of Fitbit Daymond John of Fubu

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In the Gulf Coast Area, sponsors also include Colliers International, DLA Piper, LLC, PNC Bank, Houston Business Journal, Pierpont Communications, and SolomonEdwards.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

SOURCE Sapphire Gas Solutions
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexential, a leading provider of data center colocation, cloud and connectivity services, today announced it has entered into a leaseback agreement with Legacy Investing and Invesco Real Estate. The deal will enable a 130,000 square foot expansion of Flexential's state-of-the-art Plano, Texas facility, more than doubling capacity at that data center to over 260,000 square feet and bringing Flexential's Dallas market capacity to over 432,000 square feet.

This agreement follows a recent sale-leaseback partnership with Legacy Investing and Invesco Real Estate for Flexential's Hillsboro 3 data center in Portland in April 2020. The continued support of Legacy Investors and Invesco Real Estate demonstrates the value of the Flexential brand overall and its franchise in the Dallas market.

With rapidly growing demand for data center services in Plano and the broader Dallas market, the partnership between Flexential, Legacy and Invesco Real Estate will enable Flexential to quickly and efficiently bring this project to market while giving Legacy and Invesco Real Estate an excellent investment opportunity.

"Our continued partnership with Legacy Investing and Invesco Real Estate allows Flexential to expand at an even faster rate to meet heightened demand in hypergrowth markets such as Plano, Texas and Portland," said Chris Downie, CEO, Flexential. "We are committed to continued investment in the 38 highly connected data centers in our platform of hybrid IT infrastructure solutions and are pleased that this partnership is enabling us to realize quick and efficient growth."

"We are pleased to continue our partnership with Flexential, a national market leader, to meet the massive and growing demand for data center services in the Dallas region," said Jay Rappaport, Legacy Investing CEO and co-founder. "This mutually beneficial partnership is part of our broader focus on data center real estate and will allow Flexential to concentrate its capital on operations to maximize its returns."

"We are pleased to continue expanding our data center footprint into a new market for Invesco Real Estate. Our continued collaboration with Legacy and Flexential is representative of our growing commitment to the data center sector. We look forward to significantly growing these important relationships in the future," said Joshua Siegel, Managing Director, Transactions, Invesco Real Estate.

About Flexential

Flexential empowers the IT journey of the nation's most complex businesses by offering flexible and tailored hybrid IT solutions comprised of colocation, cloud, connectivity, data protection, managed, and professional services. The company builds on a platform of three million square feet of data center space in 19 highly connected markets, and on the FlexAnywhere 100GB private backbone to meet the most stringent challenges in security, compliance, and resiliency. See how Flexential goes beyond the four walls of the data center to empower IT through an interactive map found on www.flexential.com.

Flexential is a registered trademark of the Flexential Corp. Follow Flexential on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

About Legacy Investing, LLC

Headquartered in Northern Virginia and founded by seasoned technology company executives, Legacy Investing focuses on mission critical real estate impacted by new technologies: digital and physical supply chains, future workplaces, and life sciences. Legacy's principals have leveraged this platform and their public company C-level experience across the past two decades to complete more than $2.75 billion in transactions across 19 million square feet of data centers, e-commerce distribution centers, cold storage, modern office buildings, and life sciences facilities on behalf of select family office and institutional investors. Legacy leverages its expertise on technology's impact on tenant demand, site selection, and leasing to target and position properties to meet those needs and create long-term real estate value. For more information, see www.LegacyInvesting.com.

About Invesco Real Estate

Invesco Real Estate is a global leader in the real estate investment management business with $83.2 billion in real estate assets under management, 588 employees and 21 regional offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia (as of March 31, 2021). Invesco Real Estate has been actively investing in core, value-add and opportunistic real estate strategies since 1992. Invesco Real Estate is a business name of Invesco Advisers, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. Invesco Ltd. is an independent investment management firm dedicated to delivering an investment experience that helps people get more out of life.NYSE: IVZ; www.invesco.com.

Contact:

Courtney Gaudet,

303-579-4353

[email protected]

SOURCE Flexential

Related Links

http://www.flexential.com

http://www.LegacyInvesting.com

http://www.invesco.com

http://www.Peak-10.com


"We are excited to add Alan and Richard to our management team," said Genera COO Keith Brazzell. "As we build on our successful launch, the skills and expertise they bring will be crucial to sustaining that success. Both of them are at the top of their professions, and we can't wait to see how they will help shape Genera's future."

Genera's Earthable line of sustainable, ag-based fiber products is designed to meet growing demand for cost-effective and eco-friendly consumer packaging alternatives to single-use plastics and polystyrene.

Turner, who earned his M.B.A. at the University of Tennessee, has extensive experience in the manufacturing sector. He has worked as a plant controller and accounting manager for manufacturers in various industries. He has helped companies improve accounting processes by identifying inefficiencies and reducing costs throughout his career.

Rutherford is a chemist with a master's degree from Middle Tennessee State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. He has worked as a chemist and managed laboratories throughout East Tennessee. He and his teams have earned multiple awards for quality assurance.

"I've been fortunate to have a great deal of experience with manufacturing across a range of industries," Turner said. "What excites me the most about joining Genera is their innovation. The Earthable line is a groundbreaking product that is creating jobs and supporting farmers in our region. I'm privileged to be a part of it."

Rutherford agreed. "The opportunity to help make these amazing products the best they can be is a dream job. I'm excited to work with this dynamic, multi-disciplinary team on Earthable products as well as future innovations."

Genera's fully operational facility processes agricultural crops such as switchgrass into ag-based fiber and the Earthable line of sustainable food-grade, compostable packaging. The facility, which is the largest fully integrated domestic solution for ag-based fiber and food packaging in North America, will host 160 employees at full production.

For more information about Genera, call (423) 884-4119 or visit https://generainc.com.

About Genera

Genera, a Tennessee-based ag fiber manufacturer, works to simplify supply chains with domestically sourced and produced ag-based pulp and molded fiber products. Partnering with local farmers, Genera provides a sustainable farm-to-finished product solution for a wide array of applications including compostable food service tableware, to-go containers, packaging, paper, tissue and more. To learn more about Genera, please visit https://generainc.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

(865) 977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Genera
FACTS AT A GLANCE Edition: 16; Released: May 2021 Executive Pool: 7144 Companies: 107 - Players covered include Applied Ceramics, Inc.; 3M Company; CeramTec TopCo GmbH; COI Ceramics, Inc.; CoorsTek, Inc.; Kyocera Corporation; Materion Corporation; Momentive Performance Materials, Inc.; Morgan Advanced Materials; Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.; NGK Insulators Ltd. and Others. Coverage: All major geographies and key segments Segments: Product Segment (Monolithic Ceramics, Coatings, Matrix Composites); End-Use (Electrical & Electronics, Transportation, Machinery, Chemical, Other End-Uses) Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-



Global Advanced Ceramics Market to Reach $99.5 Billion by 2024

Advanced ceramics also known as industrial ceramics, fine ceramics, engineered ceramics, and enhanced/technical ceramics, are reinforced ceramic compounds that are characterized by excellent thermal, magnetic, optical and electrical properties. Due to these properties, they have emerged as effective alternatives to high-performance plastics and steel. Growth in the global market is expected to be driven by application of the material in new end-use areas and increasing usage in established applications due to the growing recognition of its wide ranging benefits such as corrosion resistance, thermal resistance, and high mechanical strength, among others. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Advanced Ceramics is projected to reach US$99.5 Billion by 2024, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% over the analysis period. China represents the largest regional market for Advanced Ceramics, accounting for an estimated 30.0% share of the global total. The market is projected to reach US$35.6 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China is expected to spearhead growth and emerge as the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 9.5% over the analysis period.

Demand for advanced ceramics continues to be dictated by the manufacturing sector as the materials are widely used in the production of a range of products including industrial machinery, motor vehicles, electrical equipment, aircrafts and electronic components, among others. Other factors to influence market growth include environmental and regulatory issues, level of military activity, pricing patterns and competition from alternative materials among others. Next-generation high-speed communications such as 5G are further expected to offer new ground for expansion for advanced ceramics. The increasing penetration of next generation technologies such as Internet-of-Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, and 3D printing would also benefit the demand for advanced ceramics. Advanced ceramic applications in lightweight body armor, infrared missile domes, aircraft engines, and various space applications are likely to push demand in developed markets. The US is the leading developer and producer of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) and other ceramics utilized in heavy-load applications, supported mostly by NASA and Department of Defense (DoD) funding. Outstanding mechanical resistance and thermal shock properties of advanced ceramic material have created greater demand in military applications in the US. In Europe, low-emission zones established in various European cities, translates to additional sales of ceramic exhaust filters in heavy-duty diesel engines. Growing demand from electronics, medical, and automobile sectors contribute to growth in Asia-Pacific region.

The market for Matrix Composites is forecast to grow the fastest over the analysis period. Growth in the segment is led by growing demand for high performance and lightweight materials from a number of end-use industries. Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) which include ceramic matrix with any fiber reinforcement have emerged as an ideal solution to combat the issue of brittleness. CMCs are highly expensive and are mostly used by high-end industries such as defense and aerospace. The high cost is mainly due to the production process of the composites which is highly energy intensive. In near future, metal mining advancements and advancements in joining technologies is expected to result in reduction of production cost of CMCs, which would likely expand applications for the market. More

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Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android.

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]



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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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FACTS AT A GLANCE Edition: 15; Released: May 2021 Executive Pool: 7022 Companies: 100 - Players covered include Archer Daniels Midland Company; BP plc; Cargill, Inc.; Flint Hills Resources, LLC; Green Plains, Inc.; INEOS; LyondellBasell Industries N.V.; Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation; Pacific Ethanol, Inc.; POET LLC; RaAzen S. A.; The Andersons, Inc.; Valero Energy Corporation; VERBIO AG; Wilmar International Limited and Others. Coverage: All major geographies and key segments Segments: Feedstock Type (Coarse-Grain based, Sugar-based, and Other Feedstock Types); End-Use (Fuel, Industrial Solvents, Beverages, Cosmetics, and Other End-Uses) Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Ethanol Market to Reach $100.3 Billion by 2024

Ethanol, also known as Ethyl Alcohol or Grain Alcohol (ETOH), is a clear, colorless, volatile, flammable liquid with pleasant odor. Global market for ethanol is forecast to grow at a high rate driven by the sustained increase in demand from biofuel and food & beverage industries. The growing consumer awareness about eco-friendly products and supportive government policies are driving growth in the ethanol market. Ethanol use in industries such as automotive, chemicals, food & beverages, personal care & cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals continues to grow. The focus on technology advancements and development of low cost feedstock is also favoring growth. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Ethanol is projected to reach US$100.3 Billion by 2024, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% over the analysis period. United States represents the largest regional market for Ethanol, accounting for an estimated 45.1% share of the global total. The market is projected to reach US$45.3 Billion by close of the analysis period. China is expected to spearhead growth and emerge as the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 8.9% over the analysis period.

A major factor fueling growth in ethanol market is the rising prominence of ethanol as a fuel or fuel additive in the automotive industry. Ethanol fuel offers advantages due to the low carbon monoxide products compared to gasoline-powered engines. The addition of ethanol to fuel is also being propelled by its ability to burn much cleaner than pure gas, thus facilitating in reducing carbon footprint. Ethanol is widely used in the production of alcoholic beverages such as cider, beer, ale, and wine. Ethanol is also used as a natural production for extracting and concentrating flavors and aromas in non-alcoholic beverages. Skyrocketing crude prices and increasing concern of greenhouse gases are expected to boost the demand for ethanol both in the developed and developing countries over the next several years. Additionally, a ban on MTBE in several countries including the US is another boon for the ethanol market. Demand for ethanol is also growing from food processing industry in the US. The high consumption of processed, packaged and frozen foods and high consumption of alcoholic beverages is driving demand for ethanol. With rising environmental concerns and depletion of fossil fuel sources affecting fuel supplies, the regional governments in countries such as China, India, Vietnam and Thailand are promoting the use of alternatives such as fuel ethanol. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

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Journalists & Media

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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"As COVID-19 infections and the Delta variant spread like wildfire in Blue KC's backyard, you'd think this insurance company would make people their priority, not profits," said Kirk Thompson, a partner with GS Labs. "Instead, Blue KC grossly violated the plain language of the CARES Act and violated federal law. We cannot let them get away with this scheme and we can't let this company prevent residents from getting COVID tests they absolutely need."

As incentivized by Congressional legislation, GS Labs' entrepreneur-owners stepped up last year amid a national health crisis to develop best-in-industry COVID-19 testing technology and customer service. The owners invested $37 million to build and staff a national testing business, including establishing testing operations in 27 locations, hiring nearly 3,000 essential workers, and developing infrastructure to handle internal billing, communications and the labs' 24-hour hotline, staffed around the clock by registered nurses.

GS Labs' state-of-the-art custom technology platform  another critical infrastructure investment  serves as many as 1,000 patients per day, seven days a week at each of 27 testing sites nationwide. This unique platform allows patients to book within 15 minutes of their proposed appointment and to receive accurate rapid results in as little as 20 minutes.

The CARES Act makes clear that insurance carriers must pay for COVID-19 testing for insured members. Section 3202(a) states: "If the health plan or issuer does not have a negotiated rate with such provider, such plan or issuer shall reimburse the provider in an amount that equals the cash price for such service as listed by the provider on a public internet website, or such plan or issuer may negotiate a rate with such provider for less than such cash price."

GS Labs had been in the midst of ongoing price negotiations with Blue KC. Rather than participate in good faith, the insurance giant instead used the more than 20,000 pages of documents provided by GS Labs to file a surprise lawsuit and launch a media ambush.

"The law was meant to be simple: Insurance companies like Blue KC are responsible to pay for COVID tests," Thompson added. "This is a perfect example of Big Insurance trying to make things absurdly complicated to avoid paying what they owe. Blue KC had the opportunity to discuss their concerns with us directly, but instead resorted to ambushing us with false claims and a reckless lawsuit."

Other Blue Cross Blue Shield companies have paid GS Lab's cash price without negotiation or filing a baseless lawsuit.

Blue KC has paid GS Labs' cash price on a fraction of the submitted claims, while paying arbitrary amounts or stiffing GS Labs on the rest. Thus far, Blue KC has paid $108,945  about 1 percent of the total $9.7 million owed. A total of 34,621 claims remain unpaid. The facts:

Insurers nationwide have agreed to pay the GS Labs cash price for various COVID-19 tests and to pay GS Labs as an out-of-network provider.

Congress, as well as the Trump and Biden Administrations, have clarified that group health plans and health insurance issuers like Blue KC must cover and reimburse COVID19 testing and related services, as codified by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act.

A recent survey by Kaiser Family Foundation found that about 20 percent of COVID-19 diagnostic tests have a cash price of more than $300 .

GS Labs is seeking the full payment of $9.7 million, plus compensatory damages, interest and legal fees. Importantly, the counterclaims seek to defend Blue KC's members from the insurance company itself. This is necessary because Blue KC has attempted to illegally shift its costs to the public by informing some members on their Explanation of Benefits that they are responsible for a portion of the testing fee. The CARES Act expressly forbids such billing.

GS Labs began offering COVID-19 rapid tests in October. Many communities directly requested assistance from GS Labs, due to a lack of testing resources. By keeping testing centers open 12 hours a day during the height of the pandemic  and paying above-market salaries to hire experienced registered nurses and other medical professionals  GS Labs has safely and effectively tested nearly a half-million Americans, including more than 12,000 Blue KC customers. GS Labs offered reduced price testing for financially challenged consumers who could not afford the cash price, but needed safe, accurate rapid results.

"We saw a need for testing and we immediately made a commitment to do our part because that's what American businesses do in a crisis," said Thompson. "The $37 million we spent rushing to aid communities in crisis was money well-spent, as evidenced by the thousands of individuals and families who flocked to our facilities, especially during the holidays. We're not looking for a pat on the back, but we want Blue KC to keep its legal and moral obligation, while letting our patients know we remain here for them as we work to open new sites in the wake of the sweeping Delta variant"

Despite Blue KC's actions, GS Labs plans to reopen soon in the Kansas City area in response to the Delta variant. Mayor Quinton Lucas recently reinstated the city's indoor mask mandate.

"We are proud to have supported communities and consumers and we absolutely will continue to do so," said Thompson, the partner. "We will vigorously defend our business practices and our company's reputation. And we look forward to Blue KC's obeying federal law and paying for the 12,000 tests we provided its members in their moment of need."

Contact:

David Leibowitz,

602.317.1414,

[email protected]

SOURCE GS Labs
"The CFO's role is one of great responsibility and accountability," said Jeffrey A. Flaks, President and CEO of Hartford HealthCare. "Mr. Agba has a deep and varied professional background and brings an expansive and diverse perspective to this role. He has served at major academic medical centers  both internationally and across the eastern seaboard. He is a strategic and innovative leader and most importantly, he is well aligned with Hartford HealthCare's values and our culture. We are delighted that he has chosen to share his broad range of healthcare and financial experience with us."

Since 2016, he has served as a Chief Financial Officer for Cleveland Clinic  first in the Clinic's extensive center in Abu Dhabi, the first integrated health delivery system in the United Arab Emirates; and more recently for Cleveland Clinic's Florida region, which includes five acute-care hospitals, 32 outpatient centers, as well as ambulatory and urgent care operations.

Previously, he was CFO and Treasurer at Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children in Boston. He has also held executive finance positions at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital in Boston, and the Massachusetts-based Partners Healthcare System.

Mr. Agba earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and his Master of Business Administration from Mercer University in Atlanta. He has completed further executive education at the Harvard School of Business.

SOURCE Hartford HealthCare

Related Links

hartfordhealthcare.org


Available in 100mg containers of ten 10mg servings, Lift Off is the latest addition to High Life Farms' wide array of cannabis products, including HLF's Nuggies and award-winning Royal Chocolate Bars. Made with Azuca's patent-pending TiME INFUSION  technology that encapsulates individual cannabinoid molecules, Lift Off easily dissolves in any beverage. Lift Off offers consumers a doseable, user-friendly and discreet method to experiencing a smoker's high, making it a great alternative for consumers who are averse to cannabis inhalables or the high induced by traditional edibles.

"Lift Off is perfect for consumers who want to experience an enjoyable, manageable high without smoking or eating an edible," said High Life Farms Co-founder Ben Celani. "Our team at High Life Farms championed Lift Off from the start, correlating its high experience to relaxing in a hot tub with a glass of wine, sans hangover the next day. We're thrilled to launch Lift Off utilizing Azuca's innovative technology and bring to consumers yet another product that steps outside of the traditional cannabis edibles category."

The infused cannabinoid ingredients bypass the first-pass metabolism effect and absorb Delta-9 THC directly into the soft tissues, providing fast-acting onset within 2-15 minutes on average. By removing the first-pass metabolism effect that converts Delta-9-THC into 11-Hydroxy-THC, LiftOff offers consumers a true Delta-9 THC experience with a euphoric high reminiscent of smoking flower rather than the "couch lock" high associated with 11-Hydroxy THC. AZUCA TiME INFUSION removes the typical distillate flavor to make LiftOff a great tasting drink enhancer without any bitterness. Azuca also powers other successful brands and products, including Wana Brands Wana Quick Fast-Acting Gummies.

"We're proud to partner with High Life Farms and bring our fast-acting TiME INFUSION technology to consumers seeking a new cannabis experience," said Kim Sanchez Rael, President & CEO of Azuca. "At Azuca, we continue to push the envelope in the edibles market with fast-acting, innovative products like Lift Off, and with High Life's reputation for consistent, quality products, we're confident Lift Off will be a success."

For more information, please visit https://highlifefarms.com/.

About High Life Farms

High Life Farms is a national privately held, vertically integrated cannabis company based in Michigan with operations in the world's largest cannabis market: California. High Life Farms' best-in-class portfolio includes cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, in-house brands, brand partnerships, white labeling solutions and ownership stakes in numerous dispensaries. The company believes in the cannabis plant's potential to improve health, wellness, happiness and that everyone should have the right to make choices that improve their personal wellbeing. For more information, visit https://highlifefarms.com/ .



Media Contact:

Juliet Fairbrother

[email protected]

631-338-5343

About Azuca

Azuca is a privately held, investor-backed company that serves the global cannabis industry with best-in class, fast-onset edible delivery systems. Azuca's products are chef-created and powered by its patent pending AZUCA TiME INFUSION process which encapsulates individual cannabinoid molecules, making them "water friendly," for a predictable and controllable experience every time. AZUCA TiME INFUSION is also available in dozens of SKU's, including the Wana Quick gummies line. Azuca's branded and co-branded THC products are available in select dispensaries across the US and Canada. Learn more about Azuca on AZUCATiME.com and Follow Azuca on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Raquel Hochroth

[email protected]

914-374-1213

SOURCE High Life Farms

Related Links

https://highlifefarms.com/


Based in Rochester Hills, Invisible Fence of Michigan became an authorized, full-service dealership of genuine Invisible Fence products and services in 2020. With the addition of three counties, Invisible Fence of Michigan will now serve an addition of 5,000 satisfied customers.

"Even though Invisible Fence of Michigan was acquired just last year, they have already been so vital in our mission to keep dogs and cats safe at home. We look forward to continuing this mission with the team from the Eastern Michigan dealership who has been committed to protecting pets since 1996." Said Ed Hoyt, Director of Invisible Fence.

Acquiring Eastern Michigan is the company's eighth acquisition of the year and the third expansion in Michigan alone. The company just recently acquired Invisible Fence of Westland and now has over 240 authorized dealers. Invisible Fence has the largest support network for pet containment in the US and Canada.

"Expanding our footprint allows us to extend our customer service hours and offer new and innovative solutions that will help customers enjoy their pets even more  all while providing the same high-level of attention customers have come to expect." said Hoyt.

Invisible Fence offers the most premier dog fence on the market including professional installation, Perfect Start Plus Training and exclusive Boundary Plus Technology. Highly recommended by veterinarians, dog trainers, animal behaviorists and other pet experts, Invisible Fence offers pet fences that can be customized for clients' unique needs.

Growing dealerships allows Invisible Fence to continue to support and be involved in their communities. Local animal shelter donations, adoption events and the Project Breathe Program are among some of the ways Invisible Fence of Michigan will continue to contribute to local pet wellness.

For additional information or questions, customers can call 1-800-578-3647, visit InvisibleFence.com, and follow Invisible Fence of Michigan on Facebook.

About Invisible Fence Brand

Invisible Fence pioneered the pet containment industry in 1973, making it their mission to provide safe boundaries inside and outside of the home. The Radio Systems Corporation owned company predominantly sells pet containment, avoidance and access solutions across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to offering award-winning products like Boundary Plus Technology, Authorized Dealers provide professional installation, Perfect Start Plus Training and integrated solutions that have protected more than three million pets to date. Invisible Fence also founded the Project Breathe Program in 2006, donating more than 32,000 pet oxygen masks to fire departments and first responders. For more information on Invisible Fence or to find a local dealer, visit InvisibleFence.com or follow the company on Facebook.

SOURCE Invisible Fence Brand
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP) ("Kimbell" or the "Company"), a leading owner of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests in more than 97,000 gross wells across 28 states, today announced financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights

Q2 2021 run-rate daily production of 14,011 barrels of oil equivalent ("Boe") per day (6:1), up 2% from Q1 2021

Q2 2021 oil, natural gas and NGL revenues of $38.8 million , an increase of 7% from Q1 2021, reflecting improved sequential production and realized commodity prices

, an increase of 7% from Q1 2021, reflecting improved sequential production and realized commodity prices Q2 2021 net income of approximately $3.7 million and net income attributable to common units of approximately $1.5 million ; compared to a Q1 2021 net income of $0.5 million and net loss attributable to common units of $0.7 million

and net income attributable to common units of approximately ; compared to a Q1 2021 net income of and net loss attributable to common units of Record Q2 2021 consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $28.1 million , an increase of 8% from Q1 2021

, an increase of 8% from Q1 2021 Updated guidance relating to favorable tax treatment of earnings and distributions

Kimbell does not expect to pay a material amount of federal corporate income taxes from 2021 through 2027 (less than 5% of Kimbell's estimated pre-tax distributable cash flow for such years)



Substantially all distributions paid to common unitholders from 2021 to 2025 are expected to be free of dividend income taxes and instead considered a return of capita

Completed the redemption of 55% of Kimbell's outstanding Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Units (the "Preferred Units") for an aggregate redemption price of $36.1 million on July 7, 2021

on Kimbell expects to redeem the remaining Preferred Units in early 2022, further simplifying its capital structure and reducing its cost of capital

As of June 30, 2021 , Kimbell's major properties had 799 gross (1.95 net) drilled but uncompleted wells ("DUCs") and 703 gross (2.67 net) permitted locations on its acreage

, Kimbell's major properties had 799 gross (1.95 net) drilled but uncompleted wells ("DUCs") and 703 gross (2.67 net) permitted locations on its acreage As of June 30, 2021 , Kimbell had 50 rigs actively drilling on its acreage, which represented 10.9% 1 market share of all rigs drilling in the continental United States as of such time

, Kimbell had 50 rigs actively drilling on its acreage, which represented 10.9% market share of all rigs drilling in the continental as of such time Announced a Q2 2021 cash distribution of $0.31 per common unit, an increase of 15% from Q1 2021, reflecting a payout ratio of 75% of cash available for distribution; implies an 11.2% annualized yield based on the August 4, 2021 closing price of $11.09 per common unit; Kimbell intends to utilize the remaining 25% of its cash available for distribution to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under Kimbell's revolving credit facility

per common unit, an increase of 15% from Q1 2021, reflecting a payout ratio of 75% of cash available for distribution; implies an 11.2% annualized yield based on the closing price of per common unit; Kimbell intends to utilize the remaining 25% of its cash available for distribution to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under Kimbell's revolving credit facility Kimbell affirms its financial and operational guidance ranges for 2021 previously disclosed in its Q4 2020 earnings release

________________________________

1 Based on Kimbell rig count of 50 and Baker Hughes U.S. land rig count of 459 as of July 2, 2021.

Robert Ravnaas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kimbell's general partner, commented, "Momentum across all areas of our business continued to improve from Q1 21 to Q2 21 in terms of both improved pricing and activity, which drove positive operating leverage and consolidated adjusted EBITDA to a new record. Our cash available for distribution was robust during the quarter, resulting in a 15% increase in our quarterly distribution to common unitholders.

"Operators in the U.S. continue to practice discipline with their drilling activity even in the face of significantly higher commodity prices. To put this in perspective, oil prices are now well above pre-COVID levels, but the U.S. land rig count is 39% below year-end 2019 levels. Furthermore, natural gas prices are trading at multi-year highs driven primarily by increased power demand in the U.S. and surging exports of LNG to Europe and Asia. Given that a significant portion of our daily production is natural gas, we expect this improved pricing will benefit our cash available for distribution in Q3 2021 and into the winter months based on the current strip pricing.

"Last quarter, we rolled-out the results of our deep dive into our inventory by our technical team, which resulted in over 10,160 gross/68.14 net upside major locations and 19 years of drilling inventory holding production flat at 4.5 net wells per year. This quarter, we are providing updated guidance regarding the expected favorable tax treatment of future earnings and distributions to common unitholders. We now expect that Kimbell will pay no material amount of federal income taxes from 2021 through 2027 and substantially all distributions paid to common unitholders from 2021 to 2025 will be free of dividend income taxes and instead be considered a return of capital. We are unaware of any oil and gas company that has given this level of detail with their tax guidance and believe it provides a highly compelling competitive advantage in terms of generating superior after-tax returns to our unitholders.

Ravnaas concluded, "We are seeing signs of increased activity on our acreage as evidenced by a recent inflow of lease bonuses in Q2 21 and the moderate increase in the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count in late July. We believe the energy sector is finally enjoying the early stages of some tailwinds after years of challenges and are very excited about the future of Kimbell and its prospects for delivering unitholder value for years to come."

Second Quarter 2021 Distribution and Debt Repayment

On July 23, 2021, the Board of Directors of Kimbell Royalty GP, LLC, Kimbell's general partner (the "Board of Directors"), approved a cash distribution payment to common unitholders of 75% of cash available for distribution for the second quarter of 2021, or $0.31 per common unit. The distribution will be payable on August 9, 2021 to common unitholders of record at the close of business on August 2, 2021. Kimbell plans to utilize the remaining 25% of cash available for distribution for the second quarter of 2021 to pay down a portion of the outstanding borrowings under its secured revolving credit facility. Since May 2020 (excluding the expected upcoming pay down from the remaining 25% of Q2 2021 projected cash available for distribution), Kimbell has paid down approximately $30.6 million of outstanding borrowings under its secured revolving credit facility by allocating a portion of its cash available for distribution for debt pay down.

Kimbell expects that substantially all of its second quarter 2021 distribution will not constitute taxable dividend income and instead will generally result in a non-taxable reduction to the tax basis of unitholders' common units. The reduced tax basis will increase unitholders' capital gain (or decrease unitholders' capital loss) when unitholders sell their common units.

Financial Highlights

Kimbell's second quarter 2021 average realized price per Bbl of oil was $63.62, per Mcf of natural gas was $2.68, per Bbl of NGLs was $25.79 and per Boe combined was $29.50.

During the second quarter of 2021, the Company's total revenues were $25.7 million, net income was approximately $3.7 million and net income attributable to common units was approximately $1.5 million, or $0.04 per common unit.

Total second quarter 2021 consolidated Adjusted EBITDA was $28.1 million (consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please see a reconciliation to the nearest GAAP financial measures at the end of this news release).

In the second quarter of 2021, G&A expense was $6.7 million, $3.9 million of which was Cash G&A expense, or $3.09 per Boe (Cash G&A and Cash G&A per Boe are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see definition under Non-GAAP Financial Measures at the end of this news release). Unit-based compensation in the second quarter of 2021, which is a non-cash G&A expense, was $2.7 million or $2.15 per Boe.

In spite of further stabilization in the oil and natural gas markets and improved differentials and commodity prices, Kimbell believes that the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and potential supply/demand imbalances in the oil and natural gas markets could have an adverse effect on Kimbell's business, production, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations during 2021.

As of June 30, 2021, Kimbell had approximately $162.9 million in debt outstanding under its secured revolving credit facility, had net debt to second quarter 2021 trailing twelve month consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of approximately 1.7x and was in compliance with all financial covenants under its secured revolving credit facility. Kimbell had approximately $102.1 million in undrawn capacity under its secured revolving credit facility as of June 30, 2021.

As of June 30, 2021 and August 5, 2021, Kimbell had outstanding 42,916,472 common units and 17,611,579 Class B units.

Production

Second quarter 2021 average daily production was 14,393 Boe per day (6:1), which consisted of 382 Boe per day related to prior period production recognized in Q2 2021 and 14,011 Boe per day of run-rate production. The 14,011 Boe per day of run-rate production was composed of approximately 61% from natural gas (6:1) and approximately 39% from liquids (26% from oil and 13% from NGLs). The prior period production recognized in Q2 2021 was primarily due to new wells outperforming estimates.

Operational Update

As of June 30, 2021, Kimbell's major properties had 799 gross (1.95 net) DUCs and 703 gross (2.67 net) permitted locations on its acreage. In addition, as of June 30, 2021, Kimbell had 50 rigs actively drilling on its acreage, which represents an approximate 10.9% market share of all land rigs drilling in the continental United States as of such time.

Basin Gross DUCs as of

June 30, 2021(1) Gross Permits as of

June 30, 2021(1) Net DUCs as of

June 30, 2021(1) Net Permits as of

June 30, 2021(1) Permian 302 292 0.64 0.77 Eagle Ford 71 73 0.33 0.59 Haynesville 73 39 0.27 0.15 Mid-Continent 120 61 0.30 0.06 Bakken 162 156 0.27 0.68 Appalachia 22 39 0.09 0.13 Rockies 49 43 0.05 0.29 Total 799 703 1.95 2.67





























(1) These figures pertain only to Kimbell's major properties and do not include possible additional DUCs and permits from Kimbell's minor properties, which generally have a net revenue interest of 0.1% or below and are time consuming to quantify but, in the estimation of Kimbell's management could add an additional 20% to Kimbell's net inventory.

Updated Guidance Relating to Favorable Tax Treatment of Earnings and Distributions

Kimbell expects that the company will pay no material amount of federal corporate income taxes from 2021 through 2027 (less than 5% of Kimbell's estimated pre-tax distributable cash flow for such years). In addition, Kimbell expects that substantially all distributions paid to common unitholders from 2021 to 2025 will not be taxable dividend income. Distributions in excess of the amount taxable as dividend income will reduce an investor's tax basis in its common units or produce capital gain to the extent such distributions exceed an investor's tax basis, and the reduced tax basis will increase an investor's capital gain or reduce an investor's capital loss when it sells its common units.

Redemption of 55% of Outstanding Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Units

On July 7, 2021, Kimbell completed the redemption of 55% of Kimbell's outstanding Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Units for an aggregate redemption price of $36.1 million. The redemption was funded through a borrowing from Kimbell's secured revolving credit facility. Kimbell expects to redeem the remaining Preferred Units in early 2022, further simplifying its capital structure and reducing its cost of capital.

Hedging Update

The following provides information concerning Kimbell's hedge book as of June 30, 2021:

Fixed Price Swaps as of June 30, 2021





Weighted Average

Volumes Fixed Price

Oil Nat Gas Oil Nat Gas

BBL MMBTU $/BBL $/MMBTU 3Q 2021 134,964 1,735,672 $ 43.44 $ 2.41 4Q 2021 134,964 1,735,672 $ 44.58 $ 2.49 1Q 2022 132,030 1,697,940 $ 36.76 $ 2.61 2Q 2022 119,938 1,516,697 $ 41.77 $ 2.23 3Q 2022 139,196 1,759,316 $ 43.52 $ 2.44 4Q 2022 109,388 1,383,496 $ 46.00 $ 2.58 1Q 2023 91,854 1,204,308 $ 53.38 $ 2.73 2Q 2023 70,889 998,179 $ 61.16 $ 2.52

Conference Call

Kimbell Royalty Partners will host a conference call and webcast today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Central Time) to discuss second quarter 2021 results. To access the call live by phone, dial 201-389-0869 and ask for the Kimbell Royalty Partners call at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. A telephonic replay will be available through August 12, 2021 by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13720589#. A webcast of the call will also be available live and for later replay on Kimbell's website at http://kimbellrp.investorroom.com under the Events and Presentations tab.

Presentation

On August 5, 2021, Kimbell posted an updated investor presentation on its website. The presentation may be found at http://kimbellrp.investorroom.com under the Events and Presentations tab. Information on Kimbell's website does not constitute a portion of this news release.

About Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP

Kimbell (NYSE: KRP) is a leading oil and gas mineral and royalty company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Kimbell owns mineral and royalty interests in over 13 million gross acres in 28 states and in every major onshore basin in the continental United States, including ownership in more than 97,000 gross wells with over 41,000 wells in the Permian Basin. To learn more, visit http://www.kimbellrp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements, in particular statements relating to Kimbell's financial, operating and production results and prospects for growth, drilling inventory, growth potential, identified locations and all other estimates and predictions resulting from Kimbell's portfolio review, the tax treatment of Kimbell's distributions, changes in Kimbell's capital structure, future natural gas and other commodity prices, changes to supply and demand for oil, natural gas and NGLs and the recent ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and its impacts on Kimbell and on the oil and gas industry. These and other forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including risks that the anticipated benefits of acquisitions are not realized, risks relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, and uncertainties relating to Kimbell's business, prospects for growth and acquisitions and the securities markets generally, as well as risks inherent in oil and natural gas drilling and production activities, including risks with respect to low or declining prices for oil and natural gas that could result in downward revisions to the value of proved reserves or otherwise cause operators to delay or suspend planned drilling and completion operations or reduce production levels, which would adversely impact cash flow, risks related to the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and Kimbell's business, risks relating to the impairment of oil and natural gas properties, risks relating to the availability of capital to fund drilling operations that can be adversely affected by adverse drilling results, production declines and declines in oil and natural gas prices, risks relating to Kimbell's ability to meet financial covenants under its credit agreement or its ability to obtain amendments or waivers to effect such compliance, risks relating to Kimbell's hedging activities, risks of fire, explosion, blowouts, pipe failure, casing collapse, unusual or unexpected formation pressures, environmental hazards, and other operating and production risks, which may temporarily or permanently reduce production or cause initial production or test results to not be indicative of future well performance or delay the timing of sales or completion of drilling operations, risks relating to delays in receipt of drilling permits, risks relating to unexpected adverse developments in the status of properties, risks relating to borrowing base redeterminations by Kimbell's lenders, risks relating to the absence or delay in receipt of government approvals or third-party consents, risks relating to acquisitions, dispositions and drop downs of assets, risks relating to Kimbell's ability to realize the anticipated benefits from and to integrate acquired assets, including the Springbok assets, risks relating to tax matters, and other risks described in Kimbell's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, Kimbell undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this news release. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Kimbell's filings with the SEC.

Contact:

Rick Black

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations

[email protected]

(713) 529-6600

 Financial statements follow 

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet (Unaudited, in thousands)



June 30,

2021 Assets:



Current assets



Cash and cash equivalents $ 12,961 Oil, natural gas and NGL receivables

23,718 Accounts receivable and other current assets

1,550 Total current assets

38,229 Property and equipment, net

2,092 Investment in affiliate (equity method)

4,918 Oil and natural gas properties



Oil and natural gas properties (full cost method)

1,149,611 Less: accumulated depreciation, depletion and impairment

(643,784) Total oil and natural gas properties, net

505,827 Right-of-use assets, net

2,997 Derivative assets

725 Loan origination costs, net

4,544 Total assets $ 559,332 Liabilities, mezzanine equity and unitholders' equity:



Current liabilities



Accounts payable $ 1,028 Other current liabilities

4,900 Derivative liabilities

22,822 Total current liabilities

28,750 Operating lease liabilities, excluding current portion

2,715 Derivative liabilities

7,902 Long-term debt

162,934 Total liabilities

202,301 Commitments and contingencies



Mezzanine equity:



Series A preferred units

43,897 Unitholders' equity:



Common units

285,029 Class B units

881 Total unitholders' equity

285,910 Noncontrolling interest

27,224 Total equity

313,134 Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and unitholders' equity $ 559,332

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited, in thousands, except per-unit data and unit counts)



Three Months Ended

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020 Revenue









Oil, natural gas and NGL revenues $ 38,838

$ 16,775 Lease bonus and other income

1,104



69 Loss on commodity derivative instruments, net

(14,217)



(4,041) Total revenues

25,725



12,803 Costs and expenses









Production and ad valorem taxes

2,564



1,455 Depreciation and depletion expense

8,337



12,026 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties





65,536 Marketing and other deductions

2,551



2,049 General and administrative expenses

6,685



6,865 Total costs and expenses

20,137



87,931 Operating income (loss)

5,588



(75,128) Other income (expense)









Equity income in affiliate

274



4 Interest expense

(2,102)



(1,666) Other expense

(49)



 Net income (loss) before income taxes

3,711



(76,790) Provision for income taxes





 Net income (loss)

3,711



(76,790) Distribution and accretion on Series A preferred units

(1,578)



(1,578) Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests

(621)



30,362 Distributions on Class B units

(21)



(23) Net income (loss) attributable to common units $ 1,491

$ (48,029)











Basic $ 0.04

$ (1.39) Diluted $ 0.04

$ (1.39) Weighted average number of common units outstanding









Basic

39,312,388



34,650,317 Diluted

41,124,489



34,650,317

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP

Supplemental Schedules



NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Adjusted EBITDA and Cash G&A are used as a supplemental non-GAAP financial measures by management and external users of Kimbell's financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies. Kimbell believes Adjusted EBITDA is useful because it allows us to more effectively evaluate Kimbell's operating performance and compare the results of Kimbell's operations period to period without regard to its financing methods or capital structure. In addition, management uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate cash flow available to pay distributions to Kimbell's unitholders. Kimbell defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest expense, non-cash unit-based compensation, unrealized gains and losses on derivative instruments, cash distributions from affiliate, equity income from affiliates, impairment of oil and natural gas properties, income taxes and depreciation and depletion expense, and adjusted for distributions from equity investments. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of net income (loss) or net cash provided by operating activities as determined by GAAP. Kimbell excludes the items listed above from net income (loss) in arriving at Adjusted EBITDA because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within Kimbell's industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures and the method by which the assets were acquired. Certain items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing a company's financial performance, such as a company's cost of capital and tax structure, as well as historic costs of depreciable assets, none of which are components of Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income, oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids revenues, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. Kimbell's computations of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. Kimbell expects that cash available for distribution for each quarter will generally equal its Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, less cash needed for debt service and other contractual obligations, tax obligations, and fixed charges and reserves for future operating or capital needs that the Board of Directors may determine is appropriate.

Kimbell believes Cash G&A and Cash G&A per Boe are useful metrics because they isolate cash costs within overall G&A expense and measure cash costs relative to overall production, which is a widely utilized metric to evaluate operational performance within the energy sector. Cash G&A is defined as general and administrative expenses less unit-based compensation expense. Cash G&A per Boe is defined as Cash G&A divided by total production for a period. Cash G&A should not be considered an alternative to G&A expense presented in accordance with GAAP. Kimbell's computations of Cash G&A and Cash G&A per Boe may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Supplemental Schedules (Unaudited, in thousands)



Three Months Ended

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020 Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities









to Adjusted EBITDA and cash available for distribution









Net cash provided by operating activities $ 28,479

$ 14,757 Interest expense

2,102



1,666 Provision for income taxes





 Impairment of oil and natural gas properties





(65,536) Amortization of right-of-use assets

(74)



(68) Amortization of loan origination costs

(382)



(266) Equity income in affiliate

274



4 Forfeiture of restricted units





107 Unit-based compensation

(2,744)



(2,534) Loss on derivative instruments, net of settlements

(11,043)



(6,902) Changes in operating assets and liabilities:









Oil, natural gas and NGL revenues receivable

(1,050)



(2,491) Accounts receivable and other current assets

(8)



(198) Accounts payable

14



(434) Other current liabilities

(1,227)



(1,271) Operating lease liabilities

82



68 Consolidated EBITDA $ 14,423

$ (63,098) Add:









Impairment of oil and natural gas properties





65,536 Unit-based compensation

2,744



2,534 Loss on commodity derivative instruments, net of settlements

11,043



6,902 Cash distribution from affiliate

131



229 Equity income in affiliate

(274)



(4) Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 28,067

$ 12,099 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interest

(8,167)



(4,688) Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP $ 19,900

$ 7,411











Adjustments to reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to cash available









for distribution









Cash interest expense

1,249



868 Cash distributions on Series A preferred units

682



590 Restricted units repurchased for tax withholding

156



 Distributions on Class B units

21



23 Cash available for distribution on common units $ 17,792

$ 5,930

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Supplemental Schedules (Unaudited, in thousands, except for per-unit data and unit counts)



Three Months Ended

June 30, 2021





Net income $ 3,711 Depreciation and depletion expense

8,337 Interest expense

2,102 Provision for income taxes

 Cash distribution from affiliate

273 Consolidated EBITDA $ 14,423 Unit-based compensation

2,744 Loss on derivative instruments, net of settlements

11,043 Cash distribution from affiliate

131 Equity income in affiliate

(274) Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 28,067 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interest

(8,167) Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP $ 19,900





Adjustments to reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to cash available



for distribution



Cash interest expense

1,249 Cash distributions on Series A preferred units

682 Restricted units repurchased for tax withholding

156 Distributions on Class B units

21 Cash available for distribution on common units $ 17,792





Common units outstanding on June 30, 2021

42,916,472





Cash available for distribution per common unit outstanding $ 0.41





Common units outstanding on August 2, 2021 Record Date

42,916,472





Second quarter 2021 distribution declared (1) $ 0.31











(1) The difference between the declared distribution and the cash available for distribution is primarily attributable to Kimbell allocating 25% of cash available for distribution to pay outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Supplemental Schedules (Unaudited, in thousands, except for per-unit data and unit counts)



Three Months Ended

June 30, 2020





Net loss $ (76,790) Depreciation and depletion expense

12,026 Interest expense

1,666 Consolidated EBITDA $ (63,098) Impairment of oil and natural gas properties

65,536 Unit-based compensation

2,534 Loss on derivative instruments, net of settlements

6,902 Cash distribution from affiliate

229 Equity income in affiliate

(4) Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 12,099 Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interest

(4,688) Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP $ 7,411





Adjustments to reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to cash available



for distribution



Cash interest expense

868 Cash distributions on Series A preferred units

590 Distributions on Class B units

23 Cash available for distribution on common units $ 5,930





Common units outstanding on June 30, 2020

36,588,023





Cash available for distribution per common unit outstanding $ 0.16





Common units outstanding on August 3, 2020 Record Date

36,588,023





Second quarter 2020 distribution declared (1) $ 0.13











(1) The difference between the declared distribution and the cash available for distribution is primarily attributable to Kimbell allocating 25% of cash available for distribution to pay outstanding borrowings under its credit facility. Additionally, Kimbell utilized cash flows received from the Springbok acquisition after March 31, 2020, but prior to the closing date of April 17, 2020 to pay outstanding borrowings under its credit facility. Revenues, production and other financial and operating results from the Springbok acquisition are reflected in Kimbell's condensed consolidated financial statements from April 17, 2020 onward.

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Supplemental Schedules (Unaudited, in thousands)



Three Months Ended

June 30, 2021





Net income $ 3,711 Depreciation and depletion expense

8,337 Interest expense

2,102 Provision for income taxes

 Cash distribution from affiliate

273 Consolidated EBITDA $ 14,423 Unit-based compensation

2,744 Loss on derivative instruments, net of settlements

11,043 Cash distribution from affiliate

131 Equity income in affiliate

(274) Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 28,067





Q3 2020 - Q1 2021 Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (1)

60,962 Trailing Twelve Month Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 89,029





Long-term debt (as of 6/30/21)

162,934 Cash and cash equivalents (as of 6/30/21)

(12,961) Net debt (as of 6/30/21) $ 149,973





Net Debt to Trailing Twelve Month Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA

1.7x





(1) Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for each of the quarters ended September 30, 2020, December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2021 was previously reported in a news release relating to the applicable quarter, and the reconciliation of net loss to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for each quarter is included in the applicable news release.

SOURCE Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP
AES is a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of high-performance, stabilized, multi-sensor gimbal systems for the growing market of Group 1, 2 and 3 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) across U.S. military services. With its advanced systems, the company is focused on gimbal payload opportunities in strategic U.S. government programs including those intended to counter current and next-generation anti-access and area-denial systems. AES is located in Austin, Texas, home of the Army's Futures Command.

This acquisition will enable Leonardo DRS to integrate its own state-of-the-art Electro-Optical and Infrared components and systems with the AES advanced gimbals to offer integrated solutions that can address the fast-growing market for lightweight military platforms including small unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

"The compelling need for smaller and more lightweight sensing systems is one of the most critical priorities of defense forces around the world," said Jerry Hathaway, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Leonardo DRS Electro-Optic and Infrared Systems business. Leonardo DRS is well-positioned to address this fast-growing small gimbal market with the new lightweight capabilities that AES brings across a wide range of military platforms, from aircraft to maritime to ground vehicles as well as ground-based security platforms, Hathaway said. "Leonardo DRS is proud to add this smaller and more advanced integrated solution set that combines our leading sensors into best-in-class, small-form gimbal-based sensor systems to give our warfighters one more battlefield edge."

Leonardo DRS is a world leader in state-of-the-art sensor systems addressing a range of military needs including targeting, surveillance and force protection. This acquisition will allow Leonardo DRS to further vertically integrate its advanced sensors and gimbals. These integrated technologies permit military platforms to sense their environments at greater distances in real-time providing intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) imagery and targeting information to airborne and ground forces to extend their reach and survivability.

Gimbal-based sensor technology is part of the larger Leonardo DRS advanced sensor technology portfolio, which has an extensive installed base across the U.S. military. Force protection is a key strategic focus for Leonardo DRS as the company brings together its world-leading sensing and laser technologies to provide defensive protective systems for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS is a defense solutions provider, a leading technology innovator, and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, the intelligence community, and defense contractors worldwide. With over fifty years of experience, its Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems business unit develops and produces industry-leading and trusted sensor technology and integrated solutions for land, sea, air and space systems as well as commercial customers. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Leonardo DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. See the full range of capabilities at www.LeonardoDRS.com.

For additional information please contact:

Michael Mount

Vice President, Public Affairs and EE Communications

571-447-4624

[email protected]

SOURCE Leonardo DRS, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.drs.com


NEW YORK, LONDON, SINGAPORE, SHANGHAI, and SYDNEY, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindshare, the media agency network that is part of WPP, is making a series of new appointments to its senior leadership and capabilities teams to support its new proposition of 'Good Growth.'

What is Good Growth?

Today the marketing and media ecosystem is dominated by geographically limitless digital platforms with billions of users. These platforms have connected people like never before and given them the power to demand more from brands - more transparency, more value, more action and more authenticity. This is because these platforms are not like the ad breaks of old, they are the new countries where people live their lives - transacting, sharing, joining, venting, creating and following and this changes the rules of growth.

In this Platform Age your growth must be able to live:

Beyond the single moment - Valuing lifetime customer value over short term sales. Getting locked into acquisition churn and burn will not drive sustainable growth.

Valuing lifetime customer value over short term sales. Getting locked into acquisition churn and burn will not drive sustainable growth. Beyond the single sale - If you only focus on optimising the sale it is a zero-sum game. Winning means winning a consumer's trust, being the brand they value and can align their values with.

- If you only focus on optimising the sale it is a zero-sum game. Winning means winning a consumer's trust, being the brand they value and can align their values with. Beyond single platforms - Because to truly grow you will need to succeed across multiple platform ecosystems and your own channels.

All agencies will promise clients growth, but with this approach Mindshare will deliver the difference between flash in the pan growth and Good Growth - enduring, diversified, and more sustainable over time because it will align your business ambitions with the views and values of your consumers.

To drive Good Growth for clients and create the global media agency for the next era, Mindshare is making a series of leadership appointments:

Nilufar Fowler, Mindshare's current Global Chief Growth Officer, has been appointed to the newly created role of Global Chief Client Officer. Her remit is to ensure Mindshare meets the most pressing needs faced by its clients by creating client communities and connecting them across the agency, into GroupM services and with WPP capabilities, in order to ensure best access for Mindshare clients to the multiple services and capabilities required to drive Good Growth in the Platform Age.

Dan Reaume, currently Chief Development Officer, Mindshare USA, becomes Global Chief Growth Officer, Mindshare. He will take on responsibility for driving the agency's global growth through business development, leading with how the agency's new Good Growth proposition can drive enduring and sustainable growth for clients.

Kristina Palmer Shedd has recently joined the agency as Mindshare's Global Chief People Officer. Palmer Shedd joined from Publicis Sapient, where she was VP Talent Acquisition, and is charged with leading Mindshare's people operations globally, working to cultivate a good growth talent and transformation mentality, partnering closely with the people teams at GroupM and WPP.

Tom Johnson, currently Chief Digital Officer, Mindshare Worldwide, takes on the new role of Global Chief Solutions Officer, spearheading the creation of solutions to help clients drive Good Growth, by combining capabilities from across Mindshare, GroupM and WPP based on client requirement, working closely with GroupM on the development of digital activation solutions. Johnson will also lead Mindshare's consulting offer 'Change', working with clients in a consultative capacity with a focus on organisational design, operating models, infrastructure, consumer strategy, automation and commerce.

Oliver Joyce, currently Head of Mindshare Worldwide, US, will take on the new role of Global Chief Transformation Officer. Joyce will ensure that transformation is built into client Good Growth plans, connecting clients to Mindshare's consulting offering 'Change'.

Helen McRae was also recently announced as Mindshare's new APAC CEO. McRae will help the agency's clients in the region drive their business forward, nationally and globally, and also help the network leverage the platform expertise the region has developed in areas such as platform commerce to help drive Good Growth. A search for McRae's replacement as EMEA CEO is already underway with internal and external candidates.

Shane McAndrew, currently Chief Data Strategy Officer, Mindshare USA, takes on the role of Global Chief Data Strategy and Analytics Officer, Mindshare. His remit is to build and scale world class agency and client solutions in data, technology and analytics, finding the unique balance of empathy and accuracy in data to allow Mindshare to deliver Good Growth strategies for clients.

Joe Maceda, currently Chief Instigation Officer, Mindshare USA, takes on the role of Global Chief Innovation Officer, Mindshare. His remit is to scale creativity and innovation in media, leveraging the fast-changing landscape and harnessing new approaches, such as neuroscience, as part of Mindshare's core offering  adding more empathy-based intelligence solutions to the agency's mix and preparing clients for the future of Good Growth.

Adam Gerhart, Global CEO, Mindshare, said: "Mindshare has always been, and always will be, about driving growth for our clients. Delivering Good Growth in the platform age is about how well you harness platforms, their ecosystems and their impact  for both business and good. It requires a new and more holistic understanding of people, through the marriage of empathy and accuracy in solutions, to ensure brands deliver value to their consumers which is aligned with their own values at the same time  for enduring and meaningful growth to everyone in the ecosystem. These appointments will help us deliver Good Growth more effectively for our clients, accelerating business and advancing the world around us."

The appointments follow a raft of changes at regional and country level for Mindshare around the world as it evolves its offering. Amanda Richman was appointed Mindshare North America CEO to fill the role vacated by Gerhart's promotion to Global CEO. Also in the US, Richetta Teal took on the role of Executive Director, People, having been promoted through the agency and Kevin Johnson was appointed as CEO of Mindshare Canada. In China, Mindshare appointed Ben Condit as CEO and Linda Lin as executive chair of Greater China.

Good Growth is underpinned by GroupM's 'Responsible Investment Framework', with its five focus areas - Brand Safety, Data Ethics, DE&I, Responsible Journalism and Sustainability and GroupM's stated aim of 'Making Advertising Work Better for People' and Mindshare is also actively involved in WPP's stated commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions in its operations by 2025 and across its entire supply chain by 2030, with media making up the largest element of that supply chain.

About Mindshare:

We were born in Asia in 1997, a WPP start up designed to make media exciting, fun and life changing. For the last 20 years our values of Speed, Teamwork and Provocation have guided our 10,000 people who work with some of the world's best brands and companies. In 116 offices across 86 countries we manage $24.1bn in billings and are the largest media agency in GroupM, WPP's Media Investment Management arm, which is the #1 media holding group globally with billings of $63bn (Source: COMvergence 2019).

Hear our stories (and join us) at www.mindshareworld.com and follow us at: WeChat ID: Mindshare_China; Instagram and Twitter: @mindshare; Facebook: facebook.com/mindshare and Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/company/mindshare.

SOURCE Mindshare
Gomes passed out and when she woke up, she didn't know what happened. The baby was still in her arms and she was able to use her left arm to place him back in his bassinet. Her husband woke up around 6 a.m. and asked if she was OK. When she didn't respond, he turned on the light.

"I took one look at her and knew right away she'd had a stroke," Franciney Gomes said.

Cris Gomes couldn't speak and the right side of her body was immobile. He called 911 and the ambulance rushed her to Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center certified by The Joint Commission. This special designation means the hospital has the most advanced imaging capabilities, 24/7 availability of specialized treatments and staff with the unique education and competencies to care for complex stroke patients.

EMS alerted the hospital's stroke team and they were waiting for Gomes when she arrived.

"I'd just pulled into the parking garage when our stroke coordinator, Julie Bryant, called to tell me about this patient," said Dr. Bahar Malakouti, neurohospitalist at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City. "We were all very scared for her, and I went straight in to meet her for a CT scan."

The CT scan showed there were no signs of brain bleeding, which meant she was a candidate for intravenous tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a powerful blood thinner that is the gold standard treatment for ischemic strokes.

"If you get to the hospital in time, we can give you this medication to help bust up the clot and restore blood flow to the affected part of your brain," said Dr. Malakouti. "That's why we say time is brain. It's so important to get to the hospital as quickly as possible."

The imaging showed another concern  a large tear in the wall of a major artery and a clot in the area of her brain that controls her language, comprehension, and the motor control of the right side of her body. About 30 percent of arterial dissections are spontaneous, and Gomes didn't have any known risk factors for the type of stroke she had.

Her prognosis was grim, and the stroke team sat down with her husband for a difficult conversation.

"I told him she may never speak again, she may never eat again, she may never be able to hold or nurse her baby again  all the things a new mom should be able to do. We truly did not think she would recover," said Dr. Malakouti.

Dr. Bryan Van Zandt, an interventional radiologist, performed intraarterial thrombolysis, a procedure to dissolve the clot that was causing her stroke. While that procedure was successful, the team discovered another clot over the dissection in her artery that posed a dangerous risk to her brain.

"I had a very candid conversation with her husband," said Dr. Van Zandt. "I told him we've done everything we can do. We've given her the best care possible, but we don't know how things are going to turn out, so we just need to pray."

Gomes was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she was closely monitored for 24 hours. A nurse checked her neurologic functions every 15 minutes.

"When I was in the ICU, I remember having a spiritual experience where I told God this was going to be too hard and it would be easier if I just died," said Gomes. "How would I recover from this? I was ready to go and I was at peace with it. The only way I know how to describe it is I felt like I was going down, and God clearly said to me, 'No, you're going up.'"

The next day, Gomes had another CT scan.

"By some miracle, that second blood clot was gone," Dr. Malakouti said. "We watched her slowly start to recover."

She was walking with assistance the day after the stroke. On FaceTime with her family, she was able to say a few words and phrases like "yes," "no" and "I love you."

Before her stroke, Gomes worked as a speech pathologist in a skilled nursing facility, often with patients recovering from strokes.

"When I was in the hospital, the first time I worked with a speech therapist, I understood what was going on because of my work," she said. "Even though I couldn't really speak, I knew what was happening in my brain and I think that helped me."

A few days later, she was discharged to Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Oklahoma City, where she spent a couple weeks recovering. She spent hours every day working with physical, occupational and speech therapists. At that time, she couldn't hold a pencil or fork, so they worked on coordination and strengthening her right hand. Gomes struggled with aphasia, a speech disorder that affects her ability to speak and understand written and spoken language. In the early days of recovery, she couldn't say the word "stroke."

Four months later, she has made a near complete recovery.

"There's no question she is a walking miracle," said Dr. Van Zandt. "What our team did certainly played a role, but there's so much more to her story than what we did."

She's driving again, able to care for her two boys on her own and participate in conversations.

"Speech pathologists that I know, my colleagues, most thought I would never speak again," said Gomes. "The fact that it's only been four months and I'm not only alive but I'm thriving, I think it's a miracle."

She continues to work with her Mercy outpatient speech therapist, Terri Bosnyak, twice a week. Bosnyak and Gomes often trade roles, allowing Gomes to practice doing patient evaluations as the speech pathologist with Bosnyak as the patient. The goal is to get her back to work.

"There were things I read about and things I used with my patients that I now understand in a way that no one would be able to understand unless you've had a stroke," said Gomes. "There's textbook knowledge and there's real life, and I know I'll be able to relate to my future patients on a new level. They'll have me as an example of what is possible."

Watch a video of Cris' story here.

Click here to learn more about the signs and symptoms of stroke.

SOURCE Mercy

Related Links

www.mercy.net


MELBOURNE, Fla., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- National Flood Insurance, LLC (NFI) has been named Agency of the Year by NU Property & Casualty 360 magazine. The award was given to three agencies nationwide who stood out amongst others for being a "model" for "modern insurance". NFI was chosen for their tech-forward focus with their clients, allowing the agency to safely continue working with current and potential policyholders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency was also recognized for its innovation in developing revolutionary flood tools such as My Flood Risk and My Flood Insurance .

The staff of National Flood Insurance, LLC.

With a combined 70+ years of experience, NFI has been providing flood insurance options to property owners throughout the nation for more than a decade. As one of the largest flood-only agencies in the country, their team provides coverage from more than a dozen private flood options as well as the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In order to continue their level of success, NFI has relied heavily on its main website as well as single state websites that also feed insurance leads into the agency.

After recognizing the need for updated flood risk technology, the agency worked with Shoothill Software, Inc to create a true flood risk tool that would provide property owners with a more accurate understanding of their flood risk. "My Flood Risk (MFR) has become an important tool for our team. We provide flood risk scores from MFR to our clients at new business and renewal, to educate our clients on why this protection is so necessary," says director Amanda Bryant.

Technology is the future of flood insurance, Bryant explains, "Insurtech is taking over. It has already begun in the home insurance industry with carriers bringing consumers direct access to quoting. The pandemic highlighted the need for more innovation in the insurance industry." In 2020 the agency launched its second major project, My Flood Insurance, the first ever quote comparison rating tool for flood insurance quotes.

"We are proud of the work we've been able to do to advance the flood insurance industry," says Bryant. "Our goal is to make it easier and more affordable to obtain proper coverage so that we no longer witness devastations such as Hurricane Harvey, in which more than 75 percent of property owners were uninsured against flooding."

NU Property & Casualty and PropertyCasualty360's Agency of the Year Award is an annual awards program honoring the U.S. agencies that represent the best of their industry. Read about past years' winners, and what makes each agency stand out in today's insurance industry. Despite the challenges presented over the last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, these agencies seamlessly maintained or transitioned their operations to the digital space, often finding fresh ways to support employees while furthering business goals.

About National Flood Insurance, LLC

National Flood Insurance, LLC is an award-winning, flood-only agency that provides flood insurance nationwide. The agency has been in business since 2010 and its main office is located in Melbourne, FL.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Scherff

888-900-0404

[email protected]

SOURCE National Flood Insurance, LLC
TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDirector, a cloud-based data exchange and integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS), has added Saisystems Health to their ever-growing HealthData Exchange ecosystem of platforms and providers. NetDirector will be providing enterprise-wide integration for TheSNFist suite of products and services, including Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) and Electronic Health Records (EHR).

By integrating via NetDirector in the cloud, Saisystems Health ensures that their customers can on-board efficiently without long hours of development, costly IT expenditures, or sacrificing essential components of their desired workflow. NetDirector's configuration-based integration means existing systems and data sources will benefit from the high level of technology offered by TheSNFist suite while reducing manual data entry and adapting to the specific needs of every provider.

Saisystems Health developed the TheSNFist platform for healthcare providers, which brings together all the technology needed to level-up a healthcare operation: mobile charge capture, a communication and telemedicine platform, electronic health records and business intelligence. Coupled with Saisystems Health's managed services, TheSNFist suite of products and services is the end-to-end platform that covers all aspects of managing a post-acute long-term care (PALTC) practice and ensures maximum efficiency.

Current integrations focus on the full RCM and EHR solutions offered by Saisystems Health, including billing, coding, patient data, and more. These features can be tied to business intelligence tools for monitoring key performance indicators of patient outcomes, treatment plans, and financial benchmarks.

"NetDirector has been a true partner since we've joined forces," said Michael Healey, Vice President of Digital Health at Saisystems Health. "The products and services we offer as part of TheSNFist suite are extremely valuable to PALTC practices, and now with NetDirector, we know those pieces will be integrated rapidly, seamlessly, and reliably without adding a substantial workload to either the providers, or our developers."

About NetDirector:

NetDirector provides a secure cloud-based data and document exchange solution for the healthcare and mortgage banking industries to deliver seamless data integration between parties. NetDirector bridges gaps created by disparate systems & technologies by allowing companies at any location to share data & documents securely over a single internet connection with any other member of the ecosystem. Our approach allows trading partners to collaborate and exchange data in a seamless, bi-directional, real-time manner. With security and longevity as a focus, NetDirector is a HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II compliant company and a 6-year member of the prominent Inc. 5000.

NetDirector

12363 Hampton Park Blvd, Tampa FL, 33624

Alexander Craddock, Marketing Manager

Phone: (813) 813.736.0129

Email: [email protected]

Website: web.netdirector.biz

SOURCE NetDirector

Related Links

http://web.netdirector.biz


Factors such as the expanding global vegan population base and the growing prominence of private label brands will offer immense growth opportunities. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. The plant-based protein products market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period.

Plant-Based Protein Products Market 2021-2025: Segmentation

Plant-Based Protein Products Market is segmented as below:

Product

Soy Protein



Wheat Protein



Pea Protein



Others

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



MEA

Buy our market report now to gain access to detailed analysis on the plant based protein products market: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43044

Plant-Based Protein Products Market 2021-2025: Vendor Analysis and Scope

To help businesses improve their market position, the plant-based protein products market provides a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the market. Some of these vendors include Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Glanbia Nutritionals Inc., Kerry Group Plc, Mann Packing Co. Inc., Omega Protein Corp., PepsiCo Inc., Tate & Lyle Plc, and The Kroger Co.

The report also covers the following areas:

Plant-Based Protein Products Market size

Plant-Based Protein Products Market trends

Plant-Based Protein Products Market industry analysis

The growth in organized retailing is likely to emerge as one of the primary trends in the market. However, the increasing number of product recalls may threaten the growth of the market.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research report on the plant-based protein products market is designed to provide entry support, customer profile & M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Related Reports on Consumer Staples Include:

Global Plant-based Meat Market - Global plant-based meat market is segmented by type (plant-based beef, plant-based chicken, plant-based pork, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA).

Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Global Plant-based Burger Patties Market - Global plant-based burger patties market is segmented by distribution channel (offline and online) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America).

Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Plant-Based Protein Products Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist plant-based protein products market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the plant-based protein products market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the plant-based protein products market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of plant-based protein products market vendors

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2020

Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Five Forces Analysis

Five Forces Summary

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Product

Market segments

Comparison by Product

Soy protein - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Wheat protein - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Pea protein - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Product

Customer Landscape

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers

Market challenges

Market trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendor landscape

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Cargill Inc

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Glanbia Nutritionals Inc.

Kerry Group Plc

Mann Packing Co. Inc.

Omega Protein Corp.

PepsiCo Inc.

Tate & Lyle Plc

The Kroger Co.

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

Report: www.technavio.com/report/plant-based-protein-products-market-industry-analysis

Newsroom: newsroom.technavio.com/news/plant-based-protein-products-market

SOURCE Technavio
OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PHX MINERALS INC., "PHX" or the "Company," (NYSE: PHX), today reported financial and operating results for the third quarter ended June 30, 2021.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2021, AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Production volumes for the third fiscal quarter of 2021 increased 31% to 2,493 Mmcfe from 1,904 Mmcfe in the third fiscal quarter of 2020 and increased 9% from 2,297 Mmcfe in the second fiscal quarter of 2021.

Net loss in the third fiscal quarter of 2021 was $1.4 million , or $0.05 per share, as compared to net loss of $3.6 million , or $0.21 per share, in the third fiscal quarter of 2020 and net loss of $0.5 million , or $0.02 per share, in the second fiscal quarter of 2021.

, or per share, as compared to net loss of , or per share, in the third fiscal quarter of 2020 and net loss of , or per share, in the second fiscal quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA excluding gain/loss on asset sales (1) for the third quarter of 2021 was $4.7 million , increased from $1.2 million in the third fiscal quarter of 2020 and increased from $3.4 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2021.

for the third quarter of 2021 was , increased from in the third fiscal quarter of 2020 and increased from in the second fiscal quarter of 2021. On April 30, 2021 , the Company closed on the acquisition of 2,514 net royalty acres in the SCOOP play of Oklahoma for approximately $8.5 million in cash and 1.2 million shares of PHX common stock.

, the Company closed on the acquisition of 2,514 net royalty acres in the SCOOP play of for approximately in cash and 1.2 million shares of PHX common stock. Additionally, during the quarter ended June 30 , the Company closed on two separate acquisitions totaling 393 net royalty acres in the Haynesville for an aggregate $2.3 million in cash.

, the Company closed on two separate acquisitions totaling 393 net royalty acres in the Haynesville for an aggregate in cash. Total debt was reduced to $19.9 million as of June 30, 2021 , a 15% decrease from the $23.5 million as of March 31, 2021 .

as of , a 15% decrease from the as of . Debt to adjusted EBITDA (TTM) (1) ratio was 1.47x at June 30, 2021 .

ratio was 1.47x at . A payment of a one cent per share dividend payable on Sept. 10, 2021 , to stockholders of record on Aug. 26, 2021 , was approved.

Chad L. Stephens, President and CEO, commented, "PHX's third quarter 2021 reflects excellent quarterly results as we reported adjusted EBITDA of $4.7 million, an increase of 38% over the sequential prior quarter and a 292% increase compared to the year over year quarter. This is due mainly to higher volumes and improved commodity prices. Importantly, it is a direct reflection of our continued success as we execute our stated strategy of growth through mineral acquisitions in our core focus areas. During the quarter, we closed on the purchase of minerals in three different acquisitions located in the Haynesville and SCOOP for $13.25 million of total consideration, the cash portion of which was funded with proceeds from the April equity offering. This brings our total year to date acquisitions to approximately $21.2 million. We also closed on the sale of non-core/non-operated working interest in 71 well bores for approximately $225,000 as part of our strategy of constantly looking to high grade our asset base.

"Additionally, we reduced our debt to $19.9 million at quarter end, which represents a 15% reduction to sequential prior quarter and a 34% reduction compared to the year over year quarter. Current debt equates to a roughly 1.5x Debt to adjusted EBITDA (TTM) (1). Our goal is to achieve a 1.2x Debt to EBITDA (TTM) (1) by fiscal year end Sept. 30, 2021. This puts us in a strong financial position and will allow us to allocate a majority of our growing free cash flow to mineral acquisitions over the coming quarters. We look forward to informing you of our results to drive shareholder value in the future."

(1) This is a non-GAAP measure. Refer to the Non-GAAP Reconciliation section.

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS



Third Quarter Ended



Third Quarter Ended



Nine Months Ended



Nine Months Ended



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020

Mcfe Sold

2,492,813





1,903,752





6,863,949





6,555,378

Average Sales Price per Mcfe $ 4.37



$ 1.85



$ 3.74



$ 2.80

Gas Mcf Sold

1,879,343





1,361,909





5,090,619





4,539,103

Average Sales Price per Mcf $ 3.33



$ 1.36



$ 2.77



$ 1.73

Oil Barrels Sold

55,492





55,138





170,437





214,159

Average Sales Price per Barrel $ 63.77



$ 25.94



$ 52.95



$ 42.43

NGL Barrels Sold

46,753





35,169





125,118





121,887

Average Sales Price per Barrel $ 23.58



$ 6.62



$ 20.42



$ 11.26



Total Production for the last four quarters was as follows:



Quarter ended

Mcf Sold



Oil Bbls Sold



NGL Bbls Sold



Mcfe Sold

6/30/2021



1,879,343





55,492





46,753





2,492,813

3/31/2021



1,735,820





56,269





37,228





2,296,802

12/31/2020



1,475,456





58,675





41,138





2,074,334

9/30/2020



1,423,602





55,626





46,737





2,037,779



Royalty Interest Production for the last four quarters was as follows:



Quarter ended

Mcf Sold



Oil Bbls Sold



NGL Bbls Sold



Mcfe Sold

6/30/2021



908,471





31,095





18,255





1,204,571

3/31/2021



924,969





31,768





19,088





1,230,105

12/31/2020



487,925





27,840





14,948





744,653

9/30/2020



491,234





27,326





20,181





776,276



Working Interest Production for the last four quarters was as follows:



Quarter ended

Mcf Sold



Oil Bbls Sold



NGL Bbls Sold



Mcfe Sold

6/30/2021



970,872





24,397





28,498





1,288,242

3/31/2021



810,851





24,501





18,140





1,066,697

12/31/2020



987,531





30,835





26,190





1,329,681

9/30/2020



932,368





28,300





26,556





1,261,503



FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS





Third Quarter

Ended



Third Quarter

Ended



Nine Months

Ended



Nine Months

Ended





June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020

Working Interest Sales

$ 5,486,978



$ 1,876,489



$ 13,245,980



$ 9,976,274

Royalty Interest Sales

$ 5,412,842



$ 1,641,072



$ 12,424,644



$ 8,352,743

Natural Gas, Oil and NGL Sales

$ 10,899,820



$ 3,517,561



$ 25,670,624



$ 18,329,017



































Lease Bonuses and Rental Income

$ 259,152



$ 22,996



$ 319,139



$ 572,787

Total Revenue

$ 5,941,559



$ 2,705,383



$ 18,213,696



$ 24,593,201



































LOE per Mcfe

$ 0.43



$ 0.60



$ 0.45



$ 0.59

Transportation, Gathering and Marketing per Mcfe

$ 0.62



$ 0.50



$ 0.60



$ 0.56

Production Tax per Mcfe

$ 0.24



$ 0.07



$ 0.19



$ 0.13

G&A Expense per Mcfe

$ 0.91



$ 1.00



$ 0.88



$ 0.96

Interest Expense per Mcfe

$ 0.09



$ 0.13



$ 0.12



$ 0.15

DD&A per Mcfe

$ 0.86



$ 1.29



$ 0.90



$ 1.34

Total Expense per Mcfe

$ 3.15



$ 3.59



$ 3.14



$ 3.73



































Net Income (Loss)

$ (1,356,594)



$ (3,555,215)



$ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)

Adj. Pre-Tax Net Income (Loss) (1)

$ 2,356,054



$ (1,536,925)



$ 3,891,673



$ 990,306

Adjusted EBITDA (1)

$ 4,714,200



$ 1,168,834



$ 10,858,048



$ 10,742,522



































Cash Flow from Operations

$ 5,563,226



$ 3,717,398



$ 10,240,333



$ 9,825,740

CapEx - Drilling & Completing

$ 271,661



$ 56,413



$ 696,759



$ 196,168

CapEx - Mineral Acquisitions

$ 11,402,761



$ 50,000



$ 19,337,265



$ 10,304,016



































Borrowing Base

















$ 28,500,000



$ 32,000,000

Debt

















$ 19,900,000



$ 30,000,000

Debt/Adjusted EBITDA (TTM) (1)



















1.47





1.48











(1) This is a non-GAAP measure. Refer to the Non-GAAP Reconciliation section.

THIRD QUARTER 2021 RESULTS

The Company recorded a third quarter 2021 net loss of $1,356,594, or $0.05 per share, as compared to a net loss of $3,555,215, or $0.21 per share, in the third quarter 2020. The change in net loss was principally the result of increased natural gas, oil and NGL sales and decreased LOE, DD&A and impairment expense, partially offset by an increase in losses on derivative contracts, G&A, transportation, gathering and marketing expenses and production taxes.

Natural gas, oil and NGL revenue increased $7,382,259, or 210%, for the third quarter 2021, compared to the corresponding 2020 quarter due to increases in natural gas, oil and NGL prices of 145%, 146% and 256%, respectively, and an increase in natural gas, oil and NGL volumes of 38%, 1% and 33%, respectively.

Production increased across all three product categories during the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2020, due to improved market conditions, resulting in (i) previously curtailed, high interest wells being worked over and brought fully back online in the STACK, Arkoma Stack, and Fayetteville Shale, (ii) acquisitions in the STACK and Haynesville, and (iii) increased drilling and completions activity in the STACK and SCOOP. These were partially offset by plays with naturally declining production in high interest wells, such as the Eagle Ford Shale.

The Company had a net loss on derivative contracts of $5,487,483 in the 2021 quarter, as compared to a net loss of $838,282 in the 2020 quarter. The net loss on derivative contracts in both periods was principally due to the natural gas and oil collars and fixed price swaps being less beneficial in relation to their respective contracted volumes and prices at the beginning of the periods.

The 12% decrease in total cost per Mcfe in the 2021 quarter, relative to the 2020 quarter, was primarily driven by a decrease in DD&A. DD&A decreased $326,861, or 13%, in the 2021 quarter to $0.86 per Mcfe, as compared to $1.29 per Mcfe in the 2020 quarter. Of the DD&A decrease, $1,086,750 was a result of a $0.43 decrease in the DD&A rate per Mcfe, partially offset by an increase of $759,889 resulting from production increasing 31% in the 2021 quarter. The rate decrease was mainly due to an increase in reserves during the 2021 quarter, as compared to the 2020 quarter.

NINE MONTHS 2021 RESULTS

The Company recorded a nine-month net loss of $2,453,037, or $0.10 per share, in the 2021 period, as compared to a net loss of $22,117,915, or $1.34 per share, in the 2020 period. The change in net loss was principally the result of increased natural gas, oil and NGL sales and decreased LOE, DD&A, impairment expense and G&A, partially offset by an increase in losses on derivative contracts, transportation, gathering and marketing expenses, production taxes and a reduction in gain on asset sales and income tax benefit.

Natural gas, oil and NGL sales increased $7,341,607, or 40%, for the 2021 period, compared to the 2020 period due to increases in natural gas, oil and NGL prices of 60%, 25% and 81%, respectively, and an increase in natural gas and NGL volumes of 12% and 3%, respectively.

Natural gas volumes increased during the nine months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to the nine months ended June 30, 2020, primarily as a result of (i) acquisitions in the Haynesville Shale, (ii) maintenance workovers on high-interest wells in the Arkoma Stack, and (iii) increased drilling and completion activity in the STACK. These gas volumes were partially offset by naturally declining production in the Fayetteville Shale and production downtime and curtailments in response to market conditions in the SCOOP. The decrease in oil production was primarily due to naturally declining production in high-interest wells brought online during the first quarter of 2020 in the Bakken, as well as reduced drilling and completion activity in 2021 due to prevailing economic conditions compared to 2020 in the Eagle Ford and SCOOP. Oil production decreases were partially offset by increased drilling and completion activity in the STACK. The increased activity in the STACK also resulted in increased NGL production, which was partially offset by production downtime and curtailments in high-interest wells in in the SCOOP as well as naturally declining production in liquid-rich gas areas of the Anadarko Granite Wash.

The Company had a net loss on derivative contracts of $8,089,662 in the 2021 period, as compared to a net gain of $2,415,401 in the 2020 period. The net loss on derivative contracts in the current period was principally due to the natural gas and oil collars and fixed price swaps being less beneficial in relation to their respective contracted volumes and prices at the beginning of the period.

The 16% decrease in total cost per Mcfe in the 2021 period, relative to the 2020 period, was primarily driven by a decrease in DD&A. DD&A decreased $2,617,614, or 30%, in the 2021 period to $0.90 per Mcfe, as compared to $1.34 per Mcfe in the 2020 period. Of the DD&A decrease, $3,031,099 was a result of a $0.44 decrease in the DD&A rate per Mcfe, partially offset by an increase of $413,485 resulting from production increasing 5% in the 2021 period. The rate decrease was mainly due an increase in reserves during the 2021 period, as compared to the 2020 period.

OPERATIONS UPDATE

During the quarter ended June 30, 2021, 37 gross and 0.18 net wells in progress converted to producing wells. Our inventory of wells in progress increased to 97 gross wells and 0.48 net wells.





















Bakken/





































































Three



Arkoma













































SCOOP



STACK



Forks



Stack



Permian



Fayetteville



Haynesville



Other



Total

Gross Wells in Progress on PHX Acreage:







































































As of 3/31/21



42





13





3





2





3





-





13





4





80

Net Change



18





1





-2





-





-





-





-1





1





17

As of 6/30/21



60





14





1





2





3





-





12





5





97

Net Wells in Progress on PHX Acreage:







































































As of 3/31/21



0.08





0.03





-





-





0.14





-





0.13





0.06





0.44

Net Change



0.05





0.01





-





-





-





-





-0.01





-0.01





0.04

As of 6/30/21



0.13





0.04





-





-





0.14





-





0.12





0.05





0.48

Gross Active Permits on PHX Acreage:







































































As of 3/31/21



14





11





6





3





-





-





-





6





40

Net Change



-1





-4





-1





-





-





-





-





-





-6

As of 6/30/21



13





7





5





3





-





-





-





6





34











































































As of 6/30/21:







































































Rigs Present on PHX Acreage



6





1





2





-





-





-





3





1





13

Rigs Within 2.5 Miles of PHX Acreage



12





7





6





1





2





-





13





5





46



Leasing Activity

During the third quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company leased 518 net mineral acres for $270,890, primarily in Dawson County, TX in the Midland Basin.





















Bakken/





































































Three



Arkoma













































SCOOP



STACK



Forks



Stack



Permian



Fayetteville



Haynesville



Other



Total

During Three Months Ended 6/30/21:







































































Net Mineral Acres Leased



-





30





-





-





307





-





-





181





518

Average Bonus per Net Mineral Acre



-



$ 500





-





-



$ 527





-





-



$ 377



$ 524

Average Royalty per Net Mineral Acre

-



20%





-



-



25%





-





-



19%



22%



ACQUISITION AND DIVESTITURE UPDATE

During the third quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company purchased 2,913 net royalty acres for $13,310,340 and sold 5,197 net royalty acres at an average price of $57 per acre.





















Bakken/





































































Three



Arkoma













































SCOOP



STACK



Forks



Stack



Permian



Fayetteville



Haynesville



Other



Total

During Three Months Ended 6/30/21:







































































Net Mineral Acres Purchased



1,819





47





-





-





-





-





308





23





2,197

Net Royalty Acres Purchased



2,420





61





-





-





-





-





398





34





2,913

Price per Net Royalty Acre

$ 4,455



$ 1,624





-





-





-





-



$ 5,955



$ 1,754



$ 4,570

Net Mineral Acres Sold



-





-





-





-





2,857





-





-





32





2,889

Net Royalty Acres Sold



-





-





-





-





5,165





-





-





32





5,197

Price per Net Royalty Acre



-





-





-





-



$ 55





-





-



$ 391



$ 57



THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS CALL

PHX will host a conference call to discuss third quarter results at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Aug. 5, 2021. Management's discussion will be followed by a question and answer session with investors. To participate on the conference call, please dial 877-407-3088 (domestic) or 201-389-0927 (international). A replay of the call will be available for 14 days after the call. The number to access the replay of the conference call is 877-660-6853 and the PIN for the replay is 13720096.

FINANCIAL RESULTS

Statements of Operations



Three Months Ended June 30,



Nine Months Ended June 30,



2021



2020



2021



2020

Revenues:









Natural gas, oil and NGL sales $ 10,899,820



$ 3,517,561



$ 25,670,624



$ 18,329,017

Lease bonuses and rental income

259,152





22,996





319,139





572,787

Gains (losses) on derivative contracts

(5,487,483)





(838,282)





(8,089,662)





2,415,401

Gain on asset sales

270,070





3,108





313,595





3,275,996





5,941,559





2,705,383





18,213,696





24,593,201

Costs and expenses:





























Lease operating expenses

1,064,989





1,147,948





3,100,052





3,871,818

Transportation, gathering and marketing

1,538,174





956,653





4,138,653





3,696,282

Production taxes

596,858





134,249





1,316,038





835,284

Depreciation, depletion and amortization

2,137,707





2,464,568





6,176,173





8,793,787

Provision for impairment

45,855





358,826





45,855





29,904,528

Interest expense

220,439





241,191





790,202





958,429

General and administrative

2,275,104





1,908,790





6,065,677





6,306,479

Other expense (income)

235,027





(73,687)





136,083





(44,551)

Total costs and expenses

8,114,153





7,138,538





21,768,733





54,322,056

Income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes

(2,172,594)





(4,433,155)





(3,555,037)





(29,728,855)

































Provision (benefit) for income taxes

(816,000)





(877,940)





(1,102,000)





(7,610,940)

































Net income (loss) $ (1,356,594)



$ (3,555,215)



$ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)

































































































Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share $ (0.05)



$ (0.21)



$ (0.10)



$ (1.34)

































Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding:





























Common shares

28,117,199





16,403,243





24,308,185





16,375,736

Unissued, directors' deferred compensation shares

192,059





141,799





174,454





152,500





28,309,258





16,545,042





24,482,639





16,528,236

































Dividends declared per share of





























common stock and paid in period $ 0.01



$ 0.01



$ 0.03



$ 0.09



































Balance Sheets



June 30, 2021



Sept. 30, 2020

Assets













Current assets:













Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,908,500



$ 10,690,395

Natural gas, oil, and NGL sales receivables (net of $0

5,114,387





2,943,220

allowance for uncollectable accounts)













Refundable income taxes

2,379,756





3,805,227

Other

480,600





351,088

Total current assets

10,883,243





17,789,930

















Properties and equipment at cost, based on













successful efforts accounting:













Producing natural gas and oil properties

323,187,303





324,886,491

Non-producing natural gas and oil properties

32,894,588





18,993,814

Other

681,125





582,444





356,763,016





344,462,749

Less accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization

(259,018,926)





(263,590,801)

Net properties and equipment

97,744,090





80,871,948

















Operating lease right-of-use assets

628,617





690,316

Other, net

558,659





669,641

Total assets $ 109,814,609



$ 100,021,835

















Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity













Current liabilities:













Accounts payable $ 1,173,258



$ 997,637

Derivative contracts, net

6,754,328





281,942

Current portion of operating lease liability

130,973





127,108

Accrued liabilities and other

1,324,482





1,297,363

Short-term debt

-





1,750,000

Total current liabilities

9,383,041





4,454,050

















Long-term debt

19,900,000





27,000,000

Deferred income taxes, net

212,007





1,329,007

Asset retirement obligations

2,845,919





2,897,522

Derivative contracts, net

1,354,174





425,705

Operating lease liability, net of current portion

822,907





921,625

















Total liabilities

34,518,048





37,027,909

















Stockholders' equity:













Class A voting common stock, $0.01666 par value; 36,000,500













shares authorized and 30,200,226 issued at June 30, 2021;













24,000,500 shares authorized and 22,647,306 issued at Sept. 30, 2020

503,136





377,304

Capital in excess of par value

25,844,372





10,649,611

Deferred directors' compensation

1,701,110





1,874,007

Retained earnings

53,033,376





56,244,100





81,081,994





69,145,022

Less treasury stock, at cost; 388,545 shares at June 30,













2021, and 411,487 shares at Sept. 30, 2020

(5,785,433)





(6,151,096)

Total stockholders' equity

75,296,561





62,993,926

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 109,814,609



$ 100,021,835



Condensed Statements of Cash Flows



Nine Months Ended June 30,



2021



2020

Operating Activities



Net income (loss) $ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided













by operating activities:













Depreciation, depletion and amortization

6,176,173





8,793,787

Impairment of producing properties

45,855





29,904,528

Provision for deferred income taxes

(1,117,000)





(6,158,000)

Gain from leasing fee mineral acreage

(316,541)





(567,975)

Proceeds from leasing fee mineral acreage

334,938





582,458

Net (gain) loss on sales of assets

(136,596)





(3,258,994)

Directors' deferred compensation expense

167,425





184,188

Total (gain) loss on derivative contracts

8,089,662





(2,415,401)

Cash receipts (payments) on settled derivative contracts

(688,807)





3,230,034

Restricted stock awards

542,674





619,812

Other

72,126





3,718

Cash provided (used) by changes in assets and liabilities:













Natural gas, oil and NGL sales receivables

(2,134,395)





2,194,430

Other current assets

(89,957)





(121,635)

Accounts payable

209,014





31,755

Income taxes receivable

1,425,471





(134,908)

Other non-current assets

87,065





6,544

Accrued liabilities

26,263





(950,686)

Total adjustments

12,693,370





31,943,655

Net cash provided by operating activities

10,240,333





9,825,740

















Investing Activities













Capital expenditures

(696,759)





(196,168)

Acquisition of minerals and overriding royalty interests

(19,337,265)





(10,304,016)

Proceeds from sales of assets

533,371





3,457,500

Net cash provided (used) by investing activities

(19,500,653)





(7,042,684)

















Financing Activities













Borrowings under Credit Facility

-





6,061,725

Payments of loan principal

(8,850,000)





(11,486,725)

Net proceeds from equity issuance

11,088,858





-

Purchases of treasury stock

(2,741)





(7,635)

Payments of dividends

(757,692)





(1,486,031)

Net cash provided (used) by financing activities

1,478,425





(6,918,666)

















Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

(7,781,895)





(4,135,610)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

10,690,395





6,160,691

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 2,908,500



$ 2,025,081

















Supplemental Schedule of Noncash Investing and Financing Activities





























Additions to asset retirement obligations $ -



$ 4

































Gross additions to properties and equipment $ 23,794,178



$ 10,335,534

Equity offering used for acquisitions

(3,718,000)





-

Net (increase) decrease in accounts payable for properties













and equipment additions

(42,154)





164,650

Capital expenditures and acquisitions $ 20,034,024



$ 10,500,184



Derivative Contracts as of Aug. 1, 2021

Period





















Collar Average



Collar Average

(Calendar Year)

Product

Volume Mcf/Bbl



Swap Price



Floor Price



Ceiling Price

Remaining 2021

Natural Gas



1,193,500











$ 2.38



$ 3.07

Remaining 2021

Natural Gas



600,500



$ 2.82

















2022

Natural Gas



2,540,500











$ 2.42



$ 3.17

2022

Natural Gas



547,500



$ 2.73

















2023

Natural Gas



166,000











$ 2.37



$ 3.26

2023

Natural Gas



84,000



$ 2.56























































Remaining 2021

Crude Oil



9,000











$ 37.00



$ 46.69

Remaining 2021

Crude Oil



55,000



$ 40.75

















2022

Crude Oil



68,500











$ 40.25



$ 50.35

2022

Crude Oil



59,000



$ 41.51



















Non-GAAP Reconciliation

This news release includes certain "non-GAAP financial measures" under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Regulation G. These non-GAAP measures are calculated using GAAP amounts in our financial statements. These measures, detailed below, are provided in addition to, not as an alternative for, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP (including the notes), included in our SEC filings and posted on our website.

Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) plus interest expense, provision for impairment, depreciation, depletion and amortization of properties and equipment, including amortization of other assets, provision (benefit) for income taxes and unrealized (gains) losses on derivative contracts. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under GAAP. We have included a presentation of adjusted EBITDA because we recognize that certain investors consider adjusted EBITDA a useful means of measuring our ability to meet our debt service obligations and evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, operating income, cash flow from operations or other consolidated income or cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure of other companies. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to adjusted EBITDA for the periods indicated:



Third Quarter Ended



Third Quarter Ended



Nine Months

Ended



Nine Months

Ended



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020

Net Income (Loss) $ (1,356,594)



$ (3,555,215)



$ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)

Plus:





























Unrealized (gains) losses on derivatives

4,482,793





2,537,404





7,400,855





814,633

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

(816,000)





(877,940)





(1,102,000)





(7,610,940)

Interest Expense

220,439





241,191





790,202





958,429

DD&A

2,137,707





2,464,568





6,176,173





8,793,787

Impairment

45,855





358,826





45,855





29,904,528

Adjusted EBITDA $ 4,714,200



$ 1,168,834



$ 10,858,048



$ 10,742,522



Adjusted EBITDA Excluding Gain on Asset Sales Reconciliation

Adjusted EBITDA excluding gain on asset sales is defined as the adjusted EBITDA less gains on asset sales. We have included a presentation of adjusted EBITDA excluding gain on asset sales because we recognize that certain investors consider this amount a useful means of measuring our ability to meet our debt service obligations and evaluating our financial performance. The adjusted EBITDA excluding gain on asset sales has limitations and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, operating income, cash flow from operations or other consolidated income or cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of adjusted EBITDA excluding gain on asset sales may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure of other companies. The following table provides a presentation of net income (loss) to adjusted EBITDA and of the resulting adjusted EBITDA excluding gain on asset sales for the periods indicated:



Third Quarter Ended



Third Quarter Ended



Nine Months Ended



Nine Months Ended



Second Quarter Ended



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



March 31, 2021

Net Income (Loss) $ (1,356,594)



$ (3,555,215)



$ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)



$ (499,723)

Plus:





































Unrealized (gains) losses





































on derivatives

4,482,793





2,537,404





7,400,855





814,633





2,050,712

Income Tax Expense





































(Benefit)

(816,000)





(877,940)





(1,102,000)





(7,610,940)





(217,000)

Interest Expense

220,439





241,191





790,202





958,429





267,865

DD&A

2,137,707





2,464,568





6,176,173





8,793,787





1,777,817

Impairment

45,855





358,826





45,855





29,904,528





-

Adjusted EBITDA $ 4,714,200



$ 1,168,834



$ 10,858,048



$ 10,742,522



$ 3,379,671









































Less:





































Gain on asset sales

270,070





3,108





313,595





3,275,996





23,257

Loss on asset sales(1)

(238,827)





(4,345)





(248,301)





(11,849)





(5,681)

Adjusted EBITDA excluding





































Gain/loss on asset sales $ 4,682,957



$ 1,170,071



$ 10,792,754



$ 7,478,375



$ 3,362,095









































(1) Included in other expense (income) line item on the Company's Statements of Operations



Debt/Adjusted EBITDA (TTM) Reconciliation

Debt/adjusted EBITDA (TTM) is defined as the ratio of long-term debt to adjusted EBITDA on a trailing 12-month ("TTM") basis. We have included a presentation of debt/adjusted EBITDA (TTM) because we recognize that certain investors consider such ratios a useful means of measuring our ability to meet our debt service obligations and evaluating our financial performance. The debt/adjusted EBITDA (TTM) ratio has limitations and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, operating income, cash flow from operations or other consolidated income or cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of debt/adjusted EBITDA (TTM) may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure of other companies. The following table provides a presentation of net income (loss) to adjusted EBITDA on a TTM basis, and of the resulting debt/adjusted EBITDA (TTM) ratio:



TTM Ended



TTM Ended



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020

Net Income (Loss) $ (4,287,159)



$ (78,271,695)

Plus:













Unrealized (gains) losses on derivatives

9,788,013





1,031,998

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

(1,780,060)





(25,847,940)

Interest Expense

1,118,561





1,402,387

DD&A

8,696,169





15,169,665

Impairment

45,855





106,728,865

Adjusted EBITDA $ 13,581,379



$ 20,213,280

















Debt $ 19,900,000



$ 30,000,000

Debt/Adjusted EBITDA

1.47





1.48



Adjusted Pre-Tax Net Income (Loss) Reconciliation

Adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) plus provision for impairment, provision (benefit) for income taxes and unrealized (gains) losses on derivative contracts. We have included a presentation of adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) because we recognize that certain investors consider adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) a useful means of evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) has limitations and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, operating income, cash flow from operations or other consolidated income or cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, this presentation of adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure of other companies. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to adjusted pre-tax net income (loss) for the periods indicated:



Third Quarter Ended



Third Quarter Ended



Nine Months

Ended



Nine Months

Ended



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020



June 30, 2021



June 30, 2020

Net Income (Loss) $ (1,356,594)



$ (3,555,215)



$ (2,453,037)



$ (22,117,915)

Plus:





























Impairment

45,855





358,826





45,855





29,904,528

Unrealized (gains) losses on derivatives

4,482,793





2,537,404





7,400,855





814,633

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

(816,000)





(877,940)





(1,102,000)





(7,610,940)

Adjusted Pre-Tax Net Income (Loss) $ 2,356,054



$ (1,536,925)



$ 3,891,673



$ 990,306



PHX Minerals Inc. (NYSE: PHX) Oklahoma City-based, PHX Minerals Inc. is a natural gas and oil mineral company with a strategy to proactively grow its mineral position in its core areas of focus. PHX owns approximately 251,000 net mineral acres principally located in Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, New Mexico and Arkansas. Additional information on PHX can be found at www.phxmin.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Words such as "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "will," "should," "may" and similar expressions may be used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and reflect the Company's current views about future events. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: our ability to execute our business strategies; the volatility of realized natural gas and oil prices; the level of production on our properties; estimates of quantities of natural gas, oil and NGL reserves and their values; general economic or industry conditions; legislation or regulatory requirements; conditions of the securities markets; our ability to raise capital; changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; financial or political instability; acts of war or terrorism; title defects in the properties in which we invest; and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory or technical factors affecting our properties, operations or prices. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in these and other forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the results to differ materially from those expected by the Company's management. Information concerning these risks and other factors can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, available on the Company's website or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE PHX MINERALS INC.

Related Links

http://www.phxmin.com


LAS VEGAS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PLI Card Marketing Solutions (https://www.plicards.com) announced today that it is increasing its minimum starting wage at its Asheville location from $14.50 to $17. This is the second wage increase implemented in 2021 by the Asheville employer, a manufacturer that has been producing gift cards and hotel key cards in North Carolina since 1988. Following an increase from $13 to $14.50 implemented in May, the adjustment to $17 represents a cumulative 30% boost in minimum wage at the facility since the beginning of 2021.

PLI Card Manufacturing Services Asheville facility images

"At PLI, our corporate vision is 'to be the ultimate destination for customers and talent'," said Tom Garland, President & CEO. "Our employees make us who we are at PLI. Attracting and retaining great people means providing our employees with a positive atmosphere, a safe environment, generous benefits, and opportunities for professional development. And today, more than ever, it means taking the lead in our industry and in our local markets with competitive wages. In conjunction with the boost in our minimum wage, we will be increasing wages for over 200 of our current employees."

Employees will continue to receive PLI's industry-leading benefits, such as:

Paid holidays and personal time-off

Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and families

401k with company contribution

with company contribution Tuition reimbursement

Fun and engaging wellness program

Short-term and long-term disability

Company-paid life and AD&D insurance

Numerous optional supplemental insurance plans

Pet insurance

Employee assistance program

With more than 700 employees across all locations, PLI is the largest gift and key card provider in North America, serving over 25,000 unique customers annually and shipping to 140 countries. With locations across the United States, from coast to coast, distribution centers in Canada and Europe, and the strongest customer-support team in the industry, PLI aims to deliver a seamless customer experience and a local feel to each individual customer. Learn more about PLI at https://www.plicards.com and explore PLI's career opportunities at https://careers.plicards.com/.

Press contact: Kathy MacDougall, 1-800-752-1017

Related Files

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PLI Asheville

PLI Card Manufacturing Services Asheville facility images

SOURCE PLI Card Marketing Solutions
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) announced today that it was named as one of the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators by Fast Company magazine for the second year in a row. The company was ranked No. 41, moving 14 spots from the 2020 list.

The 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators list ranks 100 winners from a variety of industries, including computer science, biotech, consumer packaged goods, nonprofit, education, financial services, cybersecurity, and engineering. Fast Company editors partnered with Accenture to score nearly 1,500 applications, and a panel of eight judges reviewed and endorsed the top 100 companies.

"We believe that great ideas can come from any employee. Our inclusive culture democratizes innovation by empowering all individuals to harness their potential for innovation, no matter their role, experience level, or background," said Stanley Black & Decker Chief Technology Officer Mark Maybury. "At Stanley Black & Decker, we have created an innovation ecosystem with internal and external partners who not only embrace technological change but accelerate the pace of innovation in our journey to become a disruptive force for good. We are grateful to see this commitment revealed through our team's relentless focus on extreme innovation, despite the significant challenges of 2020."

Throughout the global pandemic, Stanley Black & Decker has demonstrated its commitment to innovation by continuing to introduce new innovation-focused products and processes. These investments were focused on programs that were built to help address challenges brought about by the pandemic as well as programs that continued to deliver forward-thinking product, process, and workplace culture innovations. For example:

Stanley Black & Decker built a rapid innovation team within its Global Tools & Storage business to build custom battery solutions for life-saving Power Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPR), in partnership with Ford and 3M .

& Decker built a rapid innovation team within its Global Tools & Storage business to build custom battery solutions for life-saving Power Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPR), in partnership with Ford and . The company launched a talent acceleration platform for employees that wraps human-curated interventions and analytics around an innovative mentorship program (called 'StanleyConnex') and emotional intelligence program (called 'EI FOR EVERYONE').

The company continued its partnership with Techstars, investing in its third cohort focused on AI in manufacturing for its accelerator program.

The company expanded its investments in innovative upskilling and re-skilling technologies, announcing a formal partnership with DeepHow, a startup that deploys "human-based AI" to train manufacturing workers. Stanley Black & Decker has deployed DeepHow across 30 of its manufacturing sites, with plans to expand to more than 100 across the globe.

"These leaders and teams created cultures of innovation and sustained them, even as remote work extended into 2021," says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "This newest list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators honors those organizations that found ways to collaborate and invent despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring employees were at the forefront."

Click here to learn more about Stanley Black & Decker's innovation ecosystem. To see the complete Fast Company list, go to: www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/2021

About Fast Company

Fast Company is one of the world's leading business media brands, with an editorial focus on innovation with deep emphasis on creativity, technology, social impact, leadership, and design. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at fastcompany.com.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions  underpinned by the world's largest delivery network  Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 482,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, an S&P 500 company, is a leading $14.5 billion global diversified industrial with 56,000 employees in more than 60 countries who make the tools, products and solutions to deliver on its Purpose, For Those Who Make The World. The Company operates the world's largest tools and storage business featuring iconic brands such as DEWALT, STANLEY, BLACK+DECKER and CRAFTSMAN; the world's second largest commercial electronic security company; and is a global industrial leader of highly engineered solutions within its engineered fastening and infrastructure businesses. Learn more at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.

SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker

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"As Subaru and our retailers continue to make a nationwide impact with our Subaru Loves Learning initiative, we are especially proud to supply the students right here in our hometown of Camden with the resources they deserve to succeed in school," said Thomas J. Doll, President and CEO, Subaru of America, Inc. "Subaru is committed to making learning more accessible for all students, giving them every opportunity to reach their highest potential."

Over the last 10 years, Subaru has partnered with the Camden City School District, offering support to students and educators. As a result, 203 scholarships have been granted to graduating seniors since 2016, funds have been allocated to ensure laptops are available for all students and e-learning continues to progress.

This year, Subaru continues its long-standing partnership not only with the adoption of all K-5 classrooms in the Camden School District, but with a new volunteer program. On August 24, nearly 100 Subaru employees will head to the eight Camden schools in the district to help with key projects to enhance learning at the schools, representing the automaker's devotion to encouraging educational advancement and achievement in its local community.

"Having hands-on learning materials is crucial to helping our students succeed, and we know it's difficult when many students do not have access to these supplies" said Katrina McCombs, Superintendent of the Camden City School District. "The support from Subaru of America will give our students new opportunities to thrive in our classrooms, so that we can all continue to focus on their educational fulfillment."

In 2021-2022, Subaru of America and more than 600 participating Subaru retailers across the country are partnering with AdoptAClassroom.org to support the purchase of supplies, materials and tools needed to help classrooms and students nationwide succeed. Whether in a classroom or from home, many students lack the necessary learning resources to adequately pursue educational success. The Subaru Loves Learning initiative is focused on making learning more accessible and positively impacting the academic futures of students. Adopting every elementary school in Camden City School District is just one of the many ways Subaru continues to do its part to be more than a car company for its communities.

For information about Subaru Loves Learning and to find out more about the partners that Subaru supports, visit http://www.subaru.com/learning and follow #SubaruLovesLearning on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to learn more and see this initiative in action.

About Camden City School District

The Camden City School District is committed to providing all Camden Students with a high-quality education where they are valued, challenged, and prepared for college and careers that positively impact their community and the world.

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $200 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 63,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do.

For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Diane Anton

Subaru of America, Inc.

(856) 488-5093

[email protected]

Sheena M. Yera

Camden City School District

(856) 966-2000 x65811

[email protected]

SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.subaru.com


PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey from Health Union reveals that while many people living with advanced ovarian cancer currently consider their condition under control and have a positive view of many aspects of the patient journey, they maintain considerable frustration about the ineffectual testing and screening process. The inaugural Advanced Ovarian Cancer In America survey illuminates the perspectives and experiences of people impacted by stage 3 and stage 4 ovarian cancer.

These findings also support and fuel content and engagement for the recent launch of AdvancedOvarianCancer.net, Health Union's 33rd condition-specific online health communities.

Compared to people in early stages of ovarian cancer - when cancerous cells develop in, on, or near one or both ovaries - people living with advanced ovarian cancer experience a metastasis, or spreading, of the cancer to other parts of the body, often quickly.

However, despite the metastatic nature of advanced ovarian cancer and the various symptoms and quality of life impacts experienced, Advanced Ovarian Cancer In America survey respondents are mostly positive about various aspects of living with the condition, including the impact of treatment and relationships with their healthcare professionals. Specifically, 63% of respondents said they feel their ovarian cancer is under control on their current treatment plan.

The impact of treatment is seen in looking at the initial and current diagnosis stages. While 96% of respondents were initially diagnosed with an advanced stage of ovarian cancer, the amount of respondents currently diagnosed with an advanced stage is 55%. Specifically, 20% of respondents were initially diagnosed at stage 4 and 76% were initially diagnosed at stage 3. Currently, 26% are diagnosed with stage 4 and 29% are diagnosed with stage 3, while 35% are in remission and an extra 10% don't know their current stage.

Respondents also tend to feel positively about their HCP relationships. HCPs - primarily gynecologic oncologists, as well as medical oncologists and other professionals - receive exceedingly high marks across the board. At least 80% of respondents who currently see an HCP said they felt those individuals provide excellent care, care about them as people, are thorough, listen to them and are easy to talk to. Respondents seem to be overwhelmingly positive about treatment-related communications, with 86% saying their HCP clearly explains treatment options. Similarly, more than eight in 10 respondents said they had received adequate information to make decisions about treatment or surgery.

"A good ovarian cancer provider has to be willing to listen and willing to have candid and honest conversations with their patient," said AdvancedOvarianCancer.net patient advocate ShaRhonda Wise . "I truly feel the treatment team can make or break the patient. For me, having multiple physicians that were willing to take time to listen to my concerns helped put me at ease. It gave me encouragement and helped me trust their treatment plan."

Despite these mostly positive experiences, respondents pinpoint one consistently frustrating aspect of the advanced ovarian cancer patient journey: the screening and detection process. Currently, there is not a specific, or effective, screening test for early detection of ovarian cancer, a point about which 82% of respondents expressed frustration.

Due to the nature of the condition, this leads many to be diagnosed only once they are in advanced stages and experiencing related symptoms. In fact, only 1% of respondents said their ovarian cancer was detected via a screening test before symptoms began. Meanwhile, three-fourths of respondents had their cancer detected after visiting an HCP due to symptoms, and 15% had their condition discovered incidentally through an unrelated medical activity, such as a routine medical exam or unrelated surgery.

"These findings are extremely valuable in understanding the frustrations people living with advanced ovarian cancer experience throughout their health journeys," said Lauren Lawhon, Health Union's president and COO. "Understanding these frustrations can help the healthcare industry provide solutions that truly address what patients are experiencing. At the same time, AdvancedOvarianCancer.net serves as an important resource for people looking for information, connection and support as they work through various aspects of the patient journey."

The inaugural Advanced Ovarian Cancer In America survey, fielded from Dec. 1, 2020, to Mar. 19, 2021, includes responses from 153 people diagnosed - either previously or currently - with an advanced stage of ovarian cancer. Additional survey results may be available upon request, and more patient perspectives are explored at AdvancedOvarianCancer.net .

About Health Union

Health Union , with the recent acquisition of WEGO Health, maintains the largest team of experts, patient advocates and healthcare leaders dedicated to social health. The company encourages social interactions that evolve into valuable online health conversations, helping people with chronic conditions find the information, connection, and validation they seek. Health Union does this by creating condition-specific online communities  publishing original, daily content and continuously cultivating social conversation  to support, educate and connect millions of people with challenging, chronic health concerns. The Health Union family of brands includes 34 online health communities , including LungCancer.net, ParkinsonsDisease.net, MultipleSclerosis.net and Migraine.com.

SOURCE Health Union
DALTON, Ga., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SYNLawn , the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of synthetic grass in North America, hosted more than 300 guests at a STEM educational event for New York City youth from several chapters of the Boys and Girls Club at the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem. The event was held in the outdoor area of the historic school building where SYNLawn New York recently donated and installed a soy biobased synthetic grass field.

"The SYNLawn New York team embraced the opportunity to support the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem with the artificial turf donation, and our collaborative vision for bringing in agricultural partners to expose these promising youth to the important role of the American farmer's impact on various types of products," said Anastasia Phillips, owner of SYNLawn New York. "All the praise for the success of the event goes to Dominique Jones and Melanie McKenzie-Layne. They were wonderful partners to continue our efforts making safe places for children to play, learn and engage with their community, all while learning how farming and rural community life affects all of us. I am very grateful to the Boys and Girls Club, and I continue to be impressed with all of their efforts."

"Boys and Girls Club of Harlem is extremely grateful to be a recipient of this extremely generous donation and to have participated in this unprecedented event for our club," said Dominique Jones, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club of Harlem. "Ensuring that our kids have access to open, safe spaces is essential. We are proud of the fact that we could open up our gates for kids in our neighborhood to not only experience the grass, but also make a clear connection on how rural agriculture affects their urban lives every day. It was a tremendous opportunity for them."

For this unique event, SYNLawn collaborated with the United Soybean Board, New York Corn and Soybean Growers Association, Indiana Soybean Alliance, John Bowne agricultural science program and FFA chapter from Flushing, and the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem to educate the children in attendance about science, sustainability and soybeans. There were six learning stations set up outside on the new installation from SYNLawn New York that offered interactive demonstrations and STEM activities, as well as fun games like soybean bag toss and a soybean spoon race to keep the children engaged. The educational activities introduced the children to how soybeans are used in products like SYNLawn to make them more sustainable. The educational demonstrations included:

Ralph Lott , a United Soybean Board Vice Chair, who farms in New York , educated the children about how soybeans are used to make 1,000 different products, like SYNLawn.

, a United Soybean Board Vice Chair, who farms in , educated the children about how soybeans are used to make 1,000 different products, like SYNLawn. Jenny Frank , Next Generation Scientist for Biodiesel co-chair and graduate student at The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry , created environmental bingo and introduced the children to cleaner burning biodiesel that fuels New York's vehicles and Bioheat for buildings.

, Next Generation Scientist for Biodiesel co-chair and graduate student at The , created environmental bingo and introduced the children to cleaner burning biodiesel that fuels vehicles and Bioheat for buildings. The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) had a unique soy necklace project for the children that allowed them to watch the soybeans grow.

The New York Corn and Soybean Association demonstrated the importance of plants, like soybeans, to protect soil from erosion.

"I enjoyed participating in the Farmers on the Green event to help educate the children from the Boys and Girls Club chapters about how soybeans are used to create thousands of products and make them more sustainable," said Ralph Lott II, United Soybean Board Vice Chair. "Since children in cities aren't likely to be familiar with farming, I'm glad I was given the opportunity to discuss my experiences as a rural farmer and teach them about why agriculture is so important."

The event also included a prominent guest to further enhance awareness about biobased products. Justin Maxson, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, met with the youth attending the event. He unveiled a new report, "An Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry," which highlighted the benefits of the biobased industry in terms of sustainability and economic growth. After his remarks, he joined the children in touring the learning stations, and participated in the activities like the corn hole toss.

For more details about SYNLawn's biobased products, visit www.synlawn.com/usda.

About SYNLawn

SYNLawn is the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass in North America. As part of the SportGroup Holding family of companies, SYNLawn, along with sister surfacing brands - Astroturf, Rekortan, APT and Laykold - delivers the best products available on the market. SYNLawn's product offerings also include Calico Greens, an upscale line of artificial wall displays. SYNLawn's turnkey network of 100 distributors seamlessly combines environmental stewardship with industry-leading innovations. Manufactured in Dalton, GA, SYNLawn uses bio-based ingredients, such as soy and sugarcane, and consumer-conscious additives such as antimicrobials to meet customers' wide range of needs. With more than 200,000 residential and commercial installations, the company is raising the bar for global synthetic turf standards and transforming the idea of grass. We have a proprietary system that accounts for more than 70 percent renewable content. From rooftops to road medians and rocket-launch viewing sites, SYNLawn has installed over 82 million square feet of U.S. soy-backed grass across 200,000 installations in the United States and 19 other countries since 2008. For 2021, North America's largest manufacturer of artificial grass is set to add more soy than ever to its products, which will increase its use of U.S. soy by 10%. For more information visit www.SYNLawn.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube.

About United Soybean Board

Because of the potential for biobased products to create new markets for soybeans, U.S. soybean farmers have invested millions of dollars to research, test and promote biobased products. Much of this work was done through the United Soybean Board, which is composed of 78 U.S. soybean farmers appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to invest soybean checkoff funds. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Services has oversight responsibilities for the soybean checkoff.

About Boys and Girls Club of Harlem

Since 1980, Boys & Girls Club of Harlem (BGCHarlem) has proudly served the youth and community of Harlem. Our mission is to provide access and opportunities for youth to reach their full potential as responsible members of the community. We believe success is within reach of every young person that walks through our doors. Our kids engage in high quality youth development programming and they benefit from training, caring, professional staff and volunteers who help them take control of their lives, envision productive futures, and reach their goals. Our six clubhouses both in NYC Department of Education Schools and our own flagship clubhouse, serve over 1,200 children and youth ages 5-18.

Media Contact:

Mackenzie Smith

[email protected]

877.703.3824 x106

SOURCE SYNLawn

Related Links

http://www.synlawn.com/


This recognition is largely credited to the best-in-class surgeons from the Norman Parathyroid Center and Clayman Thyroid Center. Tweet this

This recognition is largely credited to the best-in-class surgeons from the Norman Parathyroid Center and Clayman Thyroid Center who account for the majority of all ENT cases treated at TGH for the past 18 years, and 95% of Endocrine Surgery/Endocrinology. Until recently, these world-renowned surgeons performed all of their thyroid and parathyroid surgery at TGH, performing nearly 5000 endocrine operations annually, more than any other hospital in the nation. The surgeons have a global reputation and international reach with just over 50% of patients traveling from outside the state of Florida for expert surgical care of thyroid cancer, and parathyroid gland tumors.

The thyroid and parathyroid surgeons recently added the nation's highest volume adrenal surgeon and is the world's highest volume center for surgery of thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal tumors and cancers. The four centers of endocrine surgery excellence are:

Norman Parathyroid Center: https://www.parathyroid.com

Clayman Thyroid Center: https://www.thyroidcancer.com

Suh Scarless Thyroid Surgery: https://www.scarless-thyroid.com

Carling Adrenal Center: https://www.adrenal.com

All four endocrine surgery specialties and their surgeons will soon unite under one roof, operating primarily at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery, HCA Healthcare announced last month . In a $50 million expansion of the Memorial Hospital of Tampa campus, this new 75,000 square-foot facility is slated to start welcoming thyroid cancer, adrenal, and parathyroid patients by January of 2022. https://www.hospitalforendocrinesurgery.com

"TGH has been a great home for my surgeons and my patients for many years" stated Dr Jim Norman, founder of the Norman Parathyroid Center and CEO of the Institute. "Having our hospital named one of the best in the country, and the best in Florida year after year for the operations we perform is a testament to the great work our thyroid and parathyroid surgeons do and the great team we have assembled at TGH. We are in the process of transferring that surgical expertise and patient-first care to the new Hospital for Endocrine Surgery when it opens this winter."

"This award is shared by every member of our operating team. Each member's professionalism and dedication to the care of our patients is what makes our center of excellence" said Dr Gary Clayman, founder and chief of surgery at the Clayman Thyroid Center, the source of more than 95% of thyroid operations at TGH in the recent past. "We instituted a very personalized approach to thyroid cancer treatment that we have become known for nationally and internationally. Patients come from all over the globe for our expert thyroid and parathyroid care and we are looking forward to continuing this excellence when we move to a new hospital."

The U.S. News Best Hospitals rewards based largely on objective measures such as risk-adjusted survival and discharge-to-home rates, surgical volume, among other care-related indicators.

About Norman Parathyroid Center: Located in Tampa, Florida, the Norman Parathyroid Center is the leading parathyroid tumor treatment center in the world, performing nearly 4,000 parathyroid tumor operations annually. Well known for cure rates over 99% via an operation that typically lasts about 20 minutes, the Norman Parathyroid Center's success centers on a teamwork approach by the most experienced parathyroid surgeons in the world. https://www.parathyroid.com

About Clayman Thyroid Center: Founded in 2016 by Dr Gary Clayman, one of the nation's best-known and most experienced thyroid surgeons, the Clayman Thyroid Center is the highest volume thyroid cancer referral center in the United States. The Clayman Thyroid Center provides personalized thyroid surgical care allowing the greatest opportunity for cancer cure, wellness, and cosmetic and functional outcomes via all types of thyroid surgery from minimal incision to scarless thyroid surgery to advanced cancer care. https://www.thyroidcancer.com

Contact:

Julie Pinkham, Director of Marketing

Norman Parathyroid Center

[email protected]

(941) 468-3002

SOURCE Norman Parathyroid Center

Related Links

www.parathyroid.com


HARLINGEN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Regional Bank has elected Dr. Antonio Falcon, David A. Garza, and John D. Guevara to the Texas Regional Bank Board of Directors. "These new directors were chosen for their knowledge, community involvement, integrity, and leadership backgrounds," said Michael Scaief, Chairman for Texas Regional Bank. "The addition of these three gentlemen will help ensure we are equipped with the experience and perspectives needed as the bank continues to grow," he added.

Texas Regional Bank

Dr. Antonio Falcon attended Baylor College of Medicine where he completed his family practice residency in 1980. Since then, Dr. Falcon has been actively practicing Family Medicine and is currently the medical director at Family Health Center in Rio Grande City, Texas. In 2015, he was awarded Physician of the Year by the Texas Academy of Family Medicine and was inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Walk of Fame in 2016. Dr. Falcon is actively involved in his community as he currently serves on four boards and has a history of civic activities.

David A. Garza attended Texas A&M for two years, followed by The University of Texas Pharmacy School where he graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy. Since 1980, he has owned and operated The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in San Benito. Garza has a history of community and public service. He is an active member of Queen of the Universe Church and St. Joseph's Catholic Church in San Benito, Texas, and is currently serving on a number of boards. Garza is also the Cameron County Commissioner for PCT 3.

John D. Guevara earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Brownsville and graduated with his Juris Doctorate from Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2004. That same year, he joined the Linebarger firm, making Partner in 2006 and Capital Partner in 2013. He holds certificates in mediation and dispute resolution and in international and immigration law. Guevara is also a member of the State Bar of Texas as well as the American, Cameron, and Hidalgo County Bar Associations. Guevara is very involved in his community as he serves on four boards and volunteers at local and regional levels of Boy Scouts of America.

About Texas Regional Bank

Established in 2010, Texas Regional Bank is headquartered in Harlingen, Texas, with 21 banking centers and one loan production office in the Rio Grande Valley and Texas Hill Country. As of March 31, 2021, Texas Regional Bank reported total assets of $1.6 billion, deposits of $1.4 billion, and loans of $782 million. In addition, TRB is a full-service financial institution, offering core banking services, trust services, wealth management services, mortgage services, international banking, foreign exchange, and public finance.

For more Texas Regional Bank information, visit us online at www.texasregionalbank.com.

CONTACT:

Michael Scaief

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Regional Bank

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Texas Regional Bank
STOCKHOLM, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tobii, the world leader in eye tracking, today announces that it has signed a agreement to acquire Phasya, an innovative provider of software for monitoring physiological and cognitive states that influence human behavior.

With industry-leading accuracy, Phasya's AI-based software analyzes biometric signals such as eye tracking or heart rate to monitor cognitive states including drowsiness, cognitive load, and distraction. The company's algorithms are necessary components in all Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), to understand the driver states impacting safety, driving experience, and comfort. Phasya's solutions can also be deployed within industries such as aviation, rail, and consumer electronics. The solution is built on more than a decade of cutting-edge research in collaboration with The University of Liege, Belgium.

Rationale for the acquisition

Phasya's technology and long experience within development and validation of algorithms to assess cognitive states is highly complementary to Tobii's expertise and eye tracking technology. This will enhance Tobii's Driver Monitoring System, Tobii DMS, that was announced today. It also opens new opportunities for using cognitive state information in several markets, such as VR, AR, Scientific Research, and Gaming, providing substantial synergies. The company currently collaborates with numerous customers within automotive, technology, and aviation, as well as with leading industry associations providing key relationships for Tobii and Phasya to build on.

Phasya is in its early pre-revenue commercialization phase. By leveraging its resources and capabilities, Tobii will be able to accelerate the commercialization of Phasya's offering. Tobii expects the business to scale rapidly, driven by integrations of the algorithms in Tobii's existing solutions as well as in new applications, and with the mass market adoption for automotive DMS expected in 2024/25.

"Tobii and Phasya are a perfect strategic fit. By combining two strong teams with complementary expertise, products, and customer relationships, we will unlock significant synergies." said Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii. "We welcome the Phasya team to the Tobii family and look forward to push the boundaries for attention computing in Automotive, VR, AR, gaming and other markets."

Jerome Wertz, CEO at Phasya, commented: "Through this process it has become increasingly clear that Tobii is a fantastic home for Phasya. By leveraging Tobii's organization and strong experience of scaling businesses, Phasya's team and solutions will reach its full potential. We look forward to driving groundbreaking innovation and introducing exciting new possibilities across industries"

Details of the acquisition

Tobii will pay a maximum purchase price of around EUR 4m, of which around EUR 2m is contingent on performance over the coming five years. Tobii intends to pay for the acquisition in cash using existing funds. The acquisition is expected to close August 6, 2021, and Phasya will be fully consolidated in Tobii's external reporting from the same date.

This information is information that Tobii AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on August 5, 2021, at 17:30 CEST.

CONTACT:

Lina Perdius, Head of Communications, Tobii AB, phone: +46 (0)70 018 78 75, email: [email protected]

Henrik Mawby, Head of Investor Relations, Tobii Group, phone: +46 (0)72 219 82 15, email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/tobii-ab/r/tobii-acquires-phasya-to-enhance-its-offering-in-automotive-and-other-verticals,c3392761

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/2874/3392761/1451145.pdf Tobii acquires Phasya to enhance its offering in automotive and other verticals

SOURCE Tobii AB
DRAPER, Utah, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TruHearing, the market leader in hearing benefits, has launched a companywide program to encourage employees to give back to their communities. The new TruTime initiative provides two paid days annually to support participation in charitable or community-based causes.

The TruTime program reflects TruHearing's commitment to its values (Improve, Delight, Align, Enjoy, Be Tru) beyond its four walls of business. As part of this commitment, TruHearing is dedicated to improving the lives of employees by facilitating their involvement in causes they care about while also increasing awareness of social issues and promoting open dialogue.

Recognized as a "Top Workplace" in its home state of Utah for five consecutive years, TruHearing encourages celebration of activities outside the office that help create a more inclusive environment within the office. As part of the program, TruHearing's Diversity & Inclusion Committee will provide suggestions throughout the year for volunteer opportunities to help employees find new ways to serve their communities, celebrate diversity, and foster inclusion.

"Our goal for this program is to give employees a chance to spend time supporting causes that might be outside their comfort zone, whether that means working with new organizations or alongside a new group of people," said Tommy Macdonald. "Our communities shape who we are, which is why it's so important to get out and explore opportunities that offer a new perspective. This program provides employees with an opportunity to do just that."

In addition to promoting the value of inclusion through volunteer work, TruHearing is committed to fostering inclusion every day by offering solutions to those with hearing loss who can often feel isolated. TruHearing's overall mission is to improve the lives of Americans with hearing loss by offering affordable hearing healthcare services and hearing aids.

About TruHearing

TruHearing is the leader in hearing healthcare benefits serving more than 160 million people nationwide. With a highly qualified network of hearing care providers combined with the most extensive and technologically advanced hearing aid selection, white-glove service, and pre- and post-care support, TruHearing delivers the best value and service to payors and people with hearing health challenges. Headquartered in Draper, Utah, TruHearing has been improving lives by making hearing healthcare more affordable for over 18 years. For more information, visit: https://www.truhearing.com/for-health-plans-benefit-administrators/ .

CONTACT:

Therese Burke

Gatesman

[email protected]

SOURCE TruHearing
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vyopta, the Collaboration Intelligence Company, today announced new search functionality for the Collaboration Performance Management (CPM) suite. The new features provide a simpler user interface to allow IT and MSP help desk teams to quickly and independently detect, investigate, and remediate issues.

With the growth of unified communications and video collaboration to support remote and hybrid work in the past 18 months, IT teams are working harder than ever to deliver the best digital experience by making sure the technology (UC, network, devices) perform as planned and to proactively fix issues. They need easy-to-use tools that simplify detecting, troubleshooting and resolving issues.

"This is part of our commitment to continually improve IT and MSP users' capabilities to deliver the best digital experience consistently to users of UC and collaboration technology," said Craig Miller, Vyopta's UX Product Manager. "Both the saved search and search history functions were designed to help companies resolve support tickets much faster and to standardize best practices across team members."

The new features allow customers to:

View a recent history of searches they have performed within their CPM Monitoring and Analytics datasets, even if they haven't been saved (Search History)

Bookmark and name commonly used searches

Access a library of their saved searches to get to data faster and easier (Saved Search)

Vyopta also added the ability to clone and reuse panels (KPI, Trend, Dataset) to increase productivity in management, maintenance and support. UC and Vyopta administrators can now move any panel and relocate it to one of their other existing dashboards. And, they can select any of their users' panels and copy it for use by another user in his/her dashboard. In addition, they can create an alert directly from their Key Performance Indicators or Trends panels, saving them time by not having to remember how the panel was created and easily setting an alert within the monitor section.

Another recent update includes support of more advanced filtering in CPM Monitoring and Analytics. This allows customers to use logical operators in the filters they create, providing the option to use multiple filter groups in a single pane of results.

"Our enterprise customers and managed service providers (MSPs) who work with large data volumes and multiple organizations will be much more productive immediately," said Alfredo Ramirez, CEO and co-founder of Vyopta. "We pay close attention to customer feedback to ensure that Vyopta is best-in-class in helping to simplify their jobs and reach their goals."

About Vyopta Incorporated

Vyopta , the Collaboration Intelligence company, is a global leader in comprehensive monitoring and analytics for Collaboration Performance Management and Workspace Insights. By integrating insights from multi-vendor Unified Communications & Collaboration vendors and IOT devices, Vyopta helps organizations deliver the best UC user experience and optimize their UC and real estate investments. Vyopta helps hundreds of organizations worldwide spanning 20+ industries monitor 6 million endpoints and over 20 billion meeting minutes a year.

SOURCE Vyopta Inc

Related Links

http://www.vyopta.com


MINNEAPOLIS, Aug 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealth Enhancement Group, an independent wealth management firm, today announced its acquisition of Serafini Financial Group, a Hybrid RIA based in Hagerstown, Md. with 12 total employees, four financial advisors and $853 million in total client assets. Upon the closing of the acquisition, Wealth Enhancement Group's total client assets now exceed $39 billion.*

The transaction is Wealth Enhancement Group's ninth acquisition in 2021. Since June 1, the firm has added 38 financial advisors and more than $6.79 billion in assets to its platform via acquisitions.

Founded by Andrew A. Serafini in 1990, Serafini Financial Group further bolsters Wealth Enhancement Group's presence in the Mid-Atlantic states. Upon the transaction's closing on August 1, Mr. Serafini will practice under the Wealth Enhancement Group brand, serving clients as Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor within the firm.

Mr. Serafini and his colleagues Douglas Nigh and Nathanael Hanft bring over 75 years of collective experience to Wealth Enhancement Group, specializing in helping clients simplify the complexities of their financial lives through faith-based financial planning. Serafini Financial Group's clients typically include pre-retirees and retirees across the tri-state Maryland-Virginia-Pennsylvania region.

Jeff Dekko, Chief Executive Officer of Wealth Enhancement Group, said, "The Baltimore-Washington D.C. region presents Wealth Enhancement Group with incredible opportunities for continued growth, and bringing Serafini Financial Group on board will enable us to provide even more robust service to clients in this area. For more than 30 years, Andrew Serafini and his team have built an excellent reputation for client-centric holistic planning, which perfectly fits our approach to wealth management. I am very pleased to welcome Andrew and his entire team to our firm, and we look forward to putting our resources, technology and scale to work to help them meet and exceed their business goals."

Jim Cahn, Wealth Enhancement Group's Chief Investments & Business Development Officer, said, "We are excited to welcome these proven financial professionals to our team. Andrew, Doug, Nathanael and their colleagues provide outstanding, personalized service, and we look forward to helping them continue to thrive and deliver outstanding results for their clients as part of our team."

As part of the transaction, the Serafini Financial Group has also affiliated with LPL Financial for the brokerage-based portion of its book of business.

Mr. Serafini said, "As we look ahead to the future of our business, we could not be more pleased to be part of Wealth Enhancement Group, and to be able to partner with them as we walk our clients through the most important and complicated issues in their financial lives. We know that Jeff Dekko, Jim Cahn and the entire organization share our commitment to building robust, multi-generational relationships with clients and their families by enabling them to achieve their financial goals. The additional resources we will now have access to as part of Wealth Enhancement Group will position all of us for years of continued success in delivering much-needed financial planning services to our valued clients."

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Wealth Enhancement Group

Wealth Enhancement Group is a Greater Minneapolis-based independent wealth management firm offering comprehensive and customized financial planning and investment management services. Founded in 1997, Wealth Enhancement Group serves clients nationwide. Wealth Enhancement Group specializes in providing retail clients with the team-based knowledge and resources they need to simplify their financial life. For more information, please visit www.wealthenhancement.com.

Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC (WEAS), a registered investment advisor. Certain, but not all, investment advisor representatives (IARs) of WEAS are also registered representatives of and offer securities through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealth Enhancement Group and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services are separate entities from LPL Financial. Wealth Enhancement Group is a registered trademark of Wealth Enhancement Group, LLC.

Wealth Enhancement Group and its Registered Investment Advisor, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, had $33.9 billion in client brokerage and advisory assets as of 6/30/2021. Serafini Financial Group had $853 million in client assets as of 6/3/2021. With the closing of previously announced transactions on 7/1/2021 and the acquisition of Serafini Financial Group, Wealth Enhancement Group has $39.1 billion in client brokerage, advisory and trust assets as of 8/1/2021.

Media Contacts

Joseph Kuo / Chris Clemens

Haven Tower Group

424 317 4851 or 424 317 4854

[email protected] or [email protected]

SOURCE Wealth Enhancement Group

Related Links

http://www.wealthenhancement.com


"This is a great recognition for Abrigo and I am proud of the company we are building. The leader sometimes gets too much credit, but it isn't false humility for me to point the spotlight squarely on our team," Roberts said. "We have exceptional leaders, amazing Penguins, and a wonderful relationship with Accel-KKR that all helped us get to this point. At Abrigo, we are getting results through people, not in spite of them. This award is validating for the power of a great culture and the path we are on as we build an enduringly great company. I am personally humbled and grateful, but also know we aren't done yet. We will enjoy the moment and then continue building something special together."

Abrigo is a leading technology provider of compliance, risk, and lending solutions for community financial institutions with offices in Austin and Raleigh, NC. Abrigo's software solutions help its customers to comply with ever-changing regulatory compliance requirements, process loans faster and more efficiently, and leverage data to provide insights to their customers to help them manage risk and drive growth. Abrigo recently received a strategic growth investment from The Carlyle Group, joining previous investor Accel-KKR as co-majority stakeholders.

For 35 years, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies' success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Roberts will go on to become a lifetime member of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries  all supported by vast EY resources.

As a Central Texas award winner, Roberts is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:



Brian Niccol of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Saeju Jeong of Noom

Joe DeSimone of Carbon , Inc.

of , Inc. Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation

of Starbucks Corporation Jodi Berg of Vitamix

of Vitamix Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn

and of LinkedIn Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani

of Chobani Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC

of Kendra Scott LLC Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks

and of Arista Networks James Park of Fitbit

of Fitbit Daymond John of Fubu

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In Central Texas, sponsors also include Broadway Bank, Colliers International, Marsh & McLennan Agency, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Bridgepoint Consulting, Donnelly Financial Solutions and Watkins Insurance Group.

About Abrigo

Abrigo is a leading technology provider of compliance, credit risk, lending, and asset/liability management solutions that financial institutions use to manage risk and drive growth. Our software automates key processes  from anti-money laundering to asset/liability management to fraud detection to lending solutions  empowering our customers by addressing their Enterprise Risk Management needs. Visit www.abrigo.com to learn more. Follow Abrigo on social media using @WeAreAbrigo.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com .

SOURCE Abrigo

Related Links

http://www.abrigo.com


RAIPUR, India, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Aerospace Sheets Market by Platform Type (Commercial Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Military Aircraft, Helicopter, UAV, and Spacecraft), by Material Type (Titanium & Alloys, Aluminum & Alloys, Steel & Alloys, and Others), by Sales Channel Type (Direct Sales and Distributor Sales), by Product Type (Hot-Rolled Sheets and Cold-Rolled Sheets), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2021-2026.

This strategic assessment report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today's aerospace sheets market realities and future market possibilities for the forecast period of 2021 to 2026. After a continuous interest in our aerospace raw materials market, aerospace tubes market, and aerospace bars market reports from the industry stakeholders, we have tried to further accentuate our research scope to the aerospace sheets market to provide the most crystal-clear picture of the market. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most detailed manner to provide a panoramic view of the market. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the market participants as well as investors in the identification of the low-hanging fruits available in the market as well as formulate growth strategies.

Aerospace Sheets Market: Highlights

High-performance industries like aerospace generate massive demand for an extravagant range of materials. Sheet is one of the many mill products used in the aerospace industry for a wide range of applications such as fuselage and pressure cabin skin. The key differences between sheet and plate lie in their thickness, rigidity, and strength. Plates are thicker, more rigid, and stronger as compared to sheets.

The aerospace industry continually remains at the forefront in terms of huge revenue generation, being one of the key pillars for uplifting the global economy. The past couple of years have proved to be a bumpy road for the industry, starting with the grounding of the best-selling, B737 MAX's grounding (2019), followed by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). The aerospace industry was one of the worst-hit, experiencing acute supply chain disruption, sudden production halts, deferring orders, etc. resulting in never seen before losses and rattled industry fundamentals.

The sheets market for the industry was no exception to the pandemic's wrath, mirrored the industry's downhill path in 2020 with a slump of -28.6% (YoY)  a stark contrast to our pre-COVID estimates that reflected a healthy recovery from the B737 MAX's hiccup in 2020 (aligning with the industry's movement at the time).

The extremely resilient nature of the industry stakeholders is likely to insinuate a healthy long-term recuperation. The lift of Boeing's B737 MAX in October 2020, gradual opening of travel restrictions, rebounding aircraft deliveries, and Airbus' announcement of a gradual ramp-up in the production of their best-selling aircraft programs are among the self-evident signs of recovery. This is also expected to imprint a positive impact on the aerospace sheets market, estimating to bounce back at a promising CAGR of 8.0% to reach US$ 2.3 billion in 2026.

Click Here to Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/1853/aerospace-sheets-market.html

Based on the platform type, commercial aircraft is projected to remain the largest and the fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period, despite a massive plunge in the production of commercial aircraft in 2020. Rapidly recovering the production of aircraft, probable market entry of new aircraft such as C919 sooner rather than later, and an incessant requirement of mill products, are the key reasons behind the segment's healthy growth in the long run.

Based on the material type, the Aluminum & alloys segment captured the lion's share in 2020, whereas titanium & alloys are expected to grow at the highest rate during 2021-2026. Titanium offers a remarkable weight advantage for aerospace structures as its density is 40% lesser than that of steel- or nickel-based alloys. The material brings a range of advantages to the table including tensile strength better than that of austenitic or ferritic stainless steels, extraordinary stiffness and toughness, and a high melting point.

In terms of regions, North America is expected to hold the throne in the aerospace sheets market during the forecast period. The USA is the growth engine of the region's market with the presence of major aircraft OEMs, tier players, raw material suppliers, and part fabricators. Most of the sheet suppliers have their presence in the region to address OEMs' emergent needs and be the partner for their upcoming aircraft programs or upcoming fuel-efficient variants of existing aircraft programs.

Asia-Pacific is likely to rebound at the fastest rate during the same period. The region's highest growth is mainly attributable to the increasing aircraft fleet to support rising passenger traffic; opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus for multiple aircraft programs; increasing procurement of military aircraft, owing to rising defense budget; and upcoming indigenous aircraft, C919. China. Japan, Malaysia, and India are likely to remain the major markets in the region.

Register Here for a Free Sample of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/1853/aerospace-sheets-market.html#form

The market for aerospace sheets is gradually consolidating as major companies are performing mergers & acquisitions to quickly gain the leading position and to tap growing opportunities in this briskly expanding market. For instance, in 2015, Alcoa Corporation, the world's leading supplier of aluminum, acquired RTI International Metals, gaining excellent capabilities in the aerospace titanium market. Several players maintain a fair presence at several nodes in the supply chain, attaining an edge over their competitors.

The supply chain of this market comprises several nodes including raw material suppliers, sheet manufacturers, tier players, aircraft and engine OEMs, airlines, aircraft leasing companies, and MRO companies. Following are the key players in the aerospace sheets market.

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated.

Arconic Corporation

Carpenter Technology Corporation

Constellium SE

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation

Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET)

VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation

Development of lightweight sheets for critical applications, expansion in untapped and growing markets, and execution of mergers & acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by the major players to maintain a stable position in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors.

This report studies the aerospace sheets market and has segmented the market in five ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the five ways in which the market is segmented:

Aerospace Sheets Market, by Platform Type

Commercial Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Regional Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

General Aviation (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Helicopter (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

UAV (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Spacecraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Aerospace Sheets Market, by Material Type

Titanium & Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Aluminum & Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Steel & Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Aerospace Sheets Market, by Sales Channel Type

Direct Sales (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Distributor Sales (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Aerospace Sheets Market, by Product Type

Hot-Rolled Sheets (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Cold-Rolled Sheets (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Aerospace Sheets Market, by Region

North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , the UK, Russia , and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan , China , India , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Brazil , Saudi Arabia , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the aerospace and defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html

About Stratview Research

Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.

We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.

For enquiries,

Contact:

Stratview Research

E-mail: [email protected]

Direct: +1-313-307-4176

SOURCE Stratview Research
ATLANTA, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 54 million Americans, including 300,000 children, have arthritis. The Arthritis Foundation  Georgia is celebrating its 40th anniversary of the Crystal Ball, the most successful fundraising event of the year for the Arthritis Foundation. This year's event will be held in person at The St. Regis Atlanta on Oct. 16th as well as host an online silent auction, so that all can take part in a night of making a difference for children and adults living with arthritis.

Arthritis Foundation - Georgia Crystal Ball Chairs (from left to right: Meredith Boyd, Matt Boyd, Taylor Courtnay, Stacy Courtnay). 40th Anniversary celebration is set for Oct. 16, 2021 at The St. Regis Atlanta. Photo by: Matt Boyd Photography For more information and tickets visit: www.arthritis.org/crystalballatlanta

The 40th Anniversary Crystal Ball is being chaired by Taylor and Stacy Courtnay and Matt and Meredith Boyd. Tony Brewer, Atlanta's premier event planning and design firm, will create an elegant evening with a reception, formal dinner, auction, live music, and dancing. This year's theme is "Under the Sea."

"The Crystal Ball provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our many patrons and volunteers, highlighting the history of the organization and honoring some very deserving people," Arthritis Foundation President & CEO, Ann Palmer, said. "In light of the pandemic, the show must go on, and we have an excellent program planned. One of the highlights will be our powerful keynote speaker, Joy Ross, that will inspire us all through her journey with uveitis who lost her eye sight, but not her ability to inspire."

"Under the Sea" will shed light on how inflammatory arthritis can attack the entire body, regardless of age, race, or gender. It can attack children as they take their first steps, and men and women in the prime of their lives and from every walk of life. Arthritis not only affects joints -- it can attack your heart, lungs, skin, and eyes, among other vital organs. In fact, most children who are afflicted with juvenile arthritis have uveitis  eye inflammation that can lead to blindness.

For more information and tickets, visit www.arthritis.org/crystalballatlanta Contact Stuart Winborne at [email protected] or 404-849-1109.





About The Arthritis Foundation:

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the Arthritis Foundation is focused on finding a cure and championing the fight against arthritis with life-changing information, advocacy, science and community.

To learn more about the fight to cure arthritis visit www.arthritis.org .

SOURCE The Arthritis Foundation Georgia
CINCINNATI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascendum Solutions, a global digital innovation firm, is among five companies recognized by Fast Company as outstanding U.S.-based Best Workplaces for Innovators. The Fast Company list celebrates companies that empower employees at all levels to improve processes, create new products, or invent new ways of doing business.

The Fast Company list celebrates companies that empower employees at all levels to improve processes, create new products, or invent new ways of doing business. From custom software development, design-led engineering, and intuitive interfaces, to sourcing top talent, Ascendum's creative global team of tech strategists, designers, developers, and data engineers act as a collaborative catalyst to drive positive change, continually improving and evolving our clients' digital transformation efforts

Developed in collaboration with Accenture, the 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators ranks winners from a variety of industries, including computer science, biotech, consumer packaged goods, nonprofit, education, financial services, cybersecurity, and engineering. Working together, Fast Company editors and Accenture researchers scored an initial list of 1,500 companies, and a panel of eight eminent judges reviewed and endorsed the top companies. The 2021 awards feature workplaces from around the world with several of the prestigious honorees based outside the U.S.

"Our teams across three continents are extremely excited and honored by this recognition from Fast Company and Accenture," said Ascendum President and CEO Kris Nair. "I am exceptionally fortunate and humbled to lead such passionate, creative, and talented individuals who believe in challenging the status quo to create boundary-pushing solutions for our clients and industry at large. Discovery is the fuel that drives innovation. I am proud to be part of a culturally-rich workplace where curiosity and creative ideas can thrive."

In 2020, the Cincinnati Business Courier named Ascendum a grand winner in their annual Best Places to Work in the Greater Cincinnati area. View the Ascendum Best Places to Work company profile. Between 2020 and 2021, Ascendum was awarded a series of honors for applications they created for their clients, including Gold and Silver Stevie Awards, Hermes Gold Creative Award, Gold Globee Award, Webby Award, and Fast Company Innovation by Design Award.

Over the past year, Ascendum launched a series of new digital products including Botsai, SafeReturn, SafeRaters, Scanily, and Magpie. These products were ideated and developed by Ascendum's Freedom to Innovate Program, that provides funding for internal development teams to create products that provide a service to the community, solve business challenges, or promotes collaborative fun.

Some recent programs Ascendum has implemented to nurture a more engaging and innovative work environment include:

Ascendum's Freedom to Innovate Program

Ascendum Ambassador Program

Ascendum Culture Club

Ascendum Charitable Action Committee

Innovation hackathons

Monthly lunch and learn sessions

Upskills training programs

"These leaders and teams created cultures of innovation and sustained them, even as remote work extended into 2021," says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "This newest list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators honors those organizations that found ways to collaborate and invent despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring employees were at the forefront."

Ascendum is growing and looking for more innovative people to join our family! Become part of our close knit team developing technology solutions in an environment where you can excel and thrive. View current career opportunities and apply online through the Ascendum careers page at: https://ascendum.com/careers.

About Ascendum Solutions

Ascendum is an award-winning global technology firm dedicated to delivering pioneering ideas and solutions that enrich our clients' customer experiences and business operations. Our clients come to us for new ideas and boundary-pushing solutions.

From custom software development, design-led engineering, and intuitive interfaces, to sourcing top talent, Ascendum's creative global team of tech strategists, designers, developers, and data engineers act as a collaborative catalyst to drive positive change, continually improving and evolving our clients' digital transformation strategies.

Winner of the 2020 Best Places to Work in Greater Cincinnati, Ascendum is MBE certified and a portfolio company of Vora Ventures with worldwide offices in the US, India, London, and Australia. For more information, visit www.Ascendum.com.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with its sister publication Inc. Stephanie Mehta is editor-in-chief.

Contact: Paulie Anthony, Head of Marketing

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 614.397.7490

SOURCE Ascendum Solutions
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

Dear Shareholders,

We are pleased to report a strong quarter and strengthening outlook globally as we execute against our 2021 strategic priorities of growing our core, scaling new products, unlocking new markets and driving efficiency to fuel growth. Domestic strength was driven by city, county and state highway patrol demand for our TASER and body camera bundles, as well as Axon Fleet, and international strength reflects momentum in Latin America and Asia Pacific, across product lines.

Our financial performance is being fueled by increasing global demand for Axon's life-saving technology, including TASER devices, and expanding use cases for body cameras as live-streaming gains traction as a breakthrough in real-time situational awareness.

Situation: Shots fired at apartment complex

Agency: Midwestern U.S. agency with more than 100 sworn officers

Incident: A patrol lieutenant watch commander responded to calls about shots fired at an apartment complex. Officers identified the correct unit in the building, and entered for a welfare check. They discovered bullet holes in the walls and doors and a woman who demanded that the officers leave. They removed her from the scene and discovered two locked bedroom doors. The lieutenant removed his Axon Body 3, focused it on the locked doors and exited. He pulled up the body camera's live stream on his mobile phone and gave his phone to a SWAT sniper and the assembling quick reaction team, enabling them to surveil the apartment. A sergeant back at the police precinct also live-streamed the camera's view. As the SWAT team began to attempt to negotiate a surrender, they saw via live-stream one of the doors open and an unarmed suspect exited a room. The team quickly moved in and took the suspect into custody.

Select highlights

Strategic priority: Unlocking New Markets

International momentum: Axon's global expansion showed strong momentum in Q2 2021, with international revenue growing 60% year over year and international bookings nearly tripling versus Q2 2020. Some highlights:

In July, Axon was awarded a national tender to supply TASER devices across Italy , hallmarking a process that began in 2014 and included years of testing, experimentation and regulatory approvals.

, hallmarking a process that began in 2014 and included years of testing, experimentation and regulatory approvals. Also in Europe , in June, the Dutch National Police became the first Netherlands agency to equip officers across the country with TASER devices.

, in June, the Dutch National Police became the first agency to equip officers across the country with TASER devices. We won a large, highly competitive digital evidence management program with an EMEA government for the management of all digital evidence independent of body camera programs. This mirrors the deployment we mentioned last quarter, where the government of Ontario, Canada became the first province to deploy Axon Evidence across public safety agencies.

became the first province to deploy Axon Evidence across public safety agencies. In May, the Sao Paulo State Military Police became the first police agency in Brazil to adopt Axon's body camera solution, which is backed by Axon Cloud software, becoming our largest body camera and software deployment in Latin America . The Sao Paulo State Military Police body camera roll-out followed the state agency's TASER device roll-out at the end of 2020.

to adopt Axon's body camera solution, which is backed by Axon Cloud software, becoming our largest body camera and software deployment in . The Sao Paulo State Military Police body camera roll-out followed the state agency's TASER device roll-out at the end of 2020. The Toronto Police Service moved to full TASER deployment.

Police Service moved to full TASER deployment. We've been awarded a contract with the Police Service of the City of Montreal , which is deploying our interview room solution.

Strategic priority: Scaling New Products

Axon Fleet 3 began shipping June 30: Built with ethics and privacy in mind, Axon's latest generation in-car video system features our AI-powered automated license plate reader (ALPR) service along with real-time situational awareness, including live-streaming, through Axon Respond.

We expect Axon Fleet 3 to be a game changer for in-car cameras because we've elevated the simple in-car dash camera to one that can automatically and simultaneously scan plates across multiple lanes of traffic at closing speeds up to 140 mph. Also, we've designed the system to be disruptively affordable to allow for ALPR deployment across an agency's entire fleet of police vehicles instead of just a small number of designated vehicles. We are seeing strong interest in and demand for Axon Fleet 3 and expect ALPR to be a software growth driver.

"We are excited to be one of the first agencies to trial the Axon Fleet 3 in-car camera system with ALPR and we are very impressed with the overall value of this advanced integration. Our agency prides itself on being at the forefront of public safety technology, and with the Fleet 3 ALPR technology, our officers will be able to better serve our community."  Lieutenant Jon Moses of Johns Creek Police Department

Axon VR Simulator announced: Public safety officers need more comprehensive training across multiple fronts, including empathy, tactical de-escalation, practical skills, and psychological coping strategies. VR offers an opportunity to help public safety officers better respond and we are making it easy for agencies to procure our services through integrated bundling with our TASER devices, body cameras and other cloud software services. Axon's VR bookings have grown more than eight-fold to nearly $8 million in the first half of 2021.

"We are always looking for opportunities to innovate and improve our officers' abilities to handle various calls for service. Axon's new training platform allows our officers to run through scenarios in the safety of a controlled learning environment. This technology lets us train more efficiently, benefiting the responding officer and our community."  Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams

In May, we began taking orders for our new wireless Virtual Reality (VR) Simulator Training, which features new content regularly. Axon's VR Simulator also integrates TASER 7 devices and training sidearms, so officers can use real hardware in the virtual world, creating muscle memory and familiar responses in the most critical high-risk situations while leveraging a fully-immersive environment. Phoenix PD plans to be the first agency to adopt Axon's new VR Simulator into its existing training curriculum.

The wireless simulator augments Axon's Community Engagement VR Training, first sold in 2018, and now used by more than 1,000 police agencies in the U.S. and Canada. Modules include schizophrenia, autism, suicidal ideation, hard of hearing, Alzheimer's/dementia, veteran post-traumatic stress injury, peer intervention and domestic violence.

Strategic priority: Expanding our Core and Scaling New Products

Real-Time Operations grows & evolves: Our software category growth drivers include the decision-making and communication tools that support real-time situational awareness through the sharing of information across myriad media, including voice, messaging, location mapping, and intelligence and evidence sharing.

Respond for Devices gains traction: We have been pleased with the customer feedback on our live-streaming body camera technology and continue to see strong demand for value-added SaaS-driven capabilities, including LTE- and location-based services.

"As the world watched our operation to support the removal of controversial statues in Charlottesville, Axon Respond was absolutely phenomenal in allowing us to execute a fluid plan while having every vantage point of the removal process, crowds, exit and entry points and anything else we needed to be aware of, right in front of us at all times."  Captain Steve Knick, Investigations Division Commander, Charlottesville Police Department

Also, we are seeing expanded use cases for our services in dispatching centers and in hostage negotiations.

"The ability to monitor the negotiation live is invaluable. Coordinators can establish real-time updates, formulate assessments of risk and answer verbal cues from the negotiation team in real time. These devices are worth their weight in gold." --Detective Chief Inspector Jason Herbert , South Wales Police, U.K.



"When you have real-time [visibility], it's a lot easier for you to make calls on resources and project ahead, versus waiting until people tell you what happened to respond." --Deputy Chief Jim Hamilton , Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Ore.



"With live streaming, dispatchers and supervisors can see what's happening, and having the complete story helps everybody." --Chief John Wolter , Texas Medical Center Police Department



"The ability to pinpoint officers on a map and share information and advice in real-time has made our SWAT responses 100% better." - -Officer Robert Benavidez , Las Cruces Police Department, N.M.

- Software development update on Dispatching: We are continuing to deploy resources toward improving and modernizing the computer aided dispatch market, and we are now focusing on larger city development partners. Since April 2020 , Axon has powered 100% of 911 calls in the small city of Maricopa, Ariz. We have learned together that the operational strain of being a development partner on complex new software can be overly taxing for a smaller agency. We are thankful to the City of Maricopa for their contributions to the evolution of our product. This agency may wind down as our development partner later this year and migrate to a more mature traditional CAD solution. Simultaneously, Axon has begun working with a larger development partner as we continue to evolve and grow our software stack. We also continue to work with fire and EMS partners and are building a pipeline of larger dispatching operators with higher call volumes. We are excited about our long-term strategy for our dispatching software, which will be differentiated by the growing number of agencies and dispatchers already using our Respond platform for real-time alerts and live-streaming.

Summary of Q2 2021 results:

Revenue of $219 million grew 55% year over year, on top of 26% growth in Q2 2020, reflecting strong demand across all product lines. Domestic revenue grew 53% and international revenue grew 60% year over year.

grew 55% year over year, on top of 26% growth in Q2 2020, reflecting strong demand across all product lines. Domestic revenue grew 53% and international revenue grew 60% year over year. Gross margin of 63% improved year over year, reflecting strong demand for our premium TASER offerings and the continued benefit of engineered lower build costs in our TASER segment.

Operating expenses of $232 million included $136 million in stock-based compensation expense.

included in stock-based compensation expense. SG&A of $178 million included $114 million in stock-based compensation expense.

included in stock-based compensation expense.

R&D of $54 million included $22 million in stock-based compensation expense.

included in stock-based compensation expense. GAAP diluted EPS was ($0.72) based on a GAAP net loss of $47 million . Non-GAAP EPS, which adds back stock-based compensation expense, subtracts gains related to strategic investments, and factors in a higher diluted share count due to non-GAAP net income being a profitable number, was $0.38 .

based on a GAAP net loss of . Non-GAAP EPS, which adds back stock-based compensation expense, subtracts gains related to strategic investments, and factors in a higher diluted share count due to non-GAAP net income being a profitable number, was . Of the $138 million in total stock-based compensation expense in Q2 2021, $128 million was related to our eXponential Stock Performance Plan (XSPP) and CEO Performance Award (1) .

in total stock-based compensation expense in Q2 2021, was related to our eXponential Stock Performance Plan (XSPP) and CEO Performance Award .

In Q2 2021, $105 million was tied to acceleration of expected attainment dates, which means the time over which we record expense is shortened. Since Q1 2021, all 12 operational goals have been considered probable of attainment.

was tied to acceleration of expected attainment dates, which means the time over which we record expense is shortened. Since Q1 2021, all 12 operational goals have been considered probable of attainment.



Since the CEO Performance Award was adopted in 2018, we have expensed $204 million of total potential expense of $246 million under the plan. Since the XSPP plan was adopted in 2019, we have expensed $151 million of total potential expense of $194 million currently projected under the plan for XSPP grants issued to date. Since the CEO Performance Award was issued in 2018, total shareholder return has exceeded 550% as of Wednesday, Aug 4, 2021 .

of total potential expense of under the plan. Since the XSPP plan was adopted in 2019, we have expensed of total potential expense of currently projected under the plan for XSPP grants issued to date. Since the CEO Performance Award was issued in 2018, total shareholder return has exceeded 550% as of .



As a result of our strong Q2 performance, as well as the attainment of several market capitalization goals and key financial milestones, which include the benefit of gains on our strategic investments, we expect five tranches of these stock-based compensation plans to vest (2) in the coming weeks. This is reflected in the weighted average diluted share count of approximately 72 million used to calculate non-GAAP EPS at June 30, 2021 .

in the coming weeks. This is reflected in the weighted average diluted share count of approximately 72 million used to calculate non-GAAP EPS at . Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA grew 83% year over year to $51 million , representing a 23.4% margin on revenue and highlighting our ability to demonstrate leverage while also investing to scale.

, representing a 23.4% margin on revenue and highlighting our ability to demonstrate leverage while also investing to scale. Cash and cash equivalents and investments totaled $704 million at June 30, 2021 , up $31 million sequentially. Operating cash flow was $34 million .

at , up sequentially. Operating cash flow was . Axon has no debt.

(1) These innovative stock-based compensation plans were approved by shareholders in 2018 and 2019 and align the interests of management and employees with shareholders. (2) Under the shareholder-approved XSPP, participants have a 2.5-year mandatory holding period on net vested shares. Under the shareholder-approved CEO Performance Award, the CEO has a 2.5-year holding period from option exercise.

Financial commentary by segment:

TASER











































THREE MONTHS ENDED



CHANGE





30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

QoQ

YoY



(in thousands)













Net sales

$ 112,528



$ 98,999



$ 70,490



13.7 %

59.6 % Gross margin



66.4 %



66.7 %



61.4 %

(30) bp

500 bp

TASER segment revenue of $113 million grew 60% year over year due to strong demand for the TASER 7 platform combined with legacy weapons that continued to gain traction in international markets.

grew 60% year over year due to strong demand for the TASER 7 platform combined with legacy weapons that continued to gain traction in international markets. Gross margin of 66.4% was up 500 bps year over year tied to strong demand combined with the continued benefit of engineered lower build costs. Gross margins declined slightly on a sequential basis, primarily due to mix.

Software & Sensors











































THREE MONTHS ENDED



CHANGE





30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

QoQ

YoY



(in thousands)













Axon Cloud net sales

$ 60,477



$ 52,436



$ 41,891



15.3 %

44.4 % Axon Cloud gross margin



74.5 %



75.1 %



77.9 %

(60) bp

(340) bp





































Sensors and Other net sales

$ 45,790



$ 43,584



$ 28,878



5.1 %

58.6 % Sensors and Other gross margin



39.7 %



41.1 %



42.6 %

(140) bp

(290) bp

Axon Cloud revenue grew 44% year over year to $60 million , reflecting strong demand for our SaaS services domestically, including federal strength. The sequential increase in Axon Cloud revenue of $8 million included approximately $2 million of non-recurring service revenue, including professional services.

, reflecting strong demand for our SaaS services domestically, including federal strength. The sequential increase in Axon Cloud revenue of included approximately of non-recurring service revenue, including professional services. Axon Cloud gross margin of 74.5% includes expected costs to scale our cloud business. This includes the low-to-no margin professional services costs of teams who help our customers deploy Axon's solutions. We expect these costs to continue to be reflected in gross margins as we scale our cloud business. The software-only revenue in this segment, which includes cloud storage and compute costs, has consistently carried a gross margin above 80%.

Sensors & Other revenue grew 59% year over year to $46 million , reflecting strong body camera demand.

, reflecting strong body camera demand. Sensors & Other gross margin was 39.7%. As a reminder, we manage toward a 25% gross margin for camera and sensors hardware, and the gross margin will fluctuate quarter to quarter depending on the customer mix.

Forward-looking performance indicators:















































30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

31 DEC 2020

30 SEP 2020

30 JUN 2020



($ in thousands)

Annual recurring revenue (1)

$ 260,178



$ 242,357



$ 221,263



$ 203,815



$ 183,498

Net revenue retention (2)



119 %



119 %



119 %



120 %



119 % Total company future contracted revenue

$ 2,040,000



$ 1,790,000



$ 1,730,000



$ 1,510,000



$ 1,340,000

Percentage of TASER devices sold on a recurring payment plan



55 %



64 %



53 %



75 %



46 %

_______________________ (1) Monthly recurring license, integration, warranty, and storage revenue annualized. (2) Refer to "Statistical Definitions" below.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew 42% year over year to $260 million . On a sequential basis, ARR increased by $18 million , slightly ahead of our expectation due to strong demand for added SaaS software features in all three strategic software growth categories: digital evidence management, productivity solutions and real-time operations.

. On a sequential basis, ARR increased by , slightly ahead of our expectation due to strong demand for added SaaS software features in all three strategic software growth categories: digital evidence management, productivity solutions and real-time operations. Net revenue retention was 119% in the quarter, reflecting our ability to deliver additional value to our customers over time and our de minimis annual churn rates. We drive adoption of our cloud software solutions through integrated bundling. We are seeing large customers upgrading their subscriptions at individual net dollar retention rates of 200% to 450% to take advantage of our growing suite of productivity and digital evidence management tools. Our law enforcement agency customers often sign up for five to ten-year subscriptions. This SaaS metric purposely excludes the hardware portion of customer subscriptions. We further define this metric under "Statistical Definitions."

annual churn rates. We drive adoption of our cloud software solutions through integrated bundling. We are seeing large customers upgrading their subscriptions at individual net dollar retention rates of 200% to 450% to take advantage of our growing suite of productivity and digital evidence management tools. Our law enforcement agency customers often sign up for five to ten-year subscriptions. This SaaS metric purposely excludes the hardware portion of customer subscriptions. We further define this metric under "Statistical Definitions." Total company future contracted revenue surpassed $2 billion for the first time, reflecting strong bookings in the quarter. Most of our bookings are for multi-year contracts. See definition of this metric under "Statistical Definitions."

for the first time, reflecting strong bookings in the quarter. Most of our bookings are for multi-year contracts. See definition of this metric under "Statistical Definitions." The percentage of TASER devices sold on a subscription was 55% in the quarter. As a reminder, Axon has been successfully transitioning its TASER hardware business into a subscription service in more mature markets and expanding into new markets where some initial sales are not on a subscription, with the intention of building subscription businesses in those markets over time.

Outlook:

The following forward-looking statements reflect Axon's expectations as of August 5, 2021, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. As our investments are yielding results ahead of our expectations thus far in 2021, we intend to continue investing for growth.

Our updated 2021 outlook is as follows:

We expect to achieve revenue in the range of $825 million to $850 million , which compares with our previous expectation of $780 million to $820 million communicated in May and reflects our financial strategy of scaling a business that supports a 20%-plus revenue CAGR.

to , which compares with our previous expectation of to communicated in May and reflects our financial strategy of scaling a business that supports a 20%-plus revenue CAGR. We are raising our expectations for Adjusted EBITDA to a range of $155 million to $160 million , from $140 million to $150 million previously.

to , from to previously. We provide Adjusted EBITDA guidance, rather than net income guidance, due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting certain types of expenses such as stock-based compensation and income tax expenses, which affect net income but do not affect Adjusted EBITDA. We are unable to reasonably estimate the impact of such expenses, if any, on net income. Accordingly, we do not provide a reconciliation of projected net income to projected Adjusted EBITDA.

We expect stock-based compensation expense to be more than $275 million for the full year. Because our stock-based compensation expense may fluctuate significantly based on changes in the probability of attaining certain operational metrics or attainment of such metrics and with changes in the expected or actual timing of such attainment, it is inherently difficult to forecast future stock-based compensation expense.

for the full year. Because our stock-based compensation expense may fluctuate significantly based on changes in the probability of attaining certain operational metrics or attainment of such metrics and with changes in the expected or actual timing of such attainment, it is inherently difficult to forecast future stock-based compensation expense. Expectations for capital expenditures of approximately $65 million to $70 million in 2021 are unchanged. These include investments to support capacity expansion and automation on TASER device and cartridge manufacturing, and are discussed in greater detail in our Q4 2020 shareholder letter.

to in 2021 are unchanged. These include investments to support capacity expansion and automation on TASER device and cartridge manufacturing, and are discussed in greater detail in our Q4 2020 shareholder letter. As we execute upon a scaling global profile and delivering rapid 2021 growth, our strengthening view of the business in 2022 includes approximately $960 million in revenue. We are extremely proud of the high level of execution from our teams that has set us up for continued top-line strength, solid margin performance and scaling profitability.

Thank you for investing in our mission to protect life,

Rick Smith, CEO

Luke Larson, President

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Quarterly conference call and webcast

We will host our Q2 2021 earnings conference call webinar on Thursday, August 5 at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET.

The webcast will be available via a link on Axon's investor relations website at https://investor.axon.com, or can be accessed directly via https://axon.zoom.us/j/98547884069.

Statistical Definitions

Bookings: We consider bookings to be a statistical measure defined as the sales price of orders (not invoiced sales), including contractual optional periods we expect to be exercised, net of cancellations, inclusive of renewals, placed in the relevant fiscal period, regardless of when the products or services ultimately will be provided, so long as they are expected to occur within five years. Most bookings will be invoiced in subsequent periods. Due to municipal government funding rules, in some cases certain of the future period amounts included in bookings are subject to budget appropriation or other contract cancellation clauses. Although we have entered into contracts for the delivery of products and services in the future and anticipate the contracts will be fulfilled, if agencies do not exercise contractual options, do not appropriate funds in future year budgets, or do enact a cancellation clause, revenue associated with these bookings may not ultimately be recognized, resulting in a future reduction to bookings. Bookings, as presented here, represent total company bookings inclusive of all products, and should not be confused with our historical reported measure of Software & Sensors bookings, which excluded TASER-related bookings. Certain customers sign contracts for time periods longer than five-years, which generates a larger-sized booking  but the expected exercise amounts after the five-year period is not included in bookings, as described here, in order to facilitate comparisons between periods.

Net revenue retention: Dollar-based net revenue retention is an important metric to measure our ability to retain and expand our relationships with existing customers. We calculate it as the software and camera warranty subscription and support revenue from a base set of agency customers from which we generated Axon Cloud subscription revenue in the last month of a quarter divided by the software and camera warranty subscription and support revenue from the year-ago month of that same customer base. This calculation includes high-margin warranty but purposely excludes the lower-margin hardware subscription contingent of the customer contracts, as it is meant to be a SaaS metric that we use to monitor the health of the recurring revenue business we are building. This calculation also excludes the implied monthly revenue contribution of customers that were added since the year-ago quarter, and therefore excludes the benefit of new customer acquisition. The metric includes customers, if any, that terminated during the annual period, and therefore, this metric is inclusive of customer churn. This metric is downwardly adjusted to account for the effect of phased deployments -- meaning that for the year-ago period, we consider the total contractually obligated implied monthly revenue amount, rather than monthly revenue amounts that might have been in actuality smaller on a GAAP basis due to the customer not having yet fully deployed their Axon solution. For more information relative to our revenue recognition policies, please reference our SEC filings.

Total company future contracted revenue: Total company future contracted revenue includes both recognized contract liabilities as well as amounts that will be invoiced and recognized in future periods. The remaining performance obligations are limited only to arrangements that meet the definition of a contract under Topic 606 as of June 30, 2021. We expect to recognize between 20% - 25% of this balance over the next twelve months, and generally expect the remainder to be recognized over the following five to seven years, subject to risks related to delayed deployments, budget appropriation or other contract cancellation clauses.

Non-GAAP Measures

To supplement the Company's financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, we present the non-GAAP financial measures of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Non-GAAP Net Income, Non-GAAP Diluted Earnings Per Share and Free Cash Flow. The Company's management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in evaluating the Company's performance in comparison to prior periods. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance, and when planning and forecasting our future periods. A reconciliation of GAAP to the non-GAAP financial measures is presented herein.

EBITDA (Most comparable GAAP Measure: Net income) - Earnings before interest expense, investment interest income, income taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Adjusted EBITDA (Most comparable GAAP Measure: Net income) - Earnings before interest expense, investment interest income, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense and pre-tax certain other items (listed below).

Non-GAAP Net Income (Most comparable GAAP Measure: Net income) - Net income excluding the costs of non-cash stock-based compensation and excluding net gain/loss/write-down/disposal/abandonment of property, equipment and intangible assets; loss on impairment; costs related to business acquisitions and investments in unconsolidated affiliates; costs related to the FTC litigation and pre-tax certain other items (listed below). The Company tax-effects non-GAAP adjustments using the blended statutory federal and state tax rates for each period presented.

Non-GAAP Diluted Earnings Per Share (Most comparable GAAP Measure: Earnings Per share) - Measure of Company's Non-GAAP Net Income divided by the weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding during the period presented.

Free Cash Flow (Most comparable GAAP Measure: Cash flow from operating activities) - cash flows provided by operating activities minus purchases of property and equipment and intangible assets.

Caution on Use of Non-GAAP Measures

Although these non-GAAP financial measures are not consistent with GAAP, management believes investors will benefit by referring to these non-GAAP financial measures when assessing the Company's operating results, as well as when forecasting and analyzing future periods. However, management recognizes that:

these non-GAAP financial measures are limited in their usefulness and should be considered only as a supplement to the Company's GAAP financial measures;

these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the Company's GAAP financial measures;

these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered to be superior to the Company's GAAP financial measures; and

these non-GAAP financial measures were not prepared in accordance with GAAP or under a comprehensive set of rules or principles.

Further, these non-GAAP financial measures may be unique to the Company, as they may be different from similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. As such, this presentation of non-GAAP financial measures may not enhance the comparability of the Company's results to the results of other companies.

About Axon

Axon is the global leader in connected public safety technologies. We are a mission-driven company whose overarching goal is to protect life. Our vision is a world where bullets are obsolete, where social conflict is dramatically reduced, where everyone has access to a fair and effective justice system and where racial equity, diversity and inclusion is centered in all of our work. Axon is also a leading provider of body cameras for US public safety, providing more transparency and accountability to communities than ever before.

You may learn about our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts by reading our ESG report at investor.axon.com.

We work hard for those who put themselves in harm's way for all of us. More than 250,000 lives and countless dollars have been saved with the Axon network of devices, apps and people. Learn more at www.axon.com or by calling (800) 978-2737. Axon is a global company with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, and a global software engineering hub in Seattle, Washington, as well as additional offices in the US, Australia, Canada, Finland, Vietnam, the UK and the Netherlands.

LTE is a trademark of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute; Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc.; Twitter is a trademark of Twitter, Inc. and Vievu is a trademark of Vievu, LLC. Axon, Axon Fleet, TASER, TASER 7, Protect Life and the Delta Logo are trademarks of Axon Enterprise, Inc., some of which are registered in the US and other countries. For more information, visit www.axon.com/legal All rights reserved.

Follow Axon here:

Axon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/axon_us

Axon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Axon.ProtectLife/

Forward-looking statements

Forward-looking statements in this letter include, without limitation, statements regarding: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; proposed products and services and related development efforts and activities; expectations about the market for our current and future products and services; strategies and trends relating to subscription plan programs and revenues; strategies and trends, including the benefits of, research and development investments; the timing and realization of future contracted revenue; expectations about customer behavior; statements concerning projections, predictions, expectations, estimates or forecasts as to our business, financial and operational results and future economic performance, including our outlook for 2021 full year revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, stock-based compensation expense, capital expenditures, and 2022 full year revenue; statements of management's strategies, goals and objectives and other similar expressions; as well as the ultimate resolution of financial statement items requiring critical accounting estimates, including those set forth in our Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Such statements give our current expectations or forecasts of future events; they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expect," "anticipate," "future," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," and similar expressions, as well as statements in future tense, identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.

We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized, although we believe we have been prudent in our plans and assumptions. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and potentially inaccurate assumptions. The following important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: the potential global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; our exposure to cancellations of government contracts due to appropriation clauses, exercise of a cancellation clause, or non-exercise of contractually optional periods; our ability to design, introduce and sell new products or features; our ability to defend against litigation and protect our intellectual property, and the resulting costs of this activity; our ability to manage our supply chain and avoid production delays, shortages and impacts to expected gross margins; the impact of stock compensation expense, impairment expense, and income tax expense on our financial results; customer purchase behavior, including adoption of our software as a service delivery model; negative media publicity regarding our products; the impact of product mix on projected gross margins; defects in our products; changes in the costs of product components and labor; loss of customer data, a breach of security, or an extended outage, including by our third party cloud-based storage providers; exposure to international operational risks; delayed cash collections and possible credit losses due to our subscription model; changes in government regulations in the U.S. and in foreign markets, especially related to the classification of our products by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; our ability to integrate acquired businesses; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; and counter-party risks relating to cash balances held in excess of FDIC insurance limits. Many events beyond our control may determine whether results we anticipate will be achieved. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected. You should bear this in mind as you consider forward-looking statements. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q list various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results. These factors are intended as cautionary statements for investors within the meaning of Section 21E of the Exchange Act and Section 27A of the Securities Act. Readers can find them under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and investors should refer to them. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.

Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K reports to the SEC.

Update on Legal Matters:

Axon v. FTC

Axon continues to vigorously prosecute its Federal court constitutional case against the FTC while the FTC's separate antitrust administrative action against the company remains stayed.

As background, Axon's Federal court constitutional challenge against the FTC was dismissed in April 2020, without prejudice, for lack of jurisdiction, holding that Axon must first bring its claims through the FTC's administrative process. Axon appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit (No. 20-15662). In January 2021, a Ninth Circuit panel in a 2-1 split decision affirmed the district court ruling against Axon on the jurisdictional question. The Court then denied Axon's petition for en banc rehearing but granted Axon's motion to stay the appellate mandate pending resolution of the company's certiorari petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Axon's Supreme Court petition (No. 21-86 docketed July 22, 2021) presents two questions:

1. Whether Congress impliedly stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's structure, procedures, and existence by granting the courts of appeals jurisdiction to "affirm, enforce, modify, or set aside" the Commission's cease-and-desist orders.

2. Whether, on the merits, the structure of the Federal Trade Commission, including the dual-layer for-cause removal protections afforded its administrative law judges, is consistent with the Constitution.

Links to all Court filings and opinions can be found on Axon's FTC Investor Briefing page at https://www.axon.com/ftc.

As a reminder, in parallel to these matters Axon is evaluating strategic alternatives to litigation, which Axon might pursue if determined to be in the best interests of shareholders and customers. This could include a divestiture of the Vievu entity and/or related assets. While Axon continues to believe the 2018 acquisition of Vievu was lawful and a benefit to Vievu's customers, the cost, risk and distraction of protracted litigation merit consideration of settlement if achievable on terms agreeable to the FTC and Axon.

For investor relations information please contact Andrea James and Angel Ambrosio via email at [email protected].

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) (in thousands, except per share data)





THREE MONTHS ENDED

SIX MONTHS ENDED



30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

30 JUN 2021

30 JUN 2020 Net sales from products

$ 156,427

$ 140,886

$ 98,755

$ 297,313

$ 206,043 Net sales from services



62,368



54,133



42,504



116,501



82,378 Net sales



218,795



195,019



141,259



413,814



288,421 Cost of product sales



65,301



58,616



43,825



123,917



92,709 Cost of service sales



15,565



13,050



9,257



28,615



18,927 Cost of sales



80,866



71,666



53,082



152,532



111,636 Gross margin



137,929



123,353



88,177



261,282



176,785 Operating expenses:





























Sales, general and administrative



177,662



126,597



72,293



304,259



135,320 Research and development



53,952



47,018



29,560



100,970



55,941 Total operating expenses



231,614



173,615



101,853



405,229



191,261 Loss from operations



(93,685)



(50,262)



(13,676)



(143,947)



(14,476) Interest and other income, net



41,841



585



1,613



42,426



2,554 Income before provision for income taxes



(51,844)



(49,677)



(12,063)



(101,521)



(11,922) Provision for (benefit from) income taxes



(4,727)



(1,760)



18,696



(6,487)



14,763 Net loss per common and common equivalent shares:

$ (47,117)

$ (47,917)

$ (30,759)

$ (95,034)

$ (26,685) Net loss per common and common equivalent shares:





























Basic

$ (0.72)

$ (0.75)

$ (0.51)

$ (1.47)

$ (0.44) Diluted

$ (0.72)

$ (0.75)

$ (0.51)

$ (1.47)

$ (0.44) Weighted average number of common and common equivalent shares outstanding:





























Basic



65,166



64,036



60,346



64,604



59,977 Diluted



65,166



64,036



60,346



64,604



59,977

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. SEGMENT REPORTING (Unaudited) (dollars in thousands)





THREE MONTHS ENDED



THREE MONTHS ENDED



THREE MONTHS ENDED





30 JUN 2021



31 MAR 2021



30 JUN 2020













Software



















Software



















Software





















and



















and



















and













TASER



Sensors



Total



TASER



Sensors



Total



TASER



Sensors



Total

Net sales from products (1)

$ 110,637



$ 45,790



$ 156,427



$ 97,302



$ 43,584



$ 140,886



$ 69,877



$ 28,878



$ 98,755

Net sales from services (2)



1,891





60,477





62,368





1,697





52,436





54,133





613





41,891





42,504

Net sales



112,528





106,267





218,795





98,999





96,020





195,019





70,490





70,769





141,259

Cost of product sales



37,701





27,600





65,301





32,945





25,671





58,616





27,242





16,583





43,825

Cost of service sales



145





15,420





15,565











13,050





13,050











9,257





9,257

Cost of sales



37,846





43,020





80,866





32,945





38,721





71,666





27,242





25,840





53,082

Gross margin



74,682





63,247





137,929





66,054





57,299





123,353





43,248





44,929





88,177

Gross margin %



66.4 %



59.5 %



63.0 %



66.7 %



59.7 %



63.3 %



61.4 %



63.5 %



62.4 %









































































Research and development



12,313





41,639





53,952





9,243





37,775





47,018





3,762





25,798





29,560

































































































































SIX MONTHS ENDED



SIX MONTHS ENDED





30 JUN 2021



30 JUN 2020













Software



















Software





















and



















and













TASER



Sensors



Total



TASER



Sensors



Total

Net sales from products (1)

$ 207,939



$ 89,374



$ 297,313



$ 145,052



$ 60,991



$ 206,043

Net sales from services (2)



3,588





112,913





116,501





1,333





81,045





82,378

Net sales



211,527





202,287





413,814





146,385





142,036





288,421

Cost of product sales



70,646





53,271





123,917





57,490





35,219





92,709

Cost of service sales



145





28,470





28,615











18,927





18,927

Cost of sales



70,791





81,741





152,532





57,490





54,146





111,636

Gross margin



140,736





120,546





261,282





88,895





87,890





176,785

Gross margin %



66.5 %



59.6 %



63.1 %



60.7 %



61.9 %



61.3 %

















































Research and development



21,556





79,414





100,970





6,794





49,147





55,941



________________________ (1) Software and Sensors "products" revenue consists of sensors, including on-officer body cameras, Axon Fleet cameras, other hardware sensors, warranties on sensors, and other products, and is sometimes referred to as Sensors and Other revenue. (2) Software and Sensors "services" revenue comprises sales related to the Axon Cloud, which includes Axon Evidence, cloud-based evidence management software revenue, other recurring cloud-hosted software revenue and related professional services, and is sometimes referred to as Axon Cloud revenue.

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. UNIT SALES STATISTICS (Unaudited) Units in whole numbers





THREE MONTHS ENDED



SIX MONTHS ENDED





30 JUN

30 JUN

Unit

Percent



30 JUN

30 JUN

Unit

Percent





2021

2020

Change

Change



2021

2020

Change

Change

TASER 7

17,711

9,014

8,697

96.5 %

41,071

20,444

20,627

100.9 % TASER X26P

7,012

7,658

(646)

(8.4)



15,241

18,661

(3,420)

(18.3)

TASER X2

9,788

13,100

(3,312)

(25.3)



18,626

23,578

(4,952)

(21.0)

TASER Pulse

6,307

5,429

878

16.2



14,993

8,690

6,303

72.5

Cartridges

1,413,329

715,268

698,061

97.6



2,423,089

1,588,632

834,457

52.5

Axon Body

45,572

35,066

10,506

30.0



91,666

74,930

16,736

22.3

Axon Flex

1,846

1,964

(118)

(6.0)



3,411

5,038

(1,627)

(32.3)

Axon Fleet

2,462

2,327

135

5.8



3,902

5,003

(1,101)

(22.0)

Axon Dock

5,283

4,634

649

14.0



12,069

9,931

2,138

21.5



AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited) Dollars in thousands





THREE MONTHS ENDED

SIX MONTHS ENDED





30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

30 JUN 2021

30 JUN 2020

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:































Net loss

$ (47,117)

$ (47,917)

$ (30,759)

$ (95,034)

$ (26,685)

Depreciation and amortization



4,291



4,291



2,930



8,582



5,811

Interest expense



17



5



5



22



12

Investment interest income



(502)



(533)



(1,499)



(1,035)



(2,192)

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes



(4,727)



(1,760)



18,696



(6,487)



14,763

EBITDA

$ (48,038)

$ (45,914)

$ (10,627)

$ (93,952)

$ (8,291)



































Adjustments:































Stock-based compensation expense

$ 137,549

$ 89,610

$ 33,835

$ 227,159

$ 54,030

Realized and unrealized gains on strategic investments (1)



(40,855)











(40,855)





Transaction costs related to strategic investments



110



385



90



495



923

Loss on disposal and abandonment of intangible assets



119



11



100



130



113

Loss (gain) on disposal and impairment of property and equipment, net



(2)



45



788



43



1,305

Costs related to FTC litigation



147



233



3,834



380



9,969

Payroll taxes related to XSPP vesting



2,217



1,452







3,669





Adjusted EBITDA

$ 51,247

$ 45,822

$ 28,020

$ 97,069

$ 58,049

Net loss as a percentage of net sales



(21.5) %

(24.6) %

(21.8) %

(23.0) %

(9.3) % Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales



23.4 %

23.5 %

19.8 %

23.5 %

20.1 %

































Stock-based compensation expense:































Cost of product and service sales

$ 1,838

$ 1,489

$ 836

$ 3,327

$ 1,426

Sales, general and administrative



114,089



71,015



26,766



185,104



41,736

Research and development



21,622



17,106



6,233



38,728



10,868

Total

$ 137,549

$ 89,610

$ 33,835

$ 227,159

$ 54,030





(1) Includes unrealized gains of $28.6 million and realized gain of $12.3 million.

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES - continued (Unaudited) Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts





THREE MONTHS ENDED

SIX MONTHS ENDED



30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

30 JUN 2021

30 JUN 2020 Non-GAAP net income:





























GAAP net loss

$ (47,117)

$ (47,917)

$ (30,759)

$ (95,034)

$ (26,685) Non-GAAP adjustments:





























Stock-based compensation expense



137,549



89,610



33,835



227,159



54,030 Realized and unrealized gains on strategic investments (1)



(40,855)











(40,855)



 Loss on disposal and abandonment of intangible assets



119



11



100



130



113 Loss (gain) on disposal and impairment of property and equipment, net



(2)



45



788



43



1,305 Transaction costs related to strategic investments



110



385



90



495



923 Costs related to FTC litigation



147



233



3,834



380



9,969 Payroll taxes related to XSPP vesting



2,217



1,452







3,669



 Income tax effects



(24,826)



(22,780)



(8,530)



(47,606)



(16,367) Non-GAAP net income (loss)

$ 27,342

$ 21,039

$ (642)

$ 48,381

$ 23,288































Diluted income (loss) per common share





























GAAP

$ (0.72)

$ (0.75)

$ (0.51)

$ (1.47)

$ (0.44) Non-GAAP

$ 0.38

$ 0.31

$ (0.01)

$ 0.70

$ 0.38































Diluted weighted average shares outstanding





























GAAP



65,166



64,036



60,346



64,604



59,977 Non-GAAP (2)



71,689



67,392



60,346



69,544



60,671

_______________________ (1) Includes unrealized gains of $28.6 million and realized gain of $12.3 million.



(2) Non-GAAP diluted income per common share factors in higher diluted weighted average shares outstanding in periods where there is both a GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net income.

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands)





30 JUN 2021

31 DEC 2020



(Unaudited)





ASSETS











Current Assets:











Cash and cash equivalents

$ 266,372

$ 155,440 Short-term investments



388,895



406,525 Accounts and notes receivable, net



201,907



229,201 Contract assets, net



86,561



63,945 Inventory, net



91,739



89,958 Prepaid expenses and other current assets



45,456



36,883 Total current assets



1,080,930



981,952













Property and equipment, net



119,933



105,494 Deferred tax assets, net



52,387



45,770 Intangible assets, net



7,870



9,448 Goodwill



25,178



25,205 Long-term investments



48,669



90,681 Long-term notes receivable, net



17,466



22,457 Long-term contract assets, net



31,691



20,099 Strategic investments



58,520



11,711 Other assets



84,244



68,206 Total assets

$ 1,526,888

$ 1,381,023













LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY











Current Liabilities:











Accounts payable



7,778



24,142 Accrued liabilities



66,908



59,843 Current portion of deferred revenue



186,909



163,959 Customer deposits



4,872



2,956 Other current liabilities



6,404



5,431 Total current liabilities



272,871



256,331













Deferred revenue, net of current portion



113,815



111,222 Liability for unrecognized tax benefits



4,550



4,503 Long-term deferred compensation



5,216



4,732 Deferred tax liability



377



649 Other long-term liabilities



32,360



27,331 Total liabilities



429,189



404,768













Stockholders' Equity:











Preferred stock







 Common stock



1



1 Additional paid-in capital



1,179,005



962,159 Treasury stock



(155,947)



(155,947) Retained earnings



74,867



169,901 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)



(227)



141 Total stockholders' equity



1,097,699



976,255 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity

$ 1,526,888

$ 1,381,023

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in thousands)





THREE MONTHS ENDED

SIX MONTHS ENDED





30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

30 JUN 2021

30 JUN 2020

Cash flows from operating activities:































Net loss

$ (47,117)

$ (47,917)

$ (30,759)

$ (95,034)

$ (26,685)

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:































Depreciation and amortization



4,291



4,291



2,930



8,582



5,811

Loss on disposal and abandonment of intangible assets



119



11



100



130



113

Loss (gain) on disposal and impairment of property and equipment, net



(2)



45



788



43



1,305

Realized and unrealized gains on strategic investments



(40,855)











(40,855)





Stock-based compensation



137,549



89,610



33,835



227,159



54,030

Deferred income taxes



(6,291)



(598)



(4,604)



(6,889)



(6,152)

Unrecognized tax benefits



(147)



194



271



47



612

Other noncash, net



3,145



2,615



1,440



5,760



2,596

Provision for expected credit losses



397



(335)



(244)



62



658

Change in assets and liabilities:































Accounts and notes receivable and contract assets



(35,286)



31,298



325



(3,988)



(9,375)

Inventory



(2,368)



520



(34,641)



(1,848)



(43,271)

Prepaid expenses and other assets



(6,368)



(6,952)



(10,828)



(13,320)



(8,551)

Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities



7,681



(18,062)



20,270



(10,381)



16,708

Deferred revenue



19,428



6,219



725



25,647



5,224

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities



34,176



60,939



(20,392)



95,115



(6,977)

Cash flows from investing activities:































Purchases of investments



(82,463)



(155,825)



(193,085)



(238,288)



(292,597)

Proceeds from call / maturity of investments



162,560



132,254



74,355



294,814



158,670

Proceeds from sale of strategic investments



14,546











14,546





Purchases of property and equipment



(13,510)



(10,521)



(5,342)



(24,031)



(7,551)

Purchases of intangible assets



(102)



(41)



(66)



(143)



(111)

Proceeds of disposal from property and equipment



38



10







48



78

Strategic investments



(500)



(20,000)







(20,500)



(4,700)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities



80,569



(54,123)



(124,138)



26,446



(146,211)

Cash flows from financing activities:































Net proceeds from equity offering











306,779







306,779

Proceeds from options exercised











267







295

Income and payroll tax payments for net-settled stock awards



(3,267)



(7,045)



(577)



(10,312)



(5,767)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities



(3,267)



(7,045)



306,469



(10,312)



301,307

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents



73



(392)



775



(319)



(1,115)

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash



111,551



(621)



162,714



110,930



147,004

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period



154,930



155,551



156,645



155,551



172,355

Cash and cash equivalents, end of period

$ 266,481

$ 154,930

$ 319,359

$ 266,481

$ 319,359



AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. SELECTED CASH FLOW INFORMATION (Unaudited) (in thousands)





THREE MONTHS ENDED

SIX MONTHS ENDED



30 JUN 2021

31 MAR 2021

30 JUN 2020

30 JUN 2021

30 JUN 2020 Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

$ 34,176

$ 60,939

$ (20,392)

$ 95,115

$ (6,977) Purchases of property and equipment



(13,510)



(10,521)



(5,342)



(24,031)



(7,551) Purchases of intangible assets



(102)



(41)



(66)



(143)



(111) Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure

$ 20,564

$ 50,377

$ (25,800)

$ 70,941

$ (14,639)

AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. SUPPLEMENTAL TABLES (in thousands)





30 JUN 2021

31 DEC 2020



(Unaudited)





Cash and cash equivalents

$ 266,372

$ 155,440 Short-term investments



388,895



406,525 Long-term investments



48,669



90,681 Total cash and cash equivalents and investments, net

$ 703,936

$ 652,646

SOURCE Axon

Related Links

www.axon.com


"We are very grateful for the support we received from BAI," commented Dr Rouser, adding that the funding, "is a force multiplier to the unique rocket research in our aerospace propulsion and power program."

As part of the research program, students tailor rockets to accommodate a particular UAS platform based on the vehicle's weight, desired flight speed at motor burn-out, and maximum g-load. The students then mix and cast the rocket's propellant in order to achieve the predicted performance. Their results are then validated using a mobile ground testing rig. The program offers relevant learning experience that transcends standard classroom academics and basic lab research. The hands-on engagement with fully-realized rockets that hold real commercial potential is equipping and inspiring the OSU students for successful careers in the aerospace industry.

Berry Aviation currently employs a team of UAS engineers in Stillwater, OK who are rapidly accelerating research and fielding new systems. The BAI team partners with OSU in several areas involving autonomy, UAS, and Counter-UAS development. Gary Ambrose, the company's Vice President of Autonomous Systems, explained, "This is just one of the emerging areas we are looking to partner with OSU Unmanned Systems Research Institute and the great group within Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Berry is working with OSU to rapidly develop defense technologies, while providing high-paying employment opportunities for graduating students."

Stan Finch, Berry Aviation President, further remarked, "We are excited about partnering with OSU and investing in this rapidly growing business sector in Oklahoma. The technologies being developed are key enablers for both the Department of Defense and Berry Aviation commercial aviation."

Founded in 1983, Berry Aviation, Inc. provides specialty aviation solutions for passenger and cargo transport, aerial delivery, personnel recovery, casualty and medical evacuation, ISR, night vision goggle, UAS, and training, along with maintenance repair and modification services. The company conducts 14,000 global flight and ground operations annually and possesses extensive operating experience in some of the world's most austere and unique environments with customers and end-users including all branches of the U.S. Department of Defense. Berry Aviation is based in San Marcos, Texas and is a member of Acorn Growth Companies.

SOURCE Berry Aviation, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.berryaviation.com


FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking college classes online became the norm for students during the pandemic, but this doesn't mean every college mastered the art of providing online education. The best online degree programs have been consciously designed to leverage the considerable benefits of remote learning. These are the programs featured in our wide array of rankings for online colleges.

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Education (including Early Childhood Education and Special Education)

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Nursing

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visit the to find state-based listings of admissions consulting agencies and counselors who can help students get into a choice school. Desirability Index show the degree to which students choose one school over another

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AcademicInfluence.com is the preeminent technology-driven rankings site dedicated to students, researchers, and inquirers from high school through college and beyond, offering resources that connect learners to leaders. AcademicInfluence.com is a part of the EducationAccess group, a family of sites dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth.

Contact:

Jed Macosko, Ph.D.

Academic Director

AcademicInfluence.com

[email protected]

(682) 302-4945

SOURCE AcademicInfluence.com
SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- These days, getting into university is harder than ever. Rather than just test scores and grades, the full narrative of the student takes the forefront in what is necessary for an applicant to succeed. Blueprint Consulting (BPC) is an up-and-coming education firm that is beginning to make a name for itself in the college and boarding school preparation industry. With its headquarters based in Seoul, South Korea, Blueprint is privy to the challenges students face in all types of application cycles. Its individually customized roadmaps for students continue to draw both new clients and numerous college and boarding school acceptances as the year progresses.

However, education consulting is something best started early, when kids still have a chance to form a fully crafted personal story to tell to the admissions teams at each school. Whether it be a secondary student preparing for a boarding school, a high schooler transitioning to higher-level academics, or a transfer student searching for the next college, Blueprint is well-known for their capability of teaching students strategies to succeed. In the past year alone, students from BPC have taken home awards from major international competitions, ranging from humanities to STEM. These students are required to challenge themselves, both academically and personally, gradually preparing themselves for a higher level of education.

Furthermore, BPC provides customized services to all of its students. Each client is approached as a new puzzle to solve, finding the strengths and weaknesses of the students' academic and extracurricular backgrounds and helping them craft a new narrative through which to market themselves and take advantage of. Alongside parents and students, Blueprint is making waves in the industry with their major-specialized plans (nicknamed "roadmaps") that lay out the classes, clubs, and competitions the student should ideally prepare for. Regardless of nationality, all students can find success.

Following their roadmap, students embark on a journey of numerous individualized courses from experienced teachers who specialize in that subject's field. The student's weaknesses are remedied with intensive review courses and their strengths are bolstered with engaging and energizing lessons on specific topics within their best subjects, solidifying students' foundational knowledge and interest in those subjects. Armed with a firm foundation, each student can go under a litmus test to discover the true extent of their abilities.

For students who lack extracurriculars, Blueprint facilitates programs that allow students to act as young reporters, scientists, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs with a firm belief that these hands-on experiences would enrich students' perspectives. With diverse and well-developed programs, no student graduates with a blank resume.

All in all, in the harsh climate of the application cycle, Blueprint Consulting has found a formula to help students thrive through providing personalized guidance and attention to each student. They ensure that every student has an education supplemented by the right classes and extracurriculars to attain each student's dream.

SOURCE Blueprint Consulting
DALLAS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: BHR) ("Braemar" or the "Company") today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the 138-room Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, California (the "Mr. C" or the "Property"), previously announced on June 1, 2021. In addition, the Company acquired five luxury condominium residences adjacent to the hotel. The total consideration for the acquisition was $77.9 million and consisted of $65.4 million for the hotel ($474,000 per key) and an allocated price of $12.5 million for the five adjacent condominium units. The acquisition was funded with approximately $30 million of cash, 2.5 million OP units, 500,000 warrants at a strike price of $6.00, and a $30 million mortgage loan. For purposes of calculating total consideration for the transaction, a price of $6 per share was assumed.

RobertDouglas, a real estate advisory firm that specializes in providing capital solutions in the hospitality industry, assisted Braemar with this transaction.

Braemar Hotels & Resorts is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing in luxury hotels and resorts.

EBITDA is defined as net income (loss), computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Hotel EBITDA multiple is defined as the purchase price divided by the trailing 12 month EBITDA. A capitalization rate is determined by dividing the property's annual net operating income by the purchase price. Net operating income is the property's hotel EBITDA minus a capital expense reserve of either 4% or 5% of gross revenues.

Certain statements and assumptions in this press release contain or are based upon "forward-looking" information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements about the Company's strategy and future plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. When we use the words "will likely result," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "expect," "believe," "intend," or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside Braemar's control.

These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation: the impact of COVID-19, and the rate of adoption and efficacy of vaccines to prevent COVID-19, on our business and investment strategy; the timing and outcome of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation; our ability to repay, refinance or restructure our debt and the debt of certain of our subsidiaries; anticipated or expected purchases or sales of assets; our projected operating results; completion of any pending transactions; our understanding of our competition; market trends; projected capital expenditures; the impact of technology on our operations and business; general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of our common stock and preferred stock; availability, terms and deployment of capital; availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and the markets in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and the degree and nature of our competition. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Braemar's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of our future performance taking into account all information currently known to us. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations can change as a result of many potential events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans, and other objectives may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider this risk when you make an investment decision concerning our securities. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company can give no assurance that these forward-looking statements will be attained or that any deviation will not occur. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, changes in expectations, or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

SOURCE Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc.
Corporate leverage reaches 1.10x at the end of the second quarter of 2021

SAO PAULO, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BRASKEM S.A. (B3: BRKM3, BRKM5 and BRKM6;NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK) announces today its results for 2Q21.

2Q21 HIGHLIGHTS:

Braskem - Consolidated:

In 2Q21, the Company's recurring Operating Result was US$1,776 million , 40% higher than 1Q21, mainly due to: (i) better international spreads for PE, PVC and main chemicals in Brazil , for PP in the United States and Europe and for PE in Mexico ; and (ii) higher sales volumes of PP in the United States and PE in Mexico . Compared to the same quarter last year, recurring Operating Result in U.S. dollar increased 530%, due to: (i) better international spreads for main chemicals in Brazil and resins in all regions; and (ii) higher sales volume of resins and main chemicals in Brazil and PP in the United States and Europe . In Brazilian real, recurring Operating Result was R$9,400 million , 35% and 522% higher than in 1Q21 and 2Q20, respectively, due to the appreciation of Brazilian real against U.S. dollar.



, 40% higher than 1Q21, mainly due to: (i) better international spreads for PE, PVC and main chemicals in , for PP in and and for PE in ; and (ii) higher sales volumes of PP in and PE in . Compared to the same quarter last year, recurring Operating Result in U.S. dollar increased 530%, due to: (i) better international spreads for main chemicals in and resins in all regions; and (ii) higher sales volume of resins and main chemicals in and PP in and . In Brazilian real, recurring Operating Result was , 35% and 522% higher than in 1Q21 and 2Q20, respectively, due to the appreciation of Brazilian real against U.S. dollar. In the quarter, the Company recorded net profit of R$7,424 million , 198% higher than 1Q21, representing R$12.47 per common share and class "A" preferred share.



, 198% higher than 1Q21, representing per common share and class "A" preferred share. The Company's free cash flow generation was R$1,554 million and the free cash flow yield was 12.7% in 2Q21.



and the free cash flow yield was 12.7% in 2Q21. In line with the continuous commitment to financial health and to regaining investment grade rating, the Company continued to reduce its corporate leverage, measured as the ratio of net debt to recurring Operating Result in U.S. dollar, which ended 2Q21 at 1.10x, a decrease of 39% in relation to 1Q21 (1.80x).



In May, the risk rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded Braskem's outlook to positive and reaffirmed its risk rating on the global scale of BB+. Furthermore, in July, the risk rating agency Moody's upgraded Braskem's outlook to stable and reaffirmed its risk rating on the global scale of Ba1.



In the quarter, given its strong cash position and to reduce its gross debt, the Company concluded several operations totaling US$643 million . In the year, the Company reduced in approximately US$1.7 billion its corporate gross debt, considering the operations performed in July.



. In the year, the Company reduced in approximately its corporate gross debt, considering the operations performed in July. The Company's class "A" preferred shares (BRKM5) registered a price gain of approximately 153% in the 1st semester of the year.

The full earnings release is available on the Company's IR website: www.braskem-ri.com.br/home-en

Braskem will host conference calls to discuss its Results THURSDAY, August 05 at 1:00 p.m. US ET.

Additional information may be obtained from the Investor Relations Department at +55-11-3576-9531 or [email protected] .

SOURCE Braskem S.A.

Related Links

http://www.braskem-ri.com.br/home-en


Investors recognize the value of our Investment Note to deliver social impact alongside a financial return. Tweet this

Capital Impact has seen robust interest in these S&P A1 rated Notes that were the first offered by a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that are S&P rated, DTC-settled and offered on a continuous basis through brokerage accounts in almost all U.S. states.

"Capital Impact Investment Notes are intentionally designed to democratize access to impact investing vehicles," said Natalie Gunn, Chief Financial Officer of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. "Since 1982, we have consistently demonstrated our track record of delivering strong financial performance while simultaneously creating social impact in communities most in need."

Capital Impact Investment Notes allow retail and institutional investors to invest as little as $1,000 in the mission-driven organization's nationwide efforts to support locally-driven solutions and create social impact for historically disinvested communities. Andy Loving of Just Money Advisors spoke about his firm's interest in the Notes in this video .

"Achieving social returns alongside financial returns is an increasingly important investment strategy that InspereX strives to support. The targeted, measurable efforts of Capital Impact Partners have resonated especially well with both individual and institutional investors. We are proud to feature Capital Impact Investment Notes on our platform," said John DesPrez, CEO of InspereX.

Through mission-driven financing, social innovation programs, capacity building, and impact investing, Capital Impact Partners works to champion key issues of equity and social and economic justice. Its leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in high ratings from Aeris, a provider of comprehensive, third-party assessments to aid impact investment decisions; inclusion on the Impact Assets IA50 list multiple times; and a Platinum rating from Guidestar.

"I am incredibly proud that we have hit this $200 million milestone in such a short amount of time. It demonstrates that investors recognize the value in our offering to deliver social impact alongside a financial return. I'm humbled by their trust in Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance to use their investments to advance community solutions," said Ellis Carr, President and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance.

InspereX is proud to serve as Lead Agent for Capital Impact Partners. InspereX is a leading underwriter and distributor of fixed income securities. The firms are not affiliates.

About Capital Impact Partners

Through capital and commitment, Capital Impact Partners helps people build communities of opportunity that break barriers to success. Through mission-driven financing, social innovation programs, capacity building, and impact investing, we work to champion key issues of equity and social and economic justice. Our commitment to community focuses on ensuring that individuals have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, cooperative development, and the ability to age with dignity.

A nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $2.5 billion since 1982. Our leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in Capital Impact being rated by S&P Global and recognized by Aeris for our performance. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, Capital Impact Partners operates nationally, with local offices in Austin, TX; Detroit, MI; New York, NY; and Oakland, CA. Learn more at www.capitalimpact.org.

About InspereX

InspereX unites the more than two decades of success in fixed income and market-linked products origination, underwriting, distribution, and education of Incapital with the innovation of Silicon Valley's 280 CapMarkets and its revolutionary fixed income tech platform, BondNav. InspereX represents more than 400 issuing entities and has underwritten more than $670 billion in securities. The firm has seven trading desks and more than 200 employees with principal offices in Delray Beach; San Francisco; Chicago; and New York City. InspereX stands for people, products, and technology you can trust.

DISCLAIMER

Disclaimer: This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Such an offer is made only by means of a current Prospectus (including any applicable Pricing Supplement) for each of the respective Notes. Such offers may be directed only to investors in jurisdictions in which the Notes are eligible for sale. Investors in such states should obtain a current Prospectus by visiting www.capitalimpact.org/invest/capital-impact-investment-notes. Investors are urged to review the current Prospectus before making any investment decisions. No state or federal securities regulators have passed on or endorsed the merits of the offering of the Notes. Any representation to the contrary is unlawful. The Notes will not be insured or guaranteed by the FDIC, SIPC or other governmental agency. As of the date hereof, the Notes will be offered for sale in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, excluding the States of Arkansas and Washington.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Also, when Capital Impact uses any of the words "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend" or similar expressions, it is making forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guaranteed and are based on Capital Impact's present intentions and on Capital Impact's present expectations and assumptions. These statements, intentions, expectations, and assumptions involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Capital Impact's control, that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Purchasers of Notes should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as events described or implied in such statements may not occur. Except as required by law, Capital Impact undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1 S&P Global reaffirmed a long-term issue credit rating of A to the Notes on November 12, 2020. Please check the Pricing Supplement for the S&P credit rating assigned to Notes currently being offered for sale. An S&P credit rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold Notes and may be subject to suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by S&P.

SOURCE Capital Impact Partners

Related Links

www.ncbcapitalimpact.org


LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Micha Emmett, the CEO of investment migration firm CS Global Partners, recently spoke to CBS Miami on why there has been increased interest from Americans seeking second citizenship. According to Emmett, this is due to a myriad of factors including concern for the future, the need to protect one's family and wealth along with better travel prospects.

Over the last year, these worries have been exacerbated as a result of the pandemic with more individuals and families beginning to recognise the need to have a Plan B during times of crisis. This has led to a sharp increase in enquiries in routes such as Citizenship by Investment (CBI)  an initiative that empowers investors to making an economic contribution to a country in exchange for its citizenship.

CS Global Partners supports clients in choosing the best programme that suits their specific needs as well as assisting with their application process.

"We have seen a 42% increase from previous years to last year in terms of interest from the U.S," Emmett told CBS. "The number one reason people cited was a better life for their families."

The Caribbean has emerged as a popular destination for Americans looking overseas due to its proximity to the US along with its vast CBI options. The concept was pioneered in the region in St Kitts and Nevis, which continues to operate the longest-standing programme in the industry and has been dubbed a 'Platinum Standard' brand. Similarly, Dominica has also been internationally acclaimed as offering the best route to second citizenship on the market by the annual CBI Index conducted by the Financial Times' PWM.

Once passing the necessary due diligence checks, successful applicants gain access to increased travel freedom, alternative business prospects, a second home and a lifelong citizenship that can be handed down for generations to come.

With much of the globe still grabbling with the COVID-19 crisis and its lingering fallout, it has become even more critical to have backup plan that can be utilised during volatility. Whether it's a global pandemic, social unrest or economic instability, a second citizenship can help diversify your assets and hedge against uncertainty or risk.

"It has made us nervous, hasn't it? No matter where you sit. Every country has its challenges, so how nice to have an option. That's all we're offering  an option," Emmett noted.

+447867942505, [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com

SOURCE CS Global Partners
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ChannelAdvisor Corporation (NYSE: ECOM), a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable brands and retailers to increase global sales, unveiled new enhancements to its multichannel commerce platform designed to help brands and retailers expand their audience reach, improve the consumer shopping experience, and increase product visibility to drive online sales. ChannelAdvisor's e-commerce experts will showcase these new capabilities in a webinar scheduled for August 10 at 11 a.m. EDT/ 4 p.m. BST.

"Some of the dramatic shifts that we've seen in consumer behavior are here to stay, requiring brands and retailers to adopt smart strategies to win the sale. This release allows businesses to elevate their brand presence, optimize their operations and engage online shoppers - when, where and how they shop," explains Steve Frechette, vice president of product management at ChannelAdvisor. "Once again, we're especially excited to offer brands and retailers more opportunities globally to get their products in front of active buyers across a diverse spectrum of sales channels , search engines, social and retail sites. It's not too late to get started on these channels in preparation for the busiest time of the year."

Ahead of peak season, brands and retailers can take advantage of ChannelAdvisor's new e-commerce solutions to:

Deliver Seamless Shopping Experiences

Shoppable Media Pickup and Delivery: ChannelAdvisor has expanded its Shoppable Media offering for brands seeking faster, more convenient purchase options for digitally savvy consumers. In addition to directing purchase-ready shoppers to authorized stores and retail sites, brands using Buy Online can display retailers offering curbside pickup or in-store delivery.

ChannelAdvisor has expanded its Shoppable Media offering for brands seeking faster, more convenient purchase options for digitally savvy consumers. In addition to directing purchase-ready shoppers to authorized stores and retail sites, brands using Buy Online can display retailers offering curbside pickup or in-store delivery. Shoppable Media Multi-Brand Widget: Brands aiming to give buyers more choice and flexibility in their shopping experience can leverage the ChannelAdvisor Multi-Brand Widget. Through this feature, sellers can promote multiple brands, countries, and products in a single Shoppable Media widget experience.

Provide Full Visibility and Deeper Product Insight

ChannelAdvisor Product Tags: ChannelAdvisor's newest workflow solution offers sellers more visibility within their product catalog, helping to inform critical business decisions. Brands and retailers can monitor and segment their products through system-defined insights, such as new arrivals, top sellers, recent restocks, and products that are recently out of stock.

Diversify Selling Channels to Gain More Consumers

As the leading multichannel commerce platform, brands and retailers rely on ChannelAdvisor's extensive network of global marketplace integrations, including vertical-specific channels, to reach more buyers and help accelerate online sales. With the recent addition of more than 20 new integrations, ChannelAdvisor now supports over 190 channels, including:

New Marketplaces:

Click To Collect (US)

Joom (expanded support for US, ES, DE, IT and NL)

Maisons du Monde (FR)

MyUS (US and UK)

PC Componentes (ES)

Privalia (IT and ES)

Rakuten (JP)

Showroom Prive (FR)

Westfield (AU)

(AU) Zalando (expanded support for EE, LV, HR, SK, LT and SI)

New 1P Channel Expansions:

Chewy (US)

Home Depot (CA)

Lowe's (CA)

Myer (AU)

Penny (DE)

Petco (US)

More to Explore



From inspiration to conversion, brands and retailers can accelerate digital transformation by leveraging ChannelAdvisor's platform at every stage of the consumer journey. To learn more, register to attend the webinar "Channeladvisor August 2021 Product Release: Expanded Solutions & Enhanced Shopping Experiences'' on August 10 at 11 a.m. ET/ 4 p.m. BST hosted by product marketing managers Greg Ives and Bradley Hearn. ChannelAdvisor's e-commerce specialists will provide an in-depth look at the latest enhancements. Attendees can explore new solutions to help:

Create fast, frictionless customer experiences to help build a loyal customer base through ChannelAdvisor's new expansion of its multichannel suite of solutions, including Shoppable Media Pick Up and Delivery and Shoppable Media Multi-Brand Widget.

to help build a loyal customer base through ChannelAdvisor's new expansion of its multichannel suite of solutions, including Shoppable Media Pick Up and Delivery and Shoppable Media Multi-Brand Widget. Engage more online shoppers through new emerging marketplaces and first-party dropship connections

through new emerging marketplaces and first-party dropship connections Streamline inventory and order management for peak performance with help from ChannelAdvisor Product Tags

For more details about ChannelAdvisor, visit ChannelAdvisor's blog , follow ChannelAdvisor on Twitter @ChannelAdvisor , like ChannelAdvisor on Facebook and connect with ChannelAdvisor on LinkedIn .

About ChannelAdvisor

ChannelAdvisor (NYSE: ECOM) is a leading multichannel commerce platform whose mission is to connect and optimize the world's commerce. For over two decades, ChannelAdvisor has helped brands and retailers worldwide improve their online performance by expanding sales channels, connecting with consumers across the entire buying cycle, optimizing their operations for peak performance, and providing actionable analytics to improve competitiveness. Thousands of customers depend on ChannelAdvisor to securely power their e-commerce operations on channels such as Amazon, eBay, Google, Facebook, Walmart, and hundreds more. For more information, visit www.channeladvisor.com.

ChannelAdvisor Media Contact:

Tamara Gibbs

[email protected]

919-249-9798

SOURCE ChannelAdvisor Corporation

Related Links

www.channeladvisor.com


The Fall installment of Business Growth Summit is titled Retain , and will focus on how small business owners can retain customers, increase loyalty, and build experiences that keep customers & patients coming back for more. Chip and Joanna's Business Growth keynote will cover their journey of expanding their once-tiny home decor business into a national home and lifestyle brand-turned-empire, and how they've managed to cultivate a loyal customer base along the way.

For Chip and Joanna, what started as a standalone home decor shop in 2003 has since evolved into a nationally-renowned brand spanning retail, design, hospitality, media and more, with national partnerships with brands like Target, Discovery, Inc. and Anthropologie, to name a few.

The Business Growth Summit speaker lineup brings together a full slate of experts at customer retention. Speakers include:

Rick Hansen | VP of Customer Success at Weave

Mara Shorr | Partner of Shorr Solutions, a national award-winning medical practice consulting firm

Peter Cass | Managing Partner at Practice Compliance Solutions

Rick DeBowes | Healthcare practice management expert

Debbie Boone | President of a vet consulting company

And more to be announced soon.

The two-hour event will take place online on September 15 at noon EST and is free for all attendees. Select recordings will be available on-demand to registered attendees after the event. To register and learn more about event topics, visit businessgrowthsummit.com.

About Weave

Weave is the all-in-one customer communication and engagement platform for small business. From the first phone call to the final invoice and every touchpoint in between, Weave connects the entire customer journey. Weave's software solutions transform how local businesses attract, communicate with and engage customers to grow their business. The first Utah company to join Y Combinator, Weave has set the bar for Utah startup achievement & work culture. In the past year, Weave has been included in the Forbes Cloud 100, Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies in America, and Glassdoor Best Places to Work. To learn more, visit www.getweave.com/newsroom/

Contact:

Kali Geldis

Director of Communications, Weave

[email protected]

SOURCE Weave

Related Links

http://www.getweave.com


"The strategic investments we have made in launching and enhancing our brands, strengthening our marketing and reservation systems, and bolstering our platform capabilities drove impressive second quarter results that further positioned the company to increase our share of travel demand in the years to come," said Patrick Pacious, president and chief executive officer, Choice Hotels. "Our goal is not to return to our 2019 performance levels, but rather capitalize on current and future investments to fuel our long-term growth in key strategic segments and drive our performance to new levels."

Highlights of second quarter and year-to-date 2021 results include (note that RevPAR and financial metrics are compared to 20191):

Domestic systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) change outperformed the total industry by 20 percentage points, declining 1.1% for second quarter 2021 compared to the same period of 2019, while occupancy levels increased by 20 basis points from second quarter 2019.

The company's June 2021 domestic systemwide RevPAR increased 4.5% from June 2019 .

domestic systemwide RevPAR increased 4.5% from . The trend of monthly improvement continued in July, with July 2021 RevPAR increasing approximately 15% from July 2019 , driven by occupancy levels of 70% and average daily rate (ADR) growth of 10%.

RevPAR increasing approximately 15% from , driven by occupancy levels of 70% and average daily rate (ADR) growth of 10%. From May through July 2021 , the company surpassed its all-time single day revenue record on four separate days and recorded 14 of the highest revenue performing days in the company's history. In addition, the company achieved the strongest revenue performing Memorial Day and Independence Day weekend in its history, and set the record for the single highest revenue, ADR and RevPAR performing day ever for the company on July 24, 2021 .

, the company surpassed its all-time single day revenue record on four separate days and recorded 14 of the highest revenue performing days in the company's history. In addition, the company achieved the strongest revenue performing Memorial Day and Independence Day weekend in its history, and set the record for the single highest revenue, ADR and RevPAR performing day ever for the company on . The company awarded 200 domestic franchise agreements year-to-date through June 30, 2021 , a 32% increase compared to the same period of 2020. The company's domestic franchise agreements for conversion hotels increased by 43% year-to-date through June 30, 2021 , compared to the same period of 2020. The company awarded 111 domestic franchise agreements in second quarter 2021, a nearly 20% increase compared to the same period of the prior year.

, a 32% increase compared to the same period of 2020. The company's domestic franchise agreements for conversion hotels increased by 43% year-to-date through , compared to the same period of 2020. The company awarded 111 domestic franchise agreements in second quarter 2021, a nearly 20% increase compared to the same period of the prior year. Second quarter net income increased 15% to $85.9 million from second quarter 2019, representing diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.53 .

from second quarter 2019, representing diluted earnings per share (EPS) of . Second quarter adjusted net income, excluding certain items described in Exhibit 7, increased 2% to $68.3 million from second quarter 2019 , and adjusted diluted EPS were $1.22 , an increase of 3% from second quarter 2019.

from second quarter 2019 and adjusted diluted EPS were , an increase of 3% from second quarter 2019. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the second quarter were $111.8 million , a 9% increase from second quarter 2019.

, a 9% increase from second quarter 2019. The company's Board of Directors reinstated the dividend and share repurchase program in May 2021 . In June and July 2021 , the company returned over $14 million back to shareholders through a combination of cash dividends and share repurchases.

Performance Trends

Domestic systemwide RevPAR for second quarter 2021 outperformed the respective chain scales in which the company competes by 660 basis points, compared to the same period of 2019.

All of Choice Hotels' select-service brands achieved domestic systemwide RevPAR index gains versus their local competitors with portfolio average share gains of 488 basis points for second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019.

The company's extended-stay portfolio achieved domestic systemwide RevPAR growth of 9.9% in second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019, driven by occupancy levels of 82% and an increase in ADR of 2.0%. Specifically, the WoodSpring Suites brand achieved RevPAR growth of 16% in second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019, driven by occupancy levels of nearly 86% and an increase in ADR of 5.6%.

The company's midscale portfolio exceeded 2019 RevPAR levels in June, achieving domestic systemwide RevPAR growth of 6.2% versus June 2019 , driven by an increase in ADR of 3.8% and an increase in occupancy levels of 220 basis points. In second quarter 2021, the Comfort brand family's domestic systemwide RevPAR change outperformed the upper-midscale chain scale by 870 basis points, and the Quality Inn brand achieved RevPAR growth of 1.7%, driven predominantly by an increase in ADR of 1.3%, compared to the same period of 2019.

, driven by an increase in ADR of 3.8% and an increase in occupancy levels of 220 basis points. In second quarter 2021, the Comfort brand family's domestic systemwide RevPAR change outperformed the upper-midscale chain scale by 870 basis points, and the Quality Inn brand achieved RevPAR growth of 1.7%, driven predominantly by an increase in ADR of 1.3%, compared to the same period of 2019. The company's upscale portfolio continued to achieve domestic systemwide RevPAR share gains versus its competitors for second quarter 2021, compared to second quarter 2019, with the Cambria Hotels brand achieving gains of 14 percentage points. In addition, the Ascend Hotel Collection achieved June RevPAR growth of 4.7%, driven by an increase in ADR of 12.2%, compared to the same period of 2019.

Additional details for the company's second quarter and year-to-date 2021 results are as follows:

Revenues

Total revenues decreased 12% to $278.3 million for second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019.

for second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019. Total revenues excluding marketing and reservation system fees decreased 2% to $142.4 million for second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019.

for second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019. Second quarter 2021 domestic royalties totaled $102.8 million , a 2% increase from the same period of 2019.

, a 2% increase from the same period of 2019. The company's domestic effective royalty rate for second quarter 2021 increased 7 basis points over the prior year second quarter to 5.01%.

Development

The company's domestic franchise agreements for new construction hotels increased by 21% in second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. In addition, half of the company's brands have exceeded 2019 levels for the number of domestic franchise agreements awarded in the first half of 2021.

As of June 30, 2021 , the number of domestic rooms in the company's upscale portfolio expanded by 24% since June 30, 2020 , driven by an 11% increase in room count for the Cambria Hotels brand and a 28% increase in room count for the Ascend Hotel Collection. For the first six months of 2021, the upscale portfolio set a record for the highest number of upscale hotel openings in the company's history, including 22 properties added as part of the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming.

, the number of domestic rooms in the company's upscale portfolio expanded by 24% since , driven by an 11% increase in room count for the Cambria Hotels brand and a 28% increase in room count for the Ascend Hotel Collection. For the first six months of 2021, the upscale portfolio set a record for the highest number of upscale hotel openings in the company's history, including 22 properties added as part of the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming. The company's extended-stay portfolio continued its rapid expansion, reaching 460 domestic hotels as of June 30, 2021 , an 11% increase since June 30, 2020 , with the domestic extended-stay pipeline reaching over 300 hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development. Since June 30, 2020 , the WoodSpring Suites, MainStay Suites and Suburban brands grew the number of open domestic hotels by 6%, 27% and 15%, respectively. In addition, the company's domestic franchise agreements for WoodSpring Suites increased by 18% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period of 2019.

, an 11% increase since , with the domestic extended-stay pipeline reaching over 300 hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development. Since , the WoodSpring Suites, MainStay Suites and Suburban brands grew the number of open domestic hotels by 6%, 27% and 15%, respectively. In addition, the company's domestic franchise agreements for WoodSpring Suites increased by 18% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period of 2019. The company continued its leadership in the midscale segment by increasing the number of domestic hotels within the Comfort brand family by 2.5% from June 30, 2020 . The brand's domestic franchise agreements for new construction hotels increased by 43% in second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. For the first half of 2021, the Comfort brand family executed the highest number of openings since 2014.

. The brand's domestic franchise agreements for new construction hotels increased by 43% in second quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. For the first half of 2021, the Comfort brand family executed the highest number of openings since 2014. The number of domestic hotels and rooms, as of June 30, 2021 , increased 0.6% and 1.6%, respectively, from June 30, 2020 . The company's domestic upscale, midscale and extended-stay segments reported a 2.5% and 3.1% aggregate increase in units and rooms, respectively, since June 30, 2020 .

, increased 0.6% and 1.6%, respectively, from . The company's domestic upscale, midscale and extended-stay segments reported a 2.5% and 3.1% aggregate increase in units and rooms, respectively, since . The company's total domestic pipeline of hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development, as of June 30, 2021 , reached 884 hotels representing over 72,000 rooms.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The company improved its strong balance sheet and liquidity position in second quarter 2021 and continues to benefit from its primarily franchise-only business model, which has historically provided a relatively stable earnings stream, low capital expenditure requirements and significant free cash flow. As of June 30, 2021, the company's total available liquidity consisting of cash and available borrowing capacity through the revolving credit facility was approximately $908 million. The company generated cash flow from operations of $102.3 million for second quarter 2021, a 28% increase from the same period of 2019.

Shareholder Returns

In May 2021, the company declared cash dividends totaling $12.5 million, which were paid in July 2021. Based on the current quarterly dividend rate of $0.225 per share of common stock, the company expects to pay dividends totaling approximately $25 million during 2021.

During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the company repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of common stock for $5.4 million under its stock repurchase program, as well as through repurchases from employees in connection with tax withholding and option exercises relating to awards under the company's equity incentive plans. As of July 2021, the company had 3.4 million shares remaining under the current share repurchase authorization.

In July 2021, the company returned $14 million back to shareholders in the form of cash dividends and share repurchases.

Outlook

The company is not at this time providing detailed guidance for third quarter or full year 2021 given that the precise impact of COVID-19 on the company's future results is still unknown.

For the month of July 2021, the company's RevPAR increased by approximately 15% versus July 2019, driven by occupancy levels of 70% and ADR growth of 10%. The company currently expects RevPAR for third quarter 2021 to grow in the mid- to high-single digits, as compared to 2019.

Assuming continuation of current consumer sentiment, as well as broader RevPAR and economy recovery trends, the company currently expects adjusted EBITDA for the full-year 2021 to approach 2019 levels.

The company will continue to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 across its business and will provide further updates in the next earnings report based on the best information then available.

Conference Call

Choice Hotels International will conduct a conference call on Thursday, August 5, 2021, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the company's second quarter earnings results. The dial-in number to listen to the call domestically is (888) 349-0087 and the number for international participants is (412) 317-5259. A live webcast will also be available on the company's investor relations website, http://investor.choicehotels.com/ and can be accessed via the Financial Performance and Presentations tab.

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 7,100 hotels, representing over 600,000 rooms, in nearly 40 countries and territories as of June 30, 2021, the Choice family of hotel brands provides business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this presentation constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, our use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "believe," "anticipate," "should," "will," "forecast," "plan," "project," "assume," or similar words of futurity identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs, assumptions and expectations regarding future events, which, in turn, are based on information currently available to management. Such statements may relate to projections of the company's revenue, expenses, earnings, debt levels, ability to repay outstanding indebtedness, payment of dividends, repurchases of common stock and other financial and operational measures, including occupancy and open hotels, the company's ability to benefit from any rebound in travel demand, the company's liquidity, the company's ability to assist franchisees through relief or other financial measures, the company's ability to achieve cost savings and reduce discretionary spending and investments and the impact of COVID-19 and economic conditions on our future operations, among other matters. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.

Several factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, continuation, resurgence or worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic, including with respect to new strains or variants; the rate and pace of vaccination in the broader population; changes in consumer demand and confidence, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment rates, consumer discretionary spending and the demand for travel, transient and group business; the impact of COVID-19 on the global hospitality industry, particularly but not exclusively in the U.S. travel market; the success of our mitigation efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the performance of our brands and categories in any recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic disruption; the timing and amount of future dividends and share repurchases; changes to general, domestic and foreign economic conditions, including access to liquidity and capital as a result of COVID-19; future domestic or global outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics or contagious diseases, or fear of such outbreaks; changes in law and regulation applicable to the travel, lodging or franchising industries; foreign currency fluctuations; impairments or declines in the value of the company's assets; operating risks common in the travel, lodging or franchising industries; changes to the desirability of our brands as viewed by hotel operators and customers; changes to the terms or termination of our contracts with franchisees and our relationships with our franchisees; our ability to keep pace with improvements in technology utilized for marketing and reservations systems and other operating systems; the commercial acceptance of our Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") technology solutions division's products and services; our ability to grow our franchise system; exposure to risks related to our hotel development, financing and ownership activities; exposures to risks associated with our investments in new businesses; fluctuations in the supply and demand for hotel rooms; our ability to realize anticipated benefits from acquired businesses; impairments or losses relating to acquired businesses; the level of acceptance of alternative growth strategies we may implement; cyber security and data breach risks, including ransomware attacks; ownership and financing activities; hotel closures or financial difficulties of our franchisees; operating risks associated with our international operations, especially in areas currently most affected by COVID-19; the outcome of litigation; and our ability to effectively manage our indebtedness and secure our indebtedness. These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measurements

The company evaluates its operations utilizing the performance metrics of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margins, revenues excluding marketing and reservation system activities, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS, which are all non-GAAP financial measurements. These measures, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP measures in Exhibit 7, should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance or liquidity as promulgated under or authorized by GAAP, such as net income, EPS and total revenues. The company's calculation of these measurements may be different from the calculations used by other companies and comparability may therefore be limited. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures and how each non-GAAP measure is calculated below.

In addition to the specific adjustments noted below with respect to each measure, the non-GAAP measures presented herein also exclude restructuring of the company's operations including employee severance benefit, income taxes and legal costs, debt-restructuring costs, exceptional allowances recorded as a result of COVID-19's impact on the collectability of receivables and gains/losses on sale/disposal and impairment of assets primarily related to hotel ownership and development activities to allow for period-over-period comparison of ongoing core operations before the impact of these discrete and infrequent charges.

Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization and Margin: Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin reflects net income excluding the impact of interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, franchise-agreement acquisition cost amortization, other (gains) and losses, equity in net income (loss) of unconsolidated affiliates, mark-to-market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments, share based compensation expense (benefit) and surplus or deficits generated by marketing and reservation system activities. We consider adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margins to be an indicator of operating performance because it measures our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures and expand our business. We also use these measures, as do analysts, lenders, investors and others, to evaluate companies because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be dependent on a company's capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings, and share based compensation expense (benefit) is dependent on the design of compensation plans in place and the usage of them. Accordingly, the impact of interest expense and share based compensation expense (benefit) on earnings can vary significantly among companies. The tax positions of companies can also vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and provision for income taxes can vary considerably among companies. These measures also exclude depreciation and amortization because companies utilize productive assets of different ages and use different methods of both acquiring and depreciating productive assets or amortizing franchise-agreement acquisition costs. These differences can result in considerable variability in the relative asset costs and estimated lives and, therefore, the depreciation and amortization expense among companies. Mark-to-market adjustments on non-qualified retirement-plan investments recorded in SG&A are excluded from EBITDA, as the company accounts for these investments in accordance with accounting for deferred-compensation arrangements when investments are held in a rabbi trust and invested. Changes in the fair value of the investments are recognized as both compensation expense in SG&A and other gains and losses. As a result, the changes in the fair value of the investments do not have a material impact on the company's net income. Surpluses and deficits generated from marketing and reservation activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share: Adjusted net income and EPS exclude the impact of surpluses or deficits generated from marketing and reservation system activities. Surpluses and deficits generated from marketing and reservation activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance. We consider adjusted net income and adjusted EPS to be indicators of operating performance because excluding these items allow for period-over-period comparisons of our ongoing operations.

Revenues, Excluding Marketing and Reservation System Activities: The company reports revenues, excluding marketing and reservation system activities. These non-GAAP measures we present are commonly used measures of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the company and its competitors. Marketing and reservation system activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance.

 2021 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.

1 2019 comparison data is shown in some cases for comparable prior year periods for context in light of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic toward the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries













Exhibit 1 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income



















(Unaudited)









































































































































Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,











Variance









Variance



2021

2020

$

%

2021

2020

$

% (In thousands, except per share amounts)

































































REVENUES

































































Royalty fees

$ 106,242



$ 50,152



$ 56,090



112 %

$ 172,289



$ 120,491



$ 51,798



43 % Initial franchise and relicensing fees

7,328



6,676



652



10 %

12,755



13,960



(1,205)



(9) % Procurement services

12,092



10,697



1,395



13 %

23,283



24,494



(1,211)



(5) % Marketing and reservation system

135,988



79,677



56,311



71 %

227,509



190,062



37,447



20 % Owned hotels

8,993



2,108



6,885



327 %

13,347



11,530



1,817



16 % Other

7,701



2,423



5,278



218 %

12,108



9,371



2,737



29 % Total revenues

278,344



151,733



126,611



83 %

461,291



369,908



91,383



25 %

































OPERATING EXPENSES

































































Selling, general and administrative

34,470



43,935



(9,465)



(22) %

64,737



72,318



(7,581)



(10) % Depreciation and amortization

6,232



6,398



(166)



(3) %

12,594



12,927



(333)



(3) % Marketing and reservation system

113,285



89,309



23,976



27 %

211,458



219,756



(8,298)



(4) % Owned hotels

5,333



2,976



2,357



79 %

9,480



9,010



470



5 % Total operating expenses

159,320



142,618



16,702



12 %

298,269



314,011



(15,742)



(5) %

































Loss on impairment of assets





(1,226)



1,226



(100) %





(1,226)



1,226



(100) %

































Operating income

119,024



7,889



111,135



1409 %

163,022



54,671



108,351



198 %

































OTHER INCOME AND EXPENSES, NET































Interest expense

11,691



13,082



(1,391)



(11) %

23,468



24,462



(994)



(4) % Interest income

(1,234)



(2,245)



1,011



(45) %

(2,515)



(4,533)



2,018



(45) % Loss on extinguishment of debt













NM







607



(607)



(100) % Other (gains) losses

(2,108)



(3,556)



1,448



(41) %

(3,313)



1,173



(4,486)



382 % Equity in net (gain) loss of affiliates

(1,179)



3,486



(4,665)



134 %

4,818



5,441



(623)



(11) % Total other income and expenses, net

7,170



10,767



(3,597)



(33) %

22,458



27,150



(4,692)



(17) %

































Income (loss) before income taxes

111,854



(2,878)



114,732



3987 %

140,564



27,521



113,043



411 % Income tax expense (benefit)

25,972



(437)



26,409



6043 %

32,345



(25,501)



57,846



227 % Net income (loss)

$ 85,882



$ (2,441)



$ 88,323



3618 %

$ 108,219



$ 53,022



$ 55,197



104 %

































Basic earnings (losses) per share

$ 1.54



$ (0.04)



$ 1.58



3604 %

$ 1.95



$ 0.96



$ 0.99



104 %

































Diluted earnings (losses) per share

$ 1.53



$ (0.04)



$ 1.57



3579 %

$ 1.93



$ 0.95



$ 0.98



103 %

Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries





Exhibit 2 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets







(Unaudited)

























(In thousands, except per share amounts)

June 30,

December 31,







2021

2020



























ASSETS





















Cash and cash equivalents

$ 307,975



$ 234,779

Accounts receivable, net

201,038



149,921

Other current assets

98,527



48,214



Total current assets

607,540



432,914















Property and equipment, net

342,121



334,901

Intangible assets, net

307,559



303,725

Goodwill

159,196



159,196

Notes receivable, net of allowances

67,922



95,785

Investments in unconsolidated entities

42,793



57,879

Operating lease right-of-use assets

13,163



17,688

Investments, employee benefit plans, at fair value

31,484



29,104

Other assets

157,016



156,141



















Total assets $ 1,728,794



$ 1,587,333











































LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)





















Accounts payable

$ 90,407



$ 83,329

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

103,160



78,920

Deferred revenue

63,394



50,290

Liability for guest loyalty program

59,014



43,308



Total current liabilities

315,975



255,847











Long-term debt

1,059,602



1,058,738

Deferred revenue

113,392



122,406

Liability for guest loyalty program

60,591



77,071

Operating lease liabilities

7,822



12,739

Deferred compensation & retirement plan obligations

36,010



33,756

Other liabilities

30,469



32,528















Total liabilities

1,623,861



1,593,085

















Total shareholders' equity (deficit)

104,933



(5,752)



















Total liabilities and shareholders' equity (deficit)

$ 1,728,794



$ 1,587,333

















Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries



Exhibit 3 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows





(Unaudited)





























(In thousands) Six Months Ended June 30,









2021

2020 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:













Net income $ 108,219



$ 53,022









Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:













Depreciation and amortization 12,594



12,927

Depreciation and amortization - marketing and reservation system 12,076



9,585

Franchise agreement acquisition cost amortization 6,294



5,558

Loss on asset disposition and impairments 



1,226

Loss on debt extinguishment 



607

Non-cash stock compensation and other charges 16,295



458

Non-cash interest and other investment (income) loss (6,824)



1,097

Deferred income taxes (3,465)



(27,098)

Equity in net losses from unconsolidated joint ventures, less distributions received 7,398



5,588

Franchise agreement acquisition costs, net of reimbursements (18,078)



(12,567)

Change in working capital and other (32,102)



(48,951)









NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES 102,407



1,452









CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:













Investment in property and equipment (23,393)



(21,094)

Investment in intangible assets (2,976)



(830)

Contributions to equity method investments (1,136)



(2,997)

Distributions from equity method investments 



3,113

Proceeds from sale of equity method investments 11,830





Purchases of investments, employee benefit plans (931)



(1,932)

Proceeds from sales of investments, employee benefit plans 1,994



1,901

Purchase/issuance of notes receivable (17,918)



(7,730)

Collections of notes receivable 63



63

Other items, net (486)



(27)









NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES (32,953)



(29,533)









CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:













Net borrowings pursuant to revolving credit facilities 



170,300

Net borrowings pursuant to term loan 



249,500

Principal payments on long-term debt 



(33,369)

Purchases of treasury stock (5,362)



(54,536)

Dividends paid 



(25,228)

Debt issuance costs 



(492)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options 9,115



2,768









NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES 3,753



308,943









Net change in cash and cash equivalents 73,207



280,862

Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (11)



(489)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 234,779



33,766









CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF PERIOD $ 307,975



$ 314,139





































Exhibit 4 CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATING INFORMATION DOMESTIC HOTEL SYSTEM (UNAUDITED)











































For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020

Change











































Average Daily









Average Daily









Average Daily













Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR







































Comfort(1)

$ 89.83



57.2 %

$ 51.36



$ 84.20



42.6 %

$ 35.85



6.7 %

1,460 bps

43.3 % Sleep

80.68



56.0 %

45.20



76.92



43.5 %

33.46



4.9 %

1,250 bps

35.1 % Quality

77.41



50.7 %

39.21



71.07



38.7 %

27.49



8.9 %

1,200 bps

42.6 % Clarion(2)

79.03



39.7 %

31.37



72.51



31.4 %

22.75



9.0 %

830 bps

37.9 % Econo Lodge

63.54



48.2 %

30.61



57.15



38.1 %

21.79



11.2 %

1,010 bps

40.5 % Rodeway

63.53



49.6 %

31.49



58.39



40.9 %

23.87



8.8 %

870 bps

31.9 % WoodSpring Suites

49.03



80.1 %

39.26



45.99



69.7 %

32.07



6.6 %

1,040 bps

22.4 % MainStay

75.34



59.5 %

44.83



76.21



51.3 %

39.07



(1.1) %

820 bps

14.7 % Suburban

51.97



70.5 %

36.62



52.52



61.4 %

32.24



(1.0) %

910 bps

13.6 % Cambria Hotels

116.93



50.8 %

59.40



120.89



36.7 %

44.41



(3.3) %

1,410 bps

33.8 % Ascend Hotel Collection

123.91



50.1 %

62.04



115.48



39.7 %

45.89



7.3 %

1,040 bps

35.2 %







































Total

$ 77.09



54.8 %

$ 42.23



$ 71.08



42.7 %

$ 30.33



8.5 %

1,210 bps

39.2 %



































































































































































For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2021

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2020

Change

















Average Daily









Average Daily









Average Daily













Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR





































Comfort(1)

$ 96.67



65.3 %

$ 63.11



$ 79.57



36.6 %

$ 29.10



21.5 %

2,870 bps

116.9 % Sleep

86.47



64.2 %

55.54



74.38



37.9 %

28.18



16.3 %

2,630 bps

97.1 % Quality

82.72



59.0 %

48.80



68.97



35.5 %

24.51



19.9 %

2,350 bps

99.1 % Clarion(2)

85.75



46.2 %

39.62



69.24



25.6 %

17.71



23.8 %

2,060 bps

123.7 % Econo Lodge

67.47



54.9 %

37.04



57.05



37.9 %

21.64



18.3 %

1,700 bps

71.2 % Rodeway

67.15



55.4 %

37.18



57.10



40.9 %

23.36



17.6 %

1,450 bps

59.2 % WoodSpring Suites

50.49



85.8 %

43.31



44.96



69.2 %

31.09



12.3 %

1,660 bps

39.3 % MainStay

79.01



67.6 %

53.38



73.82



48.6 %

35.86



7.0 %

1,900 bps

48.9 % Suburban

54.03



75.3 %

40.67



50.79



60.9 %

30.95



6.4 %

1,440 bps

31.4 % Cambria Hotels

127.76



58.6 %

74.82



96.82



24.2 %

23.46



32.0 %

3,440 bps

218.9 % Ascend Hotel Collection

133.07



56.9 %

75.68



109.46



32.2 %

35.24



21.6 %

2,470 bps

114.8 %







































Total

$ 82.72



62.3 %

$ 51.54



$ 67.21



39.1 %

$ 26.27



23.1 %

2,320 bps

96.2 %







































Effective Royalty Rate

















































































For the Quarter Ended





For the Six Months Ended





















June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020





June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020

























































System-wide(3)

5.01 %

4.94 %





5.01 %

4.94 %

























































(1) Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites





(2) Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe





(3) Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories









































Exhibit 5 CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATING INFORMATION DOMESTIC HOTEL SYSTEM (UNAUDITED)











































For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2019

Change











































Average Daily









Average Daily









Average Daily













Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR







































Comfort(1)

$ 89.83



57.2 %

$ 51.36



$ 95.08



61.6 %

$ 58.62



(5.5) %

(440) bps

(12.4) % Sleep

80.68



56.0 %

45.20



85.49



61.3 %

52.37



(5.6) %

(530) bps

(13.7) % Quality

77.41



50.7 %

39.21



79.12



53.4 %

42.28



(2.2) %

(270) bps

(7.3) % Clarion(2)

79.03



39.7 %

31.37



83.13



49.1 %

40.82



(4.9) %

(940) bps

(23.2) % Econo Lodge

63.54



48.2 %

30.61



62.51



46.9 %

29.34



1.6 %

130 bps

4.3 % Rodeway

63.53



49.6 %

31.49



63.16



48.4 %

30.55



0.6 %

120 bps

3.1 % WoodSpring Suites

49.03



80.1 %

39.26



46.63



76.6 %

35.73



5.1 %

350 bps

9.9 % MainStay

75.34



59.5 %

44.83



85.39



63.4 %

54.10



(11.8) %

(390) bps

(17.1) % Suburban

51.97



70.5 %

36.62



58.77



69.3 %

40.74



(11.6) %

120 bps

(10.1) % Cambria Hotels

116.93



50.8 %

59.40



144.68



68.2 %

98.88



(19.2) %

(1,740) bps

(39.9) % Ascend Hotel Collection

123.91



50.1 %

62.04



121.41



60.0 %

72.84



2.1 %

(990) bps

(14.8) %







































Total

$ 77.09



54.8 %

$ 42.23



$ 80.85



57.2 %

$ 46.26



(4.7) %

(240) bps

(8.7) %



































































































































































For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2021

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2019

Change

















Average Daily









Average Daily









Average Daily













Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR

Rate

Occupancy

RevPAR





































Comfort(1)

$ 96.67



65.3 %

$ 63.11



$ 98.60



67.3 %

$ 66.34



(2.0) %

-200 bps

(4.9) % Sleep

86.47



64.2 %

55.54



88.08



66.7 %

58.75



(1.8) %

-250 bps

(5.5) % Quality

82.72



59.0 %

48.80



81.69



58.7 %

47.98



1.3 %

30 bps

1.7 % Clarion(2)

85.75



46.2 %

39.62



86.78



54.9 %

47.67



(1.2) %

-870 bps

(16.9) % Econo Lodge

67.47



54.9 %

37.04



64.93



51.6 %

33.51



3.9 %

330 bps

10.5 % Rodeway

67.15



55.4 %

37.18



65.20



52.2 %

34.02



3.0 %

320 bps

9.3 % WoodSpring Suites

50.49



85.8 %

43.31



47.79



78.2 %

37.35



5.6 %

760 bps

16.0 % MainStay

79.01



67.6 %

53.38



87.83



67.9 %

59.62



(10.0) %

-30 bps

(10.5) % Suburban

54.03



75.3 %

40.67



59.15



71.0 %

41.96



(8.7) %

430 bps

(3.1) % Cambria Hotels

127.76



58.6 %

74.82



152.89



74.8 %

114.43



(16.4) %

-1,620 bps

(34.6) % Ascend Hotel Collection

133.07



56.9 %

75.68



125.87



63.3 %

79.70



5.7 %

-640 bps

(5.0) %







































Total

$ 82.72



62.3 %

$ 51.54



$ 83.88



62.1 %

$ 52.11



(1.4) %

20 bps

(1.1) %







































Effective Royalty Rate

















































































For the Quarter Ended





For the Six Months Ended





















June 30, 2021

June 30, 2019





June 30, 2021

June 30, 2019

























































System-wide(3)

5.01 %

4.84 %





5.02 %

4.84 %

























































(1) Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites





(2) Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe





(3) Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories



































Exhibit 6 CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL HOTEL AND ROOM SUPPLY DATA (UNAUDITED)









































































































June 30, 2021

June 30, 2020

Variance





































Hotels

Rooms

Hotels

Rooms

Hotels

Rooms

%

%

































Comfort(1)

1,661



130,762



1,620



127,583



41



3,179



2.5 %

2.5 % Sleep

411



29,027



399



28,251



12



776



3.0 %

2.7 % Quality

1,681



126,603



1,690



128,909



(9)



(2,306)



(0.5) %

(1.8) % Clarion(2)

180



21,702



179



22,651



1



(949)



0.6 %

(4.2) % Econo Lodge

747



45,096



779



46,992



(32)



(1,896)



(4.1) %

(4.0) % Rodeway

532



30,683



578



33,107



(46)



(2,424)



(8.0) %

(7.3) % WoodSpring Suites

298



35,876



281



33,797



17



2,079



6.0 %

6.2 % MainStay

93



6,559



73



4,629



20



1,930



27.4 %

41.7 % Suburban

69



6,349



60



6,082



9



267



15.0 %

4.4 % Cambria Hotels

58



8,166



51



7,347



7



819



13.7 %

11.1 % Ascend Hotel Collection

225



28,258



207



22,136



18



6,122



8.7 %

27.7 %

































Domestic Franchises(3)

5,955



469,081



5,917



461,484



38



7,597



0.6 %

1.6 %

































International Franchises

1,156



132,164



1,201



135,534



(45)



(3,370)



(3.7) %

(2.5) %

































Total Franchises

7,111



601,245



7,118



597,018



(7)



4,227



(0.1) %

0.7 %

































(1) Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites















(2) Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe















(3) Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories





































































Exhibit 7 CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)







































REVENUES, EXCLUDING MARKETING AND RESERVATION ACTIVITIES



























(dollar amounts in thousands)

Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

























2021

2020

2021

2020

Revenues, Excluding Marketing and Reservation Activities





































Total Revenues

$ 278,344

$ 151,733

$ 461,291



$ 369,908



Adjustments:

















Marketing and reservation system revenues

(135,988)

(79,677)

(227,509)



(190,062)



Revenues, excluding marketing and reservation activities

$ 142,356

$ 72,056

$ 233,782



$ 179,846









































ADJUSTED SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES































(dollar amounts in thousands)

Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

























2021

2020

2021

2020





















Total Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

$ 34,470

$ 43,935

$ 64,737



$ 72,318



Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments

(2,037)

(3,553)

(3,462)



781



Operational restructuring charges

(379)

(7,154)

(724)



(8,518)



Share-based compensation

(3,032)

(1,016)

(5,383)



141



Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19

(1,964)

(2,678)

(2,097)



(2,678)



Adjusted Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

$ 27,058

$ 29,534

$ 53,071



$ 62,044























ADJUSTED EARNINGS BEFORE INTEREST, TAXES, DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION ("EBITDA") AND ADJUSTED EBITDA MARGINS

















(dollar amounts in thousands)

Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

























2021

2020

2021

2020



















Net income

$ 85,882

$ (2,441)

$ 108,219



$ 53,022



Income tax expense (benefit)

25,972

(437)

32,345



(25,501)



Interest expense

11,691

13,082

23,468



24,462



Interest income

(1,234)

(2,245)

(2,515)



(4,533)



Other (gains) losses

(2,108)

(3,556)

(3,313)



1,173



Loss on extinguishment of debt









607



Equity in operating net loss of affiliates, net of impairments

1,398

3,486

2,590



5,441



Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture





4,805







Gain on sale of unconsolidated joint venture

(2,577)



(2,577)







Depreciation and amortization

6,232

6,398

12,594



12,927



Loss on impairment of assets



1,226





1,226



Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments

2,037

3,553

3,462



(781)



Operational restructuring charges

379

7,154

724



8,518



Share-based compensation

3,032

1,016

5,383



(141)



Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19

1,964

2,678

2,097



2,678



Marketing and reservation system reimbursable (surplus) deficit

(22,703)

9,632

(16,051)



29,694



Franchise agreement acquisition costs amortization

1,847

1,579

3,573



3,177

Adjusted EBITDA

$ 111,812

$ 41,125

$ 174,804



$ 111,969























Revenues, excluding marketing and reservation activities

$ 142,356

$ 72,056

$ 233,782



$ 179,846























Adjusted EBITDA margins

78.5%

57.1%

74.8%



62.3%









































ADJUSTED NET INCOME AND ADJUSTED DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS)































(dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

























2021

2020

2021

2020



















Net income

$ 85,882

$ (2,441)

$ 108,219



$ 53,022

Adjustments:

















Loss on impairment of assets



539





1,037



Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture





3,694







Loss on extinguishment of debt









513



Gain on sale of interest in unconsolidated joint venture

(1,976)



(1,981)







Operational restructuring costs

283

3,196

542



7,229



Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19

1,506

1,176

1,613



2,264



Marketing and reservation system reimbursable (surplus) deficit

(17,406)

4,231

(12,341)



25,106



Foreign tax benefit on international restructuring









(30,572)

Adjusted Net Income

$ 68,289

$ 6,701

$ 99,746



$ 58,599









































Diluted Earnings Per Share

$ 1.53

$ (0.04)

$ 1.93



$ 0.95

Adjustments:

















Loss on impairment of assets



0.01





0.02



Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture





0.07







Loss on extinguishment of debt









0.01



Gain on sale of interest in unconsolidated joint venture

(0.04)



(0.04)







Operational restructuring costs

0.01

0.06

0.01



0.13



Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19

0.03

0.02

0.03



0.04



Marketing and reservation system reimbursable (surplus) deficit

(0.31)

0.08

(0.22)



0.45



Foreign tax benefit on international restructuring









(0.55)

Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS)

$ 1.22

$ 0.13

$ 1.78



$ 1.05



























































SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.choicehotels.com


In terms of data security, the ISO 27001 certification goes beyond the PCI-DSS certificate that is required for processing credit cards. Therefore, the ISO 27001 certification of a PSP brings a significant advantage for companies, but especially for banks and financially regulated institutions: When outsourcing processes, they no longer have to carry out resource-intensive security audits, assessments and documentation. The ISO 27001 certificate of the payment service provider is sufficient.

If banks and large companies are already certified themselves, it is particularly important that their service providers operate at the same security level. For banks in particular, this is an important quality feature.

Ralf Gladis, Computop founder and CEO on the ISO 27001 certification: "The decision to implement ISO 27001 follows the guiding principle of the Payment People: Customised Payment. Customers and white label partners receive individual solutions - quality and services "Made in Germany". Our management of information security according to ISO 27001 starts here and thus underlines customized payment at Computop."

The ISO 27001 certificate is an internationally recognised information security management system. Based on the 114 standards of the certificate, a number of measures have been implemented that additionally strengthen data security in Computop. These range from management to employees to data centres and external service providers. In addition, regular audits ensure that the system is constantly improved ensuring that the requirements of ISO 27001 are permanently met.

Norman Krieghoff, Head of IT emphasises: "The measures within the scope of ISO 27001 certification at Computop reduce the effort required for security audits for customers and increase data security. Computop is setting new security and quality standards in the payment sector."

About Computop  the payment people

As one of the very first payment service providers, Computop offers its customers around the world local and innovative omnichannel solutions for payment processing and fraud prevention. The internally developed Computop Paygate payment platform enables seamless integrated payment processes for e-commerce, at POS and on mobile devices. Retailers and service providers have the flexibility and freedom to choose from over 350 payment methods enabling them to specifically tailor their payment options per country. Technologies such as biometric authentication and self-learning algorithms improve security and convenience for retailers and consumers alike.

Computop, a global player with its head office in Germany and locations in China, England and the USA, has been servicing large international companies in the service, retail, mobility, gaming and travel industries for more than 20 years. These companies include global brands such as Amway, C&A, Fossil, the entire Otto Group, Sixt, Swarovski and Wargaming. Computop also provides its payment system to banks and financial service providers as a white-label solution. In total, the certified carbon-neutral company processes commercial payment transactions with a combined value of USD 35 billion annually in 127 currencies. With its individual and secure solutions, Computop makes a major contribution to the future of international payment processing.

www.computop.com

SOURCE Computop
WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) ("Corteva" or the "Company") today reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2021.

2Q 2021 Results Overview



Net Sales Income from Cont.

Ops (After Tax) EPS GAAP $5.6B $1.02B $1.37 vs. 2Q 2020 +8% +33% +36%



Organic1 Sales Operating EBITDA1 Operating EPS1 NON-GAAP $5.5B $1.46B $1.40 vs. 2Q 2020 +6% +18% +11%

1H 2021 Results Overview



Net Sales Income from Cont.

Ops (After Tax) EPS GAAP $9.8B $1.63B $2.18 vs. 1H 2020 +7% +56% +59%



Organic1 Sales Operating EBITDA1 Operating EPS1 NON-GAAP $9.7B $2.37B $2.19 vs. 1H 2020 +6% +17% +18%

First Half 2021 Highlights

Net Sales for the first half of 2021 grew 7% versus prior year. Organic 1 sales rose 6% during the same period. Volume and price gains and continued penetration of new products together reflected strong execution globally. Organic 1 sales increased in every region, with double-digit growth in Latin America .

sales rose 6% during the same period. Volume and price gains and continued penetration of new products together reflected strong execution globally. Organic sales increased in every region, with double-digit growth in . Crop Protection net sales grew 12% and organic 1 sales increased 10% for the first half. Sales of new products rose approximately $260 million versus the first half 2020.

sales increased 10% for the first half. Sales of new products rose approximately versus the first half 2020. Seed net sales increased 5% and organic 1 sales grew 4% compared to the year-ago period. Gains were led by strong corn sales in Latin America , together with increased North America 3 planted area and penetration for Enlist E3 2 soybeans. Corn price was up 3% globally.

sales grew 4% compared to the year-ago period. Gains were led by strong corn sales in , together with increased planted area and penetration for Enlist E3 soybeans. Corn price was up 3% globally. GAAP income and earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations were $1.6 billion and $2.18 per share for the first half 2021, respectively.

and per share for the first half 2021, respectively. Strong price execution and volume gains in both segments drove Operating EBITDA 1 improvement of 17% to $2.37 billion , as compared to the same period last year.

improvement of 17% to , as compared to the same period last year. The Company continued to drive productivity progress in the first half, which partially offset the impact of ongoing market-driven cost headwinds.

Management increased full year 2021 net sales and earnings guidance4; and expects net sales in the range of $15.2 billion to $15.4 billion . Operating EBITDA1 is expected to be in the range of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion .

"Corteva's first half 2021 performance is a direct reflection of strong and growing demand for our innovative products globally, our ability to price for the value we offer, our operational agility, and our focus on execution in a dynamic operating environment.

"During the period, we delivered organic1 sales increases and double-digit Operating EBITDA1 increases across both Seed and Crop Protection. We also returned approximately $750 million in the first half through dividends and share repurchases; and completed the majority of our $1 billion share repurchase program. Now, we are further accelerating shareholder returns by increasing our quarterly dividend and authorizing a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program.

"With our global organization fully aligned around our priorities and carrying tremendous momentum, we are raising our full-year guidance. We remain committed to driving revenue growth and productivity initiatives to deliver substantial margin expansion; and we continue to view 2021 as an important acceleration point on Corteva's path," said Jim Collins, Corteva Chief Executive Officer.

Company Update

Enlist  System Accelerates Market Penetration for 2021 :

 Raised Enlist 2021 market penetration outlook to approximately 35% of U.S. soybean acres



Delivered approximately $600 million in sales for Enlist system during first half  with Enlist E3 2 approximately 35% of Corteva's U.S. soybean units

in sales for Enlist system during first half  with Enlist E3 approximately 35% of Corteva's U.S. soybean units

Achieved Enlist herbicides sales in the U.S. of more than $100 million , up 76% versus the year-ago period

, up 76% versus the year-ago period Advancement of New Product Pipeline in First Half Drives Momentum:

New and differentiated Crop Protection product portfolio demonstrated continued momentum globally, with 86 registration approvals during the first half



Product registration approvals in key new Crop Protection products in the half: Arylex and Rinskor herbicides each approved in 12 countries; Zorvec fungicide approved in seven countries; and Pyraxalt insecticide approved in two countries



New Crop Protection registrations span 20 molecules in 38 countries  demonstrating the balance and diversity of Corteva's new product portfolio

Disciplined Execution Globally Strengthens Competitive Advantages:

Strength of the Company's global footprint evident in market share gains in key markets, notably Latin America in Brazil Safrinha corn and Europe in Crop Protection

in Safrinha corn and in Crop Protection

Rest of World organic 1 sales increased 9% versus first half 2020  led by best-in-class technology portfolio and advantaged route-to-market

sales increased 9% versus first half 2020  led by best-in-class technology portfolio and advantaged route-to-market

Achieved strong on-time customer delivery, despite weather and logistics-related challenges during the period  reflecting the strength and resilience of the Company's production and global supply chain network

Capital Allocation Actions Underscore Commitment to Shareholder Value:

Returned approximately $750 million to shareholders during first half via declared dividends and share repurchases

to shareholders during first half via declared dividends and share repurchases

Repurchased $550 million in common stock during first half  nearly completing $1 billion share repurchase program

in common stock during first half  nearly completing share repurchase program

Announced 7.7% dividend increase and new $1.5 billion share repurchase program  reflecting the Company's focus on returning capital to shareholders

share repurchase program  reflecting the Company's focus on returning capital to shareholders Commitment to Science-Based GHG Targets Reinforces Environmental Sustainability Focus:

Published inaugural sustainability report, including the Company's Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) targets



GHG targets underscore Corteva's intent to become a more carbon efficient business



Driving execution on sustainable innovation, production efficiencies and transition to renewable energy sources

Updated 2021 Outlook

The Company updated its previously provided guidance3 for the full year 2021  increasing sales and earnings expectations for this period. Corteva expects net sales in the range of $15.2 billion to $15.4 billion, which at the mid-point represents expected net sales growth of 8% for the year. The Company expects Operating EBITDA1 to be in the range of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion, which at the midpoint represents expected Operating EBITDA1 growth of 22% for the year. Operating EPS1 is expected to be in the range of $2.00 and $2.10 per share. Corteva is not able to reconcile its forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to its most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, as it is unable to predict with reasonable certainty items outside of its control, such as Significant Items, without unreasonable effort.

Click here to download the full press release, including CEO commentary, segment detail, and reconciliations of non-GAAP and GAAP measures, or visit the Corteva Investor Relations website.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry  including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the Company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva became an independent public company on June 1, 2019 and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

Follow Corteva on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Twitter and YouTube .

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and may be identified by their use of words like "guidance", "plans," "expects," "will," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "outlook," or other words of similar meaning. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about Corteva's strategy for growth, product development, regulatory approval, market position, anticipated benefits of recent acquisitions, timing of anticipated benefits from restructuring actions, outcome of contingencies, such as litigation and environmental matters, expenditures, and financial results, as well as expected benefits from, the separation of Corteva from DowDuPont, are forward looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events which may not be accurate or realized. Forward- looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Corteva's control. While the list of factors presented below is considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Corteva's business, results of operations and financial condition. Some of the important factors that could cause Corteva's actual results to differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statements include: i) failure to obtain or maintain the necessary regulatory approvals for some Corteva's products; (ii) failure to successfully develop and commercialize Corteva's pipeline; (iii) effect of the degree of public understanding and acceptance or perceived public acceptance of Corteva's biotechnology and other agricultural products; (iv) effect of changes in agricultural and related policies of governments and international organizations; (v) effect of competition and consolidation in Corteva's industry; (vi) effect of competition from manufacturers of generic products; (vii) costs of complying with evolving regulatory requirements and the effect of actual or alleged violations of environmental laws or permit requirements; (viii) effect of climate change and unpredictable seasonal and weather factors; (ix) risks related to oil and commodity markets; (x) competitor's establishment of an intermediary platform for distribution of Corteva's products; (xi) impact of Corteva's dependence on third parties with respect to certain of its raw materials or licenses and commercialization; (xii) effect of industrial espionage and other disruptions to Corteva's supply chain, information technology or network systems; (xiii) effect of volatility in Corteva's input costs; (xiv) failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the internal reorganizations taken by DowDuPont in connection with the spin-off of Corteva and other cost savings initiatives; (xv) failure to raise capital through the capital markets or short-term borrowings on terms acceptable to Corteva; (xvi) failure of Corteva's customers to pay their debts to Corteva, including customer financing programs; (xvii) increases in pension and other post-employment benefit plan funding obligations; (xviii) risks related to the indemnification obligations of legacy EID liabilities in connection with the separation of Corteva; (xix) effect of compliance with laws and requirements and adverse judgments on litigation; (xx) risks related to Corteva's global operations; (xxi) failure to effectively manage acquisitions, divestitures, alliances and other portfolio actions; failure to enforce; (xxii) risks related to COVID-19; (xxiii) risks related to activist stockholders; (xxiv) Corteva's intellectual property rights or defend against intellectual property claims asserted by others; (xxv) effect of counterfeit products; (xxvi) Corteva's dependence on intellectual property cross-license agreements; (xxvii) other risks related to the Separation from DowDuPont; (xxvii) other risks related to the Separation from DowDuPont; (xxviii) risks related to the Biden executive order Promoting Competition in the American Economy; and (xxix) risks associated with our CEO transition, including failure to timely identify a successor CEO. Additionally, there may be other risks and uncertainties that Corteva is unable to currently identify or that Corteva does not currently expect to have a material impact on its business. Where, in any forward-looking statement, an expectation or belief as to future results or events is expressed, such expectation or belief is based on the current plans and expectations of Corteva's management and expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that the expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. Corteva disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law. A detailed discussion of some of the significant risks and uncertainties which may cause results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements or other estimates is included in the "Risk Factors" section of Corteva's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as modified by subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

Regulation G (Non-GAAP Financial Measures)

This earnings release includes information that does not conform to U.S. GAAP and are considered non-GAAP measures. These measures may include organic sales, organic growth (including by segment and region), operating EBITDA, operating earnings per share, and base tax rate. Management uses these measures internally for planning and forecasting, including allocating resources and evaluating incentive compensation. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures best reflect the ongoing performance of the Company during the periods presented and provide additional, useful information to investors as they provide insight with respect to ongoing operating results of the Company and a useful comparison of year over year results. These non-GAAP measures supplement the Company's U.S. GAAP disclosures and should not be viewed as an alternative to U.S. GAAP measures of performance. Furthermore, such non-GAAP measures may not be consistent with similar measures provided or used by other companies. Reconciliations for these non-GAAP measures to U.S. GAAP are provided in the Selected Financial Information and Non-GAAP Measures starting on page A-5 of the Financial Statement Schedules.

Corteva is not able to reconcile its forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, as it is unable to predict with reasonable certainty items outside of the Company's control, such as Significant Items, without unreasonable effort. For Significant items reported in the periods presented, refer to page A-10 of the Financial Statement Schedules. Beginning January 1, 2020, the Company presents accelerated prepaid royalty amortization expense as a significant item. Accelerated prepaid royalty amortization represents the noncash charge associated with the recognition of upfront payments made to Monsanto in connection with the Company's non-exclusive license in the United States and Canada for Monsanto's Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield Roundup Ready 2 Xtend herbicide tolerance traits. During the five-year ramp-up period of Enlist E3TM, Corteva is expected to significantly reduce the volume of products with the Roundup Ready 2 Yield and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend herbicide tolerance traits beginning in 2021, with expected minimal use of the trait platform after the completion of the ramp-up. Additionally, on February 1, 2021, Corteva approved restructuring actions designed to right-size and optimize footprint and organizational structure according to the business needs in each region with the focus on driving continued cost improvement and productivity. Corteva expects to record total pre-tax restructuring and asset-related charges of approximately $130 million to $170 million. The restructuring actions associated with this charge are expected to be substantially complete in 2021. Organic sales is defined as price and volume and excludes currency and portfolio impacts. Operating EBITDA is defined as earnings (i.e., income from continuing operations before income taxes) before interest, depreciation, amortization, non-operating benefits, net and foreign exchange gains (losses) net, and net unrealized gain or loss from mark-to-market activity for certain foreign currency derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting, excluding the impact of significant items (including goodwill impairment charges). Non-operating benefits, net consists of non-operating pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) credits, tax indemnification adjustments, environmental remediation and legal costs associated with legacy businesses and sites of Historical DuPont. Tax indemnification adjustments relate to changes in indemnification balances, as a result of the application of the terms of the Tax Matters Agreement, between Corteva and Dow and/or DuPont that are recorded by the Company as pre-tax income or expense.

Operating earnings per share are defined as "Earnings per common share from continuing operations - diluted" excluding the after-tax impact of significant items (including goodwill impairment charges), the after tax impact of non-operating benefits, net, and the after-tax impact of amortization expense associated with intangible assets existing as of the Separation from DowDuPont, and the after-tax impact of net unrealized gain or loss from mark-to-market activity for certain foreign currency derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting. Although amortization of the Company's intangible assets is excluded from these non-GAAP measures, management believes it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets contribute to revenue generation. Amortization of intangible assets that relate to past acquisitions will recur in future periods until such intangible assets have been fully amortized. Any future acquisitions may result in amortization of additional intangible assets. Net unrealized gain or loss from mark-to-market activity for certain foreign currency derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting represents the non-cash net gain (loss) from changes in fair value of certain undesignated foreign currency derivative contracts. Upon settlement, which is within the same calendar year of execution of the contract, the net gain (loss) from the changes in fair value of the non-qualified foreign currency derivative contracts will be reported in relevant non-GAAP financial measures, allowing quarterly results to reflect the economic effects of the foreign currency derivative contracts without the resulting unrealized mark to fair value volatility. Base tax rate is defined as the effective tax rate excluding the impacts of foreign exchange gains (losses) net, non-operating benefits, net, amortization of intangibles as of the Separation from DowDuPont, and significant items (including goodwill impairment charges).

 TM Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies.

1. Organic Sales, Operating EPS and Operating EBITDA are non-GAAP measures. See page A-6 for further discussion. 2. Enlist E3 soybeans are jointly developed by Corteva Agriscience LLC and MS Technologies. 3. North America is defined as U.S. and Canada. EMEA is defined as Europe, Middle East and Africa. 4. The Company does not provide the most comparable GAAP measure on a forward-looking basis. See page 6 for further discussion. 5. Represents coverage of total North America market, including branded, competitors and licensees. 6. Rest of World is defined as Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America and Asia Pacific and excludes North America (U.S. and Canada).

SOURCE Corteva, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.corteva.com


Custom Cones USA and Headset joined forces to deliver the very first white paper on the cannabis pre-roll industry.

In 2020, pre-roll sales in recreational U.S. cannabis markets saw 59% YoY growth with total sales increasing from $704M in 2019 to $1.12B in 2020 . This growth in pre-roll sales outpaced the total market which grew by 54.2% over the same period, according to data from Headset.

. This growth in pre-roll sales outpaced the total market which grew by 54.2% over the same period, according to data from Headset. The top product segment within the pre-roll category has been 'Hybrid - Single Strain' every year since Headset began tracking sales data. The segment to watch is the 'Connoisseur / Infused' segment, which includes pre-rolls infused with concentrates for additional potency. This segment has risen from 12.7% of all pre-roll sales in 2018 to 31.9% of all pre-roll sales in 2021 YTD .

. According to survey responses, 71.1% of brands have only been in business for 3 years or less with nearly 40% referring to themselves as "brand new." Some have been around since the legalization of cannabis in their state, but the broad picture is of newer, energized businesses encouraged by new state legalizations.

One of the more hopeful trends is that these young ventures have been emboldened by increased legalization and overall growth in the market--so much so that 95% of pre-roll businesses surveyed said they have plans to expand in some way within the next year.

In addition to expansion, we saw an uptick in the use of machinery, such as grinders, sifters, and cone filling machines to streamline the production process and improve the pre-roll product.

Jocelyn Sheltraw, Headset's director of industry relations, said she was very interested to partner with Custom Cones USA because of some compelling shifts she had seen within the pre-roll industry.

"I suspected that a lot of manufacturers might have to pivot or at least take note of some of the changes that were happening," Sheltraw said. "This data is a great way to understand what's going on."

To see all the pre-roll industry data we discovered, check out the full Cannabis Pre-Roll Industry white paper.

Custom Cones USA

833-582-6637

[email protected]

SOURCE Custom Cones USA

Related Links

www.customconesusa.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) has posted its second-quarter 2021 financial results in a news release available on the company's website at the following link: duke-energy.com/investors.

Lynn Good, chair, president and chief executive officer, and Steve Young, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the company's financial results and other business and financial updates during an investor presentation at 10 a.m. ET today.

The call can be accessed via the investors' section (duke-energy.com/investors) of Duke Energy's website or by dialing 800-458-4121 in the U.S. or 323-794-2093 outside the U.S. The confirmation code is 3383817. Please call 10 to 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

A replay of the conference call will be available until 1 p.m. ET, Aug. 15, 2021, by calling 888-203-1112 in the U.S. or 719-457-0820 outside the U.S., and using the code 3383817. An audio replay and transcript will also be available by accessing the investors' section of the company's website.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 7.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 51,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,500 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy strategy to create a smarter energy future for its customers and communities  with goals of at least a 50 percent carbon reduction by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company is a top U.S. renewable energy provider, on track to own or purchase 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025. The company also is investing in major electric grid upgrades and expanded battery storage, and exploring zero-emitting power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2021 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media contact: Meredith Archie

800.559.3853

Analysts contact: Jack Sullivan

980.373.3564

SOURCE Duke Energy

Related Links

https://www.duke-energy.com/


LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Eye Solutions, a global marketing technology company that helps retailers create one-to-one customer connections, announced its inclusion in Forrester's Now Tech: Promotions and Offer Management Providers, Q3 2021 Report. The Company is listed in the midsize grouping ($15M to $60M annual category revenue). Eagle Eye Solutions is included in both the loyalty standalone and loyalty embedded functionality segments with the grocery, retail, and hospitality vendor market focuses.

The report cites three essentials for businesses looking to improve their promotions and offer management:

Stand out from your competitors, personalize every offer to each customer or segment; personalised experiences drive loyalty, which delivers a greater return than a single conversion

Use real-time or near-real-time analytics and reporting to understand where offers should be modified to optimise outcomes

Create an omnichannel strategy, serving offers in all channels from a single source

"We are honored to be included in Forrester's Now Tech report of Promotions and Offer Management Providers," said Tim Mason, CEO of Eagle Eye. "We believe the Forrester report reinforces the value Eagle Eye delivers to current and potential clients who are looking to create an omnichannel strategy, to personalise every interaction with their customers, and improve the efficacy of their promotional and loyalty programmes using our AIR Platform."

Eagle Eye works with leading grocers, retailers, hospitality companies and consumer-packaged goods brands, providing them with the technology to connect all aspects of the customer journey in real-time. Eagle Eye AIR is an API-based SaaS platform that provides the most flexible, scalable, and future-proofed promotions, loyalty and gifting capability in the world. AIR solves the primary problem faced by leading businesses when trying to build deeper, more personalised relationships with their customers  connection.

To learn more about Eagle Eye, visit www.eagleeye.com, or to schedule an interview with Tim Mason, please contact Sylvia Kindlain at [email protected]. Forrester's Now Tech: Promotions and Offer Management Providers, Q3 2021 report is now available to download on eagleeye.com.

About Eagle Eye Solutions

Eagle Eye is a leading SaaS technology company transforming marketing by creating digital connections that enable personalised performance marketing in real-time through promotional coupons, loyalty schemes, subscription programmes, and gift services.

Eagle Eye AIR enables the secure issuance and redemption of digital offers and rewards at scale across multiple channels, enabling a single customer view. We create a network between merchants, brands and audiences to enable customer acquisition, interaction and retention at lower cost while driving marketing innovation.

The Company's current customer base comprises leading names in UK Grocery, Retail, Leisure and Food & Beverage sectors, including Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and John Lewis & Partners, Virgin Red, JD Sports, Pret a Manger, Greggs, Mitchells & Butlers and Pizza Express; in North America, Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and Southeastern Grocers and in Australia & New Zealand, Woolworths Group and The Warehouse Group.

Eagle Eye is headquartered in Guildford, United Kingdom and has offices in Manchester, Toronto, Florida and Melbourne.

SOURCE Eagle Eye

Related Links

https://www.eagleeye.com


"The reality is small businesses save more than 50% simply by switching to managed individual health benefits," said John Staub , brand development manager at Remodel Health. "Every day employers stick with their antiquated group health plans, they are losing out on lower premiums, higher profit margins and better benefits for their employees. Now is the time to reconsider your health benefits strategy and start investing those costs back into your business."

Remodel Health's research provides an in-depth analysis on employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing, ancillary programs, offer rates, industry trends and more. The report includes thousands of data points gathered from U.S. employers and employees, gaining insights around traditional group plans and managed individual health plans over the last three years.

Key insights from the report include:

Monthly employer premiums are lower for managed individual plans

Monthly premium costs are nearly 35% higher for traditional group plans.

Managed individual plans are $228 less per year than traditional group.

Traditional group plans are twice as expensive for employees

The average annual employee contribution toward managed individual plans is $1,586 , compared to $3,416 for traditional group plans.

Employers reap significant savings by leveraging individual tax credits

Advanced premium tax credits reduce plan costs by 51% on average for employers and employees.

The health benefits employers choose do not reflect their employees' preferences

When offered the choice, employees opt for lower-level networks and plans over employer-selected benefits.

More than 47% of individuals choose bronze-level health benefits and 46.5% choose HMO networks.

The right ancillary benefits create more competitive packages

Accident plans have grown 51% in popularity. On average, these plans cost employers an additional $24 per month.

"We saw the costs of our group plan continue to climb for years and finally realized we had to do something different to see different results," said Frank Beaman , CEO of Texas-based Faith Community Health System. "We left our old group plan three years ago for managed individual. The coverage and cost savings well exceeded our expectations and we've never looked back. My encouragement to employers is to get out of the box, think differently, and give an honest evaluation of this new way to provide health benefits to employees."

To view the National Health Benefits Analysis or to learn how to spend smarter on health benefits, visit RemodelHealth.com/NHBA .

About Remodel Health

Remodel Health tailors health benefits to your organization's needs  allowing you to discover more options, serve employees better, and control the cost and quality of your health benefits. Remodel Health's unique approach to health benefits helps organizations cut healthcare costs by an average of 51% by leveraging its innovative software platform and transitioning groups onto affordable, individual plans.

Media Contacts

Zach Weismiller

BLASTmedia for Remodel Health

[email protected]

317-806-1900 ext 119

SOURCE Remodel Health

Related Links

http://www.remodelhealth.com


BANGALORE, India, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Face Shield Market is Segmented based on Product (Full Face Shield and Half Face Shield), Tier (Premium, Medium, and Value), End-Use Industry (Healthcare, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Transportation, Construction and Others) and Geography  Global Forecast up to 2027. This report is published on Valuates Reports under Occupational Health & Safety .

Face Shield Market is expected to grow at the rate of 6.6% CAGR by 2027.

Major factors driving the growth of the face shield market are:

Stricter rules governing personnel safety, and increased knowledge of industrial occupational dangers especially in the industries, such as oil & gas, healthcare, construction, chemical, and manufacturing are expected to propel the market growth.

Furthermore, the recent COVID pandemic has necessitated the need for protective face shields to curb the spread of the virus.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE FACE SHIELD MARKET

Rules governing workplace safety especially in the manufacturing and mining industry are expected to further fuel the face shield market. Face shields are required at production plants to protect employees from occupational dangers. These are used to protect against potentially harmful toxic compounds.

Furthermore, as the number of COVID-19 cases rises, it's more critical than ever for public workers and, especially, healthcare professionals, to be safe in order to save more lives. As a result, public healthcare organizations have advocated the use of face shields, as well as other personal protective equipment (PPE). Furthermore, the World Health Organization suggested that industry and governments increase the manufacturing of face shields by 40% to meet the global demand due to disruptions in the global supply of PPEs for health workers. In addition, the face shield extends the life of the face masks. As a result of the aforementioned considerations, the global market for face shields is growing.

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FACE SHIELD MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Based on the product, the full face shield segment accounted for the major share. This is attributed to the significant demand for face protection in several end-use industries, such as oil & gas, healthcare, construction, chemical, and manufacturing.

Based on the tire, the premium tier face shields have a significant share in the market growth. The visors on the premium face shields are crystal clear, allowing for clear viewing. Anti-dust, anti-fogging, anti-splash, and clear visibility are just a few of the extra benefits. Premium face shields are made of high-quality materials that are both comfortable to wear and adjust. Face masks and safety goggles, as well as conventional glasses, can be worn with these.

Based on end-user, the manufacturing segment is anticipated to hold a substantial share. Face shields are used to protect workers from occupational hazards.

Based on region, Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market. This is owing to the economies of China and India expanding. Furthermore, the region's industry is being driven by the rise and development of healthcare infrastructure in Southeast Asian countries.

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FACE SHIELD MARKET SEGMENTATION

Face Shield Market based on Product

Full Face Shield

Half Face Shield.

Face Shield Market based on Tier

Premium

Medium

Value.

Face Shield Market based on End-Use Industry

Healthcare

Manufacturing

Oil & Gas

Transportation

Construction

Others.

Face Shield Market based on Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Rest of the World.

Key Companies

Honeywell International Inc.,

Pyramex Safety Products, LLC,

Casco Bay Molding,

Alpha Pro Tech,

Protective Industrial Products,

Kimberly-Clark Corporation,

Sanax Protective Products,

D. Bullard Company,

DUPONT Teijin Films,

Medline Industries, Inc.

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SIMILAR REPORTS

- Face Mask market size was USD 15880 Million and it is expected to reach USD 7096.9 Million by the end of 2027, with a CAGR of 3.6% during 2021-2027.

- Disposable Face Shield Screen Market is segmented by Material PC, PVC, by Application Medical, Spraying, Polish, Chemical Industry, Laboratory and by various regions.

- Medical Face Shields Market is segmented by Type 3/4 Length, Full Length, Half Length, by Application Hospitals and Clinics, Research Institutions and by various regions.

- Surgical Face Shield Marke t is segmented by Type Full Length Face Shield, 3/4 Length Face Shield, Half Length Face Shield, by Application Hospitals and Clinics, Research Institutions and by various regions.

- Reusable Face Shield Market is segmented by Type Radiation Mask, Anti-Impact Mask, Medical Mask, by Application Industry, Medical Hygiene and by various regions.

- Laser Safety Face Shields Market is segmented by Type UV & CO2 Laser Face Shield, YAG and KTP Laser Face Shield, by Application Medical, Industrial Use and by various regions.

- Face Protection Equipment Market is segmented by Type Headgear, Face Shield, Welding Shield, Combined Face Protection and by various regions.

- Disposable Face Shield Screen Market

- Radiation Protective Face Masks Market

- Laser Safety Face Shields Market

- Medical Face Shields Market

Click here to see more reports on Face Shield Market

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NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Genie Energy, Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA), a leading retail energy provider in deregulated markets in the U.S. and Europe and a provider of renewables solutions in the U.S., today announced results for its second quarter  the three months ended June 30, 2021.

"We generated very strong net income and global customer base expansion in the second quarter driven by organic meter growth in our international operations as they moved towards profitability," said Michael Stein, Chief Executive Officer. "In the U.S., we were encouraged by the durability of the elevated consumption levels we've experienced in recent quarters and by several states moving to re-open for door-to-door marketing, an important sales channel for meter acquisition."

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights

Revenue of $97.7 million versus $76.1 million in the year-ago quarter;

versus in the year-ago quarter; Gross profit and gross margin of $23.8 million and 24.3%, respectively, versus $19.5 million and 25.6%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter;

and 24.3%, respectively, versus and 25.6%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter; Income from operations and operating margin of $1.4 million and 1.4%, respectively, versus $2.7 million and 3.6%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter;

and 1.4%, respectively, versus and 3.6%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter; Net income attributable to GNE common stockholders and earnings per share (EPS) of $5.0 million and $0.19 per diluted share versus $1.6 million and $0.06 , respectively, in the year-ago quarter. Net income in the second quarter included a gain on the sale of the operations in Japan .

and per diluted share versus and , respectively, in the year-ago quarter. Net income in the second quarter included a gain on the sale of the operations in . Adjusted EBITDA 1 of $3.1 million versus $3.5 million in the year-ago quarter;

of versus in the year-ago quarter; Re-purchased 393,000 shares of GNE common stock.

Select Financial Metrics: Q2 2021 compared to Q2 2020* (in $M except for EPS) Q221 Q220 Change Total Revenue $97.7 $76.1 28.4% Genie Retail - US (GRE) $67.0 $66.5 0.8% Electricity $61.9 $61.1 1.3% Natural Gas $5.1 $5.4 (5.8)% Genie Retail - International (GREI) $28.4 $5.0 463.5% Electricity $21.4 $4.8 343.4% Natural Gas $6.7 $0.0 nm Genie Renewables $2.3 $4.6 (48.7)% Gross Margin 24.3% 25.6% (130bp) Genie Retail - US (GRE) 27.4% 25.7% 170bp Genie Retail - International (GREI) 15.9% 38.0% (2210bp) Genie Renewables 39.4% 11.4% 2800bp Income from Operations $1.4 $2.7 (50.3)% Operating Margin 1.4% 3.6% -370bp Net Income Attributable to Genie Energy Ltd. Common Stockholders $5.0 $1.6 213.7% Diluted Earnings Per Share $0.19 $0.06 $0.13 Adjusted EBITDA1 $3.1 $3.5 (11.5)% Cash Flow from Operating Activities $4.1 $16.4 (75.0)% nm = not measurable/meaningful





*Numbers may not add due to rounding







Select Business Metrics: 2021 versus 2020 as of 6/30/21 Units in 1000s Q221 Q220 Change Retail Performance Metrics:





Retail Customer Equivalents (RCE) 436 418 4.3% Genie Retail - US (GRE) 330 343 (3.8)% Electricity 272 288 (5.6)% Natural Gas 58 55 5.5% Genie Retail - International (GREI) 106 76 39.5% Electricity 82 55 49.1% Natural Gas 24 21 14.3% Meters in 1000s units 554 522 6.1% Genie Retail - US (GRE) 361 374 (3.5)% Electricity 292 311 (6.1)% Natural Gas 69 64 7.8% Genie Retail - International (GREI) 193 147 31.3% Electricity 141 105 34.3% Natural Gas 52 43 20.9% GRE Average Monthly Churn - Meters





Gross Sales 35 40 (12.5)% Churn 3.8% 3.9% 10bps

Genie Retail Energy (GRE) delivered solid results for the quarter, driven by continued strong overall consumption within its residential electric meter base. While gross meter acquisitions have not yet returned to pre-COVID levels, churn remained below pre-COVID levels due to remaining restrictions on door-to-door marketing across the industry that lead to fewer customers switching suppliers.

Genie Retail Energy International's (GREI) strong revenue growth was driven by a combination of organic meter growth and the full consolidation of results related to the purchase of the non-controlled interest in Orbit Energy in October 2020, which previously had not been consolidated. This strong growth came despite the revenue impact from the sale of the Company's Japanese operations early in the second quarter of 2021.

Genie Renewables (formerly Genie Energy Services) reported increased gross margin as the segment shifted to higher-margin solar projects. Revenue decreased due to the fulfillment of a large order in the prior year's quarter.

1 Adjusted EBITDA for all periods presented is a non-GAAP measure intended to provide useful information that supplements the core operating results in accordance with GAAP of Genie Energy or the relevant segment. Please refer to the Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures at the end of this release for an explanation of Adjusted EBITDA, as well as for reconciliations to its most directly comparable GAAP measures.

Trended Financial Information:* (in $M except for EPS, RCE and Meters) Q120 Q220 Q320 Q420 Q121 Q221

2019 2020 YTD 2021 Total Revenue $104.1 $76.1 $96.3 $102.9 $135.3 $97.7

$315.3 $379.3 $233.0 Genie Retail - US (GRE) $79.1 $66.5 $88.9 $69.9 $90.7 $67.0

$286.6 $305.3 $157.6 Electricity $63.1 $61.1 $86.2 $60.5 $73.4 $61.9

$246.7 $271.7 $135.3 Natural Gas $16.1 $5.4 $2.7 $9.4 $17.3 $5.1

$39.9 $33.6 $22.4 Genie Retail - International (GREI) $6.7 $5.0 $5.8 $31.8 $42.2 $28.4

$16.6 $49.6 $70.6 Electricity $6.9 $4.8 $5.6 $23.4 $30.3 $21.4

$16.4 $40.7 $51.7 Natural Gas $0.0 $0.0 $0.0 $8.3 $11.8 $6.7

$0.0 $8.3 $18.5 Genie Renewables $18.0 $4.6 $1.6 $1.1 $2.5 $2.3

$12.1 $24.4 $4.8 Gross Margin 27.8% 25.6% 28.3% 21.4% 12.9% 24.3%

26.3% 25.8% 17.7% Genie Retail - US (GRE) 43.7% 25.7% 29.0% 25.6% 16.5% 27.4%

28.1% 28.9% 20.2% Genie Retail - International (GREI) -4.5% 38.0% 19.0% 13.8% 3.3% 15.9%

1.8% 14.5% 8.5% Genie Renewables 8.9% 11.4% 27.1% -29.0% 44.9% 39.4%

15.7% 9.4% 42.2% Income (loss) from Operations $9.2 $2.7 $8.5 ($1.1) ($6.6) $1.4

$9.8 $19.3 ($5.2) Operating Margin 8.8% 3.6% 8.8% -1.1% -4.9% 1.4%

3.1% 5.1% -2.2% Net income attributable to Genie Energy Ltd. common stockholders $5.5 $1.6 $6.4 ($1.7) ($2.4) $5.0

$2.7 $11.7 $2.6 Diluted Earnings (Loss) Per Share $0.20 $0.06 $0.24 ($0.06) ($0.09) $0.19

$0.10 $0.44 $0.10 Cash Flow from Operating Activities ($2.7) $16.3 $10.4 ($0.9) ($10.0) $4.1

$15.8 $23.1 ($5.9) Retail Performance Metrics:



















Retail Customer Equivalents (RCE) in 1000s 398 418 437 435 446 436

nm nm nm Genie Retail - US (GRE) 330 343 350 337 347 330

nm nm nm Electricity 272 288 294 284 291 272

nm nm nm Natural Gas 58 55 56 53 56 58

nm nm nm Genie Retail - International (GREI) 69 76 87 98 98 106

nm nm nm Electricity 50 55 66 76 77 82

nm nm nm Natural Gas 19 21 22 21 21 24

nm nm nm Meters in 1000s units 520 522 543 547 555 554

nm nm nm Genie Retail - US (GRE) 384 374 375 368 373 361

nm nm nm Electricity 313 311 309 303 308 292

nm nm nm Natural Gas 71 64 67 65 65 69

nm nm nm Genie Retail - International (GREI) 136 147 167 179 182 193

nm nm nm Electricity 96 105 121 132 135 141

nm nm nm Natural Gas 40 43 46 47 47 52

nm nm nm Average Monthly Churn - Meters



















Genie Retail - US (GRE)



















Gross Sales 69 40 44 59 60 35

308 212 95 Churn 4.3% 3.9% 3.7% 5.3% 4.9% 3.8%

5.3% 4.4% 4.3% nm = not measurable/meaningful



















*Numbers may not add due to rounding





















Strategic Update

Genie is conducting a strategic review of its businesses in part to address the different investment profiles of its U.S. and European businesses and to enhance shareholder value across its operations. As one element of this review, the Company is contemplating opportunities to separate GREI from GRE and Genie Renewables through a spin-off of GREI into a separate, publicly-traded entity. If a transaction is consummated, Genie believes that shareholders could benefit from the potential spin-off of GREI with adequate capital and a dedicated management team empowered to gain scale and accelerate growth in its current and prospective European markets. The remaining US operations, GRE and Genie Renewables would then be positioned to accelerate their respective growth plans. Management will provide additional details on its strategic review during today's earnings conference call.

Q2 2021 Commentary from Michael Stein, CEO

"Genie delivered a very strong second quarter with robust top and bottom-line results. As we look to the second half of the year, we are focused on delivering strong cash flow and bottom-line performance. We are encouraged by the improvement in the marketing environment in the US and are confident that we can return to our previous levels of meter growth once all sales channels are fully re-opened. Internationally, following the successful sale of our Japanese operations, we expect our remaining business to continue to drive strong growth while demonstrating improving profitability, which we believe makes GREI an attractive investment on a stand-alone basis. We expect to have more clarity on strategic direction as our plans are finalized."

Earnings Announcement and Supplemental Information

Genie's earnings release will be filed on Form 8-K and posted on the Genie investor relations website (Genie Investor Relations Page) at approximately 7:30 a.m. Eastern on August 5, 2021. Management will host an earnings conference call beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Management's presentation of the results, outlook and strategy will be followed by Q&A with investors.

To participate in the conference call, dial 1-877-545-0320 (toll-free from the US) or 1-973-528-0016 (international) and request the Genie Energy conference call.

Approximately three hours after the call, a call replay will be accessible by dialing 1-877-481-4010 (toll-free from the US) or 1-919-882-2331 (international) and providing the replay PIN: 42242. The replay will remain available through August 19, 2021. A recording of the call also will be available for playback on the "Investors" section of the Genie Energy website.

About Genie Energy Ltd.

Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA), is a global provider of energy services. The Genie Retail Energy division supplies electricity, including electricity from renewable resources, and natural gas to residential and small business customers in the United States. The Genie Retail Energy International division supplies customers in Europe and Asia. The Genie Renewables division comprises Genie Solar Energy, a provider of end-to-end customized solar solutions primarily for commercial customers, Diversegy, a commercials energy consulting business, CityCom Solar, a provider of community solar energy solutions and Genie's interest in Prism Solar, a supplier of solar panels and solutions. For more information, visit Genie.com.

In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate, "target" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors, including, but not limited to, those described in our most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations"), which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. We are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

GENIE ENERGY LTD.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

June 30,

2021



December 31,

2020



(Unaudited)







Assets









Current assets:









Cash and cash equivalents $ 31,446



$ 36,913

Restricted cashshort-term

6,121





6,271

Marketable equity securities

13,370





5,089

Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $11,268 and $8,793 at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively

59,659





60,778

Inventory

15,653





16,930

Prepaid expenses

5,385





4,633

Other current assets

4,956





3,206

Total current assets

136,590





133,820

Property and equipment, net

269





259

Goodwill

26,041





25,929

Other intangibles, net

9,177





11,645

Investment in joint venture

936







Deferred income tax assets, net

1,908





4,882

Other assets

10,205





10,804

Total assets $ 185,126



$ 187,339

Liabilities and equity













Current liabilities:













Loan payable $ 



$ 1,453

Trade accounts payable

36,141





43,005

Accrued expenses

49,104





42,762

Contract liability

5,217





5,609

Income taxes payable

2,518





1,893

Due to IDT Corporation, net

304





257

Other current liabilities

2,011





2,494

Total current liabilities

95,295





97,473

Other liabilities

3,331





3,787

Total liabilities

98,626





101,260

Commitments and contingencies













Equity:













Genie Energy Ltd. stockholders' equity:













Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; authorized shares10,000:













Series 2012-A, designated shares8,750; at liquidation preference, consisting of 2,322 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020

19,743





19,743

Class A common stock, $0.01 par value; authorized shares35,000; 1,574 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020

16





16

Class B common stock, $0.01 par value; authorized shares200,000; 26,106 and 25,966 shares issued and 24,393 and 24,646 shares outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively

261





260

Additional paid-in capital

142,056





140,746

Treasury stock, at cost, consisting of 1,713 and 1,320 shares of Class B common stock at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively

(12,274)





(9,839)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

3,178





3,827

Accumulated deficit

(54,017)





(56,658)

Total Genie Energy Ltd. stockholders' equity

98,963





98,095

Noncontrolling interests

(12,463)





(12,016)

Total equity

86,500





86,079

Total liabilities and equity $ 185,126



$ 187,339



GENIE ENERGY LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)



Three Months Ended

June 30,

Six Months Ended

June 30,





2021



2020

2021



2020





(in thousands, except per share data)

Revenues:























Electricity

$ 83,314



$ 65,906



$ 186,985



$ 135,877

Natural gas



11,776





5,396





40,848





21,467

Other



2,616





4,773





5,214





22,782

Total revenues



97,706





76,075





233,047





180,126

Cost of revenues



73,940





56,588





191,752





131,734

Gross profit



23,766





19,487





41,295





48,392

Operating expenses and losses:































Selling, general and administrative (i)



22,410





15,956





46,514





35,456

Impairment of assets









801











993

Income (loss) from operations



1,356





2,730





(5,219)





11,943

Interest income



10





20





20





143

Interest expense



(103)





(58)





(212)





(175)

Equity in the net income (loss) in equity method investees, net



53





(1,173)





164





(1,552)

Unrealized gain on marketable equity securities and investments



2,915











7,022







Gain on sale of subsidiary



4,226











4,226







Other (loss) income, net



(14)





(52)





283





98

Income before income taxes



8,443





1,467





6,284





10,457

Provision for income taxes



(3,158)





(587)





(3,693)





(3,156)

Net income



5,285





880





2,591





7,301

Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests



(82)





(1,083)





(790)





(494)

Net income attributable to Genie Energy Ltd.



5,367





1,963





3,381





7,795

Dividends on preferred stock



(370)





(370)





(740)





(740)

Net income attributable to Genie Energy Ltd. common stockholders

$ 4,997



$ 1,593



$ 2,641



$ 7,055



































Earnings per share attributable to Genie Energy Ltd. common stockholders:































Basic

$ 0.19



$ 0.06



$ 0.10



$ 0.27

Diluted

$ 0.19



$ 0.06



$ 0.10



$ 0.26

Weighted-average number of shares used in calculation of earnings per share:































Basic



25,804





26,087





25,903





26,098

Diluted



26,227





26,853





26,446





26,804



































Dividends declared per common share

$ 



$ 0.085



$ 



$ 0.160

(i) Stock-based compensation included in selling, general and administrative expenses

$ 559



$ 401



$ 1,148



$ 884



GENIE ENERGY LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)



Six Months Ended

June 30,





2021



2020





(in thousands)

Operating activities











Net income

$ 2,591



$ 7,301

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:















Depreciation and amortization



2,446





1,548

Impairment of assets









993

Deferred income taxes



2,974





2,537

Provision for doubtful accounts receivable



2,539





1,215

Unrealized gain on marketable equity securities and investment



(7,022)







Stock-based compensation



1,148





884

Equity in the net (income) loss in equity method investees



(164)





1,552

Gain on sale of subsidiary



(4,226)







Loss on sale of assets held for sale









78

Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries









(98)

Change in assets and liabilities:















Trade accounts receivable



(3,157)





6,847

Inventory



1,277





1,930

Prepaid expenses



(1,142)





2,016

Other current assets and other assets



(2,865)





223

Trade accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities



(609)





(1,006)

Contract liability



(333)





(12,707)

Due to IDT Corporation



47





(286)

Income taxes payable



625





615

Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities



(5,871)





13,642

Investing activities















Capital expenditures



(80)





(99)

Proceeds from disposal of assets held for sale









5

Proceeds from the sale of a subsidiary, net of cash disposed



4,550







Purchase of marketable equity securities



(1,000)







Investments in equity method investee









(1,502)

Payment of acquisition of intangible









(298)

Repayment of notes receivable



13





12

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities



3,483





(1,882)

Financing activities















Dividends paid



(740)





(4,955)

Proceeds from revolving line of credit









1,000

Repayment of revolving line of credit









(3,514)

Proceeds from loan









1,395

Repayment of loan









(930)

Purchases of Class B common stock



(2,435)





(1,546)

Repayment of notes payable









(17)

Net cash used in financing activities



(3,175)





(8,567)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash



(54)





12

Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash



(5,617)





3,205

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period



43,184





38,554

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period

$ 37,567



$ 41,759



Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures for the Second Quarter 2021

In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), Genie Energy disclosed for the second quarter 2021, as well as for the second quarter 2020, Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure.

Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Genie Energy's measure of Adjusted EBITDA consists of gross profit less selling, general and administrative expense, equity in the net loss of in equity method investees, net, plus depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation (which are included in selling, general and administrative expense) and impairments of goodwill. Another way of calculating Adjusted EBITDA is to start with income from operations and add depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation and impairment of goodwill and subtract equity in net loss in equity method investees, net.

Management believes that Genie Energy's measure of Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of Genie Energy's core operating results. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, among other measures, as a relevant indicator of core operational strengths in its financial and operational decision making.

Management also uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate operating performance in relation to Genie Energy's competitors. Disclosure of this non-GAAP financial measure may be useful to investors in evaluating performance and allows for greater transparency to the underlying supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. In addition, Genie Energy has historically reported Adjusted EBITDA and believes it is commonly used by readers of financial information in assessing performance. Therefore, the inclusion of comparative numbers provides consistency in financial reporting at this time.

Management refers Adjusted EBITDA as well as the GAAP measures revenue, gross profit, income (loss) from operations and net income (loss), on consolidated level to facilitate internal and external comparisons to Genie Energy's historical operating results, in making operating decisions, for budget and planning purposes, and to form the basis upon which management is compensated.

Although depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under GAAP, they primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Genie Energy's operating results exclusive of depreciation and amortization are therefore useful indicators of its current performance.

Stock-based compensation recognized by Genie Energy and other companies may not be comparable because of the various valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of types of awards that are permitted under GAAP. Stock-based compensation is excluded from Genie Energy's calculation of Adjusted EBITDA because management believes this allows investors to make more meaningful comparisons of the operating results of Genie Energy's core business with the results of other companies. However, stock-based compensation will continue to be a significant expense for Genie Energy for the foreseeable future and an important part of employees' compensation that impacts their performance.

Impairment of goodwill is a component of (loss) income from operations that is excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA. The impairment of goodwill is primarily dictated by events and circumstances outside the control of management that trigger an impairment analysis. While there may be similar charges in other periods, the nature and magnitude of these charges can fluctuate markedly and do not reflect the performance of Genie Energy's continuing operations.

Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, revenue, gross profit, income from operations, cash flow from operating activities, net income, basic and diluted earnings per share or other measures of liquidity and financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, Genie Energy's measurement of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Following are the reconciliations Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis to its most directly comparable GAAP measure. Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to net income for Genie Energy on a consolidated basis.

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA



Total Three months ended June 30, 2021 (Q2 2021)

Net income attributable to Genie Energy Limited $ 5,367 Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests (82) Net income $ 5,285 Provision for income taxes 3,158 Other income, net 14 Gain on sale of a subsidiary (4,226) Unrealized gain on marketable equity securities and investments (2,915) Interest income (10) Interest expense 103 Equity in the net income of equity method investees (53) Income from operations $ 1,356 Add:





Stock-based compensation 559

Depreciation and amortization 1,115 Subtract:



Equity in the net income of equity method investees (53) Adjusted EBITDA $ 3,083



Total Three months ended June 30, 2020 (Q2 2020)

Net income attributable to Genie Energy Limited $ 1,963 Net income attributable to non-controlling interests (1,083) Net income $ 880 Provision for income taxes 587 Other income, net 52 Interest income (20) Interest expense 58 Equity in the net loss of equity method investees 1,173 Income from operations $ 2,730 Add:





Stock-based compensation 401

Depreciation and amortization 723

Impairment 801 Subtract:



Equity in the net loss (income) of equity method investees 1,173 Adjusted EBITDA $ 3,482

SOURCE Genie Energy Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.genie.com


VILNIUS, Lithuania, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Genome (UAB Maneuver) has signed a partnership with Bambora, a Wordline Brand which means additional benefits and more opportunities for business owners seeking to process card payments online.

Online business owners are receiving benefits from the new partnership as, for now, Bambora, a Wordline Brand, expands Genome with services that allow processing credit cards online even more effectively and with tremendously improved conversion rates. Since 2018 Genome has provided essential financial services such as opening of personal, business and merchant accounts, dedicated business IBANs, SEPA transfers, currency exchanges.

Merchants at Genome are provided with dedicated MIDs which are directly seen by card schemes, enabling online businesses to experience safe and sustainable payments processing. No aggregated merchant wallets but rather trustworthy connections provided directly to merchants.

"From the very beginning, we want to break barriers between business owners and financial services that are essential for running a business. For example, with traditional banks, you need up to 30 days to open a merchant account. With Genome, it could be less than 72 hours. Cooperation with such trusted partners as Bambora provides opportunities for your business, helps you grow, run processing smoothly," comments Daumantas Barauskas, COO of Genome.

Merchants at Genome are provided with MIDs in regards to the full-scope service range: dedicated account manager, IT support, an integrated anti-fraud monitoring tool to minimize chargeback possibility, plugins to various CMS, and alternative payment methods such as iDeal, Multibanco, Sofort, Neteller, and many more. All of this under a single merchant account and dedicated IBAN for fast acquired fund settlements.

SOURCE Genome UAB Maneuver
FACTS AT A GLANCE Edition: 19; Released: July 2021 Executive Pool: 9542 Companies: 110 - Players covered include AeroVironment Inc.; BAE Systems plc; Boeing Company; Boston Dynamics; Clearpath Robotics Inc.; Elbit Systems Ltd.; Endeavor Robotics; General Atomics; General Dynamics Corporation; Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI); Lockheed Martin Corporation; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Oceaneering International Inc.; QinetiQ Group plc; Saab AB; Textron Inc.; Thales Group and Others. Coverage: All major geographies and key segments Segments: Mode of Operation (Human Operated, Autonomous); Type (Airborne, Marine, Land) Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-



Global Defense Robotics Market to Reach $22.4 Billion by 2026

Defense robotics, or military robotics, refers to the unmanned systems designed to execute military functions without the need for physical presence of personnel during military operations. While the interest towards defense robotics remained strong among governments of leading countries since early 20th century, wider rollout of such systems materialized only during the past two decades. Thanks to full-fledged efforts from the governments of the US, Israel, the UK, France and Russia, defense robotics have achieved significant progression from experimental, remote-operated surveillance machines to autonomous technologies capable of executing combat operations. A primary factor steering momentum in the defense robotics domain is the reduced need for human involvement during military operations and subsequently reduced casualties in combat operations. Being mechanical systems powered by digital technologies, defense robotics can penetrate into enemy territories in stealth mode and independently execute given task, thus potentially minimizing casualties that usually occur in conventional manned missions. Further, these advanced systems come with unique attributes such as fatigueless functioning, high precision, support for any type of terrain, continued functioning despite damaging bomb/weapon attacks, and ability to fit into spaces not possible with mechanical systems or humans, which fully recommend their deployment in military applications. Robotics, when inducted into defense forces, seamlessly improve operational performance, efficiency and efficacy of troops in ground, aerial and maritime operations.

Defense robotics are utilized in various forms including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). UAVs, the pilot-less aircraft, constitute the most widely used form of defense robotics. The US has been a pioneer in development of military UAVs, and currently holds a large fleet of UAVs supplementing its military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria, and other parts of the world. Similarly, UMVs are mostly made available in the form of USVs (or Unmanned Surface Vessels) and UUVs (or Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) and extend superior capabilities to naval forces in maritime operations. On the other hand, UGVs are ground robots designed with wheels or tracks mainly to supplement the on-foot troops in harsh conditions. Whichever robot deployed the purpose remains the same, i.e., supplementing or replacing the personnel in reconnaissance, combat, logistics and other military tasks, while bestowing the warfighter with greater capabilities in battlefield operations.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Defense Robotics estimated at US$13.2 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$22.4 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.5% over the analysis period. Human Operated , one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 9.3% CAGR to reach US$15.1 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Autonomous segment is readjusted to a revised 9.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 38.6% share of the global Defense Robotics market.

World market for defense robotics, despite its visible exposure to ongoing COVID-19 crisis, exhibited a moderate level of resilience, as governments continued to maintain or increase their defense and homeland security budgets. Militaries hold a pivotal role in protecting national interests and stay firm for their operations irrespective of consequences. The role of militaries goes beyond safeguarding borders and thwarting invasion attempts to other emergency scenarios like floods, natural disasters and terrorist activity. The COVID-19 health emergency highlighted the significant of militaries and enabled them to assume a central role in the fight against the COVID-19 virus that has left scores of people infected globally. However, the pandemic has also thrown serious challenges for the defense & military sector by disrupting routine operations. Defense robotics markets continued to display relative stability in 2020. Robots have gained importance amid the pandemic for current and future combat, and military actions. In countries such as Russia, while the pandemic led to imposition of certain limitations on the concepts of operations (CONOPS), and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), it had a moderated impact on armed forces training and fighting. The military is moving towards advanced unmanned weapons development.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $5.3 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $4.5 Billion by 2026

The Defense Robotics market in the U.S. is estimated at US$5.3 Billion in the year 2021. The country currently accounts for a 38.69% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$4.5 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 12.1% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 7.2% and 7.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 7.5% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$5.1 Billion by the close of the analysis period.

In the coming years, demand for defense robotics will continue to expand at a faster pace with a number of factors contributing to increased adoption of these advanced technologies by militaries around the world. Rising emphasis on robotic solutions in command, control, communications and computers (C4); intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR); and battlefield combat operations are consistently fuelling momentum in the defense robotics space. At the same time, growing concerns over rising human casualties in military operations and sustained focus on reducing warfield deaths through advanced strategies are creating strong business case for military robotics. Defense robotics market is sensing large-scale opportunities through ongoing expansion in global defense spending and drive towards military modernization programs among governments, worldwide. On the other hand, progressive improvements in underlying technologies and functional scope of robotic systems are paving way for wider proliferation of defense robotics.

Increasing number of nations are making investments on robotic solutions on the back of growing terrorist and border encroachment activities. About 90 countries have already deployed defense robots in military operations in one form or the other. Future success of defense robotics market would be directed by progressive advancements in sensing technology, computer programming, communication capabilities, and material science, which would help defense robotics to refine their functionality, performance, efficiency and effectiveness to attract wider audience. Advancements in key parameters such as integration, interoperability, commonality and affordability, and full-scale warfield readiness would also play important role in global adoption of defense robotics. With such robots projected to be the ultimate weapons in the future battleground, military bodies around the world are making heavy investments in research and development of weapon systems that are increasingly automated. However, automated weapons require human intervention in the form of inputs at certain points to avoid targets within areas of restricted fire as per the laws of the Geneva Conventions. This limitation prevents automated weapons from being fully autonomous.

By Type, Airborne Segment to Reach $15.2 Billion by 2026

Global market for Airborne (Type) segment is estimated at US$8.9 Billion in 2020, and is projected to reach US$15.2 Billion by 2026 reflecting a compounded annual growth rate of 9.6% over the analysis period. The United States constitutes the largest regional market for Airborne segment, accounting for 40.2% of the global sales in 2020. China is poised to register the fastest compounded annual growth rate of 12.3% over the analysis period, to reach US$3.3 Billion by the end of the analysis period. More

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Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]



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FACTS AT A GLANCE Edition: 9; Released: July 2021 Executive Pool: 62850 Companies: 98 - Players covered include ABB Group; Bayshore Networks, Inc.; Broadcom, Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; CyberX; Forescout Technologies, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; IBM Corporation; Tenable, Inc.; Kaspersky Lab; McAfee LLC; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric S.A. and Others. Coverage: All major geographies and key segments Segments: End-Use (Power, Energy & Utilities, Transportation Systems, Chemical and Manufacturing, Other End-Uses); Product (Gateways, Routers, Industrial Ethernet switches); Type (Network Security, Application Security, Endpoint Security, Wireless Security, Other Types) Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Industrial Cybersecurity Market to Reach $22.3 Billion by 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the need for remote operations of industrial facilities and production floors across the globe. The major economic impact of this pandemic has compelled businesses to reset their budgets. The 'Work from Home' trend required establishment of an array of procedures and security tools for ensuring that industrial facilities can perform remote operations. For manufacturers, the importance of cybersecurity has grown considerably with industrial companies connecting plant-level devices and software to internet-connected enterprise systems. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has greatly strengthened operations on the plant floor. However, it has also introduced many novel vectors for possible cyberattacks. Increasing movement of data from plants could boost the vulnerability of localized networks. Such new loopholes are being exploited by criminals for stealing sensitive information such as intellectual property for extortion purposes. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated such kinds of attacks owing to the adoption of 'work from home' approach. Home offices lack robust cybersecurity protections. Remote access also provided hackers a wider surface to attack. Additionally, attackers have also exploited the sense of uncertainty and fear of this pandemic to carry out phishing attacks as well as other kinds of social engineering for tricking users to provide access to various proprietary information and systems. Supply chains, healthcare sector and manufacturing facilities are becoming vulnerable to cyberattacks. At present, the biggest risk faced by the healthcare sector is phishing attacks wherein attackers employ an array of techniques and tactics for gaining access to private information of people involved.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Industrial Cybersecurity estimated at US$15.2 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$22.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.6% over the analysis period. Services, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 7.3% CAGR to reach US$10 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Software segment is readjusted to a revised 6.3% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 36.1% share of the global Industrial Cybersecurity market.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $4.9 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $3.8 Billion by 2026

The Industrial Cybersecurity market in the U.S. is estimated at US$4.9 Billion in the year 2021. The country currently accounts for a 31.11% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$3.8 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 9.6% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 3.5% and 4.7% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 4.4% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$4.2 Billion by the close of the analysis period.

Amidst heightened cyber threat levels, industries are investing increasingly on deploying a wide range of security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, and intrusion detection systems (IDS) for securing assets, and to prevent any operational disruption due to cyberbreaches. Spending is also on the rise on security appliances and software solutions to ensure security of industrial control system networks, critical infrastructure facilities and data centers. Rise in government funding and increased spending by organizations to tackle rise in cyber threats will continue to present favorable growth opportunities for the industrial cybersecurity market. The growing adoption of big data, 5G network technology and artificial intelligence in industrial settings will influence market growth in the coming years. The market will also be impacted by the rising demand for advanced solutions like firewalls, intrusion detection systems and antivirus, as industrial facilities focus on boosting cybersecurity in their units. Routers and Ethernet switches are widely used in industrial cybersecurity market, due to the growing number of security breaches targeting sensitive data in industrial processes and manufacturing operations. Growing penetration of Internet connectivity, trend towards IIoT, continuous advances in connected systems are all driving use of various components for cybersecurity. With incidents of cyberattacks continuing to grow, vendors are focusing efforts on the development of advanced hardware with enhanced security features. Demand for various components will also benefit from the rising number of connected devices and remotely managed industrial systems.

The BYOD (bring your own device) trend in industrial facilities, aimed at improving work culture, is exposing companies to greater risk of security breaches. The increasing cost of cyberattacks on industries specifically critical infrastructure facilities is driving governments to enhance budgetary allocations for dealing with security threats emerging due to the rising use of IT systems in industrial operations. With cyber-physical attacks emerging as a major concern, strict cybersecurity regulations have been implemented across the world. The need to comply with government regulations is also driving growth of industrial cybersecurity market. The emergence of cybersecurity standards is also expected to play a critical role in enabling industries to manage cyber risks. With the cyber threat landscape evolving constantly, demand continues to grow for scalable and flexible cybersecurity solutions. Service providers are also moving towards cybersecurity-as-a-service (CSaaS) business model, which is a service based approach to cybersecurity where pay-as-you-go strategy and subscription plans allow companies to benefit from continuous monitoring and assessment of threats in their industrial environments.

Hardware Segment to Reach $5.1 Billion by 2026

In the global Hardware segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 5% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$2.7 Billion in the year 2020 will reach a projected size of US$3.9 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$643.4 Million by the year 2026. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyRGlobal Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com ) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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LUXEMBOURG, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native technology services company, today announced it will release results for the second quarter ended June 30th, 2021 on Thursday August 12th, 2021 after the close of regular market hours.

Following the release, Martin Migoya, Globant's CEO & co-founder, and Juan Urthiague, Globant's CFO, will discuss the results in a video conference call beginning at 4:30pm ET.

Video conference call access information is:

https://more.globant.com/F2Q21EarningsCall

About Globant (NYSE:GLOB)

We are a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent themselves to create a way forward and unleash their potential. We are the place where innovation, design and engineering meet scale.

We have more than 17,250 employees and we are present in 18 countries working for companies like Google, Rockwell Automation, Electronic Arts and Santander, among others.

We were named a Worldwide Leader in CX Improvement Services by IDC MarketScape report. We were also featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. We are a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.

For more information, please visit www.globant.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Amit Singh, Globant

[email protected]

+1 (877) 215-5230

Media Contact:

Wanda Weigert, Globant

[email protected]

+1 (877) 215-5230

SOURCE Globant

Related Links

http://www.globant.com


ST. LOUIS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, today reported its highest quarterly net sales and net income in company history.

Graybar's net sales for the second quarter of 2021 totaled $2.2 billion, an increase of 26.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Net income attributable to Graybar for the quarter finished at $80.1 million, a 115.9 percent increase from the second quarter of 2020.

For the first half of the year, the company reported net sales of $4.1 billion, a 16.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Net income attributable to Graybar for the first six months of 2021 increased 117.6 percent to $127.3 million.

"I am very pleased with our record second quarter performance," said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Graybar. "Our employees remain focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience while navigating a fast-changing business environment. We have confidence that our sustained emphasis on growth, innovation and supply chain transformation will continue to drive our long-term success."

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of 292 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

Media Contact:

Tim Sommer

(314) 578-7672

[email protected]

SOURCE Graybar

Related Links

http://www.Graybar.com


The global need for cybersecurity expertise is overwhelming. According to (ISC 2 ), about 3.1 million cybersecurity vacancies were left unfilled in 2020, [1] with 63% of corporations reporting their employees are underqualified in cybersecurity. [2] At the same time, the pandemic ushered in a dramatic uptick in cybercrime, [3] with hackers making use of the digital transformation accelerated by lockdowns, leaving companies even more desperate to hire qualified cybersecurity professionals.

HackerU has been working to close this gap by providing digital workforce training to students, post-graduate professionals, and the community in the U.S., Europe and Asia exclusively through partnerships with top-tier universities. The Cybint acquisition enables HackerU to scale and expand its digital skills training programs to enterprises in need of in-house corporate education through the use of Cybint's specialized proprietary SaaS technology platform for the enterprise client, while also expanding its distribution capabilities through its current partners globally. The two companies will collaborate to make digital skills and careers more accessible to learners around the globe.

"Now is the time to further our mission of transforming lives by preparing people for the digital careers of tomorrow. We are proud to welcome the amazing Cybint team and their incredible portfolio of experience to the HackerU, now ThriveDX, family," said Dan Vigdor, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of HackerU . "The combination of our two companies' positions the new ThriveDX group as the category leader worldwide and solidifies our ability to reskill and upskill individuals at any stage of their professional life."

"We are excited to join forces with HackerU in expanding ThriveDX, reskilling the workforce and upskilling the industry globally," said Roy Zur, Founder and CEO of Cybint . "The Cybint team will support HackerU by signing additional partnerships and accelerating the development of software as a service (SaaS) training solutions with a strong emphasis on corporate training and cybersecurity education solutions globally."

The new brand, ThriveDX, emphasizes the company's core mission to help individuals thrive in the digital economy. By fostering new partnerships and acquisitions, the company looks to build up a solid portfolio of edtech disruptors globally. Its core team will continue to partner with elite universities in the U.S. and other leading countries to answer the challenges the world is facing in digital transformation.

"The name ThriveDX captures our vision of transforming lives globally through digital transformation and empowering individuals to evolve and thrive in the digital economy," said Dan Vigdor. "The pandemic accelerated a huge transformation across the global workforce, leaving companies in dire need of workers with specific skills  and job candidates in need of training. Our expanded offerings are designed to upskill and reskill the workforce with the in-demand skills employers need."

About HackerU

Founded by veteran Israeli cybersecurity and digital technology experts, HackerU, now known as ThriveDX, has been training the digital workforce for over 15 years through digital skills and cybersecurity technology education programs. HackerU partners with top-tier academic institutions and corporations worldwide to offer this training for the current and future workforce, equipping them with the expertise employers are seeking. The company currently works with nearly 20 top universities globally, including New York University, University of Michigan, the University of Miami, American University and more. Find out more at www.hackerusa.com and on LinkedIn , Facebook and Twitter .

About Cybint

Cybint is a global cyber education company with a commitment to reskilling the workforce and upskilling the industry in cybersecurity. With innovative and leading-edge education and training solutions, Cybint tackles cybersecurity's two greatest threats: the talent shortage and the skills gap. The Cybint team is comprised of military cyber experts, industry professionals, and educators united under the vision of creating a safer digital world through education, training and collaboration. For more information, visit www.cybintsolutions.com .

[1] (ISC)2, https://www.isc2.org/Research/Workforce-Study

[2] ESG and ISSA. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/05/09/1821287/0/en/Cybersecurity-Skills-Shortage-Worsening-for-Third-Year-In-A-Row-Sounding-the-Alarm-for-Business-Leaders.html

[3] FBI, https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2020_IC3Report.pdf

SOURCE Cybint

Related Links

https://www.cybintsolutions.com/


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Harte Hanks (OTCQX: HRTH), a leading data-driven multi-channel marketing solutions firm, announced today that the company will release financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021 on Thursday, August 12, 2021 after the close of the market.

Management will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss these results on the same day at 4:30 p.m. ET. To access the live call, please dial (888) 394-8218 (toll free) or (323) 701-0225 and reference conference ID 6511609. The conference call will also be webcast live in the Investors Events section of the Harte Hanks website and can be accessed from the link here .

Following the conclusion of the live call, a telephonic replay will be available for 48 hours by dialing (844) 512-2921 or (412) 317-6671 and using the pin number 6511609. The replay will also be available for at least 90 days in the Investors Events section of the Harte Hanks website.

About Harte Hanks:

Harte Hanks (OTCMKTS: HRTH) is a global omnichannel customer experience company. We work with clients to define, execute, and optimize their customer journey through our Marketing Services, Customer Care, and Fulfillment offerings. From visionary thinking to tactical execution, Harte Hanks partners with some of the world's most respected brands to create unforgettable customer experiences, including Bank of America, Cisco, IBM, Pfizer, Sony and Ford, and others. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Harte Hanks has more than 2,000 employees in offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Investor Relations Contact:

Sheila Ennis

Abernathy MacGregor

415-745-3294

[email protected]

SOURCE Harte Hanks, Inc.

Related Links

www.hartehanks.com


MIAMI, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, the Heal the Earth Foundation continues to progress with its "Rx for Cuba" tour. Thanks to the capital raised at the first two shows, the foundation was able to purchase Ibuprofen in bulk to send to Cuba. While packing the bags with the Ibuprofen, Dr. Farshchian said, "It's unfortunate that we physically have to bring this medicine by hand to Cuba because of the lack of shipping services into the country and the concern that the Cuban government will take the luggage away if we check in the bag. So we fly to Cuba with the medicine as a carry-on." These bags are being flown into Cuba by a Heal the Earth representative. They are hand-delivered to ensure they are given to the right people. The products, in this case Ibuprofen, will be given directly to the people in need. Kristen Carranza, the Associate Director of Heal the Earth, said, "Having these bags packed with medicine so quickly after our first couple of shows makes me optimistic for the future fundraising we have planned. We are making a huge effort to help people in need, and I'm so glad to see the progress we've been making thus far."

Dr. Farshchian holding the bag of Ibuprofen to be brought to Cuba.

There are four more fundraising events this month presented by Heal the Earth. August 5 at Bay 13 Brewery in Coral Gables, August 6 at Shipwreckers Bar in Fort Lauderdale, August 20 at Kelly Brothers Irish Pub in Fort Lauderdale, and August 27 at Selina Gold Dust in Miami. All shows begin at 8:00 p.m. For more information, please visit healtheearth.us and follow us on Instagram @healtheearthfoundation.

Related Images

dr-farshchian-the-acting-director.jpg

Dr. Farshchian, the acting Director of Heal the Earth, showcases Rx for Cuba

Dr. Farshchian holding the bag of Ibuprofen to be brought to Cuba.

SOURCE Heal the Earth
Chapters of the cookbook aim to inspire unique chili recipe creations using Hormel  Chili in various apps and snacks, quick family meals, tailgate fan favorites and even campfire and grilling creations. Hormel  Chili fans are asked to submit their own unique Hormel  Chili-inspired recipe for a chance to be selected for the cookbook, which is publishing later this year.

"Only one third of our chili is enjoyed simply in a bowl," said Sarah Johnson, Hormel chili brand manager. "Hormel Chili is such a versatile product line with so many uses, so we are eager to see what our biggest fans can come up with."

Now, until 11:59 p.m. CDT on Aug. 29, unique recipes can be submitted at hormelchilicreations.com for a chance to be featured in the cookbook. The Hormel Chili brand team will be tasting, testing and selecting which lucky fans will get to take their recipe "out of the bowl" and into the first ever Hormel Chili Creations cookbook.

For every recipe submitted, Hormel Foods will be donating (up to $10,000) to Autism Speaks.

For more information about Hormel chili, including recipes, nutritional information and where to buy, visit www.hormel.com/brands/hormelchili or follow the brand on social media at www.facebook.com/hormel.chili, www.twitter.com/hormelchili, www.instagram.com/hormelchili, and www.pinterest.com/hormelchili.

*based on latest 52-week IRI data

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS  Inspired People. Inspired Food.



Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters, SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly, Hormel Black Label, Columbus and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" list for 12 years, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hormelfoods.com


Resolving one of the biggest issues A global study of channel pros revealed that program compliance is plagued by heavy, complicated and manual administrative burdens, which makes it difficult for vendors to communicate tier status to partners and leads to regular overpayments to them. In this study, 60% of vendors said they lack confidence partners are tiered correctly. What is more, 78% of those that lack confidence in tier accuracy said they may be mistakenly overpaying their partners by up to 20%.

Now in its sixth year, the Globee Awards are one of the world's premier business awards. Open to all organizations with at least one or more offices in the United States, the American Best in Business Awards recognize outstanding achievement among large-to-small organizations and startups in business, government and the non-profit sector. Organizations are eligible to submit nominations to the American Best in Business Awards in a wide range of categories that honor achievement in every aspect of business and work life.

The 2021 awards were selected from a panel comprised of more than 35 judges and included a wide spectrum of industry experts. This year's winners include IBM, Makers Nutrition, Medifast, NewAge and others, in addition to Impartner. (See the complete list of 2021 winners here: https://globeeawards.com/american-business-awards/winners/)

"We're always proud of the solutions developed in our global Channel Innovation Labs, but it's hard not to be particularly proud of Program Compliance Manager, which has continued to delight customers and win ongoing recognition from an increasingly long list of award programs worldwide," said Gary Sabin, Impartner VP of Product. "PCM automates the difficult task of partner tiering, embodies everything you expect in modern cloud and SaaS innovation, and simplifies a common business chore. This ensures increased partner transparency, a superior partner experience and reduced administrative overhead."

About Impartner

Impartner is the fastest-growing, most award-winning provider of channel management technologies, including its flagship Partner Relationship Management (PRM) and Through Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) solutions, which help companies worldwide manage their partner relationships, drive demand through partners and accelerate revenue and profitability through indirect sales channels. For more information on Impartner, which is based in Utah's tech hotbed, the Silicon Slopes, visit impartner.com.

About the Globee Awards

Globee Awards are conferred in eleven programs and competition: the American Best in Business Awards, Business Excellence Awards (Best Employers), CEO World Awards, Communications Excellence Awards, Customer Sales & Service World Awards, Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards, Disruptor Company Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, International Best in Business Awards, IT World Awards, and Women World Awards. Learn more about the Globee Awards at https://globeeawards.com

twitter @globeeawards #globeeawards #americanbestinbusiness #americanawards

Contact:

Kerry Desberg

Impartner

[email protected]

SOURCE Impartner

Related Links

http://www.impartner.com


RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InsureLife, a startup technology company in Raleigh, NC, has developed an AI-powered platform for Insurers that digitally connects their financial services products with consumers and agents, growing sales in a contactless world.

Investors in the Seed round include Nassau Financial Group, CFV Ventures, and several angel investors. InsureLife anticipates oversubscribing the Seed round.

InsureLife has secured distribution agreements with two major insurance companies - a leading Supplemental Health Insurer and Nassau Financial Group. Following the Seed round, InsureLife's priority will be launching with these companies to distribute their products with InsureLife's proprietary platform. InsureLife also intends to open its Series A round for growth capital later this year.

"We're thrilled and honored to partner with forward-thinking investors and insurance companies who see the value in modernizing the antiquated insurance distribution chain. We're excited to get moving with great brands like Nassau and one of the largest Supplemental Health Insurers and most recognized brands in the US. This round is the catalyst to many more growth opportunities that we're already exploring for InsureLife," said John Cammarata, InsureLife Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer.

CFV Ventures, Managing Partner Nat Clarkson said: "The InsureLife team has created a unique solution that addresses a real need in the insurance industry. We are excited to be working with the organization and look forward to being a part of its future growth."

Nassau Financial Group, Chief Marketing Officer Paul Tyler said: "We're proud of the continued success of the team. We believe in their mission for agents and consumers now more than ever. We're happy to see one of the early companies in our incubator, Nassau Re/Imagine, continue to gain momentum in the marketplace. In addition, we look forward to growing our Medicare Supplement insurance business in partnership with InsureLife's team."

Additionally, in 2020, InsureLife joined the Nassau Re/Image incubator in Hartford, CT, and won their pitch competition. They also placed second in the Fintech Frontier Pitch Competition in Cincinnati, OH.

To learn more about InsureLife, visit the company's website .

SOURCE InsureLife

Related Links

https://insurelife.io


PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IntegriChain, delivering Life Sciences' only comprehensive data and business process platform for market access, today announced that three senior gross-to-net (GTN) experts will present at Informa's upcoming Life Sciences Accounting & Reporting Congress . All have extensive experience in GTN automation, advising Life Sciences manufacturers of all sizes, business stages, and complexity on SaaS and managed services solutions for GTN forecasting, accruals, and analytics. IntegriChain is a sponsor of the virtual conference, which runs August 10-12, 2021.

IntegriChain's sessions during Life Sciences Accounting & Reporting Congress are as follows.

Product Launch Roadmap, August 12, 10:00 am ET

Angelina Pigna , Senior Director of Advisory, IntegriChain

Pigna will explore GTN strategy, process, and readiness  along with a timeline  for Life Sciences manufacturers readying for their first commercial launch.

The Platform-Centric Approach to GTN Success, August 12, 12:50 pm ET

Jen Sharpe , Executive Director of Gross-to-Net

Brittany Honeycutt , Director, Gross-to-Net Managed Services

Rochelle Cupelli , AVP, Finance & Accounting, Ironshore Pharmaceuticals

Kinneret Klein , Director, Financial Planning and Analysis, Agile Therapeutics

Thomas Pair , Director, Revenue Accounting, SK Life Sciences

In this session, IntegriChain GTN experts will tap into the industry expertise and experience of three Life Sciences finance professionals to explore their experience with GTN automation. Topics discussed will include:

Digitalizing revenue management

Reporting and analytics

Patient distribution and GTN management

Patient journey and analytics

Distribution and channel strategy and management

GTN management

SOX and controls

"Gross-to-net accuracy, confidence, and timeliness are hampered by siloed data and far too much manual toil," said Sharpe. "Innovative teams such as those at Ironshore Therapeutics, Agile Therapeutics, and SK Life Sciences are overcoming these hurdles by employing a unified data platform and automated GTN systems that deliver a single accurate, complete, and credible version of financial truth for business decisioning."

About IntegriChain's GTN Solutions

IntegriChain offers a full suite of GTN Solutions, including:

GTN Accrual Management. An end-to-end solution for Market Access and Finance departments, pre-configured for all standard line items with robust out-of-the-box accrual methodologies, including inventory and pipeline adjustments to accruals, balance sheet reconciliation to ERP systems, and true-up functionality.

GTN Accrual Forecasting. Based on industry-standard forecast methodologies configured for each liability line item with the ability to execute multiple scenario analyses for forecasts along with functionality to compare scenarios to improve forecast accuracy, GTN modeling, and financial close efficiency.

GTN Analytics. Delivering visibility to comprehensive market access datasets that power the accuracy of GTN accruals and forecasting processes, best practices GTN reports and metrics, and visualizations of GTN trends that allow for better accrual and net-price predictability and decision-making.

GTN Advisory. IntegriChain industry experts routinely advise manufacturers on GTN readiness for launch, GTN process assessments, and GTN market analysis.

About IntegriChain

IntegriChain is Life Sciences' data and application backbone for patient access and therapy commercialization. More than 250 manufacturers rely on IntegriChain's ICyte Platform to orchestrate commercial and government payer contracting, patient services, and distribution channels. ICyte is the first and only platform that unites the financial, operational, and commercial data sets required to support therapy access in the era of specialty and precision medicine. With ICyte, Life Sciences innovators are digitalizing labor-intensive processes  freeing up their best talent to identify and resolve coverage and availability hurdles and to manage pricing and forecasting complexity. IntegriChain is backed by Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley technology private equity firm. The company is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Ambler, PA; Raleigh, NC, and Pune, India. For more information, visit www.integrichain.com, or follow us on Twitter @IntegriChain and LinkedIn.

Contact

Jennifer Guinan, Sage Strategic Marketing, 610.410.8111, [email protected]

SOURCE IntegriChain

Related Links

https://www.integrichain.com


"Since 1988, Invisible of Westland has always been there for their customers. With their connections to the community and passion for keeping dogs and cats safe, we know they will be a wonderful addition to our team," Said Ed Hoyt, Director of Invisible Fence.

Acquiring Westland is the company's seventh acquisition of the year following their acquisition of Invisible Fence of Canton and now with over 240 authorized dealers, Invisible Fence has the largest support network for pet containment in the US and Canada.

"We're excited to offer the West Michigan area extended customer service hours and new and innovative solutions to help customers enjoy their pets even more," said Hoyt.

Invisible Fence offers the most premier dog fence on the market including professional installation, Perfect Start Plus Training and exclusive Boundary Plus Technology. Highly recommended by veterinarians, dog trainers, animal behaviorists and other pet experts, Invisible Fence offers pet fences that can be customized for clients' unique needs.

Growing dealerships allows Invisible Fence to continue to support and be involved in their communities. Local animal shelter donations, adoption events and the Project Breathe Program are among some of the ways Invisible Fence of Westland will continue to contribute to local pet wellness.

For additional information or questions, customers can call 1-800-578-3647, visit InvisibleFence.com, and follow Invisible Fence of Westland on Facebook.

About Invisible Fence Brand

Invisible Fence pioneered the pet containment industry in 1973, making it their mission to provide safe boundaries inside and outside of the home. The Radio Systems Corporation owned company predominantly sells pet containment, avoidance and access solutions across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to offering award-winning products like Boundary Plus Technology, Authorized Dealers provide professional installation, Perfect Start Plus Training and integrated solutions that have protected more than three million pets to date. Invisible Fence also founded the Project Breathe Program in 2006, donating more than 32,000 pet oxygen masks to fire departments and first responders. For more information on Invisible Fence or to find a local dealer, visit InvisibleFence.com or follow the company on Facebook.



Contact: Tricia Everett

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (865) 235-8791

SOURCE Invisible Fence Brand

Related Links

http://www.invisiblefence.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. (NYSE: JELD) today announced the appointment of Colleen Penhall to vice president of global corporate communications.

Penhall will lead all internal and external communications and will report to Tim Craven, executive vice president of human resources.

Vice President of Global Corporate Communications, Colleen Penhall

Penhall brings more than 20 years of communications, reputation management and social responsibility experience for large, complex organizations. She was most recently the chief communications and marketing officer at UNC Charlotte, the second largest public institution in North Carolina serving more than 30,000 students.

Prior to UNC Charlotte, Penhall spent seven years at Lowe's Companies Inc. and served as vice president of the corporate communications and corporate social responsibility functions. During her tenure at Lowe's, she led the communications strategy for multiple acquisitions, repositioned the company's philanthropic focus and directed strategic communication change initiatives.

Before Lowe's, Penhall served in communications roles at Bank of America, Altria Group and Philip Morris USA.

"Colleen's deep experience and proven track record for leading high performing teams across various industries and functions will be a tremendous asset to JELD-WEN as we continue our growth trajectory," said Craven. "We look forward to leveraging Colleen's strategic mindset and expertise to proactively share how JELD-WEN's innovative products, talented people and community responsibility are positively impacting our global footprint."

Penhall received her bachelor's degree in journalism and broadcast communications from Elon University and was named the School of Communications' Outstanding Alumna in 2018. She is a member of the Elon University School of Communications Advisory Board and the Arthur W. Page Society, the world's leading association for communications professionals.

About JELD-WEN

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., JELD-WEN is a leading global manufacturer of high-performance interior and exterior building products, offering one of the broadest selections of windows, interior and exterior doors, and wall systems. JELD-WEN delivers a differentiated customer experience, providing construction professionals with durable, energy-efficient products and labor-saving services that help them maximize productivity and create beautiful, secure spaces for all to enjoy. The JELD-WEN team is driven by innovation and committed to creating safe, sustainable environments for customers, associates, and local communities. The JELD-WEN family of brands includes JELD-WEN worldwide; LaCantina and VPI in North America; Swedoor and DANA in Europe; and Corinthian, Stegbar, and Breezway in Australia. Visit jeld-wen.com for more information.

SOURCE JELD-WEN Holding, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.jeld-wen.com


ANDERSON, Ind., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- We are pleased to announce the formation of Hickory Furniture Collective as the parent company to three iconic American log furniture brands: Hickory Furniture Designs, Rocky Top Furniture, and Flat Rock Furniture.

Rocky Top Furniture and Flat Rock Furniture CEO, Van McQueen, is excited to provide enhanced service to customers nationwide. "We will continue to support customers independently but will benefit from expanded capacity and an expanded catalog of authentic, handcrafted American log furniture. Hickory Furniture Collective will leverage design and manufacturing strengths from each brand to better service the hospitality, restaurant and residential furniture markets", said McQueen.

Log furniture is often found in places where designers want to evoke authentic connections to nature. Ski lodges, national parks, restaurants, and cabins are places where log furniture adds that special touch that helps draw people into the atmosphere and the lifestyle that the designer intended to create.

"These three companies really are the best in the industry," said owner and CEO Chad Galloway. "By bringing them together as Hickory Furniture Collective we're able to ensure that all our furniture continues to be American made, which is important to stay true to the history of log furniture making. Our craftsmen build each piece using traditional American log furniture construction, so the durability is unmatched. With Hickory Furniture Collective, designers throughout the world gain access to the largest catalog of American made hickory and cedar log furniture to help them create the perfect rustic space that matches their vision."

Galloway concluded, "When you see the Hickory Furniture Collective badge, know that it represents trust. Trust that each brand that bears it has committed to the highest standards of log furniture craftsmanship, that its commercial grade construction will last for generations and that our breadth of designs are unmatched in the log furniture industry. Hickory Furniture Collective is more than a group of furniture manufacturers, it's a trusted source from which you can fill your rustic space with natural beauty and authenticity."

To explore Hickory Furniture Collective, see their website at hickoryfurniturecollective.com.

About Hickory Furniture Collective: One hundred years ago, strength and sustainability were the core of frontier furniture craftsmanship. At Hickory Furniture Collective, we preserve that frontier spirit in every piece of handcrafted furniture. Please visit hickoryfurniturecollective.com to learn more.

Media Contact: Chloe Turner

Director of Communication

Hickory Furniture Collective

765-642-0700

SOURCE Hickory Furniture Collective
FREDERICK, Md., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Katherine Johnson is a best-selling Author, Consultant, and Executive with over thirty years of experience. She is also a prolific author of books across a variety of fields, including technical manuals, a novel, and one nonfiction book. In 2007, she published Geo Heat Pumps: Leading Energy Utility Marketing Programs Fifth Edition, which has since been updated in 2009 and 2010. She wrote The Geothermal Heat Pump Chapter Technical Handbook for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2008. She also profiled all current HPwES Programs in the Home Performance with Energy Star Compendium.

Katherine Johnson

Her first novel, Grit & Granite, is based on the author's father's fight against one of America's most powerful corporations. Her second book, Women in Business - Breaking Through, is a nonfiction book that provides valuable insights on how women can differentiate themselves in a male-dominant industry. Re-released in June 2021, the book features conversations with successful women leaders in multiple sectors who share their true stories of overcoming obstacles in their careers.

She has worked in the energy efficiency field for more than 30 years, currently as the President of Johnson Consulting Group, which she founded in 2008. She provides evaluation services for energy efficiency in both electric and gas utilities throughout North America, and has completed more than 200 process and impact evaluations throughout career. For the past ten years, she has been leading collaborative forums to help guide decision-making regarding the evaluation and cost-effectiveness of current and emerging energy efficiency tools and policy initiatives.

She started her college career at Butler University in 1979, where she was involved in Delta Gamma, RHO LAMBDA - Outstanding Greek Women on Campus, TAPS, SPURS, and Debate Team where she was a Champion. Dr. Johnson then attended undergraduate school at Indiana University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Journalism in 1983. Next, she graduated from Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College with a Master of Business Administration degree, with concentrations in Marketing and Finance in 1990. She studied at the University of Southern Queensland after that, and graduated in 2010 with her Doctorate of Business Administration in Strategy and Organizational Change. Her dissertation was titled, "Changes in the strategic focus and internal operating culture of investor-owned US electric utilities due to deregulation."

Dr. Johnson has been awarded for her three decades of work with the B. H. Prasad Award for Outstanding Contributor of the Year, and was interviewed by Close Up radio. She was also named Energy Efficiency Professional of the Year-2020 and one of Energy Central's "Voices of Energy - 2020."

For more information, visit https://www.amazon.com/Women-Business-Breaking-Through-Katherine-ebook/dp/B08TBFXL75, https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Granite-Katherine-Johnson-ebook/dp/B07MFBN9TB, and www.johnsonconsults.com.

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Knowde , the leading marketplace for ingredients, polymers and chemistry, today announced that it has raised $72 million in Series B financing led by Coatue. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Refactor Capital, Bee Partners and Cantos Ventures are also participating in this round, alongside new investors Sound Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary; TQ Ventures, founded by Schuster Tanger, Andrew Marks, and Scooter Braun; K5 Global; and, Mantis VC, in partnership with The Chainsmokers.

"Digital marketplaces have the power to transform industries," said Kris Fredrickson, Managing Partner at Coatue. "We're excited to partner with Knowde because we believe in the company's vision to re-shape the way marketing and sales are done in one of the largest industries in the world."

The chemical and ingredient industry, which generates $5 trillion in annual revenues and impacts more than 25 percent of global GDP, has relied on field sales teams, catalogs and other traditional marketing tactics for more than a century.

With Knowde, for the first time ever, buyers can search, compare, sample, quote and purchase products from every producer on earth  all in one place. Suppliers get the leading-edge technology they need to extend their market reach, lower cost of sales and provide their customers with the online buying experience they desire.

Knowde recently expanded its presence to cover every major vertical across the entire industry. Knowde now has thousands of supplier storefronts on its platform  more than any distributor, marketplace or middleman organization in the history of the industry.

With this round, Knowde will invest in product development for new buyer and supplier features, further enhancements to its ecommerce capabilities, and international expansion opportunities.

"This is one of the few remaining industries that has not been touched by software. Marketplaces have instantly modernized major industries. Knowde is bringing this same experience to the largest market in the world," said Ali Amin-Javaheri, co-founder and CEO of Knowde. "We couldn't be more thrilled to be supported by Coatue and all our other investors. To the future!"

About Knowde

Knowde is the leading online marketplace for producers and buyers of ingredients, polymers and chemistry. The Knowde.com marketplace allows buyers to search, compare, sample, quote and purchase products from every producer on earth, all in one place. With more than 100,000 products and thousands of producer storefronts  more than any distributor, marketplace or middleman organization in the history of the industry  Knowde is the largest marketplace of its kind. Knowde is backed by top tier investors including Coatue, Sequoia Capital, Refactor Capital, Bee Partners, Cantos Ventures, Sound Ventures, TQ Ventures, K5 Global, Mantis VC, Knollwood, 8VC, and FJ Labs. For more information, visit www.knowde.com .

About Coatue

Coatue is one of the largest technology investment platforms in the world with over $40 billion in assets under management. Our dedicated team of engineers and data scientists work closely with investment professionals to add value to founders and executive teams in our portfolio. With venture, growth and public funds, we back entrepreneurs from around the globe and at every stage of growth. Some of our private investments have included Airtable, Ant Financial, Anaplan, ByteDance, Chime, Databricks, DoorDash, Instacart, Meituan, Snap, Snowflake and Spotify.

Media Relations Contact

John Schmidt

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 973-632-8214

SOURCE Knowde

Related Links

https://www.knowde.com


ATLANTA, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd. ("Liberty" or the "Company") (TSXV: SCAN) (OTCQB: LDDFF) (FRANKFURT: LD2), a leading concealed weapons and threat detection solutions company, is pleased to announce that it has added Linda L. Jacksta to its board of directors. Jacksta has 35 years of experience with U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), the largest law enforcement agency in the federal government.

At CBP, Jacksta led efforts to manage threats to border security while also resolving operational challenges. She established an enterprise data analytics organization by enhancing partnerships with the intelligence community, creating CBP's National Use and Force Control Board. Her most recent role was serving as the Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner for Operations Support where she directed CBP intelligence, forensics, incident management, and international affairs functions. As Executive Director for the Cargo System Program Office, she led modernization efforts inside CBP's multi-billion-dollar import/export system.

"Ms. Jacksta is an excellent addition to Liberty Defense's Board of Directors given her specialized experience leading vital security operations with CBP, particularly as Liberty continues to develop technology to service the aviation security sector and other points of entry, including seaports," Liberty Defense CEO Bill Frain said. "Throughout her decorated career, Linda has built an impressive network and incredible depth and breadth of expertise relating to border security operations and a strong understanding of the industry priorities from the perspective of the federal government."

Jacksta is currently the President of the J2 Consulting Group and studied at Thomas Edison State University. She also completed the Senior Executive Fellow program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Boston and received the prestigious Presidential Rank Award, Meritorious Executive, for her leadership contributions to the U.S. federal government.

"I am pleased to have the opportunity to provide my expertise to Liberty Defense, which is developing a number of technologies that have the potential to enhance the success of security operations in both the private and public sectors, to keep more people safe, while also optimizing the experience itself," Jacksta said. "Technology has evolved rapidly in the past several years, and we now have the tools to advance the way that we handle security operations. I look forward to working closely with Liberty Defense to guide them as they engage with projects in my sphere of expertise."

On Behalf of Liberty Defense

Bill Frain

CEO & Director

About Liberty Defense

Liberty Defense (TSXV: SCAN, OTCQB: LDDFF, FRANKFURT: LD2) provides multi-technology security solutions for concealed weapons detection in high volume foot traffic areas and locations requiring enhanced security such as airports, stadiums, schools, and more. Liberty's HEXWAVE product, for which the company has secured an exclusive license from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as a technology transfer agreement for patents related to active 3D radar imaging technology, provides discrete, modular, and scalable protection to provide layered, stand-off detection capability of metallic and non-metallic weapons. Liberty has also recently licensed the millimeter wave-based, High Definition Advanced Imaging Technology (HD-AIT) body scanner and shoe scanner technologies as part of its technology portfolio. Liberty is committed to protecting communities and preserving peace of mind through superior security detection solutions. Learn more: LibertyDefense.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although Liberty believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this press release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Liberty. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Liberty's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of the parties; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general development, market and industry conditions. The parties undertake no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of their securities or their respective financial or operating results (as applicable).

Liberty cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on Liberty's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Liberty has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Liberty as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Liberty does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

SOURCE Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd.

Related Links

www.libertydefense.com


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstNet and Safe Environment Engineering are providing Los Angeles City Fire Department and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health with new capabilities and reliable access to critical information while in the field. These tech advancements allow first responders and other personnel who support them to better serve those who live, work and visit the city and county of Los Angeles.

LAFD and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are connecting its firefighters, first responders and other personnel to FirstNet  the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America's first responders and the extended public safety community. LAFD uses FirstNet on frontline apparatus, vehicles, modems, routers, and department-issued smartphones, while LA County Department of Public Health Radiation Management use FirstNet services on smartphones.

FirstNet, Built with AT&T is a public- private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority  an independent agency within the federal government. It is designed to improve communications across public safety entities nationwide, allowing first responders to communicate with one another easily and quickly during everyday situations, big events or emergencies. This is integral to solving the communications challenges public safety has experienced in the past.

Safe Environment Engineering provides an IoT system solution for collecting, monitoring, displaying, notifying and aggregating instrumentation sensor data, including the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high yield Explosives (CBRNE) family of devices. First responders and other personnel use Safe Environment Engineering solutions to detect and monitor CBRNE hazardous situations, such as gas leaks, refinery explosions, and poisonous plumes/clouds.

The Safe Environment Engineering solutions support access to the physically separate and dedicated FirstNet network core, which enables First Priority capabilities on FirstNet  always-on priority and, for first responders, preemption  and the Band 14 spectrum. LAFD and LA County Department of Public Health feel confident the Safe Environment Engineering solution combined with FirstNet services will provide the necessary critical connectivity they need in a reliable, highly secure and cost-effective manner.

"Working with Safe Environment Engineering and FirstNet we have established a Los Angeles County wide radiation detection network," said Jeffrey Day, Director, Radiation Management, Environmental Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "This system is utilized regularly and was key in our response efforts during the Fukushima disaster."

As part of the agreement through the FirstNet Embedded IoT Program - a program that allows for industry leading FirstNet eligible devices to be combined with FirstNet service to create a single, end-to-end solution that a solution provider such as Safe Environment Engineering can sell to FirstNet-eligible customers for a single monthly fee  the Safe Environment Engineering solution will include FirstNet connectivity.

FirstNet embedded solutions go through extensive review, so first responders can be confident that the Safe Environment Engineering solution meets the highest standards for reliability, security and performance.

"The Los Angeles City Fire Department utilizes Safe Environment Engineering's systems both as component of our Hazmat Teams Personal Protective Equipment as well as being an integral component of our Hazmat apparatus, said Captain Robert M. Dunivin, Los Angeles City Fire Department, Homeland Security Division - CBRNE/Hazmat Section, Joint Hazard Assessment Team. "Combined with FirstNet, we have the connectivity and capabilities we need to keep our first responders and Angelenos safe."

"We're honored that LAFD and LA County Department of Public Health chose FirstNet to elevate their communications capabilities," said Stacy Schwartz, vice president, FirstNet and Public Safety at AT&T. "It's our mission to give first responders the cutting-edge tools they need to safely and effectively achieve their mission. FirstNet will help first responders in Los Angeles and across the country perform at the highest levels to keep themselves and those they serve out of harm's way."

"FirstNet is the exclusive communications platform being built with AT&T for public safety, inspired by public safety. There is no substitution for this purpose-built network," said FirstNet Authority CEO Edward Parkinson. "We look forward to supporting LAFD and LA County Department of Public Health and all of California's public safety community with FirstNet, making sure it delivers what they need, when they need it."

To learn more about Los Angeles Fire Department, visit lafd.org and for Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, visit publichealth.lacounty.gov.

To learn about the Safe Environment Engineering IoT solution visit safeenv.com

For more about the value FirstNet is bringing to public safety, check out FirstNet.com. And go here for more FirstNet news.

About FirstNet, Built with AT&T

FirstNet is the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America's first responders and the extended public safety community. Shaped by the vision of Congress and the first responder community following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, FirstNet stands above commercial offerings. It is built with AT&T in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority)  an independent agency within the federal government. The FirstNet network is providing public safety with truly dedicated coverage and capacity when they need it, unique benefits like always-on priority and preemption, and high-quality Band 14 spectrum. These advanced capabilities help fire, EMS, law enforcement save lives and protect their communities. Learn more at FirstNet.com.

FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE FirstNet, Built with AT&T

Related Links

https://www.firstnet.com


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tyson Foods recently announced that to protect team members, their families and their communities, the company will require its team members at U.S. office locations to be fully vaccinated by October 1, 2021. All other team members are required to be fully vaccinated by November 1, 2021, subject to ongoing discussions with locations represented by unions. This action makes Tyson Foods the largest U.S. food company to require COVID-19 vaccinations for its entire workforce. Almost half of Tyson Foods' U.S. workforce has been vaccinated and coronavirus infection rates among team members remain low.

"Tyson Foods and Matrix Clinical Solutions have worked together since the beginning of this pandemic to develop and implement strategies to mitigate the risk of the virus to Tyson employees and their families, as well as the communities where they live and work," said Matrix Chief Medical Officer and Group President, Daniel Castillo, M.D., M.B.A. "Matrix clinicians and Tyson team members have worked hand-in-hand to implement a broad array of workplace safety measures at Tyson, and we now feel the rising number of new cases across the U.S. warrants advanced clinical strategies  including requiring vaccinations."

Matrix Clinical Solutions, a Matrix Medical Network (Matrix) business, has partnered with Tyson Foods since the beginning of the pandemic to ensure workplace health and safety. Matrix has a network of 5,000 clinicians and a fleet of Mobile Health Clinics that are being used to assist Tyson with a range of services including:

COVID-19 vaccine procurement, cold-chain management, and administration

On-site clinical assessments, education, and counseling

Care coordination, navigation, and follow-up

COVID-19 testing and support

A memo to team members from Tyson Foods President & CEO Donnie King can be found here.

Since February, Tyson Foods has hosted more than 100 vaccination events for team members across the country and more than 56,000 U.S. team members have been vaccinated so far. Additional onsite vaccination events will be scheduled, and the company will continue to collaborate with local health departments and healthcare providers to make the vaccine more accessible.

About Matrix Clinical Solutions

Matrix Medical Network has provided expert care and health services to millions of at-risk individuals where they live and work for more than 20 years. The organization's network of approximately 5,000 clinicians meets individuals wherever they are to assess their health and safety, identify and close care gaps, and offer life-changing services that activate them to manage their own health.

With a team of physicians and worksite medical advisors, Matrix Clinical Solutions  Employee Health helps America's workers stay healthy while maintaining businesses' productivity and continuity by designing tailored workplace health solutions. In collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, Matrix developed a safety verified certification program to help businesses and organizations assess, address, verify, and monitor workplace safety to help individuals return safely and confidently to work.

For more information, visit https://matrixmedicalnetwork.com/clinical-solutions/.

*Matrix Medical Network is the registered trademark of Community Care Health Network, LLC.

Matrix Media Contact:

Elissa Johnsen

EJJ Communications, LLC on behalf of Matrix Medical Network

[email protected]

312-285-3203

SOURCE Matrix Medical Network

Related Links

http://www.matrixmedicalnetwork.com


WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicomp Systems, which makes medical data relevant, usable and actionable, is officially launching Quippe Nursing at the 2021 ANIA Annual Conference August 2  5 in San Diego. Quippe Nursing is an industry-first solution that enables nurses to spend more time caring for patients and less time managing administrative clinical tasks.

Quippe Nursing, designed to reduce clinical documentation time by as much as 30 minutes per patient, per shift, integrates with any EHR to complement existing nursing workflows and ensure compliance with CMS and Joint Commission requirements. With easy filtering for relevant clinical data and built-in links to appropriate Clinical Care Classification (CCC) terminology, Quippe Nursing enables nurses to complete care documentation and planning in minutes so they can spend more time caring for patients.

"Nurse burnout rates continue to escalate, which is one reason why we are thrilled to introduce Quippe Nursing to the U.S. market," said David Lareau, Medicomp Systems CEO. "For many years, Quippe Nursing has provided relief for nurses across Southeast Asia because it facilitates streamlined clinical workflows and documentation. We have now perfected the solution to address the unique documentation, care planning and compliance needs of nurses in the U.S. and look forward to empowering nurses with a solution that reduces documentation challenges and improves the delivery of patient care."

Quippe Nursing has been deployed in hospitals throughout Southeast Asia for the past decade and was recently launch for the first time in the U.S. at Holy Name Medical Center, a comprehensive 361-bed acute care facility in Bergen County New Jersey. Holy Name went live earlier this year on a custom-built EHR that is powered by the Quippe clinical data engine and uses Quippe Nursing to streamline documentation workflows and facilitate care coordination and planning.

"Nurses know their patients better than anyone, and so Quippe Nursing is intentionally designed for nurses, by nurses, to support nursing workflow for any care environment," said Toni Laracuente, Chief Nursing Officer for Medicomp Systems. "With its adaptation for the North American market, Quippe Nursing empowers providers to drive greater value from their EHR investments and, most importantly, enables the workflow and actionable information that helps us better serve our patients, populations, and the future of our profession."

Medicomp is a Keynote Sponsor for the ANIA 2021 annual conference and will be attending virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. To learn more about Quippe Nursing or to schedule a virtual demo of the solution during the virtual ANIA 2021 conference, visit the ANIA virtual conference website. Demos can also be scheduled for any other time on the Medicomp site.

About Medicomp Systems

Medicomp Systems is a leading provider of solutions that make data usable for connected care and better outcomes. In 1978, Medicomp pioneered the patented MEDCIN Knowledge Engine to present relevant clinical concepts in less than a second for any of tens of thousands of diagnoses or patient presentations. For more than 40 years, Medicomp has worked with physicians from leading medical centers and institutions to create solutions that work seamlessly with any EHR to deliver diagnostically relevant and actionable information to clinicians at the point of care. The MEDCIN clinical engine powers the Medicomp Quippe suite of solutions and creates intuitive workflows that support  rather than disrupt  the way clinicians think and work. Medicomp's solutions deliver proven clinical and financial ROI, including reduced documentation and coding costs, increased clinician productivity, improved outcomes, and appropriate reimbursement. With minimal time and financial investment, stakeholders can deploy the robust clinical engine to filter data from disparate sources and organize structured and unstructured data into relevant and usable information. With real-time access to patient- and problem-specific information, clinicians are empowered to deliver better care and outcomes. To learn more about how Medicomp solutions can benefit your organization, visit http://www.medicomp.com/.

Media Contact:

Grant Evans

Amendola Communications for Medicomp Systems

215.582.8146

[email protected]

SOURCE Medicomp Systems

Related Links

https://medicomp.com/


31 Million Americans Gain Access to Medivolve's Services Through Newly Offered Government Programs for Uninsured and Undocumented Patients



Medivolve Boosts Testing Services Revenue by Automating Claim Submissions to Over 8,700 Insurance Carriers



No-Patient-Cost Testing Has Increased Medivolve's Gross Revenues by 76%

TORONTO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Medivolve Inc. ("Medivolve" or the "Company") (NEO: MEDV) (OTC: COPRF) (FRA: 4NC) is a healthcare technology company that seeks to reinvent the US healthcare system by leveraging a bespoke telehealth platform, clinical diagnostic network, and data driven AI to improve patient care.

The Company today announced positive financial results after switching from a cash pay business model to primarily insurance claims and reimbursements from various government programs. Medivolve's top-line numbers for the start of the second quarter shattered prior records for the Company. Since transitioning to an insurance receivables business model in mid-May 2021, Medivolve has seen a gross revenue increase of 76% based on daily averages compared to the legacy cash-based business model used since the Company's inception.

In addition to delivering strong financial results, transitioning to an insurance receivables business model has enabled Medivolve to improve access to COVID-19 testing in communities that need it most. According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the number of American citizens who are uninsured is around 31 million individuals and is expected to increase significantly.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the financial challenges for Americans seeking necessary testing, from unemployment to not having adequate health insurance," says David Preiner, CEO of Medivolve, Inc. "Given the increasing demand for clinical testing, we quickly discovered the need to shift our business model in a way that would allow the services people deserve regardless of their financial or documentation status."

Medivolve's new financial model is powered by an automated insurance billing platform that connects with over 8,700 different carriers across the nation. This, combined with access to respective government programs for the uninsured and undocumented, the Company estimates a population coverage of over 99.7% of individuals could be eligible for COVID-19 testing at no cost to patients.

About Medivolve, Inc.

Medivolve, Inc. (NEO:MEDV; OTC: COPRF; FRA:4NC) is a healthcare technology company that seeks to reinvent the US healthcare system by leveraging a bespoke telehealth platform, a clinical diagnostic network, and a data-driven AI framework to improve patient care.

The company was born out of the healthcare crisis; to rethink, relearn and ultimately, reimagine a better way for the healthcare system to operate. Our network of retail collection sites play an important role in recovery by giving all Americans access to fast, accurate, and inexpensive clinical services when and where they need it. These centers will also play a pivotal role in diagnostic testing, vaccinations, and other point-of-care services. We are building disruptive technologies to make it easier and faster to identify, treat, and prevent medical issues. In doing so, we are working to give patients a holistic and empowered view of their personal health.

Our long-term mission is to permanently fix systemic issues in the nation's fragmented, overly complex, and expensive healthcare system. Medivolve's next phase of growth is about pivoting the model and putting the pieces together to build a profitable, SaaS-based health-tech company. We are bringing data-driven clinical diagnostics, physician recommendations, and prescription medications directly to people, all powered by a singular, streamlined technology network. Our team is united by a powerful, singular purpose: harnessing the transformative power of technology to create healthier lives.

Underpinned by a bespoke, AI-driven platform, we're developing a stealth system that constantly gets smarter, takes the guesswork out of diagnostics, and flags critical health issues immediately to deliver an unparalleled level of personalization for each patient. We are determined to push the boundaries of what's possiblenot just for our business and our shareholders, but for physicians and patients, and for the future of healthcare. We are striving to achieve a continuity of care never seen before, a game changer for our business and for patients in the communities we serve.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to revenue projections; testing services; insurance coverage; COVID testing access; or financial results. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER THE NEO EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE Medivolve Inc.

Related Links

www.medivolve.net


BOSTON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Neurable Inc. is proud to announce that Dr. David Stanley, Neurable's senior machine learning engineer, has been named one of Built In's 2021 50 Tech Innovators.

"It is such an honor to receive the Tech Innovator Award for my work at Neurable. The entire team works hard in making neurotech available to the general public. It's wonderful to be recognized for this hard work by my peers," said Dr. Stanley.

Dr. David Stanley

"We have assembled an incredible team of scientists, engineers and business professionals at Neurable, and this is just such an exciting milestone for David to be recognized like this," said Neurable CEO Dr. Ramses Alcaide.

As part of Built In's commitment to the tech community and its members, the 2021 Tech Innovator Awards honor highly skilled technologists across the U.S. for their creative and impactful contributions to the industry. The awards recognize those rising in their careers today, and who will continue to innovate as the tech leaders of tomorrow.

About Neurable

Neurable is a diverse team of science, product, engineering, and design professionals on a mission to make technology more accessible, intuitive, and empowering using neurotechnology. Neurable's devices sense brain signals and translate them into simple, actionable insights that consumers can use every day. Neurable is on the web at www.neurable.com.

For Further Information Contact

Ira M. Gostin, MBA, APR

[email protected]

775-391-0213

Related Images

dr-david-stanley.jpg

Dr. David Stanley

Dr. David Stanley

SOURCE Neurable, Inc.
BOSTON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Physicians Foundation today released the results of a national survey, which finds that more than half (55%) of physicians know a physician who has considered, attempted or died by suicide in their career. The 2021 Survey of America's Physicians, COVID-19 Impact Edition: A Year Later examines how COVID-19 has affected the nation's physicians more than a year since the start of the pandemic, from increased burnout rates to the continued epidemic of physician suicide.

"Over the past year, the pandemic has shone a light on a problem that physicians have always faced: the stigma surrounding accessing mental health support and services for fear of looking weak or believing they will lose their license and credentials," said Gary Price, MD, president of The Physicians Foundation.

"Nearly one-fifth of physicians indicated they know of someone who considered, attempted or died by suicide since the start of the pandemic alone, a time when many physicians have suffered trauma and loss. It is vital that we make a conscious and forward effort to break down stigma and encourage physicians to seek mental health support when they need it, especially in the wake of the most significant health event in recent history."

Physician Burnout and Mental Health

Over the past year, COVID-19 has greatly impacted physician wellbeing and mental health, with over 6 in 10 physicians (61%) reporting they experienced feelings of burnout. This is a significant increase from the 40% of reported physicians in 2018. Yet only 14% of physicians reported they sought medical attention for their mental health symptoms. If left untreated, burnout can cause more cases of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use and lead to suicidal thoughts for physicians, directly impacting physician suicide rates.

Physician suicide has been a public health crisis long before the COVID-19 pandemic. While suicide is the ultimate consequence of rampant, unchecked burnout, there are many mental health challenges that physicians experience. For example, 46% of physicians noted they withdrew or isolated themselves from others, while 34% cited feelings of hopelessness or having no purpose as a result of COVID-19's effects on their practice or employment situation.

Additionally, 8% of physicians indicated they have increased their use of medications, alcohol or illicit drugs weekly as a result of COVID-19's effects on their practice or employment situation, showing a significant 10% decrease in reported increased usage as compared to last year.

"Given the high levels of stress, burnout and physical and mental harm caused to physicians by COVID-19, it is clear that more must be done to foster and promote physician wellbeing, for the good of the public and for physicians themselves," said Robert Seligson, CEO of The Physicians Foundation. "We need to shift the paradigm from a system where it is taboo to be open about managing burnout, depression or suicidal thoughts to one where we have a plan in place to embrace and access mental health care options without consequence."

Support Systems and Resources

As the survey reveals the negative effects of COVID-19 on physicians' wellbeing, the findings also highlight the key role of support systems. Nearly all (89%) physicians cite their family as essential in supporting their wellbeing, followed by friends (82%) and colleagues (71%).

Institutions also provide support in meaningful ways. Fifty-three percent of physicians said their medical practice or group has been helpful to their mental health and wellbeing, while 35% reported similar benefits from their hospital or health system.

Also, more than 70% of physicians indicated they believe a multi-pronged approach needs to be taken to address mental health conditions, burnout and/or suicide prevention, including confidential therapy, counseling or a support phone line, the availability of peer-to-peer support groups and evidence-based professional training to prevent burnout, behavioral health conditions and suicide.

"The data reveals physicians want real, systematic change to how the field of medicine handles burnout and behavioral health conditions. We know evidence-based solutions exist; they now need to be scaled," noted Dr. Price. "For example, through the Foundation's collaboration with the American Medical Association in the Practice Transformation Initiative, Washington Permanente Medical Group in Washington state implemented pre-visit laboratory testing which gave their physicians the opportunity to discuss results directly with patients at their appointment. This streamlined administrative tasks and contributed to a reduction in the number of hours spent on indirect patient care by three hours. Physicians reported they experienced an increase in both overall job satisfaction and value alignment with clinical leaders."

Additional findings from the 2021 Survey of America's Physicians, COVID-19 Impact Edition: A Year Later include:

A significantly larger proportion of younger (64%) and female (69%) physicians reported frequently feeling burnout as compared to older (59%) and male (57%) physicians.

Physicians who were employed by hospitals or health systems experienced more frequent feelings of burnout (64%) as compared to independent physicians (56%).

Nearly 8 in 10 physicians indicated they experienced changes to their practice or employment as a result of COVID-19.

Almost half of physicians (49%) reported a reduction in income while 32% reported a reduction in staff as a result of the pandemic.

Nearly 70% of physicians indicated they anticipate continuing the use of telehealth in their ongoing practice.

Despite the high rates of burnout, nearly half (46%) of physicians said they would still recommend medicine as a career option to young people.

Read the full survey results here.

About The Physicians Foundation

The Physicians Foundation is a nonprofit seeking to advance the work of practicing physicians and help them facilitate the delivery of high-quality health care to patients. As the health care system in America continues to evolve, The Physicians Foundation is steadfast in its determination to strengthen the physician-patient relationship and assist physicians in sustaining their medical practices in today's practice environment. It pursues its mission through a variety of activities including grant-making, research, white papers and policy studies. Since 2005, the Foundation has awarded numerous multi-year grants totaling more than $50 million. In addition, the Foundation focuses on the following core areas: physician leadership, physician wellness, physician practice trends, social determinants of health and the impact of health care reform on physicians and patients. For more information, visit www.physiciansfoundation.org.

Survey Methodology

The Physicians Foundation's 2021 Survey of America's Physicians, COVID-19 Impact Edition: A Year Later, was sent by email to a list of physicians derived from Medscape's proprietary data base. WebMD/Medscape Research Services leveraged the AMA's distribution of percentage of PCPs vs Specialists to set quotas for this study. The survey was fielded from May 26  Jun 9, 2021, and the data presented is based on 2,504 responses.

SOURCE The Physicians Foundation
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Novakid, an online language learning platform that provides personalized English learning for kids ages 4-12 through artificial intelligence (AI) and gamification, announces a $35 million Series B round led by Owl Ventures and Goodwater Capital.

The existing investors LETA Capital, PortfoLion, TMT Investments, Xploration Capital and LearnStart also joined the round.

Owl Ventures is the world's largest venture capital fund focused on the education technology market. Judy Park of Owl Ventures commented, "Novakid provides kids with a fun, engaging and effective English learning experience. We're impressed with the team's passion for democratizing language education and its ability to penetrate a variety of markets across Europe and beyond. We're incredibly excited to partner with the team to continue supporting product innovation and market expansion to serve kids around the world."

Goodwater Capital is a leading venture capital firm focused on the consumer technology market. Eric Kim of Goodwater Capital commented, "We are happy to back Novakid, a promising and fast-growing English learning company with a bright future to implement its mission of no-barrier communication and access to the world's knowledge base. Novakid's technology provides a simple and effective way to learn English at affordable prices for children and young adults in countries where English is not a primary spoken language."

The new investment will be used by Novakid to expand into new markets in Asia, strengthen the company's position in existing markets (Europe and MENA), develop original educational content and launch a new gamification platform to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Aurel Pasztor from PortfoLion commented, "We are very pleased to see how well Novakid is executing on the international expansion strategy we outlined at the A-Round less than a year ago. The current investment and support of Owl and Goodwater will further solidify the company's leading position in online PreK-12 English education in the European and MENA markets."

Novakid's learning format combines an interactive digital curriculum with individual live sessions where students and native-speaking teachers use English for 100% language immersion. The platform offers digital lessons, virtual 360-degree tours, in-class games and machine learning-based assessment of students' progress, allowing them to adapt the program to each student.

In 2021 Novakid's active client base growth rate reached nearly 700% YoY, with monthly growth as high as 14.8%.The number of classes delivered by Novakid surpassed the mark of 2.2 million in June 2021, reaching the level of over 410 000 new classes booked monthly. The teaching staff is expected to reach 3 000 native English speakers by the end of 2021. As of June 2021, Europe accounts for 80% of the company's client portfolio, MENA 15% and the Asia-Pacific region 5%.

A recent study by J'son & Partners Consulting in May-June 2021 placed Novakid as the number one online English school for children in Europe.

"Novakid's goal is to improve the world via fostering communication without borders for the 21st century. English learning is an exponentially growing trend in the world where 20% of the population speaks this language, and as the english as a second language (ESL) market for kids is expected to grow significantly in the next decade, we've strengthened our investor pool with two of the very best investors in the edtech/consumer space, so we are fully prepared to build a unicorn with a significant share of the ESL market," says Max Azarov, co-founder and CEO of Novakid.

"For the past two years, Novakid has been demonstrating excellent well-diversified traction in both its number of students and revenue," said Dmitry Malin, co-founder and COO of Novakid. "Geographical expansion and product development supported by the Round B investment will help us sustain rapid growth, boldly executing on Novakid's intention to innovate ESL for children, while achieving high customer satisfaction and a strong retention rate."

''We are now combining a gamification platform and refined content, making learning English as a second language with Novakid more effective and interactive, engaging students to spend more time studying. We are also planning to expand collaboration with linguistic laboratories in Europe and the U.S. to further improve a hyper-personalized learning experience," shared Amy Krolevetsky, co-founder and Director of Curriculum of Novakid.

For editors

Website: https://www.novakidschool.com

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuFrAymHko

Illustrations: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1SbHtD8L_EU4EkuT8WQ2jqm-GISVN28PG

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1393486/Novakid_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Novakid
NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuveen today launched its first suite of active semi-transparent Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Already available as mutual fund strategies, the three semi-transparent active ETFs combine the structural advantages of both the ETF and mutual fund wrappers, with the objective of helping clients meet their financial goals through the investment vehicle of their choice.

About the Funds:





ETF Name and Ticker: Nuveen Small Cap Select ETF (NYSE: NSCS) Mutual Fund Name: Nuveen Small Cap Select Fund Portfolio Manager: Greg J. Ryan, CFA Description: A diversified, small-cap stock portfolio that buys companies trading at a

discount to their intrinsic value when a forthcoming catalyst is apparent. Reference Benchmark R2000 Accolades 4-Star Fund via Morningstar with peer rankings in the top 25th percentile

over 1, 3, 5, and 10- years period2



ETF Name and Ticker: Nuveen Dividend Growth ETF (NYSE: NDVG) Mutual Fund Name: Nuveen Santa Barbara Dividend Growth Fund Portfolio Managers: David Park, CFA, CPA and David Chalupnik, CFA Description A portfolio focused on high-quality, mid- to large-cap companies with the

potential for sustainable dividend growth seeking to provide an attractive

total return composed of income and capital appreciation while also

managing risk. Reference Benchmark S&P 500 Accolades The most popular active equity fund by flows in Q4 20201 Since inception, the fund has generated the following results vs. the

Morningstar Blend Category: 6th percentile standard deviation;

4th percentile downside capture; 3rd percentile Sharpe ratio2



ETF Name and Ticker Nuveen Winslow Large-Cap Growth ESG ETF (NYSE: NWLG) Mutual Fund Name: Nuveen Winslow Large-Cap Growth ESG Fund Portfolio Manager: Justin H. Kelly, CFA Description: A portfolio providing long-term capital appreciation by selecting quality

companies with above-average earnings growth and assessing ESG factors

to provide an integrated, active growth approach. Reference Benchmark R1000G Accolades Carries a "5 Globe" Morningstar Sustainability Rating and ranks in the 3rd

percentile of the Morningstar Sustainability Score3

Managing more than $185 billion in AUM, the managers for the three funds bring nine decades of combined experience and demonstrated ability to generate alpha. A total of seven portfolio managers deploy these high-conviction strategies informed by the evaluation of the financial prospects of companies, analysis of market behavior and exploitation of market trends.

An intuitive evolution of our proud tradition of active management

"Delivering Nuveen's best thinking in an active ETF format is an intuitive evolution of our proud tradition of active management. These proven equity strategies incorporate our unique combination of expertise in stock selection, analytics and portfolio modeling with product structuring capabilities across the scale of our $1.2 trillion platform," said Jordan Farris, Head of ETF Product, Nuveen. "We are committed to providing choice to clients within their preferred wrapper and the opportunity to build portfolios across our range of products, including mutual funds, closed-end funds, and both index and active ETF options."

About the Semi-Transparent ETF structure

Leveraging the NYSE licensing structure, the Nuveen Small Cap Select ETF, Nuveen Dividend Growth ETF and Nuveen Winslow Large-Cap Growth ESG ETF are semi-transparent, meaning the holdings will be disclosed on a monthly basis, generally following the same holdings disclosure schedule as the mutual funds within the same fund family. This structure allows the portfolio managers the freedom to actively manage and pursue the investment objectives of the strategy without the risk of signaling position changes to the market.

Like index-tracking ETFs, semitransparent ETFs share the same tax-efficiency and intra-day liquidity benefits. The fund format also enables investors to consider the track records of the existing mutual fund strategies.

About Nuveen's Global Equity Fund Suite

With $450 billion in AUM4, Nuveen's Global Equity Platform includes a team of 34 portfolio managers who have an average of 26 years of investment experience. More than 67% of Nuveen equity mutual fund assets carry a Morningstar rating of 4 or 5 Stars.2

About Nuveen's ETF Suite

The addition of the three semi-transparent active ETFs to our existing line-up brings Nuveen's ETF suite to a total of 16 funds with $4.1 Billion in AUM as of 6/30.2

Ten out of the 13 index-tracking ETFs offer a unique selection of securities evaluated against ESG and low-carbon criteria, the thresholds for which were developed in consultation with the Nuveen Responsible Investing Team to specifically align with the values of Nuveen clients. Seventy-five percent of Nuveen's Morningstar Rated ESG ETFs have received a 4 or 5 star-rating.2

About the Portfolio Managers:

Greg J. Ryan, CFA is a portfolio manager of Nuveen's Small Cap Select and Mid Cap Growth Opportunities strategies and related institutional portfolios. In addition, he is a senior research analyst for the Small Cap Growth Opportunities team specializing in technology and communication services.

Greg graduated with a B.S. in Finance from Winona State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of St. Thomas. He holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Minnesota.

David S. Park, CFA, CPA is a portfolio manager and director of research, Co-Head of Santa Barbara Asset Management. He is also a member of the Equities Investment Council (EIC) with a focus on dividend equities investing. David graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business. David holds the CFA designation and is a Certified Public Accountant.

David A. Chalupnik, CFA, oversees all portfolio management activities for Nuveen's actively managed U.S. equities strategies. He is the lead portfolio manager for several core and value-focused equities strategies and related institutional portfolios. David also manages several Santa Barbara Asset Management Dividend Growth strategies. He is also a member of the Equities Investment Council (EIC) with a focus on U.S. investing. David graduated with a B.S. in Commerce and an M.B.A. from DePaul University. He holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Justin H. Kelly, CFA is the CEO and CIO of Winslow Capital Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen. Justin is responsible for portfolio construction and lead management on the Large Cap Growth strategy and is also a portfolio manager for the Large Cap Growth ESG strategy. He is a member of Winslow's Executive Committee and Management Committee and is also a member of Nuveen's Equities Investment Council (EIC) with a focus on growth investing. Justin graduated with a B.S. in Finance and Investments, summa cum laude, from Babson College and holds the CFA designation.

About Nuveen

Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.2 trillion in assets under management as of 30 June 2021 and operations in 27 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies. For more information, please visit www.nuveen.com .

1 CityWire U.S: Active funds are quietly enjoying a good run. Here's where the money's going

2Morningstar Direct 6/30/2021

3Morningstar Direct 5/31/2021 (most recently available)

4Nuveen 6/30/2021

SOURCE Nuveen

Related Links

http://www.nuveen.com


CHEYENNE, Wyo., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oak Sourcing & Logistics (OSL), a U.S.-based supply, outsourcing and logistics company, announced today it has donated over 2 million medical gowns to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

These donations come as COVID-19 cases spike across Cambodia. As of July 1, 2021, the country of more than 15 million people is experiencing over 900 cases per day, including over 61,000 total cases and 925 deaths (as of July 12, 2021). This spike comes following the country's successful efforts to stop the virus' spread through January 1, 2021, one year following the first reported case.

"We're pleased to donate these much-needed and vital personal protective equipment (PPE) to the country of Cambodia as they struggle with rising cases and increased serious illnesses and deaths," said Brian Berkenbile, an OSL Managing Member. "These gowns will provide hospitals and medical clinics around Cambodia increased safety for health care professionals in their ongoing efforts against the COVID-19 virus."

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, OSL purchased millions of medical gowns. The demand far exceeded the supply at the time. As 2020 continued, OSL continued to procure medical gowns to meet the ongoing demand. However, as the spread of the virus became more contained in the U.S., demand for all PPE waned and OSL was left with a large surplus inventory of medical gowns.

"We are extremely grateful to Oak Sourcing & Logistics for their generous donation to our country as we continue our battle against the COVID-19 virus," said Mr. Sou Syphanna, CEO of Samdech Techo Volunteer Youth Doctor Association (TYDA). "These gowns will not only help us better treat our citizens who are currently suffering from the continued spread of this virus but also protect our health care professionals as they administer vaccines to our people."

TYDA was established in Cambodia with three main purposes: 1) cooperating with national institutions, particularly the Ministry of Health, to provide public health services free-of-charge to citizens regardless of race, color, or political affiliation; 2) cooperating with the Royal Government to reduce poverty by providing domiciliary health services and other activities to the poor, especially those in rural areas; and 3) providing training and human resources to the health sector, including volunteer opportunities for medical students and other youth interested in charitable causes.

Media Contact: Jay Reed

Wheelhouse Strategies

650-995-4481

[email protected]

SOURCE Oak Sourcing & Logistics
DALLAS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Credera, a global boutique consulting firm focused on strategy, transformation, data, and technology, today announced the launch of a new Amazon Center of Excellence to serve clients with innovative solutions at the intersection of digital transformation and digital customer experience.

Credera is part of Omnicom Precision Marketing Group (OPMG), which aligns digital, data, and customer relationship management capabilities to deliver precisely targeted and meaningful customer experiences at scale leveraging the global reach of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC).

"Our Amazon Center of Excellence will broaden OPMG's platform to deliver cutting-edge solutions for clients and world-class experiences for customers," said Luke Taylor, CEO of OPMG. "We will bring together OPMG digital services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) technology, and Credera's cloud adoption expertise to help clients create and scale meaningful customer experiences."

"Credera is excited to launch an Amazon Center of Excellence for our clients and teams to reinvent customer solutions and data insights with AWS," said Justin Bell, CEO and President of Credera. "Powered by our strategic relationship with AWS, the Amazon CoE will be a resource for our clients and OPMG agencies to innovate together."

"Cloud technology serves as the foundation to accelerate business growth and efficiency, drive customer personalization, unlock data insights, and bring new digital products online," said Jeff Townes, Credera's Managing Partner of Cloud Solutions and Alliances and Amazon Center of Excellence lead. "Credera is uniquely positioned through our relationships with OPMG and AWS to help clients capture value at the intersection of digital transformation and digital customer experience."

The Amazon Center of Excellence will blend Credera's strategic cloud advisory services, AWS platform engineering and operations practices, and expertise delivering customer innovation, marketing technology solutions, and modern data and insights. OPMG's Amazon Center of Excellence will advise clients on AWS adoption and help clients navigate their cloud transformation journeys.

Headquartered in Dallas, Credera today has a team of more than 900 talented consultants around the globe. It has been honored by Fortune as a "Best Place to Work" in consulting and professional services. Credera is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner.

ABOUT CREDERA

Credera (credera.com) is a global boutique consulting firm focused on strategy, transformation, data, and technology. As a part of Omnicom Precision Marketing Group, our over 900 consultants across the globe partner together with clients ranging from long-time market leaders to emerging companies delivering strategy and execution leadership to create tangible business results. Credera's deep business acumen and technical expertise, combined with a deep dedication to building trusted relationships, unlocks extraordinary business performance for our clients. Our mission is to make an extraordinary impact for our clients, people, and communities.

ABOUT OMNICOM PRECISION MARKETING GROUP

Omnicom Precision Marketing Group aligns Omnicom's global digital, data, and CRM capabilities to deliver precisely targeted and meaningful customer experiences at scale. Using its universal framework of connected data, connected intelligence and connected experiences, OPMG provides services that include data-driven product/service design, technology strategy and implementation, CRM/loyalty strategy and activation, econometric and attribution modeling, technical and business consulting and digital experience design and development. At the core of delivering these services is Omni, an advanced technology platform that combines a powerful cultural insights engine with massively scaled data insights from first-, second- and third-party sources, including several proprietary Omnicom data partnerships. Omnicom Precision Marketing is a part of the DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) that includes more than 200 companies in a wide range of marketing disciplines including advertising, public relations, healthcare, customer relationship management, events, promotional marketing, branding and research.

ABOUT OMNICOM GROUP INC.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 70 countries. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

SOURCE Omnicom Precision Marketing Group

Related Links

https://www.omnicomgroup.com


DALLAS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor") today reported three months ended June 30, 2021 net income of $169 million compared to net income of $176 million in the second quarter of 2020. The $7 million quarter-over-quarter decrease in net income was driven by increases in operation and maintenance expense, costs associated with additional investment (primarily depreciation and amortization and property taxes), partially offset by a net increase in revenues contributing to earnings primarily from increases in base transmission and distribution rates and customer growth, net of lower consumption primarily attributable to milder weather.

"I am proud of our second quarter execution and the excellent performance of the men and women of Oncor. In spite of unseasonably mild weather, we experienced continued revenue and customer growth, as people and businesses continued to move to Texas. Our second quarter results again demonstrate that the Oncor service territory is one of the most attractive in the nation, with strong premise, economic development, and transmission interconnection growth," said Oncor CEO Allen Nye. "This morning Oncor also released its annual corporate sustainability overview. As a company, being good stewards of our environment and good partners to the communities we serve is critical to our operations, and integral to building a safer, more reliable, more sustainable electric grid for Texas."

Oncor's net income of $337 million in the six months ended June 30, 2021 compared favorably to net income of $307 million in the six months ended June 30, 2020. The $30 million period-over-period net income improvement was driven by increases in revenues contributing to earnings primarily from increases in base transmission and distribution rates and customer growth, and favorable changes in other income and deductions, partially offset by increases in costs associated with additional investment (primarily depreciation and amortization and property taxes) and operation and maintenance expense.

Oncor's total distribution base revenues in the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to the prior year periods decreased 0.3% (2.2% increase on a weather normalized basis) and increased 4.3% (1.9% increase on a weather normalized basis), respectively. The change in Oncor's total distribution base revenues in the second quarter of 2021 as compared to the second quarter of 2020 included a 4.9% decrease in distribution base revenues from residential customers (0.2% increase on a weather normalized basis) and a 3.7% increase in distribution base revenues from large commercial and industrial customers. The change in Oncor's total distribution base revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2021 as compared to the six months ended June 30, 2020 included an increase of 5.7% in distribution base revenues from residential customers (0.6% increase on a weather normalized basis) and a 3.1% increase in distribution base revenues from large commercial and industrial customers. Financial and operational results are provided in Tables A, B, C and D below.

Capital Expenditure Plan

Oncor now expects capital expenditures of $2.5 billion in 2021, an increase from its previous guidance of $2.4 billion. In July, Oncor's board of directors approved a 2022 capital plan of $2.8 billion, an increase from Oncor's previous 2022 guidance range of between $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion. Oncor's management also currently expects to recommend to its board of directors capital expenditures of $2.7 billion to $3.0 billion in each of the years 2023 through 2026, for a 2022-2026 capital plan projection of approximately $14.0 billion compared to the previous 2021-2025 capital plan guidance of $12.2 billion. Oncor's increased capital plan projections are due to Texas's continued and expected growth in premises, transmission interconnection requests and renewable generation interconnections, as well as additional anticipated grid resiliency investments. Approximately 97% of Oncor's capital expenditures are recoverable in rates through trackers.

Oncor serves many of the country's fastest growing cities and counties. Since 2018, Oncor has seen approximately 2% year over year premises growth and expects this to continue, especially in the Dallas/Ft. Worth region. In the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2021, Oncor connected approximately 23,000 and 43,000 additional premises, respectively.

New transmission interconnection requests are on pace to exceed prior 2018 record levels by 30 percent. Transmission interconnection requests increased in the second quarter, driven by an increase in requests relating to data centers, crypto-currency mining and oil and gas development. Currently, Oncor has more than ten cryptocurrency related requests in queue across its service territory, with electric load requirements ranging from 5 MW to 1.5 GW. A growing emphasis on process electrification has also resulted in an increase in requests in West Texas.

Operational Highlights

In the second quarter of 2021, Oncor completed its joint project with Lubbock Power and Light ("LP&L"), a municipal electricity utility company, owned by the City of Lubbock, Texas. The approximately $370 million project involved the build out of 175 miles of transmission lines and associated station work in the Lubbock and surrounding Texas panhandle areas to join the City of Lubbock to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas ("ERCOT") market, with the resulting assets split between Oncor and LP&L.

During the quarter, Oncor constructed and placed in service 47 miles of new build transmission lines, including 40 miles associated with the LP&L integration, 93 miles of re-build lines and 21 major substation projects.

On the consumer front, Oncor launched its Energy Collaborative Community, an online portal that brings innovation and communication together to create a new avenue for our customers to share real-time feedback and perspective on how Oncor can better meet customer needs and expectations.

2020 Corporate Sustainability Overview

This morning, Oncor released its 2020 Corporate Sustainability Overview, highlighting environmental, social and governance issues related to the company. The report is available on Oncor's website at oncor.com, under the Investor Relations section.

Rate Proceeding Update

In May, Oncor filed an application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas ("PUCT") requesting to extend its deadline for filing a base-rate case from October 1, 2021 to June 1, 2022. All of the stakeholders represented in Oncor's previous rate and other related PUCT proceedings either supported or were unopposed to the requested extension. On July 29, 2021, the PUCT approved the extension.

Sempra Internet Broadcast Today

Sempra (NYSE: SRE) (BMV: SRE) will broadcast a live discussion of its earnings results over the Internet today at 12 p.m. ET that will include discussion of second quarter 2021 results and other information relating to Oncor. Oncor Chief Executive Officer Allen Nye will also participate in the broadcast. Access is available by logging onto Sempra's website, sempra.com. An accompanying slide presentation will also be posted at sempra.com. For those unable to participate in the live webcast, a replay of Sempra's teleconference will be available a few hours after its conclusion on Sempra's website or by dialing (888) 203-1112 and entering passcode 1398783.

Oncor's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2021 will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after Sempra's conference call and once filed, will also be available on Oncor's website, oncor.com.

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC Table A  Condensed Statements of Consolidated Net Income Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020; $ millions





Q2 '21

Q2 '20

YTD '21

YTD '20





Operating revenues

$ 1,147

$ 1,090

$ 2,286

$ 2,162 Operating expenses:























Wholesale transmission service



260



233



509



478 Operation and maintenance



232



212



467



444 Depreciation and amortization



209



196



414



389 Provision in lieu of income taxes



36



38



72



67 Taxes other than amounts related to income taxes



135



126



275



257 Total operating expenses



872



805



1,737



1,635 Operating income



275



285



549



527 Other deductions and (income) - net



7



10



14



23 Nonoperating benefit in lieu of income taxes



(3)



(3)



(6)



(6) Interest expense and related charges



102



102



204



203 Net income

$ 169

$ 176

$ 337

$ 307

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC Table B  Condensed Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020; $ millions



















YTD '21

YTD '20









Cash flows  operating activities:











Net income

$ 337

$ 307 Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities:











Depreciation and amortization, including regulatory amortization



454



429 Provision in lieu of deferred income taxes - net



37



14 Other  net



1



(1) Changes in operating assets and liabilities:











Regulatory accounts related to reconcilable tariffs



(61)



(7) Other operating assets and liabilities



(245)



(153) Cash provided by operating activities



523



589 Cash flows  financing activities:











Issuances of long-term debt



770



1,265 Repayment of long-term debt



-



(465) Net change in short-term borrowings



(63)



(39) Capital contributions from members



125



174 Distributions to members



(192)



(183) Debt discount and financing costs  net



(2)



(35) Cash provided by financing activities



638



717 Cash flows  investing activities:











Capital expenditures



(1,224)



(1,283) Expenditures for third party in joint project



(65)



(27) Reimbursement from third party in joint project



91



13 Other  net



17



11 Cash used in investing activities



(1,181)



(1,286) Net change in cash and cash equivalents



(20)



20 Cash and cash equivalents  beginning balance



27



4 Cash and cash equivalents  ending balance

$ 7

$ 24



















Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC Table C  Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets At June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020; $ millions



















At 6/30/21

At 12/31/20





ASSETS Current assets:











Cash and cash equivalents

$ 7

$ 27 Trade accounts receivable  net



765



760 Amounts receivable from members related to income taxes



22



7 Materials and supplies inventories  at average cost



149



144 Prepayments and other current assets



99



100 Total current assets



1,042



1,038 Investments and other property



149



142 Property, plant and equipment  net



21,998



21,225 Goodwill



4,740



4,740 Regulatory assets



1,898



1,779 Operating lease ROU, third party joint project and other assets



168



248 Total assets

$ 29,995

$ 29,172

LIABILITIES AND MEMBERSHIP INTERESTS Current liabilities:











Short-term borrowings

$ 7

$ 70 Long-term debt due currently



1,150



- Trade accounts payable



355



392 Amounts payable to members related to income taxes



14



23 Accrued taxes other than amounts related to income taxes



176



269 Accrued interest



86



87 Operating lease and other current liabilities



276



279 Total current liabilities



2,064



1,120 Long-term debt, less amounts due currently



8,853



9,229 Liability in lieu of deferred income taxes



1,997



1,923 Regulatory liabilities



2,856



2,855 Employee benefit obligations



1,792



1,808 Operating lease, third party joint project and other obligations



226



305 Total liabilities



17,788



17,240 Commitments and contingencies











Membership interests:











Capital account  number of units outstanding 2021 and 2020 

635,000,000



12,353



12,083 Accumulated other comprehensive loss



(146)



(151) Total membership interests



12,207



11,932 Total liabilities and membership interests

$ 29,995

$ 29,172

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC Table D  Operating Statistics Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020; mixed measures









































Q2 '21

Q2 '20

YTD '21

YTD '20

Operating statistics:

















Electric energy volumes (gigawatt-hours):

















Residential

9,987

11,002

20,893

20,419

Commercial, industrial, small business and other

22,902

20,036

42,673

41,039

Total electric energy volumes

32,889

31,038

63,566

61,458

Reliability statistics (a):

























System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) (nonstorm)















81.8



82.1

System Average Interruption Frequency Index

(SAIFI) (nonstorm)















1.3



1.3

Customer Average Interruption Duration Index

(CAIDI) (nonstorm)















61.1



64.8

Electricity distribution points of delivery (based on

number of active meters)  end of period and in

thousands















3,804



3,723



________________ (a) SAIDI is the average number of minutes electric service is interrupted per consumer in a year. SAIFI is the average number of electric service interruptions per consumer in a year. CAIDI is the average duration in minutes per electric service interruption in a year. The statistics presented are based on twelve months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 data.

***

Headquartered in Dallas, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC is a regulated electricity distribution and transmission business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor (together with its subsidiaries) operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, delivering power to more than 3.8 million homes and businesses and operating more than 139,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. While Oncor is owned by two investors (indirect majority owner, Sempra, and minority owner, Texas Transmission Investment LLC), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of disinterested directors.

***

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to Oncor within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "expects," "estimates," "projected," "intends," "plans," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "should," "target," "goal," "objective" and "outlook"), are forward-looking statements. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: legislation, governmental policies and orders and regulatory actions; legal and administrative proceedings and settlements, including the exercise of equitable powers by courts; weather conditions and other natural phenomena; health epidemics and pandemics, including the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Oncor's business and the economy in general; acts of sabotage, wars or terrorist or cyber security threats or activities; economic conditions, including the impact of a recessionary environment; unanticipated population growth or decline, or changes in market demand and demographic patterns; ERCOT grid needs; changes in business strategy, development plans or vendor relationships; unanticipated changes in interest rates or rates of inflation; unanticipated changes in operating expenses, liquidity needs and capital expenditures; inability of various counterparties to meet their financial obligations to us, including failure of counterparties to perform under agreements; general industry trends; hazards customary to the industry and the possibility that we may not have adequate insurance to cover losses resulting from such hazards; changes in technology used by and services offered by us; significant changes in our relationship with our employees, including the availability of qualified personnel, and the potential adverse effects if labor disputes or grievances were to occur; changes in assumptions used to estimate costs of providing employee benefits, including pension and retiree benefits, and future funding requirements related thereto; significant changes in critical accounting policies material to us; commercial bank and financial market conditions, access to capital, the cost of such capital, and the results of financing and refinancing efforts, including availability of funds in the capital markets and the potential impact of disruptions in U.S. credit markets; circumstances which may contribute to future impairment of goodwill, intangible or other long-lived assets; financial and other restrictions under our debt agreements; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to make interest payments on our debt instruments; actions by credit rating agencies; and our ability to effectively execute our operational strategy.

Further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations is contained in filings made by Oncor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, Oncor makes reference to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its annual and quarterly reports. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Oncor undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Oncor Electric Delivery Company, LLC
DUBLIN, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Agricultural Machinery Market - Forecasts from 2021 to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global agricultural machinery market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.12% over the forecast period to reach a market size of US$214.220 billion in 2026, from US$124.027 billion in 2019. The market is expected to surge in the coming years, due to the rise in global food security, adoption of novel and advanced agricultural machines and equipment for better yield and output, and other related factors. With the and shrink and the reduction in the area of arable land, worldwide, it has become imperative for agricultural players and farmers to minimize the waste and use better and advanced equipment and machines for harvesting, cultivation, and others.

The growth in global and urban population, rise in disposable income is expected to have a positive impact on the market, in the coming years. According to the data given by the world bank, globally, around 55% of the population resides in urban areas in the year 2019. By the year 2045, the global urban population is expected to increase and surge by around 1.5 times to approx. 6 billion people. This development is expected to increase the demand for global food security, which is expected to be one of the major drivers for the market, during the forecast period. Moreover, major companies have been investing a significant sum of capital to develop novel and advanced agricultural machinery for the market. These developments are expected to have a positive impact on the market, during the forecast period.



Focus on Food Security



Increasing focus on food security is expected to be one of the major drivers of the market. Factors such as the rise in population, climatic change, rise and surge in disposable income, and growth in water scarcity, globally, are pressurizing governments and institutions, worldwide, to combat food insecurity challenges. According to a new global report on the food crisis by the United Nations, approx. 108 million people in the world were suffering from food insecurity in the year 2016. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic had also put a significant number of people below the poverty line and had severely impacted their growth. Rising population is also leading to expanding urbanization which, in turn, is leading to a decline in the available arable land area in the world. Given the limited scope for expanding agricultural land and the available water resources, the agricultural sector is required to improve productivity with efficient resources and advanced machinery and solutions, to secure crops to meet the mushrooming food demand. According to the United Nations, the global population is expected to grow by 2.3 billion, between the years 2009 and 2050, to reach 9.1 billion.



The global demand for cereals, for both animal feed and food, is expected to reach approx. 3 billion tonnes by the year 2050. With the increasing agricultural trade, globally, the demand for good and cordial quality food had increased at an exponential rate, in the last few years. Food security and protection have become imperative and essential, as the countries have been demanding high-quality food and crops for their respective citizens and population. According to the World Trade Organisation, agricultural products exports saw the biggest surge of 3.1%, per year, and rose by 36% in the year 2018, as compared to 2008. There is sufficient evidence that suggests that mechanization has a positive impact on productivity, agricultural profitability and has enhanced the rural landscape. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation had concluded and specified that the major aim of agricultural mechanization is to reduce labor. Moreover, increasing overall productivity by growing the level of cultivated land, updating and enhancing executive operations to get more power, moving towards rapid industrialization, and improving and enhancing the livelihood of rural farmers are some of the major goals and tasks of agricultural mechanization.



Novel Developments.



Major companies have been investing a significant sum of capital into the innovation, advancement of novel machinery and equipment. It has been proved that with industrial growth, mechanization technology changes and varies, and this ensures the overall social and economic progress of the farmers. In western countries, such as the United States and Canada, the adoption of novel and advanced machinery has enhanced their agriculture sector. In the Asia Pacific region, there is a huge dependence on manual labor, but with the increasing income, favorable government policies, the agricultural machinery market in the region is expected to surge at an exponential rate, during the forecast period. Moreover, the legalization of cannabis in some regions, worldwide, is also expected to have a positive impact on the market. Advanced and innovative machinery is used in the cultivation of cannabis buds and flowers, which is expected to drive the market.

Some of the latest and novel developments in the market are:

In May 2021 , Proxecto, one of the key players in the market, announced the launch of India's novel and fully automated Hybrid tractor. The novel tractor doesn't contain battery packs. The company had stated that their novel HAV S1 Series would be available to the Indian farmers for sale. This development is expected to enhance the company's portfolio during the forecast period.

, Proxecto, one of the key players in the market, announced the launch of novel and fully automated Hybrid tractor. The novel tractor doesn't contain battery packs. The company had stated that their novel HAV S1 Series would be available to the Indian farmers for sale. This development is expected to enhance the company's portfolio during the forecast period. In May 2021 , Monarch Tractor, a California -based startup had announced the development of a novel, electric, and self-driving tractor. The company had stated that their novel product would save farmers a plethora of money in fuel and labor costs, annually. The company's self-driving tractor could be pre-programmed and would be able to finish and complete all tasks on its own. The novel vehicle would also be able to be controlled remotely via an application.

, Monarch Tractor, a -based startup had announced the development of a novel, electric, and self-driving tractor. The company had stated that their novel product would save farmers a plethora of money in fuel and labor costs, annually. The company's self-driving tractor could be pre-programmed and would be able to finish and complete all tasks on its own. The novel vehicle would also be able to be controlled remotely via an application. In May 2021 , HHH Hemp Harvesting Technology, a German-based company, had announced the signing of a novel sales and distribution agreement for the North American market. The company has been witnessing strong demand for its innovation and breakthrough of cannabis bud stripping technology. The company has also announced a partnership with a Canadian company known as Craftfarma. This development is expected to enhance the company's portfolio during the forecast period.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porters Five Forces Analysis

4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis



5. Global Agricultural Machinery Market Analysis, By Type

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Tractors

5.3. Automatic Sprayer

5.4. Harvesters

5.5. Shredder

5.6. Others



6. Global Agricultural Machinery Market Analysis, By Application

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Irrigation

6.3. Soil Cultivation

6.4. Harvesting

6.5. Traction and Power

6.6. Pest Control

6.7. Others



7. Global Agricultural Machinery Market Analysis, by Geography

7.1. Introduction

7.2. North America

7.2.1. United States

7.2.2. Canada

7.2.3. Mexico

7.3. South America

7.3.1. Brazil

7.3.2. Argentina

7.3.3. Others

7.4. Europe

7.4.1. UK

7.4.2. Germany

7.4.3. France

7.4.4. Italy

7.4.5. Others

7.5. The Middle East and Africa

7.5.1. Saudi Arabia

7.5.2. South Africa

7.5.3. Others

7.6. Asia Pacific

7.6.1. Japan

7.6.2. China

7.6.3. India

7.6.4. South Korea

7.6.5. Taiwan

7.6.6. Thailand

7.6.7. Indonesia

7.6.8. Others



8. Competitive Environment and Analysis

8.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

8.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

8.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

8.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



9. Company Profiles

9.1. Massey Ferguson

9.2. AGCO Corporation

9.3. CLAAS Agricultural Machinery Pvt. Ltd.

9.4. Deere & Company

9.5. Kubota Corporation

9.6. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

9.7. Kverneland Group

9.8. KUHN S.A.

9.9. Tractor and Farm Equipment's Ltd.

9.10. Escorts Group



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bpoefz

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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TORONTO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Quarterhill Inc. ("Quarterhill" or the "Company") (TSX: QTRH) (OTCQX: QTRHF), announces its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. All financial information in this press release is reported in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Q2 Fiscal 2021 Highlights

Consolidated Revenue was $18.9 million

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA 1 was ($3.0) million . The Intelligent Transportation Systems ("ITS") segment generated $2.7 million of positive Adjusted EBITDA

was . The Intelligent Transportation Systems ("ITS") segment generated of positive Adjusted EBITDA Consolidated cash generated from operations was $1.7 million

Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $122.7 million at June 30, 2021

at Working capital was $138.5 million at June 30, 2021

at Acquired VDS GmbH ("VDS"), a German Intelligent Transportation Systems ("ITS") provider of high precision traffic monitoring devices

Ongoing integration of Sensor Line (acquired in January 2021 ) and VDS, which has already led to revenue and cost synergies

"In Q2, we continued to make progress on our M&A strategy acquiring VDS, which was our second acquisition of the year," said Paul Hill, President and CEO of Quarterhill. "The two acquisitions were tuck-ins for our wholly-owned subsidiary International Road Dynamics Inc. ("IRD") and the integration of both companies is going very well. Already, we are generating new revenue opportunities, realizing cost synergies and laying the groundwork for IRD's further expansion into Europe. Looking out through the remainder of the year, we have a robust pipeline of M&A opportunities of all sizes and are intent on completing more transactions, with a particular focus right now on larger sized deals."

"On the operational front, IRD delivered solid revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 and the two tuck-in acquisitions demonstrate the global platform potential of the business and their ability to identify, acquire, integrate and grow acquired companies. Our other wholly-owned subsidiary, WiLAN Inc. ("WiLAN"), has generated licensing activity year-to-date despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but overall, its financial results so far in 2021 reflect the episodic nature of the IP industry business model. On an annual basis, WiLAN has historically delivered significant cash flows and we continue to expect that for 2021. This means we are looking for a strong second half from the business and we remain encouraged by the pipeline of opportunities the team is working on."

Approval of Eligible Dividend

The Board of Directors has declared an eligible quarterly dividend of $0.0125 per common share payable on October 8, 2021, to shareholders of record on September 10, 2021.

Q2 Fiscal 2021 Financial Review

The Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and for the respective comparison periods have been prepared to reflect continuing operations and therefore exclude results in 2020 during those periods from VIZIYA, which was sold by Quarterhill on May 15, 2020. The 2020 operating results from VIZIYA, up to the date of sale on May 15, 2020, are reported as net loss from discontinued operations in accordance with IFRS 5.

Quarterhill's revenue is broadly segmented into Licensing, reflecting the WiLAN business, and ITS, reflecting the IRD business. Quarterhill's Management's Discussion and Analysis and Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 are available at the Company's website and at its profile at SEDAR .

Consolidated revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2021 ("Q2 2021") were $18.9 million, compared to $16.8 million in Q2 2020. Consolidated revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2021 ("YTD 2021") were $38.2 million, compared to $38.4 million in the same period last year. Revenue at IRD increased in Q2 2021 and YTD 2021 due primarily to the two acquisitions completed in 2021 as well as resilience in its core business, which has performed well throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. WiLAN's revenue increased in Q2 2021 and was lower in the YTD 2021 period compared to the respective periods in the prior year. The majority of WiLAN's licenses are one-time in nature and significant fluctuations in revenue, gross margin, and Adjusted EBITDA can result when the volume or dollar value of licenses changes from one period to the next. Despite headwinds related to the COVID-19 pandemic, WiLAN continues to show it can complete licensing agreements in a challenging environment and a stronger second half to 2021 is expected as pandemic-related restrictions ease.

Gross margin for Q2 2021 was 18% compared to 25% in Q2 2020. Gross margin for the YTD 2021 period was 26% compared to 30% in the same period last year. Gross margin at IRD was 37% in Q2 2021 compared to 42% in Q2 2020, and for the YTD 2021 period was 39%, compared to 35% in the same period last year. IRD margins may fluctuate on a quarterly basis depending primarily on the nature of projects underway during the period and the related margin profile. WiLAN gross margins decreased in the quarter and YTD period primarily due to higher litigation and contingent legal and partner costs compared to the same periods last year.

Operating expenses include selling, general and administrative costs ("SG&A"), research and development costs ("R&D"), depreciation and amortization and special charges. Operating expenses for Q2 2021 were $12.2 million compared to $12.6 million in Q2 2020. Operating expenses for the YTD 2021 period were $24.7 million compared to $25.2 million in the same period last year. Operating expenses were lower for the quarterly and YTD 2021 periods primarily due to lower amortization of intangibles and special charges, which were offset, in part, by the addition of expenses from the acquired ITS companies.

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for Q2 2021 was ($3.0) million compared to ($2.0) million in Q2 2020. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for the YTD 2021 period was ($3.4) million compared to ($1.8) million in the same period last year. IRD generated Adjusted EBITDA of $2.7 million in Q2 2021 and $4.1 million for the YTD 2021 period. WiLAN's Adjusted EBITDA for Q2 2021 was ($3.9) million and for the YTD 2021 period was ($2.7) million.

Cash generated from (used in) continuing operations for Q2 2021 was $1.7 million compared to ($4.3) million in Q2 2020. Cash generated from (used in) continuing operations for the YTD 2021 period was ($4.1) million compared to $5.4 million in the same period last year. Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $122.7 million at June 30, 2021, compared to $141.3 million at December 31, 2020. Working capital at June 30, 2021, was $138.5 million compared to $159.7 million at December 31, 2020.

Conference Call and Webcast

Quarterhill will host a conference call to discuss its financial results today at 10:00 AM Eastern Time.

Webcast Information

The live audio webcast will be available at:

https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1479850&tp_key=3c86cac3c6

Dial-in Information

To access the call from Canada and U.S., dial 1.888.664.6392 (Toll Free)

and U.S., dial 1.888.664.6392 (Toll Free) To access the call from other locations, dial 1.416.764.8659 (International)

Replay Information

Webcast replay will be available for 365 days at:

https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1479850&tp_key=3c86cac3c6

Telephone replay will be available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on May 13, 2021 at: 1.888.390.0541 (Toll Free North America) or 1.416.764.8677 (International).The telephone replay requires the passcode 353765.

1Non-IFRS Disclosure

Quarterhill has historically used a set of metrics when evaluating our operational and financial performance. We continually monitor, evaluate and update these metrics as required to ensure they provide information considered most useful, in the opinion of our management, to any decision-making based on Quarterhill's performance. This section defines, quantifies and analyzes the key performance indicators used by our management and referred to elsewhere in this press release, which are not recognized under IFRS and have no standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. These indicators and measures are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

In this press release, we use the Non-IFRS term "Adjusted EBITDA" to mean net income (loss) from continuing operations before: (i) income taxes; (ii) finance expense or income; (iii) amortization and impairment of intangibles; (iv) special charges and other one-time items; (v) depreciation of right-of-use assets and property, plant and equipment; (vi) stock-based compensation; (vii) foreign exchange (gain) loss; and (viii) equity in earnings and dividends from joint ventures. Adjusted EBITDA is used by our management to assess our normalized cash generated on a consolidated basis and in our operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA is also a performance measure that may be used by investors to analyze the cash generated by Quarterhill and our operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA should not be interpreted as an alternative to net income and cash flows from operations as determined in accordance with IFRS or as a measure of liquidity.

About Quarterhill

Quarterhill is focused on acquisition, management and growth of companies in the intelligent transportation systems ("ITS") and innovation and licensing industries. Our goal is to execute an investment strategy that capitalizes on attractive growth opportunities within ITS - and its adjacent markets - to become a global leader in that industry. Quarterhill is listed on the TSX under the symbol QTRH and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol QTRHF. For more information: www.quarterhill.com

Forward-looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding Quarterhill and its business. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by Quarterhill in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and the expected effects of new business strategies, as well as other factors that Quarterhill believes are appropriate in the circumstances. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed herein may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Quarterhill, including: potential risks and uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"); the severity of the disease; the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak; actions that may be taken by governmental authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak or to treat its impact; the potential negative impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and financial markets and any resulting impact on Quarterhill and/or its business. Other factors include, without limitation, the risks described in Quarterhill's March 11, 2021 annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the "AIF"). Copies of the AIF may be obtained at www.sedar.com. Quarterhill recommends that readers review and consider all of these risk factors and notes that readers should not place undue reliance on any of Quarterhill's forward-looking statements. Quarterhill has no intention, and undertakes no obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Quarterhill Inc. Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income and Comprehensive (Loss) Income (Unaudited) (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)





















Three months ended June 30,

Six months ended June 30, CONTINUING OPERATIONS

2021

2020

2021

2020 Revenues















Licensing

$ 1,750



$ 320



$ 9,598



$ 10,520 Intelligent Transportation Systems

17,125



16,504



28,593



27,917



18,875



16,824



38,191



38,437 Direct cost of revenues















Licensing

4,854



3,062



10,723



8,830 Intelligent Transportation Systems

10,711



9,594



17,521



18,013



15,565



12,656



28,244



26,843 Gross profit

3,310



4,168



9,947



11,594 Operating expenses















Depreciation of right-of-use assets

304



237



583



481 Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

256



247



489



471 Amortization of intangible assets

4,351



4,848



8,838



9,590 Selling, general and administrative expenses

6,336



5,826



13,411



12,121 Research and development expenses

579



555



973



1,424 Impairment losses on intangible assets





233







233 Special charges

343



659



382



872



12,169



12,605



24,676



25,192 Results from operations

(8,859)



(8,437)



(14,729)



(13,598) Finance income

(33)



(160)



(54)



(382) Finance expense

112



118



181



214 Foreign exchange loss (gain)

107



(3)



(18)



(585) Other income

(556)



(431)



(1,186)



(809) Loss before taxes

(8,489)



(7,961)



(13,652)



(12,036)

















Current income tax expense

230



78



774



1,344 Deferred income tax recovery

(2,343)



(3,052)



(3,763)



(3,481) Income tax recovery

(2,113)



(2,974)



(2,989)



(2,137)

















Net loss from continuing operations

(6,376)



(4,987)



(10,663)



(9,899) Net income from discontinued operations





14,455







14,255 Net (loss) income

$ (6,376)



$ 9,468



$ (10,663)



$ 4,356

















Other comprehensive (loss) income that may be

reclassified subsequently to net (loss) income:















Foreign currency translation adjustment

(3,112)



(11,188)



(6,846)



9,875 Comprehensive (loss) income

$ (9,488)



$ (1,720)



$ (17,509)



$ 14,231

















(Loss) income per share















From continuing operations

$ (0.06)



$ (0.04)



$ (0.09)



$ (0.08) From discontinued operations





0.12





0.12 (Loss) income per share - Basic

$ (0.06)



$ 0.08



$ (0.09)



$ 0.04 From continuing operations

$ (0.06)



$ (0.04)



$ (0.09)



$ (0.08) From discontinued operations





0.12





0.12 (Loss) income per share - Diluted

$ (0.06)



$ 0.08



$ (0.09)



$ 0.04

Quarterhill Inc.







Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (Unaudited)



(in thousands of Canadian dollars)

















As at

June 30, 2021

December 31, 2020 Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 119,863



$ 135,700 Short-term investments

2,848



5,550 Restricted short-term investments

3,025



 Accounts receivable

12,298



13,747 Unbilled revenue

10,922



13,549 Income taxes recoverable

239



264 Inventories (net of obsolescence)

10,971



9,068 Prepaid expenses and deposits

3,537



8,264



163,703



186,142 Non-current assets







Accounts receivable

494



506 Prepaid expenses and deposits

534



338 Right-of-use assets, net

4,484



3,780 Property, plant and equipment, net

2,844



2,783 Intangible assets, net

53,405



59,261 Investment in joint venture

7,776



6,704 Deferred income tax assets

30,045



28,202 Goodwill

19,096



16,093



118,678



117,667 TOTAL ASSETS

$ 282,381



$ 303,809









Liabilities







Current liabilities







Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

$ 17,105



$ 20,038 Income taxes payable

892



631 Current portion of lease liabilities

1,332



1,012 Current portion of deferred revenue

5,909



4,800



25,238



26,481 Non-current liabilities







Deferred revenue

3,096



2,573 Long-term lease liabilities

3,157



2,747 Deferred income tax liabilities





78



6,253



5,398 TOTAL LIABILITIES

31,491



31,879









Shareholders' equity







Capital stock

543,977



547,537 Contributed surplus

49,133



46,250 Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income

(3,265)



3,581 Deficit

(338,955)



(325,438)



250,890



271,930 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

$ 282,381



$ 303,809

Quarterhill Inc.















Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited) (in thousands of Canadian Dollars)





















Three months ended June 30,

Six months ended June 30,



2021

2020

2021

2020 Cash generated from (used in) operations















Net loss from continuing operations

$ (6,376)



$ (4,987)



$ (10,663)



$ (9,899) Non-cash items















Stock-based compensation expense

586



221



1,010



196 Depreciation of right-of-use assets

304



237



583



481 Interest expense on lease liabilities

34



56



84



112 Depreciation and amortization

4,607



5,095



9,327



10,061 Foreign exchange gain (loss)

78



(478)



(18)



(194) Equity in earnings from joint venture

(557)



(431)



(1,187)



(809) Gain on disposal of intangible assets

(53)











 Impairment losses on intangible assets





233







233 Gain on disposal of assets





(6)







(10) Deferred income tax recovery

(2,343)



(3,052)



(3,763)



(3,481) Long-term accounts receivable

12







12



 Embedded derivatives

(1)



121



5



(101) Changes in non-cash working capital balances

5,454



(1,267)



481



8,817 Cash generated from (used in) continuing operations

1,745



(4,258)



(4,129)



5,406 Net cash flows attributable to discontinuing operations





(2,478)







(3,075) Net cash generated from (used in) operating activities

1,745



(6,736)



(4,129)



2,331 Financing















Dividends paid

(1,473)







(2,854)



(1,481) Bank indebtedness





4,796







2,984 Payment of lease liabilities

(269)



(271)



(562)



(586) Repayment of long-term debt





(13)







(120) Exercise of stock options





14







14 Repurchase of shares for cancellation

(1,741)







(2,065)



 Common shares issued for cash on the exercise of

options

57







234



 Common shares issued from performance stock units













24 Cash (used in) generated from continuing

operations

financing activities

(3,426)



4,526



(5,247)



835 Net cash (used in) generated from financing activities

(3,426)



4,526



(5,247)



835 Investing















Proceeds from disposition of a subsidiary





49,400







49,400 Cash sold on disposition of a subsidiary





(1,825)







(1,825) Proceeds from short-term investments

3,000







3,000



 Purchase of restricted short-term investments

(3,025)







(3,025)



 Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment





12







16 Purchase of property, plant and equipment

(51)



(586)



(88)



(887) Acquisition of business, VDS

(2,780)







(2,780)



 Purchase of intangibles





(8)







(25) Cash (used in) generated from continuing

operations investing activities

(2,856)



46,993



(2,893)



46,679 Net cash flows attributable to discontinuing operations





(11)







(81) Net cash (used in) generated from

investing activities

(2,856)



46,982



(2,893)



46,598 Foreign exchange on cash held in foreign currency

(2,037)



(4,853)



(3,568)



3,881 Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

(6,574)



39,919



(15,837)



53,645 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of

126,437



101,596



135,700



87,870 Cash and cash equivalents, end of

$ 119,863



$ 141,515



$ 119,863



$ 141,515

Quarterhill Inc.









Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Equity (Unaudited) (in thousands of Canadian dollars)













Capital Stock Contributed

Surplus Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

(Loss) Income Deficit Total

Shareholders'

Equity January 1, 2020 $ 570,553

$ 32,011

$ 10,936

$ (338,297)

$ 275,203











Net income 





4,356

4,356 Other comprehensive income 



9,875



9,875 Stock-based compensation

expense 

196





196 Exercise of options 14







14 Common shares issued from

performance stock units 24







24 Dividends declared 





(2,943)

(2,943) June 30, 2020 $ 570,591

$ 32,207

$ 20,811

$ (336,884)

$ 286,725











January 1, 2021 $ 547,537

$ 46,250

$ 3,581

$ (325,438)

$ 271,930











Net loss 





(10,663)

(10,663) Repurchase of shares for

cancellation (4,027)

1,962





(2,065) Other comprehensive loss 



(6,846)



(6,846) Stock-based compensation

expense

1,010





1,010 Exercise of options 331

(97)





234 Common shares issued from

restricted stock units 124

20





144 Common shares issued from

performance stock units 12

(12)





 Dividends declared 





(2,854)

(2,854) June 30, 2021 $ 543,977

$ 49,133

$ (3,265)

$ (338,955)

$ 250,890

Quarterhill Inc.











Reconciliation of Net loss to Adjusted EBITDA (Unaudited) (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)

















Three months ended June 30,



2021

2020



$ Per Share

$ Per Share Net loss from continuing operations

$ (6,376)

$ (0.06)



$ (4,987)

$ (0.04) Adjusted for:











Income tax expense (recovery)

(2,113)

(0.01)



(2,974)

(0.03) Foreign exchange gain

107





(3)

 Finance expense (income), net

79





(42)

 Special charges

343





659

0.01 Impairment losses on intangible assets







233

 Depreciation and amortization

4,911

0.04



5,332

0.04 Stock based compensation expense (recovery)

586





221

 Other income

(556)





(431)

 Adjusted EBITDA

$ (3,019)

$ (0.03)



$ (1,992)

$ (0.02)













Weighted average number of Common Shares











Basic



114,054,045





118,861,166



Six months ended June 30,

2021

2020

$ Per Share

$ Per Share Net loss from continuing operations $ (10,663)

$ (0.09)



$ (9,899)

$ (0.08) Adjusted for:









Income tax recovery (2,989)

(0.03)



(2,137)

(0.02) Foreign exchange gain (18)





(585)

 Finance expense (income), net 127





(168)

 Special charges 382





872

0.01 Impairment losses on intangible assets 





233

 Depreciation and amortization 9,910

0.09



10,542

0.08 Stock based compensation expense 1,010

0.01



196

 Other income (1,186)

(0.01)



(809)

(0.01) Adjusted EBITDA $ (3,427)

$ (0.03)



$ (1,755)

(0.02)











Weighted average number of Common Shares









Basic

114,230,204





118,846,724

SOURCE Quarterhill Inc.

Related Links

https://www.quarterhill.com/


RADNOR, Pa., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been against RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX) ("RLX") on behalf of those who purchased or acquired RLX American Depository Shares ("ADSs") pursuant or traceable to RLX's January 2021 initial public stock offering (the "IPO").

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 9, 2021

Website: https://www.ktmc.com/rlx-technology-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=rlx_technology

Contact: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453

Toll free (844) 887-9500

RLX claims to be the "No. 1 branded e-vapor company in China," which it also claims is its "largest potential market." On January 22, 2021, the defendants priced the IPO at $12 per ADS and filed the final prospectus for the IPO, which forms part of the Registration Statement.

On June 2, 2021 RLX published its first quarter 2021 financial results, announcing only a 48% increase in net revenues quarter over quarter, and second quarter guidance suggesting that its gross margin would "remain steady." Following this news, RLX's shares declined, closing on June 4, 2021 at $9.90 per ADS, down nearly 9% from its June 3, 2021 close of $10.87 per ADS. Before the commencement of the lawsuit, RLX's shares traded as low as $7.89 per ADS, or more than 32% below the IPO price.

RLX investors may, no later than August 9, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

James Maro, Jr., Esq.

280 King of Prussia Road

Radnor, PA 19087

(844) 887-9500 (toll free)

[email protected]

SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

Related Links

http://www.ktmc.com


LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboMarkets, the company that provides financial services to European clients, has won the "Best Value Broker Global 2021" within the framework of the World Economic Awards. The organizing committee highly rated the variety and quality of the investment services provided by the company, as well as their availability to clients in comparison with competitors in the industry.

It should be emphasized that RoboMarkets is a multi-asset broker that offers to trade 8 asset types and over 12,000 instruments. Moreover, the company's clients get access to professional trading platforms and the latest proprietary technologies.

The World Economic Awards organizers highlighted the following advantages of RoboMarkets:

Competitive trading conditions

Opportunity to trade on 5 account types for clients with different experiences.

Availability of both world-famous and proprietary trading solutions.

Security of clients' funds.

The World Economic Awards event is intended to emphasize the spirit of revolutionaries on the global financial market. Awards are presented for the effectiveness of both B2B and B2C companies, as well as to opinion leaders, who redefine their values to support in today's dynamic innovative economy. Winners are chosen and decided absolutely for free. A research team independently collects data from different public sources and rates nominees based on a lot of factors, such as success in the market, stability, business growth (steady or fast), innovations, etc.

Konstantin Rashap, Chief Business Officer at RoboMarkets, is commenting on the award reception: "This award is very important for us because it means that an independent committee recognized our services as the best on the global market in 2021. We're very pleased to get such a high grade for our work and achievements. However, awards are not a reason for resting on laurel, just the other way around, it's an excellent motivation to move forwards and put more effort to provide our clients with the best investment services on the market."

About RoboMarkets

RoboMarkets is a European broker with the CySEC license No. 191/13. RoboMarkets offers brokerage services in many European countries by providing traders, who work on financial markets, with access to its proprietary trading platforms. More detailed information can be found on the official website at robomarkets.com.

SOURCE RoboMarkets
TORONTO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Russel Metals Inc. (TSX: RUS) announces financial results for three months ended June 30, 2021.

Revenues of $1,068 Million and Record EBITDA of $178 Million

Liquidity of $514 Million and Net Debt to Invested Capital 10%



Three Months Ended Six Months Ended

Jun 30 2021 Jun 30 2020 Mar 31 2021 Jun 30 2021 Jun 30 2020 Revenues $ 1,068 $ 588 $ 885 $ 1,954 $ 1,403 EBITDA1 178 32 129 307 67 Adjusted EBITDA1 178 32 129 307 71 Net Income 118 5 81 198 15 Earnings per share 1.88 0.07 1.29 3.18 0.24 Cash from Operating Activities 110 116 96 206 184 Dividends Paid per common share 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.76 0.76

All amounts are reported in millions of Canadian dollars except per share figures, which are in Canadian dollars. 1 Adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA are non-GAAP measures. Adjusted EBITDA represent earnings before long-lived asset impairment, interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Our Management's Discussion and Analysis includes additional information regarding these non-GAAP measures, including a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, under the headings "Non-GAAP Measures", "Reconciliation of net earnings to Adjusted EBITDA".

Our basic earnings per share of $1.88 for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 was a record and significantly higher than the $0.07 per share recorded in the second quarter of 2020 and the $1.29 recorded in the 2021 first quarter. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, our basic earnings per share of $3.18 compared to $0.24 for the same period in 2020. Revenues of $1.1 billion were higher than the $588 million experienced in second quarter of 2020. Our gross margins improved to 30.7% compared to 18.7% in the same quarter of 2020 and 28.8% in the 2021 first quarter.

Our EBITDA was $178 million for the quarter compared to $32 million in the same quarter of 2020 and $129 million for the 2021 first quarter. During the 2021 second quarter, EBITDA was reduced by $8 million related to the mark-to-market of non-cash stock-based compensation due to the increased share price during the quarter as compared to $2 million for the 2021 first quarter.

Each of our business segments generated a substantial improvement in operating profit as compared to the same quarter of 2020 and the 2021 first quarter. In the 2021 second quarter, our metals service centers segment reported record operating profits and return on net assets, as this segment continued to maximize margin opportunities from the strong market conditions and realize the benefits from our value-added processing initiatives. Our steel distributors segment benefited from improved demand, higher steel prices and low inventories in the supply chain, and reported strong growth in both revenues and operating profit. In our energy products segment, the recovery of oil and natural gas prices and the relatively mild spring break up in Canada led to improved operating profit in what is typically a seasonally slow second quarter.

Market Conditions

Steel prices continued to rise in the 2021 second quarter. Metals service centers experienced an increase in selling price per ton of 53% compared to the 2020 second quarter and 19% compared to the 2021 first quarter. Tons shipped in metals service centers increased 25% from the same period in 2020 and 3% compared to the 2021 first quarter. The 2021 second quarter volumes were above the pre-pandemic level due to increased demand. Steel distributors also experienced an increase in demand and selling price per ton due to low inventory levels in the supply chain and product shortages. Demand in the energy products segments continues to recover, albeit at a slow pace.

OCTG and Line Pipe Business Changes

In mid-2020, we stated a goal of reducing the capital deployed in our OCTG and line pipe businesses by $100 million by the end of 2021. The rationale of lowering our exposure to the energy sector was to reduce earnings volatility and enhance our return on capital over the cycle. As of June 30, 2021, inventory at our OCTG and line pipe operations was $143 million which was a reduction of $129 million over the past year, including a $30 million reduction in the second quarter of 2021.

On July 6, 2021, we completed the transaction whereby we combined our Canadian OCTG and line pipe business with that of Marubeni-Itochu Tubulars America Inc. into a new joint venture called TriMark Tubulars Ltd. ("TriMark"). We contributed net assets with a book value of approximately $110 million, primarily comprised of inventories less accounts payable. As consideration, we received: (i) cash of $78 million; (ii) preferred shares with a face value of $32 million and an annual dividend rate of 7%; and (iii) a 50% common equity interest in the joint venture. In addition, we retained accounts receivable of approximately $32 million. In total, the transaction will result in a near term cash realization of approximately $110 million.

Our remaining OCTG and line pipe businesses are in the U.S., where we continue to liquidate the remaining inventory, which totaled approximately $23 million at June 30, 2021 compared to $40 million at March 31, 2021.

Liquidity and Capital Structure Improvements

During the 2021 second quarter, we generated $110 million of cash from operating activities and ended the quarter with total available liquidity of $514 million.

The improvements to our capital structure implemented in late 2020, contributed to an interest expense reduction of $3 million in the 2021 second quarter compared to the 2020 second quarter. On June 16, 2021, Moody's Investors Service upgraded our corporate credit rating from Ba3 to Ba2.

EBITDA

The following table shows the reconciliation of net earnings to EBITDA for 2021 and Adjusted EBITDA for 2020:



Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 (millions) 2021 2020 2021 2020 Net earnings $ 117.8 $ 4.6 $ 198.4 $ 15.1 Provision for income taxes 39.2 2.3 66.7 2.3 Interest, net 6.5 9.2 12.9 18.6 Asset impairment - - - 3.7 Earnings before, asset impairment interest







and income taxes 163.5 16.1 278.0 39.7 Depreciation and amortization 14.3 15.4 28.8 31.0 Earnings before interest, asset impairment,







income taxes, depreciation and amortization $ 177.8 $ 31.5 $ 306.8 $ 70.7

Declaration of Quarterly Dividends

The Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per common share payable September 15, 2021 to shareholders of record as of August 26, 2021. We will continue our practice of prudently reviewing our dividend and ensure that it is supported by a strong balance sheet and cash flows.

Outlook

Overall demand remains solid with strong backlogs, limited inventory in the supply chain and extended lead times expected to continue over the near term. The positive momentum of steel prices continues into the 2021 third quarter, however, gross margins are expected to moderate due to the rising cost of inventory. For metals service centers and steel distributors there is typically a seasonal slowdown in July and August due to a reduction in the number of operating days, but overall demand is expected to remain steady. Energy products continues to recover, consistent with rising energy demand.

The Company will be holding an Investor Conference Call on Friday, August 6, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. ET to review its 2021 second quarter results. The dial-in telephone numbers for the call are 416-764-8688 (Toronto and International callers) and 1-888-390-0546 (U.S. and Canada). Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the call to ensure that you get a line.

A replay of the call will be available at 416-764-8677 (Toronto and International callers) and 1-888-390-0541 (U.S. and Canada) until midnight, Friday, August 20, 2021. You will be required to enter pass code 418427# to access the call.

Additional supplemental financial information is available in our investor conference call package located on our website at www.russelmetals.com.

About Russel Metals Inc.

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy products and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals. Its energy products operations carry a specialized product line focused on the needs of energy industry customers. Its steel distributors operations act as master distributors selling steel in large volumes to other steel service centers and large equipment manufacturers mainly on an "as is" basis.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements as to our future capital expenditures, our outlook, the availability of future financing and our ability to pay dividends. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future performance. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us, inherently involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the factors described below.

We are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which could have a material adverse effect on our future profitability and financial position, including the risks and uncertainties listed below, which are important factors in our business and the metals distribution industry. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the volatility in metal prices; volatility in oil and natural gas prices; cyclicality of the metals industry; capital budgets in the energy industry; pandemics and epidemics; climate change; product claims; significant competition; sources of metals supply; manufacturers selling directly; material substitution; credit risk; currency exchange risk; restrictive debt covenants; asset impairments; the unexpected loss of key individuals; decentralized operating structure; future acquisitions; the failure of our key computer-based systems, labour interruptions; laws and governmental regulations; litigious environment; environmental liabilities; carbon emissions; health and safety laws and regulations; and common share risks.

While we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct, and our forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update our forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements including as a result of the risk factors described above and under the heading "Risk" in our MD&A and under the heading "Risk Management and Risks Affecting Our Business" in our most recent Annual Information Form and as otherwise disclosed in our filings with securities regulatory authorities which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving Press Releases, you may do so by emailing [email protected]; or by calling our Investor Relations Line: 905-816-5178.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (UNAUDITED)



Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 (in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share data) 2021 2020 2021 2020 Revenues $ 1,068.2 $ 588.1 $ 1,953.6 $ 1,402.8 Cost of materials 740.3 478.0 1,370.6 1,140.3 Employee expenses 103.1 55.7 187.7 123.6 Other operating expenses 61.3 38.3 117.3 99.2 Asset impairment - - - 3.7 Earnings before interest and







provision for income taxes 163.5 16.1 278.0 36.0 Interest expense 6.5 9.2 12.9 18.6 Earnings before provision for income taxes 157.0 6.9 265.1 17.4 Provision for income taxes 39.2 2.3 66.7 2.3 Net earnings for the period $ 117.8 $ 4.6 $ 198.4 $ 15.1 Basic earnings per common share $ 1.88 $ 0.07 $ 3.18 $ 0.24 Diluted earnings per common share $ 1.88 $ 0.07 $ 3.18 $ 0.24

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED)



Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 (in millions of Canadian dollars) 2021 2020 2021 2020 Net earnings for the period $ 117.8 $ 4.6 $ 198.4 $ 15.1 Other comprehensive (loss) income







Items that may be reclassified to earnings







Unrealized foreign exchange (losses) gains on







translation of foreign operations (7.4) (23.3) (13.8) 26.8 Items that may not be reclassified to earnings







Actuarial gains (losses) on pension and similar







obligations, net of taxes 1.6 (6.9) 18.1 (8.6) Other comprehensive (loss) income (5.8) (30.2) 4.3 18.2 Total comprehensive income (loss) $ 112.0 $ (25.6) $ 202.7 $ 33.3

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED)

(in millions of Canadian dollars) June 30

2021 December 31

2020 ASSETS



Current



Cash and cash equivalents $ 175.2 $ 26.3 Accounts receivable 529.5 344.0 Inventories 772.7 716.4 Prepaid and other 18.0 13.6 Income taxes receivable 10.0 19.8

1,505.4 1,120.1 Property, Plant and Equipment 263.6 269.5 Right-of-Use Assets 85.8 81.4 Deferred Income Tax Assets 3.2 5.9 Pension and Benefits 21.6 5.1 Financial and Other Assets 4.3 4.7 Goodwill and Intangibles 104.0 109.6

$ 1,987.9 $ 1,596.3 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY



Current



Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 489.4 $ 294.6 Short-term lease obligations 15.7 16.9 Income taxes payable 33.6 3.7

538.7 315.2 Long-Term Debt 294.2 293.7 Pensions and Benefits 5.6 13.0 Deferred Income Tax Liabilities 10.1 9.5 Long-term Lease Obligations 94.5 88.8 Provisions and Other Non-Current Liabilities 15.4 11.4

958.5 731.6 Shareholders' Equity



Common shares 557.3 546.2 Retained earnings 381.5 212.5 Contributed surplus 14.1 15.7 Accumulated other comprehensive income 76.5 90.3 Total Shareholders' Equity 1,029.4 864.7 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity $ 1,987.9 $ 1,596.3

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOW (UNAUDITED)



Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 (in millions of Canadian dollars) 2021 2020 2021 2020 Operating activities







Net earnings for the period $ 117.8 $ 4.6 $ 198.4 $ 15.1 Depreciation and amortization 14.3 15.4 28.8 31.0 Provision for income taxes 39.2 2.3 66.7 2.3 Interest expense 6.5 9.2 12.9 18.6 Gain on sale of property, plant and equipment (0.1) (0.1) (0.3) (0.2) Asset impairment - - - 3.7 Share-based compensation 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 Difference between pension expense and







amount funded 0.3 - 0.6 - Debt accretion, amortization and other 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.6 Interest paid, including interest on lease obligations (6.3) (11.3) (12.6) (18.1) Cash from operating activities before







non-cash working capital 172.0 20.5 295.1 53.2 Changes in non-cash working capital items







Accounts receivable (61.5) 150.7 (189.2) 141.1 Inventories (56.5) 34.3 (67.3) 34.0 Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 77.5 (93.8) 202.1 (47.3) Other (1.6) 4.0 (4.3) 3.6 Change in non-cash working capital (42.1) 95.2 (58.7) 131.4 Income tax paid, net (20.2) (0.1) (30.7) (0.9) Cash from operating activities 109.7 115.6 205.7 183.7 Financing activities







Decrease in bank indebtedness - (39.4) - (50.8) Issue of common shares 9.4 - 9.4 0.2 Dividends on common shares (23.8) (23.7) (47.5) (47.3) Lease obligations (4.0) (4.9) (7.9) (9.4) Cash used in financing activities (18.4) (68.0) (46.0) (107.3) Investing activities







Purchase of property, plant and equipment (6.8) (5.3) (12.7) (12.4) Proceeds on sale of property, plant and equipment 0.1 0.8 0.5 3.3 Cash used in investing activities (6.7) (4.5) (12.2) (9.1) Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents (1.7) (6.4) 1.4 5.8 Increase in cash and cash equivalents 82.9 36.7 148.9 73.1 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period 92.3 52.4 26.3 16.0 Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period $ 175.2 $ 89.1 $ 175.2 $ 89.1

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY (UNAUDITED)

(in millions of Canadian dollars) Common

Shares Retained

Earnings Contributed

Surplus Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income Total Balance, January 1, 2021 $ 546.2 $ 212.5 $ 15.7 $ 90.3 $ 864.7 Payment of dividends - (47.5) - - (47.5) Net earnings for the period - 198.4 - - 198.4 Other comprehensive income for the period - - - 4.3 4.3 Recognition of share-based compensation - - 0.1 - 0.1 Share options exercised 11.1 - (1.7) - 9.4 Transfer of net actuarial gains on defined benefit plans - 18.1 - (18.1) - Balance, June 30, 2021 $ 557.3 $ 381.5 $ 14.1 $ 76.5 $ 1,029.4











(in millions of Canadian dollars) Common

Shares Retained

Earnings Contributed

Surplus Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income Total Balance, January 1, 2020 $ 543.7 $ 284.5 $ 15.7 $ 100.7 $ 944.6 Payment of dividends - (47.3) - - (47.3) Net earnings for the period - 15.1 - - 15.1 Other comprehensive income for the period - - - 18.2 18.2 Recognition of share-based compensation - - 0.2 - 0.2 Share options exercised 0.3 - (0.1) - 0.2 Transfer of net actuarial losses on defined benefit plans - (8.6) - 8.6 - Balance, June 30, 2020 $ 544.0 $ 243.7 $ 15.8 $ 127.5 $ 931.0

SOURCE Russel Metals Inc.

Related Links

http://www.russelmetals.com


MECHANICSBURG, Pa., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Select Medical Holdings Corporation ("Select Medical," "we," "us," or "our") (NYSE: SEM) today announced results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021 and the declaration of a cash dividend.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, revenue increased 26.9% to $1,564.0 million, compared to $1,232.7 million for the same quarter, prior year. Income from operations increased 137.6% to $284.0 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $119.5 million for the same quarter, prior year. Income from operations included $98.0 million of other operating income related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $55.0 million for the same quarter, prior year. Refer to "CARES Act Provider Relief Fund" for further discussion. Net income increased 190.7% to $196.2 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $67.5 million for the same quarter, prior year. Net income included a pre-tax gain on sale of businesses of $0.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Adjusted EBITDA increased 91.3% to $342.0 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $178.8 million for the same quarter, prior year. Earnings per common share increased to $1.22 for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.39 for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted earnings per common share was $1.22 for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.38 for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted earnings per common share excluded the gain on sale of businesses and its related tax effects for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. The definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA are presented in table IX of this release. A reconciliation of earnings per common share to adjusted earnings per common share is presented in table X of this release.

For the six months ended June 30, 2021, revenue increased 17.5% to $3,110.5 million, compared to $2,647.4 million for the same period, prior year. Income from operations increased 95.8% to $486.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $248.2 million for the same period, prior year. Income from operations included $114.1 million of other operating income related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $55.0 million for the same period, prior year. Refer to "CARES Act Provider Relief Fund" for further discussion. Net income increased 141.7% to $333.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $137.9 million for the same period, prior year. Net income included a pre-tax gain on sale of businesses of $7.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Adjusted EBITDA increased 64.0% to $600.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $366.1 million for the same period, prior year. Earnings per common share increased to $2.04 for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.78 for the same period, prior year. Adjusted earnings per common share was $2.04 for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.75 for the same period, prior year. Adjusted earnings per common share excluded the gain on sale of businesses and its related tax effects for the six months ended June 30, 2020. The definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA are presented in table IX of this release. A reconciliation of earnings per common share to adjusted earnings per common share is presented in table X of this release.

Please refer to "Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Select Medical's Results of Operations during the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021" below for further discussion regarding the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") pandemic on Select Medical's operating results.

Company Overview

Select Medical is one of the largest operators of critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States based on number of facilities. Select Medical's reportable segments include the critical illness recovery hospital segment, the rehabilitation hospital segment, the outpatient rehabilitation segment, and the Concentra segment. As of June 30, 2021, Select Medical operated 99 critical illness recovery hospitals in 28 states, 30 rehabilitation hospitals in 12 states, and 1,833 outpatient rehabilitation clinics in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Select Medical's joint venture subsidiary Concentra operated 518 occupational health centers in 41 states. At June 30, 2021, Select Medical had operations in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Information about Select Medical is available at www.selectmedical.com .

CARES Act Provider Relief Fund

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") was enacted. The CARES Act provided additional waivers, reimbursement, grants and other funds to assist health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including $100.0 billion in appropriations for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, also referred to as the Provider Relief Fund, to be used for preventing, preparing, and responding to COVID-19, and for reimbursing eligible health care providers for health care related expenses and lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19.

Select Medical recognized $98.0 million and $114.1 million of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund as other operating income during the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. Select Medical recognized $55.0 million of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund as other operating income during both the three and six months ended June 30, 2020.

Critical Illness Recovery Hospital Segment

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the critical illness recovery hospital segment increased 4.7% to $544.1 million, compared to $519.6 million for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the critical illness recovery hospital segment was $72.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $89.7 million for the same quarter, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the critical illness recovery hospital segment was 13.4% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to 17.3% for the same quarter, prior year. Certain critical illness recovery hospital key statistics are presented in table VII of this release for both the second quarters ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

For the six months ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the critical illness recovery hospital segment increased 11.6% to $1,138.9 million, compared to $1,020.1 million for the same period, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the critical illness recovery hospital segment increased 4.4% to $186.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $178.3 million for the same period, prior year. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, Adjusted EBITDA included $17.9 million of other operating income related to the outcome of litigation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the critical illness recovery hospital segment was 16.3% for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to 17.5% for the same period, prior year. Certain critical illness recovery hospital key statistics are presented in table VIII of this release for both the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

Rehabilitation Hospital Segment

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the rehabilitation hospital segment increased 26.1% to $212.7 million, compared to $168.7 million for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the rehabilitation hospital segment increased 83.9% to $50.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $27.6 million for the same quarter, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the rehabilitation hospital segment was 23.9% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to 16.4% for the same quarter, prior year. Certain rehabilitation hospital key statistics are presented in table VII of this release for both the second quarters ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

For the six months ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the rehabilitation hospital segment increased 19.9% to $420.5 million, compared to $350.7 million for the same period, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the rehabilitation hospital segment increased 53.1% to $101.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $66.2 million for the same period, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the rehabilitation hospital segment was 24.1% for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to 18.9% for the same period, prior year. Certain rehabilitation hospital key statistics are presented in table VIII of this release for both the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

Outpatient Rehabilitation Segment

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the outpatient rehabilitation segment increased 67.8% to $280.4 million, compared to $167.1 million for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the outpatient rehabilitation segment was $45.6 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to Adjusted EBITDA losses of $6.3 million for the same quarter, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the outpatient rehabilitation segment was 16.3% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to (3.8)% for the same quarter, prior year. Certain outpatient rehabilitation key statistics are presented in table VII of this release for both the second quarters ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

For the six months ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the outpatient rehabilitation segment increased 26.0% to $532.4 million, compared to $422.4 million for the same period, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the outpatient rehabilitation segment increased to $72.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $20.8 million for the same period, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the outpatient rehabilitation segment was 13.5% for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to 4.9% for the same period, prior year. Certain outpatient rehabilitation key statistics are presented in table VIII of this release for both the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

Concentra Segment

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the Concentra segment increased 46.1% to $456.4 million, compared to $312.3 million for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the Concentra segment increased to $137.1 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $41.5 million for the same quarter, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $32.3 million related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.8 million for the same quarter, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the Concentra segment was 30.0% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, compared to 13.3% for the same quarter, prior year. Certain Concentra key statistics are presented in table VII of this release for both the second quarters ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

For the six months ended June 30, 2021, revenue for the Concentra segment increased 23.7% to $879.2 million, compared to $710.9 million for the same period, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the Concentra segment increased to $219.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $103.0 million for the same period, prior year. Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $32.3 million related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $0.8 million for the same period, prior year. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the Concentra segment was 24.9% for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to 14.5% for the same period, prior year. Certain Concentra key statistics are presented in table VIII of this release for both the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Select Medical's Results of Operations during the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

Beginning in March 2020, state governments placed significant restrictions on businesses and mandated closures of non-essential or non-life sustaining businesses, causing many employers to furlough their workforce and temporarily cease or significantly reduce their operations. State governments also implemented restrictions on travel and individual activities outside of the home, closed schools, and mandated other social distancing measures. At the same time, hospitals and other facilities began suspending elective surgeries. In an effort to ensure hospitals and health systems had the capacity to absorb and effectively manage surges of COVID-19 patients, a number of waivers and modifications of certain requirements under the Medicare, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program ("CHIP") programs were authorized in March 2020, including certain regulations under the Medicare program which govern admissions into Select Medical's critical illness recovery hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals. Specifically, Select Medical's critical illness recovery hospitals which are certified as long-term care hospitals ("LTCHs") became exempt from the greater-than-25-day average length of stay requirement for all cost reporting periods that include the COVID-19 public health emergency period. Select Medical's rehabilitation hospitals which are certified as inpatient rehabilitation facilities ("IRFs") could exclude patients admitted solely to respond to the emergency from the calculation of the "60 percent rule" thresholds to receive payment as an IRF. The COVID-19 public health emergency period has been extended and is currently in effect through October 17, 2021.

The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the actions of governmental authorities and those in the private sector to limit the spread of COVID-19, caused disruptions in each of Select Medical's segments; these disruptions were most significant within the outpatient rehabilitation and Concentra segments. By mid-March 2020, Select Medical's outpatient rehabilitation clinics began experiencing significantly less patient visit volume due to declines in patient referrals from physicians, a reduction in workers' compensation injury visits resulting from the temporary closure of businesses, and the suspension of elective surgeries which would have required outpatient rehabilitation services. Select Medical's Concentra centers experienced similar declines in patient visit volume due to businesses furloughing their workforce and temporarily ceasing or significantly reducing their operations. Since March 2021, Select Medical's outpatient rehabilitation clinics and Concentra centers have experienced patient visit volumes which approximate or exceed the levels experienced in the months prior to the widespread emergence of COVID-19 in the United States. Although they have experienced temporary disruptions in their core businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Select Medical's outpatient rehabilitation and Concentra segments have been able to expand their services to provide COVID-19 screening and testing.

Select Medical's critical illness recovery hospitals have played a critical role in caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the relaxation of certain admission restrictions have contributed to volume increases in certain of its hospitals. The revenue of Select Medical's critical illness recovery hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals has also benefited from the temporary suspension of the 2.0% cut to Medicare payments due to sequestration, which began May 1, 2020 following the enactment of the CARES Act, and has been extended through December 31, 2021. Certain of Select Medical's rehabilitation hospitals experienced temporary declines in patient volume, beginning in March 2020, in areas more significantly impacted by the spread of COVID-19, and as a result of the suspension of elective surgeries at hospitals and other facilities, which consequently reduced the demand for inpatient rehabilitation services. Additionally, some of Select Medical's rehabilitation hospitals temporarily restricted admissions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Select Medical's critical illness recovery hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals modified certain of their protocols in order to follow the guidelines and recommendations for patient treatment and for the protection of their patients and staff members. This has resulted in increased labor costs, including increased contracted labor usage, as well as additional costs resulting from the purchase of personal protective equipment.

The unpredictable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the duration and extent of disruption on Select Medical's operations, creates uncertainties about Select Medical's future operating results and financial condition. Select Medical has provided revenue and certain operating statistics below for each of its segments for each of the periods presented. Please refer to our risk factors previously reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for further discussion.





Critical Illness Recovery Hospital



























































Revenue



Patient Days



Occupancy Rate



Number of Hospitals

Owned(1)



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



(in thousands)









































January

$ 149,799



$ 163,238



$ 199,611





86,238



90,783



100,933





69 %

69 %

75 %



96

100

99 February

145,586



165,375



190,703





80,806



87,844



92,036





71 %

72 %

75 %



96

100

99 March

162,149



171,908



204,558





91,085



91,831



100,149





73 %

70 %

74 %



96

100

99 Three Months Ended March 31

$ 457,534



$ 500,521



$ 594,872





258,129



270,458



293,118





71 %

70 %

75 %



96

100

99























































April

$ 156,231



$ 171,445



$ 185,934





88,357



90,710



91,506





70 %

71 %

70 %



99

100

99 May

156,422



178,223



183,471





89,350



95,191



93,708





69 %

72 %

70 %



99

100

99 June

148,490



169,958



174,654





85,153



90,988



87,767





68 %

71 %

68 %



99

100

99 Three Months Ended June 30

$ 461,143



$ 519,626



$ 544,059





262,860



276,889



272,981





69 %

72 %

69 %



99

100

99 Six Months Ended June 30

$ 918,677



$ 1,020,147



$ 1,138,931





520,989



547,347



566,099





70 %

71 %

72 %



99

100

99





Rehabilitation Hospital



























































Revenue



Patient Days



Occupancy Rate



Number of Hospitals

Owned(1)



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



(in thousands)







































January

$ 50,615



$ 61,673



$ 68,297





27,434



32,111



34,404





74 %

79 %

82 %



17

19

20 February

48,080



60,690



64,202





25,442



31,813



32,178





76 %

84 %

84 %



17

19

20 March

55,863



59,656



75,305





29,940



30,644



35,857





78 %

76 %

85 %



18

19

20 Three Months Ended March 31

$ 154,558



$ 182,019



$ 207,804





82,816



94,568



102,439





76 %

79 %

84 %



18

19

20























































April

$ 51,991



$ 45,878



$ 70,295





28,266



23,553



34,861





76 %

61 %

85 %



18

19

20 May

56,019



57,815



71,190





29,730



29,787



35,604





75 %

73 %

84 %



19

19

20 June

52,364



64,974



71,181





28,529



30,741



34,483





73 %

78 %

84 %



19

19

20 Three Months Ended June 30

$ 160,374



$ 168,667



$ 212,666





86,525



84,081



104,948





75 %

71 %

85 %



19

19

20 Six Months Ended June 30

$ 314,932



$ 350,686



$ 420,470





169,341



178,649



207,387





76 %

75 %

84 %



19

19

20







Outpatient Rehabilitation

















































Revenue



Visits



Working Days(2)





2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021





(in thousands)



























January

$ 83,185



$ 90,924



$ 76,763





687,007



757,171



625,964





22



22



20



February

78,573



88,239



77,063





658,610



739,061



641,942





20



20



20



March

85,147



76,086



98,135





708,866



626,433



832,248





21



22



23



Three Months Ended March 31

$ 246,905



$ 255,249



$ 251,961





2,054,483



2,122,665



2,100,154





63



64



63















































April

$ 90,230



$ 49,084



$ 95,251





762,914



386,108



810,314





22



22



22



May

90,272



51,186



89,030





759,829



409,703



758,773





22



20



20



June

81,389



66,868



96,128





680,762



546,456



835,774





20



22



22



Three Months Ended June 30

$ 261,891



$ 167,138



$ 280,409





2,203,505



1,342,267



2,404,861





64



64



64



Six Months Ended June 30

$ 508,796



$ 422,387



$ 532,370





4,257,988



3,464,932



4,505,015





127



128



127











Concentra

















































Revenue



Visits



Working Days(2)





2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021



2019

2020

2021





(in thousands)



























January

$ 133,507



$ 141,236



$ 127,103





985,598



1,032,069



867,793





22



22



20



February

126,309



133,690



132,349





919,065



965,741



869,910





20



20



20



March

136,505



123,609



163,388





1,006,944



879,585



1,057,871





21



22



23



Three Months Ended March 31

$ 396,321



$ 398,535



$ 422,840





2,911,607



2,877,395



2,795,574





63



64



63















































April

$ 140,050



$ 91,178



$ 152,143





1,040,543



610,555



999,622





22



22



22



May

143,183



99,228



142,228





1,073,763



674,629



956,250





22



20



20



June

130,218



121,932



162,001





988,783



865,896



1,074,206





20



22



22



Three Months Ended June 30

$ 413,451



$ 312,338



$ 456,372





3,103,089



2,151,080



3,030,078





64



64



64



Six Months Ended June 30

$ 809,772



$ 710,873



$ 879,212





6,014,696



5,028,475



5,825,652





127



128



127



_______________________________________________________________________________ (1) Represents the number of hospitals owned at the end of each period presented. (2) Represents the number of days in which normal business operations were conducted during the periods presented.

Stock Repurchase Program

The board of directors of Select Medical has authorized a common stock repurchase program to repurchase up to $500.0 million worth of shares of its common stock. The program has been extended until December 31, 2021, and will remain in effect until then, unless further extended or earlier terminated by the board of directors. Stock repurchases under this program may be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, and at times and in such amounts as Select Medical deems appropriate. Select Medical funds this program with cash on hand and borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

Select Medical did not repurchase shares during the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Since the inception of the program through June 30, 2021, Select Medical has repurchased 38,580,908 shares at a cost of approximately $356.6 million, or $9.24 per share, which includes transaction costs.

Dividend

On August 4, 2021, Select Medical's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.125 per share. The dividend will be payable on or about August 30, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 18, 2021.

There is no assurance that future dividends will be declared. The declaration and payment of dividends in the future are at the discretion of Select Medical's board of directors after taking into account various factors, including, but not limited to, our financial condition, operating results, available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, the terms of Select Medical's indebtedness, and other factors Select Medical's board of directors may deem to be relevant.

Financing Transactions

On June 2, 2021, Select Medical entered into Amendment No. 5 to its senior secured credit agreement which, among other things, increased the aggregate commitments available under its revolving credit facility from $450.0 million to $650.0 million, including a $125.0 million sublimit for the issuance of standby letters of credit.

On June 2, 2021, Concentra Inc. terminated its first lien credit agreement. The first lien credit agreement provided for commitments of $100.0 million under a revolving credit facility, which was set to mature on March 1, 2022.

Business Outlook

Select Medical is updating its business outlook for 2021 following the reporting of its second quarter 2021 results. Select Medical now expects revenue for the full year of 2021 to be in the range of $5.85 billion to $6.05 billion and Adjusted EBITDA for the full year of 2021 to be in the range of $970.0 million to $1.0 billion. Select Medical now expects fully diluted earnings per common share for the full year of 2021 to be in the range of $2.91 to $3.08. A reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA for the full year of 2021 is presented in table XI of this release.

Select Medical reaffirms its target compound annual growth rates, provided most recently in its May 6, 2021 press release, for revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and earnings per common share. Select Medical continues to expect its compound annual growth for revenue to be in the range of 4% to 6% and compound annual growth for Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of 7% to 8% from 2021 through 2023. Select Medical continues to expect compound annual growth for earnings per common share to be in the range of 17% to 20% from 2021 through 2023.

Conference Call

Select Medical will host a conference call regarding its second quarter results, as well as its business outlook and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of its reportable segments, on Friday, August 6, 2021, at 9:00am ET. The domestic dial in number for the call is 1-866-440-2669. The international dial in number is 1-409-220-9844. The conference ID for the call is 5819078. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously and can be accessed at Select Medical Holdings Corporation's website www.selectmedicalholdings.com .

For those unable to participate in the conference call, a replay will be available until 12:00pm ET, August 13, 2021. The replay number is 1-855-859-2056 (domestic) or 1-404-537-3406 (international). The conference ID for the replay will be 5819078. The replay can also be accessed at Select Medical Holdings Corporation's website, www.selectmedicalholdings.com .

Certain statements contained herein that are not descriptions of historical facts are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), including statements related to Select Medical's 2021 and long-term business outlook. Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to factors including the following:

developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic including, but not limited to, the duration and severity of the pandemic, additional measures taken by government authorities and the private sector to limit the spread of COVID-19, and further legislative and regulatory actions which impact healthcare providers, including actions that may impact the Medicare program;

changes in government reimbursement for our services and/or new payment policies may result in a reduction in revenue, an increase in costs, and a reduction in profitability;

the failure of our Medicare-certified long term care hospitals or inpatient rehabilitation facilities to maintain their Medicare certifications may cause our revenue and profitability to decline;

the failure of our Medicare-certified long term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities operated as "hospitals within hospitals" to qualify as hospitals separate from their host hospitals may cause our revenue and profitability to decline;

a government investigation or assertion that we have violated applicable regulations may result in sanctions or reputational harm and increased costs;

acquisitions or joint ventures may prove difficult or unsuccessful, use significant resources or expose us to unforeseen liabilities;

our plans and expectations related to our acquisitions and our ability to realize anticipated synergies;

private third-party payors for our services may adopt payment policies that could limit our future revenue and profitability;

the failure to maintain established relationships with the physicians in the areas we serve could reduce our revenue and profitability;

shortages in qualified nurses, therapists, physicians, or other licensed providers, or the inability to attract or retain healthcare professionals due to the heightened risk of infection related to the COVID-19 pandemic, could increase our operating costs significantly or limit our ability to staff our facilities;

competition may limit our ability to grow and result in a decrease in our revenue and profitability;

the loss of key members of our management team could significantly disrupt our operations;

the effect of claims asserted against us could subject us to substantial uninsured liabilities;

a security breach of our or our third-party vendors' information technology systems may subject us to potential legal and reputational harm and may result in a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act; and

other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" of the quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and of the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 .

Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we are under no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events, or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results or performance.

Investor inquiries:

Joel T. Veit

Senior Vice President and Treasurer

717-972-1100

[email protected]

I. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, except per share amounts, unaudited)





2020

2021

% Change Revenue

$ 1,232,718



$ 1,564,020



26.9 % Costs and expenses:











Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization

1,082,456



1,291,448



19.3

General and administrative

33,461



35,737



6.8

Depreciation and amortization

52,271



50,954



(2.5)

Total costs and expenses

1,168,188



1,378,139



18.0

Other operating income

54,988



98,087



N/M

Income from operations

119,518



283,968



137.6

Other income and expense:











Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries

8,324



11,809



41.9

Gain on sale of businesses

346







N/M

Interest expense

(37,366)



(33,888)



(9.3)

Income before income taxes

90,822



261,889



188.4

Income tax expense

23,336



65,681



181.5

Net income

67,486



196,208



190.7

Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests

15,836



31,314



97.7

Net income attributable to Select Medical

$ 51,650



$ 164,894



219.3 % Basic and diluted earnings per common share:(1)

$ 0.39



$ 1.22





_______________________________________________________________________________ (1) Refer to table III for calculation of earnings per common share. N/M Not meaningful.

II. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, except per share amounts, unaudited)





2020

2021

% Change Revenue

$ 2,647,350



$ 3,110,483



17.5 % Costs and expenses:











Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization

2,282,827



2,584,897



13.2

General and administrative

67,292



71,140



5.7

Depreciation and amortization

104,023



100,574



(3.3)

Total costs and expenses

2,454,142



2,756,611



12.3

Other operating income

54,988



132,108



N/M

Income from operations

248,196



485,980



95.8

Other income and expense:











Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries

10,912



21,728



99.1

Gain on sale of businesses

7,547







N/M

Interest income





4,749



N/M

Interest expense

(83,473)



(68,290)



(18.2)

Income before income taxes

183,182



444,167



142.5

Income tax expense

45,248



110,745



144.8

Net income

137,934



333,422



141.7

Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests

33,159



57,982



74.9

Net income attributable to Select Medical

$ 104,775



$ 275,440



162.9 % Basic and diluted earnings per common share:(1)

$ 0.78



$ 2.04





_______________________________________________________________________________ (1) Refer to table III for calculation of earnings per common share. N/M Not meaningful.

III. Earnings per Share

For the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, except per share amounts, unaudited)

Select Medical's capital structure includes common stock and unvested restricted stock awards. To compute earnings per share ("EPS"), Select Medical applies the two-class method because its unvested restricted stock awards are participating securities which are entitled to participate equally with its common stock in undistributed earnings.

The following table sets forth the net income attributable to Select Medical, its common shares outstanding, and its participating securities outstanding for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021:





Basic and Diluted EPS



Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,



2020

2021

2020

2021



(in thousands) Net income

$ 67,486



$ 196,208



$ 137,934



$ 333,422

Less: net income attributable to non-controlling interests

15,836



31,314



33,159



57,982

Net income attributable to Select Medical

51,650



164,894



104,775



275,440

Less: net income attributable to participating securities

1,778



5,560



3,596



9,250

Net income attributable to common shares

$ 49,872



$ 159,334



$ 101,179



$ 266,190



The following tables set forth the computation of EPS under the two-class method for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021:





Three Months Ended June 30,



2020



2021



Net Income

Allocation

Shares(1)

Basic and

Diluted EPS



Net Income

Allocation

Shares(1)

Basic and

Diluted EPS Common shares

$ 49,872



129,319



$ 0.39





$ 159,334



130,396



$ 1.22

Participating securities

1,778



4,610



$ 0.39





5,560



4,550



$ 1.22

Total

$ 51,650













$ 164,894















Six Months Ended June 30,



2020



2021



Net Income

Allocation

Shares(1)

Basic and

Diluted EPS



Net Income

Allocation

Shares(1)

Basic and

Diluted EPS Common shares

$ 101,179



129,479



$ 0.78





$ 266,190



130,362



$ 2.04

Participating securities

3,596



4,602



$ 0.78





9,250



4,530



$ 2.04

Total

$ 104,775













$ 275,440









_______________________________________________________________________________ (1) Represents the weighted average share count outstanding during the period.

IV. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, unaudited)





December 31, 2020

June 30, 2021 Assets







Current Assets:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 577,061



$ 803,493

Accounts receivable

896,763



931,179

Other current assets

120,176



133,498

Total Current Assets

1,594,000



1,868,170

Operating lease right-of-use assets

1,032,217



1,053,331

Property and equipment, net

943,420



928,226

Goodwill

3,379,014



3,391,040

Identifiable intangible assets, net

387,541



380,302

Other assets

319,207



335,310

Total Assets

$ 7,655,399



$ 7,956,379

Liabilities and Equity







Current Liabilities:







Payables and accruals

$ 800,918



$ 917,181

Government advances

321,807



251,272

Unearned government assistance

82,607



4,099

Current operating lease liabilities

220,413



224,868

Current portion of long-term debt and notes payable

12,621



11,608

Total Current Liabilities

1,438,366



1,409,028

Non-current operating lease liabilities

875,367



893,478

Long-term debt, net of current portion

3,389,398



3,386,214

Non-current deferred tax liability

132,421



123,559

Other non-current liabilities

168,703



172,656

Total Liabilities

6,004,255



5,984,935

Redeemable non-controlling interests

398,171



521,552

Total equity

1,252,973



1,449,892

Total Liabilities and Equity

$ 7,655,399



$ 7,956,379



V. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, unaudited)





2020

2021 Operating activities







Net income

$ 67,486



$ 196,208

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating

activities:







Distributions from unconsolidated subsidiaries

2,744



7,751

Depreciation and amortization

52,271



50,954

Provision for expected credit losses

54



145

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries

(8,324)



(11,809)

Loss (gain) on sale of assets and businesses

(542)



422

Stock compensation expense

6,963



7,099

Amortization of debt discount, premium and issuance costs

540



552

Deferred income taxes

(12,780)



(7,426)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of business

combinations:







Accounts receivable

67,107



28,391

Other current assets

686



(8,431)

Other assets

9,256



(12,945)

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

61,726



45,288

Government advances

316,992



(73,703)

Unearned government assistance

45,505



(97,716)

Income taxes

32,330



(1,642)

Net cash provided by operating activities

642,014



123,138

Investing activities







Business combinations, net of cash acquired

(128)



(3,767)

Purchases of property and equipment

(32,045)



(36,723)

Investment in businesses

(4,901)



(4,614)

Proceeds from sale of assets and businesses

1,171



9,444

Net cash used in investing activities

(35,903)



(35,660)

Financing activities







Borrowings on revolving facilities

10,000





Payments on revolving facilities

(175,000)





Borrowings of other debt

25,000





Principal payments on other debt

(27,634)



(5,972)

Dividends paid to common stockholders





(16,876)

Repurchase of common stock

(724)



(1,610)

Proceeds from issuance of non-controlling interests

7



5,688

Distributions to and purchases of non-controlling interests

(1,186)



(15,489)

Net cash used in financing activities

(169,537)



(34,259)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

436,574



53,219

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

73,163



750,274

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$ 509,737



$ 803,493

Supplemental information







Cash paid for interest

$ 18,239



$ 14,485

Cash paid for taxes

3,785



74,751



VI. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, unaudited)





2020

2021 Operating activities







Net income

$ 137,934



$ 333,422

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating

activities:







Distributions from unconsolidated subsidiaries

11,223



19,384

Depreciation and amortization

104,023



100,574

Provision for expected credit losses

253



212

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries

(10,912)



(21,728)

Loss (gain) on sale of assets and businesses

(7,881)



494

Stock compensation expense

13,866



13,808

Amortization of debt discount, premium and issuance costs

1,093



1,095

Deferred income taxes

(3,416)



(8,323)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of business

combinations:







Accounts receivable

13,179



(31,751)

Other current assets

713



(12,856)

Other assets

11,504



(11,984)

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

8,279



89,915

Government advances

316,992



(73,703)

Unearned government assistance

45,505



(78,509)

Income taxes

43,743



42,976

Net cash provided by operating activities

686,098



363,026

Investing activities







Business combinations, net of cash acquired

(6,961)



(10,081)

Purchases of property and equipment

(71,253)



(76,442)

Investment in businesses

(14,749)



(11,185)

Proceeds from sale of assets and businesses

12,401



9,463

Net cash used in investing activities

(80,562)



(88,245)

Financing activities







Borrowings on revolving facilities

470,000





Payments on revolving facilities

(470,000)





Payments on term loans

(39,843)





Borrowings of other debt

31,487



8,915

Principal payments on other debt

(35,733)



(15,314)

Dividends paid to common stockholders





(16,876)

Repurchase of common stock

(9,415)



(1,610)

Proceeds from issuance of non-controlling interests

1,686



5,688

Distributions to and purchases of non-controlling interests

(13,660)



(29,152)

Purchase of membership interests of Concentra Group Holdings Parent

(366,203)





Net cash used in financing activities

(431,681)



(48,349)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

173,855



226,432

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

335,882



577,061

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$ 509,737



$ 803,493

Supplemental information







Cash paid for interest

$ 86,124



$ 66,955

Cash paid for taxes

4,920



76,094



VII. Key Statistics

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(unaudited)





2020

2021

% Change Critical Illness Recovery Hospital











Number of hospitals  end of period(a)

101



99





Revenue (,000)

$ 519,626



$ 544,059



4.7 % Number of patient days(b)(c)

276,889



272,981



(1.4) % Number of admissions(b)(d)

9,167



9,026



(1.5) % Revenue per patient day(b)(e)

$ 1,867



$ 1,986



6.4 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 89,743



$ 72,904



(18.8) % Adjusted EBITDA margin

17.3 %

13.4 %



Rehabilitation Hospital











Number of hospitals  end of period(a)

29



30





Revenue (,000)

$ 168,667



$ 212,666



26.1 % Number of patient days(b)(c)

84,081



104,948



24.8 % Number of admissions(b)(d)

5,713



7,360



28.8 % Revenue per patient day(b)(e)

$ 1,831



$ 1,849



1.0 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 27,605



$ 50,768



83.9 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

16.4 %

23.9 %



Outpatient Rehabilitation











Number of clinics  end of period(a)

1,757



1,833





Revenue (,000)

$ 167,138



$ 280,409



67.8 % Number of visits(b)(f)

1,342,267



2,404,861



79.2 % Revenue per visit(b)(g)

$ 106



$ 102



(3.8) % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ (6,282)



$ 45,633



N/M

Adjusted EBITDA margin

(3.8) %

16.3 %



Concentra











Number of centers  end of period(b)

522



518





Revenue (,000)

$ 312,338



$ 456,372



46.1 % Number of visits(b)(f)

2,151,080



3,030,078



40.9 % Revenue per visit(b)(g)

$ 124



$ 125



0.8 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 41,497



$ 137,060



230.3 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

13.3 %

30.0 %





_______________________________________________________________________________ (a) Includes managed locations. (b) Excludes managed locations. For purposes of the Concentra segment, onsite clinics and community-based outpatient clinics are excluded. (c) Each patient day represents one patient occupying one bed for one day during the periods presented. (d) Represents the number of patients admitted to Select Medical's hospitals during the periods presented. (e) Represents the average amount of revenue recognized for each patient day. Revenue per patient day is calculated by dividing patient service revenues, excluding revenues from certain other ancillary and outpatient services provided at Select Medical's hospitals, by the total number of patient days. (f) Represents the number of visits in which patients were treated at Select Medical's outpatient rehabilitation clinics and Concentra centers during the periods presented. (g) Represents the average amount of revenue recognized for each patient visit. Revenue per visit is calculated by dividing patient service revenue, excluding revenues from certain other ancillary services, by the total number of visits. For purposes of this computation for the Concentra segment, patient service revenue does not include onsite clinics and community-based outpatient clinics.

VIII. Key Statistics

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(unaudited)





2020

2021

% Change Critical Illness Recovery Hospital











Number of hospitals  end of period(a)

101



99





Revenue (,000)

$ 1,020,147



$ 1,138,931



11.6 % Number of patient days(b)(c)

547,347



566,099



3.4 % Number of admissions(b)(d)

18,700



18,885



1.0 % Revenue per patient day(b)(e)

$ 1,853



$ 2,006



8.3 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 178,313



$ 186,176



4.4 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

17.5 %

16.3 %



Rehabilitation Hospital











Number of hospitals  end of period(a)

29



30





Revenue (,000)

$ 350,686



$ 420,470



19.9 % Number of patient days(b)(c)

178,649



207,387



16.1 % Number of admissions(b)(d)

12,046



14,491



20.3 % Revenue per patient day(b)(e)

$ 1,778



$ 1,851



4.1 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 66,174



$ 101,302



53.1 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

18.9 %

24.1 %



Outpatient Rehabilitation











Number of clinics  end of period(a)

1,757



1,833





Revenue (,000)

$ 422,387



$ 532,370



26.0 % Number of visits(b)(f)

3,464,932



4,505,015



30.0 % Revenue per visit(b)(g)

$ 105



$ 103



(1.9) % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 20,840



$ 71,962



245.3 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

4.9 %

13.5 %



Concentra











Number of centers  end of period(b)

522



518





Revenue (,000)

$ 710,873



$ 879,212



23.7 % Number of visits(b)(f)

5,028,475



5,825,652



15.9 % Revenue per visit(b)(g)

$ 124



$ 125



0.8 % Adjusted EBITDA (,000)

$ 102,963



$ 219,075



112.8 % Adjusted EBITDA margin

14.5 %

24.9 %





_______________________________________________________________________________ (a) Includes managed locations. (b) Excludes managed locations. For purposes of the Concentra segment, onsite clinics and community-based outpatient clinics are excluded. (c) Each patient day represents one patient occupying one bed for one day during the periods presented. (d) Represents the number of patients admitted to Select Medical's hospitals during the periods presented. (e) Represents the average amount of revenue recognized for each patient day. Revenue per patient day is calculated by dividing patient service revenues, excluding revenues from certain other ancillary and outpatient services provided at Select Medical's hospitals, by the total number of patient days. (f) Represents the number of visits in which patients were treated at Select Medical's outpatient rehabilitation clinics and Concentra centers during the periods presented. (g) Represents the average amount of revenue recognized for each patient visit. Revenue per visit is calculated by dividing patient service revenue, excluding revenues from certain other ancillary services, by the total number of visits. For purposes of this computation for the Concentra segment, patient service revenue does not include onsite clinics and community-based outpatient clinics.

IX. Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation

For the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, unaudited)

The presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is important to investors because Adjusted EBITDA is commonly used as an analytical indicator of performance by investors within the healthcare industry. Adjusted EBITDA is used to evaluate financial performance and determine resource allocation for each of Select Medical's operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to, or substitute for, net income, income from operations, cash flows generated by operations, investing or financing activities, or other financial statement data presented in the consolidated financial statements as indicators of financial performance or liquidity. Because Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement determined in accordance with GAAP and is thus susceptible to varying definitions, Adjusted EBITDA as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

The following table reconciles net income to Adjusted EBITDA for Select Medical. Adjusted EBITDA is used by Select Medical to report its segment performance. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings excluding interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, gain (loss) on early retirement of debt, stock compensation expense, gain (loss) on sale of businesses, and equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated subsidiaries.



Three Months Ended June 30,

Six Months Ended June 30,

2020

2021

2020

2021 Net income $ 67,486



$ 196,208



$ 137,934



$ 333,422

Income tax expense 23,336



65,681



45,248



110,745

Interest expense 37,366



33,888



83,473



68,290

Interest income 











(4,749)

Gain on sale of businesses (346)







(7,547)





Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries (8,324)



(11,809)



(10,912)



(21,728)

Income from operations 119,518



283,968



248,196



485,980

Stock compensation expense:













Included in general and administrative 5,451



5,620



10,888



11,080

Included in cost of services 1,512



1,479



2,978



2,728

Depreciation and amortization 52,271



50,954



104,023



100,574

Adjusted EBITDA $ 178,752



$ 342,021



$ 366,085



$ 600,362

















Critical illness recovery hospital(a) $ 89,743



$ 72,904



$ 178,313



$ 186,176

Rehabilitation hospital 27,605



50,768



66,174



101,302

Outpatient rehabilitation (6,282)



45,633



20,840



71,962

Concentra(b) 41,497



137,060



102,963



219,075

Other(c)(d) 26,189



35,656



(2,205)



21,847

Adjusted EBITDA $ 178,752



$ 342,021



$ 366,085



$ 600,362



_______________________________________________________________________________ (a) For the six months ended June 30, 2021, Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $17.9 million. The other operating income related to the outcome of litigation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (b) For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $32.3 million. For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $0.8 million. The other operating income related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund. (c) For the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $65.8 million and $81.9 million, respectively. For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, Adjusted EBITDA included other operating income of $54.2 million. The other operating income related to the recognition of payments received under the Provider Relief Fund. (d) Other primarily includes general and administrative costs and other operating income, as discussed further above.

X. Reconciliation of Earnings per Common Share to Adjusted Earnings per Common Share

For the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2021

(In thousands, except per share amounts, unaudited)

Adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share are not measures of financial performance under GAAP. Items excluded from adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share are significant components in understanding and assessing financial performance. Select Medical believes that the presentation of adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share are important to investors because they are reflective of the financial performance of Select Medical's ongoing operations and provide better comparability of its results of operations between periods. Adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to, or substitutes for, net income, cash flows generated by operations, investing or financing activities, or other financial statement data presented in the consolidated financial statements as indicators of financial performance or liquidity. Because adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share are not measurements determined in accordance with GAAP and are thus susceptible to varying calculations, adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

The following tables reconcile net income attributable to common shares and earnings per common share on a fully diluted basis to adjusted net income attributable to common shares and adjusted earnings per common share on a fully diluted basis.



Three Months Ended June 30,

2020

Per Share(a)

2021

Per Share(a) Net income attributable to common shares(a) $ 49,872



$ 0.39



$ 159,334



$ 1.22

Adjustments:(b)













Gain on sale of businesses, net of tax effect of $88 (249)



(0.01)









Adjusted net income attributable to common shares $ 49,623



$ 0.38



$ 159,334



$ 1.22





Six Months Ended June 30,

2020

Per Share(a)

2021

Per Share(a) Net income attributable to common shares(a) $ 101,179



$ 0.78



$ 266,190



$ 2.04

Adjustments:(b)













Gain on sale of businesses, net of tax effect of $3,507 (3,900)



(0.03)









Adjusted net income attributable to common shares $ 97,279



$ 0.75



$ 266,190



$ 2.04



______________________________________________________________________________ (a) Net income attributable to common shares and earnings per common share are calculated based on the weighted average common shares outstanding, as presented in table III. (b) Adjustments to net income attributable to common shares include estimated income tax and non-controlling interest impacts and are calculated based on the diluted weighted average common shares outstanding. The estimated income tax impact, which is determined using tax rates based on the nature of the adjustment and the jurisdiction in which the adjustment occurred, includes both current and deferred income tax expense or benefit.

XI. Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation

Business Outlook for the Year Ending December 31, 2021

(In millions, unaudited)

The following is a reconciliation of full year 2021 Adjusted EBITDA expectations as computed at the low and high points of the range to the closest comparable GAAP financial measure. Refer to table IX for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a discussion of Select Medical's use of Adjusted EBITDA in evaluating financial performance. Each item presented in the below table is an estimation of full year 2021 expectations.



Range Non-GAAP Measure Reconciliation Low

High Net income attributable to Select Medical $ 394



$ 417

Net income attributable to non-controlling interests 94



94

Net income 488



511

Income tax expense 163



170

Interest income (5)



(5)

Interest expense 138



138

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries (43)



(43)

Income from operations 741



771

Stock compensation expense 28



28

Depreciation and amortization 201



201

Adjusted EBITDA $ 970



$ 1,000



SOURCE Select Medical Holdings Corporation
For the third time, "The Silicon Review" magazine recognizes Canon as one of the 50 Smartest Companies of the Year. Tweet this

In its profile article on Canon, "The Silicon Review" noted that earlier this year Canon was named a Global 100 Outsourcing Leader by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) for the fifteenth straight year. The article also points out that the company earned additional IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 recognition by being acknowledged with top honors in four special recognition categories. One of these included, most notably, the "Programs for Innovation" category. It recognizes a company's ability to implement specific programs and resulting outcomes that produce new forms of value for customers.

One such advanced program is Canon's robotic process automation (RPA) solution. Canon's customized RPA services are designed to transform workflows and achieve significant performance improvements. By combining human ingenuity with the power of today's most advanced software robots, Canon enables them to work together intelligently. The goal is to automate routine business processes so that employees can devote more time to serving customers and other higher-value work.

Read Canon's full profile from "The Silicon Review".

Learn more about Canon's Intelligent Automation and RPA Services.

About Canon Business Process Services

Canon helps clients enable business agility, digital transformation and lead an increasingly evolving workforce. We solve these challenges by leveraging our experienced team backed by Six Sigma expertise and best-in-class technology. With professionals across the U.S. and in the Philippines, we have been named a Global Outsourcing 100 Leader in 2021 by IAOP for the fifteenth straight year. Canon Business Process Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. Learn more at cbps.canon.com and follow us on Twitter @CanonBPO.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Contact: Ken Neal, [email protected]

Canon Business Process Services  2021

SOURCE Canon Business Process Services

Related Links

http://www.cbps.canon.com


In his statement, Siniora Chairman Tarek Omar Aggad said that the company achieved these distinguished results both through the growth of sales at all its branches and with the acquisition of the Polonez business in Turkey during March 2021, with sales of Polonez reaching JD 11.39 million (USD 16.06 million) for the past four months. Moreover, the sales of cold-cuts products continued to advance in the Jordanian market, particularly in the retail and HORECA sectors, which witnessed a growth of 75% year on year. These products have also been well received in the Palestinian market, where the company achieved JD 1.63 million (USD 2.3 million) in sales in the first half of 2021, solidifying Siniora's position in this sector.

Siniora CEO Majdi Al Sharif praised the efforts all the company's employees, which led to the achievement of these results in the first half of 2021, despite the exceptional prevailing circumstances. Al Sharif added that the company will continue to improve its sales in the region, increase its market share and enhance its market position in the Turkish market during the second half of 2021.

About Siniora

Siniora is a public shareholding company listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE: SNRA). It is the leader in the region's meat manufacturing. Siniora products are manufactured from four state-of-the-art factories in Palestine, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. For more information, visit www.siniorafood.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1589183/Siniora_Cold_Cuts.jpg

SOURCE Siniora Food Industries
BOSTON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Solstice Sunglasses, the second-largest sunglass retailer in the United States, announced today it has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 with the support of a $6.5 million exit financing facility provided by Second Avenue Capital Partners, LLC ("SACP") ( www.secondavecp.com ). Solstice filed for bankruptcy relief in February giving them an opportunity to restructure the business as the country tries to recover from the impact of COVID-19 disruptions.

"We are a leaner, more efficient operation coming out of this process," said KCP Advisory Group's Jacen Dinoff, Chief Restructuring Officer of Solstice Sunglasses. "The restructuring gave us the opportunity to evaluate and right-size our store footprint. Simultaneously, we have rededicated ourselves to refining our unique selection of offerings both online and in-store while also capitalizing on our hard-earned reputation for excellent customer service."

"We're pleased Second Avenue Capital Partners remained committed to our efforts," said Mikey Rosenberg, Chief Executive Officer. "Working with them on first the DIP, and now this exit financing package, has given us the continuity of support we needed to successfully emerge from Chapter 11. Coming out of the COVID challenge and emerging from this Chapter 11 restructuring has strengthened the Company for all our stakeholders, employees and customers alike. We'll continue along the path we've established and remain focused on providing our customers with the most distinctive and unique collection of sunglasses available anywhere in the marketplace."

Mr. Rosenberg continued, "We also owe our sincerest gratitude to the many team members who remained with us through this process. Without their ongoing support, none of this would have been possible."

Solstice Sunglasses offers a unique retail experience for consumers looking for luxury, designer, and sport sunglasses  with the service and style to match. The vast hand-selected assortment from the top brands is specially curated for quality and style. From timeless to trendsetting, posh to performance-ready, Solstice Sunglasses has something to fit ever-changing lifestyles and activities. The company strives to provide a uniquely positive shopping experience across their retail locations and an e-commerce site, solsticesunglasses.com.

"Solstice Sunglasses is one of the success stories coming out of this very challenging time for retailers," said Chris O'Connor, President of SACP. "They had a vision for stabilizing the business and we knew it was a viable plan we could endorse. We have a passion for helping companies overcome challenges and supporting Solstice through their restructuring and successful emergence is an example of SACP going beyond a mission statement. As a lender with retail affiliations, it's important for SACP to support other retailers and give them the flexibility they need to thrive and preserve jobs."

The Company retained Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as its legal counsel, RCS Real Estate Advisors to advise on all store leases, and KCP Advisory Group LLC's Jacen Dinoff as Chief Restructuring Officer.

______________________________

About Second Avenue Capital Partners  Second Avenue Capital Partners, LLC ("SACP") (www.secondavecp.com), a Schottenstein Affiliate, specializes in asset-based loans for the broader retail and consumer products industry. Serving middle-market companies, SACP leverages the experience of retail operators, product merchants, and lenders to deliver an array of customized, capital solutions. A unique merchant perspective gives SACP the ability to recognize and unlock value in assets other capital providers often overlook or do not understand. The firm's tailored financial solutions are a vital resource for clients seeking capital to effectuate strategy and achieve financial objectives. SACP is headquartered in Boston with additional offices in New York, Columbus, and Los Angeles.

About Solstice Sunglasses - Solstice Sunglasses is a luxury sunglasses boutique carrying the finest assortment of designer, contemporary and sport sunglasses for women, men, and children. Solstice Sunglasses is committed to quality, in both our service and selection offered. We hand select our assortments to ensure a refined offering, which includes Italian handmade luxury sunglasses from iconic brands including Dior, Dior Homme, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, and Tom Ford. The contemporary collection boasts of Boss, Carrera, Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, and Ray-Ban, and for your performance needs Maui Jim, Oakley, and Smith Optics. Shop Solstice Sunglasses from one of our stores across the US, or from the convenience of your home at solsticesunglasses.com. Solstice Sunglasses offers Free shipping on all online purchases, a replacement guarantee, complimentary repairs, fittings and cleanings, plus hassle-free returns all in an elegant luxurious environment.

About KCP Advisory Group - KCP Advisory Group is headquartered outside of Boston. KCP is considered a leading business advisory firm built on the success of its professionals who specialize in providing creative solutions and aiding clients in rehabilitating their businesses. KCP renders services spanning a range of advisory roles from consulting to interim leadership. By recognizing the uniqueness of each engagement, KCP ensures the needs of the situation are met and minimize the cost of valuable solutions by working in small, specialized expert teams. This format provides the experience of a wide range of businesses and industries, to assist a client whether they are healthy, challenged, or distressed and whether the challenges include performance improvement or financial advisory services or turnaround and restructuring.

SOURCE Second Avenue Capital Partners, LLC

Related Links

http://www.secondavecp.com


ST. LOUIS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR) today reported results for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2021. Highlights include:

Net income of $5.3 million ( $0.03 per diluted share), compared to a prior-period loss of $92.3 million , or $1.87 per share

( per diluted share), compared to a prior-period loss of , or per share Net economic earnings (NEE) of $6.9 million ( $0.06 per share), compared to $7.3 million ( $0.07 per share) a year ago

( per share), compared to ( per share) a year ago Fiscal 2021 NEE guidance range of $4.30 - $4.50 per share and capital expenditures outlook of $590 million are reaffirmed

"Thanks to the hard work and dedication of 3,600 Spire employees, we posted another solid quarter, delivering earnings comparable to a year ago," said Suzanne Sitherwood, president and chief executive officer. "We remain on track with our comprehensive plans to upgrade utility infrastructure and technology, all in an effort to ensure our customers receive the safe, reliable and affordable natural gas service they deserve.

"That said, our ability to meet the future energy needs of our customers in eastern Missouri could be in jeopardy. A recent federal appeals court decision vacated the 2018 FERC certificate that authorized the construction and operation of STL Pipeline. While the court decision was against the FERC, the ruling has significant implications for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses throughout the St. Louis region. Know that we're emphatically pursuing all legal and regulatory avenues to ensure this critical energy infrastructure is available to serve our customers and communities."

Spire STL Pipeline

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC) Circuit issued an order in a case brought by parties challenging the certificates granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for construction and operation of Spire STL Pipeline that has been in service since November 2019. The decision vacated the FERC's order authorizing the pipeline and remanded the proceedings back to the FERC.

STL Pipeline is critical infrastructure that more than 650,000 households and businesses in eastern Missouri rely on for reliable and affordable natural gas service. The pipeline was approved after a thorough review by the FERC using a rigorous regulatory process that has been in place for decades. In addition to providing a necessary diversity of supply, STL Pipeline was designed and constructed to uphold our commitment to the environment and the communities we serve.

Since becoming fully operational more than 18 months ago, the pipeline has proven to be an essential energy resource. Without STL Pipeline, we estimate that in February during Winter Storm Uri, 133,000 homes and businesses would have been without natural gas service and all eastern Missouri customers would have experienced the impact of hundreds of millions of dollars in higher gas costs. Further, taking the pipeline out of service would jeopardize Spire Missouri's ability to provide energy to serve the St. Louis region this winter. Our ability to secure new pipeline capacity is significantly constrained, and the gas supply would not be able to be completely replaced based on current market and operating conditions. This could lead to potentially significant service disruptions that would have detrimental impacts on the health and safety of our customers.

We are emphatically pursuing all legal and regulatory avenues to ensure the continued operation of STL Pipeline. To that end, on July 26, we filed with the FERC for a Temporary Emergency Certificate to enable Spire Missouri to maintain adequate service, until the FERC issues an order on remand in connection with the DC Circuit decision noted above. Our action has garnered support for STL Pipeline from many individuals and groups, including the Missouri governor, elected officials, commercial and industrial customers and several others.

Today we will file a request for rehearing with the DC Circuit Court, asking the court to reconsider its order to vacate the certificate.

Missouri rate review

Spire Missouri's rate review continues to progress according to schedule, since our December 2020 filing of the case and related testimony. Our rate review filing seeks recovery of costs and more than $850 million in capital investments since 2018 which are designed to make our system safer, more reliable and cleaner for our customers and communities.

Other interested parties to the case submitted their testimony in May, followed by all parties submitting rebuttal testimony in June and July, including Spire Missouri updating financial information in its initial filing through the test year update period ended May 31, 2021.

On July 30, Spire Missouri, the Staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission (MoPSC) and the other parties to the case filed a Partial Stipulation and Agreement settling a number of issues. Hearings before the MoPSC began on August 2.

Third Quarter Results

Three Months Ended June 30,





(Millions)



(Per Diluted Common Share)





2021



2020



2021



2020

Net Economic Earnings (Loss)* by Segment































Gas Utility

$ 12.3



$ 8.4

















Gas Marketing



(5.2)





0.1

















Other



(0.2)





(1.2)

















Total

$ 6.9



$ 7.3



$ 0.06



$ 0.07

Impairments, pre-tax









(148.6)











(2.89)

Other net economic earnings adjustments, pre-tax



(2.1)





23.3





(0.04)





0.45

Income tax effect of pre-tax adjustments



0.5





25.7





0.01





0.50

Net Income (Loss)

$ 5.3



$ (92.3)



$ 0.03



$ (1.87)

Weighted Average Diluted Shares Outstanding



51.7





51.2





















*Non-GAAP, see "Net Economic Earnings and Reconciliation to GAAP and Cautionary Statements regarding non-GAAP measures including net economic earnings."

Consolidated net income for the three months ended June 30, 2021, the third quarter of our fiscal year, was $5.3 million ($0.03 per diluted share), compared to a loss of $92.3 million ($1.87 loss per share) a year ago. The prior period includes non-cash, pre-tax impairment charges totaling $148.6 million ($117.3 million after tax) that principally related to a write-down of Spire Storage.

Net economic earnings (NEE) for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 was $6.9 million ($0.06 per share) compared to $7.3 million ($0.07 per share) last year, reflecting higher earnings from our gas utilities and offset by lower results from Gas Marketing.

Gas Utility

The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated distribution operations of our five gas utilities across Alabama, Mississippi and Missouri. Third quarter NEE was $12.3 million, up from $8.4 million in the prior year, reflecting a higher contribution margin partially offset by higher expenses.

Contribution margin increased $5.7 million, reflecting favorable rate adjustments at Spire Alabama of $4.1 million and higher ISRS at Spire Missouri of $1.5 million.

Operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses of $103.2 million for the quarter were $12.3 million lower than the same period a year ago. However, excluding a $14.2 million year-over-year impact from the reclassification of certain pension costs to below the operating income line (no bottom-line impact), O&M expenses were up $1.9 million. This slight increase reflects higher operations and employee-related expenses. Depreciation and amortization expenses increased $3.1 million due to incremental capital investment.

Gas Marketing

The Gas Marketing segment includes the results of Spire Marketing, which provides natural gas marketing services across the majority of the United States. On an NEE basis, Spire Marketing reported a loss of $5.2 million for the third quarter, down from earnings of $0.1 million in the prior year. Results in the current year were impacted by less favorable market conditions and higher costs.

Other

Other gas-related operations and corporate costs on an NEE basis for the third quarter were $0.2 million in fiscal 2021, compared to $1.2 million a year ago, reflecting improved performance at Spire Storage.

Year-to-Date Results

Nine Months Ended June 30,





(Millions)



(Per Diluted Common Share)





2021



2020



2021



2020

Net Economic Earnings (Loss)* by Segment































Gas Utility

$ 248.4



$ 221.8

















Gas Marketing



37.9





11.3

















Other



(6.9)





(10.0)

















Total

$ 279.4



$ 223.1



$ 5.18



$ 4.14

Spire Missouri regulatory adjustments, pre-tax



9.0











0.18







Impairments, pre-tax









(148.6)











(2.90)

Other net economic earnings adjustments, pre-tax



(6.2)





3.2





(0.12)





0.06

Income tax effect of pre-tax adjustments



(0.6)





30.6





(0.01)





0.60

Net Income

$ 281.6



$ 108.3



$ 5.23



$ 1.90

Weighted Average Diluted Shares Outstanding



51.7





51.2





















*Non-GAAP, see "Net Economic Earnings and Reconciliation to GAAP and Cautionary Statements regarding non-GAAP measures including net economic earnings."

For the first nine months of fiscal 2021, we reported consolidated net income of $281.6 million ($5.23 per diluted share), up from $108.3 million ($1.90 per share) for the prior year, which included the impairment charge described earlier.

NEE for the nine months ended June 30, 2021, was $279.4 million ($5.18 per share), up from $223.1 million ($4.14 per share) a year ago. The increase in NEE reflects higher Gas Marketing and Gas Utility earnings, and lower other costs.

Gas Utility

For the first nine months of fiscal 2021, the Gas Utility segment reported NEE of $248.4 million, up $26.6 million from a year ago, reflecting a higher contribution margin partially offset by higher operating expenses.

Year-to-date segment contribution margin increased by $35.3 million. The higher margin reflects a $14.6 million increase in ISRS revenues for our Missouri utilities, and net year-to-date rate adjustments of $7.1 million for Spire Alabama. Margin also benefitted by $10.0 million from higher usage and off-system sales.

O&M expenses decreased by $9.7 million compared to the prior-year period. However, after removing a $3.9 million transfer of non-service pension costs to below the operating income line and adjusting for a $9.0 million reversal of a charge for disallowed pension costs in Spire Missouri's 2018 rate case, O&M expenses were down $4.6 million. The decrease was driven by lower operations and employee-related expenses. Depreciation and amortization expense rose $7.8 million reflecting increased capital investment across our utilities.

Gas Marketing and Other

NEE was $37.9 million year-to-date in fiscal 2021, up from $11.3 million in the prior-year period. This improvement was driven by the strong second quarter results this year due to extreme market conditions from the February 2021 cold weather event and optimization of incremental storage positions.

On an NEE basis, year-to-date other gas-related operations and corporate costs were $6.9 million, down from $10.0 million in the prior-year period, reflecting improved results from Spire Storage.

Balance Sheets and Cash Flow

In the third quarter of fiscal 2021, we maintained a solid capital structure and ample liquidity. Short-term borrowings outstanding at June 30, 2021, were $461.0 million, down from $477.6 million at June 30, 2020, as lower cash flow from operations, including increased seasonal working capital, was more than offset by the issuance of long-term debt.

On May 20, 2021, Spire Missouri issued $305 million of 3.30% Series First Mortgage Bonds due 2051. Proceeds were used to redeem $55 million of Spire Missouri 3.00% Series First Mortgage Bonds due 2023 (called for redemption May 24, 2021) and to repay short-term debt.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $220.7 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2021, down from $453.8 million in the prior-year period, largely due to fluctuations in working capital balances.

Capital expenditures for the first nine months of fiscal 2021 were $463.2 million, down from $475.7 million in the prior year mainly due to decreased non-utility investment.

For additional details on Spire's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, please see the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, Balance Sheets, and Statements of Cash Flows.

Guidance and Outlook

We affirm our fiscal 2021 NEE expectation range of $4.30 - $4.50 per share. Our annual long-term NEE per share growth target remains 5-7%, driven by continued, consistent growth of our gas utilities, including annual rate base growth of 7-8% driven by investment in pipeline upgrades as well as technology upgrades and new business. We also reaffirm our 5-year capital expenditures outlook through fiscal 2025 of $3.0 billion and our expected fiscal 2021 investment of $590 million.

Dividends

The Spire board of directors has declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.65 per share, payable October 4, 2021, to shareholders of record on September 10, 2021. We have continuously paid a cash common stock dividend since 1946, with 2021 marking the 18th consecutive year of increasing dividends on an annualized basis.

The board also declared the regular quarterly dividend of $0.36875 per depositary share on Spire's 5.90% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock payable November 15, 2021, to holders of record on October 25, 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast

Spire will host a conference call and webcast today to discuss our fiscal 2021 third quarter financial results. To access the call, please dial the applicable number approximately 5-10 minutes prior to the start time.

Date and Time:

Thursday, August 5



11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET)







Phone Numbers:

U.S. and Canada: 844-824-3832



International: 412-317-5142

The call will also be webcast and can be accessed at Investors.SpireEnergy.com under the Events & presentations tab. A replay of the call will be available at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) on August 5 until September 7, 2021, by dialing 877-344-7529 (U.S.), 855-669-9658 (Canada), or 412-317-0088 (international). The replay access code is 10157704.

About Spire

At Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR) we believe energy exists to help make people's lives better. It's a simple idea, but one that's at the heart of our company. Every day we serve 1.7 million homes and businesses making us the fifth largest publicly traded natural gas company in the country. We help families and business owners fuel their daily lives through our gas utilities serving Alabama, Mississippi and Missouri. Our natural gas-related businesses include Spire Marketing, Spire STL Pipeline and Spire Storage. We are committed to transforming our business through growing organically, investing in infrastructure, and advancing through innovation. Learn more at SpireEnergy.com.

Cautionary Statements on Forward-Looking Information and Non-GAAP Measures

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Spire's future operating results may be affected by various uncertainties and risk factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, including weather conditions, economic factors, the competitive environment, governmental and regulatory policy and action, and risks associated with acquisitions. More complete descriptions and listings of these uncertainties and risk factors can be found in the Company's annual (Form 10-K) and quarterly (Form 10Q) filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This news release includes the non-GAAP financial measures of "net economic earnings," "net economic earnings per share," and "contribution margin." Management also uses these non-GAAP measures internally when evaluating the Company's performance and results of operations. Net economic earnings exclude from net income the impacts of fair value accounting and timing adjustments associated with energy-related transactions, the impacts of acquisition, divestiture and restructuring activities and the largely non-cash impacts of impairments and other non-recurring or unusual items such as certain regulatory, legislative, or GAAP standard-setting actions. For fiscal 2020 periods presented, adjustments for Missouri ISRS revenues reflect the regulatory settlement reached in the fiscal third quarter regarding 2016-2018 ISRS cases that resulted in a $15.0 million one-time credit to Spire Missouri customers. The fair value and timing adjustments, which primarily impact the Gas Marketing segment, include net unrealized gains and losses on energy-related derivatives resulting from the current changes in the fair value of financial and physical transactions prior to their completion and settlement, lower of cost or market inventory adjustments, and realized gains and losses on economic hedges prior to the sale of the physical commodity. Management believes that excluding these items provides a useful representation of the economic impact of actual settled transactions and overall results of ongoing operations. Contribution margin adjusts revenues to remove the costs that are directly passed on to customers and collected through revenues, which are the wholesale cost of natural gas and gross receipts taxes. These internal non-GAAP operating metrics should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, GAAP measures such as operating income, net income, or earnings per share.

Investor Contact:

Scott W. Dudley Jr.

314-342-0878

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Jessica B. Willingham

314-342-3300

[email protected]

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income  Unaudited

(In Millions, except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended June 30,



Nine Months Ended June 30,





2021



2020



2021



2020

Operating Revenues

$ 327.8



$ 321.1



$ 1,945.3



$ 1,603.5

Operating Expenses:































Natural gas



96.9





72.9





897.2





631.9

Operation and maintenance



112.0





124.9





342.6





347.2

Depreciation and amortization



53.1





50.1





155.4





146.8

Taxes, other than income taxes



32.6





31.1





126.6





122.7

Impairments









148.6











148.6

Total Operating Expenses



294.6





427.6





1,521.8





1,397.2

Operating Income (Loss)



33.2





(106.5)





423.5





206.3

Interest Expense, Net



26.9





26.4





78.4





80.3

Other (Expense) Income, Net



(1.0)





13.0





5.1





(0.8)

Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes



5.3





(119.9)





350.2





125.2

Income Tax (Benefit) Expense









(27.6)





68.6





16.9

Net Income (Loss)



5.3





(92.3)





281.6





108.3

Provision for preferred dividends



3.7





3.7





11.1





11.1

Income (loss) allocated to participating securities



0.1





(0.1)





0.5





0.2

Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Shareholders

$ 1.5



$ (95.9)



$ 270.0



$ 97.0



































Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding:































Basic



51.6





51.2





51.6





51.1

Diluted



51.7





51.2





51.7





51.2



































Basic Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share

$ 0.03



$ (1.87)



$ 5.24



$ 1.90

Diluted Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share

$ 0.03



$ (1.87)



$ 5.23



$ 1.90

Dividends Declared Per Common Share

$ 0.65



$ 0.6225



$ 1.95



$ 1.8675



Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets  Unaudited (In Millions)

June 30,



September 30,



June 30,





2021



2020



2020

ASSETS























Utility Plant

$ 7,110.2



$ 6,766.3



$ 6,472.2

Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization



2,173.1





2,086.2





1,882.1

Net Utility Plant



4,937.1





4,680.1





4,590.1

Non-utility Property



463.6





432.3





420.1

Other Investments



76.4





71.7





70.6

Total Other Property and Investments



540.0





504.0





490.7

Current Assets:























Cash and cash equivalents



23.9





4.1





7.4

Accounts receivable, net



502.0





253.3





248.1

Inventories



216.4





191.5





148.6

Other



156.0





141.7





155.2

Total Current Assets



898.3





590.6





559.3

Deferred Charges and Other Assets



2,517.9





2,466.5





2,182.5

Total Assets

$ 8,893.3



$ 8,241.2



$ 7,822.6



























CAPITALIZATION AND LIABILITIES























Capitalization:























Preferred stock

$ 242.0



$ 242.0



$ 242.0

Common stock and paid-in capital



1,565.6





1,600.8





1,591.4

Retained earnings



887.6





720.7





774.6

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)



1.9





(41.2)





(49.6)

Total Shareholders' Equity



2,697.1





2,522.3





2,558.4

Temporary equity



9.3





3.4





4.1

Long-term debt (less current portion)



2,939.0





2,423.7





2,478.3

Total Capitalization



5,645.4





4,949.4





5,040.8

Current Liabilities:























Current portion of long-term debt



110.8





60.4





5.4

Notes payable



461.0





648.0





477.6

Accounts payable



294.3





243.3





200.8

Accrued liabilities and other



425.7





497.5





424.0

Total Current Liabilities



1,291.8





1,449.2





1,107.8

Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities:























Deferred income taxes



605.8





511.4





479.7

Pension and postretirement benefit costs



231.8





309.0





271.9

Asset retirement obligations



556.5





540.1





348.2

Regulatory liabilities



414.6





343.7





449.6

Other



147.4





138.4





124.6

Total Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities



1,956.1





1,842.6





1,674.0

Total Capitalization and Liabilities

$ 8,893.3



$ 8,241.2



$ 7,822.6



Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows  Unaudited

(In Millions)

Nine Months Ended June 30,





2021



2020

Operating Activities:















Net Income

$ 281.6



$ 108.3

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:















Depreciation and amortization



155.4





146.8

Deferred income taxes and investment tax credits



68.4





17.0

Impairments









148.6

Changes in assets and liabilities



(294.2)





28.0

Other



9.5





5.1

Net cash provided by operating activities



220.7





453.8



















Investing Activities:















Capital expenditures



(463.2)





(475.7)

Other



1.5





5.6

Net cash used in investing activities



(461.7)





(470.1)



















Financing Activities:















Issuance of long-term debt



629.1





510.0

Repayment of long-term debt



(60.4)





(147.0)

Repayment of short-term debt, net



(187.0)





(265.6)

Issuance of common stock



0.6





33.2

Dividends paid on common stock



(99.6)





(95.7)

Dividends paid on preferred stock



(11.1)





(11.1)

Other



(10.8)





(5.9)

Net cash provided by financing activities



260.8





17.9



















Net Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents



19.8





1.6

Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period



4.1





5.8

Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

$ 23.9



$ 7.4



Net Economic Earnings and Reconciliation to GAAP

(In Millions, except per share amounts)

Gas Utility



Gas Marketing



Other



Total



Per Diluted Common

Share (2)

Three Months Ended June 30, 2021







































Net Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 12.1



$ (6.6)



$ (0.2)



$ 5.3



$ 0.03

Adjustments, pre-tax:







































Fair value and timing adjustments



0.2





1.9











2.1





0.04

Income tax effect of adjustments (1)









(0.5)











(0.5)





(0.01)

Net Economic Earnings (Loss) [Non-GAAP]

$ 12.3



$ (5.2)



$ (0.2)



$ 6.9



$ 0.06











































Three Months Ended June 30, 2020







































Net Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 12.6



$ 13.6



$ (118.5)



$ (92.3)



$ (1.87)

Adjustments, pre-tax:







































Impairments















148.6





148.6





2.89

Provision for ISRS rulings



(4.8)

















(4.8)





(0.09)

Fair value and timing adjustments



(0.6)





(17.9)











(18.5)





(0.36)

Income tax effect of adjustments (1)



1.2





4.4





(31.3)





(25.7)





(0.50)

Net Economic Earnings (Loss) [Non-GAAP]

$ 8.4



$ 0.1



$ (1.2)



$ 7.3



$ 0.07











































Nine Months Ended June 30, 2021







































Net Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 255.0



$ 33.5



$ (6.9)



$ 281.6



$ 5.23

Adjustments, pre-tax:







































Missouri regulatory adjustments



(9.0)

















(9.0)





(0.18)

Fair value and timing adjustments



0.3





5.9











6.2





0.12

Income tax effect of adjustments (1)



2.1





(1.5)











0.6





0.01

Net Economic Earnings (Loss) [Non-GAAP]

$ 248.4



$ 37.9



$ (6.9)



$ 279.4



$ 5.18











































Nine Months Ended June 30, 2020







































Net Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 222.0



$ 13.6



$ (127.3)



$ 108.3



$ 1.90

Adjustments, pre-tax:







































Impairments















148.6





148.6





2.90

Fair value and timing adjustments



(0.2)





(3.0)











(3.2)





(0.06)

Income tax effect of adjustments (1)









0.7





(31.3)





(30.6)





(0.60)

Net Economic Earnings (Loss) [Non-GAAP]

$ 221.8



$ 11.3



$ (10.0)



$ 223.1



$ 4.14





(1) Income tax effect is calculated by applying federal, state, and local income tax rates applicable to ordinary income to the amounts of the pre-tax reconciling items and then adding any estimated effects of enacted state or local income tax laws for periods before the related effective date. (2) Net economic earnings per share is calculated by replacing consolidated net income with consolidated net economic earnings in the GAAP diluted EPS calculation, which includes reductions for cumulative preferred dividends and participating shares.

Contribution Margin and Reconciliation to GAAP

(In Millions)

Gas Utility



Gas Marketing



Other



Eliminations



Consolidated

Three Months Ended June 30, 2021







































Operating Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 35.6



$ (8.8)



$ 6.4



$ 



$ 33.2

Operation and maintenance expenses



103.2





3.2





9.2





(3.6)





112.0

Depreciation and amortization



50.9





0.3





1.9











53.1

Taxes, other than income taxes



32.1





0.2





0.3











32.6

Less: Gross receipts tax expense



(17.9)























(17.9)

Contribution Margin [Non-GAAP]



203.9





(5.1)





17.8





(3.6)





213.0

Natural gas costs



84.9





20.2











(8.2)





96.9

Gross receipts tax expense



17.9























17.9

Operating Revenues

$ 306.7



$ 15.1



$ 17.8



$ (11.8)



$ 327.8











































Three Months Ended June 30, 2020







































Operating Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 20.4



$ 18.2



$ (145.1)



$ 



$ (106.5)

Operation and maintenance expenses



115.5





2.2





10.5





(3.3)





124.9

Depreciation and amortization



47.8





0.2





2.1











50.1

Taxes, other than income taxes



31.7





0.2





(0.8)











31.1

Impairments















148.6











148.6

Less: Gross receipts tax expense



(17.2)





(0.1)





0.1











(17.2)

Contribution Margin [Non-GAAP]



198.2





20.7





15.4





(3.3)





231.0

Natural gas costs



90.6





(9.2)





0.1





(8.6)





72.9

Gross receipts tax expense



17.2





0.1





(0.1)











17.2

Operating Revenues

$ 306.0



$ 11.6



$ 15.4



$ (11.9)



$ 321.1











































Nine Months Ended June 30, 2021







































Operating Income [GAAP]

$ 366.4



$ 43.2



$ 13.9



$ 



$ 423.5

Operation and maintenance expenses



310.2





13.6





28.9





(10.1)





342.6

Depreciation and amortization



149.0





0.9





5.5











155.4

Taxes, other than income taxes



124.0





0.9





1.7











126.6

Less: Gross receipts tax expense



(81.7)





(0.1)

















(81.8)

Contribution Margin [Non-GAAP]



867.9





58.5





50.0





(10.1)





966.3

Natural gas costs



908.4





14.7





0.1





(26.0)





897.2

Gross receipts tax expense



81.7





0.1

















81.8

Operating Revenues

$ 1,858.0



$ 73.3



$ 50.1



$ (36.1)



$ 1,945.3











































Nine Months Ended June 30, 2020







































Operating Income (Loss) [GAAP]

$ 329.6



$ 18.2



$ (141.5)



$ 



$ 206.3

Operation and maintenance expenses



319.9





8.9





28.0





(9.6)





347.2

Depreciation and amortization



141.2





0.3





5.3











146.8

Taxes, other than income taxes



121.3





0.9





0.5











122.7

Impairments















148.6











148.6

Less: Gross receipts tax expense



(79.4)





(0.3)

















(79.7)

Contribution Margin [Non-GAAP]



832.6





28.0





40.9





(9.6)





891.9

Natural gas costs



603.7





48.9





0.3





(21.0)





631.9

Gross receipts tax expense



79.4





0.3

















79.7

Operating Revenues

$ 1,515.7



$ 77.2



$ 41.2



$ (30.6)



$ 1,603.5



SOURCE Spire Inc.

Related Links

www.spireenergy.com


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. (NYSE: INN) (the "Company") announced today that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares of its 5.875% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the "Series F Preferred Stock") at a public offering price of $25.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $100 million. The Company has granted the underwriters of the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares of Series F Preferred Stock solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on August 12, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Company expects to contribute the net proceeds from this offering to its operating partnership. The operating partnership intends to use the net proceeds to redeem the Company's outstanding 6.45% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the "Series D Preferred Stock") with an aggregate liquidation preference of $75.0 million, plus a sum equal to all accrued and unpaid dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock, up to, but not including, the redemption date and the balance to reduce the outstanding balance of its senior unsecured revolving credit facility, its term loans and for other general corporate purposes.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., BofA Securities, Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The senior co-managers for the offering are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, BMO Capital Markets Corp. and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. Capital One Securities, Inc., PNC Capital Markets LLC, Regions Securities LLC, Truist Securities, Inc., U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. and Bancroft Capital, LLC are acting as co-managers.

A registration statement relating to these preferred shares has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is effective. A copy of the final prospectus supplement (when available) and base prospectus relating to the shares may be obtained by contacting Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Attention: WFS Customer Service, 608 2nd Avenue South, Suite 1000, Minneapolis, MN 55402, email: [email protected], telephone: 1-800-645-3751; Raymond James & Associates, Inc., 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716, telephone (800) 248-8863, email: [email protected] and BofA Securities, Inc., NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department; Telephone: 1-800-294-1322, Email: [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Summit Hotel Properties, Inc.

Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on owning premium-branded hotels with efficient operating models primarily in the Upscale segment of the lodging industry. As of August 5, 2021, the Company's portfolio consisted of 73 hotels, 61 of which were wholly owned, with a total of 11,398 guestrooms located in 23 states.

This press release contains statements that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and can include future expectations, future plans and strategies, financial and operating projections or other forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, not all of which are known to the Company and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For example, the fact that the offering has priced may imply that the offering will close, but the closing is subject to conditions customary in transactions of this type and may be delayed or may not occur at all. In addition, the fact that the underwriters have an over-allotment option may imply that this option will be exercised. However, the underwriters are not under any obligation to exercise this option, or any portion of it, and may not do so. Investors should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Summit Hotel Properties, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.shpreit.com


MIDDLETON, Mass., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quadrant Knowledge Solutions announced today that it has named Symphony Talent as a 2021 technology leader in the SPARK Matrix analysis of the global Talent Acquisition Application market.

The Quadrant Knowledge Solutions SPARK Matrix includes a detailed analysis of global market dynamics, major trends, vendor landscape, and competitive positioning. The study provides a competitive analysis and ranking of the leading Talent Acquisition Application vendors in the form of its SPARK Matrix, providing strategic information for users to evaluate different vendor capabilities, competitive differentiation, and market position. Read the SPARK Matrix Knowledge Brief to learn more .

"Symphony Talent, with its comprehensive technology for managing Talent Acquisition and Recruitment Marketing solutions through a data-driven approach, utilizing their in-house product- 'SmashFlyX' - has received strong ratings across the parameters of technology excellence and customer impact, and has been positioned amongst the technology leaders in the 2021 SPARK Matrix of the Talent Acquisition Application market," said Pallavi Bothra, Analyst at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions. "The SmashFlyX platform, Symphony Talent's proprietary AI and in-house creative and branding agency - helps clients to seamlessly attract and process the end-to-end talent acquisition process. Moreover, the on-demand video interviewing capability has been gaining traction especially due to the pandemic scenario. With its robust technology platform, comprehensive functional capabilities, and compelling product strategy and roadmap, Symphony Talent is well positioned to expand its market share in the global Talent Acquisition Application market".

The Talent Acquisition Application market is currently transitioning from early adoption to the rapid growth stage of the overall product lifecycle. While talent acquisition application has essentially been around for several years, the increasing market traction across industry verticals and various geographical regions is due to the increased adaptation of digital means by both employers and candidates - especially due to the pandemic and remote working scenarios and further advancements in the offering, powered by emotionally intelligent artificial intelligence and automation of end-to-end talent acquisition processes. Businesses around the world are turning to talent acquisition application to effectively find the best talent, not only in terms of the candidate's qualification, but also other aspects such as their emotional quotient and cultural fit, amongst others. Additionally, it also helps candidates to apply for a job position which is the best fit for them and get instant updates in regard to application processes on user friendly mobile enabled applications.

"Through SmashFlyX we aim to empower employers to achieve business success in their recruitment operations, fuel future success and ultimately create joy in their work," said Roopesh Nair, President & CEO of Symphony Talent. "SmashFlyX unifies CRM, career site, talent mobility and programmatic recruitment advertising to help talent acquisition teams automate tasks for efficiency and empower teams for interaction. We look forward to continuing to provide a roadmap of tools for achieving success and building toward the shared goal of joy."

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the global economy, with major industries across diversified areas facing significant challenges, in addition to a negative growth rate. Covid-19 has also impacted the market for overall digital transformation and enterprise software, including the Talent Acquisition Application technology market. Despite the fact that the majority industries have witnessed a backlash due to the global pandemic, the market for talent acquisition application has been seeing a consistent traction and surge in demand. This is because automated processes do help to reduce manual intervention and provide organizations with best possible resources and increased visibility, amongst any talent marketing campaign in progress. Global talent acquisition application vendors are seeing a significant surge in demands due to direct inquiries from various medium to large-sized organizations and their partner networks, as well.

The Talent Acquisition Application platform presents crucial key value propositions including  providing visibility to the talent marketing campaign, running them through talent pipeline, shortlisting the candidates based on various parameters, seamlessly scheduling interview processes and onboarding, amongst others. The global demand for talent acquisition application is increasing rapidly due to the capability of the platform to seamlessly provide and automate an enhanced experience for both  the employers and the talent, in the market Additionally, the platform provides with a user friendly mobile application which helps - candidates go through the entire process seamlessly, and the employers to check the status of each marketing campaign and the progress of individual talent, in the talent acquisition cycle.

About Symphony Talent

Software that works for you, and you love to work in. Symphony Talent is a recruitment marketing technology company that helps recruitment teams automate tasks for efficiency and empower smarter candidate interactions. Its SmashFlyX platform unifies CRM, career site, and programmatic advertising for the most comprehensive talent campaigning and marketing in the industry. As an employer brand and creative partner, Symphony Talent has won major awards for EVP strategy, employer brand campaigns, career site design, and more. The company supports more than 600 customers across the globe, with headquarters in New York, London, Bangalore, and Belfast. Visit symphonytalent.com to learn more.

About Quadrant Knowledge Solutions

Quadrant Knowledge Solutions is a global advisory and consulting firm focused on helping clients in achieving business transformation goals with Strategic Business and Growth advisory services. At Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, our vision is to become an integral part of our client's business as a strategic knowledge partner. Our research and consulting deliverables are designed to provide comprehensive information and strategic insights for helping clients formulate growth strategies to survive and thrive in ever-changing business environments. For more available research, please visit https://quadrant-solutions.com/market-research/

Media Contacts

Riya Mehar

[email protected]

SOURCE Quadrant Knowledge Solutions
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past year, online fundraising has become the number one way to donate with over $30 billion raised around the world (according to Fundly). Due to the economic changes resulting from Covid-19, it has become the norm to fundraise via the internet. According to Fundly , funds raised through online donations grew 33.7% in 2020 alone.

Tango streamers are among those fighting for people in need. Millions who have lost jobs, health, or those close to them are being comforted and helped by some of Tango's most popular streamers.

When asked, one of these generous streamers simply said, "We just thought we can use the platform in the best way ever. We choose a member of the community that needs our help, go on one stream altogether and help the streamer's exposure. This way they are seen in the "popular" tab, getting hundreds of entries, and many gifts from the community and outside of it."

Community managers at Tango have noticed the growing number of people donating on their platforms. Streaming has created a new generation of givers who don't need giant organizations or networks to fundraise, but can turn to their fan base, who will often gladly donate to support their favorite hosts and causes.

One community even raised money for a member tragically suffering from bone cancer. To their amazement, fans  even the ones who don't usually engage  gladly reached into their wallets and sent money in the form of gifts and supportive messages. It might have been the first good news that this streamer had gotten in a long time, and a heart warming reminder of what happens when good people come together.

For Tango and many other streaming platforms, it is proof that what they are doing has the potential to lead the world into a new era of transaction and help build a generation of not only content creators, but philanthropists and givers as well.

Perhaps the most exciting part about all of this is that, for Tango, this appears to be just the beginning. As more and more hosts begin to understand the power of hosting a streaming fundraiser, we are likely to see much more of them in the near future.

Want to show your support as well? Simply download the Tango App from Google Play Store or Apple App Store . For more updates, follow Tango on Facebook and Instagram .

About Tango Me

Tango is a leading global live streaming platform that empowers content creation, social connections, and fan monetization in real-time. Our vision is to bring a new creator economy to life, one that enables anyone to engage with their supporters, live, and earn money through micro-transactions. Launched in 2009 as the world's first video messenger app, and developing breakthrough video technologies ever since, Tango has garnered over 450 million downloads by users in over 190 countries. Tango is privately owned and is based in San Francisco.

Company Contact:

Tal Zilberman

VP Marketing

[email protected]

Tango Me

SOURCE TANGO

Related Links

tango.me


Summit 10 Raspberry Lemonade and Summit 10 Peach Lemonade are now available in British Columbia, with Alberta to follow later this summer

Previously launched Summit 10 Lemonade Iced Tea ranked among top three cannabis-infused beverage SKUs in participating Canadian markets for the period May 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021*





KELOWNA, BC, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The Valens Company Inc. (TSX: VLNS) (OTCQX: VLNCF) (the "Company," "The Valens Company" or "Valens"), a leading manufacturer of cannabis products, today launched two new flavours of the top-selling Summit 10 beverage in partnership with A1 Cannabis Company ("A1 Cannabis" or "A1"). Summit 10 Raspberry Lemonade and Summit 10 Peach Lemonade will be available as part of the Summit product lineup of THC-forward beverages and edibles.

Summit 10 Raspberry Lemonade and Summit 10 Peach Lemonade are refreshing 10mg THC beverages made with concentrated raspberry juice and natural white peach flavour respectively. Both drinks are non-carbonated and come in bottles with resealable lids, allowing for controlled consumption as desired. Summit 10 was developed using SoRSE by Valens emulsion technology and is designed for consumers seeking a higher dosage product with faster-observed onset times and reduced offset times. The two new flavours will first be available in British Columbia, with their introduction into the Alberta market to follow later this summer.

The Summit cannabis-infused beverage offerings have received positive reviews in Canada for their differentiated taste and customizable dosing from the industry and consumers alike. In addition to the new beverage flavours, the following products are currently available as part of the Summit lineup from A1 Cannabis:

Summit 10 THC Lemonade Iced Tea (10mg THC) available in Alberta , British Columbia , Ontario , Manitoba , Saskatchewan , and Yukon , and ranked among the top three cannabis-infused beverage SKUs in participating Canadian markets, for the period May 1, 2021 , to July 31, 2021 *

, , , , , and , and ranked among the top three cannabis-infused beverage SKUs in participating Canadian markets, for the period , to Summit Wild Berry Soft Chews (2 x 5mg THC) available in Alberta and Ontario

Basecamp CBD-only Iced Tea (15mg CBD), formulated using SoRSE by Valens technology, is also available from Valens and A1 in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Yukon. Valens will continue to produce and distribute cannabis-infused beverages out of its Kelowna campus with the intention to move beverage manufacturing to its facility in the Greater Toronto Area upon receipt of its Health Canada licence.

At Valens, It's Personal.

*Based on Hifyre data for Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan

About The Valens Company

The Valens Company is a leading manufacturer of cannabis products with a mission to bring the benefits of cannabis to the world. The Company provides proprietary cannabis processing services, in addition to best-in-class product development, manufacturing, and commercialization of cannabis consumer packaged goods. The Valens Company's high-quality products are formulated for the medical, health and wellness, and recreational consumer segments, and are offered across all cannabis product categories with a focus on quality and innovation. The Company also manufactures, distributes, and sells a wide range of CBD products in the United States through its subsidiary Green Roads, and distributes medicinal cannabis products to Australia through its subsidiary Valens Australia. In partnership with brand houses, consumer packaged goods companies and licensed cannabis producers around the globe, the Company continues to grow its diverse product portfolio in alignment with evolving cannabis consumer preferences in key markets. Through Valens Labs, the Company is setting the standard in cannabis testing and research and development with Canada's only ISO17025 accredited analytical services lab, named The Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Science by partner and scientific world leader Thermo Fisher Scientific. Discover more on The Valens Company at http://www.thevalenscompany.com.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements

All information included in this press release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance and other statements of The Valens Company that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "trends", "forecasts", "future", "indications", "potential", "estimates", "predicts", "anticipate", "to establish", "believe", "intend", "ability to", or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might", "will", or are "likely" to be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of these words or other variations thereof, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding future results of operations, future outcomes of transactions, economic conditions, and anticipated courses of action. Investors and other parties are advised that there is not necessarily any correlation between the number of SKUs manufactured and shipped and revenue and profit, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information.

The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, Canadian regulatory risk, Australian regulatory risk, U.S. regulatory risk, U.S. border crossing and travel bans, the uncertainties, effects of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, reliance on licenses and the timely approval of applications for licenses from Health Canada, expansion of facilities, competition, dependence on supply of cannabis and reliance on other key inputs, dependence on senior management and key personnel, general business risk and liability, regulation of the cannabis industry, change in laws, regulations and guidelines, compliance with laws, limited operating history, vulnerability to rising energy costs, unfavourable publicity or consumer perception, product liability, risks related to intellectual property, product recalls, difficulties with forecasts, management of growth and litigation, many of which are beyond the control of The Valens Company. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by The Valens Company, and which may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of The Valens Company to be materially different from estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, please refer to The Valens Company's latest Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com or on The Valens Company's website at www.thevalenscompany.com. The risks described in such Annual Information Form are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Although the forward-looking statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and reasonable assumptions based upon information available to management as of the date hereof, The Valens Company cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. The Valens Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Valens Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Nothing herein should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell securities of The Valens Company.

SOURCE The Valens Company Inc.

Related Links

https://thevalenscompany.com/


STOCKHOLM, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tobii today announces its entry into mass market automotive integrations with the release of its Driver Monitoring System, Tobii DMS, the acquisition of Phasya, and several new partnerships.

Over the past 20 years, Tobii has built global leadership positions in eye tracking and attention computing across numerous markets, including Healthcare, Behavior Research, VR/AR, and gaming. Now, Tobii is adding another strategic high-growth focus area to its portfolio by announcing that it has adapted its leading eye tracking technology to the needs of the automotive OEM market. Tobii's Driver Monitoring System (DMS), called Tobii DMS, has been in development since 2019 and will be available this autumn and is ready for deployment in conjunction with the expected mass market adoption in 2024-2025.

Today's announcement also includes an acquisition of Phasya, new collaborations with Tier-1 suppliers and OEM customers as well as new commercial partnerships with Sunny SmartLead and Nviso to enhance the Tobii DMS offering.

"Building on Tobii's innovation leadership and unique experience in integrating and scaling eye-tracking solutions efficiently across global mass markets, our long-term ambition is to become a leading DMS provider," said Anand Srivatsa, Division CEO of Tobii Tech. "With regulatory requirements accelerating the DMS market growth, we will build on our proven track record and know-how of developing innovative market-leading solutions."

Tobii's automotive offering

Tobii DMS, an AI-based attention computing technology delivers key data points about driver attention and drowsiness, enhancing traffic safety and deepening the intuitiveness of vehicle interfaces. By leveraging unique expertise that ranges from component engineering to full system design, Tobii will deliver a disruptive solution for the DMS market that fits the needs of automotive OEMs and Tier-1 partners.

Tobii already provides market-leading eye tracking solutions to the automotive industry, for various research, quality, and optimization purposes. This has generated valuable experience and customer relations for the development of the DMS offering, bringing unique synergies between the DMS offering and other parts within Tobii.

Acquisition to broaden the automotive portfolio

Tobii today also announces the acquisition of Phasya, a leading provider bringing twelve years of experience in developing and validating advanced algorithms for monitoring physiological and cognitive states that influence human performance. This is valuable across large parts of Tobii's portfolio of solutions, and in particular to complement its core attention technology offering for automotive OEM. This acquisition makes Tobii a frontrunner in a key functionality requested by most OEMs.

New partnerships strengthening the Tobii DMS offering

Tobii has established collaborations with multiple Tier-1 suppliers and OEM customers, which aim to evaluate and develop joint solutions around Tobii DMS. Partners value Tobii's competence and long history as the world leading supplier of cost-optimized eye tracking hardware and software solutions.

A new partnership with leading optics solutions provider Sunny SmartLead enables Tobii to deliver a DMS solution optimized for one of the world's most advanced and widely used automotive optics solutions. Tobii and Sunny SmartLead will jointly target customers and deliver an optimized and highly scalable solution.

A partnership with Nviso, a leader in Human Behavior AI, to combine strengths and expertise in Driver and Occupant Monitoring Systems (OMS). The collaboration addresses growing opportunities in combining In-Cabin Sensing solutions with new AI-based features, such as multi-person analysis, emotion detection, upper body analysis, and object and gesture detection.

For more information about Tobii's offering within Automotive, please visit: Tobii.com/automotive

This information is information that Tobii AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on August 5, 2021, at 17:30 CEST.

Contact

Lina Perdius, Head of Communications, Tobii AB, phone: +46 (0)70 018 78 75, email: [email protected]

Henrik Mawby, Head of Investor Relations, Tobii Group, phone: +46 (0)72 219 82 15, email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/tobii-ab/r/tobii--the-world-leader-in-eye-tracking--enters-the-automotive-driver-monitoring-market,c3392756

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/2874/3392756/1451144.pdf Tobii enters the automotive driver monitoring market https://news.cision.com/tobii-ab/i/tobii-dms,c2940191 Tobii DMS

SOURCE Tobii AB
OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Beginning on August 9th, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. EDT, fully vaccinated United States (U.S.) citizens and permanent residents will be eligible to enter Canada for discretionary (non-essential) reasons, such as tourism, however these individuals must:

be fully vaccinated: to be considered fully vaccinated, a traveller must have received the full series of a vaccine  or combination of vaccines  accepted by the Government of Canada at least 14 days prior to entering Canada . Currently, those vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson). be residing in and travelling from the U.S.; have a valid negative pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test result taken no more than 72 hours before arriving in Canada or a previous positive test result taken between 14 and 180 days before departure to Canada (antigen tests are not accepted); be asymptomatic; submit their mandatory information via ArriveCAN, including proof of vaccination in English or French; be admissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and, take a test on arrival, if required.

Even though travellers are fully vaccinated, they must also provide a quarantine plan in ArriveCAN and be prepared to quarantine. At any time after entry, if a fully vaccinated traveller tests positive or is exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, they must follow all local public health requirements, including quarantine or isolation.

It is important to note that fully vaccinated U.S. travellers arriving before 12:01 a.m. EDT on August 9th will not be eligible to enter for discretionary (non-essential) reasons.

Who can enter Canada for discretionary (non-essential) reasons?

Only fully vaccinated U.S. citizens or permanent residents living in the U.S. are eligible to come to Canada for discretionary (non-essential) purposes, such as tourism.

Travellers should ensure their eligibility to enter Canada before making travel plans.

U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are habitual residents of Hyder (Alaska), Northwest Angle (Minnesota) or Point Roberts (Washington) will be eligible to enter Canada to carry out everyday functions and access goods and services within their neighbouring Canadian communities, regardless of vaccination status, so long as they remain in those communities while in Canada.

Mandatory submission of information via ArriveCAN

Fully vaccinated U.S. travellers must submit their mandatory information including their digital proof of vaccination in English or French using ArriveCAN (mobile app or by signing in online at Canada.ca/ArriveCAN) within 72 hours before arriving at the border (or when entering Canada by marine mode). A new version of ArriveCAN will be released on August 9, 2021 at 12:01 EDT. Importantly, individuals travelling on or after August 9 should submit their information after this time. Travellers using the App must ensure that they have the most up-to-date version available in the Google Play Store and the App Store for iPhone as of August 9th.

If travellers are unable to enter their information themselves, they can have a friend or family member enter the information for them.

It is important to note that fully vaccinated U.S. citizens or permanent residents arriving by air, seeking to enter Canada for a discretionary (non-essential) purpose, must submit their information using ArriveCAN (mobile app or by signing in online) before they board their flight to Canada. Travellers who are unable to show their ArriveCAN receipt  either on their mobile device or a printed copy  will not be allowed to board their flight. In addition to their ArriveCAN receipt, travellers must retain a copy (paper or electronic) of their proof of vaccination and the originals of any certified translations available for verification at the border and for 14 days following their entry to Canada.

New border testing surveillance program for fully vaccinated travellers

All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, still require a pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test result. However, effective August 9th, there will be a modification to the current testing approach for fully vaccinated travellers at the border to a surveillance program. This surveillance program will allow the Government of Canada to meet its responsibility for protecting the health of those in Canada while minimizing burden on individual travellers and bolstering program sustainability.

A border testing surveillance program for fully vaccinated travellers represents a shift away from testing all travellers on arrival in Canada towards a focus on tracking COVID-19 activity and identifying new variants, including ones capable of vaccine escape.

Fully vaccinated travellers will not need to take a post-arrival test unless they have been randomly selected to complete a day 1 COVID-19 molecular test. All travellers who are randomly selected for the border testing surveillance program must complete the mandatory testing requirements. Failure to do so may result in fines. There are no changes to the mandatory testing requirements for unvaccinated travellers.

Vaccinated parents travelling with unvaccinated children

Effective August 9th, unvaccinated children under 12 years of age of fully vaccinated parents and/or guardians will be exempt from quarantine that will allow them to accompany their parents/guardians, but must follow enhanced public health measures.

Unvaccinated children between the ages of 12-17 and dependent children (18+) due to a mental or physical condition are permitted to enter Canada with their fully vaccinated parents and/or guardians, but are subject to the 14-day quarantine.

All unvaccinated children (except those under 5 years of age) will remain subject to the day 1 and day 8 testing requirements. Provinces and territories may have more stringent rules around people who have recently returned from travel.

Changes to marine travel

On August 9th, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents arriving by marine mode will be required to provide proof of a valid COVID-19 molecular test result taken before arriving in Canada (antigen tests are not accepted). They will also be required to submit their mandatory information including their proof of vaccination and suitable quarantine plan in ArriveCAN before or when entering Canada.

If a boat does not land in Canada, doesn't make contact with another boat, doesn't moor or anchor while in Canadian waters, other than anchoring in accordance with the right of innocent passage under international law, the travellers will not be required to submit a pre-arrival test or their mandatory information via ArriveCAN.

Get informed and be prepared

Before heading to the Canadian border, U.S. travellers should inform themselves and fully understand their obligations by ensuring their eligibility to enter Canada and reviewing the COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada Web page.

Travellers to Canada may experience delays at the border due to the enhanced public health measures. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will not compromise the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of border wait times. The CBSA thanks travellers for their collaboration and patience.

Upcoming changes for all other fully vaccinated foreign nationals

On September 7, 2021, provided that Canada's COVID-19 epidemiology remains favourable, the Government of Canada intends to allow discretionary (non-essential) travel by travellers from any country who have been fully vaccinated with Government of Canada-accepted vaccines at least 14 days prior to entering Canada and who meet specific entry requirements. More information will be made available soon.

Associated Links

SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency

Related Links

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/


Research by Echoing Green and The Bridgespan Group shows that leaders of color face challenges connecting to funders, building rapport, and securing and sustaining support for culturally relevant strategies. This has led to significant disparities in investment. Black-led organizations dedicated to improving outcomes for Black men have revenue that is 45% lower than organizations with white leaders.

With UNEF, United Way will assist Black and brown-led organizations in building capacity at the grassroots level to accelerate neighborhood-driven outcomes and mentor them to plan for long-term success.

UNEF is made possible with the generous support of founding sponsor Peoples Gas, which committed $1 million to the initiative, and corporate sponsors Nicor Gas and Target. DePaul University is providing professional leadership development and training to the grantees.

"Investing in community-based organizations and the leaders who have the knowledge and expertise to maximize the potential that exists in those communities is essential to the prosperity not just of each neighborhood, but of the entire region," said Charles Matthews, president and CEO of Peoples Gas. "When we learned about the opportunity to support the Equity Fund, we immediately came on board because like United Way, we're committed to strengthening the neighborhoods where we work and live on Chicago's south and west sides.'"

Over the course of the two year grant cycle, grantees will be connected to corporate partners in the communities they serve, receive a year of capacity building support from DePaul's nonprofit management program and have opportunities to network with their cohort of other selected grantees.

"We're fortunate to have exceptional corporate partners who believe in our efforts to support and fund neighborhood-led coalitions that galvanize resources, ideas and energy so every one of our neighborhoods and our region becomes stronger," said president and CEO of United Way Sean Garrett.

Applications for UNEF close on August 15th. Visit United Way of Metro Chicago's website to learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

United Way of Metro Chicago brings together businesses, government, nonprofits, and community leaders to deliver funding, resources, and expertise to nonprofit organizations across greater Chicago. We are working alongside our partners at the neighborhood level to tackle the systemic issues that have plagued our region, creating communities where children and families can thrive. United, we're building stronger neighborhoods for a stronger Chicago region. To learn more, visit www.liveunitedchicago.org.

Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), is a regulated natural gas delivery company that serves more than 878,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the city of Chicago. You can find more information about natural gas safety, energy efficiency and other energy-related topics at peoplesgasdelivery.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook @peoplegaschi.

Contact: Walker Post

Phone: 773-597-7504

[email protected]

Marilyn Jackson

Phone: 312-906-2387

[email protected]

Peoples Gas: David Schwartz

312-240-7854 (office)

312-420-1628 (cell)

[email protected]

SOURCE United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

Related Links

http://www.liveunitedchicago.org


NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, August 6th, 2021, at 7PM, VNUE CEO Zach Bair will host a livestream on Stageit.com to talk to the company's shareholders and other interested parties about what the Stageit acquisition means to VNUE.

Among the topics to be discussed are how the deal will play into VNUE's Soundstr music recognition technology platform and VNUE's technology stacks including Set.fm, and the importance of Stageit's CEO Stephen White and Chief Product Officer Vadim Brenner coming on deck as it pertains to the company's initiatives, and particularly as it pertains to Soundstr. The livestream is free and will take place on Stageit.com at 7PM Central. Interested parties should visit Stageit.com and register.

VNUE, Inc announced on July 28 that the company is acquiring live streaming innovator Stageit in a deal that will add over nine million in revenue and access to thousands of performers and creators. The deal brings hundreds of thousands of live music fans and complementary technology to VNUE's portfolio in addition to delivering key pioneering talent in the Music Recognition Technology (MRT) space to VNUE's roster, which the company believes will accelerate the rollout of the company's groundbreaking platform, Soundstr.

About VNUE, Inc. (www.vnue.com)

VNUE, Inc., (OTC: VNUE) is a multi-faceted music technology company dedicated to monetizing the live music experience for artists, labels, writers, and publishers, with products such as its set.fm instant content distribution platform (www.set.fm), exclusive license partner and "instant live" pioneer DiscLive (www.disclive.net), and protecting the rights of artists and writers with the company's Soundstr music recognition technology (MRT) (www.soundstr.com). The veteran entrepreneurs, artists, and songwriters behind VNUE, led by music and tech entrepreneur and recording artist Zach Bair (www.zachbairmusic.com), are passionate about the future of their industry and ensuring that rights holders' value is not lost amid always-changing technology. VNUE also holds a 4.99% stake in RockHouse Live International, a new live music venue & restaurant chain that was recently launched in Clearwater Beach Florida, and which is expanding globally, with new locations announced in Key West, FL, and Oxford, MS.

About Stageit (www.stageit.com)

Stageit, the premier online experience connecting artists and their fans, is a web-based live streaming platform and vibrant community. Founded in 2009 for artists, by artists, Stageit is on a mission to help performers navigate the intricacies of the online live streaming space, providing a stage for every creator and a front row seat for every fan. As an early industry leader Stageit offers a platform for artists to perform live, interact with fans, and monetize shows, while creating unique experiences for fans. To learn more visit stageit.com or follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE VNUE, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vnue.com


LONDON, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanEquity Monaco 2021, the forum for sustainable technology innovation, hosted by Innovator Capital and the Monaco Economic Board, closed on Friday, 23rd July with the Awards Ceremony in the presence of His Excellency, Monsieur Bernard Fautrier.

An independent panel of industry expert judges selected Voltaware to receive the award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Commericlisation.

Mungo Park, Chairman of Innovator Capital commented: "We shall be excited to watch Voltaware's progress from here. Their smart meters enable customers to understand energy usage and make informed decisions to help their homes to be more energy efficient and sustainable."

Voltaware is a London based company revolutionising the way people interact with and learn from energy use. Their mission is to use electricity data to make homes more efficient, greener, reliable and secure. Voltaware delivers actionable energy insights to help users save energy and improve their comfort at home.

Sergey Ogorodnov, CEO of Voltaware said, "We are very proud to have been awarded the Technology Commercialisation 2021 award from CleanEquity Monaco thanks to our extensive work with leading utilities. Our mission is critical now more than ever, to develop technologies for utilities which will advance the energy transition and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We would like to thank all attendees and organisers - the event was hugely insightful!"

CleanEquity thanks, in particular: The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Cision, Covington & Burling, Cranfield University, MIT Solve, the Monaco Economic Board, Parkview and Taronis Fuels.

CleanEquity Monaco will be returning to the Principality of Monaco in 2022.

Follow CleanEquity on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up to date with the news.

SOURCE Innovator Capital

Related Links

www.innovator-capital.com


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite six in 10 employed workers (60 percent) having made adjustments due to pandemic-related financial strain, 82 percent are saving for retirement, according to Living in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Health, Finances, and Retirement Prospects of Four Generations, released today by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) in collaboration with Transamerica Institute.

As part of TCRS' 21st Annual Retirement Survey of Workers, one of the largest and longest-running surveys of its kind, the new study examines the retirement outlook of Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. It is based on a survey of employed workers conducted in late 2020 and contains recommendations for workers, employers, and policymakers to improve retirement security.

"Workers are weathering a public health crisis and contending with fears about the virus and vaccinations, concerns for family and friends, employment impacts, and financial setbacks," said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS.

The survey findings illustrate the experiences of workers across generations that can impact their health, financial well-being, and ability to save and invest for retirement:

Six in 10 have made adjustments due to pandemic-related financial strain, including reducing day-to-day expenses (32 percent), dipping into savings accounts (24 percent), accumulating new credit card debt (17 percent), reducing or stopping contributions to retirement accounts (14 percent), forgoing health care (14 percent), borrowing money (13 percent), moving (nine percent), and stopping rent or mortgage payments (seven percent). Millennials, Generation Z, and Generation X (71 percent, 69 percent, 59 percent, respectively) are more likely than Baby Boomers (40 percent) to have made any adjustments.

including reducing day-to-day expenses (32 percent), dipping into savings accounts (24 percent), accumulating new credit card debt (17 percent), reducing or stopping contributions to retirement accounts (14 percent), forgoing health care (14 percent), borrowing money (13 percent), moving (nine percent), and stopping rent or mortgage payments (seven percent). Millennials, Generation Z, and Generation X (71 percent, 69 percent, 59 percent, respectively) are more likely than Baby Boomers (40 percent) to have made any adjustments. Forty-three percent experienced one or more negative impacts to their employment, including reduced hours (27 percent), reduced salaries (14 percent), furloughs (10 percent), layoffs (eight percent), and early retirement (four percent). Generation Z (59 percent) is more likely to have been negatively impacted than Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers (51 percent, 39 percent, and 30 percent, respectively).

including reduced hours (27 percent), reduced salaries (14 percent), furloughs (10 percent), layoffs (eight percent), and early retirement (four percent). Generation Z (59 percent) is more likely to have been negatively impacted than Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers (51 percent, 39 percent, and 30 percent, respectively). Sixty-two percent cite paying off one or more types of debt as a financial priority. Generation Z (35 percent) is more likely to cite paying off student loans, while Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers are somewhat more likely to cite credit card debt (43 percent, 42 percent, and 37 percent, respectively).

Generation Z (35 percent) is more likely to cite paying off student loans, while Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers are somewhat more likely to cite credit card debt (43 percent, 42 percent, and 37 percent, respectively). Emergency savings are low. Workers have only $5,000 (median) in emergency savings to specifically cover the cost of unexpected major financial setbacks. Emergency savings increase with age: Generation Z workers have saved $2,000 , Millennials have saved $5,000 , Generation X have saved $6,000 , and Baby Boomers have saved $10,000 (medians).

Workers have only (median) in emergency savings to specifically cover the cost of unexpected major financial setbacks. Emergency savings increase with age: Generation Z workers have saved , Millennials have saved , Generation X have saved , and Baby Boomers have saved (medians). Almost one in four are serving as caregivers. Twenty-four percent of workers are currently serving as caregivers for a relative or loved one. Millennials (30 percent) and Generation X (26 percent) are more likely than Generation Z and Baby Boomers (18 percent and 12 percent, respectively) to be caregiving.

Twenty-four percent of workers are currently serving as caregivers for a relative or loved one. Millennials (30 percent) and Generation X (26 percent) are more likely than Generation Z and Baby Boomers (18 percent and 12 percent, respectively) to be caregiving. Six in 10 are concerned about physical and mental health. Sixty-six percent of workers are concerned about their physical health, and almost as many are concerned about their mental health (60 percent). Generation Z and Millennials (72 percent and 70 percent, respectively) are more likely to be concerned about their mental health, compared with Generation X and Baby Boomers (59 percent and 42 percent, respectively).

Workers Are Saving for Retirement, but Few Are "Very" Confident About Their Long-Term Prospects

"Given the magnitude of challenges workers have faced during the pandemic, it is truly remarkable that they have maintained focus on their future retirement. However, before the pandemic and today, many workers continue to be at risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement," said Collinson.

The survey findings illustrate the retirement outlook of workers across generations:

Eighty-two percent of workers are saving for retirement through employer-sponsored plans, such as a 401(k) or similar plan, and/or outside the workplace. Baby Boomers (84 percent) and Generation X (84 percent) and Millennials (82 percent) are more likely than Generation Z (70 percent) to be saving. Among those saving for retirement, Generation Z started saving at age 19, Millennials at age 25, Generation X sat age 30, and Baby Boomers at age 35 (medians).

Baby Boomers (84 percent) and Generation X (84 percent) and Millennials (82 percent) are more likely than Generation Z (70 percent) to be saving. Among those saving for retirement, Generation Z started saving at age 19, Millennials at age 25, Generation X sat age 30, and Baby Boomers at age 35 (medians). Loans and early withdrawals from retirement accounts are not uncommon. Thirty-four percent of workers have ever taken a loan, early withdrawal, and/or hardship withdrawal from their 401(k) or similar plan or IRA, including 25 percent who have taken a loan and 25 percent who have taken an early and/or hardship withdrawal. Millennials (44 percent) are more likely to have ever dipped into retirement savings than Generation X (33 percent), Generation Z (30 percent), and Baby Boomers (17 percent).

Thirty-four percent of workers have ever taken a loan, early withdrawal, and/or hardship withdrawal from their 401(k) or similar plan or IRA, including 25 percent who have taken a loan and 25 percent who have taken an early and/or hardship withdrawal. Millennials (44 percent) are more likely to have ever dipped into retirement savings than Generation X (33 percent), Generation Z (30 percent), and Baby Boomers (17 percent). Retirement savings may be inadequate. Total household retirement savings among all workers is $93,000 (estimated median). Baby Boomer workers have the most retirement savings at $202,000 , compared with Generation X ($107,000) , Millennials ($68,000) , and Generation Z ($26,000) (estimated medians).

Total household retirement savings among all workers is (estimated median). Baby Boomer workers have the most retirement savings at , compared with Generation X , Millennials , and Generation Z (estimated medians). Forty-nine percent of workers expect to work past age 65 or do not plan to retire, an expectation that is higher among older workers. Seventy-two percent of Baby Boomers either expect to or are already working past age 65 or do not plan to retire, compared with Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z (51 percent, 37 percent, and 36 percent, respectively). One in five workers (22 percent) expects to retire later because of the pandemic, with Millennials being more likely to expect to do so (28 percent).

an expectation that is higher among older workers. Seventy-two percent of Baby Boomers either expect to or are already working past age 65 or do not plan to retire, compared with Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z (51 percent, 37 percent, and 36 percent, respectively). One in five workers (22 percent) expects to retire later because of the pandemic, with Millennials being more likely to expect to do so (28 percent). Only 24 percent are "very" confident that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle. Millennials (30 percent) are more likely to be "very" confident than Baby Boomers (21 percent), Generation X (19 percent), and Generation Z (16 percent). Sixteen percent of workers across generations indicate their retirement confidence has declined as a result of the pandemic.

How to Improve the Retirement Security of Workers

"The pandemic has exposed weaknesses and revealed opportunities for improving retirement security. The insights gained can be applied toward effecting positive change. A concerted effort is needed among workers, employers, and policymakers," said Collinson. Each of these stakeholders could take additional steps, including:

Workers can improve their fiscal health by creating a financial plan and gaining a full understanding of their situation. Preparing a budget, prioritizing expenses, setting short- and long-term goals, learning about investing, and developing a retirement strategy are important steps.

Preparing a budget, prioritizing expenses, setting short- and long-term goals, learning about investing, and developing a retirement strategy are important steps. Employers can enhance their retirement, and health and welfare benefits offerings, as well as business practices, which can help employees protect their finances, save for the future, and manage work-life balance, while helping employers attract and retain talent in today's highly competitive market.

which can help employees protect their finances, save for the future, and manage work-life balance, while helping employers attract and retain talent in today's highly competitive market. Building on recent legislation, policymakers can implement additional reforms that expand retirement plan coverage, increase incentives for employers to offer plans, and facilitate retirement savings.

"Workers' ability to achieve a secure retirement ultimately depends on access to meaningful employment throughout their lives, the availability of retirement, and health and welfare benefits, and the preservation of safety nets such as Social Security and Medicare," Collinson said. "As we emerge from the pandemic, we have an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the fabric of our retirement system  including how we live, work, retire, and age with dignity."

Living in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Health, Finances, and Retirement Prospects of Four Generations provides detailed survey findings and comparisons by generation. Visit TCRS at www.transamericacenter.org to download the report and other research. Follow on Twitter @TCRStudies to stay up to date with TCRS' latest research.

About Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) is a division of Transamerica Institute, a nonprofit, private foundation. Transamerica Institute is funded by contributions from Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates and may receive funds from unaffiliated third parties. TCRS and its representatives cannot give ERISA, tax, investment, or legal advice. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as ERISA, tax, investment, or legal advice. For more information, visit www.transamericacenter.org and follow TCRS on Twitter at @TCRStudies.

About the 21st Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers

The analysis contained in Living in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Health, Finances, and Retirement Prospects of Four Generations was prepared internally by the research team at Transamerica Institute (TI) and TCRS. The 25-minute online survey was conducted within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of TI and TCRS between November 17 and December 29, 2020 among a nationally representative sample of more than 10,000 adults. The data in this report is shown for a subsample of 3,109 workers in for-profit companies of one or more employees, comprising 301 Generation Z (born 1997 to 2012), 1,249 Millennials (born 1981 to 1996), 960 Generation X (born 1965 to 1980), 573 Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964), and 26 workers who were born prior to 1946. Results were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with the population of U.S. residents, referencing Census data for education, age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, household income, education, employment, marital status, and size of household. Weighting also adjusts for attitudinal and behavioral differences between those who are online versus those who are not, those who join online panels versus those who do not, and those who respond to surveys versus those who do not.

Media Contact: Andrew Cook

[email protected]

614-330-5898

SOURCE Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies
DUBLIN, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Cloud Security Market (2021-2026) by Application, Security Type, Service Model, Deployment, Organization Size, Industry Vertical, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of COVID-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Cloud Security Market is estimated to be USD 34.8 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 67.6 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 14.2%.



Key factor such as increasing demand for cloud-based services with a higher number of cloud-based deployment models in industry verticals has been a major driver for the cloud security market. Alongside, the rising number of cyberattacks due to increasing digitalization has aided the growth of the market for cloud security to prevent future data breaches and data thefts. The trends such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) are likely to support the growth of the market further.



Conversely, factors such as weak collaboration between the enterprises and the cloud security providers, a low skilled taskforce, and stringent Government regulations are likely to further restrain the market growth.



Market Dynamics



Drivers

Growing Reliance on Cloud-Based Services

Growing Sophistication of Cybercrimes and New Cyberattacks

Upsurge In The Use Of Handheld Devices (BYOD & CYOD)

Restraints

Weak Collaboration Among Enterprises and Cloud Security Service Providers

The dearth of Skilled Expertise

Stringent Government Regulations

Opportunities

Increasing Government Initiatives to Support Smart Infrastructure Projects

Growing Market for Managed Security Services

Challenges

Lack of Awareness Among Enterprises and Consumers due to The Complexities Of Cloud Computing Models

Lack of Trust in Cloud Service Providers

Segments Covered



By Application, the Web and Email Security segment is estimated to hold the highest market share. The rapid rise in the public cloud infrastructure has led to increasing adoption of cloud security solutions in an organization to protect from advanced threats such as ransomware, APTs, and malware, etc. These solutions can help block future threats and can also ease up the software integration process.



By Security Type, the Network Security segment is estimated to hold the highest market share. With the rise in cloud-based applications in various industry verticals coupled with the increase of data breaches and cyber-attacks, there has been a heightened need for advanced security solutions. This has led to the adoption of various network security solutions amongst the enterprises per the business requirements aiding the market growth of this segment faster.



By Service model, the SaaS (Software-As-A-Service) is estimated to hold the highest market share. It is because enterprises are shifting their infrastructure to the cloud recently with the advantages of scalability, cost-effectiveness, faster speed, and increased agility. There has also been a rise in the cloud-based vendors in the market, such as Cisco, Adobe, etc. With the proliferation of cloud-based tools, SaaS-based solutions are anticipated to grow at a faster rate.



By Deployment, the market can be classified as public, private, and hybrid. Amongst all, the Hybrid Cloud segment is estimated to hold the highest market share in the forecast period. Cloud-based hybrid computing allows business enterprises to use both public as well as private cloud deployment. Therefore there is a shift towards hybrid cloud management that incorporates all the necessary conventional applications and provides real-time data analysis. The increased investments towards the hybrid cloud solutions have led to market segment growth in the hybrid cloud segment.



By Organization Size, Large Enterprises are estimated to hold the highest market share as they utilize advanced technological products and services for their daily operational activities such as cloud computing, updating the legacy systems, etc. Hence, these enterprises are highly prone to cyberattacks and other unknown threats. To prevent data thefts and provide security to enterprises' solutions, they invest in cloud security solutions for increased security and, therefore, efficiency. This has led to the rise of higher adoption of cloud security solutions amongst the large enterprises leading to high segmental growth.



By Industry Vertical, the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) segment is estimated to hold the highest market share during the forecast period. The segment contains a high amount of data-sensitive information, making it a target for cyber attackers. Alongside, the increasing cloud-based data applications have made the data prone to unknown threats. Therefore, this segment has been endorsing cloud security solutions for the prevention and reduction of data thefts.



By Geography, North America is projected to lead the market for cloud security solutions. The factors attributed to the growth of the market are the rapid development of technology and the adoption of emerging technologies at a faster rate. The shift from traditional computing solutions to hybrid security services has positively impacted the market growth of the region. Also, the presence of the key players in the region, followed by high investment in R&D, has been a promising factor for the growth of the cloud security market.



Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are IBM Corporation, Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Inc., Intel Corp., Google, Trend Micro Inc., CSC, Trend Micrs Inc., BMC Software, RSA, CloudPassage Inc., etc.



Competitive Quadrant



The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Cloud Security Market.

The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 force model and the Ansoff Matrix. The impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using IGR Positioning Quadrants, Infogence's Proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Report Highlights:

A complete analysis of the market including parent industry

Important market dynamics and trends

Market segmentation

Historical, current, and projected size of the market based on value and volume

Market shares and strategies of key players

Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary



4 Market Overview

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Market Dynamics

4.2.1 Drivers

4.2.2 Restraints

4.2.3 Opportunities

4.2.4 Challenges

4.3 Trends



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.2 Impact of COVID-19

5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Cloud Security Market, By Application

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM)

6.3 Email and Web Security

6.4 Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

6.5 Intrusion Detection System (IDS)/Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

6.6 Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

6.7 Cloud Encryption

6.8 Others



7 Global Cloud Security Market, By Security Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Workload security

7.3 Application Security

7.4 Database Security

7.5 Endpoint Security

7.6 Network Security

7.7 Platform security



8 Global Cloud Security Market, By Service Model

8.1 Introduction

8.2 IaaS (Infrastructure-As-A-Service)

8.3 PaaS (Platform-As-A-Service)

8.4 SaaS (Software-As-A-Service)



9 Global Cloud Security Market, By Deployment

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Public

9.3 Private

9.4 Hybrid



10 Global Cloud Security Market, By Organization Size

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

10.3 Large enterprises



11 Global Cloud Security Market, By Industry vertical

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Information

11.3 Finance and Insurance

11.4 Healthcare and Social Assistance

11.5 Retail Trade

11.6 Manufacturing

11.7 Utilities

11.8 Others



12 Global Cloud Security Market, By Geography

12.1 Introduction

12.2 North America

12.2.1 US

12.2.2 Canada

12.2.3 Mexico

12.3 South America

12.3.1 Brazil

12.3.2 Argentina

12.4 Europe

12.4.1 UK

12.4.2 France

12.4.3 Germany

12.4.4 Italy

12.4.5 Spain

12.4.6 Rest of Europe

12.5 Asia-Pacific

12.5.1 China

12.5.2 Japan

12.5.3 India

12.5.4 Indonesia

12.5.5 Malaysia

12.5.6 South Korea

12.5.7 Australia

12.5.8 Russia

12.5.9 Rest of APAC

12.6 Rest of the World

12.6.1 Qatar

12.6.2 Saudi Arabia

12.6.3 South Africa

12.6.4 United Arab Emirates

12.6.5 Latin America



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Competitive Quadrants

13.2 Market Share Analysis

13.3 Competitive Scenario

13.3.1 Mergers & Acquisitions

13.3.2 Agreements, Collaborations, & Partnerships

13.3.3 New Product Launches & Enhancements

13.3.4 Investments & Fundings



14 Company Profiles

14.1 Accenture

14.2 McAfee, LLC (TPG)

14.3 IBM Corporation

14.4 Amazon Web Services, Inc.

14.5 Zscaler, Inc.

14.6 Fortinet, Inc.

14.7 Cisco Systems, Inc

14.8 BMC Software, Inc.

14.9 Google

14.10 Broadcom Technologies

14.11 CloudPassage, Inc.

14.12 Intel Corp.

14.13 Microsoft

14.14 Netskope, Inc.

14.15 Mc Afee

14.16 Thoma Bravo

14.17 Trend Micro, Inc.

14.18 VMware

14.19 NTT

14.20 WatchGuard Technologies

14.21 RSA

14.22 CSC

14.23 Fransisco Partners

14.24 Palo Alto Networks

14.25 Ciphercloud

14.26 Cloudflare



15 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5wha5o

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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( , ) (LSE:ORR, ) Tim Livesey joins Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam after completing a mapping and stream sediment sampling programme.

As Livesey explains this was over the five easternmost licences of the Central Cameroon package and the results are anticipated in the third quarter.

As he goes on to detail, the programme has now been paused for the rainy season and will continue over the remaining three licences in the west of the package during the last quarter of 2021.
Airline and travel shares perked up a little though analysts said the changes had been well flagged.

Britons on holiday in Mexico were scrambling to find a return flight before Sunday after the Central American country was upgraded to red status in the latest review of the traffic light system.

Airline and travel shares perked up a little on the news, though analysts said that except for Mexico the changes had been well flagged.

Red list status means that visitors returning to the UK have to quarantine in a government-run hotel for ten days at a cost of 1,750.

Some holidaymakers only found out about the change in status on arriving in Mexico today and have said they had spent today looking for a flight back to the UK.

In addition to Mexico, Georgia and French territories of La Reunion and Mayotte were also upgraded to red.

Going the other way were India, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE, which were downgraded to red from amber. France was also downgraded to amber from Amber Plus, also meaning that people who had two vaccine jabs dont have to self-isolate on return to the UK.

Additions to the Green List, which means there is no requirement to quarantine, are Austria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Liberum said: Although the direction of travel is generally one of relaxation of restrictions, these changes offer little material help to airlines and come relatively late in the peak travel season.

Shares in IAG, owner of British Airways rose 1% to 172.1p, easyJet PLC rose 0.7% to 832.6p and Ryanair added 1.2% to 16.74.
A former MP and CSIRO scientist will head up a new company, which will house Castillo Coppers Broken Hill Alliance Project.

Castillo is a step closer to spinning out a multi-element exploration project in New South Wales.

( , , ) is primed to spin out its portfolio of Broken Hill assets in an initial public offering (IPO), appointing stockbroker CPS Capital Group Pty Ltd to lead the listing.

The boutique corporate financing arm will help Castillo restructure and list its wholly-owned Broken Hill Alliance (BHA) Project, which comprises a large footprint proximal to Broken Hills world-class zinc-lead-silver deposit.

A new entity will be formed to house the BHA Project, with Castillo slated to retain a significant interest in the ASX debutant post-IPO.

For CCZ, spinning out the BHA Project is viewed as a value-creating event, concurrently enabling the board to focus resources on developing its priority copper projects in Queensland and Zambia.

Win-win outcome

Castillo Copper managing director Simon Paull said: This is an excellent win-win outcome that enables CCZ to benefit materially from the development of the BHA Project through retaining a significant minority interest.

Furthermore, it will enable the Board to channel more time and resources into developing the Queensland and primary Zambia Projects.

Pleasingly, our strategic intent to evolve into a mid-tier copper group remains on track.

The spinout

Castillo intends to list the new entity on the ASX to divest the NSW project and have the new entity take charge of its Broken Hill Assets.

Subject to final approvals to progress the IPO, the new entity hopes to raise between $4.5 million and $7 million.

The capital raise will include a preferential subscription allocation to CCZ shareholders, while the cash injection will fund a comprehensive exploration campaign to develop the BHA project.

After the IPO finalises, CCZ will retain a significant interest in the exploration entity.

The new entity will be led by Managing Director Dr Dennis Jensen, a former Federal Member of Parliament and CSIRO scientist who has significant experience consulting in the mining industry.

CCZ has retained Steinepreis Paganin as its legal advisor. It will now set out to secure the necessary regulatory approvals and prepare the new entity's IPO prospectus.

BHAs prospectivity

Castillos Broken Hill Alliance Project is a multi-element exploration play in New South Wales.

Within the West Zone, the project is highly prospective for Broken Hill-type silver-zinc-lead mineralisation, while East Zone plays host to iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation.

Notably, the project contains numerous, high-priority drillable targets  setting up a substantial pipeline of exploratory work for the ASX debutant.

Much of BHAs tenure is under-explored, underscoring the potential to implement a broad exploration campaign.

Historical insights

Interestingly, previous exploration, using conventional techniques, missed the potential mineralised systems due to a 5-metre by 40-metre covering of surficial sand and clay.

CCZs geology team undertook a fresh review of historical data, which identified further mineralisation opportunities within the BHA Project.

Within the East Zone, although further validation is necessary, there are robust surface results for cobalt-copper-gold, including up to 9,500 parts per million cobalt, 1.1% copper and 3.46 parts per million silver.

Meanwhile, the West Zone contains the same geological formation that hosts ( , )s Thackaringa cobalt-pyrite resource.

This has been verified through government mapping to be included within the BHA Project and confirmed by rock-chips up to 1,440 parts per million cobalt.

A large amount of data indicates the potential for incremental Broken Hill-type mineralisation throughout the region; however, it is believed to occur concurrently with IOCG mineralisation.

Overall, the IOCG and cobalt-copper potential present within the East Zone, coupled with the cobaltian pyrite and copper-cobalt and Broken Hill-type) prospectivity in the West Zone, delivers a target-rich project with significant exploration potential for gold-silver-copper-zinc-lead mineralisation.
Mumbai, Aug 5 : Actress Shalini Kapoor who is known for featuring in shows like "Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum" and currently in "Qubool Hai 2.0" is celebrating the "Romance Awareness Month" with her husband. She is married to actor Rohit Sagar.

The 45-year-old actress shares on how tricky can be for some people to express their feelings and adds: "Being romantic can be difficult for some, and for others perhaps they have too much in the way of expectations as to what romance really means." She says further that this entire month is about the celebration of romance and a perfect time to show love to your partner. Shalini is going to spend a quality time with her husband before resuming for work.

Adds Shalini: "The month of August is considered to create awareness about romance. It's meant to bring attention to the idea that couples often need to be intentional about being romantic with one another in order to keep the flame burning. It is a great time for couples to add a little spark to their relationship .To spends more time Rohit and me are holidaying together in Delhi. We are making sure to enjoy the fullest before returning to work."
United Nations, Aug 5 : The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday expressed concern about the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen as a result of flooding and rise in Covid-19 cases.

Heavy rains and flooding in Yemen have affected at least 28,000 people, according to initial estimates. Humanitarian partners on the ground are conducting assessments and providing assistance, including shelter, food and health care, said OCHA, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases have increased over recent days, triggering fears that the country is entering a third wave, it said.

So far, just over 310,000 vaccine doses have been administered, meaning that only 1 percent of the population has got their first dose. This takes place against a backdrop of dire humanitarian needs, conflict and the threat of famine, said OCHA.

More than half of Yemenis are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, and 5 million people are one step away from famine. As the value of the Yemeni rial continues to plummet, more and more Yemenis are being pushed to the brink, it said.

The $3.85-billion humanitarian response plan for Yemen is currently only 47 per cent funded. And most of the money available will run out in September, said OCHA. "Additional and predictable funding is urgently needed so that people can continue receiving the lifesaving assistance they need."
New Delhi, Aug 5 : According to data published by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization this year, long working hours, that is working 55 or more hours per week, is associated with a 17 per cent higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35-40 hours a week. Your lifestyle, therefore, has a direct bearing on your heart health and quality of life.

According to Rahul Singhal, Senior Electrophysiologist and Cardiologist in Jaipur, resting heart rate (RHR) is a vital indicator of your present and future health, and if mapped properly and often, can detect abnormalities early on. The process to check your resting heart rate, the doctor explains, is very simple. Put two fingers on your pulse for 60 seconds and count the heartbeats.

The pulse rate can be read any day of the week, but at that time of the reading, you should not be in stress or anxiety because in this situation the heart rate becomes high. Make sure you wait for at least five to ten after strenuous activity. It is best to check it first thing in the morning.

"Normally the heart rate is between 60 and 100. But if the heart rate is above 80 in a pulse reading of 60 seconds, then your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease increases twice. If it is above 90, the risk of all these hazards increases by three times. Experts consider a beat between 70 and 80 as the ideal resting heart rate." High resting heart rate means low physical fitness, says Singhal.

A heart rate between 60 and 100 is normal, but a heart rate above 80 is considered a high resting heart rate. It indicates your low physical fitness, overweight or fat or blood pressure. The higher the patient's resting heart rate, the greater the risk of heart disease or premature death. This is because the higher the heart rate, the more pumping the heart has to do.

"While it is good to get your heart rate up during exercising, it is not the same thing as a high resting heart rate. When at rest, the pulse reading should not be too high, or it is an indication that your heart muscles are under duress." Due to the high pressure, the muscles of the heart get stressed, which can cause all these problems to the patient. One can stabilise a high resting heart rate by improving lifestyle, meditation, and yoga. Moreover, stress is a silent killer that can take your heart rate shooting through the roof. There have also been studies in which patients have normalised their high resting heart rate in just one week with lifestyle modification.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 5 : For Bollywood and theatre actor Aahana Kumra, shooting for 'Sir Sir Sarla was an immensely rewarding experience. After listening to audience reactions, she says she felt an added responsibility to portray her character in a "real and organic way because so many women saw themselves in her".

The 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' star tells IANSlife, "The wonderful thing is that during the shoot, I did not lose the flow that I experience on stage while performing the play live. Thankfully the director just let us be and didn't ask us to give multiple retakes. The whole experience turned out to be absolutely enjoyable." Aahana attended the first screening of the Zee Theatre play at writer, director and actor Makarand Deshpande's house and says, "Spending time at Mac sir's place was a really nice way to relive the shoot especially because we have not been able to perform 'Sir Sir Sarla' on stage for a live audience due to the pandemic." "Sir Sir Sarla' explores the story of Professor Palekar and his student Sarla - the pretty, innocent young girl who seems smitten by her mentor - and Phanidhar who shares a love-hate relationship with the professor. The play dwells upon the bond between the students and their professor, which faces many vicissitudes. Secrets are revealed, accusations are hurled, and the three lives remain interwoven for many years to come.

The narrative is very unique and also relatable, says Aahana and adds, "Even though we were travelling extensively with the play before the pandemic, it took me a long time to understand Sarla. Then in cities like Lucknow and Bareilly, I actually met people who were like Keshav and Sarla. They would come to meet me after the show and say, "This is our story!" This was such a revelation and as an artist, I began to feel an added responsibility to portray Sarla in a real and organic way because so many women saw themselves in her." With time and experience, the play's theme began to make more and more sense to her. As she says, "In a world full of hate and anxiety, this play is like a breath of fresh air. It really transports you to a place replete with love and nostalgia." 'Sir Sir Sarla' is written and stage directed by Makarand Deshpande, and stars him along with Aahana Kumra, Sanjay Dadhich and Anjum Sharma. Its filming director is Suman Mukhopadhyay. The play is available on DishTV D2H Rangmanch Active.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Patna, Aug 5 : The death toll in the firing incident in Bihar's Nalanda reached six on Thursday after one person named Bimla Yadav succumbed to her injuries in the hospital, police said.

The incident took place in the Lodhipur village under Chabilapur police station on Wednesday. The reason for the incident was a land dispute between two cousins, Mahender Yadav and Parsuram Yadav.

Rohit Kumar, one of the family members of the deceased said that Parsuram Yadav, Lalu Yadav, Guddu Yadav along with over 30 others carrying firearms, tried to take the possession of the disputed 50 Bigha land.

"A case regarding a land dispute is in the court. When we learnt that they had reached the disputed site we also went there and objected to their move. They had come there to occupy the land. This led to a verbal argument. Suddenly, Guddu Yadav asked his men to open fire on us," Kumar said.

"Five members of our family named Mahendra Yadav, Pintu Yadav, Yadu Yadav, Dhirendra Yadav and Madhesh Yadav died on the spot. Bimla Yadav died in the hospital," said Kumar.

The situation in the village is tense and the District police have deployed a large number of police and RAF personnel to bring normalcy.

"We have identified the accused involved in this incident. They are at large. Efforts are on to nab them," said Sri Hari Prasath Superintendent of Police, Nalanda district.
Istanbul, Aug 5 : Massive wildfires that erupted eight days ago in Turkey's southern and southwestern coastal towns destroyed a massive amount of land, killing at least eight people and several animals.

In response, the Istanbul Municipality has sent 43 veterinarians to the affected areas to provide medical support to wild and farm animals and stray cats and dogs, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We are trying to do all our bests to save the affected animals, no matter what species, by driving hundreds of kilometres, sometimes in the fire, without having a rest," Hakan Dincer, a veterinarian working for the Kadikoy Municipality Veterinary Affairs Directorate in Istanbul, said.

Foods with high nutritional value, oxygen tubes, oxygen masks, disinfectants, antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and vitamins were among the supply materials sent for the animals.

On Wednesday morning, Dincer and his team of three tried to treat a badly injured donkey, which escaped from the fire and took refuge on a beach in Bodrum, a resort town of the Mugla province.

Besides the injured donkey, Dincer said that "we have also rescued several iguanas, horses, pheasants, and hundreds of chickens".

Turkan Ceylan, a local veterinary who assists the Istanbul team, told Xinhua that the affected areas needs a proper coordination mechanism to better deal with the wounded animals.

Meanwhile, veterinarians have also pointed out that it did not yet known how much the wildlife is affected, as it is not yet possible to enter deep in the burned areas.
Brussels, Aug 5 : The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have strongly recommended complete Covid-19 vaccination as a key to protect against the most serious effects of the virus, including those caused by the Delta variant.

With the increasing circulation of the Delta variant in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA), the two agencies on Wednesday encouraged those who are eligible but have not yet been vaccinated to start the immunization program "in a timely manner", reports Xinhua news agency.

"While the available vaccines are highly effective in protecting people against severe Covid-19, until higher proportions of the population are immunized, the risk is not beyond us," ECDC's Chief Scientist, Mike Catchpole, said.

The organisations emphasized that full vaccination with any of the approved vaccines "offers a high level of protection against severe disease and death caused by SARS-CoV-2, including variants, such as Delta".

However, no vaccine is 100 per cent effective, and breakthrough infections in vaccinated people will continue as long as the virus continues to circulate.

The agencies therefore recommended that everyone should adhere to national regulations, and continue to take measures such as wearing masks and respecting social distancing, even those who are fully vaccinated.

The EU has reached its target of ensuring that at least 70 pe rcent of the adult population had received at least one dose of vaccine by the end of July, but the member states hope to see this percentage increase to contain the spread of new variants.
Jaipur, Aug 5 : Taking cue from Punjab, Rajasthan Tourism will soon promote Border Tourism and its beautiful stretch to tourists on the same lines as Punjab has done on Wagah Border where tourists have been thronging throughout the year. Rajasthan Tourism officials have confirmed this and said that during the post pandemic period, the state wants to serve new destinations on platter and hence comes this idea.

Experiencing beauty of the borders of Rajasthan shall be a novel experience for tourists, they added.

"The places where maximum tourists come for relinquishing their zest for border tourism are Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner and Sri Ganganagar.

Jaisalmer district has the largest area of desert terrain in Rajasthan. The temple of Tanot Rai in Tanot on the Indo-Pak international border, 125 km to the west of Jaisalmer district headquarters, is the main attraction for Indian tourists and devotees. The upkeep of this temple has been undertaken by the local contingent of BSF (Border Security Force) which performs puja and devotional celebrations. This place of faith for soldiers and BSF jawans has also been portrayed in the much talked about Bollywood movie Border, senior tourism officer told IANS.

The international Indo-Pak border which is at a short distance from the temple is a major attraction for the visiting tourists. There is also a fort near this place known as Kishangarh, made of bricks and mortar.

In close vicinity is the site of Longewala, which witnessed the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The military vehicles and tanks of the Pakistan army destroyed by the Indian army have been kept for display. There is also a theatre here that is run by the Indian Army in which films of triumph and victory of the Indian armed forces during the Indo-Pak war of 1971 are showcased for the tourists.

The fort in Ghotas in this area also pulls the tourists and arouses their curiosity. A railway station named Munnabad is in operation in Barmer which caters to the movement of Indo-Pak passengers.

The Sanchu post of the BSF that is on the Indo-Pak international border in Bikaner District attracts travelers as it is surrounded by large sand streams. The post also houses a museum, a guest house and a canteen that are run by the BSF.

For visiting the Sanchu post, the domestic tourists need to take permission from BSF in Bikaner. The tourists are shown the post of the Pakistan side and also the museum. There is a facility extended by the BSF to provide food to tourists on payment.

About the area of District Sri Ganganagar, the Hindumal Kot border outpost, located at a distance of 18 km from Sri Ganganagar is quite famous. The outpost has been named after chief dewan Hindumal of the erstwhile princely state of Bikaner.

The railway station located on this post is also very famous, as it used to connect India and Pakistan through the rail route and also provide for import and export of goods between the two countries.
Athens, Aug 5 : A state of emergency has been declared in Greece's Varybobi area and the wider municipality of Acharnes in the north of Athens after at least 114 wildfires broke out in a span of just 24 hours.

"We give a titanic battle in multiple fire fronts," Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press briefing on Wednesday evening, as wildfires raged across the country.

The biggest of these blazes were on the island of Evia, in ancient Olympia, although though wildfires have also ripped through Messinia in the Peloponnese, and in Chalkidiki on the northern side of Greece, reports Xinhua news agency.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from more than 10 villages on the island of Evia, as the wildfire was spreading on four major fronts in the north part of the island, burning houses and forest land since Tuesday evening.

Coast guard vessels along with private boats assisted to transfer 90 residents and tourists of the coastal town of Rovies, in Evia, who were sent to the beach for safety in the port of Edipsos, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

Similar scenes were unfolding at the same time in the municipality of ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in northwestern Peloponnese.

"Seven fires broke out in Ilia prefecture on Wednesday, four of which (are) in the broader area of the town and ancient site of Ancient Olympia," Hardalias said.

Firefighters backed by aircraft dropped water to stop wildfire from burning the 2,800-year-old ruins, one of the most revered sites of antiquity, as alert 112 messages were issued to residents to evacuate eight villages.

Forest fires are common during Greece's hot, dry summers, but nothing has approached the scale of the last four days.

According to the National Observatory of Athens, fires that broke out since the beginning of August have burned more than 50 per cent of the land surface usually destroyed in an entire fire season in Greece.

In particular, fires in Attica, on the island of Rhodes and Evia, and in Eastern Mani in August destroyed nearly 6,000 hectares.

In 2020, fires burnt 10,376 hectares of land, and that number was 9,405 hectares in 2019.
Brussels, Aug 5 : The European Commission announced it has approved a deal that allows European Union (EU) member states to buy up to 200 million doses of Novavax's Covid-19 jab, once the European Medicines Agency (EMA) deems it safe and effective for use.

In a statement on Weednesday, the Commission said that through the agreement with the US pharmaceutical firm, EU countries will be able to purchase 100 million Novavax vaccine doses, with the option to purchase a further 100 million over the course of 2021, 2022, and 2023, reports Xinhua news agency.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the deal as further strengthening the bloc's "broad vaccine portfolio".

The EU has already signed contracts with AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, BioNTech-Pfizer, CureVac, Moderna and concluded exploratory talks with Valneva.

The previously concluded contracts secured a portfolio of up to 4.4 billion doses.

Rich western nations have been accused of hoarding far more doses than their citizens need.

The Washington Post previously estimated that the US has bought coronavirus vaccines three times the amount needed, while many developing countries are still struggling to get a single dose.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called on rich countries to halt the plan to distribute Covid-19 booster shots, citing vaccine inequity around the world.

"We need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing.

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New Delhi, Aug 5 : Hitting out at the Congress for disrupting Parliament proceedings, former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said they are not allowing Parliament to function only to protect the interest of a family.

Addressing a press conference, Prasad said, "Congress ruled the country for over 50 years since 1947. But, today the country needs to know how the Congress is behaving today. The Congress has a simple formula, Parliament is allowed to function as long as the interest of a family is served and it will not allow Parliament to function if there is no interest of the family." Prasad alleged that the family always behaved in the same manner in the past also.

"The family failed to understand that the country is reposing its faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

Referring to the Congress absence from the meeting of floor leaders of all opposition parties to discuss Covid management and vaccination, Prasad said, "Fact is that the Congress party did not attend the meeting called by the Prime Minister on Covid. They never took Parliament seriously." Talking about the Pegasus controversy, former IT minister Prasad said, "We are ready for discussion in Parliament, but the Congress is not serious about the debate. When the IT minister made a statement on the issue they tore apart the statement. There is no seriousness in these people." He asked if anyone had given any proof that their phone was tapped.

"Those who were saying that these few numbers were tapped are the same group who are hostile to the Modi government," he said.

Questioning the opposition's seriousness about the discussion on the floor of House, Prasad said, "We are ready for discussion in Parliament. We have to ask tough questions to the Congress party. But one question we honestly ask is whether Congress and other opposition parties want a discussion in Parliament." He asked whether Congress or the opposition wants an honest discussion on the Pegasus issue.

Prasad pointed out that due to the continuous logjam in Parliament, the country has lost Rs 130 crore.
Amaravati, Aug 5 : Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) commissioner K. Kannababu on Thursday cautioned people living by the trajectory of Krishna river to be wary as higher flood inflows are expected due to a flood gate breaking.

He issued the flash flood alert as the 16th floodgate of the Pulichintala Project got broken down due to technical issue.

"Officials will set up a stop lock gate in the place of that gate. Because of this, higher flood inflows are expected at the Prakasam Barrage," said Kannababu.

The commissioner also alerted Krishna and Guntur district administrations in the light of this development.

He warned people not to cross the river on boats and stay alert.

Irrigation Minister Anil Kumar Yadav also visited the affected gate and took stock of the situation.

Yadav said the hydraulic girder got broken while the gates were lifted at around 3.30 a.m. in the morning.

The Minister said two project engineers and experts have visited the gate and two more teams of engineering experts have been being called.
New Delhi/Islamabad, Aug 5 : A Hindu temple in Pakistan's Punjab province was reportedly vandalised by hundreds of people after a nine-year-old Hindu boy, who allegedly urinated at a local seminary, received bail, a media report said on Thursday.

According to the Dawn news report, the incident took place on Wednesday in Bhong town, about 60 km from Rahim Yar Khan city.

Besides the vandalisation, the mob also blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5), the report added.

Citing sources, Dawn news said that a case was registered against the minor on July 24 based on a complaint filed by a cleric, Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim, of the Darul Uloom Arabia Taleemul Quran.

The sources said that "some Hindu elders did tender an apology to the seminary administration saying the accused was a minor and mentally challenged".

But, when a lower court granted him bail a few days ago, some people incited the public in the town on Wednesday and got all shops there closed in protest, the report quoted the sources as further saying.

A video clip showing people wielding clubs and rods storming the temple and smashing its glass doors, windows, lights and damaging the ceiling fans went viral on the social media.

In response, one Twitter user said: "Ganesh Temple, village Bhong in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab has been ravaged. Another day, another attack on Hindus in Pakistan." Another said: "Yesterday, mob ran amok at Temple over minor boy issue who allegedly urinated, boy said to be mentally handicapped. Hindu community made apology for boy - case registered against nine-year-old boy. Those vandalised temple, no FIR registered against them." District police spokesman Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said Rangers had been deployed in the troubled area and the situation was under control.

A small town close to the River Indus and Sindh-Punjab border, Bhong houses a number of gold traders who originally hail from Ghotki and Dehrki (Sindh), according to the Dawn news report.

A ruling PTI member representing minoritie said he had been in touch with the local Hindu community and influential Rais family of Bhong since the issue surfaced.
Ankara, Aug 5 : A thermal power plant in the southwestern Turkish province of Mugla was engulfed by a wildfire, prompting authorities to evacuate people in nearby towns.

Gendarmerie forces ordered the residents of several neighbourhoods in the Milas district to leave the area immediately, Xinhua news agency quoted local official nas saying late WEdnesday.

Media footage showed people trying to leave Oren, a small town, by their vehicles or other means they found through the highway.

The National Defence Ministry announced that citizens who gathered at the pier were evacuated and transported to safe areas with the landing ship of the Naval Forces Command.

The power plant area was completely cordoned off, according to press reports.

Mugla Mayor Osman Gurun confirmed that the fire has spread to the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant buildings, and all the explosive chemicals in the facility have been emptied.

"However, there is a risk of the fire spreading to thousands of tons of coal inside," Gurun noted.

Massive wildfires that erupted eight days ago in Turkey's southern and southwestern coastal towns destroyed a massive amount of land, killing at least eight people and several animals.
Washington, Aug 5 : The US State Department has "unequivocally" condemned the targeted attack on Afghan Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, which was later claimed by the Taliban.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Department spokesman Ned Price said: "Although the Minister wasn't present, reports do indicate that eight people were killed in the attack and many more were injured.

"The Taliban have claimed responsibility for this shameful act. The Taliban must stop this ongoing violence. They must stop it." Price reiterated that it was past time to end this decades-long cycle of violence.

"This is not a cycle of violence that started in March. It's not a cycle of violence that started in 2021. It's not even a cycle of violence that, in some ways, started in 2001.

"This is a cycle of violence that has gone on for far too long, and we are doing all that we can, galvanising the international community, to collectively do all that we can to put an end to it," the spokesman added.

On Tuesday evening, a group of militants detonated a car bomb next to the house of the Defense Minister, triggering a five-hour gun battle and leaving 12 dead, including four attackers and eight civilians.

Hours later, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The security situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating as Taliban militants continue heavy fighting against government forces and gain ground since the drawdown of US troops on May 1.

In his remarks to Parliament on Monday, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani blamed the withdrawal of US troops for the worsening situation.

US President Joe Biden has ordered the military to end its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month.

The US Central Command said over 95 per cent of the withdrawal had been completed.
Chennai, Aug 5 : A single bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday refused to permit actor Dhanush to withdraw a plea for exemption from entry tax for import of a Rolls Royce car from the United Kingdom. The plea was made in 2015.

Dhanush is also the son-in-law of south Indian mega star, Rajinikanth.

The court censured the actor for failing to pay the tax even after the matter was settled by the Supreme Court in 2018.

On Thursday, when the plea came up for hearing before Justice S.M. Subramaniam, counsel for Dhanush told the court that the actor had already paid 50 per cent of the tax and that he was willing to pay the balance. The counsel requested the court to permit him to withdraw the plea.

However, the court refused to let Dhanush withdraw the plea and said that the matter was pending since 2015.

The court said, "If your intentions were genuine you should have paid the tax when the Supreme court settled the matter in 2018. But now after the High Court listed it for passing the order, you are seeking to withdraw." The court came out heavily on the actor and said that even a milk vendor or a daily wage labourer is paying the taxes for every litre of petrol he buys and no such person has approached the High Court seeking exemption from such taxes.

The court said, "No doubt you have the right to move the court but you should have paid the tax and withdrawn the petition at least after the Supreme court settled the issue in 2018." The court also asked the actor's counsel as to whether he knew of the 'Vexatious Litigation Act'. The court said that it was not able to settle genuine issues due to such pending petitions.

The Madras High Court's single bench had on July 13 come down heavily on Tamil superstar, Vijay while dismissing a similar plea moved by him seeking tax exemption.
Kabul, Aug 5 : Amid the unabated violence in Afghanistan, at least 50 Taliban militants surrendered in the country's northern province of Jawzjan as fighting raged in the region, a Defence Ministry official said on Thursday.

"Fifty Taliban surrendered to Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) with their weapons and ammunition in Khawja Dokoh district of Jawzjan province," Fawad Aman, deputy spokesperson of the ministry, wrote on twitter.

The official noted that details with photos and a footage of surrendered militants will be shared with the media soon, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Taliban militant group has not made comments on the report so far.

The province has been the scene of heavy clashes and fighting in recent days as militants besieged the provincial capital Shiberghan in an attempt to overrun the city.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : As the Enforcement Directorate has served a notice to e-commerce major Flipkart over alleged violation of foreign exchange norms, the company has said that it has been compliant to the Indian laws and will cooperate with the authorities in the matter which pertains to 2009-2015.

Responding to a query on the notice, the company said in a statement: "Flipkart is in compliance with Indian laws and regulations, including FDI regulations." "We will cooperate with the authorities as they look at this issue pertaining to the period 2009-2015 as per their notice," it said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued notices to Flipkart, its founders and nine others in connection with foreign exchange violation case, officials said on Thursday.

A senior ED official related to probe told IANS, "Yes, a notice has been issued to Flipkart, its founders and nine others." He, however, did not reveal the details of the persons to whom notices have been sent.

According to financial probe agency sources, in the notice they have asked to explain why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for alleged violation of foreign investment laws.

The source said that Flipkart and its other holding firms including one in Singapore violated Foreign Exchange Magamenet Act (FEMA) while attracting foreign investments between 2009 and 2015.

According to ED, the investigating agency has found that WS Retail, a firm incorporated in 2009 to transact with customers, was allegedly acting as a front for retail operations of Flipkart Online Services, incorporated in 2008.

The ED investigation started after the RBI had raised the issue.

In 2018, Walmart took a majority stake in Flipkart. Sachin Bansal sold his stake to Walmart during the deal, while Binny Bansal retained a small stake.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : A US State Department official has said that Washington wants Pakistan to keep its borders with Afghanistan open for Afghan refugees, the media reported on Thursday.

"In a place like Pakistan, it'll be important that their borders remain open," Dawn news reported citing the official as saying while briefing journalists on Wednesday on the new US refugee admission programme for Afghan nationals.

"Obviously, if people go north or if they go via Iran to Turkey, (they) have an opportunity both to enter the country as well as to register with either the government or with UNHCR," the official added.

The new programme, announced on Monday, applies to those who worked on US-funded projects and to Afghans employed by a US-based media or non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Besides Pakistan, the State Department has also asked Turkey to allow Afghans to stay in the country for up to 14 months before they are re-settled in the US.

During his visit to Washington earlier this week, Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said that arrangements should be made to keep displaced Afghans inside their country instead of pushing them into his country.

"Why make them 'dar-ba-dar' (homeless)? Make arrangements for them inside their country. Pakistan does not have the capacity to take more refugees." The Turkish government has also criticised the US plan to use third countries to re-settle Afghans, saying the move would cause a "great migration crisis" in the region.

"We do not accept the irresponsible decision taken by the US without consulting our country," the Turkish Ministry Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued in Ankara.

"If the US wants to take these people to its country, it is possible to transfer them directly to their country by planes." There are two countries that can play a pivotal role in this resettlement plan, Iran and Pakistan, said the Dawn news report.

Since the US does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, US policy makers look at Pakistan to help them implement this programme, it added.

Pakistan, however, appears reluctant to do so.

Since 1979, Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans and more than three million are permanently settled in the country.

Pakistani officials argue that their economy is not strong enough to absorb more refugees.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday held discussions with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Chairman Dr Satish Reddy in New Delhi. The meeting was held to discuss the Sputnik V vaccine production and its supply. In a tweet, Mandaviya said, "Held a meeting with Dr Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddys Lab. Had a discussion on the production of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine and its supply".

Mandaviya on Tuesday informed Parliament that 4 more Indian pharmaceutical companies may start vaccine production by October-November to accelerate the inoculation drive. He had said, "Two companies -- Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute -- are supplying the vaccines to the government. Sputnik vaccine is also available, production of which has begun". The Hyderabad-based drug major has already stated that the locally manufactured Sputnik V will be available from September-October.

Dr Reddy's has tied up with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for Sputnik V production in India and launched the vaccine here in May 2021, after receiving Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in April 2021. Along with Dr Reddy's, RDIF has tied up with six Indian drug makers for Sputnik V vaccine production in India. Dr Reddy's is in a pact with RDIF to sell 250 million vials of Sputnik V in India.

Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination. Its efficacy was determined to be 91.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 48.93 cr cumulatively in India, claimed a bulletin released by the Health Ministry. A total of 48,93,42,295 vaccine doses have been administered through 57,21,937 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 a.m. on Thursday. A total of 37,55,115 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
Panaji, Aug 5 : Around one lakh people from a population of 15 lakh plus have eluded the state government's 100 per cent vaccination net so far, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Thursday.

Sawant had set the end of July to complete 100 per cent vaccination (first jab) in the state.

The Chief Minister, however, said that since the official voter list was being used by the Health Ministry authorities to calculate the data, there could be several voters who were residing out of the state and, therefore, may not have been accounted for in the tabulation.

"We had said that the first dose would be completed by July last week. One lakh odd persons have not been vaccinated yet. I have sought details," Sawant told reporters here.

"Even though we have said that these people are left out, we go according to the voting roll. We have to check whether these persons have relocated outside Goa. Some voters do not live in Goa at all," Sawant said.
Kabul, Aug 5 : Two Afghan soldiers and at least 36 Taliban militants were killed after the government forces repelled an attack on Thursday in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar, a local official confirmed.

The atatck erupted as hundreds of Taliban militants armed with guns and heavy weapons, including rocket propelled grenades, attacked Sherzad district while trying to capture the suburban district in the southeast of Nangarhar, provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogiani told Xinhua news agency.

Four Afghan soldiers and 52 militants were also wounded during the fighting that had lasted for hours, he said.

In neighbouring Laghman province, the militrary retook control of Badpakh district early on Thursday after the Afghan Special Forces launched a cleanup operation late Wednesday night, evicting the militants from the district, according to Fawad Aman, deputy spokesperson of the Defence Ministry.

He wrote on his social media account that details about the liberation of Badpakh will be shared with media soon.

Many Afghan provinces have been the scene of heavy battles in recent months as Taliban militants have reportedly captured about 200 districts since the start of the withdrawal of US-led troops in May this year.
Datia : , Aug 5 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Dr Narottam Mishra was airlifted when he got stranded in his home district Datia, where he had gone to take stock of the flood situation. He was rescued by an Air Force helicopter.

Like other parts of the state, several villages in Datia are marooned in water due to heavy rain and floods.

On getting information about floods in the rural areas and some people stranded on a rooftop, Mishra left for a village called Kotra when a tree fell on his boat and it stopped moving. As a result Mishra was himself stranded in the water.

At least nine people were stuck on the rooftop of a house in Kotra village.

Mishra sent a SOS to government officials for help. An IAF helicopter was then despatched to the spot to rescue the minister and nine other stranded villagers.

A video of the rescue has now gone viral on social media in which Mishra is seen instructing the officials to rescue the villagers first. The video is receiving a lot of reaction by users.

Congress state president Kamal Nath's media coordinator Narendra Saluja has praised the minister and said, "If it is the opposition's duty to blame government's mistakes, then they should also be praised for good work. Salute to the spirit and courage of Home Minister Narottam Mishra." Samajwadi Party leader Yash Bharti however took a jibe and said, "The Home Minister was visiting the flood-affected areas. He reached the Panchayat Bhawan to help people, but himself needed rescue. See how beautifully the video has been made, like Shah Rukh Khan saving Preity Zinta in the film Veer Zara. The story looks filmy."
Chennai, Aug 5 : Tamil Nadu's capital city Chennai after being the 'Detroit' of India for housing several automobile makers is turning out to become a major data centre hub.

With the central government and Reserve Bank of India insisting on players to have their data stored in India, the data centre business is getting a boost.

"With three submarine cable landing stations (one more to come), a comfortable power supply position (data centre capacity is generally measured in MW), the availability of market and knowledge pool, Chennai is an ideal location," Nikhil Rathi, CEO and Founder of Web Werks India Pvt Ltd, a major player told IANS.

Adding further he said the Covid-19 lockdown saw huge amount of data traffic and it is growing.

Web Werks has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tamil Nadu government to build a 20MW data centre here at an outlay of about Rs.700 crore and will have a headcount of 100.

For Web Works, Chennai will be its second largest location in India. The company has its data centres in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi in India. It also has data centres overseas.

The Tamil Nadu government is working to come out with a separate policy for data centres to strengthen the ecosystem.

"Most common requirements of data centres pertaining to housing regulations and power are being worked upon to encourage data centre investments and further downstream investments," the state government said.

Rathi said all buildings cannot house a data centre. The building that houses a data centre will generally need a higher ceiling.

"The buildings are machine specific," Rathi added.

According to the state government, there are six submarine data cables with a bandwidth of 14.8 Tbps.

The rural areas in Tamil Nadu are also well connected with more than 12,524 village panchayats with a minimum scalable bandwidth of 1 Gbps.

As per TRAI, Chennai is among the top five service areas in India for broadband subscriptions.

The state government has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with nine companies for setting up data centres with a total proposed investment of Rs 16,927 crore and employment potential of over 9,000 jobs over the last two years.

National and international companies, including Yotta, Princeton Digital, ST Telemedia, Netmagic and Adani are in the process of setting up their data centers in Chennai.

The Ambattur locality in Chennai is the preferred choice for data centre companies owing to its favourable geographical conditions and existing data centre ecosystem.

Siruseri is the next ideal destination due to the presence of several IT companies, which offers a great market opportunity, the government said.

Rathi said there is a good market for data centres in Southern cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad owing to the concentration of IT companies, talent pool.

He said Tamil Nadu has the single window clearance which eases the regulatory clearance process.

As per a JLL report, Mumbai and Chennai are expected to drive 73 per cent of the sector's total capacity addition during 2021-23, while other cities like Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR emerging as new hotspots.

India's data centre sector will require investment of $3.7 billion over the next three years in order to fulfill the 6 million square feet greenfield development, JLL said.

Data centres in Chennai: Ambattur

STTelemedia Data Center

NTT Netmagic

NTT Netmagic (Upcoming expansion)

Princeton Digital (Upcoming)

ST Telemedia (Upcoming)

Siruseri SIPCOT IT Park

Nxtra site 1

Vodafone

Reliance Jio

Nxtra site 1 (Upcoming)

Adani Group (Upcoming)

Technoelectric (Upcoming)

Mantra Data Centres (Upcoming)

Taramani

Sify

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Hyderabad, Aug 5 : The Telangana government on Thursday began implementation of its ambitious 'Telangana Dalit Bandhu' scheme with the release of Rs 7.60 crore to extend financial assistance to 76 Dalit families in Vasalamarri village of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.

A day after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao visited his adopted village and interacted with Dalit families, the government issued an order for implementation of the scheme.

The Government Order (GO) issued by the Scheduled Castes development department permitted Telangana Scheduled Castes Co-Operative Development Corporation (TSCCDC) to release Rs 7.60 crore to the district collector for implementation of the programme for the benefit of around 76 Dalit households in Vasalamarri gram panchayat of Alair Assembly constituency.

The chief minister during his visit to the village on Wednesday announced that 76 SC families in the village will be benefited under the scheme. He said Rs 10 lakh will be deposited in the bank account of each beneficiary family from Thursday. He said the beneficiaries would be free to spend the money the way they want but advised them to use it to create a source of revenue.

During the interaction, he asked the people what would they do with Rs 10 lakh. Some told the CM that they would set up a dairy farm, some would buy tractors and some would do business.

Though the State Cabinet last week decided to implement the scheme on a pilot basis in Huzurabad Assembly constituency from August 16, the programme has now been rolled out from Alair constituency.

KCR's earlier move had come under criticism from opposition parties and non-governmental organizations as by-elections are likely to be held in Huzurabad soon.

The seat fell vacant last month with the resignation of former minister Eatala Rajender. He also quit Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rajender's resignation from the TRS and the Assembly came after he was dropped from the Cabinet by KCR following allegations of land encroachment.

The opposition parties had termed the scheme a political stunt. Forum for Good Governance, a non-governmental organization urged the Election Commission of India to stop implementation of Dalit Bandhu in Huzurabad saying it was clearly aimed to lure the voters. Some activists have also moved the high court challenging the implementation of the pilot project in Huzurabad.

The government said that Dalit Bandhu scheme is aimed at providing financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to each of the identified Dalit families and to promote entrepreneurship among them.

KCR said that with the financial assistance given under the scheme, the Dalit community should develop itself as a business community by selecting industries, employment, and business of their choice.

Under the first phase, 100 families from each of the 119 Assembly constituencies will be identified. The government has announced allocation of Rs 1,200 crore for the scheme.

The chief minister said his government was ready to spend even Rs 1 lakh crore for the scheme. He exuded confidence that the scheme will become a torch bearer for the Dalit community in the entire country.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5 : The Kerala government has taken a lot of flak over its new Covid guidelines, but the Health Minister has said that there will be no change in the decision.

State Health Minister Veena George announced the new guidelines on Wednesday, which says that those who enter shops, banks and other establishments should have at least one dose of vaccine or an RT-PCR certificate not older than 72 hours.

In the Kerala Assembly, on Thursday, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan led a walkout of the House in protest against George, who categorically said there would be no change in the norms.

"It's strange that to buy 2 kg of rice one has to be either vaccinated or carry RT-PCR certificate. Fail to understand what sort of rationale and logic is being used," said Satheesan.

Incidentally, the relaxed new lockdown norms came hours after Kerala recorded 50 per cent of the daily new Covid cases in the country, and on Wednesday 22,414 new Covid cases were reported.

Meanwhile, social media was flush with activity, trolling the Kerala government's new guidelines. Many termed it as illogical as only around 50 per cent of the state population has received their first dose, thus forcing the remaining 50 per cent to remain indoors.

And, adding insult to the injury came a fresh Central government guideline which has asked states like Kerala having a high Covid spread to ensure that strict adherence to Covid protocols and festivals should not see any sort of crowding.

With Kerala's traditional harvest festival -- Onam all set to commence, the new set of guidelines are going to create a lot of confusion.

According to the new guidelines all shops, tourism centres and other establishments should display the status of vaccination of employees and the number of customers permitted at a time. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of such establishments to avoid crowding inside and outside the shop. Enforcement agencies will conduct checks and take action to ensure the above.

All establishments in the public sector, including government offices, PSUs, companies, autonomous organisations, and commissions will function from Monday to Friday.

It was also informed that persons who have taken at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine before two weeks, or who are in possession of RT-PCR negative certificate taken 72 hours before or who is in possession of Covid-19 positive results more than a month old will be allowed inside (workers/visitors) in shops, markets, banks, public and private offices, financial institutions, factories, industrial establishments, open tourist spaces and other establishments.

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Mumbai, Aug 5 : Exactly a year after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe into the death of Bollywood actor the late Sushant Singh Rajput, the Maharashtra Congress on Thursday asked the federal agency to clarify the current status of its longwinded investigation.

State Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that one year has lapsed after the CBI took up the probe into Sushant's death case, "but it has not yet reached any conclusion".

"It is also nearly 14 months since Sushant's death on June 14, 2020, and more than 300 days after the AIIMS panel ruled out the 'murder angle' in the case. Yet, the CBI is deliberately silent on this matter," Sawant said.

In direct posers, he asked the CBI to declare what progress has been made in the Sushant death probe of which the agency had made a big prestige issue and what is the current status of the enquiry.

"Is there any order of the Narendra Modi government to deliberately keep such investigations in Maharashtra cases pending and inconclusive? Who is putting pressure on the CBI?" Sawant asked sharply.

He said that the CBI had taken over the case lodged by the Bihar Police, which had flouted the Criminal Procedure Code Section 177 while lodging the FIR.

Sawant pointed out that the Supreme Court had also expressed its satisfaction at the overall investigations by the Mumbai Police which was then probing the matter from all sides.

"However, it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s political ploy to tarnish the image of the Mumbai police and destabilize the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. They used the then Bihar Director-General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey," Sawant said.

He accused the BJP of stooping to "a very low level" by openly hurling allegations of murder and rape, and exploited the actor's unfortunate death for political gains in the Bihar elections last year.

The Congress leader recalled how certain BJP-run television channels were asked "to continuously report the murder angle" in the Sushant death case as part of its well-planned strategy to politically attack and topple the MVA government.

"The BJP leaders kept defaming Maharashtra and MVA government. The CBI and other agencies leaked false information. The BJP IT Cell created thousands of fake accounts on various social media to spread fake propaganda. The BJP must apologise to the people of Maharashtra for spoiling the state's image through this case," Sawant demanded.

He reiterated that the Centre is using various national investigation agencies like CBI, NIA, ED, NCB, etc, for furthering their own political agenda, undermining elected state governments, hounding the Opposition-ruled states and their leaders, thus making a mockery of democracy.
Bengaluru, Aug 5 : Reacting sharply to Tamil Nadu BJP state president K. Annamalai's protest against the proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir project, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that Tamil Nadu is opposing the Mekedatu project for the sake of politicking.

After a meeting with officials at the Vidhan Soudha here, Bommai told reporters that there will be no compromise on the Mekedatu project as Karnataka will launch it once the Union government clears the project. "Irrespective of who were protesting in Tamil Nadu, they are doing it for political reasons," he shot back in response to a question.

He added that during water shortage this project will prove beneficial to both the states. "We have already prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and submitted it to Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recently and I have confidence that the DPR will be approved by the Union government and the project will be taken up shortly thereafter," he said.

He added that work on the project will start and there will be no compromise on this. "If anybody is protesting, we are not concerned and we are not taking it seriously," the Chief Minister said.

The proposed Mekedatu (Goat's Leap) reservoir project is proposed to be built at a deep gorge at the confluence of the Cauvery river and its tributary Arkavathi, in Ramanagara district.

According to the 'Pre-feasibility report of Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project' by Karnataka's Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited, the possibility of developing power from the Mekedatu project has been under examination since 1948.

However, this project was revived only in 2013 when it received an in-principle nod by the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government, following which a pre-feasibility report was submitted to the Central Water Commission by the state government.

According to this plan, the reservoir would have a capacity of around 67 tmcft of water and is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas. The project is also envisioned to generate 400 MW power once it is completed.

Flagging Tamil Nadu's concerns about this project on July 4, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin in his letter to then Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa, stated that the proposed Mekedatu project would impound and divert the first component of uncontrolled flows due to Tamil Nadu. "The flow is coming into the river Cauvery from the uncontrolled catchment of Kabini sub-basin downstream of Kabini reservoir, the catchment of the mainstream of Cauvery river below Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS), uncontrolled flows from Simsha, Arkavathy and Suvarnavathi sub-basins and various other small streams," Stalin added.

The Cauvery water sharing dispute has been a bone of contention between the two states for long. After prolonged legal battles the apex court delivered its final verdict in 2018, increasing the allocation to Karnataka.

According to this final verdict, Karnataka would get 284.75 tmcft of water, Tamil Nadu 404.25 tmcft, Kerala 30 tmcft, Pondicherry 7 tmcft, and 14 tmcft would be reserve for "environmental protection" and "wastage into the sea".
Bengaluru, Aug 5 : City Crime Branch (CCB) of Karnataka Police have seized nine tons of Red sanders worth Rs 4.5 crore and arrested two persons.

Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of CCB said that the operation was carried out after a tip off on the accused persons trying to sell off Red sanders.

The arrested persons have been identified as Anand Kumar (51), and Anil Singhi (47) residents of Bengaluru. The accused smuggled Red Sanders abroad and operated as a gang. The police are trying to bust the gang operating at international levels.

During investigation the police found that smugglers carried out their operation after smuggling the goods into the city. The accused persons operated as a gang along with other miscreants. The gang smuggled Red Sanders to foreign countries, said police.

Red sanders were smuggled from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and stocked at a godown in Bengaluru. The two arrested accused had come with a sample piece of Red sander to be given to a potential customer.

The police, after getting information, recovered 9,135 kilograms of Red sanders after raiding the godown. The police seized a truck and a car used to smuggle Red sanders. A complaint has been registered at the Hulimavu police station in this connection.

The hunt is on for the accused who have disappeared after the raids. The investigation is on, said police.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The government will resume blocking of E-way Bill (EWB) generation facility for all taxpayers who fail file their monthly or quarterly GST return for two successive periods.

E-way is a permit needed for inter-state and intra-state transportation of goods. If this is blocked, the business of traders dealing sale of goods or service across multiple locations in the country would come to a standstill.

As per an advisory issued by the Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN), a non-profit, non-government organisation which manages the entire IT system of the GST portal, the government will resume blocking of EWB facility -- suspended earlier due to the pandemic -- from August 15 onwards. So, taxpayers, traders, and businesses requiring to move their goods or render services in different states would require to be up to date on filing their monthly and quarterly GST filing, or else their EWB generation will be temporarily suspended by tax authorities.

"After August 15, 2021, the System (GSTN) will check the status of returns filed in Form GSTR-3B or the statements filed in Form GST CMP-08, and restrict the generation of EWB in case of non-filing of two or more returns in Form GSTR-3B for the months up to June, 2021 and non-filing of 02 or more statements in Form GST CMP-08 for the quarters up to April to June, 2021," the advisory said.

GSTR-3B is a self-declared summary GST return filed every month (quarterly for QRMP or quarterly return filing and monthly payment of tax scheme). Form CMP-08 is a special statement-cum-challan used by composition dealers to declare the details or summary of his/her self-assessed tax payable for a given quarter. It also acts as a challan for making payment of tax.

These two forms provide valuable information about taxpayers and is part of compliance measures put in place to keep the GST system working without discrepancies.

Due to the pandemic, the government had given some relaxation on compliance measures to taxpayers. With economy and businesses fast returning to normal after Covid's second wave, the government is trying to restore measures announced earlier.
Jaipur, Aug 5 : The Rajasthan government, making news for infighting between the two camps led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy CM Sachin pilot, seems to also be fighting to manage its branding. It has launched a new Twitter channel called 'DIPR Fact Check' which posts the cuttings of stories published in renowned media houses and then pastes its own comments against it to clarify its stand on the news.

The new Twitter handle of DIPR has become a matter of discussion in various parts of the state with a few officials calling it a channel created by the government to clarify its position while others call it a tool to fight the news which might hamper the government's branding.

With around 900 followers, the channel, launched in May this year has been tagging the CM, Rajasthan CMO and Raghu Sharma, state minister of information and PR in almost all its posts.

While a few officials called this act as a channel to maintain transparency, a few others termed it as a brand building exercise by the government.

For news being generated about the mismanagement of power bills, the comment from DIPR explains the elaborate process of bill reading and explains how a person needs to connect with the call centre of the office in his sub-block.

Similarly, for news about undeclared power cuts, the comment from DIPR quotes the reason for the power cuts and says that the problem has been addressed.

For news on missing sewer covers causing accidents on roads, the DIPR officials reverted saying, "all caps of sewerage are in place in the city. Even at places where there was a fault, things have been rectified. Engineers have been deputed to figure out any irregularity in the matter and it shall be sorted." These are just a few reverts against the news published in different newspapers. However, the list posted on the Twitter handle of DIPR is quite long.

The department is quick to paste the copy of the news and its own clarification. The comment comes duly signed by senior officers.

This is something new not only in the state, but also across the nation, DIPR officials told IANS.

The DIPR generally acts as a bridge between the government and the media in disseminating information.

"This, however, seems like a first of its kind innovation being made by a department like ours. We have had to create our own platform to present our views on public forum as not all news circulated around seem true," Purusottam Sharma, Director & ex-officio Joint Secretary to the Government, told IANS.

The state government had also engaged a public relations agency for brand building soon after assuming power.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI), under the leadership of the Union Ministry of Tourism, held a virtual meeting with the tourism secretaries of all the states and Union Territories.

In the past few years, this is the third time that FAITH associations have held joint meetings with all the state tourism secretaries.

The associations apprised the tourism secretaries about the criticality of tourism to Indian GDP, forex generation, national job creation, creating soft power for India globally and infrastructure creation for the country. The indirect multiplier impact of tourism on states' economic growth is most critical and needs to be leveraged, they said.

FAITH associations highlighted a two-pronged strategy approach for Indian tourism revival post the Covid pandemic.

At the state level, FAITH associations requested the state tourism secretaries for coordinated support for waiver of statutory obligations of power, utilities, parking, inter-state tax tariffs, SGST waiver and industry status.

Additionally, they requested for standardised, harmonised travel protocols, quarantine-free travel for vaccinated persons, open spaces for F&B, regional marketing campaigns and business-linked revival and classification of tourism staff as frontline workers for vaccination within the states.

The FAITH associations urged the states to coordinate with the Ministry of Tourism to urge the GST council for 12 per cent GST for hotels, 12 per cent rate in F&B with full set offs, option of travel agent reseller model, setoffs on fuel, liquor, inter-state taxes, aviation fuel, among other GST reforms.

Additionally, the FAITH associations urged the states to pursue through the Ministry of Tourism for opening up inbound travel and issue of tourist e-visas for vaccinated travellers, abolition of TCS, tourism demand revival campaigns, fast-track registration of travel trade, infrastructure status and special fiscal boost etc.

Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, said, "Today's first ever virtual meeting of national tourism secretaries with FAITH associations under the leadership of the Ministry of Tourism is unprecedented and was much-needed. We are indeed grateful to the Tourism Secretary and his leadership team for facilitating the same. It is indeed heartening that all the states secretaries have committed to the suggestions by the FAITH associations. All FAITH association presidents are optimistically looking forward to great outcomes for reviving the travel trade. Indeed, a revolutionary step today towards revival of Indian tourism, travel and hospitality."
Mumbai, Aug 5 : Celebrated filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan who has directed the upcoming music video - Saath Kya Nibhaoge - featuring Sonu Sood and Nidhhi Agerwal - says that this is one of the music videos she did that is shot in the hinterland of our country to bring the 'desi' flavour to the song.

Talking about reuniting with the 'Happy New Year' actor Sonu Sood, Farah said, "I was first approached by Sonu to do this music video for the production house Desi Music Factory. It was only later on that I came to know that it is the famous and iconic song by Altaf Raja 'Tum Toh Thehere Pardesi'.

"I think that's what really adds to the magic of this music video. Tony Kakkar has done a fabulous job. He has recreated it without taking out the flavour of the earlier one. I think this is the first time I've done a music video that is so hinterland-based because this is such a 'desi' song that the video is almost a small 'desi' film. It's not a foreign music video, it's absolutely 'desi'. I'm happy I've done this one. It has great potential to do very well." It has been shot in Punjab and Sonu is essaying the character of a farmer who becomes a cop.

The music video will be releasing on all the streaming platforms from August 9.
San Francisco, Aug 5 : Firefox browser developer Mozilla has slammed Facebook for terminating the accounts of New York University researchers, saying that the claims made by the social network "simply do not hold water".

Facebook has banned personal accounts and platform access associated with researchers from New York University (NYU) for allegedly violating its term of service by scraping user data without permission. The academics, however, have hit back at the platform, saying Facebook is silencing them.

According to Mozilla's chief security officer Marshall Erwin, Facebook claims the accounts were shut down due to privacy problems with its Ad Observer platform.

"In our view, those claims simply do not hold water. We know this, because before encouraging users to contribute data to the Ad Observer, which we've done repeatedly, we reviewed the code ourselves," Erwin said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Ad Observer is an extension dedicated to bringing greater transparency to political advertising that was critical for researchers and journalists during the US presidential election.

"Facebook has taken steps to shut down this exact kind of research on its platform, a troubling pattern we have witnessed from Facebook including sidelining their own Crowdtangle and killing a suite of tools from Propublica and Mozilla in 2019," said Mozilla.

"Anytime you give your data to another party, whether Facebook or Mozilla or researchers at New York University, it is important that you know whether that party is trustworthy, what data will be collected, and what will be done with that data." After Facebook banned NYU researchers, Laura Edelson, a PhD Candidate from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, tweeted that by suspending our accounts, "Facebook has effectively ended all this work".

"Facebook has also effectively cut off access to more than two dozen other researchers and journalists who get access to Facebook data through our project, including our work measuring vaccine misinformation with the Virality Project and many other partners who rely on our data," Edelson said in a series of tweets.

Mozilla said that companies like Facebook need to be proactive about third-parties that might be collecting data on their platform and putting their users at risk.

Facebook had said in a statement that "we disabled the accounts, apps, Pages and platform access associated with NYU's Ad Observatory Project and its operators after our repeated attempts to bring their research into compliance with our Terms".
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said allegations of the Pegasus-related snooping are serious, if the reports in the newspapers are correct, and sought the Centre's stand on petitions, including by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalist N. Ram, seeking a probe into the Israeli spyware matter.

Opening the argument, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Ram, submitted before a bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant that Pegasus is a rogue technology, and it is entirely illegal, as it infiltrates into our lives through telephone, and it hears and watches. Sibal emphasised that it is an assault on privacy and human dignity.

At this, Chief Justice Ramana said: "Before going into all that, we have certain questions. No doubt, the allegations are serious, if reports in the newspapers are correct." However, he noted: "Majority of petitions rely on foreign newspapers, but where is the verifiable material for us to order an inquiry? The surveillance issue came to light 2 years ago, in May 2019. I don't see any serious effort to raise the issue, why now suddenly?" Emphasising that the petitioners who moved the top court are knowledgeable and educated and they should have made effort to collect more material, he clarified: "We do not say that newspaper reports are not believable." Responding to this, Sibal said: "I can explain. We do not have the access to many materials. The petitions have information about 10 cases of direct infiltration into phones." The bench pointed out the petition by Ram says a California court has observed that some Indian journalists and other persons were also targets, asking: "Where in the judgment does it say that? We didn't see it." Sibal replied that it is not there but insisted that the government should explain why it did not take action and kept quiet. "It takes $55,000 to penetrate one mobile phone... let them tell us what are the facts." As the CJI repeated his query: "Why suddenly after two years?.. In 2019, it was reported WhatsApp system was misused", Sibal cited news reports claiming that registrars of the court and one of the former top court judges was also on the snoop target list.

He said only the government can answer "whether the government bought it, used it and why? This spyware is a big threat to everything we stand for as a Republic".

Chief Justice Ramana said: "Government also mean state governments... Truth has to come out. We do not know whose names were there." Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing CPI-M MP John Brittas, referred to a statement made by the former IT minister in the Lok Sabha on the Pegasus issue that "to the best of his knowledge, there was no unauthorised interception".

She added now it is known that it was done, therefore there should be an investigation.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Jagdeep Chokkar, saiid that for a private citizen to find out that a spyware has been turned on him by the government, it is something per se unconstitutional. At this, the bench queried him: "If you know, your phone was hacked, why didn't you file an FIR?" Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing a petitioner, submitted it is mass action and the government has to answer questions and court should take cognizance.

After hearing several senior advocates for more than an hour, the bench said there has to be somebody appearing for the government to place its point of view and accept notice, if it is issued. The bench added it is not sure about which petitions among the group of PILs are to be entertained and asked counsel appearing for the petitioners to serve the copy of the pleas on the Centre.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on August 10.

Several petitions have been filed in the top court seeking a court-monitored probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations.
Noida, Aug 5 : A 80-year-old mother has donated her kidney to save the life of her son, displaying the epitome of love and sacrifice. The case has entered the India Book of Records for the 'aged living female kidney donor'.

Madeleine, a farmer from Cameroon (Gulf of Guinea, Central Africa), donated a kidney to her son Joseph, 52, who was suffering from a prolonged kidney disease resulting in kidney failure.

A team of doctors at Jaypee Hospital successfully conducted the highly complicated kidney transplant surgery, the hospital said in a statement on Thursday.

"Madeleine's old age was of a major concern for us as mostly the health of the kidney starts deteriorating after the age of 65. After proper evaluation, it was found that she had good kidney functions and was found medically fit to donate her kidney," said Amit K Devra, Director, Coordinator Kidney Transplant Programme, Department of Urology and Kidney Transplant at Jaypee, which has successfully completed more than 650 kidney transplants.

"However, she had a complex kidney anatomy with two renal arteries and two ureters for which we had to connect two tubes instead of one for the proper renal functioning," said Amit K Devra, Director, Coordinator Kidney Transplant Programme, Department of Urology and Kidney Transplant at Jaypee, in a statement.

"Generally, normal people have one renal artery and ureters. A small stone was also diagnosed in her kidney. This made the process even more complicated, but without any hesitation, we took up the challenge in order to save our patient's life," he added.

Madeleine's kidney harvesting was done laparoscopically to reduce the post-operative pain. After kidney removal, the stone was removed (ex vivo) while the kidney was in an ice bucket for perfusion. Both renal arteries were then connected separately with the recipient's blood vessels, the doctor said.

"It takes an incredible amount of strength, endurance and faith to donate a kidney at this age. She did not lose hope and her strong will to save her son's life pushed her to not give up at any point. The donor was discharged on the fifth post-operative day, whereas the recipient was discharged on the eighth post-operative day," said Dr Vijay K Sinha, Associate Director, Department of Nephrology and Kidney Transplant at the hospital.

The team of doctors who successfully conducted the complicated kidney transplant surgery had Dr Devra, Dr Sinha, Dr LP Chowdhury, Dr Ravi Singh, Dr Anuj Arora, Dr Khushboo Singh and other paramedical staff.
Mumbai, Aug 5 : Akshay Oberoi turned nostalgic as his film 'Gurgaon' completed four years of its release date this week. The actor says the 2017 film was a learning experience for him.

Talking about the same, Akshay shared: "Being a part of this film has been a huge learning experience, and remembering those days makes me feel quite nostalgic. Gurgaon will always be special for me, I got the opportunity to work with such huge talents like Pankaj Tripathi and Shankar Raman, and I don't think I could ask for anything more. Even today people send messages after watching the film on OTT and makes me very happy." Akshay played a grey character in the suspense thriller film directed by Shankar Raman which also featured Pankaj Tripathi and Ragini Khanna.

On the work front, Akshay will next be seen in the web series 'Inside Edge 3'. Also featuring Vivek Oberoi, Sayani Gupta, Amit Sial, Richa Chadha, Sapna Pabbi and Sidhant Gupta, the third season of the popular show is slated to release on Amazon Prime Video.
Chennai, Aug 5 : Veteran leader and AIADMK Presidium Chairman E. Madhusudhanan passed away at the Apollo Hospitals on Thursday evening, the party said. He was 80.

Madhusudhanan was admitted to the hospital a couple of days back after complaining of breathing difficulty and age-related ailments.

In their condolence statement, AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator K. Palaniswami noted that as a 14-year-old, Madhusudhanan was an ardent fan of of actor, AIADMK founder and Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), had formed MGR Mandrams in north Chennai and also conducted classes for children in the evenings there.

They also said that MGR nominated Madhusudhanan to the then Legislative Council.

Madhusudhanan was a minister in the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's first government.

Madhusudhanan was elected as the party's Presidium Chairman in 2007. He backed Panneerselvam when the party split in 2017 after Jayalalithaa's death, but when the two factions, led by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, merged, it was him the Election Commission handed the party flag and its poll symbol to.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Congress' Karnataka unit President D.K. Shivakumar met his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Kamal Nath on Thursday and discussed the issue of "false statistics" being put out by BJP-ruled states on Covid deaths.

"The BJP governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are misleading people by putting out false facts and concealing information about deaths due to Covid infection," Shivakumar alleged.

"The governments are giving false figures. There is a huge difference between the number of deaths given by the government and the number of persons cremated at the crematoriums.

"It is unfortunate that we are forced to get the correct number of deaths due to Covid from burial grounds and crematoriums," he claimed.

Noting that Karnataka is seen as the IT hub of the world and also known for medical tourism, Shivakumar accused the BJP government of "having dented the image of the state at the global level by failing to manage Covid crisis in the state".

"Now, many countries have imposed restrictions on the movement of people from the state. If the BJP government managed the situation well, this would not have happened," he contended.

The two leaders also discussed how the Congress could reach out to the people in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh on this issue.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, Aug 5 : Actor Abhay Deol is very excited to play a pivotal role in the upcoming Disney film 'Spin' that revolves around an Indian American family. The actor says that the film attempts to start a conversation on breaking the stereotype and right representation of the Indian-American community in a more nuanced manner that the mainstream American films and TV have not done for quite some time.

Abhay told IANS: "The right representation of Indian-American community in cinema is so crucial here and very slowly the US film industry has started to doing and Disney is surely playing an important part here. There were a lot of relating points for me with my on-screen character because my sister lives here in the USA. She has her family here, she has her children here. So my niece and nephews are all born here in America and they are American. My sister, even though living here in the USA for so long and adapted to the lifestyle of an American, still sounds like us, Indian. But they are more Americans than Indians. There are those nuances that American television and cinema really did not explore in an ethnic community. This film 'Spin' is an attempt to redefine what we perceive an American looks and sounds like." The story of the film revolves around a 15-year-old Indian girl Rhea Kumar and her dream to become a DJ. She has a passion for creating DJ mixes that blend the textures of her Indian heritage and the world around her. Her life revolves around her eclectic group of friends, Molly, Watson and Ginger, her after-school coding club, her family's Indian restaurant and her tight-knit, multigenerational family, which has only grown closer since her mother's passing. Everything changes when she falls for aspiring DJ Max and a long-lost fervour for music is re-ignited. Rhea discovers that she has a natural gift for creating beats and producing music but must find the courage to follow her true inner talent.

Asked about how the new generation looks at the idea of a sense of belonging, Abhay said, "Look America is a country built by the immigrants. There is no one kind of people and community who we call American, thousands of people, across the globe are going there in America and living there for generations. So, when it comes to staying rooted culturally, an Indian family that settled in America would sound more like an Indian than an American. But when their children are born and mingling with people over there in America, their outlook towards life is bound to be different from those who are born and brought up in India and then went to America for a job and other work purposes." He explained, "I have many family members who feel that they are more of an Indian than American when they are in the USA. But when they come to India, believing their roots are here so the people would accept them here in India, they realise how American they are...you know that constant conflict there in the mind? Yes, they are kind of falling between the cracks; which is why the story of the film 'Spin' is important. We are trying to say that it is about a sense of belonging. Your parents could come from a different culture and settled in USA few generations ago but what the new generation should look forward to is to integrate. This film will show that if you are born and brought up in America, you are American, that does not mean that you are not of Indian descent but let us also celebrate the fact that you are part of a country that is inclusive. I think the more we make films like this, the conversation will continue and the change will begin." 'Spin', directed by Manjari Makijany and also featuring Avantika and Meera Sayal, releases on August 15 on Disney International HD and Disney+ Hotstar Premium.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)
New Delhi/Rahim Yar Khan, Aug 5 : Chief Justice of Pakistan, Gulzar Ahmed, on Thursday took notice of the attack on a Hindu temple by a charged mob in Bhong village of Punjab's Rahim Yar Khan district, a statement said.

The top judge took cognisance of the incident after Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan who is also the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, called on Chief Justice Ahmed at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the issue of the temple attack.

The Chief Justice "showed grave concern over the tragic incident", according to a press release issued by the Supreme Court, the Dawn reported.

He fixed the matter for hearing before the court on August 6 (Friday) in Islamabad, and directed the Punjab Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police to appear for the hearing along with a report.

Vankwani has also been summoned, the statement added.

The incident took place on Wednesday, when hundreds of people vandalised a Hindu temple in Bhong and blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) after a nine-year-old Hindu boy, who allegedly urinated in a local seminary, was granted bail by a local court.

Responding to the situation late on Wednesday evening, the district administration deployed Rangers in the area after Deputy Commissioner Khuram Shehzad and District Police Officer Asad Sarfraz visited the town.

On the complaint of a cleric, Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim, of Darul Uloom Arabia Taleemul Quran, the Bhong police had registered a case against the boy (who was not named) under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code on July 25, the report said.

Sources said some Hindu elders had tendered an apology to the seminary administration, saying the suspect was a minor and mentally challenged. But when a lower court granted him bail a few days ago, some people incited the public in the town on Wednesday and got all shops closed in protest there.

A video clip that went viral on social media showed charged people wielding clubs and rods storming the temple and smashing its glass doors, windows and lights, and damaging the ceiling fans and idols, the Dawn reported.

Later, the protesters also blocked the M-5 motorway for more than three hours.

District police spokesman Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said that Rangers had been deployed in the troubled area and the situation was under control.

About the alleged late response by the police authorities, sources said senior officials were busy attending the Police Martyrs' Day ceremonies.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : For Lara Dutta, essaying the role of Mrs Indira Gandhi in 'Bell Bottom' touched a personal chord. Her father, Wing Commander L.K. Dutta, who was with the Indian Air Force, flew the late prime minister whenever she would travel across the country on her official trips.

When Lara needed help with playing her character, she would turn to her father. "I had a personal reference point," she said. "He gave me so many inputs on the way she would interact with people, her demeanour, that really helped me." But playing the late prime minister wasn't easy. It took Dutta three hours to get transformed by star make-up artist Vikram Gaikwad each time she would shoot for a scene in character as Indira Gandhi and another hour to get out of it and becoming Lara Dutta again.

"We started off creating an entire mould of my face and then making prosthetic features," Lara said in a conversation with IANS. "We did it as early as the end of June last year. We started working on just creating the prosthetic features and putting them together." Remembering the transformation, Lara said: "Getting her hairstyle, which was such an iconic part of her a getting all of that in place was quite an effort. Once everything was ready, it took me three hours to transform into Mrs Gandhi and about an hour before coming back to Lara." Apart from the look, Lara paid extra attention to Indira Gandhi's body language. A lot of research went into it.

"Getting the look right and transforming into someone did play a very big part, yes, but once you kind of get the looking part out of the way, as an actor, the most important thing is to get the body language and voice right. A lot of homework went into that," Lara said.

She continued: "Ranjit (Tewari), our director, would keep sending me videos of interviews of Mrs Gandhi so that we could focus on little things like her hand movements, her eyes, her reactions to situations. TheseAare the things that make working as an actor worthwhile." Lara admitted she was nervous, as much as she was super excited, about playing Mrs Gandhi. "I was like, 'how am I going to transform and play someone as iconic as her', but we had an incredible make-up and prosthetic team led by Vikram Gaikwad." Unsurprisingly, Lara is content. She said:A"I am happy with what I think I have done. For a change, I am pretty confident."
New Delhi, Aug 5 : There has been a steady decline in terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir post the abrogation of Article 370, the security establishment claimed on the second anniversary of the historic decision.

According to security forces, in 2018 there were 318 terror incidents, which came down to 173 in 2019 and 142 in 2020. Till July 31 this year, 57 incidents were reported.

The forces stated that in 2018 a total of 254 terrorists were killed in action, in 2019 it came down to 158 and again in 2020 it went up to 221 terrorists. Till July 31 this year, a total of 90 terrorists have been killed in the valley.

There has also been a decline in infiltration bid killings. In 2018, a total of 15 Pakistanis were killed at the Line of Control while trying to infiltrate into India. In 2019, only one incident was reported. However in 2020, it went up to eight. In 2021 till July 31, only three Pakistani infiltrators have been killed at the LoC.

The security forces stated that in 2018, a total of 66 attempts were made by Pakistani terrorists to infiltrate into India. In 2010, a total of 39 such attempts were made and in 2020 it came down to 25. This year till July 31, only one infiltration bid has been reported.

The forces said that local recruitment has also come down in the valley hinterland. In 2018, a total of 219 local youths picked up arms and joined terror organisations, in 2019 a total of 119 youths were recruited by terror organisations. The figure went up in 2020 to 184. This year, till May 31, a total of 58 local youths joined the banned terror organisations.

The security forces have been dissuading youths from joining terror organisations. They have started several welfare programmes for the youngsters in the valley to engage with them and stop them being lured by terror outfits.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The government has no plan to block any social media platform in the country, the Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government blocks malicious online content, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity, and defence of India, security of the state among other reasons, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"At present, Government has no plan to block any social media platform in the country," he said.

"Indian democracy has its bedrock in its Constitution and constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights for every citizen. No social media platform or any other intermediary can destroy our democracy," he added.

Noting that the government receives various grievances from users about this type of hate content, he said that it responded to them in an appropriate way.

The government regularly interacts with social media intermediaries on various issues including issuing advisories to make these intermediaries safe and accountable to users, Chandrasekhar said.
New Delhi/Kabul, Aug 5 : Anti-Taliban rallying calls, which were first chanted by the people in Herat province, have now spread to Afghan capital Kabul, Khost, Nangarhar and Kunar provinces.

In Kabul, thousands of people took to the streets chanting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great) to oppose the Taliban offensive and support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), media reports said.

Vice-president Amrullah Saleh was among those who were raising the slogans opposing the Taliban.

While thousands were protesting on the streets of Kabul, scores of others, including women and children, were roaring the chants from their rooftops and the remaining were raising slogans using the loudspeakers of mosques.

Kunar and Nangarhar provinces in eastern Afghanistan and Khost in southeastern Afghanistan also witnessed rallies raising 'Allahu Akbar' slogans in support of ANDSF and opposing the Taliban.

In Khost province, apart from the hundreds of people who gathered on the streets, Mullahs (religious preachers) were chanting the slogan through the loudspeakers of mosques.

President Ashraf Ghani had said on Tuesday that the chants imply who is respecting the sacred call and who is fulfilling the commandments of Allah. He also accused the Taliban of killing innocent Afghans, media reports said.

First Vice President Amrullah Saleh was seen among the crowds in Kabul, chanting 'Allahu Akbar'.

"This slogan reflects the voice of the Afghan nation, this slogan needs to be raised in support of peace in the country, not for massacres and creating chaos," said a resident of Kabul.

People in other areas of Afghanistan, including Nangarhar, Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, also chanted the slogan to announce their support for the security forces.

"We raised the slogan 'Allahu Akbar' in Jalalabad and this slogan will be chanted across Afghanistan. We will support our security forces and fight together with them in the trenches if needed," said Raz Mohammad Imranzai, a resident of Jalalabad city, media reports said.
New Delhi, Aug 5: With deteriorating security conditions in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region, the US has approved a US $750 million deal for self-propelled howitzers for Taiwan. The US has also given nod to weapons' sales worth $134 million to Japan.

Weapon sales to Taiwan and Japan Quoting from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) press release, Taiwan News said: "the US State Department approved the potential sale of 40 M109A6 Paladins, 20 M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles, one Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, five M88A2 Hercules vehicles, five M2.50 caliber machine guns, and 1,698 multi-option, precision guidance kits".

Separately, the US has also approved two missiles-related arms sales to Japan worth $195 million, according to the DSCA. A press release by the DSCA said: "The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Japan of AEGIS Class Destroyer Support and related equipment for an estimated cost of $134 million".

Increasing global tensions The arms procurements by both Taiwan and Japan are pointers to the mounting tensions in the region due to China's overbearing behaviour. It has threatened Taiwan with a military invasion following its policy of considering the island a break-away part of its territory.

China has also hinted that it could take over the Japan-held Senkaku islands over which it has a running dispute with Japan. Tokyo has calculated that if Beijing attacks Taiwan, it is likely to mount an offensive on the Senkaku islands.

Relations between China and the US also are in free fall over numerous issues, notable ones being the origins of the coronavirus, trade disputes, aggressive moves against countries in the South China Sea and human rights violations in ethnically diverse provinces.

Welcoming the American decision to approve the sale of the weapons, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet: "We welcome @StateDept's approval of a proposed USD 750M arms sale to Taiwan. The decision demonstrates the US government's commitment to the #TaiwanRelationsAct & #SixAssurances. It also allows the country to maintain a rock-solid self-defense, & regional peace & stability".

Japan to deploy missiles close to Taiwan to defend it In another significant development, Japan has decided to move surface-to-air and surface-to-ship missiles close to Taiwan to protect it from a possible Chinese attack.

Japan has chosen the island of Ishigaki, just 300 kms north-east of Taiwan, to place the missiles as a deterrent to China. Along with the missiles, Tokyo will also put nearly 500-600 Japan Self-Defense Forces. One unit of soldiers will man the missiles while another will handle a military attack.

The deployment is slated for 2022. With this, Japan will have placed the missiles on four islands in the Nansei island chain that stretches from Japan to Taiwan and further till Borneo. The missiles have been placed to guard the Senkaku islands as much as to protect Taiwan.

Japan hopes to deter the Chinese military vessels which often violate the maritime borders of both Japan and Taiwan. China's aircraft carrier, Liaoning too also has been patrolling the waters near the Japanese islands.

What is different about these sales Though the US has been selling weapons to Taiwan--the island nation that lies just 180 kms off China's eastern coast, this is the first arms' sales to Taiwan under the Joe Biden administration. The US has also taken upon itself the task to provide security to Taiwan by undertaking freedom of navigation passage exercises through the Taiwan strait as well as in the vital South China Sea, angering the Chinese for conducting a task that China itself does very often.

Beijing has always been extra-critical of any move to accord Taiwan an independent status by any country. It has also frowned upon any American military, diplomatic or official effort to improve relations with Taiwan. In fact, Beijing has often warned Washington of retaliation if the latter tries to intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf when American officials visit the island nation.

Indo-Pacific becoming a high-intensity military zone Not just Taiwan and Japan, even other countries in the region are feeling the Chinese heat. The Philippines, Australia, Vietnam are all honing their defences against Chinese aggression.

European countries including France and Germany have sent warships while the UK's foremost piece of weaponry, aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth is in the region to conduct exercises.

Other nations like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and the UK have been holding military exercises with American forces to thwart any possible attacks on islands in the region.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The Madhya Pradesh BJP, which has been in power for almost 17 years in the state, has decided to make inroads among sub-sections of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) who are still not supporting the saffron party. The BJP believes that by gaining the support of these sub-sections it will further weaken the rival Congress in the state.

The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003, except for 15 months between December 2018 to March 2020 when Congress leader Kamal Nath was Chief Minister. In March 2020, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in again after the fall of the Kamal Nath government after then Congress leader and now Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his supporters left the party and joined the BJP.

Madhya Pradesh BJP in-charge, P Murlidhar Rao told IANS that the party has decided to reach out to the sections of SC, ST and OBC who are still not connected with the party.

"The BJP is getting support from all the communities including SC, ST and OBC but there are some sub-sections among these communities where we don't have support. We have decided to reach out to these sub-sections of SC, ST and OBC communities who are still supporting the opposition parties," Rao said.

Rao explained that these sub-sections are supporting the Congress and by winning their confidence and support the BJP will destroy the last bastion of the opposition party in Madhya Pradesh and also help the party to expand its base among new groups of voters. "By making inroads among these sub-sections, the BJP will not only weaken the Congress but it will also help us to win the strongholds of the rival party," Rao said.

The party has started drawing up plans to win the confidence of the new groups of voters. The party strategists feel that winning the support of these groups will help the BJP to make inroads among the last few strongholds of the Congress.

"By winning the support of these groups, we will be establishing the BJP as the party of all the sections of society irrespective of caste and community," a party leader said.

The next assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh will be held at the end of 2023 and the reach out plan is part of strengthening the party ahead of the elections.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met his former Australian counterpart Tony Abbott and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

Abbott is visiting India August 2-6 in his capacity as the Australian Prime Minister's Special Trade Envoy for India.

In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said: "The two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation to realise the full potential of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

"Both the leaders emphasised that enhanced economic cooperation between India and Australia would help both countries better address the economic challenges emerging out of the Covid-19 pandemic, and would also help them in realising their shared vision of a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region." Prime Minister Modi, it said, expressed his satisfaction at the stellar growth of India-Australia ties in recent times and admired the important contributions of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Abbott in this journey.

He also recalled his virtual summit last year with Morrison and reiterated his desire to be able to host him in India as soon as conditions permit.

At the virtual summit held between the two Prime Ministers on June 4 last year, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, under which India and Australia committed, inter alia, to encourage expanded trade and investment flows for mutual benefit and decided to re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

Abbott's visit is reflective of this shared ambition.
Mumbai, Aug 5 : Sarthak Dasgupta, the writer and director of the upcoming film "200 - Halla Ho", says that the film, based on a true story, intends to deliver an important message on the lives of Dalit women in our country. The trailer of the film was released on Thursday.

Talking about the film, Sarthak said "This is not a film for me, but a shoulder that I give to the movement towards social equality. I need to convey to the audience that women should be treated equally and that Dalits' lives matter too! This film is about those Dalit women who despite getting socially marginalised, molested, tortured and mortified, had to take the law into their own hands to punish the person who was responsible for ruining their lives. It addresses the debate whether they were right or they were wrong. I hope this film will add voice to the social change that is so needed in society." Inspired by true events, the movie goes on to uncover the shocking events and circumstances which led the 200 women to take such a drastic step to seek justice. "200 - Halla Ho" has a star cast comprising Amol Palekar, Barun Sobti, Rinku Rajguru, Sahil Khattar, Saloni Batra, Indraneil Sengupta and Upendra Limaye.

Produced by Yoodlee Films, the film production arm of Saregama, "200 - Halla Ho" premieres on August 20 on ZEE5.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Citing the seriousness of the matter, the Jharkhand government has informed the Supreme Court that it is handing over the investigation into the mowing down of an additional district judge (ADJ) in Dhanbad to the CBI.

According to the status report filed by the state government, the CBI has taken over the investigation in the case and the government will extend its full cooperation in the case involving the unfortunate death of ADJ Uttam Anand, who was hit by an auto-rickshaw while taking a morning walk.

The status report was jointly filed by Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh and Director General of Police Neeraj Sinha. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana is scheduled to hear the matter on Friday.

The status report said prima facie verification of footage indicated that there appeared to be some deliberate act of hitting and subsequent death of the ADJ. The state government said it has now made arrangements for deploying additional security in the residential colonies of judicial officers in all the districts of the state.

The state government said the police were able to trace and locate the three-wheeler which was involved in the incident and two persons, Rahul Kumar Verma and Lakhan Kumar Verma, were apprehended on July 29. The accused were sent to judicial custody and later the court remanded them to five days police custody.

On July 30, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the alleged mowing down of ADJ Uttam Anand by an auto-rickshaw and sought a status report on the investigation from the Jharkhand government through the chief secretary and the DGP within a week.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant had said: "This gruesome incident has been widely reported in newspapers, and video clippings of the incident are also being circulated on social media platforms, suggesting that it was not a case of simplicitor road accident." The bench added, "Having regard to the seriousness of the issue and its larger ramifications, we direct the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, State of Jharkhand to jointly submit a status report of inquiry vis-a-vis the sad demise of the Judicial Officer Uttam Anand, with the Registry of this Court within a week's time."
New Delhi, Aug 5: There is one question that India and the rest of the world are looking for an answer to --- what happens to Afghanistan and the region if the Taliban takes control? The economic impact will be severe for the Asian countries-besides, India and China the central, middle and South Asian nations would be affected too.

While bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan crossed the $1.5 billion mark in 2019-20, New Delhi's investments and other development assistance in Afghanistan is estimated at $3 billion.

The two countries are connected by air freight corridors -- Kabul, Kandahar, Herat with New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Since the commencement of an air freight corridor in 2017, over 500 flights have ferried more than 5,000 metric tons of cargo directly benefiting Afghan farmers and small traders, Carnegie India, in a report, said.

According to the Indian Embassy in Kabul, trade in terms of value has consistently improved over the last five years. Indian exports to Afghanistan increased by over 89 per cent between 2015-16 and 2019-20. Similarly, India's imports also grew by 72 per cent during the same period. An increased trade between the two countries would mean that Afghanistan's dependence on Pakistan is eased.

In 2019-20, the export value increased by 39 per cent and imports over 21 per cent compared to 2018-19.

India's imports from Afghanistan mainly include high value dried fruits such as dried raisin, walnut, almond, fig, pine nut, pistachios, dried apricot. Fresh fruits have also been coming in from the country besides asafoetida or hing and saffron. Indian exports include pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, computers and related materials, cement, and sugar.

"A troubled Afghanistan means troubled Asia, especially South, Central and Middle east. Afghanistan is rich in natural resources including some rare minerals and hydrocarbons. Though in the immediate term, Indian economy may not be adversely impacted at all, but in the medium to long run, this will have some serious economic implications too," leading energy expert Narendra Taneja told India Narrative.

Due to its geographical location, Afghanistan is strategically important for India for its interests in the entire South West and Central Asian regions, he added.

Foreign policy experts also said that the issue of connectivity will come up as political uncertainties rise. Afghanistan with its strategic location acts as a gateway to the Middle East and Central Asian countries. India has significant investments in the Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, which has remained a non starter could be given a quiet burial. Questions over the Chabahar Port, which is under construction, have also risen. According to a report in the Hindu, after a brief halt, India accelerated the work on Chabahar Port early this year and the strategic Iranian port is expected to be operational soon.

Taneja noted though India need not be worried about supply of natural gas and oil as several other markets including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the United Arab Emirates are willing to supply energy, concerns over medium to long term geoeconomic implications remain.

"All our gas and oil imports are by sea and they are safe and secure," Taneja said.

Earlier this year, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, while addressing the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process meeting in Dushanbe in Tajikistan said that peace within Afghanistan would mean peace around Afghanistan.

Center for Strategic & International Studies highlighted that even without the completion of the highway and rail system between Chabahar and the Iran-Afghanistan border, India successfully shipped 110,000 tons of wheat and 2,000 tons of pulses to Afghanistan in 2018, as a part of its promise to deliver a total of 1.1 million tons of food supply on a grant basis.

"Connectivity which is directly linked to economic growth will suffer..there is growing concern over this," an analyst said.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Dwelling at length on the efforts to deal with the Covid pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that in the past, when such a big crisis hit the country then all the systems of the country were shaken badly but today in India every citizen is fighting this pandemic with full force.

The double engine government has ensured that the schemes made for the poor, downtrodden, backward, tribals are implemented expeditiously, Modi said while interacting with beneficiaries of 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana' (PMGKAY) in Uttar Pradesh via video conference. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present on the occasion, a government release said.

"An effective strategy kept the cost of food items in control, suitable measures were undertaken to keep up the supply of seeds or fertilizers for farmers and as a result the farmers gave record production and the government also made record procurement under MSP," the Prime Minister said.

He praised the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for record MSP procurement in UP. In UP the number of farmers benefited from MSP doubled during the past year. In UP, more than Rs 24,000 crore were deposited directly into the account of 13 lakh farmer families as the price of their produce. In Uttar Pradesh 17 lakh families have been allotted houses, lakhs of poor families got toilets, one half got free gas and lakhs of electricity connections. As many as 27 lakh households have received piped water in the state, the Prime Minister informed.

In 2020, for a period of eight months from April 2020 to November 2020, under PM-GKAY, Uttar Pradesh was allocated around 58.2 lakh MT foodgrains by the Central Government for free of cost distribution to NFSA beneficiaries at 5 kg per person per month. Similarly, an allocation of 51.5 lakh MT of PM-GKAY food grains has been provisioned for the state for seven months in 2021 from May 2021 to November 2021.

Under the PM-GKAY 2020 (April to November 2020) on a monthly basis an average of around 96.6% of foodgrains was distributed in Uttar Pradesh and under PM-GKAY 2021 (i.e., from May to November 2021), on a monthly basis, so far, an average of nearly 96 per cent of foodgrains has been distributed from May 2021 till July 2021.
New Delhi/Kabul, Aug 5 : Afghan security forces have launched a major offensive operation in Lashkargah city, the capital of Helmand province, and urged the residents to evacuate the areas under Taliban control.

Security forces warned that the Taliban are "using civilian homes" as fighting positions.

As per Afghan media reports, Hibatullah Alizai, the commander of the Special Operations Corps, said that a clearance operation began in Lashkargah city on Wednesday night.

The operation was launched at about 10 pm local time in PD1 of Lashkargah, Alizai said, urging the residents to evacuate the areas under Taliban control as the airstrikes and ground operations move forward, warning that the Taliban are "using civilian homes" as fighting positions.

The operation began on Wednesday night after hundreds of Afghan commandos and special forces were deployed to Helmand on Tuesday, according to officials.

Alizai said the Taliban's designated governor for Helmand was killed in the fight with security forces, but the Taliban denied the claim.

"The Taliban has suffered heavy casualties in the Helmand clashes," he said.

Thursday marks the ninth day of fighting in Lashkargah.

The reports said that airstrikes in several parts of Lashkargah were carried out on Wednesday night, according to security forces.

No numbers of casualties sustained by government forces or of civilians are available yet.

Out of the 10 districts in Lashkargah, nine have been captured by the Taliban in the recent fightings. Twelve of the 13 districts in Helmand are controlled by the Taliban. Only Kajaki district remains under government control.

On Wednesday, fighting continued near the police headqauters, governor's office, the prison, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and other government buildings in PD1 of the city, according to the local officials. All key government offices are located in PD1.

Previously, the residents of Helmand had said that houses, shops and markets have sustained heavy damage during the ongoing clashes and thousands of families have been displaced.

On Tuesday, the commander of the Army's 215 Maiwand Corps, General Sami Sadat, had urged the residents of Lashkargah to evacuate their houses as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) is planning large-scale operations to clear the city of Taliban.

Sadat said he made the announcement because the safety of residents is the priority of the ANDSF.
New Delhi/Ranchi, Aug 5 : A day after taking over the probe into the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand, a 20-member Central Bureau of Investigation SIT team from Delhi has swung into action, officials said on Friday.

A CBI official related to the development said that the SIT, led by Additional Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar Shukla, had reached Dhanbad on Thursday and started collecting documents of the case registered by the Jharkhand Police SIT.

He said that the agency also collect the details of the probe carried out by the state police, and will soon meet the wife of the judge and take her statement as well.

The official also said that the agency visited the accident spot and also met several people related to probe at the Dhanbad Sadar police station.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Anand was killed on July 28 after a autorickshaw hit him while he was on a morning walk, and a case was registered by the police on a complaint from his wife against an unknown auto driver.

After the CCTV footage surfaced, the Jharkhand government had formed an SIT to probe the matter. But later, it recommended the CBI probe into the death.

The state SIT probing the killing of the judge has so far not made any headway, despite arresting a total of 17 people, including autorickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his associate Rahul Verma.

Police has so far questioned more than 240 people in connection with the case but is yet to arrive at conclusions, as is now contemplating with the idea of getting the narco test done of the two main accused, and the autorickshaw owner.

Police sources said that both accused are not cooperating and are claiming that the accident occurred under the influence of liquor, which is not being accepted by the police team.

On Tuesday, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the CBI to start the probe into the death of the judge at the earliest, so that no evidence is destroyed, and directed the state government to provide all logistics support and documents to it.

The court also directed the Jharkhand DGP to ensure security to the judicial officers in the state, and ensure deployment of security guards at their houses. It also wanted to know, if the incident took place at 5.08 a.m., why the FIR was lodged at 12.45 p.m.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Xiaomi for the first time has surpassed Samsung and Apple to become the number one smartphone brand in the world in June, a Counterpoint Research showed on Thursday.

Xiaomi's sales grew 26 per cent (month-on-month) in June, making it the fastest-growing brand for the month.

Xiaomi was also the number two brand globally for Q2 2021 in terms of sales, and cumulatively, has sold close to 800 million smartphones since its inception in 2011, according to Counterpoint Research's Monthly Market Pulse Service.

"Ever since the decline of Huawei commenced, Xiaomi has been making consistent and aggressive efforts to fill the gap created by this decline. The OEM has been expanding in Huawei's and HONOR's legacy markets like China, Europe, Middle East and Africa," said Research Director Tarun Pathak.

"In June, Xiaomi was further helped by China, Europe and India's recovery and Samsung's decline due to supply constraints," he added.

China's market grew 16 per cent (MoM) in June driven by the 618 festival.

"Xiaomi was the fastest growing OEM, riding on its aggressive offline expansion in lower-tier cities and solid performance of its Redmi 9, Redmi Note 9 and the Redmi K series," said Senior Analyst Varun Mishra, commenting on the China market and Samsung supply constraints.

At the same time, due to a fresh wave of Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam, Samsung's production was disrupted in June, which resulted in the brand's devices facing shortages across channels.

"Xiaomi, with its strong mid-range portfolio and wide market coverage, was the biggest beneficiary from the short-term gap left by Samsung's A series," Mishra added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi/Ranchi, Aug 5 : A day after taking over the probe into the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand, a 20-member Central Bureau of Investigation SIT team from Delhi has swung into action, officials said on Thursday.

A CBI official related to the development said that the SIT, led by Additional Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar Shukla, had reached Dhanbad on Thursday and started collecting documents of the case registered by the Jharkhand Police SIT.

He said that the agency also collect the details of the probe carried out by the state police, and will soon meet the wife of the judge and take her statement as well.

The official also said that the agency visited the accident spot and also met several people related to probe at the Dhanbad Sadar police station.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Anand was killed on July 28 after a autorickshaw hit him while he was on a morning walk, and a case was registered by the police on a complaint from his wife against an unknown auto driver.

After the CCTV footage surfaced, the Jharkhand government had formed an SIT to probe the matter. But later, it recommended the CBI probe into the death.

The state SIT probing the killing of the judge has so far not made any headway, despite arresting a total of 17 people, including autorickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his associate Rahul Verma.

Police has so far questioned more than 240 people in connection with the case but is yet to arrive at conclusions, as is now contemplating with the idea of getting the narco test done of the two main accused, and the autorickshaw owner.

Police sources said that both accused are not cooperating and are claiming that the accident occurred under the influence of liquor, which is not being accepted by the police team.

On Tuesday, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the CBI to start the probe into the death of the judge at the earliest, so that no evidence is destroyed, and directed the state government to provide all logistics support and documents to it.

The court also directed the Jharkhand DGP to ensure security to the judicial officers in the state, and ensure deployment of security guards at their houses. It also wanted to know, if the incident took place at 5.08 a.m., why the FIR was lodged at 12.45 p.m.
Srinagar, Aug 5 : The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, on Thursday inaugurated the modernised and upgraded Government Silk Weaving Factory at Rajbagh in Srinagar, marking an important step towards the revival and holistic development of the silk industry in the Union Territory.

The Government Silk Weaving Factory was established in 1937 and has been in operation since then. Over a period of time, most of the machinery had become obsolete and the factory's infrastructure suffered huge damages in the floods of 2014.

As part of the revival plan, the century-old factory has been upgraded and modernised at a cost of Rs 23.54 crore under the World Bank-funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

Under the upgradation plan, a new factory with state-of-the-art preparatory and weaving machinery has been installed.

Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said that the government will begin the branding of Kashmir silk to provide it an international market.

"We will soon launch Rajbagh Silk as a new brand for Kashmir silk. Moreover, the tourism department will work in tandem with the department of industries and commerce to ensure ease of access to the Kashmir silk market for our tourists," he said.

The revival plan of Jammu Kashmir Industries Limited (JKI) is being implemented focusing on making the organisation a profitable and viable entity, besides providing livelihood support to the marginalised sections of the society, especially those associated with cocoon rearing and production of wool, the L-G said.

The revamped Government Silk Factory would provide a cocoon consumption market to approximately 50,000 cocoon growers/farmers in the Kashmir Division.

The factory is now capable of producing 4,50,000 metre of silk fabric per annum, creating a viable economic cycle and employment opportunities, both directly and indirectly.
Hyderabad, Aug 5 : Amid concerns in some quarters about the safety of Covaxin, Bharat Biotech has clarified that its Covid-19 vaccine is totally safe and that it is following uncompromising policy on safety and quality.

The Hyderabad-based company's clarification came in view of certain media and social media reports.

The vaccine maker stated that as of date, all batches of Covaxin were manufactured and released from its manufacturing facilities at Genome Valley, Hyderabad, which are fully audited and approved by regulatory authorities.

"Every batch of Covaxin is subjected to more than 200 quality control tests at our facilities, followed by submission samples to the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Government of India, only based on approval/release by CDL, are batches released commercially," it said.

The company said since early June, manufacturing of Covaxin commenced at its sites at Malur, Karnataka, and Ankleshwar, Gujarat, prior to which engineering batches were also executed to study equipment functionality. "Products manufactured from these facilities will be available for supplies during September. This is based on our 120-day timeline for manufacturing, testing, release, regulatory approvals, and distribution," it said.

The clarification came after Covid task force member N.K. Arora told a television channel that the supply of Covaxin has been slowed down because the first few batches at the company's newest facility in Bengaluru were not of the right quality.

Vaccine manufacturing, testing, and release at Bharat Biotech follow validated, stringent GMP processes which were established over 20 years, with several billion doses of vaccines supplied within India and globally, Bharat Biotech said in a statement.

"Since vaccines are administered to healthy individuals, safety is always our vital, primary criteria and we have an uncompromising policy on safety, and quality, whatsoever. This is evident from the excellent safety contours of Covaxin with an impressive supply of 70 million doses to date. It is emblematic that Bharat Biotech has not sought indemnity from the Government of India for any adverse events from Covaxin." The vaccine maker reiterated that whole-virion Inactivated Vero Cell vaccines (Covaxin technology platform) are highly complex to manufacture as the critical ingredient is based on live viruses which require highly sophisticated, multiple level containment, and purification methods. Such extensive, high standards of purification naturally lead to significant process losses and low yields resulting in a highly purified and safe vaccine, it said.

It pointed out that the SARS COV2 strains provided under material transfer agreements to Bharat Biotech are also readily available at the ICMR-NIV and accessible to any organisation that wishes to manufacture a similar Covid-19 vaccine.

Vaccinology, vaccine manufacturing, testing, and release is a complex multifactorial science involving inputs from more than 30 scientific and technological disciplines. This is evident from the fact that since the start of the pandemic, only 2 vaccine companies have been able to supply Covid-19 vaccines to the Government of India, it said.

"Bharat Biotech is the only company to develop a vaccine indigenously in India and manufacture it large scale. It has accomplished this in a matter of 15 months, with 10 publications and global recognition for India as an innovator and product developer. Covaxin is the only vaccine to have demonstrated efficacy against the Delta variant in Phase 3 human clinical trials," it said, adding that "fake news and false and misleading narratives result in unintended consequences of creating panic among people, resulting in vaccine hesitancy, extending our country's timelines to return to normalcy and restoration of livelihoods".

It requested media organisations and influencers to use "caution, restraint, detailed analysis in their reportage and their external communication".

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Gurugram, Aug 5 : After a pre-recorded audio and video message circulated on social media by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), went viral, the Gurugram police on Thursday registered an FIR against Pannu and unknown others at the Cyber Crime police station here.

The clip blames the government of Haryana and the people of the state for being inimical to the interests of Sikhs and Punjabis.

According to the FIR, Pannu in the pre-recorded clip threatened the government of Haryana with dire consequences if it ceremoniously hosts the Indian tricolour on August 15.

Pannu also threatened the Haryana government in support of the ongoing farmer's protest and the Khalistan movement.

The FIR was registered following a complaint lodged by Inspector Madan Lal, in-charge of the Special Task Force (STF) unit of Gurugram police, after he received information from a source that a pre-recorded video threatening the Haryana government was being widely circulated on social media.

The case was registered under Sections 10-A and 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as Sections 124-A and 153-A of the Indian Penal Code against Pannu and unknown others at the Cyber Crime police station in Gurugram.

SFJ was declared as a designated terrorist outfit by the Union Home Ministry under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Mangaluru, Aug 5 : Police in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district are taking steps to block roads at an entry point from neighbouring Kerala's Kasargod district to prevent unchecked ingress, an official said on Friday.

A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that over the previous three days, they deployed earthmovers to dig up roads within the jurisdiction of Karnataka to prevent smooth flow of traffic from Kerala.

"It is humanly impossible to keep a check on each and every individual who crosses the border. Therefore, we came up with this idea to prevent the smooth flow of traffic from Kerala for the time being, as Covid cases in Dakshin Kannada are on the rise," he said.

Meanwhile, opposing the move, even local residents staged a sit-in at the Talapady check post in Kasaragod around three days ago alleging that Karnataka Police move was affecting the movement of vehicles entering Kerala from Karnataka. The protestors demanded smooth commuting to Karnataka, without a mandatory RT-PCR certificate.

During the protest, as soon as a person, in heat of argument, crossed the check post, the police took him into custody.

According to a health bulletin released by the Dakshin Kannada district authorities on Wednesday, 350 positive cases were reported on Wednesday and positivity rate stood at 4.07 per cent.

A health officer from Mangaluru told IANS that the number of cases in Dakshina Kannada are far higher compared to Bengaluru, which has a larger population.

"We have to take stringent steps like redirecting the traffic to 12 check-posts in Karnataka where checking can be carried out properly, therefore, at some points they may have dug up roads," he said.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The giveaway came on July 20. Only the aftermath is evident now.

Russia's Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had made it clear on July 20 in Moscow that India cannot participate in the format of the expanded group of three because it did not have any influence on the Taliban.

India has not been invited to the extended troika talks on Afghanistan convened by Russia set to be held on August 11.

"The format of the 'Extended Troika' with the participation of Russia, along with the US, China and Pakistan is convened exclusively to facilitate the launch of the intra-Afghan talks leading to national accord. Only countries that have an unequivocal influence on both sides [of the conflict] participate," the envoy explained, Tass reported.

Additionally, the contradictions of India and Pakistan are being projected on the situation in Afghanistan.

"The Indians suspect the Pakistanis of striving to use Afghanistan as a strategic rear. The Pakistanis suspect India of wanting to use Afghan territories to harm Pakistan's interests. This is their affair. As they say, a plague on both your houses," Kabulov said.

"India's future efforts, in a more expanded format, will only be welcomed. This expanded format will involve Afghanistan's post-conflict development. Here, India's clout and its role are rather significant," he specified at an online discussion of the international Valdai discussion club.

Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman, Alexander Bikantov, announced the new troika meeting on August 11 in Doha.

"Against this background, we continue to seek from all parties in Afghanistan the launch of substantive peace talks. With this aim, the participation of Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department, Zamir Kabulov, is planned in a new meeting of the expanded trio (Russia, the US, China and Pakistan) in Doha, scheduled for August 11," he added.

In March, Andrey Serenko, Russian political expert on Afghanistan, had criticised Russia for not inviting India to the meeting, stressing that India is a very influential stakeholder and the meeting will not be "inclusive" without it.

A report by The Atlantic Council said the US withdrawal and potential power vacuum that results in the region will allow Russia to establish a geopolitical foothold in Afghanistan.

For this purpose, it has already started building relationships with Afghan political factions. Russia still sees itself as a regional hegemon and views the US departure as an opportunity to revitalise its role and expand its power by building alliances in the region, particularly with China.

It added that Beijing's major interest of securing economic gains can be achieved by using Afghanistan's position as a regional connector in either the Belt and Road Initiative or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

In addition, since 2007, China has been seeking ways to extract Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth, which requires security and transportation infrastructure.

None of this is possible without a stable Afghanistan, so China is still assessing the political landscape in Afghanistan, looking at what it can gain from a peace deal.

Following the rule of "enemy of my enemy is my friend", both Beijing and Moscow are eager to undermine Washington. China and Russia are now more aligned than they've been since the mid-1950s.

These countries will expand their political outreach to the region through bilateral and trilateral agreements, well aware that historically, romances among global powers do not last for long.

For now, both Beijing and Moscow will maintain a presence in Afghanistan to prevent the potential threats that instability in the country could pose to their security.

In March, Russian observers, such as Serenko and Sergey Strokan and Elena Chernenko, writing for Kommersant daily, had criticised Moscow for jeopardising its traditional good relations with India by not inviting it to the extended troika meeting, pushing India closer to the US, which plans to invite India to the Istanbul conference.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has laid water pipelines in a large number of colonies during last six years, leading to an increase of 7,67,623 in the number of water connections, the Parliament was told on Thursday.

"This was done to overcome the water crisis and augment raw water resources in Delhi. There are a total 27,28,348 households with DJB water connection, including individual connections as well as group housing societies with bulk connections," Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The Minister also said that the Renukaji Dam Project envisaged 498 MCM (million cubic metres) water to Delhi, and the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project envisages 33,780 Ha of irrigation along with 300 MW power generation and 78.83 MCM drinking & industrial water supply to Upper Yamuna Basin states including Delhi as per agreement signed by them.

Kishau Multipurpose Project envisages drinking water supply upto 617 MCM, irrigation benefit of 0.97 Lakh Ha to the Upper Yamuna Basin states.

Also, an MoU has been signed between Himachal Pradesh and Delhi on December 20, 2019 for usage of unutilised Yamuna water share of Himachal Pradesh by Delhi, he added.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested telephone equipment manufacturer VMC Systems Ltd (VMCSL) Vuppalapati Hima Bindu in a Rs 3,316 crore bank fraud case.

An ED official said that it has arrested Bindu under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after the financial probe agency initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by the CBI against the company.

He said that VMCSL had taken loans from a consortium of banks and the present dues outstanding to all the banks is Rs 3,316 crore.

The ED claimed that the forensic audit revealed that the VMCSL circulated loans to various related entities to inflate its books of accounts.

"Forensic audit also revealed that the PISL, a related entity, was given three per cent commission amount by the VMCSL for all receipts from the BSNL without any specific role of the PISL in BSNL tenders," the official said.

The official also said that forensic audit further revealed that the VMCSL had opened various Letters of Credit (LCs) worth Rs 692 crore in the name of fake or dummy entities which were subsequently devolved.

"Bindu, through her company VMCSL, and with the active assistance of her brother V. Satish, MD of the PISL, in order to dodge the banks, created false or exaggerated operational revenues by generating fake sales or purchase invoices through the companies controlled by their directors or family members," he said.

The offificial said that Bindu siphoned off a part of proceeds of crime by remitting it to the overseas entities controlled by her family members.

On July 20, the ED conducted searches on the residential premises of Bindu, Satish and V. Madhavi and incriminating documents and digital data in form of 40 external hard discs, six mobiles, and two laptops have been recovered.

The prime accused was not responding to the ED summons, not supplying the documents of her companies and transactions on one pretext or the other and blatantly lying regarding their foreign transactions, the official said.

Bindu was produced before the PMLA Special Court and it sent her to judicial custody till August 18.
New Delhi, Aug 5 : Seven rivers showed improvement in water quality, while no perceptible improvement was observed in case of four other rivers, and no definite trend could be ascertained in two rivers as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown last year, the Parliament was told on Thursday.

Various stretches of Ganga and its tributaries showed varying degrees of improvement on a few water quality parameters, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The water quality monitoring of 19 rivers was conducted by the respective State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) during March and April 2020 to assess the impact of lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic in the country, he said.

The assessment was based on monitoring of parameters namely pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Fecal Coliform, as stipulated in Primary Water Quality Criteria for outdoor bathing notified by the Central government under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.

Based on monitoring results, the Brahmani, Brahmputra, Cauvery, Godavari, Krishna, Tapi, and Yamuna showed improvement in water quality, which could be attributed to minimal industrial effluent discharge, no human and/or anthropogenic activities, cattle movement, etc.

No perceptible improvement was observed in case of the Beas, Chambal, Satluj and Swarnrekha rivers. In case of the Sabarmati and Mahi rivers, water quality remained unchanged. As such, no definite trend was observed to substantiate the impact of lockdown, the statement said.

"Along various stretches of Ganga and its tributaries, varying degrees of improvement in a few water quality parameters was observed, which may be attributed to increased availability of fresh water due to rainfall in the catchment area and reduction in human and/or anthropogenic activities," it said.

The Minister's answer, however, made no reference to the quality of water for Mahanadi, Narmada, and Pennar.

Patel also said that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with the SPCBs/PCCs is regularly monitoring water quality of rivers and other water bodies in the country through a network of monitoring stations under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. As per the CPCB report of September 2018, 351 polluted river stretches were identified on 323 rivers based on monitoring results in terms of BOD, an indicator of organic pollution.

Rivers in the country are polluted mainly due to discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments. It is the responsibility of the states/Union Territories (UTs) and local bodies to ensure treatment of sewage and industrial effluents to the prescribed norms before discharging into rivers, water bodies or land to prevent and control of pollution therein, he said.

In addition, the CPCB has devised the Guidelines for Handling, Treatment and Disposal of Waste Generated during Treatment/Diagnosis/Quarantine of Covid-19 patients issued in July 2020 that does not permit disposal of bio-medical waste including used masks and gloves into the water bodies, the Minister said.
Hyderabad, Aug 5 : Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday stressed the need for achieving self-reliance in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Key Starting Materials (KSMs) in the pharmaceutical sector.

Expressing concern over India's dependence on other countries for APIs and KSMs, she called for self-reliance in these areas so as to live up to "our image as the pharma capital of the world".

"The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the need to achieve self-reliance in the pharmacy sector and reduce our dependence on other countries during the crisis," she said.

The Governor was addressing the 78th CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) Foundation Day celebrations in a virtual mode from Puducherry, where she is holding the additional charge as Lieutenant Governor.

Soundararajan said that science and technology play a crucial role in realising the goal of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

Stating that research and innovation are vital for the country's progress, prosperity and sustainable development, she called upon the scientists to lead the country's march towards self-reliance.

She also exhorted the scientists to increase the number of patent applications and trademark filings from the country.

"In order to create knowledge-based economy and emerge as a knowledge superpower, we need to promote collaborative and multi-disciplinary research and get the maximum number of intellectual property rights," she added.

Soundararajan also stated that the proposed National Research Fund (NRF) with a massive outlay of Rs 50,000 crore, as envisaged in the National Education Policy-2020, will give a major fillip to research in the country.

She lauded the efforts of CSIR-IICT for its proactive role in the development of indigenous vaccines, drugs, and other initiatives during the Covid pandemic.

"The 78th Foundation Day celebrations must serve as an occasion to reflect the past journey of the institution and re-strategise its future plans to emerge as the institute of global excellence in the field of chemistry and chemical technologies," she said.
Chennai, Aug 5 : Tamil Nadu's VCK party has come out strongly against non-Tamil speaking people applying for the post of Vice Chancellor in the Alagappa University.

VCK MP, Dr Thol Thiruvamavalavan, in a statement on Thursday, said that a large number of people from outside the state were applying for the post, and claimed that such a situation has been caused by the Tamil Nadu Governor ignoring the recommendations made by the previous AIADMK government on Vice Chancellor's posts.

"Many people from Uttar Pradesh have applied for the post. Do they know how to read and write Tamil and on what confidence have they applied for the post," he asked.

He said that the non-Tamils should not be appointed as Vice Chancellors of universities in Tamil Nadu. Only the state government should select the Vice Chancellor and the Governor should approve it, he added.
Hyderabad, Aug 5 : The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has tied up with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to facilitate funding requirements of the fisheries and allied sectors.

Under the MoU signed on Thursday, PNB's zonal office in Hyderabad will be the nodal office for all the technically approved proposals received by the NFDB across the country.

"The MoU with PNB will harness the untapped potential of the fisheries sector in tying up the individuals/private entrepreneurs of both FIDF and entrepreneur models under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for availing bank loan from PNB, pan India," said Suvarna, Chief Executive, NFDB.

The Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) set up in 2018-19 is being implemented with a total fund size of Rs 7,522.48 crore, comprising Rs 5,266.40 crore to be raised by the nodal lending entities like NABARD, NCDC and all scheduled banks.
Chennai, Aug 5 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M.K. Stalin on Thursday called upon party cadres to cancel festivities while observing his father and party patriarch M. Karunanidhi's third death anniversary.

In an open letter, he called on the party workers to decorate a photograph of the late Chief Minister in front of their residence to observe his third anniversary.

"Considering the prevailing restrictions due to the Covid pandemic, I urge all our partymen to arrange a flower-decked portrait of Kalaignar in front of their houses and pay our respect to the supreme leader of Tamils. Avoid festivities and use of loudspeakers, considering the Covid scenario," he urged.

The Chief Minister said that the DMK government was able to honour the great Dravidian leader by bringing in the first Citizen, President Ram Nath Kovind to unveil Kalaignar's portrait in the Assembly.

Stalin, in the letter, also said that the DMK government will fulfill all its promises made to the people for their welfare.
Chennai, Aug 6 : The founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), S. Ramadoss, said on Thursday that there is no point in dropping caste names of achievers from school textbooks in Tamil Nadu, and called upon the state government to allow mentioning the caste names of eminent scholars in Tamil textbooks.

The PMK leader was reacting to reports that the Tamil Nadu state textbook corporation has started the process of dropping caste surnames of noted Tamil scholars, including U.Ve. Swaminathan Iyer by referring to him as U.Ve. Swaminathan, in the Tamil text books for Class XII students.

In a statement, Ramadoss said that while the move of the government to abolish caste is welcome, the identity of the scholars would be erased.

The PMK leader, who has been spearheading the demand for 10.5 per cent reservation for his community, the Vanniyars, within the Most Backward Caste (MBC) section, said in a statement that caste system can be abolished only by creating equality among the people.

He said that reservation in educational institutions and for jobs are measures taken by the Central and state governments to ensure equality among the people.

Ramadoss said that dropping caste surnames shows a lack of understanding of the issue.

The PMK leader said, "There is nothing wrong in dropping caste surnames of ordinary people, but exemptions must be given to caste surnames of achievers as there is a possibility of erasing their identity."
Patna, Aug 6 : In a bid to corner the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reiterating the demand for a caste-based census in the state.

While interacting with reporters on Thursday, he said that he has sent a letter to the PM, urging him to give time so that members of all parties of Bihar can meet him and share their views on the issue.

Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had, during the Monsoon session, met Nitish Kumar, and requested him to fix an appointment with Modi for the purpose.

Sources say that the friction between ruling allies, the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party has intensified in the last few weeks, especially after the recent cabinet expansion of the Modi government. Both JD-U and BJP leaders are taking potshots at each other to take the upper hand in Bihar.

Recently, JD-U parliamentary board President Upendra Kushwaha declared Nitish Kumar as PM material, drawing a retort from BJP minister Samrat Chaudhary, who said that there is no vacancy of the Prime Minister's post in the NDA.

He further said that running a four-party coalition government in Bihar is extremely difficult as all the parties have different ideologies.

Even Nitish Kumar responded to his minister's statement, saying that he saw no problem in running a coalition government, and if Chaudhary has any problem, he should talk to his party's leaders.
Chennai, Aug 6 : The team of upcoming Tamil anthology hosted a virtual musical event - Symphony of Emotions - based on the theme of nine emotions or "Navarasa". Musical artists from all over the country expressed nine different emotions -- anger, compassion, courage, disgust, fear, laughter, love, peace and wonder.

The musical extravaganza included flute virtuoso Naveen Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, K.C. Loy, Viveick Rajagopalan, Piyush Rajani and The Fine Tuners, Mahesh Raghvan, Nandini Shankar, Saasha Tirupathi, Anantha R. Krishnan, Ricky Kej, Kunal Naik and headlined by a 50-member voice choir performance led by the legendary AR Rahman.

The film marks the bringing together of the Tamil film industry led by renowned filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan. Symphony Of Emotions kicked off with address by anchor Dhivyadharshini who thanked the fans for being there and supporting the creators in this journey.

The event was a fundraiser to support the musicians performing film music on-stage whose livelihoods were adversely impacted by Covid-19.

Addressing the virtual crowd gathered, filmmaker Mani Ratnam said, "We are thankful to everyone that has joined this evening and we are proud of the work that all the talent has done on the film. Navarasa has been a pleasure because we were in capable hands." Adding to it Jayendra Panchapakesan said: "The directors, actors and technicians worked through the intense second wave of Covid-19 and everyone put their heart and soul into this project. We wanted to make lots of films to support more people and wanted more people in the industry to participate in it. In fact Mani even suggested that we should find a 10th rasa if that means bringing more people on board." "Navarasa" will release on Netflix on August 6.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bengaluru, Aug 6 : British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis in his two-day visit to Karnataka won the hearts of Kannadigas by not only tweeting in Kannada, but also initiating poll on Twitter in relation to his experience with popular South Indian delicacy - dosa, on Thursday.

His two-day visit to Karnataka, saw him tweeting in Kannada using superlative slang words like Sakattagide, Bomabat Guru, which are most common slang words used among Bangaloreans to state - Simply Superb.

While posting him eating Dosa stating - Sakattagide (Simply Superb) in Kannada on August 4 when he began his tour in Karnataka.

On Thursday, he posted a series of tweets in English but he ensured that at least a word or two from the Kannada language were used to convey the message.

For instance, in one of his tweet tagged to Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, Namasakara Mukhyamatri Avare (Salutations to the CM), and continues with message in English, while after his visit was over, in follow up tweet he promptly said Dhanyavadgalu Mukhya Mantriyavare (Thanks Mr CM for your time).

Apart from this, Ellis also initiated a one-of-its-kind poll on Twitter in relation to his experience with popular South Indian delicacy, Masala dosa.

After the poll results, the British envoy broke the dosa with bare hands by ditching the cutlery, which is a general practice in the West.

On August 4, he had eaten Dosa with using cutlery and followed it up by taking to Twitter, Ellis asked users, "So South India; how do I eat tomorrow's dosa?"; wherein, whopping 92 per cent people voted for 'hands' while eight opted for the 'knife and fork' option.

On Thursday, the British envoy abided to his viewers and shared a video of himself feasting on masala dosa with bare hands and ditched the knife and fork.

Relishing the most widely accepted dish and go-to meal of India, the British High Commissioner said, "it tastes better with the hand." Interestingly, Alex Ellis captioned his tweet in Kannada, Masala Dosa, Bombat Guru (Masala Dosa tastes Superb with hands) and asserts that 92 per cent of Twitter is correct! It tastes better with the hand.
For two decades, ServiceRocket has been powered by the heart and determination of Rocketeers who are committed to delivering for our customers and partners, says Rob Castaneda, ServiceRocket CEO.

From its global headquarters in Palo Alto, California, to its offices across the globe, ServiceRockets Rocketeers provide deep expertise in software adoption. Their know-how has enabled the growth of companies such as Snowflake, Qantas, Cloudera, Digital.ai and Cisco, among others.

Company founder and CEO Rob Castaneda attributes ServiceRockets success to its practical and thoughtful approach to tech-enabled services and solutions, as well as the unwavering commitment of its global team of Rocketeers, representing 15 nationalities across five continents.

For two decades now, ServiceRocket has been powered by the heart and determination of Rocketeers who are committed to delivering for our customers and partners, says Castaneda. While the technologies will evolve and change, great service remains the underpinning of a superior customer experience. Im proud to work with a team that leads with know-how and empathy, and who embrace each other like family.

ServiceRocket and Atlassian

From the start, ServiceRocket fostered a shared culture of learning with Rocketeers, customers and partners. As Atlassians first partner, the company developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the Australian company. Today, more than four thousand Atlassian product instances rely on ServiceRocket technology or services to enhance productivity and value.

Service, Learning, Innovation and Partnership

ServiceRockets success is built around four key pillars: service, as reflected in the companys name, as well as learning, innovation and partnership.

Service

Early on, the companys founders understood their calling was to work in service of others. This required a think-team attitude as well as a broader and more collaborative definition of team that included partners and customers.

Learning

ServiceRocket's earliest engagements were delivering training. Rocketeers had to learn quickly and then promptly share this knowledge with customers to speed their software adoption. Today, prospective partners continue to recognize this capability as one of ServiceRockets strategic strengths.

Innovation

Innovation informs much of how the company works, from its four-star approach to customer technical support to its innovative solutions that accelerate the growth and development of partner ecosystems.

Innovation also informs the diverse benefits offered to Rocketeers, including a Returnity program for new parents, a TechChoice program that allows Rocketeers to select and buy their own technology, as well as a global employee stock option plan and professional development opportunities.

Partnership

Long before the first Atlassian Summit, partnership played an important part of the work ethos at ServiceRocket. It quickly became clear that the company excelled at helping partners build ecosystems. That work continues to this day with Atlassian and companies including Salesforce, Digital.ai, Workplace by Facebook, Thought Industries and many others.

The Future of ServiceRocket

Building on its know-how and expertise, ServiceRocket plans to grow its collaborative approach with customers and partners.

Our customers and partners have to make tough choices everyday,'' says Peter John Marquez, Chief Customer Officer, ServiceRocket. Often, theres a conflict between what needs to be done and what they are asked to do by their stakeholders and customers. Collaborating with ServiceRocket, a trusted partner, simplifies tough choices. Our expertise, reliability and creativity turn uncertainty into opportunities for future growth.

About ServiceRocket

ServiceRocket enables fast-growing software companies to execute at the highest levelsW with its 4-star support offerings, professional services and marketplace apps.

As an industry leader in ecosystem development and tech-enabled service delivery, ServiceRocket also helps platform companies execute whole product go-to-market ecosystem strategies. This gives companies the ability to focus on their core value proposition, while their customers benefit from ServiceRockets expertise and their developing ecosystem community.

Based in Palo Alto, California, ServiceRockets global teams extend across Australia, Chile, Malaysia, India, the United Kingdom and Canada. Visit http://www.servicerocket.com for more information.
Listening to peoples stories . . . made me realize that there are a lot of people in our local community that struggle to find the supplies that their families desperately need.

Aeroflow Urology, a nationwide provider of continence care supplies through insurance, today announced a donation of over 6,000 high-quality diapers and pull-ons to Angel Harvey Family Health Center in Chicago, IL. The Cuties diapers, SleepOvers youth pull-ons and Prevail Adult pull-ons from First Quality are some of Aeroflows most requested products and will help provide support for over 300 local families in need.

Recently Aeroflow Urology exhibited the Abilities Expo, Chicagos largest event that supports the disability community. The Abilities Expo is free to attend and attracts thousands of people from all across the country. In lieu of distributing promo items such as pens and stress balls to attendees at the Expo, Aeroflow pledged to donate diapers for each person that visited their booth and wrote their name on a donation card for their board.

Many individuals that we spoke with at the event told us that at some point in their life, they had to rely on churches, diaper banks, clinics, and other community resources to get their incontinence supplies. People were turning out their wallets, asking how they could contribute. It was amazing, said Noni York, Aeroflow Urology Territory Manager for Illinois. Listening to peoples stories made me feel like the work we do at Aeroflow really matters and made me realize that there are a lot of people in our local community that struggle to find the supplies that their families desperately need. The positive response that we received was overwhelming, and we cant wait to come back next year, meet more amazing people, hear their stories, and give back even more.

For over 100 years, the Angel Harvey Family Health Center has been assisting Chicagos most vulnerable families by providing access to affordable healthcare. Distribution of diapers for patients and community members is an important part of our ability to care for families. When we have parents or adults in need of diapers we are overjoyed to be able to supply them with the products they need, said Paola Portela, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Norma Martienz, Care Coordinator for Angel Harvey.

About Aeroflow Urology

Aeroflow Urology, a subsidiary of Aeroflow Healthcare, was founded in Asheville, NC, and has since grown to become a nationwide provider of continence care supplies. Aeroflow carries high-quality incontinence supplies and catheters, and their customer service is unmatched. Aeroflow Urology is an accredited Medicare and Medicaid provider and accepts most commercial insurance. To learn more about Aeroflow Urology and how to receive continence care supplies through insurance, visit http://www.aeroflowurology.com.
We were looking to acquire our first new franchise automotive dealership and upon the advice of a mentor, we reached out to Performance Brokerage Services. George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard exceeded all of our expectations."

Performance Brokerage Services, a new car dealership broker, is pleased to announce the sale of Baker Chevrolet in Red Springs, North Carolina from Fred Baker to John and Bridget Carlson.

In 1987, a childhood wish came true for Fred Baker. From the young age of 13, his goal was to become a Chevrolet dealer. His father was a Volkswagen dealer in Concord, North Carolina and Fred spent 18 years there until he and his brother opened a used car store. On July 28, 1987, Fred purchased Baker Chevrolet from the original owner, Mr. Watson, who also attended the closing this past week. Anyone who has had the pleasure of doing business with Fred knows he is a straight shooter with a big heart, and treats his employees and customers like family. Courtney Bernhard of Performance Brokerage Services stated, Working with Fred has been an absolute blessing. His patience to get through this transaction was greatly appreciated and speaks to his character. After meeting his son and lovely wife at the closing, its clear why they have been in business for 34 years. I was honored to be able to help Fred retire. Although, according to Mrs. Baker, He will never stop working.

Freds son, Carson Baker, left the automotive industry and became a powersports dealer at Baker American Cycles, where you may just see Fred hanging out. Fred commented, When it came time to sell my Chevrolet dealership, it wasnt an easy decision. I would like to thank Courtney Bernhard from Performance Brokerage Services for putting this deal together and connecting us with a buyer within 30 days of putting the store on the market. Courtney guided both me and the buyer through the entire transaction and kept us informed every step of the way.

Over the last 5 years, Performance Brokerage Services has represented for sale over 200 automotive dealerships making it the highest volume automotive dealership brokerage firm in North America. George C. Chaconas, the exclusive advisor for this transaction and the Southeast Partner for Performance Brokerage Services commented, Attorney Robert Bass introduced me to Fred Baker who was considering selling his Chevrolet dealership in North Carolina. I had a previous relationship with Freds son, Carson, in the powersports industry, so it was a real pleasure to help the family sell their dealership after 34 years. I would like to thank our Partner, Jason Stopnitzky, in California for introducing us to the buyer, John Carlson. Courtney worked directly with the buyer the entire transaction, and did a fantastic job facilitating and managing the roadblocks along the way. I would like to congratulate Fred on his retirement and long-standing service to the community, and wish much success to the Carlson family with their new Chevrolet dealership.

John Carlson, a former Marine, has spent over 25 years in the automotive industry, and always had a dream of owning his own dealership. When he decided to turn the dream into a reality, he reached out to Performance Brokerage Services to make it happen. John and Bridget have 5 children and 1 grandchild, and have been residing on the West Coast. They always knew they wanted to return to the East Coast, so the Baker Chevrolet opportunity was the perfect fit. John stated, We were looking to acquire our first new franchise automotive dealership and upon the advice of a mentor, we reached out to Performance Brokerage Services. George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard exceeded all of our expectations. They guided us through the entire process and got us through a lot of unchartered territory. We would not be the owners of our own Chevrolet dealership today without them. I would like to thank Courtney and George for their help and we look forward to acquiring more stores in the future with them.

Courtney commented on the transaction, Working with first-time buyers can be a challenge. However, John and his wife Bridget were phenomenal and on top of every hurdle along the way. The attorneys on both sides of the transaction were instrumental in getting this deal to the finish line, and I was very fortunate to be a part of it all. I wish everyone continued success and look forward to crossing paths again in the near future.

The dealership will remain at its current location at 914 East Fourth Avenue in Red Springs, North Carolina and will be renamed Carlson Chevrolet.

The seller was represented by Logan Parker from Bass Sox Mercer.

The buyer was represented by Les Chayo of Chayo Law.

About Performance Brokerage Services

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc. is the nations highest volume dealership brokerage firm, specializing in intermediary services to buyers and sellers of automotive, commercial truck, motorcycle, RV and equipment dealerships.

Performance Brokerage Services offers a unique approach by providing complimentary dealership assessments, no upfront fees, no reimbursement of costs and is paid a success fee only after the transaction closes.

Clients benefit from utilizing an extensive network of industry related accountants, attorneys, hundreds of registered buyers and longstanding relationships with most of the auto manufacturers.

With corporate offices in Irvine, California, and 5 regional offices in Utah, Florida, Texas, Virginia and New Jersey, Performance Brokerage Services provides clients national exposure with local representation.

After 25 years, 700 transactions and with a 90% closing rate, the companys reputation is unmatched and governed by the utmost ethical conduct, integrity and transparency.

For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com.
Engineers from Martin UAV prepare a V-BAT aircraft for a test flight. The Canadian Coast Guard conducted flight trials of the Martin UAV V-BAT at a UAS test range in Oklahoma. While it may seem strange to have the Canadian Coast Guard conducting drone flights over a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, this was actually a pragmatic decision, given the limitations imposed on travel by the pandemic.

The Canadian Coast Guard was in Oklahoma recently, albeit virtually. Kongsberg Geospatial announced today they successfully conducted Phase 1 trials of the Martin UAV V-BAT on behalf of the Canadian Coast Guard at a UAS test facility operated by the Chocktaw Indian Nation of Oklahoma, in rural southeastern Oklahoma.

The Canadian Coast Guard is conducting trials of a new long-endurance UAV surveillance system for possible deployment on Canadian Coast Guard Vessels. The Martin UAV V-BAT aircraft was selected to provide the unique ability to combine take off and landing from the small confines aboard ship with the long endurance of a fixed-wing aircraft while carrying multiple sensors. The project is funded by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).

Due to COVID travel restrictions the first trial couldnt be held in Canada as originally planned, so the Canadian Coast Guard held their first phase of an unmanned system demonstration virtually as the V-BAT flew at the Choctaw Nation of Oklahomas (CNO) test facility with Kongsberg Geospatial and Martin UAV personnel in attendance, while other teams observed from Canada.

The flights demonstrated rapid launch and recovery, long endurance, confined space take-off and landing, and vehicle and person tracking using electro-optical and infrared cameras. The cameras were aided by an object detection and tracking capability software.

The flights were monitored real-time and live video of the telemetry and payload was streamed to Ottawa Canada for observation by the Canadian Coast Guard. The video feeds were then incorporated into Kongsberg Geospatial Modular ISR Data Analysis and Storage system called MIDAS. MIDAS serves as a mission intelligence coordinator to view current and historical sensor feeds of the UAS within a temporal and geospatial context to increase sensor utilization effectiveness.

While it may seem strange to have the Canadian Coast Guard conducting drone flights over a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, this was actually a pragmatic decision, given the limitations imposed on travel by the pandemic, said Paige Cutland, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Kongsberg Geospatial. The initial trials of the V-BAT were to establish flight performance characteristics that can be evaluated anywhere.

With Phase 1 concluded successfully, the next phase for the Canadian Coast Guard will be late this summer when Martin UAV and Kongsberg Geospatial go to sea on a Canadian Coast Guard vessel for shipboard demonstration.

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About Kongsberg Geospatial: Based in Ottawa, Canada, Kongsberg Geospatial (https://kongsberggeospatial.com), developer of the TerraLens Geospatial SDK, creates precision real-time software for air traffic control and UxS and situational awareness. The Companys products are primarily deployed in solutions for air-traffic control, Command and Control, and air defense. Over nearly three decades of providing dependable performance under extreme conditions, Kongsberg Geospatial has become the leading geospatial technology provider for mission-critical applications where lives are on the line. Kongsberg Geospatial is a subsidiary of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

About Martin UAV: Martin UAV is a private, advanced technology company based in Plano, TX. The company specializes in building wholly-unique, unmanned aircraft systems and associated flight control software. The companys systems are commercially developed to fill critical operational needs in tactical & confined operational environments. Its V-BAT series aircraft is the only single-engine ducted fan VTOL that has the ability to launch & recover from a hover, fly eleven hours in horizontal flight, and make mid-flight transitions to hover & stare at any time throughout a given mission set. For more information visit: https://martinuav.com.

About the Canadian Coast Guard: Headquartered in Ottawa, the Canadian Coast Guard (https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/index-eng.html) is the coast guard of Canada. Founded in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue, communication, navigation and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and icebreaking, marine pollution response and providing support for other Canadian government initiatives. The coast guard operates 119 vessels of varying sizes and 22 helicopters, along with a variety of smaller craft.

About DRDC: Based in Ottawa, Canada, Defence Research and Development Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/defence-research-development.html) is the Department of National Defences and Canadian Armed Forces science and technology organization. DRDC develops and delivers new technical solutions and advice for not only DND/CAF, but also other federal departments, and the safety and security communities.
Cantor's Driving School PA - New driving instruction fleet of cars Cheri Cantor, Administrator of Cantors Driving School in Pennsylvania, comments: Cantors Driving School continues to expand in response to the growing number of customers that are looking for high quality driving lessons and our PennDOT-certified third party driver's license testing service.

Cantors Driving School in southeastern Pennsylvania announces that it has purchased 10 new driver training cars, replacing their entire fleet. These 2021 Hyundai Accent cars are all white with the Cantors Driving School logo and Student Driver label. The cars were chosen because they are easy to learn to drive in, get good gas mileage, and have a strong safety rating. The new vehicles are now being used for all driver training lessons and all Pennsylvania drivers license road tests.

Cantors Driving School has also added 3 new instructors and drivers license road test examiners to meet the high demand for top quality driving lessons and third party PA drivers license road test service. Cantor's Driving School is certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to administer this road test, offering the Pennsylvania driver's license road test at its office in Chadds Ford, PA.

All training and test vehicles are equipped with a second brake on the passenger side for the instructor, and have an extra rear view mirror for the instructor too. All vehicles have Student Driver decals on the front hood and back bumper and are registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Education as required.

Cheri Cantor, Administrator of Cantors Driving School in Pennsylvania, comments: Cantors Driving School continues to expand in response to the growing number of customers that are looking for high quality driving lessons and our PennDOT-certified third party driver's license testing service. We provide the convenience of online scheduling and have a friendly, family atmosphere too.

About Cantors Driving School - The Driving School That Gets Results

Cantors Driving School is one of the longest continually operated driver training schools in the nation. Over 50,000 drivers have learned to drive with Cantors Driving School, which was started in Pennsylvania in 1976. Cantors Driving School is a Pennsylvania state-certified driving school (license #300230900), a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Professional Driving Schools, and a member of the Driving School Association of the Americas (DSAA).

Cantor's Driving School offers private, one-on-one, on-the-road driving lessons 7 days a week, day and evening hours, with door-to-door service. Students can save money by purchasing a package of driving lessons (https://www.cantorsdrivingschool.com/driver-training-packages/) that includes the driver's road test. Driving lessons can be scheduled online scheduling or by phone. A convenient Pennsylvania state-approved driver's education online course is also available.

Contact Cantors Driving School

For more information or to inquire about driving lessons, the road test service, online drivers courses or other services, please call the Pennsylvania office at 610-277-1050 or visit the Cantors Driving School website at https://www.CantorsDrivingSchool.com.


If the bishops wish to continue their unholy anti-choice crusade, they should at least do so honestly and stop falsely claiming a broad basis of public support that, quite simply, does not exist.

Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, denounced the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today for asking the Supreme Court to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed on July 27 on behalf of a group of anti-choice religious organizations, the U.S. bishops conference argues that Roe v. Wade  the 1973 decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, reaffirmed in 1992 at all points prior to fetal viability  was deeply flawed and wrongly decided, and should be overruled. The bishops brief further declares that a constitutional right to abortion does not exist at all and has never met with general acceptance by the American public.

Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson said:

The USCCBs brief to the Supreme Court in support of Mississippis severe, extreme, and unconstitutional abortion ban is as outrageous as it is predictable. U.S. bishops were a primary architect of the anti-choice movement, and for decades, they have spent millions of dollars trying to end legal abortion, control womens bodies, and persuade Americans to oppose reproductive rights. But they have failed spectacularly: a majority of Americans support legal abortion, as does a clear majority of Catholics. If the bishops wish to continue their unholy anti-choice crusade, they should at least do so honestly and stop falsely claiming a broad basis of public support that, quite simply, does not exist.

Indeed, polls repeatedly show that most Americans support legal access to abortion. A nationwide AP-NORC poll, conducted in June after the Supreme Court agreed to review Mississippis abortion ban, found that 57% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with 61% saying it should be legal in all or most cases during the first trimester of pregnancy. Strong majorities want Roe v. Wade upheld, not overturned, and Gallup, which has been tracking Americans opinions on the issue since 1975, has consistently found that most favor abortion remaining legal, at least under certain circumstances. And among U.S. Catholics, decisive majorities also support legal abortion and want Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land.

The U.S. Catholic bishops radical, right-wing views on abortion are grossly out of touch  not only with the beliefs of most Americans, but even the people in their own pews, said Manson. To pretend otherwise is to disobey the Ninth Commandments prohibition on bearing false witness. The Supreme Court should listen to the voices of everyday Catholics as they decide this issue, not the loud cries of those who deceptively claim to represent them.

###

Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a persons well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.

Contact: John Becker, Communications Specialist

Phone: 202-203-0931

Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
We are very proud to manufacture and assemble NIOSH approved respirators in the United States that are safer, more sustainable and cost effective than using disposable respirators.

Dentec Safety Specialists Founder and President Claudio Dente met with Kansas State officials including Governor Kelly, and Lt. Governor Toland, Senate Democratic Leader for the State of Kansas Sykes and the Mayor of Lenexa Boehm last week at their Lenexa manufacturing operation amid the announcement that Kansas City will return to mandatory masks amid the COVID-19 surge:

The announcement comes amid renewed concerns about the spread of COVID-19s highly contagious delta variant. The strain has been the primary driver of fresh infections as the region, state and nation are seeing lower-than-desired vaccination rates that are widely attributed to hesitance among some people to take the antiviral drugs.

-The Kansas City Star

President Claudio Dente met with the Kansas Governor Kelly, Lt. Governor Toland and other State officials to tour the facility and showcase the new automated equipment that was put into place to increase and accelerate Dentecs reusable mask and filter production levels.

This was the 2nd visit by a US Government Official in recent weeks as Dentec was recently awarded a multimillion PPE grant as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act also known as the CARES Act, a $2 trillion Coronavirus stimulus bill provided by the Federal Government. Dentecs capabilities and initiatives to provide NIOSH approved reusable respirators to the North American Market has continued to gain notoriety. U.S Representative Sharice Davids also met with Claudio and toured the Dentec plant earlier in July to view the new automation technology implemented at the facility to ramp up production.

Dentec stepped up to produce personal protective equipment to protect our communities from the threat of COVID-19. We appreciate their commitment to protecting Kansans and Americans through their services.  Governor Laura Kelly

The launch of production of the Dentecs NEW Comfort-AirNx series is intended for healthcare/ frontline workers, paramedics, and/or to protect workers from one another in general applications such as automotive or assembly plants.

COVID-19 has been unlike any pandemic our generation has experienced. It effected not only our health but our supply of critical PPE and most importantly respirators. Due to north Americas dependency on foreign supply of disposable N95 respirators, many workers contracted the virus and died as a result. CDC reported not to use respirator protection with an exhalation valve as it allows the air to exit the mask. Explains Dente

Dentecs goal was to develop a respirator that was reusable, safer, more comfortable and more economical than disposable respirators. We developed the NEW Comfort-AirNx Series, a reusable elastomeric rubber respirator without an exhalation valve.

Comfort-AirNx Series respirators can be used in healthcare applications as well as general industry or wherever a group of workers of any type must work in close proximity. The unique patent pending design is manufactured and assembled in our factory located in Lenexa, Kansas.

The PPE grant we received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) allowed us to automate our manufacturing and assembly operation in manner I could not imagine. We used the grant to purchase equipment that will allow us to accelerate the manufacturing of our respirator products to unprecedented levels. This will allow us to deliver key and vital respiratory protection products not only to general industry to keep them working but also to our health care and frontline workers protecting them when they are caring for COVID patients.

We are very proud to manufacture and assemble NIOSH approved respirators in the United States that are safer, more sustainable and cost effective than using disposable respirators. Dentec Founder & President, Claudio Dente

About Dentec Safety Specialists Inc.:

Dentec Safety is a leading manufacturer and distributor of safety products in the North America since 2014. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada with a manufacturing facility in Lenexa, Kansas, Dentec Safety is dedicated to providing the highest quality safety products and solutions delivering enhanced value and comfort. Our expertise from decades of experience in Industrial Safety and our innovative design technologies have solidified us as thought leaders in the field. Protection and comfort are at the core of everything we do at Dentec. As a leading manufacturer of Safety Solutions, it is our mission to help organizations do the right thing, keep their employees safe and exceed Industry Health & Safety Standards.
Kingstar Media Logo At Kingstar Media, our goal is to make performance advertising channel agnostic, said Geoff Crain, Digital Director of Kingstar Media.

Kingstar Media is offering, via direct partnerships, premium and targeted Connected TV (CTV) inventory as low as $15 CPM.

CTV inventory in Canada have historically been priced in the $35-$50+ CPM range--too high for performance based marketers and only feasible for big brands.

Kingstar is offering a first-in-market opportunity for direct CTV partnerships to deliver significantly lower CPMs and measurable results. Finally, performance marketers can confidently add Connected TV inventory to their paid media mix.

More than 30% of Canadians use Connected TV daily, opening a ripe market for advertisers who develop campaigns designed to go beyond linear TV. Additionally, Connected TV ad retention is three times higher compared with linear TV, since there are fewer ads and more brand visibility and all ads are non-skippable.

At Kingstar Media, our goal is to make performance advertising channel agnostic, said Geoff Crain, Digital Director of Kingstar Media. We strive to drive measurable response at our clients target KPIs across multiple mediums and Connected TV is our latest avenue for success. Ad retention is three times higher compared to linear TV as there are fewer ads and each are non-skippable. This leads to more brand visibility. Through our direct media partnerships, we can access Connected TV inventory at Direct Response rates that cannot be achieved through programmatic platforms. We are excited to continue to grow our presence on Connected TV and make it a profitable experience for our clients.

Kingstar Media offers performance-driven Connected TV by picking the audience, not the content. Through third-party audience data, Kingstar Media targets viewers by demographic and then reaches them across any show or network they are watching on a CTV device.

Unlike linear TV, CTV leverages pixel tracking. So, Kingstar Media is able to track which viewers saw an ad and then went to a particular website. It also allows for retargeting that viewer with another, more down-funnel ad, that is intended to drive response.

With CTV, all reporting is in real time. There is no waiting on post logs or media clearance. There is live data that can be measured and optimized daily.

About Kingstar Media

Leveraging the power of television, audio, outdoor and digital, Kingstar Media has established itself as the premium direct response media agency in Canada. Kingstar has changed the Canadian DRTV landscape by changing the business model. Kingstar Media is a Canadian DRTV media agency and acts purely as a business services company: a full-service media buying agency that specializes in direct response media solutions that help its clients reach Canadian international consumers. Whether building brands, selling direct to consumers, or using direct response as a way to drive web traffic or retail sales, Kingstar has redefined direct response and how it can drive marketing strategy.

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Kira Labs Inc., a leading manufacturer of beauty innovations, has donated 5,000 hand sanitizer tubes to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County to assist in keeping their community safe.

The hand sanitizers will be distributed throughout the organization and team to ensure children and employees have access to quality hand sanitizer. Kira Labs is reaching their goal to supply 1 million hand sanitizers to organizations in need. To date, Kira Labs has donated over 950,000 of 2.5 oz tubes of their Medyskin hand sanitizers to organizations such as Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center, St.Thomas University, Meals On Wheels and others.

Were extremely grateful to Kira Labs for its generous donation of more than 5,000 tubes of hand sanitizer, said Malena Mendez, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward. The hand sanitizer will go into the backpacks we give to all our kids before school year begins, plus well provide it to all the families we serve. Thanks to Kira Labs, were able to help our families fight germs to keep everyone healthy  now more important than ever, said Malena Mendez CEO Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Broward

Kira Labs Culture Committee President, Anthony Porter was part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program as a Little several years ago. The team was honored to give back to an organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Funny how things go full circle. I had not thought about my time within the Big Brother Big Sister programs in years. Not even when it was placed on our list of donations due for delivery. But right when they began giving a tour of the facility it came back to me even reminded me of what may of inspired a certain big truck obsession of mine, said Anthony Porter, Big Brother Big Sister Little and Kira Labs Culture Committee President.

About Kira Labs

The Kira Labs history and growth embodies the classic American Dream story - an immigrant and a self-starting entrepreneur decides to start a business in his garage. Arriving from Australia in 2001 to his now adopted home in Florida, David Rosen and his wife Lindi established a family while starting their company, Kira Labs. CEO and Founder, Rosen is quick to point out our team has helped us grow from our humble start hand bottling skin care to a thriving and award-winning cosmetic manufacturer and beauty innovator.

Specializing in beauty, home and pet products, Kira Labs has grown in reputation and size to produce over 30 brands.

We are culture focused, agile, vertical, and fast to market, according to Rosen. The key is understanding retail needs and consumer behavior. We are proudly Made in the USA, delivering our own brands with quality, value and a wow experience Kira Labs operates as a vertically integrated manufacturer both developing and manufacturing its own internally developed and wholly owned brands. For more information, visit http://www.kiralabs.com.

About Big Brothers and Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County is dedicated to creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Its larger vision is for all youth to achieve their full potential. For more information, call (954) 584-9990, email info@bbbsbroward.org or visit http://www.BBBSBroward.org.

Programs:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward programs include: Community-Based Mentoring, the traditional Big Brothers Big Sisters relationship, with Bigs and Littles getting together on their own to share fun activities; School-Based Mentoring, where Bigs and Littles meet at school; Mentoring Children of Promise for youth coping with parental incarceration; BigPride, specific to the needs and vulnerabilities of LGBTQ+ youth; Inspire Within, mentoring youth transitioning from foster care; Bigs in Blue, connecting youth with mentors from law enforcement; and School to Work, which introduces middle schoolers to the workplace.

Impact:

92% of former Littles surveyed reported an increase in their willingness to learn and their educational expectations

97% of former Littles surveyed showed a decrease in risky behaviors (like drugs, alcohol and tobacco)

79% of former Littles surveyed graduated high school and have expectations of going to (and finishing) college

83% of former Littles surveyed agree that their Big instilled values and principles that have guided them through life

Contact: Maria Llanso

Company: Kira Labs Inc

Tel: 305-965-3561

Email: maria.llanso@kiralabs.com
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against United Natural Foods West, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Riverside employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against United Natural Foods West, Inc., alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against United Natural Foods West, Inc. is currently pending in the Riverside County Superior Court, Case No. CVRI2102985. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, United Natural Foods West, Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in Labor Code Sections  226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

The complaint further alleges United Natural Foods West, Inc. committed acts of unfair competition in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code  17200, et seq. (the UCL), by engaging in a company-wide policy and procedure which allegedly failed to accurately calculate and record all missed meal and rest periods by Plaintiff and other California Class Members. As a result of Defendant's alleged disregard of the obligation to meet this burden, Defendant allegedly failed to properly calculate and/or pay all required compensation for work performed by members of the California Class and violated the California Labor Code.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against United Natural Foods West, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
Life.io, a leading customer engagement technology firm was recognized by Wealth and Finance International for offering the best digital purchasing platform in 2021, Life.ioGrow. The FinTech awards hosted by Wealth and Finance aim to recognize and spotlight individuals, companies, and enterprises across the global FinTech industry who seek to transform the way people manage their finances.

Muriel Petri, CMO and Head of Insurance for Life.io notes, We are honored to receive this award and pleased that Life.ioGrow has been recognized for its customer centric approach that makes buying life insurance easier and more intuitive for the consumer and advisor.

Unlike a typical origination platform, Life.ioGrow broke the mold by automatically embedding robust customer engagement and cutting edge UX design into the new business acquisition process. Grows configurable and turnkey platform rapidly brings products to market resulting in improved conversion and placement rates, reduced friction for prospects and advisors, captures prospects that fall out of the funnel and decreases processing time.

Life.ioGrow works across multiple distribution channels for a wide variety of individual and group products including life, health, P&C, retirement and more. It can be configured to reflect and promote a companys unique brand and suite of products while actively engaging a target audience. To learn more about Life.ios capabilities please visit https://life.io

About Life.io:

Life.io is a leading customer engagement technology firm that helps companies accelerate the development of their end-to-end digital customer experience with the Life.io Solution Suite: Grow, Engage, Empower and Insights. This state-of-the-art digital suite integrates powerful engagement across the client lifecycle to reduce friction, convert sales and optimize results. A pioneering insurtech, Life.io is led by its original co-founders and headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. Life.io is a subsidiary of SE2, an Eldridge business. To learn more, please visit https://life.io
MIAMI Chairman of the Board Jennifer Wollmann I am grateful to HousingWire for curating informative content to the housing, real estate, and mortgage communities"

MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) Chairman of the Board Jennifer Wollmann has earned one of the highest awards women in housing can receive as she was selected among HousingWires 2021 Women of Influence, representing the top women influencing the housing economy. The selection highlights a 20-year leadership Realtor career in which Wollmann has volunteered countless hours for the betterment of South Florida real estate -- fighting for property rights and homeownership in Tallahassee, leading national committees, helping bring innovative services to MIAMI members, and more.

I am grateful to HousingWire for curating informative content to the housing, real estate, and mortgage communities, Wollmann said. It is an honor to be included with such an illustrious group of women who are dedicated to making the dream of homeownership come true for so many and for ensuring that more people are able to afford to own their homes.

HousingWire, a top source of news and information for the U.S. mortgage and housing markets, reaches over 60,000 newsletter subscribers daily and over 1.0 million unique visitors each month. 2021 marks the 11th year of this award being recognized, with nominations growing and becoming more competitive every year.

Out of hundreds of submissions received, only 100 winners were selected. The Women of Influence are selected by HousingWires Selection Committee based on their professional achievements within their organizations, but contributions to the overall industry, community outreach, client impact and personal success also factor into the decision. Wollmann is featured in the August issue of HousingWire Magazine and on its website.

"Congratulations to these women who are cultivating a new path forward for the housing industry and reimagining a better, more collaborative future, HousingWire managing editor Brena Nath said.

Jennifer Wollmann: Putting Her Community First, Inspiring Future Leaders

You will not find anyone more passionate about property rights and homeownership than Wollmann. For 20 years, Wollmann has participated in annual Realtor trips to influence state legislative policy. Through her work on myriad committees and associations, she has successfully pushed for more housing opportunities for first-time homebuyers and workforce housing for teachers, police officers, etc.

Jennifer quietly moves mountains, MIAMI Chairman of the Board Elect Francisco Arencibia Jr. said. She has influenced so many people to volunteer for associations and committees because Jennifer always puts others and her community first. Jennifer is so infectious with her commitment that you want to be a part of it.

In April 2020, Wollmann was one of eight people named to the Economic Recovery Task Force for Miami-Dade County. The panel, created via Board of County Commissioners resolution, was tasked to come up with procedures for reopening Miami-Dade amid the global pandemic. Wollmann generated ideas and plans to help local small businesses stay open. The task force identified resources such as grants, loans, and other financial assistance available to businesses.

As 2021 MIAMI Realtors chairman of the board, Wollmann is working with local governments, universities, and other trade associations to address housing affordability. In April 2021, Wollmann worked with MIAMIs advocacy team as the MIAMI Realtors advocated against Florida Senate Bill 2512, which will divide money previously slated for affordable housing for sea-level rise mitigation and wastewater projects, in addition to affordable-housing programs. MIAMI argued lawmakers should use housing trust funds for housing.

Wollmann served as chairman-elect of the MIAMI Realtors in 2020. Over the past 12 months, she was part of the leadership group that made crucial decisions, plans, and programs amid the global pandemic. Wollmanns ability to connect with top retail landlords in October 2020 and have them speak to the board about challenges they were seeing during the pandemic helped the board gain a better perspective. Wollmann and MIAMIs leadership team successfully ensured real estate remained an essential business during the pandemic.

Wollmann and the MIAMI leadership team also worked to educate our 52,000-plus members and the public on how to view properties and complete transactions virtually and then safely in person; launched MiamiRealtorsLIVE.com (which has more than 1,500 virtual Realtor classes, webinars and 180+ video tutorials); created a successful virtual open house program on SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com for Realtors and more.

She has served: the 2021 National Association of REALTORS (NAR) Federal, Financing & Housing Policy Committee, the Commercial PAC for Florida Realtors as 2019 chairman, PACE committee for Florida Realtors; Miami-Dade County Public Schools Site Selection, Planning and Construction Committee; Village of Pinecrest Planning Board and the Villages Transportation Master Plan Steering Committee; the Florida Realtor Associations Smart Growth Committee; the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Environment and Education committees; and the Grievance Committee for the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors

The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 101 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 52,000 total real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 223 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com

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COVID-19 caught us by surprise, Climate Change as well, not to mention Cyber Risk, Ron S. Dembo says. He asks But should they have? Is there nothing that we could have done that would have prepared us for these situations?

Written for non-technical people who need to make important, potentially costly decisions under radical uncertainty, Dembos book Risk Thinking: ...in an Uncertain World (published by Archway Publishing) shows a path that can be used as a guide by board members, governments, corporations, and individuals. The author believes it is an invaluable guide for the current uncertain century.

Dembo, in Risk Thinking shows readers how to could prepare for events that have not yet been anticipated. As far back as 1970 there were serious scientists that could have prepared people for the climate change scenarios that they now see, according to the author. Pandemics have existed since the beginning of history. COVID-19 was one but so was SARS, Ebola, the Spanish flu, the bubonic plague, just to mention a few. And, for sure, there will be more. It is just where and when they will spring up that is uncertain. Cyber risk is new, but the scenario that it will happen has been with people for a long time. And, once again, no one knows where and when the next attack will occur.

This is what is called Radical Risk. Trying to forecast an event that is radically risky is a losers game, as has been shown many times, Dembo says. So, what to do? This book shows us how to bound the future with scenarios and lights the way to a strategy that shows us how to cope with uncertain events that we cannot predict.

Risk Thinking is available for purchase online at the Archway link above, from Barnes & Noble, Indigo and on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Risk-Thinking-Uncertain-Ron-Dembo/dp/1665707003.

Risk Thinking

By Ron S. Dembo

Hardcover | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 292 pages | ISBN 9781665707008

Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 292 pages | ISBN 9781665707015

E-Book | 292 pages | ISBN 9781665706995

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Ron S. Dembo has been an associate professor at Yale, visiting professor at MIT, consultant to Goldman Sachs and some of the worlds largest corporations and banks, and author. He founded Algorithmics, which he grew to become the largest supplier of enterprise financial risk systems to banks before it was sold to Fitch and then IBM. He has published many articles in scientific journals and is the author of numerous patents worldwide. He was made a lifetime fellow of The Fields Institute of Mathematics in 2007 for his contribution to Canadian mathematics and has received many awards for his work in optimization, risk management and climate change. He is the founder and CEO of Riskthinking.AI, a data and analytics company specializing in climate related financial risk.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957.
New Standard held its official ribbon cutting at the newest cannabis retail location in Saugatuck on July 16 with the Blue Star Chamber of Commerce and local community leaders and dignitaries.

New Standard has had an incredible year of expanding retail operations across the state of Michigan, said Howard Luckoff, New Standard CEO & co-founder. We are thrilled to be opening our seventh Michgan location in Saugatuck and look forward to meeting our new neighbors. This space is stunning and a testament to the dedication the New Standard team has to setting a new standard for cannabis culture across Michigan."

Located in Saugatuck Township just minutes from the downtown shopping district and marinas, the newly built store features big windows, plenty of light, and an uplifting shopping experience. "We intentionally designed and built a facility that matches the characteristics of Saugatuck and creates a sense of place where locals and visitors feel at home," said Luckoff.

Our team is dedicated to the communities where our cannabis businesses are located, and youll find New Standard Saugatuck to be no exception. Im a firm believer that people should be able to buy cannabis close to where they live, said Greg Maki, a Co-Founder of New Standard Saugatuck.

New Standard offers a safe and welcoming opportunity to shop, discover and become more educated on the products and benefits of cannabis with more than 275 products to explore. The store offers inside shopping as well as curbside online ordering from its website: anewstandard.com.

New Standard opened its first provisioning center in Hazel Park, in April of 2020. Since that time New Standard was named a Best Recreational Marijuana Retailer and was featured nationally in Forbes Magazine as "setting a new standard for cannabis culture in Michigan. Just recently, New Standards Hazel Park flagship retail location was selected as the first place winner in the 17th annual Detroit Design Awards in the Retail Interior Design category, this recognition is even more special as New Standard Hazel Park was competing with all metro Detroit retailers, not just provisioning centers.

New Standard has been intentional about creating a thoughtful, curated, and comfortable environment where the cannabis connoisseur, the cannabis curious, and everyone in between is able to come into our store or shop our website and feel like were here for them, Luckoff said. We welcome the community to come in and see this beautiful space to learn more.

As part of its grand opening celebration, New Standard Saugatuck supported its allies in the LGBTQ+ community. New Standard Saugatuck donated $5 from the sale of every Beaverton Farms Rolos 8th from June 26  July 31 to the LGBTQ nonprofits across the state. Donations will be presented to local nonprofits in August.

About New Standard

New Standard opened its first cannabis provisioning center in April 2020 with a mission to set a New Standard for the cannabis industry featuring quality products, customer experience and a community focus at each of its locations. Expanding across Michigan with current locations in Grand Haven, Hazel Park, Edmore, Muskegon, Nunica, Sand Lake, and Saugatuck, New Standard is a welcoming space where product specialists educate and guide consumers on the variety of cannabis flowers, pre-rolls, edibles, cartridges, concentrates, accessories and more. To learn more visit anewstandard.com.
The Beryl Institute announces the publication of Volume 8, Issue 2 of Patient Experience Journal (PXJ), an international, open access, peer-reviewed journal focused on research and proven practices related to understanding and improving the patient experience. Read in over 220 countries and territories, PXJ articles have been downloaded over 800,000 times and reflect the journals commitment to disseminating rigorous knowledge and expanding the global conversation on evidence and innovation in patient and human experience.

Published in association with The Beryl Institute, Volume 8, Issue 2 includes 14 articles representing commentaries, personal narratives, research studies and case studies. This special issue covers topics addressing systemic racism and health disparities including:



Moving from talk to action: A commitment to ensuring equity must ground our efforts to transform the human experience

A patients view of equity

Health equity and quantifying the patient experience

Sociodemographic characteristics and patient and family experience survey response biases

A closer look at the association between African American mens perceptions of healthcare providers cultural sensitivity and hypertension

Submissions represent diverse views from the lenses of Patient, Family & Community Engagement, Quality & Clinical Excellence and Policy & Measurement. The research represents a broad range of global organizations and institutions including University of Montreal, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center, University of Wyoming, Charles Darwin University, Flinders University, St. Christophers Hospital for Children, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and Sutter Health.

As we release this special issue of the journal, I reflect on the call to action in The Declaration for Human Experience, said Jason Wolf, Founding Editor of PXJ and President & CEO of The Beryl Institute. The Declaration states We are called to lead courageously with the understanding that we are, first and foremost, human beings caring for human beings. In answering this call, we commit to: [with the first commitment being] Acknowledge and dismantle systemic racism and prejudice, tackle disparities and provide the highest-quality, most equitable care possible. This statement and the overall declaration suggest it is time for action beyond acknowledgement; it is time for change beyond conversation. We hope others will join us in putting ideas into action

To access Volume 8, Issue 2 of PXJ, visit:http://pxjournal.org/journal

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About Patient Experience Journal:

Patient Experience Journal (PXJ) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published in association with The Beryl Institute. Read in over 220 countries and territories, PXJ is committed to disseminating rigorous knowledge and expanding the global conversation on evidence and innovation on patient experience.

About The Beryl Institute:

The Beryl Institute is a global community of professionals and experience champions committed to transforming the human experience in healthcare. As a pioneer and leader of the experience movement and patient experience profession for more than a decade, the Institute offers unparalleled access to unbiased research and proven practices, networking and professional development opportunities and a safe, neutral space to exchange ideas and learn from others.

We define the patient experience as the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organizations culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care. We believe human experience is grounded in the experiences of patients & families, members of the healthcare workforce and the communities they serve.
The culture and energy that PCF has is unmatched, I truly believe that this partnership will launch our agency into a whole new level, said Russ Castle, president of Insurance by Castle.

PCF Insurance Services (PCF) announced the completion of a strategic partnership with Insurance by Castle, located in Redwood City, California. For over 30 years, Insurance by Castle has been providing comprehensive landlords, rental property, and apartment insurance in Redwood City, San Mateo, and surrounding areas throughout California.

Insurance by Castle brings with it unbridled experience and expertise in the rental insurance space, said Peter Foy, chairman, CEO, and founder of PCF. I am so happy to have Russ and his team join the PCF network, the possibilities for their continued growth are so exponential, I am excited to see what the future holds for them.

Insurance by Castle is led by President, Russ Castle. Castle will continue to lead all operations for Insurance by Castle while becoming an owner and partner of PCF Insurance Services. Castle is an experienced and dedicated insurance professional, with over 30 years of experience providing residential rental insurance.

Partnering with PCF has been extremely beneficial for the Insurance by Castle agency, said Russ Castle, president of Insurance by Castle. The culture and energy that PCF has is unmatched, I truly believe that this partnership will launch our agency into a whole new level.

PCF will bring added infrastructure and operational support to Insurance by Castle through its Shared Services team. This elite team of experts offer tailored support in the areas of finance and accounting, human resources, information systems, carrier relations, communication and marketing, and growth operations. With 36 acquisitions in 2020 and over 60 agencies dotted across the United States, PCF is establishing its place on the national stage among the industrys most active acquirers.

Learn more about Insurance by Castle: http://www.insurancebycastle.com.

About PCF

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, PCF is a full-service insurance brokerage firm offering complete risk management solutions with a broad array of property & casualty, life and health, commercial, employee benefits, and workers' compensation insurance products. PCFs growing network and partnership philosophy drives greater access to the nations leading carriers and enables brokers to offer integrated risk management solutions bespoke to client challenges. Due to its scale and growth, PCF is a top 30 broker in the United States by revenue. Additional information can be found at http://www.pcfins.com.

About Insurance by Castle

Located in Redwood City, California, Insurance by Castle specializes in landlord, rental property, and apartment insurance  but can write for nearly any personal or commercial policy. For over 30 years, Insurance by Castle has been providing comprehensive landlords, rental property, and apartment insurance in Redwood City, San Mateo, and surrounding areas throughout California. Having established partnerships with some of the nations top-rated companies, Insurance by Castle works with different providers, finding the best rate and the best policy for their clients. http://www.insurancebycastle.com.
When you look at all the successful LEED projects around the world, less than 7% of all the projects actually gain a Platinum award, the highest classification. This gives you an idea of just how challenging the process to achieve this classification is.

In July 2021, the Penetron India production facility in Salem, India was officially LEED Platinum certified. The Penetron factory is the first such facility in the Asia and Asia-Pacific regions to be certified with LEED Platinum in Construction Materials, the highest LEED classification level.

The goal of the LEED rating system is to raise awareness of sustainable construction methods and reward sustainable design based on several metrics, including sustainable site choice, energy savings, water efficiency, reduction of CO2 emissions, and indoor environmental quality, among others  while also improving company profitability and employee well-being. As a four-level system, LEED awards points based on compliance with different aspects of sustainability. The certification levels are basic, Silver, Gold, and Platinum as the highest certification.

As a leading supplier in the construction industry, Penetron constantly seeks ways to reduce the industry's impact on the environment by enhancing the durability of concrete structures, explains Robert Revera, President and CEO of the Penetron Group. Our crystalline technology helps substantially extend the lifespan of concrete structures, and, as VOC-free products, also provide a safe and reliable waterproofing solution for drinking water storage applications.

The Penetron production facility in Salem, the fifth largest city in Tamil Nadu in southern India, was inaugurated in December 2019  and continues to expand. The factory manufactures the complete range of Penetron crystalline products for the domestic Indian market and all of Penetrons Southern Asia markets.

The LEED certification for the Penetron team in Salem was the result of a detailed, nine-month confirmation procedure managed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit coalition of building industry leaders. It demanded meticulous planning and many reviews by Penetron to achieve the highest LEED rating for the entire facility. Penetron was recognized in the Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings (v4.1) category through multiple initiatives, such as transportation performance, rainwater management, water savings, waste reduction, and enhanced indoor environmental controls.

When you look at all the successful LEED projects around the world, less than 7% of all the projects actually gain a Platinum award, the highest classification, adds Dr. Suresh K Iyer, Director, Penetron India. This gives you an idea of just how challenging the process to achieve this classification is. Its a very proud moment for Penetron and our team.

The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives and distribution channels.

For more information on Penetron crystalline technology solutions, please visit www(dot)penetron(dot).com, email: CRDept(at)penetron.com or contact our Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.
By creating unique opportunities for our residents to explore a destination and cultivate new personal connections while feeling at home within a Revel community, we are delivering on our promise that you can live your best life now.

Revel Communities, a division of The Wolff Company representing a portfolio of vibrant independent living communities with best-in-class amenities and services, has officially debuted its Revel Seasonal Residences (RSR) program. Designed with flexibility and personal choice in mind  key differentiators of the Revel brand  RSR encourages Revel residents to explore new places by allowing them to rent fully furnished, short-term rental homes across the brands portfolio of 13 communities, while still keeping their home base at another Revel location. From Idaho to California to Nevada and beyond, this first-of-its-kind program for independent living offers residents a change of scenery while maintaining access all the comforts, amenities and exceptional level of service that Revel residents already enjoy.

The Revel Seasonal Residence program was born out of our mission to enhance our residents personal freedoms and life experiences. Study after study has shown that the act of traveling improves overall health, relieves stress and enhances creativity, all things humans benefit from at any age, said Danette Opaczewski, Executive Vice President, Resident Experience and Chief Operating Officer, Revel Communities. By creating unique opportunities for our residents to explore a destination and cultivate new personal connections while feeling at home within a Revel community, we are delivering on our promise that you can live your best life now.

Residents can opt for a three- or six-month stay at a second Revel location where they will experience the same exceptional services, dining experiences and amenities they have come to expect, while enriching their lives through building new relationships and making new memories. Each residence in the RSR program is a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment with everything prepared for an effortless move-in, and pets are welcome. Rates for the RSR program vary across Revel communities and are comparable to short-term rentals in each unique market; residents will receive a discounted rate at their home community while they are away. RSR rentals are available exclusively to Revel residents on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The RSR program is the latest innovation encouraging Revel residents to embrace their independence and explore outside of their own community, complementing the Revel Travel Club, which is currently offered at 11 Revel communities across the U.S. Revel residents will soon have access to three new destinations for the RSR program, as Revel Legacy in Scottsdale, AZ and Revel Palm Desert, CA, launched pre-leasing in May 2021, and Revel Folsom in Folsom, CA, will launch pre-leasing soon in late summer 2021.

To explore Revels variety of residential destinations and learn more about Revel Seasonal Residences, visit https://revelcommunities.com/revel-seasonal-residences/.

About Revel Communities

Revel Communities, a division of fully integrated investment firm The Wolff Company, is a portfolio of vibrant independent living communities with best-in-class amenities and services. Revels growing portfolio spans across the Western U.S., including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. As part of The Wolff Company, who holds more than 70 years of real estate experience combined with deep expertise in hospitality, Revel creates communities that keep residents connected, engaged and curious through transformative experiences for residents and team members. Offering wellness-centered lifestyles and residences for lease, Revel communities aim to support residents life choices, focus on well-being, foster genuine connections and celebrate their independence. For more information, visit http://www.revelcommunities.com.

About The Wolff Company

The Wolff Company is an integrated real estate investment firm focused on the mission-driven development and management of rental communities across the North America. Wolff combines a discretionary private equity platform with an integrated, in-house development team and a newly formed resident experience company. The Wolff Company focuses on improving the lives of its residents by fundamentally redefining the residential rental experience, while delivering outsized investment returns. Since 1949, The Wolff Company has promoted a people first culture that encourages relentless innovation, steadfast execution, faithful stewardship and continuous learning. For more information, visit http://www.awolff.com.

Media Contacts

Julia Yuryev | Alyssa Lawrence | Anna Hubbard

Murphy OBrien

revel@murphyobrien.com
We are very appreciative of our clients and staff that have allowed us to have such an impressive growth in assets during the year 2020. - Joe Rollins, Founder

Rollins Financial Advisors, LLC is pleased to announce it has been named to the Financial Advisor Magazines 2021 RIA Survey & Ranking of the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Firms (with more than $500 Million in Assets Under Management). Rollins Financial ranked #41 on the list after having an impressive growth of 41.38% in assets in 2020. This is the first year the firm has been included in this exclusive list recognizing some of the top independent RIA firms in the U.S.

In addition to being ranked in the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Firms, Rollins Financial was ranked #331 overall, finishing the year with $953.82 Million in Assets Under Management (as of June 30, 2021, the Firm managed in excess of $1.1 Billion).

More than 600 RIA firms completed the annual survey and ranking by Financial Advisor magazine which discussed how firms were handling the pandemic from various perspectives including technology, remote working, growth, staffing, and more.

Financial Advisor magazine is a leading publication reaching 80,000 qualified readers, including financial planners, registered investment advisors and independent broker-dealers. FA specializes in planning and investment material using market information and strategies to efficiently achieve client goals and promote firm growth.

Joe Rollins, the firms founder, said, We are very appreciative of our clients and staff that have allowed us to have such an impressive growth in assets during the year 2020. We are certainly not an overnight sensation, having effectively been in the business for over 40 years. However, none of it would have been possible without our clients and staff. We look forward to equally impressive numbers going forward.

To view the article and rankings on the Financial Advisor magazine website - https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-future-is-now-63028.html?issue=342

About Rollins Financial: Rollins Financial Advisors, LLC is an Atlanta-based registered investment advisory (RIA) firm with more than 30 years of service. The firm holds a strong commitment to objectivity, transparency, and disciplined investing and offers various services, including asset management, financial planning, and coordinated tax planning and preparation. More information about Rollins Financial Advisors, its partners, and the services the firm provides can be found at http://www.rollinsfinancial.com.

Additional Disclosures: Rollins Financial applied for this recognition, and the information for the ranking was compiled by Rollins Financial and may or may not be verified by Financial Advisor magazine. The ranking should not be viewed as representative of any performance by Rollins Financial. Neither Rollins Financial nor any of its employees were required to be paid subscribers to be eligible to receive this recognition. Rollins Financial did not pay a fee to apply for this ranking. However, the firm does purchase goods or services from the publisher of the award, such as items in recognition of the award/ranking.
We are excited to build upon Siemons industry leadership, expert technical support and trusted quality and performance by welcoming these knowledgeable professionals to our family, - Henry Siemon, President, and CEO.

The Siemon Company, a leading global network infrastructure specialist, is pleased to announce the expansion of its data center and fiber expertise with the addition of three new experts that combined bring more than 75 years of industry experience to the company.

Gary Bernstein, RCDD, CDCD, has joined Siemon as their Global Data Center Solutions Specialist to lead our global data center sales strategic initiatives, create and deliver seminars and training, support Siemons global sales team and foster strong relationships with data center customers and ecosystem partners. Gary comes to Siemon with more than 25 years of industry experience and extensive knowledge in data center infrastructure, telecommunications, and copper and fiber structured cabling systems. He serves as a member on various TIA and IEEE standards bodies, including IEEE 802.3 200/400 Gigabit and Beyond 400 Gigabit task forces.

Dave Fredricks, CDCD, has joined Siemon as Sales Engineer for the Eastern U.S. to provide technical expertise and assistance to both current and potential customers in data center design, specifications, and bill of material creation. Dave comes to Siemon with 26 years of experience in ensuring standards-based fiber optic and structured cabling best practices in the data center space, including as a data center infrastructure architect and project manager on large time-sensitive, multi-vendor data center builds.

Tony Walker, CM&AA, has joined Siemon as Global Fiber Product Marketing Manager to enhance Siemons fiber optic product offering and support customer needs via product planning, development and lifecycle management efforts based on analysis of industry, market and application trends. Tony comes to Siemon with 25 years of industry experience in business development and go-to-market strategy for data center, network services and enterprise telecommunication solutions, having applied dynamic and innovative approaches to successfully expand revenue streams and capabilities for a variety of leading technology companies.

As data centers continue to grow and evolve as the foundation for todays digital world, we are excited to build upon Siemons industry leadership, expert technical support and trusted quality and performance by welcoming these knowledgeable professionals to our family, says Henry Siemon, President, and CEO.

New Global Data Center Solutions Specialist Gary Bernstein will be on hand at the Siemon Booth #5725 at the upcoming BICSI Fall Conference & Exhibition to discuss strategies and solutions for todays data center. Live and virtual attendees can also enhance their knowledge during the informative panel Getting Unstuck  Why and How Its Time to Transform Your On-Prem Data Center that will take place on Wednesday, August 25 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. during the conference. This panel moderated by Gary Bernstein features expert data center consultants from Siemon, QTS Data Centers and Transitional Data Services (TDS) who will discuss current challenges and provide valuable insight on how enterprise data center owners and operators can effectively achieve digital transformation.

The 2021 BICSI Fall Conference & Exhibition takes place at the Venetian/Sands Expo Convention Center on August 22  26 in Las Vegas. Siemon will be exhibiting at Booth #5725 during exhibit hours on Monday, August 23 from 4:00-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 24 from 12:00-6:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, August 25 from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

About Siemon

Established in 1903, Siemon is an industry leader specializing in the design and manufacture of high quality, high performance IT infrastructure solutions and services for Data Centers, LANs and Intelligent Buildings. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, with global sales, technical and logistics expertise spanning 150 countries, Siemon offers the most comprehensive suites of copper and optical fiber cabling systems, racks, cable management, and Intelligent Infrastructure Management solutions. With more than 400 patents specific to structured cabling, Siemon Labs invests heavily in R&D and the development of Industry Standards, underlining the companys long-standing commitment to its customers and the industry. Through an ongoing commitment to waste and energy reduction, Siemons environmental sustainability benchmarks are unparalleled in the industry, including 179% global carbon negativity and zero-landfill status.
Laura Pope, Stellar Solutions Senior Systems Engineer Laura Pope is an exceptional leader inspiring fellow veterans and the next generation to pursue career opportunities in space, science and engineering. She is a model of professional accomplishment and service for our industry and our nation. -- Stellar Solutions CEO Michael Lencioni

Laura Pope, Senior Systems Engineer at Stellar Solutions, the global aerospace engineering services company, has been selected to receive the AFCEA Leadership Award for her outstanding contributions to the education and career opportunities for its members and the broader community. This is the culmination and pinnacle of Association honors for Pope who previously earned the AFCEA Meritorious Service Award in 2011, the AFCEA Medal of Merit in 2015, and the AFCEA Womens Appreciation Award for 2020.

The Awards Reception and Dinner is scheduled for October at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Laura Pope is an exceptional leader inspiring fellow veterans and the next generation to pursue career opportunities in space, science and engineering. She is a model of professional accomplishment and service for our industry and our nation, said Stellar Solutions CEO Michael Lencioni.

In congratulating Pope, Lieutenant General Robert M. Shea, USMC Retired, President and CEO of AFCEA International, said, You are part of an elite field of nominees and epitomize the qualities of a true leader. You have set an enviable example of leadership for others in AFCEA, and throughout the IT community, to emulate.

Pope is a strategic executive serving three of Stellar Solutions five sectors  defense, intelligence and civil  with a current focus on supporting the U.S. Space Force and NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Before joining Stellar Solutions, Pope, a highly decorated military officer, retired from the US Air Force (USAF) after a distinguished 21-year career. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master of Science degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

Throughout the 13 years she has been a member of AFCEA, including 12 as a member of the Board of Directors, Pope has been a passionate advocate of philanthropic and educational initiatives to advance STEM training and benefit military and civil service members and their families. As Vice President of STEM, Pope regularly supports fundraising events and initiatives such as Cycle for STEM, the GPS Partnership Council, and Space Industry Days. She has led initiatives to fund STEM teacher grants and STEM-related scholarships as well as scholarships for local Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets at seven universities. She helped establish, and annually reviews candidates for, an AFCEA-LA-named, endowed perpetual El Camino Community College STEM scholarship as well. During her tenure on the AFCEA-LA Board, she has increased STEM Philanthropy activity by 373%, enabling the AFCEA-LA Chapter to donate over $50,000 per year to the community for STEM education, support and outreach.

While on active duty in the USAF, Pope served in a variety of roles, including Assistant Chief Scientist for a Space Shuttle laser experiment and program manager for the Global Positioning System (GPS) ground system, where she was nominated for Aviation Weeks 2008 national Laureate award. She is currently the President of Pope Technical Pursuits, LLC, a woman/veteran-owned small business which provides technology and operational consulting for the semiconductor and electro-optic industry. Pope also serves as advisor to the Honorable Ted Lieu, Congressional Representative for California, to evaluate US military academy candidates, is the Executive Vice President for the Air Force Association (AFA) Chapter #147 Board of Directors, and a member of Women in AFCEA, Women of NASA (WON), American institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

This is a great honor that I will accept on behalf of our community of military and civil service members, industry members and their families, Pope said. I am grateful for the support and sponsorship that Stellar Solutions has always provided to further AFCEA goals, because Stellar shares many of the same goals, with a key tenet of serving its customers critical needs while its employees pursue their dream jobs.

AFCEA provides a forum for military, government and industry communities to collaborate so that technology and strategy align with the needs of those who serve. A professional association for those engaged in defense, security and all related technology disciplines, its membership comprises military, government, industry and academic organizations and individuals worldwide.

About Stellar Solutions, Inc. Stellar Solutions is a global aerospace and systems engineering services provider to commercial, defense, intelligence, civil and international sectors. Stellar Solutions provides rapid-response capabilities related to global surveillance and cyber-security, space exploration, risk management, and technology optimization. These solutions to clients critical needs involve satellites in space, sensors on Earth, and intricate technology connections across multiple frontiers. With physical operations in California, Colorado, the greater Washington DC area, London and France as well as employees throughout the U.S. and the globe, Stellar Solutions has become a recognized leader in delivering end-to-end critical expertise and problem-solving skills to dozens of significant programs. Stellar Solutions Foundation supports employees community engagement. QuakeFinder, Stellar Solutions humanitarian R&D division, pursues earthquake prediction models. http://www.stellarsolutions.com
We are delighted for the opportunity to join Lume Cube and the other premier creative solutions providers in this years World Photography Day giveaway, said Samina Subedar, Vice President of Marketing, StorCentric.

StorCentrics Drobo, the worlds leading provider of data storage and management solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and PROfessional consumers, today announced it will once again participate in the annual World Photography Day Giveaway

Commencing on August 5 and running until World Photography Day on August 19, entrants will have the opportunity to enter to win a photographer's dream gear package worth over $5,000, featuring a Drobo 5D3 as well as a Lume Cube Panel Pro Accessories Kit, Ring Light, 5 Ft Stand, & Professional Lighting Kit; Sony Alpha 7C Camera; Lexar Memory Cards; Spider X Backpack Kit; Axisgo iPhone Kit; Miops SMART+; choice of Camskns; Tether Tools Starter Tethering Kit; and gift cards for Moment & Gear Focus.

We are delighted for the opportunity to join Lume Cube and the other premier creative solutions providers in this years World Photography Day giveaway, said Samina Subedar, Vice President of Marketing, StorCentric. World Photography Day provides us with the opportunity to honor those that know a picture is worth a thousand words, and those words enable people to feel a closer connection to events, history, and in the end, each other.

World Photography Day, taking place this year on Thursday, August 19, is an annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography. To learn more and enter Lume Cubes annual World Photography Day giveaway, please visit: https://lumecube.com/pages/world-photography-giveaway-2021

Tweet this: @StorCentrics @Drobo to Join Lume Cubes #WorldPhotographyDay Giveaway https://www.drobo.com/news/ - One Lucky Entrant Will Win Photographer's Dream Gear Package Featuring #Drobo 5D3

About the Drobo 5D3 - Lightning-Fast Storage For Media Professionals, Content Creators and Small Businesses

The Drobo 5D3 is the 3rd generation 5 Bay direct-attached storage (DAS), reimagined for media professionals, content creators, and small businesses. Lightning-fast Thunderbolt 3* technology delivers the speed, while Drobos fully automated BeyondRAID functionality provides the simplicity. Not only is the 5D3 fast, but its easy to use, expandable, flexible and protected. You can safely edit, store and view photos and videos in your 4K/5K workflow, as well as protect your personal and business data.

About Lume Cube

Lume Cube exists to illuminate the world. The company provides high-end portable lighting for creators and communicators committed to making next-level content. In an increasingly digital world, Lume Cube empowers its community to build connections with easy-to-use products that travel well and brighten any experience. Lume Cube began in 2014 with just a simple light, and has since expanded to over 50 versatile products crafted for desktops, laptops, cameras, phones and more in addition to becoming official partners of Zoom and Logitech. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Lume Cube is here to make sure the right light is always at our fingertips. Visit http://www.lumecube.com for more.

About Drobo

Drobo, a StorCentric company, is the worlds leading provider of award-winning data storage and management solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and PROfessional consumers. Smart, reliable, expandable and affordable, Drobo delivers an unparalleled level of data protection and ease of use, optimized for its clients unique business requirements. To learn more about Drobos patented BeyondRAID technology and why it is trusted above all others by hundreds-of-thousands of users around the world, please visit: http://www.drobo.com.

About StorCentric

StorCentric provides world-class, award-winning, and security focused data management solutions. Between its Drobo, Nexsan, Retrospect, Vexata and Violin Systems divisions, the company has shipped over 1M storage solutions and has won over 100 awards for technology innovation and service excellence. StorCentric innovation is centered around customers and their specific data requirements, and delivers quality solutions with unprecedented flexibility, data protection, performance and expandability. For further information, please visit: http://www.storcentric.com.

*ThunderboltTM 3 on 5D3 is a Mac only interface, USB-C can be used on both Windows & Mac

Victoria Soto

Power Digital Marketing

lumecube@powerdigital.com
The Union of Jewish Universalist Clergy and Communities (UJUC) adds its first European Congregation. The name is "The Jewish Havurah of Northern Ireland. " Havurah means "fellowship" in Hebrew. The group is scattered all over the Isle of Ireland, and is open for all, no matter if they are living in the South or North, or moved away e.g. to mainland UK but want to be staying as members.

This small religious association of Jews in Belfast, Ireland came together for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, religious education and to discuss without bias or dogmata questions of spirituality and religion.

Their goal was not to recruit members from existing organizations but to be a complement for those who are seeking other options. This made them a perfect fit for the Union of Jewish Universalist Communities who previously hailed congregations and clergy only from the US.

"During COVID many people were self--isolated, alone, or had moved away from each other and could no longer drive or travel as easily to meet as they once did. This as well as other challenges (e.g. such as interreligious marriages) provided the final impetus to form our Havurah and be aligned with the doctrines of Jewish Universalism. The Union of Jewish Universalist Clergy and Communities (UJUC) gives a wonderful answer of the challenges in our time," notes Dr. Andreas Huber, Chairperson for the Havurah.

The Havurah of Northern Island was attracted to the many aspects of the UJUC. The fact that virtual meetings and celebrations and the wide offer from UJUC, help to ensure that everyone who cannot attend in person finds a place to worship. Non-Jewish family members are fully integrated and inter-faith marriages or non-heterosexual couples are equally and wholeheartedly welcome.

ABOUT JEWISH SPIRITUAL LEADERS INSTITUTE, SIM SHALOM AND RABBI STEVE BLANE

Sim Shalom is an interactive online Jewish Universalist synagogue which is liberal in thought and traditional in liturgy. Created in 2010 by Rabbi Steven Blane on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Sim Shalom offers a means of connecting the unconnected. Rabbi Blane leads accessible and short Shabbat services every Friday night using a virtual interface and additionally Sim Shalom provides online education programs, Jazz concerts, conversion and life-cycle ceremonies along with weeknight services at 7:00PM EST.

Rabbi Blane is also the founder and director of the Jewish Spiritual Leader's Institute, http://www.jsli.net, the online professional rabbinical program and founder of the Union of Jewish Universalist Communities at http://www.ujuc.org.

Sim Shalom, a non profit 501  (3) tax-exempt organization, nurtures a Jewish connection through its mission of innovative services, creative education and dynamic outreach to the global community. For more information visit our website or call 201-338-0165.
Discussing the reality of technology deployment with enterprise technologists is where you learn how things really work, says Johnson. Im delighted to have the opportunity to share some of the discussions that most inspire me with a broader audience.

The Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA), a not-for-profit organization that provides financial technology and business professionals a forum to learn from and connect with each other and Nemertes, a global research-based advisory and consulting firm that analyzes the business value of emerging technologies, are pleased to announce a new on-demand video series, Executive TechTalks. In this new offering, FinServ executives, from some of the worlds top financial firms, discuss their technology tribulations and triumphs around six industry relevant and timely topics targeted to the financial services industry.

Description

Executive TechTalks is a video series of candid conversations with Industry Leaders providing unprecedented insights into relevant topics of interest to financial services firms. Each episode is hosted by Johna Till Johnson, CEO and Founder of Nemertes and Content Committee Chair of the WSTA, as well as a senior-level WSTA Board or Committee member in a fireside chat format.

Season 1, Episode 1 will kick-off the series with Strategies for WFH & RTTO - James Kostulias, Managing Director, Integration Management Office at TD Ameritrade/Schwab and will be available August 4, 2021, with the remaining episodes being distributed at two-week intervals.

Upcoming Episodes:

Episode 2: Digital Transformation - Jeanne Andreana, Americas Head of Digital Strategy & Platforms at UBS Global Wealth Management

Episode 3: AI/ML & Analytics - Dharmendra Kapadia, Associate Director, Data Strategy/Architecture & Governance at EquiLend

Episode 4: Zero Trust Security - Tom Doughty, VP-CISO at Prudential Financial

Episode 5: Cloud Migration - Allison Gorman Nachtigal, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley

Episode 6: Next-Gen Collaboration - Seth Fox, Vice President, Global Head of Digital Workplace at S&P Global

Financial services technology and business professionals can sign up here to receive the series: https://www.wsta.org/resources/executive-techtalks-signup/

Discussing the reality of technology deployment with enterprise technologists is where you learn how things really work, says Johnson. Im delighted to have the opportunity to share some of the discussions that most inspire me with a broader audience.

About the Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA)

The WSTA facilitates virtual and in-person educational and networking events where members meet and exchange ideas and best practices that assist them in effectively capitalizing on technology advances. Founded in 1967, the WSTA is a not-for-profit association with a long history of evolving to meet the needs of its members.

The WSTA hosts seminars, roundtables, panel discussions, and social events. These events offer many opportunities to learn about leading technologies, as well as network and share information with industry colleagues. The WSTAs educational Digital News provides additional content and information about the WSTA and industry-related activities. The website is a dynamic resource providing access to additional resources including webinars, white papers, videos, and information about other industry events.

About Nemertes

Nemertes is a global research-based advisory and consulting firm that analyzes the business value of emerging technologies. Since 2002, we have provided strategic recommendations based on data-driven operational and business metrics to help organizations deliver successful technology transformation to employees and customers. Simply put: Nemertes better data helps clients make better decisions. http://www.nemertes.com
Getting car insurance is not that complicated. With a little help, any driver can get an affordable car insurance policy that satisfies its needs., said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents several tips that can help drivers get the best car insurance policy.

For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/top-tips-that-will-help-you-but-the-best-car-insurance-coverage/

Getting a new car is always exciting. Even the purchase of a used car can make most drivers be filled with excitement. However, many people are shocked when they find out that they cant even drive their new car until they have car insurance. Furthermore, many of them have no idea how to shop for insurance. They don't know what insurance coverage they need and have no clues on what to expect from their insurance provider.

When shopping for car insurance, drivers are advised to follow the next tips:



Purchase the appropriate insurance coverage. Drivers should purchase at least the state-required minimum coverage in order to legally drive. However, the minimum coverage is not always the coverage most drivers need. Many times, the minimum coverage is not near enough to pay for the costs involved in a car accident. In many cases, the at-fault drivers will have to pay a lot of money from their own pockets. Drivers should have enough bodily injury coverage to pay for at least one serious injury and enough property damage coverage to pay for the replacement of an average new car.

Consider other coverages. Besides the state-required minimum coverage, there are other coverages that can be useful in different situations. Collision coverage covers any type of damage that happens as a result of a collision. Comprehensive coverage protects against fire, vandalism, theft, or other damages incurred from a non-impact accident. Usually, collision and comprehensive coverage are bundled together, but they can also be sold separately.

Review the driving record. Before getting any insurance policies, drivers should review their driving records. Before offering any insurance policy, insurance carriers will always check the driver's driving record. Drivers who got points on their record in the past 3 years, or got a suspension should tell their insurance agents about them. Insurance companies assess individual drivers for any potential risks. The driving history of a driver is an important part of their assessment.

Compare multiple car insurance quotes. Before getting coverage, drivers should compare multiple car insurance quotes. Shopping around for the best deal is always a good idea. No insurance company is the same. Some insurance companies may offer more perks and benefits than others at the same price. Other providers may offer the same services as others but at lower prices.

Understand the policy. Before signing any insurance policies, drivers should always make sure they understand what they are signing. If there are any unclarities regarding the policy, drivers should ask their insurance agents for explanations.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
Tomohisa Kato, Chief Sustainability Officer, YKK AP America The environmental issues we face are common to all of us, and I am proud to contribute my time and energy toward securing a more sustainable future.

YKK AP America (YKK AP), a leading manufacturer of award-winning commercial facade systems and residential doors and windows, takes an important step toward framing the future today with the appointment of Tomohisa Kato as its first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer.

The appointment reflects the companys commitment toward building a better society through architectural products of true value which connect people, planet and the future. It is also a further step toward reinforcing efforts in North America to support YKK AP Inc.s recently announced global statement of purpose which sets forth a calling to all YKK AP operating companies around the world, We Build a Better Society through Architectural Products. The new global purpose forms a framework of forward-thinking initiatives toward making positive, material impacts to society in the areas of human capital development, product innovation, as well as corporate social responsibility and carbon reduction.

In this new role, Kato will oversee the companys sustainability strategy. He will focus on advancing and accelerating efforts in North America to promote sustainability in business and corporate practice. Kato will lead YKK APs materiality-based strategic planning processes to enhance the companys continuous growth and societys sustainable growth through corporate development, technology innovation and process improvement.

We take pride in YKK's philosophy of the Cycle of Goodness which states No one prospers without rendering benefit to others. As a company, we continuously seek to grow upon this foundation by building a better society through architectural products, said Oliver Stepe, president of YKK AP America Inc. By appointing Tomohisa as our first Chief Sustainability Officer, we are taking another step toward fulfilling this vision. His deep experience and understanding of our business and the sustainability challenges we face today will be a tremendous asset as we continue to frame the future as an industry-leading, purpose-driven organization.

Kato has served YKK AP America as vice president of corporate development since 2019, where he has successfully led strategic initiatives for the company such as digital transformation. Kato was also part of the team that helped realize the successful acquisition of Erie Architectural Products. Prior to joining YKK AP America, he led Corporate Planning for YKK AP Global.

I am honored to step into this position where I will address the critical challenges of protecting our environment through our architectural products and conserving natural resources through our business practices, said Kato. The environmental issues we face are common to all of us, and I am proud to contribute my time and energy toward securing a more sustainable future.

YKK AP continues to lead the industry in its sustainability practices. Its commercial manufacturing plant is ISO 14001 certified, a standard which reduces the environmental footprint of a business as well as decreases the pollution and waste a business produces. In 2009, the company was the first manufacturer to bring products to market designed specifically to address energy needs, and in 2015, YKK AP elevated its commitment to sustainability by becoming the first facades manufacturer to voluntarily provide third party-certified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for all products in its portfolio. YKK AP is regularly recognized for its environmental practices, most recently by the Georgia Water Coalition with the Clean 13 Award, which recognizes organizations whose initiatives have led to a more sustainable future for Georgians.

To learn more about YKK APs environmental practices, go to https://www.ykkap.com/commercial/company/environmental-social-responsibility/.

ABOUT YKK AP AMERICA

YKK AP America Inc. is a technology-oriented manufacturer of commercial facade systems and residential doors and windows. With every finished good, we push the boundaries in next generation manufacturing and create value for architectural applications. Driven by a desire to provide exceptional service in our markets, YKK AP America builds upon our foundation of advanced engineering, vertically integrated manufacturing, and customer focus to deliver the highest level of quality and a positive customer experience. YKK AP Americas subsidiary brand, Erie Architectural Products partners with glazing contractors to design, test and engineer solutions for large-scale projects using its ENVIRO|FACADES curtain wall systems. YKK AP America is headquartered in Austell, Ga., with its major products company Erie Architectural Products located in Lakeshore, Ont. All building products are manufactured in our world-class production facilities located in Dublin, Ga., Macon, Ga. and Lakeshore, Ont. For more information, visit ykkap.com and follow us on Linkedin.com.
Zyston has experienced tremendous growth and continues to redefine cybersecurity. This is due to our ability to attract industry experts who believe in our mission. To be able to add someone of Jeremys caliber to the team is a testament to what we are building

Zyston, a managed security service (MSSP & XDR) provider, today announced that technology industry veteran Jeremy Powell is joining the company as Managing Director of Consulting and Advisory Services.

Powell has held roles in organizations across many market segments over the last 25 years, specifically focusing on security and cloud for the last decade. Most recently, he was the founding Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Verint Systems, where he helped to transform and convert the global enterprise software company to a cloud platform. During his tenure, Verint became one of the fastest-growing global Amazon Web Services (AWS) partners, with revenue of $2 billion per year.

Previously, Powell served as Chief Technology Officer for Adtech Global, where he helped grow the company into the leading global delivery partner of cloud solutions for the contact center analytics ecosystem. He also held key IT positions over the years with Esquire Deposition Services, Archway Marketing Services, Synq Solutions and Miller Zell.

Since we launched five years ago, Zyston has experienced tremendous growth and continued to redefine cybersecurity. This is due to our ability to attract industry experts who believe in our mission of bringing best-practice information security program management to our clients at a high-value, cost-effective price point. To be able to add someone of Jeremys caliber to the team is a testament to what we are building, said CEO Craig Stamm.

I am thrilled for the opportunity to join such a fast-growing and innovative company. Zyston has put together an offering and approach to cybersecurity that quickly separated them from the competition, and I cant wait to use my experience and knowledge to take the company to the next level, said Powell.

Zyston is dedicated to providing businesses with a comprehensive range of end-to-end XDR services required to build and operate a mature and cost-effective information security program. The company combines consulting, staffing and managed security services to provide the best cyber program management on the market today.

Led by some of the worlds most prominent names in security, Zyston provides tailored solutions that enable organizations across the globe to make informed, intelligent decisions related to the security of mission-critical assets.

MSSP Alert, a respected research and cybersecurity news publication, listed Zyston among its top global 250 MSSPs of 2020. In addition, the analyst firm Forrester Research named Zyston as an industry leader in the small-to-midsized (SMB) and enterprise cybersecurity services space. The full Forrester report is available for download on Zystons website.

Zyston has offices in Dallas, Texas; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California and Denver, Colorado.

To learn more about how Zyston is redefining cybersecurity, or to receive a free CyberCast security assessment, visit zyston.com.
The final panel on SCBWIs Big Five-Oh Conference, held on Sunday, August 1, preceding the Wrap-Up, Awards, and Dance Party, was a keynote entitled From There to HereThree Stories, featuring lauded childrens book creators Laurie Halse Anderson, Vashti Harrison, and Dan Santat.

Laurie Halse Anderson on Creativity and Courage

Halse Anderson, author of the landmark novel Speak as well as several other books for teens, kicked off the keynote presentation by acknowledging how difficult the past year and a half has been for creators. However, she said, the struggle to create has really [brought] home to me how important the work is.

The author then shared some lessons she has learned throughout her time in kidlit, which began in the early 90s, when she had a lot of children in her life and thought the work would be easy and fun.

The first lesson she learned was one of rejection and perseverance. She received so many rejections that she devised a process to track all of them, as there was no software to do so back then. The second lesson was the importance of revision. To those who find revision new or difficult, Halse Anderson encouraged, My heart is with youbut it makes us stronger. The third lesson was to dream big: Im pretty good at dreamingI dream pretty bigI never thought my career would turn out like this.

Sharing a final piece of wisdom, she said, You know, I could talk to you about revision, how to write a good pitch letter, but I decided, looking at where my career is now, Im going to tell you what I think is really, really important. I decided to talk to you about creativity. And the fact that creativity takes courage,  she said, quoting Matisse.

It takes courage to recognize that some things are always going to be hard, she explained. To do our work the best we can, it means to connect with who we were as kids, who we were as teenagers that childlike mind, that open mind, that enthusiasm, that takes courage as an adult to reach for.

Halse Anderson also spotlighted the importance of connecting with fellow creators. To do that, to best celebrate our community, to get to know everybody in our community, youve got to be reading each others books!

Furthermore, she highlighted how imperative it is to depict inclusivity in ones work: Read widely, read in-depth, and understand the community of all our readers. Responsible, respectful representation is a tool of craft.

In conclusion, she said, We have to understand that our calling is a little bit different from people who write for adults. We have to write in a way that is ethical, in a way that is responsible, because we are creating literature for children who will lean on our books to help them get through hard times.

Vashti Harrison on Respecting the Work

Author, illustrator, and filmmaker Vashti Harrison, who illustrated Hair Love by Matthew Cherry and served as a character designer for the animated Oscar-winning short adaptation of the same name, was up next. She began by sharing her journey as an author-illustrator as encouragement for publishing hopefuls.

The audience was likely surprised to learn that Harrison has no formal training in creative writing or illustration, nor did she have any inkling that she wanted to do this as a career.

Ive only been doing this professionally for about five years, she revealed. The truth is, I really wouldnt have been able to pull this off without SCBWI and the things that I learned here.

Relaying how she went from a child who loved drawing to someone who had stopped completely by the time she reached college, Harrison described how her undergraduate filmmaking studies led her to do a Masters of Fine Arts in the same field at CalArts, where she eventually took a drawing class that served as a rude awakening. Drawing, as it turns out, is not like riding a bike, Harrison said with a smile. It was just so clear to me that if you dont practice at something, you will not be good. And I wanted to be good, so I started practicing.

When she got laid off from her job in the film industry, Harrison decided to take the leap and move back home to Virginia with her parents, applying for illustration-adjacent jobs before committing to trying to become an illustrator.

I joined [SCBWI] and started studying, Harrison said, explaining how she read SCBWIs The Book and began attending her local chapter meetings. Early exposure from an SCBWI newsletter contest led to Harrisons illustrations reaching an art director at Simon & Schuster, who commissioned her to illustrate a manuscript. Subsequently attending the SCBWI Mid-Atlantic Conference with copies of her portfolio in hand secured Harrison an agent, Carrie Hannigan of HG Literary, who still represents her today.

One SCBWI panel she attended as a burgeoning talent particularly struck Harrison: a presentation by executive director and co-founder Lin Oliver that instructed attendees to define yourself as a professional. Harrison explained how that advice transformed her perspective of her art. Working hard has never been hard for me, but being treated like a professional and demanding that made a huge difference. More than anything, it requires you to respect your own work, [believing that] this is a thing deserving of my time and my efforteven if you arent doing this work full-time or trying to make money off of it. I think its fine to call the thing that you do to pay your bills a job. But this is your work, and if you want to advance in this career, you have to think of yourself as a professional and demand that first of yourself. Because if you dont respect it, who will?

Dan Santat on What He Has Gained from SCBWI

Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat then took the virtual podium, aided by an ASL interpreter. Santat began by shedding light on his history with SCBWI. A member since 1998, he has met plenty of fellow creatives who became friends, and he shared slides of memories connected to them, many of whom went on to become notable creators in their own right.

Santat then recalled his first SCBWI local chapter workshop in 2001 in Los Angeles. His first critique came from artist Peter Nelson, who instructed Santat to reconfigure his portfolio around one illustration. Attending his first national SCBWI conference the next year, Santat prepared a dummy book based on that advice. And this manwho I didnt really know at the timeapproached me with my dummy book, and he wanted to offer me a two-book deal on the spot, Santat revealed. That man was our very own Arthur Levine, the editor of Harry Potter.

Santat emphasized how getting involved in SCBWI in part led to his success and place in the childrens book community. He surveyed some of his work in publishing, particularly the pressure he felt after winning the 2015 Caldecott Medal for The Adventures of Beekle. One of the best pieces of advice that I got was from a fellow SCBWI member: Mr. Bruce Coville, Santat said. He could tell that I was stressed out. I confided in him, and said, 'Im having a hard time with this award, I dont know how I can live up to it.' And he said, You know, Dan, William Shakespeare wrote a lot of stuff. He would do great things like Romeo and Juliet, he would do other books like Othello, but he also did a lot of crap. 

Santat smiled. For some reason that made me feel a lot better. And, you know, I really hold that piece of advice close to my heart. It reminded me that its okay to fail, to stumble sometimes. Life is a long journey. And so as you continue making books, what you discover is that making books becomes a lifelong pursuit to understand who you are as a person.
Strong sales of adult books and another big gain in its international operations led to a robust, healthy second quarter at Simon & Schuster, company CEO Jonathan Karp told PW. Revenue in the international group jumped 50% over the second quarter of 2020, Karp said, as S&Ss overseas publishers ramped up production this year after delaying titles in 2020 due to lockdowns.

Total revenue in the period increased 9.5% over last year's second quarter, to $219 million, and earnings jumped 48%, to $52 million.

Sales in the adult group were led by what Karp called the book of the summer, Laura Daves The Last Thing He Told Me, which now has 515,000 hardcover copies in print since its May 4 release. The book has benefitted from tremendous word-of-mouth, Karp said, and was also a Reese Witherspoon book club pick. Karp called it a complete publishing triumph. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris has also sold well since its release on June 1, and Karp predicted that the book will "have legs."

Two backlist titles also saw a boom in sales in the quarter, Karp said. Colleen Hoovers It Ends with Us has more than 775,000 copies in in print and as sold well in all formats, while Taylor Jenkins Reid has had new success with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which was first published in May 2018 and has about 720,000 copies in print and has seen good digital sales; it has sold over 182,000 print copies this year.

Childrens sales were flat in the quarter, Karp said, but there were some real successes. Chloe Gongs YA debut, These Violent Delights, is now in its 13th printing, with 275,000 copies in print. A picture book on Dr. Fauci has also been popular.

Despite signs that industry sales growth was beginning to slow in July, Karp said S&S had a great month. We have two number 1 bestsellers, referring to not only The Last Thing He Told Me but American Marxism by Mark Levin, which had been #1 in nonfiction since its release in July and has close to 1 million copies in print. Karp has also been heartened by the bounce back in sales through physical bookstores, both in the independent segment and at Barnes & Noble. It is great to see Barnes & Noble revitalized, Karp said.

Karp acknowledges that there are operational challenges facing the publishing industry in the second half of the year, but he has confidence S&Ss list will break through. The company has a countdown clock on its website marking the days until the September 28 release of Anthony Doerrs Cloud Cuckoo Land, which Karp predicted will be the book of the fall. In October, the Hillary Clinton/Louise Penny collaboration, State of Terror, will also be released.

On the nonfiction side, S&S will publish Countdown to Bin Laden, the next in the Countdown series by Chris Wallacewhose Countdown 1945 was a bestseller last year this fall as wellAnother author with a recent nonfiction bestseller, Sanjay Gupta, will publish his book on the fight against Covid-19, World War C, in October; Karp called Gupta a franchise author. In keeping with company policy about not talking about a new Bob Woodward book until its release, Karp would only say that the venerable Washington Post reporter's still-untitled book, written with Robert Costa, will be newsworthy.

ViacomCBS remains S&Ss parent company and, during a conference call about its second quarter results, ViacomCBSs executives said they still expect the sale of S&S to Penguin Random House to be completed before the end of the year.

This story has been updated with S&S's reported sales figures.
New York City, NY (11385)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 95F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
New York City, NY (11385)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 95F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Singular.live, the pioneer of cloud-based technology for live graphic overlays, has become the first cloud-based graphics platform to be used by ITV.

Singular powered the graphics for ITV Wales coverage of the Welsh Assembly elections last May. Live election broadcasts require fast, accurate and up-to-date data. For the 2021 Welsh Assembly elections, ITV Wales used a new Singular feature  Data Streams  which is purpose built for high frequency, high volume and low latency data. Data Streams with JS Data Nodes, created by the ITV team in Singular, enabled live election data to be delivered in JSON format for immediate display as graphics. As a consequence the majority of the overlays were automatically updated.

The ITV team used SVG maps of the region to display how the electorate voted. ITV Wales was able to manipulate the maps using composition scripts within Singular. This allowed ITV Wales to isolate any area within the map with the latest relevant data. This data was constantly and automatically updated through the Data Stream workflow. This was possible because of Singulars powerful Composition Scripts. These enable the addition of fully customisable control through JavaScript layers from directly within the Singular Composition without using the Graphics SDK or any external hosting.

Keith Jones, technical support engineer, ITV Wales, commented: The building, linking and updating of the custom overlays worked with ease, allowing for a more time-efficient and stress-free production. Overlay composition build and data delivery was much easier than using traditional systems. Being an HTML5, cloud-based solution, Singular provided easy access to the graphics wherever they needed to be seen.

Added Andrew Heimbold, CEO of Singular.live: Three of the main benefits Singular drives are its ease of use, efficiency and flexibility. These have shone through in the exciting results of this project. It is fantastic to see Singular used for the very first time by ITV, amid a very high profile event. This is a great vote of confidence by a major broadcaster and we are very happy the platform was able to deliver peace of mind for this election broadcast to the ITV Wales team.
Business network the DPP has collaborated with SMPTE on the publication of a new pair of SMPTE Recommended Disclosure Documents for the Interoperable Master Format (IMF), resulting in adoption by the BBC this summer.

The aim of the publications is to provide increased efficiency to broadcasters and online content providers when mastering and exchanging content.

SMPTE RDD 59-1 IMF Application DPP (ProRes) represents a significant update to the document it supersedes, SMPTE TSP 2121-1. It introduces a number of updates based on user feedback, and simplifications to ensure its easier to implement. In parallel, SMPTE RDD 59-2 IMF Application DPP (JPEG2000) will replace SMPTE TSP 2121-4, first launched by the DPP and the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) in 2019.

In addition, the DPP has published updates to a range of Recommendation and Guidance documents for users of IMF, including significant updates to Recommendation DPP003 Carriage of AMWA AS-11 Metadata in IMF. Also updated is the DPPs guide for media organisations exploring the impact of adopting IMF, DPP005 IMF Operational Guidance.

DPP CTO, Rowan de Pomerai, commented: Were delighted to have worked with DPP member companies and SMPTE to bring the benefits of IMF to an even wider community. We regularly hear that media organisations are keen to realise the benefits of component based media, but it can seem a daunting change process. The publication of SMPTE RDD 59, DPP003, and related DPP Guidance will provide the tools and support for more companies to adopt IMF in their workflows.

SMPTE RDD 59 IMF Application DPP enables increased automation of the content supply chain, as well as removing duplication when creating, storing, and processing multiple versions of content. As a result, media companies can deliver significant workflow and cost efficiencies.

Bruce Devlin, standards vice president for SMPTE, said: IMF represents the key technology for improving the efficiency and reach of multi-version, multi-vendor, multi-language content mastering and distribution. It provides a framework for companies to use content at rest in the cloud whilst simultaneously allowing versions to be created and shared without duplicating the original assets. The DPP has expertly identified the needs for its members across the globe and crafted an IMF solution for ProRes and JPEG2000 to meet those needs.
Music

An encore performance

Nina Simone tribute show getting an encore performance at Berks Jazz Fest

Saturday's Boscov's Berks Jazz Fest preview event will feature Gerald Veasley and Carol Riddick paying tribute to Nina Simone, as they did two years ago.
Food and drink

A new spirit

West Reading's Chatty Monks has new spirit, food and drinks, but hoppy fries remain

Chatty Monks in West Reading, under new ownership, is planning some changes, but hoppy fries will remain on the menu.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/02/2021



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ANGELA AND MICHAEL

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KALANI AND ASUELU

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JOVI AND YARA

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MIKE AND NATALIE

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ELIZABETH AND ANDREI

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BRANDON AND JULIA

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TIFFANY AND RONALD

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

: Happily Ever After? featured Natalie Mordovtseva planning to move out of Mike Youngquist 's home, Jovi Dufren and Yara Zaya fighting at a stripclub, Angela Deem hoping to put the conversation of having a baby with Michael Ilesanmi to rest, Elizabeth Potthast 's sisters plotting a plan against Andrei Castravet , and Asuelu Pulaa 's family brawling with Kalani Faagata during Sunday night's Season 6 episode on TLC.The new Happily Ever After? season stars Season 8 couples Mike, a 35-year-old from Sequim, WA, and Natalie, a 36-year-old from Kyiv, Ukraine; Julia Trubkina, a 27-year-old go-go club dancer from Krasnodar City, Russia, and Brandon Gibbs, a 28-year-old pest-control technician who helps to run his parents' farm in Dinwiddie, VA; and Jovi, a 29-year-old from New Orleans, LA, and Yara, a 25-year-old from Ukraine.The show also stars three returning Happily Ever After? Season 5 couples: Angela, a 54-year-old Hazlehurst, GA, and Michael, a 32-year-old from Lagos, Nigeria; Kalani, a 32-year-old from Washington, UT, and Asuelu, a 25-year-old from Utulaelae, Samoa; and Elizabeth, a 30-year-old from Tampa, FL, and Andrei, a 34-year-old from Chisinau, Moldova.In addition, : The Other Way Season 1 couple Tiffany Franco , a 29-year-old from Frederick, MD, and Ronald Smith , a 31-year-old from South Africa, are Season 6 Happily Ever After? cast members.Happily Ever After? documents married couples navigating life, hardships, family, children and unexpected obstacles.The new season has already featured cultural differences, family arguments, scandals, confrontations and tears.Below is the latest on several couples, according to the thirteenth episode of : Happily Ever After?'s sixth season.Michael was shown visiting a fertility clinic. He planned to masturbate for the first time in his life in order to produce sperm and preserve it for up to 15 years."I've never done it before, and oh f-ck," Michael said.Angela said it was important for her to be on videochat with Michael while he masturbated so that he'd be looking at her instead of some porn videos or dirty magazines.Michael hoped to ship his sperm to the U.S. so he and Angela could try to have a baby via IVF, In Vitro Fertilization. Michael was also checking his sperm for mobility and quantity.Michael revealed he hadn't experienced a wet dream for about two months and hadn't ejaculated for almost a year, and the specialist at the clinic seemed surprised. Angela couldn't help but laugh at her husband on videochat, and Michael said Angela was just making the situation "worse."Michael successfully got the job done after two minutes and said masturbating was "okay." He said he didn't intend on doing it again, however, and just looked forward to being intimate with his wife in-person again.Meanwhile, Skyla worried Angela was going to ask her for her egg again. Skyla said her answer was going to be "no" in every language and that wasn't ever going to change.After losing 100 pounds, Angela brought Skyla out shopping with her for new clothes. Angela didn't know what size she was, given she had started out her weight-loss journey as a Size 22.Angela actually fit into the Size 11 and she was shocked, and then she put on a little fashion show for Skyla by trying on dresses and shirts. Angela apparently felt beautiful and sexy.Angela then asked Skyla to visit a fertility clinic with her so she could find out all of the reasons why she wouldn't be able to carry and/or deliver a baby. Angela essentially wanted to shut Michael up once and for all and close the book on having a child together."The odds are so against us that I'm just over the baby thing, but I'm a woman of my word and I'm going to do what I've got to do... to show Michael whatever it takes... But if I can't find a blood-related egg, I am out -- and there's nothing he can do to change my mind," Angela explained.Kalani was about to welcome Asuelu's mother Lesina and sister Tammy into her home."It just feels like Satan is on my doorstep," Kalani lamented, adding, "It's stupid to do this right before a freakin' holiday."When Tammy walked into Kalani's house, she didn't even say "hi" to Kalani, which Asuelu noted was very disrespectful. Kalani's sister Kolini also decided not to jump on Tammy right away and give the woman the benefit of the doubt.Lesina revealed how she weaves mats from 4AM to 6PM every day in Samoa before going to Bingo, which made everyone laugh. Asuelu told Tammy that she's old enough to pay for her own ticket back to Samoa.Lesina then announced how she needed money from Asuelu once she returned to Samoa. She said God would bless Asuelu if he took care of his mother, and Kolini complained to the cameras Lesina and Tammy were always focused on money and seemed to view children as "cash machines."Tammy told the cameras that she was well aware of the fact Asuelu had money and he was just choosing not to help out his family. Asuelu asked Lesina if she cared about whether her grandkids would be starving as a result, and Lesina replied, "No.""That [crosses] the line," Asuelu said.For Christmas, Asuelu gave Kalani a baby blanket and said he hoped she'd make his baby dreams come true. But Kalani said she didn't want to be pressured into having another baby and it wasn't appropriate to have this conversation in front of other people.Tammy and Lesina told Kalani to listen to her husband and consider his point of view, but Kalani said her whole life's purpose isn't just to "pop out 1,000 children."Kolini told Tammy that it's Kalani's body and her choice, and then an argument sparked. Kolini tried to bite her tongue, but she didn't think it was fair for everyone to guilt Kalani into having more babies.Lesina suggested Asuelu should find another woman who would welcome more children with him, and Asuelu said that was "ridiculous" and he had asked his relatives to be on good behavior.Lesina yelled at her son to "shut up," saying, "We are trying to help you!"Kolini shouted at Tammy and Lesina not to yell at Asuelu in his own house, and then Tammy stood up and got in Kolini's face. A physical brawl broke up, and Kalani yelled at Lesina and Tammy to get out of her house.Kalani broke down into tears and Lesina yelled at Asuelu, "We don't like you anymore!"Jovi said he and Yara had some pretty serious conversations during their first night out in Miami FL."I'm kind of worried that Yara doesn't want to be invested in our relationship. Mylah is an excuse, it's her way of just not wanting to focus on me," Jovi explained.Gwen suggested Jovi should take Yara out to a nice restaurant instead of expecting her to drink and party, and Gwen told the cameras her son was being "very rude" by calling Yara boring because she was just taking her responsibilities as a mother seriously.Jovi subsequently told Yara when they were out sitting by the pool that she wanted her husband to love, appreciate and be nice to her. Jovi said he'd try to make her happy but she needed to meet him halfway and try to please him as well.The couple was only in Miami for a few more days, so Jovi said he wanted them to enjoy their time together.Yara began to worry that she and Jovi had married without really getting to know each other first. She told Jovi that she was just being herself and he needed to accept her for who she is.Jovi brought Yara to a fancy Russian restaurant, and while they laughed and had fun, she didn't want Jovi to bring her to a stripclub. However, Yara eventually came around to the idea, as long as Jovi wouldn't touch any of the dancers.Yara wanted to show her husband that she was still fun and could make him happy.Yara felt awkward when a naked woman was dancing in front of her husband, and after a little while, Yara said she wanted to leave and deserved better from Jovi.But when she clearly felt uncomfortable and asked Jovi to go home, he wouldn't budge, and she ended up slapping him in the face.Jovi said Yara went from smiling and laughing to "crazy," but Yara said it wasn't okay to blow kisses at another woman and he had acted so selfishly.Yara felt Jovi had completely forgotten about her at the stripclub, saying he had blown all of their money on one of the dancers when he could have bought her something nice."I give you a small bite and then you f-cking bite off my hand!" Yara yelled, adding that she didn't feel respected at all.Jovi was upset and told his wife, "You have to ruin every night!""F-ck you," Yara replied.Mike and Natalie had a blowout fight in which things had escalated pretty quickly.Mike admitted it felt good to call Natalie out because "she's no angel" and had been throwing stuff in his face.Mike couldn't get in touch with Natalie because she was apparently at her friend Juliana's place again, and so Mike called his mother Trish to vent his frustrations."You guys have a fight every night. You know why? She does it on purpose so that she has an excuse to leave," Trish told her son, adding of Natalie, "She does the most evil stuff. And it is evil."Trish suggested that Natalie just wanted to come to America and didn't even genuinely like Mike, nevermind love him. Trish called Natalie "a snake in the grass" and "a scammer."Mike refused to bad-mouth his wife, but Trish said Natalie would leave the marriage immediately upon receiving her work visa or Green Card."She's gonna be gone," Trish noted."I guess only time will tell that one," Mike said.Trish told Mike to divorce Natalie and send her back to Ukraine before she could leave him "in a world of hurt." Trish told Mike to get the ball rolling on the divorce in order to have the upperhand.Mike told the cameras that he didn't agree with everything his mother had said and he felt stuck in the middle between the two women in his life.It was clear Trish didn't like Natalie, but Mike said he didn't want to ask for a divorce "or anything stupid like that" because he truly loved Natalie and found her to be important."I'm going to keep working at it. The question is, is she going to work on it with me?" Mike pondered.Natalie was then shown complaining to her friend about how she couldn't take her problems with Mike anymore and didn't want to continue living with him. Natalie said her relationship with Mike was "toxic" and he didn't love or appreciate her."I don't even remember happy moments anymore. Emotionally, I am just exhausted... I am done with it," Natalie complained.Juliana told Natalie that she could move in with her, and so Natalie planned to pack her bags at Mike's house in Sequim and leave -- maybe permanently.Natalie said she was in love with Mike and so ready to start a life with him in America."I was excited to marry him. I tried so hard and I gave him all of me. So I just kept ignoring red flags, and now, I feel sometimes I am in a f-cking nightmare and I just can't get out of it. It's enough," Natalie said.Natalie explained that she wanted to take control of her life again, and so she returned to Mike's house to grab her stuff.Andrei wanted Chuck to understand that he's an asset to the family business rather than a liability, and then Elizabeth was shown meeting her father for lunch.Chuck told Elizabeth that he felt like his family was "imploding" right in front of him and he couldn't believe they couldn't even get through baby Eleanor's birthday party without cake being thrown.Chuck explained the drama or falling out in the family wasn't Andrei's fault."He has been, up to this point, a blessing for the business. He has worked hard and done everything that I've asked him to do. The vibe I'm getting from the kids... is definitely jealousy," Chuck shared.Elizabeth said her siblings viewed Andrei as a threat, and Chuck agreed Jenn, Becky and Charlie were trying to paint Andrei as a villain. Elizabeth said her siblings had been blaming all of their issues on Andrei all along and their behavior wasn't justified.Chuck wanted to have his family back together, and so he planned to have a family cookout at his pool so everyone could talk face-to-face and put everything out on the table.Elizabeth feared they were "playing with fire" at this point and Chuck was "really asking for it" by planning a family meeting. Elizabeth warned Chuck the meeting probably wouldn't go well.Meanwhile, Jenn and Becky lamented about how their father seemed to be playing favorites with Andrei.Jenn suggested that maybe Chuck felt a little intimidated by Andrei, and Jenn believed Elizabeth had manipulated the situation by teaching Andrei how to talk to Chuck in order to get what he wants.Becky felt "invisible" and "underappreciated" by her own father, which she said really hurt her feelings. And Becky pointed out how Charlie was probably jealous of Chuck and Andrei's newfound bond.Becky and Jenn then decided maybe they should try to compete against Chuck and Andrei and do real-estate work on their own. Jenn said she and Becky didn't need Chuck to do their jobs and could embark on their own business ventures to make sure Andrei wouldn't get one over on them."I'm not a weak b-tch and he knows that, and if [Andrei] wants to go up against me, let's go!" Jenn told the cameras.After Brandon and Julia's first night in their own apartment, they planned a housewarming party for his friends, which Julia didn't seem excited about.Julia was happy to see Brandon's friend A.J. at least -- not Melanie -- and the couple purchased a lot of food and wine for their little gathering.Melanie and her boyfriend T.J. brought a housewarming gift, but Julia was still angry about the fight she and Melanie had at a brewery weeks earlier.During the party, Julia made a joke about how she was ready for a little baby, and Brandon's friends warned the spouses about how much responsibility having a child entails. They advised Brandon and Julia against rushing into starting a family.Brandon told Julia that he should listen to his friends because they wouldn't be able to focus on each other once a baby comes."I'm not trying to have kids right now. I'm stern on that," Brandon said."I know what I want and I know what I'm doing, and I'm ready for a baby!" Julia insisted.Brandon and Julia used to have a common problem, Brandon's parents, and now that they were out on their own, they were realizing their own differences and issues.Brandon and Julia worried they weren't on the same page about their future together, and then Julia went into a bedroom by herself in the middle of the party.Tiffany and Ronald were shown visiting with Ronald's uncle, who led a couples' counseling session for the spouses. Ronald insisted his uncle would be honest and straightforward with them, even if it meant telling Ronald he's wrong.Tiffany said Ronald not paying attention to the small things was "destroying" their marriage.Tiffany said she was a blessing in Ronald's life and deserved more from her husband, but Ronald pointed out how a woman shouldn't tell a man what should be.Ronald's uncle explained that Ronald wasn't being the man he needed to be in his relationship, but Ronald admitted he didn't like talking about his feelings in fear of exposing his weaknesses.Tiffany seemed annoyed with Ronald's constant desire to be the man in their marriage and wear the pants, and Ronald left the session feeling like he wasn't able to voice his own opinions and Tiffany had made him look like "an assh-le."Ronald accused Tiffany of just wanting a vacation away from her kids, and Tiffany felt criticized and insulted. She demanded an apology from Ronald and even refused to get in the car with him to go home. She called Ronald "rude."Ronald told Tiffany that her family was always around helping her with the kids when she claimed to have been doing everything alone and by herself. Ronald called his wife "a hypocrite," and she in turn called him "a child."Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/04/2021



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What couples are still together and which MAFS couples have split up and divorced? And where are they now?

followed 44 different couples who got married at first sight during it's first twelve seasons -- so which couples are still together, who has split up and divorced, and where are they all now?Each season of -- which debuted in the United States seven years ago and is based on a Danish series -- features couples (previously three couples, but four couples on Seasons 8 and 9, and five couples beginning with Season 10) being matched together by relationship experts and agree to marry when they first meet.Complete strangers become husband and wife in a matter of minutes, and the couples' lives are then documented by TV cameras over the course of the next four to eight weeks (eight weeks, in the case of 's most recent seasons).The couples typically enjoy their first night together in a hotel after exchanging vows -- with some couples deciding to consummate their marriage immediately -- and then embark on a honeymoon, move in together, and simply attempt to deal with the struggles of daily life as man and wife.At the end of the extreme marriage experiment, each couple must decide whether they'd like to stay married or get a divorce on "Decision Day."has experienced very mixed results over the years. While a significant number of couples decide to stay together and continue their new marriage at the end of their season, the real world seems to hit them hard after the cameras leave, resulting in the couple splitting up only months later.Do cast members see a different side of their spouses once cameras are gone, or do the romances naturally fizzle over time?Some couples are still together to this day and are extremely happy. Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner from Season 1, for example, have had two children.Several other couples have also had children -- including Ashley Petta and Anthony D'Amico Shawniece Jackson and Jephte Pierre Danielle Bergman and Bobby Dodd , and Deonna McNeill and Greg Okotie However, there are also relationships that ended badly. Jessica Castro from Season 2, for instance, accused Ryan De Nino of alleged death threats, and she went on to file a restraining order and lawsuit against him.Some couples have also never even made it to "Decision Day" and ended their marriage prematurely, including Season 4 couple Heather Seidel and Derek Schwartz as well as Season 6 couple Molly Duff and Jonathan Francetic Are the remaining couples now lovers, friends or enemies?! What about early season couples like Cortney Hendrix and Jason Carrion, Jaclyn Methuen and Ryan Ranellone, Vanessa Nelson and Tres Russell, Sonia Granados and Nick Pendergrast, and Lillian Vilchez and Tom Wilson?And how about more recent season couples like Danielle DeGroot and Cody Knapek Sheila Downs and Nate Duhon Jaclyn Schwartzberg and Ryan Buckley Dave Flaherty and Amber Martorana , and Tristan Thompson and Mia Bally Keith Dewar and Kristine Killingsworth , and AJ Vollmoeller and Stephanie Sersen Click thelink below to see photos of each couple and find out!

BEGIN GALLERY >>

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will be unable to travel with the band on tour following a medical procedure.

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The official Rolling Stones Twitter account made the announcement on Thursday. The group is gearing up to resume their No Filter tour in September, after it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it's very disappointing to say the least, but it's also fair to say no one saw this coming," a spokesman for the drummer said in a statement.

Watts will be replaced on the tour by Steve Jordan.

"For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. After all the fans' suffering caused by COVID I really do not want the many fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancelation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me," Watts said.

Bass player Keith Richards also commented on the situation on Twitter.

"This has been a bit of a blow to all of us, to say the least and we're all wishing for Charlie to have a speedy recovery and to see him as soon as possible. Thank you to Steve Jordan for joining us in the meantime," Richards said.

The No Filter tour was originally set to begin in May 2020. It will now launch on Sept. 26 in St. Louis before wrapping up on Nov. 20 in Austin, Texas.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/04/2021



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

bachelor John Hersey has called Greg Grippo out for shocking behavior and insisted no one should defend Greg for how he had treated Katie Thurston during their final breakup conversation.John, a California bartender whom Katie eliminated in Week 2 of 's seventeenth season, took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday and slammed anyone who's been sticking up for Greg ever since Katie appeared to accuse Greg of gaslighting her on the show "I very rarely do this sort of thing, but I wanted to address a topic that is being very heavily discussed right now. Let me start by saying that I am so grateful for the incredible friendships I made while on this season," John began in his post."I could have never expected to be cast amongst such wonderful people. Along with many of you, I watched [Monday] night's episode and was shocked by some of the behavior I witnessed, namely the words and body language exhibited by Greg."After Katie met Greg's family on his hometown date, Greg expressed to the Bachelorette through tears how he was madly in love with her and wanted to propose marriage. He said Katie had filled a hole in his heart that formed after his beloved father's passing, but then Katie stared at him longingly and said in reply, "I just love looking at you."The next day, Greg, appearing to be in a very confused and vulnerable state, confronted Katie in her hotel room and essentially scolded her for focusing too much on roses and the competition aspect of the show rather than on their "real" relationship and his need for some validation.Greg accused Katie of being guarded and making him feel like just "a number" on her list. He told the Bachelorette that she had made him feel "sick" and he was "so done" with her and the process.While many viewers have accused Greg of emotionally manipulating Katie, others -- such as alum Connor Brennan and Big Brother alum Kaitlyn Herman -- have stood up for Greg , insisting he was brokenhearted and had every right to be upset and express himself."Watching these actions get defended (and therefore normalized) strikes me as extremely unhealthy and a step in the wrong direction," John continued in his Instagram Stories posting on Tuesday."It should be noted that an individual can be a good friend to some while simultaneously being harmful to others in another relationship; friendship cannot be an excuse to blindly defend someone's behavior.aJohn concluded, "Every one of us is on our journey, and it is important we continuously seek ways to improve ourselves. Absolutely none of us are perfect, but holding each other accountable is sometimes necessary to move forward."Many members of Bachelor Nation appear to agree with John's stance on the debate.The Bachelor alum Bekah Martinez , for example, said, "I know he opened up to her and she said 'the wrong thing' but shutting down emotionally being like, 'wut, nothing's wrong why would you think that' and then punishing with silence is emotional manipulation 101," according to Us Weekly.Bekah reportedly added, "I can't believe people are justifying this because of his trauma from his dad passing. Completely unacceptable and toxic behavior."alum Blake Horstmann also said Katie had given Greg as much as she could."To try and respect the other men she's not saying, 'I love you' because she wants to save that until the very, very end," Blake reportedly said.He continued, "But this is the most I've ever seen a Bachelorette give a contestant before the end... You've got to remember how hard it is for Katie too."And alum Luke Stone suggested Greg probably wasn't entirely sincere and genuine with Katie."I am getting the strong vibe that Greg is sabotaging this on purpose. If you aren't into her be a man and tell her you want out rather than gas lighting the situation," Luke tweeted."My theory: Greg got further than he expected/wanted and pushed the eject button real quick."Katie appeared to accuse Greg of gaslighting her when she took to her Instagram Stories on Monday night and shared a post that read, "So you want to talk about gaslighting."Katie's Instagram Stories post linked to a "Gaslighting" slideshow post on another Instagram account that includes a definition for gaslighting.The Instagram slideshow defines "gaslighting" as "a form of emotional abuse or psychological manipulation involving distorting the truth in order to confuse or instill doubt in another person to the point they question their own sanity or reality."It also lists the following as signs of gaslighting: "lying, discrediting, deflecting blame, minimizing, shifting blame and denying wrongdoing."While Katie didn't name Greg directly or even mention her breakup, fans were led to assume she was referring to Greg as the gaslighter since social media was buzzing about their brutal breakup at the time and many Twitter users had even called Greg out for messing with Katie's mind and emotions.During Monday night's penultimate episode of 's seventeenth season, Greg seemed desperate for reassurance that their love was as real to Katie as it was to him -- but Katie only turned the suitor off more once she called him her "No. 1 since the beginning."Katie, who had made it clear to producers and viewers that Greg was her clear choice out of her Final 3 bachelors, asked Greg to trust her because she cared for him immensely, but she was still holding out in order to reveal her true feelings at the Final Rose Ceremony.Greg therefore stormed out of Katie's hotel room and decided to quit the show , which left Katie bawling in a bathroom and questioning if she should end process early and just go home because she had lost her confidence and felt "destroyed."episode on Monday night ended on a cliffhanger, with Katie trying to decide if she could even most past her split from Greg and resume dating her Final 2 bachelors, Justin Glaze and Blake Moynes 's three-hour finale for Season 17 will air Monday, August 9 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/03/2021



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alums Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams are officially returning as co-hosts for this fall's upcoming eighteenth season starring Michelle Young ABC has announced the network is keeping Kaitlyn and Tayshia on as co-hosts following Chris Harrison 's permanent departure from the franchise after Matt James ' The Bachelor season earlier this year, according to The Wrap.Kaitlyn and Tayshia most recently served as co-hosts for Katie Thurston 's season, which is currently airing on Monday nights and will air its Season 17 finale on August 9 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.Given this summer's seventh season of Bachelor in Paradise will be hosted by a rotating group of celebrity guest hosts -- including comedian David Spade and former N'SYNC boyband member Lance Bass , with alum Wells Adams taking on a new "master of ceremonies" role -- fans have been waiting to hear whether a permanent replacement for the franchise would be named ahead of Michelle's season premiering Tuesday, October 19 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.Reality Steve blogger Steve Carbone tweeted on July 11 that Kaitlyn and Tayshia agreed to return to host Michelle's season but ABC had yet to hire a new host for the long-term.In a subsequent July 13 blog posting, Carbone predicted Season 18 of will be the franchise's last season featuring co-hosts."My guess is this will be the show's last season of co-hosts, and by the time [The Bachelor] films, they will have settled on a permanent host moving forward. Nothing set in stone just yet, but I hear that's the plan," Carbone wrote.ABC released the names of 35 potential bachelors who hope to compete for Michelle's heart late last month.Michelle's season reportedly began filming on July 30 and is expected to conclude around September 10.Michelle and her cast of guys reportedly moved into the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, CA, and will eventually travel to Michelle's home state of Minnesota, where they'll be staying at the Marquette Hotel.In a departure from the franchise's other recent seasons that have filmed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Michelle and some of her bachelors will also reportedly get to travel to more places than just California and Minnesota for hometown dates and Fantasy Suite dates.Meanwhile, Chris has told fans on social media that he misses them . Many viewers and members of Bachelor Nation have expressed how the show is simply not the same without him In the wake of Chris' racism controversy, he and ABC publicly declared in June that Chris' voluntary leave of absence from The Bachelor franchise -- which began in February -- has become a permanent one and he will not return as host for any future seasons.Chris wrote in a June 8 statement on Instagram how he's "excited to start a new chapter" and "so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories," but multiple sources told E! News in June that Chris is "saddened" and "frustrated" about his The Bachelor departure given the show had been his "whole life" and he really wanted to come back.Deadline reported in early June that Chris, who hosted The Bachelor franchise since its 2002 premiere, reached a mid-range eight-figure settlement with ABC to exit The Bachelor franchise for good.But Variety subsequently reported Chris only received $9 million as his supposed big payout.Chris announced in February he'd be "stepping aside" from his hosting duties with The Bachelor franchise "for a period of time" to educate himself on racism in society in a "profound" and "productive" manner after he made offensive remarks in an early-February Extra interview with 's first Black leading lady, Rachel Lindsay In the Extra interview, Chris had defended The Bachelor Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell 's racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive actions in the last several years and adopted a dismissive attitude towards photos of Rachael that resurfaced from an antebellum-plantation themed "Old South" fraternity party at Georgia College & State University in 2018.Chris had called for "grace" and "compassion" for Rachael and also criticized the "woke police" and the "unbelievably alarming" response of anger and frustration to the young woman's actions.Chris subsequently issued three apologies for his offense, two on Instagram and one verbal apology during a March appearance on Good Morning America.On GMA at the time, Chris said he hoped to come back to The Bachelor franchise, explaining, "This is a franchise that has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years and I love it. I plan to be back and I want to be back."But Katie refused to star on Season 17 of in March if Chris was going to participate, and several sources told E! News in April that "many" The Bachelor and alums from seasons past were "apprehensive" about signing up for Bachelor in Paradise 7 or even declined their invitations over Chris' scandal.One insider told the website at the time, "A lot of people are removing themselves from the franchise."Season 16 bachelor, Ivan Hall , for example, told E!'s Daily Pop in February, "If they have future shows and if they were to ask me to be on Bachelor in Paradise or something like that -- and I'm sure a lot of other contestants feel this way as well -- I wouldn't feel comfortable if Chris is there, to be quite frank."Ivan added, "[I'm] not saying he can't make a recovery, can't learn from all of this, but, you know... it would just be too soon, really."Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
TRAVERSE CITY  Kathleen "Kay" Dowswell, 98, of Traverse City, passed away on Aug. 5, 2021, as she had always wished for, peace in her heart and watching the Grand Traverse Bay. Kay was born in Amherstburg, Canada on Nov. 12, 1922, to the late Lloyd and Winifred (Kemp) Pettypiece. She was on
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...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Heat index values 105 to 109 expected. * WHERE...Portions of eastern North Carolina. * WHEN...From noon today to 7 PM EDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable.
Beckley, WV (25801)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 86F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
WINSTED  Police officers soon will be equipped with new body cameras and dashboard cameras, with some grant funding helping to make it possible.

Winchester Police Chief William Fitzgerald, Officer Joshua Blass and Town Manager Josh Kelly made the proposal, saying the state is requiring all departments to use the electronic equipment for safety and recording incidents involving officers and the public, by July 1, 2022.

Police are now required by the state to have body and dash cams as standard equipment, Kelly said. We are following this partially-funded state mandate.

The Board of Selectmen approved the move this week.

After researching and verifying funds received from the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture program since 2019, I have determined the town has $57,054 in its grants and donations fund available for certain restricted expenditures, Finance Director Bruce Stratford said in a statement. The costs associated with securing the body cam system appear to meet the following expenditure categories: Law Enforcement Equipment and Contracts for Services.

The total cost of the dash and body cams is $41,786, including a one-year service contract for training totaling $12,959.

Winsted is using grant funding totaling $20,893 for the equipment. The total cost to the department will be $38,853 for the first year.

My understanding is that the grant we receive covers 50% of the cost of licensing and hardware; the remainder will be paid by the Town.

Finding the right vendor required a bit of research, Fitzgerald said, and he assigned Blass to look into the cost and various options available.

The benefits of a body cam are that they provide clear evidence with livestreamed recording, Fitzgerald said. The cameras can also be interactive with other police departments, and they are also recommended by the state attorneys office.

The department chose the company Axon, saying it was the best choice based on the services it provides such as replacements, warranties and training.

They are recommended, and 46 other departments in Connecticut use this particular model, Fitzgerald said. The company provides free training, and they will be replaced at no cost to the department for the first two years, and have a five-year warranty. An evidence officer will maintain and monitor the camera system.

Between five and six officers are on duty on a regular day, and all will be equipped with the cameras while on duty. The department is ordering 25 cameras, since each officer must have an individual one that is his or her responsibility, Blass said.

Fitzgerald stressed the importance of an officer having a camera.

When you want to know why an officer did what he did during an incident (or arrest), the camera footage and the dash footage is important, the chief said.

Dash cameras, according to Blass, turn on automatically when a police vehicle hits 60 mph or more, and when the vehicles emergency lights are activated.

Selectman Jack Bourque asked why the department needed 25 cameras. You might have 5-6 officers on any shift, he said. Why the extras?

Every officer has to have its own identifiable body camera, the chief said. When officers are within 30 feet of each other (or another person) they turn on automatically.

I think although the state is forcing this upon us, for officer safety and accountability, its in the officers best interests to have the best equipment we can find. Its for their safety as well as the publics. They are great safeguards for the community, he said.

What I also like is that with the warranty, we dont have to worry about replacing them ourselves, Fitzgerald said. Theyre automatically replaced if theres a problem.

Officers dont take the cameras home, they are left in a charging station at the Police Department. Fitzgerald said officers cant override or change a recording on the cameras.

The training on these will take some time  its sort of a long process, Fitzgerald said. Its important for them to be familiar with the equipment and understand how it works, what the benefits are.
Pottsville, PA (17901)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. High 93F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Pottsville, PA (17901)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. High 92F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Yellowstone is one of the highly loved American drama series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson that featured some of the prolific actors namely Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, and Gil Birmingham. As the series was recently renewed for the fourth season, the makers have announced a prequel to the series named 1883. According to the reports by Variety, the prequel will feature Sam Elliott, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in the lead and it is expected to begin filming this year.

Yellowstone prequel, 1883's shooting to begin this year

Paramount Network recently made an announcement that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who have worked together in several music albums, will be joining Sam Elliott as some of the lead cast members to Yellowstone prequel, 1883. Created by Taylor Sheridan, 1883 will feature on Paramounts new streaming service backed by 101 Studios and Bosque Ranch Productions.

The prequel will follow the Dutton familys journey through the Great Plains and is described as a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in Americas promised land  Montana..

While speaking about how Taylor creates amazing dramas with creativity, Tim McGraw stated, This is truly a dream job. Taylor has found a way of storytelling that brilliantly creates these epic dramas and family sagas with so much depth and creativity. The Duttons are tremendous characters and its so thrilling to be able to bring them to life. As a kid growing up riding horses, you think about dream jobs like this and I am just so excited to work with this amazing cast and crew..

Adding to it, Faith Hill also mentioned how it was an opportunity of a lifetime and stated, The Duttons are a formidable family and it is an absolute dream to bring such a strong female character like Margaret Dutton to life. I am humbled and honored to work with Taylor and his entire team..

On the other hand, Sam Elliott also praised the writing skills of the creator, Taylor Sheridan and added, It all starts with the writing, and Taylor Sheridan is a brilliant writer. I think the western genre speaks clearly to both of us. The classic struggles of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. Its all there, in 1883 and Im honored to be a part of it..

Tim McGraw and Faith hill will be essaying the roles of James and Margaret Dutton, the Dutton familys patriarch and matriarch while Elliott will be featured as Shea Brennan, a tough cowboy with some underlying melancholy to be revealed as he guides the emigranrs from Texas to Montana..

IMAGE: AP/SAM ELLIOTT INSTAGRAM

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Dr. Dre, one of the popular American musicians who have an approximate net worth of around $800 million, recently made the headlines when his oldest daughter, LaTanya opened up about how she did not receive any help from her father when she was homeless. She recently told the Daily Mail how she was living out of her car and working as a delivery driver to survive.

Dr. Dres daughter on not receiving help from father

During the interaction, LaTanya Young revealed how her father, Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $300,000 a month in spousal support and yet she was homeless working as a delivery driver. LaTanya, a mother of Tatiyana, Rhiana, D'Andre and Jason III, stated, I've been working in a warehouse and doing Uber Eats and DoorDash. My kids are staying with friends - they are not living in the car, it's just me. Stating further about her condition, she revealed, I'm taking odd jobs just to make it now - I got paid $15 an hour as an assembler at the warehouse. I'm trying to keep my head above water. I've been in debt for a while..

Dr. Dres daughter further revealed how she was living on her rental car and stated, It's an SUV that costs $2,300 for three weeks and I only paid for one week. Sooner or later they are going to take the car.. She also stated how she moved with her kids from Nevada to California a month ago to earn better money after her work dried up. The wage is higher in California - there was no work in Nevada. There weren't enough jobs. I have friends and family that will let us come back and forth but the majority of the time I'm living out of my car', she added.

Expressing her grief on how she asked Dr. Dres lawyer for help to which he stated that she will not be provided with any help as she spoke about Dr. Dre in the press. She also stated how it made her feel terrible that her kids never met their grandfather and stated, I'm just trying to communicate with him and see if he wants to talk to his grandkids. My kids are old enough to know who he is. They are in shock that he doesn't want anything to do with them..

While speaking about how she shouldve received help from her father, she mentioned, 'What Nicole has got is what my mom should have got. I honestly wrote a proposal and asked him if he could get a home for me and my sister and my kids.'He was supposed to put us through college and pay for our health insurance and he never did that. My mom felt like he never upheld his end of the bargain. I commend Nicole in a way - she did what she had to do..

IMAGE: DR DRE INSTAGRAM/DAILY MAIL

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Mini Mathur took to her Instagram and shared throwback pictures from her school days. As Mathur shared her post she also revealed that she was initially preparing to become a doctor but life had some different plans for her.

Mini Mathur shares throwback photos ask fans to spot her

Mini Mathur shared throwback photos from her college days, in the photo Mini appeared in the last row as she posed with her teachers and fellow classmates. As she shared the photo she wrote "Wouldnt have dug into memory lane for a yearbook photo if @srishtibehlarya hadnt tagged me in this lovely initiative. I spent my primary schooling years in Nigeria .. grappling with the local language and racism but the exposure made me tough, focused & good with people management. However, my true alma mater and shaper of purpose were my high school years at #delhipublicschool."

She further wrote that she was prepping to become a doctor "I was obsessed with being a doctor then so .. hardworking science student(Life had other plans for me obviously) but I also found my singing voice, debating chops, dancing feet and love for literature & culture in there. I ended up with a degree in English literature and a Masters in Business Management that navigated my life and career onto even better roads but school was the bedrock of all the wonderful things I do in my life."

Mini Mathur's post intended to amplify the NGO Save The Children's efforts to ensure a safe return to schools for all children, especially girls. Tagged by Srishti Behl Arya, Mini Mathur further challenged Katrina Kaif, Sayani Gupta and Swara Bhasker to join the "My School Memory Challenge" initiative.

Mini Mathur celebrates Eid in Kashmir

Mini Mathur took to her Instagram and shared a video as she and her family celebrated Eid in Kashmir. The video also featured her husband and director Kabir Khan as they enjoyed the Kashmiri cuisine. As she shared the video she wrote "What can be better than celebrating Eid in the green valley. Kashmir has always been very close to my heart.. first as a child and then when I got reacquainted with it as @kabirkhankk shot Bajrangi Bhaijaan in every nook and corner here. Its truly more beautiful than any part of the world I have seen. Kashmiri Wazwan has got to be my most favourite cuisine experience but sadly there are very few traditional Waze (cooks) left in the valley. Well.. Eid just got special because two of them from @cafelibertykashmir

cooked for the famjam today."

Image: Mini Marthur's Instagram

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After a mob attacked a Hindu temple in Pakistan, the Chief Justice of the Islamic Nation on Thursday took cognizance of the attack. According to the release issued by the Pakistan Supreme Court, Dr Ramesh Kumar, MNA and Patron in Chief, Pakistan Hindu Council on Thursday called on the country's CJ Justice Gulzar Ahmed at SC in Islamabad. The issue of attack on Hindu Temple in village Bhong of Rahim Yar Khan was also discussed, the release added.

Pakistan SC issues release

Informing that the Chief Justice of Pakistan has expressed grave concern over the tragic incident, the release issued by the Pakistan SC said that the CJ had fixed the matter before the court on August 6, 2021, at Islamabad with the directions to Chief Secretary Punjab and IGP Punjab to appear along with a report. The Chief Justice of Pakistan had also summoned Dr Ramesh Kumar, it added.

Read the full release here:

Mob attacks Hindu temple in Pakistan

Earlier on Wednesday, a mob attacked a Hindu temple in Pakistan's Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district by burning down parts of it and damaging idols. As the Pakistan police had failed to control the situation, a team of Rangers were called in to control the mob.

Giving out details of the incident, the Pakistan Police said that this attack on the Hindu temple took place in reaction to the alleged desecration of a Muslim seminary. Last week, an 8-year-old Hindu boy had allegedly urinated at a library of the seminary, which escalated tensions in Bhong, where the Hindus and Muslims had been living peacefully for decades.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Rahim Yar Khan Asad Sarfraz said that some 100 Hindu families are living in the area and police have been deployed there to thwart any untoward incident. Informing that no arrest has been made so far, he said that the first priority is to restore law and order and provide protection to the minority community.

Meanwhile, another police official said the temple has been damaged badly. He said, "The attackers were carrying sticks, stones and bricks. They smashed the deities while raising religious slogans and a part of the temple was burnt as well."

On Wednesday, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf parliamentarian Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani had posted videos of the temple attack on his Twitter wall, requesting law enforcement agencies to rush to the spot to stop its "burning and vandalising".

Attack on Hindu temple at Bhong City District Rahimyar Khan Punjab. Situation was tense since yesterday. Negligence by local police is very shameful. Chief Justice is requested to take action. pic.twitter.com/5XDQo8VwgI  Dr. Ramesh Vankwani (@RVankwani) August 4, 2021

In a series of tweets, he said, "Attack on Hindu temple at Bhong City District Rahimyar Khan Punjab. The situation was tense since yesterday. Negligence by local police is very shameful. Chief Justice is requested to take action." Dr Vankwani further said, "Strict action must be taken against those who attacked Hindu temple at Bhong. In contact with higher authorities. The situation is very critical right now."

(Image: AP, Twitter-@RVankwani)
In a written reply on Wednesday, the Centre denied considering including other minorities under the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha that while CAA has been notified in December 2019, eligible people will be granted Citizenship after appropriate rules are notified by it. Moreover, the Centre also Act. The Centre has requested an extension of time upto 09.01.2022 to frame the rules under the CAA.

Centre: 'Citizenship only after rules framed'

On July 27, Union Home Ministry sought another six months extension to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. This was the fifth extension sought by the government for framing these rules. According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within 6 months of presidential assent or seek an extension. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has stated that the Act will be implemented once vaccination drive is completed in India.

What is CAA?

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act amends the previous Citizenship Act 1955 to make refugees who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. Moreover, the Bill exempts the inner line permit areas in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh and areas falling under the Sixth Schedule in the regions. It will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.

Moreover, it also relaxes the terms of naturalised citizenship, from the original 14 years to five years. Anyone belonging the above-mentioned six religions and three countries can apply for citizenship after residing in India for the stipulated five years. The Act also allows cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders' citizenship if they violate any law, including minor offences like parking violations. The Supreme Court is yet to hear the 150 pleas challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), after it refused to stay its implementation.

Protests against CAA-NRC-NPR which began in Assam spread throughout the country, culminating in the Delhi riots in February 2020, where 54 were killed. Violent protests were witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar, Delhi, and Maharashtra. While thousands were detained by the police throughout the country, over 100 people have died in these protests. Several universities - Jamia Millia, Aligarh, Madras University witnessed clashes between police and students which resulted in alleged lathi-charging, tear gas and rubber pellet action by police and vandalism by protestors. The biggest protest was held by Muslim women in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh which was disrupted due to Delhi riots.
Strengthening India-UK cultural ties by embracing them, on August 4, British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis initiated a one-of-its-kind poll on Twitter in relation to his experience with popular South Indian delicacy, dosa. Pursuant to poll results, the British envoy listened to the followers and ditched the usual cutlery.

Taking to Twitter, Alex Ellis asked users, "So South India; how do I eat tomorrows dosa?"; wherein, about 92% people voted for 'hands' while eight opted for the 'knife and fork' option.



So South India; how do I eat tomorrows dosa?  Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) August 4, 2021

What surfaced the next day was fascinating, the British envoy abided to his viewers and shared a video of himself feasting on dosa with bare hands and ditched the knife and fork. Relishing the most widely accepted dish and go-to meal of India, the British High Commissioner said, "it tastes better with the hand". Interestingly, Alex Ellis captioned his tweet in Kannada.

92% of Twitter is correct! It tastes better with the hand. 



  |   |    https://t.co/fQJZ3bKfgW pic.twitter.com/xoBM2VEqxD  Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) August 5, 2021

This tweet won netizens' hearts and people started flooding his post:

WoW, Thats True Diplomacy, Your Excellency!

Graceful & Down to Earth to hear and honour People Feelings & Suggestions. Wishing You a Wonderful Times ahead, Sir.  N J Kennedy (@njkenny) August 5, 2021

Take a bow Mr.Ellis. You are so humble to learn it. Appreciated your spirit to learn.   Vijayalaxmi (@Vijayalaxmi__) August 5, 2021

With that tweet, you stole our heart    LetThereBeLight (@indian_better) August 5, 2021

Omg, you are so cool  Have a nice stay at our Bengaluru.  Prabhasini (@cinnabar_dust) August 5, 2021

Alex Ellis arrived in Karnataka to meet with the newly-inducted CM Basavaraj Bommai in person. In a tweet, the British diplomat shared, "Delicious Mysuru Masala Dosa!! A great way to begin my first visit to Bengaluru.   |   " Resorting to popular Kannada superlative slang, he added Spicy Dosa Bombat Guru towards the end.

Delicious #MysuruMasalaDosa!!

A great way to begin my first visit to #Bengaluru.



  |    pic.twitter.com/LDa2ZZ0Fua  Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) August 4, 2021

Historically, Indian food moved to the forefront of the British culinary scene during the Victorian colonisation and expansion era itself. Anglo-Indian cuisine - fuse of Indian dishes with British influence was born out of British imperialism. First Indian curry outlet in UK was established more than 200 years ago, since then the English have developed their taste buds and appetite for the grand Indian delicacies. It is undoubtedly amongst the most popular cuisines and currently, there exist more than 12,000 Indian restaurants in the British isles. Few even say that chicken tikka masala is considered a national dish of the UK (after fish & chips).
In a key development, the UK has decided to move India from the 'red' to the 'amber' list from August 8 thereby slightly easing the restrictions for travellers. After India was added to the 'red' list in April owing to the advent of the second COVID-19 wave, people had to not only take a COVID-19 test before travelling to the UK but also quarantine in a government-mandated hotel for 10 days after arrival where they would be tested twice for the novel coronavirus. Owing to the huge expenses and hassle involved, there was a growing demand for easing the travel norms between the two countries.

UAE, Qatar, India and Bahrain will be moved from the Red List  to the Amber List 



All changes come into effect Sun 8th August at 4am.



See the full list of changes made today here  [2/3]https://t.co/iYAJhsdm3y  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 4, 2021

Here are the new rules for travellers from India:

Take a COVID-19 test in the three days before travel

Before departure, it is necessary to book and pay for two COVID-19 tests to be taken after arrival in the UK besides completing a passenger locator form

On arrival, a person must stay in home quarantine for 10 days unlike the earlier hotel stay requirement

The COVID-19 tests must be taken on or before day 2 and on or before day 8 after arrival

Those fully vaccinated in the UK, the UK vaccination programme overseas or part of a UK-approved vaccine trial can skip quarantine and the day 8 test

COVID-19 situation in India

The UK's decision can be seen in the light of the improving COVID-19 situation in India. At present, there are 4,10,353 active novel coronavirus cases in the country out of which 3,09,33,022 patients have recovered while 4,25,757 deaths have been reported. The vaccination drive is gaining pace with 13.45 crore jabs administered in July- a 12.5% increase against June's 11.96 crore inoculations. Apart from Covishield and Covaxin, the Drugs Controller General of India approved Sputnik V and Moderna on April 12 and June 29 respectively.

From June 21 onwards. the Centre has started procuring 75% of the vaccine stock and distributing it to the states for free. Most importantly, this stock is now be used for all adults and not just those aged above 45. Without giving a specific deadline, the Centre has hinted that all adults might be vaccinated by December 2021. So far, 100.6 crore doses of Covaxin and Covishield have been ordered out of which 42.52 crore doses have been supplied. A total of 37,82,86,701 persons have been inoculated whereas 10,66,44,358 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too.
On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh police seized psychotropic drugs worth Rs 686 crores that were confiscated from a person's house and godown in the Thutibari region of Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh. The police have arrested the accused Ramesh Kumar Gupta while another person identified as Govind Gupta who is involved in the case is on the run.

The joint operation of the local police, administration and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has assisted to seize these huge-worth narcotics by raiding both the locations.

The SSB Commandant Manoj Singh said in a news briefing regarding the search that the raids were carried out in collaboration with the local police and the narcotics inspector. As per the police, the drugs confiscated are worth Rs. 686 crores some of which were sold in medical stores there. On the other hand, as the borders are open, some of these drugs were smuggled into Nepal.

According to ANI, Singh said, It is a big operation, hoping that the nexus will break and youth will be able to leave addiction behind. It was a well-coordinated raid. SDM Pramod and SSB Commandant Sanjay Kumar planned the operation together."

Pradeep Gupta, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Maharajganj, UP, stated that a large amount of material was recovered from the scene and that a complaint had been filed against the accused.

Giving more details about the operation, SP Gupta said that there were thousands of addicting injections, syrups, capsules, pills, and labels that were discovered.

He further said Ramesh Kumar Gupta is one of the accused, and the drugs were recovered from his house and godown. The location of the other suspect Govind Gupta is still unknown. This case is registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the Copyright Act, and IPC sections 419, 429, 467, 468, and 471.

Drugs seized in different states

Earlier, the same incident took place in Madhya Pradesh. In this case. the police confiscated 952kg of ganja worth approximately Rs 1.5 crores from a truck and arrested four people from Rewa district. After searching the truck, the police discovered 53 bags containing ganja stashed in a compartment beside the driver's seat

The Telangana police also confiscated a total of 3,653 kilograms of ganja worth Rs 7.3 crores, on July 27.

In the recent past, the Assam Police along with Maharasthra and Delhi Police have been on a mission to fight against the abuse of drugs.

(Image Credit: PTI)
In a breaking development on August 6, Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgement in restraining Future Group's deal with Reliance Retail. The top court will further decide whether Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator award in relation to the Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd. (FRL) merger deal is tenable under Indian law.

On April 14, Amazon moved to the Supreme Court against the order passed by the Delhi High Court. This disallowed Future Retail Ltd. (FRL) to sell its business to Reliance Retail under a deal of Rs. 24,713 crore. Kishore Biyani-led FRL told the Delhi HC on February 4 that Amazon opposed the Rs. 24,713 crore deal as the Reliance Retail was a competitor, a contention denied by the US-based e-commerce giant which was interested in salvaging FRL. Biyani's Future Group houses highly successful retail outlets such as Big Bazaar, Brand Factory, FoodHall, FBB, Central, Heritage Foods amongst others.

Amazon before SC against Delhi HC order restraining FRL's deal with Reliance

A single judge had stayed the order restraining FRL to deal business with Reliance Retail. In 2019, Amazon had invested in the Future Group which granted the international e-commerce giant about 4.8% stakes in FRL. According to Amazon and filings by them, the deal with FRL powered rights on Amazon to refuse further acquiring of shares in the Future Group.

The pandemic and stringent nationwide lockdown prohibited shops/stores from functioning, which had an adverse impact on businesses of Future Group. In July 2020, Reliance and the Future Group announced that the former was buying the latter. To this, Amazon had responded by filing a complaint before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

'Future Group breached the contract': Amazon

Previously, a division bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh had issued a notice to Amazon upon an appeal by FRL challenging the single judge order. The bench had ordered to attach assets of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group and others. The bench also stayed the order by a single judge imposing a cost of Rs. 20 lakhs on Future Group and its directors. The bench asked to deposit this amount to Prime Minister's Relief Fund for aiding and providing COVID-19 vaccination to senior citizens of the 'Below Poverty Line' (BPL) category in Delhi.

The aforementioned order had been passed on the US tech and e-commerce giant's plea that sought directions to enforce the arbitral award by SIAC. The award was in favour of Amazon. Thus, restricted FRL to execute a Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail. Amazon at SIAC argued that FRL had breached the contract by agreeing to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance.
Coming down heavily on the Centre, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti dubbed August 5 as a "day of mourning" in reference to two years since the abrogation of Article 370. Addressing the media on Thursday, she said, "It is a matter of shame that BJP is celebrating in the country for something which the Kashmiri is mourning. People are being rounded up. The shopkeepers are being warned to keep their shops open failing which their lease will be cancelled". Moreover, she vowed to "resist" the purported "unbridled oppression" and "gross injustice" heaped on the people of the Union Territory.

Ex-Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti remarked, "Thousands of our children are imprisoned under UAPA and many youngsters were hauled up in police stations in the last two days. They have been detained there until August 5 gets over. This barbarism and injustice will not continue and we will resist it". Furthermore, she contended that the Centre will have to restore the statehood and special status of J&K- which was revoked on August 5, 2019.

Maintaining that PDP will "compel" India to resolve the Kashmir issues, she added, "They should talk to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to address the internal dimension. And they should talk to Pakistan about the external dimension. There is no other alternative. They are already talking to Pakistan which led to the ceasefire. This has resulted in a reduction in infiltration. PDP feels that Jammu and Kashmir should become the bridge of peace between India and Pakistan. These fights have to stop."

   -            BJP        5  2019  BJP   370                :  ,  , 370     2     pic.twitter.com/O3WfuPc9Ju  ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) August 5, 2021

Abrogation of Article 370

A Presidential notification combined with requisite legislation passed by both the House of Parliament in August 2019 led to Article 370 becoming virtually redundant. This implied that the special status of J&K was scrapped. Additionally, the region was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Thereafter, restrictions on the movement of people and communication were imposed in the state, which was gradually lifted over the months.

After leaders such as former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were released post months of detention, 6 political parties joined hands to form the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration in August 2020. The principle aim of this alliance is to strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and statehood. Subsequently, PAGD emerged as the single-largest party in the first-ever District Development Council polls in J&K by bagging 110 seats.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Olympian Artem Dolgopyat arrived home to Israel on Tuesday to a hero's welcome after winning Israel's first-ever gold medal in artistic gymnastics.

On the ground at Ben Gurion International Airport, he soaked up cheers from the crowd, raising his medal and putting his other arm around his longtime partner, Maria Masha Sakovichas. The image captured the duality of Dolgopyat's life in Israel, between his history-making achievement for the country and its religious norms that prevent him from marrying Sakovichas because he is not Jewish under Orthodox law.

Dolgopyat made no mention of the marital issue, which his mother had lamented earlier this week.

This is really the warmest welcome I ever got in my life, he said. I want to cry from all the excitement, even more than the medal. Im just kidding, but really its also a very fun moment.

The Ukrainian-born Israeli gymnast was hailed as a national hero for winning Israels second-ever gold medal  and its first in artistic gymnastics. But the celebrations were briefly tempered after his mother said in the interview that the countrys authorities will not allow him to wed because he is not considered Jewish according to Orthodox law.

The state doesnt allow him to marry, Dolgopyats mother, Angela, told 103FM in an interview Sunday.

Her comments chafed some in Israel, which has perpetually grappled with the balance of religion and state since it was founded as a refuge for Jews 73 years ago.

Under its Law of Return, anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent is eligible for Israeli citizenship. But while Dolgopyats father is Jewish, his mother is not. Under halacha, or Jewish religious law, one must have a Jewish mother to be considered Jewish.

This discrepancy has resulted in tens of thousands of Israelis, many of them from the former Soviet Union, who live in the country, serve in its army, and in Dolgopyat's case represent it in the Olympics, but are blocked from Jewish rituals such as weddings and funerals.

Israel does not have a system of civil marriage and Israeli law mandates that Jewish marriages must be conducted by a rabbi authorized by the Chief Rabbinate. Christian and Muslim couples must also get married within their faith.

Those who do not meet the Orthodox standards set by the rabbinate  including same-sex couples, interfaith couples, and Israelis not considered Jewish by halacha  cannot get married in Israel. Instead, they must travel abroad to marry.

Attempts to legalize civil marriage have repeatedly foundered due to opposition by politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties.

Dolgopyats mother told the radio station that her son and his girlfriend have lived together for three years, but they cant marry. They need to go abroad, but they dont let him go abroad because he always needs to do sports.

The Olympic champion, for his part, tried to downplay the controversy. These are things I have in my heart, its not right to talk about this now, he told reporters in Tokyo.

Yair Lapid, Israels foreign minister, said Monday that he will fight in every way possible so that there will be civil marriage in order for Dolgopyat and others to marry in Israel.

He said it was intolerable that someone can win a gold medal for the country and not be able to wed.

Its insufferable in my eyes that someone can stand on the podium, hear Hatikva, and get a gold medal in the name of Israel, and then not be able to wed here, he said, referring to the countrys national anthem. Its a situation that cannot continue, and we will fight for change.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Continuing with its bid to promote China's homegrown COVID-19 vaccines (Sinopharm & Sinovac) as a "global public good", on August 4, Beijing boasted that it has provided more than 750 million doses of vaccines to over 100 countries. According to the Xi Jinping regime, over 190 million doses have been consigned to ASEAN member-countries, which include ten Southeast Asian states  Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Taking to Twitter to post a number of combative tweets and replies on a range of issues, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared as follows:

#China has provided more than 750 million doses of #vaccines to over 100 countries so far. Among them, more than 190 million doses went to the #ASEAN countries, along with other much-needed anti-#COVID supplies.  Spokesperson (@MFA_China) August 4, 2021

Netizens react to China's COVID vaccines' claims

Netizens were quick to respond to the latest China has to offer on how benevolent it is. While few reminded the Communist regime of COVID-19 originating from China, others sarcastically commented on China's domestic vaccines and their efficacy.

It was business not aid. pic.twitter.com/bPdMKlruxG  Darshan (@shankheswarboy) August 4, 2021

First create problems then sell the solution  ALOK PANDEY (@alokspndy) August 4, 2021

Vaccines which don't work.  Kankichi Ryotsu (@KankichiRyotsu2) August 4, 2021

Didn't provide accurate death figure of people who died of covid in China and now showing the world how china helped bloody nonsense   Jayesh Rana (@JayeshR38292065) August 4, 2021

Questions remain against China's COVID vaccines

China has been projecting itself as the front-runner in the COVID-vaccine race but outrightly failed to share correct information in relation to domestically developed COVID vaccines. While the Xi Jinping-led State boasts to have distributed millions of Sinopharm and Sinovac doses abroad, the state-owned manufacturers have not submitted a detailed later-stage result for scientists to independently analyse and conclude the vaccines' efficacy.

The WHO, however, was quick to approve administration of both Chinese-backed vaccines for emergency use purposes. In June, the WHO had stated that Sinovac vaccine "prevented symptomatic disease in 51% of those vaccinated and prevented severe hospitalisation in 100% of the studied population" whereas Sinopharm vaccine demonstrated a "vaccine efficacy for symptomatic and hospitalised patients at 79%". Notably, the WHO acknowledged that few adults over age 60 participated in the trials which potentially skewed the numbers as senior citizens (party to trials) were less vulnerable to contracting SARS-CoV-2 than the public at large.

Countries COVID cases surge despite Chinese jabs

While Beijing's COVID vaccines development process and their results have been shrouded in opacity, some countries that opted for Chinese jabs and have high vaccination rates are witnessing a surge in infection.

Chile re-imposed stringent curbs on travelling in response to the Delta variant wherein more than 70% of Chileans were fully vaccinated mostly with Sinovac vaccine. Currently, Chile remains under a state of emergency until October 1, 2021.

Despite a small population, Mongolia recently recorded its highest increase in COVID cases per capita. The country had administered more Chinese shots to its population than any other country in Asia. However, following the outbreak, for Mongolia, the way forward revolves around booster vaccines. The government will soon decide on which vaccine will be used hereafter, Pfizer and Novavax remain in contention.

In July, Thailand had changed its vaccine policy to mix China's Sinovac with the AstraZeneca vaccine with an objective to boost protection after hundreds of medical/frontline workers caught COVID despite being fully vaccinated with Sinovac. Similarly, Indonesia announced a similar move by giving Moderna booster shots to workers immunised with Sinovac. The main doctors and nurses' association in Jakarta stated at least 50 healthcare workers succumbed to SARS-CoV-2 despite receiving both doses of the Chinese vaccine.

In April the UAE had announced a third shot to recipients of the Chinese state-backed Sinopharm vaccine which was administered to the large international labour force in the country. Validating concerns over Chinese vaccines, Saudi Arabia and European Union barred travellers who have been vaccinated with Sinopharm/Sinovac.

Despite Beijing's aggressive vaccine diplomacy, countries in the ASEAN bloc have turned down the offer and signed deals for other vaccines since there is no transparency in the development and efficacy of Chinese vaccines.
Some of the summer hires on the Mediterranean party island of Ibiza are different this year: they include private detectives posing as tourists who tip off police about illegal parties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gumshoes are needed to infiltrate a growing number of prohibited parties and allow local police to break them up, Ibiza officials said Wednesday.

The city council of Eivissa, also known to foreigners as Ibiza Town and the islands largest city, has hired a detective agency to recruit sleuths who look like tourists. They must also come from outside the islands so they can't be recognized by locals.

Ibiza is famous for its nightlife, which attracts the worlds top DJs. Hundreds of thousands of tourists have headed to the Spanish island in recent months, as more Europeans get vaccinated and travel restrictions are eased.

But gatherings in large numbers are outlawed in Ibiza to fight the spread of COVID-19. The island has Spains highest infection rate, with 904 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days recorded Wednesday, compared with a national average of 633 cases.

Ibizas legendary nightclubs have been shuttered for more than a year and bars have to close at 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., a maximum of 10 people who live together can be in the same dwelling. But after the bars close, many people go on to covert parties in secluded areas or at private houses. Up to 200 people are known to have attended some events, authorities say.

The illegal parties are well-organized, cashing in on the lack of late bars, despite a potential 600,000 euro ($710,000) fine for organizers.

Hiring the undercover detectives is a pilot scheme that will be assessed in September.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on Thursday, expressed concern over escalating atrocities caused by the Taliban in Afghanistan's Lashkargah.

Lamenting at the present state of the war-ravaged country, the UN chief pointed out, "Nearly 3,60,000 people have been forcibly displaced by the raging conflict in Afghanistan since the start of the year."

UNAMA calls for an 'immediate' end to violence

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called for an immediate end to the conflict as civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence.

We can tell you that we are deeply concerned about the safety and protection of people in Lashkargah, in the south, where tens of thousands of people could be trapped by fighting, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, had said on Wednesday.

As per available statistics, 40 civilians have lost their lives and 118 have suffered injuries in Lashkargah in the last 24 hours. In Kandahar, at least five civilians have been killed and 42 wounded due to Taliban induced violence.

Nearly 5 million people displaced

Stephane Dujarric said that since the start of this year, nearly 360,000 people have been forcibly displaced due to the conflict and almost five million people have been displaced since 2012.

Dujarric pointed out that that the attacks on health facilities in the first half of 2021 continue to deprive 200,000 Afghan citizens the access to basic care.

We urge the parties to the conflict to protect civilians, aid workers, and civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, in compliance with international humanitarian law, she said.

Taliban ground offensive, Afghan National Army airstrikes wreak havoc

The UNAMA made it clear that the Taliban ground offensive and Afghan National Army airstrikes are causing the highest damage. It said that it is deeply concerned about the indiscriminate shooting and damage to health facilities and civilian homes. All parties must do more to protect civilians or the impact will be catastrophic, the UN Mission in Afghanistan stated.

The United Nation's Security Council, currently under the Presidency of India has also issued a press statement expressing concern over the "escalating violence in Afghanistan" and condemning the "deplorable attack" on a UN compound on July 30. The attack had led to the death of an Afghan security forces guard and had left several injured. Members of the 15-nation Security Council reaffirmed that there is no military solution to the conflict, and declared that they "do not support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate."

Afghanistan requests emergency UN meet

Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss convening an emergency UN Security Council Session. Minister Atmar said that the international community must play a greater role to stop the unfolding tragedy in the central Asian country.

The Taliban has stepped up its campaign to displace the Afghan government since April following the United States of America's decision to withdraw its troops from the country.

(With inputs from PTI, Picture by AP)
At the invitation of the Iranian government, Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Iran between August 5-6 for the swearing-in ceremony of Irans next President Ebrahim Raisi. The incoming hardline cleric is set to assume the Presidential office this week on Thursday after being officially endorsed by the Islamic Republics Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Irans eighth president.

In an official release on Aug. 4, Indias Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that S Jaishankar will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect H.E. Ayatollah Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi on August 5, 2021. It continued, During his visit, EAM will call on the President, and on the sidelines, will also meet other leaders.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that EAM Jaishankar will be on a two-day visit to Iran to represent India as the incoming president Ebrahim Raisi takes the leadership from the ousted President Hassan Rouhani. Similarly, the European Union announced that it would dispatch a high-level representative to attend the swearing-in of Iranian President-elect Raisi on Thursday. Israel meanwhile criticized the decision as Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Hayat tweeted: The decision of the European Union to send a senior representative to the swearing-in ceremony of the Butcher of Tehran is puzzling and shows poor judgment.

EEAS Mora in Tehran ahead of Raisi's inauguration

European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Secretary-General Enrique Mora on Wednesday visited Tehran ahead of the inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi. He held talks with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, involved in the negotiations of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal negotiation in Vienna. Iranian Foreign Ministry, Mora, and Araqchi exchanged dialogue related to key regional issues including the Taliban unrest in Afghanistan. Blocs diplomatic body said in a statement that EUs Mora will attend the inauguration on behalf of [EU top diplomat Josep Borrell]. EEAS spokeswoman Nabila Massrali tweeted, It is crucial to engage diplomatically with the new administration and to pass directly important messages.

The White House, meanwhile, had earlier made clear that US President Joe Biden has no plans to meet with the newly elected Iranian leaders as the US currently has no diplomatic relations with Iran, and not much has changed on that front. We don't currently have any diplomatic relations with Iran or any plans to meet at the leader level," the White House Press secretary told reporters. "Our view is that the decision-maker here is the Supreme Leader. And were looking forward to seeing where that goes moving forward. "
In a major escalation in the middle east, Israel, on Thursday launched aerial strikes on Lebanon, annihilating alleged rocket launchpads. The overnight strike came a day after three projectiles landed on Israels northern border, but failed to cause any casualties. Later, Israeli media reported that the rockets were fired by Palestinians residing along Lebanons southern border. The munitions triggered blazes, in both countries, amidst already difficult weather.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that they successfully bombarded the launch sites from where the Palestinian groups fired rockets the previous day and also additional targets that were used to attack Israel in the past. Blaming the state of Lebanon for shelling, the IDF warned against "further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israels sovereignty. Meanwhile, Hezbollah owned Al-Manar TV dismissed IDFs claim and said that Israeli strikes only hit an empty area in the Mahmoudiya Village in the Marjayoun district.

In response to the rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel today, IDF artillery forces are currently striking targets along the Lebanese border.  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 4, 2021

Not only is rocket fire from Lebanon at Israeli civilians an act of terrorism, it also is indicative of the Lebanese government's lack of governance of terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon.



The Lebanese government is responsible for all attacks from Lebanon.  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 4, 2021

Could jeopardise peace

The recent episode of strikes and counter strikes poses the risk of jeopardizing the fragile Peace Treaty signed in the aftermath of the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza-based Hamas. The war led to the deaths of 200 people on the Palestinian side including 61 children and 36 women. On the other hand, Israel lost 10 residents, including two children, a soldier, and an Indian-origin woman. According to reports circulating amongst Israeli Media, more than 3,350 rockets were been fired by the militants onto Israel with hundreds of them intercepted mid-air by Israel's Iron Dome system.

Additionally, it also threatens to exacerbate troubles in Lebanon which are already mired by economic and political crisis. It is also imperative to note that Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have been engaged in a shadow war for decades, especially along the sensitive Blue Line, which no invasion area designated by the UN.

Meanwhile, Beirut has condemned Israels aggressive strikes and announced that it will file a complaint at the United Nations. On Thursday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israels use of its air force to target Lebanese villages is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions against Lebanon.

Image: AP
Israel summoned Wednesday ambassadors of U.N. Security Council member states and urged for action against Iran following last weeks drone strike off the coast of Oman on a merchant vessel linked to an Israeli billionaire.

A joint statement by the defense and foreign affairs ministry said that Israel called on the diplomats to have their governments set clear boundaries for Iran ... to cease its aggressive conduct. At the same time, it restated that Israel will maintain the right to act independently in the face of any attack or threat to its citizens and sovereignty.

The United States, Britain and Israel have all blamed Iran for the drone strike on the Mercer Street last week that killed two, a British national and a Romanian. Iran has denied involvement in the incident.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran and its militia allies have used similar so-called suicide drones in attacks around the region. The Persian Gulf has seen a rise in attacks on commercial vessels in the aftermath of the disintegration of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told diplomats that Iran violated all of the guidelines set in the now defunct nuclear deal, saying it was time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds  otherwise the attacks will continue.

Israel has called for international pressure to halt what it has described as growing regional aggression by Iran, while also threatening to act alone to prevent its arch-enemy from obtaining nuclear weapons.

This is an attack on the worlds trade routes, this is an attack on freedom of movement. This is an international crime, said Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
After UAE allows passengers from India, Air Arabia and Emirates operated one flight each to the UAE on August 5 morning, from Cochin International Airport in Kerala. The two flights departed for the United Arab Emirates early morning after a new travel protocol eased COVID-19 restrictions. The ease in COVID restrictions allowed passengers from 6 countries, including India, to arrive in the UAE. The CIAL also initiated a dialogue with both UAE and Indian airlines to schedule departure operations. Airlines like Fly Dubai, Etihad, Air India Express, Indigo and Spice Jet are expected to begin UAE flight departure services soon.

The Air Arabia flight G9-426 departed to Sharjah at 3:50 am with 69 passengers on board. The Emirates flight operated EK 531 to Dubai with 99 passengers on board, and the flight departed at 10.30 am. S Suhas IAS, CIAL Managing Director, said that the smooth and swift commencement of International departures was due to the operational efficiency of CIAL. He also credited the other stakeholders like airlines, customs, immigration and ground handling agencies for the smooth operations and flights.

As per the schedules that have been released, the Air Arabia airline will be operating 2 regular daily flights (G9 421/422 SHJ-COK-SHJ 1530/1640 and G9 427/428 SHJ-COK-SHJ 1840/1920) in Sharjah Sector from August 7. Emirates will be operating a daily flight (EK 530/531 DXB 0844/1030 in Dubai Sector.

Suhas said, "CIAL has been doing intense follow up with the UAE aviation communities and we were able to start the Rapid PCR-testing centre at the departure terminal in a week succeeding to the announcement of Dubai Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management's which made it mandatory for the passengers from India. Following that Dubai authority issued a guideline on 3rd August accepting eligible passengers from India from August 5 and we facilitated a departure flight operation in the wee hours of the opening day itself".

New travel guidelines for Indians travelling to UAE

As per the new travel guidelines issued by UAE authorities, Indians who own resident visas, are fully vaccinated in UAE and have completed 14 days after the second dose will be permitted to UAE. This will be allowed on acceptance of their registration with either the GDRFA Dubai or ICA UAE. The passengers must have a negative PCR test certificate with 48 hrs validity and also undergo a Rapid PCR test at the departure airport. Other than India, the ban has been lifted for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda. The UAE's National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) put out a tweet saying, "These categories include those with valid residency permits who have received full vaccination doses in the UAE and 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose and who have vaccination certificates approved by the official authorities in the country."

(With inputs from ANI)

Image Credits: ANI/ PIXABAY/ SHUTTERSTOCK/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
An official said on Wednesday, August 4, that Taliban terrorists shot a young girl for not wearing a veil. She was being driven to the Balkh district center in Afghanistan when she was dragged from her car by Taliban gunmen, Afghanistan Times reported. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, has denied these claims.

Afghan women have been subjected to repressive laws and policies that date back to the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule when they imposed their version of Islamic Sharia law. Bezhan and Sarwar wrote that the Taliban forces women to cover themselves from head to toe, prohibits them from working outside the home, severely limits girls' education, and requires women to be accompanied by a male relative when they leave their homes.

Unaccompanied women are not allowed to purchase goods from shops in parts of Faryab because of Taliban restrictions. As Gandhara reported, residents said those who break the rules are often punished. Public floggings were also a feature of Taliban rule.

Afghan Women's Resistance movement

Ordinary Afghan women and men continue to fight and pursue their education despite recent Taliban attacks on Kandahar Airport and the threat by the Taliban. For example, women's education, movement have been restricted, and appropriate clothing and veil are compulsory in Taliban-controlled areas like Kandahar, Ghor, Kunduz, and Gazni. Many Afghan women, however, are still fighting back against these restrictions and the Taliban, despite the unfavorable circumstances. Fighting is more appealing to them than surrendering.

Gun handling training has begun for a group of women from the Ghor province. Assault rifles were carried by these women, who posted pictures of themselves on social media. Violence in the area has intensified. Women, meanwhile, are preparing to fight off attackers and provide support for their families. Women on a battlefield would be humiliating for Taliban commanders in Afghanistan's male-dominated society. Women, on the other hand, have been subjected to a series of assaults in the past.

In August 2021, the United States and NATO forces plan to withdraw from Afghanistan. Italy's defence forces have already handed over control of Herat Airport to the country's national security personnel. Taliban and government forces are both eager to seize control after the western military has left General Ajmal Omar Shinwari, the spokesperson for the government forces has threatened to push back against the Taliban. In the third week of July, the security forces killed 1500 Taliban fighters, giving them an advantage. And yet, violence hasn't gone down in incidences. The brutality has forced tens of thousands of families out of their villages and into the city to seek refuge.
An African house gecko, Hemidactylus Mabouia, is likely to be seen scampering up the side of a home in Florida or someplace in Central or South America closer to the Equator. The African house gecko is a little brown gecko that has spread over the Western Hemisphere. However, the gecko is native to southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and the surrounding territories. So, how did it get in Florida after crossing an ocean?

Africa gecko crossed the Atlantic Ocean

Researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of H. Mabouia in a report published in Royal Society Open Science on Wednesday, finding it to be a diversified assemblage of closely related species with as many as 20 lineages across Africa. They demonstrate that only one lineage, Hemidactylus Mabouia Sensu Stricto, was able to effectively spread over Central and West Africa as well as the Americas.

The study also provides a fresh technique to verify an old theory: that African house geckos stowed away on slave-shipping vessels in the Atlantic. The Aedes aegypti mosquito and many earthworm species are assumed to have been introduced to the Americas from Africa via the slave trade, and new research demonstrates the ecological repercussions of the slave trade in addition to the human toll.

Though much larger than a mosquito or earthworm, African house geckos are great stowaways. According to Ishan Agarwal, a herpetologist and one of the authors of the new paper, the little lizards reside in cracks and can go for long periods of time without nourishment. A single stowaway gecko with a stomach full of eggs may start a new gecko population in a new place without drawing any attention.

Aaron Bauer, a herpetologist at Villanova University and a co-author of the paper, said, "People never really looked at them." Many herpetologists believe geckos to be a "trash" species, meaning unattractive and weedlike. Dr Bauer originally considered reconstructing the African house gecko's evolutionary history around a decade ago. Dr Bauer was also aware of two 1960s publications that suggested a relationship between the gecko and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Researchers didn't have the technology to test the notion back then, but Dr Bauer could in the 2010s.

Trans-Atlantic slave trade

Despite this diversity, only one species, H Mabouia Sensu Stricto, has been successful in colonising the Americas. The ranges of all other H Mabouia geckos are constrained. This begs the question of whether Sensu Stricto possesses unique features that contribute to invasiveness, or if it was simply a matter of chance, according to Sarah Rocha, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vigo in Spain who was not involved in the study.

Some theories have been proposed by the authors. Unlike forest-bound geckos, H Mabouia Sensu Stricto is most commonly found in open regions in African countries, such as clearings and human villages.

The authors stress that their DNA research does not rule out the possibility of reptiles rafting across the Atlantic a thousand years ago in a different way.

But, according to Christian Kull, a geographer at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland who has examined flora imported by enslaved Africans, there is rarely a "smoking gun" piece of evidence in this type of research, such as the mention of a gecko in a ship's log. He wasn't involved in the study, but he thinks a gecko stowing away aboard ships is more likely than one "floating on a raft of water hyacinth washed out of the Congo River across the Atlantic."

The African house gecko is a commensal species, which means it benefits from being close to people. It lives in the vicinity of our structures and searches for bugs using artificial illumination as a signal. As a result, a gecko aboard a ship would not be uncommon, according to Dr Kull. It is not necessarily the gecko's fault, according to Dr Kull, that it has become so adept at living all over the planet. Geckos, rats, and cockroaches are examples of commensal creatures that are better viewed as passengers rather than invaders.

Picture Credit: Shutterstock/RepresentativeImage
Haitis PM Ariel Henry on August 3 said that the mastermind behind the assassination of President Jovenel Moise is most likely still at large. According to The New York Times, Henry remains baffled by the motive and also douts that the conspirators accused of plotting the killing had the ability to pull it off on their own. He said that he thinks there were a lot of people involved and there were people with access to a lot of money.

The people they have accused up until now, I dont see that they have the capacity, the web, to do it, the PM added.

According to reports, more than 40 people have been detained after Moise was shot 12 times and his wife seriously injured by a group of assailants who stormed into their bedroom in early July. The Haitian police and the prosecutors office continue to issue warrants of new suspects on a near-daily basis. Last month, the officials even accused a former Supreme Court judge over her links to the assassination.

Now, it appears the assailants had planned for months in Florida and Haiti and involved flying in two dozen Colombian ex-commandos to the country. Henry, who was appointed by Moise shortly before his death, said that he remained baffled by the crimes ultimate motive. The Prime Minister said that he thinks he is at risk too from the people who killed the president. Could they do it again? I dont know, Henry added.

The Prime Minister went on to say that his prime goal now was to hold free and fair elections to stabilize the country. He said that he was in talks with political parties and civil leaders to appoint a new electoral board and draft a new constitution that will be presented to voters for approval. Further, Henry even promised to improve Haitis dire security crisis before the vote. But he added that he would not run for office in the elections.

Presidents widow recounts assassination

The PM comments come after the Haitian police arrested Jean Laguel Civil, who served as general security coordinator when Moise was killed in the middle of the night at his private residence. Police are still looking for various suspects, including a former rebel leader and an ex-Haitian senator. But it remains unclear who organized and financed the plot that included recruiting former Colombian special forces soldiers and at least two Florida-based companies.

Meanwhile, the wife of the slain Haitian President said the men who murdered her husband also believed they had killed her in the assassination. In her first interview since the assassination, Martine Moise told The New York Times about the terrifying moments when gunmen burst into their home, shot her and then killed the president before rifling through her husbands files looking for something. Martine revealed that the killers eventually found what they were looking for, and made cursory efforts on their way out to see if she was still alive.

(Image: AP)




On August 5, India has appointed senior diplomat Akhilesh Mishra as the country's High Commissioner to Ireland, External Affairs Ministry announced. According to EAM's statement, Mishra is a 1989 Indian Foreign Service-batch officer and on special duty in the foreign ministry at present. He is expected to take up the charge shortly after his appointment.

EAM's statement read, "Shri Akhilesh Mishra, presently Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Ireland. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly."

Akhilesh Mishra's predecessor is Sandeep Kumar, who joined the IFS in 1985 and became Ambassador of India to Ireland from November 2018. Kumar served in various missions abroad, viz Croatia, Hong Kong, Paris, Cape Town and Kabul. He was also on deputation to UNDP in Kabul (Afghanistan), where he worked on police reforms. From 2013 to 2015, he had served as Joint Secretary in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Division of the Indian EAM. Previously, he also served as Ambassador of India to the Republic of Croatia.

Ireland eases travel restrictions for Indian students

Amounting to relief to students who have enrolled in foreign universities, on July 28, the Government of India notified that travel restrictions had been eased for Indian students in countries, such as the US, Ireland, UK, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, etc. Travel restrictions were pursuant to COVID restrictions globally; however, GOI has constantly endeavoured not to let the pandemic hamper students' educational plans.

"The Centre has been making efforts so that the curbs can be eased for Indian students enrolled in foreign universities. Our missions abroad have been actively taking up these issues with respective Governments and been impressing upon them to ease travel restrictions. The matter has been taken up at Ministerial level in several countries," MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan had said in Rajya Sabha on July 29.

On July 30, Indian Embassy in Ireland announced Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA), a scheme of the Ministry of Education, GOI, for admission to Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes in Indian Engineering /Architecture /Planning to National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other CFTIs (excluding IITs). Under the scheme, admission is offered to eligible foreign nationals studying in any country (including India), wards of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), Non- Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to pursue technical education in India. DASA Scheme was notified by the Ministry of Education (previously Ministry of Human Resource Development) in May 2001.

Image Credit: Twitter- Akhilesh IFS
Arindam Bagchi, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, said that India is closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and continues to call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire. He spoke about the ongoing offensive in the war-torn state and said that India supporting the government and people of Afghanistan. This support has been extended with respect to their aspiration for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future. The aim of this support is to develop a future in the country where the interests of all sections of society in Afghanistan are protected. This protection must include women and minorities as well.

India closely monitoring security situation in Afghan, calls for an immediate ceasefire: External Affairs Spokesperson

Bagchi spoke about the relationship between India and Afghanistan and said, "Our relationship covers various aspects, including a strong development partnership component. We're also strategic partners and our relationship is guided by a strategic partnership agreement that both countries signed in 2011". He also added that India will continue to back the Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan-controlled peace process. The spokesperson further added, "We are closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan. We continue to call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire".

On Aug 9th evening IST, PM will preside over a high level virtual open debate of the UNSC on the topic 'enhancing maritime security - a case for international cooperation' under the agenda item 'maintenance of international peace & security': MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi  ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2021

This would be the first time that an Indian PM would be presiding over a meeting of the UN Security Council: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi  ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2021

India to discuss Afghan security issue at the United Nations UNSC meet on Taliban violence

Bagchi backed a statement issued earlier this month, by the United Nations. The statement condemned the ongoing violence in Afghanistan. The UNSC members expressed deep concern earlier this week. Their concerns were regarding the high levels of violence in Afghanistan. The members called for an immediate reduction of violence. Bagchi also said that India will share its vision and perspective on Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council meet on August 6, Friday. The UNSC will be meeting on Friday under India's presidency to discuss the surge in violence by the Taliban and the deteriorating security situation. To this, Bagchi stated, "As regards to the UN security council, the issue of Afghanistan will be deliberated there tomorrow. During tomorrow's debate, we will share our vision and perspective on Afghanistan. And we look forward to important deliberation on this important issue". Afghanistan has been witnessing a sharp spike in violence. This has been increasing ever since the US and NATO forces have been pulling back from the country. The Taliban has intensified violence against civilians and Afghan security forces.

With inputs from ANI.

(IMAGE: ANI/AP)
Pashtun leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai denounced the Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan for its support to the war in Afghanistan. Achakzai, who is the leader of Pakistans Awwami National Party's leader also noted that peace in the war-stricken nation is essential for regional stability. As per news agency ANI, he recently also said that the world should respect Afghanistans independence as the Taliban continues to make advancements in the country and has even reimposed some of its repressive laws.

He reportedly said that if Pakistan failed to take action, the war in Afghanistan would eventually reach Islamabad. Achakzai added, There is a need for a single flag to be flown over Afghanistan and the world should respect the independence of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Taliban and the Afghanistan government are still poles apart in the United States-backed peace negotiations with the insurgent group demanding the lions share of power in any new government in the war-stricken country, said the special US envoy on August 3.

Afghan-born US veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad assessed that Taliban-Afghan peace process as the extremists continue to make political advancements on provincial capitals that have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians as the US troop withdrawal nears its completion after 20 years of war.

"At this point, they (the Taliban) are demanding that they take the lion's share of power in the next government given the military situation as they see it," Khalilzad told the Aspen Security Forum in an online conference.

'Sudden US Troop Withdrawal Is Worsening Situation'

Earlier, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on August 2 said the countrys deteriorating situation in the face of the Taliban's advancements is due to the sudden decision of the United States to withdraw its troops. However, Ghani also added that his government had a plan to bring the situation under control within a period of six months. With the withdrawal of American troops, Taliban insurgents have moved into three provincial capitals in the last few days. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has already announced that American soldiers would leave the war-stricken country by September.

In a speech to the Afghan parliament, Ghani said, The current situation is due to a sudden decision on the withdrawal of the international troops...We have had an unexpected situation in the last three months."

IMAGE: Representative
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador T S Tirumurti, who is currently the president of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), informed on Thursday that the council will be holding a meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The Indian envoy informed that the meeting will be held on Friday, making it the first meeting under Indias presidency. Following the announcement, the Afghanistan government came forward in acceptance. Afghan envoy Farid Mamundzay in a tweet thanked India for the decision taken in the lead role as UNSC President.

Afghan envoy thanks India over UNSC presidency

The UNSC, which is currently under the presidency of India, decided on an emergency meeting after it condemned the restoration of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan and the Talibans efforts to take control over the country. In a press statement issued by Council President, the council had declared that they do not support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate. The development was accepted by the Aghan envoy.

Further pushing for the need for UN and international communities to work together, Farid Mamundzay tweeted, Convening an emergency UN Security Council Session on Afghanistan is a positive development. UN & the international community must play a greater role to stop the unfolding tragedy due to violence & atrocities by terrorists. Thank you India for the lead role as UNSC President. Earlier, Afghanistan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Haneef Atmar had informed that he had a conversation regarding the same with Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar. Atmar had also said that he appreciates the lead role of India as the current UNSC President.

India's role in Afghanistan peace process

India has been a major stakeholder in the peace and stability of Afghanistan. Having already invested nearly USD 3 billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the war-ravaged country, India has been in support of a national peace and reconciliation process that is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled. It has also been calling upon sections of the political spectrum in Afghanistan to work together to meet the aspirations of all people in the country, including those from the minority communities, for a prosperous and safe future. During the beginning of Indias presidency over the UNSC, Indian envoy Tirumurti had said that terrorist camps cannot be allowed to sprout in Afghanistan as the country witnesses deadly fighting and violence in the region due to the emergence of Taliban forces.

IMAGE: ANI/ PTI
On Thursday, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the appointment of second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof from Brunei as a special envoy to Myanmar. Yusof has been appointed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "The Secretary-General welcomes...Erywan Yusof...as Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar," ANI quoted UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Secretary-General @antonioguterres welcomes appointment of #Bruneis Erywan Yusof as @ASEANs new Special Envoy on Myanmar and renews his urgent call on #Myanmars military to respect the will of the people, refrain from acts of violence and repression.https://t.co/20AeE3AJzN  UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) August 4, 2021

Speaking about the UN agenda for Myanmar, chief Guterres said that the United Nations looks forward to "continuing cooperation with ASEAN on coherent response to Myanmar crisis." He reiterated his call to the Myanmar military to respect the will of people and refrain from violence. The UN has also focused on extending "humanitarian and life-saving assistance" along with unimpeded support to all the international communities which tend to cooperate on the same, spokesperson Dujarric added.

ASEAN decision on 'Crisis Envoy' for Myanmar

After a month-long delay in discussions, the Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers appointed Brunei's Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as the special envoy to Myanmar. According to a joint statement released after the annual meeting, foreign ministers of the Southeast Asians said that Erywan would begin his work as a mediator to "build trust and confidence with full access to all parties concerned," the ANI reported from Kuala Lumpur.

In the last meeting, three members from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia were shortlisted to be designated as the bloc's special envoy to try and induce settlement terms between the ruling generals and the Aung San Suu Kyi-led rival parties in Myanmar. Even though rival parties favoured the Thai envoy, the ASEAN was quite unsure about the reactions from the Myanmar junta. Such matters resulted in painstakingly slow progress to decide an envoy who would ensure fruitful mediation between the two powers in Myanmar, and an ASEAN member informed ANI under the clause of anonymity. Finally, the ASEAN was later able to persuade the military government to allow a mediator to resolve the year-long impasse in the country.

The ASEAN has been concerned about violence, and political crisis amidst the out-of-control pandemic in military-ruled Myanmar after the Aung San Suu Kyi's government was toppled in February this year. However, the organisation was cuffed due to its pacts of non-interference in the internal affairs of the member nations.

The Myanmar conflict

On February 1, the Myanmar junta deposed the Aung San Suu Kyi-led NLD government and annulled the November 2021 general elections. The Commander-in-Chief declared a year-long emergency in the state after President Win Mynt was charged with breaching COVID-19 pandemic restrictions under the 25 section of the National Disaster Management Law. The junta also detained the State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi and the Ministers of Parliament.

The coup d'etat triggered a wave of protests and paved the way for mass violence in the country. According to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as many as 945 people have been killed since the military takeover took place in February. On August 1, Military Commander Min Aung Hlaing declared that he would remain in charge until 2023, when he plans to hold an election.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image Credit: AP (representative))
World Health Organizations (WHO) chief on Wednesday called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September to enable the worlds most vulnerable and countries witnessing vaccine shortage due to inequality to be inoculated. I understand the concern of all Governments to protect their people from the Delta variant, but we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the worlds most vulnerable people remain unprotected, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus told a press conference on Wednesday.

Addressing the countries that kick-started the third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine or the booster dose among adults for enhanced immune defence functioning against the hypervirulent delta variant, Tedros said, that thus far more than four billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered worldwide, and 80 percent of them in high- and middle-income countries. Less than half of the worlds population live there, Tedros reminded.

Reiterating the request that he made in May about the international support to promote global vaccinations, Tedros said that the goal of enabling a minimum of 10 percent of each countrys population to be vaccinated by the end of September hasnt been achieved yet. As of May, high-income countries had administered about 50 doses for every 100 people, a figure that has since almost doubled, while a lack of supply in low-income countries has left only 1.5 doses for every 100 people, the WHO chief stressed.

Some rich countries are considering booster doses even though there are hundreds of millions of people waiting to have access to a first dose, he said denouncing the move, adding that vaccines must be diverted to low-income countries.

#HealthWorkers, older people & other at-risk groups need #COVID19 vaccines now. @WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated. #VaccinEquity pic.twitter.com/6AwkppgbJj  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 4, 2021

Israel, Turkey, Hungary start administring 'third' booster COVID shot

WHO chief's remarks come after Israel last week announced that it will start administering the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to elderly Israelis aged 60 and above. Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the third shot of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, kicking off the campaign. Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash told health management organizations (HMOs) that the third booster shot should be given to the elderly vulnerable population for better immune defence against the highly contagious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.

Hungary also announced that it will offer citizens a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from the beginning of August. Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a presser earlier this week that there has been a rise in demand for booster shots amid the variant spread. Turkey also joined the league saying that amid the concerns of the hypervirulent Delta variant peak, it would offer a third vaccine dose to all the essential frontline healthcare workers and the elderly population aged 50 and above.
A federal judge in Nevada has revived elements of a securities fraud lawsuit seeking class-action status for allegations that executives at Wynn Resorts Ltd. knew about, but disregarded, reports of sexual harassment and misconduct against company founder Steve Wynn.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon ruled the case can go forward alleging that Steve Wynn, board members and top executives at his Las Vegas-based company violated Securities and Exchange Commission laws and rules through material misrepresentations and omissions.

Wynn has denied allegations that became public in January 2018 with a Wall Street Journal report about dozens of casino employees describing, as the judge noted, behavior that cumulatively would amount to a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.

The former casino mogul, now 79, resigned as company chief executive and board chairman shortly after the Journal article appeared and has multiple ongoing court fights.

His attorneys in the current case, Colby Williams in Las Vegas and Michelle Johnson and Colleen Smith in California, declined to comment about Gordon's order.

A different federal judge dismissed the complaint in May 2020, but allowed plaintiffs led by John Ferris and Joann Ferris to amend and refile the case.

It seeks unspecified damages for unnamed holders of Wynn stock that plunged in value more than 17% after misconduct allegations became public.

The court's decision underscores the fact that alleged sexual misconduct and harassment by corporate executives are material issues for investors, especially when management turns a blind eye to reports of wrongdoing, said Murielle Steven Walsh, attorney for the plaintiffs. This type of misconduct poses a threat to a company's financial success.

Gordon, in his 42-page order issued July 28, said the revived case should focus on two statements made by the company:

One, a press release responding to allegations raised in a legal filing by Wynns ex-wife, Elaine Wynn, regarding serious misconduct and misuse of company resources by (Steve) Wynn."

Second, statements by the company and Steve Wynn responding to the Journal article.

At this stage, the judge said, plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that Steve Wynn, current company president and CEO Matt Maddox, and two other executives, Kimmarie Sinatra, former executive vice president general counsel and secretary, and Stephen Cootey, former chief financial and accounting officer and treasurer, were aware of information contradicting their statements that denied misconduct allegations.

"The inference that these defendants were aware of Wynn's alleged misconduct at the time of their statements is cogent and compelling, Gordon wrote.

Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver said in a statement that the company looks forward to the case moving beyond the allegation stage.

Wynn Resorts owns and operates casinos in Las Vegas, Massachusetts and the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.

Its statement said similar allegations were investigated in 2018 and 2019 by Massachusetts and Nevada gambling regulators and both "affirmed the companys and its current executives licensure and good standing.

In February 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission ended a year-long probe and fined the company a record $20 million for failing to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against Wynn before he resigned.

Then-Commissioner Philip Pro, a former federal judge, said investigators found a failure of a corporate culture to effectively govern itself as it should.

In April 2019, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts $35 million for executives failure to disclose years of allegations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn. It also fined Maddox $500,000 for a clear failure to investigate at least one misconduct complaint.

Massachusetts regulators said they were troubled by the systemic failures and pervasive culture of non-disclosure at Wynn Resorts.

The company agreed in November 2019 to accept $20 million in damages from Steve Wynn and $21 million more from insurance carriers on behalf of current and former employees of Wynn Resorts to settle shareholder lawsuits accusing company directors of failing to disclose misconduct allegations.

The agreements made no admission of wrongdoing.

In another ongoing legal case, the Nevada Supreme Court is considering Steve Wynns appeal of a decision last December by the Nevada Gaming Commission to consider fining him up to $500,000 and declare him unsuitable to renew his gambling ties to the state.

Steve Wynn also has a pending defamation lawsuit against The Associated Press and an AP reporter based on a story about accounts to Las Vegas police from two women who alleged sexual misconduct by Wynn.

Wynn owned, built and operated notable Las Vegas properties including the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio before building the Wynn and Encore resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems to Taiwan, Pentagon said on August 5. The announcement comes amidst escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, both of whom have been trying to increase their military and diplomatic presence in the Indo-Pacific region. While the US had concluded major arms sales last year, which included drones and coastal missile defences, this is the first time that the Biden administration has approved arms sales to the autonomous island.

The deal, which is valued at US$750 million, encompasses multiple howitzers, 1,698 precision guidance kits for munitions, spares, training ground stations, and upgrades for Taiwans previous generations of howitzers. It is imperative to note that the much-vaunted Howitzers are large ranged weapons that stand between artillery guns and mortar.

"The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) of 155mm M109A6 Paladin Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer System and related equipment for an estimated cost of $750 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today," the state department said in a statement.

Why is the US supplying arms?

China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, has ramped up its military presence in the region surrounding the island. Amidst the continued threat of Chinese invasion, Washinton has taken the onus of supporting Taipei. Earlier this year, Joe Biden, clarified his stance after inviting a top Taiwanese official to his swearing-in ceremony. However, it is imperative to note that like most other countries, Taiwan does not have any formal ties with the county but is required, by law, to support the country with the means to defend itself. While the States department has approved the deal, specifics of the deal have not been revealed as yet.

Taiwans gratitude

In the aftermath, the Taiwanese defense ministry expressed "sincere gratitude" to the US government's commitment to the Taiwan Relation Act & Six Assurances. The deal would allow the country to maintain a rock-solid self-defense, & regional peace & stability, it said in a tweet. In addendum, the ministry called the continuous U.S. arms to support a "basis for maintaining regional stability."

We welcome @StateDept's approval of a proposed US$750M arms sale to #Taiwan. The decision demonstrates the #US government's commitment to the #TaiwanRelationsAct & #SixAssurances. It also allows the country to maintain a rock-solid self-defense, & regional peace & stability. https://t.co/3IVd2GMWUa   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) August 4, 2021

Image: AP
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Media outlets fear that the committee will serve as a tool for intimidating and threatening independent reporters.

Reporters at the now defunct English-laguage newspaper Cambodia Daily watch a video clip featuring Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha at their newsroom in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on Sept. 3, 2017.

Cambodian journalists and rights groups are voicing concern over the authoritarian governments creation of a new committee to promote journalism ethics and professional standards with the power to discipline reporters.

The Monitoring Committee for Journalism Ethics Practice, launched on Monday, has spawned worries among journalists that it will be used by authorities as a tool to intimidate independent reporters and stifle critical coverage of Prime Minister Hun Sens government.

Cambodia, which ranks toward the bottom of global press freedom indexes, launched a crackdown in 2017 on independent media, civil society, and the opposition  closing several newspapers and banning the main opposition party and arresting its leader. Amid the crackdown, RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September 2017.

The committee will review reports and complaints from the public or other media outlets against journalists and news organizations, as well as resolve disputes over journalistic ethics and professional standards among reporters or media outlets and individuals, government bodies, and other organizations.

The committee also has the power to summon any journalist or media outlet, and its recommendations can influence Cambodian Information Ministry decisions on punishing violations of ethics and professional standards.

Rights groups say the panel underscores the further erosion of freedom of expression under the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled the country of 16 million people since 1985. His Cambodian Peoples Party holds all 125 seats in parliament, the result of banning the opposition before 2018 elections.

The government still doesnt understand that freedom of expression means that it isnt the boss of journalists or the media, said Brad Adams, Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.

This is just another landmine planted to blow up on people reporting news that the government doesnt like or on critics on social media, he said. The government should focus on the COVID crisis and rooting out corruption instead of harassing journalists.

Since 2020, the government has prevented independent journalists from reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, blocked news sites, arrested journalists, and declared a state of emergency that gave it unprecedented power to censor traditional and online media, critics say.

Ranking Cambodia 144 among 180 countries in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, the media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Cambodians now only have access to news provided by major media groups directly linked to Hun Sen, such as the online news agency Fresh News, which pumps out pro-government propaganda.

Narrowing the space for journalists

Local freelance reporter May Tithara told RFA he feared the new panel will become a burden to or put pressure on some independent journalists, if disciplinary measures are imposed against them or their media outlets without proper consultations among all committee members.

Hang Samphors, managing director of the NGO Womens Media Centre of Cambodia, told RFA that professional journalists should be protected, rather than subjected to disciplinary measures.

Journalists play an important role in reporting real news for the public, she said. They serve as a bridge between the public and the state. Without journalists, real news and concerns from the public would never reach the state.

The more restrictions on journalists, the narrower the space for journalists to perform their work for the public, she added.

The 15 members of the committee  led by Buth Bovuth, the Information Ministrys secretary of state  are senior officials or advisors to the ministry and journalism experts.

The members include Nop Vy, head of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA), an independent network formed by former reporters of the Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post, which were forced to shut down during Hun Sen's crackdown.

Nop Vy told RFA he welcomed efforts to set and enforce professional ethics and standards, but said there must be transparent discussions prior to decisions on disciplinary measures against journalists or media outlets.

If the committee performs its work without proper principles or a clear basis, it will solve problems or take measures based on its sentiment, he said, noting that most of the bodys members are government representatives.

Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said the new committee was created not to put pressure on journalists or to target journalists for disciplinary measures, but to direct journalists and media outlets on how to properly comply with journalistic codes of ethics and professional standards.

For those who have improperly performed their work by failing to uphold the journalistic code of ethics and professionalism, the committee will examine whether to take disciplinary measures against them so as to give them orientation to perform their work properly  as determined by existing laws and legal instruments, Meas Sophorn said.

We will give commendations and encouragement to those journalists who properly perform their work, he added.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Fears are growing over the health of jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan after she was sent for medical treatment at the end of July for malnutrition following several months of hunger strike in a Shanghai prison.



Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, 37, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by Shanghai's Pudong District People's Court on Dec. 28, 2020.



One of a group of citizen journalists detained, jailed or "disappeared" after they went to the central city of Wuhan to cover the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zhang was sent to see the doctor by prison authorities on amid rising concerns for her health on hunger strike.



Her mother said via social media that her daughter currently weighs just 40 kilograms, and is seriously malnourished with swollen legs and feet.



Zhang has been eating very small amounts of food in protest at her imprisonment in order to avoid forced intubation and feeding.



She pleaded not guilty at her trial, where she appeared in court in a wheelchair.



Blogger Zhang Zhan, detained after reporting on the Wuhan coronavirus, in a screenshot from a video. Credit: Zhang Zhan Health concerns

Hunan-based rights activist Tan Binglin, who staged a lone street protest in support of Zhang in Buyunqiao township near Hunan's Hengyang city on Aug. 4, said he hoped Zhang would end her hunger strike.



"I think her life is the most important thing," Tan told RFA. "I want people to fight, but I don't want people to martyr themselves."



"That applies to myself and to Zhang Zhan; I don't want her to suffer serious damage to her health," he said.



"We have known all along that she has probably been on hunger strike, but the authorities have used various methods to prevent her family from seeing her or getting news of her," Wang Jianhong, who directs the U.S.-based rights group Humanitarian China, told RFA.



"This is the first confirmation we have had that she is still on hunger strike many months later," Wang said.



Wang said Zhang's approach was to eat very little food to avoid forced feeding by tube.



"Even so, she is still fighting for her life," she said.



Appeal or negotiations

Human rights lawyer Li Dawei said Zhang should lodge an appeal against her sentence so as to give a lawyer to opportunity to negotiate an end to the hunger strike.



"Her appeal representative could perhaps meet with Zhang Zhan and work with her to end the hunger strike or other forms of resistance, and maybe ease the situation and negotiate an early release," Li said.



But he said the likelihood of the case being overturned on appeal was very slim in the current Chinese judicial system.



Kiri Kankhwende, a spokesperson for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which has been following Zhang Zhan's case, said the group is very worried.



She said the ultimate solution would be to release Zhang because she shouldn't have been put in prison in the first place.



But she called for her release on medical parole as a matter of urgency.



Zhang was found guilty by the Pudong court of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the government.



She was accused of "posting false information" on overseas social media platforms Twitter and YouTube, and for giving interviews to foreign news organizations.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Refugees are slipping through barbed wire-topped fences in search of work, domestically or abroad, officials say.

Rohingya men who were intercepted as they tried to leave refugee camps in Cox's Bazar are detained at a government building in Ramu, Bangladesh, July 26, 2021.

Rohingya refugees are increasingly slipping through barbed wire-topped fences that surround their camps in southeastern Bangladesh in search of work, domestically or abroad, officials said Thursday.

Police said 437 Rohingya had been detained since July 7 after leaving their camps in Coxs Bazar, while some told BenarNews that they needed to find work because humanitarian relief was barely enough to live on. Bangladeshi authorities prohibit the refugees from seeking employment outside their camps and settlements in the district.

In a bid to enforce strict lockdown, we set up checkpoints at different places of Ramu upazila [sub-district]. Almost every day, Rohingya people are intercepted, Pranay Chakma, chief of Ramu, an upazila or sub-district in Coxs Bazar, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, on Thursday.

They are residents of the camps in Ukhia and Teknaf," he said.

About 1 million Rohingya are sheltering in Coxs Bazar, including more than 740,000 who fled from Myanmars Rakhine state following a military crackdown there nearly four years ago.

Coxs Bazar district police records show officers arrested and intercepted nearly 59,000 Rohingya attempting to flee the camps between August 2017, when the mass exodus from Myanmar began, and December 2020.

More recently, district police reported that security personnel intercepted 33 Rohingya on Wednesday and 64 on Thursday.

They very often flee. Now, we can catch them because of the checkpoints. The interception hints that possibly the Rohingya trend of deserting camps has increased, Chakma said.

The Rohingya escapees do not move in a group; rather they cross the checkpoints individually, he said.

Md. Hasanuzzaman, superintendent of police for Coxs Bazar district, said officers set up five checkpoints around the area.

When we catch Rohingya we send them back to the camps after interception, he told BenarNews.

Bored with eating the same food

A BenarNews correspondent who lives in the southeastern border region spoke to Rohingya who were caught trying to leave their camps.

Mahmudur Rahman, 35, a resident of Kutupalong Camp 2 in Ukhia, said he wanted to help his family.

The World Food Program provides us rice, lentils, edible oil, salt and other foodstuffs. We are bored with eating the same food, he told BenarNews.

The children often ask for fish and meat, but we do not have money. So we go outside the camp for work for cash to buy that.

Another refugee Nur Mohammad, 30, told BenarNews that he was heading to a nearby sub-district to find work.

Many Rohingya get out of the camps for menial work at farms and brick kilns there. We also work as day laborers, he said.

Detained Rohingya are under supervision at Ramu in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, as they wait to be returned to their refugee camps, Aug. 5, 2021. [BenarNews]

Locals, meanwhile, accused the Rohingya of taking jobs meant for Bangladeshis.

We have given them shelter on humanitarian grounds. But within years, the refugees have become a threat to the local people. Many local people were killed by the Rohingya, said Mahmudul Haque Chowdhury, the founder of Rohingya Repatriation and Prevention Committee, a local group demanding immediate repatriation of the Rohingya.

The government erected barbed wire fencing around the camps to stop their movement but they have been fleeing the camps. This is a big threat for the host community, he told BenarNews.

An official with another anti-Rohingya group made similar complaints about the refugees.

Not only they have been exploiting the local job opportunities, they have been venturing to go to Malaysia by sea, Ayachhur Rahman, general secretary of Save Coxs Bazar Movement, told BenarNews.

With the connivance of some local elected representatives and public servants, they have been collecting fake national identity cards and Bangladeshi passports to go to the Middle Eastern countries, he said.

Md. Alam, president of the Ramu unit of the Citizens for Good Governance, called on authorities to stop Rohingya from leaving their camps.

In response, an additional superintendent in charge of policing at 11 camps, said efforts to control Rohingya movements were difficult.

[M]any Rohingya cut the barbed wire fence and create new passages to get out of the camps, Khandakar Ashfaquzzaman told BenarNews. We immediately seal the passages whenever we trace them.

Unless the job opportunities in local areas are stopped, the Rohingya will continue to get leave the camps, he said.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Konmey, head of discipline at Ngaba's Trotsik monastery, had recited prayers on China's WeChat social media platform.

Tibetan monk Konmey, head of discipline at Ngaba's Trotsik monastery, is shown in an undated photo.

Police in western Chinas Sichuan province have arrested a senior monk at a Tibetan monastery in Ngaba county on suspicion of holding politically sensitive discussions on the popular WeChat social media platform, according to Tibetan sources.

Konmey, a 45-year-old monk in charge of discipline at Ngabas Trotsik monastery, was taken into custody on July 20 and is now being held in detention, a source in Ngaba told RFA this week.

He had performed prayers on his WeChat group, but he only talked about the number of prayers he had accumulated, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said nothing at all about political issues.

Konmey had enrolled at Trotsik monastery at a young age and had risen to be head of the monasterys discipline committee, according to information received from a source at the Dharamsala, India-based branch of Ngabas Kirti monastery.

No details were immediately available regarding specific charges brought against Konmey or his present whereabouts or condition, the source at Kirti said.

Speaking to RFA, a Tibetan source living in exile said he doubted that Konmey would have discussed politically sensitive topics online.

Konmey is someone who is usually aware of politics, but he wouldnt talk about politically sensitive issues on social media. We believe that he was detained because of his involvement in a WeChat group where he was only reciting prayers, the source said.

We dont know that there were any other kinds of conversations on that WeChat group, only praying, he said.

Chinese communication clampdowns in Tibetan areas aimed at stopping the flow of news about protests or other information to outside contacts have made it difficult to learn more about Konmeys present circumstances, the source added.

There are tight restrictions in place in Ngaba at the moment, so I would advise Tibetans in exile not to try to communicate with Tibetans living inside Tibet, he said.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The European Union has summoned Belarus's top diplomat in Brussels and talked to Iraqi officials about suspending that country's flights to Minsk amid accusations that Belarus has "weaponized" migrants to create problems at the bloc's eastern border.



A spokesperson said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, summoned the Belarusian envoy on August 5 to protest a refugee problem that Minsk has orchestrated in response to EU sanctions.



"These practices must stop and Belarus must respect its international commitments in combating irregular migration and human trafficking and migrant smuggling," the unnamed commission spokesman was quoted as saying.

Most of the roughly 4,000 migrants detained by Lithuanian border guards at its frontier with Belarus this year are Iraqis.



EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and other EU officials are reportedly trying to work with the government in Baghdad to stem the flow of Iraqi nationals even as Minsk has pledged to increase direct flights and add more Iraqi cities.



Speculation has arisen that EU interior ministers might convene a rare mid-July meeting to confront the problem at member Lithuania's lightly protected border.

On August 4, Lithuania dismissed Belarusian allegations that an Iraqi man was beaten and died after being turned away at the Lithuanian border, describing it as disinformation.



Lithuanian authorities said this week that they had authorized border guards to start pushing back illegal migrants, including with the use of force if necessary.

Lithuanian and European officials say the migrant flows are being orchestrated by Alyaksandr Lukashenka in retaliation for EU sanctions over his government's crackdown on the opposition following Belarus's presidential election nearly a year ago that was widely regarded as fraudulent.

Based on reporting by Reuters
Ebrahim Raisi took his oath before parliament on August 5 to complete his inauguration making him Iran's new president.



He comes to office facing an economy battered by U.S. sanctions, a growing health crisis, fast-rising regional tensions, and difficult negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

A former judiciary chief, Raisi has been criticized by the West for his human rights record and has been under U.S. sanctions in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners, as well as over his tenure at the judiciary.

"I will dedicate myself to the service of the people, the honor of the country, the propagation of religion and morality, and the support of truth and justice," Raisi pledged in the ceremony, broadcast live on Iranian TV

On August 3, the controversial former prosecutor was credentialed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in Iran, marking the beginning of the transition from the presidency of relative moderate Hassan Rohani.



Rohani's landmark achievement was the nuclear deal with world powers that lifted most sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program but he fell woefully short in areas like women's rights where he pledged modest reforms.

U.S. sanctions were reimposed after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, further hurting Irans economy. Tackling the countrys economic woes is expected to be at the top of Raisi's agenda, together with negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear deal.

"The sanctions must be lifted," Raisi said in his inauguration speech. "We will support any diplomatic plan that supports this goal."

Hours after Raisi's comments, a U.S. State Department spokesman called on Tehran to resume talks on resuscitating the nuclear deal.

"We urge Iran to return to the negotiations soon," Ned Price said at a news briefing on August 5. "For us, this is an urgent priority."

"If President Raisi is genuine in his determination to see the sanctions lifted, well that is precisely what's on the table in Vienna," Price said, referring to indirect talks in the Austrian capital on reviving the nuclear accord.



"The opportunity to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA won't last forever," Price added, referring to the deal by its formal name: the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Six rounds of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers were held in Vienna between April and June in an attempt to revive the accord. The last round concluded on June 20, with no date set for another.

Highlighting the importance of the ongoing negotiations to revive the deal, EU diplomat and nuclear deal negotiator Enrique Mora was scheduled to be among representatives from the bloc attending the inauguration.

Raisi said after his election victory that he backs talks to revive the deal. Russia, one of the signatories of the deal, sent Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin to the swearing-in ceremony in Tehran.

Iranian media said several foreign officials had been invited to the August 5 ceremony, including the Iraqi president and parliament speakers from Niger, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was said to be attending the inauguration, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Raisi was expected to submit his proposed cabinet immediately after the swearing-in.

Raisi also faces an immediate crisis as the United States, Israel, and Britain have blamed Tehran for a deadly attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman last week and also indicated that Iran was behind an aborted hijacking attempt on another vessel in the Gulf on August 3. Tehran denies responsibility.

Iran is also battling the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 4 million cases and upward of 92,000 deaths.

Raisi's presidency consolidates power in the hands of conservatives following their 2020 legislative election victory, which followed the disqualification of thousands of reformist or moderate candidates.

Iran's powerful election vetters disqualified hundreds of applicants to run in the June 18 presidential election, including strong potential rivals from among moderates.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, IRNA and PressTV
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on August 5 that his country is prepared to "take military action against Iran."



Israel, the United States, and Britain have accused Iran of involvement in a July 29 attack in the Gulf of Oman on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime. But no country has provided evidence of its claims.



Iran has denied any involvement in the attack, which the United States and other officials said was carried out by an unmanned drone.



The attack killed one British and one Romanian crewman aboard the Mercer Street.

"We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran," Gantz said. "The world needs to take action against Iran now."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh reacted to Gantz's comments by warning that, in the event of military action, Tehran would retaliate.



"In another brazen violation of Int'l law, Israeli regime now blatantly threatens #Iran with military action.," Khatibzadeh said on Twitter on August 5.



"We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response. Don't test us," he added.



In a letter to the UN Security Council, Iran's charge d'affaires in New York called Israel "the main source of instability and insecurity in the Middle East and beyond for more than seven decades."



Tensions have risen in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers trading sanctions relief for checks on sensitive activities.



Israel opposes the current international efforts to revive that deal.



It is also seemingly eager to send a tough message to newly inaugurated Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in Tehran.

Israeli warplanes struck targets in southern Lebanon overnight on August 4-5 after rocket attacks from the area in the first aerial bombardment by Israel on Lebanese territory since 2006.



U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, echoing comments from Britain, said on August 2 that there would be a collective response to the attack on the Mercer Street.



Tehran said it would respond swiftly to any threat to its security.

With reporting by AP
Two online publications and a legal aid group backed by exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced they were ceasing operations on August 5 after the sites were blocked by Russian authorities.

Open Media and the MBKh news sites and the Human Rights Postcards legal aid group made their closures known via social media, citing ongoing risks to employees and other factors.

The closures mark just the latest curb on independent media and opposition supporters by President Vladimir Putin's Russia ahead of parliamentary and local elections next month.

Open Media announced its decision via its Telegram channel. MBKh's former editor in chief Veronika Kutsyllo made its closure announcement in a Facebook post.

Roskomnadzor's blocking of Open Media and MBKh is the latest move against independent media ahead of parliamentary and local elections in September.

Both Open Media and MBKh Media were unavailable for the users of most Russian Internet providers from late on August 4.

The outlets said they had not received any notification from authorities explaining why they were blocked.

Open Media said in a statement on August 5 that it had received a grant from Khodorkovsky but never worked with undesirable organizations. Still, the outlet said it would shut down as the risks for the project's staff members are too high.

Khodorkovsky said in a statement on August 5 that the recent political repressions show the regression of Putin's regime and Putin personally towards the outdated Soviet model, adjusted for his personal greed.

Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia's richest man, moved to London after spending 10 years in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging Putin politically.

According to Russias state registry of blocked websites, access to the news outlets was restricted on orders of the Prosecutor-Generals Office on August 3.



The registry referred to a law allowing the blocking of websites that incite mass unrest, extremist activities, or participation in unauthorized rallies.



Russia in recent weeks has designated a number of independent media outlets and journalists as foreign agents or undesirable -- labels that imply an attempt to discredit the journalists or that apply additional government scrutiny.

The widening crackdown ahead of the September 19 elections has targeted media regarded by authorities as hostile and foreign-backed.



Russian authorities last month labeled some journalists from the Open Media outlet as "foreign agents."



The so-called "foreign agent" law requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as foreign agents, and to submit to audits.



Numerous investigative media organizations, including RFE/RLs Russian Service, six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, are among the news organizations that have been labeled foreign agents.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
Poland has accused Belarus of sending a growing number of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw's decision this week to give refuge to Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics and arrived in Warsaw overnight under Polish diplomatic protection.



A deputy interior minister, Maciej Wasik, said on August 5 that Minsk was "waging a hybrid war with the European Union with the help of illegal immigrants.



"There are both young men and women with children. Belarus is using these immigrants as a living weapon," Wasik told online broadcaster Telewizja wPolsce.



"In recent days we have seen an increase [in migrants], we treat it as a reaction to the granting of asylum to the Belarusian sprinter, he said.

There was no immediate comment from officials in the Belarusian government.



Tsimanouskaya's decision to defect has ratcheted up tensions with Minsk at a time when the European Union has accused President Alyaksandr Lukashenka of using migrants to hit back against EU sanctions.



The EU on August 5 summoned the Belarusian envoy to protest a refugee problem that Minsk has orchestrated in response to EU sanctions.

In recent weeks, neighboring and fellow EU member state Lithuania has reported a surge in illegal border crossings from Belarus and said Minsk was flying in migrants from abroad and dispatching them into the EU.



Lithuanian and European officials say the migrant flows are being orchestrated by Alyaksandr Lukashenka in retaliation for EU sanctions over his government's crackdown on the opposition following Belarus's presidential election nearly a year ago that was widely regarded as fraudulent.

The Polish Border Guard told Reuters it had detained a group of 71 migrants on the border with Belarus during the night from August 4 to August 5 and another group of 62, mostly Iraqis, on August 4.



That is more that the total of 122 illegal migrants the Border Guard said were detained along the frontier in the whole of last year. Last month, 242 migrants were intercepted.



Wasik said migrants arriving recently had mainly been from Iraq, but also from Afghanistan.

With reporting by Reuters
Liya Akhedzhakova has for years been one of Russias most popular stage actresses, and her latest performance at Moscows Sovremennik (Contemporary) theater has garnered plaudits from an audience comprising many members of Russias intelligentsia and business elite.

A minority, however, reacted very differently indeed.

Decrying her characters impassioned monologues as an offense to Russias war veterans and a promotion of gay propaganda, they charged the whole institution with a rejection of the patriotic values on which, they say, Russia should be built.

Those complaints have now led to trouble not only for the celebrated Moscow theater, but potentially for others across the country.

On August 2, a Culture Ministry advisory board announced it was launching a probe of the countrys leading theaters to check their compliance with Russias new National Security Strategy. The document, signed by President Vladimir Putin on June 3, asserts that Russia's "cultural sovereignty" is at risk and that its "traditional values" are under active attack by the West.

A group of comrades approached us about problems with the repertoire policies of theaters, and we decided that the issue had to be publicly discussed, the chairman of the Culture Ministrys Public Council, Mikhail Lermontov, told the Interfax news agency.

Lermontov did not specify when the public discussion would take place, but he told state news agency RIA Novosti that attention will be paid particularly to the preservation of patriotic and moral-spiritual values.

The comrades he cited were apparently members of a pro-Kremlin group who denounced Akhedzhakovas performance just days earlier.

Akhedzhakova had a lead role in a production of Rinat Tashimovs play The First Bread, staged by Polish director Benjamin Koc at Sovremennik. But the group, Officers of Russia, described it as "blatant propaganda of same-sex love and said that expletives included in the script were an affront to those who defended the Soviet Union from fascism in World War II.

They sent complaints to the Prosecutor-General's Office, the theater's leadership, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanins office. Two days after the complaints were made public on July 21, the theater said it changed the monologue of the character played by Akhedzhakova, eliminating all swear words from it.

But on August 3 the plot thickened, exposing an apparent rift within the Culture Ministry. The minister, Olga Lyubimova, pointedly distanced herself from Lermontovs statements, saying they were not discussed with the ministrys leadership.

One should not attribute to the ministry the ideas and opinions of individual members of its Public Council, she said.

Lyubimova said that the Culture Ministry is forbidden by law from interfering with the creative work of cultural institutions, and added: I want to remind everyone that censorship in our country is unacceptable under the constitution.

That did not resolve the controversy surrounding Sovremennik, which was already under serious pressure from the nationalist groups to which Lermontovs public council appeared to be responding.

Akhedzhakova, an outspoken critic of Putins government and a vocal supporter of political prisoners in Russia, asserted in an interview with the newspaper RBC that the campaign against the arts by movements like Officers of Russia amounted to terrorism.

Who stirred up these people? Who distorted everything? What veterans have I and my author offended? she said, going on to allege that the group was instigated by people who want to remove Sovremenniks creative director, Viktor Ryzhakov, from his post.

According to RIA Novosti, the complaints against Sovremennik also received the backing of the writer Svyatoslav Rybas, who in July wrote a column for the newspaper Literaturnaya Gazeta asserting that Russias national idea is the preservation of its national identity.

In his article, Rybas criticized leading Russian theaters for several recent performances, including St. Petersburgs Mariinsky Theatre for a staging of British director Graham Vicks opera adaptation of Leo Tolstoys War and Peace.

Rybas claimed that the protagonists of Tolstoys classic had been portrayed as abnormal and that Vick, who died last month in London, had besmirched the bright image of Natasha Rostova, the lovestruck daughter of Count Ilya Rostov, and turned her into a prostitute.

Rybas ended by urging authorities to look more closely at Russias theaters.

If the probe proposed by Lermontov goes ahead, it would fit a broader political trend that threatens to align the arts sphere in Russia more closely with conservative government policy, and its directors could soon be subject to a long blacklist of prohibited topics.

Russias National Security Strategy has served as a cue for pro-Kremlin groups and conservative movements. The new edition, which replaced a 2015 version, places a sharp focus on values and steps up criticism of the West, promoting the notion that Russian culture is threatened by the United States and its allies and partners.

It accuses unfriendly countries in the West of deliberate attempts to erode traditional values, distort global history, [and] change opinions about Russias role and place in it, among other things.

Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote in a July 6 article in the newspaper Kommersant that the document sets out fundamental Russian values such as service to the Fatherland and placing the spiritual over the material.

"It's understood that this is an ideal, he wrote. But possibly the main problem with Russia today lies in the fact that its ruling elite shares these ideals only in rare cases and, according to opinion polls, possesses not even a minimum of moral authority to lead society in its path.

RFE/RLs Russian Service contributed to this report.
When Moscow-based psychologist and LGBT activist Yuma Yuma first saw her family in a grocery-chain advertisement spotlighting real-life customers, it was a point of gay pride.



"Perhaps the most important thing for our family is care and acceptance," Yuma wrote on Instagram in late June after the Russian health-food franchise VkusVill posted its ad featuring Yuma, her adult daughters Mila and Alina, and Alina's girlfriend and fiancee, Ksyusha.



Yuma expressed amazement at the amount of support her queer family had received and thanked VkusVill for its willingness to combat intolerance. But such good feelings would be short-lived.



Just days after VkusVill released the ad as part of its "Recipe For Happiness" marketing drive, the chain was in damage-control mode amid an outpouring of criticism, leading it to call the ad "a mistake" and apologize for "hurting the feelings of a large number of our customers and employees."



Although the original ad had been posted with a legally required 18+ warning and a message from the grocery chain saying that "not telling about the real families of our customers would be hypocrisy," it was taken down and replaced with images of a conservatively dressed family made up of a man, a woman, and their three young children.



The VkusVill apology was signed by company founder Andrei Krivenko and 11 top managers. However, it was not signed by VkusVill online-content manager Roman Polyakov, who publicly defended the advertisement with Yuma's family.



"The post was not approved by the management, because we don't discuss every post with the company's leaders," Polyakov told RFE/RL. "But at first the senior managers reacted positively. And, more importantly, the audience reacted well. The first day we got hundreds of grateful comments and only a handful of negative ones. Only later did the number of negative comments reach the thousands because people who previously hadn't been following us joined in the discussion."



Yuma said her family "laughed at how ridiculous and cowardly" the VkusVill apology was in an interview with the Siberia.Realities desk of RFE/RL's Russian Service.

'Not Just Ordinary Hate'



VkusVill's move was not entirely unexpected, Yuma told RFE/RL on August 4, but the real-life backlash her family encountered was.



"It was not just ordinary hate with insults. It was real threats," Yuma said, describing threats against Alina's 8-year-old daughter as the worst. "Our address and all contact information were leaked to extremist organizations. They threatened us with physical violence."



Russian feminists and other activists have complained in recent years of similar online harassment from followers of socially conservative, patriarchal forums that publish their private contact data. Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of one such forum called Male State in February posted on Telegram that "feminists and LGBT are biogarbage" and "have no place among normal people."

Yuma was not unfamiliar with the intolerance experienced by members of the LGBT community in Russia.



She became an LGBT activist after the country passed its controversial and homophobic "gay propaganda" law in 2013 that technically bars "the promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors," but which was accompanied by an uptick in violence against queer people and has been criticized by rights watchdogs for effectively barring information even remotely related to LGBT lifestyles.

As groups like Children-404, which provided counseling to LGBT youths facing violence, were banned, Yuma began providing psychological assistance to LGBT people facing persecution in Chechnya amid what has been dubbed the southern Russian republic's "gay purge."



She and Mila also volunteered to work for Side By Side, Russia's only LGBT film festival, and other LGBT-friendly events.



"During my activism, I have seen too many broken, terribly lonely, beaten, hunted people," Yuma told RFE/RL, noting that the victim's families were often responsible for their suffering.



"It's awful; it doesn't have to be this way," she said. "Everyone in our family agrees with this, and everyone voluntarily invested in this story with the VkusVilla advertisement."

'Our Love Is Just As Valuable'



After the cyberthreats began pouring in, staying in Russia was no longer an option.



"I understood these were no longer trolls and bots, and that in Russia we could not avoid violence," Yuma said. "Comments on the Internet are a small part of the pressure."



Comments alluding to violations of the law and alleging that the Yumas were "causing harm to a child" led the family to conclude that more trouble was on the way.



"I did not wait for an invitation to the police," Yuma said. "We packed our bags very quickly, and we left for a safe place the day we found out that [the family's personal data] had been leaked."

After holing up with friends for nearly a month in Moscow, the family made the jump to Barcelona, Spain.



"Here we don't have to hide our happiness in being a family," Yuma said from her adopted home. "Ksyusha and Alina don't have to hide their relationship. And our youngest (Alina's 8-year-old daughter) doesn't have to lie about her family at school."



Yuma has not yet decided on her next move, but has no plans to go back to Russia in the near future. She also has no regrets, saying her family's story is far from over.



"The most important thing has already happened, and it cannot be changed now," Yuma said of the ad and its aftermath. "We were shown as we are, together with other families. We talked about what we love to eat, who cooks, how we choose products. We're just a family. It is foolish to reduce everything to genitalia. We love the same as others love. Our love is just as valuable. And everyone heard this."

With additional reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service
Russian opposition politician Lev Shlosberg of the Yabloko party and his colleague Nikolai Kuzmin have been returned to the list of candidates running for deputy in the Pskov regional parliament.

The local Yabloko office in Pskov reported the move on August 4, one day after the two were barred from running in the upcoming election.

Some politicians in the western Russian region said the decision to bar them was tied to Shlosberg and Kuzmin's support for jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, whose network of organizations in June was deemed by the authorities as "extremist."

Also in June, the Moscow City Court handed down its ruling preventing people associated with Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and his collection of regional political offices from seeking public office.

The election commission in Pskov said on August 4 that a decision of the Moscow City Court to ban the activities of Navalnys headquarters, which was the basis for the removal of Shlosberg and Kuzmin as candidates, had not yet come into force.

Shlosberg is one of the best-known figures in the liberal Yabloko party and a regional lawmaker who has openly criticized the Russian government for years.

Russia's election on September 19 will choose members of the State Duma, 39 regional parliaments, and nine regional governors.

In the run-up to the elections, the Kremlin has cracked down on opposition political figures and independent media.
A former Yugoslav commander convicted of crimes against humanity for ethnic cleansing against Kosovar Albanians has been declared an honorary citizen by a town in southern Serbia.

Vladimir Lazarevic served 10 years in prison for his conviction by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague for deportations and other inhumane treatment of ethnic Albanians as the Yugoslav Army's Pristina Corps commander in the late 1990s.

Officials in Pantalej, one of five municipalities composing the town of Nis, announced Lazarevic's award along with 10 others on an annual "glory" day earlier this week.

It did not cite any basis for the honor.

The tribute was backed by the municipal assembly controlled by the ruling national Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic.

Lazarevic returned to Nis in December 2015 following his release after serving two-thirds of his Hague sentence.

He was personally welcomed by Serbia's then-ministers of defense and justice and the Serbian Army chief of the General Staff at the time, Ljubisa Dikovic.

Current Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin was also among VIPs in attendance.

Lazarevic greeted sympathizers, saying he had been convicted on the multiple counts of war crimes "without any material evidence."

A representative of the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Ivan Duric, said this month's honor in Nis suggests Serbian institutions have a long way to go to demonstrate the kind of values and reconciliation efforts that could lead to Serbian membership in the European Union.

"I think there is less and less room for the lies and fraud that Serbia is on the European path and on the path of reconciliation," Duric said.
MANSFIELD -- Jon Van Harlingen allowed the dry dam engineering/design proposal out of the Mansfield City Council public utilities committee meeting Tuesday night.

But not without a bit of verbal sparring, er, discussion.

The 3rd Ward councilman, armed with updated numbers from city Finance Director Linn Steward, spent the better part of an hour warning his colleagues about his "very serious financial concerns."

The dry dam is aimed at alleviating flooding in Mansfield's north end and would remove 106 acres from the flood plain, according to city engineer Bob Bianchi.

Van Harlingen, the utilities committee chair who has said he supports the dry dam, continued to sound financial alarms, particularly regarding the city's sewer fund, which would pay for the engineering/design work.

"What if we can't pay for it? What if the EPA comes in again (with mandated improvements). We're cutting (sewer funds) down to the bare minimum. I am very concerned about that," Van Harlingen said.

Jason Lawrence, representing the 5th Ward, has been one of the leading proponents for getting the two-year engineering/design work project started in order to have the city in position to apply for potential federal and state funding for the $15 million estimated needed for construction.

"In my daily walk, I ran into a constituent and we talked about the dry dam. Her response was, 'They just don't care about the north end.' That's disheartening," Lawrence said.

MOVING AHEAD

After a sometimes pointed 63-minute discussion with some other council members, Van Harlingen, the committee chair, moved to allow the $1.5 million proposed contract for design and engineering services for the dry dam to proceed.

The committee, including 2nd Ward council representative Cheryl Meier and council At-large member Phil Scott, voted unanimously to set a schedule for the proposal that calls for a first reading on Aug. 17, a second reading on Sept. 7 and a final reading and vote on Sept. 21.

Afterward, Van Harlingen said his financial concerns remain, despite allowing the proposal out of committee, albeit grudgingly.

"It doesn't mean I will will vote for the legislation," he said afterward. "I just simply took it out (of committee) because of public comment."

The Touby Run Mitigation project, aka the North Lake Park dry dam, has been discussed by the city for six years.

After initial plans were formed in 2018 and properties and easements for the work were acquired, City Council set it aside in 2019 when a $17 million city-wide water meter replacement program was launched.

That replacement program was aimed at increasing water revenues with more accurate measurements. That project was delayed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and about 9 percent of the city's 18,200 meters are still not replaced, Public Works Director Dave Remy reported Tuesday.

That increased revenue was expected to help pay for the dry dam -- revenue Van Harlingen said is not yet being received at expected levels.

With at least five of eight council members speaking in favor of moving ahead with the engineering/design work in recent meetings, Van Harlingen admitted he didn't know if there were enough votes to stop it.

"That I don't know," he said after the meeting. "This could be a repeat of 2019."

Previously, Van Harlingen has pointed out the city has taken on more than $50 million in bond debt in recent years, including $10 million for state-mandated improvements at the wastewater treatment plant and $35 million for state-mandated improvements at the water treatment plant.

THE FINANCES

At the request of Van Harlingen, Steward went over water and sewer funds with council, estimating the sewer fund will have an unappropriated balance of about $1.7 million at the end of 2021.

She factored into that about $500,000 for work to bypass a collapsed 19th century storm sewer that has kept Bowman Street closed for about a month.

Dividing the engineer/design contract work for the dry dam in half over two years would drop that balance to around $1 million by the end of this year, Steward said. The finance director projects the water fund will have a $96,770 balance at the end of 2021.

"That's not a lot extra to keep in a sewer fund, especially when you see what kind of repairs can happen that you don't know about," she said.

Remy told council that monthly water and sewer revenues have been climbing this year as meters are installed, though Steward forecast 2021 revenues in both accounts will short of estimates for the year.

At-large council member Stephanie Zader, while admitting the dry dam is a large project, said residents she has spoken with want to move forward. She urged the committee to move the proposal forward.

"The feedback we have received from people from the north end is they think this is important. I am having a really hard time with this being stuck in a committee of three people, making the decisions for all of us. I think this is something that council has a whole should have a say in," Zader said.

More than 45 minutes into the meeting, Lawrence asked Van Harlingen, "For the sake of time, what do you need to see? What do you need to hear to move this project forward?"

Van Harlingen replied he would like to see the same thing City Council asked for when it delayed the project in 2019 -- increased revenues.

"We were talking about two steady years of revenues that we could count on," he said. "That's what I would look at and that's what the administration was looking at and discussing at the same time. That's basically what they agreed to."

FEDERAL FUNDS

Van Harlingen and other council members asked Bianchi and Steward about the potential for federal grants for the project and also raised the possibility of using some of the city's $21.8 million in expected American Rescue Plan funds.

Bianchi said he didn't know if ARP funds could be used for the dry dam, though he said the money could be used to improve water/sewer systems, perhaps allowing more local funds to be used for the dam itself.

Steward told council she believes it's possible ARP could be used for the dry dam and has requested information about such an expenditure from the U.S. Treasury, which is overseeing the program.

"If everybody could just be a little patient, there might be funds (available) at the state or federal level," Steward said.

Council President David Falquette cautioned against waiting too long.

"My biggest concern on waiting to do the engineering study ... to apply for grants and funds ... if that's not done ... if the city has not made the investment in the engineering study, there is virtually no chance of getting awarded (federal/state funds.)

"Nobody's interested in talking to someone who doesn't have their engineering study done," Falquette said.

Zader said, "That's what I understand, too. I feel that it would be better to be first in line rather than 30th in line because we were unprepared."

Even as he prepared to release the proposal from committee, Van Harlingen warned fellow lawmakers.

"What happens if we have a major water line break and we don't have the money? What are we going to do? We're spending it. We're taking it right down to zero," he said.
ONTARIO  The City of Ontario announced this week it has established a variable natural gas price for the citys aggregation program.

The program supplied by Volunteer Energy Services is an 8% discount off of the current Columbia Gas of Ohio Adder starting October 2021 and running through February 2022. From March 2022 to September 2023, the rate will be the New York Mercantile Exchange monthly rate plus $0.158/Ccf.

There is no early termination fee. Residents will soon be receiving notices.

Residents and businesses not currently under contract do not need to take any action as they will automatically receive the new pricing.

Guaranteed savings are not offered by any other supplier as a default option. We hope residents will take advantage of the program. Low rates have been difficult to find this year, said Thomas Bellish, president, Buckeye Energy Brokers, consultant for the city.

We are pleased by the selection of Volunteer Energy Services and look forward to serving the communitys residents, said Volunteer Energy Services representative Jerry Smith.

Residents who are served by another competitive supplier may seek enrollment in the citys aggregation program by calling Volunteer Energy Services.

Residents and businesses served by other competitive suppliers are encouraged to review the terms and conditions of their current supplier agreement before enrolling.

For more information, call Volunteer Energy Services (800) 977-8374.

About Volunteer Energy

Volunteer Energy Services is a full-service energy provider, serving various businesses and industries throughout the region. Our expertise allows us to provide business solutions that assure competitive and consistent energy pricing for our customers. For more information about Volunteer Energy, please visit their website at www.volunteerenergy.com.

About Buckeye Energy Brokers, Inc.

Buckeye provides local governments with deregulated energy consulting to achieve buying leverage, risk mitigation, budget predictability, costs control and potential savings by aggregating residential and commercial customers and procuring deregulated energy. As an Ohio certified energy broker since 2000, and independent of any energy supplier, Buckeye can form buying groups creating leverage to negotiate competitive pricing for aggregated members. As an experienced regulatory advisor for governmental aggregation, Buckeye works with communities across Ohio. For more information about Buckeye Energy Brokers, visitwww.buckeyeenergybrokers.com.
MANSFIELD  Fred Boll just needs 300 sheets of birch plywood.

It's all that's standing between him and the completion of more than 100 new exhibits in the new space for Little Buckeye Children's Museum at 175 W. Third Street.

Apparently, Richland County only has about 120 sheets of plywood available. And because of booming lumber demands from homebuilders and do-it-yourselfers with plenty of time on their hands thanks to the pandemic, the price has gone up from $22 to $66 per sheet.

In the last six months, the building at 175 W. Third Street has been gutted and completely redesigned. It has received a new roof, new parking lot, completely remodeled bathrooms and HVAC system, new flooring, and new lighting and electrical work. Repairs were also made to the windows and the elevator.

He just needs that damn plywood.

"We had to turn it back into a building," said Boll, the director of Little Buckeye. "Now we get to build the fun stuff."

This month begins phase 2 of construction for Little Buckeye's new location, and will consist of building the exhibits the museum is known for. Conceptual drawings for the first-floor exhibits, which are designed for children ages 2-10 by Kevin Haring at Splashmakers, have been released. Concept drawings for the second-floor gallery, which will house exhibits for individuals ages 10 and up, are being finalized now.

After postponing construction for nearly a year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Boll is ready to get back to the business of play.

"Playing makes you smile, makes you happy, makes you laugh," he said. "There are people who go through all day and don't laugh and smile, and I feel sorry for them. The world needs more play."

Construction on the new museum originally began pre-COVID in January 2020, but when the pandemic forced closures in March 2020, construction was halted by state mandate. Little Buckeye was forced to re-bid the project in November 2020, adding an additional $750,000 in construction costs.

Boll visited 46 children's museums across the midwest in research for the new exhibits, traveling from New York to Missouri to Kentucky to Michigan. He learned what does (and doesn't) work, and how to create the most unique exhibits for Little Buckeye.

The biggest change coming to Little Buckeye is the addition of exhibits that are catered to older children (and childlike adults). The entire upstairs area is dedicated to exhibits that have both play and competitive elements.

"There's a lack of stuff for that teenage age group to do that is safe and age-appropriate," Boll said. "There's just a missing hole for that in our community."

Play is the work of children, Boll says. It's how you first learned to cooperate with others, how to do basic skills, and how to use your imagination. How many of you have pretended the floor was lava and climbed all over the furniture in your house?

"As we get older, we stop playing and we stop using those sections of our brain," Boll said. "Play is a safe way to induce those endorphins in your brain. If people would play more, they'd be less stressed."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE IMAGINATION DISTRICT?

The story of the Imagination District began more than five years ago, when Boll and Mike Miller, CEO of the Renaissance Theatre, completed the Osborne Meese Academy at the Richland County Foundation. The training program is aimed at increasing the capacity of nonprofit organizations.

The first mention publicly of the Imagination District was in June 2018, when Rand Smith, president of the Renaissance Board of Directors, said Park Avenue West would go through "a transformation not seen in decades."

The idea of the district began as a collaborative project between Little Buckeye Children's Museum and the Renaissance Performing Arts Association to renovate two adjacent buildings on Park Avenue West  Theatre 166, which officially opened in October 2018, and the former IBM building at 174 Park Ave. West that Little Buckeye purchased in December 2018. The building had previously sat vacant for 15 years.

At that time, the museum also took possession of two properties owned by the Richland County Land Bank. These vacant lots are located directly behind 174 Park Ave. West and are expected to be used for additional parking and for a playscape, which is a more natural version of a playground.

The initial vision of the district continues to evolve, Boll said.

"We're getting close to accomplishing that vision - we're not there yet, but it's getting close. So how do we grow it beyond that? How do we impact more of our community?" Boll said. "Where it's going to evolve to, I don't know exactly because it's not mine, it's the community's. But it's a great concept and it has been practically used for good. And we can evolve it to something else, something greater than its parts."

The joint capital campaign between the Little Buckeye Childrens Museum and the Renaissance Performing Arts Association for the Imagination District announced its successful conclusion in February 2021, just as state mandates on construction of museums was lifted, and construction resumed.

The goal was to raise $6 million; $4.5 million for the new Little Buckeye museum and $1.5 million for the Renaissance Education Center. In February 2019, the Richland County Foundation pledged up to $1 million to the Imagination District's capital campaign; a year later, the Shelby Foundation awarded $25,000 to the Imagination District.

Then, in December 2020, the state of Ohio's capital budget included $1 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for the Imagination District's expansion. That fundraising goal has now been met, and surpassed.

Boll said the museum has spent $2.8 million on the project so far, 96% of which has been spent inside Richland County with local companies.

"Typically in the museum industry you're working with museum exhibit builders in Indianapolis or Chicago," Boll said. "We're trying to work with local individuals to build our exhibits here locally. So that's an interesting process; some of the crazy ideas I ask them to build, they're thinking we build walls, we don't build Hot Wheel tracks with ramps, loop-de-loops and pinball launchers. It's going to take us longer to do it that way, but then our dollars impact where we live."

One goal of the Imagination District has always been to use it as a catalyst to connect the western edge of the city with the rest of downtown. An experimental connection will take place from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1 with a temporary "linear park" that will connect the Carrousel District to the new Little Buckeye parking lot.

Boll said he hopes the District will have an economic impact in a way that will encourage development of vacant properties along along Park Avenue West; the best example being in February, when Imagination Child Care opened at 100 Park Ave. West, its name inspired by its proximity to the Imagination District. Little Buckeye was also involved in helping the Richland County Land Bank receive an EPA grant to clean up the former Swan Cleaners building.

In addition, in October 2019, the former Rainbow Mortgage building at 154 Park Ave. West was reduced to a pile of rubble, making way for the space between the Renaissance and Theatre 166 to be converted into a green space plaza shared by the Renaissance and Little Buckeye.

The Renaissance will use the space for outdoor performances; Little Buckeye will hold classes and programming and possibly outdoor exhibits. The back of the plaza will have a space for food truck parking.

By the projects completion in the first half of 2022, it is estimated the Imagination District will serve nearly 220,000 youth and their families, provide for as many as 15 full-time and 25 part-time staff, and have a total economic impact of $7.7 million.
MANSFIELD -- Owners of about 10,000 parcels in Richland and Crawford counties will learn Thursday evening a preliminary estimate of what it would cost to clean up the Black Fork.

Richland County Engineer Adam Gove will offer a preliminary look at the estimated assessments and the economic benefits from the "combined ditch project," an effort that began began Feb. 24 when the City of Shelby and rural community members filed a ditch petition.

Flooding along the Black Fork has been a frequent and recurring problem, especially in the Shelby area.

The petition asks commissioners from the two counties "to study and examine the economic benefits to the City of Shelby and the approximately 70,000 acres of the agricultural community that lie within the petitioned watershed area."

Petitioners asked for a project that could improve drainage and reduce flooding along the Black Fork, which rises about seven miles west of Mansfield in Richland County and initially flows northward through the City of Shelby, then eastward across northern Richland County before turning southeast for the remainder of its course through eastern Richland and southern Ashland counties.

The 6:30 p.m. public meeting will be at the Longview Center, 1495 W. Longview Ave.

Richland County Commissioner Cliff Mears, chair of the combined county committee, said Thursday morning that officials will discuss a brief history of how this point was reached. Gove will then give his presentation and residents will then have an opportunity to offer their input.

"We don't any way of knowing how many residents will attend," Mears said.

The joint committee, with commissioners from both counties, could then vote to either proceed with the project, decline the project or extend the discussion to another public meeting.

Committee members physically visited some sites on the Black Fork on May 20 and reviewed 150 minutes of drone footage of all 18 miles of the winding waterway on May 21, video done by Matt Wallace, agriculture technician for the Richland Soil & Water Conservation District.

If approved, the work would be a continuation of two phases already privately planned and organized by Shelby residents at a cost of about $367,000, according to Erica Thomas, director of the Richland Soil & Water Conservation District.

The RSWCD said earlier this year phase one cleaned the waterway from Ohio 13 to State Street and that a second phase was nearly complete, clearing the Black Fork from State Street to Mickey Road.

"These two projects were beneficial in cleaning and clearing the river, but more work is necessary to help with continuing efforts to keep the river flowing," RSWCD said in a press release in February.
Written By

Joe Schulz served as the reporter of the Green Laker in 2019 and 2020, before being hired as a reporter for the Commonwealth in October 2020. He is from Oshkosh and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in December with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Tonight

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NOAA Fisheries/Courtesy photo/The state Division of Marine Fisheries in its May 7 aerial surveillance detected 34 right whales in Massachusetts coastal waters, including six mother and calf pairs like this one.
Mark Bezos, left, and Wally Funk, right, listen as Jeff Bezos, center, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin makes comments about their flight experience during a post launch briefing at its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, July 20. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
If you could save money every single day with little effort, would you? The 365 day quarter challenge could help you do just that.

Here at Saving Advice, we love money challenges because they encourage you to pay yourself first and build an emergency fund. While you shouldnt rely on a money challenge to build and maintain your cushion, it is a great and easy tool to help develop a positive habit. Challenges also keep saving money at the top of your mind.

As we enter the new year, many people are looking for ways to stick to resolutions and improve their finances. These money challenges have become an increasingly popular way to do so. There are quite a few variations, but a money challenge we find interesting that will save you even more in the new year, is the 365 day quarter challenge.

The 365 Day Quarter Challenge

The 365 day money challenge comes in different forms. There is the penny challenge and the nickel challenge, and, if youre looking to take your savings to the next level, this is a great way to do it.

If you arent familiar with the 365 day money challenges, theyre pretty simple and straightforward. Usually, youll have a jar or container where you place money daily, as you do with the 365 day penny challenge. Physically putting money away every day helps with follow-through. However, for the first week of the quarter challenge, youll need to make sure you have cash on you.

How this Money Challenge Works

Each day, youll add another quarter to the jar. On the first day, you start with $0.25, on day two youll deposit $0.50, three quarters on day three, $1.00 on the fourth day, and so on. Within the first 30 days of this challenge, youll have $116.25 in your jar. Its amazing how far a quarter will take you, isnt it?

Lets take a look at all 365 days:

How about trying this one for yourself? If matching the amount of quarters to the corresponding day youre depositing seems overwhelming, you can adjust it to fit your needs. For example, start with 30 days at a time every month. This will still save you $1,395. But, as you can see, if you stick to increasing your deposits by a quarter each day, you will

Download the chart here. Print it out and place it somewhere very visible (like your refrigerator) to help remind you of your goals.

The Real Challenge

The real challenge here is not saving money but rather doing it regularly and maintaining a savings amount. Many people have no idea how much to save and may only put aside money sporadically as they see fit. It might be tempting to veer off your savings plan to spend on something impulsive, but your bank account will thank you in the long run. You will also thank yourself if you end up in a bind and need your emergency funds. And, the cost of feeling secure is truly priceless.

What are your savings plans? Will you be trying the 365 day quarter challenge this year?

Read More

The Classic 365 Day Money Challenge

Dont Forget The The 365 Day Penny Challenge

Take the 365 Day Nickel Challenge

Alternatives to the 52 Week Money Challenge

Take The 12 Week Money Challenge

If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.
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Everybody needs water to survive. According to Chemical & Engineering News, each person needs approximately 50 liters of water per day to meet their basic needs. That includes drinking water, food preparation, sanitation, and personal hygiene. Despite that, around 4 billion people still do not have enough water.

In an effort to find a solution to this problem, scientists have thought of extracting water from the air. The atmospheric water harvester technology had been used for many years, and some have already improved their design and efficiency to better serve their purpose of providing water to areas where water is unavailable.

The latest one is from Spanish engineers who use the same principle of condensation in air conditioners to produce drinking water from air. It intends to deliver enough water supply for the people in Namibia.

Spanish Engineers Extract Water from Air

Reuters reported that a Spanish company created a system that extracts drinking water out of thin air to supply areas where water is not available. Enrique Veiga, an 82-year-old engineer, was inspired by his experience during the drought season in southern Spain in the 1990s. He went on to invent the atmospheric water harvester of his company, Aquaer, delivering safe water to communities in Namibia and a Lebanese refugee camp.

Veiga said that his machine uses electricity to cool air until it condenses into water, similar to the technique in air conditioning units. Unlike other water generators that use the same technology that requires high humidity and low temperatures, Veiga's invention can even work in areas with 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) temperature and handle humidity between 10% and 15%.

A smaller version of this water generator could harness 50-75 liters of water per day, but a bigger version could extract up to 5,000 liters of water per day. Veiga explained that they aim to make the machine useful for people in arid regions, so they no longer have to walk for miles to fetch water or dig a well.

Nhat Vuong, a Vietnamese refugee who is now in Switzerland, joined the cause of Veiga when he met him in a refugee camp in Lebanon in 2017. He founded the Water Inception, a non-profit organization that brought a water generator that can produce 500 liters of water a day to refugee camps.

He continues to raise funds or install solar panels in these regions to bring down the cost of electricity and reduce the environmental impacts of the machine.

ALSO READ: Solar-powered Moisture Harvester Collects and Cleans Water from Air

Extracting Water from Air

Last June, researchers from ETH Zurich showed their new atmospheric water harvester that can work 24 hours a day without using electricity and even under the heat of the blazing sun.The device uses the same principle like any atmospheric water harvester in the sense that they extract water from thin air.

According to Chemical & Engineering News, the atmosphere contains 1.29 x 1016 liters of water in the form of clouds, fogs, and water vapor. They may be small compared to bodies of water, but they could be a major source of drinking water.

That caught the attention of many scientists and companies to extract water from the atmosphere in ways that are practical, efficient, and cheap. However, like many things, no one method is considered the best in harvesting water from the air. Different factors must be considered in using one method or device to get its optimal value and efficiency in extracting water.

RELATED ARTICLE: Water Harvester: A New Atmospheric Technology Which Works Around the Clock With No Energy Needed



Check out more news and information on Water in Science Times.
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Lake Poopo was once Bolivia's second-largest lake. Only a few decades ago, during its wet season peak, it would be filled with water stretching about 70 km end to end, covering roughly 3,000 sq km of land, roughly the size of Luxembourg. Today, this lake lies a flat horizon of salty mud.

According to scientists, Bolivia's second-largest lake is one of the recent victims of decades of diversion to sustain the increased irrigation needs. With the consistent warming climate, recovery becomes even more unlikely, Reuters reports.

Understanding Lake Poopo, Bolivia

Found almost 3,700 meters above sea level, Bolivia's Lake Poopo sits on a large plateau in the Andes Mountains. It is characterized as an endorheic basin where water does not flow out and is only lost via evaporation. The residue left by the evaporation makes the lake salty as the ocean.

A few decades ago, Lake Poopo was the home to a large community of flora and fauna and was a major source of resources for the many inhabitants of the region. Today, the situation has drastically changed. Water levels have significantly declined in the past two decades. Inevitably, the lake dried out entirely after an extreme El Nino that devastated the region at the end of 2015.

ALSO READ: Mexico Lake's 3-Billion-Year-Old Underwater Lifeforms in Danger? What's Really Happening to These Cauliflower Algae?

The Disappearance of Bolivia's Second Largest Lake

The ecological devastation brought by the disappearance of Bolivia's second-largest lake led to the disappearance of roughly 200 animal species, including mammals, reptiles, birds, especially a large community of flamingos, and of course, the fish, according to the Conversation.

This was also devastating for the indigenous community of Urus-Muratos whose entire life is circled around fishing Lake Poopo.

There have been numerous occasions in Lake Poopo's history when water levels were extremely low. Still, the lake was able to rebound on its own owing to the rainy season and water from the Desaguadero River, which drains Lake Titicaca and flows into the considerably lower altitude Poopo.

Unfortunately, in the past few decades, most of Desaguedero has been diverted for irrigation; hence there is less and less water left to top up the evaporation occurring in Poopo. Since Lake Poopo is unusually shallow, slight changes in its overall water volume can have huge negative implications in its ecology. Despite the lake partially recovering due to above-average precipitation since 2015, the situation remains bleak and dire.

In a study published in MDPI titled "Mapping Evapotranspiration, Vegetation and Precipitation Trends in the Catchment of the Shrinking Lake Poopo," satellite data shows that Lake Poopo's catchment area in the past two decades has gained more water via precipitation than those lost via evaporation.

A separate study shows that climate variability on the lake affects the rainy seasons that have become shorter but more intense. This now amplifies the water storage cycle in the lake, with the lake holding less water by the end of the dry season and more at the end of wet seasons.

The Conversation has also found evidence that the highest increases in water losses occurred in the city of Oruro north of the lake. The area has increased human activity, new highways, urban growth, and water diversion for mining and agriculture. Bolivia is the world's largest producer of quinoa, with a 45.5 percent rise in production from 1980 to 2011, as the grain has grown in popularity across the world.

RELATED ARTICLE: Thawing Permafrost in Siberia Could Release 'Methane Bomb' that Accelerates Global Warming





Check out more news and information on Climate Change in Science Times.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Amid a surge of new coronavirus cases across Washington, Amazon has extended its return-to-office date for workers until early next year.

Office employees are now scheduled to return to in-person work on Jan. 3, 2022. They were originally slated to return the week of Sept. 7.



The company has not confirmed that the extension came in response to a spike in COVID infections statewide, but the announcement was made just days after the state Department of Health said Washington is averaging 1,500 new cases per day and hospitalizations are up 20% since last week.



Amazon has also stayed mum on whether it will require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID. Microsoft, the companys Redmond-based rival, announced earlier this week that it would require its employees to be vaccinated when they return to the office. Amazon currently requires that unvaccinated employees wear masks.



The move by Amazon and other tech giants to delay their return-to-work dates for office employees  Microsoft also pushed back its back-to-office opening date; employees were originally scheduled to return in September  marks a bellwether moment. Other companies often look to these large corporations for guidance, which means many businesses could soon follow suit.



The companys return-to-work policies have evolved in response to changing public health guidelines and employee feedback.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  An Idaho woman has been charged with four misdemeanors after prosecutors said she participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by loyalists of then-President Donald Trump.

Like many other defendants who have been charged in connection with the siege, Pam Hemphill of Boise posted videos to social media sites that showed her in Washington, D.C., in the days surrounding the insurrection and at the Capitol when it was happening. In one video, she compared breaking windows at the federal building to actions protesters at the Idaho Statehouse had taken months earlier. In another, she said she avoided getting into trouble after being found inside the Capitol by telling police that she became lost after being pushed into the building by the crowd. The videos were later removed.
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP)  California's largest wildfire exploded again after burning for nearly three weeks in remote mountains and officials warned Tuesday that hot, dry weather would increase the risk of new fires across much of the state.

Firefighters saved homes Monday in the small northern California community of Greenville near the Plumas National Forest as strong winds stoked the Dixie Fire, which grew to over 395 square miles (1,024 square kilometers) across Plumas and Butte counties.

Engines, crews and heavy equipment shifted from other areas to increase structure protection and direct line construction as the fire moved toward Greenville, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, said Tuesday morning.

Evacuations were ordered for the community of about 1,000 people as well as for the east shore of nearby Lake Almanor, a popular resort area. About 3,000 homes were threatened by the blaze that has destroyed 67 houses and other buildings since breaking out July 14. It was 35% contained.

Crews contended with dry, hot and windy conditions "and the forecast calls for the return of active fire behavior, Cal Fire said.

Similar weather was expected across Southern California, where heat advisories and warnings were issued for interior valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 large, active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles (7,560 square kilometers) in 13 U.S. states on Tuesday, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

Dry conditions and powerful winds made for dangerous fire conditions again on Tuesday in Hawaii.

Firefighters gained control over the 62-square-mile (160-square-kilometer) Mana Road Fire that forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend and destroyed at least two homes on the Big Island.

About 150 miles (240 km) west of California's Dixie Fire, the lightning-sparked McFarland Fire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The nearly 25-square-mile (65-square-mile) fire was 5% contained Tuesday.

In southern Oregon, lightning struck parched forests hundreds of times in a 24 hour-period, igniting 50 new wildfires as the nations largest blaze burned less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) away, officials said Monday.

Firefighters and aircraft attacked the new fires before they could spread out of control. No homes were immediately threatened.

Oregon's Bootleg Fire, the nations largest at 647 square miles (1,676 square kilometers), was 84% contained and is not expected to be fully under control until Oct. 1.

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This story was first published on Aug. 3, 2021. It was updated on Aug. 4, 2021, to correct the name of the fire in Hawaii. It is the Mana Road Fire, not the Nation Fire.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico will step in to ensure a timely chile harvest after growers and producers raised concerns about an inadequate supply of labor, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales announced.

The state will funnel up to $5 million in federal pandemic relief toward enhanced wages for laborers who harvest New Mexico's renowned green and red chile crop in the late summer and early fall, along with cabbage and onions, Morales said Wednesday.

The New Mexico Department of Agriculture on Thursday was grappling with strategies for effectively distributing aid.

Chile is a roughly $50 million annual cash crop for farmers in New Mexico that would ideally employ about 3,000 people at farms and processing plants during the harvest, said Joram Robbs, executive director of the New Mexico Chile Association.

We're 40% to 60% short on labor, he said. Nobody is looking or actively searching for jobs right now.

Some Republican state legislators this week urged the state to cut off a $300 weekly federal supplement to unemployment benefits, asserting that the income is keeping workers at home rather than in the fields. The supplement expires in early September.

One of those legislators, state Sen. Crystal Diamond of Elephant Butte, applauded the idea of providing temporary economic aid to the harvest.

While we cannot spend our way out of this problem, I hope this temporary aid will assist the family farms in desperate need of workers, she said in a statement. "This is a small step toward recovery.

Morales said the local farm-labor shortage predates the pandemic and that many agricultural laborers aren't eligible for unemployment benefits because of their immigration status. He said minimum wage is no longer enough to attract workers to pick chile pods and that as much as $17 an hour may be necessary to attract workers.

The harvest of New Mexico's most famous crop started a few weeks early this year amid a shift in planting techniques.

Instead of starting from seed, more farmers are planting seedlings that have sprouted in a greenhouse to get their fields going faster. For some, its a hedge against increasing labor costs, while others see the method as a way to save water.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A Saudi humanitarian aid worker's anonymous Twitter account used for satire about Saudi Arabia's economy landed him in prison in the kingdom over three years ago.

But the story may have roots in an elaborate ploy that began in Silicon Valley and sparked a federal case against two Twitter employees accused of spying for the kingdom.

The case, spanning from San Francisco to Riyadh, reveals Saudi Arabia's continued efforts at suppressing criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and shines a spotlight on the lengths to which the kingdom has gone to target perceived critics.

For Areej al-Sadhan, a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen living in California, the saga began on March 12, 2018, when plain-clothed security forces entered the office of the Red Crescent in Riyadh, where her younger brother, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, was working.

The men took her brother away, without any explanation.

It was like he disappeared off the face of the earth ... there was no trace of him at all, she said.

That same year, the crown prince oversaw an unprecedented crackdown against activists, rivals and perceived critics as he amassed power. The year culminated in the gruesome killing of Washington Post contributing columnist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in the Saudi Consulate in Turkey in late 2018.

As months went by, word reached al-Sadhan's family that he was being held in a secret location and subjected to abuse: beatings, electrocution, sleep deprivation, verbal and even sexual assault.

Then, in February 2020, nearly two years after his disappearance, a relative's phone rang. It was al-Sadhan. He confirmed he was alive and being held in al-Ha'ir Prison on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. A year later, he called again to tell them he would be released soon.

But he was never freed. In April, the anti-terrorism court where he was tried handed down a shockingly long prison sentence of 20 years for al-Sadhan, followed by a 20-year travel ban. Rights groups note that under the ruling, al-Sadhan, 37, will not be truly free until he is 77 years-old.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented on Tuesday on Twitter that al-Sadhans sentencing was a grave injustice, continuing Saudi Arabias assault on freedom of expression. She said Congress is closely monitoring Abdulrahmans appeal efforts and all human rights abuses by the regime.

This week, al-Sadhan appealed the ruling; his next appeal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Charges against al-Sadhan are unclear, but they are related to Saudi cybercrime laws and national security matters in connection to an anonymous Twitter account he purportedly ran that was critical of the kingdom's economic polices. Twitter is a key space for Saudis to express their views, and millions of Saudis are active users.

How the Saudi government linked al-Sadhan to the Twitter account remains a mystery.

His sister says someone close to an FBI investigation told the family that his account is believed to be among a list of accounts whose identities were leaked to the Saudi government by spies planted in the U.S. tech company.

They shared a list of different Twitter handles, and the handle that we believe belonged to my brother was among them, she said.

Rights activists say at the time of al-Sadhans arrest in early 2018, several other Saudis who ran anonymous Twitter accounts critical of the government were also detained in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has not commented on their arrests.

U.S. federal prosecutors are currently pursuing a case in California against three men accused of acting on behalf of the Saudi government as secret agents throughout 2015.

An FBI complaint alleges that Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen who was media partnerships manager for the Middle East at Twitter, and Saudi citizen Ali Alzabarah, who worked as an engineer at Twitter, used their position to access confidential Twitter data about users, their email addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses that can give up a users location. A third man named in the complaint is Saudi citizen Ahmed Al-Mutairi, who is said to have worked with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family as an intermediary.

The FBI complaint alleges that user data of over 6,000 Twitter accounts was accessed, including at least 33 usernames for which Saudi law enforcement had submitted emergency disclosure requests to Twitter.

Arrest warrants were issued for the two Saudi men, who have since left the U.S., while Abouammo was arrested in November 2019 and released on bond. He had pleaded not guilty.

Back in Riyadh, al-Sadhan is being kept in solitary confinement with only a court appointed lawyer allowed to defend him. His father has only been able to speak to him briefly in court in the presence of guards.

In California, his sister Areej said the timing of his sentencing in April appears to be linked to a decision by President Joe Biden to stop short of sanctioning the crown prince after the release in February of a highly sensitive intelligence assessment that determined he approved the operation that killed Khashoggi in Turkey.

A shift happened after MBS felt immune that hes not going to be punished for Khashoggis murder and the other human rights violations, she said, referring to the crown prince by his moniker.

She said when her brother returned to Saudi Arabia in 2014 after completing a business degree at Notre Dame de Namur University in California, he struggled to find work. He was aware of the vast wealth disparities in his country, and the challenges young Saudi men and women face in finding jobs.

He wasnt an activist or super interested in politics, but he was compassionate and cared deeply about people, she said.

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Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ayaelb
Veteran Spotlight

SEELEY LAKE  Ron Talcott joined the military with a clear understanding of what that decision entailed. He had the experience of his grandfather, who served in the United States Army, and his father, who served during World War II, to draw on. When he applied to and received an appointment to the Air Force Academy, his goals were to receive a good education and retire with skills that would translate into a civilian career. Understanding that military life would require his family to move many times, Talcott balanced that uncertainty by establishing a permanent home base for his family in Seeley Lake.

Talcott's roots in Seeley Lake go back to his childhood when he spent summers visiting his grandparents at their cabin on Placid Lake. His love of the area prompted him to choose it as the place to which his family would always return. In 1973 he purchased two lots by the Seeley Lake airport. It took three years to pay them off and then he built his family a home.

In the meantime, the Air Force trained Talcott to be a pilot. Ranked ninth among his 60 classmates, Talcott got ninth choice of what aircraft he wanted to fly. He chose a KC-135 jet refueler for practical reasons-it had more headroom. He was 6 feet, 3 inches tall, and his head scraped the top of the canopy in the more confining fighter planes.

Talcott said he refueled all kinds of airplanes. Some of the most dramatic incidents occurred when he was on temporary duty in Southeast Asia, refueling fighter pilots going into Vietnam.

He said, "Sometimes people needed to be refueled because their plane had been shot up and was leaking fuel. So we gave them fuel to get back to their base or at least over friendly territory so if they had to bail out they weren't captured by the enemy."

Practicality also played a part when he again had an opportunity to choose which type of plane he wanted to fly. He opted for the C-130 transport. Though the transport planes flew missions in Vietnam, they were officially based in Taiwan. Their mission schedule sent them into Vietnam on a rotation of two weeks in, three days out. Talcott was able to move his wife and two sons, ages 2 and 3, to Taiwan and that rotation allowed him to see them often during the two years he was stationed there.

Talcott's was the only unit flying C-130s when the Paris Peace Accords were signed. At the time, the North Vietnamese held around 500 American prisoners of war. The U.S. and South Vietnam forces held 50,000 Viet Cong prisoners. According to the agreement, for every 110 American POWs freed, 10,000 Viet Cong would be released. Talcott's unit helped carry out the repatriation.

The Viet Cong POWs were loaded into the C-130 and flown to designated places throughout Vietnam. The U.S. furnished the POWs with t-shirts and shorts as well as flip-flops made from recycled tires and inner tubes. Talcott said the drop-offs were brief. He didn't even shut the engines off, simply lowered the ramp for the prisoners' egress.

According to Talcott, "When the [Viet Cong prisoners] were getting ready to walk off the back of the airplane, they could see tables were all set up and their people were ready to receive them. [The prisoners] took everything off, so that they were naked. The purpose was to show loyalty to their cause and their dislike of us. Anything that was given to them from the U.S. was left behind. The back of the airplane was strewn with shorts and shirts and sandals. Their people had clothes for them."

Talcott also participated in the repatriation of the American POWs. He considers it his most memorable experience in Southeast Asia.

"You've heard people say you could feel the emotion in the air? That was one time in my life when I could feel it," Talcott said. "I went to the back of my airplane to get ready to load [the POWs]. Two trucks drove up, each carrying 50 men. They jumped off the trucks and marched onto my airplane. And you could feel - I mean just feel it like it was electricity - the emotions that they were experiencing."

After the war, the Air Force returned Talcott to the United States and sent him to Pennsylvania State University where he got a master's degree in Business Administration, specializing in management and human relations. He then served three years at the Air Force Command Headquarters, Transport Plane Division.

Talcott's last assignment was in Tacoma, Washington, where he retired in 1986. The day after he retired, he started working for The Boeing Company. They recognized the value of his advanced education and his many hours of experience with their airplanes.

Photo provided Ron Talcott now retired from a fruitful career of flying airplanes and teaching pilots.

Calling his Boeing career "a wonderful opportunity to fly new airplanes and fly around the world and teach people from all over the world," Talcott said, "I learned a lot about how the world is put together and what different countries are like."

During his 35-year career at Boeing, the Talcotts lived in Washington but visited Seeley Lake often. In fact, they and their children and grandchildren have expanded their housing in the area to include the "in-laws and the outlaws."

Talcott's wife Gigi counts six generations of Talcotts who have looked upon Seeley Lake as their touchstone base.

"[Seeley Lake] has always been so welcoming and the setting is so magnificent," she said. "If you have the luxury of having a place there that you can come to in the summers and for Christmas, it's a blessing.

Looking back on what he considers the fortuitous crossroads in his life, Talcott said, "I am a man of Faith and so I look at that - that I got opportunities often - as God's hand."
Keene, NH (03431)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds with an isolated thunderstorm possible after midnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Keene, NH (03431)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
For four months, a vibrant Black Lives Matter mural adorned the pavement outside Palo Alto City Hall, drawing visitors from all parts of the Bay Area. It also caused pain, suffering, fright and shame for five police officers, according to a lawsuit they filed against the city and Police Department on June 4.

News of the lawsuit cast a national spotlight on a Silicon Valley suburb mythologized for garage startups, a prestigious university and Eichler homes on leafy streets. But the police officers complaints revealed something that longtime residents already knew: Palo Alto struggled to confront its own racial issues long before the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and the mural that city leaders commissioned as their response.

The lawsuit didnt surprise me, said the Rev. Kaloma Smith, chair of the citys Human Relations Commission.

Smith said he began noticing undertones soon after he moved to the South Bay from New York eight years ago. Peninsula towns have a conservative streak, he told The Chronicle. There are remarks and statements that people make, particularly to those of us who are African American in the public space ... referring to people as Youre very articulate, youre very well-spoken, you really have a great grasp on life. Like our bona fides arent just enough to show up.

Palo Altos attitudes on race took a more public turn last June, when the City Council approved the temporary mural on Hamilton Avenue.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The city spent $20,000 on the artwork, paying 16 artists $700 stipends to each paint one letter in the Black Lives Matter slogan. Their 245-foot composition included two images that incited the officers litigation: a portrait of former Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur on the second E, and a portion of the New Black Panther Party logo on the R.

The New Black Panther Party, which is not connected to the original Black Panther Party, has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The story surrounding Shakur is more complicated.

Shakur was convicted of killing a state trooper during a 1973 shootout in New Jersey, though questions linger over the degree of her involvement and whether she had surrendered without ever firing a shot.

When you look at history, Assata Shakur means different things to different people, Smith said. Particularly, theres controversy in the Black community of her being railroaded on the charges she got convicted of. We for years have seen Black and brown individuals railroaded in the courts. Its one of the biggest challenges around systemic racism.

Palo Altos Police Officers Association objected to both images. The five officers claimed in their suit that they were forced to physically pass and confront the mural and its offensive, discriminatory and harassing iconography every time they entered the Palo Alto Police Department.

The department sits at the opposite side of the City Hall complex from where the mural was located. It has two vehicle entrances half a block from the artwork.

Palo Alto officials removed the mural in November 2020, noting their obligation to schedule road work before the winter rains and prepare for heavier traffic downtown, which would have damaged the art. In a Nov. 2 staff report to the City Council, City Manager Ed Shikada said the city had shifted focus to a permanent art installation next to City Hall in King Plaza, which would celebrate the citys dedication to race and equity. The plaza is named for civil rights leaders the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

In April, the Public Art Commission delegated $50,000 to the King Plaza installation, and began drafting a call for artists.

The lawsuit, which seeks more than $25,000 in damages, came six months after the murals removal. A Los Angeles attorney who represents the officers, Matthew McNichols, said the plaintiffs are not challenging Black Lives Matter as a social movement, but setting limits on iconography that they believe creates a hostile workplace.

But one of the artists and several community leaders who supported the project argued that the Shakur and New Black Panther imagery presented no harm to police.

It felt like they had a magnifying glass, and theyre looking for something to be triggered by, Richard Hoffman, one of the mural artists, said of the police officers. Hoffman, a sheet metal journeyman from San Jose, painted the K. Within its contours he fit eight black-and-white images of people killed by police.

To Smith, the pastor and Human Relations Commission chair, the lawsuit seemed tone-deaf, given the uprisings following Floyds murder and the murals symbolism as a significant expression of support for racial justice.

City officials declined to comment, citing active litigation. Others said the dispute reveals an ambivalence around racial and social equity that goes back years.

When LaDoris Cordell was elected to the Palo Alto City Council in 2003, she began pressing for an independent police auditor, contending that the department needed more oversight. Cordell, who is Black, was troubled by what she characterized as a frequent sight: white officers standing over a Black or Latino person whom they had detained at the curb, in a city that is less than 2% Black and 6% Latino.

Courtesy Benny Villarreal Photography

The year Cordell ran for office, Palo Alto was jolted by an encounter that quickly turned violent: Two police officers stopped a 59-year-old Black motorist, pulled him out of his car for not showing his hands, and struck him with batons and doused him with pepper spray. The man was never charged with a crime; the officers pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace, an infraction.

The council voted to create the auditor position in 2006, contracting with a Pasadena firm to do the work and enabling it to review  but not investigate  complaints against the department. But trust in the police began fraying two years later, when then-Chief Lynne Johnson made public comments that seemed to encourage racial profiling.

Johnson stepped down amid protests. By 2019, the Police Department was still under scrutiny for its treatment of Black people. In one instance described in the auditors report that year, an officer stopped a Black man for riding the wrong way down the street on a bicycle. The officer ultimately Tased the man, a use of force that the auditor found reasonable. However, the report questioned the officers repeated use of profanity and the term bro, as well as his puzzling decision to move closer to the man.

Raven Malone said she encountered the citys conflicted attitudes about race when she ran for City Council last year, in the heat of the social uprisings. Malone is Black and an engineer, and was narrowly labeled a Black Lives Matter activist by news outlets throughout the campaign. She supports the movement but had a broader platform that emphasized infrastructure and housing for all.

As the race wore on, she endured other forms of derision. A newspaper editorial described her as articulate. At one point, someone covered one of her lawn signs with a racist White Matters message. Smith condemned it, but Malone said she was disappointed by the muted response from other city officials.

They just brushed it under the rug, she said.

After losing the election, Malone moved to Mountain View. In Palo Alto you cant have a conversation about the police, and you cant talk about the racist and segregationist housing policy, she said, referring to political leaders reluctance to build multifamily housing.

One particularly potent symbol of exclusivity was Foothills Park, a 1,400-acre expanse of wooded ridges and valleys that was closed to non-residents for 55 years. It took a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to pressure the City Council to open it last November. Cordell, who was one of the plaintiffs, saw this as a glimmer of progress.

This was all in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter, she said. Lets be inclusive; lets allow people from around to be a part of our community.

Months later, police officers filed their mural lawsuit, which is now pending in Santa Clara Superior Court. It coincided with another development: the expansion of the auditors scope to inspect a broader range of incidents, including any altercation in which an officer draws a gun.

Cordell, a retired superior court judge and former independent police auditor for San Jose, said shes grown accustomed to her citys jagged path toward racial progress.

Palo Alto is fits and starts, she said.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Thursday, Aug. 5, and were thinking about what kind of masks matter to prevent delta variant infections. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Napas winegrowers arent waiting for the next fire to start.

Last years record-breaking wildfires led to unprecedented damage in the famous wine region After major losses in 2020s Glass and LNU fires, the county is girding for the likelihood of wildfire every year. Many residents and businesses are frustrated with existing firefighting resources and are speaking up about the need to mount their own fire defenses.

In the face of limited public resources, Napa has something that most rural counties dont: wealthy and well-connected residents  but as Esther Mobley reports, that may not be enough.

 Dixie Fire tears through town of Greenville.

 The latest on a new wildfire near Colfax thats threatening homes.

 California drought: One of the state's biggest reservoirs hit a record low this week.

 U.S. Forest Service moves away from controversial policy on small fires.

Coronavirus updates

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Clamor for an extra dose  or booster shot  of coronavirus vaccine is rising. In San Francisco, people who had received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine lined up Wednesday at San Francisco General Hospital to get a dose of mRNA vaccine, in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind program in the country.

No official federal guidance has been issued on boosters. People who are older, have compromised immune systems, or got the J&J vaccine are particularly anxious for more information. But boosters are also controversial, as, globally, hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization director-general on Wednesday.

Read more about S.F.s program and the question of booster shots here.

 The latest news on our live updates page.

 At least 2,700 San Francisco city employees have not been vaccinated. Some are frontline workers.

 Stern Grove Festival announces free COVID-19 vaccines for attendees.

 Double mask? N95s? How to decide which masks to wear amid the Bay Area's delta surge.

 San Francisco schools will not mandate vaccination for teachers, staff, in line with nearly all California districts.

Around the Bay

Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

 The aftermath: 5 Palo Alto police officers sued over a Black Lives Matter mural. Some residents say they weren't surprised.

 Missing runner case: Smartwatch recovered with remains could yield clues, including a time of death.

 Olympics stories from Ann Killion: Larry Nassar's legacy haunts Tokyo Olympics, with abusers still enabled. Plus: Pushback against transgender Olympic athletes is all about sexism.

 Highways, public transit, EV charging: Biden's infrastructure deal could bring billions to California  if it can pass the House.

 Recall debate: Four candidates gang up on the man theyd like to replace: Gov. Gavin Newsom. More: Newsom can keep power grab language in recall pamphlet, judge tentatively rules.

Chronicle Food

Nicole Morrison/ Special to The Chronicle

Anyone can open up a coffee shop nowadays, but it takes something different to be more than just another business, (to) be a community space, says JoJo Ty, a native San Franciscan and co-owner of Fluid Cooperative. We really want to be the thing we wanted to see when we were younger.

A wave of new cafes in the Bay Area has an ambitious goal: a reclamation of coffee culture while centering culture and identity in their businesses  alongside making a great cup of coffee. Reporter Elena Kadvany talks to the owners of these fourth wave coffee shops about how they are approaching their businesses.

 An S.F. restaurant's $72 fried rice dish was a runaway hit. It was also the chef's nightmare.

 Critic Soleil Ho picks her Top South Asian restaurants in the Bay Area.

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com.
Stunning imagery captured by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations satellite 22,300 miles in space shows massive plumes of smoke and heat signatures from the wildfires blazing in Northern California, including the enormous Dixie Fire.

The high-resolution imagery  which was overlaid with thermal imagery to show the wildfire hot spots  was captured from NOAAs GOES-17 satellite on Tuesday between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., said John Leslie, a spokesperson for NOAAs Satellites. The dramatic footage shows reddish-orange land in areas where active wildfires have very high thermal signatures, also known as hot spots or heat signatures, said John Bateman, a meteorologist with NOAA.

The satellite captures footage of wildfires, storm systems, lightning, coastal fog and other hazards that impact the western United States, Hawaii and Alaska, Leslie said. It also gives a birds-eye view of the blazes that are burning in portions of Northern California, including the Dixie Fire, which had scorched 274,139 acres and was 35% contained as of Wednesday and swept through a Gold Rush-era ghost town, fire officials said.

On Wednesday, fire officials were expecting extreme fire behavior for the Dixie Fire incident and said the blaze would cause unhealthy air quality in the communities of Susanville and Mineral, and very unhealthy air quality in Chester. Roughly 4,927 firefighters were battling the blaze and constructing and reinforcing control lines, and protecting structures, fire officials said

Now Playing: This 5-second satellite video animation - captured from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-17 satellite, which is located 22,300 miles in space - shows plumes of smoke and heat signatures from wildfires blazing in Northern California. Video: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

A new wildfire, dubbed the River Fire, sparked near the city of Colfax in Placer County on Wednesday afternoon and prompted evacuations in the area.

The River Fire quickly burned 1,000 acres in the area off of Milk Ranch Road and Bear River Campground Road and was 0% contained as of Wednesday afternoon, Cal Fire officials said.

Heres a look at other wildfires in California:

 Hiding Fire: The 50-acre fire burning at Dale Lane and Panther Road, located south of Cloverdale in Shasta County, was 95% contained on Wednesday, fire officials said.

 House Fire: The blaze, which sparked on Wednesday at Highway 299 and Tollhouse Road, located west of Redding, had burned 20 acres and was 15% contained as of Wednesday, fire officials said.

 Tamarack Fire: The lightning-sparked fire burning near South Lake Tahoe has scorched 68,696 acres and was 82% contained as of Wednesday, fire officials said. Fire activity in the area has increased because of extremely dry and windy conditions that have moved over the fire area, officials said.

 McFarland Fire: The lightning-sparked fire that started at McFarland Ridge and and Baker Flat, west of Platina (Shasta County) has burned 20,005 acres and was 5% contained as of Wednesday, fire officials said.

 Antelope Fire: The lightning-sparked fire was moving north toward Tennant in Siskiyou County on Wednesday, fire officials said. The blaze was very active in the upper tree canopy in the afternoon, fire officials said. Spot fire have been seen half a mile ahead of the main fire, fire officials said.

 Peak Fire: This fire has burned 2,098 acres of grass and brush south of Lake Isabella between Walker Basin and the Kern River Valley, fire officials said. The fire was 98% contained on Wednesday.

 Evans Fire: The lightning-sparked fire has burned 85 acres and is burning roughly one mile east of Evans Peak and is expected to continue to burn to the north toward Lassen National Forest, fire officials said.

 Antonio Fire: This fire is burning in the area of Glendora Ridge Road and Sunset Peak, located west of Mount Baldy in Los Angeles County, fire officials said.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter:

@ByLHernandez
The recall campaign against Gov. Gavin Newsom is being led by Republicans, and Newsom is entitled to say so in his ballot arguments, a judge ruled Thursday, rejecting an attempt by recall leaders to purge the ballot materials of the governors claim that he is the target of a Republican power grab.

Although not all supporters of Newsoms removal are Republicans, the recall effort was clearly spearheaded by Republicans, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Laurie Earl said in a ruling dismissing a lawsuit by two organizers of the recall that will go before the voters on Sept. 14.

She also said Newsom was entitled to argue that the recall is being led by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

The recall committee immediately asked a state appeals court in Sacramento to overturn Earls ruling, but the court denied the request Friday, shortly before a deadline set by state election officials to start preparing the ballot materials.

The ruling represents at least a modest victory for Newsom, who wants to motivate fellow Democrats to vote by portraying the recall as an attempt by Trump backers to seize power in a state that has not elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006. Polls so far indicate that Republicans, who make up only a quarter of the states registered voters, are more interested in the election and more likely to vote than Democrats.

Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsoms campaign, said the ruling underscores the clear choice Californians face on Sept. 14, voting no or handing the keys of state government over to Trump Republicans.

The lawsuit filed last week by Orrin Heatlie, identified as the lead proponent of the recall, and Mike Netter, another campaign organizer, challenged language in the arguments Newsom submitted for ballot materials the state provides to voters.

The governor described the recall as an attempt by national Republicans and Trump supporters to force an election and grab power in California ... the same national Republicans who fought to overturn the presidential election and launched efforts to undermine the right to vote across the country.

He accused the organizers of abusing our recall laws and urged supporters to stop this Republican power grab.

Heatlie and Netter argued that the references to Republicans, Trump supporters and abuse of the recall laws violated a state law banning false or misleading statements in the ballot materials. They said the 1.7 million valid signatures on recall petitions included many from non-Republicans, 22 of the 46 candidates seeking to replace Newsom are not Republicans, and opinion polls show support for the recall far exceeds Republicans share of the electorate.

But regardless of the candidates party affiliations, Earl said, the recall has been organized by Republicans. She said more than 90% of those who signed the initial campaign documents were Republicans, and the Republican Party has been a major campaign donor. And noting that both Heatlie and Netter have been outspoken Trump supporters and that Heatlie has publicly questioned President Bidens election, Earl said, There is nothing false or misleading about describing the recall efforts leaders as Trump supporters.

The challenge to Newsoms claim of an abuse of recall laws is perhaps a closer question, Earl said. But she noted that the election is occurring less than three years after Newsom was elected by a 62% majority over Republican John Cox, who is one of the candidates to replace him and would need only a plurality of the vote to become governor if Newsom was recalled.

An argument can be made, the judge said, that this recall is an abuse of a perfectly legal process.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
A wildfire that started Wednesday afternoon near the city of Colfax in Placer County quickly exploded to 1,400 acres, damaged or destroyed about 35 structures and was threatening another 4,000 properties by the evening.

Thousands of people were evacuated from areas in Nevada and Placer counties. Half of threatened properties were in the city of Colfax.

The blaze began around 2 p.m. off of Milk Ranch Road and Bear River Campground Road in Placer County then jumped the county line to Nevada County. Dubbed the River Fire, the blaze was fueled by dry vegetation and spread by by high winds.

Authorities ordered nearby residents to leave in areas threatened by the fire, a map of which can be found here.

Nevada Union High School at 11761 Ridge Rd. in Grass Valley is open as a temporary evacuation point and a congregate shelter has been set up at Bear River High School at 11130 Magnolia Rd. in Grass Valley. The Nevada County Fairgrounds 11228 McCourtney Rd. in Grass Valley is an animal shelter.

Some experts noted the area was a particularly dangerous place for a fire to start, since no blazes had recently cropped up there and in drought stricken California there was plenty of dried brush and other fuel to burn.

Colfax is home to about 2,000 people and the fire appeared to threaten the area between the city and nearby Grass Valley.

Firefighters were on scene with fire engines and aircraft and CalFire said on Twitter that more resources had been requested as the blaze was an immediate threat to homes in the area.

Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
Clamor for an extra dose  or booster shot  of coronavirus vaccine is rising, as the highly contagious delta variant causes even vaccinated people to get occasional infections. In San Francisco, people who had received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine lined up Wednesday at San Francisco General Hospital to get a dose of mRNA vaccine, in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind program in the country.

No official federal guidance has been issued on boosters. People who are older, have compromised immune systems, or got the J&J vaccine are particularly anxious for more information. But boosters are also controversial, because for every extra shot that an American gets, the global supply of the life-saving vaccines shrinks. And 42% of Americans have not gotten even one dose, leading some experts to believe the priority should be to get them vaccinated first.

Here is what we know about the latest developments:

What is San Francisco doing? San Francisco is allowing people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to seek an mRNA shot of Pfizer or Moderna at city-run clinics. It is believed to be the first U.S. jurisdiction to permit a supplemental shot, as city officials are calling it. San Francisco health officials emphasize they are not recommending that everyone who got the J&J get an mRNA shot, and that this option should be limited to J&J recipients who have had a discussion with their doctor.

What is the U.S. doing? The federal government has not recommended additional shots for people who are already vaccinated. Dr. Anthony Fauci has indicated in recent days this may change soon for some vulnerable Americans, saying a recommendation is likely coming for people who are immunocompromised. Officials have not specified whether this would be for people who got Pfizer or Moderna, or J&J. Pfizer is expected to apply for FDA authorization for a third dose this month. If the FDA grants full approval of the vaccine, which its expected to do in September, doctors could prescribe a third dose to patients who they think need it.

Are any other Bay Area counties or providers offering additional shots for J&J recipients? Not right now, because the CDC and FDA do not recommend it. But some counties are watching how San Franciscos policy plays out, and acknowledge that the decision to get an additional shot is best left up to individual providers and their patients. Additional shots at this point are considered off-label.

Solano County said it is monitoring what San Francisco is doing and, if the state deems it appropriate, may implement a similar policy. San Mateo County said some providers may be doing it on a case-by-case basis: We know there are vaccinating providers who may use their clinical judgment to consider off-label uses for patients in case-by-case situations and we defer to their judgment in such cases.

What is the rest of the world doing? Israel last week became the first country to authorize booster shots  a third dose of Pfizer  to people over 60. Germany followed suit this week, saying that starting in September it will allow a Pfizer booster for some high-risk people, such as those who are older, live in nursing homes, or have compromised immune systems. Germany will also offer boosters to people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca or J&J vaccine, which studies have shown are not as highly protective as the mRNA vaccines.

The World Health Organization, though, says booster shots should be halted until the end of September so at least 10% of the population in every country can get vaccinated.

Even while hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses, WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

Are boosters safe? Yes. Theres not yet much data to quantify the exact immune response benefit of giving additional shots to vaccinated people, since the clinical trials tested for a two-dose regimen (Pfizer and Moderna) or one-dose regimen (J&J). But receiving an additional dose should not harm you, experts say. This is based on ample evidence from previous widely used vaccines, and from what is known about how the immune system responds to vaccines.

Are boosters needed? There is growing consensus that boosters will likely help the most vulnerable who have been vaccinated  those with compromised immune systems  build extra protection against COVID, especially now that the highly contagious delta variant is spreading so quickly.

But its unclear exactly how beneficial they would be, and whether everyone will need them.

Studies show that antibody levels, which are one but not the only marker of immune response, wane after six months post-vaccination; this is to be expected, and doesnt necessarily mean someone is no longer protected after six months. And studies on memory T cells and B cells  markers of longer-term immune response  suggest the vaccines work well in the long run.

Who should be considered for a booster first? Experts say its reasonable for those with the most weakened immune systems  such as solid organ transplant recipients, people with leukemia or on dialysis, and people undergoing chemotherapy  to get boosters first. Immunocompromised people may not have an effective enough response to vaccines because disease or medication has weakened their immune system. However, its not clear that this group would respond to a third shot any better than the first two, said UC Berkeley infectious disease expert Dr. John Swartzberg.

The immune compromised group, which is such a logical group, we dont have robust data that they will respond to a third jab any better than the first two, he said. It may be holding out a false hope to people in that group.

Some also think its reasonable for J&J recipients to consider boosters, too, since studies show this single-dose regimen is not as highly protective as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This is what Germany will do for those who got the J&J and AstraZeneca shots.

It is also reasonable that the earliest recipients of the vaccine  those who got it at the start of the rollout, in December or January  start getting boosters to learn more about the benefits of additional shots. Those would be people who got Pfizer or Moderna, since those two vaccines were authorized in December and J&J was not authorized until the last week of February.

Those who got the original shots or two shots back in January and December last year, or theyre immune compromised  those would be the subgroups to target now for a booster and learn from it, said Stephen Shortell of UC Berkeleys School of Public Health. Give it to them, see what the reaction is, follow them over time.

Some experts note that age in and of itself may not be the best measure of who needs a booster. A healthy 65-year-old, for instance, may not need an additional shot, while a 25-year-old with multiple comorbidities might.

Is it ethical to give boosters? Some experts say boosters are morally questionable in the context of global public health, even though they may benefit some individuals. This is especially true because all the vaccines are very effective at preventing the most severe disease, hospitalizations and death  so those whove been vaccinated are already mostly protected against the worst outcomes, while those who are unvaccinated remain extremely vulnerable. The pandemic may only end once everyone or almost everyone, not just people in some regions or countries, are vaccinated.

A good argument could be made for selective people in our society to get a booster, Swartzberg said. The 2.7% of the population that is immune compromised, you can make an argument for that group. You could make an argument for health care workers and other people at very high risk. But you can make an argument against these, too. One argument against it: People arent dying who are vaccinated ... Then the global question is how can you be giving a third jab here when youve got the bulk of the world not even having access to one? And its in our long-term interest to vaccinate the world.

Chronicle staff writers Erin Allday, Nanette Asimov and Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
Northern Californias massive Dixie Fire tore through Greenville in Plumas County Wednesday, torching historic buildings and reducing much of the towns main street to rubble.

Juxtaposed images captured before and after the blaze showed the fires devastating effects on the town of about 2,100 people.
GREENVILLE, Plumas County  Almost no structures are left standing in the center of town, except for a Dollar General store, a bank and a small supermarket. The Dixie Fire laid waste to the historic Gold Rush town and then moved on with ferocious speed.

Among the ashen remains: a general store built around 1881, the collapsed brick facade of a Masonic lodge and the fallen sign of the former Pioneer Cafe.

Residents of this region had barely grasped the heartbreaking devastation when sheriffs ordered thousands more in nearby communities to flee from what is now Californias sixth largest recorded wildfire at 361,812 acres.

People in Taylorsville were ordered to drive south on Highway 89, or east via Beckwourth-Gennessee Road, to a shelter in Portola. In Lassen County, a shelter opened at Lassen Union High School in Susanville. Campgrounds filled, and RV parks offered rates of $40 a night.

Now Playing: The massive Dixie Fire tore through Greenville in Plumas County Wednesday, torching historic buildings and reducing much of the town's main street to rubble. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

For some, evacuation orders meant an anguished debate. The last holdouts weighed whether to stay or go.

This town, I knew like the back of my hand. Not anymore, Mark Vaughn, 61, said Thursday, sitting in a lawn chair outside his blue mobile home a half mile west along highway 89. He was among the few residents on the outskirts of Greenvillle who couldnt bear to leave when the town was evacuated Monday.

The blaze engulfed Greenville Wednesday night, all but destroying the community of 2,100 residents.

Its a dead town now, Vaughn said. I guarantee that.

The fire razed at least 45 buildings. It created a pyrocumulus cloud that quickly expanded and grew darker, proof of the extreme conditions and fire activity on the ground, a tweet from the Butte County Fire Department said Thursday afternoon.

Although the fire was 35% contained Thursday, firefighters were still struggling to get the upper hand, and the changing wind patterns caused new fears. The blaze had erupted Wednesday night, when gusts buffeted flames over control lines in Round Valley, according to a Cal Fire report Thursday morning.

California has grown accustomed to such devastation, but on Thursday, Cal Fire announced grim new statistics: Six of the states seven biggest wildfires have occurred within the past year. The state has seen an astounding 151% increase in acres burned, compared with this time last year, the agency said.

Greenville, a town sustained by logging, cattle ranching and Christmas tree farms, has been the most significant loss to date. Evacuated early in the week, by Thursday it was a vast field of rubble, gutted buildings, downed light poles and scorched trees, with spot fires flickering in the wreckage. Flames tore through the Sierra Lodge Hotel, a pizzeria, a bakery, and the Way Station, which recently opened as a bar and restaurant.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

Vaughn, who defied evacuation warnings, drove into town Thursday morning to assess the damage and wept as he struggled to recognize the torched brick remains of old buildings that once lined the main drag.

Melted streetlamps dangled over glass-covered sidewalks. Firefighters on bulldozers spent the morning clearing arterial streets of debris, as the walls of burned-out buildings occasionally collapsed nearby and foundations smoldered.

The night before, Vaughn, a disabled retiree, had fought desperately to save his home from a wall of soaring flames that came within several yards of his gravel driveway. He hoisted buckets of water from his above-ground pool to hold back the flames until a fire crew arrived in the wee hours.

Nearby, he could see that the home of one of his daughters had burned to the ground. Vaughns wife, Martha, evacuated days earlier with the couples horses, but he stayed behind to protect their trailer and chickens.

Other residents in nearby towns faced the same agonizing choice Thursday, with the Dixie Fire still growing. Among them was Kevin Bartlett, 37, a disabled former truck driver who lives in Canyon Dam, about 9 miles along Highway 89, where fire crews were stationed.

Bartlett filled his white Chevy pickup truck with clothing, family heirlooms and urns holding the ashes of lost family pets. In the bed of the truck, his two goats were loaded into metal crates. His dogs anxiously barked from inside the house.

When I see flames coming from any direction, Ill throw them in and go, he said, looking at the sky filled with orange smoke. I hope it doesnt come to that, but this sky is telling me something different.

In recent decades Greenvilles economic fortunes had dipped. Unlike the areas around Lake Almanor to the north and Graeagle to the south, the community hadnt drawn the needed tourist traffic to shore itself up.

It was a very vibrant town up until the early 90s, until the timber industry took a dive, said Scott Lawson, former director of the Plumas County Museum and a fifth-generation resident of the county. People used to kid about Greenville, because it had fallen on hard times, but the wealth of historical homes and buildings is amazing.

Flames gnawed through the Greenville Cy Hall Memorial Museum  named for a longtime Greenville businessman and fire chief  which had been a rallying point for people in town who had been working to revive the two-story wooden warehouse and hold public events there.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

The merchants kept trying to revitalize the place, Lawson said. They had a good sense of community. Now I dont know what you do.

Much of the original downtown, which was built after pioneers rushed to the area for gold in the 1850s, was destroyed in a fire in 1880. However, some of the old brick and masonry buildings survived the blaze and were still standing, at least until the Dixie Fire came through.

Dry winds prompted a red flag warning that was to remain in place until 8 p.m. Thursday, according to Cal Fire. Officials said they would concentrate on holding fire lines and containing the perimeter on the wildfires north side.

On Wednesday night, the Dixie Fire also reached the western edge of Chester, 19 miles to the northwest of Greenville, where it confronted a robust defense operation, according to Capt. Tony McHale of the Ventura County Fire Department, which is providing aid to Cal Fire.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

McHale said the crew of men and women has so far managed to defend Chester against the encroaching fire, but that the situation is dynamic. Winds were expected to shift from southwesterly to a northwesterly direction Thursday, lashing a tinder-dry landscape that McHale compared to a month-old Christmas tree being torched.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Dixie Fire burned in Plumas, Butte, Lassen and Tehama counties, bringing mandatory evacuations in Plumas County from Meadow Valley at the south to the Lassen County border, east to Lone Rock and west to Deer Creek Highway in Butte County.

In Lassen County, the sheriff ordered evacuations in the Clear Creek, Westwood and Pine Town areas south of Highway 36; south of Highway 44 including Silver Lake, Juniper Lake and the Caribou Wilderness; and south of Mountain Meadows Reservoir from Hamilton Branch waterway to the Plumas county line.

The Lassen County Health and Social Services Department announced the opening of two emergency evacuation shelters in Susanville and a shelter for pets at the Lassen County Fairgrounds.

Dusti Gardiner, Kurtis Alexander and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner, @kurtisalexander, @rachelswan
SFPD

An image shared by San Francisco police showing a woman they said was holding an AK-47 assault rifle while leaning out the window of a moving car has gone viral on social media.

The Police Department tweeted Wednesday that the woman in the photo was in the passenger seat of a Cadillac involved in an illegal exhibition of speed event on July 11.
Before addressing a huddle of TV news cameras Thursday morning, Jen Yao spent a few minutes sitting alone next to a tree, jotting down what she would say about her husband, Philip Kreycik.

She reported him missing last month, after he didnt return from a run in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, on a day when temperatures in the area reached 106 degrees.

He went missing the week following their fourth wedding anniversary. Yao said she wants him to be remembered as being playful and adventurous, as someone who cared for others.

I think even when we think we have everything under control, even when we think were strong and capable, accidents can happen that can really derail us from the course we set ourselves on, Yao said.

Yao and Kreyciks parents confirmed what law enforcement officials suspected for days  that remains recovered Tuesday on a remote path in the park were Philip.

His body was located under a tree, about a quarter mile off the trail Kreycik charted on a fitness app. Yao said Kreycik had never before run the path he trekked in the East Bay park.

Were told that even people who have run these hills forever, on occasion, take a wrong path and get disoriented, said Philips mother, Marcia Kreycik. Thats possibly what happened to Philip. We may never know.

Now Playing: Philip Kreycik's loved ones, mother Marcia Kreycik, wife Jen Yao, and father Keith Kreycik share with the media how they want Philip to be remembered during a press conference at the Pleasanton Library on Thursday, August 5, 2021, in Pleasanton, Calif. Kreycik's remains were found this week after he was reported missing last month. Video: Yalonda M James The Chronicle

Police are still investigating but Pleasanton Police Lt. Erik Silacci said a number of things could cause a hiker to become disoriented on the path Kreycik intended to run  the 106-degree heat, a potential injury or even rattlesnakes.

Officials hope an analysis of the smartwatch Kreycik was wearing could yield some clues, including a time of death, but police are not optimistic theyll be able to retrieve GPS data illustrating the path Kreycik took.

Before Kreyciks body was located, the mystery surrounding his disappearance fueled a number of speculative theories about how or why he might have vanished.

Weve heard a number of just outlandish stories and we have no evidence to support any of those, Silacci said. However, we have looked into all of those different allegations or tips.

Despite the sharply diminishing likelihood that Kreycik would be found alive after the first few days of searching, family members said they were devastated when they found out the body was discovered.

It was brutal, Yao said. When youre hoping for a miracle, you dont realize that its that last bit of hope thats been carrying you on.

In a note posted on Thursday night to members of the Find Philip Kreycik Facebook group, Yao urged anyone involved in search efforts  from scouring the region on foot or bike, flying a drone, handing out posters, or simply being present  to share their experience in words, photos or voice recordings, so that Yaos children would know how community members worked together to find Kreycik.

Years from now, our kids will want to know that we did everything humanly possible to find their dad, Yao wrote. What I remember and what our families remember will be insufficient, because the effort of the last few weeks is the greatest demonstration of collaboration, selflessness, care, and kindness that humanity has to offer in the face of an unimaginably difficult situation, and thats what I want them to know.

Yao also invited people who knew Kreycik to share their own memories of her husband, saying that she wants to bottle up his sense of wonder, his childlike glee, his gentleness, his boundless energy, and his exuberance for life and for all adventures.

I wish there was a way to perfectly capture it, so the kids and I can revisit and drench ourselves in him and in those qualities of his, Yao said. But we all know that as time passes and the days blur, the things that we think we will never forget will start to become fuzzy and fade. I and the kids need all of you to help us remember.

Kreyciks parents said support from the public has been incredible. More than 100 volunteers kept searching for their son even after law enforcement scaled back their efforts.

It makes me feel humble and gives me the strength to keep on going, said Philips father, Keith.

Omar Shaikh Rashad is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: omar.rashad@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @omarsrashad
As of Thursday, restaurants and bars listed on Yelp will have the option to advertise whether they require proof of vaccination for entry and whether their employees are vaccinated. Its the review platforms newest effort to help businesses communicate pandemic policies  and to combat an unprecedented rise in negative and inflammatory reviews related to coronavirus restrictions and safety protocols.

Customers will be able to search for restaurants with vaccine checks just as they search for free Wi-Fi. On Yelps end, the company promises to proactively watch businesses that opt in for any inappropriate reviews.

Weve seen a rise in reviews focused on peoples stance on COVID vaccinations rather than their actual experience with the business, Noorie Malik, Yelps vice president of user operations, wrote in a blog post announcing Yelps new features.

Since January, Yelp has put up over 100 unusual activity alerts related to vaccine protocols, including for five San Francisco bars and restaurants, such as Haight-Ashburys the Alembic and North Beachs historic Vesuvio Cafe. The alerts mean that reviews have temporarily been suspended on the business pages due to an influx of negative posts; it can take anywhere from days to weeks for the pages to return to normal.

Yelp has taken down nearly 4,500 reviews from businesses nationwide flagged for unusual activity related to COVID precautions this year, plus 8,000 reviews that violate content guidelines  the latter a 53% increase from the previous nine months.

Several Bay Area restaurant and bar owners said they plan to use Yelps new feature, but some remained undecided how effective it will be at preventing bad actors from leaving problematic reviews.

The Alembic was one of the first Bay Area businesses to require patrons to show proof of vaccination. Soon after, one-star Yelp reviews popped up suggesting the bar owners are from Nazi Germany and calling the requirement medical apartheid. The reviews were removed, but general manager Kat Kulczyk continues to reluctantly check the bars Yelp page nearly every day in case more pop up.

I just feel like it shouldnt be a business responsibility to make sure that they dont get verbally abused on Yelp, Kulczyk said.

Some owners want the review platform go even further. Jill Ritchie, owner of Vegan Picnic in San Francisco  which was hit with a spate of negative reviews after announcing its indoor vaccine requirement in July  said shed like to see Yelp promote businesses that are asking for proof of vaccine and employ vaccinated staffs by listing them higher in search results and boosting their star ratings.

Still, whether owners like it or not, Yelp remains a powerful player in how people decide where to eat, and many feel beholden to use this new feature rather than ignore Yelp entirely. The Alembic plans to list its policy on Yelp now to spread the word to more customers.

Its not going to stop people from leaving negative reviews, said Kulczyk, but at least it will give us the option to be transparent beforehand.

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Emily Hayward, general manager at Roses Taproom in Oakland, said she prefers Instagram as a communication tool and tries to not let the noise of Yelp drive decision-making. Yet she was also quick to say Roses would list its vaccine policies on the review platform.

I would say the value of communicating our policies and giving guests the chance to arrive prepared, with docs in hand so that we can provide beautiful service, far outweighs the risk of backlash, Hayward said.

Whether Yelps new features will relieve some of the pushback for businesses remains to be seen. Many local restaurant and bar owners are hoping for an indoor vaccination requirement from the government  which might be coming soon in San Francisco  to shift the burden from private businesses.

Its not like we have some private way to determine if someones 21 and can be served alcohol, said Nate Norris, chef at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. I dont see how something of such magnitude could be left in private hands.

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
It was the middle of the night, and Beth Milliken could see the Glass Fire burning in the distance. From 1 a.m. until daybreak, the vintner hurriedly bolstered her St. Helena property, Spottswoode Winery: soaking the outside decks with water, cleaning gutters of flammable debris.

I kept thinking, when the sun comes up, well get support. All we gotta do is make it until the sun comes up, Milliken said, recounting that anxious night late last September.

But the sun rose, and no firefighting crew arrived. No aid ever did come to Spottswoode.

Ultimately, the winery was luckier than many of its neighbors; others, like Newton Vineyards just half a mile away, were decimated by flames. The experience was a harsh awakening for Milliken. In a moment of crisis, the Cal Fire crews charged with battling blazes in St. Helena have too many other places, people and properties to worry about, she said. A small vineyard like hers will never be a priority.

I realized at that moment we are really on our own, she said.

That sentiment is now coursing powerfully through the Napa Valley community, which after major losses in 2020s Glass and LNU fires is girding for the likelihood of wildfire every year. Many residents and businesses are frustrated with existing firefighting resources and are speaking up about the need to mount their own fire defenses.

Milliken has made a number of new investments to protect Spottswoode, such as installing special vents on buildings that will seal up to ward off embers. Wineries like Silver Oak and Castello di Amorosa, meanwhile, are giving their staffs firefighting training. The countys leading wine-industry groups have asked the county to consider severing its contract with Cal Fire and form its own fire department instead.

And rather than rely solely on Cal Fire helicopters, which must be shared throughout the state, some county residents want to purchase aircraft to fight fires only in Napa, cost be damned. One winemaker offered to arrange for two firefighting airplanes for Napa County for the upcoming season; another resident has proposed bringing in Black Hawk helicopters at his own expense, a cost of $2 million.

But county residents taking matters into their own hands is proving difficult. The county Board of Supervisors has rejected one of the aircraft offers and hasnt made a decision on the other. That has enraged some locals, who say that the county is not acting urgently in the face of crisis. Last year, the Glass Fire damaged or destroyed more than 30 wine properties, compounding the losses vintners suffered in 2017.

Counties across California face similar concerns. But Napa presents a unique set of risks and advantages when it comes to wildfire. Its a rural place blanketed by flammable wildland. Yet its also dotted with vineyards, which have often proven to act as firebreaks. Finally, its an agricultural community with an unusual amount of wealth, where a luxury property might be listed for sale at $22 million.

That kind of affluence may afford it certain privileges in considering its wildfire defenses. It may also not be enough.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Many Napa vintners battled last years wildfires with their own rogue firefighting efforts. During Augusts LNU Lightning Complex fires, at least three separate groups of winemakers used bulldozers to create their own firebreaks.

Two months later, during the Glass Fire, El Molino Winery owner Jon Berlin rode a stunt motorcycle around Spring Mountain to monitor the spread of the blaze, cutting firebreaks with chain saws and extinguishing spot fires with a backpack sprayer. (Cal Fire advises against individual firefighting efforts and never encourages anyone to remain at their property when there is an evacuation order.)

This year, many vintners have taken fire preparation even further. Wineries including Castello di Amorosa (which lost a building in the Glass Fire) and Silver Oak (whose Oakville winery burned in 2006) are turning their own employees into a first line of defense. In March, 22 Silver Oak staffers, including owner David Duncan, took a 40-hour basic firefighting course, which included practicing putting out fires. Those staffers are now trained to use the tens of thousands of dollars worth of new equipment Duncan has purchased, including a 2,000-gallon water truck.

Our intent is not to go charging up in the mountains to fight forest fires, said Duncan. Nobody needs to be a hero. But in the event we have an incident, I think were really prepared.

Even some who have invested in wildfire preparations for years are taking new steps. Randy Dunn, owner of Dunn Vineyards, bought his first fire truck  a vintage model from 1946  back in the early 1980s, just in case he ever needed to extinguish a blaze at his remote vineyard high on Howell Mountain. But in the last year, hes spent $30,000 paying crews to cut back vegetation, bought a bulldozer to create defensible space, installed tanks that can hold more than 25,000 gallons of water and connected them to pumps. He also bought a second fire engine last year, for $8,000. Ive got my eye on a third, he said.

Vintners arent the only ones with growing concern about fire protection in Napa County. A local nonprofit, the Napa Firewise Foundation, has secured funding from the county for its Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which will develop a better emergency alert system, identify priority locations for reducing flammable vegetation and advise on updates for building codes, among other measures. The county has allocated $6 million for that, said Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza.

But $6 million may not be enough. To fund the plan over the next several years will require an additional $10 million, said Rex Stults, vice president of industry relations for the Napa Valley Vintners trade association.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

The vintners group has formed task forces to study various aspects of the countys wildfire preparedness. There is a lot of rethinking going on right now about how we respond, where our resources come from, who pays for them, what the priorities are of the county or the state, said Dawnine Dyer, owner of Meteor Vineyard on Diamond Mountain and an active task force member.

Dyer sees great potential in repurposing winery and vineyard equipment as firefighting tools. We have water, heavy equipment, pumps  if we can somehow train ourselves to be part of the response, then we wont have to find ourselves in those situations where were shut out and feeling helpless, she said.

Vintner Dunn agrees. He believes the conversation needs to start focusing on what individuals can do when a wildfire actually starts, rather than focusing solely on preventive measures. He saw this situation firsthand last year, when flames burned through about 80% of the Wildlake Preserve, a nature conservation area near his property.

I believe in vegetation management, he said. In the meantime, the fire is going to burn us and we wont have any protection.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

In the face of limited public resources, Napa has something that most rural counties dont: wealthy and well-connected residents who can afford to pay for firefighting aircraft.

Earlier this year, Dunn, who is also a pilot and keeps a Turbo Commander 690A plane at the private airport in Angwin, offered to have two Fire Boss aircraft stationed locally, which could be used to fight fires from the air in Napa County.

Keeping two Fire Boss planes in Napa for 120 days would cost about $1.5 million, Dunn estimated, a sum he thought he could easily raise from his peers. But he needed county approval  and in April, county supervisors declined the offer.

Dunns intention was noble, said Pedroza, but the Fire Boss planes werent the right vehicles for the job. When you talk to our experts, in their professional opinion, helicopters were a more appropriate resource for Napa County, given our topography, Pedroza said.

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Cal Fire did get a firefighting helicopter stationed at the Napa Airport in June, but it will be used throughout the state, wherever theres a need. For some Napa residents, thats not good enough. We want some resources dedicated just to Napa County, said Milliken.

One newcomer to Napa Valley is observing the situation with interest. Michael Rogerson, the CEO of an aircraft company in Southern California, bought a home in Oakville in early 2021. He learned that he would not be able to purchase a strong wildfire insurance policy for his property  a common predicament among Napa property owners  and began getting worried about wildfire danger.

When he saw that Dunn was experiencing difficulty in getting the county to approve the Fire Boss planes, Rogerson figured he might have a better shot providing Black Hawk helicopters, crafts his company has owned since 2016 and that are very similar to what Cal Fire uses, he said. And he is willing to cover the estimated $2 million cost to do it.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle 2020

But even that much money may not be able to get the job done. The county still hasnt given Rogerson the go-ahead.

Theres still a chance the county will take him up on the offer, Pedroza said. Were hopeful that (in August) we will have secured a helicopter, the supervisor said, adding, Were hopeful that (Rogersons) helicopters can be considered.

Regardless, Rogerson said he plans to fly his Black Hawks from Tennessee, where theyre currently located, to the Napa County Airport. He said he will make sure they meet all Cal Fire specifications. Essentially, he wants to make it as hard as possible for the county to say no.

I want to prove to them that my offer is real, Rogerson said. And if they want to continue to ignore it, I hope that they dont end up having a reason to be sorry.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Not every county in California, of course, has residents with a spare $2 million to fund firefighting helicopters. The debate in Napa raises questions about the responsibilities of individuals versus those of local governments in combating chronic wildfires. What sort of precedent might it set for other communities in California without the money, connections or clout to secure such high-stakes resources? If Napa gets its helicopters, would it be ethical to withhold them from other counties if a fire is burning beyond the county line?

Its a big problem, and it doesnt have a simple solution, said Rogerson. Certainly, he added, using our two helicopters is not going to solve the whole problem.

There are precedents for county-funded aerial firefighting in California. San Diego County, for example, has three of its own aircraft. But its an enormous investment: The county purchased its last helicopter, in 2019, for about $20 million.

Those are questions for the long term. In the meantime, all that vintners like Dunn and Milliken are thinking about is how theyre going to get through the next few months. Peak fire season is coming up, and they and their peers have millions of dollars worth of property at stake; the livelihoods of thousands of people also hang in the balance.

The idea that property owners should leave all firefighting efforts to Cal Fire is beginning to sound impractical to many. I dont know who on this planet would really be willing to walk away from their property and say, If it burns, it burns, Milliken said. I dont see that as being realistic.

What is realistic, and horrifically so, is the likelihood of wildfire coming to Napa Valley again, even to parts of the valley that were recently scorched. Wildlake Preserve, near Dunn Vineyards, is full of dry brush again, less than a year after it burned.

Theres a lot of standing fuel, Dunn said. I hate to say it, but a fire could get going in here again.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
The spike in coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant has prompted the return of a familiar restriction to the Bay Area: an indoor mask mandate for everyone.

But could this latest surge bring back a far more disruptive measure in the Bay Area or even statewide  namely, lockdown orders?

The answer so far, according to California and many county officials, is no.

Thats because this surge is distinctive from others over the past year and a half: Its the first to strike after the widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and both the coronavirus and public health tools for fighting it have changed considerably.

The California Department of Public Health said in an email Thursday that between masking, testing and more than 75% of eligible individuals in the state having received at least one vaccine dose, lockdowns would not be necessary.

California can continue to keep businesses open and get kids back in classrooms safely, the department said.

The San Francisco and Alameda County health departments also said this week that they are not considering a shelter-in place order. That is also the case for San Mateo County, according to Department of Public Health public information officer Preston Merchant.

Laine Hendricks, public information officer for Marin Countys Department of Public Health, said the same, adding that the county is seeing only about one-third of the number of cases it experienced last January, with the majority now among the unvaccinated.

The state and local response seems to mirror the message from the federal level. On ABCs This Week, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said lockdowns are not a probable future scenario for the U.S., despite the surges. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently said that the country wants to avoid lockdowns at all costs.

Experts point to several reasons why a lockdown at this point seems not just unlikely, but exceedingly so.

A lockdown is a public health measure of last resort, said infectious disease expert Dr. Warner Greene, an infectious disease expert with the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. We have all the tools that can prevent any requirement for a lockdown.

Vaccines

The most powerful tool, officials say, is the presence of COVID-19 vaccines. The Bay Area is one of the most vaccinated places in the country, with San Francisco the first major city in the U.S. to reach the milestone of 80% of eligible residents receiving at least one vaccine dose.

The recent return of universal indoor mask mandates in much of the Bay Area and a few other counties  plus state and federal recommendations for indoor masking by all  was prompted by findings that in the delta phase of the pandemic, post-vaccination breakthrough infections remain uncommon but are not rare.

However, data shows the vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe illness, including from the highly transmissible delta variant. In the Bay Area and across the country, COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are now occurring overwhelmingly among unvaccinated people.

But officials say far too many remain unvaccinated to stem the delta surge. Places like San Francisco are working on many fronts to increase their rates, including sending mobile units to homes and workplaces, and offering specials for Stern Grove music festival attendees.

Now, with the vaccine, we can protect everyone, Greene said.

He added that he thinks the rampant spread of delta in Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Florida has prompted many vaccine holdouts to change their minds.

Its sad that its what it takes, but I think the death and the destruction ... is helping some people move forward getting a vaccine, he said.

Hospitalizations

The second reason why lockdowns arent on the table has to do with hospitalization rates  which go hand in hand with vaccination rates. So far, of the more than 3,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in San Francisco, only 16 were vaccinated.

Experts say that tracks with what they have been saying for months: The vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths are now among the unvaccinated.

And given the Bay Areas relatively high vaccination rates, it isnt seeing its hospital system overburdened  yet.

The only time we would consider more restrictive policies would be to help keep our hospitalization capacity intact, said Hendricks of Marin Countys health department. What is reassuring right now is even though were experiencing a spike in cases, its not as significant as what we experienced in December or January.

Experts say one wild card would be the emergence of a variant that can evade the current vaccines  but so far no variant has been completely vaccine-resistant.

Knowledge and experience

Infectious disease experts also emphasized that at this stage in the pandemic, we know much more about how to keep the people and places around us safe  through measures including masking, social distancing, ventilation and other nuanced approaches.

I think weve recognized that a lockdown is a really brutal and blunt tool, and even in the face of a significant surge we can keep people safe by doing other things that are less damaging to peoples mental health, to the economy (and) in the case of schools  kids. said Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSFs Department of Medicine Chair.

As a city and region, we are in a very different position now than when he had to place a shelter in place health order last year, said a spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Then, we knew little about how the COVID-19 virus spreads and were still deciphering which were the best preventative measures to put in place. Now we have a wealth of knowledge, and we have vaccines.

The Bay Areas new indoor mask mandate is one important element of what UCSF infectious disease expert Monica Gandhi says aligns with Israels soft suppression plan that could be coming to the U.S.

That approach consists of three elements: maintaining indoor masking requirements, a vaccine passport program, and vaccine boosters for elderly and immunocompromised individuals.

San Francisco is already allowing booster shots for those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and the city is also exploring requiring proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and gyms, as New York City has done.

Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain
An overloaded van carrying 29 migrants crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 10 people, including the driver, and injuring 20 others, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of McAllen. Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety says the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was speeding as the driver tried to veer off the highway onto Business Route 281. He lost control of the top-heavy van, which slammed into a metal utility pole and a stop sign.

The van was not being pursued, said Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez.

The sheriff said he believed all of the passengers were migrants. Brandley said the death toll was initially announced as 11 but was later revised. He also said the 20 who survived the initial crash all have serious to critical injuries.

The identities of the 30 in the van were being withheld until relatives can be notified, Brandley said. No information about the van, including where it was registered or who owned it, was immediately released.

Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.

A surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has brought about an uptick in the number of crashes involving vehicles jammed with migrants who pay large amounts to be smuggled into the country. The Dallas Morning News has reported that the recruitment of young drivers for the smuggling runs, combined with excessive speed and reckless driving by those youths, have led to horrific crashes.

Victor M. Manjarrez Jr., director of the Center for Law & Human Behavior at the University of Texas at El Paso, told the newspaper that criminal organizations recruit drivers from Austin, Dallas and Houston. Others come from the El Paso area, while others come from parts of Latin America rife with police corruption.

Theyre told, If youre caught, itll go bad for you, he said.

Theyll be picked out of a group of migrants seeking safe passage across the border for a reduction of their smuggling fee, Manjarrez said. Theyre told to follow a scout vehicle.

Its not bad for a few hours work, Manjarrez said.

One of the deadliest crashes came on March 3, when 13 people were killed when a semitrailer truck slammed into a sport utility vehicle containing 25 migrants near Holtville, California, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of San Diego.

On March 17, eight migrants were killed when the pickup truck carrying them crashed into another truck while being pursued by police nearly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the border city of Del Rio, Texas. The driver faces a possible life sentence after pleading guilty to multiple federal charges on May 24. No sentencing date has been set.

___

This story has been corrected to show the death toll is at least 10, based on revised information from authorities.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Des Moines Public Schools is among the thousands of school districts scrambling to determine how to both teach students and protect this coming school year them from a new surge of coronavirus cases across the country.

A district summer day care program was abruptly shut down this week following several positive COVID-19 tests within the program. District officials announced Tuesday that the MetroKids program at Hubbell Elementary School is closed until at least Aug. 9, and the school will undergo extra cleaning during the closure, KCCI reported.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  A Millsboro man accused of possessing four homemade bombs and an AK-47 with an altered serial number is facing federal charges, according to prosecutors in Delaware.

A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment Tuesday charging Job Gillette, 23, with four counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count each of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number. The indictment alleges that on March 24, Gillette, who was prohibited from possessing firearms, was found in possession of an AK-47 rifle with an altered serial number, one improvised incendiary device and parts to assemble three more.
When it comes to salmon fishing, some days youre the baseball and some days youre the bat. Yet enough anglers have hit it out of the park this week to spark hope for the annual late-summer run on the Salmon Highway, the migratory route through the Golden Gate, into the delta and upstream to the rivers of their birth.

In the past week, a number of boats have hit it just right at midmorning, trolling just north of the channel buoys, a staging area for the Salmon Highway, and caught limits for all aboard, often in two-hour sprees.

A trip on the Argo out of Fishermans Wharf had a poignant ending. After all 15 anglers caught 30 salmon, Capt. Craig Hanson gathered the crew together and said, Jacky Douglas, the legendary captain of the Wacky Jacky, is retired now and is my neighbor. Wouldnt it be great to give her a salmon? The vote was unanimous, and that evening, Hanson presented Jacky with a prize salmon.

Not all the trips have had such happy endings. On Sunday, for instance, a check with 10 salmon boats out of Bay Area harbors showed that 103 anglers caught 117 salmon. Within those numbers were all matters of limits, skunks and everything in between.

Thats how it is this year. The one constant is that the fish are chrome-bright with beautiful red flesh. On most trips, it takes a 15- to 25-pounder to win the pot.

This weekend, the marine forecast is calling for clearing skies, calmer seas and warmer temperatures for the coast. In addition, the moon is dark this weekend, which many believe favors good fishing. A new moon arrives Sunday, and the next full moon is more than two weeks away.

From bay harbors, salmon trips are also available out of Sausalito, Berkeley and Emeryville. Since the onset of the pandemic, captains have taken smaller groups with plenty of elbow room, where every other rod holder is often kept open, at a higher price than in the past. For the most part, the price for a salmon trip is $200.

Out of San Francisco, it can be common to have a few newcomers aboard who may not know a salmon from a guppy. Deckhands can have their hands full and yet it seems everybody is looking out for one another.

On a recent day, Hanson guided his boat out of the Golden Gate near the channel buoys. The rods were set up to troll  the best way to cover the largest area of water in the shortest amount of time. By midmorning, there were a few salmon in the box, and Hanson said not to fear, the best bite has been starting around 10 a.m.

Sure enough, for a two-hour stretch, 10 a.m. to noon, there was a nonstop procession of hookups, singles, doubles and triples, until the boat had limits for all aboard.

That is, with one extra special salmon heading straight to the dinner table of Wacky Jacky Douglas.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer emeritus. Email: tomstienstra2021@gmail.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
Four of the top Republicans seeking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the upcoming recall election made a punching bag of the first-term Democrat on Wednesday night, but drew few distinctions among each other during the first debate of the campaign.

San Diego County real estate investor John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, state Assembly Member Kevin Kiley of Rocklin (Placer County) and Doug Ose, a former member of Congress from the Sacramento area, appeared intent on avoiding a circular firing squad in a race where their support only matters if voters first choose to remove Newsom from office.

That could happen. With enthusiasm lagging among Democrats, recent public polling suggests that likely voters are nearly evenly split on recalling Newsom. If he loses, whichever replacement candidate receives the most votes will serve out the remainder of his term, even if they do not win a majority.

But aside from a few jabs at Faulconers record as mayor, the candidates mostly ignored each other, instead painting a grim picture of a failing state they said Newsom and the Democratic lawmakers who hold a supermajority in the Legislature refuse to fix.

Its truly staggering, Kiley said. This used to be the state where anyone could get ahead. Now its the state that many cant wait to leave behind.

Though there are no major Democratic replacement candidates on the ballot, there was not much effort Wednesday night to appeal to potential crossover voters, even from the more moderate Faulconer.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The 90-minute debate, hosted at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, focused frequently on controversies popular in conservative media, many of them issues  critical-race theory in schools, a surge of immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border, intellectual property theft by China  over which a California governor has little say.

On the problems that voters regularly cite as the most significant facing the state, the candidates largely agreed. They called for strengthening conservatorship laws that would allow officials to force homeless people into mental health and drug treatment if they cannot care for themselves, building new water storage sites to ease the drought, rolling back regulations for businesses and construction projects, and rejecting new legislation that would make it easier to build denser housing in single-family neighborhoods.

A mandate, announced last month by state officials, that all students and teachers must wear face coverings when schools start again this fall was a repeated topic. No candidate said they supported the mandate, but moderator Hugh Hewitt, a conservative talk radio host, pressed Faulconer to commit to banning elementary schools from requiring masks if he were elected governor.

Faulconer said he would look into it. He centered his remarks about coronavirus pandemic response on vaccines, however, urging all Californians to get immunized.

Vaccinations is how we get our way out of this, Faulconer said.

That led to one of the few significant policy differences expressed on the stage, when Cox cast doubt on the consensus from public health experts that even people who have already had COVID-19 should get vaccinated.

Theres a lot of people that have had COVID and have antibodies, said Cox, who contracted the coronavirus last year. They dont need the vaccine and they shouldnt get the vaccine.

Prior to the debate, the Newsom campaign had tried to make the event about Larry Elder, the conservative talk radio host who is leading among replacement candidates in recent polls, suggesting that his competitors would try to outflank him to the right. But Elder, who skipped the event to attend a fundraiser in Bakersfield, was mentioned only once Wednesday night, during a question about recent comments he made that there should be no minimum wage. Cox said he liked Elder.

Ose was slightly more critical of Faulconer, who has campaigned heavily on his sucess in reducing San Diegos homeless population during his time as mayor. Ose called the decrease plastic, accusing Faulconer of fudging numbers and pushing homeless residents to neighboring communities, rather than truly solving the problem.

It doesnt hold up to examination, Ose said.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) _ CSG Systems International Inc. (CSGS) on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $19.3 million.

The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based company said it had net income of 60 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for stock option expense and non-recurring costs, were 82 cents per share.

The provider of support services for the communications industry posted revenue of $255.1 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $238.5 million.

CSG Systems expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.16 to $3.34 per share, with revenue in the range of $946 million to $964 million.

CSG Systems shares have dropped slightly more than 1% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 2.5% in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CSGS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CSGS
REHOVOT, Israel (AP) _ Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NVMI) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of $22.9 million.

On a per-share basis, the Rehovot, Israel-based company said it had net income of 77 cents. Earnings, adjusted for stock option expense and amortization costs, were 90 cents per share.

The maker of monitoring systems used in chip manufacturing posted revenue of $97.7 million in the period.

For the current quarter ending in October, Nova Measuring Instruments expects its per-share earnings to range from 85 cents to 98 cents.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $99 million to $106 million for the fiscal third quarter.

Nova Measuring Instruments shares have increased 37% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 74% in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on NVMI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NVMI
HOLMDEL, N.J. (AP) _ Vonage Holdings Corp. (VG) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $62,000, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Holmdel, New Jersey-based company said it had net income of less than 1 cent on a per-share basis. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 5 cents per share.
This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Medicare covers colonoscopies that are performed for routine screening and for the diagnosis of symptomatic patients. How often the procedure is covered  and whether youll have to pay part of the costs  depends on various factors.

Colonoscopy is recommended for all people ages 50 to 75 who are at average risk of colorectal cancer, as well as for some younger and older patients at high risk. Its a very important test: The American Cancer Society projects that about 150,000 people in the United States will receive a diagnosis of colorectal cancer in 2021, and the disease is the third-ranked killer among cancers. Colonoscopies save lives with greater success when precancerous polyps are removed during the procedure and when cancer is discovered and treated early.

Screening vs. diagnostic colonoscopies

People without symptoms undergo a screening colonoscopy for prevention, while those with symptoms may have a diagnostic colonoscopy that involves tissue sampling.

Medicare Part B covers screening colonoscopies once every 10 years for people at average risk. For those with elevated risk of colorectal cancer, Medicare covers a screening colonoscopy as frequently as every two years.

For people with symptoms that could indicate colorectal cancer, a colonoscopy is considered diagnostic, and Medicare covers the procedure differently, as described below.

Heres the catch with Medicares distinction between screening and diagnostic colonoscopies: If, during a screening colonoscopy, the doctor removes polyps  abnormal growths that may be precancerous  or sees tissue that might be cancerous, the colonoscopy morphs into a diagnostic procedure. Different coverage rules kick in, and your out-of-pocket cost may rise from zero to hundreds of dollars.

Screening colonoscopy: What youll pay

Fees for colonoscopies typically range from many hundreds of dollars to several thousand dollars. Services provided during colonoscopy can include the physicians fee, anesthesia, hospital or surgicenter facility fees and biopsy of any tissues removed.

The good news is that you pay nothing for a screening colonoscopy if your doctor or other qualified health care provider accepts Medicare. Medicare Part B covers colonoscopy, but the Part B deductible doesn't apply to this procedure.

Diagnostic colonoscopy: What youll pay

If a polyp or other suspicious tissue is found  and possibly removed  during your colonoscopy, you may pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for the procedure. That 20% is likely to translate to hundreds of dollars that youll owe, though again the Part B deductible doesn't apply.

Medicare Advantage plans offered in some states may reduce your out-of-pocket cost for a diagnostic colonoscopy.

With so many cost variables, it makes sense to ask your gastroenterology practice what you could end up paying out of pocket if your colonoscopy is categorized as diagnostic.

John Rossheim writes for NerdWallet. Email: USexpansion@nerdwallet.com.

The article Does Medicare Cover Colonoscopy? originally appeared on NerdWallet.
- Cal Fire: See incident reports from Cal Fire's website.

- Maps: View maps from the U.S. Forest Service.

- Road closures: Get updates from Caltrans District 2's Twitter feed.

- Evacuations: Find the latest information from Cal Fire.

- Dixie Fire information line: (530) 538-7826.

LATEST Aug. 5, 8:37 p.m. The Dixie Fire burning in Butte and Plumas counties has expanded to 361,812 acres as of Thursday evening, according to an update from Cal Fire.

The update also said that containment stands at 35%.

Aug. 5, 7:15 p.m. Firefighters protected the town of Chester from severe damage Thursday evening, Mike Wink, operations section chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said at a 7 p.m. update.

A few structures outside the town were damaged or destroyed and Wink said only one building within the town was damaged as of 7 p.m.

Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns said Thursday evening that his "heart is crushed" by the devastation in Greenville, a small California community with at least 100 homes that has been largely destroyed by the Dixie Fire.

A lifelong resident of Greenville, Johns said at a press broadcast community meeting, "All I can tell you is, I'm sorry."

He said there were no injuries reported in Greenville though there are four unaccounted for people.

He also asked the public to give donations of new or lightly used clothing, pet supplies, bottled water, school supplies, gift cards and new toiletries to the Mormon Church for community collection.

"The fire is not over," he said in closing. "What am I telling folks at this time is that if the plume is anywhere near your direction, stay miles away from it."

Aug. 5, 4 p.m. Incident Commander Rocky Opliger and Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton gave an update on the Dixie Fire Thursday afternoon.

Opliger said on Wednesday when the fire raced toward the community of Greenville, emergency responders, both firefighters and law enforcement, did an incredible job rescuing community members who did not leave.

"They spent a big part of their time just doing those rescues as the fire came in there with significant velocity," Opliger said.

Aug. 5, 2:30 p.m. There were no signs of California's Dixie Fire slowing down Thursday amid gusty winds and bone-dry conditions.

"It has the potential for getting bad before getting better," said Mitch Matlow, a spokesperson with the multiagency team managing the fire.

The fire is the largest in the state this year and the sixth-largest ever in the state, tearing through more than 322,000 acres and ravaging multiple communities including the historic mining town of Greenville.

The fire was most active Thursday on its north and east edge, and fire activity is expected to pick up through the day as a weather system drops down from the north and kicks up winds, said Matlow.

"As the cold front passes over were going to see very erratic wind behavior," he said. "We have expectations that well have winds in all directions over the fire today."

The blaze pushed 15 miles to the north Wednesday amid similar conditions.

"Yesterday we saw extreme fire growth," said Matlow. "The fire was averaging about a half-mile an hour."

The fire has been pumping out massive pyrocumulonimbus clouds since it first sparked in July.

"I can tell you conditions are ripe right now for pyrocumulonimbus cloud development," said Matlow. "Im looking out my window at one right now, which is very large."

These massive, mushroom-shaped clouds of hot, smoky air towering thousands of feet into the sky are caused by a natural source of heat such as wildfires, according to NASA. Rising warm air from the fire carries water vapor, ash and smoke up into the atmosphere, forming clouds.

These clouds can become so intense that they create their own weather and emit lightning that can start new wildfires on the ground.

Noah Berger/AP

Aug. 4, 11:32 p.m. The largest wildfire burning in California so far this year engulfed a small Northern California mountain town Wednesday night, leveling much of the downtown and scorching surrounding homes.

More for you News This is what you need in your wildfire preparedness kit,...

The Dixie Fire raced through Greenville amid high winds and extremely low humidity levels.

If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!! the Plumas County Sheriffs Office posted on Facebook earlier Wednesday.

Wildfire photographer Stuart Palley shared harrowing images from the wiped-out town on social media.

"The fire burned through town so hot that when structures burned it melted the metal street lamp posts," wrote Palley, sharing an image of one of the melted posts.

Palley wrote in another post that the majority of downtown Greenville is completely destroyed.

"All I see standing on the main st. Is a dollar general," he added. "My heart is broken for this beautiful little town."

The Dixie Fire ballooned to 322,502 acres overnight and containment still stood at 35% Thursday morning.

Noah Berger/AP

Firefighters' control of the blaze was threatened Wednesday afternoon with extreme weather conditions. A red-flag warning from the National Weather Service went into effect at 1 p.m. Wednesday and is expected to continue through 9 p.m. Thursday. Winds up to 35 mph and humidity levels as low as 6% to 9% were in the forecast.

"Single digit humidity humidity  thats really not good with these winds  that's bad," said Craig Clements, director San Jose State University's Fire Weather Research Laboratory and a professor at the university. "This is looking crazy."

Firefighters have been trying to protect the town of Greenville (population 800) about 280 miles northeast of San Francisco by clearing debris from roads and marking hazards. They were able to save homes and hold large stretches of the blaze. But flames jumped perimeter lines in a few spots Tuesday, prompting additional evacuation orders for about 15,000 people east of Lake Almanor, fire officials said.

Illustration: SFGATE/ Getty Images

Heat from the flames created a pyrocumulus cloud, a massive column of smoke that rose 30,000 feet in the air, said Mike Wink, a state fire operations section chief.

Dawn Garofalo watched the cloud grow from the west side of the lake, where she fled with a dog and two horses, from a friend's property near Greenville.

There's only one way in and one way out. I didn't want to be stuck up there if the fire came through, Garofalo said.

From her campsite on the lake bed, she watched the fire glowing on the horizon before dawn. The flames were huge. They must have been 500 feet high. Scary," she said.

Noah Berger/AP

Started near Cresta Dam in the Feather River Canyon on July 14, the Dixie Fire has destroyed at least 45 houses and other buildings, according to Cal Fire, and torched a bone-dry landscape and triggered thousands of evacuations in a region still recovering from the 2018 Camp Fire, California's deadliest blaze. Nearly 5,000 personnel are fighting the blaze. PG&E has said its equipment may have started it.

Cal Fire spokesperson Edwin Zuniga said humidity levels dropped to 6% Tuesday night.

"We havent seen numbers in single digits in a long time," Zuniga said. "Normally, we see relative humidity levels in the teens."

Making matters worse, the vegetation on the ground is parched after two consecutive dry winters. "The fuels are super receptive to fire," Edwin said. "Any little spark will establish itself and start a new fire."

With winds blowing in a southerly direction, Zuniga said the north and northeast sections of the fire are most active and firefighters are working on protecting several communities, including Greenville, Round Valley and the west side of Lake Almanor.

Evacuations are now spread across Plumas, Butte and Tehama counties, and residents should watch for new evacuation information regularly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- Cal Fire: See incident reports from Cal Fire's website.

- Maps: View a map of the Dixie Fire.

- Closures: Get updates on Lassen Volcanic National Park's website.

- Evacuations: Find the latest information from Cal Fire.

- Dixie Fire information line: (530) 538-7826.

LATEST Aug. 9. 3 p.m. Flames from the Dixie Fire  now the second-largest blaze in California history  have now spread over more than 9,000 acres within Lassen Volcanic National Park, according to park officials. Over the weekend the fire advanced to east and southeast within the park. In coming days it is expected to slowly spread to the west, according to park Superintendent Jim Richardson.

More for you News This is what you need in your wildfire preparedness kit,...

After entering the park last Thursday, the fire "ran nearly the length of the entire park up to near Butte Lake," Richardson announced Saturday night during a livestreamed briefing on Facebook. Richardson had a small amount of good news: that the fire had not yet reached Drakesbad Guest Ranch. But he then confirmed that the historic Mount Harkness fire lookout had burned down.

"We saw that on ... an infrared flight and also a pilot confirmed that visually. So that's our first loss from this fire in the park," Richardson said. "There are other resources at risk, particularly facilities. Many of them are historic. So we will report that out to the public as soon as we can confirm any losses."

As of Saturday night, Richardson announced that approximately 8,000 acres had burned. On Sunday and Monday the fire continued on its destructive path to the southeast, and park spokesperson Kevin Sweeney provided SFGATE with an updated figure: 9,013 acres have now burned.

Fire crews are working to protect structures throughout the park, according to Sweeney, and because the fire has been shifting and moving "incredibly fast," resources are having to constantly be reassigned. "It is a full suppression effort," Sweeney said.

Courtesy of Polina Elizarova

Aug. 5. 7:22 p.m. The Dixie Fire has moved into Lassen Volcanic National Park and swept through the Silver Lake area, near where there are a number of U.S. Forest Service cabins that are under a special-use permit, a spokesperson for the park said. She recommended owners of those cabins contact their insurance companies.

Aug. 5, 2:01 p.m. A long, thick tendril of the Dixie Fire has exploded up through Lassen Volcanic National Park, burning over Mount Harkness and Juniper Lake on a destructive path into the heart of the park.

"Our fuels are insanely receptive," said park spokesperson Kevin Sweeney. "Our fire behavior is further on the spectrum than the word extreme."

An evacuation of the threatened park is underway, with park rangers on foot making contact with visitors to get everyone out safely, Sweeney said. He did not have information yet on the fate of several residential cabins at Juniper Lake, which were grandfathered in when the park was created.

Park officials are deeply concerned about the entire park, he said, but were hopeful that some scree-covered areas with less vegetation could stop the fire's progression. According to Sweeney, endangered species such as the Sierra Nevada red fox and the pika inhabit those same areas.

"We are hoping some of those rare species will make it through minimally impacted," he said.

Aug. 5, 10:22 a.m. What is now the sixth largest fire in California history has entered one of California's most treasured natural places: Lassen Volcanic National Park.

We believe it reached Lassen this morning, Cal Fire spokesperson Edwin Zuniga said. As far as how much acreage it has burned into that area, we cant break that up.

Zuniga said further information would be available in a Facebook live update at 7 p.m. on Cal Fires page.

Now burning more than 322,502 acres, the Dixie Fire exploded overnight, swallowing the historic town of Greenville and pushing north towards Lassen, a 106,452-acre park featuring volcanoes and hydrothermal areas surrounded by conifer forests, wildflower meadows and clear mountain lakes.

According to the park's Twitter account, the entire park is temporarily closed to all uses because of the fire, which is active on the east side of the park.

"For this mornings briefing, the control objective was to keep [the Dixie Fire] out of the park," said Mitch Matlow, Cal Fire's public information officer for the Dixie incident. "Everything that we can do to keep it inside the box we are trying to keep it in is being done."

That includes primary lines, contingency lines and emergency lines that are now under construction. There are also dozer lines augmented with hand crews. Aircraft are dropping fire retardant and water onto the flames, while firefighters battle the flames on the ground with hoses and nozzles.

Google Maps

"All of that is happening on this fire with as many resources as we can muster," Matlow said. "We're fighting this fire as aggressively as we can."

Fire crews are also working to prevent the fire from spreading into Chester and other communities around Lake Almanor. They are up against highly unfavorable conditions, including gusts of wind of up to 40 mph, 100-degree heat, low humidity and extremely dry fuels.

The fuels are "above the 97th percentile in terms of receptivity for ignition," Matlow said. "If an ember drops, we're very close to sure well have a new start."

Today is worse than yesterday, Matlow added, because the wind is inconsistent and blowing in multiple directions, meaning "every edge of the fire is going to be challenged."

Although everything possible is being done, with "as much aggressive attack on the fire as we can humanly put," Matlow emphasized that the lives of the fire crews are also at stake. "Sometimes we just can't keep the fire in the box," he said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
- Updates: Find more information on the River Fire at the Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Twitter page.

- Evacuations: Get info from the California Office of Emergency Services.

Lizz Porter of Colfax is a true crime junkie. She always wondered what it would feel like for tragedy to hit her family.

That moment arrived this morning, when she learned from a neighbor that her house had burned to the ground after the River Fire swept through.

The River Fire is burning in Nevada and Placer counties. It has burned over 2,400 acres so far and is at 0% containment.

For Porter, it was her family's one-year anniversary of living in the home. They had moved to Colfax from San Ramon last July, after she and her husband were laid off from their tech jobs. Colfax was an opportunity to start over.

"I'm sure that I'm in shock," she said by phone from Grass Valley.

Porter started noticing things going south around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when people in her community's Facebook group began posting about a fire.

"First it was, oh, it's just five acres. Then it was about five miles from us," she said. "It was weird because I didn't see or smell anything, I figured it must be going the other way."

Around 4 p.m. that day, she noticed a giant column of orange and gray a few miles from her house. Then the light changed. Ash started falling.

"At that point, we're like we need to go," she said.

Porter and her family were prepared. They packed their go bags and suitcases in a hand-built teardrop trailer and set out for her parents' house in Grass Valley.

"We grabbed the box of baby memorabilia, the baby blanket. I went through the jewelry box and pulled out the good stuff. Then rounded up the cats, which was a project on its own," she said.

The drive to her parents' home in Grass Valley normally takes 20 minutes. It took over two hours with Highway 174 closed, forcing them to travel up ten miles to Interstate 80, down 80 to Auburn, then up Highway 49.

Not everything was saved from the fire. Porter had recently started a laser cutting and engraving business. The machines were too heavy to take, weighing 80 and 450 pounds. She assumes they are lost.

Now, it's a matter of waiting.

"I have no idea what's next," she said. "It's a lot of waiting for calls back."

Christian Kiefer, a novelist who was living in Colfax with his parents, had just ten minutes to evacuate.

"I have no clothes, no underwear, no toothbrush, no toothpaste," he said. What he did manage to grab was his climbing bag with three climbing ropes and 70 carabineers.

"It's so stupid," he laughed.

Kiefer is currently staying in Grass Valley at his sister's house. He said he and his father were playing video games when they were clued in to the fire blazing outside.

He knew it was time to leave when his son, a firefighter in Stockton, took a look outside and said, "We gotta pack up and go right now."

"Just then the phones dinged and we got the evacuation notice," he said.

Kiefer thought he'd be better prepare. He's lived in the western United States his whole life. Now, he's shopping for pants.

"Weirdly, after the franticness, there's nothing to do," he said.

Heath Schechinger, a psychologist, was in a session with a patient when he noticed the smoke rising outside the window of his office.

"Throughout the session, I was glancing over here and there and saw the fire at one point really seem to explode or take off," he said.

He soldiered on through the session, then he and his household jumped into action. They had about two hours before the evacuation notice told them to go, and in that time, grabbed all that they could.

"In the meantime, there were planes flying overhead, the wind was blowing and smoke was going over our house," he said. "We knew that we needed to move."

Schechinger and his "chosen family" had moved into their home in Grass Valley near Colfax just three months earlier. This weekend is Schechinger's birthday, and friends were flying in from all over the country to celebrate. The event was quickly cancelled, but he has taken it in stride, stressing that he's simply grateful he and his family are safe.

He said a neighbor checked on the home last night and "it was fine." He's been tracking the fire and believes the winds have shifted away from his home.

"It feels like a little shock, a little bit disbelief, some hopelessness," he said. "We are hopeful but cautiously optimistic because we know the wind could change at any point, the situation could change."
- Updates: Find more information on the River Fire at the Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Twitter page.

- Evacuations: Get info from the California Office of Emergency Services.

A California wildfire that broke out 55 miles northeast of Sacramento in a heavily wooded area of the Sierra foothills Wednesday burned dozens of homes in a matter of hours.

More for you News This is what you need in your wildfire preparedness kit,...

The River Fire sparked at 2 p.m. near Milk Ranch Road and and Bear River Campground Road about three miles southwest of the town of Colfax in Placer County.

Amid bone-dry conditions and high winds, the blaze swelled to 1,400 acres by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and by Thursday, it was 2,400 acres, Cal Fire said.

Fifty structures were destroyed entirely and 30 structures damaged, Cal Fire said.

CalFire

About 3,400 structures are threatened, with half in the Colfax area, and more than 6,000 people were evacuated in Placer and Nevada counties.

"Very surreal seeing the damage from the #RiverFire in Colfax off the 25000 block of Pine View Drive," ABC News reporter Lena Howland wrote on Twitter. "Homes in every direction on the end of this road have been reduced to rubble, power lines down and were still seeing active flames."

Illustration: SFGATE/ Getty Images

Flames jumped the Bear River and pushed into Nevada County, Cal Fire said. The fire was moving toward Highway 174 on Wednesday night.

The Nevada County Office of Emergency Services said on Twitter that flames engulfed Bear River Campground in Placer County, threatening areas east of of Dog Bar Road.

The blaze emitted a deep smoke plume filled with heavy ash, smoke and burning embers, said Neil Lareau, a professor of atmospheric sciences in the department of physics at the University of Nevada at Reno who studies wildfire-generated weather.

Lareau shared an image of the smoke on Twitter, noting the blaze's extreme behavior. "Some impressive fire behavior (and flames) visible as the #RiverFire gets established," he wrote.

The fire is expected to remain active Thursday amid windy conditions and low humidity levels. "Multiple firefighting aircraft from throughout the state are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow," Cal Fire said.

CalFire
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Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards is in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television to become permanent host of the venerable quiz show, taking the reins of the syndicated powerhouse that was fronted by Alex Trebek for 36 years.

After Trebeks death at the age of 80 in November 2020, Sony initiated a series of guest hosts, some of whom were hoping to land the permanent slot. Richards, who joined the show just last year as executive producer, impressed Sony Pictures brass with his command of the fast-paced game and easy on-air manner.

A Sony Pictures spokesman said discussions were ongoing with several potential candidates. He would not comment specifically on Richards status. A source close to the situation cautioned that theres no certainty that the sides will close a deal and that other candidates remain in the mix, although Richards is clearly the front-runner.

Richards previously hosted the series Divided and The Pyramid for Sony Pictures GSN cabler.

Earlier in his career, Richards served as host of reality shows High School Reunion on The WB network and Beauty and the Geek for The CW. He joined The Price Is Right in 2008 as a co-executive producer. The following year he became executive producer and also helped sell the revival of Lets Make a Deal to CBS, which he also executive produced. By the time he took the reins of Jeopardy, Richards had produced more than 4,000 hours of game shows.

Richards came to Sony as executive producer of the celebrity edition of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire specials for ABC.

Other guest hosts that have fronted the show since the final Trebek episodes aired in January include Mayim Bialik, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Bill Whitaker, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Ken Jennings, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Aaron Rodgers and former contestant Buzzy Cohen.

Former contestant Jennings was long seen as the front-runner to succeed Trebek. Jennings holds the record for the most consecutive Jeopardy wins with his 74-game streak from 2004. He also ranks as the shows highest-grossing winner with $2.52 million in regular-play winnings (which doesnt include later tournaments).

Jeopardy! is one of the few remaining powerhouse syndicated series that ranks as television institution, in large part thanks to the enduring popularity of Trebek. The competition to replace Trebek was fierce. Its understood that Bialik and Cohen were among the standouts who have also been strongly considered for the permanent job.

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When Kiley Brokaw moved into her small two-bedroom house in Balboa Park late last year, she had no idea a century-old artifact dating back to one of San Franciscos most spectacular  and forgotten  landmarks was waiting to be discovered in the garage.

It was a cold but unusually sunny Thursday afternoon in December, and movers milled about the property with boxes of her belongings. A few cabinets in the garage that Brokaw hadnt noticed before caught her eye, and she decided to sift through them, exploring their contents. One large flat cabinet on the wall appeared to be empty upon first glance, but as she looked at it from another vantage point, she noticed two large yellowing prints hidden inside, neatly rolled up and appearing as if they hadnt been touched in years  they were covered in dust and cobwebs.

I was instantly excited when I found them. I knew in my gut that they were special, said Brokaw, 39. I quickly put my hand in and carefully pulled them out.

Thats when she noticed the handwritten tag attached to one of them, reading Orig Fox Theater.

Courtesy of Kiley Brokaw

She sat down on the floor and slowly unraveled them to reveal that they were original blueprints of the iconic San Francisco movie palace on Market Street that was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb in 1929 and demolished just 34 years later.

The outer edges [of the blueprints] appeared very torn and damaged, but thankfully most of whats inside is in great shape, said Brokaw. They had a wonderful old book smell.

Brokaw's own home wasn't built until 1939, and she said the former renters seemed to have no idea the blueprints were there.

"Maybe the original owner did electrical work, [or] wood working [on the theater?] I have no clue," she mused. "It's really a mystery."

The Fox, a 4,651-seat-theater that once showed the likes of Conflict starring Humphrey Bogart, the Boris Karloff horror anthology film Black Sabbath," and Carousel featuring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae, was known for its opulent design replete with a marvelous gold-leafed ceiling, detailed tapestries among other antique decor  and of course, the warble of the mighty Wurlitzer organ played by George Wright that emanated toward the elevator moviegoers rode up to the balcony.

Those rich details practically sprung to life on the faded papers in Brokaw's hands.

Courtesy of Kiley Brokaw

The imagery was so astounding and over the top, not your usual standard blueprints, said Brokaw, noting that her grandparents once owned and operated the Star Theatre in Washington, fostering her appreciation of old movie theaters.

At one of the Fox's closing night parties in February 1963  the theater instated a second farewell ceremony after the first quickly sold out  one of Hollywood's pioneering gossip columnists, Hedda Hopper, delivered an impassioned farewell speech to the packed crowd.

"Only one other theater in America is as beautiful as this, and that's the Radio City Music Hall," she declared. "Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, they start an auction to sell everything that's in this beautiful theater. I can't believe it! I can't believe that San Francisco would do a thing like that."

On March 1, 1963, the opulent fixture of the downtown theater district came crashing down. A steel wrecking ball painted gold and bearing tassels from the billowing stage curtain swiftly reduced the once-magnificent landmark to rubble. Legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen scoffed at the destruction the theater, writing that he couldn't "squeeze out even a crocodile tear" over its demise, and called it "a dusty satire of a way of life that never existed."

Today, a 29-story office building and a Starbucks stand in its place.

Courtesy of Kiley Brokaw

Its a tragic story, said Brokaw. Something so beautiful being torn down to nothing.

However, she has arranged to donate the blueprints to the San Francisco Public Librarys History Center, where she hopes they will help preserve the Foxs memory for future generations.

Not even for a second did I want to sell them ... that just felt wrong. They belong in San Francisco, said Brokaw. They were found by a stroke of luck, and I want them to be available to all.
On a sunny Thursday morning in Pleasanton, Jen Yao, the wife of Philip Kreycik, answered questions through tears about the three-week search for her husband that ended with his body being found under a tree on a ridge.

"Even when we think we're in control, accidents can happen," Yao said, her voice breaking. "We can't possibly ever truly express our appreciation and gratitude enough to really truly acknowledge what you have all done for us. Family, friends, volunteers, people who know Philip. People who don't know Philip."

"Hug your families, because you really never know what happens," she added. "Please take care of each other."

The family confirmed that the body found by a volunteer in the north end of Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park Tuesday is Philip.

Kreycik's mother, Marcia, and father, Keith, also spoke. "I just love the people we've met here," Marcia Kreycik said. "We had no idea how much community, how much love there is out there."

When asked may have happened to Phillip in the park that day, Marcia replied, "We may never know."

The press conference ended with the three close family members hugging each other, and Marcia Kreycik comforting and talking to Yao.

Police said law enforcement officers and search and rescue teams had earlier been in an area only 100 to 200 yards from where the body was eventually found.

Berkeley resident and PG&E analyst Kreycik left his home and went for a run at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park on Saturday July 10, and never returned. The massive 24-day search involved multiple agencies, drones, cadaver dogs, airplanes equipped with thermal imagine technology and more than a thousand volunteers. Kreycik's body was found under a mile north of his planned route, under a tree on a trail.

Facebook / Find Philip Kreycik

Police speculated that Kreycik may have cut back from his intended route or become disoriented. The environment out there, it plays tricks on your eyes, Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff's office said on Tuesday.

They also confirmed that a smartwatch was found on the body, which is currently being analyzed for biometric data. The watch should give us his last heartbeat, Kelly said. So we likely will have a time of death.

An autopsy is still being conducted to identify the cause of death. Kreycik leaves behind his wife and two young children.
BRUSSELS (AP)  All eighteen students accused of playing a role in the death of a Black student during an initiation ritual at a Belgian university have been ordered to stand trial, lawyers for the victims mother said on Thursday.

Twenty-year-old Sanda Dia died in a hospital in December 2018 after he was forced to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, fish oil, and made to sit in freezing water during a vicious hazing to enter the elite student fraternity called Reuzegom.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP)  Two men have sued a Rhode Island mayor they allege violated their First Amendment rights by deleting critical posts they made on her Facebook page and then blocking them entirely, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said Thursday.

Greg Duhamel said he was banned last November when he made a post challenging Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt's attempt to claim credit for the building of a skate park.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Three remote Alaska volcanoes are in various states of eruption, one producing lava and the other two blowing steam and ash.

So far, none of the small communities near the volcanoes have been affected, Chris Waythomas, a geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said Thursday.

Webcams on Thursday clearly showed episodic low-level ash emissions from Pavlof Volcano, prompting the observatory to raise the volcanos threat level from yellow, or exhibiting signs of unrest, to orange, indicating an eruption is underway with minor volcanic ash emissions.

Ash clouds were rising just above the volcanos 8,261-foot (2,518-meter) summit, drifting about 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) to the south before dissipating, Waythomas said.

Pavlov is a "very sneaky volcano, Waythomas said. It can get going without much warning.

He described the peak as an open system volcano, meaning its magmatic plumbing system is open and magmas can move to the surface really fast and it can start erupting almost with no warning."

Pavlov is a snow- and ice-covered stratovolcano on the southwestern end of the Alaska Peninsula, nearly 600 miles (965.6 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

The nearest community is Cold Bay, about 35 miles (56.33 kilometers) southwest of Pavlov, which is considered one of Alaskas most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands arc of active and dormant volcanoes.

Pavlov last erupted in 2016, dropping some ash on another community, Nelson Lagoon.

The observatory on Thursday received reports from people in the community of Adak of a lava fountain at the summit of the Great Sitkin volcano. The reports were later confirmed by webcam.

The fact that they just happen to walk outside and see it was really great, Waythomas said.

He said if activity increases, Adak could get ashfall from Great Sitkin, located on an island about 27 miles (43.45 kilometers) away.

This lava fountain is kind of unusual for Great Sitkin, but its been fairly passive at this point, he said.

Great Sitkin, a stratovolcano with a caldera and dome, is about 1,150 miles (1,851 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

Semisopochnoi Volcano, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) away on an uninhabited island at the western end of the Aleutian Islands, has been erupting intermittently and on Wednesday produced an ash cloud that went to about 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) into the air, Waythomas said.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  The Kentucky attorney general who investigated the Breonna Taylor case responded to months of blistering criticism by saying the decision not to charge any police officers in her death was ultimately in the grand jurys hands, though some jurors have complained they were limited in what crimes they could consider.

Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, speaking to The Associated Press on Thursday, said he hopes people recognize that his role was to look at the facts as they are, and not how a particular narrative is being driven by particular people.

Reflecting on a case that thrust him into the national spotlight, Cameron said: Ive said this until Im blue in the face that what happened to Miss Taylor was a tragedy, unequivocally a tragedy."

Cameron, Kentucky's first Black attorney general, said he was proud of the work by his team, which spent months poring over evidence and presented the case to the grand jury. The outcome, though, was in the hands of the grand jury, he said.

The prosecutors made a recommendation to the grand jury and those members ultimately decided to pursue that particular recommendation and indict one of the officers, Cameron said in a sit-down interview with The AP.

Three jurors on the 12-member grand jury later came forward to say Camerons team limited their scope and misled them about what charges they could consider against the officers. Cameron on Thursday didn't criticize the three grand jurors  saying they can speak for themselves  as he attempted to deflect their stinging review of how the case was presented.

No one is ever going to be 100% in agreement with the decisions or recommendations that are made," he said. But from our point of view, our responsibility was to the facts and to the law.

Taylor was fatally shot by police in her apartment on March 13, 2020. Her death and the killing of George Floyd sparked massive nationwide racial justice protests in the spring and summer of that year. The 26-year-old Black woman was an emergency medical worker who had settled in for the night when police busted through her door with a narcotics warrant.

One of the Louisville police officers was charged for wantonly shooting into the apartment of Taylors neighbor. None of the officers who fired their guns were charged directly in her death. The fallout was swift and furious, with Cameron at the center of criticism from protesters and Taylors family.

Cameron spoke at a widely viewed press conference when the charges were announced in September. He said at the time the grand jury agreed that homicide charges were not warranted against the officers. That prompted some grand jury members to come forward to dispute his accounting of the closed-door proceedings.

Asked why the grand jury review didn't lead to more serious charges for a trial jury to decide, Cameron said prosecutors have ethical obligations to bring forward recommendations on which they think they can prove in front of a jury in a trial. That was what our prosecutors believed was appropriate.

The officers attempted to enter the home, they were fired upon and returned fire, he said. Again, it was a tragedy that in the return fire, Miss Taylor was hit and died. That is a tragedy. But again, our team had to look at the facts and apply that to the law as it exists.

The grand jury charged one officer, Brett Hankison, with wanton endangerment. Hankison and another officer, Myles Cosgrove, who shot 16 times into Taylors apartment, were later fired by the department. The third officer, Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Taylors boyfriend, retired in June.

Jurors spoke out, with one saying the officers got a slap on the wrist. They each said they wanted Taylors family to know they did not agree with the lack of charges against the officers.

Cameron's investigation did not look into the procurement of the warrant that the officers used to enter the home. Federal investigators with the Department of Justice are reviewing the warrant.

Cameron, a conservative Republican, spoke in personal terms about the criticism he received from the Black community about his role in the Taylor case.

Sadly, those arent new to me," he said. "Ive been called an Uncle Tom. Ive been called a race traitor. Ive been called all assortment of names. When you are a Black person, male or female, and you identify as Republican, watch out. Because those are the sorts of things that are going to come your way, regardless of whether you make a significant decision or not.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has urged residents to get vaccinated, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant.

There is a safe, free and widely available tool to put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, Dunleavy said in a statement Wednesday. That tool is the vaccine.

Alaska reported 338 new cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths on Wednesday, including a nonresident. The state health department did not say when the deaths happened.

There have been 385 state resident deaths related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Nearly 53% of eligible Alaskans have been fully vaccinated, according to the state health department.

Dunleavy has previously urged Alaskans to get vaccinated. But the statement issued Wednesday was more urgent because the states spike has been tied to the highly contagious delta coronavirus variant, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Statewide, there were 100 people hospitalized with the virus on Wednesday, and 20 of those people were on ventilators.

Hospitalization numbers have been steady over the last week but are considered high for Alaska, a state with a limited health care infrastructure and hospitals that are already close to capacity during the summer.

Health officials said during the first seven months of this year, 94% of the states COVID-19 hospitalizations and 97% of deaths were among unvaccinated Alaskans.

Dunleavy, who was infected with COVID-19 in February and was vaccinated in June, joined Dr. Anne Zink, the states chief medical officer, in urging eligible Alaskans to get vaccinated.

Alaskans, by working together since early 2020, defied the odds and protected our most vulnerable loved ones and neighbors, Dunleavy said in the statement.Because of Alaskans making good choices and looking out for each other, our state has weathered the effects of this virus better than almost anywhere in the country.

Zink said vaccines are the best way to keep Alaskans out of hospitals or from losing their lives to COVID-19.

Nothing is more effective in fighting this virus and getting us all back to normal than this game-changing tool, she said.
WAUKON, Iowa (AP)  An Alaska man suffered only minor injuries when the helicopter he was flying over a northeastern Iowa cornfield hit a power line and crashed.

The crash happened just after 8 a.m. Wednesday in a field near Waukon, the Allamakee County Sheriffs Office said in a news release. Kurt Lepping, 66, of Wasilla, Alaska, was flying low over the field to apply agriculture chemicals when it hit the power line, investigators said.
BALTIMORE (AP)  Baltimore will become the latest U.S. city to return to indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 infection numbers rise, city leaders announced Thursday.

Mayor Brandon Scott said indoor masking regulations will take effect Monday morning, giving businesses and citizens a few days to adjust. The indoor mask rules are mandated for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

The citys health order came as the percentage of new COVID-19 cases has increased a whopping 374% over the past month, according to city Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa. As is the case across the nation, the delta variant is propelling those infections. Its the most contagious coronavirus mutant so far in the pandemic, but COVID-19 vaccines still provide strong protection against it.

Dzirasa urged those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so urgently to protect their loved ones, including youngsters who are not authorized to receive the vaccines.

Im speaking to you not just as the health commissioner but as a mother of a child that is too young to be vaccinated. We have the ability to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the actions we all take collectively will protect the most vulnerable among us," Dzirasa said at a news conference with the mayor.

The announcement in Maryland's biggest city comes more than a week after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in areas classified as having substantial community transmission levels.

In May, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people didnt need to mask up in most settings. But their guidance changed in the face of rising COVID-19 infection numbers.

The change was based on research suggesting that while vaccinated people who get infected with the delta variant aren't likely to become seriously ill, they can very easily pass the virus on to others. The new guidance helps protect the unvaccinated, including children who arent yet eligible for the shots, and others who are at high risk for serious illness if infected.

Nearby Washington, D.C., returned to mandatory indoor mask requirements last week. Before that, Los Angeles, San Francisco and various California counties imposed masking rules. On Monday, Louisiana reinstated a mask mandate in all indoor locations as that state experiences the highest per capita COVID-19 growth in the nation.

In Baltimore, the announcement about a return to mandatory masking was met with resignation by some. At a clothing shop across from the city's Inner Harbor, Luis Medina said he understood the reasoning by city leaders and public health officials but couldn't understand how they expected to enforce it.

I wear a mask and I'm fully vaccinated. But I can't kick people out of my business if they don't want to wear masks, Medina said. I'm running a business. The customers are paying me, not the city.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The president of Belarus on Thursday ordered the country's security forces to tighten control over the border with Lithuania, which earlier this week started turning away immigrants attempting to cross in from Belarus.

Lithuania, a member of the European Union, has faced a surge of mostly Iraqi migrants in the past few months. It says thats due to retaliation by Belarus authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after the EU put sanctions on his country over diverting a plane to the capital of Minsk and arresting a dissident aboard.

The surge of Iraqis and others is emerging as another source of tension between autocratic Belarus and its European neighbors to the west. On Tuesday, Lithuania said it reserved the right to use force to stop such illegal immigration and turned away 180 people attempting to enter the country.

Lukashenko on Thursday ordered defense and security agencies to close every meter of the border" in order not to let immigrants Lithuania turns away back into Belarus.

God forbid they start implementing the policy of removing people they invited over there through official border crossing points, Lukashenko said during a meeting with defense and security officials. Starting from today, not a single person should set foot on the territory of Belarus from the adjacent side, be it from the south or from the west, he added.

Authorities in Belarus this week alleged that Iraqi immigrants forcibly expelled from Lithuania to Belarus had injuries, including dog bites, and had to be hospitalized. Belarus also claimed Wednesday that a non-Slavic person died from injuries at a border town but Lithuania dismissed the report as propaganda from a hostile regime.

Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas called the report an obvious provocation. Lithuania is under hybrid attack and spreading such information is a classic example of this process.

Lithuania, a nation of less than 3 million people, has no physical barriers on its 679-kilometer (420-mile) long border with Belarus. Some 4,090 migrants, most of them from Iraq, have crossed this year from Belarus into Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Interior Ministry this week distributed a video shot from a helicopter showing large groups of immigrants being escorted to Lithuanias border by Belarusian border guard vehicles.

Polish media report that some migrants have also sought to enter EU member Poland from Belarus, though on a lesser scale.

The Belarusian State Border Committee charged on Thursday that Lithuania continues to force migrants to trespass the Belarusian border" and reported an attempt to aggressively remove eight migrants ... to the Belarusian territory," thwarted by Belarusian border guards.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration is developing plans to require all foreign travelers to the United States to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with limited exceptions, according to an administration official with knowledge of the developing policy.

The plan, reported earlier by Reuters, will be part of a new system to be put in place after the current restrictions on travel into the U.S. are lifted, but officials have yet to determine when that might be done.

President Joe Biden has been under pressure for months to ease restrictions on people wishing to travel to the United States, particularly as other countries, including Britain and Canada, relax their measures. But White House officials have said in recent days that there is no plan to lift current restrictions anytime soon, in light of the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

Given where we are today with the delta variant, we will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week.

White House officials reiterated that stance Wednesday evening, saying there was no timetable yet for requiring foreign travelers to be inoculated.

One official, who was not authorized to give details of the plan to the public, said in an email that the new system would include a phased approach over time.

Travelers from Iran, China, Brazil, Britain, South Africa, India, Ireland and Europes Schengen Area  spanning 29 countries, city-states and micro-states  are currently barred from entering the United States, unless they are U.S. citizens or they spend 14 days before arrival in a country that is not on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's prohibited list.

Airlines and other businesses have long called on the administration to lift or ease restrictions on foreign travelers to the United States, especially after much of Europe started to open to American visitors in June.

The international markets where U.S. vaccinated travelers can go, particularly in southern Europe, weve had really strong booking interest, Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, said last month, according to The Financial Times. The problem is those markets are only one-way. The White House specifically is not willing to open up the U.S. marketplace to European or U.K. travelers, which is a source of frustration.

While travel within the United States over the past week was down only about 14% compared with 2019, international travel remains down about 40%, according to Airlines for America, a trade association.

The United States began restricting travel by foreigners in January 2020, when President Donald Trump cut off some travel from China in the hope of preventing the spread of the virus. That effort largely failed.

But health officials pressed the Trump administration to expand travel bans to much of Europe during the first surge of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, and more countries have been added to the ban as the original virus and several variants have spread rapidly from country to country.

This week, the Biden administration said that it would keep in place Title 42, a public health rule that allows the government to turn back people attempting to enter the United States from its southern border.

The decision, confirmed by the CDC Monday, amounted to a shift by the administration, which had been working on plans to begin lifting the rule this summer, more than a year after it was imposed by the Trump administration.

The known total of global coronavirus infections on Wednesday surpassed 200 million, a number fueled by the emergence of the delta variant, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Toby Talbot/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden is nominating a Vermont judge who played a critical role in paving the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage to become the first openly LGBT woman to serve on any federal circuit court.

The White House announced Thursday that Biden has tapped Beth Robinson, an associate justice on the Vermont Supreme Court since 2011, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The court's territory includes Connecticut, New York and Vermont.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden may have averted a flood of evictions and solved a growing political problem when his administration reinstated a temporary ban on evictions because of the COVID-19 crisis. But he left his lawyers with legal arguments that even he acknowledges might not stand up in court.

The new eviction moratorium announced Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could run into opposition at the Supreme Court, where one justice in late June warned the administration not to act further without explicit congressional approval.

Landlords from Alabama whose bid to lift the earlier pause on evictions failed returned to federal court in Washington late Wednesday, asking for an order that would allow evictions to resume.

The administration is counting on differences between the new order, scheduled to last until Oct. 3, and the eviction pause that lapsed over the weekend to bolster its legal case. At the very least, as Biden himself said, the new moratorium will buy some time to protect the estimated 3.6 million Americans who could face eviction from their homes.

Some legal scholars who doubt the new eviction ban will stand up say its legal underpinnings are strikingly similar to the old one.

Meet the new moratorium, same as the old moratorium! Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who backed Biden over former President Donald Trump last year, wrote on Reason.com.

Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor, said he expects landlords "all over the country to turn immediately to the courts in an effort to secure a preliminary injunction, an order that would effectively allow evictions to resume.

The basic legal issue is whether the CDC has the authority in the midst of a public health crises to impose a pause on evictions, under existing federal law that dates to 1944.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in May the CDC exceeded its power under that law, a decision Bagley called measured and sensible. But Friedrich kept her ruling in favor of the Alabama landlords on hold pending appeal.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the moratorium to remain in place through the end of July, even though one justice in the majority, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that he believed CDC lacked authority to order it. Extending the moratorium any further, Kavanaugh wrote, would be possible only with clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).

In the landlords' new court filing, lawyer Brett Shumate wrote that the CDC caved to the political pressure by extending the moratorium, without providing any legal basis. The administration has until early Friday to respond.

Congress has not acted. Neither the House nor Senate had the votes for a temporary extension, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not so much as hint Tuesday that she would try to move legislation through the House.

Today is a day of extraordinary relief. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, the imminent fear of eviction and being put out on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is Here! Pelosi said in a statement.

Biden was told a new nationwide moratorium, like the one that just expired, would likely be blocked by courts, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the administration went ahead without Congress weighing in, after officials devised a plan with enough changes to, they hope, make it less vulnerable to court challenges.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Wednesday that Biden, who has a law degree, would not have supported it if he was uncomfortable with the legal standing or approach, despite the doubts he aired publicly a day earlier.

This is a narrow, targeted moratorium that is different from the national moratorium. Its not an extension of that, Psaki said.

Pelosi helped recruit Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe to work on a solution and persuade the White House that a narrower moratorium could stand up in court, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The new order protects renters only in parts of the country where there is significant COVID-19 transmission, though in practice it initially covers areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. Evictions can resume once there is a lasting reduction in new infections.

The differences are significant, some legal scholars said.

What this does is very directly link the moratorium to the control of COVID-19, said Emily Benfer, a Wake Forest law professor who studies health and housing. With all the information that is now known about the new delta variant, the war on COVID has changed since last time the question of the moratorium was before the Supreme Court, she said.

Brianne Gorod, of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, also cautioned against reading too much into Kavanaughs one-paragraph comment on the moratorium from late June.

Courts will consider how the spread of the delta variant and its significant transmissibility make clear the need for this more targeted moratorium, Gorod said.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, ruled in late July in a separate lawsuit that CDC lacks the authority to issue pauses on eviction. And the CDC order itself says it does not apply to the extent its application is prohibited by federal court order.

As a result, Barbara Peck, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee state court system, said Wednesday that lawyers for courts in her state had advised that it is not applicable in Tennessee.

Two large Ohio court systems on Thursday issued conflicting decisions regarding the new moratorium. In Franklin County, home to state capital Columbus, County Administrative Judge Ted Barrows said the moratorium wouldnt be enforced based on last months 6th Circuit decision.

But in Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, the new moratorium will be enforced, according to a release from the office of Housing Court Judge Mona Scott, who noted the county has the second-highest coronavirus transmission level in Ohio.

Some housing advocates said the new system would be complicated but would prevent some evictions. Their clients were grateful for the reprieve.

Antoinette Eleby, 42, of Miami, said she had been worried as she expected an eviction order within two to three weeks after she said her landlord twice refused to take federal rental assistance. She had sent five of nine children to live with her mother in another county.

But after hearing about the new CDC order, Eleby said she was hopeful the additional time would persuade her landlord to take the federal funds and she could remain her home. She has been told by her lawyer that the order means she cannot be evicted by sheriffs officers.

Now that this happened, Im kind of at ease. I am just seeing what are the next steps. I just have to continue hoping for the best, said Eleby, who couldnt work for part of the pandemic after her family contracted COVID-19.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville in Washington, Michael Casey in Boston, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)  Authorities have released the name of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was killed in a head-on crash in southern Arizona last weekend.

Border Patrol officials said agent Daniel P. Cox died after he was involved in a two-vehicle collision around 12:30 a.m. Saturday on State Route 86 near Sells which is 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of Tucson.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)  There is no evidence to support defense allegations the U.S. acted in bad faith or omitted evidence in an attempt to mislead an extradition hearing for a top executive at Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies, a Canadian government lawyer said Thursday.

The argument came in a hearing for Meng Wanzhou, who is Huawei's chief financial officer as well as the daughter of the companys founder, was arrested by Canadian authorities at Vancouvers airport in late 2018. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges.

The arrest infuriated Beijing, which sees her case as a political move designed to prevent Chinas rise.

Over the next few weeks, Justice Heather Holmes will hear final arguments on whether Meng should be extradited to face trial in the United States.

The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It says Meng, 49, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the companys business dealings in Iran.

Defense lawyer Mona Duckett told the court this week that the extradition request should be denied after arguing that the United States strategically crafted a misleading record of the case and acted in bad faith when presenting reasons for her extradition. The U.S. omitted facts, obscured the law and inaccurately summarized documents, she said.

These are serious allegations, Canadian Justice Department lawyer Monika Rahman said. Such allegations require cogent evidence to be proven, evidence of a quality that is not before this court.

Rahman said the U.S. has acted honorably, fairly and reasonably throughout the proceedings She added that the U.S. has a very high standard and discretion on what evidence to put forth when making its case for extradition.

Rahman also took issue with defense allegations the U.S has changed its theory of the case.

There has not been a shift in theory, she said. There is the same theory.

She also disagreed with defenses suggestion the conduct of the U.S. warranted halting the extradition proceedings.

Meng, who attended court wearing a pink facemask and an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, followed the proceedings through a translator.

The judge likely wont make her ruling until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.

In past hearings Mengs lawyers have argued that her extraction should be halted because Canadian Border Security Agency officers detained and questioned her without a lawyer, asked questions that benefited U.S. authorities, seized her electronic devices and put them in special bags to prevent wiping, and compelled her to give up the passcodes before her official arrest.

They have also argued that comments made by then U.S. President Donald Trump showed he hoped to use Mengs arrest as part of a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China and that there is a lack of international jurisdiction by the U.S. to prosecute a Chinese citizen for actions in Hong Kong.

Soon after Mengs arrest, China arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in apparent retaliation and charged them with spying. Both have remained jailed.

Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver and is living in a mansion.
FARGO, N.D. (AP)  An oil company that waited more than five months to investigate and report a 2014 pipeline spill in North Dakota that discharged more than 29 million gallons of drilling wastewater has agreed to pay more than $35 million in civil and criminal fines. the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

Federal officials said it's the largest inland drilling spill of produced water, a waste product of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The spill from the 96-mile (154.50-kilometer) underground pipeline contaminated more than 30 miles of Missouri River tributaries as well as land and groundwater, the complaint said. It was visible in photographs taken by satellites.

The complaint against Summit Midstream Partners LLC says the data collected by the company in August 2014 showed a significant drop in the pipeline pressure, indicating a rupture in the newly built line. Despite concerns raised in October 2014 by Summit's construction manager and engineer, the company did not identify the leak until January 2015, after an employee walked the line.

Court documents show that Summits construction manager sent an email to other employees in October 2014 about extreme low pressure on the system. The facilities engineer responded: Not good. We may want to consider shutting it down. Summit continued to operate the line.

Summit eventually reported a 2.9 million gallon spill of produced water even though the leak was 10 times larger, according to the civil complaint filed against Summit and related companies, Meadowlark Midstream Company LLC and Summit Operating Services Company LLC.

The criminal fine against Summit is $15 million. The state had levied a $2.4 million fine against Summit Midstream and Meadowlark in 2015.

Summit admitted in documents that it knowingly failed to share all relevant information regarding the volume and duration of the spill and that its reports to federal and state authorities were incomplete and misleading." The company also said it did not have proper meters installed until the beginning of 2015.

Heath Deneke, president, CEO and chairman of Summit Midstream Partners, said in a statement that the company has accepted the responsibility for the produced water spill and has invested $75 million on numerous improvements, including state-of-the-art leak detection technology and other monitoring and alarm systems.

While we consider the overall monetary settlement penalties as severe under the circumstances, particularly given our substantial remediation and and mitigation efforts to date, we believe that putting this matter behind us with manageable payment terms over the next six years is in the best interest of all of Summit's stakeholders and employees, Deneke said.

State and federal authorities said the wastewater had a large concentration of saline, as well as oil, radioactive substances and other pollutants, including ammonia, aluminum, arsenic, boron, copper, nickel, selenium, zinc, barium, benzene, and thallium.

Summit prioritized profits over the environment. The companys disregard for pipeline safety resulted in pollution of the environment on a massive scale over 143 days, said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The parallel settlements call for the three defendants to pay $20 million in civil penalties and $1.25 million in natural resources damages, as well as fulfilling a list of numerous steps to prevent future spills. Summit has already spent $50 million to clean up the spill. The company will serve three years of probation while those remedial measures are being completed and monitored by state regulators.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  At least 11 health care systems across Kentucky will require their medical workers to get vaccinated for COVID-19, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday, a day after the state reported its highest daily number of new coronavirus cases in months.

If we are going to defeat and not just delay COVID-19, there is one and only one answer, the Democratic governor said at a virtual media briefing. "That answer is vaccinations. So each decision that we make has to gauge the impact on getting the unvaccinated to take that shot.

In remarks at the Capitol, some hospital executives said the rapid increase in new cases and hospitalizations made the requirement necessary.

Just a month ago, I had three COVID patients and only one in the ICU. As of this morning, I had 43 patients in the hospital. Over a third of them are in the ICU fighting for their life, said Donovan Blackburn, president of Pikeville Medical Center. Vaccines are necessary if we are going to win the fight.

The hospital systems include Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Baptist Health, CHI Saint Joseph Health, Kings Daughters Health System, Med Center Health, Norton Healthcare, St. Claire Healthcare, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, UK Healthcare and UofL Health.

Beshear also implored Kentuckians to wear masks because of the statewide spread of the highly contagious delta variant. More than 80 of Kentuckys 120 counties are reported to be in the red zone  signaling a severe level of community spread, according to state guidelines.

I dont care where you live or what county youre in, when you are out of the house, and you are indoors, you now need to be wearing a mask, he said. Thats where we are. And thats what it will take.

Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky's public health commissioner, said that more than 90% of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were among partially vaccinated or unvaccinated Kentuckians.

The number of children infected with the virus also has risen sharply. In July, 2,092 cases were reported in children under 12, up from 534 in June.

This virus is dangerous and becoming more dangerous the longer it has the opportunity to spread rampantly, he added.

Kentucky reported 2,217 coronavirus cases and four virus-related deaths Thursday. The states positivity rate is 10.27%. Roughly 900 Kentuckians are hospitalized because of COVID-19, and 108 are on ventilators.

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Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, buffeted by sexual harassment allegations, is increasingly looking like he could be impeached and removed from office  something that hasn't happened to the state's governor in nearly 108 years.

A majority of members of the state Assembly, the legislative body that has the power to start impeachment proceedings, have already said they favor removing Cuomo if he won't resign. Pressure has built since a team of independent investigators hired by the state attorney general concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.

Cuomo, a Democrat, has vowed to stay in office, rejecting the allegations against him as either fabricated or a misunderstanding of gestures and comments meant to convey warmth.

If the Legislature goes ahead with an impeachment, it will follow procedures that have some parallels  and some important differences  to the process the U.S. Congress uses for impeaching presidents.

Heres a look at how impeachment might work:

THE PROCESS

Like at the federal level, New York impeachments start in the lower house of the legislature  in this case, the Assembly.

The states constitution says the Assembly can impeach officials with a simple majority vote for misconduct or malversation.

If a majority of members vote to impeach, a trial on Cuomo's removal from office would be held in whats known as the Impeachment Court.

The court consists not only of members of the state Senate, but also judges of the states highest court, the Court of Appeals, who would also cast votes.

There are seven appeals court judges and 63 senators, though not all would serve on the impeachment court. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (HOH-kull) and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins would also typically be members, but they are excluded when a governor is on trial.

At least two-thirds of the jurors must vote to convict in order to remove Cuomo.

HISTORICAL PRECEDENT

New York has only impeached a governor once, in 1913, when Gov. William Sulzer was bounced after just 289 days in office in what he claimed was retribution for turning his back on the powerful Tammany Hall Democratic machine.

Sulzer was accused of failing to report thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and commingling campaign funds with personal funds. He blasted the courts secret deliberations, complaining: A horse thief in frontier days would have received a squarer deal.

SIDELINING CUOMO

If Cuomo were impeached by the Assembly, the state constitution forces him to step aside immediately, according to some legal experts, and remain on the sidelines until his trial is complete.

Thats a dramatic difference from what happens when the U.S. president is impeached.

When Sulzer was impeached, Lt. Gov. Martin Glynn was appointed acting governor. Sulzer, however, didnt accept his suspension, arguing that the state constitution allowed him to continue performing his duties until he was convicted.

The dispute was never decided by a court, but Gerald Benjamin  an expert on the New York Constitution and a political scientist at SUNY New Paltz  said he believed the rules governing impeachment are clear: Cuomo would have to temporarily relinquish power to Hochul.

The constitution is clear. He remains governor until he is impeached, Benjamin said. Once they impeach him, she (Hochul) acts as governor."

If Cuomo were to be acquitted by the Impeachment Court, he would return to office. If he's convicted, Hochul would serve out the remainder of Cuomos term  through the end of 2022. The court could also opt to disqualify him from holding office in the future.

THE TIMELINE

How quickly could this all happen? It's not clear.

The Assembly's judiciary committee has scheduled its next meeting for Aug. 9. A law firm representing the committee has given Cuomo until Aug. 13 to turn over evidence to bolster his defense.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has said he wants to wrap up the investigation as quickly as possible."

But drafting articles of impeachment could take time.

One issue is that the Assembly, when it first began contemplating impeachment, asked investigators to look into a range of issues beyond sexual harassment. Theres a discussion among lawmakers now about how to handle other parts of the inquiry, including an examination of Cuomos handling of data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, his use of state employees to help him with a $5 million book deal and even potential safety issues on a newly built bridge.

As far as Im concerned, there are a lot of things that are on table, and what would happen is wed have to see what the committee thinks the articles of impeachment should include, said Judiciary Committee member Phil Steck, a Democrat. It gets complicated and I dont see how were going to do this in a couple of hours.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on key questions, like whether there will be public hearings.

Are the witnesses willing to testify? Judiciary Committee member Tom Abinanti, also a Democrat, said. Do the written documents support what were going to allege? Were almost in the role of a grand jury and the prosecutor. Weve got to decide: is the evidence sufficient and does it in fact constitute an impeachable offense? Its not so easy.

In the meantime, many elected officials in New York are hoping that Cuomo will save the legislature the trouble and resign.

So far, Cuomo has insisted he isn't going anywhere, saying Tuesday he would focus on doing more for New Yorkers, even as other leaders called for his ouster.

I will not be distracted from that job. We have a lot to do, Cuomo said.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  A Milwaukee man whose two young children were left unsupervised near a gun was charged Wednesday in the inadvertent shooting death of his son.

Giovanni R. Smith, 26, faces a felony count of neglecting a child resulting in death for the incident that killed his 2-year-old boy.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  It didn't take much for the White House to set Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis off. As coronavirus cases rise across the Sun Belt, President Joe Biden asked GOP governors to get out of the way of efforts to contain the virus.

DeSantis fired back that he did not want to hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you, adding, Why don't you do your job?

The exchange was unusually direct and bitter, particularly for politicians dealing with a crisis that is killing Americans in rising numbers. But it was a sign that the now-familiar cudgels of virus politics  debates pitting freedoms against masks and restrictions  remain potent weapons. And DeSantis, in particular, appears eager to carry that fight into next years midterms election, and beyond.

He has become, I would argue, the leading voice of opposition to the Biden administration, said Rob Bradley, a Republican who recently left the Florida Senate because of term limits. Its not a surprise to see Biden and DeSantis going at it.

The strategy comes with risks. DeSantis is up for reelection next year and is frequently mentioned as a 2024 presidential contender. His national profile has risen in large part because he spent the early part of the pandemic pushing a message that prioritized his states economy over sweeping restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But his state is now an epicenter of the latest surge. Florida has repeatedly broken records for hospitalized patients this week, and it and Texas accounted for a third of all new cases nationwide last week, according to the White House.

DeSantis has responded by banning mask mandates in schools and arguing that vaccines are the best way to fight the virus while new restrictions amount to impediments on liberty.

Florida is a free state, and we will empower our people," DeSantis said in a fundraising email keying off his hitting back at the president. "We will not allow Joe Biden and his bureaucratic flunkies to come in and commandeer the rights and freedoms of Floridians.

Biden's willingness to call out the Republican governor of Florida  as well as his colleagues in other hot spots like Texas  marks a new confrontational turn for him as well. For months, the White House has tried to minimize the perception of distance between the president and governors in hopes of depoliticizing the vaccination process.

It had sought to prevent a nationwide panic over the spread of the delta variant and to make good on the promise that the nation was ready to move past the pandemic. But with new cases averaging more than 70,000 a day  above the peak last summer before vaccines were available  the messaging has shifted.

The White House is now casting whats occurring as a more localized concern primarily affecting areas of the country that have lagging vaccination rates and that have not followed federal guidance recommending face masks in areas with high case rates. But the hardest-hit areas tend to be run by Republicans like DeSantis.

Biden is proving more reticent than DeSantis to continue the feud. When asked Thursday about DeSantis' response to his comments, Biden simply asked, Governor who? and grinned.

Still, that didn't stop White House press secretary Jen Psaki from turning up the administrations criticism, saying it was a fact that DeSantis has taken steps that are counter to public health recommendations.

Frankly, this is too serious, deadly serious, to be doing partisan name calling, Psaki said.

She added that administration officials remained in touch with Floridas public health officials, despite DeSantis posture. Psaki also said the White House was focused on ensuring Floridians know what steps they should be taking to safeguard their health, even if those are not steps taken at the top of the leadership in that state.

Republican governors attacking Democratic presidents and vice versa is nothing new, meanwhile. And even heated partisan back-and-forth as the coronavirus rages has happened before.

During the early months of the pandemic last year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos daily press briefings were carried live on national television and cheered by Democrats across the country as a science-based antidote to then-President Donald Trumps own daily sessions with the media.

One day when Cuomo was holding his briefing, Trump tweeted that the New York governor was doing too much complaining and should get out there and get the job done. Stop talking. Cuomo was asked about that and shot back, If hes sitting home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work.

Cuomo is now under intense pressure to resign after an investigation found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers. But his state is no longer the virus hot spot that Florida is.

Biden also rarely channels his predecessor's combative tactics, underscoring how strange the political dynamics of the latest virus surge are becoming.

Another indication that the back-and-forth between Biden and DeSantis could foreshadow similar future clashes as the midterms loom is that the governor and president recently put aside their differences and appeared together after the deadly collapse of a condo building in Surfside, Florida. Thats a far cry from whats happening now.

Hes only telling us what hes against, Bernard Ashby, a Miami cardiologist who leads the Florida chapter of the Committee to Protect Health Care, said of DeSantis. I think its up to him, as leader of our state, to actually do something to decrease the amount of people that we see getting infected, hospitalized, ending up in the ICU and ultimately dying.

DeSantis is nonetheless doubling down. His harsh words for Biden have already caused a stir in conservative online circles, and the governor has since appeared on Fox News to reiterate them.

Thats been his strategy his entire existence ... whatever plays on Fox News is where hes going, said Kevin Cate, a Florida-based Democratic strategist and veteran of Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign.

Cate, a campaign consultant for Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running for governor and has been an outspoken DeSantis critic, said if the Florida loss of life now occurring because of the coronavirus had been a hurricane, the governor would have suited up for disaster response without worrying about the political optics.

If Ron DeSantis had one-tenth of the vitriol against the virus that he spews about Joe Biden, he said, people would not be dying in Florida.

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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
PARIS (AP)  A French constitutional court on Thursday validated most aspects of a new law that, starting next week, requires people to carry a special COVID-19 health pass to access cafes, restaurants, long-distance travel and, in some cases, hospitals. But it struck down several measures for not meeting constitutional muster.

The Constitutional Council ruled that the automatic 10-day isolation of people infected with the virus, allowed to go outside for only two hours per day, goes against French freedoms. Such deprivation of liberty is not necessary, adapted or proportional, the ruling said. The current, less strict 10-day self-isolation for people infected with the virus will apparently remain in effect.

The court also struck down suspension of short-term contracts for those without a health pass  while accepting a suspension without remuneration of salaried employees with long-term contracts.

The legislation was sped urgently through parliament last week as virus infections soared, due to the highly contagious delta variant which now accounts for most cases in France.

Polls show that most French support the health pass. But the measure has ardent opponents, with many claiming their freedoms will be compromised. It is issued to people either vaccinated against COVID-19, or who have proof of recent recovery from the infection, or a recent negative test.

Starting Monday, it will be required for long-distance travel by train, plane or bus, entering restaurants, cafes and their terraces and rest homes  among a long list laid out in the law and approved in the ruling. The special court appeared to wince at the regulations but decided that overall a balance was struck between freedom and the constitutional value of health protection.

The Council also approved obliging health care workers to be vaccinated against the virus by Sept. 15. And it ruled that requiring the health pass for hospital visitors and others is justified  if it doesn't create an obstacle to accessing health care.

Several hundred noisy protesters in front of the Constitutional Council in Paris denounced the ruling, under the eye of nearly as many heavily armed police.

Julien Bailly, 37, who makes harpsichords, wore a Health dictatorship: Stop sticker on his shirt.

He said he was fully vaccinated, but everyone should be able to make that choice freely, not because oppressive laws force them to. Soon well need QR codes for everything in life," he added. "This is a slippery slope and an unprecedented attack on our freedoms.

Critics complain that it limits their movements outside home  and implicitly renders vaccinations obligatory. Opponents have demonstrated around the country by the tens of thousands for the past three Saturdays, with more protests expected this weekend.

A 26-year-old protester who identified herself only as Charlotte said she distrusts the COVID-19 vaccine and resents it being forced on her. The health pass wont change my decision, Ill never get the vaccine," she said.

The Constitutional Council which examined the law is a special court which, among other things, reviews the constitutionality of legislation.

The health pass has been in effect since July 21 for cultural and recreational venues, including cinemas, concert halls and theme parks with capacity for more than 50 people. But the new law vastly extends its application.

Many restaurant owners say it is not their job to enforce the law, checking each client for a pass. Some health professionals have voiced fears that patients in need of non-urgent treatment could suffer.

Quite a few people have told us they wouldnt be coming back once the health pass is implemented, said Vanessa Shi, co-owner of a noodle restaurant near the Champs-Elysees Avenue.

Weve been insulted on several occasions, with people calling us sell-outs and worse for saying we would implement the measure, she said. But with the bills weve racked up during the pandemic ... its a matter of survival for us."

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the ruling allows for full deployment of the strategy against COVID-19." Disappointed that the article on strict isolation of those infected was struck down, he asked that recommended isolation be scrupulously respected.

More than 28,700 new infections were reported as of Wednesday evening, a steep climb from one month ago. The pandemic has claimed more than 112,000 lives in France.

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Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's Green party has come under fire on social media for tweeting a photograph of its election candidates cropped in such a way as to remove all the men.

The party's local branch in Berlin's Mitte district posted the all-women picture Wednesday on Twitter with a caption that poked fun at photos of the rival center-right Union bloc which it said showed only old men.

It later emerged that three of the Greens' male candidates had been cropped from the image to show only the six women. All of the men are members of ethnic minority groups.

Taylan Kurt, one of the male candidates cropped from the picture, dismissed the criticism of his party.

Im a man and precisely because of that I want Germany to continue to be governed by a woman in future. Because (Baerbock) is better than the two other guys and because it should be natural that half the power belongs to women.

Ario Mirzaie, a Mitte district party spokesperson, said he was surprised by the controversy the picture had generated. He said the cropping, which also removed him from the photo, was completely unproblematic in his view.

Women are at the center of Green politics, Mirzaie said.

The Greens describe themselves as a feminist party and have a rule that women must be placed first on its election lists.

The requirement recently caused a problem for the Greens when its regional branch in tiny Saarland state picked a man to lead its election list, prompting the party to re-run the process in favor a woman. But state election officials rejected the new list on technical grounds, meaning the party likely won't be on the ballot in Saarland for Germany's Sept. 26 national election. The decision was confirmed by federal election officials Thursday.

The Green party candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as Germanys chancellor this fall, Annalena Baerbock, has called for the creation of a dedicated Immigration Ministry.
MIAMI (AP)  House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and fellow GOP politicians accused President Joe Biden on Thursday of not doing more to help Cubans on the island get access to the internet.

Internet service was cut off at one point during a July 11 protest against the communist government, but Cuban authorities have not explicitly acknowledged that they did it. Service is still spotty across the island more than three weeks later.

McCarthy met in Miami on Thursday with members of the state's Cuban-American congressional delegation, Republican Gov. and aspiring presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Republican Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez.

At a news conference afterward, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said that while specific companies had expressed a willingness to step in and help, the White House has ignored the Cuban-American delegation. Salazar said patience is running out.

Biden has said the administration is working to identify options to make the internet more accessible on the island. Internet in Cuba has been expensive and relatively rare until recently. The Cuban government restricts independent news media and censors whats available online. It also disrupts internet access.

Last Friday, Biden announced new sanctions against Cubas national revolutionary police and its top two officials. The president also created a working group to review U.S. remittance policy to make sure the communist government is not taking a cut of the money Cubans send from the U.S. to the island. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said last month that the government was not taking any of the money.

Former President Donald Trumps administration took more than 200 actions against Cuba, including limiting individual trips to the island from the U.S., barring cruise ship visits and capping remittances. The Republicans gathered in Miami said Thursday that they were against lifting the caps.

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said increasing remittances is something the regime has been asking for.

Diaz-Balart added that he had participated in previous classified briefings during which several options to improve access to the internet had been presented. He said he could not release any details, but that such measures had been used in other countries.

Cubans used the internet to spread word on social media about last month's anti-government demonstrations. Thousands showed up in Havana and other cities to object to government policies in large protests, the likes of which had not been seen in decades.

Remember why you want to do this," McCarthy said of improving and maintaining internet access for Cuban residents. You want individuals, those in Cuba craving freedom, to understand we are with them.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  As he recovers from a breakthrough infection of the coronavirus, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday that he has urged former President Donald Trump to press his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which the South Carolina Republican called the antidote to the virus thats wreaking havoc on our hospitals.

Ive urged him to be aggressive and say, Take the vaccine, Graham said in an extensive interview with The Associated Press, his first since disclosing this week that he had tested positive for the virus, months after being vaccinated.

On Monday, Graham said he had tested positive days after gathering with a handful of Senate colleagues on Sen. Joe Manchin's houseboat. That same night, Saturday, Graham said he began experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Saying he felt achy and kind of yucky through the weekend, Graham said Thursday that his symptoms had been steadily improving, although Monday and Tuesday were pretty tough days. He said he believed his symptoms would have been much worse had he not been vaccinated.

It went from sort of a mild sinus infection until just a full-blown, feeling like crap, Graham told AP.

Graham declined to talk about the Manchin event on Thursday, except to say that everybody there was vaccinated. Long a proponent of vaccination, Graham received his shots in December.

Asked Thursday if President Joe Biden planned to highlight pro-vaccine comments from Republicans like Graham, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said vaccination is not political to us but added, We think its great that hes out there talking about the impact of the vaccine.

Graham is a longtime ally of Trump, who received the vaccine earlier this year. This week, former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that he wished that Trump had gotten the shot publicly, so that his supporters could see how much trust and confidence he has in the vaccines.

In March, Trump said on Fox News that he would recommend vaccination to a lot of people that dont want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me.

But last month at a rally in Phoenix, Trump told supporters that he felt some people were not taking the vaccine because they dont trust President Joe Biden and stressed peoples freedoms 100 percent to do what they felt best.

On Thursday, Graham said he had just gotten off the phone with Trump, who had been checking on him every day during his illness. He applauded Trump's work to develop the vaccine and said he saw vaccinations as necessary for the country to regain its footing.

He's very proud of that accomplishment, Graham said. From a conservative person's point of view, we should do all we can as a nation to get our economy back up and running and to protect our way of life.

Recognizing that taking the vaccine might be a sacrifice for some, Graham said the task paled in comparison with others that have been required of Americans in the past.

No ones being asked to go off to fight radical Islam or fight a foreign enemy. Were being asked to make responsible medical decisions," Graham said. Take the vaccine.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Haitian authorities have secured armed guards to bolster security for court personnel as they prepare to announce the judge who will oversee proceedings involving the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, a judicial official said Thursday.

Magistrate Bernard Saint-Vil, who is dean of the Court of First Instance in Port-au-Prince, said some judges he recently contacted about the case had told him they were worried about their safety.

He said he is not obligated to take such concerns into consideration as he decides who will be assigned the case, saying that the first characteristic of a magistrate is courage, because a judge is called upon to make decisions.

But Saint-Vil added that officials recognize additional security measures are needed since some judicial officials have already gone into hiding amid death threats. Court clerks have reported receiving threatening demands that they revise names and other details in reports on the July 7 attack that killed Moise and seriously wounded his wife.

We demanded that these means be available because even before choosing the judge, we must check that everything is in place, Saint-Vil said after meeting privately with several judges.

Saint-Vil did not say whether any judges had refused to take on the Moise case.

The boost in security that he requested comes amid concerns over the wellbeing of suspects in the case who have been transferred from police holding cells to a prison where conditions have been likened to torture by the United Nations and where thousands of inmates remain held for years without so much as a court hearing, let alone a trial.

The conditions of detention are generally appalling, defense attorney Samuel Madistin told The Associated Press. I hope everything will be done to allow justice to do its job.

Madistin represents two of the more than 40 suspects detained in the assassination case. He said that he had not been allowed to meet with his clients and that one one of them, Reynaldo Corvington, is diabetic and has high blood pressure.

There are judges who have refused to take the case. Pre-trial detention is likely to be prolonged, Madistin said.

Similar concerns have come from human rights activists as well as Colombias government, which is worried about the health of 18 former Colombian soldiers arrested in the case. Colombia has said they have limited access to water and some are exhausted and have lost weight. It says one was limping and another couldnt stand without help from a colleague.

Colombias government also has said the majority of former soldiers were duped into their participation.

U.S. and Haitian authorities continue to investigate the assassination as new details keep emerging.

Attorneys for Antonio Intriago, the owner of a small Miami-based private security company that authorities say hired the former Colombian soldiers for the mission, said he is innocent and the victim of what they called an elaborate scheme.

In a statement Wednesday, the lawyers said Intriago, of CTU Security, was led to believe that he was helping with a redevelopment and humanitarian project in Haiti's southern coastal city of Jacmel. They said that prior to Moise being killed, Intriago was told that security had a change in direction and was being requested to accompany a judge and Haitian police to serve the president with an arrest warrant.

At the time of President Moises murder, Mr. Intriago thought that his unarmed security contractors were still awaiting official security and firearms permits from the Haitian police, his attorneys said. Mr. Intriago was not in any way involved in the plotting to or killing of President Moise.

The lawyers said the security contractors did not kill Moise and were told their role was to guard officials while police carried out the arrest warrant.

When they entered the presidential residence, they found the president deceased, his wife wounded and the house ransacked. It is our belief that the presidents own bodyguards betrayed him," the attorneys said.

None of the presidents security detail was injured in the attack, and at least a dozen police officers have been arrested while several top security officials remain detained.

Intriagos attorneys also provided documents alleging that Wendelle Coq Thelot, a former Haitian Supreme Court judge, was involved in the plan to supposedly arrest Moise. A person alleging to be Thelot wrote in an Aug. 1 tweet: I firmly denounce the political persecutions of which I am the object at this time."

Police have issued arrest warrants for Thelot and others including a former judicial official and an ex-Haitian senator.

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Associated Press writer Evens Sanon reported this story in Port-au-Prince and AP writer Danica Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. AP writer Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (AP)  Illinois dispensaries sold a record $127.8 million in recreational marijuana in July, with a big boost coming from out-of-state fans who converged on Chicago for the Lollapalazoo music festival.

The month's sales were 10% higher than May's record of $116.4 million, which were slightly higher than June's $115.6 million, according to a monthly report by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Business boomed at Chicago-area cannabis dispensaries during the four-day Lollapalooza festival, which ended Sunday and which returned after last year's event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Because recreational marijuana was legalized in Illinois in January 2020, pot was legal in the state during Lollapalooza for the first time in the festival's 30-year history. Although it's illegal to smoke or otherwise consume the drug in public or around anyone younger than 21 years old, the large crowds at Grant Park boosted sales by as much as 50% at nearby dispensaries in River North and the West Loop, operators told the Chicago Tribune.

We saw thousands of festivalgoers over the weekend at our River North store, making it our biggest weekend to date, said Jason Erkes, spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, whose Sunnyside Dispensary in River North was the closest to the festivities.

In July, Illinois 110 dispensaries sold a record 2.8 million recreational weed products. State residents spent about $85 million, while sales to out-of-state customers topped $42 million, up 16% from June, according to the state.

Summer tourism and the Lollapalooza attendees were strong contributors to Julys out-of-state sales, Erkes said.

Illinois is one of 18 states that have legalized recreational marijuana use, which is still illegal under federal law. Through July, the state has generated $753 million in recreational cannabis sales, which is more than all of last year.

Total sales reached $1.03 billion last year, including $669 million in recreational weed and more than $366 million in medical marijuana sales.

Illinois has not yet released its medical marijuana sales figures for July.
MADRID (AP)  A fugitive Italian man identified as a leader of what is believed to be one of the worlds wealthiest criminal organizations has been arrested in Madrid, Spanish and Italian police said Thursday.

Italys Carabinieri identified the man as Domenico Paviglianiti, 60, a leader of the Calabrian-based ndrangheta crime syndicate.

Paviglianiti was arrested in a joint operation with the Carabinieri, Spains National Police said in a statement. Italian prosecutors said the arrest took place Tuesday.

Paviglianiti was carrying fake Portuguese identity papers, six cellphones and 6,000 euros ($7,100) in cash when he was arrested, according to the Spanish statement.

Police believe Paviglianiti is the head of a ndrangheta clan named for him and which operates around the world from its base in three villages in Italy's Calabria region.

Paviglianiti was sentenced in absentia in January to 11 years, eight months and 15 days in prison for a series of crimes, including murder and criminal association with the aim of drug trafficking.

He had previously been sentenced in Italy to life in prison, reduced later to 30 years, for a series of murders and trafficking offenses dating from the 1980s. But he was freed in October 2019 due to an error in calculating his sentence, prosecutors said.

He fled to Spain where he allegedly has had the help and protection of drug-trafficking associates.

The ndrangheta crime syndicate has amassed power as the Sicilian Mafia has declined. It allegedly has used tens of billions of dollars in cocaine revenue to extend its criminal reach and branched out into the rest of Europe, Australia, North and South America and Africa, investigators say.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  At least 30 people, including members of the military, were killed by jihadi rebels in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Thursday.

Eleven civilians, 15 soldiers, and four volunteer defense fighters, were killed by terrorists in several villages outside the town of Markoye in Oudalan province near the border with Niger on Wednesday, Aime Barthelemy Simpore, assistant to the minister of defense, said in a statement.

The civilians were killed at midday and the military and volunteers were ambushed four hours later after being detached to secure the area, the government said. At least 10 jihadi rebels were killed and the area has been secured by the army, with air and ground patrols conducting sweeps.

The town of Gorom Gorom, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Markoye, has been inundated with people fleeing the attack amid fear that the violence was going to spread, an aid worker in the area told The Associated Press. He insisted on anonymity for his safety.

Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State is increasing in Burkina Faso, killing thousands and displacing 1.3 million people. In June, at least 11 police officers were killed when their patrol was ambushed in the north and earlier that month at least 160 civilians were killed in the Sahel region, the deadliest violence in years.

This weeks violence comes on the heels of a deadly attack in neighboring Niger along the border with Burkina Faso less than a week ago, where jihadis killed at least 19 people, 18 of whom were members of the military.

The escalating extremist violence will be difficult to bring under control, according to conflict analysts.

International and regional efforts to combat militancy face serious challenges in keeping militants at bay, said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
WARWICK, R.I. (AP)  A Rhode Island Superior Court judge has placed a hold on a decision to reinstate a deputy police chief at T.F. Green International Airport as the airport has appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court.

Judge Alice Gibney found that the airport is likely to succeed on appeal and agreed to stay the May ruling to reinstate former Deputy Police Chief Helen Ricci with back pay and benefits, the Providence Journal reported Wednesday.
OGEMA, Minn. (AP)  Opponents of Enbridge Energy's Line 3 oil pipeline replacement across northern Minnesota are taking a novel legal approach to try to halt construction  they are suing on behalf of wild rice.

Wild rice is the lead plaintiff in a complaint filed Wednesday in White Earth Nation Tribal Court. The lawsuit, which names the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources among the defendants, advances a legal theory that nature in itself has the right to exist and flourish, the Star Tribune reported.

The lawsuit is only the second rights of nature case to be filed in the U.S., said Frank Bibeau, a lawyer for the White Earth tribe.

The plaintiffs include manoomin, which means good berry in Ojibwe, several White Earth tribal members and Indian and non-Indian protesters who have demonstrated along the Line 3 construction route. They say the DNR is failing to protect the states fresh water by allowing Calgary-based Enbridge to pump up to 5 billion gallons of groundwater from construction trenches during a drought.

They also claim the DNR has violated the rights of manoomin, as well as multiple treaty rights for tribal members to hunt, fish and gather wild rice outside reservations.

The lawsuit seeks to stop the extreme water pumping, and to stop the arrests of demonstrators. To date, more than 700 people have been charged for demonstrations along the Line 3 construction route, Bibeau said.

DNR spokeswoman Gail Nosek said the agency is reviewing the lawsuit and had no further comment.

Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Little said the company has shown respect for tribal sovereignty and has routed the pipelines outside the Upper and Lower Rice Lake and its watershed because of tribal concerns.

Line 3 construction permits include conditions that specifically protect wild rice waters, Little said. As a matter of fact, Enbridge pipelines have coexisted with Minnesotas most sacred and productive wild rice stands for over seven decades.

Line 3 starts in Alberta and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing northern Minnesota en route to Enbridges terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The 337-mile (542.35-kilometer) line in Minnesota is the last phase in replacing the deteriorating pipeline that was built in the 1960s.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP)  The longtime pastor of a Catholic church who took nearly $517,000 in parish funds has been sentenced to seven years in state prison.

The Rev. Douglas Haefner was sentenced Tuesday and is due to start serving his term Aug. 19. However, he has applied for the states Intensive Supervised Parole program, which allows prisoners to serve all or part of their sentences at home
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  A northwest Missouri man has been convicted of killing a National Guardsman during a road rage confrontation.

Nicholas Webb, 61, of Pleasant Hill, was convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Cody Harter, 23, of St. Joseph, the Jackson County Prosecutor's office announced Thursday.

Lee's Summit police were called to an area in Interstate 470 in May 2018 after witnesses reported a man on the ground. Officers found Harter suffering from a stab wound, and he later died from his injuries.

A witness told police Harter had his hands up and was backing away from Webb after they both got out of their vehicles, according to court documents.

Police discovered Webb had been arrested the same day in Liberty with a knife in his pants. Webb was released from prison after serving a sentence for second-degree murder in Jackson County in 1981.

As an Air National Guardsman, Harter had served in Iraq and Qatar and helped with hurricane relief in Houston and Puerto Rico.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP)  A company that owns 20 McDonalds franchises in the Nashville area is offering to pay tuition for employees who want to attend Middle Tennessee State University.

School officials and Murfreesboro-based McGuire Management Group announced the McGuire True Blue Education Partnership on Wednesday, according to a news release from the university.
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP)  Six Republican state senators have asked Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to call a special session to stop private businesses from requiring their employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

The request made Monday drew a quick rebuke from Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce Industry, who said in a statement Thursday that courts, along with federal and state laws, have consistently upheld employers' rights to require vaccinations.

As the delta variant continues to cause a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, some businesses, such as restaurants and nightclubs in St. Louis and Kansas City, have said they will require workers and customers to be vaccinated.

Missouri recorded 14,339 confirmed cases of the disease over the last seven days, with a daily average of 2,048, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Only 41.8% of the state's residents were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. That trailed the national average of 49.9% and significantly lagged behind the most vaccinated state, Vermont, at 67.7%.

Parson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governor has refused to issue any statewide mandates in response to the pandemic but has said he believes private businesses have a right to make their own decisions about COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The letter sent to Parson focused on requiring employees to be vaccinated, saying doing so puts Missourians in the position of choosing between their livelihoods and their right to control their own lives."

The state senators also said the Food and Drug Administration has not given full approval to the vaccine and questioned whether employers would protect the rights of disabled employees or those who object to the vaccine on religious grounds.

Its not our job to force it nor is it the job of businesses and employers to force the vaccine," the letter said. "Our job is to safeguard the rights and liberties of the people we represent.

The letter was signed by state Sens. Rick Brattin, of Harrisonville; Bill Eigel, of Weldon Spring; Denny Hoskins, of Warrensburg; Mike Moon, of Ash Grove; Bob Onder, of Lake Saint Louis; and Holly Rehder, of Sikeston.

Mehan said the chamber believes vaccinations are the key to the state's economic recovery and the only way Missouri can begin to put his pandemic behind us. He also said federal and state laws, as well as the courts, have consistently upheld private business owners' right to require vaccines.

The Missouri Chamber stands against attempts to place reckless new restrictions on the states business community, Mehan said. Employers have long had the ability to mandate vaccinations and the Missouri Chamber believes all employers should continue to have this right when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine.
ATLANTA (AP)  One of Georgia's largest school districts will require masks for most of its students, at least for now, as rising COVID-19 infections continue to scramble school district plans across the state.

The 90,000-student Fulton County school district announced Thursday that students in all its schools except for those in the north Fulton city of Johns Creek will have to wear face coverings when the district starts school Monday. That represents almost 75,000 students in the district, which runs schools in Georgia's most populous county except for those in the city of Atlanta

The district is making mask determinations each week based on COVID-19 infection rates in individual communities and determined that the number of infections required masks in all but Johns Creek.

Fultons action means more than 38% of Georgias public school students are covered by a mask mandate, according to a count kept by The Associated Press. Besides the parts of Fulton covered, that includes all of 27 other districts.

Schools in Echols County delayed their start from Friday to Aug. 16 because of COVID-19 exposures among employees, becoming at least the fourth Georgia district to delay their start, along with Early, Evans and Wheeler counties.

Georgia recorded nearly 5,000 positive COVID-19 tests Thursday, pushing its seven-day average above 4,300. The last time the seven-day average was that high was in early February. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients rose to nearly 3,000, a six-fold increase over a month ago.

As soon as a patient is discharged from our critical care unit, or worse, is deceased, theres another patient to put in that bed," Jan Jones, director of Southeast Georgia Health System patient care services, told The Brunswick News. "Its like a revolving door that we cant stop.

The Statesboro Herald reported that more patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized at East Georgia Regional Medical Center in Statesboro on Wednesday than any other single day since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Almost 15% of molecular tests for COVID-19 are coming back positive, three times the rate that experts say indicates most cases are being detected. Though deaths have remained lower than at the worst points of the pandemic, thanks in part to higher vaccination rates among older people, 35 new deaths were reported Wednesday, the most in more than six weeks. Nearly 22,000 people in Georgia have died from COVID-19.

Others are changing their plans because of rising COVID-19 cases.

Georgia Chief Justice David Nahmias announced state Supreme Court hearings this month would be conducted online, and urged other state judges to conduct remote hearings when it is lawful, effective, and safer. He said certain hearings and jury trials should continue in-person for now with appropriate protections. Georgia courts face a huge backlog of jury trials because in-person trials were on hold for months.

The middle Georgia city of Perry canceled all city-sponsored events for the rest of August, citing concerns about high hospitalization rates in Houston County.

But the rise of mask mandates is sparking opposition from some Republicans who want to ban them.

State Sen. Burt Jones, a possible Republican candidate for lieutenant governor next year, wrote to Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday urging a special legislative session to ban schools from requiring masks, arguing young students struggle when students and teachers are masked and that COVID-19 isn't a particularly severe threat to student health.

There is perhaps no more pressing issue before our state, Jones, of Jackson, wrote. The wellbeing of our children  and their short and long-term development and education  are squarely at risk by requiring them to wear a mask for the upcoming school year.

The Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the American Association of Pediatrics advises that everyone in schools should wear face coverings, no matter their vaccination status.

This notion that it's really OK for kids to get COVID is really a bad notion, Dr. Tina Tan, a pediatrician who specializes in infectious diseases at Northwestern University, told reporters last month.

The Republican Kemp has never imposed a mask mandate for all public places or schools. Kemp still opposes a statewide rule, but hes leaving it up to local superintendents to decide.

I trust the local school systems with local control, Kemp told reporters last week.

A majority of Georgias 1.7 million public school students were covered by mask mandates last year, although many suburban and rural districts didnt require face coverings.
MIAMI (AP)  Two North Carolina men accused of raping a 24-year-old tourist who overdosed during spring break in Miami Beach now face first-degree murder charges.

On Wednesday, a grand jury in Miami-Dade County found Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 25, both from Greensboro, North Carolina, responsible for the fentanyl-induced death in March of Christine Englehardt of Richboro, Pennsylvania. She met the men while visiting South Beach, and went with them to her room at the Albion Hotel, prosecutors said.

The grand jury added a second first-degree murder charge against Taylor for supplying the same opioid to Walter Riley, 21, from Chicago. He was found unconscious on a nearby street and died March 20, two days after Englehardt was found unresponsive in her hotel room, the Miami Herald reported.

The three-page grand jury report accuses the pair of killing Englehardt with their unlawful distribution of fentanyl while committing sexual battery and burglary. The men allegedly took Englehardt's credit cards and made illegal purchases at SOBE Liquors and the Sugar Factory.

Colliers attorney, Phil Reizenstein, told the Herald he's stunned by the indictment. He said the medical examiner found Englehardt had ingested so many different drugs that it was nearly impossible to pin down what caused her death.

I think theyre going to regret doing this, said Reizenstein. I think by the time Im finished with them, theyre never going to be able to say she died of this.

Taylors attorney, Liesbeth Boot, couldnt be reached.

The men remain jailed in Miami. They were arrested March 21, according to jail records.

Authorities said surveillance video captured the men entering the hotel with Englehardt and later leaving without her. An arrest report says Collier confessed to giving Englehardt a green pill and claimed they sexually assaulted her in the hotel room even as she lay unconscious.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner determined the pills ingested by Englehardt were rapidly fatal fentanyl. The autopsy also found that her blood alcohol level when she died hovered near 0.2%, almost three times the legal limit to drive, and asphyxia may have played a role in her death, the Herald reported.

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This story corrects that the victim's blood alcohol level when she died was around 0.2%, not 2.0%.
Nashville's top school officials on Thursday agreed to enforce an universal mask mandate for the upcoming school year as part of an effort to protect children too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine while the pandemic resurges across the state.

The Metro Nashville Board of Education voted 8-1 to reinstate the mask rule after previously announcing to leave the option up to families. However, as case counts, hospitalizations and death numbers have all increased significantly over the past few weeks, school leaders reevaluated their decision.

We have a responsibility to the greater good for all of our children, board member Sharon Gentry said.

The move was quickly praised by concerned parents and medical experts who point to Tennessee's hospitals largely filling up with unvaccinated coronavirus patients.

To date, only three out of Tennessee's 95 counties have plans to implement mask mandates for students and teachers when school resumes later this month. Shelby County, which encompasses Memphis, was the first to unveil its plans to have masks, with Hancock County making a similar announcement earlier this month.

Some Republican leaders have vowed to fight mask mandates in schools, but it's unclear how successful they'll be in that challenge.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican from Crossville, recently told reporters that he would ask Gov. Bill Lee to call a special legislative session to pass legislation allowing parents to have the option to leave schools that mandate masks or close during the upcoming school year. Lee has yet to say he would agree to such a request.

Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, has said he favors local school officials making their own decisions. Adam Kleinheider, McNally's spokesperson, said in an email that the Republican will work with Lee, Sexton and all lawmakers should a special session be called.

Sexton said he was starting discussions with House members."

Also Thursday, the Memphis suburb of Germantown removed its order requiring city employees to get vaccinated by Labor Day or face possible firing, The Commercial Appeal reported. Questions arose about the legality of the requirement. The suburb is still strongly encouraging its employees to be vaccinated and issued guidelines for mandatory testing of unvaccinated employees.

Tennessee is currently averaging about 1,074 COVID-19 hospitalizations according to data through Aug. 3 from the Department of Health and Human Services. About 39.4% of the state's population have fully completed their vaccination, among the lowest in the country.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Tens of thousands of North Carolina college students will need to get a COVID-19 vaccine or be tested weekly, according the University of North Carolina System.

The system serving roughly 250,000 students at 16 public colleges and universities across the state said in a statement on Thursday that UNC System President Peter Pans will also issue guidance later this week to extend that standard to faculty and staff.

All campuses will operate under a Get Vaccinated or Get Tested Weekly requirement for students. Universities are collecting information on students vaccination status, and any unvaccinated students will be subject to weekly, or more frequent, testing," said Norma Houston, chief of staff of the UNC System Office.

Houston added that, "It is only fair that we ask our employees to abide by the same safety protocols weve already put in place for our students.

Vaccination data collected by the state Department of Health and Human Services shows children and young adults are far less likely than older residents to get vaccinated.

Less than 37% of residents aged 12 to 24 have gotten at least one COVID-19 shot, which is far below the statewide average of 59% of eligible North Carolinians at least partially vaccinated, according to state data. Meanwhile, 87% of residents 65 years of age or older have gotten one or more vaccine doses.

But a recent increase in people getting vaccinated is encouraging news for state officials. More residents came in for an initial dose last week than on any given week over the past two months.

More and more people are listening to the message (and) are convinced by the overwhelming numbers that the vast majority of people in the hospital, in the ICU -- people dying -- are unvaccinated people, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said at an event earlier this week. That and that alone, I believe, is convincing a lot of people that its time to get the vaccination, to get it done.

UNC System said it has administered more than 92,000 vaccinations at its campus clinics.

Republican state lawmakers have criticized recent announcements from hospital systems and government agencies compelling workers to get vaccinated. On Thursday, 55 House Republican lawmakers sent a letter to health system executives and called their decision to mandate vaccines unwise and unfair.

The latest move to push college students and workers to get vaccinated comes as the delta variant spreads rapidly, prompting fears of outbreaks as the fall semester approaches.

Cases reported on Thursday surpassed 4,300 for the first time since Feb. 11. The 1,651 people currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 represents a more than four-fold increase over the past month and the highest count since Feb. 20. More than 11% of tests on Monday came back positive, the worst daily positivity rate in more than six months.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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Follow Anderson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BryanRAnderson.

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Anderson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  A Ravenna sheep farmer faces the possibility of decades in prison after being indicted on six federal counts of bank fraud.

Brooks Duester, 43, of Ravenna, was charged last week in a six-count indictment for actions hes accused of taking between February 2017 and September 2018, the Kearney Hub reported.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  North Dakota agriculture officials are warning producers to monitor their livestock after the first case of anthrax was confirmed earlier this week.

The disease was reported in cattle in a Kidder County beef herd. Officials say producers in the county and surrounding areas should check with their veterinarians to see if they should start vaccinating their cattle for anthrax.
CLEVELAND (AP)  Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Thursday asked a judge in Columbus to add two former FirstEnergy Corp. executives and the former chair of the Ohio utilities commission as defendants in a state racketeering lawsuit for their alleged roles in helping win passage of a tainted energy bill in 2019.

Former CEO Chuck Jones and former Senior Vice President Michael Dowling were fired by FirstEnergy in October for violating company policies and its code of conduct.

Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, resigned in November after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy revealed in securities documents that top executives had paid him $4.3 million for his future help at the commission.

The three men are accused in the lawsuit of conspiring to win a $1 billion legislative bailout of two nuclear power plants  operated by a wholly owned FirstEnergy subsidiary at the time. They also are accused of working together to include in the bill an annual revenue guarantee for the company potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The amended lawsuit asks for Randazzo to forfeit the $4.3 million and repay the salary he collected as utilities commission chair from April 2019 through November 2020.

The Attorney General's Office in a filing said the three men were added to the complaint because of new public information, including FirstEnergy's admission of wrongdoing last month in a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors.

The admission, called a statement of facts, details the direct relationship and coordination" between the three men and former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder to help FirstEnergy, according to Yost and his attorneys.

This is the justice system working, holding bad actors accountable, Yost said in a statement Thursday. To restore public trust, everyone involved in this sordid matter needs to pay a price. The goal is to leave no doubt  among politicians, the powerful and the rich  that engaging in public corruption will ruin you."

FirstEnergy agreed to pay $230 million in penalties and adhere to a long list of reform-minded provisions to avoid criminal prosecution. Current CEO and President Steven Strah signed a statement admitting to the company's role in secretly funding a $60 million bribery scheme.

In the original complaint filed by Yost's office, Cincinnati and Columbus last year sought to stop the new owners of two Ohio nuclear power plants, Energy Harbor, from collecting the bailout. The Legislature repealed that portion of the energy bill in March after Energy Harbor  which in early 2020 took ownership of the plants and other FirstEnergy assets in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court deal  indicated it did not want the $150 million-a-year subsidy.

Yost announced in February that his office had reached a settlement with FirstEnergy to stop the utility's three Ohio electric companies from receiving the revenue guarantee. FirstEnergy then said it would return $26 million to customers.

Randazzo's attorney, Roger Sugarman, declined to comment. Messages seeking comment were left on Thursday with attorneys for Jones and Dowling. None of the men have been charged criminally. Jones and Randazzo have denied wrongdoing.

A Common Pleas judge in Columbus has placed the lawsuit on hold as criminal cases work through federal court. Householder and four associates were indicted last July on federal racketeering charges.

Householder, a Republican, and lobbyist Matt Borges have pleaded not guilty. Householder adviser Jeffrey Longstreth, lobbyist Juan Cespedes and a dark money group used by FirstEnergy and the group to fund the bribery scheme have entered guilty pleas and await sentencing. The remaining defendant, Neil Clark, died by suicide in March.

Householder was removed as speaker in July 2020 following his arrest and indictment. He was expelled from the House in June.
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  Pakistan on Thursday deployed paramilitary troops in a conservative town in the country's eastern Punjab province, a day after a Muslim mob attacked and badly damaged a Hindu temple there.

In New Delhi, Indias foreign ministry summoned a Pakistani diplomat to protest the attack and demand protection for Hindus living in the predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Wednesday's attack took place in the town of Bhong in Rahim Yar Khan district after a court granted bail to an eight-year-old Hindu boy who allegedly desecrated a madrassa, or religious school, earlier this week. The mob damaged statues, burned down the temples main door and briefly blocked a nearby road.

The boy was earlier arrested on charges of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the madrassas library that housed religious books. The mob alleges he committed blasphemy, an act punishable by the death sentence in Pakistan, where mere accusations of blasphemy have in the past incited mobs to violence and deadly attacks.

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemning the attack on Twitter, saying he has ordered the provincial police chief to take action against any officers whose negligence may have contributed to the attack. Khan also promised the government would restore the temple.

Punjab police official Asif Raza said the police have a list of 50 suspects and promised speedy arrests. He said troops were now guarding the temple and that security has been provided to members of the Hindu community.

In New Delhi, Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said such incidents are occurring at an alarming rate while the state and security institutions in Pakistan have stood by idly and completely failed in preventing these attacks."

Muslims and Hindus have mostly lived peacefully in Pakistan, but there have been attacks on Hindu temples in recent years. Most of Pakistans minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britains government.

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Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma contributed to this story from New Delhi.
ALMA, Mich. (AP)  The planning commission in a central Michigan community opposes a zoning change that would turn a former nursing home into temporary housing for boys who cross the U.S. border without parents.

Commissioners in Alma recommended, 4-2, that the request be denied Wednesday, following weeks of tension in the community and a public hearing that attracted hundreds of people. The Alma City Commission will make the final decision.

It would be unusual for the City Commission to go against a Planning Commission recommendation.

I do not feel comfortable with granting this proposal, nor do I see any benefit to the health, safety, welfare or convenience to our citizens of Alma, said Matt Schooley, city manager and a planning commissioner.

Bethany Christian Services wants to lease Warwick Living Center to provide housing for boys for up to 40 days or until a sponsor can be found. The boys, ages 12 to 17, crossed the southern U.S. border without parents or guardians and do not have legal status in this country.

Nancy OBrien, a teacher for nearly 40 years, said the planning commission was acting on fear, Michigan Radio reported.

It gets me emotional, she said. I would want someone to take care of my children if, God forbid, a war broke out or anything like that happened to my family.

There were cheers and applause after the planning commission voted.

Theres too much at risk of enabling human trafficking. ... The best way to help them is to send them back to their country of origin, with their family," Robi Rodriguez said.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  An additional 3.8 million Mexicans had fallen into poverty in 2020 compared to 2018, largely because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mexicos poverty-measurement agency said Thursday.

The poor made up 43.9% of the population, or 55.7 of Mexicos 126 million people, compared to 41.9% two years earlier. About 2.1 of the 3.8 million newly poor fell into extreme poverty, defined as being unable to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. There are 10.8 million Mexicans  about 8.5% of the population  in extreme poverty.

The COVID-19 health emergency has deepened the challenges for social development policy on all levels, mainly in income, health, education and food, the agency said, adding that more government aid is needed for the poorest given the drop in income due to the health emergency.

Poverty grew the most in Mexicos most tourism-dependent states. Poverty in in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo was up 17.3% in 2020, and in Baja California Sur, home to the twin resorts of Los Cabos, it grew by 9%.

The poverty measurement was based on a survey of Mexican households from August to November 2020, and now includes government and other cash transfers, as well as non-cash income. Based on cash income alone without those other sources, 52.8% of Mexicans were poor in 2020, compared to 49.9% in 2018.

Average income from all sources fell 7% in 2020 compared to 2018. Only cash transfers rose, in large part due to an increase in money sent home by migrants working abroad.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to increase aid for the elderly, and poverty among people 65 and over fell to 37.9% from 43.2% in 2018. However, due to increases in the over-65 population, the absolute number of elderly poor remained the same, at about 4.5 million.

Lopez Obrador's administration promised Thursday to continue increasing Mexico's minimum wage to around $9.50 per day, or about $1.20 per hour, by 2024 when the president's term ends. The president has already raised minimum wages from roughly $4.50 to $7 in the first three years of his administration.

The Labor Department said that $9.50 per day would be enough to buy the minimum basic necessities for 1.7 people. Mexico's Constitution requires the minimum wage should be enough to allow a worker to support his family  obviously, more than 1.7 people  but that mandate has not been observed in practice for decades.

Equally worrisome was the drop in access to health care, with the number of people reporting deficient health care access rising from 16.2% of the population in 2018 to 28.2% in 2020. That meant that 35.7 million people in Mexico said they lacked adequate treatment.

Poor health care, like poverty and extreme poverty, were heavily concentrated in southern states like Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Some wealthier northern states along the border reported much lower poverty levels.

For example, three-quarters of people in Chiapas were in poverty in 2020, compared to 22.5% in Baja California.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  A murder suspect who was wielding a knife posed no immediate safety threat when a Texas police officer fatally shot him from as far as 20 feet away, state investigators said in charging the officer with assault.

Forest Hill Officer Logan Barr, 23, faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the shooting death of 32-year-old Michael Lee Ross Jr., the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Barr responded to a call on June 9 in a convenience story parking lot and found a woman identified as Kieona Hall with stab wounds and Ross hiding in a creek near the parking lot. Hall later was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Texas Ranger Eisenhower Upshaw determined that Ross, who held a knife, posed no threat and was as far as 20 feet away from Forest Hill officers when he was found in a creek, according to a warrant.

Barr and another officer can be heard on the video shouting to Ross to drop the knife. A Forest Hill sergeant arrived on the scene and also began to order Ross to drop the knife.

In a news release a few hours after the shooting, Forest Hill police said the suspect attempted to harm himself with the knife.

Upshaw said in the warrant he did not see Ross attempt to stab himself based on the officers body camera video,. He also said the suspect never made any verbal threats, raise the knife in a threatening manner toward the officers, attempt to climb the muddy embankment toward the officers or make any effort to run away.

The Texas Rangers have examined the known facts and circumstances of the case to this point in the investigation, according to statement released Wednesday by officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Rangers are waiting on the final autopsy report from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner. Depending upon the results of the Medical Examiners report, the charge may change. The investigation is ongoing and no additional information is currently available.

The Star-Telegram could not reach Forest Hill police officials for comment.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee's most populous county reported more than 4,380 active cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, officials said, with a quarter of those being seen in children as schools prepare to resume classes next week.

Shelby County, which includes Memphis, has seen a significant increase in coronavirus cases in July and August. On Wednesday, the county health department reported a seven-day rolling average of 447 newly-reported cases per day, in all age groups.

Of 4,383 active cases, 1,051 are among county residents under 18, the health department said. Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis reported two deaths among child patients in recent days.

County Mayor Lee Harris said Tuesday that masks are again required in all county-owned facilities open to the public, for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The county, which has more than 920,000 residents, had lifted most mask requirements earlier this year.

The Shelby County public school system starts classes next Monday. Students, staff and visitors will be required to wear masks inside school buildings.

In Nashville, the head of the public school system said she would recommend that the school board adopt an universal mask policy for indoors and on buses when school begins next Tuesday.

Board members meet this Thursday to discuss masks and other COVID-19 policies. The district currently is encouraging mask use but has held off making it a requirement.

Tennessee Republican leaders have largely opposed mask mandates in schools, while others argue the issue is a local decision.

I wish that more Americans had taken advantage of the life-saving vaccine that has been available to them, so that the pandemic would be less of a factor in the lives of our students and a universal mask mandate would not be necessary, Adrienne Battle, director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, said in a statement

Meanwhile, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said masks will be required in metro buildings for all city employees and visitors. The order does not apply to private businesses.

And, in the Memphis suburb of Germantown, officials said city employees will be required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 6 or face being fired, news outlets reported.

Tennessees Health Department has reported more than 903,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 12,770 deaths in the state.

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Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee.
Despite the pandemic, the IRS received more than 7 million requests for new employer identification numbers between January 2020 and June 2021, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

As those businesses grow, many will reach an important milestone: hiring their first employees. Here are six things business owners should do first.

1. MAKE SURE YOU NEED HELP

First, look for signs that your business cant move forward without assistance.

If youre personally at capacity and receiving more orders than you can handle, it may be time to hire someone, says Phelan Spence , a services and financial analysis associate at JumpStart, a Cleveland-based nonprofit that works with entrepreneurs.

Hiring may also be on the horizon for business owners who are missing deadlines, fielding customer complaints or thinking about taking on a big project.

2. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Before hiring full- or part-time employees, your cash flow should be steady enough to support regular paychecks .

Business owners need to plan for expenses beyond wages, including Social Security, Medicare and payroll taxes, and, in many states, workers compensation. Benefits like health insurance add additional costs.

At the same time, bringing in a new employee can help you generate more revenue by expanding your capacity.

Spence says metrics like average monthly sales and average revenue per sale can help you understand how hiring someone will affect your finances and when its time to take that step.

(Hiring is) not necessarily tied to a date  its really tied to hitting that number of customers or number of projects or products or services, Spence says.

3. FIND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

Outside experts can help you navigate the hiring process. That team might include an attorney, bookkeeper, accountant and HR consultant.

Make sure that you get the advice of a professional to kind of lead you along the way, says Angel Washington, owner of Cleveland-based medical billing and coding business Consult 2 Code . You just want to make sure you do everything right from the beginning so you dont have to go back and fix things.

Expert advice can help you stay compliant with employment law, like understanding when you can hire independent contractors and when you need employees, and making sure new hires fill out the necessary tax forms.

4. SET UP PAYROLL AND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

When a business owner hires a new employee, they need to gather certain documents for tax and legal reasons. And when they pay that employee, they need to withhold money for tax and insurance payments.

When youre at this stage, it is really important to start thinking about your systems and invest a little bit of time and energy in your systems, Spence says.

Those systems could include payroll software, most of which can automatically withhold funds from paychecks, or accounting software, which you can use to keep your finances organized as your business grows.

5. POSITION NEW EMPLOYEES FOR SUCCESS

Your first employee is the first person that you are entrusting your vision to, says April D. Halliburton, founder and president of virtual HR company All-4-HR . Halliburton is also a volunteer mentor with SCORE, a nonprofit organization that offers business owners free resources, including webinars and how-to guides about hiring employees.

Start by writing a clear job description, Hallburton says, and dont rely totally on a template because 10 different companies are going to have receptionists doing things 10 different ways.

Halliburton encourages business owners to work with an HR professional to create an employee handbook so employees know how to navigate the workplace. Also, consider creating manuals that walk new employees through key tasks.

I think you make the biggest impact within the first few months, Halliburton says. The last thing you want to do is not give the effort and energy that is needed when youre hiring your employees and growing your staff and culture.

6. GET READY TO LET GO

Washington started Consult 2 Code as a solopreneur. She now has a team of seven, including full- and part-time employees as well as independent contractors.

Washington thinks most entrepreneurs want to do things ourselves because our name is the brand and the brand is our name.

But hiring a team has allowed her to step back from day-to-day tasks and focus on running and growing her business.

Being able to let go was really hard, Washington says. But once you do let go, you can finally be able to breathe.

_______________________________

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Rosalie Murphy is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: rmurphy@nerdwallet.com.

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: 5 Bookkeeping Best Practices for Startups and Small Businesses

Small business help from SCORE
AP

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP)  Audio recordings of arguments between a Missouri man and his Chinese wife will be allowed during the man's upcoming trial in her death, a judge has ruled.

Circuit Judge Brouck Jacobs ruled Tuesday the recordings are relevant and otherwise admissible in the case against Joseph Elledge, of Columbia, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Mengqi Ji.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  The Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer starting Thursday is requiring all employees to wear a face covering indoors, regardless of coronavirus vaccination status.

The office is thought to be the first state agency to require masks for all employees, although some agencies require masking for workers who interact with members of the public.

The decision was made in accordance with CDC guidelines and Rhode Islands status as an area with substantial spread of the COVID-19 virus," according to a statement from General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.

The delta variant of the virus has led to a nationwide spike in new confirmed cases.

In order to protect the health and the lives of Rhode Islanders, we must follow the science, Magaziner said.

The agency has about 100 employees.

Magaziner has also directed his staff to explore adopting requirements in line with President Joe Bidens policy for federal employees, under which staff must either provide proof of vaccination or comply with regular testing. The

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HEALTH DEPARTMENT DATA

Rhode Island's coronavirus community transmission rate continues to climb and is now at more than 126 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days, which is considered high, the state Department of Health reported Thursday.

The agency also reported more than 200 new confirmed coronavirus cases, but no additional deaths.

Wednesdays positivity rate was 2.9% from 7,156 tests.

There were 39 people in the state's hospitals with the disease, according to the latest data.

Nearly 662,000 people have been fully vaccinated in the state.

The department also reported that most of Rhode Islands state-run COVID-19 testing sites will be closed Monday in observance of Victory Day, the holiday that marks the end of World War II and is celebrated only in Rhode Island. Testing sites will resume normal operations on Tuesday.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Supporters of South Africas leftist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, on Thursday demonstrated against the killings of 36 people in Phoenix, a suburb of Durban, during the recent violent riots in KwaZulu-Natal province.

More than 1,000 people marched through Phoenix to hand police a statement demanding justice for the families of those who were killed in that town during the violence.

The riots in July, sparked by the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma, descended into widespread looting of shopping malls and retail shops across KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng, South Africa's most populous province.

More than 300 people died in the week-long riots which were quelled by the deployment of 25,000 soldiers.

During the riots, racial tensions flared in Phoenix, a community predominantly of South Africans of Indian descent. Many Phoenix residents patrolled the suburb to prevent its shops and businesses from being looted and some are accused of shooting Black people they suspected of being rioters.

Earlier this week police confirmed that of the 36 killed in Phoenix, 30 were shot and others were stabbed and burned. Police confiscated 264 firearms from individuals and security companies in the area.

According to the police, 22 people have been arrested for the killings in Phoenix and have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and assault.

On Thursday, the demonstrators against the Phoenix killings observed a moment of silence and read aloud the names of those who were killed.

A leader of the demonstration, Marshall Dlamini, a member of parliament for the Economic Freedom Fighters, accused South Africa's government of allowing some members of the Indian community to inflict racist, vigilante violence on Blacks.

They (the government) have sent police here to our march, but where were they when our people were being killed? asked Dlamini.

He also accused police and soldiers of conducting searches for the looted goods in townships where Black people live, but not doing so in communities with predominantly Indian and mixed-race residents.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  South Carolinas capital city has mandated the use of masks in city schools where some students are too young to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, a move that Mayor Steve Benjamin has said will help protect vaccine-ineligible children amid the pandemics resurgence.

City Council members voted nearly unanimously Thursday to ratify a state of emergency declared by Benjamin. The mayor, in his third and final term, has said he made that move to enable him to require masks for children between ages two and 14, as well as faculty, staff and visitors in both public and private schools and day care centers.

Our children 12 and under do not have a choice to be vaccinated, as of right now, Benjamin said during Thursday's meeting. If we are required to send our children to school  and I believe that we should  then the state ought to be required to protect our children while theyre at school.

New COVID-19 cases are rising exponentially in South Carolina, with the average number doubling in the past two weeks to more than 400 cases a day amid no signs of slowing down, according to state health officials. During an event Monday promoting vaccination, Dr. Anna-Kathryn Rye Burch, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, said Prisma Health Childrens Hospital in Columbia is at capacity almost every day as the pandemic resurges.

Councilman Daniel Rickenmann, the sole council member to vote against ratification, said he opposed it because theres a letter of the law out there that says we cant do this."

The declaration and its ratification sets up a legal challenge  which Benjamin has said that he expects  given the existence of a state budget proviso prohibiting educational institutions from using appropriated funds to mandate masks. But Benjamin, who is also an attorney, told AP that he believes the mandate doesnt violate state law because he plans to use city, and not state, funds to provide masks to the citys schools.

Prompted by Attorney General Alan Wilson's declaration that, while inartfully worded, the proviso made an on-campus, indoor mask mandate illegal, the University of South Carolina reversed its plan for the fall semester.

Wilson's office told The Associated Press on Wednesday that its attorneys would review the legality of the Columbia council's decision.

Noting that the proviso forbids a mandate, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control said last month that it strongly recommends mask use for all people when indoors in school settings, especially when physical distancing is not possible. State Education Department officials have noted publicly that they couldnt follow updated federal guidance recommending masks in schools.

The effort also puts Benjamin, who is among South Carolinas most notable Democrats, at odds with Gov. Henry McMaster. Earlier this year, the Republican called it the height of ridiculosity for a school district to require a mask over any parents wishes that their child go without one, as declining coronavirus numbers prompted a debate over dropping masks for the waning weeks of the school year.

McMaster continues to applaud the budget proviso. He acknowledged the current dangers posed by the surging delta variant, but said shutting our state down, closing schools and mandating masks is not the answer. Personal responsibility is.

This is not a heavy lift, Benjamin said during Thursday's meeting. This is a smart, thoughtful compassionate action that ought not be political.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
CAIRO (AP)  A Sudanese court on Thursday sentenced to death six members of the country's paramilitary forces convicted of killing six people at a pro-democracy student protest in central Sudan two years ago.

Sudan has been on a fragile path to democratic rule since the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, following four months of mass protests. The country is now ruled by a joint civilian and military government that faces towering economic and security challenges.

In his opening statement, the judge in the case, Ahmed Hassan al-Rahma, recounted how school and university students had taken to the streets of Obeid, in North Kordofan province, in a peaceful rally on July 29, 2019.

However, they were intercepted by members of the Rapid Support Forces who beat them with sticks and whips. When the students responded by hurling stones, the paramilitary troops opened fire, killing six people, the judge said.

The students exercised their right to protest, which is protected by the law and the constitution, said al-Rahma. However, those criminals responded with all cruelty and savagery.

The judge insisted the assault was an isolated incident and dismissed claims that higher command was involved.

It is an individual act that emanates from the perpetrators' evil nature, he said, addressing the court in a hearing that was broadcast live on Sudan's national television.

The Obeid students rally demanded justice for at least 128 people slain in a violent dispersion of a protest camp outside the military headquarters in the capital of Khartoum a month earlier, as well as better economic conditions.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces grew out of the feared Janjaweed militias unleashed by al-Bashir's government during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. The force is now led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is also the deputy leader of the country's ruling military council.

The trial against the troops in Obeid had lasted for over 20 hearings during a year's time. Three other troops were initially indicted in the case; two of them were acquitted and the third, a minor, was referred to juvenile court.

Before handing down his verdict, under Islamic tradition, the judge had heard the testimony of the parents of the killed students, who demanded the defendants be executed for their crime.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  After another pandemic-disrupted school year, organizers of vastly expanded summer learning opportunities are investing heavily in efforts to make them accessible to the most vulnerable students.

While there have been success stories, the programs have faced many of the same challenges that educators have been up against since the pandemic hit: Attendance has been inconsistent, some families have lost interest, and COVID-19 still has many reluctant to let students learn in-person.

Educators also have had to address persistent barriers to access for summer programs for families that juggle work and child care and have limited access to transportation.

Were starting from a really unequal playing field, said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who studies educational inequity. Theres a lot that school districts have to do, and community organizations that are running these programs as well, in order to help pick that up.

The summer programs offered by schools and community groups are powered by an infusion of private and public funding  including billions of dollars in federal stimulus money  to help students catch up on learning. School districts targeted their outreach to students identified as high needs, including students with failing grades in core classes or in high-poverty neighborhoods.

When Penasco Independent School District, which serves roughly 350 students in New Mexico, announced a summer program this year, demand overwhelmed the number of slots until the district doubled the number of seats available.

But of the 85 children signed up, more than half would not be able to attend if it weren't for district-provided transportation services.

In Penasco, pervasive intergenerational poverty has pushed school districts to embrace the so-called community schools model that provides services like counseling, transportation, internet access and other resources, ensuring participation in school programs.

In the rural district, community schools director Michael Noll said, some families don't own a car. Some who do have periods where they can't afford gas. And others are often juggling work and child care, unable to constantly shepherd kids back and forth.

The district runs three buses to make sure those 50 kids can attend. Like many families in these rural foothills of the Rocky Mountains, social worker Carmen Lyn Romero lives on a dirt road too narrow for a school bus.

Romero, who balanced taking care of her five children with serving nearby tribal reservation Picuris Pueblo, relied on an SUV the district sent to pick up her children.

The school has been so accommodating to my kids, to pick them up and drop them off. I cant do that, said Romero, 28.

Even before the pandemic, students' summer experiences divided heavily along socioeconomic lines. Middle and upper class students typically experience learning gains over the summer and are more likely to have access to summer enrichment, Potter said.

In contrast, low-income students typically see learning loss, Potter said. Families often struggle to find slots in affordable summer enrichment programs, where demand can readily outpace the number of available seats.

The dramatically expanded number of seats available through school districts this year eased some of those pressures, and targeted outreach policies aimed to get high-needs students into those slots.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools typically does not host a summer session, but offered more than 30,000 slots this year to any student interested and saw an average daily attendance of around 15,000.

While any student could sign up and get a seat, the district identified those with Ds or Fs in core classes, students with unstable housing or who were chronically absent, and students with special needs for individual outreach, including home visits and phone calls to inform families about registration.

About 65,000 students were identified as at-risk under those criteria, and nearly 20,000 of those children signed up for a summer slot. The program saw an average daily attendance of about 10,000 at-risk students.

Tangela Williams, who is overseeing summer programming, said that because attendance was not mandatory, some students came only on certain days of the week or started during the middle of the 24-day program. While some parents said they were simply no longer interested, staff members contacted each family if a student missed three consecutive days to provide any support needed in case the student wanted to return.

Williams said that while there were limits to what could be done, she hoped the experience would go beyond teaching content and help students make the transition back to in-person learning.

A percentage of our kids who are attending summer camp were full-remote kids during the school year, Williams said. Having them in school this summer is a way to reacclimate them to school life with new processes and socialization that theyre going to have with their peers.

The impact of extended school closures and the coronavirus pandemic has fallen unevenly across communities. Black and Latino families, who were more likely to get sick or face serious health consequences from the virus, tended to keep their children in remote learning at higher rates even as districts increasingly offered in-person options.

Building relationships and trust with families was crucial to reengaging students who had largely been disconnected from the school system, said Kendra Banks, chief of arts and learning academies at Young Audiences of Maryland, which partners with Baltimore City Schools to run arts-integrated educational summer camps.

Some parents were still hesitant to send their children back to in-person programming because of the coronavirus, Banks said. The program offered weekly testing and walked parents through all the additional safety protocols to reassure them, Banks said.

We went above and beyond what the requirements were to make sure that the sites were safe and to assure them that we will be practicing the necessary protocols, Banks said. It was calling and having personal conversations with each family about any questions they had.

Districts also used the boost in funding to expand the types of programs they were able to offer. Aaron Philip Dworkin, CEO of the National Summer Learning Association, said that in addition to barriers to access, inequities can be driven by the cost of more intensive programs, such as residential experiences on university campuses.

While those programs can expose students to new subjects and the college experience, they are often inaccessible to low-income families.

It shouldn't be that the kids who have the least resources now have to do the least engaging types of programs, Dworkin said.

In San Diego Unified School District, students spent half the day in the classroom and the other half in summer camp-style programming organized by a wide array of nonprofit organizations.

Andrew Sharp, the district's chief public information officer, said those partnerships made experiences like surfing, flying a drone and learning about wildlife conservation accessible to families who normally cannot afford the cost of similar summer programs.

After a difficult year, Sharp said, he hoped the students could focus on finding the joy in reconnecting with their peers in addition to the academics.

We really wanted to put the emphasis on bringing programs to some of our historically disadvantaged communities, Sharp said. And at the same time, we wanted to provide kids with the best summer of their lives.

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Ma covers education and equity for APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/anniema15

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Cedar Attanasio contributed reporting from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/viaCedar

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The Associated Press reporting around issues of race and ethnicity is supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
NEW DELHI (AP)  Angry villagers in the Indian capital held a protest Thursday outside a crematorium where they say a 9-year-old girl was raped and killed earlier this week.

The protesters, sitting on a makeshift stage, held placards demanding justice for the girl, who lived nearby. The case has revived outrage over the number of gruesome sexual crimes against women in India as well the treatment of those on the lowest rung of the country's rigid caste system, from which the girl hailed.

Four men suspected in the crime, all of them workers at the crematorium, have been arrested but have yet to be charged, said police officer Ingit Pratap Singh.

Police said the girl told her mother on Sunday that she was going to get water at a tap at the crematorium in southwest New Delhi. About 30 minutes later, police said, the crematoriums priest called the mother, who was told that her daughter had been electrocuted.

The mother was shown her daughter's body, which the suspects then cremated without calling authorities, police said.

The mother said she saw her daughter's body on the floor of the crematorium with bruises all over. She said the priest and three other men at the crematorium told her not to call the police and threatened her.

The mother cannot be named due to Indian law that prohibits releasing information that could identify the victims of sexual crimes.

Villagers said some of the girl's remains were saved from the crematorium.

Singh said the extent of the cremation meant a post-mortem examination was unable to establish whether the girl was raped or how she was killed.

The cause of death is inconclusive, he said.

Police said forensic experts were testing her clothing for bodily fluids or other evidence.

The suspects are in police custody but under Indian law can't be formally charged until the police investigation is complete.

Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in India since the 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack sparked massive protests and inspired lawmakers to order the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases and stiffen penalties for those convicted of the crime.

Four men sentenced to death for the 2012 attack were later hanged.

Nevertheless such crimes persist, and according to government data a woman is raped every 15 minutes in India.

Rights organizations say that woman who are on the lowest level of Indias unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy  known as Dalits  are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and other attacks.

They say men from dominant castes often use sexual violence as a weapon to reinforce repressive hierarchies. They say police frequently fail to investigate such crimes and survivors and the families of victims struggle to get justice.

Tina Verma, an activist who was among the 200 protesters gathered Thursday outside the crematorium, said she frequently used to see the girl begging outside a Sufi Muslim shrine just across from the cremation ground.

"I shudder at the thought of what was done to her, said Verma, who has been on a hunger strike for two days to demand justice for the girl. This is a barbaric crime and must be dealt with swiftly.
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP)  An educator who taught the children of U.S. military personnel at an Army base in Germany is accused of sexually assaulting two young students, court records show.

Stefan Eberhard Zappey has been a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense, assigned to an elementary school at an Army base near Stuttgart, Germany, prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Georgia, charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child committed by a person employed by the Armed Forces outside of the United States.

This March, one student told a teacher that shed been abused in 2007 and 2008, when she was less than 9 years old, according to a recently unsealed complaint in U.S. District Court in Georgia. She said she didn't report the abuse back then because she didnt know it was wrong, the complaint states.

Her report led military investigators to interview other former students and faculty members, some of whom shared stories of inappropriate touching by Zappey. Another girl also said that when she was under 9 years old, Zappey would call her to his desk during class and put his hand inside her shirts and pants, court records state.

A federal public defender representing Zappey did not respond to a request for comment.

An FBI special agent said she learned that Zappey was in the U.S. this summer visiting relatives. He was arrested last month in Georgia after she traced his cell phone to Fayetteville, a city south of Atlanta. Federal law allows Zappey, who is a U.S. citizen, to be charged in the U.S. if the crimes occurred in a U.S. military installation overseas.

A preliminary court hearing set for July 30 was canceled because Zappey was in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19. He's been held at a federal detention center in Lovejoy, Georgia, south of Atlanta.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee's court system won't follow a new COVID-19 pandemic eviction moratorium by President Joe Biden's administration, reasoning that a federal appeals court for its region has already decided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't have authority to issue pauses on eviction.

Attorneys helping tenants say the legal interpretation leaves those facing eviction with limited options. The attorneys said they seek to negotiate with landlords, including convincing them to accept federal pandemic housing aid applied for by tenants. The goal is to avoid an eviction that could inhibit their ability to get a new place to live in the future.

Its a lot of tenants who are being surprised, said Zac Oswald, managing attorney with Legal Aid in the Nashville region. "They hear national news that the eviction moratorium is in place, or is in back in place, and they dont realize that it doesnt apply in Tennessee.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, ruled in late July that CDC lacks the authority to issue pauses on eviction. And the CDC order itself says it does not apply to the extent its application is prohibited by federal court order.

Tennessee Supreme Court General Counsel Rachel Harmon circulated a message Wednesday to court officials, saying this new eviction moratorium does not apply in Tennessee because of the 6th Circuit ruling.

Biden's administration is counting on differences between the new order, scheduled to last until Oct. 3, and the eviction pause that lapsed over the weekend to bolster its legal case. At the very least, as Biden himself said, the new moratorium will buy some time to protect the estimated 3.6 million Americans who could face eviction from their homes.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the previous moratorium to remain in place through the end of July, even though one justice in the majority, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that he believed CDC lacked authority to order it.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency announced it received $384 million in federal funding for rental assistance. The statewide program is estimated to help 25,000 to 30,000 families cover up to 12 months of rent or utility payments as long as the financial difficulties were sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program applies to 91 out of Tennessees 95 counties, with the states largest metro areas excluded because they have their own federally funded rent relief programs.

The state did not respond to a request about how much money has been disbursed. Nashville's program, meanwhile, says it has paid or payments are pending for nearly $13 million in rent and utilities.

The moratorium has not been in effect for months in West Tennessee, where a district court ruling came down against the pause in March. Evictions not protected by the CDC declaration have proceeded in Tennessee, as have some cases in which landlords assert nonrenewal of a lease, Oswald said.

Cindy Ettingoff, CEO of Memphis Area Legal Services, said she's preparing people for the reality they may be evicted, while pointing people toward the federal aid and negotiating for wiggle room with landlords. She said another strategy is to simply ask landlords to cut ties with their tenants if they agree to move out sooner than required.

That's really our only hope right now, is to try to give people a real understanding of, This is going to happen,'" Ettingoff said. "We in this area have no more protections. Were trying the very best we can to negotiate settlements, but youre going to need to try to find somewhere else to go.

In Middle Tennessee, Oswald said his focus is on hoping judges will accommodate a delay in cases if someone has applied for the federal aid and is waiting for it to arrive. He said in Nashville specifically, landlords and tenants can agree to go a specific mediation court that helps them navigate the federal rent aid process and avoid eviction.

People who have been evicted during COVID because they lost their job or they had a major medical expense or any of those things, those evictions are going to be a scar on their record for the rest of their life because there is no mechanism in Tennessee to have that removed, Oswald said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The judge overseeing the trial of a former suburban Minneapolis police officer who is charged in the death of Daunte Wright has denied a request to broadcast the proceedings, saying in a ruling Thursday that the public and media will have ample space to view the trial in the courtroom or in designated overflow rooms.

Former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter, who is white, fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, on April 11. The citys former police chief said he believed Potter meant to use her Taser instead of her handgun. Shes charged with second-degree manslaughter.

On Thursday, Judge Regina Chu ruled that there will be no recording or livestreaming of the trial. She also moved up the start date by about a week, to Nov. 30.

Under Minnesota law, a defendant has a right to a public trial, but that is designed to benefit the defendant, not the public, Chu wrote. The public and media also have a right to access, but under Minnesota court rules, audio and video coverage of a criminal trial is barred unless all parties consent. Coverage of sentencings is allowed without consent, unless the judge finds cause to prohibit it.

Chu wrote that in Potter's case, the defendant didn't consent to her trial being broadcast.

The recent trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd, was broadcast and livestreamed. But in that case, Chu noted, the circumstances were different: The state objected to audio-visual coverage while the defense did not, and at the time, Judge Peter Cahill was trying to balance Chauvin's right to a public trial and the public's right to access with the unknowns of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing restrictions. Chauvin's trial also generated intense public and media interest and posed security concerns, Chu said.

Chu said Potter's case does not present the same extraordinary circumstances. She said COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed, and the court does not anticipate closing the courtroom for security purposes. She also said the court has authorized the use of multiple overflow rooms to accommodate spectators.

Chauvin's trial was Minnesota's first criminal case in which gavel-to-gavel coverage was allowed. Afterward, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said it's time to consider whether the current rules barring audio and video coverage of criminal proceedings should be amended.

Gildea ordered the high courts Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure  which is made up of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys  to study the matter and report back with recommendations by July 1, 2022.

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Find APs full coverage of the death of Daunte Wright: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  A justice on the Vermont Supreme Court who played a role in the state's passage of the first-in-the-nation civil unions law has been nominated to a seat on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Thursday.

The announcement about the nomination of Beth Robinson was part of President Joe Bidens sixth round of judicial nominations.

Robinson would be the first and only LGBTQ woman to serve on any federal circuit court. Robinson helped argue the case that led to Vermonts 2000 first-in-the-nation civil unions law, a forerunner of gay marriage.

Vermonts Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said in a statement that Robinson has been a champion of equal rights in the mold of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I know that, if confirmed, Justice Robinson would serve on the Second Circuit with integrity, humility, and a deep reverence for the rule of law," Leahy said.

Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott also praised the nomination of Robinson.

She will make a great addition to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, bringing the Vermont values of commitment to justice and equality, fairness, and Freedom & Unity to the bench," Scott said, referring to the Vermont state motto.

Robinson served as co-counsel in the Baker v. State of Vermont lawsuit, in which the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the states prohibition on same-sex marriage denied equal rights guaranteed by the Vermont Constitution. It led to the 2000 law passed by the Vermont Legislature of the state's civil unions law, the first law of its kind in the country.

Vermont lawmakers passed marriage equality legislation in 2009. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
SEATTLE (AP)  The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving six Seattle police officers who were in Washington D.C. during the Jan. 6 insurrection and sued several people who filed public records requests to disclose the officers' names.

"It it is abundantly clear that whether the identity of these officers should be revealed is an issue of considerable public interest," Michael Johnston, court commissioner, said in a ruling released Thursday.

Janet Thoman, who along with Neil Fox represents a law student sued by the officers, said they're pleased the court will decide the case.

The publics right to information about those that serve us is of fundamental and urgent importance, Thoman said.

Blair Russ, an attorney for four of the officers, said they will fight to protect their rights at the state's highest court regardless of whatever political beliefs they might have, and just as they do in the field every day for all of us regardless of our political beliefs.

We look forward to protecting the rights of four public servants who, despite no findings of wrongdoing following a comprehensive administrative investigation, are being relentlessly targeted by members of the public solely based on their constitutionally protected right to freely associate, Russ said.

A message sent to Seattle Police Guild President Mike Solan seeking comment on the courts decision were not immediately returned.

The six Seattle officers were in the nation's capital to attend President Donald Trumps Stop the Steal rally. Their trip became public after one officer posted a photo on Facebook of herself and another officer at the demonstration. Four other officers later admitted they were there, too, but said they were not involved in the riot.

The officers filed a lawsuit in February against a list of people who filed public records requests seeking the officers identities and information about the investigation by the Office of Police Accountability into their activities.

A judge ordered the release of their names in March and the officers appealed. Sam Sueoka, a law student named in the suit, asked the Washington Supreme Court to decide the issue. On Thursday, the court said it will hear the case. Next, they'll set a time for oral arguments.

The aftershocks of the attack on the Capitol are still being felt, and they touch on fundamental questions regarding the intersection of law enforcement, politics, our democratic institutions, and racial and social justice," Johnston said. Stated another way, the past 18 months have been a time of great and continuing upheaval nationally, and this case is a small part of those troubles.

"This context lends urgency to this dispute.

The OPA investigation, completed last month, found that at least two of the officers had violated the law and department policy by trespassing at the U.S. Capitol while rioters stormed the building.

OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said the two officers should be fired.

At that point, Chief Adrian Diaz said he would decide on disciplinary action within 30 days. A message asking whether he had made a decision on the matter was not immediately returned.

The four officers who were cleared by the OPA are on active duty, but the two found to have violated the law and policy have been placed on administrative leave, police spokesperson Valerie Carson said.

The day after the OPA report was released, the lawyers for the officers resigned the case. The four officers who were cleared by the OPA have secured new lawyers with the firm Tomlinson Bomsztyk Russ.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp. two of the largest employers in downtown Minneapolis, are pushing back their return-to-office plans this fall as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, while two more private colleges have announced they will require students and employees to be vaccinated before classes resume in the fall.

Wells Fargo sent a memo to employees Thursday, saying the company is aiming for a phased return starting Oct. 4, a month later than planned, according to the Star Tribune. Wells Fargo is the third-largest employer downtown.

We will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments if required to prioritize the health and safety of our employees and customers, Scott Powell, the companys chief operating office, said in the email.

U.S. Bancorp, another large downtown employer, has pushed back its Sept. 7 planned return to a date thats yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools are taking steps to bring back mask mandates for staff, students and visitors, whether they have been vaccinated or not. Face coverings will be required in all Minneapolis school district buildings beginning Monday. In St. Paul, a mask mandate plan will be presented to school board members on Tuesday.

The College of St. Benedict and St. Johns University announced this week that they will require students and employees to be vaccinated, adding to a growing list of private colleges mandating the vaccine. Nearly a dozen Minnesota private colleges have already announced they would require the shots, along with hundreds of higher-education institutions nationwide.

Minnesotas public college systems, the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State, are not requiring their students and employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but they are implementing mask mandates consistent with CDC recommendations.

On Thursday, health officials reported five new deaths from COVID-19 and 878 new cases. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 408 over the last two weeks  that's an increase of 177.5%. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has tripled from 90 three weeks ago to 270.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday reported another 878 diagnosed infections and five COVID-19 deaths, raising the states pandemic totals to 616,784 infections and 7,688.

The state has reported 7,688 deaths from COVID-19 and 616,784 cases of the virus since the pandemic began.

Nearly 3.2 million people in Minnesota have received at least first doses of the one- or two-shot COVID-19 vaccine series  amounting to 67.7% of the eligible 12 and older population. Meanwhile, 11,280 people have signed up for $100 COVID-19 vaccine incentives, which health officials hope will boost the states immunization rate.

Laura Johnson, 70, of St. Paul, couldnt get her four grandchildren  ages 18 to 21  to get their shots, but that changed Thursday.

Now theyre calling me to say, Grandma where do I go?  she said. Before, it was me trying to convince them to go.
NEW YORK (AP)  Violated, demeaned, humiliated, a horror movie: Those are some of the words 11 women used to describe how Gov. Andrew Cuomo made them feel when he touched, kissed or hugged them or asked invasive questions.

Many of these women who spoke to investigators hired by the New York attorney generals office were state employees. Others encountered Cuomo in professional settings or at public events.

Unwelcome sexual conduct that makes workers feel humiliated or uncomfortable is barred under New Yorks sexual harassment law.

Cuomo has denied that he harassed or inappropriately touched anyone. He has said he did not intend to make anyone feel uncomfortable, saying instead he touched and kissed people to put them at ease and his actions were misunderstood because of generational or cultural differences.

Here , in their own words, is what each woman felt about how the governor treated her:

STATE TROOPER NO. 1

After being promoted to the governor's protection unit, a state police trooper told investigators Cuomo subjected to her to flirtatious and creepy" behavior.

One time, in an elevator, he traced his finger from her neck to her back. Another time, he asked to kiss her in the driveway outside his Mt. Kisco home, she said.

I remember just freezing, being  in the back of my head, I'm like, oh, how do I say no politely? she told investigators.

At an event on Long Island, Cuomo ran his hand across her stomach and hip as she held a door open for him.

I felt completely violated," she said. But she also felt like she couldn't say anything.

Im a trooper, newly assigned to the travel team. Do I want to make waves? No," she said. Ive heard horror stories about people getting kicked off the detail or transferred over like little things ... I had no plans to report it.

CHARLOTTE BENNETT

The way he was repeating You were raped and abused and attacked and assaulted and betrayed, over and over again while looking me directly in the eyes was something out of a horror movie."

Thats what Charlotte Bennett texted a coworker in 2020 about a conversation shed just had where Cuomo gave feedback about a speech on sexual assault she was giving at her alma mater, she told investigators. She had confided in him that she had been assaulted.

Bennett said it was one of a number of uncomfortable conversations she had with Cuomo when she worked for him as a low-level aide. He asked whether she was monogamous and what she thought of age differences in relationships, said he needed a hug and told her he was looking for a girlfriend  anyone over age 22. She was 25.

In a text exchange at the time, a friend asked her if something had happened and she replied, No but it was like the most explicit it could be, and said she was shaking, writing: I'm so upset and so confused.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT NO. 1

I felt that (the Governor) was definitely taking advantage of me. He was taking advantage. The fact that he could tell that I was nervous. He could tell that I wasnt saying anything because he had gotten away with it before.

This executive assistant described how Cuomo frequently hugged her, held her close and rubbed her back and gave her kisses.

Any time he touched me I felt like it was inappropriate. He was my boss, let alone the Governor of the State of New York, so I definitely felt he abused his power and definitely knew that he had this presence about him, very intimidating, she told investigators.

This executive assistant also told investigators that Cuomo had reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast in November last year. She is still an employee of the governor's office.

STATE ENTITY EMPLOYEE NO. 1

At an event in September 2019, this employee and her boss went to meet Cuomo and took a photo with him. She told investigators Cuomo touched her butt while the photo was being taken.

I felt deflated and I felt disrespected and I felt much like smaller and almost younger than I actually am because kind of the funny part of it all is I was making this project happen. So we were there because, you know, the work that I had been doing and have continued to do... so it was just very, yeah, a moment of like, disempowerment.

In an email written after the event that she sent to herself to document Cuomo's action, she wrote, I then felt a lot of emotions around Cuomos inappropriate touching of my body, mostly shock and anger.

VIRGINIA LIMMIATIS

An energy company employee, Virginia Limmiatis extended her hand to the governor while at an event in 2017. Instead of taking her hand, Cuomo slid his fingers across her chest, over letters printed on her shirt, and leaned in so their cheeks touched.

She told investigators she felt, "absolutely humiliated. Its very difficult even talking about it. I was absolutely profoundly humiliated and appalled. I was in shock. Very negative feelings is the best way to describe it.

While she told people at her company about what happened, she did not report it out of trepidation and fear."

"How do you explain to someone what the Governor did in public, such an egregious act, heinous act. I was very fearful ... how does someone believe that this happened to me?

LINDSEY BOYLAN

In an online post from February, Lindsey Boylan, a former aide who served in various roles, said Cuomo once kissed her on the lips after a meeting.

I was in shock, but I kept walking," she wrote.

Boylan told investigators it was deeply humiliating on some level.

"I think a lot of people are, like, of course this happened to young women who have no power. Well, I was really senior and I had worked my whole life to get to a point where I would be taken seriously and I wasnt being taken seriously and I worked so hard to be some little doll for the Governor of New York and that was deeply humiliating.

ALYSSA MCGRATH

A young aide working for the governor, McGrath said Cuomo made sexually suggestive comments, held her uncomfortably close in photos and once looked down her blouse while she was taking notes.

But she didn't feel like she could complain about his behavior, partly because some coworkers had already commented on how the governor liked pretty faces around.

I wanted to believe that Im up there and helping out because of my good work. And I felt like if I said that to them, not only would I be embarrassed. I would, like, almost discredit myself," she told investigators.

KAITLIN

A woman only identified by her first name told investigators that after she was hired as an aide in Cuomo's office, he told her to soak up information and referred to her as sponge. She said she found the nickname embarrassing... , condescending (and) demeaning."

She later transferred to work for another state agency and cried in an interview when explaining that she did not want to have contact with the governor in her new role.

ANA LISS

Ana Liss worked in Cuomo's office as an aide on a prestigious fellowship for two years. Liss told investigators she felt sort of icky because it sucked that (she) was nominally there on this Fellowship that was supposed to be recognizing (her) intellect and (her) credentials and (she) was supposed to be influencing policy according to this Fellowship program, but then like in practice, (she) was eye candy.

She told WROC-TV in March that when she left the position, she felt she had failed professionally.

"My family and loved ones observed that I was not doing so well. I left to go work for Cornell on my own accord. I applied for the job, I didnt seek out any help from the administration to help me secure a position somewhere else to escape. And at the time I viewed it as a lateral move and that I had failed, I couldnt survive."

STATE ENTITY EMPLOYEE NO. 2

You make that gown look good, Cuomo told this employee as she swabbed his nose for a coronavirus test on television in March 2020.

She was shocked.

I felt that in my situation it was very, very brief," she later told investigators. "I did not have typical interactions with the Governor and I felt I had a lot of professional opportunities otherwise. I felt that in my professional standing I should share these facts, whatever they are, in order to support if there are any other women.

ANNA RUCH

A vomit emoji was how Anna Ruch ended a text message in which she shared photos of Cuomo holding her face at a wedding in September 2019. She had never met him previously and said he touched her back and asked to kiss her.

"Im so pissed / I lost the photographers (sic) card but dont want the photo of us on the wedding photos. Yuck, she wrote.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Worried parents with children too young to be vaccinated called on the the Iowa State Board of Education on Thursday to implore Gov. Kim Reynolds to reverse a state law that bans school mask mandates.

The parents and some teachers sought to change the ban on mask mandates during an online meeting of the board, arguing that with coronavirus infections rising it doesn't make sense to stop school districts from taking actions to protect children.

Republican lawmakers in May rushed through in the final hours of the legislative session a measure that prohibited counties, cities or school boards from imposing face-covering requirements more strict than those ordered by the state. Reynolds immediately signed the bill into law at a festive news conference where she posed with activists who held signs with anti-mask slogans.

Please set politics aside and help protect our children's safety, their learning and their families, said Jesse Richardson-Jones, a Des Moines mother of two school-age children who asked the board to demand that the governor rescind the mask ban.

Sara Willette of Ames said she's at high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to an immune system condition and worries about catching the virus from her school-age child.

The fact that state government stepped in and said we cant mandate that other students and other teachers are protecting each other and protecting high risk people most importantly, its legalized homicide, Willette said.

Jean Schilling, a member of the Manly-based Central Springs Community School District board, said she was placed in the impossible position last spring of deciding whether to vote to violate the state law and impose a mask requirement in her district or defy local public health officials who were suggesting a mask requirement to stop virus spread in schools. Schilling said she abstained because she could not reconcile the risk of defying local public health directives and could not allow the school district to break the law by defying the governors order.

Please help your local school districts make these proper decisions to keep kids safe, she pleaded. Please encourage the governor to allow local school districts to follow local public health recommendations to keep kids safe.

Even if Iowa State Board of Education members, who are appointed by the governor, recommended changes to Iowa's mask ban, it's unlikely Reynolds would support the move. The governor and Republican lawmakers have repeatedly rejected calls for mask mandates, saying face coverings are a personal choice.

Asked Thursday about the matter, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said, Anyone can still wear a mask to school. Its just not required. The governor is proud of the laws she signed, and trusts Iowans to do the right thing on behalf of themselves and their family.

The mask debate comes as the COVID-19 delta variant is spreading rapidly in Iowa with more than 3,500 new cases reported in the past week as of Wednesday. That is more than double the number of new cases reported a week ago.

An additional 10 deaths were reported for a total of 6,193 deaths overall. Hospitalizations are rising as are the number of people in intensive care units.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicated that 91 of Iowa's 99 counties have either a high or substantial rate of virus spread, a level at which the federal agency recommends masks be worn inside public spaces, even by vaccinated people.

Scientists have concluded that even vaccinated people can carry enough virus to infect others and since children under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, they are vulnerable to infection in crowded schools.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education did not immediately respond to a message seeking a comment on behalf of the board.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A lawsuit filed by the state of West Virginia accusing several drug manufacturers of misrepresenting the risks of their painkilling drugs will go to trial next April, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday.

The Mass Litigation Panel, a group of state judges in Kanawha County, granted a motion by the state to expedite the trial, Morrisey said in a news release. The lawsuits were previously filed separately in Boone County in August 2019.

Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Endo Health Solutions Inc. are accused of violating the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act and causing a public nuisance.

Morrisey says the companies engaged in strategic campaigns to deceive prescribers. The lawsuits allege the manufacturers conduct led to opioids becoming a common treatment for chronic pain and fueled substance abuse in West Virginia.

According to Morrisey, Teva is accused of telling doctors that patients could take increasingly strong opioids without disclosing the rising risk of addiction, and disguising its marketing efforts through third-party advocates and professional associations.

Johnson & Johnson, through Janssen, also allegedly downplayed the dangers of prescription pain pills by distributing patient education guides that sought to dispel the myth that opioids are addictive, Morrisey said.

Endo is accused of rebranding a drug from the 1960s linked to widespread abuse with a new name and color and misrepresenting a later version of the drug as tamper resistant.

Last year, Morrisey sued Walmart and drugstore chain CVS, saying they failed to monitor and report suspicious orders of prescription painkillers to their retail pharmacies.

In separate, similar lawsuits, the state reached a $37 million settlement with distributor McKesson Corp. in 2019, and $20 million with Cardinal Health Inc. and $16 million with AmerisourceBergen Drug Co. in 2017.

West Virginia leads the nation in the rate of drug overdose deaths.

Last week, lawyers for state and local governments announced a potential $26 billion national settlement over the toll of opioids with AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson as well as drug-maker Johnson & Johnson.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 nationwide last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench trial wrapped up last week in federal court in Charleston in a lawsuit accusing AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson of fueling the opioid crisis in Cabell County and the city of Huntington. A verdict could come later this month.

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This version corrects in the headline that the trial will be in 2022, not 2021
HONG KONG (AP)  Yu Ying-shih, a historian of China who taught at Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities and whose books were banned by the ruling Communist Party in 2014 after he expressed support for pro-democracy activism, has died. He was 91.

Yu died Aug. 1 in the United States, according to an announcement by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he taught and was vice chancellor in the 1970s. It gave no cause of death.
An alert member of the public started a chain of events Tuesday that resulted in the rescue of a man and his six dogs from a boat that grounded along the rocky coastline of Marin County.

The Coast Guard reported that a good Samaritan notified them Tuesday morning that a 30-foot boat went aground on the west side of Tomales Point, about a half-mile north of Driftwood Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

The Coast Guard responded from the Bodega Bay station with its 47-foot Motor Life Boat and found a man in distress.

A crew from the Marin County Fire Department used a personal watercraft to reach the man and transferred him with his six dogs to the Coast Guard boat. The Coast Guard took the man and his dogs to Bodega Bay, where he was taken to a local hospital for treatment of hypothermia.

AC Transit will expand its service schedule systemwide next week in anticipation of Bay Area residents returning to schools and offices, the transit agency announced Wednesday.

The service expansion, set to begin Sunday, includes resuming supplementary bus service to schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties as well as select Transbay bus lines, Early Bird Express bus lines and overnight 800 bus lines.

AC Transit officials said they expect to further increase service over the next 18 months in anticipation of ridership increases. Average weekday ridership has already increased from 59,200 per day in March to 70,500 per day at the end of July.

Police on Tuesday arrested a man in connection with a fatal shooting that happened over a month ago in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood that took the life of a 32-year-old man, police said.

The shooting happened on June 22 near the corner of Keith Street and Oakdale Avenue, near George Washington Carver Elementary School, police said.

Officers found the victim lying on the sidewalk and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital, but succumbed to his injuries, according to police. The victim was later identified by the city's Medical Examiner's Office as San Francisco resident Thomas O'Bannon.

After weeks of investigating the case, officers developed information that led them to identify the suspect as 36-year-old Derell Young, a Vallejo resident. On Tuesday, officers arrested Young in Vallejo on suspicion of murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.

A coalition of environmental activist groups announced Wednesday that they filed a lawsuit against two state agencies over the environmental impact analysis of a proposed housing project at a contaminated waterfront area in Richmond.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, argues that the California Environmental Protection Agency and one of its sub-agencies, the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control, approved the proposed development while skirting the state's environmental review process required under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Sonoma County is asking public safety employees to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing starting Sept. 1.

The mandate was announced Wednesday as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise across the county and state due in part to the highly contagious delta variant.

Currently, the mandate only applies to emergency medical service workers, firefighters, law enforcement and disaster shelter staff, but the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider extending the requirement to all county workers in an Aug. 17 meeting.

California's COVID-19 Rent Relief program has seen more and more applications since the end of June, when Gov. Gavin Newsom extended eviction protections and allowed for up to 100 percent reimbursement of unpaid rent.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development also launched a new data dashboard this week showing the progress of its rent relief program, with options to filter by county or city.

Housing officials announced the dashboard and discussed progress of the program during a news briefing on Wednesday.

Two student-built unmanned boats launched from Oregon toward Japan made unplanned stops in the Bay Area after unexpectedly changing course.

The two 5-foot-long boats were part of a project by the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon, that allows middle school students in the Pacific Northwest and Japan to design, build and sail GPS-tracked boats from one country to another.

One of the boats, named the S/V Destiny, crash-landed in the area of the Sonoma Coast on Saturday where it was pulled to safety by a hiker, project organizers said. As of Tuesday, the boat is still awaiting recovery. A second boat, the S/V Second Wind, headed toward Half Moon Bay and was recovered by harbor patrol crews in the area Monday night.

Firefighters are on the scene of a well-involved fire of a recreational vehicle at an encampment in the area of 5th Street and Mandela Parkway, according to a 12:17 a.m. tweet from Oakland Firefighters.

Three engines and one truck have responded to the scene. More information will be provided when it is made available.

The National Weather Service forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for morning drizzle followed by mostly sunny skies Thursday. High temperatures will range from the 60s along the coast to the 60s and 70s around the Bay, with inland valley temperatures reaching the mid 70s to low 80s. Overnight lows will be in the 50s.

These cooler-than-normal temperatures are ending, as warmer and more seasonable conditions are anticipated Friday and into the upcoming weekend.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  The U.S. Department of Education is providing more than $516,000 to three higher education institutions in West Virginia to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's U.S. senators said.

The funding is allocated through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and will be used to prevent, prepare and respond to the pandemic, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said in a news release Wednesday.
San Francisco is a young city. At less than two centuries old, it hasnt had much time to gather legends. Many are ghost stories, and most center around the chaotic Gold Rush years. But if you look for lists of San Franciscos most famous myths, you will likely see a more recent entry into the canon: the poached eggs murder.

The modern urban legend is short and simple. In 1997, a waitress at the Pinecrest Diner was shot and killed by a short order cook after they argued over a request for poached eggs. Adding to its infamy is the fact the diner is still open today on a busy corner near the American Conservatory Theater, serving up eggs to countless unsuspecting customers in the decades since.

Like most mythology, the story has been flattened over the years, stripped of context and humanity in favor of a punchy, shocking anecdote. And while the basic facts of the legend arent completely wrong, there is much more to the story of the Pinecrest Diners darkest hour.

---

The murder began with a friendship.

Boris P. via Yelp

First there was Helen Menicou, a 47-year-old staple at the diner. An employee for two decades, she helmed the morning rush as the shift manager (although most versions of the story erroneously refer to her as a waitress). Menicou didnt do the job out of financial necessity; her husband was a retired UCSF biochemist. She worked at the Pinecrest Diner because she loved it.

The 24-hour spot on Mason and Geary  coincidentally the same corner where taxi driver Paul Stine picked up his final passenger, the Zodiac Killer  opened in 1969. Its owner, Bill Foundas, was well known in the Greek American community and the Pinecrest became a popular hangout. Menicou, who moved to San Francisco from Cyprus when she was a 19-year-old newlywed, was the master of ceremonies. Once, former Mayor Art Agnos sent visiting assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Nicolas Retsinas to the diner.

"I called Helen and told her, 'Watch out for the Greek boy who's coming in, he's a tall, good-looking guy. He has glasses,'" Agnos recalled to SF Weekly. "Retsinas walked in, and she picked him out right away. Went up and said, 'Hello Mr. Secretary.' Nick called me all excited and said, 'The whole place was waiting for me.' That was Helen."

For 15 years, Menicou shared the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with cook Hashem Zayed. Zayed, 59, lived in a $175-a-month room at a Tenderloin residential hotel and went from his day job at the diner to a night job at the Market Street Cinema. He had not-so-secret struggles with gambling. He was up and down, sometimes riding high on big wins and other times taking loans from co-workers, including Menicou. Three years prior to the murder, Zayeds persistent gambling problems nearly got him fired.

"Helen felt bad for him. She came to me and said, 'We know his weakness. He needs this job. He's a good worker. Bring him back,'" Foundas said. "He never would have been here if it were not for her."

But Menicou and Zayed fought, too, sometimes in front of customers. Employees would later tell police that preferential treatment was often the source of their friction. At the Pinecrest, the griddle looks out onto bar stools and booths, and Zayed had a reputation for favoring pretty female patrons. Servers were supposed to turn down off-menu requests, particularly for poached eggs, as the process took too long for a short-order diner. But co-workers said Zayed would sometimes make them anyway if he considered the woman requesting it attractive enough. This annoyed Menicou, who called his actions unfair and dumb, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

On the morning of July 23, 1997, Zayed agreed to make poached eggs for a woman who caught his fancy, and Menicou noticed. According to witnesses, she gave him a piece of her mind right there in the dining room. Zayed seemed upset to be called out publicly, but no co-worker clocked it as particularly out of the ordinary.

"It was like a love-hate relationship  they argued but underneath they always got along," server Vivian Kastoras would later tell the Examiner.

The incident clearly didnt stick with Menicou, who went home as usual at the end of the day. Neither her husband nor her two sons remember her bringing up the quarrel.

Zayed, on the other hand, stewed. He went to his second job and finished up late but, still agitated, he didnt go home. He stayed out, gambling and drinking, until sunrise. When he arrived for his morning shift at the Pinecrest Diner, he didnt head behind the counter as usual. He huddled on a bar stool, his hands shoved in his pockets. When a co-worker joined him, he angrily said, Im going to shoot her.

The employee thought he was just blowing off steam, and attempted to talk him down. As Helen Menicou walked through the door to start her day at the diner, Zayed stood up. He pulled a gun out of his pocket, surprising a nearby customer who thought it was some kind of gag between co-workers. Then, Zayed fired. He struck Menicou in the arm, but she was able to scramble behind the counter. He followed her, firing several more fatal shots.

Police arrived quickly; Tenderloin beat cops were frequent breakfast customers after long overnight shifts. Responding officers were stunned to see a man they knew, gun in hand, outside the diner. Zayed put his hands on the police car and said, Officer, I did it.

Unbelievably, a few hours later, the diner reopened for lunch. In between taking orders from oblivious tourists and ringing up checks, the servers wept and consoled each other.

"I can't believe he killed her over something so silly," one server told reporters. "She died over poached eggs."

The news soon went national. Nearly every headline included the phrase: killed over poached eggs.

---

Zayeds motive, however, was not so clear cut.

"He claims that he's had problems with her over the years before this, SFPD Detective Armand Gordon said, but everyone they spoke with said the relationship was in no way homicidally contentious.

Zayed told detectives he was upset, not by the poached eggs, but by the altercation with Menicou in front of employees and diner regulars. He said it embarrassed him so much he lost sleep over it.

He appears to have had a history of displaying disproportionate anger when he felt shame. The manager of the hotel where he lived recalled one incident to SF Weekly. She was feeling unwell, she said, and Zayed volunteered to go on a drugstore run. When he returned, she noticed the aspirin he bought was past its expiration date. He blew up, returning to the store to berate the clerk. The trigger for his outburst then seemed to be looking incompetent in front of a longtime acquaintance.

Then, there was the money. SF Weeklys Lisa Davis reported in 1997 that Zayed had allegedly lost more than $12,000 gambling in the days leading up to the shooting. Of course, Hashem's losses are not recorded anywhere, Davis wrote, but it is known that the day before the fateful breakfast order, Helen loaned Hashem $300 and told him not to gamble, because he would lose it. Hashem did not listen to her. He lost the money.

Zayed pleaded not guilty. When the case went to trial in 1999, defense attorney Stephen Rosen argued Zayed suffered from diminished mental capacity on the day of the shooting. Rosen told the jury the cook was not the smartest person in the world and not dealing with a full deck.

The trial lasted a little over two weeks, and deliberation took a few days more. The verdict was practically a foregone conclusion, though; Zayed was found guilty and sentenced to 35 years in prison. In 2000, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor while at Salinas Valley State Prison and declined medical treatment. He died that September with his case still tied up in appeals. Zayed is buried in Livermore, far from his family in Jordan. In their many years as co-workers, Menicou often told Zayed that instead of gambling, he should save his money to return home and see them.

More than 500 people attended the funeral of Helen Menicou, and a police escort, rare for someone unaffiliated with the department, shepherded her to the cemetery. Shortly after her death, the California State Assembly adjourned in her honor.

"When he killed her, he destroyed a family," Pinecrest Diner server Vivian Kastoras said the day after her murder. "This hurts a whole lot of people who knew her and loved her."

"She was our best friend as well as our mother," Helens son Nikos remembered. "We were very lucky."
DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

San Francisco International Airport is unexpectedly becoming a hotspot for global visitors looking to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Travelers are increasingly traveling to (or making pit stops at) SFO before their final destination to get the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine  which is less readily available in other parts of the world.
Gov. Ned Lamont is empowering municipal leaders to establish their own universal mask mandates as COVID infections continue to climb amid the spread of the delta variant.

Lamont has stopped short of requiring all people to wear masks indoors, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated, but is now offering municipal officials the power to decide for themselves.

Through an executive order issued Thursday evening, Lamont enabled local municipal leaders to establish their own universal mask requirements for businesses and organizations in their communities.

The order also requires unvaccinated workers in nursing homes to submit to weekly testing for COVID-19.

Lamont said he does not believe universal masking is needed statewide, pointing to the high vaccination rates in some communities. However, the governor said he issued the order as some communities lag behind in vaccinations and municipal leaders were seeking universal mask mandates as a way to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Some leaders in those areas have requested the option of requiring everyone to wear masks until they can get their vaccination rates higher, Lamont said. While I continue to strongly advise that everyone wear masks while inside of public locations as recommended by the CDC, I urge everyone to get vaccinated because its the best thing you can do to protect yourself from this ongoing virus.

Lamont said the order does not pertain to schools. He said more guidance on whether masks will be required in schools will be released before classes resume.

The move comes amid sizable gaps in the overall number of people vaccinated from one town to the next. While many smaller, suburban municipalities have reached high levels of vaccinations among residents, cities and some rural towns are still lagging behind.

More than 70 percent of residents statewide have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A little under 64 percent are fully vaccinated, the data shows.

In Sterling, Thompson, Hartford and New Britain, meanwhile, less than half of residents have received at least a first dose of vaccine, state data shows. And for a vast swath of the states eastern rural area, first-dose vaccination rates hover below 60 percent. Meanwhile, a handful of smaller towns report 80 percent or more of their residents have started vaccination.

Many municipal leaders said Thursday they were not yet ready to enact broad mask mandates. Though Lamont has not issued a new mandate, the state Department of Public Health now strongly recommends that people across Connecticut wear masks indoors.

The new guidance came last week in response to the CDC reporting substantial community transmission of the virus throughout Connecticut. On Thursday, the CDC elevated New Haven County to high community spread.

Lamont has said he does not plan to issue a mandate similar to New York City that would require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, gyms and venues. He also has said he does not think a general vaccine mandate is necessary at this time.

In late spring and early summer, Connecticut was experiencing pandemic lows for infection rates and COVID hospitalizations, but the delta variants spread has driven up cases in July and early August.

On Thursday, the state reported a daily positivity rate of 2.72 percent for new COVID tests. Hospitalizations fell by a net of eight patients for a total of 155. There were three additional COVID-related deaths reported in the last week.

Delta comprised more than 88 percent of cases sequenced within the past three weeks, according to the latest report from the Yale School of Public Health. Alpha, a highly infectious strain that was previously dominant in the state and around the U.S., now makes up less than 1 percent of cases sequenced. Gamma, the variant first found in Brazil, comprised a little more than 3 percent of cases, while the remaining roughly 8 percent of cases sequenced were not considered variants of concern or interest.

The delta variant is believed to be about twice as infectious as the original strain of the novel coronavirus first detected in Wuhan.

The CDC now also believes vaccinated people who become infected with delta can have as much of the virus in their nose and throat as unvaccinated people. That means vaccinated people may be able to spread the strain to unvaccinated people or medically vulnerable people, experts said.

That conclusion, drawn from examining data from large outbreaks connected with gatherings in Cape Cod, is part of what led the CDC to revise its guidance and recommend vaccinated people wear masks inside where the virus is spreading rapidly. A handful of Connecticut cases have also been connected with the outbreaks in Massachusetts.

Facing repeated questions over how the state will act to stop the spread of this highly transmissible variant, Lamont has said he does not think sweeping mandates are needed given the high percentage of people vaccinated and the still relatively low infection rate.

He appears poised to adopt more focused mandates, including giving municipalities the power to enact specific requirements.

Thursdays order will also require nursing home workers to be tested weekly for the virus if they have not been vaccinated. The order moves up the effective date of a new law enacted over the summer, which allows the state Department of Public Health to require regular testing of an infectious disease during an outbreak. The governors office said Acting Commissioner Deidre Gifford plans to require weekly testing of unvaccinated staff.

Its really important because you know what happened to nursing homes 16 months ago, Lamont said earlier in the day. We look around the country, we see that in some rare cases there is some breakthrough. We know that many of the nurses still arent vaccinated and theyre going into these vulnerable communities.

Nursing homes and long-term care facilities quickly became hotspots for the spread of the virus early in the pandemic. Through July 21, there have been more than 8,700 confirmed cases at nursing homes and roughly 2,800 deaths, state data shows.

Acting DPH Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford was also meeting teacher representatives on Thursday to discuss how to get as many educators vaccinated as possible.

But Lamont does not think a requirement for teachers was going to be announced in the near future.

I dont think were there yet, Lamont said. Its controversial.

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify the governors executive order allows municipal leaders to establish their own mask mandates.

Staff writer Ken Dixon contributed to this story.
Shippensburg, PA (17257)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Shippensburg, PA (17257)

Today

A chance of some strong thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 96F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.
By Nick Simonson Despite last year showcasing one of the worst outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD)  a midge-borne illness that impacts primarily whitetailed deer, but did infect and kill mule deer, a few pronghorn and even an elk in southwestern North Dakota late last summer and fall  the regions deer herds remain...
"We are concerned at the frequent reports of resurgence of terrorist groups in the region. As we have learnt from the consequences of complacency against terrorism in the past, the international community cannot afford to ignore terrorist activities in Syria and the region."

"India has been repeatedly cautioning against the possibility of terrorist entities and individuals gaining access to chemical weapons," he said on Wednesday during the session that was briefed on chemical weapons and Syria.

The first open session showed the challenges Tirumurti faces in leading a Council driven by the interests of veto-wielding permanent members and guiding them out of its paralysis to minimal consensus on the most polarising issues.

As the Western countries and Russia and China continued their long-standing feud over the issue of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Tirumurti pleaded for cooperation and understanding in dealing with it.

Tirumurti recalled that the Council voted unanimously last month on a resolution to extend the use of a border crossing to allow humanitarian aid to Syrian people.

"We showed to the world that progress on the Syria file, even after a decade of conflict and impasse, is still possible, provided we were all willing to walk that extra step and work in tandem while taking cognizance of each other's concerns. Let us show the same resolve with regard to the chemical weapons discussions."

Another area of confrontation, the Russia-Georgia conflict, that had come up in closed consultations spilled outside the Council in clashing briefings by the US and its European allies and Russia.

The US and its allies are opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and accused him of using chemical weapons besides other grievious human rights abuses on a massive scale.

But China and Russia back al-Assad and defend him against the chemical weapons charges.

Since both sides have veto powers, the Council has been at an impasse over Syria, a nation in the throes of a decade-long civil war.

Wednesday's was the first session of the Council with an open debate after India assumed the Council's presidency and all the other 14 members, including China's delegate Sun Zhiqiang, greeted Tirumurti wishing him success.

The session started off with a briefing by Thomas Markram, the deputy to the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, on the report of the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

He said that the Assad government's claims that it had no chemical weapons programme cannot be accepted because of inconsistencies and discrepancies in its assertions.

Syria must fully cooperate with the OPCW's Technical Secretariat to resolve all outstanding issues before the international community can be assured that its chemical weapons programme has been eliminated, Markram said.

US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: "The Assad regime, supported by Russia, continues to ignore calls from the international community to fully disclose and verifiably destroy its chemical weapons programmes. Instead, the Assad regime continues to deliberately delay and obstruct the work of the OPCW.

"It is disappointing that the use of a weapon of mass destruction by a government against its own people could possibly be a source of political conflict in this Council."

Russia countered by saying that the politicisation of the OPCW to further "the geopolitical ambitions of some states" threatened its credibility.

Russia's Charge d'Affaires Dmitry Polyanskiy disputed various aspects of the OPCW report asserting that it was full of contradictions.

He also raised a missile strike on a Syrian facility in June that Damascus has blamed on Israel. He said that the attack destroyed two gas cylinders linked to a gas attack in Douma in 2018 that were kept there pending possible transfer to The Hague for examination as evidence.

Backing Russia, China's Deputy Permanent Representative Geng Shuang also questioned the credibility of the OPCW investigators and said Beijing regretted that confrontation had taken the place of consultation.

The other confrontation of the day was the 13-year conflict between Russia and Georgia involving Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Indicative of the tensions behind the closed-door consultations over the issue, Russia and the US and allies held duelling media encounters outside.

The US and five Western European members of the Council came out after a closed consultation and made a joint statement condemning what they said was "Russia's illegal military presence and exercising of control over Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, integral parts of Georgia, and its steps toward annexation of these Georgian regions. Russia's actions are in clear violation of international law."

Estonia's Deputy Permanent Representative Andre Lipand, who read out the statement to reporters, said in reply to a question that "we will continue to focus on this issue in the Council and will not let go without recourse".

Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia declared independence from Tbilisi and broke away with Russian troops fighting Georgia. Moscow's troops continue to be stationed in the two regions.

Polyanskiy told reporters that he did not see any role for the Council in the matter.

"This is only their phantom pain and that independent Abkhazia and South Ossetia is the reality which cannot be ignored," he added.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)

--IANS

al/ksk/


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Banks have frozen repayments on 14,500 home loans as a result of the latest round of lockdowns, highlighting the growing financial toll being inflicted by restrictions in NSW especially.

The Australian Banking Association (ABA) will on Friday release figures showing the number of home loans put on hold in response to Sydneys escalating COVID-19 outbreak is much lower than the peak of last years crisis, but rising quickly as the lockdown drags on.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh: What the data tells us is that prolonged lockdowns result in financial difficulties for literally thousands of people. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Last month, banks reinstated emergency support measures for struggling customers, including allowing people to have their home loan repayments temporarily put on hold.

The ABAs data showed that in addition to the 14,500 mortgage deferrals granted since the 8th of July, payments on more than 600 business loans had also been deferred.
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.

Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Executives from Sky News Australia received the kind of phone call last Thursday that no media operator wants to get. YouTubes Australian director of partnerships, Ed Miles, informed the 24-hour news channel that its account on the Google-owned video sharing site had been suspended for one week. YouTube has become a significant distribution platform for Sky News, both inside Australia and around the world. Sky is now so adept at harnessing the power of the video site and social media platform Facebook that its local presenters have gained significant traction in conservative circles offshore. But a clip from May 3 of one of those presenters, controversial broadcaster Alan Jones, had breached YouTubes COVID-19 misinformation guidelines. And since Sky had already received a warning from YouTube last December, it meant the Rupert Murdoch-owned broadcaster could not upload videos to the platform for seven days. A Sky News clip of Alan Jones that spoke about the spread of the latest strain of coronavirus in India caused the strike that led to a suspension. Credit:Bianca De Marchi In the video, Jones claimed that COVID-19 was not by definition a pandemic due to the number of deaths globally and that the death toll in India was not as bad as what the news had made out. The WHO designated COVID-19 a pandemic in March last year. We seem to have redefined the word pandemic, Jones thunders in the video. It seems to be now about the number of cases that keep being recited to us in alarming language everyday. Many members of our Indian family are in India, because they had exemptions to attend a family funeral, or a wedding or a birth. Those claims were rejected by his interviewee, Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Mike Toole.

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Sky News has cultivated a large audience on YouTube - it has 1.9 million subscribers to its channel and its videos receive an average of 2.3 million views a day. This is part of a deliberate strategy by the broadcaster to make money - it splits revenue with YouTube from ads that appear before and during its clips and also from a content supply deal with the platform. YouTube suspended Sky News Australia from posting new videos to its YouTube account for seven days. Credit:Screenshot The way Sky has achieved this - by courting conspiracy theories and through incendiary commentary - has sparked concerns it is emulating Murdochs American channel Fox News. Fox News has been criticised for similar reasons and has faced its own backlash in the US over its approach to the pandemic in recent weeks. At the same time, the Sky suspension by YouTube has reignited concerns within News Corp about the sheer power and unaccountable nature of global digital platforms and their sway over traditional media. While it comes to terms with the reaction of YouTube, News Corp detractors - such as former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - say it has no right to complain, given the large media footprint it controls in Australia and offshore through titles such as The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The New York Post. Meanwhile, Skys night time hosts including Sharri Markson, Andrew Bolt and digital editor Jack Houghton have seized on the suspension as an assault on free speech. Controversial Amercian Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Australia had turned into a COVID dictatorship where you cant ask basic questions without getting censored. But while the Sky suspension has given presenters fresh ammunition in the media culture wars, it has also surprised and frustrated senior executives in the News Corp and Sky stables, who had not been alerted to any issues of breaches since last December. Second strike In the world of media regulation, YouTubes process could be considered unorthodox. When the Australian Communications and Media Authority, for example, receives a complaint about a broadcaster it conducts a thorough investigation. If there is a breach, it provides a detailed report with the reasons for it.

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People close to YouTubes decision to ban Sky News, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the tech giant has not given written confirmation of the ban to the broadcaster. The sources, who were unauthorised to speak publicly, also said Sky News has not been provided with specific reasons why the clip caused the suspension. The last time Sky News was contacted about a specific breach of guidelines was in December, when it was notified that two of its videos were taken down for contravening YouTubes COVID-19 misinformation policy. The decision prompted a close review of Sky News content by its executives and a renewed attempt to comply with the updated guidelines and avoid further issues. Loading For their part, the executives took it so seriously that they asked YouTube in December if any other clips had contravened guidelines. They did not receive a response. Sky News and YouTube both declined to comment. YouTube frequently updates its COVID-19 misinformation guidelines and takes down posts that do not meet those guidelines. When the reviewers look at a flagged video, they consider the content and the intention of the uploader. Suspension of an account - or a strike - only takes place if someone has violated the policy and already received a warning. In the case of Sky News, that warning was given in December. When YouTube informed Sky News of its strike, it also said it had removed 14 videos that were aired before discussions took place between the two organisations in December. YouTube only removes historical content in breach of the latest guidelines if it is made aware of a video through its artificial intelligence technology or via a user. YouTube would not clarify when it made its latest updates to its misinformation guidelines.

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But despite best efforts, YouTube - which has over 2 billion monthly registered users - has often struggled to remove misinformation, disinformation, dangerous or violent content from its platform. A report from The New Zealand Royal Commission in 2020 said that Australian terrorist Brendan Tarrant - who killed 51 people in two Christchurch mosques in 2019 - was radicalised by YouTube. Videos of the massacre also uploaded to YouTube in the hours after it happened. YouTube has also been forced to introduce strict guidelines in the last 18 months to manage the fast spread of misinformation about COVID-19 on its website. And in another example of how difficult it is to manage that misinformation - the video that caused Sky News suspension is still available on another YouTube account. For his part, Jones has issued two corrections to comments he made on Sky last week. One clarification was related to his stance on vaccinations and the other was related to misinformation he presented with renegade federal MP Craig Kelly about COVID-19, vaccination safety and the Delta strain. The video that caused Skys suspension from YouTube was not included or discussed in either on-air correction. Wholly unsurprising Who or what specifically alerted YouTube to the video of Jones that triggered the suspension, which was uploaded in early May, is unknown. It could have been machine learning technology or a user who alerted the system, which led to a manual review by YouTubes team. But inside News Corp, suspicion is running rampant among executives that former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is behind the complaint. It is considered a direct attack on a division that makes money through its relationship with YouTube.

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But this accusation was strongly rejected by Mr Rudd on Wednesday. I did not flag Murdochs pandemic disinformation with YouTube, but it is wholly unsurprising that members of the public would have, given how sharply Australians have turned against Murdoch, Mr Rudd said in a statement. But he acknowledged he had written to YouTube twice in recent months to complain that Sky News was breeding far-right extremism in Australia. In a May 27 letter to Googles acting managing director, Caroline Rainsford, Mr Rudd raised concerns about the comments beneath a Sky News video of a news report about a UK Black Lives Matter activist being shot in the head. The more than 7000 comments, Mr Rudd said, were dominated by expressions of elation about the shooting and was an example of how Sky News was using YouTube to fuel the far-right echo chamber. The letter, which was also addressed to News Corp executive chairman Michael Miller, asked whether YouTube had plans to review an agreement to distribute Sky content via YouTube. Media proprietors such as YouTube and Sky News Australia have a responsibility not to promote extremism merely because it is profitable to do so, he wrote in the letter, which has been seen by the Herald and The Age. It prompted discussions between News Corp executives and YouTube about ways to moderate and manage comments on the platform. A vocal critic of News Corp, Mr Rudd was behind the petition for a royal commission into the company, which has gained more than 500,000 signatures. It also led to the media diversity Senate inquiry, spearheaded by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. A day after news of the ban broke on Sunday, Mr Rudd posted a two and a half minute video on his Twitter saying Sky News had been caught red-handed putting out lies and disinformation about the link between COVID-19 virus and the pandemic and for promoting quack medicines.

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Constantine Cavafy takes a boat across the Mediterranean. The Greek-Egyptian poet longs to visit his birth city of Alexandria, specifically the room that once played home to Eros. In his mind he sees a sunstruck apartment where a youthful romance had raged. Yet now ashore, the man finds the building has changed.

Its now an office block, a maze of work stations, though the poet can still see where his younger self had lain, nestled against his lovers form, despite the subsequent blanketing of commerce. Near the door here was the couch, his poem (The Afternoon Sun) recalls. In front of it, a Turkish carpet, nearby a shelf that held two yellow vases. To the right, no, opposite, a closet with a mirror.

Poets arent the only ones to view the world this way. We all do. In lockdown especially, we are busy roaming our retrieved past or speculating our future. Drawing hope, fondling loss, relishing and reflecting. Linguists know this inbuilt tension as the irrealis moods, where all grammatical tenses interplay, enriching the moment.

In lockdown,we are drawing hope, fondling loss, relishing and reflecting. Credit:Jo Gay

Andre Aciman, another Alexandrian writer, has delved this eeriness in Homo Irrealis (Faber, 2021), a series of essays I already crave to revisit. From boyhood memoir to meditative travel, the book fossicks the literary giants  Freud, Joyce, Austen, Proust  plus painters and auteurs, all the while seeking samples of this weird grammatical state of being.
Sydney Fringe Festival, the largest independent arts festival in NSW, has been cancelled for the second year running due to Sydneys extended lockdown, scuppering 370 shows and the work of 1500 artists.

Unlike 2020, when the festival streamed a curated digital program, its organisers have concluded that the risk of spread of the virulent Delta strain is too high for any rehearsals to take place among a cohort of young, largely unvaccinated artists.

Sydney Fringe director Kerri Glasscock says the festivals cancellation is just devastating. Credit:Louie Douvis

The month-long festival was to have opened September 1, after the decision was made earlier in the year to press ahead but consolidate shows to inner-city Sydney and the CBD to limit the risk of short, shock lockdowns.

As soon as the Premier announced the August extension [of lockdown] then that became untenable because unfortunately under the current orders our performers are unable to rehearse, chief executive Kerri Glasscock said.
With a colleague, Professor Lea managed one quick flight to the colony aboard an ageing Russian helicopter and they waded through thigh-deep snow to take this photo.

Mary-Anne Lea, who was then a guide aboard the vessel and is now a professor in marine ecology at the University of Tasmania, has that moment 15 years ago etched in her memory.

It was aboard the gutsy Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, sailing between the Antarctic peninsula and Ross Sea, that the passengers discovered a new emperor penguin colony in the old-fashioned way: with their eyes.

The US is now considering listing the emperor penguin as endangered because of climate change. A picture of the Emperor penguin colony in Antarcticas Atka Bay. Credit:Stefan Christmann

It took my breath away. It was a real voyage of discovery for everyone on board to see them in on the ice, says Professor Lea. They are such beautiful birds that live in some of the harshest conditions on earth, breeding in the middle of the Antarctic winter. I was just in awe.

But climate change is threatening emperor penguins with extinction in much of their range, and this week federal wildlife officials in the United States announced a proposal to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.

Professor Lea was aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov when it discovered a new colony of emperor penguins.

The Antarctic scientific community has been raising the alarm on global warming and climate change for around 40 years, Professor Lea says. She finds it shocking that scientists were discovering new emperor colonies until only a few years ago, and now are charting their demise as a result of the climate emergency: Its so devastating thats the situation were now in.

Emperor penguins live for most of the year on sea ice - which is essentially frozen ocean - and need it to breed, raise their young in the dark Antarctic winters and escape from predators like orca and sea leopards.
Above the roar of the swollen OShannassy River you can hear it, a light weet-weet-weet call coming from the damp understorey of the forest.

Look up and there they are: half-a-dozen gregarious vivid yellow and black birds that flit and flutter between the branches, calling to each other.

A helmeted honeyeater hangs onto the outside of an aviary at the release site. Credit:Joe Armao

These helmeted honeyeaters are part of a nationally significant experiment under way in dense bushland east of Warburton, near the confluence of the OShannassy River and the Yarra.

The new site is likely to have previously been home to helmeted honeyeaters. Their former range covered the tributaries of the upper Yarra River and Western Port catchment.
NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has called on the Commonwealth to shrug off the ghost of the White Australia policy and implement a new national population strategy discussing the size of the country it wants.

He also called into question the benefit of major infrastructure projects in light of commuter shifts, singling out his own governments goal of faster rail between Sydney and regional centres, and asked whether COVID-19 had changed opinions about urban sprawl.

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has called for a national population policy. Credit:Wolter Peeters

However, federal Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar said state housing approvals and services had not kept pace with growth supported by migration, partly leading to the creation of the Population portfolio within the government.

In a speech to state and municipal bureaucrats last week, Mr Stokes said that, despite having policies on everything from fruit flies to mythical panthers, NSW had no policy on people: how many we can expect, where we want them to live and what their needs and attributes might be.
When we think back on the great challenges of the past century, the eras of death and despair - the Spanish flu, the world wars - few of us devote much time to wondering how the governments of the day ensured final-year students ticked the boxes of their school-leaving credentials.

Last week, the NSW government said tens of thousands of year 12 students could go back to school on August 16, despite intensifying restrictions on everyone else, due to the importance of the HSC. Now its winding that back. Amid the fallout, Premier Gladys Berejiklian is justifying her initial announcement - made with barely any detail - by saying NSW is required to run statewide, public exams in October.

HSC students face uncertain times as they prepare for the final few months of year 12. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Shes partly right, but like most politicians the Premier is glossing over other options and muddying facts for an audience mostly ignorant of how the HSC works.

There is a clause in the Education Act that says the HSC must involve public, statewide exams. But theres another one, too, outlining how students can still be awarded their HSC if they cannot sit the exam; a misadventure process. The authors of the laws did not anticipate a statewide misadventure application due to a pandemic, so the government could face a legal challenge if exams did not go ahead. Its a grey area.
For many people from NSWs Hunter and Newcastle regions, it has always been a question of when, not if, Sydneys Delta outbreak would make it to their suburbs.

Almost one year since the area last had a COVID-19 case, eight local government areas were plunged into lockdown on Thursday night after several new cases, including five students, were recorded.

Louise Christenson with daughters Meg Christenson and Anna Maguire at the Worn out Wares shop in Singleton. Credit:Nick Moir

Singleton woman Louise Christenson, who owns the shop Worn out Wares, said anxiety levels in the town on the banks of the Hunter River were high.

Everyone in town is really nervous and people have gone into a panic mode, she said.
The nations top economists expect the housing boom to end this year, with many predicting potential regulatory action and coronavirus lockdowns will take some of the heat out of the property market.

The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age Scope mid-year survey of 22 leading economists, of which 18 provided housing predictions, shows a rapid slowdown in property price growth is expected in the nations two biggest capital cities over the next year and a half amid lockdowns to limit the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus.

Regulators and lockdowns could start to weigh on property values. Credit:Graham Tidy

The panel on average believes the height of the property boom has passed, forecasting dwelling prices to end up 16 per cent for Sydney and 11 per cent for Melbourne at the end of this year.

In 2022, Sydney and Melbourne property values are expected to rise another 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. This could see the median Sydney house price at $1.23 million by the end of next year, from $1.02 million at the start of 2021, and Melbournes median house price at $915,000, from $800,000.
A federal tribunal has ordered Prime Minister Scott Morrisons department to release secret documents about the workings of national cabinet after rejecting government claims the peak group is a committee of federal cabinet.

The tribunal backed an appeal from independent senator Rex Patrick in a significant decision that opens national cabinet to public scrutiny through requests for its agendas, minutes and other documents.

Secretary of the Prime Ministers Department, Phil Gaetjens, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and then-Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy, speak with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (on screen) during a National Cabinet meeting. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The ruling also shatters government claims the peak group, led by Mr Morrison with state premiers and territory chief ministers, has the status of a committee of federal cabinet and is therefore shielded from scrutiny.

Senator Patrick hailed the outcome on Thursday night as a decisive win for transparency and accountability because it rejected Mr Morrisons attempts to claim a protection for national cabinet that it did not deserve under the law.
Australia will be able to ban human rights offenders from entering the country and seize their assets regardless of where they are from after Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed the government will legislate a new sanctions regime by the end of the year.

But the new laws will differ from the model put forward by a bipartisan inquiry last year, rejecting a recommendation to have an independent body advise on which individuals to sanction.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirms Australia will adopt Magnitsky-style laws. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The government had been under pressure to outline its plans for new laws based on the United States Magnitsky Act, with Labor senator Kimberley Kitching this week introducing a private members bill .

Senator Payne announced late on Thursday Australias existing country-based sanctions would be amended by the end of the year. The new regime would focus on particular types of wrongdoing such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, gross human rights violations, malicious cyber activity and serious corruption.
The latest COVID wave has changed everything. It exposes the emptiness of all the assurances from Morrison and his ministers about their progress in beating the pandemic. In its dreams, the government wanted Parliament to resume this week with vaccinations rising, COVID-19 case numbers falling, the country opening and the economy rebounding. Instead, Parliament House looks like it did in the first wave. Most of the staff are working from home, many of the MPs are staying away, everyone is wearing a mask and the public is barred from entry. Like so much of the country, it has lurched back to early last year. Loading So much for progress. While NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is responsible for the gaps in her states defences, Morrison has to carry the can for the shortage of Pfizer vaccines, although he often slips into making things sound better than they are. One in five Australians now are double-dose vaccinated, he told Parliament on Tuesday. Not yet. The rate that day was 15.7 per cent, compared with 55 per cent in Canada. Morrison forgot to say he was referring to the eligible population aged 16 and over.

For all the modelling and forecasting, the problem remains vaccine supply. There are just not enough Pfizer doses in state hubs, hospitals or GP clinics. Can Morrison bring forward more shipments from Pfizer or start Moderna imports earlier? Wherever thats possible, well be seeking to achieve it, he said on Thursday. The answer is to take him on trust. Some Coalition MPs with long experience think voters will come back to Morrison over time. Governing is hard, they say. Even harder in a pandemic. One says wavering voters are likely to return to the safety of Morrison at the election. Loading Coalition MPs are filthy with the health officials who undermined confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine. One Liberal, Andrew Laming, let rip during Tuesdays meeting at the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation for giving flawed advice that failed to take into account the clear risk of another outbreak. That drew support from many in the room who want ATAGI questioned more closely. Anthony Albanese, meanwhile, is getting bolder. The Labor leader picked a big fight with his proposal for a $300 payment for those who get fully vaccinated by December 1. Given four million people have already done so, that means spending $1.2 billion on people who did not need the incentive. Many others will not need it, either.

The Labor caucus is restless over the idea. Albanese announced it without seeking approval from caucus or the full shadow cabinet, although he took it to the expenditure review committee of the frontbench team. Labor treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers put it to the group. It is an unconventional move, at least according to some cabinet ministers. Rather than keep the focus on Morrison this week, they say, Albanese has made himself the story. Yet there is logic in the tactical play. One of Albaneses biggest challenges is that many people do not know he is there. Now he has a simple policy that gets people talking. Loading Economists like the idea of financial incentives to get hesitant Australians over the line on vaccines because the spending can cost less than a prolonged lockdown. Studies show cash works. Many of the critics, meanwhile, are on comfortable salaries and may not be able to tell whether $300 will make a difference to the final cohort in the vaccine rollout  such as the young men who think they are indestructible. The question is whether the lure has to be $300 each for up to 20 million adults. Albanese has left himself open to the charge that he would splash public funds too easily, even if the $6 billion is a fraction of the $300 billion in federal spending on the pandemic response so far.
There has been far more talk about an extremely rare side-effect of the AstraZeneca. A 34-year-old woman from NSW has died after developing the rare clotting disorder linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the countrys medical regulator has reported, the sixth death connected to the side effect in Australia. As NSWs numbers remained stubbornly high, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the path out of the crisis was getting jabs in arms, stressing none of the 21 people who have died during the outbreak had received two doses of a vaccine. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he anticipated similar numbers of deaths while vaccination rates remained low.

I wouldnt be the slightest bit surprised if we did not see that same number of deaths, and higher, in a 24-hour period going forward, he said. To me, it is bizarre people will go and have their children vaccinated for measles, mumps and whooping cough, and yet in a pandemic they are not rushing to get vaccinated to prevent themselves and their families from dying. The party at Blacksmiths Beach last Friday night has been linked to five new cases in Newcastle, via another individual who attended the gathering from the Central Coast. A family of eight from the Central Coast have also tested positive. Their infections are under investigation. The region will be subject to a lockdown until midnight Thursday next week, with stay-at-home orders mirroring those in Greater Sydney, including school closures. Ms Berejiklian last week extolled the states success in largely keeping the virus out of the regions, using it to justify the decision to redirect 40,000 Pfizer doses to year 12 students in south-west and western Sydney.

Its really just putting a pause for a few weeks on some people in the bush who want to get the Pfizer, she said at the time. Thousands of first-dose Pfizer appointments were subsequently cancelled at a mass vaccination hub in Newcastle to support the plan, before fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 were detected at sewage plants servicing Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and southern Port Stephens this week. However, on Thursday the Premier said she was grateful to Prime Minister Scott Morrison for agreeing to fast-track an additional 180,000 doses of Pfizer to NSW from August 16 to replace regional supplies. It means we can replace those in the regions that we had to take, but it also means that we have opportunities to vaccinate younger, very mobile people who have to leave those eight local government areas, because we know thats whats causing the spread, Ms Berejiklian said. Ms Berejiklian said the decision to target highly mobile workers in services like food distribution and aged care was based on strategies used in Canadian provinces comparable to NSW.

Theyve had a very targeted vaccination program, getting to those essential workers, and thats what we need to do with those eight local government areas, she said. If we didnt let these workers work, wed have no food supplies and no essential services...if we get those people who are mobile vaccinated, that will help us deal with the case numbers. Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. Credit:James Brickwood Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly insisted the return of year 12 students to classrooms was a key priority for her government, arguing that vaccinating students now would ensure all students could sit their final exams later this year. Meanwhile, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said she was very concerned about the spread of the virus to regional NSW, highlighting the ongoing risk posed by people from Greater Sydney.

As youre aware, Queensland is also experiencing a different Delta outbreak, so were conscious of those risks in the northern parts because we are all connected. Loading Dr Chant renewed her plea for anyone over the age of 18 to get vaccinated, stressing the growing number of young people in their teens, 20s and 30s ending up in intensive care. Please, now is the time to strongly consider getting vaccinated if youre over 18. And, for the elderly, who have not been vaccinated, again, I put out a plea to you: Get vaccinated. The government is actively considering incentives for people to encourage vaccination, such as allowing vaccinated classes of workers to return to workplaces.
Every time Victoria snaps back into lockdown, public health physician Nathan Grills notices the same trend when he works his Saturday shift in a Melbourne emergency department.

Therell be a whole lot less sporting injuries, then you get a rebound in mental health disorders, domestic violence incidences and eating disorders. They trend up after a few days of lockdown, he says.

Jahan Dhruve, 10, with his mum Nirali and brother Vihaan, 8. Jahan said Thursdays snap lockdown meant he didnt get to say goodbye to his friends. Credit:Scott McNaughton

I think it shows theres an underlying baseline of stress and exhaustion over the last 18 months. As soon as you turn the tap on and provide more stress and uncertainty, it pushes more people over the edge. Its hard to do over and over again, but we have to keep looking out for each other and do what we can.

With a background in global health, Professor Grills agrees with Premier Daniel Andrews explanation on Thursday that with vaccination rates low, Australia is stuck in the bind of rolling lockdowns for the foreseeable future.
Singapore: The Indonesian navy and air force face renewed calls to cease invasive virginity tests for female recruits after the countrys army indicated it would abandon the decades-long practice.

Indonesias security forces have faced years of pressure to end the procedures, which they have defended as a way to select the best candidates.

Now that police have stopped the two-finger screenings, one branch of the military appears to be following suit.

Health examinations on female candidates must be the same with health examinations on male soldiers, General Andika Perkasa, the Indonesian Armys chief of staff, told commanders in a meeting last month.
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, August 7, 1971

From PETER COLE-ADAMS, Herald Correspondent.

LONDON, Friday, August 6, 1971 Fierce controversy raged in Britain today following yesterday s jail sentences on the three editors of Oz magazine, convicted last week on obscenity charges.

Few legal decisions have set off such a round of protest and applause. Very few have given rise to such an extraordinary demonstration as that staged outside the Old Bailey yesterday by about 200 young people.

It continued for about two hours after the sentences were handed down. During that time an effigy of the trial judge, Judge Michael Argyle, was burnt, as youngsters chanting God save Oz danced around the flames. Eleven people were arrested after skirmishes with the police.
Washington: US President Joe Biden offered temporary safe haven to Hong Kong residents in the United States, allowing what could be thousands of people to extend their stay in the country in response to Beijings crackdown on democracy in the Chinese territory.

Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to implement a deferral of removal for up to 18 months for Hong Kong residents currently in the United States, citing compelling foreign policy reasons.

US President Joe Biden speaks during an event on clean cars and trucks, on the South Lawn of the White House. Credit:AP

Over the last year, the PRC has continued its assault on Hong Kongs autonomy, undermining its remaining democratic processes and institutions, imposing limits on academic freedom, and cracking down on freedom of the press, Biden said in the memo, using the acronym for the Peoples Republic of China.

He said offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents furthers United States interests in the region. The United States will not waver in our support of people in Hong Kong.
It has long been recognised that no one is safe from cyber-attacks, but some sectors face a much higher level of threat than others. Critical infrastructure sectors such as utilities, energy and industrial manufacturing are some of those that face an intense level of interest from cyber criminals and nation-state groups across the globe.

The impacts of a successful attack can have detrimental consequences, for both the cyber and physical side of the business, in terms of business disruption, economic dips and other real-life consequences.

Compromise of ICS and SCADA systems

One of the greatest risks to these critical infrastructure sectors is the compromise of ICS and SCADA systems inside operational technology environments (OT environments). Attackers can move laterally from IT networks to OT environments, with the potential to cause even greater damage or disruption.

But even those attackers, who solely focus on compromising IT environments, are still able to trigger major disruption, by disabling day-to-day processes that are involved in the production and roll-out of solutions and services.

Rise in cyber-attacks on utility and energy sector

Recent events have shown that attacks on the utility and energy sector are ramping up

Recent events have shown that attacks on the utility and energy sector are ramping up. The attack on the US Colonial Pipeline, for example, was one of the most high-profile breaches in the industrys history, particularly when considering the secondary, physical consequences.

The decision to shut down the Colonial Pipeline, while considered necessary, triggered a wave of disruption, leading to gasoline shortages and inflated costs. This is just one example of the serious effects that a successful cyber breach can have on an organisation.

Ransomware-based attacks

Often financially motivated, one of the most common methods that cyber criminals increasingly opt for is ransomware-based attacks, as they are an effective way of blackmailing organisations into handing over valuable credentials or completing financial transactions. Once armed with the company credentials, threat actors can then post a sale of access to compromised networks on underground criminal forums.

Armed with stolen credentials and therefore, access to the network, adversaries can then move laterally across the IT systems in OT environments. The ability to travel laterally is a sign of poor network segmentation on the business side between IT and OT networks.

Malicious links in phishing emails

If files are encrypted by criminals within both environments, businesses are faced with double the amount of disruption. This can lead to companies having to shut down operations, even if just as a precaution, just like in the case of the Colonial Pipeline.

Malicious links included in phishing emails are another simple and highly effective method used by criminals to compromise company networks. While there are many security solutions that defend against common phishing attempts, criminal activity is becoming far more advanced, to the point where they are able to bypass standard security systems and gain access to the most sensitive of files.

Why critical infrastructure is targeted

Common forms of attack involve theft of personally identifiable information (PII) of customers and employees

Businesses within the utilities and energy sectors often hold data deemed highly valuable by threat actors, including both basic criminal gangs and advanced nation-state operatives. Common forms of attack involve theft of personally identifiable information (PII) of customers and employees, either for further exploitation or to sell on the dark web.

However, motivations can develop far beyond the usual common criminal. Nation-states have also taken great interest in these industries to steal competitive intelligence, in order to gain market advantages over foreign competitors. States including Russia, Iran and China, have all been suspected of targeting competitor countries in the critical infrastructure markets.

Cyber threats posed by nation-states

Aside from gaining a competitive edge, nations have also been known to engage in these cyber battles as forms of retaliation for previous attacks, or to get one-over on rivals. For example, its been recognised that motivations behind Iranian actions on the energy sector are due to the value of oil and gas in being central to the Iranian economy, and international efforts against their nuclear programme.

Other Iranian actors have focused their efforts on water infrastructures and attempted to compromise chlorine levels in Israeli water supplies back in 2020. The chlorine levels would have been reset to toxic levels, which could have had devastating physical consequences. On the other hand, motivations in China have revolved around competitive intelligence and intellectual property for cyber espionage. The data is subsequently used to advance economic growth in different industries.

Physical and digital disruptions

Due to the nature of these industries, in addition to companies facing business disruption and loss of customer trust, consequences could span beyond the digital side of the business. As outlined above, these attacks on utilities and other industrial organisations can result in physical damage, as well as digital disruption. Unlike other markets, utilities are directly involved in peoples lives, and any attack on a company will impact individuals through a domino effect.

The incident with an Iranian actor attempting to sabotage chlorine levels in an Israeli water supply is a prime example of this. While the attack was against the water provider itself, the consequences could have been harmful to the wider population, who rely on the water supply.

Again, the Colonial Pipeline attack had consequences that expanded beyond the targeted company. Inflated prices and fuel shortages impacted all customers at the end of the supply chain. Attacks on any critical infrastructure could cause both short and long-term physical impacts, including blackouts, disrupted energy supply, and even physical harm to individuals.

Need for a multi-layered defence solution

The best way to deal with these forms of cyber-attacks is to bring everything right back to basics

The best way to deal with these forms of cyber-attacks is to bring everything right back to basics. In most cases, criminals carry out their attacks by first gaining access to IT networks through the usual means of phishing emails and malicious links. Organisations should, therefore, ensure they have a multi-layered defence solution implemented, including advanced email security.

There are a number of features that these solutions should deploy, including spam filters to prevent malicious emails from actually making it to the inbox. Sandbox analysis is also critical for scrutinising email attachments, especially for external senders and emails containing suspicious file formats. These solutions should feature rules that block the execution of macros in Microsoft Office attachments to emails from senders outside the organisation.

Enhancing cyber security with encryption and authentication

Additional features to help prevent lateral movement through the network are also worth considering. Demilitarised zones (DMZs) are also often used to divide IT and OT networks, as part of segmentation efforts and have proven to be highly effective.

Further solutions such as encryption and authentication requirements will help restrict adversaries access to different areas of the network, should they be successful in breaching the defence line. Everyone should be involved in maintaining an organisations line of defence. Education and training are vital, as employers can arm workers with the tools to spot and remove malicious emails, should any make it through the line of defence.

Educating employees on enterprise security

Human workers are often considered the weak point in a companys cyber security, often due to lack of understanding of the risks. Keeping employees informed and educated will prove beneficial to the security of an organisation in the long run.
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STAMFORD  OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma would likely be able to move forward with its plan to pay up to approximately $29 million in bonuses for 2021 if its settlement plan is approved in bankruptcy court.

Judge Robert Drain said that he would grant, with conditions, the Stamford-based companys request to pay the incentives, which would be distributed among the vast majority of its approximately 500 employees. Purdue officials have argued that the additional money is necessary to combat high turnover, but a nine-state group that includes Connecticut opposes the payments.

This is much more of the normal compensation component, Drain said in a July 29 hearing, which was held remotely. Without it, these employees would not be compensated at market (value). I think that is an important point for people to understand given the somewhat loose usage of the term bonus.

Purdue officials anticipate that Drain would enter an order approving the 2021 Key Employee Retention Plan payments if he approves the companys settlement plan, also known as a plan of reorganization. Valued by Purdue at more than $10 billion, the proposal would resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging the company fueled the opioid crisis with deceptive OxyContin marketing. It also calls for Purdue to be converted into a new company focused on using its funds to tackle the opioid epidemic.

A confirmation hearing in which Drain would review that plan is scheduled for Aug. 12.

Several creditors committees supported the bonuses. At the same time, Connecticut and the eight other states that have not agreed to settle their lawsuits against Purdue objected to the new payments.

We continue to believe these bonuses are unwarranted and unnecessary, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement this week.

Nearly two years after it filed for bankruptcy, Purdue is dealing with many personnel changes. So far this year, 38 people have left or plan to leave the company, while 27 have been hired. The company started the year with 517 employees.

We have employees telling us when they are leaving that they are leaving for opportunities that pay more money, Eli Vonnegut, an attorney for Purdue, said in last weeks hearing. We think it just stands to reason that compensation is a significant portion of anybodys decision on whether they stay with a job or leave that job.

Also in last weeks hearing, Drain directed Purdue to conduct a review to ensure that no employees eligible for the bonuses were involved in criminal activity related to the company.

Last November, Purdue pleaded guilty to three criminal charges of conspiring to defraud the government and violate anti-kickback law. No individuals were charged, however, related to that plea.

Most importantly, Purdue has yet to show that these bonuses will not be given to employees who improperly and unlawfully marketed, sold and promoted deadly addictive opioids, Tong said. We are pleased that the court has ordered the company to do that due diligence now.

In addition to Tong, other opponents of the bonuses include Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and five other Democratic senators: Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire; Joe Manchin of West Virginia; Tina Smith of Minnesota; and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

At a time when individual victims and their families seek compensation for the devastating impact Purdues criminal actions have had on their lives and as governments at the federal, state and local level seek out and put forth as many resources as possible to fight back against an addiction crisis fueled by Purdue, allowing nearly $35 million in funds to go towards executive and employee bonuses is contrary to public health and public policy and runs counter to the companys transition to a public benefit company, the senators said in a July 26 letter to Drain.

The number cited in the letter factored in other bonus payments that Purdue has proposed.

Drain disagreed. He said that Purdues staff were maintaining the value of the company and enabling the debtors (Purdue) to move to a focus in large measure on abating the opioid crisis.

The judge did not rule on Purdues plan to pay up to $7.1 million in 2021 bonuses to Purdue CEO and President Craig Landau and several other top executives. The next omnibus hearing, when matters such as compensation are taken up, is scheduled for Aug. 16.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
NEWTOWN - Alex Jones high profile New Haven attorney Norm Pattis wont be allowed to question Hillary Clinton in the defamation case brought by eight Sandy Hook families in state Superior Court, a judge has ruled.

After weighing Pattis argument that the families defamation case against Jones is part of a vendettadirected in whole or in part by Hillary Clinton, and the families attorneys argument that the request to depose Clinton was illogical and groundless, Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis issued a one-word decision.

Denied.

Christopher Mattei, an attorney for the families who in court papers last month called the request to question Clinton a publicity stunt in service of a new conspiracy theory spun by Alex Jones, declined to comment on Bellis ruling Thursday.

Pattis, who argued in court papers in July that Clinton, the former Secretary of State and presidential candidate, wanted to silence Jones vitriolic criticism of her after she lost the 2016 presidential race to Donald Trump, said he still wanted to question Clinton after the judges denial.

Were calling on Hillary to voluntary appear in Connecticut, Pattis said. We have questions.

Clinton did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.

Jones, an extremist who has previously promoted hoaxes on his Texas-based internet broadcast Infowars, is being sued in Connecticut and in Texas for calling the 2012 massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook School staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors.

The Texas cases are separate from the two defamation cases in Connecticut.

Jones through his attorneys says he no longer believes the worst crime in Connecticut history was a hoax, and that the First Amendment gives him the right to be wrong.

In an argument filed on Tuesday in Connecticut- one day before Bellis denial - Pattis and fellow Jones attorney Jay Wolman accused the families of singling out Jones among all Sandy Hook Truthers because of Jones role in Mr. Trumps victory over Mrs. Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

If the true motivation for the instant matter was that the plaintiffs suffered injury as a result of Sandy Hook Truthers questioning the narrative produced by the politicization of this tragic shooting, then why are Mr. Jones and related defendants the sole target of the plaintiffs fury? Jones attorneys wrote.

Mattei and lawyers for the families in Connecticut argued in mid July that the request to question Clinton was frivolous and intended to achieve objectives unrelated to the merits of this litigation.

(Clinton) has no relation whatsoever to this case, and her deposition could only be abusive, harassing, and an undue burden - on both Ms. Clinton and the plaintiffs - with no likelihood of producing any admissible evidence, Mattei wrote.

Its the latest development in a Connecticut case thats been in the headlines recently.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Jones appeal of sanctions he received in 2019 after he went on the air with Pattis and was accused of threatening Mattei with a blood on the streets rant.

In June, Bellis threatened more sanctions, including a default judgment against Jones, unless his attorneys turned over long-overdue pretrial documents to the families.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi businessman and his grandson died in the crash of a vintage single-engine airplane Wednesday in a wooded area northeast of Starkville.

Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt told news outlets that Gary Dedeaux and 13-year-old Luke Reed were pronounced dead at the scene.
ST. LOUIS (AP)  A mother and her boyfriend have been charged in the overdose death last month of the woman's 1-year-old child, authorities in suburban St. Louis said.

Ebony Woods, 28, of north St. Louis County, and Shaun Survillion, 40, of St. Louis, are charged with one count each of felony child endangerment, officials said.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP)  A Kansas man has been arrested for animal cruelty after he allegedly threw his girlfriends caged miniature poodle into a river Monday.

Police said the 24-year-old man tossed the kenneled dog into the Missouri River at Riverfront Park in Leavenworth, Kansas, the Leavenworth Times reported.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  A majority of state Assembly members support beginning impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he doesn't resign over investigative findings that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, according to an Associated Press count Wednesday.

At least 86 of the bodys 150 members have said publicly or told The AP that they favored initiating the process of ousting the third-term Democratic governor if he doesnt quit. It takes a simple majority to authorize an impeachment trial.

The tally reflects a governor plunged into a political deep freeze  a Democratic scion who has now lost most, if not all, of his allies in the party establishment, just a year after basking in national attention as a blunt-but-relatable voice of fighting the coronavirus.

Cuomo denies making any inappropriate sexual advances and insists the findings don't reflect the facts. But while political pressure is growing, so is the potential for criminal charges against Cuomo.

District attorneys in Manhattan, suburban Westchester and Nassau counties and the state capital of Albany said they asked for investigative materials from the inquiry, overseen by Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James. The inquiry found that Cuomo  a former state AG himself  violated civil laws against sexual harassment, and it left the door open for local prosecutors to bring cases.

Joyce A. Smith, Nassau County's acting district attorney, called the findings deeply disturbing and pledged her office would thoroughly and expeditiously investigate.

After James released her report Tuesday, Democrats from the statehouse to the White House called for Cuomo to go. President Joe Biden said the governor should resign, though press secretary Jen Psaki wouldnt say Wednesday whether Biden wanted to see Cuomo removed from office.

"The president believes Governor Cuomo should do the right thing, resign, and leave space for future leadership in New York, Psaki said.

One of the governor's closest allies, New York Democratic Party chairperson Jay Jacobs, declared that Cuomo has lost his ability to govern, both practically and morally. Jacobs told Spectrum News he had tried privately to persuade Cuomo to resign but "wasnt making headway.

Cuomo showed no signs of heeding such messages. He said some episodes described in the report never happened, others were misconstrued or mischaracterized and the whole exercise was tainted.

Politics and bias are interwoven throughout every aspect of this situation, he said Tuesday in a recorded video response.

Assembly Democrats, who lead the chamber, debated virtually for hours Tuesday about whether to impeach the governor now, wait to see whether he resigns, or give the Judiciary Committee time to wrap up its wide-ranging investigation into topics from sexual misconduct to the Cuomo administrations months-long obfuscation of the total number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19.

At least 40 Democrats back starting impeachment proceedings if Cuomo doesn't leave on his own.

As New York became the nation's deadliest coronavirus hotspot in spring 2020, Cuomo's daily briefings garnered him fans around the country and an International Emmy Award. Casting himself as a tough-minded yet compassionate leader who steered the state through crisis, the governor even wrote a book about it.

Now, that book itself is among the focuses of investigations into Cuomo, with James examining the role some of his aides played in producing it.

As complaints and investigations accumulated in recent months, Cuomo became an embattled but unabashed figure. He often still touts the state's handling of the pandemic, despite now-rising infection rates amid a national surge in the more infectious delta variant.

The 150-member Assembly would need 76 votes to impeach Cuomo and send articles of impeachment to the Senate. The Assembly includes 106 Democrats, 43 Republicans and one Independent.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay urged Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, to convene an emergency special session to vote to impeach Cuomo.

Heastie said he wants to conclude the Assemblys investigation as quickly as possible. Judiciary committee members Tom Abinanti and Phil Steck variously estimated the timeframe at weeks or a month.

The two Democrats said that some lawmakers want to vote for impeachment within days, but time is needed to build a strong case for a Senate trial.

If the Assembly votes to impeach, the state Senate could launch an impeachment trial in weeks, Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris told The Associated Press. He said the chamber has been preparing for months.

Well be ready to go if and when the impeachment articles are sent over, he said. It could happen very quickly."

James' investigation, conducted by two outside lawyers, found that the governor touched or made sexually inappropriate comments to a series of women. Many worked for him, including a state trooper whom Cuomo successfully sought to have assigned to his security detail.

While many of the allegations involve verbal comments, some women alleged that he gave them unwanted kisses or touches. One aide said he reached under her shirt and groped her breast at the governor's mansion in Albany.

The governor denied Tuesday that he ever inappropriately touched anyone and said that he never intended harm.

Cuomo  a son of three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo  has rebuffed calls to step down and has moved ahead with plans to run for a fourth term in 2022.

___

Peltz reported from New York. Associated Press writers David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island, and Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed.
NEW HAVEN  Two abandoned derelict barges have been removed from New Haven Harbor, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The two barges had been secured at the bulkhead of the abandoned English Station power plant in the Mill River. One broke free and drifted to the mouth of the harbor off Lighthouse Point Park, posing a threat to shipping and to the environment, DEEP said in a release. It was discovered Jan. 16.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Sheehy said the drifting barge posed a hazard.

We had one tanker entering the harbor and one leaving the weekend that the barge was spotted, she said in the release. The barge was a hazard to navigation; a tanker may have hit the barge, potentially damaging the hull and creating an oil spill. If the barge could not be secured, then the port may have been closed.

A Coast Guard crew secured the barge to the breakwater at Lighthouse and attached a strobe light, which allowed the port to remain open, the release said. Returning the barge to the bulkhead at Ball Island, where English Station is located, would have been dangerous, as well, according to the release.

Lori Saliby, assistant director of DEEPs Emergency Response and Spill Prevention Division, said, The risks are two-fold, navigation risk is one aspect while the other is environmental risk since damage to the bulkhead could result in the release of PCBs and other contaminants to the Mill River.

Aside from the potential of contamination should the barge impair the bulkhead at English Station, we also originally feared that contaminants could be entering the Sound from both barges, said Kevin Zawoy of DEEPs Land and Water Resource Divisions Enforcement Section.

Further inspection reduced concerns about contaminants, however, The size, shape, and jagged edges had the potential to sink another boat, he said in the release.

The operation was coordinated with the Coast Guard, the city, the Connecticut Port Authority, marine contractors and others. Neither the Coast Guard nor the city had the resources or equipment needed to tow and remove the barges, the release said. The Coast Guard has the authority to order the owner to remove the barge, but the owner could not be determined. Miller Marine Services released and towed the barges.

On July 6, both barges were brought to Blakeslee Arpaia Chapmans yard on the Quinnipiac River, where they were secured. The company performs marine construction services. This month, the barge sections will be removed from the water using a large crane and cut up for scrap, recycled and disposed of, the release said.

The $150,000 needed to remove the barges were Supplemental Environmental Project funds from a federal criminal case that settled a Clean Water Act case in 2016 for $1 million. Industrial wastewater was illegally discharged without a permit in that case, according to DEEP.

SEP funds can support projects that reduce pollution, restore the environment or protect the shoreline in Long Island Sound and the shoreline, the release said.

This is a great example of what the SEP funds are intended for, said Zawoy. Without the money DEEP receives from penalties, there would not have been the financial funding for this task and the navigational threat would remain. I think its important to note that the Department actually uses these funds to go back into the protection of the environment.
Milton, PA (17847)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 91F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

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Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially during the evening. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Published: 5 August 2021

Non-subsidised rents increased in most parts of Finland

Non-subsidised rents continued to rise in most parts of Finland between April and June 2021. According to Statistics Finland, non-subsidised rents increased in Greater Helsinki and in the rest of Finland by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 compared with one year ago. The rents of non-subsidised rental dwellings rose most in Turku (1.6 %) and Tampere (1.4 %) and least in Jyvaskyla (0.1 %) and Pori (0.1 %). Non-subsidised rents decreased only in Mikkeli (0.2 %).

The development of rents in non-subsidised rental dwellings, index 2015=100

Compared with 2015, non-subsidised rents have risen most in Kerava (10.5 %) and Turku (10,2 %). The rise in rents has been lowest in Seinajoki (3.3 %) and Hameenlinna (4.3 %). In Greater Helsinki, rents have risen by 8.7 per cent and in the rest of the country by 7.0 per cent from 2015.

Rents for government-subsidised rental dwellings have increased by 8.7 per cent in Greater Helsinki and by 6.4 per cent in the rest of Finland from 2015. Rents for government-subsidised rental dwellings have risen most in Kuopio (11.1 %) and least in Rovaniemi (2.4 %)

Rents for non-subsidised rental dwellings, 2nd quarter 2021

Region Index 2015=100 Quarterly change in index, % Yearly change in index, % Number* Rent per square meter (euro/m) Rent for new tenancies (euro/m) Whole country 107.7 0.5 0.9 130 672 15.1 16.1 Greater Helsinki 108.7 0.5 0.9 45 331 20.2 21.0 Rest of the country (whole country - Greater Helsinki) 107.0 0.6 0.9 85 341 13.0 13.7 Helsinki 108.6 0.4 0.9 25 972 21.5 22.3 Helsinki 1 106.9 0.1 0.7 3 991 23.2 24.8 Helsinki 2 108.6 0.2 0.7 10 265 22.4 23.0 Helsinki 3 106.9 0.2 0.8 3 062 20.1 20.4 Helsinki 4 111.3 1.0 1.5 8 654 18.8 19.4 Espoo-Kauniainen 108.0 0.5 1.0 8 758 18.4 19.2 Vantaa 110.0 0.8 1.0 10 601 18.1 18.7 Satellite municipalities 108.1 0.9 0.9 5 608 15.1 15.6 Tampere 109.3 0.9 1.4 12 333 15.5 16.3 Turku 110.2 0.7 1.6 9 928 14.6 15.5 Lahti 104.6 0.7 0.4 4 510 13.5 13.8 Kuopio 107.8 0.7 0.6 3 891 14.5 14.9 Jyvaskyla 106.1 0.3 0.1 6 078 14.4 14.5 Oulu 108.3 0.7 1.2 7 410 13.5 13.9

1) * Number of observations included in the index calculation

In non-subsidised rental dwellings, the highest average rent levels are found in Helsinki (EUR 21.5 per m), Espoo (EUR 18.4 per m) and Vantaa (EUR 18.1 per m). The lowest rents are in Kouvola (EUR 10.9 per m), Rauma (EUR 11.0 per m) and Pori (EUR 11.2 per m).

In new tenancies signed during the past six months, the average price of a rented square metre of a one-room flat was EUR 27.4 per m in Helsinki, EUR 20.0 per m in Tampere and EUR 19.0 per m in Turku. The average price of a rented square metre of a two-room flat was EUR 20.7 per m in Helsinki, EUR 15.2 per m in Tampere, and EUR 14.4 per m in Turku, while the average price of a rented square metre of a three-room or larger flat was EUR 19.2 per m in Helsinki, EUR 13.7 per m in Tampere and EUR 13.0 per m in Turku.

The median rent for a non-subsidised one-room flat was EUR 809 in the centre of Helsinki, EUR 583 in the centre of Tampere and EUR 515 in the centre of Oulu. The median rent for a family dwelling, i.e. a three-room or larger flat, was EUR 1,634 in the centre of Helsinki, EUR 1,070 in the centre of Tampere and EUR 940 in the centre of Oulu.

These data derive from Statistics Finland's quarterly statistics on rents of dwellings, which are based on data from the Social Insurance Institutions housing aid register and private rental housing companies.

Source: Rents of dwellings, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Elina Peltoniemi 029 551 3088, Elina Vuorio 029 551 3385, asuminen.hinnat@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

Publication in pdf-format (236.3 kB)

Updated 5.8.2021

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Rents of dwellings [e-publication].

ISSN=1798-1018. 2nd quarter 2021. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 13.8.2021].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/asvu/2021/02/asvu_2021_02_2021-08-05_tie_001_en.html
Frankfort, KY (40601)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Romania's ambassador to the United States Andrei Muraru on Wednesday underscored the importance of strengthening NATO's East Flank security, in a telephone conversation with United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, along with ambassadors to Washington of the Bucharest 9 (B9) countries, the Romanian Embassy in the USA announced on its Facebook page on Thursday.

Sullivan's conversation with the ambassadors of the Bucharest 9 states was aimed at consulting NATO allies on US policies and activities of interest to the region.

During the talks, the Romanian ambassador emphasised the importance of strengthening the security of the Eastern Flank, including strengthening the deterrent posture in the Black Sea area, in relation to the security challenges in the region, Agerpres informs.

Muraru voiced his hope that the process of re-evaluating the global position of the US will lead to a consistent American military presence on the Eastern Flank, including in Romania.

The United States National Security Advisor also briefed ambassadors on energy security issues, in particular Nord Stream 2, and provided details on the US relationship with the Russian Federation.

The Bucharest format (B9) is an initiative launched by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in which NATO member states on the Eastern Flank of the alliance participate: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The B9 summit held in May this year in Bucharest was attended (online) for the first time by an American head of state, US President Joe Biden.
Prime Minister Florin Citu announced that Romania will grant ground support to Greece for putting out the fires this country is facing, in this respect squads of firefighters will be sent.

"The Greek authorities have asked for help to put out the fires, both air and ground aid. Ground support from Romania was accepted, this is a first, for the first time when we send firefighters there, to help them," Florin Citu declared during a press conference at Victoria Palace, on Thursday, Agerpres informs.
At a meeting this Thursday between Romanian Red Cross and Turkish Red Crescent representatives, the participants tackled international cooperation, neighborly support in emergencies, the exchange of best practices regarding the assistance of vulnerable children, disaster response and the population's first aid training, a release informs.

The Romanian Red Cross received on Thursday a delegation led by Dr. Kerem Kinik - president of the Turkish Red Crescent and vice president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and including the organization's director general Alper Kucuk and its International Relations director Anil Kocabal. The Romanian Red Cross delegation consisted of Dr. Raed Arafat, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, head of the Emergency Department and vice president of the Romanian Red Cross, and Romanian Red Cross director general Ioan Silviu Lefter.

The Turkish Embassy's charge d'affaires a.i. Sait Evren Guner also attended, Agerpres informs.

"One of the objectives of the official visit was the handover of two type A1 ambulances purchased by the Romanian Red Cross from funds donated by the Turkish Red Crescent in 2020. The two medical vehicles complement the private ambulance service of the Romanian Red Cross in Bucharest," the release states.

During the handover ceremony, the head of the Emergency Department, Dr. Raed Arafat, awarded to the Turkish Red Crescent the Plaque of the Emergency Department, and to the Romanian Red Cross the Warrant for the "Emergency Department's Honorary Emblem" for its contribution to combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Turkish Red Crescent is one of the closest partners of the Romanian Red Cross, with trust and respect underlying the relations between our societies. We are based on common values guided by the fundamental Red Cross and Red Crescent principles. During the pandemic, the Red Crescent stood by our organisation both by facilitating access to protection equipment and by donating much needed protective materials. We thank our friends for their presence in Romania and for their constant support," said Romanian Red Cross director general Ioan Silviu Lefter.

The event continued with the award of the winners of the Health and First Aid Contest of the 2021 session of the Skilled Health Workers Academy, and with the simulation of a disaster intervention performed by Romanian Red Cross volunteers.
Romania strengthens nuclear cooperation with Canada after Energy Minister and Canadian Ambassador to Romania signed the Memorandum of Understanding between Romania's Ministry of Energy and Canada's Department of Natural Resources on consolidating Civilian Nuclear Cooperation, reads a press release of the ministry.

The Memorandum was signed by Energy Minister Virgil Popescu and Canadian Ambassador to Romania Annick Goulet, on behalf of Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Romanian Government, Florin Citu.

The Memorandum signed on Thursday strengthens cooperation between Canada and Romania in the field of nuclear energy as the Canadian industry has exceptional experience in CANDU projects and has already successfully completed renovation works and new CANDU unit construction projects, Agerpres informs.

"The Memorandum signed today confirms the excellent bilateral relations that our country has with Canada. I wanted to be present at this event to show that I support the development of the nuclear power projects in Cernavoda and those in the civil nuclear energy sector in Romania. Investments are vital and I am glad that the Canadian partners are joining the US partners to develop the nuclear field in our country," declared Prime minister Florin Citu.

"I am pleased that in our project to modernize and build new nuclear reactors, in addition to the partners in the US and France, we are joined by Canadian partners, with whom we have a very good and long-standing collaboration in this field. By signing this memorandum, we express our common interest in consolidating and further developing cooperation in nuclear energy projects. And not only that: we will try to work together to implement new technologies, which are the future of green energy," said Energy Minister Virgil Popescu.

Nuclear cooperation has been a pillar of the 55-year relationship between Canada and Romania. I am proud to renew our bilateral commitment today by signing this Memorandum of Understanding and look forward to consolidating our exchanges in all areas, from security to trade, said Canadian Ambassador to Romania Annick Goulet.
The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR) launches the "PETlican" campaign, which aims to reduce the amount of plastic in the Danube Delta by promoting responsible behavior towards waste collection and knowledge of biodiversity in the area.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday, the campaign will take place between August 16 and 27.

"Plastic pollution of the Danube waters is mainly the consequence of the misbehavior of the inhabitants of the whole country regarding non-biodegradable waste. In recent years, the Danube Delta has become an increasingly attractive tourist destination for Romanians, visitors coming here from all country regions. We want to show tourists and locals how our way of life affects nature and other living beings," said the coordinator of the project, Dora Doma, Agerpres informs.

The project ambassador is an emblematic bird for the Danube Delta, but also easily recognizable to the general public: the common pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus). It is one of the few species in our country that nests in one place, in the Danube Delta, which makes it vulnerable. In order for the pelican not to become a "PETlican" in the future, the project wants to sound the alarm about the dangers to which many of the species are exposed due to the negligence and indifference of humans, the press release said.

According to scientists, mass production of plastics, which began just six decades ago, has grown so rapidly that mankind has so far produced more than 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste. In addition, plastic takes over 400 years to degrade, and some of it remains in nature in various forms. Birds can easily confuse food-floating plastics with food, and ingesting them can cause injury or even death.

The "PETlican" project is part of the "Clean Waters" programme, which is a call for involvement in combating and preventing plastic pollution of Danube waters, addressed to members of communities and public authorities in the Danube localities.
Police officers with the Bucharest District 1 Economic Crime Investigation Service discovered on Thursday morning 90,000 cigarettes after conducting searches under nine warrants in Bucharest and Ilfov County.

"Investigations have established that the cigarettes were brought from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, being traded by suspects in various commercial spaces in the capital city," reads a statement from the Bucharest General Police Directorate (DGPMB) released on Thursday.

The investigations continue under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office with the Bucharest District 1 Court, Agerpres informs.
President Klaus Iohannis signed today the decree for the decoration of the battle flag of the 2nd Infantry Division "Getica", the Presidential Administration informs.

On the occasion of the division's 105th anniversary, the President conferred the "Faithful Service" National Order in rank of Officer with peace insignia on the battle flag of the 2nd Infantry Division "Getica" in sign of "special appreciation for the high professionalism and remarkable results obtained by the unit's personnel in fulfilling their specific missions, as well as for their contribution to promoting the image of the Romanian Army," the cited source state, Agerpres informs..
The Romanian government, through the National Tax Administration Authority (ANAF), aims to destroy Romanian international road transport companies by taxing the drivers' daily subsistence allowances, the President of the Road Hauliers' Employers' Associations (APTE 2002 ), Dorin Jurjut told a press conference on Thursday.

Dissatisfaction with the practice of ANAF to tax drivers' daily subsistence allowances, including retroactively for a period of 5 years, brought together in Thursday's press conference, the representatives of seven road hauliers' employers' associations: the National Union of Romanian Hauliers (UNTRR), the Federation of Romanian Transport Operators (FORT), Confederation of Romanian Authorised Operators and Hauliers (COTAR), Romanian Association for International Road Transports (ARTRI), Association of Employers of Transporters Europe 2002 (APTE 2002), Association of Road Carriers from Bucovina (ATM Bucovina) and the Association of Road Transporters "Apulum" Alba Iulia.

"Unfortunately, a transport company locks its doors as long as our meeting lasts. At best, if it does not go bankrupt, that investor is thinking of moving to Hungary or Slovakia. Is that what the Romanian Government wants, given that they are not engaging in a dialogue with us? (...) We are competing with all companies in Western Europe. Insofar as we are taxed with the daily subsistence allowances, we will no longer be able to compete with Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and other countries, including in the western states, where the daily allowance is exempt from payroll taxes. (...) In recent months we have witnessed concerted actions by the Romanian state, including ANAF, that unequivocally aim to destroy Romanian transport by retroactively taxing daily allowances for five years," President of APTE 2002 Dorin Jurjut said, Agerpres informs.

He explained that the taxation of daily allowances for drivers of road hauliers' employers' associations would mean taking Romanian companies off the international market and argued that the tax inspectors sent by ANAF to road transport companies with the precise purpose of imposing tax calculations for daily allowances fulfill their task against their own will and conscience.

Tax consultant Petru Horga, also representing APTE 2002, explained that the daily allowance is not a salary income.

UNTRR representative Lorena Sandu said that ANAF's practice of taxing drivers' daily allowance has no legal basis, as the specific legislation has not changed, and added that all other EU states have non-taxable daily allowances.

The representative of FORT and ATM Bucovina, Alin Cretu, also stressed that no EU member state taxes drivers' daily allowance, except Romania.

The president of COTAR, Vasile Stefanescu, also appreciated that the Government's practice of treating drivers' daily allowances as salaries, therefore taxable, represents a plan to destroy the Romanian road transport.
The consumption behaviour of Romanians has changed lately, and they are starting eating more beef and mutton, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Adrian Oros wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

"The consumption of Romanian beef is encouraged by organising events such as the Romanian Beef Master, which took place on August 4, 2021, at Selimbar, Sibiu County. There, the best team of Romanian beef chefs was designated. Competitors cooked exclusively using products from Romania, using spices, vegetables and beef from local producers. This was the cooks' way of encouraging as many people as possible to come to the aid of Romanian farmers by purchasing products locally. I told the participants that lately the consumption behaviour of Romanians has changed and they are starting eating more beef and mutton. I encourage such events that combine culinary education with the promotion of Romanian products," said Oros.

Oros participated on Wednesday, at the invitation of the Euro East Alternative Cultural Association, in the first edition of the Romanian Beef Master by Radu Zarnescu event, a competition that established the title of the best team of Romanian beef chefs, Agerpres informs.

The winners were the team made up by Adrian Sipoteanu, Ioan David and Gigi Fedeles.
Pelosi helped recruit Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe to work on a solution and persuade the White House that a narrower moratorium could stand up in court, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The new order protects renters only in parts of the country where there is significant COVID-19 transmission, though in practice it initially covers areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. Evictions can resume once there is a lasting reduction in new infections.

The differences are significant, some legal scholars said.

What this does is very directly link the moratorium to the control of COVID-19, said Emily Benfer, a Wake Forest law professor who studies health and housing. With all the information that is now known about the new delta variant, the war on COVID has changed since last time the question of the moratorium was before the Supreme Court, she said.

Brianne Gorod, of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, also cautioned against reading too much into Kavanaughs one-paragraph comment on the moratorium from late June.

Courts will consider how the spread of the delta variant and its significant transmissibility make clear the need for this more targeted moratorium, Gorod said.
WEBSTER GROVES  Officials here say they aim to find another way to add affordable housing after voters overturned a City Council decision that would have allowed for more two-family homes in this leafy, south St. Louis County suburb.

Opponents declared victory on Wednesday, pledging to keep the historic aesthetic in their bedroom community. Meanwhile, others called the vote just the start of the conversation, and said they hoped city housing options would eventually grow.

Webster needs to position itself for the future with housing options, said resident Caroline Miller, who led efforts to keep the councils decision. Change is hard. Change is scary. But we believe this is the start of the conversation.

Nearly 60% of voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 1, overturning a City Council decision in May that amended zoning rules to allow for the construction of two-family dwellings in single-family neighborhoods throughout much of the city.

The ordinance and repeal marked an example of how the municipality, known for its historic homes and tree-lined streets, is at a crossroads in determining what kind of community it wants to become and what type of residents it wants to welcome.
I wish I had a vision when I was younger, he said. His pieces were a little indiscriminate; he wanted to pull them together.

So Thornton is blacking out Davis right arm inch by inch, from wrist to shoulder, covering some less-than-stellar illustrations and creating a new canvas. Then theyll start adding designs in white, like chalk on a chalkboard.

Its not cheap, Davis said of the semimonthly visits. But Ive always been a creative person, and I like to express that.

Small tattoos start around $100, and they tend to reproduce: Most people who have one will end up with at least one more. Complex projects similar to Davis can easily climb past a thousand dollars.

Tattoos are an extra, for sure, but the things that make us feel good are the things we dont want to cut out, said Chelsea Holloway, the owner of Alchemy Tattoo Collective on Cherokee Street. Its something you can look forward to.

Since she started in the industry 13 years ago, the profession has evolved. More women are tattooing, and competition between studios is less cutthroat. The tools are better, and technology makes collaboration easier. Even bandages have improved, allowing for faster healing.
Brown gets calls from half a dozen nurses in one minute. Despite being just 15 feet from his kitchen, he cant get up for meals. His wife, Jean Millner, a former chef, takes his favorite enchiladas or frittatas to his spot in front of his busy screens. He has Alexa play classical music or Broadway tunes to stay calm.

People are sicker. They were coming in and crashing faster, Brown said. From the time they enter the door and the time they wind up on ventilators with serious consequences is much shorter.

They include younger and otherwise healthy adults, pregnant women miscarrying or delivering babies too early. They are nearly all unvaccinated. Its horribly tragic, he said.

Some deny they have COVID-19, he said. Family members of patients he talks with still refute the need to get vaccinated. Others are just misinformed. So many people say I didnt know it was this bad, he said.

While its stressful, the face-to-face doctors are once again bearing the brunt, he said. Im not at the bedside. Im not masked the entire time and having to change gloves and wash hands 40 times a shift or more.
Pursuant to this Courts May 28, 2021, order and in compliance with current CDC guidelines, face masks or coverings are required to be worn by all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, in all public areas of this Court. Employees are not required to wear face coverings or masks in non-public workspaces, Wilsons order notes.

Fresh off a legal victory in St. Louis County, in which a judge issued a temporary restraining order against a mask mandate issued in July, Schmitt this week filed a lawsuit against a similar mask mandate in Kansas City.

Local officials are scrambling to respond to a new surge of coronavirus cases linked to the delta variant and the states tepid response to vaccines that can ward off the respiratory disease.

In his lawsuit against Kansas Citys mandate, Schmitt asked the court to invalidate the mask mandate and issue an injunction or other relief against it.

Schmitt said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas does not have the power to issue a mask mandate because state law gives that authority to local health authorities.
It says an officer with the Ripley County Sheriffs Department applied for a search warrant, which was eventually executed by members of the SEMO Drug Task Force as well as the Highway Patrol and Sheriffs Department. The task force is a 30-year-old effort, according to the Standard Democrat newspaper.

Our goal is to produce highly qualified cases for state and federal prosecution and to positively impact Southeast Missouri, Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark McClendon told the newspaper last year.

Acostas lawsuit says: These persons have no authority to enforce or attempt to enforce any federal laws ... infringing on Plaintiffs right to keep and bear arms.

It continues: the participation of public officers and state employees in this prosecution will subject these public officers and state employees to liability including monetary damages in the amount of $50,000 per occurrence.

In response, Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Edward Thompson said Acosta fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
As of July 15, turnover among the nursing assistants stood at 100%, with 214 vacancies within the seven homes.

Missouri Veterans Commission Operations Director Melissa Skinner told the commission in late July that reductions in the agencys budget have affected all aspects of the homes, ranging from the quality of food to the placement of a cap on the number of veterans the homes can serve.

The homes in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Cameron, Warrensburg, St. James and Mount Vernon have consolidated some units to combat the ongoing staffing shortages. While the homes have the capacity to serve 1,200 veterans, the current population is 733.

The commission is preparing to ask lawmakers and the governor for an immediate infusion of $5 million in state funds to help boost wages in the current fiscal year.

AFSCMEs lawsuit says the union filed a grievance about staff in Warrensburg on April 1, claiming that the worker shortages were creating safety concerns for both staff and residents.

In June, the commission asked the attorney generals office for a review of whether it is an issue that is subject to arbitration.

Hearing dates on the two lawsuits have not been set.
Shortly after Allsberry took office in January 2019, Flynn and a panel of local judges stripped her of the power to fire, promote and discipline clerks. They also limited her computer security and payroll powers. The problems continued, despite attempts by state court officials and judges to mediate the disputes. Flynn suspended her from office on May 28, 2019, and then appointed a replacement.

Flynn claimed 14 reasons why Allsberry should have been removed from office and even criminally charged, but a Cole County circuit judge rejected them all in February and said Allsberry should not have been removed from office. He also said Flynn did not have the power to remove an elected official.

None of the above allegations, individually or collectively, nor any others were supported by proof to establish that Karla Allsberry committed a misdemeanor in office, then-Judge Richard Callahan wrote.

But Callahan also said he did not have the power to reinstate Allsberry. The case is still pending, with a lawyer for Allsberry seeking a court order that would allow her return to office.

The various disputes have resulted in disciplinary complaints being filed against Flynn, and by Flynn against Gregory Allsberry.
JEFFERSON CITY  Following a letter by six GOP state senators slamming employer vaccine mandates, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday that it opposed new regulations on the private sector.

Blasting the possibility of reckless new restrictions on the states business community, Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri chamber, said employers have long had the ability to require shots and that the chamber believes all employers should continue to have this right when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Wednesday, a group of six Republican senators urged Gov. Mike Parson, also a Republican, to call an extraordinary legislative session so that lawmakers may take any and all appropriate steps to protect Missouri workers from vaccine mandates.

The letter was signed by St. Charles County Sens. Bill Eigel and Bob Onder, as well as Sens. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville; Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg; Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove; and Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston.

Parson this year signed legislation barring government entities from requiring proof of vaccination in order for someone to access transportation systems or other public accommodations.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  The mayor of South Carolina's capital city has mandated the use of masks in city schools where some students are too young to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, a move he says will protect vaccine-ineligible children amid the pandemic's resurgence.

What were facing right now with the rise of the delta variant is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told The Associated Press on Wednesday, ahead of a news conference to discuss his plans. Adults can make decisions for themselves. ... Children do not have that ability or autonomy, and its important that we do what we should do, as a mature, compassionate, civilized society, and provide for our children.

The effort  which requires face coverings for children between ages two and 14, as well as faculty, staff and visitors in the city's schools and day cares, both public and private  puts Benjamin, a Democrat, at odds with Republican Gov. Henry McMaster as well as the GOP-controlled Legislature, which recently barred such policies for all public schools.

The challenge is that our babies are unvaccinated," Benjamin, currently in his third and final term as Columbia mayor and among South Carolinas most notable Democrats, said during a City Council meeting Tuesday.
Walker wrote that Chauvin's trial is over and there is no way that jurors fears of intimidation, harassment, or violence can unfairly impact their deliberations. She also wrote that the coalition knows of no threat to any juror or prospective juror, noting that two jurors and an alternate have already come forward.

She said the court's desire to protect jurors from unwanted publicity or harassment are not grounds to keep their identities sealed under law.

She said the media don't minimize the unrest that followed Floyd's death. However, she said much has changed" in the months since the jury rendered its verdict "and at this juncture, resistance to releasing their names appears based on little more than a desire to have them left alone. Thats not enough.

It is not clear when Cahill will rule on the request. Names of jurors and other data such as questionnaires normally become public soon after trials end in Minnesota.
Those advocates are right that systemic racism in police culture is part of the problem, breeding distrust in Black communities that makes community-based crime-fighting more difficult. Theyre right that offering educational and employment opportunities to young people in troubled areas would yield far better results against crime in the long run than merely the threat of imprisonment.

That said, the scourge of violence against innocent citizens today isnt some right-wing bogeyman. Its real, as residents in the most crime-ridden areas of St. Louis can attest. Progressives who want to shrug off the terrors that these victims face as some temporary problem that social programs will eventually alleviate should remember that these are families trying to raise their kids in peace right now  and that most of these victims are low-income and Black.
At a time when public health desperately requires the publics trust, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones are failing, creating further confusion instead of bringing people together during a crisis that threatens both lives and livelihoods.

First, let me be clear that the two governmental executives are absolutely correct about the need for the public to wear masks indoors because the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire among the unvaccinated population in St. Louis and across Missouri. And they certainly arent wrong when they say more people should be getting vaccinated.

But the manner in which Page and Jones have acted has allowed the debate to shift from whether the public should be getting vaccinated and wearing masks to how government and public officials should go about getting citizens to do that  by convincing them or by forcing them. And whether the two have the authority to act alone, or if they should even if they can.
Stop along the way at the North Slope Recreation area where licensed fishermen can try their luck for elusive trout in three different lakes (May to Oct) and adventure-seekers can hike and bike on nearby trails.

On the packed train, our affable guide David kept up a running commentary as we rode up the 8.9 miles, at some points gaining 25 feet for every 100 feet in search of the elusive yellow-bellied marmot, Big Horn sheep and mule deer. We also passed towering Ponderosa pines and Aspen trees that will be especially beautiful when they turn colors in fall.

David told us it all started with a mule in the late 1880s when Zalmon Simmons (yes, he was the Simmons who founded the Beautyrest Mastress Company) took a two-day trip to the summit on a mule to check on one of his inventions, telegraph wires that ran to the summit.

He decided the views were so terrific that more people should be able to access the summit in an easier way. Track was laid and the first riders made it to the top of Pikes Peak on June 30, 1881 with engineers shoveling coal to get the steam locomotives up the mountain.
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TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Carbon Streaming Corporation (Carbon Streaming or the Company) (NEO: NETZ) (FSE: M2QA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a carbon credit streaming agreement (Carbon Stream) with Infinite-EARTH Limited (InfiniteEARTH). InfiniteEARTH is the developer of the industrys flagship REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) project, the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project (the Rimba Raya Project). The Rimba Raya Project, for which InfiniteEARTH has exclusive carbon and marketing rights, is expected to create over 70 million credits over its remaining 20-year crediting period (approximately 3.5 million carbon credits per annum).

Transaction Highlights:

InfiniteEARTH will deliver 100% of the carbon credits created by the Rimba Raya Project, expected to be 70 million credits over the next 20 years, less up to 635,000 carbon credits per annum which are already committed to previous buyers. For the first four years, the amounts delivered under the Carbon Stream include 1,000,000 carbon credits per annum at a pre-agreed gross sale price of US$8.50.

An upfront cash investment of US$26.3 million (the  Cash Consideration ) consisting of US$22.3 million for the Carbon Stream with InfiniteEARTH and US$4.0 million for the SAA with the Founders (as defined below).

) consisting of US$22.3 million for the Carbon Stream with InfiniteEARTH and US$4.0 million for the SAA with the Founders (as defined below). An issuance of 22,695,900 common shares of the Company (the  Share Consideration ) for entering into the SAA, which the Founders intend to use to build a robust team to develop a portfolio of Blue Carbon projects throughout the Americas.

) for entering into the SAA, which the Founders intend to use to build a robust team to develop a portfolio of Blue Carbon projects throughout the Americas. In addition to the Cash Consideration, the Company will make ongoing payments to InfiniteEARTH for each carbon credit that is sold under the Carbon Stream.

It is with great excitement that we announce the Rimba Raya project to Carbon Streamings shareholders. As indicated by the long list of top-tier companies that have already purchased carbon credits from the Rimba Raya Project, we believe the carbon credits generated by this project will continue to be highly valuable and sought-after as more companies begin their carbon offset process and look to purchase carbon credits from high-quality REDD+ projects like the Rimba Raya Project, which offers substantial climate, community and biodiversity benefits, said Justin Cochrane, Carbon Streamings President & CEO.

Operating for over a decade, the Rimba Raya Project is located on the island of Borneo in Indonesia and serves to protect and preserve tropical lowland peat swamp forests. This is one of the most endangered ecosystems of the world, and native home of the last high-density population of the endangered Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), a beloved and critically endangered species. The Rimba Raya Project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 3,527,171 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) per year with a total reduction of 130 million tCO2e estimated over its 30-year carbon offset project, which started in 2009.

InfiniteEARTH is a pioneer in the REDD+ industry, having developed the worlds first REDD+ carbon accounting methodology, the first REDD+ project validated under the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard www.verra.org), and the first REDD+ project to receive a triple-gold verification under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard. In addition, InfiniteEARTHs Rimba Raya Project is the worlds first REDD+ project to be verified under the newly launched Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SDVista), earning the highest possible rating for demonstrating its contribution to all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

In addition to the Carbon Stream, the Company and the founders of InfiniteEARTH (Founders) have entered into a strategic alliance agreement (SAA) whereby they have agreed to provide consulting services to the Company, which will consist of carbon project advisory services, carbon credit marketing and sales services, as well as assisting the Company with due diligence initiatives on new potential carbon investment opportunities. In addition, the SAA provides Carbon Streaming with a right of first refusal on any carbon streaming or royalty financing transaction for projects that are planned in the future, which includes a portfolio of Blue Carbon credit projects throughout the Americas which the Founders believe have the potential to create over 18 million carbon credits per year.

Justin Cochrane stated, Carbon Streaming is thrilled to be partnering with InfiniteEARTH and its Founders to fight climate change, preserve the rich biodiversity of this area, and improve the health and economic well-being of these local communities. Mr. Cochrane continued, This investment builds on Carbon Streamings high-quality nature-based portfolio including the recently announced blue carbon MarVivo project in Mexico and the Bonobo Peace Forest projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It demonstrates our commitment to invest in carbon credit projects around the world that also provide substantial community and biodiversity benefits.

Todd Lemons, Co-Founder of InfiniteEARTH added, The terms of the carbon streaming agreement provides up-front capital that allows us to fast-track several major initiatives within the Rimba Raya Project, including the delivery of more extensive medical services via our floating clinic through a significant increase in trip frequency and the addition of new equipment and medical personnel. Additionally, it allows us to begin a major reforestation effort through the development of a community-owned, native cash-crop agroforestry initiative. Likewise, the terms of the SAA provide the working capital for MarVivo to develop a portfolio of Blue Carbon projects - in parallel rather than sequentially - throughout the Americas. In short, both deals allow us to substantially increase our pace and rate of positive impact, rather than effecting incremental change through annual sales over time.

A portion of the revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits will go directly to the Rimba Raya Project to support local community development and provincial government infrastructure. In addition, money spent on project area protection and conservation can potentially lead to higher GHG emission reductions, and thereby increased carbon credits in future years. These activities include building watch towers to monitor wildfires or deforestation activities, cleaning rivers and planting mangroves for reforestation. Community involvement is vital for these activities, which encourages local people to take an active part in continual project development. Community involvement is also enhanced through the development of programs to improve quality of life, such as water filtration systems, floating healthcare facilities, educational scholarships, and solar energy. All of which make significant contributions to Indonesias sustainable development goals and UN climate commitments.

More information about the Rimba Raya Project can be found here: https://rimba-raya.com/.

Closing of the Carbon Stream is subject to customary conditions with closing anticipated to occur within two weeks.

About InfiniteEARTH

InfiniteEARTH is a Hong Kong-based project development company that develops and manages conservation land banks and provides environmental offsets and corporate social responsibility (CSR) solutions to companies across the globe. The company was formed in 2008 with the goal of creating the Rimba Raya Project, a 64,500-hectare peat forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Rimba Raya is one of the worlds largest REDD+ projects. The project eradicates deforestation, promotes conservation of local wildlife and sells carbon credits based on the carbon rich forest which was previously gazetted for conversion to palm oil.

InfiniteEARTHs projects focus on the preservation of endangered species habitat, High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Forests, and National Parks through the creation of social and physical buffer zones.

All projects are designed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by funding sustainable development in rural communities through capacity building, transfer of low-impact technologies such as solar and fuel-efficient cookstoves, aquaponics, agro-forestry (jungle crop) models, and social benefits programs such as health care and early childhood education materials.

About Carbon Streaming Corporation

Carbon Streaming is a unique ESG principled investment vehicle offering investors exposure to carbon credits, a key instrument used by both governments and corporations to achieve their carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals. Our business model is focused on acquiring, managing and growing a high-quality and diversified portfolio of investments in projects and/or companies that generate or are actively involved, directly or indirectly, with voluntary and/or compliance carbon credits.

The Company invests capital through carbon credit streaming arrangements with project developers and owners to accelerate the creation of carbon offset projects by bringing capital to projects that might not otherwise be developed. Many of these projects will have significant social and economic co-benefits in addition to their carbon reduction or removal potential.

If you would like to receive corporate updates via e-mail as soon as they are published, please subscribe here: https://www.carbonstreaming.com/contact/request-information/.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, statements and figures with respect to the estimation of future carbon credit generation and GHG emissions reductions at the Rimba Raya Project; the use of proceeds from the Carbon Stream, the timing and closing of the transaction; the generation of local community benefits; the conservation and protection of forestry and endangered species; the creation of future carbon credits; the Founders use of the Share Consideration and the business and assets of the Company and its strategy going forward) are forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: general economic, market and business conditions and the other risks disclosed under the heading Risk Factors and elsewhere in the Company's AIF dated as of June 30, 2021 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210803005415/en/

ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY:

Justin Cochrane, President and CEO

Tel: 647.846.7765

info@carbonstreaming.com

www.carbonstreaming.com

Investor inquiries can be directed to: investors@carbonstreaming.com

Source: Carbon Streaming Corporation
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 3, 2021) - GoviEx Uranium Inc. (TSXV: GXU) (OTCQB: GVXXF) ("GoviEx or the Company") is pleased to announce the positive results from the recent geophysics program completed on the Company's Falea polymetallic project in Mali (the "Falea Project").

A large, chargeable body highlighted underneath the Falea deposit, which is over 2 km in length, and 500 m wide on the Falea tenement.

Potential for chargeable body in the northeast area of the Bala license and the IP program highlights the much shallower depth to basement and associated unconformity.

The Falea and Bala areas are highly prospective for unconformity type polymetallic uranium-copper-silver deposits.

The Falea Project consists of three Exploration Permits; Falea, Bala and Madini. The Falea polymetallic deposit, containing uranium, copper, silver and gold, has been defined at or near the unconformity between the Taoudeni basal sediments and the underlying metamorphic rocks of the Birimian aged sequences by extensive drilling that stopped only a few metres beyond the ore body within the Birimian rocks.

It is believed that the Falea deposit results from mineralising fluids intruded via the faults in the area to deposit suitable trap sites at the unconformity with the overlying rocks (Figure 1). Historical drilling programmes have not tested the presence of mineralised bodies below the unconformity within the Birimian.

"The Falea Project already contains an indicated resource containing 17.4Mlb U3O8, 24.4 Mlb copper and 16.1 Mlb silver, and an inferred resources 13.4Mlb U3O8 also with copper and silver mineralisation.(1) A drill core assay program, in 2020, also highlighted gold mineralisation associated with the faulting.(2)(3)This IP survey clearly highlights the exploration potential for the Falea Project both for further unconformity based targets and deeper chargeability targets with uranium, copper, silver and gold mineralisation achievable," noted Govind Friedland, executive Chairman.

The IP and resistivity surveys completed in 2020 and 2021, by Terratec Geophysical Services, from Germany, were aimed at identifying the fault structures and the presence of chargeable bodies, which can be a proxy for the presence of mineralised bodies below the unconformity. A total of 245-line km were covered over 27 blocks for the gradient Induced Polarisation ("IP") and Resistivity and an additional 6 High Resolution IP ("HIRIP") profiles were completed (Figure 2).(3)

The results from this work has defined a large IP chargeable anomaly which extends southward for over 2 km from the Falea deposit, which has not yet been drill tested by GoviEx.

A number of fault structures can be seen in the HIRIP data and it could be envisaged that such structures acted as feeders to the Falea deposit, and may still host mineralisation (Figures 2, 3 and 4).

The recent 2021 survey also targeted the Bala licence, some 8 km south of the Falea deposit, where no historical drilling has been carried out. Previous field work has interpreted faulting from magnetic data as well as radiometric and radon anomalies at surface. An area of 4 km2 was selected to determine if any IP or resistivity anomalies would be present, followed by 2 HIRIP lines, which would define apparent depths of anomalies.

The results of the gradient IP and resistivity show the presence of a large chargeable body in the north-eastern side of the survey area, which can be seen also on the HIRIP sections. The presence of fault structures can also be seen, which are similar in orientation to what is seen further north.

The IP work to date has been successful, highlighting:

A large chargeable body underneath the Falea deposit, over 2km in length, and 500m in width on the Falea Exploration Permit.

This anomaly, and others now identified over the Falea Project, highlight the potential of other targets which the Company will be busy prioritising over coming months.

On the Bala Exploration Permit, there is potential chargeable body to the northeast and with a much shallower depth to basement, than on the Falea Exploration Permit.

The Falea and Bala Exploration Permit areas remain highly prospective for unconformity type polymetallic uranium-copper-silver deposits.

Figure 1: Potential flow of mineralised of the Falea Project.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_001full.jpg

Figure 2: Location of survey areas and HIRIP lines to date.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_figure2enhanced.jpg

Figure 3: Line FAL20-1 shows IP anomaly underneath the Falea deposit, and drill holes only just clipping the anomalies and not testing them.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_008full.jpg

Figure 4: Line FAL-21_03- shows continuity of chargeable body at depth within the Birimian interpreted faulting in the area south of Falea deposit, the continuity of the anomaly between the two lines.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_009full.jpg

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5 (a), please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_012full.jpg

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5 (b), please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_011full.jpg

Figure 5: Gradient IP and resistivity images, showing extent of the chargeable anomaly and faulting in the area.

Figure 6: BAL21-A- shows interpreted faulting and also shallower depth to Birimian basement.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 6, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_013full.jpg

To view an enhanced version of Figure 7 (a), please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_014full.jpg

To view an enhanced version of Figure 7 (b), please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_015full.jpg

Figure 7: Bala Survey Area: gradient IP and Resistivity images- showing a large chargeable body to the Northeast of the area.

Qualified Person Statement

The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jerome Randabel, MAIG, Chief Geologist of GoviEx, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

Technical Notes

The gradient survey is carried out along lines spaced at 100m apart with line lengths ranging between 265 to 1,150 m. The electrode spacing or AB spacing was between 2,750 and 3,110 m, and receiver points spacing at 50 m on an overlapping pattern. Terratec used Time domain receivers from IRIS Instrument with 150 m of cable, with 7 brass electrodes spaced at 25 m. The transmitter used was a WalcerTX9000.

The block pattern is illustrated below:

To view an enhanced version of Figure 8, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_016full.jpg

The HIRIP Lines (High Resolution Resistivity and IP) were selected to detect resistivity and chargeability distribution at depth to support detailed geological interpretation. The technique provided true resistivity to a depth of approximately 550 m with electrode spacing of 20 m and a profile length of 1,900 m. The HIRIP lines were selected in discussion with Terratec. Transmitter injection points were prepared with a spacing of 40 m and offset 50 m (Figure 3) parallel to the receiver lines. The data distribution of a HIRIP pole dipole array for a 1,900 m line is illustrated below:

To view an enhanced version of Figure 9, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5017/91925_f057491cf4504baf_017full.jpg

The equipment used by Terratec is a Time domain induced polarization multi electrode receiver from Iris Instruments connected to a 1,900 m long cable with 96 electrodes at 20m spacing. A Transmitter used was an Iris VP400.

Notes:

See: Technical Report titled "Technical Report on the Falea Uranium, Silver and Copper Deposit, Mali, West Africa" prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. for Denison Mines Corp., October 26, 2015. See news release dated July 6, 2020. See news release dated December 15, 2020.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About GoviEx Uranium

GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties in Africa. GoviEx's principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its flagship mine-permitted Madaouela Project in Niger, its mine-permitted Mutanga Project in Zambia, and its multi-element Falea Project in Mali.

Information Contacts

Govind Friedland, Executive Chairman

Daniel Major, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1-604-681-5529

Email: info@goviex.com

Web: www.goviex.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in GoviEx's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward- looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information.

Forward-looking statements include those related to the exploration potential for the Falea Project; that the Falea deposit may still host mineralisation below the unconformity; the potential chargeable body of the Bala Exploration Permit; and that the Falea and Bala Exploration Permit areas remain highly prospective for unconformity type polymetallic uranium-copper-silver deposits.

Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that its expectations will be achieved. Such assumptions, which may prove incorrect, include the following: (i) that the Company will be successful in its exploration and development plans for the Falea Project; (ii) that projected low capital expenditures for the Falea Project will remain unchanged or improve; (iii) that the Company will be able to follow up on the positive results of the geophysics program with additional exploration; and (iv) that the price of uranium will remain sufficiently high and the costs of advancing the Company's projects will remain sufficiently low so as to permit GoviEx to implement its business plans in a profitable manner.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include (i) the inability of the Company to complete follow-up exploration work on the Falea Project; (ii) potential delays due to COVID-19 restrictions; (iii) the failure of the Company's projects, for technical, logistical, labour-relations, or other reasons; (iv) a decrease in the price of uranium below what is necessary to sustain the Company's operations; (v) an increase in the Company's operating costs above what is necessary to sustain its operations; (vi) accidents, labour disputes, or the materialization of similar risks; (vii) a deterioration in capital market conditions that prevents the Company from raising the funds it requires on a timely basis; and (viii) generally, the Company's inability to develop and implement a successful business plan for any reason.

In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Risks Factors" in the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2020, of GoviEx, which is available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release.

Although GoviEx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance, or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances, or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information in this news release will transpire or occur, or, if any of them do so, what benefits that GoviEx will derive therefrom. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and GoviEx disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/91925
Bora and one of her handlers at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, Staff Sgt. Adrienne Dunham. The pair deployed to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and went on missions in Paris and Brussels during the 18 months they worked together, from 2016-2017. (Adrienne Dunham)

She worked hard, played hard and devoted her entire life to the U.S. military.

And Bora, a military working dog from Spangdahlem Air Base, literally and figuratively had the biggest heart, her former handler said days after the German shepherd died at age 12.

Boras heart was three to four times larger than a normal German shepherds, said Staff Sgt. Adrienne Dunham, who worked with Bora for 18 months starting in 2016 and adopted her when she was medically retired last year.

Veterinarians had discovered during a pre-deployment checkup that Bora had a heart defect, Dunham said.

They noticed she had a heart murmur, and when they looked into it, they saw her heart was enlarged, one of her valves was defective, a bunch of different stuff, said Dunham, who was with the 52nd Security Forces Squadron when she worked with Bora. They dont know how they didnt catch it before because shes had it all her life.

Bora, a 12-year-old German shepherd, who worked as an explosive detection dog with the 52nd Security Forces Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, is surrounded by toys at the home of the American family, the Gerbers, who adopted her in 2020. Bora was retired after veterinarians found she had a heart condition. (Christine Gerber) Military working dog Bora eyes a cake on her 11th birthday, April 15, 2020. Bora was medically retired that year and adopted by her handler at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, Staff Sgt. Adrienne Dunham. (Adrienne Dunham)

Not only was her heart physically large, but Bora was also powered by love, Dunham said.

She did biting for a while as a patrol dog but never really enjoyed it, so they made her an explosives detection dog, Dunham said.

A lot of people, when they see a working dog, they see a big, scary dog that bites and think thats all they do or care about, she added. But working dogs are cuddly, sweet and intelligent.

Bora continued to thrive after her diagnosis but was medically retired last year at age 11.

Her daily routine switched from working to sleeping on Dunhams couch, playing with her favorite dog toy and going to the park.

When Dunham returned to the U.S. in September, Bora couldnt go with her because of her heart condition, so she went to live with the Gerbers, an Air Force family stationed at Spangdahlem.

Military working dog Bora on the job at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. The German shepherd didn't like patrol work because of the biting involved and was moved over to explosives detection, said her former handler, Staff Sgt. Adrienne Dunham. (Christine Gerber)

After months of canine retirement living, Boras condition worsened last month.

Her heart had grown since her last visit to the cardiologist a few months earlier. It spanned five of Boras ribs, Christine Gerber said.

Vets put her on the maximum dosage of medication, but she blacked out every few minutes, her heart unable to pump enough blood around her body. She died at the end of July.

Dunham was devastated when she learned of Boras death, she said by phone from Albuquerque, N.M., where she is assigned to the 377th Security Forces Group.

It crushes you when they go, she said. But Id never do anything else. Working dogs are amazing creatures.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets took off and landed on a closed section of the civilian highway M-32 west of the town of Alpena, Mich., on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in a training exercise National Guard officials labeled a first for Air Force combat pilots in the United States. (Screenshot from Michigan State Police Twitter video)

A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets landed and took off from a remote stretch of state highway in the northern part of Michigans Lower Peninsula on Thursday in a training exercise National Guard officials labeled a first for Air Force combat pilots in the United States.

Four A-10s, the popular close air support jets known among troops as Warthogs, took off and landed on a closed section of the civilian highway M-32 west of the town of Alpena, Michigan Guard officials said. A pair of C-146A Wolfhound turbo-prop special operations transport planes also participated in the operation, titled Thunder Landing Zone, the Michigan Guard said in a statement.

Thunder [Landing Zone] gave the pilots the opportunity to land in an austere environment that theyre not used to, Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Wyrzykowski, the Michigan Air Force National Guard pilot who commanded the mission, said in a statement. But its also a first in the nation, as this is the first time that modern combat aircraft have landed on U.S. soil, on a highway.

The events saw two A-10s from Michigan National Guards 127th Wing land on the highway and two A-10s from the active-duty 355th Wing from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., also land on the highway, officials said. The C-146 crew came from Air Force Special Operations Command at Duke Field, Fla.

The operation on Thursday was conducted as part of the Michigan National Guards annual training event known as Northern Strike, which includes some 5,100 service members from several states and countries training to prepare for a potential conflict with a near-peer adversary, such as Russia or China, according to the Guards description of the exercise. The training runs through Aug. 14.

The Thunder Landing Zone mission fits into preparations for major combat operations because pilots might need to be able to land and take off from unusual locations when facing an enemy with similar air defense capabilities as the United States, defense officials have said.

Our adversaries have advanced weapons systems and advanced technology that they can use against us, so we need to be able to operate efficiently in austere situations and gain proficiency in those operations, Wyrzykowski said. We are making sure we are ready for the high-end fight against a near-peer adversary.

Michigan State Police shut down about three miles of the four-lane highway for about five hours for the exercise. Videos posted by the law enforcement agency show civilians gathered along the highway to watch the military aircraft come and go.

No speeding citations were issued during the exercise. pic.twitter.com/isAoy05FoV  @MSPNorthernMI (@mspnorthernmi) August 5, 2021

Nearby homes went without power during the exercise as a safety precaution, Guard officials said.

Air Force Col. Jim Rossi, who commands the Michigan Guards Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center near the location of Thursdays training event, thanked the local community for supporting the exercise.

Id like to extend our gratitude for the outstanding support we enjoy from our civil partners and the local community. Without them, this historic training event would not be possible, Rossi said in a statement. Theyre such a patriotic group of Americans who are up here, willing to support and are as excited as we are to make this happen.
Service members at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, build an apparatus for dropping medical supplies to a critically injured soldier aboard a vessel at sea, July 25, 2021. (U.S. Army)

A joint effort by four service branches ended with a critically injured U.S. soldier successfully retrieved from an Army vessel in the Pacific on July 26, according to the Air Force.

The unidentified soldier was injured aboard the vessel off the coast of Angaur, Palau, during the Forager exercise. With severe weather conditions and significant distances involved, members of the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Army organized an emergency medical evacuation for the soldier, according to an Air Force news release on Aug. 2.

The Air Force did not identify the soldier, the nature of the injuries or the vessel involved. An Army spokesperson did not respond to emails or phone calls from Stars and Stripes on Thursday.

Facing uncertain conditions, the rescue team made two plans. The first was to deploy a helicopter from Sea Combat Squadron 25 on Guam to land on the ship and evacuate the soldier.

If that proved unworkable, the next plan was to airdrop medical supplies to the ship, according to the Air Force.

We had a critically injured Soldier being cared for by an Army Combat Medic," said Col. Joseph Hudak, command surgeon for I Corps, in the news release. "That highly capable medic could keep the Soldier alive while rescue efforts continued, but he needed additional supplies."

Hudak coordinated with Air Force Lt. Col. Steven Massie, commander of the 36th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, to organize airdrops from a C-130J Super Hercules.

The Navy and Air Force teams worked with soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Group and 82nd Airborne Division, and sailors from the Navy Special Warfare Command, to organize the drops, according to the Air Force. Plans were in place and ready to go within 90 minutes.

Service members at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, build an apparatus for dropping medical supplies to a critically injured soldier aboard a vessel at sea, July 25, 2021. (U.S. Army)

Ive been in the Air Force for 17 years, and I dont know of anybody that has [made an airdrop] to a ship, Massie told Stars and Stripes by phone on Wednesday.

The airlift squadron is also responsible for Operation Christmas Drop, a long-standing training mission that doubles as a humanitarian airlift that delivers essential supplies to Micronesia.

The tactics, techniques and procedures that we use for Operation Christmas Drop are the same ones that we were going to perform to put that [medical supply] bundle where it needed to be, Massie said.

Just as two C-130s were prepared to take off, the Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter found a break in the weather and managed to land on the vessel.

The soldier was taken aboard and flown to Naval Hospital Guam, according to the news release.

The first thing you walk away thinking is just Wow, Massie said. It really shows our ability as a complete component of the Department of Defense to be able to uphold our vow that we will bring everybody home.
Daniel Perry shot Garrett Foster in the middle of a Black Lives Matter protest on July 25 in downtown Austin. His attorney said he fired in self-defense. (Broden & Mickelsen Law Firm/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  The case against a driver and U.S. Army sergeant charged with killing a Black Lives Matter protester and Air Force veteran in Austin will continue after a state district judge on Wednesday disagreed with the defense's allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and denied a motion to dismiss.

Sgt. Daniel Perry, who was indicted by a Travis County grand jury this summer on charges of murder, aggravated assault and deadly conduct, has said that he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Garrett Foster a year ago in downtown Austin.

Since the indictment, Perry's attorney has filed several motions accusing District Attorney Jose Garza of manipulating the grand jury system. Austin police Detective David Fugitt, who determined that the shooting was justified, has said that prosecutors instructed him to dramatically scale down his grand jury presentation of his evidence in the case involving Daniel Perry.

When Fugitt asked prosecutors if he would face any ramifications if he did not edit his presentation, they resent him an email simply reaffirming the subjects he was not allowed to mention in his testimony.

That was "when the conduct of the district attorney's office went from highly unethical behavior to criminal behavior," Fugitt wrote in an affidavit Monday.

On Wednesday, state District Judge Cliff Brown disagreed.

"Reading (Fugitt's) affidavit on its face, I do not find anything to be legally or criminally coercive," Brown said.

By law, prosecutors do not have an obligation to present favorable evidence to a grand jury, Brown said. Dismissing an indictment would require "egregious conduct," and Brown saw nothing that rose to that level.

"I am not prepared to jump across the chasm with you that (prosecutors) have engaged in some criminal conduct," Brown said.

Brown said he knows Fugitt and "holds him in the highest regard," but added that Fugitt was only one witness for the grand jury.

Travis County district attorney prosecutors have made this point as well. Fugitt only knows what he presented to the grand jury  he doesn't know what evidence was presented outside his testimony.

"The state made a thorough and balanced presentation of evidence to the grand jury in keeping with its obligations under the law, and the defendant's assertions about the state's presentation of evidence are based on uninformed assumptions," Garza and Assistant District Attorney Guillermo Gonzalez wrote in their filed response.

After Brown denied Perry's motion to dismiss his indictment, Brown also ordered that minutes of the grand jury testimony be turned over to defense. In July, prosecutors authored an order that would grant Perry access to all grand jury transcripts and exhibits, as long as a judge allowed it.

The shooting happened July 25, 2020, on Congress Avenue where Perry, moonlighting as a ride-hailing driver, encountered a Black Lives Matter march underway and tried to navigate through it.

Foster  who was legally carrying an assault rifle  approached Perry's car. Perry told investigators Foster raised his weapon at him, and that's when Perry fired.

Foster also had a military background. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a flight mechanic until he was 19, when he was discharged to be the full-time caretaker for his girlfriend, who is a quadruple amputee.

Part of the evidence Fugitt was asked not to share included details that some of the witnesses who said Foster did not raise his AK-47 assault rifle toward Perry also admitted that they were not in a position to witness Foster's actions, according to a court filing from Perry's lawyer.

Additionally, prosecutors asked Fugitt to remove some statements from his presentation in which he pointed out that a woman in the crowd "never suggested that Daniel Perry intentionally ... threatened her with imminent bodily injury" when he drove his car through the crowd of protesters, which is the basis for his deadly conduct charge.

Perry's attorney, Clint Broden, said he was disappointed by Brown's decision, but understands the prosecutors are not obligated to present all evidence to a grand jury.

"This certainly does not excuse Mr. Garza's actions," Broden said. "Judge Brown has also agreed to allow us to present additional evidence, if the Texas Rangers conduct a review of Jose Garza's politically motivated actions in this case."

Statesman investigative reporter Tony Plohetski contributed to this article.

2021 www.statesman.com.

Visit statesman.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Justice
U.S. Army Pfc. Franklin Lawrence Handley was killed in a head-on traffic crash in Missouri on July 23, 2021. (U.S. Army)

JANESVILLE, Wisc. (Tribune News Service)  The body of U.S. Army Pfc. Franklin Lawrence Handley, 23, returned his hometown on Wednesday after he died in a head-on traffic crash in Missouri on July 23.

The serviceman was accompanied by a procession from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee to Schneider Funeral Home in Janesville, Wisc. late Wednesday afternoon.

Handley attended schools in Evansville and South Beloit, Illinois, graduating from Evansville High School in 2017.

Handley was one of three fatalities in the crash near Leasburg, Missouri, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis. He attended schools in Evansville and South Beloit, Illinois, graduating from Evansville High School in 2017.

Two passengers in Handleys vehicle  Eve A. King, 22, of Janesville, and Ronald King, 19, of Beloit  also died at the scene of the crash.

The Highway Patrol said Alan Bates, 69, of Lake Worth, Florida lost control of his U-Haul truck, crossed the median and sideswiped Handleys oncoming minivan. The U-Haul then hit a Ford transit van driven by Michael Semmens of Genoa, Illinois. Semmens was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Handley lived in Janesville and previously worked several jobs in the area, including as a halfway house attendant and an Amazon delivery driver. According to his obituary, he was actively pursuing self-employment as a fishing guide.

___

(c)2021 The Janesville Gazette (Janesville, Wis.)

Visit The Janesville Gazette (Janesville, Wis.) at www.gazetteextra.com

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Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii do crunches during their physical fitness test in March 2017. The Corps is doing away with crunches as part of its fitness test and replacing them with planks. (Jesus Sepulveda Torre/U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marines are changing how theyll work the core.

Over the next two years, the Marine Corps physical fitness test will undergo two important changes related to abdominal strength tests, eventually replacing crunches with the plank, a new administrative message said.

The plank reduces the risk of injury and engages almost twice the abdominal muscles that the crunch does, making for a good test of midsection endurance, the message said.

With increased core strength, Marines are less likely to experience injury or fatigue during functional tasks like hiking, lifting and low crawling, the service said in a statement.

The Corps is announcing the changes now to allow Marines time to train.

U.S. Marines hold a plank during Corporals Course physical training in Saudi Arabia, June 6, 2021. The Corps is doing away with crunches as part of its fitness test and replacing them with planks. (Willow Marshall/U.S. Marine Corps)

You will see updated infographics and the plank workout plan on Fitness.Marines.mil very shortly," said Capt. Sam Stephenson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command.

The isometric plank became an optional event in 2020, and will remain so in 2022, though the minimum and maximum times will change. In 2023, the exercise will become mandatory.

Research has shown that sit-ups and crunches with the feet restrained require significant hip flexor activation, the statement said. This has been linked to an increased risk of injury, including lower back pain.

The maximum time for the plank will decrease from 4 minutes, 20 seconds to 3 minutes, 45 seconds. The minimum time will increase by seven seconds to 1 minute, 10 seconds.

Earlier this month, the Air Force also announced that the plank would be an option in its annual fitness assessment test starting next year.

The Navy replaced curl-ups in its physical readiness test with a forearm plank in March after determining the repeated spinal flexion movement of the curl-up is not operationally relevant," that it might aggravate back injuries and wasn't challenging enough.

The functional exercise is required in 85% of shipboard pushing, pulling, lifting or carrying tasks, the Navy said in a November administrative message.

The Army announced in March that it was adding a plank event as a fully graded alternative to the leg tuck in the latest proposed version of the new Army Combat Fitness Test, which began assessment that month.

Army officials expected an uptick in scores, the service said, but the leg tuck would remain the primary test of core strength because it better correlated between fitness requirements and the real world.

Every Soldier should strive to lift themselves, but the plank allows Soldiers the time they need to train on this skill, the Army said.

The Marine Corps is expected to change the scoring tables for the PFT in changes made to its standing fitness test order before the end of this year.
Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays poses for a photo that accompanied a social media post he made on June 14, 2020, that read, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. (Naval Criminal Investigative Service)

The sailor charged with setting the fire and destroying the USS Bonhomme Richard last summer had previously dropped out of training to become a Navy SEAL after only five days and held a grudge against the service, according to an affidavit filed by an investigator seeking a search warrant in the case.

Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays, 20, became an arson suspect soon after the blaze was extinguished four days after it began on July 12, 2020, while the amphibious assault ship was docked in San Diego, according to the 33-page affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California on Sept. 3, 2020.

In the affidavit, which had remained sealed until Tuesday, investigators asked the court for access to Mays social media accounts.

The Navy announced last week that a sailor had been charged with setting the fire but did not identify him.

The contents of the affidavit were first reported by the Daily Beast and San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Bonhomme Richard was undergoing maintenance at Naval Base San Diego when the blaze seared through 11 of the ships 14 decks, destroyed its forward mast and damaged the superstructure before being put out. The Navy said in December the ship would be scrapped.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives determined soon after the blaze was extinguished that it had originated below deck in a section called Lower V, where they found a container that had held a petroleum distillate believed to have been used to start the fire.

Agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service began questioning sailors associated with Lower V, and those interviews led quickly to suspicion of Mays.

Federal firefighters and a helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3 battle a blaze aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego, July 13, 2020. (Omar Powell/U.S. Navy) Sailors and federal firefighters respond to a blaze aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego, July 13, 2020. (Omar Powell/U.S. Navy)

They found a social media message posted publicly by Mays about a month before the fire that said, I love the smell of napalm in the morning  a quote from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

Seaman Kenji Velasco told agents he had seen a masked sailor carrying a bucket down to Lower V, and that he saw no other person go down there before the fire started. Velasco later told them he believed that sailor was Mays.

Command Master Chief Jose Hernandez told NCIS agents that Mays was a person who showed disdain towards authority and the U.S. Navy, the affidavit said.

Mays joined the Navy in 2019 with an eye toward the advanced electronics computer fields, the affidavit said. He changed his mind on that career choice at some point and began Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in October 2019.

He dropped out after five days and was reassigned to the Bonhomme Richard as an undesignated Seaman, the affidavit said.

According to Navy leadership, the morale and behavior of sailors who had aspired to become a SEAL, and then find themselves serving in a more traditional role on a Navy ship, are frequently very challenging, the affidavit said.

NCIS agents interviewed Mays over a 10-hour period on Aug. 20.

He maintained his innocence as to being the cause of the fire throughout the entire interview, the affidavit said. At one point, after being told that he had been identified as having descended the ramp to the Lower V, before the fire started, Mays stated that he was being setup.

Agents arrested him at the end of the interview and took him to the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the affidavit said.

Wyatt Olson
Housing advocates protest outside Governor Andrew Cuomo's office Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in New York. After a federal eviction moratorium was allowed to lapse this weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new moratorium Tuesday on evictions that would last until Oct. 3. (Brittainy Newman/AP)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden may have averted a flood of evictions and solved a growing political problem when his administration reinstated a temporary ban on evictions because of the COVID-19 crisis. But he left his lawyers with legal arguments that even he acknowledges might not stand up in court.

The new eviction moratorium announced Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could run into opposition at the Supreme Court, where one justice in late June warned the administration not to act further without explicit congressional approval.

Landlords from Alabama whose bid to lift the earlier pause on evictions failed returned to federal court in Washington late Wednesday, asking for an order that would allow evictions to resume.

The administration is counting on differences between the new order, scheduled to last until Oct. 3, and the eviction pause that lapsed over the weekend to bolster its legal case. At the very least, as Biden himself said, the new moratorium will buy some time to protect the estimated 3.6 million Americans who could face eviction from their homes.

Some legal scholars who doubt the new eviction ban will stand up say its legal underpinnings are strikingly similar to the old one.

"Meet the new moratorium, same as the old moratorium!" Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who backed Biden over former President Donald Trump last year, wrote on Reason.com.

Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor, said he expects landlords "all over the country to turn immediately to the courts in an effort to secure a preliminary injunction," an order that would effectively allow evictions to resume.

The basic legal issue is whether the CDC has the authority in the midst of a public health crises to impose a pause on evictions, under existing federal law that dates to 1944.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in May the CDC exceeded its power under that law, a decision Bagley called "measured and sensible." But Friedrich kept her ruling in favor of the Alabama landlords on hold pending appeal.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the moratorium to remain in place through the end of July, even though one justice in the majority, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that he believed CDC lacked authority to order it. Extending the moratorium any further, Kavanaugh wrote, would be possible only with "clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation)."

In the landlords' new court filing, lawyer Brett Shumate wrote that "the CDC caved to the political pressure by extending the moratorium, without providing any legal basis." The administration has until early Friday to respond.

Congress has not acted. Neither the House nor Senate had the votes for a temporary extension, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not so much as hint Tuesday that she would try to move legislation through the House.

"Today is a day of extraordinary relief. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, the imminent fear of eviction and being put out on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is Here!" Pelosi said in a statement.

Biden was told a new nationwide moratorium, like the one that just expired, would likely be blocked by courts, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the administration went ahead without Congress weighing in, after officials devised a plan with enough changes to, they hope, make it less vulnerable to court challenges.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Wednesday that Biden, who has a law degree, would not have supported it if he was uncomfortable with the legal standing or approach, despite the doubts he aired publicly a day earlier.

"This is a narrow, targeted moratorium that is different from the national moratorium. It's not an extension of that," Psaki said.

Pelosi helped recruit Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe to work on a solution and persuade the White House that a narrower moratorium could stand up in court, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The new order protects renters only in parts of the country where there is significant COVID-19 transmission, though in practice it initially covers areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. Evictions can resume once there is a lasting reduction in new infections.

The differences are significant, some legal scholars said.

"What this does is very directly link the moratorium to the control of COVID-19," said Emily Benfer, a Wake Forest law professor who studies health and housing. With all the information that is now known about the new delta variant, "the war on COVID has changed" since last time the question of the moratorium was before the Supreme Court, she said.

Brianne Gorod, of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, also cautioned against reading too much into Kavanaugh's one-paragraph comment on the moratorium from late June.

Courts will "consider how the spread of the delta variant and its significant transmissibility make clear the need for this more targeted moratorium," Gorod said.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, ruled in late July in a separate lawsuit that CDC lacks the authority to issue pauses on eviction. And the CDC order itself says it does not apply "to the extent its application is prohibited by federal court order."

As a result, Barbara Peck, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee state court system, said Wednesday that lawyers for courts in her state had "advised that it is not applicable in Tennessee."

Two large Ohio court systems on Thursday issued conflicting decisions regarding the new moratorium. In Franklin County, home to state capital Columbus, County Administrative Judge Ted Barrows said the moratorium wouldn't be enforced based on last month's 6th Circuit decision.

But in Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, the new moratorium will be enforced, according to a release from the office of Housing Court Judge Mona Scott, who noted the county has the second-highest coronavirus transmission level in Ohio.

Some housing advocates said the new system would be complicated but would prevent some evictions. Their clients were grateful for the reprieve.

Antoinette Eleby, 42, of Miami, said she had been worried as she expected an eviction order within two to three weeks after she said her landlord twice refused to take federal rental assistance. She had sent five of nine children to live with her mother in another county.

But after hearing about the new CDC order, Eleby said she was hopeful the additional time would persuade her landlord to take the federal funds and she could remain in her home. She has been told by her lawyer that the order means she cannot be evicted by sheriff's officers.

"Now that this happened, I'm kind of at ease. I am just seeing what are the next steps. I just have to continue hoping for the best," said Eleby, who couldn't work for part of the pandemic after her family contracted COVID-19.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville in Washington, Michael Casey in Boston, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Buy Photo An Air Force medical technician injects the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine into a Japanese worker at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa June 16. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

Vaccine maker Moderna said Thursday that protection from its coronavirus shots remained strong  93 percent effective  six months after full vaccination.

The company also announced that it had tested three potential booster shots, which had demonstrated robust antibody responses and topped off immunity, bringing antibodies back to the protective levels triggered by full vaccination.

Pfizer-BioNTech made a similar announcement last week, stating that its vaccine remained 91 percent protective six months after the second dose. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

We are pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine is showing durable efficacy, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in a statement. But recognize that the Delta variant is a significant new threat so we must remain vigilant.

Modernas vaccine was authorized for emergency use in adults in the United States in December and has since been cleared for emergency or conditional use in adults in more than 50 countries.

The announcement is encouraging news as the United States prepares to welcome back international travelers  when the time is right. A White House official told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the Biden administration is working on a plan to require nearly all incoming foreign travelers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Biden administration wants to reopen international travel, the official said. But after more than a year of barring non-U.S. travelers from dozens of countries including China, Britain, India and South Africa, no timeline has yet been announced.

Officials throughout the government are working on the policy to be prepared for when the time is right to transition to this new system, the official said. It would include a phased approach and require foreign nationals from all countries to be fully vaccinated, with limited exceptions.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that travel restrictions would remain in place at this point because of the delta variant.

The virus continues to rage across parts of the United States, largely due to the highly transmissible delta variant, as millions of Americans remain unvaccinated. The official said the United States is maintaining existing bans because of rising cases at home and abroad.

Bans on international travel to the United States due to the coronavirus were first put in place by President Donald Trump in early 2020. A similar approach was taken by many other countries including China, Chile and Australia, which all utilized border controls as a tool to keep the virus at bay.

The U.S. government under Biden has maintained a cautious approach to reopening foreign travel despite pressure from the U.S. airline and tourism industries to reopen travel with low-risk countries.

European lawmakers and business groups have also voiced criticism of the Biden administration for a lack of reciprocity. Vaccinated U.S. tourists have been allowed to return to much of Europe for weeks, while most Europeans continue to be unable to travel to the United States.

The United Kingdom announced last week that it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and Europe. On Thursday, it further relaxed its quarantine requirements and increased the number of countries on its welcome list.

Canada has said it will begin allowing fully vaccinated American tourists into the country starting Aug. 9, after an unprecedented 16-month ban. Inoculated visitors from countries other than the United States will be permitted to enter from Sept. 7, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

However, some countries are moving the other way. The Israeli Health Ministry said Tuesday it would require both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans to quarantine for a week upon arrival, as Israel added the United States to a growing list of red countries to which Israeli residents were discouraged from traveling. The regulations are slated to take effect Aug. 11.

The United States still warns against travel to Israel and several European countries  among them Spain, Portugal and Cyprus  as the more contagious delta variant fuels coronavirus outbreaks, mostly among the unvaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and State Department advised Monday against travel to places including Greece, Ireland, Iran and the U.S. Virgin Islands due to rising cases.
San Diego resident and Pearl Harbor survivor Stu Hedley rode in the back of a jeep during the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade through the streets of Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 2016. (Howard Lipin, San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service)  Stu Hedley, a Pearl Harbor survivor and Navy veteran who spent decades stoking the flames of remembrance about that pivotal moment in American history, died Wednesday from COVID-19. He was 99.

Short in stature but long on stamina, the San Diegan was a fixture at annual public events honoring military veterans and a frequent speaker at local schools and in front of service organizations.

Clad in a Hawaiian shirt, white slacks and a medallion-bedecked garrison cap, Hedley made hundreds of appearances, in San Diego and elsewhere, sometimes going to multiple functions on the same day. By his count, he spoke to more than 200,000 people over the years.

He never wanted what happened at Pearl Harbor to be forgotten, said David Koontz, marketing director at the USS Midway Museum. He was passionate about making sure we remembered the courage of those who were there that day.

Hedley considered it an honor and a duty to represent those who fought in World War II, especially those who were killed in the conflict. They were the heroes, he often said whenever anyone tried to attach that label to him.

More than 100 of his shipmates aboard the battleship West Virginia died at Pearl Harbor during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack by the Japanese that shoved the United States into the war.

Hedley, a 20-year-old seaman apprentice, narrowly escaped death several times as the ship was hit by torpedoes and bombs.

One explosion tore through the gun turret where he was positioned, killing a dozen of his shipmates. Escaping to shore meant swimming around and under flaming oil, sucking in breaths of scorching air. Taken by ambulance to a dispensary, he dodged shattering glass and flying shrapnel during a second wave of Japanese strafing.

I grew up in a hurry that day, he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2016 interview. We all did.

Born Oct. 29, 1921, in Florida, and raised near Buffalo, New York, Hedley was fascinated as a child by the military and warfare. He drew pictures of airplanes dropping bombs when he was a child.

Little did I realize at the age of 10 that one day I was going to be involved with all that, he told elementary schoolchildren in a classroom presentation in Hawaii five years ago.

He tried to join the Navy out of high school, but at 4-foot-11 was too short. Recruiters sent him to the Civilian Conservation Corps instead.

A couple of years later, he had reached 5-foot-2 and was allowed in. He went aboard the West Virginia on his 19th birthday.

After Pearl Harbor, Hedley was stationed on the cruiser San Francisco and the destroyer Massey and saw action in more than a dozen battles in the South Pacific, including at Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He often credited surviving the war to his Christian faith.

Stu Hedley salutes during the National Anthem during Balboa Parks Veterans Museum Spirit of 45 Day on August 14. 2016. (K.C. Alfred, San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

Trained as an electrician, Hedley spent 20 years in the Navy, retiring in 1960. He worked another 20 years in the La Mesa-Spring Valley school district. He and his wife Wanda raised five children in Clairemont.

In the mid-1970s, Hedley went back to Pearl Harbor for the first time, as a tourist, and had flashbacks from the war. Hed seen bodies blown into the air when the battleship Arizona exploded. Hed found one of his friends cut in half by a sheet of flying glass.

Like many World War II veterans, he hadnt talked much about his experiences with relatives or friends, not even his wife. But he began opening up and joined the San Diego chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

Now defunct, but once 30,000-members strong, the association had a two-sentence motto  Remember Pearl Harbor, Keep America Alert  and Hedley took both to heart. He returned often for the annual remembrances in Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor was not a defeat, he liked to say. It was an eye-opener.

He gave talks to just about anyone who asked. Schools. Churches. Military commands. Kiwanis clubs. He wanted people to know not just what happened, but why, and to understand the cost of war. It upset him when he looked in school history books and saw Pearl Harbor reduced to two paragraphs.

I remember going to (the San Diego-area city of) Ramona with him once to talk to some Boy Scouts, said Kathy Hansen, a Navy vet and a longtime friend. Kids are a tough crowd and he told them stories for two hours. They couldnt get enough.

Hedley served several terms as president of the local survivors chapter, the largest in the country. He was in charge when it disbanded two years ago because so few survivors were left.

Its certainly the end of an era, he said at the time, and it leaves me a little heartbroken.

In addition to his Pearl Harbor-related interests, Hedley was active with Shadow Mountain Community Church, and with community organizations feeding the homeless.

His decades of service prompted a local nonprofit, the Enlisted Leadership Foundation, to create the Chief Stuart Hedley Legacy Award, given annually to three chief petty officers for their leadership, mentorship and volunteerism.

Survivors include three daughters, Barbara, Patty and Nancy, and a son, Ray. He was predeceased by Wanda, his wife of 64 years, and another daughter, Pam.

2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Visit sandiegouniontribune.com.

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The letter, written by Bill Hutch, a soldier in the 82nd Field Artillery who was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, is addressed to a Miss Eva Keller in Aberdeen, South Dakota. It was found by Daniel Juracek while he was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a civilian working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Facebook)

(Tribune News Service)  When Daniel Juracek came across a letter written by a soldier in the 82nd Field Artillery to an South Dakota woman in 1918, he immediately wanted to try and get the letter to her family members, but he hasn't yet had any luck.

The letter, written by Bill Hutch who was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, is addressed to a Miss Eva Keller in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

In his letter, Hutch tells of being in the hospital.

"I had the measles and they make you stay here 10 days after you(r) temperature becomes normal, which is some more foolishness," he says.

He also talks of being part of the 15th Division and being stationed near the U.S./Mexico border.

According to historical information published by the 1st Cavalry Division Association, the 82nd Field Artillery Regiment was originally organized as the 24th Calvary on June 5, 1917. It was reorganized as the 82nd on Nov. 1, 1917, and eventually ended up stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas, assigned to the 15th Calvary Division.

While training was in full swing for overseas combat with the Germans, this unit was specifically trained and equipped for border service.

The Mexican rebel, General Francisco "Pancho" Villa, had been causing problems in cross border raids and had committed acts of aggression against U.S. citizens and soldiers for a number of years. A punitive expedition led by General John J. Pershing into Mexico had been carried out in 1916-1917. A number of Pancho Villa's rebel forces were either killed, captured or scattered. But Pancho Villa was never caught.

A search of military burials in the United States yields a William Hutch who died in 1915, three years before this letter was penned. This William Hutch is buried at the Hot Springs National Cemetery. No other records of a Bill Hutch or close variation of that name could be found.

While it appears Hutch was recovering from the measles when he wrote the letter, a search from that time period quickly lands on the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, which ravaged many parts of the country, including Fort Bliss.

Juracek, who now lives in Texas, but hails from Burke, came across the letter while deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a civilian working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Another gentleman from the corps was telling me about a letter he wanted to get to the Fort Bliss museum," Juracek recalls. "It was written to a lady in Aberdeen, South Dakota."

Juracek works at Fort Hood, Texas, about eight hours west of Fort Bliss. The original letter has since been delivered to the museum in Fort Bliss, but Juracek kept a copy for himself in the hopes he might be able to find someone from either family through the connections he still has in South Dakota.

"After I got back from Iraq, I lost the letter. Then one day, I found it and posted it on Facebook," he said.

He also shared a copy of the letter with the American News.

That original message, posted in 2017, didn't get the results he was hoping for, and he has yet to find a member of either family, but it recently came up as a Facebook memory and was shared again.

"I want to get it to someone who is related to either of them," he said. "I thought it would be pretty neat."

The letter is filled with standard correspondence, but Hutch does talk briefly about fighting the Mexicans and a recent incident where Mexicans were caught attempting to smuggle ammunition across the border.

(c)2021 the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

Visit the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) at www.aberdeennews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Activists of Peoples Democratic Party scuffle with police during a protest marking the second anniversary of the Indian government scrapping Kashmirs semi-autonomy in Jammu, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. On Aug. 5, 2019, Indian government passed legislation in Parliament that stripped Jammu and Kashmirs statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. (Channi Anand/AP)

SRINAGAR, India  Government forces patrolled much of Indian-controlled Kashmir and ordered shops and businesses to remain open Thursday to foil a planned strike by separatists on the second anniversary of India's revocation of the disputed region's semi-autonomy.

Government forces placed steel barricades and razor wire across many roads, bridges and intersections and set up additional checkpoints in anticipation of anti-India protests. Some shops and businesses remained shut in Srinagar, the region's main city, while police and soldiers checked vehicles and frisked pedestrians.

In Srinagar's main business center, men escorted by police used iron rods and bricks to break locks on some shuttered shops.

"They're forcing us to open our businesses to show normalcy," said shopkeeper Nazir Ahmed. "The paradox is that India has destroyed this place and are now forcing us to celebrate our subjugation and humiliation."

On Aug. 5, 2019, the Indian government led by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and revoked inherited protections of land and jobs, allowing more outsiders to settle in the Muslim-majority region.

The former state was split into two federal territories  Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir  deepening anti-India sentiment in the region, which is also claimed by Pakistan. Indian authorities also enforced a monthslong information blackout and security clampdown. Thousands of young people and political leaders  both anti- and pro-India  were arrested. Scores remain incarcerated.

As some of the restrictions were eased, India enforced another harsh lockdown to combat the coronavirus, deepening the economic crisis in the region.

Separatist groups who challenge India's sovereignty in Kashmir called for Thursday's strike to mark what they call "black day."

Some viral videos on social media Thursday showed police officers asking shopkeepers to open their shops in Srinagar. In one video, a police official carrying an assault rifle was seen breaking a lock on a shuttered shop.

Some shopkeepers told of similar incidents at least in three other towns in the Kashmir valley.

Meanwhile, suspected rebels fired bullets in the air in Srinagar's old neighborhood shortly after a small explosion occurred there, police and witnesses said. No one was reported injured.

Also, in northwestern Sopore town, suspected rebels fired at a police party who were asking shopkeepers to open their businesses in the main market, witnesses said. No one was injured. Police later said there was no shooting in the area.

The Modi government has maintained that the changes to Kashmir's autonomy are for the public good and national security to stop threats from Pakistan and "anti-national elements."

"Jammu and Kashmir has seen real Democracy, Development, Good Governance and Empowerment in the last two years. As a result, India's unity and integrity has been immeasurably strengthened," Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishanka tweeted Thursday.

Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said India's "unilateral" and "arbitrary" changes "only complicated the dispute" over Kashmir. It urged New Delhi to start a dialogue with Pakistan and with those who represent the political aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

"The government continues to assault the people ... by continuing to incarcerate political prisoners and youth, bringing in arbitrary and anti-people laws, media gags, gagging all voices of dissent and continued misrepresentation of the actual conditions" in the region, it said in a statement Thursday.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party hoisted India's flag at several places in the region in celebration. Tarun Chugh, the party's general secretary in Srinagar, told party workers that the 2019 decision "dealt a big blow to the divisive and terrorist forces," according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The People's Democratic Party, a Kashmiri political group that favors union with India but with autonomy, held protests in Srinagar and southern Jammu city calling Aug. 5 a "day of mourning." The party's leader and former top elected official in the region, Mehbooba Mufti, led the protest in Srinagar and demanded that India "revoke black laws of the black day."

Police prevented the protesters from marching to the city center. Mufti and dozens of other party officials were detained for months during India's crackdown in 2019.

The status of Kashmir has been a key point of dispute between Pakistan and India since the two countries split after the end of British colonial rule. They each control part of Kashmir and have fought two wars over the region.

Since 1989, rebels have fought India's rule in the portion of Kashmir it controls. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Buy Photo Georgian police stand on an embankment talking to men who may be Russian soldiers Thursday, July 16, 2015, near where Georgians took down a Russian sign and put up a Georgian flag, seen at left, earlier this week. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

UNITED NATIONS  Western nations are marking Saturday's 13th anniversary of the conflict between Russia and Georgia with renewed condemnation of Moscow's "illegal military presence" in two Georgia regions and calls for the withdrawal of its forces "without delay."

In a joint statement, six European countries and the United States also condemned what they called Russia's continuing provocations in Georgia despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They cited Moscow's reinforced military presence and military exercises on Georgia's territory, arbitrary detentions and kidnappings of local citizens, restriction of movements and prohibition of education in residents' native language.

In August 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made a botched attempt to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian province, Abkhazia, and set up military bases there.

The statement marking the Aug. 7 anniversary of the start of the conflict again calls on Russia to "reverse its recognition of the so-called independence of Georgia's territories."

The statement from Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway, Albania, the United Kingdom and the United States was read outside the U.N. Security Council chamber on Wednesday after closed-door council discussions.

It noted that in January the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights stated that Russia has been responsible for "grave human rights violations" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia including killing civilians, torturing prisoners of war, preventing Georgians from returning to their homes and failing to investigate rights violations.

The Western nations called for urgent unimpeded access for human rights monitors and humanitarian workers.

Representatives of Georgia, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the United States have held talks in Geneva since October 2008 to address the consequences of the Georgia conflict under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union and the United Nations. The talks have made little headway.

The seven nations expressed support for the Geneva talks and stressed "the necessity of a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict based on international law, including the U.N. Charter and the Helsinki Final Act."

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told reporters that Russian aggression "does not exist" and the "independent uprising in South Ossetia is the reality which cannot be ignored." He accused some Western nations of directly or indirectly encouraging "Georgian military adventures" in 2008.

Polyansky said Moscow considers it important that Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia continue discussions in Geneva to find a "legal formula for their mutual commitments on non-use of force and for resolution of other urgent matters."

On Russia-Georgia relations, he said, "We want to express our concern with the continued policy of Tblisi for accelerated Euro-Atlantic integration as well as of this country joining plans of U.S. and NATO on containment of Russia."

Polyansky said Russia is ready to normalize relations "to the degree to which Georgian side is ready to do that."

Estonia's deputy ambassador Andre Lipand, who read the Western statement, responded when asked about the lack of movement from Russia on Abkhazia and South Ossetia: "We will continue to focus on this issue in the (Security) Council and we will not let it go without recourse."
Russian tanks roll at the Pravdinsky range in Russia during Zapad 2017, a Russia-Belarus exercise. The countries say they will have about 12,800 troops taking part in this year's upcoming event, which takes place every four years. (Russian Defense Ministry)

STUTTGART, Germany  Russia and Belarus are gearing up for large-scale military exercises near NATOs eastern flank, which a Belarusian military official on Thursday said will involve nearly 13,000 troops.

About 12,800 troops will participate in the drills on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, including 2,500 Russian personnel and up to 50 Kazakh servicemen, Belarus Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Gulevich said, as quoted by Russias Tass official news agency.

Every four years, Russia and Belarus hold the Zapad exercise, which has a history of unnerving U.S. and NATO military officials concerned that Moscow could use the drill as a means for moving larger than announced numbers of forces near allied borders.

During Zapad 2017, a Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise, air defense units repelled a simulated air attack in the Leningrad region. The countries say they will have about 12,800 troops taking part in this years upcoming event, which takes place every four years. (Russian Defense Ministry)

After Zapad in 2017, NATO officials said Russia and Belarus far exceeded the number of troops allowed to take part in the exercise under rules in the Vienna Document, which regulates military exercises and requires notification and observational access for events that exceed 13,000 troops.

The drill, which begins in September, comes amid ongoing tensions in the region. Lithuania, which borders Belarus, has complained about the flow of migrants, coming from as far away as Iraq, across its border with the country.

While Belarus is the main host for Zapad, slated for Sept. 10-16, related drills also are held in Russia. Tass said Zapad-2021 will involve about 140 tanks, 110 artillery systems and multiple rocket launchers. More than 30 different aircraft also are part of the event.
Fields burn following a hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Wednesday. (Ariel Schalit/AP)

TEL AVIV, Israel  Three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory Wednesday and the army responded with sustained artillery fire, Israel's military said. There was no immediate information on damages or casualties.

The announcement came after sirens sounded in northern Israel warning of a possible rocket attack from Lebanon. Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the army said, adding that it fired artillery back into Lebanon.

Channel 12 reported that one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israel's defense system, known as the Iron Dome.

The warnings went off near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

A Lebanese army official said the military had no comment pending investigations. Other Lebanese security officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

However, several witnesses in the border area in south Lebanon said two rockets landed in an Israeli community across the border, followed by multiple artillery shells that were fired from Israel. The Israeli shells landed in an area between the Lebanese villages of Marjayoun and Khiam, they said, adding it was not clear where the rockets were fired from.

There have been several similar incidents in recent months.

The rocket fire is believed by Israeli authorities to have been launched by Palestinian groups based in Lebanon and not the militant Hezbollah group. However, it's unlikely that Palestinian groups could operate without Hezbollah's consent.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon.

"Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks," he told reporters in Washington, adding that the U.S. would remain engaged with partners "in the region in an effort to de-escalate the situation."

At the United Nations, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was aware of the rocket fire and Israel's artillery response. He said the UNIFIL commander, Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, appealed for a cease-fire and urged both sides to "exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation."

Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Syrian Democratic Forces conduct a patrol during a joint operation with U.S. soldiers in Syria on May 8, 2021. Seven years after the Islamic State group swept through parts of Syria and Iraq, ISIS it remains a threat, but hasn't been able to mount any deliberate attacks on coalition forces in more than two years, the U.S. military said. (Isaiah J Scott/U.S. Army)

(Tribune News Service)  Aminah Mohamad, an 8-year-old girl born in Chattanooga but raised under ISIS control, has been rescued and is in a secure location in northeast Syria more than two years after her mother, a Chattanooga native, was killed in an airstrike.

Peter Galbraith, a 70-year-old former U.S. diplomat, told BuzzFeed News this week that the girl was interviewed Saturday by a member of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism about her life under the control of ISIS, the Islamic State terrorist group.

According to BuzzFeed, Galbraith has worked to repatriate foreign women and children from detention camps that hold tens of thousands of people linked to ISIS. Aminahs mother, Ariel Bradley, was a Hixson-born evangelical Christian who eventually joined ISIS.

Aminah Mohamads path back to the United States is uncertain at this time. She has lived most of her life in a war-torn country. Both of her parents are dead, according to Buzzfeed. One of her brothers was also killed in an airstrike and her second brother is reportedly missing.

Bradley was among the first activists working with Chattanooga Organized for Action in 2010, a group that pushes for racial equality, fair housing policy and empathy for the poor. During the same year, she became interested in The Twelve Tribes, a religious sect that owns and runs The Yellow Deli restaurant and lives communally. She started to dress more modestly, pulled cardigans over her bare shoulders and wore skirts below her knees.

Then she started wrapping a scarf around her head. She was working at the University Pizza and Deli, which was owned by a Palestinian man and was a gathering spot for local Muslims. Friends at the time said she was infatuated with a young Muslim man. On her Tumblr account, she started writing about the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. At some point, she converted.

Online, Bradley started to search for a husband.

In December 2011, Bradley disappeared overseas to marry a man  Yasin Mohamad  that she had met online who was living in Sweden. A few people from home saw her return to Chattanooga a handful of times over the next few years, including one trip home to give birth to Aminah.

The day after a 24-year-old Muslim man from her hometown attacked two military sites in Chattanooga, killing five servicemen, a tweet, found and confirmed by BuzzFeed News, offered some terrifying insight.

Gifted this morning not only with Eid but w/ the news of a brother puttin fear n the heart of kufar [non-believers] n the city of my birth. Alhamdullilah [thanks be to God], Bradley wrote, before making her Twitter feed private.

Bradleys husband died at some point after June 2015. Bradley reportedly married another man  an Australian pediatrician named Tareq Kamleh  a prominent ISIS member who appeared in several propaganda videos, according to BuzzFeed. Bradley had a second son with Kamleh, Yousef, in 2016.

Galbraith connected BuzzFeed with a Canadian woman  who wished to remain anonymous to protect her safety  who joined ISIS in 2014. The woman has since regretted that decision and denounced the organization, according to BuzzFeed. Galbraith helped get the woman out and she is now waiting to be repatriated to Canada.

Both Galbraith and the Canadian woman have worked over the past 18 months to help rescue Aminah, who was reportedly left in the custody of one of her stepfathers other wives.

In the Syrian camps, Aminah was made to wear long robes and a niqab, a veil that exposes only the eyes, to conceal her identity and race, since her caretaker was Black and she was white, BuzzFeed reported. On the night of July 17, a team of Syrian Democratic Forces soldiers descended on the Somali enclave within the Roj camp and retrieved Aminah, according to messages sent to Galbraith from a senior SDF official who had been briefed on the raid.

(c)2021 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.)

Visit the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) at www.timesfreepress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Chief Master Sgt. Tresse King speaks during a Womens History Month luncheon at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in March 2019. King died Aug. 3, 2021, in a noncombat incident at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, according to a Pentagon statement. (Machiko Arita/U.S. Air Force)

A mother of two with nearly 30 years of Air Force service died in Kuwait in a noncombat incident, military officials said Thursday.

Chief Master Sgt. Tresse Z. King, 54, of Raeford, N.C., died Tuesday at Ali Al Salem Air Base, the Pentagon said in a brief statement.

King was deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led mission battling the Islamic State group in the Middle East. She was the superintendent of the 96th Force Support Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Kings children include professional basketball player George McZavier King Jr., who played for the University of Colorado at Boulder and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft. He signed with the Niners Chemnitz in Germanys Basketball Bundesliga in July 2020.

Her daughter, Jescia Anderson, played basketball for Wingate University and recently ran for public office in Hoke County, N.C.

Kings son and daughter were at her promotion to chief master sergeant, which took place on Veterans Day 2016 on the basketball court at Boulders Coors Events Center. A university statement at the time said it was the first of her many promotion ceremonies where both of her children were present.

Since joining the service in late 1991, King had deployed seven times, most often to the Middle East, the university said.

The squadron King was most recently deployed with is part of the 96th Test Wing. Ilka Cole, a wing spokeswoman, provided information about Kings service history via email on Thursday, which showed that after an initial 1992 assignment to Pope Field, near Fayetteville, N.C., she went on to serve in South Korea, Texas, Virginia and Japan.

When she departed Japans Yokota Air Base for her assignment to Eglin in 2019, the Facebook page for the Fightin Fifth Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant touted King as one of the most inspirational chiefs.

She helped many Airmen Get Their Head Right, and reminded all that Not Everyone is Able but Everyone is Capable with the right Focus! the page said in a post that showed pictures of King, dubbed TK, posing with fellow airmen and receiving various send-off gifts.

Her decorations indicate she also served in Kosovo, where she earned a campaign medal. Among her many other awards include four Meritorious Service Medals, one Joint Service Medal, five Air Force Achievement Medals and four Air Force Commendation Medals.

Friends expressed their shock over her death on Facebook, where King went by Tango Kilo.

TK, Tango Kilo, we miss you soooo much! wrote Amy T. Davidson, sharing video of Kings on-court promotion from five years ago. You will never be forgotten. You made the world a better place! Your spirit, beautiful smile, mentorship, and unconditional love all made everyone love you!
An Air Force veteran identified as Gordon M., left, receives a free guitar after completing 10 free lessons from Guitars4Vets, a Wisconsin-based charity that helps veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder through music. (Guitars4Vets)

A self-described Army brat in Virginia is collecting military-themed limericks to raise money for a charity that helps veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder through music.

Gary Hunt, 71, a part-time handyman in Roanoke, Va., said his charitable effort was inspired by the work of doctors, nurses and volunteers creating handsewn masks during the coronavirus epidemic.

Furloughed from his maintenance job in March 2020, he set on the idea of creating a book of limericks  humorous five-line poems with a rhyme scheme  about life during the pandemic and selling copies to raise money for a cause.

He compiled two books and raised $1,200 for Kids Soar, a program to lift kids in Roanoke out of poverty through literacy, and $1,250 for 3rd Street Coffee House, a nonprofit, church-basement venue for live music in the city.

For his third act, Hunt is planning to publish the book of limericks, with proceeds going to Guitars For Vets, a Wisconsin-based organization with chapters across the country. Its volunteers teach veterans to play guitar as a form of therapy and gives them one to keep.

The way it works, if you send me a limerick, whether if its good or bad, Ill put it in the book, Hunt told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday. Just about everyone who has a limerick with their name in the book will hopefully buy a copy or two.

The limerick has to reflect somehow on life or experiences in the military, Hunt said. Deployments, life as a military family member, about military family members  the net is pretty wide, he said.

A Virginia man is collecting military-themed limericks to raise money for Guitars4Vets, a charity that helps veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder through music. (U.S. Army)

For example, Hunt has written a limerick about his father, Walter Hunt, a career Army sergeant who served at Omaha Beach on D-Day in World War II and also taught Elvis Presley to drive a tank at Fort Hood, Hunt said.

It goes like this:

At Fort Hood, where Elvis got sent. My dad was his drill sergeant. No autograph for me. Sergeants dont ask, you see. Then, Germany is where he went.

Hunt needs at least 100 limericks before he can send the book to publication. Proceeds from sales, after deducting publishing costs, will go directly to the charity. The books sell for $6, preordered, and $10 afterward.

He can compile the book in about three months, provided he collects the enough limericks.

His chosen charity, Guitars4Vets, for $200 provides 10 weeks of music lessons and one guitar for the veterans in its program, according to its website.

Air Force Master Sgt. Robbie Arp, of Defense Media Activity at Fort Meade, Md., has volunteered as an instructor for the Washington, D.C., chapter for 2  years, he told Stars and Stripes in a Facebook message on Tuesday.

What I like most about working with Guitars for Vets is the ability to give back and see the guitar become such a positive, healing tool in my students lives, he said. Watching them overcome challenges and gain new skills is really powerful.

Hunt said hes already composed about a dozen limericks to get the book started.

Writing limericks is no idle pastime, he said. Helps to keep your brain in its prime. It takes all your wits, to arrange all the bits. Lines one, two, and five have to rhyme.

Those with military-themed limerick to contribute or who want to order the book can email Hunt at bookbagsanta@verizon.net.
(Missouri Veterans Commission Facebook)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Tribune News Service)  Staffing shortages at Missouri's state-run nursing homes for military veterans have landed the agency that runs the facilities in court.

Council 72 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is asking a judge to force the Missouri Veterans Commission to address staffing woes at its Warrensburg facility.

Attorneys for the commission also have asked for a judicial review of whether the union's demand for arbitration over staffing levels is permissible under their now-expired collective bargaining agreement.

"The employer steadfastly believes that the state of Missouri did not forfeit its right to determine what constitutes 'adequate staffing' of its facilities by entering into the collective bargaining agreement and therefore this issue is not subject to arbitration," wrote MVC General Counsel Scotty Allen.

The legal dispute comes as members of the commission are grappling with budget shortfalls that have led to limits on how many veterans can safely be housed at the seven homes it operates.

Last month, the board decided to begin lobbying Gov. Mike Parson and the Legislature for a funding boost to increase pay for raises for low-paid nursing assistants and other frontline workers.

As of July 15, turnover among the nursing assistants stood at 100%, with 214 vacancies within the seven homes.

Missouri Veterans Commission Operations Director Melissa Skinner told the commission in late July that reductions in the agency's budget have affected all aspects of the homes, ranging from the quality of food to the placement of a cap on the number of veterans the homes can serve.

The homes in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Cameron, Warrensburg, St. James and Mount Vernon have consolidated some units to combat the ongoing staffing shortages. While the homes have the capacity to serve 1,200 veterans, the current population is 733.

The commission is preparing to ask lawmakers and the governor for an immediate infusion of $5 million in state funds to help boost wages in the current fiscal year.

AFSCME's lawsuit says the union filed a grievance about staff in Warrensburg on April 1, claiming that the worker shortages were creating safety concerns for both staff and residents.

In June, the commission asked the attorney general's office for a review of whether it is an issue that is subject to arbitration.

Hearing dates on the two lawsuits have not been set.

The dispute over staff shortages and funding shortfalls are not new.

In 2020, the commission initially convinced the Parson administration that it deserved an additional $3 million to boost the pay of more than 500 employees who work at the seven nursing homes.

But, when Parson, a military veteran, unveiled his proposed spending plan in 2020, there was no money for the raises.

At the time, budget officials said additional money was on hold during the ramp-up of the state's medical marijuana program.

But the money from pot taxes amounts to just $4.7 million so far, which is not enough to close the revenue gap facing the commission.

Under the constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana, application fees from businesses and a 4% tax on medical marijuana sales are supposed to go to the Department of Health and Senior Services for it to administer the program.

The remaining money is supposed to be transferred to the Missouri Veterans' Health and Care Fund.

(c)2021 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

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Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 94F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low near 70F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
The concession picnic tables and water slides are usually full of children on a summer afternoon at the Princeton Aquatic Center. The pool is closed until further notice, following the death of a child recovered from the pool at a private party Tuesday night.
Zespris proposed commercial trial with unauthorised kiwifruit growers in China has been voted down by Zespri producers, after the 75 per cent support required for the trial was not met.

Final results show 70.5 per cent of growers supported the one-year orchard monitoring, procurement, sales and marketing trial and 64.1 per cent supported using the Zespri brand label, as part of the trial, in order to understand consumer response.

The proposed trial was Zespris attempt at controlling the growing number of illegally grown G3 in China, the amount of which is estimated to be more than 5500ha  the total amount of all-legal G3 grown in New Zealand is 8000ha, and the median amount for a license is $550,000 per ha.

Te Puke kiwifruit grower Rob Bayly is relieved at the results.

The Zespri system is foolproof, and the reason for this is their ability to monitor and enforce licensing, quality and food security, says Rob.

However I cant see how this can be replicated in China, which would result in a compromise of the Zespri brand.

I think that the industry has dodged a bullet. I have tabled my concerns with Zespri from a growers perspective with some very real scenarios. Hopefully as part of the consultation process I will receive answers soon.

Consultation continues

Zespri chief grower industry and sustainability officer Carol Ward says Zespri will be continuing to engage with growers on the issue of unauthorised plantings in the coming months to better understand some of the concerns growers raised.

Carol says Zespri had extensive engagement with the industry on the issue, with growers sharing their ideas and feedback.

They were testing our thinking, which is a healthy part of the process, says Carol.

When asked if Zespri had done enough to make growers concerns heard, Carol responded: Weve been discussing this issue for a long period of time and have appreciated the engagement weve had from growers, including those who didnt support the proposed trial.

Throughout the many grower roadshows and discussions the industry held in person and online, a range of views on the proposed trial were covered, and this was helpful in understanding some of the concerns and risks growers had, particularly protecting the Zespri brand.

When asked if Zespri were made aware of any risks or concerns it didnt expect or consider through the consultation process, Carol responded:

While many growers supported the direction of the trial, others had genuine concerns around protecting the Zespri brand which were covered during the industrys many discussions on the issue. Well be continuing to engage with growers on the issue of unauthorised plantings in the coming months to better understand some of the concerns growers raised, with a view to finding a way forward which best reflects the views of our industry on how to tackle the ongoing challenge together.

What next?

Carol says with the trial not proceeding, Zespri expects to see a continued expansion of unauthorised plantings and associated investment in China.

Our work in China to address this and to protect grower interests and return value continues.

We will be engaging with Chinese stakeholders as we look to further develop our local relationships. Well also be conducting research and development activities related to Gold3 as part of our core business activities so that we can better understand and monitor the performance and quality of Gold3 in China.

This information will be used to further inform the industry about the issues, scale and performance of Gold3 in China and help refine our modelling and assessment of the impact of unauthorised plantings.
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A school board of trustees is facing WorkSafe charges over the death of a 17-year-old student whilst on a school trip at a Bay of Plenty beach.

Lawyer Caitlyn Frost appeared on behalf of Melville High Schools board of trustees in the Hamilton District Court on Wednesday.

The board is facing charges relating to Jaden Chhayranns death.

Jaden was on a class field trip to Waihi Beach on February 21, 2020, when he was caught in a rip while swimming and pulled out to sea.

His body was located 10 days later near Whiritoa Beach, about 16km north of Waihi.

The school board has pleaded not guilty to a charge of exposing an individual to risk of harm.

Counsel for WorkSafe Bayden Harris says WorkSafe and the school were going through an enforceable undertaking process relating to the incident.

He sought a court adjournment for that to occur.

He says the charge carried a maximum fine of $1.5 million and did not have a term of imprisonment.

Judge Robert Spear granted the adjournment until November 10, for a case review hearing.

An enforceable undertaking is a voluntary agreement between WorkSafe and the other party.

The undertaking is legally binding and is generally used as an alternative to prosecution.

-Stuff/Ellen O'Dwyer
Police have today arrested a man in relation to over 40 burglaries in the Hamilton area.

The 31-year-old man is expected to appear in Hamilton District Court today charged with 10 counts of burglary for alleged offending dating back to mid-July.

Police allege the man was involved in the burglary of a jewellery store on August 2 and took nearly $30,000 worth of gold, silver, jewellery and even dentures containing gold teeth.

The man was located this morning during a search warrant at a Hamilton address.

Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley says the arrest is a win for staff in Hamilton.

Weve been working on these cases for several weeks so to be able to file charges today is a good result.

Weve also recovered quite a bit of stolen property and will hopefully return that to its owners soon.

Detective Inspector Pitkethley says todays arrest demonstrates Polices commitment to holding those responsible for property crime to account.

We need your help.

"Please be vigilant with the security of your home, business and vehicles, and if you see anything suspicious, contact 111 immediately.

Police advise commercial premises to install CCTV cameras and bollards in front of main entrances, if possible.
The site of the former Iron Design factory and design shop is set for demolition, with works currently underway.

Tauranga City Council have confirmed that initial works have begun to bring the structure down, with plans to use the land for car parking.

The building at 14 Dive Crescent was issued an earthquake-prone building notice in 2011.

According to the Earthquake Prone Building Register, the building was given until June 2021 to complete seismic work with an earthquake rating of zero to less than 20 per cent. Iron Design have since relocated to Maleme Street.

Due to the significance of repairs necessary to get the building to code, as well as the subsequently high cost to do so, Council decided to demolish the building rather than complete repairs.

Once the building is demolished, the land will be used for temporary car parking, says JD Thomas, Tauranga City Councils manager of Property Services.

This involves extending the paid car parking area to allow for another 16 parking bays, along with another entrance/exit.

Previously, the Dive Crescent storage buildings from number 16-24 were pulled down in December 2018.

Other properties along the landward side of Dive Crescent, including those that currently host Fixation Coffee and used to house Makz Gear have also been issued seismic notices.

Works on the former Iron Design building began two weeks ago with internal demolition beginning yesterday.

Final stages of the demolition are planned for next week Monday and Tuesday, says JD.

Preparation for the car park extension will commence after that and will take approximately four weeks.

Council are not expecting any road issues due to the works with no closures in place. Pedestrians will be diverted to the other side of the road during the completion of the works.

The plan is for the walkways to return to normal as of Wednesday, August 11.
A leading New Zealand tech expert says the government is ignoring the countrys deepening tech skills crisis

NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says the government has the solution to solve the problem by allowing essential tech workers into the country.

We have surveyed hundreds of NZ tech companies to see what we can be done, we have shared the data with the government, shown them the impacts and suggested options, but nothing is being done to address the problem, Muller says.

In theory, it is simply a case of agreeing that with thousands of open roles, these technical skills are not readily available in New Zealand, using exactly the same logic as they did for vets.

Meanwhile, the impact is that hundreds of jobs paying well over $100,000 are being shifted out of New Zealand every week and critical digital projects across business and government agencies are not getting done.

Muller says an urgent review of what constitutes unique experience and technical skills, the criteria for Critical Workers, is needed to better enable access to the advanced skills needed to support New Zealands covid recovery, digitalisation and export growth.

Immigration NZ are telling senior experienced tech people who have been living in New Zealand, working for our leading tech firms, that suddenly they dont have enough unique experience or technical skills to enable them to bring their family to New Zealand.

So, projects are stalling or not getting done, cyber security is at risk, export revenues are being impacted and jobs are being sent out of New Zealand.

To make it worse, for each senior role not employed in New Zealand the downstream impact will be graduates that are unable to be employed as there are not enough experienced staff to support them.

Graeme says there is a global talent war which creates competitive pressure on these skills.

Now is actually a time when New Zealand is particularly attractive for software engineers, senior experienced tech people and creative tech professionals from offshore who often have clean, green orientations, and / or live in countries where our relatively peaceful, tolerant society is regarded with envy.

Usually around 4000 senior technical specialists come into New Zealand each year and this has complimented the 3500 to 4000 graduates developed locally each year which together have enabled tech to become New Zealands second largest export, Muller says.

Up until recently immigration has been part of the secret sauce that has enabled the rapid growth of New Zealands tech sector, it was a competitive advantage.

The current settings, the inability to bring critical skills into the country and the lack of humanity regarding the families of hundreds of tech workers is fast becoming a major competitive disadvantage.

NZTech is calling for rapid action by the government to treat critical tech skills with at least the same enthusiasm as they do fruit pickers, actors, sportspeople and other so called critical workers.
Auckland

have you got a reach license and keen to start a new job this is long term work and we have all shifts available we have...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz
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The book signing for Joe Glyda's "World War II Aviation Artwork and the Stories Behind These Beautiful Birds" will take place on Friday, August 20 at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.
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What just happened? Amazon has announced plans to cut waste by making it easier for third-party businesses to resell customer-returned items or overstock inventory on the platform. The move comes after the retail giant was heavily criticized for destroying up to 200,000 items per week at its Dunfermline warehouse in Scotland.

Amazon has introduced two new Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) programs that it says will give more products a second life. The first of these, called FBA Grade and Resell, gives third-party selling partners the option to sell returned products on Amazon as "used" items, with the price based on the product's condition as evaluated by Amazon (Like New, Very Good, Good, and Acceptable). The program is available now in the UK and will come to the US by year-end.

The second program, FBA Liquidations, lets sellers recover a portion of their inventory cost from their returned or overstock items by reselling them through Amazons bulk resale partners. The program is live in the US, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, and comes to the UK in August.

"Customer returns are a fact of life for all retailers, and what to do with those products is an industry-wide challenge," said Libby Johnson McKee, a director at Amazon. "These new programs are examples of the steps we're taking to ensure that products sold on Amazon  whether by us or our small business partners  go to good use and don't become waste."

A former Amazon employee secretly filmed the 'destruction zone' at the company's Dunfermline warehouse where unwanted goods are marked 'destroy'.



A leaked document showed more than 124,000 items marked as 'destroy' in just a week.



Watch: https://t.co/OJjexB0YQd#AmazonWaste  ITV News (@itvnews) June 21, 2021

The programs' announcement comes a few weeks after UK broadcaster ITV News shared footage recorded inside Amazon's Dunfermline warehouse showing consumer electronics, jewelry, books, packages of face masks, and more being set aside for destruction. Both new and returned items flagged to be destroyed were reportedly sent to the "destruction zone" of the warehouse.

A former Amazon worker claimed that the weekly target of destroyed items is about 130,000, half of which are new and half returned, though this could sometimes reach 200,000. "There's no rhyme or reason to what gets destroyed: Dyson fans, Hoovers, the occasional MacBook and iPad; the other day, 20,000 COVID (face) masks still in their wrappers," the ex-employee said.

Greenpeace was one of the environmental organizations to criticize Amazon's apparent wastefulness. The group said the investigation showed Amazon "works within a business model built on greed and speed."

Masthead credit: Dunfermline Press
The big picture: Cyber threats have been growing at a rapid pace, so much so that there's now a governmental task force dedicated to coordinating measures and preventing or retaliating against cyberattacks, especially those conducted by foreign state-sponsored groups. The US government has asked tech companies to do their part in this new effort, so it's calling on organizations to buy into a new Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative.

The US government wants Big Tech to support its efforts to improve the security of the country's critical infrastructure against cyber threats. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the initiative is led by the Department of Homeland Security and is meant to bring the government and the private sector together in defending the country against cyberattacks.

At first, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative will tackle the growing threat of ransomware as well as attacks on cloud computing providers.

Must read: The Evolution of Ransomware: How Did We Get Here?

Jen Easterly, who is the newly-sworn in director of DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said in an interview with the Journal that "this will uniquely bring people together in peacetime, so that we can plan for how we're going to respond in wartime."

The initiative will also involve information sharing and discussing ways to improve response times whenever the US is facing any major digital threats like last year's SolarWinds hack or this year's Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

So far, companies that have shown interest in this collaboration include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Verizon, AT&T, Lumen, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike.

Easterly also delivered a keynote speech at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, where she called on companies to forge new relationships with colleges and universities and find ways to grow the nation's cybersecurity workforce. She also called for industry experts to evangelize cybersecurity within their organizations.
(Photo : GettlyImages/ Andrew Burton) Samsung Tab S7 FE

Samsung's Tab S7 FE is officially coming to the United States, and it will be available in cellular-connected 5G and Wi-Fi models.

The two tablets will have a 12.4-inch screen, and although the quality and connectivity is a downgrade from the Samsung Tab S7+, it has its benefits.

Samsung's Tab S7 FE to Officially Launch in the US

The tablets will be available starting Aug. 5. The price for the Wi-Fi model is $530, while the price for the 5G model is $670. The Tab S7 FE does not have a 120Hz OLED display, it has no 800-series Snapdragon chipset and less RAM.

The Samsung Tab S7 FE 5G model is Samsung second tablet to get the 5G connectivity after the Galaxy Tab S6.

The Wi-Fi model will come with a 778G Snapdragon chipset, while the 5G model will come with the 750G Snapdragon chipset. This will be the first time that a device in the US has a chipset that is less than 800.

The 778G Snapdragon is a new chip with a brand new generation of GPU and CPU core. It also has a smaller node compared to the 800 Snapdragon, according to XDA Developers.

Also Read: Cheapest Samsung 5G Smartphone Revealed: New Handset Has A Quad Camera Array

In short, the Wi-Fi model is a bit faster than the 5G model, but the difference may not be that significant in practice. The 778G Snapdragon chip also supports newer connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.2.

Samsung stated that the cheaper version of the S7 FE tablet would technically have better hardware than the expensive one but fewer features, according to The Verge.

Features and Specs

Both tablets will have a 12.4-inch display, but it won't be OLED or 120Hz, unlike the other Tab S7 models. The S7 FE tablets will only have a 60Hz display, but its resolution of 2560x1600 is pretty high.

As for the cameras, you can expect that the quality is not at par with the Samsung S7+. Both models will have a single MP shooter on the back and a 5MP camera in front for selfies. Expect some pictures to appear grainy when you take pictures in low lit areas.

The Samsung S7 FE tablets are both equipped with advanced internet connectivity and wireless charging. It has up to 45W of charging speed, which means it takes 45 minutes to an hour for the tablets to be fully charge, according to CNET.

The tablets have the same battery size as that of the Samsung Tab S7+. With a decent-sized battery and the Snapdragon chip, the tablets could consume less power, extending the device's battery life.

As expected, the tablets will come with an S-Pen in-box for scribbling like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Even though it does not have a slot on-device, the S-Pen can be attached to the tablet's back, so you don't lose it. A pogo connector is located on the bottom so that you can use it with the Keyboard Book Cover accessory.

Samsung promises that it will roll out system updates for the two tablets every three months.

Even though the tech company has not announced a precise update schedule, it has promised the Tab S6 Lite, the S7, and the Tab S7+ four years of system update, so there is a change that the company will do the same for the two Tab S7 FE models.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 vs. iPad Pro 2021: Which One Is Better? Compare Both Tablet's Specs Here

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The application of artificial intelligence (AI) is now becoming more popular across several industries, such as engineering, agriculture, and other fields.

Recently, the US Military has a plan to launch a predictive AI network that would forecast the arrival of events before their occurrence.

Pentagon to Use GIDE For the AI

The Pentagon will depend on the Global Information Dominance Experiments or GIDE. It consists of many experiments that involve remote sensors, intelligence reports, and satellite image processing.

Indeed, the military officials want to achieve the power of cloud computing, so data collection can be more efficient, especially when it includes huge data.

In a press briefing by the US Department of Defense on July 28, Glen D. VanHerck mentioned the importance of GIDE.

According to the US Air Force General, the series of tests will not only benefit the military heads, but also the civilian leaders. This will also improve their strategy-making in line with their preparation.

Precognitive Artificial Intelligence

Since this is a predictive network of AI, it is expected that it would deliver reports to the group before an event happens, like in the case of war.

This will also help in avoiding further damages that could occur during the time.

For example, ScienceAlert used the case of a submarine leaving from the port. This departing machine is clearly headed under the sea.

The integration of machine learning in artificial intelligence will hasten the tracking of its real-time location. This will be quick work compared to the detection techniques that humans can do.

"The data exists. What we're doing is making that data available, making that data available and shared into a cloud where machine learning and artificial intelligence look at it," VanHerck said.

He added that this would help predict events "days in advance."

If the authorities take a long time to issue a warning to the people, the AI systems will do the job in real-time.

Read Also: New AI System That Predicts Death Of Patients Can Improve End-Of-Life Care

GIDE Test Updates

So far, the Pentagon has limited information about the capability of the AI network. What we only know is that the fourth GIDE testing is set. The previous GIDE experiment has already been accomplished.

Even though the idea sounds AI-dependent, VanHerck said that they are still in charge of formulating decisions. He pointed out that they aim to see the days in advance.

Furthermore, VanHerck likened the decision space to the operational commander. Afterward, the information gathered by the system will be forwarded to the President or other officials.

In line with the AI, Microsoft executive Brad Smith believed that artificial intelligence can rule the world one day. He used the term "Orwellian future" to describe the catastrophe that could happen when the government does not control them properly.

In fact, some experts fear that AI could easily fool even cybersecurity researchers through fake data reports.

Related Article: AI Can Predict Tsunami Real-Time Through World's Fastest Supercomputer!

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pegasus spyware is one of many spyware out there that continues to exploit users through their smartphones. The hackers behind this malicious software are said to be stealing data without permission from the users.

Now, the new iMazing update adds a feature that will help iPhone owners secure their devices against NSO spyware.

iMazing 2.14's New Feature Can Now Identify Pegasus Software

Last July, the Mobile Verification toolkit unveiled by Amnesty International has been found out to be an applicable anti-spyware tool, especially during the Peak of the Pegasus virus.

While it gave some hope for smartphone users, its effectiveness was not 100% guaranteed.

For users who are not inclined in coding, the process before using this tool might be ambiguous to execute, according to TechCrunch.

For that part, iMazing has recently released a more convenient feature upon its newest update. The good news is it could now detect traces of compromise in your iPhone, including the Pegasus spyware.

With the latest iMazing 2.14, iPhone users can now know if there is an existing Pegasus spyware in their devices.

The feature is also available for Windows and macOS.

How to Use Anti-Spyware Tool of iMazing

According to a report by 9to5Mac on Wednesday, Aug.4, you can now begin using the iMazing tool by linking your smartphone to your computer. After setting it up, you can now enable the detection feature of the iMazing app.

While this is good news to hear for the fans, iMazing recommended that the users "probably will not need" that since many cyber risks could happen in the iPhone environment.

The iMazing tool has caught the interest of many iPhone users.

The company noticed the growing number of those who want to try the anti-Pegasus spyware tool since the previous toolkit was quite complicated to use.

This gave the room for iMazing to launch its own version of the app that came in the latest iMazing 2.14. Since no heavy requirements are needed to use this feature, the users can readily launch the Detect Spyware action anytime from their iPhones.

For those users who want to try the app, you can download it here for free. If you want to use it on many devices, you can settle for an annual payment of $59.99.

Read Also: Webdav-O Virus From China Has Attacked Russian Federal Executive Authorities in 2020

The Common Targets of Pegasus Spyware

The Israel-based firm, NGO Group, was said to be behind the distribution of the Pegasus spyware.

The virus was known to be choosing its target properly since the usual victims of the spyware are journalists, politicians, and lawyers.

In July, French President Emmany Macron was forced to refrain from using his iPhone due to the threat of Pegasus software.

This week, the said spyware has posted the private photos of Al-Jazeera's female journalists.

Related Article: WhatsApp: NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware Attacks US Allies, Current Findings Coincides 2019 Incident

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : GettlyImages/ SOPA Images ) Yelp COVID-19

Yelp will be adding a new feature that will let businesses such as restaurants and bars list if they require customers to show proof of vaccination before being served.

The news feature also includes a label that will say if the establishment's employees have been fully vaccinated. Users can filter the attributes in the app's search results.

Yelp to Allow Businesses to List Vaccination Requirements

Yelp wrote in a blog post on Aug. 5 that a number of businesses are implementing new safety measures as the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread. It is a way for the establishments to protect their employees and their customers.

Some bars and restaurants across the United States are beginning to ask customers to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination before entering.

Also Read: Google Maps update may have Yelp yelping 'foul' once again

However, this move was met with backlash from anti-vaxxers, according to The Verge.

The anti-vaxxers retaliated by review-bombing restaurants and bars on the app, even if they have never visited the place before.

Yelp stated that the app's Content Guidelines require that all reviews are based on a customer's experience but in the past few weeks, there has been an increase in reviews focused on the customer's stance on vaccinations instead of their experience with the business.

The company added that it is currently monitoring the pages with vaccination labels. The company will be deleting review bombs, including those that criticize the business's vaccination policies.

Yelp is known to be strict about the validity of its reviews after the company won a lawsuit in 2015 when it was accused of allowing misleading reviews.

The company will also add an "unusual activity alert" if it sees an increase in internet traffic on a page. The moderators will temporarily disable the comment section of the page and investigate each review.

Once the activity on the page has decreased or stopped, the moderators will clean up the page so only the comments from customers with first-hand experiences can be seen.

The removal of the alert can take a few days or weeks, depending on the severity of the comments.

Businesses can add the "All staff are fully vaccinated" and "Proof of vaccination required" tags to their pages. They can also add "Mask required" and "Staff wears masks" to their pages.

Coronavirus Protocols

Aside from indicating if they need proof of vaccination from customers, businesses can also list their COVID-19 safety protocols, according to CNET.

Last month, Yelp launched a COVID-19 section on each page. The section aims to help businesses list their plan on keeping their employees and customers safe amid the continuous spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The section includes details on the health and safety measures a business is taking and whether that business has options for outdoor seating, dine-in, delivery, curbside pickup, virtual services, or in-person visits.

Businesses can also let customers know if they require social distancing, spaces between customers or if their employees wear gloves and masks while on duty. They can also indicate if they sanitize the tables and chairs before allowing customers inside.

As for customers, they can filter the search on Yelp to know how much the service costs and which restaurants require temperature checks and masks.

Related Article: Yelp's Bounty Program: Catch A Bug And Get Up To $15,000

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that he already signed a new executive order that would make more automakers produce electric cars. This innovation could make 50% of all to-be-sold car units to be zero-emission by 2030.

The country's leader said that he and his administration wants to improve the overall electric car industry. He added that most of the EVs and other zero-emission automobiles would be manufactured in the United States.

"Today I'm signing an executive order with a goal to make 50% of new vehicles sold by 2030 zero-emission - and unveiling steps to reverse the previous administration's short-sighted rollback of vehicle standards," Biden said via his official Twitter account.

His latest tweet was able to generate more than 2,300 comments, 30,000 likes, 5,000 retweets.

The future of the auto industry is electric  and made in America.



Today I'm signing an executive order with a goal to make 50% of new vehicles sold by 2030 zero-emission  and unveiling steps to reverse the previous administrations short-sighted rollback of vehicle standards.  President Biden (@POTUS) August 5, 2021

The U.S. president's newest announcements attracted a lot of opinions from the residents of the state. Some of them even said that the idea of Mr. Joe is textbook fascism.

Biden's 50% EV Goal To Happen This 2030

According to CNET's latest report, the current U.S. leader said that the new executive order was approved by the giant automakers and already-EV makers in the region. He said that the United Auto Workers union also announced that they will support the president's goal of 40% to 50% zero-emission vehicles by 2030.

Also Read: Elon Musk: Tesla Cybertruck Price Hike Likely to Rack Up at a Million Dollars if Production Hurdles Persist

General Motors (GM), Stellantis, and Ford said that the latest executive order will help the United States to become closer to a zero-emissions future, which is the same as the initiatives of Paris to fight climate change.

However, some U.S.-based automakers said that Biden's goal would not be possible if the leader's proposed Build back Better agenda was not used in the initiative. These include R&D investments, electric vehicle expansion incentives, as well as purchase incentives.

Volkswagen, Volvo, Honda, and BMW also want to support the country's leader when it comes to making EVs and other zero-emission cars.

EV Chargers Suffer From Major Flaws?

Since the electric vehicle is currently a hot topic in various countries, Tech Crunch reported that the U.K. cybersecurity company, Pen Test Partners, discovered that some EV chargers are suffering from major flaws.

These charging brands include EVBox, EO Charging's EO HUB, EO Mini Pro 2, Hypervolt, Project EV, and Wallbox.

For more news updates about Biden's EV goal and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: UK Government is Giving out Electric Car Grant of 2,500 or $3,500 to Encourage the Purchase of EVs

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A man from Long Island is feeling really lucky that he got himself an Apple Watch. He says it may have saved his life.

The man, Brandon Schneider, suffered a nasty fall inside an ER bathroom. After falling unconscious seemingly out of nowhere, he hit his head as he fell, leading to a fractured skull and causing bleeding in his brain. Schneider said he would've been dead had his Apple Watch not detect a hard fall and call 911, reports People.

Schneider's Apple Watch sent the distress call to both 911 and his emergency contacts after he failed to respond to the device's notification. He was found just in time and rushed to the hospital. After undergoing CT scans, it was found that his injuries were graver than expected: the bleeding was worsening and immediately required emergency brain surgery.

Had his Apple Watch not detected the hard fall and sent the notification, Schneider would've never survived his injuries. As of this writing, he is now doing well after regaining consciousness for the first time last July 17.

Many people over the years have also shared how an Apple Watch managed to save them from an unexpected death, writes CNET. For now, it could be safe to say that given the right circumstances, owning an Apple Watch can indeed save your life when you least expect it.

Read also: Apple Watch Series 7 Leaks: Flat-Edged Design, New Colors are Coming This Fall-Is it Coming?

Apple Watch And Its Medical Potential

Apple may not have specifically designed its watches to save lives, but the device is surely doing a great job so far. It's making a case for the potential of wearable technology to monitor the health of their owners, which could spell the difference between life and death.

This could be extremely helpful, especially during the pandemic. As such, Apple wants to take it up a notch. Since many nations are still struggling with testing people for COVID-19, the company has teamed up with researchers to see whether they could design an Apple Watch that can detect a coronavirus infection, as well as the flu.

With how COVID-19's symptoms more often than not resemble that of the flu's, it could be of great help with managing the pandemic. Also, this project already has scientific backing with two studies already confirming that an Apple Watch can already detect a COVID-19 infection, all by monitoring changes in a user's heartbeat a week before symptoms appear.

A COVID-detecting Apple Watch could save millions upon millions of lives during the pandemic, especially for those still unvaccinated from the virus.

It's Not Just Hard Falls

Of course, Apple Watches have already saved other people's lives in vastly different ways. Last year, a teenager was spared from possible heart failure when his Apple Watch detected that his heart rate was unusually high. Upon reaching the hospital, it was found that the young man had a rare heart condition called Supraventricular Tachycardia. It is characterized by a rapid heartbeat that wears out the heart over time.

Schneider was one of many, but he definitely should not be the last person whose life can get saved by a piece of wearable technology.

Related: Apple Watch Series 6 Titanium Models Currently Unavailable as Apple Underestimated Demand

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Written by RJ Pierce

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple App Store is currently in trouble after some Australian consumers claimed that the giant app provider platform accidentally promoted some fake or scam apps. Victims added that some of these fraudulent apps are requiring them to pay more than $10 weekly subscription fees.

Related Article: Apple to Detect Sensitive Content on iPhone Photo Libraries-But Security Expert Has a Warning

Recently, the giant iPhone maker said that other giant tech firms and developers should not sideload their apps on its platform. They added that even competing apps should be banned from its official App Store.

During its battle against Epic Games in the courthouse, Apple released these statements, which made it more intriguing. However, it seems like Apple App Store is still not a safe place for app fans. Last February, an anonymous developer said that some scam applications are still on the iPhone maker's app platform.

The leaker added that the hackers used them to generate more than millions of dollars in revenue.

Apple App Store Allegedly Promotes Scam Apps?

According to 9To5Mac's latest report, 2% of the official App Store's active applications are still scam software. Most of the malicious online platforms are even the top-grossing apps.

Also Read: iOS 15 Beta Users Notice iPhone Camera Auto-Removes Green Lens Flares

This simply means that many people already downloaded them, which is a major issue since hackers and other online attackers could easily breach users' handsets.

However, Tim Cook, the Cupertino company's CEO, declined the allegations and said that the official Apple App Store is a safe and trusted platform.

"We wanted to create a safe and trusted place for users to discover apps-and a means of providing a secure and supportive way for developers to develop, test, and distribute apps to iPhone users globally," added the billionaire.

However, Cook's statement seems to be incorrect since a Twitter user leaked that scam apps are still lurking in the giant application provider.

Apple promoting these slime apps again.



A few of them have $10+ weekly subscriptions.



One of them doesnt even do anything.https://t.co/d0dKLCkiVF  Beau Nouvelle (@BeauNouvelle) August 4, 2021

Beau Nouvelle, the Australian user who claimed that App Store still offers slime apps, said that most of this malicious software requires a weekly subscription. He added that one of them doesn't even work at all.

As of the moment, the iPhone developer still hasn't responded to the guy's latest Twitter post.

Avoiding Fake Apps on Apple App Store

If you are worried about becoming one of the slime apps' victims, DNA provided some of the tips you need to follow. These methods will allow you to avoid scam applications more efficiently.

Always check the reviews before installing an application from Apple App Store.

Review the publish dates since most fake apps have recent release dates.

Check the app's name. If it has incorrect spelling, then there's a high chance it is run by scammers.

For more news updates about Apple App Store and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA is celebrating the 9th anniversary of the Curiosity Rover's landing on Mars, which has now put its mission as the second-longest on the Red Planet after Opportunity's, which lasted for an astounding 15 years.

The agency announced on their official website, stating the Curiosity Rover's first landing on Mars on August 5, 2012. Since then, the rover has been hard at work exploring the planet's surface, and it has come to discover a lot of interesting things about Earth's rust-covered neighbor.

NASA launched the rover back in November 2011, eventually landing it in a safe-enough on the spot called the Gale Crater over a year later, writes Space.com.

The agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the entire mission, which was considered one of the costliest in modern history at an insane $3.2 billion, writes WeForum.org. Around $2.5 billion of that budget went to the Mars rover alone. This put it in second place among the costliest Mars missions to date, only being eclipsed by the Viking 1 & 2 missions from 1975, which cost $7.1 billion in total.

Even now, when NASA's current Red Planet mission involves the headline-grabbing Ingenuity helicopter, the SUV-sized Curiosity is still doing what it does best: map out the dusty frontier of Mars in any way it can.

Read also: NASA Curiosity Rover Presents the Earth with Rare, Breathtaking Photos of Iridescent Clouds on Mars

NASA Curiosity Mission: Nine Years of INCREDIBLE Discoveries

Among Curiosity's biggest achievements was the discovery of an ancient stream on the planet, which suggested that the planet once had a lot of liquid water on it. According to NASA's official website for the rover's achievements, they managed to find several smooth, rounded pebbles which can only be formed by gushing liquid water in an ankle to hip-deep stream.

Yes, you read that right: a planet that is more or less dead likely had a lot of liquid water in the past. This supports multiple theories that it may have been livable at some point millions of years ago.

Another, more recent discovery made by the NASA Curiosity rover had it spotting an "unusual" rock formation at the crater where it originally landed nine years ago. The rock feature, which was seen in the Gale Crater, seemingly resembled a lizard-like life form. There were a lot of bumps and lumps on the rock, which again highlighted the likely possibility that Mars was once habitable and had liquid water. And as you should know, liquid water serves as a critical prerequisite to the existence of life as it is known on Earth.

NASA Might Be Changing Drastically for the Future, However

But even if NASA is still relying on wheeled rovers like Curiosity and the current-generation Perseverance, you might expect a drastic change in their space exploration tactics down the line.

NASA's launch of the Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge had them asking university students for new ideas on how to design planetary rovers, writes Robothusiast. This could mean that in the future, new rovers won't be using wheels like Curiosity and Perseverance. Rather, they will hop, balloon, tumble, levitate, or even slither.

Until then, Curiosity will keep doing its thing.

Related: NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Shows Some Rock Records Are Missing; Does This Mean No Intelligent Life on the Red Planet?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The controversial Aduhelm, a newly FDA-approved medicine for Alzheimer, is currently being questioned by various medical experts and critics.

Because the Food and Drug Administration quickly approved the new medicine using its Accelerated Approval Program, the U.S. HSS (Department of Health and Human Services) announced that it would investigate the drug.

The government health department confirmed its plan on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The confirmation of the HSS investigation came just two months after FDA approved the use of Aduhelm.

On the other hand, the Department of Health and Human Services explained that their upcoming review would specifically check FDA's accelerated approval pathway, which was used on various controversial medicines, such as the new Aduhelm.

Aduhelm To Be Investigated By HHS

According to Tech Crunch's latest report, the U.S. HHS explained that the Aduhelm approval of FDA is currently creating various concerns. The health department added the Food and Drug Administration is now being questioned because of possible scientific disputes within the agency.

These include the allegations of an inappropriately close relationship between the FDA and the industry, the advisory committee's vote against approval, and more.

Because of concerns from various critics and medical experts, the Department of Health and Human Services said that it needs to conduct the investigation as soon as possible to reveal more information about the new Alzheimer's drug.

In other news, other health researchers are focusing on COVID-19. New anti-coronavirus technologies include the new COVID-19 single-domain antibody. On the other hand, experts also released new COVID-19 x-ray images to show the alarming difference between unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals' lungs.

What is FDA's Accelerated Approval Program?

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration website explained that its Accelerated Approval Program allows new drugs to have early approvals. They added that only medicines of severe conditions could have this pathway.

"The use of a surrogate endpoint can considerably shorten the time required prior to receiving FDA approval," added the health department.

For more news updates about the new Aduhelm and other controversial drugs, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 2003 photo of Torres del Paine, which photographer Clay Hall took while on assignment for National Geographic. The photo, along with several others, is part of a new exhibit of Halls work currently on display at Rico Coffee. (Courtesy photo)
The view from Lone Cone Peak, which lies as the western post peak of the San Juan Mountains within the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest. (Photo courtesy of Lexi Tuddenham)
The highly transmissible Delta variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus has led county public health officials to urge mask use indoors for both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals. (Courtesy photo)
Despite recent big rains, and weekend mudslides on Highway 145 outside Sawpit, pictured above, experts say much more moisture is needed to make a significant dent in the long-term drought. (Photo courtesy of the San Miguel Sheriff)
Ada, OK (74820)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 93F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Josepha Morgan doesn't want another parent to go through what she's experiencing as her 20-year-old daughter is fighting for her life in a hospital overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.

The Broussard mom, who recently recovered from the virus, received word Tuesday evening that her daughter couldn't breathe and was en route via ambulance to a Baton Rouge hospital. Kayla Scott had sought hospital treatment for her coronavirus symptoms two days prior when her mother noticed how winded Scott sounded during a phone call. Scott was treated Sunday with steroids, IV fluids and antibiotics but was sent home after a chest X-ray revealed just a spot of pneumonia, Morgan said.

Louisiana breaks record for COVID hospitalizations for third straight day For the third day in a row, Louisiana hospitals reported record-breaking numbers of coronavirus patients, with 2,350 hospitalized across the s

A chest X-ray Tuesday night revealed the pneumonia had spread to the entire lung.

"She was nonresponsive when she got there," Morgan said Wednesday. "She was very incoherent."

Morgan learned her daughter was on 100% oxygen on a noninvasive ventilator known as a BiPap in the emergency department of Baton Rouge General because there were no ICU beds available. Her medical team wanted to intubate her on a mechanical ventilator, but they could not do so until a new ICU wing was constructed at the crowded hospital, Morgan said.

It took about 16 hours for Scott to be transferred from the emergency department to an ICU room.

"My kids have never been in the hospital without me," Morgan said. "When my kids are sick or have to go to the emergency room, they are big babies and I am momma bear. I'm very involved in their care."

Scott had been hospitalized twice in her life before this week, her mom said. Scott weighed just 1 pound, 11 ounces at birth and was on a ventilator for the first two months of her life. She was later hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, as a toddler.

Now, Morgan is having to rely on occasional updates from hospital staff that is overwhelmed with more patients.

"I don't know what's going on. That's the hardest part for me," Morgan said. "I wouldn't dare call and pester them because I know they're slammed. I don't want to stop them from what they're doing."

Watch: Shreveport ICU nurse pleads for people to get vaccinated in emotional video A Shreveport ICU nurse has taken to social media, pleading for others to get vaccinated as the delta variant surges across the state, overwhel

Scott lives in Baton Rouge with her uncle. She works at Flowers Bakery and cares for her 6-year-old cousin during his remote learning days away from school while her uncle works. She is in a serious romantic relationship and has been growing up and gaining independence, her mom said. Morgan said she usually talks to her daughter by phone multiple times per day.

"Kayla is very carefree and chipper," Morgan said. "I see myself in her. I can see a lot of qualities that I have in her."

Scott is Morgan's oldest child. Morgan has 17- and 13-year-old sons who live in her home and a 19-year-old son who moved out. She also lost two daughters years ago after their premature births.

"Are all my girls going to be taken away?" Morgan said, her voice breaking. "Am I not going to experience my daughter getting married or childbirth? That's where my mind is, just going off on these tangents."

Morgan and Scott each became sick with COVID-19 separately in July, and Morgan believes she contracted the virus from her 17-year-old son, who at the time worked for a restaurant where she claims employees were told not to wear masks and were not informed when staffers became sick with the virus. Morgan and her husband also became sick, but her 13-year-old son never experienced symptoms and tested negative for COVID-19.

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Scott and her uncle, who had not been in the same vicinity as the rest of the family, became sick and tested positive for COVID-19 soon thereafter. The 6-year-old in the home was quickly moved to another household and has remained free of symptoms of the virus, Morgan said.

"I just want people to know COVID is here," Morgan said. "It's at our doorsteps. It doesn't care what you think, what you believe, how you feel, what you heard. It's here. The only thing that's going to protect you, or increase your chance of beating it, is to get vaccinated, social distance, wear a mask and protect yourself."

+10 As new COVID strain rages, a look inside a packed Louisiana hospital: We havent had many wins HAMMOND  Kim Schehr didnt believe she was at much risk of getting sick with COVID-19 when she left for a family vacation to Florida in July.

Neither Morgan nor her daughter are vaccinated, although they had been taking other precautions to avoid becoming sick. Morgan said she made a vaccination appointment at a grocery store pharmacy at the end of June but was turned away when she did not have an insurance prescription card.

"It was a little frustrating," Morgan said. "It took me months to decide to do this, and then we were turned away."

As the delta variant spread rapidly in early July, Morgan decided to make an appointment at a different pharmacy to get her family vaccinated. Her 17-year-old tested positive for the virus the same day as the appointment.

Scott fretted over her family's health when she learned they had tested positive for COVID-19 and said she wanted to get vaccinated but had to find a time that didn't conflict with her work schedule. Scott became sick before she could get vaccinated.

"Last year, I remember people saying this wasn't happening here," Morgan said. "They said it was out of the country or out of the state or even in a different part of the state. People don't think it's here. There's a disconnect."

Morgan said she knows firsthand what's happening in Acadiana after seeking medical treatment herself for COVID-19 last month. She went to an urgent care facility, where she was referred for a monoclonal antibody infusion. Although the infusions are most effective within 24 to 48 hours after symptoms begin, the demand was so great in mid-July that Morgan could not get an appointment for the infusion until five days later, she said.

Morgan became short of breath on July 19, three days after the urgent care visit and two days before her scheduled antibody infusion. She then sought emergency care at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center that evening, where she waited for about three hours, got the antibody infusion and was discharged later that night.

Those hours in the hospital were a wakeup call for Morgan about how serious the COVID-19 situation has become as the delta variant spreads uncontrollably and younger people experience worse outcomes. The hospital workers were overwhelmed even then, before cases spiked to record levels this week.

"Patients were coming in with COVID, not being able to breathe," Morgan said. "And they would say, 'We're surging this one. We're surging this one.' And, at one point, the ER doctor kind of had a meltdown. Apparently people were calling to see if they had beds, and they were told no. And people were still showing up at the emergency room, and the doctor lost it for a second. He's like, 'Why the f--- would you pass up three hospitals just to come here? We told them to go to the Heart Hospital because they have room there, and they still decide to come.' He was p----d."

Now with the hospitals even more overwhelmed, Morgan waits for updates about her daughter. She's also funneling her energy into educating her friends, family and community about the reality of what's happening as COVID-19 hospitalizations reach an all-time high. Morgan said several people have decided to get vaccinated in recent weeks because of her advocacy.

Morgan is also reminding people to take extra precautions to avoid needing emergency care at overwhelmed facilities.

"One of the things that has changed a lot for us is that we're a lot more careful around the house now," Morgan said. "My son helps me cook. He wanted to julienne some carrots, and I said, 'Nope, we're not going to have an accident.' We're doing things safer around the house to avoid boo boos. We don't want to have an emergency trip to the hospital because you're going to be waiting while the more acute patients are seen."
Students, faculty and visitors will be required to wear masks at all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Lafayette at the start of the upcoming school year, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel announced.

The announcement comes after Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a new statewide mask mandate Monday requiring anyone age 5 and up to wear a mask indoors in K-12 schools, businesses, universities and churches, or in any place outside of a private residence, as the state weathers record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations driven by the delta variant.

The rule also applies to children under age 5 enrolled in kindergarten, while children ages 2 to 4 are encouraged to wear masks when possible, the governors office said. The order is in place until Sept. 1 but may be extended.

UL, SLCC won't require students to be vaccinated against COVID for fall semester In the wake of LSU's announcement Wednesday that it won't require COVID vaccines, but will require unvaccinated students to be tested monthly 

All Catholic schools would enforce the mask mandate at the start of the school year, Deshotel said late Wednesday, reminding parents that diocesan schools are private institutions and the diocese has the right to establish policies relating to the safety of their students, faculty, staff and administrators.

The Diocese is acutely aware of, and respectful of, the differences of opinion voiced by individuals and political leaders relating to the use of masks/face-coverings and corresponding government mandates.The impetus behind this policy is safety and health and we are hopeful that all parents and students will comply regardless of their personal opinions and philosophies, Deshotel said in a prepared statement.

The diocese oversees 32 Catholic schools, from early learning centers to high schools, in eight parishes in the region, including Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion parishes. It has 13 schools in Lafayette Parish, most of which return to classes next week, per school calendars.

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+8 UL Lafayette offers incentives to encourage students to get vaccinated; here's what they could win The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is launching an incentive program to reward students who have taken the COVID-19 vaccine, and inspire

The Diocese of Baton Rouge issued similar guidance for its schools on Monday, reversing previous plans to allow optional mask wearing and instituting a mandatory mask requirement for all students, teachers and on-campus visitors in schools across the diocese in response to the governors announcement.

Bishop Michael Duca said in a letter to families his goal is to keep people on Catholic campuses safe and ensure schools remain open with minimal disruptions; mask wearing was one of the protocols that helped make those goals possible during the 2020-2021 school year, he said.

We begin this school year, tired and weary due to this pandemic, but our eyes are fixed on a future filled with hope knowing that our courageous actions now will again yield much success in days to come! Duca wrote.

Archdiocese of New Orleans schools "have and will continue to abide by the mandates of local and state authorities," archdiocese spokesperson Sarah McDonald told a Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reporter.
Andrew White and his wife, who is seven months pregnant, are vaccinated but were exposed to COVID-19 recently and wanted to get tested.

They had to wait 3 hours past their appointment time Wednesday afternoon before they could receive a rapid test  and they were negative for the virus.

We walked out of there at 6:30 yesterday, and my wife got a little emotional because (the staff) looked so exhausted in there," White said of his experience at the Our Lady of the Lake urgent care center on Coursey Boulevard.

As the Baton Rouge area grapples with an explosion of new cases driven by the delta variant and low vaccination rates, tests are becoming harder to come by across the city, highlighting the strain on the areas health care system.

Baton Rouge General officials reported longer than usual wait times for testing and vaccinations at their three Express Care locations. Walgreens website showed that four of its 10 locations that offer drive-thru testing in the area had no available appointments on Thursday afternoon.

And three Our Lady of the Lake urgent care centers are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 cases among the staff, contributing to the long wait White and his wife faced on Wednesday.

"We have had staff members across the board, like everywhere else, test positive," said Phil Rainier, spokesman for Premier Health, which operates The Lakes urgent care centers. "Every day we look at our staffing and optimize how we're going to react and make sure we're delivering the maximum amount of care and doing it as conveniently as possible while still dealing with the conditions on the ground."

Rainier characterized the recent daily meetings that determine the system's response to the rapid surge in cases as a "war room."

+17 Besieged by COVID, Our Lady of the Lake gets backup from federal disaster strike force A federal strike team of doctors and nurses arrived at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge on Monday to provide back-u

The locations at Highland Road and Airline Highway, O'Neal Lane, and in Galvez were all listed as closed on The Lake's website Thursday afternoon, citing "the recent increase in COVID infections, quarantine requirements, and strict safety protocols."

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The closures are part of a plan to condense the facilities' work force in order to prevent further closures to the 19 centers, Rainier said.

The state of Louisiana and the Baton Rouge area are experiencing an unprecedented surge in new cases of COVID-19 driven by the more-infectious delta variant. Since the beginning of July, daily cases statewide have increased by more than 600%. Only 16 intensive care unit beds are open in the Louisiana Department of Health region that includes Baton Rouge, according to LDH data.

"The health system is being strained here, and urgent care is part of that system," Rainier said. "We consider ourselves to be the front door for Our Lady of the Lake. We don't see people that have emergencies, but as the emergency rooms fill up and don't have the capacity, people are going to show up at the urgent care."

Dr. O'Neal: We're facing a different and powerful threat with delta variant The delta variant is not last year's virus. We're dealing with a different beast. I have witnessed the death, sadness and long-term impacts of

Last week, The Lakes Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Catherine ONeal, called the ongoing surge the darkest days of the pandemic for her hospital system.

Despite The Lake's efforts to spread out its urgent care center resources, people seeking tests for COVID-19 should expect some delays due to the surge in cases, Rainier said.

White said the wait he experienced on Wednesday was "worth the peace of mind" of receiving a negative test.

"People just need to be patient, because they need to get tested," White said.

Rainier also urged members of the public to be patient if they experience longer-than-normal wait times due to the surge in cases.

"This is uncharted territory for all of us and we're doing everything we can, which is part of the closing strategy, because it is so overwhelming right now," Rainier said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has accused state Attorney General Jeff Landry of causing confusion over face mask rules for children and reiterated that those 5 and older should wear them.

Edwards, in a letter to state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, said another letter by Landry has led to questions among some parents over exceptions to the mask rule as public schools resume classes.

The governor said the only exceptions are for children under 5 not in kindergarten, those with a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a face mask and select other cases.

"These are essentially the same exceptions that were contained in all of the face covering orders for the entirety of the 2020-21 school year," Edwards said in his message, which is dated Aug. 4.

"As you know, unlike many states, Louisiana had a relatively safe and successful in-person year last year in large part because of masking by students," he said.

"By adopting these measures and ignoring those unwilling to acknowledge the current crisis we can keep our kids in school this year and keep them safe," Edwards wrote.

"Please feel free to forward this letter to any school districts that may be addressing this issue."

Earlier this week Landry sent an email to his employees in the Department of Justice on how to get around K-12 mask rules.

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The attorney general said state laws allows families to use philosophical or religious objections to get a mask exemption.

Attorney General Jeff Landry advises employees how to avoid school COVID restrictions Attorney General Jeff Landry sent a departmentwide email blast to his employees Monday suggesting strategies for getting students out of the m

The email followed Edwards' announcement Monday that he was re-imposing an indoor mask mandate, including K-12 students, to help combat the latest surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus.

The governor said even those 2-5 are "strongly encouraged" to wear face masks indoors.

Health experts said earlier this week face masks and other rules are needed because children are more vulnerable to the delta variant than they were to the earlier version of the coronavirus.

Democrat Edwards and Republican Landry have clashed on a wide range of issues, including how to respond to the pandemic.

The governor has repeatedly called for strong government measures to combat the virus while Landry has often sided with those who have chafed at the mandates.

Neither Brumley nor Landry's office could be reached for comment.
East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Sito Narcisse is urging the school board to require the district's 6,000 employees to either prove they are vaccinated or get weekly COVID tests.

Narcisse made his surprise announcement Thursday shortly after the start of the board's scheduled 5 p.m. meeting. He said he believes it's the right thing to do because educators "should act in the best interest of our children."

Narcisse also sent the board a short memo Thursday. He said he want the board to allow him to mandate that all employees "show proof of vaccination status or submit to weekly Covid-19 testing for those who cannot show proof of vaccination status regarding the Covid-19 virus."

"My priority is to return our students to in-person learning and effective instruction," Narcisse explained. "Students feeling safe and secure is a vital component of effective instruction. I believe this authorization will be a vital tool to assist in accomplishing that goal."

East Baton Rouge Parish is one of the first K-12 public school districts to seriously consider mandating vaccinations for its employees to any great degree, but several private colleges and universities in Louisiana have approved even broader employee vaccination mandates.

There was nothing initially on the board meeting agenda about employee vaccinations or any COVID issues. The board, however, agreed to add an agenda item in order to allow for public comment.

Several parents and activists had been pressing the board for a special agenda item without luck and expressed dismay Thursday that it was not an easier call to make.

"There is a deadly virus running around," said Caleb Holmes, an organizer with Step Up Louisiana. "Sweeping it under the rug is not what we should be doing."

Jennifer Harding, an active parent with Progressive Social Network of Baton Rouge, also objected to the difficulty of obtaining public comment. She said happiness at the prospect of in-person school has shifted to fear as the virus has surged anew. She suggested a temporary shift to virtual.

We are absolutely terrified now," Harding said. "And its not a matter of if, its a matter of when the outbreaks will happen.

+10 Despite mask mandate, Baton Rouge teachers still uneasy with prospect of in-person schooling A day after Gov. John Bel Edwards told Louisianans to start wearing masks indoors again, Baton Rouge teachers met by the hundreds at a handful

School officials indicated earlier this week they were researching the idea of some kind of employee vaccination mandate after several major state officials announced plans to require such mandates. The first chance for the board to consider voting on Narcisse's recommendation will be at the board's Aug. 19 meeting.

Employees returned from summer break on Monday and students return to classes next Wednesday.

The superintendent said he is recommending a religious exemption to the policy, but provided little detail what he has in mind there, saying those employees would have to submit to "periodic testing."

Soon after Narcisse's announcement, school system spokesman Alex Stubbs clarified that the proposed policy is not a hard-and-fast mandate for vaccinations, but more akin to the rules LSU recently announced.

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There is no current requirement, though, for school system employees to undergo COVID-19 testing unless they show symptoms of illness. And LSU's new rules require monthly, not weekly testing, for the unvaccinated, and it applies to students, not employees.

LSU to require unvaccinated students to take monthly COVID tests; vaccine not required LSU won't require its students to get the coronavirus vaccination to attend this fall, but those who don't will have to be tested monthly, the

Narcisse on Tuesday released COVID safety rules for schools for the 2021-22 school year. Those rules require universal masking from kindergarten to 12th grade, in line with the mask mandate Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday.

Several school administrators gave a lengthy presentation to the board Thursday on the new rules as well as other steps the school district is taking to try to keep people safe.

Stacey Dupre, chief of support and special projects, said the district welcomes people to reach out to its COVID hotline at (225) 397-2210 or to email queries to covidhotline@ebrschools.org.

"All calls will be answered," Dupre said. "It's very important that our students feel safe and our parents feel safe."

Board member Mike Gaudet urged Dupre to have extended hours, until 7 p.m. each night, to service the hotline, at least during the opening weeks of school.

Jason Spencer, parent of four children in the school system, urged the board to allow the mask mandate to expire as soon as the governor's order ends. He said feels like his "freedoms are being eroded."

The prospect of a mask-less school year, which his children had been looking forward, have been dashed for now at least.

They went through this all last year, and they were extremely excited that this wouldnt happen this year then the mandate and it was changed, he said.

Educators in Louisiana first became eligible to be vaccinated on Feb. 22, but it's unclear how many have. The state has not tracked vaccinations by school employees. East Baton Rouge Parish officials were able to track some vaccinations when educators were eligible in late February, but soon after gave up trying.

Also, on Thursday, the Narcisse administration agreed to offer magnet school parents worried about the virus a way to go virtual without losing their seat in their magnet program, at least for a semester. Previously, Narcisse had resisted such a move, but school officials reconsidered as the school year loomed and the coronavirus surged a fourth time.

Virtual school adds amenities, but there's a catch: magnet students who enroll can't go back A tiny virtual high school in Baton Rouge has begun enrolling in grades pre-K-through-12 as it strives to be an acceptable home for thousands 

Chief of Schools Sharon Williams said magnet schools now have a "hold" form that parents can sign and temporarily transfer to the EBR Virtual Academy.

Williams that more than 300 students have applied to attend the EBR Virtual Academy and there many families who've been coming in person to sign up. The newly expanded virtual school is now located at the former home of BR FLAIM at 802 Mayflower St. in Beauregard Town.
HAMMOND  Kim Schehr didnt believe she was at much risk of getting sick with COVID-19 when she left for a family vacation to Florida in July.

If she caught it, she thought the virus would give her a cold, or at worst, a fever and chills like those that accompany the common flu. So the Hammond resident chose not to get vaccinated against the virus, thinking it just wasnt necessary.

Speaking between gasps for air supplemented by a breathing tube, Schehr said Wednesday she regrets that decision after spending five days hospitalized with debilitating pneumonia. Every moment, she struggles to breathe  complications from the virus, for which she tested positive a little more than a week ago.

My personal decision was to not get the vaccine because Ive been fine for the past year-and-a-half, Schehr said. I dont think I would have progressed this bad if Id had it.

Quantifying Louisiana's dire hospital staff shortages as COVID hospitalizations break records When University Medical Center in New Orleans was inundated with COVID patients during the first three surges, a unoccupied unit typically use

The 52-year-old, who described having few health scares in the past, is one of 109 people hospitalized with COVID-19 at Hammonds North Oaks Health Center.

Its by far the most COVID patients the 330-bed hospital has housed since the pandemic entered Louisiana in March of 2020  a steep rise from the earlier peak of around 50 patients in last winters surge, said Dr. Stacy R. Newman, North Oaks infectious disease physician.

North Oaks is one of hundreds of hospitals across Louisiana packed to the brink with COVID-19 patients as the more-virulent delta variant rips through the states population, which has one of the nations lowest rates of vaccination against the virus at 37.2%. The state set a new peak for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday with 2,247 patients, the Louisiana Department of Health said. The vast majority of those patients are unvaccinated.

The crushing wave of cases is overwhelming understaffed hospitals, testing doctors ability to provide quality care and straining hospital workers mental health to the brink as they battle yet another surge of the deadly virus. This time, medical experts agree the wave was preventable due to the availability of vaccines.

Vaccinations in Louisiana rose by almost 300% in recent days, White House data show, due in part to fears over the variant. But at hospitals like North Oaks  the largest hospital in Tangipahoa Parish, which the New York Times ranks as the second-worst county in the nation for COVID-19 spread  the virus is winning the race to get shots in arms.

Deltas virulence appears to be making patients like Schehr arrive sicker and deteriorate much more quickly than in past waves, said Dr. Justin Fowlkes, North Oaks chief pulmonologist. Many patients are showing up at the emergency room and being sent straight to the ICU for intubation  the most dire level of care, where patients are anesthetized and lie motionless, their breathing automated by a machine ventilator.

In this wave, those patients chances of survival seem to be coming down to a coin toss, Fowlkes said.

It feels like were not as successful in supporting people now as we were in earlier waves, Fowlkes said Wednesday, on a break from a shift in the ICU. We had people who did well in the past. Maybe they were intubated for a while and needed six months in the hospital, but they made it home. We havent had many wins this time.

Every bed in North Oaks ICU was filled by an intubated COVID-19 patient Wednesday. A day earlier, an alternate ICU the hospital set up in another wing filled up, too.

+59 Photos: North Oaks Hospital packed with 109 COVID patients, most since pandemic began Take a look inside North Oaks Hospital, Wednesday, August 4, 2021, as staff work around the clock tending to 109 Coronavirus patients, the mos

That means patients in units that provide less-critical care  like the one where Schehr is housed  might have to wait several days longer for an ICU transfer than they otherwise would need to in the event their conditions deteriorate.

Fowlkes can count on one hand the number of ventilated patients at North Oaks who have survived their bout with the virus in this wave. Of the 109 COVID patients currently hospitalized there, he estimated about 30 are on ventilators.

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As vaccine hesitancy still keeps many Louisianans from seeking out shots, Fowlkes is engaging in the same exercise as many other doctors across the country. He talks to people about the vaccines' efficacy one-on-one, imploring them to believe what medical experts widely agree upon: that the shots are the only surefire way to prevent yet another surge.

After Louisiana medical school mandated COVID vaccine, Jeff Landry files lawsuit Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has filed a federal lawsuit against the state's newest medical school, joining three students who claim

Complicating hospitals' response to the surge, however, is the fact that their workers have not been immune to misinformation plaguing the vaccine rollout. In North Oaks case, just 43% of the hospital's existing staff has received the jab, said Melanie Zaffuto, a hospital spokesperson.

Im sitting here talking about the general public, but the percentage of hospital workers who are vaccinated is not impressive at all, said Fowlkes. Its confusing to me why we dont have upwards of 80% vaccination in our hospital.

And like most Louisiana hospitals, North Oaks is also battling the delta variant with fewer staff than in previous waves.

Fifty-seven of the hospitals 2,000 employees were out with COVID Wednesday, Zaffuto said, plus another 40 off for other reasons. Meanwhile, the hospital is trying to fill 400 vacancies  all while opening more surge units to care for the crush of COVID patients.

While employees' decision to get the vaccine is theirs to make, North Oaks provides resources explaining medical experts' belief that vaccines are the most effective method to slow the viruss spread, Zaffuto said. Hospital workers are trying desperately to convince their own colleagues of that reality. After long shifts in the ICU, he often volunteers time for one-on-one conversations with reluctant colleagues about the shots efficacy, Fowlkes said.

Poor patient outcomes, low staffing numbers and a deep sense of disappointment stemming from the surges preventability are taking a toll on hospital workers mental health.

We have people coming in much younger, sicker, waiting longer in the ER, deteriorating faster, said Jessica Anthony, a 27-year-old nurse in the hospitals surgery unit. Young people with no health issues are dying. Its so frustrating, because we all agree this was fairly preventable. We rely on each other (at the hospital), because people at home and those who arent in the medical field dont understand what its like to go through this.

Many of the hospitals workers are involved in the community in Hammond, through volunteering, work or as neighbors. Often, they know people who walk through the hospital doors personally.

Its a small community here. Its deeply personal for us, said Newman, the infectious disease physician. Thats why a lot of us are still passionate about being here. As hard as it is some days, we know who were showing up for.

When they got back from Florida, Schehrs husband was hospitalized with COVID-19, too. But he was discharged on Sunday. She is a little worse along, than he was, Schehr said.

She implored people on the fence to commit to getting the vaccine.

I dont think I would be this bad if Id have taken the shot, she said. I was one of those how did it come out so fast people. It was only after talking with the doctors at the hospital that I changed my mind.

Clarification: This file has been updated to show that only existing North Oaks staff are included in the hospital's 43% vaccination rate.
A Shreveport ICU nurse has taken to social media, pleading for others to get vaccinated as the delta variant surges across the state, overwhelming hospitals and putting many unvaccinated people at an increased risk.

Felicia Croft, a COVID ICU nurse at Willis-Knighton Medical Center, recorded a tearful video that was posted to social media on July 30 detailing her experience working in the hospital.

Louisiana breaks record for COVID hospitalizations for third straight day For the third day in a row, Louisiana hospitals reported record-breaking numbers of coronavirus patients, with 2,350 hospitalized across the s

We are intubating and losing people that are my age and younger, she says in the video. People with kids that are my kids age and younger that are never going to see their kids graduate.

And so many of the people were getting havent been vaccinated. And just to know that theres something that could help and people arent taking advantage of it.

Watch the video below. Cant see it? Click here.

Croft later appeared as a guest on CNN on Aug. 2, again asking for those havent yet been vaccinated to get the shot.

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This pandemic and masks and vaccines, this is not about you and what always makes you feel good, she said while speaking with Anderson Cooper. If we change that mindset I think it would change a lot of whats happening outside an inside of the hospital.

On Thursday Louisiana broke the record for COVID-19 hospitalizations for the third day in row, with 2,350 coronavirus patients in the hospital, according to the Lousisiana Department of Health. People who are not fully vaccinated make up 91% of those hospitalizations.

+10 As new COVID strain rages, a look inside a packed Louisiana hospital: We havent had many wins HAMMOND  Kim Schehr didnt believe she was at much risk of getting sick with COVID-19 when she left for a family vacation to Florida in July.

The health department also reported 3,905 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 27 more confirmed deaths.

Vaccinations in Louisiana have increased in recent weeks, and 54,200 additional doses were administered across the state since July 29, LDH data showed.

Gov. John Bel Edwards reissued a mask mandate for the state, which resumed Wednesday for Louisianans ages 5 and up regardless of vaccination status, in an effort to control the virus' spread.
Two days after he filed a lawsuit against a small private medical school in northeast Louisiana over its coronavirus vaccine requirement for students, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is out as a plaintiff after a federal judge questioned why the state was a party to the case.

Landry had joined three students at the Monroe-based Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine who claimed that their rights were violated by the institution's requirement that they receive the coronavirus vaccine. Officials at the medical school, known as VCOM, responded by saying that they allowed students to apply for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccination requirement and the committee to determine those exemptions had not yet reviewed them.

But after the attorney general's office and the students filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the Monroe division of the Western District of Louisiana, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty  an appointee of President Donald Trump  questioned why the suit was filed in federal court and why Landry's office was involved in it.

After Louisiana medical school mandated COVID vaccine, Jeff Landry files lawsuit Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has filed a federal lawsuit against the state's newest medical school, joining three students who claim

Doughty asked for the plaintiffs to explain by the end of Thursday whether the federal courts should have jurisdiction, and "whether the State of Louisiana is a nominal party or a real party in interest in this proceeding."

Monroe-based attorney Michael DuBos responded on behalf of the medical students Thursday afternoon, writing that Landry would no longer be a plaintiff.

"The State of Louisiana is not a real party in interest to the instant proceeding, as the State has only a general governmental interest in securing compliance with its laws," he wrote. "However, out of an abundance of caution, the State of Louisiana will be removed as a party in Plaintiffs restyled Complaint."

Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

+2 Jeff Landry targets new Louisiana medical school over coronavirus vaccine mandates Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is threatening to sue the states newest medical school over its coronavirus vaccine policies after thr

He added that Landry's office would instead try to file an amicus, or "friend of the court," brief in support of the students. Before filing the lawsuit, Landry spent weeks exchanging letters with VCOM administrators and threatening to sue them over their vaccine policy.

Students Rachel Magliulo, Matthew Willis and Kirsten Willis Hall remain plaintiffs.

They have asked Doughty to issue a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against VCOM preventing the medical school from mandating the coronavirus vaccine as a condition of enrollment, and preventing VCOM from "retaliating against, coercing, threatening or discriminating against Plaintiffs for availing themselves of their right not to be vaccinated against their will."

"It is simply time for the vaccine to no longer be used as a political issue but to be one recognized as a measure needed for public health and safety," said VCOM President Dr. Dixie Tooke-Rawlins on Wednesday. "VCOMs requirement does not force any student to be vaccinated. We have offered and will continue to offer exemptions and alternate plans for students until the vaccine is off Emergency Use Authorization."

Louisiana medical school has no interest in political battle, but defends vaccine rules After Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry last week threatened legal action against a north Louisiana medical school over rules compelling 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the lawsuit was filed in the Monroe division of the U.S. Western District of Louisiana.
Heart disease killed a mother whose toddler was left stranded for days in their apartment, the Baton Rouge Coroners Office ruled.

The 2-year-old boy was found July 30 by his mothers body after a maintenance worker entered their unit of the North Boulevard apartment complex.

Officials who responded to the scene say the toddler was alone, hungry and thirsty for days.

The boy was hospitalized for dehydration.

+3 Toddler left stranded, hungry for days after mom's death in Baton Rouge apartment A toddler stranded in a North Boulevard apartment for several days after his mom died was rescued Friday morning and hospitalized for dehydration.

Police told The Advocate that the woman, who was 37, moved to Baton Rouge with her son in December after two hurricanes forced them to relocate from Lake Charles.

BRPD spokesman Sgt. LJean McKneely said authorities were later able to contact the boys father in Texas.
Bill Richardson, the veteran dean of the LSU College of Agriculture, is leaving his post, LSU's president said Thursday.

The change marks the second shakeup in LSU's leadership since President Wlliam F. Tate IV took the job last month.

Changes in LSU hierarchy: New president ousts Provost Stacia Haynie in his first week Within three days of taking over LSU, System President William F. Tate IV already has begun rearranging the top leadership at the states flagship.

Executive Vice President and Provost Stacia Haynie was removed from her job a few days after Tate assumed office and returned to teaching in the College of Humanities & Social Services.

Tate made the announcement on the latest change.

"I'm writing to let you know that Bill Richardson has informed me he is stepping down from his position as vice president for agriculture and Dean of the College of Agriculture effective Aug. 4, 2021," he wrote.

New LSU President William F. Tate IV close to signing contract; see contract details LSU and William F. Tate IV have come to terms on a contract for the South Carolina scholar to take the reins as president of the LSU system an

"He will return to faculty as the Chalkley Family Endowed Chair and professor in the College of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education and Evaluation," Tate said.

"I'd like to thank Dr. Richardson for his decades of service and leadership to both LSU and the AgCenter," he said.

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"He has held a wide range of positions within the LSU family over the years and he has consistently shown commitment to LSU's agricultural mission," he added.

Tate said an interim vice president and dean will be named shortly.

Richardson, who has been at LSU for 37 years, could not be reached for comment.

The Kennett, Mo. native has been dean of the LSU College of Agriculture since 2013, the second time he held the post.

His previous term was from 1992-97.

As vice-president for agriculture he oversaw the AgCenter.

Other posts include interim chancellor for LSU at Eunice; acting vice-president and provost for the Office of Academic Affairs; associate dean of the College of Agriculture and his first post as director of the School of Vocational Education and Technology, which he assumed in 1984.

Richardson also helped modernize the school's curriculum, led a committee of faculty to upgrade the LSU Honors College and chaired a panel that named a director for the Academic Center for Athletes.

He earned a bachelor's degree in 1966 and a master's degree in 1968 from Arkansas State University and a doctoral degree in agricultural education from the University of Missouri in 1972.
In an interview on CNN on Wednesday evening, Bill Gates acknowledged that his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was a huge mistake, and he told the host, Anderson Cooper, that his divorce, which became final this week, was definitely a very sad milestone.

The New York Times reported in 2019 about Gates relationship with Epstein, begun after Epstein had been convicted of sex crimes. The two men met on numerous occasions starting in 2011  including at least three times at Epsteins Manhattan townhouse, The Times reported, citing interviews with more than a dozen people and related documents.

Not a great climate thing.: The carbon footprint being left by bitcoin has the likes of Bill Gates concerned. Credit:Bloomberg

His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing, although it would not work for me, Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after their first meeting. A spokesperson for Gates told The Times that he was referring only to the unique decor of the Epstein residence  and Epsteins habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr Gates.

On Coopers show, Gates said: I had several dinners with him, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health, through contacts that he had, might emerge. When it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended. But it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there.
A lot of people surely do hate Peter Tatchell, after all that. Over the years, Ive certainly riled a lot of homophobes, tyrants and other human rights abusers, he confirms. And a good many on his own side? Yes, them too. For example, he offers, when he was part of a group spearheading a push for marriage equality, more conservative groups said it was too soon. Now theyre all on board. But its not just a matter of more cautious gay lobbyists telling him to steady on a bit. Depending on the issue, he has been accused of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, transphobia, supporting paedophilia and every variety of racism  skirmishes that dont crop up in Hating Peter Tatchell but are recorded at length on the internet. Not that its difficult to be accused of any of these things, given the hurly-burly of modern identity politics. What is striking is that he keeps going back for more abuse, more internecine struggle and more damaging head injuries from security officers thrilled to be able to exceed their remit. So far Ive been violently assaulted over 300 times, had 50 attacks on my flat, been the victim of half-a-dozen murder plots and received tens of thousands of hate messages and death threats over the last five decades, he wrote in a piece about the film in The Guardian. Such are the scars of battle. Im hoping that I will be able to continue for at least another 26 years, he tells me. And then perhaps retire gracefully at the age of 95. We are speaking on Zoom, but his voice resonates as if he is trying to reach the back of a draughty hall: a preachers delivery. Every sentence is perfectly formed, as if he had said it before. I try to catch him out with something unexpected but hes word-perfect.

Tatchell grew up in Mount Waverley in a Pentecostal home. His stepfather bullied him; his mother was convinced he was on a pink highway to hell. Far from running away from her disapproval, he appeared on television to debate her about his impending damnation. What a pair they make, clearly mutually devoted. She takes a softer line in Amos film; it doesnt fit with her beliefs, she says, but there it is. Peter Tatchell says: Im just driven by my passion, which is that I love other people. Credit:MIFF It could be a cue for a coming-out story thick with guilt and self-doubt, given how large homosexuality looms in the evangelical pantheon of sins. But that just wasnt going to happen to Tatchell. Amazingly, when I realised I was gay, I said to myself: Look, Im not harming anyone. This relationship Im embarking on with a man is so emotionally fulfilling  how can it be wrong? So I never had a moments doubt. But then again, one thing my very religious parents taught me was to stand up for myself. Do whats right! Dont follow the crowd! I took that to heart. He was already politically active, in line with the tenor of the times. In 1967, inspired by newspaper reports, he had become part of the campaign to stop the execution of Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Victoria. As you know, that failed but that provoked my lifelong scepticism of authority  I began to question lots of things that Id previously taken for granted, like the treatment of Australias Indigenous peoples and like Australias involvement in the Vietnam War. And even though he is most famously identified with Outrage! and its confronting tactics, including the deeply divisive decision to out gay public figures, he still works on a spread of campaigns. The Peter Tatchell Foundation is tiny, 2 people and privately funded; he is clearly well-connected, given that Elton John and David Furnish came on board as executive producers of the documentary. Like the Avengers, he goes where hes needed. West Papua to support self-determination; Pakistan to champion the indigenous Baluchi; Eastern European Pride marches.

Does he ever doubt himself? Think he made a bad decision or backed the wrong horse? A moments consideration. Well, on the issue of making homophobia a hate crime, Ive got some misgivings about that. I was very enthusiastic to begin with but I feel that sometimes, on occasion, it has strayed into the realm of inhibiting free speech and the right to protest. He is vociferously opposed to no-platforming or cancelling opponents, an old-fashioned liberal conviction that has led him right into the thick of the TERF wars, but nobody can accuse Tatchell of dodging a stoush. Loading Hating Peter Tatchell provides a riveting panorama of social protest over his lifetime. There are terrific interviewees: Stephen Fry is in there, and Sir Ian McKellen; Archbishop George Carey, whose life was certainly made more complicated by Tatchell during the outing campaign, generously says he thinks he is a force for good. But after an hour talking to him, I feel no closer to understanding what drives him so relentlessly. Im just driven by my passion, which is that I love other people, he says. I love liberty and freedom and justice. I dont like to see other people suffering; I know that if I were suffering, I would want someone to help me. For him, the point of making the film was to inspire the next generation to become change-makers. But who could come anywhere near replacing Peter Tatchell? Hating Peter Tatchell is at cinemas during the Melbourne International Film Festival, which streams August 5-22 and is in cinemas August 13-22. miff.com.au
Its an increasingly rare species, an accomplished local drama series that has the broad appeal required to secure a prime-time slot on network television. The eight-part RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service is also a noteworthy departure from current trends: No dystopian darkness, no murder plot, no mothers behaving badly or singles lookin for love. Shot on location in Broken Hill, in large part at the RFDS base, and with a focus on rural and regional Australia, its a tribute to the services staff and to the vast community that relies on them.

One of my favourite shows is Friday Night Lights, says co-creator and producer Imogen Banks. I love the way that the town is one of the main characters. That was one of our early references; we wanted to build a mosaic of a community. As well, says co-creator, co-script producer and writer Ian Meadows, We wanted to represent the truth of being someone who is relied upon at the frontier of medicine and aviation, and the sole connection for these families and communities that are hundreds of kilometres from help. We were interested in the psychological, physical and mental challenges for the front-line health workers and first responders.

The cast of RFDS (clockwise from left): Stephen Peacocke, Rodney Afif , Jack Scott, Thomas Weatherall , Rob Collins, Ash Ricardo, Emma Hamilton, Justine Clarke, Kate Mulvany Credit:Daniel Asher Smith

The drama aims to portray the town as a vibrant destination. Banks says that she, along with many members of the cast and crew, fell in love with the place, happily noting the availability of good coffee, that unofficial yet widely accepted gauge of liveability. Its a sophisticated place, she says. Its not like being dumped in the middle of nowhere, which is often how these stories of remote places are told: theyre all about hardship and lack of choice. Broken Hill is a thriving community. Of course, its got its problems because there are 18,000 people living there, so theres the full spectrum of humanity. But we didnt want to make a patronising show about rural-dom that portrayed Australians as unsophisticated people in a big, brown land being bitten by things.

A key goal of that portrayal was to capture the desert landscape in a style that was vivid without being postcard kitsch. Whats beautiful about Damos work (cinematographer Damian Wyvill) is that he found specificity in it, says Banks. He didnt over-crank the red. Its not red all the time. Thats whats addictive about being there: theres a spectrum of beautiful bruised colours. Adds Meadows, We didnt want that blue-rinsed, washed-out, very cool tone but we also didnt want it to be too rosy. We were trying to capture how stunning and stark it is.
A popular pedestrian bridge linking suburbs in Sydneys south has been closed due to COVID-19 fears after the local council said more than 100 people were ordered to leave nearby parklands last weekend.

Sutherland Shire Council said Sydney Water had agreed to close the Como bridge, which connects the Como Pleasure Grounds with Oatley on the opposite side of the Georges River, indefinitely from Friday afternoon.

Crowds at popular exercise routes around Sydney, including the Bondi to Bronte track and the Bay Run, have come under the spotlight of local councils and police during the pandemic.

A Sutherland Shire Council spokesman said the bridges closure, supported by police, was aimed at limiting the number of people using the pedestrian and bike path to access recreational areas.

Police and council staff were called upon to move on more than 100 people last weekend for stopping, sitting and gathering in crowds at Como Pleasure Grounds, the spokesman said.

We understand this is a popular exercise route for both Sutherland Shire and Georges River residents, however we must prioritise the safety and wellbeing of both communities and take all steps to reduce the risk of the further spread of COVID-19.

In a Facebook post earlier on Friday, the council said the closure was prompted by unsafe gatherings.

This is an extremely dangerous time for the transmission of COVID-19 in the community. With over 290 new cases reported this morning, we ALL have a responsibility to manage our movement for essential activity such as exercise, the post read.

The council said it would work with government agencies to coordinate the staged reopening of the bridge and other community facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.
Three teenagers have been charged over an alleged assault that has left a 16-year-old boy critically injured and on life support.

Paramedics were called to a house on Perigee Close in Doonside, in western Sydney, about 5.30pm on Wednesday where police say the boy was found unresponsive with injuries to his head and chest.

Its believed the boy went into cardiac arrest and was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he remained on Thursday night in a critical condition and on life support.

Residents nearby reported seeing low-flying helicopters after the incident and local streets were blocked off.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested on nearby Rosenthal Street, Doonside about 11.50pm on Wednesday, while a 13-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl were arrested on intersecting Mikado Way about 8am on Thursday.
Stephen Lapthorne (right) went missing 43 years ago from Sydneys Upper North Shore. Credit:NSW Police

Stephen Lapthorne and girlfriend Michelle Pope left his family home in Sydneys upper north shore to make the 20-kilometre trip to Berowra in 1978, but they never arrived.

Despite extensive searches, neither their car nor their bodies have been found.

Stephen and Michelle were two amazingly normal young adults with their whole lives ahead of them, Mr Lapthornes sister, Kerrie Coy, said. Stephen had a secure job that he took a lot of satisfaction in. He had a very close group of mates who all looked out for each other.

Michelle was a ray of sunshine and just loved by all that knew her.
Queensland has recorded 16 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, which Deputy Premier Steven Miles described as very encouraging news.

All 16 new cases have been linked to the Indooroopilly Delta cluster in Brisbane, with three students and nine household contacts linked to Ironside State School and one teacher, two students and one household contact linked to Brisbane Grammar.

The total number of cases connected to the Indooroopilly Delta cluster is now 79, making it the biggest coronavirus outbreak in Queensland since the first wave hit last year, while a record-breaking 52,351 tests were performed in the past 24 hours.

Mr Miles said it was encouraging that of the latest cases, only three were infectious in the community for one day and one was infectious for two days.
Victoria will enter its sixth lockdown from 8pm on Thursday in response to the emergence of new mystery cases of COVID-19 in recent days.

Contact tracing is no longer enough to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant  people who have contracted the virus just cant be found fast enough.

Premier Daniel Andrews has called another lockdown for Victoria. Credit:Nine news

Even with the best QR systems and contact tracing, the infection cycle is now so fast that it is not possible to identify potential cases and test and isolate before they have time to become infectious.

We are still waiting on the genomics, but given the recent mystery case was a Delta case, we know we do have virus in the community despite our last lockdown.
Divisions have emerged in the federal government over farming rules to improve water quality on the Great Barrier Reef, as the governments Special Envoy for Northern Australia slams regulations targeting harmful farm water runoff that has been endorsed by the Environment Minister.

Australia successfully lobbied last month to delay a decision on listing the reef as in danger of losing World Heritage status at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation hearing.

Senior members of the federal government are at odds over their support for state laws that require farmers to reduce water pollution for the Barrier Reef.

A key to Australias pitch was its $3 billion investment to improve water quality, which is backed by Queensland government laws that mandate standards on fertiliser use for sugar cane growers to limit nitrogen runoff and for maintenance of ground cover on grazing country to reduce sediment washing into the ocean.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said in July Australia is on track to meet our 2025 Reef water quality improvement targets and cited projections that factored in Queenslands reef regulations, showing a rapid improvement in runoff to the reef.
It was former prime minister John Howard who described Victoria as "the Massachusetts of Australia" when referring to our collective appetite for social reform.

Despite voting for several Republican governors in recent years, the US state of Massachusetts tends to have more voters who consistently side with left-leaning ideas and favour a more progressive style of politics than the rest of the country. Sound familiar?

Premier Daniel Andrews and Hang Vo, chair of the Victorian pride centre, raise the flag at the Victorian Pride Centre in St Kilda. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

At one stage, Victoria may have been the jewel in the Liberal Partys crown but in more recent years it has transformed itself into arguably the most progressive jurisdiction in Australia. Just dont tell Canberrans.

From the moment he was elected in 2014, Premier Daniel Andrews, a member of Labors Socialist Left faction, has embraced this tolerance by delivering his own progressive social agenda.
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Scorching heat, low humidity and strong winds have fed fires in Turkey and neighbouring Greece. In the last two weeks, fires in Turkey have burnt more than three times the area affected in an average year, as a European fire agency said, and Greeks have been forced to evacuate beaches to avoid the advancing flames. Last week fires tore through Italy and the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, creating scenes of glowing red night skies.

Climate scientists say this years onslaught is hitting harder and in places that have been spared global warmings wrath in the past. Wealthy countries such as the US, Canada and Belgium are joining poorer and more vulnerable nations on a growing list of extreme weather events that scientists say have some connection to human-caused climate change.

The vulnerability is on full display in Turkey and Greece this week - as evident in the photos.

A wildfire approaches the Olympic Academy. Credit:AP

Greek authorities ordered villages near the site of the ancient Olympic Games in the western Peloponnese to be evacuated on Wednesday as wildfires raged across the country, destroying swathes of forest and buildings, and sending hundreds fleeing.

Temperatures of more than 40 Celsius and strong winds have fanned more than 150 wildfires in different areas of the country in recent days, adding to the conflagrations in Turkey and other areas of the Mediterranean.

We are still fighting a titanic battle on many fronts, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said during a briefing, The next days will be more difficult.

A dozen villages were cleared near the archaeological site in the western Peloponnese region where the ancient Olympic Games were held, and around 160 firefighters, with water bombing aircraft battled to save the ancient treasures.

Were doing our best to save this sacred place, local mayor Panagiotis Antonakopoulos, told television station Open TV. After human lives our priority is to save our history.

A Turkish volunteer. Credit:AP

Turkish officials say 167 fires had been brought under control and 16 continued in five provinces. Thousands of firefighters and civilians, such as the one pictured above, were working to douse the flames.
Up for debate:

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Senior citizens leave a COVID-19 vaccination site operated by MaineHealth in the site of a former department store March 3, 2021, in Sanford, Maine.
A small airplane flies a banner with the message "The Report is in. Remove Cuomo Now" circles around the Empire State Plaza and the New York state Executive Mansion, Aug. 4, 2021, in Albany, New York.
Staff Reporter

Nyamekye Daniel has been a journalist for five years. She was the managing editor for the South Florida Media Network and a staff writer for The Miami Times. Daniel's work has also appeared in the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and The New York Times.
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Tim Gruver is a politics and public policy reporter. He is a University of Washington alum and the recipient of the 2017 Pioneer News Award for Reporting. His work has appeared in Politico, the Kitsap Daily News, and the Northwest Asian Weekly.
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News

COVID-19 testing surges in community along with virus, officials say

COVID-19 testing in the community has really gone up in the past week, almost doubling, as the delta variant surges in the state, according to Unity Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roddy Lochala.

According to Dr. Clark Fincher, also a member of White Countys COVID-19 task force that met Tuesday, the Searcy Medical Center conducted 60 COVID tests a week ago Monday and this Monday did 120.

Formerly, a vaccinated person, if ... found to be a close contact, was not required to quarantine, Lochala said, but it is recommended now that that person receive a COVID test on day three through five. Thats a new recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recent research on the delta variant of the virus, a highly contagious mutation that was first detected in India and has become the predominant strain in most countries, suggests that vaccinated people who get infected with carry the same high viral load that can easily spread to others as those who arent vaccinated, even if the vaccinated dont get seriously ill. Nearly all hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated, according to health officials.

We obviously have an uptick in COVID cases, Searcy Fire Department Capt. Corbry Swain said, due to both the delta variant and unimmunized persons.

According to Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero, the state saw a 517 percent increase in the number of virus cases among people under the age of 18 between April and July. Nineteen percent of the states virus cases were among that age group.

The state also is approaching its high for COVID-19 hospitalizations, which was 1,371 set in January. As of Tuesday, 1,250 were hospitalized.

Lochala said Unity Health has about 30 COVID-19 patients in White County Medical Center.

The Searcy School District, the Searcy Fire Department and NorthStar EMS all informed Lochala at the Zoom meeting facilitated from the Central Fire Station that will help in any way they can.

Searcy School Superintendent Dr. Bobby Hart said the district has five or six school nurses that would gladly volunteer to help with the COVID testing situation and if there needs to me more hands at work with paperwork and things like that, he could find the personnel to do that as well.

And, if you need a facility, we can try to make that happen, Hart told Lochala. Tell us what we can do and you need us to do and I will certainly try to meet that.

Lochala said he loved the thought of working together. He also said antigen tests for COVID-19 are now available and can be purchased at pharmacies. He said those who think they may have been exposed or maybe just want to know can get the tests.

Its like a home pregnancy test, Lochala said.

Searcy Councilwoman Tonia Hale, operations director for NorthStar EMS ambulance service, said some of my medics were wanting to see how they could do more to help Unity Health as well. She said they have been trying to help out in the hospitals emergency department when they are there.

At the last task force meeting, Swain said the group talked about the possibility of encouraging vaccinations through the citys social media outlets.

Last we checked, Unity had several Pfizer vaccinations available, Swain said.

We have free vaccine that is available to anyone and its virtually 100 percent effective in preventing death and severe illness and ventilations, on a ventilator, Fincher said. Our challenge is to figure out how to get people to take it. I have tried everything I know to do. We just have to keep keeping on and making recommendations for things that help  thats vaccination, masking and using common sense and following CDC guidelines in general.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, 42.11 percent of Arkansans 12 and up had been fully vaccinated as of Wednesday morning (36 percent of the states entire population), with another 12.41 percent partially immunized. In White County, 35.3 percent 12 and up were fully vaccinated and another 8.7 percent partially.

The vaccine gives you a head start for when your body comes in contact with COVID, meaning you are much more likely to have a mild or asymptomatic case of COVID in the fully vaccinated study, Lochala said. That is of tremendous importance.

Hart said at a vaccination clinic held by the Searcy School District on Monday, 55 students received their first dose of the vaccine; not a great turnout but it was 55 more than what had it to start with.

We stand ready to be a partner with everybody involved, Hart said. We are just really waiting on some guidance from the Division [of Elementary and Secondary Education] and we are going to continue to distance as best as we can.

We improved ventilation systems in our schools this summer. We are trying to do everything we can to mitigate the circumstances.

He said opening up virtual learning opportunities for more Searcy students has results in about 80 to 100 students signing up who had originally planned to go to school in person.

That is a big step for us because I think we were all ready in the spring, we thought we were past this, Hart said. We are hopeful that we can return some sense of normalcy. I think as the numbers grow, we will see more and more kids and families opt for that virtual option.

Hart said he was going to give his board and the community as much factual information as he can on things like positivity rates and age of positivities.

The more information I can give folks, the better off I am as far as that argument: This is why were doing this, he said.

Harding University Director of Public Safety Kevin Davis said with the university set to also resume classes on campus, we are still offering vaccination clinics for all of our faculty, students and staff and those will continue throughout the summer and in the fall as well.

Davis said he didnt know the percentages of Harding faculty and staff who have been vaccinated. We are keeping an eye on CDC recommendations and things like that, he said.

Lochala took time to stress the importance of monoclonal antibodies for those who have the virus, whether vaccinated and unvaccinated. The CDC has expanded the authorization for monoclonal antibodies to include in Arkansas like patients in the overweight category.

He said vaccines and monoclonal antibodies are great ideas for young ladies and pregnant people. We have seen severe outcomes with them and we want to do what we can to prevent and mitigate that.
Towanda, PA (18848)

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Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 91F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
ONEONTA - Garry L. Moore, 67, of Oneonta, passed away Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, at home. He was born April 22, 1954, the son of the late Dorville S. and Katherine E. (Whitney) Moore. Garry worked for Al Black at One Stop Auto for 21 years before buying the business and running it with his partne
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News

School board votes against mask mandate

FOREST CITYStudents in the Rutherford County Schools (RCS) will no longer be required to wear face masks. That was the decision made by the Rutherford County Board of Education at its meeting Monday night.

All board members present voted to make the masks optional. Board member Sherry Bright was absent from the meeting.

The board room was mostly full, as members of the public were there and appeared mostly opposed to mask mandates. About 10 addressed the board during the public comments time. All vehemently opposed mask mandates.

The reasons the speakers offered, ranged from ideas about freedom, physical discomfort and headaches, masks causing more anxiety and mental health issues, to some questioning their effectiveness.

Some of the speakers appeared calm, others more emotional, and some angry.

Ramona Smith, who identified herself as a nurse practitioner, said masks hinder communication between teachers and students, and add to stress and anxiety already being felt by the students.

They cant tell if there is a smile or a grimace on someone wearing a mask, she said.

Casey Hunter, the chairman of the Rutherford County Teenage Republicans, told the board Forcing kids to wear a mask is disgusting. Do not force it on those who dont want it.

Retired RCS teacher assistant, Karen Blanton, also asked that the mask wearing be optional.

Parents should have the responsibility to take care of their childrens health, Blanton said.

She offered statements from the internet, where she said she found doctors claiming that masks are ineffective.

Bryson Smith, chairman of the Rutherford County Republican Party, thanked the board members for their service.

He then said, Masks mandates do not support life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

Casey Matheny also said whether or not to wear masks, should be a decision for parents.

We need to free the smiles, she said. I ask you to make masks optional.

No members of the public spoke in favor of continuing with mask mandates. Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, masks were required for all students and staff inside school buildings, except when actively eating or drinking. Masks were required during the recently completed Summer Learning Program.

The statewide mask mandate, which required masks in all public schools, expired in July. Therefore, if the Board of Education made no decision on masks, there would automatically be no mask mandate. But, the board wanted to state its position on record, as was recommended by the board attorney.

Brandon Gosey made the motion for masks to be optional, with a second from Tracy Short. The vote was unanimous.

While the board rejected continuation of mask requirements, they did choose to follow some of the recommendations in the StrongSchools NC Public Health Toolkit, which was updated by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services last week (July 30).

RCS Superintendent David Sutton pointed out that the updated document is essentially a best practices guide, with recommendations but not mandates. The previous guides provided by the state for the last school year was mostly mandates.

The board agreed that the central office staff under Suttons direction would determine specific pandemic mitigation efforts regarding room cleaning, use of hand sanitizers, etc.

The board also pointed out that the local public health department has the authority and expertise to mandate quarantines when there are COVID-19 outbreaks within the schools.

I want to make sure the public knows, that Karen Powell (Foothills Health District Director), is not the enemy. She is doing her job, carrying out her duties as she is supposed to do, said board member Brandi Nanney. She is working to keep people safe.

A regular, optional online remote learning program is also no longer required by the state. However, the board decided to continue its program for one more year, for the 74 students who applied for remote learning and were deemed eligible. These students were screened, and officials say they have valid health concerns for being at-risk of contracting COVID-19.

The board also gave the go-ahead for school officials to pursue acquiring rapid COVID-19 tests. These will only be administered by school nurses, and with parent approval.

The board meeting lasted until nearly 10 p.m.

On Wednesday, board member Angel King commented, Dr. Sutton did a wonderful job of providing board members with regular updates on coronavirus case numbers as well as the number of students and staff in quarantine throughout the 2020-2021 school year. I know that he will continue to provide us with similar updates this school year so that if there are any alarming trends in the schools, we can come together and address the issues in a timely manner.

King emphasized again that the safety and well-being of the students and staff are of the highest concern.

I believe its also important to note that people do not know the circumstances of every individual in the county, King continued. Therefore, I want to encourage the entire school community to work together in respecting the opinions and decisions of one another as we look forward to the upcoming school year.
2nd Man Charged in Killing of 8-Year-Old Atlanta Girl

ATLANTAA second man was charged Wednesday in connection with last summers shooting death of an 8-year-old Atlanta girl who was killed near the site where police fatally shot a man weeks earlier.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Jerrion Amari McKinney, 23, of Loganville, was arrested on multiple charges, including murder and 12 gang-related offenses, for the July 4, 2020 slaying of Secoriea Turner. McKinney also faces four counts of aggravated assault and pointing or aiming a gun or pistol at another person.

McKinneys arrest was made with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the Atlanta Police Departments Fugitive Unit, said Nelly Miles, a spokesperson for the GBI.

Julian Conley, 20, was arrested last year and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting. Conleys attorney has said his client was peacefully protesting and witnessed the shooting but did not open fire himself.

Secorieas father, Secoriey Williamson, told WSB-TV that every day without his daughter is a painful struggle.

Our child is supposed to be here with us, Williamson said. I had to go to her grave site.

Turners family is suing the city, saying a lack of leadership and protective action led to the little girls death.

Secoriea was fatally shot in an SUV with her mother and another adult near the Wendys restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, 27, was killed by a police officer on June 12.

Makeshift barricades had been set up in the area after Brooks was killed, and armed men had been blocking roads in the area and turning some drivers away. The SUV Secoriea was in was trying to make a U-turn at one of the barricades when shots were fired into the vehicle, police said. Investigators have said as many as four people opened fire, but until Wednesday, just one person had been charged in the case.

Authorities have not said how they linked McKinney to Turners shooting or if theyre searching for any more suspects.

Both McKinney and Conley remained held at the Fulton County Jail without bond. McKinney is scheduled for a first appearance hearing in Fulton County Magistrate Court on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could comment.
Medical personnel move a deceased patient to a refrigerated truck serving as make shift morgues at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City, on April 09, 2020. (Angela Weiss/ AFP via Getty Images)

Americas Hits 2 Million COVID-19 Deaths: PAHO

The Americas has passed the grim milestone of two million deaths linked to COVID-19, the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Wednesday.

PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne made the announcement during a weekly pandemic briefing.

Etienne said some 15,000 Indigenous people were included in the figure, but added more robust data was needed to identify the true impact on Indigenous communities.

It is likely that many more have been infected and many more have died but we may not know it because they have struggled to get the COVID care that they deserve, she said.

The organization has said only 18 percent of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have so far received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

PAHO Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa urged countries with a surplus of doses to share their stocks to support the global vaccination drive rather than begin administering booster shots.

The best way to use this surplus is donating now these doses to allow countries to progress in their vaccination, to protect the population, and to save lives, Barbosa said.
Customers queue to get their reserved iPhone 12 mobile phones at an Apple store in Shanghai on Oct. 23, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Apple Will Scan iPhones for Illegal Child Abuse Images, Sparking Privacy Debate

Apple announced Thursday it is planning to scan all iPhones in the United States for child abuse imagery, raising alarm among security experts who said the plan could allow the firm to surveil tens of millions of personal devices for unrelated reasons.

In a blog post, the company confirmed reports saying that new scanning technology is part of a suite of child protection programs that would evolve and expand. It will be rolled out as part of iOS 15, which is scheduled for release sometime in August.

Apple, which has often touted itself as a company that promises to safeguard users right to privacy, appeared to try and preempt privacy concerns by saying that the software will enhance those protections by avoiding the need to carry out widespread image scanning on its cloud servers.

This innovative new technology allows Apple to provide valuable and actionable information to [the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] and law enforcement regarding the proliferation of known CSAM, said the company, referring to an acronym for child sexual abuse material. And it does so while providing significant privacy benefits over existing techniques since Apple only learns about users photos if they have a collection of known CSAM in their iCloud Photos account. Even in these cases, Apple only learns about images that match known CSAM.

The Cupertino-based tech giant said the system will utilize breakthrough cryptography technology and artificial intelligence to find abuse material when it is stored in iCloud Photos, said the firm in its blog post. The images will be matched to a known database of illegal images, the firm said, adding that if a certain number of those images are uploaded to iCloud Photos, the company will review them.

Those imagesif theyre deemed illegalwill be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The software wont be applied to videos, Apple added.

Apples expanded protection for children is a game-changer, John Clark, the president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said in a statement on Thursday about the initiative. The reality is that privacy and child protection can coexist.

But some security experts and researchers, who stressed they support efforts to combat child abuse, said the program could present significant privacy concerns.

Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge, described Apples proposed system as an absolutely appalling idea, according to the Financial Times. It is going to lead to distributed bulk surveillance of  our phones and laptops, he remarked.

When news of the proposal broke on Wednesday evening, John Hopkins University professor and cryptographer Matthew Green echoed those concerns.

This sort of tool can be a boon for finding child pornography in peoples phones, Green wrote on Twitter. But imagine what it could do in the hands of an authoritarian government?

Green said that if you believe Apple wont allow these tools to be misused [crossed fingers emoji] theres still a lot to be concerned about, noting that such systems rely on a database of problematic media hashes that you, as a consumer, cant review.

The expert told The Associated Press that hes concerned Apple could be pressured by other, more authoritarian governments to scan for other types of information.

Microsoft created PhotoDNA to assist companies in identifying child sexual abuse images on the internet, while Facebook and Google have implemented systems to flag and review possibly illegal content.

The Epoch Times has contacted Apple for comment.
A child puts her mask back on after finishing lunch at a socially distanced table in the cafeteria of Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., on March 17, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Arizona Teacher Sues Phoenix School District Over Mask Mandate

An Arizona teacher is suing the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) and its governing board and superintendent for requiring that students and employees wear masks indoors in defiance of state law.

Douglas Hester, who teaches biology at Metro Tech High School, filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix on Aug. 2, the same day the districts mask mandate went into effect.

A superior court judge heard arguments on Aug. 4 on whether the school district has legal authority to impose the mask mandate.

Hesters attorney Alexander Kolodin said the defendants raised a constitutional argument.

[T]hey say theyre preserving it. The judge was very skeptical, he added.

I basically went in and called their bluff, Kolodin told The Epoch Times, adding that the defendants main argument was over when the state law goes into effect: in late September or retroactively from June 30 because the legislation included a provision.

The judge asked the other side, Is that your only argument?' Kolodin said. Theyre going to have to follow the law now or theyre going to have to follow it in September.

The districts attorney, Joshua Bendor, could not be immediately reached for comment by publishing time.

The eight-page lawsuit contends that the mask requirement put in place by the district and its governing board and superintendent, Chad Geston, amounts to an illegal mandate on students and staff.

It also alleges that the defendants have failed to perform their duty to prescribe policies and procedures that are not inconsistent with state law, as they are without or in excess of their jurisdiction or legal authority to mandate masks.

Arizona Gov. Doug Duceys law, signed on June 30, states that a school district or charter school may not require a student or teacher to receive a vaccine for COVID-19 or to wear a face-covering to participate in in-person instruction.

The lawsuit requests that the court declare the mandate contrary to law and issue a restraining order blocking its implementation.

Two other Phoenix school districts, the Roosevelt Elementary School District and the Osborn Elementary School District, announced they will also require masks be worn indoors.

In a July 30 statement, PXU said that its mask requirement was to ensure public health and a safe return for students and staff to in-person learning.

PXU remains steadfast in our commitment to the health and safety of the staff, students, and communities we serve. We teach and trust science, follow guidelines and recommendations from health experts, and use health data to drive our decisions, the statement read.

The science is clear that the best way to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19 and known variants is to get vaccinated. We have and will continue to play a leading role in public health and provide widespread access to the vaccine.

PXU also said it was also hosting Points Of Dispensing (PODs) vaccinations at eight locations for anyone aged 12 or older.

We are committed to quality public education and fully recognize the need for in-person learning. Campus health and safety is our top priority as we return next week. To do so, we must and will implement mitigation strategies that minimize spread, reduce quarantining, avoid school closures, and enable us to provide mental health services and engaging opportunities such as clubs, sports, and the arts, it said.

PXU currently serves about 30,000 students and has 4,000 employees.

A spokesman for Ducey, a staunch opponent of COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates, issued a statement from his office that criticized the mask mandate as unlawful.

Governor Ducey believes the decision by Phoenix Union requiring masks has no teeth. Its unenforceable, the statement read. School administrators should be doing everything they can to encourage eligible students and staff to get vaccinated, not break the law.

Arizona health officials on Aug. 3 announced nearly 2,000 new cases of the Chinese Community Party (CCP) virus that causes COVID-19, bringing the total to 933,361. There were 30 new deaths for a total of 18,282 statewide.
As Chinese Regime Cracks Down on Big Tech, Big Tech Cracks Down on American People

Commentary

The Big FiveAmazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoftessentially control America. In the United States, the pandemic resulted in the permanent closure of 200,000 businesses. People lost their jobs, their livelihoods, and too many lost their lives.

But the pandemic didnt affect Big Tech. In fact, rather perversely, it seems to have helped. Amazon just released its first quarterly report of 2021. The companys net income is up by 48.4 percent. Total revenue is up by 27.2 percent. Apple, spearheaded by Tim Cook, has seen its revenue soar by 54 percent to $89.6 billion. With Facebook, as Reuters recently reported, total revenue, which primarily consists of ad sales, rose about 56 percent to $29.08 billion in the second quarter from $18.69 billion a year earlier. Compared with last years first-quarter report, Googles overall revenue increased by 34.2 percent. Last year, the company reported $41.2 in revenue; this year, it reported $55.3 billion. With a market value of $2.15 trillion, Microsoft isnt suffering, either.

Big Tech poses a direct threat to democracy. For years, without a sliver of success, American politicians have attempted to break up the Big Five. However, as the likes of Amazon and Apple become more powerful, the chances of successfully dismantling the likes of Facebook and Microsoft become slimmer and slimmer.

Meanwhile, in China

Around 7,200 miles away, a Big Tech crackdown is taking place, and its proving to be a particularly brutal affair. In reality, the crackdown has been taking place for months. In April, the Chinese regime targeted Jack Ma, ordering a swift restructuring of Ant Group, the billionaires fintech conglomerate. Then, three months later, the regime targeted Didi, an event that I covered for The Epoch Times.

The Ant Group headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on Oct. 13, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

In China, its all about optics. The regime, more than anything, wants to appear strong, both at home and abroad. As Shuyao Kong, a journalist at Decrypt, recently wrote, its not about the damage that Big Tech has done but the perceived influence these new titans wield. What the regime finds particularly worrying, argues Kong, is the perception that Big Tech is too big to fail, and therefore not subject to government control. Such a narrative, if allowed to continue, inevitably undermines the Chinese governments total control over the economy.

Kong, who was educated in China, is indeed correct. Perception is reality, and the reality in China is a harsh one. 2021 is indeed the Year of the Ox, but its also the year in which Ma and his billionaire brethren take a crash course in reality.

Meanwhile, at Home

Back in the United States, Big Tech intends to give American citizens a crash course in reality. As Reuters recently reported, the likes of Facebook and Microsoft are teaming up to form a counterterrorism organization.

Yes, Facebook, a company with a history of spying on users, is going to police the American public. The new counterterrorism unit will specifically target the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database, aiming to crack down on material from white supremacists and far-right militias, according to Reuters.

Like Facebook, Microsoft also has a far from pristine history. Should Big Tech companies really be forming counterterrorism units? The answer is no, and the reason is more complex than it first appears. As the Reuters report states, until recently, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorisms (GIFCT) database has focused on videos and images from terrorist groups on a United Nations list. The term terrorist has largely been reserved for members of Islamist extremist organizations such as Islamic State, al Qaeda, and the Taliban.

Now, though, the term will be applied more regularly at home. In this huge push to identify terrorists, Twitter and Google will also be involved. Of course, dangerous individuals live in America, and a number of these people pose a risk to society. They must be prevented from inflicting harm on the American public. However, the term terrorist is an interesting one. When you think of a terrorist, what do you imagine? A member of ISIS, or something similar, I imagine. Think again. In a rather excellent piece, journalist Michael Tracey discusses the fact the U.S. government has branded non-violent Jan. 6 defendants terrorists. This, he suggests, is a radical affront to civil liberties. It most certainly is. Tracey discusses a defendant by the name of Paul Hodgkins, a man whose criminal act entailed milling around the Senate chamber for approximately 15 minutes. Nonetheless, he was branded a terrorist by the US Government. Tracy continues, Per prosecutors own admission, Hodgkins committed no acts of physical violence, and wielded no weapons. Furthermore, Hodgkins was never formally accused of committing any acts of terrorism, at least in a way that the Government would actually have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, prosecutors, clearly intent on bending definitions beyond recognition, have now introduced a theory accusing Hodgkins and other non-violent Jan. 6 defendants of operating within a supposed context of terrorism. Yes, context, as they say, is everything. It is the difference between loitering and being an actual terrorist.

This brings us back to the new counterterrorism organization. Considering Big Tech companies have a clear, left-leaning bias, and the government is busy redefining terms like terrorist, there is every reason to believe that more Americans will be targeted, unfairly and unjustly. Paul Hodgkins might not be the most upstanding of American citizens, but hes no terrorist. But try telling that to members of the federal government and their new partners in crime (prevention), the Big Five.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
U.S. Army M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers fire at the U.S. army's Rodriguez range in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 15, 2012. ( Kim Hong-Ji/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Administration Approves Its First Arms Sale to Taiwan

The administration of President Joe Biden has approved its first arms sale to Taiwan, a move thats sure to draw criticism from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which considers the island nation a breakaway province.

The State Department approved the sale of $750 million worth of military equipment to Taiwan on Aug. 4, triggering a 30-day window for Congress to approve the transaction. The approved purchase included 40 self-propelled howitzers, 20 field artillery ammunition support vehicles, and other equipment.

This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability, the State Department said in a statement. The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region.

Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the move, saying that it demonstrated the U.S. governments commitment to Taiwan.

It also allows the country to maintain a rock-solid self-defense, [and] regional peace [and] stability, the ministry wrote on Twitter.

In March, the Chinese regimes top diplomat warned the Biden administration to reverse former President Donald Trumps dangerous practice of supporting Taiwan.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the CCPs claim to Taiwan an insurmountable red line, an issue about which the regime has no room for compromise. Yi urged the Biden administration to completely change the previous administrations dangerous practices of crossing the line and playing with fire, in relation to Taiwan.

Shortly after Biden took office, the State Department halted arms sales to foreign allies negotiated under the Trump administration. The department said the freeze was a routine action as part of a transition between administrations.

The Trump administration approved a $600 million weapons sale to Taiwan in November 2020, which included four advanced drone systems. China denounced the move at the time, with Wang calling on the United States to stop all arms sales to Taiwan so as to avoid further damage to ChinaU.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Washington ended its diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979, but it has maintained a non-diplomatic relationship with the island based on the Taiwan Relations Act, signed into law by former President Jimmy Carter in April 1979. The act authorizes the United States to provide the island with military equipment for its self-defense and set up a nonprofit corporation known as the American Institute in Taiwan, which is now the de facto U.S. Embassy on the island.

Cathy He, Mimi Nguyen Ly, and Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Biden Administration Should Look in Mirror Before Casting Stones Over Vaccinations

Commentary

It was always going to be a Herculean task to inoculate, with an untried vaccine, a multi-ethnic nation of 330 million people across a vast continentin an era when the media routinely warps the daily news.

Many African Americans understandably harbored distrust of government inoculations after the infamous Tuskegee experiment. Nearly 40 million foreign residents in America were born in other countries, many of which have corrupt governments that long ago lost the trust of the population.

The anti-vaccination movement was distrustful of what the government said was safe, given the rush to produce previously untried mRNA inoculations. Rural and inner-city poor are sometimes not so easily reached, much less persuaded.

Yet politics played the most obstructive role early on. Candidate Joe Biden talked grandly of reviving the World War II war production board. He deliberately omitted the fact that it was Donald Trump who emulated FDRs mobilization of private enterprise under government auspices.

Trump offered legal protections for companies to accelerate their research and development in hopes that competition, profits, and public oversight would result in COVID-19 vaccinations less than a year after the pandemic hit.

And it worked. Mostly safe and effective vaccinations were rolled out not long after the election. Some 17 million were inoculated by the time of Bidens Jan. 20 inauguration.

Yet Dr. Anthony Fauci, in the days when he still posed as a bipartisan professional, had dismissed the idea of any viable vaccination in the election year 2020. Biden publicly doubted that Trumps vaccination efforts would either work or be safe.

In a nationally televised debate, vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris shamefully said she would take a COVID-19 vaccine if doctors said it was safe but not if Trump said to take it. That was disastrous messaging for an already skeptical nation.

Pfizer had promised a breakthrough vaccination announcement in late October, on the eve of the election. Then it mysteriously went silentonly to suddenly announce its successful vaccine less than a week after Election Day.

Biden continued the politicization of the vaccination program by bizarrely and falsely declaring on CNN that there had been no vaccines available until he entered office. Yet Biden himself was vaccinated on Dec. 21 on live television.

Soon, Biden grandly promised that everyone who was vaccinated would be safe from COVID-19 and could thus resume normal life. Those who refused vaccinations were almost immediately labeled by the media as Trump supporters, reviving the lefts narrative of uneducated, idiotic, and white resistance to government.

The truth was that, apart from Asian Americans, whites were the most highly vaccinated of the population. Elites charged that backward Southern states like Alabama and Mississippi were not just lagging in their vaccination rates but endangering vaccinated Americans by resuscitating a constantly mutating virus. In truth, a low vaccination rate among African Americans in the South was among the chief reasons for that regions lower vaccination rates.

Once the delta variant arrived in force in early summer, earlier government assurances that the vaccinated were now free to resume a normal life lost credibility. Confused and mixed messages followedsimultaneously downplaying and exaggerating the efficacy of the vaccinations.

Those who were vaccinated were assured that they would not become seriously ill from COVID-19, would likely not need hospitalization, and almost certainly would not die from it.

No matter. The media and government officials blame-gamed unvaccinated super-spreaders for infecting those already vaccinatedas if the more than 100 million Americans 12 and older still not fully vaccinated were red-state rubes who packed honky-tonk bars and motorcycle rallies.

Yet the reality was quite different.

Last summer, more than 1,000 medical professionals signed a letter saying that Black Lives Matter protests shouldnt be shut down due to virus concerns, dangerously encouraging people to mass in the streets to demonstrate.

Reports indicate that the United States is on pace to encounter more than 2 million migrants at the Southern border by the end of the fiscal yearpeople with legal impunity but without vaccinations, COVID-19 tests, or lectures from Washington.

A recent breakout of COVID-19 among even the vaccinated in Provincetown, Mass., was not due to alt-right Neanderthals. It was largely attributable to the annual gay pride celebrations, with thousands of partiers swarming bars, clubs, restaurants, and hotels.

Former President Barack Obama was reportedly scheduled to have 500 guests and 200 staffers at his Marthas Vineyard estate at a time when the government was again recommending that masks be worn almost everywhere.

If the Biden administration cannot vaccinate 70 percent of America or assure vaccinated Americans that COVID-19 mutations wont seriously harm them or rekindle the pandemic, then it might first look in the mirror before casting stones at others.

Victor Davis Hanson is a conservative commentator, classicist, and military historian. He is a professor of classics emeritus at California State University, a senior fellow in classics and military history at Stanford University, a fellow of Hillsdale College, and a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness. Hanson has written 16 books, including The Western Way of War, Fields Without Dreams, and The Case for Trump.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Biden Administration Targets Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Biden administration released a notice of intent on Aug. 4 that it intends to prepare a new environmental impact statement on oil and gas leasing on the Coastal Plain in Alaska.

The notice from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which permits comments on issues, impacts, and potential new alternatives to be analyzed may be submitted in writing until October 4, 2021, cites legal deficiencies in the Trump administrations environmental impact statement as motivation for the new statement.

In June, President Joe Biden suspended oil and gas leases in Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing former President Donald Trumps implementation of a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that opened up the refuges about 1.6-million-acre Coastal Plain to drilling.

I think the underlying [legal] claims are laughable, said David Bernhardt, who served as secretary of the interior under Trump. This administration is unequivocally opposed to proceeding forward with the law that was passed in 2017.

Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and other legislators criticized the move in a joint statement.

BLM Alaskas staff worked tirelessly to develop a comprehensive and durable [environmental impact statement] and leasing program in order to issue the first leases in 2021, Sullivan said in the statement. The announcement today disregards that fact-based scientific work, as well as the property interests of those who hold these leases, including the State of Alaska.

It also utterly disregards BLM scientists and Alaskans from across the political spectrumRepublicans, Democrats, Independents, unions, working families, as well the Alaska Natives who live closest to the area and who fought for decades for the right to allow for the responsible development of the 1002 Area of ANWR in order to strengthen our communities and build a better life for our children.

Alaskans for over 40 years have urged Congress to develop and implement a leasing program for the Coastal Plain, Murkowski said in another statement.

With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the Secretary is directed to establish two area-wide leasing sales, not less than 400,000 acres each in the Coastal Plain. A distinguished team of career experts and scientists at the Department of the Interior spent thousands of hours over nearly two years developing a full range of alternatives and protective mitigation measures that would apply to all oil and gas activities in the 1002 Area, and now this administration is going to throw it all away and start over because they dont agree with it. Thats politics plain and simple.

Bernhardt echoed their criticism, adding that the Biden administration is entitled to request a supplemental environmental impact statement.

Congress acted in 2017 and really resolved the debate as to whether or not there would be a leasing program for that small area of the 19.5-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, said Bernhardt. We tried to faithfully execute their vision.

This President ran on a position that said he was opposed to moving forward on that law, Bernhardt added. Yesterday, this President announced, even though he knew that it was unlikely to pass constitutional muster or survive judicial scrutiny, he would move forward with a new foreclosure ban.  I think this is part and parcel of a policy vision that they have, that says, We think that the decision made by Congress was bad, and were going to do what we can to slow down the process of moving forward.

The Sierra Club celebrated the Biden administrations notice but said lawmakers should go further.

We are glad to see the Biden administration recognize the serious flaws in Trumps rushed and illegal approval of drilling in the Arctic Refuge, but what is needed most is an act of Congress to permanently protect this special place from destructive drilling, Sierra Club senior campaign representative Mike Scott said in a statement.

We urge members of Congress to act immediately to reverse the pro-drilling provision in the Tax Act, cancel the leases issued by the Trump administration, and shut down this dangerous drilling program once and for all.

Democratic senators and congressional representatives didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.
Miguel Cardona speaks during his confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Education, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Susan Walsh/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Launches Comprehensive Vaccination Effort in Schools

The Biden administration said Thursday it is launching an all-out effort to get students 12 and older vaccinated this fall via their school. To achieve this, the administration will promote vaccinations at school physicals, send pediatricians to back-to-school nights to vaccinate, and provide funding for school districts to set up pop-up vaccination clinics.

These include helping get our young people vaccinated. Were doubling down to get more students vaccinated as they return to school. We know vaccines are working and theyre the safest and most effective way to fight back COVID-19, to prevent outbreaks, and to ensure a safe school year, said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday.

He added, I am echoing the presidents call to action to host pop-up vaccine clinics in every school across the country, to enlist trusted leaders in our community, to build vaccine confidence.

In addition, from Aug. 7 through 15, the administration will launch a week of action by sending Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Cardona to Topeka, Kansas, to visit a back-to-school vaccine clinic. The initiative will rally school districts, students, teachers, national organizations, local government leaders, businesses, social media influencers, celebrities, and volunteers to promote vaccination.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), with her husband Douglas Emhoff, on stage after the first Biden-Harris press conference in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 12, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

The effort highlights the steps that President Joe Biden and his team have laid out to get ahead of the transmission of the Delta variant as schools and universities reopen.

While the Delta variant is providing new challenges, we have the tools, we have the resources, and we have the experience of what worked last year to get it done safely, said Cardona.

Cardona told reporters that much of the funding to prepare schools to reopen and vaccinate students was allocated in the American Rescue Plan that Congress passed earlier this year.

The Secretary said it will take the whole community to stop the spread, and they need to get creative with incentives to promote vaccinations.

According to the Mayo Clinic data, about 15 percent of those under age 18 have received at least one vaccine dose, with over 50 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds.

Earlier this week, the administration released its Return to School Roadmap, which details how schools communities can safely reopen schools for in-person learning and mitigate the spread of the virus. The initiative focuses on the three areas of health and safety, building communities, and academic achievement.

The education secretary said the administration is following the CDC guidelines and asked schools districts to do the same by encouraging social distancing, mask-wearing, hand washing, and vaccination for older children.

When Cardona was asked what the administration will do with state leaders who ban mask mandates, like Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida, he said the administration would monitor the situation and intervene if children were getting sick or the school had low enrollment because parents were afraid to send their children.

Abbott and DeSantis signed executive orders banning any mask mandates in their states, saying parents and individuals have the right to choose if they wear a mask.

Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans liberty to choose whether or not they mask up, said Abbott in May.

Cardona said he is in contact with all the governors and considers them allies in keeping children safe, but if were starting to notice that students are not going in [to school] because they dont feel confident, then were going have to have conversations about them, said Cardona.
(L)-Microsoft principle founder Bill Gates at an event in Washington on June 24, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) (R)-Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via Reuters)

Bill Gates Says Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein Was a Huge Mistake

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday addressed his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as a huge mistake.

Speaking to CNN, Gates said he had several dinners with Epstein about 10 years ago. Epstein, a disgraced financier accused of sex trafficking and child abuse, was found dead in a jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.

Those dinners occurred years after Epstein was convicted and sentenced to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to the charges, serving 13 months in custody but with extensive work release.

Gates, one of the wealthiest people in the world, told the network that when he met with Epstein, they discussed the prospect of receiving billions of dollars in philanthropy but ended the relationship after it looked like that wasnt a real thing.

I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge, and when it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended, Gates said in the interview, adding that it was a huge mistake to meet with Epstein.

But it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of, you know, being there, there were lots of others in that same situation, but I made a mistake, he said.

In 2019, speaking to Axios, Gates said that he regretted having met with Epstein after the financiers death.

At the time, Gates stressed that he didnt know Epstein that well, adding that the two were connected via philanthropy work.

There were meetings along those lines, he continued. That didnt materialize, and so then I stopped meeting with him.

Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets reported that Melinda Gates met with divorce lawyers in 2019 after she learned of reports regarding Bill Gates and Epstein. On Monday, the couples divorce was finalized, and Gates told CNN it was a sad milestone but theyre both still working on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

My work is very important to me, you know, within the family well heal as best we can and learn from whats happened, he added.

Gates, meanwhile, drew some controversy last month after he and billionaire investor George Soros jointly announced they would buy out a COVID-19 testing company.

The Soros Economic Development Fund, an arm of Soros Open Society Foundations, confirmed in a July 19 statement that it has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and will invest at least $41.1 million in the project, according to a statement at the time.

The group has financed the acquisition of Mologic Ltd, a world-leading innovator in the development of lateral flow and rapid diagnostic technologies including tests that can help combat tropical diseases such as dengue, bilharzia, and river blindness, as well as for COVID-19, their statement read.
California Mandates Vaccines for Healthcare Workers

The state of California announced it is mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all workers in healthcare settings amid a rise in cases of the CCP virus Delta variant.

Previously, healthcare workers had the option of being vaccinated or having weekly COVID-19 testing. The new order from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) removes the testing option and mandates that all healthcare workers must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30.

The order applies to any person who works at hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other health care facility types listed in the order, regardless of whether the workers have contact with patients.

Medical and religious exemptions are allowed. Those granted an exemption will be required to get a COVID-19 test at least once a week.

As we continue to see an increase in cases and hospitalizations due to the Delta variant of COVID-19, its important that we protect the vulnerable patients in these settings, Tomas Aragon, CDPH director and state public health officer, said in a statement.

California in June introduced a vaccine verification system for state health officials, requiring either evidence they have been vaccinated by Aug. 2 or received a negative COVID-19 test.

The new vaccine mandate was decided amid a surge in cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which has dealt the state with the fastest increase in cases since the start of the pandemic, with 18.3 new cases per 100,000 people per day, with case rates increasing ninefold within two months, the CDPH stated.

The Delta variant is highly transmissible and may cause more severe illness. In fact, recent data suggests that viral load is roughly 1,000 times higher in people infected with the Delta variant than those infected with the original coronavirus strain, according to a recent study. The Delta variant is currently the most common variant causing new infections in California, it added.

Currently, 63 percent of Californians aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated. Another 10 percent have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
A car leaves Chester, Calif., which is under mandatory evacuation orders, as the Dixie Fire burns on the edge of town on Aug. 4, 2021. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

California Wildfire Destroys Entire Town; Thousands Forced to Evacuate

Wildfires in Northern California have forced more than 16,000 evacuations and destroyed the town of Greenville, located in Plumas County.

The Dixie Fire as of Aug. 5 is 35 percent contained and has burned more than 322,000 acres, according to federal officials.

The blaze ripped through the small town of Greenville, located about 110 miles northeast of Sacramento, on the evening of Aug. 4. The town, which dates back to Californias Gold Rush era, has a population of about 1,000.

Last night, firefighters, including aerial resources, aggressively attacked large flame fronts in an effort to defend structures. As fire entered the Greenville area, firefighting efforts shifted to assist law enforcement in evacuation efforts, according to a bulletin posted on the federal governments Incident Information System. A damage assessment team is being requested to evaluate damage in the Greenville community.

Initial reports suggested that firefighting efforts saved about 25 percent of the structures in the town, officials said.

Officials urged residents to evacuate the area earlier in the week due to the wildfire.

In a post on Facebook on Aug. 4, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office wrote, If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!! Evacuate to the south to Quincy. If you remain, emergency responders may not be able to assist you.

Video footage of Greenville posted on Twitter showed charred and destroyed buildings. Another video showed firefighters spraying water at the Plumas Bank in town.

Battalion Chief Sergio Mora watches as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community in Plumas County, Calif., on Aug. 4, 2021. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)

I can tell you a good portion of the town of Greenville was destroyed.  I dont know if its half or more or less, but there were pretty heavy losses, Cal Fire spokesman Rick Carhart told The Washington Post.

Jake Cagle, the operations sections chief for Californias fire incident management team, noted that some people stuck around in Greenville and didnt leave.

Right now, there are still a lot of people unfortunately in Greenville that did not evacuate. And so, we are having to deal with that  and get all those folks out, Cagle told media outlets on Aug. 5.

The cause of the Dixie Fire, meanwhile, is under investigation. Californias largest utility, PG&E, said that some of its equipment might have played a role in sparking the blazealong with the smaller Fly Fire, which later morphed into the Dixie Fire.

We lost Greenville, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), who represents the area in Congress, said in a video statement. We have to stop making this happen. He didnt elaborate.

The River Fire, near Colfax and less than 100 miles south of the Dixie Fire, was zero percent contained, but officials said they expected cooler overnight weather and a reversal of the wind direction to help. At least four homes were destroyed in Colfax, a Placer County town of 2,000 people about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, according to a Reuters witness.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A screenshot of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan speaking in front of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan city, China on May 13, 2020. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Chinese Citizen Journalist Jailed for Reporting Virus Outbreak Continues Hunger Strike

Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer and citizen journalist, is 6 feet tall yet currently weighs less than 90 pounds because of a prolonged hunger strike while in prison.

Zhang, a Shanghai native, was sentenced to a four-year jail term in December 2020 for reporting on the CCP virus outbreak in China. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, causes the COVID-19 disease.

Zhang told her mother in a recent phone call that she wouldnt end her protest until the court clears her name.

In February 2020, when the virus first began spreading in China, Zhang traveled to Wuhanthe early epicenter of the outbreak. She visited local hospitals and funeral parlors to document and livestream the daily lives of residents in the locked-down city.

While being on the front line of Wuhans outbreak, Zhang questioned the official death toll after finding incinerators operating throughout the night at a local funeral parlor. Due to the Chinese authorities past record of underreporting infections and covering up information, its difficult to assess the true scale of the current outbreak.

Zhang also posted a photo on social media showing an 80-year-old Wuhan resident receiving limited food supplies twice in 40 days.

Her social media posts were widely circulated, which got her in trouble with the authorities.

She was arrested in Shanghai in June 2020 for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a vaguely defined charge often used against political dissidents. The prison prohibited her parents from visiting. Zhang was later detained in the Shanghai Womens Prison.

On Aug. 2, Zhangs mother, surnamed Shao, heard from her daughter for the first time in six months. Shao learned that Zhang had been hospitalized since July 31 due to malnutrition, which had resulted from a hunger strike. The doctor said that her lower body was severely swollen. They are waiting for medical test results.

The mother tried to persuade her daughter to eat normally, but Zhang refused, insisting that she would continue her hunger strike to prove her innocence.

A pro-democracy activist (L) holds a placard with the picture of former lawyer Zhang Zhan outside the Chinese central governments liaison office in Hong Kong, on Dec. 28, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Zhang had been on a hunger strike before her trial and attended court in a wheelchair on Dec. 28, 2020.

Officials once force-fed Zhang with a feeding tube through her nose during the detention; the process was painful, Zhang told her lawyer.

This undated photo shows an 80-year-old Wuhan resident receiving limited food supplies during the lockdown in Wuhan, China. (Courtesy of Zhang Zhan)

The Chinese regimes suppression of independent media coverage of the outbreak curbed Zhangs reporting. Authorities once suspended her WeChat account and forced her to stay in a hotel.

That was the most painful time for me, she told The Epoch Times in March 2020. Zhang is the first known citizen journalist to be sentenced for challenging the Chinese Communist Partys narrative on the outbreak.

Zhang had previously been detained in 2019 for publicly voicing support for the Hong Kong democratic movement.

Whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang was among the first people to publicize information about a mysterious viral pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan on Dec. 30, 2019a day before local health officials held an emergency meeting and announced the news of the outbreak. Police reprimanded him, along with seven other medical professionals, for spreading rumors online. Li contracted the virus and died on Feb. 7, 2020.

The Chinese regime has suppressed and detained other citizen journalists for covering the Wuhan outbreak, including Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua, and Fang Bin.

Fang had filmed eight bodies being carried from a Wuhan hospital on Feb. 1, 2020.

As long as Im here, I will be making videos, he said on social media, despite being harassed and intimidated by authorities at the time. A few days later, Fang was arrested by local police and hasnt been heard from since.
Daughter of Fallen Law Enforcement Officer Gets Sheriffs Escort to Her First Day of Kindergarten

The young daughter of a fallen Arizona law enforcement officer got a bittersweet sendoff from her family in blue July 21. Her very own Sheriffs escort saw her safely to her first day of kindergarten.

Five-year-old Julianna Kinnard, from Chandler, received flowers from Maricopa County Sheriffs Office deputies outside Conley Elementary School, and they offered hugs and words of encouragement. Several mounted deputies were also present, a nod to Julianna and her late fathers shared love of horses.

Julianna Kinnard receives flowers from Maricopa County Sheriffs Office deputies outside Conley Elementary School. (Courtesy of Maggie Jones)

Detention officer Joshua Kinnard was killed by police on Feb. 26, 2018. A former Marine, Kinnard had been suffering a PTSD-related episode at the time, according to Juliannas mother, Maggie Jones.

It really, truly was so heartwarming to see so many of Joshs partners come out and be a part of her first day, Maggie, 38, told The Epoch Times.

Knowing we were facing one of the biggest milestones since his death, without him, was difficult. MCSO rallied around us and made it a little easier knowing I didnt have to do it alone, which in return made Julianna feel very loved and supported.

[I] couldnt have asked for a better second family.

Julianna Kinnard gets support from a Maricopa County Sheriffs deputy. (Courtesy of Maggie Jones)

Julianna was thrilled to see the deputies on horseback. Her first time in the saddle had been with her father by her side. She also loved riding in a police cruiser and seeing so many familiar faces from her fathers unit.

The department shared photos on Facebook, saying that officers had been honored to make her first day of kindergarten extra special. We wanted to show our support as she starts her new journey, they posted.

In memory of Joshua, Maggie co-founded the Joshua Kinnard Foundation to raise awareness for veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD. The nonprofit provides countywide resources and activities such as art, music, and equine therapy.

(Left) Julianna on horseback with a mounted MCSO officer; (Right) Julianna riding a horse with her late father. (Courtesy of Maggie Jones)

Encouraging those suffering from PTSD to seek help can save lives, says Maggie, who remembers Joshua as her best friend and true love.

He was so loving  He was the guy who always stopped to help others in the road, she said. He made you smile, and life was just better with him in it.

Julianna with her parents, Joshua and Maggie. (Courtesy of Maggie Jones)

Without Joshua around, raising Juliannaa driven child she describes as kind, caring, loving, and attentive to others needs and feelingsis tough for Maggie.

She misses him terribly, and one of the hardest parts is trying to console her when she cries, Maggie explained. Trying to explain Heaven to a 5-year-old is not an easy task, but all I can reassure her of is her daddy is always with us.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes part in a roundtable discussion about the uprising in Cuba at the American Museum of the Cuba Diaspora in Miami, Fla., on July 13, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

DeSantis Hits Back at Biden, Says Virus Coming Through Wide Open Southern Border

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit back at targeted messaging from the White House on Aug. 4, telling President Joe Biden that hes standing in your way.

Biden and officials in his administration have repeatedly singled out Florida recently, noting that COVID-19 cases there account for a significant portion of the new cases across the country.

The escalation of cases is particularly concentrated in states with low vaccination rates. Just two states, Florida and Texas, account for one-third of all new COVID-19 cases in the entire country. Just two states, Biden said at an Aug. 3 press conference.

Look, we need leadership from everyone. And if some governors arent willing to do the right thing to beat this pandemic, then they should allow businesses and universities who want to do the right thing to be able to do it. I say to these governors, Please, help. But if you arent going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing.

Governors in some states, including DeSantis, have issued orders prohibiting vaccine passports, which would require residents to show proof of vaccination in order to enter certain establishments, as well as mask mandates.

Asked about Bidens comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Aug. 4 that there are leaders who are not stepping up and are getting in the way of the American peoplecompanies and otherswho are trying to save lives and stop the spread of Delta, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

DeSantis responded at a briefing in Florida, noting that while campaigning, Biden vowed to shut down the virus.

And what has he done? Hes imported more virus from around the world by having a wide-open southern border. You have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month, he said.

The number of illegal border crossings has increased every month since Biden took office, reaching a 20-year high in July, according to preliminary numbers. Officials in border cities have said COVID-19-positive illegal immigrants are being released by federal officials.

DeSantis also accused the Biden administration of ignoring science that indicates people who recover from COVID-19 enjoy strong immunity against reinfection.

Carlos Anacleto closes his eyes as he receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Jorge Tase, as others wait in line, in Miami Beach, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2021. (Marta Lavandier/AP Photo)

He rejects science, because he denies the fact that people that recover from COVID have long-lasting immunity, he said.

Federal health agencies acknowledge the science behind post-recovery immunity, but say people who recover should still get a COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that doing so provides additional protection.

DeSantis has received criticism from state officials as well, including Nikki Fried, the Florida agriculture commissioner. They allege that he isnt doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus, as hospitalizations and cases jump.

DeSantis has said the virus is seasonal and he expects the metrics to drop soon, while noting that deaths have remained low. On Aug. 4, he said people can make their own decisions about what precautions to take.

I think the question is, we can either have a free society or we can have a biomedical security state, and I can tell you, Florida, were a free state, he said, contrasting the lack of statewide measures with New York, where officials this week announced that vaccine passports will be required to enter some businesses.

Joe Biden suggests that if you dont do lockdown policies, then you should get out of the way. But let me tell you this, if youre coming after the rights of parents in Florida, Im standing in your way. Im not going to let you get away with it.

If youre trying to ruin their jobs and their livelihoods and their small businesses, if you are trying to lock people down, I am standing in your way, and Im standing for the people of Florida. So why dont you do your job? Why dont you get this border secure? And until you do that, I dont want to hear a blip about COVID from you.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes part in a roundtable discussion about the uprising in Cuba at the American Museum of the Cuba Diaspora in Miami, Fla., on July 13, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

DeSantis, Hospital CEOs Seek to Calm Fears Over Hospital Availability Amid COVID-19 Increase

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to get medical treatment if they need to, and not be deterred by an increase in hospital cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Hospitals are open in Florida. People who need medical treatment should not be afraid to go to their local hospital. They will have room for everyone who needs treatment, DeSantis told The Epoch Times.

We do not want anyone to be unduly alarmed by media coverage and be deterred from seeking medical treatment when they need it.

DeSantis has been a vocal critic of media coverage on COVID-19, which is caused by the virus, in Florida, saying at a press conference on Monday that media tends to sensationalize COVID-19 headlines and stories.

They rely on the most alarming anecdotes from individuals who work in hospitals without verifying the capacity data, available beds, or providing context about the flexibilities hospitals have to meet their patients needs, he said.

As of Aug. 5, the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida was 12,888. Last summer the hospitalizations peaked on July 22 with 12,282 beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

On a conference call with the governor on Wednesday, Hospital CEOs stressed that hospitals still have sufficient capacity. They also said that not all patients were suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

John Couris, President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, suggested that Floridians not delay care.

The hospitals are ready, and were able to take care of patients in a crisis and an emergency, Couris told the group. At TGH right now we have 126 COVID patientswe are a 1,041-bed hospital. Thats a little over 10 percent of our beds devoted right now to COVID patients.

According to HHS data, as of Aug. 5, the states hospitals had more than 84 percent of beds occupied. COVID-19 patients accounted for around 25 percent of the occupied beds. The state had over 9,000 hospital beds available, according to the data.

Shane Strum, president and chief executive officer of Broward Health, said four in five patients in his system were not diagnosed with COVID-19.

Talking about that average age, ours was in the low 70s last time. This time, its in the 50s, low 50s, Strum told the governor Wednesday. So, you see a big difference there. I think another critical or important number to share with you would be that 80 percent of our patient census is non-COVID patients.

He added that in North Broward the average length of stay seen in unvaccinated patients being treated for COVID-19 has been 5-7 days.

Nineteen percent of hospitals that responded to a question about staffing on an HHS survey said they were experiencing critical staffing shortages. In July last year, that number was 40 percent among a smaller number of hospitals who answered the question.

According to Carlos Migoya, President and CEO of Jackson Health System in Miami, nearly half of all vaccinated patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized for other causes, but tested positive with zero or mild symptoms. In total, 88 percent of the COVID-19 inpatients in the hospital were unvaccinated. Data shows that at Orlando Health, about 95 percent of COVID-19 inpatients were unvaccinated.

The two messages here are really obvious: vaccinated people have a lot less potential of getting hospitalizedthats extremely important, Migoya said.

Hospitals administrators also say that the main vulnerable population now are the unvaccinated and people aged 40 to 64.

Speaking on the conference call, DeSantis said about 84-90 percent of our seniors have been vaccinated.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.

This article was updated on Aug. 6 to reflect that one of the statements by DeSantis was provided directly to The Epoch Times.
A protester blocking a street during an Extinction Rebellion protest outside the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) building in Canberra, Australia on Aug. 3, 2021. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Extinction Rebellion Fossil Fuels Protest Disruption in 2 Australian Cities

Australian Extinction Rebellion (ER) activists blocked four lanes of traffic in the capital city of Canberra and protested in Melbourne on Aug. 3, demanding the Australian government immediately cease what it deems as fossil fuel fervour and instead focus on fighting carbon dioxide emissions.

The crowd caused severe disruption to commuters passing by the head office of the nations peak oil and gas bodythe Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA).

The obstruction continued the following day with members splattering red paint and protesting outside the Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environmenta response triggered after Environment Minister Sussan Ley appealed a court ruling that found her liable for the health of children impacted by a potential coal mine expansion, a conviction that ER helped champion.

The protests then extended into the countrys second-largest city, Melbourne, on Thursday, with activists barricading themselves outside the office of federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The 2021-22 federal budget handed down by Frydenberg sparked irate demonstrations after ER followers were unimpressed with what they believed was inaction by the Australian government to fast track climate change mitigation efforts.

Im here because Im profoundly concerned about the future of my grandchildren, said Margaret, an 80-year-old protestor and former school principal.

Im concerned about the future of all children because we know the government is not taking appropriate action and we feel we have a duty to act, she said.

According to ER, at least four protestors have been arrested in the demonstrations.

The protesters called for a duty of care and demanded the government declare a climate emergency.

In particular, ER aims to bring forward Australias emissions targets to achieve net zero by 2025.

However, an APPEA spokesperson said the group had it all wrong.

These professional activists are clearly misinformed as the oil and gas industry is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to tackling climate change, an APPEA spokesperson told The Epoch Times following the demonstrations.

The spokesperson explained that natural gas was cleaner and emitted less carbon dioxide when burned compared to coal.

The Australian Government estimates that our exports of LNG may help to reduce emissions in importing countries by about 170 million tonnes each yearthe equivalent of almost one-third of Australias total annual emissions, the spokesperson said.

The Australian government has also backed gas heavily as a way to provide fast ramping backup power as more wind and solar generators assimilate into the grid.

The ramping ability of gas generators to fire up and deliver output in a short period of time was also proven recently when hundreds of thousands of Queensland homes had power return quickly right after a fire at a coal plant that had plunged 400,000 into blackout.

The protests by the climate activists comes amid increasing uncertainty around Australias future energy security.

Last week, the governments Energy Security Board warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state premiers that Australia may face blackouts and price spikes without a complete overhaul to the nations grid.

Over the last three months alonein addition to the unplanned outage in QueenslandAustralasias largest aluminium smelter in New South Wales was forced to power down five times in two weeks. These events propelled average household energy across most of Australia to three times that of last year.
A Delta Airline employee gives a face mask to a passenger during check in at the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va. on July 22, 2020. (Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)

FAA Asks Airports to Help Deal With Increase in Unruly Passengers

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday said it wants airports to deal with unruly passengers after a surge of attacks and threats against flight attendants amid COVID-19 masking mandates on airplanes.

The agency previously pledged to take more aggressive action against passengers who go against safety rules. But now, the FAA wants airports to tamp down the bad behavior.

While the FAA has levied civil fines against unruly passengers, it has no authority to prosecute criminal cases, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson wrote to airport officials around the country in a letter released on Thursday.

The FAA stated that its received 3,715 reports of unruly passengers since the beginning of 2021 and made 628 investigations. But in 2019, the agency initiated fewer than 150 investigations into unruly passenger behavior.

Meanwhile, dozens of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have been assaulted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the agency.

After officers are called to terminals and onto planes, allegedly unruly passengers are generally let go without any charges, Dickson noted. The agency chief said that there needs to be more stringent punishment for rulebreakers.

When this occurs, his letter continued, we miss a key opportunity to hold unruly passengers accountable for their unacceptable and dangerous behavior.

Previously, airline labor unions have written to the Department of Justice to ask the agency to pursue criminal charges against some alleged offenders.

Dicksons letter, however, didnt acknowledge that certain COVID-19 restrictions on travel imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including mandatory mask-wearing, may trigger outbursts in certain passengers.

About three-fourths of the incidents reported in 2021 by the FAA involve passengers who dont comply with rules requiring them to wear masks inside planes and airports. Last month, the agency said that of the 3,271 complaints of unruly passenger behavior this year, about 2,475 of them involved passengers who didnt want to wear a mask.

There have been incidents, too, involving flight attendants who threatened passengers who dont wear masks.

A Spirit Airlines flight attendant last year was seen threatening that passengers who dont wear masks would be jailed, fined $250,000, and be put on a global no-fly listwhich Spirit Airlines later said is a false statement that the company doesnt endorse. In a later incident in March 2021, a family was kicked off a Spirit Airlines plane after their toddler, a 2-year-old, wouldnt put on a mask. The airline also disputed some of the familys claims.

Airlines have also been struggling to keep up with summer vacation travel demands, leading to mass delays and flight cancelations.

This week, Spirit Airlines canceled nearly 300 flights across the United States and cited weather as well as operational challenges.
The logo for Facebook appears on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square, on March 29, 2018. (Richard Drew/AP Photo File)

Facebook Shuts Out NYU Academics Research on Political Ads

Facebook has shut down the personal accounts of a pair of New York University researchers and shuttered their investigation into misinformation spread through political ads on the social network.

Facebook says the researchers violated its terms of service and were involved in unauthorized data collection from its massive network. The academics, however, say the company is attempting to exert control on research that paints it in a negative light.

The NYU researchers with the Ad Observatory Project had for several years been looking into Facebooks Ad Library, where searches can be done on advertisements running across Facebooks products.

The access was used to uncover systemic flaws in the Facebook Ad Library, to identify misinformation in political ads, including many sowing distrust in our election system, and to study Facebooks apparent amplification of partisan misinformation, said Laura Edelson, the lead researcher behind NYU Cybersecurity for Democracy, in a statement.

Facebooks action against the NYU project also cut off other researchers and journalists who got access to Facebook data through the project, Edelson said.

The researchers offered Facebook users a web browser plug-in tool that let them volunteer their data showing how the social network targets political ads.

But Facebook said the browser extension was programmed to evade its detection systems and vacuum up user data, creating privacy concerns.

In a blog post late Tuesday, Facebook said it takes unauthorized data scraping seriously, and when we find instances of scraping we investigate and take action to protect our platform.

Facebook sent a cease-and-desist letter to Edelson and another researcher, Damon McCoy, in October but didnt shut down their accounts until Tuesday, hours after Edelson informed the platform that she and McCoy were studying the spread of disinformation on the platform about the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, the researchers said.

Mike Clark, Facebook product management director, wrote in the blog post that the Menlo Park, California, company welcomes research that holds it accountable but that doesnt compromise the security of the platform or users privacy.

While the Ad Observatory project may be well-intentioned, the ongoing and continued violations of protections against scraping cannot be ignored and should be remediated, he wrote.

By Barbara Ortutay
Facts Matter (Aug 4): Arizonas Attorney General Officially Opens Investigation into Countys Subpoena Refusal

Over in Arizona, Maricopa County officials have again refused to comply with a subpoena. However, one of the top senators in the state has just referred the case to the state attorney generalfor possible criminal review.

Over in New York City, Mayor Bill De Blasio just announced that only vaccinated people will be allowed to go to restaurants, gyms, and performances. Starting next month, if youre unvaccinated, you can just stay home.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General of New York just released a report that concluded Andrew Cuomo engaged in sexual harassment against 11 different women. He is now facing serious calls to step down.

And lastly, I sat down and spoke with Congressman Matt Gaetz in order to discuss efforts that are currently underway to investigate the origins of the pandemic.

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The U.S. Department of Justice is seen in Washington, on June 11, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Feds: 4 Members of MS-13 Indicted in String of Las-Vegas Murders

Four Nevada-based MS-13 gang members were indicted by a federal grand jury for the alleged killing of 10 people in a Las Vegas area, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

The suspects charged in the superseding indictment were identified as Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, 27; David Arturo Perez-Manchame, 22; Joel Vargas-Escobar, 25; and Alexander De Jesus Figueroa-Torres, 25, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.

They were charged on counts of murder and kidnapping in aid of racketeering, and weapons charges, officials said, adding the suspects are part of the Parkview clique that is operating in Las Vegas.

Reyes-Castillo and Perez-Manchame are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah for the District of Nevada. They face life in prison if convicted. It is unclear when the other two gang members would appear before the judge.

The violence alleged in the superseding indictment, in this case, is truly shocking, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said. The murder spree carried out by MS-13 in Las Vegas clearly shows the danger posed by organized street gangs like MS-13.

A file photo of a member of the MS-13 gang in Chalatenango prison, 52 miles north of San Salvador, on March 29, 2019. (Marvin RecinosAFP/Getty Images)

The DOJ said the crimes happened from March 2017 to March 2018, attributed one non-fatal shooting in February 2018 to the defendants, and said five slain victims were also kidnapped.

The names of the 10 victims in the 55-page indictment match a list that Las Vegas police provided in March 2018, when Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo held a news conference to say 10 slaying cases had been solved with the arrests of four adults and a teenager. The names of the suspects were not made public at that time.

By significantly undermining MS-13s ability to engage in violence in Las Vegas, the hard work and dedication of our law enforcement partners have made our communities safer, said Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou. Our office remains committed to protecting our neighborhoods against gang violence and other criminal activity by prosecuting dangerous transnational criminal organizations like MS-13.

Last week, a federal grand jury in Tennessee indicted another nine suspected MS-13 gang members with racketeering and violent criminal conspiracy that includes murder, the DOJ announced in a separate statement.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said those seven murders happened between April 2016 and September 2017, over a 17-month period. If convicted, all nine suspects face a maximum sentence of ten years to life in prison.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake speaks during a press briefing in Nashville, Tenn., on July 28, 2021. (Courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)

The MS-13 gang, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, was initially formed by Salvadoran immigrants fleeing the civil war in their home country. It is widely viewed as one of Americas most violent criminal groups, which also endangers the safety of communities in Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The vast majority of prosecuted MS-13 defendants are foreign nationals, the DOJ stated in a separate report, adding that the gang was able to thrive and operate in the U.S. for decades by exploiting weak immigration enforcement policies.

The gangs motto is kill, rape, control and routinely uses brutal assault methods on victims to instill fear and force compliance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Firefighter Spots American Flag About to Burn During Fierce Auto Shop BlazeSaves Stars and Stripes

While putting out a blaze that devastated an automotive shop in Georgia early July, a firefighter rescued an American flag from burning.

A bystander captured footage of firefighter Kyle Hartsook, who took action on seeing the flames drawing near the flag after consuming most of KO Automotive in Bartow County.

It was just a normal day until it wasnt, pastor Anthony Linley, who witnessed and recorded the video, told The Epoch Times.

We had just grabbed tacos for dinner and were heading home when we saw the smoke coming out of the building. I pulled over and called 911 and began recording.

(Courtesy of Anthony Linley II)

The fire was literally fueled by gasoline and other combustibles at the site, giving firefighters a hard time putting it out.

Upon seeing the buildings front office ignite, threatening to consume the flag hanging on a pole outside, Hartsook decided to do something.

I looked up and saw it and said if theres anything we can save, lets save it, Kyle told FOX 5 ATLANTA.

He removed the Stars and Stripes and handed it to his battalion chief for safe keeping (who later hoisted it back up once the fire was extinguished).

When I saw him rushing over to the flag pole I felt relief, said Linley.

I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy and seeing his bravery to help salvage something for the owners of the business and the flag that many people have shed blood for, it meant a lot to me.

KO Automotive owners Chris and Felicity Martin were impressed by the firefighters act and planned to frame the flag and keep it in their office once they rebuild.

That little small act. People needed that to reassure them, to say everything is going to be okay, Hartsook said.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
A masked student walks in line through the cafeteria at Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., on March 17, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Flight and Teacher Unions: Masks for Thee, No Vaccine Mandates for We

Flight attendants and teachers unions whose members are on the front lines of disputed covid safety protocols are ardent enforcers of mask mandates for the public but do not require their members to get vaccinated. Such inoculation is widely acknowledged as the most effective measure in stopping the spread of the highly infectious new Delta variant, while masking is viewed as of secondary importance and many are highly skeptical of its effectiveness and critical of its inconvenience.

As the Association of Flight Attendants continues to urge federal authorities to allow flight attendants to police passengers for maskinga policy that has led to fisticuffs on some flightsthe union has struck an agreement with at least one airline, United, to allow unvaccinated members to fly. American Airlines and Southwest Air say they also do not require their flight attendants or other employees to vaccinate. Flight attendants for both airlines are unionized. Other airlines did not respond to inquiries.

Meanwhile, the American Federation of Teachers has refrained from demanding that its members be vaccinated, but it insists on masks for the nations mostly unvaccinated schoolchildren despite their low vulnerability to infection. The union also pushes for hazard pay and generous sick leave for teachers.

With President Randi Weingarten of the AFT, the nations largest teachers union, praising recent Centers for Disease Control guidance requiring unvaccinated students to mask up, some districts are imposing mask requirements for students regardless of vaccine statusPhiladelphia and Detroit public schools among them. The state of California is also imposing the requirement. Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union is demanding that 80 percent of students be vaccinated before teachers return to the classroom. AFT affiliates represent teachers in all of those cities as well as parts of California.

The unions have maintained their stances throughout the pandemic. While virus cases in the U.S. have dropped 80 percent since January, the rapid spread of the Delta variant has alarmed public health officials and union leaders.

But there appears to be a disconnect between the positions of the two unions and their close allies in the Biden administration, which has always urged vaccination. Administration officials are now reported to increasingly refer to the current outbreak as a pandemic of the unvaccinated, although a new mask policy is said to be also under consideration.

In a June 30 letter to federal authorities, President Sara Nelson of the flight attendants union cited the Delta variant as a reason to keep passengers masked. The union did not reply to requests for comment on its vaccination position.

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO International President Sara Nelson speaks during a rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Masks not only help to protect more vulnerable passengers from the Delta variant, but they also help to protect passengers and crew members who are unable to get vaccinated for valid medical reasonsbut still need to fly, Nelson wrote in the letter to the Centers for Disease Control and the Transportation Security Administration. The letter came days after two Republican Senators introduced a bill in Congress to end mandatory masking on public transportation.

On planes, flight attendants conduct safety and mask checks, repeatedly cruising the cabin for violators. The flight attendants union as well as Air Line Pilots Association, International, the pilots union, insist on masking for their members to work safely.

Nelson claimed in her letter that while most passengers are compliant with mask mandates on airplanes, the number of in-flight conflicts between passengers and flight attendants was at an all-time high. In response, some flight attendants this month will begin self-defense training to deal physically with passengers who might react violently to orders.

Delta and United Airlines now require all new U.S. hires, including flight attendants and pilots, to be vaccinated, but vaccinations are not required for previously hired United flight attendants, per a deal between the union and the airline. Delta, where flight attendants are not unionized, did not respond to an emailed request for comment, nor did other airlinesJetBlue, Frontier, Alaska, Spirit, and Allegiant. Federal law can allow businesses to require the COVID-19 vaccine for employees under certain conditions.

American Airlines and United offer staffers extra vacation time off as an incentive to get vaccinated.

In public schools, no vaccine requirement has been imposed for students or staffers.

Weingarten told NPR recently that [nine] out of 10 of my members have taken the vaccines, while lauding the CDC guideline that keeps children under 12 masked this fall. But she may have misspoken: An AFT spokesman in an email said her statement referred to a poll in March by Democratic pollsters Hart Research Associates that found that 76 percent had been vaccinated. The telephone survey queried 1,700 of the AFTs 1.6 million members.

Weingarten, who for months advocated keeping schools closed despite numerous studies that found children were highly unlikely to carry the virus, declined an interview request.

With no vaccine requirement, school districts have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on barriers and masks.

The Texas State Teachers Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association teachers union, demanded protection for its members when the state forced public schools to resume in-person learning. So the district in the Dallas suburb of Richardson spent $663,000 on plexiglass shields to protect teachers, even as students were masked.

The teachers association was pushing hard for this, said Lynn Davenport, a local activist who has pushed back against strict mandates since the outset of the pandemic. They said it was what the teachers wanted.

Unions have used the virus to seek extra pay in some cases, citing hazard pay provisions in their contracts. And coronavirus stimulus pay has gone to teachers in some districts.

In the Lakeside Union School District in Southern California, the Lakeside Teachers Association negotiated nearly $247,000 in bonus payments to teachers, including monthly stipends between October and June totaling $167,000 for maintaining distance learning attendance records.

United Airlines flight attendants receive COVID-19 vaccines at Uniteds onsite clinic at OHare International Airport in Chicago, Ill., on March 9, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Richard Berman, executive director of Union Facts, a group that tracks and often criticizes organized labor, says that while the demands of flight attendants are somewhat understandable, much of the pressure coming from the two unions illustrates the political power dynamics at play. In both cases, the parents and the flyers are the most inconvenienced by these sought-after actions, Berman said.

In this case, parents and flyers are very unorganized and cant do anything to object in a meaningful way like a company can, Berman said. So even if the demands are unreasonable, it gives the union in both cases more power than they would usually have.

Union political donations, including those from the teachers federation and flight attendants union, overwhelmingly support Democrats and liberal causes.

The unions Democratic allies in Congress last year advocated for the most stringent measures to fight the virus, including lockdowns, cancellations, closures, and masking.

In May the CDC declared that masks were unnecessary for the vaccinated persons, even in indoor settings. Despite that, the two unions have lobbied Congress to continue masking restrictions.

The union message has been we want all schools to be open but on our terms, said Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who runs the Return to Learn tracker, which follows districts returning to in-person learning.

And that turns, a lot of the time, into demands for a list of things to be done before reopening that can be very difficult to accomplish.

In contrast, many private schools have reopened quickly for in-person learning.

Six states, all led by Democratic governors, say they will require masks in K-12 schools this fall, regardless of vaccination status. The AFT helped shaped school guidance by the CDC last year, emails show, including mask requirements.

The United Teachers Los Angeles made mandatory masking of students part of its agreement with the district to return to the classroom. UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks to the media before the weekly Senate Republican lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Seeking to relax the air travel restrictions, Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah introduced a measure in June that would allow airlines to set their own mask policies, but that was shut down by Democrats amid union opposition.

The science just does not support keeping the mandate in place, Scott said in introducing the failed measure. His office said the senator would continue to battle the efforts by Democrats to ignore the science.

Last year, a move to assure the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration in dictating mask requirements was led by two regular recipients of political donations by the flight attendants union PAC, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and committee member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).

The PAC donates almost exclusively to Democrats, which last year gave rise to speculation that Nelson could become Joe Bidens running mate. Nelson did not respond to an interview request.

Last week, the United Airlines Master Executive Council of the pilots union, which represents United Airline pilots, met in person for the first time since early 2020. Vaccinated members were not required to mask.

This article was written by Steve Miller for RealClearInvestigations
Flooded County Asks for Disinfectant Donations

Chinas flood season isnt over yet. Amid the water-logging and damages, a number of villages are now hugely contaminated by dead livestock.

The U.S. Navy holds massive military exercises, spanning two-thirds of the world, as the army cooperates with Indonesia in a drill in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, four Indian warships head toward the South China Sea for military exercises, and Germany is also sending a warship for the first time in two decades.

More people are fleeing China. The number of Chinese asylum seekers reaches record heights, with many taking refuge in democratic nations.

China violates its Phase One trade deal with the United States. Beijing quietly ordered its state-owned companies to buy certain items locally, including those that China promised to buy more of from the United States.

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For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
U.S, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) waves to supporters as part of a mobile Souls to the Polls car parade in Hallandale Beach, on Oct. 25, 2020. (Joe Cavaretta/Sun Sentine/TNS)

Florida Rep. Wasserman Schultz Discloses Personal Investment in Tech Company Months After Deadline

By Anthony Man

From South Florida Sun-Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz filed disclosures reporting she and her children bought stock in a technology company but waited months after the deadline to make the purchases public.

Reports filed last week by the Broward/Miami-Dade County Democrat show four stock buys, on Oct. 13, in Westell Technologies Inc., which provides what the company calls high-performance wireless infrastructure solutions.

The deadline for reporting the transactions was the end of November, making her disclosure eight months late.

This was an oversight, and corrected once it was recognized, a spokesman for Wasserman Schultz said via email.

The amount involved is unclear. Because of the way congressional financial reporting rules work, stock buying and selling is reported in broad ranges. In this case, there were a total of four purchases on the same day, each in the range of $1,001 to $15,000.

That makes the value of the stock when it was bought somewhere between $4,004 and $60,000. The disclosure form said one purchase was for Wasserman Schultz and three were for dependent children.

The disclosures were discovered and reported by the news site Insider and the watchdog site congresstrading.com, which maintains a subscription database of congressional financial disclosures.

Insider also reported that U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat who represents Tampa, was late in disclosing two purchases of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Berkshire is the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett.

Wasserman Schultz Investment

Wasserman Schultzs investment was different. Westell is a so-called penny stock, which is a security that trades for less than $1 a share.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz makes a call after a truck drove into a crowd of people during The Stonewall Pride Parade and Street Festival in Wilton Manors, Fla., on June 19, 2021. (Chris Day/South Florida Sun Sentinel via Reuters)

It hasnt been lucrative, at least so far. Marketwatch.com reports Westells share price was 78 cents on Oct. 13. It soon declined to 50 cents, on Oct. 21, and has since rebounded. At the close of trading Monday it was 79 cents a share.

By contrast, the overall stock market is way up during the same time. The Wilshire 5000, the broadest stock market index, has increased 27 percent since Oct. 13.

Westells website says the companys wireless infrastructure solutions [are] focused on innovation and differentiation at the edge of communication networks where end users connect allowing service providers and network operators to improve performance and reduce operating expenses.

The disclosure form doesnt specify which children bought stock. There are three entries for DC, which means dependent child, a category that Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, said isnt used very often. The fourth is for Wasserman Schultz.

The Campaign Legal Center, which has scrutinized and filed complaints against Democrats and Republicans, was founded by a former member of the Federal Election Commission.

Disclosure Rules

Under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, known as the STOCK Act, members of Congress are required to disclose stock trades within 45 days, Payne said. There are no exceptions.

Payne and Insiders Deputy Washington Bureau Chief, Dave Levinthal, said late disclosures are becoming increasingly common.

Levinthal said Insider began tracking the late filings this year and so far has found at least 10 representatives and senators filing late disclosures. It seems to be a very bipartisan phenomenon, violating the STOCK Act, he said.

Often what happens, Payne said, is members of Congress dont report the trades as required. Theyll file once they start preparing their annual financial disclosureswhich are due imminentlybecause it will become obvious if they suddenly report a new holding in a company that wasnt in the previous years disclosure.

The delay in reporting defeats one of the purposes of the law, Payne said, which is to provide real-time transparency about what the lawmakers are doing financiallyand allow the public to assess if they might be doing something wrong, such as insider trading.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) speaks during testimony by Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 27, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The key way to fight against any potential insider trading is to give the public these disclosures so they can see whether or not their member of Congress is possibly engaging in a conflict of interest with their stock trades, Payne said. They file these disclosures months after these transactions, and it becomes unclear if it is intentional to hide a possible problem, or simply a mistake. But its happening so much that its difficult to assume that there is a mistake, Payne said.

People should be concerned, Payne said.

Penalties for violating the STOCK Act vary, based on the whether the failure to file the report was intentional, Payne said. All late transaction filings are subject to a fee of $200, and can be assessed up to $200 per late transactions.

In rare cases in which there is evidence of intentional wrongdoing, someone who knowingly and willfully falsifies a statement or fails to file could potentially face civil or criminal penalties, including imprisonment if prosecuted. And all reports are filed under provisions of the False Statements Act, which provides for fines and imprisonment, for knowingly and willfully making a materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement.

Other Cases

Other cases involve many more transactions than the ones involving Wasserman Schultz.

Last week, the Campaign Legal Center filed complaints with congressional ethics offices against U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, for failing to file STOCK Act disclosures about multiple transactions.

The Campaign Legal Center said Tuberville failed to properly disclose nearly 130 separate stock and stock-option trades together worth at least $894,000 and as much as $3.56 million, Fallon failed to properly disclose 93 stock trades worth between $7.8 million and $17.53 million, and Moore failed to disclose 70 separate trades worth between $70,000 and as much as $1.1 million.

Former U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., received scrutiny after the Miami Herald reported in 2020 that she had failed to comply with the STOCK Acts reporting requirements for multiple stock sales in 2019.

As a new member with a broker and attorney who were not familiar with the congressional disclosure rules, there was a misunderstanding, her spokesman told the Herald at the time.

Shalala acknowledged what she said was a mistake in an interview with WFOR-Ch. 4. Look, I knew what the law was, she said. I missed the deadlines. And I have to take responsibility, personal responsibility for doing that. No one else is responsible except for me.

Shalalas violations became campaign fodderincluding a blistering Republican commercialduring her unsuccessful 2020 reelection effort.

2021 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
France to Offer COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots, Ignoring WHO Call

France plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to the most vulnerable and elderly populations as soon as next month, disregarding a call from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a moratorium on the shots until more people are vaccinated across the globe.

Yes, we will probably need a third dose, not for everyone straight away but at any rate for the elderly and the most vulnerable, Frances President Emmanuel Macron said on social media.

Macron confirmed that the country is rolling out a third dose of the CCP virus vaccine as of September, not specifying a date. The boosters are currently only available to people with weakened immune systems.

The presidents statement comes a day after the WHO said it wants a moratorium on boosters until the end of September at the very least to make sure that 10 percent of every countrys population has received a dose. More than 80 percent of the worlds vaccine supplies have gone to wealthier countries for less than half the worlds population.

I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant, but we cannot and should not accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it while the worlds most vulnerable people remain unprotected, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference on Aug. 4.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, at WHO headquarters in Geneva on July 3, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany and the UK have both also recently announced that they plan to offer a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as next month.

The booster shots in Germany are for risk groups that include immunocompromised patients, the very elderly, and nursing home residents, the health ministry said, adding that it would also donate at least 30 million vaccine doses to poorer countries. In Britain, booster shots will initially be given to the immunocompromised.

Meanwhile, in Israel, a third booster shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech CCP virus vaccine was offered to citizens aged 60 and above last week, with the rollout fully kicking off on Aug. 1.

The drive comes as governments around the world attempt to mitigate the spread of the so-called Delta variant of the CCP virus. Last month, Israels health ministry twice reported a drop in vaccine efficacyas well as a slight decrease in protection against severe disease.

France and Germany have so far given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 64.5 percent and 62 percent of their respective populations, with 49 percent of the French and 53 percent of Germans fully vaccinated.

Last week, tens of thousands of people turned out in dozens of French cities and demonstrated against a special health pass.

Most of the protests were peaceful, but there were a few sporadic clashes. The so-called health pass systemlikened to vaccine passportswas approved by the French parliament last week, with the law going into effect on Aug. 9. The pass will be required soon to enter restaurants and other places.

Isabel van Brugen and Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on July 12, 2021. (Michel Euler/AP Photo)

French Court to Rule on Macrons COVID-19 Health Pass Rules

PARISFrances constitutional court will rule on Thursday whether a new law requiring the public to hold a health pass to eat in restaurants and health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-September complies with the republics founding charter.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the proposed legislation in July as the Delta variant fuelled a fourth wave of infections, delivering a plain message: get vaccinated.

It prompted a surge in the vaccination rate as the French faced the prospect of being denied access to bars, restaurants, cafes, and cinemas without proof of either vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.

Opponents of the measures accuse Macron of trampling on freedoms and discriminating against the unvaccinated. Some 200,000 people marched through towns and cities across France in a third weekend of protests on Saturday and more are planned.

A few tens of thousands of people have lost their minds to such an extent that they are capable of saying we live in a dictatorship, Macron told Paris Match in an interview published on Wednesday.

It was irresponsible and selfish not to get vaccinated, the president has said, pointing to the renewed pressure on the healthcare system.

Hospitals along the Riviera, in Corsica, and the southern Occitanie region have again triggered their crisis management plans that include postponing some surgeries to free up beds.

At the La Cabasse restaurant near the Mediterranean city of Toulon, manager Laurent Bondil said he was certain the health pass would hit his earnings but that he would adhere to the new regulations.

Every day theres a new rule, he bemoaned. But what counts is that were still here.

The Constitutional Council will deliver its ruling later on Thursday. It can either approve the legislation, strike it down or approve it but with any element deemed unconstitutional removed.

The majority of French people approve of the health pass requirements, an Elabe survey said.

By Richard Lough
French Will Need Health Pass by Monday After Court Approval

PARISA French constitutional court on Thursday validated most aspects of a new law that, starting next week, requires people to carry a special COVID-19 health pass to access cafes, restaurants, long-distance travel, and, in some cases, hospitals. But it struck down several measures for not meeting constitutional muster.

The Constitutional Council ruled that the automatic 10-day isolation of people infected with the virus, allowed to go outside for only two hours per day, goes against French freedoms. Such deprivation of liberty is not necessary, adapted or proportional, the ruling said. The current, less strict 10-day self-isolation for people infected with the virus will apparently remain in effect.

The court also struck down suspension of short-term contracts for those without a health passwhile accepting a suspension without remuneration of salaried employees with long-term contracts.

The legislation was sped urgently through parliament last week as virus infections soared, due to the highly contagious delta variant which now accounts for most cases in France.

Polls show that most French support the health pass. But the measure has ardent opponents, with many claiming their freedoms will be compromised. It is issued to people either vaccinated against COVID-19, or who have proof of recent recovery from the infection, or a recent negative test.

Anti heath pass demonstrators face police officers outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Michel Euler/AP Photo)

Starting Monday, it will be required for long-distance travel by train, plane, or bus, entering restaurants, cafes, and their terraces and rest homesamong a long list laid out in the law and approved in the ruling. The special court appeared to wince at the regulations but decided that overall a balance was struck between freedom and the constitutional value of health protection.

The Council also approved obliging health care workers to be vaccinated against the virus by Sept. 15. And it ruled that requiring the health pass for hospital visitors and others is justifiedif it doesnt create an obstacle to accessing health care.

Several hundred noisy protesters in front of the Constitutional Council in Paris denounced the ruling, under the eye of nearly as many heavily armed police.

Julien Bailly, 37, who makes harpsichords, wore a Health dictatorship: Stop sticker on his shirt.

He said he was fully vaccinated, but everyone should be able to make that choice freely, not because oppressive laws force them to. Soon well need QR codes for everything in life, he added. This is a slippery slope and an unprecedented attack on our freedoms.

Critics complain that it limits their movements outside homeand implicitly renders vaccinations obligatory. Opponents have demonstrated around the country by the tens of thousands for the past three Saturdays, with more protests expected this weekend.

A 26-year-old protester who identified herself only as Charlotte said she distrusts the COVID-19 vaccine and resents it being forced on her. The health pass wont change my decision, Ill never get the vaccine, she said.

The Constitutional Council which examined the law is a special court which, among other things, reviews the constitutionality of legislation.

The health pass has been in effect since July 21 for cultural and recreational venues, including cinemas, concert halls, and theme parks with capacity for more than 50 people. But the new law vastly extends its application.

Many restaurant owners say it is not their job to enforce the law, checking each client for a pass. Some health professionals have voiced fears that patients in need of non-urgent treatment could suffer.

Quite a few people have told us they wouldnt be coming back once the health pass is implemented, said Vanessa Shi, co-owner of a noodle restaurant near the Champs-Elysees Avenue.

Weve been insulted on several occasions, with people calling us sell-outs and worse for saying we would implement the measure, she said. But with the bills weve racked up during the pandemic  its a matter of survival for us.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the ruling allows for full deployment of the strategy against COVID-19. Disappointed that the article on strict isolation of those infected was struck down, he asked that recommended isolation be scrupulously respected.

More than 28,700 new infections were reported as of Wednesday evening, a steep climb from one month ago. The pandemic has claimed more than 112,000 lives in France.

By Elaine Ganley and Constantin Gouvy
GOP Senators Unveil Bill to End Lending to Chinese Regime From Multilateral Development Banks

Eighteen Republican senators introduced legislation on Aug. 4 to end lending to China from multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The new bill (pdf), S. 2587, would establish that its U.S. policy to oppose any additional loan, extension, or technical assistance from multilateral development banks to China.

Multilateral banks were created to assist developing countries and help eliminate extreme poverty, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to receive low-cost loans and assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank despite overseeing the worlds second-largest economy, according to a release from the lead sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

China is the second largest economy and the largest single creditor in the world, Barrasso said in a statement. There is no reason why China should still be receiving loans from the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank. As China obtains subsidized loans, it is engaging in predatory lending to developing countries across the world.

We must refocus international efforts to ensure resources are going to developing countries that need assistance the most. Our legislation ensures the Chinese Communist Party can no longer take advantage of these low-cost loans subsidized by U.S. taxpayers at multilateral development banks.

According to World Bank policy, countries are eligible to borrow from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), an institution of the bank, until they reach a certain income threshold, which is called a graduation discussion income threshold.

Related Coverage GOP Senators Propose Curbs on Low-Rate World Bank Loans to Beijing

China reached that threshold in 2016 and was expected to reduce its borrowing from the bank since then. However, the CCP has only seen further assistance since 2016, with the IBRD having approved $8.93 billion for 16 projects in China, and the Asian Development Bank approving $7.6 billion in loans and assistance, and $1.8 billion in non-sovereign commitments in China in the same time frame.

The World Bank shareholders agreed in 2018 that loans to the CCP would fall below $1 billion per year. But IBRD data show that the CCP has continued to receive more than $1 billion in annual financing every fiscal year since 2016.

The GOP senators proposed legislation would require the Treasury secretary to instruct the U.S. executive director at each of the multilateral development banks to oppose any lending to China and to halt lending to any other country that exceeds the criteria for graduating from lending at the bank.

The bill would also require an annual report to be delivered to Congress. The report would, in part, assess the status of Chinas borrowing from the banks and document Chinas voting power, shares, and representation at the respective banks. It would also describe efforts from the United States to end lending to countries once they exceed the eligibility requirements.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 21, 2021. (Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images)

China is no longer a developing nation in need of development loans. Americas foreign policy should treat the Chinese Communist Party for what it is: a genocidal regime determined to remake the world in its own authoritarian image. We cannot continue to allow Beijing to exploit international organizations to achieve its objectives, co-sponsor Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a statement.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), another co-sponsor, said in a statement, The Chinese Communist Partys efforts to influence and infiltrate institutions and governments around the world is troubling, and the World Bank and other multilateral development banks should not support Chinas nefarious One Belt One Road campaign through favorable lending agreements.

Other cosponsors include Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

Earlier this year, Republican senators introduced similar legislation that would prevent China or other countries that exceed the graduation threshold from receiving loans from the World Bank.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.
Founder of the Hillsong Church, Pastor Brian Houston leaves the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearings in Sydney, Australia on Oct. 8, 2014. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)

Hillsong Founder Facing Criminal Charge

Australian Hillsong pastor Brian Houston has been charged with concealing information about the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s.

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) will allege that Houston knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male but never reported it to police.

Police first began investigating the matter in 2019.

They handed a brief of evidence to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who gave advice to the police this week.

Houstons lawyer received a court attendance notice for concealing a serious indictable offence on Thursday afternoon.

The founder of the Hillsong Church was among the people who Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wanted to be invited to a White House dinner when he visited the United States in 2019.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House knocked back the request, which Morrison only admitted making six months later.

Houston was known to have been under police investigation for his failure to report his fathers sexual abuse of children.

The child sex abuse royal commission found he failed to tell police about the abuse allegations against Frank Houston.

He will appear in Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Oct. 5.

By Hannah Ryan
Hire Employees for Your Business and Make Sure They Stay

The past year or so has been a rough period for small businesses. COVID-19 limited interactions with customersquashed sales, and shrunk the workforce to new lows. Many small businesses did not make it out of the wreckage. Those that survived are now attempting to regain their footing. Its time to hire employees for your business.

One step in reclaiming your small business former glory is to get employees back into the ranks and into the office. If you had to close down your operations for several months, you probably have a few openings that havent been filled yet, thanks to this strange labor shortage. However, in a best-case scenario, your business is booming now that restrictions are being lifted, and you need a bigger workforce to aid in the next phase of your business growth.

Develop a Desirable Culture

Team culture is more important than ever for employees around the world. Its so much easier to work hard, innovate, and perform your best when youre surrounded by individuals who lift you up. Positive company culture will yield positive results every single time.

So how do you measure your company culture? For starters, talk with your existing employees. True employee feedback will give you a better idea of where your culture stands right now. Does your team feel like management is helpful and has their best interest in mind? Are their barriers preventing the team from coming together as a unit? Do you engage in team-building exercises or help with productivity and individual growth?

True employee feedback will give you a better idea of where your culture stands right now.

Next, youll need a game plan for molding your company culture to exactly what you want it to be. Maybe you need to organize more team meetings inside and outside of the office to help current employees get acquainted. Culture often starts at the top, so look at any bad habits you may haveor one that you might need to shedsuch as micromanagement.

Offer Benefits as You Hire for Your Business

The promise of a big paycheck will certainly bring in some applicants, but wont always keep them around for the long haul. As workers mature and evolve, they begin to weigh benefits more heavily than a base salary. Employees may get married and start families and take health insurance and retirement plans more seriously than they did while picking up part-time jobs during college.

The great thing about benefits is that they can be just about anything.

Sure, retirement programs and insurance plans top the list, but you can get really creative with the other benefits you other. Concert ticket reimbursement, a casual dress code, and a top-of-the-line company campus are just some of the many possibilities you can consider.

When developing a benefits package, keep your desired workforce in mind. For example, if you operate a small restaurant by a local college, tuition reimbursements and part-time scheduling will draw in students to your job applications. If youre opening your own health clinic and want the best healthcare professionals to join forces with you, focusing on 401ks and office space might be the better approach.

Embrace Flexibility

One of the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 isnt health-related. Instead, its the newfound desire that workers have to keep a flexible daily schedule. Working from home was a revelation for many employees, especially those who wanted to spend more time with family or pursuing recreational activities. Embracing that flexibility will attract and retain a lot of talent.

Now you dont have to enable remote work for all of your employees. In some industries, thats not even possible. There are other ways to embrace flexibility; however, that will yield similar results. For example, you can experiment with a four-day workweek, unlimited time off, or a hybrid system that allows employees to choose when to come to the office when not required.

A man works with a laptop. (Lukas Bieri/Pixabay)

Lean Into Your Mission

Sure, at the end of the day, were all just working to make ends meet. However, after a while, burnout creeps up and a change of scenery is desired. The humdrum 95 routine often leads to turnover, especially for entry-level positions. You can better draw in talent and keep them for the long haul by really leaning into your company mission.

The teenager running the register at your craft store might get tired of their position if theyre only there to save up money for college. However, if part of your companys mission is to use profits to provide healthcare to at-risk families, they might buy into the company more. This is especially true when mission statements and ideals between companies and employees align.

Continue to Improve

The hiring and onboarding process is a lot like dating. When you meet someone new you like, youll do a lot to impress them that you might not do regularly. For example, you might talk up your business as the greatest place to work on this side of the Mississippi, glossing over some of its flaws.

Employee prospects do the same thing in their interviews, trying to make themselves look like the best candidate available to land the job.

Both parties should look at constantly improving themselves, the team and the companylong after an employment agreement has been made. Many a marriage has dwindled because spouses stopped doing the things that caused them to fall in love in the first place. Use this concept to retain your employees by offering raises and bonuses, improving your business operations, and listening to their constructive feedback.

In addition, LinkedIn data suggests that advancement opportunities are one of the best ways to both attract and retain top talent. According to their insight, 59 percent of employees will join a company to pursue a better career or opportunity, and 45 percent of employees who left a company did so because of a lack of possible advancement. Hungry, young professionals want to move forward in their careers and look for organizations that will help them grow and achieve.

Your help-wanted sign wont be hanging up forever. So stay active and diligent, and soon your ranks will be filled with the best of the best.

By Howie Jones
Soldiers are seen near a poster of Chinese leader Xi Jinping next to the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing on May 18, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

How Lockdowns Benefited Beijing and Why Its Push for the Measure Needs Scrutiny

Tracing Chinese regimes attempts to control the scientific discourse and push policy

News Analysis

From the World Health Organizations early China-friendly messaging on the virus outbreak to influential papers dismissing the theory that the virus originated in a laboratory, Beijings sway over scientific discussions has come under increasing scrutiny during the pandemic. Some observers are also pointing out the communist regimes footprint in the push for one side of the debate on the science and policy of lockdowns, which have had significant economic ramifications in the West.

Number one, the [lockdowns in the West] have strengthened [Beijings] control over the global supply chain. And number two, [lockdowns] have meant that Beijings economy has been growing while other economies around the worldmostly free societies but not only free societiesare shrinking, U.S. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Spalding said in an interview. Spalding is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Stealth War: How China Took Over While Americas Elite Slept.

Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding in Washington on May 29, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Ross McKitrick, an economics professor at the University of Guelph, says lockdown policies and other severe restrictions have had a detrimental impact not only on the economy in the West, but also in terms of overall health due to deferred medical procedures and mental health issues.

China benefited. They had an economic boom as a result of lockdowns here, McKitrick told The Epoch Times, echoing Spaldings view. He added that the possibility that Beijing exerted influence on lockdown policy discussions in Western countries is an issue that needs to be examined.

Controlling the Science Community

The Chinese regimes politicization of science and use of influence over the scientific community has been a recurring theme throughout the pandemic.

Since early in the virus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been scrutinized for its response to the pandemic and its deference to Beijing.

The UN agency meant to safeguard global public health was criticized for being slow in declaring a pandemic as well as actively advising against imposing restrictions on travellers from China. Canadas chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam, a WHO adviser, supported that advice, which was a position championed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has strong ties to Beijing, routinely praised Chinas handling of the virus outbreak.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the sidelines of the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland May 24, 2021. (Laurent Gillieron/Pool via Reuters)

The organization was also quick to give the disease caused by the virus a name, COVID-19, to prevent it from receiving a name referring to its place of origin that would be established in common usage, as often occurs, such as Wuhan virus or China diseasegiven that the CCP was eager to quell any linking of the virus to China.

When it came to discussions on the origin of the outbreak, two letters published in influential science journals The Lancet and Nature were instrumental in cementing a natural origin theory as the only viable possibility and denouncing any suggestions of a lab leak as a conspiracy theory. It was only recently that the latter theory was destigmatized after some in the scientific community spoke out and U.S. President Joe Biden said neither possibility could be ruled out.

It later came to light that Peter Daszak, the organizer of the letter in The Lancet, has ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which researches coronaviruses. As reported previously by The Epoch Times, both The Lancet letter and the one published in Nature appear to have been part of a co-ordinated effort originating from a February 2020 conference call organized by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose organization has funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan lab.

But it wasnt just that those journals were printing letters saying that the virus had a natural originthey were also rejecting papers that suggested alternative theories.

Such was the case for a group of scientists known as the Paris Group, who have published letters arguing that a natural origin hasnt been proved and urging WHO to conduct an independent probe into the origin that would be free of Chinas influence. However, The Lancet refused to publish the letter they submitted to the journal in early January 2020, according to Unherd.

Business Interests

Some are pointing out that business ties to China may be a factor for such rejections.

These journals have significant and growing business interests in China, and hence the most likely explanation is that they dont want to upset the CCP, so as not to jeopardize their business interests there, Nikolai Petrovsky, a professor of medicine at Australias Flinders University, told The Epoch Times.

Petrovsky himself was one of the early scientists pointing to inconsistencies in claims of a natural origin, but he had trouble having his papers published.

The risk of CCP retaliation is very real, as Australia saw when its [prime minister] called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 last year and China almost immediately hit Australia with a range of trade sanctions, he said.

Lgos of multidisciplinary scientific journal Nature displayed on computers screens in a file photo. (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Nature said in an email that business implications are not a factor in the journals editorial decisions, pointing to a quote by editor-in-chief Dr. Magdalena Skipper: For COVID-19-related submissions, as with all other submissions, our editors make decisions based solely on whether research meets our criteria for publicationrobust original scientific research, of outstanding scientific importance, which reaches a conclusion of interest to a multidisciplinary audience.

The Lancet didnt respond to requests for comment. In the past, the publication has said it only considers scientific merit rather than politics as its publishing criteria.

A 2017 report by the Financial Times showed that Springer Nature, a German-based company that owns Nature and other leading scientific journals including Scientific American, had been blocking access to at least 1,000 academic journals in China that mention subjects deemed sensitive by Beijing, such as Taiwan and Tibet.

The Lancets parent company, Elsevier, which is owned by the RELX Group, has major operations in China as well, including a partnership with the Chinese social media giant Tencent.

The UK-based Lancets editor-in-chief, Richard Horton, has repeatedly praised Chinas handling of the pandemic while criticizing the UK for not imposing stricter lockdown measures.

In an interview with the Chinese state-owned China Central Television in May last year, Horton said the move to lock down Wuhan was not only the right thing to do, but it also showed other countries how they should respond in the face of such an acute threat. He added that it was most unfortunate that some people were blaming China for causing the pandemic.

Meanwhile, in an interview in June the same year, Horton told New Scientist magazine that countries like the United States, the UK, and Brazil have acted appallingly in the face of the pandemic. And in an interview with Aljazeera in January this year, he criticized the UK for not implementing strict lockdowns sooner.

Police tape blocks access to a building as part of COV ID-19 measures in the city of Ruili in Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province on July 5, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Pointing to a recent study published by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research on the impact of lockdowns on mortality, McKitrick says strict restriction measures have had the opposite of the intended impact on health.

The study looked at correlations between shelter-in-place policies and death rates in 43 countries and all U.S. states and found that such policies didnt reduce mortality. To the contrary, some jurisdictions had higher excess deaths. The study suggests its possible such policies increased deaths of despair due to economic and social isolation effects, including unemployment, increased substance abuse, reduced physical activity, and deferred medical procedures.

Im sure [Horton] is not aware of this [study], but for him to take a position that governments should be criticized for not being more strict in their lockdowns, hes going against the scientific evidence, McKitrick said.

Horton didnt respond to a request for comment.

Shaping the Narrative

Spalding says the CCPs goal is to control the narrative to suit its own interests. In the scientific world, besides business funding and partnerships, this has included injecting numerous articles in scientific journals with made-up data, which muddies the waters and makes it more difficult to have fact-based discussions, he says.

A report by World Education Services found that China far outstripped other countries in the number of retracted papers that were fake peer-reviewed between 2012 and 2016, with 276 papers recalled.

Combined with Beijings efforts to preventor in some cases deletepublication of studies that are not in its interests, the CCP has been able to influence what people see as the truth, he says. This is exacerbated by the Partys influence and control over the digital world, he adds.

Its really about controlling the narrative, because if you control what people say about things, you control the way they think, he said.

When it comes to policy and scientific advocacy in favour of lockdowns, Spalding says there are a number of ways that the CCP has amplified those calls.

The regimes systematic use of social media and influence tactics for favourable media coverage is well-documented in different studies.

A woman crosses an empty street in downtown Montreal on April 5, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

As the pandemic started to spread, Beijing used its media infrastructure globally to seed positive narratives about China in national media, as well as mobilizing more novel tactics such as disinformation, the International Federation of Journalists said in a report published in May.

China is coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic with more positive global coverage of its actions and policies than pre-pandemic.

Spalding says Beijing has used these strategies to promote strict lockdowns for other countries. Tactics include systematic use of social media to boast about Chinas draconian pandemic measures, and the boosting of posts on studies with disputed modelling that predict large volumes of deaths in the absence of lockdowns.

These posts were retweeted and reposted by the 50 Cent Army and other influencers outside of China, and then were picked up by the legacy media that furthered the hype, because thats part of their business model, Spalding said. The 50 Cent Army refers to internet commentators hired by the CCP to manipulate public opinion to its favour. They supposedly get paid 50 Chinese cents for each post.

The way our society is currently on a 24/7 news cycle, and the way that Silicon Valleys social media platforms are very easily manipulated for propaganda, they use all of those things to create a hype, Spalding added.

Atlanta-based researcher and lawyer Michael P. Senger says Beijing has misrepresented its pandemic response by significantly downplaying its case counts and deaths, yet prominent news organizations in the West have lavished praise on the regimes model.

By demanding elite publications repeat the Orwellian lie that China controlled the virus, the CCP has normalized that lie for Western elites to repeat themselves, exploiting Chinas fastidiously managed reputation and the fact that most Westerners do not yet know it as an untrustworthy, totalitarian state, Senger wrote in the Tablet.

[Chinese leader] Xi Jinping has frequently stressed global co-operation to fight COVID-19. In turn, the world has started to look more like China. Localities introduced tip lines to report lockdown violations and countries unveiled new fleets of surveillance drones.

Senger points out that FBI Director Christopher Wray said last year that U.S. officials from federal, state, and municipal governments have said Chinese diplomats are aggressively urging support for Chinas pandemic response, in one case even asking a state senator to introduce a resolution in praise of Chinas handling of the crisis.

The Right Conditions

Spalding notes that conditions brought about by applied postmodernism and neo-Marxist activism in the West, combined with how Silicon Valley technology giants operate, create a very favourable environment for the CCP to control the narrative and advance its interests.

Facebook, Google, and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photograph. (Reuters)

The Chinese Communist Party doesnt necessarily have to do it all. It can take advantage of those things, he said.

Under these modern trends, Spalding says, the same types of censorship and influence mechanisms used to shape peoples thoughts under totalitarian regimes like that of the CCP emerge in free countries.

Its about censorship. Its about defining who has the right to establish what the truth is, not about the facts. Its not about the scientific method. Its about who you are, what race you arethats applied postmodernism, he said.

And then you blend in the fact that Silicon Valley built this incredible engine for influencing perceptions and using these platformsnot just social media but also consumer-based platformsto influence the way people think.

These conditions play right into Beijings unrestricted warfare model, he says, and it can allow the regime to gain influence and control in the West. This type of war strategy, outlined by two Chinese military colonels in the 1990s, calls for the use of unconventional tactics to accomplish the objectives of war. Under the strategy, war is not just limited to the use of military on battlefields, but the use of all available avenues including financial streams, digital warfare, and covert overseas influence and espionage campaigns.

The CCP has done a fantastic job of using data and the internet and globalization to get their own interests met, Spalding said.

When you take the rise of applied postmodernism in the West, in Western academia, you blend that with the rise and the power of the Silicon Valley companies through their technologies, and you pattern that off of the Chinese Communist Partys very political way of going to war, then you have a perfect instrument to create global totalitarianism without having had to physically occupy territory, which is what the Soviet Union was faced with.
In this image of "The Spinners," 16551660, by Velazquez, the shaded areas highlight the three edges of the original composition that were expanded in the 18th century. (Prado Museum)

How The Spinners by Velazquez Teaches the Consequence of Irreverence and More

It may be hard to imagine, but many well-known masterpieces are not how the artists originally painted them. In the past, paintings were often altered to fit into an interior design where it would be viewed. For instance, parts of both Johannes Vermeers Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window and Giovanni Battista Tiepolos Bacchus and Ariadne were overpainted, changing the compositions; Diego Velazquezs The Spinners was enlarged when it was hung in the new royal palace in Madrid; and Rembrandts The Night Watch was trimmed to fit into a smaller space in Amsterdam City Hall (which is now the royal palace).

With the exception of The Night Watch, each of the above artworks has been permanently restored, by human hands, to try to replicate how the artist originally intended it to appear. Experts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam have recently used artificial intelligence to simulate the missing parts of The Night Watch, to hint at Rembrandts overall composition.

The Spinners or The Fable of Arachne by Velazquez is the most recent of those listed paintings to be restored to its original composition.

Two Different Compositions

For the past few years, visitors to Madrids National Museum of the Prado could see Velazquezs original 17th-century composition, but the frame that hid the 18th-century additions was not a permanent solution to preserve the work. On July 12, the museum unveiled a new custom-made frame allowing visitors to see the work that Velazquez originally created. And what a difference it has made.

Compare Velazquezs original composition to that of the enlarged painting (with the 18th-century additions), and we can see why some viewers of the later version mistook it to be a simple genre scene of women weaving.

For centuries, people viewing The Spinners, 16551660, by Velazquez saw a much larger painting than the artist intended. Velazquezs original 17th-century composition was expanded in the 18th century to fit into a space in a new royal palace in Madrid. (Prado Museum)

In this image of The Spinners, 16551660, by Velazquez, the shaded areas highlight the three edges of the original composition that were expanded in the 18th century. (Prado Museum)

During that century, it had grown 50 centimeters [19 3/4 inches] at the top edge and slightly less than 20 centimeters [7 7/8 inches] on each side, the Prados senior curator of Spanish painting, Javier Portus, said in a video. The 18th-century painters had extended the building in the painting to such an extent that rather than gently framing the scene, it dominated the composition. This caused the background scene to recede further, and in turn focused viewers even more on the foreground, where the women are weaving.

Not until the 1930s and 1940s did scholars realize that The Spinners contained mythological content. The figures in the background werent, as many viewers believed, simply showing the tapestry woven by the women in the foreground. In the background, Velazquez depicted part of the Greek myth of Arachne, which is the central story of his painting and why its alternative title is The Fable of Arachne.

Arachnes Pride

In The Metamorphoses, Ovid described how Arachne, a girl of humble birth and parentage, wove cloth so exquisitelyfrom the spinning of the yarn through to the finished decorationthat often the nymphs of Mount Tmolus deserted their vine-covered slopes, and the nymphs of the River Pactolus deserted their waves, to examine her wonderful workmanship. But Arachne always denied that her talent was bestowed by the goddess of handicrafts, Pallas. Full of bravado, Arachne challenged Pallas to a weaving competition to prove her point, vowing that if the goddess won then she would concede that her artistic gifts were divinely bestowed.

Pallas then disguised herself as an old woman, symbolic of wisdom, and told Arachne that Not everything old age has is to be shunned: Knowledge comes with advancing years. Do not reject my advice: Seek great fame among mortals for your skill in weaving, but give way to the goddess, and ask her forgiveness, rash girl, with a humble voice: She will forgive if you will ask.

The defiant, young Arachne retorted that she too felt unheeded, and she asked why Pallas was not present for the contest. Pallas then dropped her disguise, and the contest began.

In Velazquezs painting, Pallas can be seen as the old woman at her spinning wheel. And on the right side of the painting, Arachne has her back turned to us as she ignores the old womans plea. Consumed with competitiveness, she unravels her skein of wool.

The Spinners, 16551660, by Velazquez now resides in its new frame in the Prado, which hides the 18th-century additions and reinstates Velazquezs original composition. (Prado Museum)

Arachnes Fall

Pallas wove a moral lesson into the four corners of her tapestry. Each story was another compassionate warning to Arachne of the consequences that come to mortals who compete with or defy the divine. Pallas hoped Arachne would take heed.

Arachne, in her tapestry, wove instances of times when the gods acted improperly in the mortal world, such as when Zeus abducted Europa by disguising himself as a beautiful white bull.

Velazquez chose to re-create Titians painting The Rape of Europa as the tapestry hanging in the background of his painting. Zeus, who abducted Europa, was Pallass father. (Velazquez, as a painter of the Spanish royal court, would have probably seen Titians painting in the royal palace.)

In front of the tapestry, we see Pallas as the goddess of war, with her helmet and shield, responding to Arachnes perfectly woven cloth. She is livid; Arachne dared to outshine a goddess.

Velazquez didnt depict what happened next in Ovids myth: Pallas strikes Arachne with her shuttle. In unbearable pain, Arachne puts a noose around her own neck. At that moment, Pallas turns Arachne into a spider so that she must constantly weave and hang for eternity.

Different Interpretations

Besides the confusion caused by the 18th-century additions to The Spinners, Velazquez created the painting in the last decades of his life, when he was known to have painted complex and ambiguous compositions.

On the Prado Museum website, the artwork is considered an ode to the nobility of painting, because Velazquez expertly used his brush and paints to depict the passage of time from when the material is spun, woven, and made into the tapestry. Velazquez not only told Arachnes story through the medium of painting, but he also used a famous painting to depict her accomplishments.

The website also notes that Velazquez was aware of mythologist Juan Perez de Moyas view that the myth of Arachne demonstrated the constant advancement of art. In The Spinners, Velazquez built a narrative about artistic progress and competitiveness by depicting the tapestry in the background and by reproducing an original painting by Titian which was, and continues to be, copied by many artists aspiring to mastery.

The American Friends of the Prado Museum and the American Express Foundation funded the new frame as part of the Reframing the Prado initiative, to ensure that the Prado collection is shown at its best. To find out more about The Spinners by Velazquez at the National Museum of the Prado, visit MuseodelPrado.es
How to Create an Asynchronous Work Culture

Distributed teams deserve smarter workflows

As organizations embrace the remote-first future and wrestle with their own versions of hybrid working models, they face several challenges. First, they must learn to communicate effectively with team members across different time zones and cultures. Once they master communication, their productivity soarsbut how can they measure productivity effectively?

Remote work began reshaping the global workforce well before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the spread of the virus accelerated remote work adoption for many companies that may not have been ready. When faced with a new threat, businesses sent employees home in droves, thrusting workers, managers, and leadership teams into unknown territory.

Some companies with remote-first philosophies adapted easily. Others were not so well prepared. People who had never worked remotely struggled with unclear processes, while leaders scrambled to keep production steady. In almost all cases, the old standards of measurement and productivity no longer applied.

With the worst of the pandemic winding down, were starting to see companies choose a formal position on remote or not. Many companies have already announced that they will allow their teams to work remotely for as long as they wish. Companies that attempt to limit the freedom of their remote workers will see their best and brightest leave to join more understanding workplaces.

Related: Remote Work Is Here to Stay: Are You Ready for the New Way of Life?

This shift marks the beginning of a new era of work in which time flows differently for every employee. People across the world will work together on projects across different time zones and in different cultures. Some people will start their day late in Asia and work into the evening, while some in the United States will rise at the crack of dawn so they can sign off an hour or two after lunch.

With so many people working on their own schedules, companies can either become more flexible or break under the strain. Businesses that force their global workforces to adhere to a set schedule will drive away talent, while those that acknowledge the reality of the situation will embrace the obvious solution: asynchronous work.

Asynchronous workflows allow teams to work independently without sacrificing speed. Because remote work increases the distribution of working hours for employees, asynchronous work makes perfect sense for remote-first businesses.

How to Make the Asynchronous Shift

Companies with remote teams enjoy a host of advantages over those with traditional, office-bound workforces, but those advantages are deliberate. Distributed teams following asynchronous processes must maximize their productivity and eliminate opportunities for miscommunication.

Reliance on Documentation

In offices where people share the same work hours, employees constantly ping one another with questions and updates. This doesnt work as well when colleagues live and work on opposite sides of the planet. To realize the advantages of asynchronous work, teams must become fanatical about accurate documentation. From sales to engineering, anyone should be able to see what others have done and pick up the work from there.

Related: 4 Ways Remote Communication Is Making For a Better Workplace

Elimination of Meetings

Businesses hold too many meetings regardless of time zones and schedules. Remote-first organizations recognize that not everyone is available to meet during the same hours, which forces them to think more proactively about when, with whom, and why they meet. On asynchronous teams, regular recording and storage of virtual meetings allows other interested parties to catch up on content on their own time.

Standardization of Time Zones

Distributed teams operate in several time zones at once, which can create headaches for schedulingand not just for meetings. Marketers, for example, must schedule campaigns across a variety of tools. Engineers must schedule launches and updates at optimal times. Remote-first teams should switch to UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time, and communicate their needs based on that time zone.

Prioritize Transparency

In a truly asynchronous workplace, no one can keep work hidden in an inbox. The pace moves too quickly, and colleagues always need to know what their fellows are doing so teams can prioritize their actions to maximize productivity. Workers must trust one another and use tools that facilitate transparency in communication.

Respect Different Cultures

Asynchronous work doesnt care when someone leaves the office. In some parts of the world, people prefer to leave work several times per day to take care of other businesses, working in spurts throughout the day. Elsewhere, people prefer to work straight through lunch, cramming all their productivity into a shorter time frame. With team members around the world, people may take time off for different cultural holidays. Rather than force team members to keep track of a global calendar, asynchronous work allows them to stay focused on the work in front of them.

Judge Quality Over Quantity

Employers should not require their employees to install time-tracking software and other spyware on their work computers. Doing so only makes employees feel that their managers judge them for the way they spend their time, negating the advantages of asynchronous remote work. Rather than obsess over hours, leaders should judge employees based only on the quality of the work they produce.

Establish Goal Measurement

A great way to maintain async collaboration across an organization is to adopt Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). The OKR methodology is a collaborative, goal-setting framework that helps teams and organizations reach their goals through identifiable and measurable results. By design, the OKR framework works across teams to create a standard the whole company can adopt. OKRs give purpose to organizations and help asynchronous teams pursue meaningful goals.

Remote-first businesses need asynchronous workflows to realize their potential and provide their employees with the perfect conditions to thrive. The OKR framework empowers employees to work with purpose. Companies like Intel, LinkedIn, and Airbnb have achieved amazing results using OKRs, but OKRs do not exist solely to boost bottom lines. Executed correctly, OKRs in asynchronous work can create a more comfortable, inclusive and effective environment for teams.

Related: Why Remote Work Makes Teams (And Leaders) Better
Reenactment of one of the torture methods employed by Chinese officials to coerce Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith. (Minghui.org)

I Told Myself That I Wouldnt Die: Chinese Womans Resilience in the Face of Brutal Torture Over Her Faith

A Chinese woman braved through hellish abuse and physical assault to honor her spiritual belief rooted in the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Li Erying, of Qiqihar city, in Heilongjiang province, China, was incarcerated for four years without her familys knowledge in a trial that she herself knew nothing about until she was taken to the court. She was persecuted endlessly for refusing to give up her faith or submit to the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) draconian atheistic ideologies.

The torture she endured included being brutally beaten by criminal inmates to the point that she was on the brink of death and being force-fed for a long period of time.

A file photo of Li Erying, of Qiqihar city, in Heilongjiang province, China, before she was persecuted for her faith. (Minghui.org)

Li, who began practicing the self-cultivation practice of Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) in 1996, has been arrested multiple times and sent to forced labor camps twice. The communist regime didnt even spare her family members, who have also been implicated and continue to face imminent danger and constant harassment from CCP officials.

Falun Gong is a spiritual meditation system that grew increasingly popular in China in the 1990s. It has been violently persecuted by the Chinese regime since July 20, 1999.

Four Years of Persecution

Li, a law-abiding citizen, was arrested on Nov. 4, 2015, for practicing Falun Gong. She was sentenced to four years in prison by the Longsha District Court in Qiqihar city, reported Minghui.org, a U.S.-based all-volunteer organization that reports on the persecution in China.

She was taken to Prison District No. 11 on June 8, 2016, and was incarcerated at the Womens Prison of Heilongjiang Province, where she underwent severe torture.

The journey of unprecedented abuse all began with a criminal inmate named Fan Xiumeiwho managed 200 prisonerstrying to force Li to wear a prison uniform. However, Li, who, unlike other inmates, was arrested for her faith rather than for any offense, refused to comply.

Later, a police officer began slandering Falun Gong in front of Li and instructed the inmate to make her sit in military-style on a small, uneven stool that was only about 5 inches high. It is a routine torture method used to inflict pain, cause extreme tiredness, and restrict movement.

A model of the miniature stool used for torturing prisoners of faith in Chinese jails. (Minghui.org)

I had to put my hands on my thighs, sit upright, and look forward, Li recalled in her personal account. She mentioned that the inmate told her, Dont blink, dont open your mouth, dont move. You cant even blink once.

Li was confined to this position up until 10 p.m. and wasnt given any food, nor was she permitted to wash. If I moved even a bit, I was kicked and beaten, she said.

However, this was just the beginning of the inhumane torture commonly faced by imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners.

Li was made to sleep on an upper bunk bed with Fan monitoring her every move. When she woke up to practice the Falun Gong tranquil meditation in the wee hours of the morning, another inmate picked up a stool and began to beat her. They even tried to cover Lis mouth but failed; that day she endured beatings from different groups of people.

I was pushed off the upper bunk, Li said. All nine people in the room started beating me and wanted to tie me up. I cant remember how many times I was beaten that day. Those people were well-trained thugs who did this as a profession.

Fan even instructed other inmates to beat up Li badly and warned them that if they didnt, their points would be deducted or, worse yet, their sentences would be extended further.

One inmate took Fans words so seriously that she began to pinch Li. She pinched me all over, especially my nipples, bruising me all over, Li said.

Another inmate took it further; she took a shoe and hit Li on the face until her nose began bleeding. After that day, to protest her illegal arrest and persecution, Li went on a hunger strike. However, the captain successfully instigated the inmates to escalate the torture and make it worse.

They found 15 or 16 inmates and declared that they will have me transformed, Li said. They stood in two rows and started beating me. Some pulled my hair, some twisted my arms, and some slapped me until I was knocked to the ground. I fainted.

When Li gained consciousness, she found a shoe lying on her face and the floor was completely wet. I realized that my hands were swollen and I couldnt move my right arm or lift my legs, she said.

After only four days in prison, Li had lost the ability to care for herself, but she refused to renounce her faith. Seeing her unwavering stand, prison officers then made the torture a step more brutal.

An illustration of one of the many forms of straitjacket torture methods. (Minghui.org)

Li was strapped in a straitjacket and tied up to the bed for three days and two nights, with a few people monitoring her around the clock; she was not allowed to close her eyes. When the guards still failed to weaken her determination, they continued to escalate the abuse.

The police took two straitjackets and tied my hands, legs, thighs, and waist tightly and put a small stool under my buttocks. Whenever I shifted, the stool would go over on its side, she said. It was unimaginably painful.

I was hung up for eight hours, until nighttime when I was force-fed, Li said. By this time, I had no feeling in my limbs and my heart beat erratically. I didnt have the energy to open my eyes.

I Didnt Commit Any Crime

The persecution of Li only worsened with time.

She was unable to close her mouth, as it was so swollen from all the beatings. Inmate Fan even rubbed Lis teeth with her shoes and used a broomstick to poke her eyes. Her arm was dislocated due to the constant abuse and physical assault. And as she wasnt allowed to wash for several days, she smelled bad.

In an attempt to force me to give up on the hunger strike, the police instructed the medic to put the tube into my trachea. I nearly suffocated, she recalled.

Several people pinched my nose and force-fed me. The feeding tube broke my nose and caused excessive bleeding. I was bruised all over but still forced to sit on the stool. When I couldnt, an inmate would pull my hair while another stomped on my feet to force me to sit upright.

An illustration of force-feeding. (Minghui.org)

Going through endless torture, Li still refused to dishonor her faith. The police then instructed her inmates to play brainwashing DVDs that slandered Falun Gong.

On Aug. 1, 2016, when Lis son and family visited her at the prison, they were shocked at how emaciated she had become and requested that she be taken to a doctor.

I was taken to a hospital, where the doctor said that I had high blood pressure and severe heart disease, and should not be beaten anymore, Li recalled. That I could die at any time, and that I really should be admitted to the hospital.

Li recalls being severely emaciated and malnourished due to all the long-term forced feeding and torture. When the warden and prison chief visited her at the prison hospital, she told them, I didnt commit any crime and should be released unconditionally.

After spending six months at the hospital, Li was incarcerated yet again. Despite her condition, the captain didnt budge in instructing Fan to torture Li all over again. With this, Li suffered from hallucinations.

During this period of time, Li fell off the bunk bed and became completely immobile.

When I wanted to go to the restroom, they [inmates] had to pull and carry me as I couldnt walk. The pulling fractured my femoral head, she said. I was once again taken to the hospital and told that I had to have surgery or my femoral head would decay.

This time, Li remained in the hospital for 40 days before being taken back to prison. During this period, despite all the abuse she had suffered, Li says she didnt resent nor hate those who treated her badly. Rather, she held strong to her moral integrity and faith.

In my heart, I had always felt that those who persecuted me were very pitiful, she said, adding that her upright faith bestowed her with the selfless kindness that changed some stubborn inmates, who later apologized to her and helped her secretly.

During the latter days of her time in prison, Lis health deteriorated to such a point that anyone who saw her knew that she was approaching her final days. However, she recalls that she was very alert and had a very strong faith.

I told myself that I wouldnt die, she said.

Though Li was released after the four-year incarceration, the harassment never ended.

During the ongoing nationwide zero-out campaignwhich is aimed to pressure Falun Gong adherents to give up their faithLi faced continuous harassment in late 2019 and 2020 and was pressured to write a guarantee statement to renounce her faith, which she refused to do.

Arshdeep Sarao contributed to this report.
Import Surge Sends US Trade Deficit to Record High

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose to a record high in June, largely due to a surge in imports as businesses built up inventories to meet robust consumer demand.

The Commerce Department said in an Aug. 5 statement (pdf) that the trade deficitthe difference between exports and imports of goods and servicesrose by 6.7 percent in June, hitting an all-time high of $75.7 billion.

Imports climbed to a record high as well, rising by 2.1 percent over the month to $283.4 billion. Exports edged up by just 0.5 percent in June to $207.7 billion.

The June increase in the trade deficit was driven by a rise in the goods deficit of $4 billion to $93.2 billion and a drop in the services surplus of $700 million to $17.4 billion.

In the year-to-date, the trade deficit increased by 46.4 percent to $135.8 billion compared to the same period in 2020.

Some analysts believe that the trade deficit will taper in the coming months, as the surge in consumer spending associated with the re-opening of the economy wanes.

With the peak in consumer goods demand behind us, we expect consumer goods imports to weaken from here, while survey measures of export orders support that exports growth is set to strengthen, Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, told The Associated Press.

The goods deficit with Europe surged by 23.5 percent to $28.1 billion in June, while the politically sensitive goods deficit with Chinathe largest the United States runs with any countryrose by 5.8 percent in June to $27.8 billion.

The year-to-date goods deficit with China totaled $158.5 billion, an increase of 19.2 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Former President Donald Trump was an ardent critic of the U.S. trade deficit, which he blamed on bad deals negotiated by his predecessors and unfair trade practices by other countries, primarily China. One of the ways in which Trump sought to whittle down the trade deficit with China was by negotiating a deal built around a pledge by Beijing to buy $200 billion more in U.S. goods and services over 2020 and 2021.

According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a nonpartisan research organization that tracks the status of Chinas purchases from the United States relative to its commitments, Beijing is well behind its pledge.

Through June, China purchased $68 billion in U.S. goods, compared to a year-to-date target of $99 billion, a shortfall of about 45.5 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A view shows the damage in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes as seen from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Lebanon, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Karamallah Daher/Reuters)

Israeli Fighter Jets Strike Launch Sites in Response to Lebanese Rocket Attack

Israel launched rockets at an artillery launch site in Lebanon on Aug. 5 as a response to attacks from the Lebanese earlier this week, officials said.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets targeted the launch sites from which the Lebanese rocket attacks originated on Aug. 4. A separate infrastructure used in past terror attacks on Israeli territory was also struck in the airstrikes.

Fighter jets struck the launch sites and infrastructure used for terror in Lebanon from which the rockets were launched, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said in a statement.

The strikes reportedly hit an empty area in the Marjayoun district. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A view shows the damage in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes as seen from Marjayoun, Lebanon, near the border with Israel, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Karamallah Daher/Reuters)

The IDF stated that the attack serves as a warning to the state of Lebanon to prevent further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israels sovereignty, as Israel blames the country for the heavy artillery fire the previous day.

Multiple rockets were fired from Lebanese territory into northern Israel on Aug. 4 shortly after noon, causing warning sirens to sound in the Kiryat Shmona area. Two rockets hit open areas while the third fell short of the border.

Three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, the IDF said in a statement. In response  artillery forces fired into Lebanese territory.

The rockets caused several brush fires, and there has been no claim of responsibility yet for the attack, which came from an area of southern Lebanon under the sway of Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillasa designated terrorist organization.

Fields burn following a hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, on Aug. 4, 2021. (Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

An Israeli firefighter attempts to extinguish a fire caused by rockets fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, on Aug. 4, 2021. (Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

While Hezbollahs al-Manar TV has reported on the Israeli action, the group itself has yet to issue any statement.

The border has been mostly quiet since Israel fought a 2006 war against Hezbollah terrorists. An Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah posts in the border area last summer.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israels airstrikes were the first targeting Lebanese villages since 2006 and showed an escalation in its aggressive intent.

Israel faces threats from Hezbollah along its northern border, where Hezbollah has placed about 150,000 rockets aimed at Israel, according to a 2019 U.S. State Department report (pdf).

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said while speaking to Israels YNet TV that the attack was meant to send a message, adding that the country could do much more, but doesnt hope to arrive at that.

Hezbollahs Origins

During the 1980s, there were more than a dozen militias in Lebanon. But after the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990, all militia groups surrendered their arms to the government, except Hezbollah, which kept its weapons, Dr. Edy Cohen, who earned a doctorate degree at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and is an expert on the Middle East at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies told The Epoch Times.

Hezbollahs leaders are Lebanese, but the group has had very close ties to Iran for years. It carries out Iranian instructions, and receives financial support, intelligence, and materiel from Iran, Cohen said. Since the end of the civil war, for about 30 years, Hezbollah has treated itself as a country inside of a country, he said.

Iran continues to provide Hezbollah with most of its funding, training, weapons, and explosives, as well as a political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid, according to the U.S. State Department report on terrorism for 2019 (pdf).

Ella Kietlinska and Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
A smart phone screen displays the logo of Facebook on a Facebook website background, in Arlington, Va., on April 7, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

CDC and Facebook Coordinated Closely on Censorship of COVID-19 Misinformation: Watchdog

Facebook coordinated closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in controlling the narrative of the CCP virus pandemic, including suppression of alleged misinformation, and gave the health agency free advertising estimated at $3 million, according to Judicial Watch, which obtained emails that were released on July 28.

The CDC released 2,469 new documents (pdf) to Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In an email exchange beginning on Jan. 26, 2020, days after a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation connected the CDC with Facebook, a representative at the social media giant informed the CDC of the actions it was taking in regards to combating misinformation on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, that causes COVID-19.

Titled the FB coronavirus narrative, Facebook writes that it was taking a three pronged approached to the global response for the CCP virus:

Limit misinformation and other harmful content on our platforms. Our third-party fact-checkers have been rating information on this topic as false, including the AP, Politifact, AFP Hong Kong, Rapple IQ in the Philippines. As a result, we show people who come across that false content accurate information from our fact-checking partners and strong warning labels. We also send notifications to people who already shared this content alerting them that its been fact checked.

Provide accurate and helpful information on our platforms to our partners. Partners are already using our platforms to share accurate information about the situation, including on Pages. We have also provided ad credits to the World Health Organization and the Philippines Department of Health to enable them to run coronavirus education campaigns on Facebook in-region, which we will continue to do. Were continuing to explore additional steps we can take, including dedicated information modules on relevant search queries and improved search ranking.

Empower partners with data tools. Were sharing aggregated mobility data and high resolution density maps with various partners (e.g., National Tsinghua University (Taiwan); Harvard School of Public Health) to help inform forecasting models for the spread of the virus as part of our broader Data for Good program. Were exploring doing this with a broader set of partners (e.g., WHO, US CDC) and also helping partners understand how people are talking about the issue online through tools like Crowdtangle to inform their efforts.

The social networking giant said that it was working with more than 60 fact-checking organizations that review and rate content in more than 50 languages around the world in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. To support the fact-checkers, Facebook invested in a $1 million grant program in partnership with The International Fact-Checking Network during the pandemic.

A general view of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 30, 2014. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)

In a different email dated Feb. 6, 2020, the CDC asked a Facebook representative if he was in the loop about an email from Facebook to the Department of Health and Human Services Health Attache for India.

That email (pdf) stated that Facebook was taking proactive as well as reactive steps to control information and misinformation related to coronavirus which includes links to [the] WHO page as well as removal of misinformation, adding that at Mark Zuckerbergs request, there is a group that has been organized to help generate and implement new ideas offense approach on how FB can assist in the global response to the Coronavirus.

The group came up with three ideas that were to be exploredcreating a centralized CCP virus page with curated and localized content from trusted sources, enlisting public figures, celebrities, and government officials to build awareness of accurate information, and allowing people to use stickers on Instagram that linked out to the CCP virus Facebook page.

The emails released by Judicial Watch also showed that Facebook gave the CDC $3 million in free advertising credits that allowed the health agency to run CCP virus campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.

In a March 8, 2020 email from Facebook, the CDC received four ad credits totaling $2 million for the purpose of supporting messaging related to the CCP virus.

The then-CDC Chief Operating Officer, Sherri Berger thanked Facebook for the $2 million in a March 14 email.

On behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the authority delegated to me through Section 231 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Section 238), as amended, thank you for Facebooks non-monetary gift of advertising credited with an estimated value of $2,000,000. The gift will be used by CDCs COVID-19 response to support [the] dissemination of critical public health messaging. Thank you!

Berger in a second email sent on Aug. 10, 2020, thanked Facebook again, this time for the $1 million of free advertising credits, adding that, this gift will be used by CDCs COVID-19 response to distribute scientifically accurate data, guidance, and risk communication information on COVID-19 to a broader audience.

While the CDC acknowledges the in-kind donation from Facebook in the emails, the donations were not listed in its fiscal year 2020 gifts to the CDC (pdf). An email inquiring clarification on this issue was not answered by the CDC, who directed The Epoch Times to reach out to the FOIA office instead.

In addition, the health agency did not reply to an inquiry of whether it had fast-tracked the gift reviewing process for Facebook.

The CDC, on its Gifts to CDC page, says to maintain its scientific integrity, the agency engages in a rigorous and transparent gift review process.

CDCs gift acceptance policy requires a comprehensive gift review prior to accepting a gift. This includes CDC Foundation (CDCF) gifts and gifts given directly to CDC, whether they are monetary or non-monetary, the health agency stated.

In evaluating whether to accept a gift from a donor, CDC must perform a balancing test to determine whether the benefits outweigh the risk that accepting the gift would reflect unfavorably upon CDC. For example, the gift should not be accepted if any employees ability to carry out his or her responsibilities or official duties in a fair and objective manner is influenced; if acceptance of the gift could compromise the integrity of a government program or any official involved in that program; or if the donor has an expectation of receiving a future benefit such as a contract award, it added.

The CDC Foundation was also provided four ad credits totaling $50,000 from Facebook on March 3, 2020, but the non-monetary gift, like with the CDC, was not listed on its Fiscal 2020 Gifts to the Foundation.

During the pandemic, other social media giants also provided an in-kind donation to the CDC and assistance in optimizing CDCs posts, videos, or tweets about COVID-19.

Twitter offered CDC free advertising on its Promoted Trend and Promoted Spotlight Trend, with an estimated value of $75,000 and $150,000 respectively. In addition, Twitter said it had an in-house team ready to help with messaging and creative assets for the CDC to use.

The login/sign-up screen for a Twitter account is seen on a laptop computer in Orlando, Fla., on April 27, 2021. (John Raoux/AP Photo)

In a March 26, 2020 email, a CDC representative asked Twitter for assistance in getting its partner organization verified status.

A partner organization of CDCs (Association of Public Health Laboratories+ its CEO) is hoping to get verified status on Twitter so that the COVID-19 messaging they are posted gets the same resonance as other verified accounts, the CDC representative wrote. Is there anything you can do to have @aphl and @scottjbecker reviewed for verified status? Appreciate any assist you might be able to provide.

Twitter did not reply to an inquiry of whether it had assisted with the CDCs request.

In an email exchange beginning March 14 (pdf), a Google representative offered the CDC free video advertisements on YouTube that is usually only available to YouTube owned and operated products, and as such, the in-kind donation could not be assigned a value. Google also offered to help create the video ads for the CDC.

A Google representative wrote, There are legal and finance reasons why we cant value the inventoryeven at a nominal rangeso at best we can offer that we are giving the CDC YouTube proprietary placements for a period of time that would normally be used for our subscription products like YouTube TV and YouTube Premium. 

In its acceptance email of the in-kind gift, Berger wrote, Google LLC is offering to provide YouTube promotional inventory with an estimated value of $0 to CDC for use in the agencys COVID-19 response efforts.

She further adds, I understand that Google LLC may be a vendor and/or lobbyist employer and that Google LLCs employees may be registered lobbyists. Providing the gift will not prevent Google LLC or its affiliates from supplying products or services to CDC in the future; CDC, however, is under no obligation to accept future services from Google LLC or its affiliates.

The CDC, Twitter, Google, and Facebook did not reply to requests for comment.
Parents of students abducted at Bethel Baptist High School pray for their safe return around discarded shoes left behind by the children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, on July 9, 2021. (Bosan Yakusak/Reuters)

Kidnappers in Nigeria Demand Ransom to Release 80 Schoolchildren

KADUNA, NigeriaKidnappers are demanding a ransom of one million naira each to release around 80 children snatched from a boarding school in northern Nigeria last month, according to a pastor involved in the negotiations for their release.

The attack on the Bethel Baptist High School in the state of Kaduna was the 10th mass school kidnapping since December in northwest Nigeria, which authorities have attributed to criminal gangs seeking ransom payments.

(Bandits) are asking for one million naira on each of the 80 students remaining with them, Reverend Ite Joseph Hayab told Reuters by telephone.

Kidnappers released 28 children last month after a first batch of 28 was released two days after the raid. But another 81 remain in captivity.

Hayab said three students escaped before the 28 were released last month but they were kidnapped again by an unidentified person in the forest who demanded a ransom and was paid over one million naira by parents.

Nigerian authorities have attributed the kidnappings to what they call armed bandits seeking ransom payments.

Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups. Such kidnappings in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province, but the tactic has now been adopted by other criminal gangs.
A podium with the logo for the CDC. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Landlords, Real Estate Groups Ask Judge to Block CDCs New Eviction Moratorium

A group of real estate entities issued a legal challenge in a Washington district court on Aug. 4 to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) new eviction moratorium.

Landlords, real-estate companies, and property-management groups, including the Alabama Association of Realtors and its counterpart in Georgia, argued in their emergency motion that the latest eviction order issued by the CDC exceeds the agencys powers.

The groups have requested that Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia halt the new protections, citing the Supreme Courts recent order that the CDC couldnt extend the moratorium without new legislation.

The National Association of Realtors said in a statement that roughly half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators and that without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties.

The nationwide moratorium on evictions was first implemented by the CDC in September 2020 amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, as some tenants struggled to pay rent.

The agency announced a 60-day moratorium on Aug. 3, a day after the White House said the agency lacked the authority to do so. The new eviction moratorium will expire on Oct. 3.

Its intended to target specific areas of the country where COVID-19 cases are surging and likely would be exacerbated by mass evictions, the agency said, noting that this would apply to about 80 percent of U.S. counties, affecting about 90 percent of the U.S. population.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky cited the emergence of the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant, which now accounts for at least 80 percent of new cases in the country, as the reason for the emergency action.

The new eviction moratorium comes as roughly 6.5 million households are behind on rental payments, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There are nearly 110 million Americans living in rental households, and 19 million to 23 million of them are at risk of eviction by Sept. 30, according to a study by the Aspen Financial Security Program.

In June, the moratorium was extended for 30 days, with officials saying it would be the final extension. That extension expired on July 31.

The Supreme Court ruled in late June that Congress must approve any extension to the moratorium. Last month, a federal court later ruled that the CDC had exceeded its authority in halting evictions.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the new eviction moratorium on Aug. 4, telling reporters that President Joe Biden would not have supported moving forward with any action where he didnt feel there was legal standing and legal support.

The Biden administration didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.
Majority of Huntington Beach City Council Served Recall Notices

All but one Huntington Beach City Council members were served recalls during an Aug. 3 council meeting, adding to the list of more than 50 recall campaigns currently underway in the state.

Huntington Beach resident Russ Neal served the councilors Notice of Intents (NOIs) for recall during the public comments section.

Neal said the impetus for the recall comes from the city councils failure to protect the citizens of Huntington Beach from state efforts to change our zoning laws and destroy our single-family home beachfront community, and turn it into one urban high-rise, high-density development.

The states pushing that and our city reps are shrugging their shoulders and saying theyre not going to fight it, Neal told The Epoch Times.

He said it applies to all six of the individuals theyre seeking to recall, which includes Mayor Kim Carr, Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Delgleize, and Councilmembers Dan Kalmick, Natalie Moser, Mike Posey, and newly appointed Rhonda Bolton.

City clerk Robin Estanislau told The Epoch Times she sent a letter to Neal informing him that Bolton could not be recalled at this time because she has not served as a councilmember for at least 90 days.

Estanislau said that during an open election of a council member, the public would be able to recall them. However, since Bolton was appointed to an unexpired term, a recall cannot be filed until after 90 days passes.

The NOIs were received both in person and via certified mail with over 40 signatures per councilor, surpassing the minimum 20 signatures required. Proponents will have 160 days to gather signatures, once Estanislau approves the petitions for recall.

Estanislau said she is reviewing the NOIs for word count, voter registration status to make sure that their notice is acceptable.

Once the councilors that are sought to be removed receive the NOIs, they have seven days to file a response.

The proponents of the recall must publish a notice in the citys adjudicated newspaper to inform the public of the recall.

Huntington Beach has 133,989 registered voters, Estanislau said. A recall petition must gather 10 percent of that number in signatures, which is 13,399 signatures.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters recommends proponents gather an additional 50 percent, or 6,700 signatures, to qualify. The total number of signatures adds up to 20,099, but they only need to certify 13,399 signatures.

The councilmembers sought to be removed did not respond for comment by press deadline.

Councilmember Erik Peterson, the sole councilor that was not served an NOI, was absent from the meeting because he was celebrating his wedding anniversary, he said.

Theres a lot of signatures they need, but if you got half the people that voted for Tito [Ortiz], who were very upsetthey believe the council went after him, as part of the reason he leftif you get half of those people to sign it, you have enough signatures, Peterson told The Epoch Times.

Im glad people are at least getting involved in seeing whats going on, because theres been a lot going on in Huntington Beach. We are a center-right community, and we have a very, very progressive agenda going right now, pushed by city council and its basically pushed by the six theyre recalling, he said.

Neal said the council members who have been served NOIs have chosen a replacement for OrtizBoltonwho has never run for office in Huntington Beach, thereby not giving account to the voters.

Council appointed Bolton July 26 to fill a vacancy, following Ortizs resignation from the council. Bolton was immediately sworn in to serve a three-year term that expires in December 2024.

He said the councils decision not to fill the vacancy with Gracey Van Der Mark, the next highest vote-getter, or calling a special election, has disenfranchised the voters.

Neal was concerned that Bolton has very different views from Ortiz, who is more aligned with the homeowners who are seeking to defend their homes and their neighborhoods from the aforementioned state led efforts to urbanize suburbia.

The council decided in April 2021 not to file an appeal against its state-mandated housing allocation, which requires the city to zone land for 13,368 units by 2029. The motion to appeal was struck down by all councilors at that time, except Peterson and Ortiz.

We had a lawsuit ready to roll and five of the six council members being sought for recall refused to support a lawsuit, Cari Swan, resident and member of Save Surf City, told The Epoch Times.

Swan said the state housing mandate affect residents quality of life by changing the entire landscape of our city.

Huntington Beach prides itself on being a suburban beach community. Its the place where you buy a home to raise a family  And this appears to be an attempt to change that from suburban to urban and everything that goes with that including reduced safety [and] strained infrastructure, she said.

Swan said recall petitions may be ready for circulation by September.
Military Chief: Iran Made Big Mistake in Shipping Attack Which Killed Briton

Irans reckless behaviour risks triggering a disastrous escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, the head of the British military has said.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter said Iran made a big mistake when it targeted the Mercer Street tanker, killing a Briton and a Romanian.

The drone attack on July 29 off the coast of Oman led to international condemnation of Iran after the UK, United States, and Israel pinned the blame on Tehran.

Carter told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: What we need to be doing, fundamentally, is calling out Iran for its very reckless behaviour.

They made a big mistake on the attack they did against the Mercer Street vessel last week because, of course, that has very much internationalised the state of play in the Gulf.

He added: Ultimately, we have got to restore deterrence because it is behaviour like that which leads to escalation, and that could very easily lead to miscalculation and that would be very disastrous for all the peoples of the Gulf and the international community.

Carters comments came shortly after another incident in the waters around Oman.

Hijackers were believed to have seized a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman.

WARNING 001/AUG/2021 Update 002 Category: Incident  Potential Hijack  Non Piracy Description: Boarders have left the vessel. Vessel is safe. Incident completehttps://t.co/toURu6jSzg#MaritimeSecurity #marsec pic.twitter.com/IvC44GOiic  United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) August 4, 2021

They subsequently appeared to have left the ship, with the Royal Navys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation reporting that the incident, which it had described as a potential hijack was complete.

The vessel is safe, the group said, without identifying the ship.

Shipping authority Lloyds List and maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global had identified the hijacked vessel as Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess.

Satellite-tracking data for the Asphalt Princess had showed it gradually heading towards Iranian waters early on Wednesday.

But it stopped and changed course back towards Oman, just before the UKMTO made its statement.

Over the past few years, commercial shipping in vital Persian Gulf waterways has increasingly been targeted, amid continued tensions between Iran and the West over its activities in the Middle East and Tehrans fragile nuclear deal.

Apparently responding to Tuesdays ship seizure, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described recent maritime attacks in the Persian Gulf as completely suspicious and denied that Tehran played any role.

The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil passes.

Fujairah, on the UAEs eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

For the past two years, the waters off Fujairah have seen a series of explosions and hijackings.

Carter said the UK will work with allies to decide the best way of providing protection to shipping in the region, but a return to a system of convoys escorted by warships may not necessarily be the right method.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK, Romania, and Liberiawhose flag the Mercer Street was sailing underhave written to the president of the UN Security Council to raise the issue.

The Council must respond to Irans destabilising actions and lack of respect for international law, Raab said.

By David Hughes
Children hold up signs during a rally against critical race theory being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Va., on June 12, 2021. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Minnesota Public Interest Law Firm Takes on Critical Race Theory

A public interest law firm in Minnesota has filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of victims of critical race theory-based discrimination and retaliation as the grassroots movement against the ideology continues to grow.

Our clients are bravely confronting CRT-inspired bullying, indoctrination, and retaliation, which is not training or persuasion, Doug Seaton, president of Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), said in a statement.

They have been insulted, lied about, threatened, demoted, and fired, simply for refusing to submit to this ideology. But the U.S. Constitution, the federal Civil Rights laws, and their Minnesota counterparts dont permit this race-based discrimination, retaliation, compelled speech, and invasion of privacy.

Critical race theory (CRT) holds, among other things, that white people are inherently racist and that American institutions themselves are systemically racist. A CRT-based curriculum, for example, forces students to associate aspects of their identity with oppression.

The theory is the basis for an intellectual movement whose adherents retired federal Judge Richard Posnerdubbed the most-cited legal scholar of the 20th centuryhas described as the lunatic core of radical legal egalitarianism. The late Derrick Bell, who was one of former President Barack Obamas professors at Harvard Law School, was the most prominent scholar to promote the theory.

UMLC, which is affiliated with the Center of the American Experiment, describes itself as a non-profit, public interest law firm with the mission to initiate pro-freedom litigation to protect against constitutional violations, government overreach, special interest agendas, and public union corruption and abuses. UMLC works cooperatively with the Center of the American Experiment, Minnesotas Think Tank, which has offices beside it in Golden Valley, Minnesota.

UMLCs statement argues that the courts must be asked to rule on critical race theory-related questions because current laws are not self-enforcing and many politicians, employers, and institutional leaders are either afraid or too woke themselves to follow the law, confront the new commissars of CRT and stop their abuses.

UMLC recently filed employment-related actions and state and federal lawsuits on behalf of Tara Gustilo, a physician; Joe and Aaron Norgren, a Native American father and multi-racial son: Joe is a former Minnesota Department of Human Services employee and Aaron works at the agency; Liberty In Our Neighborhood 194, an organization of Lakeville Public School parents; and several individual Lakeville parents, including Bob and Cynthia Cajune, a Native American and white couple with multi-racial children.

I shouldnt be demoted or retaliated against because I dont agree with the racially divisive and demeaning CRT ideology, Gustilo said in a UMLC statement.

Bob Cajune added: Black Lives Matter, of course, but so do all other human lives. Posting BLM signs and disallowing All Lives Matter signs is political speech or viewpoint discrimination. Discriminating against or demeaning any race is not neutral and is wrong.

Aaron Norgren said, These Critical Race Theory ideas of race separation, division, incitement of hate for Whites, Christians, and traditionalists, and demeaning of Blacks and other minorities as unable to act or succeed in America, should not be promoted at a state agency or anywhere else.

UMLC stated that its clients want CRT propaganda, bullying, and retaliation to end.

UMLC will pursue these charges and lawsuits until we can achieve justice for them and a vindication of the American principle reaffirmed by Martin Luther King Jr., of judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, or their willingness to submit to CRT ideology.

The legal actions came as Austin Knudsen, the Republican attorney general of Montana, wrote a legal opinion about whether Marxist-invented critical race theory violated the U.S. and Montana constitutions as well as various federal civil rights laws.

The opinion came as public resistance to CRT grows and intensifies among parents in communities across the country who are fighting back by protesting and taking over local school boards. In 26 state legislatures, bills have been introduced or other steps have been taken to prevent CRT from being taught, according to Education Week.

But those measures have rarely offered a comprehensive rationale for banning CRT, which is something Knudsens legal opinion provides. Without tying objections to CRT to the Constitution or state constitutions, CRT opponents had left their laws more susceptible to being overturned.
No Jab, No Work: Australias SPC Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine for All Staff and Visitors

Food and vegetable manufacturer SPC is the first Australian company to announce that all staff must be fully vaccinated for the CCP virus by the end of November or be banned from entering any company workplace.

The mandate covers everyone who enters an SPC company space, including all staffcasual and permanent workers and contractorsas well as all visitors.

SPC said the decision was made in part to ensure the well-being of their workers and the community against the highly infectious Delta variant.

Lockdowns are not a sustainable solution and the Australian economy needs to open up again, SPC Chairman Hussein Rifai said in a statement as reported by AAP. The Delta variant poses a significant threat to our people, our customers, and the communities we serve.

The only path forward for our country is through vaccination.

SPC is offering paid leave for all their workers to get the jab, including up to two additional days of special paid leave to recover from the vaccine if required.

For individuals who have medical exemptions against taking the vaccines, Rifai said the company would work through each circumstance on a case-by-case basis and they would not force people to take the vaccine if it would harm them.

However, those who make a conscientious objection to getting a vaccine will be banned from all SPC sites.

Sydneysiders queue outside a vaccination centre in Sydney, Australia on June 24, 2021. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Many companies will also be looking closely at how SPCs unprecedented decision affects their business and the legality behind it.

The Safe Work Australia website states that employers have a duty to do all that is reasonably practicable to minimise risk, and vaccinations should be considered as one method.

The website also states that making vaccinations a workplace requirement is not considered reasonably practicable for three reasons: public health experts have not made vaccines mandatory in most industries, vaccines may not yet be available to workers, and workers may have medical reasons to why they cannot get vaccinated.

However, Rifai said they considered their work part of the essential industry, which has the precedent of vaccine mandates for their workers from the government.

So we are comparing ourselves to the essential services, such as the aged care and front-line people, that had to be vaccinated in order to protect themselves, protect people around them, and protect the community at large, Rifai told the ABC.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said people and businesses will make their own choices on whether or not to get vaccinated.

Well, there are lots of choices in how we deal with COVID-19 and people should have those choices, Morrison told reporters. Now, the legal basis for that, Im sure theyve taken advice about thatand that will be an issue that we watch very closely.

He added that the Coalition supports people making decisions which deal with their concerns and their interests but thats always subject to the rule of law.
EpochTV Review: Redefining Education Into Something Less Frightening

In Definition of Education, Sam Sorbo continues her crusade on the importance of homeschooling and the ways in which the public school system has indoctrinated parents into believing they arent qualified to teach their own childreninstead leaving it to the professionals. Even when the professionals have proven time and again not to be truly interested in educating Americas youth, parents still cling to the belief that they dont know enough to instruct their children at home and must send them to government-run schools.

Sorbo provides compelling arguments and encouragement that are crucial in a time when public schools are not just brazen in their defiance of parents wishes, but open in proclaiming that they are smarter, wiser, and all-around better than a mother and father at determining a childs needs.

This idea is highlighted in all its ridiculousness within the first few minutes of the video. Sorbo provides the current Merriam-Webster online definition of education, which is, more or less, to be educated. Dissatisfied with this, she goes deeper into the definition of to educate, a verb that has become broad enough to include to persuade or condition to believe or act in a desired way. This is a far cry from the definition two hundred years ago, something Sorbo also provides, and that shows the contrast between the way we view education in modern times versus when our country was founded.

In 1828, the definition of to educate had more to do with leading and enlightening a child, rearing them to adulthood, and preparing them to be functional, productive members of a moral society. The modern Left has obviously taken the current definition that education involves persuading and conditioning to heart, dismissing all other definitions of the word. This is evidenced by current school board brouhahas surrounding, in particular, critical race theory and transgender activism.

Schools are setting curricula not based on the premise of leading and enlightening children, but on schooling them on the correct way to think. The literal definition of education is an absurd example of the de-evolution of the English language as championed by the Left, where words are redefined willy-nilly based on the emotional dictates of popular culture and the desires of our bloated bureaucracy to control the masses, but Sorbo doesnt stop there.

Instead, she dives into the ways in which our current public school system functions like an authoritarian regime that has parents so frightened of stepping outside the system they never even consider it. Parents, she argues, have been indoctrinated to think our current education system is the only option, in the same way citizens in the former USSR thought nothing of standing in lines to buy a scarf at a department store.

They dont think theres another way to educate their children, and as a result, believe our current way of educating children is sufficient. Not only do they think its sufficient, but theyve been conditioned to think that it is the only way children can be taught. Parents believe they cant do any better because they dont have a mastery of every subject taught in schools, yet shouldnt they be able to teach basic subjects like math, English, and history if their education was supposedly top-notch?

Definition of Education | Schools Out [Trailer]

Watch the full episode here.

The public school system, in reality, wields its power to convince parents that they just arent qualified to educate the same children theyve already taught to tie their shoes, brush their teeth, eat with a spoon, and a myriad of other life skills. They do this largely through fear. Sorbo equates it to the East German government telling its citizens for decades that the Berlin Wall was there to keep the dreaded westerners out, not to keep them in, and how the population simply believed them until the wall came down. She uses this analogy to make the viewer reconsider whether it is truly necessary to have the mastery of a Ph.D. candidate on a subject before taking control of a childs education at home, or whether thats just what parents have been taught to believe because theyve never known anything different.

That question is especially valuable in helping to prod hesitant parents toward believing they are the ones who are wiser, smarter, and better at knowing their childs needs. Sorbo reminds her audience that public schools have increasingly used a model of teaching a subject to pass a test, not to prove overall proficiency, as a way of educating students.

Public schools, in effect, teach for memorization, not mastery, so why do parents think teachers are masters of their subjects as opposed to masters of teaching to the test? Why do parents believe public schools want students to master any subject at all when they continue to demonstrate their main goal is to churn out children who can give the right answer on a quiz on command, as opposed to thinking through a problem and coming to a conclusion? Thats the difference between mastery and mimicry, and Sorbo argues that public schools are largely interested in the latter.

Parents have been cowed into believing they havent mastered a subject well enough to teach it to their children, when in fact all public schools do is teach mimicry anyway. Anyone with a child in a public school should be able to see the sense in this argument and rethink whether theyre truly unqualified to take control of educating their child.

Sorbo also reminds her audience that education wasnt always considered the be-all-end-all in determining a childs potential and future. While the common refrain today is that children must go to college in order to find a good job and have a secure future, this hasnt always been the case. Many of our greatest inventors never went to college, such as Henry Ford, his son Edsel, and the Wright brothers.

The idea that a college education is necessary for making great leaps forward in human understanding, the search for truth, and our place in the universe is a relatively modern belief. It is also a belief that is directly contradicted by the actions of colleges themselves and the school system that claims an ultimate goal of preparing students for college.

Sorbo highlights one instance at National Cathedral School, which is an elite prep school for girls in grades 4 through 12 in our nations capital. An administrator of the school is reported to have said, We dont teach objective truth. As Sorbo rightly asserts, if truth is only subjective, then it doesnt exist. This line of thinking is becoming the norm in public schools and only accelerates at both public and private universities. The modern trend there is to so thoroughly hammer home the indoctrination of public schools that students graduate college knowing the approved ways of thinking and never question what theyve been taught. In fact, it would never even occur to them to question what theyve been taught. Theyll have spent nearly their entire lives only learning what to think, not how to think.

Acknowledging this reality is fundamental as our education system continues to lurch leftward at an alarming rate. Higher education has leaned left for decades, but anyone who had to deal with remote learning in 2020 has surely noticed that trend bleeding into the K-12 system, where fourth graders are being given questionnaires about their sexuality and how they identify, then instructed not to tell their parents about what theyve been asked.

In the not-too-distant past, we taught children that any adult who wants them to do something they might not be comfortable with and insists they not tell their parents was dangerous. The reality that it is now teachers telling children to keep secrets from their parents makes this installment of Sorbos series even more crucial to watch. Her straightforward discussion of the way education has been systematically redefined to be something parents approach with fear will embolden anyone considering homeschooling their child. It is a must-watch for those still on the fence.

Schools Out premier every Monday at 6 p.m.exclusive on EpochTV.

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Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tanks take part in the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 (West-2017) at a training ground near the town of Borisov on Sept. 20, 2017. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia, Belarus to Hold Zapad-2021 Drills Despite Ukrainian Criticism

Russia and Belarus are preparing to hold large-scale cross-border military drills in September, which will involve nearly 13,000 troops, a Belarusian military official said.

The upcoming strategic drills in Belarus named Zapad-2021 (West-2021) will involve thousands of servicemen, including those from Moscow-led defense bloc member Kazakhstan, as well as tanks, artillery, and aircraft, the ministry announced in a statement.

About 12,800 troops will participate in the drills on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, including 2,500 Russian personnel and up to 50 Kazakh servicemen from the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] Collective Operational Response Forces, Belarus Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Gulevich said at a briefing, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Military jets fly during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 (West-2017) at a training ground near the town of Borisov on Sept. 20, 2017. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

Almost 400 Belarusian servicemen and over 30 units of military equipment of the Belarusian armed forces will take part in the drills on the territory of the Russian Federation, he added.

This years drills, which will be held from Sept. 10 until Sept. 16, will take place at training grounds in both Belarus and Russia. The scale of the exercise will be bigger than the previous one, named Zapad- 2020 (West-2020).

The scale will be wider. It will take place on five proving grounds here in Belarus, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said at the time of the drills announcement, adding that it will be a huge complex of preparation measures.

Ministry officials said the strategic exercises will be based on a scenario where international tensions are escalated to a level that may destabilize the situation in the region and provoke aggression against the Union State [of Russia and Belarus].

Helicopters fly above servicemen running to positions during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 (West-2017) at a training ground near the town of Borisov on Sept. 20, 2017. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

Servicemen take part in the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 (West-2017) at the Luzhsky training ground in the Leningrad region on Sept. 18, 2017. (Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images)

The Zapad-exercises, which are held in both countries every four years, always initiate a cause for concern for Western military planners and analysts. During drills in 2017, some observers feared that Russia could use the military exercises to launch a fresh assault on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiys deputy chief of staff, Roman Mashovets, said in April after the announcement of Zapad-2021 that the drills are aggressive in nature and pose a threat to Euro-Atlantic security.

The Eastern European country has repeatedly criticized the exercises and described them as a threat to its own security, as well as that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In turn, Belarus Gulevich has responded that the exercises carry no threat, neither for the European community as a whole nor for any neighboring countries.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Teachers Union Sues Rhode Island Mother Who Filed 200 Record Requests Over Critical Race Theory

The Rhode Island chapter of the nations largest teachers union is suing to protect members individual privacy rights against a woman who has filed over 200 separate public records requests about the integration of Critical Race Theory in her local school district.

The complaint was filed Monday by the National Education Association Rhode Island (NEARI) and NEA South Kingstown (NEASK) in Rhode Island Superior Court, according to documents obtained by conservative news site Legal Insurrection.

The lawsuit names six South Kingstown school committee members and Nicole Solas, a 38-year-old mother whose daughter attends kindergarten. It seeks to prevent the school district from providing Solas with what she has requested through the states Access to Public Records Act (APRA), alleging that many of those records contain NEA members private information unrelated to official business.

Although public policy typically weighs in favor of disclosure when records are public, these principals are not without legal limits, the complaint reads. The APRA system is not an alternative to the civil discovery process and is not to be used for abusive purposes or a fishing expedition.

Solas said she began filing APRA requests after school district officials appeared to be reluctant to clarify her concerns about how topics such as race, gender, and U.S. history were being taught in schools.

I became concerned that Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender theory were integrated into lessons when an elementary school principal told me that teachers dont refer to students as boys and girls,' Solas wrote in an op-ed published on Legal Insurrection. Additionally, I was told a kindergarten teacher asks five-year-olds, what could have been done differently on the first Thanksgiving in order to build upon a line of thinking about history.'

Solas wrote that the school district complied with her initial APRA request, but wanted to charge her $9,570 for gathering the information. The price tag dropped to $79.50 after she submitted numerous specific and narrow requests and only asked for digital copies.

A list of Solas completed and pending requests attached to the complaint include ones such as All emails to or from [former superintendent] Linda Savastano containing the word race,' All emails to or from Linda Savastano containing the word whiteness,' and All lesson plans in which the concept of whiteness as a social construct is discussed, at all grade levels.

In June, the South Kingston school committee considered whether to sue Solas because of all the public record requests, which they claimed to be associated with an unspecified racist group and a waste of their time.

More than 200 APRA requests have been filed by a single individual in just the last few weeks alonean individual who has no children in our School Districtdemanding more than 300 hours of our districts time to these records requests, time that should be dedicated to keeping our schools running successfully, South Kingstown School Committee chairwoman Emily Cummiskey said in a June 2 statement.

This issue is a much larger oneone that involves a disturbing attempt by a nationally organized, racist group to create chaos and intimidate our district in recent weeks as we discuss bringing equity and anti-racism curriculum to our schools, Cummiskey said. This is their MO nation-wide, and I anticipate other districts in our state will soon experience the same unfortunate influx we have.
Texas Gov. Abbott Orders New Legislative Session to Pass GOP Voting Laws

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a new special legislative session to pass a Republican-backed voting law, although dozens of House Democrats are still out of the state and remain in Washington.

The announcement comes after more than 50 Democrats left Texas on July 12 to avoid voting on an election reform bill. In late May, hours before the legislative session was slated to end, Democrats walked out of the House and denied Republicans the ability to vote on the bill.

In mid-July, House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, announced that the lawmakers would face the threat of arrest for breaking quorum. Abbott, also a Republican, said at the time that he will persist in calling special sessions to deal with what he described as outstanding issues that need to be dealt with.

I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve, Abbott said in a statement on Aug. 5. Passing these Special Session agenda items will chart a course towards a stronger and brighter future for the Lone Star State.

The special session, he said, will begin Aug. 7.

State Democrats didnt immediately respond to the governors statement on Aug. 5. The Epoch Times has reached out to the Texas Democratic Party for comment.

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat, told The Washington Post on Aug. 4: As we approach the end of the first Suppression Session and theres a threat of a second, we will put all our options on the table againthe same options we used in May, the same options we used in July. Nothing has changed in our calculus. We have options, we can use them, and by now, Republicans know that we mean what we say.

Another Democrat lawmaker, Rep. Gina Hinojosa, said on Aug. 3 that breaking quorum is a tool in our toolbox.

Democratic state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said on Aug. 4, A vast majority, enough to break quorum, have committed to each other to not be in the Capitol when the second called session happens.

Its unclear whether the Democrats will stay out of Texas for another month due to a new legislative session being called by Abbott.

Democrats have argued that the GOP-backed voting overhaul bill would unfairly target minority groups in the Lone Star State, while Republicans have said the measure is needed to safeguard future elections and would restore the publics confidence in them.
Texas Sheriff: Its Not a Border Crisis, Its a Fight Between Good and Evil

Two hundred miles north of the border, Sheriff Roy Boyd of Goliad County, Texas, has placed warning signs at his county line, written in Spanish.

Warning! Drug and human traffickers: Turn around, do not enter Goliad County, the sign reads. Go around. Otherwise, we are going to hunt you down and put you in Goliad County jail.

He says they work. When the signs are up, cartel activity decreases, and when the Texas Department of Transport removes the signs, cartel activity picks up again.

When the signs are in place we notice that we do not have fresh activity at the thirteen stash locations that we are monitoring in Goliad County, Boyd wrote on Facebook. Goliad County issued a local state of disaster on April 21 due to the impact of the border surge.

Boyd said the county, with a population of 7,600, is used by cartels as a staging area for illegal aliens getting to Houston.

Theyll drop them off at a temporary holding site and then someone from Houston comes and picks them up and then takes them to Houston, where theyre distributed across the United States, he told The Epoch Times.

A Honduran womans body was found dumped in the brush on private property in the county after she had been smuggled from the border in March, Boyd said. In another case, an old shed on a ranch was being used to strip stolen vehicles in preparation for smuggling people.

The sheriff said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is currently investigating a large-scale human trafficking hub in Goliad County.

It has the potential, from what Im told from HSI, to be the largest human trafficking investigation in this region in history, Boyd said.

Most of these people are being put in indentured servitude. Theyre slaves right here in our own country. And we all know its taking place, and weve known for quite some time.

U.S.-bound human smuggling and related criminal activities provide cartels with estimated revenues of $2 billion to $6 billion per year, according to John Condon, acting assistant director of international operations at HSI, during a July 28 congressional hearing.

Although the state and some counties are doing what they can to mitigate the border crisis, Boyd said it needs to be stopped at the border.

The thing thats going to stop it is taking a hard line with Mexico, he said. We have to make the pain of legitimate economic loss worse than the gain of their partnership with the cartel. The only way to do that: shut the ports off, turn off the spigot.

Boyd said an illegal alien arrested in his county recently was on her fifth attempt to get into the United States undetected.

The first time, they had a raft malfunction, she couldnt make it in. Then the next three times, she actually got caught in the [Rio Grande] Valley and got deportedhanded over to the Mexican government, who put her on a bus, took her to Monterrey, and handed her over to the cartel, because now the cartel charges her to get back up to Reynosa to get across the border, Boyd said.

And so every time she pays the cartel, the government gets a cut. So the Mexican government is happy to deliver illegal aliens, Central Americans, back to the cartel.

The Rio Grande Valley in south Texas is the busiest sector along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. This year, Border Patrol agents have been pulled off the border constantly to process an unprecedented number of illegal aliens who are turning themselves in after crossing.

Two weeks ago, border agents in the Rio Grande Valley apprehended 20,000 such illegal immigrants in one week. Its impossible to estimate the number of individuals that evade Border Patrol and disappear undetected.

Boyd said hes been dealing with border issues since 2005, but has never seen anything quite like this.

Things pretty much started drying up on the border during the last administration. Things were pretty much under control, he said at a public meeting in April.

Well, that came to a real fast end, and [now] its the Wild West on steroids.

Boyd said he doesnt view the current issue as a border crisis, but rather a fight between good and evil.

The evil is communism, the evil is cartels, the evil is the drugs that they put on our streets, he said.

The problem is, good people dont want to recognize that evil exists, because it makes them uncomfortable. And the only way to fathom the totality of this conflict were in is to realize there is evil. And good must rise up, or the evil will take over.

I want my children to grow up free. I dont want them to grow up in a faux Republic thats really a socialist-communist state. But thats where were heading.
Tributes left at the scene in the Sarn area of Bridgend, south Wales, near to where 5-year-old Logan Mwangi was found dead in the Ogmore River, in Wales, Britain, on Aug. 3, 2021. (Ben Birchall/PA)

Two Adults and a Teenager Charged Over Death of 5-Year-Old Logan Mwangi

Police have charged two adults and a 13-year-old boy over the death of 5-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was found dead in a river in South Wales last week.

John Cole, 39, of Sarn, Bridgend, has been charged with murder, South Wales Police said.

Cole, 30-year-old Angharad Williamson, also from Sarn, and a 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, have been jointly charged with perverting the course of justice.

Police said all three have been remanded in custody and will appear before Cardiff Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Logans body was found in the Ogmore River near Pandy Park in Bridgend on Saturday after police were called to a report of a missing child.

He was taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital, where it was confirmed he had died.

Police forensic officers at the scene in the Sarn area of Bridgend, south Wales, near to where 5-year-old Logan Mwangi was found dead in the Ogmore River, in Wales, Britain, on Aug. 3, 2021. (Ben Birchall/PA)

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Mark OShea said: This is a very harrowing case for all involved and I extend my deepest sympathies to Logans family and friends.

This remains an extensive and sensitive investigation by the Major Crime Investigation Team and I am grateful to the local community for its support and understanding while we have continued to gather evidence across several scenes.

We continue to appeal to anyone who has any information in relation to the incident to contact the Major Crime Investigation Team.

Family friends have paid tribute to Logan, who they described as kind, funny, polite, handsome & clever, on social media.

People arrived throughout Sunday and Monday to lay flowers, tributes, toys, and teddies in front of the police cordon by the river.

Many of those who came to lay tributes said they did not know Logan or his family but travelled to the area after hearing news of his death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact South Wales Police via mipp.police.uk.

Alternatively, they can call 101 quoting reference number 2100268674.

By John Besley
A screenshot from video of a burned orphanage in Plateau state, Nigeria, on Aug. 3, 2021. (Courtesy of Joshua Dickson)

U.S.-Sponsored Orphanage Burned in Nigeria by Terrorists

They came to the orphanage without parents. As of the night of Aug. 2, they were homeless, too.

The only orphanage supported by a U.S. nonprofit in the conflict-devastated Jos area of Plateau State in Nigeria has been destroyed, but the staff and children are safe, according to Rev. William Murray, founder of the Religious Freedom Coalition.

The 147 kids were evacuated to Jos, said Murray, whose organization has been financing the Binta orphanage for 10 years.

In a video, Murray said many of the kids had been orphaned by previous Boko Haram and Fulani attacks, and now are spread out among individual homes in Jos. With all of the orphanages buildings destroyed, Murray said emergency funding is needed to take care of the children and rebuild the orphanage.

The children were among the 25,000 Plateau residents displaced from Miango and the vicinity, located northwest of Jos, Plateau States capital, by a series of terrorist attacks that began on July 31.

According to the Enos Hospital in Miango, 68 people have been killed. Alleged Muslim Fulani tribesmen have carried out the grimly familiar mass attacks at night on defenseless villages. Nearly all the victims are Christians. Seemingly related attacks were reported in neighboring Kaduna State in the region surrounding Kauru.

At least 13 survivors of the attacks are being treated for gunshot wounds at Enos hospital in Miango.

Yes, we have survivors of gunshots. They were brought from villages, Joy Hosea, a nurse with Enos Hospital Miango, told The Epoch Times. There are 13 survivors with us receiving medical attention.

We dont have drugs to take care of them. They cant pay hospital bills. We referred some to other hospitals in Jos. Many had lost a lot of blood due to bad roads from the villages.

Internally displaced people register for humanitarian aid in an elementary schoolyard in Miango, Nigeria, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Lawrence Zongo/The Epoch Times)

The attackers came when the place was becoming dark around 7 p.m., a civilian neighborhood watchman, who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation, told The Epoch Times. The Fulani got support from the Nigerian army. They were escorted by the army on three army vans.

We saw them from afar coming in numbers, the watchman said. The soldiers did not help us. They allowed Fulani to burn down our houses.

I lost everything, said Moses Kadiya, a displaced community health worker in Kpachudu.

My plans were to launch my private clinic next month, but it burned completely. I came out with nothing but, trust God, I am alive.

He said he believed the Nigerian army colluded with the marauding terrorists and that the government gave logistical support. Kadiya nonetheless remains optimistic. I believe my community will be rebuilt and will be a big city.

Jacob Randa, who works for an international Christian nonprofit, said: I had gone to get data of widows and displaced people when the Fulani came. I went to a nearby community on motorcycle for data collection, but when I returned the following day, I saw my car burned at the main road.

Ezekiel Bini, national president of Irigwe Youths, said, in tears: We are suffering every day without help from the government. We lost 68 people from 13 different communities. More than 500 houses were burned, and crops destroyed.

One Nigerian army soldier was also killed by the Muslim militants, Bini said, adding that the radicalized Muslim terrorists burned down five churches and wounded 24.

Nigerias Fulani ethnicity includes 15.4 million people, including President Muhammadu Buhari, and the overwhelming majority are Muslims. Traditionally herders, their ethnicity is spread across at least 18 African nations.

Critics of the governments lethargic response to the attacks have expressed outrage. The Fulani are given immunity and impunity as they are carrying out their genocidal agenda, Moses Gata, a human rights activist, told The Epoch Times.

Christians are left with no other option but to believe that Operation Safe Haven and the Plateau State governor are in connivance with the killer herdsmen.

How can we say we have a government when incessant attacks continued unchallenged in the same area for more than a week, and yet what we continue to get is a press statement.

Total annihilation is the target of the perpetrators. The civil societies are not saying much. The state actors are quiet. The international communities are silent, the right people in positions to bring the situation to bear are not taking any action.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators hold placards as they gather to march in central London on May 22, 2021. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

UK Sees Record Rise of Anti-Semitic Hate Incidents Following Gaza Conflict

British Jews suffered the worst level of anti-Semitic hatred in decades following the Gaza conflict in May, a Jewish charity has said.

The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 1,308 anti-Jewish hate incidents nationwide in the first half of 2021, a 49 percent increase from the 875 incidents recorded in the first six months of 2020.

This is the highest total CST has ever recorded in the first half of any year, since it began recording anti-Semitic incidents in 1984.

CST attributed the surge in anti-Semitic hate incidents to the Gaza conflict in May, during which Israel attacked Hamas targets in retaliation against the Islamic terrorist groups rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

Protesters burn an Israeli flag outside the Israeli Embassy in London, on May 15, 2021. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

In that month alone, CST recorded a monthly record of 639 anti-Semitic incidents, nearly half of the total for the first half of the year.

Among the recorded hate incidents, 89 were violent incidents, including two classified by CST as extreme violence, meaning they involved potential grievous bodily harm or a threat to life.

The other incidents included 56 incidents of damage and desecration of Jewish property; 1,073 incidents of abusive behaviour, including verbal abuse, graffiti, abuse via social media, and one-off hate mail; 85 direct threats; and five cases of mass-mailed anti-Semitic leaflets or emails.

Of all the incidents, 748, more than half of the total, were recorded in Greater London.

CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said the level of hatred suffered by British Jews this year has been worse than anything seen in recent decades.

He said the abuse and harassment targeting young people in particular was disgraceful.

CST said it supported many schoolchildren and teachers who felt isolated and fearful about returning to their schools, as 130 of the recorded hate incidents involved schools, schoolchildren, and teachers.

University campuses were also affected, with 84 anti-Semitic incidents in which the victims or offenders were students or academics, or involved student unions or other student bodies.

Lord Mann, the UK governments independent adviser on anti-Semitism, said: The scale and intensity of this rise in antisemitism will shock and abhor people across Britain. Many parents will worry about the dramatic increase in hate in educational settings.

The surge in anti-Semitic incidents is reflected in police statistics. A Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police by the PA news agency revealed 87 incidents of violence against Jews were recorded in May, around four times higher than any other month in the past three years.

The figures showed 39 incidents involved male victims, while 43 targeted women. In one of the incidents, police recorded rocks being thrown at a Jewish home in London.

Dozens of other non-violent incidents were recorded across the capital throughout the month, including one where the word Hitler was written on the ceiling of a communal block of flats.

PA contributed to this report.
Arriving passengers queue at UK Border Control at the Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London on June 29, 2021. (Hannah Mckay/Reuters)

UK to Remove Quarantine Requirement for Double-Jabbed French Arrivals

French arrivals who have received two doses of a CCP virus vaccine will no longer be required to quarantine upon entering England, the UK government announced on Wednesday.

The change will take effect from 4 a.m. on Sunday along with other new changes to the countries lists in the UKs traffic light system for international travel.

Germany, Austria, Norway, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia will be moved from the amber list to the green list. Arrivals from these countries will no longer be required to self-isolate for 10 days, but are still subject to a pre-departure test and a post departure test two days after arrival.

United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, and Bahrain will be moved from the red list to the amber list, meaning people who are not British or Irish citizens or residents will be allowed to enter the UK, and arrivals from these countries can now self-isolate for 10 days instead of going into a managed hotel quarantine.

Georgia, Mayotte, Mexico, and Reunion will be moved from the amber list to the red list. Only British or Irish citizens or residents can travel to the UK from these destinations, and travellers are required to book a government-appointed hotel for a 10-day quarantine.

There are currently 16 countries and areas on the green watch list, meaning they are at risk of being moved to the amber list.

France was the only country on an amber plus list. There were also plans to have an amber watch list, which was scrapped to simplify the system.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps highlighted the change on Germany, Austria, and Norway as key destinations, as the government has been under pressure to loosen up its travel rules to revive travel and hospitality industries.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have followed England in introducing the same travel relaxations, but the Welsh Government, which has continued to advise against all but essential travel, criticised the changes.

Confirmation that France is joining the amber list is positive especially during the critical school holiday period, said Mark Tanzer, head of Abta, the travel association.

He said: As a result, the UK is falling behind our European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is progressing at a snails pacemaking it extremely difficult for travel agents and tour operators to generate enough income to kickstart a recovery, which is desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses, and livelihoods.

James Martin, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce welcomed the changes, but said that its time for the government to fundamentally simplify the international travel system.

Businesses need the confidence and clarity provided by a system which places countries in either green or red categories, removing the ambiguity of the amber designation, which now relies on very different rules for the vaccinated and non-vaccinated, Martin said.

He also called on the government to step up efforts to drive down the cost of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus tests, saying it remains a significant barrier to both business and leisure travellers.

Other recommendations include protecting airport capacity, providing all-year business rate holidays, and reinstating the VAT rebate scheme for the sector.

PA contributed to this report.
Police arrest a demonstrator at a protest against anti-COVID-19 measures, at the Victory Column, in Berlin on Aug. 1, 2021. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

UN Rapporteur on Torture Investigating Reports of Police Brutality Against German Anti-Lockdown Protesters

A United Nations official says he is probing reports of police brutality against anti-lockdown protesters in Germany.

Violent clashes between law enforcement officers and protesters during an Aug. 1 protest were captured on video and disseminated widely online.

One video, for instance, showed officers tackling people to the ground and punching at least one protester.

Another appeared to show an officer hit a child.

People were protesting the German governments harsh measures that have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nils Melzer, the special rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment at the United Nations, said this week that the clashes were brought to his attention for the first time.

Melzer later told Berliner Zeitung that his team received numerous reports from people who were at the protest.

We will now sift through and evaluate the material. Every single message and video needs to be carefully verified and I will also speak to direct eyewitnesses. But my impression is that in several cases there is reason enough for an official intervention on my part with the federal government, he said.

Melzer said that violence against protesters is not acceptable, nor are attacks against police officers.

Isolated violence by demonstrators must in no way serve to justify police violence against other, non-violent demonstrators, he said.

Following the clashes, Berlin police officials defended the actions of officers.

Officials said protesters were attacked and forced to use crowd-control measures, including deployment of chemical irritants.

The German government later condemned the violence, appearing to blame protesters.

Violent clashes and the abuse of the right to protest are not acceptable, government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said, according to the Associated Press.

German media reported that some 600 people were arrested.

One 48-year-old died after suffering a heart attack following his arrest, authorities said.

The cause of death is under investigation. Police said there were no signs that violence caused the death.
A pedestrian walks by a Now Hiring sign outside of a Lamps Plus store in San Francisco on June 3, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Unemployment Claims Fall to New Pandemic-Era Low but Remain Historically High

The brisk economic recovery has driven down the number of American workers seeking unemployment benefits, which last week fell to a pandemic-era low, although the number remains historically elevated.

Initial filings for unemployment insurance, a proxy for layoffs, came in at 385,000 for the week ending July 31, a drop of 14,000 over the previous weeks revised level, the Labor Department said in a release (pdf) on Aug. 5.

While the drop in initial jobless claims reflects the dynamics of a rebounding economy, the number of last weeks filings is nearly twice as high as the pre-pandemic weekly average of around 220,000, suggesting the labor market still has a ways to go in its recovery.

It was about a year ago when new claims first fell below the 1 million level for the first time after the pandemic began. In total, some 12.9 million Americans continue to receive some form of jobless assistance, which remains historically elevated, Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

Some Republicans and economists have blamed generous unemployment benefitsin particular, the federal pandemic jobless compensation boostfor sidelining workers by discouraging them from taking jobs.

With jobless claims remaining high, the administration must reexamine their policies holding the economy back & prioritize getting Americans back to work, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a statement.

American businesses posted a record 9.2 million job openings in May, faster than applicants are showing up to fill them. In the face of business hiring difficulties, some two dozen states have moved to end early their participation in the extended federal unemployment programs.

While the resurgence in COVID-19 infectionsdriven by the Delta variant of the CCP virusposes a risk to recovery, theres no sign yet of any impact.

While the Delta variant has sparked a rise in COVID cases, theres scant indication this is translating to a measurable reduction in economic activity in the U.S. so far, suggesting little meaningful impact on employment, Hamrick said.

While economic output has fully bounced back to its pre-pandemic levels, the labor market recovery is trailing. After shedding 22.4 million jobs in the first two months of the pandemic, the U.S. economy has recovered around 15.6 million jobs since May of last year.

The Labor Departments jobless claims release comes ahead of the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report due on Aug. 6, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers added in July. Economists polled by Reuters predict that nonfarm payrolls rose by 870,000 jobs in July after the economy created 850,000 jobs in June.

Reuters contributed to this report.
James Moriarty (L-2) and Scott Lai (L-3) at the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce annual event in Milpitas, California, on July 31, 2021. (The Epoch Times)

US Commitments to Taiwan Will Remain Rock Solid, Says Chairman of American Institute in Taiwan

During his visit to Northern California over the weekend, James F. Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), predicted that the U.S.-Taiwan relation will continue to grow deeper and stronger. AIT is the de facto U.S. Embassy in Taiwan.

Moriarty was invited as the keynote speaker for this years annual meeting of the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce San Francisco (TCCSF) in Milpitas, California on July 31. Americas commitment to Taiwan will remain rock solid, he told the audience.

Moriarty said Beijing in recent years has tried to force Taiwan to unify with mainland China under the one country, two systems framework that governs Hong Kong. The formula was rejected by almost all people in Taiwan. The reason for the rejection: Hong Kong, he stated.

In the past two years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented the national security law and suppressed the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Many Hongkongers, rights activists, and world leaders have expressed concern that Beijing has tightened its grip over the financial hub through draconian measures.

The actions of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] have taken in implementing that formula in Hong Kong has made it abundantly clear that the unification under those terms will mean the end of Taiwans democracy, he further stressed.

Moriarty also stated that Beijing has engaged in coercive tactics, including disinformation, malicious cyber attacks, taking away allies, and military provocation, to push Taiwan toward unification with the mainland.

The Chinese regime has been constantly trying to exclude Taiwan from participating in international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization, because it views the democratic island as part of its territory, even though it has been governed as a distinct entity for more than seven decades.

Moriarty said the United States will continue to support Taiwans bid to participate in the WHOs decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, in order to help the island nations effort to increase its collaborations with the international community. Taiwan used to participate as an observer in the WHA from 2009 to 2016 until the country was barred in 2017 due to Beijings objections.

Unilateral changes of Taiwans status by Beijing would be catastrophic, Moriarty warned, quoting Kurt Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the U.S. National Security Council.

According to Moriarty, the Biden administration has generally followed the Trump administrations policy on China and Taiwan, except the new administration has made more efforts to build an international alliance to support the policy.

Moriarty encouraged Taiwan to increase its arms purchase from the United States and to build a stronger and modernized military force.

He highly praised the increasing political and economic exchanges and deepened ties between the United States and Taiwan in recent years.

With a population of 23.5 million, Taiwan was the 10th largest trading partner of the United States in 2020.

Taiwan and the United States are true friends, said Scott Lai, director-general of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco (TECOSF), Taiwans de facto consulate in Northern California.

Last year when COVID-19 broke out in the United States, Taiwan donated more than 12 million surgical masks to the U.S., and this year when Taiwan [was] suffering from the surge of COVID-19, the United States donated two and a half million doses of vaccines to Taiwan, Lai said.

A survey published by the Pew Research Center in June revealed that across advanced economies in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, few people believe the CCP respects the personal freedoms of its people. The study also showed that 77 percent of survey participants in Taiwan held negative views of the Chinese regime. The Epoch Times found that the people who attended the TCCSF event held the same views as the survey respondents.

The U.S. and Taiwan national flags were both displayed on the stage. The event started with two TCCSF members singing the national anthems of both countries, featuring a violin accompaniment by Peter Guo, vice chairman of the California Republican Party.

Taiwan has risen above the status quo, Guo told the Epoch Times with a big smile and enthusiasm after his violin performance.
Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger arrives for a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Sept. 11, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

US Needs to Fight Back Against Chinas Political Warfare, Expert Warns Senators

The Chinese regime is waging political warfare against the United States, and U.S. policymakers need to recognize it for what it is, warns former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger.

Weve failed to adequately appreciate I think one of the most threatening elements of Chinese strategy, and thats the way it seeks to influence and coerce Americans, including political, business, and scientific leaders, in the service of Beijings ambitions, said Pottinger on Aug. 4 during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

The regimes different methods to achieve that strategy have been a manifestation of political warfare, Pottinger said, taking a cue from former U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan.

Kennanbest known for formulating the U.S. policy of containment to oppose the Soviet Union following World War IIused the term political warfare in his 1948 memorandum, in which he described it as the employment of all the means at a nations command, short of war, to achieve its national objectives.

Thats what China is doing, Pottinger said.

Pottinger, who served under the Trump administration, is now a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution.

Chinas political warfare has several elements, the most crucial one being the united front work, which is headed by the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to Pottinger.

Instead of practicing diplomacy, the United Front gathers intelligence about and works to influence private citizens, as well as government officials overseas, with a focus on foreign elites and the organizations they run, Pottinger said.

The Chinese regime also deploys grassroots level united front groups as part of its effort to infiltrate Americas civil and political institutions.

In October 2020, the U.S. State Department designated the Washington-based National Association for Chinas Peaceful Unification, which is controlled by the UFWD, as a foreign mission for its malign influence in the United States.

William Evanina, nominee to be director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, testifies during a hearing held by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington on May 15, 2018. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

William Evanina, former director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, also warned about Chinas UFWD at the hearing while commenting on Chinas comprehensive threat to the United States.

[Chinese leader] Xi Jinping has one goal, to be the geopolitical, military, and economic leader in the world, Evanina said. He, along with Chinas Ministry of State Security, the Peoples Liberation Army, and the United Front Work Department, drive a comprehensive and whole-of-country approach  to invest, leverage, infiltrate, influence, and steal from every corner of the United States.

A recent addition to Chinas political warfare was its exploitation of U.S. social media platforms, according to Pottinger.

In recent years, Chinese diplomats and Chinas state-run media have taken to Twitter and Facebook to broadcast the regimes propaganda and disinformation to a global audience.

The online propaganda campaign is often aimed at either weakening peoples faith in democracy, exacerbating social tensions, or creating political instability.

The Chinese regime also considered collecting data on U.S. adults and their children as fair game under Beijings rules of political warfare, Pottinger said.

The Chinese regime has amassed a huge database of American personal information, after a number of cyberattacks in recent years. For example, in 2017, Chinese hackers stole names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and drivers license numbers for about 145 million Americans, after hacking into the online systems of U.S. credit-reporting agency Equifax.

The Party [CCP] now compiles dossiers on millions of foreign citizens around the world, using the material it gathersto influence and target, and intimidate, reward, blackmail, flatter, humiliate, and ultimately divide and conquer, Pottinger said.

In response to Chinas political warfare, Pottinger offered several recommendations to Washington, including expanding the current blacklist banning U.S. investors from investing in 59 Chinese defense and tech firms, toughening the Foreign Agent Registration Act, and working more closely with U.S. social media companies to expose Chinas influence operations.

U.S. universities, maybe with help from the U.S. government, should also hand a second smartphone to every Chinese national who comes to study in our schools in the United States, so that they have a smartphone that is free from Chinese apps such as WeChat, Pottinger recommended.

WeChats parent company, Tencent, is known for complying with Beijings censorship rules in China. The company has extended the rules to WeChats U.S. users.

In summary, Evanina said the CCP constitutes the most complex, pernicious, aggressive, and strategic threat our nation has ever faced.

America will be very different in the future if the Chinese regimes influence in the United States isnt properly confronted, warned Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman, at the hearing.

If we dont wake up, and we dont address this now, the America our children are going to inherit, very soon, could very well be one where the sanctimonious preachings of a genocidal communist tyranny will be the only thing that Americans will be allowed to hear or say about China, Rubio said.
Four members of Hong Kong League of Social Democrats are marching on streets to urge the Beijing regime to release all political prisoners in Hong Kong on July 1, 2021. (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times)

US Offers Temporary Safe Haven to Hongkongers Amid Beijings Suppression

President Joe Biden on Aug. 5 said hes offering a safe haven to Hongkongers in the United States that would allow thousands to extend their stay, amid Beijings significant erosion of their freedoms back home.

In a signed memo, Biden asked the Department of Homeland Security to defer the removal of Hong Kong residents currently in the United States by 18 months, citing compelling foreign policy reasons that include defending democracy and promoting human rights around the world.

He noted the deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong since the Chinese regime imposed the wide-ranging national security law, under which police have arrested more than 100 opposition leaders and activists, with vague charges punishable for lifelong imprisonment. More than 10,000 others have been detained for activism related to the pro-democracy protests that began in summer 2019.

Offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong furthers United States interests in the region, Biden said in the statement.

The new rule applies to any Hongkonger in the United States except for those who voluntarily choose to return to Hong Kong, who havent continuously resided in the country, who are subject to extradition or deportation, criminal offenders and ex-felons, people deemed to present a danger to public safety or potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences, the memo stated.

Police stand guard at Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, on July 1, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

The action makes clear that the United States will not stand idly by as the PRC breaks its promises to Hong Kong and to the international community, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Given the politically motivated arrests and trials, the silencing of the media, and the diminishing of space for elections and democratic opposition, we will continue to take steps in support of people in Hong Kong.

Eligible individuals may also apply for authorization to work in the United States through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the measure is a clear message that the United States resolutely stands with people in Hong Kong.

The PRC has fundamentally altered the bedrock of Hong Kongs institutions and suppressed freedoms of Hongkongers, he said, using the acronym for the Peoples Republic of China. In the face of PRC and Hong Kong authorities attempts to stifle democratic aspirations, we will take action.

People pack the check-in area for their flight to Britain at Hong Kongs International Airport on July 18, 2021. (Bertha Wang/AFP via Getty Images)

The Aug. 5 announcement makes the United States one of the latest countries to relax immigration policies in response to Beijings stifling of Hong Kong democracy.

In June, Canada announced two residency pathways for Hong Kong residents who work in the country or have recently graduated from a post-secondary institution.

Earlier this year, the UK also opened a new visa program for holders of British National Overseas status a path to become citizens.

Beijings national security law has triggered an emigration wave in Hong Kong. Taiwan from 2020 gave out a total of 10,800 resident visas and more than 1,500 permanent resident visas to people from Hong Kong. In the first quarter of 2021, the UK authorities received a total of 34,300 applications from Hongkongers hoping to resettle in the country.

Over the past month, the United States has warned U.S. businesses about the risks of operating in Hong Kong over the worsening political climate; it also sanctioned seven Chinese officials responsible for undermining democracy in Hong Kong.

Samuel Chu, managing director for the Washington-based advocacy group Hong Kong Democratic Council, applauded Bidens decision as a significant step in the right direction.

It will mean the difference between living freely while continuing to fight for human rights and democracy in Hong Kong and being forced to return to Hong Kong spending years or even life behind bars, he said in an Aug. 5 statement.

Lawmakers in the United States and elsewhere welcomed the move, with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab calling it big-hearted.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said it was a solid step, but noted, we need to go further.

We need to offer full asylum to Hong Kongers who flee Chairman Xis brutal oppression, he said in a statement, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. America needs to stand firmly behind victims of communism and show the world that we will always stand for freedom across the globe.
A view of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia using the Digital Twin Victoria. (Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning)

Victoria to Enter Lockdown for Sixth Time

Victoria will enter a seven-day lockdown in an effort to contain a growing outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Melbournes western suburbs.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the lockdown will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday after the state recorded eight new COVID-19 cases.

The same rules that applied during last months lockdown will be reimposed, including the five-kilometre travel limit for exercise and shopping and compulsory masks indoors and outdoors.

There is no alternative for us but to listen to our public health experts, take their advice, and make the decision, the very difficult decision, my cabinet colleagues and I have made on the advice, and that is Victoria will have a lockdown again for seven days, Mr Andrews said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews addresses the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia on Feb. 13, 2021. (Luis Ascui/Getty Images)

The lockdown was prompted in part by fears a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina infected with COVID-19 may have unknowingly spread the virus while infectious.

She also passed the virus on to her partner and his parents.

It is unknown how the couple, who live in the Hobsons Bay area and are both in their 20s, caught the virus.

Authorities are racing to trace the source of their infection and that of a man in his 20s who lives in the Maribyrnong council.

He works at a warehouse in Derrimut and he and his housemate are now isolating.

The three other cases from Thursdays numbers are linked to the Moonee Valley testing site cluster.

It is the sixth lockdown for Victoria since the start of the pandemic and the fourth in 2021.

The states fifth lockdown ended just nine days ago.

A man crosses the normally busy intersection of Flinders street and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Australia on May 28, 2021. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

For exposure sites visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
In this screenshot from surveillance video, Virginia couple Joshua and Jessica Bustle are seen inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (FBI)

Virginia Couple Sentenced to Home Confinement for Entering US Capitol on Jan. 6

A Virginia couple was sentenced by a judge on Aug. 4 to home confinement for entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 breach of the building.

Joshua Bustle was sentenced to 30 days of confinement at home, while his wife, Jessica Bustle, was ordered to stay 60 days of home confinement.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, a Reagan appointee, also sentenced the couple to 24 months probation and ordered them to pay $500 in restitution each.

The couple pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building, in return for three other charges being dropped.

According to court documents, the Bustles admitted to entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 through a door that had been breached by rioters and staying inside for about 20 minutes.

They werent accused of carrying out violent acts.

According to one charging document, Jessica Bustle called former Vice President Mike Pence a traitor. Pence was presiding over the joint session of Congress that was interrupted by the breach.

We stormed the capital, Jessica Bustle wrote, noting that her husband and she were in the area for a rally for health freedom.

Lawyers for the couple argued in court that their punishments should be no different than the first Jan. 6 defendant to be sentenced, who received only probation for a misdemeanor offense.

Their lawyers noted that they didnt engage in any violence and said their clients have already faced consequences as a result of their actions. Timothy Anderson, an attorney for Joshua Bustle, said his client had lost his job and the couple is moving from Virginia to North Carolina to start over.

They have lost everything in the court of public opinion, Anderson said.

Jessica Bustle posted a picture of herself on Facebook before the riot with the caption: We dont win this thing sitting on the sidelines. Excited to stand for truth with my fellow patriots and freedom fighters in DC today. Afterward, she wrote that Pence is a traitor.

Hogan said he had seriously considered putting Jessica Bustle in jail, citing her Facebook comments. But he ultimately decided against incarceration, describing her as remorseful.

The judge allowed a delay to the start of home confinement so the Bustles can complete a planned move to South Carolina, according to WUSA-TV.

Lawyers representing the couple didnt return requests for comment by press time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Warren Rothman Tells His Harrowing Story of Being Detained and Beaten in a Black Jail in China

Theyre kicking and punching me, my legs, my back, my arms In this episode, Warren Rothman, a Yale graduate and previously a lawyer at an elite law firm, shares his harrowing experience of being secretly jailed and beaten in China.

Rothman, an American citizen, says he was hauled from one black jail to the next and forcibly given shots and pills of unknown substancesall for reasons unknown to him. He is the author of Kafka in China: The Peoples Republic of Corruption.

Jan Jekielek: Warren Rothman, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.

Warren Rothman: Thank you, Jan, for asking me on your show.

Mr. Jekielek: Warren, in 2008, you had what can only be described as a horrific experience in communist China. Before we go there, I want to give our audience a bit of a sense of how you got to China, what you were thinking about China as you entered as a corporate lawyer, and so forth. And eventually how we got to this 2008 moment.

Mr. Rothman: I was a lawyer in China. I had worked for a major law firm, a New York law firm in Beijing. In Shanghai, I worked for a European law firm, and then I went on my own. But I had been studying China and its history since college days. My first teachers were fabulous. They just inspired a great love of the subject in me, and they brought me into studying Chinese as a language when there were two people in the language class.

No one was studying Chinese in the 1960s. But I loved it, and I couldnt get enough of it. And so when opportunities opened up to work in China, and a major Wall Street law firm called upon me to be part of their Beijing office, I was delighted and of course, I accepted.

I had kept up my Chinese and I worked on it very hard. And so it was pretty fluent by the time I moved to Beijing in 2000. Work there was interesting. It seemed to be part of an environment that was rapidly changing for the better. In the early 2000s, I think there was some hope that China was going to be approaching some notion of a rule-based system, the concept of abiding by rules.

I was under no illusion that China was anything like a rule of law society. And that would be a tremendously long haul before China would ever become anything like a rule of law society. Some people had starry eyes about China; I did not. I was absolutely shocked when China was given WTO membership, with making practically no concessions. It was just a gift from the U.S. government, you could say, very bad gift.

There was a sense, though, that the regime wanted to have an international face and genuinely wanted to have international cooperation. And to grow this enormous countrys economy, which is so backward. It was clear that they needed everything they could get. And they got it via WTO, via all the investment that was poured into China.

As far as my living in China, I absolutely loved it. I had many Chinese friends. I had foreign friends, but I had more Chinese friends, and I had 10 foreigners. I loved getting together with them, getting to know their families. And the thing about China in the 2000s was unlike the 1980s or 1990s, when you would go there and beg to get into a ministry and wait outside in the cold in a booth before they even let you go in. This is a much more open in terms of access to officials even on a social basis.

You could go to peoples homes, which was inconceivable in the past. People had telephones; they were starting to get internet. This seemed like a society that had a potential for a positive change.

Mr. Jekielek: You know, were in a situation right now where, ostensibly in retaliation to the arrest of the Huawei CFO, two Canadians have been incarcerated in some kind of Chinese Communist Party prison over three years. Lets talk about your personal story here. Give us a picture of what happened in 2008.

Mr. Rothman: In 2008, May 2008, I was sitting across the table in a restaurant from a Chinese colleague of mine, a gentleman whom I had hired for moonlighting for me when I was working on my own. Hes worked for a Western law firm, very, very smart, terrific paralegal, absolutely magnificent at translating documents. I thought its a really tremendous future for this guy.

Were sitting at this restaurant, and all of a sudden he says: hey, Warren, guess what? I got my deal through. We got through. We paid a bribe. We paid a bribe. This guy who was a very talented paralegal blurts out that he has arranged a $3 million bribe to get a deal through for an American company.

I was shocked to hear that from this guy, because I thought this guy really was a stand up guy, I thought he was really the kind of person that could lead China to a better future, someone who was aware of Western culture and aware of Chinese culture and aware of all the issues between the twosomeone extraordinarily talented.

So it was a tremendous disappointment to me to hear this. I felt I had contributed to a career of his, in a way, by hiring him. I berated him for at least an hour. And I told him it was the most disgusting thing Ive ever heard. I told him, disgusting. This is not the way China should develop. It wont develop this way. You cant live on bribes. You cant do this. This is not the right thing. This is not the way Western law firms practice. This is a disgrace to the practice of law. Well, I went on and on and on, and hes shuffling around trying not to look at me. We leave.

I had been scheduled to leave next day or so for the U.S. So I leave. And I dont come back until October because of the Beijing Olympics. I wanted to avoid all the turmoil of people going to and from Beijing and traveling around China. So I returned in October.

But it turned out that was in the middle of the financial crisis, the great financial crisis of 2008, absolutely dead center in it. Everything was tanking, right down to the bottom. It is an unbelievable situation. People never imagine this could happen to our markets.

There I go. I say to myself, well, I havent been there for five months, I really miss being in China. I really loved being in China. I felt a lack, a sense of personal, some sort of something missing in my life if I didnt, well, I hadnt been in China recently.

So I went back knowing there was really very little work to do. Everything had frozen, solid, nothing. No business was being done; practically no banking was being done. I was there just to check out things, live a kind of casual time, see if there might be any business opportunities, but mostly there just to be there for a month.

I come back from an early walk in a park, dawn walk in the park, 9 or 10 oclock in the morning. My apartment is completely trashed, completely wrecked, from top to bottompapers all over the place, files thrown all over the place, books thrown all over the place, CDs, DVDs. I mean, the place was really terrible. I sit there for a while trying to figure out whats going on here. Why did this happen?

Suddenly my housekeeper comes back. I see her around a corner spying around things. And shes noticed this bag I had packed, ready to flee, actually. She inspects all that and sees whats in there. Snooping around all over, she doesnt look a bit surprised at the state of affairs that she was supposedly keeping house for.

Mr. Jekielek: So let me backup just a second. So why did you pack a bag so quickly?

Mr. Rothman: Because I really felt terror, a sense of an instant terror.

Mr. Jekielek: And why would you?

Mr. Rothman: Just because I wanted to get out of there. I didnt know what had happened. Id never seen such a sight. And I knew immediately something terrible was going on. Youre living an environment where no matter how you do things, no matter how things may be progressing positively, you know that the basic environment is one operated by terror. You know that terrible things are done to people. So when I saw this, I was really very, very frightened.

Mr. Jekielek: You were still happy to work there respective?

Mr. Rothman: Well, I thought things might be improving. For example, the issue of what was happening to members of Falun Gong was not well known. We knew about the prayer meeting outside of Zhongnanhai. We knew that the regime had reacted violently to that. But I dont think anyone in my position had a sense of the scope of Falun Gong, or the horrific things that actually were being carried out on Falun Gong.

I mean, the Chinese have put in an industrial scale operation of so called organ harvesting, which I call organ pillaging, ripping up organs out of life people to sell them on the market. I mean, Dr. Mengele never dreamed of such a thing. And yet here it is in China, communist China, always communist China. An industrial scale, but we did not know that then. I didnt certainly not.

Mr. Jekielek: I see.

Mr. Rothman: With that idea, I dont know if I could have stayed a day. I dont actually know if I could have stayed there.

Mr. Jekielek: At this point, you sought out, basically, friends or some people that you could count on at this point. So tell me how that went and who you found.

Mr. Rothman: Okay. I didnt have many close friends in Shanghai, and all the friends I had were just gone there. No one was there during the financial crisis, none of the foreign lawyers that I knew. But I had a lot of Chinese friends in Beijing. And as the situation started to gather terrorindeed, after the first attack, the same evening in that apartment, a group of 12 thugs showed up at my doorI decided to call some friends in Beijing and see what they could advise me to do.

I called my best friend there, a Chinese entrepreneur whom I respect greatly. He was a wonderful guy. And he immediately volunteered to come to Beijing, but he was headed off in an elaborate pattern by Mr. Q.

Mr. Jekielek: And this was the gentleman that you had basically told off earlier about this bribe. But this isnt what you were thinking about, you were looking for a helping hand?

Mr. Rothman: Well, indeed, I wasnt asking Q for that help. I was asking someone in Beijing, someone who I refer to as Lin. So at one point, Im talking to Lin, and Q actually grabs the phone right out of my hand, because he can hear. He has fluent English; he can absolutely hear what Im saying to Lin about whats happening.

And he grabbed the phone out of my hand and races out to the terrace and talks to him. And I gather that what hes saying to him is that really everythings okay. And maybe Warren had a fit of some kind, threw his own apartment around. I dont know what he told him. But at any rate, Lin did not come. The long and the short of it is that, there I am with Q coming out of my apartment, and Im waiting in my mind to see what the next shoe is to dropwhether I really better get out of there.

Im going back and forth all the time in my mind as to whether I really have to go. But the problem with leaving is that if I left there, I leave this trashed apartment. And whos going to explain that? Thats only to my detriment, obviously. So I felt Id leave my whole reputation along with my whole career behind. Its very hard to think of leaving, but my first instinct was indeed to flee.

Mr. Jekielek: At this point, this gentleman Q wants to help you?

Mr. Rothman: Well, hes appearing in the guise of someone whos being sympathetic and helpful, and even an intermediary with the IE whom he hadnt met, because he did some of his work at my apartment when he worked for me.

So he knew the IE and he was saying, giving me stories about the IE being very upset about the way I yelled at her, when I found her snooping around my apartment in the trash and all that. So hes kind of defending her and also at the same time, providing things that she would ordinarily provide such as food. Sort of keeping me in place in a way.

That night, the second night of this ordeal, a gang of nearly 15 thugs showed up, a bigger gang, a nastier gang, yelling ferocious insults at me in Chinese, which I answered in good Chinese as wellMandarin, not Shanghainese. And anyway, that was not like me at all. That behavior was not at all typical of me.

Im not one to confront a gang of really ugly thugs. But some sort of instinct, some desire for evidence prompted me. I saw these caps on the heads of these men, and three of them had these caps with a gold eagle insignia, and I thought that really doesnt look good. So I grabbed two of the caps and skirt back into my apartment and slammed the door. These thugs are just absolutely furious. They practically burst the door down.

I held on to the caps. And just incidentally, it turned out that these indeed were indications that these people were part of some kind of black gang, some real awful type of organized thugs. So after the second thug attack, I really decided to leave, and by the next morning, I was just about out the door. I had really decided that I cant stay here any longer. Its just too dangerous.

And I was really racing to get out of my apartment, grabbing up the last things, throwing them closing my suitcase when Q breaks in with four thugs, wrestles me back into the apartment. Q starts ordering these thugs to get everything ready, to prepare, to finish packing whatever I had packed, to leave aside whatever couldnt fit in.

Then these four thugs dragged me, physically out of the apartment. And then Im taken downstairs in the elevator, put into an unmarked white van. Well, Im driven around for hours, and finally, its nighttime. Im taken to what I decided to call a four star black jail. This is the first of four black jails which I was privileged enough to see.

This was a normal hotel room with people operating normally, with a huge staff that you would expect in a four star hotel, people delivering stuff moving back and forth. But Im forced to stay in this one room. I just get a glimpse of it, but its a normal place. Its a four star hotel, absolutely normal. But its made into a black jail for this purpose.

Black jails are literally everywhere in China, literally everywhere. They can be in any shape or form. They can be in a basement. They can be behind a real jail. They can be in a real hotel like this. They can be in a disgusting little hotel, another type of black jail that I saw. They could be anywhere, but they are everywhere.

Mr. Jekielek: Just very briefly, for the benefit of our audience, whats a black jail?

Mr. Rothman: A black jail is an unofficial jail. Its an off-the-books type of place where people who are, it could be Falun Gong members, it could be other religious types, it could be Tibetans, it could be Uyghurs, it could be meme, Warren Rothman, an American citizen.

Mr. Jekielek: So you keep being shuffled from one of these black jails to another for some indiscernible reason, and then finally, you end up in this place where they actually assault you and strap you to a rack of some sort.

Mr. Rothman: The fourth black jail was the place where I was tortured very, very badly. I was tied up to a lattice work that was in the shape of a cross. And my arms were extended completely to each side. I was seated, the cross was pushed behind the chair and my arms were yanked incredibly hard to the side, and this one thug came up and jammed dirt into my mouth so I could barely breathe.

I really thought at this point, that was the end of my life right there. I was not accepting it, but I thought that was it. I heard the guards joking about me, how Im coughing and spitting out this dirt. And then theyre talking about how its just gonna take four hours. Hell be here just four hours, and then hes finished. Hell be finished in four hours.

Im sure it was much longer than that because by the time this phase of the ordeal ended, it was nighttime. It was at least seven or eight hours total that I was tied up to this thing. I still thought: no, Im not gonna die. Im not going to die. I just wont. Im not going to let these people kill me.

Mr. Jekielek: In the process, they beat you up.

Mr. Rothman: Yes, very badly. Theyre kicking and punching me, my legs, my back my arms. Im resisting being dragged to this latticework cross. Its a terrifying sight. And Im like a tree rooted to the ground. I just wont let them move me. Finally they pick me up and drag me to this chair, really strapped me into this cross. At the end of seven or so hours of being tied up to this thing, Im dragged off to what turns out to be the hospital part of this establishment where Ive been tortured.

This is a mental hospital actually. Ive seen doctors and nurses go in and out of doors passing me by, not even looking at me. Its a real hospital. And there I am being tortured in a real hospital, and doctors and nurses are paying no attention to it.

People are paying no attention to it except for one really brave woman who pushed her way through the guards who are surrounding me and said: what are you doing to this man? How can this be? Is this a country of laws or? This is a woman who really understood the best path for China. Well, they pushed her out of the way, and they said get out of here. Several of the guards had to be used to take her away; she was very strong.

At the end of all of this, Im taken to the so called hospital part of this place. After a brief interlude, I wake up with my arms tied to a hospital bed. And Im being injected with some substance by a woman in a nurses uniform. She starts to come back at me with a second shot, and I rip, with every strength I can, I rip my left arm free and cover my right arm to protect it from this shot.

And another nurse comes in and says: wait a minute, what actually happened? I want to hear what happened. So I tell her a brief version of the story. And she says also, you were not the aggressor? I say of course not. Thats not what I do. Im here with someone whos been beaten and tortured. And she looked really quite sympathetic.

I thought, maybe I have someone whos going to help me here. Well, it didnt help, and the nurse starts to try to give me the second shots. So another third nurse comes in and said, okay, well give it to him at 4:00 am.

And Im just left there in the dark, except, out of the corner of my eye, I see in the corner of this room, very dark room, a little man get out of a bed and come toward me. Suddenly, he ties up the arm that I had wrenched, free, clucking his tongue at me. And going back to his corner. So the night passes this way. The forearm shot does not materialize.

But the next morning, Im forced to swallow a handful of pills. I had no idea what they were. Im untied after, lets say the second day, and still being forced to take pills. I have endless meetings with the staff of this hospital, like six or seven or eight doctors and nurses all inquiring about what Im thinking and what Im feeling and what has gone on with me and what caused all of this.

At the end of ten days, I was finally allowed to leave. But I had no idea until the day I left that I was actually going to leave.

Mr. Jekielek: And all along, as youre describing this, you really had no idea what instigated this.

Mr. Rothman: No, nothing.

Mr. Jekielek: What actually was going on, hence [the title of your memoir] Kafka in China.

Mr. Rothman: It was deep, definitely Kafka-esque, which prompted the title and there are so many aspects of Kafka. This is kind of amazing, really, but fundamentally, were talking about a society that operates under this penumbra of terror. And thats a very Kafka-esque kind of thing.

But there it is real. There, it is real. In real life, its a society thats built on terror. China is really one giant black jail. It is one huge jail. You go, even a foreigner with a passport and a visa goes in there and may not get out. He really has only a conditional permit to get out.

We know from the cases of the two Canadians, we know from two Americans who just returned to the United States that you dont necessarily get out if you go in. And that doesnt mean that you did anything bad at all. They just have an ulterior reason for keeping you there, whether its to swap you in a hostage taking deal for someone that they think is kept illegally in somewhere else or it just theres no limit to it.

Mr. Jekielek: Upon reflection, you believe that this was this revelation of the bribe and you indicating that this wasnt something you supported that probably was the cause of all this.

Mr. Rothman: Well, you know, I didnt have any direct proof. All I had was what happened to me. And the only thing that could have been the cause of this was the bribe. I had worried about small things. Maybe it was my former landlady who hated me that set all this up. I didnt have any other enemies in Shanghai, but I tried and tried to find some reason for this.

It never occurred to me that it was the bribe because I never thought the bribe was a threat. The revelation of a bribe was not a threat, in my mind, because if you go to the FBI and say: I heard about a bribe, such and such company paid a bribe. Okay, thanks. If you have some proof, come back.

In China, its very different. All you need to do is set the rumor that somebody has engaged in some behavior that somebody else wont like. And that potentially sets in motion a very dangerous path for that person. Someone like you may have been tortured, may have been thrown into jail. I have no idea.

Mr. Jekielek: The obvious question, of course, is what about the U.S. consulate? Did you contact them when all this was beginning?

Mr. Rothman: Yes, I called the consulate in the afternoon, the day I got back to the trashed apartment. I got the answer: sorry, cant help. That was that. I got a name. Heres my name. Call me, but we really cant do anything. So the consulate was no help.

And in fact, as I was leaving the hospital, my partner Fred was given a huge batch of documents, which turned out to include two letters that purported at least to be from the consulate. On their face, they claimed they said they were from the consulate, theyre U.S. consulate letterhead.

The first letter said, Warren Rothman, a US citizen passport XXX, is in serious need of mental health treatment. And his friend Q is in a position to help him. The second letter was a statement by the consulate that although they do not provide financial assistance, for example, the fees of this hospital, they are working with family members to come up with this money.

So the point of these two letters, whether theyre forged or genuine, Ive been unable to find out. Ive met with a stone wall in the State Department, with my own senior senator who praises China in the middle of a COVID crisis, as the most respectable, as a respectable nation that has visited this plague on the world.

Its a terrible thing to think about that we have so many of our elite completely captured by the Chinese. So much of our elite is subject to elite capture. The leaders of our country are telling us: invest in China, invest in China, relate with China, engage with China, but not asking China to do a thing to change its ways. You can only wonder why these people are able to be bought out like this.

Mr. Jekielek: Our team reached out to the U.S. State Department. A Department official told us, The safety and welfare of U.S. citizens overseas is the top priority for the State Department. Consular officers provide all appropriate consular assistance when an American is detained overseas. But the official declined to verify the authenticity of the letters citing privacy considerations. So why did you write this book?

Mr. Rothman: Above all, I want to warn people. I want people to read this book and understand the reality of China from the standpoint of someone whos gone through some of the worst China conditions.

I want people to look beyond the encouraging words of Wall Street capitalists who tout this great society thats making so much money, and even one super prominent capitalist, announcing that he wished just a week ago, that some of the Chinese communist system would be imported here.

I mean, this is a staggering thing for someone and a leading capitalist to say, because [China] is a country that is built not on laws, its built on fiat and capricious fiat. Fiat that can come from nowhere. Orders from the Party, basically, is what Im talking about. Thats what runs the country.

I want people to understand that theres a real risk of going there. Theres a tremendous risk that you dont necessarily get out if you want to. But above all, that youre going to be involved in a society which is a tremendously lethal adversary to the United States.

We should not be helping the society. As it has turned out in the last eight, nine years. We should not be involved in building that society, in profiting off that society. We should be closing it off as much as we can.

I want people to know what theyre doing if they go to China, if they buy Chinese goods. And you know, when I say China, I mean communist China, always. I wanna make it clear that I truly love China.

But I love the China represented by Taiwan. Taiwan is a country that pulled itself out of an autocratic system and created a democracy from ground up, a vibrant, brilliant democracy. I have the utmost admiration for these people. We owe the greatest duty of defense to Taiwan. If Taiwan goes, we can forget about the Pacific. But we can also forget about ever engaging with a free China.

Mr. Jekielek: Clearly, your experience hasnt made you very positive towards communist China. Do you see any hope for the future at this point?

Mr. Rothman: Its a dark picture overall, I think. Communist China has developed immense wealth, immense military power, which it is using aggressively just about all over the world. Its a dark picture. We have a system where weve allowed our elites to be bribed. Our elites, basically, are captured by Chinese. Were being told time and again, that Chinas a great country to invest in, a great partner, a huge future for America economically.

But all of thats a mirage actually. Very few people benefit from China, from business with China. Very few people make money in China. Some of the great corporations do. and they buy out the Chinese and the Chinese buy out them.

Now the main hope I have is that the U.S. government will finally yield to the demands of the American people to hold the Chinese communists accountable for the plague that they have caused and loosed on the world deliberately. If the United States is able to take them on, if the United States citizens could sue communist Chinaindeed, we could still sue the Communist Party. It doesnt enjoy sovereign immunity.

If the United States were to take an aggressive action toward China, especially on this issue of COVID, to use COVID as a point of departure to point out the criminality of this regime and seek redress for what theyve done, theres some hope there. But I dont see it actually happening.

We have polls that saying that two thirds of the American people think that China should be held accountable. But why arent they being held accountable? One has to ask why. And the only thing that occurs to me is that so many of our elite have chosen to be captured by China, to sing the Chinese communist song, the siren song of wealth, come and get rich.

Mr. Jekielek: You clearly being someone who would fit into the category of the elites in China, right?

Mr. Rothman: Certainly, I was part of this elite, and I enjoyed all the benefits of it up to a certain point. But now that we know so many truths have come about China. I mean, just the fact that theyve loosed this plague on the world. How can you avoid the fact that China has to be confronted?

So is there any hope for this situation? Its a dark picture overall, Chinas immensely powerful and immensely wealthy now. And all thanks to our elite helping them get there. There is some hope, though. I think that a huge percentage of the American people want to take China on about this COVID disaster. I think that the only thing thats blocking it are the elites who have been captured by China.

But if the demand can break through and force our government to provide appropriate redress to our citizens and to our country, then the world can see in the same in graphic black and white what China is all about.

There was a tribunal a year or so ago in London about the horrific practices the Chinese are using on Falun Gong members, organ pillaging. That tribunal should have gotten far greater obviously. But thanks to the elite capture of our mainstream media, it did not.

However, if the United States takes the position that we are going to confront China, theres not gonna be any mistaking that message. But its going to take a huge upswell of real, real anger in the American population and demand for change in this population, policy, demand that these elites stop giving China everything that China asks for.

There is some hope, I think, the consciousness of the evil of whats been what the Chinese communists are doing is finally seeping through all of the blocks that mainstream media have put on, but Im worried about this because we still get these mixed messages.

The bad message that Chinas a place that we are to admire and invest in, is coming from these elites who are making tremendous amounts of money there. They dont believe in what theyre saying. But they love it because theyre making money. But this demand is welling up.

I do believe that theres a power in the American people to right things. I believe our system ultimately may right things. But we dont have a lot of time. We really dont. Were seeing a Chinese military of unprecedented proportions being built up. And they are not planning to use that peacefully.

If we are going to confront China ever, we have got to confront them on COVID. If we dont confront them on COVID, what else do we allow them to get away with? But the hope is there. The hope is there.

Mr. Jekielek: Well, Warren Rothman, its such a pleasure to have you on.

Mr. Rothman: Thank you so much, Jan.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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We Need Tougher Trade War Against Chinas Expanding Tech

Commentary

Despite increased tariffs and technology export controls on China that the prior administration instituted, and that continue under the Biden administration, China outmaneuvered the United States by expanding technology exports to Europe, according to a new study. China keeps its trade levels high through predatory practices, and by diverting exports to low-tariff markets. The United States, European Union, Britain, and Asian allies, including Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, and Taiwan, are Chinas top export destinations. They have the opportunity to unify their collective purchasing powers to defend their economies and technologies. To maintain the resilience of their own markets and collective high-tech supply chains, they should increase tariffs against China and harmonize them with each other to keep Chinese imports from eroding their industries. Export prohibitions of sensitive technologies should be increased against the totalitarian and militarily aggressive country.

The new study by Harvards Growth Lab measured an increase in the diversity, volume, and technological sophistication of Chinas exports, and predicted a likely growth in Chinese GDP in the near future, due to low labor costs and Chinas continued brisk output during the pandemic.

Since 2019, China has overtaken three countries, including Ireland, to reach 13th in the technological sophistication of its exports, according to the study. Americas lead on China has halved over the last ten years, with the United States currently only 11th in the ranking. At that pace, China should overtake the United States within two years.

According to Growth Labs Tim Cheston, quoted in the Bloomberg article about the study, There was an adept move by China to diversify its export destinations for electronics to Europe and elsewhere.

Cheston predicts that China will outpace India in the next 10 years. This would further destabilize Asia geopolitically, by furthering a potential tilt of the region toward Chinas economy and, as a result, its political influence.

Nazak Nikakhtar, former Under Secretary of Industry and Security of Commerce under the Trump administration, responded to the study in an email. She wrote, The fact that China is rising in rankings for the production of high-complexity products should come as no surprise. For decades, China has been climbing the value chain by underpricing competitors, stealing IP, and using market access barriers to prevent its competitors growth. And this has become a zero-sum game. In the past, whenever the U.S. and allies ceded market share to China, China has made sure that those market shares are never reclaimed. The same is true today.

Kyle Bass, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has shorted Chinese and Hong Kong currencies, advocated tougher U.S. enforcement of existing laws. He wrote in an email, Its vitally important that the US enforce the laws on our books and sanction Chinese individuals and institutions that break US law. The majority of the SOE [state-owned enterprise] banks and Joint-Stock banks conduct business with multiple countries, companies, and individuals that happen to be on the US sanctions blacklist. We must sanction the Chinese government for their flagrant violations of our laws.

Bass argued that the United States should work to cut off China from the global dollar market. In fact, this could be done for not only dollars, but also for other currencies such as the Euro and Japanese yen, by banning the country from major international banking networks. We must hold the entire Chinese government and the 95 million members of the Communist Party of China responsible for the Genocide and ethnic cleansing of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Mongolia. Holding them to account for their actions by severing their connections to the US dollar market will cripple the Chinese economy and force a tectonic shift in their belligerent behavior. These actions should have been taken long ago. Once taken, the US should engage in a relationship of reciprocity to simply level the playing field with the Chinese.

According to a former U.S. government official, who asked to remain anonymous due to potential retaliation, The United States needs to take a long look in the mirror. We need higher tariffs on Chinas high technology exports that matter. The American people also need a Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security that works to theirand not Chinasadvantage. That means it must designate foundational and emerging technologies for outbound investment reviews, which it has refused to do. It must stop adding Chinese companies to the entity list without applying the Foreign Direct Product Rule across industries and technologies so that ZTE can manufacture while only Huawei cant. And it must lower the de minimis threshold substantially so companies like LAM Research cant continue to offshore manufacturing to sell to China and escape US export controls.

People walk next to ZTE booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 25, 2019. (Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Under the export control de minimis rules, transfers of foreign-made products are generally regulated by the U.S. government if they incorporate more than 25 percent of controlled U.S.-origin items.

LAM Research Corporation is an American semiconductor manufacturer.

Another loophole that China has been exploiting is the use of a different de minimis threshold under the Trade Act where goods not exceeding $800 in value may enter the United States tariff free.

By undervaluing and breaking apart high-value shipments, or transshipping through places like Canada and Southeast Asia, Chinese exporters have been circumventing the tariffs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Alex Gray, National Security Council Chief of Staff under the Trump administration, wrote in an email that, U.S.-China technological competition will do much to define the 21st century, and the U.S. currently lacks the full toolkit needed for success. Legislation like the CHIPS Act is critical, providing much needed investment in sectors with an essential national and economic security nexus and which have been consistent targets for Chinese intellectual property theft and overt espionage. But we must also adjust our mindset about technological competition and recognize that old paradigms will not work, and greater collaboration between government and private industry is required to prevail against a Chinese Communist Party that directs every resource of the state toward victory.

According to Nikakhtar, the continued cession of American market share to China is unsustainable. She wrote that the pattern needs to be reversed, and the governments of the U.S. and allies must step up to the challenge. Our governments have an obligation to protect our industries and critical technologies.

Nikakhtar outlined a two-pronged strategy to defending the United States and allied technological ascendency from a rising China. First, we need to restrict imports from predatory actors. Where predatory economic practices undermine fair trade and harm industry growth, tariffs need to be imposed at punitive levels, or levels that compel corrections to behaviors. Traditionally in trade cases, tariffs of around 80 percent or more are effective at leveling the playing field when dealing with non-market actors. We also need to acknowledge that Chinas rise in the high-complexity production rankings is attributed, in large part, to our virtually unregulated and unrestricted transfer of critical technologies to China and actors that divert those technologies to China.

The second prong of Nikakhtars strategy is to selectively prohibit exports of critical technologies. She wrote, Our second approach needs to be the prohibition of exports of critical technologies to all high-threat actors. To be effective, we should strive to do this in coordination with our allies. If we were to implement these two approaches, the impact on our GDP would be less than 1 percent over the short-run and this would turn to positive gains in the medium- to long-run. If we took these measures in coordination with allies, we would lessen the impact on our GDPs and better integrate our supply chains with one another. It is far better to integrate supply chains with like-minded allies than with adversaries. If industries impacted are able to withstand the short-term painsand if governments can help ease some of the painwe will all be better off in the long term.

Anders Corr has a bachelors/masters in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. He authored The Concentration of Power (forthcoming in 2021) and No Trespassing, and edited Great Powers, Grand Strategies.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Jeff Zients, the White House's Covid-19 response czar, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, in Washington, on April 13, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Considering Requiring Foreign Visitors to Show COVID-19 Vaccination Proof: Official

The White House confirmed Thursday it is considering requiring foreign visitors to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for international travel.

Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told reporters on Thursday that several federal agencies are examining the possibility of issuing such a mandate.

We will be ready when it is the right time to consider reopening, Zients said at a White House COVID-19 briefing. He appeared to confirm anonymously sourced reports that administration officials will have to present proof theyre vaccinated against the virus.

There is still no timetable on when the United States will resume international travel to certain countries, as a number of federal officials have cited concerns about the Delta variant.

In early 2020, the United States imposed its first restrictions on travel from Chinawhere the virus originatedbefore imposing restrictions on Europe and other nations.

Canada recently announced it would allow nonessential travel from the United States if travelers can provide proof of vaccination. The United States, however, did not reciprocate Canadas policy and has kept its border with its northern neighbor closed due to COVID-19.

And in contrast, along the U.S.Mexico border, which is still seeing record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing, proof of COVID-19 vaccination isnt required before aliens are released into the United States. Reports last month said that during the final week of July, about 7,000 people who crossed illegally were released in McAllen, Texas.

Reports citing anonymous sources also said the Biden administration is creating a plan to provide vaccines to illegal immigration.

It was not immediately clear whether a plan would require visitors arriving from Mexico and Canada to be vaccinated before crossing land borders.

Starting late last month, a number of large corporations including Google, Facebook, Tyson Foods, and many others started mandating that their employees get vaccinated by a certain date or potentially face termination. The federal government, too, will soon require employees to get vaccinated or wear a mask and socially distance.

This week, New York City became the first to announce a policy implementing a COVID-19 vaccine pass that requires customers to show proof of vaccination before they enter restaurants, gyms, and theaters. The Los Angeles City Council is working on passing a similar mandate.

Vaccine passports and similar systems have been criticized by civil liberties groups, conservatives, and even some Democrats as creating a segregated society of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

During a news conference earlier this week, Zients announced that it is time to impose some requirements on COVID-19 vaccines.

President Joe Biden, he said, called on states and local governments to use funding they have received, including from the American Rescue Plan, to give $100 to anyone who gets fully vaccinated, adding that if financial incentives like these help us get more shots in arms, we should use them.

But he went a step further, saying that mandates must be imposed.

But in addition to incentives, its time to impose some requirements based on the realities of different risks unvaccinated individuals pose versus those who have been vaccinated, Zients proclaimed.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Reuters contributed to this report.
White House Rejects WHO Calls for Moratorium on COVID-19 Booster Shots

The White House pushed back on the World Health Organizations (WHO) calls for a moratorium on distributing COVID-19 booster shots, with press secretary Jen Psaki calling it a false choice.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday urged wealthier nations including the United States and companies controlling the vaccine supply to prioritize addressing providing more doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations. Tedros said such a move is necessary because even if richer countries become fully vaccinated, the virus will spread frequently through poorer nations and could possibly mutate to breakthrough vaccine protection.

But Psaki said that Tedros, with his statement, is offering a false choice between developing booster shots and providing vaccines to poorer nations.

We definitely feel that its a false choice and we can do both, she said, adding that the United States has donated more than any other country. Also in this country [we] have enough supply to ensure that every American has access to a vaccine, Psaki added.

The United States, she added, will have enough supply to ensure if the FDA decides that boosters are recommended for a portion of the population to provide those as well, and officials believe we can do both and we dont need to make that choice.

It comes as Moderna, one of the makers of a two-shot mRNA vaccine, proclaimed that booster shots will likely be necessary. In the firms earnings report, the company said it believes the so-called Delta variant will lead to an increase in breakthrough casesor COVID-19 cases involving individuals who have been vaccinated.

There was, according to the pharmaceutical giant, robust antibody responses have been observed from existing Moderna booster candidates against COVID-19 in Phase 2 studies. In an accompanying earnings presentation, the company said that COVID-19 vaccine antibody levels have declined over time, making it necessary for a booster shot in the winter.

We believe that increased force of infection resulting from Delta, non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) fatigue, and seasonal effects (moving indoors) will lead to an increase of breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals, the firm said in an earnings call on Thursday.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told Fox Business on Thursday morning that the firms booster shot could be available in the near future but stressed the firm is waiting for a bit more data on when to roll it out.

We have tried in humans already a booster of the South Africa strain, the Beta virus and weve announced this morning that were also working on the delta booster and so that data is going to come together in the coming months, he remarked.
Why the EU Is Dragging the US Into Its Failings | Truth Over News

President Joe Biden received a warm welcome during his visit to the Group of Seven (G-7) in England, as he declared that America was back.

But unlike former President Donald Trump, Biden was not there to place America first.

Climate and multilateralism were at the forefront of the agenda, as were other items near and dear to the EUs heart.

When asked by a reporter if America was back, French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying, Its great to have a U.S. president whos part of the club and very willing to cooperate.

But is it really a good thing for America if EU member countries are so excited? And is the EU really a club that we want to be a part of?

Welcome to Truth over News with Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke.

Follow EpochTV on Facebook and Twitter
Stickers ready to be passed out to residents after they vote in Beloit, Wis., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Election Officials Remove Over 205,000 From Voter Rolls

Election officials in Wisconsin have deleted more than 205,000 names from voter registration rolls as part of maintaining the lists, they announced on Aug. 4.

More than 174,000 of the voters hadnt voted in the past four years and didnt respond to a mailing, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The deactivation was required under Wisconsin law.

Many of the deactivated voters have moved and can re-register at their new address. Some of the voters had died and a few others asked to have their registrations canceled, Meagan Wolfe, the commissions administrator, said in a statement.

Another 12,121 voters returned the mailing within 30 days of receipt, which kept them active.

A second group of more than 31,000 voters also was removed from the rolls, which stemmed from postcards mailed to over 232,000 voters in the summer of 2019. The Electronic Registration Information Center identified the voters as having possibly moved.

The bulk of the people who received the postcards updated their registration at a new address. Some confirmed that they hadnt moved.

The commission voted in 2019 to remove voters after the 2021 elections. They decided at a June meeting not to change that decision.

State law requires the commission to conduct voter record maintenance every two years.

The process is designed to ensure the integrity of the active voter list, Wolfe said. It is not designed to keep any active voters name off the poll list.

Any voter who is concerned about potentially being deactivated can check their registration status online. They can re-register to vote.

As of Aug. 1, 3.5 million people were registered to vote in Wisconsin. About 3.29 million voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Connecticut surpassed 10 million COVID-19 tests on Thursday, a milestone in the coronavirus pandemic which has stretched 17 months and has lately entered a new chapter with the threat of the highly contagious delta variant.

The states daily report showed 10,022,271 tests completed, an average of 2.8 tests for every man, woman, and child in the state since March 2020.

That compares with slightly less than one-half of one test, on average, for Americans as a nation  meaning Connecticut residents have had 5.7 times more tests per person than the United States as a whole.

At the peak last winter, the multiple testing sites by multiple health providers exceeded 1 million per month  making Connecticut a standout in tests per resident.

Throughout the pandemic, Connecticut has been one of the top five states in the nation in terms of testing and it certainly helped us through last fall, last winter, keep close tabs of where there were hot spots around the state and helped ensure that everyone who felt sick was able to quickly get tested, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, who oversaw the system.

The large number of tests means Connecticuts total number of documented cases, 357,345 as of Thursday, represents a larger share of actual cases than other states totals. Geballe and other state officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont, have been quick to point out that we cant compare illness totals from states that have different test rates.

How does the testing break down by the numbers? How many of the 10 million were antibody tests, or other types? How many people never had a test? The state Department of Public Health did not respond to requests for information about the Connecticut testing program.

Certain populations, such as nursing home residents and workers, correction department personnel and members of the governors staff, were required to get regularly tested because of their jobs. In all, thousands of state residents endured dozens of tests, perhaps even hundreds  often, especially early on, involving an uncomfortable swab up their noses.

Major companies such as submarine builder Electric Boat in Groton initiated their own testing programs, in some cases aggressively.

With 3.6 million residents averaging 2.8 tests each, and many having far more than that, its clear that many Connecticut residents have only been tested once, or never at all.

Demand for testing is up nationally since July as the delta variant surges in many areas across the country and as more businesses and workplaces are requiring proof of a negative test. Connecticut is also seeing an uptick in people getting tested, with about 116,000 tests over the last week, compared with about 104,000 in the last full week of June.

Hitting ten million tests in Connecticut is a noteworthy milestone representing a tremendous amount of hard work that was done at a number of different state agencies, Geballe said, adding the state stood up the entire program from scratch.

At the start of the pandemic, states scrambled to build up testing capacity to detect the level of infection within their borders and to curb further spread. With supplies limited early on, officials advised only people who were symptomatic or knew they were exposed to the virus to get tested.

Testing milestones Connecticut ramped up its testing slowly, eventually hitting a peak of 250,000 tests per week. This past week, the state administered about 116,000 tests. Mid-October 2020: 2 million tests Late December 2020: 4 million tests Early February 2021: 6 million tests Early April 2021: 8 million tests See More Collapse

In May 2020, Connecticut ramped up testing, entering contracts with labs and hospitals to monitor the level of infection in frontline workers and to set up emergency clinics in communities to contain localized outbreaks.

The ten vendors performed 1.4 million tests in total from May 2020 to May 2021, primarily serving high risk residents and those in underserved communities, followed by frontline state employees including corrections officers, and staff at the states social service agencies and group homes, according to a report from the comptrollers office. The state paid $90.86 per test on average, the report shows.

Connecticut averaged one million tests per month between October 2020 and April 2021, when the state opened vaccinations to all residents 18 and older. Testing slowed sharply this spring and summer.

Some of Connecticuts largest testing sites, set up in parking lots and elsewhere, were shut down at the end of June amid weakened demand with low infection and hospitalization rates and more than two-thirds of Connecticut residents at least partially vaccinated.

Community Health Center Inc., was one of them, shifting from drive-through sites open to the public to testing only its patients at its in-person sites across the state. The health center has performed nearly 660,000 tests since April 1, 2020, with an uptick in the last month.

On July 11, the health center performed 155 tests compared to 367 on Aug. 1, with many of them young kids under the age of 12 who are not eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccines, said Meredith Johnson, chief of staff.

Johnson said the health center has also seen an uptick in the number of its Hispanic patients getting tested, which could be because of the shift to testing only its patient base, which is more diverse than the population that was getting tested at its mass sites.

At several of the sites, which have been busy, Johnson said theres talk about plans to move people outside if demand for testing rises to a level that theres too many people congregating indoors to maintain social distancing requirements.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The hijackers who captured a vessel off the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman left the ship Wednesday, the British navy reported, as radio traffic appeared to reveal a crew member onboard saying Iranian gunmen had stormed the asphalt tanker.

The incident  described by the British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations the night before as a potential hijack"  revived fears of an escalation in Mideast waters and ended with as much mystery as it began.

Hints of what unfolded on the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess emerged with a maritime radio recording obtained by commodities pricing firm Argus Media and shared with The Associated Press. In the audio, a crew member can be heard telling the Emirati coast guard that five or six armed Iranians had boarded the tanker.

Iranian people are onboard with ammunition, the crew member says. We are  now, drifting. We cannot tell you exact our ETA to (get to) Sohar, the port in Oman listed on the vessels tracker as its destination. It was not clear whether the crew members, whom he identified as Indian and Indonesian, were in danger at the time of the recording.

No one took responsibility for the brief seizure, which underscored mounting tensions as Iran and the United States seek a resolution to their standoff over Tehran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In an apparent response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Tuesday denied that Iran played any role. He described the recent maritime attacks in the Persian Gulf as completely suspicious.

The rising tensions have played out in the waters of the Persian Gulf, where just last week a drone attack on an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman killed two crew members. The West blamed Iran for the raid, which marked the first known fatal assault in the shadow war targeting vessels in Mideast waters. Iran denied involvement.

Late on Tuesday, the intruders boarded the Asphalt Princess sailing off the coast of Fujairah, authorities said. The official news agency of Omans military said it received reports that the Asphalt Princess had been hijacked and immediately dispatched Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft and naval vessels to contribute to securing international waters.

In the recorded radio traffic, when the Emirati coast guard asks the crew member what the Iranian gunmen were doing onboard, he says he cannot understand the (Iranians), his voice muffled, before trying to hand over the radio to someone else. The call then cuts off.

Speaking from Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that American officials also believe that these personnel were Iranian, but were not in a position to confirm this at this time.

Possible signs of trouble began to emerge that evening when six oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were not under command, according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer.

Satellite-tracking data had showed the Asphalt Princess gradually heading toward Iranian waters off the port of Jask early Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic.com. Hours later, however, it stopped and changed course toward Oman, just before the British navy group declared the hijackers had departed and the vessel was safe.

In an analysis, maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global described the seizure of the Asphalt Princess as the latest Iranian response to outside pressures, economic conflicts and other grievances.

Iran has consistently shown that in conducting this kind of operation, it is calculated in doing so, both by targeting vessels directly connected with ongoing disputes and (vessels) operating within the grey space of legitimacy, which may be involved in illicit trade, Dryad Global said.

The owner of the Asphalt Princess, listed as Emirati free zone-based Glory International, could not be reached for comment.

The U.S. militarys Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry also did not respond to requests for comment. The Emirati government did not acknowledge the incident.

The Gulf of Oman sits near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes. Fujairah, on the UAEs eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

For the past two years, after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal and imposed crushing sanctions, the waters off Fujairah have witnessed a series of explosions and hijackings. The U.S. Navy has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.

In 2019, Iran's Revolutionary Guard detained a British-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz. Last year, an oil tanker sought by the U.S. for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the Emirati coast and later ended up in Iran, though Tehran never acknowledged the incident.

And in January, armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran. While Iran claimed it detained the ship over pollution concerns, it appeared to link the seizure to negotiations over billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korean banks.

Last week's attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street off Oman, killing two, has drawn criticism from the U.S., the United Kingdom and Israel. Israel has launched a diplomatic effort at the United Nations over the attack. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday about the attack.

Blinken and Raab spoke about ongoing efforts to forge a coordinated response to Irans attack, according to the State Department. Raab stressed on Twitter the need for Iran to stop its destabilising behavior.

___

DeBre reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
EDWARDSVILLE  A Collinsville man convicted of murder in 2011 faces weapons and drug charges after a July 30 incident.

Jevon E. Wilbourn, 26, of Collinsville, was charged with armed violence, a Class X felony; unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, an enhanced Class 2 felony; and unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, a Class 3 felony.

The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department.

According to court documents, on July 30 Wilbourn allegedly was found to be in possession of a Glock 19 handgun; and more than 30 grams of cannabis with intent to deliver.

He has a 2011 St. Clair County conviction for second degree murder.

The armed violence charge stems from the proximity of the weapon during a drug crime.

Bail was set at $250,000.

Other drug-related felony charges filed Aug. 2 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Sydney A.M. Parker, 25, of Caseyville, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On Aug. 1 Parker allegedly was found to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $20,000.

 Paulina M. Suess-Wahala, 44, of Madison, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On July 30 Suess-Wahala allegedly was found to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $15,000.
Sevierville, TN (37876)

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Elizabethtown, KY (42701)

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Myanmar man found slain, suspect in custody

PHUKET: Police have in custody three men last seen drinking with a fellow Myanmar worker who was found slain in his workers accommodation room in Soi King Kaew, Rassada, last night (Aug 4).

Myanmarmurdercrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 5 August 2021, 05:21PM

The key suspect had a cut on his chin and still had blood stains on his hands. Photo: Phuket City Police

The man was foubnd slain in his room on the upper level of the workers accommodation buildign. Photo: Phuket City Police

The balcony where the men were seen drinking. Photo: Phuket City Police

One of the men in custody is the prime suspect for the murder, with a cut to his chin and blood stains still on his hands, police have confirmed.

Maj Chakkrit Thammaraksa of the Phuket City Police was called to the scene, a two-storey workers accommodation building that his home to about 30 migrant workers, at about 6:25pm.

Police and rescue workers were directed to the mans room on the upper level, where they found the body of Aung Myo Thwin, 29, on his mattress on the floor

Mr Aung had been stabbed in the neck and had a long cut along his left arm.

Other than Mr Aungs body and blood stains on the floor, officers found no other signs of a struggle and no signs that his belongings had been ransacked.

Police believe that Mr Aung had died at least an hour before his body was found. His body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for further examination.

A worker at the camp told police that Mr Aung did not go to work yesterday, and he was last seen drinking with three fellow workers on the balcony of the building, Maj Chakkrit reported.

Police took the three workers to Phuket City Police Station for questioning, where one of the suspects, named by police as Mg San Shwe, was found with a small cut on his chin and blood stains on his hands.

Maj Chakkrit noted that officers were continuing their investigation and had yet to formally present any charges against Mr Mg.
Swiss tourist dead, believed raped, murdered

PHUKET: The body of a 57-year-old Swiss woman who is believed to have been raped and murdered was found in a creekbed near the Ao Yon Waterfall in Wichit, on Phukets east coast, yesterday afternoon (Aug 5).

deathmurdercrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 6 August 2021, 01:24AM

The womans body was found in a creekbed near the Ao Yon Waterfall. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The womans body was found in a creekbed near the Ao Yon Waterfall. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Region 8 Police Commander Lt Gen Kitrat Panpetch held a special press conference at Wichit Police Station last night and confirmed that the woman had arrived on the island on July 13.

The womans body was found by Nattapong Sridum, 31, a local resident in Wichit.

Her body was covered by a black sheet, obscuring it from view by any passers-by along the road some 40 metres away. However, her feet were exposed and could be seen, Lt Gen Kitrat said.

Forensic investigators believe the woman had died at least 48 hours before her body was found.

However, her body was now being examined to confirm the cause of death and other factors, Lt Gen Kitrat said.

Investigators at the scene found that her body was naked from the waist down. A pair of denim shorts was found discarded nearby, as were a pair of Nike trainers and her phone.

Lt Gen Kitrat deplored the womans death as shocking.

The deceased was a foreign woman who had repeatedly returned to Phuket, which is a tourist city and a pilot model of being a tourist city under the New Normal in the era of the COVID epidemic crisis, he said.

This may affect the image of the safety of foreign tourists, he added.

Lt Gen Kitrat said it had yet to be confirmed whether or not the woman had arrived as a tourist under the Phuket Sandbox scheme or as a different type of visitor.

National police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk had already expressed his concern over the incident, Lt Gen Kitrat said last night.

Gen Suwat will travel to the area tomorrow [Aug 6] to monitor the progress of the case by himself, he noted.
Salem, MO (65560)

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Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

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GODFREY  Resurrection Lutheran Church in Godfrey will be hosting a drive 9 a.m. to noon on Aug. 11 at 1211 W. Homer Adams Parkway to benefit Crisis Food Center.

Along with various food items and personal items, the drive will also be collecting school supplies.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced Thursday the results of the Social Equity Justice Involved Lottery for 55 conditional adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses from a pool of 589 unique applicants who scored 85 percent or greater in their applications.

To qualify for the lottery, applicants had to be eligible for social equity status under either criteria one (residency in a disproportionately impacted area) or two (eligible conviction) of the definition of Social Equity Applicant.

In the Metro East region, there were three winners, including Tatich 3 LLC, Blounts & Moore and Americanna Dream LLC. In Springfield, Bolden Investments III LLC was the lone winner. Family Roots, LLC won the West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan license and Navada Labs, LLC won the South Illinois nonmetropolitan license.

Before Conditional Licenses are issued, the department will initiate a review process to ensure applicants selected meet all statutorily required rules that must be fulfilled before a conditional license can be issued.

Social equity and justice are the heart and soul of the Adult-Use Cannabis Program in Illinois, said Toi Hutchinson, senior advisor to the governor for cannabis. Todays results open the door to increasing the diversity of the industry and continue building on our successes in expunging convictions and investing in communities disproportionately harmed by the failed war on drugs.

Additionally, an applicant may not have a principal officer who is also a principal officer in more than 10 other licenses. Should a principal officer find themselves in that situation, the principal officer must choose which license(s) to abandon by notifying IDFPR in writing. If the principal officer and/or applicant does not notify IDFPR, the department will not issue the applicant all available conditional licenses drawn in this lottery.

IDFPR may also deny issuance of Conditional Licenses to any applicant who has a principal officer, board member, or person having a financial or voting interest of 5% or greater who is delinquent in filing any required tax return or paying any amount owed to the State of Illinois.

Those selected in this lottery who receive a Conditional License shall have 180 days to identify a physical location for the dispensing organizations retail storefront. Groups unable to find a physical location within 180 days may receive an extension of an additional 180 days from IDFPR or be allowed to transfer their Conditional License to another BLS Region specified by the department. If no extension is granted, the conditional adult-use dispensing organization license shall be rescinded and awarded in accordance to the rules of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.

"Todays Social Equity Justice Involved Lottery marks a paramount accomplishment for Illinois' cannabis industry, making it more inclusive for applicants from diverse backgrounds, said Mario Treto, Jr., aacting secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The announcement of todays lottery selections is a milestone on Illinois's path as a national leader in the advancement of cannabis equity and I look forward to taking the next steps together for the future of the cannabis industry in Illinois."

No individual principal officer or applicant can receive more than two conditional licenses in this lottery. In the event a principal officer or applicant group has an application selected more than two times, the principal officer or the applicant group must complete the Departments Abandonment Form to notify the Department of the BLS Region in which the applicant will be declining a Conditional License. Failure to submit the Abandonment Form within five business days after the department posts the results of the Social Equity Justice Involved Applicant Lottery will result in the denial of all conditional licenses from this lottery to all applicants associated with the principal officer or applicant group that is over the limit.

The lottery results may change as a result of court orders or administrative review.

Another lottery for 75 conditional licenses will be conducted by the Illinois Lottery on Thursday, Aug. 19.
JERSEYVILLE  Jerseyville will be hosting a weeklong event in honor of the Jerseyville City Center Park.

Community groups and businesses have banded together to cherish the memories and celebrate the communitys move forward as a destination for visitors.

Events planned for City Center Week include:

 Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1-6 p.m.: A Royal Banks Blood Drive Block Party in conjunction with the American Red Cross is planned at City Center Park.

 Friday Aug. 20, 6 p.m.: Dedication and ribbon cutting of City Center Park hosted by the Jerseyville Economic Development Council.

 Friday, Aug. 20-Sunday, Aug. 22, daily: Jerseyville Parks and Recreation 3-on-3 street hoops at Lions Club Park.

 Monday, Aug. 23, 6 p.m.: The Jersey County Historical Society and the Jerseyville Public Library will team up for an old-fashioned ice cream social with Juggling Jeff for the kids and music by Carl and Jim Mager under the gazebo on the Jersey County courthouse grounds.

 Tuesday, Aug 24, 5-8 p.m.: JCBA Open Late throughout Jerseyville.

 Tuesday, Aug 24, 5-8 p.m.: Jersey County Makers Fair under the water tower.

 Tuesday, Aug 24, 6 p.m.: Jersey County Farmers Market in the Outrageous Outdoors parking lot.

 Wednesday, Aug. 25: Arts and Culture Day. Jersey Community High School will team up with local hobbyists to celebrate local artists from around the community.

 Thursday, Aug. 26, 6 p.m.: The Ladies of Shop the 618 host a community bingo at City Center Park.

 Friday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m.: The Stadium Theater hosts its first Movie in the Park in City Center Park.

 Saturday, Aug. 28, all day: 618 Event Retailers have banded together to promote its shopping community.
Scranton, PA (18503)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
London, KY (40741)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 90F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Rio Tinto has been accused of short-changing the traditional owners of an iron ore mine in Western Australia  to the tune of 200 million.

A year after blowing up the sacred Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara, the mining giant has clashed with other aboriginal communities in Australia's iron ore heartlands.

This dispute centres on almost 25 years of royalties the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) says it is owed by Rio from the Yandicoogina mine as part of an agreement signed in 1997.

Backlash: The Yandicoogina mine in Western Australia

Relations have soured since July last year when Rio was scrambling to make amends with traditional landowners following the Juukan Gorge scandal. The Anglo-Australian giant wrote to the GAC declaring it had underpaid royalties from the Yandicoogina mine 'for a number of years' totalling 21 million plus interest.

The cheque was rejected by the GAC which ordered a forensic audit of royalties paid since 1997. The audit, which was funded by Rio, is understood to have identified up to 210 million in underpayments, according to The Australian newspaper.

The sums at stake are insignificant for Rio, which last week announced it had raked in almost 9 billion in profits in the first half of the year on the back of a boom in iron ore prices driven by FTSE 100 giant accused of short-changing Australian aboriginal land owners by 200 million Page 75 demand from China.

Shareholders have been lined up for a record half-year dividend of 6.6 billion. The FTSE 100 giant will be desperate to head off another public row with indigenous communities after promising to treat them more fairly.

Relations have soured since July last year when Rio was scrambling to make amends with traditional landowners following the Juukan Gorge scanda

Rio faced international condemnation and a shareholder backlash after destroying the sacred Juukan Gorge, which contained DNA of ancestors of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people dating back 46,000 years.

The GAC, represents three aboriginal groups  the Banjima, Yinhawangka and Nyiyaparli  and distributes mining royalties to alleviate poverty, sickness and homelessness. Its 1997 agreement with Rio is one of the oldest between native title owners and a major miner.

Royalties are calculated based on the level of ground disturbance around the mine, with adjustments for the iron ore price. The disagreement between Rio  led by chief executive Jakob Stausholm (pictured)  and the GAC revolves around differences in their interpretation of what constitutes 'disturbance'.

Rio is led by chief executive Jakob Stausholm

Rio's initial offer of 21 million was based on a recognition that it failed to include damage to the land caused by infrastructure, such as railways, in its original payments. But the GAC audit also included land that had been 'partially' affected by mining operations, to come up with a far bigger sum.

Rio said it was only provided with a copy of the report last Thursday and is in 'talks with the GAC in an effort to resolve this issue related to historical payment for infrastructure ground disturbance'.

A spokesman said: 'Rio Tinto has provided both GAC and its auditors with all relevant information, including aerial surveys and detailed financial models of payment calculations.'

Indigenous groups argue they have been exploited for decades and want new laws giving them the power to veto projects. Under controversial aboriginal heritage laws drafted in Western Australia almost 50 years ago, mining firms can be granted ministerial consent to destroy or damage sacred sites.

The Western Australian government promised to bring in new legislation following the Juukan Gorge scandal. But although the draft bill gives indigenous groups the right to appeal against mining projects, the state's aboriginal affairs minister has the final say.
The boss of L&G has urged pension funds and savers to invest more in Britain

The boss of Legal & General (L&G) has urged pension funds and savers to invest more in Britain if they want to stop the stock market being plundered by pandemic predators.

Nigel Wilson, who has led the insurance giant for nearly a decade, said he was increasingly worried about companies being snapped up by private equity giants and overseas rivals.

He has urged UK investors to get better at investing in domestic companies and realising their value, adding: 'We have to invest more in the UK. There's a big difference between being a UK company and being a subsidiary of a foreign company, in terms of where the decisions are made and the levers are pulled.'

Companies including grocer Morrisons, defence firms Ultra Electronics and Meggitt, and housebuilder St Modwen have all found themselves in bidders' crosshairs in recent weeks. L&G, which is the UK's largest provider of workplace pensions, with more than 1 trillion of savers' money, has been trying for several years to push for greater flexibility in where pension pots can be invested.

It already invests in affordable housing, and has a partnership with Oxford University to build homes for students and staff.

But Wilson thinks pension pots could be used to boost the economy, while also still providing a good return for savers, if more of the money went towards venture capital, green infrastructure and affordable homes.

L&G unveiled its results for the first half of the year. Operating profit climbed 14pc to 1.1bn, and its investment management business pulled in 27.4bn more. It will pay a dividend of 5.18p, up 5pc from last year.
The bosses of Meggitt could reap more than 12 million from the sale of the company to US industrials giant Parker-Hannifin. The company became a takeover target on Monday when Parker tabled a 6.3 billion bid for the FTSE 250 firm.

The deal values its stock at 800p per share  a whopping 70 per cent more than it was worth before the approach  and the board has backed the deal.

If it goes through, chief executive Tony Wood could take away as much as 7.4 million from the sale of his stake in the company and his long-term share awards.

Meggitt traces its history back to 1850s and the invention of the altitude meter for the hot air balloon. It now has a 9,000-strong global workforce, including 2,000 in the UK, and makes parts for planes and military aircraft such as the F/A18 Hornet

Finance boss Louisa Burdett could pocket up to 2.8 million. And chairman Sir Nigel Rudd, dubbed by his critics 'The Man Who Sold Britain', will receive 2 million for his 250,000 shares.

Coventry-based Meggitt traces its history back to 1850s and the invention of the altitude meter for the hot air balloon. It now has a 9,000-strong global workforce, including 2,000 in the UK, and makes parts for planes and military aircraft such as the Royal Air Force's Typhoon jets.

Wood, 55, has led it since the start of 2018, when he was promoted from operations chief. He was previously the head of Rolls-Royce's aerospace division. Burdett, 52, assumed her role in 2019, after four years at Victrex. Rudd, 74, has been at the helm of Meggitt's board since 2015.

He was planning to step down as chairman last year but when Covid broke out postponed his retirement to give continuity. Rudd has earned more than 2.1 million in chairman fees from his time at Meggitt, and owns another 2 million of shares in the group.

Should the merger go through, it will be the seventh mega-deal Rudd has overseen with an overseas buyer, and the second in a year. He also chaired Signature Aviation  previously known as BBA  when it was sold to a consortium including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and private equity firm Blackstone last year.

The serial chairman sold a series of businesses between 2006 and 2016, including glass maker Pilkington and Boots. The Meggitt trio's takings would be determined by a board committee that decides their remuneration packages.

The head of Parliament's defence committee, Tobias Ellwood, has said the Government should take 'golden shares' in companies such as Meggitt to stop them falling prey to foreign takeovers

Parker said in its offer documents that the pay committee is likely to hand Wood and Burdett less than the full amount of shares that are bound up in long-term performance plans. But it is at their discretion, and often in takeovers these board groups allow bosses to receive the maximum amount of shares.

Rudd, Wood and Burdett's payouts could come at the expense of UK jobs and factories. Parker's bid has proven controversial, and it comes at the same time as US private equity group Advent International is trying to buy Meggitt's FTSE 250 peer Ultra Electronics.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is closely monitoring the deal talks, signalling he is considering intervening. Although Parker has taken the rare step of offering a string of promises, such as keeping Meggitt's headquarters in the UK and investing in its research division, almost all the undertakings only cover a 12-month period.

This has prompted concerns about the long-term prospects for its staff, sites and technology.

Meggitt chief executive Tony Wood

There is now a growing chorus of politicians and former military chiefs urging ministers to call in the deals and investigate them to see if they pose a threat to Britain's national security.

The head of Parliament's defence committee, Tobias Ellwood, has said the Government should take 'golden shares' in companies such as Meggitt to stop them falling prey to foreign takeovers. Such shares, which ministers have in BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, mean they can veto takeovers.

And the former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West, has said he believes the Meggitt swoop could be a threat to national security. He added that ministers should consider levying fines against companies that break their undertakings.
Alexia Inge (left) and Jessica Moore (right)

A former model and her business partner will pocket 76m after selling their beauty start-up Cult Beauty to The Hut Group (THG). Alexia Inge, 44, and Jessica Moore, 46, founded the online retailer in 2008 with 75,000 of savings, but will now sell the company for 275m.

Ahead of the sale Inge and her family owned a 18.7 per cent stake, while Moore (right), a former consultant for investment banks, and her family held 9.1pc, according to filings.

Other investors to benefit from the sale include Mark Quinn-Newall, 55, the cofounder of Net-a-Porter, who invested in 2011 and joined the board of directors. THG will take on their 200-plus independent make-up and skincare brands, which include Charlotte Tilbury, Molton Brown and Huda.

The acquisition will contribute 140m of annual sales and 10m of adjusted earnings to THG. Cult was one of a number of online-only upstarts challenging the old hands of the beauty industry, as Inge promised to challenge the 'falsehood that products aren't actually expected to work but just smell or look appealing'.

The online shop has grown its customer base to 1.7m loyal fans, and even before the pandemic turbo-charged online beauty sales, it was growing its revenue at around 37pc per year. The move takes THG's total buying spree to 850m since its blockbuster float in September last year.

The conglomerate will aim to expand Cult's reach internationally using its Ingenuity platform, a service that offers THG's online retail and logistics infrastructure to third parties. Less than 50pc of Cult Beauty's sales are made abroad, which makes expansion overseas a 'compelling opportunity', bosses said.

THG chief Matthew Moulding said Cult was 'frequently partner of choice for emerging indie brands', and praised its 'personalised, content-led approach and enthusiastic consumer base'. In an update to guidance THG said sales will grow between 38pc and 41pc in 2021, above previous guidance of 30pc to 35pc.

The group is expected to report sales of around 2.2bn. Bosses also said its collaboration with its new investor Softbank, a technology giant which owns brands across Asia, had made 'good progress'. Jefferies said the update pointed to 'strong trading performance', adding: 'The September interim results promise to detail good progress on many fronts.' THG shares rose 1.2pc, or 7p, to 586.5p.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce managed to return to profit in the first half of 2021, but has warned that pandemic-hit international air travel will not recover fully until after 2022.

The Derby-based group posted bottom-line profits of 393million for the first six months of the year, representing a sizeable improvement from its mammoth losses of 5.4billion a year ago.

Driven by huge cost cuts, on an underlying basis, the group reported pre-tax profits of 133million over the period, compared with losses of 3.2billion a year earlier.

Warning: Rolls-Royce boss Warren East says international aviation will take longer to recover from the pandemic than expected

It believes international travel will bounce back once border restrictions are lifted, but warned that the recovery will take longer than first forecast.

The company said: 'We are confident that, when border restrictions are lifted, the recovery of international travel will accelerate.

'However, based on current industry forecasts for the pace of recovery in international travel, this is likely to occur beyond the initial expected timeframe of 2022.'

The engineering group's civil aerospace arm, which is its biggest division, suffered as the pandemic hammered the global aviation sector.

Boss Warren East sought to take swift action to cut costs and raise extra capital to strengthen the group's battered balance sheet, with the aim of saving a total of 1.3billion by the end of next year.

This includes swinging the axe on at least 9,000 jobs worldwide, two-thirds of which will affect the UK, and Rolls confirmed today that around 8,000 have already gone under the programme.

Rolls said its goal to raise at least 2billion from selling off some parts of the business was 'progressing well', having announced a deal on Wednesday to offload Norwegian maritime engine maker Bergen to British group Langley Holdings.

It added that the sale of its Spanish unit, ITP Aero, was 'moving forwards' and that it expects to complete the sale of the civil nuclear instrumentation and control business later this year.

Rolls confirmed late on Wednesday that it is in exclusive talks to sell ITP to investment group Bain Capital over a reported 1.5billion deal.

Mr East declined to comment on the price, except to say the group was holding 'live discussions.'

Job cuts: Rolls-Royce is cutting 9,000 jobs worldwide, two-thirds of which are in Britain

The chief executive said the expansion of the travel list today was 'a very encouraging' sign, but added that, while domestic and business travel markets are recovering, international travel is still lagging behind.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We're concentrating on what we can control.

'Clearly we can't control how fast markets open up, but anything that governments around the world can do to open up air travel is good news for our business.'

Shares in FTSE 100-listed Rolls are currently up 1.22 per cent or 1.28p to 105.82p. A year ago the group's share price was 88.71p, meaning it has risen by around 19 per cent in the past year.

Return to profit: Rolls-Royce returned to a profit of 133m in the first half of this year

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: 'There is no question that Rolls Royce continues to face significant challenges due to the slow summer for aviation given its recent decision to ask its 19,000 staff to take unpaid leave for two weeks as it strives to preserve cash.

'The liquidity position remains strong with 3bn in cash at the end of the half year, with the signing a two-year extension to its unused 1bn loan facility to 2024.

'The civil aviation business continues to remain a core part of the business, albeit much smaller now, making up just over 40 per cent of revenues, however defence remains a bright spot, contributing a good chunk of today's profits.

'All in all an encouraging update, however there still remains some way to go as the company reorientates its business model.'
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico will host a new round of talks between Venezuelas government and opposition with Norway mediating, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday.

Without providing more details, Lopez Obrador said Mexico offered to be the site of talks expected to begin Aug. 13 between representatives of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition.

"We accept because we are looking for dialogue and agreement between the parties," Lopez Obrador said.

Previous attempts at dialogue in 2019 in Oslo and Barbados failed to bring the sides to agreement.

In 2017 and 2018, representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition held talks in the Dominican Republic that were mediated by the international community, but they were also unsuccessful.

But the U.S. and its allies appeared ready to give the latest talks a chance. Among the delegates at the talks will be Carlos Vecchio. Vecchio is the U.S. representative of Juan Guaido, the opposition leader recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

FILE - In this April 20, 2021 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arrives to give his daily, morning news conference at the presidential palace in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador said on Aug. 5, 2021 that Mexico has accepted to host talks between representatives of the Venezuelan government and its opposition, with Norway as the mediator. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

Guaido wrote in his Twitter account that Venezuela's situation - marked by economic collapse and the coronavirus pandemic - "is unsustainable."

"We should make efforts so that the negotiation that is about to start reaches an agreement, Venezuela needs it," he wrote. The goal of the talks is "free and fair elections and guarantees for everyone."

A State Department spokesman, speaking on background, said "creating the necessary conditions to enable free and fair elections to take place in Venezuela requires Maduro regime representatives to engage in sincere discussions with the opposition, led by interim President Juan Guaido, that result in a comprehensive negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis."

"These negotiations, which must be led by the Venezuelans themselves, should include participation from all Venezuelan stakeholders, allow for the unconditional release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, be time-bound, and permit Venezuelans to express themselves politically through free and fair local, parliamentary, and presidential elections."
By Allison Lampert and Sanjana Shivdas

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it would generate higher revenue and use less cash in 2021, helped by a rebound in business jet flights and demand for aircraft after the pandemic sapped orders last year, driving up its shares as much as 8%.

Supply chain challenges that have hit aerospace globally would not prevent Bombardier from meeting its 2021 target of 120 business jet deliveries, Chief Executive Eric Martel told reporters.

Bombardier is close to being sold out of all aircraft in 2021, with Martel telling analysts earlier he expects orders to pick up for the company's flagship Global 7500 jet "between now and year-end."

According to FlightAware data, business jet flights rose 23% in the week beginning July 21 over 2019 levels in the United States, the world's largest market for corporate aviation.

Separately, Bombardier also disclosed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would join a global investigation into suspected bribery related to decade-old sales of company jets to Garuda Indonesia.

Bombardier shares were last up 5% at C$1.58.

Rivals Textron and General Dynamics Corp's Gulfstream Aerospace are raising production to meet higher demand.

Asked whether Bombardier was also considering higher production rates, Martel said the company is instead focused on increasing its $10.7 billion order backlog.

Free cash flow usage for 2021, a metric closely watched by investors, is now expected to be better than $300 million, compared with previous guidance of $500 million.

Full-year revenue is expected to exceed $5.8 billion, up from more than $5.6 billion.

Business jet revenue for the three months ended June 30 jumped 50% to $1.5 billion, compared with the $1.3 billion that analysts were expecting, according to Refinitiv.

But Bombardier posted an adjusted net loss of $137 million, or 6 cents per share, for the second quarter.

Bombardier, the latest aerospace group to face scrutiny over past deals, has previously said the U.S. Department of Justice and Britain's Serious Fraud Office are investigating the acquisition and lease of its CRJ1000 aircraft to Garuda between 2011 and 2012.

"We are participating in the investigation, we support the investigation," Martel told reporters. (Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Steve Orlofsky)
Cresaptown, MD (21502)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 99F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Local

Vote coming for bridge replacement

PLAINFIELD  Residents have another town-wide vote coming asking for approval of a large amount of funding, this time for a bridge that needs to be replaced on Brook Road.

At the boards regular meeting Tuesday night, the group discussed the need for about $311,000 in funds to move the water and sewer lines impacted by the Route 2 and Main Street intersection fix. A town-wide vote is needed to approve the funding and the project is on hold until the town gets that approval and signs agreements with the state. This money would be the towns match for a FEMA grant to replace the bridge on Brook Road in the village. That project is estimated to cost $1.24 million. If the town received a 20-year loan for its match, local officials said the actual cost, including interest, would be about $387,000.

The town is also on the hook for about $150,000 for the pedestrian bridge project on Main Street, which it is paying with a loan. Construction is expected to get underway next week.

The board wanted to get feedback from the public about the project at Tuesdays meeting. Board members were to decide if the town should apply for the FEMA grant this year or wait because of the other financial burdens currently impacting the town.

Milone & MacBroom, engineering consultants from Waterbury, inspected bridges on Mill Street and Brook Road a few years ago and determined they werent wide enough to handle major rainstorms, suggesting the town would need to widen the underpasses of the bridges to allow water and debris to flow through smoothly in the event of a flood.

The Brook Road bridge suffered serious storm damage twice in less than five years  most recently in summer 2015  and is considered the higher priority of the two. Engineers have recommended the removal of the bridge on Mill Street as well, but town officials have said thats not something the taxpayers can afford. They hope replacing the Brook Road bridge will alleviate many of the issues.

The Great Brook bends to the right before it gets to that bridge. Debris, instead of flowing straight through the underpass, gets hung up on the riverbank.

Two people who live next to the Brook Road bridge, Yoko Kishishita and Susan Grimaldi, told the board about their experiences dealing with flooding there.

Kishishita said she was out-of-state when the flooding took place in 2015. She said she left for Nevada in the morning and by the time she got off the plane her cellphone was inundated with messages from neighbors letting her know her house had been flooded.

Its just something you never expect to happen to you, she said.

Kishishita said she came back to town and discovered she couldnt get to her house because the bridge was heavily damaged from the storm. She had to find another way home.

Grimaldi talked about her experience in August 1989 where heavy rains caused flash flooding. She said the bridge jammed with debris and within minutes water was flowing into her home. Grimaldi said she carried her 3-year-old son and rushed as quickly as she could out the back of the house.

It was terrifying, she said.

Residents, including board member Sasha Thayer, discussed what options might be available to address the flooding. Thayer said the town could buy up the properties around the bridge so no one would be in danger by living there. Others pointed out that would cost the town more than the bridge replacement.

Town Clerk Linda Wells wanted residents to consider the financial impact of going forward with the project. Wells suggested the town find some other way to make the area safer without this extreme cost.

Thayer said resident Michael Billingsley suggested installing a box culvert there instead of replacing the bridge.

Board member Tammy Farnham pointed out the town is well past the stage to discuss options. Farnham said the town hired an engineering firm to design the new bridge, a design which has since been completed, and there is an estimated cost.

Its just do we do that now with this grant or do we try to figure out the budget and do it next year, she said.

Board chairman Jim Volz agreed with Farnham that the question before the board is when to replace the bridge, not if it should be replaced.

Thayer said she wasnt comfortable applying for a grant without getting the approval of residents for the towns match first.

Resident Alice Merrill, who has been helping the town with grant applications, said the details for this years grant application havent come out yet and are expected later this month. Merrill said the application needs to be in by January.

Thayer suggested holding a special town meeting for the vote prior to the deadline. If the town decides to wait on the funding, the vote could be held on Town Meeting Day in March.

No action was taken Tuesday, with board members preferring to wait on the grant details before making a decision.

eric.blaisdell @timesargus.com


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Webster Groves, MO (63119)

Today

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
BALLSTON SPA - Just hours after being sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for a $100 million bank fraud scheme on Wednesday, former Clifton Park businessman Michael Mann was also sentenced to a term of 8 to 24 years in state prison on a related money laundering charge he pleaded guilty to last fall.

Mann, 51, confessed to state and federal law enforcement agencies shortly after Labor Day weekend in 2019 to the massive fraud after his payroll services company, MyPayrollHR, collapsed, forcing thousands of workers across the county to go unpaid for weeks.

Mann had been illegally using the millions of dollars in payroll funds he controlled for the companies that used his software to pay down tens of millions of dollars in loans he had obtained from his lenders using falsified financial statements.

Mann got away with the deception for years, but just after Labor Day 2019, Mann's banks froze his accounts due to suspicious activity, including payroll money he had temporarily diverted into his own accounts at Pioneer.

The discovery led to the collapse of MyPayrollHR and set off a firestorm across the country as hundreds of small businesses that used Mann's software were faced with nearly $30 million in lost payroll and angry employees.

Mann quickly confessed, and last fall he pleaded guilty to 12 felonies in federal court and one money laundering charge in state court in Saratoga County where MyPayrollHR and other businesses that Mann owned were run out of Clifton Park office.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office's investigation found that Mann had to do hundreds of transactions a day moving money between dozens of bank accounts that he controlled to ensure that his loans remained in good standing and his scheme was not uncovered. The transactions amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Over the course of just a few years, Michael Mann laundered more than $1 billion on the backs of thousands of employees and businesses in New York and across the nation, James said after Mann's sentencing in state court in Ballston Spa. While his unlawful and heartless Ponzi-like scheme left his innocent victims devastated, let this mans sentence serve as a warning that this kind of mass deception and fraud will not be tolerated."

It is unclear if Mann will end up spending any time in state prison after his federal prison term ends, possibly within a decade. Federal prisoners can reduce their sentencing with good behavior by 15 percent, meaning Mann could complete his federal sentence within about 10 years.

After that it is unclear what would happen next with Mann's state prison sentence, which runs concurrently with the federal sentence. With the state sentence set at eight to 24 years, the AG's office believes Mann will spend time in state prison after his federal stint ends, while Mann's legal team expects he will have satisfied the state sentence by then.
COXSACKIE  The proposed Flint Mine Solar farm cleared what is perhaps its last major hurdle Wednesday when the state Public Service Departments Siting Board lent its approval to the 100 megawatt (MW) project.

Flint Mine had been on track for approval since August 2020 when the Public Service Department found that the plan was compliant with guidelines and requirements for such a project. But Wednesdays decision brought it a step closer to groundbreaking.

Todays unanimous approval is a very big step for FMSafter five years of development effort, Bill Moore, the principal in Hudson Energy Development, which is building the farm. I think the path forward to a groundbreaking, possibly later this year, is clear.

Still needed is the specific construction plan and a separate approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Thats because a small part of the project would be in wetlands under federal jurisdiction.

But even opponents said the project appeared poised to move forward.

I don't know what we can do at this point, said Nancy Harm, a member of Saving Greene, a group worried about the size of this, and other projects, including a 50 MW proposal by Hecate Energy. All in all, Saving Greene notes that seven solar projects have been proposed for the area around Coxsackie and Athens, where part of the Flint Mine will also be located.

Group members say they worry the size of the farms could hamper the tourism and real estate markets that have grown in the area, especially since the pandemic prompted renewed interest from people downstate.

Two years ago, proponents of the project also went to court to fight a town zoning law that would have prevented construction of the project. The case was later settled.

State utility officials on Wednesday praised the approval.

With todays decision, we are helping deliver on New Yorks strategy for carbon reduction and a clean-energy economy, said John Howard, who is Siting Board chair and Public Service commissioner. The Public Service Commission oversees the department and siting board.

The Flint Mine solar farm will benefit all New Yorkers by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, said Howard.

At 100 MW, the facility should generate enough power for about 21,000 homes. It will connect to the National Grid electric utility.

The developer has said it could create nearly 490 manufacturing, supply and construction jobs worth $41.3 million in wages. Once built, however, it, like most solar farms, will entail relatively few jobs.

Hudson Energy plans to buy as much as 90 percent of the land needed for the project directly from current landowners, with a price tag of about $15 million.

Local governments will get payments in lieu of taxes over 25 years going to the towns of Athens and Coxsackie, Greene County, the Coxsackie-Athens school district, the West Athens-Limestreet Fire Co. and Coxsackie Hose Co. #3, and the Coxsackie and Athens libraries.

For example, payments of special district taxes to fire and library districts are estimated to total an additional $192,257 and $243,585 annually, respectively. Additionally Hudson Energy agreed to buy conserve the 62.5-acre Flint Mine Hill parcel and create a nearly 300-acre grassland conservation area improved with a recreational walking trail near Flint Mine Road.
ALBANY  A flurry of calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to step down or be impeached came from elected officials statewide in the wake of Tuesday's stunning report allegeding Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.

But the Albany County Legislatures leadership took a different tone, one that some members are taking issue with for specifically not criticizing the governor or calling for his ouster.

On Tuesday, the legislatures Democratic leaders, including Chairman Andrew Joyce and Majority Leader Dennis Feeney, released a statement after Attorney General Letitia James report on the Cuomo investigation became public.

The statement did not call for Cuomo to resign or for the state Assembly to impeach him. Instead, the statement said the report illustrated the importance of addressing toxic workplace environments.

It is incumbent upon leaders to ensure it does not persist when it is identified and the necessary actions are taken when it does, it reads.

The statement stood in contrast to other local elected Democrats, including County Executive Dan McCoy, Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Assemblyman John McDonald and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, all of whom called for Cuomo to leave office or be impeached. Several individual legislators also called for Cuomo to resign, as did the countys Democratic Committee.

In an email exchange Wednesday morning, Legislator Gary Domalewicz questioned why Joyces office had rejected his request for a proclamation calling for Cuomos resignation and why the Legislature didn't take a stronger stance on James report. Anything less than a message calling for the governor to resign was a disservice to county residents, he said in an email copied to the entire Legislature.

Any legislator can make a proclamation, but the chairmans office typically puts out the official language.

Joyce and Domalewicz, both Albany Democrats, have a contentious relationship. Domalewicz served briefly as majority leader when Joyce took over as chairman in 2018 before being forced out of the position. Domalewicz said the issue over the county Legislatures message on Cuomo was not about politics.

Domalewicz's email was followed up by several others, including Colonie Republican Jennifer Whalen, who asked whether the women in the legislature would be issuing a statement condemning Cuomo.

I have not received a draft yet, but I believe we should be taking a strong stand against this disgusting behavior by the governor, she said.

Frank Mauriello, the Legislatures Republican minority leader, called for Cuomos resignation and drafted his own proclamation to sign on to.

Leaders of both parties  up to and including the President  are calling on Governor Cuomo to resign, this is not a partisan issue, but one of conscience, Mauriello said in an email to members Thursday.

On Thursday, Joyce said the Legislatures leadership wanted to remain consistent with its earlier message when the investigation into the governor began. It was a reaction to the report, it wasnt anything about the governor or what he should or shouldnt do after the fact, he said in an interview.

Joyce said the legislature was divided on what message it wanted to send, with some members preferring to say nothing at all.

Some members might be reluctant to say anything because they or their family members work for the state, Joyce said. He himself is an intelligence analyst at the states Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Joyce said given that Cuomo had made it clear he was not stepping down, he believed calling for his resignation was a moot point. Instead, pushing for impeachment offered full accountability into the governors alleged actions, he said.

I think given the gravity of the allegations and the weight of the allegations and circumstances, we need a full accounting and a full look at everything, he said.

County legislators were still debating two different proclamations on Thursday evening. One, sponsored by Mauriello, called for Cuomo to step down and for the Assembly to impeach him if he refused. The second proclamation, supported by Joyce, only called for impeachment.
Paul Buckowski/Times Union

SARATOGA SPRINGS  An Albany man was arrested on Wednesday for firing a gun June 26 on Caroline Street and Broadway, Saratoga Springs police said.

A stabbing has been connected to the same incident but so far no one has been charged with that attack. The incident prompted a local police leader to claim outsiders and gangs were responsible for violence in Saratoga Springs, a stance that drew a harsh response from civil rights activists.
Your guide to living in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and beyond

New in town? Looking for a change of scenery? Find your new home or apartment.
SCHENECTADY  The battle over code violations the city imposed on the company operating the Wedgeway building is apparently not over, despite a mixed verdict earlier this week on citations from 2019.

Acknowledging one of his code enforcement officers erred by citing the wrong section of a state code on property maintenance, Chief Building Inspector Chris Lunn said it was an isolated incident. He promises it wont happen again.

I will personally cite all violations on this property and can guarantee you there will not be mistakes, and they better be fixed or he will be going back to court, said Lunn. If our department makes a mistake, Ill own up to it, and if we have to do something to protect the safety of the citizens of this city, thats exactly what Ill do.

He said the city already has pending complaints from April that led to the power being shut off at Wedgeway but that William Eichengrun, who operates the two residential-retail buildings under 271-277 State LLC, has not let them back to reinspect.

The case ended yesterday, but Im back on it today, and Im not waiting, Lunn said.

Over the course of the three-day trial, City Court Judge Robert Hoffman threw out 75 of the 89 violations against Eichengruns LLC, agreeing with his attorney Andrew Healey that the city cited the corporate entity under the wrong section of the maintenance code.

Those matters included citations that there was no heat in the camera shop, which remains open, the building had a crumbling cornice and contained broken or sharp edges of exterior glass tiles all at 271 State St. as well as problems with the one of at least three fire escapes at 277 State Street.

Hoffman ruled the city had proven 14 of the citations having to do with inspection certificate posted on or around an elevator or available at an office for public inspection, loose bricks and an broken, uneven sidewalk in front of the camera shop. He ordered the LLC associated with Eichengrun to pay a $10,000 fine. The city alleged most of the violations occurred roughly from Nov. 27 to Dec. 26, 2019.

Lunn characterized the new violations as exterior property maintenance violations.

As for the mistake by the code enforcement officer, Lunn said there are "multiple books, thousands of pages of materials, in the codes. What we are tasked to do is to try to match the violation to the appropriate code and he cited the wrong section of code.

He explained the way it works now is that if a codes officers see what they deem to be a code violation, they are supposed to, based on a visual inspection, enter a detailed description onto a tablet with any related photos.

Lunn, who was brought on as part of major overhaul in the aftermath of a 2015 Jay St. apartment building fire that claimed four lives, denied that lack of training is to blame for the confusion. He said the code department is short-staffed with only eight full-time code officers with no supervisor. At full strength, he would have a supervisor and a 12 full-time code officers.

Andrew Koldin, the citys top attorney, said Wednesday "there's more than one section of the property maintenance code that can be cited for a particular condition on a property" and that the judge's determination " wasn't based on the fact that no violation existed, it was more of a technical point that the court found in favor of the defendant."

He argued that the 75 violations Hoffman tossed out is somewhat misleading because "each charge carried a separate number of counts based on the number of days that it was found to be in violation."

"I don't see a necessity to change the process but certainly based on Judge Hoffman's decision, we're more cognizant of the violations, for example an exterior structure, to ensure that we're citing the correct provision of the property maintenance code," Koldin said.

Both Koldin and Lunn emphasized the city always tries to work with a property owner in hopes they will make the necessary repairs before it ends up in court.

Healey has previously said the problems inside and out have all been resolved.
















Skip Dickstein

ALBANY  Appellate justices in Albany on Thursday reversed a man's conviction for possessing skimming devices, which are used to steal credit card information, ruling that State Police improperly seized the evidence without a warrant.

In a 5-0 decision, judges with the Third Department ruled that Clinton County Judge Keith M. Bruno erred in admitting a skimming device  and a troopers testimony about it  into evidence during the trial of Eduardo Crosse, who was convicted of possessing forgery devices. Crosse, who has a prior conviction for robbery in Brooklyn, received 3 to 6 years in prison.
PHOENIX (AP)  Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona used his first speech in Congress on Wednesday to pay tribute to John McCain, the late Republican U.S. senator whose seat Kelly now holds.

His legacy is something that cannot be matched, Kelly said. But it's what inspires me serving in this Senate seat. And it's his example of bipartisanship and independence that continues to demand more of us."

McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, watched from the gallery as Kelly's guest. Shes awaiting Senate confirmation after President Joe Biden nominated her as the U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

Kelly was elected last year to finish the last two years of McCain's final term. He is a top target for the GOP and faces a tough reelection fight next year for his own six-year term.

Kelly has gone out of his way to pay his respects to McCain, a Vietnam War hero who was tortured during more than five years of captivity. He visited McCains grave at the U.S. Naval Academy the day before taking office last year and talks regularly about being inspired by McCains example not just as a politician but also as a fellow Navy fighter pilot and a prisoner of war.

McCain was elected six times to the U.S. Senate from Arizona and was the 2008 Republican nominee for president. With his maverick persona and willingness to buck his own party, McCain remains a revered figure in Arizona, particularly with suburban independents and Republicans whom Kelly will need to win reelection. McCain died of brain cancer in 2018.

Cindy McCain was among Biden's most high-profile Republican endorsers. She did not weigh in on the race to finish her husband's Senate term, but her decision not to endorse Republican Martha McSally helped Kelly build his independent brand.

Kelly is a retired astronaut and the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, whose own promising political career was cut short when she was shot in the head during a constituent event in 2011.

In his maiden speech, Kelly also touted the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which he said will deliver wildfire and drought resiliency in Arizona. He celebrated Arizona's thriving semiconductor manufacturing sector, saying national security depends on expanding U.S. production of computer chips. And he said the recovery from the coronavirus must focus on building good-paying jobs.

Arizonans have chased down this virus and the economic fallout that came with it with determination, Kelly said. I came here to have their back.
NASSAU  Deputies are investigating and a local leader is threatening to use subpoenas to find witnesses after a weekend "pit party" ended in a brawl that sent one bloodied victim to the hospital.

The party promoted on social media drew hundreds of participants with a $5 entrance fee to a sand pit at the former Camp White Oaks, where attendees were promised a DJ would perform and security would keep the peace.

But the gathering turned violent, leaving a 21-year-old man injured enough to require hospital care and drawing police and paramedics to the woods to investigate. Complaints poured into Nassau Town Hall, and the Rensselaer County Sheriffs Office is investigating. They included unfounded reports of a missing person and a drug overdose.

If we dont get some answers, well hold a hearing and issue subpoenas, Town Supervisor David Fleming said.

The party stretched from Friday night into Saturday morning, he said. Kids have parties. This is something beyond that, Fleming said.

Local landowners and residents said cars were parked along Nassau-Averill Park Road at the entrance to the sand pit area and drag racing took place on Central Nassau Road just north of the party site. The party was promoted on Facebook as Pop Out Friday the 30th Pit Party in Nassau.

Fleming said the announcement on social media fueled the size of the crowd.

Local roads were obstructed and the crowd reportedly grew big enough to spill onto surrounding streets.

The entrance to the road leading to the sand pit was originally blocked but people going into the property pulled the roadblock away, according to the property owner, who did not want his name used. He said he had blocked the road again after the party. The land is posted against trespassing.

Another property owner said it's a continuing problem in the area where teenagers and young adults go on to private property disregarding barriers and signs. Both men said calls to police result in a response taking hours or no one appearing at all. The town of Nassau does not have its own police department, relying on state troopers and deputies.

Deputies responded around 1 a.m. Saturday to a call of an assault in the vicinity of Smith Road. The injured man was sent to Albany Medical Center Hospital. The victims grandmother created her own post on Facebook. She asked people to provide information about the attack.

She said he was jumped from behind by an unidentified male attacker. In a telephone interview she confirmed her post and said several other men piled on her grandson. People at the party came from Troy and Albany, she said but declined to say more because authorities were investigating.

The sheriffs office asks anyone with information regarding the incidents at the party to contact its Confidential Crime Tip Line at 518-270-0128.
ALBANY  Educators and parents are likely to breathe a big sigh of relief on Thursday with the release of historic levels of federal education funding to public K-12 schools.

The U.S. Department of Education said it has approved New York states plan for use of American Rescue Plan funds for K-12 schools, and has distributed the remaining $3 billion of the historic package of relief funds.

The state Education Department submitted a plan for how the funds would be allocated to the federal government in June.

The 88-page document outlines how districts will use the funds, including how to safely reopen facilities in the fall, support the educator workforce and best expand opportunity for underserved students most impacted by the pandemic, among other areas.

With input from stakeholders, we have developed a plan to best disperse these funds to benefit all students, regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status, said state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa in a statement.

The funds, said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, will enable states to quickly and safely reopen schools for full-time, in-person learning; meet students academic, social, emotional and mental health needs and address disparities in access to educational opportunity that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid the pandemic, schools have faced unprecedented challenges largely when it comes to an increase in operating costs, from the purchase of personal protective equipment to rearranging classrooms, making technological investments to allow for remote learning and paying for more staff and bus runs.

New York is receiving nearly $9 billion total in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, and the federal governments approval of the plan results in the final tranche of funding that will be allocated to support the reopening road map.

The state plans that have been submitted to the Department lay the groundwork for the ways in which an unprecedented infusion of federal resources will be used to address the urgent needs of Americas children and build back better, Cardona said in a statement.

Officials pointed out that the pandemic has widened the education gap, which means students who were already at a disadvantage run the risk of further falling behind.

This money will help us get our children safely back in school and begin to address the social and emotional toll that this harrowing past year has had on our students, our educators and our communities  and through it, building back better and stronger than ever before, said Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, in a statement.

New York joined Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania on Thursday in having their plans approved, marking a total of 22 state plans approved since June.
Thinkstock Images/Getty Images

ALBANY  A sixth person has been arrested in connection with the rally-turned-violent held by supporters of then-President Donald J. Trump outside of the New York State Capitol building in Albany on Jan. 6; the event was timed to coincide with the massive gathering in Washington, D.C. that would subsequently turn into a violent insurrection.

State Police arrested a 59-year-old Averill Park man on Wednesday, charging him with third-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor.
ALBANY State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said Thursday that the governor's office and state Department of Health will not provide health guidance to school districts this fall.

Instead, it will be up to local districts to make decisions about masking, surveillance testing and social distancing as students return to the classroom, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said Zucker, who headed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID-19 task force. He noted that New Yorks COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted earlier this summer.

With the end of the state disaster emergency on June 25, 2021, school districts are reestablished as the controlling entity for schools," Zucker said. "Schools and school districts should develop plans to open in-person in the fall as safely as possible, and I recommend following guidance from the CDC and local health departments.

Zucker's statement caught state education officials and local school leaders off guard and it comes as COVID-19 variants, including the delta variant, rise in New York.

State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa wrote a letter to Zucker Thursday reminding him that the governor had promised to provide districts with fall reopening guidance "for months."

Rosa urged him to consider the department's statutory responsibilities as the state agency that protects public health.

"The Public Health Law provides that the Department of Health is charged with exercising control over and supervising the abatement of nuisances affecting or likely to affect public health as well as supervising and advising any local unit of government and the public health officials thereof within the state in the performance of their official duties," Rosa said in a statement. "Currently, there is no greater nuisance affecting public health and safety than COVID-19. There is an urgent need for timely advice and supervision flowing from the State Department of Health to local and school officials as they navigate these uncertain times."

She said the scandals embroiling the governor should not prevent the health department from executing its responsibilities to the public.

Cuomo faces investigations over alleged sexual misconduct and an impeachment inquiry by the Assembly. An investigation by the state Attorney General's office concluded Cuomo engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment involving current and former state employees, violating state and federal laws, Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday.

School districts have been advised by the state Education Department to begin to devise reopening plans, relying on guidance from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Regional BOCES organizations say they will meet with school officials to devise plans.

The Lansingburgh school district will require all students to learn in the classroom full-time, only granting exemptions to students who can prove they are medically vulnerable, school leaders said Thursday.

Despite the lack of guidance from the state "we have a general idea of what this school year will look like in Lansingburgh and felt it best to communicate to all of you so you can begin to prepare your children for the upcoming school year," Superintendent Antonio Abitabile wrote in an email to families Thursday.

To get students back to in-person learning, the districts will require masks of students, staff, and teachers, and change the social distancing requirement from 6 feet to 3.

Meanwhile, the New York State Association of County Health Officials is advising a return to universal masking in all settings, regardless of vaccination status, citing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases across the state.

The most critical indoor settings include schools, places of business and restaurants," association Executive Director Sarah Ravenhall said. "Masking is still mandated by the federal government in health care and public transportation settings."

County health officials are also advising K-12 schools to consult CDC guidelines when devising fall reopening plans.

School resumes Sept. 9.
ALBANY  A 55-year-old Troy man, who previously was convicted of murder, was sentenced in U.S. District Court Thursday to 51 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Anthony A. Parker in his guilty plea admitted that while working as a driver at the Federal Express distribution center in Menands he took a package from a conveyor belt that was addressed to a Capital Region gun store, the U.S. Attorneys Office FBI Albany field office and State Police said.
New York state has taken a lead in opioid litigation with up to $1.35 billion in settlements over 18 years already agreed upon and additional claims still being considered. According to state Attorney General Letitia James, funds could start flowing to the state in a matter of weeks. But how can we be assured that these funds will be spent wisely so that they have the biggest impact on improving the lives of people who use drugs and preventing adverse effects of drug use on society?

New York has already made a good start. After an initial settlement of $21 million was directed toward the states general fund, the state Legislature required that any subsequent funds be spent on drug-related programs. New York will avoid the experience of tobacco industry settlements where most of the funds went to state treasuries and very little ended up addressing tobacco-related harms. Importantly, New Yorks Legislature also prohibited reductions in state funding of drug-related programs that would offset the opioid settlement funds.

But this lock box approach only protects the money from uses outside of their intended purpose. It doesnt address whether the funds will be spent effectively and efficiently. The New York state legislation sets up an advisory board, which will include nominees from local communities, to make spending recommendations to the Legislature. How will the advisory board make its recommendations and respond to changes in drug use patterns and external shocks such as COVID-19 in the coming years?

Decisions on allocating opioid settlement funds need to be based on high quality evidence about what is working and what is not working in the local context. Massachusetts provides a valuable lesson in using existing data to respond to the opioid crisis. Massachusetts created a unique public health data warehouse that links data from health insurers and state agencies, while maintaining privacy protections. Building these data linkages requires financial resources and trust among state agencies, but the return on investment can be high.

New York can also learn from natural experiments that result from differences in uptake of prevention and treatment programs. For example, during COVID-19, the federal government relaxed requirements for frequent, often daily, visits by methadone maintenance clients, but programs differed in whether and how they changed their practices. New York has more than 100 methadone maintenance programs. The state could use data it already collects to examine the benefits and risks of these changes in order to inform future efforts to make this treatment more accessible.

Another way to produce the data we need is to roll out interventions so that their implementation can be compared. In the HEALing Communities Study funded by the National Institutes of Health, 67 communities located in four states (New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and Kentucky) have been randomized to start a community engagement approach to reducing overdose deaths first or to wait two years before starting their efforts. Communities that start early may benefit sooner, but communities that wait may have greater benefit by learning from the experience of the initial communities.

This type of shared learning across communities and agencies should be an integral part of any use of opioid settlement funds. Experts in quality improvement and implementation science need to be part of the teams that implement opioid settlement-funded programs. The opioid settlements represent a unique opportunity to learn how to spend these dollars wisely so that we can continue to improve the lives of people who use drugs and avoid drug-related harms long after the funds are spent.
Uncredited

Based on Rep. Elise Stefaniks interpretation of the treasonous attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in which she blames House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I think its important to know her answers to the following:

1. Does she lay blame for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at the feet of President Franklin Roosevelt (a Democrat)? He, of course, backed policies that effectively denied the Japanese much-needed resources such as oil to fuel their expansionist campaign in Asia.
ALBANY  The state Assembly's Judiciary Committee on Thursday announced their impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo "is nearing completion" and the panel "will soon consider potential articles of impeachment" against the governor.

"Accordingly, we invite you to provide any additional evidence or written submissions that you would like the committee to consider before its work concludes," attorneys for the committee, Davis Polk & Wardwell, wrote in a letter to the governor's counsel.

The notification to the governor signals the rapidly increasing pace of the impeachment process following Tuesday's release of a investigative report from the office of state Attorney General Letitia James that concluded the governor is a serial sexual harasser who has allegedly victimized 11 women, including a state trooper assigned to his protective detail.

The letter informed the governor's administration to provide any materials to the committee by 5 p.m. on Aug. 13. The committee is also scheduled to meet on Monday at 9:30 a.m.

"Counsel for the committee have previously requested that the governor produce relevant documents in his possession," stated the announcement by Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine, D-Glen Cove. "A subpoena was subsequently issued for such material. The committee continues to expect full compliance from the governor."

The committee would have to approve moving ahead with the process before the full Assembly could vote on articles of impeachment  the equivalent of an indictment. If the articles are approved by the full chamber and handed off to the state Senate, Cuomo would be at least temporarily stripped of his powers, placing Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in charge as the Senate and the judges of the state Court of Appeals conduct a trial in that chamber.

It would be first impeachment of a governor since William Sulzer was removed from office in 1913.

State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, said the Assembly's response is unacceptable and the impeachment process should begin immediately.

"The (state) Assembly, which this year failed to pass sexual harassment legislation, close a rape loophole, (and) make our ethics laws stronger, is acting as if the (attorney general's) report is not enough to begin impeachment today," Biaggi said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon.

The impeachment investigation is moving forward as Cuomo has faced intense pressure to resign. Late Wednesday, Jay S. Jacobs, chairman of the New York State Democratic Party, joined the growing number of public figures calling on the governor to step down. Like others, Jacobs said that, based on the attorney general's report, he believes the governor engaged in systemic sexual harassment.

Thursday brought more calls for his exit from office. George Gresham, the leader of the 1199SEIU health care workers union and a longtime Cuomo ally, called the report's findings "disappointing and disheartening. ... We unequivocally condemn this and all sexual harassment and urge Gov. Cuomo to resign."

The governor spent Thursday at the governor's mansion in Albany. Sources said Cuomo is reviewing his legal options to battle or at least delay what appears to be an inevitable impeachment proceeding.
ALBANY  The state Assembly's Democratic leadership plans to "expeditiously" move through the impeachment of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo following a report by Attorney General Letitia James that found he sexually harassed multiple women, violating state and federal law, and fostered a "toxic" work environment.

The process may move from behind the closed doors of Capitol offices and into the public's eye next week, when the Assembly's Judiciary Committee, which has been conducting a parallel investigation, is scheduled to meet on Monday.

But a Senate trial to convict, based on a little-known and rarely tested state law, has to be at least one month after the Assembly's delivery of any articles of impeachment, which inherently lack similar, clearer standards seen in the federal government and which could be the subject of numerous technical legal challenges.

In the meantime, state lawmakers in their respective parties and committees are actively being briefed on how the state's impeachment process works, based on the four times the lawmakers ever held an impeachment trial in New York and the two times it ended in conviction  one of which was to impeach Gov. William Sulzer in 1913.

That trial came with its own share of controversies, including Sulzer disputing its validity and attempting to hold onto the governor's office while he was technically ousted from power during the trial. The only other person to be impeached and convicted was a state Supreme Court justice; two canal commissioners survived impeachment trials.

Underscoring the lack of precedent around the impeachment process is the state's failure to have a clear standard beside that the Assembly can impeach "for willful and corrupt misconduct in office." State law and constitutional experts have for years critiqued New York for failing to have a standard for what type of conduct is willful and corrupt.

The impeachment laws contain "very little substance," a Fordham Urban Law Journal article from 1987 argued in its "case for reform" by John Dunne and Michael Balboni. They argued the "vacuum demands legislative action," which did not happen.

"Despite the uncertainty of substantive standards and the legitimate concerns over constitutional due process after the Sulzer trial, New York has failed to fashion a workable impeachment law with adequate safeguards against legislative abuse of the impeachment power," Dunne and Balboni wrote.

An impeachment trial could be avoided altogether if Cuomo resigns, something that nearly everyone in his party has called for him to do following James' devastating report, which was released Tuesday. President Joe Biden called for his resignation as did some of his usual staunch allies, union heads and the state's Democratic Party chairman.

Cuomo, though, has been resolute in his goal to fight conclusions that he and his attorneys have said are unfair and resulted from ignored, relevant facts.

"I welcome the opportunity for a full and fair review before a judge and a jury, because this just did not happen," Cuomo said Tuesday in a taped rebuttal to James' report.

If the Assembly does move forward with impeachment the process may look something like this, based on a review of state laws, court documents and law journals:

First, the Judiciary Committee would agree to draft the articles and then it would bring those articles forward to the full Assembly. A majority of the members of that chamber would need to vote in the affirmative to impeach Cuomo.

The Assembly could then deliver its articles of impeachment to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul; both Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins would have to recuse themselves from the trial.

Upon delivery to the Senate, and only then, the governor could be at least temporarily removed from power and Hochul would take the reins.

The Senate would then have to wait 30 to 60 days to call the trial to session, although the 60-day cap could be longer, according to Bennett Liebman, director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law.

A trial, led by impeachment managers made up of members of the Assembly, would then proceed. Two-thirds of the "jury"  the senators present as well as the judges of the Court of Appeals  would then need to vote in the affirmative to convict Cuomo of the charges. The assembled jurors would determine whether the conviction prevents the governor from running from office again.

Before any of that can happen, the Judiciary Committee needs to decide if it wants to proceed with articles of impeachment based solely on the attorney general's report, which is focused on sexual harassment. It could also take into consideration, for example, the rest of its own investigation into the governor, which includes allegations around nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic, a $5.1 million book deal, political favors to his family and the governor's knowledge of a cover-up of structural issues during the construction of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

"If we're moving forward with impeachment, we need to get our ducks in a row within the next month and not be continuing to add charges," Assemblyman Phil Steck told the Times Union.

Steck, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said during a Democratic conference Tuesday they were briefed on the process of impeachment, but he had also learned about it in detail from the Judiciary Committee, including briefings from the panel's attorneys and a private firm hired to lead the investigation.

"I think that waiting a few weeks longer, so that the Assembly can put together whatever the charges might be in addition to the sexual harassment, makes more sense," Steck said.

For Steck, it's about charging Cuomo with not only what he did commit, but also about setting proper precedent and giving the full range of the public an opportunity to be heard across the various issues surrounding Cuomo, including his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, who said Tuesday he plans to move expeditiously with impeachment, declined to elaborate on his statement Wednesday, through his spokesman Mike Whyland.

In terms of timing, Steck pointed to wanting to certainly remove Cuomo from office before the budgeting process gets underway, which typically begins in December. In New York, unlike most states, Steck noted, the governor has an outsized control on the budgeting process, creating some of the power dynamics he's witnessed in recent years. He believes the Assembly would be done well before December.

It comes down to preparation, said Assemblyman John McDonald, who has also been learning about the impeachment process. He emphasized the importance of having a solid case, given the history and lack thereof around impeachment in New York.

"The governor has not given any indication he's going to back down. All indications are he's going to challenge us," McDonald said. "The reality is be prepared."

Note: An earlier version of this story left out the role played by the judges of the Court of Appeals in an impeachment trial.
ALBANY  Jay S. Jacobs, chairman of the New York State Democratic Party, on Wednesday called for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to resign immediately, saying he believes the governor engaged in systemic sexual harassment.

Jacobs, a staunch ally of Cuomo's for many years, had stood by the governor for months and urged others to await the outcome of the state attorney general's investigation into the sexual harassment allegations leveled by multiple women.

The announcement by Jacobs follows increasing demands among Democrats and others for Cuomo to resign immediately, including from at least two commissioners heading state agencies.

"The attorney generals exhaustive and professional investigation yielded conclusions that can only be described as extremely damning and upsetting," Jacobs said in a statement, adding that he had called Cuomo on Wednesday afternoon to inform him of his decision to request his resignation.

"The facts presented make clear that there is a preponderance of evidence of both a toxic workplace and actual sexual harassment," Jacobs' statement continued. "I agree with the attorney general. I believe the women. I believe the allegations. I cannot speak to the governors motivations. What I can say is that the governor has lost his ability to govern, both practically and morally. The party and this state will not be well served by a long, protracted removal process designed only to delay what is now, clearly, inevitable."

Jacobs also said New York and its citizens "are better off having had Andrew Cuomo as our governor. It is my hope that the legacy of the progressive change he brought to our people and the renewal of infrastructure he brought to our state will outshine the darkness of this sorry episode."

Cuomo, in the second-to-last year of his third term as governor, has said he plans to run for re-election next year.

The pressure for Cuomo to resign is intensifying in the Legislature, as well, where both Republicans and Democrats have indicated they are ready to move quickly in any impeachment proceeding.

Also Wednesday, district attorneys in Manhattan as well as Suffolk and Westchester counties said they had requested the records and evidence gathered by the attorney general in support of the 168-page report that concluded Cuomo has been a serial sexual harasser. On Tuesday, Albany County District Attorney David Soares said his office also had requested the files and would examine whether the governor or anyone in his administration may have criminal exposure.

Soares issued a videotaped statement on Wednesday that said "the next steps for us ... is to first and foremost reach out to the very brave women who came forward and went on the record to conduct interviews with the attorney general."

Soares also encouraged others to come forward if they believe they have been victimized but have remained silent. He said his office would offer victim services to anyone who may need it, even if they are not willing to cooperate in a criminal investigation.

Cuomo has defiantly rejected the attorney general's conclusions. In a videotaped statement on Tuesday, he cast an aide who accused him of groping her at the Executive Mansion as untruthful, and he asserted that many of the other women he allegedly victimized had mischaracterized his sexually charged comments or misunderstood his intentions if he had hugged or kissed them.

"The New York Times published a front-page picture of me touching a woman's face at a wedding. ... That is not front-page news," Cuomo said. "I have been making the same gesture in public all my life. I actually learned it from my mother and my father. It is meant to convey warmth, nothing more."

The governor did not address the report's finding that he had also sexually harassed a female state trooper assigned to his protective detail, including subjecting her to unwanted touching.

Those encounters, the report said, included "running his hand across her stomach, from her belly button to her right hip, while she held a door open for him at an event" and kissing her in front of another trooper. The 30-year-old trooper joined the governor's detail in January 2018, two months after Cuomo saw her at a bridge ceremony in New York City and directed that she be offered a job in the Protective Services Unit.
Joan Angel, 88, of Idamay passed away on August 11, 2021 at United Hospital Center. Friends may call at the Hutson Funeral Home in Mannington on Sunday from 2-8 p.m. Funeral services on Monday at 11 a.m.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says the state will take control of a school district in one of the poorest parts of the state
[August 05, 2021] 305 Ventures and Dragon Global Are Co-Hosting Hackathon During Miami Hack Week

MIAMI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 305 Ventures , an early stage venture fund run by active founders that invest in Miami-based technology startups, and Dragon Global , a private investment firm focused on venture capital and innovative real estate investments, are jointly hosting the Dragon House with numerous top AI engineers this week during Miami Hack Week , which concludes on Friday, August 6. Spearheaded by Backend Capital, an early-stage fund focused on investing in brilliant engineers, this hackathon is Miami's first since COVID-19 began and is helping recruit top engineering talent to the city. Zaid Rahman, Co-founder of 305 Ventures and CEO of Miami-based Flexbase , an automated payment platform which helps construction businesses get paid faster and more efficiently, says, "Miami is quickly becoming a 'capital of capital' in a post COVID-19 era. It seems the city is finally having its moment, with the sudden influx of financial and technology rofessionals from New York City and California. Co-hosting a house during Miami Hack Week is helping 305 Ventures identify promising new investment opportunities in the area."



Bob Zangrillo, Founder of Dragon Global and Co-Founder of Magic City Innovation District, who has invested in Facebook, Uber, Didi, Jet.com, and other prolific technology companies, says, "Dragon Global's mission is to leverage artificial Intelligence (AI) to evolve humanity and the world. This hackathon culminates our decade long thesis that Miami will attract the best talent in technology, innovative real estate and asset management. We are now seeing this become a reality as Miami is evolving into a leading US global business hub." Miami is emerging as a global technology and engineering center, especially as the traditional metropolitan centers, such as New York and San Francisco, are fundamentally decentralizing workforces to be hybrid or distributed. Rahman himself recently relocated from San Francisco to Miami, drawn to its vibrant culture, more affordable lifestyle and a business environment that is very responsive and friendly to technologists.

"Miami Hack Week, the first event of its kind in 18 months, serves as a vital launch pad for expanding Miami's technology and engineering brain trust," continues Rahman. "For the entire week, hackers are working on ideas ranging from artificial intelligence to direct to consumer products. The week culminates with an expo on Friday where the hackathon winner will be announced and receive a grand prize. In addition, 305 Ventures is hosting an invite-only awards after-party on Friday evening." About 305 Ventures

305 Ventures is an early-stage venture fund, run by active founders, that invests in technology startups and is accelerating the booming tech industry in South Florida. About Dragon Global

Founded and led by Robert Zangrillo, Dragon Global is a private investment firm focused on venture capital and real estate investments. Dragon Global's current and predecessor funds have managed investments in excess of $1 billion in companies that now have over $1 trillion of market value. As founders, operators and investors, we strive to be the best partners for entrepreneurs building market-transforming consumer and enterprise companies and innovative real estate projects. All of our partners at Dragon Global are former founders, operators, and investors. As strategic real estate investors, we partner with local developers to help invest in and shape communities. Our focus is on developing Live, Work, Play and Learn communities focused on innovation, art, technology, experience, health & wellness and sustainability. Dragon Global is headquartered in Miami, Florida. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/305-ventures-and-dragon-global-are-co-hosting-hackathon-during-miami-hack-week-301349654.html SOURCE 305 Ventures

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[August 05, 2021] The Age of Learning Foundation Appoints Veteran Global Education Leader Mubuso Zamchiya as Managing Director

The Age of Learning Foundation today announced the appointment of Mubuso Zamchiya as Managing Director. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides underserved children free access to educational resources from Age of Learning, Inc. Zamchiya will build on the Foundation's successful first year, expanding and accelerating its work to help governments, educators, and families enable disadvantaged children to build a strong educational foundation on a global scale. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005376/en/ The Age of Learning Foundation appoints Mubuso Zamchiya as Managing Director. (Photo: Business Wire) The Age of Learning Foundation works in partnership with governments and NGOs- including UNICEF and UNESCO as a member of their Global Education Coalition-to provide highly scalable, sustainable digital learning programs proven to measurably advance academic skills, at no cost to the children and families being served. The Foundation also provides teacher training, family engagement, and community outreach support. Zamchiya brings to his new role more than two decades of experience leading organizations and teams in global development and education. Most recently, he was Managing Director of the Luminos Fund, an international NGO helping out-of-school children in low-income countries catch up academically and enter formal schooling. Zamchiya co-led strategy and partnerships with governments, donors, and grant makers, scaling the organization's reach and impact severalfold over four years. Prior to that, Zamchiya served as Senior VP of Partnerships at Ashoka and as CEO of the Albany Charter School Network. In 2000, Zamchiya founded The BOOST Fellowship in Zimbabwe, which has helped thousands of students successfully transition from the classroom to the workplace as leaders and innovators. Zamchiya began his career in strategy and business development roles at the International Finance Corporation, AES Corporation, and Barclays. He is an Echoing Green Fellow, a Pahara Fellow, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and has authored several children's books. He earned his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Bristol, and an MPhil in Development Studies from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. "Hundreds of millions of children throughout the world are educationally underserved. Our goal with the Foundation is to mitigate this crisis by making Age of Learning's proven learning solutions available to this enormous population of children in need," said Doug Dohring, Founder and Executive Chairman of Age of Learning and Chairman of the Age of Learning Foundation. "Mubuso's leadership and experience in creating global education partnerships, along with his passion for our mission and the potential to help hundreds of millions of families, gives me every confidence in his ability to rapidly accelerate our growth going forward." "Age of Learning hs pioneered a highly effective approach to educating young learners at scale by harnessing learning science, putting children and the joy of learning at the center of product development, and maintaining a deep commitment to educational efficacy," said Mubuso Zamchiya, Managing Director of the Age of Learning Foundation. "At a time when digital learning is more central to addressing the global education challenge than ever before, I could not be more excited to join the Age of Learning Foundation. I look forward to working with partners around the world to bring quality digital learning to children everywhere."



To date, the Age of Learning Foundation has provided educational ABCmouse programming reaching millions of children through broadcast networks in Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In addition, through a partnership with the Ministry of Public Education in Costa Rica, the Foundation has made available the ABCmouse Aprende Ingles program for English language learnings to families throughout the country. Under Zamchiya's leadership, programs will expand to serve more countries and families, with an initial focus in Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. About the Age of Learning Foundation

The Age of Learning Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fundamentally improving the education of underserved children on a global scale. The Foundation works with governments and NGOs-including UNICEF and UNESCO as a member of their Global Education Coalition-to provide highly scalable, sustainable digital learning programs that have been proven to measurably advance academic skills, at no cost to the children and families being served. The Foundation also provides teacher training, family engagement, and community outreach support. Working collaboratively with partners such as UNICEF, UNESCO, Save the Children, United Way, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, General Motors (News - Alert) Foundation, ministries of education, and other organizations, the Foundation has enabled children on five continents to benefit from Age of Learning's research-proven learning resources. About Age of Learning, Inc. Age of Learning is a leading education technology innovator, creating engaging and effective learning resources to help children build a strong foundation for academic success. Based in Los Angeles, the company is Bringing Learning to Life by blending educational expertise, innovative technology, and insightful creativity. Age of Learning's flagship product in the U.S., ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy, is a comprehensive curriculum for preschool through second grade, available on all major digital platforms and used by tens of millions of children to date. In 2016 the company launched ABCmouse English to teach English to children internationally, and in 2019 Adventure Academy, the first AAA educational massively multiplayer online game (MMO), serving elementary- and middle-school-aged children with thousands of learning activities in a fun and safe virtual world. 2020 saw the release of My Math Academy for schools, an adaptive, personalized program that helps students master foundational math concepts; My Reading Academy is scheduled for release in 2022. Connect with Age of Learning at www.AgeofLearning.com or on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005376/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Alkaline Fuel Cell Power Corp. Announces Further Strengthening of Commercial Team with Appointment of Business Development Director

Mr. Stephan Laux appointed as Business Development Director, focused on negotiating and securing contracts with retail sales outlets, manufacturers and industry organizations



Mr. Laux will also support the Companys efforts to generate awareness, establish industry relationships and build out AFCPs long-term market potential VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alkaline Fuel Cell Power Corp. (NEO: PWWR) ("AFCP" or the "Company"), a company focused on the design, development and commercialization of alkaline fuel cell heat and power systems for residential, industrial and commercial markets worldwide, is pleased to confirm that effective July 26, 2021, Mr. Stephan Laux has joined AFCPs subsidiary company, Fuel Cell Power NV, in the role of Business Development Director. He will report to the Companys COO, Mr. Jo Verstappen, who also serves as the CEO of the AFCP subsidiary company. Based in Belgium, Mr. Laux will play an integral role as AFCP and its subsidiary companies continue to expand its market reach, secure commercial arrangements with retail sales outlets of boiler manufacturers, and establish mutually beneficial technical and industry collaborations. He assumes responsibility for all global business development activities, including development and execution of AFCPs sales, commercial and customer strategy as well as focusing on margin optimization. Mr. Laux will provide strong commercial and sales leadership to AFCP and its subsidiaries, striving to ensure the delivery of near-term product needs as well as helping to shape the longer-term market and business development of the Company. A key area of focus for him will be to establish strategic partners for the Company, including real estate developers and master planners who build integrated communities that function off the grid and could rely on AFCPs micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems based on alkaline fuel cell technology and powered by hydrogen. Hydrogen is a key component in the transition towards a net-zero emission goal for 2050 as it represents the most promising energy carrier for a sustainable future, said Stepan Laux, BD of Fuel Cell Power NV. I am very excited to be part of this organization as we do our part to shape a sustainable and emissions-free future. Mr. Laux joins the Company from Honeywell UOP, where his passion for hydrogen was born, as he served in progressively more senior roles from Process Engineer through to his final role as Principal Sales Account Manager, Hydrogen. Throughout his 22-year tenure at Honeywell UOP, he designed start-up technologies which included hydrogen purification systems, predominantly for the oil and gas industry. Mr. Laux has helped clients worldwide improve their hydrogen networks in order to meet the evolving challenges facing this industry. Prior to joining Honeywell, he studied Chemical Engineering (Dipl. Ing.) at RWTH University in Aachen, Germany. Engagement of First Marketing GMBH AFCP also confirms that it has retained First Marketing GmbH (the Service Provider), a leading investor relations and marketing firm based in Heidelberg, Germany, to provide marketing services focused on the European markets. Under the agreement, which commences on the date hereof, the Service Provider is to provide ontent distribution, translation and advertising services in Europe. The Company has agreed to pay the Service Provider up to 1,500,000 euros over the coming 9-month period to develop required digital, online and traditional media content, graphics and artwork and to launch comprehensive market awareness programs across the European Union. With ongoing concerns about the continued impact of COVID-19, the Company may not be able to attend trade shows, sponsorship events or in-person road shows and has elected to allocate those budgets to digital efforts to ensure AFCP is able to build awareness and attract market attention given the recent public listing and global reach. Three principals of the Service Provider hold a total of 2,825,000 incentive stock options with an exercise price of $0.33 per share that expire on April 17, 2026.



The Service Provider is arm's length to the Company; however, its three principals previously purchased shares of the Company representing approximately 19.6% of AFCPs issued and outstanding share capital. About Alkaline Fuel Cell Power Corp.

The Company is focused on the development, production and ultimate commercialization of micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems based on alkaline fuel cell technology. A fuel cell is a clean electrical power conversion/generation system, akin to small power stations that provide electricity and an equivalent amount of heat for various purposes. Based on hydrogen powered alkaline fuel cell technology, our technology offers an energy source that generates zero CO 2 emissions with pure water as the only by-product, making it ideally suited for residential and small- to medium-sized power markets. We believe the Company is well positioned to become a positive contributor to the global demand for clean energy, particularly in Europe where demand outpaces supply, and current technology remains inadequate to meet market needs. Further information is available on our website at https://www.fuelcellpower.com/ and on our SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. We encourage investors and other interested stakeholders to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Our common shares are listed for trading on the NEO Exchange under the symbol PWWR. For further information, please contact: Gerard Sauer

Chairman of the Advisory Board

+3214574648

info@fuelcellpower.com Cindy Gray

Investor Relations

+1 (403) 705-5076

info@5qir.com Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, occur or achieve. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys technology, intellectual property, business plan, objectives and strategy. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. NEITHER THE NEO EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE NEO EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.



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[August 05, 2021] Archer Expands Executive Team to Support Next Phase of Growth

Archer, an RSA (News - Alert)  business, today announced the expansion of the executive team with four new members to support key areas of strategic and operational development. Collectively, the executive additions bring more than 80 years of experience from their areas of expertise. "The tremendous change and growth we've experienced over the past year has been very exciting," said Bill Diaz, CEO of Archer. "An important part of our continued expansion is the addition of these executives into key roles for Archer's next chapter. Each of them brings deep experience in their domains and expertise that will provide great value to customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders." Matt Derdeyn, who has joined Archer as Chief Financial Officer, will be focused on the building out of Archer's individual accounting, finance and tax functions in addition to other key areas of supporting business expansion. He will also apply his significant experience around mergers and acquisitions to explore potential inorganic growth efforts. Derdeyn was previously the Chief Financial Officer at LionTree LLC, a leading global investment and merchant bank focused on technology, media and telecommunications. Before joining LionTree in 2016, Derdeyn was Executive Vice President and CFO at Answers Corporation, where he led a marketing SaaS rollup, an IPO registration process and eventual sale to APAX Partners. In addition, Derdeyn spent five years at Charter Communications (News - Alert) as Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance where he was responsible for all mergers and acquisitions and capital markets activities. Shannon Chapman has joined Archer as the Director of Human Resources and is resposible for all aspects of the human resources function including human capital strategy, talent development and engagement. Chapman brings 18+ years of human resource experience primarily in the software and technology space including Perceptive Software, Lexmark, eSolutions and Waystar. She has notable experience in being a strategic HR leader and business partner with focus in performance management, HR technology, workforce analytics, employee relations, compensation, and process automation.



Peadar Duffy has joined Archer as Global ESG Practice Lead, a role where he will leverage his experience and thought leadership in the organizational risk and governance domains, providing strategic direction to the design and development of Archer ESG solutions. Most recently he has been acting as Founder/CEO of SoluxR, which is an Ireland-based firm which automates traditional risk methods with particular emphasis on ESG technical solutions. Following a 15-year career in the Irish military, Duffy began his 25-year career in risk management, which has spanned multiple industry sectors and geographies and included serving on ISO technical committees for Risk Management (TC 262) and the Governance of Organisations (TC 309). Duffy's recent efforts have involved collaboration with other international experts in the development of the first global governance guideline which emphasizes organizational purpose and other ESG-sustainability principles. As previously announced, David Vose has joined Archer as Vice President of Risk Management and in this capacity, he will lead the strategy for Archer Insight, a new set of quantitative risk analysis capabilities. Vose brings his specialization in the quantification of risk and more than thirty years of experience as an independent risk analysis consultant to his new role with Archer. He has consulted in an extensive range of fields using risk analysis techniques to help organizations make more informed risk-based decisions.

About Archer Archer, an RSA business, is a leader in providing integrated risk management (IRM) solutions that enable customers to improve strategic decision making and operational resiliency. As true pioneers in GRC software, Archer remains solely dedicated to helping customers understand risk holistically by engaging stakeholders, leveraging a modern platform that spans key domains of risk and supports analysis driven by both business and IT impacts. The Archer customer base represents one of the largest pure risk management communities globally, with over 1,800 deployments including more than 50% of the Fortune 500. Visit www.ArcherIRM.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005400/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Benevity Partners with the "Go Give One" Campaign to Address Global COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Benevity, Inc., the leading provider of global corporate purpose software, has partnered with the Go Give One campaign, created by the WHO Foundation, to enable companies and their people to join the global movement to help people in low-income countries access COVID-19 vaccines. As part of this partnership, Benevity has rolled out plug-and-play resources that its corporate clients can adopt to easily activate their employees, customers and communities to support the Go Give One campaign. Every $5 donation provides a vaccine to someone who needs it most in a country that currently has limited or no supply through the GAVI COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). This partnership adds to the support Benevitys platform has been driving towards access to vaccines and COVID relief efforts. Nonprofits supporting vaccination equity and COVID-19 relief in India currently make up six of the top 10 causes and have received $31 million in donations since April 2021 from companies and their people. Benevity and its clients PagerDuty and Workday have joined the Go Give One Coalition Challenge which launched in June, aiming to raise $5 million to fund one million vaccines by the end of this summer. As of mid-July the coalition had already reached a $1 million donation milestone, which will fund 200,000 doses for lower-income countries. Time-Critical Health has been a key focus area for our business to help save lives by reaching people faster, says Nisha Kadaba, Global Social Impact Programs Lead at PagerDuty. Over the past year and a half, our team has supported COVID-19 relief globally where we saw downstream effects of the pandemic, but the Go Give One campaign allows us to channel resources upstream and prioritize a more equitable approach. With Benevitys platform, we were able to quickly launch our employee match campaign, activate and amplify our peoples efforts. Since the Coalition Challenge launched in June, support from 22 companies in Benevitys cliet community and their people has funded more than 65,000 vaccines through the Go Give One movement. Benevity has also launched giving opportunities on its Community Impact Portal where anyone can support the effort.



Ending the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide needs support from governments, nonprofits, businesses and as many people as we can collectively reach, says Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation. Partnering with Benevity is an opportunity to engage with more corporations to activate their networks and leverage their platform to efficiently deliver the funds safely to our fiscal partners around the world. We are calling on individuals to help end COVID-19, together making sure we get vaccines to everyone everywhere. If 2020 taught us anything, its that our global community doesnt experience crisis equally, said Kelly Schmitt, CEO of Benevity. Last year, businesses rose to the occasion by using their reach and resources to get us through a once-in-a-lifetime event. Our work is not over yet: WHO Foundations Go Give One campaign is yet another opportunity for corporations to lead a global movement to ensure everyone has access to vaccines for themselves or their loved ones, regardless of place or race.

About Benevity

Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is a leading provider of global corporate purpose software, providing the only integrated suite of community investment and employee, customer and nonprofit engagement solutions. A finalist in Fast Companys 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards, many iconic brands rely on Benevitys cloud solutions to power their purpose in ways that better attract, retain and engage todays diverse workforce, embed social action into their customer experiences and positively impact their communities. With software that is available in 20 languages, Benevity has processed more than 7 billion dollars in donations and 38 million hours of volunteering time, 340,000 positive actions and awarded one million grants to 303,000 nonprofits worldwide. About WHO Foundation

The WHO Foundation is an independent grant-making organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that finds and funds catalytic initiatives to improve world health. A force for collective solutions to enhance governmental responses with the private sector, individual donors, global health community and the public. The Foundations unique approach to funding high-impact initiatives and advancing innovative strategies supports the World Health Organization to strengthen the global health ecosystem. www.who.foundation/en COVAX and the COVAX AMC COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. It is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), GAVI (the Vaccine Alliance), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Through Gavis innovative financing instrument, the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), 92 lower-income economies will receive access to donor-funded COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX at the same time as 98 higher-income, self-financing countries receive their doses. For more information on One World Protected, the fundraising campaign of the Gavi COVAX AMC, click here. More information at COVAX and COVAX AMC. Media Contact: Andrea Davis  Media & Communications Manager  1.403.966.5622  press@benevity.com



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[August 05, 2021] Best Buy Commits up to $10M Investment in Brown Venture Group's Inaugural Fund

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Venture Group LLC, a venture capital firm formed to fund Black, Latino and Indigenous technology entrepreneurs, announced today that Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) has committed up to $10M to its inaugural fund. Brown Venture Group, a majority Black-led organization, was founded in 2018 with the goal of raising $50 million to invest in entrepreneurs of color who in the past have not had access to venture capital and have experienced economic barriers to contribution. The commitment by Best Buy builds on its recent announcement that it will spend at least $1.2 billion with BIPOC and diverse businesses by 2025 with a focus on leaders in the tech industry. "The partnership with Best Buy, represents an important shift in our busness community from doing things for communities of Color to investing and executing with communities of Color in longer-term collaborative business relationships," said Brown Venture Group Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Dr. Paul Campbell. "This hometown partnership is especially meaningful and Best Buy is to be commended for its commitment to co-creating solutions that will lead to greater economic flourishing for contributors of color."



In addition to the monetary investment, Best Buy and Brown Venture Group will also work together to create a stronger community of diverse suppliers as well as launch an entrepreneurial partnership program at Best Buy Teen Tech Centers to help develop young entrepreneurs through education, mentoring, networking and funding access. "We're committed to taking meaningful action to address the challenges faced by BIPOC entrepreneurs," Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said. "Through partnerships like this, we believe we can begin to do this by helping to build a stronger, more vibrant community of diverse innovators in the tech industry, some of whom we hope will become partners of Best Buy in the future."

Disparities = Missed Opportunities = Unprecedented Potential A 2020 Citigroup report estimates that if racial inequity gaps were closed today, the equivalent add to the U.S. economy over the next five years could be $5 trillion of additional GDP. "Best Buy's belief that technology changes lives is in sync with Brown Venture Group's premise that focusing on technology entrepreneurs not only will create greater economic flourishing in communities of color, it will also unlock previously unrealized innovative capacity in the marketplace," said Brown Venture Group Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Dr. Chris Brooks. Brown Venture Group plans to invest in technology startups in various industries including clean energy and retail across the country as well as leverage the abundant startup talent that exists within the region and state of Minnesota. About Brown Venture Group

Launched in 2018, Brown Venture Group, LLC, is a venture capital firm exclusively for Black, Latino and Indigenous technology startups. Brown Venture Group is writing a new playbook for both those interested in launching a minority-owned technology startup and those interested in investing in new technologies. For more information go to brownventuregroup.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-buy-commits-up-to-10m-investment-in-brown-venture-groups-inaugural-fund-301348795.html SOURCE Brown Venture Group LLC

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[August 05, 2021] Canada Strengthens Nuclear Collaboration with Romania

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Canada is one of over 120 countries committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. In order to achieve this ambitious climate target, we must draw on a range of clean energy technologies including nuclear power. Annick Goulet, Canada's Ambassador to Romania, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources; the Honourable Florin Ci?u, Romania's Prime Minister; and the Honourable Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu, Romania's Minister of Energy, today signed an agreement committing the two countries to strengthening cooperation on nuclear energy, including collaboration on CANDU refurbishments and new build projects in Romania. This memorandum of understanding (MOU) underscores the importance of strategic partnerships between Canada and Romania, including our common climate change objectives and our mutual interest in decarbonizing electricity systems in order to meet net-zero emissions by 2050. This collaboration builds on existing relationships between Canada and the European Union and highlights the long-standing partnership in the nuclear energy sector and upcoming projects in Romania. The MOU also demonstrates both countries' joint leadership on advancing nuclear energy and positions Canada as a partner of choice to support nuclear development in Romania. Nuclear energy is a major part of the Canadian energy landscape from coast to coast. With over 60 years of science and technology innovation, a world-class regulator and a vibrant domestic supply chain, Canada's nuclear industry is a leader in an emerging global market estimated at $150 to $300 billion/span> per year by 2040. Canada is also committed to disposing of nuclear waste in a safe and responsible way, in accordance with international and domestic best practices.



As outlined in Canada's strengthened climate plan, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, Canada is a willing and active partner on the international stage and remains committed to working with global partners to transition to an inclusive, net-zero future. Quotes

"Nuclear cooperation has been a pillar of the 55-year-long CanadaRomania relationship. I am proud to have renewed our bilateral commitment by signing this MOU today and look forward to further consolidating our exchanges in all spheres, from security to trade." Annick Goulet

Canada's Ambassador to Romania "My mandate is characterized by two things: investments and reforms. Today, we are here to present a major investment project. To have sustainable economic growth, you need to invest. There is no alternative. The MOU signed today with Canada makes an important statement: clean energy is our common goal." The Honourable Florin Ci?u

Prime Minister of Romania "Today, we made another important step for the future of nuclear energy in Romania. We will collaborate with our partner Canada on the development of nuclear reactors of SNN, Romania's state-owned nuclear energy company, including collaboration on CANDU refurbishments and new build projects in Romania. I want to thank Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, and Annick Goulet, Canada's Ambassador to Romania, for this support. Romania, too, is committed to use more clean energy technologies." The Honourable Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu

Romania's Minister of Energy Related Information MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY OF ROMANIA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF CANADA CONCERNING STRENGTHENING THE COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY

A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy

Doing business in Romania Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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[August 05, 2021] Castellum, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Merrison Technologies

POTOMAC, Md., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Castellum, Inc. (OTC: ONOV) announces signing and closing on a definitive merger agreement with Merrison Technologies LLC , a Virginia limited liability company (Merrison), effective immediately.

Merrison is a government contractor with approximately $3 million in profitable revenue. The transaction will be immediately accretive to Castellums revenue and EBITDA per share and will increase Castellums revenue to approximately $19 million in annualized run-rate. Castellum is also in late-stage discussions with another, previously announced , company which it is looking to close in August. Merrison is an excellent add-on addition to the Castellum family, bringing with it a strong relationship with CACI and expertise in software engineering and IT in the classified arena, said Mark Fuller, President and CEO of Castellum. Merrison also brings us an excellent team with Andrew Merriman, President, and his team of nearly 20 experienced people. We are happy to welcome the entire Merrison team to Castellum.



About Castellum, Inc. Castellum, Inc. (OTC:ONOV) is a defense-oriented technology company which is executing strategic acquisitions in the cyber security, information technology, information warfare, software engineering, and electronic warfare space. In June 2019, the company brought on a new management team specifically to pursue an acquisition-led growth strategy. The company completed its first acquisition in November 2019. Merrison represents the Companys third acquisition - http://castellumus.com/ and https://merrison-tech.com/ Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters disclosed at www.otcmarkets.com. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Mark Fuller, CEO

info@castellumus.com

301-961-4895 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c08cf29a-d1e1-491d-bc64-2a56e948e73d



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[August 05, 2021] Crehana Raises Largest Series B for Edtech in Latin America

Crehana, a leading education technology platform for companies and individuals focused on closing the reskilling and upskilling gap in Latin America, announced today that it has raised $70M in a Series B round led by General Atlantic. This round represents Latin America's largest Series B funding for an education technology company and comes just months after Crehana raised a $13M Series A extension round. Crehana will leverage the funding to expand its enterprise solution, launch operations in Brazil, and invest in new products and technologies. Founded by Diego Olcese, CEO, and Rodolfo Danino, COO, in 2015, Crehana is disrupting the Latin American workforce development industry by delivering a single-point-of-contact for enterprises to access an array of tools that assist through the entire employee learning and development journey, including assessing skill gaps in an existing employee base, learning path recommendations, and progress tracking, among other solutions. Crehana seeks to deliver a fruitful learning experience. The company is focused on the quality and delivery of its courses, controlling the entire value chain from the sourcing of instructors to production, distribution, and consumption of content. Crehana works with more than 400 experts to offer over 700 courses that teach 100,000+ techniques and competencies. Importantly, courses are meant to be localized, offer a mix of asynchronous and synchronous learning, and maximize engagement between instructors, mentors, and students, culminating with a final personal project that validates the learnings and provides employers and students with concrete feedback on opportunities for constant development. Crehana's triple-digit growth in 2020 is a clear indication that Latin America is going through a significant digital transformation and with that, companies are experiencing a rapidly increasing need to reskill and upskill employees. This year, the company plans to continue to accelerate its growth, focusing on aggressively scaling Crehana for Business, its enterprise-grade learning ecosystem, throughout Latin America. "Our mission is to make career development universal and empower Latin American companies to effectively build their teams in the fast-paced world in which we're living," said Diego Olcese, Founder and CEO of Crehana. "Over the past 18 months, we've experiencd record high growth, and we see the market only accelerating. Today, more than 50% of our revenues come from Crehana for Business. With this new capital, we aim to double down on deepening our skills and learning ecosystem for the enterprise. Our goal is to provide talent managers with automated machine learning and AI-driven tools that can enable effective understanding of the gaps on their teams and deliver the necessary value-added support to address them."



Crehana for Business operates on a flexible, cloud-based SaaS (News - Alert) model, providing multiple learning modules that can be packaged and priced according to the needs of its customers. Individual users can also buy subscriptions directly from the platform, starting at $100 per year. The company plans to grow their sales, technology, and support teams throughout its current Latin American footprint and launch operations in Brazil. "Crehana fits well in our investment theme of disruption of the traditional educational industry. We're seeing more individuals trading traditional education for job market-oriented, shorter-duration degrees, and simultaneously, corporations more urgently seeking to upskill and reskill their work forces," said Luis Cervantes, Managing Director and Head of the Mexico City office at General Atlantic. "We believe digital education will increase access to life-changing opportunities for lower income populations across Latin America, and are proud to partner with Crehana to expand access to its innovative platform."

As part of the transaction, Luis Cervantes and Zeev Thepris, Vice President at General Atlantic, will join Crehana's Board of Directors. Crehana marks General Atlantic's sixth investment in Mexico since 2014, when it first entered the country. Since then, General Atlantic has invested nearly USD $1 billion in high-growth Mexican companies. This round brings Crehana's total capital raised to $95 million. Other investors include Mountain Nazca, Salesforce Ventures, Rethink Education, ALIVE Ventures, IFC, and Dila Capital, among others. About Crehana Crehana is a leading education technology company that focuses on closing the upskilling and reskilling gap in Latin America with a mission to make career development universal. The company works with more than 400 experts to offer over 700 courses that teach 100,000+ techniques and competencies. They offer a mix of asynchronous and synchronous learning, and maximize engagement between instructors, mentors, and students, culminating with a final personal project that validates the learnings and provides employers and students with concrete feedback on opportunities for constant development. For more information on Crehana, please visit the website: www.crehana.com. About General Atlantic General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 400 growth companies throughout its history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to scale innovative businesses around the world. General Atlantic currently has over $65 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2021 and more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto (News - Alert) , Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Stamford. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005328/en/

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[August 05, 2021] G2 Bio Mourns the Passing of Chairman and Co-Founder Tachi Yamada, M.D.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- G2 Bio Companies (G2 Bio Management Company, Inc., and affiliates) announce with great sadness the passing of co-founder and Chairman, Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada, M.D., who passed away suddenly on August 4, 2021 at the age of 76.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tachi, who co-founded G2 Bio with me and was my good friend. Together we formed the company with a shared vision to address the unmet needs of patients with the most advanced genetic-based therapies, and its now more than ever my goal to carry this vision forward in his honor. On behalf of G2 Bio and the whole team at the Gene Therapy Program, we extend our deepest sympathies to Tachis family and friends during this difficult time. He will be sorely missed by all, said James Wilson, M.D., Ph.D., Rose H. Weiss professor and director, Orhan Disease Center; professor in Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine; and director of the Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at the University of Pennsylvania.



Prior to his passing, Dr. Yamada was a Venture Partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners since 2015, where he focused on both creating companies and providing strategic guidance to existing portfolio companies. Dr. Yamada founded numerous start-up companies, including Phathom Pharmaceuticals and Passage Bio, and served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and as Chairman of Research and Development at GlaxoSmithKline. About the G2 Bio Companies

The G2 Bio Companies were founded in 2021 to fund and develop potential next-generation gene therapy candidates from the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program. The companies are based in Philadelphia, PA.

For further information, please contact: Sarah McCabe

Stern Investor Relations, Inc.

sarah.mccabe@sternir.com

212-362-1200 Financial disclosure: The University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Wilson hold equity interests in the G2 Bio Companies and will be entitled to receive licensing revenues based on successful technology development and commercialization.



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[August 05, 2021] Globalstar Announces Second Quarter 2021 Results

Globalstar (News - Alert) , Inc. (NYSE American: GSAT) today announced its operating and financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Dave Kagan, Chief Executive Officer of Globalstar, commented, "We are pleased with the improvement of several key performance indicators during the second quarter, including a significant increase in SPOT and Commercial IoT equipment sales, which is a leading indicator of future subscriber activations and service revenue growth. SPOT activations continue at record levels with LTM gross activations up 26% from the prior period, while Commercial IoT ARPU continues to increase driven by higher usage and a favorable rate plan mix. We have executed on our robust sales pipeline while opening up new opportunities that would expand the customer relationships and distribution channels that we currently serve." Kagan continued, "Many people in our organization are focused on the blocking and tackling associated with supporting our existing VAR relationships, progressing our product development efforts, and developing our next generation of network assets. These fundamental roles are critical to our success and they have been hitting on all cylinders. However, what will be essential to our ability to meaningfully capitalize on the vast opportunities available to us, particularly in the Commercial IoT space, is identifying, pursuing and closing large deals. One such opportunity in particular is remote monitoring in the alternative energy industry, which has progressed over the last few months with successful field testing. While this opportunity isn't yet secured, deployments such as this one will expand the use cases and industries that our products can support, which would further reduce the oil and gas concentration that contributed to lower demand during 2020 and provide a more diverse revenue base. "We also continue to reduce leverage, and I am happy to report that we have less than $50 million of net first lien principal outstanding and we are working to continue to optimize our balance sheet." Jay Monroe, Executive Chairman of Globalstar, commented, "Dave and his team are executing on the plan to transition the satellite business to an internet of things focused service and I am confident that the new products in the pipeline will meet the evolution of the IoT space beyond the reach of cellular. The spectrum opportunity is also progressing very rapidly, and its potential gets clearer to us every quarter. While Nokia, Airspan (News - Alert) and XCom continue to pursue Band 53 opportunities, we have added to the growing list of Band 53 supporters to now include a large global systems integrator. We have deployed our first revenue producing private network in Africa at a large mining complex and have made promising inroads with several large potential partners across the continent while continuing to execute on opportunities in the western hemisphere." Monroe concluded, "Lastly, the international regulatory effort continues across four continents and we expect to announce additional regulatory wins that will take us to over one billion people covered by Band 53 authorities. This is a very nice time to be at Globalstar with the capital structure greatly improved and the realization of our long held strategy closer and closer to our grasp." FINANCIAL REVIEW Revenue Total Revenue Total revenue for the second quarter of 2021 decreased slightly from the second quarter of 2020. Higher revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales was offset by lower service revenue. Service Revenue Service revenue decreased over the prior year's quarter due primarily to fewer Duplex subscribers. While the decline in Duplex subscribers is expected to continue as we focus our resources on other revenue streams, we continue to see consistent subscriber activations and recurring service revenue; however, these activations are limited by the amount of devices available for sale. Conversely, SPOT activations were up 33% and churn was down 40% from the second quarter of 2020. This positive subscriber behavior had led to an end-of-period subscriber increase during the quarter, following a period of elevated subscriber churn during 2020. Despite the improved subscriber metrics, service revenue declined 3% during the second quarter of 2021 due to a decline in ARPU. Our competitively-priced service plans are lower than our historic rates; therefore, ARPU will continue to decrease in the near term, particularly in periods with a high volume of activations. However, based on recent experience, we continue to expect that the increase in volume of new subscribers will more than offset the revenue impact from lower ARPU. Finally, service revenue generated from Commercial IoT subscribers increased 5% in the second quarter of 2021 driven by higher ARPU compared to the prior year's quarter. Additionally, as discussed later, Commercial IoT equipment sales were up significantly from the prior year period, which is a key indication of future service revenue growth. Subscriber Equipment Sales Subscriber equipment sales increased $1.4 million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter of 2020. The majority of the revenue increase was driven by a higher volume of Commercial IoT sales. Revenue generated from Commercial IoT sales more than doubled with each device type selling more than in the prior year period. Revenue from SPOT equipment sales also increased significantly with revenue up 32% in the second quarter of 2021 as we continue to expand retailer distribution channels and experience growing demand for our SPOT products. Regarding the supply chain shortage impacting a variety of industries, we are actively managing this situation. We are ordering material in higher volumes and at higher costs than historically done, but believe that our production quantities will be sufficient to meet our sales demand. As this situation relates to sales margins, we negotiated a reduction in labor rates with our primary manufacturer in the third quarter of 2020. This cost reduction has offset the impact from higher component parts when comparing the first half of 2021 to the prior year period. Loss from Operations Loss from operations was $16.0 million during the second quarter of 2021 compared to $15.4 million during the second quarter of 2020. The increase in operating loss was due primarily to higher operating expenses of $0.5 million. During the second quarter of 2021, we recorded a reduction in the value of inventory of $0.8 million related to obsolete material for discontinued products. An increase in cost of services due to higher licensing fees for new software products was offset by a reduction in marketing, general and administrative (MG&A) expenses due to a favorable fluctuation in bad debt expense following the bad debt reserve and subsequent recovery of an individually significant customer balance. Notably, cost of subscriber equipment sales was generally flat between periods despite a significant increase in equipment revenue. During the second quarter of 2021, we reversed an accrual for potential tariffs owed on imports from China made prior to a ruling by the U.S Customs and Border Protection in September 2019 that are no longer due, resulting in an expense reduction of $0.9 million recognized during the quarter. Excluding this reversal, cost of subscriber equipment sales increased in line with the increase in total revenue from subscriber equipment sales. Net Loss Net loss decreased $3.3 million from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021. This change was due primarily to lower interest expense, a gain on extinguishment of debt, and higher foreign currency gains, offset partially by a higher derivative loss. The decrease in interest expense was driven by lower interest costs on the First Lien Facility Agreement due to principal payments made in the last twelve months. The gain on extinguishment of debt was due to the SBA's forgiveness of our PPP loan in June 2021, offset partially by an extinguishment loss from prepayments on our First Lien Facility Agreement during the second quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA was $9.8 million during the second quarter of 2021, consistent with the prior year's quarter, as revenue and operating expenses (excluding EBITDA adjustments) were generally flat for the reasons previously discussed. Liquidity As of June 30, 2021, we held cash and cash equivalents of $15.7 million and restricted cash of $51.0 million. As previously announced, we received an advance payment of $37.5 million during the second quarter of 2021. We used these proceeds to pay a portion of the remaining amount due under the First Lien Facility Agreement. Net of the $51.0 million held in a restricted cash account, the remaining principal balance due under the First Lien Facility Agreement is $46.8 million in December 2022. Our sources of cash also include operating cash flows generated from the business. We expect our uses of cash over the next twelve months to include operating costs, capital expenditures related primarily to network upgrades, and interest payments. About Globalstar, Inc.

Globalstar is a leading provider of customizable Satellite IoT Solutions for customers around the world in industries such as oil and gas, transportation, emergency management, government, maritime and outdoor recreation. A pioneer of mobile satellite voice and data services, Globalstar solutions connect people to their devices and allow businesses to streamline operations providing safety and communication and enabling mobile assets to be monitored remotely via the Globalstar Satellite Network. The Company's Commercial IoT product portfolio includes industry-acclaimed SmartOne asset tracking products, Commercial IoT satellite transmitters and the SPOT product line for personal safety, messaging and emergency response, all supported on SPOT My Globalstar, a robust cloud-based enhanced mapping solution. Learn more at Globalstar.com. Note that all SPOT products described in this press release are the products of SPOT LLC, which is not affiliated in any manner with Spot Image of Toulouse, France or Spot Image Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia. Safe Harbor Language for Globalstar Releases

This press release contains certain statements that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, such as the statements regarding our expectations with respect to the pursuit of terrestrial spectrum authorities globally, future increases in our revenue and profitability, the impact on our business due to unexpected events such as the COVID-19 coronavirus, and other statements contained in this release regarding matters that are not historical facts, involve predictions. Any forward-looking statements made in this press release are believed to be accurate as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results or developments may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, and we undertake no obligation to update any such statements. Additional information on factors that could influence our financial results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.







GLOBALSTAR, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 2020 Revenue: Service revenue $ 25,617 $ 27,090 Subscriber equipment sales 4,662 3,274 Total revenue 30,279 30,364 Operating expenses: Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation, amortization, and accretion shown separately below) 9,123 8,647 Cost of subscriber equipment sales 2,858 2,940 Cost of subscriber equipment sales - reduction in the value of inventory 782 - Marketing, general and administrative 9,681 10,253 Depreciation, amortization, and accretion 23,843 23,903 Total operating expenses 46,287 45,743 Loss from operations (16,008 ) (15,379 ) Other (expense) income: Loss on extinguishment of debt 2,664 - Interest income and expense, net of amounts capitalized (10,778 ) (11,508 ) Derivative (loss) gain (1,310 ) 1,160 Foreign currency gain 4,425 1,314 Other (88 ) (233 ) Total other (expense) income (5,087 ) (9,267 ) Loss before income taxes (21,095 ) (24,646 ) Income tax expense 354 90 Net loss $ (21,449 ) $ (24,736 ) Net loss per common share: Basic $ (0.01 ) $ (0.01 ) Diluted (0.01 ) (0.01 ) Weighted-average shares outstanding: Basic 1,791,943 1,668,974 Diluted 1,791,943 1,668,974

GLOBALSTAR, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET (News - Alert) INCOME (LOSS) TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED EBITDA (In thousands) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 2020 Net loss $ (21,449 ) $ (24,736 ) Interest income and expense, net 10,778 11,508 Derivative loss (gain) 1,310 (1,160 ) Income tax expense 354 90 Depreciation, amortization, and accretion 23,843 23,903 EBITDA 14,836 9,605 Non-cash compensation 1,143 1,263 Reduction in the value of inventory 782 - Foreign exchange and other (4,337 ) (1,081 ) Adjusted EBITDA (1) $ 9,760 $ 9,787 (1) EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, accretion and derivative (gains)/losses. Adjusted EBITDA excludes non-cash compensation expense, reduction in the value of assets and inventory, foreign exchange (gains)/losses and certain other non-recurring charges as applicable. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA in order to manage the Company's business and to compare its results more closely to the results of its peers. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not represent and should not be considered as alternatives to GAAP measurements, such as net income/(loss). These terms, as defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measurement of its operating performance. The Company believes it best reflects changes across time in the Company's performance, including the effects of pricing, cost control and other operational decisions. The Company's management uses Adjusted EBITDA for planning purposes, including the preparation of its annual operating budget. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA also is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies in similar industries. As indicated, Adjusted EBITDA does not include interest expense on borrowed money or depreciation expense on our capital assets or the payment of income taxes, which are necessary elements of the Company's operations. Because Adjusted EBITDA does not account for these expenses, its utility as a measure of the Company's operating performance has material limitations. Because of these limitations, the Company's management does not view Adjusted EBITDA in isolation and also uses other measurements, such as revenue and operating profit, to measure operating performance. GLOBALSTAR, INC. SCHEDULE OF SELECTED OPERATING METRICS (In thousands, except subscriber and ARPU data) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 2020 Service Equipment Service Equipment Revenue Duplex $ 7,243 $ 331 $ 8,556 $ 625 SPOT 11,139 2,230 11,579 1,695 Commercial IoT 4,504 2,090 4,298 939 Engineering and other 2,731 11 2,657 15 Total revenue $ 25,617 $ 4,662 $ 27,090 $ 3,274 Average subscribers Duplex 44,160 50,491 SPOT 264,508 264,395 Commercial IoT 409,346 415,004 Other 27,603 27,342 Total average subscribers 745,617 757,232 ARPU (1) Duplex $ 54.67 $ 56.49 SPOT 14.04 14.60 Commercial IoT 3.67 3.45 (1) Average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) measures service revenues per month divided by the average number of subscribers during that month. Average monthly revenue per user as so defined may not be similar to average monthly revenue per unit as defined by other companies in the Company's industry, is not a measurement under GAAP and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in the Company's statement of operations. The Company believes that average monthly revenue per user provides useful information concerning the appeal of its rate plans and service offerings and its performance in attracting and retaining high value customers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005223/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Lessen Makes Key Hires to Continue Modernizing Property Services Industry

Lessen, the marketplace platform that unites property owners and service professionals to deliver property services better, faster and more cost-effectively than ever before, today announced strong momentum during the past year, driven by rapid changes in the property services industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessen has achieved impressive growth since its inception in January 2020. The company has grown to 200 employees, through a pandemic, with plans to fill 300 more positions in the next six months. Lessen also hired key executives and opened offices in four locations. "We're excited to grow our team with exceptional new hires, especially as we gear up for a Series B funding round," said Jay McKee, founder and CEO of Lessen. Chris Bee recently joined Lessen as CTO after leadership roles at Zillow and Uber. At Zillow, Bee led product and engineering teams focused on core real estate shopping experiences and search. He also led engineering teams for Uber for Business, launching new products including Uber Central and Uber Vouchers alongside Uber's core B2B platform. In addition, Bee led digital music platforms for mobile and web at Amazon. "Lessen is uniquely positioned to leverage deep operational knowledge to build technology solutions that will fundamentally change the way property services are performed at scale," Bee said. "We are providing efficiencies that have never been seen in the property services space by connecting property owners, service professionals, suppliers, and project managers to a single marketplace platform. Our data also is allowing us to automate many of the painful parts of property service work and create a more optimized and lucrative world for service professionals and property owners." Candice Bradley recently joined Lessen as executive vice president of Marketpace Operations. She has focused on finance, strategy and operations in the financial services and real estate industries for more than 15 years. Prior to Lessen, she held leadership roles at Opendoor including senior general manager for Florida operations and national director of Sales. In Marketplace Operations, Bradley will focus on vendor onboarding, vendor programs and strategy, procurement, project operations, and business operations.



"Lessen is experiencing incredible momentum, and I am personally excited to be part of the team to position the company to scale for future growth. Further, Lessen has a tremendous opportunity for positive social impact as we help small businesses grow, increasing employment within communities and enabling generational wealth building. We are focused on building operational centers of excellence with Lessen Pro needs top of mind to help enable this impact," Bradley said. Sloan Swanson joins Lessen as chief business officer. In this role, Swanson will focus on sales, customer relationship management, customer success, field delivery and operations, and field execution.

"Lessen is seeing great momentum, and it is exciting to be a part of a growing team that wants to help customers and build solid relationships," Swanson said. Chris Sewell also joined Lessen as senior vice president. Sewell will run the hospitality and cleaning division as Lessen continues to grow its customer base and service lines. "Industry changes have driven growth and success for Lessen, and I could not be more thrilled to join this enthusiastic team on the hospitality and cleaning side of the organization," Sewell said. Last month Lessen announced it had closed a $35 million Series A funding round, led by Fifth Wall. The company also opened offices in Miami and Seattle and is currently looking for a new location for its headquarters in Scottsdale. Lessen modernizes the real estate industry with technology that delivers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for property services. Lessen saves all parties time and money by replacing outdated manual processes and spreadsheets with centralized project and work order management, as well as integrated dashboards, billing and analytics. Lessen's platform is flexible, efficient and service professional-friendly. It provides a well-defined and consistent job flow for service pros, incorporating fast and guaranteed payments for completed work, as well as tools that providers can use to quickly grow their businesses. The platform is currently being used by more than 1,000 service providers, across 26 markets, which have completed several thousand projects for institutional investors of single-family residential, multifamily residential, and short-term rental properties. About Lessen Lessen is the marketplace platform that unites property owners and service professionals to deliver property services better, faster and cheaper than ever before. The Lessen platform provides complete job workflow and outsourcing of property service projects, automating the management of the entire property services lifecycle. It seamlessly connects property owners to a nationwide network of vetted professionals for renovation, maintenance, cleaning, and turn services, efficiently delivering property services at scale. Lessen is a venture-backed, privately held company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, with offices in Seattle and Miami. To learn more, please visit lessen.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005155/en/

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[August 05, 2021] MeMed Named a Finalist for AACC's Disruptive Technology Award for MeMed COVID-19 Severity Test

MeMed Named a Finalist for AACCs Disruptive Technology Award for MeMed COVID-19 Severity Test MeMed COVID-19 Severity reads the immune-system in real time to accurately determine whether SARS-Cov-2 patients are likely to have a severe outcome HAIFA, Israel, August 5th, 2021  MeMed, a leader in host response-based technologies, announces today that it has been named a finalist for the American Association of Clinical Chemistrys (AACC) Disruptive Technology Award for the MeMed COVID-19 Severity test, which stratifies the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will experience severe outcomes. MeMed is one of three finalists that will present its technology at the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, during a session to be held on September 27th. Eran Eden, MeMeds co-founder and CEO, said: We are thrilled to be selected as a finalist for this esteemed award, which recognizes the importance of MeMed COVID-19 Severity as a tool which empowers physicians in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently CE Marked in Europe, the test can provide valuable insights into which patients may worsen, enabling tailored treatments and helping to reduce burden on healthcare systems. Were honored to be recognized by the AACCs panel alongside the other finalists. MeMed COVID-19 Severity is a pioneering host response technology that measures multiple proteins from a serum sample and applies machine learning to stratify the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will experience severe outcomes. The test runs in 15 minutes on the companys point-of-need platform, MeMed Key, and aims to help physicians identify who may benefit from escalated care and who can be safely discharged from hospital and to self-isolate at home. MeMed COVID-19 Severity has a CE Mark in Europe. About MeMed

Our mission is to translate the immune system's complex signals into simple insights that transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated, profoundly benefiting patients and society. For additional information on MeMed, please visit http://www.me-med.com. About MeMed COVID-19 Severity

MeMed COVID-19 Severity is a predictive and actionable patient management tool. The test enables physicians to detect early the likelihod of deterioration in patients affected by COVID-19 and provides a leap forward in COVID-19 patient management. The test is CE Marked in Europe. Read the derivation study.



MeMed BV, MeMed Key and COVID-19 Severity are not cleared by the FDA for any indication.

MeMed BV, MeMed Key and COVID-19 Severity are currently not available for sale in the US. MeMed Contacts:

Media: Adee Mor, VP Marketing, MeMed

pr@me-med.com

IR: Kfir Emmer, VP Finance, MeMed

kfir.emmer@me-med.com

Phone: +972-4-8500302





Media contacts:

Consilium Strategic Communications

MeMed@consilium-comms.com MeMed Named a Finalist for AACCs Disruptive Technology Award for MeMed COVID-19 Severity Test MeMed COVID-19 Severity reads the immune-system in real time to accurately determine whether SARS-Cov-2 patients are likely to have a severe outcome HAIFA, Israel, August 5th, 2021  MeMed, a leader in host response-based technologies, announces today that it has been named a finalist for the American Association of Clinical Chemistrys (AACC) Disruptive Technology Award for the MeMed COVID-19 Severity test, which stratifies the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will experience severe outcomes. MeMed is one of three finalists that will present its technology at the 2021 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, during a session to be held on September 27th. Eran Eden, MeMeds co-founder and CEO, said: We are thrilled to be selected as a finalist for this esteemed award, which recognizes the importance of MeMed COVID-19 Severity as a tool which empowers physicians in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently CE Marked in Europe, the test can provide valuable insights into which patients may worsen, enabling tailored treatments and helping to reduce burden on healthcare systems. Were honored to be recognized by the AACCs panel alongside the other finalists. MeMed COVID-19 Severity is a pioneering host response technology that measures multiple proteins from a serum sample and applies machine learning to stratify the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will experience severe outcomes. The test runs in 15 minutes on the companys point-of-need platform, MeMed Key, and aims to help physicians identify who may benefit from escalated care and who can be safely discharged from hospital and to self-isolate at home. MeMed COVID-19 Severity has a CE Mark in Europe. About MeMed

Our mission is to translate the immune system's complex signals into simple insights that transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated, profoundly benefiting patients and society. For additional information on MeMed, please visit http://www.me-med.com. About MeMed COVID-19 Severity

MeMed COVID-19 Severity is a predictive and actionable patient management tool. The test enables physicians to detect early the likelihood of deterioration in patients affected by COVID-19 and provides a leap forward in COVID-19 patient management. The test is CE Marked in Europe. MeMed BV, MeMed Key and COVID-19 Severity are not cleared by the FDA for any indication.

MeMed BV, MeMed Key and COVID-19 Severity are currently not available for sale in the US. MeMed Contacts:

Media: Adee Mor, VP Marketing, MeMed

pr@me-med.com

IR: Kfir Emmer, VP Finance, MeMed

kfir.emmer@me-med.com

Phone: +972-4-8500302



Media contacts:

Consilium Strategic Communications

MeMed@consilium-comms.com



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[August 05, 2021] New leadership supports GOARC global growth strategy

GOARC announces the appointment of Uwe Schneider and Itay Reshef to the executive leadership team MOTZA ILIT, Israel, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GOARC, the leader in AI-powered connected worker and industrial safety solutions, is pleased to announce two new senior executive appointments, welcoming Uwe Schneider as VP Global Sales and Marketing, and Itay Reshef as VP Customer Success. The new appointments come to support GOARC's global growth strategy and strengthen market leadership with its unique Safety 4.0 platform protecting workers and critical assets in real time. Based in Munich, Uwe Schneider brings 20-plus years of experience in global marketing, sales, and consulting executive leadership with expertise in high growth companies and enterprise technology to GOARC. Prior to joining GOARC, Uwe was a Group Vice President at Sphera Solutions leading all sales teams in EMEA and APAC. Uwe has also held a variety of leadership roles running marketing, sales, channels, customer success management and delivery functions at Wolters Kluwer, Seal Software (DocuSign), and BM to name a few.



Having served in senior management positions in high-tech and engineering companies, Itay Reshef brings vast professional experience. In his previous position as GOARC COO Americas, Itay was responsible for GOARC's business in the USA and managed the company's strategic partnerships. Itay's business strategy expertise will help ensure successful growth within GOARC's current and new customers allowing them to embrace advanced safety methodologies to transform customers' safety culture. "I'm delighted to join GOARC as VP Global Sales and Marketing, and excited to be part of a team that is protecting workers and the environment with its unique safety 4.0 connected worker platform leveraging next generation industry 4,0 technologies. GOARC is the required quantum leap in EHS!" Uwe Schneider, VP Global Sales and Marketing

"Building on my experience in business strategy and operations, I am thrilled to lead customer-facing interactions and ensure success with our unique Safety 4.0 platform." Itay Reshef, VP Customer Success "Uwe and Itay are outstanding additions to our executive leadership, adding their expertise to support our goals. I am confident that the impressive capabilities of our global management team will position the company for future growth," said Dror Barak, CEO. About GOARC GOARC is revolutionizing the practice of industrial safety for the era of Industry 4.0. Our Safety 4.0 platform delivers a digital safety solution with company-wide, real-time, centralized data visualization providing a 360-degree view on the workforce and assets, improving risk management, EHS performance and workforce engagement. Extracting real-time asset data from existing enterprise systems, third-party sources (IoT) and integrating direct data provided by the connected workforce and employees across the company, allows for the optimal execution in dynamic industrial environments. Contact person

Name: Jude Liemburg

Mail: jude.liemburg@go-arc.com

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[August 05, 2021] OfColor Announces Investment from PSG

OfColor, an enterprise SaaS (News - Alert) provider focused on the financial health of employees of color, today announced a strategic seed investment from funds advised by PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies. OfColor is on a mission to help employees of color earn and keep more of their income. The Company aims to integrate the best from fintech and behavioral finance into a single platform, leveraging the combination to improve the financial health of minority employees. Financial terms were not disclosed. OfColor was founded by CEO Yemi Rose after a nearly two-decade corporate career focused on financial wellness at the intersection of financial services, communications and marketing. Rose noted that despite race being a significant predictor of wealth in America, the minority money experience seemed to be an afterthought in the current suite of financial wellness solutions. Believing that existing programs fail to adequately support Black, Latinx, and AAPI employees, Rose created OfColor to deliver wealth-building solutions focused on budgeting, savings, and automated debt reduction, as well as access to culturally competent in-person and ai-driven advice. With PSG's investment, the company is expected to continue to expand its platform and go-to-market strategy as it grows its customer base among Fortune 500 and upper-middle market companies. OfColor is currently working with MetLife to support their efforts to improve the financial health of all employees nationally. "The fact that America is such a wealthy country and tolerates the current racial wealth gap is disheartening. But while the current state is dire, we believe it is fixable. I view the workplace as an ideal distribution center for these solutions, and te good news is that there's a solid contingent of visionary corporate leaders who are dedicated to enabling their employees of color to build financial legacies. Together, we are changing the status quo," said Yemi Rose, Founder and CEO of OfColor. "We're thrilled to have the support of PSG and their network of experienced entrepreneurs at our side as we work to move the corporate conversation away from of-the-moment equality - to one about equity, where we recognize the role of race in American wealth creation."



Before launching OfColor in 2019, Yemi most recently served as Vice President of Financial Wellness Enterprise Initiatives with Prudential Financials' Global Communications Group. He previously served as a senior executive at KPMG and BlackRock, where he worked to maximize the value of their fintech ventures. "Yemi and the OfColor team are addressing a paramount issue and we're honored to have the opportunity to support the important work they're doing to help progress toward equitable financial wellness," said Mark Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of PSG. "We're energized by the significant opportunities for OfColor to grow and make a meaningful impact, underscored by increasing number of organizations committing to advance diversity, equity and inclusion."

About OfColor OfColor is a financial wellness SaaS platform that is wholly focused on improving the financial health of employees of color. We see employers as powerful distribution partners for our products, and we aim to enable companies of all sizes to provide their employees with access to premier fintech tools and services-that are specifically designed for us, by us. In our view through our unique understanding of behavioral finance, our relevant offerings may work to build wealth and secure critical financial legacies. We believe, our model lets employers save on benefits, improve retention and compel recruitment. Together, we close the gap. To learn more about OfColor, www.ofcolor.com. About PSG PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 80 companies and facilitated over 325 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London. https://www.psgequity.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005274/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Protective to Power Birmingham Headquarters With 100% Renewable Energy, Collaborates With Alabama Power

Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750), is collaborating with Alabama Power to provide Protective's Birmingham headquarters with 100% renewable energy. With Protective's Birmingham-based workforce of 1,500 in a 620,000-square-foot building on Highway 280, Protective and Alabama Power are working together to support innovative solutions for a more sustainable future. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005128/en/ Protective Life's Birmingham-based corporate headquarters will be powered with 100% renewable energy. (Photo: Business Wire) Through forward-thinking strategic initiatives like this, Protective hopes to lead the way for the industry and community in protecting the state's resources. The estimated energy use at Protective's headquarters per year is equivalent to 19 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy. "At Protective, we are committed to investing for the future," said Scott Adams, Executive Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Strategy and Innovation of Protective. "We are fortunate to have an innovative company like Alabama Power in our backyard, enabling us to power our headquarters with 100% renewable energy. As two of Alabama's largest employers, we have a responsibility to help build a sustainable future." Alabama Power utilizes a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) program to connect customers like Protective with renewable energy. This program allows commecial customers to collaborate with Alabama Power to invest together in a clean energy future and make a positive impact by purchasing energy credits from a renewable resource, making the world greener and increasing demand for clean energy in new ways.



"Alabama Power is committed to providing the future of reliable and sustainable energy our customers want and trust us to deliver," said Tony Smoke, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Economic Development of Alabama Power. "Through this partnership, we fulfill our mission to serve the needs of our customers first, by equipping Protective Life with affordable and cost-effective renewable energy." The RECs retired for Protective's headquarters were sourced through Alabama Power from the Chisholm View Wind Farm in Oklahoma, which provides power to Alabama Power under a long-term contract. Alabama Power uses the energy and RECs it receives under this contract for programs like this one to serve subscribing customers with renewable energy. Alabama Power also has the ability to sell the remaining RECs, either bundled or separately, to third parties for the benefit of customers. Effective immediately, Protective's agreement covers all of 2021 and is renewable for additional years.

For more information on Protective Life or Alabama Power, please visit www.Protective.com or www.AlabamaPower.com. About Alabama Power Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), provides reliable, affordable electricity to 1.5 million customers across the state. Learn more at www.alabamapower.com About Protective Life Protective Life Corporation (Protective) provides financial services through the production, distribution and administration of insurance and investment products throughout the U.S. The company traces its roots to the corporation's flagship company, Protective Life Insurance Company - founded in 1907. Throughout its more than 110-year history, Protective's growth and success can be largely attributed to its ongoing commitment to serving people and doing the right thing - for its employees, distributors, and most importantly, its customers. Protective's home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and its 3,500+ employees work across the United States. As of December 31, 2020, Protective had assets of approximately $127 billion. Protective Life Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750). For more information about Protective, please visit www.Protective.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005128/en/

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Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Announces Investigation into OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. (OCFT)

Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ("Scott+Scott"), an international shareholder and consumer rights litigation firm, is investigating whether OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. ("OneConnect" or the "Company") (NYSE: OCFT) and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws. If you purchased or otherwise own OneConnect American Depository Shares (ADSs), and have suffered a loss, realized or unrealized, you are encouraged to contact Jonathan Zimmerman at (888) 398-9312 for more information.

OneConnect purports to be a leading technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions in China.

On August 4, 2021, the Company reported second qurter financial results, including diluted earnings per share equivalent to a loss of nearly $0.05 on total revenue equivalent to $149.7 million, and revenues that missed analysts' average estimates of nearly $168 million by about 11%.







On this news, the price of OneConnect's ADS fell over 27%, to close at $5.42 per ADS on August 4, 2021.

What You Can Do

If you purchased or otherwise own OneConnect ADSs, and you wish to discuss this investigation, please contact attorney Jonathan Zimmerman at (888) 398-9312, or at jzimmerman@scott-scott.com, or visit the OneConnect investigation page on our website at https://scott-scott.com/investigation/oneconnect-financial-technology-co-ltd/.

About Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP

Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, and employee retirement plan actions throughout the United States. The firm represents pension funds, foundations, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Connecticut, Virginia, California, and Ohio.

Attorney Advertising

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005904/en/
[August 05, 2021] Should We Fail Struggling Students or Lower Standards?

High absenteeism and failing grades have plagued high schools since the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, yet many educators are still in the dark about how instruction models and delivery methods need to change. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005313/en/ Learn4Life-North Charleston students continue their education during the pandemic in onsite instruction with physical distancing and safety protocols. (Photo: Business Wire) According to a 2018 report by the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, nearly eight million students in the nation were chronically absent. South Carolina had a chronic absenteeism rate of 11.3% for the 2015-16 school year highlighted in the Hamilton Project report. "Many schools have chosen to either fail students or simply pass them through to the next grade," said Steven Rayzer, principal of Learn4Life-North Charlesto High School. "No one is at fault for the crises we are experiencing. However, not offering alternative learning solutions or providing passing grades when the learning didn't take place robs students of the opportunity to learn the material. Simply moving students along to the next grade or more difficult subject sets them up for future failure."



Many teens were bored and struggling with remote learning. Teachers used videoconferencing to lecture to kids who read at different grade levels and with varying attention spans, special needs or those for whom English is a second language. The traditional high school model of five or six courses with 25-40 students per class doesn't translate directly to remote learning. "We recognize that every student learns at a different pace and responds better to various teaching methods. I'm a huge believer in personalized education and one-on-one attention for students," Rayzer said. "Some students learn best in small groups, others with one-on-one tutoring or through experimentation. Others thrive in a classroom model or independently. We assess students' learning needs and let them progress faster with courses they easily master and spend more time on subjects that are challenging for them."

Learn4Life-North Charleston is part of a network of public charter high schools that focus on at-risk students who are behind in credits or who had dropped out. Most are students of color, low income, and have adult responsibilities like caring for a child or working, which prevents them from succeeding in traditional schools. Flexibility is the cornerstone of how Learn4Life-North Charleston's personalized learning model is structured. Students manage their own time and schedules with guidance from teachers. There is a mix of small group instruction, larger labs and one-on-one learning depending on what the student needs for a particular subject area. With stay-at-home ordinances and distance learning, students continued their meetings with teachers and tutors virtually. Students had access to remote one-on-one instruction and group labs, tutoring and counseling and special ed IEP meetings. Hot spots and devices were offered to students who needed them. Rayzer is an advocate of students receiving a no-fault, "incomplete" grade, rather than being failed. It is like incomplete grades given to college students when they miss a significant amount of coursework due to a severe illness, for example. Students are given time to complete their coursework either concurrently with other subjects or during the summer. About Learn4Life Learn4Life is a network of nonprofit public schools that provides students personalized learning, career training and life skills. Each school is locally controlled, tuition free and gives students the flexibility and one-on-one attention they need to succeed. Serving more than 47,000 students - including full-time and intersession students - we help them prepare for a future beyond high school. For more information, please visit www.learn4life.org/southcarolina. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005313/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Stew Leonard's Chooses GrocerKey to Bring In-Store Catering Experience Online

MADISON, Wis., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GrocerKey , a white-label eCommerce platform enabling brick-and-mortar retailers to build profitable businesses online, was selected by Stew Leonard's , the fresh food retailer with stores in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, to launch a branded eCommerce platform customized to the unique requirements of its catering business and customers. With GrocerKey, Stew Leonard's gained full control of the door-to-store catering customer journey, offering responsive and personalized ordering experiences to better meet customer needs, and comprehensive order management and analytics to drive customer satisfaction and sustainable growth. Stew Leonard Jr. said, "They helped to translate our legendary in-store customer service onto an eCommerce platform." Stew Leonard's chose GrocerKey as its sole eCommerce solution provider to deliver a seamless extension of its in-store catering offering - from order placement through checkout and preferred pickup method. GrocerKey developed specialized functionality required for atering meal solutions such as enabling customers to select side dishes, whether they wanted items hot or cold upon pick-up, and accommodating off-menu requests.



"Catering is a complex eCommerce offering, especially when delivering hot and cold meal items," said Jeremy Neren, CEO and co-founder, GrocerKey. "With Stew Leonard's, we collaborated to develop an eCommerce platform that guides customers seamlessly through ordering to pick up and provides an optimal online experience that keeps the retailer top-of-mind for their catering needs." To support Stew Leonard's high standard of customer service, GrocerKey augmented its order management and fulfillment system with a mobile app to push SMS notifications with order and customer updates for the culinary and catering staff, as well as for the store greeters to personalize each customer's order pick-up experience.

The new platform behind StewLeonardsCatering.com enables a more efficient and effective eCommerce catering business through: Comprehensive order and customer management system with integrated analytics and reporting to track performance against KPIs and optimize operations. Data-driven insights enable on-going optimization of the customer experience.

with integrated analytics and reporting to track performance against KPIs and optimize operations. Data-driven insights enable on-going optimization of the customer experience. Digital merchandising of the wide-ranging meal solutions to highlight special events and promotions.

of the wide-ranging meal solutions to highlight special events and promotions. Improved customer experience including expanded online assortment, responsive menu options, and faster checkout. Expanded fulfillment windows enable customers to order up to six months in advance and edit orders up to 24 hours before pick up. Plans include offering local delivery for online catering orders and implementing smart kitchen technology to drive more efficient catering operations. GrocerKey is currently working to launch an online gifting platform for Stew Leonard's, with similar capabilities as the catering platform. "GrocerKey customized our new catering site, from the ground up," said Stew Leonard Jr., President and CEO, Stew Leonard's. "More importantly, they helped to translate our legendary in-store customer service onto an eCommerce platform." About GrocerKey GrocerKey combines robust white label eCommerce technology, deep eCommerce grocery operating experience, and proven strategies to help brick-and-mortar grocery retailers build profitable eCommerce businesses. GrocerKey partners with leading independent and regional grocery chains throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company currently ranks No. 311 on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. For more information, visit: www.grocerkey.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stew-leonards-chooses-grocerkey-to-bring-in-store-catering-experience-online-301349290.html SOURCE GrocerKey

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[August 05, 2021] Verily Opens New R&D Center in Israel Focused on the Application of AI in Healthcare

Verily, an Alphabet company founded at the convergence of healthcare, data science and technology, today announced the opening of its new research and development center in Israel. The Verily Israel team will focus on applying artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to important biomedical problems, including applications in endoscopy, minimally invasive surgery and other imaging modalities. The center will advance early research conducted by Google (News - Alert) Health and Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center, overseen by Shaare Zedek Scientific and the hospital's Innovation Center, on the application of AI in detection of colonic polyps, which was recently published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and discussed in detail in a blog post published today by Google. Patients who chose to participate in the trial, which was approved by the hospital's Institutional Review Board (IRB), signed informed consent forms (ICF), and the study complied with all requirements set by local regulators and the Ministry of Health. In addition to a retrospective study involving nearly 1400 hours of colonoscopy video, the research team also ran a preliminary prospective validation study on 100 procedures at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where the AI system worked in real time helping the gastroenterologists. The objective of the validation was to determine whether the application of AI could improve the detection of colonic polyps versus human evaluation alone. The system helped detect an average of one polyp per procedure that would have otherwise been missed by the gastroenterologists performing the procedure, while not missing any of the polyps detected bythe gastroenterologists, and with less than four false positives per procedure.



"Through this collaboration, we have introduced a highly precise model using AI to identify and map colonic polyps in ways that will enhance diagnosis and treatment. This represents how close partnerships between clinical and technology leaders can have very significant and lasting benefits for the medical community," said Prof. Eran Goldin, Director of the Digestive Diseases Institute at Shaare Zedek. "AI has great potential impact in healthcare and biomedicine, and the research collaboration between Google Health and Shaare Zedek shows the promise of using AI for medical applications. We're excited about Verily coming to Israel, advancing the research collaborations, and bringing together Verily's approach to healthcare, data science and technology with Israeli innovation and its advanced healthcare system," said Yossi Matias, Vice President, Engineering & Research at Google and Head of Google's Engineering Center in Israel.

The Verily Israel team will be co-located with Google in Haifa and Tel Aviv, Israel, and will be led by Ehud Rivlin, Professor of Computer Science at the Technion, who worked with Google Health and recently joined Verily as Israel Site Lead. "Israel, often referred to as the start-up nation, has a culture of innovation and a strong track record of success in accelerating technological developments," said Ehud Rivlin, Verily Israel Site Lead. "The country has excellent academic institutions all within a short distance of our offices, providing the opportunity for easy collaboration. Israel has a vibrant health ecosystem that is ideally suited for innovation. Israel's population is covered entirely by four HMOs with more than 20 years' history of digitization. Beside the ability to provide better healthcare, this unique scenario has helped to create an impressive number of startups in healthcare. The country is eager to move healthcare forward via innovation, and has fostered a strong R&D ecosystem. Hospitals and HMOs are looking to innovate and we are looking forward to partnering with them. We are looking forward to fulfilling Verily's vision here in Israel, contributing both to Verily and to the wider Israel healthcare system." Verily is currently looking for scientists, engineers, product managers and researchers with deep technical skills to join its growing team in Israel. Individuals interested in joining Verily should visit https://verily.com/roles/?q=Israel About Verily Launched in 2015, Verily is a subsidiary of Alphabet focused on life sciences and healthcare. Verily's mission is to make the world's health data useful so that people enjoy healthier lives.Verily develops tools and devices to collect, organize and activate health data, and creates interventions to prevent and manage disease. Verily partners with leading life sciences, medical device, and government organizations, using deep hardware, software, scientific, and healthcare expertise to enable faster development, meaningful advances, and deployment at scale. For more information, please visit www.verily.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005130/en/

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[August 05, 2021] X-PITCH Asia Summit: Digital Transformation Is the Key to Success for Startups in the Post-Pandemic Era

At the X-PITCH Asia Summit held on August 3, delegates from India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam unanimously agreed that digital transformation is the key to success for startups during the pandemic. More than 300 guests from 18 countries attended this online conference. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005602/en/ Event Replay: https://fb.watch/78Bcv_V9hh (Photo: Business Wire) The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted societies and industries. This New Normal forward has accelerated certain digital trends in healthcare, supply chain, consumers and work, where some of these trends are likely to be permanently shifted. "The pandemic changed everything, including the startup and investment landscape. This is a paradigm shift," said Kevin Yu, Founding Partner of Taiwan Accelerator, the organizer of X-PITCH Asia Summit. The total investment amount of global venture capital has repeatedly hit new highs under the pandemic. However, the number of early stage deals has dropped sharply because venture capitalists have been betting more money on unicorns and mature startups that are less risky. "Investors today are more conservative than ever before, and they expect startups to be less dependent on injection of new capital for growth and prefer business models that are more self-sustainable," said Julius Yeo, Managing Director of Asia at Starburst (Singapore). Some opinion leaders have warned that in the long run, this is not a healthy phenomenon for the entire ecosystem. "Someone needs to fll this gap, and seed accelerators are expected to play a more important role. We will launch a new fund soon, and plan to increase the number and size of early-stage deals, especially for pre-seed startups," Kevin Yu further added.



As investors shift their focus from market-fit to pandemic-fit products, startup founders must be able to identify new trends in technological innovation. "Digitization enables more small businesses to have bigger growth and new sources of income, helping them to solve financial difficulties during the pandemic. Recently, there is a popular local live streaming app that helps mini-stores sell their products online," said Edward Paul Apigo, Senior Technology Transfer Officer of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research & Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD). Meanwhile, some mature startups changed their market strategy in the response to the new normal. "Indonesia itself is a huge market. When international trade is interrupted, startups move back to the domestic market from abroad, unexpectedly bringing good results. Some marketplaces, like Tokopedia, have accelerated this trend by helping small-medium businesses access a wider base of customers online," said ?Agustiadi Lee, Program Head of Innovation Factory.

Incubators across Asia actively promote digital transformation. "We worked with local Vietnamese startups to establish a crowdsourcing platform. The platform is built to leverage the power of the private sector to solve problems caused by COVID-19," said An Ha, Director of International Relations at Business Startup Support Centre (BSSC). Governments also play an important role in facilitating such efforts. "During the pandemic, India's government has invested significant resources in education and telemedicine especially, as well as helping traditional industries carry out digital transformation," Dr. A. Balachandra, Senior General Manager of VIT-Technology Business Incubator. "Malaysia's government has actively put public services online, so that people can easily and quickly solve pandemic-related matters with their mobile phones," Ryan Chan, Head of Global Business Development at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) further added. Regarding cooperation between the public and private sectors, Kevin Yu of Taiwan Accelerator suggested that the government should work more closely with talented and innovative startup companies. "The pandemic changes much faster than new product development, bottom-up approach may be more effective than top-down." The Summit (replay: https://fb.watch/78Bcv_V9hh) is the inaugural event of X-PITCH 2021, the X Games for startups. The theme of X-PITCH 2021 highlights the New Normal in the post-pandemic world, participating teams should focus on applications and services that enable digital transformation around five major categories of the New Normal, TOP 3 teams will win up to US$1 million investment. Application deadline is on August 31, founders from Asia and worldwide are welcome to sign up: www.xpitch.io View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005602/en/

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[August 04, 2021] Northleaf Expands Business Development Team With the Addition of Chris O'Connor as a Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand

Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf) is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris O'Connor as Managing Director, Business Development, Australia and New Zealand. In this new role, Chris will lead Northleaf's business development and investor relations activities and further develop relationships with institutional investors, consultants and advisors in the region. Chris joins Northleaf's existing Melbourne-based investment team, extending the firm's ongoing commitment to private markets activities in Australia and New Zealand. "We are thrilled to welcome Chris to the Northleaf team as our first Australia-based business development executive," said Jeff Pentland, Managing Director and Head of Business Development at Northleaf. "Chris brings expertise in both relationship building and consultative fundraising, enhancing our capabilities to provide investors with access to highly differentiated mid-market infrastructure, private equity and private credit investments globally." Prior to joining Northleaf, Chris was Managing Director, Business Development at Queensland Investment Corporation where he managed client and prospect relationships with institutional investors and asset consultants, covering the fund's alternative asset class offerings. Previously, Chris was Head of Sales, Asia Pacific at Eze Software (now part of SS&C) in Sydney where heprogressed from Vice President, Head of European Sales in London to launch the firm's first Australian office and build out the Australian client base.



"I am excited to continue to develop Northleaf's presence in Australia, and to execute the firm's focused client servicing strategy," said Chris. "This is a unique opportunity to join a leading institutional asset manager with a compelling growth strategy and to enhance Northleaf's position worldwide." Northleaf recently announced the final closing for its third OECD-focused infrastructure fund at US$1.4 billion, exceeding its original target fund size. Northleaf also held the final closing for its second closed-end private credit fund and a separately managed account, raising more than US$900 million to invest in performing loans to global mid-market companies. With recent fundraising across its three core private markets strategies (infrastructure, private credit and private equity), Northleaf has now raised more than US$17 billion in capital commitments and serves more than 150 institutional investors globally. Northleaf is currently raising capital for the next generation of its global private equity and certain of its private credit funds.

About Northleaf Capital Partners Northleaf Capital Partners is a global private markets investment firm with more than US$17 billion in private equity, private credit and infrastructure commitments under management on behalf of public, corporate and multi-employer pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions and family offices. Northleaf's 150-person team, located in Toronto, Chicago, London, Melbourne, Menlo Park, Montreal and New York, is focused exclusively on sourcing, evaluating and managing private markets investments globally. Northleaf's portfolio includes more than 400 active investments in 40 countries, with a focus on mid-market companies and assets. For more information on Northleaf, please visit www.northleafcapital.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804006185/en/

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Strategy Analytics: realme is Fastest Brand Ever to Ship 100 Million Smartphones

In new research, Strategy Analytics recognizes realme as the fastest brand ever to reach 100 million shipments in the history of the global smartphone market.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804006199/en/

Exhibit 1: Time Taken to Reach 100 Million Global Smartphone Shipments by Brand (Source: Strategy Analytics (News - Alert) , Inc.)

Strategy Analytics' report -- realme Joins the 100 Million Smartphone Club -- finds that realme shipped its 100 millionth smartphone worldwide during June 2021.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said, "realme is the fastest brand ever to ship 100 million smartphones cumulatively worldwide. It has taken just 37 months for ralme to grow from zero to 100 million smartphone shipments. That is faster than Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Huawei (News - Alert) , Xiaomi or any other major smartphone brand of the past quarter-century."







realme's global smartphone growth has been driven strongly by China and India.

realme grew an impressive +175% HoH in China during the first half of 2021. realme today is the fastest growing smartphone brand in China.

realme has jumped from zero shipments in India during Q2 2018 to 4th place and a record 14% market share by Q2 2021.

Linda Sui, Senior Director, added, "Only 16 brands have ever shipped more than 100 million units cumulatively worldwide in the twenty-seven years up to H1 2021. It is an elite club."

Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst, added, "realme's smartphone growth is driven by a deep range of Android (News - Alert) models, competitive pricing, striking online marketing campaigns, and extensive retail presence. realme has scaled up its smartphone business in record time."

For over 30 years, Strategy Analytics has provided access to data and insights on vendor share in 88 countries and 6 regions for volume, value, price tiers, technologies as well as deep customized insights into consumer behavior, brand perceptions and replacement drivers.

About Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics, Inc. is a global leader in supporting companies across their planning lifecycle through a range of customized market research solutions. Our multi-discipline capabilities include: industry research advisory services, customer insights, user experience design and innovation expertise, mobile consumer on-device tracking and business-to-business consulting competencies. With domain expertise in: smart devices, connected cars, intelligent home, service providers, IoT, strategic components and media, Strategy Analytics can develop a solution to meet your specific planning need. For more information, visit us at www.strategyanalytics.com.

For more information about Strategy Analytics

Smartphone Strategies

Smartphone Country Share Tracker

Smartphone Model Tracker

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[August 04, 2021]

INVESTOR ALERT BY CLAIMSFILER: Class Action Lawsuits filed on behalf of ATHA, RLX, RKT Investors, Lead Plaintiff Deadlines Set

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits:

RLX Technology Inc. (RLX)

Class Period: Shares issued in connection with the January 2021 initial public stock offering

Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: August 9, 2021

MISLEADING PROSPECTUS

To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-rlx-technology-inc-american-depositary-shares-securities-litigation

Athira Pharma, Inc. (ATHA)

Class Period: 9/18/2020 - 6/17/2021, or purchase of shares issued either in or after the September 2020 Initial Public Offering

Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: August 24, 2021

SECURITIES FRAUD, MISLEADING PROSPECTUS

To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-athira-pharma-inc-securities-litigation







Rocket Companies, Inc. (RKT)

Class Period: 2/25/2021 - 5/5/2021

Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: August 30, 2021

SECURITIES FRAUD

To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-rocket-companies-inc-securities-litigation

If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above.

If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com




[August 04, 2021] Bahwan CyberTek Honoured for Corporate Excellence Category in the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards 2021 Regional Edition

SINGAPORE, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Asia, the organiser of the prestigious fifteenth Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA) 2021 Regional Edition is pleased to recognise 59 exceptional award recipients who have exemplified excellence and perseverance in this unprecedented period. The APEA awardees have proven resiliency and accelerated tremendously to overcome the unprecedented economic conditions wrought by the global pandemic. The APEA, an initiative by Enterprise Asia, the region's leading NGO, is the largest regional recognition and acknowledgement programme for trailblazers in the business community. APEA prides itself as a testament to the commitment, aspiration, and true entrepreneurship. With over 800 nominations received each year, and about seven percent were commended to the most deserving for recognition. This year, an impressive number of 130 finalists from 15 countries were up for consideration in the final round of judging and only 59 were crowned as award recipients. Bahwan CyberTek's Journey to Success Established in 1999, Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) Group is a global provider of digital transformation solutions in the areas of Predictive Analytics, Digital Experience and Digital Supply Chain Management, and has delivered solutions in 20 countries across North America, the Middle East, Far East, Africa and Asia. Driving innovation through outcome-focused business models, proven and powerful IP solutions, BCT is a trusted partner for over 1000+ customers, including Fortune 500 companies. With strong capabilities in Digital Technologies, BCT has over 3000 associates with technical and domain expertise, delivering solutions to the Oil & Gas, Telecom, Power, Government, Banking, Retail and Supply Chain Management or Logistics verticals. BCT is an IP-led enterprise that combines outcome-based business models, cognitive solutions and growth accelerators to deliver highly differentiated value to customers to help them achieve high levels of efficiency and performance. As a group, BCT has nine subsidiaries, three Joint Ventures and many strategic partnerships with industry-leading companies including TIBCO, ZYCUS, IBM, SingleStore, ORACLE, Boxlight, SigFox, Microsoft, UiPath, Emendo Energy, Cloudleaf, Tekion, Lightbend, Sonatype, GEP and Coupa, to name a few. BCT Group's APAC operations is in its sixth consecutive year. Across APAC, the Group has offices in Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. The APAC team comprises over 300 full-time personnel, ranging from strategy teams, tchnology experts, solution architects, subject matter experts and business teams.



The company is a growing at an aggressive pace in the region. Its customers include some of the largest Government bodies and agencies, Government ministries, port operators and shipping corporations, drilling companies, contact centres and banks. BCT has forged strategic partnerships with many industry-leaders in the region. One such significant partnership is its longstanding association with the Government of Brunei Darussalam. The company helped set up Brunei's first 24x7x365 non-emergency National Contact Centre service to manage citizen complaints and enquiries seamlessly. The project won the 'Best Small Outsourced Contact Centre' and 'Best Technology Innovation' at the prestigious 'Contact Centre World' Awards Las Vegas, from among 1,700 contestants.

The APAC team has also made major headways in the digital procurement space. It is a strategic partner of ZYCUS, Coupa and GEP, industry-leaders in the e-Procurement domain. Recently, BCT won the 'Star Collaborator of the Year Award' from ZYCUS in recognition of its longstanding partnership with the company and for delivering 'customer experience excellence' in executing highly complex and diverse large-scale global projects. The company has set up a specialised mobility CoE in Taiwan, which delivers powerful Mobility solutions and has strong device engineering capabilities to execute projects in emerging and futuristic technologies. The APAC team is led by a distinguished and prominent leadership team. Ms. Shanthi Chandrasekar, Executive Vice President and Head of Strategic Business Operations in APAC, who won two notable Stevie awards last year, is at the helm overseeing the entire APAC operations. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is given utmost importance in the company. The organisation engages in both routine and one-off CSR engagements in India and abroad. These engagements are diverse ranging from conducting or organising an awareness campaign to helping a social or civic body set up a digital centre. As part of its CSR activities, the company acted as a digital collaborator and used its technology platform for crowdsourcing efforts to help run fair elections in the State of Tamil Nadu (India) and alert the Government on calls for rescue from stranded citizens during the massive floods of 2015. The company also organised citizen employability and digital empowerment in the Middle East. BCT forged a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Manpower of the Sultanate of Oman in 2006 for securing gainful employment in the knowledge economy. They have also been part of women's health and empowerment initiatives aimed at providing healthcare, education and financial independence. BCT has been recognised by global industry bodies, partners and customers with prestigious awards. These include the Stanford Case Studies in 2017 and 2018, which documented BCT's growth story and its strategic advantages as a company; the Kellogg Case Study where BCT's RETINA platform was featured among AI use cases with real traction across a wide range of business functions and industries; and the OPAL Certification by Oman Society for Petroleum Services. This is a milestone achievement, as OPAL is an industry-leading forum for Oman's petroleum industry made up of 400+ oil and gas companies. As part of its long-term vision, the company plans to move into the next orbit, by building and expanding its portfolio of products and services. BCT will explore futuristic technologies to provide differentiated, value-driven solutions to customers. It also plans to expand its IP portfolio and grow its expertise across verticals, including key verticals such as Energy, BFSI, Logistics, Retail, Government, Oil & Gas and Telecom. In addition, BCT will continue to explore newer geographies and expand further in existing geographies. Its new business units have grown phenomenally and continue to establish themselves as niche players. The company also looks to attract investments and forge new partnerships with adjacent technology companies and industry leaders. About Enterprise Asia Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organisation in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine towards sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organisations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. For further information, visit www.enterpriseasia.org. About Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards Launched in 2007, the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards is the region's most prestigious awards for outstanding entrepreneurship, continuous innovation and sustainable leadership. The Award provides a platform for companies and governments to recognise entrepreneurial excellence, hence spurring greater innovation, fair business practices and growth in entrepreneurship. As a regional award, it groups together leading entrepreneurs as a powerful voice for entrepreneurship and serves as a by-invitation only networking powerhouse. The program has grown to encompass 14 countries and markets all over Asia. For more information, visit: www.apea.asia Media Contact Contact Person: Tan Yong Keat

Phone Number: (60) 3 7803 1916

Email: yongkeat@businessmedia.asia SOURCE Enterprise Asia

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[August 04, 2021] EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd. received Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards 2021 Regional Edition's Corporate Excellence Award

SINGAPORE, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Asia, the organiser of the prestigious fifteenth Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA) 2021 Regional Edition is pleased to recognise 59 exceptional award recipients who have exemplified excellence and perseverance in this unprecedented period. The APEA awardees have proven resiliency and accelerated tremendously to overcome the unprecedented economic conditions wrought by the global pandemic. The APEA, an initiative by Enterprise Asia, the region's leading NGO, is the largest regional recognition and acknowledgement programme for trailblazers in the business community. APEA prides itself as a testament to the commitment, aspiration, and true entrepreneurship. With over 800 nominations received each year, and about seven percent were commended to the most deserving for recognition. This year, an impressive number of 130 finalists from 15 countries were up for consideration in the final round of judging and only 59 were crowned as award recipients. EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd.'s Journey to Success EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd. was founded in 1983 in Taipei by Chairman Robert Yeh. The company has over 39 years of R&D experience with an excellent brand reputation. EVERLIGHT is the top five in the competitive LED market. The company's products are manufactured and packed in-house to guarantee maximum quality. The company's products cover a diverse portfolio consisting of High Power LEDs, SMD LEDs, Lamps, Lighting Components, LED Lighting Modules, Digital Displays, Opto-couplers and Infrared Components. Today, EVERLIGHT is a global company with over 5,700 employees based in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Germany and U.S.A.



EVERLIGHT is committed to professionalism and integrity and adheres to the principles of law-abiding management to ensure fair trade and fair competition. The company adheres to its business objectives in bidding for projects and executing contracts. To ensure its fair trade principle EVERLIGHT requires its employees not to make requests or accept gifts and kickbacks when carrying out their duties. Employees are encouraged to report anyone who violates this principle and the company ensures the confidentiality of whistle blowers. All reported cases are thoroughly investigated and stern action taken against anyone found guilty. EVERLIGHT's headquarters is in New Taipei City. The company has a professional R&D, sales and marketing team.

In 2019, the trade situation between US and China resulted in a decline in demand in the LED industry which reduced the client-end inventory level in the industry. Faced with a tough industry environment, EVERLIGHT adjusted its product portfolio, rigorously controlled the level of inventory, and actively developed new application products for the automobile, industrial control and medical devices. In the future, EVERLIGHT will not only continue to seek quantitative growth but also focus on qualitative improvement. In the high-tech industry. EVERLIGHT is committed to ensure customer satisfaction by delivering high quality products with on-time delivery, and instant service. EVERLIGHT also provides integrating and planning systems for precision material, process equipment, and parts and components required by trading agents, sales agents, and LCD and LED industries. EVERLIGHT's long-term development plan focuses on the development of energy-saving LED lighting of higher efficiency and brightness. In addition to providing products and services for customers, premium and highly efficient LED lighting components and products are developed and produced to replace traditional lighting equipment in line with the global energy saving trends. With this achievement, EVERLIGHT leads Taiwan in the lighting area for the next generation. In addition, a more closely linked international supply chain and partnership relations have been established in cooperation with up and downstream manufacturers to reduce production costs and increase profitability. The global market share has been expanded to strengthen overall corporate competitiveness. Taiwan serves as the command centre for R&D, marketing and operation management to realise the goal of sustainable operations and fulfil social responsibility. About Enterprise Asia Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organisation in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine towards sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organisations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. For further information, visit www.enterpriseasia.org. About Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards Launched in 2007, the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards is the region's most prestigious awards for outstanding entrepreneurship, continuous innovation and sustainable leadership. The Award provides a platform for companies and governments to recognise entrepreneurial excellence, hence spurring greater innovation, fair business practices and growth in entrepreneurship. As a regional award, it groups together leading entrepreneurs as a powerful voice for entrepreneurship and serves as a by-invitation only networking powerhouse. The program has grown to encompass 14 countries and markets all over Asia. For more information, visit: www.apea.asia Media Contact Contact Person: Tan Yong Keat

Phone Number: (60) 3 7803 1916

Email: yongkeat@businessmedia.asia SOURCE Enterprise Asia

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[August 05, 2021]

Diagnos A.I. retinal screening technology expands into international markets

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Diagnos (TSXV: ADK) (OTCQB: DGNOF) (FRA: 4D4A) is opening clinics and forming distribution partnerships all over the world, including Canada, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Europe, Costa Rica and the U.S.

Five years ago, it was predicted that A.I would revolutionise medicine in the near future.

The revolution is happening but the roll-out is slower than anticipated because hospitals and clinics are wary of on-boarding new technologies.

In this positive but cautious environment, the lightening-quick global uptake of ADK's tech is significant.

Diagnos specialises in early detection of health problems based on its FLAIRE artificial intelligence (AI) platform.

The FLAIRE platform is used in applications such as CARA (Computer Assisted Retina Analysis).

CARA's artificial intelligence-based image enhancement algorithms provide sharper, clearer, retinal images that can then be analyzed` for anomalies.

CARA has been approved by a number of regulators, including Canada (Health Canada), the United States (FDA), Mexico (COFEPRIS), Europe (EC) and the Saudi FDA.

On June 9, 2021 Diagnos signed a multi-year agreement with IRIS The Visual Group, creating a platform launch for the deployment of AI-based tests, screening for vascular changes in the retina for optometry clinics.

Initially, this agreement will cover the province of Quebec in a multi-step approach as per the agreement with the INVEST-AI program (sponsored by the Government of Queec).









"IRIS continues to be at the forefront of implementing technology driven solutions for clinical optometry and optical retail," stated said Eric Babin, President of IRIS. "Artificial intelligence will raise our standard when it comes to quality of care and we are eager to collaborate with Diagnos."

"The early stages of retinal damage from diabetes are called non-proliferative retinopathy," explains Health Link BC, "First, tiny blood vessels called capillaries in the retina develop weakened areas in their walls called microaneurysms."

"When red blood cells escape through these weakened walls, tiny amounts of bleeding (hemorrhage) become visible when the retina is viewed through an instrument called an ophthalmoscope".

"By using Diagnos' telemedicine solution, we have been able to identify patients needing care early so their vision can be saved," stated ADK.



In addition, DIAGNOS has entered into a 7-year agreement with New Look Vision Group (TSX: BCI), IRIS' parent company.

New Look Vision is a financially strong partner with a large footprint.

The New Look Vision network totals 406 locations operating across North America. About 200 of these stores are in Quebec.

BCI's brands include the New Look Eyewear, Vogue Optical, Greiche & Scaff and Iris in Canada, and the Edward Beiner banner in Florida.

BCI's Q1, 2021 revenues increased 27.3% year-over-year to reach $86.6 million. The company has $57.2 million in cash, coupled with available credit of $49.4 million.

Pending the outcome of the BCI/ADK Quebec initiative, the agreement anticipates the deployment of AI across a broader North American network.



"We are extremely pleased to enter into this major agreement with IRIS and New Look Vision, a market leader in North America with more than 400 optical stores," stated Andre Larente, President of Diagnos, "IRIS and New Look Vision are ideal industry partners for the rapid implementation of DIAGNOS' technologies."

"Though the AI adoption is in the early phase in retinal technologies, rising demand for accuracy, efficiency, and patient safety is anticipated to significantly boost the adoption of DIAGNOS' AI-enabled medical imaging over the next several years," stated ADK.



"Clinics, optical stores, and diagnostic and research centers are expected to emerge as crucial end users of our image analysis solutions, owing to rising demand for our extremely efficient solutions for better patient outcomes," added Larente.

On July 5, 2021, Larente spoke with Equity Guru's Jody Vance about the business objectives of ADK.

"We just announced a 7-year contract with the largest eye care retailer in Canada," confirmed Larente referring to New Look Vision.

"It has three components to it," continued Larente, "One is it's going to they're going to use our existing platform to analyze the back of the eye of all their patients."

"Two, we're going to develop an application to monitor patients that have glaucoma."

"Thirdly, New Look Vision wants access to a new application that we're developing for stroke."

Diagnos' technology can inform a patient that she is at risk for a heart attack or stroke.

"The retina, the back part of the eye, is the only area of the body where doctors can easily see the condition of arteries and veins without invasive procedures," explains AV Press.

"Early detection of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries) in the retinas of diabetes patients signals a warning that the same problem is occurring in coronary arteries," continues AV Press, "This is why the retina is called, 'the window to the heart'".

Earlier this year, Diagnos announced a three-year partnership agreement with the Center Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM) on AI projects related to the early detection of various retinal diseases.

"The global diabetes prevalence in 2019 is estimated to be 9.3% (463 million people), rising to 10.2% (578 million) by 2030 and 10.9% (700 million) by 2045," states The International Diabetes Federation, "One in two (50.1%) people living with diabetes do not know that they have diabetes".

"Diabetes is the largest cause of vision loss in the world and accessibility to an eye test such as this is one of the most important factors contributing to early diagnosis and treatment," confirmed Yves-Stephane Couture, V.P of Sales for DIAGNOS.

With existing partnerships in Canada, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Europe, Costa Rica and the U.S.  ADK technology travels well  and may expand into new territories.

Surging diabetes trends in China make it a natural home for ADK tech.

"China diabetes market reached a value of US$ 4.48 Billion in 2020," confirmed iMARC, "The disease has presently reached epidemic proportions in the adult population. Around three decades ago, less than 1% of the Chinese adult population had diabetes. These levels, however, have increased to around 12%  making it the diabetes capital of the world."

There are 200,000 optometrists in the world, and each one of them is capable of collecting the images Diagnos needs to run its AI diagnostics.

Diagnos' stated goal is to be cash flow positive by the end of 2021.

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SOURCE Global Stocks News
[August 05, 2021] Noema Pharma Initiates Phase 2a Allevia Study of PDE10A Inhibitor NOE-105 in Tourette Syndrome

First Noema clinical trial, with asset in-licensed from Roche with strong clinical safety package

Noema advancing potentially life-changing therapeutics for patients without satisfactory treatments BASEL, Switzerland, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noema Pharma, a Swiss-based clinical stage company targeting orphan central nervous system (CNS) diseases, today announces the initiation of its first clinical trial, a Phase 2a dose ranging study of the PDE10A inhibitor NOE-105 in Tourette Syndrome. The Allevia trial is a multi-center 12-week prospective study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of once a day NOE-105, one of Noemas extensive pipeline of products in-licensed from Roche, at a daily dose range of 5mg to15mg in adult male patients with Tourette Syndrome. NOE-105 has previously been found to be safe in adults at repeated doses up to 30 mg per day. The Allevia trial is expected to report in H1 2022. This dose ranging study will help generate useful data to understand the efficacy and safety of NOE-105 in patients with Tourette Syndrome, said Dr George Garibaldi, Chief Medical Officer of Noema Pharma. In a neuroimaging study using a PET tracer, the drug has shown a good penetration of the brain and a dose proportional target engagement. This study will further allow us to better understand the efficacy of NOE-105 in patients presenting with comorbidities associated with Tourettes Tourette Syndrome is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 138,000 children in the US alone. It begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by multiple tics such as blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. It is most often treated with antipsychotics which come with limied benefit and significant motor and metabolic side effects, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. NOE-105 is an inhibitor of PDE10A, an enzyme highly expressed in medium spiny neurons of the mammalian striatum inhibitor, which modulates D2 receptor signaling and is not associated with the metabolic abnormalities that are typically observed with most second-generation antipsychotics.



The international expert Dr Andreas Hartmann, of Sorbonne University, Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France, will be partnering with principal investigators to conduct an in-depth evaluation of the efficacy and safety of NOE-105 in patients with Tourette. Dr Andreas Hartmann said: Tourette Syndrome can be a devastating disease, significantly affecting patients confidence and ability to go about everyday tasks. There is a substantial unmet medical need because existing treatments have potentially limited benefits and significant drawbacks. The clinical development of NOE-105 offers a possibility to improve this treatment landscape and to bring a greater sense of normality back to patients lives. Principal investigator Philip E Mosley, of the Wesley Medical Research Institute, Auchenflower, Australia, said: I am pleased to play a role in the development of new and innovative treatments for Tourette syndrome and that our Institute has been selected as one with particular expertise in the evaluation and treatment of those with this condition.

Principal investigator Andrew Evans, of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia, said: Industry sponsored clinical trials in Tourette Syndrome have been limited in the past, meaning there are very few treatments options for these patients. The commitment of Noema to develop a new treatment, already proven to be safe and with a promising mechanism of action, is exciting and I look forward to contributing to its clinical development. About Noema Pharma

Noema Pharma is a Swiss-based company targeting orphan CNS diseases characterized by an imbalanced neuronal network. The company has an extensive pipeline of products in-licensed from Roche and with strong safety packages, including lead product NOE-101, a mGluR5 inhibitor, which is Phase 2b ready for persistent seizures in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and severe pain in Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN). NOE-105, a PDE10A inhibitor, is in Phase 2 for the treatment of Tourette Syndrome. Noema Pharma was seeded by the leading European venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners. Contacts Noema Pharma

Luigi Costa

Chief Executive Officer

info@noemapharma.com Investors

LifeSci Advisors  Guillaume van Renterghem

gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors.com

+41 (0) 76 735 01 31 Media

LifeSci Advisors  Bernhard Schmid

bschmid@lifesciadvisors.com

+41 (0) 44 447 12 21



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[August 05, 2021] Servify's Massive Growth Leads to Expansion of Global Team with Key Hires Across Business Domains

Servify, a leading provider of Extended Care and Product Protection solutions using its global, AI-enabled, digital platform, has announced hiring of senior leaders across regions and functions to drive its global expansion. Arun Verma, MS Kalsi, Kevin Cundiff, Edward Lee, Swetha Prashant, Peter Duesing, Sanghoon (Sam) Kwon, Hussein Hussein and Sergey Odinets have all been hired to bolster various verticals and regions within the organisation. Arun Verma, with more than 20 years of experience, was appointed as the Chief Human Resources Officer. He has championed impressive success in people management across distinctly diverse industries such as Technology & Services, Finance, Management Consulting & FMCG. He worked as CHRO and Head of Administration of Beetel before Servify, and with the likes of Xerox India, McKinsey & Co., Reliance Capital Limited, and CavinKare in the past. Makhan Singh Kalsi, also known as M S Kalsi, joins Servify as its Chief Service Officer after previously serving as the Chief Operations Officer for Digicare, a Quess Group Company. During his three years there, he scaled their operations multi-fold, with his enviable brand relationships and market reputation. He has also worked with LeEco, Samsung, Nokia, Canon (News - Alert) , and Network Ltd in the past in various senior management positions. Swetha Prashant joined Servify as Group General Counsel and shall be working closely with the leadership team to help scale and reinforce Servify's legal capabilities. Swetha, a former partner of J. Sagar Associates (a leading law firm), has been practising law for more than 14 years with extensive experience in representing and advising both domestic and international clients in relation to cross border investments, M&A, JVs, private equity / venture capital, and general corporate commercial transactions and compliances across diverse sectrs.



Kevin Cundiff joins Servify's North American operations as Vice President, Partners & Account Management, and will manage all key partner relations. He has led teams responsible for product placement as well as client acquisition, development and retention in his previous roles and manage all key account relationships in North America. In the past, he has worked in senior positions at Penumbra Brands, uBreakiFix (acquired by Asurion), Fortegra (ProtectCELL parent company) and T-Mobile (News - Alert) . Edward Lee is an insurance industry veteran with a career spanning more than 20 years spearheaded market expansion, product development and regulatory compliance initiatives in support of global manufacturers, distributors and automotive dealer groups in both Canada and the United States for organisations such as Microsoft (News - Alert) Corporation, CNH Industrial N.V., SquareTrade, HomeServe USA, Sears, General Motors Corp., Volvo North America, etc. He joins Servify as Vice President and Head of Insurance for North America and will also drive regulatory compliance in the warranty practice globally for Servify.

Sanghoon (Sam) Kwon joined Servify as a Senior Director and will manage Samsung (News - Alert) as an OEM account for Servify. He comes with a rich experience which ranges from strategy building to managing global and regional businesses. He worked with Samsung Electronics in Korea and in other geographies in the past & Bolttech just before joining Servify. He is based in Seoul, South Korea. The Technology function also sees addition of two key hires. Dr. Peter Duesing, who became part of Servify after its acquisition of German based WebToGo, takes over the position of Vice President - Technology based out of Munich, Germany. He is now responsible for leading engineering teams for our Diagnostics and R&D functions and will also lead our patent portfolio expansion initiatives. Ghanshyam Varindani joins Servify as Senior Director to lead the Data Engineering function. In previous roles, he has worked in senior roles at AirAsia in Malaysia and TCS leading Data Analytics Strategy and the Business Intelligence Roadmaps. Additionally, to manage business operations in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & Russia, Hussein Hussein and Sergey Odinets have been respectively appointed as Regional Heads. They both have more than a decade of experience each working for top global brands. "We are fortunate to build a global business that's also growing massively. I am extremely proud to have these reputed leaders joining me to realise our vision. It's always great people building great companies, and I am happy that getting great people hasn't been a problem ever for us," said Sreevathsa Prabhakar, Founder of Servify, on the expansion of global teams. About Servify Servify integrates multiple OEM Brands and their sales and service ecosystem through its product lifecycle management platform, to deliver great after-sales service experience. Started in 2015, India Headquartered Servify has spread its reach in multiple countries across the globe, partnering with over 75 OEM brands including top mobile device brands, retailers, distributors, insurers, service providers and carriers. The Servify platform processes more than 3 million transactions monthly, with 250k+ Platform users spread across retailers, service centres, contact centres and administration teams worldwide serving millions of consumers. Additional information on Servify is available at www.servify.tech View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804005106/en/

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INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation of Annovis Bio, Inc. (ANVS) on Behalf of Investors

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Annovis Bio, Inc. ("Annovis" or the "Company") (NYSE: ANVS) investors concerning the Company's possible violations of the federal securities laws.

On July 28, 2021, after the market closed, Annovis reported that Posiphen failed to show statistical significance in treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients relative to a placebo.

On this news, the Company's stock price fell $65.94 per shae, or over 60%, to close at $43.50 per share on July 29, 2021, thereby injuring investors.







If you purchased Annovis securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804006221/en/
[August 05, 2021]

GL announces T1 E1 Analyzer Client/Server Scripting for Linux / Windows

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GL Communications Inc., a global leader in telecom test and measurement solutions, addressed the press regarding their T1 E1 Analyzer which supports Python Client/Server scripting for both Windows and Linux operating systems.

GL's Windows Client/Server (WCS) software allows the user of T1/E1 Analysis / Emulation cards (with portable, dual, quad, and octal interfaces), the capability of remote operation, automation, and multi-site connectivity. T1/E1 Cards in a Server are easily controlled through software Clients at remote or local sites via TCP/IP sockets. Connectivity can be via Dial-Up, LAN, WAN, or more typically the Internet. Server software can run multiple tasks simultaneously at the request of the Client software, said Vijay Kulkarni, CEO of GL Comunications.







In the recent enhancement, WCS software is enhanced to support Python scripting on both Windows and Linux operating systems. The Windows Client Python Module (WCPM) wcli_t1_e1.pyd provides a client interface to the T1/E1 WCS servers. It allows a python program to connect to one or more GWSs and execute server commands, asynchronous tasks and receive replies from GWSs. WCPM enables connection to multiple GWSs allowing the python program to control T1/E1 equipment at multiple computers and geographical locations via TCP/IP. The supported Python versions are 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8.

He further added, All the complexity of TCP/IP communications is completely hidden from users and is reduced to invoking functions with string parameters and functions returning string responses. WCPM complies with python naming convention standards and development practices. When WCPM functions are invoked incorrectly a proper exception is thrown making it easy to diagnose and correct the problem.

About GL Communications Inc.,

GL Communications is a global provider of telecom test and measurement solutions. GLs solutions are used to verify the quality and reliability of Wireless (4G LTE, 3G, 2G), SONET/SDH, Ethernet/IP, TDM, and PSTN networks.



Contact:

Shelley Sharma

Phone: 301-670-4784

E-mail: info@gl.com

Media Contact: pressrelease@gl.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccb2e766-494f-4d83-ad79-47a04d5d4e89
[August 05, 2021] TheMathCompany Launches Co.dx's Exclusive Next-gen CPG Application Suite

Built to power double-digit growth targets with scalable and sustainable solutions BENGALURU, India, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TheMathCompany is excited to launch its highly advanced and nuanced CPG application suite on Co.dx, a proprietary AI/ML platform that builds and deploys multiple applications in client ecosystems. Designed to navigate through shifting retail structures, evolving consumer behavior, and other challenges prevalent within the CPG sector, Co.dx's CPG-specific AI faculties enable the applications to be plug-and-play. As part of Phase 1, TheMathCompany is launching Co.dx's CPG application suites to help companies boost revenue across their commercial value chains while providing holistic and granular views into category performance. Co.dx's ready-to-deploy suite of applications aims to enable CPG businesses achieve double-digit growth and maximize ROI using cutting-edge technology. It does so by helping resolve persistent challenges faced by CPG firms, including the harmonization of data sources, business process agility improvements, and integrations of applications into existing ecosystems. Drawing from their vast expeience in solving real-world business challenges for Fortune 500 organizations, TheMathCompany's experts have designed and curated these application suites to enable collaborative growth planning, while ensuring optimization across primary levels of revenue management, including assortment, distribution, pricing, promotions, and maximization of return on marketing spend.



"Co.dx is abstracted from tackling industry-wide challenges to reduce time to value, and the CPG application suite focuses on standardizing processes and helping resolve key problems within the CPG industry, such as providing stakeholders with a holistic view into category performance. With our proprietary contextualized AI algorithms designed to drive action, we help augment decisions and enable our clients to stay ahead of the competition. With newer opportunities, we expect to expand and build a range of application suites on Co.dx for other functional and industry verticals, ensuring rapid impact for enterprises," says Anuj Krishna, Co-Founder & Head of Assets at TheMathCompany. Co.dx's applications can be customized to match business nuances for seamless integration, and also allows executives to formulate short-term tactical plans and long-term strategic goals through actionable insights. Powered by pre-built AI widgets, Co.dx enables businesses to reduce time to value by over 50% and accelerate data-to-decisions cycle, at scale.

About TheMathCompany: TheMathCompany is a global analytics consultancy that partners with Fortune 500 or equivalent organizations in their analytics journey, using IP-led assets, people, and processes to deliver accelerated and human-centric solutions, to maximize value. With a team of 650+ data scientists, data engineers, consultants, analysts, and visualization experts, the organization has ongoing engagements with 45+ clients across 15+ industry verticals. About Co.dx: Co.dx is an AI-powered platform, built under TheMathCompany's product division. Pre-built with 250+ AI widgets, derived from past engagements and expertise in solving business challenges, this proprietary AI/ML platform's capabilities cut time to value. Co.dx delivers MVPs rapidly while building scalable and sustainable solutions that generate business value. At present, its advanced application suites for the CPG industry encompass value generation across Growth Planning, Assortment & Distribution, Marketing and Pricing & Promotions. To know more, visit https://codx.ai/ Contact: Mridula Vasudevamurthy

Email: enquiries@codx.ai Photo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1589050/TheMathCompany_Co_dx.jpg

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[August 05, 2021] GLP and Sequoia China Close Nearly US$800 Million Strategic Investment in Leading Consumer PE Firm Harvest Capital

SHANGHAI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a US$480 million investment from Hongtai Hengye in 2018, Harvest Capital, China's leading consumer PE firm, closed a strategic investment of nearly US$800 million from GLP Pte. Ltd. and Sequoia China last month. Harvest Capital, founded in 2007, is a veteran PE firm focused on large-scale consumer-oriented and modern service industries. Over the last several years, the company has developed and followed three key investment tracks: a track which meets the most common yet most rigid expectations of our investors by focusing on livelihood infrastructure companies with deep potential and long-term compounding investment value; second, consumer-oriented growth brands that are responsive to changes in consumer expectations in China's lower-tier cities; and, third, innovative and iterative companies that are tacitly integrated with technological advances and transformation in traditional consumer industries. In the view of Song Xiangqian, founding partner and chairman of Harvest Capital, the company abides by certain immutable investment principles that drive the company's acquisition decisions: "buy industry growth, buy company growth, and buy the learning ability and mental growth of the entepreneurs that run them". To take it a step further, Harvest Capital believes in the importance of professional empowerment and value creation, and is committed to being not only an investment institution but also a business partner and a co-founder of the companies that it invests in, to grow symbiotically with the companies and brands that it invests in.



"As we let the application of the three principles trigger "buy" signals, we can achieve corporate value growth fueled by the 'Davis Double Whammy' effect, and truly create long-term compounding value," Song said. "We are an organization that believes in the compound value of time." Currently, Harvest Capital has some 20 billion yuan (approx. US$3 billion) of capital under management, with several of China's renowned brands having been recipients of investment, among them, Chacha Food, Jiajia Food, Zhongyin Babi Food, Home Original Chicken, ORG Packaging, Meituan, Lyfen, Aimer, Eastroc Beverage, Wenheyou, Easyhome New Retail and Taikang Insurance Group.

"The systematic injection of the long-term capital coupled with the capital management capabilities of an insurance company, the global warehousing, logistics and real estate fund management capabilities of GLP and the world-renowned investment capabilities of Sequoia China are a recognition of Harvest Capital as a professional consumer investment institution and a big bet on China's consumption sector," said Mr. Song, the company chairman, when commenting on the investment. "This round of investment is an important component of the strategy to firmly support China's economic growth and boost the country's consumption while enhancing the quality of life of its population through better consumer services. It reflects the determination of like-minded investors to rise together with the growth of both the Chinese economy and of its consumption, as well as their long-termism of being bullish on China. We believe that such a combination of shareholders and resource advantages will greatly enhance the competitive strength of Harvest Capital, making the 'super training partner of existing champions' stronger and the 'business partner of enterprises' better, while facilitating the growth of China's consumer service industry." View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glp-and-sequoia-china-close-nearly-us800-million-strategic-investment-in-leading-consumer-pe-firm-harvest-capital-301349034.html SOURCE Harvest Capital

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[August 05, 2021] SCAN Health Plan Successfully Reduces Vaccine Disparities Among Black, Latinx and Low-Income Members

SCAN Health Plan, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, announced the results of its ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Through unique collaborations, culturally relevant outreach, family caregiver support and a staunch focus on building trust, SCAN successfully reduced troubling vaccination inequities among its member population. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005189/en/ An EMT vaccinates a homebound SCAN Health Plan member earlier this year. (Photo: Business Wire) Key Data: Since February 2021, the vaccination gap between Black and white SCAN members was reduced from 17% to 6%.

Since February 2021, the vaccination gap between Latinx and white SCAN members was reduced from 11% to 4%

Since February 2021, the vaccination gap between low income and other members was reduced from 15% to 8%.

Since February 2021, the vaccination gap between members who live in zip codes highest within the community need index (4-5) was reduced from 1% to 8%.



"SCAN is committed to eliminating the troubling disparities in the health care system that disproportionately impact specific populations," said Sharon Jhawar, SCAN Health Plan's chief pharmacy officer. "The numbers indicate that through our efforts, we have been able to break with historic patterns and mitigate some of the pandemic's devastating impact on underserved populations in order to achieve broad population immunity."

SCAN's success at promoting equitable COVID vaccine distribution was driven by five key actions: SCAN built trust through culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach. Staff members called Spanish speaking and Black members to discuss vaccinations on their terms. These calls were in addition to the 160,000 calls made to SCAN members during the pandemic to check on members' preventative and other health care needs. SCAN surveyed Black and Spanish speaking caregivers and members to learn more about their views on vaccines. The responses were used to understand their viewpoints and create informed responses. SCAN launched an in-home vaccination program for homebound members. While most public health officials were focused on getting people out to vaccine megasites, SCAN, in partnership with MedArrive, dispatched paramedics to members' homes to administer COVID-19 vaccines to members, their family members and their caregivers. SCAN launched a dedicated COVID Vaccine Line. Dedicated staff fielded calls, helped members register for vaccines and answered questions about the vaccines. SCAN created a COVID-19 dashboard to track vaccine doses among its members. The information was used to inform targeted outreach to members and shared with providers to help them coordinate vaccinations for older adults under their care. "When you look at these initiatives and take them as a whole, it's clear that SCAN was successful in reducing disparities because we built trust within our focused outreach," said Dr. Romilla Batra, chief medical officer at SCAN Health Plan. About SCAN Health Plan SCAN Health Plan is one of the nation's largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, serving more than 220,000 members in California. Since its founding in 1977, SCAN has been a mission-driven organization dedicated to keeping seniors healthy and independent. Independence at Home, a SCAN community service, provides vitally needed services and support to seniors and their caregivers regardless of plan membership. SCAN also offers education programs, community funding, volunteer opportunities and other community services throughout our California service area. To learn more, visit scanhealthplan.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @scanhealthplan. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005189/en/

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[August 05, 2021] PepGen Announces Closing of $112.5 Million Crossover Financing to Advance Transformative Therapies for Neuromuscular Diseases

BOSTON, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PepGen, Inc., a company developing next-generation oligonucleotide therapies for neuromuscular and neurologic diseases, today announced the closing of an oversubscribed $112.5 million crossover financing, led by a strong syndicate of investors. The funding round included existing investors RA Capital Management, Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI) and CureDuchenne Ventures, and added new investors Viking Global Investors, Deerfield Management Company, Adage Capital Management, Samsara Biocapital, Laurion Capital Management, Tudor Investment Corporation, Grays Creek Capital Partners and other leading investors.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance PepGens lead programs: EDO51 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), entering Phase 1 clinical trials in 2022, and EDODM1 for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), entering clinical trials in early 2023, as well as a large pipeline of additional oligonucleotide candidates. The funds will also enable expansion of PepGens team in Boston. This financing comes on the heels of PepGens $45M Series A, led by RA Capital and announced in December 2020. We are thrilled to to be joined by this strong syndicate as we rapidly move towards the clinic with our lead programs in DMD and DM1, said James McArthur, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of PepGen. We have shown in large animal studies that we can safely achieve industry-leading efficacy in exon 51 skipping, and we hope this will be transformative for DMD patients. We will build on this work to expand our DMD program and into other neuromuscular diseases, leveraging the enormous potential of our EDO platform technology to create a better future for people living with genetic diseases. The PepGen team has made tremendous strides advancing its portfolio of neuromuscular therapies over the last year, added Joshua Resnick, MD, MBA, Managing Director RA Capital Management. PepGen has demonstrated that their EDOs achieve therapeutically differentiated levels of oligonucleotide delivery to muscle, including cardiac tissue, which is an area of unmet need for DMD patients. There is a strong opportunity for the company to deliver best-in-class therapies for DMD and other disorders, and were pleased to expand our support of PepGen at this pivotal time in the companys growth and development. PepGens lead DMD program, DO51, targets the underlying cause of DMD, a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness, which leads to difficulties standing, walking and breathing, ultimately impeding daily function and long-term survival. PepGens therapy combines an enhanced delivery peptide with a therapeutic oligonucleotide to target exon 51, stimulating exon-skipping to produce a functional dystrophin transcript enabling dystrophin production. Preclinical studies suggest that EDO51 can stimulate greater levels of exon-skipping that are expected to produce higher levels of dystrophin protein at lower doses than existing DMD therapies.



The companys lead program in DM1, EDODM1, blocks the toxic CUG repeats that form hairpin loops in DMPK messenger RNA leading to myotonic dystrophy type 1, a progressive muscle disease that causes myotonia and worsening muscle loss. Similar to DMD, the long-term impacts of DM1 are overwhelming for families that live with this disease. PepGens approach delivers a peptide-conjugated antisense oligonucleotide to restore cellular function to multiple muscle tissue types. Clinical trials are expected to begin in early 2023. PepGen will expand its DMD program to include multiple patients amenable to exon skipping approaches beyond exon 51, including populations that have no approved or clinical-stage therapies available, and expects to develop a broad pipeline of therapeutic candidates to address neuromuscular and neurologic diseases in the coming years.

Its extremely gratifying to witness the rapid translation of our scientific work on the optimization of cell-penetrating peptides to the development of new medicines that have the potential to radically impact the course of rare and devastating neuromuscular diseases, said Matthew Wood, Professor at the University of Oxford and PepGens Scientific Co-founder. Im delighted to see this support of existing and new investors that will help propel our Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotides into the clinic. OSI has been with PepGen since the beginning, so we know firsthand the state-of-the-art science and expertise from scientists at Oxford and Cambridge that has allowed PepGen to advance its EDO platform to near-clinical readiness and the commitment this team has to improving patients lives, said Alexis Dormandy, Chief Executive Officer of OSI. We look forward to continuing our support of the company as it works toward its ultimate goal to change the treatment paradigm for people with DMD, DM1 and other rare genetic disorders. About PepGen PepGen, Inc. is a biotechnology company advancing next-generation oligonucleotide therapies for neuromuscular diseases. PepGens proprietary Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotides (EDOs) are designed to safely and effectively target the underlying causes of rare genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). In preclinical studies, PepGens enhanced delivery peptides demonstrated success in cell penetration and delivery of therapeutic candidates to multiple tissue types, including cardiac tissue. PepGen was founded by leading neurology researchers in Oxford, UK and is backed by a strong syndicate of investors including RA Capital Management, Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), and others. The company is headquartered in Boston, Mass. For more information, visit www.pepgen.com or follow PepGen on Twitter and LinkedIn. Media Contact Gwendolyn Schanker

LifeSci Communications

(269) 921-3607

gschanker@lifescicomms.com



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[August 05, 2021] Jens Oberbeck Joins Pipedrive as the New VP of Sales

Pipedrive, the leading CRM platform for sales and marketing teams, today announced that experienced sales and digital marketing executive Jens Oberbeck has joined the company as VP of Sales. At Pipedrive, he is responsible for scaling sales by developing plans and strategies, managing sales teams, and organizing and maintaining sales operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005487/en/ Jens Oberbeck, VP of Sales (Photo: Business Wire) Jens Oberbeck has more thn 20 years of experience in sales and digital marketing. As a student, he launched an "eCity Portal" for a district in Hamburg, Germany and started his career in sales. After graduating from university, Oberbeck started a career in the digital advertising industry. Prior to joining Pipedrive, Oberbeck gained experience in contextual targeting, mobile advertising, worked at Amazon, and in programmatic sales, bringing a wealth of sales and general management experience to the company.



"I am beyond excited to join Pipedrive. I discovered at an early age that I am passionate about sales as it is fun and at the same time, enables me to learn so much about human behavior. My further experience in the digital advertising industry has enhanced my interest in the SaaS (News - Alert) industry. As VP of Sales, my focus is to scale Pipedrive's sales by finding new business opportunities as well as nurturing relationships with existing customers," said Jens Oberbeck, newly appointed VP of Sales. "Pipedrive has very ambitious product development plans. While growing from a single tool to a multi-function product is crucial for our business plans, sales plays a key role in building and nurturing trust with our customers. I absolutely love Jens' energy and his approach to running and developing a business. Pipedrive will definitely benefit from his wealth of sales, digital marketing, and general management skills," said Michael Schrezenmaier, COO, Pipedrive.

Before joining Pipedrive, Oberbeck worked in Unruly, where he served as Managing Director and VP of Commercial in the DACH region, in MiQ as VP of Commercial in the DACH region, and in Amazon as the Principal of Agency Development. About Pipedrive Founded in 2010, Pipedrive is the first CRM platform developed from the salesperson's point of view. Today, Pipedrive is used by sales teams at more than 95,000 companies worldwide. Pipedrive is headquartered in New York and has offices across Europe and in the US. The company is backed by a majority holder Vista Equity Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Atomico, DTCP, and Rembrandt Venture Partners (News - Alert) . Learn more at www.pipedrive.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005487/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Expands Intellectual Property Portfolio

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) (the Company or Kraig Labs), the leading developer of spider silk based fibers, announces today that the Company has further expanded its leading position in the development of recombinant spider silk with the filing of two new patent applications. These new innovative patents build upon underlying knock-in/knock-out gene-editing technologies that the Company first made public in 2020.

The technologies covered with these patents expand on the Companys nearly pure spider silk genetic engineering systems allowing for larger, more complex, and more diverse protein production systems. Leveraging in situ auto assembly of large and complex proteins, the first, of these two patents, allows for the creation of silks that incorporate multiple sets of mechanical and chemical properties that cannot be created by conventional gene editing means. Kraig Labs developed this new system to address the limits on size and complexity of protein synthesis available from the worlds leading recombinant gene manufacturers. The Company expects that this new method will produce silks with complexities and scope that have never been seen before, in nature or in the laboratory. The second patent propels the Companys developments in gene editing beyond the traditional heavy chain fibroin component of silk. This new research and development avenue opens the doors for the co-production of complementary proteins. This evolution in research delivers on the Companys vision for its transgenic silkworms as host platforms for tailord cosmetic and pharmacological proteins. This new system leverages the cost-effective and eco-responsible protein system that all of the Companys technologies are built on.



The Company filed both of these patent applications under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) process as well as filing utility patents in the United States of America. The broad nature of the PCT application will allow the Company to protect its technologies across the globe. Our research team continues to impress, bring new and innovative ideas to transcend what others may see as a technological limitation, said COO, Jon Rice. The portfolio of IP that our team is building, together with the resulting silk technologies it has produced, leaves me very optimistic for the future of Kraig Labs, our spider silk technologies, and beyond.

To view the most recent news from Kraig Labs and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/news About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. ( www.KraigLabs.com ), a reporting biotechnology company is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies. The Company has achieved a series of scientific breakthroughs in the area of spider silk technology with implications for the global textile industry. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information Statements in this press release about the Companys future and expectations other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are made on the basis of managements current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that managements expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as believes, plans, expects, anticipates, foresees, estimated, hopes, if, develops, researching, research, pilot, potential, could or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Companys business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC

(720) 288-8495

ir@KraigLabs.com



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[August 05, 2021] Government Brands Announces Recapitalization with New and Existing Shareholders

Government Brands, a leading provider of government software and integrated payment solutions, announced today a recapitalization co-led by PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies, and TPG, a global alternative asset firm. PSG will retain its majority stake in the company and TPG will become a significant minority shareholder. Greater Sum Ventures ("GSV") will exit its position in the company. Additional terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. Government Brands was founded in 2017 to address a significant need by government entities to leverage technology to operate more efficiently. It aims to bring together comprehensive software and payments solutions designed to empower court, tax, utility and public development agencies to optimize and modernize operations while increasing public engagement, and to accelerate revenue collection while providing constituents contactless mediums for payments. The company has undergone significant growth since inception, both organically and through more than 25 acquisitions, with COVID-19 underscoring the critical need for government agencies to accelerate digitization initiatives. "We believe our partnership with PSG and GSV over the last few years has been critical to Government Brands' ability to execute on our mission to empower all levels of government to transform how they engage with constituents by providing leading software and payment solutions," said John Kristel, CEO of Government Brands. "We look forward to further scaling our platform to better serve our customers, in partnership with PSG and TPG, and thank the GSV team for their contributions to support our growth to date." Today, Government Brands is one of the only platforms of scale optimizing government operations and revenue collection through one holistic platform. This new round of financing is expected to be used to drive technological development and enhance the company's ability to serve new and existing customers in its existing markets, including court and land records, tax and treasury, computer-aided mass appraisal and public works, as well as to expand into new markets within the government ecosystem. Peter Wilde, Co-Founder and Chairman of PSG, commented, "Currently 80% of government organizations are still at the initial stage of developing digital maturity. In our view, John and the entire Government Brands team have done an exceptional job building a platform to provide mission-critical solutions to a market undergoing crucial transformation. We believe the company is well-equipped to deliver technological solutions that will accelerate this transition to an even broader base of customers. We look forward to building on our partnership with the team to support overnments entering the next chapter of digital connectivity."



Tim Millikin, Partner at TPG, commented, "Across industries, organizations are adopting technology at a fast pace to better serve the changing behaviors of their customers. Government Brands provides a robust suite of integrated software solutions purpose-built for government entities of all sizes. TPG has invested in vertical market software for many years, and our investment in Government Brands reflects our continued thematic focus on vertical payments and the digital transformation of the public sector. We look forward to working with John, Dave, and the PSG team with an aim to accelerate the company's growth." "We believe that through the strength of its investors, strategic advisors, and talented management team, Government Brands has unlocked immense value for shareholders and customers alike," said Ross Croley, CEO and Founder of GSV. "We're pleased to have played a significant role in the evolution of this platform since its beginning and are proud of the innovation it brings to the government sector. We'll follow the Government Brands story with interest and wish all parties continued success."

For Government Brands, William Blair served as the exclusive financial advisor on the transaction. Shea & Company acted as the sole financial advisor to TPG. TPG is investing in Government Brands out of its TPG Tech Adjacencies Fund, an investment vehicle focused on providing flexible capital solutions to the technology industry. About Government Brands Government Brands, LLC is a leading provider of government software and integrated payment solutions. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, we offer comprehensive solutions for all sizes of government entities - municipalities, counties, states, and federal agencies - with thousands of clients in all 50 states and Canada. Government Brands has more than 500 employees in offices throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.governmentbrands.com. About PSG PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 80 companies and facilitated over 325 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London. https://www.psgequity.com/ About TPG TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with $96 billion of assets under management and offices in Beijing, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, and Washington D.C. TPG's investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth equity, impact investing, real estate, secondaries, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com or @TPG on Twitter (News - Alert) . About Greater Sum Ventures Greater Sum Ventures (GSV) is an entrepreneurial family office that invests its own capital in middle market software and tech-enabled services companies. With entrepreneurial roots and proven operational and investing experience, GSV works with select independent co-investing partners to build platforms of technology companies that revolutionize the industries they serve. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, GSV provides access to capital and operational support to midmarket technology firms all over the world. To learn more, visit GreaterSumVentures.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005284/en/

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New IDC Forecast for Public Cloud Infrastructure (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) Workloads Puts Worldwide Revenue at $400 Billion In 2025

International Data Corporation (IDC) recently published a new forecast for the Worldwide Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) markets, which includes revenue segmentation across IDC's (News - Alert) 18 enterprise workload categories.

The combined Public Cloud IaaS and PaaS market is forecast to have revenues of $400 billion in 2025 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.8% during the 2021-2025 forecast period. Application development and testing, structured data management, and structured data analytics will be the largest workload segments by revenue share. Unstructured data analytics/data management and media streaming are forecast to be the fastest growing segments with CAGRs of 41.9% and 41.2%, respectively. Other business applications, file and print, and content applications will grow slower than the overall market average while still delivering double-digit growth throughout the forecast period.

"Enterprise spending on public cloud infrastructure continues to grow faster than traditional IT infrastructure segments," said Andrew Smith, research manager Cloud Infrastructure Services. "We expect all workload segments to grow in the double digits - some slightly faster than others - as enterprises emerge from 2020 and continue to prioritize workload migration and modernization using public cloud infrastructure."

Cloud IaaS and PaaS is a critical, enabling component for the future of digital infrastructure. The future of digital infrastructure is highly dependent on the ability of complex, connected cloud infrastructure to self-regulate and dynamically optimize itself in response to real-time changes in resource demand, application performance, and end-user experience. By 2022, IDC anticipates that almost half of an enterprise's products and services will be digital or digitally delivered, increasing the business' reliance on infrastructure (compute, storage, networking) to support more than traditional business aplications. Timely access to innovative infrastructure resources - both shared and dedicated - will be imperative to sustain the adaptive, resilient, secure, and compliant digital business models of the future.







Additional trends driving workload growth within this market include:

Public cloud services remain an essential part of enterprise recovery strategy as IT organizations reevaluate budgets, build infrastructure focused on business resilience, and work toward operating efficiently and managing risk in a post-COVID-19 world.

Enterprises are shifting from workload migration to workload modernization on public cloud. In 2020, we saw IaaS buyers increasingly prioritize application modernization efforts, viewing modernization as an integral component of the move toward agile application delivery and cloud operations.

Relentless enterprise data growth continues to push many workloads to the public cloud, as enterprises look to effectively manage data growth, as well as their IT budget. In many cases, cloud infrastructure and application platforms help meet this need by enabling agile and consistent scaling of capacity that can be utilized on demand.

The report, Worldwide Public Cloud IaaS and PaaS Workloads Forecast, 2021-2025 (IDC #US48032921), presents IDC's combined public cloud IaaS and PaaS forecast with worldwide revenue for IaaS and PaaS workloads over the 2021-2025 forecast period. The forecast is the first, public cloud-only segmentation of workloads by revenue, complementing IDC's existing workloads research for server (Worldwide Server Workloads Forecast, 2020-2024: Investment Expands Despite the Ongoing Pandemic) and storage systems (Worldwide External Enterprise Storage Systems Infrastructure for Workloads Forecast, 2021-2025).

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005121/en/
[August 05, 2021] Robbie Cabral's BenjiLock Continues to Impress -- Winning 2021 TWICE PICKS Award

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ever since Robbie Cabral walked into the set of ABC's Shark Tank, his life changed. Upon pitching his innovative fingerprint technology for personal security locks, Kevin O'Leary ("Mr. Wonderful") was hooked. Partnering with a seasoned investor such as Kevin has allowed Robbie Cabral to take his purpose-driven ideas for BenjiLock and bring them to fruition. Since then, BenjiLock has harnessed a handful of accolades and awards for its unique and trendsetting products that have redefined the market of personal security. BenjiLock's latest creation, BenjiLock Fingerprint Bike Lock, has recently won the 2021 TWICE PICKS Award for innovation. In response to the thrilling news of their latest award, Robbie Cabral and Kevin O'Leary sat down for a joint interview with Smartbrief and TWICE correspondent Jaimie Sorcher to discuss the bike lock that changed everything and the journey that O'Leary describes as "The Essence of the American Dream." Watch the interview here. The BenjiLock Fingerprint Bike Lock is the first device of its kind to personalize the security of one's bicycle with hybrid technology by using a simple fingerprint. Sleek, easy to use, and customized for up to 10 fingerprints, the BenjiLock Bike Lock is the personal security device that is sweeping the nation. In 2020, the United States began to face a bike shortage due to the sudden uprising of outdoor activity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the current times, more individuals are currently commuting to work or traveling by bicycle. Before this boom, over two million bikes were stolen every year due to no locks or poor-quality locks. BenjiLock takes the stress and headache out of securing one's possessions and replaces them with innovation and peace of mind. Praised by Kevin O'Leary on QVC last month, BenjiLock is a product that defines a new wave of innovation for the present generation. Nowa winner of the 2021 TWICE PICK Award, amongst various CES innovation awards, BenjiLock is leading the way for a more personalized home, mobile, and on-the-go security.



In addition to the awards, BenjiLock is supporting TEDMonterey: The Case for Optimism this week with an in-kind donation. To learn more about, Robbie Cabral and BenjiLock, please visit BenjiLock.com.

#BenjiLock #TEDMonterey About BenjiLock Based in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 2014 by inventor and entrepreneur Robbie Cabral, BenjiLock has redefined the personal security experience through hybrid technology with the consumer in mind. Featured on ABC's hit show Shark Tank, Robbie Cabral landed Kevin O'Leary as an investor with a 15% equity stake in the company, catapulting BenjiLock's potential and success by securing a licensing partnership with Hampton Products International, the leader in security and hardware innovations and makers of BRINKS locks. Through this strategic partnership, BenjiLock was able to utilize the 30+ years of experience of Hampton Products International to further its production and manufacturing, escalating the brand to unprecedented levels. Today, BenjiLock's fingerprint technology is expanding into a portfolio of products, including an upcoming line of bike locks, next-generation of padlocks, drawer closets, and cabinet locks, as well as a brand new line of smart home door locks. For more information, visit BenjiLock.com and follow BenjiLock on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Linkedin. Related Images robbie-cabral-founder-ceo-of.jpg

Robbie Cabral, Founder & CEO of BenjiLock

Robbie Cabral, inventor, founder and CEO of BenjiLock, is the winner of the 2021 TWICE PICKS Award for innovation for its latest creation, the BenjiLock Fingerprint Bike Lock. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/robbie-cabrals-benjilock-continues-to-impress--winning-2021-twice-picks-award-301349037.html SOURCE BenjiLock

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[August 05, 2021] Hillcrest Accelerates HEI Development; Proof of Concept Testing Announced for Q4 2021 as Dr. Jalal Amini Joins R&D Team as Power Electronics Engineer

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE: HEAT) (OTCQB: HLRTF) (FRA: 7HIA.F) ("Hillcrest'' or the "Company"), a clean tech innovation and e-mobility development company, is pleased to announce it has commenced manufacturing of the first Proof of Concept (PoC) prototype for the Company's next-generation High Efficiency Inverter (HEI). Having successfully completed engineering simulations more quickly than initially anticipated, expedited development efforts are expected to result in Hillcrest's HEI technology being ready for PoC testing in Q4 2021. The Company's 10kW/800V PoC inverter is expected to deliver both significant power efficiency gains and substantial cost benefits for future Electric Vehicle (EV) and other e-mobility powertrains, as well as grid-connected renewable energy generation and storage systems. Today's inverters are typically subject to various performance-limiting engineering trade-offs. Hillcrest's HEI will offer frictionless integration into any existing system and deliver superior performance over current inverter technologies by eliminating or reducing a number of these trade-offs, such as switching frequency versus efficiency, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) versus power density. In addition, Hillcrest's high efficiency inverter is expected to reduce heat generated, thereby reducing system cooling requirements, which in turn results in higher power density, lower costs and increased range for EVs. Combined, these efficiency gains from Hillcrest's HEI technology are expected to shrink the size and weight of powertrains enabling future EVs to be lighter, simpler and more cost effective. In renewable energy geeration applications, such as wind and solar, higher inverter efficiencies would add significant value by converting more usable energy from renewable sources, thereby increasing power output.



"This will be an important milestone for our HEI project, and I credit our exceptional team for their vision to move quickly and deliver," said Hillcrest CEO, Don Currie. "As we turn our attention to manufacturing our first PoC inverter, we will continue to focus on target applications and commercialization paths. Extensive market opportunities and our proprietary technology offerings position Hillcrest to emerge as an industry leader of high-performance, high-value electrification solutions that support global sustainability objectives." The Company is also pleased to announce that Jalal Amini, PhD, has joined the Hillcrest team as Power Electronics Engineer, with particular experience in power grid applications including embedded control software as well as energy storage systems.

"We are rapidly growing our Company's technical capability. Mr. Amini's extensive grid power systems design expertise, coupled with his experience designing energy storage systems and control software, greatly complements our existing capabilities with Systematec GmbH and will help further accelerate progress on both our current projects as well as those in the future," said Ari Berger, Hillcrest CTO. About Hillcrest Energy Technologies Hillcrest Energy Technologies is a clean tech innovation company developing transformative power conversion devices and control systems for next-generation powertrains and charging applications. The Company is transitioning from the production of fossil fuels from its West Hazel asset in Saskatchewan, to clean energy technologies that help unlock efficiencies in electrification and maximize performance of electric systems including electric vehicles, motors and electric generators. From concept to commercialization, Hillcrest is investing in the development of energy solutions that will power the future. Hillcrest is publicly traded on the CSE under the symbol "HEAT", on the OTCQB Venture Market as "HLRTF" and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as "7HIA.F". ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Donald Currie

Chief Executive Officer and Director NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information Some of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "is expected", "potential", "suggests" or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this news release. The forward-looking information reflects our current expectations and assumptions and is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. No assurance can be given that these assumptions will prove correct. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are advised to consider the risk factors under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2020 available at www.sedar.com for a discussion of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking information.. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hillcrest-accelerates-hei-development-proof-of-concept-testing-announced-for-q4-2021-as-dr-jalal-amini-joins-rd-team-as-power-electronics-engineer-301348958.html SOURCE Hillcrest Energy Technologies Inc.

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[August 05, 2021] Yeager Marketing Wins 3 American Marketing Association Awards

Yeager Marketing, a leading strategic marketing agency exclusively for B2B technology companies, is excited to announce that it has received three American Marketing Association awards (Spectrums) for work completed in 2019 and 2020, adding to a total of 21 AMA award wins for the company. Yeager took home top honors at the AMA ceremony in late July with their nominations for the " Dell (News - Alert) Future Ready Classroom Experience," the "NVIDIA and VMware Digital Playbook" and for the "Dell Work from Home Campaign." The American Marketing Association, Phoenix Chapter Spectrum (News - Alert) Awards is Arizona's largest and most representative annual marketing competition, attracting hundreds of entries each year from agencies, companies, organizations and institutions. With categories highlighting all aspects of marketing, from strategy and planning to innovation, execution and business results, the awards honor the year's biggest ideas and brightest minds. "Being recognized 21 times for great projects from the AMA is truly an honor," says founder and CEO Renee Yeager. "I especially appreciate these project awards because they each represent great partnerships with our clients who trust us to conceive and create marketing projects that are truly ground-breaking in their approach and execution." Yeager's three awards span multiple categories - all of which showcased the Company's ability to build digital experiences that engage buyers, sales teams, and channel partners. VR Experience

The "Dell Future Ready Classroom Experience" was selected as best Video / Event Augmented or Virtual Reality. Yeager produced an interactive, 3-minute, avatar-guided tour of a virtual classroom that allowed users to explore Dell products in a fully immersive setting.



Digital Sales Playbook

In the Collateral: Sales Kit / Press Kit category, Yeager was recognized for the " NVIDIA (News - Alert) and VMware Digital Playbook," an online, interactive playbook built to drive engagement with sales teams for solutions utilizing technology from both companies. Interactive, Persona-Based Microsite

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dell worked with Yeager Marketing to develop a website containing a series of five interactive and persona-focused work-from-home (WFH) stations. Each scenario had fun and engaging incentives to explore the products. The campaign was selected in the competitive category for Interactive | Online Microsite - Website (Corporate or eCommerce microsite). Earlier this year, Yeager also took home a 2021 Killer Content award from DemandGen Report for this project.

Founded in 2009, Yeager Marketing is a Scottsdale-based agency that helps the world's leading B2B technology companies streamline customer acquisition and accelerate growth. It provides best practice, purpose-built marketing strategy, content and campaigns for its clients. A three-time winner of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies, Yeager has won more than 50 awards for marketing excellence from notable organizations such as the American Marketing Association, the American Business Association, the MarCom Awards, Chief Marketer, and the Business Journal's Best Places to Work. Learn more at yeagermarketing.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005203/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Oak Street Health Celebrates Opening of 100th Value-Based Primary Care Center

Oak Street Health (NYSE: OSH, or the "Company"), a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare, is proud to announce the opening of its 100th center, a milestone the company is reaching less than eight years after it opened its first center on the north side of Chicago. The milestone also comes at the one year anniversary since Oak Street Health's initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020. Today, Oak Street Health employs more than 3,500 "Oakies'' who care for nearly 110,000 patients at its 100 centers across 15 states. "The opening of our 100th center is an exciting milestone and would not be possible without the incredible work of our devoted team of Oakies who care for older adults across the country," said Mike Pykosz, Chief Executive Officer of Oak Street Health. ?"It's a moment to celebrate while recognizing the work ahead to continue advancing our mission. We are more committed than ever to bringing our innovative care model and unmatched patient experience to more communities and improving health outcomes for our patients." In honor of the 100th center opening, Oak Street Health is partnering with the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI) to plant 100 trees in neighborhoods Oak Street Health serves across its home state of Illinois, where the company currently operates 21 centers caring for more than 42,000 Medicare beneficiaries and employing nearly 1,200 Oakies.



"Oak Street Health is proud to partner with CRTI, whose goal to improve tree equity in urban areas is aligned with Oak Street's work to improve health equity in underserved neighborhoods," added Pykosz. "Our community-based care model means that we not only want to help our patients live higher quality lives, but we also want to enrich the neighborhoods we serve. Evidence shows that a healthy tree canopy can support mental and physical health by reducing depression and decreasing respiratory illness. We are excited to connect with CRTI on this mission on behalf of our patients." The honorary first tree planting will take place at Lafayette Terrace Apartments (6956 S. Vincennes Ave, Chicago, IL 60621), a senior apartment building in Englewood. The planting will take place at 9:30am CT on Friday, August 6 and the following trees will be planted throughout the fall. The event will be attended by the Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner, Allison Arwady, M.D.

"I'm happy to join Oak Street Health for this celebration because they play such a vital role in improving community health, which we are all about at the Chicago Department of Public Health," said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. To learn more about Oak Street Health's value-based primary care model, click here. About Oak Street Health Founded in 2012, Oak Street Health is a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare. With a mission of rebuilding healthcare as it should be, the company operates an innovative healthcare model focused on quality of care over volume of services, and assumes the full financial risk of its patients. Oak Street Health currently operates 100 centers across 15 states. To learn more about Oak Street Health's proven approach to care, visit oakstreethealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005245/en/

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[August 05, 2021] MaxLinear, Inc. to Present at Upcoming Financial Conferences

MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog, digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits, today announced that it will attend the following financial conferences in August and September 2021. Financial Conference Schedule Oppenheimer 24th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference on Wednesday, August 11, 2021. The presentation will be made virtually and there will be a webcast in the IR section of www.maxlinear.com. BMO 2021 Technology Summit on Wednesday, August 25, 2021. The presentation will be made virtually and there will be a webcast in the IR section of www.maxlinear.com. Jefferies Semiconductor, IT Hardware & Communications Infrastructure Summit on August 31 to September 1, 2021. Deutsche Bank Technology Conference 2021 on Thursday, September 9, 2021. The presentation will be made virtually and there will be a webcast in the IR section of www.maxlinear.com.



About MaxLinear, Inc. MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE: MXL) is a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog, digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits for access and connectivity, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multimarket applications. MaxLinear is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. For more information, please visit www.maxlinear.com.

MxL and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005085/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Untangle Taps Brigantia Partners To Grow SMB Security Distribution in the UK

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Untangle Inc. , a leader in comprehensive network security for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and distributed enterprises, today announced a partnership with Brigantia Partners to support its successful award-winning SMB security solutions in the United Kingdom. According to the latest Untangle SMB IT Security Report , 45% of businesses indicated that they have adjusted or reevaluated their IT security roadmap based on recent security breaches and ransomware attacks. As the threat of cyberattack continues to grow, SMBs demands require a multi-layer approach to security which includes comprehensive support and services. This strategic partnership with Brigantia empowers a new market of SMBs with protection, visibility and control across their entire digital attack surface. "Our partnership with Brigantia will enable us to reach MSPs with specific needs that Brigantia understands," said Scott Devens, CEO at Untangle. "Brigantia has a deep understanding of IT Managed Services within the UK, and together with Untangle, will be able to provide the best in class products, support and services. Untangle is energized by Brigantia's approach to building their UK business and we look forward to a successful partnership where we grow together."



"After years of searching for a next-generation firewall solution that is clearly aimed at the SME and MSP marketspace, Brigantia Partners is excited to be launching the award-winning range from Untangle." said Martin Wright, Managing Director at Brigantia Partners Limited. "With this new addition to our portfolio, we are providing our partners with an enterprise-level firewall and VPN solution that is simple to deploy and manage, while also fitting into SME budgets."

Untangle leverages a fully cloud supported console which provides day to day analysis and alert system to ensure that customers are alerted of any malicious activity. With MSPs now empowered by NG Firewall , which offers highly customizable protection and robust filtering capabilities, customers can now ensure they receive the full advanced protection of the Untangle Network Security Framework . Brigantia and Untangle share the same commitment to supporting SMBs and distributed organizations against cyber attacks. Working in tandem with the Untangle SD-WAN product line , Brigantia can offer end users a homogeneous, professional solution for SMEs with multiple locations. To learn more, please visit www.brigantia.com . About Brigantia Partners

Headquartered in Yorkshire and with an office in London, Brigantia is an award-winning, value-added managed services channel distributor providing a comprehensive range of cyber-security solutions complemented by secure, enterprise-class data communications and cloud services. About Untangle

Untangle is an innovator in cybersecurity designed specifically for the below-enterprise market, safeguarding businesses, home offices, nonprofits, schools and governmental organizations. Untangle's integrated suite of software and appliances provides enterprise-grade capabilities and consumer-oriented simplicity to organizations with limited IT resources. Untangle's award-winning network security solutions are trusted by over 40,000 customers around the world. Untangle is headquartered in San Jose, California. Untangle Media Contact

Lumina Communications on behalf of Untangle

Untangle@LuminaPR.com

408-963-6418 Brigantia Partners Media Contact

Turquoise PR on behalf of Brigantia Partners Limited.

pauline@turquoisepr.co.uk

+44 (0)161 860 6063 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/untangle-taps-brigantia-partners-to-grow-smb-security-distribution-in-the-uk-301349227.html SOURCE Untangle

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[August 05, 2021] Amid the Uncertainty, Indiana Gateway Digital Academy is Ready to Help Students Succeed in the New School Year

Indiana Gateway (News - Alert) Digital Academy (INGDA), a full-time, tuition-free online program of Clarksville Community School Corporation, is ready to start the new school year and give K-11 students throughout the state a consistent education option designed to inspire them to reach their full potential. INGDA students and teachers will open their laptops to start the 2021-2022 school year today. For most families, the new school year comes with questions and cautious optimism. During the pandemic, many families realized that attending online school is a safe, alternative option that gives the students the freedom to discover their passions. According to a recent survey by Stride, Inc., 91 percent of parents agree that it's important for their children to have multiple school options, including full-time online or a hybrid model that blends online and in-person learning. And almost two-thirds of parents would consider full-time online public school after their 2020 pandemic-driven virtual education experience. "Last year was rough on Indiana families, but at INGDA, we pride ourselves on having a consistent educational model and compassionate teachers who are committed to student achievement and success," said Brearn Wright, INGDA's head of school. "We are all excited for another year of growth with our students." Staffed by Indiana licensed teachers, INGDA offers an individualized approach tolearning, delivering rich, engaging curriculum designed to promote student success. Despite wide-spread evidence of a "COVID slide" of learning loss for students in the U.S. during the pandemic, Stride K12-powered schools like INGDA reported lower learning loss rates than those reported in national studies. And in some cases, students enrolled in Stride K12-powered schools experienced learning gains.



Students who attend INGDA also have the opportunity to look to the future. High school students can participate in the Career Prep Program and enroll in classes that will help them discover and explore potential careers in Business, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship, Education and Training, and Information Technology. Students can also earn certifications and college credits while still in high school, giving them a head start in their state and potentially saving them thousands of dollars in college tuition costs. Students choose online learning for a variety of reasons, including advanced learning, a bullying-free environment, and the flexibility to support extracurricular pursuits or medical needs while maintaining a focus on academics. INGDA's online platform gives students the opportunity to pursue their academic goals in a supportive environment and at an appropriate pace for their learning style.

INGDA is still accepting enrollments for the 2021-2022 school year. To learn more about INGDA and how to enroll, visit ingda.k12.com or download the Stride K12 mobile app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices - where families can enroll, prepare for the first day of school, and monitor students' academic progress throughout the school year. About Indiana Gateway Digital Academy Indiana Gateway Digital Academy (INGDA) is an online public-school program of the Clarksville Community School Corporation that serves students in grades K-12. INGDA is tuition-free and provides families the choice to access the curriculum and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN). Stride offers learners of all ages a more effective way to learn and build skills for their future. INGDA's individualized approach gives Indiana students the chance to learn in the ways that are right for them. For more about INGDA, visit ingda.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005004/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Quantifind Welcomes Graham Bailey as Its Chief Operating Officer

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantifind, a provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions used by banks to streamline financial crimes risk screening and investigations, today announced the appointment of Graham Bailey as Chief Operating Officer. Graham brings to the company over three decades of experience in financial crimes risk, analytical and executive leadership in both the public and private sector, with a background in developing AI-based AML and risk solutions and extensive expertise across the full spectrum of financial crimes disciplines. He served most recently as Executive Vice President at Wells Fargo, leading compliance and financial crimes analytics, technology, and surveillance. As COO, Graham will lead the execution of Quantifind's go-to-market strategy and plans, contributing his deep knowledge of financial crimes systems throughout the operations of the company, from product design and development to marketing and sales. Among his priorities will be to see that Quantifind's novel technologies and groundbreaking KYC-AML solutions are solving the right problems for banks. "Having Graham joi Quantifind in this critical leadership role is truly a momentous occasion for the company," commented Ari Tuchman, Quantifind's CEO and Co-Founder. "Our team couldn't be more pleased to welcome him aboard, and we are eager to begin collaborating to deliver the next phase of our growth."



"Quantifind is a world-class company with remarkable talents, and products that will change our industry," added Mr. Bailey. "It's an exciting opportunity for me to contribute what I have learned to help ensure that their powerful technology achieves its full potential in helping institutions address their growing financial crimes challenges." About Quantifind

Quantifind was founded in 2009 upon pioneering work building machine learning technology to discover meaningful patterns across large, disparate, unstructured datasets. Quantifind's Graphyte platform embodies over a decade of R&D and deployment experience in machine learning, natural language processing, risk modeling, name science, and entity resolution, and is helping many large financial institutions and public sector agencies to combat crime. Quantifind is headquartered in Palo Alto, with teams in Boston, Washington, and New York. Quantifind will host a webinar about the AI-driven transformation of adverse media screening on August 18th, as well as a booth and knowledge session at the ACAMS Las Vegas Conference taking place September 27-29. Learn more about Quantifind and request a demo of Graphyte at www.quantifind.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quantifind-welcomes-graham-bailey-as-its-chief-operating-officer-301349437.html SOURCE Quantifind

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[August 05, 2021] Vericast Back-to-School Survey Finds Parents Eager to Spend

Vericast, a leading marketing solutions company that delivers actionable insights and operational expertise at scale, released its 2021 Back-to-School Outlook today highlighting parent sentiment and the opportunity for retailers to influence purchasing behavior this back-to-school season. Backed by proprietary data from Vericast's Valassis line of business, the 2021 Back-to-School Outlook is based on responses from over 800 parents of K-12 or college students. The study indicates that parents are "savvy-pragmatists" energized by the future and eager to spend but looking to shop smart. Just over half (54%) of parents believe they will spend more on readying children for school. And while 60% of parents are interested in spending more on their children to make the start of this school year special, the impact of challenging economic conditions resulting from a global pandemic is driving a renewed focus on value with a clear desire for deals, discounts and sales year-round. The study also showed the in-store experience will play an integral part in back-to-school shopping, with the majority of respondents indicating they plan to shop only or mostly in-store for everything from clothing and accessories to supplies and electronics. These findings reveal there is tremendous opportunity for marketers to influence back-to-school purchasing with compellin coupons and discounts delivered in the right channels for parents. Marketers can also address the need for convenience and exceptional in-store shopping experiences by identifying new ways to expedite purchases and add value before and during the path to purchase.



"This back-to-school season is a milestone for many parents as some students return to in-person learning for the first time in over a year," said Sarah O'Grady, Vice President of Brand Marketing at Vericast. "This presents the ultimate opportunity for marketers and retailers to listen and respond to the needs of parents. Retailers who make the right moves now could ensure a lifetime of loyalty from grateful parents who seek empathy and prioritize value and safety during a time of uncertainty." To view the entire study, download the 2021 Back-to-School Outlook.

About the Study The Vericast Awareness-to-Action Study is an ongoing study fielded in conjunction with Prosper Insights & Analytics, a global market research company. The sample was derived via an online survey and all participants were at least 18 years of age and living in the contiguous United States. The data included in this report was fielded June 1 through June 6, 2021 to more than 800 parents of K-12 or college students. Data is balanced by age and gender. About Vericast Vericast is reimagining marketing solutions one business-to-human connection at a time. By influencing how over 120 million households eat, shop, buy, save and borrow, Vericast fuels commerce, drives economic growth and directly accelerates revenue potential for over 70,000 brands and businesses. While its award-winning portfolio of products, technology and solutions - including Illumis, Valassis Consumer Graph and Harland Clarke ChecksCX - are a piece of the Vericast story, its people are the true differentiators; trailblazers in data intelligence, marketing services, transaction solutions, campaign management and media delivery. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005695/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Global Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) Market to Reach 35 Billion Bills by 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) the premier market research company, today released its report titled "Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" . The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post COVID-19 marketplace. FACTS AT A GLANCE

Edition: 18; Released: July 2021

Executive Pool: 6844

Companies: 87 - Players covered include ACI Worldwide; Bottomline Technologies Inc.; Communications Data Group Inc.; CSG Systems International Inc.; CyberSource Corporation; eBillingHub; ebpSource Limited; Enterprise jBilling Software Ltd.; FIS; Fiserv Inc.; Jack Henry & Associates Inc.A; Jopari Solutions Inc.; Pagero AB; PayPal Inc.; SIX Payment Services Ltd.; Sorriso Technologies Inc.; Striata and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Segment (Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP))

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry ABSTRACT- Global Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) Market to Reach 35 Billion Bills by 2026

EBPP can be defined as provision of billing information through electronic media to the end customers, while offering requisite electronic payment options in order to facilitate swift settlement Originally created by the Council for Electronic Billing and Payment of the National Automated Clearing House Association, the EBPP model is a type of electronic billing, wherein billers create electronic bills for customers to view and pay the bills using an electronic medium (Internet). Also termed e-billing or e-invoicing, EBPP solutions are being commonly used by utility, financial services and telecom companies. Unlike paper bills and statements that are capable of providing static and one-way communication, electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) allows interactive, personalized and real-time delivery of statements and bills. The implementation of EBPP systems ensures automation, streamlining and management of bill payment processes. The technology has the ability to cut down cost and saves time for payments processing, eliminating the need to use paper mails and enhance marketing capabilities in an intensel competitive marketplace. Further, cost of customer service is also reduced as instances of errors are relatively low in electronic transactions when compared to paper-based transactions. The technology can also ensure settlement of disputes through the presentation of interactive bills and by reducing telephonic conversations. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) estimated at 19.8 Billion Bills in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of 35 Billion Bills by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.8% over the analysis period.



A key factor driving growth in the EBPP market is the convenience offered by the technology. Driven by the high level of convenience it offers to consumers, while enabling business establishments to cut down on bill dispatch, EBPP services are increasingly favored by customers as well as businesses alike. Mobility is the new buzzword among technology savvy smartphone oriented young adults. Growing emphasis on any-time convenience, transparency in transactions, simplicity in use, safe and secure time-saving options are fueling adoption of e-billing. EBPP enables customers to exercise better control over the billing process and ensures faster and secured payment of bills. E-billing is widely being appreciated by consumers, as the technology contributes significantly in protecting the environment by allowing consumers to shift towards paperless bills. The U.S. Market is Estimated at 6 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach 6.5 Billion by 2026

The Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) market in the U.S. is estimated at 6 Billion Bills in the year 2021. The country currently accounts for a 27.18% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of 6.5 Billion Bills in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 13.8% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 9.8% and 10.2% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 1.9% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach 7.3 Billion Bills by the close of the analysis period.

The market will continue to benefit from the shift towards newer payment modes such as mobile based payments. Forward-thinking organizations with a focus on establishing trusted, eco-friendly customer relationships, and those leveraging the power of Internet will continue to score high gains over other organizations. Through EBPP, service providers are able to provide a convenient platform for customers to view and remit bills online. Time starved customers are finding EBPP more convenient and easy to use to pay bills, while gaining access to the same account as supplier contact center. EBPP systems will witness increased adoption supported by benefits offered by the technology in comparison to competing technologies. Driven by factors such as developments in technology, lesser cost of e-payments and the benefits offered to the consumers as well as organizations, EBPP is all set to become a vital factor for the success of any modern organization. Factors such as increased control, assured security, privacy and convenience have and will continue to drive growth of e-billing and payment systems. EBPP will continue to appeal to financial services and insurance companies (including credit card issuers, retailer banks, and investment banks), and telecommunications industries that typically generate hundreds to millions of bills per month. Other major businesses expected to step up adoption of EBPP include energy and utilities, government, education, transportation, retailers, and health care organizations. Even in the pre-pandemic period, EBPP was rapidly emerging as a lucrative alternative for mobile operators specifically for those in quest for novel solutions to minimize operational costs. More MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide. Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com ) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years. CONTACTS:

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Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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Info411@strategyr.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-electronic-bill-presentment-and-payment-ebpp-market-to-reach-35-billion-bills-by-2026-301346817.html SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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[August 05, 2021] FloQast Named a 'Best Place to Work' by Los Angeles Business Journal for the Fifth Straight Year

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FloQast , a provider of accounting workflow automation software created by accounts for accountants, today announced it has been named as one of the Best Places to Work for the fifth year in a row by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The news follows FloQasts recent Series D funding round and new status as L.A.s latest unicorn. FloQast has now made this list as an early-stage startup, a scaling business, and, now a unicorn. The company previously finished among the top three in the medium businesses category (50-249 employees), and, this year, it did the same in the large businesses category (250-plus employees). This honor is an example of FloQasts commitment to the highest workplace standards, which has been a part of the FloQast culture since the early days, said Adey Tadesse-Heath, Senior Director of Human Resources at FloQast. It was true as a startup and through a period of scaling, and it wont change as the organization enters a new era as a unicorn. The Los Angeles Business Journal honor builds on significant momentum for FloQast, including: The launch of FloQast ReMind , an innovative task management workflow add-on to the FloQast Close platform, which provides a single place to manage month-end close tasks, improve accuracy and boost collaboration. ReMind automates manual tasks and delivers new levels of visibility across the close process to enable a manage-by-exception approach.

, an innovative task management workflow add-on to the platform, which provides a single place to manage month-end close tasks, improve accuracy and boost collaboration. ReMind automates manual tasks and delivers new levels of visibility across the close process to enable a manage-by-exception approach. A new EMEA office in London and $110 million in Series D funding led by Meritech Capital.

in London and in Series D funding led by Meritech Capital. More than 250 new customers added in the first half of 2021, including ACLU, Avalara, Confluent, Patreon, Roblox, RSA Security and Sonos.





This latest recognition as a best place to work comes just months after Inc. Magazine honored FloQast as one of the best workplaces in the country, an important moment for the company as it ramps up a hiring drive in Los Angeles and remotely. FloQast also recently received a nod as a Best Place to Work in Los Angeles by Built In, which provides tech recruitment to more than 1,800 companies from startups to enterprises. Maintaining an exemplary company culture is an important ingredient to an organizations success, and this honor from Los Angeles Business Journal shows just how hard weve worked in this area, said Mike Whitmire, CPA*, CEO and co-founder of FloQast. Im unbelievably proud of our human resources team, which has done an outstanding job building and scaling an award-winning company culture that has clearly resonated for years.





FloQast is actively hiring to build out its stellar team. For more information on FloQast and its workplace culture, visit the FloQast blog and the companys careers page . About FloQast

FloQast is the leader in accounting workflow automation created by accountants for accountants to work smarter, not harder. The cloud-based, AI-enhanced software is trusted by more than 1,400 accounting teams, including those at Twilio, Instacart, Zoom and The Golden State Warriors  and consistently rated #1 across all user review sites. By automating accounting workflows and helping to streamline and make them more efficient, FloQast is the place where accounting teams want to work so they can focus on what matters most, even when thats just finishing work on time. Whether automating reconciliations, documentation requests or other workflows such as the month-end close, financial reporting or payroll, FloQast enhances the way accounting teams already work to help them work smarter. Learn more at FloQast.com . *inactive Contact:

Sammy Totah

BOCA Communications for FloQast

floqast@bocacommunications.com



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[August 05, 2021] SIMON Reports Second Quarter Highlights

SIMON Markets LLC (SIMON), a fintech company transforming the digital wealth management landscape for financial professionals through its leading platform for alternative investment solutions, today announced business highlights underscoring its continued growth during Q2 2021. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005729/en/ (Graphic: Business Wire) The company reports year-over-year increases in revenue of +103%, volume of +137%, and usage of +74%, as compared to Q2 2020. During the quarter, the company established several commercial partnerships, released new enhancements to its platform, and announced strategic initiatives. Catering to a growing demand for risk-managed and alternative solutions, SIMON is focused on giving financial professionals access to a broad suite of products with powerful analytics and seamless integrations to help make well-informed portfolio allocation decisions. "In Q2, we expanded our insurance platform to include variable annuities, formalized new partnerships with industry leaders Nationwide and FIG, created a portfolio analytics tool for structured investments, and announced our entry into the digital asset space," said Jason Broder, CEO of SIMON. "On the back of our Series B capital raise, we have several exciting initiatives on the horizon that will continue to elevate the way we serve our clients." Recent Press Releases: SIMON Raises $100 Million in Series B Funding to Fuel Next Growth Phase for Digital Wealth Management Platform  Spun-out from Goldman Sachs in December 2018, SIMON announces capital raise led by WestCap with participation from existing investors (Press Release, 07/22/21) SIMON Says Hello to Variable Annuities, Expanding the Insurtech's Marketplace Lineup to Deliver Holistic Retirement Solutions to Wealth Management Professionals  SIMON now offers variable annuities, one of the most flexible and widely used annuity types, in its Marketplae, delivering powerful analytics for asset allocation and income solutions (Press Release, 07/15/21) Financial Independence Group Joins SIMON to Deliver Centralized Digital Platform for Structured Investments and Insurance Products  Financial Independence Group Joins SIMON to Deliver Centralized Digital Platform for Structured Investments and Insurance Products with Powerful Education and Analytical Tools (Press Release, 06/22/21) SIMON Introduces Nationwide as Newest Carrier to Join Its Growing Insurtech Platform  Financial professionals can now find, analyze, and implement a range of annuity solutions from Nationwide in SIMON's centralized Marketplace (Press Release, 06/08/21)



About SIMON An award-winning fintech company, SIMON is committed to transforming the digital experience for financial professionals, enabling them to better serve their clients. SIMON's intelligent and innovative platform delivers an end-to-end digital suite of tools to more than 100,000 financial professionals, who serve $5 trillion in client assets, empowering them with on-demand education, an intuitive marketplace, real-time analytics, and lifecycle management.

With a focus on reshaping the advisor experience, SIMON is setting new industry standards, simplifying the complex, and delivering structured investment, annuity, and defined outcome ETF solutions to investment professionals, centralized within one unique ecosystem. Originally incubated within Goldman Sachs, SIMON launched as an independently operating company in December 2018 under the shared ownership and direction of seven leading financial institutions-Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Prudential, and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) . Growth equity firm WestCap became an investor in 2021. The company is headquartered in New York, NY, with an additional location in Birmingham, AL. For more information about SIMON, visit www.simon.io and follow the company on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Securities products and services offered by SIMON Markets LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC (News - Alert) , Member FINRA / SIPC. Annuities and insurance services provided by SIMON Annuities and Insurance Services LLC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005729/en/

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[August 05, 2021] EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Encourages Generac Holdings Inc. Investors with Losses to Inquire About Class Action Investigation - GNRC

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) resulting from allegations that Generac may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. SO WHAT: If you purchased Generac securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2139.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On July 29, 2021, Generac recalled several generator models after multiple reports of fingers being injured in the machines, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). According to the CPSC "Generac has received eight reports of injuries, seven resulting in finger amputations and one in finger crushing." The generators were sold at major home improvement and hardware stores nationwide and online from June 2013 through June 2021.



On this news, Generac's stock price fell $31.04 per share, or 7%, from its July 28, 2021 closing price over the next three trading days to close at $400.00 per share on August 2, 2021, damaging investors. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert) : https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter (News - Alert) : https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook (News - Alert) : https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005767/en/

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[August 05, 2021] ICOA, Inc. Announcing the Start of the Process of Uploading Disclosures and Financials Statements to OTCIQ

Las Vegas, Nevada, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICOA Inc. (OTC PINK: ICOA) (ICOA) updates Shareholders and Potential Investors of Managements Approval of its Application to OTCIQ. The Company will begin the process of uploading to OTC Markets all required filings and updates to achieve Pink Current Status. The Company will adhere to OTC Markets and SEC guidelines for Best Practices for Disclosure and Transparency stated George Strouthopoulos, ICOA, Inc. CEO. In adhering to these guidelines, the Company is in good standing with the state of Nevada, and federal taxation departments. The Company is in good standing with its Transfer Agent. All Share information will be automatically updated on OTC Markets. OTC Markets has approved ICOA to access and update the profile page and begin the process of uploading financials. As of today, the Company is preparing to upload the previous two calendar years 2019, 2020 in addition to the most recent quarterly disclosure statements for 2021 to its OTC Markets profile page. The Company believes it needs to be in good standing for it to provide shareholder value. The more transparent that it is with financials and its business plan, the better confidence it brings for the investors. The Company aims to build trust and long-term investors by also engaging a new SEC Attorney, CPA and Auditor to help guide our transition to Pink Current Status. The business lan permits growth in shareholder value and the Company is not stopping at Pink Current. We are excited about getting OTCIQ access. The Company has not had this in many years, we are emancipating from this status so that we can provide new vigor to the Company commented, George Strouthopoulos, CEO.



Please note: The company does not currently have any social media accounts. All updates and progress will be updated on the OTCIQ profile and through proper disclosure outlets to the public. Please do not contact the company for any information that is not readily available to the public. Any social media sites and or information can not be relied upon. ABOUT: ICOA INC.

ICOA, Inc. is a national provider of wireless and wired broadband Internet network support for broadband access installations in high-traffic locations across the United States including, quick-service restaurants, hotels and motels, travel plazas, marinas etc. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This press release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "believes," "expects," "potential," "plans," "suggests," "may," "should," "could," "intends," or similar expressions. Many forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to continue to enhance our products and systems to address industry changes, our ability to expand our customer base and retain existing customers, our ability to effectively compete in our market segment, the lack of public information on our company, our ability to raise sufficient capital to fund our business, operations, our ability to continue as a going concern, and a limited public market for our common stock, among other risks. Many factors are difficult to predict accurately and are generally beyond the company's control. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made. For more information, press only: CONTACT: Kim Halvorson

info@icoamail.com

Website: www.icoacorp.com



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[August 05, 2021] Leonardo DRS Acquires Small-Form Gimbal Company

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Leonardo DRS, Inc. announced today that it has acquired Ascendant Engineering Solutions (AES), one of the world's most advanced gimbal producers. AES is a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of high-performance, stabilized, multi-sensor gimbal systems for the growing market of Group 1, 2 and 3 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) across U.S. military services. With its advanced systems, the company is focused on gimbal payload opportunities in strategic U.S. government programs including those intended to counter current and next-generation anti-access and area-denial systems. AES is located in Austin, Texas, home of the Army's Futures Command. This acquisition will enable Leonardo DRS to integrate its own state-of-the-art Electro-Optical and Infrared components and systems with the AES advanced gimbals to offer integrated solutions that can address the fast-growing market for lightweight military platforms including small unmanned aerial systems (UAS). "The compelling need for smaller and more lightweight sensing systems is one of the most critical priorities of defense forces around the world," said Jerry Hathaway, Senior Vice Presidnt and General Manager of the Leonardo DRS Electro-Optic and Infrared Systems business. Leonardo DRS is well-positioned to address this fast-growing small gimbal market with the new lightweight capabilities that AES brings across a wide range of military platforms, from aircraft to maritime to ground vehicles as well as ground-based security platforms, Hathaway said. "Leonardo DRS is proud to add this smaller and more advanced integrated solution set that combines our leading sensors into best-in-class, small-form gimbal-based sensor systems to give our warfighters one more battlefield edge."



Leonardo DRS is a world leader in state-of-the-art sensor systems addressing a range of military needs including targeting, surveillance and force protection. This acquisition will allow Leonardo DRS to further vertically integrate its advanced sensors and gimbals. These integrated technologies permit military platforms to sense their environments at greater distances in real-time providing intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) imagery and targeting information to airborne and ground forces to extend their reach and survivability. Gimbal-based sensor technology is part of the larger Leonardo DRS advanced sensor technology portfolio, which has an extensive installed base across the U.S. military. Force protection is a key strategic focus for Leonardo DRS as the company brings together its world-leading sensing and laser technologies to provide defensive protective systems for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces.

About Leonardo DRS

Leonardo DRS is a defense solutions provider, a leading technology innovator, and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, the intelligence community, and defense contractors worldwide. With over fifty years of experience, its Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems business unit develops and produces industry-leading and trusted sensor technology and integrated solutions for land, sea, air and space systems as well as commercial customers. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Leonardo DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. See the full range of capabilities at www.LeonardoDRS.com. For additional information please contact: Michael Mount

Vice President, Public Affairs and EE Communications

571-447-4624

mmount@drs.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leonardo-drs-acquires-small-form-gimbal-company-301349486.html SOURCE Leonardo DRS, Inc.

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[August 05, 2021] Medici Land Governance and New York City Department of Finance to Explore Use of Blockchain to Address Deed Fraud

Medici Land Governance (MLG) has partnered with the New York City Department of Finance (DOF) to develop a proof of concept for the use of blockchain technology to detect and reduce deed fraud in New York City. The project will explore the possibility of using blockchain or a decentralized digital ledger as a vehicle to record property documents to ensure that the target data is transparent and immutable. Applying blockchain technologies to New York City's land records has the potential to improve business processes, reduce risk, and help to address deed fraud. "We are elated to join New York City officials in assisting their efforts to enhance the security and quality of their services in the heart of the nation's largest metropolitan area," says Ali El Husseini, PhD, CEO of Medici Land Governance. "We also appreciate the Department of Finance's generous acknowledgment and confidence in our capabilities to demonstrate the value, feasibility, and assurances of blockchain technologies and their most effective, efficient use to fight deed fraud." "Leveraging technology to improve our business processes is intrinsic to our strategic goal of providing quality service delivery. Blockchain technology has the potential to revamp how property documents are recorded in New York City and help prevent deed fraud," says Department of Finance Commissioner Sherif Soliman. "We look forward to working with Medici Land Governance to evaluate this innovative approach." New York City property documents dating back to 1966 are recorded and maintained using the Automted City Register Information System (ACRIS), which will continue to be the official repository of such documents during the proof of concept. As part of the proof of concept, MLG will provide a parallel service that will simulate the hypothetical recording of 500,000 records on the blockchain. MLG will then display the recorded blockchain records in a Department of Finance-specific user interface to test for accuracy. By exploring the use of blockchain for recording property documents, MLG and DOF will establish a potential foundation for broader blockchain-based interventions in New York City.



The project will demonstrate how to improve security, specifically by reducing the chance of intentional and possibly unnoticed fraud, reducing potential attack vectors, and increasing transparency. The proof of concept, if successful, could lead to a pilot project which will provide in-depth discovery, prototyping, and user testing of operational efficiency improvements for current business processes and solutions for the prevention of deed fraud. MLG's public records product, Actum, is a universal archive of public records backed by blockchain. Actum uses blockchain technology to provide secure, tamper-proof, immutable public records that are searchable, transparent, and trusted.

About Medici Land Governance Medici Land Governance leverages blockchain and other technologies (such as cryptography, AI and others) to support land governance, titling, and administration with a secure public record of land ownership. With land records stored on the blockchain, land ownership is standardized and can be recognized by local and global economies. Medici Land Governance supports agencies in the digitization of their current records, engendering trust and security in data by diminishing human error and accidental damage to records. About the New York City Department of Finance The mission of the New York City Department of Finance (DOF) is to administer the tax and revenue laws of the City of New York fairly, efficiently, and transparently to instill public confidence and encourage compliance while providing exceptional customer service. DOF is responsible for the collection of more than $40 billion annually in revenue for the City and the valuation of over one million properties worth a total of more than $1 trillion. DOF records property-related documents, administers property tax exemption and abatement programs, assists New Yorkers with tax payment issues through the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, adjudicates parking tickets, administers the City's bank accounts, manages its cash flows, and administers its business and excise taxes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005780/en/

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[August 05, 2021] 2 in 3 Remote IT Workers in Canada Will Quit Rather Than Return to the Office Full Time, Kovasys Survey Finds

TORONTO, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - As companies ask their IT workers to get back to the office this fall, the technology workers are not so eager to come back. A new survey by an IT recruitment company Kovasys shows that about 2 in 3 (more than 71%) of IT workers in Canada would rather quit their job or not apply to a new job than to work in the office full time. IT Employees and Their Demands from Employers More than 74% of IT employees in Canada said that they would like to continue to work either work from home (43%) or a hybrid mix in the office and at home (35%). Only 21% said that they are OK to go back to the office full time. When Doing Hybrid, How Many Days in The Office The perfect mix would be to do between 2 or 3 days in the office. 28% said they woud prefer to work 3 days in the office, and 24% said that they would be OK with 2 days in the office. Only 15% supported 4 days in the office and only 7% supported 1 day in the office.



Difference between Provinces Only 50% of the respondents In Ontario said that they will quit their jobs if not offered hybrid or work from home option, compared to 71% in Quebec, and 87% in Atlantic provinces.

Productivity When Working from Home 35% of IT employees respondents said that they are more productive when working from home, 55% said about the same, and 9% said less productive. Difference in Age Matters and Marriage Status 24% of IT employees between 20 and 40 years old were the most eager group to return to the office full time, while only 12% of employees between 40-55 wanted to get back to the office full time. Married employers are 30% more likely to quit their job if asked to come back to the office full time. "As the coronavirus abates, we see more and more companies asking their IT employees to come back to the office full time," said Alex Kovalenko, Director of Operations at Kovasys IT Recruitment. "Most of the IT employees we speak to would prefer to work from home or do a hybrid model where they would work partially from home and from the office. As we can see from the survey, 2 in 3 employees would quit if not given that option." For tips on managing IT employees and WFH, visit the Kovasys IT Recruitment Blog . About the Research The online survey was developed by Kovasys and conducted with SurveyMonkey from July 15 - August 4, 2021. It includes responses from 900+ employees in IT related industries and based in Canada. You can see full results published here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-VKQPB2TJ/ About Kovasys IT Recruitment Founded in 2005, Kovasys ( kovasys.com ) is an IT recruitment specialized staffing firm. SOURCE Kovasys

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[August 05, 2021] AVANS UNIVERSITY SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS ONLINE LEARNING THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC WITH THE HELP OF D2L BRIGHTSPACE

London, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- D2L , a global learning technology leader, announced today that its customer, Avans University of Applied Sciences, is celebrating the success of its online learning delivery throughout the peak of the pandemic, and now considers Brightspace vital to delivering its Ambition 2025 learning goals. Avans is one of the largest colleges in the Netherlands, with campuses in Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch, Roosendaal and Tilburg, offering 61 higher professional education courses to 33,000 students. It aspires to train agile and resilient professionals, who can be placed quickly and readily in the workplace, adding value to the organisation where they start their career. Modules are co-developed with the professional field and industry partners and regularly updated in line with the demands of the international labour market to boost student employability. Avans started implementation Brightspace in March 2020, replacing its legacy learning management system (LMS) provider. Avans chose Brightspace in order to deliver more flexible, personalised blended learning programmes to allow students to switch more freely between any associated courses, based on their own goals and interests. The university planned to migrate all courses and systems to Brightspace starting in September 2020 through a phased implementation period, with all its 22 academies switching to Brightspace by August 2021. However, as the pandemic required universities to close, Avans needed to adjust its strategy to provide continuity for its students and minimise further disruption to their learning. With the sudden transition to remote learning, Avans required a flexible and reliable LMS that was also compatible with Microsoft teams to enable lecturers to deliver online lectures and recordings. The transition was so smooth, and feedback from both students and teachers has been extremely positive, with many finding Brightspaces functionality and interface really easy to use, said Felix Kuijpers, Programme Manager Education Innovation with ICT at Avans University of Applied Sciences. Most of our staff had been trained ahead of the phased implementation and were involved in the design process. The D2L team was very helpful, offering their guidance on how to use the platform and ensure our team members were using it to their full advantage. Its been fantastic to provide continuity for our students in spite of the challenges presented by the pandemic. 14 of Avans academies are now running entirely across the Brightspace platform and, as Avans continues to migrate all of its courses, it has been testing its capabilities and tailoring Brightspace to each of its modules. Given Brightspaces flexibility and extesive capabilities, Avans now considers the platform as integral to delivering its Ambition 2025 learning goals.



With our digital transformation, we have access to far more data than ever before, continues Kuijpers. In the future, we want to explore how to make the best use of this data and produce real actionable insight for our lecturers into students learning pathways. This will be a focus in our Ambition 2025 learning goals as we look to integrate a fully digital working and learning environment and extend our portfolios. We want to bring all of our modules and learning materials online and be 100 per cent digital available  Brightspace is at the centre of this project. Building off of the excitement and energy generated by our annual Fusion conference, were celebrating our customers and the ways in which they are changing the world, says Elliot Gowans, Senior Vice President, International at D2L. After what has been one of the most challenging years indeed, the team here at D2L is incredibly proud of its work with Avans University, as it aspires to deliver and explore new ways of learning.

Learn more about D2Ls work with Avans University here: https://www.d2l.com/en-eu/blog/the-university-of-the-future-how-leading-institutions-see-it/ ABOUT AVANS UNIVERSITY ?



Avans University of Applied Sciences was formed in 2004 as the result of a merger between Hogeschool Brabant and Hogeschool s-Hertogenbosch. These educational institutions were already working together closely at the time, operating under one Executive Board. The Executive Board manages Avans University of Applied Sciences. The Supervisory Board is responsible for supervision and monitoring of the Executive Boards policies. All our departments together comprise the 21 Avans schools. This includes the University of Law Avans-Fontys. Avans offers programmes in the following areas of interest: Economics and Business, Engineering, Society and Behaviour, Health Care, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture, Law and Governance, Education, Earth and Environment, Language and Communications. Research

At Avans, practice-based research is carried out at our 6 centres of applied research and over 25 research groups. Support

Avans has 6 support services units, as well as 2 executive support units. They provide support to the Executive Board as well as the Avans schools. Student and employee participation in decision-making

At Avans, both staff and students have a voice in decision-making through a number of representative bodies. They play a key role in decision-making processes at all levels within our organisation.

ABOUT D2L?

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D2L is transforming the way the world learns  helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our more than 950 global employees are dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than where they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher?education?and businesses at? www.D2L.com .?

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ABOUT D2L BRIGHTSPACE?

?

D2L Brightspace is a? cloud-based ?learning platform built for organisations that value continuous investment in people to drive their business success.?

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D2L Brightspace is powering smarter upskilling and reskilling of workforces around the world. It is a place that supports all aspects of learning with better engagement and productivity through personalised learning. It gives your teams the tools?theyre?going to love and makes it easy to support exceptional experiences face-to-face or fully online.?

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D2L Brightspace is designed in close collaboration with clients around the world  building a rich set of features to improve engagement, retention and learning outcomes. And it makes it easier to give feedback.?Its?worry-free with 99.99% reliability.?Its?highly accessible and looks beautiful on any mobile device, making it easier for you to reach every learner.??

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Like many of our clients, D2L uses its? award-winning ?Brightspace learning platform to support onboarding, compliance training, leadership development, and upskilling of its own employees. This has led to consecutive #1 in North America awards for new hire and onboarding experiences. To learn more, visit D2L for? Corporate Learning .?

?

UK PRESS CONTACT??

Pippa Twigg, Finn Partners??

07769 719 719??

D2L@finnpartners.com ??

Twitter:?@D2L_EMEA?

 2021 D2L Corporation.?

All D2L marks are trademarks of D2L Corporation. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks.



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[August 05, 2021] Orion and Carahsoft Partner to Offer Orion's Secure Voice-First Collaboration Platform to Public Sector Frontline Workers and Government Agencies

SAN FRANCISCO and RESTON, Va., Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orion Labs , Inc., the leading voice-first, intelligent collaboration platform that empowers deskless workers, and Carahsoft Technology Corp ., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Orions Master Government Aggregator to bring Orions industry-leading frontline collaboration platform to the U.S. Intelligence Community, Military and additional Federal agencies.

Orion serves several Government and Public Sector agencies that recognize that our platform aligns with the secure, real-time collaboration requirements of their frontline workforce, said Mort Jensen, Head of Sales and Partnerships at Orion. We look forward to working with Carahsoft to serve additional agencies that will benefit from our ability to transform how the frontline workforce communicates, collaborates and operates. Orion is the leading voice-first intelligent collaboration platform that provides real-time team communication, process automation, access to knowledge bases and systems, and analytics for Public Sector frontline personnel, including defense and civilian agencies. With Orion, Government organizations communicate securely with voice, text, photos, videos and files  on any device, on any network and over any distance. Orions next-generation voice technology includes end-to-end encryption (E2EE), advanced location services, real-time language translation, and interoperability with land mobile radios (LMR), Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Adding Orion to our offerings enables Carahsoft to better serve Public Sector and Government organizations with a voice-first real-time collaboration solution that transforms how they operate, said Tiffany Goddard, Sales Director for Law Enforcement Tech at Carahsoft. We are pleased to work with Orion and our reseller partners to offer this end-to-end encrypted collaboration platform built for frontline workforces that need secure communication solutions.



Orions software, hardware and services are available through Carahsofts SEWP V contracts NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B and ITES-SW2 Contract W52P1J-20-D-0042. For more information, contact the Orion team at Carahsoft at (703) 230-7445 or Orion@carahsoft.com. About Orion Labs, Inc.

Orion is the leading voice-first, intelligent platform that empowers deskless workers by enabling real-time team collaboration, process automation, location mapping, and access to enterprise systems to improve workforce productivity, safety and compliance, and customer engagement. Orion holds 28 patents that support its award-winning solutions, has been named an IDC Innovator, and was awarded a Top 10 Industrial IoT Solution Provider 2020 by Manufacturing Technology Insights. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading investors. For more information, visit www.orionlabs.io . Stay in touch with Orion Labs | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog Orion Media Contact: Jacqueline Wasem

Orion Labs, Inc.

415-800-5467

press@orionlabs.io About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com . Carahsoft Media Contact: Mary Lange

703-230-7434

pr@carahsoft.com





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[August 05, 2021] Bubblr Signs Letter of Intent with Key Fintech Company

NEW YORK, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMedia Wire -- Bubblr Inc., (OTC PINK: BBLR), ("Bubblr" or the "Company"), an ethical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of mobile-first technologies, today announced it has signed a Letter of Intent with Obrenza Ltd., a Fintech company, to negotiate an initial investment and an option to purchase the business.

Obrenzas Designations and Approach to Broaden Bubblrs Reach Obrenzas through its wholly owned subsidiary has recently acquired FCA status (UK Financial Conduct Authority) as an Authorized Payments Institution. This authorization enables them to carry out AISP (Account Information Services) and PISP (Payment Initiation Services) activity. PISP enables firms to offer electronic payment services such as online payments. It is difficult to achieve status as an Authorised Payment Institution and the process can take many months. Others offering similar payment services are typically credit card companies, banks and payment processors. There are less than seventy (70) UK firms that offer PISP only. In addition, Obrenza also intends to apply to become an EMI (electronic money institution). Once EMI approval and full authorization is achieved, they will be able to issue electronic money to be held in an electronic wallet. Currently, when online payments are made, a vast amount of data is created, and many firms consider this an important source of additional revenue. Obrenza is developing a privacy-based payment system that will offer lower fees to merchants and minimize the data needed to complete payments and effectively become an 'anonymized payment processor', a business model which is in complete alignment with Bubblr's policy of anonymous search. Prior to the launch of the ad-free marketplace, Bubblr will launch a marketing campaign to sign up small businesses for the mrketplace. As part of this campaign, we plan to include the option for the same businesses to signup for the low-cost Obrenza payment processor. This will reduce their costs and also prevent their customer's payment behavioural data from being sold on to third parties, again in line with Bubblr's objective to retain customer anonymity.



Steve Morris, Chief Technology Officer of Bubblr, Inc. stated: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to begin negotiations to acquire Obrenza, a company with values and objectives that are in complete alignment with our own. Furthermore, the acquisition of Obrenza would further broaden the appeal of Bubblr as an investment opportunity as we would extend our market classification to beyond pure technology but also into the Fintech sector, which is currently attracting a great deal of broad attention.

Any securities offered will not be or have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. The Company will make an effort to file an 8K with the SEC as additional details of a proposed transaction become relevant. About Bubblr, Inc.

Bubblr, Inc. is an ethical technology company focused on mobile-first technology that aims to bring back privacy to users, trust in online content and sustainability to the digital marketplace. Through its portfolio of digital mobile apps, Bubblr's next-generation mobile ecosystem, and platform, partners with publishers to address challenges related to free online content while protecting end-users from data harvesting and manipulation. These ecosystems connect to a new model for online search, which is a fair and sustainable ad-free marketplace. For more information, visit http://www.bubblr.com. Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the definition of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such as in section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements should not be used to make an investment decision. The words 'estimate,' 'possible' and 'seeking' and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted, or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition, and other material risks. Contact: Investors

Stanley Wunderlich

Launchpad IR

1-800-625-2236

1-516 729 3714

Info@CFSG1.com



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[August 05, 2021] Supplement to the Offer Document in Respect of the Recommended Cash Offer to the Shareholders of Adapteo Plc Made Public

On 17 May 2021, Palace Bidco Oy ("WSIP Bidco"), a private limited liability company formed on behalf of, and indirectly wholly owned by, West Street Global Infrastructure Partners IV, L.P., announced a recommended public cash offer to the shareholders of Adapteo Plc ("Adapteo"), to tender all their shares in Adapteo to WSIP Bidco (the "Offer"). WSIP Bidco offers SEK 165 in cash per Adapteo share. An offer document concerning the Offer was made public on 23 June 2021 (the "Offer Document"). WSIP Bidco has prepared a supplement to the Offer Document (the "Supplement"), which has been made public today. The Supplement has been prepared in relation to Adapteo's interim report for the period January-June 2021, announced on 3 August 2021, certain supplemental information concerning the payment of the settlement amount in EUR to shareholders in Adapteo whose shares are directly registered with Euroclear Finland, and the Swedish Securities Council's ruling AMN 2021:39 concerning borrowing of Adapteo shares by Goldman Sachs's trading desks to satisfy certain delivery obligations. The Supplement and a Finnish translation of the Supplement as well as all other documentation regarding the Offer are available on the following websites: the transaction website (www.gs.com/wsip-recommended-offer-adapteo); and

Handelsbanken's website for prospectuses and other documents (www.handelsbanken.se/prospekt). The English version of the Supplement is also available on www.fi.se. As previously communicated, the acceptance period of the Offer commenced on 24 June 2021 and expires at 16.00 CEST on 16 August 2021. Settlement will be initiated as soon as WSIP Bidco announces that the conditions for the Offer have been satisfied or WSIP Bidco otherwise decides to complete the Offer. If such announcement takes place on 19 August 2021, settlement is expected to be initiated on or around 26 August 2021. Information about the Offer is available at: www.gs.com/wsip-recommended-offer-adapteo The information was submitted for publication on 5 August 2021, 18:00 CEST. Adapteo in brief Adapteo is a leading provider of flexible, reusable modular space rental solutions to the social infrastructure and offices sectors in Northern Europe. Adapteo primarily rents adaptable buildings for schools, daycare centres, elderly care, offices, accommodation and events. With its adaptable buildings, customers can transform, repurpose, scale up and scale down buildings in a matter of weeks by using modular and circular building concepts. Adapteo operates in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. A high share of Adapteo's revenue is recurring by nature, and rental revenue is generated by rental contracts with primarily public sector customers. Important information The Offer is not being made, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa by use of mail or any other communication means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone and the Internet) of interstate or foreign commerce, or of any facility of national securities exchange or other trading venue, of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa, and the Offer cannot be accepted by any such use or by such means, instrumentalty or facility of, in or from, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa. Accordingly, this press release or any documentation relating to the Offer are not being and should not be sent, mailed or otherwise distributed or forwarded in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa.



This press release is not being, and must not be, sent to shareholders with registered addresses in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa. Banks, brokers, dealers and other nominees holding shares for persons in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa must not forward this press release or any other document received in connection with the Offer to such persons. Statements in this press release relating to future status or circumstances, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections and other benefits of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipates", "intends", "expects", "believes", or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of WSIP Bidco. Any such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and WSIP Bidco has no obligation (and undertakes no such obligation) to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except for in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Special notice to shareholders in the United States The Offer will be made to Adapteo shareholders resident in the United States in reliance on, and compliance with, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "U.S. Exchange Act"), and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, including Section 14(e) of the U.S. Exchange Act and Regulation 14E thereunder, in each case to the extent applicable, subject to the exemption provided under Rule 14d-1(d) under the U.S. Exchange Act (the "Tier II Exemption") and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of the Takeover Rules. The Offer relates to a company incorporated under Finnish law which is subject to Swedish disclosure and procedural requirements, which may be different from those of the United States. Holders of the shares of Adapteo domiciled in the United States (the "U.S. Holders") are advised that the Adapteo shares are not listed on a U.S. securities exchange and that Adapteo is not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the U.S. Exchange Act, and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert)") thereunder. The Offer is being made in the United States by WSIP Bidco and no-one else. The Offer is made to the U.S. Holders on the same terms and conditions as those made to all other shareholders of Adapteo to whom an offer is made. Any information documents, including the offer document, will be disseminated to U.S. Holders on a basis comparable to the method pursuant to which such documents are provided to Adapteo's other shareholders. The Offer will otherwise be made in compliance with the disclosure and procedural requirements of Swedish law, including with respect to withdrawal rights, the Offer timetable, notices of extensions, announcements of results, settlement procedures (including as regards to the time when payment of the consideration is rendered) and waivers of conditions, which may be different from requirements or customary practices in relation to U.S. domestic tender offers. As permitted under the Tier II Exemption, the settlement of the Offer is based on the applicable Swedish law provisions which differ from the settlement procedures customary in the United States, particularly as regards the time when payment of the consideration is rendered. The Offer, which is subject to Swedish law, is being made to the U.S. Holders in accordance with the applicable U.S. securities laws, and applicable exemptions thereunder, including the Tier II Exemption. To the extent the Offer is subject to U.S. securities laws, those laws only apply to U.S. Holders and thus will not give rise to claims on the part of any other person. The U.S. Holders should consider that the offer price is being paid in SEK and that no adjustment will be made based on any changes in the exchange rate. Adapteo's financial statements and all financial information included in this press release, or any other documents relating to the Offer, have been or will be prepared in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to the financial statements or financial information of companies in the United States or other companies whose financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. It may be difficult for Adapteo's shareholders to enforce their rights and any claims they may have arising under the U.S. federal or state securities laws in connection with the Offer, since Adapteo and WSIP Bidco are located in countries other than the United States, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of countries other than the United States. Adapteo's shareholders may not be able to sue Adapteo or WSIP Bidco or their respective officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of U.S. securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel Adapteo or WSIP Bidco and/or their respective affiliates to subject themselves to the jurisdiction or judgment of a U.S. court. To the extent permissible under applicable law or regulations and pursuant to Rule 14e-5(b) of the U.S. Exchange Act, WSIP Bidco and its affiliates or its brokers and its brokers' affiliates (acting as agents for WSIP Bidco or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time and during the pendency of the Offer, and other than pursuant to the Offer, directly or indirectly purchase or arrange to purchase shares of Adapteo outside the United States, or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such shares. These purchases may occur either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. To the extent required under applicable law or regulations, information about such purchases will be disclosed by means of a press release or other means reasonably calculated to inform U.S. Holders of such information to the extent that such information is made public in Adapteo's home jurisdiction. In addition, the financial advisor to WSIP Bidco may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of Adapteo, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities as long as such purchases or arrangements are in compliance with the applicable law. The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a U.S. Holder may be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes and under applicable U.S. state and local, as well as foreign and other, tax laws. Each shareholder is urged to consult an independent professional adviser regarding the tax consequences of accepting the Offer. Neither WSIP Bidco nor any of its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees or agents or any other person acting on their behalf in connection with the Offer shall be responsible for any tax effects or liabilities resulting from acceptance of this Offer. Neither the SEC nor any U.S. state securities commission has approved or disapproved the Offer, passed any comments upon the merits or fairness of the Offer, passed any comment upon the adequacy or completeness of this press release or passed any comment on whether the content in this press release is correct or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States. For purposes of this section "United States" and "U.S." means the United States of America (its territories and possessions, all states of the Unites States of America and the District of Columbia). U.S. Holders are encouraged to consult with their own advisors regarding the Offer. Disclaimer Goldman Sachs International, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting as financial adviser exclusively for WSIP Bidco and no one else in connection with the Offer and the matters set out in this stock exchange release, and will not be responsible to anyone other than WSIP Bidco for providing the protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs International, or for giving advice in connection with the Offer or any matter or arrangement referred to in this release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005873/en/

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[August 05, 2021] ARC, Inc. Awarded 5-Year, $60M DoD Contract to Advance Proprietary 'AI-Based Weapon Sensing' Tech

Armaments Research Company, Inc. (ARC) announces a new 5-year, $60-million Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III contract, awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and General Services Administration ( GSA (News - Alert) ) supporting multi-branch military applications. This 'Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity' (IDIQ) contract is a continuation of ARC's groundbreaking artificial intelligence-based weapon-sensing tech development undertaken for the DoD and GSA as part of the military's 'Joint All-Domain Command and Control' (JADC2) project portfolio. Current combat environments are fraught with obstacles that challenge ground teams' abilities to conceptualize line-of-fire dynamics and threat movements. ARC's proprietary high-tech systems provide National Defense, Law Enforcement, and prime contractors with Embedded Internet-of-Things (IoT) Sensors, Intelligent Mobile Applications, and Cloud-Based Analytics Platforms. These systems help commanders make mission-critical decisions, reducing tactical response timelines by up to 60%, and ensuring the safety and effectiveness of small units on the ground. "The IDIQ contract represents a pivotal accomplishment that allows us to advance our core teh systems to 'Initial Operational Capability' (IOC) for military use," says Michael Canty, ARC's Chief Executive Officer - a thrice combat-deployed former Army Major and recognized Microsoft (News - Alert) Sr. Manager. "We'll be leveraging findings gained from this effort towards formalizing essential scalable applications that harness critical ground truth data to save lives."



This news comes in the wake of many recent developments underway at ARC, including: An additional $8+ million in approved research and development funding from U.S. government entities

Partnerships with Columbia University, Amazon Web Services (News - Alert) , the National Police Foundation, and several non-disclosable prime contractors.

Further key development projects addressing expressed military needs of AI/ML, predictive analytics, local edge processing, and AR/VR solutions. ARC technical solutions and case studies are available for individual demonstration. Interested parties are invited to visit armaments.us and contact info@armaments.us for more information.

About Armaments Research Company, Inc.: Founded in 2016, ARC is a privately-owned, top-secret-cleared, Washington D.C.-based technology firm, led in tandem by pioneering technology experts and combat-tested military veterans. ARC's original solutions were developed under DARPA and National Science Foundation sponsorship, leveraging state-of-the-art internet-of-things (IoT) and machine learning (ML) technologies to transform weapons into information nodes or 'sensors' and arm Commanders with advanced, real-time decision support. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005884/en/

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[August 05, 2021] OpSec Introduces Clare Miller, Head of OpSec Global Business Relationships

LONDON, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OpSec Security, Inc., the global leader in physical and digital anti-counterfeiting and brand protection solutions, is today announcing the appointment of Clare Miller to lead OpSecs Global Business Relationships group. OpSecs Business Relations Group was established to drive strategic relationships across platforms, marketplaces, ISPs, industry bodies, law enforcement agencies, and other global stakeholders. The group is also deeply involved in managing, monitoring, and improving enforcement and compliance activities across industries. Miller and the OpSec Global Business Relations Team working with our global industry partners will be involved in establishing and promoting an industry and legislative policy framework that will help further industry opinions and positions against nefarious actors. Clare joined OpSec in 2019 with a focus on building industry relationships across law enforcement, industry associations, marketplaces, social media platforms, and national governments to support IP enforcement activities. Clare has a wealth of industry experience and has worked in anti-piracy for almost ten years. Her previous roles have included heading up the Content Protection team at BPI (a trade association for the UK recorded music industry) and managing the anti-piracy strategy for Penguin Random House. She has in depth knowledge across both anti-piracy and online brand protection with a proven record of devising and implementing policy development strategies. She has served as an advisor helping clients and stakeholders to cultivate industry partnerships and assess the potential impacts of proposed legislation and government policy. "I'm excited forthe opportunity to expand my role at OpSec Security  to help us establish clear policies that help our industry partners improve protections for businesses and brands, said Miller, and to demonstrate thought leadership by continuing to educate the industry on issues associated with numerous proposed and enacted global brand protection legislation, including the European Digital Service Act.



Lisa Arrowsmith, Chief Product Officer, OpSec Security said, Clares industry and global relationship management experience continues our journey to strengthen OpSecs leadership position, and our commitment to be the most advanced and impactful company in our industry. Clares background is a perfect fit with our core values of customer first focus and delivering exceptional value to our industry partners. She will play a crucial role in continuing our mission by driving strategic relationships across our industry and designing and delivering policy strategies that will have a positive impact on our industry for years to come. About OpSec Security

OpSec Security is the global market leader in securing and protecting brands.

After decades of leadership in brand protection technology, OpSec grew to become the leading provider of fully integrated brand and document security, providing companies and governments with myriad solutions to help our customers ensure brand quality, reputation, and integrity. OpSec is a leading innovator in online brand and digital content protection, offering our clients end-to-end safeguards against counterfeiting, piracy, and unauthorized usage. We continue to innovate, finding increasingly advanced ways to meet an ever-growing range of threats. Even as the counterfeiters, pirates, and other bad actors employ more sophisticated ways to damage your brand, we never stop getting better at protecting it. What is missing from your brand protection program? Find out more at www.opsecsecurity.com Media Contact

Amanda Hershey

Marketing Communications Manager

Email: media@opsecsecurity.com

Phone: +1 (717) 475-9110

www.opsecsecurity.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d5e5f975-6c38-4695-8e6b-1c78cd67414b



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[August 05, 2021] Legacy Investing And Invesco Real Estate Expand Data Center Portfolio With Sale-Leaseback Of Flexential's Plano, Texas Facility And Hillsboro 3 Data Center In Portland

PLANO, Texas and PORTLAND, Ore. and ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy Investing, a commercial real estate investment firm focused on technology-driven properties, in a joint venture with Invesco Real Estate, a global leader in real estate investment management, announced today the close of their second sale-leaseback transaction with Flexential Corp., a leading provider of data center colocation, cloud, and connectivity services, for their 18MW data center in Plano, Texas. This follows the recent sale-leaseback for the construction of Flexential's Hillsboro 3 data center outside Portland, which Legacy and Invesco completed in April. "These acquisitions are part of Legacy's broader focus on partnering with data center operating companies, enabling them to monetize their real estate-related assets, including funding construction, so they can concentrate their capital on operations and thereby maximize their returns," said Legacy Investing CEO and co-founder Jay Rappaport. "We are pleased to continue expanding our data center footprint into a new market for Invesco Real Estate. Our continued collaboration with Legacy and Flexential is representative of our growing commitment to the data center sector. We look forward to significantly growing these important relationships in the future," said Joshua Siegel, Managing Director, Transactions, Invesco Real Estate. "We are pleased to be partnering with Legacy Investing and Invesco Real Estate on another transaction," said Chris Downie, CEO, Flexential. "These transactions allow Flexential to continue to invest in the 38 highly connected data centers included in our platform of hybrid IT infrastructure solutions. Most notably, this partnership enables our ability to expand at an even faster rate to satisfy accelerated customer demand in the hypergrowth markets included in our 19-market portfolio." The Plano data center is a state-of-the art, Tier III certified facility being expanded by 130,000 square feet to over 260,000 square feet with up to 18MW of capacity. The prior Flexential Hillsboro 3 transaction has enabled Flexential to expand its Hillsboro campus by an additional 358,000 square feet and 36 MW with direct connection to multiple transpacific subsea cables, a critical U.S. point of presence accessible via the Flexential Hillsboro data center campus. The acquisitions are consistent with Legacy's broader strategy as a capital partner on mission critical assets across industrial and life sciences. Legacy has also recently closed transactions on facilities for tenants including Baxter Iternational, Sanofi, Select Comfort, Cogent, IQVIA, PNC Bank, and others.



About Legacy Investing, LLC

Headquartered in Northern Virginia and founded by seasoned technology company executives, Legacy Investing focuses on mission critical real estate impacted by new technologies: digital and physical supply chains, future workplaces, and life sciences. Legacy's principals have leveraged this platform and their public company C-level experience across the past two decades to complete more than $2.75 billion in transactions across 19 million square feet of data centers, e-commerce distribution centers, cold storage, modern office buildings, and life sciences facilities on behalf of select family office and institutional investors. Legacy leverages its expertise on technology's impact on tenant demand, site selection, and leasing to target and position properties to meet those needs and create long-term real estate value. For more information, see www.LegacyInvesting.com.

About Invesco Real Estate

Invesco Real Estate is a global leader in the real estate investment management business with $83.2 billion in real estate assets under management, 588 employees and 21 regional offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia (as of March 31, 2021). Invesco Real Estate has been actively investing in core, value-add and opportunistic real estate strategies since 1992. Invesco Real Estate is a business name of Invesco Advisers, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. Invesco Ltd. is an independent investment management firm dedicated to delivering an investment experience that helps people get more out of life. NYSE: IVZ; www.invesco.com. About Flexential

Flexential empowers the IT journey of the nation's most complex businesses by offering flexible and tailored hybrid IT solutions comprised of colocation, cloud, connectivity, data protection, managed, and professional services. The company builds on a platform of three million square feet of data center space in 19 highly connected markets, and on the FlexAnywhere 100GB private backbone to meet the most stringent challenges in security, compliance, and resiliency. See how Flexential goes beyond the four walls of the data center to empower IT through an interactive map found on www.flexential.com. Flexential is a registered trademark of the Flexential Corp. Follow Flexential on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. CONTACT:



Julie Chase

jchase@chasepr.com

202.997.8677 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legacy-investing-and-invesco-real-estate-expand-data-center-portfolio-with-sale-leaseback-of-flexentials-plano-texas-facility-and-hillsboro-3-data-center-in-portland-301349650.html SOURCE Legacy Investing, LLC

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[August 05, 2021] Canva Featured on Fast Company's Annual List of the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators

Canva, the global visual communications platform, today announced its inclusion in Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators annual list, which honors businesses and organizations that demonstrate a deep commitment to encouraging innovation. Canva was recognized for its continued drive to build new products that empower everyone to design while fostering a culture of creativity and innovation in all parts of the business. "One of our company values is to set crazy big goals and make them happen, which encourages our whole team to dream big and innovate. We're proud to be recognized by Fast Company and celebrate the accomplishments of everyone at Canva," said Amy Schultz, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Canva. Canva is on an incredible journey to democratize design and allow everyone from individual consumers to large enterprises to embrace their creativity and communicate visually online. Earlier this year, the company launched Canva Presentations, which enables teams around the world to design with ease and collaborate at scale with the help of thousands of free templates. There have been more than 350 million presentations created on Canva so far. In addition to product innovation, Canva is also committed to doing the most good in the world and has launched the Print One Plant One campaign from Canva Print - a 1-for-1 reforestation program that anticipates the sequestering of over 100,000 tons of carbon in its first year. This required innovation across Canva teams, from product marketing to sustainability, partnerships, procurement, and beyond. "These leaders and teams created cultures of innovation and sustained them, even as remote work xtended into 2021," says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "This newest list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators honors those organizations that found ways to collaborate and invent despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring employees were at the forefront."



Developed in collaboration with Accenture (News - Alert) , the 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators list ranks 100 winners from various industries. Fast Company editors and Accenture researchers assessed nearly 1,500 applications worldwide before endorsing the top 100 companies. To see the complete list, go to: https://www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/2021. Join the Best Workplaces for Innovators conversation using #FCBestWorkplaces.

ABOUT CANVA Launched in 2013, Canva is a free online visual communications platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage, and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful. Canva is available on desktop, web, iOS, and Android (News - Alert) . ABOUT FAST COMPANY Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with its sister publication Inc. Stephanie Mehta is editor-in-chief. ABOUT ACCENTURE Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions-underpinned by the world's largest delivery network-Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 482,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006003/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Corvus Insurance Acquires Wingman Insurance, Launches Acquisition Strategy to Further Accelerate Growth

Corvus Insurance, the leading provider of smart commercial insurance products powered by AI-driven risk data, today announced that it has acquired Wingman Insurance. Wingman provides a tech platform for admitted Cyber and Tech E&O coverage in all 50 states and D.C., and will continue operation as an independent brand and offering. "The addition of Wingman into the Corvus fold represents a key milestone in the growth of our company," said Phil Edmundson, founder and CEO of Corvus Insurance. "By expanding our footprint in the small and midsize business market and creating the ability to white label our solutions as we further explore multiple product lines, this addition creates new opportunities for Corvus as we launch an acquisition strategy and continue organic growth." To date, 2021 has been a year of noteworthy growth for Corvus, which uses data, machine learning and artificial intelligence to inform brokers and mitigate cyber risk for policyholders. Earlier this year, the Boston-based company raised $115 million in a Series C funding round led by global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners and is on pace to double its employee headcount within the year. "Corvus and Wingman share a like-minded philosophy around the need to create technology and software that empower brokers with intuitive tools that reduce administrative work and povide insight to better understand and inform their clients on complex risks," said G. Philip Feldman, founder and CEO of Wingman Insurance. "We're excited to join the Corvus team as we together transform an industry through technology, data science and simplicity while continuing our commitment and passion for personal service."



For more information about Corvus, visit corvusinsurance.com. About Corvus

Corvus Insurance is the leading provider of commercial insurance products built on advanced data science, with an AI-driven approach to empowering brokers and policyholders to better predict and prevent loss. With each Smart Commercial Insurance policy, Corvus supplies proprietary Dynamic Loss Prevention reports to inform policyholders of critical cyber risk areas and provide actionable security recommendations. Founded in 2017 by a team of veteran entrepreneurs from the insurance and technology industries, Corvus is backed by Insight Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, .406 Ventures, Hudson Structured Capital Management, Aquiline Technology Growth, FinTLV, Telstra (News - Alert) Ventures, Obvious Ventures, and MTech Capital. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and has offices across the U.S. About Wingman Insurance Wingman Insurance was founded to make writing technology insurance faster, smarter and easier. By combining years of underwriting experience with expertly tailored insurance products and a user-friendly policy management system, Wingman has simplified and accelerated the process for brokers and customers alike. Wingman, founded by G. Philip Feldman who spent years running a traditional insurance agency, offers Wingman Cyber, a specialty insurance product for small and medium-sized businesses to protect against loss resulting from cyber attacks and data breaches. The Wingman brand is part of the SeQure Underwriters LLC family, based in Cambridge, Maryland. To learn more about Wingman Insurance or Wingman Cyber Insurance visit us at www.wingmancyber.com. Coverage may not be available in all states and jurisdictions. This information is for descriptive purposes only and does not provide a complete summary of coverage. Consult applicable policy for specific terms, conditions, limits, limitations and exclusions to coverage. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805005847/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Blend to Announce Second Quarter 2021 Results on August 19, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blend Labs, Inc (NYSE: BLND), a leader in cloud software, today announced that the Company will host a conference call on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm ET to discuss second quarter 2021 financial results. Hosting the call will be Nima Ghamsari, Co-Founder and Head of Blend, Tim Mayopoulos, President, and Marc Greenberg, Head of Finance. A press release with second quarter 2021 financial results will be issued after the market closes that same day. The call will be webcast live from the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.blend.com . The conference call can also be accessed live over the phone by dialing (877) 407-4018, or (201) 689-8471 for international callers. A replay will be available after the call and can be accessed at the same website or by dialing (844) 512-2921, or (412) 317-6671 for international callers; the conference ID is 13722121. The replay will be available through Thursday, August 26, 2021.



About Blend

Blend's cloud banking platform is designed to power the end-to-end consumer journey for any banking product, from application to close. Our technology is used by Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and over 290 other financial services firms to acquire more customers, increase productivity, and deepen relationships. Through our software, we enable our customers to process an average of more than $5 billion in loans per day, helping consumers get into homes and gain access to the capital they need to lead better lives. To learn more, visit blend.com . Contacts

Investor Contact: IR@blend.com

Media Contact: press@blend.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blend-to-announce-second-quarter-2021-results-on-august-19-2021-301349679.html SOURCE Blend

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[August 05, 2021] Anaplan Announces Date for Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call

Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN) will report results for its fiscal second quarter ended July 31, 2021 after the market closes on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. The results will be included in a press release with accompanying financial information that will be released after market close and posted on the Anaplan Investor Center website. Anaplan's executive management team will hold a conference call and webcast beginning at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET to share financial results and business highlights. Event: Anaplan Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call

When: Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Time: 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET

Lie Call: Please see online registration





Replay: (800) 585-8367 or (416) 621-4642 with passcode 3667246

Live Webcast: https://investors.anaplan.com or with replay available for 12 months About Anaplan

Anaplan (NYSE: PLAN) is a transformative way to see, plan, and run your business. Using our proprietary Hyperblock technology, Anaplan lets you contextualize real-time performance, and forecast future outcomes for faster, confident decisions. Because connecting strategy and plans to collaborative execution across your enterprise is required to move business FORWARD today. Based in San Francisco, we have 20 offices globally, 175 partners and more than 1,700 customers worldwide. To learn more, visit Anaplan.com. Investors and others should note that the Company routinely uses the Investor Center section of its corporate website to announce material information to investors and the marketplace. While not all of the information that the Company posts on its corporate website is of a material nature, some information could be deemed to be material. Accordingly, the Company encourages investors, the media, and others interested in the Company to review the information that it shares on www.anaplan.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210805006060/en/

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[August 05, 2021] Kinaxis Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2021 Results

SaaS revenue grows 18% to $42.3 million

Adjusted EBITDA(1) margin of 12% OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Kinaxis (TSX: KXS) , the authority in driving agility for fast, confident decision-making in an unpredictable world, today reported results for its second quarter. All amounts are in U.S. dollars. All figures are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) unless otherwise indicated. "After three consecutive quarters of strong business momentum, I'm confident that the market has returned to a very healthy growth environment. With all the well-known disruptions that supply chains have endured over the past year, we are seeing a heightened level of interest in the hyper-agility that only Kinaxis can bring to the planning process," said John Sicard, President and CEO of Kinaxis. "Compared to the first half of last year, we have won over twice the number of new customers, and our annual recurring revenue2 is 24% higher than a year ago. We believe that these are excellent indicators of the positive trends in our business and give us even greater confidence in our expectation of a return to higher SaaS revenue growth next year." Q2 2021 Highlights







$ USD thousands, except as otherwise indicated Q2 2021 Q2 2020 Change Total Revenue 60,056 61,373 -2% SaaS 42,301 35,741 18% Subscription term license 620 10,003 (94%) Professional services 14,001 12,400 13% Maintenance and support 3,134 3,229 (3%) Gross profit 40,273 45,739 (12)%

67% 75%

Profit 3,088 9,004 (66%)

$0.11/diluted share $0.32/diluted share

Adjusted EBITDA(1) 7,149 22,471 (68%)

12% 37%

Cash from operating activities 15,002 30,813 (51%)

(1) "Adjusted EBITDA" is a non-IFRS measure and is not a recognized, defined or a standardized measure under IFRS. This measure as well as other non-IFRS financial measures reported by Kinaxis are defined in the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of this news release. Key Performance Indicators

The nature of the company's long-term contracts provides visibility into future, contracted revenue. The following table presents revenue expected to be recognized in the future related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied) at June 30, 2021.

$USD millions 2021 2022 2023 and later Total

backlog SaaS 86.3 132.0 140.6 358.9 Maintenance and support 6.2 8.7 5.7 20.6 Subscription term license 1.5 - - 1.5 Total 94.0 140.7 146.3 381.0 The company's Annual Recurring Revenue2 (ARR), which includes amounts related to both SaaS and on-premise subscription contracts, rose 24% to $200 million at the end of the quarter. $USD millions 2019 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021 Annual recurring revenue2 159 185 191 200 Year-over-year growth 20.7% 15.3% 18.2% 24.3% (2) Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the total annualized value of recurring subscription amounts (ultimately recognized as SaaS, Subscription Term Licenses and Maintenance & Support revenue) of all subscription contracts at a point in time. Annualized subscription amounts are determined solely by reference to the underlying contracts, normalizing for the varying revenue recognition treatments under IFRS 15 for cloud-based versus on-premise subscription amounts. It excludes one-time fees, such as for non-recurring professional services, and assumes that customers will renew the contractual commitments on a periodic basis as those commitments come up for renewal, unless such renewal is known to be unlikely. We believe that this measure provides a more current indication of our performance in the growth of our subscription business than other metrics. Financial Guidance

Based on our current business outlook, Kinaxis is reiterating its fiscal 2021 financial guidance, as follows:

FY 2021 Guidance Total revenue $242-247 million SaaS 17-20% growth Subscription term license $3-5 million Adjusted EBITDA(1) margin 11-14% Beyond 2021, and assuming an ongoing return to more typical business and market conditions, the company continues to believe that annual SaaS revenue growth of 23-25% is achievable in the mid-term. Guidance in this press release is provided to enhance visibility into Kinaxis' expectations for financial targets for the periods indicated. Please refer to the section regarding forward-looking statements that forms an integral part of this release. This press release along with the financial statements and MD&A for the three months ended June 30, 2021 are available on Kinaxis' website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Conference Call

Kinaxis will host a conference call tomorrow, August 6, 2021, to discuss these results. John Sicard, Chief Executive Officer, and Blaine Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer, will host the call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. A question and answer session will follow management's presentation. Investors and participants must register for the call in advance. See registration link below. Please call the conference telephone number fifteen minutes prior to the start time. CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS

DATE: Friday, August 6, 2021

TIME: 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time

CALL REGISTRATION: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10158854/eb660d628c

WEBCAST: https://bit.ly/3hIIcIZ (available for three months)

REPLAY: (877)-344-7529

Available through Friday, August 20, 2021

REFERENCE NUMBER: 10158854 About Kinaxis Inc.

Everyday volatility and uncertainty demand quick action. Kinaxis delivers the agility to make fast, confident decisions across integrated business planning and the digital supply chain. People can plan better, live better and change the world. Trusted by innovative brands, we combine human intelligence with AI and concurrent planning to help companies plan for any future, monitor risks and opportunities and respond at the pace of change. Powered by an extensible, cloud-based platform, Kinaxis delivers industry-proven applications so everyone can know sooner, act faster and remove waste. For more Kinaxis news, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Non-IFRS Measures

This news release contains non-IFRS measures, specifically Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin. We use Adjusted EBITDA to provide investors with a supplemental measure of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial measures. We believe that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers. Management also uses non-IFRS measures in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, prepare annual operating budgets and assess our ability to meet our capital expenditure and working capital requirements. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margins are not recognized, defined or standardized measures under IFRS. Our definition of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin will likely differ from that used by other companies (including our peers) and therefore comparability may be limited. Non-IFRS measures should not be considered a substitute for or in isolation from measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Investors are encouraged to review our financial statements and disclosures in their entirety and are cautioned not to put undue reliance on non-IFRS measures and view them in conjunction with the most comparable IFRS financial measures. Kinaxis has reconciled Adjusted EBITDA to the most comparable IFRS financial measure as follows:

Three months ended June 30,

Six months ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

(In thousands of USD) Profit $ 3,088

$ 9,004

$ 1,554

$ 14,585 Share-based compensation

5,902

3,723

11,209

7,499 Non-recurring item(3)

(7,906)



(7,906)

 Adjusted profit $ 1,084

$ 12,727

$ 4,857

$ 22,084 Income tax expense

916

6,264

984

9,740 Depreciation and amortization

4,598

3,627

9,068

6,568 Foreign exchange loss (gain)

443

5

911

(44) Net finance expense (income)

108

(152)

370

(825)



6,065

9,744

11,333

15,439 Adjusted EBITDA $ 7,149

$ 22,471

$ 16,190

$ 37,523 Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue

12%

37%

14%

33%



(3) The non-recurring item this quarter relates to non-refundable government grants relating to the pandemic that were claimed during the three months ended June 30th, 2021 and are unlikely to recur in the future. Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements as to our expectations for: growth of annual total revenue, annual SaaS and Subscription term licenses revenue, and our expectations for Adjusted EBITDA margin achievement, in each case looking forward for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 ; and

contracted revenue in future periods, including 2021, 2022 and 2023 and later. This release also includes forward-looking statements as to Kinaxis' growth opportunities and the potential benefits of, and markets and demand for, Kinaxis' products and services. These statements are subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including our view of the relative position of Kinaxis' products and services compared to competitive offerings in the industry. In particular, our guidance for 2021 annual total revenue, annual SaaS and Subscription term license revenue and annual Adjusted EBITDA margin, is subject to certain assumptions and associated risks including: our ability to win business from new customers and expand business from existing customers;

the timing of new customer wins and expansion decisions by our existing customers;

maintaining our customer retention levels , and specifically, that customers will renew contractual commitments on a periodic basis as those commitments come up for renewal, at rates consistent with our historic experience; and

, with respect to Adjusted EBITDA, our ability to contain expense levels while expanding our business. Our guidance and commentary for achievement of contracted revenue in future periods, including in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and later, is based on assumptions and associated risks including: our ability to satisfy material unperformed obligations under our long-term contracts; and

the continued financial capacity and creditworthiness of our customers under long-term contracts. Our guidance and commentary for annual SaaS revenue growth beyond 2021 is based on assumptions and associated risks including normalization of macroeconomic factors, including business and market conditions, relative to recent conditions that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties may cause Kinaxis' actual results, performance, achievements and developments to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Material risks and uncertainties relating to our business are described under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risks and Uncertainties" in our annual MD&A dated March 3, 2021, under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2021 and in our other public documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which are available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are provided to help readers understand management's expectations as at the date of this release and may not be suitable for other purposes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Kinaxis assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by law. Kinaxis Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Financial Position (Expressed in thousands of USD)

(Unaudited)













June 30,

2021

December 31,

2020 Assets







Current assets:







Cash and cash equivalents $ 202,771 $ 182,958 Short-term investments

30,172

30,180 Trade and other receivables

65,891

82,883 Investment tax credits recoverable



1,109 Prepaid expenses

10,595

9,264



309,429

306,394 Non-current assets:







Property and equipment

41,674

30,746 Right-of-use assets

13,953

15,722 Contract acquisition costs

16,639

16,484 Unbilled receivables

196

2,013 Other receivables

701

752 Deferred tax assets

3,894

2,308 Investment tax credits recoverable

1,840

980 Intangible assets

11,901

13,023 Goodwill

39,988

39,988











$ 440,215 $ 428,410









Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity







Current liabilities:







Trade payables and accrued liabilities $ 28,136 $ 33,030 Deferred revenue

94,867

94,275 Lease obligations

4,857

4,554



127,860

131,859 Non-current liabilities:







Lease obligations

10,203

12,065 Deferred tax liabilities

3,298

2,729



13,501

14,794









Shareholders' equity:







Share capital

179,268

173,104 Contributed surplus

45,455

35,846 Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(250)

(20) Retained earnings

74,381

72,827



298,854

281,757











$ 440,215 $ 428,410 Kinaxis Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Comprehensive Income (Expressed in thousands of USD, except share and per share data)

(Unaudited)







For the three months

ended June 30,

2020 For the six months

ended June 30,

2020

2021 2020 2021 2020 Revenue $ 60,056 $ 61,373 $ 117,784 $ 114,128 Cost of revenue

19,783

15,634

40,289

31,470 Gross profit

40,273

45,739

77,495

82,658

















Operating expenses:

















Selling and marketing

14,279

12,253

27,117

24,228

Research and development

11,223

10,257

24,905

19,934

General and administrative

10,323

8,108

21,865

15,040



35,825

30,618

73,887

59,202



4,448

15,121

3,608

23,456 Other income (expense):

















Foreign exchange gain (loss)

(443)

(5)

(911)

44

Net finance and other income (expense)

(1)

152

(159)

825



(444)

147

(1,070)

869 Profit before income taxes

4,004

15,268

2,538

24,325

















Income tax expense

916

6,264

984

9,740 Profit

3,088

9,004

1,554

14,585

















Other comprehensive income (loss)















Items that are or may be reclassified

subsequently to profit or loss:

















Foreign currency translation

differences - foreign operations

39

69

(230)

(55) Total comprehensive income $ 3,127 $ 9,073 $ 1,324 $ 14,530

















Basic earnings per share $ 0.11 $ 0.34 $ 0.06 $ 0.55 Weighted average number of basic

Common Shares

27,110,830

26,546,213

27,165,088

26,489,205

















Diluted earnings per share $ 0.11 $ 0.32 $ 0.05 $ 0.53 Weighted average number of diluted

Common Shares

28,132,511

27,960,482

28,260,273

27,776,206 Kinaxis Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Changes in Shareholders' Equity (Expressed in thousands of USD)

(Unaudited)













Share

capital Contributed

surplus Accumulated

other

comprehensive

loss Retained

earnings Total equity Balance, December 31, 2019 $ 140,961 $ 30,392 $ (348) $ 59,097 $ 230,102





















Profit







14,585

14,585 Other comprehensive loss





(55)



(55) Total comprehensive income (loss)





(55)

14,585

14,530





















Share options exercised

15,273

(3,925)





11,348 Share based payments



7,499





7,499 Total shareholder transactions

15,273

3,574





18,847





















Balance, June 30, 2020 $ 156,234 $ 33,966 $ (403) $ 73,682 $ 263,479





















Balance, December 31, 2020 $ 173,104 $ 35,846 $ (20) $ 72,827 $ 281,757





















Profit







1,554

1,554 Other comprehensive loss





(230)



(230) Total comprehensive income (loss)





(230)

1,554

1,324





















Share options exercised

6,164

(1,600)





4,564 Share based payments



11,209





11,209 Total shareholder transactions

6,164

9,609





15,773





















Balance, June 30, 2021 $ 179,268 $ 45,455 $ (250) $ 74,381 $ 298,854 Kinaxis Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Cash Flows (Expressed in thousands of USD)

(Unaudited)







For the three months

ended June 30, For the six months

ended June 30,

2021 2020 2021 2020 Cash flows from operating activities:

















Profit $ 3,088 $ 9,004 $ 1,554 $ 14,585

Items not affecting cash:



















Depreciation of property and equipment

and right-of-use assets

4,037

3,565

7,946

6,464



Amortization of intangible assets

561

62

1,122

104



Share-based payments

5,902

3,723

11,209

7,499



Net finance and other income (expense)

1

(152)

159

(825)



Income tax expense

916

6,264

984

9,740



Income tax credits recoverable

674



249



Change in operating assets and liabilities

70

8,837

13,010

15,693

Interest received

183

200

206

1,062

Interest paid

(173)

(169)

(357)

(289)

Income taxes paid

(257)

(521)

(431)

(2,260)



15,002

30,813

35,651

51,773

















Cash flows used in investing activities:

















Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired



(167)

(800)

(2,577)

Purchase of property and equipment

(12,489)

(9,329)

(16,930)

(11,038)

Purchase of short-term investments

(15,154)

(10,000)

(30,160)

(75,302)

Redemption of short-term investments

15,154

10,000

30,160

30,102



(12,489)

(9,496)

(17,730)

(58,815)

















Cash flows from financing activities:

















Payment of lease obligations

(1,185)

(894)

(2,357)

(1,485)

Common shares issued on exercise of stock options

2,304

6,338

4,564

11,348



1,119

5,444

2,207

9,863

















Increase in cash and cash equivalents

3,632

26,761

20,128

2,821

















Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period

199,143

158,148

182,958

182,284

















Effects of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents

(4)

83

(315)

(113)

















Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 202,771 $ 184,992 $ 202,771 $ 184,992 SOURCE Kinaxis Inc.

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[August 05, 2021] IT Market in Saudi Arabia: The Positioning of Vendors like- Accenture Plc, Alphabet Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc. will be Dominant during the Forecast Period

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Technavio has been monitoring the IT market in Saudi Arabia and it is poised to reach USD 5.00 million during 2021-2025, progressing at a CAGR of almost 8% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Technavio reports offer customer landscape matrix and vendor landscape analysis

that assists global businesses to obtain growth opportunities.

Download FREE Sample Report The IT market in Saudi Arabia will witness a Neutral impact during the forecast period owing to the widespread growth of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per Technavio's pandemic-focused market research, market growth is likely to decrease in 2021 as compared to 2020. Companies across the globe are focusing on creating a Resilient Business Model in the Face of COVID-19. Vendors are continuing their ongoing operations while building resilient business models as the path to recovery from the pandemic is being carved out. This post-pandemic business planning research will aid clients to: Adjust their strategic planning to move ahead once business stability kicks in.

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Conceptualize scenario-based planning to mitigate future crisis situations. Find COVID-19 Insights Right Here Key Considerations for Market Forecast: Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior

Optimistic, probable, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds

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Quarterly impact analysis and updates on market estimates Get Access to On-demand, Syndicated Extensive Research Reports using Technavio's Subscription Platform Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform



Key Market Participants Analysis Accenture Plc

Accenture Plc offers artificial Intelligence that allows machines to sense, comprehend, act and learn in order to extend human capabilities. Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. supports and develops companies applying technology to the biggest challenges. Cisco Systems Inc. Cisco Systems Inc. offers Internet of things management and automation which simplifies management complexity and deploys and operates at a scale and other software. If you purchase a report that is updated in the next 60 days, we will send you the new edition and data extract FREE! Get report snapshot here to get a detailed market share analysis of market participants during COVID-19 lockdown: https://www.technavio.com/report/it-market-size-in-saudi-arabia-industry-analysis IT Market In Saudi Arabia 2021-2025: Segmentation IT market in Saudi Arabia is segmented as below: End-user

Government



Telecommunication



BFSI



Oil And Gas



Others

Component

Hardware



Services



Software The IT market in Saudi Arabia is driven by the launch of the National Transformation Program (NTP). In addition, the booming e-commerce sector is expected to trigger the IT market in Saudi Arabia toward witnessing a CAGR of almost 8% during the forecast period. Get Actionable Insights on each Contributing Segments. Download Free Sample

Report:

https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41553 Similar Reports: Global Procurement Outsourcing Market- The procurement outsourcing market is segmented by geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA), end-user (BFSI, manufacturing, retail, IT, and telecom, and others), and industry type (large enterprises and SMEs).

Download FREE Sample Report Global Big Data Services Market- The big data services market is segmented by end-user (BFSI, telecom, retail, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA).

Download FREE Sample Report Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact

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Media & Marketing Executive

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Report link: https://www.technavio.com/report/it-market-size-in-saudi-arabia-industry-analysis

Newsroom: https://newsroom.technavio.com/news/it-market View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/it-market-in-saudi-arabia-the-positioning-of-vendors-like--accenture-plc-alphabet-inc-and-cisco-systems-inc-will-be-dominant-during-the-forecast-period-301349840.html SOURCE Technavio

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Over the past decade, the cloud has been a disruptive force in the communications space. It has allowed businesses to communicate and collaborate in new and innovative ways, enhancing how they interact both internally and externally. Still, despite the proven benefits, most businesses hadnt adopted a cloud-first approach.

Last year, though, something unprecedented happened. Amidst a global pandemic, which forced millions of companies to transform their workforces to be fully remote, cloud suddenly moved from being disruptive to actually minimizing disruption. Without cloud communications, most companies would have been unable to function effectively over the past 18 months.

Just about every communications and collaboration provider Ive spoken to during the past year has agreed that, while there is nothing positive about a global pandemic that ha claimed more than four million lives globally, from a business perspective, the pandemic highlighted the need for cloud-based solutions, increasing adoption rates significantly. Companies that had previously adopted cloud solutions tended to transition to remote work much more easily, while those that hadnt scrambled to find the technology that would allow them to function effectively.

Across industries, companies rapidly re-invented their workforces and shifted their digital transformation strategies. Many condensed several years worth of technology investments into just a few months in order to ensure their employees had the tools to function effectively. While they werent able to sit face to face with each other, adopting the right tools minimized the impact of geographic displacement. In fact, the majority of employees said their productivity improved when working from home.

Understanding that, I took some time to discuss the evolution of the workplace and workforces with Facilis Vice President of Partnerships Andre Gilbert. Facilis offers a white label meeting software suite, which Gilbert says includes the four pillars of collaboration: screen sharing, video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing. With its suite of collaboration tools, Facilis gives voice providers a platform with which to enter the UCaaS market and leverage the accelerated cloud adoption timeline businesses have adopted. It also gives businesses a team collaboration suite that complements other solutions they may be using. Heres what Andre had to say about whats happened over the past 18 months, and why he sees such a great opportunity for Facilis and its partners going forward.

Erik Linask (News - Alert) : I dont want to spend too much time talking about the pandemic, but the fact is it impacted every business across the globe. How did Facilis respond to the situation and enable its workforce to remain productive?

Andre Gilbert, Facilis

Andre Gilbert: Well, I have a funny anecdote here! In support of our growth, we moved our office to a larger and more modern setup early in 2020. The official move was on the weekend of March 14, 2020, and our local government shut down all offices on Friday, March 13, effective the following Monday. So, we moved all our furniture and were prepared for the grand opening, but none of our employees could show up at our new office!

That being said, we had already packed and employees had started remote work the previous week in order to facilitate the move, so everybody was properly set up. The only difference was that the plan was for seven days of remote work, which turned into more than a year, with full-time return to the office not likely to happen anytime soon.

EL: During the past 12 months, millions of businesses were pushed into using new communications and collaboration tools. How did this impact Facilis from a business perspective?

AG: There were a few distinct impacts on the business side for us. First, as for all corporations supplying telecom and virtual meeting solutions, the consumption of our services multiplied overnight  by a factor of 5x, in our case. Our infrastructure was already highly scalable, so we are proud to say that our customers did not suffer from any service interruption during that period, while market leaders were struggling to cope with this new volume. We are not talking about the same scale of activities, but one our largest customers was and still is the government health sector of our province in Canada, so the importance of their daily meetings and press conferences were of the highest level.

The second impact was in regard to our offering itself. Before the pandemic, we were offering landline audio conferencing combined with screen sharing capabilities. This solution allowed our customers to hold conferences and meetings with very large attendance with high-quality audio, plus the ability to share presentations in all conditions (e.g., low bandwidth connections, people on the move, mobile phone access, etc.). Rapidly, though, video became a must-have for virtual meeting solutions for many good reasons, which presented the occasion for us to merge two of our solutions  Mybys screen sharing and Seezus videoconference  in one new integrated Mybys solution. Also, thanks to a larger adoption of IP connections for voice, we developed a hybrid audioconferencing system called Webcall and migrated our audio conferencing customer base to this new platform.

Finally, our business model was also challenged, since legacy services were sold per minute, but new entrants were offering per user pricing. We also migrated our business model to align with those new market standards and expectations and, therefore, were able to maintain our competitive positioning in the market.

It was a busy 2020 in the market and at Facilis, but we now possess an attractive offering on the product side and also with our business model. Both are very well aligned with new market conditions.

EL: Why did it take a global pandemic for companies to realize the value of these kinds of communications and collaboration platforms?

AG: My view, which is supported by market studies, is that remote work was not favored by corporations because of fear of decreased productivity and lack of control over employees activities. They were wrong! Organizations were forced into a new workforce distribution model that demonstrated their numerous benefits in time savings on commuting, the ability to move outside large cities closer to outdoor activities and at a lower cost, with an enhanced ability to conciliate work and family.

EL: There are so many solutions out there and most have some great features. What are the most important features collaboration solutions must include?

AG: Our market studies indicate that users want video, audio, screen sharing, and in-session chat. This is the minimal feature set that allows for efficient collaboration work. Then, for more specific situations, advanced features like calendar integration, registration, recording and distribution, mass audio and video control, emoji signals (raise hand, applause, etc.), in-session surveys/voting, will all enhance the base solution for more specific needs like webinars, formal meetings (board of directors, general assemblies, etc.), and other situations.

EL: What about voice quality? Thats one of the difficulties many users have experienced. Are there things that can be done to enhance voice quality to enhance meetings? Does simply disabling video work?

AG: This is a good one and my conversations with many industry participants provided me with a mixed view. Some think that corporations now accept low audio quality in order to use a unique solution without landline access (IP audio only) at a lower cost. Others manage by asking participants to disable their video in order to enhance bandwidth and improve audio quality.

On our side, we come from the audio conferencing world and audio quality has always been paramount to our customers. It is also part of our DNA. Our view is also that, in order to achieve efficient virtual meetings, screen sharing is no big issue since the refresh rate is low and fits the requirement, and a participants video that flickers would not impact the efficiency of the interaction. But, any disturbance on the audio side will significantly impact meeting outcomes.

When meeting participants that cant understand what others are saying, or perhaps cant even hear some participants who are providing input to the group, it becomes detrimental to the meeting outcome. It also creates unnecessary frustration among participants. I spent the last 20 years in global sales activities and could write a book on damaged interactions due to the lack of proper understanding. Sometimes, it was due to foreign language skills or a prominent accent, but mostly, it was imputable to inadequate audio technology and poor quality.

EL: One of the complaints users have about many collaboration platforms is they arent as simple to launch as users would like. Many require application downloads and multiple clicks to get into meetings. Is there a better way to create a simpler user experience?

AG: At Facilis, we definitively think this is, indeed, possible. Our Mybys solution is a one-click, no-download meeting software that allows participants to log into a meeting via a simple web link (https://facilisglobal.com/join). They enter their name, the meeting number and optional password, and they join the meeting with video, audio and screen sharing regardless of their platform or OS. This system works on any browser and it is also BYOD-friendly, since there are no downloads on the employees personal mobile phone.

EL: Most companies are already using some kind of collaboration software (Teams, Google (News - Alert) , GoToMeeting, Zoom, Slack, etc). What is your role in that ecosystem?

AG: We strongly believe that corporations will need two different types of collaboration software in the long run. They will need one for formal meetings with full-featured solutions like the market leaders that you mentioned. They will also want a simple, easy to deploy and support application, such as Mybys from Facilis, for all employees at a lower cost.

We also offer our solution in a white label mode for service providers, which enables them to offer a world-class solution to their customer base, while maintaining customer intimacy and invoicing relationships.

EL: Youve recently launched an upgraded version of your collaboration solution. Whats new or improved in the new version?

AG: We have integrated our videoconferencing with screen sharing, enhanced video algorithms that do not hinder screen sharing performances or audio quality, but mostly, weve made it easy to integrate quality voice carrier solutions within the standard platform. With that, we can offer a simple, one-click no-download solution with fantastic audio quality in an attractive white label business model. We really think our solution fills a void in virtual meeting solutions that will benefit telecom service providers their business customers.

EL: What about security? We know the issues Zoom had early during the pandemic, and certainly, we are hearing about new major breaches nearly every day. How are you ensuring security for users, whether they are in corporate buildings or working remotely?

AG: Cybersecurity, phishing, ransomware, and meeting security share the same corporate symptom. Most corporations are very much reactive to these issues, and they mostly only address such situations after they suffer from an attack and their operations or reputation is at risk. This is wrong.

On our side, our largest customer segment is the government, and cybersecurity and confidentiality are paramount in their product selection process. In that regard, we recently received our ISO 27001 certification that ensures our applications, our corporate infrastructure, and our processes are safe for our customers. This was a thorough process, but it was worthwhile. Now, we and our customers can feel highly secure while using our solutions.

EL: Theres no question workforce models have changed and businesses have learned to function effectively even when people cant physically be together. To what extent do you think these changes will be permanent?

AG: There are numerous industry surveys that support the idea that remote work is here to stay. They show that North American organizations are planning a decrease of their office space by 30% on average, and implementing flex offices in response to more than 70% of employees that want to return to work only 50% of the times in the future.

Remote work is absolutely here to stay, and efficient virtual meeting software is going to support collaboration in organizations for a long time ahead!

Edited by Erik Linask
The plague lockdown on the public persists and already locals are finding fault with KCMO tactics.



Check the www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .



First, an illegal & obvious scheme is called out . . .

Fake COVID-19 vaccine cards might present challenges for those requiring proof At first the 4-by-3-inch COVID-19 vaccination cards were meant to serve as a reminder for the next dose of the vaccine. But now, as some Kansas City businesses are requiring proof of vaccination, the card is only way - at least locally - to show it.

Courthouse COVID Crackdown Sneak Peek . . .



Jackson County Executive announces plan to issue public health order requiring masks in indoor public places August 4, 2021 Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. is announcing today that he will issue a public health order requiring universal mask-wearing in indoor public places for those 5 and older, regardless of vaccination status.

Local Docs Share Plague Life Lesson . . .



KC Medical Society sends letter to 17 school districts, urging mask requirement KANSAS CITY METRO (KCTV) -- The Kansas City Medical Society is urging 17 local school districts to require masks for students and staff in the upcoming school year, saying in a letter that the Delta variant is "a game changer with unknown long-term effects on our children."

COVID Vaxx Push Persists . . .



'We don't want to give up,' Jackson County regional COVID-19 vaccine coordinator says As COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to slowly climb across the country, the Jackson County Health Department is targeting ZIP codes with lower vaccine uptake.The county's regional COVID-19 vaccine coordinator along with a volunteer nurse practitioner on Tuesday staffed a mobile vaccine clinic at the Hawthorne Place Apartments alongside the Mid-Continent Public Library's Reading Rocket and its Vaxxed in the Stacks campaign."We don't want to have a defeated energy.

Plague Pushes Out Local Creativity . . .



Arts Asylum cites COVID in plans to move The Arts Asylum, a studio space, performance venue and artist refuge will cease operations at its 1000 E. Ninth Street location in the Paseo West neighborhood at the end of this year. "Thank you for your support over the years - most especially this past year that has been incredibly difficult and trying for everyone," a letter posted on social media August 4 read.

Golden Ghetto Second Opinion On Masks . . .

Kansas City doctors urge Blue Valley to change masking rules JOHNSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -- Doctors from around the metro signed an open letter to the Blue Valley School District supporting universal masking in schools. Right now, masks are not required in Blue Valley buildings for staff and students. Masks are already required throughout Kansas City.

COVID Delta Job Demands Exposed . . .



Kansas City front-line workers say they're feeling strain of COVID-19 surge As Kansas City hospital beds fill up with COVID-19 patients again, frontline workers said they are feeling the strain. There's a new kind of frustration as they see unvaccinated COVID-19 patients struggling to live. Like other hospitals across the metro, Saint Luke's Health System is once again working overtime.

Show-Me Mayor Q Against GOP . . .



KC mayor responds to Missouri attorney general's lawsuit challenging mask mandate KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Kansas City's mayor and the Missouri attorney general are preparing to face off in court following a lawsuit filed to challenge Kansas City's mask mandate. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says he filed the lawsuit because he believes the mask mandate is unconstitutional and unreasonable government overreach.

Local Delta Showdown Awaits . . .



Series of Thursday meetings could prove pivotal in Kansas City-area mask mandates KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Thursday could prove to be an important day regarding to mask mandates and recommendations in the Kansas City area. Several school boards, county commissions and health departments are set to discuss masking protocols Thursday.

Developing . . .


In this quick compilation we share deets on disturbing allegations amid the divisive local discourse as it relates to criminal justice or lack thereof . . . As always, we try to finish with a bit of hope for the future.



Check the www.TonysKansasCity.com collection . . .

Suspect Smiles After Runaround . . .



23-year-old Kansas City man sentenced to 10 years for illegal firearm following chase by: Brian Dulle Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 23-year-old Kansas City, Missouri man was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for illegally possessing a firearm after leading police on a high-speed chase. Raymond L. Pierce was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole. On Feb.

Show-Me Outcry Against Disparity . . .



Missouri Governor Pardons Couple Who Pointed Guns at BLM Protesters. A Black Man Who's Spent 40 Years In Prison for Crime Prosecutors Say He Didn't Commit Remains In Prison Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was criticized on Tuesday for pardoning the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters last year while declining to pardon a Black man who has served 40 years in prison for a crime prosecutors say he didn't commit.

More Deets On Monumental Disappointment . . .



Organizers 'Devastated' After Statue Of Native American Woman Stolen From Park In Kansas City North It was less than a month ago that the fourth, and last, larger-than-life bronze statue at the Francois Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain was unveiled at the site on the west side of Chouteau Parkway and Parvin Road.

Rock Chalk Witness Sought . . .



Kansas Highway Patrol looking for man who saw kidnapping, aggravated battery WILSON, KS (KCTV) -- Kansas Highway Patrol is asking for the public's help identifying a man who saw a kidnapping/aggravated battery that happened on Saturday. KHP says the the crime happened around 8 p.m. on July 31 at the Travel Shoppe in Wilson off I-70 at Exit 206.

Meth Town Po-Po Need Help . . .



Independence police looking for person of interest in April homicide INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) -- The Independence Police Department is looking for a person of interest in connection with a homicide that happened in April. The IPD Street Crimes Unit is looking for 19-year-old Trayvione M. Thompson from Kansas City, Missouri, in connection with a homicide that happened on April 28 in the 500 block of S.

Health Codes Reconsidered As Treatment Advances . . .



After 30 years, Missouri reforms HIV transmission criminalization law * Missouri Independent Six years ago, college student Michael Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a St. Charles County judge for "recklessly exposing" his sexual partners to HIV. Five and a half years into that sentence, he was released in 2019 after outcry around his case brought a national spotlight to Missouri's laws criminalizing HIV transmission.

Brutal Doggie Misdeeds Alleged . . .



Charges filed after man is accused of throwing dog inside kennel into Missouri River LEAVENWORTH, KS (KCTV) -- A Leavenworth man is charged with cruelty to animals after witnesses say he threw a dog inside of a kennel into the Missouri River at the Riverfront Park in Leavenworth. Police say a Good Samaritan jumped into the Missouri River to rescue the dog named Zoey.

Working Toward Solutions . . .



Can Paid Summer Internships Help Cut Crime? A Kansas City Collaboration Aims To Find Out As Kansas City grapples with community violence, a new youth internship program is aiming to change the trajectory of at-risk teens. The model has helped cut crime and boost graduation rates in Omaha, and is showing early signs of success here.

First Responders Fight For Good Cause . . .



Guns N Hoses fundraiser returns to Kansas City on Saturday The annual Guns N Hoses fundraiser returns to Kansas City, Missouri, after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event featuring boxing matches between police and fire departments raises money for surviving family members of first responders killed on duty in the metropolitan area.

Developing . . .
Last month we noted an important local court case regarding the cost of COVID testing.

Now . . .

FIRST ON TKC!!! CHECK THE LEGAL CLAP BACK IN THIS EPIC FIGHT BETWIXT A LOCAL LAB VS. AN INSURANCE COMPANY!!!

As always, we strive to be objective and present BOTH side of the story . . . As lawsuits over the current plague will be the new hotness for years to come . . .



Check the presser sent to www.TonysKansasCity.com moments ago . . .



GS Labs Countersues, Fires Back At Blue KC Over $9.7 Million Payment Failure:



Insurance Giant Believes Its Above The Law, Leaves Residents Vulnerable to Infection By Shredding CARES Act, Failing to Pay for 12,000+ COVID Rapid Tests



As COVID-19 Infections Soar in Missouri and Nationally, Testing Leader Sues To Prevent Blue KC From Illegally Billing Consumers For Vital COVID Tests



KANSAS CITY, MO.  GS Labs, a leading provider of COVID-19 rapid tests in 13 states and 27 locations nationwide, today filed multiple counterclaims against multi-billion-dollar insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. The filing accuses Blue KC of legal bullying and reckless disregard for the law in a baseless attempt to stiff GS Labs on payments legally owed after the laboratory provided COVID rapid tests for more than 12,000 Blue KC members.



As COVID-19 infections and the Delta variant spread like wildfire in Blue KCs backyard, youd think this insurance company would make people their priority, not profits, said Kirk Thompson, a partner with GS Labs. Instead, Blue KC grossly violated the plain language of the CARES Act and violated federal law. We cannot let them get away with this scheme and we cant let this company prevent residents from getting COVID tests they absolutely need.



As incentivized by Congressional legislation, GS Labs entrepreneur-owners stepped up last year amid a national health crisis to develop best-in-industry COVID-19 testing technology and customer service. The owners invested $37 million to build and staff a national testing business, including establishing testing operations in 27 locations, hiring nearly 3,000 essential workers, and developing infrastructure to handle internal billing, communications and the labs 24-hour hotline, staffed around the clock by registered nurses.



GS Labs state-of-the-art custom technology platform  another critical infrastructure investment  serves as many as 1,000 patients per day, seven days a week at each of 27 testing sites nationwide. This unique platform allows patients to book within 15 minutes of their proposed appointment and to receive accurate rapid results in as little as 20 minutes.



The CARES Act makes clear that insurance carriers must pay for COVID-19 testing for insured members. Section 3202(a) states: If the health plan or issuer does not have a negotiated rate with such provider, such plan or issuer shall reimburse the provider in an amount that equals the cash price for such service as listed by the provider on a public internet website, or such plan or issuer may negotiate a rate with such provider for less than such cash price.



GS Labs had been in the midst of ongoing price negotiations with Blue KC. Rather than participate in good faith, the insurance giant instead used the more than 20,000 pages of documents provided by GS Labs to file a surprise lawsuit and launch a media ambush.



The law was meant to be simple: Insurance companies like Blue KC are responsible to pay for COVID tests, Thompson added. This is a perfect example of Big Insurance trying to make things absurdly complicated to avoid paying what they owe. Blue KC had the opportunity to discuss their concerns with us directly, but instead resorted to ambushing us with false claims and a reckless lawsuit.



Other Blue Cross Blue Shield companies have paid GS Labs cash price without negotiation or filing a baseless lawsuit.



Blue KC has paid GS Labs cash price on a fraction of the submitted claims, while paying arbitrary amounts or stiffing GS Labs on the rest. Thus far, Blue KC has paid $108,945  about 1 percent of the total $9.7 million owed. A total of 34,621 claims remain unpaid. The facts:



 Insurers nationwide have agreed to pay the GS Labs cash price for various COVID-19 tests and to pay GS Labs as an out-of-network provider.



 Congress, as well as the Trump and Biden Administrations, have clarified that group health plans and health insurance issuers like Blue KC must cover and reimburse COVID-19 testing and related services, as codified by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act.



 A recent survey by Kaiser Family Foundation found that about 20 percent of COVID-19 diagnostic tests have a cash price of more than $300.



GS Labs is seeking the full payment of $9.7 million, plus compensatory damages, interest and legal fees. Importantly, the counterclaims seek to defend Blue KCs members from the insurance company itself. This is necessary because Blue KC has attempted to illegally shift its costs to the public by informing some members on their Explanation of Benefits that they are responsible for a portion of the testing fee. The CARES Act expressly forbids such billing.



GS Labs began offering COVID-19 rapid tests in October. Many communities directly requested assistance from GS Labs, due to a lack of testing resources. By keeping testing centers open 12 hours a day during the height of the pandemic  and paying above-market salaries to hire experienced registered nurses and other medical professionals  GS Labs has safely and effectively tested nearly a half-million Americans, including more than 12,000 Blue KC customers. GS Labs offered reduced price testing for financially challenged consumers who could not afford the cash price, but needed safe, accurate rapid results.



We saw a need for testing and we immediately made a commitment to do our part because thats what American businesses do in a crisis, said Thompson. The $37 million we spent rushing to aid communities in crisis was money well-spent, as evidenced by the thousands of individuals and families who flocked to our facilities, especially during the holidays. Were not looking for a pat on the back, but we want Blue KC to keep its legal and moral obligation, while letting our patients know we remain here for them as we work to open new sites in the wake of the sweeping Delta variant



Despite Blue KCs actions, GS Labs plans to reopen soon in the Kansas City area in response to the Delta variant. Mayor Quinton Lucas recently reinstated the citys indoor mask mandate.



We are proud to have supported communities and consumers and we absolutely will continue to do so, said Thompson, the partner. We will vigorously defend our business practices and our company's reputation. And we look forward to Blue KCs obeying federal law and paying for the 12,000 tests we provided its members in their moment of need.



# # #

Developing . . .


As Democratic Party leaders across the nation rally for more fed free money, Kansas City Mayor Q leads the historic charge.

This morning we note him getting behind former Mayor Pete to ram home a sketchy deal.

Enthusiastic support from Mayor Q . . .

Even better and far more informative . . . Check the www.TonysKansasCity.com news link collection on the topic from both sides . . .

Trump's Obamacare failure drives Biden on infrastructure Former 's failure to repeal The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, likely drives 's support for the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure deal. Biden knows the high price legislative failure can inflict on a presidency; he also knows he is not entirely accepted by his party's ideological base.

Amtrak would get a new mandate in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that includes a reduced focus on profitability and better food Amtrak is a key focus of the new $1 trillion infrastructure bill in Congress. More focus is put on the rail corporation to connect the country than be profitable. Maintaining long-distance routes and food service are also focuses of the bill.

Infrastructure Bill Could Enable Government to Track Drivers' Travel Data The Senate's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill proposes a national test program that would allow the government to collect drivers' data in order to charge them per-mile travel fees. The new revenue would help finance the Highway Trust Fund, which currently depends mostly on fuel taxes to support roads and mass transit across the country.

Slashed infrastructure funding for communities hurt by highways disappoints advocates Shawn Dunwoody and Suzanne Mayer can remember when Democratic Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer of New York went to Rochester's Inner Loop at the end of June and emphasized the need to fund projects that reconnected neighborhoods bisected by highways. The senators' advocacy meant the world, said Dunwoody and Mayer, who created a group called Hinge Neighbors.

An interesting bit of Kansas GOP politicking . . .

The Senate GOP's one-man infrastructure test case No stranger to the spotlight of intra-GOP controversy, Moran is giving few clues how he will vote on the infrastructure deal even as his colleagues privately offer competing predictions. Moran and other Republicans wanted to see bill text and a detailing of the measure's finances, neither of which were available before two key votes to advance the bill.

Senators file crypto broker amendment to infrastructure bill after industry backlash Members of the Senate introduced an amendment to the infrastructure bill Wednesday attempting to clear up confusion about cryptocurrency "brokers," based on language in the existing version that could roil the crypto markets if passed. The update, filed by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.

Laura Ingraham tells GOP senator 'you guys got played' on infrastructure bill Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) traded verbal blows on Ingraham's prime-time program Monday night over the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package currently being debated in the Senate.

Congress Continues Spending Spree With Irresponsible Infrastructure Deal Impulsiveness, one of the defining features of a spending spree, happens when a person stops caring about cost, value, or financing for a period of time. This person just wants as many things as possible. Reckless spending tends to occur when someone did not obtain the money through hard work or smart investing.

Developing . . .
Today , critical decisions by low-rent Kansas City public officials will likely determine the local dress code for remainder of the year.



To wit . . .

AS THE PLAGUE AND ITS VARIANTS SURGE ONCE AGAIN . . . WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE RETURN OF COVID MASKS?!?

Local media and health officials have done a horrible job of selling masks as advice is often contradictory, highly politicized and confusing.

Fact is, medical masks are a harmless accessory worn throughout they day by countless medical pros and a diverse cross-section of people in Asian countries for YEARS despite the hysterics of plebs on "many sides" of this issue.

Nevertheless . . .

As a resource and so that our KICK-ASS READERS here at www.TonysKansasCity.com can exchange insults with each other rather than bothering friends & family . . . We share this link collection on the controversial topic . . .

3 Kansas City-area school districts, 2 county commissions to revisit mask policies Thursday another round of new mask rules tonight. This time they affect a big concert in Kansas City. Good evening. I'm laura Morris and I'm chris cats. If you're going to see Garth brooks at Arrowhead, saturday night, bring a mask.

Parents, doctors renew push for universal masking in Johnson County, Kansas schools There is a renewed push from parents and doctors in Johnson County, Kansas, to make masks required in schools but the plan is being met with pushback."There is this large group that supports science and supports the expert opinions," said Dr. Melissa Gener.Gener sent a letter signed by 200 other

Johnson County to vote on mask mandate for all elementary schools OLATHE, Kan. - Commissioners in Johnson County, Kansas, are buckling in for another round of discussion on masks. The proposal before the board during Thursday morning's meeting would require masking for elementary-age students in local school districts. The new public health order would put the mandate in effect in both public and private schools.

Mask mandate fight spurs heated words between Missouri attorney general, Kansas City mayor The war of words is escalating between Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas over mask mandates.Schmitt said that he's fighting "top-down" government authority with his mask mandate lawsuits.The attorney general said Missourians have the right to make their own decision about whether to wear a mask."And not have the government mandating individuals who have been vaccinated having to wear masks all day long," Schmitt said.He also said that face masks on kids under 12 are not that effective.

Masks could soon be required in Johnson County, Kansas schools OLATHE, KS (KCTV) -- Masks could soon be required in Johnson County, Kansas schools. The health directive on the agenda Thursday for the board of commissioners only specifies masks for kindergarten through sixth grade. It's aimed at protecting those younger than 12 who are not eligible to get the vaccine.

Prairie Village City Council debates issuing a citywide mask mandate PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. - Prairie Village could soon issue a city-wide mask mandate. On Monday, Prairie Village City Councilmember Jori Nelson proposed the city create a new mask policy to combat the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the community. "We simply can't wait for the county, other municipalities or the state legislature to do the right thing.

Kansas City Medical Society supports universal masking in schools KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Medical Society is the latest group to urge mandatory masking in school classrooms, calling the COVID-19 delta variant a "game changer with unknown long-term effects on our children." KC Medical Society President Scott Kujath said in a letter dated Aug.

Developing . . .
A hectic Kansas City South Side scene early this morning leaves one shooting victim dead in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood.



Unofficially, www.TonysKansasCity.com estimates that this is the 92 homicide so far this year compared to 117 last year and 85 the year before that . . . Here's the first report as authorities continue to determine what led up to the tragic domestic drama . . . Read more . . .



Homicide 13200 block of Wornall Road

This morning around 3:30am, officers were called to the area of the 13200 block of Wornall Road in regard to a disturbance involving shots fired inside a residence. Upon arrival, information was given to responding officers there was a party armed with a gun inside the residence. A police standoff/OP 100 was called to bring additional tactical resources and negotiators to the scene. As officers were still making contact with witnesses, additional information was provided to investigators there was a party inside the residence who had been shot. Based on the exigent circumstances, officers made entry into the townhome and located an adult male victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. EMS responded and pronounced the victim deceased.



Detectives and Crime Scene Personnel have responded to the scene. They will be speaking to witnesses and processing the scene for evidence.



Detectives are asking if you heard or saw anything to please contact them at 816-234-5043. Or if you would like to remain anonymous you can call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

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Developing . . .


Right now was take a glimpse at old school hottie Brit who inspires us to keep up with pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check-it . . .

Y NOT!!!

Opening day nears for Downtown YMCA + First Friday weekend bliss - Downtown Council of Kansas City YMCA to return to Downtown with $35M remake of Lyric Theater Downtown Kansas City hasn't had a full-fledged YMCA in 40 years. That will change in a couple of months, reports The Kansas City Star. The Kirk Family YMCA will offer its full range of amenities to the public starting Oct.

The Dotte Earns More Time

KCK extends utility disconnect moratorium until October to give more time to sign up for help by: Juan Cisneros Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Board of Public Utilities board of directors have extended the moratorium for residential utility disconnections for non-payment until October 6. The BPU says people should continue to pay their bills on time so they don't get too far behind.

American Cash Crunch Underway

Senators gird for all-nighter 'on steroids' to propel $3.5T Democratic plan Republicans are conserving their firepower on the bipartisan deal, ensuring their liberal counterparts suffer on their party-line bill. "I think budget reconciliation is going to be on steroids," said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), a GOP member of the Budget Committee.

MAGA Exposed Again?!?

Analysis: You shouldn't miss this massive bombshell in Trump's ongoing election fraud lie Unless you have been living on another planet for the past six months, you know by now that Donald Trump leaned on state and national officials in the final days of his presidency to force investigations into made-up claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 race.

Global Plague Fear Worsens

A doomsday COVID variant worse than Delta and Lambda may be coming, scientists say Scientists keep underestimating the coronavirus. In the beginning of the pandemic, they said mutated versions of the virus wouldn't be much of a problem-until the more-infectious Alpha caused a spike in cases last fall. Then Beta made young people sicker and Gamma reinfected those who'd already recovered from COVID-19.

More Kansas City Booze Debuts

Tap List | Local Breweries Make Expansion Plans As the craft beer community continues to grow in the Kansas City area, so do local breweries. The past couple of weeks have marked some exciting new announcements from several local breweries. One of the biggest announcements came from Limitless Brewing in Lenexa, Kansas.

Brit Fashions Social Media Interest

Britney Spears models sexy orange dresses in her living room She recently acknowledged that 'there is a lot of change going on' in her life right now, amid her very public battle against the conservatorship that controls her. But on Wednesday, Britney Spears was back to one of her regular antics on her Instagram, when she posted a selfie video dancing on the marble floor of her living room.

For even more links, news and good stuff . . .

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And so . . .

Destiny's Child - Bootylicious is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Kansas Republicans have seemingly given up trying to win Johnson County . . . So they're changing game according to the rules.

To be fair, this unsportsmanlike power move will likely end up in court and some crusty judge will decide election boundaries rather than voters.

Either way, and we note this as a blog that encourages representation of a variety of differing viewpoints in the political discourse, an unhealthy reliance on redistricting is "a bad look" for Kansas Republicans and exposes their inability to win population centers . . . i.e. the future of humanity over the course of recorded history.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Right now we feature yet another screed from Kansas City Star castoff Barb Shelly that isn't so much "alternative" as it is just another brand of Democratic National Committee talking points.



Again, we remember that The Pitch was once a wonderful place for local weirdos and now it's just another "outlet" for partisan talking points.

Check-it . . .



Two centuries after its founding, Missouri is increasingly embracing its reactionary personality.



Every day the headlines serve up some new outrage: A new law claims to invalidate federal gun legislation. The governor frets about an imaginary scenario in which federal agents knock on peoples doors and browbeat them into getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Having all but paused abortions in the state, some lawmakers are now crusading against birth control.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Johnstown, PA (15901)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low around 65F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 64F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Canton, GA (30114)

Today

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.
Dining options: Takeout

Description: Authentic barbecue with a Nantucket twist! That's the plan for our new restaurant set to open by early spring in the former Cap'n Tobey's building on Straight Wharf. Former Brant Point Grill Executive Chef Fred Bisaillon and his girlfriend Denise Corson, former Tobey's manager and longtime veteran of the island bar and restaurant scene, are behind B-ACK Yard BBQ, whose menu will include different 'cue styles from around the country, along with a selection of Kentucky bour-bons, Tennessee whiskeys and craft beer. We hope you'll come and sit for a spell this summer with us!
Good for: Bar Scene, Local cuisine, Special Occasion Dining, Romantic

Dining options: After-hours, Dinner, Reservations

Description: A piece of authentic Maine history, The Thistle Inn still stands as a place to gather and celebrate what makes life all the more worth living: great food, great company, and a home away from home. Originally built in 1861 for a prominent sea captain, our restaurant and Inn embody the unique period character of Maines past, with updated fixtures for modern comfort. From our seaside favorites to our world-class wine list, our menu is an exploration of classic coastal cuisine prepared with natures freshest ingredients. Guests looking to extend their visit will find six different lodging options at their fingertips, and the best of Boothbay Harbor just a short walk from their quarters. Whether its a meal that brings you to us, or an escape to our quaint Inn, we invite you to relax, stay awhile, and soak up some true downeast hospitality.
I am tracking what I will need to prove vac status in France but my trip to France begins with flight to Geneva and then transfer to Chamonix in mid September. What information do I need to have to do this re: COVID vax status. I will of course be traveling with CDC card and also print out of my hospital vaccination records in the US. I hope to get the French health pass in Chamonix although France has not yet got their promised system for getting that done accomplished yet; I am optimistic for September.
Hi @venkat

For entry into Victoria Falls Zimbabwe take your test within 48 hrs of your departure from Newark. Looks like you will be spending 3 days in Zimbabwe, so your 1st test will expire as Botswana requires a negative PCR test done with 72 of the test. So to go to Botswana you get another test in Victoria falls, easy enough at the lancet labs $60. On arrival in Botswana, they will also do a free rapid test at the border.

Now, I don't know how long you are staying in Bostwana but if you are only going for the day then the test that you had to go to Botswana will still be valid for your re-entry in Zimbabwe. If you are staying more than 48hrs in Botswana, then you will need to get another test done in Botswana, to get back into Zim.

I also don't know if you are staying in Zimbabwe after re-entering or going straight to the airport. Cos you will also need a valid negative PCR test to fly out. If you are going straight to the airport it should be fine but if not you might need to get another one done.

If you time it right, essentially you will need one for arrival and one for going to Botswana, but if stay a long time in Botswana then you will need another one.

Phew... complicated but hope that makes sense.

Boo from Victoria Falls Guide
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A historic run on Connecticut real estate could be at an end, after July sales sank 11 percent from boom-market totals of a year ago, when New York City owners and renters sought an exit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 5,200 homes statewide sold in July, according to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties, which did not record an increase in any one Connecticut county compared to a year ago. Home sales remain up 20 percent on the year with 30,200 units changing hands.

The pandemic gave many Connecticut homeowners an opportunity to cash out after years of listings in their neighborhoods failing to command pricing power. But the rapid escalation in prices squeezed out many buyers ready to move in the spring and summer of last year, only to see their offers fall short of competing bids.

Connecticuts median-priced home this year sold for $317,500, up 17.6 percent from the equivalent home sold in the first seven months of 2020.

Sales maintained momentum in pockets of Fairfield County, led by Greenwich where sales were up two-thirds from July 2020 to more than 160 units sold. It was a record total for any month according to Mark Pruner, a Berkshire Hathaway agent in Greenwich who tracks the market on his Greenwich Streets blog. Pruner said many buyers expect to have to go into the office on an intermittent basis only for the duration of the pandemic  and perhaps longer, with the rapid adoption of online conferencing.

What really drove things in 2020 was tiny apartments with people in them 24/7 in New York City ... with no backyard and no ability to get out, Pruner said. What really drove sales (this spring) was this whole work-life balance, which is a once-in-a-century change. ... The question is, how is that going to play out in the next couple of months? Have the people who wanted to move done so, or do we have a bigger wave coming?

The COVID-19 delta variant remains the wild card, with its rapid spread possibly nudging people off the fence who had felt initial confidence in the protection of available vaccines.

Stamford led the state with more than 200 units sold in July, up nearly 30 percent, with New Canaan seeing a 25 percent gain.

But with mammoth gains in sales the norm statewide for much of the past year, those municipalities are now the outliers. Only in Monroe and Darien did sales increase from July 2020, and only barely in the case of the latter town.

In Westport, where many lightning deals got done in the early days of the pandemic, sales were off 31 percent.

In its own monthly report, William Pitt Sothebys International Realty noted that Fairfield County sales were still 7 percent higher than in July 2019, with far more limited selection of houses for buyers to consider.

Sales were down slightly in Bridgeport, Danbury and Norwalk from July 2020. Most New Haven County towns saw sales flatten or decline, with the exception of the city of New Haven where transactions were up 17 percent from a year ago.

Paul Breunich, CEO of William Pitt Sothebys International Realty based in Stamford, said he believes there are still many buyers that have been waiting for listing prices to flatten or decline before taking up the search anew. He said Julys sales figures remain elevated in the context of summer months prior to 2020, indicating sustained interest in Connecticut real estate.

When inventory comes on, its being sold, Breunich said. The demand is still very strong  theres no question in my mind. Its not as strong as it was last July which is understandable, but its still at historical levels.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
A federal judge on Wednesday assailed the false claims of election fraud pushed by former President Donald Trump and his supporters as she sentenced a member of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to time served, saying the Michigan man placed his trust in someone who repaid that trust by lying to him.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Karl Dresch, a Calumet resident in the Upper Peninsula, that he was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert the will of the voters. But the judge said a deal with prosecutors allowing him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor was appropriate because his actions didnt match his rhetoric and he didnt hurt anyone or destroy anything at the Capitol.

Dresch, who has been locked up since his arrest in January, is being released from jail since he already served the six-month maximum sentence for the misdemeanor offense. His attorney, Jerry Ray Smith Jr., said, Im going to be happy to send him home and declined additional comment.

Later Wednesday, two other Jan. 6 defendants  a Virginia couple who likewise pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges  were also sentenced, and avoided jail time. Jessica Bustle was ordered to serve two months in home confinement and her husband Joshua Bustle received one month home confinement. They will each serve two years of probation.

The three are among more than 500 people charged in the riot that sent lawmakers into hiding and disrupted the certification of President Joe Bidens election win. About thirty defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor charges. The first defendant sentenced for a felony - a Florida man who breached the Senate chamber while carrying a Trump campaign flag - received eight months behind bars.

Dresch posted pictures and videos on social media that were taken inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, which he described in one message as the best day ever, according to court documents. The day after the riot, he wrote of the then-vice president: Mike Pence gave our country to the communist hordes, traitor scum like the rest of them, we have your back give the word and we will be back even stronger.

Jackson slammed Dreschs views as misguided, noting that judge after judge smacked down the former presidents claims of election fraud. She also took a swipe at Republicans whove tried to downplay the violence on Jan. 6  including one lawmaker who suggested that video of the rioters looked like a tourist visit  calling Dresch not your typical tourist.

At the end of the day, the fact is that the defendant came to the Capitol because he placed his trust in someone who repaid that trust by lying to him," the judge said.

Your vote doesnt count anymore than anyone elses. You dont get to cancel them out and call for a war because you dont like the results of the election, Jackson told him.

In another hearing, lawyers for Joshua and Jessica Bustle, of Bristow, Virginia, argued that their punishments should be no different than the first Jan. 6 defendant to be sentenced, who received only probation for a misdemeanor offense. The Bustles admitted to entering the Capitol through a door that had been breached by other rioters and staying inside for about 20 minutes.

Their lawyers noted that they didnt engage in any violence and said their clients have already faced consequences as a result of their actions. Joshua Bustles attorney, Timothy Anderson, said he lost his job and the couple is moving from Virginia to North Carolina to start over.

They have lost everything in the court of public opinion, Anderson said.

Jessica Bustle posted a picture of herself on Facebook before the riot with the caption: We dont win this thing sitting on the sidelines. Excited to stand for truth with my fellow patriots and freedom fighters in DC today. Afterwards, she wrote that Pence is a traitor."

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said he had seriously considered putting Jessica Bustle in jail, citing her Facebook comments. But he ultimately decided against incarceration, describing her as remorseful.

Also Wednesday, authorities arrested a Missouri man who told Newsweek that he dressed up like George Washington at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as a nod to Americas founding, according to a court filing.

Isaac Samuel Yoder brought the colonial attire when he agreed to meet with FBI agents in March, the filing says. Yoder told the agents that he saw barricades and broken windows before he entered the Capitol, according to the FBI.

____

Associated Press reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report. Richer reported from Boston.
The Ministry of Health has labelled status concerning the arrival of the Delta variant in T&T as being contained. While it is believed based on the evidence at hand that there is no spread of this variant among the population...
The UK Royal Navy will hand over to Ukraine two Sandown-class minehunting ships.

Thats according to the press service of the Royal Navy, Ukrinform reports.

"Once further work is completed on the two vessels, theyll be transferred to the Ukrainian Navy," the statement said.

Read also: USA to begin transferring Mark VI combat boats to Ukraine in 2022

It is noted that the Ramsey and Blyth minehunters have completed their service with the Royal Navy to be replaced by the expanding Project Wilton drive to introduce autonomous/uncrewed boats and systems into minehunting.

Both Sandown-class mine countermeasures vessels have served extensively during careers spanning 21 years and 175,000 miles for Ramsey, 185,000 miles over 20 years for Blyth, supporting operations in the Middle East, around the UK or on NATO duties in northern European and Mediterranean waters.

Photo from open sources

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Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny has discussed with his Polish counterpart Rajmund Andrzejczak the implementation of agreements on strengthening the defense capability of the two states and ensuring regional stability and security.

Major General Zaluzhny wrote about this on his Facebook page.

I have conducted the telephone conversation with Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund T.Andrzejczak. It is symbolic that the first event on international level was with Polish counterpart, because Poland is not only our good neighbor but strategic partner as well. I have assured General Andrzejczak that all previous agreements which he has come to with Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak are holding valid, and will be fulfilled, Zaluzhny said.

He thanked his Polish counterpart for trust and support, emphasizing that cooperation between Ukraine and Poland will get stronger for improvement of defence capabilities of the two states and in order to provide regional stability and security.

As Ukrinform reported, on July 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Valeriy Zaluzhny Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, having dismissed Ruslan Khomchak from this post.

In turn, Khomchak was appointed First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

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The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is consistently implementing a strategy for the development of missile and rocket weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the request of the Ministry of Defense, the countrys defense companies have successfully completed preliminary projects as part of their efforts to create a medium-range anti-aircraft missile system, the ministrys press service said referring to Minister Andriy Taran, according to Ukrinform.

Currently, the issues of launching research and development works and financial planning are being addressed. As expected, the weapons will be capable of providing a cover for groupings of troops and critical infrastructure sites from enemy warplanes, helicopters, and UAVs. The system must also be able to perform missile defense tasks: to down ballistic missiles and, if necessary, surface and ground targets, Taran was quoted as saying.

The Luch Kyiv Design Bureau SE and the Pivdenne Design Bureau SE are involved in the projects, the statement says.

These projects are part of the target medium-term programs for the development of armaments, military hardware, and the defense industry.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 22, following a visit to strategic enterprises of the national rocket and space industry  Pivdenmash and Pivdenne  Defense Minister Andriy Taran announced that the Ministry was ready to increase funding for promising projects within the missile program.

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The Ukrainian delegation to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center, referring to the OSCE SMM report of August 3, reported on the Russian armed groupings impeding the Special Monitoring Missions mandate.

Thats according to the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters, Ukrinform reports.

"On August 2, 2021, the medical staff of the hospital in the temporarily occupied settlement of Horlivka once again refused to provide the SMM with information about the condition of a woman allegedly injured in the shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is happening amid a mass spin by the occupying forces of reports alleging that civilians were injured in the shelling by Ukraines Army. This is followed by an appeal to the OSCE SMM observers to intervene and influence the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the statement said.

The Ukrainian side to the JCCC stressed that the failure to provide the OSCE SMM with information on citizens who the invaders claim allegedly sustained injuries in the temporarily occupied territories is of a systemic nature.

In particular, the OSCE SMM recorded similar cases in the hospitals of the temporarily occupied Horlivka and Luhansk (reports 153/2021 of July 3 and 152/2021 of July 2).

"In order to compromise the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupation forces are using local residents living in the temporarily occupied territory. They are notifying the Mission of their injuries by phone, thus fabricating reports. It is impossible to verify them as medical staffers in hospitals refuse to provide information on the condition of the allegedly injured persons," the statement explains.

It is noted that such actions by the Russian armed forces testify to the groundlessness of their accusations of the Armed Forces of the alleged involvement in the shelling of residential areas in the temporarily occupied territory and, as a result, injuring local residents.

im
Japan lifted the ban on poultry and egg exports from Ukraine imposed last year due to the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

"On August 2, Japan lifted the ban on poultry and egg exports from Ukraine which was imposed in December last year due to the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Ukraine," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs.

It is noted that the relevant decision was made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan following rounds of talks with diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

The Ministry added that the Ukrainian side had informed the Japanese partners in detail about measures to combat outbreaks of bird flu.

"We are not only creating new export opportunities for Ukrainian companies but also restoring access to foreign markets which were closed for one reason or another. Such closure decisions are usually made quickly, and long-term efforts are needed to persuade partners to reopen a market. I am glad that we managed to convince the Japanese partners of the safety of Ukrainian products, and Ukrainian companies can now export their products again," the Foreign Ministry informed, citing a statement by Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection Vladyslava Mahaletska added that the Service and the Ministry did a lot of work to lift restrictions and resume exports of Ukrainian poultry products. She recalled that restrictions had previously been lifted by Jordan, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries.

Read also: Eleven export markets have opened for Ukrainian producers this year

In March, Ukraine resumed poultry meat exports to the European Union, suspended in the winter due to an outbreak of bird flu.

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To resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, it is important that the inhabitants of its occupied part identify themselves and answer the questions "Who are you?" and "Are you with Russia or with Ukraine?" believes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The statement came as the president was speaking in an exclusive interview with Dom TV, Ukrinform reports.

There is a saying: Someone is doing a leg split. They don't know what to do, take time to make a choice, and just cant make it, not realizing who they are. The most important thing in this story is to understand for yourself: you are Russian? Are you in Russia? I'm not talking about nationality, but about peoples internal choices. Are you Ukrainian? Is this your land? Is this your Homeland or are you a guest here? said the president.

He has stressed that Donbas will never be Russian territory.

"It just wont happen, ever. No matter how long it is occupied, you know? It's like a wall that Germany had. In any case, people and history will seize the moment  and this wall will fall. If someone cant reach an agreement, people will still seize the moment," Zelensky emphasized.

In this regard, it is important for the inhabitants of the occupied territory to identify themselves today.

I believe that if you live in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas today and you think that "our way is right," "we are heading to Russia," "we are Russians," then it would be a big mistake to stay in Donbas... Because without Ukraine, there will be no civilization in this territory. Ukraine will keep developing, building things. And a part of Donbas in its occupied, cut-off form wont be developing at all. So people will never be happy there," the head of state added.

At the same time, the president stressed that "no one will be deporting anyone," noting that this should be an independent decision made by people.

"Therefore, I believe, for the future of your children and grandchildren  if you love Russia and have been in Ukraine all your life while feeling that its Russia, you must understand that in the name of your children and grandchildren you need to go and to look for a place in Russia. That would be the right thing to do," Zelensky said.

"But if you feel that you are Ukrainian and that Donbas is part of Ukraine, if you respect this flag, respect the Ukrainian language (even if you didnt master it in school, go read some books and everything will come, you may speak as you want), but if you feel that youre Ukrainian, stay there. Stay there and hold on, this land will be de-occupied in any case. This is history. So we dont say normal or not normal. We say: Who are you? Give an answer to your own self, the president concluded.

As reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky supports the idea of expanding the Normandy Four platform or creating another platform toward Donbas settlement with the participation of major world powers. However, in his opinion, the number of formats does not affect their quality as its Russia that must end the war.

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On August 3-4, 2021, the Ukrainian low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines launched its first flights to Saudi Arabia on the Kyiv-Dammam-Kyiv and Kyiv-Riyadh-Kyiv routes.

"We'll operate flights from the capital to Dammam every Tuesday, and back on Wednesdays, to Riyadh  on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and back to Kyiv  on Thursdays and Sundays," the airlines press service reports.

A large-scale flight programme for this destination is scheduled. In addition to the already launched routes, Lviv-Dammam-Lviv flight starts on August 5, and Kyiv-Jeddah-Kyiv begins on August 8. SkyUp will fly to Dammam from Lviv on Thursdays, and back on Fridays, to Jeddah from Kyiv  on Thursdays and Sundays, and back on Fridays and Mondays, respectively.

Tickets are available on skyup.aero.

Vaccinated and unvaccinated Ukrainians can travel to Saudi Arabia, but under different conditions.

Vaccinated travelers must have a certificate of complete vaccination, register on the online platform 72 hours before departure, and provide a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to border crossing (does not apply to children under 8 years of age).

Unvaccinated travelers need to register on the online platform 72 hours before departure, provide a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before crossing the border (does not apply to children under the age of 8), purchase before departure quarantine package, which includes insurance against COVID-19 disease, the place of quarantine, and taking PCR tests on the 1st and 7th days of quarantine, and mandatory self-isolate/go quarantine for 7 days and retake the PCR test on the 1st and 7th days of being in quarantine.

Details on the rules for entering Saudi Arabia and the conditions for serving self-isolation/quarantine can be found on the official website of the KSA Health Administration (Weqaya). Also, the conditions of entry can be specified on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine "Tips for travelers from the consular service of Ukraine".

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When Ifrah Ahmed arrived in Ireland as a teenager after fleeing Somalia, it would have been natural if she had focused on building a new life for herself. Instead, she decided to try to save others from a harmful traditional practice that has impacted the lives of millions of women worldwide, including her own - female genital mutilation (FGM).

FGM covers all procedures that involve altering or injuring female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is recognized internationally as a violation of women and girls human rights that can cause short- and long-term health problems.

I understood that the other young refugees or asylum-seekers did not want to speak out [against FGM], so I took the lead, said Ifrah. My vision was to fight against the practice and raise awareness, because in Somalia it was normal.

Her role as a global campaigner and, since last year, as a High Profile Supporter of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has only become more important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crisis has indeed increased socio-economic pressures in many societies. Women and girls, especially those who are refugees, displaced or stateless, often bear the brunt of those pressures, according to UNHCR.

As a result, there has been a worrying increase in reports of gender-based violence, including FGM.

"It's a global crisis."

Two million additional cases of FGM may occur over the next decade as COVID-19 forces schools to close and disrupts programmes that protect girls, according to the UN Children's Fund.

COVID has impacted our campaign because in Somalia FGM has increased, especially among the displaced, said Ifrah. But it is not only [there] that it has increased, we know that its a global crisis.

More than 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where the practice of FGM is still common. In Somalia, 98 per cent of women and girls have undergone some form of FGM, the highest incidence in the world.

Ifrah Ahmed came to Ireland in 2006 as a refugee from Somalia.  UNHCR/Sean Breithaupt

For Ifrah, the fight against FGM is personal.

After fleeing her home in 2006, she reached Ireland where she claimed asylum. A medical check followed, during which doctors discovered she was a victim of FGM.

The hospital did not really understand what female genital mutilation was. I had to explain They were asking so many questions like: 'How did you get injured?' 'Who did this to you? she said.

Ifrah established The Ifrah Foundation in 2010 to advocate for the eradication of FGM in Somalia. The Foundations work has been critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has continued to do media training with women in camps for internally displaced people. Part of the training involves producing content for local radio, which is the most effective way of spreading the message about the harms caused by FGM to a wide audience in Somalia.

"It makes me stronger."

Ifrah remains in constant contact with the Foundations young ambassador network which is made up of key influencers throughout Somalia who support the campaign and are trying to bring about change through community empowerment and education.

The Foundation has also facilitated meetings with Somali religious leaders, who have committed to a zero-tolerance approach to FGM, and continues to lobby Somalias Parliament to pass legislation that would ban FGM.

See also: Refugee women and girls lose even more ground during the pandemic

At the same time as running the campaign in Somalia, Ifrah is also busy speaking to the media and taking part in international virtual events, as well as caring for her young daughter.

When I look at her, I feel I will never ever allow anyone to harm her. For me having her - it makes me stronger, she said.

If by speaking out I have saved just one girl from being cut then I have succeeded... In the next 10 years I want to see that girls and women are free from genital mutilation, not suffering the consequences that myself and others have had to suffer.
Tyson Fresh Meats in Wallula, where more than 1,400 workers were tested for COVID-19 in early 2020.
The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a way to help ensure that doses are available in countries where few people have received their first shots
Cornelius Ward was born on Dec. 2, 1966, in Eatonton, Ga. to Helen Andrews Ward and the late Jack Benny Ward Sr. He was the 10th of 11 children. Funeral services were held on Friday, July 30, 2021, at 11 a.m. from the Pine Ridge Baptist Church. Interment followed in the church cemetery. Corn
Lagos, Aug 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Amnesty International on Thursday accused Nigerian security forces of using excessive force and killing at least 115 people in a crackdown on separatist agitators in the country's restive southeast.

Violence has flared in Nigeria's southeastern states this year, claiming the lives of at least 127 police or members of the security services, according to the police.

Some 20 police stations and election commission offices have been attacked, according to local media.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an outlawed movement seeking independence for ethnic Igbo of the region, and its militant wing Eastern Security Network (ESN) have been blamed for the violence, but IPOB has denied the charges.

Amnesty said that in response, security forces, including the military, police and the Department of State Services (DSS) intelligence agency have killed dozens of gunmen, as well as civilians, where attacks have taken place.

"The evidence gathered by Amnesty International paints a damning picture of ruthless excessive force by Nigerian security forces in Imo, Anambra and Abia states," said Osai Ojigho, the group's Nigeria director.

The global rights watchdog said it "documented at least 115 persons killed by security forces between March and June 2021." The Nigerian police could not immediately respond to the allegations.

"I have not seen the statement. So I cannot respond," national police spokesman Frank Mba told AFP.

Amnesty said relatives of the victims told the rights group that they were not part of the militant groups who were attacking security agents.

"Many of the victims were deposited at government hospitals in Imo and Abia state," it said.

Amnesty said it also documented cases of arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and torture in the restive region.

It said that in May 2021, Imo state government announced the arrest of at least 400 people allegedly linked to the violence.

"Amnesty International's investigation indicates that most of them were randomly picked up in their homes and off the street and had nothing to do with ESN." Local and international rights groups have repeatedly accused Nigerian security forces of rights abuses, but they always deny the charges.

Nigeria has recently intensified a crackdown on separatist agitators, including the arrest and trial of their leaders.

Last month, IPOB leader and founder Nnamdi Kanu was detained in Kenya, according to his lawyers, and brought back to Nigeria to face treason charges.

Kanu's IPOB is attempting to revive the now defunct Biafra Republic, a declaration of independence which led to a 30-month civil war between 1967 and 1970.

More than one million people, mostly Igbo, were killed in the fighting or by starvation and disease.

Another separatist leader, Sunday Adeyemo also known as Sunday Igboho, was arrested in neighbouring Benin as he attempted to board a flight to Germany. He is currently detained in Benin awaiting extradition.

Igboho is accused of calling for a separate homeland for Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria following alleged killings of locals by Fulani herders.

President Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, is accused by some critics of favouring his northern kinsmen in appointments and other economic opportunities in Nigeria, fuelling ethnic tensions in other regions.

With a population of more than 210 million, Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups and is regularly rocked by ethnic tensions in different regions.

The three largest groups are the Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Igbo in the southeast and the Yoruba in the southwest.
Madrid, Aug 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Spanish police said Thursday they have arrested one of the leaders of Italy's most powerful organised crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta, which controls much of Europe's cocaine trade.

Officers detained Domenico Paviglianiti, "one of Italy's most wanted fugitives", on the streets of Madrid's working-class Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood on Monday in a joint operation carried out with Italian police, Spain's National Police said in a statement.

He was carrying fake Portuguese documentation at the time of his arrest as well as nearly 6,000 Euros ($7,000) in cash as well as six mobile phones, it added.

Paviglianiti helped control mafia operations in Italy's north and in South America.

Called "the boss of the bosses" by Italian media for his role in crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s, including murder and drug trafficking, Paviglianiti was arrested in Spain in 1996.

He was extradited three years later to Italy, where he began serving a life sentence, one typically given for top mafia criminals.

But his lawyers argued that Spain's extradition conditions did not recognise life imprisonment, a technicality that allowed his early release after serving over 20 years.

Italian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for him followed a ruling by a high court that found that he had been erroneously released in 2019.

Spanish police located part of Paviglianiti's family in Barcelona, where he lived for several months before moving to Madrid.

Police regularly detain members of Italian mafia in Spain, the main entryway into Europe for cocaine from Latin America and hashish from north Africa.

The 'Ndrangheta is based in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy's boot.

It is considered the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy, having surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra, thanks to the wealth it has amassed as the main importer and wholesaler of cocaine produced in Latin America and smuggled into Europe via north Africa and southern Italy.

The name 'Ndrangheta comes from the Greek for courage or loyalty and the organisation's tight clan-based structure has made it hard to penetrate.
Oren, Turkey, Aug 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Turkish coastguards evacuated hundreds of villagers from a burning power plant on Thursday and Greek firefighters battled a major blaze near the ancient Olympic site as a record heatwave wreacked havoc across Europe's southeast.

The two regional rivals have been united this week in their fight against disasters that officials and experts link to increasingly frequent and intense weather events caused by climate change.

Eight people have died and dozens have been hospitalised across the southern coasts of Turkey since the wildfires erupted last week.

The blazes in Greece this week briefly cut off the main road leading to Athens and saw worrying fires break out in Olympia -- the birthplace of the Olympic Games that is usually crowded with tourists -- and on the island of Evia.

Greece deployed large forces near Olympia to protect archaeological sites where the first Olympic Games were held in antiquity.

"We're waging a battle of the titans!" Greek deputy minister for civil protection Nikos Hardalias said.

But perhaps the biggest shock came when winds whipped up a flash fire that subsumed the grounds of an Aegean coast power plant in Turkey storing thousands of tonnes of coal.

- 'Where could we go?' - An AFP team saw firefighters and police fleeing the 35-year-old Kemerkoy plant in the Aegean province of Mugla as bright balls of orange flames tore through the surrounding hills.

Hundreds of villagers -- many clutching small bags of belongings grabbed from their abandoned houses as the evacuation call sounded -- piled onto coastguard speedboats at the nearby port of Oren.

The regional authority said "all explosive chemicals" and other hazardous material had been removed from the strategic site.

"But there's a risk that the fire could spread to the thousands of tonnes of coal inside," regional mayor Osman Gurun told reporters.

A few older villagers in Oren refused to leave the disaster-hit region even while thousands of others were shuttled out by car or boats racing along the Aegean Sea.

"Where do you want us to go at our age?" asked 79-year-old Hulusi Kinic.

"We live here. This is our home. Our last solution was to throw ourselves in the sea (if there was an explosion), but thank God that did not happen." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said an initial inspection showed the overnight blazes left "no serious damage to the main units in the plant".

- 'Asking for reinforcements' - More than 100 blazes were still burning in Greece and 180 have ignited in Turkey since July 28 -- more than a dozen of them still active on Wednesday night.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said July was the second-hottest on record in Europe.

Greece's Hardalias said earlier this week that the ferocity of the fires ravaging the region meant that "we are no longer talking about climate change but a climate threat".

The unfolding disasters saw the leaders of both countries come under pressure from local officials for what they felt was an insufficiently resolute response.

"We are asking the authorities to reinforce the air and land forces to so as not to risk human lives," Limni mayor Giorgos Tsapourniotis told Greece's ANA news agency.

The Turkish mayor of the town of Milas spent days waging a social media campaign trying to get officials to send firefighting planes that could douse the flames before they engulfed the power plant.
(@FahadShabbir)

Washington, Aug 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :The United States, which closed its borders to much of the world as the pandemic took hold, plans eventually to begin allowing fully vaccinated foreigners back in, a White House official said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden's administration, recognizing the importance of international travel, wants to reopen to visitors from abroad in a "safe and sustainable manner," the official said.

It is developing "a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals traveling to the United States -- from all countries -- need to be fully vaccinated," the official added, without specifying a timeframe.

The plan marks a tentative but significant evolution in the US approach to stemming the outbreak, with Washington stating as recently as July 26 that it would maintain restrictions on international arrivals, sidestepping European pressure.

A working group is developing a "consistent and safe" new system for international entries, the official said, "for when we can reopen travel.

" The United States has restricted travel from the European Union, Britain, China and Iran for more than a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, later adding other countries including Brazil and India.

The European Union in June opened up to travelers from the United States, typically requiring proof of vaccination or negative tests, under pressure from tourism-dependent nations such as Greece, Spain and Italy that feared another troubled year.

The Delta variant has propelled a surge in Covid cases in the United States, overwhelmingly among unvaccinated people.

The United States on Monday hit Biden's goal of administering at least one dose of a Covid vaccine to 70 percent of adults almost a month late, as the newest wave of infections pushes hospitalizations to levels seen last summer.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sindhu Thursday said international community should not forget its responsibility towards the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

" We will continue to pursue a firm policy of political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of IIOJ&K in their struggle for the right to self-determination," he said.
(@FahadShabbir)

National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that Pakistan would not accept the 'forceful takeover' in Afghanistan and instead support the political solution to the conflict

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) ::National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that Pakistan would not accept the 'forceful takeover' in Afghanistan and instead support the political solution to the conflict.

"We will not accept a forceful takeover," he told the reporters at a press conference held at the Pakistan embassy in Washington DC late Wednesday, wrapping up a week of talks with the U.S. administration.

The NSA stressed that the only solution for peace in Afghanistan was a "political one".

"We have made it absolutely clear that we are with the international community on where this goes," he said."But the world also needs to be clear that the U.S. invests in a political settlement," he added.

Dr Yusuf said the harsh rhetoric of the Afghan government against Pakistan was making it impossible to maintain good relations between the neighbours.

"We are beginning to see a very conscious, deliberate effort by the Afghan government to scapegoat Pakistan," he said, adding that Afghanistan wanted "to shift the entire blame of its failures." He said Pakistan wanted to have very good relations with the Afghan government, however "unfortunately, the vitriol and rhetoric coming from there is making that impossible." He urged the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban to "compromise and reach a peace settlement" as the insurgents made rapid gains amid a US troop withdrawal.

He stressed that the internationally recognized government in Kabul needed to stop looking for a military victory and should include a broader range of Afghans in any future talks.

"There will have to be some compromise given the ground reality. But the violence will have to stop," he said.

Yusuf said his U.S. counterpart, Jake Sullivan, and others in President Joe Biden's administration did not make specific requests of Pakistan, but discussed "how quickly we can get all these actors in one room to have a sincere conversation." He dismissed talk of Islamabad exerting leverage over the Taliban.

"Whatever limited leverage we had, we used," he said, pointing to Pakistan encouraging the Taliban to enter talks with the Afghan government in Doha.

"Now with the troops withdrawal, that leverage has logically gone down further," he added.

Dr Yusuf said Pakistan was no longer in a position to accept Afghan refugees as it currently hosts about 3.5 million.

"Peace in Afghanistan is nonnegotiable for us," he said. "We, under no circumstances, are prepared to see protracted instability that in the past has caused spillover into Pakistan."
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2021) The Biden administration has yet to decide whether foreign visitors to the US with a Russian or Chinese COVID vaccine will be eligible for entry under a policy that would mandate vaccines for foreigners entering the country, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday.

"It's a really great question, we're just not at a point where the process has concluded. When it concludes, we will provide more details to everyone about what they would need to expect, and what they would require, and what they would need," Psaki said in response to a question about whether visitors with Chinese and Russian vaccines are covered.

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said earlier on Thursday that the vaccination requirement for foreign travelers has yet to be entirely worked out, but that it will be a phased approach.

A spike in cases caused by the emergent Delta variant of the virus has caused lawmakers to begin reconsidering new public health policies as it relates to vaccines, masks, and social distancing. Employees and contractors across the Federal government have recently been asked to either attest to vaccination status or wear a mask upon returning to offices.
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Thursday to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines doses and $100 million in aid to the COVAX shot-sharing scheme by the end of the year

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Thursday to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines doses and $100 million in aid to the COVAX shot-sharing scheme by the end of the year.

"China will continue to do what it takes to help developing countries deal with the epidemic.

China will make every effort to provide the world with 2 billion vaccine doses this year," he said in a written address to the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation.

China is hosting the first edition of the virtual forum in an effort to promote fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

The United Nations estimates that more than 11 billion doses are needed to immunize 70% of the global population. UN chief Antonio Guterres told the forum that this would be key to ending the acute phase of the pandemic.
Lithuania's police on Thursday announced launching a pre-trial investigation into an e-mail containing threats to stage terrorist attacks in 12 places in the capital of Vilnius

VILNIUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Lithuania's police on Thursday announced launching a pre-trial investigation into an e-mail containing threats to stage terrorist attacks in 12 places in the capital of Vilnius.

The inquiry started after one of the companies located in Vilnius received on Wednesday an e-mail warning of terrorist attacks in shopping malls, business centers and other public places.

No suspicious people or items have been detected so far.

Local media reported that the message mentioned revenge for undocumented Muslim migrants being barred from entering Lithuania.

The Baltic country is witnessing an influx of migrants from Belarus, which prompted it to declare a state of emergency on July 2. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country would no longer contain migrants, mostly from Asian and the middle East, crossing the border due to the sanctions imposed on Minsk by the West.
The Moldovan ambassador in Turkey thanked the head of a Moldovan company who dispatched five helicopters to Turkey to help it put out devastating wildfires

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) The Moldovan ambassador in Turkey thanked the head of a Moldovan company who dispatched five helicopters to Turkey to help it put out devastating wildfires.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the fires the worst on record. Eight people died in the flames raging across southern provinces, and more than 800 were injured.

"Ambassador Dmitri Croitor had a telephone conversation with the president of the Moldovan company, who sent five helicopters to Turkey to help fight the fires in the country's south," the embassy said in a statement.

The diplomat said that this assistance would help solidify a strategic bond between the two nations. He also spoke to Moldovan consulates in the Mediterranean cities of Antalya, Alanya and Marmaris who said they were ready to assist Moldovan nationals in case of need.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Moscow is checking whether there are any Russian citizens among migrants stranded on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, the foreign ministry's spokesman, Alexander Bikantov, said on Thursday.

"According to available information, there may be some Russian citizens among the migrants in Lithuania.

We are currently checking the information," Bikantov said at a briefing.

If the information is confirmed, Russian citizens should return home in strict compliance with the 2006 Russian-EU agreement on readmission, the diplomat specified.
(@FahadShabbir)

Russia's Tu-22M3 bombers will be involved in the joint military exercise with Uzbekistan, which will run through August 10 near the border with Afghanistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Russia's Tu-22M3 bombers will be involved in the joint military exercise with Uzbekistan, which will run through August 10 near the border with Afghanistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Four Tu-22M3 supersonic cruise-missile-capable bombers were relocated to an operational airfield in the Saratov region to participate in the joint Russian-Uzbek exercise, which will be held in early August at the Termez training round in the Republic of Uzbekistan's Surxondaryo region," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Tu-22M3 crews will practice delivering multiple bomb strikes at conditional camouflaged militant camps and ammunition depots. MiG-29 fighters of the Uzbek air defense forces will provide protection to the Russian bombers.

Around 1,500 Russian and Uzbek servicemen are set to take part in the drills.
(@FahadShabbir)

NASA and Boeing engineers are trying to find out what caused an anomalous reading on the new Starliner spacecraft, delaying again its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this week, the US space agency said on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) NASA and Boeing engineers are trying to find out what caused an anomalous reading on the new Starliner spacecraft, delaying again its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this week, the US space agency said on Thursday.

"NASA and Boeing are continuing to work through steps to determine what caused the unexpected valve position indications on the CST-100 Starliner propulsion system," the space agency said.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Starliner spacecraft on top was scheduled to return to its Vertical Integration Facility at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday where engineers will have direct access to it for continued troubleshooting, NASA said.

"The data will drive any corrective measures that may be necessary to ensure Starliner is ready for launch.

When NASA's Commercial Crew Program and Boeing Space agree the issue is resolved, a new launch opportunity will be selected, taking into account the readiness of all parties involved," the space agency said.

Early in the launch countdown for the scheduled launch of Starliner's second, unmanned test flight to the International Space Station on Tuesday, engineers detected indications that not all of its propulsion system valves were in the proper configuration, NASA added.

Engineers have described the again-delayed mission as being of "crucial importance" to the Starliner program following the failure to achieve all objectives on the spacecraft's first test flight in December 2019 when it failed to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station, according to NASA.
Around 10 people have been killed in suspected militants attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso, security sources and local officials told AFP on Thursday

Ouagadougou, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2021 ) :Around 10 people have been killed in suspected militants attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso, security sources and local officials told AFP on Thursday.

"On Wednesday evening, unidentified armed men carried out a series of attacks in the north, claiming about 10 lives," a security source said.

A regional official with the VDP volunteer self-defence force said the attacks occurred in Burkina's Sahel administrative region.
The United Kingdom became the first country to be granted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dialogue Partner status in 25 years as part of the UK's post-Brexit policy shift towards the Indo-Pacific, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) The United Kingdom became the first country to be granted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dialogue Partner status in 25 years as part of the UK's post-Brexit policy shift towards the Indo-Pacific, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday.

The new status gives the UK access to ASEAN high-level summits and opens opportunities for practical cooperation with countries in the region. London became 11th Dialogue Partner, the status already enjoyed by China, Japan, the US, Russia, India, and the European Union, among others.

"Today, the UK is proud to be accepted as first new ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 25 years. [The UK] looks forward to expanding trade, deepening security cooperation & being an even stronger force for good in the Indo-Pacific," Raab wrote on Twitter.

UK partnership with ASEAN will allow to "positively influence China" in the region, build new economic ties with 10 ASEAN nations, generate jobs, cooperate on countering terrorism and drug-trafficking, foreign secretary added in an interview with The Telegraph.

Raab dubbed UK joining ASEAN dialogue as an "important" move in the "strategic jigsaw" that London embraces since its withdrawal from the EU in 2020.

On March 16, UK government released a new policy review called Global Britain in a Competitive Age, which announced the country's planned tilt towards Asia.
YEKATERINBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2021) Approximately 200 Uzbek soldiers have arrived in Tajikistan to participate in a trilateral military exercise near the Afghan border, Russia's Central Military District said on Sunday.

"About 200 soldiers from Uzbekistan have arrived at the Kharb-Maydon training ground to participate in the joint drills of the Russian, Uzbek and Tajik armed forces, which will take place from August 5-10 at the Kharb-Maydon training ground in the Republic of Tajikistan," the military district said in a statement.

The troops will practice busting a hypothetical illegal armed group that illegally crossed the border.

Violent clashes and terrorist attacks continue to ravage Afghanistan despite ongoing peace talks between the government and the Taliban (a terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) in the Qatari capital of Doha. The continuing fighting affected the Afghan-Tajik border, with dozens of Afghan border troops being pushed out by the militants into the neighboring country.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
US Bishops are calling on the faithful to give generously in support of their Catholic brothers and sisters in Africa, saying their commitment will make a real, tangible difference in the lives of countless people.

By Vatican News staff reporter



The Church in the United States traditionally dedicates the months of July and August to solidarity with Africa. This year, too, the nations bishops are inviting the faithful to contribute generously to the annual collection established for this purpose. The annual initiative, launched in 2004, is coordinated by the special Sub-Commission of the Bishops' Conference (USCCB) responsible for supporting pastoral projects for the development of the Church in Africa, especially those related to youth, Catholic schools, formation of clergy and laity and promotion of peace in areas of conflict.

Endemic poverty, ecological disasters, poor governance, endless conflict, and massive population displacement continue to plague much of the continent, which remains one of the most politically and economically marginalized areas of the world. Yet, Africa is also a continent of enormous spiritual vitality, where the People of God  ordained and laity alike  share the Gospel with a joy that should inspire all of us to do likewise, said Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark and chair of the USCCBs Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.

Pass on the Joy of Faith

American Catholics donations, the Cardinal explained, help provide the basic resources that the Church in Africa needs in its pastoral mission to deepen the faith of its people, evangelize its neighbours, strengthen its leadership and promote peace and justice. Cardinal Tobin emphasized that every dollar given through church offerings or sent online goes a long way to make a real difference in the faith lives of individuals, families, and communities across Africa.

Due to lockdowns imposed last year against the Covid-19 pandemic, with many churches closed to the faithful for long periods, donations to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa have drastically decreased, just at the time when African countries needed it most. Nonetheless, the Sub-Commission has been able to fund important projects, including:

- Offering training in psychological counselling and human rights to catechists in war-torn Cameroon,

- Providing funding to the Bishops Conference in Burundi to expand protection and awareness programs to fight violence and sexual abuse of minors,

- Supporting a four-day national seminar for teachers in the Republic of Congo,

- And in Zambia, which is suffering from a severe lack of priests, financing Bible training seminars to help local lay leaders understand the Word of God.

Gifts to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa support the Churchs mission to bring hope, foster understanding and healing among diverse peoples and help to spread the Good News of Gods love and mercy through Jesus Christ, said Cardinal Tobin. The generosity of U.S. Catholics makes a tangible, lasting impact in the lives of our Catholic brothers and sisters.

Learn more about the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa and how donations make a difference at www.usccb.org/africa.
Trade unions and Christian businesspeople join together to call for a rethinking of Europes economy, embracing Pope Francis call for revolutionary transformation toward a more humane society.

By Vatican News staff reporter

A federation of Christian businessmen has joined with a confederation of trade unions in calling for fair wages that are social, just and good for growth, demand, productivity and society in general.

The International Christion Union of Business executives (UNIAPAC) is an ecumenical and international federation of Christian entrepreneurs representing some 45,000 business leaders throughout the world. In a statement issued together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), they lament the low wages, insecure jobs, poor working conditions and fake self-employment contracts that have become a growth model in some parts of the EUs economy. As a result, around one in ten European workers are at risk of poverty.

For ETUC and UNIAPAC, this state of affairs in unacceptable. They call on the EU to ensure that full time workers be paid enough to support their families. Fair wages, they say, should recognise the dignity of work, the dignity of working people, and the right of every worker to a life free from want.

Echoing Pope Francis, they say that a recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic should mean rethinking Europes economy, not just a return to normal. The Pope, they note, called for change and challenged people to imagine a different kind of economy Pope Francis proposed a revolutionary transformation towards a more humane society with peoples well-being and happiness at its heart.

During the pandemic, people learned to make sacrifices as a commitment to working for the common good. Now, says ETUC and UNIAPAC, we must act on what we have learned.

They propose unions and employers should work together to ensure fair wages and better working conditions. They discourage competition on wages that do not afford dignity, arguing, No one should be excluded from the right to a decent wage.

They urge European governments and employers to seize the opportunity to act responsibly to improve lives, so that all workers can make ends meet, pay rent and put food on the table for themselves and their families. But adequate minimum wages are not enough, they say. Instead, wages need to provide a fair share and reflect the contribution of the workers to the profits of the company.

To accomplish this, however, will take courage. It takes courage to lead, courage to cooperate and courage is what will be needed to ensure that the EU will do what is necessary to move forward and become a more just and civilised place where all wages respect a threshold of decency."
China is the world's major seafood producer and critics say its fleets engage in aggressive tactics as the nation tries to feed its 1.4 billion people. Mike O'Sullivan reports from Honolulu that U.S. fishermen are worried about China's expanding footprint in the Pacific.
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Opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance activist, Edgar Makuni, addressing protesters outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London, United Kingdom. Protesters say Britain should stop deporting Zimbabweans said to be criminals and failed asylum seekers. (Courtesy Video)
Rwandan forces in Mozambique, deployed less than a month ago to help battle jihadists, said Thursday they have scored successes in driving out the militants wreaking havoc in the country's gas-rich north.

The forces last week helped the Mozambique army regain control of Awasse -- a small but strategic settlement near the key town of Mocimboa da Praia seized by militants in August last year.

"We are progressing well in Cabo Degaldo province," Rwanda Defense Force spokesman colonel Ronald Rwivanga told AFP via phone text.

"We have registered successes on two fronts and are closing in Mocimboa da Praia," he added, referring to the port town that has been occupied by the militants since August 12, 2020.

The town, from where the first Islamist attacks were staged in October 2017, has since last year become the de-facto headquarters of the IS-linked extremists.

Mozambican military forces have been struggling to regain control over the province, which is home to one of Africa's biggest liquefied natural gas projects.

Rwanda said the insurgents had fled Awasse to other small towns near Mocimboa da Praia "but we are closing in on" them.

Rwanda's 1,000-strong force deployed on July 9, following an April visit to Kigali by Mozambican leader Filipe Nyusi.

Weeks after Rwanda rolled in, neighboring countries, under the aegis of the 16-member regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) started sending in troops.

Botswana became the first SADC country to send in boots on July 26, deploying 296 soldiers. President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who chairs SADC's defense and security arm, has been outspoken on the urgent need for regional stability.

Regional powerhouse and immediate neighbor, South Africa announced on July 28 it would deploy 1,495 soldiers.

A day later, Zimbabwe unveiled plans to dispatch 304 non-combatant soldiers to train Mozambique's infantry battalions.

Angola will deploy, from August 6, 20 specialized military air force personnel while Namibia will contribute N$5.8 million (about $400,000) towards the anti-insurgency offensive.

The European Union on July 12 formally established a military mission for Mozambique to help train its armed forces battling the jihadists.

Former colonial ruler Portugal is already providing training for Mozambican troops, with Lisbon's military instructors expected to make up half of the new EU mission.
Online learning has been grossly inadequate during the 2020-'21 COVID-19 shutdown, according to college and university students interviewed by VOA Student Union.

Domestic and international students at U.S. colleges and universities said the pandemic that shut down many schools in March 2020 disrupted their lives and impacted their academic performance. And online learning, despite being touted by online learning companies, has not lived up to the hype, they say.

Students say they are desperate to return to on-campus learning. They point to living in the dorms, socializing, and establishing relationships with professors and mentors as essential parts of the college experience.

Frozan Tahiry is a rising sophomore from Afghanistan who was accepted as a freshman at Wagner College in New York starting in Fall 2020. But she never made it to campus, instead finishing her freshman class online at home in Kabul.

"In Afghanistan, the electricity outage has been a huge issue that stressed me out. I had to come up with a backup plan in case I lost electricity, like getting solar system generators. And the poor Wi-Fi connection has been another issue. I missed five minutes of class to get on, and throughout the class, the connection was on and off," she said.

"I feel like I have been living in two different worlds but in neither of them properly because of the time zone differences. My day and night were completely shifted. I took my classes at night and slept during the day, so it disturbed my social life," she said.

For her, learning is not all about academics: Interaction with peers is also important.

She doesn't know her classmates because it was not required for students to keep their cameras on during remote learning.

Why Students Go Dark in Zoom Classes Self-consciousness makes students click off cameras

"I couldn't have dinner with my family because I was in class. And I couldn't see them in the morning because when they got up, I was going to bed because I was staying up all night to attend online classes," Tahiry continued.

She said she hopes to come to the U.S. to resume her classes in person during the fall semester 2021.

According to Inside Higher Ed's Student Voice survey, in partnership with College Pulse and supported by education company Kaplan Inc., nearly half all students (47%) rated their educational value as "fair" or "poor."

"When the pandemic started it was very stressful because we had no idea what was going on with COVID and how unsafe we were, so nothing was enjoyable," said Jack Morningstar, a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who moved off campus in March 2020.

"Having access to Zoom and other platforms was helpful to get through this time, but it was still hard," he said.

Even more frustrating was when Morningstar returned to campus in August 2020, and after just a week of classes, the university announced that all undergraduate instruction would move online because of a COVID outbreak. This made national headlines as UNC's 30,000 students  including 1,254 international scholars from 79 countries  were forced to return to remote learning.

Normally a motivated student, Morningstar said he did not pay attention and didn't care as much about his studies.

"It wasn't a very conducive environment for learning," he said, admitting that during online classes he was often on his computer scrolling Facebook.

"I feel more pressure to participate in person because there is more accountability. You are talking in front of many people, whereas online you're staring at your computer screen," he said.

"And I definitely would participate more when classes are in person."

Nawal Khrram faced a similar situation, staying at home in Pakistan, feeling isolated, and studying online for fall semester of freshman year 2020. She arrived at Trinity College in Connecticut in spring 2021.

"I didn't have any social life for the first semester because I was studying online, and I was not aware of the opportunities such as clubs and organizations that students are involved in," Khrram said.

Even when she came to the U.S. and lived on the Trinity campus, she continued class online because the college did not offer her classes in person.

"I really felt the need to talk to my classmates and discuss some of the topics with them. I am a political science major, so my major heavily depends on discussions and debate over political issues," she said.

"Although we had small breakout rooms on Zoom to get engaged in class discussions, it was not the same as traditional in-person classrooms."

Natahsa Nash, a rising junior at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which made online learning difficult. She said she felt isolated in her college dorm room. With in-person classes, on the other hand, she found ways to stay engaged because she was interested in the materials and class discussions.

"Online learning didn't feel the same, even if I left my dorm room and set up my computer outdoors. I felt very disengaged because of the format itself," said Nash.

The most difficult thing was losing her support system.

"I usually get support by going to public places with background noise. I need to be with friends because I get a lot of energy from social activities. So I just felt very low energy and low mood, and it was really hard to find the energy to do homework," she said.

Nash's social life got sidetracked by COVID, but she said she was still able to see some of her friends on campus and grab meals while sitting six feet apart.

She is hopeful the upcoming semester will mark a return to normal.

"People like me who have trouble with online learning would need a few years to figure out all the new strategies," she concluded.

Despite these negative experiences, educators in the U.S. are betting on the future of online learning. According to Business Wire, the e-learning market in the U.S. is expected to grow by $21.64 billion between 2020 and 2024, fueled, in part, by COVID.

But Forbes Magazine predicts that online college education will not overtake traditional learning and will remain "more of a backup than a daily alternative or competitive replacement."
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A Zimbabwean protester outside the country's embassy in the United Kingdom speaking about the British government's move to deport people identified by the Home Office as hardcore criminals. Britain recently deported 14 Zimbabweans who were jailed for a combined 75 years. (Courtesy Video)
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Stowe, VT (05672)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
The fallout from a police officer who followed a car thinking the man behind the wheel was Native American is testing the fragility of race relations in a South Dakota city.

The police officer in Rapid City resigned after he allegedly reported that "a young Native American male (was) driving a really new Mercedes car." While city officials see the officer's resignation in lieu of termination over alleged racial profiling as swift action and a sign of progress in a town with a long history of racial tensions, Indigenous organizers say the incident was not isolated.

The officer's alleged comments represent a culture of discrimination toward Native Americans in the city's police department, they said.

"You walk up to any Native American here in Rapid City and they can give you hours and hours of testimony on how we are harassed continuously," said Monique "Muffie" Mousseau, an Oglala Lakota who lives in the city. "And don't get me wrong, there are some good cops, but there are more bad cops than there are good cops."

Last November, Jeffrey Otto, the former Rapid City police officer, was taking a girl to her foster home when he saw a car with out-of-state plates making a "prolonged stop at flashing red lights," and started following it, according to a grievance order signed by a South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation judge.

That agency had reviewed a grievance petition filed by the officer earlier this year and Rapid City officials referred CNN to the state's account of the incident.

When Otto reported the car, he told another officer that he wanted "to keep an eye on this car because it's a young Native male driving this really nice car," and followed the car to a hotel parking lot, Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender told CNN, citing a police report and internal investigation of the incident.

"Alright, so I watched it park, and it's actually a middle-aged Asian guy that got out. So yeah, it's going to be nothing," Otto told the officer, according to the state's department of labor order.

After Otto was called to speak with his supervisor about the incident, he was sent home, the state agency order said. Less than a week later, he was fired from the police department for racial profiling, according to a letter signed by Rapid City Police Chief Don Hendrick.

The city declined to release body camera and dashboard camera footage, as well as audio of the incident, citing the privacy of the girl who was in Otto's vehicle.

"Mr. Otto used an extreme lack of judgment and as a result is no longer employed with the Rapid City Police Department. There is no place for this kind of behavior in the Rapid City Police Department and the department acted swiftly to address the issue," Joel Landeen, an attorney representing the city, said in a statement.

Otto's attorney, Rexford Hagg, disputes that Otto racially profiled the driver because, he said, the car windows were tinted. "You can't racial profile someone you can't see. Second, no person was ever stopped, detained, questioned or otherwise contacted. There was no victim," Hagg told CNN.

Hagg said the police officer followed the car thinking it could be a drunk driver and made the comment until they were in the hotel parking lot when Otto thought he could partially identify the driver.

At the time of the incident, Hagg says his client was aware of a series of car burglaries and stolen vehicles at hotels in the city and police believed young Native Americans were involved.

Otto appealed his firing with the state but recently dropped his petition when a state judge ruled that he and the city would need to argue the case over a hearing, Landeen and Otto's attorney told CNN.

The former officer came to an agreement with the city to drop his appeal before a hearing was held when the police department revised the reasoning for his departure from "racial profiling" to "lack of judgment" and his status changed to "resigned in lieu of termination," attorneys for the city and the officer said.

The agreement doesn't change the facts of the incident, the city says, and Otto won't be allowed to work with the city again. The state agency overseeing law enforcement standards and training would have to review Otto's case if seeks employment with another law enforcement agency in the state, Landeen said.

Hagg said the former officer was "made a scapegoat for the city trying to be more racially sensitive" and the case is an example of the city "jumping the gun too early." Otto had not been previously accused of racial profiling, his attorney said.

Mayor Allender agrees that Otto did not make contact with the driver but said his actions showed that he was willing to do it.

"This was a police officer talking about his willingness to perhaps violate someone's rights, which makes him a bad fit for this profession," the mayor said.

Native Americans are 'harassed continuously,' organizers say

Rapid City, known to many as the gateway to Mount Rushmore, is home to more than 77,000 people. At least 11% of its residents identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, according to the US Census Bureau, and Indigenous people from the region visit the city regularly.

Numerous Indigenous families often travel to the city from the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation, which is one of the most populous reservations in the United States.

Mousseau used to drive every day back and forth between Rapid City and the Pine Ridge Reservation, where she worked as a law enforcement officer. As the weeks passed, Mousseau says, Rapid City officers stopped her nearly a dozen times.

"They were giving me warnings, and they ran my license plates, they checked my insurance, they ran background checks on me and had me sitting there for over half an hour trying to find something on me," said Mousseau, a co-founder of a non-profit group that advocates for Two-Spirit rights. Within Indigenous communities, Two-Spirit refers to people who possess both masculine and feminine spirits, but it can also be used to represent LGBTQ+ Indigenous people more broadly.

It was not until she spoke up about the issue with city officials that she stopped being pulled over by police, Mousseau said.

When CNN asked the city and the police department about Mousseau's allegations, Mayor Allender responded saying records showed Mousseau was stopped and arrested, once each, for traffic violations by Rapid City police officers.

Allender denied there is a culture of racial discrimination or racial profiling among city employees.

"Because we employ human beings, we are at risk of employing someone who holds bias for minorities and may even act on that bias. Every community in the world has this same risk," the mayor said in a statement.

A 2015 study conducted by researchers from the University of South Dakota indicates that Native drivers are more likely to receive citations than other drivers in Rapid City.

The analysis, commissioned by the city's police department, showed that 59.1% of those arrested between October 2013 and January of 2015 were Native American, compared to 37.1% who were White. The authors noted many of the arrests involving Native Americans were for outstanding warrants, probation offenses and failure to appear in court.

For years, local activists as well as the Rapid City-based non-profit advocacy organization NDN Collective, have denounced police misconduct in the city.

Natalie Stites Means, an organizer and an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who lives in Rapid City, said the community often feels the "weight of criminalization."

"They start targeting our men really young. A young Native man can't walk the streets without being accosted by police," said Stites Means, who unsuccessfully ran to become the city's mayor in 2019.

When asked whether there have been cases of racial profiling in the police department in the past five years, Allender, the city's mayor, said no cases have been documented or brought to the attention of city officials.

"I doubt I go a single week without having some positive feedback from a Native American community member on the things going on in Rapid City," the mayor said.

Karen Mortimer, the director of Mniluzahan Okolakiciyapi Ambassadors (MOA), said there's a lot of work to be done for the "broken relationship" between Native and non-Native people in Rapid City to improve, and the incident with Otto hasn't discouraged those who want to see that happen.

MOA has been focusing on improving race relations in the city since 2014 by hosting events and training for leaders across the city. The group recently began working more closely with city officials and merged with the city's human relations commission, which handles discrimination claims within city limits.

"We know that change happens if there's trust," Mortimer said. "We've had 150 years of broken treaties and better up, and it (change) doesn't happen overnight."

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A Jefferson County Sheriff's (JCSO) deputy has died after being shot early Thursday while working an off-duty detail, and investigators believe he was "targeted" and "ambushed," according to JCSO spokesman, Lt. Col. Carl Yates.

Deputy Brandon Shirley, 26, was working an off-duty security detail at Rockford Lane Auto Sales in Shively, Kentucky, when he was shot inside his personal vehicle around 2:30 a.m. ET, Lt. Col. Yates told CNN on the phone.

Shirley was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, but "he did not survive the surgery," said Yates.

JCSO has turned the case over to the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) to investigate, said Yates.

During an early morning briefing, LMPD Chief Erika Shields said they were looking into a couple of potential suspects, but are still in the early stages of the investigation.

According to CNN affiliate WLKY, Chief Shields called the homicide "sickening" and said Shirley "was targeted, and he was ambushed."

There is no suspect description at this time, said Yates.

Shirley had been with the department for two years and was not married, according to Yates.

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The surge of COVID cases involving the Delta variant has caused some Alabama hospitals to change their visitation policies, and we wanted to see if rules for nursing home visits are impacted as well.

We spoke with the Alabama Nursing Home Association.

They assure us you can still visit your loved ones at nursing homes as long as you wear your mask, get your temperature checked beforehand and answer a quick questionnaire.

The Alabama Nursing Home Association told us even though they're doing OK now, the Delta variant is causing them some concern.

"When there's an outbreak in the local community, usually there will be an outbreak in that community's nursing home within one to three weeks later," said John Matson, director of communications with the Alabama Nursing Home Association.

He told WAAY-TV, right now, visitation rights can remain in-person but the Delta variant is something they're watching closely due to how easily transmissible it is.

Indoors, you have to wear a mask, answer a COVID questionnaire and get your temperature checked before going to see your family or friend.

"The nursing home is trying to do everything in its power to minimize the spread of COVID-19. We want our doors open and we want visits to happen and we'll continue to work towards that goal until covid is fully eradicated," said Matson.

As far as vaccinations go inside Alabama's nursing homes, right now we're ahead of all four of our neighboring states.

80% of residents are fully vaccinated, putting us ahead of 17 other states, and 50% of employees and staff are fully vaccinated, putting Alabama ahead of 11 states.

Matson told us he is thankful a large percentage of our elderly community is vaccinated, since they were the biggest threat over the past year.

"Certainly, we'd like to be number 1, we'd like to have 100% of both residents and staff vaccinated, but we think we'll eventually get there as long as we continue to make this forward progress," he said.

Matson also told us they will not enforce a vaccine requirement to staff or residents but will continue to educate the importance of the vaccine and masking to keep everyone safe.

Lastly, Matson told us they haven't had any widespread outbreaks at their facilities so far, but if someone gets sick, they're able to isolate entire hallways and utilize video visitation until it's safe again.
Thousands of North Alabama students packed up their backpacks Wednesday morning and headed back to school.

Before classes even started, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported an increase in coronavirus cases among children.

Students wear masks in school Students wear masks in school

That data reporting 72,000 children across the United States tested positive for the coronavirus last week. The week before, 39,000 children tested positive. The increase in cases, something doctors fear may grow as kids head back to school.

Part of me is excited because I see the happiness on their face, theyre waiting to meet their teachers, friends, and learn new things, but as a parent and a physician, I am extremely scared and anxious, said Gayatri Venkatraman.

Venkatraman is a parent first. She has two kids in Madison City Schools. Although shes relieved Madison City Schools made masks mandatory indoors, she fears for other districts, as the Delta Variant rages on.

With elementary school kids especially not vaccinated, were at a high risk of asymptomatic carriers and spreading the virus, said Venkatraman.

During Wednesdays Covid-19 briefing, Huntsville Hospital said there are three kids in the hospital with the virus.

The schools that have masks in place are in good shape," said Dr. Aruba Arora, Madison County Medical Society President. "There taking mitigative measures, they're following the guidance, those schools that aren't the ones we're as concerned about."

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, since July, coronavirus positive cases in children have steadily increased.

Theres a new variant that came in that is highly contagious, said Venkatraman. With summer coming, July fourth coming and school starting, lots of kids activities starting with each other and spreading.

Dr. Venkatraman said as a doctor and a parent, she doesnt want her children to see the anxiety shes facing as she sends them off to school.

Its really hard to see whats going on in the community, its hard for me to separate the physician in me and the parent in me, Venkatraman. Im very anxious and nervous as much as you guys are, but I know what we can achieve together and I'm really hoping we all make the right decision.

Doctor Venkatraman said for kids 5-years-old and older, she expects the Pfizer vaccine will be available for children in the fall. She said Pfizer is in its last round of trials for children under the age of 12.

In the meantime, she recommends universal masking in schools, to keep children and their families safe.
It's been two days since former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely was convicted of two class B felonies.

He's been inside the Limestone County Jail since the guilty verdict was read.

As of Wednesday night, Blakely remains inside the jail until his sentencing hearing on Aug. 20. That's because the judge has not yet ruled on the defense's motion for bond, and she doesn't have to. She can chose not to rule on the motion at all, or she can flat out deny his motion for bond, which is what the state recommends.

With no bond, Blakely will stay inside the jail until his sentencing hearing, which is just over two weeks away.

That's relatively fast compared to other cases, which sometimes have six to eight weeks between the verdict and sentencing.

But Blakely's attorneys say it's not unusual, since the date is entirely up to the judge's discretion. Even though it might be approaching rapidly, the defense will be ready for the hearing.

"The date of sentencing will not affect us, in any way. We'll be ready for the sentencing, and if there's an appeal we'll file notice of appeal that will be with the transcript, and that won't hurt us anyway in the appeal," says Mark McDaniel from Blakely's defense team.

While waiting for his next hearing, Acting Limestone County Sheriff Mike West says Blakely is staying in a cell by himself and being treated like any other inmate.

The next step after the sentencing hearing is the defense will most likely file a notice of appeal, where they will look over the trial transcript to see if there is anything that would justify a new trial on those two guilty verdicts.

The prosecution already said they are hoping for a prison sentence, and Blakely could face up to 20 years for both of his felony convictions.
All in all, it has been another great early August day across North Alabama. Temperatures reached the mid 80s today, but the lack of humidity and mostly sunny skies made for a great day to be outside. Having said that, a stray shower may pop up over Sand Mountain through sunset this evening. We stay dry overnight with comfortable temperatures in the mid 60s when we wake up Thursday morning. Thursday looks to be a near carbon copy of today. We'll keep a small shower chance in the forecast tomorrow afternoon for areas east of I-65. Otherwise, expect mostly sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures in the upper 80s.

The return of summertime heat and humidity is upon us just in time for the weekend. Temperatures are back to near 90 Saturday then into the mid 90s by Sunday. Rain chances are still low, but isolated showers and storms will be possible through early next week. Coverage of showers and storms increases by the middle of next week. It's a little too early for specifics as to whether or not we will see dangerous heat like we saw last week, but heat index values near 100 will certainly be possible by Sunday and Monday.

Meanwhile, North Alabama will continue to see haze thanks to smoke from the western wildfires. We are not too concerned about poor air quality at this time as most areas are in the Moderate air quality category. We do not start to become concerned about air quality issues until we reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category. Nonetheless, hazy conditions will prevail for the foreseeable future.
Madison County is seeing a rise in COVID cases that we haven't seen in months!

Most of the state, including all of North Alabama, is considered to be at a high community transmission level. The test positivity rate in Madison County is at 17.5%. It's even higher across the state!

That's why local leaders held their first COVID briefing in months to keep the community updated on the situation. No city official was at that meeting, but WAAY 31 asked local health officials what precautions need to be taken now as we see a COVID surge.

Masking has been an ongoing debate that continues to this day. On Wednesday, health officials said they stand beside the CDC recommendation for everyone to wear masks inside. However, they stopped short for requiring a mask mandate.

"I don't think it's productive to get hung up on a debate about required versus recommended. I'd rather talk about it in a productive manner than have an extended debate about requirements," Huntsville CEO Jeff Samz said.

However, health officials say there's no question masks can prevent people from getting COVID-19.

"We know the facts! We know the science, and we should be empowered to at least make these recommendations, so that the public can do what they need to, but the science is clear. There's no doubt about it. The mask is helpful," Madison County Medical Society President Dr. Aruna Arora said.

Heath officials say mitigation and vaccination will be the two keys to helping stop the spread.

They ask people to be aware of their surroundings and wear a mask indoors or if you're in large groups where you believe many are unvaccinated. They also ask for you to get a COVID vaccine.
The CDC reports the Delta variant now accounts for 93% of all sequenced cases in the country.

Huntsville Hospital CEO Jeff Samz says the Delta variant is something completely different than what they're used to dealing with because it's so contagious.

"A typical person with the Delta variant, which is the predominant strain, is going to infect eight people and you can catch it in a minute," Samz said. "It produces a thousand times more viral particles."

The Madison County Medical Society President says the trends are concerning.

Cases have skyrocketed across the state. Right now, the test positivity rate in Madison County is 17.5% It's even higher across the state.

The number of COVID inpatients in Alabama have also increased seven fold since last month. On Wednesday, Huntsville Hospital systems reports a total of 206 inpatients with 64 of them being in the ICU.

"In our hospitals, we've seen a 7% increase of hospitalizations in the last 24 hours. In the last 10 days, it's approximately doubled!" Samz said. "91% of our inpatients are unvaccinated. So, you do the simple math there and we'd have 10 patients in the hospital if everyone had gotten their vaccine."

Health officials urge everyone to get the COVID vaccine or to take other preventive measure like wearing a mask.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
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The US Navy this week has kicked off the largest military exercise since the Cold War. The exercise spans different time zones and involves a large number of vessels and the US Marine Corps. This logistically enormous undertaking is believed to be a warning to both China and Russia that the US can fight a global war on multiple fronts all at once.

Named Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021, it will see the US employ a strategy similar to that used in the Cold War, and even borrow some practices from WWII. It will continue on until August 16 and includes simultaneous exercises in 17 different time zones according to the U.S. Navy.

36 ships and over 50 virtual units will take part in the major exercise, as well as five U.S. fleets, six naval and Marine Corps components, and three Marine Expeditionary Forces. Experimental and advanced technology will be employed too, such as unmanned vehicles.

The purpose of Large Scale Exercise 2021

Vice Admiral Gene Black, U.S. 6th Fleet commander, said LSE will test our commanders across the spectrum of naval warfare from the tactical to the strategic, integrating the Marine Corps to demonstrate the world-wide fleets ability to conduct coordinated operations from the open ocean to the littoral.

Previously, the US carried out an exercise that replicated an attack from a technologically advanced military on their communications systems and logistical networks. This highlighted a number of vulnerabilities in those systems. LSE will incorporate changes in the US communications systems and logistical networks to improve their resistance to attacks.

Analysts believe the exercise is heavily geared towards sending a message to the United States biggest adversaries and potential threats; Russia and China. Nations may hope to spread US forces thin in the case of war, but the Navy will display their ability to be present in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean Sea simultaneously. On top of this, they will show their ocean-denying capabilities  where an enemy force will be prevented from taking control of an area of sea.

The large scale of the operation will allow the Navy to improve their synchronization of forces regardless of their positions, along with honing conventional strategies.

LSE will test our commanders abilities to deliver coordinated effects, from all directions, any time or all the time. It will help us build the necessary muscle memory to do this routinely at the operational to strategic levels of war, said Admiral Robert P. Burke, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe.

New strategies

The Navy aims to be less reliant on small numbers of key vessels that significantly reduce the entire forces combat effectiveness if they are lost. Relieving the responsibilities of these vessels allows the entire force to become more fluid and able to absorb losses much easier.

This idea is reminiscent of the US Navys strategy in WWII, which worked extremely well.

In that sense, were reverting to our World War II approach, when we had lots of inexpensive, good-enough stuff and could lose some of it and still carry on, James R. Holmes said, the J.C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. If we show our adversaries this approach works, we bolster our ability to deter them from assailing ourselves or our allies.

Admiral Christopher W. Grady, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command said We have shifted focus from the individual Carrier Strike Group to a larger fleet-centric approach, challenging fleet commanders abilities to make decisions at a speed and accuracy that outpaces the adversaries.

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This particular exercise will involve civilian and military personnel from the US, but future exercises will see the US be joined by its allies.

Despite the huge efforts involved for what is thought to be a Cold War-like show of force, some believe that China and Russia may not interpret the exercise in this way.
Market watchers say theyve improved as Wall Street heavyweights such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller adopt the cryptocurrency and the likes of Robinhood and PayPal make it it easier to use and trade Bitcoin. Some crypto fans were encouraged by President Joe Bidens choice of Gary Gensler as SEC chairman; Gensler once taught a class at MITs Sloan School of Management called Blockchain and Money. But Gensler has also acknowledged issues regarding fraud and told lawmakers in May that the cryptocurrency market could benefit from greater investor protection. He has asked for the agency to be given increased authority over trading venues, in comments that were seen as a setback in the push for a Bitcoin ETF. Gensler gave issuers cause for hope in August, signaling that regulators may be more open to a Bitcoin ETF if it was based on futures, rather than versus physically holding the cryptocurrency itself. Within a week, ProShares and Invesco filed applications for funds based on futures.
Theres considerable uncertainty about that. One scientific paper calculated that if a vaccine could provide a lifelong, fail-safe shield against infection with SARS-CoV-2, it would need to reach 60% to 72% of people to establish herd immunity. But if a vaccine is only 80% effective at preventing any infection, 75% to 90% of people would need to be immunized -- a high bar. The Covid vaccines in use today have been shown to offer 50% to 97% protection against becoming sick, but its mostly unknown how well they prevent people from getting an infection without symptoms that could still be passed on. The rapidly spreading delta variant, which is about twice as infectious as the original strain, is weakening vaccine effectiveness too. Another question is the duration of protection. The shorter it turns out to be, the higher the rates of immunization required to establish herd immunity. An unpublished study by Pfizer Inc. researchers that followed vaccinated individuals for as many as six months reported a gradually declining trend in vaccine efficacy against a symptomatic infection, but found their shot remained highly efficacious overall. Vaccines might not have to do all the work to get there: Some people whove already had the virus will be immunized against it, although not as well as those whove been inoculated.
That said, it must also be stipulated that people seem to like Little Island, including some ordinarily churlish critics. Perhaps there is some megolamania in Dillers act of philanthropy, but philanthropy still serves us better than selfish parsimony or profligate self-indulgence. One is left, as usual, with the last thing out of Pandoras box: hope. One hopes that other neighborhoods will get their Little Islands and that bodies in other neighborhoods will have the chance to contract a little less and move to different rhythms. And that those moments of ease will prompt the fundamental, underlying utopian thought that makes parks (and art and culture) worth the investment: that we make the world, and can remake it as we wish.
Prescription drug prices, marijuana dispensaries and the opioid crisis keep the pharmaceutical industry in todays spotlight, but in the 18th-century United States, there wasnt much regulation at all. After a six-month apprenticeship, pharmacists could mix and dole out compounds as they wished until 1804, when Louisiana Gov. William Claiborne enacted legislation requiring pharmacists to be licensed. New Orleanss own Louis J. Dufilho Jr. was the countrys first licensed pharmacist, and his apothecary and residence is now the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. A walk into the building is like stepping back into the 19th-century Vieux Carre, executive director Elizabeth Sherman wrote in an email.
Not only do you not need a car to visit Lake Como, but you also really shouldnt have one, says Samy Ghachem, managing director of Il Sereno, a lakefront hotel in Torno. The real magic of Lake Como is best seen from the water, as all along the shores are charming little villages, he says, noting that the road around the lake is at a much higher elevation than the waterfront. When these lake towns were first built, they were connected by boat, not by roads, Ghachem says, and boats are still the best way to get around. A network of ferries, including hydrofoils and historic steamers, has been in place since the 1800s and makes it easy to hop from town to town, either on day trips or in a multiday tour of the lake. Frequent direct trains from Milan reach the towns of Como and Lecco, at the southern end of each of the lakes two forks. From there, several boats a day ply the lake, calling at small towns along the way  although we doubt actor and director George Clooney uses public transportation to reach his lakefront villa  and offering one stunning vista after another. On the northern Italian lakes of Maggiore and Garda, Jhawar likes the towns of Stresa and Salo, respectively, as car-free bases for exploring those waters. Direct trains from Milan serve Stresa, while Salo is reachable by bus from Brescia.
But the plan has fiercely divided the community, with some arguing that it would destroy beloved park space and bring more traffic. Others believe that the need for these schools is so urgent that residents should support the plan and push officials to move fast. Residents have packed community meetings and put signs up on fences around the proposed school sites, championing their stances on the citys approach to addressing the overcrowding.
Judges at sentencings have been delivering a cold splash of reality to defendants, including some who say they were lied to by Trump or led astray by right-wing commentators or social media. So far, about 30 of more than 550 defendants charged have pleaded guilty, and six have been sentenced. Five of the latter admitted to single misdemeanors involving no violent conduct, and three received probation, including a Northern Virginia couple, Joshua Bustle, 35, and Jessica Bustle, 36, ordered Wednesday to 30 and 60 days of conditional home confinement, respectively.
Look around this town, Mr. Trumka told her. Nemacolins a dying town. Theres no jobs here. Our kids are moving away because theres no future here. And heres a man, Barack Obama, whos going to fight for people like us, and you want to tell me that you wont vote for him because of the color of his skin? He paused. Are you out of your ever-loving mind, lady?
It was their first opportunity to talk about what had happened in the courtroom, what they had wanted to talk about for weeks with the only people who could understand. There was so much going on during the trial that, you know, it was agonizing not to be able to sit down with your fellow jurors and discuss it as it was going on, said juror Kurtis Swope, 49. So, we all just kind of had to bottle that up inside and wait for that moment.
After consulting with health officials who are monitoring our COVID-19 metrics daily, we have been advised that we are now at a point where we must reinstitute an indoor public mask mandate to keep Prince Georgians safe, County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) said in a statement. Everyone over the age of 5 must wear a mask in indoor public places in the county beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Garland noted that associate attorney general Vanita Gupta had sent a four-page letter in June to state court administrators warning that the pandemic had exacerbated a housing crisis and urging them to pursue eviction diverse strategies to help renters remain in their homes. Losing ones home can have catastrophic economic and psychological effects, Gupta wrote. The entire legal community, including the Department of Justice, the bar, and the judiciary, has an obligation to do what it can to ensure that each and every individual has meaningful and equal access to justice before facing such consequences.
The message now is that even if you are not involved into opposition movement, even if you have never participated in any demonstrations, but you show your disloyalty to the regime because you do not agree with actions, you are under attack, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press in an interview.
You know, dont be the reason why schools are interrupted, Cardona told reporters in the White House briefing room when asked about his message to DeSantis and Abbott. Our kids have suffered enough. Lets do what we know works. Lets do what we know works across the country. Politics doesnt have a role in this. Educators know what to do.
Cuomos own advisers privately acknowledge he is likely to lose an impeachment fight. At least 82 of the Assemblys 150 members  a majority of the body  support beginning impeachment proceedings if Cuomo doesnt quit, according to a tally by the Associated Press. And the governor has not spoken to Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie in months, according to one state official.
We cant out-organize this, she said. We know that we need these federal protections in place. And so we feel like its time to up the pressure even more. . . . What we need is everyone, including the president, putting the same political muscle into getting this bill passed as what weve seen with infrastructure  holding events across the country, using Cabinet secretaries, having daily meetings with folks on the Hill about the legislation and the path to passage.
The key difference between those two wings  embodied by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on the left and the House Freedom Caucus on the right  is that the GOP group has been willing to use tactics that will hurt government functions and entirely blow up deals that it does not consider perfect. But the Democratic faction has resisted going too far because, deep down, it wants government to function.
While the Kenyan canon permits women bishops, that conflicts with a moratorium by the Global Anglican Future Conference, which does not allow women bishops. The 2018 moratorium allows the consecration of only men to the episcopate until such a time when there is a consensus on the matter. Most African provinces are affiliated with GAFCON, but the dioceses in the provinces are independent.
Officials announced eight new infections Thursday, some of which had not been linked to previous cases. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters that the mystery cases were still under investigation but that the snap lockdown was the only way to prevent the outbreak from spiraling out of control.
The latest provocation occurred earlier this week, when hijackers stormed an asphalt tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, briefly seizing the vessel before departing on Wednesday. No one claimed responsibility for the incident, although recorded radio communication from the ship shared with The Associated Press revealed one of the crew members saying that armed Iranians had boarded the Asphalt Princess.
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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology/Bryan CantwellBig incoming class: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is preparing to welcome a record first-year class for fall 2021. More than 620 first-year students begin arriving Aug. 27. The schools campus is shown here in a July 2020 file shot.
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While much of Corporate America scrambled to adjust COVID-19 policies this summer in response to a surge of cases, Amazon.com was dismantling its coronavirus testing sites. Sequestered corners of warehouses and conference rooms where, just a few weeks ago employees were performing nasal swabs, are now blocked off or cleared of equipment.

This may seem counterintuitive as the delta variant rips through many of the states where Amazon has warehouses. But the company says employees have plenty of other ways to get tested. Amazon, employees say, has been loath to make the tests compulsory for fear of alienating the Covid sceptics in its ranks. The same has held true for forcing workers to get vaccinated.

Amazon workers Credit:AP

That in a nutshell is the quandary facing Americas second-largest private employer: how to keep its facilities COVID-free without sparking a mutiny among workers who are desperately needed to keep operations running amid a tight labor market and strong online demand. The company was known for high turnover among frontline workers even during the best of times. Now, with jobs abundant, warehouse employees have more options.

A lot of the associates do not want to be forced to get something, said a manager at an East Coast warehouse. If Amazon rolled out a vaccine mandate, it wouldnt go over well. Theyd lose a lot of employees if they do that.
The head of fruit and vegetable giant SPC is hoping many other businesses will follow his companys decision to mandate vaccinations for all onsite personnel, though experts are querying the legality of the move.

SPC, which produces its eponymous goods alongside Ardmona and Goulburn Valley-branded products, announced on Thursday its staff will need to be vaccinated by November and will not gain entry to any of its locations if they are not - a decision made in the face of the quickly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus.

SPC is the first Australian company to mandate staff get vaccinated against COVID-19. Credit:2004

What really prompted us this week was how Delta is spreading in the community and resetting the rules, chief executive Robert Giles told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

After aged care, healthcare and frontline workers, were the next area that should be vaccinated - not only to protect our staff, but to protect the food supply for the country.
Newsreader and Bandstand host Brian Henderson. Credit:Nick Wilson He was trusted, he had a warmth that he brought into the living rooms of millions of Australians. He will be deeply missed but his giant legacy and contribution will live on in the DNA of Nine. Henderson  a popular figure with viewers thanks to his gentle demeanour, stylish horn-rimmed glasses, and nightly sign-off, The way it is  won the TV Week Gold Logie for most popular personality in 1968. In 2013 he was inducted into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame. Darren Wick, Nines director of news and current affairs, said Henderson was idolised by everyone of us lucky enough to have worked with him.

He was the epitome of credibility, reliability and clarity. He set the standard that we aspire to live up to every night of the week. Henderson was born on 15 September, 1931 and raised on New Zealands South Island. His interest in a broadcasting career began as a teenager when he fell in love with radio while recovering from tuberculosis. He travelled to Sydney in the early 1950s to work in radio, before discovering television. A decade after ending his 46-year run on Nines nightly news, Henderson came out of retirement in 2012 to narrate a documentary on the Granville train disaster for Foxtel. But he ruled out an extended return to television. No, I look different now, I sound different. And what am I now? 81? he told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time. I have very fond memories but I wouldnt even contemplate it. I went out around about the right time.

Following the news of his passing, various TV personalities paid tribute to Hendersons legacy. Loading John Burgess said Henderson was not only the epitome of news broadcasters, but one of the nicest people God ever put breath into. Had the pleasure of working and socialising with the great man, leaving me with cherished memories, he said. Catriona Rowntree said: Weve truly lost a gentleman. If we ever wanted to check the correct pronunciation of a word, the perfect delivery, Brian would be our go-to man. We all loved him.

On Twitter on Thursday morning, Today Extra co-host David Campbell called Henderson a legendary broadcaster and true gentleman. RIP to one of the greats. Speaking on air, 2SM broadcaster John Laws said he was severely upset by the loss of a close friend he first worked with in 1957. Dear, dear Hendo. Really Im gonna miss him, said Laws. Hendo had a magic, theres no doubt about that. People just loved him, and I was one who loved him a hell of a lot. For many years we were very close. Playing tennis in the middle of the night, getting into all sorts of trouble, having so much fun. He was the best newreader this country has ever seen, and the best newsreader for my money in the whole wide world.
Western Australia will not lock down or implement further COVID restrictions after no new cases were recorded following an unusual positive test result from a fly-in, fly-out worker on Wednesday.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said more than 7000 tests were conducted on Wednesday after the announcement.

The worker returned a weak positive then negative test result. Credit:AFR Google News

Mr McGowan said more than 80 close contacts of the man, who worked at FMGs Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara, had been identified and five of those had already returned negative results, including his partner, housemate and three workmates.

This is very encouraging to begin with but we need everyone to get tested, he said.
A West Australian man who vanished while working on a remote road in the states North West more than 40 years ago likely walked into the dense bushland, became disorientated and died, a coroner has found.

Desmond Carr, 32, was last seen on August 2, 1979 on a road about 90 kilometres south of Broome at 3pm working on a road roller. An hour later when his Main Roads work colleagues came to pick him up and drive him back to camp, he was nowhere to be seen, but his vehicle was still running.

Desmond Carr disappeared in WAs North West outback in 1979.

The case was thrust back into the spotlight in 2019 after his nephew created a podcast to try and solve the outback mystery.

During a coronial inquest into Mr Carrs death held on Wednesday, Deputy State Coroner Sarah Linton said the police investigation at the time was inadequate.
Twenty-four school nurses would help vaccinate about 70,000 recipients per week, up from 55,000, and assistants in nursing would replace more highly skilled registered nurses, according to the minister. There is a significant program of works going on at the moment to try to get our hospital and retired nurses back into the hospitals so that we can have those people available in our hospital care systems but make sure that we dont draw people away from our vaccines, Mr Cook said on Tuesday. So were trying to strike that balance. WAs School-Aged Health Service Review found mental health was the leading cause of concern and a priority for school nurses. Credit:CAHS report But the withdrawal of nurses from schools will have a knock-on effect if the School-Aged Health Service Review conducted by CAHS in 2019 is to be believed.

It found that children and young people with chronic or complex health conditions including mental health and wellbeing, obesity, sexual health, diabetes and asthma needed to be prioritised and given easy access to community health nurses (CHNs) in schools. The nine key recommendations that were due to rollout at the start of 2020 identified mental health issues as the greatest health and wellbeing concern and the need to have highly skilled nurses in schools since CHNs expressed concerns about their capacity to support young people experiencing mental health concerns, particularly where families cannot access specialist or acute services in a reasonable time frame. WAtoday also saw community child health nurses who monitor newborn development working shifts at the Claremont Showgrounds vaccination centre prior to the announcement. Kwinana vaccination centre co-ordinator Debbie Rolls, who was previously a freelance neonatal clinical nurse to Fiona Stanley Hospital, said they were getting a lot more staff from CAHS after an incredible recruitment drive to the clinic since it opened in June.

Weve gathered staff from everywhere, but the majority of us actually came from Fiona Stanley  so we were running the vaccination clinic at Fiona Stanley and the Harry Perkins building, she said. CAHS looks after community health services for Aboriginal and refugee children, schools and immunisation; child mental health services; neonatal clinics; Perth Childrens Hospital; and Midlands hospital and health hub. The state we are in is horrific, its a horror show, the worst I have seen it in 23 years. Mark Olson, ANF state secretary Mr Cook admitted on Wednesday that CAHS staff within hospitals had been manning the vaccine clinics. Look originally it did; we had to staff a lot of our [vaccine] clinics with nurses that would have otherwise been practicing in the hospitals and weve been undertaking a program over the last few weeks of bringing other nurses into our vaccination clinics, he said.

Child mental health numbers have been skyrocketing, with 7217 young people seen by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in 2019-20, up from 6319 the year before. Loading In February 2021, there were 1307 mental health inpatient admissions to WA hospitals of which 47 per cent were admitted via an emergency department. One mother in March told WAtoday of her struggle to get her son admitted to PCH for a severe psychosis because of a bed shortage. Morale at PCH hit rock bottom in the wake of Aishwarya Aswaths death in the hospitals waiting room on April 3, with many nurses calling in sick or taking stress leave. The Australian Nursing Federation reported that PCH had one nurse responsible for more than seven patients  when the safe ratio is one to four on a general ward  with no nurses available to assist in interventions or to make up a full resuscitation team, and no nurse in the waiting room over the weekend.

On Monday there were 290 admissions to PCHs emergency department, almost double the 160 admissions usually experienced, with Mr Cook calling it a tough gig. ANF state secretary Mark Olson said nurses were exhausted after unprecedented overtime and double shifts, while feeling scared and overwhelmed with guilt about not wanting to leave their colleagues to finish a shift. The state we are in is horrific, its a horror show, the worst I have seen it in 23 years, Mr Olson said. We are in a state of emergency and the minister will have to start closing beds due to staffing shortages while he continues to promise more beds with no one to staff them. He told WAtoday that WA nurses were being robbed from one area to service another despite the government knowing for more than four years that its system was being crippled by soaring population numbers and the tsunami of chronic disease.

Most of the problems we are seeing in the health system are exacerbated by underlying issues that have been expected over decades, Mr Olson said. The issue is no one has done anything to counter them. Loading Mr Cook said they had integrated 100 nurses to PCH since April and he was fixing the problem by increasing the number of graduate nurses in hospitals from 700 to 1000 for this year and next as the biggest intake in the states history. This is part of Labors election commitment at the last election but also as part of a capacity surge, which the department is undertaking to continue to build out our nursing numbers, he said.

Mr Cook said he would free up hospital nurses by utilising assistants in nursing  who have slightly lower level or different level of skills  in vaccination centres. All nursing staff, if they come into a COVID [vaccine] clinic, undertake a training course  which is on top of theyre already basic clinical studies  to deliver the vaccination safely, he said. Royal Perth Hospital staff told WAtoday that hospitals already had plenty of junior nurses and the huge gaps in the system were senior nurses, with not enough upskilling and an overabundance of graduates who felt undersupervised and underqualified from a lack of practical experience after being churned out by universities. Mr Olson said while the state government was upping the placement of graduate nurses in hospitals there wasnt the qualified staff to oversee them and those numbers barely covered the attrition rates from nurses retiring, having children or seeking less stressful work in other sectors. The whole thing is smoke and mirrors, he said.
The countrys top Indigenous organisations have applauded the federal governments $1.1 billion Closing the Gap implementation plan, but warn underfunding of programs and services remains the biggest challenge ahead.

The federal, state, and territory governments reached the historic new National Agreement on Closing the Gap with the Coalition of Peaks last July, aimed at reducing the inequality faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Pat Turner alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison as they announced the national agreement last July. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The federal government will now hand down its first plan outlining how it will achieve progress on its commitments this morning.

We have seen governments slowly walk away from the previous closing the gap agreement, our programs were being defunded, and governments were no longer working together, said Arrernte and Gurdanji woman Pat Turner, lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks.
November 25, 2020  SafeWA app is launched to help contact tracers get in touch with people who are possibly exposed to the COVID-19 virus when there are community outbreaks.

December 5, 2020  Checking in at businesses and venues using physical contact registers or SafeWA is made mandatory. WA Premier Mark McGowan says the app will only be used for contact tracing.

December 12, 2020  Rebels bikie Nick Martin shot dead at the Perth Motorplex in Kwinana.

December 14, 2020  WA Police served the Department of Health with an order to produce SafeWA data related to Martins death in terms of potential witnesses at the event.

December 23, 2020  WA Police receives data related to 1639 SafeWA check-ins from the Department of Health.

December 24, 2020  WA Police served the Department of Health with a second order to produce to access SafeWA data related to Martins death.

December 27, 2020  WA Police receives data related to 800 SafeWA check-ins from the Department of Health.

January 8, 2021  The first document exchange about the requests between Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson and a Department of Health assistant director general is recorded.

January 31, 2021  WA goes into a five-day lockdown.

February, 2021  A man is stabbed three times in Victoria Park.

February 22, 2021  Department of Health assistant director general James Williamson sends an email to director general David Russell-Weisz saying he had verbally raised the issue of a breach of public trust repeatedly and with people who attended meetings with the Premier.

February 25, 2021  Police make a request for SafeWA data from the Department of Health, in relation to an unknown case, but the information was older than 28 days and had already been destroyed.

Late February, 2021  A policy is put in place by WA Police where an officer has to go to an independent superintendent in order to try and gain access to SafeWA data.

March 2, 2021  Mr McGowan backtracks on comments he was in talks with Police Commissioner Chris Dawson to explore the legality of extending controlled border measures like the G2G entry pass system post-pandemic.

March 10, 2021  Police serve the Department of Health for the second time to access SafeWA data related to the stabbing offence and potential witnesses.

March 12, 2021  Dr Russell-Weisz writes a letter to Mr Dawson about the data requests.

March 13, 2021  The state election is held.

March 19, 2021  Mr Dawson replies to Dr Russell-Weiszs letter.

March 31, 2021  Health Minister Roger Cook is made aware requests for SafeWA data have been made by WA Police which is the same day the department provides information about the stabbing to police.

April 1, 2021  Police make a fifth request which was still pending as of Thursday.

April, 2021  Sometime in early April the Premier is made aware by a staff member in his office that police are accessing SafeWA data.

April 14, 2021  Mr McGowan meets with the Police Commissioner and asks they stop seeking the data.

April 23, 2021  WA goes into a three-day lockdown after a community outbreak of COVID-19.

May 7, 2021  A sixth request for SafeWA data is made by police.

May 20, 2021  The Parliamentary Counsels Office, which prepares bills for ministers, is told to draft a law to stop police from being able to access SafeWA data.

May 21, 2021  The first draft of a law to protect the data of SafeWA users is finished.

May 27  A seventh request for SafeWA data is made by police but was knocked back because of a technical deficiency.

June 15, 2021  The WA government announces it is introducing a new bill to stop police from being able to access SafeWA data.

June 17, 2021  The new law is passed in both houses of Parliament.
So how might she capitalise on the extraordinary successes that she enjoyed during her 30s? It is perhaps first worth reflecting on how a younger Meghan Markle viewed growing older. In a previous birthday blog on her now defunct website, The Tig, she wrote in 2014: I am 33-years-old today. And I am happy. And I say that so plainly because, well... it takes time. To be happy. To figure out how to be kind to yourself. To not just choose that happiness, but to feel it. Admitting that her 20s had been brutal, she reflected on a conversation, which seems to have set the tone for how she would go on to live the remainder of that decade. I must have been about 24 when a casting director looked at me during an audition and said, You need to know that youre enough. Less make-up, more Meghan.

Addressing her fans, she added: You need to know that youre enough, as she urged them to find your happiness. Little did she know that, just four years later, she would find her own happiness by marrying one of the worlds most eligible bachelors in a ceremony at Windsor Castle, watched by millions on television, before the couples Megxit withdrawal from royal duties in 2020. Indeed, some might argue that the next 10 years could be Less Meghan, more making up. There remains a sense that there is still a lot more to come from the Duchess. Credit:Getty Speak to friends of the Duke and Duchess and the first thing they are likely to say is just how happy they are together in their $US15 million ($21 million) Montecito mansion. However, as they settle into daily life in the United States and continue to make plans for their new Archewell Foundation, the world is waiting to see what Meghan might do next. Not least when, since their bombshell CNN interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, it has been Harry who has been doing most of the talking  in podcasts with the likes of Dax Shepard and, now, through the medium of his own memoirs, due to be published next autumn.

While she may be on maternity leave following the birth of Lilibet in June, a sister for the couples two-year-old son Archie, Meghan will be acutely aware that she should not waste too much time before forging ahead. After all, it was post-40 that the three women she admires so much  Michelle Obama, Oprah, Hillary Clinton  began to truly make their mark on the world. La-La Land can be a fickle place at the best of times. However, when you are a woman in midlife there is arguably only a finite period in which to bask in the limelight. The great news about turning 40 is that its now considered the new 30; the time when most women can go full guns on their careers, and possess the wisdom to make it count. Though, somewhere at the back of Meghans mind may be the worry that, by the time she hits 50, she will have been enveloped in a cloak of perimenopausal invisibility, with the likes of Netflix and Spotify more interested in the new kids on the block in 2031. Having been forced to put their stateside relaunch on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, pressure is now mounting on the self-exiled royal couple to power up in the vein of their heroes, the Clintons, Obamas and Clooneys.

As Martin Townsend, the former newspaper editor turned PR guru, puts it: If they are going to do something, they need to put their mouth where their money is. So far weve had a load of word salad: lets all live in peace in harmony while on the other hand waging war on the royal family, which has struck many as contradictory. Its time for them to put all that behind them and work on content rather than conjecture. Their 40 to 50 era has to be one of substance rather than gloss. If theres a definitive Harry and Meghan guide to how to live your life, they better start writing it, and fast. Loading It is certainly telling that while the couples Los Angeles-based public relations people are often at pains to point out inconsistencies in press coverage, there has been little push back against the much-repeated notion that Meghan will be pursuing a political career further down the track. The Duchess reportedly held an hour-long meeting last October with Californias Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. According to Tom Bower, Prince Charless biographer, who is currently writing a book about the Duchess, she could make a run for the US presidency within a decade.

Pointing out that California has a strong tradition of Hollywood actors going on to win elections, with Arnold Schwarzenegger serving two terms as state governor (from 2003 to 2011) and Ronald Reagan, also serving two terms but as US President (1981 to 1989), he wrote last month: With the support of Democrat godfathers the Clintons and the Obamas, Meghan should have little difficulty getting nominated as one of the states 40 Congressmen sent to Washington. Loading After that, fate would take over. If one of the states two Senate seats comes free and shes mastered the trade, a mixed-race woman should be a strong runner. Suggesting that she could also run for the states governorship, one of Americas most prestigious offices, he added: At the end of 10 years, the prime of a politicians life, her record could well justify a bid for the Democrat nomination for the presidency. Meghan certainly has the guts and self-belief to fight to the top of the greasy pole. The question is whether she has the stamina.
As Delaware sees rising cases of COVID-19 with the Delta variant just in time for students to return to the classroom after Labor Day, the state continues to consider legal avenues to mandate universal masking in schools.

This after Gov. John Carney told WDEL, last week, that he expects to see masks in school settings.

"The State of Emergency declaration expired on July 13th, so we're looking at other emergency powers that the state has with respect to universal masking in schools. This being one of our top priorities, and we know that the young ones under age 12 aren't eligible to be vaccinated, so it's an important consideration there. We need to do that and do it quickly--and we will--because the school districts are deciding how to proceed in their individual areas," said Gov. John Carney. "We're not going to be remote there, and so we need to do it safely. So the question is what kind of authority we have to make those requirements."

Earlier this week, the Christina School District announced it would require masks for the upcoming school year.

Carney told WDEL last week, and reiterated at a virtual news conference Thursday, that he's also considering a vaccine mandate in long-term care and health care centers to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.

"Individual businesses are making decisions, you've heard of some of those employers--ChristianaCare requiring that their employees be vaccinated. We will be looking at that as an employer as well, various at-risk locations where there's a lot of traffic, the potential indoor locations, the potential for interaction among unvaccinated folks, so yeah, we're looking at all of those things specific to our own state," said Carney.

Correctional facilities and juvenile detention centers could also see vaccine mandates in Delaware.

"It is a challenge, one of the things that we'll hear as we look at this issue with respect to those who work in congregate settings...is the reality of driving needed staff. Most of the employers....are the biggest complaint that I hear is that they can't find employees for the jobs that they have. One of the areas that that's really relevant for the state is in our correctional facilities. We lose, unfortunately, correctional officers at a regular pace just based on normal retirement after the incident of Feb. 2017...the problems that we've encountered in those prison facilities are in part due to under-staffing, so we don't want to make things worse at one level by doing something at another level that may be necessary," the governor said.

Cases of COVID-19 have risen substantially in Delaware over the last week with spread largely tied to the predominant, more virulent Delta variant; however, case rates remain far lower than other points in the pandemic.

"Most of the areas with low vaccination rates are the ones that have experienced the worst conditions. Our vaccination rates aren't where we need them to be, but they're higher" than many of those states which are significantly under 50%. We still have a lot of work to do," Carney said. "The answer to all of these is challenges is for more people to get vaccinated."

The state now has nearly 136 new cases on a seven-day moving average. Just weeks ago, that number had stood at under 20. Our test positivity rate has risen from 1% or less to 4.3%.

"Our target has always been to be under 5%, so we're still below 5%," said Carney. "It's important to point out as well that we're not doing as much testing, so some of that is the result of a smaller denominator there."

Hospitalizations, which indicate the seriousness of disease in a community, have doubled over the past few weeks to 53. At the height of the pandemic, hospitalizations surged to 475, but did not hit capacity.

Seventy-three percent of Delawareans 18 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 70.8% of Delawareans 12 and older have received at least one inoculation.

"We're making pretty good progress with the teenagers that are eligible, so age 12 to 17, 44% of those statewide are vaccinated," said Carney.

Vaccination rates lag in western Sussex County, where in some areas, they're below 35%.

Young adults ages 18 to 34, remain the most challenging age group for the state, with just 46% vaccinated against COVID-19.

"More than half of young adults are not vaccinated, so if you're going to go into a bar or restaurant, most of which the patrons are those young adults, you're going to know that more than half of them aren't vaccinated and should be wearing masks because that's the recommendation of the CDC now for indoor spaces," said Carney.

Ninety-nine percent of cases and hospitalizations in Delaware are in unvaccinated persons, according to state health officials.

"Those folks that are unvaccinated are prolonging the pandemic, they're bringing us the a place where we have to reconsider mitigation efforts, and particularly, as we look to the fall to get all of our children back in school for in-person instruction, recognizing that children under 12 will not be eligible for vaccination," said the governor.

Last week, the CDC noted in rare occurrences the Delta variant can be transmitted to and by vaccinated people, prompting them to issue an indoor mask recommendation in counties where virus transmission is either substantial or high. All three Delaware counties are seeing "substantial" virus spread as of Thursday, August 5, 2021. Neither Carney nor Division of Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay have pushed for an indoor mask mandate due to expired emergency powers, but they've encouraged citizens to follow CDC guidance.

"This is really is a pure numbers scenario. When you have a lot of an extremely contagious infection circulating in the community, even vaccines that are 95% effective won't prevent everyone who's vaccinated from getting infected, and that's what we're seeing now," Rattay said.

However, the vaccine is still strongly protective against death, hospitalization and severe disease from COVID, including the Delta variant.

"Vaccination is the best way to end this pandemic; it is the most important public health tool that we have...the majority of infections are happening in the unvaccinated. Of the small number of infections that happen among fully vaccinated people, the illness tends to be milder, but certainly when we compared unvaccinated to vaccinated people, unvaccinated people are at much greater risk for serious consequences from COVID," said Dr. Rattay.

As the virus spreads, Rattay is encouraging unvaccinated people to wear masks in all public places and to get tested for COVID-19 at least once per week. Anyone who's unvaccinated and has had exposure to COVID-19 should immediately quarantine and get a test three to five days after exposure.

Those who are vaccinated who may have been exposed to COVID-19 do not need to quarantine, but should immediately begin wearing a mask for 14 days. They should also seek a COVID-19 test three to five days after exposure. A positive COVID-19 test requires a 14-day quarantine regardless of a person's vaccination status. For testing locations, click here.

But beyond testing and masking, Dr. Rattay reiterated the key to ending the pandemic is in vaccinations. Last week, the CDC said as the virus continues to circulate in the unvaccinated, there are fears it could mutate into something not protected by the current vaccines. Rattay said that fear is real.

"That is one of the reasons why it is so critical to increase our vaccination rates. It's great that we're at 73% of adults with one dose, but it is not enough. We have to do all we can to drive up our vaccine numbers even more," she said.
Wilmington, DE (19810)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 97F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

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A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 75F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wilmington, DE (19810)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 95F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 75F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.


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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolina experts who released a frequently cited report showing minimal COVID-19 transmission within K-12 schools are growing alarmed as more districts defy public health recommendations and instead choose to make mask-wearing optional for all students and staff.

Danny Benjamin and Kanecia Zimmerman, Duke University School of Medicine professors and co-chairs of the ABC Science Collaborative, warned in a virtual news conference with reporters on Wednesday that the 44 school districts that have decided to make masks optional may be flying blind as the delta variant surges. As a result, several dozen children could die, they said.

Until we get vaccination up to a sufficiently high rate, if you want to prevent COVID transmission in your community, if you want to prevent COVID transmission at your schools, then its masking until we have sufficiently high vaccination, Benjamin said. Although the mortality rate in children is low, somewhere between 2 and 5 per 100,000, when you consider a state of 1.5 million children (in K-12 public schools), 2 per 100,000 starts to add up to some deaths thats going to be eventually noticeable.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is urging districts to mandate mask-wearing but is leaving it up to local school boards to make their own decisions.

Asked in a Wednesday news conference why he isnt compelling districts to mandate mask-wearing, Cooper replied, I think everybody knows what to do. Weve given the school systems the tools that they need to make these decisions in their local areas. We want to concentrate our efforts on vaccination, and thats what were doing.

Benjamin said that the report he and his team wrote occurred when masking in classrooms was universal and before the more contagious delta variant began spreading rapidly.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and test positivity rates are at their worst levels in months. In all but four of North Carolinas 100 counties, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear masks in indoor public settings, even if theyre already vaccinated, due to substantial or high transmission rates.

Cased reported on Wednesday surpassed 3,400 for the first time since Feb. 20 and the 1,580 people currently hospitalized in North Carolina is the most since Feb. 21.

More than 12% of tests on Monday came back positive, the worst daily positivity rate in more than six months.

There also were 21 new deaths from COVID-19 reported Wednesday. There havent been that many reported in one day in North Carolina since June 4. So far, 13,700 people have died from COVID-19 in the state.

Kids under 12 cant yet get vaccinated and many eligible young adults are unvaccinated, yet 38% of North Carolinas 116 school boards will allow them to be unmasked  a move Benjamin considers experimentation.

Zimmerman said districts decisions not to require masks could increase student learning loss. Unlike the past academic year, state and federal health guidelines now allow students in a mask-on-mask environment to stay in school, even if they were in close contact with an infected person. But unmasked pupils must miss a week of in-person classes.

Thousands of kids missed thousands of school days, Zimmerman said. If we can do masking, we can keep kids in school. The alternative in the setting of not having masking is increased risk of transmission (and) if you are a close contact, you have to stay out of school for 10 days unless you get a test that you can get at 5 to 7 days. If its negative, then you come back on day 8.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

___

Follow Anderson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BryanRAnderson.

___

Anderson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
CT State Police / Contributed

HARTFORD  A pedestrian was pronounced dead at the hospital late Tuesday after being hit by a vehicle heading eastbound on Interstate 84, according to Connecticut State Police.

The state police report said the woman  identified Wednesday as Melissa M. Doyle, 33, of Manchester  was hit on I-84 eastbound near Exit 48 A/B at 11:55 p.m.
The Hopkins County Health Department says three infants in the community have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last three days.

Additionally, the health department says six positive cases of the virus have been seen in Hopkins County in children under the age of two over the past week.

I see lots of newborns and people who are visiting and theyre not wearing a mask and if theyre not fully vaccinated than theyre putting that infant at risk," said Denise Beach, executive director of the Hopkins County Health Department. "We need to be very vigilant and understand that COVID is still out there, its still being spread and we have a high rate right now.

The health department urges unvaccinated individuals to put a mask on before coming in close contact with young kids.

After a high number of positive cases was reported within the community recently, the health department said 4th of July celebrations and the Delta variant were likely to blame.

MORE: Hopkins Co.'s COVID-19 Spike Likely Due to 4th of July and Variants, Health Dept. Says

HCHD also said Thursday that youth camps and get-togethers with unvaccinated friends/family were factors leading up to the county's entry into the Red Zone.

The county entered the Red Zone on Kentucky's COVID-19 Incidence Rate Map on Thursday with the second-highest rate of COVID-19 spread throughout the entire state.

And while the older populations are most vulnerable to the virus, those younger generations are contracting it at high rates.

With younger people now more than quadrupling the number of elderly people who have gotten Covid-19 in the county.

Over 1,400 people in between the ages of 41 and 60 have gotten COVID-19 throughout the course of the pandemic.

And another 1,400 in between the ages of 21 and 40.

The health department says that as of now, the most effective tool in the fight against COVID-19 appears to be any of the three available vaccines.
The Indiana State Department of Health's Wednesday update to its COVID-19 County Metrics Map showed Posey County now in the "Red" advisory level, indicating a high rate of COVID-19 spread.

The color-coded system is based on two metrics: the number of weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in a county, and the county's seven-day positive rate of all tests performed.

Indiana's latest COVID-19 County Metrics Map released Wednesday Indiana's latest COVID-19 County Metrics Map released Wednesday

Posey County scored the highest two-metric score of "three," with 279 weekly cases per 100,000 residents and a seven-day positive rate of 15.25%

Posey County will now remain in the Red Advisory Level until at least Aug. 18, since a county that enters the advisory level must show lower COVID-19 numbers for two weeks straight to improve to a lower level.

The Posey County Health Department says that the new Red Advisory Level doesn't mean that there are any rule changes regarding gatherings or events and that the information's only purpose is to inform the public on the current spread of COVID-19 in the area.

COVID-19 Numbers Update

The Indiana State Department of Health said Wednesday that it had identified 1,774 new positive cases of COVID-19 throughout the state.

That brought the total number of individuals now known to have tested positive for COVID-19 to 777,417, according to ISDH.

With 14 new deaths also reported throughout the state Wednesday, ISDH said 13,610 total individuals had now died from the virus.

Local COVID-19 Increases Wednesday:

Vanderburgh County: 81 new cases

Warrick County: 41 new cases

Gibson County: 21 new cases

Dubois County: 19 new cases

Perry County: 18 new cases

Posey County: 14 new cases

Knox County: 11 new cases

Spencer County: 10 new cases

Daviess County: 9 new cases, 1 new death

Pike County: 0 new cases

For more information on COVID-19 in Indiana, visit the ISDH dashboard.
NWS Weather Alert NOTE: This information is provided by the National Weather Service. Forecast may differ from local information provided by our own 69News Meteorologists

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values between 105 and 110. * WHERE...The Interstate 95 corridor from Wilmington Delaware to Middlesex County NJ and surrounding suburbs. The Lehigh Valley, Berks and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania, and most of Northwestern New Jersey. * WHEN...Until 8 PM EDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
Reading, PA (19601)

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A mix of clouds and hazy sunshine and continued very hot and humid with a few afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Heat index up to 105 degrees..

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Mostly cloudy and muggy with a few showers and thunderstorms.
Allentown, PA (18103)

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A mix of clouds and hazy sunshine and continued very hot and humid with a few afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Heat index up to 105 degrees..

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Mostly cloudy and muggy with a few showers and thunderstorms.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said August 4 he regrets approving a statewide ban on face mask mandates earlier this year and has called the state Legislature into a special session in an effort to amend the law.
STORRS, CT (WFSB) -- More than 800 University of Connecticut students have submitted COVID-19 vaccine exemption requests.

According to a lawsuit filed by students who are against the school's vaccination requirement, university officials said as of July 23 there had been 771 requests for non-medical exemptions.

The university granted 504 of them, but the rest were pending at that time, not approved or denied.

As of July 22, the university had received and granted 55 requests for medical exemptions.

All UConn students will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall.

All UConn students required to get a COVID vaccine before returning to campus All students will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to the University of Connecticut campus.

The Board of Trustees voted on the decision during a meeting back in June.

Officials said about 92% of those returning to campus have complied.

While the school is not commenting due to pending litigation, students are.

Some people have their religious reasons why. Its more important about just being safe, keeping everyone safe, said Dontae Richards.

I got my vaccine just because I wanted to make sure that not only myself, but I keep everyone else around me safe who might have medical issues where they arent able to get a vaccine, said Megan Preston.

Many of the students shared that they dont want to be stuck in the dorm with virtual learning, as its not what they came to college for.

To see UConn's COVID policy, click here.
We all can remember a time we went to school with the sniffles, but with COVID-19 in mind, parents may have more to consider when deciding to keep their kids home.
Before getting into the nitty gritty it's worth commenting on the experience in a full-capacity auditorium at the Barbican  the coruscating waves of unanimous applause, washing over you like a much-neglected friend. It's truly good to be back.

When it comes to the Golden Era musicals  Cole Porter's Anything Goes is le grand fromage  with gargantuan numbers, epic choreography and farcical tales worthy of a Shakespearean comedy. A romantic extravaganza with a melange of larger-than-life characters, machine gun-toting gangsters and slapstick skits nestled between whip-sharp dialogue, it's easy to see why the piece has stood the test of time  having last been seen in the UK as part of a 2015 tour, with the show also wowing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2003 thanks to the work of Sally Ann Triplett.

Back now for a major revival at the Barbican (one of few large-scale shows announced, planned, marketed, cast and rehearsed during the pandemic), director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall (returning to the show after bagging a Tony Award for reviving it on Broadway in 2011), crams the two-hour ride with cheesy, feel-good moments: this is vintage stage magic at its most explosively joyous.

When previously announced lead Megan Mullally dropped out just before rehearsals, Sutton Foster (who worked with Marshall on her New York revival) was sailed over to UK shores with great gusto to save the day. Her arrival coincided with the re-emergence of a decade-old video in which the Tony Award-winner was seen impersonating Jennifer Holliday  leading to outrage across the web. Foster even discussed the event in a feature with The Stage, stating she had apologised to cast members on her first day in the rehearsal room.

Whatever the opinions on the video, Foster returns to the role of Sweeney with the same wildfire energy that won her a Tony Award on Broadway  "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" in particular building to a bombastic crescendo that coaxed a further standing ovation from the audience (one of three). "Anything Goes" is a masterclass in tap dancing from the entire company.

Only a crook could steal a show, and Robert Lindsay was clearly born to play gangster Moonface Martin: his grizzled, goofy comedic swagger a constant crowd-pleaser. A stand-out turn also comes from Carly Mercedes Dyer (following successes in Curve's The Color Purple and West Side Story) as Moonface's partner-in-crime Erma.

Samuel Edwards and Nicole-Lily Baisden

 Tristram Kenton

Samuel Edwards drives the show as the earnest Billy Crocker, generating a believable romance with Nicole-Lily Baisden's Hope Harcourt. The pair glide into a dream-like "So Easy To Love" with enchanting grace  a quiet moment amidst the boisterous comedy. Speaking of boisterousness, Haydn Oakley blasts through "Gypsy in Me" with sensational aplomb, while Gary Wilmot and Felicity Kendal generate cackles with every line laced into Guy Bolton, P G Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse's book.

Derek McLane's set delivers the goods  multiple decks from the SS Americana layered on top of one another like some nautical wedding cake. While giving Marshall the chance to show off the dancing prowess of her company, an extra six or so feet at the front of the stage may not have gone amiss for some of the bigger ensemble numbers  sometimes the choreography feels slightly too constrained by the lack of space.

A few missteps fail to land (though do less to derail the show's consistent wow factor): Lindsay's "Be Like the Bluebird" has some shaking follow-spot effects, and the musical's concluding ruse definitely reflects its penning many decades previously.

But you've got to hand it to the producers for reading the room perfectly  coming out of the gloominess of the last 16 months, there might not be a better musical to see than Anything Goes.

Tickets are on sale now.
Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

Tomorrow

Scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 87F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Winchester, VA (22601)

Today

Locally heavy thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 69F. SW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Locally heavy thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 69F. SW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Tangent Animation, an animation studio with offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, made the surprise announcement to its staff of animators Tuesday morning that it is shuttering its operation.

Tangent Animation, an animation studio with offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, made the surprise announcement to its staff of animators Tuesday morning that it is shuttering its operation.

One non-artist employee of the company, who asked not to be named, said she had been informed on Wednesday morning.

"All of the artists were told (Tuesday) the contracts were lost and all of them would be let go," she said.

"In my case, I inquired about it (Wednesday) morning after hearing from many different people that this was happening," she said.

The reason for the closure is mysterious.

In June of 2020, Tangents president and CEO, Ken Zorniak, proudly said the companys animation workforce, including 100 people in Winnipeg and 180 people in Toronto, were able to transition to working at home in the early months of the COVID crisis.

At that time, Zorniak said Tangent was at work on two animated features.

One report from the industry publication Cartoon Brew suggests those films were The Monkey King, produced by Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow, and High in the Clouds, an adaptation of a childrens novel by Paul McCartney, produced by McCartney.

Cartoon Brew said the company had completed work on a Netflix limited series Maya and the Three, produced and directed by Mexican animator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life, 2014), who expressed his surprise at the closure in a tweet: "This is heartbreaking. I wholeheartedly adored working with all the brilliant and ridiculously talented artists, artisans and producers at Tangent. What they accomplished with Maya and the Three is epic. Im jealous of future directors that will be lucky to create with them."

Cartoon Brew also quoted a "source with knowledge of the situation" who stated Netflix "was displeased with Tangents work on" The Monkey King and High in the Clouds.

Last June, Zorniak described Tangents relationship with Netflix as "very positive" in light of the production delays caused by the COVID shutdown.

"We feel obliged to work at 100 per cent quota because Netflix has been helpful in allowing us to let quotas fly for a couple of months so we could get back on track," Zorniak told the Free Press.

"People are literally in shock," the former employee told the Free Press.

"A lot of the artists working for Tangent came to Winnipeg specifically because they do really good work, and were talking about people from many different countries," she said. "Its not just a loss of a job, its a loss of their connections here, their life here.

"So theres a lot of uncertainty and instability and frustration and confusion right now about what will happen," she said. "Where will they go?

"Its a huge loss for Manitoba definitely."

Calls to Tangent management were not returned.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
Alison Hall was about 19 years old when she went to New York City and found love.

Alison Hall was about 19 years old when she went to New York City and found love.

Now 29, Hall was a journalism student at Ryerson University in Toronto when she took an overnight Greyhound bus to New York for an interview with ABC News for a temporary internship position. Originally from Winnipeg, the St. Marys Academy graduate was smitten by a perceived bad apple with a reputation for toughness and belligerence. She saw something else.

"I absolutely fell in love with the city," she says.

Acting on that love-at-first-sight impulse, Hall subsequently took every opportunity to go back and make a career in one of the most competitive journalism markets on the planet.

"I basically made it my mission to try to make a life there once I got the job and spent the whole summer there," Hall says.

SUPPLIED Alison Hall is a New York-based producer/contributor of the TV news magazine Inside Edition and also anchors a weekly show on the Law & Crime Network.

Hall spoke to the Free Press while enjoying a 10-day break back home, the first time shes been able to hug her parents in 18 months. On a Zoom call from the family cabin in the Whiteshell, she says she permitted herself some decompression time after working a gruelling schedule as a New York-based producer/contributor of the TV news magazine Inside Edition. On top of those duties, Hall also anchors a weekly Wednesday show on the Law & Crime Network.

"Its the same model as Court TV in that it covers courts from live in the courtroom," she says. "Ive covered multiple trials for Inside Edition, the Weinstein trial and the Cosby trial, and Id been asked to provide commentary and analysis on Court TV a couple of times and thats what led into the Law & Crime role that I have now."

Hall recalls having her preconceptions about New York turned upside-down from the start, during that tightly-scheduled 24 hours she interviewed for ABC News.

"The very first day I went there, my cellphone was dying and I needed to get uptown for my interview and I only had a credit card. I didnt have cash," she recalls.

New Yorkers proved to be more than helpful.

"Somebody sent me their phone charger at this cafe. Somebody gave me $10 to get in the cab," she says. "It really was just this day that felt like out of a movie. The city just sort of accepted me and I met all these people along the way to interview for my dream job, and the city basically treated me the same ever since."

"The city just sort of accepted me and I met all these people along the way to interview for my dream job, and the city basically treated me the same ever since.  Alison Hall

She won the internship for the summer and returned to Toronto to ultimately graduate from Ryersons journalism program in 2013. She beelined back to New York so quickly, she missed her Ryerson graduation.

"Its something Ive always been sort of sad about. It would have been nice to walk across the stage after working so hard," she says. "But I was in New York and honestly not thinking too much about it."

A necessary return to Canada saw Hall working in her hometown for three months on Globals morning news broadcast, which required she rise every day at 3 a.m.

"I was a producer and, man, those hours were very, very tough," she says. "But it was great. I was working on a daily morning show and learning from great journalists in Winnipeg. And I was producing, so I was going from interning  where youre watching people produce and getting coffee and logging transcripts and watching interviews  to actually writing the scripts for Winnipeg news.

"It was incredible to be just be thrown right into it. While I was working at Global Winnipeg, I still had my sights set on New York and the United States in general and I just wanted to get in any way that I could."

That effort saw her move to San Francisco for a few months at a startup news organization

"With my limited resume, they were willing to take a chance on me, hire me and sponsor my visa," she says. "So I actually moved to San Francisco for maybe nine or 10 months."

DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS 'I basically made it my mission to try to make a life there once I got the job and spent the whole summer there,' Hall says about her love affair with New York City.

New York still beckoned.

"Basically the entire time I was in San Francisco, I felt like I needed to be in New York," she says. "Just being on the West Coast, Im such a news junkie and Im waking up and you feel like youve already missed the morning headlines. The shows that I would watch and the journalists that I would follow, they would already be halfway through their days."

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When the start-up stopped, "I used the time with this precious visa that I had to look for jobs in New York. Thankfully that worked."

"I moved to New York permanently for the third time in July 2014. and I havent looked back since," she says.

"For me, its the energy," she says of the citys appeal. "What I love about New York is that on every single street corner, on the subway, the cab driver that you meet, the concierge at the hotel that youre staying at, everybody has something interesting about them. Thats across the board but in New York because theres so many people and everybody comes from all over the world to make a life for themselves there. It really brings out a really special energy of connection and humanity."

"It can make you feel very small, but in a good way," she says. "It puts things into perspective and maybe makes you feel lucky for what you have and really look at your life but it also makes you feel a part of something bigger."

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 3-week-old wildfire engulfed a tiny Northern California mountain town, leveling most of its historic downtown and leaving blocks of homes in ashes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday amid dangerous weather.

A firefighter battles the Dixie Fire as it tears through the Greenville community in Plumas County, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 3-week-old wildfire engulfed a tiny Northern California mountain town, leveling most of its historic downtown and leaving blocks of homes in ashes as crews braced for another explosive run of flames Thursday amid dangerous weather.

The Dixie Fire, swollen by bone-dry vegetation and 40 mph (64 kph) gusts, raged through the northern Sierra Nevada community of Greenville on Wednesday. A gas station, church, hotel, museum and bar were among the fixtures gutted in the town dating back to California's gold rush era where some wooden buildings were more than 100 years old.

The fire burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families' homes, small businesses, and our childrens schools are completely lost," Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.

Plumas County Sheriff Tom Johns, a lifelong resident of Greenville, said that well over" 100 homes were destroyed, as well as businesses.

Flames consume a home on Highway 89 as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

My heart is crushed by what has occurred there," he said.

We lost Greenville tonight, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who represents the area, said in an emotional Facebook video. There's just no words.

As the fires north and eastern sides exploded Wednesday, the Plumas County Sheriffs Office issued an urgent warning online to the towns approximately 800 residents: You are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!

A similar warning was issued Thursday as flames pushed toward the southeast in the direction of another tiny mountain community, Taylorsville, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Greenville.

To the northwest, crews were protecting homes in the town of Chester. Residents there were among thousands under evacuation orders or warnings in several counties.

Operations Chief Jay Walter passes the historic Sierra Lodge as the Dixie Fire burns through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

No injuries or deaths were immediately reported.

Margaret Elysia Garcia, an artist and writer who has been in Southern California waiting out the fire, watched video of her Greenville office in flames. It's where she kept every journal shes written in since second grade and a hand edit of a novel on top of her grandfathers roll-top desk.

Were in shock. Its not that we didnt think this could happen to us, she said. At the same time, it took our whole town.

Firefighters had to deal with people reluctant to leave on Wednesday. Their refusals meant that firefighters spent precious time loading people into cars to ferry them out, said Jake Cagle, an incident management operations section chief.

We have firefighters that are getting guns pulled out on them, because people dont want to evacuate, he said.

A street sign stands in central Greenville as the Dixie Fire tears through Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in the community. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

The blaze that broke out July 14 is the largest burning in California and had blackened over 504 square miles (1,305 square kilometers), an area larger than Los Angeles. The cause was under investigation. But Pacific Gas & Electric has said it may have been sparked when a tree fell on one of its power lines.

The fire was near the town of Paradise, which was largely destroyed in a 2018 wildfire that became the nations deadliest in at least a century and was blamed on PG&E equipment.

Ken Donnell left Greenville on Wednesday, thinking hed be right back after a quick errand a few towns over, but couldn't return as the flames swept through. All he has now are the clothes on his back and his old pickup truck, he said. Hes pretty sure his office and house, with a bag he had prepared for evacuation, is gone.

Donnell remembered helping victims of 2018s devastating Camp Fire, in which about 100 friends lost their homes.

Now I have a thousand friends lose their home in a day, he said.

Flames from the Dixie Fire consume a home on Highway 89 south of Greenville on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Plumas County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

By Thursday, the Dixie Fire had become the sixth largest in state history, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Four of the state's other five largest fires happened in 2020.

The fire forced Lassen Volcanic National Park to close to visitors.

Dozens of homes had already burned before the flames made a new run Wednesday. The U.S. Forest Service said initial reports show that firefighters saved about a quarter of the structures in Greenville.

We did everything we could, fire spokesman Mitch Matlow said. Sometimes its just not enough.

About 100 miles (160 kilometers) south, officials said between 35 and 40 homes and other buildings burned in the fast-moving River Fire that broke out Wednesday near Colfax, a town of about 2,000. Within hours, it ripped through nearly 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) of dry brush and trees. There was no containment and about 6,000 people were ordered to evacuate in Placer and Nevada counties, Cal Fire said.

Battalion Chief Sergio Mora marks a road hazard as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

In Colfax, Jamie Brown ate breakfast at a downtown restaurant Thursday while waiting to learn if his house was still standing.

He evacuated his property near Rollins Lake a day earlier, when it looked like the whole town was going to burn down. Conditions had calmed a bit and he was hoping for the best.

After firefighters made progress earlier this week, high heat, low humidity and gusty winds erupted Wednesday and were expected to remain a threat.

Winds were expected to change direction multiple times Thursday, putting pressure on firefighters at sections of the fire that havent seen activity in several days, officials said.

The trees, grass and brush were so dry that if an ember lands, youre virtually guaranteed to start a new fire, Matlow said.

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Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

About 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of the Dixie Fire, the lightning-sparked McFarland Fire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. There was little containment of the fire after it burned nearly 33 square miles (85 square kilometers) of drought-stricken vegetation.

Risky weather also was expected across Southern California, where heat advisories and warnings were issued for inland valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 wildfires covering 2,919 square miles (7,560 square kilometers) in 13 U.S. states, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Janie Har and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to say the Dixie Fire started on July 14, not July 21.
TORONTO - Members of a sixth First Nation in northwestern Ontario are being evacuated due to the threat posed by wildfires.

TORONTO - Members of a sixth First Nation in northwestern Ontario are being evacuated due to the threat posed by wildfires.

The Ontario government says about 200 members of the Wabaseemoong First Nation are expected to be evacuated from the community by end of day Thursday.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General says the First Nation declared an emergency on Monday due to wildfires and smoke in the Kenora region and across the provincial border in Manitoba.

It says the community is prioritizing its most vulnerable members for evacuation flights, which began on Wednesday.

Evacuees are being sent to the Kenora and London, Ont., areas.

There are currently 114 active fires in northwestern Ontario, and provincial officials said this week that more new wildfires are expected due to current environmental conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.
PARIS (AP)  A French constitutional court on Thursday validated most aspects of a new law that, starting next week, requires people to carry a special COVID-19 health pass to access cafes, restaurants, long-distance travel and, in some cases, hospitals. But it struck down several measures for not meeting constitutional muster.

An anti heath pass demonstrator holds a French flag as he faces police officers outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021. France's Constitutional Council is deciding on Thursday whether the health pass that is to open the doors and terraces to cafes, restaurants, trains and hospitals starting next week is in line with the nation's most cherished principles. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS (AP)  A French constitutional court on Thursday validated most aspects of a new law that, starting next week, requires people to carry a special COVID-19 health pass to access cafes, restaurants, long-distance travel and, in some cases, hospitals. But it struck down several measures for not meeting constitutional muster.

The Constitutional Council ruled that the automatic 10-day isolation of people infected with the virus, allowed to go outside for only two hours per day, goes against French freedoms. Such deprivation of liberty is not "necessary, adapted or proportional," the ruling said. The current, less strict 10-day self-isolation for people infected with the virus will apparently remain in effect.

The court also struck down suspension of short-term contracts for those without a health pass  while accepting a suspension without remuneration of salaried employees with long-term contracts.

The legislation was sped urgently through parliament last week as virus infections soared, due to the highly contagious delta variant which now accounts for most cases in France.

Polls show that most French support the health pass. But the measure has ardent opponents, with many claiming their freedoms will be compromised. It is issued to people either vaccinated against COVID-19, or who have proof of recent recovery from the infection, or a recent negative test.

Anti heath pass demonstrators face police officers next to a cafe terrace outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021. France's Constitutional Council is deciding on Thursday whether the health pass that is to open the doors and terraces to cafes, restaurants, trains and hospitals starting next week is in line with the nation's most cherished principles. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Starting Monday, it will be required for long-distance travel by train, plane or bus, entering restaurants, cafes and their terraces and rest homes  among a long list laid out in the law and approved in the ruling. The special court appeared to wince at the regulations but decided that overall a balance was struck between freedom and "the constitutional value of health protection."

The Council also approved obliging health care workers to be vaccinated against the virus by Sept. 15. And it ruled that requiring the health pass for hospital visitors and others is justified  if it "doesn't create an obstacle to accessing health care."

Several hundred noisy protesters in front of the Constitutional Council in Paris denounced the ruling, under the eye of nearly as many heavily armed police.

Anti heath pass demonstrators stage a protest next to a cafe terrace outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021. France's Constitutional Council is deciding on Thursday whether the health pass that is to open the doors and terraces to cafes, restaurants, trains and hospitals starting next week is in line with the nation's most cherished principles. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Julien Bailly, 37, who makes harpsichords, wore a "Health dictatorship: Stop" sticker on his shirt.

He said he was fully vaccinated, but "everyone should be able to make that choice freely, not because oppressive laws force them to. Soon well need QR codes for everything in life," he added. "This is a slippery slope and an unprecedented attack on our freedoms."

Critics complain that it limits their movements outside home  and implicitly renders vaccinations obligatory. Opponents have demonstrated around the country by the tens of thousands for the past three Saturdays, with more protests expected this weekend.

Anti heath pass demonstrators stage a protest outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021. France's Constitutional Council is deciding on Thursday whether the health pass that is to open the doors and terraces to cafes, restaurants, trains and hospitals starting next week is in line with the nation's most cherished principles. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A 26-year-old protester who identified herself only as Charlotte said she distrusts the COVID-19 vaccine and resents it being forced on her. "The health pass wont change my decision, Ill never get the vaccine," she said.

The Constitutional Council which examined the law is a special court which, among other things, reviews the constitutionality of legislation.

The health pass has been in effect since July 21 for cultural and recreational venues, including cinemas, concert halls and theme parks with capacity for more than 50 people. But the new law vastly extends its application.

Anti heath pass demonstrators face police officers outside the Constitutional Council in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 5,2021. France's Constitutional Council is deciding on Thursday whether the health pass that is to open the doors and terraces to cafes, restaurants, trains and hospitals starting next week is in line with the nation's most cherished principles. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Many restaurant owners say it is not their job to enforce the law, checking each client for a pass. Some health professionals have voiced fears that patients in need of non-urgent treatment could suffer.

"Quite a few people have told us they wouldnt be coming back once the health pass is implemented," said Vanessa Shi, co-owner of a noodle restaurant near the Champs-Elysees Avenue.

"Weve been insulted on several occasions, with people calling us sell-outs and worse for saying we would implement the measure," she said. "But with the bills weve racked up during the pandemic ... its a matter of survival for us."

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the ruling allows for "full deployment of the strategy against COVID-19." Disappointed that the article on strict isolation of those infected was struck down, he asked that recommended isolation be "scrupulously" respected.

More than 28,700 new infections were reported as of Wednesday evening, a steep climb from one month ago. The pandemic has claimed more than 112,000 lives in France.

Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens.

This May 21, 2021 photo shows the Apple logo displayed on a Mac Pro desktop computer in New York. Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens.

Apple said its messaging app will use on-device machine learning to warn about sensitive content without making private communications readable by the company. The tool Apple calls "neuralMatch" will detect known images of child sexual abuse without decrypting people's messages. If it finds a match, the image will be reviewed by a human who can notify law enforcement if necessary.

But researchers say the tool could be put to other purposes such as government surveillance of dissidents or protesters.

Matthew Green, a security professor at Johns Hopkins University who earlier posted his concerns on Twitter, told The Financial Times that Apple's move will "break the dam  governments will demand it from everyone."

Tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others have for years been sharing "hash lists" of known images of child sexual abuse. Apple has also been scanning iCloud, which unlike its messages is not end-to-end encrypted, for such images.

The company has been under pressure from governments and law enforcement to allow for surveillance of encrypted data.

Apple was one of the first major companies to embrace "end-to-end" encryption, in which messages are scrambled so that only their senders and recipients can read them. Law enforcement, however, has long pressured for access to that information in order to investigate crimes such as terrorism or child sexual exploitation.

"Apples expanded protection for children is a game changer," John Clark, President & CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in a statement. "With so many people using Apple products, these new safety measures have lifesaving potential for children who are being enticed online and whose horrific images are being circulated in child sexual abuse material,"

Julia Cordua, the CEO of Thorn, said that Apple's technology balances "the need for privacy with digital safety for children." Thorn, a nonprofit founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, uses technology to help protect children from sexual abuse by identifying victims and working with tech platforms.
When Doris Duke, a fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heiress, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, Rhode Island, mansion in 1966, police took her at her word that it was an accident.

When Doris Duke, a fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heiress, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, Rhode Island, mansion in 1966, police took her at her word that it was an accident.

But the story of the killing at Dukes Rough Point estate, which has resonated in the seaside tourist mecca, is being challenged by a witness  the paperboy.

FILE - In this June 17, 1971 file photo, heiress Doris Duke and her attorney Aram Arabian, leave Superior Court in Providence, R.I. When Duke, the fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heir, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, R.I. mansion in 1966, many people never bought the official police report that the death was an "unfortunate accident." Peter Lance's book "Homicide at Rough Point" released earlier this year concluded that Duke literally got away with murder in the death of Eduardo Tirella. (AP Photo, File)

Bob Walker, a Marine Corps veteran, says he was there the day Duke killed 42-year-old Eduardo Tirella, driving into him twice with a 2-ton station wagon as he screamed below it.

Peter Lance, an author and journalist whose meticulously researched book, Homicide at Rough Point, investigated the killing and recently interviewed Walker, who was 13 years old in 1966.

This is one of those stories that is still talked about in Newport, said Lance, a city native who got his first reporting job at The Newport Daily News several months after Tirellas death. I read a Facebook page for Newport residents and every three or four months someone brings this up.

FILE - In this Feb. 24, 1950 file photo, heiress Doris Duke attends a polo match in Cairo, Egypt. When Duke, the fabulously wealthy tobacco and power company heir, ran over and killed a longtime employee and confidant at her Newport, R.I. mansion in 1966, many people never bought the official police report that the death was an "unfortunate accident." Peter Lance's book "Homicide at Rough Point" released earlier this year concluded that Duke literally got away with murder in the death of Eduardo Tirella. (AP Photo, File)

Walker, now 68, says in a video interview with Lance released Thursday by Vanity Fair that he never went to police to tell them what he saw that day on the advice of his father, who feared for his sons life. The older man warned his son that Duke was a rotten person who had some people on her payroll who were very unscrupulous.

Duke inherited her money from her father, James Duke, president of the American Tobacco Co. and co-founder of the company known today as Duke Energy. Duke University in North Carolina is named for her family.

After reading Lances book, Walker last month went to police to give investigators his account of events, which he had only previously shared with a small circle of family and friends, and in response, local police are reexamining the case even though Duke died in 1993.

The Newport Police Department would like to look further into this (due to the new information weve been given), and rectify any possible misinformation concluded in the past, if any, for Eduardo and his family," Detective Jacque Wuest, who has been assigned to reopen the case, said in an email Thursday.

Walker, who was on his bike delivering The Newport Daily News, told Lance he first heard two people obviously arguing and screaming at each other.

And the next thing I heard was the roar of a motor, the crash, the screaming of a man, ever so slight skidding sound and deacceleration of the motor, a pause in the screaming, a man beginning to scream again, the roar of the motor again, the mans scream turning to horror of Nooooooo! and then another crash, he said.

When he came on the scene, he said he saw Duke get out of a car and move her body to block his view. He asked her if she wanted any help and if she wanted him to call police, and he said she screamed at him to leave.

Tirella had worked as a designer for Duke for several years. On the day of the death, the pair were taking the station wagon to look at an artifact, according to Lances book. But Duke was allegedly furious at Tirella for telling her that he was leaving her to become a set designer in Hollywood.

Police conducted a brief interview with Duke several days later at which point investigators took her at her word.

She said Tirella was driving but had gotten out of the car to open the estates massive wrought-iron gates, so she got behind the steering wheel to drive through the gates. She told police the car suddenly leaped forward. The police report said Tirella was crushed against the gates.

But thats not what Walker heard. He said he distinctly heard two impacts. And his recollection of events matched a police investigator who concluded that Duke struck Tirella once, sending him onto the hood of the car, then when he fell off, accelerated again and ran him over. The car ended up careening across the street where it struck a fence and tree.

Walker, in a telephone interview, said he never bought the official account of the death and went to police as a civic duty.

The narrative that was accepted by the cops was not the narrative that I remembered, he said.
HONOLULU (AP)  A San Francisco investment banker recently sold his Maui mansion to a retired hedge fund CEO and a Hollywood actress for $45 million.

FILE - Actress Barret Swatek attends the Audi Golden Globe week kick off party in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2013. Swatek and her husband purchased a Maui mansion for $45 million. The cash sale of the eight-bedroom oceanfront residence reflects a hot market where the median price of a Maui home tops $1.1 million. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

HONOLULU (AP)  A San Francisco investment banker recently sold his Maui mansion to a retired hedge fund CEO and a Hollywood actress for $45 million.

The cash sale of the oceanfront house in Kihei reflects a hot Hawaii real estate market fueled by a pandemic that has made the islands a desirable place to isolate and work remotely. According to property records, it has eight bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and two half bathrooms and features a pool and jacuzzi.

The median price of a Maui home topped $1.1 million in June. The price of the home  purchased by Adam Weiss and Barret Swatek on July 30  is the second-highest sale in Hawaii history, said their agent, Anne Hogan Perry of real estate company Compass. The most expensive single-family residence was for $46.1 million on Kauai in 2018.

Perry noted that home is on 15.3 acres, while the Maui property is less than an acre.

Part of a Maui mansion is seen from a street in Kihei, Hawaii on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. The $45-million cash sale of the eight-bedroom house reflects a hot real estate market where the median price of a Maui home topped $1.1 million in June. (J.D. Kim via AP)

The pandemic wasn't the main reason the Malibu, California, couple chose the home, Perry said. But a shift toward virtual meetings will allow them to spend more time in Hawaii.

They were not set on a particular island, she said. They wanted to understand the culture and what made each island different.

They ultimately decided on the 21,700-square-foot home designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta because of an attribute that is rare to find in most Hawaii neighborhoods, Perry said: They wanted to be able to walk."

The location allows them to take long walks on the beach and along tree-lined sidewalks.

It was also move-in ready, Perry said.

Swatek's television show roles include Awkward, Yellowstone and American Housewife. Her husband is co-founder of the hedge fund Scout Capital and founder of Stillwater Investment Management.

The sale capped a big couple of weeks for Hawaii real estate sales, Perry said, noting that just four days before the Maui deal closed, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's estate on the Big Island sold for $43 million and a home in Oahu's beachfront neighborhood of Lanikai sold for more than $24 million about a week earlier.

To have this many sales over $20 million is huge, Perry said.

The Maui home was not offered on the normal real estate market, said Will McKinney, agent for the seller, Thomas Weisel.

The owner wanted to keep it exclusive and didnt want to put it on the open market like a typical listing is," McKinney said. We notified all of the brokers who may have a buyer of this caliber."

Mauis hot real estate market makes it difficult for longtime residents, including Native Hawaiians, to afford to buy or rent homes, forcing them to leave Hawaii, said Stan Franco, president of Stand Up Maui, which advocates for affordable housing.

So I think its a real problem for people like myself who are older seeing this happening to our children and grandchildren, he said. And its causing a lot of real bad feelings from our local people to anybody from the outside.
Tangent Animation, an animation studio with offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, made the surprise announcement to its staff of animators Tuesday morning that it is shuttering its operation.

Tangent Animation, an animation studio with offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, made the surprise announcement to its staff of animators Tuesday morning that it is shuttering its operation.

One non-artist employee of the company, who asked not to be named, said she had been informed on Wednesday morning.

"All of the artists were told (Tuesday) the contracts were lost and all of them would be let go," she said.

"In my case, I inquired about it (Wednesday) morning after hearing from many different people that this was happening," she said.

The reason for the closure is mysterious.

In June of 2020, Tangents president and CEO, Ken Zorniak, proudly said the companys animation workforce, including 100 people in Winnipeg and 180 people in Toronto, were able to transition to working at home in the early months of the COVID crisis.

At that time, Zorniak said Tangent was at work on two animated features.

One report from the industry publication Cartoon Brew suggests those films were The Monkey King, produced by Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow, and High in the Clouds, an adaptation of a childrens novel by Paul McCartney, produced by McCartney.

Cartoon Brew said the company had completed work on a Netflix limited series Maya and the Three, produced and directed by Mexican animator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life, 2014), who expressed his surprise at the closure in a tweet: "This is heartbreaking. I wholeheartedly adored working with all the brilliant and ridiculously talented artists, artisans and producers at Tangent. What they accomplished with Maya and the Three is epic. Im jealous of future directors that will be lucky to create with them."

Cartoon Brew also quoted a "source with knowledge of the situation" who stated Netflix "was displeased with Tangents work on" The Monkey King and High in the Clouds.

Last June, Zorniak described Tangents relationship with Netflix as "very positive" in light of the production delays caused by the COVID shutdown.

"We feel obliged to work at 100 per cent quota because Netflix has been helpful in allowing us to let quotas fly for a couple of months so we could get back on track," Zorniak told the Free Press.

"People are literally in shock," the former employee told the Free Press.

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"A lot of the artists working for Tangent came to Winnipeg specifically because they do really good work, and were talking about people from many different countries," she said. "Its not just a loss of a job, its a loss of their connections here, their life here.

"So theres a lot of uncertainty and instability and frustration and confusion right now about what will happen," she said. "Where will they go?

"Its a huge loss for Manitoba definitely."

Calls to Tangent management were not returned.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias second-largest city, Melbourne, went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nations slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, left, and Victorian COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weima speak to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Australias second-most populous city Melbourne will end its fifth lockdown on Tuesday with the Victoria state government declaring it had beaten an outbreak of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant for a second time. (Luis Ascui/AAP Image via AP)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias second-largest city, Melbourne, went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nations slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Melbourne joins Sydney and Brisbane, Australias most populous and third-most populous cities respectively, in locking down due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will lock down for seven days after eight new infections were detected in the city, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Andrews gave less than four hours' notice that the state would lock down from 8 p.m. He said his government had no other choice because only 20% of Australian adults had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday.

To be really frank, we dont have enough people that have been vaccinated and, therefore, this is the only option available to us, Andrews said. The time will come when we have many more options. But that isnt now.

Healthcare staff watch as workers construct a pop-up COVID-19 testing site in the carpark of a college in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Australia's second-largest city Melbourne is into its sixth lockdown with a state government leader blaming the nation's slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout for the decision. (Daniel Pockett/AAP Image via AP)

Andrews has accused neighboring New South Wales state of taking too long to lock down Sydney after a limousine driver who became infected while transporting a U.S. aircrew from Sydney Airport tested positive to the delta variant on June 16.

New South Wales on Thursday reported its worst day since the Sydney lockdown began on June 26 with a record 262 new local infections and five deaths.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the dead had not been vaccinated. One had a single dose of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine in late May.

Australian authorities have urged people in Sydney not to wait for the optimal 12 weeks before getting their second AstraZeneca dose.

No one who has died has had both doses of vaccine. I cannot stress enough how its so important for everybody of all ages to come forward and get the vaccine, Berejiklian said.

AstraZeneca and Pfizer are the only vaccines available in Australia.

There have been 21 COVID-19 deaths reported in Sydney since the latest outbreak began. There have been 78 deaths confirmed in New South Wales since the pandemic began.

The government reported 262 locally acquired infections in the latest 24-hour period. Another six cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine and are not considered threats to the community.

When Victoria ended its fifth lockdown last week, Andrews said he believed the state was the only jurisdiction in the world that had beaten a delta outbreak twice.

Melbourne was the Australian center of the pandemic last year, when new infections peaked at 725 in a day in August. Of Australias 925 COVID-19 reported deaths since the pandemic began, 820 have occurred in Victoria.

Authorities were gaining confidence on Thursday that Brisbane and surrounding cities in Queensland state will end an eight-day lockdown as planned on Sunday.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said efforts to suppress the spread had surpassed expectations.

All 16 new locally acquired cases reported on Thursday have been directly linked to known exposure sites.

But doubts are growing that Sydneys lockdown will end as planned on Aug. 28 as case numbers continue to grow.

This story corrects that the lockdown is to last seven days, not seven weeks.
TORONTO - BCE Inc. reported a surge in second quarter profit Thursday and as it added new customers and saw improved results in segments affected by COVID-19.

BCE Inc. logo is shown at the company's annual general meeting in Montreal, Thursday, May 6, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

TORONTO - BCE Inc. reported a surge in second quarter profit Thursday and as it added new customers and saw improved results in segments affected by COVID-19.

The parent company of Bell Canada and media companies that include CTV, TSN and radio stations said it had net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $685 million or 76 cents per share, up from $237 million or 26 cents per share a year earlier.

Overall revenues climbed 6.4 per cent to $5.7 billion, up from nearly $5.4 billion in the prior year quarter.

BCE said it added 115,906 wireless mobile phone, retail internet and IPTV net additions, up 75 per cent from the year-ago period, including more wireless subscribers on device financing plans.

The company's Bell Media division saw a 30.4 per cent boost in revenue to $755 million as advertisers returned across its TV, radio, outdoor and digital platforms and it recorded higher subscriber revenue.

The segment could see a further boost as more people return to the office, said chief executive Mirko Bibic on an investor call.

"As businesses get back to the office, in some manner or shape or form in the months to come, thats going to bode well for radio advertising and out of home advertising coming back.

The company, however, will be looking to capitalize on its online assets and content to boost digital advertising revenues going forward, said Bibic.

Our digital-first pivot is where the real growth is going to come, and its really exciting, the team is really executing on that as well, because grabbing a bigger share of digital advertising spend speaks to a lot of potential growth in the quarters and years ahead.

On an adjusted basis, overall net income increased 31 per cent to $751 million or 83 cents per share, compared with $573 million or 63 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020.

Analysts on average expected the telecom giant to report 78 cents per share in adjusted profits on $5.73 billion of revenues, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California will require all of its roughly 2.2 million health care workers and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 as the nation's most populous state is losing ground in the battle against new infections of a more dangerous coronavirus variant.

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021, file photo, health care workers line up to receive at a COVID-19 vaccination at Ritchie Valens Recreation Center in Pacoima, Calif. California will require all of its roughly 2.2 million health care and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Sept. 30. Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month he would require health care workers to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. But the new order issued Thursday, Aug. 5 by the California Department of Public Health does not give health care workers a choice. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California will require all of its roughly 2.2 million health care workers and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 as the nation's most populous state is losing ground in the battle against new infections of a more dangerous coronavirus variant.

The order, issued Thursday by the California Department of Public Health, is different than what Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month when he announced health care workers would have the choice of either getting vaccinated or submitting to weekly testing.

Now, the order does not give health care workers a choice. It says all must be fully vaccinated by the end of September, with exceptions for people who decline the vaccine because of a religious belief or workers who cannot be inoculated because of a qualifying medical reason backed up by a note signed by a licensed medical professional.

The change comes as California is seeing the fastest increase in new virus cases since the start of the pandemic, averaging 18.3 new cases per 100,000 people a day. Most of the state's new infections are caused by the delta variant, a more contagious version of the coronavirus that the state says may cause more severe illness.

Increasing numbers of health care workers are among the new positive cases, despite vaccinations being prioritized for this group when vaccines initially became available, said Dr. Tomas J. Aragon, Californias public health officer. Recent outbreaks in health care settings have frequently been traced to unvaccinated staff members.

Gabe Montoya, an EMT at Kaiser Downey Medical Center and a member of the executive committee of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, said vaccines are an essential tool in fighting this virus," adding that workers must have a voice at the bargaining table whenever new conditions are placed on our work.

Weve put our lives on the line for the last year and a half doing this on a daily basis  at great cost to ourselves and to our families, Montoya said.

The order represents a new hard line in public health leaders' quest to convince the hesitant to receive the vaccine. Several states are focusing on health care workers, since they are around vulnerable patients.

But other states with similar requirements have carved out exceptions, like in Oregon, where health care workers can instead get regular COVID-19 testing. In Maryland, the vaccine mandate only applies to certain state employees, such as those who work in health care facilities under the state health department.

In California, vaccine mandates are perilous for Newsom, who is facing a recall election next month fueled in part by anger over his handling of the pandemic. Newsom has angered many parents by continuing to require masks indoors at all public schools, but he has not required all teachers and staff to be vaccinated.

Some California local governments are going beyond the new rule. In Los Angeles County, some 110,000 government workers have until Oct. 1 to be vaccinated under a new order issued by Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis.

She noted that about 4 million of the countys roughly 10 million residents remain unvaccinated. The Los Angeles order doesnt specify penalties for employees who refuse to be vaccinated.

The city of San Jose in Californias Silicon Valley is also requiring an estimated 8,000 workers to be vaccinated or provide weekly proof of negative COVID-19 tests. It may eventually mandate vaccination, with exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

Meanwhile, a letter to the approximately 5,000 staffers of Los Angeles County Superior Court  the nation's largest trial court system  ordered them to be fully vaccinated or be fired. The letter says workers must show proof of vaccination no more than 45 days after the federal Food and Drug Administration gives its final approval to one of the vaccines available in the U.S., the Los Angeles Times reported.

Both of those mandates provide exceptions for people on medical or religious reasons.

California's new vaccine mandate is broad and applies to workers in most health care facilities, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, psychiatric hospitals, adult day health care centers, dialysis centers, hospice facilities and clinics and doctor's offices.

Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, called the vaccine mandate an important step in the long battle we face against COVID-19 and the multiple variants that have emerged.

We are once again on a dangerous precipice that demands both our fortitude and our goodwill to protect loved ones and neighbors, Coyle said. Californias health care workers are being called upon  as they have through every step of this pandemic  to lead the charge in the battle between vaccine and variant.

In a separate order, the state required hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities to verify all visitors have either been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19 at least three days before an indoor visit. The state said it would give its updated guidance for long-term care facilities in the near future.
WASHINGTON - The United States is actively exploring how to welcome back international visitors, including whether they will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as stakeholders keen to reopen the Canada-U.S. border set their sights squarely on Capitol Hill.

A Canada Border Services Agency agent wears a mask at the Thousand Islands US/Canada border crossing in Lansdowne, Ont., on Friday July. 30, 2021. A group of U.S. and Canadian business leaders is pushing Congress for a plan to ease restrictions at the land border with Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

WASHINGTON - The United States is actively exploring how to welcome back international visitors, including whether they will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as stakeholders keen to reopen the Canada-U.S. border set their sights squarely on Capitol Hill.

Interagency working groups, tasked with finding the best way to ease the global travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, are considering whether to impose a vaccine requirement on incoming travellers, White House officials said Thursday.

"That is certainly under strong consideration," said press secretary Jen Psaki, who cited the highly transmissible Delta variant as a key factor in the White House's go-slow approach.

"Given where we are today with the Delta variant, we will plan to maintain existing travel restrictions at this point. However, what our interagency working groups are focused on  is working to develop a plan for a consistent and safe international travel policy."

Two key questions, however, went unanswered: when the restrictions might begin to ease, and whether the ongoing discussions encompass the unique hybrid patchwork of rules that currently govern visitors from Canada.

In White House parlance, "international travel" largely refers to the limits on intercontinental visitors from a number of foreign countries, including China, India, Ireland, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and the 26 European countries without border controls, known as the Schengen group.

While so-called "discretionary" or non-essential travel from Canada has been banned at land border crossings since March 2020, most air, rail and sea travellers have been exempt from those limits for the duration of the pandemic.

The land border rules will get even more wrinkly Monday when Canada begins allowing fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents back into the country. The United Kingdom has also been easing its restrictions on vaccinated Americans. In neither case has the U.S. reciprocated.

That's despite the fact that nearly 70 per cent of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated, and 81.7 per cent have received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine.

"We cannot fully live in fear because of a percentage of people who continue to hesitate" to get vaccinated, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in French during a news conference Thursday.

"That is why we will continue to try and resume a normal life: we will start accepting fully vaccinated tourists first from the States and then from other countries."

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said the Delta variant likely poses a greater threat through domestic transmission than it does from U.S. visitors. Travel will be monitored closely to allow the government to act quickly if necessary.

"If we see any significant concerns, of course, we can adjust our border stance accordingly," Tam said. "For now, I think all the indicators are still pointing in the right direction for that next phase in terms of a border approach."

Stakeholders on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, meanwhile, have largely exhausted their patience waiting to hear something similar from the Department of Homeland Security.

A coalition of U.S. and Canadian business leaders, led by the North American Strategy for Competitiveness, wrote this week to senior congressional leaders urging them to demand that the department put forward a detailed reopening strategy.

Specifically, the group is worried that when the time does finally come, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will struggle to process vaccination status reports and COVID-19 test results amid a crush of impatient inbound travellers.

"We understand the necessity of protecting public health and believe that the U.S. can do so while also easing the restrictions at the land border," their letter reads.

However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection "does not appear to have a plan in place to execute a safe reopening without causing tremendous delays at land ports of entry."

The letter is addressed to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House committees and subcommittees on homeland security, as well as members of several key Canada-U.S. caucus groups.

Its signatories include organizations focused on cross-border commerce and travel, including the Canada-U.S. Business Association, the Border Trade Alliance and the Pacific Northwest Economic Region.

Neither Psaki nor Jeff Zients, the co-ordinator of the White House COVID-19 response, specifically mentioned Canada by name during their respective news conferences Thursday. But they did make clear that now is not the time to lift the restrictions wholesale.

The working groups, which include officials from Canada, Mexico, the European Union and the U.K., are exploring a "phased approach" that may include a vaccination requirement, Zients said.

"There's still policy work being done here," he said. "That's not a decision at this point; that's one of the paths that's being looked at and considered. But there are alternative paths being looked at at the same time."

It's also not clear whether the U.S. will require visitors to have received one of the only three vaccines to receive emergency-use approval by the Food and Drug Administration: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.
The federal government has two options on the table for making digital platforms such as Facebook and Google pay media companies in Canada for journalism, but after the first phase of consultations, isnt clear on which is the best way forward.

The federal government has two options on the table for making digital platforms such as Facebook and Google pay media companies in Canada for journalism, but after the first phase of consultations, isnt clear on which is the best way forward.

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has been heading up the initiative as news companies in Canada have been struggling financially and digital platforms have vacuumed up most of the ad revenue that used to go to newspapers and broadcasters.

"We are committed to finding a solution that will ensure Canadians continue to have access to a diversity of local and regional news sources that serve their needs and interests," said Guilbeault in a statement.

"Canadian news publishers play an essential role in keeping our communities safe and informed."

According to a discussion paper from the government, which was published online Tuesday, the first round of consultations with stakeholders, including media companies and digital platforms, was inconclusive when it came to the best policy model for the government to deploy and it is now launching a second phase.

The first policy option that was on the table is similar to Australias, where there is a mandatory code that sets out negotiation standards that digital platforms would have to meet during negotiations with news outlets. If a payment agreement isnt reached, an arbitration panel would be set up to select the payment structure for the two parties.

The second option could see an independent media fund set up and have digital platforms distribute a certain amount of money to it, based on a percentage of their Canadian revenue. The funds would then be dispersed to media organizations.

The discussion paper says no consensus was reached with the stakeholders who spoke to the government. A second round of consultations has been launched and is open for 45 days, with the government inviting written submissions from a wide range of stakeholders.

In the new round of consultations, the government says there could be other models considered, including mixing the first two options.

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One example mentioned includes a regulator that could be set up to oversee fair commercial deals and ensure that the digital platforms arent giving preference, or disadvantage, to certain media companies.

There could also be a system in which financial contributions to an independent fund are reduced for platforms if they strike commercial deals with media companies, according to the draft document.

The Department of Heritage received 46 written submissions from a wide array of stakeholders during the first round, a list of which was included in the draft document. It included News Media Canada, which lobbies on behalf of publishers in Canada, including the Winnipeg Free Press.

It also listed the Canadian Association of Journalists, association de la presse francophone, Press Forward, Ontario Community Newspapers Association, Canadian Association of Black Journalists and a multitude of others.

It included large broadcasters such as CBC and Bell Media, as well as the worlds largest digital platforms such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.

 Toronto Star
CALGARY - Canadian Natural Resources reported higher earnings and raised its capital budget after a positive quarterly earnings report Thursday.

CALGARY - Canadian Natural Resources reported higher earnings and raised its capital budget after a positive quarterly earnings report Thursday.

The Calgary-based company reported net earnings of $1.5 billion for the quarter ended June 30, compared to $1.3 billion for the previous quarter.

The earnings translated to $1.25 per basic share, compared to $1.03 per basic share for the previous quarter.

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Its daily production of natural gas rose slightly while its daily production of oil sank when compared to the previous quarter.

Canadian Natural president Tim McKay said the outlook for commodity prices remains positive, and the company's capital budget was raised by $275 million to $3.48 billion in response.

The company said it also reduced net debt by $1.7 billion as it repaid and retired a term loan worth more than $2 billion that was originally set to mature next year.

"Canadian Natural is in a strong position as our vast and diverse asset base delivered strong operational and financial results in the second quarter of 2021," said McKay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug 5, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNQ)
The nation's top aviation regulator is suggesting that local police around the country should file charges more often against unruly airline passengers and that airports should clamp down on alcohol sales.

This July 2, 2021 photo shows a sign stating face coverings are required is displayed at O'Hare airport in Chicago. The nations top aviation regulator is asking local officials to consider filing criminal charges more often against people who act up during airline flights, Thursday, Aug. 5. Federal Aviation Administration chief Stephen Dickson says airline crews often ask police to meet their plane when it lands because of unruly passengers. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The nation's top aviation regulator is suggesting that local police around the country should file charges more often against unruly airline passengers and that airports should clamp down on alcohol sales.

Federal Aviation Administration chief Stephen Dickson said that every week, police are asked to be there when a flight lands after an incident involving passengers, including cases in which they assault flight attendants.

"Nevertheless, many of these passengers were interviewed by local police and released without criminal charges of any kind," Dickson said in letters to airport officials. "When this occurs, we miss a key opportunity to hold unruly passengers accountable for their unacceptable and dangerous behavior."

Dickson noted in the letters dated Wednesday that the FAA has proposed civil fines against dozens of passengers in recent months, but the agency has no authority to file criminal charges.

Dickson also asked airports to work with concessionaires to limit alcohol-related incidents. He said some concessionaires sell alcohol to go and passengers get drunk before the flight or believe they can carry their drinks on to the plane.

The letter went to more than 500 airports and two airport trade groups.

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This week, the FAA said airlines have reported 3,715 incidents involving unruly passengers since Jan. 1, with about three-fourths of the events involving people who refuse to wear face masks, as the federal government requires on airline flights. The FAA said it started investigating more than 600 incidents  nearly double the numbers for 2019 and 2020 combined  and has proposed fines in 99 of them.

The Association of Flight Attendants has pushed for more criminal prosecutions. The union said last week that nearly one in five members who responded to a survey reported witnessing or being involved in physical incidents involving passengers this year.

The surge in incidents of bad behavior on planes has been attributed to many factors including opposition to the mask rule, stress brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and the easy availability of alcohol in airports. Planes have been packed this summer with vacation travelers, and flight delays and cancellations have soared for reasons including thunderstorms, staffing shortages and technology outages.

Longtime flight attendants can't recall a similar level of tension. They say it is worse than an increase in unruly passengers in the 1990s that led Congress to make it a crime to interfere with airline crews. Some have reported being harassed, followed through terminals, and assaulted.

Reports of arrests have been rare, although they were made in two of the more notable recent incidents.

A 22-year-old Ohio man was arrested last week in Miami after allegedly groping two female flight attendants and punching their male colleague on a Frontier Airlines flight. He spent the end of the flight duct-taped to a seat. In late May, a 28-year-old California woman was charged with felony battery after allegedly slugging a Southwest flight attendant in the face. The attendant lost two teeth, according to her union president.
MUGLA, Turkey (AP)  A wildfire that reached the compound of a coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and forced nearby residents to flee in boats and cars was contained on Thursday after raging for some 11 hours, officials and media reports said.

People are evacuated by boats after wildfires reached the Kemerkoy Power Plant, a coal-fueled power plant, in Milas in southwest Turkey, late Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Cem Tekkesoglu)

MUGLA, Turkey (AP)  A wildfire that reached the compound of a coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and forced nearby residents to flee in boats and cars was contained on Thursday after raging for some 11 hours, officials and media reports said.

Strong winds drove the fire toward the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province late Wednesday, prompting evacuations from the nearby seaside resort of Oren. Navy vessels were deployed to help ferry away residents, while cars formed long convoys on roads leading away from the area, Haberturk television reported.

Turkey's worst wildfires in decades have raged for nine days amid scorching heat, low humidity and constantly shifting strong winds. The fires have so far killed eight people and countless animals.

In coastal Mugla province, where tourist hot spot Bodrum is located, fires continued to burn in five areas on Thursday, officials said. Fires also raged in five districts of Antalya province, another tourism destination, where two neighborhoods were evacuated on Wednesday.

Turkish volunteers rest as they fight wildfires in Turgut village, near tourist resort of Marmaris, Mugla, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. As Turkish fire crews pressed ahead Tuesday with their weeklong battle against blazes tearing through forests and villages on the country's southern coast, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government faced increased criticism over its apparent poor response and inadequate preparedness for large-scale wildfires.(AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the situation in Antalya was improving.

We are in better shape today than yesterday. We stopped the fire from spreading further, thanks to interventions from the air and the ground, he said. We are more hopeful for tomorrow (when) wind speeds will be lower. We need to turn this to our advantage.

In Mugla, authorities evacuated three neighborhoods near the town of Milas Thursday evening as the fires neared.

How is this going to be prevented? asked Mesut Yilmaz, a 57-year-old resident of the Gurceyiz neighborhood, after he moved his livestock out of harm's way to a neighboring village. I am depressed.

Precautions were taken before the flames reached the Kemerkoy power plant. The plant's hydrogen tanks were emptied, and workers were evacuated. Flammable and explosive substances had also been removed, according to state broadcaster TRT.

Turkish volunteers prepare to fight wildfires in Turgut village, near tourist resort of Marmaris, Mugla, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. As Turkish fire crews pressed ahead Tuesday with their weeklong battle against blazes tearing through forests and villages on the country's southern coast, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government faced increased criticism over its apparent poor response and inadequate preparedness for large-scale wildfires.(AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told reporters that the plant's main units, including its turbines, were not damaged, adding that authorities wanted to render it operational again as soon as possible. He added that no dangerous emissions were reported from the plant.

At the moment, there is no fire that is threatening the plant, he said. This plant is of critical importance to the region.

The privately run plant uses lignite to generate electricity, according to its website.

Television images showed dozens of fire trucks and water tankers surrounding the plants main building, some dousing water as part of a cooling effort that also involved planes and helicopters. The main building did not appear to have been affected.

A forestry authority official warned, however, that the Kemerkoy plant and another nearby power station were still at risk due to the unpredictable winds. Authorities blocked roads and were not allowing people to get close to Kemerkoy.

People wait to be evacuated by boats after wildfires reached the Kemerkoy Power Plant, a coal-fueled power plant, in Milas in southwest Turkey, late Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Cem Tekkesoglu)

Before the fire reached the power plant, firefighters had been working for two days to protect it from advancing flames. Videos from an adjacent neighborhood in Milas showed charred, decimated trees.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government has come under intense criticism over an allegedly slow response to the blazes and inadequate preparedness for large-scale wildfires. The government acknowledged that the country did not have a useable fleet of water-dropping planes.

Firefighting aircraft from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Spain and Croatia came to Turkey to back the ground operation.

Cavusoglu said two planes being hired from Israel were expected to arrive on Friday. Poland had offered to send a military Black Hawk helicopter and 14 crew members, while Turkey and the United States were discussing an offer for two military Chinook helicopters, he added.

In the past week, mayors posted videos on social media pleading for aerial firefighting responses to local wildfires, and Turkish celebrities joined a social media campaign requesting foreign help to combat the blazes.

The campaign drew an angry response from a top Erdogan aide, Fahrettin Altun, who said, Our Turkey is strong. Our state is standing strong.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutors Office announced Thursday that it was investigating social media postings containing the hashtag Help Turkey for allegedly spreading false information. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said proceedings had begun over 172 social media postings.

In an effort to control the flow of information, Turkey's broadcasting watchdog warned television stations Tuesday about airing reports that it said were creating an atmosphere of chaos and affecting the morale of firefighters and the public.

Erdogan, whom critics accuse of increased authoritarianism, has accused opposition party members of perpetuating a terror of lies for disparaging the government's wildfire response. The president said in an interview late Wednesday that Turkey's municipalities, which the country's main opposition party controls in many of the fire-stricken areas, were also responsible for protecting towns. Mayors have said they were not invited to crisis coordination meetings.

A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has contributed to wildfires breaking out across the Mediterranean, including in Italy and Greece. The heat wave is forecast to continue in Turkey and Greece until the end of the week.

On Thursday, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemir suggested the creation of a mechanism under which Mediterranean nations would assist each other in combating forest fires.

The time has come for a Mediterranean union to fight against forest fires because it is clear that from now on we will have to live with hot weather and global warming, he said.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks the previous day from Lebanon by launching rare airstrikes on its northern neighbor, the army and Lebanese officials said.

An Israeli firefighter attempts to extinguish a fire caused by rocket fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory Wednesday and the army fired back, Israel's military said. There was no immediate information on damages or casualties. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks the previous day from Lebanon by launching rare airstrikes on its northern neighbor, the army and Lebanese officials said.

A statement from the Israeli military said jets struck the launch sites from which the rockets were fired, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The military blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel's sovereignty.

The overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time. Israel's new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease-fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas' militant rulers in Gaza in May. Several incidents leading up to this week's rocket fire from Lebanon have focused attention on Israel's northern border. The United States swiftly condemned the attacks on Israel.

Lebanon is mired in multiple crises, including a devastating economic and financial meltdown and a political deadlock that has left the country without a functional government for a full year.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israels use of its air force to target Lebanese villages is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions against Lebanon. In a statement, he said Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations.

The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, Stefano Del Col, called on the parties to act with urgency to de-escalate tensions and prevent violations of the cessation of hostilities that has been in effect since 2006.

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a devastating, monthlong war in 2006 which killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and around 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The war failed to neutralize the groups rocket threat, and Israeli officials say the Iran-backed Hezbollahs improved missile arsenal is now capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

No one has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire from Lebanon, and Hezbollah has not commented. The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV reported the Israeli strikes at around 2 a.m. Thursday, saying they hit an empty area in the village of Mahmoudiya in Marjayoun district.

Avichai Adraee, the Israeli armys Arabic-language spokesman, said the Lebanese government is responsible for what happens on its territory and warned against more attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory and Israel responded with sustained artillery fire. Sirens sounded in northern Israel, warning of a possible rocket attack. Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the army said.

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Channel 12 said one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israels defense system, known as the Iron Dome. Israeli media reported that the incoming rockets set off fires near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

The Lebanese military said 92 artillery shells were fired by Israel on Lebanese villages as a result of Wednesday's rocket fire from Lebanon. It said the Israeli artillery shelling resulted in a fire in the village of Rashaya al-Fukhar. The Lebanese army also said it was conducting patrols in the border region and had set up a number of checkpoints and opened an investigation to determine the source of the rocket fire.

There have been several similar incidents in recent months.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon.

Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks, he told reporters on Wednesday in Washington, adding that the U.S. would remain engaged with partners in the region in an effort to de-escalate the situation.

Karam reported from Beirut.
Vaccine maker Novavax announced Thursday it has asked regulators in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine -- offering its shot to some low-income countries before rich ones with ample supplies.

FILE - This Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020 file photo shows a vial of the Phase 3 Novavax coronavirus vaccine ready for use in a trial at St. George's University hospital in London. On Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, vaccine maker Novavax announced it has asked regulators in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 shot. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Vaccine maker Novavax announced Thursday it has asked regulators in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine -- offering its shot to some low-income countries before rich ones with ample supplies.

U.S.-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine program.

Novavax CEO Stanley Erck called the submissions an important step toward access to millions of doses of a safe and effective vaccine for countries with an urgent need to control the pandemic.

The company announced it also plans to submit applications in Britain soon, followed by Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, but not in the U.S. until later in the year.

The Novavax two-dose shot is made with lab-grown copies of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. Thats very different than other widely used vaccines that deliver genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.

The Novavax shots are easier to store and transport than some other options, and have long been expected to play an important role in increasing supplies in poor countries desperate for more vaccine.

In June, Novavax announced the vaccine had proved about 90% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in a study of nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico. It also worked against variants circulating in those countries at the time. Side effects were mostly mild.

As for the highly contagious delta variant that now is circulating in much of the world, Novavax also announced Thursday that giving a booster six months after a second shot revved up virus-fighting antibodies that could tackle that mutant.

Additional studies in Britain and elsewhere are testing if the Novavax shot could be used as a booster after other types of COVID-19 vaccines. Erck said that mix-and-match data might lead to its vaccine becoming the universal booster of choice in rich countries.

And the company said Indonesia already had expressed interest in using the Novavax vaccine as a booster following some Chinese-made shots.

The Gaithersburg, Maryland, company said it was on track to produce up to 100 million doses a month by the end of the third quarter and 150 million doses a month by years end.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Puerto Ricos governor announced Thursday that vaccinations will be required of government contractors, hotel guests and employees and all health facility workers to control a spike in COVID-19 cases blamed largely on the Delta variant.

Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi greets crew members of Carnival's Mardi Gras cruise ship, docked in the bay of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, marking the first time a cruise ship visits the U.S. territory since the COVID-19 pandemic began. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Puerto Ricos governor announced Thursday that vaccinations will be required of government contractors, hotel guests and employees and all health facility workers to control a spike in COVID-19 cases blamed largely on the Delta variant.

The order goes into effect Aug. 16; those who refuse to get inoculated will be required to submit a weekly negative COVID-19 test. Violators will face up to a $5,000 fine or six months in jail, with few exceptions allowed.

We cannot lower our guard, said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. There are vaccines for everyone. Vaccinations are the solution.

The announcement comes as Puerto Rico reports an 11% transmission rate this month, compared with a 1.4% rate reported in late June.

Pierluisi said the requirement applies to all those working in health facilities including laboratories and elderly care centers as well as those in short-term rentals including Airbnbs. He said government contractors who meet with officials in person will be required to show vaccination proof.

The governor previously announced that vaccinations will be required of all government employees working in their office.

Carlos Mellado, Puerto Ricos health secretary, said the majority of cases are being driven by the Delta variant. He noted that 20% of current hospitalizations are people who have already received two vaccine doses and added that the government will not issue health certificates unless proof of vaccination is submitted.

The U.S. territory of 3.3 million people has reported more than 128,000 confirmed cases and more than 2,500 deaths. Some 76% of people have received at least one dose.
Despite the pandemic, the IRS received more than 7 million requests for new employer identification numbers between January 2020 and June 2021, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A hiring sign is seen at a Stella's Place cafe in Des Plaines, Ill., Sunday, July 11, 2021. Americans have started millions of new businesses in the last 18 months. As those businesses grow, many owners will consider hiring their first employees. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Despite the pandemic, the IRS received more than 7 million requests for new employer identification numbers between January 2020 and June 2021, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

As those businesses grow, many will reach an important milestone: hiring their first employees. Here are six things business owners should do first.

1. MAKE SURE YOU NEED HELP

First, look for signs that your business cant move forward without assistance.

If youre personally at capacity and receiving more orders than you can handle, it may be time to hire someone, says Phelan Spence , a services and financial analysis associate at JumpStart, a Cleveland-based nonprofit that works with entrepreneurs.

Hiring may also be on the horizon for business owners who are missing deadlines, fielding customer complaints or thinking about taking on a big project.

2. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Before hiring full- or part-time employees, your cash flow should be steady enough to support regular paychecks .

Business owners need to plan for expenses beyond wages, including Social Security, Medicare and payroll taxes, and, in many states, workers compensation. Benefits like health insurance add additional costs.

At the same time, bringing in a new employee can help you generate more revenue by expanding your capacity.

Spence says metrics like average monthly sales and average revenue per sale can help you understand how hiring someone will affect your finances and when its time to take that step.

(Hiring is) not necessarily tied to a date  its really tied to hitting that number of customers or number of projects or products or services, Spence says.

3. FIND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

Outside experts can help you navigate the hiring process. That team might include an attorney, bookkeeper, accountant and HR consultant.

Make sure that you get the advice of a professional to kind of lead you along the way, says Angel Washington, owner of Cleveland-based medical billing and coding business Consult 2 Code . You just want to make sure you do everything right from the beginning so you dont have to go back and fix things.

Expert advice can help you stay compliant with employment law, like understanding when you can hire independent contractors and when you need employees, and making sure new hires fill out the necessary tax forms.

4. SET UP PAYROLL AND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

When a business owner hires a new employee, they need to gather certain documents for tax and legal reasons. And when they pay that employee, they need to withhold money for tax and insurance payments.

When youre at this stage, it is really important to start thinking about your systems and invest a little bit of time and energy in your systems, Spence says.

Those systems could include payroll software, most of which can automatically withhold funds from paychecks, or accounting software, which you can use to keep your finances organized as your business grows.

5. POSITION NEW EMPLOYEES FOR SUCCESS

Your first employee is the first person that you are entrusting your vision to, says April D. Halliburton, founder and president of virtual HR company All-4-HR . Halliburton is also a volunteer mentor with SCORE, a nonprofit organization that offers business owners free resources, including webinars and how-to guides about hiring employees.

Start by writing a clear job description, Hallburton says, and dont rely totally on a template because 10 different companies are going to have receptionists doing things 10 different ways.

Halliburton encourages business owners to work with an HR professional to create an employee handbook so employees know how to navigate the workplace. Also, consider creating manuals that walk new employees through key tasks.

I think you make the biggest impact within the first few months, Halliburton says. The last thing you want to do is not give the effort and energy that is needed when youre hiring your employees and growing your staff and culture.

6. GET READY TO LET GO

Washington started Consult 2 Code as a solopreneur. She now has a team of seven, including full- and part-time employees as well as independent contractors.

Washington thinks most entrepreneurs want to do things ourselves because our name is the brand and the brand is our name.

But hiring a team has allowed her to step back from day-to-day tasks and focus on running and growing her business.

Being able to let go was really hard, Washington says. But once you do let go, you can finally be able to breathe.

_______________________________

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Rosalie Murphy is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: rmurphy@nerdwallet.com.

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: 5 Bookkeeping Best Practices for Startups and Small Businesses https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-smb-5-tips

Small business help from SCORE: https://www.score.org
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A Saudi humanitarian aid worker's anonymous Twitter account used for satire about Saudi Arabia's economy landed him in prison in the kingdom over three years ago.

In this photo provided by the family of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan poses for a graduation photo at Notre Dame de Namur University, a private Catholic university, in Belmont, California, May 4, 2013. Saudi humanitarian aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhans anonymous Twitter account used to parody issues about the economy in Saudi Arabia has landed him in prison in the kingdom. But his story may have roots in an elaborate ploy that began in Silicon Valley and sparked a federal case against two Twitter employees accused of spying for the kingdom. (Family of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A Saudi humanitarian aid worker's anonymous Twitter account used for satire about Saudi Arabia's economy landed him in prison in the kingdom over three years ago.

But the story may have roots in an elaborate ploy that began in Silicon Valley and sparked a federal case against two Twitter employees accused of spying for the kingdom.

The case, spanning from San Francisco to Riyadh, reveals Saudi Arabia's continued efforts at suppressing criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and shines a spotlight on the lengths to which the kingdom has gone to target perceived critics.

For Areej al-Sadhan, a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen living in California, the saga began on March 12, 2018, when plain-clothed security forces entered the office of the Red Crescent in Riyadh, where her younger brother, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, was working.

The men took her brother away, without any explanation.

It was like he disappeared off the face of the earth ... there was no trace of him at all, she said.

That same year, the crown prince oversaw an unprecedented crackdown against activists, rivals and perceived critics as he amassed power. The year culminated in the gruesome killing of Washington Post contributing columnist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in the Saudi Consulate in Turkey in late 2018.

As months went by, word reached al-Sadhan's family that he was being held in a secret location and subjected to abuse: beatings, electrocution, sleep deprivation, verbal and even sexual assault.

Then, in February 2020, nearly two years after his disappearance, a relative's phone rang. It was al-Sadhan. He confirmed he was alive and being held in al-Ha'ir Prison on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. A year later, he called again to tell them he would be released soon.

But he was never freed. In April, the anti-terrorism court where he was tried handed down a shockingly long prison sentence of 20 years for al-Sadhan, followed by a 20-year travel ban. Rights groups note that under the ruling, al-Sadhan, 37, will not be truly free until he is 77 years-old.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented on Tuesday on Twitter that al-Sadhans sentencing was a grave injustice, continuing Saudi Arabias assault on freedom of expression. She said Congress is closely monitoring Abdulrahmans appeal efforts and all human rights abuses by the regime.

This week, al-Sadhan appealed the ruling; his next appeal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Charges against al-Sadhan are unclear, but they are related to Saudi cybercrime laws and national security matters in connection to an anonymous Twitter account he purportedly ran that was critical of the kingdom's economic polices. Twitter is a key space for Saudis to express their views, and millions of Saudis are active users.

How the Saudi government linked al-Sadhan to the Twitter account remains a mystery.

His sister says someone close to an FBI investigation told the family that his account is believed to be among a list of accounts whose identities were leaked to the Saudi government by spies planted in the U.S. tech company.

They shared a list of different Twitter handles, and the handle that we believe belonged to my brother was among them, she said.

Rights activists say at the time of al-Sadhans arrest in early 2018, several other Saudis who ran anonymous Twitter accounts critical of the government were also detained in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has not commented on their arrests.

U.S. federal prosecutors are currently pursuing a case in California against three men accused of acting on behalf of the Saudi government as secret agents throughout 2015.

An FBI complaint alleges that Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen who was media partnerships manager for the Middle East at Twitter, and Saudi citizen Ali Alzabarah, who worked as an engineer at Twitter, used their position to access confidential Twitter data about users, their email addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses that can give up a users location. A third man named in the complaint is Saudi citizen Ahmed Al-Mutairi, who is said to have worked with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family as an intermediary.

The FBI complaint alleges that user data of over 6,000 Twitter accounts was accessed, including at least 33 usernames for which Saudi law enforcement had submitted emergency disclosure requests to Twitter.

Arrest warrants were issued for the two Saudi men, who have since left the U.S., while Abouammo was arrested in November 2019 and released on bond. He had pleaded not guilty.

Back in Riyadh, al-Sadhan is being kept in solitary confinement with only a court appointed lawyer allowed to defend him. His father has only been able to speak to him briefly in court in the presence of guards.

In California, his sister Areej said the timing of his sentencing in April appears to be linked to a decision by President Joe Biden to stop short of sanctioning the crown prince after the release in February of a highly sensitive intelligence assessment that determined he approved the operation that killed Khashoggi in Turkey.

A shift happened after MBS felt immune that hes not going to be punished for Khashoggis murder and the other human rights violations, she said, referring to the crown prince by his moniker.

She said when her brother returned to Saudi Arabia in 2014 after completing a business degree at Notre Dame de Namur University in California, he struggled to find work. He was aware of the vast wealth disparities in his country, and the challenges young Saudi men and women face in finding jobs.

He wasnt an activist or super interested in politics, but he was compassionate and cared deeply about people, she said.

Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ayaelb
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  After another pandemic-disrupted school year, organizers of vastly expanded summer learning opportunities are investing heavily in efforts to make them accessible to the most vulnerable students.

In this photo provided by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, teacher Joanne Browning works with a first grade student at Rea Farms STEAM Academy, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' summer program, in Charlotte, NC, Monday, June 21, 2021. Across the country, school districts were able to greatly expand their summer offerings by leveraging federal pandemic relief funding. (Nancy Pierce/Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools via AP)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  After another pandemic-disrupted school year, organizers of vastly expanded summer learning opportunities are investing heavily in efforts to make them accessible to the most vulnerable students.

While there have been success stories, the programs have faced many of the same challenges that educators have been up against since the pandemic hit: Attendance has been inconsistent, some families have lost interest, and COVID-19 still has many reluctant to let students learn in-person.

Educators also have had to address persistent barriers to access for summer programs for families that juggle work and child care and have limited access to transportation.

Were starting from a really unequal playing field, said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who studies educational inequity. Theres a lot that school districts have to do, and community organizations that are running these programs as well, in order to help pick that up.

The summer programs offered by schools and community groups are powered by an infusion of private and public funding  including billions of dollars in federal stimulus money  to help students catch up on learning. School districts targeted their outreach to students identified as high needs, including students with failing grades in core classes or in high-poverty neighborhoods.

When Penasco Independent School District, which serves roughly 350 students in New Mexico, announced a summer program this year, demand overwhelmed the number of slots until the district doubled the number of seats available.

But of the 85 children signed up, more than half would not be able to attend if it weren't for district-provided transportation services.

In Penasco, pervasive intergenerational poverty has pushed school districts to embrace the so-called community schools model that provides services like counseling, transportation, internet access and other resources, ensuring participation in school programs.

In the rural district, community schools director Michael Noll said, some families don't own a car. Some who do have periods where they can't afford gas. And others are often juggling work and child care, unable to constantly shepherd kids back and forth.

The district runs three buses to make sure those 50 kids can attend. Like many families in these rural foothills of the Rocky Mountains, social worker Carmen Lyn Romero lives on a dirt road too narrow for a school bus.

Romero, who balanced taking care of her five children with serving nearby tribal reservation Picuris Pueblo, relied on an SUV the district sent to pick up her children.

The school has been so accommodating to my kids, to pick them up and drop them off. I cant do that, said Romero, 28.

Even before the pandemic, students' summer experiences divided heavily along socioeconomic lines. Middle and upper class students typically experience learning gains over the summer and are more likely to have access to summer enrichment, Potter said.

In contrast, low-income students typically see learning loss, Potter said. Families often struggle to find slots in affordable summer enrichment programs, where demand can readily outpace the number of available seats.

The dramatically expanded number of seats available through school districts this year eased some of those pressures, and targeted outreach policies aimed to get high-needs students into those slots.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools typically does not host a summer session, but offered more than 30,000 slots this year to any student interested and saw an average daily attendance of around 15,000.

While any student could sign up and get a seat, the district identified those with Ds or Fs in core classes, students with unstable housing or who were chronically absent, and students with special needs for individual outreach, including home visits and phone calls to inform families about registration.

About 65,000 students were identified as at-risk under those criteria, and nearly 20,000 of those children signed up for a summer slot. The program saw an average daily attendance of about 10,000 at-risk students.

Tangela Williams, who is overseeing summer programming, said that because attendance was not mandatory, some students came only on certain days of the week or started during the middle of the 24-day program. While some parents said they were simply no longer interested, staff members contacted each family if a student missed three consecutive days to provide any support needed in case the student wanted to return.

Williams said that while there were limits to what could be done, she hoped the experience would go beyond teaching content and help students make the transition back to in-person learning.

A percentage of our kids who are attending summer camp were full-remote kids during the school year, Williams said. Having them in school this summer is a way to reacclimate them to school life with new processes and socialization that theyre going to have with their peers.

The impact of extended school closures and the coronavirus pandemic has fallen unevenly across communities. Black and Latino families, who were more likely to get sick or face serious health consequences from the virus, tended to keep their children in remote learning at higher rates even as districts increasingly offered in-person options.

Building relationships and trust with families was crucial to reengaging students who had largely been disconnected from the school system, said Kendra Banks, chief of arts and learning academies at Young Audiences of Maryland, which partners with Baltimore City Schools to run arts-integrated educational summer camps.

Some parents were still hesitant to send their children back to in-person programming because of the coronavirus, Banks said. The program offered weekly testing and walked parents through all the additional safety protocols to reassure them, Banks said.

We went above and beyond what the requirements were to make sure that the sites were safe and to assure them that we will be practicing the necessary protocols, Banks said. It was calling and having personal conversations with each family about any questions they had.

Districts also used the boost in funding to expand the types of programs they were able to offer. Aaron Philip Dworkin, CEO of the National Summer Learning Association, said that in addition to barriers to access, inequities can be driven by the cost of more intensive programs, such as residential experiences on university campuses.

While those programs can expose students to new subjects and the college experience, they are often inaccessible to low-income families.

It shouldn't be that the kids who have the least resources now have to do the least engaging types of programs, Dworkin said.

In San Diego Unified School District, students spent half the day in the classroom and the other half in summer camp-style programming organized by a wide array of nonprofit organizations.

Andrew Sharp, the district's chief public information officer, said those partnerships made experiences like surfing, flying a drone and learning about wildlife conservation accessible to families who normally cannot afford the cost of similar summer programs.

After a difficult year, Sharp said, he hoped the students could focus on finding the joy in reconnecting with their peers in addition to the academics.

We really wanted to put the emphasis on bringing programs to some of our historically disadvantaged communities, Sharp said. And at the same time, we wanted to provide kids with the best summer of their lives.

Ma covers education and equity for APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/anniema15

Cedar Attanasio contributed reporting from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/viaCedar

The Associated Press reporting around issues of race and ethnicity is supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
TORONTO - Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. rose to a record high after the company raised its full-year outlook and reported a big growth in net income in the second quarter due to an increase in the value of its London Stock Exchange Group investment.

A Thomson Reuters office sign is shown in Boston, Thursday August 6, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eric J. Shelton

TORONTO - Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. rose to a record high after the company raised its full-year outlook and reported a big growth in net income in the second quarter due to an increase in the value of its London Stock Exchange Group investment.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters shares peaked at $141.16 and were up $7.21 or 5.4 per cent at $139.95 in later trading.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit surged to US$1.07 billion or US$2.15 per diluted share, up from US$126 million or 25 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, excluding the LSEG investment, it earned US$240 million or 48 cents per share, compared with US$221 million or 44 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020.

However, operating profit decreased 14 per cent to US$316 million as the prior-year period included a significant benefit from the revaluation of warrants held in financial data firm Refinitiv that was sold to the London Stock Exchange Group in January.

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Revenues for the three months ended June 30 grew nine per cent to US$1.53 billion from US$1.41 billion in the prior year quarter with organic revenues rising seven per cent.

Thomson Reuters was expected to report 43 cents per share in adjusted profits on US$1.5 billion in revenues, according to Refinitiv.

"The strong results that we achieved in the first quarter accelerated in the second quarter. Our performance was consistent across the company, above our expectations, and positions us well for the rest of the year and 2022," stated CEO Steve Hasker.

Thomson Reuters announced in February a two-year transition to an operating company from a holding company and to a content-driven technology firm from a content provider that will require an investment of US$500 million to US$600 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRI)
Western Economic Diversification will officially become two agencies Thursday  Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) exclusively servicing B.C., and Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) covering the three Prairie provinces.

Western Economic Diversification will officially become two agencies Thursday  Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) exclusively servicing B.C., and Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) covering the three Prairie provinces.

In an interview with the Free Press, Melanie Joly, minister of economic development and official languages and minister responsible for all the regional development agencies, said the bifurcation has been in discussion for more than a year.

"We know that Western Canada has been hard hit by the pandemic, even more than other regions of the country so we had to take stock and we had to act," she said.

Western Economic Diversification was created in 1987. Since then, Western Canadas economy has quadrupled in size.

Last year, WED had an annual budget of $149 million for the four western provinces and going forward, PrairiesCan will have that same budget, but now those resources will be dedicated to only three provinces.

Part of that additional budget will go to fund new regional offices in all three provinces, including new offices for the department in Brandon and Thompson and two more in both Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Joly said the new offices will mean greater access to the departments resources for entrepreneurs and others.

There is no set date as to when those offices will be established but they are expected to be opened in the coming months,

Joly said not only will there be a larger annual budget to invest in Manitoba, the departments pandemic recovery programs will continue to be available for applicants.

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The announcement of two new regional development agencies brings the total number to seven in the country, the others being: Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canada Economic Development for the Regions of Quebec, Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario.

"We know compared to other regions of the country, Western Canada was underserved," said Joly. "I wanted to get rid of that injustice. We want to do more and that is what we are opening this Prairie RDA."

Terry Duguid, a Winnipeg MP and parliamentary secretary to the minister of economic development said, "The creation of PrairiesCan is recognition of this fact and of the significant diversity among the provinces in agriculture, natural resources, water resources, Indigenous treaty status, exports, and tourism, to name a few.

"The result will create new middle-class jobs and grow the economy in more communities cross the Prairies."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA - The federal government should be more clear about who is included in its evacuation plans from Afghanistan, said the founder of a national advocacy campaign to bring interpreters and local staff to Canada.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino speaks during a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, July 23, 2021. Mendicino says the federal government won't share any details on the numbers and the whereabouts of the Afghan refugees who landed in Canada yesterday and those who will arrive later to protect the evacuees and the security of the operation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - The federal government should be more clear about who is included in its evacuation plans from Afghanistan, said the founder of a national advocacy campaign to bring interpreters and local staff to Canada.

Andrew Rusk, who is the brother-in-law of Capt. Nichola Goddard who died in Afghanistan in 2006 and was the first woman Canadian soldier to die in combat, said the government should reveal how many Afghan refugees were on a plane that landed in Toronto Wednesday.

The flight marked the first arrival of refugees who supported the Canadian military and diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. More planes carrying Afghans who contributed to Canada's mission are expected to arrive in the next days and weeks.

"We've seen a troubling lack of transparency from the government on who is included versus who is not, as well as the lack of transparency on who was included on the flight yesterday," Rusk said in an interview Thursday.

"In order to ensure that all Afghans that are currently experiencing threats of violence or direct violence themselves are safe, the government owes Canadians a clear explanation of who's included, and they owe Afghan families a clear explanation of who was included as well."

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the federal government won't share details on the numbers and whereabouts of Afghan refugees who landed in Canada Wednesday and those who will arrive later to protect the evacuees and the security of the operation.

Speaking to a virtual news conference Thursday, he said the government is dealing with urgent and volatile circumstances in Afghanistan as the international coalition forces led by the United States continue to withdraw from the country and the Taliban gain ground.

Rusk said the security of the operation is important but not disclosing the numbers of Afghan refugees who have arrived and those who will arrive later is not consistent with what the U.S. government is doing.

People participate in a rally calling on the Canadian government to evacuate the families of interpreters and locally employed civilians who supported the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan as they are being targeted by the Taliban, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on August 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Washington announced last week that about 200 Afghan interpreters and their families have arrived in the U.S.

"It's not clear why our approach to security is inconsistent with the United States interpretation of security," Rusk said.

He said his group has identified more than 700 families that have members who supported the Canadian operation in Afghanistan.

"If you include locally employed staff and contractors, especially contractors that work for NATO where they support Canada, but also other countries and they're in a bit of a bureaucratic no man's land right now, the total number could be significantly higher than that."

The government last month announced a special program to urgently resettle Afghans deemed to have been "integral" to the Canadian Armed Forces' mission, including interpreters, cooks, drivers, cleaners, construction workers, security guards and embassy staff, as well as their spouses and children.

At the time, Mendicino said the plan could potentially include "several thousand" Afghans.

The federal government should ensure that all of those who supported the Canadian military and diplomatic mission in Afghanistan are eligible for evacuation, said Rusk.

Rusk said the government should include families of interpreters who are already in Canada, families that have already fled Afghanistan to a third country, human rights workers, journalists and other Afghan workers who were employed by the Canadian government or by organizations funded by Canada.

He said all of the groups that his campaign is calling on Ottawa to evacuate are potential targets of the Taliban.

"Right now, we are letting bureaucracy, as opposed to doing the right thing, dictate who's included versus who's not," Rusk said.

Mendicino said the plan to evacuate Afghan who supported Canada's mission will be "inclusive," but he didn't commit to including the families of Afghan interpreters who are already in Canada, the families who have fled to a third country and journalists and human rights advocates in his plan.

The Afghan refugees will receive assistance from the government during their first year in Canada and that will include income support and language training, Mendicino said.

Resettlement organizations are going to help Afghan newcomers find housing and will provide them with information about life in Canada, he said.

"This is only the beginning. And there are many challenging days ahead of us," he said.

"We continue to work around the clock here and overseas to help Afghans who have put themselves at great risk to help Canada."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference in Montreal he was "pleased" to see the first group of Afghans land in Canada and his government will work to bring "as many of them as possible" to the country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.



This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
A drug that has been lauded as the single biggest innovation in the treatment of cystic fibrosis has yet to be funded in Manitoba  and the national organization that informs how provinces fund medications will limit who will be eligible for the drug, advocates say.

A drug that has been lauded as the "single biggest innovation" in the treatment of cystic fibrosis has yet to be funded in Manitoba  and the national organization that informs how provinces fund medications will limit who will be eligible for the drug, advocates say.

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health has drafted a recommendation that the cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta be rationed to limit coverage to only those with a lung function of 90 per cent or less.

This means Canadians with cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic disease that damages the respiratory and digestive system with no known cure, with healthier lungs will be forced to wait for their health to decline before being able to access a drug that could help prevent further disease progression, said Dr. Nancy Porhownik, a respirologist and director of the Winnipeg adult cystic fibrosis clinic.

"I think our concern as the population of CF physicians is that the recommendations that came out really have kind of missed the boat on some of the ways that this drug is really vital for the population," she said.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada estimates that under the current suggested restrictions, more than 25 per cent of Canadians with cystic fibrosis, many of whom are young children, will be excluded or need to become more sick in order to access Trikafta.

Trikafta can be taken by people with cystic fibrosis who have a specific type of genetic mutation that causes the disease, and is the first treatment that deals with the underlying causes of cystic fibrosis, rather than trying to mitigate the damage caused by it, Porhownik said.

"The difference that this medication has made in their lives is honestly just breathtaking," she said. "I have patients who were on oxygen, who were able to come off oxygen. Ive had patients who were on the wait-list for lung transplant who have been able to come off the wait-list for lung transplant."

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Trikafta was approved for sale in Canada in June, but isnt accessible to Canadians until it is funded by provincial drug plans. Those plans are decided by provinces independently, and take the review from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health into account.

"I think (the agency) is sort of trying to balance it. Theyre wanting to ensure there is robust data to justify costs. I think that is part of it," Porhownik said.

While advocates consider widening the pool of people who can take Trikafta in Canada the first hurdle, getting it approved in Manitoba is the second. Ontario, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador have agreed to fund Trikafta treatment, but Manitoba has yet to do the same.

"Wed like to see that our patients have the same access as other parts of Canada and other parts of the world, for sure," Porhownik said. "Thats a frustration that Ill admit that I have as well. And I cant speak to why theyre slower to decide to fund the medication."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_
The federal government is investing in a Manitoban francophone-led online programming pilot project to encourage connection between French speakers across the country.

The federal government is investing in a Manitoban francophone-led online programming pilot project to encourage connection between French speakers across the country.

Web Ouest was started by the Societe de la francophonie manitobaine in partnership with local film and television production company Productions Rivard from 2015 to 2017. The $3.8-million investment announced by federal cabinet minister Dan Vandal, the MP for Saint-Boniface-Saint Vital MP, on Wednesday will expand the project to include francophone organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Web Ouests programming includes web series, virtual drive-in screenings of web content, blogs and other creations.
Concerned citizens have resurrected the Safe September MB campaign with updated demands to keep COVID-19 out of the classroom, including ongoing mandatory mask use, compulsory vaccination for school employees and students who are 12 and older, and the installation of portable air filters in schools.

Concerned citizens have resurrected the Safe September MB campaign with updated demands to keep COVID-19 out of the classroom, including ongoing mandatory mask use, compulsory vaccination for school employees and students who are 12 and older, and the installation of portable air filters in schools.

The collective of parents, teachers and community members  which was founded in August 2020, but whose advocacy efforts quieted as the 2020-21 academic year progressed  released 14 calls to action for the province ahead of its back-to-school announcement Thursday.

Given few of the demands were addressed in Manitobas official blueprint for a return to full-time in-person instruction for all K-12 students, the group is launching a letter-writing campaign to call for stricter measures in schools as of Sept. 7.

"The 2021-22 school year begins in just under one month. Meanwhile, students under 12 are not yet able to be vaccinated for COVID-19, and a fourth wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic is already emerging across Canada," a news release sent Wednesday night states. "Manitobans are deeply concerned that our provincial government is not planning to do enough to provide safe and accessible education for K-12 students in September 2021."

The groups 2020 campaign put pressure on the Progressive Conservative government to mandate non-medical face coverings ahead of the first day of school. This time last year, masks were only recommended, although the province later made them compulsory for pupils in Grade 4 and up.

Now, Safe September MB wants the province to require "high-quality" masks be worn in all K-12 schools by staff members and students of all ages. The province, however, announced Thursday only a "strong recommendation" that masks be worn this fall.

Many of the groups latest demands mirror those made in 2020, with calls to guarantee smaller class sizes to allow for physical distancing of two metres and offer publicly funded remote learning options. The collective has also made clear it wants many measures to remain intact, including cohorting, contact tracing, encouraging both outdoor activities and windows to be opened when possible, and self-isolation stints for anyone exposed to COVID-19.

Among its other demands: launch school-based vaccination clinics starting later this month, make rapid testing available in schools throughout the year, monitor carbon monoxide levels in indoor spaces, and install HEPA air filtration units in all classrooms.

While the group wants Manitoba to require all eligible students and staff members be fully vaccinated to attend classes, it acknowledges accommodations should be made for anyone who cannot get inoculated.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
WHILE church and state are separated formally in Canada, significant interaction carries on between these two entities of society. During the current pandemic, such interaction is manifested in the debating of issues such as freedom of worship, the legitimacy (or not) of government authority to impose restrictions, contested understandings of what constitutes the responsibility of the church to be a good citizen, and so on.

Opinion

WHILE church and state are separated formally in Canada, significant interaction carries on between these two entities of society. During the current pandemic, such interaction is manifested in the debating of issues such as freedom of worship, the legitimacy (or not) of government authority to impose restrictions, contested understandings of what constitutes the responsibility of the church to be a good citizen, and so on.

One prominent dimension of church/state relations is that of mutual suspicion. British academic and priest Oliver ODonovan describes this two-fold suspicion: first, the church is wary of the corruption of morality by politicians; second, the state is suspicious that the church wants to corrupt politics by co-opting political authority for the churchs own ends (e.g., dictating morality).

Such mutual suspicion surfaces regularly these days. The first suspicion is evident whenever churches defy government regulations by invoking faith-based rationale for doing so. Vaccine hesitancy and/or opposition, while motivated by any number of reasons across the ideological spectrum, is sometimes seen as an expression of faith  for example, refusing to live in fear of the virus, since "perfect love casts out fear," or, resisting what is considered an illegitimate exercise of political authority over the person and life of faith. A deep-seated suspicion of political authority has surfaced here.

Government authorities (and others) who express frustration with non-compliant churches express suspicion toward the church, seeing the resistance to directives as the churchs illegitimate exercise of authority while ignoring legitimate government authority. This creates an oft-repeated scenario in which the government issues calls to dissenting churches, calls that emphasize what is believed ought to be a Christian understanding of what it means to be a responsible citizen.

Theres some evident irony here, wherein government or health officials offer theological advice to the church on the true nature of faith, even quoting the Bible as an authority, to instruct the church, for example, on just what it means "to love your neighbour as yourself." (One also sees this displayed repeatedly in letters to the editor).

Is there a way to get beyond such mutual suspicion in which the church is presumed to be full of narrow, self-serving and irresponsible citizens, and in which the state is suspected of illegitimate power-mongering and seeking to corrupt and control the church? Perhaps the way beyond suspicion lies in attentiveness and discernment that includes self-critical reflection for both church and state.

The church needs to pay attention to its own distortions of what it means to express faith, being ever vigilant that its religious claims dont serve as veneer for ideologies formed on other grounds. The state should be attentive to temptations to overreach or to dilute forms of democracy to which it claims to be committed. Such self-critical attentiveness is especially crucial in times of emergency, when authoritarian measures are put to use in ways that carry the temptation to exercise power supported by coercion, which can all-too-easily become toxic.

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Governing is complicated; governing during times of emergency especially so. As the controversial German thinker Carl Schmitt pointed out a long time ago, "Sovereign is he who decides on the exception." To understate the case, governing during these exceptional times without turning sovereignty into something sinister calls for heightened attentiveness and discernment.

Mutual suspicion cultivates destructive practices. In a culture of mistrust, the church may assume, even before any government regulation is promulgated, that "No secular power is going to tell us what to do, because we deserve freedom of religion, and after all, we obey God rather than any human authority"; thus preventing the possibility of respectful co-operation with legitimate government measures.

A suspicious state may be tempted to assume a certain naivete, narrowness, lack of gratitude and dearth of understanding on the part of the church regarding what it means to be a good citizen. Thus, the stage is set for antagonism, precluding the constructive possibilities that exist within church/state relations without collapsing one into the other into a kind of amorphous civic religion.

Mutual attentiveness, including critical self-reflection, can lead to the kind of constructive discernment that opens possibilities for a flourishing society. A church that is not committed to a comprehensive suspicion of state authority will not decide beforehand to contest everything as a matter of faith, but will be open to co-operation, even initiative and support, while always reserving ultimate loyalty to God.

The state that does not suspect the church of pursuing only power and privilege for itself will resist the temptation to ignore the church or to exercise illegitimate coercive measures against it and will forego the assumption that the church is looking to put some version of theocracy into place. Its time to move beyond suspicion to embrace a posture of attentiveness and discernment.

Paul Doerksen is an associate professor of theology and Anabaptist studies at Canadian Mennonite University.
The COVID-19 vaccine will be added to the provinces routine school immunization program this year in an effort to make jabs more readily available to students aged 12 and older and boost uptake.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be added to the provinces routine school immunization program this year in an effort to make jabs more readily available to students aged 12 and older and boost uptake.

During a briefing Thursday, Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the vaccine implementation task force, announced a plan to improve vaccination rates among youth.

"This fall, immunization teams will attend all schools with students aged 12 to 17 to provide both first and second doses to students. Were going to look at the epidemiology, the vaccine uptake, and other data to help guide this work," she said.

Reimer said just 66.4 per cent of Manitobans aged 12 to 17 have received one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine; 52.3 per cent have been fully immunized, which is below the provincial average of 80 per cent with at least one shot.

Lower immunization levels among youth can be attributed to the fact they were the last to become eligible and there are fewer severe outcomes in this group, Reimer said.

However, she said, there are still incidents of severe outcomes and deaths in youth in Manitoba, which is why the province recommends everyone get fully vaccinated as soon as possible  no matter their age.

"We also want the youth to be able to get back to normal life. We want to have a successful school year without having to switch to remote learning, without having people have to isolate at home and missing that in-person schooling," Reimer said.

"It's really critical that even though a younger person certainly has a lower risk of a severe outcome, there's many other reasons on top of protecting themselves from severe outcomes, that the vaccine is still extremely beneficial for them."

Reimer said the province plans to start targeting schools in communities that have the lowest immunization rates to help reduce potential barriers to immunization and increase protection for the whole community.

When and if a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children aged 5 to 11, the province will also offer those shots in schools. Health Canada approval for the younger age group could come this calendar year, Reimer said.

It's estimated 125,000 children aged five to 11 live in Manitoba.

She noted the consent process for COVID-19 immunization at schools will follow the same procedures as routine school-based immunization programs, with a customized consent form sent home with children to parents.

COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory, Reimer noted.

"Like everything else in health care, whether its a medication, a surgery, where parental consent may not be available, we will do the individual assessments of competency of the students to consent on their own, but that would not be the main approach," Reimer said.

"The main approach will be that theyll be able to use these customized consents to have their parents review and sign ahead of time, both COVID or not COVID," Reimer said.

Other vaccines  including those for meningitis, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough  will be offered to students who have fallen behind in immunizations due to the pandemic, Reimer said.

As of Thursday, there was no firm timeline for when the vaccine campaign would conclude but it is expected to ramp up as early as this month.

When asked whether the vaccination status of students and staff would have to be disclosed to school administration as part of the province's plans for the return to the classroom, an official with Manitoba Education deferred questions on the subject to public health.

Reimer said she has not been part of any discussions related to disclosure of immunization status of students and staff returning to school.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva

Reporter Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter. Read full biography
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Winona County only had, as of Monday, 59.9% of its vaccine eligible residents having received at least one dose and 57.7% with a completed vaccine series.

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Counties like neighboring Olmsted County, where Mayo Clinic is based out of, are helping pull up the states vaccine rate due to the high amount of health care workers.

Olmsted County has reached 80.7% of its vaccine eligible residents having received at least one dose, with 77.5% having received a full series.

Winona County is continuing to try to get its residents vaccinated, though. There are eight vaccine clinics scheduled by county health officials this month on Aug. 11, 13, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28.

Times for these clinics vary and more information about them can be found at co.winona.mn.us or by calling 507-457-6375. All of these clinics will be located in the city of Winona.

Across the river, Trempealeau County is sending out warnings too about its increasing COVID-19 case rate.

The Trempealeau County Health Department also has begun recommending the use of face masks indoors once again, after they saw a six times increase in their case rate compared to two weeks before, officials said in a news release.
Opponents of a proposed natural gas generator in Superior are asking the federal government to deny funding for the project, saying it runs afoul of the Biden administrations commitments to fighting climate change.

La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power are seeking a loan from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Rural Utilities Service to finance the $700 million Nemadji Trail Energy Center, which they say will help them transition away from coal-fired power plants.

Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Clean Wisconsin have petitioned the RUS to evaluate the impact the 625-megawatt plant would have on air pollution and the climate.

The agency declared in May that the plant would have no significant environmental impact, but the groups point to the Biden administrations stance on fossil fuel infrastructure and studies released this year that say any new fossil fuel infrastructure must include carbon capture technology in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
Walker spoke to police after being handcuffed. According to the complaint, she told Lake Delton Police Officer Kevin Sorenson that the man had been drinking excessively throughout the day and that he attacked her, pointing out a slightly swollen lower lip and swelling on her forehead she claimed came from the man punching her. Walker told the officer that the injuries on the mans face came from her long fingernails when she was trying to defend herself.

She said the man initially grabbed silverware and threw it at her, including a knife that she said she was afraid he would use on her so she broke it.

Two witnesses who were in the room at the time said that Walker yelled at the man to wake up before hitting him, which prompted him to get up and the two began fighting. The two exchanged blows before the man left the room.

Walker told the officer she thought the man had left completely, which prompted her to try to put together her items and clean up the resort condominium. When he returned, they began fighting again.
Several declarations were made. Effective immediately, we will not: 1) Mask our children in schools. 2) Allow you to use your private sector counterparts to enforce invasive mask mandates or our children in various stores or at community activities. 3) Subject our children to any further local, regional, or national lockdowns or movement restriction.

What I would add is there are far more than just 38 such groups taking action across the state representing many more thousands of families. One wonders what will happen if throngs of kids show up unmasked on day one.

We the Parents groups are booming across the state. It is up to you as a parent or community member to insure your voice is heard in your locale. Every day, you meet folks from all walks of life who are taking on this issue with resolve and tenacity. We know these are decisions that arent taken lightly, and I respect there are those with differing opinions favoring more controls. We also bear responsibility on whether or not we choose to receive the non-FDA approved vaccine. You make your choice; Ill make mine.

Every single school district in the state and the nation has had this discussion, or will be having the very discussion that took place in Baraboo on Monday evening. Now more than ever, your voice needs to be heard for our kids.

Scott Frostman lives in Baraboo, and has roots throughout Wisconsin. Opinions herein are exclusively his own. He believes anyone can make a difference and can be reached at scfrostman@gmail.com.
The president of Horicon Bank presented a $100,000 donation to the city of Beaver Dam Wednesday for the lagoon repair project at Swan City Park.

The lagoons at Beaver Dams centerpiece park are in serious need of restoration, and the walls themselves have collapsed. Longtime residents of Beaver Dam fondly remember the lagoons and the fountain that lit up to music. City officials have made fixing up the lagoons a first major step in long-term vision for Swan Park, and the Common Council designated $445,000 for them last fall. The $100,000 donation announced Wednesday will help as well.

Schwertfeger noted Horicon Banks motto  The Natural Choice  and said the Swan Park project was a natural thing for the bank to be involved in by taking an interest in nature and quality of life.

Swan Park is iconic, and it would be great to the community to get it freshened up, he said.

The city has been working with MSA to come up with a design for the lagoon restoration. MSA presented two design options to the public in June that both involve fixing some of the walls while removing others, adding natural embankments, putting in a fountain/aerator, placing stepping stones and new walkways and installing a stone fountain on the island. Further details about bids and exact timelines are to be determined.

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The children said their mother later woke them up in the middle of the night and asked them for help dragging Randy Allen's body out of the room and into her vehicle, court documents state.

They attempted to help, but the man's body was too heavy, court records state.

They saw Thessalonica Allen come home the following day with cleaning supplies and an ax, police said. She asked for help dragging the body back into the bedroom, and they were awoken again that second night to help put Randy Allen's body into a tote, court records allege.

It was then the children noticed the man's legs removed, and other failed attempts were made to load the body into a vehicle, police said.

"The children stated that mom had plans to take the vehicle and body to South Bend and set it on fire," according to police.

The children reportedly told police they did not see any physical altercation on the day in question and said Randy Allen had mentioned he planned to leave.

Police said they recovered an ax and what appeared to be a blood-stained knife. They also found handwritten notes under the daughter's pillow with checklists that appear related to obtaining drugs, violence against someone and the disposal of a body.
FLY CREEK, N.Y.  Fly Creek Cider Mill will reopen next week for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

In January, owner Bill Michaels planned to close the venue for good and sold all of its remaining stock and inventory. Then at the end of June, Michaels posted on social media announcing plans to reopen after all.

The grand reopening will take place on Saturday, Aug. 14, starting at 10 a.m.

The West Edmeston Fire Department will be there with a new fire truck on display that kids can explore.

Fly Creek Cider Mill is located at 288 Goose St.
The freedom coveted by some Americans to avoid vaccines and spurn masks is, increasingly, leading to a group of Americans that can't access vaccines getting Covid-19.

We're talking about kids under 12, who need to go back to school over the next month, but can't get the vaccine.

"I think we've let our children down," Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine adviser to the US Food and Drug Administration, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, while discussing low vaccination rates in the US placing children who cannot get the shot at risk. "They depend on those around them to protect them," he said.

While a number of Southern governors are stubbornly sticking to anti-mask requirement rhetoric, at least one, Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, has looked at the data and changed his mind.

In hindsight... After signing a bill earlier this year that banned mask requirements in Arkansas schools, the Republican governor has done a 180, regrets signing it, and has called a special session of the General Assembly in hopes that conservatives in his state can be convinced to give schools in particular more power to require masks.

The local coverage suggests his call to amend the law that he signed will not go very far.

"In hindsight, I wish that it had not become law," he said Tuesday of the anti-mask requirement bill he made into law with his signature back in April.

As recently as July 25, Hutchinson was sort of defending the law. During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," he argued the emphasis should rightly be on vaccinations and not masks.

"At that point, we had very low case rates in Arkansas, and people knew exactly what to do," Hutchinson said of signing the law. "They were capable of making their decisions. And then we shifted to the emphasis on vaccination. And I really think it's important not to have the current debate about mask-wearing, but to have the current emphasis on getting a vaccine."

Who's getting Covid-19 now? The problem is that in Arkansas and many US states, not enough people got vaccinated. Now, as the Delta variant tears through that state and others, the data shows it's increasingly people who can't get vaccinated -- kids -- that are also getting Covid-19.

RELATED: Arkansas GOP governor says he regrets ban on mask mandates as Covid-19 cases surge

Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero appeared alongside Hutchinson on Tuesday and told reporters in Arkansas that he had some sobering data to share.

As of August 1:

Nearly 19% of active Covid-19 cases in Arkansas are in kids under 18.

More than half the cases among kids are in kids under 12 who can't get vaccinated.

The state saw a 517% increase in cases among kids under 18 between April and July.

The increase is larger -- 690% -- in children 12 and under.

There's a 270% increase in hospitalizations for kids under 18.

ICU admissions are up 275% between April and July.

20% of those ICU admissions are among kids under 12.

More than half of the kids hospitalized at the end of July -- 58% -- are under 12.

"I think these numbers exemplify and bring out a very sobering aspect of the pandemic in our state," he said, according to the Fayetteville Flyer and CNN affiliate KATV. "We have a group of individuals that are extremely susceptible to infection because they do not have eligibility for a vaccine.

The increase in kids may just be a reflection of the fact that many adults have been vaccinated and kids cannot be vaccinated. Any surge in Covid-19 cases should be seen more in an unvaccinated group.

Kids are also getting Covid-19 in Florida. It continues to be a major Delta variant hot spot.

Florida saw more than 30 pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations per day between July 24 and July 30, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data in the Tampa Bay Times.

RELATED: Florida and Texas had one-third of all US Covid-19 cases in past week, official says

Separately, a large portion of the more than 110,000 new Covid-19 cases the state reported in its own weekly Covid-19 data review showed that more than 10,000 were in children under 12, and more than 11,000 in children between 12 and 19, according to the state's department of health. Just 38% of that 12-19 population is vaccinated. Vaccination rates increase markedly with age. More than 85% of those over 65 are vaccinated in Florida.

Critical staffing shortage expected. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are up 13% from Florida's previous peak on July 23, 2020, according to the Florida Hospital Association, which predicted 60% of hospitals in the state could face a "critical staffing shortage" in the next seven days.

From CNN's report: There are currently 11,515 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the Sunshine State, according to a news release Tuesday. FHA reports 84% of all in patients beds and 86.5% of ICU beds are occupied.

Of those hospitalized with Covid-19, 21% are in the ICU and 13% are on ventilators, according to FHA.

Not changing his mind. But unlike Hutchinson, Florida's GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is not reconsidering his own support for anti-mask requirement bans. Instead, he's dueling with President Joe Biden, who pleaded with governors to get out of the way of local jurisdictions who want to implement CDC guidance.

"I say to the governors, please help," Biden said Tuesday. "If you're not going to help, get out of the way of the people that are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives."

DeSantis lit into Biden. At his own news conference on Wednesday, he repeated the false idea that the Covid-19 surge came from undocumented immigrants.

"Why don't you get this border secure, and until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about Covid from you," DeSantis said of Biden.

School districts in Florida are waffling on defying DeSantis' decree on mask requirements. Broward County's school board has thrice changed -- from saying it would insist on masks to saying it would comply with DeSantis, to now saying it may insist on masks. It's been joined by several counties in the Northern part of the state.

Meanwhile, Americans are coming to grips with the need to re-mask indoors as vaccination rates can be improved.

The Louisiana mask requirement is meant to give hospitals a break. In Louisiana, the Democratic governor's new indoor mask requirement takes hold Wednesday, but he rejected the idea of a vaccine passport like the one being pushed in New York.

"I think you're starting to see some of that put in place around the country. We're not entertaining that here in Louisiana, but we do want people to be vaccinated. It is incredibly important," Gov. John Bel Edwards told Peter Kovacs, editor of The Advocate and Times-Picayune, during a town hall.

He's also not going to require the vaccine for state employees "unless and until the FDA grants full licensure to one of more of the Covid vaccines."

The least onerous thing. That leaves him with the mask requirement. It's "the least onerous thing we can do in order to try and curb transmission and give some breathing room back to our hospitals is to reinstate the mask mandate."

Edwards said deaths in the state have jumped from two per day a month ago to 103 in the past two days.

"The capacity at our hospitals is just absolutely strained," Edwards said.

States that are driving the Covid-19 surge are states with the lowest vaccination rates, according to the White House.

"In fact, seven states with the lowest vaccination rates represent just about 8- 1/2% of the US population, but account for more than 17% of cases, and one in three cases nationwide occurred in Florida and Texas, this past week," White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Monday.

They're also the places working to turn around their vaccination rates. But it takes weeks for a vaccine's protection to take hold.

Who will need a third shot? The US is also beginning to look more seriously at the need for booster shots, particularly for people with compromised immune systems.

Some countries -- the United Arab Emirates Germany, Israel and the United Kingdom -- are recommending third shots for the elderly.

The World Health Organization (WHO) opposes the practice however, due to vaccine inequality across the globe.

The-CNN-Wire

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ROME, N.Y.  A car crashed into trees off of the Lawrence Street exit on Route 365 in Rome around 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The driver appears to have taken the exit ramp, but instead of continuing on the curve, went straight across the median, hitting the on-ramp abutment and going airborne before landing in the trees on the other side.

Multiple ambulances were called to the scene.

It is not yet clear how many people were hurt or the extent of any injuries.
COVID-19 is spreading through the Mohawk Valley at a substantial rate, according to new data from the CDC Thursday.

Herkimer, Oneida and Otsego counties now have substantial levels of COVID transmission, with cases more than double in many areas from just a few weeks ago.

Heres how the CDC determines the level of community transmission:

Low : More than 10 cases per 100,000 people, or a test positivity rate of less than 5%.

: More than 10 cases per 100,000 people, or a test positivity rate of less than 5%. Moderate : 10 to 50 cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate between 5% and 8%.

: 10 to 50 cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate between 5% and 8%. Substantial : 50 to 100 cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate between 8% and 10%.

: 50 to 100 cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate between 8% and 10%. High: 100 or more cases per 100,000 people or a positivity rate of 10% or higher.

When a county reaches substantial or high levels, the CDC recommends everyone wear masks in public indoor spaces, even people who are vaccinated. However, it is up to local governments to impose any mask mandates.

Although mask mandates are decided locally by community leaders, CDC recommends everyone in areas with substantial or high #COVID19 spread wear a mask in public indoor settings. Visit CDCs COVID Data Tracker to see the COVID-19 spread in your area: https://t.co/iSLwhCwlZ2. pic.twitter.com/1oOBYU2CK7  CDC (@CDCgov) August 5, 2021

Here are the levels for local counties as of Thursday afternoon:

Moderate

Hamilton County

Jefferson County

Madison County

Oswego County

Substantial

Chenango County

Delaware County

Fulton County

Herkimer County

Montgomery County

Oneida County

Onondaga County

Otsego County

High

Lewis County

More than 67% of the country has a high level of transmission, with the CDC giving more than 2,100 counties that designation. Just 4.5%, or 146 counties, are in the "low" category.
Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has a message for President Joe Biden: He's not getting out of the way even as his rejection of masking and public health guidance risks fueling his state's raging Covid-19 cases.

DeSantis relished the chance to climb on a national stage to battle Biden on Wednesday, after the President accused him and Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott -- who preside over the two states with most new infections over the past week -- of worsening a pandemic that once seemed to have abated.

The confrontation was the latest sign of how DeSantis -- who is expected to be a top contender in the next Republican presidential primary if former President Donald Trump doesn't run -- is weaponizing his stewardship of the emergency to further his own political aspirations, previewing a possible 2024 White House matchup if Biden seeks reelection.

In a new offensive against federal health authorities on Wednesday, DeSantis slammed US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice that kids -- including those under 12 who cannot be yet vaccinated -- should wear masks in class. DeSantis has previously threatened to withhold funding for schools that require masks for students, vowing to defend the rights of parents to decide on masking for their own kids. It's a stance that effectively allows individuals to decide whether to fight the virus, a position at odds with experience showing community action is the only way to stop the spread.

Taking his rhetoric up a notch, DeSantis also accused New York City, which is requiring proof of vaccination for entry to bars or restaurants, of creating a "bio-medical security state" that infringed the values of a free society.

"Joe Biden suggests if you don't do locked down policies then you should 'get out of the way.' But let me tell you this, if you are coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way," said DeSantis, who has also accused the media of drumming up "hysteria" about his state's plight. The comments, which ignited yet another politicized controversy over the pandemic, may be interpreted by critics as a new attempt by the governor to distract from bad news in his state.

On Tuesday, Biden called on local officials, including the governors of Texas and Florida, to use their power to save lives. "Please help: if you aren't going to help, please get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing."

Florida, which now only reports Covid-19 cases on a weekly basis, racked up 110,000 new infections over the last week. It accounted for nearly 1 in 5 of the US tally on its own, a fact that helped draw the President's ire. Its Covid-19 hospitalizations have reached a record high and deaths are rising again. The Florida Hospital Association said it expects 60% of hospitals in the state to face a "critical staffing shortage" in the next seven days.

But the worsening picture has not budged DeSantis from a consistent position that has made him a hero among conservatives who view mask guidance and pro-vaccine campaigns as infringing on individual civil liberties.

By choosing to stress the rights of parents over schools that want to impose mask requirements, and by signing an executive order to outlaw "vaccine passports," DeSantis has made decisions through a political prism that downplays guidance by public health experts and the science of epidemiology.

He has, for instance, denounced "Faucism" in a slam at the federal government's top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. There is no doubt that DeSantis is speaking for millions of people on the right who have tired of government health advice, and want to take their own chances with a virus many of them do not believe to be as serious as it is.

With these voters in mind, and in perhaps his most nakedly partisan comment yet, DeSantis struck the electric rail of conservative politics on Wednesday -- the southern border -- to hit back at Biden.

He accused the President -- baselessly -- of allowing every coronavirus variant in the world into the US because of lax enforcement at the US-Mexico border, which has seen huge flows of undocumented migrants trying to cross this year.

"Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure and until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about Covid from you," DeSantis said, reading from prepared remarks in an orchestrated counter-attack Wednesday.

The governor was not just hitting a favorite talking point of conservative media. He gave every impression of seeking a scapegoat for the rampant spread of Covid-19 in his own state as he trashes public health recommendations.

The conservative talking point that the border is wide open is not true. Most undocumented migrants are being turned away. And the idea that the spread of the Delta variant across the country is being driven by border-crossers is not credible. The US is, after all, recording almost 100,000 new infections a day. And the problem is generally worse in conservative states most resistant to vaccines and where political leaders often ignore federal health guidance.

"It's extremely frustrating. It's extremely tragic. And the reason we are having these surges is because of these leaders," Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore health commissioner, told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Wednesday.

School superintendent in plea to DeSantis

The DeSantis policies threaten to trigger chaos as kids go back to school in Florida. Several school districts are considering defying the governor, even at the risk of losing funding. One school superintendent, Leon County's Rocky Hanna, wrote to DeSantis, pleading for a temporary mask requirement. He said that he supported a previous decision by the governor to let parents decide on masks but that the highly infectious Delta variant had changed the situation.

"I'm asking you to allow us the flexibility and the autonomy to make the decisions for our schools that best fit our local data and information in Leon County," Hanna wrote.

"It is the challenge of every leader to not allow pride or politics cloud our better judgment, and to be guided by community input, science and experts in the field," Hanna wrote.

One Republican leader who has allowed worsening circumstances to change his mind is Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said on Tuesday he regrets signing a state law banning mask mandates earlier this year.

But unlike DeSantis, Hutchinson has the luxury of a political career that is winding down, since he is term-limited and cannot run for reelection.

A political future on the line

To make good on pre-game talk of being a top-tier GOP primary contender, DeSantis must first secure his reelection next year, one reason why his strategy on the virus is risky. If the current surge in cases and jammed hospitals in Florida is matched by a subsequent towering wave of deaths, he could be cast by rivals as a leader who knowingly let Floridians die to advance his own political career. In 2018, DeSantis only beat Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum by just over 32,400 votes, so winning a second term in Tallahassee is by no means certain, and small shifts in support could define the race.

DeSantis is arguing, however, that his approach -- prioritizing vaccines for seniors -- will ensure that deaths in the current Covid wave will not reach catastrophic levels. If he is right, his political strategy may work, albeit at the cost of more suffering in his state. His rhetoric alone about the pandemic is likely to endear him even further to Trump's base, which twice drove the ex-President to fairly clear victories in Florida in 2016 and 2020, despite its reputation as a perennial knife-edge swing state.

The impression is that DeSantis thinks his more confrontational posture on the pandemic will bolster him in a future Republican primary.

At an event in Utah late last month he mocked new CDC mask guidance, for instance. His hardening of tone followed an accusation by South Dakota's Republican Gov. Kristi Noem -- another potential 2024 contender -- that some of the governors she could face in a presidential primary lacked the "grit" to face down federal health officials.

"We've got Republican governors across this country pretending they didn't shut down their states; that they didn't close their regions; that they didn't mandate masks," Noem said at a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Dallas last month. Her comment was a clear swipe at DeSantis and Abbott, who have been among the most unenthusiastic adherents of CDC advice, but cannot match her pandemic denialism.

The decision of DeSantis to challenge Covid protocols as the pandemic returns with a vengeance has dismayed health experts.

Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration vaccines advisory committee, said on CNN "Newsroom" on Tuesday that decisions by DeSantis were "inexplicable" and that he was "a friend of the virus."

Admiral Brett Giroir, the Trump administration's coronavirus testing czar, said on CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday that he didn't agree with restrictions put in place by DeSantis and Abbott on preventing school masking requirements.

"I do support a lot of what Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do, but I don't align with them on this," he said.

The-CNN-Wire

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TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)The Tippecanoe County Health Department is reacting to TSC's optional mask policy. Workers say it's a risky decision as COVID cases are on the rise due to the highly transmissible delta variant.

On Wednesday TSC became the only public school corporation in Tippecanoe County to go optional when it comes to masks. This despite the health department recommending kids 2 and older wear a mask , especially indoors.

"I think the health department is disappointed with that decision," said Administrator for the Tippecanoe County Health Department, Khala Hochstedler.

Hochstedler said she has kids that attend TSC so she understands first hand the frustration some parents may feel about the optional mask policy.

She said the board of health has submitted a letter to the school board recommending masks and said it's the safest option considering kids under 12 aren't eligible for the COVID shot.

"Correct I have an 8 year old that is not eligible yet so that is frustrating as a parent," said Hochstedler.

Hochstedler said the health department could do a health officer's order thanks to Senate Bill 5.

The bill, which was passed in January, gives local health departments the ability to create orders during a public health emergency however it would need approval from county commissioners.

"The commissioners kind of made it clear yesterday that they are not there yet on a mask mandate," said Hochstedler.

She said instead people are being strongly encouraged to get the shot to prevent any mandates in the future.
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua)  Capitalizing on its victory in eradicating absolute poverty, China is ramping up efforts to propel rural vitalization, which is "a major task in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," as President Xi Jinping put it.

"Promoting rural vitalization on all fronts will be no easier than the anti-poverty battle," said Xi, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The rural vitalization strategy was proposed as a key move for the development of a modernized economy at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017.

After the country successfully eradicated absolute poverty, the focus of work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has shifted to promoting rural vitalization.

To realize this goal, the country has been working to foster rural industries, promote the application of agricultural technologies and build beautiful countryside.

Enriching Farmers: No One Left Behind

When visiting a company producing Tibetan carpets during an inspection tour of northwest China's Qinghai Province in June, Xi stressed efforts to better integrate industrial cultivation and enterprise growth with employment, rural vitalization and ethnic unity.

The carpet factory is a typical case demonstrating that the local specialty industries have been crucial to underpin rural vitalization.

China's rural areas saw steady growth of industries in the first half of this year.

A total of 50 modern agricultural industrial zones, 50 industrial clusters with distinctive strengths and 298 towns with strong agricultural industries were established across the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Agriculture: Technology-Led

China's "No. 1 central document" for 2021, the first policy statement released by the central authorities each year, highlighted the role of science and technology in rural vitalization.

When visiting a tea farm at the foot of Mount Wuyi in Fujian Province in March, Xi stressed more efforts in implementing the arrangements to dispatch technical professionals to rural areas and help with local development.

The farm is run by a team led by Liao Hong, a professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. By interplanting tea with soy bean and oilseed rape, the team has not only increased yields, but also improved the soil and tea quality. Tea produced by the farm could fetch a price 30 percent higher than average products.

Hundreds of thousands of agricultural professionals are working at the grassroots across the country, injecting strong impetus into the high-quality development of the agricultural industry.

China's summer grain output hit a record high this year. The acreage, yield per unit area and total yield all registered year-on-year growth. Special high-quality wheat plantation accounted for 37.3 percent of the acreage, 1.5 percentage points higher than last year, data from the ministry showed.

Beautiful Countryside: Better Living Environments

Apart from boosting local industries in rural areas, Xi also attaches great importance to improving rural living environments to ensure rural residents have better access to high-quality services and facilities.

"Toilet revolution" has been put high on agenda to make the countryside more livable.

By the end of 2020, more than 40 million rural household toilets had been renovated since China launched a three-year rural living environment upgrade campaign in 2018, with the penetration rate of clean toilets achieving 68 percent in China's rural areas, statistics showed.

Rural "toilet revolution" will continue to be an important task of rural vitalization in the next five years, Xi said last month in an instruction on the work to advance the campaign.

He called for solid progress in light of local conditions and in a scientific manner while avoiding formalism and waste of resources.

Besides this, rural household waste treatment and sewage treatment are also deemed important works in rural vitalization.

Li Haimei, a villager in the mountainous area of the southwestern province of Guizhou, saw the dry toilet at her home, which used to be next to the pigsty, rebuilt into a bathroom with a flush toilet and shower fittings in 2020.

Li and her husband, who had been working in cities away from home, have decided to stay in the village and start a homestay and restaurant this year. "We will turn to tourism for a living at our doorstep as the improving village conditions are attracting more visitors."

(Source: Xinhua)
Arguably, the most volatile relationship that the United States has with another country is its relationship with North Korea. To this day, North Korea and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations. Since the Korean War (1950-1953), the United States has maintained a very tense relationship with North Korea. This relationship has been characterized by both periods of reconciliation and periods of dangerous escalation in hostilities between the two countries. Relations between the United States and North Korea have implications for the entire region, and even the entire world, especially in light of the fact that North Korea has managed to develop nuclear weapons.

Historical Background

Map showing the countries of North Korea and South Korea.

After Japan surrendered at the end of WWII, the 35-year Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula ended. The peninsula was then divided into two occupied zones separated by the 38th parallel. The southern zone was controlled by the United States, while the north was controlled by the Soviet Union. Efforts to reunite the Korean Peninsula failed, and in 1948, the two occupied zones became two independent countries. The north became the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), which came to be known as North Korea, while the south became the Republic of Korea, or South Korea, as it is commonly known. North Korea was governed by a communist regime backed by the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China, while the south had a strongly pro-American, anti-communist government.

Korean War: US Bombers attack Korean side of Sinuiji Bridge, Korea, 11-29-50.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded the south, attempting to unite the peninsula by force. They were opposed by an American-led multinational military force backed by the United Nations. The Soviet Union supported the North Koreans with weapons and air support, while the Chinese became directly involved in the fighting with hundreds of thousands of combat troops. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice that placed a ceasefire line and a demilitarized zone (DMZ) roughly dividing the Koreas into two equal parts. But no treaty was ever signed formally ending the Korean War.

Read MoreKorean Demilitarized Zone

US planes bombing Wonsan, North Korea, 1951.

The Cold War

Following the Korean War, the communist regime in North Korea believed that it faced an existential crisis, as they thought that the United States could wipe them out at any time. Thus, they felt that they needed to develop some sort of capability that would deter the Americans from attacking. This was the point when the North Koreans first began to entertain the possibility of creating a nuclear arsenal. It would be another 30 years, however, before the North Koreans would come close to achieving nuclear capabilities.

In the early 1980s, with the help of the Soviet Union, the North Koreans built their first nuclear power plant in Yongbyon. They insisted that their pursuit of nuclear energy was peaceful. In fact, in 1985, North Korea signed on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Six years later, they signed an agreement with South Korea, which pledged the two countries into promising never to produce or use nuclear weapons. Still, the North Koreans refused to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to access their facilities in order to confirm that they were fulfilling their treaty obligations.

From The Brink Of War To Reconciliation

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 put North Korea in a very tight spot. For decades, the USSR helped the North Koreans build up their economy and military forces. After the Soviet Union dissolved, however, North Korea was left with China as its sole remaining ally. This new, post-Cold War reality may have persuaded North Koreas communist regime to behave more desperately, as it did in 1994, when it seemed that war with the United States was close at hand.

In June 1994, the North Koreans shut down their power plant at Yongbyon and removed spent fuel rods from it. Fearing the rods would be used to produce nuclear weapons, the United States tried to push economic sanctions on North Korea at the United Nations Security Council. At the same time, American military reinforcements were sent to South Korea. What could have turned into a war, however, was averted by the intervention of former US President Jimmy Carter, who began negotiating with the North Koreans for an agreement that would settle the matter of the communist countrys nuclear activities. Carters breakthrough was followed up by then US President Bill Clinton. By October, the Americans and North Korea agreed on a framework by which the communist country would freeze its nuclear development and dismantle its nuclear facilities in exchange for greater normalization with the United States.

From 1994 onward, it seemed that the United States and North Korea were moving towards reconciliation. In fact, in 2000, the US Secretary of State even visited North Koreas capital, Pyongyang, and met with the countrys leader, Kim Jong Il. It was hoped that a visit from the US President himself would follow. But this did not happen, and with a change in the US administration, relations between the United States and North Korea again began to deteriorate.

United States-North Korean Relations in the 21st Century

Puppets of Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump with missiles, Pacifists against the danger of a war between USA and North Korea, in the parade on May 1, 2017, in Turin, Italy. Editorial credit: MikeDotta / Shutterstock.com

Since the dawn of the new millennium, relations between the United States and North Korea have gone from reconciliatory to downright hostile on several occasions. When George W. Bush assumed the US Presidency in 2001, for example, he called off normalization talks with North Korea. But a diplomatic breakthrough came again in 2003, when the so-called Six Party Talks began, which involved not only the United States and North Korea, but also South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan. Again, however, no major progress was made. In the meantime, North Korea has conducted several nuclear and ballistic missile tests over the last two decades, causing relations between it and the United States to deteriorate further. It is now estimated that North Korea now has several nuclear weapons at its disposal.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un (left) and US President Donald Trump (right), June 2018.

Another opportunity for peace came in 2018, when meetings between high level officials of both countries took place, including a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A second meeting took place between the two leaders in 2019. They agreed to work towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with security guarantees for North Korea, and a framework for peace between the two countries. In 2020, however, President Trump was voted out of office. The new US President, Joe Biden, has reportedly rejected Trumps policies towards North Korea, so it is unclear if the breakthrough that Trump supposedly made with the North Koreans will lead to further progress towards peace between the two countries.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Transportation Security Administration officers at Nashville International Airport discovered 25 firearms at security checkpoints in July, the highest monthly total on record for the airport.

While firearms may be transported in checked baggage, provided they are declared to the airline, in a proper carrying case and unloaded, they are prohibited in carry-on bags.

Security is the first concern of the TSA and having these items in bags that are traveling with people on the aircraft is dangerous to other travelers and can be easily mistaken as an intentional attempt to bring a prohibited item onto an aircraft.

Since the implementation of new gun laws in the state, weve seen a significant increase in the number of firearms brought to Tennessee security checkpoint, said Steve Wood, TSA Federal Security Director for Tennessee, in a news release. Passengers must remember theyre responsible for the contents of bags and our advice is they thoroughly inspect all personal belongings to make sure there are no illegal or prohibited items before coming to the airport.

TSA officers at BNA security checkpoints detected 85 firearms in the first seven months of 2021. A total of 94 were found there during all of calendar year 2020.

TSA agents find loaded firearm at Nashville airport checkpoint The Transportation Security Administration discovered a loaded firearm at a Nashville International Airport checkpoint on Monday morning, the TSA announced in a news release.

In addition to potential criminal charges, passengers who bring firearms to a checkpoint face civil penalties from TSA. Click for information on the proper way to travel with a firearm.
Families and loved ones from Tennessee to overseas are devastated after learning the bodies of their loved ones were not buried the way they wanted. Call 4 Action problem solver Caresse Jackman spoke to an attorney in the case.
An early morning workplace shooting by an employee at a SmileDirectClub facility near Nashville, Tennessee, has left three employees wounded and the alleged shooter dead.

The Tuesday shooting, which has yet to be explained, occurred during a 6:00 a.m. shift change of workers at the warehouse, located in the Nashville suburb of Antioch. The company sells and services teeth-straightening and aligning devices.

Police at the scene of the shooting in Nashville (Source Twitter/:Metro Nashville PD)

All three victims were hospitalized, with one in critical condition.

Nashville police identified the alleged shooter as 22-year-old Antonio D. King. They said police officers shot and killed him near the warehouse when he pointed his gun at them.

Two of those shot were security guards, while the third was a SmileDirectClub employee, according to WKRN News 2.

Security guard Johnny Hardin, 46, was listed in critical condition at a local hospital, while his partner, Carlton Watson, 66, was in stable condition, local media reported. Thomas Abbott, 54, described as a manager, was also wounded but was treated and released.

King had started working at the company in June, after having previously worked there between late 2019 and early 2020, according to The Tennessean newspaper.

The SmileDirectClub employs about 700 workers on 12-hour shifts at the facility in Antioch, a working-class neighborhood. According to the Nashville Business Journal (NBJ), the 131,487-square-foot factory is operated by Access Dental Lab, a subsidiary of Nashville-based SmileDirectClub.

The plant opened in June of 2018 and now operates 24 hours per day. There are plans to add an additional 100 employees at the facility by what the NBJ describes as one of Middle Tennessees largest publicly traded health care companies, with $657 million of revenue in 2020.

The company is also constructing a new 168,406-square-foot factory in Columbia, Tennessee, dubbed the SmileFarm, giving SmileDirectClub more than 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Middle Tennessee, the NBJ wrote. Construction on the SmileFarm is expected to be completed in the fall of 2021.

Workers at these new facilities can expect to be paid the same poverty wages and experience the same uncertain and mind-numbing work as other SmileDirectClub hourly workers and workers in similar operations, such as Amazon.

Nashville in recent years has promoted itself as the It city, with promises of huge tax incentives for corporations looking for a business-friendly home. SmileDirectClub, headquartered in Nashville, was promised $10 million in June of 2019.

The city and state pledged $103 million to Amazon for a regional distribution hub, while Oracle Corporation will receive millions for its downtown campus. Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) received a million dollars for furniture, which HCA used to purchase a Guitar Pick Table for $4,190.18 and a Tuxedo sofa for the executive lounge area that cost $6,540.45.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, the state owes more than $1 billion in corporate tax incentives.

SmileDirectClub workers and manufacturing specialists can expect $14.39 and $14.77 an hour, respectively, according to indeed.com. A production technician can expect to start at $15.19 an hour, and a packer can expect a few pennies more.

In Nashville, it takes almost twice that much, $60,000 plus a year, for a single person to live comfortably, the Nashville Business Journal has reported.

At this point, the motive for the shooting is unknown. But it is reasonable to assume that the conditions of the alleged shooters lifethe pandemic, poverty wages, the lack of future prospectsplayed a role in his mental state.

From former workers reports, working for SmileDirectClub was nothing to smile about.

Unpaid furlough for a good portion of the company due to COVID and then laid off 4 months later, a former Nashville employee reported to indeed.com in October of last year. Leadership micromanages and treats employees horribly. You will work long hours and be expected to answer emails at all hours. The culture is beyond toxic. Overworked, underpaid, under-valued, not appreciated.  The main goal is about money and not the patients actual well-being.

SmileDirectClub workers are likely being driven during their grueling 12-hour shifts to produce more and more to increase dividends for investors. The companys economic position has been slipping, according to one financial source.

Our research shows that certain hedge funds do have great stock-picking skills (and we can identify these hedge funds in advance pretty accurately), so lets take a glance at the smart money sentiment towards SmileDirectClub, Inc., Yahoo Finance reported.

SmileDirectClub, Inc. has seen a decrease in activity from the worlds largest hedge funds lately. SmileDirectClub, Inc. was in 21 hedge funds portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2021. Our calculations also showed that SDC isnt among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

We may never know what drove the assailant. But because of the police shooting, the investigation will be conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an agency black hole that has been known to take more than a year to complete an investigation of a police shooting, without having to release any information to the public.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WTHI) - Preliminary data shows a 33 percent increase in fatal overdoses last year in Indiana.

Governor Eric Holcomb has announced more funding to reach Hoosiers who are at high risk of overdose.

The state will fund a $1.3 million distribution of Naloxone. This is the opioid reversal drug.

Overdose Lifeline Inc. will distribute 35,000 doses to first responders and individuals.

The company says it will also place 215 "NaloxBox" units that have equipment in them.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Chloe Carroll's family says her spirit was bright and infectious.

Her brother Derek Carroll describes her as the gem of the family.

Chloe had a lot of friends, and she cared deeply about a lot of people.

"You know you have all these words to say to your loved ones when they're gone...but then what would you say... is I was very proud of you. I loved being your older brother. I think we all did," Derek Carroll said.

Chloe's family said she was a very special person and an amazing daughter, sister, friend, and aunt.

LINK | Community remembers the life of a young girl shot and killed

"She was like my sister, she looked just like me. I acted like her, and I loved her a lot" Chloe's niece Lynlee Carroll said.

Her family says Chloe had a lot of things she wanted to accomplish. She had hopes of going to college and becoming a veterinarian.

It's because of her passion for animals, that the family has plans of working with the humane society on a project to honor Chloe.

The Carroll's are also brainstorming ways to engage young teens in the community to help put a stop to the violence.

LINK | 15-year-old shot and killed in Terre Haute, police release more details about the investigation

"We just hope that this doesn't impact another family and we just want to share how much we love Chloe, how special she was to us, and how much she impacted our lives," Chloe's sister-in-law Jessica Carroll said.

Derek says it was in Chloe's nature to give.

Chloe was an organ donor.

He says Chloe would be so happy to know that she's still giving back to others and that he's grateful her legacy will live on.

The Wigwam Skate Center is hosting a "Celebration of Life" benefit in Chloe's honor this Friday, August 6th from 7 pm-10 pm.

The owners are encouraging people to come and share their favorite memories of Chloe.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) -- West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis had some strong words for those not vaccinated against COVID-19.

He spoke about it Wednesday during a live-streamed Tippecanoe County Health Department news briefing.

Dennis discussed misconceptions about the vaccine and used a crude word to reference unvaccinated people.

"There are people that still think that this is something that we've made up," Dennis said. There are people that think that this is some sort of governmental power trip to try and control the population base, and oddly enough, they still think that this is something that is absolutely fabricated and does not have any impact on their life at all and they could not be more wrong. I lost my temper at a council meeting here recently, and I referenced them as unvaccinated ***holes, and unfortunately, that sometimes is accurate. That's true."

According to the Indiana State Health Department's website, there are more than 26,500 unvaccinated people in West Lafayette.

Click here to watch the full news conference.
WASHINGTON, Ind. (WTHI) - A new commons area is being planned for downtown Washington. Plans call for an L shaped green space that sits on the corner of Third and Main.

Right now the land is home to two large buildings. County officials plan to tear them down. In their place will be two open-air pavilions. Those pavilions would be used for concerts and other events downtown.

There is also a large parking lot for vehicles downtown. Plans for the new commons are being put together to keep downtown parking available.

Events like the Knights of Columbus treasure hunt typically shut down Main street. The new commons area would help to cater to these events to keep the road open. All in efforts of bringing the focus to downtown Washington.

Bryant Niehoff with the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation says, "We're taking a look at other events that we'd like to have here. Taking a look at great case studies from across the state, across the region, that are hosting events on a regular basis. Getting folks out of their homes and into their downtowns."
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday ordered face coverings for all school children from preschool through 12th grade to thwart the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus and the Democrat will require all state employees who work in highly populated facilities such as prisons to be vaccinated.

With the potentially deadly virus continuing to spread, worsened by the more virulent delta variant, Pritzker urged residents who have not been vaccinated to get the shots necessary to prevent the illness.

Every time we think we know where this virus is headed, it changes, and it shifts..., Pritzker said in Chicago. I want to say this, specifically to young adults: Please do not think that the worst-case scenario cannot happen. It can. Get vaccinated.

The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled. Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.

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Employers both private and public have begun requiring shots against the deadly virus  President Joe Biden is considering such a requirement for all federal employees  and the law appears to be on the side of the boss. Employers can make vaccination a condition of employment, experts say.

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most of the employees affected by the vaccination order, did not immediately comment.

The states largest teachers union, the Illinois Education Association, issued a statement indicating its agreement with the governors action.

Lets pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up. We owe it to our students and we owe it to each other, said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. Were so thankful to have leadership in this state that wont let the virus fester and grow. But, it us up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees.

Pritzker, who last week ordered that face coverings be worn by anyone entering a state building, also said Wednesday masks would be required in all long-term care facilities, including those privately owned.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A yearly event in Terre Haute has been called off.

The Terre Haute Police Department says it will not host Wabash Valley Night out this year.

The reason? Police are getting ready to move into their new building near the Vigo County Public Library.

Officials said they do hope to host a block party or open house once they get settled into their new building.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks is asking a federal judge to grant him immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of helping to incite violence at the U.S. Capitol.

In a Wednesday court filing, Brooks argued his speech was about the upcoming congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results and thus related to his job as a congressman.

Brooks, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, has come under fire for telling the pro-Trump crowd, today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - Mississippi State University will require masks in response to the resurgence of COVID-19, particularly the delta variant.

The university made the announcement on Wednesday.

With the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, MSU will temporarily require masks for all indoor activities and in all indoor locations on our campuses. That includes non-personal vehicles and public transit. The only exceptions will be in private offices.

Open this link to view MSU's announcement.
Tupelo Partly Cloudy 93 Hi: 93 Lo: 75 Feels Like: 101 More Weather Columbus Partly Cloudy 90 Hi: 92 Lo: 73 Feels Like: 98 More Weather Oxford Partly Cloudy 72 Hi: 80 Lo: 73 Feels Like: 72 More Weather Starkville Partly Cloudy 90 Hi: 91 Lo: 73 Feels Like: 98 More Weather

Dont expect miracles as far as cooler temperatures are concerned this weekend, but with the rain on the increase, we should see somewhat of a relief. Meanwhile, Fred continues to turn toward the Florida peninsula and has its sights set on the southeast US.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  To combat COVID-19 on campus, Birmingham-Southern College said all students would be required to undergo regular testing at the school at a cost of $500, but that vaccinated students could skip that hassle and also get their money back.

The Alabama attorney general's office on Tuesday suggested such policies run afoul of Alabama's new law banning so-called vaccine passports, saying it could be in effect a mandate to be vaccinated and to provide proof thereof." Universities also cannot require students to prove vaccination status before returning to campus, the guidance stated.

Alabama has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation and Gov. Kay Ivey and other state officials have expressed mounting frustration over people refusing the vaccine. But the state also has taken steps to protect those who choose not to get vaccinated.

Vaccine mandates have become tricky territory as colleges and other institutions try to enact safety measures to protect against the rapidly spreading delta variant at the same time some Republican states try to limit, or ban, mandates, arguing they infringe on personal liberty and choice.

A spokeswoman for Birmingham-Southern did not immediately return an email seeking comment, but last week Amy Bickers Abeyta, assistant vice president of communications, said the college is not requiring students to provide proof of vaccination in order to attend classes. Abeyta added that the college is offering incentives to students who get the COVID vaccine. Those include an early move-in date and a $500 rebate toward COVID testing fees, she said.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office, while not naming any specific institution, issued a document stating that colleges can't require students to prove vaccination status. The document also says requiring fees of the unvaccinated is constructively requiring proof of vaccination.

Alabama lawmakers this spring approved legislation, which Ivey signed into law, banning vaccine passports. The law prohibits universities from requiring students to get a COVID-19 vaccination and prohibits businesses from refusing to provide goods, services or entry to someone based on their immunization status or lack of immunization documentation.

In other words, no government, school, or business in Alabama may demand that a constituent, student, or customer, respectively, be vaccinated for COVID-19 or show proof of his or her vaccination for COVID-19, Marshalls office wrote in its initial public guidance.

The law does not apply to private businesses, which may choose to require employees to get vaccinated. Some have done so.

During legislative debate on the bill, some House Democrats said Republicans were putting politics over people and hindering the state's effort to boost vaccinations.

It is a mixed message, said Rep. Merika Coleman, a Democratic legislator who lost five members of her extended family to COVID-19 before the vaccine became available.

We cant on one hand say go get vaccinated and then on the other ban people from having the ability to require that, Coleman said.

Coleman said she did applaud the governor's effort to urge people to get vaccinated. Alabama has the lowest percentage of people, 34.5%, who are fully vaccinated, and ranks fifth-lowest, at 43.9%, for the number of people who have received at least one vaccine dose, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Asked if the law was a hindrance to the state pandemic response, Dr. Scott Harris, Alabamas state health officer, said only, We play the hand were dealt.

The Legislature has in its power to create these rules," Harris said. "They dont feel that we ought to be asking about vaccination status so were just trying to do our best to take care of people any way we can.

Phil Williams, a former state senator who now works for the conservative policy group Alabama Policy Institute, spoke out against Birmingham-Southern's policy, saying it creates a caste system of students.

Williams said he is not against vaccinations but is against mandates.

"People should make a well-reasoned decision based on their own research and beliefs, Williams said.

When asked if the law discourages vaccinations, an Ivey spokeswoman reiterated that people should voluntarily get vaccinated.

Last month, Ivey herself remarked that people are supposed to have common sense.

But its time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks, she said. Its the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says the state will take control of a school district in one of the poorest parts of the state.

He made the announcement about the Holmes County Consolidated School District on Thursday  the same day classes started there for the new school year.

The state Board of Education recommended the takeover after an audit showed problems with financial management, academic achievement and student safety.

The Holmes district has about 2,500 students.

The state Department of Education will appoint Jennifer Wilson as interim superintendent and the current school board will be dissolved.

Wilson is a former superintendent of Greenwood schools.
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Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 90F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Charleston, WV (25311)

Today

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Arkansas Republican Governor Regrets Banning Mask Mandates: Everything Has Changed Now

Governor Asa Hutchinson/Youtube Governor Asa Hutchinson

Months after he signed a bill banning state and local officials in Arkansas from mandating face masks, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he wants to see the law reversed.

"In hindsight, I wish that it had not become law. But it is the law, and the only chance we have is either to amend it or for the courts to say that it has an unconstitutional foundation," Hutchinson, 70, said in a Tuesday news conference, which streamed on YouTube.

Hutchinson's shift comes as states including Arkansas witness a spike in COVID-19 cases brought on by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The ban on mask mandates in Arkansas currently applies to state and local officials, but Hutchinson has now asked state lawmakers to amend the ban, to allow school districts to mandate masks if they so choose.

"There is an urgent need to enact exceptions to Act 1002 of 2021 so that public school boards have the flexibility necessary to utilize masks to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in schools," Hutchinson wrote in a proclamation issued this week.

A CDC study found that mandating masks "was associated with a decrease in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation."

RELATED: As Florida COVID Cases Spike, Miami Beach Mayor Says Gov. Ron DeSantis is Leading State 'Off a Cliff'

While Hutchinson appeared to acknowledge that mask mandates are needed to slow the spread of the virus in areas with low vaccination rates, other Republican governments are not backing down from signing similar laws banning the mandates.

In Florida  one of the seven states currently accounting for half of all new COVID cases and hospitalizations  Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order barring cities and schools from implementing mask requirements. Some Florida counties and school districts are defying the governor, however, by seeking mandatory mask rules in spite of his order.

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Speaking to CNN last week, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said DeSantis "has made it as difficult as possible to make people safe."

"We're not allowed to have mask mandates right now," Gelber, 60, told CNN's Ryan Nobles in an interview over the weekend. "We were one of the first cities to require it and we charged a fine just to get people to do it and the governor stopped allowing us to do it and then immediately we saw a surge across our county and state when he did that."

Nearly every county in Florida is currently considered by the CDC to have a "high" level of community transmission of COVID-19.
At least 10 people are dead and 20 are injured when an overloaded van crashed Wednesday on a highway in a tiny town about 100 miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. at an intersection of U.S. 281 and Business 281 in Encino, Texas, a town of about 140 people.

Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez said the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was top-heavy and tipped over when the driver lost control on a curve. The van held 29 suspected undocumented migrants, he said.

A witness reportedly saw a Ford van speeding along that highway when the driver tried making a turn, and the van crashed into a metal utility pole, Staff Lt. Christopher Olivarez Texas Highway Patrol said in a statement.

The driver and nine passengers died at the site of the crash, the statement said. 20 people were transported to area hospitals. The deceased's identities were being withheld until relatives can be notified, Olivarez said.

'Tremendous loss of life': Victims of deadly California crash should be focus of U.S. policy changes, leaders say

'She was running for her life': Mother of 4 wanted new life in America. But she died in deadly crash near US-Mexico border

Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the death toll was initially announced as 11 but was later revised. He also said the 20 who survived the initial crash all have serious to critical injuries.

Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 2 miles south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint. Olivarez said DPS troopers were investigating the crash.

Earlier this year in March, at least 13 people, including the driver, died after an SUV packed with at least 25 undocumented migrants collided with a semi-truck near the U.S.-Mexico border in California. The van Wednesday did not appear to be involved in a pursuit, Martinez told The Monitor.

Cramming dozens of people into eight-passenger vehicles and driving recklessly to avoid detection shows an utter disregard for human life," said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman in a March statement. "We will find and prosecute smugglers who use these methods and cause such tragic and avoidable deaths.

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Texas Department of Public Safety officers stand near a vehicle where multiple people died on Wednesday after the van carrying migrants tipped over just south of the Brooks County community in Encino, Texas.

Later in March, eight migrants in another overcrowded pickup truck were killed when the vehicle crashed into another truck during a police chase near the Texas border city of Del Rio, authorities said.

The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott last Friday for an executive order that directed state troopers to pull over vehicles suspected of carrying unauthorized migrants in federal custody. The order was blocked Wednesday by a federal judge.

A surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has brought about an uptick in the number of crashes involving vehicles jammed with migrants who pay large amounts to be smuggled into the country.

The Dallas Morning News has reported that the recruitment of young drivers for the smuggling runs, combined with excessive speed and reckless driving by those youths, have led to horrific crashes.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Texas crash: 10 people dead after van carrying migrants crashes
Gov. John Bel Edwards laid a foundation for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines across large sections of Louisiana on Wednesday during a virtual town hall discussion.

Louisiana has the highest coronavirus cases per capita of any state in the country and has experienced record hospitalizations this week. Edwards addressed related concerns in a question-answer format with Advocate and Times-Picayune Editor Peter Kovacs. The questions were selected from reader submissions.

When asked whether vaccinations will be required for state employees, Edwards outlined a process for requiring vaccines at state agencies and Louisiana school systems.

Thats not under consideration unless or until the FDA grants licensure to one or more of the COVID vaccines, Edwards said, adding, I think thats going to happen relatively soon, perhaps by Labor Day.

Edwards continued: The COVID vaccine would then work just like other vaccines that are currently mandatory. There are a number of them that are on a schedule that the [Louisiana] Department of Health requires whether its K-12, higher education and so forth, subject to whatever opt-out provisions are in current law.

It would be my expectation that once full authorization or licensure is granted that the vaccines will be added to the list and work just like the current measles, mumps, rubella, he said.

COVID-19 vaccines currently fall under emergency-use authorizations. In a dispute with Louisiana State University over an attempted student vaccine mandate, Attorney General Jeff Landry said emergency-use authorization products require the option to accept or refuse administration of the product.

Edwards did not concede the point during the town hall but reiterated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would green-light COVID-19 vaccine mandates at LSU, state and local government agencies and other public employers.

Edwards further embraced private sector vaccine mandates and said non-governmental employers are within their rights to require workers to get vaccinated.

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There is a difference between private employers and state employers. While I am not saying public entities that are requiring vaccinations are acting unconstitutionally, what we know is that the Constitution is not implicated when a private employer does it, he said.

Edwards praised the Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge, the flagship hospital for one of Louisiana's largest private health care chains. The facility announced Tuesday all employees must be vaccinated in the coming months or face termination.

"If you look at the timeline for their employees to come into compliance ... it'll happen about the same time as full licensure is granted," Edwards said.

Washington Examiner Videos

Tags: States, News, Coronavirus, Vaccination, FDA, Louisiana

Original Author: William Patrick, The Center Square

Original Location: Edwards suggests broad COVID vaccine mandates after FDA approval
A Florida woman exposed herself on a flight and was removed by officers, the police said.

An officer told her she would be taken off, and she responded by kicking them, the police said.

More officers arrived to remove her, the police said. She was charged with indecent exposure.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Officers had to remove a woman from a plane in South Dakota on Friday after she exposed herself, the police said.

Mistie Justice Watkins, 41, of Florida, was charged with disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, simple assault on law enforcement, and unlawful occupancy after the flight, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Related video: Footage shows unruly passengers on planes and at airports

The police said they were informed that a passenger had exposed herself and kicked an officer who said they would remove her from the plane at Rapid City Regional Airport, The Associated Press reported.

More officers arrived to take her off the plane and out of the airport, the police said, according to the AP.

The first officer said he could smell alcohol on her, the AP reported.

It wasn't clear which airline was operating the flight.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Aug. 4If you are concerned about a child being neglected or abused, call Maine's 24-hour hotline at 800-452-1999 or 711 to speak with a child protective specialist. Calls may be made anonymously. For more information, visit maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/cw/reporting_abuse.

The chair of the Maine Republican Party on Wednesday called for Penobscot County Treasurer and Bangor School Committee member John Hiatt to resign from all political positions less than 24 hours after his arrest on a possession of child pornography charge.

"I am deeply troubled by the allegations against John Hiatt," Demi Kouzounas said Wednesday. "While John will have his day in court, he should do what is best for his community and resign from all political positions immediately,"

Kouzounas is the first prominent political figure to publicly call for Hiatt's resignation.

Hiatt, 38, of Bangor also is facing charges related to his alleged stalking and harassing of a 34-year-old Bangor woman on social media and in text messages sent to her cellphone earlier this year.

The Republican initially was arrested May 14 by Bangor police on multiple charges, including a felony invasion of privacy charge. Hiatt has claimed he, not the woman, is the victim in that case.

That investigation led to the charge of possession of sexually explicit material of children under the age of 12, Bangor police said Tuesday in announcing the arrest. Hiatt was taken to the Penobscot County Jail on Tuesday after he was arrested by Bangor police.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance remotely at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center.

Hiatt, a member of the Republican State Committee, vowed to fight the stalking and harassment charges and declined to resign from either elected position. He said Monday on his Facebook page that he would start his reelection campaign for school committee Wednesday when nomination petitions become available.

His term as county treasurer expires next year. Hiatt also has said he would seek a second four-year term for that position.

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Neither county commissioners nor school board members have called for his resignation.

Hiatt's brother, Joshua Hiatt, chairs the Penobscot County Republican Committee and also is a member of the state GOP Committee.

Until Wednesday, the only Republican to call for Hiatt to step aside was Sean Hinkley, 27, who launched a recall effort to remove Hiatt from the school committee 10 days after Hiatt's first arrest. That effort was set aside the following month when Hinkley became ill.

Hinkley replaced Hiatt on the ballot after Hiatt withdrew from the state Senate race after the June 2020 primary. Democrat Joe Baldacci won the seat in November.

Hiatt was elected to the county treasurer's position in 2018 when he beat Democratic incumbent Dan Tremble, who also serves on the Bangor City Council. That same year, Hiatt was one of two people elected to the school board in a three-way, nonpartisan race.

Hiatt has been open about his autism and the challenges he faces as an elected official because of it. In the statement after his first arrest in May, he said his autism played a role in his interactions with the woman, identified by police as the victim.

"Like many victims of abuse we go back to the people who have hurt us," he said. "I consider myself a very smart person. But having autism, I don't get people. On a personal level, I have opened myself up to be hurt and exploited many times."

If convicted of either possession of child pornography or felony invasion of privacy, Hiatt faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Class D crimes carry a maximum one-year term of incarceration and a fine of up to $2,000, and the maximum sentence and fine for a Class E crime are six months in jail and $1,000.
A building was set on fire north of Durban on July 13 following four nights of violence and looting sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday carried out a major cabinet reshuffle covering security posts but also the economy and health following unprecedented unrest over the jailing of his predecessor.

Under pressure after last month's unrest claimed 354 lives, Ramaphosa said he was abolishing the security ministry and placing the "political responsibility" of the spy agency under his office.

"This is to ensure that the country's domestic and foreign intelligence services more effectively enable the President to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the security and integrity of the nation," he said in a televised speech.

The move comes in the wake of what he described as an "orchestrated campaign of public violence, destruction and sabotage" that broke out after his predecessor Jacob Zuma was jailed for 15 months for ignoring a judicial investigation into corruption while in office.

Thousands of businesses were looted and destroyed over several days forcing the government to deploy 25,000 soldiers to help restore order.

- Graft shrouded -

The National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise is named the new defence minister.

Ramaphosa also replaced the country's health minister Zweli Mkhize, widely respected for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but who is shrouded in an alleged corruption scandal involving coronavirus communications funding.

Ramaphosa said Mkhize had asked to "step down...in order to bring certainty and stability to this important portfolio" and was replaced by Joe Phaahla, who until now had been the deputy health minister.

Mkhize, 65, was placed on special leave early in June after graft investigators opened a probe into a 150 million rand ($10,4 million) health ministry communications contract.

Mkhize, who had been health minister since 2018, has denied any involvement with the Digital Vibes contract.

His case was one of over 4,000 coronavirus-linked contracts being investigated for alleged graft by the government's Special Investigation Unit.

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Last week the unit approached the countrys prosecuting authority in an effort to recover funds paid to the communications firm Digital Vibes, owned by Mkhize's close associates.

A local national newspaper the Daily Maverick reported that some of the communication funds were syphoned toward a new upmarket nail bar run by Mkhize's daughter-in-law, which was opened in December.

Some of the funds reportedly funded a hair salon said to be owned by his son Dedani, who has denied benefiting from the anti-virus funds.

Mkhize gained popularity and respect through his strategic and skillful handling of the pandemic in Africa's worst hit country.

The doctor-turned-politician and former treasurer of the ruling ANC had before the scandal been touted as one of the potential successors to Ramaphosa.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, who he said had long asked to step down, was replaced by Enoch Godongwana, ANC's head of economic transformation subcommittee and chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

Ramaphosa took the reigns of power in 2018 following Zuma's forced resignation by the ruling African National Congress (ANC), pledging to root out the corruption that is blamed for undermining the economy of Africa's most industrialised country.

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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 25, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON  When it comes to reining in presidential war powers, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, regarded as a leading prospect for the 2024 Republican nomination, agrees with President Joe Biden.

Hawley supports repealing a decades-old law authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, which has been invoked as part of the legal justification for other military strikes since then and have become the initial focus of a broader effort to reexamine how much leeway Congress should give presidents to wage war.

Its time to kill this, Hawley said of the law passed in 2002 to authorize the invasion of Iraq under President George W. Bush.

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The senator, who has styled himself as former President Donald Trumps populist heir, said it was a matter of listening to his partys voters, who he said want to get out of the nations wars.

His stance reflects a tentative but notable shift underway among Republicans as the United States haltingly disengages from what critics call the forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and continues to debate how to battle terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa.

After espousing hawkish, interventionist positions for decades and almost uniformly backing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Republican Party is now grappling with political pressure to align itself more closely with the inward-looking America First foreign policy articulated by Trump and backed by many conservative voters. It parallels similar foreign policy shifts Republicans have made in recent years to hew closer to Trumps views, including a move away from their support of free trade and a growing appetite for aggressive federal intervention to bolster American competitiveness against China.

Many Republicans remain opposed to repealing the Iraq-related authorization. And they have shown little enthusiasm for getting rid of the much broader war authorization passed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which has been used by successive administrations of both parties as the main legal basis for a wide range of military actions.

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Still, the shifting politics of the issue have helped to fuel the first significant bipartisan effort in a generation to curb a presidents authority to take military action.

Legislation taking shape in the Senate to repeal both a 1991 authorization for the Persian Gulf War and the 2002 law, an effort blessed by Biden, is partly symbolic, given that the government says it is not relying on either of them. But it reflects a growing consensus to reassert Congress influence over matters of war and peace, driven at least in part by the changing Republican political calculus.

The House, with support from dozens of Republicans, passed two bills in June repealing the Iraq measures, and on Wednesday, as a Senate committee approved legislation to repeal both, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Senate majority leader, confirmed that he would bring it up this year. The debate would be the first time in years for lawmakers to weigh in on an attempt to claw back presidential war-making powers that could actually be signed into law.

It could also fuel further discussion about the more consequential question of what to do about the post-9/11 authorization, which Republican and Democratic presidents have repeatedly invoked over decades  many lawmakers argue far beyond the bounds initially intended  as the legal backbone for U.S. military force around the world. The Biden administration has said it is open to tightening that law, but there is little consensus in Congress about how to do so.

The issue of presidential war powers has long divided both parties, stoking a mostly theoretical debate. But the dilemma this year is particularly acute for Republicans, for whom it has become the latest in a series of proxy battles over Trumps hold on the party, pitting those who want to follow the former presidents lead in extricating the United States from conflicts in the Middle East against those who hew to long-standing party orthodoxy in favor of a muscular military posture.

If they lean hard against policies of restraint, then theyre running into the teeth of Trumps language that helped educate the Republican base for four years about ending endless war, said William P. Ruger, who was Trumps nominee for ambassador to Afghanistan and is the vice president for foreign policy at Stand Together, backed by the libertarian-leaning billionaire Charles Koch. The politics have shifted on this.

It has led to a difficult balancing act for Republicans, some of whom have sought to find a position that would avoid alienating either wing of their party.

I am a firm believer in Congress exercising its constitutional authority over war-making powers, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an interview. But Cruz said he would be willing to repeal the Iraq authorization only if Congress gave the president entirely new powers.

If we clarify that there is ample authority to defend this nation from threats from Iran, then Id be willing to support it, he said.

His proposal to do so failed in the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, and Cruz voted against the repeal. Three Republicans joined Democrats in supporting it.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has also walked a careful line on the issue. Cotton, a retired Army captain who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, for years established himself as one of Washingtons staunchest foreign policy hawks.

But when Biden announced in April that he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Cotton was largely silent. A pair of local television outlets reported that he was cautiously optimistic about the withdrawal, and in interviews, he conspicuously did not criticize the decision.

We were never trying to make Afghanistan into a Western-style democracy like Switzerland, Cotton said. We were there to protect the United States from getting attacked again the way we were on 9/11.

A spokeswoman for Cotton did not respond to requests asking for his view on repealing the 2002 authorization.

The shift was notable to Bill Kristol, a writer and leading critic of Trump who championed the war in Afghanistan.

Elected Republicans seem to have gotten more silent, which does tell me that America First attitude remains pretty strong in the party and people dont want to get crosswise of that, Kristol said in an interview.

Hawley said the sentiments of Republican voters are driving the trend.

Their view is theres not a lot of strategic clarity  what are we doing there? he said. The former president reflected the voters on this. He articulated that position, but there was a reason for that: Thats where voters in the party are.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate minority leader, has been one of the most vocal exceptions. During the Trump administration, he repeatedly criticized the presidents attempts to draw down troops from the Middle East, leading the Senate in a vote condemning Trumps plan to pare back the U.S. military footprint in Syria and blistering his drive to withdraw from Afghanistan.

More recently, he has condemned efforts to repeal the 2002 authorization of military force, arguing that the practical application of the law extends far beyond the defeat of Saddam Husseins regime and that getting rid of it would also hamstring counterterrorism efforts in Syria.

Tossing it aside without answering real questions about our ongoing efforts in the region is reckless, McConnell said.

Allied with him was Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who said he was not inclined to support the repeal and sketched out a broad interpretation of presidential war-making authority.

What I dont want is someone coming back later and saying we cant go after some militia group, we cant go after al-Qaida, Rubio said.

Rubio said he feared a situation in which lawmakers could block a president from using his inherent military powers for an extended period of time without getting congressional approval.

In many cases, he said, our adversaries would use that to their advantage.

 2021 The New York Times Company
robin wright and dylan penn

Getty Robin Wright and Dylan Penn

Dylan Penn had a unique fifth-grade experience involving her famous mom.

The 30-year-old actress  who is making her starring-role movie debut alongside dad Sean Penn in the new drama Flag Day  recalls having to watch mom Robin Wright in a movie at school when she was a child.

"The teacher put on a movie for the class to watch, and it was The Princess Bride," Dylan tells PEOPLE, referring to the 1987 fantasy-romance epic starring Wright, now 55, and Cary Elwes.

According to the daughter of Wright and Sean, 60, "All the boys in my class starting talking about how pretty my mom was!"

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The Princess Bride

20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride

RELATED: The Princess Bride Cast Reunite for a Virtual Table Read of Iconic '80s Movie

Wright starred as Princess Buttercup in the movie, which would serve as her breakout film role after starring as Kelly Capwell on the soap opera Santa Barbara.

In September, the actress reunited with several of her Princess Bride castmates (including Elwes, 58, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn and Christopher Guest) for a virtual table read of the iconic film.

Moderated by Patton Oswalt, the 3-hour event also included director Rob Reiner, as well as guest stars Finn Wolfhard, Josh Gad and Whoopi Goldberg, who stepped in for actors who were not available.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, more than 110,000 people donated at least $1 each, benefiting the Wisconsin Democratic Party, to tune into the virtual reunion.

RELATED VIDEO: Cary Elwes Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Secrets from The Princess Bride

As for Dylan's role in Flag Day, which is based on a true story and made its debut at Cannes this year, she plays Jennifer Vogel, the daughter of Sean's John Vogel, a man who raised her in a fantastical world but has a con-artist past that Jennifer is forced to come to grips with as an adult.

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And Wright  who was married to Sean from 1996 to 2010 and with whom she also shares son Hopper Penn  is a big reason Dylan agreed to star in Flag Day, which also features an appearance from brother Hopper, 27.

"She very simply said, 'I've never worked with a better director than your dad. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had as an actor,' " Dylan said of Wright, whom Sean directed in 2001's The Pledge. "So I trusted that."

Flag Day hits theaters Aug. 20.

For more from Sean and Dylan Penn, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
FILE PHOTO: Seating area at a food centre is cordoned off as measures to curb the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore

By Aradhana Aravindan and Chen Lin

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - For months, Briton Jamie Pierre has been trying to get approval to travel to Singapore for his new job there. But after repeated checks online plus multiple emails and messages, he is frustrated, confused, and still without an entry permit.

Now, as Singapore says it may ease COVID-19 quarantines in September for vaccinated people, he hardly dares feel optimistic.

"It does give me some hope," said Pierre, 32, who works for a marketing procurement platform.

"But ... I'm kind of tempering that hope" with worry of more delays, he added.

The pandemic has disrupted global mobility on a scale that hasn't been seen since World War Two. Governments in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, China, Thailand and Hong Kong, have maintained quarantine and entry requirements.

Singapore - long known as a global financial hub for highly mobile foreign professionals - has had especially strict border controls, quarantine and contact tracing. It has been one of the most successful countries in curbing COVID-19, with only 39 deaths.

But for its legions of foreign workers - who make up one-fifth of the 5.7 million population - the restrictions have been a nightmare, with many stranded abroad despite having jobs and visas, and others afraid to leave for fear of not being allowed to return.

The government recently said it was considering quarantine-free travel for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting in September, when 80% of the population should be inoculated. It also plans to review some virus restrictions in early August, when two-thirds are on track to be inoculated.

'IN LIMBO'

The pandemic has forced Singapore to weigh its reputation as one of the world's most accessible business climates against its efforts to control the virus.

"As a small economy, Singapore must and will remain open and connected to the world," the manpower and trade ministries told Reuters in a written reply to questions.

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"We cannot afford nor do we have any intention to close ourselves off to the world for longer than necessary," it added.

Since last year, foreign work visa holders have needed special permits to enter Singapore. The city-state largely stopped accepting new applications from most countries in May after a surge in coronavirus cases globally.

Although many workers have successfully entered, others have been frustrated. A Facebook group with 18,000 members features accounts of navigating an opaque permit system.

There is no official data on how many foreign workers are stranded, but an online petition seeking entry for vaccinated passholders from India has nearly 5,000 signatories, many of whom share tales of families separated for months on end.

Singapore-based business owner Yigit Ali Ural travelled to Turkey last month for a family emergency. Uncertain of getting approval to return, he gave up his rented apartment, losing thousands of dollars in deposit.

"We are in limbo - whether to stay in Turkey and try to come back to Singapore. Or just forget it," said Ural, who is Turkish-American.

Pierre has been working remotely until he's allowed to enter Singapore. He has spent months in Airbnbs and temporary accommodation in the U.K. with his wife and toddler.

"I have to essentially work irregular hours to be able to keep communication with the region," said Pierre, calling the situation "stressful".

Singapore's government said approvals are based on COVID-19 risk levels of the countries applicants are coming from, and it prioritises more critical travellers.

REOPENING CLOSELY WATCHED

Singapore's tentative reopening moves are being closely watched - not only by anxious expatriates but also by other countries that are further behind in vaccinations.

"Other countries currently pursing zero-COVID strategies, such as China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Taiwan, will be keeping a keen eye on Singapore's progress," said Gareth Leather at Capital Economics.

A decrease in the number of foreigners last year pushed Singapore's population down 0.3% https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-singapore-population-idUSKCN26G08V to 5.69 million, the first drop since 2003. (Graphic: Total no. of foreigners working in Singapore, https://graphics.reuters.com/SINGAPORE-ECONOMY/FOREIGNERS/gdvzyrblypw/chart.png)

The number of employment passholders, defined as professionals earning at least S$4,500 a month, dropped 8.6% to 177,100 in 2020. (Graphic: Total no. of Employment Pass and S Pass holders in Singapore, https://graphics.reuters.com/SINGAPORE-ECONOMY/FOREIGNERS/lbpgnrzxjvq/chart.png)

For now, expatriates who have not seen their families since the pandemic began are keeping a close watch on the September plan.

"Going there is easy. But what are my chances of actually coming back?" said Maura Geertsma, who is Dutch. "I need to be confident that I'm able to return to Singapore."

($1 = 1.3526 Singapore dollars)

(Writing by Aradhana Aravindan. Editing by Kay Johnson and Gerry Doyle.)
David Lidstone

Jodie Gedeon via AP

David "River Dave" Lidstone lived in a small cabin in a wooded area of New Hampshire for the past three decades, but the 81-year-old man's longtime home burned down this week after he was placed in jail.

According to the Associated Press, Lidstone  a U.S. Air Force veteran and a father of four  lived off the land along the Merrimack River for 27 years, growing his own food and drinking water from a nearby stream.

But a property owner recently accused him of squatting on the land, and Lidstone was detained by police on July 15, the outlet reported. Though he would be released from jail if he agreed to abandon the cabin, where he also raises chickens and other animals, Lidstone refused, according to the AP.

More than 4,600 people signed a Change.org petition to express their hopes of finding a mutual solution for the property owner and Lidstone, who they referred to as a "local legend," but the situation seemed to reach a tragic outcome after the cabin was destroyed in a fire on Wednesday afternoon.

"Words are impossible to speak right now as we have been notified River Dave's camp has been burnt to the ground," Jodie Gedeon, an outspoken friend and advocate for Lidstone, wrote on Facebook after the blaze was discovered. "I just can't."

RELATED: Average American Thinks They Could Last 16 Days Alone in the Wilderness, According to a Survey

David Lidstone cabin

Jodie Gedeon

An image uploaded by Gedeon showed the cabin completely flattened.

"An investigation will be done and I truly hope those responsible are held accountable and punished to the highest level for inhumanity, cruelty, arson, putting the animals life in danger and potentially starting a forest fire," she said. "Not to mention burning the [livelihood] from one man's heart and soul, our friend River Dave."

"Please - I ask of you keep the community support going, write to Dave and pray for all of humankind," she added. "This is unacceptable!"

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The Merrimack County Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

RELATED: How Teen Survived 24 Terrifying Hours in the Wilderness, Running from a Killer

According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, Judge Andrew Schulman said he wouldn't approve a court order that has Lidstone jailed for more than 30 days. During a recent hearing, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department refuted claims by Lidstone that he was living on their land.

The property is instead owned by Leonard Giles of Vermont, the AP reported. Multiple unsuccessful attempts have been made to remove Lidstone from the land since 2015, per the outlet.

A lawyer for Giles did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for comment.

RELATED VIDEO: Minnesota Man Survives Near-Death Mauling While Hiking in Remote Wilderness: It 'Ripped Me Around'

Lidstone's brother, 77-year-old Vincent, told the AP that his family held a lifelong passion for the outdoors. Lidstone, he said, was living a life that made him happy.

"What they're doing to him isn't right for anybody, whether he's my brother or anybody's brother," he said. "He's 81 years old. Leave him alone."

In a recent update to Facebook, Gedeon said his supporters were inviting others to send funds or a kind letter to Lidstone via mail.
Photo credit: Hutton Wilkinson

Americas first interior designer, Elsie de Wolfe , was best known for decorating the abodes of many notable clientsincluding Oscar Wilde, Conde Nast, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, to name a fewbut one of her very own homes, which still exists today, was an integral part of her career.

The dwelling in question is the Washington Irving House, which is located at Irving Place and East 17th Street and was built in 1845. It served as the home of de Wolfe and her partner, literary agent Elisabeth Marbury, from 1897 to 1907.

Photo credit: The New York Historical Society - Getty Images

The house was named after writer Washington Irving, who also owned a dwelling in Tarrytown, New Yorkknown as Sunnyside which is now a historic house museum. Oddly enough, its believed that Irving never lived here, despite the homes name. De Wolfes most notable guests at this abode included Stanford White, Ethel Barrymore, and Oscar Wilde.

Photo credit: Mary Elizabeth Andriotis

This home, says Colin Fanning, a PhD candidate in design history at the Bard Graduate Center, was an early laboratory where de Wolfe began to work out some of the ideas and design habits that would characterize her later, more mature work. This includes light paint colors, painted French furniture, chintz fabrics, and a less-cluttered arrangement of furniture and decorative objects. This was the first de Wolfe residence that was used as a sort of platform for building [her] professional image and attracting new clientele, adds Fanning.

Photo credit: Hutton Wilkinson

When de Wolfe moved into the home, it was decorated in high Victorian style, says Hutton Wilkinson, interior designer and president of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation. She would later swap these furnishings out for Louis XVI-style decor instead, after becoming a Francophile while living in Paris and working as an actress. Instead of arranging her rooms for ostentation, she arranged the furniture for conversation, he adds.

The dwelling boasted marble columns that the designer was crazy about and kept, as they were the only redeeming feature of the house, in her mind, says Wilkinson. Additionally, a fabric sofa that would later end up in the designers home in France was originally part of the entry hall of the Washington Irving House.

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Photo credit: Hutton Wilkinson

Above all, says Fanning, the Washington Irving House was the place where [Elsie de Wolfe] realized she could put her love of decorating and her strong design opinions to work as a real careerone that could keep her in the sorts of fashionable company and tastemaking roles she enjoyed from her earlier theatrical pursuits.

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A large system of ocean currents in the Atlantic  which includes the Gulf Stream  has been disrupted due to human-caused climate change, scientists reported in a new study published Thursday. If that system collapses, it would lead to dramatic changes in worldwide weather patterns.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, transports warm, salty water from the tropics northward at the ocean surface and cold water southward at the ocean bottom.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning really is one of our planets key circulation systems, said the author of the study, Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

Findings from a similar 2018 study drew comparisons to the scientifically inaccurate 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, which used such an ocean current shutdown as the premise of the film. At the time, study authors said a collapse was at least decades away but would be a catastrophe.

A potential collapse of this ocean current system would have severe consequences around the globe, authors of the new study said.

If this circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world, the Washington Post said.

It would also further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets, according to the Guardian.

Researchers who study ancient climate change have also uncovered evidence that the AMOC can turn off abruptly, causing wild temperature swings and other dramatic shifts in global weather systems, the Post said.

August 3: There's a 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico this summer that's bigger than Connecticut

July 20: What is La Nina? Does it bring more snow? How climate pattern could affect US weather.

The study was published Thursday in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature Climate Change.

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Climate models have shown that the AMOC is at its weakest in more than 1,000 years, Reuters reported. However, it has not been known whether the weakening is due to a change in circulation or the loss of stability.

A beachgoer walks along the water as waves crash in Manasquan, N.J. A large system of ocean currents in the Atlantic  which includes the Gulf Stream  has been disrupted due to human-caused climate change, scientists reported in a new study published Thursday.

"The difference is crucial," said Boers, "because the loss of dynamical stability would imply that the AMOC has approached its critical threshold, beyond which a substantial and in practice likely irreversible transition to the weak mode could occur."

By studying key data from the AMOC, scientists determined that the recent weakening is likely linked to a loss of stability: "The findings support the assessment that the AMOC decline is not just a fluctuation or a linear response to increasing temperatures but likely means the approaching of a critical threshold beyond which the circulation system could collapse," Boers said.

The study said that a number of factors are likely important for the disruption of the AMOC  factors that add to the direct effect that the warming of the Atlantic Ocean has on its circulation. These include freshwater inflow from the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, melting sea-ice, increasing precipitation and river run-off.

Freshwater is lighter than saltwater and reduces the tendency of the water to sink from the surface to greater depths, which is one of the drivers of the overturning.

Other climate models have said the AMOC will weaken over the coming century but that a collapse before 2100 is unlikely, Reuters said.

Levke Caesar, at Maynooth University in Ireland, who was not involved in the research, told the Guardian: The study method cannot give us an exact timing of a possible collapse, but the analysis presents evidence that the AMOC has already lost stability, which I take as a warning that we might be closer to an AMOC tipping than we think.

Study lead author Boers told the Post that "its one of those events that should not happen, and we should try all that we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible. This is a system we dont want to mess with."

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Collapse of Atlantic Ocean currents could disrupt weather: study
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The Hungarian government will take legal action over the seizure of talks with the Norway Grants on the distribution of funds in Hungary, the Prime Ministers office said on Wednesday.

Under the agreement between the two countries, the body distributing the funds should be appointed in a consensus between the two countries, the statement said.



Hungary was ready to accept any of the seven applicants except for Okotars, a Soros organisation, the ministry said.



Norway insisted on Okotars, excluding internationally acclaimed tenderers such as the Hungarian Red Cross, the statement said.



Norway is violating its commitments as a member in the European Economic Area, the ministry said. Hungary states that Norway is indebted to Hungary for 77 billion forints [EUR 216.4m] in exchange for access to its markets, the statement said.



Earlier on Wednesday, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) slammed the government, saying Hungary had lost out on 77 billion forints.



Should the opposition win the election in 2022, the talks will be reopened, DK MEP Klara Dobrev said.
SRINAGAR: The BJP on Thursday (August 5) celebrated the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A by holding Tiranga rallies and hoisting the national flag across Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, the PDP called it 'a day of mourning for J&K' and took out protest marches. Romasia Rafiq, the BJP's Municipal Councillor from Anantnag district's Khanabal, kicked off the party's celebrations in the valley by hoisting the Tricolour near the Degree College at Khanabal. She was accompanied by around 200 party workers.

Bandipora BJP district chief Abdul Rehman Tikri was joined by a dozen party workers as he hoisted the national flag at the party office. Block Development Council (BDC) member Sushma Nehru along with 20 other people hoisted the national flag at Panzulla Panchayat Ghar in Baramulla district. BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, who is also the party affairs in-charge for the union territories of J&K and Ladakh, said one of the more significant achievements of the 2019 decision was that it dealt a big blow to the divisive and terrorist forces.

In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park. They shouted slogans against the Centre's August 5, 2019 decisions and in favour of a "resolution of the Kashmir issue". The protesters were, however, stopped by police near GPO and turned back.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said, "Today is a day of mourning for J-K. It is unfortunate that the BJP is celebrating across the country, while Kashmir is mourning. The existence of the people of J-K will remain only when we all will together restore our constitutional position and then resolve the Kashmir issue by forcing the Government of India to talk to the people of J-K to address the internal dimension and talk with Pakistan as well to address the external dimension."

"There is no other option. They are already talking to Pakistan resulting in the ceasefire which in turn resulted in decline in infiltration," she said.

Mehbooba said her party is of the view that Jammu and Kashmir has to become a bridge of peace between India and Pakistan. She said the BJP will have to take back the decisions taken on August 5, 2019.

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New Delhi: The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government withdrew its advisory prohibiting its people from travelling to neighbouring state Mizoram on Thursday (August 5).

The order comes after the intervention from Centre to make amends between the two quarrelling states.

In view of the joint statement issued today by the representatives of the Governments of Assam and Mizoram, the travel advisory (advising people of Assam not to travel to Mizoram) dated 29th July is hereby withdrawn, the fresh order read.

Following the new order, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga thanked Assam government in a tweet.

In the advisory issued on July 30, the Assam government had said, Given the critical prevailing situation, the people of Assam are advised not to travel to Mizoram as any threat to personal safety of people of Assam cannot be accepted.

In a joint statement issued earlier today, both state governments agreed to take forward the initiatives taken by MHA and their CMs to remove tensions prevailing around the inter-state border and to find lasting solutions to disputes through discussions.

The Mizoram government offered condolences over the deaths of the Assam policemen who died during a fierce gun battle between the two states.

The representatives of Government of Mizoram convey condolences for the loss of lives on 26th July, 2021 and convey best wishes for speedy recovery of those injured, the official statement read.

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New Delhi: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country, Delhi University (DU) has announced this year that it will not hike the admission fee for students seeking entry to various colleges affiliated to it.

Due to COVID-19 infection, the income of many people has shrunk while several people have lost their jobs so the varsity has decided not to increase the admission fees for students. Apart from this, DU has also announced a major relief measure for the students.

"If any student wants to withdraw his/her name after paying the admission fee, DU will refund the complete fee. If a student has got admission in any other course or educational institution and due to this reason he/she does not want to take admission in DU, the student`s admission fee will also be refunded."

ALSO READ | Delhi University UG admission 2021: Heres list of documents needed to apply

The DU admission committee says that the students will have to inform the university administration for vacating their college seat before October 31. If those students who have taken admission in DU want to withdraw their name from the varsity before October 31, their complete fee will be refunded. On the other hand, if a student wants to vacate his admission seat after October 31, then a fee of Rs 1,000 will be charged by the university as processing charges.

The admission process in various DU colleges has started from August 2. This year a large number of class 12 students have secured more than 95% marks. According to DU, students seeking admission to various colleges is likely to increase in number. The cut-off lists of many DU colleges is likely to soar even higher as compared to previous years.

ALSO READ | 75,000 students register on Delhi University's admission portal in three days

The application forms for the undergraduate (UG) programmes can be filled by students till August 31 and the admission process started by DU is completely online this time.

The admission process for seeking admission for undergraduate courses in DU began on August 2 while that for the postgraduate programme have already started from July 26.

DU has decided to maintain the same eligibility criteria as last year for the benefit of the students given the challenges faced by the varsity due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

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New Delhi: The case of the minor girl who was allegedly raped, murdered, and cremated without her parents' consent in Delhi's Old Nangal crematorium has been transferred to the crime branch for speedy investigation.

Police Commissioner of Delhi, Rakesh Asthana gave the direction for the transfer of the case.

On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met the family members of the minor girl who was allegedly raped and murdered and announced an ex-gratia of rupees ten lakh.

"I met her parents. Her loss can't be compensated for but Delhi govt will provide them Rs 10 lakhs ex-gratia," said Kejriwal after meeting the parents of the girl.

"We'll order magisterial inquiry & appoint top lawyers so that culprits get strict punishment," the Chief Minister added.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also met the family of the victim and assured them support.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of the matter.Delhi Police has registered a case against four accused on basis of the statement of the girl's mother who alleged that her daughter was raped, murdered, and cremated without their consent.

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Bhopal: An IAF helicopter on Wednesday (August 4) rescued Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra after he got stranded when the boat carrying him to flood-hit Kotra village in Datia district developed a glitch while trying to move out local residents, an official said.

The minister, on getting information about some people getting stranded on the roof of a house in the marooned village, reached there on a boat of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), he said. However, a tree suddenly fell on the boat following which it developed a snag and stopped moving, the official said.

Following this, Mishra sent messages to government officials after which an IAF helicopter was sent to the spot to rescue him and nine other stranded villagers, he said. The minister first ensured that all the stranded people were rescued and after that IAF personnel lowered a rope by which Mishra was safely pulled, the official said.

Earlier, Mishra visited a number of flood-affected villages of Datia district to supervise rescue operations and oversee arrangements made for people housed in relief camps, he added.

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Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu): The BJP Tamil Nadu unit on Thursday staged a hunger strike here against party-ruled Karnataka's move to build a reservoir on the river Cauvery at Mekedatu. The party workers asked the neighbouring Karnataka government not to go ahead with the balancing reservoir project, which aims to meet both drinking water needs and power generation, said an agency report.

The BJP leaders lashed out at the Karnataka opposition parties for backing the BJP government on the issue there. Tamil Nadu unit president of BJP, K Annamalai, claimed that the law was clearly in favour of the lower riparian state, Tamil Nadu, and that Karnataka could not build a dam without its consent, said the PTI report.

Addressing the party members at the day-long fast in Thanjavur, Annamalai said, "Our fast agitation today is to demand the Karnataka government to give up its plans to build the Mekedatu dam. We condemn the opposition parties for asking the government to go ahead with the project. We will not allow its construction."

Annamalai further said, "The inter-State River Water Dispute Act is clear. You can not build the dam without the consent of the lower riparian state. BJP always stands for the well-being of the farmers and it will not allow the construction of the Mekedatu dam."

Notably, Thanjavur, part of the fertile Cauvery delta region in the state, is described as Tamil Nadu's "rice bowl."

Taking a swipe at the ruling DMK for allegedly according more importance to enhancing TASMAC liquor sales revenue rather than working towards the welfare of the farmers in the state, Annamalai reportedly claimed that it had not conducted a single review meeting pertaining to agriculture.

Training his guns on Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K S Alagiri for mocking the BJP's agitation, BJP's Tamil Nadu unit president said that both the leaders humiliated the farmers as they could not comprehend the seriousness of the issue.

"Kamal Haasan's campaign during the assembly election in Coimbatore resembled a film shooting...People are bound to send him home," Annamalai said, apparently referring to the actor's electoral loss at the hands of party leader Vanathi Srinivasan from Coimbatore South in the April 6 Assembly polls.

Annamalai further added that the Tamil Nadu government should extend its cooperation to the Cauvery-Godavari river linking project, and it also expedite the implementation of the Cauvery-Gundaru linking.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear a batch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter. The plea claims that the alleged snooping was an attempt by agencies and organisations to muzzle the exercise of free speech and expression of dissent in India.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant will hear nine separate pleas -- including those filed by the Editors Guild of India, on the issue related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and journalists by using Israeli firm NSO's spyware Pegasus.

The Editors Guild of India in its plea seeks a special investigation team (SIT) be set up to investigate the reported surveillance of journalists and others.

As per one of the petitions, hacking of phones using the Pegasus spyware constituted a criminal offence punishable under Sections 66 (computer related offences), 66B (punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device), 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) and 66F (punishment for cyber terrorism) of the IT Act, punishable with imprisonment and/or fine.

Meanwhile, both houses of the Parliament saw repeated uproarious scenes as opposition members kept pushing for a discussion on the matter, while the Centre refused. On Wednesday, there were several protests outside the parliament which led to repeated disruptions for the day.

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Srinagar: Today is 5th August 2021, and is also the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A. On this date, the Government of India converted Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh into two separate Union Territories, abrogating Article 370 and 35A.

With this move, the government aimed to develop the entire Jammu and Kashmir region, including Ladakh. By creating sources of employment, improving the Tourism sector, and investments in the Industrial sector, the government tried to strengthen the economy of Jammu and Kashmir.

Recent improvements in the Covid-19 situation, the government efforts may pave the way for the completion or start of various pending developmental works and projects.

Since, 2019 the government has been making efforts to cover crucial sectors like education, healthcare, employment generation, tourism, and industrial growth, but the pace has reportedly got a new momentum if we believe the reports coming from the newly formed UT.

Mohamad Ibrahim, a travel operator, told ANI, "Development was happening at a fast rate before Covid came but now it has again gained momentum. Though an elected government has not been formed, we still hope that when it comes, it will provide various amenities to the people and reduce unemployment."

"Tourism sector is flourishing. Tourists have started arriving post-COVID second wave. The overall development is happening on the ground level, though Covid disrupted both tourism and development. Formation of an elected government would be really good for everyone," Amit Kumar, a local, told ANI.

"I hope more development will happen after the formation of a government. Tourism has improved and the inflow of tourists has increased," a houseboat owner, Tariq Ahmad, is quoted as saying.

The administration is reportedly establishing institutions to provide quality education to Kashmiri children, as the UT government has launched at least 50 new educational institutions offering 25,000 seats to students.

Earlier Article 370 and 35A deprived people of the benefits from the Central government and several other progressive schemes.

The reservation laws were important for uplifting the weaker section of society but were not applicable in J-K. After the abrogation of Article 370, the provisions of the same are being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: Although customers of the erstwhile Allahabad Bank were allowed to continue to use their existing cheque book for six months or till it gets exhausted (whichever is earlier) since February this year, they must know the new rule which will come into effect from October 1,2021.

Enjoy smooth banking transactions without any glitch. The MICR code and cheque books of the erstwhile Allahabad Bank will be discontinued from 01.10.2021. Get new cheque books from your nearest branch or apply through internet banking/mobile banking.#IndianBank pic.twitter.com/xF1Rctppx2  Indian Bank (@MyIndianBank) July 31, 2021

Allahabad Bank, one of the oldest public sector banks in the country, was merged with the Indian Bank on February 15. Post-merger, immediately thereafter, the Indian Bank carried out a software migration. In addition, changes were made in IFSC code, mobile banking app, cheque book and passbook of Allahabad Bank account holders which came into effect from February 15.

In addition to the cheque book, ATMs will also be active for 6 months as before. Allahabad Bank customers can call customer care number 1800-425-0000 for more information. The bank has taken full care to avoid any inconvenience to the customers. Customers will be able to use http://indianbank.net.in for internet banking. The website will provide full knowledge of the new rules to the account holders and also know-how and where they can update the old bank-related papers.

It may be noted that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the merger of several public sector banks in Union Budget 2020 in March last year. Ahead of the merger, the Indian Bank had announced a share swap ratio of 115 equity shares of Rs 10 each for every 1,000 shares of Rs 10 each of Allahabad Bank. As per the merger, Allahabad Bank was amalgamated into Indian Bank, along with nine other PSBs merged into four.
New Delhi: As the Enforcement Directorate has served a notice to e-commerce major Flipkart over alleged violation of foreign exchange norms, the company has said that it has been compliant to the Indian laws and will cooperate with the authorities in the matter which pertains to 2009-2015.

Responding to a query on the notice, the company said in a statement: "Flipkart is in compliance with Indian laws and regulations, including FDI regulations."

"We will cooperate with the authorities as they look at this issue pertaining to the period 2009-2015 as per their notice," it said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued notices to Flipkart, its founders and nine others in connection with foreign exchange violation case, officials said on Thursday.

A senior ED official related to probe told IANS, "Yes, a notice has been issued to Flipkart, its founders and nine others."

He, however, did not reveal the details of the persons to whom notices have been sent.

According to financial probe agency sources, in the notice they have asked to explain why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for alleged violation of foreign investment laws.

The source said that Flipkart and its other holding firms including one in Singapore violated Foreign Exchange Magamenet Act (FEMA) while attracting foreign investments between 2009 and 2015.

According to ED, the investigating agency has found that WS Retail, a firm incorporated in 2009 to transact with customers, was allegedly acting as a front for retail operations of Flipkart Online Services, incorporated in 2008.

The ED investigation started after the RBI had raised the issue. Also Read: Xiaomi topples Samsung to become largest smartphone brand for the first time

In 2018, Walmart took a majority stake in Flipkart. Sachin Bansal sold his stake to Walmart during the deal, while Binny Bansal retained a small stake. Also Read: Facebook apps settings page design revamped for easy tool access
New Delhi: Xiaomi has become the worlds largest smartphone company in June 2021, toppling the Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung, according to the latest monthly projections by research agency Counterpoint. This is the first time when Xiaomi has become the market leader in the smartphone category which has been dominated by the likes of Samsung, Apple and Huawei.

According to Counterpoints data for June 2021, Xiaomi increased its monthly sales by 26%. The sharp increase in sales helped the Chinese company to dethrone Samsung from its pole position in the global smartphone market.

Prior to this, Xiaomi had earlier overtook Apple to become the second-leading global smartphone brand. The company also recently surpassed Samsung in Europe for the second quarter of 2021.



In the latest data, Xiaomi takes the pole position with a 17.1% market share for the month of June, while Samsung is at the second position with a 15.7% market share. Following the two smartphone brands is Apple at the third position with a 14.3% share of the global smartphone market. Also Read: Omega Seiki Mobility launches Zoro and Fiare electric scooters, check top speed, range and other features

Counterpoints Research Director Tarun Pathak said, Ever since the decline of Huawei commenced, Xiaomi has been making consistent and aggressive efforts to fill the gap created by this decline. The OEM has been expanding in Huaweis and HONORs legacy markets like China, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In June, Xiaomi was further helped by China, Europe and Indias recovery and Samsungs decline due to supply constraints. Also Read: Renault India launches new Kiger trim to mark 10th anniversary: Check price, specs, other details
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday (August 5) condemned the ransacking of a Hindu temple in Punjab province there and said that his government will restore the mandir.

Taking to Twitter, Pakistan PM Imran Khan tweeted, "Strongly condemn attack on Ganesh Mandir in Bhung, RYK yesterday. I have already asked IG Punjab to ensure arrest of all culprits and take action against any police negligence. The government will also restore the Mandir."

Referring to the incidents of violence, discrimination and persecution against the minority communities including attacks on places of worship, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Within the last year itself, various temples and Gurudwaras have been attacked including the Mata Rani Bhatiyani Mandir in Sindh in January 2020, Gurudwara Sri Janam Sthan in January 2020, a Hindu temple in Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December 2020."

A mob attacked a Hindu temple in a remote town in Pakistan's Punjab province, damaging idols and burning down parts of it. The attack prompted Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed to express 'grave concern' over the incident and fix the matter before court for hearing on Friday. Police said the mob attacked the Hindu temple at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district, some 590 kms from Lahore, on Wednesday in reaction to an alleged desecration of a Muslim seminary by a minor Hindu boy.

The eight-year-old Hindu boy last week had allegedly urinated at a library of the seminary that caused tensions in Bhong, where Muslims and Hindus have been living peacefully for decades. A police officer said the boy was arrested last week and booked under the blasphemy laws but subsequently released on bail for being a minor.

"The attackers were carrying sticks, stones and bricks. They smashed the deities while raising religious slogans," District Police Officer Asad Sarfraz said. He said a part of the temple was also burnt down.

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Dera Ghazi Khan: Three men in Pakistan have been arrested for allegedly forcing a child to lick a hot axe head to prove his innocence in a theft case, local media reported. Dawn reported that the Border Military Police (BMP) of Fazala Kachh, Tuman Buzdar arrested three persons who allegedly forced a child to lick a hot axe head to prove his innocence in a theft case.

The suspects accused Tehseeb, a shepherd, of stealing a teapot or kettle and the case had been registered against them on the report of victim's father Jan Muhammad, the Pakistani publication said citing sources.

Tehseeb suffered tongue burns and was taken to the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) hospital for treatment.Police arrested the three identified as Siraj, Abdul Raheem and Muhammad Khan.

According to the publication, the tribal Baloch still use a draconian water and fire tradition to prove innocence of someone suspected to be involved in any crime at Takht Sulaiman tehsil. If a suspect remains under water for a specified time and comes out alive, he is considered innocent and if he comes out before time, he stands guilty.

Similarly, a person is considered innocent if he remains unscathed after crossing the burning embers or licking hot iron otherwise, he is penalised for being guilty.Pakistan has witnessed a rise in crimes against children including child sexual abuse, abduction and child marriages.

Eight children were abused every day in the country in one form or another in 2020, according to the 'Cruel numbers 2020', a compilation of statistics on crimes against children.

The report was compiled by Sahil, an organisation focused on child protection, is based on cases reported in 84 national and regional newspapers in 2020, Dawn reported.